Back on Duty

Gregory surfaced slowly. The world was... soft.

Soft and warm.

His cheek was pressed against wet fur and he heard a strong, steady heartbeat inside, its slow rhythm somehow calming against his ear. A quiet splash of water prompted him to open his eyes. He was lying on an expanse of white fluff, but he could see the edge of the big bath tub beyond the fur.

Before his mind could connect the dots another touch registered, a slight pressure against his forehead. "Waking up?" It had been a kiss, Greg realized.

He knew the voice and it triggered a flood of memory rushing back. He was taking the morning off with the Princess and they'd gotten into the tub after... Greg suddenly realized he was completely naked and mostly submerged in hot water. He pushed against Celestia's chest to lift his head a little.

"How long?"

Her wings were partially wrapped around him, but not so tightly as to prevent him from rising. Greg came face to face with the Princess and then looked blearily around the room. He saw the pile of towels on the floor where they'd-

"Only about an hour. There is no rush to get out. Relax."

Her suggestion was good and Greg allowed himself to slip back into the water. "It's still hot?"

"Magic," was all Celestia said by way of explanation.

Greg remembered their passionate, if brief 'fun' and put his arms back around her barrel. "You wanna-?" he prompted, not quite comfortable in saying it out loud.

This made the Princess giggle and the movement of her chest jostled Greg a little. Luckily she kept him from sliding off with her wings. "Eager, are we not?" she teased. Before he could reply, Celestia went on: "For now let us just enjoy the moment, Gregory. We do not often have time to relax."

"That's true."

He tried to clear his mind and obey her wish, but now that he'd started thinking it was too late. Unwelcome thoughts and questions forced themselves into his mind and Greg began to fidget. His fingers twirled in Celestia's wet chest fluff as he thought. At length he could no longer keep it to himself.

"Anything new from Luna? I still can't believe there's a second portal."

The Princess sighed, but she didn't sound annoyed when she spoke. "Nothing after yesterday night. She is waiting for the relief effort and I expect her situation has not changed."

She stopped talking and Greg lifted his head again to look at her face. There was the barest hint of a scrunch on her muzzle and a faraway look in her eyes. "Celly?"

She shook her head, but didn't meet his gaze. "Just something Luna said. Well, the way she said it."

"Yes?"

Celestia blinked and finally looked into his eyes. "Nothing important, but I got the feeling she has done something she considers wrong and does not want me to find out."

"But you will find out, right?"

At his intimation the Princess grinned a grin which could only be called 'predatory', and Greg was glad he'd never been on the wrong end of her intellect. "Oh yes."

Greg hoped Luna hadn't done anything really bad. He didn't like it when the sisters argued. It was all too obvious to him just how much arguing with Luna hurt Celestia. "I'm sure it's noth-"

His word was cut off by a knock at the door. He jerked bolt upright and would have climbed right out of the tub and scrambled to get a towel around his waist, but Celestia grabbed him with her forelegs and pulled him back down.

"Relax," she told him with a small grin. Then, louder, she called: "Enter!"

Despite her reassurance, Greg stiffened. The castle staff knew he was involved with the Princess, but he still felt distinctly uncomfortable flaunting their relationship so publicly. After all, she was something like a deity to the ponies. It wasn't even as if any pony had remarked upon it, except for that trouble with Twinkleshine. The nobility looked at him darkly, but they didn't dare say anything, and the common ponies seemed positively delighted at how happy their Princess was. More than once a maid caught Greg's eye and gave him a sly wink and a very inappropriate grin. It never failed to make him redden, which was probably why they were still doing it and why Celestia hadn't put a stop to it. She'd always said his blushes were cute. Just the thought was enough to make Greg flush all over again. Those ponies cleaned Celestia's room, after all!

All those thoughts flashed through Greg's mind in an instant it took their visitor to push the door open. A light gray pegasus in a black and white maid's outfit stood there. She bowed when she saw Celestia looking at her.

"Princess, Mr. Eli asked for you. He said there is news from Earth."

Gregory knew Celestia was disappointed that their time together was being cut short, but she kept her face pleasant and even mastered her ears before they could lower. "Thank you, Autumn," she said. "Please tell Mr. Eli that we will join him right away." The maid bowed again and closed the door as she left. Only then did Celestia allow her ears to sag and her eyes to fall. "Duty never ends, does it, Gregory?"

"Sorry, Celly. I'll help you dry off."

That, at least, brought a smile back to her muzzle and she gave him a light peck on his cheek. "I suppose they found the second portal on Earth. Nothing else would cause Eli to interrupt... this."

