//------------------------------// // Chapter 20 - Just Ask // Story: Twilight Daylight // by thedarktome //------------------------------// While Twilight was on a mission in Serl, the Princesses of Equestria, their assistants, law makers, and more were sitting in the war room, thinking of the current shortage situation and attempting at resolutions. So far, everything they came up with held no promise. None. "We have tried recycling, your majesties," one of the workers from the recycling facility told the three royalty sitting in the room. There was a total of eighteen representatives in the room from the Canterlot Nobility, facilities all over Equestria, and the Princesses advisory committees. "We all know what happens when we send in a slab." "Yes, it melts," Princess Cadance confirmed with a nod of her head. "Do we not have any other options except break down our buildings, strip away our chariots, and try to replicate the molecules of the metal with science?" They looked around the table, hoping for an answer. Eventually, Celestia sighed and threw her muzzle in her hooves. "This is not good," she muttered before pulling her face out, looking back at the table. "We have nopony to help us, and we have no other option except to take the metal away from our subjects, and store them." "We cannot even recycle bits," Luna continued. "And there are no other metals we can use that is strong enough for Equestria." "So I am afraid that we have to start the science. Raven, schedule me a time to meet with the Science departments of Equestria." Raven nodded and quickly went to work on the note while Celestia, Luna, and Cadance shared a look. Definitely thinking the same thing. Celestia shook her head in disagreement. "We are not doing that," she said. "You know the consequences." "But she—" "We cannot do that unless she comes to us," Celestia interrupted. "You know this, Luna." She looked back towards the confused faces of the assembly before motioning with her hoof. "Meeting adjourned. Have a pleasant day." The group packed up and went along their way. After Blueblood walked out, Celestia closed the door with her magic and locked it, sighing in disappointment. "Equestria is falling apart," Celestia said, unaware of Blueblood listening in. He put his ear lightly on the door to get a better hearing. "And we have no leads." "None?" Luna asked skeptically. "Are you absolutely sure about that?" "We are not asking Arcadia, Luna!" Celestia scolded. "We cannot betray her trust. She is already upset with us, there is no need to make it worse." "The need is the happiness of our ponies," Cadance corrected from her left, making Celestia groan. Not her too. "If we do not ask anypony we will be back in the dark ages. The time when you two grew up. There could be more issues as well. But I do not see any at this moment." "Well there is a problem!" They looked behind them at Sunset Shimmer who walked into the room, worry written all over her face. She stopped beside Luna and took a seat at the table, clearly worried. "Sorry for barging in, Celestia. But I have something important to tell you. Do you remember the goodbye letter Twilight left us before she moved to....you know?" "Yes, what about the letter?" Prince Blueblood gasped lightly. So they DID know where Twilight was! He grunted before he listened in some more. "She said and I quote, 'Harmony is the balance between good and evil, which means eventually, evil will return to Equestria.' Well while I was on Earth, a thought occurred to me. Equestria is about to go back into the battle of the tribes. Where Pegasi, unicorns, and Earth Ponies duke it out. My reasoning for this is because Pegasi do not really require metal to survive. Everything they do is practically in the clouds. Moisture. So they will be fine. While everypony else is down on the ground suffering. Do you see where I'm going with this?" "Jealousy," Celestia whispered. "The pony tribes will become jealous of one another because they have something the other doesn't." "And if they get desperate enough," Luna muttered behind her. "Then they will try and take it," Cadance finished before they all looked to Sunset who was nodding her head in agreement. They all looked to Celestia who was biting her bottom lip in aggravation, fearing exactly what the next statement was. "We. Need. Twilight," they all stuttered. Celestia took in a deep breath before shouting. "I CANNOT DO IT! I DO NOT WANT TO HURT MY OWN STUDENT MORE THAN HOW I HAVE ALREADY!" She buried her face in her hooves and mumbled, "I... I can't do it." "Celestia, Equestria is depending on you to help them," Cadance reminded her. She placed a hoof softly on her shoulder, giving her a look of support. "If we do not ask her Equestria will fall. If not from the shortage, than by our enemies. We must do something quickly. Twilight is the only one here that can help us now." Celestia sighed and buried her head in her hooves. "Somepony else ask her. I just cannot betray her trust. I love her way too much." Sunset sighed and nodded her head. "I'll ask