Back on Duty

Princess Luna stood on the roof of the only wooden building in the camp. It gave her a good view over the activity around her without having to flap her wings to stay up. She had to be extra vigilant. Thanks to her guard they'd rounded up all the stray humans from the forest, but she was still worried about a possible attack. According to the prisoners she'd freed, the criminals made an expedition to Equestria and back approximately once each moon and one was overdue. Her muzzle scrunched up in distaste. A caravan of fresh pony slaves was on their way to be shipped to Earth, where they would be mistreated and used.

Of course it was possible they'd seen her flying overhead, which may make them vary of coming in the open, but Luna didn't imagine they'd choose to stay in the forest. No, they'd either come to the camp, hoping to escape to Earth, or they'd turn back toward Equestria. Moon Glow had instructions to set up a line of watchers along the eastern border. It would mean a few weeks of roughing it for some of the local town guards, but it was a small price to pay. Small, compared to what the captured ponies had to go through. Luna shook her head to dislodge the unpleasant thought. She sought for anything else to think about.

Her eyes landed on the portal, which was now completely covered with the black crystals. The ward she had put in place was keeping it contained, but she couldn't be sure the scourge wasn't spreading on the Earth side. It wasn't a pleasant thought, but perhaps it was a good thing. It would unsettle the criminals on that side and make it easier to capture them. Once she had word from Celestia that the criminal camp on Earth was secure she'd be able to destroy the infestation easily enough. Yes it spread like a disease, but without a malevolent, guiding mind it wasn't too big of a danger for an alicorn.

More than once she'd thought of banishing Sombra's magic and replacing it with a more mundane spell, but with that knowledge and with the additional fear that the humans on the other side might have some unicorns helping them, she'd decided to leave it. Of course, it was possible that they might figure out how to banish the dark magic, but Luna thought it exceedingly unlikely. She only knew of two ponies beside herself who had both the skill and the power to do so.

"Princess?" a voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked around for the source. She hadn't even heard the guard approach.

"Corporal? What is it?"

He inclined his head, foregoing a formal bow on the sloped, slippery roof. "Lunch is being served. I can take over here."

Now that her attention had been brought to it, Luna did feel slightly peckish. She spread her wings and jumped into the air, hovering beside the stallion, who took up position at the top of the roof. "Keep a watch on the forest. A caravan may be coming from Equestria and we must catch them."

Black Velvet took the spot she'd just occupied and quickly scanned the horizon before throwing a smart wing-salute. "Yes, Princess."

She didn't bother replying and twisted in the air. She gave just one flap of her wings to gain some momentum, then locked them in place to glide down. The half-spiral brought her to the entrance of the wooden house. She'd taken it as both her headquarters and the infirmary. It was where she'd housed the freed slaves who were too unwell to travel. She entered the gloomy interior, but her eyes quickly adapted to the darkness. Two humans and a pony were watching her warily from crude, straw beds in one corner. Corporal Lightning looked up from a pot he was stirring in the other. The house had a rudimentary fireplace with a chimney, so it was possible to cook inside. There had also been a table were the criminal leaders ate, but it took up too much space and Luna had her troops toss it out.

"Princess. Stew is ready," Heat Lightning announced. She'd never guessed he was such a good cook, but their extended stay in this camp had brought out that particular skill. The smell was making her stomach growl and Luna licked her lips in anticipation.

"Have you eaten?" she asked him.

"I will, Princess."

She turned around to the freed slaves and tried to look less intimidating. They were extremely scared of her, ever since seeing her in her Nightmare Moon guise. They'd watched how easily she'd vanquished their captors.

"How about you? You should eat to regain your strength. The journey back to Equestria will be difficult, even on Sister's pegasi-pulled carriages."

The two humans stared at her and the pony, a pegasus mare, looked down at her hooves. They looked decidedly uncomfortable.

Luna came closer and tried giving them a warm smile. "Please, there is no need to be afraid."

Their reaction was just like that silly Nightmare Night in Ponyville all over again! It was all the Princess could do not to growl in frustration.

