The roof of the world lived up to its name. All Celestia saw as she soared in the frozen, sapphire sky were snow drenched mountain peaks crisscrossing plains of ice and snow. The mountains truly scraped the sky. Some of the highest mountains were ringed by huge puffy clouds. Had she not been covered in golden bardin and a helmet, items enchanted to provide warmth, the temperature would have been unbearable. A mortal would have been killed instantly. A layer of frost dusted the tips of her wing blades. A gust of wind sliced through the armor, sinking through her fur and into her skin. Her companion's teeth were shivering.

Princess Cadence was similarly covered in silver barding and a helmet. A quiver of arrows was slung over her back along with a wooden bow. As a filly, Celestia had insisted that she learn archery as a way of keeping some connection to her Crystal Pony heritage. Cadence had fallen in love with the art and could now hit the dead center of a target from three-hundred yards away. Princess Luna had pointed out that it would be wise if at least one princess stayed behind in Canterlot to keep an eye on any mischief the nobles might try. Celestia had agreed, but she knew one Pony that was always up for an adventure.

Princess Cadence darted forward, doing barrel rolls in midair and letting out excited whoops. She zoomed upwards, then came back down again, fluttering her wings and sending snow everywhere. Celestia caught up with her and they flew once more in alignment. Cadence flipped over, her helmet, quiver and arrows all having been enchanted to not fall off her back. Still, she rushed quicker than Celestia. The icy wind raked its claws along her, but she didn't seem to care. "Thanks for inviting me, Auntie! I don't normally like leaving the Crystal Ponies-they're like foals with a bad case of separation anxiety-but this is for Twilight!"

Celestia smiled, flapping her wings, then returning to a glide. "I'm glad you could come. I understand from your letters that life in the Crystal Empire has become somewhat predictable?"

Cadence snorted. "Try it's become boring! The Crystal Ponies are so compliant! I have one senator, bless her, that will occasionally argue with me, but most of them are terrified all the time that I'll have'em whipped if they breathe funny! There's no crime or it's really minor crime. Our neighbors are friendly and we mopped up the last of Sombra's shadow beasts a month ago."

Celestia sighed. "Want to trade? What I wouldn't give for a nice, peaceful domain."

Cadence frowned. "Don't get me wrong, Auntie. I love my domain and all my subjects. I guess I just like the occasional bit of action. I'm really glad things are going so well."

"Nor would I ever give up Equestria, for all its problems."

There was only silence here in the roof of the world, silence broken only by the eternal cry of the wind whose claws shredded through the mare's armor.

"Actually, it's kind of sad. Shining said he stopped a Pony who was publicly intoxicated and the guy started uncontrollably sobbing. Shining didn't even give him a ticket."

Celestia grimaced. "It will be a long time before your nation is cleansed of the shadow of Sombra's evil."

Cadence nodded. "I've had a small army of therapists imported."

"That should help. Simply have patience."

Celestia and Cadence both scanned for movement, for some sign of life. There was none. No sane animal called this place home. Birds would occasionally get lost and meet their end on the rocks. A wall of grey storm clouds lifted up before them. They shared a glance and plowed through them. For several minutes, Celestia could only see grey. The wall of clouds closed in on her, squeezed her from all sides. The clouds had been frozen into position and were filled with ice. The ice pricked into her armor, tore into the fur beneath.

She pushed out her wings, using the force to rip through the clouds with her blades. The clouds felt solid as she slammed into them. She had lost sight of Cadence, had no idea where she was, that is until she saw a heated laser of pink energy bursting in the cloud.

"Cadence, no!"

It was too late. An explosion rippled through the cloud, turning it into superheated slush. The fires burned and licked against her metal covering, sending her flying uncontrollably through the air. A sudden gale hurled her straight towards a mountain. Only a forced adjustment of her altitude prevented her from crashing into it.

