//------------------------------//
// 2 - Nightfall 
// Story: The Seed of Hope 
// by Meadow_Dawn 
//------------------------------//

Chris groaned as his head pounded. He laid where he was for several moments, trying to collect himself as a headache tried to crunch his head like a stress toy.
 
He was in the attic of his grandmother’s place… something grabbed his attention, the old box he was asked to get for something, or was it that he was just curious about what was in it? He pulled it off the shelf, only to feel everything slide from the wall to take its place and a big mirror that had been laying against the wall, supposedly secured to it, ‘happened’ to pop off the wall hook-
 
Another groan, louder than the first, escaped his lips as he realized it probably fell on him and then to the side. It was odd though, he couldn’t feel any of the dust or graininess of his grandmother’s attic.
 
He opened his eyes, and it was mildly dark in the room, a set of windows high in the stone like walls. There was this odd gray thing blocking part of his lower vision but he grunted and tried to get up on his feet. Everything about his body felt… wrong.
 
He pushed up with his hands and wobbled up onto his feet, only to feel like he was about to fall over and landed on his hands with a loud pair of “clops.”
 
‘Wait… clop?’ He thought, blinking and looking down at the ground around this gray thing always in his vision.
 
He saw fur down the length of his arms that ended against the marble tile that filled the room. He stood there, staring for a moment, even ignoring a small sound of the same clopping noise outside the room he was in, hearing it just as an echo of the original sound.
 
Slowly, he turned to look at the rest of himself, finding his neck feeling much more flexible… and longer. He froze again as he saw light gray wings at the side of his body, his mid-gray furred rump beyond those, and a black tail beyond that.
 
“Okay… this is freaky… Next time… don’t take those double shifts Chris.” He groaned and looked around, swiftly spotting the mirror that fell on him in the room. Ignoring the feeling of wrongness all over him, he shambled over to it. “Fine, if this put me here, this can put me ba-”
 
His hand-hoof reached out and touched the glass and an ear shattering sound of glass breaking could be heard in the room, spiderweb cracks showing on the surface of the mirror, with a close up view on some of the pieces of the floor, while other pieces showed the ceiling.
 
He stood, hoof still on the mirror as he stared emptily, brain failing to process what he was seeing when the door opened and multiple hoofsteps could be heard behind him.
 
Two heavily armored guards bearing spears stood at the side of the door, with a dark horse with a night sky for a mane standing between them, all looking at the scene ahead.
 
He lowered his hand-hoof to the ground, heart sinking as he thought to his family, his girlfriend, and wondered how he would get back until he heard a throat clear. This didn’t seem real. His head picked up and turned over and he began to stare open mouthed at the scene in front of him.
 
“We were wondering if there would be another.” The dark, navy blue horse with black clothing stated factually.
 
“A-another?” He asked.
 
“Another.” The horse confirmed. “What is your purpose here?”
 
“I-uh… I was here by accident. I was getting something from my grandmother’s attic and a mirror fell on me… I tried to go back, then… this.” He said, slowly reaching a limb up to the mirror, causing a repeat of the cracking of glass and the split pieces showing two different images.
 
“You seek a way home?” She asked.
 
“Yeah… I don’t exactly belong here.”
 
“That is true.” She said, watching as his posture drooped, perhaps without his intent. “The hour is late. You will come with us and join our sister’s meeting to decide how to handle your return.”
 
“What?” He asked, blinking before thinking, ‘Great response Chris, totally making a good impression as a cop… really need to stop working so hard.’
 
“We are going to give you a place to rest and in the morning, we will find a way to send you back.”
 
“Oh.” He said dumbly, a feeling of numbness spreading over his body.
 
“What is your name?”
 
“Chris.”
 
“Guards, please see Chris to his quarters.” The dark horse said.
 
“That’s it? No explanation, no answers, no telling me what’s going on?” He protested.
 
The horse paused and smirked, “Very well, I can entertain you for now. You have landed in Equestria, where I and my sister rule. I am Princess Luna, and you have a broken magic mirror on your hooves.”
 
“Am I stuck here?”
 
“That I cannot say.” Luna answered. “Nothing has broken a magic mirror before.”
 
“Oh.” He said, unable to muster any other questions.
 
“Come.” She commanded.
 
The gray pony followed, if only because they had nothing better to do. They led him down the halls and to an empty apartment-like room, where the door closed behind him. He sighed and climbed into bed awkwardly, curling up and already thinking of home as the night lulled him to sleep against his wishes.
 
