In correlation with Carnivorous' prediction the chariot continued into a decent roughly three hours past the point where I retired. Even for captains the flight was a massive stain of endurance, lasting seven hours of straight and continuous flight with no rests or interruptions. Settling down near the Tempeocan Castle at this point almost seemed like challenge as the two struggled to land in the tight space provided and not cause too much of a shock wave through the chariot upon landing. Lightning and Carnivorous for what it is worth did a worthy feat completing the journey and then managing to land without harming either Armonia or I; however, the landing was not the perfect landing the two expected as both Armonia and I were less than genitally launched into the air by a few inches, shocking us both awake.

"Sorry you two," Lightning quickly replied apologetically. My eyes were mere slits at the moment, yet it does not take much to realize how worn out the two were as both their muscles were stiff and fatigue was illustrated all over their faces.

"No large insistence" Armonia reassured the two. Carnivorous attempted to reply; however, fatigue was getting the best of him as he was forced to lay down for a moment's rest. Armonia kept good faith and applauded the two efforts massaging the two's worn-down wings and then turning towards me. "You only received three hours of rest last night, yet I am sure we can find you a place to rest for a little bit once we go inform the King that we are here. And as for you two, there appears to be a store over there see if you can find a little bit out about the empire while you enjoy the air conditioning they have there." Armonia pointed towards an establishment a little while west of the Castle.

"Sir, how do you know they have air conditioning or is even open?" inquired Lightning.

"Well it is about seven here so I would expect the buildings to have started opening up for the day. As of for the air conditioning, I hope they have it around here because I have to admit it is a little warm around here." Armonia complained in good faith. I pulled myself up from the chariot and positioned myself next to Armonia; even with only three hours I had more sleep than Lightning and Carnivorous especially after the flight. We both gathered up a few initial things and turned to approach the Castle where we found two morning guard standing firm.

"Who comes to the castle at such an early hour? Does the does not know that no one can see the King before the hour  of ten?" the larger of the two declared even though there was no much of a difference in size between the two. They both were earth ponies of larger build using their flanks to block the entrance and if it was not for their uniforms I would not of recognized them as guards at all.

"We are from Serentia, your king has requested our presence," Armonia announced firmly providing the guards with the royal seal.

"How do we know that it is in fact Lord Armonia from the Serentian Empire you has sent you two?"

"Look at my armor! I am Lord Armonia from the Serentian Empire, this fellow right here is a subject that I asked if he would be so pleasant as to accompany me, and there are two Serentian pegasus guards here that I sent to find shelter while we inform the King of our arrival because they are exhausted from the long flight." he stated with mild annoyance. The guards gazed upon Armonia's masterfully crafted armor over his white coat before turning to myself to evaluate my presence.

"We are so sorry about that, Sir!" The two guards stepped aside allowing us to pass upon them opening the gate.

"What is it with you and hitting it off so well with guards?" I teased as we continued inwards.

"I do not have an answer for you; they all are too engrossed in playing the role of the big bad guard to have their eyes open to their surroundings and realize who they are addressing. I do not typically lose my patience as you are quite aware; however, guards have this magical ability to push my buttons better than other single group. I swear they are secret unicorns trained in the magical art to annoy me." Armonia proclaimed to me in a tone that was designed to prevent eavesdropping. I personally found his hypothesis enticing and could not help but grimace at the proposal.

The Castle here was of a size comparable to our own and featured a plethora of features that demonstrated power and wealth of the kingdom. Extending down the hallway was a series of portraits that I assumed to be commemorating the past kings of the kingdom and featured all of them displayed the past rulers in prestigious and sometimes over-exaggerated formalwear. "Is this Kingdom as extensive as our own empire?" I managed to inquire to Armonia.

"No, this kingdom is only the size of one-third of Serentia and a large portion of the region consists primarily of water is uninhabited."

"Then what is all the fancy displays around here for and all the enormous supply of guards that surround the place? The only place that we have guards protecting things in the empire is the armory."

"Tempeoca is as I already informed you different than Serentia in that this kingdom is reigned over by a king. Kings for the most part are not the faithful rulers that you are blessed to enjoy and are paranoid about a loss in power. The decorations you see around this hall is to reflect the King's great wealth and power, unlike the commemorations that engulf our Palace of the great acts and deeds conducted by our empire's people," Armonia directed as we ascended our way up a short flight of stairs leading to the massive doors that laid at the end of the hallway where another guard was posted.

