“Luna, could I have a word with you?”

Princess Luna looked over at her sister. “Don’t you have other things to be focused on right now?” she asked. “Considering the first representatives of the Cuanmiztl Kingdom are due to arrive in just a few days…”

“I know, and I’m still amazed that Twilight was able to open communications between they and us,” Celestia said. “But there is something that we, a few of the Queens and I, have been talking about, and…”

“You’re talking about his lifespan, aren’t you.” she said stiffly, narrowing her eyes.

Celestia felt her heart sink. “Yes,” she confessed. “Luna, I know you two love one another, and I am very happy for you, but after the pain I felt when I lost… well, you know. I can’t help but worry about what’ll happen to you when he-”

“Celestia,” Luna said, the use of her sister’s full name showing how serious she was. “Pharynx and I have talked about this already. Believe me, I know what would happen, and I promise you, I am fully prepared for that eventuality.” She gave her sister a knowing look. “Just… trust me on this, please? I know what I’m doing.”

Celestia sighed. “All right, Luna. I’ll trust you.”

“Good. Now…” Luna grinned. “Be a dear, and go focus on your work. I have a bug to go snuggle.”

With that, she trotted off, leaving Celestia to watch and, in her own way, secretly envy her.

Would that I had somepony of my own, she thought, before turning around and going back to her room.

She had just settled into her chambers when she heard a faint buzzing noise. All right, who’s flying by now? she wondered. Peering out the window, she saw no changelings flying by, and turned away.

Buzz. Buzz.

Celestia’s ears flicked. Then, suddenly, she realized. Those weren’t the sound of changeling wings; they were…

In an instant, she dashed over to the shelves where the noise was coming from and pulled a book with her Cutie Mark off the shelf.

It was vibrating.

“Sunset?” she whispered. Opening the book to the most recently used page, and then one more, she read the message that had been sent to her.

Then she closed the book and galloped out of her room.

“Sister!”

Luna raised her head, an annoyed look on her face. “What does she want now,” she grumbled.

Pharynx shrugged. “Not sure, but she’s radiating…” He raised his head and tilted it. “Urgency, if I’m reading it right. And a lot of other stuff mixed in. I don’t think this is a normal situation, Lus.”

“Of course.” Luna sighed, but rose from where she’d been laying and went to answer the door. “Celly, what-”

“She needs me!” Celestia’s face was suddenly in hers.

Luna blinked in confusion. “Who?”

“Sunset Shimmer!” Celestia looked almost frantic. “Look, I need to go talk to the Alpha; he might be able to help me. Luna, you’ll need to take care of my Duties with the sun for a while.”

“All right, but…”

“Luna, I promise I will tell you everything as soon as I can, but I need to go to the Packlands for a while.” She drew in a deep breath. “If something happens to me, Equestria is yours. Promise me, Luna. Promise me you will take care of everypony, and everycreature, for me.”

“I promise,” Luna said.

“Thank you, Luna. Thank you so much.”

Then Celestia’s horn lit up, and she was away.

Less than a day later, Celestia stood at the entrance to the Wolf’s Den. Taking a deep breath, she entered.

The Alpha was waiting for her, and he gave her a friendly nod. “Celestia,” he said. “I trust there were no issues getting here?”

“No, and I appreciate you giving your people ample warning, to permit me to teleport along the path,” she said as the two headed deeper into the mountain. “Twilight wrote me about that around the time she set off on her world tour.”

“Ah yes,” he said. “This way.”

Passing the main Gathering chamber, and then the study where the Alpha did most of his business with the various other political leaders, he led her into a deep chamber where a tall mirror stood, sealing the exit behind them.

“Unlike the Crystal Mirror, this one does not have limits to when it can be activated,” he said. “I do not keep it open at all times, but I do drop in every now and then.” He turned to her. “I allow you to use it this time because of necessity; these sirens you told me of, the ones exiled by Starswirl and his allies, are a truly concerning danger.” He frowned. “Perhaps we should check to find if any other Equestrians or their artifacts wound up there at some point; if these sirens were exiled to that world, they may not be the only ones.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Celestia said. “And again, thank you so much for all the help.”

