Siege of the Crystal Empire

by Mystic Mind

Chapter 24: Coronation

(24: Coronation)

Shuffling her notes for what may have been the fifteenth time that day, Twilight Sparkle wiped the sweat from her brow. To say that the triumphant tidings from the Crystal Empire had been a relief would be an understatement. The purple Alicorn couldn't remember a time when she was last stressed out so much! For the first time since representation of the Element of Magic, there had been a potentially world-ending threat that she could do absolutely nothing to stop.

Now, seven days after the final battle's conclusion, she was about to come face to face with the biggest surprise to come out of the whole event; Equestria now had six Alicorns in total. Granted, from what Cadence had told her, absorbing an entire empire's worth of magic would do that to a pony, but it still wasn't something she expected all the same.

A series of loud knocks on the door made Twilight jump, her notes flying everywhere. The door swung open to reveal it was just Spike and Starlight Glimmer, though this did little to stop her heart from thumping like a stomping Yak. “Oh, sorry to disturb you, Twilight,” Starlight apologised, reflecting both Twilight's emotional relief and stress, though for differing reasons. This new Alicorn would need to be filled in on her shaky past and subsequent redemption, something she wasn't looking forward to; seeing as, 'Hi, I used to steal cutie marks and travel back in time to make Chrysalis win, but I'm all better now!' wasn't exactly the most pleasant of ice breakers to start with. “Princess Celestia said that we can begin the ceremony whenever you're ready.”

“Oh, y-yes! The ceremony, of course,” Twilight stuttered, frantically running around her room to pick up all the scattered cue cards. “I'll be there in just a minute, don't panic!”

“Err, Twilight, I don't think Starlight is the one that's panicking,” Though it may have appeared that Spike was pointing out the obvious, he was usually the one to help keep Twilight grounded, sometimes literally. “Are you sure you're okay?”

Skidding to a halt, Twilight pulled her hoof in and took a deep breath, following Cadence's calming technique to get a hold of herself. “Sorry, Spike, and thanks for the heads up, Starlight. I should be thrilled to see that Cadence and Shining Armour are safe, not to mention how they're bringing with them a brand new Alicorn! I just can't decide what I'm supposed to say. Do I congratulate him on a battle well fought? Do I talk about his cutie mark and what that means to the Crystal Empire? Do I pay my respects to the dead? I just have too many options!”

Starlight let out a frustrated sigh. “Twilight, get yourself back on the ground, first.”

Looking down, Twilight suddenly noticed that if she kept flying without realising it, she would be close to hitting the roof. Once she was back on the ground, she once more shuffled her notes, trying to calm down. “Sorry, Starlight. You understand what it's like to suddenly come face to face with an important pony the you only learned existed of a short time ago, right?”

“Of course, I do,” Starlight said, giving Twilight a sympathetic smile. “That was me with you when you convinced me to give friendship another shot. And if you could give me a chance to find some amazing new friends, I'm sure you'll do just fine with a war hero.”

“Besides, if anything, Stellar Shine is gonna be the one who will be nervous about meeting you! You're quite a well-regarded hero among the Crystal Ponies too, y'know. Second only to me, Spike the Brave and Glorious, of course.”

Twilight chuckled, as she had wondered when Spike would take the opportunity to remind everypony about his hero status, not least after helping Thorax to eventually become the leader of all reformed Changelings. “You're right, Spike. I'm sure with you, Starlight and the rest of my friends by my side, it'll be a breeze making a good first impression.”

With her notes finally ordered in terms of importance, Twilight made her way down to the ballroom, where upon pushing open the double doors, she saw Princess Cadence, Shining Armour and Stellar Shine stood up on stage, flanked by both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Walking down the middle of the room through the parted crowd, she could hear the familiar voices of her friends chatting away with the other five heroes of the siege; all of whom Stellar had named personally as the primary reason he had been able to achieve victory against Moonshadow.

“So, lemmie get this straight,” said Rainbow Dash to Moonlight, who looked to be far more patient with Dash's comparisons to her own abilities than many would have been. “You're telling me you raced this super powerful unicorn all the way up to the top of the Crystal Empire, and made it back in time to save your friends?”

“Aye, that I did,” Moonlight said, breaking eye contact with Dash as her face flushed an awkward shade of red. “Though I'm not much of a speedster like you are, Dash. That's why I became part of the Lunar Guard. Playing to my strengths, you know?”

