Twilight didn't think there was any reason to panic or be alarmed when Spike suddenly belched up a scroll right in the middle of court.
Yet as soon as Spike had taken hold of the scroll and unfurled it, he was quick to pass it on to Twilight all the while displaying the most troubled look on his face. "It's for you, Twilight. It sounds urgent."
Twilight quickly read over the scroll, and immediately her eyes widened and her wings poofed out to either side of her! "Spike!" She called out to the dragon. "You're in charge 'til I get back. Just try not to cause any trouble for me."
Spike gave a firm salute. "No worries, Twilight. As your royal advisor, I will not let you down!" Then he watched as the pony to whom he owed so much disappeared with a quick flash from her horn.
As for the sovereign ruler of all of Equestria, she had immediately teleported herself to the castle she'd once lived in. And once inside, she made a mad dash to the room where the table map was displayed. For the map itself was the reason behind the scroll that told her to come back to her old castle as soon as possible!
Sure enough, waiting in the map room for Twilight were her fellow alicorns Celestia and Luna. One glance at them told her all she needed to know, their cutie marks were glowing brightly, and an image of said cutie marks was displayed prominently on the map. But the location itself was what stood out to her: It appeared to be some sort of moving, floating castle. Yet it was a castle she could not recall having ever seen before.
"Twilight, thank you for coming so quickly," Celestia said with a smile in spite of the situation. She even chuckled a bit. "Please forgive me for the abrupt summons, but I couldn't think of how else to get your attention."
The youngest alicorn of the three waved a hoof, dismissing the concern. "Oh, don't be silly, Princess Celestia... I mean Celestia," She blushed, apologizing profusely. "Sorry, sorry. It's hard to get used to the fact that you and Luna aren't princesses anymore."
"Don't feel ashamed, you're not the only one who's made that mistake. It can be hard to adapt to new traditions after the old ones have been around for so long," Luna replied, before coughing into a hoof to draw attention back to the original reason behind the summons. "As you can clearly see, though, that's not what's most important. The map has called my sister and I."
"To where, exactly?" Twilight pondered as she eyed the floating castle that the cutie marks hovered over. "I don't recognize that... castle, is it? It's like nothing I've ever seen before."
At that, the alicorn mare with a majestic white coat's tone of voice took on a sorrowful, regretful tone. "Of course you haven't, Twilight. It's a place Luna and I thought we would never see again. It's the place we once called home, thousands of years ago. It is the kingdom of Skyros."
The sovereign princess wasn't sure what to make of such a statement. "Skyros? What even is that? There was never any record of it. Or was there?"
Luna shook her head from side to side. "Of course there wasn't. My sister and I are the only ones who ever knew about it. And we'd assumed it had disappeared forever... until now."
"But why? If it was your home, why would you leave it in the first place?" Twilight questioned as she put a hoof to her chin and started pacing. "You're not making any sense."
Celestia let out a deep sigh. "Twilight, do you recall what my sister and I told you when Flurry Heart was born?"
At that the sovereign princess immediately recalled the words now echoing in her mind: "You said it was something Equestria had never seen before," The realization struck her all at once! "Then that means Skyros is the place where you were born, where you were raised!"
Celestia nodded ever so slowly. "Indeed it is, Twilight. Luna and I never bothered to tell you or Cadence because we believed it was not important. When you and Cadence both became alicorns, and when Flurry Heart was born, we had not been able to establish contact with Skyros for thousands of years," Her eyes briefly shifted to the map before shifting back. "As you might have guessed, for us to find out that Skyros has apparently returned and that we're being called back to it is a very big surprise for us."
"So it's like a homecoming for the two of you," Twilight Sparkle realized. "And the map's only ever called ponies to solve a friendship problem. So there must be something going on in Skyros that's connected to Equestria. It's never been wrong before," She eyed the map again. "But... how will you even get to Skyros? I mean... how did you two even leave it in the first place?"
Luna frowned. "Unfortunately, we've little time to share all the details with you, Twilight. We simply wished to alert you to this odd summons from the map because my sister suspects that whatever's affecting Skyros could very well spill over and affect Equestria. No doubt, the map has called my sister and I back to Skyros in the hopes that we might be able to resolve the problem before it gets to that point."
