Two lines of crystal guards stood outside of the train's doors, forming an archway with their bugles lifted up high, playing as Twilight got off the train.
A crowd of crystal ponies cheered behind the guards. All of them were full of excitement and delight. With her cheeks blood red, she gently smiled and waved as she passed by her cheering fans.
At the end of the long rows of guards stood what appeared to be an alicorn.
She had a dark green crystal coat that out shined every pony else. Her mane was a lighter shade of green pulled back in a ponytail. She wore a silver collar around her neck while a tiara with an emerald in the center rested atop her head. But what stood out the most was that her wings appeared to be made from actual crystals.
Twilight examined her. Besides the color of her coat and how crystally she was, she almost looked like Princess Cadence.
The alicorn approached her with a smile that could brighten an entire room. She knelt before her. "Your highness."
Twilight snapped out of it and did the same. "Your highness."
Both mares raised up. "I'm very pleased you were able to come Princess Twilight. I am Princess Emerald."
Everything clicked in Twilight's mind after hearing the princess' name.
"Thank you, Princess Emerald. You can just call me Twilight by the way," Twilight replied.
"Very well Twilight. You may address me as Emerald as well." Emerald giggled as she motioned for Twilight to walk beside her.
"I'm really happy you came Twilight. My parents and I have been dying to see you." Emerald said.
"Thanks, Emerald. It's really nice to visit a much more familiar place beside Canterlot."
"How long has it been since your last visit?"
Twilight paused, "Oh, about a thousand years."
"Oh. Well, you're in for a big surprise then."
"How come I'm not already" Twilight thought to herself.
Upon exiting the station, Twilight gasped as enormous crystals stood all around her. It almost looked exactly like Ponyville, except everything was made of crystal.
"I see what you meant by big surprise."
"If there's one thing you need to know is that crystals do two things. They grow and they expand. Add that to all the brand new technologies popping up and you have a bustling empire."
Twilight nodded as she further examined the empire.
After a while a trotting through the streets with ponies everywhere greeting the princesses, the two alicorns arrived at the crystal palace. Besides being bigger in height than all the other crystal buildings and the many add-ons to it, it was still pretty much the same.
As Twilight climbED the steps to the palace doors, she saw some ponies knelt down near the statue of one of her close friends, holding a crystal heart in his claw.
"I see you still have the statue of my friend Spike." Emerald gasped upon hearing that.
"You're friends with our great savior?!"
"Of course, he's been my friend ever since I hatched him from an egg. He's also the one that saved the empire, twice!"
"Y-you hatched him from an egg?" Emerald stuttered.
"He was part of my entrance exam for Celestia's school."
Emerald slowly nodded as so many thoughts ran through her head.
"Okay... as I was saying, it is why we must always be forever grateful to our great savior. In fact, you should see what big of a reception he gets when he comes to visit every year."
"I can imagine why," Twilight chuckled knowing how big of a goofball her friend can be.
Both mares trotted through the many halls of the palace. Twilight noticed just how much the inside of the palace had changed compared to the outside. She continued observing until they reached the doors to the throne room.
Twilight took a deep breath, preparing herself for what might happen. The doors opened, revealing two rows of guards playing bugles, much like how they did it at the station.
Twilight trotted in between the long files of guards with Emerald behind her. She stopped at the end of the rows. One guard stepped up next to her.
"Her highness, Princess Twilight Sparkle," said the guard before backing away. Twilight gazed at the two alicorns who sat upon their thrones. One was a sturdy stallion with a white crystal coat and wings that looked like they were made from actual crystals. The other was a smaller alicorn mare with a crystal blue coat and wings.
The stallion with a robe draped over his back and a crown on his head stood up and slowly approached Twilight to greet. The mare with a silver collar around her neck with a lapis in the center, and on her head was a crown with a diamond in the center, stood with her husband.
Both ponies knelt down in respect. "It is a pleasure to meet you Princess Twilight," the stallion greeted. Twilight immediately knelt down in return. "My pleasure your majesty," she replied. Both stood simultaneously.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am King Quartz, fair ruler of the empire."
"And I am Queen Lapis, it's nice to meet you," she said with a kind tone.
