Arch of Shadows

Celestia's mind wandered from her scheming with Sombra to the mission that had made the arrangement in the first place. She recalled it like it was just yesterday.

It had been a clear summer's day; the republic was still intact, and a young Celestia was on a diplomatic mission with her mother, Solaria. Many believed, even then, that Solaria had nothing more than blood and death on the mind.

Her mother was out to prove them wrong, partly to disarm rumors of a potential coup, and partly because she did have more than conquest in mind.

Celestia had to appreciate the level of forward thinking that her mother had in her interests; after all, if her parents had to kill off almost all of the other alicorns, Celestia was going to need someone to pair up with, or at least in theory.

Things obviously did not go as planned, but then again, when have marriages with alicorns involved ever go completely as planned?

Celestia, nearly half the size of her mother at the time, landed in the grassy plain.

“How do we know this is the place?” Celestia asked, her high voice contrasting sharply with her current, much more middle-pitched tone.

“Trust me, if anyone can follow a map in broad daylight, it is I."

Solaria hovered a map in front of her, confidence gushing like a burst water pipe. With her magic, she rolled the map up and concealed it, turning her head towards her daughter with a lecture-like air of authority.

“Now then, we arrived early so that we may discuss etiquette.”

“But I already know those!”

Celestia could not suppress the whine in her voice, as she had had this drilled into her head for days on end in preparation for her first diplomacy mission.

“Do not open your mouth unless prompted, listen more than talk, and always be mysterious.”

“That is domestic policy, Celestia dear." Solaria shook her head, as if she were a teacher wondering where her students' minds had been during her previous lectures.

“You have to be much more fluid when dealing with foreign powers. After all, the Crystal Empire is the only pony-only empire in the world right now, and convincing them of a union is vital.”

“But are not unions only for monarchies?” Celestia tilted her head to the side, staring up at her mother with curious eyes. “What kind of union can you build between a monarchy and a republic?”

Solaria smiled, the sun radiantly catching her ever-flowing, multicolor mane, scattering the light of day much like a prism would. It was a fond image of her mother that Celestia preferred to her post-empire appearances.

“That is what you are here for." Solaria tossed her mane onto her back, though it did little good in shifting its position. It was mostly a gesture that held more meaning in its timing than what it actually moved.

“You are going to be quite the catch when you mature, and I have a good feeling that Umbra will have at least one son amongst his lot.”

If that answered Celestia's question, then her ears sprouted feet and walked off of her head. In case that was confusing, Celestia's question was not really answered at all, at least as far as she could tell back then. “But...”

Solaria swept a wing above her daughter, silencing her in a single motion. Solaria's gaze then focused towards the horizon.

Sparkling in the distance was a duo, shining as if they were gems themselves. They were still far off, so this was about as much as Celestia could tell of their features.

“They look like gems!” Celestia began bouncing up and down in excitement at the thought of meeting real crystal ponies. “So cool!”

Solaria giggled; in hindsight, she probably wanted to scold her, but just did not have the heart to go through with it.

The pace of the two crystal ponies increased rapidly, even from here smiles apparent on their faces. Celestia stopped bouncing when she actually got a look at these ponies.

They looked to be made out of gems indeed; one was incredibly tall, almost tall enough to lick Solaria's cheek without standing on two legs. The other was taller than Celestia, but definitely more average height as far as ponies went.

Both sparkled with a radiance that could only be described as crystalline, the shine even present in their eyes as they approached.

The taller one was a brownish mare sporting a plain crown (anymore gems would be overkill for the look Celestia theorized) and had a black, high sheen mane.

The clothing lacked intricacy, with only a red and white cape draped over her back.

Celestia noted that this is the same cape that Sombra would later don during their final battle; perhaps a memento or tribute of sorts.

Next to her stood a stallion covered in shining plated armor. The eyes were focused, the mane was a deep purple, and a helmet covered much of the face. The coat had a granite color and texture to it, or at least what could be seen from the steel armor covering most of his body.

A bright red horn, curved and colored like a ruby of sorts, stood out the most, a trademark of sorts that clashed with conventional unicorn horns.

Together, the two looked like a couple out on a date, rather than here on official business. Just by appearances alone, Celestia could guess that the stallion held rank in the military while the mare attended to matters of the state.

Either that, or the stallion guarded the mare as an escort of sorts.

Upon the two stepped into hearing distance, Celestia could hear them chattering. Though she could not make out the details, he could tell that it was an amiable sort of conversation, perhaps even private to some extent.