"Um, we already ate, Mah-Majesty," one of the humans finally spoke up. It was a younger male human, Luna saw, rather pale, with spindly arms and a short, messy crop of black hair. There was a sheen of sweat on his face and he was shivering, despite being wrapped up in a blanket.

"Would you like some more?"

This made all three of them look up with interest. Their expressions were easy to read. Disbelief, mostly. They'd made their peace with being prisoners and now their world was being turned upside down. She knew they used ponies to pull the carts through this thick, muddy forest. It was hard going and she'd seen the results of such labor in all the former slaves. The pegasus mare had a sprained ankle. Well, it had begun as a sprained ankle, but since her captors hadn't been all too keen on providing her with even the most basic medical care, it had gotten worse. She may be able to fly when they left, but Luna wanted her to rest a few days beforehoof.

The two humans both had a fever of some sort. She was hoping it would break before subjecting them to the arduous journey. Luckily it didn't seem to be contagious to ponies, at least.

Heat Lightning brought four bowls neatly balanced on outstretched wings and Luna levitated three of them to the freed prisoners. The human female grabbed it as if afraid it might be taken away and began gobbling it down, but the male had enough presence of mind to murmur a quiet thank you. His accent was thick and unusual, similar to what she'd overheard from the other humans. They all seemed to understand her, but sometimes when they spoke they used wrong words, or hesitated as they sought for the right expression. It seemed Equestrian wasn't their native language, Luna guessed.

"Thank you, P-Princess," the pegasus spoke up at last. They were the first words she'd said to Luna and there was still a large amount of fear in her eyes. She'd seen her Nightmare Moon act and for her it was possibly even scarier than for the humans. She'd grown up with the legends of the Mare in the Moon, after all.

"It's quite alright. What are your names?"

The mare lowered her head once more, but she murmured: "Lemon Drop, Princess."

It suited her bright yellow coat, Luna saw. She transferred her gaze to the human colt - no, he was a boy Luna corrected herself. He gave a start and nearly spilled his stew, but managed to recover in time.

"Relax. We are here to help. What is your name?"

"Ah-" he began, but he'd spoken too quickly and some stew went the wrong way, making the poor lad cough. He was completely red in the face by the time he managed to choke out: "Akash."

"Good. And you?" Luna asked and turned her head to look at the female.

For a moment it seemed the young woman was too scared of her to answer, but Lemon Drop draped a wing around her shoulders which gave her some courage. "Um, Lalita, uh Princess."

They'd both stopped eating and were watching Luna warily, waiting what she'd do. She inclined her head to try and put them at their ease. "When you're feeling a little better we will take you to Canterlot, so that the doctors can take a look at you. After that you will be free to go, understand?"

This made Lalita sit up straighter and her eyes lit up with sudden hope. "We can go home?!"

"Of course. It should only be a matter of days."

Luna looked at Heat Lightning, who was enjoying his own bowl of stew. He hadn't bothered with a spoon and was dipping his muzzle into his meal. When he noticed her looking, the guard straightened up and began hurriedly licking his muzzle clean.

"I have informed Sister of our situation. She has sent pegasi-pulled carriages with reinforcements, but they will need several days to come here." Her mouth twitched up into a smile. "The day guard are not as proficient fliers as you."

The corporal blushed a little at the praise and threw a salute. "What about the Sergeant, Princess?"

"The reinforcements will find him with my help. It is useful to be able to walk in dreams, don't you think? They will take the freed humans and ponies to Canterlot, but the criminals will go the long way."

That would give Celestia time to work out the court proceedings and the legal matters, in particular where they touched citizens of Earth. Furthermore, slogging through the thick, Eastern Wilderness would work as a good start to their punishment.

"Thank you, Princess. I will fly another pass around the nearby forests in case we missed any of them."

"Good. I suspect if we are unable to close this portal Sister will arrange for permanent pony presence here. If any of the humans have managed to hide, they will undoubtedly crawl back when they get hungry."