"Whom is you who approaches? Why are you here before the tenth hour?" the guard demanded. Armonia rolled his eyes at the guard's tone. He was the first guard we witnessed in the kingdom who actually displayed a suit of armor and was a good eight inches taller than the other two guards.

"Lord Armonia from Serentian Empire here in reliance to King Elitan's request, the two guards protecting this castle let us in."

King Elitan is this guys name then

"Why would King Elitan want to speak with a puny lord from Serentian?"

"Well since you are so kind to ask I think it would benefit you so to know that Lord Armonia is the ruler of Serentia," I snapped adding "Sir" at the end to add insult to injury. The guard was taken off guard; however, hastily recovered to his former state of stubbornness.

"And who do you think you are?"

"Resident of the Serentian Palace, since you are pursuing in your quest to pester our objective you mind informing me of who you would happen to be?"

"I am no other than Sir Daniel, commander of the guard here." One again Armonia rolled his eyes at this guys overabundance of arrogance.

"Well pardon me Sir Daniel, commander of the guard; however, we just completed in a seven hour flight and we would like to see the King within the next few moments if you would be so kind." Armonia's stare shot razors at Daniel who was attempting to reposition himself to make his armor glisten in the light radiating from the glass windows.

How arrogant can a single person be?

"That will not be necessary; Sir Daniel please excuse yourself for the moment I will deal with them," a stallion dressed in heavy layers of clothing replied. Even King Elitan looked like he was full of himself. His mane was neatly combed and his mark resembled the crown he wore upon his head.

Deal with us? I should show him how to deal with us!

"Lord Armonia. So glad you could finally make it to Tempeoca!"

"I would be glad if it was not for your guards pestering me every five minutes. should you have not informed them of my arrival?" Armonia even in frustration had maintained a calmed tone and spoke fluently to King Elitan.

"I did not find any need in it. Your presence should of been enough. What can I say really if they did not know of your identity?"

Did not find need in it! I can think of several things that you could be saying right now after all these mishaps, so you proclaim!

"Easy now Bladz, maintain control," Armonia assured me, whispering in my ear. "It is not worth losing your temper over."

"Welcome to Tempeoca anyway. Would you like a tour?"

"The tour does not only include you castle I presume?" Armonia responded. King Elitan being too arrogant to comprehend the insult instead took it as compliment.

"Why of course not, you will get to see more then enough of it over the next two days; is it not lovely?" he decreed gazing upon his own creation. Armonia simply just rolled his eyes, as well I who found it fit to join him in the action.

"Have any children?" I asked in an attempt to spark conversation that did not have to do with his castle or his wealth.

"Why heavens no! Foals will grow up and attempt to steal my darling thrown! I will not ever consider nuisances like that until I need someone to continue my great name!"

"Can I please hit him?" I whispered to Armonia.

"He is a King! That would be unnecessary!" Armonia reminded me.

"How old are you young one? Seven? Eight?" Elitan practically demanded.

"Well seeing how I am taller than you I am a lot older than eight! Try seventeen your majesty" I practically spat at him with him taking no indication of my anger through my tone.

"Oh dear Armonia! Your company is defective! How in Tempeoca's name could you have let such a fallacy into my Castle! He has no mark, no signature, he is just bare and flawed at the age of seventeen!" I dug my hooves into the ground and felt like tearing his teeth out in every torturous method I could conceive.

How stupid can you get! How does this kingdom not come crashing down! All the figures of authority we have met here are complete idiots!

"I stand corrected; you cannot hit him until I do" Armonia informed me through whisper. "Just ignore him for now."

"King Elitan, this young stallion here is an important member of the Serentian empire, I would prefer if you please lay off the insults." Armonia announced.

"I suppose, he is your problem afterall."

"Easy Bladz," Armonia comforted me. "You said that you were having an issues with nomads and needed me to act as a third party."

"Yes, those creatures. I would prefer to execute them all; however, Queen Loudi advised me otherwise."

"As do I; there are better ways for dealing with your problems."

"Anyway I am discussing terms with them tomorrow at noon. Now about that tour?" With every moment I could feel Armonia’s blood pressure rising even though he was managing to maintain a straight face.

"Let us continue on our way for this wonderful tour then" Armonia stated half-heartedly as I proceeded to follow. King Elitan initiated his tour by presenting to us his "wonderful armory" which stood a mere pebble to our's and followed by conducting in a long ordeal about how elite his army is.

"Sorry to interupt but why is your entire armed fleet only earth breeds?" I finally stated

"Because we earth breeds are the elite breed of all the breeds; something that I would not expect you as a unicorn to understand."

