15 - Complimentary Sweets
Chapter 15: Complimentary Sweets
Amongst the various inscriptions, diagrams, geometric shapes and calculations etched into the floor, was Twilight Sparkle, Bearer of the Element of Magic. Right now, she didn’t feel like she represented magic at all.
“Why isn’t it working?!” She grabbed a book, ready to hurl it at the wall for the sweet, sweet, cathartic release. But those who knew Twilight knew she would never damage a book simply to relieve some stress.
Twilight glanced down at the covers of the book, wondering if there was any merit in trying to read even more about the seminal text on Transfigurational Susceptance as a Function of Thaumokinetic Sublimation within the Spatial Context Volume III. No, she didn’t feel like reading any more. She really wanted to throw the book at the wall, though. She sighed. She wouldn’t do it.
“No matter how much I feel like it.”
“Feel like what?”
Twilight glanced up, spotting Luna by the door.
“Ah, nothing, Princess. Just talking to myself.”
Luna frowned at the intricate formulas and equations describing, it seemed, space and time itself. Looking at the vast complexity of the work undertaken, she found herself lost, even as she herself was no novice in magic.
“Twilight… how long have you been working on this?”
Twilight shook her head and yawned, a few mane strands floating down to cover her eye. She blew them out of the way with a frustrated huff.
“A few years,” she finally answered reluctantly.
“A few years?!”
Twilight nodded. “Well actually, a little before that. It was a passion of mine to kind of create something similar to the ground-breaking teleportation spell.” Her eyes lit up with sudden passion. “Think about it, what if we could visit other worlds? Parallel worlds? Alternate dimensions? Realities different from our own? What would it be like?”
“We—I-I mean I’ve never thought about it,” Luna stammered back. “But ’tis a splendid concept.”
Twilight nodded emphatically. “Barring the fact that the other Celestia basically forced me to pursue this, I’m having fun. I almost abandoned this line of research as impossible!” Twilight chewed her lip in consternation. “Though… it certainly still seems like it now.”
Music filtered in through the window, startling Twilight from her calculative reverie.
“W-What? What’s that sound?”
Luna sighed, a hoof dragging across her face.
“That would be my dear alternate-sister deciding to throw a parade in her own honour.”
“What?!”
“Yes, she decided, mostly by herself I might add, that there should be some sort of celebration to welcome her, since she was the equivalent of a diplomatic guest here.”
Twilight gaped at the other alicorn.
“Yes, that was my expression too, when I first heard about it.”
“Aren’t you going to stop her?”
“It was much more preferable than her suggestions in Court.”
“Don’t tell me…”
“She challenged a petitioner to a duel, then set the floor on fire. I don’t know how she set stone on fire, but I wouldn’t want to try.”
“She set— She challenged—”
Luna shrugged. “’Twas not such a pain. I took merriment in watching some of the Court nobles do a spit-take with some of her comments. We’ve—I mean I have taken a liking to how blunt she was to some of them. Of course I’ve had to swear some to secrecy, but the fire—” Luna giggled softly “—is mostly contained.” Luna sniffed. “Do you smell that?”
Twilight glanced out the window in consternation.
“Are those fireworks, or just plain fires?”
——————
By the time dawn had arrived, Celestia had found herself in the city. After her encounter with Benny she was left bitter and angry at her own inability to overcome the situation. Though she had a good grasp of magic and its intricacies, approaching a problem of the magnitude of traversing universes was all but impossible. Perhaps there was a solution to the problem, but Celestia didn’t know where to start. The library wasn’t there, Twilight seemed to know more about running a kingdom than herself, and her sister… wasn’t her sister. In fact, none of these ponies were ponies she knew. It would take a kind of extreme arrogance to assume that these ponies would help her, just because she bore resemblance to somepony they knew.
But what choice did she have?
To clear her head, she had taken to wandering around the castle grounds. When that was exhausted, she gradually ranged further and further away, until she eventually reached the gate. The guards bowed respectfully as she passed, not saluting like the ones at home. Taking confident steps, she strode out into the city, acknowledging the guards with a tilt of her head. Noting their startled demeanour, it seemed the guards weren’t used to the Princess recognising their effort. It was yet another thorn that prickled Celestia as she paced along. The other Celestia, how could she be so different?
On the surface, much looked the same.