-----
 
The next morning, Celestia, Luna, and Dusk were all in a private royal dining room attended to by their staff with four guards, one per corner, present. Celestia had woken early, while Luna had simply chosen to stay up until the meeting would start. Dusk most likely slept the mere five or six hours she claimed she needed to function and woke up almost as early as Celestia herself.
 
Celestia eyed them both casually. This was at the tail end of Luna’s nighttime court duties, so this wouldn’t be much of a strain for her unless this lasted until noon. Dusk she wouldn’t have any concerns about, and would likely be harshest on their new guests.
 
A knock brought their attention to the door and Celestia opened the doors with her magic.
 
There in the doorway stood the two foreign ponies, surrounded by a total of four guards. Celestia noted with a hint of a smile that Dawn, the lime-colored pony, thanked her guards as if they were simply guiding her to the room, rather than a prisoner about to be interrogated. She looked at the other one, who Luna barely had the chance to tell them about when they first arrived at the meeting dining room.
 
“Thank you both for coming,” Celestia said.
 
“Thank you for having us.” Dawn answered, approaching and taking a chair, sitting at one that was opposite Celestia and Dusk, while the other one sat beside them, more distant and sitting across from Luna with a fair bit more shuffling than Dawn.
 
“I understand that both of you are guests to our land, and we wish to start things on the right hoof.” Celestia said, “First, we are setting some ground rules we wish for you to follow while your options to go home are looked over. After that you will be sent to your rooms as we all have breakfast, and then we can assess your intentions during your stay here.”
 
After she had gotten nods from both of them, she continued. “What is being said is not to leave this room without our expressed permission. Our guards present already know what we are about to state and the reason for this rule. Ponies are not to learn that other worlds exist at this point in time or for the foreseeable future. That knowledge is dangerous, both for us and for them. Between unknown diseases, possible evil entities, or just power hungry creatures that would misuse the information, we are not going to tolerate this rule being broken. Am I clear?”
 
“Yes ma’am.” Dawn said promptly.
 
"You have my word." Chris nodded.
 
Dusk sat to her mother’s left, watching the two guests intently. Her face was impassive, showing nothing of what she was thinking.
 
"Good. Dawn, I know some of your circumstances from our initial meeting, and Chris, Luna has given me a brief introduction, but we do not know much about either of you. We need to ensure that you will fit in well in our world, and for that purpose, we ask you to tell us more about what you were like in your worlds and try to place you in similar circumstances." Celestia instructed, turning to Chris, "I would start with you, so we can consider what other name you should use outside this room."
 
Chris frowned slightly, eyeing Dawn briefly before telling his story again, explaining how he had been a police officer, and generally just wanted to go back to his girlfriend.
 
Celestia hummed, listening and turning slightly to Dusk, who had an instinctual mastery of military matters. While it was clear he wasn't military, Dusk was the first one to establish something more civilian minded.
 
"Police officers… if I remember correctly, that is a form of law enforcement yes?" Dusk asked in a cool tone.
 
"That’s right..." he nodded slowly.
 
"Hmm, so they’re like our Keepers.” Dusk said thoughtfully, pausing briefly before saying, “Interesting. I am curious about the comparison."
 
"The what now?" Chris asked, raising his brow at the idea.
 
'I'd assume that's their version of the police.' Dawn thought. ‘It was clear from their response, wasn’t it?’
 
"The Keepers of the Law.” Dusk said factually. “They handle all matters of law; enforcing them, escorting prisoners to judges and from there to the dungeons if needed. They ensure peace is maintained. Originally, the royal guard handled it, but it kept our military spread thin, so we made the Keepers."
 
"I see." Chris hummed, deciding not to voice his concerns about working for another country’s law enforcement that he had no ties to otherwise. "It would be familiar yes, but rules could be different, and I can't exactly fight on four legs. I can barely walk on them right."
 
"Would it be any issue to ensure we get training for our roles to adjust for differences?" Dawn put forward hopefully.
 
"Of course. It does us no good sending a foal out to do the work of an adult." The rose-tinted alicorn said as her silver eyes turned to face Dawn
 
Dawn flinched slightly at the gaze, but nodded as she sensed what they were saying. They weren’t able to mix in even as well as their children
 
"I mean, we're fairly smart," a voice started to say from Dawn's side, a dark pony beginning to appear, "but piecing it together versus actually being trained is a big difference. So yeah, thanks for the assistance."
 
Dusk tilted her head. "You must be Starlight, yes?"
 