“It’s the least I can do, given how your other former student helped us all so much,” he said. “Now, go. Find the young one. Give her the help she needs.”

Celestia nodded, and then ran through the mirror.

Passing through a swirling flash of odd colors, she found herself emerging onto a concrete ground, and reached up with a… hand? She paused to stare at it. Yes, definitely a hand.

Hearing several gasps, she looked back to see six girls, all staring at her in surprise. All with familiar manestyles. Especially…

“Sunset?” she asked hesitantly.

“Princess?” the girl said in Sunset’s voice. “Why- how-”

“Sunset!” And then Celestia threw her arms around her former pupil. “I’ve missed you!”

Nearby, another girl scratched her head. “Well, Ah sure wasn’t expectin’ this,” she said in a familiar accent.

“Me neither!” a third girl said, her pink poofy hairstyle easily identifying her.

“Um, girls?” another pink-haired girl said. “Maybe we should… do this somewhere else?” She seemed a little disappointed, but Celestia decided to wonder about that later.

“You’re right,” she said. “But Sunset… it is very good to see you again.”

Sunset gave her a nervous smile. “It’s good to see you too,” she said.

A little while later, the seven had slipped off campus, and gone to the Sweet Shoppe - the local equivalent of Ponyville’s Sugarcube Corner, she’d been told when Twilight had described the place to her. Sunset was shaking her head in disbelief and pride as Celestia told her all about what was happening back home.

“Good for Twilight,” she said. “I’d hoped to see her again, but knowing what she’s doing now, off helping the world through diplomacy, that’s great too.”

“I still can’t believe you had an entire war going on,” Rarity said. “That must have been positively dreadful!”

“I can’t believe Vice-Principal Luna - I mean, Princess Luna - has a boyfriend!” Rainbow Dash said. “Er, no offense intended to your sister,” she said to Celestia. “But we always kinda figured our Luna... er… wasn’t interested in guys that way. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; she’s plenty cool. But we’ve never seen her show that kind of attraction to a guy. Even in the old yearbooks we looked at this one time.”

“Really?” Celestia gave her a surprised look. “Well, different backgrounds, different tastes, I suppose. Of course, she might just be more circumspect about her personal life.”

“Could be,” Applejack said with a shrug. “But gettin’ back to this whole siren business, how we gonna deal with them?”

“I really don’t know, girls,” Celestia said. “What we need is some way to counter their spell of hatred. Unfortunately, I don’t know if I can even tap my magic here - this isn’t the first world of humans that I’ve been to, but it’s considerably dryer, magically speaking.”

“Well, we can!” Pinkie said eagerly. “All five of us!”

“Really?” Celestia looked surprised. “How?”

“‘s been happenin’ every time we play music,” Applejack said. “We get our pony ears and tails. That’s all we can do though.”

“Hmm.” Celestia considered. “Well, that might actually work,” she said thoughtfully. “The sirens specialized in using music to transmit their spell of hatred, perhaps a spell of love or harmony can be used to counteract them using the same thing.”

“But… can you even channel that kind of power?” Sunset asked. “You lost your link to the Elements when you turned them against your sister.” Then she looked embarrassed. “Er, no offense.”

“No, you’re right, Sunset,” Celestia said. “I did just what you said and went against the principles of harmony, turning them against one whom they had been partnered with. Their rejecting me was only right.” She hung her head. “Maybe I should have asked Cadance to come over instead; Love is her purview, and the Opposite of Hatred.”

Sunset laid a hand on her shoulder. “But then… I wouldn’t have gotten to see you again,” she said. “I really missed you, Princess.”

Celestia smiled. “I missed you too, Sunset,” she said softly.

Then she put out a hand for all of them to accept. “Let’s figure out how we’re going to do this. Together.”

“Yeah!” all six girls chorused.