Gregory almost squeaked in alarm. "He knows what we're doing?!"

The Princess blinked in confusion at his reaction, but then her muzzle split in a very sultry grin. "Maybe he does. I did say I would take a bath and I... might have hinted that I would not be alone."

"Celestia! There is such a thing as propriety!"

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Bleh! I have had a thousand years of propriety, Gregory. Quite frankly, it is boring."

How far this mare had changed from the prim and proper maid who had entered his house on that distant autumn evening, Greg mused. Her stay on Earth really had brought out her childish side. In a way it was cute. She'd had to repress that part of her in the name of ruling her country, but now Celestia had discovered that she can allow herself some playfulness every now and then.

"Well, I guess we should get out then," Greg prompted, still being clutched to her barrel.

Celestia sighed and let him go. "I suppose. You first."

Sometimes you just had to show the Princess a good example.

It was a very nostalgic feeling for Gregory as he was taken through the portal building on Earth. He'd gone back a couple of times since their close escape, but the place still felt oppressive. He'd been so sure they would be caught when he tried to smuggle Celestia out of Earth and it had only been through a miracle that they'd escaped.

"Tell me again why I agreed to do this?"

Callahan didn't even break stride. "It was your horse's idea, not mine. Apparently she trusts you enough to do this."

Greg sighed and followed the man past the border checkpoint. There were a couple of ponies waiting in line to have their passport checked, but no one gave him a second glance. Once they were in the corridor and there were no civilians around, the Commander went back to his briefing. "The Princess demanded that any ponies rescued from captivity at the portal site should be escorted to Equestria ASAP."

Greg waited for the second part, but the Commander didn't say it. Perhaps he was hoping it would conveniently get forgotten. "The ponies working with the people traffickers are to be sent to Equestria for trial as well. No 'interrogations'."

Callahan just grunted in annoyance. "That part you'll have to discuss with the Secretary General."

"Wait-" Greg came to a halt in surprise. "The Secretary General is in on this?!"

It was the first time he saw the Commander grin since he'd met him. It seemed this little revelation and Greg's reaction was giving him some kind of perverse pleasure. "It's an important mission. What did you expect? Relations between Equestria and the U.S. are still strained."

"Why?"

The smile faded and the Commander gave him a narrow-eyed look. "Sir, how did a lawyer end up being Celestia's personal lackey?"

He was trying to unbalance him through thinly veiled insults, but Greg had had enough practice in the courtroom not to fall for it. Maybe the man had done some digging and knew about that hunt for Celestia when she had been hiding on Earth. In that case, he could very well suspect Greg of aiding her escape. Luckily, the Princess had considered the eventuality of such questions and had prepared a good cover story for him. Now, more than ever, was Greg grateful for Celestia's intellect.

"My firm was involved in that case about pony kidnappings some years ago. Maybe you've heard of it?"

Callahan looked blank so Greg explained some more. "It was the case that got Miriam Adams into the Supreme Court. It was in the news again just a while ago."

At long last some recognition dawned on Callahan's face. "Oh, so you were a part of that thing?"

"Yep. After the case I got curious about Equestria and Ms. Adams was kind enough to introduce me to the Princess by mail."

That was the official story, at least. Some people on Earth might suspect otherwise, in particular Greg's ex-coworkers who'd met Celestia personally, but they had all agreed to be quiet. It hadn't been too hard to achieve, especially since they could end up in the middle of a scandal for 'hiding' Celestia at the office. More importantly, they all considered the Princess a friend.

"Funny how it turns out," the Commander commented, but Greg couldn't be sure if he believed the story, or just didn't want to dredge it up in face of something he considered more important. "This way to the car. It's about two hours drive."

The mention of travelling got Greg thinking about another thing he'd discussed with Celestia. "You're not gonna take me all the way to the other portal, right? Where was it again, somewhere in south China?"

"Malaysia," the Commander clarified. "No, we won't send you there. You just have to reach some kind of a deal what to do with prisoners and rescues. The U.S. military will handle the rest."

"Okay. Good. Hopefully it won't take too long. Oh, before I forget, Princess Luna warns that your people should not approach the portal under any circumstance. Whatever she did to make the travel impossible might be dangerous."

"Celestia already said that. Understood."

It looked like that was all for now and Greg resigned himself to making uncomfortable smalltalk with the Commander. Either that, or uncomfortable silence.

At long last the talking points ran out and the meeting was adjourned. Greg was just about ready to go to his hotel and fall in bed, but he waited in the hallway for the only bright point of this entire trip.

