A lone stallion stood in the woods surrounding the only fishing shack along this deserted stretch of coastline outside the town of Orkneigh. He was a rather stocky stallion wearing a dark parka that concealed his identity. The only hints of who he might be were the light beige hooves and vibrant red-orange tale showing from beneath his parka. He'd spent the past two weeks in these woods, watching the run-down shack with a well-trained eye. Not once since he started his watch had the lone inhabitant left her home. That was, until it came time for the Sunnhalt festivities to begin. As soon as Silken had gone out the front door of her shack, the stallion began a slow creep towards the front door. He had only one goal, and tonight it would be his...
It wouldn't be until first light that Silken returned to her shack, completely exhausted from spending the entire evening out celebrating among the members of the White Pearl Troupe and those residents of Orkneigh that joined them. Sure, she'd been a bit freaked out when Golden had handed her an armored head out of the blue like that, but seeing Golden's body laugh while her head was covered with some kind of concealing magic... It had all been a lovely joke and nothing more. Maybe Frostmare knew some kind of magic to make it look like someone's head was removed from their body? After all, she hadn't been on stage for that part of the play. But, if not Frostmare, it always could have just been one of the other unicorns in the troupe. There were other unicorns, right? Honestly, Silken couldn't remember if she'd seen any, now that she really thought about it.
Despite the playful scare, a small part of her regretted going out so rarely. However, her shack was often targeted by the more rebellious colts, looking to prove themselves worthy of the more attractive young mares of the town. She simply couldn't leave her most precious possession alone for long, for fear someone might attempt to steal it. At least during Sonnhalt, the entirety of the town was in one place. Knowing where everyone was at least made her feel safe leaving it behind.
Walking into her shack, she tossed aside her tattered merpony tail and shut her front door. With a smile, she turned to look at her seal-fur coat... only to find an empty coat peg in its place. Silken collapsed to the floor, wailing in sorrow. Somepony... Somepony had come in and taken her coat while she was out partying! This was exactly the reason why she never left her home!
As she mourned its theft, seven sharp hoof-beats slammed against a table deeper within her house. Compelled to turn around, Silken noticed a unicorn stallion sitting at her kitchen table with a cup of hot tea held aloft by his magic. He motioned towards the other cup across from him with his light beige hoof, but the hood of his parka obscured his face to the point that Silken could not make out any facial expressions.
"Please, sit," the unicorn stallion began. "I believe I have something you want, Selkie. Don't bother spending too much time looking for it, you won't find it in this shack. In fact, you won't find it anywhere on the whole of the Griffish Isles. I have taken the liberty of securing it someplace you cannot reach. After all, you have certain abilities that I, no, that Her Highness the Regent requires. So, perhaps we can come to a deal?"
Silken let out a sigh as she sat down and reached for the cup of tea. "Alright, shoot."