The city was clean and tidy, still exuding the austerity and bustling magnificence that surrounded the castle on the side of the mountain. It was picturesque, something you’d expect of a city founded more than a thousand years ago. The new and the old combined together in a dazzling diorama of decadence that boldly showcased the ancient seat of Equestrian power.
It was beautiful and familiar.
However, it was different.
Even in the wee hours of the morning, she expected early-risers to pop their curious heads about, yawning and greeting the new day with bright eyes and sweet smiles. It was sparse in a way that was disturbing. Like finding oneself in a clinical anteroom rather than a homely cottage porch. Around her, she saw various small flags of colour, deep red and blacks that she had spotted from inside the castle.
The streets were deathly quiet. Several times as she had strolled down the path, patrolling guards in armour that looked more grim than the usual fare of her world’s own stopped as they spotted her in the distance and immediately rushed over. Seeing her, though, and recognising her, they immediately pulled up, bowing to her before immediately returning to their route.
She hadn’t the chance to ask them what they were patrolling for, but instinctively, she thought she might not like the answer. Still, the question tugged at her, and as the third patrol to spot her almost turned to leave, she stopped them with a cough.
“Princess?” They both bowed deeply once again. How she was growing tired of that.
“Are you part of the royal guard?”
“Guard?” They stared at the floor resolutely with their heads bowed, but the confusion was evident in their tone no matter how they tried to conceal it. “No, Princess.” From the quiver in their voice, they sounded as if they were trotting amongst shards of glass.
“You need not keep bowing to me,” she said gently. “You’re not in trouble.”
She saw the flitter of uncertainty in their eyes and Celestia sighed inwardly. She was growing rapidly tired with their reaction to the other Celestia, but she was not angry at them, but rather insulted at the very idea of a ruler inspiring such fear in their subjects. It irked her to the core.
“How may we assist you, Princess?”
Celestia decided to get straight to the point. “Why are you patrolling?”
Again there was the shared look, but this time more on edge.
“Is this a test, Princess?”
Celestia shook her head. “No, no,” she assured them both quickly. “No test.”
The guard on the left, looking less greener than the other, decided to answer her charge.
“The curfew you instated, Princess.” A bead of sweat visibly trickled down his forehead. “As one of the measures against the Resistance.”
Celestia straightened. “Between you and me, soldier, who is part of the Resistance?”
Again there was that slight pause. Celestia smiled serenely, trying to put them at ease. Nothing she could do or say, though, could banish their anxiety. They probably thought she was interrogating them under suspicion of treason. With a start, Celestia realised her thinking had gradually grown accustomed to the other Celestia’s persona. The thought was roughly pushed aside as the guard tried answering her charge.
“W-Well,” the right one started, but was cut off by the left soldier, who rattled off a report in a businesslike manner.
“Publicly, we know of several citizens of Equestria that have joined with the Resistance. Recently, a rise in prominence has been attributed to the seditious pretenders who claim to be the Elements of Harmony. Several times they have tried to gain access to the castle, to try and get in contact with the Royal Attendant.”
“Attendant?”
“The Royal Attendant Twilight Sparkle, Princess.”
Celestia’s expression cleared as she nodded. So that was Twilight’s formal title. It seemed to match her actions so far. She clicked her tongue as a thought occurred to her.
“Twilight? Why?”
The guard shrugged. “They claim that Twilight Sparkle is the last ‘Element bearer’ they require to complete a powerful spell. So far we have diligently protected the castle and Attendant Twilight from various incursions.”
Celestia tilted her head. “Incursions?”
The guard straightened and clarified. “Snatch and grab ordeals, but she is safe as your faithful Attendant, Princess.”
The Elements of Harmony? Twilight? Of course… but how would they know? Twilight hasn’t been to the academy, hasn’t initiated the cascade of events that led to the unity of her friends. How did the Resistance know? And weren’t the Elements in my possession? They were locked in a vault until I moved them to the Castle of the Two Sisters…
“The Resistance seems to believe in a ‘divine destiny’, or so I’ve heard, Princess. Apparently a prophecy predicts the, erm… downfall of your rule instigated by none other than Twilight Sparkle.” The guard shifted on his hooves. “Though such hearsay is blasphemy. The only true lasting harmony is by alicorn rule. There is only one way.”
