Equestria & Beyond

Princess Twilight sighed as she signed what must've been the bajillionth piece of paper she'd seen since becoming Princess with her royal hoof stamp. One of the less appealing things about being a monarch, it seemed like no pony in the entire country could take a step without her permission. How did Celestia do this for over a thousand years?, she thought to herself. Speaking of which, what were the ex-princesses doing? Twilight hadn't heard much from either sister since she rose to the throne. Well, whatever it is, I'm sure they're enjoying their newfound freedom... I guess being the sole ruler of Equestria isn't as eventful as I thought it'd be.

The doors to the throne room burst open, revealing an out-of-breath royal guard.

"Princess Cel- I mean, Twilight!", he said, hurrying down the velvet carpet. The other two slightly startled guards stationed inside closed the door behind him.

The white pegasi knelt in front of the throne platform and caught his breath for a second,

"Urgent message from Maretonia, your Highness..."

Twilight practically tossed the stack of papers she was levitating on top of Spike napping right next to her throne. Seems like I spoke too soon!

The small purple and green dragon woke abruptly, poking his head out from underneath the mass of parchment. He spit a scroll out from his mouth and disappointingly sighed as he realized that he'd have to re-organize all those documents, again.

"Ah, finally! Something besides approving all of Cheese Sandwich's weird paten-", Twilight stopped herself, embarrassed that her boredom broke out in front of her guards. *Ah-hem* "Send them in..."

The guards by the door nodded, opening the door with a magical glow from their horns. A yellow earth-pony with a red mane entered, wearing traditional Maretonian armor with his mane in a long braid off to one side. He seemed surprised to see only Twilight.

"Princess Twilight, the Duke and Duchess of Maretonia send their regards..." the messenger said as he approached the throne, kneeling in respect "-where are Princess Celestia and Luna? I was told to give my message to them as quickly as possible."

Twilight chuckled a bit to herself, she couldn't believe that after all the planning that went into her coronation, no pony thought to tell one of their biggest allies that their leadership had changed hooves.

"Celestia and Luna have retired, leaving me as the Princess of Equestria. I'm sure whatever message was intended for them you can tell me."

"Oh... I see. Well then, Maretonia humbly asks for Equestria's aid", the messenger said as he lowered himself to the ground.

"Of course! What is it the Duke and Duchess need help with?"

"Siege has befallen Maretonia..."

Twilight could feel her mouth suddenly going dry. She had imagined herself facing all sorts of problems as ruler of Equestria, but a military conflict certainly wasn't one of them.

"I'm sure it's just a big... misunderstanding!"- she suggested, "Maybe somepony wasn't listened to and now harbors some well-intentioned but mislead anger?"

"Uh... very well, I'll give you the full report," the messenger said. " Several days ago a large host of monsters was seen approaching Maretonia. We readied our defenses but before they reached the city the enemy was intercepted by an unknown third party, a small army of white pegasi in silver armor. On recommendation from his advisor, the Duke decided not to intervene, since they could not be identified as Saddle Arabian, Equestrian, or Crystal Empire forces-"

Monsters? A whole army of them? I've never heard of them working together like that..., Twilight wondered.

"-when the monsters retreated, only one survivor was found, who has accompanied me here today.", the Maretonian messenger turned and signaled the door guards, who let yet another pony into the throne room.

It was a white unicorn colt with teal eyes and a long white mane that went down either side of his head, wearing a black suit with golden trim and buttons. The newcomer looked confused as he looked around,

"Are the Royal Sisters here? I was told this is where I'd find them", he said after bowing, still acknowledging Twilight's crown despite the unfamiliar face.

Twilight stopped herself from rolling her eyes in mild annoyance, "I really should've let more ponies know about me taking Celestia and Luna's spot, eh Spike?"

"Did something happen to them?", the unicorn worried.

"They just retired and left me in their place; Princess Twilight", she said followed by unfurling her wings into a curtsy. "And you are?..."

"Gleaming Blade of Lumeria, I'm honored to make your acquaintance, your Majesty. Forgive me for asking, but how old are they?"

Twilight couldn't help but let out a snort, "How old?? Celestia and Luna have been ruling Equestria forever! Where've you been the last couple thousand years?", she said jokingly.

"In limbo."

Twilight almost laughed before she realized the unicorn was being completely serious. "Wait... then how old were they when you last saw them?"

"Oh, Luna wasn't more than a filly, I foal-sat both of them for their parents."

Filly?! Parents?! And not only that, he mentioned Lumeria, an ancient kingdom that had vanished millennia ago. Her thoughts were interrupted by a light tap on her shoulder.

"Uh... Twilight?" Spike said.

"Hm?"

"They're waiting," her friendship ambassador pointed out. Twilight turned her attention back to the three ponies below her, anticipating royal decree.

"Oh... yes! Send word back to Maretonia that they'll have our full support!"

The Maretonian messenger bowed and trotted out of the throne room.

Twilight then turned to the white unicorn, "As for you, I think a reunion is in order."

As soon as the giant doors were closed behind the Marentonian, they flung open again and another royal guard came through, obviously panicked. One of the guards by the door rolled his eyes and the other snorted.

"Princess Twilight, urgent message from Saddle Arabia! An army of monsters-"

"Ugh, we know!" , Spike exclaimed.

"You know?", the surprised and confused guard replied.

"We know."

The guard turned behind him to a Saddle Arabian pony just outside the throne room, "They know."

"They know?"

"They know."

The Saddle Arabian shrugged and turned to start on the long journey back.

Twilight leaned to whisper to Spike, "We should see if Ember can station a dragon at each of the other kingdoms so we can avoid this sort of thing..."

Spike nodded in agreement.