Twilight promptly resumed her panicking as soon as the Princesses returned to the inner palace. She seemed to pull at her mane lightly and spoke erratically.

“This is my fault. I should have said something but no. All I did was sit back and let oyu guys deal with it. Some kind of Princess I am.”

“Twilight!” Shining Armour spoke up in louder than expected voice. “Knock it off, you’re being ridiculous. There was nothing to be done.”

“Your brother is right, Miss Sparkle.” Luna kept her usual stoic look despite of recent events. “You did all you could. Now it is simply own to our next actions.”

“But I don’t know what to do now. That colt made a threat against Canterlot and its ponies.”

Celestia held her head low, her mane losing some of its shimmer. When she spoke it seemed to lower the spirits of everypony in the room. “I shall see to it that no pony is harmed. My sister and I shall take council for now. Shining, assemble what guard you can, We may need to call upon them soon.”

The guard stallion stood to attention on the sound of his name. “Yes your majesties.” He marched out the door quick time, setting off to the barracks to rally the troops. Luna closed the heavy palace doors with her magical aura and stood back at her sister’s side.

“In times like these we feel it may be necessary to fall back on the old codes of battle. We must send out messengers in all directions, aid will come to us if we need it.”

“That may not be possible sister. The messenger said that they would keep watch of the city. I fear that anypony who attempts to flee will meet a worse fate. It is too great a distance to teleport and far to risk to journey through the mountain pass.”

“If we have no way of letting our allies know of this war then how do you expect to fight it.”

“I would prefer not to entirely, but it seems I have very little choice. I shall raise the shield over the city, to protect her. It will not stop them indefinitely but it will bide us some time. If only we had a way of getting word to Cadence in the north. The Crystal Empire is more than capable of holding its own in battle, but it is too far away.”

“Well, there’s always Spike.” Celestia and Luna remembered that they were no longer the only royalty in the palace anymore, turning to face the lavender mare. “Well, what I mean is that Spike is able to send messages without detection. We may be able to get word to Cadence.”

“While your reasoning is sound, Twilight, I doubt Spike would be able to send a message such a distance. But he may be of some help yet. If we can send word to your friends in Ponyville then we have a small chance.”

“Of course! We can ask them for help! They can head north on the train to-“

“Not by train.” Luna cut into her sentence abruptly. “We fear that those lines may not be safe to travel at this moment. If what the messenger says is true, then he will have this place under close guard. If your friends are to make in north then they will have to make it on foot.”

“I’m sure they’re more than capable of doing it.”

“The question is not if they are capable, it’s whether or not we have that much time.”

A very audible gulp came from the young princess as the realisation began to sink in. “But surely it’s worth a try. Rainbow could fly there with no problem and be back with help. We can trust them.”

Celestia admired her student’s eagerness. If anypony was to be trusted with this mission, Celestia was glad at least that it rested with Twilights friends. “Then it shall be so. Spike shall send word to Ponyville. In the meantime we must prepare ourselves for the worst. We have no way of telling of how many vassals we may be dealing with. I hope to be able to restarts negotiations but I’m not getting my hopes up. Twilight, see to it that Spike has the message sent as soon as possible. Afterwards we shall attend to out royal duty as it has been for many years. Be sure that you rest well Twilight, for you never know what tomorrow may hold in store.”

Before Twilight rushed off to send her message, Celestia and Luna took her out onto the highest balcony. From here they could see across the entire valley bellow, from the Saddle Lake to the forests of Whitetail. It was truly beautiful at sunset. Celestia’s horn gently glowed and the sun did as it was commanded, drifting to sleep behind the distant hills. Luna rested a hoof on Twilight's shoulder, her horn began to imitate the same soft glow and raising to moon to its peak. Twilight tried to concentrate, her mind struggling to find its grip. Her horn seemed to glitter a bit and it was evident she was struggling. Luna closed her eyes and lent her help. Together they lit the stars in the sky and scattered them across the deep blue canvas. It was something to behold, but Twilight's first efforts were of course in need of some practice and perfection.

The three princesses trotted back inside with a silence hanging over them. Luna soon departed down the stairs leaving Celestia and Twilight to remain in the palace halls. Neither seemed to speak for a while, almost contempt to remain still, until the lavender mare felt the weariness of day creep up on her.

“I guess I better have that letter sent off now. I’ll try and be as clear as I can.”

“Do what you must Twilight.

She began to move into a slow Canter to reach her quarters, only turning to face her teacher once again. They exchanged a light smile as Twilight gave her farewells. “Goodnight Celestia.”

“Good night Twilight. Pleasant dreams.”

Next Chapter: Friends in Higher Places Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 51 Minutes