She whirled around, frantic to find Cadence. Cadence stood in the center of what remained of the monolith of fog and swirling vapors which were now only atoms. She panted, her wings bristling, her heart pounding and sweat dripping down her brow. She lifted her foreleg to her chest, breathed. "I am really sorry, Auntie."

Celestia flew over, patted her back with her wing. "It's alright. Let's keep going and next time, why don't we focus on more subtle solutions?"

Cadence nodded, looking to the ground far below her. "Right. Simple solutions. Not everything needs to be blown to smithereens."

Celestia suddenly wondered what would happen if Cadence and Rainbow Dash had to face down a villain together. She very much doubted Equestria would survive. Together, they glided on a pocket of cool air that in southern climates would be a thermal. There were no thermals here, nothing that would count as remotely warm.

Still the pocket did its work, allowing them to rest their wings and simply coast along the currents, sailing through the sky. The mountains only got higher to the point that Celestia and Cadence had to fly around them. If this was the roof of the world, these mountains were the pillars that held up that roof.

Their granite peaks were alabaster white, blanketed by the snow of distant ages.

Cadence fluttered her wings, breaking the crystals that were beginning to form on her wings. "So, what exactly are we looking for?"

Celestia scanned the ground. Grey storm clouds were marching in, an advancing army which would soon bring more snow and frost onto this already cold-wasted land. She closed her eyes, felt the warmth of the sun blazing deep inside of her, called it to fill her.

She sensed Cadence doing the same, calling upon her own powers to summon the fires of love to warm and protect her. The pink glow covered her body. A golden glow enveloped Celestia. "We're looking for an opening. Let's go lower."

They dipped down, avoiding the mountains that rushed upward to meet them. They split apart to avoid a jagged peak and met again once they were on the ground. The mountains spiked upwards like rows of teeth, like an ancient, long extinct animal who roamed in an age of blood-soaked savagery.

Celestia shivered. It had nothing to do with the weather. The mountains surrounded them, so high that it made them dizzy to look up at them. They were unable to even see the sky. Cadence gasped, her wings snapping to her sides. The clouds had now covered the sky entirely, the grey clouds merging with the mountain peaks to create a seamless grey cage that had trapped the Princesses.

Cadence bit her lip, put her foreleg to her chest, breathed.

Celestia patted her back. "Glad to see you remember your training."

Cadence's wings shook. "I feel trapped. Not a good feeling for a Pegasus. I know I'm an Alicorn now, don't know why this is coming up on me so strong."

"This place does strange things to the mind."

A gale sliced through, bit at their manes and face. Celestia kicked at the snow coming up to her pasterns, lifted each hoof, placed them on the ground, only for them to sink again. She flared out her wings, shards of ice crackling.

Cadence did the same. "I used to think the Crystal Empire was cold."

Celestia lifted into the air, then fell back down the earth. Cadence rushed to her, helped her to get back up.

Celestia thrust out her wings once more. "Let's try that again." She closed her eyes, cutting out the sensation of directionless brought on by the uniform grayness. She lifted into the air, desperately trying to avoid opening her eyes. All she was aware of was the biting, all pervasive sensations that the eternally blowing wind brought. It screeched and clawed at her, trying to push her down.

She pushed forward against it. Behind her, Cadence had floated into the air and was following her lead. Celestia thought of Twilight and felt warmth flood her heart. She was doing this for Twilight, so that Twilight would be safe, so that she could pass the test and this chapter in their relationship could be over and maybe...

The first drip of liquid on her back was a shock and her eyes sprang open. Both Alicorns immediately called up shields, Celestia's golden and Cadence's pink. The sheets of rain bounced off the shields, struck the earth. The water fell in torrents, crystallizing the minute they left the atmosphere and shattering the very moment they landed on the ground.

"Cadence, whatever happens, do not lower your shield until we get to a cave!"

Cadence didn't respond, perhaps not hearing her over the rush of rain or maybe deciding not to respond to the needless, ridiculous order because why would she drop her shields? Thunder crashed through the sky, bolts of lightning arcing and curving down onto the snow.