"Thank you, your majesty. I have to say that I am a bit surprised to find three more alicorns in Equestria."
"Tis true. As you should know, we are descendants of Princess Cadence and Prince Shinning Armor who were the first co-rulers of the empire when it returned long ago," he said, pointing to a nearby stained glass window depicting the couple.
"Descendents?" Twilight wondered before it came to her. "That's right! Cadence was actually transformed into an alicorn!"
"That's right. Only natural born alicorns are immortal, like the royal sisters. Since Princess Cadence was not immortal, she couldn't pass down the immortality trait. In short, we live an average life as every pony else," Quartz explained.
This got Twilight thinking even more. It was something she never really thought about before. It did explain why Celestia never mentioned anything about immortality, and why she was placed in an enchanted box to keep her young for the time being. Now she knew she was probably going to die just the same as any other pony, and she was perfectly fine with it.
"Thank you for explaining this to me," she thing the crystal king to which he nodded in reply.
Emerald quickly stepped up in between the group.
"Well, now that we've gotten everyone acquainted with, why don't we all head to the dining hall. We discuss more there."
With an exchange of nods to one another, all four of them left the throne to go eat. With the royal crystal rulers leading the way, Twilight continued to ponder about Princess Emerald's family and the life span of the four of them.
However, another thought came to mind. One that she would want to know about.
Twilight realized the three alicorns came to a halt in front of a set of double doors. Two nearby servants quickly approached the doors and opened the simultaneously.
Beyond the doors revealed a large, well-adorned crystal dining hall. Enormous crystal columns supported the ceiling above while glowing brightly to provide some light. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, which matched the glow of the columns. In the center of the room stood a long rectangular table aligned with two rows of chairs on either side. On one end stood three chairs that stood out from the rest, signifying them as belonging to the royal family.
The four ponies went ahead and sat in their own designated seat. Immediately, a pony wearing a white collared shirt and bowtie pushed a cart carrying several plates covered with silver lids. he carefully placed each dish in front of the ponies while removing their lids.
When he removed the lids in front of Twilight, the aroma hit her nostrils upon seeing what laid before her. There were daffodil and daisy sandwiches, a salad consisting of many leafy greens Twilight enjoyed, vegetable soup, and crystal berry pie.
Everything looked delicious, but there was something about the soup that was making her feel uneasy. She didn't know why. It looked good, but she couldn't bring herself to eat it. Instead, she went ahead to eat the rest of her meal while the others discussed topics such as what they did this week or what were their upcoming plans.
Once last remnants of the crystal berry pie were licked off, Twilight laid back with her stomach more than satisfied.
"That was delicious," she remarked happily with a grin on her face.
"We hoped you'd say that, but mind if I ask, how come you didn't touch your soup?" Quartz asked.
"I'm not so sure. I guess I'm not in the mood."
The king and queen looked at each other before turning back at Twilight with concern.
"Is everything alright Twilight?" Lapis asked. "You seem as though something is troubling you."
Twilight wasn't sure what to say. That she felt that the soup was making her uncomfortable? Instead, she took the opportunity to ask them what the one thing she was curious about.
"There is something that I was wondering about," the couple nodded, motioning her to go on.
"After my return, when I become that mare, why didn't you do anything about it?"
After another glance at each other, the king cleared his throat.
"You see, when we heard on the news that she had taken over Manehattan, the entire empire went into a panic over the fear of being under tyrannical rule, which is a fear that's been passed down for generations ever since Sombra was in power. Because of this, the princess came to us one day and told us to keep the city under lockdown, with no pony getting in or out of the empire. She also told us to keep our royal guard ready to confront any and all threats that may come. After that, she left and we hadn't seen her since."
Twilight absorbed everything Quartz was telling her, but something still didn't add up. "Okay, but why didn't you do anything afterward? Didn't you found out about Celestia's defeat and the fall of Equestria?"
