The throne room was in a state of deadly silence as Princess Celestia stirred her tea, her four guests not making any sound as they waited for her to say something. Instead, she just stirred, a smile on her face as her magic brought over a small packet of milk. She added the milk to her tea and continued stirring, before bringing the drink to her muzzle and taking a sip.
She gave a pleasant sigh and lowered the cup onto the able beside her throne. “Are you quite sure you would not like some?” Celestia asked, turning to her guests. “It would be no trouble for our chef, I assure you.”
“With respect, Your Highness,” Shield began, his voice cracking as he spoke, “As you have already been made aware, we are on an important mission, and would really like to get things moving as quickly as possible.”
Celestia hummed. “Is that so? Ponies these days are always in a hurry. Last century, even if there was a fire outside ponies would still find the time for a cup of tea.”
“She’s… certainly different from the Principal we’ve been observing,” Heart whispered to Shield, who nodded in agreement. “I guess being over a thousand years old has something to do with it. Still hard to imagine they’re the same people, though.”
“Only in appearance,” Shield said. “Just like you and Princess, only your appearances and basic personalities are the same. But you lead different lives, so you both turned out differently.”
“Your counterpart doesn’t seem that different, though,” Heart pointed out. “If you hadn’t joined the FBI when the offer arose, weren’t you in line for a promotion to Chief of Police?”
“He seems more on the militaristic side,” Shield said. “I’m all for doing what I can to protect my Country, but you’re not gonna catch me on a battlefield or fighting a war.”
“Excuse me,” Celestia said, interrupting their conversation, “‘Heart’, correct?”
“Y-Yes, ma’am,” Heart replied, standing at attention and sweating heavily as she turned her attention back to Celestia.
“You needn’t be so nervous,” Celestia told her in a gentle tone, though it didn’t seem to help. “I have been told that a former acquaintance of mine, Sunset Shimmer, was sighted in Manehatten, not long before the two of you were discovered. I don’t suppose there’s any relation?”
Heart bit her lower lip. “W-Well, you see, we kind of… brought Miss Shimmer along to be our guide…”
“I see,” Celestia said, closing her eyes and concentrating. “… And now, you have no idea where she is.”
“Your Highness,” Shield started, “With the greatest respect, we would insist that you leave the matter of Sunset Shimmer to us.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow at the bowing stallion, whilst Captain stepped forward to chide him. “Watch it! You have no right to request such a-”
Celestia raised a hoof to silence the Captain. “Please,” she said, “Explain yourself.”
“Your Highness, Sunset Shimmer has been living in our world for a long time now, and has practically abandoned this one. During her stay, she has even opened a bank account in her name, secured a passport, signed adoption papers with the one currently looking after her, and has generally been admitted as a citizen of the US. Regardless of her crimes committed here, we feel that, as a fellow citizen, it is our place to take her in and decide what, if any, punishments are necessary.”
“And if I were to say no?” Celestia asked. Captain and Princess both backed away slowly as they saw the menacing look on Celestia’s face.
“… We intended to start diplomatic relationships with you as soon as this incident was resolved,” Shield informed her. “Most likely, our government will ask us to sell Miss Shimmer if it were to secure good relations with your people. However…” Shield shook his head and looked into Celestia’s eyes. “… I promised her her freedom. I told her that we would overlook her past crimes, and stop monitoring her, if she were to comply. I brought her to this world with the assurance that she would be safe, and there is no way I could forgive myself if I don’t live up to my word.”
Captain gulped and readied himself, keeping an eye on Shield in the event that he suddenly attacked Celestia. He heard laughter coming from the throne, and the four guests turned to watch Celestia in surprise as she held a hoof over her mouth and giggled.
“Well, that is certainly a load off of my mind,” Celestia said, lowering her hoof and smiling at Shield. “So she is safe in your world? Thank goodness. Now, that’s one less thing I have to worry about.”
Shield stood up straight slowly and cautiously. “You mean…”
“To tell you the truth, Sunset Shimmer has committed but one crime in Equestria. A crime which has already been dealt with by Princess Twilight Sparkle. Therefore, there’s no reason for me to-”
“PRINCESS?!” Shield and Heart shouted in unison.
“Holy cow!” Shield shouted. “I knew she must have had some big role in this world, but a Princess?!”
“The same Twilie who makes book forts in the corners of libraries so that she can read without anybody talking to her?” Heart asked. “I suppose if there’s a castle made of books somewhere, she’d be the perfect candidate to rule over it,” she said, half-joking and half-serious. After what she’d seen of this world so far, the idea of a castle made out of books really wouldn’t surprise her.
“Ah!” Shield shouted as he noticed the sun setting through a window behind Celestia. “S-Sorry, Your Highness, but I really must insist that we speed things along!”
Celestia nodded. “I understand. You are after the Sombra of your world, correct?” Shield and Heart both nodded. “In that case, I suppose I shall leave his arrest to the two of you. However, I must insist that my Royal Guard assist you. This is my Country, after all.”
After a moment of thinking it over, Shield nodded. “That’s fine. We didn’t want to complicate things, so we decided to chase after Sombra in secret. But after his display of power in Manehatten…” Shield trailed off as he remember his encounter with Sombra in Manehatten, and he gasped as he remembered something. “That’s it! I know where he’s going!”
“You do?” Celestia asked, eyebrow raised.
Shield nodded. “A place called Ponyville!” he said. Celestia’s eyes widened, and both Captain and Princess gasped. “That’s what he said! He’s travelling in some kind of wooden trailer on land, so we should be able to cut him off with a flying chariot, right?”
“We can,” Celestia said, “And you had better go immediately,” she added.
“We don’t have any time to lose,” Captain said. “If he’s going to Ponyville, I can only think of one reason why.”
“I agree,” Princess said.
Shield and Heart looked between the three ponies with confused looks. “Um… What’s so important about this ‘Ponyville’ place, anyway?” Shield asked.
“Ponyville,” Captain started, “Is where Twilie and her friends live.”