Far in the north, the cold wind rushed over the mountains and down into the northern most gryphon kingdom. The wind was calming to the imposing gryphon standing on a balcony overlooking the valley below the enormous castle. The valley was carved out of the two imposing mountain ranges by a glacier thousands of years ago, but was further excavated by the gryphons of the northern kingdom. Several towers stood sentry across the flat valley with small airships tethered to them for docking. On the ground, larger airships prepared for takeoff as they were loaded with weapons and troops. Similar to their Equestrian counterparts, these airships were connected to larger balloons and gasbags that provided lift, but there was a small difference. Due to the nature of the airships below to engage in combat, their gasbags were not positioned high above the frame of the ship, but rather below or to the sides, and protected by metal plating.

The large gryphon on the balcony wore a long red cloak with golden lining and a gray armor underneath. He turned to see three gryphon officers fly by and snap him a crisp salute, exposing their left wings, each colored a deep gray at the tips. The namesake of the northern kingdom.

The Gray Wing Kingdom, by far the largest and most powerful of all the gryphon kingdoms. King Ziraal Gray Wing returned the salute to the officers as he watched them descend into the valley. Ziraal had come into power when a group of dragons came south from their migration. They attempted to drive out the gryphons from the northern mountains and southern plains. The beasts wanted the area for their own and thought they could just take it from the gryphons living there. Ziraal and his three brothers, being noble born, were attending court the day the previous gryphon king decided to do nothing against the dragons.

Outraged by this decision, Ziraal’s older brother Askor stood in open defiance of the king. He rallied several of the other houses in the then-unified gryphon realm to confront the dragons. At the cost of many lives, including Askor’s, the dragons were slain. Ziraal almost lost his own life fighting the eldest dragon, Kirghast. During the fight, Ziraal’s left wing was badly burnt by dragon fire, but that did not stop him. He landed in a river bed and coated his burnt wing with gray clay from the shale located there. After tending to his wounds, he returned to battle and ultimately felled the elder dragon, ending the conflict once and for all.

After burying his older brother, Ziraal returned to court with a host of his soldiers and entered the king’s throne room. The king praised Ziraal for his victory while offering condolences for the loss of life. Ziraal accepted his condolences by using his halberd to cleave the king in half on his own throne. After such a display, no other gryphon challenged him, and he was crowned king later that day. However, after such a traumatic event, much of the gryphon lands were destroyed and many other noble houses questioned the functionality of a unified kingdom. The three most powerful noble families and their vassal houses threatened to break away from the kingdom. Ziraal, having just assumed power both in his own house, as he was the oldest after Askor, and in the kingdom, was not in a position to stop them. So, with regret, Ziraal let them go, thus giving birth to the four gryphon kingdoms of today.

“A fine sight, my king,” came a dry leathery voice from behind Ziraal.

“Ahh, Lord Thest, come to watch the armada depart?”

Lord Thest stood beside Ziraal and looked out at the departing airship fleet. He was a gaunt gryphon who never seemed to smile. Though smaller than Ziraal, he was still a capable warrior. The Thest family was a vassal house to Ziraal’s, and went into battle alongside them against the dragons. Ziraal never truly felt comfortable around them though. The Thest’s ascended to their current rank by plots and assassinations.

“It truly is a magnificent sight, your grace,” Lord Thest replied, “I still think we should have used it to conquer The Crystal Empire. It would have been weak after its return, I doubt the ponies would have been able to stop us.”

Ziraal clicked his beak in irritation, “We’ve been over this, Thest. It would have been more trouble than its worth. By the time we excavated the crystal mines and recovered the crystals inside, Celestia, and her recently returned sister, would have arrived with an army and forced us into a long drawn out conflict. It would have been too costly, both in lives and coin.”

“And this large mobilization of our fleet will serve us better?” Thest asked.

“We need to figure out what’s beyond the mountains further north, Thest. The priests are afraid. I’ve never seen them like this before.” Ziraal said.

Thest rolled his eyes, “If I had some coin for every time I’ve heard the priests blather on about dangers threatening the kingdom’s...”

“You already have more coin than you know what to do with, Thest.” Ziraal commented as he left the balcony

“This is true, your grace,” Thest admitted as he followed Ziraal.

“While I agree they sometimes can work themselves up over nothing, I am concerned with their latest visions while in the scrying temple.” Ziraal said as he sat upon his throne.

“My king, what did they see?”

“They claim to have seen the return of The Wanderer.” Ziraal said with a grim expression.

Thest’s eyes widened, he had never been one to believe in the stories from ancient times that their faith was based on. However, if one of them was steeped in any sort of evidence, it was the story of The Wanderer.

The gryphon faith revolved around a female deity they called The Matriarch. She was supposedly the first of their kind, and mother of all gryphons. The Matriarch lived with her brood in peace and prosperity, but not on Equus. According to the ancient texts, the gryphons were brought to this realm by the descendents of The Matriarch from someplace else entirely. Where they were originally from was not known. Several of The Matriarchs sons and daughters had the gift of deep scrying and used that gift to aid their growing population. But one day, the seers saw a terrible vision. It spoke of the coming of an other, an outsider, a wanderer from the stars. However, The Matriarch  was not convinced that this other being was something to fear. Several years later, The Wanderer arrived from a falling star. It took the form of a gryphon, even though it was clearly not. The Wanderer claimed it was trying to find its way home, but did not remember where its home was. The Matriarch took pity on it and allowed it to remain with her people until it was prepared to leave.  

