Princess Luna and Cloud Drop finally touched down at the front gate of Canterlot Castle, weary from their journey to Ponyville, Canterlot, and back. Oddly enough it had been easier to deliver the news to the second family than the first, Luna would have thought it to be the opposite. Upon landing, Luna noticed several Guards, one of them an Officer, standing behind the gates.

"Princess, I was starting to think you weren't going to make it," The Officer called, his breath very visible in the cold air.

"Apologies for taking so long, strong headwinds are certainly not my favorite thing in the world," Luna responded as she approached the gate, two Guards opening the large, metal doors to allow her entrance.

"We deploy for Stalliongrad in 20 minutes, so I suggest you pack quickly," The Officer explained as he walked along with Cloud Drop and Princess Luna.

"20 minutes? I was under the impression we left at 8 o'clock!" Luna responded in a panicked tone.

"You were either miss-informed or got the times wrong... because right now it's 1741 hours." The Officer said as the group walked up a small flight of stairs and into the throne room.

"Ah! 24 hour time! That must be why I made a mistake in my timing, Cloud Drop informed me of our departure in 24 hour time!" Luna explained.

"No offense, your Majesty, but you might want to brush up on your knowledge of Military time if you're going to be Equestria's ruler. Everyone around here uses 24 hour time."

"You make a fair point. I shall be at the aerodrome after I prepare my belongings," Luna said as she and Cloud Drop split off from the Officer and his accompanying Guards.

"You know, your Highness, you could get a watch," Cloud Drop commented after he and Luna had rounded the corner of the hall, holding up his right leg to display the golden watch he was wearing.

"How might I come to possess a time keeping piece such as your own?"

"I bought mine from the PX, but I'm pretty sure that you could just ask them for one."

"The PX? What might that be?" Luna asked as the two walked down the hall towards Princess Luna's personal quarters.

"It stands for post exchange, it's like a little general store, but it's on base." Cloud Drop explained.

"When I return I believe I'll look into purchasing my own watch," Luna said as she opened the doors to her quarters and stepped inside.

"Well, I'll let you pack your things if you don't mind me leaving."

"No, not at all. I suppose I shall see you when I return." Luna responded, looking up momentarily.

"Have an enjoyable flight."

Luna gave a genial smile in response, Cloud taking the gesture as a signal the conversation had ended and when on his own way.

"So you say that Twilight's spending a week at Canterlot Castle. What exactly is she there for?" Star Yield said, his glowing azure eyes standing out in the fire-lit room.

"Princess Luna requested her presence. She needed someone of experience to keep things afloat while she talks things out in Stalliongrad."

Star Yield scoffed at the idea.

"I should say this brings concern. She's going to be harder to keep an eye on without arousing suspicion and she has VERY easy access to the Royal Canterlot Library." Cloud Drop explained.

"And what does the Royal Canterlot Library have to do with anything?" Star responded, standing up from his desk.

"The Royal Canterlot Library is home to nearly every single official archive, including the archives of the "crash" Celestia was in."

"Hm. And how accurate are these, archives?"

"Very, but there are several things not mentioned in the report. A few of our brothers and sisters were part of the investigation team."

Star Yield looked into the roaring fire in the fireplace for a moment before speaking back up.

"Anypony and everypony must check in and out with the Librarian at the front desk of the Library, especially if they're going to be looking at official Royal archives. You should try to convince Luna to have access to the more sensitive documents cut off completely unless they are high-level staff such as yourself."

"That shouldn't be too hard, considering most of the documents aren't particularly open to public viewing. I'll see what I can do."

Star Yield levitated a beverage off of his desk, taking a sip as he thought of anything else important to mention.

"Why are you not deploying to Stalliongrad with the rest of the forces? Celestia dragged you nearly everywhere she went," He said, the beverage still floating in his magic.

"Princess Luna wanted me to stay, I'm going to be assisting with heavy administrative work while she's gone."

"Even our leader doesn't have much faith in Celestia's little pet."

A few moments of silence passed, occasionally interrupted by a loud pop from the fireplace.

"Anything else to report?" Star Yield asked, not looking up from the paperwork before him.

"Not that I can think of currently."

"Alright. Have a safe flight back."