There should have been a cave somewhere around, somewhere to seek shelter from the downpour. She drove wildly through the storm, beating her wings both to stay aloft in the air and to prevent the waters from freezing her wings and dragging her down to the ground. Every few seconds she flapped her wings. She wasn't sure if Cadence was doing the same, couldn't even see Cadence through the deep darkness that had drenched the Northern world, wasn't even sure where she was flying or how, her awareness completely cut off.

She retreated deep inside herself, ignoring the wind that was battering her limbs, knocking her to and fro. There was a wellspring of power deep inside of herself, she just had to focus in order to find it, call it to herself, just hope that Cadence would do the same.

The tempo of the thunderstorm increased, beat down against her shields, threw her like she was a toy. For Twilight, for Twilight, for Twilight...

The wind that raked over her, that pierced through her shields reminded her that for all her pomp, she was part mortal, she could die, and that thought suddenly struck her as terrifying. She did not want to die, did not know what would happen if she did die, did not know if she would remember this incarnation of herself just as she only had vague memories of prior incarnations.

She might forget Twilight. The thought seized her like panic. It was Twilight she was doing this for, the repeated thought pounded into her mind and her power glowed incandescent inside of her, started from her horn, flowed throughout her body. A particularly strong burst of wind broke her focus and she felt herself briefly cut off from her power.

She could only barely feel her link to the sun, only the most tenuous strand. Nonetheless, she called upon it, summoned it, felt as it flowed throughout her body. Strands of flame knit inside of her soul, leapt through her armor, her tail and mane blazed as living fire washed over her.

The power surged suddenly in a wave of light and flame bursting forth from her horn as she dropped her shield. The wave of fire plowed through the snow which melted away at the touch of her Power, shook the very mountains, wreathed and danced over frost covered ground which, for the first time in millions of years, felt the touch of true warmth.

Celestia plunged down to the ground, this time stepping onto fresh, green grass. The fields of grass extended for thousands of miles. Dormant seeds, experiencing the fire of life for the first time in eons, sprang up, white daffodils, pink zinnias, red and yellow roses, happy orange marigolds all springing forward at the summer which had come upon their land. The rain sizzled as it fell on her back and the sun broke through the clouds, the sky turning a bright, crisp blue.

Cadence stared, her jaw hanging slack. "...At the wedding. You could have killed Chrysalis, couldn't you have?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes, of course. And millions of citizens with her. My powers are not for use in ordinary combat."

The air still shimmered with heat. Cadence wiped away a sheen of sweat. Celestia strode into the newly formed valley. Lush grass covered mountains that had been barren just a few moments ago.

Cadence lifted a hoof to herself. "Could I have...?"

"Maybe you will in a few thousand years."

"I hope I'm just like you when I grow up."

"I'm flattered. By the way, why don't you use your cosmic form? It would help bear this cold."

"It takes a lot out of me to use that. I prefer this form."

Celestia nodded. "The more you use it, the easier it becomes."

It was easier to move this time without the weather to slow them down. They took to the air, leisurely soaring on a warm thermal. Down below, melting snow revealed ruins of a civilization that hadn't seen the light of day since before the Great Migration. Swirling designs were carved over ten pillars that were normally hidden by snow from all but the most observant.

The designs were now revealed in all their complexity. Swirling, interconnected loops that no one yet living would know was actually a language. Celestia couldn't read it, but knew from conversations with ancient beings that an unfortunate race had lived here and it was they who had cast the megaspell that had turned the roof of the world into this current state.

Cadence sailed up on her side. She struggled to match Celestia's speed, but finally managed to. "I've been worrying that I'm not quite living up to my potential."

"Oh?"

"I want to know more about the power of love. I feel like there are mysteries I haven't even scratched the surface of. When I was a teenager, I was pretty stupid about it. Now I realize love can't be forced by casting a spell."

"A very mature realization. I knew you'd realize that on your own eventually. I didn't stop you because I knew your love spells were temporary and cast with the best of intentions."

