It was Saturday, and Celestia was, for the first time in a very long time, grateful for it.

Her normal weekend schedule usually involved meeting with pack members, checking in with the various committees, and preparing for the monthly Hunt for the pack. She sometimes would squeeze out a little extra time to spend with her sister, but they both had responsibilities so that didn’t happen nearly as often as they would have liked. Her weekends were usually just as choked with business as the weekdays but without the respite of being able to work directly with the pack’s children, which was her true love and calling.

This morning, however, an emergency had required that she make changes to her schedule: the much more pleasant diversion of teaching Sunset life skills. Anything that could be rescheduled was, and Luna was taking the bulk of the rest of it while the remainder was delegated out to other senior pack members.

She and Sunset were in a fairly sizable park about two blocks from CHS, well within the pack’s territory. They were there far earlier than any of the children in the pack would have arrived thanks to the both of them being early risers for years, though in Sunset’s case she was more “draggy” than she was accustomed to; proof that no matter how many years of discipline and long study nights, teenage metabolism demanded more sleep than adults and the former pony hadn’t yet adapted. They were wearing more casual clothes, Sunset in a new set of CHS-logoed t-shirt and gym shorts that would become her standard P.E. outfit come Monday, and Celestia was wearing her usual running gear of a pair of yoga pants and a sports bra with her hair tied back with an elastic. Sunset’s hunting shoes, differentiated from the cross-trainers they had purchased for P.E. only by the row of soil-gripping cleats that jutted out along the inside edge of the sole from the toe to the ball of her feet, were so new they were squeaking, which was why they were using them for this exercise in an effort to break them in before Sunset would be expected to participate in a pack hunt. Celestia had selected a single pine tree as their ‘home base;’ it was central to the park and within a football field’s distance of nearly every major park feature, such as the fountain in the north and community pool building by the west parking lot.

Celestia slowly turned in a full 360-degree surveillance of the park, confirming there was no one nearby. She, of course, knew this from her scenting ability, but when dealing with cubs, drilling the basics in and showing by example was more valuable than appearing omnipotent. After Sunset curiously followed suit, Celestia nodded.

“Someday you may be able to detect the presence of someone in your surroundings effortlessly, but a wise hunter will always confirm with multiple senses and even mistrust those. Senses can be deceived, and even crippled, making you less able to hunt, battle, or defend. And a wise hunter is an alive hunter.” Sunset nodded dutifully, and though Celestia knew the girl didn’t have any frame of reference, her body language expressed intense interest and focused determination. Seems that no matter the subject, she’s absolutely voracious when it comes to learning. “Your first task will be learning the difference between a scent and a smell. I can tell you’ve already started to work on figuring out the differences, but you also need a very firm understanding of what smells are around you and what odor your mind is associating with an object or activity.” And speaking of which, she mused identifying the scent of linen-stock paper, What is she doing here on a Saturday? She suppressed her instinctive reaction to the presence she sensed arriving and continued her instruction of her student, “I want you to begin exploring your environment. Just smell the things around you. Grass, dirt, bushes, trees. See if you can identify the specific plants, look for differences in the objects here versus where you’re from. Don’t just hang around me, venture out a bit, but make sure I’m in sight at all times.”

Sunset offered her an affirmative grunt and scanned her area again. Settling on a playground a dozen or so yards away from where they were standing, she jogged over and started sniffing the air.

“Get closer to it,” Celestia called out, “I’m not expecting you to rub your nose in what you’re smelling, but you need to isolate the odors.”

Celestia watched as Sunset glanced back at her, cheeks noticeably pinked, and leaned closer to the metal support pillar she was standing by and inhaled deeply. She abruptly leaned back and pulled a disgusted face, sticking out her tongue.

The Alpha chuckled lightly and listened as another pair of shoes, this time a sensible pair of loafers that she knew without looking went with a skirt-suit, approached her from behind. She waited until the other woman drew up next to her, not taking her eyes off Sunset. A bit of a power move, but this was her territory, and another Alpha had entered uninvited.

“So, this is your newest stray…would you be willing to tell me why she’s going through exercises most three year old cubs are expected to have already learned?”

Celestia watched Sunset make her way through the playset one distinct material at a time. The tire swing elicited a particularly amusing, “Gross!” loud enough to be easily heard across the distance. “She was never trained.” from the corner of her eye, she saw the other woman’s head whip in her direction, probably to give her an incredulous raised eyebrow.

“I presume the neglecting parents or pack has been dealt with. I know you don’t suffer fools lightly.”

