Chapter Eighteen – Twilight Sparkle

Twilight tried to focus every thought she had on the map and Frostburn's possible location. It was just a little too hard to transition after the fight she had just seen. What could have possibly cause Rarity to say those things? Or Rainbow Dash's heated reply?

The white unicorn had been reluctantly silent after her outburst, but she and Rainbow still glared daggers at each other from across the room. No pony mentioned the dispute, but it was clearly on their minds.

Applejack gave wary glances at Rainbow Dash, afraid the feisty pegasus could start up again. Fluttershy kept her head down, eyes darting between the two. Pinkie was, for once, silent. Occasionally the pink mare would shift uncomfortably. Only the guards and the Princesses seemed unfazed.

"Now we haven't ruled out Las Pegasus or Saddle Arabia." Princess Luna said, continuing the discussion of Frostburn's whereabouts. "But so far we've been entertaining the possibility that Frostburn is in the north."

Swift Sword and the other guard – Twilight thought his name was Grey Spear but she was not sure – nodded. "It would make sense, based on the reports from the battle." The presumably named Grey Spear said. The Mane Six nodded, following along. Twilight did remember Frostburn flying off in that direction. She wondered who reported it, because neither she, nor her friends had been debriefed. There had been guards, but they had been preoccupied with trying to stand on the frozen ice rink.

"None of our northern scouts have managed to report back, so for the time being we can only guess." Sergeant Sword said, interrupting the purple mare's thoughts. "We fear that the outlaw may be planning attacks on some of our most valuable cites there." Rainbow Dash grunted when she heard him. The Sergeant turned to her. "Is there a problem with my theory?" He asked her.

Fluttershy gave Dash a pleading look not to argue, but the cyan pegasus ignored it. "Yeah there's a problem." The cyan pegasus responded hotly. "Frostburn wouldn't plan on attacking anypony. Let alone a huge city."

Swift Sword narrowed his eyes. "Well, he may not plan on it, but we can just as well assume he will. You don't know him all that well, that much we all know. So there is no way you can know what he will or will not do. Besides, he's already burned down your town, what other proof do you need?"

Sensing an impending explosion from Dash, Twilight stepped in. "Ponyville was an accident." She said. "That has been established, Sergeant. Why don't you focus on the where, and let us worry about the why and the how. Okay?" Clearly angry about Twilight's condescension, but unable to retort with the Princesses in the room, Swift Sword nodded through clenched teeth and turned back to the map. Twilight had the feeling that the Sergeant wasn't going to let it go, however.

Rainbow looked pretty smug as she settled down as well, no doubt happy the defense of Frostburn won out. Twilight allowed herself to breathe, with one more disaster averted. The big picture became the problem again. She knew just staring at the map and speculating was not going to find Frostburn or return the status quo of the Mane Six's friendship. But they couldn't do anything until a report came in.

At that moment, the door to the throne room burst open, and the royal messenger excitedly ran in, levitating some parchment in front of him. "Princess Celestia, news from the north has just come in. News from the north!"

The Princess was clearly happy, but didn't allow for it to rile her up. "Thank you." She said accepting the letter. The messenger left as quickly as he arrived. The Princess unrolled the scroll and read it silently. Her eyes darted back and forth in a quickening pace. Her face contorted into a worried expression.

"What is it Princess?" Twilight asked, fearing the worst. Celestia levitated the letter to Luna, who scanned it quickly and passed it to Twilight.

"It's an eye witness account by Princess Cadence. Apparently some sort of comet fell last night." Princess Celestia answered. Twilight's eyes ran along the lines of the paper. It was brief, but had a clear style to it that belonged to her old foal sitter.

"Well Ah don't see wat's so worrisome 'bout that." Applejack said.

"Apparently the comet froze the majority of the Gemstone Forrest." The Princess said.

"Froze?" Rarity said in shock.

"But that's right outside of..." Pinkie said.

"Does that mean…" Fluttershy trailed off.

"Yes." Princess Luna said. "By now Frostburn is in the Crystal Empire."

-\-

Seconds went by feeling like hours. The Mane Six had all been sent out of the throne room so the Princess could confer with her guards. Twilight knew that a battalion was likely to be sent to the Empire. Just because Celestia sympathized Frostburn's situation, did not mean she was going in unprepared this time. As for Swift Sword, he wasn't likely to sympathize with Frostburn at all.

Twilight herself was very worried. Partly because she expected Rainbow Dash to bolt out and fly to the Crystal Empire all by herself. The cyan pegasus definitely looked the most anxious out of all of them. Also Twilight was worried for the Crystal Empire.

She knew of course that Frostburn would never deliberately harm the Empire, but so far he had inadvertently burned down Ponyville and nearly froze Celestia solid. The odds were definitely not in his favor. Or theirs.

Rainbow Dash was tapping her hoof incessantly out of anxiety. Rarity glanced at her in annoyance, but it was clear the white unicorn was just as anxious as Rainbow Dash. The two had yet to speak to each other since the fight. Twilight was beginning to worry they wouldn't make up anytime soon.

"What do you girls think would be the best color streamer?" Pinkie Pie suddenly asked. Everypony stared at her in confusion.

"Wh-What?" Twilight stammered.

"Streamer." Pinkie Pie said. "What color do you think would be best?" Without really having any questions answered, Applejack spoke.

"Now what in the hay would ya'll need streamers for Pinkie?" The orange farmer asked. Pinkie giggled hysterically, as if she couldn't believe AJ didn't know what she meant.

"For Frostburn's "Welcome Back" Party. Which also will be doubling as my 100th Party Extravaganza, seeing as how I haven't thrown it yet. So I need advice on the color streamers. Typically I would do a red and blue mix to match Frostburn's hair and coat, but since this is a two-way party I suppose anything goes." The pink mare happily stared at her friends, awaiting an answer obliviously.

"Uhh…" Rainbow started, but struggled to find the right words. "You know we haven't found Frostburn, right?"

Pinkie laughed again. "Well yeah silly. But when it comes to party planning, you've got to plan ahead. Now, will somepony please answer my question?"

Nopony got the chance, for at that moment Princess Celestia walked out the doors of her throne room. Everypony turned to face her, eager to her what the princess had to say. "Pack your things." The white alicorn said. "We are preparing a battalion to take an airship to the Crystal Empire. I assume each of you wants to be on board."

"Yes." Both Rainbow and Rarity said at the same time. They glared at each other, then looked away. Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Applejack were also nodding to Celestia's question, but seemed to feel a little uneasy about Rainbow and Rarity's feud.

"When do we leave?" Twilight asked.

"Immediately." Was the response of the Princess. Next Chapter: The King and I Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 46 Minutes