The sea winds had grown stronger over the past few days, the heavy clouds above turning the water below a dismal grey hue. The winds buffeted the carriage flying in the sky, pulled by six powerful Pegasus stallions clad in teal and gold armor. They drifted higher into the clouds to ease the rocking carriage housing the seven passengers inside. Six ponies and a young dragon were all doing their best to steady themselves in their cushioned seats. The pink pony with an exceptionally wild mane and tail, was rather enjoying herself as she slid on the carriage floor to the rocking of the carriage.
“Wheee!!” She bounced up and down cheerfully, causing more rattling of the other passengers.
“Pinkie Pie my dear! Could you please sit back down?” Rarity, a beautiful white unicorn sitting in the bench opposite, pleaded with the pink Earth pony. “All of this motion is really unsettling my complexion.”
Pinkie Pie leaped up into her seat and landed with a loud thump, causing Rarity to sigh quietly. Meanwhile, the purple alicorn Twilight Sparkle, was absorbed in rereading two lengthy scrolls, one with the seal of Princess Celestia, the other from somepony she did not know… yet. The sudden thud made her head jolt up, dropping the letters.
“Wha? Are we there already?” she looked around and the others.
“Not yet,” replied Applejack; the palomino sitting across from Twilight lifted up the brim of her hat to peer out the window. “Hard to see through all these clouds.”
“Ehh, big deal!” Rainbow Dash scoffed, waving a dismissive hoof in the air. “I can clear this all up no problem!”
“I do hope that we arrive soon,” Rarity said, “so that I might have time to freshen up before we meet the royals!”
“And party the night away!” Pinkie Pie bounced excitedly.
Curled up quietly on the bench in between Twilight and Rarity, and as Spike the baby dragon was sleeping soundly against her side, Fluttershy the Pegasus looked up from Spike. “Goodness me,” she said in a breathless voice, “I was so looking forward to meeting new sea creatures that I forgot that we were supposed to go to meet somepony.”
“Not just anypony, Fluttershy.” Twilight used her magic to levitate the two scrolls up in the air and opened them again. “Princess Celestia is sending us to meet with the king and queen of Windermare.” She held the letter from Princess Celestia to her chest and smiled brightly. “My first big diplomatic journey as a princess. I’m so glad that I have you all coming with me though.”
“So what exactly are we ‘diplomating’ anyways?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“According to this letter here, King Azimuth and Queen Cremella are holding a banquet in honor of their son Prince Admiralty’s return voyage. It says that the banquet also wishes to recognize the growing friendship between Equestria and Windermare. Princess Celestia’s letter says that she and Princess Luna have both attended banquets at Windermare before, and King Azimuth wants to meet me and ‘pay his respects to the newest Princess of Equestria’. Doesn’t sound like it’ll be too difficult, and they sent us their personal royal carriage so I hope I don’t mess up.”
“It don’t sound too hard,” Applejack said encouragingly. “Pro’lly gonna be just a bunch of bowing and ‘how d’ya do’s’ and eatin’ fancy foods on fancy plates. Nothin’ we ain’t done before at the Grand Galloping Gala. You should be just-”
Suddenly Pinkie Pie let out a loud squeal, startling everyone and rousing Spike from his sleep. “There it is!!!” she exclaimed, tapping her hoof against the window. Everyone quickly gathered around the windows and peered out. The Pegasus soldiers and carriage had descended below the clouds. A coastline suddenly appeared before them, and at the top of the cliffs directly ahead of them was a castle, brilliantly white against the grey backdrop of clouds, its rooftops a greyish blue like the ocean below them.
“There it is,” Twilight repeated, mixed feelings of excitement and nervousness stirring inside of her chest. “The Kingdom of Windermare.”
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Mist drifted across the orb’s smooth surface, the ponies’ tiny faces peering out from the carriage windows. Apart from the orb floating in the hollow of the gnarled and leaf-barren oak tree in the center of the room, the flickering glow of the candle set upon the desk in the back of the room was the only other source of light, abandoned by the hooded figure who was standing before the orb, his glowing gold eyes fixed intently upon one face in the orb’s vision.
“She is almost here,” his deep, tired voice came from beneath the hood. The vision in the orb faded in the mist, and the light faded away. He turned away from the orb in the ancient oak tree and walked back to the table with the candle. The desk was littered with ancient maps and charts, and an illustration of two kingdoms- one on the shore, and the other beneath the ocean. He turned to the candle and stared at it unblinkingly. “She is none too soon. The darkness beneath the ocean is growing. The storms are growing stronger with each day. The prince will not be able to hold peace on his own much longer. If we are to have any chance, it lies with her and the others. I pray that they succeed, or else we shall all drown.”
The candle snuffed out, plunging the room into darkness.