Chapter Twenty-Three
They had all gathered back in the main conference room with any levity muted as they took their seats at a large table, Celestia flanked by Fancy Pants and Claret Holder while a score of nobles and political officials joined them, facing opposite of Luna and her Directors. Cadance took the seat at the head, setting herself apart and neutral in the upcoming talks.
Both sisters were staring hard at each other, waiting for the other to blink or speak first. Finally, Fancy Pants coughed and looked at the Directors and asked them, "Not much has been said about the Lunar's Republic's actual intentions with Equestria. As you were once of us, please, can you tell us in simple terms what you and your people want from us? Reunification, trade partners, or..." He paused for a moment, then continued. "Well, whatever it is, please tell us."
"Do not insult us about talks about reunif-" Luna began, only for Director Honey Spice to cough loudly and Director Raven Inkwell to speak up.
"What we mean to say is that we have no desire to even discuss reunification," the mare said. "We have had our independence for a thousand years, and our two societies have each developed in such different ways that quite frankly, based on what we have observed here, any attempt at merging our two nations would result in utter chaos in all directions."
"Not to mention," Director Quick Light said. "There would be dissatisfaction from everypony involved with us living above you and massive distrust that we do not come down, the fact we currently lack the means to readily do so notwithstanding."
"To be completely honest with you Equestrians," Director Honey Spice said, looking more stern now than she had in most of their earlier talks. "Most of the Republic would like to see and experience Equestria as it was our ancestral home but none of us want to go through another experience like the Night of Departure again."
"And that is a matter we need to address," Cadance said, causing all to look at her. "I am aware that the Republic has been isolated for a thousand years and as such you have not learned of the Solar and Lunar Accord yet. It was put in place following your departure from Equestria by the rest of the world when Head Director Luna held the moon in the sky for three days straight."
Luna suddenly looked very serious. "And what, might I ask, is this Accord?" she asked.
"Essentially, the rest of the world has threatened a unified assault against us if the sun and moon do not stay on schedule without proper notice to any change to either's orbit," Claret said with Celestia looking away from her sister. "We do not have exact details to their plans for obvious reasons but sufficient to say, it has been an ugly roadblock to furthering peace on Equuis with this threat leveled against us."
Luna opened her mouth as if she was about to say something but instead closed her mouth, a blush appearing on her cheeks. After a moment of mulling it over, she finally said, "After we finish our business here and begin to introduce ourselves with the rest of Equuis, we will need to properly address this Accord. Equestria does not deserve to have such a thing hanging over its head for the actions I took those nights; I stilled our moon to act like a beacon for my followers of the past so they could join the rest of us while I focused almost all of my power to keep up a sustainable environment until we could create and seal our first shelter from the vacuum of space." She frowned. "Not to mention that while Celestia and I still have our differences, punishing her for my actions is not something I would accept."
"That will be appreciated," Claret Holder said, looking at Celestia who simply nodded her head. "The Accord has been an unfortunate thorn in making any proper progress on the world stage since its ratification, and it is just as unfortunate to have it placed upon you with your introductions to the wider world."
"It is a burden we will be willing to share; you are our cousins and you shouldn't be blamed for what was our doing," Director Onyx Plate said before Luna could speak up, eyeing her before he continued. "And that is something we will need to address right now. The Night of Departure or the Longest Night. What exactly happened during that time to give rise to these Avengers?"
Celestia let out a sigh, causing everypony to stare at her. "They were the participants of that night, Luna," she said with her sister narrowing her eyes and the room getting noticeably chillier.
"Of those you allowed to go unpunished, correct Princess?" Luna fired back with Cadance's eyes widening at the sudden downturn in the mood.
"I took care of it with the proper legal steps, and not hanging them like somepony wished for," Celestia said hotly before looking at Cadance's frown. Then she steeled herself and looked at Luna again. "I believe it is time we had our talk, Luna. Privately."
