The days passed by quickly, filled with meetings. A week had gone by since their arrival in New Mareland, and aside from dinner and breakfast Celestia rarely had time to spend with Flurry.
There were a great many things to arrange, of course. Ensuring the proper integration of the remnants of the Equestrian Royal Navy and the refugees it had ferried - and continued to ferry, several destroyers continuing to go back and forth between the Spa Islands and Sunset every few days - to New Mareland was one of the first tasks Celestia had been thrust into, but also one she had been planning for while travelling.
Her solution for the matter of refugees was simple and ingenious, if she did say so herself: there would be a great demand for all manner of armaments in the coming years, and there already was a lot of unemployment in New Mareland owing to the Great Depression of 999, the effects of which still lingered almost nine years after the fact.
So, with that in mind, Celestia had come up with the idea of constructing many factories throughout the country, which would be used to supply the war effort. It was not hard work; anypony should be able to do it with some minor instruction, if what Celestia understood of the work was true.
It all worked out neatly too: the factories would need to be built, of course, generating work for the construction sector; and once operational, they would require materials, which the mining sector would be able to provide, especially if some of the refugees ended up working there as well. That was leaving aside the fact that there would need to be an increase in housing availability for all the refugees, which would give yet more work to the construction sector.
The only problem Celestia could see was a lack of initial funds to kickstart the program. She’d need to talk to the Minister of Finances about that. And Sour Sweet as well; while she didn't have a government position (yet), it was clear that the mare was skilled in her work and well-respected by her fellows. The same went for her companion, Sunny Flare. Celestia wasn’t sure what the relationship between the two was - if they were just friends, or more - but it didn’t really matter.
It wasn’t like they were spies, after all.
Aside from that, there were several other important things. The matter of allies and foreign relations had come up several times in other meetings of Celestia’s. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Neon Lights, had explained to her that while relations with both the Karthinian Pact and Aquileia were generally pleasant, there had been some problems recently with Aquileian monarchists fleeing from the victorious Republicans, as well as extremists from both sides of the Wingbardian political spectrum moving to New Mareland. Nothing dangerous, but still something to keep in mind.
She was already planning out letters for King Talonuel and President Rodier, requesting an official diplomatic meeting with both. In the case of King Talonuel, the heads of state from the other members of the Karthinian Pact had been invited as well. It seemed only fitting.
But a foreign visit would have to wait. Taking Flurry with her was risky, but Celestia was not going to leave the filly alone in Sunset. At least, not yet. She didn’t think there were spies amongst the staff of the Sunside House, but that didn’t mean she trusted them either.
‘’Your Majesty?’’
‘’Hm?’’
Celestia looked up to see one of the servants, a light yellow earth pony mare with an orange mane and blue eyes, was holding a telegram in her mouth. ‘’This is for you, ma’am,’’ she said. ‘’One of the guards said I had to give it to you.’’
‘’Thank you.’’ Celestia took the letter from the mare. ‘’You may return to your duties.’’
‘’Yes ma’am.’’ The servant bowed her head, then left again.
Not being in her office had its perks; for one, it made it easier for ponies to approach her. Thus, Celestia liked to reside in any of the House’s more public rooms, which didn’t have the stigma of being private attached to them.
Celestia opened the telegram, eyes widening as she read the first words.
To Her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria,
Greetings, Princess. I am Thorax, the new king of the United Changeling Hives. It saddens me that we have been unable to meet so far, and that you have now been forced to relocate to New Mareland. If I had been able to, I would have helped your fight against your fallen sister, but alas my nation is still unstable and recovering from our civil war.
However, despite this I also have good news for you: Princess Cadence and her husband Shining Armour are on their way to Vesalipolis! They, together with some refugees and soldiers, crossed the border into Changelingia a week ago, and headed for the nearest Hive, who immediately informed me. They are being brought to Vesalipolis via train, and will receive a warm welcome here.
I understand their daughter, Princess Flurry Heart, is currently with you in New Mareland. If you wish to send her here, there is room, though I do not know how you would go about such an endeavour. Telegrams are one thing, but a young princess is rather more difficult to move.
Regardless, I just wanted to let you know that the United Changeling Hives shall stand with you, Princess, in your battle to retake Equestria. But we cannot fight the Lunar Empire alone; we will need allies. And anyhow, this telegram is not the way to discuss this. With your permission, our nations would officially open diplomatic relations, including establishing an embassy in Sunset (and vice versa, one in Vesalipolis).
