Lucidity - An MLP Fanfiction

I Wanted To Date But This Lady Seems Threatening

        "So this is the throne room. Down the hall is the guards' quarters, and upstairs is my bedroom as well as a few other private rooms for family members. Mom's been away on some sort of trip, so every room is free. She and dad are living in Ponyville, anyways. I needed leadership experience early on, but I guess now I'm free from that," Mirror joked, showing the three newcomers around the Crystal Palace.

"So, you live here alone?" Grenadine asked, her eyes wandering around the large room. Her voice echoed while she spoke, walked, did anything.

"Um, most of the time?" Mirror responded, but it sounded more like a question. "Mom and dad say I need proper experience if I'm going to be the next Princess."

"But now that Grenadine's here, will that mean you'll have to leave?" Snow prodded, his voice quiet. It was a question the rest of the ponies were too scared to ask. Mirror shifted her weight once Snow finally let it out in the open.

"Yes," The Alicorn replied simply.

There was an uncomfortable silence as the four ponies looked around the palace. It seemed there were no guards on duty, and the commotion outside had gotten quite low. Since there was no longer a need to "audition" as The Lost Princess, the one train-pony-host wouldn't be signing people up anymore. It was a strange turn of events, Grenadine thought as the silence grew. Her arrival had changed the entire dynamic of the Cyrstal Empire, so much so that the literal Empress had to retire so Grenadine could take her place. Why and how was that fair?

"No," The Umbrum stated out loud. Goldie tilted her head at her daughter's small outburst. Snow and Mirror shared a look between themselves.

"What do you mean by 'no?'" Goldie leaned forward, urging her daughter to elaborate. The yellow mare's crimson hair bounced as she spoke.

"I mean no. Mirror won't have to leave. She'll rule the Crystal Empire with me. We'll both be the Empresses," Grenadine said. She blew a piece of her dark red hair out of her face and continued. "And Snow can rule along with us! He's not blood-related to any of the rulers, but he can be a Royal Advisor, or something! It can be a trio of leaders! That way no one has to leave!" Grenadine happily looked around at her friends and mother, hoping to receive a similar reaction.

"That... could work," Snow said, lifting a leg as he stepped a couple of feet closer to the teen Umbrum. "I'm fine with it. I've never really wanted to be a leader per se, but if I'm just sort of helping then..." He trailed off as he thought back to his home. "I'd have to check in with Nana before I pledged my loyalty to the Empire, but I like this!"

"It does sound like a well-made plan. As long as you both can keep your home here, I'm sure none of the citizens will have any issue! Oh, this is so exciting! I get to rule with the Lost Princess!" The pink mare leapt forward and brought the Zebra and Umbrum into a hug, which all three relished in.

"Wonderful! We can head back home as soon as we settle in with the rules and living arrangements. Grenadine and Mirror Glaze, you two can stay here when I leave with Snow to pack and check with his Nana. Of course, she'll want to see her boy off!" Goldie happily rambled off the plan to move in and commence the soon-to-be-formed oligarchy of teenagers.

After a few hours of introducing Grenadine and Snow to the locals and their rooms, the trio was finally ready to separate and finalize their ruling of the Empire. Mirror and Grenadine walked the yellow Unicorn and the light blue Zebra to the train station, wishing them off as they left to collect their things and say their goodbyes to family.

After the train took off, Mirror flicked her head toward the town, and the pair was on their way back to the palace. As they were walking, Grenadine tossed an idea around in her head before finally deciding on saying it out loud.

"Hey, Mirror?" The peach Umbrum started. There was a hum from the Alicorn and Grenadine kept going. "When the three of us start to deal with being the leaders of the Crystal Empire, would you want to possibly be a couple? Or whatever a three-person couple is?" Mirror stopped walking and looked Grenadine directly in her green eyes. The cold blue was soul-piercing.

"Really?" She almost breathed. Grenadine was confused; was this a good or bad response?

"Um, yeah. I know Snow's been interested in you while we were here, and I definitely know that I would be fine with it. Would you?"

Mirror smiled widely, flapping her wings and flying for a moment before landing and hugging Grenadine. "Of course! You two are so cute, how could I not want to be with you both?"

The two girls laughed for a few minutes before continuing on their path to the Empire. As they neared, however, there was a sound of shouting coming from the town square. Grenadine stayed wary, her magic faintly appearing on her horn as the two royals continued walking closer. Finally, a voice was able to be heard.

"What do you mean I can't audition anymore?" A woman's voice screamed. Grenadine couldn't make out her face, but she seemed to be a pink Unicorn with a magenta mane. She was yelling at the audition pony from earlier. The Umbrum finally decided to make note of what the stallion looked like since it seemed she would keep seeing him everywhere. He was a lilac Unicorn with an indigo mane. It was wavy and short. The mare yelling at him was unrelenting.

"Ma'am, I'm not sure what you want to hear. The spot has finally been filled. She performed the right spell, her horn was real, and now there's no need to host these anymore. If you wouldn't mind, I was just about to head back to Ponyville and greet my husband, so if you'd just move--"

"No! I will not accept that!" The upset Unicorn continued loudly. Mirror looked at Grenadine, concerned. Would she try to intervene? "I demand a reshow!"

The stallion sighed loudly. "Ma'am, I already told you the spot has been filled, if you'd like to meet the actual princess, I could try setting up a meet-- she's right there!" The stallion caught sight of the two girls staring at the scene and pointed. "Now if you'd kindly let me get home to my partner-"

"You," The mare growled. She stomped over to Grenadine and Mirror, stopping nearly nose to nose with the peach Umbrum. "You ruined all my chances of ever ruling this Celesitaforsaken empire. Do you know how many times I auditioned?"

"And if I remember correctly," Mirror chipped in, her mane swooshing in front of one eye. "I had to turn you down, time after time because you were not the Lost Princess," She took a couple of steps to put distance between herself and the green-eyed mare with her.

"Oh, please," The Unicorn rolled her eyes loudly. "I could do anything this brat could. You're children, for Celestia's sake! Anyone could rule better than you!"

"Listen, I really don't think you'd want to be in my shoes. I had to go through a lot of trial and error to finally deal with the powers of Sombra, or whatever," Grenadine shuffled on her feet, avoiding the glare that she could feel coming from the Unicorn.

"Oh, please," The mare scoffed. "If all you needed was some practice to get where you are, then I guess rock bottom is where I should start, hm?" Magic began to form around her horn- a deep, jade green. Grenadine would have thought it was alluring if it wasn't being aimed at her at the moment. Wait-- it was aimed at her?

In just a couple of seconds, the magic was blasted at Grenadine. She ducked and braced for impact, but nothing ever hit her. She opened her eyes (when had she closed them?) and looked back up at the magenta Unicorn. She was smirking and looking at the crowd that had gathered around her.

"Now that you've revealed how you stole my life from me, let's see how you deal with nothing but amateurism up your sleeve?"

"Guards!" Mirror called, summoning a shield in front of herself and her-- girlfriend? They'd deal with that later. Crystal guards took the Unicorn away while the Empresses regained their composure.