Winter Wings, Summer Heartby WorshipPrincessLunaChaptersStill a SecretMystery RoyalsBefore the CoronationStill a SecretDawn was just breaking over the sleeping land. Fluffy white clouds danced lazily on an early morning breeze, awaiting the pegasi that would come to whisk them across Equestria. Dew sparkled in emerald fields below. All the creatures, great and small, lay asleep, even the birds, though they were soon to wake and announce the coming of day. The shadow of a huge castle hung over a grand city in the sky. Not a soul stirred up above, though a few did down below, except for one. A small pegasus filly with a light violet coat and a pale, curly white mane pulled back in two pigtails that bounced as she struggled up onto a sky blue bed, her tiny purple wings fluttering madly. She finally managed to pull herself up with a huff, grinning triumphantly. She started shaking the pony on the bed, who lay curled beneath her covers. “Psst! Winter! Wiiiinterrr! Wake up!” The little filly whispered, attempting to awaken her sister. The filly beneath her did not stirr. The violet filly began to jump, all the while chanting, “Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!” She shook the filly under the covers once more. “Mm-mm. Go back to sleep, Glacie,” murmured the older filly, her tufts of almost-white icy blue hair falling into her pale cyan blue face. Glacier threw herself onto her sister’s side, staring up at the ceiling. “I can’t,” she complained. “ The sky’s awake so I’m awake, so we have to play!” She put a small hoof to her forehead dramatically as she spoke. Winter grumbled and rolled over, pushing Glacier off the bed. “Go play by yourself if you so desperately have to,” muttered Winter, burying her face in her pillow. Glacier let out another huff before dropping back down to the soft cloud floor. She sat down and let out a sigh of defeat before the light of an idea sparked in her eyes. She lugged herself back onto the bed and opened her sister’s eyelid with a hoof. “Do you wanna build a snowpony?” she asked with a smirk. Winter smiled and sighed in defeat, gazing up into light blue eyes that matched her own. ~~~ “Rainbow? Ponyville to Rainbow Dash!” called a white unicorn softly, shaking the cyan pegasus shoulder with a dainty hoof The mare didn’t react. She just kept smiling wistfully with her eyes closed, as if she was thinking of a happy memory of something long gone. Her three friends stared at her with concern. “I think you broke her, Rarity,” the violet alicorn whispered, causing the unicorn in question to smile nervously and try to reach her friend again. "Rainbow," Rarity called again, louder this time. Still no answer. The four friends were seated around an outdoor table at a local cafe as Rarity, the resident fashionista of Ponyville, had offered to buy her friends lunch as a sort of payment for helping her with a couple of orders as well as to just spend time with them. Two of her friends had to bail out. Fluttershy because of a surplus of sick animals that needed tending to, Pinkie Pie was on her shift at Sugarcube Corner, the town's famous bakery. However, Applejack's farm chores and work were done, Twilight had no royal duties, and Rainbow Dash's schedule was clear for the week. "Don' worry; Ah've got this," Applejack said with a smirk. She then reached over and pulled the pegasus's powerful wing, yanking out a few feathers. Rainbow started and swung around with her hoof to punch the amber farm mare square on the nose. Twilight and Rarity stared at the cyan pegasus with shock as she slowly came back to reality. She blinked a couple times, staring at the smatter of blood on her hoof before suddenly looking up at her friend, who was holding her muzzle, grimacing when she saw the blood. "Ohmygosh! I'm so sorry! It's a reflex! I swear, I didn't mean to, Applejack!" she frantically explained. Applejack waved her free hoof dismissively as the flow of blood from her nose began to subside. "It's alright. Ah'm fine, don' ya'll worry; Ah've had worse," said Applejack, beginning to wipe the remaining blood beneath her snout. The others winced when they saw all the blood, staining her muzzle and hoof a dark red orange. "I'm so sorry," Rainbow apologized again, offering a napkin to her friend to clean up the blood. "Ah'm fine! Though," Applejack took the napkin and started wiping up the blood, "ya do pack quite the punch." "Well, you did pull out my primaries." "Ah'm sorry, but ya just froze, and we don't have any water at the table or Ah would've dumped it on yer head instead." "Really?" Rainbow asked with a tilt of her head. Her concentration was always wavering off, but she was usually so focused. Why had she started daydreaming? "Really," Twilight confirmed. "Rarity was asking you a question and your just kind of zoned out." "Though it really isn't like you to just 'zone out'," commented Rarity. "Anyways, I was asking you about that gorgeous necklace. It's unlike anything I've ever seen," said the alabaster unicorn, pointing to the charm around the stunt pony's neck. It was a pale crystal snowflake, and when it was touched with sunlight, it shone with the colors of the Aurora Borealis, blues, pinks, purples, and greens shining from its depths, causing earth pony, unicorn, and alicorn to stare at it in complete awe. "You really aren't the type of pony to wear trinkets, and especially not something as fabulous as this," Rarity said, taking hold of the necklace, undoing the clasp, and bringing it closer to her with her magic. Rainbow opened her mouth as if to say something before thinking better of it and closing it again. Conceal it, don't feel it. Stay calm and remember what father said, she thought to herself as she smiled nervously while her friends ogled the beautiful necklace. "Yeah, well, I usually tuck it into my mane, out of sight, out of mind," she said with more than a hint of nervousness in her voice. She felt a cold tingle in her hooves and knew that a change of color was soon to follow. Her mind swirled as she tried to figure out a way to hide the change through the blizzard in her head, her body temperature