"You got it. Pleasure to meet you." He said casually, with his usual boldness that Dawn couldn’t help but snort silently at from familiarity.
 
Chris eyed the semitransparent pony with caution normally hidden by his several years of experience dealing with the public as a cop, but his new form was more expressive, and he couldn’t control his reactions as well as he wanted. Having a ghost appear was unsettling to say the least.
 
"I see… curious." Dusk said. "Smart and smart are two very different things. I’ve met several "smart" people I found lacking in that department."
 
"I mean, I definitely have my clueless moments despite a few different intelligence testings we had finished." Dawn blushed, "but sorry, it’s not my turn here."
 
Celestia nodded, turning to Dusk to continue considering Chris' outcome.
 
Dusk turned back to Chris as she considered what Dawn and Starlight had stated. "If you want, I could arrange for you to be shown The Keepers, let you decide if you wish to go that route. As for lodging, it is not much on short notice, but I am sure a moderate apartment could be arranged in one of the cities of your choosing if you wish it."
 
"It’s worth looking into." He said, "at least till I can get back…"
 
"I shall inform Head Keeper Gold Shield.” Dusk said with a nod. “As for where you would wish to stay, we have options here in Canterlot, Manehatten, Vanhoover, Fillydelphia, Baltimare, and Luminosia to name the major cities."
 
Chris blinked, as if absorbing the city names. He stayed quiet for a moment, then said, "Whatever is best for whoever is going to show me the ropes, as long as it’s not too far away from here. I want to be close to my way back home if I can."
 
"I think Luminosia will be best then, even if it is a little further away." Celestia said. "I know an excellent flight teacher there that can show you the ropes, though he's retired and will need a little coaxing."
 
"Whoah, whoah. I'm no pilot." He shook his head, waving both hooves at them.
 
Dusk blinked. "Luminosia is land-locked except for a small river."
 
"That’s not… why do I need flight lessons?" He asked.
 
"You're a pegasus are you not?" Luna asked simply.
 
"I... what?" He countered with confusion.
 
"You’re a pegasus, meaning you can fly.” Dusk answered, “It would be very odd if a pegasus never learned to fly at flight camp."
 
"Oh..." he blinked, looking over at his wings and tried to get them to move. They barely shuffled and he wondered how in the hell they were big or strong enough to let a horse fly.
 
"Yes,” Dusk nodded, seeing the pathetic motion, “I am sure seeing the state you are in, he will be more than happy to teach you."
 
"Oh, Breezy won’t be too much harder on him than the others." Celestia said with a mischievous grin.  "And what about you Dawn?"
 
Dawn turned to look at Chris before replying to Celestia, "Last night, you told me I could use magic right? I'd like to learn that, possibly even be of help with what might be needed to send him back. I know mine is complicated, but maybe I can help with his situation, whatever it might be."
 
"Hmm.” Dusk hummed, looking her over, “We can arrange a tutor, same with him. It would be odd for a unicorn not to know at least basic magic. Where would you desire to live?"
 
"I don’t have any preferences." Dawn said with a shake of her head. “My old jobs were mostly customer service over the phone. Here I don’t know what I’d do, but magic seems like a good idea. Might as well do something I couldn’t do before, right?"
 
"Phone?" Dusk asked
 
"Ah, a long-range communication device." Dawn explained.
 
"Interesting. As far as your living arrangements, I believe it would be good if you both were in the same city, so you can visit and support each other if you wish." Celestia said.
 
"So Luminosia. Good, that will make it easier to arrange lodgings." Dusk said.
 
Luna nodded, "It is a city of progress, where many new ideas are tested. They would be more open to learning from ideas from your world."
 
"Indeed." Celestia nodded, "we would appreciate learning from things your world knows if you wish to share. Now, we must discuss things further, including how much funding you will receive for daily living and for how long. Is there anything else you wish to discuss?"
 
"So, how long exactly will it be before I can go home?" Chris asked.
 
"That is something we don’t know yet Chris, though that reminds me of an issue we failed to address, your name."
 
"What’s wrong with my name?" He said with a frown.
 
"It isn't a pony name." Dusk said.
 
"It’s still my name…" he said before accidentally letting out a sigh, "so what kind of 'pony name' are we going to saddle me with?"
 
Starlight sniggered at his comment and looked away, avoiding the glare he received for it.
 
"Well, names seem to be descriptive here." Dawn volunteered, trying to be helpful, "take the ponies present here. We have Celestia, Dusk Star, Luna, and I was encouraged to use Meadow Dawn which I got from my mark thing, and he is Starlight Dusk, who I named because of his mark."
 
