In The Twilight of Harmony’s End

by Leonofsweden

Chapter 16 Crystal Awakening

In the Twilight of Harmony’s End
Chapter 16 (Bonus 4/4)
Crystal Awakening

****

Cadence suddenly became aware of the fact that she existed. It was quite shocking to realize this; only for the first shock to be drowned out by the realization that she had friends and loved ones as well.

She felt energy pulsate around her, pulsing through whatever was keeping her stock still. She couldn't remember where she was, or how she had ended up there. The only thing she knew was that she had to get to Shining for some reason.

Shining… I'm-

Cadence’s sluggish thoughts were interrupted by the sound of thousands of mirrors breaking at once all around her, and the next thing she knew Cadence hit a hard surface below her.

“Brother!” Cadence heard a very familiar voice yell.

Twilight? She thought, but Twilight’s supposed to be at home, isn't she?

A shadow suddenly loomed over Cadence. She tried to look, up but nothing in her body answered her call. Cadence was completely exhausted for some reason. But that didn't make any sense; she just woke up, shouldn't she be getting coffee or something for her and Shining? A horn pressed to the side of her head and she could feel herself getting incredibly sleepy once more.

“He's alive! He's alive!” Twilight's voice called out in utter glee, making Cadence once again wish she could look at anything except what was a few inches in front of her half-lidded eyes.

“Happy birthday Twilight…” A voice Cadence did not recognize said smoothly just before the darkness of sleep took a firm hold of her mind once again.

****

Cadence groaned in protest as she woke up the next morning. Tentatively, she stretched her hoof out. Absentmindedly, she curled it around the still sleeping form of Shining Armor, who was lying next to her, snoring peacefully.

Lazily opening her eyes, Cadence smiled at the sleeping form of her husband. He was lying with his face buried underneath a very drooled upon pillow. The sight actually made Cadence giggle; it looked like Shining was trying to escape the sound of his own snoring.

“He does look silly doesn't he?” sompony said with a familiar chuckle.

Realizing that she was not alone, Cadence raised her head to look over towards whomever it was who’d spoken.

The sight of a black Alicorn, looking back at her with glacier-blue serpentine eyes not too far from the foot of the bed, made the Crystal Princess bounce back against the Crystal headboard and scream.

Immediately, Shining Armor jumped up into a combat stance, looking around himself until his eyes locked onto Twilight. Not recognizing her, he charged.

SMACK!

Groaning, Shining slid down off the very force field he himself had taught his sister how to use when she was little and bothered by bullies.

“Good morning to you too brother…” Twilight said with a sheepish smile, before cringing as Shining Armor landed on the floor in front of her hooves.

“Sorry about that…” She stated as the force field dropped, “It just comes up by instinct nowadays.”

“T… Twi… Twilight?” Cadence stammered from where she sat with her back against the wall, unable to believe what she was seeing in front of her eyes. “Is… Is that you? What happened to you? Wha… what's going on here?”

“Well… First off… yes, it's me.” With that, she began, dance and everything, “Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake, clap your hooves and do a little shake!”

Still sitting wide-eyed, Cadence watched the black Alicorn perform her and Twilight's ‘secret’ greeting, still not really believing what she was seeing.

“Oh, come on!” Twilight said a little bit miffed, “You're supposed to do it too, otherwise I look ridiculous.”

“I'm… I'm sorry.” Cadence answered, as she finally seems to be relaxing a little bit, calming down enough to at least settle onto the bed again. “You just shocked me quite a bit, now if-”

“Owww… my horn.” A once again conscious Shining painfully murmured from the floor.

“Sorry about that BBBFF. I tweaked your shield spell a little bit. That's why you couldn't just dispel it like you can with most magic shields and barriers.” Twilight said apologetically.

“Tw… Twilight?” Shining said as he recognized the voice but still had not opened his eyes.

“What are you doing here? You shouldn't be-” when Shining finally did open his eyes, they went wide, making him look like nothing more than a deer caught in a magical spotlight.

“Changeling!” Armor yelled and once again jumped at Twilight.

But this time, her brother ended up frozen in midair, held firmly but carefully in Twilight’s telekinetic grasp. With a sigh, she floated her still struggling brother back and dumped him besides Cadence.

