Soarin shot towards Ponyville. The other ‘Bolts were only a few wing beats behind him, but he barely noticed them. The words “have to warn them, I have to warn them” were spinning around his head. The great sparkling castle came into view, a sign of peace and friendship throughout the lands. The sun glinted off golden armor, a beacon telling him exactly what he needed to do. Soarin flared his wings to stop in front of the guards.

“I need to speak to the Princesses.” he said hurriedly before any of them could speak, “I saw something, something worrying. they need to be warned right away!” The guard he had stopped in front of studied him carefully, then her gaze shifted to the Wonderbolts behind him. None of them had landed.

“It would be best if I asked the Princesses first.” she said carefully, her face passive. Opening the huge purple and gold doors to the friendship castle, she motioned for them to follow her. The door closed behind them with a muffled thump, shouting them inside.

The guard led them down a hallway. The sound of their hooves across the cold crystal floors echoed in the large hallway, empty except for the tapestries hanging down the walls, making Soarin nervous. His wing twitched against his back, but he couldn't take off, at least not yet. Muffled murmurs came from the room at the other end, but when the guard knocked importantly on the door they abruptly cut off. The guard slipped inside and they waited, fear and nerves causing him to want to bolt, but he ignored them. I can't run. They have to know what's coming.

He saw Fleetfoot trying to catch his eye, but he kept his gaze forward, not looking at either her or Rainbow Dash. A few minutes later the guard stepped out, wordlessly holding the door open for the three. Soarin took a deep breath and stepped inside the throne room, Rainbow Dash and Fleetfoot nervously following him.

The throne room of the Castle of Friendship barely resembled the one in Canterlot Castle. It was circular, for one thing, and the walls were made out of indigo and violet crystal. A chandelier made from the roots of a large tree hung from the ceiling, hung with small crystals. Right below the chandelier was a large table which had a hologram of Equestra on it. Six white thrones were spaced evenly around it, and each one had a symbol on the back, such as diamonds, balloons, or butterfly's.

Only four of the chairs were taken by the four alicorn princesses. Prince Shining Armor, the captain of the royal guard, was standing next to the throne of princess Cadence. His own captain was standing between two Princess Celetisa and Princess Twilight. Spitfire frowned when she saw him and tried to catch his eye, confusion clear to anypony who really knew her. He gazed back evenly, not giving anything away, at least not yet. Stopping several feet away from the map table he bowed, lowering his gaze.

“Princess Celetia, Princess Luna, Princess Twilight, Princess Cadence, Prince Shining Armor.” he said formally.

“Lieutenant Soarin.” Princess Celetia replied when he stood up. “Is everything alright with the Wonderbolts?” Soarin shock his head.

“It’s not about the Wonderbolts, your highness.” Princess Luna raised an eyebrow.

“Then what is the problem?” she asked. Soarin took a deep breath.

“During practice, the other ‘bolts and I saw a large cloud of black and red smoke.” all the princesses sat forward.

“A cloud of black and red smoke?” Princess Twilight asked alertly. “Are you sure?” Soarin glanced at Spitfire. To anypony else, she was shocked, but he could see a flicker of fear. He nodded.

“I’m positive.”

“It was terrifying!” Rainbow burst out. “It covered like half the horizon! And it had eyes! Huge, red, terrifying-”

“Dash.” Fleetfoot interrupted, frowning at the younger pegasus.

“That doesn't sound like anything I’ve ever heard of.” Princess Twilight said worryingly. Princess Cadence thought for a moment.

“Could you show us where you saw it?” she asked, gesturing to the map table. Soarin stepped forward and placed his hoof on the mountains by the Wonderbolt HQ, opposite the Canterlot mountains. As he did so, he saw the last ember of desperate hope die out in Sitfire’s eyes.

“Here.” he said firmly, “when I saw it it was right here.” Princess Celetia leaned forward, studying the map and made a golden marker appear above his hoof. He stepped back and waited for a response.

“That’s... interesting.” she said at last, “very interesting.” Princess Luna turned to look at her.

“What is so interesting, sister?”

“The magic signature in that area is familiar. I felt it over a decade ago, but it was much stronger.” she created another marker much deeper into the mountains. Soarin felt his blood go cold, and nopony noticed the expression of barely suppressed horror on Spitfire’s face.

“I wish I knew what’s so special about that place.” Princess Twilight said, slightly wistfully. Princess Celetia scanned the room.

“Maybe we can find out. Captain Spitfire, Lieutenant Soarin?” she said, causing them to snap to attention. “Do you think you and a few members of the Wonderbolts could go with Princess Twilight to investigate this other location?” as the two were stunned by the topic shift, Fleetfoot jumped in and answered for them.

“Of course Princess.”

Princess Celestia nodded.

“Good. You should do that tomorrow. The sooner we have this information, the better.” Spitfire and Soarin shared a panicked glance. Spitfire opened her mouth but before she could say anything she was cut off by Princess Celestia. “Thank you for doing this. We truly have no idea what this could be, but hopefully with more information we will be able to figure more out.” She turned towards Spitfire. “You should regroup with your ‘Bolts, figure out which ones should come with you.”

Spitfire nodded, barely registering what was being said. Blank faced, she followed the three other Wonderbolts out of the room.

Author's Note

I'm so sorry for this chapter taking so long to finish. I had to get it just right

I would like to thank my friend GoodAtGrammer for checking this, it is very much appreciated.

Thank you for being patent and for reading this story.