"Check."
By advancing her knight forward, Twilight had successfully endangered Sunset's King. The king would have to move from its place, and since it was right at the back of the board, and the spaces left and forward were in range of Twilight's Queen and Bishop, there was no choice but to move right. After that, Twilight just had to move a Pawn forward and the game would be hers.
Sunset spent a few seconds analyzing the board, before picking up her Queen and moving it to the upper left space from Twilight's King.
'Did she just put her most effective piece in range of my king? Where's the logic in that? All I have to do is move...'
It was then that she saw it. There was a pawn placed in the upper right space from the space that the Queen was placed on. If Twilight's King took out Sunset's Queen, then that Pawn could just take the King out. If the King couldn't take out the Queen then it would just have to evade it. But as Twilight scanned over the board, she saw that there wasn't a spot to evade to. The Queen made any spaces left or in front of the King unavailable, moving backwards would just put it in range of a Castle, and one of Sunset's Bishops made sure that the King couldn't move right. It was trapped.
"Check. Mate," Sunset proclaimed, with a triumphant grin on her face.
Twilight spent the next few seconds sitting there with a dumbfounded expression on her face as Sunset's grin grew greater in size.
"I don't think...anyone...has...ever...beaten me at chess."
"Well, my sweet Twilight, you have clearly never fought an opponent that has played against Celestia herself."
"Wait, like...you beat her?!"
Sunset looked pretty shocked at the suggestion. "Of course not. With her wisdom and experience, I don't think anyone can beat Celestia. But after you play plenty of chess games with her, you learn a thing or three."
"Well then...I clearly haven't played enough chess with her."
"Well, at least you tried."
The playful smile on Sunset's face hit Twilight with that warm rushing feeling that she had discovered so recently. It was just how beautiful she looked when she had that expression, and how it was genuinely directed at her. It had been three days since they became a couple, and Twilight was still feeling the full force of the fresh relationship. Every smile, every laugh, Twilight couldn't help but love every positive emotion that Sunset had almost as much as she loved Sunset herself. She couldn't really say that she had never been happier, as was the description so many people gave to the feeling of love. She had always been happy, but being with Sunset...it was just something else entirely.
And it seemed like Sunset was thinking similar thoughts, because all of a sudden she was leaning over the table and pushing her lips onto Twilight's.
As always, Twilight found herself lost in the kiss. With her eyes closed and the feeling of Sunset's lips on her own, everything else seemed to slip out of existence. She could feel and hear everything around her, but the kiss left no space in her mind to process any of it.
That was, until she started to hear the vibrating.
At the sudden sound emitting from Sunset's bag, the two girls separated their lips and looked at the ground. The bag itself was vibrating along with the sound, glowing with pink light.
The journal!
Sunset reached for her bag and pulled the book out of one of the large pockets. The book finished glowing and vibrating as she opened the pages, reading whatever new words lay within.
"Its for you," She said, handing the book over to Twilight.
She took a look at the open pages before her, and found a lot of new entries from Spike trying to get a hold of her with no success, similar to what she was trying to do before. However, the latest message was different.
Twilight!
I'm so glad to hear from you again. The portal suddenly stopped working last week, and no one could get it open. Everyone's been really worried about you. Please come home or at least respond to this message as soon as you can.
Spike.
She looked up from the journal and at Sunset's face, which showed a hint of concern.
Twilight let out a deep breath. "Looks like I'm going home."
***
As Twilight brushed her hands against the mirror, she felt it dissipate as ripples and light spread across the glass.
The portal was open.
Twilight looked at Sunset standing next to her, still looking a bit concerned. That wasn't really a surprise, since at the other side of the mirror was everything they had feared when they got into the relationship. But at the same time, Twilight's friends and family were on the other side as well, and she'd been gone too long.
"Don't worry, Twilight," Sunset insisted, though she still had that look on her. "Its just been a week, how bad could it be?"
Twilight had the sudden terrifying thought of an Equestria in ruins, as an alliance between Tirek, the Changelings and an alien armada lays waste to everything, and mutant cyborg zombies prey upon the innocent.
"Sure," Twilight squeaked, trying to get the image out of her head. "You ready?"