The supreme princess hesitantly nodded. "I understand. Now's probably not the best time for questions. You two get going. I'll..." She bit her lip. "Just keep an eye out for anything else unusual or suspicious, I guess. Oh, I just hope this doesn't turn into some big disaster. Equestria was just starting to enjoy peace again."
Celestia trotted over, draping a wing around her former student. "You mustn't worry, Twilight. You and your friends are more than ready to step in should any crisis present itself. Luna and I will do the best we can to ensure the safety of Equestria. I don't know what could be happening in Skyros, and it would be unwise to get our hopes up before we know what we're dealing with."
The alicorn mare with a dark blue coat then insisted. "Then let's be on our way, sister. If what the map is showing is true, Skyros is not staying in one place. It's drawing closer to Equestria as we speak. Who knows how long it will stay that way?!"
The elder alicorn nodded, trotting over to join her sister. And the two quickly trotted away with looks of worry and concern plastered across their faces.
"Best of luck! N-not that you'll need it!" Twilight nervously yet optimistically called out as she watched the alicorn sisters set off. There was nothing more she could do for them here, she would have to go back to Canterlot and wait for any further developments, whatever they might be.
Despite all that they had just said, however, neither Celestia or Luna had even the faintest idea of how they would get to Skyros. They could only vaguely remember how they had arrived in Equestria from Skyros, it had been through a portal. Said portal had subsequently vanished without a trace when the two sisters had tried to find it again.
"What do you suppose happened to Skyros that only now allowed it to be visible to us again, sister?" Luna questioned with concern as the two alicorns were trotting along just past the outskirts of Ponyville with no destination in mind.
Without stopping in her tracks, Celestia could only shrug her shoulders and reply. "I don't know, Luna. I've received no visions or dreams of any sort. Nothing that indicated that Skyros would return, or that we'd be summoned by the map to it. Whatever is, though, I fear it can't be anything good."
At that the younger alicorn sister gulped. "Are you suggesting the map has sent us back to oppose Skyros? That we're to go against our own kind?"
The former sun princess protested. "I don't believe it's that. For all I know, it could be that some sinister force was responsible for Skyros' unexplained disappearance. And the map calling us to it is to help them recover," She then sighed. "If, however, there is a conflict between it and Equestria, I fear my loyalties lie with the latter. Skyros has not truly been our home for so long."
The former princess of the night frowned and sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that."
"Well, it is what it is," Celestia reluctantly replied. "For now, though, we should focus our efforts on finding a way to get to Skyros." And with that, her eyes were turned up, searching the skies for any sign of the floating castle that had appeared on the magic map.
Yet almost entirely out of the blue, Luna cried out in a loud voice! "Sister, look! On the pathway up ahead!"
The alicorn mare with a majestic white coat quickly spotted what appeared to be a large, glowing portal of some kind. One that she knew she had seen before! "That's it! We've found it!" She exclaimed, rushing ahead as her earlier hesitation and concern left her for the time being.
"Celestia, wait up!" Luna called out, running as fast as her hooves could carry her!
Yet Celestia did not slow stop or stop. She just continued to run towards the portal without a second thought. This was in stark contrast to what she remembered doing the last time she had seen such a portal. To think, that portal and the journey through it would completely change her and Luna's lives forever.
Luna only finally managed to catch up to her sister just as she had moved so close to the portal that she could reach out and touch it.
"Well, here goes nothing." The former sun princess declared as she and her sister took a deep breath, then stepped forward and into the portal. It quickly pulled them in fully, and spat them out on the other side before appearing to shrink and close behind them.
It took the alicorn sisters a moment or so to get their bearings. When they did, their eyes took in sights they had not seen in so long! All around them, they could see bright, glowing crystals and structures carved completely out of them. The streets themselves were lined with shining bricks that glistened. The whole place seemed almost like a blending of the architectural styles of Canterlot, Cloudsdale, and the Crystal Empire.
