Chapter 19- Into the Mountains

The next morning Wrangler made herself a warm bath. She climbed in and laid her back against the tub to relax. It would be a few days before she would get another warm bath so she wanted to enjoy this one. After her body had relaxed she reached down and brought her pendent to eye level. She noticed something swirling in the gem, concentrating on the gem she didn't hear the maid knock. <
br> "Excuse me...."
"Ahh" Wrangler jumped from being startled.
"I-I-I'm sorry miss but you didn't answer when I knocked."
"It's okay, does someone need me?"
"I was asked to tell you that the King and Queen would like you to join them outside for breakfast this morning."
"Thank you, I will be out in a few minutes" she smiled.

The maid turned and left shutting the door behind her. After getting her bearings back Wrangler quickly washed up. After drying off she combed and braided her hair.

"Flameblade you up?" she called into his room.
He emerged from his room with a towel around his neck "Yeah the screaming woke me up."
"Sorry about that. The King and Queen want us to join them outside for breakfast."
"Let me comb my hair and I will be ready to go."

Wrangler giggled he looked like someone had been wrestling with him. A few minutes later he reappeared with his hair comb.

"Let's go" he opened the door and waited for her to exit the room.

Wrangler lead the way to the gazebo where the King and Queen were waiting for them.

"Ah there you are" smiled King Bryn.
"Good morning your highnesses" they bowed.
"Please sit, eat and let's talk" King Bryn told them.
"How are you, your highness?" Wrangler asked Queen Fauna.
"Tired but I wanted to see you before you were off" she smiled.

A servant brought plates out for Wrangler and Flameblade. After their plates were filled King Bryn cleared his throat.

"I have a couple of questions about the information you told me last night."
"I will try and answer them" smiled Wrangler.
"First how do you know where to find the dragon?"
"Talis will guide me and he has told me I will find him in the largest mountain."
"Hmm that is two days travel from here I will be sending some of my best soldiers with you."
"As long as they are comfortable with meeting a dragon, that's fine" Wrangler looked at him with concern in her eyes.
"Yes, yes they know the details" he smiled.
"The other question?" Wrangler asked.
"How do you know you are a descendant of the Triad?"
"Well to be honest I am not one hundred percent sure but from what we read and I have a feeling its true. I will have to find out from Talis."
"Wrangler do you think the other members of the Triad are still around?" asked Queen Fauna.
"I'm not for sure but I am betting they are. Probably just kept themselves secret so no one would cast them out."
"But we would never allow that" gasped Queen Fauna.
Wrangler smiled "I know but remember how they have been treated in the past. Also the descendants may not know who they are."

A solider came up and whispered something in King Bryn's ear. King Bryn nodded and the solider left.

"Dear?" Queen Fauna asked.
"The soldiers are prepared and waiting whenever you are ready to go. I will introduce you once you are finished eating."
"I'm finished whenever you're done" she looked at Flameblade.
"Then let's get headed since it is two days journey. I put a note in with the books for King Silverwind can you make sure he gets them quickly?"
"Of course, one of my soldiers will be taking them. I am sending a unicorn so they can wink there faster."
"Please be safe and come back quickly" Queen Fauna told Wrangler as she hugged her.
"I will but you have to promise me you'll rest."
"Deal" she smiled.
"This way" King Bryn motioned for them to follow him. They walked to the castle gates were a group of five soldiers stood. They stood at attention when the King approached them.

"At ease men, I appreciate you taking on this mission. I would like to introduce you to Flameblade and Wrangler. Flameblade will be in charge since he is from King Silverwind's army. Treat him with the utmost respect and protect Wrangler with your life.
"Yes sir" they said in unison.
"Now for the introductions" he walked over to the first solider. "We start with Ice Crystal, Tornado, Thundercloud, Fireball and Sunburst" he said each name as they walked by each pony.

"Nice to meet all of you" smiled Wrangler.
Flameblade cleared his throat "We leave in one hour, please meet us back here." He turned to Wrangler "we should get our bags packed."
"Okay" she turned and headed off towards the castle.
"Provisions will be ready when you return sir" Fireball told him.
"Wonderful. How about a map?"
"With all due respect sir we don't need one. We know these mountains like the bottom of our hooves." Ice Crystal spoke up.