Solaria noted this as well with a smile. The two stopped just feet away, with the stallion directly across from Celestia and the mare directly across from Solaria.

“Empress Amore and General Umbra, nice to see that you are both well.” Solaria smiled wide, no doubt eager to see the two figures in a good mood.

Amore returned the smile before looking towards Celestia. “I suppose this is your daughter, Celestia? She is much older than I expected her to be.”

“It has been many suns since her birth, but I still remember her first question." Solaria's tone turned teasing in line with the upcoming joke that so obviously would start the real dialogue between them.

"Where do alicorns come from?” She said it with such a childish mimicry that for a moment, one would believe in ventriloquism.

The adult ponies shared a laugh, and though Celestia maintained her composure, her blood boiled due the condescending manner in which they laughed.

Up till that day, she still had yet to be taken seriously whenever she asked, and had it not been for Umbra, perhaps she would have made a big deal out of it.

“Alicorns are either ascended or made in their mommy's womb after a good fucking." Umbra answered this rather abruptly, and the laughing ceased.

"Umbra, Celestia is a bit young for that kind of talk, do you not think?" Amore seemed aghast that Umbra had not toned down the nature of his response, though in truth Celestia believed she was more disgruntled with the fact that he had kind of ruined the mood.

Celestia almost broke out into a series of questions at this subtle prompt when Solaria gave her a quick glance. With her narrowed eyes, she made it clear that that would have to wait for another time.

That was all Celestia needed to curb her excitement and return to her regal state of mind. Well, about as close to regal as a young mare could get anyways.

“Trained like a puppy dog,” Umbra joked with a smile on his face, “I have to say, your reputation would suggest that a whipping is in order for even thinking of how you were conceived.”

Solaria's gaze redirected towards Umbra, a sort of imaginary sword drawn between the two. The tension began layering as Umbra cockily awaited Solaria's response.

“I can see it is straight to business with you then." Solaria did not need many words to get a point across.

She had been intended on softening the upcoming discussion with some lighthearted jokes, but Umbra's blunt smashing of that plan had cut short the pleasantries.

“Must we go straight to business?” Amore took a slight step forward, attempting to salvage the civility of the meeting. “Can we at least get to know each other first? Have a bite to eat? I'm sure we all have guards within a day's travel who can bring...”

“No time.” Umbra narrowed his eyes at Solaria, “What is this I hear of a union between a republic and an imperial state? What are you all up to?”

“Grappus suggested it a few weeks ago. The republic has a growing number of enemies, as we become more and more diverse, it becomes more and more difficult to maintain stable borders."

Solaria blinked, returning Umbra's gaze with a less hostile look.

"The griffin reasoned that it would be a good idea to join with independent kingdoms in marital unions in order to create a stronger status quo. I happen to have a single daughter, so I volunteered to negotiate such terms with the Crystal Empire.”

Umbra took a threatening step forward, a low growl sounding from him.

“Fearing more war are you all? Everyone knows that blood is literally staining the very claws and hooves that sign your treaties. I would not be shocked if your own code of laws stuck together.”

Solaria took a step forward, her large stature casting a shadow over Umbra. Any closer and the two would likely come to blows.

“Oh, and I am guessing the Crystal Empire expanded through peaceful negotiations and Trojan ponies? All we want is to prevent a clash between two very powerful and militarily ruthless states.”

“We have no intentions of being lulled into a false sense of security by some union. We will always be ready for a duel."

Up to this point, the Empress had been largely silent, despite her companion trading barbs with an alicorn. Solaria decided to force her input on the matter.

“Amore? You seem awfully quiet on this matter. Surely you are not going to let your general do your job for you?”

“Just taking this all in,” Amore replied with a sigh, “Can we at least sit? I feel that already the two of you are just short of coming to blows.”

“Whatever gave you that impression?” Celestia felt the need to defend her mother in from this unjust accusation. “Umbra was the one making subtle threats.”

“Subtle, me?” Umbra feigned insult with a dramatic hoof to his chest. “I take that as an insult.”

Celestia did not want to draw on the ire of her mother, so she picked her next words carefully.

“You can not invade us and we can't invade you for different reasons. Right now we are trading with swords and shields. All the Republic wants is to try to ease the tension between our nations."

Celestia nodded towards Amore in acknowledgement to her earlier suggestion. "I think sitting would be a good idea.”

Celestia withheld a sigh of relief when Amore nodded and sat on her haunches, soon followed by Celestia. Umbra and Solaria did so only after their respective companions had led the way.