“She’s an orphan, and she won’t be returning to her old pack anytime soon.” Celestia smiled as the girl knelt down and sifted through the playground sand a bit before pulling a handful up to her nose. “So, Madam Mayor, what brings you out here on a weekend?”

“Straight to it,” replied Ivory Scroll, “Very well. The other pack Alphas are expressing their concern, again, that you’re trying to expand your pack-lands even further.”

Celestia snorted, “I have plenty of land for my pack already, and the pack is almost too big for a single Alpha as it is.”

“This is the crux of their concern, Celestia. It’s no secret that you are very…strong. And you manage to win over new pack members quite readily, to the point that they will refuse offers, coercion…even bribes. They believe that you’re going to bite off more than you can chew.”

The principal grinned, “Ah, you’ve been speaking to Capper, I see.” She chuckled, “That Alpha is crafty and clever, but he thinks short-term and assumes everyone else also does. It’s his own fault his territory is so small.”

“Yes, but he’s just one Alpha among many. Your neighbors are getting nervous.”

Sunset had bounded over to a small stand of trees the city had installed before Celestia was born that now stood tall and proud…and climbable, as Sunset was demonstrating. To the principal’s slightly surprised satisfaction, she noted that Sunset was very carefully confirming that each branch she put her weight on was stable, but also moving with confidence once she determined she could move forward. “Tell them to build a fence if they’re worried. I’ll be sure to toss any balls back they accidentally lose over it.”

Ivory huffed, “Celestia, please. If you hadn’t taken Canterville Middle School…”

“Goldcap was unhinged, and so were her two cronies.” Celestia interrupted, “They were turning a feeder-school for CHS into their personal fiefdom. They were abusing the kids, turning away betas at the door with a penalty of death if they returned to the school and teaching beta and omega inferiority as part of the curriculum.” unbidden, her nostrils flared as she got lost in a memory, “...they were starting a harem, Scroll.”

The mayor flinched, “Yes, I know. Your after-action report was…detailed.”

Celestia glared at Ivory, “And the city didn’t act.” Not a question, accusation, or provocation, just a statement of fact.

Ivory Scroll looked pained and her scent was under-cut with the acidic tang of spilled liquid acetate. “We had no proof and no support from the Alpha counsel, you know that.”

“Yes, which is why I don’t blame you and why I acted the way I did.” Celestia went back to watching Sunset, who had abandoned the tree and seemed to be searching for something in the dirt near a row of bushes.

For a while, they stood in silence as Sunset flitted about from object to object, sometimes bringing it to her face for a sniff, sometimes having to bring her face to the object.

“I heard there was an incident yesterday. Something about a fight in the cafeteria that was surprisingly one-sided.”

Ah, thought Celestia, Finally the real reason for her visit. “In that an overconfident Alpha approached a new stray to pick a fight, triggering a trauma response that nearly put the stray into a feral state within moments of harassment being initiated? I supposed it would be very one-sided given those conditions.”

“I had heard there are rumors,” hedged the mayor, “That she has an unusual Alpha fury presentation. That her claws and fangs aren’t…normal.”

So another Alpha got a spy in my school and is trying to pressure the city into forcing me to give up any power I may have collected. Out loud, she said, “Rumors are rumors. There’s a rumor that Mayor Gladmane is trying to secede from the Union. We all know he cares more about making Las Pegasus the wealthiest city in the world and he knows he can only do that if he’s not busy fighting a secession war. There’s no reason to pay attention to rumors.”

The women stopped talking about the subject as Sunset trotted up to them, “I found this over there,” she waved at a smaller, less ornate playground from the one she had first started at, “I thought I remembered the scent on it from school.” Held carefully in the palm of one hand was a cell phone, a single crack running through the glass.

Celestia took the phone and brought it to her nose for a sniff. As she did, she noticed in the corner of her vision that the mayor’s nostrils subtly flared, indicating that she was taking in scents as well, and it was extremely unlikely she cared about the disposition of a random phone. “This,” she pronounced with a smile to the former pony, “Belongs to Sweetie Belle. Very good job in remembering the scent! I know you haven’t interacted with her at all, she’s in the middle school classes that meet in the temporary buildings in the south parking lot, but she sometimes comes into the school proper to visit her sister.” Sunset beamed with the pride and satisfaction of being praised for a job well done. “Go on and keep scenting. When you’re done with this section of the park we’ll head over to the area with the pool and see how you do with chlorine in the air.” The girl bounded off, heedless of the small divots her cleats were tearing in the sod.