"Out of the question," Director Honey Spice said. "The matters of Equestria and the Republic involve every-"
"This will have very little to do with any lasting stances between the two," Luna said, cutting her off. "This is a long time coming; we have personal issues to discuss and matters to bring to rest. Please, leave us be."
Everypony turned to Cadance who was staring intently at the two sisters. "I am not certain if that would be a good idea-"
"As Luna said, we have personal issues to address that we are ready to deal with now," Celestia said stiffly.
"I do not know when we will be ready to do so again, so we should not waste this chance," Luna added with everypony reluctantly standing up and leaving the room. Cadance was the last to go, looking worried as she went, and Luna's heart went out to the younger mare. But she could not say anything just yet, no matter how much she wanted to.
The doors closed with a heavy thud, echoing in the near empty negotiation chamber with only the whispers of wind blowing through as Luna's eye bore into Celestia, who refused to blink. Despite her sister's dress of finery, she was under no illusion that it did not contain concealed weaponry and protection if the meetings between their two ponies were to deteriorate to the point of open conflict once more.
Luna might have gained some more magical might in the last thousand years but she knew her younger sister was no match to her own prowess and Luna was anything but a fool. She would see her own weakness and work to counter it.
"Let us get to the crux of the matter, Luna," Celestia said sternly, staring at her sister. "You have little hope or desire to bring our ponies under one umbrella of Harmony. You are only entertaining this notion for your own personal goals. That whole stunt at the Summer Sun Celebration was just your way of flaunting before a large crowd."
Luna glared at Celestia, her green eyes burning into the older mare before she gave a near imperceivable nod. "The odds were always against any form of reunification. Beyond the simply massive gap between our two nations in almost every aspect in culture and technology, the fact remains that we are on opposite ends of our species' growth. Your ponies are still just beginning to understand the power of electricity and basic machinery while mine are ready to leave the world behind and begin to colonize the stars. We worked hard to reach this point, with many sacrifices and harsh lessons to teach us how to respect and honour what we have. Would you give yours the means to produce plasma-based firearms and hope they understand the dangers that comes with them and trust that they do not let this newfound power go to their heads?"
It was Celestia's turn to wince, knowing Luna spoke the truth. The gaps were rather massive and there would be resentment from both sides if their ponies were to be brought together. But before she could speak, Luna continued on.
"Furthermore, I do not wish to put my citizens under your rule. Frankly dear sister, by your own words, you have proven you do not respect my Republic or my people's work. You have constantly referred to them as our ponies, already seeing them under Equestria's umbrella. You do not see the Lunar Republic as its own nation, not truly. Your own bias would see my people's identity submerged under Equestria's and all the prejudice that forced our departure a thousand years ago would return, only far worse this time. That has always been your deepest flaw; you take the longer view and you act like the matter is already resolved when it is still unfolding before you."
Celestia glared hard at her sister, snorting in anger. "You are avoiding the question, Luna," she stated, eyeing her carefully. "You are trying to guilt me into accepting whatever you wish to truly accomplish here. So speak plainly."
"Uncomfortable with your own medicine, I see," Luna shot back with a smirk on her face, no doubt enjoying seeing her mask slip. "Very well then." she said, sitting back in her chair. "As I said, my ponies are ready to leave the Equuis system and I do intend to join them, at least in part to oversee our first steps on new worlds. And," she said hotly, "I cannot do that while still being the Lady of Night."
Celestia's eyes widened as she began to understand the true depth of her sister's plans, while Luna continued speaking. "I have a few candidates for my replacement but the main issue comes down to you. Making one of my ponies the new Lady of Night would mean they would need me to teach them, which I am capable of doing. What I am not willing to do, however, is leave them with someone like you to be their Opposite. I will not leave some pony to be taken under your wing and place the Republic's homeworld under the influences of Equestria and have our way of life become corrupted by the people who forced our departure a thousand years ago. To be plain, as per your own request, I will not let the Night or the Lunar Republic become servants to the Day or Equestria."
"And what would you have me do, Luna," Celestia shot back, glaring at her sister with her coat bristling in anger.
