Short stories about ponies and whatnot

by shutaro

Turning over a new leaf

It had been just a few months since Mi Amore Cadenza had taken to the empty throne of the Crystal Empire, but she already felt the rut of it. Celestia and Luna had warned her not to expect too much independence from the crystal ponies, they had been Sombra’s slaves for quite some time. And like any tyranny it had pretty much killed all capacity for independent thought, spontaneity and creativity in her subjects.

So when the empire needed a new system for taxation everypony looked to the crystal princess. Cadence promptly ordered a copy of the Equestrian Code in Canterlot and got Luna’s permission to use it. That system had worked fine for a thousand years in the heartland, it would work here, too. She even got some advice from Celestia on how to set up a ministry of finance and got to work.

Then there was the whole Equestria Games thing: ask the crystal princess.

The Empire needed a guard and military? Ask the crystal princess!

Building new streets and expand the railroad to Equestria? The princess!

No more weaving materials for the traditional crafts booth? Princess!!

When she saw a pony with a plunger walk into her throne room Cadence knew that she had to draw a line. Even if Shining Armor and her could do a whole lot of things with the magic of love and the power of the Crystal Heart, she needed to show her subjects that they had to think and act for themself.

The turning of the seasons was a perfect opportunity. Shimmer Cloud, chairmare of the new board of weather affairs, was pretty stumped when her princess denied the request for the end of summer. “I will gladly turn the weather,” Cadence said. “But the trees, the grass and all other plants, that will be done by the ponies, not by me and not with my magic.”

“But how are we going to do it instead? We have neither unicorns nor pegasus ponies in the Empire, all crystal ponies are earthponies at heart. How do you suggest we go about this?”

“I knew you would ask this,” Cadence smiled because now she was certain her plan would work. “I have asked an expert consultant on this for help.”

The next day Applejack Apple and her Granny Smith arrived at the palace. Within the day a plan for the running of the leaves had been established, almost solely by the crystal ponies and only a bit of … encouragement by the old pony. Signing of a deal for Sweet Apple Acres to supply cider and food for the event was a mere formality.

Two weeks later Shining Armor and his wife stood on the great balcony and used their combined magic to end summer and start autumn in the Empire. The mild air turned just a tad crisper, and the wind freshened. But this was not the great event, they had merely given the start to the greatest running of the leaves Equestria had ever seen: Hundreds, if not thousands, of ponies streamed from the palace’s central square into the outskirts of the city and then into the hills, fields and woods surrounding it.

Cadence watched as the colors of the trees around the palace shifted. The verdant green turned into bright red with a few spots of glowing orange and yellow; the first leaves drifted to the ground.

Shining Armor smiled. “Congratulations my love, I think you have just started a new tradition for the fall of the Crystal Empire.”

Author's Note:

At first I wanted to write a showdown between Sherlock Hoof and Prof. Mareati and how they both fall into the famous roaring Crystal falls, but I think that would have taken too long.

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The prompt: The Crystal Empire falls.