"And this is our library, second only to the Canterlot library in size and scope," Flash Sentry said as he pointed to the open room that anyone looking in could instantly tell was a library.
"Are we allowed to go in and read the books?" the nerdy-looking human asked.
The guard captain looked flustered. "Um—no. It is off-limits for anyone from off-world. The public library in the city is available for use, but the items in the palace library are more restricted. Sorry about that. If you continue to follow me, I'll show you the gallery where the young princess does her painting."
That got Sunflower's attention. "Flurry Heart paints?"
Flash Sentry nodded as he started guiding us through the halls. "Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor insist that Flurry Heart get a well-rounded education in all the creative arts, in addition to more serious studies. If she is to rule someday, she should have as much appreciation for culture and things of beauty as she does for magic, trade, and diplomacy. Now, over here we have AAAAHHH!"
A very old night pony stallion who looked like he was at least seventy years old and a night pony filly who looked around ten suddenly stepped out in front of the captain.
Flash Sentry huffed as he calmed down. "Do you have to sneak around like that?? You're going to give ponies heart attacks!"
The old stallion made a bunch of vague gestures as the filly carefully observed him. The filly then turned towards us. "Master Krik says that he cannot help being silent. He also asks if we would be permitted to accompany you. He says he gets so easily lost in all these halls. He is trying to find his way to the throne room. Will you be passing by it?"
Wait… Krik? As in Tikhiy Krik, the Warden of Silence? The only Dreamwarden thus far who had successfully retired to Equestria?
Flash Sentry gave them a suspicious look. "He said all that with those little gestures?" Krik nodded, and Flash frowned. "How do you tell what he is saying?"
"I have spent a lot of time with Master Krik. He is my guardian. You learn to understand him after a while. Princess Luna understands him well," the filly replied. "Are you going by the throne room? We are lost."
Flash sighed and looked at us. "This is Princess Luna's senchal and advisor Tikhiy Krik, who everypony calls Master Krik. Accompanying him is his ward, Jimsonweed. They will be walking with us for a few minutes. I am told they both originally hail from Earth. Master Krik's not much one for conversation, though."
Krik made a soft repeated rasping sound that took me a moment to realize was him laughing.
We started walking again, and my curiosity got the better of me. "Mister Krik-"
"Master Krik," Jimsonweed corrected without turning to look at me.
"Master Krik, sorry," I said in an abashed tone. "Do you like it here in Equestria? What are you doing in the Crystal Empire?"
Krik made some gestures with his head and wings while continuing to walk.
"He says he enjoys it here," Jimsonweed answered. "He says it is very relaxing. He is in the Crystal Empire because we live here. Master Krik gives Princess Flurry Heart painting lessons."
"But he still gets lost in the halls?" Blanche asked in confusion.
"He has a poor sense of direction," Jimsonweed replied, even though Krik made no gestures in response.
"How does he act as Luna's senchal and advisor if he is here instead of Canterlot?" the earth pony stallion of our group asked.
"He does his work for the princess in the dream realm. He doesn't need to be personally by her side for that," Jimpsonweed said in a tone that sounded slightly irritated.
"If the filly says something that comes off as rude, it is because she is," Flash informed us. "Don't take it personally. She's like that with everypony."
"It is the burden of having more than two brain cells to rub together, Captain. I wouldn't expect you to understand," Jimsonweed said in a snide voice.
Krik started doing his raspy laugh again.
"I'm smart enough to know you two are lying through your teeth about being lost," Flash replied smugly. "What are you two up to? Spying for Luna?"
"We are walking to the throne room, in case you forgot. I forgive you. I know remembering things for that long can be a struggle for you," Jimsonweed replied.
Flash set his jaw. "You need some friendship lessons, filly. I don't know why the princesses tolerate you."
Jimsonweed sniffed loudly. "And I don't know why the princesses keep guards who don't pose any threat to intruders, but somehow you all keep your jobs. Seriously, even I work better as a speed bump. I guess their reasoning confuses us all."
The nerdy-looking human pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Considering the Crystal Empire periodically lights up in bright magical light, isn't it an odd place for night ponies to live?"