"Same as me," Luna fired back. "Step down. You claim to be a teacher and a fair and just leader; surely you would have molded ponies suitable to taking your place and not just let matters stay as they were, never growing or changing. After all, if you are the great leader you claim you are, there must be countless ponies suitable to become the new Lady or Lord of Day and ruler of Equestria. I mean," Luna glared with a vicious grin on her face. "The notion that you would not have taken anything that has happened in the last thousand years as a means for personal growth and just hoped that I would come back and let things go back to as they once were would make you the greatest fool of the ages."
Celestia heard a sudden thunderclap and saw her sister jump backwards, with the doors to the chambers slamming open. Both her guards in their traditional armour and Luna's in their highly sophisticated plating fanned out to their princesses, weapons drawn as they glared at their opposites.
"I will take this as a recess to our discussion, Celestia," Luna said with an angry tone, though she had a hurt look briefly visible in her eyes. She was quickly ushered away by her personal guards, leaving through a side door. Celestia stared at her sister departing while ignoring her own ponies' questions before she looked down at her hooves and did a double take.
It was not thunder she had heard before but her hooves breaking the table in a flash of anger and rage. She had scared her sister once again and the notion rocked her to the core. She needed to rethink her approach and how to handle this properly.
It was time to stop thinking of Luna as her sister and treat her accordingly. This was somepony that she needed to properly evaluate and plan accordingly for.
Luna sighed heavily as the negotiation room doors closed behind her. This was not going to be easy to deal with.
Then she noticed she and her guards weren't alone in the hall. While most of their representatives had moved on, one pony had clearly been waiting for her. "Cadance?"
"Yes, Aunt Luna?" The younger alicorn's voice indicated she was clearly rather stressed at the moment, and Luna winced. This was not going to be easy.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
Cadance sighed. "I'm worried about the both of you," she said.
Luna nodded. "I can understand that," she said. "But you also have to understand that Celestia's and my differences go back a lot farther than just the events leading up to the night my ponies and I left Equestria." Then she tilted her head. "How much has your other Aunt taught you about our kind?" she asked, as delicately as she could. It would be a welcome distraction from that private discussion with her sister. She had not intended it to go so poorly, but Celestia had the tendency to bring out the worst in her... As she did to her sister. "Alicorns, that is. And our history."
Cadance frowned. "Not very much," she said. "All she ever said, the one time I asked, was that our tribe used to be as numerous as each of the Three Tribes, then... something ugly happened to most of us. She also said that I was the first new alicorn she knew of to come into existence since before Equestria's founding."
Luna nodded. "She's right about that," she said. "Come with me, if you don't mind. I don't think we should be talking about this out in the open."
Cadance nodded. "My rooms would be best," she said.
They walked in silence until Cadance had shown her in, and sealed the door behind her. While she did so, Luna looked around, noting her niece's choice in style, and also the guest she had. "This is Ray, I take it?" she asked, peering at the lizard in the terrarium, who calmly looked back out at her. "He's cute."
Cadance nodded, and smiled. "He stays in my rooms whenever I'm gecko-sitting for Sunset," she said.
Luna smiled back at her. "It must be nice, having a companion like him," she said.
Then she turned more serious. "But going back to what I was saying before," she said. "What my sister most likely didn't tell you was that long ago, when our world was young, there was a great and terrible war with the alicorns on one side and the draconequui on the other. Celestia and I both fought alongside our kin in it in the twilight of that horrid conflict, and it left terrible scars on both of us... and on the plane of that battlefield." She sighed. "That war changed the two of us and the world in ways you cannot begin to imagine, Cadance. We lost both our parents, and nearly every friend we'd ever known."
Cadance's ears flattened. "I'm sorry for your loss," she said quietly.
Luna nodded. "We know we will see them again someday," she said. "When the time is right. But it was during the leadup to that war that Celestia and I learned that there was a greater order to existence, and that she and I were a part of it. As is Discord, along with many, many others. Those who were a part of this order are... special. We each have our own Roles and Duties."
"And... how many of these 'Roles' are there?" Cadance asked.