What happened next is still disputed amongst the scholars. Some say The Wanderer was an evil being that sought only the destruction of all gryphon kind. Some say The Wanderer wanted to steal all the gryphon’s riches and treasures. Or, that it wanted to know the secrets of the seers. Or... that The Wanderer possessed a very powerful magic and some of The Matriarch’s children wanted it for themselves. While those events remain disputed, what came after was not. There was a massive conflict between The Wanderer and The Matriarch, it is still unknown who struck first, but the end resulted in the death of The Matriarch and several of her children. Those who survived fled to Equus with the remnants of their population. The gryphons of the current kingdoms still worship The Matriarch to this day, believing she saved their race.

No gryphon knew what became of The Wanderer after that cataclysmic event. It was believed that it perished along with The Matriarch. However, there have been priests and priestesses having visions of its return going back one thousand years or more. But none of them ever started proclaiming that it had actually returned.

“Your grace,” Thest said in a hushed tone, “What does that mean? For us? For the other kingdoms?”

“I don’t know,” Ziraal answered while clutching the throne with his claws, “But it can’t be good.”

Ziraal stood from the throne and turned to Thest, “I’m done for the the day, Thest. I’ll see you at court tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, my king. Please give my regards to your daughter.” Thest said with a bow as he watched the king depart for the royal apartments.

Thest looked out at the departing fleet one last time and ran a claw along the golden surface of the throne, admiring his reflection in it. The room was a quiet as a tomb, Thest chuckled as he departed to rejoin his own family.

Ziraal entered the wing of the castle that housed the royal apartments. It was no larger than any other wing, but the rooms were bigger to house Ziraal’s large family. The king frowned as he walked by several empty rooms and cold hearths. Most of Ziraal’s family had either taken on other jobs in the kingdom or joined the air corps. Two of Ziraal’s sons were with the armada and would be gone for some time. His wife had fallen ill just after giving birth to his daughter. Speaking of his daughter...

A shrill scream erupted from Ziraal’s apartment as a brown and black blur crashed through the door and flew down the hallway toward him. Unfortunately, the blur was too busy looking behind at its pursuer, a tall graying gryphon, to notice Ziraal and slammed head first into his armored chest plate.

“Ouch!” came the high pitched voice from ground as the little gryphon rubbed her head and tried to get a good look at the stone wall she had run into.

“Daddy! You’re back!” she squeaked as she leapt into her fathers arms.

“I am!” Ziral said as he kissed his daughter, “Iris, what are you doing out here giving poor Kathe such a hard time?”

The graying gryphon behind them gave a hearty laugh, “Oh think nothing of it, sire. ‘Poor Kathe’ was just not as observant as he should have been, eh kiddo?” he winked at Iris, who giggled at him.

“After a bit of sword practice, we decided to hit the books, but I didn’t see the trip wire on the table connected to a slingshot filled potatoes and gravy.” Kathe lamented as he picked pieces of food out of the feathers on his head.

Ziraal shook his head. These two were always pranking each other. He had to admit it was a stroke of genius though. Kathe had used pranks to successfully pull Iris out of depression when her mother died, and they’ve been inseparable ever since.

To Ziraal, Kathe might as well be family. Though he was low born, Kathe joined the priesthood at an early age and chose to take up the blue sash, making him a blue priest. In gryphon culture, the blue priests were a sect of warrior monks who not only learned the special talents of the regular priests, but also advanced combat techniques and blessings. They wore the traditional garb of the priests but with a blue sash around their chest and neck. Kathe had served with Ziraal against the dragons and in smaller disputes with the other kingdoms. His skill with a blade was unparalleled, and he was more than happy to take on the role of Iris’ teacher.

“Iris, go get your things, we’ll go out to the practice yard and see what you’ve learned.” Ziraal said as he set his daughter back on the ground.

“Ok daddy!”

Iris flew by Kathe and blew a raspberry at him, which he returned in kind.

“Kathe, how has she been handling her studies and training?” Ziraal asked.

“Sire, she has been diligent in both areas and is shaping up to be quite promising with a short sword.”

“Is that so? Or are you just getting rusty?” Ziraal asked, grinning at Kathe.

“Old, perhaps. But not rusty, sire. Iris is becoming incredibly fast, just like her mother.”

“I know,” Ziraal admitted. “I miss her, honestly I think Iris dealt with her passing better than I did. But I don’t have time to talk about that now, Kathe. Right now, I need you to tell me what you have heard from the other priests about The Wanderer.”

Kathe adjusted his blue sash and looked at Ziraal with a grave expression, “I have a feeling I should go with you to the practice yard, sire. There is much you need to know.”