her. I'll send a message and request an audience with her." She leaned over and gave Celestia a soft nuzzle. "Everything will be fine." While Sunset's hoofsteps faded, Blueblood sighed and left, intent on following her until she led him to Twilight. They knew where she was, and he was going to bring her home. Hoof in hoof. After Twilight completed her mission in Serl, she, with Gardeen in tow, came back to the castle and made her way down the halls of the offices before stopping as she passed the library. She backed up and turned her head to take a peek inside the large room. Full of books she just has to read. "Are you wanting to read in the library, your highness?" Gardeen asked. Twilight waved a hoof at her before she walked inside and took a big whiff, smelling the scent. "Ohhhhh yeahhhhh!" She cheered. "Yes! I am anxious for this! Let's get pumped!" Gardeen snorted while Arcadia made her way around, looking at all the works. "Wow! Does this library hold a copy of all the books in Psera?" "Yes, your highness." Arcadia nodded and smirked back at her. "You don't need to say your highness everytime when we're alone, Gardeen. I don't like being labeled all the time. Only when it's required. You know like when I'm I'm public, shaking hooves, dealing with negotiations, you know. The professional work." "Sure. I'm not a really big fan of words and labels either," Gardeen stated while walking into the room. "And this room is actually the less important archives of Psera. The very important ones are underground. We keep them there under extremely tight security." "I've been meaning to ask Madun about that," Arcadia commented while looking over a book. "Why does Psera have so much military security?" Gardeen sighed and flew up to her. "Well years ago, maybe twenty years before I was born, there was an assassination attempt on Her Majesty." Arcadia stopped flipping and looked at her in interest. "The attempted assassin at the time was a member of a clan of Pserateps that didn't want to align with other countries. However Her Majesty always wanted to open our borders for trade, communication, things like that. Things became intense. Protests, rallies, attempted overthrows. And since none of that was working..." "They decided to literally take her out," Arcadia finished. She glanced at the book in her hooves. Then closed it, setting it back on the shelf before asking, "Is that group still around?" "Every now and then they like to make appearances with drastic actions." "Hmm... A domestic terrorist group in Psera. I will speak with Madun on it and see if I can create a program for the military to investigate this group. Are they dangerous?" Gardeen made a roll with her hooves, humming in thought before responding with, "More like 'homemade domestic terrorism' dangerous. So say if the ponies in Psera Skies were enjoying themselves in the pools. An attack would be somepony runs around and puts a chemical down that burns you in the water." "Okay. So they attack with whatever they can get their hooves on." "Correct." "Hmm. Well let's get back to the room. I owe Madun for teasing him this morning." "I overheard some of that," Gardeen teased. Arcadia nearly dropped to the ground after freezing her wings in shock. She instead gently lowered to the marble floor and looked at Gardeen surprised in front of her, who landed with a teasing grin. "You did?" Arcadia whispered. "There is no one else here, Arcadia. And it's fine to give a wag of the tail to your spouse. Just don't go having foals before you start your rule." The two made their way out the archives while Arcadia asked. "Why?" "Well the Pserateps will expect a ruler first before a mother. So try to make a name for yourself first before creating any bundles of joy." "Yeah, you're right. I don't want to be a mother... Yet." Gardeen glanced at her with a smirk as they walked into the garden. "Yet?" "Merry got me thinking," Arcadia began. She stopped their progression through the quiet area maxed with guards and turned to face Gardeen with a smile. "Everytime I see my niece, I feel great. I feel proud. I've always wanted a little filly or colt but... I've never had a stallion to make that happen." "But now..." "It's something I'm keeping on my mind. Thank you for your assistance, Gardeen." Arcadia turned around and made her way to the door while Gardeen bowed and left, heading home to write her book. She had another chapter to complete. The guards at the door saluted before Arcadia walked in the home with a smile. "I'm back, Madun!" She announced. Then closed the door behind her and took off her hoofshoes. "Hello, sweetheart!" He replied from the office in the back. "Welcome home. How was Serl?" "It was like everyday. Just filling up the reservoir, and creating the metal. Nothing serious." Madun graced her with a smile after he walked out of the back and gave her a nuzzle. "I'm just glad you're safe," he whispered while she returned the gesture, as well as a kiss. "I'm happy you are too. Anything happen while I was gone?" "Well your book has been driving me