Heat Lightning threw another salute in lieu of a reply and began to slurp up the rest of his stew. That reminded Luna that she had her own meal floating in the air beside her. She looked around for a spoon, but the only three seemed to be in use by the former prisoners, so the Princess simply brought the bowl to her mouth and sipped.

Speaking of the freed slaves, they were fully engrossed in their meal and slowly relaxing in her presence. Luna spotted some cloth in the corner and lifted up a blanket. She folded it and placed it on the concrete floor to sit on.

"Tell me more about yourselves, please," she inquired of the three.

Princess Celestia dragged her hooves a little on her way from the conference room to her bedroom. She fought to suppress a yawn and nearly lost her balance. It was a blessing that no other ponies were about this late. Her muzzle held a slight grimace, tinged with annoyance. Those military people from Earth were impossible! She was starting to think it was their job to come up with potential problems.

"No, they are not going to escape from Canterlot Castle dungeons! As if we do not have magical enchantments on locks!" the mare grumbled quietly to herself.

The nerve of the man! However decorated he was, no human had call to doubt her methods! Not even the best unicorns would be able to escape her dungeons! It all stemmed from the request - no, the demand - that the criminals be delivered into human custody at once. Celestia wouldn't stand for that. Not only were some of the prisoners ponies, but had also been caught on Equestrian territory. Well, that last one was more of a technicality, rather than absolute truth, but since Princess Luna had been the first pony to legally claim the unexplored East, that made it sovereign Equestrian soil.

Celestia sighed and lowered her head. She hoped her words wouldn't come back to bite her on the rump when the griffins and the dragons and the minotaurs heard about them. It would take careful hoofwork, especially if the portal couldn't be closed and she'd need to establish permanent presence in the far East.

Problems for another day. For now it was enough that she'd dissuaded this Commander Callahan from sending troops to meet the returning night guard. Part of it was the fact that the jungle was completely impassable for human vehicles. From what Luna had explained the criminals had used pony-drawn carts and it was still quite a travail, only made possible by using slave labor. No, the pegasi-pulled carriages would be an elegant sufficiency for the endeavour.

The Princess almost bumped into an unexpected human in the hallway.

"Hey, Celly."

"Greg?" Her mood lifted instantly and her scrunching muzzle relaxed into a grin. "You are a sight for sore eyes, love," she said with heartfelt conviction.

"I could say the same. I got worried so I came looking for you. Everything okay?"

Her smile slipped away and the mare growled: "It is that... Callahan!" The pause and her tone of voice when she said the name betrayed that she'd rather have said 'idiot', but didn't want to undo her hard work in case anypony overheard. "Are all humans so- insistent? Eager? Controlling? He would not take 'no' for an answer!"

Greg chuckled and put one of his delightfully warm hands on her neck. "Sounds like a military type, yep." His fingers dug in and Celestia's knees trembled before she locked them in place. "Come."

She looked around for any of the palace staff and spotted two of her guards behind Greg. A flash of guilt almost colored her muzzle red before she could stomp it out. She hoped the man wouldn't notice her own escort was strangely missing. There was no further need for it anyway. Silvermane was in prison and the human camp was captured. If the pony mastermind behind this whole mess wasn't among the prisoners, Celestia had little doubt they'd tell her who it was as soon as she got her hooves on the lot. Those insidious, sneaky attacks on the Castle guests were over, especially now that they didn't have a changeling anymore.

True, there might have been more than just Spring Morning, but Celestia doubted it. If Silvermane had more changelings at his disposal, he'd have used them already. It was time to stop with the exaggerated guard.

"Private Cover, please go to the Castle kitchen and have them send some coffee to the big balcony. You are free after you finish that task."

The earth pony gave a salute and hurried off without a word in a display of brisk efficiency. He was bucking for promotion and something about that thought tickled Celestia's mind. She looked at the other guard. "Sergeant, you can finish for the day as well."

That one hesitated, perhaps feeling his rank a little more. "But Princess, Captain Fire Fly will-"

"Not say a word about it. I will give him his orders first thing tomorrow. The guard is to be stepped down from high alert."

