Protection (See OOC!)

[AlextheAngel]

Zed sat in the main hall of the palace, nervously bouncing his foot on the hard stone floor. Next to him Alex sat bored, swinging his feet back and forth. Every once in a while, Zed would glance at his watch, then at the door in a rather impatient manner that contradicted his usual calm stature. Lately, both he and Alex have been receiving relentless attacks on their health by enemies that Zed thought he had defeated years ago. He was unable to predict when these attacks would come... and that's why he contacted two people he trusted greatly to help him out. He told Gale about what was going on... but he had to wait to tell Rhenn, considering that Rhenn never even knew that Zed had a son. Well, now would be a good time for him to meet him...

[Noedig]

Gale Storm received the letter from Zed and already stopped what he was working on at the desk.

He went to his room and donned his new uniform of a dark trench coat with lighting streaks decorated on the neck coat, turquoise neck-face warmer-mask, pale blue shirt, and a gray body suit under all that.

He quickly ran off instantly at the destination-- at the main hall of the palace. He trotted quickly through the halls and finally found Zed and Alex where they said they'd be.

"I'm here." He said.

[PrinceoftheNight]

Lullaby, a charcoal coated mare with a night sky mane and tail and really beautiful, noticed that Zed was heading towards Zed's room. She niticed that he and his sun ahd been attacked for thr laat few days, so she went to see if she could also help them, and as well see if they accedped her mother and father's help.

[InSaNiTyCaT]

Shadow had been in the Everfree for years after finishing their given mission, put an end to it, they said, it'll be fun, they said. She sighed as the now very tall changeling looked towards the forest as she relaxed in the morning light, or whatever could pass the Everfree's heavy canopy. Shadow had grown considerably taller and her magic had improved, entering the Princesses old Kingdom sure taught her a lot of things and she grew stronger everyday, she was about to get up and walk into town to begin her daily routine before noticing a flash o magic and a letter appearing straight in front of her eyes. "Oh my! From...Zed...He has son? Darky and Luna are married and have a child? He married a pegasus? He's adopted into the royal family," Shadow begun faffing about wide eyed as she stuffed her magic saddelbags in record time with all her essentials and flew full speed out of the Everfree, heading straight for the train that was to leave Ponyville. In a few seconds she shot on and in the same time shapeshifted into her Unicorn form like a blur, luckily no one was on the carriage she was currently occupied in.

-

Shadow Cocoon stepped off the train paying her price and heading towards the Kingdom of the Adopted Royal, her dark pink coat and Black mane the same of before just...better kept and more mature in it's styling. The Unicorn walked up to the guards and passed them the letter before walking in and attempting to find the main hall, if she remembered correctly it was this way.

The changeling shapeshifted again and pulled out a black cloak from her magic saddelbags and wrapped the item around her, her long twisted black and grey ombre horn the only feature visable. With a loud clicking noise, the Changeling stepped into the Hall of Old Memories. Zed, Rhenn, what must be Alex's son was already there.

[ToothpasteThy]

Rhenn was indeed there, but he hadn't yet met up with the others, nor did anyone see his approach from the opposite direction.

He had a bit of extra floofy fur on his chin from a lack of a recent trimming, though that was to be expected; he was always off on faraway missions in the wilderness or sailing with the navy. On this particular occasion, Rhenn was not the nicest smelling stallion in the vicinity, which could be a side-effect of being a bit damp from spending a lot of time outside training new recruits of the Lunar guard in all-weather conditions. Though that didn't explain why he hadn't trimmed his chin yet.

As he slowly approached the group, he wasn't paying attention to who was there, but rather the thing in his eye that was stinging. When he finally got the sting out of his eye, it left him fluttering an eyelid, which restricted his ability to really see who was around when he looked up. (the fact that bat ponies typically aren't as perceptive with their eyes as others didn't help)

"Hey! Well if it ain't th' wolf tamin' angel 'imself, Zed! I receiv'd word that ya needed s'm 'elp with someth'n. In all honesty, tho', I didn't list'n a smidgen t' th' messenger. I was kinda busy an' jus' gather'd that you'd be needin' me."

