The Mystery of the Iron Bird Festival

In the semi-darkness of the corridors pierced in the mountain, the whole group of guards was walking. Even the light of the magical fireflies of unicorns could not completely disperse the old darkness. Every now and then the poorly hewn walls took on the bizarre shapes of ancient dragons.

Soon, the outlines of an oak door, bound with rusted metal, appeared. By someone's carelessness, the door was not locked, but it was still heavy and unoiled, which made the three Earth ponies have to sweat a lot before they could move it for free passage. And again the corridor. It is not often seen in this part of the lair and the torches have long been covered with dust.

At the end of the way they were met by a bas-relief with the head of the king of the old dragons above the gate. Once painted blood-red, and now with peeling paint, he looked with empty eyes at a dozen ponies, opening his mouth in an angry growl.

The lieutenant silently lifted up a hoof, ordering everyone to stop. Removing the saddlebags, the squad took out gray cloaks. One of the tasks set by the princess was as follows:

Force the Order of the Red Dragon to mistake the Harmony Squad for their opponents, the Order of the Iron Bird.

After changing clothes and preparing weapons for battle, one of the unicorns teleported to the other side of the small gate. There was a thud and a soft moan. After a couple of seconds, the pony opened the gate. There was a diamond dog lying at the entrance with a dent in his helmet. That's what the lack of discipline in the guard of calm and relatively safe places leads to.

"Go ahead," the young lieutenant said in an undertone, and the first one moved to the center of the lair.

The unicorns threw magic blunt spears at the two guards who appeared around the corner until they had time to wake up and raise the alarm. One of them was still conscious. After quickly interrogating the guard about a certain Blood Tyuf, the commander of the Harmony squad changed direction, hoping to take a prisoner first.

The guards who encountered singles and twos were dealt with as quickly as the first ones, without encountering much resistance.

Apparently, none of the leadership counted on sabotage by opponents. Well, the information will be really important for drawing up a complete picture in the future report, the lieutenant reasoned sensibly, climbing another twisted staircase.

The wooden door that appeared should become the final destination, according to the words of the interrogated guard. And he was not deceived: when the guards burst in, they saw a gray earth pony at a large table with a lot of papers and a typewriter. His round-rimmed glasses were askew and his eyes were bloodshot.

"Who dared to disturb me while working?!" and he shut his mouth, realizing who was standing on his doorstep.
An evil grin lit up the lieutenant's muzzle as Blood Tyuf trembled at the sight of soldiers in silver cloaks.

"Take him!"

Two pegasus deftly threw a magic collar on the prisoner and dragged him to the exit of the office made in the Order's favorite red tones. Then an earth pony approached the lieutenant and reported the approach of the soldiers of the Order of the Red Dragon who had recovered.

"Attention! Squad! Line up for a breakthrough!"

***

For the rest of the night, Luna sat with her Son in the open sky, and only with the sunrise they disappeared into the manor, in the dim room of the blue mare. A large bed made in the form of a crescent moon, several lockers and nightstands with a large silver mirror, that's all that the younger sister of alicorn had. She always retained a love of minimalism, unlike Celestia, who was accustomed to the richest decorations. The guest did not sit on the perfectly made bed, remaining standing at the door while Luna rummaged through one of the lockers. She returned already with the medallion of the pale Moon, bound with silver and gold.

Handing it to her Son, she clearly whispered:

"No matter where you are, no matter what happens, a piece of my magic will always be there for you."

As if knowing the meaning of the words spoken by the Moon, he carefully put the medallion around his neck. Getting down on one knee, the Son tenderly embraced the mare, expressing his "thank you". The blue pony's eyes began to fill with tears of maternal love again, but a light knock on the door broke the moment of unity of such dissimilar creatures.

"Sister?"

Celestia was standing on the other side of the door.

"Luna... um, could you spare a little of your time—there's a conversation."

"Of course. What do you want to talk about, Tia?"

The white mare who entered began to shift from one foot to the other, chewing her lip.

"You see, it would be better to do it alone, without my Son."

After taking a close look at her older sister, Luna replied a little coolly:

"I have no secrets from my foal. Say it here and now."

Thrown into a stupor by these words, Celestia quickly admitted defeat.

"Okay."

***

Kramarenko was standing between two mares arguing about something. The cool metal of the medallion reminded of itself. Without removing it from his neck, the pilot raised it to his eyes, examining the blue-white moon and the inscription engraved on the edge. Let the captain of the downed MiG still did not fully understand the essence of what was happening, but from the colors already available, so to speak, he could paint a picture with his understanding of these incomplete days.

Having put the medallion back under his undershirt, Kramarenko returned his attention to the mares. From their tone, it could be understood that the man who had recently appeared in the manor had greatly influenced their relationship. They resembled two sisters, one of whom was the eldest and experienced, and the second was very sensual, relying more on the call of the heart.

The night turned out to be even more interesting: the pilot, deep in himself, despite the language barrier, was able to "connect" himself with the blue pony with a close relationship similar to a younger brother and a loving older sister or mother and child.

Bad or good, it can show the behavior of a white pony. Her attitude to such fraternization is clearly not positive. The captain is seen here as a kind of demigod child, albeit weak, but still a celestial being. Bows, smiles, help, all this is only respectful, unlike the "younger sister" with bright emotions.

Their conversation ended rather quickly, having reached some kind of compromise in tone. Of course, it may not be quite so, because this is only the judgment of one person who understands little.

The mares finally turned their attention to the pilot and the white one waved her wing and let them follow her. On the right side, a blue one stood up and put her head under her arm, pressed her warm side.

The path turned out to be familiar, leading to the underground rooms of the house. There they were met by the already familiar unicorn Lyra. Bowing, she took out a bunch of keys and handed them to the white mare. No one else met Kramarenko on the way. When they reached the cherished doors and fiddled with the locks, the ponies opened them with their magic. In the great hall, in the illumination of many magical lights, lay the skeleton of a downed Mig and on a stand the dropped parachute and winter clothes of the pilot.