Princess Luna anxiously paced back and forth across her private balcony watching the early morning sky. Her sister’s sun had yet to fully crest the earth but its long rays still cast light up to the high peak of her observatory. In truth she barely noticed between her circuit of looking down at her hooves and up into the clouds waiting to see the Midnight Onyx enter Canterlot airspace.

It had been about a day-and-a-half since she and Celestia had contacted the Special Guard Unit. The news had been grim. Bordering on the worst case scenario, Gusty Twilight had gone missing. She recalled Stiff Inspection’s words both before and after he made it to the communication orb.

“The Princesses are calling now!? Of course! Of course, it can always be fucking worse! Get out of my way!”

“Your majesties, I have just had half of my unit beaten senseless by Gusty Twilight as she took to the sky and flew off over the ocean. She’s easily faster than any crew of pegasi we can send after her, and to make matters worse she is our primary ward! His lordship is going to have my head for this! Argh!”

The lieutenant took his emotion to such an extreme that it almost ruined his name. However, Luna could hardly blame him, his employer and the situation were of the most dire sort. Gusty Twilight was a dangerous asset, that now lost, threatened the entire world. There was a reason that she and Celestia had immediately deployed half of the military in search parties along the west coast. Unfortunately, nopony had managed to find the distressed alicorn yet and it had been well over the amount of time she would have needed to travel across the ocean from the Baylands and her isles.

To make matter worse yet, the one stallion that could locate the errant mare was over a week late from his journey to the northern wastes. Luna knew that Guardian Angel could survive in the worst possible conditions and situations, but that was not the problem. She desperately needed him to return, more so for personal reasons than international safety, but his aid in finding Gusty would have proved invaluable.

Wind whipped by on the oddly chilly morning for late summer making her long mane stretch its starry wisps even further than before. She again swung her head up from her hooves as she paced and looked west towards her disappearing moon, hoping to see the Onyx. Some of the clouds had moved closer to the spire of her tower, but there was still no airship. She took to reciting some of her favorite curses as she made her march. Each was an utterance that should have never crossed her royal lips but the situation forced her frustration to vent in some manner.

A pair of bright lights suddenly took to the sky from down in the palace grounds. Luna knew them to be pegasi with packs of magically lit crystals tied to their sides but at the distance they seemed to be simply bright blue orbs of light. The two guides quickly gained speed and altitude making for the bank of clouds that she had noticed earlier. After a moment they slipped into the mass of fluff, their blue lights dimmed to dull yellows in the heavy moisture. Luna placed her hooves on the banister of the balcony and squinted eagerly up towards the soft lights.

The sun crested the edge of Canterlot’s hanging structure and the silhouette of something massive formed in the cloud. Luna had seen airships before, even large luxury cruise vessels but the beast that took shape before her was easily twice that size. As she watched the lights of the guide pegasi began to brighten as they showed the behemoth the way through the clouds. The aerial battleship broke the floating cotton her dull armor more absorbing the sun’s rays than reflecting them. The hulking vessel began to turn and descend towards the Royal Gardens, the decided landing point for the ship.

Luna, possessed by the urge to get closer, jumped from her balcony and spread her wings, gliding towards the nearly landed ship and crew. As she drew near she could see the host of ESGS as they drew lines of cable and rope from the deck in teams. The collection of ponies tied the lengths to the tall pines that occupied one of the more secluded portions of the Gardens. Pulling them taut as the airship slowed to a crawl, the combined teams slowly gathered on the near side of the vessel. Luna landed near them and the soldiers snapped to attention, forming ranks in an instant. She motioned them at ease and the clearly tired group of ponies collectively released a sign.

A rough grumble of wood slipping over metal creaked and a ramp lowered to the ground from the deck. Landing only about her body length away Luna watched the deck for the ponies she needed to hear from.

First down from the deck was Stiff Inspection. He did not wearhis helmet, but his blue mane was matted regardless. Almost stumbling as he made his way down the ramp, he came before her and saluted. He clearly had not slept over the last day two days, the bags under his eyes threatening to become bags on his cheeks.

“Princess, would you like my report now, or later?” He inquired. His body shook where he stood but his voice remained steady.

“Later will be fine, lieutenant,” she said gently, taking pity on him, “I can wait for your account after you rest.”

“Thank you, your Majesty.” The pegasus stumbled off towards a portion of his subordinates before suddenly stopping in his tracks.