[AlextheAngel]

Even though Zed had only invited a few ponies, he was absolutely relieved that more decided to show up. Of course, he should have known that Lullaby would be there as well. He gave a nod to Gale in greeting while Alex waved and smiled. However, the child glanced curiously at the dark-cloaked pony and the Arieon that followed in soon after. Obviously, the child had never met those two before, and shyly hid behind his father, his wings folding behind him.

"Hey, Rhenn. Hey, Shadow. It's been a while." Zed said, though he didn't seem as enthusiastic as he usually would be... and for good reason, too. The young man listened with some annoyance as Rhenn explained that he did not listen to anything the messenger told him, and he gave a small sigh. "Well, then I guess this may come as a bit of a shock to you." He stepped aside and laid a hand on the child's shoulder. "This is Alex. My son."

[Noedig]

Gale Storm saw everypony coming in. He said nothing for now until he mentioned his son. "Ah, hello, Alex." He said. "Good to see you again."

[PrinceoftheNight]

Lullaby smiled to Gale, Alex and Zed and saw the others walk in. Who were they? She didn't knew, but looked like Zed's friends.

She smiled to them. "Good day. My name is Midnight Lullaby, daughter of Princess Luna." She said happily to the two before walking up to Alex.

"Hello little one~" she said happily with a soft nuzzle in his nose.

[InSaNiTyCaT]

Shadow chuckled from under the hood,  of course he'll know it is me! The Changeling was now rivaling the height of Celestia, her horn considerable longer as well as her mane and wings. Like everyone else, she too had changed. Rhenn with his unkempt features,  Zed sporting a child, the same as what appeared to be the same with...Darky? Luna? 

 

Removing her hood with her glowing fuchsia magic, Shadow stood forward as she peered down at the child, smiling her pointed teeth were revealed. "I am Shadow Cocoon, little one, it is a great pleasure to meet you! Your father is truly wonderful," Shadow then laughed as she looked at Zed. "I'm catching up now! How are you Zed?" Shadow smiled as she then turned to the other.

 

"Hello Midnight Lullaby!" She hoped her changeling look didn't put her off but she didn't care anyway and just continued with her greetings.

 

"Gale? Hello to you too," Shadow smiled before the mare removed her cloak fully and folded it and placed the material back into her enchanted saddelbags. The main reason she wore it after she entered the castle was just incase some guards spotted a very tall Queen Chrysalis look-alike walking about. Nasty, very nasty.

[ToothpasteThy]

Rhenn did find the news somewhat of a shock, but then again, it wasn't like the princesses told Rhenn anything other than orders. Even then, he had never even spoken with Celestia face-to-face. The closest he had come to talking with her was through letters giving reports on the latest missions while Luna was too busy to oblige.

"Well I'll be curs'd t' Tart'rus! I should've read yer letter! Now I've gone an' showed up t' a greetin' while lookin' like I'd just built a castle 'f thistles!" Rhenn brushed a foreleg over his mane to try to smooth out the stray hairs, but only to find that they wouldn't cooperate. A tad annoying to look like so in the presence of Zed and his son, though he didn't mind being messy around those he didn't know; it had even become a trademark look of his to a fair number of ponies.

That's when Rhenn took notice of the others-- immediately recognizing Cocoon despite her natural appearance being different yet again. He didn't know any of the others, but he felt like he may have recognized the pegasus from somewhere before. Either way, Rhenn made sure he gave a friendly nod and wave to the changeling.

[Noedig]

"Hello, Shadow Cocoon." He said to her, bowing his head a little. "A pleasure to meet you."

Gale Storm viewed over to Rhenn to take a good look. Based on his accent, he is apparently from the sea. A navy pony, Rhenn seems to Gale Storm.

He looked over to Zed to see if he's going to fill in on what they should do to help.