dropping all the while. Just don't touch anything, and they won't notice. Tuck your hooves away. She smiled and picked up her cup, trembling slightly as she did so. "This is amazing, Rainbow. Where in the world did you get it?" asked Twilight, her violet eyes glued to the sparkling charm. "My, uh, my dad made it for me as a, uh, a birth- birthday present," she managed to stutter out. It was a lie. Her father had made it for her, but with a more magical purpose in mind. "He must love you very much to make something was beautiful as this." "Yeah, he did." "Wha was that, sugarcube?" inquired Applejack, turning to her winged friend, who quickly put down her cup and hid her hooves in her lap as AJ did so. "He died. Mom too. At sea. There was a storm," Rainbow quietly explained, her eyes downcast as she stared down at her cup, staring at the frost that covered it in a beautiful and delicate filigree. She glanced down at her hooves, noting that they had fully changed color, now their natural pale cyan, noticeably paler than her currant coat. She gulped. Not now! Anytime but now! Oh, why did I let her take it? "Oh. Ah'm sorry, sugarcube." "Nah, it's alright. It's been three years now. We were close, especially after my little sister died in an accident before either of us could fly, but, I'm over it." Rainbow sighed, looking down at her hooves. The pale cyan was climbing up her legs, towards her knees, and her chair was covered with frost and ice was starting to form around her hooves. She let out a soft gasp and jumped to her feet, reaching out for her necklace. "Sorry, girls, but I've got to go," she said taking her necklace back and clasping it back around her neck, taking care to have the paler side facing out. "Why the sudden hurry?" "Um... There was something that I forgot about and I have to go take care of it," Dash explained hurriedly, stretching her wings and glancing at the ground beneath her, panicking when she saw the ice starting to form and how far up her true coat color had climbed up her legs; it was almost to the shoulder. "Well, alright. We'll see y-" "Okay, thanks, bye!" And with that, Rainbow Dash took off, streaking away as her friends stared after her, bewildered by her sudden exit. "I wonder what that was all about," said Twilight. As her friends nodded in agreement, a voice called out from the street, making the three mares and the rest of the ponies at the cafe jump. "Twilight!I found it!" Mystery RoyalsThe three mares turned towards the direction of the shout and could just make out a purple and green figure darting down the street towards them, but only if they were squinting. The violet mare's eyes widened in disbelief as her little number one assistant ran up holding a very large book in his claws. The young drake coughed and was panting and wheezing as he stopped at the table. "I-I found...the...b-book," he said, almost collapsing from the weight of the book and his exertion from the long run from the library to the cafe. He let out a sigh of relief when the alicorn relived him of his burden, placing it on the table in front of her before hovering him up onto the empty chair that Rainbow had previously occupied, allowing him to rest and catch his breath. "Thanks, Twi, but, why is the chair covered in ice?" "It is?" she asked, turning to peer at the chair. "Hmm. I don't know. How odd. Anyways," she picked up the book once more with her magic, "thanks, Spike. Were'd you find it?" She picked up Rainbow's empty cup and filled it with water with a spell, handing it to her young friend as she spoke, ignoring the frost covering it like lace. He quickly gulped it down before staring at the frost covering the cup. "Side effect?" he asked, pointing to the frost. She glanced at it and gave a huff of annoyance. She was an alicorn, her talent was magic, and and yet her spells were still sticky! "Yup. Now, the book?" "Oh, right. I dropped my yo-yo behind the bookcase, and when I went to get it, I found the book too," he explained, examining the frosty beauty in his claws. "If I may be so bold, what book is that?" asked Rarity, staring at the book with curiosity. "It's the Equestrian record of Royals. Now that I am one myself, I wanted to see what Royals I'm related to," Twilight answered, opening up the book with her magic. Her friends leaned in to look on with her. "Wha' about tha Royal family of tha Gryphon Islands?" "Nope. Their not technically related anymore." "The Royal family of the Skies, perhaps?" Rarity pointed at the aged and stained paper with a delicate hoof. Twilight peer at the scribbles, confused. "I don't know. I've never heard of them." Twi flicked over to the page number written in the contents. They gaze at the feather designs that bordered the page as she found it. "'The Royal Family of the Skies resided in the grand city of Cloudsdale, caring for all the pegasi of Equestria. They were to be known as the kindest royals in of all Equestrian history.'" Twilight read aloud. "Huh. Ah wonder why we've never heard of 'em." "They closed the gates," said a voice from behind them, causing the four friends to jump in fright. "Cl-Cloudkicker?" The purple pegasus mare smiled at the princess. Behind her stood two more pegasi, a stallion and a mare. They all had their saddlebags strapped tightly around their waists. "Sorry for intruding, Princess. It's just that we overheard your conversation." "It's fine. But this Royal family. Who are they? And you mentioned something about gates?" "They've always been there. Their castle is the biggest building in Cloudsdale by far. It used to be open to everypony," explainded the pegasus mare behind Cloudkicker, who's name was Raindrops, waving her hoof across the sky. "Used to be?" "Yeah, but, unfortunetly, something happened. Nopony knows why, but one day, they closed the gates and nopony ever saw the recent king and queen or their daughters. Ever." "They must be King Windy Skies and Queen Misty Breeze. But the book says they're dead!" Twilight gasped as she read about their deaths. She didn't really like the topic of death. She'd read about it, but had never had somepony close