“There, now we can be more civil to each other." Amore seemed to take great pleasure in their new positions.

“Now then, we have an offer, and undoubtedly, you have an offer as well. Let's go ahead and see what we are working with.”

Umbra's horn glowed, as did Solaria's, and two previously unnoticed scrolls were exchanged between the two parties. The parchments opened by magic, Umbra and Solaria scanned the respective documents with scrutiny.

Amore smiled, obviously already being filled in on what the Republic intended on offering in order to try to seal the deal.

Umbra's face contorted into that of a displeased reader who had hit a section of passage that completely clashed with his/her view of the world.

“A royal marriage?” He proceeded to spit into the soil next to him, narrowly dodging his own hooves. “Between Amore's child and Celestia? She or he has not even been conceived yet!”

Amore very roughly punched Umbra in the side, causing him to wince. Despite wearing armor, a small dent remained after the blow, surprising Celestia that Amore had such physical strength.

It was less likely out of pain than out of concession that he had stepped over some unseen line, as despite the force, it did not budge the unicorn an inch from his place.

“Any marriage between an alicorn and a child of mine has obvious implications,” Amore commented, her eyes staring straight at the still reading, or the pretending to read, Solaria.

“My child would die from old age before Celestia even grows to full height, if I have my studies on alicorns correct; presuming that they have children, that would practically allow the Republic to inherit the Crystal Empire within two generations max.”

Solaria didn't seem surprised that Amore had figured all that out without reading the agreement's text. When she looked up, she seemed to have a slight frown.

“By the sounds of it, you seem quite okay with that. I had expected more of a fuss.”

Amore chuckled, and then pointed her left hoof towards the parchment in Solaria's magical grip.

“You do realize that the only reason I am agreeing is because, if I agree, then you are bound to ascend my son to the position of alicorn prior to his sixteenth birthday.”

Solaria hardly showed any emotion at this point, instead going back to reading the parchment before looking back up again.

Ascending a pony to the position of alicorn, even in those days, was not a small matter, but one would not know that by gauging Solaria's reaction.

Without a doubt, while Umbra had the Crystal Empire's interests at heart, he was still a military general; he was more concerned with fighting off the Republic than trying to merge with it.

Solaria was more concerned with neutralizing the potential threat of the Empire by annexing it through marriage rather than war. By modern terms, the countries were not superpowers, but it was clear that they could not ignore each other for much longer.

They had to either be allies, enemies, or continue along this path of uncertain passive aggression; which would probably lead to them being the latter.

Celestia of the time could only read that the two had apparently reached a newfound realization of just how easy this “negotiation” could be. Agree to the betrothal and walk off, seemed simple enough.

But if Umbra was to have his way, that could not be as simple as it was. Umbra rose to his hooves again, casting an accusing glare towards the alicorns.

“We have no guarantee that they will carry out their word! Not to mention Solaria could be grooming her daughter to be an assassin!”

Amore chuckled, waving off the suggestion.

“Oh please, Solaria does not want her daughter to be a killer; that's why she wants to lock with Nightshade. Is that not right?”

Solaria's face, if you could believe it, flushed to a pale white, and then to a burning red as she redirected her gaze towards the clouds.

At the time, it seemed merely that Amore was implying that Nightshade and Solaria were not professional with each other, and intended on having another foal; In hindsight, it was a clear sign that suspicions about a takeover of the Republic had reached even the Crystal Empire.

And Amore had correctly guessed who were the ones who had the best chance of success, with little to no guessing in her phrase.

Amore had effectively turned a horn fight into a hoof fight; and was stomping the negotiations like an earth pony the ground beneath them.

Still, Solaria did not have to reveal that Amore had found her out; she could have played it off rather smoothly had she so chosen to.

Solaria recovered from apparent surprise and looked Amore in the eye, as if a personal communication were going on with just their eye contact.

“Well, when you put things that way, I don't see any reason for your future son not to be an alicorn.

That away, your ponies have assurance that they can be protected in case there is some upheaval that might sway public opinion on this agreement, and the two can produce some rather powerful offspring.”

“Aye,” Amore confirmed, “Not to mention how much it will inspire your other species to make treaties, so that they are not ruled solely by ponies in their foreseeable futures.”

With that, the two nodded in understanding, leaving a baffled Umbra and Celestia to ponder over what just happened.

“But...” Umbra wavered until Amore silenced him with a gaze. The group rose to their hooves, bid each other farewell, and departed to their respective kingdoms, their departures lasting for much less time than their arrival.

