Celestia sighed. Not only did she have to deal with her kingdom's instability, she also had to deal with the other things that Peter Roose had arrived in Equestria with...

She set aside the bag, and looked at the map of Equestria, happy that the Griffon eunuch was back on his way to his homeland.

I thought he would never stop talking about his little 'birds'...he has enough spies over there, why can't he just keep his beak out of Equestria?

Celestia sighed and looked over to Luna, who seemed unfazed by the eunuch's presence.

Makes sense...she wasn't here during the thousand years in which I disbanded eunuchs in Equestria...

"Luna, you do know that eunuchs are now illegal in Equestria, right?"

The blue alicorn looked up at her sister in surprise.

"For what reason, mine sister? Methinks that they possess an uncanny skill for sniffing out lies, and digging up truths!"

The white alicorn rolled her eyes, the old Equestrian still worming its way into her speech patterns.

"Because it is cruel, and unnecessary, and risky. Binding a colt to work by removing their colthood...it's oppression. You weren't here, but we had three too many eunuch rebellions over the past thousand years. And now the Griffons refuse to disband their eunuch spies..."

She sighed, looking at the divided map of Equestria.

"We need to be in unity. How can we be in unity, when my delegates keep me from uniting with the Griffons, because they disagree with us? Discord's tried to kill somepony, Luna. He's not playing nice this time. Just like in the first Discordian War, his main goal is to divide us, and destroy us. With a eunuch and his spies running about...it will be too easy."

Luna sighed heavily, staring at the ground.

"'Tia...if Discord rises again, and he is as bloodthirsty as he was in the Discordian War...how will we stop him?"

Celestia looked down at Luna, sympathizing with her fear.

"Luna...we have the Elements of Harmony. This time, we can finally destroy him."

"But what if...what if he wins over the New Age Elders?"

Celestia blinked, thinking of the two New Age Elders that currently lived on the Canterlot Mountain, oblivious as to their roles, and what they would one day become...

She shook her head. She had to finish cataloging, and magically scanning, Peter's possessions, which was a very simple task compared to unlocking the New Age Elders' capabilities, let alone uniting all of Equestria.

"Luna, we've already turned three of them to our side. One of them knows what she is, and is waiting for Lys i Mørket to awaken."

The alicorrn looked up at the mention of the Elder's name, and watched Celestia move around objects and poke them with her horn, trying hard to keep her head straight as the Princess of all of Equestria, yet not of the surrounding provinces.

"Lys i Mørket? I don't remember meeting an Elder named Lys i Mørket..."

"That's because it is not an Elder. It is the essence of the Elders, and is what makes, and strengthens, Elders. It is a power that Gylden Glør harnessed, and yet rejected as his own. That is why he never became an Elder. Currently, Metall Kant has had a team of Elders trying to open the ancient crypts that hold the Lys i Mørket for the past one hundred years. Unfortunately, Discord has infected those sacred grounds, and beings of darkness that normally reside within the Realm of Death now roam in that place. You and I have both seen the beings of the Realm of Dreams. The beings of the Realm of Death are much worse. And the only Elder who can travel to and from the Realm of Death disappeared at the same time that the crypts were infected. It is believed that Discord corrupted him, and that Begynnelsen og Slutten now lies in the heart of those crypts, forever turned into a hideous beast. Only the Lys i Mørket can save him now."

Luna shook her head, shocked by the sudden burst of information, and by the revelation that Begynnelsen og Slutten had been corrupted.

"When did this happen?"

"About five hundred years ago."

"If Discord was able to corrupt the crypts when he was first imprisoned...how much strength will he have now, when he escapes for the second time?"

Celestia shook her head, the gaseous mane whispering in the silence.

"We cannot know. But I can assure you, that it was not Discord's strength alone that caused that infection in the crypts. The Elements of Harmony were at their weakest then, ever since I had ensnared Nightmare Moon in the...well, Moon. Without the second wielder of the Elements of Harmony, his mind was freed, even though his body was not."

Luna took a deep breath, composing herself, just as Celestia finished scanning the final object in Peter's bag.

"Finally...that was quite a chore."

"Why didn't you give him those things in the first place, 'Tia?"

"Because...they're rather large, much larger than that strange iPod, and much more potent than a book full of...strange, jokes."

Luna nodded, staring at the strange, black rectangle.

"Well, what is it, then?"

"It's called a...'Kindle Fire'. It's not an obelisk, so it does not contain any flame spells, but it is certainly strange...much like the iPod, it contains much more than it seems to, although not through magic..."

Suddenly, a letter materialized in front of her, and she read it aloud, anxious to hear from her faithful student, and also to get her mind off of that pesky eunuch...

"'Dear Princess Celestia,

My friends and I would like to thank you for the gracious gift of a free ride on the Trans-Equestrian Railway. Thank you so much, Princess! Also, I've learned some things about humans. First off, they are much more technologically advanced than us. Secondly, they have things called 'guns'. They use them to kill other humans. I'm going to ask him more about it, as in why it is needed. Thirdly, their culture is very variable, as they had different types of music at different times, and their music has a very wide range of genres.

And, I am happy to say that I have learned something about friendship this week! It is that...a shell of confidence can be filled, and it can describe them. However, there is a somepony hiding in that shell that is completely different, and the only way to break through that shell, is by not trying at all.

Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle.'"

Celestia smiled as she lay the letter aside, placing it along with all of the other letters from her faithful student.

She stood and turned, exchanging 'good-bye's with Luna as she proceeded into her chambers, a mound of paperwork and a grey Pegasus awaiting her arrival.