Most telling of all, though, was that several ponies who looked just like the former royal sisters in terms of body could be seen trotting to and fro. Some were taller than Celestia, others were shorter than Luna had been when she'd first been freed from her darker self. Some had flowing mane and tails in a rainbow of different colors, others had solid mane and tails that were entirely of one color.
When these other alicorns beheld Celestia and Luna in all their glory, they all stopped what they had been doing and eyed the former royal sisters with an odd mix of shock, surprise, and most of all suspicion. Some even began to whisper among themselves about the apparently "familiar" strangers now in their midst.
Neither former princess knew what to say, so long had it been since last they'd even thought of Skyros. And now, here they were, back in the kingdom they'd been born and had thought was forever lost to them. Yet it appeared to be none the worse for wear, as if not a day had passed since the two sisters had left it.
And before the two sisters could even begin to try to speak, they found themselves surrounded on all sides by alicorn stallions so massive in size they would've made Big Macintosh seem tiny by comparison. These stallions were wearing armor in shades of cold, metallic grey, and had spears pointed at the "intruders". "Come with us and do not attempt to resist," They warned, their tones barely above growling. "Our queen has planned for your return."
"Queen? What queen?" Celestia was the first to find the courage to speak up. "Do you mean Queen Meghan? Our parents worked for her as royal advisors."
"Silence!" One of the guards bitterly and coldly snapped. "You are traitors to Skyros, and shall be dealt with as her majesty deems fit."
Luna nervously and frantically whispered. "What shall we do, Celestia?"
The former sun princess quickly whispered back. "They don't seem to mean us harm, at least for now. Best if we cooperate until we know what's going on. We've already drawn attention to ourselves as it is."
The former moon princess grumbled, but reluctantly agreed. "Very well. But I've got a very bad feeling about all of this. Something tells me that Skyros has changed, even if it's not noticeable from the outside."
"Enough chit chat!" One of the guards commanded. "Come with us quietly, or suffer the consequences!"
Reluctantly, the ex-royal sisters obeyed. They let the guards lead them away, hesitant though they may be to be taken anywhere.
It wasn't long before the alicorn sisters reached their destination: A castle that appeared to be even older than the castle in the Everfree Forest, and one that easily dwarfed any such castle in Equestria. It was not a shining white in color, however, but rather a faded brown with reddish-black tint around the edges. It stood out in bold detail compared to the lavishly decorated buildings that had been seen earlier. And said castle was not anchored to the ground, but rather appeared to be floating in midair high up on a hill.
With poking and prodding from the spears, the guards commanded their "captives" to flap their wings and fly up to the castle with them. All the way, they spoke not a word. The silence was deafening.
Two guards stood at attention at the floating castle's gates, and parted only when the guards accompanying Celestia and Luna approached. The gates were opened, and the alicorns made their way inside. In contrast to the worn, faded look of the exterior, the interior of the castle seemed not to have aged a day. It contained lush red carpeting, golden trim, and polished marble for the walls and floors. Framed paintings of rulers long since passed hung on either side of a long hallway, and various doors and stairs leading to unknown destinations could be seen everywhere you looked.
But Celestia and Luna had very little time to take in the details. They were quickly ushered along by the guards, marched down the long hallways until coming upon a large set of double doors. The doors swung open, briefly blinding the sisters with bright light.
When the light faded, the ex-royal sisters were hurriedly pushed inside as the guards trotted in with them and pushed the doors shut behind them with a loud slam! Then they took up position on either side of the former princesses, who now saw that they were in an unmistakable throne room.
And sure enough, perched atop the lone throne and looking down at the two sisters was an alicorn with a coat the same purplish color as Twilight Sparkle, but much darker and much more faded in tone, to the point where it seemed almost bluish-black. The alicorn appeared to be a mare given the shape and stature of its muzzle, but her mane and tail hung limp against her body in a set of grayish-white curls. Her eyes were a fiery red in color, yet seemed cold and unapproving given the pronounced frown upon her face. Her flanks bore only a single flame for a cutie mark, her horn seemed jagged and crooked, and her hooves had black bands with sharp crystals sticking out of them. Atop her head rested a golden crown with jewels, their bright colors clashing horribly with the dark colors of her body, mane, and tail.
