Calling out the names of the long-missing alicorn princesses might have been a mistake because it focused their attention and polearms solely on me. I wilted a little under their wary gaze but then stiffened my resolve. I wasn’t the intruder here.
Celestia frowned. “Who are you and what are you doing in my…” She looked around. “…not in my chambers?” Turning back to me, her eyes widened. “An alicorn stallion? How can this be?”
Luna spoke up. “Sister – is that not thy student?” She pointed at Trixie with her polearm.
Celestia tore her eyes away from me to look at my wife. The Solar Alicorn’s jaw dropped. “Beatrix Lulamoon? What is going on here?”
“The Great and Powerful Princess Trixie would ask the same of you!” she replied defiantly.
Luna turned to her sister and said, “Tia – hast thou brought us to the correct dimension?”
The white alicorn said, “It has to be, Lulu. The affinity component of the portal spell could only link up with an object that I am personally acquainted with. The same mirror in another dimension would not work.”
“Mayhap, but mine eyes tell me a different story.”
While the sisters bickered, I covertly checked one of the many discreet contingency spells in the room. This particular one would cause a jewel decoration on my nightstand to glow red if it detected disguised changelings. However, it was not reacting to the interlopers so at least that possibility was virtually eliminated. A month ago, Moon Dancer examined the spell placed there by the Guild of Mages and rolled her eyes. ‘As long as it helps you sleep better, I guess that means it does something.’ Since even she set it off before examining the jewel, the precaution did actually make me feel better.
On the other hoof, perhaps Luna was correct and this wasn’t their world. I felt it was time I took control of this situation and ask a few questions. “Ladies! Could I have your attention please!”
That drew the alicorns’ gaze back to me, their weapons ready to strike.
“For starters, could you put those down?” I asked, pointedly looking at the instruments of mayhem. “You’re the ones who barged into our bedroom, not the other way around.”
They had the grace to look embarrassed as they brought their polearms up to a rest position.
“Thank you. Now, I gather that you are the Princesses Celestia and Luna who disappeared long ago?”
Luna raised an eyebrow. “I would hardly consider a couple of months that long, even though we were delayed by a broken portal.”
Trixie exclaimed, “A couple of months? You’ve been gone for nearly four years!”
“What?!” they chorused, both reeling back in shock. “How is that possible?” Celestia added.
I recalled my encounter with Sunset Shimmer and face-hoofed. “Don’t tell me, let me guess – you didn’t take into account the time differential between here and wherever you went to?”
Celestia’s face went even whiter making me realize that the alicorn normally had the faintest blush of pink to her coat color. “Oh, by the sun! I’m such a fool. I had completely forgotten that aspect. Star Swirl would be disgusted with me for forgetting my lessons on the nature of interdimensional time variance.”
“What dost thou mean, sister?” Luna asked, giving Celestia a glare.
“Time runs at different rates in other realities. Some are identical to ours while others run much slower or faster. The portal to that realm kept our time-streams synchronized but the spell that did so broke along with the gateway. Days spent there were months here.”
“You can get Star Swirl to give you a refresher course later,” I said.
“He disappeared over a thousand years ago,” Celestia replied.
“I talked to him last month.” At their shocked expressions, I added, “Don’t look at me like that – plenty has happened in your absence.”
Luna said, “One can imagine! Without their princesses, the kingdom must have devolved into chaos.”
Celestia shook her head. “No, I left Twilight Sparkle in charge. While she would not have been completely ready to take over the throne, I have been preparing her for the role for years. She has obviously done an outstanding job.”
I chuckled, drawing odd looks from the sisters. “Yeah, about that. You did leave somepony in charge, but you should have been a bit more precise in the wording of your orders.”
“What do you mean?” Celestia asked with a frown.
My wife chose to speak up then. “My husband means that your instructions left the Great and Wise Trixie to run the show – the show being all of Equestria.”
Luna said, “That is a poor jest, as are those false wings thou dost wear.”
My spouse stepped up to glare defiantly at the Alicorn of the Moon while extending and furling her new appendages. “The wings are real. Trixie earned them defending Equestria from its enemies.”
“And I’m really an alicorn too,” I added. “Harmony itself seems to have chosen me as its champion when I came to Equestria. I have since worked with Princess Trixie for the benefit of the nation. There have been many threats since you left, but we Triarchs have been able to deal with them and grow in power as we did so.”
“Triarchs? There are three rulers?” Celestia queried.
I gave her a smile. “You taught your student well. Twilight Sparkle ascended to alicornhood and rules by our side.”
