A/N:

As of May 2021, I cut up the first chapter, so it's not such a daunting read.

• 3 Moons Earlier

Flash felt like crying. He had been caught messing with the portal, and gotten a very harsh caning as a result, but that was days ago so it wasn't what was bothering him now-- no-- they were moving the mirror portal. He wouldn't have access to the surface anymore... he wouldn't see Sunset...

He tried to act casual as he handed in his transfer request to Shining... The Captain's reaction was to bring him before Celestia. He knew they must be wondering why he was so obsessed with the portal... but he couldn't tell them. That he was sneaking off to see his special somepony was hardly a good reason for risking their world's exposure. There was a reason all magical life went into hiding...

Celestia looked at him a moment. Then turned her eyes to Shining. A strange seriousness to her. The usual playful mare had never looked so serious to the young cadet's eyes.

"Before you are transferred you must be made aware of the laws in the Crystal Empire." Celestia informed, looking back to him.

Flash blinked, was that all they wanted? To make sure he fully understood the implications.

Celestia continued, "The Crystal Empire has been missing for a thousand years. That means they are a thousand years out of touch with modern laws. Stallions are still very much treated, no that's not the word, they ARE second class citizens... that means there are many things you currently enjoy, and even take for granted, that could earn you a flogging for attempting to do over there. You will be constantly talked down to and not only treated but thought of as property. As far as the Crystal ponies are concerned you serve at the pleasure of their Princess, in ALL things."

Flash blushed, he was aware that the guard was still used as a Heram by the Crystal ponies... but honestly he doubted Cadence would ever make him do anything. Celestia was probably just trying to scare him.

"Don't get any notion that you would even have the option to refuse Princess Cadence, or believe that she wouldn't order such of you. By transferring to the Crystal Empire you are volunteering for her harem. She would be considered neglectful by the mares of her City State if she didn't 'tend to your needs'. To do so would result in the Crystal ponies losing respect for her as the caring Princess she presents herself as."

Flash blushed, part of him wondering, and worrying, how she knew what he was thinking. It was probably just a coincidence... still it was embarrassing to think about... he and Sunset hadn't even done more then kiss yet! Flash hadn't even let her get to second base yet! But he was supposed to let a stranger deflower him?

Shining was standing tall and looking stern, not arguing about his wife sleeping with ponies outside of the herd... well guess a Harem was kinda like a herd... it just involved a bunch of Stallions instead of a bunch of mares...

When Shining turned his eye at him, without moving his head, Flash snapped back at attention.

Once the colt was looking at her again, Celestia continued. "You will not be allowed to leave the castle without an escort. To the Crystal ponies you are a fragile creature that needs to be sheltered 'for your own good', and any notion that you are anything less then grateful will result in a foalish beating."

Flash's ears pinned.

"You are not an equal to the Crystal ponies, so you should not expect to be allowed to vote, nor even voice your opinion on any matters."

Flash hung his head.

"Whatever you are hoping to find in the Crystal Empire... would it be worth it?"

Flash looked up, and answered, without hesitation, "Yes," that indeed sounded like Tartarus but there was no question in his mind... it be worth it...

After he agreed, Celestia sent him to pack.

Once the colt was gone from sight, Shining looked at Celestia, "I thought you were trying to scare him. Why did you accept his transfer?"

Celestia sighed, "I was trying to stress the full implications of what he was asking for."

Shining stared at her in disbelief, "The whole point of moving the mirror to the Crystal Empire was so that THAT colt couldn't play with it anymore."

"He's not playing. I looked into his mind to see why he was so determined... Sunset is waiting for him on the other side... and he is trying to convince her to come back..."

Shining tilted his head, "Sunset?"

"Yes, that was a good few years before you were made Captain," Celestia remembered. "Sunset was my former apprentice before Twilight... I saw such raw power in her... and such ambition... I tried to sway her, even focusing her lessons more on ethics then magic, but that just resulted in her becoming resentful of me... originally... I had wanted her to achieve what Twilight later had. I wanted her to be my heir...

"I realize this may be selfish of me... but I failed that filly in so many ways, discouraging the darkness when I should have been focusing on nurturing the light. She decided to live down to my expectations, stole books on every dangerous magic I forbade her... then ran away to the surface... but it seems she is still reaching out to her colt friend... and he has been trying to convince her to come back... Like I said, selfish, but I want to see if he can do it."

Shining sighed, "I can understand you care for this fillie, but why not just force her back? Surely-"

"That's just it... I doubt we could. She has managed to stay hidden from my Anthropologist for near half a decade, despite apparently never going too far from the portal and even going back and forth between our worlds... besides, even if we did find her... she has grown too powerful...