Chris looked himself over, considering possible names while looking at himself, lingering on his wings.
 
"Enh, I’m not getting much inspiration just looking at myself. I've always worked overnight at my job lately."
 
"Then what about a simple name like Nightfall? Or Night Wing?" Celestia offered.
 
"Doesn’t look like a Night Wing to me. Too light feathered for that." Luna countered.
 
"Nightfall would work." Dusk said simply. "If you have experience working at night, then you may be assigned to the nightshift."
 
"I guess I'll use that... sounds weird to me though." He said, shuffling in place. “Only worked nights because all newbies had to start there.”
 
"It always does sound weird for the first few weeks you change your name." Dawn told him, "This won’t be my first name change, but it’s still going to take some getting used to."
 
"Very well, I can't think of any other details to discuss. Do either of you have anything else?" Celestia asked the princesses, just as eager to finish.
 
Dusk looked at the two. "Just that you both know the safety and stability of this land is my top priority. Any attempts to endanger the safety of our subjects will be dealt with severely… Understand?"
 
"I would expect nothing less." Dawn said stiffly, sitting rigid at the clear threat.
 
"Yes." Night said simply.
 
"Good." Luna followed up, "our guards will take you back to your rooms for a meal if you have yet to have eaten while we discuss other matters. Dismissed."
 
The two ponies got out of their seats, Starlight fading from view and were guided back to their rooms. Once the door closed, Celestia hummed, "Why do I get the feeling there's something greater at work here?"
 
"Two people from a different world, arriving mere hours apart? That cannot be a coincidence." Dusk said. "Something is in motion, and whether it is Harmony's will or some darker force remains to be seen."
 
"Agreed." Luna said. "We should have somepony keeping tabs on them for a while, just to play it safe, learn their intentions and abilities."
 
"Hm..." Celestia hummed, thoughtful on the subject. She had to agree with what they were saying, though some little instinct kept bugging her, not letting it rest.
 
"Yes.” Dusk agreed, then began to plan. “Hm… one of my guards would be too obvious, so it would be best if one of the Solar Guard or Lunar Guard did it… besides, they will be in my city so I can have my guards on alert as well."
 
"I think I know just the guard. He performed well with the changeling invasion we repelled and already expressed interest in Dawn. Apparently her passage did not go unnoticed by him, while others failed their observations." Celestia nodded, "I'll assign him as a guide to her and he'll have lightened duties for a time while he assesses her."
 
"Why the interest?" Luna asked, eyeing her sister. "Dusk just told you she has it covered with her guards.”
 
"Call it intuition." Celestia said vaguely.
 
"Hm… I may assign a ‘guide’ as well… we will see." Dusk said.
 
"Perhaps the stallion can be assigned a training partner who can serve with him." Luna suggested, her approaches often being just as subtle as Celestia's in her own way.
 
"Hm… I’ll speak to the Head Keeper about it." Dusk said with a nod. The keepers had been Dusk’s solution to splitting the duties of the public while letting the guards focus on the more militaristic needs of the nation. Their headquarters were in Luminosia and would have an easier time reporting to Dusk.
 
"Starting with a combat and fitness assessment no doubt." Celestia smirked, "I'm curious about both of them, but I'll trust my guard to assess Dawn subtly. Now, how much funding should we provide them?"
 
"Considering how much it will cost the crown for housing and tutoring?" Luna asked with a mild frown, "I say 300 bits for food and 50 a month for other expenses."
 
"That sounds reasonable, though I do think they should be encouraged to find a way to pay themselves." Dusk said. "Supporting them should be only a temporary thing, a few months at most. If they haven’t adjusted and found a way to support themselves by then… well…"
 
"Agreed.” Celestia nodded, “In that case, Nightfall will be set with a position as a Keeper if they can adjust, but I have concerns on what Dawn can do for an occupation. It seems her skillset might not match anything we have presently, not without digging deeper."
 
"Perhaps we should have her take an assessment to determine where her talents lie." Luna offered. "What do you think Dusk?"
 
"That would be best once she learns the basics of magic." She said.
 
"The difficult thing about that idea is it usually takes far longer than a few months to learn more than a hoof full of spells." Celestia said. "I believe she has a latent talent that could be tapped into for our country’s benefit."
 
"What makes you say that?" Luna asked.
 
"She opened the lock to the mirror room she was in without realizing it." Celestia said calmly.
 
