Rainbow Dash sat in a both on one of the train's cars with the lights off. Head on hooves, supported by the table in front of her, she just couldn't sleep. It wasn't the click-clack of the train wheels passing over the joints in the tracks, the cold air, the moon light shinning through the window and onto her face, or the noise from the celebration in the adjacent car that prevented this. It was the silver gleaming tiara that sat atop a red velvet pillow in front of her that was the problem.
'Princess of Glacies' Rainbow Dash recounted in her mind. Me? Rainbow Dash? THE Rainbow Dash? A PRINCESS!? Rainbow banged her head on the table, creating a loud thud. Remembering that Phantom, Stryker, and Archer were on the other side of the car attempting to sleep, she looked over to see if they had been disturbed. They hadn't. Her focus turned back to the tiara, the ever-dimming moon light reflecting off of the brilliant silver metal, and illuminating the sapphire center piece that Rarity would absolutely swoon over over.
These Glaciens like their crystals a lot... Rainbow was hypnotized by the stone's beauty, her eyes unable to avert from it. She could feel sleep approaching as the sounds began to meld together, and the fields of her vision begin to blur. Just as a dreamscape was upon her, she thought she heard something faintly.
"I will be free..."
"Huh?" Rainbow sat up, wide awake now. Looking around proved futile in discovering what had spoken. Phantom and the others were still sound asleep, the party in the next car over was still going on. Rainbow took note of the cracked window, and decided to close it completely, stopping the breeze from blowing into the car. "Celestia, I'm tired..." The pegasus attempted once more to sleep, but was again interrupted. This time by the car door sliding open, letting the full volume of the party next door enter into the once peaceful cabin, then slide shut, muffling the noise.
"Prince Castor," Rainbow Dash greeted, craning her neck to see who had entered. The grey coated, black maned unicorn was wearing a red formal suit.
"Princess Rainbow Dash," he replied with a smile. He looked past the mare as she shuddered under his words, at the tiara which sat atop it's velvet home. "I... I hope the tiara fit."
"About that..." Rainbow looked from the tiara, then back to the prince. "I don't think I can be a princess. That's... that's just not me, ya know? You seem like a good pony, but I don't think I can be a princess."
The prince seemed hurt by what the mare said. His ears and head lowered, and he took a step back. "Oh, well... Maybe if you saw how beautiful you would like wearing it you would change your mind?" Prince Castor lifted the tiara into the air with his magic, and levitated it towards the mare's head.
Rainbow quickly made her way out of the booth, backing away from both the Prince and the jewelry. "You know, I-I-I actually think I'll pass on that... Tiaras and crowns and jewelry, really anything that's girly like that isn't exactly my thing..."
"But princess, if you're worried about it not fitting that's not a big deal. We can see how it fits now, and then have it resized for your coronation ceremony."
"Coronation ceremony!? Look, pal, I'm not a princess, and I'm not going to be a princess. I'm a weather pony and a guard from a small town in Equestria." Eventually, Dash's retreat was halted by the wall of the train car. Much to her displeasure, Prince Castor continued his advance.
"Ahem." Both ponies looked to the side to see Phantom standing there, void of his armor. "She said 'no'."
"But I was merely saying that her highness—"
Phantom swiftly moved between Prince Castor and Rainbow Dash, using a wing to knock the tiara out of the prince's magic and onto the floor where it spun in several circles before coming to a halt. "She is not your princess, she's my guard, my responsibility, and she can't do anything without my permission. That includes becoming a princess. Am. I. Clear?"
Prince Castor stiffened up. "You forget your place, Staff Sergeant. I am a prince, and you are a guest in my country. I can have you thrown out, or worse, with no justification, just by saying the words."
"Is that a threat?"
"Merely a reply to your threat." Prince Castor seemed to relax, and make like he was about to head to the other car. Phantom also relaxed, though not as much, and took several steps towards the prince.
When Prince Castor reached the door, Phantom made a remark. "Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?"
The prince stopped, and faced the pegasi, a sly grin on his muzzle. "No, it wasn't."
Before Phantom could react, the prince's horn lit up. He heard a startled shriek from behind him. When he turned around, he saw that the tiara was placed on Rainbow's head. She merely sat there in shock for a moment before realizing what happened.
She got up, and made her way towards the prince, angrily. "What in Equestria is the big idea?" she demanded to know. Phantom quickly noticed that Dash was starting to sway from side to side, her speech slurring. Just as she fell to the ground, Phantom flew to her side, catching her. "Somethin's... somethin's n-not right... here..."