"There are no unicorns or pegasi in this kingdom are there?" I inquired to my mentor.

"I do not believe so."

"Then why did we have introduce ourselves everywhere we go! Can they not assume something when they see two pegasi and two unicorns?"

"One... never mind. I did not believe so, many of the earth ponies here probably do not even know that there are other tribes of ponies out there." I rolled my eyes once more in disbelief as we continued to follow King Gloats-a-lot.

"And this over here is the surrounding city's market." He pointed down the pathway towards a plethora of social gatherings, where I spotted fruit stands.

"Is that a pear stand? Want to pick up a pear Sir since we have not eaten breakfast yet?" I pondered to Armonia.

"How could you think about spoiling your lips with sick commoner's foods, although you are defective!"

I am done with this guy.

"Excuse me Lord Armonia and King Elitan but I will catch up with you two later." Either way it seemed like King Elitan was becoming annoyed with having to tour us and was beginning to view it as a waste of him time.

"Okay, be back at the castle by noon though; we need to set up our room for the night." Armonia replied

"Will do Sir." I dashed to attempt to make as much distance as I could from that King before he whined about anything else that involved him bragging or how defective I was.

I trotted over to the pear cart and gazed over all the tasty creations. There was pear pie, seasoned pears, a slice of pear crumble, stuffed pears, pears raw and soft, almost any form of pears that I could imagine.

"How much for a bowl of those seasoned pears?" I questioned to the mare working the stand.

"That would be three silver bits"

"Three silver bits?"

"Is that too much Sir? How about two bits?"

"No I meant why so low?"

"You are not from around here are you Sir? The King demands such high taxation every spring that we all have to keep our prices low to ensure we have enough business so we can pay them when the time comes."

Some how I am not surprised

"Here take this to help you out" I handed her three golden bits and picked up the bowl of seasoned pairs.

"He actually wants that pie" Carnivorous declared from behind me. "Three pies in fact. One for this young stallion and two for us over here" I turned to see Lightning standing behind him.

"Well that would normally be a total of three golden pits, so you three have already paid for these."

"Non-sense!" Carnivorous placed twelve golden bits on the counter. "Look at these pies! They are well worth four bits a piece!" The mare practically fainted in joy.

"Thank you so much! This is practically an entire week's earnings!" Aquarius pleasure flooded down her face.

"Madam you deserve it" Lightning proclaimed.

"Well what do we have here two captains that are actually nice to people." I exclaimed.

"What do you mean by that Bladz?"

"Well let me just say that some of the guards around here are not the easiest to work with." I waved my leg around my head to indicate insanity.

"We are aware. A guard questioned us in the rudest manner when we were resting under a tree over there." Carnivorous explained. "I do not know who they think they are around here pushing all the citizens around like this; however, it is uncalled for and shameful." Lightning was preoccupied devouring his pie to comment. "You should not eat it like that you might choke; try this instead." Carnivorous placed the pie on the ground and then stomped to have the contents of the pan soar skywards until gravity overcame and was swallowed by a single bite.

"Okay big mouth! Not everyone has the ability to fit their entire head in their mouth!" Lightning accused.

"So what else have you guys found around here?" I interrogated while pulling a few more bits out from my backpack and having to readjust the suit I took off yesterday before Armonia and I left for our short tour around the palace.

"We are as clueless as you. The guard only woke Carnivorous and I up about ten minutes ago. Why no walk with us and let us discover what is around here."

"Better than the tour I was just getting from the King."

"Why do you say that?"

"I am defective and earth ponies are the master breed"

"Enough said! There is a library over there if you want to check that out. You like libraries, right?"

"Armonia tell you that?"

"Nope, Ryan did" Carnivorous interjected.

"Why I did not know that he took an interest in my studies?"

Ryan interested in my studies? That is so cool!

"Ryan takes interest in lots of things that we do not understand. Although that is one of the reasons he is commander; there is not much that I can put past him to not know if he puts him mind to it. He is not the brightest tool Serentia has, but he is a mighty hard worker." Lightning informed me.

"Anyway, I am going to see if there is a textbook on the history of this kingdom; I am sure not every king was this aggregant and at least one of them did something important or cool."

"Hey Lightning maybe there are mares in there that are attractive and smart." Carnivorous stated. I rolled my eyes once more; however, at least this time it was not out of annoyance.

"Hey Bladz wait up a moment!" Lighting shouted as they both stampeded up behind me.

"I am sorry, but really since when are members of the Serentian Royal Guard so loud?"