Ivory Scroll waited until Sunset was back across the park and chuckled, putting a hand on her hip, “Well, well. Celestia, strongest Alpha in Canterlot City, Pax Solaris, The Sunrise Terror…has adopted a cub!”

Celestia rolled her eyes but couldn’t quite hide the smile. “It was…accidental. She bonded with me almost in her sleep after the incident yesterday. I’m not sure if she knows or if she would want to keep the bond once I explain it to her.”

They watched as Sunset spotted something near a fence at the edge of the park. The girl was on all fours and reaching out tentatively, seemingly scraping the ground with her knuckles. After a few moments, the two women realized she was trying to draw a cat to her, its whiskered nose poking out from between slats in the fence. As they heard Sunset make an odd whickering noise, they shared a smile as the cat carefully approached the girl, whiskers twitching in cautious curiosity.

“Well, so far it seems motherhood suits you.” For the first time that day, Celestia saw a warm smile on the mayor’s face. “You know, scenting that, more than anything else you’ve said or done, convinced me you haven’t really changed all that much since college. You’re still taking in strays and being the mother hen.”

“I’m certainly not bleaching my hair white in an attempt to look more respectable.” While Celestia’s eyes didn’t leave Sunset, Scroll saw the smile that took the bite out of Celestia’s words.

“Yes, well, you try looking like a bubble-gum princess in a room full of stodgy old Alphas that still think a female is inherently less leadership capable than a male.”

They shared a few more pleasantries about their lives, their memories of their college days together, and some of the current events they both had to deal with as leaders. Scroll offered a friendly, if polite and slightly sterile, farewell and took her leave. Celestia waited until she heard the mayor’s car pull out of the parking lot behind her before she said, “Bon-bon…”

A girl, only a little older than Sunset, dropped from the pine tree and landed in a practiced crouch. She was wearing clothes that could blend perfectly with the styles and colors of any crowd of people in the city but also happened to be perfectly chosen to blend with the tree. Her lack of strong scent meant she was a beta and was one of a small, secret group of students and staff who worked directly for Celestia. Bon-bon was a pavement artist and stealth expert; she could tail a target anywhere for nearly indefinitely, and it was a talent she had naturally. She also had an overdeveloped olfactory epithelium for a beta, which while not as good as an Alpha’s, let her pick up scents almost as well, but being without the Alpha’s or omega’s neural connections in her brain to automatically create the sensorium connections of scent to experiential memory that meant she simply processed those scents differently and had no instinctive reaction to the pheromones. It was Luna that had identified the girl’s skill and natural gifts when the beta had been caught trying to sneak into the school at night to alter a grade. She’d since been given even more training and improved access to tools and mentorship to improve her craft. “Yes, ma’am?” asked the girl in a professional tone.

“Find the leak, report back to Luna. They want a member of our pack, we’re not going to let them have her.”

Bon-bon saluted, “Yes, ma’am!” With that, she darted off while Sunset was still distracted by the cat. By the time the cat trotted off to slip back under the fence and (presumably) go home, there was no sign Celestia ever had the company of another student.

Were it not for the fact that the view was spoiled by the tremendous waterfall that came down off the Canterhorn just below the palace, the cavern might have been a prime sight-seeing spot for the tourist industry of Canterlot. If there weren’t a stream running through it and wearing down the stone of the floor into a tremendously uneven surface, it might have been a magnificent place for auxiliary storage for the palace or one of the noble houses that dwelt near the cliffs that Canterlot Castle hung off of. If it weren’t for the tremendous levels of noise generated by both water sources, it might have been snatched up by the lower strata of Canterlot’s populous, the levels of income that were so low as to be unable to afford even the least expensive of the upper-class homes in the city above.

As all those were a factor, as well as the lack of connecting tunnel directly to the city above and the only way to the cave opening from within the mountain plunging to the abandoned mines below, this particular cave had remained unused and untouched by pony hooves for centuries.

Until now.

A series of flashes lit the cave, all bearing the same bright gold tones that shone like the summer sun at noon, then the light winked out. Blinking their eyes back into the ability to see more than the blown-out haze that felt like they’d stared into the sun too long were Lieutenant Armor, Princess Cadence, Raven, Kibitz, A.K. Yearling, Bon-bon, and Twilight Velvet. The only pony not blinking away spots in her eyes was Princess Celestia, who immediately lit her horn and began scanning the cave as far as her magic could reach. Raising her voice above the din of the crashing water outside the cave and the burbling notes of the small stream, she ordered, “Lieutenant, get me a perimeter shield, nothing in but light, and even that needs to be refracted to hide shapes.”

