The urgent summons had taken her all the way to Mount Aris. It was a full eighteen hours at full speed by chariot. She could’ve flown there and make it in ten, but there were certain expectations that just couldn’t be ignored when dealing with international politics. Plus, if by mere happenstance she arrived to witness fighting, she’d be needed at full strength to help.

She wasn’t needed to fight, which was a massive relief. However, Queen Novo had taken Celestia not to the throne room or to a tea room, but to a strategy room. Surrounded by generals, the queen had explained to Celestia that she had reason to believe that the yetis were planning an invasion. Their evidence was a startling increase in mining and smithing operations, overtaxing of their citizens, and espionage reports on the construction of massive airships that certainly didn’t give off vibes of being for tourism purposes.

The meeting had stretched for almost twenty hours, with regular breaks for refreshments and lunch. The hippogriffs, being one of Equestria’s oldest allies, had wanted her to listen in on the meeting and share her conclusions. Celestia refrained from confirming their fears, but if their information was to be believed, then it was true that the yetis would attack, and that their military force was beyond anything the hippogriffs could handle.

Celestia had offered help, but Queen Novo had declined. She hinted that she possessed an item of the last-resource kind. Something that would protect her subjects if the yetis did attack. However, whatever that object did could also affect ponies, and if they were there when it was used, they’d either be protected or left to bear the attack on their own. And protecting them, by the way she spoke of it, meant that the ponies would never return to Equestria.

No, what Queen Novo had wanted was for Celestia to have a first-hoof account on what was going on in the southern part of the continent, so that she wouldn’t be easily fooled in case the yetis tried to play innocent. Queen Novo also mentioned that it was very unlikely the yetis would ever attack Equestria, considering that they didn’t have magic, and Celestia was known far and wide as the single most powerful creature in the world.

However, being caught off guard would be dangerous even for her.

Celestia had tried to convince Queen Novo to let her send help, but the queen remained stubborn. Her pride wouldn’t let her see to reason. Besides, they didn’t know when the yetis would attack. Sending ponies all the way to Mount Aris would drain Equestrian resources, and if the attack never happened, they’d live in constant fear. Queen Novo didn’t want to do that to her allies.

At the very least, after spending the night in Hippogriffia, Celestia had convinced Queen Novo to consider opening free trade relations with Equestria as soon as the whole situation with the yetis was resolved. Celestia tried to remain hopeful and think that it was all just a big misunderstanding, but in her personal experience, she knew that the invasion was imminent.

So it was with a heavy heart and a promise to help if the Hippogriffs changed their mind that Celestia returned to Equestria.

But apparently, she wouldn’t be allowed to take a breather, for as soon as she returned, Captain Titanium requested an urgent meeting, where he informed her that they had spotted burnt clothes in the throne room’s accessway, and after some investigating, they had reason to believe that at least two ponies had infiltrated the palace, but they didn’t have any suspects yet.

Celestia dismissed him after promising to look into the matter. She wanted to let herself sink into her chair and lay on her desk, but she’d have to eventually get to work, and it was better if she took matters into her own hooves sooner than later.

She already had an idea of who the infiltrators were, or at least one of them. Still, she walked around the palace, reading reports and speaking with all the staff heads for anything they could share. The picture became clearer the more she investigated. Of course, she was several steps ahead of everypony else on account of being the only one to know about the mirror’s hidden purpose.

What she knew was that no less than two ponies had gotten into the palace on the evening of the day Celestia had been summoned. It wasn’t a coincidence that it was the same night the portal in the mirror had opened.

Also, as soon as the guards had gotten notice of the intruders, the pair guarding the throne room’s antechamber spoke of having heard the window rattling. Then, many who were on night duty reported seeing maids they’d never seen before wandering about, but they’d dismissed them as new hires. Descriptions varied because it had been dark, but they all agreed that they were unicorns. The same unknown maids were seen carrying large boxes full of blankets the following night, when the burnt uniforms had appeared.

In a panic, though with enough grace that only the veteran guards noticed, Celestia visited each and every vault within the castle, even the secret ones. Thankfully, after thorough scannings, Celestia was confident that none of them had been breached.