Rainbow Dash could feel the migraine in her head growing in severity. The tiara felt like it was comprised of ice, and and was turning the fur around it to ice. The cold was so intense, that it felt like fire. Dash could feel herself slipping out of consciousness.
"Dash? Dash!" Phantom yelled, waking Stryker and Archer - who stared in wonder at the scene. Phantom directed his anger at the prince. "What the hay is this thing doing to her?" he growled, advancing menacingly at the stallion. Prince Castor stumbled into a table, shuffling the glasses that sat on top of it.
"I-It's a side effect of the bonding," the prince nervously explained. "She'll be okay."
"What do you mean 'BONDING'!? You're saying this thing won't come off?" Phantom zipped back to Rainbow's side, and tried in vain to pull the tiara off of her. Judging by her groaning, it only seemed to make it hurt that much more.
"It ensures that she will always be royalty. At first it'll be uncomfortable, but in time she'll get used to—" Prince Castor suddenly found himself with a minimal amount of air in his lungs, and being pressed against the ceiling of the passenger car. Phantom kept flapping his wings to keep the two of them aloft, along with the pressure on the prince's neck.
"Take it off of her! Now!"
"H-Hey Phantom?" Archer called. "M-Maybe you should calm down just a little bit."
"Yeah," Stryker agreed. "Just enough for us not to be arrested by the Glacien guards watching you strangle their prince?"
Phantom looked to the door. There, stood just about every guard on the train, along with Captain Cypher. All of them had their magic charged up and ready to use. Reluctantly, and slightly happily, he released his pressure and let the prince fall to the floor of the car with a thud. He made sure to land softly between the guards and Rainbow Dash.
"I can't do anything, Staff Sergeant," Prince Castor coughed, shakily rising to his hooves. "Once the tiara has bound with it's wearer it is bound for life. It will only come off when she dies."
Phantom looked back at the mare, her blurry eyes were only visible through small slits as she laid on the floor. "Dash..."
Rainbow Dash watched the scene unfold before her through blurry, loosely shut eyes. She could only make out parts of what they everypony was saying. Their words blended together, and everypony resembled colored blurs of rain drops on a window. This was the coldest she had ever been in her life. At one point, Rainbow could have sworn she saw her own breath, knowing full well that it actually wasn't that cold in the train car.
Eventually, most of the blurs disappeared, leaving only three. The midnight blue figured moved in front of her, and looked like he was trying to communicate to her, but she couldn't hear him. The only thing Rainbow Dash could hear was a dull droning, like flowing water. Barely even noticing, she was levitated into the air by somepony's magic, and set down on the bed that Phantom had been sleeping in earlier. Then the blurs seemed to move together towards the booth she had been sitting in not long ago.
"Soon, I will be free."
The demonic sounding voice echoed through her head. Rainbow tried to wake herself up, and investigate the voice further, but she was already caught in Luna's grasp. Her eyes slowly shut.
"What do you know of this?" Phantom asked, his question directed at Stryker.
Stryker shrugged. "Not much. I had heard stories about the magic that enchanted the royal jewels but I never saw any for myself. Queen Centauri became royalty when I was a foal so I don't recall too much."
"Can they even make her become a princess?" Archer wondered. "It's not like they like us 'Caren' too well, anyway. So why would they make on of us royalty? Can he even do that?"
"There's a really, really vague law on that," Stryker rubbed the back of his mane.
"And that would be..." Phantom wanted to know.
"I kid you not, it says 'Any prince or king of Glacies has the authority to name anypony as his consort'."
"So... that includes Caren?" asked Archer.
"That's the thing. Glaciens are known for technicalities. The law doesn't say that the consort can't be Caren. Therefore, they can."
"More importantly," said Phantom, "you're saying that Rainbow Dash is now married to this clown?"
Stryker rolled his head in a sort-of way of saying 'yes and no' "Eh... Kind of... She's, to put it bluntly, engaged to him. They're not married, yet."
Phantom sighed. "Lemme guess. The coronation ceremony is just a fancy way of saying wedding?"
"Eeyup."
"Faust." Phantom banged his head against the booth seat several times, cursing under his breath. Sighing, he fought to think of a solution. "You're an egg head, right, Stryk?"