Shining snapped a salute and lit his own horn, forming a purple bubble around them. Immediately, the light dimmed a bit and the overwhelming sound cut off, leaving just the sound of the water that was flowing through the bubble, and when he noticed that Shining adjusted the bubble so the water went through a channel under the shield, effectively sealing them in.

“Very good. Everything trapped in here, including the air?”

“Yes, ma’am, you said nothing but light, we’re now completely sealed in here. I estimate about 15 minutes before we start to experience oxygen deprivation.” the lieutenant confirmed.

“Excellent,” the princess gave a grim smile, “We’re now on a timer, Agent’s Daring Do and Sweetie Drops, perimeter search. Make absolutely certain there’s no listening device within the bounds of this shield. Velvet, Raven, Kibitz, please ensure that someone is watching every angle. I don’t want even a hint of what we’re doing getting out.”

As the ponies moved to follow their orders, Cadence turned to the older alicorn, “What happens if they do catch someone watching?”

Celestia didn’t look at Cadence as she said, “Then we find an even deeper hole to bury the spy in for at least two years.”

The younger princess had felt out of her depth many times since ascending to become an alicorn, and this was yet another moment that she thought maybe she should have just stayed with her adoptive family out in the country.

As soon as the two pseudonymous agents reported the cave clear and the other three ponies confirmed they couldn’t see anyone watching either outside the cave entrance or deeper in the depths of the mountain, Celestia addressed them.

“What you are about to hear does not leave this cave. Even knowing the other ponies here makes you a liability if you choose not to participate. What we’re about to discuss will determine the outcome of a series of events that have been in motion for a thousand years, if not longer and the fate of two fillies, two nations, and possibly two worlds hang in the balance. If you hear what I’m about to tell you and want out…well, you won’t be killed, but you also won’t be heard from by anycreature but the ponies in this room until…well, I’ll come to that.”

Twilight and Cadence shifted uncomfortably and Shining looked between his mother and his princess, clearly torn by the implications he just heard. The others merely indicated their understanding with nods or salutes, as their station demanded.

Celestia inhaled through her nose and began her briefing of the ponies she had personally selected for the most critical period in her nation’s history.

“Everyone in this room knows that I fought Nightmare Moon to a standstill and banished her to the moon 1,000 years ago. What is not common knowledge is that prior to this event, another kingdom had already fallen.” Celestia turned her gaze to Cadence, “The Crystal Empire was ruled over by a unicorn family in peace and harmony with the rest of the world for centuries, but then it was conquered by a mad tyrant who harnessed certain crystals to mind control the citizens of the Empire. I faced against him, alongside my sister, Luna.”

This seemed to take at least Cadence, Shining Armor, and Twilight Velvet by surprise. As part of their duties with S.M.I.L.E., Yearling and Bon-bon had already been briefed on this part. If Raven or Kibitz were at all surprised, they didn’t show it.

“Before Luna and I could truly defeat the tyrant Sombra, he used a spell to cause the Empire, all its citizens, and himself to vanish into the mists of time. At the time, Luna and I had no way of determining how long it would take, and I’ve had a small garrison stationed there ever since.”

“I’ve heard of that garrison, there are lots of rumors about it. They say it’s haunted and a few times in Equestria’s history it’s been used as an Omega Squad posting.”

Celestia nodded at her soldier with a quirked smile, Oh, the multiple meanings to that, now… “The ‘hauntings’ are not ghosts, at least not like the ghost stories told around campfires. They’re the echoes, shades of the ponies that disappeared with the Empire. Centuries ago, only one or two might be sighted, and those are what were actually reported. Over the years, the sightings have increased in frequency to the point that it’s impossible to discount them as bored soldiers telling stories. After the first such sighting happened in the mess hall of the garrison, they requested some mages from the Academy to investigate.”

“They determined that the Empire was returning, but slowly. Whatever magic Sombra used was either set to expire at a set time or simply wearing out. The Empire will return in about 5 years' time.”

Shining and Cadence looked at each other with concerned expressions. “I’m sorry, Auntie, but what does that have to do with any of us?”

Celestia’s intense gaze locked with Cadence’s and held it as she said, “It has to do with you because you’re destined to sit on the Empire’s throne.”

Cadence gasped, “Me?! But…I’m not qualified to run a whole empire!”

Celestia extended her wings and lit her horn, “Nonetheless, you are a princess. And besides,” she smiled gently, almost apologetically, “You gained your horn because you loved, and that’s the most important quality a leader could possibly possess.”

Shining put a hoof gently over Cadence’s to comfort her as she fell into troubled thought.