"So... the black Pegasus." He said. "Last time I really dealt with him, Alex and I got teleported from Canterlot then all the way to the Frozen North in a matter of seconds. What's he up to now?"

[AlextheAngel]

"Hi, Uncle Gale." Alexreplied, before he smiled and giggled a little bit when Lullaby nuzzled him. "Hi, Lullaby.~" the child replied, before looking curiously up at the Changeling who identified herself as Shadow Cocoon. He was a little intimidated at first, due to how tall she was (She was at least a full head taller than Zed!), and the fangs that flashed when she smiled. However, his timidness quickly disappeared when she complimented his father. She seemed nice enough, and Zed seemed to know her fairly well. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Shadow." He said with a smile and a nod. If there was one thing the the boy knew how to do, it was flatter somepony with formal politeness. He glanced over at Rhenn, who seemed a bit more messy than everyone else, but the boy remained as polite as ever. After all, his father could be a bit messy as well. "It's nice to meet you, as well." He said with a smile.

Once the greetings were out of the way, Zed nodded to Gale. "Right." He said, before beginning to pace back and forth. "For the last... two weeks, I believe, he's been ordering attacks on both me and Alex. Mother has quite a bit of his men in prison." He paused for a moment. "Celestia, I mean." He rubbed his eyes and continued. "We've tried getting information on them, but so far it's been fruitless. That was until I overheard that this... Dark Pegasus has made an alliance with.... Um..." Zed paused again, before putting both of his hands over Alex's ears... much to the boy's displeasure. "Diana Frostmere." He finished in a hushed tone so he couldn't hear... mainly because the child was horribly afraid of the Frost Mare.

[Noedig]

Gale Storm looked at the boy after hearing the Frost Mare's name. He wasn't sure if the boy was hallucinating or not... but considering how things are, he doesn't need to bother being skeptical.

"That... sounds possible." He said. "I ran into her before-- once. It was by accident during that one mission many years ago, way before I became Duke."

[InSaNiTyCaT]

Shadow listened intently before she became very confused. "I'm sorry, Frost mere? I do not believe I've ever heard of this woman?" Shadow Cocoon normally was caught up but she'd been so busy and to be honest didn't worry about such things, she wasn't called for the forces until now.

"So is Diana Frostmere? A relative, of The Princesses? She sounds rather important?" Shadow smiled before her horn started glowing. "It may be easier for me to peer into your mind for this Frostmere? So you don't have to...talk about it," she added the end in a hushed tone, in case for the child's ears.

[PrinceoftheNight]

"Oh... her..." Lullaby simply said as she walked back to where the others were. "Had to be her." She added. She remembered what she was told about her, so she knew it was bad.

[ToothpasteThy]

Rhenn smiled and gave a friendly nod to Alex. He looked like a cool little kid, though that made him wonder why Zed hadn't said anything to him earlier regarding his son. If one thing was to be noted of Rhenn aside from his typical appearance, it's that he loves the company of younger crowds. This made him wonder to himself a bit as Zed began to explain why everypony was summoned in the first place.

Just getting lost by all the babble about some 'Frostmere' pony, Rhenn didn't ask about it figuring that he'd get all that he needed to know in due time. Whoever the crazy horse was, it was apparent that she was no laughing matter. Otherwise there would be more laughing. What was crystal clear to Rhenn was that Zed claimed that he was being attacked, which was most alarming to the areion guard; bringing him out of his own thoughts in a tangle.

"Gettin' attack'd?! I ain't able t' recall our defenses bein' breach'd at any point 'n th' last few weeks! You meanin' t' say tha' ponies been invadin' an' we 'aven't even noticed??" Rhenn was confused by this information, and he wasn't too excited about the possibility that the guard had been failing to protect Canterlot's citadel.