Flameblade looked over at King Bryn who nodded his head in agreement with Ice Crystal. "Could you get one for me I would like to know where we are. Wrangler and I will be back shortly." He turned and took off to catch up with Wrangler.

"Please make sure they stay safe and unharmed."
"Yes sir" they answered in unison.
"Good luck and be safe" he turned and left them there to finish packing.
Inside the castle Wrangler was packing her items when Flameblade entered her room.

"Just about done." She smiled.
"Take your time, I still need to pack. Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"Are you really ready to do this?"
Wrangler smiled at him "Yes thanks to your words the other night and knowing that I have support from others."
"You are one brave pony" chuckled Flameblade.
"Has the solider left with the books?"
"Not that I am aware of. Why?"
"I want to write a quick letter to Morning Star before we leave."
"You can do that while I pack and then we will find King Bryn before we leave."
Wrangler smiled "Okay" she went to the small desk in the room and started writing Morning Star. Flameblade reappeared just as she was addressing the envelope to Morning Star.
"Ready" he asked.
"Yes"

She grabbed her bag and followed him down the hall. They stopped in the throne room to say goodbye.

"We will return shortly, thank you for your soldiers" Flameblade said to him.
"Yes thank you and may I ask one more favor?"
"Of course dear"
"Can you see that Princess Morning Star gets this letter?" she handed the letter to King Bryn.
"No problem, I will make sure it is delivered straight to her."
"Thank you" she smiled.
"We better go. See you soon your highness." Flameblade bowed.
"Have a safe trip you two."
"Thank you again" bowed Wrangler.

King Bryn watched as they exited the throne room his heart sinking a little. "I will miss having them around. Clover please come here."

A purple unicorn entered the throne room.
"When you deliver the books please see that Princess Morning Star gets this." He handed the letter to Clover.
"Yes sir, I am leaving now for Royal Sky Castle." He bowed and winked out.

Out in the castle grounds the group was getting ready to leave the castle.
"Sir, Ice Crystal will lead the way into the mountains. We will top at dusk to eat and sit up camp We should arrive at our destination tomorrow evening." Fireball told Flameblade.

"Good to know let's head out" Flameblade ordered.
Making sure they had everything one more time the group sit out for the mountains. They walked on the outskirts of the village and ponies came out to see them. The boys acknowledged them waving and saying hello. When they reached the entrance to the mountains Ice Crystal stopped and turned to them.

"We shouldn't run into any problems most of the animals are forest creatures, some are more fierce than the others but they should stay away."
Flameblade nodded to him and they entered the forest. The farther they got in the trees grew thicker with clearings scattered here and there. Wrangler got to see some small forest creatures going about their daily lives. Once in awhile they would see a breezie pop in and out of the bushes. One even jumped onto Wrangler's nose.

"Hi! I'm Fern, Don't you just love flowers I do but they make me sneeze. Who are you?" she asked without taking a breath.
This made Wrangler giggle "I'm Wrangler and yes I love flowers."
"Fern?!" came a few voices.
"Oh got to go, those are my friends. Bye" she flew back into the bushes.
Wrangler watched her disappear back into the bushes and giggled.
"Not all breezies are like that"
Wrangler turned to find Tornado beside her.
"Fern's just very talkative. Most of them are very shy and hide from you." He told her.
Wrangler smiled at him "So you are all brothers?"
"Yes Ice Crystal is the oldest and Thundercloud is the youngest. Each of us joined the army since our father was in it."
"That's a neat tradition. May I ask who your father is?"
"Corporal Hurricane but you wont be meeting him."
"Oh" Wrangler gave him a questioning look.
"He's dead" huffed a voice behind her. She turned to find Thundercloud glaring at her.
"I'm sorry" she started to apologize but Tornado shook his head.
"Don't be he fought in the great battle and lost his life. So where do you come from? I should know a bit about the pony we're protecting" he winked at her.
"You know enough" Flameblade snapped at him as he walked over to them.
"Flameblade" Wrangler started to protest but was interrupted by Ice Crystal.
"Tornado take the lead"
Tornado shrugged and trotted up to Ice Crystal.
"Will talk about that later little brother" he slowed down and walked with Fireball.
"Flameblade what is your deal?!" hissed Wrangler.
"Later" he started to walk away but she stopped dead in her tracks.
"Answer me!" she glared at him.
He walked up to her and said in a harsh whisper "Not here, not now! Keep moving so we stay on schedule." He turned and walked off "Keep moving!"