“The prisoners, Princess what shall we do with them?” Stiff Inspection asked just short of slurring. Frankly, Luna had nearly forgotten about the scant collection of mercenaries and the lonely griffon being held in the brig of the Onyx.

“Have your least tired soldiers move them to the Crystal Cave Detention Center. Celestia and I will interview them later today,” she answered. The exhausted pegasus nodded affirmatively to her before issuing a set of silent hoof commands that were passed up to a sentry on the deck.

Luna then turned her attention to the ramp where another group of the Special Guard descended the ramp. They had only partially formed rank in front of her before she waved the unit to relax. She had long ago noticed that most everypony in the deployment was dog-tired and needed to recuperate, so there was no need to force them into formality.

“Be at ease stallions and mares, your mission is complete and my sister and I will debrief you at a later time,” Luna called over the crowd as the next squad tried to the same as the first. “Return to your barracks and rest, there is nothing more for you today!”

Visibly the group relaxed and began to slowly trudge towards the Palace, Stiff Inspection having managed to realize he was free to leave went with them after a brief delay. The angry squawking of a griffon reached her ears in the next moment, beginning to grow louder.

“I’ll never talk, you fucking prissy little equines!” he shouted as he became visible at the top of the ramp. The four ponies dragging him in shackles were visibly struggling to hold him. In fact, the lion-bird broke their grip on the chains only to come tumbling down the ramp and land painfully on his side. Wincing he looked up at Luna with supreme disdain for both himself and her before spitting towards her hooves. She promptly blasted the ruffian with a stunbolt and he went straight to sleep where he lay. The group escorting him hastily rushed down to pick him up thanking her repeatedly as they drug his limp body off.

The next group that came down the ramp were a mixed group of rather jolly individuals. They were lightly guarded by only two ponies of the Special Guard. Many waved and bowed to her as they passed leaving Luna surprised if a bit confused. She watched them go, realizing that they were the so described ‘pirates.’

Not a moment later, the deep rolling voce of Bunker and his accent reached her ears and she turned her attention back to the deckramp. Pushing the last bits of the ESGS out of the way the thick stallion descended the board haphazardly, before jumping from the side halfway down its length. He sauntered over to her, grumbling what were clearly curses in his native tongue.

“Princess of the Night, where is mine wife?” He scowled, his muscles almost audibly tightening as he spoke.

“I’m sorry, Bunker we do not know.” Luna took a step back from the angry stallion. She had not spoken to the broad fellow very often, but he had always seemed reserved compared to this. He spat out several curses one of which she was pretty certain was “fuck” just in the barbarous language of the Great Forest.

“You were wrong, zebra! She does not know!” He yelled turning back up to the ship. Luna followed his eyes and found Zeccaran, standing meekly on the ramp.

“Oh...well, that’s not good…” He mumbled as he made his way to the ground.

“Zeccaran,” Luna started, the striped stallion instantly stood taller, “Stiff Inspection was vague on why Gusty eloped. Care to explain such to your Princess?” Bunker’s sour disposition had already rubbed off on her. Combining her curiosity with her general sense that something appropriately terrible had to have happened to make Gusty behave even worse than usual, Luna was not going to mince words.

“Oh! What happen?” I’ll tell you what happen!” Bunker growled, his Equestrian starting to deteriorate. “He happen!” The stallion pointed directly at Zeccaran disdain in his voice. Luna gave the zebra a scrutinizing look before Bunker continued.

“There I were, helping wife on gran’ endeavor to capture princess ewe. Gusty very sad about Gertrude tellings us to punishing daughter. So she plan to take younger ewe home with us.” He paused to draw a haggard breath, “Then after big fight, stoppings of griffons and capture of ewe...dis dishonorable bum kills ewe in Gusty’s hooves!” Bunker’s broken speak devolved into him ranting in his native tongue, spitting and pointing at Zeccaran.

Rendered still by his words Luna locked eyes with Zeccaran. Even with a only partially understandable story, she knew the chain of events that had led the zebra to make his actions. Celestia had been right, his kind of devotion was dangerous and horrible, and by the sounds of things, rather literal. Luna brought a hoof up to her face, trying her best to cover the rush of frustration and self-loathing that had already made its way to her skin. She looked away from the zebra, trying her best not to shake in a mixture of terror and fury.

