Celestia busied herself as best she could. It wasn't hard, not as hard as it was in the beginning. When she first got to the battlefield; whenever Justinius would leave for battle, she'd nearly go crazy with worry that he might not return. She paced, she cried, she'd have one of the reserve soldiers teach her fighting techniques, any and everything she could do to mitigate the unbearable worry. Soon she found a routine: training, laundry, cooking, then washing and making herself up for when he returned.

She had become quite known among the ranks of the men. They were impressed by her skills as a fighter. She was one of the best they had ever seen. Better, frankly, than the vast majority of the regular fighters. Some of the men even requested Justinius take her in to battle with him but he always refused. She had also earned their love by doing their laundry, cooking their meals, and just talking to them. She would sing to them and tell them fantastic stories of unicorns, pegasi, and other magical creatures. She alone had boosted morale among the men to levels they had not seen before. Every man in that unit would have laid down their lives to protect her. For her, it was all about passing the time.

Tonight she stirred a pot of stew cooking on the fire. It wasn't much; a stew in name only, not even a soup, barely broth, but it was all she had. The rations were running low. The Empire was collapsing. Battles of conquest were now battles of survival. Supply lines were routinely attacked and looted. The men got as much from foraging as they did from Imperial convoys. Not that anyone in Rome actually cared. They were too consumed by their own intrigues and power plays to actually do anything about what was going on out here in the hinterlands.

Part of Celestia felt outraged by the petty, short sightedness of the leaders. The other part of her felt guilty because she was doing the exact same thing. She had been gone three months now. How was Equestria? How was Luna? How were here people doing? Were they under threat? Did they wonder where she was? Was there panic or did Luna and Star Swirl keep her absence secret? The honest truth was that she had abandoned her people, her duties, her sister. So how could she honestly hold any ill emotion toward Caesar or the Senate and not be consumed by her own hypocrisy?

Maybe that was also another reason she poured herself into making all the others feel better. It wasn't just about killing time and keeping her mind off of things but mitigating her own guilt. She had abandoned her own people (ponies, they were ponies, she even thought as a human now), so she would serve these people as a way of making up for that.

"Hello my love," Justinius said as he walked in to their tent. His voice was tired, full of woe, bitterness, exhaustion, and actual joy at seeing his wife to be. Two months ago he had asked for her hand in marriage. She had agreed but only after they returned from the front. It was that promise which kept him going. Without her here, the shear futility of fighting for an empire to bloated and decadent to care about itself would have killed him.

Celestia ran to him and kissed him passionately. "Welcome back my heart. Come, sit. The weight of the battle still presses down upon your brow. Sit and relax while I fetch your supper. It is not much, I pray for your forgiveness; but it is the best I could do." She lead him to their cot and sat him down. She quickly grabbed a cloth and wash basin and cleaned his the blood and dirt from his face, arms, and hands.

"There is never a need to tell me you have done your best; it is a given in all that you do. You have been both a blessing to and to my men." He reached out, took her chin in his hand, and caressed her cheek with his thumb. He looked into her eyes and smiled. "There is nothing my life, past or present, that would warrant an angle such as yourself entering my life."

Celestia smiled, took his hand, and kissed it. She got up and ladled out the stew in name only in to a bowl and brought it over to Justinius. She then went outside and called the other men over. They all brought their bowls over and one by one the filed through the tent until the pot was empty.

"And none for you?" Justinius asked after the last man left.

"I had before you came; as I always do. I have all day to eat, you do not. My only job is to see to your care and comfort when you get back."

Justinius smiled, gave a short chuckle, and shook his head. "You are far better than this. You are no hand maiden or servant,"

"No, I am your future wife and mother of your child," Celestia cut him off, a bit irritated at his insinuation that she was lowering herself to be with him.

"Oh that is true, that is true," he laughed as he responded. "But you are so much more. I knew from the first I laid eyes on you, you were of a breed far more noble than Caesar, at least any within my memory. Then when you told me you were a queen,"

"Princess. I was a princess," Celestia corrected.

"Ah, yes. And tell me why again?"

Celestia sighed, but it was a good sigh. It was a sigh of a parent asked to tell one more story before bed time by their child. "All right then, if you must hear it again. Where I come from, no one outside of tyrants take the title of king or queen. A king or queen is an absolute ruler, the final authority, answerable to none but themselves. A prince or a princess is still royalty, still a ruler, but not a final ruler. In those titles it is an unspoken but understood truth that they are not the final authority but answer to one higher."

"Which is?" Justinius teased. He knew the answer already but still loved hearing her say it.

"The good of her people. Art thou happy now?" She tried to sound indignant but couldn't. She knew he really did love hearing her tell him that. She guessed it was because his own rulers were so venal; but as much as it brought her joy to tell him that, part of her did feel the sting of self recrimination. By being here, she wasn't putting her people first. She tried to tell herself that Luna was more than capable of ruling Equestria; but that was just a flimsy self justification to assuage her own guilt.

"You're people are blessed to have rulers such as yourself. If I believed it would make a difference; I would march upon Rome herself and install you as it's new ruler."

"And I told you, I gave up my throne to my sister. My days of being a ruler are over. The only empire I wish to rule is your heart." Celestia then paused and looked at Justinius with concern and sadness. "Why do fight still? If you truly believe the Empire is over; what glory can there be in this endless slaughter?"

