Celestia watched her ponies file out, from an arrogant Blueblood and a worried Cadenza to the chatting citizenry and the silent guards. The white ruler waited until the door creaked closed before she allowed her smile to falter.
The alicorn paced the length of her throne room, bands of shadow and light playing on her glowingly pristine coat, for a moment throwing the god's face into shadow before blazing sunlight flared across it once again. The goddess sat herself down in the throne once again, tucking her wings tight in to her side and flaring her horn.
With a tiny pop and puff of smoke, the cracked old teacup appeared in the air ahead of the Alicorn's muzzle, along with her ancient teapot, silver spoon, pot of honey and cup of cream. Steam rose as the ancient ritual was followed; tea to cup, stir, two spoons of cream, one of honey, stir-stir-stir and a tiny tap on the rim of the cup.
A flick of the horn sent the paraphernalia away in another pop and puff of smoke, leaving only the steaming cup.
Celestia smiled warmly, sighing slightly as she lowered her lips for a sip “Hello old friend” she whispered.
… Minutes passed in gentle silence, though tension mounted with every sip. the eyes of the alicorn glancing up again and again at the cold metal cylinder and the shards of rubble it had dug from her floor. Breathing out slowly to calm herself Celestia raised her cup. For a moment blocking her eyes from view.
“Princess Celestia?” The question came softly, but the interruption was enough to make Celestia jump, a gentle smash and tinkle as the old teacup bounced and shattered off the foot of the throne echoing around the room.
A brief shadow crossed the god's face once again, the amethyst eyes sparkling with annoyance as they beheld the broken cup, but the irritation faded into gentle neutrality when the eyes turned up to spot the alien captain standing there, an eyebrow quirked.
“I suppose I should apologise” he glanced towards the splatter of tea and the shards of porcelain. “I hope that's not expensive”.
Celestia sighed, flaring her horn “Valuable beyond measure Captain.” The shards were encompassed and floated gently up in her aura “But least said” the pieces began to fuse together, the ancient vessel coming together with a few new cracks in it's surface “Soonest mended as I believe the saying goes” her smile floated back into place when she caught the shocked look on the alien's face.
Morgan recovered quickly, a small smile coming to his own face “That's quite the skill”
“A simple spell” she set the cup carefully on the arm of the throne before standing again “Now then my dear Captain, I do believe we need to chat.”
Captain Morgan put his hands behind his back and nodded, his face fading to seriousness “We do.” The old alien took a deep breath “A few days ago, my ship came into visual range of a wormhole” he paused and thought for a moment before explaining “A 'wormhole' is a colloquial term my species uses for a space-time rip Princess, try to think of it as a 'hole' betwe-” his explanation was forestalled by Celestia holding up a hoof
“I am perfectly aware of what a 'Wormhole' is Captain, though I will admit my little sister has a better grasp of the math involved” The alicorn carefully suppressed a smirk as disbelief flared up in the alien's eyes
“That's quite impressive.” was all he could manage.
Celestia half opened her wings and took a tiny bow, saying with a trace of humility “When one has lived for as long as I, one has time to learn many things. There have been a few truly brilliant ponies over the millennia, I have had the pleasure of studying under many of them.” she laughed lightly, the tinkling tone echoing gaily around the empty throne room “Though I will admit, my little sister has always had a better grasp of the sciences”
Morgan cupped a hand over his chin “Sorry to stick on a point Princess, but you said 'millennia' just there.”
“I did indeed. The pure-blood members of my species are immortal, or at least incredibly long lived” Celestia spoke calmly, her wings flared slightly for effect.
Morgan was not impressed “That's impossible, nothing lives that long”
The god smiled, a little sadness infecting her tone “Yet here I stand Captain, I am a god, immortal and eternal. The Sun rises and sets, the mortal world moves on, but I remain.”
The alien hummed under his breath “We'll have to come back to that point later, but for now let's move on. As I was saying, my ship came into visual range of the aforementioned wormhole. We came with the intent of studying it, to try and replicate the phenomena for the benefit of my species.”
Celestia smiled “A noble cause. Can I assume that something went wrong?”
Captain Morgan looked a little uncomfortable under the ruler's gaze “Yes. Something did” the discomfort faded in moments as the old human comported himself “Minutes after we came to a halt, our ship was captured in an energy field of unknown origin, and dragged forcibly through the wormhole. We traced this energy field, and found it led straight to this planet. Straight to this castle."
It as the alicorn's turn to look discomforted "Directly to my sister, I can imagine."
The captain nodded "Yes..." after a moment of awkward silence he continued "Please understand Princess, my hands were tied by protocol in this matter. My ship is by all rights a member of the USC military, our ship being damaged by an unknown energy field while inside our home system, as our sensors told us at that moment, was simply not acceptable." he held his face in stony neutrality "Given your sister's sovereign status, what she did could justifiably be called an act of war."
Celestia didn't lose her composure, but her voice was slightly less confident "Ah" she nearly stood up, but decided against it "That... That is unfortunate to hear captain, I hope there is still hope for peace" The snow white pony finally bridled her nervous tone and regained the gentle sense of power "I am sure that my sister would never have done what she did if she knew that-"
Morgan cut the ruler off with a hand "If she knew that we could retaliate so effectively?" The old alien gave the princess no time to gather a response before continuing "I'm afraid that your sister 'Luna' has quite the temper problem, when my medical staff went in for a visit we had to have Luna physically restrained and eventually put to sleep with tranquilizers."
Celestia looked troubled "I do not know what to say captain, other than I'm sorry. Is she okay?"
The captain nodded "Perfectly fine. We have allowed her access to her 'magic' while she sleeps, natural regeneration seems to be taking care of most things." He took in the slight relaxation of Celestia's posture and let his features soften slightly "Don't worry Princess. I don't want a war. My ship simply doesn't have the resources or the motive for any large-scale conflict"
The alicorn finally stood "That is good to hear Captain, I would hope to put all this behind us as soon as is possible."
She made her gentle way down the steps "What say you Captain, to a face-to-face meeting, instead of this trickery of light? I would very much like to negotiate for my sister's return."
Morgan unclasped his hands to stand more at ease "You can have her back as soon as she stops being a threat." he chuckled then glanced off to his right, reading something unseen before turning back " a face-to-face meeting does sound like a good idea however, how about the day after tomorrow?"
Celestia's smile warmed with the atmosphere "My place or yours captain?"
The alien smirked, then composed his stony neutrality "I would feel safer Princess, if you would come aboard my ship for any negotiations. Is there anybody else that should be present?"
Celestia matched the expression, save for her twinkling eyes and her motherly voice, turning thoughtful "I will of course try to make you feel safe Captain,aboard your star-vessel it is." she tapped a hoof to her chin in mockery of solemn contemplation "The griffin ambassador will have to be invited, as will the zebra. If there is room in your transport then the dragon ambassador will be of course coming. I would imagine that my guard captain will insist on coming, as will the Buffalo ambassador."
Morgan smiled "I'll have a Bulk-lifter come by in the afternoon"
"I look forward to it Captain, I hope this ends well for all of us" Celestai smiled.
The alien captain nodded. Then his smile faded slightly, his posture shifting back to attention "It will... you have my word"
As the connection was severed, Celestia let her own serenity falter "I'll hold you to that captain."
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Up in the New Dawn, CMO McConnell leaned away from the comm unit and made a face of utter confusion. "Did she just say 'dragon'?"