"We did find what happened since we kept up with news as to what was happening in the outside world, but there is a good reason why we stayed back. I'm not sure if you know this, but the magic here in the empire reflects all across Equestria. If there's good magic amongst the ponies here, then that will spread happiness and harmony everywhere. If there is dark magic, that too would spread creating nothing sadness and terror. If we had left to go and fight her, then that would leave the empire vulnerable to attack. This is why we must all be thankful to the great savior who along with Princess Cadence and Prince Shinning Armor, helped prevent what could have been a full out war that could last for years.
Twilight comprehended everything that was told to her. In a way it did make sense, considering the fact the princess had already explained this to her.
"I suppose that is true. My friend Spike did help save the empire twice."
The two gave dumbfounded looks. "You're friends with the great savior?"
"It's true. Twilight was the one that hatched him," Emerald remarked which caused Twilight to blush.
"It's kind of a long story, but yeah. He helped bring the crystal heart to Cadence after my brother tossed her.
"Your brother? You mean Prince Shining Armor?" Quartz was utterly confused.
"Why yes. He is or was my Big Brother Best Friend Forever, or BBBFF."
After what seemed like an eternity of exchanging looks and soft whispers, the three looked towards the little pony with warm smiles.
"Um, was there something I said?"
"Twilight, if Shining Armor was your brother, then do you know what that means?" Lapis asked, but Twilight shook her head.
"If the three of us are descendants of your brother, then that means we're related!"
The realization shook Twilight like a leaf. She didn't know what to say. But one thing was for sure. If these ponies were related to her, then that gives her something to be happy about.
"You're all related to me, then that means-" she was cut off when the three alicorns came up and hugged her.
"It means that we'd like for you to be part of our family if you'd like," Quartz asked of the purple alicorn.
"Well, you all are the only family I have left, so yes, I'd love to be part of your family, since my other family isn't around anymore." The reminder of her family long gone brought out the pain that lived deep inside of her.
In the end, it made Twilight feel guilty all over again for what she had done.
"Thank you for everything, and I just want to say that I'm sorry for what happened."
"And why should you apologize? We heard what happened to you, and we know it wasn't your fault," Lapis said in an attempt to comfort the upset alicorn.
"Everypony keeps telling me that, but I'm just not sure if I can believe that."
"Twilight, you have to know that that wasn't you who did all those things. Meeting you today, we can see that you're a different pony entirely. You're kind, smart, and you would never want to harm others. What happened is in the past, and you shouldn't be troubled over something that you didn't do," Quartz said.
"Are you saying that I wasn't the pony who took over Equestria?" Twilight replied.
"Of course not.
"Then who?"
"Somepony without a pure heart. Somepony who doesn't care about any pony else. Somepony who has no soul. You on the other hand Twilight are not like that. That other pony may have used you to get what she wanted, but she and you are not the same," Quartz said laying a hoof on the crying mare's shoulder. She looked up at him while whipping away the tears in her eye.
"You really believe I didn't do anything wrong?"
"Of course. Besides, we're a family know, and we're here to help each other out no matter what, and what we say is the full and honest truth," Lapis accompanied her. Twilight felt the familiar support only a family could provide. She took a breath of fresh air and stood up to face them.
"Thank you. Thank you so much," she hugged the three one last time.
The sun was setting outside. Twilight yawned in exhaustion from what had transpired.
"It's getting late. Why don't you spend the night here?" Emerald suggested. Twilight figured it would be best to spend the night, so she could leave in the morning.
She wished the royal couple a good night before Emerald escorted her to her room.
"Your parents are really nice Emerald," Twilight said.
"I bet you mean our parents." Twilight blushed at that. "And you know, since my parents have accepted you into our family, I guess that makes us sisters!"
Twilight grinned ear to ear. She bounced the entire way until they reached her room.
"I hope you find everything to your liking," Emerald elegantly opened the door revealing the beautiful crystal bedroom behind it. Twilight was amazed by it. It had surpassed what the rooms used to look like long ago.
"Thank you so much Emerald. I had a great day today."
"Don't mention it, sister," Emerald teased as she left, closing the door behind her Twilight blushed at that.
Slowly trotting to her bed, she crawled underneath the covers, turned down the light the crystals in the room were emmiting, and closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep.
Unfortunatly for her, she would never forget the dream she was going to have.
•••
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