Hunter nodded at the Guard outside the palace gate as he walked past, feeling better than he had in days. All the dread and anticipation, the feeling of loss … It had all just, evaporated while he was talking with Thistle. It wasn’t gone, really. He still felt a faint ache when he thought of Swift, but that was alright. He probably always would, because he loved her, and he missed her. There was nothing he could do about that.

But for whatever reason, talking with Thistle had just made it seem alright, like everything was spot on. It was like she knew what he was thinking, knew what to say to help him feel a little bit better, even more so than Derpy had. Which was a bit worrisome, he realized with a frown as he made his way towards the barracks. He’d never been able to get much out of her about her past except that she didn’t like to talk about it and it was painful, but she was good friends with Derpy.

Maybe she lost somepony in her life like Derpy and I did, he thought as he crossed into the training grounds. Somepony she really cared for. That would explain how she knew what I was feeling. But who did she lose? Should I just ask?

Still, he had to admit that made the most sense. The simplest explanation, he thought with a slight grin. Heh, she and Swift really would have gotten along. Maybe one day they would.

The lights outside the Dusk Guard barracks were lit, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. That’s odd, he thought, glancing up at the sky. The sun was starting to descend, yes, but not even the earliest of Canterlot’s streetlights had been lit. Why were the lights above the door to the barracks lit?

“Somepony forget to turn them out or something?” he wondered, glancing at the other Guard’s barracks as he came closer. Neither of them looked out of place. “Huh.”

He was only a few dozen feet from the doors when they burst open, a private from the Royal Guard rushing out at a dead run. The marks on his chest-plate marked him as a courier.

“Hey, private!” Hunter called, and the unicorn’s eyes widened as he saw him. “What’s going—”

“Lieutenant Hunter!” the private called, snapping a quick salute. “I was just looking for you.”

“What is it?” Hunter asked, his eyes narrowing as he returned the salute.

“I don’t know,” the private stammered, apparently mistaking the expression as one of displeasure. “The Captain just sent me to find you in the city, he needs you to report in ASAP—” If there was anything else to the colt’s message, Hunter missed it as he darted past him, snapping his wings back to propel himself forward through the barracks doors.

“Boss!” he called as he swept into the common room in a rush. Steel looked up with a scowl, stamping his front hooves across a spread of papers on the table. Two more courier privates, one a unicorn and the other an earth pony, looked up in surprise.

“Reporting as requested,” Hunter said, snapping a quick salute.

“Good,” Steel said, returning the salute and then turning to the two couriers. “You have your orders, hop to it!” The last bit came out as a bark, and the two couriers gave him rapid-quick salutes before vanishing into the hall, their hooves ringing against the wood.

Hunter gaped at Steel as the Captain turned back towards him. He was wearing his armor, all of it but the helmet, the dark-green crystal shining in the room’s bright light, and he could see from some of the small changes that it was the new stuff that Sky Bolt had been working on. Well, some of it at least.

“We’re mobilizing,” Steel said, sliding a folder across the table at him. “The Princesses have a mission for us. We leave as soon as we’re capable of it, in The Hummingbird.”

“Where to?” Hunter asked, glancing down at the mission file Steel had slid towards him. “The Ocean?” There hadn’t been much news since Northgait had shut but—

“No,” Steel said. “Not the Ocean. That’s not our fight. But close.” His hoof came down with a heavy thump, striking the map he’d laid out beneath everything else on the table. “Here,” he said, tapping a series of jagged marks on the map.

Hunter nodded as he looked down at the range, already mentally cataloguing everything he’d need to make sure the team had. “Crikey. I’ll get on it immediately,” he said, tucking the file Steel had given him under his wing. “I’ll make sure we’re in a good nick to go.”

“Good,” Steel said, saluting. “Everything I need you to do beforehoof is there. Get to it, Lieutenant, we’ve got a mission to complete.”

Hunter turned and ran down the hall, already heading for the armory. It was time at last, their first, real mission. They’d need all their winter gear and all the winter training they’d undertaken. Maybe more beyond that. He’d seen where they’d be going. Only the coldest place in Equestria. The Crystal mountains.

He crashed into the armory, sliding to a stop in front of his locker and pulling it open. He had to move fast, had to gear up. He needed to make sure they were ready.

The mountains were waiting.