Wrangler stood there and glared at him not knowing what is problem was.

"Better keep moving or you'll get left behind." Thundercloud shot at her as he walked by.

"What is your problem with me?!" she demanded.
He just shook his head and kept walking never giving her a second glance. She sighed and followed everyone else. Flamblade avoided her for the rest of the day except to check on her after Tornado was done leading the group. Ice Crystal spent the afternoon walking with her telling her about the animals and plants in the forest. When they reached a clearing Ice Crystal stopped them.

"We have reached our campsite, tomorrow we will get headed out at first light. Fireball please make the campfire. Thundercloud and Sunbeam please find some fresh water and the rest of us will set the camp up."
The ponies took off in different directions to do their appointed tasks.

Flameblade walked over to Wrangler "Where would you like to sleep?"
"Away from you." She snapped at him.
"Look I did what I did this afternoon for your protection."
"Really! I'll I seen was someone being nice to me and you getting jealous. Other males can talk to me Flameblade I'm not your girlfriend."
"I know that but you don't know if he wants to be more than just friends."
"Does it really matter? I am a big girl Flameblade I can make those decisions myself. Are you jealous?"
Flameblade shook his head "Do what you want, I'm sleeping over there" he walked to a boulder and started to unpack his bag.
"Don't be angry with him" Tornado said as he walked up to her. "He's just looking out for you."
"I know but what he did to you was uncalled for."
"It's okay really, I know where he's coming from."
Wrangler raised an eyebrow "You do?"
"Yeah just go over and make up. I'll be by the fire if you want to join me." He winked at her and walked away.
She walked over to Flameblade and cleared her throat "Hey"
"Oh do you want this spot, I can move."
"No. I came over here to tell you that I still don't know why you were rude to Tornado but I don't want to be apart from you. Morning Star isn't here and I feel safe when you're around."
"Really?" he blushed.
"Yes. Can I sleep next to you?"
"Pick a side" he motioned to a sleeping bag.

She pulled her sleeping bag off her back and unrolled her sleeping bag laying it a few feet from his.

"Should we join the others?" she asked.

His stomach growled in response causing them both to laugh. After everyone had eaten they called it a night.

"We don't need watches, most of the animals are asleep. We are light sleepers so we'll hear any noises." Ice Crystal told them
Wrangler crawled into her sleeping bag "Night guys"
"Goodnight" everyone replied.

..............

The campfire was burning low and everyone was asleep when a green glow filled the camp site.

"Wrangler"
"Talis?"
"Yes. Stay on the trail you are taking until you come to a fork in the road. Take the trail leading up it will bring you straight to the cave. Once you arrive at the cave camp for the night and come find me tomorrow."
"How will I find you?"
"You will know the way once you enter the cave and I will be guiding you. Sleep well little one."


"Wrangler wake up."
She could hear someone calling in the distance and felt her body softly being shaken. After a few minutes she flickered her eyes open to find all the boys standing around her.

"Are you okay?" asked Flameblade
"Yes I'm sorry if I woke you."
"That necklace woke us up" grumbled Thundercloud.
Wrangler placed a hoof over it "I'm sorry."
"Why is it glowing?" asked Tornado
"All I can tell you is when ever Talis contacts me it glows, I would presume since we are so close to him our connection is stronger." She told them.
"So Talis is the dragon's name" Ice Crystal stated.
"Yes that is what he told me it was."
"If your okay then we should get some sleep" Ice Crystal smiled at her.
"Yes please forgive me I didn't mean to wake all of you."
The boys turned and went back to there sleeping bags.
Wrangler turned to Flameblade "Was I that loud?"
"No your necklace was glowing extremely bright."
"It must be because I am so close to Talis."
"Probably, let's try and get some sleep."
"Okay" she yawned.

They both laid down and feel back asleep. The next morning everyone was quite during breakfast.