to her die. She just hoped the princesses mentioned were okay! "And what of the princesses?" Rarity had only just been able to read their names before Twilight had covered them with her hoof. "The younger is dead, but her older sister is going to be coronated to be a queen tomorrow." "A queen?" squealed the three mares. "Mm-hmm. They say she's beautiful and sweet too," answered Raindrops. "And hot," snigger the stallion, Thunderlane, earning himself a punch from one of the pegasi mares. "Anyways, we're going to Cloudsdale, same as all the other pegasi in Ponyville. You're welcome to come too. Many unicorns and earth ponies are coming. They'll be enchanted by unicorns who know cloud-walking spells," said Cloudkicker. "Oh, and you have to come too, Twilight as you're royalty anyways. Princess Celestia will be there too; she is crowning the princess after all." "This is probably the reason Rainbow went off in such a hurry. She must have forgotten to pack," Rarity whispered to Applejack, who nodded in reply. Meanwhile, Twilight's head was spinning from so much new information. Princess Celestia, her mentor and second mother had not once mentioned anything about this. Nothing, not even during a history lesson! "Well, okay then," she said, "I guess we'll see you there." The four friends waved as the pegasi took off towards the distant city of Cloudsdale. "Well girls, I think we have a trip to Cloudsdale," said Twilight, standing and stretching her wings. "I'll go tell Fluttershy and Pinkie, and we'll meet you at the library. I'll get a royal carriage. Okay?" The small alicorn lifted her assistant and her book up onto her back, her friends nodding. "Of course, darling. A trip would be delightful," proclaimed Rarity, grinning. "It sure would be fun, and Ah think mah family can spare me for a day," said Applejack, placing her worn old stetson more firmly on her head. "See ya'll tomorrow, then." And so the three friends parted to get ready for tomorrow. Before the Coronation"Come on, come on!" The little pegasus squealed with excitement as she pulled her sister into the hall, the older filly trying to calm her little sister down. "Alright, alright, Glacie, but you have to shush!" said Winter, her braid swinging wildly with as she tried to quiet Glacier's squeals. Glacier, however, ignored her sister's warning. "Do the magic, do the magic!" giggled Glacier as she bounced around her sister, her tiny wings fluttering madly. Her older sister laughed softly as she plopped down on the cloud floor, waving her hooves together while Glacie watched with complete awe as a snowball formed in between, blue light emanating from the snowball as it glimmered. They grinned and the younger of the two gasped in delight as Winter threw the snowball in the air, giggling as it burst into a giant flurry. The 'flakes glittered in the early morning sunlight and Glacier spun around, squealing as she caught snowflakes on her tongue. "This is amazing!" she yelled, jumping up and down, her tongue still hanging out of her mouth. "Watch this," said Winter, standing up, a great big grin plastered upon her face. Glacier watched as the older pegasus stomped her hoof upon the floor, a thin layer of bright ice radiating out from the point of impact. Glacier giggled as she slipped and slid about. ~~~ The regal pegasus mare smiled faintly at the happy memory, her light blue eyes soft and unfocused as she recalled a better time. Turning her gaze to the mirror before her, though, her happiness faded and was replaced by fear, worry, and uncertainty. The mare staring back at her trembled with her fear, so unlike the mask she put on when she was at her cloud house back in her true home, in Ponyville with her friends. She quietly sighed as she gazed upon her real face, starting with her near white hair that was pulled back in a bun, the hair to short to reach it twisted and smoothed with water. Next was her light cyan coat and pale sapphire blue eyes that had once shone with joy and confidence. Now, only fear filled that empty space. Lastly were her indigo cloak, fastened with a simple turquoise gem, her darker collar standing halfway up her slender neck, and her icy cyan wings that were hugging her sides, tense from her emotions that swirled within her like a blizzard. She flipped her charm so that the lighter side of it faced outwards and watched as her appearance changed, much faster than if she had taken off the necklace and set herself free. In a matter of seconds, she had become the rainbow maned speedster she was known as outside these walls, but the confidence she felt when she was Rainbow was missing, her now rose eyes still filled with fear. She flipped the charm back over and turned away from the mirror, tucking the necklace away as she did so. She looked out the room's large windows. She watched the happy ponies trotting around the crowded square below, talking and laughing as they waited for the gates to open, the bright summer sun beating down on them and the rest of the cloud city as it waited for its ruler to step forth. ~~~ The two sisters grunted as they pushed around a large snowball, creating a squat snowpony. The large hall was covered in a thin layer of glistening snow. It was almost like being outside on a cloudy day in the middle of winter, but the pair didn't mind the cold, especially the older filly. Winter grabbed some sticks sticks and stuck them into the small snowpony as wings. Glacier sat down in front of the figure, bleaming. Her older sister started flapping the sticks as if they were proper wings. "Hi! I'm Sliver Wings and I like warm hugs," said Winter in a goofy voice, giggling as her little sister jumped up, hugging the snowpony. "I love you, Sliver!" she squealed, giggling as the older pegasus joined in on the hug, squishing the smaller one and the snowpony against her chest. The two happy siblings laughed together as they hugged the figure, warm with their shared love despite the almost arctic temperature of the room. ~~~ Princess Winter turned away from the window and moved towards a small table placed beneath a large portrait of a stallion staring