"Over forty that I personally know of," Luna said. "But less than fifty. The majority come in pairs, save for one in particular who balances themself without requiring an Opposite. But of those Opposites, some can work well together, and some don't. I... currently hold two of those Roles, and have two Opposites, one for each."
Cadance nodded. "I see. I think."
Luna smiled. "One of my Opposites is a stallion with whom I have a neutral relationship. I met him a long time ago, and we were able to make an arrangement, which I still hold true to. But the other Role I hold... it is what allows me to guide the moon and bring on the night, while the pony whose Role is its Opposite has the Duty of guiding the sun and bringing forth the day."
Cadance started. "Aunt Celestia?"
"Exactly," Luna said. "Some of the other Roles are less... dramatic, shall we say. Those who hold them merely have to act as they normally would to fulfill their Duties, whether they know of them or not. I have met some of the others like us, both those who know their Roles and those who do not, and for the most part we have a positive relationship."
Cadance frowned for a moment, and then suddenly her eyes widened. "You think I'm one of these beings, don't you?" she said.
"I know you are one," Luna said. "I could tell from the moment I first laid eyes on you. And from all I have seen and heard, you carry out your Duties well. I am not trying to flatter you, dear niece, merely speaking the truth." She sighed. "Even though I no longer bear Honesty, a direct result of my falling-out with my sister, my years of holding it left their mark on me."
She gazed at Cadance. "I cannot tell you much more on the subject, and my sister is similarly limited; no doubt she would have told you when she felt you were ready, and when she wasn't so worried about my return. But given that the matter of Discord and his future escape has come up recently, I felt you should know at least some of this sooner rather than later."
Cadance nodded understandingly. "May I presume that telling somepony their exact Role before they have grown into it is against the rules?" she asked.
Luna nodded back. "Precisely," she said, pleased at Cadance's logic. "Doing so with a pony or other being too soon could compromise their growth into their Role, and that is something neither I or my sister will risk. But, I feel that if you continue acting as you have been, staying true to yourself, then eventually deeper truths related to your Role will be revealed to you. Once that happens, we can talk about it in more detail."
Cadance nodded and smiled at her. "I just have two more things to ask then," she said. "Aunt Celestia recently told me of the Elements of Harmony and their part in confining Discord, and the ponies whom she believes are the next to hold them. Are their bearers the holders of some of these special Roles too?"
"They are," Luna said. "I once held three, and my sister the other three, until they left us both a thousand years ago. Soon, they will reawaken in their new Bearers."
"And... does that mean that Sunset and Twilight are meant to one day have their own Roles too?" Cadance asked.
Luna smiled. "Yes," she said. "I can feel it in these old bones that both of them will be coming into their own soon, when the time is right. One will join her five friends, the other will have a different but no less important Role. And when it does... Celestia is going to be in for quite a happy surprise when she sees which of them is which."
Then she looked serious. "I am telling you now, Cadance, that for the most part, only those of us who are of this greater order are allowed to know of it. You are free to tell my sister all that I have shared, for instance. Trusted friends and family can be filled in later, if the need is great enough - Shining Armor will one day learn of yours, I have no doubt. But otherwise, we must keep the full truth hidden from the populace at large. There are undoubtedly those who would attempt to claim our powers for themselves by force if they knew of them, and there would be horrific consequences if they did so."
Cadance nodded. "I understand," she said.
"Good." Luna smiled. "Thank you for listening to me, Cadance."
Cadance smiled. "Thank you for telling me about this, Aunt Luna," she said. Then she sighed. "I've asked Aunt Celestia what I was meant to do, one day; I never had any intention of taking your place. Even without knowing what I do now, I don't think I could have taken your place in Equestria if I had wanted to. But she's always just said I'd find out when my time came."