"I know I don't look it Shining... but I'm old... Alicorns may get taller and more beautiful as we age... but we are still mortal. I have lived for over 2000 years... and I sense my time is coming. Is the exact reason I needed an heir... and why I acted so hastily with Sunset... I am old... and weak... The changeling Invasion proved that... I wouldn't be a match for Sunset anymore, not if her power progressed as I thought it would...

"I will not risk Twilight now that she has ascended into an Alicorn herself. She is still growing into her power, the same can be said of Cadence. Luna may be able to take her back by force. After all, she was in stasis all those centuries, so she is still at the peek of her power... but honestly the LAST thing I want is for my little sister to become aware of yet another of my failures... My ego is fragile enough."

Shining sighed, "Your highness... is it really the best option to let an untrained colt run around the human world?"

"No... which is why you are going to give him that training. Move him to the Anthropologist division of the Guard. Tell him if he is really so fascinated by humans he can learn how to properly interact with their world... then pretend not to notice when he sneaks through the portal. Keep your eyes on him but give him room... if he can succeed and convince Sunset to rejoin our world willingly..." she trailed off, as if she couldn't see how that would have any effect on their world other then making herself happy.

Shining sighed, before asking, "If the point was to have an Alicorn to one day take your throne... why not just train Cadence? Why take on Twilight? or even this Sunset before her."

Celestia eyed him a moment, wondering how much to tell him, "This does not leave the room. You will not even tell your wife... Do you still want to know?"

Shining bit his lip, then spoke up, "I am the Captain of the Guard. I need to know."

"Cadence ascended into an Alicorn on her own. Yet unlike the previous Alicorn Dynasty, she remained kind and pure. The power did not corrupt her... Seeing that I gained a new sense of hope. While I originally planned to just train her for my throne it became more and more clear she didn't want nor had the drive to make the big decisions. To hold lives of millions in her hooves with her every choice. She is too pure and wouldn't be able to handle that... at least... not alone...

"So I started looking for other exceptional foals that I could train to cooperate with each other. Believing if I trained them all myself, from a young age, they would grow up to have a greater moral compass then the Alicorns of old. While still being greatly respected by ponies for their power. I have not found many but I have found some. They are not yet ready to be made public, nor have most even ascended yet, but I am training them all to learn the art of politics with compassion."

"Your trying to set up a new Alicorn Dynasty?" Shining shuddered.

Celestia smiled, "Not quite, My sister and I helped fight against their tyranny, so we understand the need for safe guards. The current Government will still stand and act as a buffer to keep the Alicorns in check. The Alicorns will have some political power in the city states they protect but that will be their major purpose, protection.

"They will not have absolute power, as the nobles in their city state will be able to veto them as they can the city's Mayor. Then an Alicorn will not be permitted to serve on the Senate, where the Mayor of each city state meet once a moon to vote on national laws and set the budgets. The Senate will continue to keep Twilight in check, just as they do for me, voting on any law she attempts to pass through their opinion of what is in the best interests of Equestria. Well she to, will have the right to veto their bills. Then the Mayors will act as advisors to their own Princess well handling the daily operations of their city state. It will be a system with checks and balances to insure a safer Equestria."

"The Alicorns will mostly be spiritual leaders and champions to better protect the ponies... Once they are ascended and settled into their positions, I will retire and leave Equestria in their hooves. If all goes according to plan that should be within 10 years... Cadence actually knows all the Ponies I'm currently training. She was their foalsitter after all, to teach her responsibility and help guide them to unlock their destinies without realizing it."

Shining tilted his head, "But Cadence was Twilight's foalsitter for years before she became your apprentice."

Celestia smiled, "Alicorns have visions of the future. Vague though they may be, they are accurate enough for me to determine who had the power needed to become Alicorns. While I debated who would be who, I had Cadence watch them. Both to teach her patience and influence them with her strong moral compass. Not all the foals she looked after could actually be able to reach their potential, but I tried nurturing them all when the time was right. Cadence was vital in that. I'm glad she proved she is finally ready to take over her own City State."

Shining squirmed and Celestia picked right up on that. "You are not?" She asked, probing like a nosy mother.

"I am... just wish we could have settled in someplace not so... Traditional. Cadence has to work hard to keep both the Mayor and Governesses happy." The head of each noble family is called a "Governess" or "Governor". However they are usually a mare throughout most of Equestria, and exclusively mares in the Crystal Empire.

Shining sighed, "Honestly, that system you set up to 'keep Alicorns in check' makes it hard to pass any laws to give Stallions more rights, as the nobles keep vetoing her bills."

Celestia shrugged helplessly, "Democracy in action. This system may be harder to get anything done but it will result in fewer riots and gender wars then when I first attempted to force the issue, several centuries ago... hopefully Cadence doesn't try to use her power of emergency to pass a bill the Crystal Ponies aren't ready for. Social change is a dangerous process and the last thing any of us want is Stallions and Mares killing each other in the streets... Thankfully Cadence has more patience then myself at her age and seems to be keeping the peace well encouraging change. I heard she even got a bill passed against Stallions being married off against their will."

