Interlude: Way back home

“Hey Twilight! Any progress on the search?”

Twilight looked up from the stack of calculations and records on her desk to see Spike enter the room, carrying several bags from her favorite pizza restaurant in Canterlot. She smiled, despite her exhaustion, that Spike had remembered her favorite restaurant and walked across town to get it for her. “Thank you, Spike. No, I haven’t made any progress yet. I’m starting to wonder if Luna even ended up on the other side of the portal.”

Spike put down the bags and hopped onto the bench next to her. “Well, where else could she have ended up?”

“I don’t know! It’s been two weeks since the accident, she could have gone anywhere by now. And even if she stayed right next to the entry portal, bridges between dimensions are a totally new concept in Equestria, at least as far as I know. There’s no precedent for this kind of scenario.”

“Well, if anypony can figure it out, it’s definitely you. You’re like the smartest, best, most amazing magic user in a thousand years!”

Twilight beamed and ruffled Spike’s spines, “Thank you, Spike. That means a lot to me. But I’m starting to wonder if anypony could figure this out.”

Spike peered across the assortment of papers and tomes across the desk, “Say, whatcha working on?”

“Oh, I’m drawing up a spell diagram that will allow me to scan Dimension P-74 in a 200-mile radius from the exit portal.”

“Woah. Is that a lot?”

“Relative to the total surface area, it might as well be the size of this book compared to this entire room,” she swept her arm across the bedroom/study. “But it’s as far as I can go without risking sensory overload. If we wanted to scan further, we’d have to physically search the alternate planet’s surface.”

Spike’s head tilted, confused, “Well, why can’t we do that?”

“We have no idea what’s on the other side. Yes, it looked perfectly safe, but Luna and her honor guard went over specifically to confirm that. And since they went missing, there’s no way to verify that they weren't captured or worse by whatever is on the other side.”

Spike shivered, “You don’t think Luna and her guards are…”

Twilight sighed, “I don’t know, Spike. I hope not, but there’s no way we can know for sure until we find her, so I really need to get back to work.”

“Aww, come on, Twi. You haven't eaten since breakfast! I went all the way to A.P. Indy’s to get dinner.”

“I’m sorry Spike, but I need to concentrate. Princess Celestia is counting on me to figure this out and find Luna. She’s already lost her once, I can’t imagine how awful she must feel.”

“Twilight, you can’t solve the mysteries of the multiverse on an empty stomach. Come eat!”

Twilight hesitated, eyes lingering over the functions strewn across her desk, until eventually, she caved. “You’re right, Spike. I am pretty hungry,” As if on cue, her stomach released an earth-shaking rumble, startling both of them. She sheepishly giggled, blushing. “What would I do without you keeping an eye on me?”

“Starve, probably.” the quip earned him a playful shove and a half-hearted reprimand. “Come on. I got extra green pepper slices.”

The throne room of Canterlot Castle was nearly as famous as its primary occupant. Stained glass windows holding highlights of Equestrian history cast a kaleidoscope of colors across ancient tapestries, each bearing the ornate patterns woven with the utmost precision. The Gleaming Dawn, Celestia’s elite guard force, named for their hand-crafted armor which shone with unparalleled radiance in the light of their charge, stood vigilant and dignified in their posts, flanking visitors as they walked down the brilliant crimson carpet. At the end of that carpet, flanked by Celestia’s most trusted stallions, sat the throne itself. Cast from the finest metals and gilded in the purest gold along with more heat-protection spells than one could shake a spear at (gold melts very easily) it beautiful on its own. When the mare herself sat upon it, scholars and poets alike were struck dumb by their magnificence.

But today, the throne room was different. The sun seemed to shine a bit darker than usual. The guards seemed a little less stately, the tapestries a bit less bright. The room no longer shined with the radiant brilliance that it usually had. And Celestia…

Well, to be honest, Celestia was a wreck.

Her hair could only manage a shadow of its usual waviness, barely quivering as it hung limply down to Celestia’s hips. Celestia sat glumly looking over a floating stack of papers from the quarterly border report, in a posture that could not be described as hunched, but was certainly on it’s way towards it. She noted, dimly, that the Northern patrol unit had not filed a report. Were she in better spirits, she might have made note of it to her right-hand-mare, Raven, who would have filed an inquiry into their lack of submission to the audit. But she was not, so she did not. She merely sighed and made a mental note to check on it later.

Suddenly the double doors burst open and a ragged guard ran into the throne room. As he ran he flashed the door guards a medallion bearing the mark of Hurricane, indicating an urgent message directly for the Princess. “Your highness!” he shouted, “News from Northern Equestria!”

Celestia quietly sighed, floated the stack of reports to Raven, and met the guards eyes with a warm, perfectly convincing smile. “Yes?”

The guard removed his helmet and knelt before the throne, “I am simply to tell you that… ‘it’ has returned.”

Celestia shot upright with a gasp, half-lidded eyes bulging open. She turned to her nearest guard, “Find Princess Cadence and Shining Armor.”

The guard gave a curt “Yes your highness,” and shot a gesture to his fellow Praetorians, who rushed out to fetch Celestia’s fellow royals. As they galloped off, she brought up a scroll and began to write:

“My dearest Twilight, you must come to the throne room as soon as possible. Something has happened that requires our full attention.”

Celestia sent off the letter with a flash and dismissed the rest of her guards. Once she was alone, she cradled her head in her hands.
“Oh, Sister. Why did you have to leave me now?”

Author's Note

Whipped up a little something to keep you updated, and give a little context.

If it's shit, let me know. If only parts of it are shit, let me know.

I plan to have the next proper chapter out by the 19th.

*edit* Whoops, accidentally posted with edit marks still inside. Reposted.