-----------

Rigel stood at the edge of Cirrus fortress, his home growing up, and looked out at the horizon. The night sky was as clear as it could be with the moon giving off a pale calming light. He was barely into his teenage years when the tragedy happened. Over near the walls, Rigel saw a smaller yellow pegasus bouncing a ball between his wings. Everypony had told Rigel as far back as he could remember that he was born to be in the air. Every single part of his body was aerodynamic and sleek, from his wings down to his coat. The same could not be said of the little yellow pegasus playing with the ball. His head was large with floppy ears and his frame was stalky. Very few mares would have ever found him remotely attractive. His wings were frail,  prone to cramping, and didn’t seem like they would be able to support a pony of his weight. Rigel watched as the pegasus licked his lips in concentration and attempted to fly over the wall. He got about halfway up before slowly falling back to the ground.

Rigel looked on with tears now forming in his eyes. And in all my years of flying, after all the time in the Shadowbolts, I still have not found a pony who worked as hard as him. Damn it, damn the goddess. Why was she so cruel to him?

Rigel felt a wing drape over him and he looked up to see a black alicorn standing next to him. She flicked away the tears in his eyes with her wing.

“What’s wrong, Rigel? Why are you crying?”

Rigel attempted to compose himself, “Are you Selene?”

“Yes sweetheart, I am,” Selene said in a sweet voice.

“I see,” Rigel said, “Aldus told me you could do this... come into a dream I mean, just like Luna.”

“Yes, I can do that, among other things. I came to check on you to make sure you were alright after being released from the prison. If this dream is making you sad, I could change it.” Selene offered.

“You could change it?” Rigel asked.

“Mhm.”

“Well, alright then. Can you change it to this?” Rigel whispered something into Selene’s ear. She nodded as her horn began to glow with a silver light.

Suddenly, Rigel was standing on a beach looking out over a vast ocean. The sky was magenta and the clouds seemed to stretch in spirals out toward the horizon. He examined his body and found he was younger here, but that made sense with the memory.

Selene sat on a blanket that was spread out under an umbrella. She seemed to be admiring this place.

“This is absolutely beautiful, Rigel. Where are we?”

Rigel grinned and hovered in the air while he spread his hooves wide, “This, Selene, is the island of Pythia in the Kingdom of the Silver Isles. Polaris was from the island of Jadeth, which isn’t too far from here. Once our school in Canterlot was out for the summer Aldus, Polaris, and I would come here and spend weeks, or even months, relaxing and playing in the sun.”

“That sounds amazing for a bunch of friends,” Selene admitted. “I’m glad Aldus was able to get away from his studying and have some fun when he was a foal.”

Rigel rolled his eyes, “Oh, trust me. He studied when he was here too. But Polaris and I got him to play with us a lot. Aldus really enjoyed it, and he even met a filly here.”

“Really?”

“Yes really,” Rigel admitted, “He was quite taken with her too, they would write letters to each other constantly.”

“Wow... I didn’t think Aldus was the type of pony to be in a relationship like that, let alone start one at such a young age.” Selene remarked thoughtfully while putting a hoof to her chin.

“Thats just it,” Rigel stated, “Polaris and I thought the same thing, but she was similar to Aldus in a lot of ways, so we chalked it up to that. All I know is it made him happy.”

“Interesting...” Selene said to herself as she watched the clouds pass by.

“What’s so interesting?” came a familiar smug voice.

Selene and Rigel whirled around to see a young Aldus walking towards them with a sly grin on his face.

“Were your ears burning?” Rigel asked with a chuckle.

“As a matter of fact they were!” Aldus replied.

Selene smirked at Aldus, “Rigel was just telling me about your marefriend you met here.”

“Oh... was he?” Aldus asked, while he glared at Rigel.

“You’re so cute when you get all angry, little one.” Selene said, the smirk now growing even larger.

“I told you to stop calling me that...” Aldus said while grinding his teeth.

“Have you forgotten where we are? You don’t tell me to do anything in here,” she stated threateningly while spreading her large wings, “Little one...”

“Thats it!” Aldus shouted as he charged the black alicorn.

Selene let out a sigh as she aimed her horn at Aldus and discharged a bolt of blue magic that struck him in the chest. His hooves lifted off the ground as he floated in the air helplessly.

Selene gave a devilish grin, “When will you learn, little one?”

Rigel hovered in the air near Selene and studied Aldus as he tumbled in the air, “Uh oh, um, Selene?”

What occurred next seemed to happen all at once. Aldus suddenly disappeared from Selene’s magical field in a puff of pink smoke. Then in an instant, the sand next to her exploded as a small unicorn foal leapt up from underneath it.

“Attack!” Aldus cried as he latched onto Selene’s neck with such force she fell onto her side, laughing.

“I’ve got you now!” Aldus roared triumphantly, reaching for the black alicorn’s horn.

“Oh really?” Selene mused, as the long locks of her dark mane coiled around Aldus’ midsection and legs, dragging him away from his target.

“No!” Aldus cried, as a lock of hair coiled gently around his neck, “Rigel! Help me! Help mphh!”

Another strand of hair fastened itself around Aldus’ muzzle, holding it shut.

“That’s enough out of you, you naughty little colt.” Selene chided sweetly as she sat up. Aldus was now completely constricted in the alicorn’s dark mane. For a few moments, it playfully whipped him about in the air before laying him down on her broad back. The thick locks of black mane spread his hooves so he lay completely flat on his belly, while still coiling around him. In a last ditch effort, Aldus summoned magic to his horn, only to have one black tendril twist around his head to cover his eyes, and another start to tickle his nose. Unable to keep from giggling, the magic in his horn fizzled out and Aldus began to sneeze. Now that he was incapable of speaking, moving, or seeing anything, and was distracted by the constant tickling, Selene was content with the helplessness of her little colt. She then shifted her attention to the pegasus.