The guards seemed to be drummed in with the ideal to follow blindly the other Celestia under the pretence of harmony.
Seeing her pause in reply, the other guard quickly added, “And Twilight Sparkle would never betray you!”
No doubt the legend of the Elements were enough to bolster confidence in the Resistance into stealing them. Or perhaps the other Celestia never paid heed nor used them. How did she trap Discord, then? Was Harmony really achieved here?
The right guard glanced at the castle sighing. “However, as always, it seemed the Resistance was playing their dirty tactics against the honourable Empire again. After you had… left, Ms. Sparkle’s parents were tricked into thinking that the Resistance had merit.”
“Not that there was any basis for that, Princess!” The left guard exclaimed, as he caught her expression. The right guard saw her mistake and quickly rectified herself for good measure.
“Absolutely delusional!” she stammered.
Celestia suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. “Don’t be alarmed, I’m not angry at you two.” She was more annoyed by the fact that the two mistook her for the other Celestia. But she couldn’t explain herself to them, they likely wouldn’t understand, besides, the information she got from them seemed to be more than either Twilight or Luna would be happy to give. She felt the two, though her closest confidants, were holding back some key information. This was a way to get it.
“Hmm, I wonder if you could ask you about…” She trailed off as a third guard rounded the corner.
“Private Silver, Private Mettle! Where have you two been, you were due to check in—“ The rest of the words died out as the severe-looking officer stopped in her tracks.
“Celes—Princess!” She straightened, half saluted, stopped midway in the execution and bowed instead. “Princess Celestia, Sergeant Dash reporting for duty, ma’am. I mean Princess.”
Celestia tilted her head. “Rainbow Dash? What are you doing at Canterlot? Didn’t you live at Ponyville?”
Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened in a manner that looked as if she were on the verge of unbridled panic.
“How did you know my na—I mean, yes, Princess!”
Celestia silently berated herself. Of course Rainbow Dash wouldn’t know her in this world. She shouldn’t make that assumption. The poor pegasus was flustered to the point that she was stumbling on words and etiquette. Under her curious gaze, she quailed slightly.
“H-How can I be of assistance, P-Princess?” Rainbow asked tentatively.
Watching her carefully to see if she would bolt, Celestia pondered whether she should attempt to calm the pegasus down, or simply carry on. In the end, curiosity got the better of her and she decided to dig a little deeper. What did Rainbow know about the state of affairs in the kingdom?
“You are, of course, aware of my… condition?”
Rainbow appeared confused. “Condition… Princess?”
It seemed like Rainbow was unaware that Celestia was not the Celestia they knew. That did make sense with the way Twilight and Luna were treating the situation as a secret. Possibly a State secret. Rainbow, though, was waiting for an answer and Celestia decided to keep things as they were, as there was no need to let it be known.
Celestia shook her head. “Never mind.” The rest of the city bore exploration, there would be time yet to uncover the mysteries of this land. “I wouldn’t want to disturb you in your duties, I simply had something on my mind.”
Rainbow’s shoulders, tight as they were, suddenly sagged with relief. Once again, the tense bearing and wariness of these ponies grated at her very fibre. Sure, she wouldn’t expect love and adoration of her subjects, and these were not her ponies in multiple senses, but it somehow felt unfair that they would be directed at her. It was like being blamed for a crime she had never committed.
“Thank you, Princess.” They didn’t move from the spot. For a while, Celestia, Rainbow and the two other guards, Silver and Mettle, stood there looking at each other.
Rainbow cleared her throat apologetically. “May we be dismissed, Princess?”
Celestia almost let loose a self-reproaching laugh. “Of course, you are free to return to your business.”
Sharing a glance with each other, Rainbow and the other guards bowed deeply and trotted away. The carefully measured timing of their precise march couldn’t conceal the palatable relief in their stride.
As the trio retreated, Celestia thought about returning to the castle. Although it was early morning, the rest of the castle would soon be awake, and she hadn’t a wink of sleep. A sudden feeling of exhaustion crept up her legs, threatening to overcome her, but she suppressed the feeling with a yawn and by stamping her hooves smartly on the cobblestone road below.