Luna nodded. "My sister has that unfortunate habit," she said. "In my experience, she prefers to let others find their own path rather than just telling them... ironic, given she and I were each given the chance to see what could have been our futures, and have in part been letting what we saw influence us since then. It was that incident that inspired me to meet with Trojan and have a talk with him about what could have been, to avoid the fate I saw for myself." She shook her head. "Though it only helped to some extent; I still wound up spending a thousand years on the moon, albeit under very different circumstances from what I initially saw."
Cadance looked at her, her expression suddenly very serious. "And did you see... me?" she asked quietly.
Luna nodded. "I saw glimpses of you," she admitted. "Or at least of an alicorn matching your description. But those initial views were so far off that I could not be certain of when and how she would come to be."
And that was the truth; it had taken her several more looks at this new, younger alicorn before she was certain of what she was seeing.
"Based on what I saw, you have many potential paths ahead of you," she said. "Though I am certain of one thing."
"What's that?" Cadance asked.
"That you have a bright future," Luna said. "Some parts won't be easy, and you will face challenges, made to test you just as my sister and I were. But I have faith that you will make the right choices when the time comes." She smiled, and would have said more, except there was suddenly a knock on the door.
Sighing, Luna looked at her niece. "That will probably be a messenger from Celestia, saying she is ready to respond to my terms," she said. "We'll talk more later, I hope."
Cadance nodded, and together the two left the room.
A short while later, Luna entered the negotiation room alone again. Cadance had promised to wait for her outside, which Luna had appreciated.
As the doors sealed behind her though, Luna nearly froze as she saw the look on Celestia's face. It was not the same, uncertain look she'd seen beforehand. There was confidence once more and an air of shrewdness around her.
"I thank you for giving me the time to review your proposals, Director Luna," Celestia said in a perfectly neutral tone, using her title for the first time. "Though I do wish you had given me the actual ones as none of what you had previously said can be done."
Luna opened her mouth to snap back but Celestia simply continued on. "You are asking me to step down as a ruler and yet you remain in your position of leadership, leaving Equestria in the hands of ponies that unfortunately care more for themselves than others. That is already a nonnegotiable term in any future dealings between you and I. Secondly, Director, if you wish to integrate your followers with Equuis, you will need to first explain to me something as I will more than likely be your most receptive audience in the international stage."
"And what, pray tell, do I need to explain to you," Luna shot back, trying to keep control over her anger at being forced into a corner like this once again, with her sister bullying her into a place she did not like.
"Explain to me what does an isolated group of ponies need such powerful weaponry for?" Celestia's tone dug straight into Luna, with her wings twitching that her sister no doubt saw.
"We have the right to see to our own defenses, Princess," Luna said hotly, though she felt she was already losing control of the meeting. This was not how it was supposed to go.
"You are isolated from the rest of the world, Director. There are no enemies for you to fight, so explain to me, why do you need plasma-based weapons," Celestia shot at Luna, staring hard at her. "The only foes that could pose a risk to your followers would come from the Gateway on the moon and we sealed it a long time ago."
"I do not need to explain myself to you," Luna snorted in anger, too furious to voice her full suspicions at the moment.
"There are only two logical reasons that you would develop such an armament; either you are truly lawless up there," Luna could not help the crack of thunder that came from that accusation but it was all that Celestia needed for her next point to land even harder. "Or you were planning to use it against your foes."
"You dare claim that we would wage war against Equuis?" Luna slammed her hooves into the table, outraged at her sister's words.
"Not directly, but you were without a doubt preparing for the possible outcome, and undoubtedly taking no measures to downplay your prowess in front of my ponies who are already suspicious, scared and untrusting of new things, to say nothing of those who have been painted as monsters for years on end," Celestia fired back. "I know you would never fire the first shot as it would rob you of the high ground that you and your followers cherish so dearly; that of being the victims from a thousand years ago so you can claim you are nobler and greater than everypony else. But if you could provoke others, then you can claim your vindication through conquest and show of pure military force against your perceived ancient foes."
"Why would we want to conquer anything of your primitive nation," Luna growled, glaring daggers at her opponent. "There is nothing you have to offer to us we do not already have or that we do far better than your nation does."
