My Little Poems - Ponies with Metal

by Lectuiae

The Crystal Empire Trilogy

The Crystal Empire Trilogy

- Fall, Memory, Rebirth

Blind Greed (Fall of the Empire)

Tower rose in the winter night
Traveler's beacon in the arctic fields
Once it shone from the northern land
Mellowing the coldest of winds

"No constraints of flesh
May prevent my revival
My day of return will come
From the depths of ice I will rise…"

Luminous
Crystalline homes
City that glows in light
Shining realm of knowledge and arts
Power from deepest of ties

Shimmered under the stars
Empire of the crystal kin
Until the days turned dark
Faded the lights into dim

I still remember the golden days, Empire of the North
Beacon of union and love
Crystal Heart their guiding light

Realm of peace now tortured
Enslaved under your will
Tarnished the hearts of joy
How could you let it be ruined…

Seeds of their misery, countless distraught lives
Burden of memory relived once again
Where ends your greed if you'll turn them to ruins…
Hail the king of forlorn… of frozen waste?

"Torn towers from the tides of time…
My throne, my beautiful halls,
You won't take them from me.
Who else but the strongest can claim
The right for power,to hold the Crystal Heart…"

"Such is the fate; such is my claim for throne
Over this land, over its glory and might.
Power to lead, power to force my will
Above the weak, nothing but slaves of mine."

"Such is the fate, such is my claim for throne,
Beyond the reach of time my mind will hold:
Over the time, lifetime thousandfold
From the deeps I'll rise and take my own…"

}~*~{

Anthem (Memory of the Empire)

Children of the Perished Empire…

The crystal spike
Emerged in the northern sky.
From thousand years of sleep
Woken the empire of past,
The world once perished and gone.

It looms in the north…
The echoes of cold domain.
The king, the tyrant reborn
Waiting his renewed chance
To finish what had begun…

Crystal kin
Drifting shells of the realm…

What's there… left… to protect…

Memories…
They're fading…
What's left are filled with hurt and grief.
It's graying and tarnished,
The world they once called their home.
Despair and fear,
Tokens of slavery,
Left within the heartcells
In the lost, orphaned souls of the empire…

… Stand up by your own feet

Restore your hope,
Find your courage,
Kindle the light,
Unite the nation's heart.

Once enslaved,
Be free from your past.
Weak can find
The power that lasts.

The long lost tradition, the fair of kinship,
The powerful memorial, seed for revival.

It's been gone for so long, the world of a crystal kin;
Arise and stand tall, the joy is at your reach.

Unearth your bravery; you have the strength you need.
Turn faith to reality: there is nothing to fear.

The awakened memory of a kingdom and home:
On the horizon the stars are the same.
Rise from the darkness to a dawn of new light.
Discover your history,
The strength to live free,

Who you are.

}~*~{

Rediscovery (Rebirth of the Empire)

a) Ghost

Where did the world once disappear
When we were praying for freedom
The light was blinding my eyes,
Then darkness came;
Was that the end…?

What waited were the graying walls
Lifeless city and kingdom
Is this the worth of my existence
Has nothing changed?

Am I alive and trapped in the death
Or dead and lost my afterlife
Was I ever anything else
Than these crippling chains around my neck

They say time has forgotten our life
Yet the scars are still fresh in my heart
Can't I just leave it behind
Can't I just forget it all

Am I a ghost that's wandering the earth
I remember nothing more but pain
I saw the light once faded
Is there meaning to even try to escape

They say time has forgotten our life
Yet the scars are still fresh in my heart
I have nothing to hold on
Maybe there never was
Can't I just leave it behind…

b) Recall

There is so much more in you than you believe…
Once enslaved can still find the strength to fight, to live…

I remember this scene
Somehow it's seems so real to me
The sounds of fair
All the tastes and smells in the air
What is this feeling

Is this a sign
Did I recall a time
That's my real life…?

Were there once a time and life without chains
When we did know joy
Where in my mind those times remain
I want them back

The shadow clouds the times before you lost your life…
Try to recall the world where you were free to smile…

They're waking up in me
Memories that I once had are here
The wistful fair
All the tastes and smells in the air
I remember this

Familiar sight, it's warming my heart
Like I'm welcomed home

All the life I've known I've lived in chains
For so long I've feared
Now I can open my eyes again
See and smile…

The key of rebirth
The stairway to the skies
The answer's waiting right ahead

Our deadline's closing fast with His siege
Will you be their savior, or are you to fail the final leap
Will you guide the light or lead their downfall?

All the life I've known I've lived in chains
For so long I've feared
Now I can recall the time past despair
I can smile

Maybe I can find myself again…
…I hope so…

c) Choice

A shadow is growing outside,
Everything around us is dying,
The darkness that emerged anew has swallowed the last dim of light…

Is this where the memory guided us
From the chains of our past, to the end of our future
Couldn't we be free after all?

There is no way for me
But maybe for someone else

I am seeing the eyes of darkness
They've grown everywhere
Before us the final choice:
Live, or be erased…

… I have a right to live my life

Don't be afraid
You have the power over your past
Let it guide your heart…

d) Rebirth

I won't resign to chains, no more
Now that I can see
There is more in life for me
I have the strength I need

The lantern of our land
It shines so bright
And guides us through the storm
We are given the key

I have rediscovered the path
Past the pain and grief
Scars may stay, but they won't bleed
I have the right to live

I can see the edge
There is no end
But a life reborn ahead
I can move on from here

I am free…

Author's Note:

A trio of poems based on "The Crystal Empire" episodes, the opening of Season 3. Like was the case in The Canterlot Wedding, I didn't really care to try working on a continuous epic, instead going with the separate poems with thematic connection. The ending poem "Rebirth" was particularly rather nice experiment into more "introspective" and "introverted" narrative.

Songs, in case the links won't work:
Battlelore - Into the New World
Edenbridge - Brothers on Diamir
Stratovarius - Elysium