Prologue: A Mysterious S.O.S.

Celestia sighed, stretching her wings as she stepped out of the Scribe’s ‘lair’, rolling them to get the blood flowing after nearly three months of sleeping. She grimaced as she thought back on the dreams she had while she slept, no doubt a side effect of the healing she went through. It all boiled down to the regrets over her past actions; from her callous dismissal of the changelings, to her self-assured and somewhat selfish actions with the ponies of the world.

The soul regeneration had prepared her for many situations and had boosted her confidence in dealing with the war and any future decisions she might make. But what it didn’t prepare her for, is what she would do after the war is over. She had conquered her fears of failure and had come up with several different plans and strategies to win the battle; it’s just that she had no idea on what to do once she had won the war or how the others will feel about her when this battle is finally done. Should she still be a leader when it’s all over, even after her previous poor decisions that didn’t result in unity but in factions? Decisions that only helped so few when there were choices that could’ve helped many?

Like the recent choice she made about plunging her world into a conflict that would no doubt leave many blaming her for the loss of lives. That maybe she shouldn’t have involve herself in the affairs of another world. That everything would’ve been fine if she had simply didn’t try to help that man who stumbled into her land and the world would still be in peace… But that’s not the kind of pony she is. She couldn’t just stand by and let this man and his homeworld be eradicated by a great evil that claimed that it was doing so in the name of harmony. She couldn’t let someone suffer a fate worse than death, especially if there’s something that she could do about it. Because if she didn’t, she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself for the rest of her life.

Despite this certain truth about herself, the negative feelings towards her decisions have -in fact- seemed to have gotten stronger since her rest. Instead of being something that occasionally crosses her thoughts like they usually do, those thoughts tend to linger much longer than they need to be, so much so that she’s spending more time trying to calm herself down rather than relaxing now that her restoration is over. It’s like an odd trade off; instead of worrying what would happen during the battle, she’s now worrying would happen after the battle.

Princess Celestia shook her head, summoning a reflective shield to take in her current appearance, distracting herself from the negativity with a bit of vanity. She was rather surprised by the lack of lines around her eyes that had gathered and hidden over the years now gone. Her mane was still its normal shade of pink, though it now had the brilliant shine that many ponies usually commented on when she had her… ‘other’ mane style.

Really, though, she didn’t like it all that much; it had shown up after she was forced to use the Elements against her sister so long ago, and nothing she tried back then had gotten it back to normal. After time had passed, many ponies came to believe that it was her normal mane coloration. To finally see the pink she originally had was a blessing.

She thought back to her old mane style, and for just a moment, the sneer of the true enemy flashed across the reflection, causing the princess to narrow her eyes in annoyance and frustration. This is getting out of hand; if she kept thinking like this, then there was a chance she would indeed become very much like her counterpart.

It’s about high time she talked to someone about this. Perhaps her sister and maybe even her favorite student would help her rein in those thoughts. But would their opinions actually help her in what she’s feeling? Would they be able understand the consequences and feelings that come from deciding to interfere with an entirely different world? If only there was someone she could talk to whom has made choices on that grand of a scale as well. Though there is one person she could talk to about this, but he likes to appear whenever someone least expects it, which makes finding him more difficult. Besides, it might not be the best idea to talk to the one who opened her eyes about her shortsightedness about that just yet, maybe-

“Princess Celestia…”

A faint voice called out to her, which sounded very familiar. Was that her own voice?

“Celestia…”

Could it be the Queen? But that’s impossible! Discord made it so she couldn’t communicate with her like this anymore. Did she find a way to bypass his spell?

“Celestia, please listen to me…”

Is that really the same one that talked to her on the first day she met Marcus? It didn’t sound like the Queen, who was snide and arrogant; this voice sounded sincere, worried, and strangely more humble.

“I know how it sounds... kind of strange to be hearing someone call you with your own voice like that, and I understand that you don’t trust me, as this spell only allows me sense your feelings, but not your words. But would you please listen to me? It’s very important.”

Queen or no Queen, it seems like the best idea is to hear this other voice out. But Princess Celestia wondered if she should call for help, just in case it was a trap. However, in the time she thought about trying to do something to alert her friends about this, the voice continued.

“I need you to help out a kind friend of mine. It may sound surprising to you, but he’s a human who goes by the name of Jarél.”

A Princess Celestia that wants her to help a human? It would certainly be strange for the Queen to use a human to help her, given her utter disdain for anything that’s not a pony. But then again, there are humans who are blind to the truth of the Queen’s nature, and would gladly help her in her conquest of their kind back on Earth. She’d better listen very carefully as for why she would be asking for her help.

“In a few minutes he’ll appear in your world and when he does another portal will open up somewhere around your world. Possibly in even your Equestria. You see, I gave him a farewell gift before he left my world, as a thank you for giving us a foothold in eradicating the barrier that would have destroyed our Earth.”

A human with an ability to destroy a barrier, just what kind of human is he and why would he be teleporting to this world?

“This gift allows me to track him, in a way. Once he gets close to a world that’s similar to mine, it’ll allow me to communicate with the Celestia that resides in this world, but only before he appears in that world. Because the portal he’s about to enter your world from will immediately seal itself as soon as he steps foot into your world, I won’t be able to communicate with you anymore. Before that happens, I need to tell you what you should do if you want him to get rid of the barrier of your world, and so the humans should no longer need to go into Conversion Bureaus to enter your Equestria.”

Wait, what? Did the other Celestia think SHE has Conversion Bureaus in her world? Why would she assume that, is it because of-

“I’m sorry for confusing you Celestia, but I must hurry and tell you what you need to do to help Jarél before he arrives in your world and help him in a way that I couldn’t in the time he stayed in my world. There are some things I needed to tell him now that I know more about the portals he uses to enter other worlds. But first, I need you to recognize how the magic of the portal feels. Jarél and the portal share similar energies; it’s very faint, I didn’t feel it until I examined the portal’s magic myself.”

Before Celestia could protest, she was suddenly aware of a strange presence in Equus that wasn’t there before. After checking herself over with a magical scan, she was glad that she found that nothing was different about her and even happier that she checked herself when she exited the “lair” by herself to compare the differences. The only difference is that she’s aware of another energy she didn’t know of before and that’s it. The other Celestia must really be in a hurry though.

“I’m sorry, I just need you to realize how different Jarél and the portal is when they appear in your world and how they are connected. Because I need you to…”

“… do this”

“find out…”

“a little odd…”

“… and maybe”

“… And that’s all I need to say. Its good timing too; I’m about to lose my connection with you. Please help him, and tell him if he could ever return to my world with his friends like he said, that we would welcome their help.”

And with that, the mysterious presence that came with the voice vanished from Celestia’s mind. There were several things to think about: the mysterious human Jarél and the portal. Why did he have to pass through this world? What should she do when he arrives, how would the others react to his presence?

And the most troubling thing was how the other Celestia thought she had Conversion Bureaus in her own world? Unfortunately, she only had time to think about one of those things as a brand new presence appeared in Equestria.