ahead with pure confidence and dedication as he held the Sceptre and Orb of the Skies. Her dear father at his coronation. "Don't lose control, don't let them see. Keep being the good girl you've been all these years," she murmured in an effort to calm herself down. Winter took a deep breath as she shakily picked up a small, round blue pot and and a candlestick. She let the breath out heavily and turned around, facing the same direction as her father did in the painting. Fear flooded her mind. "Conceal it, put on a show," croaked the princess, standing confidently while inside, she quaked in fear. Her eyes widened as frost began to cover the items in her shaking hooves. "Make one small mistake and they'll all know." She silently begged herself to calm down as she threw the pot and candlestick back down on the table. Why did it have to be her? Why couldn't she be normal, and not have to worry about hurting somepony close...again... ~~~ Glacier squealed wildly as she skidded around on the icy floor, clinging to Silver. They were propelled by Winter who was standing up on her back legs as she sent them flying around with an icy blast from her forehooves, both of them laughing as they did their best to stay on their hooves. Their laughter rang around the hall, proving their joy as they played together in the morning sunlight that streamed through the high windows. ~~~ A soft knocking on the door shook the pegasus from her daydream. She blinked as she remembered where she was. "Yes?" she called softly. "You have guests, your highness. One of them is the new princess." Winter tensed. She should have known Twilight would come to meet her as soon as she'd heard. She glanced at herself once more in the mirror, her mind in a turmoil. What if she accidently hurt somepony? The strength of her snowflake charm seemed to be wavering, her powers slipping out at random or when she was terrified, like now. She turned away with a sigh, "Let them in." The door clicked as her five friends walked in, bowing respectfully before Twi placed a hoof on her chest, eyes closed and began to introduce herself. "Greetings, your highness. I am Princess Twili-" "I know who you are," Winter said quietly, cutting the alicorn off. "I am the one with introductions to make. I am Princess Winter." "It's an honor to meet you in person, princess," whispered Fluttershy. "And you too, Miss...?" It would only make them suspicious if she knew all their names. The yellow pegasus blushed, hiding her face in her pink mane and mumbling out her name. "Miss Fluttershy. I am honored to know two of my pegasi became the embodiments of two of the Elements of Harmony. Though, where is the other pegasus?" Winter feigned confusion, her blue gaze sweeping across her friends' faces as if searching for someone. "Oooo, you mean Dashie? 'Cause we haven't seen her since yesterday when she went zooming off during a luncheon with Twilight and Rarity and Applejack!" said Pinkie, pointing out each of her friends as she named them. "Quite right, Pinkie Pie, dear." Rarity interjected before the hyper pink pony could go on and possibly get herself into trouble. Turning to Winter, she added, "She was extremely nervous towards the end of get-together, telling us she had forgotten about something and taking off to take care of it without so much as a backwards glance." Winter had to resist the urge to wince. Had her anxiety really been that obvious? "I see. Well, I hope she is alright and can rejoin your company soon." Winter glanced at Applejack, who had been silent for the whole meeting. She was watching the princess with her eyes narrowed. The farm pony opened her mouth to speak. Uh-oh. "Sorry to interrupt, Princesses," said a servant who had just trotted in, bowing to pegasus and alicorn. Saved! "Yes, what is it?" Winter asked, gesturing for the young mare to rise. "The time for your coronation is soon, ma'm. The high Princesses have arrived and are expecting you to open the gates." "Very well. Let them know that the ceremony will begin soon." "Yes ma'm," answered the servant, turning to leave. Winter stopped her, a thought occurring to her. "And tell the guards to open the gates, too." "Yes ma'm." And with that, the young pegasus left to deliver her messages. Winter turned back to her friends. "I am sorry, but we must cut this meeting short. Perhaps we could talk more after the ceremony? It has been a while since I've had somepony to talk to and this old place can get a bit lonely at times." Winter glanced away, ashamed with herself for lying to her best friends. "Well, I guess we could." Winter smiled wholeheartedly at those words, her eyes watering slightly. "Thank you. I shall see you later then." She turned away, opening the doors to reveal a long hallway and two lines of pegasi servants, standing proudly, quietly to attention. Outside, two stallions pulled open the enormous, creaking cloud gates, letting in the flood of ponies, joy, and laughter. The six mares left the room, the others trotting on ahead with Winter walked slowly through the corridor, the maids bowing as she past by, her long, indigo cloak dragging across the cloud floor behind her, her head held high as she continued on to the large balcony at the end of the hallway. Stay calm, don't lose control, she told herself, wishing the butterflies in her stomach would just disappear. She placed her hooves upon the handles of the large doors that separated the balcony from the rest of the castle. Be a good girl, and it'll all work out. She took a deep breath and pulled the doors open, stepping out into the bright sunlight. She walked to the rail, the pegasi in the courtyard below looking up to see their new leader for the first time. Conceal it, don't let them know. She gulped, gazing down at the ponies below her. She was scared and worried, and she hoped it would all be okay, that it would go off with out a hitch and then she could close the gates again when it was all over. After all, it just for today. The ponies below gazed up, the two princesses walking among them seeing the uncertainty and fear on her face no matter how hard she tried to hide it. They both exchanged a glance and wondered why.
