“You've been invited to Canterlot?” Captain Silver asked as he stood in front of the emperor's long dining table as he was busy enjoying some tea.

Mateus nodded. “Well yes, their princess wishes to meet me. For diplomatic purpose, I would guess.” He responded before taking another sip from his morning tea.

“Well in that case, allow me to accompany you.” Silver stated. “As captain of the Crystal Guard, it is my duty to protect you wherever you go, Your Highness.” He stated while hitting his chest piece.

“You know...” He began, "I can take care of myself. One or two guards should suffice.” He stated before putting his cup down.

“True, but… it's still my job. Plus, this would give me the opportunity to see how things have changed over the last thousand years. I still can't believe so much time has passed without us knowing.” Silver responded before looking down at the floor in thought.

Mateus sighed. “Very well, just don’t arm yourself to the teeth tagging along. I'd like things to look and seem civil while we visit our southern neighbors. There is no need to entice a rivalry after all.” Not yet at least. He thought the last part to himself.

“Some more tea, will ya'?” He asked the mare maiden standing next to him.

“Yes of course, Your Highness.” She responded before refilling the cup with the kettle handle held between her teeth; a practice which Mateus never got used to seeing, and most likely never would.

He even found it kind of disgusting, especially when it came to the pony serving his tea. Another reason why he liked to serve himself tea instead of having anyone else do it for him.

“Thank you, Your Highness. I shall prepare myself for the trip whenever you are ready to depart.” Silver acknowledge.

The emperor just nodded before looking back down at his tea and then back at the mare holding the kettle with her mouth.

“Just bring me the tea from now on.” He stated before taking the kettle away from her with his magic.

The maid was a bit stunned but still quickly nodded. “O-of course, Your Highness!” She replied before cantering off along with the plate resting on her back.

The emperor looked down at his hooves and back up at the kettle levitating next to him.

“I miss my humanity...” He thought to himself before placing the kettle down and enjoying the rest of his tea.

He had a diplomatic outing to prepare for. When it was, he didn’t know, as the letter he received didn’t exactly specify when he could visit. Or it could be because the letter was badly handled in transit, with some of its last sentences being smudged and smeared.

Whoever was the courier for this letter was obviously incompetent, or maybe a 'derp' as the common folk would call it.

Either way he had to get it done. Even though there was still much work to do here, but he also knew that building up positive relations with much larger neighbors was something which could only help his ambitions. It could buy him some time to build up his own strength.

Now only one question still remained.

“How to actually get there? Do we have trains of our own?” The emperor wondered to himself as he emptied his final cup of tea, as the kettle was empty and he already sent the maid off to do other things.

Being the emperor sucks sometimes.

.............................................................................................................................................

“So he is really coming?” Luna asked her older sister as they both trotted through the halls of Canterlot Palace.

“Yes.” Celestia replied. “I am quite curious to meet him myself. To see if he really is a crystal unicorn or not. If he is, then his existence alone might be a good source of hope that the crystal unicorns were not completely wiped out after all. That would be good news indeed.” She continued.

Luna hummed. “That is all well and good sister, but still, inviting a complete stranger we have never heard of into the palace? Especially the 'somepony' who KILLED Sombra? That sounds, well… I don’t really trust him if I have to be honest here.” Luna admitted bluntly.

Celestia sighs. “Well neither do I, but it is better to build up good relationships between two ponies than to make rivals, Luna. Let's meet him first before we start judging.” Celestia argued.

Luna looked off to the side. “Well I guess, but if push comes to shove, don’t tell me I didn't warn you.” Luna pointed out which made Celestia shake her head.

“Luna, times are different these days, and you should stop acting so suspicious towards every newcomer. This is why I think you should get out of your room and socialize more. It could potentially do wonders for you.” Celestia added before they both reached their intended destination.

“Well, this is where we must part. Unless you are intending to take my place for day court.” Celestia stated as she gave her sister a sideways look.

Luna flinched. “Dear heavens, no. The longer I get exposed to those infuriating nobles of Canterlot, the more I want to throw them off of this mountain. You can continue to hold day court as you have always been dear sister.” She responded.

Celestia shook her head. “No mercy for your dear old sister then.” She commented before pushing the large doors open.