“Look BBBFF: it may not seem like it, but it's me, Twilight, your little sister. The two of you have been asleep for eight months, so sit down, be quiet, and I'll let you two know what's been going on.” Twilight said rather harshly as she glared at Shining, daring him to try something stupid.

After a few moments of Shining Armor sitting there looking shocked beyond reason, and his wife's wing covering his back holding him down, Twilight nodded in approval.

“Good… Now then, I've prepared a little presentation.” With that, several charts, diagrams, and pictures of familiar yet strange looking ponies appeared all around the room, hovering in Twilight's magic. The black Alicorn herself now had a rather giddy expression. After all, she could finally begin to give her well planned and obviously thoroughly thought out presentation.

“Oh, dear Celestia…” Shining whispered in astonishment, “It really is her…”

****

After the presentation that seemed to last for days, even though Twilight pointed out it had only been a little over ten hours, Cadence and Shining Armor were brought to the Crystal throne where Void sat talking absentmindedly to Rainbow Dash, who was standing guard at her right side.

Twilight made her way up and sat down on Void’s left side, waiting to be acknowledged.

“How dare you!” Said Shining Armor in a very threatening voice, “I don't care what you think justifies your actions in Equestria! But this is the Crystal Empire, and that is not your place!”

Both Void and Rainbow immediately fell silent, Rainbow glaring daggers at the white unicorn. While Void first looked annoyed, then got a very thoughtful expression across her face.

“You are right Shining.” Void then said to everyone’s surprise.

“But… But… My Queen?” Rainbow stuttered in shock at what she was hearing.

“No, it's okay Rainbow. I am the queen of Equestria, but Cadence is still the Crystal Princess. I am not here to usurp her; we have after all not found any evidence of mistreated young ones in her Empire. Therefore she has my blessing to continue as she has.” Void stated as she stood up and walked down to stand in front of Cadence.

“Your blessing! You have no authority-”

“Shining…” Cadence said and laid a wing over his back, calming her husband’s outburst- “Please calm down; we are truly not in a position to argue right now.”

As Shining looked around, he could see the rest of the element bearers, or Dreads as they were now called, emerging from the shadows around the throne room as if they melted out from them.

“Oh dear…” Shining heard from behind him, making him spin around and come face-to-face with a Dread Pegasus with a luxurious pink mane. “What a nasty bump you have on your head, do you want me to take a look at it?”

“Wh… what?” Shining said as he stared at the gorgeous creature until it clicked for him who it was. “Fluttershy?”

“Oh you remember me? How nice of you, Shining.” Fluttershy said, but instead of hiding away like she usually did, she gave Shining a very friendly smile.

Although, the effect was somewhat ruined by the fact that her teeth were now razor-sharp and gleaming white. A shudder ran through Shining at the sight and a bit timidly, he stepped closer to Cadence.

“Well, just let me know if you change your mind.” Fluttershy said quite confidently, “We are here to help, after all.”

“She's right brother. You may not believe what I've told you and Cadence earlier, but things have become quite a lot better for many little colts and fillies throughout Equestria since Void took over. Celestia was happy with things as long as they looked good on the surface, not bothering to check if it was really true. She has grown complacent, believing her own lies about happiness and prosperity for every pony. Because of that, I cannot tell you how much pain and suffering has gone unnoticed throughout the ages of her rule.” Twilight said sadly, as if she still didn't want to believe that Celestia actually missed something so horrifying for such a long time.

There was a heavy silence throughout the throne room after that, Shining not really knowing how to respond to his sister. And Cadence staring up at Void, trying to identify the only two connections of love she could feel coming from the dark Alicorn.

“We will not get much further this evening I believe,” Void said calmly and started heading for the exit of the throne room. “Let's talk tomorrow over breakfast when our heads are clear.”

With that she walked out, followed by five Dreads. Twilight however still sat next to her brother and Cadence, watching them carefully.

“Please you two… try not to anger her; she's been through more than you can possibly imagine.” Twilight said sorrowfully as a tear went down her cheek. “We are not perfect, but unlike Celestia we are actually aware of that. Please listen to what we have to tell you tomorrow and every pony will be all the more happy because of it.”

