Fallen Queendom

by Zeroraid

24

Gentle wasn’t too sure how long he stood there rocking Cadence from side to side as he patted her back. He could have been there for a few short minutes, or he could have been there for an hour, it honestly didn’t matter in the end.

Cadence… Cadence needed this. Least that was what he told himself.

Only she knows how long these thoughts and feelings were eating away at her; and finally letting them out? That must have felt so good.

When Cadence finally pulled away, she used a hoof to wipe a few stray tears away and took a needed breath.

“Sorry about that.” She got out as Gentle just smiled at her, and reached up to pat her head like she was a little kid.

If only he could reach…

Cadence giggled, leaning over as she helped him out. It’s been a long time since she had someone ruffle her mane. It felt just as nice as she remembered.

Pulling his hoof back Gentle, Cadence straightened up as she looked at the young pony. “We should probably get back to the others.” She told him as he made a gesture with his hoof, as Cadence led him off, and stopped only when she noticed a trio of figures peeking out from the corner of the hall. “Shining?”

“No one here goes by that name.” The words were immediately followed by a hitting noise. “Ow!” A moment later, a familiar white stallion was pushed out into the hall as he looked back for a second before looking back ahead, awkwardly rubbing a hoof on the ground. “Hey.”

“Hey yourself.” Cadence smiled as she walked up to her husband. “How’d you know where I was.”

“I didn’t.” Shining Armor muttered. “But my Husband-Senses were tingling so~”

“Husband-Senses?” Cadence giggled slightly. “What are Husband-Senses?”

“They’re like Spiderpony’s Spider-Sense, but they only tell me when you're either mad at me, or in danger.”

“Ah~ so that thing must be misfiring.” Cadence joked as she heard Sunset snicker. “After all I’m neither in danger nor upset with you.”

“Thank the Goddess for that.” Shining Armor remarked as his smile started to fade. “Still, are you ok? You look like you’ve been crying.”

“I was.” Cadence admitted. “I just needed to get something out.” She stated, looking at Gentle as he just smiled and shrugged.

“Well, if everyone is alright.” Pale Arts began. “What do you say we move to a more open space?” The mare asked. “It would be nice to get some air, no?”

“Yeah.” Cadence agreed. “I think we could all use some.”

---

She was singing again. The mercenary realized as she stared at Gaea as the mare continued walking down the paved forest roads.

She was singing and the world around her seemed to respond in kind.

No matter how often it seemed to happen, the mercenary still found it a little strange; seeing such a resonance from one singing. She’d seen Pegasi move the clouds and she’d seen Earth Ponies tend the soil, but she’d never seen the world respond to them as much as Gaea’s singing did.

‘Guess it makes sense.’ The mercenary thought, looking around, seeing that small flowers were starting to bud on the nearby bushes. ‘The world - it’s all a part of her. Makes sense that it would respond to her.’ The mercenary thought. “Still…” She muttered.

“Something troubles you.” Looking at her client the mare shrugged as she looked back ahead at the singing pony. “What is it?”

“Hard to say.” The mercenary mare muttered. “It’s just… getting a little confused is all.” She admitted after a while. “What is our purpose here?”

“Hm?”

“What exactly are we supposed to be doing?” The mare asked. “I’m all for going on a walk, but… what are we doing?” The mercenary asked. “What is it that she wants us to do?”

“I can answer that.” Gaea stated, her singing stopping. “Truth be told, I don't want you to do much right now, simply acting as my escort is enough, for now.”

“For now.” The mercenary parroted. “So what about later?”

“Later, well… I would like you to live your lives as you see fit, and I want you to prepare.” The Goddess Incarnate stated.

“Prepare for what?” The mercenary asked.

“The coming storm.” Gaea stated. “Just know, I will not be the storm.” She admitted. “After all, I am not the villain of this story.”

“Then who is?” Gaea looked heavenward, seemingly gazing at something the others could not see as she started to speak.

“Sorry, but no spoilers just yet.”

---

The crystal empire looked more beautiful than it did before the Crystal Heart was found and returned to it’s rightful place. Still, something seemed off about the empire right now. It felt like there was still… something missing, what made the empire ‘alive’ was missing.

“What’s missing?” Cadence asked as she looked around, a few ponies noticing her and seemed in some sort of daze for a moment.

“It’s the heart and soul of the Crystal Ponies.” Pale Arts stated. “Looks at their coats. They were brighter earlier, yes?”

“Yeah.” Sunset muttered. “Why are they so dull now?” She asked. “It’s like when we first got here.”

“Indeed.” Pale Arts nodded her head. “They’ve lost the spark that makes them who they were.” The mare stated.

“What do you mean.”

“The Crystal Empire is empathetic in nature.” The older mare stated. “It shines when the land is filled with light and love.” The mare stated. “And should that light be lost it will fade.” The mare continued. “The Crystal Ponies are the same in that regard, only they have lost their light.”

“But everything’s fine now, right?” Cadence muttered. “Sombra, he’s gone, you presented his horn to all of them to prove it.”

“Yes, but his shadow still lingers over them.” The older mare admitted.”It will take time before they can realize that their nightmare is over.”

“Is there anything we can do?” Shining Armor asked.

“We can help them, remind them of better days, but they must do the rest of the work.” Pale Arts muttered. “Only they can break free of the chains that bind them.”

“I wanna help them.” Cadence muttered. “These are my ponies, right? I want to help them move past this.” She admitted before looking to Pale Arts and the others. "Would you be willing to help me?"

"Of course." Shining Armor stated, smiling at his wife. "No way I'm letting you do this alone."

"I see no reason to turn you away." Pale Arts admitted, before looking at Gentle and Sunset. "Of course, if you two wish to move on however…"

"I'll help." Sunset muttered looking at Cadence before turning away. "It's the least I can do."

Gentle just nodded his head with a happy smile.

"Everyone… thank you."