“I must admit, I haven’t spent nearly as much time with your Equestrian counterparts as I would have liked to, even with Twilight’s letters about them,” Celestia said as they sat around in Applejack’s barn a while later. “So I’m afraid I’m at somewhat of a disadvantage when it comes to the five of you.”

Applejack shrugged. “Mah other self’s a farmer, ain’t she? Seems to me that there shouldn’t be that much difference in the methods.”

“Well, I expect her methods of harvesting are a little different,” Celestia said. “You see, she tends to kick the trees in just the right place to make them shed their apples.”

“Really?” Applejack looked interested. “Must be a lot faster than doing them one by one.”

“And Fluttershy-” Celestia turned to her. “I can tell you love animals just as much as your counterpart. Though there is one facet of her life that I learned about over the past six months that I can only hope is different here.” She leaned in and whispered, and Fluttershy’s pupils narrowed.

“No,” she said. “That’s just the same.”

“Oh.”

“What was that about?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Fluttershy went over and whispered into her ear, and she groaned. “Figures.”

“And now we come to you, Rainbow Dash,” Celestia said before the others could ask. “Your counterpart has long been seeking to join the Wonderbolts - one of our most famed aerial performance teams. Are you…”

“Are you kiddin’ me?” Rainbow Dash grinned. “I’ve been wanting to join them for ages! Gotta wait until I’m old enough to enlist though. Members need to spend a few years in the active service first.”

“Really?” Celestia looked a little surprised. “In Equestria, military service isn’t required for membership, though their Captain did actually go through training and serve in the last war.”

“Huh. Guess that’s one of the differences.”

Next, Celestia turned to Rarity. “Your counterpart actually runs her own business, and is looking to expand into other cities,” she said. “May I presume you do not yet?”

Rarity shook her head. “I am employed at the Carousel Boutique part time and am actually in serious consideration for taking over once I’ve finished college,” she said. “But it is good to know that one of me is living our dream.”

Celestia smiled. “She is,” she said. “Her parents, the one time I had the opportunity to really meet them, said they were so proud of her.”

Rarity blushed. “My own feel the same way,” she said.

All this time, Pinkie had been quiet, but suddenly she was in Celestia’s face. “Tell me! Do I live with my parents, or with Maud?” she demanded.

“Er… actually, you live above Sugarcube Corner, where you work for the Cake family,” Celestia said. “Your sister Maud is still working on her Rocktorate, though she took some time off to enlist and serve when the war was declared.”

“Okay!” And just like that, Pinkie was back across the room. “Maud’s actually doing her Rocktorate now too,” she said. “She’s in charge of our house here in town ‘cause her college is closer this way, and I work at the Sweet Shoppe part-time. My parents and our other sisters spend most of their time in Rockville.”

“I see.”

“Come on,” Rainbow Dash said. “Look, Princess… I hate to cut things off, but we gotta practice for a while.”

“Of course.” Celestia sat back and watched the five playing, until she noticed Sunset was right beside her.

“I did miss you,” she said quietly. “Even at my worst. I bottled it up, and I pretended I didn’t care, but I did.”

“Sunset, when Twilight came back from this place the last time, I asked her about you,” Celestia said just as quietly. “You don’t know how much relief I felt when she said you were safe, and in good hands.”

Sunset blushed. “Princess… I messed up, so badly,” she said. “All I wanted was to make you proud of me. To be so impressed that you felt I should be made an alicorn, and let me spend all eternity by your side.”

“Sunset… even if I hadn’t become so upset with you over what I felt were the selfish, greedy demands you were making, I couldn’t have made you an alicorn,” Celestia told her. “A pony who is not born as one has to achieve it on their own, and those who would seek it for selfish reasons would never be able to.” She looked down. “I didn’t even know for sure that Twilight would become one. When she did, it was a miracle.”

Sunset looked down. “Oh,” she said in a small voice.