“I just...did what Gertrude said to do…” Zeccaran spoke as if sensing her worst fears and seeking to confirm them. “...like you told me to,” he finished firmly.

Luna found herself gritting her teeth. “Why?” she nearly snarled.

“Well...speaking frankly...I knew just as soon as Dame Gertrude asked me to it would upset you. But, not doing it...meant going against what you wanted me to do….and that pretty much defeats the purpose of being me, so.”

Luna let several minutes of silence pass as she struggled to recover. It was not every day that her words led to the murder of a helpless individual, regardless of their crimes, and it weighed on her heavily. Nor was it every day that somepony followed her words in such a dutiful sense. She released another sigh and shook her head, before clearing her throat. The sound was enough to get Bunker to stop chanting angrily at Zeccaran.

“While I am pleased with your ability to do what no other being could, Zeccaran, I am overwhelmed with the unforeseen complications,” she managed rather gracefully. She was a Princess after all, and Zeccaran was more tool than stallion. That was what Celestia had said, she had unfortunately not fully understood until this moment.

“Was there anything else Dame Gertrude said?” Luna questioned, trying hard to pinch her snout with only one hoof in a desperate attempt to relieve at least some stress.

“Dame ewe was sad. But resolute,” Bunker nodded. Luna shifted her eyes back to Zeccaran, for more detail.

“She cried a lot. It was after Gabriella attacked her in open court. It had led to the death of one of the Jarl’s...Gertrude expressed her regret for having allowed the situation to escalate to the point where she had to order her own daughter’s death,” the zebra informed. Luna cocked an eyebrow and tilted her head at him, waiting for him confirm the rest of she and Celestia’s theory.

“She knew it was Gabriella the whole time, like you said. But...it turned out that Gertrude did have a limit. It was just a limit that was too far down the proverbial rabbit hole to allow Gabriella to be saved,” Zeccaran finished.

Luna tried to swallow the lump in her throat but only succeeded in making herself more uncomfortable. However, she did feel better than before, and the international problem of a warring island state with strategic value had been avoided.

“Unfortunately…” She started slowly, pacing her voice with her thoughts, “While we have managed one problem, we have created a larger one. We must find Gusty Twilight.” The two stallions nodded in agreement.

“To make matters worse, I have personally searched for Gusty’s dreams over the last two days and found nothing. This means she has not slept,” she continued.

“Or it could mean she’s dead.” Zeccaran seemed to always assume the worst. He, however, lacked the perspective she did.

“If Gusty was dead, my dear Zeccaran, you would be burning in an eternal hellfire, and I would be chained up in some room in what was left of the Palace,” she stated gravely. The zebra grimaced, but Luna doubted he understood the gravity of the situation. A very certain stallion’s return to pristine behavior had come about by way of Gusty. Her ability to keep his grudge-keeping at bay, however, was an active part of her existence. If Gusty were killed by Zeccaran’s actions, Luna’s words had only vaguely scratched the surface of Guardian Angel’s depravity. It would probably be worse if something were to happen to her, the thought both comforted and terrified Luna in equal measure.

“Where is Stormwalker? Of all stallions, methinks he would have found Gusty by now.” Bunker pulled her from the moment of reflection. He even was so kind to take her to her next subject.

“I was just about to get to that.” She cleared her throat before continuing, “You two need to go find him. He’s not in Equestria at the moment.”

“Well, where the hay is he?” Zeccaran immediately asked.

“Deep in the Frozen North, in the catacombs and labyrinths of his ancestors, he’s been there for over a month now,” she answered

“Oh. Of course he is. Where else could he be?” the zebra did not try to dull his sarcasm in the least. “How are we supposed to survive going there? Not to mention the cold, there are also things like Windegos, Snow Beasts...I don’t know if we actually can go find him.”

“You can and you will. I have already prepared a new crew for the Onyx should you need one.” She shifted her weight on her hooves waiting for a response.

“No. Airship does not need more than two to fly. To fight...more...but we just fly.” Bunker answered.

“Good. Then, as far as the appropriate equipment and clothing is concerned, we need only retrieve from storage.” Luna gave a scolding glance to the zebra. The two stallions were more than up to the task, especially since it was Zeccaran who had gotten them all in this mess in the first place.

There was a pause where both Zeccaran and Bunker looked at her expectantly. She gave them a confused look, before turning about and motioning for them to follow.