"Heh, you mean like Archie's marefriend back in Equest— Ow!" Stryker's joke managed to get him hoof-punched in the shoulder by the white earth-pony. "But if you're asking me if I like to read and would be willing to scour a Glacien library for texts that my lead us to a solution to get Rainbow Dash out of this predicament, then yes, I'm an egg head."
"Will they let us into the libraries?" Archer posed the question that Phantom had also been wondering about. "Or anywhere, for that matter. You yourself, Stryker, said that they don't allow Caren into the city. And I'm sure the only reason we were let in last time was because Captain Cypher escorted us."
"Rainbow Dash now being a princess provides us with some advantages," Stryker explained. "For example: We're now technically apart of her court. So, we technically hold a Glacien rank. Meaning, Caren or not, we can do whatever some of the highest members of the Glacien nobility can do."
"Going to the library had better be on that list," Phantom commented. Sighing, he looked over at Rainbow's now sleeping form. "We'd better rest up. The morning will prove interesting..."
Morning
"How are you feeling?" Phantom asked Rainbow Dash. The two pegasi stood at the exit of the train car, waiting for it to come to a complete stop. Phantom made the final adjustments necessary to make his cloak look right. Dash, however, didn't seem to care to much about how well her armor was put together, so Phantom decided to fix her cloak for her.
"Hung over..." the mare moaned. "So I'm stuck being a princess, huh?"
"Eeyup."
"And I'm engaged to this idiot?"
"Eeyup."
"And there's no way this stupid tiara's coming off without me dying?"
"Nope." Rainbow sighed. "But, we're going to use your newfound authority to help find you a way out. Once the train arrives in Aquila, Stryker and Archer are going to go find some libraries and all books on Glacien law they can find." The train's whistle blew, and the brakes were applied. Rainbow's inertia caused her to bump sides with Phantom. She didn't seem to notice too much. Though, she did spontaneously start laughing to herself. "What?"
"Heh, heh, it's just-it's just never in a million moons did I think I was going to become a princess"
"I don't think any of us saw this coming."
"The prince could at least credit us in his rescue, as well," Archer pointed out.
"Not if it meant marrying him..." said Stryker.
The outskirts of Aquila began to zip by the windows of the train car. Everypony aboard could feel the breaks slowing the train down steadily. The door to their side opened as Prince Castor and a few guards, including Captain Cypher, entered the passenger car.
"I hope the tiara fits alright, m'lady," Prince Castor said cheerfully, adjusting his suit to make sure it was perfect.
"A little too well... See, the thing is, it just won't come off."
"You'll get used to it in time. Everypony before you has."
"I hope not..."
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
When the train finally crawled to a stop at the Aquila train station, Rainbow Dash nearly broke through the door in front of her before it could open completely. Though, her rapid acceleration was brought to a halt at the sound of trumpets playing a royal fanfare. Phantom was the next off of the train. While angling his ears away from what he considered an awful noise, he helped Rainbow Dash lift herself off of the platform. The two pegasi were shocked to see what was in front of them.
It seemed as though everypony in the city had shown up. All where whooping and hollering, clinging for Rainbow's attention. Guards were on crowd control, keeping everypony back on the side walks. The Glacien Honor Guard flanked on either side of Phantom and Rainbow, creating a small path for them to walk through. Wearing their red formal uniforms, some played a royal fan-fare while others stood at attention holding banners of their national flag. At the end of this biological tunnel, Queen Omega Centauri stood in wait of their arrival.
Prince Castor stepped down from the strain, resulting in an even more boisterous cheer. "They're not cheering as much for me as they are you, m'lady," he yelled over the roar.
"I'm not your lady..." Rainbow grumbled. A part of her wished that Prince Castor had heard her.
"Oh, look, my mother's here! Best not keep her waiting."
Rainbow Dash hesitated as the prince trotted ahead. "I don't think I can do this..." she griped to Phantom.
"Think of it like this," Phantom offered his advice. "You joined us with the idea of becoming a spy. You showed this by protesting against us wearing armor, asking: 'How can we do that if everypony here knows we're Equestrian?' Which I can only assume is you think we're spies."
"Which we are."
"Normally I would agree with you. But like I said when we arrived, the king doesn't want us out of uniform. So, we're no longer spies as much as we are expeditionary guards."
"How's that supposed to make me feel better?"