Around her, the city was still quiet. There wasn’t a sound to be heard. Feeling a slight sense of foreboding, Celestia headed down the road that lead towards the station, hoping to find out more. It was not long before she passed a ubiquitous alleyway, and with a double-take she realised it was the same passage that lead towards Benny Bakery.
Biting her lip, she strode forward, noting that the shop wasn’t there. Instead a small cottage-like house squatted in the same position. Though the premise looked nothing like a store, a small sign hung over the frame, proudly proclaiming the residence as ‘Agatha’s Antiques.’ The unusual name held the same charm that Benny’s Bakery had exuded and Celestia was drawn into the shop, her legs feeling like they moved on their own, rather than by her own volition.
Instinctively, her hoof rose to the door, knocking on the wood.
“Hello?” she called out. “Anypony home?”
A crashing sound that sounded like a stack of pots and pans had fallen oven resounded from the inside. Muffled cursing and the sound of clanging metal echoed out into the street.
“Be there in a jiffy!” an elderly voice cracked with age replied. Some more crashing could be heard before the door swung open and a wrinkled face leered out at her, confirming Celestia’s suspicions. It was another human.
“By the aether, it’s you!” she cried out, stumbling back. “I’ve been looking all over for you!”
Celestia blinked at her. “For what reason? Who are you?”
Hearing the curtness of her reply, the human shrunk back. “Sorry, sorry, where are my manners? My name is Agatha. I run this humble little store. Though it may not seem much to you, it’s actually a link between—”
“Different universes? Realities?” Celestia cut in.
Agatha stood back, holding an aged hand to her chest. “By golly, you got that right, dear one. Quite so. How did you know?”
The way the old lady was addressing her, reminded Celestia of the seniors she’d met from time to time. Though Celestia didn’t look terribly young, she didn’t look old, either. If one were to place her age as a pony, she’d still look under thirty. The tendency for other ponies to call her ‘dear’ or ‘miss’ still occurred once in a while, although her age was several hundred times their best guess.
As for the question… well… now was the time to obtain some answers.
“There’s another human here, Benny. He trapped me here.”
“Benny…?” Agatha tapped a wizened finger to her chin as she frowned in thought. “Ah yes, the troublemaker.”
“Troublemaker?”
“Yes…” Agatha seemed to remember herself. She patted down a dress embroidered with mystical symbols and faded silver hems, as she gestured towards the inside of her shop. “Do come in, do come in.”
Hesitating for a moment, Celestia decided she had nothing to lose and stepped inside. The interior was nothing like she anticipated. Instead of pots and pans, or even antiques, the inside was a glossy white, with glass tables, stainless steel chairs and various mirrors hanging on the walls. The clash of expectations left Celestia agape at the sheer difference.
“I’m glad you like, my dear.” Agatha cackled at her expression.
Annoyed, Celestia managed a rueful pout. “My dear? I’m at least a couple thousand years old, you know?”
“Pah! And I’m several hundred times that, dear.” Agatha bustled over to a shelf that seemed to draw itself out of the wall. Reaching into it, her arm disappeared into the recess that seemed too shallow to allow that kind of exploratory retrieval. Again, this mysterious human seemed to be able to harness magic at will. It boggled the mind.
“First time seeing a compressed drawer, then?” Agatha pulled out a plate of what appeared to be cookies and set it on the glass bench beside it. “Ah, where’d I put the steamer? Dinky little thing has a mind of its own, let me tell you. After I gave it intelligence, it was always ornery…”
Celestia prompted the conversation, wanting to get back on track. “About the human, Benny.” She couldn’t keep the venom out of her reply.
Agatha straightened at the tone. “Dear me, the boy has really Murphied it up right now. What’s he done, though?” Taking the plate of cookies and a kettle that couldn’t seem to keep its lid on, Agatha headed over to the two stainless steel chairs that Celestia could see her face in and sat down. She indicated the free seat, which Celestia reluctantly took.
Taking a deep breath, Celestia spelled out the circumstances from her meeting with Benny, all the way to realising she was in a different world, then her two separate clashes with Benny coming back.
Listening to it all without a comment, Agatha only interrupted when she realised there were no cups to pour the tea into. At the end, she only sighed.
“I’m sorry, Celestia, that must have been quite an ordeal.”
“You’re one of them, right? A human too? Can’t you send me back to where I belong?”