"We are always loud, the ones that stand around protecting buildings are just boring a choose to do that." Lighting cheered.

The library was relatively small in stature compared to the main library in Cantardash; I have yet to see the Citadel's real library. Books laid on the wall in neat rows and many of them appeared to still be in mint condition. Earth pony education was not a major consumer of novels as their education focused on the practical and the highly motivated attended universities with libraries of their own. "excuse me ma'am; are there any novels on your kingdom's history here?" I asked.

"Back right corner," the librarian responded pointing in the direction.

The life of King Elitan, The trials of a King, History of the greatest Tempeorca; "I am sorry but do you have any books that do not have to do with King Elitan?"

"No Sir, King Elitan thought that books not about him would detract from his rule."

I am done. Done! When do we leave I am getting sick of this guy. I hope these nomads just burned his precious little castle to the ground and have one of the actually sane ponies around here take power!

"Find any smoking mares?" I addressed to Lightning.

"I never stated that as my motive so do not look at me; there are no mares here besides for the librarian although, so you tell me."

"I do not know. She is sort of smoking." I stated as I felt my sides beginning to burst.

"If you mean by smoking, that she is radiating the smell of cough syrup I can give her that. Let us get out of here before I age."

"Fine by me; all the books here have been rewritten to celebrate your's truly."

"Woah! He really is hot headed! Come on Carnivorous" Lightning proclaimed after noticing that he was busy constructing a book fort in the middle of one of the isles. "You are going to get us thrown out!"

"I claim this land in the name of Carivorous! This shall be the eternal land of cookies!"

"Get your behind up and let us go!"

"Fine! I am leaving the fort though!"

"Fair enough" Lightning finally proclaimed as the two followed me out of the library.

"Did not find any good history lessons Bladz?" Carnivorous inquired.

"All the books had been rewritten in the king's point of view." Lightning explained.

"Sounds like my kind of library! We should place a library at the Armory at the Citadel rewritten from my point of view." Carnivorous proudly declared. I could not tell which one of us face hoofed harder; however, Lightning left a mark on his face.

I gazed upon the watch to detect that the time was only approaching the tenth hour when I officially was at a loss for ideas. Taking lead I marched alongside the market scanning for interesting happenings as Lightning did the same on the opposing side of the parkway. Carnivorous on the other hand was too busy harassing every storekeeper to provide much assistance; however, he was afterall interesting to watch as he cycloned from place to place in a display of his agility that seemed to be confusing watchful eyes who were trying to understand what the rush was about. "For a captain I have to admit he is really hyper," I confessed.

"I have known Carnivorous since flight school and that is simply who he is; He is a fun-loving pegasus who takes a powerful devotion to his occupation, placing duty and friendship first. We both graduated amongst the top our class and I pursued a career as a weather pegasus for a newly founded town, where I later became the station leader there, while he became a scout leader. For nine years we pursued those careers until both of us were "reassigned" to the Citadel working under the Armory as civilians; the job was tough and pretty soon we found ourselves as members of the royal guard. Actually now that I think about it, Carnivorous and I were only working as flight guards five months when Armonia decided to split up the forces into divisions and elect us both as captains. I can not tell you if that was his plan all along for us two; however, I have my suspicions."

"So there is usually a method to his madness? He always seems so reserved that sometimes it is hard to anticipate his actions and determine what he is thinking."

"I do not know what he has planned for you Bladz, but whatever it must be it must be important. As you are aware, Lord Armonia is not one to take on students and you are the only student I think that anyone has ever heard about that Armonia actually has ever had."

"According to him I am"

"See my point. The thing that ponders me is what there could be that he is so interested in having you do. There is nothing that crosses my mind and I thought about that for almost all seven hours of the flight yesterday."

"I could not tell you either, he has never given me any formal lessons and all he acts like is a guide." Lightning paused in his position and began to visually analyze me more intensly that I could recall anyone besides Armonia or my family ever conducting in.

"Maybe what I suspected is true"

"And what is that?"

"We will see in time." Lightning announced as we stood witness to Carnivorous posing in front of a mirror display of himself trying on hats.

"How does this one make me look?" Carnivorous declared wearing a dark black fedora.

"It really complements your coat" Lightning stuttered. "I suppose." Personally I did not find reason in purchasing a black hat for a black stallion when you could not differentiate between the two's forms. Carnivorous nodded and placed the fedora back upon the hat stand as he returned to our sides.

"Want to race to that tree and back Lightning?"

"We are not going to leave Bladz here while we are racing around this town! Plus you know I am faster than you and there is no need for me to show you up in front of all these earth ponies."