“’Oh, and by the way,” Celestia announced before turning herself around. “If you are free today, which you most likely are, can you maybe help lead the preparations needed for our guest's arrival? I obviously cannot, since I'm busy with court now.” She requested.

“I guess I can.” Luna responded which made Celestia smile.

“Thanks Lulu!” Celestia responded before making her way to the throne room to finally begin day court.

A thousand years of doing this, and she still somewhat hates it. She has just gotten really good at hiding it.

.............................................................................................................................................

“Well, without a train how are we going to get to Canterlot?” One of the guards chosen to accompany the emperor asked as they waiting around in front of the throne room. Fully packed and ready to go.

One of the four guards shrugged. “No idea, but we have been instructed to just wait here until further orders by the captain. I'm not even sure if we are really going or not.” He stated while rubbing his chin.

“Yes, we still are.” Silver stated as he entered the scene, also ready to go.

“Come, follow me up to the emperor's chamber. We are to meet him there.” Silver ordered.

The four crystal guards nodded before following their captain.

Once there, Silver immediately approached Ruby to ask of the emperor's whereabouts.

"We're here. Where is the emperor?” Silver asked while looking at the still sealed door.

“Back in there.” Ruby pointed at the door.

As if on cue, the doors opened. Revealing a fully dressed and geared up Mateus along with his staff.

“Ah, you are all here. Perfect, cause we are ready to depart.” He casually stated.

“Uhm, excuse me Your Highness, but… how exactly are we going to get there without a train? We could maybe prepare a carriage for you. But traversing through the snow-covered tundras is both dangerous and also quite slow. Not something I would recommend, even if it is our only option right now.” Silver stated.

“Then do not fret,” the emperor began. “We won't be traveling via carriage or any other form of civil transportation.” He explained, much to the confusion of Silver and everyone else.

“Pardon me, but how exactly are we going to get there then Your Highness?” Silver asked again.

“Simple,” the emperor began. “We are going to use teleportation.” He casually stated.

The confusion continued. “Forgive me, but… did you say teleportation? As in magic?” Silver again slowly asked. Both to not sound rude and to clarify himself a little bit better.

“Yes.” The emperor responded. “We are going to use magic to get there. I spent the majority of this morning and early afternoon refamiliarizing myself with an old spell I haven’t made use off for quite a long while. A spell simply known as “Warp” where I’m from.” He explained, again sounding quite casual.

“Uhm… okay?” Silver responded. Still sounding quite confused and possibly a bit skeptic.

“Anyway, there might be a 14 percent chance that this will fail. Especially considering the number of individual I will have to teleport along with me. But I'm confident that I can warp us all to Canterlot in one piece. Specifically where Princess Cadence might be as it does require a magical beacon to home onto. But since Alicorn are supposedly magic incarnate, using one as a beacon should be quite feasible. Only an attempt will tell.” Mateus explained, before he started to tap the floor beneath him with his staff. Summoning a magical circle on its surface that was large enough to encompass the group.

Silver was getting nervous, but didn’t voice it. But he wasn’t the only one. The guards behind him also looked fairly anxious as the runes on the inside of the circle began to glow.

Even the very air around them began to feel slightly energized. Even Ruby, who was standing far outside the circle, could vaguely feel it.

“Be sure to keep standing still inside the circle once I release the spell. Otherwise, you might get split in half or suffer from any other form of magical mishaps.” Mateus explained, again with almost an almost infuriating tone of calmness despite the risks involved.

Silver and the rest were now especially nervous as tiny magical sparks began arching all around them as the magic inside the circle was slowly reaching its apex.

The emperor of course ignored their obvious expressions of dread as he turned his attention to Ruby instead, who was looking at the spectacle with wide eyes.

“I wish to have my tea ready by the time I return later tonight. As I always do at that hour.” He instructed before returning his attention back to the warp circle in front of him.

“Remember: tea ready at nine.” He announced before tapping the circle again and activating the spell.

With one bright flash they were all gone. Leaving nothing but a small cloud of smoke and a slightly-blinded Ruby as evidence of their prior presence.

Today’s lesson for Ruby though: never look directly into the flash of an activated warp spell, or suffer temporary blindness while stumbling about in panic when it's the first time that has ever happened to you.

