A/N: Welcome, everyone, to Different Threads. To those who are here after reading Shadow of the Mind: welcome back. To those who are new to my writing: I hope you stick around. This is going to be an...interesting one, if nothing else. Likely, most of you are already thinking that (assuming you read the description). Anyway, I have a lot planned, and I'm excited to share it with you all as we begin this journey.

And, of course, if you enjoy, feel free to favorite/follow and leave a review. I eagerly await your guys' response.

Prologue

Snowfox was destined to be queen.

Ever since she'd hatched, she knew that the Icewing Queenship would be hers. No matter the cost, no matter the time it took, she was born to rule. She cared for nothing and no one save the throne.

And as the only legitimate female heir to that throne, she was practically guaranteed it. There were no other dragons that could challenge Queen Diamond; she was the only dragoness of close enough relation and age to try. Practically since she had hatched she had wanted to, and since then she had been patiently waiting for and working to the right time to strike. Only two things stood in her way.

First was Queen Diamond herself. While beginning to increase in age, Diamond was still a powerful dragoness, both physically and mentally. Snowfox, on the other talon, had never quite inherited the physical strength from the queen's line. That's not to say that she was weak, but she did not like her chances going up against the queen. Furthermore, Diamond was a queen much beloved by the Icewings. Under her rule, the Ice Kingdom had seen decades of prosperity unparalleled to any in history. Snowfox feared that challenging her—even legitimately—could result in unrest in the kingdom, and possibly dissension among the lower circles. She did not want to have to begin her rule by putting down rebellions. So instead, she decided to use what she had been given to bring about her rule: her brilliant mind.

That would also be a great factor in dealing with the second thing that stood in her way: her cousin, Prince Arctic. While not a challenger for the throne himself, Arctic was now coming of age where he would soon marry and have dragonets. Dragonets meant competition, and Snowfox did not want any of that at all. Unfortunately, Arctic was also an animus, which meant that it would be much harder to get away with killing him, even if it was meant to look like an unfortunate accident. His death would be probed and looked over in the most thorough way possible, and if somehow it could be proved that she was even remotely involved, then it could be her head on the line. No one killed an animus, especially before they were able to create their gift for the tribe, which Arctic was still in the process of doing.

Luckily for her, a very convenient series of events was occurring that could very well solve both her problems.

A week ago, a Nightwing delegation had arrived to discuss trade policies with Queen Diamond. Both she and Arctic were dragged down south to get firstclaw diplomacy experience, and they had spent quite a bit of time both together and with the Nightwings. As such, it was clear to see a rather unexpected development: Arctic had fallen for one of the Nightwing dragonesses. Hard. It would be both disgusting and amusing if it wasn't exactly the kind of thing that Snowfox knew that she could use to her advantage.

She had always positioned herself close to her cousin, and she had always acted friendly towards him. It was a difficult thing to do—to feign friendship with a dragon that you wished dead—but Snowfox had always been a good actor. Arctic had confided in her several times throughout the years, believing her to be a friend, and her being the only dragon he knew at the southern palace besides his mother had led him to do again. He confessed to her that he loved the Nightwing, Foeslayer, and asked for her advice on what to do.

…And right then a door opened that she couldn't help but go through. Here was a chance to solve one problem with another; a chance to get rid of Arctic and quite possibly weaken Diamond at the same time.

So she had worn her most compassionate face and talked to Arctic gently and (to an extent) truthfully. She had told him that, if he loved her, then he shouldn't just stand by and let her leave. But, at the same time, she told him that Foeslayer would never be accepted here, nor would Diamond ever approve of the relationship. She warned him that the queen might even try to kill her to stop such a union from taking place. Snowfox played his emotions like a skyball game and soon had him right where she wanted him.

Slowly, she convinced him that the only thing to do was to run away with her and to fly far away from the Ice Kingdom. She told him that it was the only way, and he believed her. Playing the part of the compassionate friend, she planned the escape with him, offering to help him make his move. With a sense of desperation that she had instilled in him, Arctic agreed wholeheartedly. He had talked with Foeslayer, and all was now in order.

Tonight was the night when her plans would start to come into fruition, and everything would begin to change.

