Traveling to Zephyr Heights while keeping track of where Pipp and Zipp were flying, and where they would make stops, would’ve been impossible for Misty. Fortunately, a train system by the unicorns had recently been created to make it easier for non-pegasi to travel to the formerly pegasus-based city. And with Pipp and Zipp taking the train to make the trip as comfortable as possible for the baby dragon Sparky that they were watching for Hitch, Misty wore as much clothes and a pair of sunglasses as possible to properly disguise herself. She even adorned her muzzle with a fake mustache! While she was almost certain that she was going to get caught at somepoint, not a single pony questioned her besides for a ticket onto the train. Misty was already hanging out at Zephyr Heights in the excessive disguise within walking distance of the castle that Pipp and Zipp had entered. She certainly wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and did various stuff around the city to kill time and wait for Pipp and Zipp to leave the castle with Sparky left behind, and eventually, she saw Pipp and Zipp fly out of the castle without the baby dragon. Her blue ears perking up, the young adult unicorn turned around and saw in the distance guards were surrounding the doors. Even though her magical skills were very limited, Opaline had allowed her to learn a teleportation spell for circumstances just like this one. Misty walked towards the castle, looking as unfocused on the castle as possible before glancing at an open window. Vividly imagining herself on the other side of the window, Misty closed her eyes and disappeared in a discreet flash.
Finding herself on the other side of the open window, Misty held back from releasing a giant squeal at her success of getting into the castle undetected. Restraining herself to a few jumps in place, Misty took a deep breath before looking around the castle. Where she landed was in the middle of a hallway with lots of doors that were mostly closed. And yet with not a single guard, much to Misty’s amazement, was a door slightly cracked open with very familiar young gurgles and coos that she could hear. Not wasting a moment, Misty pushed open the door and saw Sparky playing with the toys in the makeshift nursery. Knowing that whoever was taking care of him had to be heading back to the room very soon, Misty rushed towards the baby dragon and threw him over his back and bolted out of the room before he could transform the toys into any sort of item that she didn’t want to find out.
“What do you think you’re doing with him?”
Misty stopped in her tracks, finding that the open window that she came in was too far away to rush to without the mysterious mare stopping her first. Staring at the open window for a few cold moments before glancing at who caught her, her heart skipped a beat. Before her was a taller pale pink pegasus with a periwinkle mane, adorning a wide pair of wings that were multiple shades of purple. The most intimidating feature besides her icy blue eyes was a big crown atop her head, causing Misty to freeze completely. Barely breathing, not blinking, she waited for the clearly powerful mare to speak up.
“Well?” the pegasus blinked, narrowing her eyes. “I asked you a question, didn’t I?”
“Y-Yes! You did!” Misty piped up. “Um, well, I’m friends with Pipp and Zipp! They wanted me to bring Sparky to them, so I was saving them the trip of coming back.”
“That would be a believable story,” the pegasus’ words caused Misty’s heart to drop to the bottom of her chest. “If they didn’t leave him with me specifically asking me to not let anypony else take him. He’s gone missing before, now tell me why you’re really here.”
Misty found her plan, her one ticket to getting a cutie mark, crumbling before her eyes as she felt her body starting to panic. Shaking, heaving air into her lungs, she barely noticed Sparky jumping off her back and waddling back towards the pegasus. Trying to find some way to get out of the situation, and then remembering how she got in there, Misty quickly looked to the window and started using her magic. The pegasus’ eyes widened for a split second before closing the short distance between her and Misty, knocking her over and pinning her with her forelegs pressed against the floor as Misty was too distracted to complete the spell.
“Now, I like to think that I’m a somewhat decent Queen,” the pegasus slightly loosened her force against Misty’s forelegs. “So I won’t resort to having my guards get the magic nullifying ring unless I have to. Now talk.”
“Okay, okay!” Misty gasped, releasing a sharp breath she didn’t realize she was holding in when the mysterious Queen let go of her forelegs, still hovering over the unicorn as she continued. “Opaline, my alicorn guardian, she’s trying to get dragon fire to make herself more powerful in order to get magic! I d-don’t like helping her, but she saved me as a filly and promised me that if she got magic back, I’d get my cutie mark! This stupid butterfly mark-”
Misty slowly turned on her side, showing off her blue flank with a poor drawing of a butterfly to the Queen, before moving to rest on her back again. Misty swore she saw the Queen blush a little before shaking her head and glaring at the blue unicorn.