"What, how?" Dusk asked. "That was an alicorn level spell! I put it on the room myself!"
 
"I know. I redid it and watched her undo it without knowing what she was doing." Celestia said, "She was surprised, and my spell was dispelled in a way that only an alicorn could just brush aside. A faker would have had to tear it apart thread by thread with such concentration that they would have been exposed."

"But that’s… that’s not possible." Dusk said frowning. "The amount of skill it would take to break my lock is… is beyond her."
 
"Unless there was something about her..." Celestia nodded.
 
"Or the amount of latent magical energy from an adult not using magic for an extended period of time was sufficient enough that a discharge overrode it." Luna countered, "I know how you feel about destiny sister, but not everything is predetermined. Sometimes it's just a coincidence."
 
"There are no coincidences,” Dusk said, “not for something like this."
 
"And if it were latent energy from non-use, it wouldn’t have worked a second time. It's why I'm going to send my solar guardspony to watch her.” Celestia gave a nod of agreement, “He was attentive enough to catch her when others hadn't, but not high enough ranked to be questioned why he would be reassigned."
 
"What's the name of this pony?" Luna asked.
 
"Stalwart Shield. Formerly Sergeant, recently promoted to Staff Sergeant." Celestia said.
 
"Well, he'd better be trained in magic." Luna said.
 
"He's been educated, but he's an earth pony."
 
"So he's trained how to fight a magic-user.” Dusk frowned. “That is not ideal, but better than not."
 
"We can ensure he gets more magic training while there as part of his duties." Celestia offered, "I want him very much aware of what she's doing and how she's doing it in case she starts telling him what she's learning and accidentally reveals something deeper."
 
"That would be good.” Dusk said, going into thought, then asked, “Are you sure there is not a unicorn guard for the task?"
 
"None that I could discretely assign to her." Celestia frowned, "It's just horrible timing and after her admission of being ‘smart,’ it would be unwise to treat her differently unless we find out otherwise."
 
"Having a unicorn guard would be better for this." Luna agreed, noting her sister's unusual dismissal for what might be normally considered.
 
"Hmm. Then I suppose we have no choice.” Dusk decided. “He will need a crash course in magic so he can follow along as needed."
 
"Agreed." Luna said, eying her sister critically.
 
"I will make the arrangements. I simply cannot ignore that no guardspony except for him could see Dawn until I met her in the stain glass hall." Celestia nodded, "Something is just nagging me that it is important somehow."
 
"Or it could be nothing." Luna countered.
 
"We could just need to review their patrol routes.” Dusk offered as a compromise. “There may just be a gap she slipped through."
 
"I did." Celestia smiled, laying out a scroll with a map of the path Dawn took, "Here's the halls she walked down, and there wasn't a point when she wouldn't have been noticed normally, unless most of the guards were severely delayed or early. All of them seemed to reach their checkpoints at their normal times, so that seems unlikely."
 
"Or she passed through areas before or after they got there.” Dusk said, considering and beginning to worry about a security leak. “Hm. I’d like to look into this Mother, if you don't mind. I know the Solar guard is your responsibility."
 
"Absolutely Dusk, go ahead." Celestia said with a smile, never feeling bad when Dusk wanted to pitch in. "I may have overlooked something from sheer familiarity."
 
Luna snorted.
 
"Possibly. A fresh pair of eyes could help. If I recall correctly, they’ve had the same routes for nearly a decade now, and we never did have anyone come from that mirror before."
 
"Very well, I shall leave the matter to your care, my daughter." Celestia said gently, with great fondness in her voice.
 
Dusk nodded. "Now then, anything else we need to discuss here?"
 
"Nothing yet.” Celestia answered, “I'll summon for Stalwart and debrief him after our meal. Do you know who you'll use for Nightfall's observations?"
 
"Hm. I am debating between one of my guards or a Keeper. Both have their advantages and disadvantages." Dusk said. "I should know by the time we reach Luminosia.”
 
"All right." Celestia nodded.
 
"I will inform you of my choice once it’s made."
 
After their meal, Stalwart Shield was fetched. He came in and threw a salute to the three princesses.
 
"Staff Sergeant, We have an assignment for you." Celestia said, "At ease."
 
Stalwart nodded and stood regularly, looking between them.
 
"I have a pony I want you to keep tabs on, but not have them realize you're doing so." Celestia said.
 
"Ma'am?" he blinked, confused.
 