Once out of earshot, Celestia noticed a wide grin on Solaria's face, along with a familiar amount of fire in her eyes. At the time, she reasoned it burned in joy that things had went off without much of a hitch; in reality, something much more devious had just went off without a hitch.

Celestia regrets that she did not bother asking about it, but chalks it up to her relative naivety at the time; after all, the incredible amount of unsaid dialogue had flown over her head back then, despite remembering the meeting so acutely.

Another curse from the adjacent train car and Celestia was jolted from her dreams. A much louder thump sound also alerted her that Cadence and Shining had likely hit the floor of their train car rather hard.

Celestia became concerned that Shining and Cadence might have injured one another trying to mate on the train. Their tenacity admirable, but their objective at having a good time seemed futile as far as Celestia was concerned.

One would have better luck in one of the royal chariots.

Celestia walked towards the door, and gently knocked on it with her right hoof, still wanting to respect their relative privacy.

“Everything alright in there?” Celestia placing an ear to the door. Silence. While her head was turned in this fashion, she noticed the sack with Sombra's horn in it no longer rested in the middle of the train car she was in.

A red flag waved, Celestia barged in front hooves first, only to find Shining and Cadence passed out on the floor. A black sphere of smoke assembled onto the other side of the car, an ominous red glow beating within the core.

Recognizing this manifistation as Sombra's doing, Celestia readied magic in her horn, a scorch on touch spell coming to mind.

“Sombra, if that is you, then for your sake, you better not try anything further.” Sure, the two had plotted to try to end their engagement, even mated, but in the present day, nothing could be left to chance if Sombra tried to strike out against them.

The smoke formed into a familiar shape, a horn appearing atop of this crest as the form of Sombra was complete. Complete in armor, the ghostly image smiled darkly, though with an oddly inviting gaze.

“If you are seeing this, then those alicorns finally did get me. Well, anyways, this is a message to all my subjects.” Celestia remained apprehensive, though it seemed like nothing more than a recording of sorts.

“I want to apologize that my rule was so abruptly ended. I wish I could have made Luna your Queen, but alas, it was not to be."

Celestia felt that, had Sombra not gone on a slave gathering spree, there might would have been a shot left to re-ascend him, and thus save that relationship.

But, that of course did not happen. Sombra only got worse with time after they left the Crystal Empire, and might would have invaded Equestria with a slave army had Luna and Celestia not intervened.

"And so, I have only a final wish that is not for the ears of that accursed mare, who's sun I would rather blind myself with than to live under another day.”

Careful what you wish for; in some ways, Cadence had granted him that wish. However, Celestia had the empty feeling that Sombra was not referencing her here.

She had figured that it would give some solace to realize that, but now it only seemed to increase her hostility towards this unfeeling recording.

“My chords are broken, so I can only project my words forward; live, and dream, my subjects, so that the alicorn sisters will never forget their own history, though it has long been forgotten by the books.”

Celestia's eyes widened in surprise at this last bit. His chords were broken? His vocal chords? Surely that was a lie; the report on Sombra's return explicitly included him moaning, growling, and calling out to the crystal ponies in a most menacing fashion.

The projection then seemed to stare straight at her, killing intent clear. Celestia aimed her horn, just to be on the safe side.

“Serve your new monarchs well, and be wiser than you were with me; if you must betray them, put them out of their misery, lest their hatred and vengeance make you slaves once more.”

And with that, the image faded away like smoke in the wind. The horn stopped glowing and levitating at this stage, and when it thumped to the floor, Celestia cautiously approached it.

The life from it seemed to be drained, and it turned to a red powder, looking almost like a crushed ruby. Celestia opened a window, much of the powder escaped with the wind.

Some, however, she left behind; better safe than sorry when dealing with Sombra.

“What good did that do him?” “Seems like a lot of wasted effort on his part.”

Cadence and Shining Armour began to stir, mare beneath stallion. No doubt they got layed out by another tremor of the train, though the two did not seemed to be drenched in fluids from what Celestia could tell.

Cadence wore a comical look of disappointment on her face. Well, context driven humor, that is, as someone just now entering the train would probably not realize what was so funny about Cadenece looking so dissatisfied while underneath her husband.

“Auntie, that was probably the greatest climax I have ever not had! Just as I was there, suddenly darkness shrouded us and literally killed the mood.”