"I am a solider. The son of a soldier. I fight for my nation because that is what I am trained to do. It is a weak excuse, an excuse that invites all manner of atrocities; but I am too well trained in thought as well as hand. So I fight."

He then looked down and grew very somber. "Rome, Greece, Persia, Babylon, all empires are built on the suffering of others. We take, food, water, money, materials, people, from other lands to enrich the lives of those back home. Even then, usually just the ruling elite. Did any beggar in Rome feel himself superior or better off than a beggar from the lands we conquered? Did they even know Rome was the most powerful empire on Earth?

"The life of a soldier is to take over other lands while keeping others from taking your things. Yet, . . ., yet, we have art and music and philosophy, schools and learning. Surely those things are worth something? Maybe I still serve because I think about what could be. I am not a religious man. I take no stock in the gods of old or the new, singular god. I have no faith in any afterlife. I do think, have faith that one day, a hundred years from now, a thousand, ten thousand, if we can hold on; keep what little civilization we have; we can grow and progress beyond what we are now. That we can become something more, something better and that will only come about when we let ideas rule and dictate the day. Rome is corrupt, yes, but we have ideas. The barbarians have survival at any cost. How can you progress from that? I guess that's why I fight still; for the promise of a better tomorrow."

Celestia kneeled down in front of him and took his hand. "And that is why I love you. That is why I can forsake my crown, my people. I believe in your hope and I want to help you bring it about. Even if that help is nothing more than making sure you are feed and comforted."

"And I believe that it is only with you that I can hope to make my dreams a reality."

The two started kissing when a horn blew. It was followed by the sound of running and yelling. Soon a soldier burst into their tent.

"General, I'm sorry to disturb you, but we're under attack!"

Justinius jumped up. "Take my lady to safety!" he ordered.

"No!" Celestia said firmly as she grabbed a sword. "My place is by your side. I will be with you; if not in life, then in death."

Justinius didn't even think to argue. He just nodded.

Suddenly the wind began to blow wildly inside the tent. A small pinpoint of life appeared and it proceeded to grow larger and larger.

"No," Celestia said quietly then shouted, "NO!"

The light grew to the size two men and in the light a figure emerged. It was a tall man with a bushy black beard with just the first signs of grey hair in it. His eyes burned with a fire the intensity Justinius had never seen. His skin was tan, the color of new leather. His face was gaunt and stern. He wore long, dark blue robes with stars on them and had a large walking staff.

Celestia, in a blind panic, charged at him with her sword. He easily knocked it out of her hands, grabbed her, and pulled her back into the light; then it disappeared.

Justinius screamed, "CELESTIA!"

**************************************************

Celestia kicked, screamed, and bit; but Star Swirl put his whole weight upon her, keeping her pined to the ground. Also after three months as a human, she was unskilled in her alicorn body. She had all the grace and strength of a newly birthed foal. Eventually she gave up the physical struggle.

"LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" she screamed.

"Princess, PRINCESS!" Star Swirl responded in a controlled fury. "You forget yourself! Stop this nonsense at once!"

"Let me go! I need to be with him! I told him I would always be by his side!"

"You need to be here! And you lied then! You are Princess Celestia; ruler of Equestria, defender of the realms, a goddess among ponies! In you burns the eternal light. And while that is a burden none should bare, the fact is you do! If you fall, if neglect your responsibilities, you know what can and will happen."

"Then save him! Go back and save him, PLEASE!" Celestia begged, tears gushing from her eyes.

"And have him be a temptation? No!" Star Swirl had been forceful to the point of cruelty; but now his face softened and a look of deep sympathy and sadness came over it. "Princess, I am sorry. I am; truly. But his is one life. Infinite lives are resting on your back. Think of all those already born and those yet to be and the unending pain and suffering that they'll go through if you falter or fall. I say this not to be cruel but to let you know what is really at stake here. I grieve for you, my heart breaks for you. You did not ask for this but this is what you have been given none the less."

Celestia just screamed and cried for the next hour.

***********************************************************

Sunset wiped a tear away. "That's so sad. What happened next?"

Celestia shrugged. "I had caused the portal to become locked on Earth. Star Swirl couldn't change that. He did cause it to change where on Earth it opened up at and he put the timer - seven days, every thirty moons. I never knew what happened to Justinius; my love." Celestia breathed in deep and let out a long sigh.

"He was right though. After that came Tirek, the Sirens, King Sombra, and then my sister turned. Had I not been here . . ." Celestia trailed off at the thought. She then shook her head and continued, "Power to the dumb, greedy, evil, is a thing to pursue. To the ones that are noble and just, power is a boulder that slowly crushes you.

"I know what Twilight is feeling; what you are feeling, because I felt that way as well. I have had the time to see what happened and think about what could have happened. I wish I could be more up beat and positive but I must be honest. The road you and Twilight are on is a lonely one. All you will have is each other. It is not right and it is not fair but it is what is."

"I understand," Sunset said sadly. Then something caught in her mind. "Princess Celestia, you were with him for three months, as his lover, three months . . ."

"I know what you are asking, and yes, I was pregnant with his child. Unfortunately it did not survive when I was brought back across the dimensional divide. As I said, this is a lonely, lonely job."