Still a SecretDawn was just breaking over the sleeping land. Fluffy white clouds danced lazily on an early morning breeze, awaiting the pegasi that would come to whisk them across Equestria. Dew sparkled in emerald fields below. All the creatures, great and small, lay asleep, even the birds, though they were soon to wake and announce the coming of day. The shadow of a huge castle hung over a grand city in the sky. Not a soul stirred up above, though a few did down below, except for one. A small pegasus filly with a light violet coat and a pale, curly white mane pulled back in two pigtails that bounced as she struggled up onto a sky blue bed, her tiny purple wings fluttering madly. She finally managed to pull herself up with a huff, grinning triumphantly. She started shaking the pony on the bed, who lay curled beneath her covers. “Psst! Winter! Wiiiinterrr! Wake up!” The little filly whispered, attempting to awaken her sister. The filly beneath her did not stirr. The violet filly began to jump, all the while chanting, “Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!” She shook the filly under the covers once more. “Mm-mm. Go back to sleep, Glacie,” murmured the older filly, her tufts of almost-white icy blue hair falling into her pale cyan blue face. Glacier threw herself onto her sister’s side, staring up at the ceiling. “I can’t,” she complained. “ The sky’s awake so I’m awake, so we have to play!” She put a small hoof to her forehead dramatically as she spoke. Winter grumbled and rolled over, pushing Glacier off the bed. “Go play by yourself if you so desperately have to,” muttered Winter, burying her face in her pillow. Glacier let out another huff before dropping back down to the soft cloud floor. She sat down and let out a sigh of defeat before the light of an idea sparked in her eyes. She lugged herself back onto the bed and opened her sister’s eyelid with a hoof. “Do you wanna build a snowpony?” she asked with a smirk. Winter smiled and sighed in defeat, gazing up into light blue eyes that matched her own. ~~~ “Rainbow? Ponyville to Rainbow Dash!” called a white unicorn softly, shaking the cyan pegasus shoulder with a dainty hoof The mare didn’t react. She just kept smiling wistfully with her eyes closed, as if she was thinking of a happy memory of something long gone. Her three friends stared at her with concern. “I think you broke her, Rarity,” the violet alicorn whispered, causing the unicorn in question to smile nervously and try to reach her friend again. "Rainbow," Rarity called again, louder this time. Still no answer. The four friends were seated around an outdoor table at a local cafe as Rarity, the resident fashionista of Ponyville, had offered to buy her friends lunch as a sort of payment for helping her with a couple of orders as well as to just spend time with them. Two of her friends had to bail out. Fluttershy because of a surplus of sick animals that needed tending to, Pinkie Pie was on her shift at Sugarcube Corner, the town's famous bakery. However, Applejack's farm chores and work were done, Twilight had no royal duties, and Rainbow Dash's schedule was clear for the week. "Don' worry; Ah've got this," Applejack said with a smirk. She then reached over and pulled the pegasus's powerful wing, yanking out a few feathers. Rainbow started and swung around with her hoof to punch the amber farm mare square on the nose. Twilight and Rarity stared at the cyan pegasus with shock as she slowly came back to reality. She blinked a couple times, staring at the smatter of blood on her hoof before suddenly looking up at her friend, who was holding her muzzle, grimacing when she saw the blood. "Ohmygosh! I'm so sorry! It's a reflex! I swear, I didn't mean to, Applejack!" she frantically explained. Applejack waved her free hoof dismissively as the flow of blood from her nose began to subside. "It's alright. Ah'm fine, don' ya'll worry; Ah've had worse," said Applejack, beginning to wipe the remaining blood beneath her snout. The others winced when they saw all the blood, staining her muzzle and hoof a dark red orange. "I'm so sorry," Rainbow apologized again, offering a napkin to her friend to clean up the blood. "Ah'm fine! Though," Applejack took the napkin and started wiping up the blood, "ya do pack quite the punch." "Well, you did pull out my primaries." "Ah'm sorry, but ya just froze, and we don't have any water at the table or Ah would've dumped it on yer head instead." "Really?" Rainbow asked with a tilt of her head. Her concentration was always wavering off, but she was usually so focused. Why had she started daydreaming? "Really," Twilight confirmed. "Rarity was asking you a question and your just kind of zoned out." "Though it really isn't like you to just 'zone out'," commented Rarity. "Anyways, I was asking you about that gorgeous necklace. It's unlike anything I've ever seen," said the alabaster unicorn, pointing to the charm around the stunt pony's neck. It was a pale crystal snowflake, and when it was touched with sunlight, it shone with the colors of the Aurora Borealis, blues, pinks, purples, and greens shining from its depths, causing earth pony, unicorn, and alicorn to stare at it in complete awe. "You really aren't the type of pony to wear trinkets, and especially not something as fabulous as this," Rarity said, taking hold of the necklace, undoing the clasp, and bringing it closer to her with her magic. Rainbow opened her mouth as if to say something before thinking better of it and closing it again. Conceal it, don't feel it. Stay calm and remember what father said, she thought to herself as she smiled nervously while her friends ogled the beautiful necklace. "Yeah, well, I usually tuck it into my mane, out of sight, out of mind," she said with more than a hint of nervousness in her voice. She felt a cold tingle in her hooves and knew that a change of color was soon to follow. Her mind swirled as she tried to figure out a way to hide the change through the blizzard in her head, her body temperature dropping all the while. Just don't touch anything, and