Jimsonweed turned her head. "I would think someone with glasses as large as yours would have heard of a little thing called sunglasses. You should look into getting some. They could change your life by hiding the vacant look in your eyes."
Flash hurried forward towards some big doors that had two crystal pony guards standing at attention. "Here we are, the throne room! This is where Princess Cadence receives parishioners and delegates. More important than that, it is where terror-tongue here leaves our company."
"But where's the restroom?!" the old man complained. "I have needed to go forever. I might end up peeing on the floor right here."
Flash looked around, looking flustered. "It's not close to where we are at."
"Your prince promised you could get us to a restroom!" the old man fussed. He hopped around from one leg to another. "I need to pee so bad!"
"Just like the dear captain, can't follow basic instructions. It is a wonder he keeps his job," Jimsonweed said in a mournful tone. She looked at Krik as he made several gestures. "Master Krik says we will stand here and watch the other guests as you take the old man to the restroom. He says they seemed interested in asking him questions anyway. He would take the man to the restroom, but we get lost so easily."
Flash looked back and forth between the two night ponies and the older man. "I don't know. I'm not sure I can trust you."
Jimsonweed gasped with a mixture of shock and outrage. "I can understand you not trusting me, but are you really going to not trust Master Krik, senchal to the night princess, former Warden of Silence, and art teacher and friend to your future ruler?"
"Warden of what?" Flash asked in confusion. "Is that a military rank?"
The filly slapped her face with her wing. "It is worse than I thought. I think I am getting dumber just sharing the same space with you. Hurry up, captain, before the elderly coot makes a yellow puddle that you'll need to explain to the prince. Or worse yet, what if the princesses or the foreign delegate walked out here and stepped in it? Who would they blame?"
Flash growled. "I detest you. You better keep an eye on them. I'll be right back. Come on, sir. I'll get you to the restroom."
We watched Flash leave with the old man, going off down the hall.
"You really could be nicer to him," one of the guards standing watch at the door said.
"Where's the fun in that? Anyway, I needed to get him agitated in order for him to leave," Jimsonweed replied. "Hurry up. Let us in. The princesses have been waiting long enough. The old man can only keep him busy for so long."
"Princess Cadence already has it covered," the other guard said. "We'll tell him Spear took up the tour so they wouldn't have to wait, at Shining Armors orders, and that he is to escort the old man back to his hotel."
Yep, I knew something was coming. They didn't waste any time. The princesses wanted to meet the candidates, and they found a way to get us isolated from everyone and to them without raising any suspicion.
The guards opened the doors, and the two night ponies instantly stepped through. Krik looked back at us and gestured with a wing to follow.
Blanche took a deep breath. "Well, I figured they would find a way to speak to us. Let's not keep them waiting." She then followed the night ponies in. The rest of us hurried after her.
The throne room was very spacious and had a throne sitting on a raised dais at the far end of the room—as I imagined every proper throne room would. However, the princess of the Crystal Empire was not sitting on the throne, but was instead huddled around a table with the other alicorns and Wild Growth. They were all examining mounds of papers—treaties maybe? The earth pony looked like a foal sitting next to the much bigger alicorn, and her youthful features didn't help that. All the same, she still seemed at ease. I had noticed Celestia was taller than the average piny before, but I had been further away from her. Now it was impossible to miss that she was not very pony-sized, but instead horse-sized. Luna and Cadence were also pretty tall, and Twilight Sparkle was taller than most mares, but none of them compared to Celestia in stature.
Luna was the one that got up to come greet us. "My senchal and his ward return with the candidates. I trust the captain was not too difficult to deal with?"
Krik shook his head and made some more gestures.
Luna nodded. "Yes, it is a shame that the captain couldn't be trusted to know about them. Cadence has far too many guards who are loose of tongue. That there are only two who can be trusted to keep things confidential is disheartening."
"She should fire them all," Jimsonweed said.
Cadence looked at the filly. "I will do no such thing. The guards are largely ceremonial when it comes to the castle, but they are good ponies who help keep the ponies in the city safe. I don't need that many who can keep secrets."