As Celestia paced along the corridors, she wondered what Sunset’s goal had been. She had mentioned in that letter that she didn’t intend on returning to Equestria unless she became an alicorn, so then, why come at all? And with a native of that world in tow, no less. And something else was bothering her. The boxes they’d been carrying before they left. Sunset hadn’t taken anything from the vaults, so what had she…

Celestia stopped, making her guards grow alert and look around for an unseen enemy. She walked as fast as she could without breaking into a trot, which meant that her guards did need to canter. Eventually, she made it to Sunset’s chambers, all the way to the fourth floor of the northwestern wing. She scanned the room, finding a startling combination of old, neglected wards, and the usual warping in the Harmonic Veil that remained after teleportation.

She entered the room, and her heart stopped for a fraction of a second. There were bits strewn about the floor, the desk’s drawers were scattered as well, stained with the ink that had spilled from the bottles. And more than half the books on the shelves were missing, all of which Celestia knew had to do with magic in some way or another. The bed showed signs of use as well, with wrinkled bed sheets and askew pillows.

Scratch marks under the bed told Celestia that the boxes Sunset had been carrying had actually been her personal chests with illusions. It didn’t take a genius to understand that the missing books were all in those chests. But then again, why take books about magic to a magicless world? Celestia recalled the contents of the letter that had been written in Sunset’s journal. It had mentioned that Sunset had found her destiny in that other world, but had that been a misdirection? Had Sunset found a way to bring magic to that world? If so, what was she planning on doing with it?

Something on the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned her head to see a dress torn in half. She recognized it as the dress she had bought for Sunset for her first Grand Galloping Gala. Sunset had looked absolutely adorable, especially with the big smile she had the whole night. For the dress to be in such a state, and considering the rest of the room, it meant that Sunset had been in considerable distress.

Was she still angry because she couldn’t force her way into alicornhood?

No. Something about the state of the room told Celestia that it was something else. Sunset wasn’t the kind of pony to throw a tantrum by destroying her own things. Her tantrums involved days and nights of study and planning until she either got tired or got what she wanted.

Unable to find any more clues to understand Sunset’s actions, Celestia allowed the guards to study the room until they were satisfied. Their investigation would be inconclusive, she reasoned, and the case would remain open until everypony but Celestia forgot about it. The only thing Celestia didn’t like was that the guards would quickly come to the conclusion that Sunset was one of the intruders, if they didn’t know it already.

That would mean that not even Celestia would be able to overturn an issue for Sunset’s arrest unless she trampled over her own carefully constructed delegation system. Sunset would become a wanted criminal all throughout Equestria, and Celestia wouldn’t be able to help her anymore.

Unless, of course, Sunset couldn’t return to Equestria.

Celestia returned to her study, where she kept powerful spells that reminded her of soon to come threats to Equestria that she knew of. Luna’s return was coming in only a few short moons, and Celestia was now sure that Twilight was indeed the pony of the prophecy that would save her sister —she had been carefully organizing the Summer Sun Celebrations so that the thousandth one would happen in the town nearest to the Everfree forest.

Were Twilight to succeed, which Celestia was confident on, it would be Cadence’s turn to live to her destiny. Her Cutie Mark and her name were already dead giveaways of her heritage and rightful place as heiress regent of the Crystal Empire. As soon as Sombra’s curse died off, the empire would re-emerge, and Cadence would have to defeat him and rule over the empire.

Which gave Celestia the perfect excuse to move the mirror there. She could already picture it. In thirty short moons the portal to the other world would open again. Celestia would remain awake overnight, waiting for Sunset to return so she could hold her back and talk, or if worse came to worst, to deal with her herself. If, on the other hoof, Sunset didn’t come back, then Celestia would entrust Equestria to Luna and cross the portal to search for Sunset.

One way or another, Celestia was not going to allow Sunset to keep trudging down the path of darkness and keep hurting, both others and herself.

Only thirty more moons before Celestia was allowed to fix things.

Author's Note

First interlude!

Yes, this is my excuse for having Celestia away during Sunset's and Twilight's visit. Since the movie is canon, I could use it for this. Haha!

I hope you liked it! If so, please do leave a comment!