//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Twilight's Equestria - The After Years // by BPM //------------------------------// Cadence slouched a little in her throne, exhausted by the days' work. The trade agreement with Twilight wasn't going well. Reports of the icy north invading her Empire were littered across the floor - and there was nothing she could do to help. Ever since Twilight convinced Flurry to leave the Empire, she hasn't been the same. Cadence thought of Flurry often, worried for her, wondered if she was okay, wherever she was. With Cadence in such a state, gloom fell on the Empire, and there wasn't enough love to power the Crystal Heart to completely repel the cold winds. As the days got colder and the nights got longer, the morale of the kingdom fell which only served to further drain power from the Crystal Heart. Many of her citizens wanted to leave and go to Equestria where the sun was abundant and the nights were warm. But Cadence could not let that happen. If the people left, the Empire would crumble. Shining Armor had told her that a new mineral had been found - oricalcum, whose properties of storing magic were far beyond the capabilities of crystal. But the amount she would need to reinforce the Heart with it was... costly, to say the least. Oricalcum had only been found in Equestria, so Cadence had to ask for a trade agreement with Celestia. However, it was being used there to channel magic throughout the kingdom, making it more prosperous than ever before. Cadence had been able to buy a small amount here and there, as crystals from the empire were still valued for their purity and their sheen, but since many of her workers had already left the Empire, her supply of crystals grew thin, only exacerbating the problem. "Cadence. Please. You need to rest." Shining Armor could be heard from the doorway, mane ruffled as if he hadn't slept in days. "Oh Shining Armor, what will we do? The Heart grows weaker every day. We must find some way of providing it with more magic." "I take it the trade meeting didn't go well with Twilight?" Shining approached her, careful to step over the littered reports. "It's insane what she's demanding! We don't have the resources... We can't afford much more than.." Cadence's eyes watered. "Why can't it be like it was before, Shining Armor? What happened to those days when Twilight, you, and I played in the sun?" "Cadence..." Shining Armor put his hoof around her. "At this rate... there won't be a Crystal Empire anymore, and all the ponies that choose to live here will lose their homes..." Cadence shivered, crying into Shining Armor's arms. --- Spike sniffed the forest air. The acrid scent of the nearby volcano masked the scent of his prey. It was time for the grand hunt, and he wasn't about to lose to the likes of Crimson Blaze. Although he had subsisted on equine feed and gems for the large part of his childhood, Spike was a dragon. A carnivore. Today was the day he would prove himself a full fledged dragon and take his place among his brethren as a dragon. There it was - the scent of sheep. They were beyond the forest glade. He looked down at his claws, polished to a near mirror sheen. Sharp, he thought. His scales no longer had the leathery texture that Rarity had used so often as a pin cushion. They were tough, hard as the gems he once consumed, and carried the same gleam. His tail had grown- it was now large enough to cleave a nearby tree in two with one swipe. He had become stronger, more agile, but to his dismay, unlike other dragons, he never developed the ability to fly. A roar filled the sky. "There they are!" Crimson's voice could be heard from above, but Spike wasn't about to let them have their day. Not today. Twilight had long since taught Spike to keep his dragon greed from surfacing, but he eventually learned that it was this greed that allowed him to grow. To mature. As long as it was under control. Spike felt the ancient dragon magic well within him, filling him with strength. His instincts sharpened, and he raced forward, his claws ripping the ground apart. Within seconds, the sheep came into view. The rest of the dragons on the hunt went into a nosedive, noticing Spike racing towards the sheep. He knew. Spike would get there first. Cursing Spike, Crimson let out a jet of flame at the sheep. Better that they had to find another flock than to let this landwalker beat him in the hunt. Spike saw the blue flames coming. He responded with a roar, and he responded with a roar of his own. Flames of blue and green in the air, finally culminating in an explosion that leveled the nearby trees. When the smoke cleared, Crimson and his entourage lay fallen in the burning glade, Spike standing over the sheep, his glimmering scales a little charred from the experience. Turning to the sheep, Spike raised a claw, his bloodlust rising. But Spike remembered Twilight, and his time in Ponyville. He remembered how Rarity grounded him. How Twilight taught him to control himself. How Pinkie was always there to cheer him up when he was down. A circle of pony friends indeed. Grunting with effort, he suppressed his baser instincts. No, he would protect the sheep from their would-be predators. Spike had never been like other dragons, and would never be like them. --- "Probably because Celestia fears the consequences of her actions, Twilight. Her choices to try and remain with the Sombra of this world nearly tore both worlds apart. I doubt it's a memory she's keen on revisiting." Crimson Dusk walked on. "Come, Twilight. This way. There is someone you need to meet."