First, a letter. Twilight received it. The writing was quite curious, clearly not hoof-written. Had someone fed it through a typewriter? The letters were in English, which made sense enough.

They had Luna, and she was safe, and they were ready to return her. They just needed to have permission to fly her home.

I am aware that you can visit the Anchorage city hall. You may submit a reply there. There are a number of other things I wish to discuss, but the return of your citizens takes a priority. With your approval, we will bring them all home.

Twilight rushed to share the news with Celestia.

Luna was looking out a window. She was perched on a seat in the Oval Office itself, a privileged place to be, though that context was largely lost on her. She understood that it was important to the people there. They kept looking at her oddly. She did not belong there, but the one who had mastery over that place had insisted she could remain.

"Excuse me." A younger female was approaching her. Not young enough to be a child, but younger than the others, Luna felt certain. "May I ask you a question?"

Luna twitched an ear at the strange human. She was speaking decently at least. "How can I help you?"

"I... probably shouldn't be bothering you, but I have a thousand questions." The woman smiled gently. "I'm (Samantha), and you are Princess Luna, right?"

"A pleasure."

Samantha paused a moment, perhaps surprised at the curt reply. "You've been through a lot... I'm sorry. We're not all... that way."

"I am aware." She turned to regard the female, considering her. "Your ruler... Do you have two of them? I have met two that claim the title. I find I prefer the one named after the bird."

"President Crane is the president," assured the woman with an uneasy smile. "His vice president was in charge for a little while, but that's over."

"Ah." She was quiet, her eyes on the woman. "Tell me, why did you come here? Are you hoping to learn more about my people?"

"Yes."

Luna perked, blinking. "That is almost refreshingly honest, but I will not be used any longer as an information source. I am tired of being interrogated."

"Oh, no! Not like that. I'm not with the..." There remained no real good words for that. "Guards? I'm not with them. I'm just curious, and you looked bored, and lonely."

Luna nodded softly. "I am perhaps both of these things, but I desire the company of another pony. Surely, if you were feeling lonely, my presence would hardly suffice."

"Why not?" She offered a hand. "You have a story I would like to hear. Also, you have a wonderful voice."

Luna looked to that hand and the face it belonged to. She had a nice voice? That was... a compliment, surely. She reached for the hand, her hoof shaking a little. She noticed the quiver and frowned, fighting it away to thrust her hoof against the hand firmly.

Her hoof slapped against the knuckles of the woman, making her wrench the hand away with a pained expression. "(Ah Jesus,)" she swore softly, shaking the struck hand. "Easy..." She did not flee immediately, instead reaching for the already extended hoof, her fingers curling around the narrow flesh beyond the hard hoof and shaking Luna's leg carefully.

Luna had made a friend, though she was unsure how she felt about them just yet.

The response came. The ponies had sent their armies home, with only those local to the Crystal Empire remaining. Still, they were promised an untroubled visit.

With permission obtained, the captives were loaded up onto a plane to transport from Alaska-proper to the Crystal Empire. Luna had to be flown back to where the others were being held to then transfer forward.

Her second flight was far less trying, with no bindings being employed on her and being treated as a guest aboard the plane that served as Air Force One that day. She was given anything she desired, but she desired little but the destination that she was promised.

When the others were collected and brought onto the third plane, Luna was on her hooves in an instant. "Take those off of them!" she ordered, scowling at the horn-bands that her fellow Warlocks were wearing.

The president held up a lone hand. "This is the first time I'm seeing this. More importantly, there are no good bilinguals in Alaska, yet. We're working on that."

Luna turned on him with an angry snort. "Now you are here, and you can see those!" She shoved a hoof towards the accursed things. "Have them removed!"

"If you would speak with them first. I want them removed, but not if doing so puts the crew of this airship in danger."

One of the warlocks smiled viciously. "If they take off these chains, that's enough. I won't be caught like that twice." The hoof-to-hoof expert was ready for a scrap.

"Luna, good to see you're intact," noted the teleportation expert. "That one speaks... uh, pretty well... so... can you say whatever he's asking you to say? I want this thing off!"

Luna could see a reflection. The teleporter's eyes were a little too wide, her body shaking softly. There was a mare that felt the same deep pains the princess did. She wanted to rush to the teleporter and embrace them and perhaps never let go, but it wasn't time for that. "This is Crane, their leader. He was not in charge when we were first captured. He has removed my band and is the one insisting we be returned to Equestria. If he removes your bands, do you promise to not harm him or anyone else on this airship?"

The hoof-to-hoof expert took a firm step forward despite her chains. "Quiet Movement is dead. Maybe Star Swirl too. I haven't seen him, but Quiet's... gone."

Crane let out a soft sigh. He had hoped they had all been captured intact... "Star Swirl is alive. He captured me during that, and is why I wasn't in charge at the time."