Cadence banked left after Celestia. Celestia paused and came down outside of a cave mouth that yawned deep into the earth. Heat emanated from it. Cadence and Celestia entered the darkness, Cadence instinctively inching closer to Celestia.

"Cadence, Twilight is also studying the deep mysteries. Perhaps, you can help each other."

Cadence clapped the ground. "Of course! I'd love studying with her." She paused. "By the way, what happened to not blowing up everything?"

"Hmm, I suppose you're right, but it is tempting. In this place, there's not many other options. When we get to the trolls, use extreme prejudice."

They moved further into the pitch blackness of the cavern, lighting it up with their magic. Twin lights beamed through, revealing rough stone walls and more carvings in that looping style of the previous civilization that had dwelt here. Cadence noticed something the deeper into the bowels of the earth they went. It was getting hot.

It started as a gentle warmth that soothed her chilly primary feathers. Soon, water dripped from the appendages and splashed onto the floor. Celestia's wings were similarly dripping. A glowing light played on the walls bringing with it a sweltering heat that emanated from somewhere back in the cavern.

Celestia didn't seem bothered by the heat. If anything, she quickened her pace, almost cantering towards the source of heat. Beads of sweat broke out on Cadence's forehead, rolled down her withers and back. The air rippled and shimmered just as it had when Celestia had released her spell during the thunderstorm.

This heat was just as strong, just as powerful. It nearly knocked Cadence down. She stopped. Celestia stopped a few moments later. "Hurry up, Cadence. We're almost there."

"Why is it so hot?"

"The lava flows."

"What?"

"Let's go."

Cadence called on her Pegasus magic, let a thin sheen of ice dust her wings and body. It melted away immediately. In order to maintain it, she had to have total focus. She closed her eyes, breathed out, concentrated her power into a point inside of herself, managed to cover herself in the ice.

The irony struck her. Outside, she had needed heat. Inside, she needed the cold. Steam belched out from some unseen source. Celestia released a satisfied sigh as the steam bathed her. She stood there for a few minutes, letting the steam seep into her fur, her feathers, her mane, roll along her neck.

"That...feels so wonderful."

Cadence wanted to agree. She reinforced her spell and trailed after her aunt into puffs of steam that threatened to singe her right down to her skin. As unbearably cold as it had been up above, now it was nearly unbearably hot. She couldn't see anything through the steam, not even her aunt.

"Auntie? Auntie!"

A touch of an armored wing on her withers reassured her. "Try to stay by my side."

"Auntie, what is this place doing to my head?"

"The extreme weather conditions are confusing your Pegasus magic and your magical core is striving to keep up and maintain your body's equilibrium."

The puffs of steam were starting to dissipate. An orange glow was cutting right through them. Celestia steadied Cadence with her wing so that she wouldn't trip where the floor suddenly gave way. Rivers of boiling lava coursed through the solid stone, steam billowing up from the crimson liquid.

The ground had crumbled away completely. Waves of magma struck the rock, dissolving what little remained of the cave wall. The lava flowed from some even deeper source, ceaselessly moving and churning. Pops and hisses sounded from the rivers, filling the chamber with a crackling sound.

Celestia examined the chamber, calling up on her most distant memories. "Nopony had disturbed this place in a millennium...nor any other sort of being either. Not that I know of in any case. The antidote should be beyond this lava."

They launched into the air. Celestia gripped her axe in her aura. Cadence strung an arrow, but couldn't see any cause for alarm. No one else even seemed to be in the chamber and what being could even endure this place?

Her answer came in the form of a rock hurtling through the air. Cadence dodged and then let her arrow wildly fly, not sure where she was sending it, only shooting on pure instinct. She whirled around. The arrow had hit true, her instinct having been to fire in the direction the boulder had come from.

The creature standing on the ledge grasped the arrow plunged into its chest, ripped it out. An obscene sound broke from its lips. Cadence thought it might have been laughter. The creature tossed the arrow. Cadence didn't give him a chance to strike again, firing a second arrow. The creature sidestepped it with a speed belying its size.

