Departing the fourth hour in the afternoon from Tempeoca, we were scheduled for a seven hour flight across five time zones to arrive at our destination in Cantardash at seven o'clock in the evening local time; however, hourly ten minute breaks were going to push us back at least an hour to be arriving instead around eight local time in Cantardash. We had originally planned to depart early the following morning and ride against the sunrise so that we would arrive in Cantardash at the crack of dawn there, but upon suggestion by Lightning, Armonia proposed that we leave roughly twelve hours early so that I could catch up with my family and pack up supplies so that we all could depart for the Citadel easily tomorrow after all the festivities. It worked out for Lightning and Carnivorous, as they could take advantage of the late afternoon tailwind , instead of having to combat morning headwinds.

The excitement of Tempeoca had proved over-exhausting on all of us; however, it was evident that Armonia was the one who had suffered the most from sleep withdrawal. His eyes were rusted open and he had lost his sense of elegance and grace partially by the time we had departed, even though he strived his hardest to conceal these signs. King Elitan had explained that he and Armonia had went over the national borders and evaluated the situation with the nomads; however, it did not occur to me until pondering about it that there was no time beforehand to go over such minute situations while Sypherous was at large and Mari in the brink of danger; he must have stayed up half the night to figure out those measurements and then was one of the first ones to awaken because he was absent when I awoke. Bottomline factual is that he had received the least sleep within the last forty-eight hours than any of us and showed it by passing out only five minutes into the return flight, with me following suit shortly after.

The final of the third hour of flight marked the second time zone transaction and the entrance into Serentia, placing us at a current local time of half past five as we touched down for Lightning's and Carnivorous' break. the land was a bit harder than what I would've expected, waking me up in the process; however, was not to say dangerous or hazardous by any means. Upon standing I became aware that a cable had become loose to the chariot and the two were forced to handle the manner by placing down in the best method they found possible. Armonia was still unconscious and I found no reason for any of us to awaken him.

"Sorry for the relatively rude awakening," Carnivorous apologized as Lightning was stretching his legs around the field.

"No problem. I should be thanking you Captain Carnivous for fixing that attachment; breaking away in flight is no fun feat and I would prefer not partake in such surprises while I am sleeping." I stated in a humorous tone. Carnivorous sighed for a moment taking on a smile.

"You can call me Shadow if you want Sir Bladz. My actual name is Lunar Shadow, but I prefer that only childhood friend call me Lunar."

"Sure thing Car... I mean Shadow. Where did the name captain Carnivorous come from in the first place then?"

"As a member of the royal guard you find yourself lucky if you are not bestowed with a callsign nickname." shadow explained.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well callsigns are not always bad but they are not always the most pleasurable for many stallions in the guard. Carnivorous Cookie is actually my real callsign and I can assume you already know the reason for that." I nodded in amusement "When I was just a plain guard in the infantry division I had won the monthly cookie eating contest three months running and someone had commented that I devour cookies so fast that they were afraid I would turn into a cookie and start devouring everything. The imagery persisted and my name became over time Carnivorous; pretty good callsign if you ask me because once I became a captain it really added fierceness to my ranking as an officer."

"That is pretty neat! What about Lightning?"

"What about me?" Lightning announced returning from the field.

"Sir Bladz wanted to know about your name." Shadow informed to Lightning, who seemed enlightened by the question.

"My name is a pretty simple story. My actual name is Lightning, Lightning Chaser."

"How did you avoid getting a callsign like shadow? Where you not very well known?" I trotted closer so I could get a better understanding of what he was saying over the sound of surrounding wildlife.

"Well first off I should say that the ones that are not well known are the ones who typically are the ones that get callsigns first so that everyone recognizes their names; however, I didn't get a call sign because my name already matched my callsign really. I was and still am I would say the fastest flyer is all of the guard, so my name stuck Sir." Lightning was more than happy to express his satisfaction even though he still remained humble in nature.

