She awoke in comfort.
Warmth, quiet... the world, hazy, like a dream.
Alone with her thoughts the mare simply floated, blissfully unaware that she was about to be disturbed.
"My Liege." A voice spoke firmly.
It seemed so far away, as she slipped back into the dreamless sleep.
She awoke in anger.
"My Liege." the voice spoke, "You must awaken."
An eye cracked open and searched for the owner of the voice, roving about until settling upon a familiar orange figure. The owner of the eye sucked in a breath through their teeth and the eye closed. The Mare sighed and opened her eyes. "Lightspear... you disappoint me. I was not to be disturbed until after my bath."
"Apologies, My liege. The Grand Custodian wishes to speak with you." Lightspear said, "I have a towel waiting for you." he added, no trace of warmth in that voice.
"Very well, bring it here." The mare said and took her leave of the warm bath. The air was as it always was, damp, chill, it made her skin prickle. She hated it, she hated the cold, the damp. She never felt dry, not even for a moment. The towel could not come soon enough and she wrapped herself within it. "Lightspear, my attire." the mare commanded.
"It is here my liege." He held the ornate box in his hooves. It's exterior light wood inlaid with gold leaf, a stylized sun graced its lid.
The mare walked to him and opened the box with a burst of magic, a dark acidic smell filled the air as she did so. Inside, the regalia sat -- snuggled within the radiant white velvet of the interior. It consisted of a small white crown, an emerald as green as her eyes set into the front. A set of white shoes with tiny engravings and finally, a peytral. It as the rest of her regalia was made of steel, engraved with the sun and painted white, it too had tiny emeralds studded throughout the design. The mare looked at the items for but a moment, satisfied they were polished to perfection she removed them from the box and secured them to her person.
"Dashing, my liege." said Lightspear as she slid the final shoe on.
The mare turned her nose up at this to stare down at the pony beneath her. "Report. What does the Grand Custodian want?" Although her face remained passive, her voice dripped with malice.
"She wishes to give you a report, but did not specify further." He closed the box with a air of practiced ease and placed it on his back.
"Very well, where is she now?" the mare said and adjusted the crown slightly.
"The Aerary, my liege."
The mare stopped adjusting her regalia and stared at the diminutive stallion. "The what." The mare narrowed her eyes at Lightshine. She hated it when he used words she wasn't familiar with. She was sure he did it on purpose.
"The treasury, my liege," he intoned.
"Take me to her."
"At once." He dipped his head and turned to the door, and rapt upon it.
The door swung open, a small retinue of guards stood outside. They were as always, immaculate. Golden helmets with plumes to shame a peacock, white barding with golden trim to cover themselves in, shoes that could crush and cut and white cloaks with golden trim over the entire ensemble. And as with everyone she had always met, the ever-present sun necklace. A stylized sun, made from gold with a ruby set in the center.
Lightspear stepped from the door into the hallway, and took up a spot facing down the hallway.
The guards followed suit, making a space for the mare in the middle of their formation. Close, but never close enough to touch. They shied away slightly as she stepped from the bathing room and took her place at the center of the formation. The colder air made her skin prick, she hated the damp. "Lead on, Lightspear."
So he did, he took her down the long hallways, past the small lit globes set into the hard grey walls. The only sounds, the clip of hard shoes on the floor and scattered drips. He led them past small drains set into the center of the corridor, down numerous flights of stairs, and with each level down the temperature only dropped further. Finally he led them to a heavy wooden door. It's wood dark with age, nondescript but for the small golden handle set into the edge. Lightspear opened the door and the smell of must assaulted the mares nose.
The guards took up positions to either side of the door and Lightshine made a small bow, his hoof outstretched to the door.
With a soft huff she made her way through the narrow portal. Beyond it a room opened up, it’s low ceiling and hard stone walls served only to highlight a desk seated directly in the middle of the room. At the desk sat a mare, aged far past any sense of prime, her heavy eyelids closed to the mare as she entered. She was clothed in formal white robes, a stylized sun pendant sat upon her breast, it’s ruby shone dimly in the light.
The mare stood for but a moment before rapping her silvered horseshoe on the cold hard floor. “Grand Custodian, you sent for me.”
