To The Stars

It had been a very long day.

Celestia breathed out a sigh of relief when she finally finished the mountain of paperwork that she had spent most of the day sorting through. Smiling, she finished organizing the pile. All she and Luna had to do was commence with the lowering of the sun and the raising of the moon, and Celestia could get some sleep. She walked out onto one of the many high balconies of Canterlot Castle, but was surprised to instead find a mail pony by the name of Sky Wing waiting for her instead.

The Pegasus bowed to her, then reached into his saddle bag and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "A letter, Your Highness, addressed to you." He mumbled around the envelope.

"Thank you, Sky Wing." Celestia replied. Using her magic, she enveloped the paper in golden light and took it from him. Sky Wing gave one last bow to the princess before flying away. Walking back inside the room, Celestia unfolded the paper, and gasped. The type of writing in the letter was writing that she had not seen in a long time. She had to read it several times over to make sure she was reading it correctly. Just as she finished re-reading it for the untold number of times, the sound of galloping hooves announced Luna's arrival.

"Sister!" She exclaimed breathlessly, using her magic to show Celestia a copy of the same letter she got. "Did you-"

"Yes." Celestia replied grimly, revealing her copy.

"You don't think...?" Luna gasped.

"There can be no doubt about it." Celestia told her sister. "The writing is unmistakable."

"Then we must act immediately." Luna stated.

"I agree." Celestia added. "You send word to the troops. I'll get a message to Twilight and her friends." Luna nodded, then disappeared down the hallways. Returning to her chambers, Celestia took up a quill and ink and immediately began to write.

***

The second the train pulled into the Canterlot station, the six ponies jumped off and started racing toward the palace in the center of the city. "So..." Applejack panted as they galloped. "What...Do you suppose...the princess...wants us to do?"

"I don't know." Twilight Sparkle replied. "But...I've never...gotten a letter...from her...that urgent before."

"Whatever it is, it must be serious." Spike commented from his seat on Twilight's back.

soon, they reached the castle gates, and raced inside to the throne room. Upon reaching it, they found Luna deep in conversation with a pair of armored unicorns. They came in time to hear the princess tell them to prepare, before the stallions bowed to her and galloped out of the room. "Princess Luna?" Twilight asked cautiously. "What is it?"

The princess looked at them, and Twilight swallowed hard at the serious look on Luna's face. The last time Luna had looked that serious was when Celestia called Twilight in to send her to the Crystal Empire. "Last night, Celestia and I received a message, from a place we have not heard from in well over a thousand years." Luna told them. "Vitela."

"Vi...Vitela?" Twilight stuttered. "I don't...I don't think there's anything in my books that-"

"There wouldn't be." Luna cut her off. It was then that Celestia chose to make her entrance.

"No pony has had contact with Vitela for a very, very long time." The elder princess told them. "Vitela is an ancient and powerful empire. It was old when ponies first settled in Equestria."

"So, why would such a powerful place need our help?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I mean, not that we couldn't totally handle whatever it is, but why?"

"It seems that for many years now, Vitela has been holding back a massive invasion force." Celestia explained. "The letter didn't say anything beyond that. It asked that we come to Vitela's capitol city of Marwari, but with Cadence in the Crystal Empire, we cannot leave Equestria. So I am asking you six to journey to Marwari, and discover what is happening there."

Twilight stood silent for a few minutes as she let Celestia's words sink in. The thought of journeying to such a place terrified and excited her at the same time. And what could be so important that whoever ruled Vitela was asking Celestia and Luna to come? Twilight could already feel thoughts swirling about in her head like storm clouds. Finally Twilight took a deep breath and said. "We'll do whatever we can to help."

As her friends cheered and started chattering with each other, Celestia said. "Then there is no time to waste. You must take the train to the north-eastern border as soon as you can." Twilight and her friends bowed to the princesses, before turning and leaving the room. Just before They were out of earshot, Celestia added. "And Twilight...whatever it is that is happening, I know you will find a way to succeed. Good luck." Twilight nodded, emboldened by Celestia's words, before rejoining her friends.

***

"So, what do you suppose we'll find in this...Vitela?" Applejack asked.

"I wonder what sort of magical creatures we'll find." Fluttershy added.

"I wonder what sort of ponies live there." Pinkie Pie put in.

"I don't know!" Twilight suddenly cried out. "This is the biggest task Celestia has ever given us, and I have no idea what we need to do!" Everypony stared at Twilight as she nervously pranced around the train car, constantly looking out the windows at the passing landscape.

"Twilight, darling." Said Rarity, patting her friend on the shoulder. "You really should calm yourself."

"Rarity's right." Applejack told her. "Princess Celestia wouldn't have called us in if she didn't think we could handle this, now would she?"

Twilight took a deep breath. "I suppose not." She replied. "But I have never failed Celestia before-"

"And you sure won't now." Applejack finished for her. "Whatever it is we will face in this empire, we'll face it together." Twilight looked around at the faces of her friends. She thought back to how much they had been through together. How many times they had saved Equestria from certain doom. Applejack was right. If they did this together, then there was nothing they couldn't accomplish.

Spike jumped up, wrapping his arms around Twilight's neck. "Yeah. Stop worrying Twilight." The dragon reassured her. "We got this." Twilight closed her eyes and smiled, taking another slow, deep breath. "Yeah." She murmured. "We got this."

***

After a while, everypony decided to get some rest before they arrived at the border. As the train continued on it's route, the southern regions of Equestria disappeared behind them. The mountains that marked the edge of the Crystal Empire loomed like the teeth of a giant creature off in the distance. Everything was completely silent except for the steady noise of the train racing down the tracks.

After what seemed like ages, the train finally slowed down.

Twilight woke up as she felt the train lurch to a stop. "Everypony!" She cried out, running around to wake up her friends. "Wake up!" As everyone steadily woke up, mumbling in confusion, Twilight announced. "We're here." Gathering in a tight-knit group, the ponies made their way off the train. They simply stood at the landing site, watching as the train pulled away until it was out of sight. Once they left the landing sight, Twilight began teleporting around a large area, looking for any signs of civilization.

It was only after quite some time of searching through the forests that surrounded them, that Twilight finally teleported back to her friends. "There's an old cobblestone road not too far from here." She said. "We could follow that to the nearest town and ask for directions to the capitol."

"Well then, let's get a move on." Applejack encouraged.

Together, in a tight-knit group, the trotted away into the woods, Twilight leading the way as they followed the road into Alicantia.