"We should get headed out" Flameblade stated.
"Yes, let's pack up and head out" Ice Crystal. "We should be at our destination in the evening" he stated.

They walked most of the way not talking except for Flameblade and Ice Crystal would discuss there where abouts. After a short break in the afternoon Wrangler approached Tornado.

"So any breezies in this area?"
"Uh no, we're to far up" he didn't look at her.
"Any interesting creatures?" she tried again.
"Ummm"
"Tornado come here" called Ice Crystal.
"Gotta Go" he took off.

Wrangler sighed and hung her head she could hear Ice Crystal chewing Tornado out. Se felt lonely and started think of Morning Star.

"Hey why so glum?" Flameblade asked as he joined her.
"I'm lonely and miss being with Morning Star" she told him.
"You should be excited, tomorrow we are finally going to meet Talis"
"I know but I have no one to talk to."
"You have me and the others talk to you." He smiled
"Not since last night, Tornado just acted weird with me."
"Remember they've never seen anything like that, he'll come around" he winked at her.
"Yeah maybe" she half heartedly smiled.
Ice Crystal joined them and smiled at her "Hey sorry about Tornado's behavior. He just confused about last night."

"You aren't?" she asked

"I don't know what that pendant does but if you wanted to hurt us you would have already done so. Besides you don't seem the type to take a group of boys into the mountains and hurt them." He smiled at her. "Flameblade if you want to go over our position with Fireball I'll walk with Wrangler."

"Are you okay with that?" Flameblade asked her
"Sure" she smiled.
Ice Crystal explained to her the higher they went up the mountains the animals became scarce. "The air is to thin for most and the trees and grass stop growing at a certain point. Most the animals are herbivores so they tend to stay farther down."

"Wow I didn't know that."
"Ice Crystal" Tornado called back to him.
Wrangler and Ice Crystal walked up to where he was standing. They had come to a fork in the trail on the left the trail led down and to the right it went up.

"Which way?" Tornado asked.
"Right" Wrangler answered without hesitation.
They all looked at her surprised she answered so quickly.
"Are you sure Wrangler?" Flameblade asked
"Yes, Talis told me last night."
"Let's go then" Ice Crystal instructed "Thundercloud take the lead."
Thundercloud mutter under his breath and started up the trail. Half way up the trail the pendant started glowing brighter.

"Look" Flameblade pointed it out to Wrangler who was watching a bird in the sky.
"It's because we are getting closer to him. Does it bug anyone?"
Thundercloud started to say something but Flameblade glared at him and he snapped his mouth shut.

"No it's fine" Flameblade told her.
"It will probably get brighter as we go, Talis is leading us to him" she told them.
"If it gets to bright I have a bandana you can tie around your neck" Sunburst offered.
"Okay, Let's get going then." She replied

None of them noticed the pony watching them from the bushes. They reached the cave at dusk and made camp.

"Wrangler maybe you should go get Sunburst's bandana so we can sleep tonight." Suggested Flameblade.
"Good idea" she walked over to Sunburst "May I use your bandana now? I don't want to keep anyone awake tonight."
"Sure" he got it out of his bag "I'll even tie it for you."
She turned around and moved her hair so he could tie it around her neck.

"Nice and snug?" he asked
"Yes, Thank you." She smiled.
"You should go talk to Tornado" he suggested.
"Will he talk to me?" she asked.
"He's just not sure what to think right now."

Wrangler nodded at him and headed over to Tornado, who was sitting by himself away from the group.

"Hey can I join you?" she asked him
"Sure" he smiled weakly.
"Look I don't understand much of this much of this myself, I'm taking it one step at a time. Please don't be awkward with me" she looked at him.
He sighed "I don't mean to be rude it's just weird. Not saying your weird, the situation is.."
She giggled at him "I understand what you are trying to say. Wow you can really see the stars from up here."
"Do you like to star gaze?" he asked
Wrangler sighed "Princess Morning Star and I use to sit in her garden and star gaze together."
"You'll see her soon" he smiled at her.
"Thanks, I better head to bed before Flameblade flips out" she smiled at him. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight" he smiled back at her.

When everyone was asleep a pony crept into the camp. Walking lightly it approached Wrangler and reached out for her necklace.

"Gotcha!!!!" yelled Thundercloud