A Crystal shattered

by CalebH

Chapter 1

Luna sighed in contentment, settling into the plush throne as the last pony left. It had been a long day at court ruling over her empire. The court formalities had long since been ingrained into habits in Luna’s everyday life but sometimes they became a nuisance. Her subjects asked it of her and saw a strict adherence to the formalities as a sign of deep respect to their monarch. Luna assured them at every turn that it was not necessary but they always managed to talk her into keeping the rules in place.

Luna loved her subjects and saw them as her children. If they would honor her with their formality she would not disrespect that. She could hardly complain though, her crystal ponies might be overly formal to her but the respect they showed was always genuine. Her subjects would scrape and bow to show their love for their ruler and in turn Luna would hear out every one of them with courtesy and a motherly tenderness to show her own love.

Ruling an empire was rarely relaxing and in the few moments between official duties Luna took full advantage of every opportunity to relax she came across. The unicorn one level down on the raised dais shifted uncomfortably. He had been her chief adviser for years and in her absence for the following year he would sit the throne as her steward.

“Don’t worry yourself so, Sombra. You will do fine as a ruler and with the crystal heart freshly charged there is nothing that can threaten the empire until we return.” Luna spoke seeking to reassure her nervous adviser. He was a capable pony and a talented magician. He may not have had any experience ruling but her people were happy and thriving; even a foal could rule.

“Yes my queen,” he replied.

Since Luna had asked Sombra to be her steward as she and her sister toured their holdings he had become somewhat withdrawn and spoke less than usual. It was a big job and he was right to be nervous but Luna was confident that he would settle into the patterns of Ruling easily.

A Pegasus appeared at the entrance to the throne room, “Announcing the ruler of Equestria, her majesty Princess Celestia the Daybringer,” he called out in an official voice. Behind him strode a snow white mare adorned with golden jewelry. She was taller than any other pony save Luna would ever hope to be and her ethereal mane seemed to flow in the breeze even when there was none.

“Hail Luna, queen of the crystal ponies,” she called out in a gentle voice that lost no volume carrying across the vaulted room.

“You have no need of such formalities with us sister,” Luna said as she raced down the room. She pulled her sister into a warm embrace saying, “It has been too long since we have seen each other, Tia.”

“A mistake we will not make again, Lulu,” -Celestia said returning her sister’s hug. -“Your domain is beautiful I shall have to visit more often.”

Luna was by no means vain but she could not deny the truth to what her sister said. The single beam of moonlight coming in from a slit overhead was either reflected or refracted by every crystalline surface in the room and thus was more than enough to light the room.

The same was true for every building in the city. Even on overcast nights a single candle was enough to light an entire household. Her subjects themselves took on the same radiant nature of the crystals the lived and worked with; they became beacons of light wherever they went. Every surface in the city multiplied light so there was no need for the sun’s brightness. Her subjects slept through the day as her sister’s subjects slept through the night.

“It is good thou came in the night, sister. Looking upon the city in daylight is dazzling but painful.”

“Well us children of the day can’t always shun your beautiful work, sister,” Celestia said with a smirk that Luna did not return. It was an old sore spot that Celestia was trying to mend with a joke; in fact the yearlong tour of their combined holdings was aimed in much the same direction.

Luna did not begrudge her sister’s subjects for what they had done. As Celestia had said they were children of the day and rarely paid more than passing attention to the night just as the crystal ponies shunned the day. It was this difference however that finally led Luna to declare the crystal empire a sovereign state.

The two nations were bound closely by the dawn and dusk accords declaring an alliance nearly as close as the sisters who ruled them. Everypony involved agreed that night and day should not govern each other and the motion to accept the Crystal Empire’s succession was never protested. Luna was much happier ruling subjects that did not ignore her, even if they were a bit stuffy.

“Now see here sister if thou plan on spending the entire trip trying to glean our forgiveness for a perceived slight we will not take another step,” Luna replied forcefully. “We have long since forgiven your subjects and will hear nothing more on the issue.”

“As you wish sister,” Celestia said relenting. “I have been eagerly awaiting our journey and I am overzealous in making sure there is nothing between us.”

Luna smiled at her sister. Celestia may have been blessed with more social grace but she never knew when to drop a sore subject and let time do its work; most forgave her just to get her to stop asking them to. “There is nothing between us, Tia. Now come we are eager to be away and drop the responsibilities of government for a time,” Luna said as she guided her sister out of the throne room and into the night.

Though the sister’s had set out a meticulous schedule for their journey they almost immediately abandoned it and gallivanted around Equestria like a couple of fillies. This would not have been a problem as they made themselves reachable by their stewards but one of them had drastically misplaced their trust.

Author's Note:

more than anything this story is just me presenting my weird headcannon. I hope you enjoy it and it gets you thinking, If you have any suggestions or other weird headcannons leave a comment.

Comments

[James Vermont]

An interesting take... I look forward to reading more

[Silver_Cloud123]

Cool.