"Rainbow!" Phantom gasped, waking violently from his sleep. A bead of sweat ran down his neck, and his breathing was ragged. He desperately looked around for the pegasus mare, relaxing only when he found her where she had fallen asleep previously that night.
The mare in question looked up at him from her resting position, a wondering look in her eyes. "Everything alright?" she tentatively asked.
"Just a dream," Phantom sighed, standing up and stretching out his limbs and wings.
"You were shuffling around a lot, and breathing really hard. Then you yelled my name..."
"Don't worry about it," he yawned. "It's not your burden to bear." Phantom sniffed the air. "Somepony making breakfast?"
"Uhh... yeah... They brought up a cart with pancakes, apples, and orange juice."
Phantom left Dash's room, heading into the main lobby of the Sapphire Suites. Stryker and Archer were there waiting by the fireplace, the former drinking some orange juice while the latter bit into a pancake. Both looked up from the books they were reading, interested by the new occupants.
"So, what was it about?" Rainbow asked as Phantom plucked an apple from the tray.
Taking a bite out of it, Phantom replied. "It was just a dream, Dash."
"You said my name though!"
"What's going on, now?" Archer asked.
"Phantom said my name in a dream."
"Ohhhhhh..." Archer and Stryker both said, looking at each other mischievously. "Pay up!" Stryker demanded of the earth pony.
"Faust..." Archer sighed, pulling out a bag of bits from some random place behind him and handing them over to Stryker. "This is the last time I bet against you... Ever."
"What'd you guys bet?" Rainbow questioned the two.
"That Phantom here has a crush on you," Stryker explained, counting the bits in the bag with his magic.
"I DO NOT HAVE A CRUSH ON RAINBOW DASH!" yelled Phantom, throwing his hooves into the air.
"Celestia disagrees," Archer countered.
"And Luna," included Stryker.
"When did either of you talk to Luna? Or Celestia?" Phantom was hoovering just a few feet infront of the two stallions.
"We talked to Luna in our dreams, like most other ponies," explained Archer. "She dropped by to see how things were going."
"Guess you didn't get the memo on that." Stryker mumbled, returning his attention back to the book.
"I don't sleep, remember?" Phantom deadpanned.
"Oh, that's right..." Archer sarcastically gasped, "but when you do it's about Rainbow Dash, apparently." The earth pony and Stryker shared a victorious hoof-bump.
Phantom looked at the ceiling and groaned in frustration. "I'm going for a flight!" On his way to the window, the pegasus grabbed an other apple. "Twits..." Feeling the air roll over his fur and mane, the relatively warm thermals rising along the side of the castle and into his wings, Phantom took flight into the Glacien skies.
Below, Glacien citizens were milling about in their morning routines. Shop owners were tidying up their recently opened venues. Pedestrians wondered through their streets heading to schools, workplaces, coming home off of grave-yard shifts, out shopping or simply lounging at one of the many street-side café's. There was also an increase in overall security. At least one guard was stationed at each street intersection, with patrols of at least two guards wondering between them.
Another thing that was noticeable: what looked like castle workers were out and about, decorating the streets. They placed blue and white ribbons all along buildings' gutters. From the street lamps hanged blue banners with white trimming and the Glacien royal crest. Chains of red flowers were being spiraled around the lamp poles, and set up as borders along the frames of windows. Lights were being hung in the branches of streed-side trees, and stretched across streets between lamp poles. Glacien flags were being flow above the entrances to buildings.
Phantom landed at a street corner just outside of a bakery. The warm smells wafted through his nostrils, inciting hunger to grow in his stomach. To quell this feeling, he took a bite out of the apple he had been carrying from the castle, simultaneously watching the citizens of Aquila interact with each other. By about his third bite of the apple being held in his left wing, Phantom felt a tug on his right wing.
Craning his neck around, he saw a young unicorn filly holding onto his wing with his fore-hooves. Seeing that she had been noticed, the foal sheepishly smiled but still hanged on.
