The Consequences of Love

Three hours had passed since Spike and Twilight's former friends finally arrived in the Crystal Empire. Despite having been there before they were all still amazed by the beauty of the city and the sparkly appearance of all the ponies. Applejack looked off towards the crystal tower and said, "Alright y'all, I know it is pretty here but we need to go and notify Cadence and Shining Armor of what has happened."

They ran towards the crystal tower and ran into Cadence right as she was leaving the tower. She saw them coming and got a huge smile on her face. She was getting ready to do the song her and Twilight had done since she was a filly but noticed that Twilight was there. Cadence had a concerned look on her face and asked, "Hi everypony, where is Twilight?"

Spike replied, "Well that is what we have come to talk to you about. Something odd is going on with her and Princess Celestia so Princess Luna sent us up to get you and Shining Armor."

Cadence motioned for them to follow her up into the tower. She said, "Whatever is going on, I have a bad feeling about it."

Cadence led them up to the dining hall where Shining Armor just so happened to be. Shining Armor saw them coming and asked, "Twily!.....Wait a minute, where is my sister?"

Applejack replied, "Well something is going on with her and Princess Celestia. As soon as we got back to Ponyville after Twilight's coronation she started acting, well, not like herself."

Shining Armor asked, "What do you mean she wasn't acting like herself?"

Spike replied, "Well this started even before we left for Ponyville. She seemed very clingy to Celestia, almost like she didn't want to go back. Once we did get back she was supposed to give a speech for everypony at Sugarcube Corner but faked a coughing fit in the middle of it, teleported herself into the library and locked herself in."

Shining Armor said, "What else is going on with her? I know that isn't the whole story."

Fluttershy continued, "It's not. We went to check on her and she told us all to go away, that she wanted alone time. She then shut herself in the library for a couple of days and when she finally came back out she seemed like she was in a daze."

Spike added, "Yeah when she came out finally I ran to her and gave her a hug because I was worried about her. She yelled at me and told me that Celestia was the only one who was allowed to touch her."

Shining Armor had a shocked look on his face. For quite some time he had a feeling that Twilight and Celestia were closer than just student and teacher but was afraid to say anything. He asked, "What happened after that?"

Rainbow Dash continued, "Well after that she screamed and yelled at us when we asked her about where she had been and if she was ok. Also, while she was shut in Celestia had apparently went missing so Princess Luna sent Flash Sentry out to look for her."

Applejack added, "Yeah I saw him knocking on the door to the library for twenty minutes but nopony answered. He then asked me if I had seen Celestia and I hadn't so he headed back up to Canterlot."

Cadence asked, "You don't think that Celestia was in the library with Twilight do you?"

Applejack replied, "Well at first I didn't think so. But after Twilight went off about Celestia being the only one allowed to touch her I began to wonder. What convinced me was her reaction when we were at Sugarcube Corner. I asked her if Flash had found her or Celestia since he was looking for her."

Rarity added, "When Applejack asked about that she went into a rage claiming that Luna sent Flash to try to take 'her Celly' away from her. And now both of them have been gone for over four days and that is why Luna sent us up here to get you guys so she can meet with you."

Shining Armor said, "Alright everypony, we need to get to Canterlot at once. This doesn't sound good."

Everypony followed Shining Armor to the train station and they headed back to Canterlot.

A day had passed and in Faustica, Queen Galaxia and King Cosmos were sitting out on their balcony when they saw a pegasus flying in from the east. They prepared to fire at the pony until he got close enough they could tell he was not an enemy. He crashed into their balcony as he was extremely tired from the long flight.

Queen Galaxia noticed that he was a member of the Canterlot royal guard. She asked, "What is your name and why are you here? Did something bad happen in Equestria?"

Flash replied, "I am Flash Sentry, a member of Celestia's royal guard. Princess Luna sent me here because Princess Celestia has gone missing and has been gone for five days on unofficial business."

Galaxia looked shocked. She asked, "Is there any reason as to why she has been gone for so long?"

Flash replied, "Well it is believed that she ran off with one of her former students and that she is going to marry her. Luna is concerned, not so much over her falling in love with one of her former students but because Celestia has not been present to do her royal duties."

Cosmos asked, "What do you think we should do?"

Galaxia, being the one who always takes the initiative, said, "We need to get to Canterlot at once."

Cosmos said, "But honey, poor Flash here is exhausted. We can't just leave now. He needs some rest."

Galaxia glared at her husband and said, "You can levitate him until he has enough strength to fly on his own. We can not delay our trip for any reason."

Cosmos replied, "Ok let's get going."

Cosmos picked up Flash and they headed off towards the east. With Galaxia and Cosmos being among the most ancient of all Alicorns, they had far more endurance than any other ponies known. A few hours later they arrived at the coast, not tired at all, and stopped to eat.

Galaxia asked, "Flash, so who is this former student that Celestia ran off with?"

Flash replied, "Her name is Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia transformed her into an Alicorn after she rewrote the spell of Starswirl the Bearded's that he couldn't get right."

Galaxia pounded her hoof into the ground. She shouted, "SHE TRANSFORMED A PONY SIMPLY FOR RE-WRITING A SPELL?"

Flash looked kind of nervous and asked, "I take it she wasn't supposed to do that?"

Galaxia continued, "No. You only transform a pony into an Alicorn if they write their own magic from scratch."

Cosmos asked, "Flash, do you know if Celestia was fairly close with this student?"

Flash replied, "Yes, they were very close. They were almost inseparable until Celestia allowed her to stay with her friends in Ponyville after she reunited Celestia with Luna."

Galaxia rolled her eyes and said, "Celestia always was the one to forge close bonds with other ponies." She looked off to the east and continued, "Well let's get going. I want to get to Canterlot before nightfall."

Flash finally had enough strength that he could fly on their own, which lessened the burden on Cosmos. Three hours later they arrived in Canterlot. When they landed in the upper courtyard they were greeted by Luna. Luna ran to them, hugged them and said, "Mom! Dad! It is so good to see you!"

Galaxia replied, "It is so good to see you too honey!"

Cosmos asked, "How is daddy's little filly?"

Luna replied, "Well, I've been better. This is the fifth day of Celestia's absence and she has not done any royal duties. Ever since her former student was crowned princess a week ago, she has only done her royal duty once. I'm very worried about her, this isn't like her."

Galaxia asked, "Are any of the other royals here?"

Luna replied, "Yes, Princess Cadence is here. Also, her husband, Shining Armor is here as are Princess Twilight Sparkle's former friends and her former assistant."

Galaxia asked, "Former? Why former?"

Luna replied, "We will get to that when all of us have a meeting. For right now, you three must be starving! Let's go in and get some food in our bellies!"

Galaxia wondered how Luna could focus on food when her sister had been missing for so long but once they got to the dining hall and saw the size of meal and the amount of company she had, she could understand why.