Chapter 1
The Refugee
Night had come to Glendale, but it failed to bring the usual blanket of peace. Town hall was alive with activity. Lights shone bright, Cheerful music sang through the cool night air and laughter was its chorus on the wind. The party had long ago spilled out into the square. Everything had been perfect, exactly as it should have been. Exactly as it had been every autumn for as long as any soul living in the town of Glendale could remember. This night was different.
A gryphon had arrived, sputtering clumsily through the air like a hatchling on its first flight, struggling to keep the wind beneath its wings. The flight ended in an unceremonious crash in the middle town square. He'd woken briefly, just long enough to plead for rescue. He was whisked away in minutes, and no word had come for nearly an hour. The mayor's assistant tried to keep the festivities moving along but the grisly arrival had a sobering effect. Conversation about the square had turned to speculative whispers.
Meanwhile the most influential ponies of Glendale were gathering in the monolithic observatory tower. An emergency meeting had been called by the mayor and each of them had been invited, or rather, summoned.
The first to arrive had been a white-furred pegasus mare. Her mane and tail were a sunset medley of oranges, reds, and yellows like the fireball that adorned her flanks. She was Emberwind, the master of the local flight school. She knocked sharply on the old ivy-strewn door and was greeted by the tower's singular resident, Sapphire Starlight.
“I can't believe he's having it here,” Sapphire grumbled as she slid the bolt aside with her telekinesis, permitting the pegasus to enter.
“It's not heard to believe at all.” Emberwind tried not to smirt, but the unicorn's indignation was hard to overlook. Sapphire's fur was white as fresh-fallen snow, and her mane was as blue as her namesake.
Emberwind studied the unicorn's features for a moment. “You were going to skip,” she said, grinning.
“I was not!” Sapphire protested to deaf ears. Emberwind knew she was right. The frosty-maned unicorn had developed a habit of skipping out on meetings and catching the finer points from her friend at her convenience.
“You hate meetings,” Emberwind said, “and it's the middle of the night. Anyway the tower is mostly town property so Fleethoof can, and apparently will, have meetings in it. Particularly if a certain night-pony continues to make a habit of not attending.”
“Well he could have asked,” Sapphire shot back.
“Would you have agreed?”
“No.”
Emberwind shrugged her wings. “Maybe that's why he didn't ask?” Sapphire bristled like at her friend's smarmy tone.
“That's hardly fair,” Sapphire shot back.
“He's a politician,” Emberwind offered.
A steady stream of arrivals marked the next twenty minutes. The growing assembly in Sapphire's dining room had done little to improve her mood. This was made worse by the mayor's absence. An hour would pass before he'd arrive.
* * *
“This is unacceptable!” Sapphire hissed through jaws clenched tighter than an old miser's purse. The mayor had finally made his appearance, and seemed impervious to the fireballs crackling in the frosty-maned unicorn's cobalt eyes. Her complaint was lost in the quiet din of a half dozen anxious voices.
“I know it’s very late,” mayor Fleethoof said, immediately bringing the speculative chatter to an end. “but thank you for coming.”
A soft aura of light surrounded his horn, and a smooth stone with a rune carved into it lifted from his pack and found a resting place in the center of Sapphire's dining table. No sooner had it landed than Emberwind sprang on with all the zeal of a filly going after the pile of candy under a freshly disemboweled pinata.
“What is going on with the gryphon?” she asked, looking down at the mayor.
“Miss Emberwind if you would please wait your turn,” Fleethoof said, glaring up at her. His horn glowed again and the smooth stone began to struggle beneath Emberwind's hoof.
“Then get to the point! Like you said, it's very la-” voicelessly she mouthed the last of her complaint. The stone had slipped loose from her grasp. It was her turn to glare fireballs at the mayor.
“This is why we use the silencing stone,” the mayor lectured, shaking the bauble like a clenched fist. “To keep order.”
Sapphire Starlight felt like she'd been sent back to her school days and they were all about to be made to sit indoors through recess. While Emberwind's display had accomplished little, Sapphire empathized with her eagerness to skip the pleasantries and get to the point.