Still eating from the apple, Phantom maneuvered his wing-and the foal- around in front of him.
"Can I assist you in something?" Phantom asked as if it were an everyday experience. In his past as a run-of-the-mill Royal Guard in Canterlot, children had shown an innate fascination with him for some reason.
"You look really cool!" the filly squeaked playfully. "Can you fly?"
The pegasus took another bite of the apple, finishing it off and throwing the core into a nearby disposal bin. He had to remind himself that in the city, Caren like him were not allowed. "That would be the purpose of the wings, yes."
"That's so awesome. I've never seen a pony with wings before!"
"Never?" Phantom wasn't sure why he asked. This should have been something expected by how Stryker described Glacien culture.
"Well... our school books have pictures of ponies like you, and ponies without wings or horns but they're always bad ponies that beat up other ponies. But I don't see you going around beating everypony up! You seem pretty cool!"
"Got that right, kid," Phantom set the filly down and rubbed her mane gently. "What's your name?"
"Sunshine!" Phantom raised an eyebrow. The answer didn't come from the filly, but from an older mare further down the street. There, a dull blue unicorn pushed and shoved her way past pedestrians, trying to get to Phantom with an urgent look in her eyes. "Sunshine!"
"Mom?" the filly called out, looking around. Though try as she might, she couldn't see past the crowds to see the mare calling her name.
"Here, kid," Phantom bent down and picked up the filly so that she sat atop his head, getting a great view of the area around them. It didn't take too long afterwards that the filly located her mother, who was now only a few meters away.
"Mom!"
"Sunshine!" The mare took her daughter in her magic, bringing the filly into a tight hug. "Oh, I thought I wasn't going to be able to find you!"
"It's fine mommy! This nice stallion found me!"
The filly's mother followed her daughter's hoof to Phantom, who was standing not too far away, watching them. Phantom hadn't expected much, but he did expect for the mare to react in at least the slightest way. But she didn't. She just stood there, gaping at him.
"More like she found me, actually," Phantom spoke up after a brief pause.
"..." but still, the mare didn't speak. She just... stared in awe...
"..."
"..."
"..."
"... CAREN!" the sudden caterwaul that pierced Phantom's sensitive pegasus ears sent pain streaking down his spine. Everypony stopped what they were doing to gaze on the forming scene. The guards in particular to special notice. "GUARDS! GUARDS! THERE'S CAREN IN THE CITY! ARREST THIS PONY!"
"Whoa, ma'am, calm down," Phantom tried to diffuse the situation, but guards were closing in. "I'm apart of Rainbow Dash's court, alright? I'm not a bad pony."
"Stay away from me and my daughter! Guards! Guards! This Caren tried to foalnap my daughter! Guards!
Seeing the guards rapidly approaching, and how nopony would listen to him, Phantom's hoof was forced. "Hey, kid. You seem like a good pony. Stay the way you are!" Ducking to avoid a Glacien guard from tackling him, Phantom flared his wings open, much to the awe of the young filly. "Don't let anypony change that!" Those were Phantom's final words as he pushed off of the ground and into the cold sky, leaving behind him a group of guards that ran into one-another in the place Phantom had just been.
Turning back towards the area near the castle, the pegasus continued his exploratory flight.
"Ugh, this is becoming painful!" Archer groaned with a resigning sign. The white stallion closed the back cover on the third book he had finished that morning, pushing it off into the file of other books that had already been read through.
"Not much of a reader then, eh?" spoke Stryker, not lifting his gaze from his fourth book for that morning. He idly flipped the page with his magic. "If that's the case then I can't see you being with Twilight."
Archer tried to stare daggers into the unicorn's eyes, but Stryker didn't bother to look up, opting to instead just smile.
"You're just jealous because you can't find a mare."
"I'm perfectly capable of finding myself a suitable mare, but I'm perfectly content with how my life is now."
A rapping on the silver doors made it's way through the Sapphire Suites, and to the ears of everypony present.