Cloud Drop walked to the door of Star Yield's office, opening the extremely decorative door and stepping out into the hallway. After gently shutting the door behind himself, Cloud Drop made his way out of Star Yield's superfluously decorative home and back onto the cold, quiet streets of Canterlot.

It was an eerie sight to see Canterlot so quiet. Normally the streets were packed with all of the wealthy Gentlecolts and mares making their usual rounds to and from various stores, but only a few heavily dressed ponies shuffled through the cold streets, most of them seemed to be making trips to the market to get food and water instead of going to luxury shopping centers to buy extravagant clothing items and jewelry. Cloud Drop often looked down on such extravagant spending behavior as selfish and gluttonous when others looked up to it.

As Cloud Drop walked he noticed just how cold it had become, apart from being cold himself. Nearly every plant was either wilted or dead from frost-bite, every house and street lamp coated in ice and frost, the temperature of the air being so cold that any moisture in the air that came into contact with a solid object instantly froze to it.

After exiting from the mostly residential area he had been in, he found himself in an intersection. Cloud was about to turn left down an adjacent street, but a strange sound caught his attention, it had sounded like a squeak or a chirp. After standing completely still for several seconds the small peep sounded once more, and he was able to assess that the sound had come from his right. His eye searched the area he believed the sound had come from, finding nothing but snow-covered bushes and frozen over benches.

Once again, the strange peep sounded, and after searching for several more seconds Cloud Drop spotted what had been making the sound.

Looking directly at him, was a pair of eyes and a small pink nose, the rest of the creature's face seemed to be as white as the snow concealing its position. After staring for several more seconds he realized the creature was a kitten, and with wide eyes, Cloud Drop slowly began to approach the kitten's position.

As Cloud closed in, the kitten made an unexpected move; with a bound, the kitten hopped from behind its snowy cover and closed the gap between itself and Cloud Drop. The kitten stopped a little bit in front of him, shaking a dusting of snow off its back.

"How in the name of Celestia have you survived out in this cold?" Cloud Drop asked the kitten, kneeling down on the snowy street to get on the same level as the kitten.

The white kitten responded with a little mew.

That tiny sound had such an odd effect. It was like a spell. It caused something deep in him to feel warm, and forced a smile to his lips.

"Here, come here little guy." Cloud Drop said as he reached out with his 2 front hooves, picking the kitten up off the ground.

He sat on his hind legs, looking at the kitten for several moments.

It meowed at him again.

"I know... it's cold, both of us should probably get inside." Cloud Drop said, pretending that the kitten had spoken of how cold it was.

After thinking for a moment, Cloud Drop devised a way to carry the kitten and keep it warm at the same time. He set the kitten back down on the ground and stood up, right as he did the kitten made it very clear that it was upset by meowing loudly.

"I'm not gonna leave you, come here," He told the kitten as he picked it up with a single hoof.

Cloud Drop lifted up his right wing and held the kitten close to his side as he re-lowered his wing in order to hold the kitten. After removing his hoof from under the kitten he made sure that it was firmly placed under his wing, and wouldn't fall out. He was satisfied and began to continue down the street with his fuzzy companion en-wing.

He had done things considered by others to be odd things in his life, but rescuing a kitten off of the streets of Canterlot was up on his list. After walking down the cold street for several minutes he realized that he couldn't fly and keep the kitten under his wing at the same time.

He looked over his shoulder at Star Yield's home, the idea that he could get some sort of bag that he could store the kitten in for safe transport (not to demean the value of the kitten to no more than a parcel) popped into his head. After knocking on the front door, Star Yield's assistant opened the door, her glowing, cat-like eyes shining through the darkness of the outside.

"Back so early?" She asked without noticing the kitten tucked under Cloud Drops' wing.

"Yes, I need to get some sort of bag."

"A... A bag? Oh! Where did you find that little guy?" The Assistant said, her usually serious demeanor changing to one of joy upon seeing the small, white kitten.

"Actually, I found him just down the street from here, that's why I need the bag, I can't fly and carry him at the same time." Cloud Drop explained as he walked into the home and into the large living room adjacent to the entry hall.

"Well, I'll go see what I can do for you in the way of a bag," Said the Assistant as she left the room.