“But even when I was upset… Sunset, I mourned you, and what you had become,” Celestia told her. “You were the first student I had personally taken on in centuries. I had such high hopes…” She sighed. “I still do,” she said.

“Princess…” Sunset suddenly made a decision, turned and hugged her. “Right now,” she said, “I just hope we can get through all this. I don’t like seeing my classmates, my teachers… or anyone, really, under the influence of those girls. They’re worse than they were when I was the one tearing friendship apart.” She looked Celestia straight in the eye. “We have to make this right again,” she said. “Like Twilight did.”

Celestia looked down at her, and felt a spark of pride at the sincerity she saw in her former student’s eyes. “We will,” she promised. “We will.”

“Well, here we are again,” Spike said somewhat reluctantly as he brought their airskimmer in for a landing. The two would be heading inland after this, this time towards the more volcanic region where most dragons lived.

Twilight gave him a smile. “Come on, Spike,” she said. “I’m sure they won’t be all bad…”

Spike shrugged. “I still don’t know, Twilight. Our experiences with other dragons haven’t been the best before. And the ones we met really didn’t like ponies. I can’t help but worry how they’ll react to you.”

“I promise, we’ll be fine,” Twilight told him. “Besides, I want to talk to their Dragon Lord and see what all the wolves have passed on from the last Gathering.” She paused. “I wonder if some of them are still here?”

“We’ll see,” Spike said.

A few hours later, the two had reached a large, rocky area. But something was decidedly off.

“You know, this is supposed to be the Dragon Lands,” Spike said nervously as he looked around. “But except for me, I haven’t seen a single dragon around!”

Twilight nodded. “You think they’re all off migrating again?” she asked.

“They are not here because I didn’t want them here!” a voice suddenly boomed. A moment later, a massive shadow swept overhead, and what landed in front of them was the biggest dragon Twilight had ever seen.

“Why are you here, pony‽” the dragon demanded.

“Um… on behalf of Equestria, I offer you all greetings and good fortune on your travels and in all your endeavors!" Twilight called back to him. “I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle, and you are?”

"I am Torch, the Lord of all Dragons, the Lord of all FIRE!” the dragon boomed. “You will bow before me, puny pony, or face the consequences!"

Twilight suddenly looked excited. "Lord of Fire? As in, the one who aligns with Day and is closely associated with Summer?"

"WHO TOLD‽" Torch bellowed.

“Um…” Twilight blinked. “That would be one of our fellow Powers.”

“Fellow-” Torch suddenly stopped and looked down at her. “Fellow Powers?” he asked suspiciously, in a less ear-splitting tone. “Just who did you say you were, again?”

“Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said. “Lady of Magic, Princess of Friendship and Equestria, personal student of Princess Celestia of the Day, and a friend of the Alpha of the Packlands, Great Uniter of the Packs, Lord of Summer.”

Torch eyed her again, before laughing. “Hah! Then you are interesting, for a pony!” He then looked down at Spike, who was standing next to her and doing his best not to freak out. “And who are you, little one?”

“I am…” Spike straightened himself out. “I am Spike, of Canterlot and Ponyville,” he said. “Son and number one assistant of Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“Son‽” Torch bellowed. “How is it you come to call yourself the son of any pony‽”

“She hatched me, that’s why!” Spike said defiantly.

“And how did this come about?”

Carefully, Twilight began to tell the story that Princess Celestia had shared with her friends in the aftermath of the war, and subsequently written down and sent to her. When she was done, Torch looked down at her.

“So,” he rumbled. “The unhatched egg has finally given forth its spark of life.” He stuck his face in hers. “Why was I not told this sooner‽”

“I honestly don’t know,” Twilight said, glad she’d cast a last-minute sound dampening spell on her ears. “Princess Celestia only told me about this not that long back, and that’s after I’d been raising him for over ten years.”

“Hah.” Torch raised his head back up. “The great swan is still playing things close to her chest, then.”

“Er, I guess?” Twilight blinked. “I think it’s a habit, after a couple millennia of life.”