The pegasus quickly realized this was above his pay grade and dipped his head in a little bow. "As you say, Princess."

Finally she was alone with Greg. A smiling, mischievous-expression, sure-to-be-plotting-something Greg. She met his grin with one of her finest innocent gazes. "Shall we?"

He fell in step beside her and she lead the way to the balcony overlooking Canterlot. It was a lovely night and despite the late hour she wanted to share some of it with Greg.

"So that's it?" he asked. "No more panic. It's over?"

"I believe so."

"What if the leader of this whole mess is still free, somewhere in the city?"

"That may be the case, but they will be on their last hoof. No more allies and we will know who it is the minute Moon Glow brings in the human prisoners."

Greg nodded sagely, but then he grunted to himself and looked directly at her. "That could be a month from now. You said Luna intends to have the criminals walk the whole way."

"Yes, that was her idea, but I gave Silverwing different instructions. I don't think I could keep Callahan waiting for that long. Half of Silverwing's squad will pick up the entire party and bring them here, the others will go to relieve Luna at the portal."

"Good. Having them slog through the jungle could give some unscrupulous lawyer ammunition," Greg pointed out. "Cruel and unusual punishment, for one."

Celestia inclined her head and closed her eyes for a few seconds. "You know, memories of your court proceedings still haunt me some days."

Greg just chuckled, his hand patting her back as they emerged into the cool night air. It was summer, but the nights this high up the Canterlot mountain were still quite fresh. She led him to the railing and the two of them looked across the mostly sleeping city.

"Did you ever imagine you would be here someday? I mean, after you heard about my world, after the first portal opened?"

He shook his head and stepped closer, so they could share a bit of body warmth. "Never. At first it was just curiosity. You know, Earth never had magic, at least not real magic. Then I guess I kinda dismissed it and focused on my work."

"Until you decided you wanted a pony maid," Celestia giggled.

"Yeah, I don't really know what came over me. If I'd known how much trouble you'd be..."

Celestia turned to face him and her breath caught. Surely Greg wasn't regretting meeting her?!

"I'd still do it," he went on, eyes focused on the distance, probably not even seeing her. His hand came to rest against her muzzle and Greg leaned in to leave a light kiss on the tip of her nose. "Wouldn't trade this for the world, Celly."

Again her knees went weak and the Princess let her mouth split into a goofy grin. "That good in bed, am I?"

They both laughed at that, but fell silent when hoofsteps approached. It was one of the maids with a tray levitating in her magical grip. She brought it close, then bowed her head and lifted it up.

Celestia grabbed the two cups in her own magic and floated one over to Greg. "Thank you," she said to the maid.

The unicorn mare murmured some polite reply, but Celestia wasn't listening anymore. She barely waited long enough for the hoofsteps to fade before stealing a light kiss from Greg.

"Oh, there was one thing I was meaning to ask," he said, suddenly thoughtful. His mischievous expression from before was back and Celestia steeled herself from a possible prank.

"Anything, love."

"Do you think the Crown could put up a stipend for one aspiring baker?"

The request came out of the blue and Celestia blinked a few times in surprise. She tried to pierce the darkness to see Greg's face better, but it didn't sound like a joke.

"Probably. Why, if I might ask?"

He shrugged and turned to look at the city. "Well, there's this bakery on the corner of Cloudsdale Lane and Restaurant Row. They're looking for an apprentice baker."

Celestia started to have an inkling where this was going, but decided to play along and pretend not to understand. "And I suppose you have a candidate in mind?" she asked.

"Yeah. Except they're not from Canterlot, so they'd need to find a place to stay, living expenses, you know. Not something a pony could afford on apprentice baker's pay."

The Princess pretended to think about it, then licked her lips. "I am quite fond of that particular bakery."

Greg chuckled and wrapped his arm around her neck to press her against himself. She wasn't cold, not with her fur, but it was still a pleasant gesture which she returned with a wing around his shoulders.