Celestia instantly recognised the look of painful sympathy etched into Agatha’s countenance. Her hopes turned to bitter ashes that coated her tongue and made it hard to swallow.
“I’m sorry, my dear, but I do not have the power to do that. This is something only you can decide.”
“Me?” Celestia shot to her hooves. “What do you mean me?! It was you humans that did this to me in the first place!” Celestia took a calming breath, forcefully clamping down on her rising ire. “I am asking you to please help me get to where I belong. Don’t you think if I could do that by myself, I would have tried?”
Agatha ran her fingers through her hair, the fingers going through the white mass as she licked her lips. “Celestia, what you must understand is that what we are prevents me from interfering. Benny made a mistake, yes, but according to our laws he has a right to make amends on his own.”
“Disregarding the fact that he sacrificed a ruler of a country to do so?!”
The old lady gestured firmly to the seat again.
“Sit. I know you are angry, but please listen to what I have to say.”
No less reluctantly than the first time, Celestia once again took her seat.
“Now, I think it would be best to start from the beginning.” Agatha took a deep breath, then fixed Celestia with strident eyes.
“There once was a race of beings called humans. They started on a hellish rock devoid of life and slowly grew from our roots after enduring many trials. It was a race that proved superior through intelligence, focus and determination to outlast every other creation in a bid to survive. They did it to conquer the natural environment and then later to conquer each other.”
Here Agatha paused as Celestia stared at her, dumbfounded. It wasn’t a foreign concept, competition. But the way Agatha had talked about it, seemed so clinical. Like it was inevitable that there would be fighting, like there was no end in sight. Celestia was enough of a realist to know that the world wasn’t ideal, but she still liked to believe that everypony, no, any creature with a reasoning mind had the ability to cooperate. To know that harmony was better than chaos.
But she knew the world had its quirks, and her along with it. It wouldn’t do to be shocked, but more disappointed by what could have been. A wry smile graced her lips. If one spent too long ruminating of the past, it would be trapped there while the present whisked by.
Agatha, took a sip of tea that appeared in her cup. The fragrance of an unknown flower, or perhaps herb, wafted in the air around them.
“Ahh… so where were we? Ah yes. Somehow, through a combination of luck, or perhaps dogged defiance against the moulding hand of Nature, humanity saw fit to improve beyond their means and reach out towards the heavens themselves.”
Agatha put her hands together, meshing her fingers together with an intense look.
“Humanity succeeded. They were able to go and reach out further and faster, in an ever expanding circle of influence that encompassed their known universe. But do you know what they found?” Agatha sniffed, flicking a hand. “Nothing. The universe they inhabited was empty. It was a lonely experience. Once again, the gilded hand of Nature stayed their voracious appetite. Tired, frustrated, and not knowing what else to do, they sought to break out of the mould once again by exploring a new place. They found none but what they themselves were to create.”
Agatha waggled a mocking finger. “Tick tock, the steady march of time was slowly exhausting their resources. Bit by bit, the humans realised that what they took for granted was becoming ever more scarce. Tick tock, the end was coming for a species who thought themselves so advanced.” The old woman tapped a finger on the desk. “With nothing but years to look forward to, why wouldn’t you seek something else to occupy your time? Is not the tedium of life so wearying? Tick tock.”
Celestia knew the feeling. In the dark, between the hours, she was ashamed to admit that there had been a longing… an inconceivable feeling of wanting something more. Though Celestia maintained her silence, Agatha smiled as if she knew exactly what Celestia had thought.
“Exactly. And so humanity solved its problems quite ingeniously. It was decided that a rebirth was at hand. Where each would inhabit the mortal world once again, but in a different form. To have the infinite kaleidoscope of experience, but the reassurance that their undying self existed in that higher plane. Preserved, somewhat, from the slow march of time.” Agatha pointed above and laughed when Celestia glanced upwards instinctively. “Metaphorically speaking, of course.”
“So you’re saying that…”
“Goodness, me, no. Not all of you. Not even some of you. One is given to one. One world for each. Or more if they can afford it. But here is where it gets complicated. Ethics, you know, was such a hard concept to grasp for a human. I believe every life form struggles with this intangible framework. Humans apparently more so than others.” She sighed. “So the trouble comes to Benny and his strange, strange sense of life. He has, as you have correctly surmised, been playing with your world. Unfortunately, according to our laws, he has the right to do as he pleases, as long as he abides by the letter of the law. We aren’t perfect, but perhaps that is something you would not like to hear, given the circumstances, no?”