Celestia turned to Velvet, “And I know you’re wondering why you are here and not your daughter.”

Twilight Velvet nodded and Shining perked up to attention again but didn’t leave Cadence’s side. Celestia finally directed the magic she’d been activating to create an illusion in the middle of the group, crystalline tree, “This is a scaled-down image of a living magical artifact, buried in a cavern under my old palace in the heart of the Everfree Forest. Since it’s creation, it’s been tied to the destiny of Equestria and the source of the most powerful force a pony can wield. My sister and I used it as a weapon against Discord to end his reign of terror and make way for the founding of modern Equestria.” Six stones lit up on the tree, seemed to pluck themselves off like fruit, then floated over to a tiny illusory Celestia and Luna, giving the other ponies a sense of the scale of how large the artefact was. “The Tree of Harmony has been keeping Equestria stable for centuries since the defeat of Nightmare Moon, and the time is coming soon for her to be freed from her prison in the moon, and the Elements that were removed from the tree must be taken up by ponies again, but they cannot be wielded by me. I…lost my connection to them.”

Bon-bon spoke up for the first time, “But…why? You’re the strongest source of harmony I know…well, aside from…” she waved her hoof at the illusion.

For the first time Celestia seemed hesitant to answer, “Because I had to use the Elements on my sister, the only other weilder of the Elements in existence…and an act of betrayal. Even though it was necessary, it still destroyed my ability to use them. They became inert stone and the Element of Magic simply…disappeared.”

Concerned glances flew around the cave as the younger ponies heard this for the first time. “Your highness,” began Shining Armor hesitantly, “Why did you do that?”

She focused on him, seeming to need an anchor as she said, “Because my sister is Nightmare Moon.”

He gave a look that was partly sympathy, partly satisfied, “That…makes a few things we learned in history class growing up make more sense…that and the flag.” He grinned wryly, “Never did make sense to have two alicorns, one of ‘em black, if both of them were supposed to be you moving the sun and moon.”

Twilight Velvet looked contrite as she said, “Your majesty, that’s very sad, and I am sorry, but that still hasn’t explained what any of this has to do with Twilight.”

Celestia rotated the illusion to show the other ponies the side that had been facing her, with three cutiemarks embedded on the surface. Hers, Lunas, and…

Velvet gasped, “That’s…that’s Twilight’s cutiemark!”

Celestia nodded, “When I first saw the tree before Luna and I confronted Discord, we saw our cutiemarks, of course, but we had no idea what to make of the larger symbol, other than that it matched the Element of Magic. But when I saw Twilight’s cutiemark last week during the…eventful exam,” this drew the first laugh from those that had either been there or heard of the immediate aftermath, “I realized that…I had made a tremendous mistake.”

This drew confused looks and more exchanges of glances, so Celestia explained, “For centuries, I had pondered the challenge of my sister, Nightmare Moon, and the Elements of Harmony. I came to the determination that the Elements needed to be wielded by a pony with true friendship in their heart. My sister’s bond with me was strong enough to overcome the Tyrant of Chaos, but we were family; that friendship was formed after we already had a bond. To truly wield the Rainbow of Light, each Element must be held by a different pony. And only when the five are present, a Spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed.”

Twilight and Shining both look like they’d been smacked with a polearm. The mare’s tail thumped on the floor of the cave, “A Spark…like a Sparkle…oh, my…it was just a family name! My favorite aunt was named Twilight Sparkle, and I wanted my daughter to carry her name…”

Celestia smiled maternally, “And she was a fine pony and a wonderful secretary, and in any other circumstance it would just be another name.” The image of the tree dissolved, and an illusion of the filly Twilight Sparkle stood in its place, “But now all our fortunes ride on this innocent little filly, who must never, ever be told of her role in the destiny of Equestria.”

“Your highness,” interrupted Shining Armor, “Not to question your decision, but shouldn’t she know? ‘Better intel makes for a more effective soldier,’ after all.”

Celestia sadly shook her head, “Prophesy is a horrible compass and predictions are a terrible map. Knowing of a destiny beforehand can cause a pony to become so sure of their destiny that they either become overconfident that it will simply be hoofed over to them without any effort on their part, or become the worst version of who they were destined to become, or both…as I learned the hard way with my…daughter.”

This did elicit a response of shock from everyone present. Kibitz and Raven looked almost betrayed, “You…” began the aging stallion, “Your majesty, when…when did you have a foal?!”

