Celestia descended the staircase from her sister's tower. Luna was asleep and would likely stay that way until the late afternoon of the next day. As she entered the hallway that connected her sister's tower with the three chambers for herself, Cadance and Twilight she took notice of the various portraits on the wall, as she did every time she came this way. This hall was filled with portraits of the greatest warriors that had ever served in the Royal Guard, or indeed any branch of Celestia's staff. She remembered each one fondly as well as their individual service to the throne.
The one she was most fond of was the one at the end of the hall, where Luna's tower reached the large round room with three other doors and a hallway back to the castle. This portrait depicted a unicorn. He had a greyish coat and a white mane. The nameplate read "Steel Shield, Supreme General of Her Majesty's Armed Forces". Celestia remembered Steel Shield. He was the unicorn who formed the Royal Guard itself over a thousand years ago. He dedicated his life to protecting both of the Royal Sisters and had done so with the highest of honours. Celestia missed him dearly. He was never as tough as his portrait depicted, at least not in her presence, and she had always had a soft spot for him.
As Celestia turned to head back to the main castle she caught sight of both Twilight and Cadance heading her way. They both had a glass of wine in their magic and a full bottle floating behind them. They were both giggling and Cadance was swaying a little more than she should. Celestia caught their attention with a slight cough.
"You do know it is the height of bad manners for a princess to be seen too drunk to walk properly? I thought one princess would be enough tonight."
Cadance and Twilight both looked forward but the smiles never left their lips.
"I was just getting Cadance to her room for that very reason." Twilight answered first, but her voice seemed a little off. She clearly had drank more than she was letting on. "But then my lovely sister-in-law wanted to hear what happened in the human world in more detail. I didn't get a chance to tell her about everything that happened last time because of how busy we were with the Princess Summit."
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Oh? would you mind if I joined you? I would like to hear about it as well."
Twilight looked at the bottle behind her and then back to Celestia. "Of course, but I don't think we have enough wine for all of us..."
Celestia chuckled a little and rolled her eyes. "A full bottle isn't enough? Well I do have some rather lovely vintages in my chambers."
Cadance threw her hoof into the air. "Wooooo! Now it will be a praty!"
Twilight and Celestia laughed. "I think you mean party, my dear niece."
"That's what I said! now come on, its not even 11pm yet and I wanna hear the stories."
In Celestia's chamber each Alicorn had found themselves a place on a set of rather large cushions. Celestia kept them for special visitors, made from the finest materials from Saddle Arabia. Once all three were lying down in comfort with a full glass of wine all attention turned to Twilight.
"So Twilight, tell us about the human world." Celestia said.
"Well, when I first arrived I didn't know what to make of it." Twilight began with a large sip of wine. "Humans have four limbs like we do but they stand up tall on the back pair like the Abyssinians. At the end of each arm they have hands, which are kind of like claws but not sharp. They are really good for holding on to things though."
Twilight teleported some paper and a pencil to herself and began a quick sketch of her human form. Celestia merely looked from where she laid, however Cadance was leaning closer with a look of confusion on her face.
"They look so strange. What kind of fur do they have? Do they style their manes too?" She said before taking a gulp from her glass.
Twilight giggled. "While they do have hair on their heads like we do they don't generally seem to have any fur. Just light patches of hair on certain parts of their bodies. I didn't have much time to learn about it all but the other-world Rarity showed me some basics about human grooming as we were getting ready for the Fall Formal." Twilight took a biscuit from the plate Celestia moved her way before continuing. "From what she told me, humans care for and style their hair just as we style our manes. The only difference is that they do it way more often."
Celestia bit into her own biscuit before chirping in. "So how do they keep warm if they don't have fur? I would assume that world has seasons just as ours does."
"It does, and humans wear clothes all the time. many of them wear them when they sleep as well."
Cadance looked over to Twilight. "So now that we have the basics of human anatomy down, why don't you tell us about this school you went to."
Twilight's eyes lit up immediately. "It's a massive building that can have over a thousand students at once. It has a huge library too! It's...where I slept during the night." Twilight looked away from the others as her cheeks burned red, while Celestia and Cadance both started laughing.
"They had a library? I'm surprised you even came back." Celestia joked after catching her breath. "The chance to learn all those books had to offer must have really pulled at you."
Twilight looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "I did really want to read them all but I was so tired after the first day." She took a gulp from her glass before refilling bother hers and Cadance's. "Plus I had a job to do so I couldn't get side tracked. Sunset had the entire school under her thumb and I needed to do everything I could to help them."
Cadance leapt from her spot and landed on top of her sister-in-law in what Twilight assumed was a hug. "Awwww that's our Twilight. Always helping others!"