Rigel shook his head at the state of his friend. He performed a small back flip and dove at Selene, who shot several bolts of blue magic at him. Rigel dodged each bolt of magic while he flew straight at her. Once in range, he dove under the last bolt and gave a slight beat of his wings, propelling himself over Selene’s head as well as kicking up sand in her face. As she struggled to see what happened and was spitting sand from her mouth, Rigel landed on her back. Aldus screamed something but Rigel could not understand it due to his mouth being clasped shut. While Selene was still disoriented, he reached both hooves under her wings and tickled the joints, a weak spot for pegasi, and he assumed, alicorns.

Sure enough, Selene threw back her head in laughter as her wings flared wildly. The thick coils of mane holding Aldus went limp long enough for him to escape and jump to the ground. With his task accomplished, Rigel jumped into the air and flew up toward a low hanging cloud.

Selene spit the remaining sand from her mouth and sneezed. She looked up and watched Rigel fly away, “What a cute little troublemaker, these foals are too much fun... speaking of which...”

Selene saw Aldus running away attempting to cast some sort of spell.

“Tsk tsk, we can’t be having that,” she thought.

Aldus was just about to cast a spell to hide himself when two black tendrils grabbed his legs and hoisted him into the air and pulled him backwards. It was difficult to tell, since it was the same color as her coat, but Selene’s mane was every bit as long as Celestia’s, or perhaps even longer.

“Where do you think you’re going?” She asked in that sweet mocking tone.

“Ugh no! Let me go right now, Selene! Let me go mphh!”

One of the thick locks of hair coiled around his muzzle again, as well as his stomach and left hoof. He squirmed and protested as he was gently deposited on her back again.

Selene turned around and shushed Aldus. “Shh,” she whispered, “You’re coming flying with me. I just want to make sure you’re safe back there.” Another tendril coiled gently around his neck and softly stroked his messy grey mohawk in an attempt to calm him. As two more thick coils wound around his forelegs and over his shoulders, he realized she was wrapping him up in a harness of sorts.

When Aldus grunted a few inaudible words to his captor, she allowed the tendril holding his muzzle shut to fall away.

“Did you say something, sweetie? she asked with a grin.

“You aren’t taking me up there if you plan on chasing Rigel. The amount of crazy flying you’ll have to do to will be insane, and it won’t be enough to catch him.”

“Oh come now, it will be fun,” Selene said while tickling his nose again. “And you don’t seem to be in a position to say no. As for catching him, you don’t know how fast I can fly, and if I can surprise him...”

Slowly, Selene stood up and spread her large wings. The locks of hair that gently held Aldus moved him to the nape of her neck. He spread his hooves to hold onto her, preparing for the worst. Before they took off he leaned to the side and saw Rigel flying up to a cloud. Realizing he still had a chance to save his friend, Aldus quickly charged a spell. At the moment, the locks of hair were holding him snugly, not restrictively. He jumped up with all his strength and discharged the spell. A purple orb sped toward Rigel and passed in front of him before exploding with a flash.

Selene tsked and shook her head, “That was a mistake, little one. You know, you are just making it harder for yourself and Rigel.”

Aldus was held in the air as more thick tendrils coiled around him, including one around his eyes and muzzle before he was secured firmly in front of her wings. Selene crouched low and took off with a single powerful flap of her massive wings.

Rigel saw the purple flare explode in front of him as touches down on the cloud. Curious as to its purpose, he turned around to gaze upon pure terror. A black streak with green eyes barreled toward him at frightening speed.

“Goddess!!” he heard himself yell, as he leapt off the cloud at the last second.

The black alicorn broke through the cloud in an instant and immediately banked left in a tight turn to come at him again. Rigel felt something just then as he registered the approaching threat. His muscles tensed and the fur on the back of his neck stood on edge. This was the feeling of danger, the thrill from combat. Selene had done what nopony was able to do for a long, long time; make him experience fear in the air. It was amazing, exhilarating, the best thing he felt in... well, one thousand years.

“Yes!!” Rigel screamed as he pumped his right hoof in the air.

Selene completed the turn and accelerated toward Rigel again, she leveled her horn and discharged several bolts of blue magic. However, to her surprise, Rigel spun in mid air then flew straight at her. She watched him weave through the bolts of magic with ease. Their game of chicken lasted only a few seconds as they closed on each other. Selene prepared to veer away, but before she could, Rigel dove slightly and flew directly underneath her. The alicorn’s eyes went wide with shock as she felt him gently touch a hoof to her belly as he flew by.

Now both surprised and amused, she inverted and performed a split-s to come around behind the pegasus. Selene increased her speed and began to gain on him. As she prepared another spell, Rigel snapped into an almost ninety degree climb, something that Selene did not think was possible. He entered a cloud bank and disappeared. Selene approached the clouds and flew just below them. While she reduced her speed and examined the layer of clouds, Rigel appeared inside the clouds behind her. He looked down to see Aldus held in place by several thick coils of black mane. His head moved from side to side and eventually shook off the tendril covering his eyes. Rigel suspected Selene’s concentration was preoccupied with finding him, so Aldus had a little wiggle room. Rigel silently waited for Aldus to look behind and up at where he was flying. When he finally did, Rigel held up a hoof to his mouth indicating silence. Aldus nodded. Rigel made a few more hoof motions, formulating a plan. Once he was sure Aldus understood, he winked and disappeared into the clouds once again.