It took a few more minutes, but finally the woman he'd been wanting to speak with came out. "Miriam! I never imagined I'd see you here!"

She excused herself with her group of officials and came over. Gregory was holding out his hand, but she pushed past it and gave him a hug instead.

"Nonsense. A big hubbub about ponies again? Where else would I be? To be honest," she said, all smiles, "I was expecting Celestia. How is she?"

"She's well. How about you? I heard about the promotion, so congratulations."

He looked at Miriam's face, noting that she had a number of new wrinkles. Even her hair had more silver in it, but the combined effect was of a good-natured grandmother.

"Oh, it's just a job, Greg," she waved it modestly away. "Tell me about this thing now. Kidnapping and hu- people trafficking? Bad business."

For an instant Greg considered telling her about his experiences, the captivity and escape, but Miriam didn't need to know all that, at least not know. They might not have a whole lot of time. "It's bad, but I think we almost have it sorted. This portal stuff is the last bit. Apparently they were smuggling people in both directions. We found some human slaves in Equestria and they're on the way home as we speak."

The next bit made Greg sigh in despair.

"They've also been taking ponies to Earth and selling them. We're still gathering all the missing person reports."

Suddenly the woman was serious and stepped closer. She was easily as tall as Gregory and her eyes bored into his. "Do you know how many ponies they brought over? At least approximately?"

He was forced to shrug and shake his head.

"Shame," Miriam sighed. "No way to get them all back. I thought we were past this," she bemoaned. "Well, you've got our full support, but you already knew that."

"Yeah, thanks for that. Celestia wouldn't like it if her people were stuck in prisons on Earth, even if they are criminals."

The woman once again waved a dismissive hand. "The Secretary General can be a bit stubborn at times, but he doesn't want more tension with Celestia."

"How are the others? Have you stayed in touch?" Greg asked. He didn't want to go over the whole meeting yet again.

"Oh, swell, last I heard about them. Glitter Dust basically runs the store for Maggie, Heavy Hoof and Belle Hop got married. I didn't hear from Glowbug lately, but I think she's fine."

"That's great!"

Miriam barely gave him time to digest all this before coming out with her own question: "How about Lake Frond? I didn't get the chance to see her little one last time I was in Canterlot."

"Wow, I almost forgot. I haven't seen them in a while either. I guess we can all catch up when you visit."

Miriam Adams looked wistful, but her expression was pained. Greg imagined she was quite busy and could ill afford to take any time off, even when it was planned that far in advance.

"It'll all still be here, Miriam, it's just a couple of days off," he told her gently.

The lady watched him for a while longer, then her face creased into a smile again. "Oh, you're probably right. I guess the underlings can handle things for a bit."

"That's great! I know for a fact Celly will be thrilled to see you again!"

His nickname for the Princess just made Miriam's smile wider. She reached over and patted Greg on his arm. "I'll be happy to see her too. I'm still sore she didn't take my offer. She'd make a superb attorney."

This just made Greg chuckle. "I think she has bigger and better things on her plate, Miriam."

She joined his laughter and nodded. "I guess you're right. So..." Miriam looked around, but all the other people had filed out of the hallway, except for her driver, who was standing patiently at the other end. "I'll see you and... mm, 'Celly' then, but I really have to go now."

"Yeah, I'll head back to the hotel too. Too late to return today."

This time Greg had been expecting another hug, but the Justice grabbed his hand and have it a firm squeeze instead. "You look after that horse of yours Greg. Bye!"

He watched Miriam leave with a small, bemused smile on his face. Hopefully she wouldn't slip and call the Princess that in her presence. That or 'Celly'. She had gotten used to the nickname from him and, occasionally, from Luna, but if human dignitaries started using it, or - god forbid - other ponies, Celestia might have some choice words for his indiscretion. After a moment's thought, Greg went back to the lobby of the building, looking around for the Commander. He didn't particularly enjoy his company, but the man was his transportation.

Having moved entirely to Equestria, Greg didn't have any cash on him, or any credit cards. Even if he wanted to get a taxi he had no means of paying for it. Strange how visiting his home country left him feeling like a tourist. Fortunately the Commander was waiting in the lobby, apparently in deep conversation with some of the other military types from the meeting. He spotted Greg and held his palm up, signalling for him to wait while Callahan finished his discussion.