“Come, we must make haste, every moment counts when trying to find a missing mare.” Luna began to charge her horn as she spoke. Channeling her power she expanded her teleportation ability to encompass the two befuddled stallions. With a fizz-pop they stood in front of old storage closet in her chambers where she kept magical items and other nefarious contraband.

“Uhh...not to sound disrespectful or anything but why didn’t you just magically summon the items?” Zeccaran asked.

“Da. I agree with thick-skulled zebra. I see alicorn mares do it all the time.” Bunker responded his Equestrian finally having returned to its more polished state.

“Because summoning clothing with the amount of enchantments these have on them is incredibly dangerous. Should I fail to cast the summons, which there is a high likelihood I would, I could accidentally summon a demon or explode the planar tunnel between my horn and the target items...which obviously would rather viciously rend time and space: an event I would happily avoid.” She unlatched the lock on her closet and stepped inside before continuing.

“That is why I teleported us here, so we only had to walk one way, frankly I should call a chariot up to my balcony to hasten the trip back to the Midnight Onyx but first I have to find the garments…” She lit her horn in the dark little room and moved towards where she thought she had placed them. Luckily, the two sets of puffy coats and boots had only fallen to the floor and she was able to quickly snatch them up and toss them to the stallions.

“They will keep you the exact temperature you are when you put them on, so I recommend donning them now while I send for that chariot.” Briskly breezing by them she fumbled around her lounge searching for the tiny little silver bell that she used to summon her Royal Escort when she was feeling lazy. She located it amongst the cushions of one of the sofas and gave it a swing.

Its piercing bell echoing unnaturally from the magic used to connect it to its sister bell in the Royal Guard’s barracks. They would arrive quickly, but for now Luna took to helping the two wayward stallions slide their protective suits on.

“Do be careful, while these can protect you from the harshness of the elements, you encounter Windegos, the enchantments will only keep you safe for a limited time.” She roughly grabbed Zeccaran’s coat and pulled it down the rest of the way over his barrel as she spoke.

“Good to know.” Zeccaran said turning his face away from her. Luna could see the barest hint of pink between the stripes on his face. It would seem the zebra-stallion’s infatuation went beyond ideological devotion. For only an instant, Luna wondered what it would be like to tease him, but the all-consuming thought of actually having her significant other back pushed the thought away.

“Princess!? You summoned us!?” shouted a raspy voice from out on the balcony of the lounge. Luna felt herself perk up in posture some. She was excited, Zeccaran and Bunker would be on their way and she was that much closer to being reunited with Guardian Angel. Luna cursed at her hubris and selfishness, the world’s safety was more important than her relationship, but she could not stop thinking about it regardless.

“Come, our ride is here.” She took the lead out to the balcony and found her dark chariot waiting for her. Nodding to the two thestral pullers, she gracefully hopped into the taxi. Once situated, Luna turned to see Bunker already on the balcony trying to unfold the last boot and get it to stay on his hoof. He got it after a moment and slipped up onto the chariot with her. Zeccaran then appeared from her chambers, awkwardly walking as if he had never worn shoes of any kind before. A common occurance amongst folk, although she had little understanding of it, Luna had been wearing some form of hoof gear since she was small. Although it was with great effort, Zeccaran made it to the chariot and climbed into it.

“Driver, to the Midnight Onyx,” Luna commanded. Leather wings beat down and the small air car floated up and then began to glide down to the airship. The ride was short and silent, the wheels of the chariot and the hooves of the drivers softly thunking on the grassy ground. She and the two stallions slipped down from the craft and the thestrals whisked away with little sound as well. Zeccaran coughed seemingly on impulse to break the still morning air and the silence.

“So...how are we supposed to find him?” the zebra questioned.

Luna let a playful smile creep up to her lips, “Oh, my dear Zeccaran, you know as well as I that, he finds you.”

“Point taken,” he sighed in response, “Welp, no time like the present! Come on, Bunker.” The dutiful sebra began to make his way up the ramp to the deck. Luna followed with the intent to disconnect the tethers for them.

“Ohhh no. You don’t get to order me around dis time, stripe-fool. You go get down into engine room and prime for full launch!” The larger stallion growled.

“Fine, sheesh…” Zeccaran grumbled. “Oh Princess, before I forget may I leave Gunther here in the gardens again?” He looked over his shoulder to her as they all reached the deck.