"Bladz is fine really. I understand that I am now a member of the ruling council as a royal knight, but I meet you guys as Bladz and I would prefer it to stay that way between us three." Shadow and Lightning accepted the proposal and were delighted to disband the formality of my new title. "I understand your sense of respect for those above you in power but I am only seventeen and it is awkward to say the least."

"I understand completely" Lightning stated with Shadow nodding in agreement. "Lunar Shadow and I both were friends as colts, we grow up with the same friends, became captains together and have been working happily together as rivals and friends for years. We both find it weird to refer to each other as Captain and refer to the title only when communicating formally with others."

"Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we are running over the break time and should really get back into the air." Shadow determined and without further explanation we all understood and took our places readying for the fourth leg of our flight. "By the way Lightning I think we should only have one more break before arriving in Cantardash."

"How come?"

"I have a feeling about the weather, from my years as a scout leader I just have this premonition that there is some serious weather ahead." Lightning was surprised by this statement knowing that there very few storms that the weather pegasi could not handle and focused on the elements of the weather and the light dark haze that was ahead

"I do not know what it is but that is not a storm of any nature I know of but I agree that we do not want to get slowed down by weather even a small drizzle."

Upon takeoff I motioned to fall back asleep alongside Armonia who was still out cold when the device that Mari supplied me flashed a faint lime green light indicating a new message. Hope your flight is going well, I just finished preparing dinner and it looks fantastic! I know you would have loved it! I scrambled to reply the message; however, failed to find the anyway to type the message when another message came through. I feel like I forgot to tell you how one of these things work; it is fairly simple in design although I feel like anyone unaware would eventually give up in frustration. Hold down the screen for a few seconds and three lights will create a keyboard to use and a reflection sensor will detect what you press! Lost in total confusion I pressed the screen to find that two seconds later three green lights radiated out a small holographic keyboard. I pressed a random key to find the keyboard typing accordingly.

Where do you get the time to engineer these things or the knowledge for that fact. This thing alone uses its own special type of magic or something. I typed to her in reply, amazed by the structure of the keypad.

Actually it runs off sunlight, not magic; the screen has a solar panel built in. Anyhow you should of asked and I would of showed you all my previous failures. I read many, many books on science and engineering that Elitan found in the archives and I essentially use trial and error until I get something to work. One day I hope to make the world more advanced through my creations. I am about to shower and go to bed; thank you for fixing up my room Bladz! Mari left the message off with a stream of characters that I found to be a happy face when I turned the receiver sideways. I once again laid my head down and attempted to get some more sleep.

"Sir Bladz, we will be arriving at your hometown within the next thirty minutes . We will not be too much of a disturbance  will we?" Lord Armonia questioned disturbing my slumber.

"Ahh... what time is it?" I wondered.

"Approaching eight o'clock in Cantardash. Will your family be okay with our arrival?"

Cristalla is going to kill me for not warning her about Armonia's arrival, but I think she could live with it, I am the one who is really going to take the heat from it anyway.

"I do not see any reason that would hinder us my Lord." I replied. Armonia was delighted to hear that and commanded Shadow and Lightning onwards.

"So where again are we heading towards?" Lightning stated.

"Sapphire Convection."

"What do you have to pick up from there?" Armonia rolled his eyes and rubbed his forehead in response to the question. "What?... oh yeah... Bladz is an Angelo." Lightning took on a look of concern as he hesitated in thought.

"What is it Light?" Shadow asked poking Lightning in the ribs.

"I don't know, I feel like there was something important to do with that place at one time." Shadow took note becoming aware of the rapid onset of sorrow.

"I am sure it is nothing Light just continue to focus on the flight.' Shadow rubbed Lightning's mane in an act of comfort before encouraging him on. The next twenty minutes laid in silence and upon landing both Lord Armonia and I hastily abandoned the chariot for the beauty of sweet ground that we had been deprived of for long hours; Lightning and Shadow could care less as they motioned around the air free from the restraints of the chariot.