"I do not know if I should be upset with you, you know? Blossom's parents had only just gotten her back and already you are plotting with Star Bright to take her away again." She took the sting out of her accusation by means of a gentle nuzzle.

Luckily Greg didn't take her words too seriously. "I know Bright offered to move to Las Pegasus, but I don't think he should give up his own studies just to be with his girlfriend."

"Fillyfriend," Celestia corrected. "And there is an observatory in Las Pegasus."

Greg sighed, but he didn't let her go for which Celestia was infinitely grateful. "Yeah, but it's not nearly as nice as the one here. I checked."

She grinned and leaned down to brush her muzzle against his hair. In truth, she'd already decided and she was just teasing a little. "Relax, Gregory. I will give Lilly Blossom a stipend with which she can live in Canterlot. She can repay me in cakes. Just tell me this: are you sure it is her destiny to be a baker?"

"Well, it's what she wants. I know her cutie mark is some flowers, but from what I've seen those things sometimes have a very loose interpretation."

Celestia was silent for long seconds, then sat on her haunches, her wing sliding down until it was around Greg's waist. "That is one of my best-kept secrets, Gregory. I hope you will not spread it around."

The man stiffened in surprise. "What? What do you mean?"

"The fact that a pony has a large degree of choice when it comes to their cutie mark. It is not as set in stone as everypony believes. Whatever explanation they conceive of what the picture represents is usually correct, and aligns with their natural talent." He was silent, so Celestia tried to explain it with a concrete example: "For instance, Lilly Blossom's cutie mark is water lilies, which most ponies would translate into something to do with actual flowers. Well, on the other hoof, it could represent marzipan flowers, such as one puts on cakes."

"Oh. I see."

"With how obsessed my ponies are with cutie marks, this knowledge would make many wonder if they had chosen correctly. Please keep it to yourself."

Greg said nothing for a while, then ventured in a very careful tone of voice: "So, what else could yours mean, then?" He sipped his hot coffee, grateful for its warmth.

Celestia chuckled at the unexpected change in direction. "A Princess will never tell, but if you can guess I will reward you, handsomely."

"I'm not really after money, Celly."

"No, you misunderstand. If you guess I will reward you by letting your handsome self do what you want with this Princess."

As if she wouldn't let him do anything to her anyway. They both knew it, but it sounded like an enjoyable little game and Greg readily agreed. "Deal. Let's see, sun. What else can an image of the sun represent?"

Celestia leaned her head on his shoulder, content to sit and let him talk through it. Soon it would be time to go to bed, but for now she could enjoy a quiet moment with her coltfriend. A thought from earlier rose up again. "By the way, Gregory. Do you perhaps know why Snow Cover is bucking for a promotion?"

This was another unexpected change in direction and it took Greg a few moments to bring his train of thought back under control. "Snow Cover? The new recruit guard?"

"Yes?"

He thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers. "Ooh, yeah. Fire Fly told me over pool yesterday. He proposed to Aura and wants a higher wage so he'll be able to afford the wedding."

"Proposed?! Had they not only met a few weeks ago?"

"No," Greg explained, "it was right at the start of this whole mess with Blossom, remember? I went to visit Storm Pop and Aura a few days after we found Blossom on the road."

"That still feels rather fast."

Greg shrugged to himself. "Not everyone has to go as slowly as us, Celly."

She had to give him that. Her own courting of Gregory had taken quite a while, not least because of her own uncertainty. "Well, Snow Cover had shown himself capable. Perhaps I can find room for one more corporal. I will speak with Fire Fly."

"Great. Thanks," Greg answered and patted her side with his hand where he had it draped around her. "Wanna go inside?"

"In a minute. I would like to watch the stars a little longer."

Greg turned his face up, perhaps really looking at the sky for the first time since they'd come out. "Yeah, the nights really are spectacular here. I can see why Star Bright likes it so much."

"Thank you for these quiet moments, Gregory. It has been a... strange few months."

Rather than replying, Greg just squeezed her a little tighter. They both sipped their rapidly cooling coffee and gazed at the stars.