I await your reply eagerly,
King Thorax I of the United Changeling Hives
Celestia stared at the piece of paper, unable to properly form a response, be it mental or verbal. Cadence and Shining were alive. They had an ally. Cadence and Shining were alive.
She had to tell Flurry.
Celestia grabbed the telegram off the table, trying to remember where she’d seen Flurry last.
The pool!
Celestia’s horn sprung alight, and she teleported.
The pool was nothing spectacular, just a rectangle filled with water. There were several sun chairs placed next to it, set up under parasols. A pegasus mare, lime-green coat and black mane with brown eyes, was keeping watch on Flurry, who was happily playing in the shallow part of the pool.
‘’Flurry!’’ Celestia called out, ignoring the mare’s gasp of surprise at the alicorn’s sudden appearance. ‘’Come out of the water, please. I’ve got something!’’
‘’Okay, auntie!’’ Flurry quickly got out of the pool and gave Celestia a very wet hug, dripping water all over the stones. ‘’Can you come play in the pool with me after?’’
‘’Of course, sunshine,’’ Celestia agreed. ‘’But first, I’ve just received this telegram. Shall I read it to you?’’
‘’Sure.’’
And so, Celestia read the telegram to Flurry, who sat quietly and waited until Celestia was finished before very softly asking: ‘’Can Mummy and Daddy come here?’’
Celestia frowned. ‘’I don’t know, sunshine,’’ she admitted. ‘’They’re very far away from here, and there is no safe route here. But at least they’re safe, and I’m sure they’ll write to you as soon as possible.’’
Flurry didn’t look any happier after hearing that, but nodded anyway. ‘’Can we write to them as well? I wanna tell them I miss them.’’
‘’Oh sweetheart.’’ Celestia swept the filly up in a hug. ‘’Of course we can write to them. I’m sure they’re very worried about you as well.’’ As I am about them.
They ended up writing the letter about one-and-a-half hours later, when Flurry finally had enough of the pool; for now at least. Once they were dry again, Celestia got herself a pen and paper and settled on one of the sun chairs, Flurry curled up on another such chair next to her.
‘’Now, what do you want me to write?’’ Celestia asked the filly.
Flurry stared at the paper. ‘’Uhhhh…’’
Celestia repressed a sigh. ‘’Let’s start with saying hello, alright?’’ Might as well turn this into a lesson.
Flurry nodded. ‘’Yeah, that sounds good.’’
‘’Dear Cadence and Shining,’’ Celestia read out as she wrote it down, before looking back at Flurry. ‘’Do you mind if I write something to them as well?’’
‘’No, auntie.’’
‘’Thank you, sunshine.’’ Celestia pressed a nuzzle to her forehead. ‘’It won’t take long, I promise.’’
She quickly wrote down that she was happy to hear they were safe, and that Flurry and she were safe as well. She asked if they had heard anything about Twilight or the other Elements of Harmony, and how they were doing. Nothing too extravagant, just some simple questions Celestia had for them.
‘’Alright, I’m finished,’’ she announced. ‘’What do you want to write, Flurry?’’
‘’Can you tell me what you wrote?’’ Flurry asked back.
‘’Of course,’’ Celestia agreed, before clearing her throat. ‘’Dear Cadence and Shining, it heartens me to hear that you are both safe and sound. Flurry and myself are currently in Sunset, in New Mareland. I have many questions about what happened once I left Tall Tale, but those can wait for now. I am just relieved that you are alright. I do have a few pressing questions, however. Have you heard anything concerning Twilight and her friends? Last I knew Twilight was in Dodge City with the rest of the Elements, minus Rarity of course. If you know anything, please tell me. I’ll give the letter to Flurry now. All my love, Celestia.’’
Celestia put the letter down. ‘’So, what do you want to write?’’
‘’I want you to write that I miss them,’’ Flurry immediately said. Evidently the few minutes of thought had allowed her to make up her mind on what she wanted to tell her parents. Celestia could only approve.
‘’Of course,’’ Celestia agreed. ‘’And what else?’’
‘’That it’s very nice here,’’ Flurry replied. ‘’And the ship was nice too, but this is nicer. Oh! And tell them that I love them, please?’’
‘’I will,’’ Celestia promised, before promptly giving the filly a hug with her wing. ‘’And shall we go and have dinner when we’re finished?’’
‘’Yeah!’’