Rock trolls. Celestia had told her that they had no intelligence. They were animated by dark magic and only existed to carry out a pre-programmed purpose.

This troll stood at eight feet tall and its entire body was made from grey stone. Celestia charged him, pulling back her axe for a single blow that chopped through his arm. It howled in outrage, drew back its fist, struck out at Celestia who flew out of range.

The creature stumbled and screamed as he splashed into the lava. Cadence summoned a shield which the lava splashed off of. A barrage of boulders crashed down towards them from every angle as more and more of the trolls ran out from hidden crevices within the cave walls, hidden tunnels where they had made their dens.

Celestia and Cadence shielded themselves.

"Remember Cadence!" Celestia shouted, as she pulled down her shield and charged again and again, swinging her enchanted axe while simultaneously flying out of range of every boulder. "These creatures are impervious to magic!"

Cadence surged forward, not hesitating as her aura strung and released arrows in rapid succession. The arrows whistled through the air, knocking down an advancing troll. Cadence calmly counted the number of arrows needed to knock down even one.

Three strikes, she decided, stringing her bow again. One arrow pierced a troll's neck, the second its chest, the third its navel. The troll fell, tumbling into the boiling liquid below like its brethren. Celestia spun and slashed, slicing through the trolls. One troll brought down his giant fist. She hacked through it and then used the momentum of the swing to come up on its neck, gravity doing the rest of the work of yanking the troll's head from its body. Head and arm wildly rushed into the air.

Cadence's arrows sailed over the battlefield, keeping the trolls at bay while Celestia threw herself into the melee, her war axe slicing a swathe of limbs hacked away and flying off into the air and coming to a final resting place within the rivers down below.

The trolls kept coming till they filled the chamber, some of them standing in the bubbling lava.

Celestia switched tactics, soaring back to Cadence while using her wing blades to the same affect as her war axe. The trolls avoided the edges of her wings, but couldn't avoid slamming into each other. When one smashed into the other, they immediately forgot who they were fighting, starting to shove each other.

Celestia surrounded Cadence and herself with a shimmering shield. The trolls all converged as one, pounding onto the shield. Celestia panted. "Relentless bastards. We don't have time to fight them all."

Cracks appeared in the shield as the trolls beat on it.

Cadence prepared another arrow, just in case. "How many of them are there?" She added her own magic to Celestia's shield, repairing the cracks.

"I don't know. I don't even know where they're all coming from!"

Even as she spoke, more of the trolls poured out from cracks and hidden passageways.

Celestia shook her head. "Forget it. I'm going in!"

Her eyes blazed with fire, her mane and tail suddenly whips of living flame. With a bloodcurdling war cry, she propelled herself into the center of the trolls, hacking, slicing and slashing away at the tangled mass of limbs that all tried to knock her down or crush her down.

Cadence reached for an arrow,realized she was out. She darted towards the trolls, rocketing into them. One troll lunged to grab her, she slashed at its neck with her bladed feathers. The thing fell back into another one of the unholy beasts. Cadence deftly blocked a swing from a troll's stone sword.

Her steel scales clashed against the troll's blade. This troll looked different from the others. A necklace of Pony skulls was around its neck, a sight which turned Cadence's stomach. He swung the blade again, Cadence just barely catching it. She struggled to break her wing free from the blade, feeling the strain deep inside of her shoulders.

The troll pulled back the sword, yanking her along with it. Cadence broke free, surging back, then forward, whirling her blades in an arc that ended with both her blades slicing along the troll's head. It howled in outrage, but didn't go down. Cadence was forced to dodge again.

He crashed into the ground. Celestia stood where he had been, her war axe drawn back. She swung it again, just in time to slam into the chest of a troll that had lunged towards her. "Cadence, do you see the crevice there?"

Cadence parried a blow from another troll. "I see it!"

"Let's go!"

