Las Pegasus - The Golden Rose
5 minutes earlier
Iron Hoof was very unhappy, despite the fact that the drink in his hoof was free.
Well, not free, he did make his subordinates pay for it but that wasn't the point. The point was that they saw a changeling, A CHANGELING, and they lost it!
Iron Hoof growled and downed his drink, slamming the empty cup on the bar counter. At least he wasn't on duty because if he was then Shining Armor would have his rank for this failure.
"Another round!" He yelled, pushing his glass away.
"Hey, why don't you slow down on the drinks alright?"
Iron Hoof growled and turned to the voice, seeing Frosted Tip, one of his pegasus subordinates. "And where were YOU when we tried to capture the changeling?" He asked lowly.
The bartender poured him a drink and started cleaning glasses, discreetly listening to their conversation.
Frost smirked. "Following it from the air of course ,Commander. I know where it is."
Iron Hoof snarled. "Are you paying games with me, private?"
"Not at all, Sir. Now I suggest you put that drink down, you wouldn't want to take on a changeling while you were drunk now would you?"
Iron Hoof grinned and pushed away his cup, feeling substantially better. "Well we better get going boys, we wouldn't want to miss our friend now would we?"
The earth pony of the group tilted his head. "But we aren't friends."
Iron glowered at the idiot and stood up. "Shut up, Brick."
"Hey! Aren't you going to pay for your drinks?!" The green bartender asked, yelling over the band.
Iron Hoof laughed as he walked out the door. "What are you going to do about it you old sack of bones?! Come on guys we got places to be."
The bartender wrinkled his nose as they walked away and ducked under the counter, pressing a button with his hoof he whispered. "Sir Ivory, you got a P.S.D. and U.T. heading over to the ring. Four guards."
The bartender let go of the button and resumed cleaning his glasses.
His boss would be hearing about this.
White Tail Woods - White Tail Village
5 minutes earlier
"Hello?! Icy Breeze?! We want to talk with you!" Shining yelled as he pushed open the door and entered the house.
They had questioned the child's mother earlier, asking for simple things like where her house was and which room was Icy's.
"Hello? Icy it's me, Princess Luna. I've come to chase your fears away!" She spoke, raising her voice lightly so the little colt could hear her better.
The two waited for a response, but nothing answered.
They headed up the stairs and followed the mother's advice, opening the first door on their right.
A little blue bed sat in a corner and picture frames hung from the walls, the grinning faces of Icy's family reflected the light pouring in through the curtains.
They could hear muffled sobs coming from under the bed.
"Icy?" Shining Armor asked. "Can we come in? We want to talk to you."
The sobbing stopped and icy poked his head out from under the long blankets dangling from his bed.
"Why would you want to talk to me?" He asked, his tiny voice cracking as he spoke. "I killed papa."
Luna and Shining Armor paused and exchanged a glance. They certainly didn't expect this response.
Luna strode forward, understanding his words. "Is that what you see?"
The little blue colt nodded and wiped his snout. "I hear him, I don't like his screams."
Shining Armor watched as Luna kneeled next to the bed. "I know, I don't like my father's screams either."
Luna leaned closer and Shining followed her lead, kneeling next to the bed.
"Can you tell me about what you see?" Luna asked gently.
Icy Breeze hesitated, unsure of what to say. "Well, I see trees, lots of trees and I see a lake. My papa always took me to the lake, that's where Cookie lives!"
The two older ponies smiled at his words, happy that they could help distract him from his pain.
Icy grinned briefly at the thought, then his eyes slowly let go of their innocence. "But then the lake turns black, and the stars disappear and papa... Papa gets in a fight with this bear."
Luna analyzes his words. As a walker of the dream realm, she has a good understanding of the difference between memory and symbolism. A lack of stars meant he felt alone and lost.
He whimpered. "Papa tells me to run but I can't. I can't run and I hate it. The bear tries to hurt me but papa stops him and he- he starts dripping red."
"And then everything goes black and the bear disappears. The only color I can see is on papa, but I don't want to look at papa."
Shining felt as though his heart had been ripped out of his chest and stomped on by a herd of yaks. This child shouldn't have to feel such pain, shouldn't be forced to relive such a traumatic experience.
Icy sniffed. "I try run back home, I could see the lights but then this... This red spike rises out of the ground and doesn't stop. No matter how much I run or fly I can't go around it."
He looked up at Luna. "Why did papa do that? Didn't he know that he would get hurt?"
Luna sighed and pulled him closer, wrapping him in blankets with magic and brushing his mane back. "Because he loves you Icy, and he always will. Even if he does something you don't want him to do it's all because he loves you."
Luna nuzzled Icy Breeze. "Do you want to know what I see?"
Icy nodded slowly, intrigued that Princess Luna of all ponies would be afraid of something.
Luna began to light up her horn and the room disappeared behind a deep blue sheet of stars. "I see a lovely young colt that runs away from the red spike. I see him twist and turn, not understanding that he can't go around."
Icy Breeze lowered his head. "That sounds an awful lot like me..."
Shining stared at Luna, surprised with her strange choice of words. He thought they were supposed to make him feel better, not worse.
Luna lifts his chin and smiled. "But that's okay because I see you learn and get wise, I see you understanding that you can't run from your fear forever, that eventually you have to face it. I see you breaking through the red spike and seeing your mommy and big brother, I see you beating up your fear because you are stronger."
