As the Train pulled away from the platform, slowly gaining traction as it accelerated forwards, Celestia felt melancholy settle over her soul.

On the other side of a glass window, sat within the plush confines of a royal rail-carriage, Shining Armour, Warden of Canterlot and Patriarch of the Celestial Guard, bowed to his Princess once more before slipping out of view. For the brief few seconds he was still visible, Celestia practically drank him in, taking in every detail she could before he was gone, and all that she'd have left of him for the next week-and-a-half would be his image in her mind and the fantasies in her dreams. The train had been gone for five minutes before the light coughing of a guard beside Celestia scattered her thoughts and returned her to the present.

"You seem amiss, my liege. Is something upsetting you?"

Celestia allowed herself an aggravated sigh, frowning at the guard and turning away from the platform before making her way back towards the entrance of the Canterlot Terminal, the crowd of busy ponies parting before her. "Drop the act, Chrysalis. Please?" she spoke in a quiet voice "I'm already reaching the end of my tether with you."

The armoured mare pouted in a decidedly unmilitary fashion, though Celestia could clearly detect the faint twitches of mirth that pulled at her lips. Giggling, the guards purple eyes briefly flared an intense emerald green, revealing the true nature of the creature as the changeling Hive-Queen readjusted within her current form.

"Oh please, Celestia. Do you have any idea how hard it is to actually have a real conversation with you?" The guard jibed in a manner that only two thousand years ago would have resulted in summary execution. "Yeah, yeah, 'I raise the sun' and all that crap. but seriously, no wonder you've never gotten laid if this is what you're like all the time. I bet you clench hard enough to crush rock!"

"Ember!" Celestia seethed, using the codename she kept for whenever the Hive-Queen was in public like this. "Hive-Queen or not, talk about my... personal matters in such a way again and I swear to Faust I will end you!"

The Changeling didn't make much of the threat, holding Celestia's threatening gaze a moment longer before bursting out in a fit of laughter, drawing the attentions of several confused citizens as they made their way out of the Terminal and into the glorious summer afternoon of Canterlot, the streets alive and bustling with activity. For a brief moment the sight of her ponies happy and content, safe and protected from the dangers of the world, proved enough to calm the storm with the Solar Monarchs heart, Celestia taking a few moments to remind herself exactly why she was so dedicated to her ponies: she was the only one who could truly protect them from the true horrors of the world.

"I don't get why you don't just bag him already. I mean. come. On. Celestia. You're his Faust-damned Princess! Surely there's an ancient law or some bullshit like that which lets you sleep with him? Primae Noctis, you know?"

"Have some decency, Chrysalis!" Celestia reprimanded, a little ball of fury slowly building in her soul as the Changeling continued to taunt her. "Hive-Queens may be whores, but a Princess is expected to act with decorum, respect. Dignity, have you ever heard of it?"

"Wow you get preachy quickly."

"That's beside the point."

"That's my whole damn point, Celestia! Loosen up a bit, you silly mare, get some drinks in you and get down the bar. Sweet Faust, have you heard what everypony in this city says about your damn flank? Have you heard what every damn being in the whole bloody world says about your flank?!" Chrysalis let out a gasp of exasperation. "How on earth you didn't get some on your first heat is a mystery to me."

"Maybe it's because I don't have to sleep with nearly every male I see in order to stay alive."

"For your information, that's a life-style choice. If necessary I could survive on the love of my beloved husband alone, but now you've gone and sent him to the roof of the world, I'm gonna have to find somepony else to munch on, aren't I? Perhaps that Flash Sentry? Yeah... if one of the Elements is into him than he's gotta be packing something, right?"

Celestia rolled her eyes.

"You're insatiable."

"Damn right."

Celestia sighed.

"What's even the point in sending Shining Armour to the Crystal Empire anyway? It's not like there's anything of value up there."

"On the contrary, to the north is possibly the most valuable resource there is in a world like ours: soldiers." Chrysalis cocked her head in confusion. "The Crystal Empire has been famed for millennia as possessing the finest soldiers in the world, my annoyance. And in a world of peace like ours, good soldiers are rarer than gold."

"And what of your precious elements?"

"One can't invest all of one's eggs in one basket, Chrysalis. As a prudent leader, I am obligated to prioritise the security of my nation above all things. The Elements alone may be able to win a battle, but they cannot fight a war; and I am not hubristic enough to think myself or my sister are any different. It is my hope that in the north, Shining Armour will be able to secure and alliance between our two realms."

"Our two realms?"

"Oh, excuse me. My realm and the Empire."

Chrysalis shot Celestia a dirty look. "What makes you so certain that he shall succeed?"

"I have been engaged in personal correspondence with Queen Umbra for some time now. Though we disagree on several issues, it would seem our goals are closely aligned enough to permit an alliance. In time I hope to see such a bond strengthened through inter-marriage, perhaps maybe even a union of our two powers, but until such a time I trust the Patriarch to perform his duties."

"Yeah, cool politics and all that, but why send my husband again?"

"Queen Umbra requested him personally. It would seem that our knight in shining armour has carved himself quite a reputation amongst the military powers of the world, she was quite eager to test the tales of his skill."

"Ah, yes. Just like he was tasked with eradicating what's left of my swarm." Chrysalis gave Celestia a very obvious wink. "Don't you ever worry if he'll find out about what he's done. You know, how you wiped his memory and everything, twice?"

"Though I have the highest regards for the Patriarch, Chrysalis, there is no doubt in my mind that shall be unable to access memories of his previous two... incidents "

"And if he ever does?"

Celestia paused for a moment. What would happen if Shining Armour ever found out about what she'd used him for? Errant thoughts ran through her heard, the Solar Monarchs own mind filling with the sound of the stallions shouts, accusing her, reviling her, hating her. Something within her quailed at the idea, that she might lose the closest thing to a lover she could ever have. She shivered before replying.

"Let's just go home."