They thrust towards the crevice, Celestia reaching it first. It was just barely large enough to fit in through, sparks splitting the darkness where Celestia's blades struck the sides of the cavern. The darkness enshrouded Cadence. She grit her teeth, lit her horn so she could see through it.

Celestia lit her own horn. The trolls continued to roar only a few feet behind them. One troll, smaller than the others, burrowed into the space and chased after them. They zoomed up and the troll stumbled. Cadence twisted in midair, bringing her wing blades down through his chest. He fell, the cavern trembled.

A golden shield covered her, the roof beginning to cave in, stone and debris raining down on her, bouncing off Celestia's shield. They picked up speed, at last breaking out of the cavern and into the light of another chamber. The chamber opened outward into a wide room, wider than the one they had just left.

The room shone with the light of thousands of jewels embedded in the walls. There were rubies, emeralds, sapphires, opals, jewels in every shade of color that could be imagined casting a rainbow all across the ceiling and floors. A pedestal of rock jutted upwards on which sat a golden chalice studded with an emerald.

Celestia snapped open her wing, preventing Cadence from going forward.

"Where are the booby traps?" Cadence asked.

Celestia searched her memories, a long ago quest, an ancient adventure shared with her sister and another who was still around, but beyond twisted with eldritch energies.

She shook the thought from her mind. Cadence pawed at the ground. "Auntie?"

"I'm trying to remember. I don't. I wish Luna was here...or Chrysi.."

"Chrysi?"

Celestia shook her mane. "It's been twelve centuries. They may no longer be active. Tread carefully."

Cadence nodded and took her first step on the unusually smooth stone which suddenly shifted beneath her hooves. She launched into the air.

"Look out!"

Celestia shot down the spear that had lashed out from the ceiling. It split and crashed onto the ground.

"How in the world did I forget that?"

"Stress can affect memory."

"Stress. Well, I've had enough of that in the past millennium." She joined Cadence. They scanned the room, looking for any other traps.

"I remember now. That used to be a hail of-"

She cast a blast of pure flame towards the arrows that suddenly bore down on them. Instantly incinerated, they came down as a flood of ash.

Cadence fluttered her wings and shook her mane. "I'm going to need a bath after this."

"As am I."

Cadence chewed her lip. "Who was Chryssi?"

"A friend. She's dead now. Long dead."

"It was Chrysalis wasn't it? She told me that you two were once friends."

"Chryssi is dead. I don't know what that thing that kidnapped you was. Now, pay attention! There might be more traps."

As slowly as they could, they floated towards the chalice, their wing beats just barely disturbing the currents of the air. They had been flying for seconds, then minutes, but the closer they got, the farther away the chalice got. For a moment, Celestia thought she could reach out and touch it, but her hooves landed on empty space.

The chalice now appeared to be even further away.

"If it was Chrysalis, and Luna too, and both were corrupted, does this place have some corrupting power?"

Celestia jerked up. "No, there were many evil powers in those days. Luna and I had not yet established our full sovereignty. Darkness and corruption still lurked. You needn't worry."

"Alright. What's that noise?"

"What noise?"

"Don't you hear it?"

The walls were whispering. Was that chanting? Yes, it was chanting. The words were full of undertones, so low she could just barely hear it, but the Princess of Love did hear it, why couldn't Celestia? The chanting was picking up pace, growing louder and louder.

Cadence put her hooves to her ears. "Stop! Stop!"

"Cadence?!" Celestia whirled around. Cadence was covering her ears. The chanting was no longer a whisper, it was a shouting, blades ripping flesh, pained cries, the clash of iron and steel, mad laughter, rats crawling up and down.

"Stop! Stop!"

Celestia shook Cadence. "Snap out if it! What's going on?"

Cadence's eyes glowed a sickly green.

"No, no! Not you! I can't lose you!"

The hissing of vipers emanated from the walls which blood was running up and down. She couldn't see the blood, but it was there, oh, it was there.