The former royal sisters gazed up at the unfamiliar alicorn in their midst, who in turn appeared to be sizing them up. Judging by the expression plastered across her face, she was not pleased in the slightest to see them. She sat there in silence for a moment or two, eyeing the sisters but speaking not a word. The tension in the room was unbearable.
At last, the crowned alicorn rose and lifted a hoof. Her tone of voice was deep, booming, and ominous sounding. "Lower your spears, guards. I had hoped to see these traitors with my own eyes." She then trotted down until she was eye to eye with the ex-royal sisters on their level.
This time around, it was Luna who found the courage to speak up first. "Who... are you? And what do you mean by 'traitors'?"
The crowned alicorn snorted. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. I know who you are: Celestia and Luna, the daughters of the royal advisors to the court. The ones that were sent to scout out a new land for us. Yet you did not return as was requested and demanded of you. It has been thousands of years since last anyone in Skyros has laid eyes on you. We had all assumed the worst, that you were forever lost to us."
"Has it been that long? I had only been raising the sun for a little over a thousand years," Celestia blinked in surprise. "And just who are you? You don't appear to be Queen Meghan."
"Indeed I am not. Queen Meghan stepped down hundreds of years ago. And you forget that I was her second in command. You are now talking to Queen Athena." The crowned alicorn declared.
"What?! Queen Athena?!" Celestia and Luna exclaimed mutual shocks and gasps!
Queen Athena nodded. "Correct. You two were mere fillies the last time I saw you," Her frown deepened. "Don't tell me you've forgotten: Your parents insisted that you be the ones to explore this new land we had heard of. The land of Equestria. And Queen Meghan believed that even though you were only children, the power and talents you possessed would serve us well. Yet you did not return after spending the required number of days in Equestria. What have you to say for yourselves now?"
At that, the former sun princess couldn't help but snicker and chuckle. "Oh, is that what this is all about, Queen Athena?"
Queen Athena growled and stomped a hoof down, the crystals on her hooves glowing ominously! "What's so funny, Celestia?! You and Luna chose to stay in Equestria and forsake your solom duties to Skyros! We could not reach you no matter what we tried! And now, on the day we plan to rectify that problem by invading Equestria, you come back to us and act as if it's no big deal."
Luna sheepishly tried to apologize. "Please forgive my sister, she didn't mean you any disrespect, Queen Athena. But this is all a big misunderstanding."
"Oh really?" Athena questioned, sounding noticeably skeptical of such a claim.
Celestia, now recovered, explained as best she could. "Yes, Athena... I mean, Queen Athena. We certainly didn't mean to make all of Skyros worry about us. We hadn't forgotten the assignment given to us when we were sent to Equestria. It's just that... well..." She began to trail off in uncertainty.
The alicorn queen impatiently demanded! "Well, what?! Out with it!"
Biting her lip, the alicorn mare with a majestic white coat reluctantly answered. "We... ended up staying in Equestria longer than we were supposed to. And by the time we remembered Skyros and tried to go back to it, we found that we couldn't do so. It was as if it had just disappeared. We kept hoping it would show up again someday but it never did... until now, anyway."
At that, Queen Athena seemed to smirk as a rather sinister smile slowly spread across her face. "Oh, is that all? Well, you should've just said so from the beginning. I had my suspicions about Equestria all along. And it seems you two proved them right."
"Whatever do you mean?" The former princess of the night hesitantly inquired.
The alicorn queen was all too happy to explain. "The reason why you could never come back to Skyros is because Equestria took you prisoner. They held you captive and refused to let you go until they were certain you'd forgotten about us."
Celestia gasped and tried to protest! "No, Queen Athena, you've got it all wrong! We weren't taken prisoner! They even made us rulers of their kingdom because we were so important to them! They were our subjects for pony's sake!"
Queen Athena turned her back to the ex-royal sisters and swished her tail as she humphed. "Sure, that's what they wanted you to think. How else could they get you to be willing to abandon Skyros? It's okay, though, I don't blame you. You were only children, after all. Of course you'd be so easily tricked. This is why Queen Meghan never should've listened to your parents. And to think, their faith in you caused them to spend the rest of their days worrying themselves sick about you."
