Evening Star could hear the drums long before she could see the city through the clouds. This was by design, of course—flying above the clouds meant they could avoid the worst of the currents that might’ve knocked an inexperienced flier from the air. It meant they could spend the least effort, and rest whenever they wanted just by gliding down a ways.
The distant beats sounded nothing like anything Star had heard during her time in Defiance, watching ponies in their military drills. The beat sounded strange in her head, irregular.
“That’s… not possible,” Lodestone muttered, slowing to a stop in the sky. “Or it shouldn’t be. Wait here.”
Honed Edge stopped with ease, though Hayden had to circle and spread her wings, gradually eating up her momentum until she came to a stop, flapping twice as often as he did to stay airborne.
Lodestone himself dove straight down towards a point in the dark clouds, tightening his body as though he were trying to dive as deeply as possible through water. Then he vanished into the clouds, leaving a hole where he’d been.
Hayden couldn’t hover for long—it was much harder than simple flight, and her wings were already getting tired. She lowered herself onto the cloud, no longer afraid it might give way underneath her. Her night sleeping on one had disavowed her of that notion.
Peeking through the hole, she couldn’t see anything beyond a single patch of ground covered in snow. She could follow Lodestone… but that seemed like a bad idea. Whatever those drums were evidently wasn’t good. “You know what that is?” she asked Honed Edge, who landed beside her a few moments later.
“Yeah.” He shivered all over, reaching down to inspect his weapon. Considering the length of their trip, he carried only a thin sword, a little like a rapier. He didn’t answer until he’d unbuttoned the strap holding it in with his mouth, and drawn it out a few inches. As though making sure he could get to it in a hurry if he needed to. “That’s the Stonebeak clan. They’re… the worst kind of griffons. The ones mares tell stories about to their foals so they get home on time. All the worst things you’ve heard—they’re all true. Yes, there used to be half a dozen cities to the north. Yes, they really allied with Sombra himself and helped him conquer. Yes, they’re still taking slaves to this day. And yes, they do…” He swallowed, shivering all over. “E-eat their captives.”
“And Princess Luna is alright with that?” Hayden wasn’t sure how much of what Edge told her she could actually believe. Yes, the alchemist had been reliable in her service, but he was clearly describing a sworn enemy. It seemed unlikely that anyone could actually be that bad. “Why haven’t we kicked them out?”
Something large landed on the cloud behind them. “You think we haven’t tried, Lady Evening Star?”
Hayden nearly fell into the hole right then she moved so fast, making quite an unladylike squeaking sound as she did so. But it was only Lodestone, who had apparently picked another way to fly back.
“I-I don’t mean to question your skills, Captain. Or the valor of the army. Only the wisdom of not putting those to use.” She turned on the cloud, moisture squishing beneath her hooves as she did so.
Lodestone’s face had gone cold, though she couldn’t know if it had been from what she said or what he had seen. “There are too many of them,” he said. “And Equestria has never been committed to actually following them north. It would take a dozen regiments to drive them out, and we don’t even have half that defending the border.”
“What did you see, sir? Is Icefalls under attack?”
Lodestone nodded slowly. “There’s only one ship—raiding party, by the look of it. They won’t stay long enough for Icefalls to really mobilize—they’re already retreating.”
Hayden rose to her hooves again, flexing her wings. “Then let’s get down there and stop them! We’re not gonna let those bastards get away! What message do you think that’s gonna send to the rest of them?”
Lodestone rested a hoof on her shoulder, but there was nothing affectionate about the gesture. It was forceful enough that she sunk a little way into the cloud, enough that it hurt her shoulder. “Absolutely not, Lady Star. Princess Luna’s instructions about your care were absolute. I wouldn’t have dreamed of bringing you if I suspected the Stonebeak clan would be so bold. We will not take any action that subjects you to personal danger.”
At least he didn’t try to order her. But Hayden didn’t resist, just glared back at him, and nodded with the angriest, sourest expression she could. “Fine.”
Only then did he remove his hoof from her shoulder. “When they’re gone, we can fly down to the city and see what we need to do. Edge, take what provisions you can and prepare to fly back. First thing I’m going to do is ask if we need to send for the Defiance Battalion. If that’s the order, you’re flying back at all speed to order their approach. I’ll send hired messengers as well, but I trust my own stallions better.”
“Aye, sir.” He saluted, never actually making eye-contact with the captain. He’d been that way the whole trip—Edge wasn’t an officer, and didn’t feel comfortable in their company. Least of all the one in charge of all of Defiance. “I’ll be prepared.”
“Good lad.” Lodestone turned away from him, back towards Evening star. “Raids like this are common, but not so far south. Fort Polestar is further north, they should’ve headed off an attack like this. They had five thousand soldiers—there can’t be five hundred griffins down there.”
“Maybe they got around somehow,” Hayden suggested. “You said something about a ship, right? Maybe they found another waterway you didn’t know about.”
