Snowflake Obsidian fidgeted behind her father’s chair. “When can I go out and play?”
He leaned back from his work. “Later.”
“C’moooon!” she said. “It’s my turn today! I waited years.”
He peeked outside. Just a regular day. Which wasn’t good. “You know the rules.”
With a harrumph, she stomped to the front door. By chance, a knock soon came. He arose and opened the door to the gloom. Except for the small patch of sunlight and air, with the few children it could accommodate. At the center stood Princess Radiant Hope, far too bent and wizened for her age, her horn alight. Despite everypony’s pleas, she’d always say it was for the children.
A fool’s errand. Inside was safe, and without the Crystal Heart, they had little choice. Barely into the centuries before their empire reappeared, by prophecy.
He sighed. “Thank you, Princess.”
Snowflake would return in an hour.
You packed out a lot of disquiet in so few words. Excellent work.
I have no idea what happened, but I don't think I like it.
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While the Crystal Empire is in disappeared mode, I'm theorizing that it's just black outside, with no sun or breathable air. You can still hold your breath and go from place to place, but only short distances and not for any extended period of time. Radiant Hope takes it upon herself to create as much of a pocket of normal outdoors as she can so the children can play. She can't make a very big one, so only a few children at a time can participate. With the number of kids in the empire, it takes a few years between turns.