Sunset smiled, taking Twilight's hand. "Of course."
And together, they walked into the light.
In that space between dimensions, Twilight felt Sunset's fingers slip out of her own, which curled into a fist before merging together into a hoof. She felt her ears grow and stick out into an equine shape, her nose and mouth growing outward into a muzzle. Her legs shrank as her feet curled into hind legs and hooves, and her hair grew down her neck into a mane, as more hair protruded from the bottom of her spine as a tail. Every bone in her body bent, broke, and connected into an entirely different structure, her spine bending backwards and her skull changing shape. Finally, her shoulders split apart and released a mass of flesh and bone that became feathery wings, and a long piece of bone thrust out her skull, wrapping itself in a thin layer of muscle, skin and fur, creating a long, elegant horn.
This transformation that could be considered grotesque and painful, took place in less than a second, and Twilight felt nothing of it.
She did feel herself walking out the other end of the mirror, still standing on her hind legs. The efforts of gravity and her equestrian body forced her to the ground, but she prevented a painful crash to the floor by falling on her front hooves. She looked down at them, lavender fur covering them. She then looked at her back, taking in the full view of her tail and wings. She was a pony once again.
She looked to her left to see Sunset Shimmer, now an amber unicorn mare. A bit shamefully, Twilight found herself kinda missing the human forms round chest. But seeing Sunset in her true Equestrian form, the beautiful fur, the smooth horn, the snazzy mane and hair style, it all brought a smile to her face.
"Library looks nice as always," Sunset complimented, taking a look around.
Twilight herself got a good look at the library, and saw that it was a lot better kept than the last time she had been there. All the furniture was placed in good spots and the bookshelves were in excellent states. All that could almost certainly be the work of Spike.
The two mares stepped out of the library and into the hallway. As they trod on, Twilight felt the need to see some of her friends and family again.
"Hello?" She called down the hallway.
There was no response. Just the quiet halls of the castle.
"Anyone there? Spike? Applejack? Fluttershy?"
Still nothing but silence. Perhaps no one was there…
"TWILIGHT!"
She felt herself hit the ground as a pink blur crashed into her. She looked up to see Pinkie Pie lying on top of her, smothering her in a tight, passionate hug.
"Twilight, I'm so happy to see you! My fears of you being the mind controlled slave of a demon overlord can now be put to rest!"
Twilight turned her head right and looked down the hallway to see all her friends walking towards her.
"Well, I'll be," Applejack said, a huge smile on her face. "You're finally back."
Even after she got up from the floor, Pinkie Pie was still hugging her, and one by one every one of her friends joined in on the embrace. It had only been a week since she had last seen them, but at that moment it felt like it had been so much longer than that. And sure, the human world had its own versions of these girls, but her original friends just couldn't be replaced.
"So what happened?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Why wouldn't the portal open?"
As all her friends left the hug, Twilight explained everything that had happened, why the portal couldn't open and why they couldn't contact each other. They all seemed to understand and were glad that nothing truly serious had happened to her or the mirror.
"We're just glad you’re back now," said Fluttershy. "It really must of been scary being trapped there."
"No worries," Twilight insisted. "The scariest experience I've ever had there was my first visit, when the prospect of being stuck there for thirty moons was looming over my head."
"It's good to know the portal didn't stay closed for a similar length of time," said Rarity. "That would have just tragic."
"Well, it was just a week," Twilight replied. "How are my parents by the way? And Shining Armour for that matter. They must have been really worried."
"Don't worry," Rarity responded. "We sent letters to them as soon as Spike received that message from you."
"Thanks."
"Speaking of which, we also sent a message to Princess Celestia that we received word from you."
"Did she reply?"
Rarity nodded. "She wants to see you in Canterlot as soon as possible."
***
"Look, it’s gonna be fine," Sunset insisted.
As nice as Sunset's attempts at comforting Twilight were, they didn't do much to help. The halls of the Canterlot Castle never looked so intimidating, especially with the guards posted at each side of the hall.
"But I've been gone for a week! And now my mentor and superior wants to see me! What if she's angry with how long I've been gone? What if I missed out on something important? What if she’s going to take my title away?"
"Come on, Twi, you know her. She'd never do that."