they won't notice. Tuck your hooves away. She smiled and picked up her cup, trembling slightly as she did so. "This is amazing, Rainbow. Where in the world did you get it?" asked Twilight, her violet eyes glued to the sparkling charm. "My, uh, my dad made it for me as a, uh, a birth- birthday present," she managed to stutter out. It was a lie. Her father had made it for her, but with a more magical purpose in mind. "He must love you very much to make something was beautiful as this." "Yeah, he did." "Wha was that, sugarcube?" inquired Applejack, turning to her winged friend, who quickly put down her cup and hid her hooves in her lap as AJ did so. "He died. Mom too. At sea. There was a storm," Rainbow quietly explained, her eyes downcast as she stared down at her cup, staring at the frost that covered it in a beautiful and delicate filigree. She glanced down at her hooves, noting that they had fully changed color, now their natural pale cyan, noticeably paler than her currant coat. She gulped. Not now! Anytime but now! Oh, why did I let her take it? "Oh. Ah'm sorry, sugarcube." "Nah, it's alright. It's been three years now. We were close, especially after my little sister died in an accident before either of us could fly, but, I'm over it." Rainbow sighed, looking down at her hooves. The pale cyan was climbing up her legs, towards her knees, and her chair was covered with frost and ice was starting to form around her hooves. She let out a soft gasp and jumped to her feet, reaching out for her necklace. "Sorry, girls, but I've got to go," she said taking her necklace back and clasping it back around her neck, taking care to have the paler side facing out. "Why the sudden hurry?" "Um... There was something that I forgot about and I have to go take care of it," Dash explained hurriedly, stretching her wings and glancing at the ground beneath her, panicking when she saw the ice starting to form and how far up her true coat color had climbed up her legs; it was almost to the shoulder. "Well, alright. We'll see y-" "Okay, thanks, bye!" And with that, Rainbow Dash took off, streaking away as her friends stared after her, bewildered by her sudden exit. "I wonder what that was all about," said Twilight. As her friends nodded in agreement, a voice called out from the street, making the three mares and the rest of the ponies at the cafe jump. "Twilight!I found it!"
Mystery RoyalsThe three mares turned towards the direction of the shout and could just make out a purple and green figure darting down the street towards them, but only if they were squinting. The violet mare's eyes widened in disbelief as her little number one assistant ran up holding a very large book in his claws. The young drake coughed and was panting and wheezing as he stopped at the table. "I-I found...the...b-book," he said, almost collapsing from the weight of the book and his exertion from the long run from the library to the cafe. He let out a sigh of relief when the alicorn relived him of his burden, placing it on the table in front of her before hovering him up onto the empty chair that Rainbow had previously occupied, allowing him to rest and catch his breath. "Thanks, Twi, but, why is the chair covered in ice?" "It is?" she asked, turning to peer at the chair. "Hmm. I don't know. How odd. Anyways," she picked up the book once more with her magic, "thanks, Spike. Were'd you find it?" She picked up Rainbow's empty cup and filled it with water with a spell, handing it to her young friend as she spoke, ignoring the frost covering it like lace. He quickly gulped it down before staring at the frost covering the cup. "Side effect?" he asked, pointing to the frost. She glanced at it and gave a huff of annoyance. She was an alicorn, her talent was magic, and and yet her spells were still sticky! "Yup. Now, the book?" "Oh, right. I dropped my yo-yo behind the bookcase, and when I went to get it, I found the book too," he explained, examining the frosty beauty in his claws. "If I may be so bold, what book is that?" asked Rarity, staring at the book with curiosity. "It's the Equestrian record of Royals. Now that I am one myself, I wanted to see what Royals I'm related to," Twilight answered, opening up the book with her magic. Her friends leaned in to look on with her. "Wha' about tha Royal family of tha Gryphon Islands?" "Nope. Their not technically related anymore." "The Royal family of the Skies, perhaps?" Rarity pointed at the aged and stained paper with a delicate hoof. Twilight peer at the scribbles, confused. "I don't know. I've never heard of them." Twi flicked over to the page number written in the contents. They gaze at the feather designs that bordered the page as she found it. "'The Royal Family of the Skies resided in the grand city of Cloudsdale, caring for all the pegasi of Equestria. They were to be known as the kindest royals in of all Equestrian history.'" Twilight read aloud. "Huh. Ah wonder why we've never heard of 'em." "They closed the gates," said a voice from behind them, causing the four friends to jump in fright. "Cl-Cloudkicker?" The purple pegasus mare smiled at the princess. Behind her stood two more pegasi, a stallion and a mare. They all had their saddlebags strapped tightly around their waists. "Sorry for intruding, Princess. It's just that we overheard your conversation." "It's fine. But this Royal family. Who are they? And you mentioned something about gates?" "They've always been there. Their castle is the biggest building in Cloudsdale by far. It used to be open to everypony," explainded the pegasus mare behind Cloudkicker, who's name was Raindrops, waving her hoof across the sky. "Used to be?" "Yeah, but, unfortunetly, something happened. Nopony knows why, but one day, they closed the gates and nopony ever saw the recent king and queen or their daughters. Ever." "They must be King Windy Skies and Queen Misty Breeze. But the book says they're dead!" Twilight gasped as she read about their deaths. She didn't really like the topic of death. She'd read about it, but had never had somepony close to her die. She just hoped the princesses mentioned