Cloud Drop looked around the extravagant and large living room before sitting down on one of the two couches across from the fireplace, setting the kitten down on the coffee table that lay in between the couches.

The kitten stood looking at Cloud Drop for a moment before turning away and pacing about the table, sniffing the vase, drink coasters and newspaper that lay on the table. Cloud couldn't help but smile at just how cute the kitten was, even though it wasn't doing anything extraordinary.

"I found this old sattle bag in one of the closets downstairs, do you think it'll work?" Said the Assistant as she entered the room, a worn, brown sattle bag floating in her magical aurora.

"Yep, this will work perfectly."
Cloud Drop said as he examined the bag.

The Assistant sat down on the adjacent couch as she looked at the kitten, her smile out-shining her glowing eyes.

"Have you thought of a name for him yet?" She asked.

The kitten blurted out a loud mew.

"No, I haven't. Meow might be a good name, seeing as that's one of the thing's he's good at doing." He joked.

The sound of hoof steps began to lightly echo in the room, moments later Star Yield appeared in the entrance of the living room. He stood, staring blankly at the kitten and Cloud Drop.

"Where did the cat come from?" He asked, entering the room.

"Found him outside in the snow... well, I guess he found me." Cloud Drop responded.

"Wow... how did this little guy stay alive out there? It's so darn cold."

"No idea. He doesn't seem to be owned by anypony, he doesn't have a collar."

"It must have been hard to see him, his fur is so white he probably looked like a lump of snow with eyes and a nose." Star Yield said.

"He did. It took me a minute to see him. I never would've known he was there if he hadn't meowed at me." Cloud Drop responded as he petted the kitten's little head with his hoof.

"So, why did you come back? Wanted to show us your find?"

"I needed a bag to carry him in. I was originally going to carry him under my wing so he'd stay warm, but... I can't fly with a kitten under my wing. You don't mind me taking this bag off your hooves, do you?" Cloud Drop asked, holding up the old saddle bag.

"That old thing? Heaven's no, please take it. I've been meaning to get rid of it."

Cloud Drop held the flap of one of the two pockets on the saddle bag open, holding it close to the kitten. The kitten looked at the bag, after sniffing it several times he climbed inside of the bag.

"I was wondering if that would work." Cloud Drop said jokingly, looking at the kitten in the bag.

After adjusting the bag he stood up, carefully slinging the saddle bag over his flanks.

"Leaving?" Star Yield asked.

"Yes, I wanted to get back in time to see Luna's flight leave, but I think it might have left already."

"Have a safe flight back." Star added as Cloud Drop walked out of the living room and out the front door.

Princess Luna exited from Canterlot Castle's ATC (Air Traffic Control) to the large paved area known as the tarmac, her two luggage bags making a very distinctive clunk every time their small, rubber and plastic wheels passed over a crack.

"Are we ready to depart yet, Corporal?" She asked as she approached a rather tall Pegasus, his figure bulkier than normal because of the thick, white winter coat he wore over his standard armor.

"We would be, but there's a problem with the helicopters."

"What is the issue?" Luna asked back, her voice holding a tone of concern.

"Not that it's your fault... but the extreme cold has made it nearly impossible to start the engines. Not to mention there's heavy ice build-up along the main rotors and anti-torque rotors, and all of that ice could cause a lot of problems if we were to start the engines and get the blades spinning."

"Why would the ice cause problems?" Luna asked inquisitively.

"Well, the added weight of the ice can cause structural stress on both the rotors and the hub, and one blade could have more ice than another, which would cause an oscillation, which could completely destroy the aircraft." The Captain explained as they walked across the snowy tarmac towards the helicopters.

"You also explained that the engines are not responsive, why is that?"

"Could be any number of things, frozen fuel lines, ice in the piston walls, ice on the drive and crank shaft, frozen coolant, we don't really know at the moment. All I can say for sure is that hot water does not work; one of my flight engineers had the idea to pour hot water on the piston housings, and the water froze faster than you could say 'stop pouring'."

"Does this mean we won't be able to send the required forces to aid Stalliongrad?"

"Oh, no, by no means. We'll just be delayed a few hours, if that. The fact that there is ice isn't the issue, the fact we don't know where the ice is is the problem."

Luna gave a sigh of relief.

"If we will not be departing for the next while, should I return to my personal quarters? I had several tasks I wished to complete before we departed."