"Ponies," Celestia said, cutting the air out of Luna's anger and addressing her greatest worry. "You are of a closed and diminishing genetic pool. You cannot have much more generations before all of your followers will be connected to one another and then genetic faults will begin to appear. You will need fresh blood to ensure that does not happen and you will need it far sooner than later. That and resources. You don't have the endless access we do here and your means to getting them is limited. You must have made massive progress with what you have done already, but like your genetic pool, it must be dwindling and you cannot afford to pass the chance to gather more to further your space program."
Luna glared hateful eyes at her, finding herself on the backend of a deal with Celestia once again. "What are your proposed terms, then."
"An end to your weapons production, opening your moon to the world and the sharing of information with the rest of us as starters," Celestia said. "I understand you cannot give us all your secrets; I am not that blind to the dangers of giving a pony like Blueblood the means of producing one of your rifles. But perhaps supervised demonstrations and management of your basic means of production, agriculture and energy as starters."
Luna's eyes blazed with outrage at these demands. "You mean to tie us to Equuis and Equestria, force my nation to become subservient to yours when we are already about to leave," she said, glaring at Celestia before shaking her head. "This proposal is as insulting as it is dangerous for my citizens. You would demand that we give up the means to defend ourselves, and do not dare deny that is not the end goal of your absurd request that we stop producing our weapons, and yet place my ponies among those whom you already claim to be untrusting and conniving and expect them not to be attacked one more? No I do not think that will work, and especially not as long as you refuse to accept my nation as a nation. Do not think I have not noticed you have avoided all attempts to address my ponies as my citizens, my nation by its name and our destiny as our own. You view the Lunar Republic as an offshoot of Equestria, a colony that you can order around, me as a sister you can simply tell what to do." Luna glared at her, shaking her head in anger and disgust. "I had hoped that a thousand years would be enough to change you but I was wrong."
"And I had hoped you would have changed as well; grow up and stop playing the martyr," Celestia fired back. "Even when you had your own followers, you still felt and acted as if you were unloved and unwanted, putting yourself on a damn high pedestal of being the helpless victim and yet at the same time being vicious enough to demand the heads of innocents-"
"Do NOT call them innocent; they attacked my followers and me!" Luna shouted, ignoring the doors being slammed open and the ponies rushing in. "Your own sister and you took their side!"
"For the Creators' sake Luna," Celestia grumbled loudly in anger, her hoof to her face. "We have laws and duty to uphold the order. Do you think I could have honestly allowed you to kill them without due justice?"
"The fact you see that you had to allow me to do my job as co-ruler of this damnable nation meant I was never your equal," Luna growled. "That night was the final straw; you proved I had no true authority here. That Equestria was your nation, with you pretending I had any place in it. You never had faith in me then and I don't believe you have any now."
"So what was I supposed to let you do, let you kill all those who disagreed with you and become known as a bloodthirsty tyrant?" Celestia shouted, with the room a mixture of burning heat and freezing cold as the two sisters glared at each other before a beeping sound was heard in the room, with all of the Lunar ponies looking at their wrists.
In an instant, the mood changed and Celestia saw her sister pale as she read the message with her other leaders staring in shock and horror as they read their screens.
"Luna, what's wrong?" she asked softly, moving closer to her, with her outrage forgotten in a second.
"There was a terrorist attack; one of the domes is seriously damaged and I am stuck here-" her sister began to rant before Celestia dashed over, laying her horn over Luna's to transfer the magical energies she would need to teleport the long distance from the planet to the moon. Luna blinked up in surprise; clearly moved beyond words. "Sister..." she said in a hushed tone.
"Your people need you now, go to them," Celestia said with all the warmth in her heart for her. "If you need any help, it shall be given."
Luna smiled at her, truly smiled at her and pulled her into a hug she had not experienced in a very long time. "Thank you, sister dear," she whispered to her before pulling back and turning to her Directors. "Director Plate, please arrange for one of your officers to take charge of our guard representatives here for until we return. Director Spice, Director Inkwell and Director Light, we go back as soon as Director Plate is finished."