"I saw your report regarding our newcomer, Meadow Dawn." Celestia said, "I want you to be assigned to keeping tabs on her words and actions. Be her friend if you like, but be discreet about your reports to me."
 
After a brief pause and a couple blinks, he ventured a small smile, "You know Celestia, I'd almost think this were a prank of yours if the others weren't here. Having said that, usually it's Princess Cadence who is playing matchmaker."
 
Luna sniggered at the response but stifled it quickly
 
"This is a matter of the safety of Equestria, Sergeant, not some joke." Dusk said firmly through a frown.
 
"Of course Princesses, forgive me." Stalwart said smartly before giving a stiff, full bow.
 
"Dusk," Celestia gently reprimanded, "he hadn’t been given enough information to realize its importance yet, and while I would like to correct him on my matchmaking skills, you are right that this is potentially serious. We can settle the issue of my jokes later.” Celestia finished before turning back to him, her mischievous look disappearing. “Stalwart, this information we are about to reveal related to the assignment is very sensitive to the point very few non-princesses know these details. Will you accept monitoring of Meadow Dawn and her potential as a threat or asset to Equestria and the safekeeping of the secrets that entails?"
 
"I will." He said seriously, throwing a salute. "Whatever you need Princess."
 
Dusk’s ears had very subtly folded back, from the reprimand. Only the two princesses would have noticed from sheer familiarity. She formally apologized, "Apologies mother, I did not mean to overstep my bounds"
 
Celestia looked over to her daughter and noticed the little things her normally aloof daughter still couldn’t suppress. It was the little things, the slight change in her pupil size, very slight lowering of her voice’s pitch. All very small things only Celestia ever noticed, since Dusk was a perfectionist and made very certain the public never got to see any potential signs of weakness.
 
Celestia frowned. Her daughter always overreacted to reprimand or correction, even in play. She would have to correct it after this meeting, for now, this reply would have to do.
 
"And now you understand why Dusk was very strict with you Stalwart." Celestia informed him. "Now, we have several things to discuss."
 
Celestia spent the next hour with him going over the knowledge of other worlds, its dangers, and why Dawn was catching their eye. After they finished, he hummed, thinking deeply.
 
"We will trust you to treat this with the utmost care." Celestia said.
 
"I will. Best course of action that I see is to try and befriend her. I'll test her on occasion, see how much she informs on her own in violation of your agreement and the like, maybe she’ll give up something on how she broke that lock." He nodded, "I can’t deny some interest in her just from passing by, but this takes it to a new level."
 
Celestia debated if she wanted to make a comment on how he might have only wanted some flank before, but recognized that would be poor taste.
 
"Sergeant, I trust you won’t take advantage of this assignment for a chance to get laid." Dusk bluntly added with a frown. “If she is not playing games with us, she is a vulnerable mare and abusing that has serious consequences.”
 
"No ma'am." Stalwart said with a quick salute. "I may like a good partner like anypony, but I understand the gravity of the situation." He thought to himself, 'though if it comes with the territory after enough time that she’s not vulnerable, I won't object.'
 
"Good. Your duties during this mission will be light, only some paperwork and magic lesson training so you can keep accurate observations on her, any magic she uses, and how, if she tells you or you can deduce it. I'll be assigning a unicorn to your service for that expressed purpose and as a cover for your assignment."
 
"Any questions Sergeant?" Dusk followed up.
 
"Not at this time. If I have any, I will forward them as instructed." Stalwart said, saluting once more.
 
"Good. You begin as soon as you are ready, preferably before the day is out. Dismissed." Celestia said.
 
Stalwart stayed saluting for a second more than he was required before smartly walking out of the room and beginning his mission.
 
"Hm.” Dusk thought as she watched him walk away, “Now then, I believe that is all we need to cover."
 
"Indeed, our official capacities here are over." Celestia said, "Let’s get you back and settled in to get our usual chat."
 
Dusk nodded and stood. "Then I shall meet you in your study Mother."
 
Celestia smiled as she saw Dusk leave the room, and walked at her own leisurely pace after her daughter, knowing they would get there well ahead of her. She could see the marching pace Dusk maintained at a near prance. Dusk always did see a destination and moved toward it as quickly as the situation allowed.
 
Celestia let her daughter go up to the study, mentally calculating the time needed and decided wasting a little magic wouldn’t hurt.  She began casting the spell, using her usual designs to mask her doing so, and teleported to just outside the door right as she heard Dusk collapse onto a small couch that gave a signature high pitched squeak when Dusk did so.