"Sure. When we get the ice problem sorted out I'll send somepony to get you."

With a nod, Luna turned back towards the door of the ATC, happy to be able to get out of the cold. Upon walking out of the ATC and walking into one of the many large hallways of Canterlot Castle Luna spotted a familiar figure coming down the hall towards her; it was Cloud Drop.

"You're flight hasn't left yet?" Cloud Drop called from aways down the hall.

"No, the helicopter crews are having some issues with ice."

"Well, that's kind of good; I wanted to suggest something to you." Cloud spoke as the two began walking.

"Oh, what would that be?"

"Well, you are aware of the Royal Library's Incident Report and Investigation section?"

"Uh... yes, I am, why?"

"I honestly think it would be advisable for a mandate to be put out restricting access to the more sensitive documents, like the Investigation report of the crash."

"And exactly why would this be advisable?"

"It keeps newspapers from spreading rumors. It's happened in the past, which is why there's already some pretty hefty restrictions on Investigation documents."

Luna paused in thought.

"How would I go about doing this?"

"Well, you'd have to consult the Library administrators first and have the mandate written with them, but I can have that done, seeing as you're leaving soon." Cloud explained further.

"If you do think it would be best, have it done! The last thing I need is rumors, anyway. I have enough trouble just getting up in the morning."

"Understood, I'll have the mandate created."

The two fell silent as the topic of discussion ran dry, Luna beginning to think of other things.

"I hear this flight will be around two days long, but to my knowledge, these helicopters can only stay in the air for a mere 3 hours. How exactly do they get from Equestria to Stalliongrad?" Luna spoke after a while's silence.

"There's a network of refueling posts and bases. I've been on many flights to Stalliongrad, and let me tell you, the flight will not be just a day. The helicopters have to stop and refuel, which only takes a few minutes, but each helicopter has to refuel, so that can take almost two hours as a whole. Not to mention, the crews and troops have to rest, so that takes up quite a bit of time as well. Two days would be nice, but it'll be around three, four if there's weather."

Luna groaned in an unwilling manner.

"Three whole days... this will not be a fun flight."

"As long as the crew you get assigned with is fun one, you should be fine."

A few seconds later, the group fell silent, Luna's attention going from the conversation to an object Cloud was in possession of.

"Might I ask what you have in your bag?" Luna asked, her eyes locked on the old saddle bag resting on Cloud Drop's flanks.

"It's sort of a long story." He chuckled in response, not wanting to admit what he had in the bag.

Luna didn't respond, she seemed to have lost her curiosity.

"The date is the twenty-third, correct?" She asked after a while.

"Yes, it is."

Luna gave a small 'hm' of thought in response.

"It is only 2 days from Hearth's Warming, and I shall be absent for both it and Hearth's Warming Eve... do you wish for me to reveal my... my Sister's gift to you now or when I return?"

"Oh? Well... I suppose I should see it now." Cloud Drop responded as the two walked.

After several more minutes of walking down the cold halls, the duo came to the doors of Luna's private quarters. Luna opened the doors with her magic, stepping inside and going directly to her writing desk, setting her luggage down on the floor beside it.

"Now, before I reveal what Celestia's gift to you was, I wish to know what is in your bag." Luna said as she sat down at her desk.

Cloud Drop gave no words of protest as he reached behind himself and took the bag off of his back with his mouth, carefully setting it on the floor. Without any further input from Cloud Drop, the bag fell over on its own, the flap of the bag remaining closed as it had been trapped under the bag. After a few seconds, the bag began wiggling slightly, whatever was inside of it was trying to get out. Eventually, the bag's captive was able to push the flap open to reveal itself, the small white kitten poking it's head out of the opening to look around the new room it was in.

"You had a kitten?! Where in the world did you get a kitten?"

"I found him outside in the snow. I would have have seen him if he hadn't meowed at me."

The kitten looked up to Luna, mewing.

Luna melted before the kitten, exclaiming in glee as she stood up from her chair, kneeling down in front of the kitten as she petted down the length of the kitten's soft , fuzzy back, the kitten purring loudly as it pranced in circles, clearly enjoying the attention.

"He's absolutely adorable..."

"Yeah, the little guy is pretty cute."

