It was later in the afternoon when Celestia had teleported herself back home; the party had gone a bit later than what she had allocated for.
Wandering the halls of her castle, Celestia decided to take the long way around and take in the simpler sights of the palace she had lived in for over a thousand years. As she traversed the various paths, she looked around at the windows and other decorations, remembering the ponies and events they symbolized, and taking a whiff of the lavender her sister had set out in the wall sconces.
Finally, she made her way into her personal suite, looking around and wishing she could just stay here for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, she knew she still had business to tend to, and it would undoubtedly require her attention for at least another hour or so.
Hearing a noise at the door behind her, she turned to see who might be trying to get her attention; there were very few ponies who would ever consider entering her rooms without her permission. When she saw who was there though, she smiled. “Come in, sister.”
“Hello Celestia,” Luna said as she came into the room. “How was the party?”
“It was a party from Pinkie Pie,” Celestia laughed, shaking her head as she remembered the fun she’d had. “They’re always a blast.”
“So I take it that Spike is well and on the way to properly maturing into a young drake?”
“With Twilight and her friends acting as his role models, I am sure that he will be one of the very best dragons out there.”
“I have no doubt that they will guide him strong and true,” Luna smiled sagey before frowning. “And of Spliced?”
“Still very tight lipped of her past; I believe Twilight is going to try and ease into the magic of friendship by teaching her magic lessons,” Celestia replied.
“Is that wise?” Luna asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Hard to say at the moment; Twilight will no doubt start small and with how set in her ways Spliced is, it will take a very long time before Spliced could move onto anything somewhat dangerous,” Celestia said. “However, knowing Twilight, she will send us reports on Spliced so we can keep our eye on her. It also goes without saying that we will go to Ponyville in person to check on her from time to time.” Then she quirked her head. “Speaking of; how goes your investigation into her dimension?”
“Poorly; I have located the gateway; it is indeed broken but they are preventing me access in some manner,” Luna frowned. “While I could easily force myself through, the consequences could be very dangerous for myself and our world.”
“Agreed,” Celestia tipped her head. “Beyond them being superior in technology, we are still technically harbouring an escaped war criminal of theirs. Added to the fact how Spliced has acted, I would not put her mindset out of the norm for her kind and thus would put our ponies in great risk if they chose to attack.”
“And while I could slip myself over there, the risk that my magic would not be functional or even exist in that dimension, thus either stranding myself there and giving them a powerful leverage against you or killing myself, is too great.” Luna shook her head. “I have already set our guards to have their training increased; I doubt it will make that much of a difference if things fall apart but I will be honoured to know that our guards will be able to not only defend themselves properly but others if those from Spliced’s dimension do invade and force a mass retreat into the countryside and drive them into hiding to protect our ponies.”
“Excellent work Luna,” Celestia, weary now that this was put on them. “If only we knew what exactly Spliced had done, we could decide if reformation is possible for her.”
Luna winced, clearly unhappy with those words but she nodded her head. “There is some evil that we cannot forgive or be forgiven for.”
“If our fears are confirmed, I shall banish her away,” Celestia said sharply.
“I must ask; is banishing her near the sun wise or even just?” Luna looked at her sister accusingly.
“It is; Tartarus is far too dangerous on both sides; she is still mostly mortal mentally and it would be putting her into the absolute worst prison with terrifying monsters and I would be very troubled to do that to somepony,” Celestia said. “Further, while we do not know much about Spliced, I can also see her trying to research the creatures and nature of Tartarus to her own benefits. And again we have to think of the prisoners there using her for their own benefit. Can you not imagine the damage Tirek would do if he got his hands on Spliced and became immortal like she is?”
“I understand your concerns, Celestia,” Luna said, conceding the point. “But as well the morality of banishing someone with immortality to a near continuous eternal torment of the sun, I must remind you that she herself said she adapts through her deaths over time. Do you wish for her to become immune to being immolated as well as your magic?”
Celestia’s lips pursed as she frowned. “No, I do not wish for that for both reasons; we will have to find some other place we could send her or come up with some other punishment if it becomes necessary.”
“Agreed,” Luna yawned, shaking her head. “If you will excuse me, I will retire to my chambers so I can tend to our neighboring nations’ citizens’ dreams.”
“Of course Luna,” Celestia said, moving to hug her sister who reciprocated the action, nuzzling drowsily on her white coat. Whispering down to her sister’s ear, Celestia whispered “And there is a piece of Pinkie’s cake waiting for you in your bedroom.”
Luna immediately perked up at that, teleporting off with a bang. Chuckling to herself, Celestia made her way to her office so she could get on to her paperwork.