The Grand Custodians eyelids fluttered and opened and her mouth tugged upwards into what could be construed as a smile. “Ah… good, you are here.”
“Of course I am here, pray tell, why did you need me here at the hour of my bath?” the mare responded curtly.
“Yes… why indeed.” the aged mare grabbed a scroll from the desk and rolled it out with her hooves. The air hung heavy with silence as she read from it.
“I do not have all day. If you have nothing to report, I shall go back to enjoying my bath.” spat the mare, her patience was quickly wearing thin for the aged mare.
“Of course, I merely thought you ought to know…” she looked up from the document, cold red eyes looked into the mares brilliant green. “Your sisters have been located.”
The mare cocked her head in a most undignified manner. “What do you mean, located? We know where they are.”
“Ah… no, not by us. The legion has claimed them.”
Heat raced across the mares chest, her breathing quickened, eyes narrowed. “Have we reinforced the garrisons?” she asked, the words strained.
“They have already been lost. Our complex in the deep north was assaulted, the sleeper awakened. She makes her way back to the center of corruption even now.”
“And the others?” she could feel the heat tighten her throat.
“As you know, our southern complex was lost some time ago. Although we believed the site secure, the sleeper has awakened and managed to make her way back to the homeland. She resides in the heart of corruption now.” the aged mare rolled the scroll and grasped another, rolling it out along the table. Her eyes flicked from the mare to the scroll.
The mares chest was tight, her eyes watered. “The jungle?”
“Missing. As best we can tell, there was some sort of malfunction in the growth chamber. The sleeper is gone but we have not been able to locate her. The complex remains intact, it’s garrison is covertly hunting her as we speak.” she allowed the scroll to roll back into itself. “And now you wonder… where is the sleeper of the silver sea.”
The mares eyes watered, the heat in her throat and chest tightened further, threatening to choke her, she could only nod.
“As far as we can tell… she slumbers. Although the legion was able to recover her, they maintained the containment.”
“Why would they bother?” The tightness lessened, not all was lost… the mares mind reeled with implications.
“We do not know. We do know that she has been moved to the homeland but we don’t know where.” the aged mare leaned back, her chair creaked with the effort. “Which leaves you, our sun.”
“And where is that?!” the mare snapped, her tone rising, the heat in her chest remained but the tightness slacked.
The aged mare studied her for a moment, before selecting her words cautiously. “With hope.”
“Hope? There’s no hope!” she could feel her anger rising, it burned like fire in her veins. Despite the chill she was suddenly hot.
The aged mare set her hoof against the desk. “Calm yourself child. We can--”
It was at the moment the aged mare said child that the mares rage, anger and sadness overflowed. It erupted out of her, through her horn. It was as if the sun itself had suddenly decided to rise in the small room, there was a flash and a clap like thunder. Flames engulfed the room, burning away the scrolls and setting the desk alight.
The aged mare, the target of her aggression, stood from her burning chair and pushed it away gingerly with a hoof. The flames simply rolled over and around her, the ruby in the sun pendant seemed to drink from the flames that roiled around the room.
As suddenly as it began, it was over. The desk crackled as the ancient wood burned from within, there was no smoke, not even a hint lingered in the super-heated air. The mare suddenly felt weak, her knees could no longer support her frame and she slumped slowly to the ground.
“Do you feel better, child?” asked the aged mare.
The mares throat burned, her head felt as if it were on fire, she sucked down great gulps of the heated air. She extended a wing gingerly, trying to fan her face.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Despite the outburst the aged mare showed no outward signs that she was even remotely harmed, or even phased. “We are sending you to the homeland”, she paused for a moment and walked to stand over the prone mare “To Canterlot.”
The mare stared up at her, anger radiated from her bright green eyes. A wave of tiredness was quickly overtaking her, her wing faltered in it’s task of fanning her for a moment.
“There is one more thing, your sisters that have been found. They have taken the names North and South.” The aged mare looked into her eyes and smiled. “Your name shall be... East.”
Sleep overtook her then, and she fell into a dark slumber, her dreams filled with fire and rage.