Celestia sat at her ornate desk, surrounded by piles of official documents that required her attention. As she signed her name on this one particularly decree, she heard the sound of hooves echoing through the hall outside her chamber. The rhythmic clacking grew louder until it stopped abruptly outside her door.
She looked up as the door opened and a royal guard entered. "Your Highness." he said with a bow, "I am here to report that your order has been carried out."
Celestia nodded, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips. "Thank you, My little pony. I appreciate your diligence." She motioned for him to continue after notice his expression.
The guard hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "Forgive me, Princess, but rumors have been circulating that we may be under threat of invas...."
Before the guard could finished, a soft knock interrupted them. A servant entered the room, carrying a tray of breakfast dishes. "Please wait for a moment. I will give your question the attention it deserves as soon as I am able." Celestia said as waved the guard off and turned her attention to the servant.
"Good morning, dear. You're just in time," Celestia said with a warm smile. "I'm famished."
As Celestia help her set the dishes on the table, the servant suddenly remembered something and reached into her pocket. "Oh, Your Highness, I almost forgot. There's a letter for you from your protégé." she said, levitating the letter over to Celestia.
Celestia took the letter in her magical grip and thanked the servant before turning her attention back to the missive. She carefully broke the seal and began to read.
Nightmare Moon chuckled to herself as she traced out the spell matrix on the lunar surface. It was a complicated spell, but she had been working on it for a long time and she was confident that it would work.
"Now, I know what you're thinking," she said. "You're thinking, 'How on earth can you possibly hope to break the seal that and get off this desolate rock?'"
She paused, looking up at the sky above her. "Well, let me tell you in a Layman's term, it's all about taking over the start sequence. The spell matrix will override the original seal and execute it in reverse, sending me back to the starting coordinate."
She grinned, feeling a surge of excitement. "Sure, it's not the most efficient spell in the world, but who cares? I'm the Mare of the moon, and I'll make it work."
As she finished carving out another logic gate of the spell matrix, another small gear of her grand machine. she looked up and called out, "Hey, Armstone! Does this look good enough?"
There was no response, of course. NEET Armstone was just a rock that she had found on the surface of the moon, but Nightmare Moon liked to imagine that he was her loyal friend.
"You know Armstone, I always wondered why star fleet never installed seat belts on their starships. It's like they want to fly around the galaxy without any safety precautions. It's not very logical, is it?"
As the hours passed, Comfortable silence reign in, as the stars twinkled above her, anticipated for the moment of action to come.
"Sometimes I wish I could dial up a Stargate and just go explore the galaxy. You know, Armstone?"
The spell matrix was almost complete, and she could feel the anticipation building within her. She was so close, and yet so far, from finally escaping and returning to the world of livings.
"Yeah, I know we got that mirror, but come on! Comparing the real thing to a bootleg Stargate that opens to a bootleg Barbie world? Blasphemy!"
The sound of rock being carved out filled the air as Nightmare Moon meticulously worked on her creation, her horn glowing brightly as she etched out each intricate line and curve. She had been working on the spell for what felt like years, but time was a difficult concept to grasp on the moon.
"You know, Armstone, sometimes I feel like I'm stuck in a movie. Like that one guy who is stranded on a Mars and he have to survive against all odds and get back to Earth. What was it called again? Is it Event Horizon?"
Armstone remained silent, but Nightmare Moon could almost feel his reassuring presence, somehow.
"You're the only one who understands me on this godforsaken rock." she said, smile fondly.
She continued to carve out the spell, occasionally stopping to chat with Armstone about random things that came to her mind. "Did you see that episode of Star Trek where they went back in time to the moon landing? Whoever came up with that must be high as moon!" she laughed, nuzzling Armstone with her muzzle.
Armstone, of course, remained silent, but Nightmare Moon didn't mind. She liked to banter with her friend, even if it is one-sided. It helped her stay sane in her isolation.
The hayburgur chain restaurant in Canterlot was bustling with ponies of all kinds, chattering and munching on their food. Twilight Sparkle sat opposite her foalsister, Princess Cadance, and her brother, Captain Shining Armor. Shining Armor was shoveling food into his mouth with wild abandon, while Cadance and Twilight chatted about their random stuffs.
Twilight noticed that Cadance kept glancing over at Shining Armor with a soft smile on her face. It wasn't until Shining Armor's posture stiffened and he nodded to her that Cadance revealed the reason for her admiring gaze.
"Actually, Twilight," Cadance said, blushing slightly. "Shining Armor and I are in a relationship. We're planning on getting married soon."
Twilight nearly choked on her hayburgur. "What?! You two are dating? When did this happen?"
Shining Armor paused in his eating, looking sheepishly at his sister. "Yeah, Twily, we've been together for a while now. I was waiting for the right time to tell you."
Twilight shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe my big brother is going to be a prince! You're so lucky, Shining Armor."
Shining Armor chuckled, still wary a little. "I don't know about that. Cadance is the lucky one for putting up with me."
Cadance rolled her eyes. "Don't be silly, Shining. I'm the lucky one for having you."
Twilight smiled at the loving couple. "Well, I'm happy for you two. Just don't forget about your little sister when you're living in your palace."
Shining Armor grinned. "Don't worry, Twily. We'll always make time for you." Completely relaxed his guard and continued shoveling down his food.
Twilight turned to her foalsister, Cadance, and whispered, "So, Cadance, is my big brother good in bed?" She smirked mischievously as she watched Shining Armor choke on his food.
Cadance's eyes widened in surprise, but then she giggled and leaned closer to Twilight. "Oh, Twilight, you know I can't answer that. A lady never tells."
Shining Armor recovered from coughing and shook his head, looking both embarrassed and amused. "Oh, come on, you two. Can we please talk about something else?"
Twilight and Cadance exchanged a knowing glance before turning back to Shining Armor. "What's the matter, Shining?" Twilight teased. "Feeling a little uncomfortable?"
Shining Armor let out a long sigh and shook his head. "I swear, the Princess is corrupting both of you." He shook his head in disbelief.
Twilight couldn't help but giggle at her brother's words. "Oh, come on, Shining. You know she just wants to keep us on our hooves."
As they finished up their meal, a letter suddenly materialized in front of Twilight. She groaned as she read the contents, shaking her head in frustration.
"What is it, Twilight?" Cadance asked, concern etched on her face.
"It's from Princess Celestia," Twilight replied. "She doesn't believe the warning about the possibility return of an ancient threat and is ordering me to go to Ponyville to oversee this year's Summer Sun Celebration."
Shining Armor looks outside and deep in thought for a moment, then his expression suddenly turned serious. "The training of the Royal Guard has increased significantly in the last couple of months, and there have been rumors of unrest in barrack..."
Cadance sipped her Carbonated black tea, set the cup down on the table, her gaze meeting Twilight's. "I heard about that too," she said softly. "It seems like there's a lot of unrest brewing in Equestria, and not just in the Royal Guard."
An uncomfortable silence filled the air, and Twilight could feel the weight of their words hanging heavily over her. She knew that the situation was more serious than they were letting on. Shits were going to hit the fan, as her classmate had said.
Twilight lost in thought. She had overheard some discussions among castle servants and nobles about giving more power to local governments to make cities less reliant on Canterlot. It was a radical idea that faced many frictions, one that was spearheaded by Princess of the sun herself.
Suddenly, Twilight let out a deep sigh and spoke up. "I have to talk to Spike and prepare for travel," she said, standing up from the table.
As she walked out of the restaurant, Twilight's heart was filled with uncertainty. Her mentor believes that everything will be fine. She has done this kind of things for centuries already. There's nothing to fear, right?