"Just how were you able to pull her through the mirror?"
"I didn't, to be honest. I just opened a portal relative to her position in that world before pulling her in. I just used the mirror portal as a means of tracking her down," I idly replied as I prod the side of the mirror. It's been a couple of hours, with Celestia taking a short leave to attend to some royal duties while leaving behind a couple of her own guards to keep an eye on me until she returned. Nice to know just how much my new aunt trusts me.
"Please don't poke the mirror," Celestia chided as she just watched me like some kind of predator.
Rolling my eyes, I backed away from the mirror before looking up at Celestia as I asked, "You think she's not going to find some way to pull a fast one on us?"
"I highly doubt it since you already proven your ability to pull her back into our world, along with the fact that I know of her inevitable return. However, when you bring her back, I would need some time to talk to her alone," Celestia answered before her expression harden as she looked at the mirror.
"Ah, going to discipline her? Here's a suggestion, use either a metal ruler or at least a thick one, that way it doesn't break when you smack her behind with it," I commented, drawing her attention as she gaped at me.
"I... what... she's a full grown mare!" Celestia shrieked as her ire for my comment start to appear on her face.
"So? That just means you have to hit her harder, that should set her straight," I replied with a shrug.
"Nebula, I do not discipline my students," Celestia stated through her clenched teeth.
"All the more reason to start now," I countered, only for Celestia to narrow her eyes at me.
"How about I just pass this 'advice' to my sister?" Celestia asked, causing me to cock an eyebrow at her.
"Go ahead, but also inform her that I have a really high tolerance for pain," I answered, causing her to let out a frustrated groan.
"Oh course you do," Celestia muttered. Before I could shoot back a retort, the portal vibrated as Sunset came out of it, or more like stumbled out of it when she lost her footing. faceplanting the floor, where I spotted something shining inside her mane.
"The fallen one has returned. So please, do tell us what you had to do to set things right back there. Cause if you don't," I said before dragging a hoof across my neck.
As Sunset's pupils widen at that gesture, Celestia stated, "Stop threatening her, Nebula. Besides, I won't let you do that."
"Then somepony else will do that, you can't exactly stop my fellow... peers from doing what must be done," I countered as Sunset got back onto her hooves before shooting me a glare. "Also, give me that," I declared as I wrapped my magic around some object in Sunset's mane, pulling it out to reveal some kind of electronic device.
"Hey! That's my phone!" Sunset said in protest, as I cocked an eyebrow at her before turning my attention to Celestia.
"Does something like this exist in this world?" I asked as I levitated said phone before Celestia.
"No, we don't have this... 'phone' in our world," Celestia answered as she scrutinized the phone.
"Then it's mine now," I idly replied before opening a small portal that I tossed the phone through.
"My phone!" Sunset shrieked, before giving me what I presume to be a death glare. Shame that ponies are too cute to be visually intimidating.
"Where did you sent that object off to?" Celestia asked as I went over to the mirror to shut down the portal I made on it.
"Oh, just a private uninhabited world that I store some things on. Good for confiscating contraband from pesky ponies and the like," I answered before heading over to the front door. "Now I'll leave you to your private moment with Sunset. Also, another piece of advice, maybe you should consider using a whip when you discipline her."
"Nebula! For the last time, I'm not going to do that!"
"About time you two finished whatever you two had to do, I was getting bored to the point that I was going to find a slingshot and start peppering the guards with... whatever I could get my hooves on," I declared as Celestia and Sunset came out of the room after about forty minutes had passed. Celestia was bearing an expression that was a mixture of sadness and disappointment, while Sunset had a mixture of anger and sorrow, with both of them having a faint trail of tears on their cheeks. Looking at them both, I continued, "Please don't tell me we're going to have one of those sappy moments where everypony gets all huggy and stuff."
Glaring at me, Sunset said, "Don't you have any tact at all?"
"I do, but under current circumstances, I decided to throw all that out the window whenever I have to interact with you," I replied with a cheeky smile.
Narrowing her eyes at me, Sunset stated, "I already had a talk with Princess Celestia about my acti—"
"That doesn't matter, for what you did falls underneath my jurisdiction, which overrules any judgments Celestia could make for you," I interjected, causing the guards and Celestia to stare at me in confusion.
"Are you... superseding my authority?" Celestia asked in utter bewilderment, as the guards blinked at me at first before shifting to glaring at me.
"I am perfectly within my rights as..." I started to explain before my eyes drifted to the guards. "Well, let's just say that due to the current circumstances, along with the information I told you about myself, this render this matter with me holding the highest authority in this judgment."
Gritting her teeth, Celestia declared through her teeth, "Very well, what kind of punishment do you think Sunset deserves?"
As Sunset could only gape at the fact that Celestia conceded to me, I looked at the guards as I asked, "Can we head somewhere private first? I rather keep some information as private as I can still."
Grunting, Celestia answered, "Very well, we'll head to that suite we set up for you. But you better come up with a proper punishment than the ones you were suggesting to me earlier."
"Unacceptable! You have no right to force that on anypony!"
"That's what you think, but this is how we lords normally deal with troublemakers, it's a great way to keep an eye on them. Unless you prefer executions inste—"
"In all things that are holy, I would never consider that!"