Celestia smiled for the first time. “I was certain that she had the potential. I am so gratified to find out that I was right. Equestria has never had so much alicorn royalty. It looks like I will need to start planning my retirement sooner than I thought.”
My wife giggled. “Trixie is actually a pegacorn, and you are a little late for that, Celestia.”
The alicorn raised an eyebrow, perhaps surprised by the blue mare’s familiarity. “What do you mean by that?”
“Trixie means that you have been gone from Equestria for longer than a year and a day. By Equestrian law, you have both forfeited your title. You and Luna are no longer princesses.”
They both chorused, “What? No!”
At their shocked looks, I added, “I’m afraid so. Trixie was confirmed as Princess in your absence. After Twilight Sparkle ascended to alicorn status, Trixie offered the role of diarch to her and she accepted.” I didn’t think it was the right time to tell them about the Alicorn Challenge. “When I subsequently married Trixie, I became a Prince. You are now our subjects.”
After a lengthy stunned silence, Celestia spoke up.
“May this pony ask a favor of her Prince… er…?”
“Mark Wells,” I supplied.
Luna cocked her head, “Why doth that name sound familiar?”
Celestia said, “Don’t you remember, sister? A month ago you had a dream about a pony named ‘Dark Smells’ that managed some sort of rolling food cart.”
“Aha! Indeed. Sausages of the lowest quality but finest taste.” The dark alicorn narrowed her eyes at me and her weapon rose in the air. “Thou didst refuse to provide me with grilled onions without fee!”
Celestia glanced at her sister’s polearm and said, “Prince Mark Wells – do you still have Eyrish whiskey available?”
“Several bottles of the griffons’ finest,” I confirmed.
“My sister and I would like to have a chat with the current rulers over a few drinks.”
I looked at Trixie who nodded in agreement. “I think we can arrange that.” I took a moment to don my Gift-from-the-Crystal-Hive Crown and vest while Trixie did the same with her finest cape and Impress-Foreign-Dignitaries Crown once she was done giving her mane a quick brushing. After doing so, she placed Gemini on her back nestled between her wings, still swaddled in their blanket. Celestia took a closer look at our child who was currently in unicorn form.
“Your foal, I take it?”
“Yes, this is Gemini, our first foal.”
My wife said, “Of what Trixie promises will be several.”
“That’s an interesting name. Is Gemini a colt or a filly?”
“Yes!” Trixie and I chorused.
Celestia blinked in confusion for a moment and sighed. “I sense that there’s even more to this story than I initially believed.”
I chuckled. “Enough to fill a couple of books at least. Anyway, give me a moment to forewarn the guards.” I went to the door and opened it enough to speak to the half-dozen posted outside.
“Is everything alright, Your Highness?” the surprised thestral Night Guard in charge asked. Due to the privacy wards, they were unaware of the happenings in our room.
“Something has come up,” I told the bat pony. “I just wanted to warn you about a couple of visitors who portaled into our room.” Then I noticed the guard’s companion. “Gah! Disguise yourself quickly!”
The red changeling’s eyes went wide but he obeyed after only a moment’s hesitation, shape-shifting into a nearly identical version of the batpony. I told him, “Go wake Twilight and have her come to the Royal Lounge. You’ll see why in a moment.”
I opened the door fully and said to those in the room, “Okay, let’s go.”
Celestia and Luna followed me out and the guards gaped in shock. If I hadn’t been there, they might have thought Celestia was me in Marklestia form, but with Luna present also, there was no mistaking who the alicorns were. As it was still nighttime, we didn’t encounter too many others on our way to our destination. When we did, Celestia and Luna were met with shock and disbelief that quickly turned to joy.
Just before we reached the Royal Lounge, there came the sound of rapidly approaching hoofbeats. Seconds later, Penumbra tore around a corner and skidded to a stop in front of our group. Celestia and Luna had warily raised their weapons but otherwise seemed calm. The batpony stared at our visitors for a long moment before respectfully bowing her head.
“So, it’s true – you have finally returned, Your Highnesses.”
I was impressed that my bodyguard had responded in short order despite not being called upon directly. That made me realize that I didn’t know what the time was. In all likelihood, it was just before dawn, and Penny had already been up and preparing for her daily duties. There was a reason why I never failed to find her waiting outside my bedroom door every morning that she was on duty.