She stepped over the tail of a sleeping guard outside of Arctic's room, Foeslayer trembling nervously behind her, glancing back and forth. It was a risk, Snowfox had known, to bring her, but she knew that it would only harden Arctic's resolve to flee if she was there.

"What if they wake up?" The Nightwing asked shakily, motioning her head to the two sleeping guards.

Snowfox snorted. "They won't. I've made sure of it. They'll be out for at least three more hours." Part of her plan had involved drugging the guards, an easy enough feat to pull off as a royal. She simply slipped a sedative into some drinks and then ordered a servant to deliver them to the two guards. With what she would do afterwards, no one would even question what had happened.

She knocked on the door and Arctic opened it almost immediately, his eyes brightening as he saw Foeslayer. The two embraced, and Snowfox felt a tiny flutter in her chest as she saw that the two really did love each other. She quashed it, of course; she was not here for love.

Arctic pulled away from the Nightwing and look back at Snowfox. "How can we ever thank you?" he asked, "What you've done…what you're doing—"

"Seeing you happy is its own reward," she lied as brightly as she could, "But don't celebrate yet. You still have to make it out of here."

He nodded rapidly. "Yes, of course!"

"Now," she said, looking at him firmly, "What's the plan again?" She didn't want Arctic to mess it up and ruin everything.

"We sneak out the back way and join the Nightwing delegation's departure," he said, "I'll tell them and all Icewings we encounter that Diamond instructed me to escort them back as a final show of diplomacy and good faith or whatever. Once we get to the Ice Cliff, we'll make our break."

"Right," she told him, "That should about guarantee your escape, so long as nothing unexpected happens. I'll do my best to make sure no one notices your absence, but the guards change in a little over two hours." She motioned to the unconscious ones at her feet. "They'll figure out something's wrong when they wake, or someone else will if they don't wake up in time for their reports. At any rate, you'll only have a couple hours head start."

"Then we'll make the most of it." Foeslayer told her, determination in her voice.

"Good," Snowfox said, "Once you're gone, I'll do my best to explain things to the queen. Maybe I can make her understand and let you go. For now, though, go quietly and quickly; I'm sure the rest of the Nightwings are waiting on you, and you don't have time to spare."

Arctic and Foeslayer thanked her one more time, then the two were off. Snowfox watched them go, mulling over once again how well things had gone. That the Nightwing delegation was leaving to travel at night, as was custom of their tribe, was another stroke of luck for her, as it meant that her cousin and the Nightwing could escape through the palace virtually unseen. Any Icewings that they encountered on the trip could likely be bluffed by Arctic, and none would be any the wiser until he was already long gone.

Turning away from Arctic's room, she walked down the empty hallways to a window overlooking the snowy plains outside of the southern palace. Sure enough, she could see three Nightwings waiting outside the main entrance. As she watched, a fourth Nightwing and an Icewing, presumably Foeslayer and Arctic, emerged from a secondary entrance and joined them. After a minute or two of talking, all five of them leapt into the air and began flying south. Snowfox watched them go until she couldn't see them anymore, which wasn't long considering the darkness of the night.

Now began the waiting game. There were indeed only a few hours until the guards found out about his disappearance on their own, but Snowfox knew that she'd have to beat them to it. It was going to be a delicate balancing act: giving Arctic plenty of time while also giving her own plans plenty of time. She figured that an hour and a half would be time enough, so that's what she went with.

Making sure no one saw her, she returned to her own room and began sharpening her claws. It was all she could really do as the minutes went by; she couldn't go to sleep and risk not waking up in time. There was a boring scroll on diplomacy that Diamond had given her and instructed her to go over during her time in the palace, but Snowfox was also worried that trying to read that would put her to sleep as well. So, she did nothing but prepare herself mentally and physically for what would come.

Finally, the time was right. Grabbing the one last thing she needed for her masterpiece to be fulfilled, she left the room and strode back to Arctic's. The guards were still asleep, right where she left them. Nudging them slightly, she maneuvered the bodies into a more…unrelaxed position, where it looked like they hadn't simply fallen asleep. Then, reaching down, she put a talon to the first guard's neck and slit his throat. Seconds later, she did so the second guard, spilling blue blood all over the palace floor.

