The two pegasus flew in silence.
Clouds passed by beneath them, and Raindrop amused herself trying to find patterns in their swirls as the she coasted along quietly behind sentinel.
Whatever small talk Raindrop had tried to initiate had been answered simply and curtly; usually in a single word response. Yes. No. Later. Maybe. Tomorrow.
Raindrop couldn’t shake the feeling that for some reason, Sentinel disliked her. She got the feeling he disliked her a lot.
And so they flew in silence, heading west, towards the mountain ranges marking Equestria’s western border. Beyond the mountain range lay a long, flat savannah, but from what information Raindrop had gleaned from Celestia, their destination was the mountains, not the savannah.
Sentinel was flying in front of her, high and to the right. He wasn’t even panting, not winded at all from the stress of flying, even though he was dressed in full armour. Raindrop didn’t have any problem keeping up with him. Flying was her job; and she was, like so many pegasus before her, training for the Wonderbolt’s. The same way an earth pony trained to be a master gardener, really. She intended to try out for the Wonderbolt’s at some point, but between her Storm Chaser duties and a good ability to procrastinate, she’d never really trained to a point where she felt she’d be good enough to join their ranks. And after she met Shine, a silly pipe-dream like ‘joining the Wonderbolt’s’ hadn’t seemed so important any more.
Raindrop still kept up with the training regime that the Wonderbolt’s posted on billboards. The wing stretches, the circles, and the speed runs. She didn’t really have any illusions about joining them any more...but it was fun to dream. She was too lazy for the Wonderbolt’s anyhow.
And so the time passed in silence, with Raindrop having given up on brokering a conversation with the surly guard.
~ ~ ~
The air was still. A strong warmth radiated from the ground, reflecting up from the rock and the dirt to distort the air.
As they descended from above the clouds, the air went from cool, to hot. It was so warm down here that the air seemed to barely work as air to Raindrop’s lungs. She felt it filling her body, but somehow it didn’t seem to be doing anything.
Sentinel didn’t seem to have any problem with the heat, and landed heavily on a length of upthrust rock looking out over the edge of the savannah, striding towards a cracked rock with purpose.
It was a quiet, unearthly place, and the flowers and framed picture leaning up against the cracked rock looked very out of place.
Sentinel paused by the broken rock, and then sat down, awaiting Raindrop to do what she came to do.
Raindrop landed as well, and then tentatively stepped over to the cracked rock.
It seemed that, once upon a time, it had been a standing finger of stone, resting at the edge of the upthrust rock, overlooking the savannah. But at some point, it had been cracked down the centre by some external force, leaving it cracked in half, with both halves resting, facing away from each other, like an egg cracked down the middle.
Inside the rock, there was a series of depressions, angular and deep. It seemed as though gemstones had once rested inside the rock, but had long since been removed. In their place, rested a jewellery set. Five golden necklaces, and a crown.
Wreathes of flowers, some of them old, some of them fresh, rested at the foot of the split rock. Gifts of remembrance. A framed picture leaned against the rock, showing a beautiful unicorn with a curled blue mane smiling for the camera. Rarity. There was no sign of the actual grave site where Rarity was buried, but it couldn’t have been far; likely closer to the foot of the rock upthrust, since there was no dirt around to inter a body to.
Raindrop shifted uncomfortably for a moment, looking down at the picture, and then up at the Elements of Harmony. She felt...strange. Like she was stealing from the dead. These had been left here as a sign of respect, a sign of the friendship the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony had. And here she was, about to disturb the final resting place of somepony for her own gain.
The pegasus almost considered turning around and heading home...but she had come here for the Elements, and she couldn’t leave without them. Taking a deep breath, she leaned over, and scooped up the Elements, three from either half of the split stone, and then deposited them in her carry pack. She paused then, to lean in and self-consciously whisper ‘thank you’ to the picture of Rarity, aware of Sentinel watching her. “I’ll bring these back to you. Promise.”
With that done, Raindrop turned around, and then spread her wings, giving Sentinel a glance. The royal guard shrugged a moment, and turned as well, leaping into the air before she could, leaving the female pegasus to follow.
Raindrop took a running leap and didn’t look back as she began the journey back to Canterlot.
~ ~ ~
There was no fanfare to announce the arrival of the Elements of Harmony to Canterlot.
It was evening, and it was only the lights of the castle and the surrounding houses that allowed the two pegasus to find their way back to the castle.
Forgoing the front entrance completely, Sentinel led Raindrop to the guard entrance, a tower set on the east side of the castle. They entered through one of the upper arches with a clatter. Immediately, Sentinel began to descend the long spiral staircase. Uncertain where to go from there, Raindrop followed after him.
Sentinel took a right turn at the bottom of the staircase, and Raindrop went to follow him, but he paused and stared back at her, before raising a hoof towards the left, and then stating flatly, “That way.”
The pegasus stared at him for a long moment, and then blurted; “Why do you hate me?”
The guard raised a brow back at her for a long moment, before snorting once and turning away, beginning to walk away without a word.
“Well...you’re a surly bastard!” Raindrop called after him, huffing a moment, before shaking her head and then turning the way he had indicated. Pushing open a door, she found herself in the entrance hall. From there, she could remember the way to the Hall of Harmony, and immediately began to long walk.
~ ~ ~
Celestia looked back over her shoulder as she heard the pegasus returning, turning to face her. The princess was in her waiting room, looking at the pictures of her old friends and ponies she had considered family. That was all she really had apart from ruling; memories of ponies who were no longer part of the world.
“Did you find them alright?” Celestia asked of the young pegasus.
Raindrop nodded, moving over to the table in the centre of the room, and delicately pushing aside a photo frame so she could begin gently placing down the Elements of Harmony on the table.
First the five necklaces, and then the crown. The pegasus gave a smile over the glittering jewels to the princess. “Now we just need to find the bearers, right?”
Celestia frowned slightly, stepping over to the table and lifting a hoof to drag the necklace with the lightning-bolt motif towards her, appraising it.
Raindrop raised a brow for a moment, unsure. “Did I do something wrong?”
The princess raised a brow, and then shook her head. “No. You haven’t done anything wrong, Raindrop. But I fear your trip was for nothing.”
Celestia held up the necklace representing ‘Loyalty’, and then brought it down, hard on the table, causing it to shatter, sending pieces of gemstone to go scattering across the table and dropping onto the floor, bouncing away into the corners of the room.
Raindrop stared at her, mouth gaping slightly. “What did you do?!”
The princess looked down at the broken gemstone, grimacing. “Your trip was a waste of time. These aren’t the Elements of Harmony. These are fakes.”