“Celestia and Luna, this is Lieutenant Penumbra of the Royal Guard, my bodyguard and close friend. Penny, remember the mirror Trixie… uh… borrowed from Celestia’s chambers when she decorated our new suite? The Royal Sisters just returned using it as a portal. We’re about to have a chat with them and bring them up to speed with what has happened in their absence.”
“That’s going to take some time. Perhaps I could get somepony to bring refreshments?”
“It’s okay – we bumped into a castle servant who is already working on that. Come, join us. You can help fill in some details while we talk.”
The guards who had followed us from our suite were stationed outside the Royal Lounge with orders to allow the servant to bring the food inside. Others were permitted at their discretion – we figured that Twilight would not be the only important person to join us this morning.
My wife said, “Trixie assures you that you are quite safe and would recommend that you take off your armor and make yourselves comfortable.”
The sisters looked at each other and nodded. Their horns glowed and the intricate protective gear started coming apart. Barding, weapons, and banners were neatly stacked against a wall, leaving both alicorns bare of any accouterments aside from their peytrals which had been hidden under their armor. Each pulled their respective crown out of sacks that had been hidden under their barding. Doubtless, both bags had a trans-dimensional storage spell placed on them. After sharing a look, they both laid their crowns down on top of their piles of armor. In a way, it was symbolic of their loss of status in our nation.
I walked over to the bar. “How do you prefer your whiskey, ladies?”
Luna replied, “I would like my first libation to be straight. Sister?”
“I’ve been dying for a Manehattan since we left our Equestria. Do you know how to make one?” I nodded. “Thank you, Your Highness. A little fortification is in order.”
“Trixie?”
“Too early for alcohol, Dowser. Trixie will wait for the food.”
I didn’t bother asking Penny – she never touched booze during the week, even if she was off-duty unlike now, and only moderately on the weekends. She always wanted to be at her peak at a moment’s notice.
Celestia and Luna made themselves comfortable on the two biggest cushions. I brought their drinks over – large glasses to match their presumably greater capacity. I also brought over the whiskey bottle in case Luna wanted a top-up or Celestia changed her mind. They didn’t exactly slam their drinks down but they did not last long. I sat next to Trixie on a sofa after she settled Gemini into a lounge chair. Aside from turning a little to snuggle deeper into their blanket, our foal continued sleeping.
I was procrastinating a little as I expected Twilight to turn up soon and she didn’t disappoint. With the usual flash-bang of teleportation, the purple alicorn appeared with a serious case of bed-head. She was completely oblivious to it though as she looked around wildly until her eyes locked onto Celestia. Our co-ruler squealed like a little filly and flew into the waiting arms of her former mentor.
“Princess Celestia! It really is you! I was beginning to lose hope that we’d ever see you again after all this time!”
Celestia laughed as she hugged Twilight almost as enthusiastically. “I’m delighted to see you too, although I am led to believe that Luna and I have been gone far longer than we thought.”
I said, “Twilight – there was a huge time differential between our worlds. They’ve only been gone a couple of months from their perspective.”
Twilight’s eyes opened as wide as saucers in comprehension before she started babbling. “Of course! Breaking the portal caused the inter-dimensional flux to skew the synchronization of the integrated time-slip cantrips. A cascading disruption of tensor vectors followed by the unraveling of superstring pathways was bound to occur… but why couldn’t I detect any polarized Rattan Radiation or Holly Scattering? Is Chubby Chef’s Theorem only applicable in specialized non-temporal causalities instead of universal general closed system variations?” She brought a hoof up to her chin. “Hmmm. Now I really have to think about this.”
Luna chuckled and said to Trixie and me, “I am gladdened to see that some things have not changed in our absence.” Then her ears perked up and her head swiveled to stare at a shadowy corner of the room.
At that moment, Regis scampered out of its darkest depths and cried excitedly, “Mommy! Mommy!” He skipped over to Twilight and gave her a quick hug then looked up at Celestia who was gaping in surprise.
“Hi, Auntie Mark! You’re sure different today!” Regis said brightly then turned to stare at the other new alicorn in the room. That’s when he noticed me sitting nearby Luna and he looked puzzled for a moment. He shrugged and said to Luna, “Hi, pretty lady!” Then he spotted Philomena perched on a nearby shelf and his eyes opened in wonder. “Ooooh!”
With a flash of green magic fire, there was a duplicate of the phoenix in place of Regis.
“By the stars!” exclaimed Luna as the new firebird flew over to the original. Philomena wasn’t impressed and squawked in annoyance. She tried to avoid her doppelganger but Regis wanted to play.
“You have a changeling child, Twilight?” Celestia asked in a bewildered tone.