"Pretty cute? Why, I should be tempted to say the cutest! And he is so soft!"

"So, can I see what my gift is?" Cloud Drop asked after a moment.

"Oh! Yes!" Luna said as she stood up from her position near the kitten.

Luna's dark blue magical aurora surrounded an object on her desk, the object slowly floating out from its hiding spot. It became apparent that the object was some sort of rolled up document, but Cloud Drop couldn't tell just exactly what it was.

"I shall give you the honors of unrolling it." Luna said with a grin as she floated the rather large blue paper to him.

Cloud Drop set the paper on the floor and used his hooves to unroll it, seconds later he realized that the paper was the blueprints for a home, a rather large one.

"W-wait... why would she give me..." Cloud said, his face holding a look of confusion.

"My sister had told me that your current home was of poor quality, and that she couldn't think of a better gift for her friend." Luna answered.

"A...A new house? B-but... I..." He struggled in return.

Cloud Drop stared at the document for a moment before looking up at Luna, a dim smile resting on her lips. Luna could see a tear slowly roll down Cloud Drop's cheek as he stared mouth agape at the blueprints, his mind struggling to process the mix of emotions he felt.

"This is more than I ever could have asked her for." He said softly, his voice cracking as sorrow and regret took over his thoughts.

"My sister's gifts have always been rather extravagant," Luna commented, tears of her own beginning to roll down her cheeks.

Cloud Drop's look of awe slowly turned to a smile, a single tear dripping to the floor. It was taking every ounce of his being to keep from bursting into tears and confessing to Luna that her sister was not dead and being tortured in some house in the middle of the Black Forest of Stalliongrad. There was a quick knock on the door, both Luna and Cloud Drop looking up towards the door.

"Princess, the Helicopters are ready to leave!" A deep male voice called through the door.

"Oh. Alright, I shall be out in only a moment!" Luna called back.

She stood up from her chair and levitated her two bags off of the floor.

"Where did that fuzzball run off to..." Cloud Drop mumbled as he stood up, walking into the living room that was adjacent to Luna's desk.

"Did you say something?" Luna asked, looking after Cloud Drop as he went behind a wall in the other room.

"Yes, I asked where this kitten had gone, but I found him." Cloud Drop responded after rounding the corner, the white kitten perched happily on his back.

Luna giggled at the sight.

"Your feline companion certainly degrades your usual intimidating manner." She said jokingly as she walked towards the door, her two luggage bags wheeling behind her.

"I'm well aware, your highness."

After placing the kitten in the saddle bag then the saddle bag on his back Cloud Drop trotted down the hall to catch up to Princess Luna and the Royal Guard that had been sent to fetch her.

"If you don't mind, your highness, I'd like to return home for a while and return my 'package'."

"Your absence would not be an issue, I am departing soon."

With that, Cloud Drop turned around and began down the hallway in the opposite direction.

A little while's walk lead Luna and the Guard to the Tarmac, the rumble of 19 helicopters idling on the runway shaking the very earth. The cacophony of noise became worse and worse as they got closer, Luna's ears beginning to hurt. One of the ground crew members trotted to Luna and handed her a white headset, which she quickly put on. The headset's only function currently would be ear protection, but once she was inside one of the aircraft it would become a fully capable headset. The ground crew pointed towards the second helicopter in the flight, which was only a few spots down.

Luna gave a nod and made her way down the runway towards the aircraft. Upon reaching her designated aircraft one of the ground crew members that had been standing nearby took her solitary bag and climbed into the open side door of the aircraft, seconds later he emerged without the bag. He gave her the okay and Luna climbed up and into the short, crowded cabin. The 18 Royal Guard's Soldiers simultaneously looked at the Princess, who was slightly stunned by the sudden attention.

After hearing a loud tapping, Luna looked over to the pilot of the aircraft, who was signaling where she should plug in her headset at. She found the connector and hooked up to the intercom of the aircraft, the primitive speakers in the headset crackling to life.

"Welcome aboard, your highness." The pilot, an older stallion with a rough voice, spoke after she connected her headset.

"Thank you, and I hope this flight will be a good one."

"No guarantees." He responded, turning back around in his seat to face the complex instrument panel before him.