Something else was there. Another chanting, a melody that played against the first. This was the melody of a first kiss, the first kiss, the kiss of Earth and Sky, the kiss of energy and matter, the first love that ever was. Love flowed through her and she heard the sweet song whose melody played throughout the universe.

She heard the heartbeat of her distant husband, she heard the low thrum of the Crystal Heart, energized as it was by the love and light of her subjects, she felt her subjects, their love and well-wishes, she felt the love of her aunt.

With a burst of magic, the curse was broken. Love triumphed, as it always did.

Cadence knelt her head, let her magic run through this place, a cleansing, purifying rosy light that filled the cavern for one, blinding instant.

Celestia looked away. "Amor vincit omnia." Love conquers all.

Cadence panted as the last of her magic left her, then returned. "Alright. What was that?"

"Some sort of dark curse. There are magics in this place even I know nothing of."

"It's filled with rainbow magic. Rainbow magic's good, isn't it?"

"Most magic can be corrupted."

Celestia blinked. The gems had been glowing before, but now the light was as bright as the day, a spark within each gem, banishing any shadows that had remained, giving the illusion of standing within a rainbow.

"I understand now." Celestia touched down and strode forward. "That ancient race corrupted the energy of creation. The magic festered and created a wild curse. Luna, Chrysalis, nearly you, were corrupted. I...don't understand why I was protected. Even solar power can be corrupted."

"Something protected you."

"When we first went through this tunnel network, Luna and Chrysalis showed no reaction till later, much later. The curse got stronger. The power of love is incorruptible. True love, I mean, which empowers you."

"Maybe...you were corrupted in a different way? What was your retreat into the Everfree about?"

"Huh. I had never...the dark magic manifest as despair for me, despair the opposite of cheerful solar magic...envy for Luna, the opposite of the moon's selfless nature, giving light through darkness...lust for Chrysalis, who once only hungered for love...the three roots of dark magic. Of course."

Cadence set one trembling hoof onto the chalice. It didn't vanish as she was half-expecting. Clear liquid was in it. "Do you think it's still potent after all this time?"

"Yes."

Celestia scooped the water up in a vial, stepped away from the rock and opened a door in the back. "Let's get out of here."

...
It was evening when they got to Ponyville, Celestia setting the sun as they sailed towards the library. They alighted on the library balcony. Twilight looked up from the book she was reading and galloped to her mentor, giving her a long, loving embrace.

Celestia greeted her with a kiss.

"Brr, you're freezing." Twilight grinned. "I made you some soup, but I can think of other ways to warm you up."

Cadence cleared her throat. Twilight blushed. "Oh, Cadence! I saw Celestia and, well, she sort of blotted you out cause you're behind her and, not that I'm saying Celestia's big, Celestia, you're beautiful."

The panicked spiel came to an end with Cadence putting a hoof to her lips. Celestia disguised a chuckle behind a cough. "Dear Twilight, never change."

Twilight crouched down, Cadence mirrored her.

"Sunshine, sunshine,
Ladybugs awake!"

They covered and uncovered their eyes.

"Clap your hooves and
do a little shake!"

They clapped their hooves, wiggled their rumps and bumped them together before collapsing into giggles.

"So, what's this I hear about tomato soup?" Cadence asked.

"Come in, come in. I think I have enough, can always make more."

Celestia drew the vial out of her saddle bag, Twilight took it into her aura, settled it in a solid steel container atop a bookshelf where it couldn't break or be lost. The sweet aroma of the soup filled the house. Twilight filled three bowls, set them down on the mahogany table. The trial would come soon. Now was the time for food and friendship. Celestia and Cadence set aside their barding, Twilight pulled up a chair and soon they began to talk, forgetting any troubles they were facing.

Author's Notes:

Have I ever mentioned how much I like the episode Three's a Crowd? I'm basing Cadence's characterization on that.

To find out more about Sombra's shadow beasts check out "Her Shield, His Heart."

If I went to deep into philosophical nonsense, let me know.