"It's your turn to get the door."
"How many bits are you planning to bet this time that it is?" This time, Stryker looked up at the earth-pony, making sure that Archer knew how confident he was in his winning."
"Fine." Semi-glad that for the moment he no longer had to read, Archer rose to his hooves to make for the door. After a short exchange with whoever was there, Archer finally said something that was audible. "Follow me, then."
Archer led a group of young unicorn mares into the room, much to Stryker's perturb. The last time the earth-pony had done something similar to this, they-and Phantom-found themselves hung over, in the Canterlot castle dungeon, looking through cell bars at a very, very unhappy Princess Celestia and Shining Armor.
But, Stryker's initial fears passed when he saw that the mares were towing behind them chests and hangars full of clothes and supplies. They had practically broken down a boutique and brought it with them!
The group made their way towards Rainbow Dash's suite, where the pegasus was trying to catch up on lost sleep from the night's previous events.
This isn't going to go well... Stryker thought just as the group entered the room. Everypony stopped and looked in one direction, presumably where Rainbow Dash was. Archer was speaking, but Stryker couldn't hear what he was saying. But by the easily understandable and violent reaction by Rainbow Dash, he probably said something along the lines of 'These are dresses, and you're they're here to put them on you.'
"You want me to wear WHAT?"
Stryker sighed, rising to his hooves. Most ponies would have expected to go to the room to help avoid any unnecessary quarrels, but not Stryker. No, the sensible unicorn decided it was best to completely avoid the situation entirely by going to his own room.
Expecting to be greeted by silence, solace, and comfort, Stryker was instead greeted by Talon - who was perched on the windowsill.
"Talon," Stryker greeted with an idle nod.
"Kleek," the bird-of-prey chirped back in reply.
"Did you bring back word from the Aurora?"
Talon nodded, using his wings to hop over to the edge of the bed next to the unicorn. Gently, and securely, tied to the back of the eagle was a small messenger scroll similar to the first one they had received earlier from the Aurora. Stryker carefully used his magic to untie the message and break the blue seal.
From: EAS Aurora
To: Task Force 247
Subject: Palmyra
We believe we have find Palmyra. There is an area in the forest ahead of our current position where the snow slowly disappeared and is replaced by pink trees. According to your descriptions, these are the Cherry Blossom trees we are looking for. They appear to be located approximately ten miles north of where you located Prince Castor. Scouts report both Glacien and Nightingale patrols in the area, and several skirmishes have already taken place while we've been here.
They have more than likely spotted the ship, though to help avoid further detection were are climbing above the clouds. We will remain here and await your reply.
— Captain Spectrum Dash.
"Found Palmyra, huh Cap?"
"Kleek kik ik ik."
"You think they did?"
"Ik."
"You did?
"Kik."
"No you didn't..."
"Kleek!"
"Prove it." Stryker mocked with a grin, knowing full well that the eagle wouldn't be able t—
To the unicorns amazement, the bald eagle reached for something that was tucked under it's wing. When Talon's head reemerged, it did so with a Cherry Blossom flower in it's beak. Stryker took the flower in his magic to examine it.
"Ik ik ik kleek kik ik."
Stryker's grin fell. Replaced instead by vexation. With a sigh, he held both the flower and the the dispatch next to each other, between him and the eagle.
With an ever-so-slight pulse of magical energy, the two items were reduced to cinders. They didn't even have time to fall to the floor before they vaporized out of existence. Talon looked from where the remnants would have fallen if they survived, then to the unicorn who destroyed them, giving him a stare that would have eclipsed Fluttershy's.
"No, you didn't find Palmyra."
"Kleek kik!"
"Oh don't you give me that look."
"Ik!"
"You know why I did it." Talon gave Stryker a look of disenchantment. "You'd do the same thing. The Glaciens musn't find Palmyra. If we go there, they'll follow us. We just need to hold them off until after Hearth's Warming."