Rather than reply directly, Celestia applied more magic to the illusion and Sunset Shimmer appeared next to the image of Twilight Sparkle

Another round of gasps. While recently overshadowed by Twilight Sparkle’s rise to the status of Princess Celestia’s premier student, Sunset Shimmer was still well known and remembered by the Canterlot nobles as the “orphan” that seemingly appeared from nowhere and snagged the top spot with the princess. The relationship between Celestia and Sunset had been the fodder for tabloids and the gossip circuit for years, but the crown had always vehemently insisted that they were mentor and student and nothing further.

“Celestia…” breathed Raven, “Why would you keep this so secret?!”

Before the princess could reply, Twilight, the only other mother in the cave, gave Celestia a pained look, “Does Sunset know?”

Celestia mirrored the anguish and magnified it a thousand fold. “No.”

This set everyone in the cave further on their back hooves. “There’s gotta be somethin’ your not telling us, your majesty,” Yearling glared at Celestia, “‘cause that’s absolute horseapples.”

Celestia smiled indulgently at her agent, “Yes, it is. And were it not for one thing, I would have simply told Sunset as soon as she was old enough to say the words, ‘state secret.’ However,” she dissipated the illusion of the two ponies and brought up another. It was a flag with a similar design to one flown once a year on nearly every stage in Equestria for Hearth’s Warming, but instead of House Blueblood’s usual blue-backed standard with a profile of a unicorn stallion’s, the figure was now on a red background wearing a captain’s helmet and arched over it was the lettering, ‘Fac Equestria Magna Iterum.’ The princess continued, “Agent Drops and Do will recognize this or a variant of it from their missions over the years,” and, indeed, the two ponies’ faces were dawning with the beginnings of comprehension, “And the rest of you will recognize this as being similar to the banner of Princess Platinum.”

“You’re highness…” began Bon-bon, “Yes, I’ve seen that, but any investigation into the possible source turns up dead ends. We’re not even sure if it has anything to do with our missions.”

“Let me assure you, it does.” Celestia answered, “Your agency is secretive by nature and necessity, so you agents don’t ever see the whole picture. I do.” She shrank the standard to appear to be the size of a pin and generated a map of Equestria under it, then added more pins across the map. The map was positively littered with the little red flags, with clusters around major metropolitan areas, like Manehattan, Trottingham, and Canterlot. Other, more isolated locations like Ponyville, Wanderlust, and even as far out as Griffinstone were marked as well. “This flag symbol has been appearing in locations across, and outside Equestria for the last twenty or so years.

“The organization is…nebulous. They’ve learned from the mistakes of those that came before them, groups whose movements I crushed as soon as they came to light. They are antithetical to everything Equestra was built on, from the founders on the first Hearth’s Warming to today. My sister, who wanted to plunge the world into eternal night, even saw their actions and goals as reprehensible. They look back on the Hearth’s Warming pageant and see not a lesson in harmony between ponies, but a subversion of what they think is the ‘true, rightful’ order…”

Twilight looked sick to her stomach, “You don’t mean…”

“Yes,” confirmed Celestia, “The organization we’re calling FEMI is the latest unicorn supremacy movement.

The tense moment was interrupted by a sudden guffaw from Yearling, “WHAT!? BWA-HAHAHA!!!” she didn’t even seem to notice the others staring at her in shock, “A unic…hahaha…unicorn ‘suprem…’ *hic* ‘supremacy’ movement using ancient Roaman for their slogan!”

Celestia smiled wanly and Lieutenant armor seemed to realize the connection the secret agent was making and started chuckling as well. At his mother’s and Cadence’s concerned, inquiring looks, he explained, “Roam was a pegasus city-state. Unicorns weren’t even allowed citizenship.”

“Yes, well,” interjected Celestia, “I think history has proven that tribal or species supremacists aren’t exactly the brightest lights in the chandelier.”

This seemed to break the tension, even if the next statement from the princess brought it right back, “This group is expert at hiding in plain sight. In the last 50 years, I’ve had agents go missing in action,” she nodded at Yearling and Bon-bon, “Soldiers become corrupted,” another nod at Shining, “Staff members blackmailed into becoming spies and saboteurs,” this time indicating her seneschal and head of staff, “And noble houses swept under the rug of history because they either got to close to FEMI or spoke out to loudly against the groups goals.” Her final nod was to Twilight Velvet.

“FEMI has shown a ruthlessness and cunning that I’ve never encountered before from ponies. Sunset’s conception was a…happy accident. I never told the father, and until I can guarantee the safety of his legitimate children, I will continue to carry that secret, to my grave if I must. And just having Sunset has brought me great joy, but every time I saw a report that included that flag,” she indicated the map hanging in the air in front of her, “I was reminded that Sunset cannot know she is my daughter until this organization is exposed or crushed or she’s beyond their reach. Even the slightest leak of her true relationship to me would give FEMI leverage they have never enjoyed in their history that, for the sake of Equestria and Sunset, I cannot permit them to have.”