“Hey, don't sell yourself short! What you did was an awesome achievement, and any Wonderbolt that's worth their stuff should know it!”

“Um, excuse me, Moonlight?” a soft voice from one shy yellow Pegasus spoke up next to the Bat Pony. “I don't know much about the Lunar Guard, but, Princess Luna does tell me that you occasionally speak about protecting Vampire Fruit Bats. Is that true?”

This was a question that made Moonlight's eyes light up with joy. “Oh, my goodness, I thought nopony would ever ask me about that! Mind if I pop round your cottage after, Fluttershy? We have a lot to talk about!”

“Of course,” Fluttershy said with a soft smile. “I have to admit, bats do scare me a little bit, but I'm always open to learning more about how to best take care of all kinds of critters.”

Closer to the stage, Meteor Might and Garnet Plateau were chatting with Rarity and Applejack, both of whom were giving them quite the intense barrage of questions. “So how did yer clan go from bein' humble farm ponies to tough-as-nails warriors?” Applejack asked. “I can't imagine the Equestrian Highlands bein' a particularly easy land ta be growin' crops in.”

“Ha! Ye'd be surprised what a little bit o' elbow grease can do for ye,” Meteor replied, flexing the bicep of her right-front leg for emphasis. “But to answer ye question more directly, ye ever tried fightin' off some nasty pests with one o' ye farm tools?”

“Boy, have I ever! You don't wanna know what I wanted to do to get rid of them Vampire Fruit Bats before Fluttershy stepped in. No offence to her, but I'd be more than happy never seein' one o' them near my farm ever again.”

“Ugh, tell me about it!” Rarity exclaimed with her usual over-dramatic flair. “I respect how much Fluttershy wants to protect all animals, but I simply cannot stand such ghastly creatures.”

“Well that's kinda the point, isn't it?” Garnet added. “Pests happen, and if throwing around the nearest sharp object is what takes for them to scram, then by all means use it!”

“And ye've gotta learn ta make tools somehow,” Meteor said, pointing to her cutie mark. “Hey, Rarity, ye think that maybe I can become an Equestria-renowned blacksmith like ye are with yer fashion designs?”

“Well, I would hardly consider myself to be that famous...” Rarity trailed off for a moment, caught off guard by the sudden high-class recognition of her creativity.

“If you ever need to wear a fancy dress while charging into battle with a giant hammer, I think we all know who are the best ponies for the job!” The absurdity of Garnet's statement gave all four ponies a good laugh, for the moment taking their newfound celebrity status with a pinch of salt.

Just below where Stellar was standing, Far Seer found himself regaling a wide-eyed pink Earth Pony and an intrigued, light-blue Unicorn with the tales of the battle past. “I gotta tell you, I don't think I've ever done that much teleporting in my life!” Far Seer said, making wide sweeping gestures to emphasise the grandiose nature of his actions. “Say, Trixie, why haven't you ever performed at one of Pinky Pie's parties? With your kind of stage show, it'd make quite the spectacular performance!”

“Well I-” Trixie began, before she found herself cut off by Pinkie Pie popping up in front of her to give a (needlessly elaborate) historical recount of her relationship to Ponyville.

“Oh, didn't you know? Trixie ran out from this town when one of her boasts about fighting an Ursa Major backfired, then she went all evil and tried to enslave the town because of becoming possessed by an evil Alicorn amulet, and it's only because of Starlight that she made a true friend and now she's a hero because she along with Discord, Starlight, and Thorax defeated Queen Chrysalis and now she's one of Starlight's best friends since the Changelings are all good now!”

“I... see...” Far Seer said, not wanting to admit that he only understood approximately half of what Pinkie Pie had just said. “Well, I suppose as long as you're on good terms with everypony, that's what really matters. Wouldn't you agree, Trixie?”

Blushing slightly, Trixie nodded. “Trixie has more than made up for her past sins, and now she intends to learn some of the spells a great hero like yourself has mastered. All to provide an entertaining show for everypony to enjoy, of course!”

“Oh! Oh! We should totally do a show together for the brand-new-Alicorn-prince-coronation party I'm going to hold tonight!” By now, Pinkie was bouncing up and down on the spot with excitement, which Far Seer had to admit he found to be rather endearing, despite being a little odd.