nuts. So I put a brick on top of it to keep it from vibrating too much." Arcadia looked over into the living room at the jittering and glowing book that was held down by said brick. "You know you could've answered it, right?" She joked as she made her way over to the ringing magical book. She settled down on the couch and got comfortable before removing the book. "Eh. I don't know how it works." Arcadia chuckled and opened the book to Sunset's note. "It's simple. Just write like you're writing a letter. There are two papers. One on the side of the pony you're messaging, and one on your side. Whatever you write will synchronize on the sheets immediately." "But what if I have to mark something out that I didn't want them to read?" "Unfortunately, they've already read it. Now let's see..." Arcadia read the note while Madun fixed her a drink. Her eyes read over the line before she hummed in concern, attracting her fiance's attention. "What is it?" Madun asked while he settled down beside her with a tray balancing on his hoof. He set it down on the table in front of them then wrapped a wing around her, allowing her to lean into him. "Sunset Shimmer is requesting an audience with us," Arcadia answered while setting the book down in front of her. "I think it may have something to do with what I was feeling this morning on my way to Serl. On the way there I felt a very strong sense of... Urgency in Equestria. I don't know what it was for, but it wasn't good." Madun blinked and thought, "Natural disaster?" "Equestria has never had an Earthquake. There are no fault lines. What do you think? Should we?" Madun looked at the book and read the message. "'Dear, Arcadia Nova. I need to speak with you urgently revolving Equestrian matters. May I have an audience with you and King Madun please?'" He set the book back down and looked over at Arcadia. "It doesn't say much on what the problem is. Just... Equestrian matters. Are you sure you want to talk about Equestria? Maybe you want to talk about the 'wanting a foal' situation going on in your head." "I don't know. I mean, it's Sunset Shimmer. The only time we talk is when it's for just learning about what we've done lately and other friendly things. She's never sent me a letter that was about minor things. Like running out of money, needing milk, food—wait, what did you just say about a foal?!" Madun broke down and laughed at her face of surprise. "It took you so long to realize what I said!!" Arcadia blushed and looked away before Madun's laughter died down. Stifling his giggles he nuzzled the side of her neck. "I'm sorry for laughing. But I overheard your conversation outside with Gardeen from the office. I have really good hearing." Arcadia looked towards him timidly. "How about this. We wait until the time is right and then we can talk about having a foal. Okay? I promise we'll talk about it. Because to be honest... I'm not against the idea." Arcadia looked towards him with a hint of hope in her eyes before nodding her head eagerly. "Great! Now about Sunset?" Madun sighed and looked towards the note again before blowing air and nodding. "Yeah, sure. Bring her over. We are literally doing absolutely nothing right now." He drunk a sip of his tea before she responded. "I still owe you for making you aroused at breakfast." He chuckled and nodded. "Yes, you owe me a flank." He lifted a wing and stroked her back, making her coo while he whispered in her ear, "And you will deliver." Arcadia chuckled nervously before stuttering. "S-sure. But let's see what Sunset wants first." She picked up her notepad and wrote for a minute before closing the book and tucking it under her wing. "Hold on." She lit her horn and teleported them into the Royal Throne Room, appearing at the steps to the throne. They trotted up to their seats and settled in before Twilight lit her horn, tracking Sunset's location by her magical signature. Once she had it, she opened the portal. Sighing, Sunset closed the book and waited inside of Applejack's farmhouse for the portal. That was pretty much the only quick way to get to Psera. Through a portal. The adventure there was much different than the Portal back to the human world. It was less colorful and lively. Less disorienting. She found it quite pleasant to actually go through there. A purple portal suddenly appeared in front of her, catching her attention and making her smile. Looks like Arcadia was ready for her. She took a deep breath and started to walk through, unaware of a spell hitting her saddlebags from behind. Once the portal closed and all was silent, Prince Blueblood got out of his hiding spot and smirked at his success. He had put a tracking spell on Sunset Shimmer. Now it was time to track it. He closed his eyes and focused, creating a floating and glowing map of Equestria in front of him. But there was no dot indicating Sunset's position. But there was a slight glow on the left, heading towards the west. "Hmm..." he hummed. "She's out west in the ocean. She's not in Equestria. No wonder they couldn't find her. So...where exactly