Regrouping from the momentary celebration we all motioned over towards the front door of Sapphire Convection to discover that the door was locked and there was a note on the door. "What does it read?" Lightning posed to the group as Shadow struggled to decipher the words that laid in the darkness.

"I learned a spell from one of my books before that aids in these situations" I informed to shadow. I proceeded over to the door and generated light from my horn. "Words are easier to read in the light versus the darkness I would say."

Went to the convention hall to direct in preparations. If it is something major please try again in the morning. If it is of a smaller caliber, feel free to join us at the hall.

"Hmm, it is written in Cristalla's handwriting instead of my fathers... oh well they are the convention center so let us see if we can get a hold of their attention there." The convention center designed for easy access to our workshop was simply around the bend across from the market. The time was only half past eight and Cantardash already appeared to be a ghost town with not a single pony in sight. Lightning and I took lead, being tailed by Lord Armonia and Shadow, and it was until I took the final bend of the market that I saw the first light illuminated in the city. Dozens of figures wondered inside moving in haste to get something completed, honestly reminded me of one of the panics I typically witness at the Citadel when final preparations are underway are underway for national events. "I really hope they are not over-exerting themselves over such a small manner."

"Bladz, being truthful, when was the last time I formally visited Cantardash?" Armonia inquired to me. I was forced to think about it for a minute until I understood the community's stress.

"It has to of been a good four or five years to be honest." I admitted.

"Cantardash is Serentia's third largest city and here I am to pay so little attention to it. the Citadel is the largest, but I live there; Cittàdiali, Captain Lightning and Carnivorous' current hometown, the metropolis for pegasi, is second; however, I am limited in time to visit there because I have to use a powerful spell to allow me to walk there because we unicorns cannot walk on clouds. Cantardash is the largest, integrated city in Serentia to be honest because Cantardash I would say has an even mix of pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies." Armonia explained.

Impatient to see my family after the long few days I charged over to a mare who was outside stretching her hooves after probably working inside the crowded interior of the center. Upon seeing me; however, she did not share my enthusiasm as she sprinted inside and caused a commotion inside the center. Two minutes later, I saw my father walk out into the open.

"Excuse me Sir, some pony told me that you are a royal guard and may I ask how I could help you?" my father proclaimed.

"Well I would not say I am a royal guard, but you can help me by saying hi."

"BLADZ!" my father screamed in a mixture of excitement and concern as a moved myself into the light. "I did not recognize you in that armor! One moment I will be right back!" Noise intensified inside as screams were created. After a minute or so both my parents and Cristalla exited the building. It did not take too long of a time before I found my sister jumping on top of me in happiness.

"BLADZ! I am so glad to see you! I was put in charge of the welcoming party to put my mind aside while you were gone  for Armonia tomorrow and I am sure he will be glad with how it looks currently!" She cheered. "I like you armor where did you get it?"

He got it from King Elitan of the Tempeocan Kingdom and I am sure that whatever you have planned with be fantastic with what I am already seeing." Lord Armonia proclaimed as he motioned into the light with Lightning and Shadow following.

Cristalla fainted.

"Captain Lightning it has been a while" my father started to declare before Shadow's facial expression cut him short. Lightning uncertainty reflected in his posture as my family became lost on the reason behind his sudden shyness.

"Captain Lightning; Captain Carnivorous; You two are dismissed for the night if you two would like to return the Citadel to check on the current happenings there. Bladz and I will most likely use our own method for transport later." Armonia assured to the two.

Shadow quickly broke the tensions and headbutted Lightning in the flank. "I'll race you back to the armory! I bet you will eat my dust!" Without hesitation he darted into the wind and was on his way. Lightning was a little startled by the situation; however, recovered quickly to take off full speed behind him.

"Why did you do that?" I questioned to Armonia.

"Lightning did not feel comfortable here and I would not want him to feel stressed out, I myself do not understand it but in time we both with understand."

"BLADZ! Where did you get that?!" I turned to see my sister pointing with her whole body towards my newly aquired symbol. "Actually nevermind that question. What is it?!"