“True,” Torch acknowledged. “I have ruled the Dragon Lands for nearly a thousand years myself. But when I want dragons to know things, they know them!” Then he leaned up and sniffed. “And when I want privacy, I expect it!”

There was a moment’s pause, and then a much smaller dragon (though still taller than Twilight), covered in blue scales, came flying across the crater. “Then maybe you shouldn’t be bellowing loud enough to be heard on the far side of the planet, Dad.”

Torch growled, but the other dragon didn’t back down. “Seriously, you could wake up one of those old guys doing their hundred-year nap,” she complained.

“If you were not my daughter, you would regret that,” Torch growled. “But, since you’re here.” He gestured to Spike. “The unhatched one has returned.”

“Really?” The smaller dragon looked interested. “The only egg you ever let leave the Dragon Lands? This is him?”

“And she who hatched him,” Torch rumbled. “Entertain him! I must speak with the Princess of Equestria.”

The two of them traded looks, then the smaller dragon let out a harrumph. “Come on, little guy,” she said. “Some dragon… haven’t even gone through the Molt yet, have you?”

“I’m only twelve!” Spike shot back.

“Then you’ve got another three or four years to go.” The dragon shrugged. “Guess it makes more sense now.” She grabbed his hand and led him away.

When they’d gone, Torch nodded. “My daughter, Princess Ember, will take good care of him,” he said.

“I’m sure she will,” Twilight said. “So.” She looked up at Torch. “I’m actually here so Spike and I can learn more about your people,” she said. “The last time we tried, it didn’t go so well - one of the Packlands’ ambassadors was supposed to tell you about that?”

“Bah!” Torch spat. “They told me. That fool has been given due punishment for his actions. We are brave, we are mighty! But we do! Not! Murder! Babies!” He lowered his voice again. “The one called Garble has been sent into exile for his actions to think about what he has done; he may return to our lands only if pardoned, or if called back by the Bloodstone Scepter. But he is forever barred from the Gauntlet of Fire for his crimes, even if pardoned.”

“The Gauntlet of Fire?” Twilight repeated.

“When my term as Dragon Lord ends, the Gauntlet of Fire shall test the might and will of all dragons,” Torch said. “Whomever succeeds shall be the next Dragon Lord. And, if I deem them worthy, shall inherit my status as Lord of Fire.” He considered. “Or Lady. It depends on the dragon.”

Twilight’s eyes lit up. “Fascinating… tell me more!”

“Very well!” Torch boomed. “Sit down, little pony. This will be a long tale, of brave and bold deeds, of great battles fought!”

“Like the one at the end of the war with the Storm King?” Twilight asked eagerly.

“What!” Torch’s face was suddenly in hers. “We. Missed. A war‽ When was this‽”

“Well…” Twilight gave a nervous chuckle. “We didn’t get involved until a little after summer, and ended last winter, but the Storm King had been doing his own thing for years before that…”

“So,” Ember said to Spike as they headed across the land. “What’s it like, having a pony for a mom?”

“In its own way, exhausting,” Spike said. “You would not believe how much effort I have to put into keeping her from rearranging the library every day, or freaking out over missing an assignment.” He shrugged. “But, that’s Twilight for ya. Not every pony is like her.”

“No kidding.” Ember shrugged. “Way I hear it, most of them are way soft. Oh sure, there’s ones like that Flash Magnus guy Dad ran into back in the day, but he was one of a kind.”

Spike chuckled. “You should have been there during the royal wedding a while back. We had to fight off a full-scale invasion.”

“An invasion? Is that normal for pony weddings?” Ember asked.

“Nope.” Spike shook his head. “Chrysalis was just being a greedy jerk.”

“Sounds like most dragons I know. They spend half the time bragging, or showing off their muscles, or holding belching contests.” Ember shrugged. “Actually, I win most of those. So what do you do when you’re not helping ponies do stuff?”

“Well, I read comics, I show off my muscles to myself… I smell my own feet.”