She felt Sunset move closer to her as they walked, their backs touching each other. This helped ease her a lot more, but she still felt greatly concerned about how her talk with Celestia would go.
Further down the halls was a great wooden double door, with two guards posted at each side like with the rest of the hall. As the Princess and the unicorn approached it, the two guards opened the doors to reveal the hallway that lead to the chambers of the Princesses.
They also revealed an unexpected surprise.
That particular hallway was filled with a few more royal guards, only they were a bit more active, moving around the halls, coming and going in and out of various rooms, and talking with someone that looked like a captain. A pegasus with orange fur, blue hair, and golden armour.
"Princess Twilight," said Flash Sentry, bowing his head with a smile on his face. "You look beautiful as always."
He took her hoof and kissed it, a chivalrous gesture that Twilight probably would have swooned over no more than a month ago. But now, she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable from it, especially in the presence of her girlfriend.
"What are you doing here?" Twilight asked. "I thought you worked in the Crystal Empire?"
"I was temporarily transferred here yesterday, apparently. I'm getting an important assignment pretty soon," Flash turned his head to see Sunset. "Well, well, well, Sunset Shimmer. Haven't seen you in a while. It’s been what...three, four years?"
"Forty five moons to be exact," Sunset replied. She looked clearly unamused.
"Well, glad to see you're back, and you've made a friend of the princess I see."
'Oh, you have absolutely no idea.'
The thought brought a small chuckle out of Twilight.
"Something funny, Princess?" Flash asked curiously.
"Oh, nothing," Twilight replied. "Just remembered something funny."
"Good to know." Flash put on a flirty smile. "Seeing you laugh is always a treat."
"Well then..." said Sunset, who also had a smile on her face, though the look in her eyes told Twilight that she was thinking some pretty violent thoughts. "I'm sure the Princess needs to get on with her royal business now."
"Right," said Flash, clearly unaware of how Sunset was feeling. "Down the hallway, you'll find Princess Celestia at the last and largest door."
He turned to Sunset. "Sorry, Shimmy, but this is strictly royal business. No one besides the Princesses move on from this point."
"Okay..." Sunset replied, though she was clearly unhappy with this. "I guess I'll see you outside, Twi."
After a short walk down the hallway, Twilight found the large door at the end that Flash had described. It was little more than a large white double door with golden borders and the cutie mark of Celestia on it. Despite its simplicity, it managed to look very regal.
Remembering her manners, Twilight knocked three times on the wood.
No more than two seconds later, the door opened itself to reveal Princess Celestia.
"Twilight," she greeted her happily, walking over and hugging her.
And with that, any fear or concern that Twilight had previously been feeling was washed away.
"It's so good to see you again, are you alright?" she asked.
"I'm fine."
"Spike told me a few days ago that you had gone to the other world and hadn't returned. He said that the portal refused to open. Do you know what happened?"
Twilight explained everything to her as she had explained to her friends. How she had gone to visit Sunset, how the portal closed behind her, and how it would not work for the week at the opposite end of the cycle that it would normally work. Throughout the explanation Celestia stood there and listened in silence.
"I see," she said, once Twilight had finished. "It would appear that that mirror holds a few more secrets than we initially thought. I'm just glad you're safe now."
"Did anything happen when I was gone?"
Celestia's smile faded at this. "I'm afraid there has, Twilight. I believe you are aware that two weeks ago, the Griffin King passed away."
Twilight had been busy with her castle, so she wasn't very up to date with recent events outside of Equestria, making this a major surprise.
"King Aetós is dead?"
"I'm afraid so. At the old age of a hundred and two, I was expecting it would happen sooner or later. What I was not expecting was what would come of it. His eldest children are two twin girls, both the same age, and anyone who was present at their birth has also passed away by now, so no one knows which one is older. Because of this, no one knows which one is the rightful heir. It also doesn't help that they don't get along well, so any thoughts of them working together as co rulers have been dismissed. Both of them claim to be the rightful heir, and this has lead to conflict in the griffin kingdom."
That didn't sound good to Twilight. "How bad is it?"