Celestia frowned at Agatha, trying to judge whether she was telling the truth, or spinning another elaborate lie like Benny had. If Agatha was telling the truth, it was even more horrifying than she even imagined. Whole worlds simply the plaything of a facetious human? Her existence merely to satisfy the wanton abandonment of a higher power? Celestia gritted her teeth. It almost felt as if their struggles had all been worthless. At the very least, they could just leave them alone!
“So why aren’t you like him? In fact, why are you in this world? I thought you had a ‘one to one’ policy.”
Agatha laughed. “This is my world, what are you saying? Although I have none of Benny’s wild fantasies of glitz and glamour that he has. I have a strict non-interference policy. I can’t break that, no, no, no.” With an airy wave of her hand, she dismissed the subject. “Benny made a mistake. A visit is a visit, no more, no less, and what he can do, he will. He will try to make amends, that he will do.”
Celestia couldn’t place her faith in that assumption. Benny wasn’t to be trusted. Celestia got the feeling that, unlike Agatha, Benny revelled in the ‘mistake’ he had made. His apologetic stance was merely superficial. Pursing her lips, Celestia tried to make her case without putting the human off. After all, Agatha seemed to believe that Benny had made a mistake, and though her actions seemed contrived, Celestia recognised the faint aura of cautious observation that lay underneath all that.
“So, you won’t help us, then?”
“That, I won’t do.”
“But there is something I can do?”
Agatha smiled. “Oh yes, there is something you can do.”
Getting up in a smooth movement that belied her age, Agatha headed towards the back of the room.
“Wait there,” she called back. “I won’t be long.”
Celestia stayed in her seat, lost, in many more ways more than one. A sense of impotence overcame her. She felt as if she were in a courtroom, awaiting the slow fall of a gavel. Was there nothing she could do to resolve this herself?
Agatha returned before Celestia could go any further with her thoughts.
“Here.” She passed over a familiar black box that seemed to warp the very essence of light around itself, drawing it into its fathomless depths.
“This…”
“It’s how we live,” Agatha explained, in answer to the question floating on the tip of her tongue. “Well, partly anyway. As the inexorable waltz of time moves us closer to demise, fewer and fewer of us are able to be supported. This—” she tapped the box “—is what determines whether one should continue or not.” Agatha chuckled. “Active involvement is required. Tend the garden you’re given. Like a game, hmm? The more you play, the longer it continues, the longer you survive. Our instinct is very strong with regards to that.”
Agatha pulled back the box.
“There is a way to end it prematurely, though. One human cannot touch this… box without breaching our laws, but creatures of our garden can. After all, the thrill of death is one form of entertainment, no? Though ethics dictate one human shall not touch another, these… creations bear no impact whatsoever.”
Celestia was right all along. These humans had never intended to help at all. They viewed her and her subjects as mere pawns in their games.
“Though I can make you aware of this object’s existence. I can’t compel you to do anything to it. You must find a way to… cause a disturbance.” Agatha smiled a grin so feral, Celestia inadvertently shifted back in her seat. “Well, now, that concludes the time allotted. Unfortunately, you may not see me for a while yet, don’t bother trying to contact me.”
Agatha stood up from her seat, shuffling to her door. She gestured out.
“Of course,” she said in parting, as Celestia passed the human, “you may choose your own path. That in itself, is also part of the game.” She chuckled. “But I think you will try. What care you for Benny the human?”
With that, the door swung closed with an ominous thump that echoed deep in her chest. Celestia stumbled away a couple of steps and glanced back.
The store was gone.
Haunted by the conflicting thoughts, she dimly noted that the sky had turned a bluish-grey.
“W-What?” Where had the time gone?
“P-Princess!” It was Twilight Sparkle. She noted, with equal parts relief and disappointment, that she hadn’t any wings. “You’ve been gone for almost a day, I’ve been so worried!”
Celestia looked around, confused at how the unicorn had managed to find her without prior knowledge of her destination. After all, Canterlot was a big city.
“How did you find me?” Celestia asked in bewilderment.