"It is some magical symbol from ancient text" I explained to the my family. "We will explain while I am collecting a few necessities from the workshop." I motioned them to follow behind as Armonia and I worked our way back to home. "Oh! By the way Cristalla, thank you for the suit once again; however, I forgot to wear it while I was abroad, although I am glad that I did not to be honest."

"Why is that?" Cristalla stated unsure if she was to be offended or relieved.

"It is a good thing... I did not want your hard work to get ruined. Last two days have been a little chaotic and might not be so well put together anymore if I had it on at the times." Cristalla's face took on relief as we stopped to wait for Ardore to unlock the door so we could proceed inside.

"Yes, the suit that you gave your brother was of the upmost most excellent quality; you should be very proud of your work." Armonia complemented to Cristalla who upon receiving this compliment once again almost fainted. I secretly rolled my eyes to overlook my sister's hyperactivity towards my teacher.

Upon unlocking the door my father, Ardore, held the door open for us all as we passed inside the workshop. The decorations from my birthday still engulfed the walls in delight as the gentleness of the evening-night breeze swayed the ribbons in a manner of elegancy. The tablecloth from my celebrations was still stretched over the table and the only major change I could see was that the confetti from Cristalla's cannon was no longer flooding the floor. Puzzled by the continuation of the celebratory creations I climbed our stairs to find the railings still wrapped and my room door still left open. My bed had been fabricated with a new pair of sheets since I departed and the top of my dresser laid bare of its previous contents. motioning downstairs I aimed at the single person I could suspect to be responsible for this, my sister.

"Why is everything still hanging up, while my room has been restored to neatness?"

"Well you never left it dirty or disorganized in the first place, I just wanted to fix it up for you while you were away because there is no need to leave things that are going to be untouched for a while lay dormant." My sister admitted.

"Is that why all these decorations are still hanging up?" I posed to her in a candid manner. She was silent in no desire to reveal a secondary motive behind her selective attention to cleaning.

"Well it does lighten up the workshop if I must say so, makes this place a little bit more enjoyable to work in... it is not a problem that it is still up is it for you?" she muttered in anxiety that I might be displeased.

"It is not a problem. I am just not used to you not removing everything after the parties and celebrations." Cristalla was expressing a mixture of shame, embarrassment, and happiness, and was uncertain how to respond to her motives.

"I find it very appealing in this workshop of yours Cristalla and it is wonderful in presentation, just like how your mane is styled." Armonia praised to Cristalla who once again nearly fainted and instantly Armonia realized if it was the truth or not, he had made a mistake.

"You really think so? Thank you! Your mane looks nice too, and your eyes, and that coat, and that suit of armor that you are wearing is of such great beauty! I wish I could be as stunning as you sir." Cristalla replied in a frenzy.

"Why would you want to be on the leveling of stunning of I? Look at your creations! These are of a quality unknown to my hooves personally!" Armonia rationed to Cristalla. "Although to be honest my hooves are not very talented anyway." Armonia had transformed Cristalla's addittude back into one of cheer and I could see on my parent's faces that they respected Armonia for his actions there.

"I showed Bladz a lot of my methods! Maybe he could show you a thing or two?!"

"I would like that," he proclaimed turning to me and supplying me with a glance that illustrated his sincerity. My mother pulled out some chairs from the dining table so we could all rest our legs while we discussed; however, it did not take long before I found myself once again in motion.

"You guys were asking about my new cutie mark right?" I supplied to the group who instantly took on emotions of curiosity nodding in anticipation. "Well to be honest I have no clue what it means; it is an ancient symbol that was used to correlate divinity with magic if I remember right; however, I have no idea why that has anything to do with me."

"Was it colored at one point?" Cristalla pondered to me.

"Yes? Why do you ask that?" All of us eye'd Cristalla in demand for reason for her questioning.