Aldus turned around and watched the rhythmic motions of Selene’s wings. The only thing to do now was wait. He mumbled to himself about the pretty blue and magenta sky. His muzzle was still held shut, Selene said she didn’t want him screaming in her ears when they were flying. Aldus shivered slightly as a rush of wind passed by. It was cold at such a high altitude. In response to his shivers, the tendrils holding him tightened gently while more moved to coil around him and provide warmth. Aldus snuggled up to the new additions. At least it wasn’t all bad.

Selene continued to search the clouds for Rigel with little success. Pegasi could manipulate clouds in any way they wanted. For all she knew he might not be amongst the clouds at all, but rather on top of them. Selene decided it was worth a look, as she ascended through the clouds she heard the voice of a rather cocky pegasus colt.

“Having trouble, Selene? I thought alicorns could do anything, and here you are having trouble catching one little pegasus.”

The voice was above her, but she couldn’t find exactly where. It wasn’t as if she was chasing any regular pegasus either. Rigel was one of the most talented flyers Selene had ever seen. She remembered watching him fight during the war and was awestruck even then. Despite him being younger in the current dreamscape, he remained highly skilled.

“Seriously this is pretty bad,” the colt continued, “You don’t seem to be making any progress. Why don’t you just alter the dream and catch me that way?”

Don’t think that hadn't crossed my mind, Selene thought to herself, now trying even harder to find him.

“Ya know, I think I know the problem,” he admitted casually, “Its your flank.”

My... flank?!

“I enjoy your alicorn form, it reminds me more of Celestia than Nightmare Moon. But I noticed your flank seems to be even larger than Celestia’s, if thats even possible. Celestia always did enjoy her cake and pastries. How much cake do you eat, Selene?”

Selene could not believe he just said that. She turned around self consciously and looked at her flank. When she did, she saw Aldus had pressed his face against her back in a poor attempt to stifle laughter.

“Oh, its funny is it?”

The colt looked up and shook his head no, but continued to snicker.

Selene rolled her eyes and summoned a life detection spell to her horn and discharged it. Slowly an invisible magic sphere radiated outward from the alicorn. It continued to expand until it detected a pegasus above and behind her.

I’ve got you now.

Rigel was about to make another wise crack when Selene burst through the clouds almost right on top of him. Thick coils of dark mane shot at him like lightning. Reacting on instinct, he arched his back and propelled himself backward with all the energy he could muster. The alicorn breached the clouds at such a high speed she was unable to alter her course enough to catch him. But even so, Rigel felt a tendril of mane graze his leg as she passed by.

Selene almost had him, she quickly whipped around and gave chase. Their chase had led them further inland but now the pegasus was flying out over the sea. He turned around and smirked at her as he put a hoof to his head in a mocking salute.

“Catch me if you can, big flank!” he said as he gained considerable speed and a cone of air formed around him. Then suddenly the air vanished with a loud boom as he broke the sound barrier.

Selene gnashed her teeth, when I get my hooves on him...

She flew forward with a magic augmented burst and also broke the sound barrier. After catching up to Rigel she closely pursued him while trying to incapacitate him with paralysis spells. The original plan was to stun him then catch him before he fell into the water. But she encountered a problem. On top of him being exceedingly fast, Rigel seemed to know when to dodge her spells at the last possible second. Selene knew she had to try something different. She felt a tight squeeze on her neck as she banked into another tight turn. Poor Aldus had been holding on for dear life for the past ten minutes or so, despite being safe in the coils of her mane. Suddenly, an evil grin split her face as she put together a plan to end this little game.

Rigel dove under a cloud and headed back to the beach. He had been very successful in evading his pursuer thus far. As he leveled out he checked behind him to verify the alicorn’s position. To his surprise she wasn’t there. Confused, Rigel looked ahead again and gasped in shock. Selene teleported in front of him, and before he had time to react, her black mane flailed wildly and hurled Aldus straight at him. Adlus screamed in a pitch usually reserved for fillies as he spun through the air and collided into Rigel. They both spun several times before Rigel stabilized them just in time to see a black alicorn bearing down on them.

With only seconds to spare, Aldus ignited his horn and teleported both of them out of the way. They reappeared a good distance from their pursuer, but it wouldn’t remain that way for long. Aldus fell to Rigel’s back hooves and dangled from them.

“What are you waiting for? Fly!” Aldus yelled.

Rigel grunted in irritation, “I can’t do anything with you hanging on me like this!”

“Oh sooorry,” Aldus apologized sarcastically, “I’ll just drop hundreds of feet into the ocean to free you up a bit.”

“Really?” Rigel asked, “Cuz that’d be great.”

“NO!”

“DON’T SCREAM AT ME, I’M RIGHT HERE!”

As the two foals continued to argue they didn’t notice the black winged object racing toward them.