“Yes. That’s my son, Regis Novellus,” she replied proudly.
“I think I’m going to need that whiskey straight after all,” the white alicorn said, picking up the bottle in her magic.
Twilight called out to her foal, “Regis! Stop bothering Philomena and change back.”
To the phoenix’s relief, Regis obeyed, alighting next to his mother and resuming his normal form.
Twilight gave him a stern look and said, “How disappointed do you think your Grandma Chrysalis will be when I tell her about your thoughtless transformations… again!”
I heard a gasp and a crash to my right. Glancing that way, I saw that Celestia had dropped the bottle.
The foal said, “Sorry, mommy.”
Trixie chuckled and said, “Just wait until you meet her husband.”
My wife’s years on the stage must have honed her sense of timing. At that moment, the door to the lounge opened and Thorax hastened in, only to stop short. Both alicorn sisters stared at the newcomer in shock. In the silence that followed, a maid pushing a cart laden with various drinks and snacks had to swerve around the unmoving king of the Crystal Hive. The changeling uncertainly returned the Royal Sisters’ gaze for a long-drawn-out moment before apparently realizing that these were indeed the real deal. He gave them a nervous grin.
“H-hello. I’m Thorax, Twilight’s husband. You must be Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.”
I spoke up. “Thorax is more than just Twilight’s spouse – he’s also King of the Crystal Hive, not to mention the son of Queen Chrysalis. That makes Twilight a Hive Mother.” I admit that I took delight in freaking out the sisters a bit more. Sue me.
Luna held up her empty glass and simply said, “More.”
Celestia looked at the shattered bottle on the floor and then back to her sister. “I don’t think any amount of alcohol is going to help us adjust to this new reality. Would you like some of that coffee that I can smell instead?”
Luna shook her head. “Nay. The whiskey shall be doubled!”
I got up and fetched an unopened bottle of Eyrish whiskey for Luna while Twilight used her magic to clear up the mess and the maid poured coffee for everypony. Well, everypony except the foals and Luna. According to Twilight, Regis’ sweet tooth led him to steal a cup of honey and cream infused brew from Twilight early one morning. After that very long and tiring day, Twilight drank her java black. Along with the coffee, a few slices of cake seemed to improve Celestia’s mood a lot too. Rumor confirmed!
The maid bowed and left us to enjoy our food and drink. As the Solar Alicorn put down her empty plate with a contented sigh, she noticed Regis staring at her with a grin on his face. “What amuses you so, child?” she asked with an indulgent smile.
Regis danced on his hooves in front of Celestia. “You've got such big wings! And big flanks!”
“Aye, that she does,” quipped Luna. Celestia blinked away a frown to keep her attention on the foal.
“And big, big mane! And big, big, big tail!”
Twilight gently said, “You've seen Uncle Mark have all those before, too.”
The Royal Sisters looked up questioningly at the purple alicorn then to me.
Regis pointed a hoof at Celestia. “But she has big emotions! And big, big, big, big power! Mark is like pfffft!”
All the adults cracked up, except for me. Foals had no social filter whatsoever, and I had just been compared to a fart noise.
After everypony calmed down again, Luna asked me, “What doth Twilight’s spawn mean, precisely?”
I smiled, changing into my pink-haired Celestia form. “Oh, nothing much.” Short-haired form. “Just a party trick...” Long haired Celestial form. “... I picked up a while back.”
The Royal Sisters’ eyes just about bugged out of their heads. After a few seconds, Luna recovered enough to say, “How didst–”
I interrupted her. “It’s how we got into Celestia’s secret chamber under Canterlot Mountain, and Luna’s secret cave.”
Their jaws dropped open again. Regis pointed at both of them and laughed. Apparently, the emotion of gobsmacked amazement was very amusing to the changeling foal.
Celestia ruffled her wings as she struggled to get ahold of her emotions. “Well… um… well.” She cleared her throat and gave me a piercing stare. “I hope I have some secrets left in my extremely private, personal chamber.”
Might as well get it over with. I said, “Oh, you mean like the hoof-carved gift from Semiplume? Or ‘The pegasus flieth to White Tail Woods’?”
“Buck me,” muttered Celestia.
“Buck me! Buck me!” Regis joyously pronked around the room, wings outstretched. “Buck me!”
Now it was my turn to laugh and I wasn’t alone. Luna fell off her cushion in her mirth. Twilight tried in vain to get her son to ‘stop saying that bad word’, all the while shooting dark glares at both Celestia and me. The purple mare practically growled. “It’s not funny!”