“Among other things." Shining rolled off of Cadence once he realized he was still on top of her “I swear, where is Sombra's horn? I think that had something to do with it.”

“Maybe.” Celestia gestured towards the powdery remains, highly skeptical that Sombra took the time out of his schedule to interrupt Cadence and Shining.

“A recording seemed to be left behind. Though now that that is dust, I suppose we really have no reason to go to the Crystal Empire."

“Uh, this is your conductor speaking,” the train overhead sounded, “We are encountering a strange disturbance. You might want to buckle up, like, now.”

Before alicorns and Captain could inquire amongst themselves, the train suddenly lurched forward. Celestia remained rooted in place like a tree; Cadence and Shining were not so steady, and, despite already being on the floor, found themselves barreling through the train car door the door.

Using her magic, Celestia quickly caught the two and pulled them in, seconds before the windows reflected a strange light and the train door slammed shut.

The train then lurched in the opposite direction; Celestia comically was barreled over by the combined weight of the two she had previously held in her grasp, the two becoming a tangled mess of mane, limbs, and horns.

As the three attempted to disentangle themselves, the light show ended. An irritated Celestia emerged first, a few scratches on her sides, quickly followed by Shining and Cadence.

“Yet another reason I do not ride trains!”

The anger in Celestia's voice seemed to make even the conductor hesitate for a few seconds before coming over the intercom again.

“Welcome to the Crystal Empire. Watch your step as you disembark, as some shifting may have taken place during our abrupt travel through time and space.”

Shining groggily shifted over to one of the nearby windows to take a look outside. Meanwhile, Celestia raised an eyebrow at the strange report. Maybe she underestimated how fast a train could take one nearly halfway across the country; either that or three days passed incredibly fast.

The latter Celestia highly doubted, but turned towards an equally baffled Cadence.

"She says that as if space-time transportation in Equestria is a typical occurrence." Cadence clearly worried about the state of the Empire, already aware of the powers of the Crystal Heart.

“Uh, ladies...” Shining's eyes grew wide, and his mouth fell open as he glimpsed the area outside of the train.

Ignoring him, Celestia and Cadence fixed their manes, briefly, and then continued talking. After all, Celestia wanted to press into the matter at hand prior to their interruption.

“You were telling me about your climax? Normally you are not so upfront with such matters.”

A hint of guilt found its way into Cadence's expression.

"Well, we were kind of doing it in the train car behind you when we should have been working on the whole nigh vision thing." Cadence then laughed, likely processing what she had just said to her aunt.
"I think any sort of sensibility left a few hours ago when we were chasing Discord around Canterlot airspace.”

“Cadence, Princess Celestia! We have bigger issues to deal with!” Shining's shout caught the attention of the two alicorns, and together they joined Shining in looking out the window.

The Crystal Empire, which they had arrived inexplicably early to, was in black flames; ponies everywhere were either panicking, cowering, or starting the fires. Although there seemed to be more going on, from the window, only a limited view of the mayhem could be seen.

It was chaos personified, and the guards were doing a poor job of handling the situation.

“We were not gone for that long,” Cadence lamented, fearing the worst “You don't think this is another dream do you?”

“This is very much real.” Resolute, Celestia turned from the window and opened the train car doors.

“Shining, ready your barrier spells. I have a feeling we are going to need them.”

“Yes ma'am!” Shining's horn began to glow a rosy color as he readied his barrier spell.

Cadence seemed mortified at the sight, only snapping back to reality when Celestia placed a wing on her shoulder with a small smile on her face.

“It looks like nothing more than a riot.”

Celestia attempting to sound both reassuring and confident at the same time, despite the fact that she was not entirely sure what had caused the chaos outside.

“Rule long enough, and you will see at least a few dozen of these in your lifetime.”

Cadence seemed close to tears, unable to comprehend the jest that could be found in Celestia's statement.
"Why would there be a riot? It is not like we ruled harshly, only with tolerance and kindness.”

Celestia nodded towards Shining to go on ahead, extending her right arm outwards towards Cadence. She used her hoof to gently smooth down Cadence's mane and hair, using the rest of her arm to bring the younger alicorn in close.

“Listen, sometimes with tenderness and affection comes the impression of weakness. If that is what is going on, then as simple show of force will quell it.”

“And it if it has something to do with Sombra? What do we do then?” Tears began to stream down Cadence's face at the thought.

Celestia tried to maintain her soothing tone, but she added a touch of firmness, as it was of the utmost importance that if it was a riot, it be dealt with in the most efficient manner possible.