A loud bark echoed over the quiet and the timberwolf stood panting, a little too close for comfort. Luna slid away slightly before quickly levitating the woody dog down to the ground.

“Yes. he can stay. Now go and do as Bunker instructed. I want you on the hunt immediately.” she ordered. Zeccaran nodded and bolted away towards the hatch in the center of the deck. Bunker pointed to the anchoring lines.

“I say when you break lines, okay? Da.” He turned and run up to the helm. Luna nodded pleasantly more than ready to do as he asked. Their mission could not start soon enough. A rumble below her hooves shook her legs as the engines kicked to life. The noise slowly built and the harsh scrape of metal rang out as Luna noticed smoke begin to billow out from behind the helm. Bunker moved some causing her to look back to him.

“Princess of Moon...a thought. How did Stormwalker send letter not more than a week ago to Gusty...and now he has been in Frozen North for over a month?” the stallion inquired.

Taken aback by the confusing question Luna tried to analyze what had been said. She knew for certain that Guardian Angel had not been in the position to send postage. What was more, his involvement with Gertrude’s security seemed to be particularly well-timed. This lead Luna to wonder if perhaps her stallion had known the details of Gabriella’s rebellion. She would not put it past him to use the incidents the ewe was causing as an excuse to both acquire Griffon military technology and strengthen Equestria’s position diplomatically. Turning her gaze to the polished deck of the Onyx and recalling Celestia’s brokering of a treaty Luna heaved a long sigh.

“Oh, Guardian Angel, we really need to have a talk about your meddling…” she grumbled to herself.

“Who, princess mare?” Bunker asked only to be cut off by the roar of the engines reaching full fire. Reacting if by on instinct, Bunker’s hooves flew to the countrols of the airship. Luna had thought the engines being primed was loud, she cast a dampening spell as soon as the turbines whirled to life. Soon after she felt the ship begin to slowly gain altitude. Bunker opened his mouth in a wide shout in what she assumed was the command to break the tethers.

Quickly and decisively, Luna moved around the vessel untying or un fastening chains and ropes. As she loosened each the Onyx gain a little more height. By the time she finished coiling the final anchor the vessel quite noticeably pushed up against her hooves. She carefully walked back to the helm, before Bunker caught sight of her. He briefly waved before spinning the control wheel.

“Happy hunting!” she bellowed using the royal-Canterlot voice so both the stallion and she could actually hear the words. He nodded vigorously and began manipulating another portion of the controls that Luna could not make sense of as a device. Turning away, she slipped herself over the guardrail and let bodysafely fall away from the vessel before opening her wings to glide down to the ground.

Below her, she could already see her sister’s dazzling white coat waiting for her in the Gardens. Swinging her body about Luna descended to meet Celestia feeling optimistically thoughtful about the present situation. Evidently her elder sister shared her sentiment, judging by the small grin she wore

“‘Tia,” she smiled back as she landed, “The Empire agreed to the terms you laid out, didn’t they?”

“Why yes, they did, they asked for no modifications…” Celestia tilted her head and scrunched her nose in a bit of candid playfulness. “How did you know that though?” she asked her voice letting her surprise sneak through.

“Bunker told me.” Luna replied. Celestia balked fully at the statement.

“Well, how did he know?” She asked once she recovered.

“I suppose he didn’t tell me specifically, just inadvertently shed some light on a dark plot by a certain Lord Stormwalker.” Luna answered a sly smile purposely betraying her sarcasm.

“A dark plot you say?” Celestia raised a brow curiously, playing along in equal measure.

“Yes.”

“Then we must unravel this web of intrigue and reap the rewards!”

The two alicorn sisters shared a laugh. They strode off towards the palace, debating which group of mercenaries they would interview first, more than relieved to have something else to focus on. The impending doom of the world was not something that was enjoyable to fret over. For now, Luna decided to keep the other depressing bits to herself, Celestia would not take kindly to the state Dame Gertrude was left in. Besides, there was no point in arguing semantics until they had found Gusty and stopped her from causing the apocalypse, right? At least that was what Luna told herself before she went to sleep later that night. Anything to avoid the “I told you so.”

Next Chapter: Act 3: Chapter 2 - Cold Shoulder Estimated time remaining: 14 Hours, 3 Minutes