“Snot’s funny! Snot’s funny!” Regis bounced around, yelling his new mantra.
After she finished laughing, my wife said, “Trixie is not certain why our co-ruler is still upset.”
“Indeed,” said Luna, pushing herself back onto her haunches. “ ’Tis quite an improvement over my sister’s foul utterances.”
All the excitement woke up Gemini and, thankfully, Regis was distracted into playing with them. After Twilight teleported in some toys for the two, everyone was settled once more and it was time to start clearing up some mysteries.
“Now – can we finally know what took you away from Equestria for so long?” my wife asked.
Luna replied, “Before we tell you our tale, I am most curious about how our dear sister managed to leave thee in charge of the kingdom.”
My wife smiled. “Celestia, do you recall the exact wording of the orders you gave to the Captain of the Guard?”
“Yes. I said that Twilight Sparkle awaits me in my chambers and that she was empowered to govern Equestria until the Diarchs returned.”
Luna frowned and shook her head. “Nay, sister. Thou didst state that thy student awaited…”
Celestia and Luna stared wide-eyed at Trixie who gave them her best “cat ate the canary” grin.
I said, “An emergency arose in the Crystal Kingdom. Before the Captain arrived to give your proclamation, Twilight had left to gather the Element Bearers and deal with the situation.”
My wife added. “And was Trixie Lulamoon the First not your brave and faithful student also?”
One massive facehoof later, a much chagrined Celestia said, “Let that be a lesson to the current rulers – never make orders in haste, no matter how urgent the issue.”
“Believe me, I understand,” I said. “Okay – your turn.”
Celestia nodded. “As you may have surmised already, we have been in contact for centuries with several alternate worlds through the mirror portals created by Star Swirl the Bearded and others. We had established a close relationship with a particular version of Equestria which had not fared as well as ours. It suffered frequent attacks from its neighbors and we provided support in various ways. In return, we had access to resources not available in our world, and valuable intelligence on possible threats to our home dimension. Their situation seemed stable right up until the day we left. We got word that a surprise attack had left that world’s Celestia and Luna dead and their Canterlot Castle under siege. As there was no time to lose, I immediately headed off to Luna’s room to have her join me in defense of the other Equestria, leaving my excessively hasty instructions for Twilight. We didn’t stop to fetch our battle armor, relying instead on our enchanted regalia for the moment. We intended to return as soon as we secured the immediate situation, if just to make more thorough preparations and set up a better interim leadership arrangement.”
“So, why didn’t you?” I asked.
“The battle was being fought within the castle and had reached their portal room when we arrived. During our fight with the invaders, a stray blast destroyed the connection back to our Equestria. We were trapped in that dimension until we could re-establish a new gateway to our world.”
I was greatly relieved to find out that it wasn’t anything to do with me smashing some of the mirrors upon my arrival. “That’s one reason why we’ve been setting up redundant portals, just in case something happens to the first.”
“A wise precaution,” Luna commented with a sharp look at her sister.
“It also explains the unusual style of armor you were wearing,” I said with a wave of a hoof in the direction of said equipment. “I take it that there are significant differences between our Equestria and theirs?”
“Vast differences in many things, and yet so familiar in others,” Celestia replied, Luna nodding in agreement. “These are the weapons and personal armor of their Royal Sisters and they suit us perfectly. We made good use of them in place of ours.”
Trixie asked, “What took you so long to make a new portal? Starting from scratch, Sparkle learned how to rebuild a broken portal and create new ones within weeks whereas you must have already known.”
Celestia shook her head. “While my knowledge of magic is vast, there are areas in which I had little reason to practice for centuries. On the other hoof, my former student’s special talent is magic and it’s of little surprise that she managed to learn on her own what Star Swirl taught us so long ago.”
The Alicorn of the Moon frowned. “Whyfore didst thou need to rebuild a portal?”
“That would be my fault,” I confessed. “I was unaware that the mirror that I had bought in my home dimension was also a portal, and when it opened by itself, I was caught by surprise and fell through it into a totally dark room. My attempts to right myself caused me to knock over several mirrors.”
“Several? That was clumsiness most uncommon,” Luna pointed out.
Trixie laughed. “That trait has not changed in the years since my husband’s arrival.”
I gave my wife a flat look before continuing. “In my defense, I was not expecting to have four legs. You see, back on my former world, I was not a pony.”
“Oh? What species were you?” Celestia asked.
“Have you heard of humans?” I asked.
Both sisters nodded.