“His name is Ironfeather,” Fleethoof said at last. The stone floated up into the air, away from Emberwind's pawing hooves. “He’s still in the infirmary but as soon as the doctors have him stabilized enough they’re going to bring him up here to speak with us.
Sapphire called the stone toward her, but at the last minute it swerved away and rested on the table before Morning Rain.
“Do we know what got a hold of him?” the light blue pegasus asked.
“Wolven,” Fleethoof said. “They live even further north than the gryphons. I doubt they’d ever come as far south as Glensdale, even in light of the coming winter. They are probably not a problem.”
Sapphire tried to summon the stone away from Rain, only to have it swept away by Light’s Hope. Sapphire glared at the sunflower colored unicorn. The symbol of the sun rising between two mountains was on his flank.
“If you’re not worried, why bring us all here at this late of an hour?” Light asked.
“Preparedness,” Fleethoof said. “And we didn’t want anyone to worry.”
Sapphire rolled her eyes. She was fairly certain that spiriting away over half a dozen prominent ponies to a secret meeting in the middle of the night was cause enough for worry in the minds of most of the town. A quick glance out the southern window at the crowds still gathered in front of town hall was evidence enough of that. Emberwind snorted her frustration.
The light purple earth pony seated next to Light’s Hope snatched the silencing stone away from him.
“Yes, Autumn Song?” Fleethoof asked.
“Preparedness for what exactly?” she asked. “Is there reason to believe the wolven might be planning something?”
“We really won’t know until Ironfeather gets here,” Fleethoof said. Emberwind stamped a hoof in frustration. Rain waved to Autumn for the stone. She tossed it toward the pegasus, but it never arrived. Sapphire pounced it with a wild roar, like a tiger catching its prey. Now all eyes were fixed on the white unicorn with a blue sapphire wreathed in dragon fire on her flank.
Not one to be cowed by attention, Sapphire shook off the stares and blew a lock of her bright blue mane from in front of her eyes.
The harsh stamp of Fleethoof's hoof against the observatory's stone floor echoed in the silence. “Miss Starlight! Control yourself,” he snapped.
“This is ridiculous,” Sapphire shot back. “We’re standing around waiting for something to happen. We should send some pegasus ponies up north to investigate immediately! Furthermore if we can’t have any productive discussion until Ironfeather arrives lets go to the infirmary where he is rather than waiting here until somepony decides he’s well enough to drag up seven flights of stairs!”
She'd begun to advance toward the mayor's end of the table. Her jaws were clenched tight and the silencing stone floated along beside her on a short magical tether. By the time her tirade ended she was teetering on the edge, eye to eye with the older pony.
Fleethoof held his ground. “Are you quite finished Miss Starlight?” Fleethoof huffed. Sapphire’s eyes narrowed darkly. One quick tap with her horn and the silencing stone was frozen in a block of ice. She gave it a swift kick, sending it sliding across the table. There was a quiet thud as it landed on the ground. Sapphire found the sound quite satisfying.
“I’ve had quite enough of that thank you,” she said, then hopped down from the table.
“She’s got a point you know,” Emberwind chimed in. Light’s Hope nodded his agreement.
“I’ll go see if Ironfeather is well enough to be woken up,” Autumn Song said, practically diving for the door. The tension was so thick, a window might have worked in a pinch. “I’ll be quick!”
“So it’s settled then,” Emberwind said, stretching her wings. “I’ll fly up north and see what the wolven are up to. Rain are you coming?”
“Uh, I’m not quite sure,” she said, looking to Mayor Fleethoof for feedback.
“No, no wait” he said, desperate to regain control of the situation. “Winter is coming and we need our weather crew at top efficiency. I’m not particularly satisfied with the headmistress of the flight school running off on her own either. Surely the two of you can put together a team to investigate without going yourselves.”
“What about Dawn Chaser and his men?” Emberwind offered with some reservation.
“I’m not sure,” Rain said. “Aren’t they our most veteran weather crew?”
Sapphire was beginning to notice that there were a lot of things Morning Rain was not sure about tonight and expressed her disapproval with a sort snort.
“Yes but its only early winter right now,” Emberwind said, mentally reviewing the roster. “And there’s ten rookies that applied to join straight out of flight school. Surely the ten of them can handle one three pony squad’s work for a few days.”