"And we prefer the ones who can keep secrets to stand watch over our meetings," Celestia said as she rose from her seat. She walked past Krik and looked at the five of us. "Out of all the princesses, I get the least contact with the Dreamwardens. To date, I have only met them as either candidates for the job or when they retire—and I have only met one retired and one candidate so far. We won't keep you long, but this may be my only chance to meet the newest Dreamwarden, even if I don't know which one of you it will be."
Luna stepped beside her sister and pointed to each of us in turn. "Sister, meet Sunflower Smiles, Rebecca Riddle, Jonathan Dexter, Roger Wilco, and Blanche Laurent. This group is far more gifted in magic than the group that passed through here a few years ago. While none is exceedingly powerful, each has unique abilities that are rare among the population. Dear Phobia has informed me that she is hoping to retain those that do not end up being chosen in some capacity with the OMMR."
Celestia nodded and scrutinized each of us. "That makes sense. The Dreamwardens are preparing for what may be life's final showdown. I'm guessing they would choose a bit more unusual of a candidate going into that. I'm still concerned they might try to wrest authority from Earth's governments at the eve of the conflict."
"They've assured us all that they have no such intention at this time," Twilight Sparkle spoke up. "The Dreamwardens have no desire to rule."
Celestia looked back at the Princess of Friendship. "It is a matter of what they want to do, but what they might feel compelled to do. If things do not go well, they might attempt to seize control." She looked over at Krik. "Can you tell me with certainty that they wouldn't try it if they felt they were out of options?"
Krik's ears sagged, and he slowly shook his head. He then made a series of other rapid gestures.
Luna watched him till he finished then interpreted. "He doesn't deny that all options will be explored because the threat we are facing is that great, but he doesn't see a scenario where taking control would be feasible for them. He is retired and no longer in direct contact with his siblings, so he doesn't know what may have changed. There will certainly be secret fallback options from the main plan, and this new candidate will be part of those, but it is unlikely to be something along those lines. It will be something done outside governments and armies."
Celestia didn't seem that impressed with the answer.
"Another thing that all these candidates have in common is they have higher levels of creativity. That would be an asset when trying to think of new tactics to combat the Devourer threat," Luna said solemnly.
"I can say with certainty that Phobia is doing something already off-the-books," Wild Growth announced. "The government has confirmed that she is constantly hounding Jessica Middleton to help develop mathematical equations for her. As far as we can tell, she is trying to pinpoint locate something very far away in space and track it. This is not likely to be the Devourers if it has a specific location, but we haven't figured out exactly what it is. The current working theory is a planet, but it seems unlikely she could predict if that planet still exists if she is working off ancient Dreamwarden memories. It is still being monitored, and we will report if we discover any concrete details. She is rumored to be in contact with other mages and scientists, but we haven't determined who."
Celestia nodded. "And the fact she is not being open and forthcoming means they are pursuing something dangerous and a plan that no one would approve of."
Luna glared at her sister. "When all life is at stake, all avenues of preserving it must be explored."
I raised a wing. "Um… sorry to interpret, but I don't think any of us know what you are talking about. I don't know about everyone else, but every time I ask about her secret stuff, she blows me off."
"Or scolds us that it is none of our business unless we end up becoming Dreamwarden," the nerdy guy, who I now knew was named Jonathan, said. "This is the first time all the candidates have met, I think."
"We girls know each other," Blanche replied. "I'm guessing you're living in Skytree too. We attend the art college."
"College of Applied Sciences for me, but yeah, I'm in Skytree," Roger said.
"Same, College of Applied Sciences," Jonathan said with a nod. "I've seen you around campus, Roger. Nice to finally meet you."
Celestia smiled. "I am overburdening you with this discussion. I apologize. I should have known the Dreamwardens would not have been forthcoming to you about their plans. I still would like to get a feel for each of you. Roger Wilco, how do you feel you are doing with the Dreamwardens so far?"
Roger looked away bashfully. "I might have blown it. I think I insulted the Warden of Fear."
Luna raised an eyebrow. "Phobia doesn't normally get offended. What makes you think you insulted her?"
Roger stared down at the ground. "I kinda tried to check to see if she had a penis."
It got so quiet that you could hear everyone breathing. We all stared at him in shock.