“Look just get us to the beach and I can hide us,” Aldus said with a sigh while he looked behind them and saw black death approaching. “Just do it quickly!”

Rigel saw the approaching alicorn and beat his wings as hard as he could. They cleared most of the ocean before Selene caught up to them.

“Almost there...almost there. Hurry!” Aldus yelled

“I can’t go any faster!” Rigel shouted, “Can’t you do something?”

“No, my magic is all used up!”

They were above the beach when a blue light lit up behind them. Both of them looked back and shouted, “NOOOOO!!”

The spell detonated behind the two foals and flung them in different directions. Rigel lost control and crashed into the ground, luckily he wasn’t going that fast. He closed his eyes and decided not to stand up until the world stopped spinning. Aldus did not fare as well. As the spell exploded he flew over Rigel’s head and landed face first in a sand dune. His entire body up to his midsection was buried in sand leaving only his kicking backside visible.

Rigel opened his eyes to find a black alicorn standing over him. The sun was to her back which made it difficult to see her expression, but Rigel knew she was grinning mischievously at him.

“Um... Hi.” Rigel said with a meek smile.

Selene enveloped the pegasus foal in a magical field and brought him to eye level. “So I have a big flank, do I?”

Rigel tilted his head to look at it, “Uh... Yes?”

In an instant, five locks of mane began relentlessly tickling the floating pegasus. Two found their way under his wings which caused him to spasm with laughter. The torture continued until tears began to form in Rigel’s eyes. With a goofy grin he begged the alicorn to stop, stating that he was laughing so hard it hurt.

Eventually she ceased the tickling and set him down. “Have you learned your lesson?”

“I sure have,” Rigel said, “If you think an alicorn has a big flank, keep it to yourself.”

The black alicorn simply shook her head disapprovingly.

Rigel looked up at Selene and smiled, “Selene?”

“Yes, Rigel?”

The pegasus jumped up and embraced Selene in a warm hug, “Thank you.”

Selene was a bit surprised by his actions, she sat down on all four hooves and put a hoof around him, “What are you thanking me for?”

“For just... being here. For helping me with that dream earlier,” Rigel hugged her tighter, “And for making me experience fear in the air again. It has been so long, I almost forgot what it felt like. It was incredible”

“I scared you, and you enjoyed it?” Selene asked.

“Yes,” Rigel answered, “Being afraid is important in flying, and it has been so long since I felt that fear. I deserve it, and I deserved it even more during the war.”

Selene held him gently, “What do you mean?”

“Celestia’s fliers in the war were arrogant like all the other ponies who followed her. When Luna turned into...you,” Rigel hesitated for a moment, “When Nightmare Moon first appeared, nopony took her seriously until she refused to lower the moon. Just like nopony appreciated Luna or any of us for all we did for Equestria. When the first battles started and we began achieving victories, it felt great. We were putting those arrogant sun lovers in their place. I flew against the best of The Wonderbolts and ripped them out of the sky. But as the war went on, my victories rang hollow.”

Rigel looked into Selene’s eyes, “There were so few of us, and so many of them, which meant most of my opponents were not worthy. So many young pegasi rushed to engage me, having no idea what they were getting into. One by one they fell out the sky, and I was named an ace. An ace... for what? For downing inexperienced fliers? Does a full grown stallion go around beating up foals and wear it like a badge of honor?”

Rigel shook his head, “It doesn’t matter now. I knew then that fighting for you and Luna was the right thing to do, and you being here now confirms it. I made the right choice.”

“So you don’t mind me being here then?” Selene inquired.

Rigel let go of her and sat down on his hind legs, “Of course I don’t mind it. The dream walking you and Luna do is something I will treasure always. It was one of the main reasons Aldus and I decided to fight for you. Everypony is susceptible to bad dreams and are often helpless to do anything about it. For somepony like you or Luna to use your power to help guide ponies through the unknown is simply amazing. When a being so powerful appears to a child and keeps them safe while they sleep? That is an intimacy that will never be forgotten. Speaking of that, I heard what you did for those three fillies a few days ago.”

Selene smiled, “Ah yes, the cutie mark crusaders. We had a lot of fun that night.”

“I’m happy you are here, Selene.” Rigel admitted, “I had a lot fun flying around up there, and seeing this place again makes me feel great. Aldus had fun too, no matter what he says, he had fun, trust me.”

Selene allowed two black tendrils to fall in front of her and gently tickle Rigel again, “I’m glad you enjoyed yourselves. You two ponies have gone through so much for me and for Luna. But now I’m here for you. I’ll always be around when you dream.”

Rigel playfully batted away the tendrils and laid down between Selene’s forehooves. He spread his wings slightly and leaned against her chest. Once he was comfortable he looked up at her and smiled.

“A personal dream guardian watching over my friends and I? I could get used this. Where is Aldus?”

Both Selene and Rigel looked to a sand dune near the tree line and saw him pressing his hooves to the dune attempting to dislodge his head. They both laughed as Selene grabbed Aldus’ tail with a magical field and pulled him free.

Aldus spit out sand from his mouth and shook his head. After most of the sand was gone he trotted over to Selene and Rigel.

“You two are crazy, and YOU!” Aldus yelled, pointing a hoof at Selene, “How could you throw me like that?!”