“We will cross that bridge when we get there. And in that possibility, just watch me and learn.”

Cadence wiped her eyes with a hoof, and then broke from the embrace. "Alright, I am ready."

Shining Armor stepped off of the train first, bubble shield already up. Oddly enough, they seemed to arrive closer to the main city than usual, though Shining attested that impression from the mass of ponies that seemed prepared to board the train.

That is, until Cadence and Celestia walked off the train. As if the apocalypse had suddenly come to an end, many of the ponies seemed to rejoice, and various guards rushed to the trio in haste.

An orange pegasus guard member stepped up to give a breakdown of the situation.

"Captain, Princesses, we have a situation! The city limits are infested with creatures that do not belong, ranging from dragons and griffins to Ursa Majors and manticores! Not to mention half the guard vanished in the blink of an eye. I think we are being invaded."

Shining furrowed his brow. Indeed, things had gone from bad to worse just with a situation report. Celestia decided to take charge of the situation, quickly ascertaining that the lack of containment was a result of the guard rapidly losing its numbers.

"Thank you Flash Sentry for that report, but we had best see this for ourselves." Celestia nodded, entered Shining's enlarged bubble barrier, and led the way back to the main city.

As Flash had reported, dragons, griffons, Ursa minors and majors, you name it, at least two of each were somewhere in the city. Most of the panic was a direct result of a general misunderstanding.

The guards remaining also believed that they had been invaded; the creatures thought that they had been forcibly brought from their homes by the Equestrians.

This resulted in clashes that only made things worse. The entourage of guards, the two princesses, and Shining Armor, all under a pink and blue bubble shield boldly strode into the mayhem.

“Wouldn't it be easier to just shout and calm everyone down?” Shining suggested, a few spears bouncing off of the shield while he spoke.

“Yelling would have the opposite effect on non-ponies,” Celestia reminded Shining, “If their nightmares have had any merit to them, then a shouting alicorn will definitely not calm them down.”

“Besides, we need to make sure the Crystal Heart is safe." Cadence considered for a moment just using her magic to ease the tension, but this level of disharmony would require a great amount of energy to dispel.

Shining Armor wanted to go out and help his troops, but the Crystal Heart took priority; they could not afford for something to happen to it, or worse, for the Heart to start retaliating on its own.

A duo of panicked griffins found themselves perching atop the shield for a few moments before leaping back into the air again, quickly gaining flight as pegasi guards chased them around the city.

Flash noted this situation and looked towards his superiors curiously.

“Sir, shouldn't you all be organizing a more organized response to this?”

“Working on that Sentry." The group had reached the main courtyard by this point.. The Crystal Heart hovered above them, out in the open, and for nearly all to see as it emitted an aura of lights into the sky.

On a regular occasion, it would be a magical moment; this was not a regular occasion, however, and Celestia and Cadence took flight towards the Crystal Heart.

With hardly a beat missed on their way up there, the princesses reached the heart in mere seconds; from there, at probably the most visible portion of the entire city, Celestia cleared her throat in preparation for use of the Canterlot voice.

"Every creature, stop this senseless violence at once!"

Not surprisingly, while some ponies stopped to heed her command, the majority of animals paid her no heed.

Cadence touched the heart with her horn; a wave of energy surged out all throughout the city, mellowing out those touched by the wave.

Truly, those who had been fighting suddenly seemed to lose the will to fight; others just stopped fighting altogether and looked towards the Heart with glazed expressions.

Now that the attention funneled to Cadence and Celestia, Celestia broke out into a large, amiable grin, though continued using the appropriate volume of the Canterlot voice.

“Some magical mysteries have caused strange events throughout the land. Remain calm and we will get this sorted out as quickly and orderly as possible.

Now, gather with your respective parties, as that will make it much easier to address you all as a group rather than on an individual basis.”

Although hesitant at first, the many creatures ceased their scrambling and began dividing into nationalities, with ponies, griffins, and dragons making the largest of the three groups. Even the normally wild animals heeded Celestia's order.

Celestia smiled, and couldn't help but be pleased at the orderly manner the creatures were quickly doing her bidding. It gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling that even non-ponies obeyed without question.

The now setting sun needed to be put down for the day; as she was already in the air anyways, Celestia went ahead and slowly lowered the sun, likely prompting some uncomfortable stares from down below.

The moon, however, took just a second longer than usual to rise into the sky; it was strange, but considering all that happened, it would not be too much to suggest that Luna had been disrupted also by the strange event.