“Wonderful, excellent,” Fleethoof said. “Scouts will be dispatched, the snow will arrive as scheduled, and the flight school will run smoothly.”
Sapphire chuckled at the mayor's delight. Nothing seemed to bring the stallion more pleasure than a well organized plan. He wasn't in a good mood just yet, but at the least he had stopped glaring at her. The frosty-maned unicorn used a bit of her magic to push the frozen silencing stone under the table, out of sight, just to make sure he stayed that way.
The meeting reconvened a short time later in the infirmary without the two pegasus ponies. Ironfeather was awake, but not at all lucid. He was wrapped in blood-stained bandages on nearly every limb. A jagged gash across his left eye bore promise of an impressive scar. The room itself was littered with enough feathers to serve a large mattress.
“What’s with all the feathers?” Autumn asked. “Those weren’t here when I was just in here a few minutes ago.”
“I’m sorry, I’m afraid we had to cauterize the wound on his flank,” Doctor Rosebloom said. “There wasn’t time to mix more anesthetic or fetch a unicorn. Somepony called them both to an emergency meeting.” Fleethoof suddenly became extremely occupied with Ironfeather's charts and offered no explanation for his actions.
Sapphire winced at the sight of the uneven wound on the gryphon's flank. “Is there anypony else on staff right now?” she asked, willing herself to look away.
“Just one nurse in the back, mixing up some medicine. I really should join her, gryphon medicine can be tricky,” she said. The red earth pony excused herself and vanished into other parts of the infirmary.
Song peered through the window of the door after the doctor. “Well, now what?” she asked.
“We wait for Dawn Chaser to get back or Ironfeather to wake up,” Sapphire said. She couldn’t help but sigh. Patience was not among her strengths.
“That’s right,” Fleethoof said. “In the meantime it’s important to carry on with our normal day to day duties and responsibilities.”
Everypony but Sapphire began to file out of the infirmary. She lagged behind.
“Are you coming?” Light asked, holding the door for her.
“I’m going to stay and help the doctor make something for Ironfeather’s pain.”
“Alright,” Light said.
Sapphire poked her head out the door after Light. “Hey. If you see Emberwind, could you tell her to meet me back at the tower. I should be there in a couple hours at most.”
“Don’t stay up too late okay?” Light asked. Sapphire seemed to think this over for a moment but capitulated to Light's searching eyes.
“Well…okay,” Sapphire conceded. She wasn't fond of the idea but she never was. It was already dark out, which made the sacrifice of time somewhat lessened. “Tell her to meet me there in the morning then.”
Light smiled. “Of course,” he said, and left.
* * *
Morning came much too soon. Sapphire Starlight woke to the sun shining in patches directly upon her face, warming her unevenly. She stumbled from the bed and made her groggy way to the window with her forelock hanging gracelessly over one eye. There she found a pair of young pegasi flitting about just outside. No doubt they’d confused the cloud she’d placed over her window with something that was wont for removing. It was their first day on the job, Sapphire assumed, and simply waved when the two darted past.
A hot shower scalded away the grogginess of a long night. There would be little time for grooming. A quick wash and a brush through her frosty blue mane was all the time she could spare before the ringing of the doorbell announced that Emberwind had arrived. Sapphire hurried out to the balcony and looked down at her guest far below.
Sapphire waved at the pegasus on the ground. “I’m up here!” she called. Emberwind darted up toward her.
Emberwind landed gracefully before her on the mossy balcony and folded her wings. ”Good morning.”
“Morning,” Emberwind answered, yawning.
“Long night?” Sapphire asked.
Emberwind's head sank and her ears drooped subtly. “Early morning,” she answered quietly.
“I guess Dawn Chaser and his crew left for their mission?” Sapphire asked, hesitant to broach the subject.
Emberwind nodded slowly. Sapphire wasn’t sure what to say, she opened her mouth twice to speak before she could find the right words. Well, not the right words, but something that seemed at least acceptable.
“He’ll be back before you know it. He’s fast and strong. I’m sure he’ll be alright,” she said, giving Emberwind a reassuring a nudge.