She certainly learned that the hard way.

.............................................................................................................................................

“I wonder if I should wear something formal tonight. Like an actual dress alongside my regalia and shoes? I very rarely do that.” Cadence thought to herself as she gazed up at her closet full of beautiful dresses that she only wore each of once in her entire life.

There was of course the wedding dress she wore on her big wedding day after the Changelings were dealt with, but there were also a hoof-full of dresses she didn’t even recognize. Like that one dark blue colored cloak hanging in between her collection of glorified moth food.

She couldn't recall ever owning a cloak with such dark colors. Even more so when she vividly recalled never having entered that one common “emo” stage of her teenage life, which a lot of pony teenagers seemed to suffer through these days without a real explanation. Thankfully, Twilight never entered such a stage either, not that she could recall anyway. But then again, Twilight was already up on her way to becoming Celestia’s pupil the moment she was old enough to no longer need a babysitter.

Either way, Cadence was now really intrigued about the existence of this dark blue cloak taking up space inside her closet.

Maybe it belongs to Aunt Luna and it was accidentally mixed in when her clothes were-

A sudden flash stopped her train of thought.

“Did it… work?” A strange new voice stated, causing Cadence to squeak in fright before turning herself around instinctively in a defensive stance.

“I warn you, just because I'm the Princess of Love doesn’t mean that I can’t-” She was about to threaten before she quickly recognized the ponies in front of her.

“The… the Crystal Emperor?” She stuttered, completely confused.

“Princess! We heard your scream, is everything alri-” A guard burst in before noticing the band of armored strangers in front of him.

“In-intruders, INTRUDERS! I NEED BACKUP! WE HAVE INTRUDERS!” He quickly screamed before racing out of the room.

Mateus shook his head at the guard's unprofessional reaction. Leaving his princess all alone with a bunch of strangers while looking for help. But then again, what exactly was he supposed to do? It is five against one; not exactly a favorable matchup for any skilled guard. Especially when their opponents were not exactly incompetent either.

Or so he hoped.

“Greetings, princess. I hope our arrival was not too intrusive to whatever it was you were doing prior.” He greeted her calmly.

Cadence blinked. “Uh… no… nonono it was… nothing I guess. I was just looking in my closet back there to… uh… think of something to wear, that’s all. So no big deal… I guess.” She responded, though not really feeling so sure if what she was saying was exactly what she was feeling.

Her mind was still a complete jumble from what had transpired. How did the emperor manage to materialize inside her own private chambers like that in a flash? In fact, what did he even do? Teleporting himself and his guards all the way down from the Crystal Empire? Was such long-distance teleportation even possible?

Such a concept sounded a bit unbelievable from her point of view. But then again, teleportation spells weren’t exactly her strong suit.

But one more important question still remained.

“Uhm… are you here because of my Auntie's invitation? If so, then it would make sense why you're… in my room.” Cadence asked.

The emperor nodded. “Yes indeed, that is exactly why I am here, and again sorry for this sudden intrusion. I hope that my appearance here won’t suddenly escalate into a full-blown skirmish if that one guard arrives with backup. That would be bad." He responded, causing Cadence to perk up.

“Ah, yes… the guard.” Cadence began. “I better go and deal with that right away then. Though it would be best if you and your guards were to leave my room first before either more guards or my husband see you here. Just to be safe.” She suggested to which Mateus nodded.

“Certainly, that would be for the best.” He responded before taking his leave, with Silver and his guards following suit.

Cadence also soon followed. Throwing away the idea of wanting to wear something formal now that the emperor was already present. Plus, she also needed to explain this situation first to both the guards and her aunts to prevent any misunderstandings.

Though now that the surprise and confusion from earlier had worn off, Cadence had to admit that she felt a tad bit violated.

The things she does for politics.

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the long wait, also sorry for the short nature of this chapter. I know that most of you where expecting for the next chapter to finally feature the meeting of both Celestia and the Emperor.

But in the end I decided to end the chapter here because it seemed like a good ending.

I am overall decisive on his this chapter turned out personally. Let me know how the chapter reads for all of you.

Either way next chapter will finally feature the meeting of both Monarchs. Lets see what I can conjure up. Tips and ideas are appreciated.