Twilight shirked at the question. “U-Uhh, I was close by, Princess! Yep. That’s, uhm—” Twilight flinched at the stern look Celestia gave her. “N-Nothing! It’s nothing!”
Celestia sighed. “You’re tracking me somehow?”
Twilight cringed at the accusation, but made no attempt to deny it. “Well… it was for your own safety, Princess! When you disappeared off the face of Equestria, we sent out search parties and… and…” Tears welled up in Twilight’s eyes. “We were so afraid that you had disappeared again!”
Celestia, though a little irked that she was tracked, softened when she saw how distraught the unicorn was. No doubt it had been beyond stressful to suddenly disappear again. Not when she’d ‘come back’ after so long.
“It’s alright, Twilight.” Celestia sighed. “I won’t be leaving for a while.”
“Really, Princess?” Twilight perked up. “N-Next time w-would you tell us when you’re leaving?”
Celestia blinked at the unicorn. “Of course,” she said easily. “I don’t have many places to go, for now.”
Twilight sagged in relief.
Celestia tilted her head in mild curiosity. “Were you expecting me to say otherwise?”
Twilight hesitated, then decided to plunge forward. “W-Well in the past you never let anypony know when you were going or when you’d be back.” Twilight attempted to smile, but it wobbled and died away. “It never happened before, so I’m glad you’re letting us know now.” Twilight shifted her hooves. “I-If it’s alright with you, Princess, would you mind telling me where you’ve been?”
Celestia weighed the odds of Twilight believing that she’d met two humans in the course of nearly twenty-four hours.
“Sorry, Twilight, it’s a little complicated. I will tell you later.”
Celestia felt a stab in her heart at the wounded expression of Twilight’s disappointment. She shook her head, seemingly to dismiss the thought.
Twilight cleared her throat. “I’m glad you’re feeling more like yourself.”
Ouch.
“You’re just in time to oversee some of the preparations.”
“Preparations?”
Twilight nodded, breaking into a proud grin. “Yes, for the war.”
Celestia nodded, trotting a few steps forward before the nonchalant words of Twilight sunk in.
“Of course—wait, what?”
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Hey Author, there is an error here,
its supposed to be "Send". no P required.
Methinks that Agatha did more to help than Celestia realizes
I love this!
Celestia on War? Interesting!
Somebody needs to inform Q-Derpy of this.
So theeeen it sounds like each Equestria is a simulation, humanity is approaching heat death, and am I getting that wrong in some way?
7485025 (I hope this works) you got an update you should see!
Ah, you're paying attention to the consequences of this radical alteration of events.
This puts you above 99.9% of time travel/alt universe fanfics! As well as crap like "Terminator Genisys"!
Congratulations!
7725969 It doesn't seem to leave any other conclusions... and is yet another case of humans being the worst gods...
Sheesh, it's as if everyone already knows what I'll become in a few more years!
But that can't be, as I'm the only one who's evolved precognition... how perplexing...
Yes! Finally! I was really surprised to see this on my recently updated list. I guess my efforts actually payed off huh?
Made my day, really. 
I haven't been on here much lately because college stuff, but since bugging sunnypack for updates works, I guess I can make time for it again.
Edit: I really like where this is going. I feel like it always seems to end on a cliffhanger though.
overdue poke
7843650 Overdue excuse? D:
Goodness me, to think that a story which I assumed at the start would be nothing more than a cute one-shot about Celestia meeting some random human and sharing some cake with him has developed into... wow! From one author to another, I have to give you great props for your creative imagination, you've taken this story in places that I imagine most authors would not have or even thought of taking it.
7848949 Holidays.
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Has there been a "the cake is a lie" reference yet?
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7932351 Chapter's in editing :P
7936786 Now THAT is some uplifting news. Can't wait!
Hey.m.quickmeme.com/img/7a/7ad6c006dc3d3b93d8731c0d97fb72af9894fa3eee46c0f7d2edcff134aa8f4c.jpg
Huh, so humans are this universe's Markovians, interesting. So then who is the local Nathan Brazil?
Filled with false hope, I have been.
8086098 Sorry about that, there were some kinks I wanted to work out with regard to plot and so on. Also the characters were getting a bit jangly, so I wanted to review it with fresh eyes. Sorry for the delay, it'll probably be out within this week or the next. Also work. Thanks for following this fic, though! I really appreciate it :)