"Welp, you win the award for the biggest idiot, Idiot," Jimsonweed said in a condescending tone. "I was about to bite my tongue and be nice, but I might have ended up like Master Krik with how much effort it would have taken."
"Why would you even check that?!" Sunflower asked as she gaped at him.
He shuffled his hooves. "Well, she had been a dude when she was human, and I was wondering if… you know."
Celestia licked her lips and seemed to consider what to say. "We all make mistakes. Hopefully, your future meetings with her won't be so unfortunate."
Krik started doing his raspy laugh again. The old night pony had a bizarre sense of humor.
Celestia turned her attention to me. "Rebecca Riddle, correct? How have your meetings with the Dreamwarden of Fear gone?"
I shrugged. "Mostly good, I think. Except for that one time I put my head up her butt."
I now wasn't sure if Krik was howling with laughter or having a heart attack.
"If nothing else, I think this is the most I have seen my senchal laugh since he arrived in Equestria," Luna said in a tired tone.
"That's good to hear!" I said with a big smile. "I like making people happy. The putting my head up Phobia's butt thing had been a huge misunderstanding, and her bodyguard got me right after that and knocked me to the other side of town. I got a huge headache from that and got chewed out."
Celestia plastered a smile on her face. "We all get up to misadventures. I am not sure how your misadventure ended with your head up a Dreamwarden's posterior, but I'm sure that is quite a story. Unfortunately, we don't have time for it." She turned and looked at Sunflower. "You are Sunflower Smiles? Did you have similar misadventures?"
Sunflower chewed on her lip and looked down at Celestia's hooves, unable to look her in the face. "I drew all over the Dreamwarden's living room wall in my blood. Not my best day. I think it was the worst day of my life."
"I'm betting the Warden of Fear is reconsidering her life choices after meeting you all," Jimsonweed said with amusement.
Jonathan raised a hand. "My visit was rather uneventful. We discussed electronics."
"She and I just talked about European politics during my solo visit," Blanche said. "No misadventures here."
Twilight giggled and looked at us. "Don't worry. When the Warden of Order was a candidate and visited the Warden of Fear, one of the night ponies dueling outside got blood on him. The man had a panic attack and started flailing around. He ended up punching Tempest in the face and knocking her senseless. Having a mishap with your meeting isn't the end of the world."
Celestia seemed to have recovered from the stories and nodded. "That is true. I remember the Warden of Order as a candidate visiting here. He refused to come close to me. He thought I had alicorn germs."
"Dreamwardens are all a bunch of weirdoes and misanthropes," Wild Growth said sagely. "It seems like that is a qualification." She looked over at Krik and Luna. "No offense intended."
Krik shrugged.
Luna looked a little uncomfortable. "We are cut from a different cloth than most. I can't find any fault in what you say, other than your wording could have been more diplomatic."
Cadence stood up and approached us. "I don't sense any malice in any of them. They seem good-natured. For right now, I think we should have them return to their tour. Do you think you could guide them, Jimsonweed?"
Jimpsonweed looked offended. "Why me?"
The Princess of Love smiled at her. "Because you are well-educated about the empire and would make an excellent guide. This is your chance to show off. Plus, you could stand to socialize a bit more. I know you aren't as mean and nasty as you pretend to be. Krik has nothing but praise for your capabilities."
"Master Krik," Jimsonweed corrected absently, then huffed. "Fine. I'll do it, but they better not ask me a lot of dumb questions."
"There's no such thing as a dumb question," Twilight Sparkle recited.
Jimsonweed looked at the Friendship Princess and raised an eyebrow. "If I burned all your books to see how fast the weather team in Ponyville could respond, would you mind?"
Twilight spread her wings and grit her teeth. "Of course I would! Why would you ask that?"
"Would you consider that a dumb question?" the filly asked with a smile.
Twilight gave her a flat look. "You really need some friendship lessons."
The fully shrugged. "Maybe. Come on, four people that are going to be losers and a fifth that will probably wish they were a loser too. Let's go see the Crystal Empire."
She headed towards the doors without waiting to see if we would follow, and we were forced to go running after her.