"Well that outer shape, the one just inside the final circle, I think I have seen before," she informed us. "when I injured my leg that one time about three or four months ago after falling down the stairs and you tried to heal my leg using magic, that symbol appeared flashing a few colors quickly before turning white and aiding my joint, remember?"

"I remember you falling down the stairs and going into panic, but I do not recall using magic to heal it directly with a white symbol appearing? I remember wrapping it with an elastic bandage."

"Well you did and I was very grateful alongside that!" I gazed over at my mentor who was lost in thought after Cristalla finished her proclamation. Out of concern I poked him instantly startling him while gaining his attention. He was shaky after being pulled out of his illusion; however, quickly began to recover by taking upon a grimace.

"So you told us where you got that armor Bladz; however, you never told us exactly why you are wearing it?" my father proclaimed dropping the issue of my mark and moving on to the new discussion.

"I will explain, you should begin to get the things you need together; we will be here tomorrow, but I am not sure how much time you will be able to devote to packing. I would try to get everything you need to get done, you get done tonight and bring it to the Citadel." Armonia advised to me before turning to my family. Without argumentation I proceeded up the stairs turning around to barely witness them and get the background of their conversation. "The reason that Bladz is wearing that armor is because it is his armor; he earned it for completing a notable and great deed for Tempeoca in saving their kingdom from demise and as a royal knight I find the armor suiting for him."

"You mean Bladz, Bladz? As in our Bladz? That one?" my father pointed towards my direction. "The one right over there? In the snowy armor that is standing roughly an inch taller than me now?"

"Yes"

"And you mean royal knight as in royal knight, royal knight? As in the one that serves on the ruling council? The position that works directly over a district?"

"Well yes and no to be truthful." Lord Armonia admitted.

"If he is a royal knight then what district does he have control over?" my father insisted.

"Well you see... he is does not have sole jurisdiction over a district..." My father's eyes became critical. "You see... I was planning on having Bladz have jurisdiction over all of Serentia partially."

"WAIT WHAT?" I demanded from the top of the stairwell, charging down to receive a better understanding.

"I only have one royal knight and that is you Bladz. Would be pointless to give you a single section, it is not like we need super structured bureaucracies in Serentia. I was going to have to work as my substitute when needed because if you would remember I said I usually find myself too busy to formally visit every place throughout the empire from time to time. Also, remember how I told you that there is a lot that I cannot teach you, that you will need to find out yourself? There are thousands of ponies from each of the three tribes that can give you first hand experience of what you need to learn."

"You had this planned all along when you asked me to join you didn't you?"

"Actually I did not and I was trying to figure out a way for me to teach you everything that I believe you need; then you showed me that you have the power, the strength, and the will to be your own teacher for what I cannot provide. In these situations I will be your guide, your teacher, your follower, and your student." Armonia celebrated. "Not to mention you get to go explore all the wonderful regions of Serentia and get to know our empire's subjects now that you live, work, and play in the royal castle!" I nodded in appreciation as my entire family was stunned in shock; it was only less than three days ago that  they were informed that I would be taking residence at the citadel for my final two years of study and no one could have anticipated the enormous changes that have occurred within the last few days. Leaving them in their shock I proceeded once more to finish my packing.

Packing consisted of the typical supplies that one would anticipate; I grabbed all my quills and collected up the cool and exciting gifts that my family had given me over the years and slide them into my backpack that I carried in over my armor. I stacked up all the books that I found favorite and decided to take the ones that were actually mine with the intention to return all the other books to the family study. Clothing was never a challenge and acquired my grooming kit that I had gotten from my mother a short while back. I was just about on my way when I stumbled across a picture of my sister and I playing together when I was just a young colt and threw the picture frame gently inside my lesser stuffed left pocket with a zealous emotion upon my embrace.

Returning back downstairs I found everypony gathering around the door. "We should be returning to the convention center make sure that everything is going well, you two take care and you said that you two have your own way of returning to the Citadel?" Cristalla stated.