were okay! "And what of the princesses?" Rarity had only just been able to read their names before Twilight had covered them with her hoof. "The younger is dead, but her older sister is going to be coronated to be a queen tomorrow." "A queen?" squealed the three mares. "Mm-hmm. They say she's beautiful and sweet too," answered Raindrops. "And hot," snigger the stallion, Thunderlane, earning himself a punch from one of the pegasi mares. "Anyways, we're going to Cloudsdale, same as all the other pegasi in Ponyville. You're welcome to come too. Many unicorns and earth ponies are coming. They'll be enchanted by unicorns who know cloud-walking spells," said Cloudkicker. "Oh, and you have to come too, Twilight as you're royalty anyways. Princess Celestia will be there too; she is crowning the princess after all." "This is probably the reason Rainbow went off in such a hurry. She must have forgotten to pack," Rarity whispered to Applejack, who nodded in reply. Meanwhile, Twilight's head was spinning from so much new information. Princess Celestia, her mentor and second mother had not once mentioned anything about this. Nothing, not even during a history lesson! "Well, okay then," she said, "I guess we'll see you there." The four friends waved as the pegasi took off towards the distant city of Cloudsdale. "Well girls, I think we have a trip to Cloudsdale," said Twilight, standing and stretching her wings. "I'll go tell Fluttershy and Pinkie, and we'll meet you at the library. I'll get a royal carriage. Okay?" The small alicorn lifted her assistant and her book up onto her back, her friends nodding. "Of course, darling. A trip would be delightful," proclaimed Rarity, grinning. "It sure would be fun, and Ah think mah family can spare me for a day," said Applejack, placing her worn old stetson more firmly on her head. "See ya'll tomorrow, then." And so the three friends parted to get ready for tomorrow.
Before the Coronation"Come on, come on!" The little pegasus squealed with excitement as she pulled her sister into the hall, the older filly trying to calm her little sister down. "Alright, alright, Glacie, but you have to shush!" said Winter, her braid swinging wildly with as she tried to quiet Glacier's squeals. Glacier, however, ignored her sister's warning. "Do the magic, do the magic!" giggled Glacier as she bounced around her sister, her tiny wings fluttering madly. Her older sister laughed softly as she plopped down on the cloud floor, waving her hooves together while Glacie watched with complete awe as a snowball formed in between, blue light emanating from the snowball as it glimmered. They grinned and the younger of the two gasped in delight as Winter threw the snowball in the air, giggling as it burst into a giant flurry. The 'flakes glittered in the early morning sunlight and Glacier spun around, squealing as she caught snowflakes on her tongue. "This is amazing!" she yelled, jumping up and down, her tongue still hanging out of her mouth. "Watch this," said Winter, standing up, a great big grin plastered upon her face. Glacier watched as the older pegasus stomped her hoof upon the floor, a thin layer of bright ice radiating out from the point of impact. Glacier giggled as she slipped and slid about. ~~~ The regal pegasus mare smiled faintly at the happy memory, her light blue eyes soft and unfocused as she recalled a better time. Turning her gaze to the mirror before her, though, her happiness faded and was replaced by fear, worry, and uncertainty. The mare staring back at her trembled with her fear, so unlike the mask she put on when she was at her cloud house back in her true home, in Ponyville with her friends. She quietly sighed as she gazed upon her real face, starting with her near white hair that was pulled back in a bun, the hair to short to reach it twisted and smoothed with water. Next was her light cyan coat and pale sapphire blue eyes that had once shone with joy and confidence. Now, only fear filled that empty space. Lastly were her indigo cloak, fastened with a simple turquoise gem, her darker collar standing halfway up her slender neck, and her icy cyan wings that were hugging her sides, tense from her emotions that swirled within her like a blizzard. She flipped her charm so that the lighter side of it faced outwards and watched as her appearance changed, much faster than if she had taken off the necklace and set herself free. In a matter of seconds, she had become the rainbow maned speedster she was known as outside these walls, but the confidence she felt when she was Rainbow was missing, her now rose eyes still filled with fear. She flipped the charm back over and turned away from the mirror, tucking the necklace away as she did so. She looked out the room's large windows. She watched the happy ponies trotting around the crowded square below, talking and laughing as they waited for the gates to open, the bright summer sun beating down on them and the rest of the cloud city as it waited for its ruler to step forth. ~~~ The two sisters grunted as they pushed around a large snowball, creating a squat snowpony. The large hall was covered in a thin layer of glistening snow. It was almost like being outside on a cloudy day in the middle of winter, but the pair didn't mind the cold, especially the older filly. Winter grabbed some sticks sticks and stuck them into the small snowpony as wings. Glacier sat down in front of the figure, bleaming. Her older sister started flapping the sticks as if they were proper wings. "Hi! I'm Sliver Wings and I like warm hugs," said Winter in a goofy voice, giggling as her little sister jumped up, hugging the snowpony. "I love you, Sliver!" she squealed, giggling as the older pegasus joined in on the hug, squishing the smaller one and the snowpony against her chest. The two happy siblings laughed together as they hugged the figure, warm with their shared love despite the almost arctic temperature of the room. ~~~ Princess Winter turned away from the window and moved towards a small table placed beneath a large portrait of a stallion staring ahead with pure confidence and dedication as he held the