“Yeah, I know,” her friend said. “He’s got his job to do, we’ve got ours. Let’s just get to work okay?”
“Sure,” Sapphire said. “Breakfast first?”
“Not very hungry,” Emberwind said. Sapphire frowned, vainly attempting to wish away the empty pit she could feel in her belly. She grabbed an apple from the kitchen and wolfed it down on the way up to the observatory.
“So what’s the plan?” Emberwind asked.
“Remember that book I ordered a few weeks ago from the Canterlot library?” Sapphire asked.
The pegasus shook her head. “Not really.”
“Well it arrived yesterday afternoon before the party. I haven’t had a real chance to go through it mind you,” Sapphire said.
“Sapphire I’m hoping really, really hard that there’s a ‘but,’ here,” Emberwind said. “Cause if you think I’m gonna spend another afternoon pacing around the observatory while you read all day you’ve got another thing coming.”
“No no of course not,” Sapphire said, blushing. She was still sore about that? It had been practically a week.
“I’m just saying, you can get a little carried away sometimes.”
Yup, still sour.
“This time is different,” Sapphire said. “There’s a spell in it I want to try.”
Half an hour later, Emberwind and Sapphire were hoof-deep in snow. It was falling from a billowing cloud that filled much of the high ceiling-ed observatory. Sapphire pranced about in it, half-dancing and beaming with pride.
“Sapphire… is this another book on dragon magic…?” Emberwind asked, prodding at the cover as though she thought it might bite. This was an idea not above consideration when visiting Sapphire's observatory.
“Miiight be,” Sapphire sang, dancing through the snow. “aaand this one’s real!”
“Well this is all really nice and all, but considering that it’s supposed to be snowing within a week, maybe we should work on something a little more practical and a little less Sapphire-ish?”
“I know I know, I’m sorry, just it was the only thing in the book I thought I could knock out in an hour,” she said. “Plus it will be great this summer. The book listed over a dozen food plants alone that need snow to grow.”
“Like?”
“Snow peas, frostberries, ice lilies, arctic nettles, iceberg lettuce…”
Emberwind’s ears drooped and her face twisted into a bewildered frown. “Sapphire, iceberg lettuce doesn’t need to grow in the winter.”
“…misty corn, strawberries, all kinds of mints,” Sapphire continued without missing a beat.
“That’s all well and good, but do you have any tricks to clean this up? The entire observatory is buried in snow.”
“Uh…” Sapphire groped about for an answer. It was her turn to have drooped ears.
Emberwind raised her brow, glaring. “Sapphire…tell me you have a plan...”
“Right right,” she said, “just… let me think a second…” a nervous chuckle implied that she didn’t.
“Oh Sapphire,” Emberwind chuckled. “Look, I’ll take care of this. You’re probably still starving. Leave the weather stuff to the expert and get some breakfast. Then we’ll go check on Ironfeather, 'kay?”
Sapphire’s stomach had begun to churn with a subtle hollow pain, building slowly over the past hour. “Yes, that's a good idea.”
After a much more filling breakfast, Sapphire reunited with Emberwind at the hospital. “Ready?” she asked, trotting up to the desk.
“We better hurry,” Emberwind said. “Fleethoof’s been in there over an hour. Might bore the fellow to death.”
Sapphire’s eyes widened. “He didn’t send for us?” she asked, stamping a hoof in frustration. The nurse suddenly took notice of them.
“Oh, are you here about the gryphon?” she asked.
“Yes, didn’t Rosebloom tell you I would be here?” Sapphire asked. “I was up half the night conjuring up his medication.”
“Oh I’m sorry. Rosebloom went home before I got here. Ironfeather is doing well though. You’re welcome to go back and see him.”
“Thanks,” Sapphire said as she hurried by.
Ironfeather’s room was back in order. All the feathers had been swept up and his bandages had been changed and cleaned. The young gryphon was sprawled on his side on the bed still, but his eyes were wide open and bright with alertness and focus. Or rather, Sapphire felt they would’ve been if they hadn’t already faded to the listless dullness often associated with listening to one of Fleethoof’s best laid plans.
“Ah, good, you’ve arrived,” Fleethoof said. “Ironfeather, this is Emberwind and Sapphire Starlight. They assisted in your treatment last night.”
