The Mystery of the Iron Bird Festival

No one slept a wink until dawn. The sisters never left Sunrise's side while the others patrolled the perimeter and guarded the house. Everyone felt guilty before the Son of the lost Iron Bird; so to let down his celestial, his idol…

The long night ended and the first rays of the Sun illuminated the tired and tense creatures. One of the Pegasus went to negotiate with the Order of the Red Dragon. Many understood that this was the beginning of the war. They will have to take up arms again, like their predecessors hundreds of years ago.

Celestia was sitting by the window, watching the rising yellow ball. For thousands of years she raised it, for thousands of years she did not know rest. After leaving the post of ruler of Equestria, she lost not only the shackles, but also the ways to influence the world. Alicorn did not want blood and slaughter, but only the current princess, Twilight, could prevent the dragons from providing at least some help to the Order of the Red Dragon.

Taking out a pen, ink and parchment, Celestia began to write a letter to her former student. It's time to give her the answers to get help in return.

***

This is a good thing — magic.

Kramarenko was sitting on the bed in the company of a white pony, watching her scribble something in her letter. My chest no longer hurt, but the dark spot of the bruise still reminded me of a "fun" night. Nervously stroking the pistol, taking out the clip and checking the operability of his personal weapon again, the pilot thought about no, no, yes about a bony old woman with a scythe. Even though he wasn't an empath and couldn't read minds, he knew the tension of the ongoing war perfectly well. But this time the pilot was without his winged car, and he was not protecting him, but him. Moreover, knowing that it is his person who is the reason for active actions.

Inserting the missing cartridges into the clip, the pilot put the TT back into the holster. The knife was now also hanging on his belt, in the same expectation of a new day. Smoothing his unruly hair, Kramarenko stood up. Clean, but slightly crumpled tunic and trousers complemented the image of a serious-minded person. He tapped the bones of the officer's boots in a military manner and turned to Tia, touching the white shoulder. She, still not finished with the letter, raised her head questioningly looking at the pilot who had disturbed her.

Again I had to explain my wishes on the "fingers". Understanding him, Tia shook her head negatively, which angered the pilot a little. Ponies can also be understood: for them, he is the only one who needs to be protected from everyone and everything. But Kramarenko was sure that everything would be different now; now he is ready for emergency situations. And who will attack in broad daylight, where all the "airplane worshippers" go armed to the teeth? It was too risky, especially after the night's failure.

But we still need to somehow persuade them to use magic electricity for my gun. If it doesn't work out, then all this fuss with the plane will be meaningless.

After taking another look at the busy mare, the man quietly left the room and moved from memory to the hall with the remains of the plane.

***

A bound changeling from the Order of the Red Dragon was sitting in a small room full of various junk. The moon, cold and sharp as steel itself, asked again:

"Either you tell Us the whole truth, or..."

Before the mare could voice her threat, the prisoner laughed and coughed up green blood.

"Never. I will never betray my idea and my brothers! The Order..."

A hoof strike silenced the changeling and groaned in pain.

"Then I have no other choice. The moon whispered softly and ominously.

Her horn lit up with a blue light, blinding almost anyone who dared to look. A mental spell burst from the tip of the horn, plastering the unsuccessful killer. Green blood flowed from the eyes, nose and ears of the blue alicorn's personal enemy struggling with the spell. The prisoner could no longer scream, he was controlled by the Moon. The mortal's knowledge flowed like a river into Pony's mind, but her ability to pull memories out of her head is still as good after a thousand years. Skillfully finding the right bits of information from the countless stream, Luna stopped her spell. The Changeling fell like a sack on the floor, into his pool of blood. The killer's organs of vision were burned out. He's dead. A side effect of such a convenient interrogation, forbidden by Celestia many hundreds of years ago.

Putting the details into one, the Moon sat down from the realization that now she saw: the Order of the Red Dragon is going to war on them. Someone provoked them by stealing a valuable member, a certain pony Blood Tyuf.

"But who would do such a thing?"