“An airship,” Lodestone corrected. “It’s possible. Griffios don’t have any magic on their own, so I don’t know how they’d get around the tracking spells. But I suppose it’s possible. There are unicorns in charge of that kind of thing, I’m sure they know.”
They waited in uneasy silence for at least an hour, until the sound of the drums changed abruptly to a different beat, and started drifting further and further away. Lodestone made them wait until the sound had completely gone before finally gesturing over the edge of the cloud with one of his forehooves. “Alright, let’s fly as quickly as we can. Lady Evening Star, I hope you’ll forgive me, but your questions probably won’t be the first concern. It may be days before General Autumn has the chance to discuss the field-promotion with you.”
She shrugged her wings. “That’s secondary. If the north is really being invaded, Luna probably wouldn’t want me up here to begin with. So I wouldn’t get to stay.”
“There’s no way it’s an invasion,” Honed Edge said, as they finally took off. “They would’ve sent a whole armada if that was the case, not one ship!”
For a good few seconds, Hayden couldn’t see anything at all beyond the clouds, until she broke through the other side to the gray world of perpetual overcast. That was when she got her first good look at Icefalls.
It was at the base of a mountain, instead of near the peak. A huge waterfall framed the city in the distance, frozen solid in mid-flow. The city itself looked smaller than Harmony, though it was hard to tell for sure since so much of Harmony had been hidden in the trees. It had high walls, which Harmony lacked, and the buildings inside were all packed much more closely together. The world around it was all windswept wasteland, and Hayden found herself wondering what any of the ponies who lived inside ate.
It was also on fire. Guardhouses along the walls were still burning, and smoke rose from smoldering buildings further in the city. Guards ran and flew about, tiny specks against the afternoon gray. No one in the city seemed to notice or care as they approached, two armored ponies and one just wearing a winter coat.
Edge broke out of formation as they passed over the lower city, but Lodestone gestured for Hayden to continue, up the sloping streets towards the fort at the top of the hill. There were guards on every wall of the fort, armored and stern, though they seemed a small complement for such a large stone fortress.
A flag bearing a crescent moon flew from that fortress, along with many of the towers. Not all of them, though—apparently someone had gone about tearing them down.
They flew straight for one of the tallest towers, one Lodestone seemed to recognize. He slowed well in advance, far enough that Hayden could see what he was doing and imitate him before she crashed into the building like an idiot.
They touched down on a balcony of white stone, and she only slid a little before correcting herself, grinning proudly as she did so. Lodestone didn’t notice—he was already striding quickly towards the single guard protecting the balcony. “Where is General Autumn?” he asked, his voice absolutely confident. A tone that expected obedience.
The guard looked down, staring at his hooves. “She’s, uh… in the great hall. But—”
“That will do.” Lodestone strode past him into the building, waiting just long enough for Hayden to keep up with him.
They found General Autumn in the great hall, alright. She was still in her armor, resting in a plain wooden coffin. There was blood on some of her uniform, and obvious damage to her armor. As they hurried down the stairs, Hayden heard what was unmistakably the prayer for a fallen warrior, sung by a young male unicorn in a dark robe. The room was filled with ponies—many wearing armor, but many without. Some wore rich-looking clothing, and gold jewelry on their bodies. Even their mourning seemed genuine.
Then Hayden noticed the other thing—which seemed even more impossible than everything else she’d seen that day.
Nearly half the ponies crowded into the great hall were bats. It took her several moments of silent searching to even find feathery wings belonging to anyone but her companion. The noble family with their jewels all had them, along with many of the guards.
Lodestone noticed it too. He glanced back at her, eyes wide with surprise. But he didn’t actually get a chance to say anything, because at that moment the prayer was finished and everypony in the room looked up. They were standing right on the stairs, where everypony would be able to see them.
“Captain Lodestone!” said the oldest-looking of the royal ponies, a stallion with a mane going gray at the edges. “Our messenger arrived sooner than I would’ve thought possible. Fortuitous that you would have made it so soon.” He strode forward, through the crowd of ponies still lowered in mourning. “I think General Autumn would’ve wanted you here.”
“Of course.” Lodestone looked on the edge of asking about the obvious, but he restrained himself. He joined the procession with many other ponies as they carried the coffin out into the courtyard, where a makeshift pyre of wood was already waiting.
Evening Star remained quiet at the back of the procession, feeling awkward to be there but knowing it would be worse to leave. Nobody seemed to mind seeing her there, and her wings attracted no special attention at all. Not one pony saw them and seemed surprised.
Hayden found herself searching the crowd for Nightbreeze, knowing that Luna would’ve made sure her position here was important. Important enough that she would be in the castle, for sure. Assuming she wasn’t hurt in the attack. But if Nightbreeze was anywhere in the staff, she couldn’t find her by looking at the backs of ponies here. Searching for the only other set of bat wings obviously wouldn’t work when it seemed like every set of wings was bat wings.
The wood took surprisingly quickly to the flames, despite the chill air. Soon enough the bonfire was consuming the pony within—a general Hayden had never even met. Apparently she had been in charge of all the ponies of the north. Who did that leave to take her place?