Looking for something to do, Greg strolled over to the nearby wall and started examining the paintings on display there. Hopefully the Commander wouldn't take too long. By now Greg really wanted his bed. He felt so tired after that hearing - more like interrogation, actually - that he probably wouldn't even miss cuddling with the Princess before falling asleep. Good thing that he'd be heading home first thing tomorrow morning. In a way it was a piece of luck that the second portal was on the other side of the world, otherwise he might have to go visit it. Or maybe not, considering Celestia's warning of how dangerous it was to approach it.

His eyes slid past the paintings, unseeing, as tried to imagine what Luna had done to it to make it that dangerous.

The boring and uninterested dragged on. Perhaps the only bright spot in Greg's day was when he finally got back to the Canterlot Castle and Celestia all but scooped him up in her hooves and wings. The way she lavished kisses on his face was nice, too. It was a good thing they were alone, at least momentarily. After that, there was a meeting with Callahan and Eli and Fire Fly, which Gregory would have preferred to skip, but there had been no time to brief the Princess on what they'd decided, so it fell to him to present it.

He was just explaining about the decisions they'd reached with the Secretary General and mentioned how Miriam has helped on some of the more difficult points.

Callahan scowled a little at that, and the Captain and Eli looked blank, but Celestia gave a small gasp and her muzzle split into a grin. "You did not tell me you saw Miriam, Gregory!" she accused. "How is Miriam Adams?"

The Commander heaved a sigh and tried to drag them back to the topic at hand. "Princess, is this the best time for gossip?"

Celestia just ignored him, which made the man's face redden and a vein start to throb on his temple. Greg thought it best to finish the distraction quickly: "Yeah, we talked about her visit and she's looking forward to meeting the whole gang. I'll tell you more after we're done here, okay?"

Celestia gave him a happy nod and turned to face the table again. "Very well, Commander," she continued as if there had been no interruption. "You may proceed with your... strike. When word comes back that you have secured the portal on Earth, I will let Luna know and she will allow passage."

So far so good. This part of the plan was to the Commander's liking and he nodded curtly.

"You are to send all the ponies, both the captives and their captors, over to the Equestrian side. I will arrange transport for them to Canterlot and we will handle it internally."

This was the bit Callahan didn't like. In his eyes the ponies who'd sided with the criminals were just as guilty as their human counterparts and they deserved a taste of the human justice system. His heart was in the right place and the man staunchly believed in doing exactly the right thing, according to the law, but for some reason he was convinced that the Equestrian courts would go easy on their own citizens.

He didn't argue anymore, not after being ordered to do exactly what Celestia wanted by his superiors. "Yes, ma'am. I trust you will hold your end of the agreement and hand over the human prisoners as soon as they come here?"

It was a point Celestia had been willing to concede, despite wanting to keep the criminals for a couple of days of questioning. More importantly, she'd wanted to keep the freed slaves in Canterlot to make sure they were recovering from their ordeal. She looked at Greg, who shrugged and nodded, telling her that the Commander was correct about the agreement they'd reached the previous day.

"Of course. We will hold to the agreement, Commander," Celestia confirmed.

"Good, there's just one more thing I need to know," Callahan continued, opening his briefcase and taking out a yellow folder. He removed some glossy papers and spread them on the table before himself.

Greg and Celestia shared a look and there was a question in her eyes.

"I don't know, this didn't come up yesterday," Greg told her.

The Commander caught their exchange and a grin appeared on his face. "I only received these photos today, Your Highness. They are low altitude stealthplane shots and my people can't make heads or tails about them."

He pushed the papers forward and Celestia picked them up in her magic. Greg craned his neck to look and she accommodated him by holding the photos at arm's length. It showed a stretch of some sparse forest with a couple of snaky dirt roads visible as white lines. There was a large clearing in the middle, but it looked like scorched grass. Greg and Celestia stared, trying to make sense of the scale and the devastation.

"Have they burned down their camp when they found out the portal was blocked?"

The Princess was staring intently at the middle photo, which showed the southern side of the clearing and a stretch of forest beyond. She was chewing on her lip thoughtfully and her ears twitched up and down as she considered.

"Maybe this will help. The plane was sent on a lower altitude to get some close ups of the camp itself," Callahan interrupted and slid two more photos their way.

Celestia's magic picked them up and held them alongside the original three. Most of the frame was black, with strange hints of structure, very much like burned grassland. Greg could recognize a large, square building, but it was either burned to the ground or covered with tar, leaving only a few patches of white concrete visible.

"Hmm," Celestia said, eyes scanning the new pictures. The second was of a group of buildings, if that was what they were. There were square-shaped bulges in the black terrain.