"Kleek."
"What about it?"
"Kik."
"No, Phantom doesn't know. And he isn't going to find out. So what if it's here, he's not one to go looking around in libraries. I won't let him find it. If he does, he'd head straight for Palmyra. He would be the first one to go there—well, second, Rainbow Dash would go there first because of that filly."
"Ik ik ik!"
"We would never hurt Scootaloo. We didn't hurt you, remember?" Talon bowed his head. "Exactly. You trusted me then, you can trust me now." Stryker lifted a piece of parchment and a quill in his magic, writing something down. "Take this back to Captain Dash. It tells him to stay clear of the forest due to hazardous weather conditions." The unicorn placed it on the eagle's back, gently tying it to him.
"Kleek ik kik?"
"No. Don't tell anypony..." Stryker moved close to Talon's beak, looking into his raptor eyes with resolution. "You're one of us, remember? You can't tell anypony, it would doom the order. Destroy everything we've done, and the world. Understand?"
Talon nodded.
"Good. Now go, deliver the message and remember what I said..."
"Kleek." With his final chirp, the bald eagle took flight, clearing the window and banking to the north. Stryker glanced at where the ashes of the parchment and flower would have landed, then went back into the main lobby of the Sapphire suites.
From a perch atop the highest point of the Aquila castle, Phantom rested, observing the ponies bellow. They were working in the castle courtyard, feverishly setting up similar decorations to those he had seen around the city. Except here, they were also adding hundreds of chairs, all facing towards a balcony at the end of the courtyard, two stories above the main entrance to the castle. By his experience with doing security at Equestrian royal engagements, it seemed that that was where Rainbow Dash would be crowned.
Prince Castor was leading the decorating operations from the center of the courtyard, giving directions to everypony that approached him, and occasionally barking at their mistakes. The operation was going by smoothly, by Glacien standards... On the other side of the castle, in an identical courtyard, however, was a completely different construction process.
Captain Cypher was leading a group of guards with lumber in creating a platform and raised framework. At the center of the platform, a guard was using a saw to cut a hole for a trapdoor to be made. Another guard above him tied one end of a rope to the cross section of a horizontal beam.
The gallows.
"Make sure there's plenty of room to fall!" Cypher ordered his stallions. "She mustn't survive."
They're really holding an execution on the same day as the coronation? These Glacien's won't cease to surprise me. But, I guess that this really shouldn't surprise me. Just as Phantom expanded his wings to bring him in closer on the construction project, a flapping noise behind him put a stop to that.
"Kleek."
The pegasus turned around to see Talon perched on his back. "How did you..."
"Kik ik."
"Did you bring word back from the Aurora?" Talon nodded. "That the message on your back?"
Much to Phantom's curiosity, the eagle shook his head, reaching under his right wing for a smaller note. Tilting his head to the side slightly, Phantom took it from the bird-of-prey.
Phantom Knight,
I know you already have a heavy weight on your wings, but I am sending the remaining Elements of Harmony to assist, they will arrive tomorrow. Not too long after you left, I received a letter from the Nightingale leader explaining that we were fighting for the wrong side. It is likely that these are false tales meant to trick us, but I want you to investigate anyway.
If what their leader said is true, then the Glaciens will do everything in their power to find Boreas, and free him. If they do, the world will be cast under a blanket of ice. Find out from Stryker everything you can on the legend, and how to prevent it from taking place. According to the Nightingale leader, the two thousandth anniversary of Boreas' imprisonment will take place in four days.
Good luck,
— Princess Celestia.
The pegasus sighed. "Is she kidding?"
"Ik."
"I was afraid not... How can she expect me to babysit the Elements of Harmony? I'll have to protect them and their necklaces now. On top of it all, they're arriving tomorrow! The coronation is tomorrow!"
"Kik kleek."
"Yes, and the anniversary is in four days."
"Kleek?"
"Of course I know what day it that is."
"Ik..."
"Hearth's Warming."