The stallion nodded his head and quickly spoke to a guard who gave a salute to her superior before the married unicorn walked to Luna's side. With a concentrated face, Luna flashed Celestia a smile before she teleported back to the moon, taking her four fellow Directors with her.
When the five Lunarians had vanished, there was an immediate flurry of noise as the ponies still present began to clamor with questions, until Celestia's nostrils flared and she bellowed, "Quiet!"
Her use of the Royal Canterlot Voice startled them into silence, and she immediately began looking around, choosing her next words carefully.
"I do not know who was responsible for the act that required my sister's sudden return," she said. "But whomever it was, her ponies' lives are in danger. And no matter the differences between Luna and I, I do not wish to see the Lunarians come to any harm." She sighed, suddenly feeling very tired.
"Is there anything else we can do to help?" Cadance asked, sounding worried.
"Not at the moment," Celestia said. "None of us can travel to the moon at this time. All we can do is wait, and pray that my sister and her ponies are successful in repairing the damage that these terrorists caused in time. But if Luna calls for our aid, we shall give it as best we can."
Turning to the pegasus mare whom Director Plate had left in charge, she asked, "Your name, officer?"
"Sergeant Nightingale, your highness," the mare replied, sounding a bit suspicious.
Celestia nodded, then turned to her own commander. "Captain Sentry, I trust you to liaise with the Sergeant and her troops," she said. "Give them whatever aid you feel necessary as they request it. And keep me informed if my sister or her people contact us again, for any reason. My niece and I are going to my office for now."
Captain Sentry saluted. "Yes, your highness!"
Leaving him to handle things, Celestia beckoned Cadance to follow her, and the two headed for Celestia's office. Once Celestia had sealed the door behind them, she sat down with a sigh.
"What do you think happened?" Cadance asked softly.
Celestia looked down. "I don't know for sure," she said. "Whomever was though, I can only hope they were a homegrown threat who can be dealt with quickly and easily, and not one of the worst-case scenarios I am currently imagining."
"Meaning?" Cadance asked a bit sharply now. She sounded annoyed, and Celestia couldn't blame her. "Is this related to the 'greater order to existence' Aunt Luna told me about, that you didn't?"
Celestia looked at her. "It is... possible," she admitted. "How much did she tell you?"
Cadance explained everything about the general situation Luna had told her of, and Celestia nodded when she was done. "Luna was right, for the most part," she said. "She also left a few things out, and justifiably so. But given the circumstances, there is one I should tell you now."
Cadance looked at her intently, and Celestia continued. "In the time before the War, there was a Gateway on Equuis's moon, similar to but different from the one you already know of - the one Sunset fled through, which could only be opened on a time cycle. The one on the moon, however, leads somewhere else, somewhere... very different. It was open full-time until Luna and I sealed it after the War, long before Equestria's founding." She sighed. "One of the scenarios I fear is that someone has managed to unlock it again. If that happened, both our worlds could be in grave danger, depending on who else has access to the world it leads to; this would essentially give them a back door into our world, and if they are hostile..." She trailed off, then sighed. "Mind, not all whom I know to have had access to it in the past were enemies, but the chances of that being the case are still too high for my comfort."
"And the other scenario?" Cadance asked.
Celestia bowed her head. "The other is that... one of our number is somehow responsible; we have been largely divided into two groups since the Creation, with others following a third path that is largely neutral, but can align with either of the first two groups if they so choose."
Cadance nodded again, so Celestia kept going. "The Laws governing us forbid those of one group from acting directly against those of the other, but using proxies is permitted," she said. And if that is what has happened, then the result could be just as catastrophic as a reopening of the Gateway. Which is why I am hoping neither of these is the case. A disgruntled mortal is the best-case scenario, one that can be dealt with quickly and easily without risking the type of damage that either of the other two would cause."
Cadance nodded, then looked worried again. "I hope Sunset's safe up there," she said. "And everypony else."
Celestia's heart tightened. "So do I, Cadance," she said quietly. "So do I."