Luna's horn glimmered again and the stars form the face of a pony, smiling serenely at the trio. "I see your father looking down at you with pride and with love. I see you standing in a world filled with color and life, feeling love for your papa because he also loves you."
Shining watched as Icy looked up at the stars with amazement. "You really think so?"
Luna lifted Icy Breeze and placed him gently in bed, sticking her tongue out and tickling him with magic. "Silly Icy, I know so."
Luna cast a sleep spell on the giggling colt, watching as he fell under with a smile on his face.
"Wow," Shining said intelligently, he did not expect that. "I didn't even have to do anything, you're really good with kids."
Luna walked out of the room and dispelled the 'star blanket', setting a certain picture of four ponies on the table sitting next to the bed. "I suppose I am. Now come, we have a red spike to find and destroy."
Las Pegasus - Library
Present time
Cassandra hid behind a bookshelf, feeling confused at what she was hearing. What was Anemone doing here?
"Shining Armor was pulled from his vacation, apparently something only he could help with came up in White Tail Village." Anemone informed the other voice quietly. "Luna sent him a letter regarding the matter but he never received it because somebody stole it."
Cassandra considered her words, it would seem that Anemone is an informant of sorts who spys on this nation's royalty.
"Really?" A feminine voice asked. "How scandalous. Do you know what's going on in White Tail Woods?"
Cassandra peaked around the shelf, seeing Anemone and another griffin sitting at a table. A large blue large stallion stood to the side, most likely a bodyguard of some sort.
"No, the Princesses have the place under lockdown, nobody but the guard can go in or out." Anemone explained. "I believe that Shining Armor was only summoned for his expertise in shield spells. Whatever the Princesses are planning could mean bad news for the Union Harpy."
Owl watched the exchange with uncertainty and cooed softly to Cassandra, urging her to leave.
Cassandra shushed him. "You go on ahead, I'll catch up with you."
Owl eyed her carefully but obeyed. Silently flying away and waiting for her outside.
Cassandra returned to the scene playing out in front of her.
The black and gray griffin hummed. "Yes, you may be right. Thank you for your service, I shall inform my father."
Harpy nodded at the pony next to her. "Obsidian."
The large blue pony next to her laid a brown briefcase across the table and Anemone placed it next to her.
Cassandra briefly wondered what was in the case. Most likely money.
"I trust that you had a pleasant flight?" Harpy asked.
Anemone snorted. "The flight was alright, the only problem was getting the ticket itself."
Harpy frowned and clicked her black talons together. "Problem?"
Anemone nodded, her red spotted crown feathers bouncing with her head. "The pony selling the interspecies tickets was a racist. He refused to sell one to me, I was about to call you when some pony bought a ticket for me by sweet-talking the bastard."
She scratched her head. "I think her name was Cassandra. She was a very nice pony, kinda blunt like Emerald. I think you'd like her."
Cassandra smiled, at least Anemone was honest about how she felt about her.
Harpy smiled. "I think you're right. Don't worry about the ticket pony, I'll take care of him."
"You'll take care of who, changeling?" A male voice asked, its owner stepping out from behind a shelf.
Cassandra frowned. It was the same group of guards that chased her from earlier.
Harpy narrowed her eyes and put her arms down on the table, both displaying her talons and blocking their view of Obsidian. "I think you caught the wrong crowd boys, it'd be best if you move on."
"Oh really? I'll have you know that Frosty followed it over here personally so I know that it's in this building alright. Don't you know that harboring an enemy of the state is a crime punishable by life?"
Cassandra cursed under her breath, it looked like one of the pegasus followed her. They must have thought that she was one of them.
"Don't you know that this building is privately owned? You need a warrant to search the place." Anemone shot back.
"Well, it's a good thing that I'm not here to look huh?" Iron chuckled at his own joke before grinning. "Brick! Frost! Sleet!"
Two of the guards stepped forwarded and leveled their weapons, blocking their escape while the third hovered in the air, gripping a spear.
Cassandra scrunched up her nose. These four were a mockery of guards, if her father ever got his hands on these four he would put them through the wringer twice before kicking them out.
"Just wait till Shining Armor sees this, Iron Hoof, bringing in three changelings." He said, puffing out his chest.
Brick glanced at him. "But we only have two pairs of cuffs and one magic neutralizer?"
Iron pulled out his dagger. "Who said we had to bring them alive?"
Cassandra froze and her eyes flashed green. This wasn't right, they were going to pay for her mistakes, just like Rapunzel.
A blue women appeared behind her, holding her hands on either side of Cassandra's head, sparks of magic flew between her fingers.
Cassandra clenched her fists as her eyes flared green under her disguise. No, not if she could do anything about it.
The blue women disappeared as Cassandra stepped out from behind the shelf, her pony disguise still in place. "You looking for me boys?"
The guards twisted to her, looking nervously between her and the trio. "Uh, Iron? This looks a lo-"
"Like the girl you ran into earlier? Yeah, that's me. I'll come quietly if you let them go, but try anything funny and I can't guarantee that you'll come out of this in one piece." She interrupted, stepping closer.
"Cassandra?" Anemone whispered, glancing between Iron Hoof and her.
Cassandra smiled sadly. "Hey, sorry we had to meet again like this."