"What can we do to help?" Queen Celestia asked.

"A few things, if it's not too much," I started. "The fae will never make it to Selenea with how many goblins, ogres, and trolls are in the forest. Can they stay within your kingdom until this is put to bed?"

"Of course, they can!" King Ajax exclaimed.

"Great. That's good. Um, the second thing is a bit more complicated. We have to get back to Selenea to tell King Orsand and gather our troops. Can you send out scouts to the other kingdoms to warn or gather theirs?"

"Which kingdoms?" King Argus questioned.

I glanced at Edmond. 

"All of them. Or as many as you can reach," he said.

"The elves. They are very skilled warriors and will be very useful in fighting back. The witches and wizards, but they live in the human realm so we're probably going to have to go there. The mermaids need to be warned. The hippogryphs will be a great ally," I said.

"What about the minotaur?" Queen Andromeda asked.

"Yes!" Edmond said. "The minotaur will be a great asset."

My eyes were drawn to a space next to Queen Lessa and King Argus. A soft golden light grew from nothing that nobody else seemed to notice. Except for Edmond. He side-eyed me quickly while the light grew.

Diana.

'Elanor, the Sphinx'

'What?'

'The Sphinx .'

'I thought she wasn't really good.'

'She's indifferent,' Diana said. 'But she'd be willing to help fight back against whoever is controlling the goblins, ogres, and trolls.'

'How do you know about that?' I asked.

'I know a lot of things.'

'Okay, so where is the Spynx?'

'She's usually in Egypt.'

I sighed heavily. 

How are we getting to Egypt? How are we going to find everyone?

I was about to say something to Diana when a familiar blue light appeared beside her. Aelfred appeared beside her.

'We're all here. Okay. Great. Aelfred, do you have a suggestion?' Edmond asked.

'The hippocampus. I'm sure the swarm will make its way to the ocean. They can be a naval force of sorts."

I nodded and turned to look at the other creatures around us. It was incredible how time seemed to just freeze when Diana and Aelfred would talk with us.

"What about the hippocampus?" I asked, going back to the mythological creatures in front of us.

"The hippocampus? They're limited to water though," King Solaris stated.

"They are, but I don't think the swarm will stop at just us. I'm fairly confident that whoever is controlling them will have them attack all of us, including those in the sea. The hippocampus and mermaids could aid in protecting from the water."

"And the sphinx," Edmond added. "She is a mighty creature who can help us as well."

"Yes. Okay. So that's a good starter list to build the armies. Plus we can supply all of our troops," King Ajax said.

King Aquilastrum stepped forward. "Obviously, the griffins are in 100%. We will help in any way that we can."

"The pegasus can help in any air travel," King Solaris said. "Egypt is not very close to here, and we are fairly fast fliers."

"The griffin can also help with reaching the faraway lands," King Aquilastrum said. "With the both of us getting to the far reaches of the world, we can build a big enough army to defeat whoever is doing this."

I nodded my head. My entire body shook. I wasn't entirely sure if it was fear, the anxiety of what I knew was to come, or the fact I was organizing an entire war.

"Okay. Let's get back to Selenea," I said to Edmond. 

"We'll get as many pegasuses together as we can to start heading to the other kingdoms. Do you want us to go to Selenea with you?" Queen Celestia asked.

"Yes. We're going to need help."

"I'm going to send Blaze back to inform my generals." He turned to King Solaris, "Can you have someone take Princess Elanor back to her kingdom?"

"Of course." He let out a loud whinny and within just a few moments a magnificent white pegasus with golden wings was landing in front of us.

I recognized the beautiful horse as Prince Zephyr.

"Father?" he asked. 

He looked at me and Prince Edmond, then the griffins. 

"What's going on?" he continued to ask.

"Son, we're going to need your help. Can you take Princess Elanor back to Selenea?"

"Yes, but why?" What is going on?" he asked again.

"The goblins, ogres, and trolls are swarming the forest and attacking. They've taken over the faery kingdom so the fae will stay here for the time being for protection."

He shook his massive head, his golden mane bouncing about his head. 

"When do we leave?" he asked.

"Now, if possible."

He nodded and knelt down so I could climb on his back.  Edmond climbed onto Titan's back and we were quickly in the air with King Aquilastrum. I looked down and watched as trolls swung mighty clubs at the barrier that protected Equinotia.

"Will the barrier hold against their ferocity?" Zephyr inquired, his voice tinged with concern.

"I cannot be certain," I replied. "I pray that it does."

Zephyr attempted to reassure me, "We have powerful warriors ready to defend it, should it falter." However, his words sounded more like a reassurance to himself.

As we flew towards Selenea, I gently rubbed Titan's neck, feeling a mix of anxiety and excitement. Compared to our previous journeys through the forest, flying was undoubtedly swifter. We quickly spotted the castle from our vantage point high in the sky, and Zephyr sensed my eagerness to return home.

"Hang on tight, Ellie!" he bellowed before taking off with a powerful flap of his wings. I clung tightly to Titan's mane as we zoomed through the sky toward our destination.

As we neared the castle's imposing towers and ramparts came into full view. I couldn't help but feel a mixture of emotions: relief to be back in my home city and trepidation about what lay ahead.

"Where should I land?"

"Near the lake. There's a way into the castle from there."

"Um, how keen is King Orsand on horses inside?"

I laughed lightly. "He's fine with a royal pegasus going into the castle."

Zephyr snorted in response.

As we neared the lake, my heart soared at the sight of the twins playing near its banks with Queen Amelia. They stopped and stared up as guards ran out from everywhere, weapons in hand ready to attack the intruders. Us.

"Uh oh," Zephyr said.

"Shit. They don't know that we're coming like this." I shifted on his back and looked down as an arrow whizzed past my head. "I'm getting really tired of having things shot at me."

"Call them off, Ellie!"

"Hold fire," I shouted. "You're aiming at Prince Zephyr of the Pegasus and your Princess!"

I heard muffled voices as the guards looked about.

"Can you lower a bit so I can just jump down?"

"Sure. How far can you jump?"

"Um, we're usually good with 20 feet. I've tried more than that."

"20 feet it is."

Zephyr lowered himself. The guards finally saw my face and lowered their weapons as I leaped from his back.

"Why were you shooting at us, Captain?" I questioned.

"Princess Elanor! Do forgive us. We did not know it was you."

"You saw it was a pegasus though. One of our allies. You shoot at our allies?"

"We just saw a flying horse in our borders. We didn't know."

"So you just shoot? Return to your quarters."

He nodded and hurried off. 

"Elanor, dear!" Amelia approached and wrapped me in a hug as Zephyr landed nearby and the rest finally came into the clearing. "What is going on?"

"Where is father? There are a lot of things we need to talk about."

She pointed inside. "I believe he's in his office."

I hurried inside, followed by the retinue of royals and Edmond.