[AlextheAngel]

"Precisely." Zed replied with a curt nod of his head, before brushing a lock of hair out of his face. "Both of Mother's soldiers and Aunt Luna's are on high alert, but these ponies are literally everywhere. Which is something I can't do all at once." He shook his head and sighed. "Try not to feel too bad, Rhenn. I mean... these ponies are trained thieves and assassins, who have been in this line of work practically their whole lives. They can sneak past even the thickest defenses with surprising ease. I'm also supposed to be keeping this place safe, and somehow they got past me as well." He pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "So... we're going to be taking a trip. We'll have to go to each city in Equestria and find out whatever we can. Luckily, the Princesses were nice enough to allow me to have a house in each city where we can stay. Solar Flare is currently in Cloudsdale with his own party, and they're doing everything they can." He stopped when Shadow asked to take a peak into his mind, for fear of mentioning the Frost Mare in front of Alex. "Yeah, go for it. But make it quick, we need to leave here as soon as possible." Some would think that after the whole incident with Chrysalis and the Hypnotist, then Zed would be reluctant to let anyone near his mind. However, Shadow Cocoon was someone he trusted greatly, and he knew she would mean no harm.

[Noedig]

"Alright then, let's move." Gale Storm said. Waiting to leave with everyone.

[InSaNiTyCaT]

Shadow's horn glowed brighter as the mare's eyes were just white and glazed over. "She's an Alicorn? Embodiment of death, snow? She's cold and evil, raising the dead and taking to necromancy...dragons? She's jealous? Dangerous? Shadow watched the story play before her like a film from Zed's knowledge and after she was done, pulled herself out of his mind her eyes returning to normal after she blinked a little. "She's quite something isn't she?" Shadow shook herself as secured her saddel bags and ensured she had extra cloaks.

"If it's getting cold, my dear I'm being prepared for it!" She chuckled before Shadow nodded to Gale. "Agreed," as she herself begun walking out, her holed hooves making loud sounds on the floor.

[PrinceoftheNight]

"Alright, i will go and get ready and will tell you when I had finished." Lullaby said to Zed before she exited the room and went to get her stuff ready, as well as tell luna.

[AlextheAngel]

Zed nodded, before moving to pick up two large suitcases, while Alex grabbed a saddlebag. "All right. I hope you all have everything you need. If not, then I'll buy it for you. Our first destination is Manehatten, and Mother has already gone through the trouble of reserving a place for us to stay there." He pulled up the sleeve of his trademark leather jacket, before sighing and walking out toward the exit. "All right, the train should be here now. Let's move." He said, gently patting Alex's back. "We can all catch up and get better acquainted with each other on the ride there."

[Noedig]

Gale Storm followed Zed and Alex, exiting the hallway.

[InSaNiTyCaT]

Shadow nodded, allowing the Princes to past them first and then Gale. "Goodbye Canterlot and Ponyville! Hello Manehatten!" Shadow was secretly glad they were going here, she was after all an aspiring artist! Or designer? Maybe you could call her an architect? She didn't really know but it was always doing something with artistic and creation in such ways.

[ToothpasteThy]

Rhenn nodded. "I guess I'll prob'ly be waitin' there at th' station for y'all." He turned his head back in the direction of where he came; the training grounds "I jus' gotta let mah group 'f rookies know that I ain't gonna be avail'ble 'til further notice first."

Then he departed off just as everyone decided to split their paths in order to prepare for whatever journeys may lie ahead. Whatever lay ahead. Nothing too tough for all of them to handle, right?

[AlextheAngel]

Zed had anticipated that Shadow would like the idea of going to Manehatten first. After all, she was indeed an amazingly skilled artist, as the young man remembered seeing her rather detailed pictures of Celestia back when she allowed them to stay at her house in the Everfree. If she wanted to make herself a little better known, then the big city was a good place to start. Zed gave Rhenn a nod. "All right, we'll meet you there. If there's anything else you need to take care of, then I'll tell the conductor to wait for you." It might be wise to clean yourself up a bit, buddy. Zed thought as he continued walking out with the rest of the group to the train.