“Then you know that they are bipeds. Ponies are not naturally inclined to walk around on their hind legs, so you can imagine what happened when I tried.”
Luna said, “Even an alicorn could not expect to do better if thou didst not know that thou had become one.”
“Actually, I hadn’t. I arrived as a pegasus.”
Celestia’s eyes widened. “You ascended? That is even more remarkable than being gifted the form. You must tell me more.”
“It’s a very long story. I—”
A softly persistent chime interrupted me.
“What is that sound?” Luna asked with a frown as the noise grew louder.
Twilight chuckled sheepishly. “Oops. I forgot. It’s time to raise the sun. That’s my alarm spell.”
Celestia gave the purple alicorn a delighted smile. “You have been raising the sun instead of the Council of Mages? You truly have grown into your power, my former student.”
Twilight blushed. “It took a lot of practice to do it even half as well as you. Now that you’re back, I will defer the task to you as you’re the Solar Princess.”
The white alicorn shook her head. “I am a princess no more, remember? I have no right to take this royal responsibility from you.”
“Oh, no! It’s not just a matter of duty. You’ve performed that task for over a thousand years – more than for anypony else. It’s your right!” Twilight protested.
“A right that I have abrogated for several years, it seems. Equestria has prospered under its new custodian of the sun.”
“It’s not your fault that you couldn’t tend to the sun. I wouldn’t dream of thinking that I’m better suited to the task.”
“My dear Twilight, I insist that you continue the duty you have undertaken.”
“But I would feel like I’m stealing it from you. The sun is yours!”
“You are the reigning Princess – you have a responsibility to Equestria!”
“And as the Princess, I assert that it is your place to begin the day!”
The volume of the responses had gradually grown louder and I was beginning to wonder if the sun was ever going to be raised today. Fortunately, my wife had had enough of the polite bickering.
“Ladies! If neither of you will attend to the sun, I will get my husband to perform the duty.”
Both alicorns stopped and blinked in surprise. For my part, I stammered and took a step back, stunned beyond words. The Royal Sisters turned to stare at me before bursting out in hysterical laughter. I rolled my eyes and sighed. I forced myself to reconsider my initial incredulous reaction. The idea wasn’t that far-fetched, was it? I was an alicorn, after all. I mean, just because I didn’t have a clue how was no excuse for being so summarily dismissed by two of the most powerful beings in the world… On second thoughts, shut up, Mark.
When the giggles finally stopped, I said, “Sparkles, as much as you are dedicated to your duty, I know you hate getting out of bed to raise the sun. You’re just not a morning pony. Celestia, you’re the Alicorn of the Sun – it’s your special talent and it won’t be denied by your change of status. At least for now, I propose that you handle the sunrises and Twilight the sunsets.
Celestia nodded. “That seems reasonable to me.”
“I suppose so,” Twilight said.
“Good. Luna – how do you feel about the moon?”
“I would retake sole stewardship of it, if it pleases the Triarchy.”
A glance at my co-rulers was enough to confirm that. “Okay, ladies, you’re up. Go put on a show for the citizens to celebrate your return.”
They rose from their cushions and made their way to the bay window. The Royal Lounge did not have a balcony but the large glassed area was almost as good. I suppose they could have simply teleported to a better vantage point, but I think that they were proving something to us as well as themselves. I have watched many a sun and moon rise and set but I had never beheld such a glorious show as the sisters wove their magic. The stars danced through vibrant auroras of every shade as the moon settled below the horizon. Determined not to be outdone, the fiery sunrise cast arcs and flares of more shades of yellow, orange, and red than I had ever seen. The display was topped off with a powerful glow that made everything in sight—mountains, forests, buildings, and streets—appear to be dipped in gold. Any pony who witnessed the dawn today would know instinctively that Alicorns of the Sun and Moon had returned without ever laying eyes on them.
Celestia and Luna skipped to their seats, palpably pleased with themselves. I poured celebratory drinks for all and we savored them for a while. Eventually though, I brought us back to the important subjects.
“While I am sure you’re very curious about what has been happening in your absence, there are nearly four years to catch up on as opposed to several weeks on your part. It would be better if we get your tale done first. We still haven’t heard much about what happened to you after the gateway was destroyed. I gather that you won the battle and turned your efforts to rebuilding the portal?”
Luna replied, “We wish ’twas so simple. Alas, there was no clear victory for many weeks. We repulsed the invasion and bulwarked the nation’s borders at the end, but considering the nature of Grogar’s attack—”
“Grogar?!” we all chorused.
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