Once the letter was done and sent (by way of a courier to the office who’d delivered Thorax’s letter to her; that being the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Celestia and Flurry retired to the dining room for, well, dinner.
There wasn’t anything special about it, not really. Just mashed potatoes with some hay and vegetables. But the company made it special, nonetheless.
‘’Auntie, do you know when Mummy and Daddy are going to write back?’’
Celestia could only shake her head. ‘’I don’t, sunshine. But no doubt they’ll write back as soon as possible. And the moment I get their letter, I’ll tell you, alright?’’
‘’Okay,’’ Flurry agreed. ‘’Thanks, auntie!’’
‘’No problem, sunshine.’’
They talked as they ate, about little things. Mostly Flurry talked and Celestia listened; from the sound of it, Flurry’s day had been far more exciting than Celestia’s had been, even though she’d only played in and around the house.
Ah, the innocence of youth.
An idea came to Celestia’s mind. It probably wasn’t safe. Captain-General White Wood was going to be quite upset with the idea, most likely. But Celestia really didn’t care one bit.
‘’Flurry,’’ she asked, ‘’shall we go take a walk through Sunset after dinner?’’
‘’Can we go get ice cream?’’ Flurry asked immediately.
Celestia chuckled. ‘’Yes, we certainly can. And then I think we’ll take a stroll along the beach.’’
Following one conversation with her newly-appointed Captain-General of the Royal Guard, one car ride down to the boulevard and one visit to Juniper Berry’s ice cream booth, Celestia and Flurry were striding on the beach, eating their ice cream. With sunset soon to occur, most ponies had already vacated the beach, but there were still a good few enjoying the pleasant May weather.
As such, Celestia was forced to concede that taking along two guards - the minimum she had managed to bargain her new Captain-General down to - might not have been such a bad idea.
Flurry had two scoops of dark chocolate, which she was eating with gusto, while Celestia was a tad more dignified with eating her own banana ice cream. Still, the older alicorn knew they made for quite the unique sight.
‘’Mummy! Mummy! Look, that’s the Princess!’’
Celestia almost raised an eyebrow as a young pegasus filly flew away from her parents towards them. A preemptive move from her wings kept the guards from stopping the filly.
The golden-coloured filly, with a white and pink curly mane, landed in front of them. ‘’Hi!’’ she chirped, seemingly undaunted by Celestia, which already made her rather unique. ‘’I’m Summer Blossom! Nice to meet ya!’’
‘’It is nice to meet you as well, Summer Blossom,’’ Celestia returned the greeting. ‘’My name is Celestia, but I think you already knew that.’’
‘’Yeah I did!’’ the filly confirmed. ‘’You’re the Princess from overseas!’’
‘’I am.’’
‘’And you!’’ Summer Blossom turned towards Flurry, who was looking very surprised by this turn of events. In fairness to the filly, so was Celestia, but she was far better at hiding it. ‘’You’re Princess Flurry Heart!’’
‘’Uhhh…’’ Flurry stared at the other filly. ‘’Hi?’’
‘’I’ve heard so much about you!’’ Summer Blossom gushed. ‘’And look at you! You’re so pretty!’’
‘’Thanks?’’ Flurry hesitated, then added: ‘’You look really pretty too.’’
‘’Summer Blossom!’’ The voice of what was most likely the mother of Summer Blossom cut off the filly’s reply. ‘’Just what do you think you’re doing!?’’
‘’Mum! Can’t you see I’m talking with the Princesses?’’ Summer Blossom snapped back.
‘’I can,’’ Summer Blossom’s mother, also a pegasus, confirmed. ‘’And you need to not wander off, young lady!” The yellow mare, with a lilac green mane, glared at her daughter.
‘’Sorry mummy,’’ Summer Blossom muttered.
‘’I apologise for my daughter’s actions, your Majesty,’’ the mare said as she turned to Celestia and bowed.
‘’There is nothing to apologise for, ma’am,’’ Celestia returned. ‘’I don’t mind it at all.’’
The mare let out a breath, and bowed her head again. ‘’Thank you, your Majesty.’’
‘’What is your name?’’
‘’I am Grey Flower,’’ the mare replied. ‘’It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am.’’
And as Celestia and Grey Flower struck up a conversation, Flurry and Summer Blossom began playing together in the sand. Then, when Celestia finally returned to the Sunside House, carrying Flurry on her back, she went to bed satisfied.