Finally, Celestia lowered the photos and gave the Commander a tight-lipped look. "I'm afraid I don't know what to make of this. Perhaps Gregory is correct and the criminals burned their camp down when they realized they'd been discovered?"

The man shook his head while Celestia passed the photos to Fire Fly and Eli. "I don't think so," Callahan replied. "I spoke with the flight crew on radio and they said the fires were green and purple. It definitely looked out of the world, they assured me."

This made Celestia blink in shock. "Green and..." She was already white, but by now Greg knew her enough to realize she would have paled in shock. "Surely she didn't-"

"Did what? Who? You know what this is?" Greg asked.

The chair clattered on the floor as Celestia sprang upright and began pacing the small room. He ears had gone completely flat and her mouth was pressed in a tight, displeased line. She stopped and glared at the Commander with such intensity that he flinched back. "How large is the black circle?!" she demanded.

He glanced down at his notes. "The crew estimated at one-point-five clicks diameter. About a mile across, Princess."

The news made the mare grunt and she whirled around to continue her pacing. Greg stood up and stopped her with a hand on her withers.

"Talk to me."

Celestia stared in Greg's eyes and said just one word: "Luna!"

Something tickled his memory and he recalled their conversation in the bath. "You think this is the bad thing she didn't want to tell you?"

"I bet it is," the Princess almost growled. "Undoubtedly she thought she could clean it up before anypony knew. She might not have realized it would spread through the portal."

Celestia tore free from Greg's hand and went back to pacing and grumbling. Luckily she kept it low enough so that Eli and Callahan couldn't hear. Greg was close enough and Fire Fly had pony ears.

"I am going to wring that little filly's neck when I get my hooves on her!"

"Hey, relax. It probably isn't that bad."

The Princess twirled again and faced the table. She took a forced breath to relax and closed her eyes for a moment. When she spoke, her voice was calm again: "The ground is not burned, Commander, but rather infested with dark magic. I believe my Sister has used Sombra's magic to prevent passage through the portal. She must not have realized that it would spread on the other side, even if she is keeping it in check on ours."

This made Captain Fire Fly let out a small whimper and shrink down in his seat, while Eli and Callahan looked confused. The Commander regrouped first. "How bad is it?"

Celestia's ears folded down again, but she answered: "If left unchecked, the corruption will spread over your entire world."

"WHAT?!" Callahan was suddenly on his feet. "How do we fight it? I'll authorize a nuke right now!"

The word was unfamiliar to the ponies and Celestia gave Gregory a questioning look. He swallowed and shook his head slightly, which was all the information she needed.

"No, not that," she said, forcing herself to speak calmly. "I am not certain any of your weapons would eradicate this- this infestation." Suddenly her smile turned positively evil and both Eli and the Captain looked decidedly uneasy. "Instead, what I will do is send Princess Luna with you to clean up her own mess. She will obey all your orders, as long as you do not make her commit crimes. I promise you that!"

This news calmed the Commander down a little and he took his seat again. "So, what do we do about this until then?" he asked.

"Nothing. Your men are to stay away. I only hope the criminals were smart enough to have run when it started to spread."

"W-What would it do to a person?"

The Princess looked uncertain as she considered, then closed her eyes and shook her head. "Without Lord Sombra to guide it, I am not sure. My best guess is that it would enslave people like it was meant to do, but without orders they would simply... wait."

"Can they be freed?"

This time Celestia nodded immediately. "Yes. Both myself and Luna can perform that spell. If it fails to work, we will have to bring them to the Crystal Empire so the Crystal Heart can cleanse them."

The news relaxed everyone at the table and even Celestia sat down, though her gaze was still troubled. Greg reached a hand over and patted her neck.

"I'm sure Luna had good reasons for using this," he tried to reassure the Princess.

She shrugged. "Perhaps. What I am worried about, and Luna does not seem to realize: if the corruption draws enough power into itself, it can bring Sombra back. I do not want him loose on Earth!"

Commander Callahan accepted the photos back from Fire Fly and glanced them over before returning them to the folder. He cleared his throat. "Who is this Sombra and why is this magic bad, Princess? I need to know the worst case scenario so we can prepare."

She didn't really want to answer, but the man was right and Celestia owed him an explanation in her sister's name. She swallowed a lump and let out a slow breath. "Very well, Commander. It is a long story, though. Captain," she turned to Fire Fly, "since you already know this, could you find somepony and ask for some tea to be brought in?"

The guard hopped to his hooves, threw a salute and left.

"Sombra came to power in the Crystal Empire a little more than a thousand years ago..."