The gryphon lifted his head and studied the two newcomers for a moment. “Sorry, I don’t remember either of you. I had a nasty crash you see,” he explained.
“Oh we were there,” Sapphire said. “It was quite fantastic. Right into the fountain!”
“Not bad for how torn up you are,” Emberwind said.
Ironfeather managed a halfhearted chuckle. Landing gracefully with injured wings was not an art he cared to perfect, merely to survive.
“I’m sure you’re very tired,” Sapphire said, trying very hard to check her curiosity with a healthy dose of empathy. “But if you could fill us in a little on the details of how you got here and how you got hurt so badly it would really help us figure out what we ought to be doing, aside from getting you back in one piece.”
“There were wolven, dozens of them, hiding beneath the snow in our winter hunting grounds. They burst from the ground and took our entire pride by surprise. Everyone was killed or captured. I may be the only one to have escaped,” he added somberly.
“I’ve read all about them,” Sapphire said.
“You have?” Emberwind asked, eyes wide in disbelief.
“Yes, they’re half wolf, half dragon,” she explained, her enthusiasm building like the momentum of a cart let loose down a hill. “They usually live in the glacial mountains up north. They’re very dangerous, but they’ve got plenty of access to food in the mountains.”
“Ah, dragon hybrids,” Emberwind said. Everyone that knew Sapphire well enough knew that these were the moments it was best to step aside and simply let the unicorn's train of thought barrel by.
“You’re in luck Ironfeather,” Emberwind chortled. “You’ve found our local expert.”
“We do hunt in the mountains,” Ironfeather said, “but never far enough north to encounter the wolven.”
“Never?” Sapphire asked. “You’ve never seen one at all?”
“Never,” Ironfeather repeated. “I only heard about them when I was young. We were at war with them once. Mostly stories from back then.”
“Is that important?” Fleethoof asked.
“It might be,” Sapphire said. “Maybe something drove the wolven out of their own lands?”
“Or maybe they just invaded unprovoked,” Emberwind said. “Monsters don't need a reason.”
“This is distressing news,” the mayor said. “There’s much to think about before we decide to act.”
“We should work on our defenses,” Sapphire said, frowning. “And we should get a message to Dawn Chaser warning him about the wolven. When his squad gets back we’ll know more about what we’re up against.”
“They are many,” Ironfeather warned. “If you’ve sent scouts…”
Sapphire winced inwardly and stole a glance at Emberwind. Her friend's ears had drooped; her face was fraught with worry.
“They’ll be fine,” Sapphire said quickly. “I’ll go get Light’s Hope to get a message to them now.”
In a flash of magic she was gone. Startled by the arcane display, Ironfeather nearly tumbled from his bed, barely averting the imminent crash by flaring his wings to steady himself. His eyes were still wide as dinner plates when he'd righted himself in the bed. His chest heaved laboriously for air.
Emberwind had a very guilty look on her face as she struggled to suppress a snicker. “I remember the first time she did that around me.”
“Relax, please calm down, it's just a warp spell!” Fleethoof pleaded.
“I've never seen anything like that!” Ironfeather said, taking a moment to clear his throat. He was not quick to regain his composure.
“It’s alright, it’s not common for us either,” Emberwind said. “It’s a difficult feat. Out of our entire town only she and Light’s Hope can handle it.”
“Really?”
“Yes, they’re both very talented and they have the work ethic to develop it into something really unique. Magic ability among unicorns varies from pony to pony just as much as flight skill varies among gryphons and pegasus.”
“I imagine you are correct, miss…Emberwind was it?” Ironfeather asked.
“Yes,” Emberwind said.
“Would it be possible to see more of your town? If you’ll have me, I think I will be staying with you for some time. At the very least until I can reunite with my pride.”
The mayor’s eyes brightened. “Of course, of course, we are more than happy to take you in. Glensdale has always had a very bright outlook on our relationship with the local gryphon pride.”
“Thank you,” Ironfeather said, bowing his head in an antiquated gesture of respect that made him look more asleep than grateful.
“I’ll go check with the doctor and see if he thinks you’re good to go,” Emberwind said, and galloped off in search of Rosebloom.