Upon hearing those words, both former princesses stumbled back in disbelief! Even if they'd suspected their parents were no longer around, to hear such suspicions confirmed was a heavy blow to them.
Athena then clapped her hooves as she began to trot away, horn glowing brightly. "Your mistake will soon be rectified. Equestria will pay dearly for what it did to you. Don't even think about running back to Equestria to warn them."
"And whyever not? We won't let you do as you please, Queen Athena!" Luna roared in defiance! She immediately lunged forward, pressing her horn up against Athena's horn, only to be quickly pushed back. "W-what?!"
Athena's smile grew brighter. "You two are in no position to make threats. You're welcome to stay here in the palace if you can't bear to watch the battle. But if you try to side with Equestria and protect it, you can share its fate!" And with that, she departed the throne room, leaving the former royal alicorns to stand there in shock and disbelief!
Celestia and Luna recovered quickly from their shock, but not before they were brought to a secluded room within the castle as the guards instructed to them. "You can stay here until our queen finds suitable living arrangements for you."
Once alone with only themselves for company, though, the ex-royal sisters began to pace back and forth with worry. They knew now what the problem was that the map had called them to solve. Yet they weren't sure how they could hope to resolve it in time. Queen Athena seemed quite convinced that they'd been kidnapped and held prisoner.
"How can we make her see that Equestria never did anything to us? That we chose to stay there of our own free will?" Celestia glumly questioned her sister. "They became like a second family to us. We were going to go back to Skyros to report on that kindness."
Luna let out an unhappy sigh. "If only we knew what it was that cut off the portal we used to travel. If we knew what caused that, we might be able to get Queen Athena to see reason."
The former sun princess frowned. "Anypony who might even know about what was happening when we first arrived in Equestria is long gone by now, Luna. We've outlived all of our former subjects who might have had knowledge about it. Nopony alive today remembers a time from before we took over the throne. I'm starting to think we should've just said no to them."
"And how could we have rejected such an offer? They saw something in us even before we realized it ourselves," The former princess of the night protested with a shake of her head. "You said it yourself once: We were meant to rule Equestria together. It seems that it was always meant to be."
"Was it really?" The elder alicorn mare lamented. "Skyros was our home before Equestria. Why did we have to choose between the two?"
The younger alicorn could only unhappily remark in response. "We were young, sister. The situation was unfamiliar to us," As she spoke, memories from that long since passed time came flooding back to her in an instant. "They'd never seen anything like us before. They practically worshipped us."
At that, Celestia began to snicker again in spite of herself. "Oh, yes. I remember that," She shut her eyes, recalling the memories as if they'd happened yesterday. "We all said there was no need for them to do it, but they did it anyway. And before we knew it, they were putting crowns on our heads and taking us to Canterlot. They wanted us to be their new rulers."
Luna fondly sighed as she too shut her eyes. "That was how we met Starswirl the Bearded. Meeting him was the best thing that could've ever happened to us. He took us under his wing even though he was exhausted just helping to raise the sun each day and the moon each night. He never even suspected we had the power to control such things on our own, and still have magic left over," She could still perfectly picture the shocked expression upon the old wizard's face when he'd learned what the alicorn sisters were truly capable of. "When he did find out, even he seemed to be impressed. He said that Equestria had made the right decision putting us in charge. On that day, he wasn't just our teacher, he was like a father to us."
"And we still never thanked him properly for all that he did for us," The alicorn mare with a majestic white coat recalled as a hint of guilt crept into her tone of voice. "Even after Twilight and her friends brought him back from limbo. He still did everything he could to protect the realm despite no longer needing to do so," Then, suddenly, the realization struck her square in the face! She opened her eyes and gasped, putting her hooves to her face! "Wait, that's it, Luna! Why didn't I think of it before?!"
The alicorn mare with a dark blue coat was puzzled by her sister's sudden enthusiasm. "Think of what, Celestia?"
Celestia smiled. "There is somepony who might be able to set the record straight. Somepony who remembers when we first came to Equestria."
It took Luna but a moment to realize who her sister was referring to. "Wait... you're thinking of Starswirl himself?!" Upon receiving a confirming nod, she smiled briefly, before then realizing. "But... how can he help us now? How would we even bring him here?"