“We will try Twilight…” Cadence said to Shining's obvious surprise, “I can feel that there are two in her life she loves above all others, and if Void can feel love… Then she cannot be all bad.”

On hearing this, Twilight broke out in a wide smile.

“Thank you Cadence! I know you will not regret this!” She said happily and hugged her sister-in-law before reaching out with a foreleg and bringing her brother into the hug as well.

With a quick kiss to each of their cheeks, Twilight let them go with a happy giggle and followed her friends and Queen out of the throne room, leaving Cadence and Shining Armor deep in thought.

****

It had been a whole week of tough negotiations, explanations and re-compensations. All of which, Twilight constantly reminded Cadence and Shining Armor, were incredibly generous shows of goodwill from Void, since she truly didn't have to accommodate anything the Princess and Prince of the Crystal Empire felt they were owed.

Twilight had actually grumbled a few times that they should be happy being allowed to stay in power at all and not forced to simply become a sovereign nation under Equestrian rule.

Still, after a few spats here and there, the Crystal Empire and Equestria would continue to coexist in harmony and friendship.

Once again, all were gathered in the throne room, this time with Cadence sitting on the throne and Shining Armor at her right hoof.

As Void and her loyal Dreads entered, Cadence and Shining walked down from the throne to meet them halfway across the red carpet.

“So, I guess this is goodbye then…” Cadence said a bit sorrowfully while mostly gazing towards Twilight. Shining Armor meanwhile had no problem showing that he was only concerned with his sister, looking at her with eyes that pleaded for her to stay with him and Cadence.

“It is farewell for now, but do not look so glum you two; once we have gotten Equestria back on track again, there will be much more time to get to know each other better. And both of you will always be welcome to visit in Equestria. I know it has not been easy for you to take all these changes in, but believe me, once you've started gathering your own independent information, you will come to see that we have not been lying to you, and that Equestria is better off with us at the helm.” Void said sincerely.

“We will see about that…” Shining muttered, thinking nopony heard him.

“Always so distrusting Shining…” Void scoffed, “Although that is to be expected from a former Captain of the Royal Gaurd.”

“He doesn't mean anything by it…” Twilight interjected, glaring a bit at her brother. “He just wants every pony to be safe and he really doesn't know when to keep quiet sometimes.”

“Hey don't you-”

“It's okay Twilight; Shining and I are very happy with how things worked out between our countries. That being said, we cannot help still being worried on a more personal level.” Cadence said cutting her husband off mid-sentence.

“Quite understandable.” Void said with a nod, “You two have still been thrusted into this rather abruptly and the fact that I froze you two in a void Crystal eight months ago doesn't really help matters either. But with time. I'm hoping we can all work together towards a brighter future.”

“I do hope so Void, but only time will tell.” Cadence answered a bit curtly. “But for what it's worth, my first impression of you is a lot better than I could have initially hoped for.”

“Then I suggest we end our discussions with that in mind.” Void said with a hum. “Not much more can be accomplished during this first meeting between us. The trust is not there yet, but altogether, I'm very pleased with how things have worked out so far.”

“Then I bid you all a fond farewell and a safe journey home back to Equestria.” Cadence said and bowed respectfully to Void, who returned the gesture gracefully.

”You two are welcome at any time Princess Cadence.” Void answered. “When you and Shining Armor are more at ease with this situation, please do come visit us, I know that Twilight would be thrilled to see you both on a regular basis.”

Something that was perfectly clear since Twilight was already in a loving hug with her brother, before turning to Cadence and giving her too a very fierce hug goodbye.

“I love you two; please don't spy too long on us before you decide to come by for a visit.” Twilight said with a teasing little smile before she followed the rest of the friends that had already left for the train station.

“Wouldn't dream of it!” Shining Armor called after her, although it would appear he was just as good as Twilight when it comes to telling a lie, his very fake smile being anything but convincing.

“Then we will see you two soon.” Void said with a soft smile. “And if the Griffins give you any trouble, we will help your country any way we can.”

“Thank you Void, we will remember that.” Cadence answered.

