After the momentous defeat of King Sombra, Princess Cadence and her dutiful husband Shining Armor have been saddled with the monstrous task of reintegrating the long lost Crystal Empire into the folds of modern Equestrian life. It has proven to be no small task, as the denizens of the Empire, the crystal ponies struggle to forget the horrors of the dark king's reign. Despite all obstacles in their path however, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor remain determined in their noble goal, vowing to give the crystal ponies the chance at the free and happy life they had been deprived of for so very long.

Unbeknownst to them however, an old enemy is about to bring forth the greatest instrument of her revenge.

Queen Chrysalis overlooked a vast chasm in the earth, filled with hundreds of little green lights. Each light was one of her changeling workers, smoothing out the final kinks on her latest project. Soon she wold have her revenge, and taste the victory that eluded her in Canterlot.

The changeling next to her brought up a reading on one of several moniter crystals. "Structural Integrity: 91%. Hull Insulation: well within acceptable ranges. External Stabilizers: mounted and fully functional. Power supply: 67% and charging. Ammunition: we are the ammunition. External shields: ... we're working on that."

"And what flavor of ice cream will the cafeteria be serving on Monday?" Chrysalis asked with a smile.

Chrysalis's smile turned to a scowl of disgust in an instant. "WHAT!?" she screamed.

"Y-you're highness. W-we ran out of Chocolate Chip two days ago, and haven't been able to restock due to all our forces focusing on the construction." her Commander stuttered, "W-we shall double our efforts. I assure you, this station will be operational as planned."

"I hope so Commander... for your sake." Chrysalis said with a deathly glare before turning her mind back to thoughts of revenge. Soon... very soon.

Though it was by far Equestria's most remote city, the Crystal Empire was a gleaming jewel in the snow. It was a place of happiness and love, and it served as a beacon, radiating its awesome feels all over Equestria.

Though King Sombra was gone for good, and the crystal ponies were free. Things weren't as simple as picking up their lives where they left off. Brutal enslavement and a subsequent thousand-year banishment from existence would take a toll on anypony. They were still suffering from severe headaches that came and went seemingly at random, and traumatic memories of Sombra still haunted them. Recovering from something like that wasn't going to be easy or fast by any stretch of the imagination.

But with their strong, kind and caring leaders there to guide them along the way, thing weren't as dire as they seemed.

For a start, the Crystal Empire was back on the map within days of it being deemed safe, almost as though it had never left. For merchants, vacation agencies, and business entrepreneurs the Crystal Empire was one thing above all else: an untapped market. Even more of a rarity, it worked both ways; the crystal ponies would be introduced to everything that was new in Equestria, and Equestria could visit something a place and culture so old that it was practically brand new.

And the wonders kept on coming as not only was it a win/win for all involved, but the traffic and trade was exactly what the city needed to revitalize itself, thus smoothing the integration process even further.

Well that wasn't how a certain Princess of Love was seeing it. After all... she had to organize and approve everything.

The crystal clock on the wall ticked with incessant and unrelenting loudness as the meeting dragged on. Cadence, in all her blessed patience, tried her best to listen to what the businesspony in front of her was talking about.

She told herself each and every morning that she would do everything in her power to lead the crystal ponies to a prosperous and happy life. She told herself she owed it to them after all they had suffered through. But each and every day, her promise only held up by the thinnest of threads, and it only got thinner as the tedious droll of the day began to slowly wear her down.

6:00am Wake up/ shower
6:15 Breakfast
6:30am - 10:00pm Meetings Meetings Meetings Meetings Meetings Meetings Meetings- Break for Lunch -Meetings Meetings Meetings Meetings Meetings Meetings Meetings All meetings and no play make Cadence a dull pony.
10:01 Go to bed
Rinse and repeat

Princess Celestia had trained for her royal duties when she was young, but nothing could have prepared her for how much of an absolute slog it was.

It seemed that every advertiser, celebrity, and business pony thought she was some unreasonable tyrant. Why else would they go off on such grand spiels, talking for hours at a time about why their ideas are the absolute best thing ever? If it weren't seen as highly unprofessional, she would have gladly listened to a thirty second summary and decided on that whether to give a project the green light or not.

Once again Cadence shook herself back to attention from nearly falling asleep with her head on the table.

In front of her, a short white stallion with a graying mane was going over several business figures. If she remembered right, his name was Wheel 'n' Deal. He had already taken up her entire morning with statistics, plans and designs for opening a waterpark on the north edge of the city, and the logistics of using the snow from outside the city's shield as a source of water for the rides. He was particularly intent on winner her over on the whole idea with the waterfall-of-love ride, going so far as to slap her face all over the little plastic boats.

And this was only the first of twenty-three ponies that she had scheduled to meet with. Today!

It was times like this that Cadence envied her husband Shining Armor; his job was so much more exciting. Since he was the Captain of the royal guard back in Canterlot, it only made sense that he be in charge of the security here in the Empire, and it had worked quite well.

Back in the old days of the Crystal Empire, it had absolutely no means of defense besides the crystal heart. If the notion that they should train some guards was ever pondered over, it was quashed under the iron hoof of Sombra, who kept them oppressed through his dark magic and unrelenting fear.

As soon as he was able, Shining wasted no time whatsoever in turning that around. At the moment he was addressing the guards that had transferred over from other cities around Equestria, as well as few local conscripts. Cadence imagined that right now he was concluding the tour of the Empire, a simple patrol to familiarize them with the new setting.

Oh how Cadence wished that she could have them given the tour. She'd take parading around the streets with a platoon of guards in tow over her current situation almost any day.

"Eh, Princess? You still there?" Wheel asked through his bushy mustache as he adjusted his spectacles.

"Hmm? Oh yes, of course." she said unconvincingly while motioning with a hoof for him to continue.

Cadence was beginning to wonder what would happen if she simply stopped everything and told him to just take whatever he was planning and go for it. She wasn't being lazy, but as far as she could see, it didn't matter where he put the water-powered Ferris wheel.

"I would do literally anything to get out of this right now." Cadence thought to herself as she tried not to slump over "Come on universe, hit me with your best shot! Right here. Right-

The walls shook at the noise and papers that lay carefully organized on the desk in front of her scattered and flew across the room. Her advisers fell to the floor and held their ears in pain.

Outside, ponies screamed in horror as and ran indoors, hoping it would protect them from the giant black fortress manifesting just outside the city's protective barrier.

Shining Armor was nearly in a panic trying to organize a mere hooffull of unprepared guards, knowing they alone would have to counter whatever that monster did until they could get reinforcements, preferably from Celestia and Luna themselves.

And from inside the counsel chambers, Princess Cadence stared wide eyed as the silhouette of a castle nearly half the size and bulk of Canterlot just hovered there, bathed in a menacing green glow.

Queen Chrysalis has a Doom Citadel

by Erised the ink-moth

That's no cloud