“Oh relax, little one. I figured Rigel would catch you, and he did.” Selene said.

“It was a dirty trick and sure caught me by surprise,” Rigel admitted, “She gets points for that.”

“I get points? Yay!” Selene cheered as she laughed with Rigel.

“But if he didn’t catch me?” Aldus asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Then I would have, you silly foal,” Selene stated, as five tendrils of black mane rose above her head and wiggled for effect.

One of the long tendrils slithered out toward Aldus and beckoned him to come forward, “Come sit with us and relax.” Selene said softly as her horn lit up with a silver light. The air around her shimmered and rippled, when it returned to normal Selene and Rigel were laying on a blanket with a large umbrella planted in the sand next to them.

Aldus looked at the tendril then at Selene and Rigel, “You know, the flying was pretty cool... it reminded me of when you would take me flying when we were foals, Rigel.”

Rigel beamed at Selene, “I told you he had fun!”

“Can we do this again sometime?” Aldus asked.

“Of course we can, sweetie!” Selene answered happily.

Aldus trotted over to Selene and climbed onto her back. He reclined against her neck and looked out at the blue and magenta skies.

“Rigel, do you remember this place being so beautiful?” Aldus asked.

“Yeah, I always thought it was,” Rigel replied, “For me its always been the sky. The way the light reflects from the ocean far off on the horizon. Its like something from a painting. Selene did a great job creating this place. I kinda don’t want to leave,” Rigel admitted with a chuckle.

“Aww, thank you, I aim to please,” Selene said as her mane gently covered the two colts, “But I can’t take all the credit, this is Rigel’s dream and these are his memories.”

“Mhm,” Rigel nodded in agreement, “And they are good memories, we should visit there soon to see how much it has changed.”

“Oh, we will.” Aldus said with a grin, “The Silver Isles is top of the list of places I need to visit. We’ll stay for a while once we’re there, for business concerning the royal sisters, of course.”

Rigel and Aldus burst out laughing while Selene shook her head, “You two will have to do some work while you are there. Speaking of work, shouldn’t you be working right now, little one?”

“Nope,” Aldus said with a laugh, “I’m done for the day. Thats why I’m here now. I’m taking a power nap waiting for Rigel to wake up so we can get dinner.”

“I’m not waking up yet, Aldy.” Rigel said, “I’m enjoying this too much. The smell, the breeze, the sky, the feel of the sand. This is pure nostalgia of simpler times. Its perfect.”

Aldus contemplated what his friend just said, “It is nice. To know that every time we go to sleep we could find ourselves in paradise. To have somepony watching over us when we are at our most vulnerable. Yes, perfect might just be the best word to describe it.”

Aldus rolled to his side and hugged a large coil of her mane, “We love you, Selene.”

Selene smiled and felt tears forming in her eyes.

“What could we do to thank you for all of this?” Rigel asked.  

Selene looked down at Rigel, “You two colts don’t need to do anything, I’m the one who’s here for you remember? Just relax and enjoy your time here. But, you could tell me more about the Silver Isles. I’m curious what all you did here in your childhood.”

Rigel turned over to look up at her, “What do you want know?”

Selene nuzzled the pegasus, “Tell me everything.”

--------------

Marigold trotted into the throne room to meet Luna and go over some paperwork regarding some of the new guards under her command. When she entered the room she saw Aldus and Rigel sitting at the end of one of the tables nearest the throne. Luna had taken the throne for the night as her sister retired, and she seemed to be sharing a laugh with Rigel.

Marigold smiled as her heart filled with warmth. It was so nice to see Luna sitting on the throne laughing. Before they returned it was just her and Luna. There was the guards, sure, but they didn’t talk much, at least not in Marigold or Luna’s presence.

“That is incredible, Luna! An entire night dedicated to you and Nightmare Moon!” Rigel exclaimed as he filled his plate with more food.

Aldus stuffed a pastry into his mouth and nodded, “I hear,” he said between chewing, “Its very popular with the children. They all love to dress up in costumes and get as much candy as they can.”

“That sounds like so much fun, Aldus. Luna says that they celebrate it in Ponyville by decorating the entire town. We have to go.”

Aldus rolled his eyes, “Rigel, I’m sure we’ll do something, but-”

“No, you don’t understand. We have to go,” Rigel interjected, “Our princess commands it.”

Aldus looked over at Luna on the throne, who smiled sweetly at him.

Aldus was about to say something but he was cut off by the hooves that wrapped around his chest like vice grips.

“Yay!” Marigold cheered, “Aldus and Rigel are coming to Nightmare Night in Ponyville!”

Rigel laughed and motioned for Marigold and Aldus to lean across the table, “I have an idea that will scare everypony to half death, and provide a fun adventure for the children.”  

As they continued to eat, Marigold sat next to Rigel and told him about all her experiences of Nightmare Night from when she was little. She stopped for a moment when the sound of children could be heard entering the room. About fifteen foals ran up and formed a line in front of one of the serving mares near the end of the hall.

Aldus and Rigel looked up to see what the commotion was about. A cheerful purple mare was watching the foals.

“Alright my little ponies, make sure you order your food before we board the train back to Ponyville. And be sure to thank the princess for letting you tour the palace today and giving you dinner.”