Celestia shifted slightly onto her side and crossed her forehooves before emptying, then refilling, her glass. "What was Sunset like when you first encountered her?"
Twilight pushed Cadance off and looked at Celestia. While her face showed barely any tell of emotion Twilight could see the worry in her face. She expected her to ask about Sunset eventually and knew she would blame herself for everything her former pupil had done. Nevertheless Twilight knew lying about it wouldn't help anything, especially if Sunset ever came back to Equestria.
Twilight took a breath and faced Celestia.
"She was a horrible person." Celestia winced a little at the bluntness of Twilight but said nothing. "Sunset used everyone and everything she could to put herself on top and kicked down anyone who tried to change it. She bullied everyone and carried an air of self importance, like she was better than everyone and deserved to have everything handed to her." Twilight crossed her forehooves and looked down. "I had never seen anyone be so cruel to others for no reason."
Celestia looked away from the others, the disappointment clear upon her face and tears in her eyes. "I see."
Twilight looked back up. "But once I got my crown back and purged the dark magic from her she saw what she had done was wrong. Sunset was truly remorseful and wanted to make amends." Celestia's eyes turned towards Twilight but her head did not. "I was confidant when I left that my friends over there would take care of her and show her the magic of friendship. You don't need to worry about her, Celestia, she will be fine. I promise."
Celestia brushed the tears away and looked back to the others. "I know she will. I trust your judgement, Twilight, and I know you wouldn't have left her there if she was still a danger to others or herself." Celestia smiled. "Now what of this boy I heard you danced with? Flash Sentry I believe you said his name was?"
Twilight's smile vanished, her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed once more. "I-I don't remember telling you his name!"
Celestia giggled. "No but Pinkie Pie's intuition the night you returned certainly answered it for us."
"BUT YOU WERNTED EVEN THERE!" Twilight yelled.
"Oooooooooooh, That was my fault" Cadance sang. "I told aunty Tia all about it when I saw her the next morning. Like I was guna miss telling her about your little crush! So did you kiss him?"
"No I didn't kiss him, and it wouldn't be any of your business if I did!" Twilight pulled herself free from Cadance's grasp and sat closer to Celestia.
"I don't know," Cadance grew a sly grin. "I am the Princess of Love after all. It is literally my business! If you want I could go and get my Flash Sentry for you to practice on. He's only downstairs..."
"CADANCE!" Twilight whined, her frustration clear across her face.
Cadance and Celestia both broke into full laughter at Twilight's expression. "Ok, ok. I'll stop teasing. But you did kiss him right?"
"NO! I DIDNT!" Twilight took a breath to clam down. "I will have you know that Flash was a perfect gentleman to me. He did kiss my hand to say goodbye though."
"Awww that's sweet. Makes me a little jealous." Cadance cooed. "Reminds me of Shining Armor back when we were at Canterlot High. He was such a gentlecolt back then too."
Twilight took the opportunity to pull the conversation away from Flash Sentry. "Well in fairness he was afraid of doing something wrong and earning the wrath of the 'Princess of the Sun'. So he decided to go for the only option he thought would keep Celestia happy. Your just lucky that he is like that anyway."
Celestia pulled the cork from a fresh bottle and refilled everyone's glasses.
"Well, if he had done or said anything inappropriate to my darling niece I definitely would have called him to the castle for a talk. I don't know about the 'wrath of the Princess of the Sun' bit though.
"I bet you wouldn't be saying that if I came back from the dance with Buck Withers." Cadance smirked at Celestia's immediate scowl.
"If you came back with him I would have kicked you out of the castle myself." Celestia met Cadance's smirk with narrow eyes before they both broke into laughter.
Twilight looked between the two with utter confusion. "I don't understand. Who is Buck Withers?"
Cadance put her hoof around Twilight. "Oh, Twilight. The next time you come to visit us in the Crystal Empire I will tell you all about our magical night. Shining always likes to tell certain parts of the story. He tries to make himself sound less goofy and more heroic."
"That certainly sounds like something he would do...."
A loud bang erupted from outside.
Twilight sighed. "I'll never understand how Pinkie's party cannon never runs out of confetti."
The rest of the night passed quickly. The party outside had died down as the early morning loomed and Twilight had gone back to her room after drinking a little more win than she should have. Cadance, however, hung back to talk to Celestia about something else she didn't want Twilight to hear yet.
"So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Celestia said as she cleared up all the cushions from the floor.
"Well, its about something Shining and I were discussing the other day." Cadance said slowly. She had stopped drinking well before Twilight to make sure she didn't blurt something out by accident.
Celestia turned to her niece and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Cadance, you know you can tell me anything."
Cadance looked up to Celestia and took a breath.
"Can Alicorns have foals?"
Celestia stared back at Cadance, with her mouth hanging open.