“Well then, I best be going, or this goodbye will never end.” Void chuckled. “Also, Rainbow Dash will most likely storm in here, demanding my release, if she's kept separated from me for too many more minutes.”

With that, Void turned around, following Twilight away from the Crystal Tower. Cadence and Shining Armor stood for a while watching them leave.

“So… What do we do?” Shining Armor wondered.

“Nothing for now; there is really nothing we can do. Other than visit them in a few months, smile and play along.” Cadence said dejectedly. “If what Twilight said is true and Luna will be coming back soon. Then perhaps we will be able to plan something in order to help the rest of the girls.”

“Won't that be kind of obvious?” Shining asked. “Luna returns and we start planning to free Twilight and the rest. Void would be a fool not to see it and she does not seem to be a fool.”

“We will have to put our hopes in Luna. She is, after all, the Princess of the Night. I am sure she has more than one way to contact us without Void knowing about it if she wants to.” Cadence stated and turned to enter their Crystal citadel.

With a nod of acceptance, Shining Armor followed his wife, longing with all his heart for the day he could meet Princess Luna again.

****

Thanks to Cyanhyde - pre-reader/editor

Comments

[Leonofsweden]

So, here you have it! The whole story complete with extra bonus chapters as well. Hope you all enjoyed the read, and any thoughts on it are always appreciated, bad or good, you learn from both.

Have a nice one!

[TheGreatEater]

The sight of a black Alicorn, looking back at her with glacier-blue serpentine eyes not too far from the foot of the bed, made the Crystal Princess bounce back against the Crystal headboard and scream.

Twilight has lavender eyes.

The only two ponies that were turned into dreads were Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Rarity is the only one that has a color of blue that could be considered glacier.
_____________________

“Although that is to be expected from a former captain of the Royal guard.”

Captain of the Royal Gaurd
____________

She is, after all, the Princess of the night

Night
___________

Good chapter. Sad that Cadance isn't going to send spies / private investigations to see the truth of things before planning on stabbing Void in the back. And after seeing that Void is capable of love / isn't all that bad of a pony.

[Leonofsweden]

5427180

I will fix those issues, and Twilight has blue eyes in Dread form, all Dreads have ice blue eyes. And all the main six were turned into Dreads, read it again if you don't believe.

[Leonofsweden]

5427180

Also, who said they weren't going to send some spice? Although that will be an issue for the sequel.

[TheGreatEater]

5427262

I see they are going to be sending the spice, but what of the sugar? And are they in the sequel, are they are going to at least look at the good Void did, or are they going to just pretend to be nice while sharpening the knife they plan on stabbing Void in the back with?

[Leonofsweden]

5427272

HAHAHAHA!

I will not tell you, because I am evil! I am the evilest evil that has ever eviledededed...

Definitely maybe?!

HAHAHAHA!!!!

[TheGreatEater]

5427282

Nooooo! *disparing cry to the heavens* Does your dastardly evil deeds know no bounds?! You are half as evil as black liquorish pudding with anchovi chunks .

Seriously though, definitely maybe is cool . Scootaloo would approve of a definitely meybe if it had a side of Dashie-O's.

[Leonofsweden]

5432086

It whas complet, but I had a few questions about the CmC, Cadence and Shining Armor. So I obliged them, and wrote a few extra chapters.

Have a nice one!

[Vigriff]

5432925 Is there going to be a sequel?

[Anar Isil]

5427303 That actually doesn't taste as bad as it sounds. Try it!

[TheGreatEater]

5507896

It does not! *idnignation dance*. For Black Liquorice is the flavor of evil and hate. It is even said that Tirek's tainted soul is made from black liquorice, as was Hitler's musctache. Thus you know it is the foulest of evil things.

Although Anchovi's are awesome, even they are twisted into a foul mockery of they salty goodness by the tartarian depths of that substances evil.

[Leonofsweden]

5867712

Hmm... Preconceived notions on a story... Interesting. Do keep reading and tell me what you think.

[Rakdar]

5427282 What is the sequel?

[Phage]

Wtf happened I can’t even tell if this is a good ending or a bad ending but anyway I like how this story basically ended besides the fact that Twilight isn’t showing any signs of resistance even though having free will also is there a sequel