“Isn’t it a bit late for them to be on a field trip?” Aldus asked, while the sky became darker.  

“Their trip is over,” Marigold said, “But since it was an all day affair, and they had to travel here from Ponyville, Luna offered them dinner before they leave.”

Marigold suddenly realized something about Aldus

“Hey, Aldus”

“Yeah?”

“Why aren’t you wearing your veil?” Marigold asked.

Aldus rubbed his eyes with a hoof, “I improved the potion that partially restored my sight earlier today. Now my vision is almost fully restored, but it seems my eyes still look blind.”

“PRINCESS LUNA!!” came a high pitched voice from across the room.

Aldus, Rigel, and Marigold looked up to see an orange blur run across the room and glomp Princess Luna. The pegasus filly was too small to move the princess but still hit with enough force to briefly wind her.

“Thats impressive,” Rigel snickered as he watched the filly.

“Hello Scootaloo,” Luna said with a gentle smile, not bothered by the filly’s actions in the slightest.

“You were in my dreams a few nights ago!” Scootaloo said while buzzing her wings, “Because of your help, Rainbow Dash agreed to be my big sister! Thank you so much!”

“See what happens when you have the courage to face your fears?” Princess Luna said as she hugged the filly.

“Scootaloo!” the purple mare yelled as she trotted up to the throne, “I apologize for the inappropriate behavior, Princess Luna.”

“Its quite alright Miss Cheerilee,” Luna said while she levitated Scootaloo off the throne, “I love it when foals come to visit the palace, and I appreciate them staying late so I could see them.”

Luna looked at the foals who had gathered behind Miss Cheerilee, “Did you all have fun today, my little ponies?!”

“YEAH!!”

“Excellent! Would you all like to come spend the day here again?!”

“YEAH!!!!”

“Then we shall make plans for another visit!”

Luna then cleared her throat and leaned over the throne, surveying the foals with a stern look. She quickly turned to Aldus and Rigel and gave them a quick wink.

“One final question, did the foals behave while they were here, Miss Cheerilee?”

“They most certainly did, Princess Luna. They were on their best behavior at all times.”

“Truly? Then that is deserving of a reward! Ice cream and cake for everypony!”

The foals cheered while jumping up and down excitedly. Luna laughed at their display as the servants began preparing the desserts.

Rigel grinned and leaned over to Marigold, “And this is why Luna is best princess.”

All three ponies at the table started laughing when Aldus felt a gentle pull on his tail. He turned around to see Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle staring up at him.

“Da cootee mar crusaers!” He exclaimed with a mouth full of food.

Aldus swallowed the food and turned around, “How have you girls been?”

“We’ve been great!” Sweetie Belle said, “We just wanted to thank you for saving us in the Everfree Forest.”

“You don’t have thank me,” Aldus said, “But that reminds me, I have something for the three of you. Hang on one sec.”

Aldus disappeared in a flash, leaving the crusaders with Rigel and Marigold.

Scootaloo looked at Rigel’s strong, elegant frame and climbed up on the bench beside him. “Who are you?” the little filly asked in awe.

“I’m Rigel, you must be Scootaloo,” he said while extending a hoof to her.

Scootaloo grabbed the hoof and beamed at him, “You look... fast, can you fly fast, Mr. Rigel?”

Rigel extended his wings in wide stretch, “I’ve been known to fly fast on occasion,” he replied casually.

Marigold leaned behind Rigel and put a hoof to her mouth to whisper, “He was the creator and captain of The Shadowbolts!”

“Really?” Scootaloo gasped.

“Really!”

“Thats so awesome!”

“I know!”

Marigold and Scootaloo giggled while Rigel shrugged at Luna, who laughed and rolled her eyes.

Aldus reappeared in flash with a box, which he presented to the three fillies.

“What is this?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Well, I met with the mare who helped save you. Selene right? She and I are old friends, and she gave me this to give to you.”

The three fillies opened it to find the crusader capes Selene had given them.

“These are real?” Sweetie Belle squeaked.

“Of course they are, now take them with you and go eat your dinner, the dessert will be out soon.”

“Thank you, Aldus!” The fillies shouted as they rejoined their classmates.

Aldus watched the fillies sit down and start eating when his eyes passed over a servant mare that was cleaning a table and watching them. Aldus noticed that it was the same servant that was wiping the floor when he met with Derring Dew. The mare finished cleaning and trotted over to the kitchens.

Aldus knew the servants were given sections of the castle in which to work. A servant mare working near the towers should not be cleaning tables in the throne room.

“I’ll be right back,” Aldus said to Rigel and Marigold as he followed the servant mare.

The servant exited the palace and walked around the grounds to a secluded area near one of the walls and stopped. She turned around in surprise when she found Aldus had followed her.

“Oh my!” she squeaked, “Why are you following me?”

“A servant working in the upper towers doesn’t work in throne room, changeling.”

The mare sneered, “Well I guess there is no use trying to fool somepony with your reputation, but you shouldn’t have come out here alone.”

“Its going to take more than you to fight me,” Aldus said while preparing a spell.

“I agree,” the changeling replied.

Before Aldus could react four bolts of green magic hit him in the back. Suddenly feeling all his energy leave him, he collapsed to ground and blacked out.