***
Celestia sighed deeply her body still tense. What had begun as a wonderful day where she could finally relax away from the troubles and trials of managing the nation had soured quickly; she knew just how easily the hard-earned peace could abruptly turn for the worse.
She looked around her chambers and wince as only hours earlier it was as clean as it ever was, her quarters were usually in good condition so much so that the maids employed by the castle had little to do here when they made their rounds by her chambers.
Now however it was in disarray as though a powerful maelstrom had swept through the room. The maelstrom was relentless and strewn possession and upturned furniture scattering them with no heed to their value monetary or sentimental.
Few things had survived the raging maelstrom in good condition and two examples sat between her hooves. One was a heavy bound book and the other was one of the few photos to remain in their frames, both reminders of Twilight.
Celestia sighed again; it had been a long time since she lost control over her mind and magic. Centuries of dealing with the Court had led her to perfect a mask of composure that few ever saw her without. Twilight was one of those few who had seen the mare that was kept locked away from a judgmental public. Yet happily and sadly Twilight had managed to get closer to her heart than many had in countless years, it truly had been a long time since her last close companion.
Not even her previous student, her nephew, or her niece was as close as she would have liked. Sunset Shimmer before she fell prey to darker magic and left Equestria, Polaris Blueblood before the pressures and demands of high society broke his joyful youth, and even Cadance with her love magic had helped to ease the pain of loneliness, but there was always this gulf that made finding closeness and companionship with them difficult.
Seating on the table where it had been carelessly dropped was another example of what had survived the maelstrom, that scroll. The one that started this chain of events with Twilight and while she wanted nothing more to burn the offending scroll to mere ash, she knew that she could not. It was her only chance to know how the letter, this should-have-never-been-sent letter was sent.
Enveloping the scroll in her magic as she prepared to cast a trace spell; every mage’s signature was distinct regardless of species. No two beings had identical magic and while they could be close or nearly imitated, yet none of those were perfect. With the spell finished all she needed to do now was wait for the results to materialize.
Slowly the magic enveloping the scroll faded and began to gradually form a new shape. As the shape formed her eyes widen as she saw a seemingly familiar form before her. The possible implication of what the shape showed was too much for her, taxed and stressed as she was and she quickly fainted.
She came to sometime later when the Moon was higher in the sky. She blinked her eyes as she struggled to stand. Once she managed to steady herself on her hooves she looked around for the scroll only to find it on the table where she had left it earlier still as could be as though it had never been moved.
Celestia sighed again and massaged her head with a forehoof, whatever the implication of her spell was it was too much for her to deal with tonight. Tomorrow was a new day and a fresh start on finding who had sent Twilight the scroll.