The elder alicorn chuckled. "Oh Luna, you forget that we're alicorns. We're capable of magic that nopony else could even dream of. We've just never really had a reason to use some of those powers... until now."
The younger alicorn sister seemed satisfied with the answer, though she was still concerned. "Do you think he'll be okay being brought here on such short notice?"
"I'm sure he'll be alright. Besides, this is an emergency," The former sun princess declared. "Now come on, we've got to act while there's still an Equestria left to save!"
The two sisters then put their horns together as they started to spark and glow! Soon, their eyes glowed brightly as they lifted themselves into the air. A moment later, there came a blinding flash as they concentrated their magical powers!
When the flash faded and the alicorns had returned to the ground, standing before them was a very confused (and slightly disoriented and dishelved) Starswirl the Bearded!
"Where am I?" The old wizard questioned as he eyed his surroundings. "Who summoned me here?"
"Sorry to summon you on such short notice, Starswirl." A pair of familiar voices apologized, before the ones to whom the voices belonged to threw their hooves around him.
Starswirl blinked. "Celestia? Luna? What in the name of harmony is going on?!"
It took a few minutes for the former royal alicorns to bring their old teacher up to speed on everything: Where he was, what had happened, and why had they summoned him so suddenly.
Starswirl seemed to take it all in stride, he appeared to be only slightly upset as he managed to compose himself in body and spirit. "Well, desperate times do call for desperate measures," He seemed to agree, though not without a slight pout. "However, I would appreciate a little heads up the next time you decide to pull me almost literally out of thin air. I specifically warned you two not to use such a power on ponies because of what might happen. We're all very lucky that my body could handle the magical forces you subjected it to."
"I promise, we'll make it up to you later, Starswirl," Celestia said to her former teacher. "But for now, we need you to explain to Queen Athena what we've tried to tell her ourselves."
"Please, Starswirl, you're our only hope!" Luna pleaded with the old wizard. "If you can't stop her, nopony can! Equestria and Skyros will be at war!"
The old wizard adjusted his beard and his hat, putting a hoof to his chin as he contemplated. "Well, that sounds like it will be a tall task. I'll do the best I can. But I'm not sure if words alone will convince her."
"We have to try, Starswirl!" Celestia firmly insisted! "Time is running out!"
"Then the time for talk is over! Now is the time for action!" Starswirl firmly declared! "Come, let's find this Queen Athena. And hopefully, she's not beyond reason at this point!"
Luna quickly replied with a smile. "Well, there won't be a need for us to find her. She'll come to us." And indeed, as soon as she, Celestia, and Starswirl had all taken one step out of the secluded room in the palace, they were surrounded by alicorn guards. And when the guards saw a non-alicorn in their midst, they were shocked and horrified! Immediately, they put out a call to their queen!
Queen Athena, soon alerted to the disturbance, returned to the castle as Starswirl and the sisters were brought into the throne room. The alicorn queen was now wearing a polished suit of rusted golden armor and holding a spear carefully within her magic, struggling not to drop it. Immediately upon seeing the unfamiliar wizard, her eyes widened with a mix of horror and curiosity! "You?! What are you doing here?! Did Equestria send you to negotiate a settlement, or perhaps a surrender?"
Starswirl shook his head from side to side and approached the queen, bowing slightly towards her. "I did not come here on behalf of Equestria, despite myself being a resident of it. I was brought here by my former pupils."
"Oh, you mean the alicorns that Equestria captured and tricked into abandoning Skyros all those years ago?!" Athena coldly hissed. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't have you thrown in the dungeon for your crimes!"
"Please, your majesty," Starswirl pleaded. "You must understand that it was never my intention or the intention of anypony else in Equestria to keep Celestia and Luna away from Skyros. We had no idea they'd come to us from another land. They were only children when I met them, and naturally I assumed that since they did not have parents that they must've been orphaned. I took them in along with the rest of Equestria only until we could determine where they had come from, and whether they had any kin that could raise them."
The queen only snarled and rolled her eyes. "You expect me to believe such statements? How do I know you're not making this up just to trick me?"