The brawler shied back half a step. "Oh, that's good... still." She fixed her eyes on Luna. "They killed one of us. We're just allowing that?"

"Shut up and let them take this off of me!" wailed the teleporter, sudden tears flowing from her. "Shut up shut up shut up! I promise. I promise anything! Just take this off! I promise!" She collapsed, burying her face in her hooves. "Please..."

Luna's teeth set, her heart breaking at the sight. She knew how that felt too keenly. "Set her free. She has agreed and is harmless at this moment."

Crane subtly gestured with his head towards the collapsed unicorn. "(Go ahead.)" A serviceman advanced to remove the device and started unshackling her. Crane looked towards the most defiant of the lot. "You are angry, and you have every right to be, but you will win nothing by attacking us now. The conflict between our people is over, and the wrongs need to be addressed, but not through more blood."

Luna felt some of her tension easing as the sobbing mare was set free of the many things that held her down, both physically and otherwise. "This particular person has done us no harm and is seeing us safely home. Let's be polite guests, for now."

"Fine," spat out the brawler.

The other Warlocks murmured their agreements, some encouraged by the freedom the teleporter was getting.

Soon they were all liberated, chains removed and set aside. Their bands were lifted free of horns. Two horns began to glow immediately. The teleporter, like Luna, did not glow. She was still crying and curled up in a miserable ball.

The brawler nudged her sobbing friend. "Hey, they took it off. Stop that."

"Leave her be," spat Luna, feeling defensive. "She has been through much..." She turned to Crane. "Now we're going home?"

"If everyone would please sit down and buckle up?" He sat in his own chair, showing how it was done.

Surprisingly, the idea of buckles was not an alien one to the ponies. They were soon seated and secured of their own power, minus the crying wreck that was the teleporter.

The brawler grunted as her horn glowed all the brighter, hefting up the teleporter and setting her in an available seat. When she tried to strap her peer in, the sobbing became a piercing wail.

"No! No no noooo! You will not chain me again!" She pawed frantically at the glowing buckle, preventing herself from being secured.

"Oh for the love of..." The brawler scowled at the other mare. "I thought you were stronger than this. C'mon!"

The moment the brawler stopped trying to strap her in, the wail died down to sobbing once more and the teleporter sagged bonelessly on her seat, laying across three seats worth of cushions and burying her face into those cushions.

Luna willed her buckle free and stepped forward. "Stop it... I will remain with her and make sure she is safe. You may launch when ready." She sat down in front of the emotionally wrecked pony and gently held her in her magic, rocking them gently. "It's alright," she whispered. "You are with friends, and we are going home. It's over... It's over..."

With the sign given by the president, the plane began to move. Luna was true to her word, keeping herself and the teleporter safely in place the entire way. She never left the spot, and never stopped speaking gentle comforts to the ruined pony.

On the positive, she decided silently, her own hurts seemed so much smaller in comparison. She had thought herself a complete failure, crying as much as she had, but she had only shed tears. She had not... collapsed and broken down in such a way.

All the more reason she would not abandon that Warlock in desperate need of a sympathetic hoof.

Celestia watched the skyline. How could she not? She pressed her eye to the viewfinder of the telescope, scanning the horizon slowly. Her breath drew in a sudden gasp. There it was! One of their airships was approaching them.

She wanted to just teleport to it, but that could... end poorly. She danced in place with a silly grin. Her sister was coming home. "Twilight!" She ran off to find her former-student. "Lulu is coming!"

Twilight leaned out of the library she had been studying in. "Who?"

"Lulu! Wait, no. Luna! Luna's coming!" Celestia pointed up in the direction she had seen the human's airship. "Where will they land?" Human airships went forward at great speeds... could they go straight up and down?

Twilight tilted her head. "I have no idea... I trust they've thought of that, or they wouldn't be there. They seem to enjoy having a plan before they rush into things, usually..."

Soon all three princesses had gathered in front of the castle, Shining Armor next to Cadance. All eyes were on the plane. All of them. Every pony in the city was watching it come closer. All had heard of the destruction one of them could bring, and none could bring themselves entirely to feel safe as one sped towards them.

"(We are coming in,)" spoke the pilot. "(There is no runway, so expect a bumpy ride.)" There was plenty of flat enough space, and this wasn't the standard plane used to ferry the president around.

That would have been silly, with no runway to land on or take off in. With great mechanical thumps, the plane prepared itself as it slowed in the air and began the descend, coming straight down on the largest available plot of land they could see, the coliseum. They scorched the grass there, but didn't harm any of the structure as they thumped into position, coming to a halt, the engines slowly winding down.

"(Welcome to sunny horse town. It's... 65 degrees outside and sunny. Thank you for flying Marine One.)"

Author's Notes:

An entire chapter with one cohesive plot thread? I must not be feeling well... How'd I do?!

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