Moonlight shone through the windows of the throne room.
Three ponies entered, the guards closing the doors behind them. Each one looked worse for wear in one way or another; bandages speckled with blood were wrapped around Scarlet's barrel, one of Tank's forelegs sat in a sling, and Waterwing looked ready to sleep for days.
"I apologize for summoning you here before you've finished recovering. Needless to say, we have something very important to discuss."
Celestia sat tall on her throne, no evidence of her earlier injuries evident on her body. Luna occupied the throne to her left, with Cadance between them. All three princesses wore calm but serious expressions.
"We have endured far worse in the past, Princess," said Scarlet as she and her companions approached, bowing respectfully before continuing. "This is no trouble, I assure you."
As soon as they stopped moving, Waterwing slumped against Tank, covering her muzzle with a wing as she yawned wide.
Celestia nodded. "In that case... I believe my sister has something you should know."
Luna nodded as well, and stood up.
"As Princess of the Night," she began, "it is my job to safeguard the ponies of Equestria against its dangers - including, but not limited to, their own dreams. In short... I am a dreamwalker, capable of directly watching over the dreams of every pony in Equestria, including the three of you."
Scarlet and Tank's eyes met.
Luna continued. "In doing so, I have seen from you some very curious things indeed. Creatures, places, and phenomena beyond the thousands of years of knowledge I possess... which leads me in the direction of nonsensical, yet logical conclusions."
Tank gulped audibly. "So what you're saying is, you found something in our dreams that was suspicious enough for you to call us here and address it without an audience? Like... shouldn't we be getting a lawyer or something for this?"
He glanced at Waterwing, who looked much more awake now and offered him a worried grimace.
"Twilight never actually answered my question," said Cadance as she too stood up. "Where exactly are you three from?"
"Someplace, er... very far away," Scarlet offered, even as she knew it wouldn't satisfy them.
"But where, precisely?" Celestia tilted her head. "We're aware of many lands beyond Equestria's borders. Are you from Ironridge? Rohbredden? Othar?"
"Uh... that one!" Tank pointed his good forehoof at her. "The... the middle one. Robber thingy."
"Oh?" Celestia's expression was inscrutable. "Tell me then - what goddess do you worship?"
"Goddess?" A bead of sweat rolled down Tank's neck. "Right, everyone knows that! That's, uh..."
Waterwing tapped his shoulder. <Um, what's a goddess?>
Celestia stared at them flatly. "You are not from Rohbredden," she declared.
The three companions hung their heads in defeat. For several seconds, no one spoke.
"...Nexus."
Finally, Scarlet broke the silence.
"The world from which we hail is called Nexus," she said. "And we are not ponies - or were not, until we found ourselves here in Equestria."
<We didn't mean to trick anypony!> Waterwing flapped. <It wasn't our fault - we never meant to come here! Well, not that it wouldn't be a nice place to visit or anything. I would've loved to come see a land full of cute talking ponies! I just meant... um, well...> She let her wings fall limply to her sides.
Celestia merely blinked. "Did anypony else know of this?"
Tank opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it and said nothing.
"Twilight knew," said Cadance. "I'm sure their other friends did, too."
"So what're you gonna do, then?" Tank found his voice, defiant as he met Celestia's stare. "Lock us up? 'Cause that'd be a pretty lousy way to pay us back for defending you, if you ask me."
"I did instruct you to retreat," said Celestia.
Tank made to stand up and argue, but a red hoof on his shoulder held him back.
"...We will cooperate." It was Scarlet's turn to look Celestia in the eye. "In the hope that it might demonstrate the sincerity of our intentions."
With a shiver, she hung her head. Tank and Waterwing followed suit.
Silence reigned once more in the throne room.
"Oh come now, 'Tia," Luna huffed. "This has gone on long enough, I think."
Celestia's stare finally broke as she began giggling. "Yes, I suppose you're right."
Tank blinked. "Wait, what?"
Celestia smiled as she descended the steps and sat calmly before them. "You're right, my little pony. It would be poor repayment indeed to punish you for standing in my defense; I shudder to imagine how the day's events might have gone without your intervention."
Waterwing's face lit up as she wiped the sweat from it with her wing.
Celestia turned and smiled at Cadance, who was already levitating over a tray covered in teacups. "I'm sure you're still exhausted... but is there any chance I could convince you to stay up just a little longer? I think we have a great deal yet to talk about."
The three nodded at one another in turn.
"Yeah," said Tank. "Yeah, I think we can do that."