The old wizard stood before Queen Athena and instructed. "Probe my mind, see into my past. My memories should give you the answer. I cannot alter them or suppress them. What you will see will be the truth."
Queen Athena did not hesitate to do as asked. "Very well. This will settle the matter once and for all!" She quickly brought her horn up to the tip of Starswirl's forehead and shut her eyes, concentrating deeply. A violet-red glow emerged from her horn, and her eyes glowed white as sparks shot out suddenly from it! And then there was silence. Nopony spoke a word.
Celestia and Luna stood there the whole time with the most concerned looks on their faces. They could only hope that Starswirl's memories would be enough to convince Queen Athena that everything they'd told her was true, not a well crafted lie.
At last, Athena's eyes returned to normal. And Starswirl let out a sigh as he collapsed, putting a hoof to his forehead. "I trust you've seen all you need to know?" He nevertheless managed to ask the queen.
Athena's expression was hard to judge. She seemed unsure of herself, hesitating. Yet it was possible to see that faint glare of anger, of contempt. She was silent for what felt like ages, apparently deep in thought. Then she slowly opened her mouth to speak. "I see now..." She said quite slowly in that deep tone of hers. "You are..." Her lips quivered, appearing to struggle to form a smile. "Correct." That made Starswirl and the sisters breathe a deep sigh of relief.
"So do you understand now, Athena?" Celestia pleaded with the alicorn queen. "Equestria is not an enemy of Skyros, never has been. There's no need to go to war."
"Although my sister and I still don't know how or why we were cut off from you for so long, we never could forget where we came from," Luna added. "We wanted all of Skyros to be able to see the very elements that they displayed in welcoming us, taking us in and making us their leaders. For them we brought peace, stability, and above all happiness."
Queen Athena nodded ever so slowly, and now it was she who bowed her head. "I see that now. I see how rash and foolish I was to assume the worst by your prolonged absence. Clearly, your time in Equestria worked out better for all of Skyros than we could've ever hoped," Using her magic, she floated her crown off her head. "Perhaps you two should be the rulers instead of me. You are Skyros ponies by birth, after all."
But both of the alicorn sisters used their magic to push the crown back towards Athena. The elder sister then spoke. "We may have been Skyros born, but in our hearts we will always belong to Equestria."
"Indeed," The younger sister agreed. "We are glad to have been able to come back to the kingdom we originally came from. But Equestria has felt more like home to us for so long. It would be impossible for us to leave it behind now, even for this."
"Well, I at least hope you two will consider coming back to Skyros more often. I sense you have much to tell us about your time in Equestria and what you learned," Queen Athena declared with a sincere smile. Then she asked the two sisters. "By the way, is there something wrong with your cutie marks? Are they supposed to be glowing like that?"
Looking back to their flanks, the former princesses saw that their cutie marks were indeed glowing brightly. And they knew instantly what that meant: They had solved the problem.
Celestia smiled back. "Oh, you needn't worry. They do that sometimes. And we're not the only ones it happens to. In fact, it's part of the reason why we came back here to Skyros. Let's just say, a map told us that we could finally go back."
Luna nodded, before commenting. "Although, it's strange. I can't help but feel like there's somepony we've forgotten. Somepony who used to hang out with us, and who we shared the news of our assignment to Equestria with."
The former sun princess waved a hoof, dismissing the concern. "I'm sure it's not anypony important. If they were, we would've remembered them."
Author's Note
With all this information coming out about Skyros and what G5 was likely going to do with it, I felt like taking a look at what Skyros would be like if it ever appeared during FiM's run. In a way, you could consider this to be a hypothetical "Season 10" episode.
I had originally planned to do a map mission story involving Princess Celestia and Princess Luna (even if they're no longer princesses). And Skyros was the added spark of inspiration I needed for where to send them.
Queen Meghan is a reference to Meghan McCarthy, who was FiM's showrunner in Seasons 3, 4, and some of 5 before handing the reigns over to Josh Haber. And Athena is a reference to Opaline's VA. In fact, Athena's design is meant to be a nod to Opaline's appearance and (alledged) backstory.