Sceptre and Orb of the Skies. Her dear father at his coronation. "Don't lose control, don't let them see. Keep being the good girl you've been all these years," she murmured in an effort to calm herself down. Winter took a deep breath as she shakily picked up a small, round blue pot and and a candlestick. She let the breath out heavily and turned around, facing the same direction as her father did in the painting. Fear flooded her mind. "Conceal it, put on a show," croaked the princess, standing confidently while inside, she quaked in fear. Her eyes widened as frost began to cover the items in her shaking hooves. "Make one small mistake and they'll all know." She silently begged herself to calm down as she threw the pot and candlestick back down on the table. Why did it have to be her? Why couldn't she be normal, and not have to worry about hurting somepony close...again... ~~~ Glacier squealed wildly as she skidded around on the icy floor, clinging to Silver. They were propelled by Winter who was standing up on her back legs as she sent them flying around with an icy blast from her forehooves, both of them laughing as they did their best to stay on their hooves. Their laughter rang around the hall, proving their joy as they played together in the morning sunlight that streamed through the high windows. ~~~ A soft knocking on the door shook the pegasus from her daydream. She blinked as she remembered where she was. "Yes?" she called softly. "You have guests, your highness. One of them is the new princess." Winter tensed. She should have known Twilight would come to meet her as soon as she'd heard. She glanced at herself once more in the mirror, her mind in a turmoil. What if she accidently hurt somepony? The strength of her snowflake charm seemed to be wavering, her powers slipping out at random or when she was terrified, like now. She turned away with a sigh, "Let them in." The door clicked as her five friends walked in, bowing respectfully before Twi placed a hoof on her chest, eyes closed and began to introduce herself. "Greetings, your highness. I am Princess Twili-" "I know who you are," Winter said quietly, cutting the alicorn off. "I am the one with introductions to make. I am Princess Winter." "It's an honor to meet you in person, princess," whispered Fluttershy. "And you too, Miss...?" It would only make them suspicious if she knew all their names. The yellow pegasus blushed, hiding her face in her pink mane and mumbling out her name. "Miss Fluttershy. I am honored to know two of my pegasi became the embodiments of two of the Elements of Harmony. Though, where is the other pegasus?" Winter feigned confusion, her blue gaze sweeping across her friends' faces as if searching for someone. "Oooo, you mean Dashie? 'Cause we haven't seen her since yesterday when she went zooming off during a luncheon with Twilight and Rarity and Applejack!" said Pinkie, pointing out each of her friends as she named them. "Quite right, Pinkie Pie, dear." Rarity interjected before the hyper pink pony could go on and possibly get herself into trouble. Turning to Winter, she added, "She was extremely nervous towards the end of get-together, telling us she had forgotten about something and taking off to take care of it without so much as a backwards glance." Winter had to resist the urge to wince. Had her anxiety really been that obvious? "I see. Well, I hope she is alright and can rejoin your company soon." Winter glanced at Applejack, who had been silent for the whole meeting. She was watching the princess with her eyes narrowed. The farm pony opened her mouth to speak. Uh-oh. "Sorry to interrupt, Princesses," said a servant who had just trotted in, bowing to pegasus and alicorn. Saved! "Yes, what is it?" Winter asked, gesturing for the young mare to rise. "The time for your coronation is soon, ma'm. The high Princesses have arrived and are expecting you to open the gates." "Very well. Let them know that the ceremony will begin soon." "Yes ma'm," answered the servant, turning to leave. Winter stopped her, a thought occurring to her. "And tell the guards to open the gates, too." "Yes ma'm." And with that, the young pegasus left to deliver her messages. Winter turned back to her friends. "I am sorry, but we must cut this meeting short. Perhaps we could talk more after the ceremony? It has been a while since I've had somepony to talk to and this old place can get a bit lonely at times." Winter glanced away, ashamed with herself for lying to her best friends. "Well, I guess we could." Winter smiled wholeheartedly at those words, her eyes watering slightly. "Thank you. I shall see you later then." She turned away, opening the doors to reveal a long hallway and two lines of pegasi servants, standing proudly, quietly to attention. Outside, two stallions pulled open the enormous, creaking cloud gates, letting in the flood of ponies, joy, and laughter. The six mares left the room, the others trotting on ahead with Winter walked slowly through the corridor, the maids bowing as she past by, her long, indigo cloak dragging across the cloud floor behind her, her head held high as she continued on to the large balcony at the end of the hallway. Stay calm, don't lose control, she told herself, wishing the butterflies in her stomach would just disappear. She placed her hooves upon the handles of the large doors that separated the balcony from the rest of the castle. Be a good girl, and it'll all work out. She took a deep breath and pulled the doors open, stepping out into the bright sunlight. She walked to the rail, the pegasi in the courtyard below looking up to see their new leader for the first time. Conceal it, don't let them know. She gulped, gazing down at the ponies below her. She was scared and worried, and she hoped it would all be okay, that it would go off with out a hitch and then she could close the gates again when it was all over. After all, it just for today. The ponies below gazed up, the two princesses walking among them seeing the uncertainty and fear on her face no matter how hard she tried to hide it. They both exchanged a glance and wondered why.