She dismissed the map and brought up a mirror, “You all know that Sunset abruptly left the palace, and the reason stated to the press was the truth; she and I had a difference of opinion, she expressed her intention to pursue forbidden studies and was ejected from my tutelage. What has not been divulged and what I never expected was that she would flee our world entirely.”

Her audience was looking at the image of the mirror closely, trying to discern its purpose. “This is a magic mirror left behind by my mentor, Starswirl the Bearded. Luna and I were given strict directive to never pass through it, only to use it as a…disposal, of sorts, for magical criminals, monsters, and artifacts. The mirror contains a portal leading to another universe. It has very low magic, at least as far as we understand it, so any magical creature sent through would starve, and magical artifact would become significantly de-powered or inert, and any pony sent through would be stripped of their magic.” All seven other ponies in the cave looked vaguely ill at this. “Sunset disabled the guards escorting her and fled through the mirror. It closed on her almost immediately after and won’t open again for another 30 moons, after my sister’s expected release from her imprisonment.”

She dismissed the illusion of the mirror and smiled absently at Shining, “I’m afraid, lieutenant, your training of my daughter was a little too good, in this case. She used your own teachings against your soldiers.”

Shining snorted in mixed satisfaction, “Well, I guess I’m going to have to drill them a bit better, then.”

Celestia didn’t respond directly, but pulled from her mane the companion to her daughter’s journal. “A couple of you probably recognize this…”

“A communications journal!” supplied Bon-bon, “Does Sunset have the other half?”

Celestia smiled at her agent, “She does indeed, and to my surprise, it works across the barriers between worlds.” She opened it and her smile turned melancholy as she glanced over the few entries since Sunset fled, “The other world is apparently a close mirror to ours…I’ve been chatting with,” a bit of impish humor crept into the smile again, “Me.”

“I beg your pardon, madam?” interjected Kibitz.

She turned the journal to allow the others to view the entries and as soon as each of them read past Sunset’s message, followed by the princess’ reply, which was met with a response from Pack Alpha (whatever that was) Celestia, jaws all around dropped in confusion.

She turned the journal back, re-scanned the entries to be sure nothing new had come through in the last few hours, and closed it with a snap. “The beings on the other side of the portal are not ponies. I haven’t yet received details, my counterpart is going to be sending me as brief a report as possible on their biology, but I’ve already read brief snippets of the differences…and they’re astounding. What that this were a proper diplomatic contact…” she shook her head, “But the most disturbing element to this is Sunset was…transformed by the mirror’s magic. She is now a creature like them, and worse, she’s been de-aged. A feat that is only possible by the darkest and most powerful of magics was done to her in a moment.” She shuddered, “I cannot imagine what she’s going through right now.”

A moment of silence permeated the room, the attendants to the meeting looking to each other in curious support. Finally, Raven spoke up, “Your majesty…Celestia…This is all fascinating, but, I’m sorry, how does it all add up? Why are we here and why the secrecy?”

Celestia nodded, grateful for her assistant’s reminder, “Right! In two year’s time, your daughter,” she waved her horn in Twilight’s direction, creating the illusion of Twilight Sparkle again, “Will need to be ready to confront my sister,” an image of Nightmare Moon appeared next to the image of the filly, “With only the assistance of the friends she will make and the Elements of Harmony. Harmony willing, Twilight will be able to achieve what I couldn’t and cleanse my sister of the infestation that is the Nightmare.”

“With my sister returned, the diarchy will be fully restored and the tenuous balance between the throne and the House of Lords will be tilted in our favor, eliminating the possibility of a parliamentary override to any royal edict. And with the Rainbow of Light in the hands of a minor unicorn noble, any FEMI objection to the superweapon being out of their control will be hamstrung by their own philosophy.”

She turned to Cadance, “Sometime after that, the Crystal Empire will return, and an Alicorn born as a pegasus will take the throne, setting Equestria up with a firmly anti-FEMI ally and a third princess to defy their cause.”

“And in two and a half years, a unicorn will return, Harmony willing, to an Equestria where the threat to her knowledge of her birthright will be significantly reduced. Her birthright will be announced to all of Equestria, she will be informed of the full reason it was hidden from her, which…if she can forgive a silly old nag like me…” Celestia proviso’d wistfully, “Will cement her loyalties away from FEMI…wherever she may choose to go with her life and destiny from there.”