"Well, because only Stryker, Archer, and myself can't be spies. You on the other hand, can. Now that you've been declared a princess, you can get close to the royal family, find out what they know about Palmyra and the Nightingales. Pretend it's a school play and just go with it until we can figure out how to get you out of this. Humor them."
"I guess I could try... No gurantees though." Rainbow took a step forward, stopping immediately. "Wait. You want me to spy on our allies?"
"Call it what you want, but something doesn't sit well with me and these Glaciens. It's probably nothing but I want to be absolutely sure. I doubt you'll have to do anything out of your way. Just keep your ears and eyes open. C'mon... you'll be like Daring Do!"
Rainbow laughed at his joke, but stopped when she heard Prince Castor call. "Lady Dash, are you coming?"
Phantom nudged the mare forward. "Go, we'll get to work on getting you out of this predicament. And don't get caught."
Rainbow nodded with a sigh, and glided over to Prince Castor and the queen. Stryker and Archer stood by Phantom, watching the royals communicate with Rainbow.
"Think she'll do okay?" Archer asked.
"She'll do fine," Phantom repled. "And there's been a change of plans. They're probably going to put us in a suite in the castle—"
"The Sapphire Suite," Stryker confirmed.
"Yes, anyway. Archer, I need you to go back to the Aurora and get our stuff and bring them to those rooms... where ever they are. Stryker, surely there's a royal library somewhere in the castle, like the one in Canterlot, right?" The unicorn nodded. "Go there, and get every book you possibly can that you think may contain some loophole to get Rainbow out of this. Got it?"
"Aye. And what'll you do, sir?"
Phantom let go of his breath. "Wait till night when everypony will be either sleeping, or eating, then do some snooping around of my own."
"Something on your mind?" asked Archer.
"Look, I don't want to speculate on it too much until I can confirm or deny it. I've given you your assignments, head out."
The two ponies nodded, and pushed their way past the Glacien Honor Guard, slipping into the crowds. making sure to avoid a conversation with Captain Cypher, who was just now dismounting from the train, Phantom flew over to Rainbow's side next to Queen Centauri and Prince Castor. When the Queen took note of him, he politely bowed.
"No need to bow, mister..." the Queen said, asking for his name.
"Staff Sergeant Phantom Knight," the pegasus replied, "your highness."
"Mr. Knight, thank you for your help in saving my son's life. The lady Rainbow Dash here says that you are the leader of the group who saved my son?"
"Yes, your highness. We are Equestrian guards sent here by Princess Celestia to assist you in your civil war."
"That was very kind of her. But only four guards?"
"With all due respect, your highness. We're the best. Though, we do have a support ship with us."
"Yes, I saw it from my balcony when you arrived. A nice ship indeed. Tell me, you said that there are four of you?" Phantom nodded. "So where are the other two?"
"I sent them to gather our things from the ship so it could be on it's way home," he half-lied. "I assumed that with the new status of Rainbow Dash here, that we would be staying in the castle. If this isn't the case then I'm sorry and I'll—"
"Oh, it's nothing to be sorry about. In fact, my son and I were just discussing your new living arrangements."
"I believe the Sapphire Suites will do," Prince Castor spoke as-a-matter-of-factly.
Heh, Phantom thought, Egghead was right.
"So it will be. I'll send a squire to make the necessary arrangements. It would be an honor if you would join us for dinner tonight." At first, Phantom thought that the Queen was speaking to Rainbow Dash, but the unicorn's attention was focused on him.
"Uhh... Absolutely, your highness. It would be my pleasure." Faust. There goes my plans for sneaking around while everypony was occupied.
"Great, you and Lady Dash will get to meet the rest of our family, and tell us some of your adventures in Equestria. My son informed me that Lady Dash has already told him of some that are... interesting. What's this I heard about kicking a dragon?"
"Yeah..." Rainbow rubbed the back of her mane. "Wasn't my greatest moment for sure..."
"Well, I'll have to hear more tonight. Captain Cypher will show you to the Sapphire Suite. Come, my son, we have much to discuss."
Queen Centauri and Prince Castor turned tail and trotted through the crowd towards the castle. A troupe of guards followed, making sure that nopony got near them. Phantom and Rainbow Dash stood with their cloaks flapping in the cold wind as a trio of reporters tried to push past guards to interview them. From behind, Captain Cypher moved past them, motioning for the pegasi to follow. During the canter towards the castle, realization hit Phantom square in the muzzle.
"Did she say 'dinner'?"