"Yes, madam; thank you for all of you all's hospitality" Armonia assured. Cristalla nodded towards me before all three of them disappeared. "You mind doing the honors please and opening our way to the the palace?"

"Sure just let me find that magical quill."

"You do not need it. You are the one who opens the door, the quill was so that you would realize it," Armonia pleaded as I was surprised to find that a simple usage of my horn opened a door straight to the palace.

"Where is the library?" I decreed.

"You did not wish to visit the library so the library as you perceive omitted itself to allow easy, haste travel. Your first I should believe." Without further questioning we both stepped forward and entered the beloved palace of Serentia. Lightning must not of informed the others about our early return because the lights in the palace were all off supplying the atmosphere with a sort of eerie presence. Without delay I continued down the hall to an upscaled atrium with doors encircling its outer parameter. The ceiling had been painted to display the Empire's emblem surrounded by the symbols of the three tribes and the cycle of the seasons was illustrated as the background.

"The artwork here is by far one of the greatest collections I have ever seen I have to admit. Although I would have to say I would expect no less" I stated. "So which one of these rooms here am I staying in?"

"I have hired many of the most artists and as I have already informed you many of them reside around in the Citadel." Armonia decided. "And what do you mean which of these rooms are yours?"

"Exactly that; Didn't you say I would be living at the palace with you during the rest of my studies?"

"Yes I did indeed; however, these are reserved for guests of the palace, none of them are for you."

"Then where am I staying?" I inquired. Armonia must of been a little taken back by the question because he took on an expression of concern.

"You will be residing on the upper floor with me? There is a large and comfortable room I had refurbished just for you Bladz." Armonia declared continuing his uncertain tone. I was speechless; the upper levels were off limits to essentially everyone and were where all of Armonia's studies and other various other tools for effective reign laid. I did my best to accept his proposal with losing my composition as he encouraged me to follow him upstairs. The second story of the palace was locked off my an enormous door that featured no keyhole glowing with a faint dark green hue and Armonia motioned right past it towards the third floor with no recognition of the floor.

"What is that door for?" I pondered to my mentor who was a half a flight ahead of me.

"The door with the green aura around it?" I nodded. "I honestly couldn't tell you, never been in there. I cannot break the seal that is hold the door shut."

"You cannot break it?"

"The seal unlike most other seals is not constructed out of raw magic... it is fabricated out of another force of magic that is focused and trained and of extremely high quality. I am not the one who is designed to break the seal that holds that door shut."

A seal that even he cannot break? Whatever that magic is it must be very, very powerful.

"This will be yours." Armonia announced stepping upon the third floor.

"Which one of the doors is for my room and which one is yours?" I questioned after catching up to him .

"Your room is the one on the back-right; however, I feel like you misunderstood what I mean by this is yours. This entire floor is yours, the fourth floor is the operations center and I reside on the final fifth floor. I specifically had this floor reinvented as I stated for you; there is a library and a study and a guest room for your family if they were to visit and a small kitchen off your bedroom if you get hungry at night and I even have an observation room that I had installed at the last minute!" Armonia pointed to a smaller sized room where a large telescope laid inside. "It is essentially a science lab and can basically withstand any experiments you choose to do in there as long as take proper care of the environment."

"This entire floor is mine? The entire floor?"

"Yes."

Wow!

"You really should get some sleep Bladz we have a big day tomorrow I would not want you tired during all the festivities." Without enduring for a reply Armonia was already on his way to his residence on the fifth floor.

My room was enormous to say the least as an entire home theatre system laid inside as well as a king size and four desks placed evenly around the room with integrated slots for ink bowls and quills. I single dresser was in the corner; however, the thing that really caught my attention was two glass doors that led to a balcony outside. Going outside I was amazed to find the citadel laying below me and I was being given a powerful aerial view of the capital city. Taken over by the room elegance I set my bad down forgetting to unpack. The moment I laid my head on the pillow of my wonderful bed I was out.

The complex timeline of tomorrow lies in the simple events of today.