Shining shrugged, "It still doesn't prevent 'family duty' being used to pressure the Stallion. It's more of a baby step, but she was able to slip in that the Stallion could choose their own wife, even if the family doesn't approve."

Celestia smiled proudly, "More then I ever did, my first year on the throne."

"It helped that Cadence gave her guards permission to find lovers outside the harem. That made quite a few mares happy, although not exactly considered proper behavior, even the nobles are grateful their are some many potential baby factories now for any pony's use... the castle is more like a brothel with the frequency of the guards mare friends stopping by to visit." Shining blushed.

Celestia chuckled, "Cadence never was one to deny love."

Shining sighed, "You should have seen how the nobles acted when she performed her first Stallion to Stallion marriage. That nearly did cause riots... then she made that 'Stallion District' for them to interact with each other unsupervised by mares. Seeing how many gay Stallions moved in their permanently, and Cadence let them set up their own shops and recreation areas in there... well with how much Crystal ponies look down on working Stallions and consider gay Stallions as 'selfish deviants'...

"Well the nobles are treating the whole place as if it was a red light district, despite the Stallions mostly using it to just casually hang out and make friends. A few of the store owners set up areas for the sole purpose of discussing hoofball, comic books, O , and other Stallion focused entertainment. They really like the idea that they now have things specificlly catered to Stallions taste... It's easy to take that stuff for granted, with how common place it is now, but the Crystal Stallions definitely appreciate all of it.

"Things like O and enchanted comic books were originally made for Stallions and colts to have the fun of adventuring in a safe, mare approved, environment. So the Crystal Mares are letting them play, while shaking their heads in amusement... however they aren't too big of fans of the sports their Stallions are beginning to play.

"Many of the Stallions rather like the new sports, made just for them, that have popped up in the last few centuries. Still, the mares don't think Stallions are fit enough to compete in sports. They don't trust all the protection enchantments on the uniforms, as apparently those weren't nearly as reliable in their day.

"Cadence is trying to get the Stallion centered schools to get their own sports teams but that has been hard work. The mares are worried the colts might hurt themselves. I'm sure once we convince them of the safety of how magic has evolved, they will agree to letting Stallions form their own sports teams... ideally they will even let them join in the Stallion nationals. Right now they just play in secret in the Stallion district and their wives punish them if they learn of it... mostly they get punished if they are SUSPECTED of playing those 'dangerous games'."

Shining sighed again, "Cadence set up free taxis for Stallions, specifically meant to get them from their homes to the District... of course the nobles passed laws that say the taxi mare is to make sure the Stallion has finished their chores, beat them like errant foals if they haven't, and that all the shops and clubs in the Stallion district must be closed 1 hour before school gets out for the foals... that way the Stallions are still tending the children and taking care of the house...

"Cadence was going to Veto it, but with how tense things had gotten since the District has opened (especially since all the shops inside are run by the Stallions, with even more Stallions getting part time jobs there) Cadence thought she might be forcing them to move forward too quickly. To avoid a riot she let the Crystal ponies take a step backwards, to let them catch their breath. Thankfully she was able to talk the Nobles out of the Stallions needing permission slips from their wives, or mother, to even let them enter the district. That would have defeated the entire purpose.

"... we... we actually staged an incident where I talked back to Cadence in court, about the restrictions for the Taxi mares... Even if it was planned, her spanking me in front of all the Governesses was embarrassing as all Tartarus, let's not even talk about how much it hurt, but it gave the nobles a new found respect for Cadence, and strangely towards me to...

"A few days later, well we were in private, again Cadence asked if she could start punishing me more often, for real things... you know, cuz it worked so well to get the nobles on her side... I guess I'm lucky I was at least asked as Cadence still considers me her equal but most of the Stallions I have come to know never got that choice... so I kinda felt obligated to agree for their sake..." Shining blushed and squirmed a bit, "I know the Stallions really warmed up to me when they learned I got punished to... they were beginning to think me a bit spoiled and unrelatable. I actually got a lot of friends after that... they all think I'm brave now each time I question Cadence or give her my advice... which she allows so long as it isn't well we are in session... I've gotten it for real for 'speaking out of turn' during her meetings now.

"Anyway, it seems not even the Crystal Stallions approve of how lax Mares outside their empire are. Apparently they are so bucking brainwashed they actually believe all that hay about a Stallion's natural place being 'under the protective guidance of their mares'."

Celestia gave a serious nod, "It will take time to get them more accustom to modern thinking... and they may never fully adapt to our ways, but your helping make things better for their Stallions."

Shining gave a hesitant nod back. Looking back at the door, "I just hope that colt really thought this through."