"Then you have no choice. Besides, we can pass it off like she's my second retainer, except she's not getting paid and she literally has to do whatever I want with her," I stated, looking at my furious aunt with a calm expression as Sunset just sat down on a pillow nearby, dumbfounded that I'm trying to rope her into 'indentured servitude'. Honestly, she should be happy that I'm not trying to press for a quick execution, most of my peers opt for that to save themselves the effort of teaching new 'servants' how to behave, hence I'm making the effort to be nice for her, even though this may be the only time I'm going to be nice to her.
"How could your organization be so cruel‽" Celestia exclaimed as she started to take some breaths to calm herself down, even thought it was apparent that it was getting her nowhere.
"Because it's an effective deterrent to those who even think about messing with interdimensional matters. Really helps cut back on the work when most ponies are afraid to defy our will," I replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
Shaking her dumbfoundedness away, Sunset glared at me as she said, "Don't I get a say in thi—"
"No, no you don't. Matter of fact, I could gag you right now, and my fellow lords would say that I'm being lenient to you still. Besides, you did interrupt my vacation," I interjected, causing Sunset to fume at me. Guess she forgotten about the fact that I could make a sword out of thin air, or maybe she doesn't have much of a desire for self-preservation.
"It only took you mere minutes to pull Sunset out of the other world," Celestia said with a scowl on her muzzle.
"Yes, but it also included all the time spent on this matter right now, time that I could spend sleeping in bed," I countered, to which Sunset could only do a double take at what I said.
"You're acting like this, cause I cost you some beauty sleep‽" Sunset cried out in anger, as her furious rage was clearly shown on her face. I wonder if she would catch on fire if she gets angry enough, I'm in the mood for some smores.
"I'll say once again, I'm being lenient. Some of my fellow lords would jettison you into the sun for wasting a mere minute of their time," I shot back as I examined my hoof like some kind of an arrogant prick, which only served to enrage Sunset further. Sometimes being an asshole can be amusing. "So, auntie, you can't get mad at me for following the standard protocols of my organization."
"Unless you're making this up on the spot," Celestia growled out, causing me to cock an eyebrow at her.
"Oh? Should I send a letter to one of them, requesting their presence? I can do that now since I already recovered some of my power," I asked, causing Celestia to adopt an unsure expression.
"You're bluffing."
"And you sound unsure of yourself."
"I should tell your mother about this, she would be cross to hear about the way you're acting towards me," Celestia declared, to which I raised an eyebrow at her as Sunset mouthed out the word mother in confusion.
"Go ahead, but for your information, you were the one that dragged me into this giant mess. Besides, I won't be cruel to Sunset beyond assigning her menial chores. I may not be a good pony, but I'm not an evil one either. Also, you can say that this will teach her some humility," I stated with a shrug.
Narrowing her eyes at me, Celestia said, "I would say you're trying to pull a fast one on me, but you're as subtle as a brick," before she looked at Sunset before returning her attention to me. "I will concede to your demands, if you in turn agree to a few set conditions in return."
"Fair enough, what do you have in mind?" I asked, curious at what plot Celestia is coming up with.
"First, you are not permitted to cause any harm to Sunset, nor put her in a position where she could be harmed. Second, you can't force her into any of your experiments without her consent, and you can't try to coerce it out of her. Third, you are not permitted to humiliate her in any fashion. Fourth, you are only allowed to keep her as your retainer as long as I permit it, but I will grant you three months as a minimum, she was a student of mine after all. And lastly, I want you two to become friends so that you two could better yourselves through each other," Celestia declared through a neutral voice.
"Oh, you got me in a bind, but I do need to punish her in some fashion, so I agree to your terms," I said with a frown.
Nodding, Celestia responded, "Good, it is nice to see that you can be reasonable, at times. But now I must make my leave, for I have my own duties to attend to" Celestia then stood up and walked over Sunset, giving her a hug as she whisper something to her before making her leave.
Frowning in a bit of sadness and angry at Celestia's departure as she stared at the door for a moment, Sunset turned her attention to me as she said, "I'm surprised that you agreed to all that, considering the way you were acting like an asshole earlier."
Raising an eyebrow, I stated, "Oh, you got a mouth on yourself. That might make things a bit more interesting. Besides, you forgot one key factor."
Cocking her own eyebrow in return, Sunset asked, "Oh? What is it?"
"Auntie Celestia said we should be friends, but she didn't specify what kind of friendship we should have," I said with a mocking grin, to which Sunset just gave me a deadpanned look in return.
"...If you weren't a princess, I would so give you a paddling right now," Sunset stated.
"Oh? What are you waiting for then?" I asked as I turned around, lowering my front as I raised my rear towards a shocked Sunset before I shook it around to shock her even more. "Let me have it!"
"...What the buck? Are you some kind of masocist‽" Sunset croaked out as she backed away from me a bit.
Laughing, I said, "No, but I have a very high pain tolerance, so odds are you could paddle me all day and I wouldn't feel a thing. Besides, I was hoping you did paddle me, only for a guard to come inside and find you in the middle of the act. Also, I didn't know you were a pervert. I wonder if Celestia knew about that side of you."
Staring at me for a moment, Sunset narrowed her eyes as she declared, "You are the worst filly, ever."
"I know, that's why I told my mom and Celestia that I would be a horrible influence on other foals," I countered, laughing at Sunset when she let out a moan and did a facehoof at my comment. Seems like things are going to be a lot more fun for me for the next few months.