"The citizens and the law enforcement are becoming more and more divided by the day. The people of the Griffin Kingdom have more or less split into two sides, both supporting the princess they believe should take the throne. There hasn't been anything as serious as death, but there has been strong violence in the streets, leading to many severe injuries and several innocents in prison. The entire kingdom is one the verge of a civil war."
"That sounds horrible."
"It is. Now, we've tried to organize a conference between the rulers of Equestria and the Griffin Kingdom, but the griffin Princesses refuse to come unless all four Equestrian Princesses are present. And with you gone, we haven't been able to do so. The conflict in the Griffin Kingdom is continuing as we speak."
That was what hit Twilight the hardest. Because she had gone to visit Sunset, and because she had been trapped in the human world, she had avoided her duties as a princess. There were people suffering in the griffin kingdom. Suffering she could have stopped if she had just been there!
"I'm...I'm so sorry..."
"You don't have to apologize Twilight, no one aside from Starswirl himself could have predicted what happened to you. And now that you're here we can organize another conference in a few days."
"But...I should have been there..."
Celestia put her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Its fine Twilight, it’s not your fault. Nothing has happened in the Griffin Kingdom that cannot be repaired, it will just take longer to fix everything. What's important now is that you are home, safe and sound."
Twilight smiled. "Sunset saw to it that I was taken care of."
At the mention of Sunset's name, any sign of a smile on Celestia's face was gone. "I see..."
It was evident that Celestia's view on Sunset hadn't changed. But now that Twilight realized how much she loved Sunset, she wasn't going to give up trying to change Celestia's opinion.
"Look, Celestia, I understand if you can't let go of the past, but Sunset...she’s really changed. If you'd just talk to her..."
"Twilight, we have talked about this already, I'll talk to Sunset when I am ready."
"But when will you be ready? There's nothing stopping you right now."
Celestia sighed. "This isn't about my relationship with Sunset Shimmer, this is about your safety. In my centuries I have lived I have seen more betrayal and deception than you could understand. And my distrust of her is one reason why I'm putting together a guard force for you."
Twilight was stunned into silence for a second. "A what?"
"I requested that captain Flash Sentry be transferred from the Crystal Empire. He and a select few will have the duty of protecting you and your castle from now on."
"Uh...wouldn't it have been a good idea to have consulted me on this?"
"If I did, would you have accepted?"
"No."
"Exactly. You don't understand the danger you tend to put yourself in, and I care deeply about your safety. Anyway, there shouldn't be anything wrong with having guards keeping you safe. They'll be there to protect you against danger and nothing else. It won't be any different from the guards we have here."
'Sunset is not gonna be happy with Flash Sentry living in my castle.'
"Look, Celestia, I don't really mind the idea of having a bunch of guards in my castle. I just don't think it’s necessary. Sunset would never want to hurt me."
Celestia closed her eyes and lowered her head sadly. "Your insistence of your safety is exactly why I want you protected. I won't go so far as to forbid you from seeing Sunset Shimmer, but I insist that you stay alert. I just want you safe. You are dismissed."
Twilight turned around and walked over to the door. Before leaving, she turned her head to face Celestia.
"Celestia, when I try to get you to forgive Sunset, its because I'm trying to help you."
At the distance that Twilight was standing, she could see that Celestia wasn't happy, but she couldn't tell if she was sad or angry.
"I'm the ruler of Equestria. I don't need help."
Twilight closed the door behind her as she walked out of the room.
As she walked down the hallway in silence, she couldn't help but think about how annoying it was that Celestia wouldn't even give Sunset a chance.
'Sunset would never want to hurt me. Why can't she see that? Even if Sunset turned evil once, Celestia has always been one to forgive people. What about Discord? She was pretty eager to try and reform him. What makes Sunset any different?!'
"Twilight Sparkle."
She stopped walking. Did she just hear someone whisper her name? She looked around and saw nothing but closed doors in an empty hallway.
"Twilight Sparkle."
Suddenly, one of the doors slammed wide open.
"Um..." Twilight was finding this very weird and suspicious. "...hello?"
There was no answer, just an open door that revealed a pitch black dark room.
Despite the fact that going into a dark mysterious room to follow a mysterious voice was probably a really bad idea, Twilight's curiosity was getting the better of her. Step by step, she slowly walked into the darkness.