"You could have Bladz ride your back and see if you are still the hot shot will all that wieght on your back"

"I do not weigh that much" I muttered.

"Never said that you were fat, was just implying that Lightning would not be as fast with additional weight." Carnivorous proclaimed in defense.

"Even so I am not going to risk harming him just because we are bored" Lightning disputed causing Carnivorous to fly up to the top the clock tower to our left to moat, irritated in defeat. Based upon the immediate reaction of the town folks it was obvious that a pegasus was a rare sight in the empire, which is of no surprise really considering that both unicorns and pegasi are practically non-existent here being an earth pony kingdom.

"Lightning! Grab Bladz and get up here quick!" Carnivorous' tone had switched to serious as I was hastily ascended into the air by Lightning. Carnivorous was pointing to a distant point on the horizon where a plethora of black smoke was arising. "We have to help them! There is a fire over there I am sure!" I hardly could recall the feeling of standing again before I was rocketed across the skies towards the smog.

There is a reason I see they call you lightning; the rapid take off nearly snapped my neck! Thank you very much!

A small barn had caught fire outside of the Castle as we flew over to investigate; I should really say Lightning and carnivorous flew as I was preoccupied holding on in fear of my life as we soared at four hundred miles an hour throughout an kingdom I knew little about. The heat radiating off the inferno was intense as we approached the farm and settled down for a landing. They both upon touching down rushed over to offer assistance, while I paused for a moment to catch my breath, my senses, and my stomach.

"What is going on here!" Lightning commanded.

"Our barn caught on fire after a small electrical short-circuiting." The assumed father of the group declared trying to calm down the young colts and fillies that were in a state of panic.

"Do you have any buckets?" The stallion quickly pointed to a corner of the fence where two buckets laid. "Carnivorous grab a bucket and help me carry water from that lake over there to aid in putting out the flames!" The two of them bursted off with buckets in hands to assist as I trotted forward.

"Who are you guys?" the father addressed to me.

"Royal visitors from Serentia; we are here to witness something for your king when we noticed this issue." I replied.

"Thank you! Thank you!" he cried. Lightning and Carnivorous dumped their first trip of water leaving barely a dent in the flames.

They are not going to fix this mess! The flames are already too large! What could I do to assist!

I closed my eyes in remorse as I could not figure out a matter to provide assistance. Tears began to transcend down cheeks as a sudden roar disturbed by sorrow. Standing prone above me was an enormous water serpant that was drenching the barn and extinguishing the flames. The serepant features a cyan glow to it and shimmered in the light before returning to the lake in the simple form of water.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF ANYTHING WAS THAT!" Lightning screamed.

"I do not know" I admitted.

"Sure you don't! That thing was a magic water serpent! Your horn went all flashy and then that enormous thing arose from all the water in the lake and extinguished the blaze! That thing was not living! It was not real! You created that! You gave that thing life through magic and then controlled it to do that!" Lightning exploded. The entire family alongside Carnivorous was standing aside in shock.

"I...I...did that?" Lightning nodded.

"Thank you unicorn! I have no idea what you did but I extend my greatest gratitude." the father proclaimed.

"No problem Sir. I am sorry though for we must be arriving at the castle soon."

"What is your name young one?"

"Bladz"

"I shall never forget your name; you are destined for greatness I am sure." We acknowledge him in grins and returned back to the castle, this time slower in flight than before. The castle this time as we approached was open allowing easier admission compared to the painful experiences that I held from earlier.

"YOU DID WHAT?"

"He conquered up a water serpent to extinguish a barn fire" Carnivorous explained. Armonia stood in the same state of shock that the ponies at the farm we locked in and had a hard time understanding the fact.

"A life spell? Where did you learn a life spell or even the discipline to even use it?"

"I do not know" I admitted. "I read about it once in the library; however, I never expected it to be a real spell."

"Neither did I" Armonia proclaimed. "No one and I mean no one has ever used one; it was just a theory that was hypothesized centuries ago."

"I do not know how it happened! I panicked and it just happened!"

"It is fine Bladz, I believe you three; I have no idea how you did it but you did and that assures to me that you are mature enough for more advanced studies. You have done well my faithful student." King Elitan came rushing in, locked in a state of panic.

"What is it?" Armonia questioned.

"They have taken her!" He decreed.

"Taken who? Who are 'They'?" Lightning inquired.

"The Nomads! They have taken my Queen!"

The one day I only get three hours of sleep and all this happens! I just need to go back to bed!