She gathered herself and spread her wings as though to gather the rest in, “Shining, Twilight, and Cadence, you will have the hardest job of all of us, you cannot let any hint of Twilight Sparkle’s destiny slip. You cannot tell her, your friends, or even your reflection in the mirror. And no,” advised the alicorn to the elder Twilight, “You can’t even tell your husband. He’s a dear and loves you all, but he’s notorious for gossiping at work, even about those things you don’t want him to repeat to anypony.”

Twilight blushed, “Don’t remind me…” she muttered through gritted teeth.

“Cadence, Kibitz, and Raven; you will need to watch the staff. Look for behaviors out of the ordinary, and if you find something, bring it to me. Use the code phrase, ‘strange set of circumstances and I’ll understand why you may be mentioning something trivial to me and we will figure out if it’s a threat and a way to deal with it, preferably in a way that works out for everypony except FEMI.” The three ponies nodded, Cadence with a pensive expression on her face, where the other two took it as they would any other order from their regent.

“Agent Daring Do, your assignment will now change. You are going to hunt down all sightings or even rumor of FEMI outside Equestria and you will shine a light on them. Your code name will become a writing alias to protect your identity and allow you to continue working for the agency under my direction.”

Twilight perked up, “Oh! I can help with that!” she seemed excited to be able to contribute more than her ‘mom’ skills. “I’ve still got contacts in the publishing industry and I can be your copy-editor. Just send me your field notes and I’ll work them into a novel. It can be an adventure series!”

“Oh, I like that!” replied Yearling, “I’ve always wanted to be an author, got a manuscript at home I never really thought worth publishing, maybe you can look it over to get an idea what my writing style is like? Maybe give me pointers?”

Twilight chuckled, “I used to do that for fanzines when I was in college, and that was just so silly mares who liked Fetlock Holmes detective novels could circulate their fanfiction. This is much bigger and more important!”

Celestia grinned at the two ponies, Clearly, Harmony does smile on us sometimes. She turned to Bon-bon, “Agent Sweetie Drops, you’re being reassigned. Get to Ponyville. There are five fillies there now or on their way who match the aspects of the five known elements almost perfectly. Your job will be to prevent anything from happening to them, and like young Twilight Sparkle, they must never catch wind of their rolls in Destiny.”

She smirked, “And Lieutenant, don’t think I didn’t realize we’ve been breathing clean, fresh air for longer than 15 minutes.”

He didn’t even look sheepish as he waved his hoof in the direction of the area where the shield covered the stream going through the cave. In the place of a simple dome, there was a fairly complex piece of magical machinery, consisting of spirals and pumps. “I figured your briefing was more important than the time limit, so I figured out a way to use the flowing water to act as a disruptant to any attempted use of magic to get around my shield to pull fresh air in, and used a one-way membrane over by the entrance to let stale air out. It doubles as being a positive pressure environment, so any passive sensors that were made somehow inert to magic would still be pushed away by the air pocket inside the shield.” Twilight was beaming in pride and the two spies were nodding and grinning in appreciation. Cadence looked to be a bit star-struck and her staffers had the smug looks of ponies who recognized a fellow pony of excellence. Shining blushed humbly, scratching the back of his neck, “Well, Twily isn’t the only genius in the family…”

Celestia smiled and then sobered, “We have one shot at this, there are no fallbacks, no backup plans, and no reinforcements. If we fail…well, I know my sister would suffer these fools even less so than I, and infested with the Nightmare, she’s unlikely to be…lenient with them, and my daughter would be safe, but the rest of our lives, especially mine, would likely be forfeit. We crush the FEMI, we prepare Twilight for success, we usher in the return of the Crystal Empire, and we get my daughter BACK.” She hadn’t expected to snap out those last two words, but then she’d been bottling up her feelings regarding Sunset for a long, long time.

Of all the responses she got, from the “Yes, ma’am!” from Shining and her two agents to the, “Of course, your highness” from her staff members to the “Of course, aunty!” from Cadence, somehow the soft, satisfied smile from Twilight Velvet meant more than the rest combined. A silently communicated, Good job, from one mom to another.

Author's Note

Gotta admit the second half of this chapter was kinda tough to write. I thought I'd addressed the topics covered in the scene for Equestria's characters at the end of Chapter 2, but I got enough questions on it from my readers on FiMFiction.net that I figured I'd spell it out, and it was a challenge to have to repeat myself but in more detail. (There's a reason I don't do retreads)