Luna turned to meet the 18 Soldiers she was crammed into the aircraft with, each one dressed in dark green coats instead of their usual armor, the two main causes of no armor were that it was extremely cold and the extra weight of the gold plated armor would make it impossible for the aircraft to carry more soldiers. She felt as if she was disrespecting them with her presence. A clean, regal Princess was a certain misfit for a group of cold, hardened troops.

Even her luggage was in complete contrast to the cargo being carried within the fairly small cargo hold. Her black luggage bag very much stood out against the several Olive Drab duffle bags filled with food, weapons, medical supplies and a pair of wooden crates. (both of which had unknown contents to Luna)

"So, are we hoping to see combat if I fail to resolve this issue?" She asked the Soldiers, each one had their own headset.

"I got a girlfriend waiting back in Trottingham, and this close to Hearth's Warming? I'll pass." A Soldier to Luna's left spoke, his voice distorted ever so slightly by the engine noise and static.

"Some combat would be interesting. Most of us haven't ever actually seen combat. It's always just drills." Spoke another Soldier.

There was a collective murmur of agreement over the intercom as a large proportion of the Soldiers agreed. As speech died down, Luna looked up at the black rectangular intercom control box near her position and investigated the switches, one of them was labeled 'ATC' in small, white lettering. The button wasn't clicked inward. With her magic, Luna clicked the small button, upon being depressed inward her ears were filled with the intelligible chatter between the tower and the crews of the aircraft waiting to take off.

"...call from Foxtrot 9,0; she is reporting rudder control issues." A female voice stated.

"Rudder control issues? 9,0's bird always has issues." Spoke a different, male voice.

"It's not the machine, it's the operator." Somepony joked.

"Tower, 9,0 here; I'm gonna shut down the bird, have ground take a look at the shaft and the linkages." A deeper female voice, who Luna guessed was the pilot of this Foxtrot 9,0, spoke.

"Copy that."

"Somepony should tell Princess Luna to order us some new heli's. These things are new and they're already old." The same female voice spoke, the frustration clear in her tone.

"Why don't you ask her, she's in the aircraft 5 spots in front of you."

"I doubt she's on this frequency."

"Your doubt was misplaced, Foxtrot 9,0." Luna spoke, a small smile growing on her lips as she spoke.

There was a second of silence before the channel erupted in laughter.

"Good job, Fox, now we're never getting those new birds!" A male voice laughed over the radio.

The collective laughter only lasted a moment more before every pony on the channel had calmed down and resumed their work.

"Alright, Foxtrot 9,0, while we were all having a fit the ground guys found the issue with your chopper, third linkage down the line was unhooked but they fixed it." The female voice of the air controller spoke.

"Copy that, rudder is back working fine."

"Ugh, someone get ground and tell them to close the aft fuel port on Hotel 8,5's bird." Groaned the air controller.

"Who left my door open?" The assumed pilot of Hotel 8,5 asked.

"Don't know, but they just got it closed. Okay, all final checks completed?" The air controller asked.

"Alpha 3,1; complete."
"Bravo 4,5; complete."
"Charlie 0,1; A-OK here."
"Delta 2,0; complete."
"Echo 1,1; check."
"Foxtrot 9,4; All good."
"Golf 6,2; check."
"Hotel 7,7; good."
"India 8,3; clear."
"Julia 4,7; complete."
"Kilo 5,3; ten outta ten."
"Lima 1,9; complete."
"Mike 8,7; all clear."
"November 0,0; good."
"Oscar 4,3; complete."
"Papa 6,6; cool."
"Quebec 5,0; all good."
"Romeo 9,6; clear."
"Sierra 0,0; all good."

"That does it then. All callsigns, clear for take off, get off my runway." Air control spoke.

"Copy that!" Each pilot spoke almost simultaneously.

Luna felt the helicopter begin to go up and, ever so gradually, pick up forward speed. After what Cloud had told her a half hour ago, it seemed most of her entertainment would come from speaking with the crews of the other helicopters as opposed to her own, seeing as her Pilot didn't seem to be the fun loving type. She hoped the humor of the other Pilots and those within the aircraft would make up for that.

Author's Notes:

I've spent more time than I'd like to admit trying to fix any grammar and spelling errors in this long story... but I know there still are some. If you spot one, please notify me