is she?" Sunset walked into the Royal Throne room of Psera, looking around at the grandeur environment. There were columns holding up the roof, marble flooring, and the thrones, where Twilight and Madun were currently sitting, were made out of gold and steel. She could see that without even paying close attention. "Hello, Sunset!" Madun greeted as Sunset sat down in front of the thrones. The two were smiling kindly at her. "How can we help you?" Sunset bowed deeply before she rose again out of respect. Things here were more serious than in Equestria. "Hello, Lady Arcadia and King Madun. As you both know, I am from Equestria, where there is currently an international crisis." Arcadia lifted an eyebrow before she continued. "On the day we first arrived, we were informed earlier by Celestia and Luna of a current metal shortage. On that day, we had maybe seven percent metal left. A day later, it was four." Arcadia and Madun shared a glance before redirecting it back to Sunset. "We have been attempting to recycle the metals but unfortunately the metal melts before it even reaches two thousand degrees." "Hmm...and you want my assistance," Arcadia concluded, folding her hooves in front of her face, looking over the top of the tips. Sunset sighed and nodded. "Equestria needs your assistance. We would greatly appreciate it." "You of all ponies should know I loathe Equestria, Sunset Shimmer," Arcadia commented with malice. Sunset twitched before she glanced at Madun who was just watching. Sighing, she tried another approached. "M-May I add that Princess Celestia was very reluctant to ask you....she didn't want to lose the trust she's trying desperately to rebuild with you." Arcadia's attitude lifted noticeably, as her narrowed and stone cold eyes returned back to their kind gaze. "She was willing to risk all of Equestria, and their sanity, just to reestablish a relationship with you again." Madun and Arcadia shared a surprised look before focusing back on Sunset. "What exactly do you need?" Madun asked. "Well, since we are running out of metal...we are hoping you have any to spare. And, if you can, tell us why our metal is not molding." Arcadia stared at her for a minute or two before sighing. "I must speak with the Royalty of Psera. As well as historians, congress, cabinet, and a few more ponies from a location that is disclosed." "So...is that a yes?" Sunset asked hopefully. "It is neither a yes or a no," Madun answered, impressed with his fiancee's decision. "Just have some backup plans in place. If Psera is to help, it would break the agreement of over two hundred years of solitude away from pony civilization. Possibly leaving Psera open to threats from other civilizations." "I can ask if Celestia is willing to have the royalty of Equestria make it a federal law to keep any word of Psera away from other civilizations such as Zebrica, the Griffins, and the Dragonlands." Arcadia slowly nodded before lighting her horn, summoning a portal beside Sunset. Once it was finished, she said, "This portal takes you directly inside Canterlot Castle. Tell Celestia that it is neither a yes or a no. And to have a backup plan in place just in case." Sunset bowed once more before trotting towards the portal. "AND!" She stopped and looked back at Arcadia, who was smirking at her. "Buck you for guilt tripping me." Sunset chuckled before she stepped through, landing inside the throne room of the castle, where Celestia was speaking with a few lawmakers. She glanced over at Sunset before the portal closed, raising a hoof to pause the diplomats mid sentence. "Leave us for a moment, please," Celestia instructed without taking her eyes off of Sunset. They filed out of the room before the guards did the same. Once it was silent, Celestia took a deep breath and motioned for Sunset to begin. "She says the topic is up for discussion among the royalty and lawmakers of Psera," Sunset reported, sitting down in front of her. "So it is possible she may help us?!" Celestia asked desperately. Sunset nodded. Celestia sighed in relief and buried her face in her hooves. "But she also says to have a backup plan in place in case they can't. They'd be breaking two hundred years of solitude if they do." "Then Twilight will have changed history to help a country that was on the brink of a civil war. And on the brink of poverty." Celestia sighed again and looked at Sunset once more. "I also put in a good word for you." Celestia looked at her confused. "Twilight was looking at me like someone hurt Flurry Heart when I told her Equestria needed her help. Until I said that you were willing to let Equestria go to war before you betrayed her trust. No matter how selfish it sounded." "And she..." "She thought about that and decided to talk about the situation. I'd say give her two to three days to make a decision. Like in the past, she would get plans in motion before the week was out. But she also has to convince Psera's government to help out. Which I am sure will have a bunch of the word 'No' flying through the room." "I fear that as well, Sunset."