Now only one thing remained, and the scene would be set. Snowfox held up the object she'd retrieved from her room: a necklace that belonged to one of the Nightwings. Having had time to plan, she'd stolen it while the Nightwing was in a diplomatic meeting in order to use it for her own purposes. Dipping it partially in the blood of the dead guards, Snowfox broke the necklace's chain before cracking open the door to Arctic's room and throwing it in. Finally, the time had come.

Taking a few steps back, Snowfox forced a horrific expression on her face and let out a terrified roar.

A few seconds later, several more palace guards rushed in from around a corner as doors were thrown open by curious Icewings who tried to find out what happened. What met them was the gruesome sight she had created: two dead dragons and one hapless dragoness that had the misfortune of finding them. There was no reason anyone would suspect that she was involved, simply that she was unlucky enough to be the one that stumbled upon them. She'd even "accidentally" stepped in a pool of blood from one of the guards so no one would question why her talons were bloody.

As such, none even questioned why she'd been in the hallway to see the dead guards. No, all of the focus was on more pressing matters.

"What in the three moons happened?" one of the first new guard dragons on the scene asked her, anxiety in his voice as he surveyed the scene. This was not something that happened every day, nor was it something they ever wanted to have happen.

"I don't know," she exclaimed with sobs in her voice, "I was just walking and…and…."

"It's okay," another guard said, putting a wing around her to comfort her before realizing who she was and pulling away.

"This is Prince Arctic's room," a third guard observed, knocking on the door, which opened farther, as she had left it unlatched. "Prince Arctic?" he called out as no response came.

By now a crowd was gathering outside the room, constant murmuring taking place between dragons as they looked at the corpses. One of the guards began pushing the onlookers away as the other two hesitantly entered Arctic's room with Snowfox following behind, still in "tears".

"Prince Arctic?" the guard asked again, much more worry in his voice than before.

"He's not here," the guard who had tried to comfort her before said, "Where could he…" he trailed off as he saw the bloodied necklace that she'd thrown in. Carefully, he picked it up and looked at it. "What's this," he asked his fellow guard, showing it to him.

The other guard looked at it for a second. "I don't kn—wait!" he exclaimed, "I recognize that! It belongs to one of the Nightwings I was assigned to protect this week."

"What's it doing here?" Snowfox asked, doing her best to sound clueless.

"Good question," the guard holding the necklace said, "It shouldn't be…unless…"

"Unless a Nightwing was here," the other finished, "And look! It's covered with the blood of the guards. The Nightwings must have been here, and they must have killed the guards. And if Prince Arctic is missing, that must mean that they took him!"

It was all Snowfox could do not to smile as they came to the conclusion she had set for them.

"Where are the Nightwings now?" the guard with the necklace demanded, looking wildly at every dragon in sight.

"I believe they just left a few hours ago…" the second guard's eyes widened, and he rushed out of the room. "Raise the alarm!" he yelled, "Call out the full guard! The prince has been stolen!"

A clamor of activity filled the halls as the guards outside immediately began to rush to alert their fellows. The hallways were being cleared of all dragons—forcefully now—as the palace guard entered crisis mode.

"Come with me," she told the guard who still stood with her, still holding the necklace with an almost dumbstruck look on his face. "We need to tell the queen what happened," she allowed her voice to tremble, as though she was still in shock from the sight she'd witnessed.

The guard nodded and followed her out of the room towards Queen Diamond's chambers. They had to duck out of the way of guards running through the hallways with spears more than once, and before they reached the chambers, she could hear the loud booming of the large alarm bells on the palace towers. Like as not, the whole palace was awake by now, including the queen.

They found Diamond in her chambers, awake and sitting next to her bed, simply waiting for whatever news was coming her way. Even just roused from her sleep in the middle of the night, she looked regal in a way that Snowfox couldn't stand. But of course, that was why she was doing all of this: to take Diamond's place.

"What's the situation," she asked as soon as they had entered, her voice calm and collected.

"Your Majesty," the guard began with a hurried bow, "We just found two guards dead outside of Prince Arctic's chambers, the ones assigned to protect him. Arctic himself is missing."

The queen shot to all fours with alarm, her queenly composure suddenly erased. "Arctic is missing?" she repeated the guard's words, worry evident in her voice. Apparently, she had not been expecting that.