“I'm so glad to see that everypony is getting along already!” Twilight said, stopping at the bottom of the stage to reflect upon the relaxed atmosphere. Though she couldn't be certain, she had a feeling that after the news of Flurry Heart's crystalling, most of the Ponyville citizens had expected there to be more Alicorns popping up every now and again. Whatever the locals may have thought, Twilight's heart swelled with pride when she saw Stellar Shine making a series of funny faces at Flurry Heart, who was having just as much fun as he was by the way she wiggled on Cadence's back in a giggle fit.

“Twily, you made it!” Shining Armour called, dressed in his best red jacket and shield emblem sash draped across his chest. “Is your speech ready?”

Trotting up onto the stage, Twilight turned to face the crowd, and with a thumb up from Spike, she gave her answer. “Yes, I think I am. What about you, Stellar Shine?”

Stellar nodded. “As ready as I'll ever be. I have to admit, as clichéd as it sounds, I never expected in my wildest dreams to ever become an Alicorn like yourself!”

Twilight chuckled. “You know, I thought the exact same thing when Princess Celestia hosted my coronation. If you ever need to compare notes on how to handle royal responsibilities, feel free to stop by Ponyville any time!”

“I'm sure I'll keep that in mind, Princess Twilight,” Stellar replied, a little awkwardly. “Because, if I'm honest, I don't know the first thing about being royalty!”

“It's not nearly as hard as you would think,” Twilight reassured the new Alicorn. Clearing her throat, she levitated a few of her cue cards in front of her face, though one more look at the crowd made it clear she knew exactly what needed to be said.

“Attention, citizens of Equestria and the Crystal Empire! We are here today not just to usher in a new form of royalty, but to honour all of the heroic ponies who fought to protect the Crystal Empire from one of the biggest forces of evil there has ever been. Though there are many threats in this world that we would never hope to encounter, the fact that these ponies combined all of their talents to help end the war is simply amazing! But if there is one thing that I am proud to have helped ponies learn, it's that the magic of friendship can triumph against seemingly impossible odds.

“The Crystal Heart gets its powers from the love and devotion each citizen of the Crystal Empire has toward one another, and as we have seen time and time again; that power can bring out the best in everypony when it's needed most. And so, as the Princess of Friendship, it is my honour to crown our newest addition to Equestrian royalty, Stellar Shine, Prince of Light!”

A massive cheer rang through the crowd, breaking into a thunderous applause as Twilight placed a crown of crystal on Stellar's head, the shooting star of his cutie marked adorned on the top. Bowing to each other, Twilight took a step back to allow Stellar to say a few words of his own.

“I have to be honest, there isn't much that I can say different to what you heard when Princess Twilight was crowned. What I will say, however, is that all I have ever wanted in life was to protect the Crystal Empire, my home, from anything that would dare to threaten its citizens. With this newfound power and position, I don't intend to be fading away from the front lines of battle at all. In fact, now that I am an Alicorn, I have even more reasons than before to do everything I can to protect the peace and harmony of our two co-opting nations. That is why, despite my royal status, I won't be accepting any military rank higher than that of Shining Armour.

“If Emerald Wind's death has taught me anything, it's that when we work together as equals, there is no longer any need for sacrifices, selfless as they may be. With His Majesty's permission, I would like to be the Captain of the Guard for the Crystal Empire division, inspiring others to put all differences aside and fight for the common good, and forming the order of the Crystal Paladins. In addition, I would like to erect a statue of Emerald Wind as a memorial to him, so that come next Crystal Empire Day, all citizens of our nations can come to both appreciate what we have lost, and celebrate what we have gained during the Siege of the Crystal Empire!”

“Three cheers for Prince Stellar Shine!” Shining Armour and Cadence said together, the crowd following their lead and cheering for one of the empire’s newest and most accomplished heroes. Stellar had set out to make his city proud by protecting all, and he sincerely hoped that if Emerald was watching over him from the next life, he would be proud as well.

(The End)

Comments

[Yutah123]

I present to you these two music videos; these, I think, are perfect for a siege.

[Mystic Mind]

9080316
100% epic! Glad you were inspired to find something fitting =D.

[Starlight Nova]

If the main OCs in this story were voiced, what would they sound like?

[Mystic Mind]

9785500
Good question! I'd imagine Meteor Might would be voiced by Mad Munchkin, but beyond that, I'm not sure.