“Heh.” Ember gave a light chuckle. “Guess you’re more like a typical dragon than I thought, even if you aren’t a jerk.”

“And since last summer, we’ve been traveling the world, meeting new people and learning about their cultures. Even got mixed up in a war.”

“War?” Ember suddenly looked at him. “What war? Why weren’t we invited?”

“Um, ‘cause Equestria doesn’t have formal diplomatic ties with you, and I don’t know why the wolves didn’t say anything,” Spike said. “Anyway, there was this guy who was out conquering a bunch of territory until we got wind of it and told Princess Celestia. She and a bunch of other countries got together and built an army - ponies, wolves, griffons, changelings, minotaurs and probably a few others I’m forgetting, then they fought off the yetis he had. Then Twilight and this unicorn she’d made friends with, and one of the changelings, went in and fought the Storm King until they knocked him out onto the battlefield and one of the ponies out there stabbed him.”

“Whoa.” Ember looked at him in surprise. “Didn’t know a pony would have it in them to do that kind of thing.”

“Neither did I, until I heard about it.” Spike said. “I think that they sold it as taking care of the foes far away so those at home would be safe.”

“Huh.” Ember shrugged. “Wonder what Dad will say when he finds out all of this.”

“Probably mad he missed out,” Spike suggested.

“Probably.”

“So, anything to do that doesn’t involve showing off for other dragons?” Spike asked.

“Ever been swimming in lava?”

“Once, but… kinda bad memories.” Spike shrugged.

Ember looked at him incredulously. “How’s a dragon get bad memories from swimming in lava? We’re immune to fire and heat of any kind.”

“I know, and it’s less the lava and more that the guys I was hanging out with then were big jerks,” Spike told her. “Ever heard of a dragon named Garble?”

“The exile?” Ember frowned. “No wonder you have bad memories. Come on, I’ll show you what it’s like to have some real fun in the lava.”

Spike hurried after her, and a few hours later, when they were getting back out, he had to admit that relaxing in lava with an actual friend instead of a bully really was different.

I wonder if Twilight could magic up one of these for me when we get home, he thought to himself. That was fun.

Twilight and Torch were still talking when the two returned.

“And that is why the Dragon Lord Scintilla is the first and only honorary yak!” Torch was announcing when they approached.

Twilight beamed. “That is incredible!” she said. “I had no idea the yaks and the dragons were friends! It’s been over a thousand years since they closed their borders…”

“When one of the leaders of the most influential nation attacks the other leader of the same influential nation, we tend to get worried, especially as there was no true buildup to the attempted coup nor did we get a true explanation for it or a response for several years,” Torch said gruffly.

“Oh,” Twilight said. “Well, I only found out the full story a while ago myself - Princess Luna was possessed, by Umbrea-”

“The former Lady of Nightmares,” Torch said, nodding. “We had heard she vanished shortly before the attempted coup, but not why. She was its cause?”

Then, as Twilight was nodding, they suddenly noticed Ember and Spike nearby. “Were you not entertained?” Torch boomed.

Spike gave him a thumbs up. “Swimming in lava is fun when the other dragon isn’t a jerk!”

“Good.” Torch turned to Twilight. “We will send word to the yaks that you seek to visit,” he said. “They are an isolated people, but they dare not turn down a message from the Dragon Lord.”

“I appreciate that very much,” Twilight said. “Thank you for everything, Dragon Lord Torch.”

“You are most welcome, Friendship Princess Sparkle,” Torch boomed back. “And we shall be most sad to witness your departure.” Then he turned to Ember. “Be sad!”

“Oh, I am, I am,” Ember said. “Believe me, I don’t look it, but I am.”

Long after Twilight and Spike had gone off back to their airskimmer, she was still looking in their direction, hoping in her heart of hearts that she would see them again.

“For a dragon raised among ponies, Spike was actually kind of fun,” she finally said.

“And Princess Sparkle was a good listener,” Torch said. “Not like most dragons!”

“No kidding, Dad. No kidding.”