“-is not real,” Misty finished. “And I’m not trying to be evil, I promise! I just…don’t have any friends and my destined cutie mark is all that I have. Please please please let me go. I’ll never bother you or your castle again! At least if you let me go right now, she won’t….”
The Queen’s eyes widened as Misty winced, the unicorn’s eyes tearing up as she blinked away her tears without another word. Taking a deep breath, the pink pegasus sighed as her expression melted into a deep frown.
“There is no way I can let you leave,” the pegasus Queen admitted. “I can’t in good conscience send you back to an evil mare for a multitude of reasons. I’m sorry, but you will have to stay under my protection for the time being.”
“Is my punishment going to be harsh?” Misty squeaked.
“No!” the Queen nearly shouted. “Of course not, you’re clearly not a bad pony. But this Opaline sounds very dangerous, I cannot send you back to her. And I’m not ready for Pipp and Zipp to know about your betrayal, so to speak. But soon, I will have to write a letter to Sunny. You must know who she is already, and to know that there is another alicorn there trying to usurp here is of utmost importance. You’ll be sleeping in the same room as me, and yes, you’ll still have to wear the nullifying ring. But at least we don’t have to force it on you. My name is Queen Haven, and I’m the Queen of Zephyr Heights. And your name is?”
“Misty,” Misty watched as Queen Haven moved so that she was no longer hovering over the unicorn. The blue mare got up, and even though she glanced at the window, she didn’t think to try such a stunt again as she walked to Haven’s side instead. “So, will I have my own bed?”
“I’ll be bringing in a mattress, specially made for Zephyr Heights royalty,” Haven reassured the unicorn as they walked down the hallway, the pink pegasus using her extended wing to place Sparky onto her back. “And the guards are sworn to secrecy, so need not worry about anypony else breaking into the castle to do anything to you.”
“Why are you…being so nice to me?” Misty stared at her own purple hooves, almost missing the security of Opaline. She felt like the kind of pony that Misty deserved, so to have such a powerful mare’s warm gaze and gentle smile on her made her heart twist in a way that she couldn’t understand. Haven’s smile dropped into a frown as she stared at Misty.
“Because I didn’t see a malicious look in your eyes, I saw fear,” Haven explained. “And you do know that you don’t have to fear me, right?”
“I guess not,” Misty nodded, no longer looking at her hooves as she managed to look into Queen Haven’s blue eyes. Wondering why the pegasus stopped, Misty glanced ahead and saw a door much taller than the others. “Oh! I’m guessing this is your room then.”
“Yes, one fit of a Queen,” Haven puffed her chest a little, staring at the dark red door with a golden doorknob. Turning to the closed window, Haven opened it with both her forehooves and glanced down. “Guards? I’m in need of your assistance immediately.”
Misty gulped, even though Queen Haven kept an even tone with her words. It wasn’t just the summoning of guards, but the fact that the older mare had her behind turned to her. Misty stared at Haven’s beautiful long periwinkle tail, as well as a sneak peak of the Queen’s elegant cutie mark of a gold crown over a set of purple wings. It was on the nose, almost as if the mature yet elegant mare before her was always meant to be royalty, but that still didn’t deter Misty from staring as much as she could at the mesmerizing symbol…
Later at night after her daughters took Sparky back and went to bed, Queen Haven stared at Misty sleeping soundly on the mattress with the magic-nullifying ring that the guards carefully placed over her horn. Her heart thundering in her chest, thinking of the stallion she had loved many years ago with a pain that used to twist her heart, she admired the uniquely beautiful mane that Misty adorned along with her blue fur. Hearing about this Opaline tore up her heart more than she wanted to admit, and she moved over to the other side of the bed to her nightstand as she began writing a letter to Sunny. As much as she wanted one-on-one time getting to know the mysterious unicorn that captivated her, the fate of Equestria hanging in the balance was far more pressing.
After finishing the letter, she got in the covers and closed her eyes. As she began to fall asleep, she began thinking of the fake cutie mark on Misty’s flank until it manifested as a real butterfly. Imagining one day that the unicorn galloped the Royal Gardens chasing after said butterfly, without a care in the world as the Queen watched from inside the castle, the older mare smiled as she felt she was actually there. And whether the blue unicorn was interested in her or not, perhaps they would get to that free garden…
One day.
