Princess Luna sighed, she looked out the tower's balcony at her niece's sparkling kingdom. Princess Cadance and Shining Armor had just recently got their kingdom in order and set about starting an annual dance, the Crystal Ball. It was just like the Grand Galloping Gala, which Luna disliked as well.
It was always the same, when she and her sister where together it was like everyone gave her the cold shoulder. Celestia was always the one who got the attention and thought it irked her she knew better than to dwell on those feelings. A thousand years on the moon saw to that.
A muffled applause could be heard through the door. More than likely the subjects loving her sister's latest speech how Equestria and the Crystal Empire would work with unity and open trade.
Luna absently rubbed her temples, the amount of paper work she had done in night court was mountainous, and all to ensure friendly relations could be kept with the new neighboring kingdom. Thought she didn't resent being a princess she did wish she could walk somewhere without contentiously having to deal with every single minor request being brought to her attention while every major one went to her sister, or even having a few guards hold her hand just so she could walk the halls in her own castle. It sickened her how they treated her like a child sometimes.
She looked out at her night sky, her eyes drinking in the dazzling stars, how she loved them so. Yet they did not provide the comfort she wished. Sighing again she looked to the north where the icy wasteland was. A shimmering glint caught her eye, it was strange, and it called to her. Carefully she listened to see if her guards where talking. She barley heard their muffled conversations and grinned. They wouldn't accompany her on this occasion.
After stuffing an extra sweater in her backpack Luna walked onto the balcony in a thick jacket,scarf and gloves on her hands. She looked at the far edge of the city and began channeling her energy. In a flash she teleported just to the outer edges of the city. She hugged against a nearby wall to make sure no guards would try to stop her. After listening to the guards talk and walk by Luna finally found her chance, quietly she slipped out of the city and made her way to the Frozen North.
It was an wasteland, it stretched on for miles and miles, nothing but frozen ice and snow. She scanned the horizon hoping to see the glint again. She looked to and fro and cursed her stupidity, she had left for nothing and now she would be in trouble with her sister. Just as she was losing hope she saw it again. She focused harder and made it out again. She pulled a pair of binoculars from her pack and focused on it again. Thought the early night made it difficult to see, she saw a very strange shape in the ice. Gearing back up she moved to the object with renewed vigor.
As she drew near she could finally make out a what the glint was, it was a lantern and it was on a wooden pole. The wooden pole was attached to what ever was under the oddly shaped sheet of ice. As she drew closer she could make out a makeshift camp by a cavity leading into what ever this thing was. Quickly she made herself invisible. It wasn't true invisibility, it merely shifted the light so she wouldn't be seen, but if she walked in softer snow it may reveal her location.
As she got closer she heard gruff voices and exclamations. She continued to get closer until she halted. A man rounded a tent and walked to the opening. He wore a metal helmet with an eagle's feather in it, leather armor, an a poorly kept sword at his side. An average eagle clan mercenary. Luna now was worried, whatever they where doing so close to the Crystal Empire and Equestrian border couldn't be good.
As the man passed by her she fell into step behind him. The man passed some guards by the cavity who waved him through. The guards looked very bored, which to Luna indicated they were either very poor guards or they had been here for quite some time.
When they passed the cavity the scenery changed, surrounding her was wood, very old dusty wood. Another man greeted the one in front of her.
"Goldbeak wants to know if there is anything of worth on this old wreck."
"We are still searching, but there is something strange."
"Like what?"
"This ship is an airship, and its different than any kingdoms."
The man in front of her paused and thought hard before being to walk out. "Alright, see what you can find out, ill try to buy you some more time."
The other man waved his friend off then moved deeper in. Luna began following him, hoping the old boards wouldn't give her away. The man seemed to have a certain destination in mind because he followed a random series of halls and doors each with its own small lantern. Luna was quite surprised just how large this airship was, and how easily the new man walked it. Evidently they had been entrenched here for some time. The man finally reached his desired location, a door that was barred with black metal and a heavy lock. The man pulled out a key and inserted it into the lock. He tried multiple times to open it and after a few failures he kicked the door. The wood in the door splintered into dust upon contact. The man smacked himself in the head then yanked the door off its ancient hinges. He pulled a lantern out and lit it, with his new light the man walked into the new room.
Inside the room was ice, dust and a few skeletons. The far wall was the ice shelf, where the ship ended the wood around it was blackened and broken, looking like a jagged wound. The man bumped one of the dead residents which instantly crumbled into a fine powder. The man cursed himself and continued searching, he moved to a wall covered in spears and swords and happily took one. The sword crumbled, its rusted friends fell from the rack and crumbled as well.
Luna cocked an eyebrow, just how old was this ship anyways? The man began cursing and left saying how worthless the room was.
As the man left she was encased in darkness. Using another spell she gave herself night vision, the room lit up in an eerie light and dark scheme, she carefully continued to search hoping to find something to show her sister that wouldn't crumble on contact. On an icy patch her boot slipped and she fell, her hand landed on something that sent a frighting shock up her spine. She quickly retracted and looked at what it was. It was a being, encased in ice with a gauntlet stretched outwards. She turned off the night vision and cast a small glowing light into her hand.
The being was covered completely in armor, the metal was a golden bronze and was cover in gears and sprockets. The head looked like a full helmet that had blackish tubing from the mouth area, wrapping around the neck to its back. The visor had two eye pieces that where a dark green glass and was surround in gears and small metal pieces. On the things back was a broadsword and a strange metal device, the ice obscured the object so she tried focusing on it harder, it was a long piece that had a handle on the back, a curved stock. It had an outline similar to the experimental muskets the guards had developed in secrecy but this one looked far more advanced from what little she could see. On the beings hip was multiple daggers, an axe, and on each side metal and wood "L's" they where of similar design to the advance musket.
What ever the thing was it was armed heavily and armored even more. She couldn't see the things expression but its position showed it was reaching out for something. She hesitantly grabbed its gauntlet and felt a shiver run up her spine. She let go and took a hesitant breath.
It was alive.