The guard swallowed his fear; it was never a pleasant thing to deliver bad news to Diamond. "There's no sign of him, but we found this in his room," he held out the bloody necklace and the queen looked at it closely.

"This belongs to a Nightwing," she hissed. She looked at the guard and Snowfox, then back to the necklace. Diamond was a very smart dragoness, and it only took her a moment to make the connections. "Are you telling me that the Nightwings have taken my son?" her voice carried an anger that rather terrified Snowfox, although she didn't let it show.

"I fear that may be the case," Snowfox spoke up for the first time, "You yourself saw how that one Nightwing kept getting close to him, trying to get all cozy. It's the reason why you felt more obliged to put guards on him in the first place."

Queen Diamond fixed her with a look. She knew that her façade had fooled the guards and other dragons, but Diamond was sharper. She had to be to be queen.

"What else do you know?" she asked Snowfox, and while a lesser dragon may have crumbled under her gaze, Snowfox was prepared.

"Well…" she began, filling her voice with hesitancy as though she was about to reveal a secret instead of a lie, "I didn't think anything of it at the time, but I think I overheard some of the Nightwings talking the other day about animus magic and how it would benefit their tribe. The only reason that it sticks in my memory is that one of them made a cryptic statement about how they'd have their own soon. I think that that's exactly what happened."

"You think that the Nightwings stole my son for his animus magic." It was a statement, not a question. Snowfox had maneuvered everything so that this would also be the conclusion that Diamond reached, with or without her assistance getting there. "Of course!" the queen went on, "…why else would they want him?" She gave a low hiss and lashed her tail. "Traitorous worms!" she spat, "They came here claiming to be on a mission of peace, but all along they came to steal what was most valuable to me and my tribe!"

Diamond focused her eyes on the guard, who took an uncertain step back. "Well, what are you waiting for? Find those Nightwings!" she ordered.

"My Queen," the guard said, looking pitiful in front of her, "The guard is already out and pursuing them south. They have a rather large head start, though…"

He trailed off as the queen let out a long and low growl. "Alert all outpost and camps in the southern regions," she ordered as she began to stride out of the room, the guard following behind, no doubt to take control of the situation herself, "…And send a message to Queen Scorpion, tell her that we'll reward her handsomely if she can stop them in the desert. Meanwhile, get me a …" Diamond continued to bark out orders as her voice faded outside of the room, leaving Snowfox all alone.

She swished her tail around and allowed herself to finally smile. Everything had gone exactly as she'd planned. By the time word reached the south of Arctic being gone, he'd already be far away. Even the fastest messengers to the desert probably wouldn't be able to deliver the news before it was too late, even if Queen Scorpion decided to help. No, Arctic was long gone, and with him, any more competition for the throne. It had crossed her mind that he was still a liability—after all, he could still have dragonets—but if he truly was as lovestruck over that Nightwing as he seemed, then she didn't have anything to worry about. The Icewings would never let a pathetic hybrid on the throne.

Soon the Ice Kingdom would be in turmoil, for as far as every Icewing but her knew, Arctic was forcefully stolen from them, and that was not a narrative that Snowfox would lift a talon to change. With his 'theft' would come anger, resentment, and a complete breakdown of diplomatic relations between the Nightwings and Icewings. Likely, they'd be in a war within a month; and that was exactly what Snowfox wanted.

She could never defeat Diamond, not with her physical strength and support in the kingdom. Yet Snowfox had studied history, and she knew that nothing was so damaging to the strength of a ruler as a prolonged war. And Snowfox would make sure that the war would take however long it needed to destroy Diamond, be it mentally or physically. Whether it took months or years, the queen would break, and all would be hers. As royalty, she might even have a chance to lead and claim glory for herself, gaining support before her challenge. But of course, that was something that only the future would decide.

Yes, Snowfox was a dragoness that was destined to be queen, and now her machinations were in place to make sure that destiny became reality.

A/N: So, I didn't really realize until after I was already determined for this to be the prologue that the events of the palace escape are told in the Winglet Runaways. That said, the events Runaways are clearly not canon to Different Threads. If you're anything like me (who hasn't read that winglet), then it probably doesn't matter at all to you. If it does, then sorry. Of course, its not like this story isn't going to enter some AU territory anyway. But more on that in the next chapters...