And the moment her tail crossed the border of the door, she heard a loud slam behind her, leaving her in the pitch black darkness.
"Who are you?" Twilight asked, getting nervous from the situation.
After a few seconds of being left in the darkness, she spotted a small blue glowing light.
The light grew in size and brightness, not lighting up the entire room, but revealing that it was emitting from a horn. A navy alicorn horn.
"Princess Luna?"
As her eyes adjusted to the light, Twilight found herself looking upon the princess of the night.
"Hello, Twilight Sparkle."
"What are you doing here? What’s with the weird secrecy act?"
"I don't want anyone to know that we spoke."
Despite the fact that she now knew where the voice had come from, she was still finding the situation confusing.
"What do you want?" Twilight asked.
Luna moved closer to Twilight, unnerving her with the very serious expression on her face. "I want you to stop trying to convince Celestia of Sunset's reformation. Any efforts to do so are futile."
Twilight was baffled. "Don't tell me you refuse to see the good in her, too!"
"Of course not. You should know that I of all people understand the turmoils of a reformed former villainess. After speaking with her, I see that her situation was very similar to my own."
"You...spoke with her?" Twilight couldn't recall something like that ever happening.
"I visited Sunset in her dreams."
"You can do that?" Now she was just getting confused.
Luna raised an eyebrow. "Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle never mentioned it?"
"No."
"It doesn't matter. What matters is that it will take a lot more for Celestia to even try and make amends with Sunset."
"But why? What makes her any different to other reformed villains like Discord, or even YOU for that matter?"
"Because to Celestia, Sunset Shimmer was more than a good person turned to evil. She was a failure."
"What do mean?"
"I mean that she was meant to be what you are. The next alicorn princess."
This wasn't really a surprise to Twilight. She had deduced that Celestia intended on making Sunset an alicorn. The problem was that it had to be earned, and Sunset had tried to demand it without really earning it.
"But it wasn't a case like yours, Twilight. Sunset wasn't a talented unicorn that Celestia saw as having the potential to be an alicorn. She was born for it."
This was making little sense to Twilight. "What do you mean born for it?"
Luna was quiet for a second. "What did Sunset tell you of her past? Her...origins so to speak?"
"She told me that her father was a soldier that was killed when she was two. Since no one knew who her mother was she was sent to an orphanage, where she spent the rest of her childhood living in. She got into a fight with this unicorn guy and Celestia was so impressed that she took her in as her student."
"Did she tell you that she wanted to become a powerful unicorn because she was inspired by stories of her father told to her by veteran soldiers that he knew?"
"Yes, I didn't think that was really important..."
"I honestly don't know if all of those veterans would have given Sunset so much attention had they not been told to do so."
"What...are you saying that Celestia told them to visit her?"
Luna nodded. "As another deed in service to Equestria. And don't you think it's strange that Celestia was there to see Sunset's duel against Arran Clover?"
This was getting too cryptic for Twilight. "What are you getting at?"
"Celestia orchestrated a great number of the most important events in Sunset's life. That's why she refuses to reconcile with her. She’s sees her as a failure that she created."
"But...why Sunset?"
"As I have done with many ponies before, I have entered Celestia's mind through her dreams. When doing this, I found out...a few things."
"You did what?!" Twilight was shocked to hear that Luna would disrupt Celestia's privacy like that.
"During the time when the portal between this world and the anti universe was closed by Starswirl the Bearded, Celestia spent many centuries trying to fix the bridge between the two universes, so that she could reunite with her beloved Sombra. But in that time, there were many cases where she found herself getting...lonely, and in those cases she would enter short relationship with a stallion."
"What has that got to do with any of this?"
"One of these stallions was a lieutenant in the Equestrian Scouting Legion."
For a second Twilight was just confused again. But suddenly, hundreds of pieces came together. Why Celestia would do all this. Why she would send veterans to inspire Sunset to be a great unicorn, why she would train Sunset to be an alicorn princess, why she saw Sunset as a failure of hers.
'Sunset's mother was unknown..."
"Twilight Sparkle..." Before Luna even spoke, Twilight knew what she was going to say. "Sunset is Celestia's daughter."