"Wow, have I really been out for that long, I feel like it's only been an hour at most." Twilight asked, perplexed by this information.
"Sure have. I think Spike's right, you definitely need some rest, sugarcube," Applejack breathed.
"No, I'm fine. I've just had a lot on my mind. I think I just need to lay down and read something, take my mind off things."
"Sure Twilight. Although..." Applejack suddenly gave Twilight a wary expression, "you might wanna brace yourself when you see who's showed up."
"Who? The Head of Inter-kingdom Relations? Who are they? Do we know them? Is something wrong?" She started rambling.
"Ugh..." Twilice groaned from within the tumultuous storm that was Twilight's mind.
Applejack, on the other hand, chuckled sweetly. "Don't you worry, Rainbow and Pinkie say they couldn't have picked a better griffon for the job."
"Oh that's... Wait, you don't mean..." Twilight began. She fortunately didn't need to finish her sentence, as when Applejack opened the front door, a brown and white griffon stood on the other side.
"Hey, it's the princess of the dorks! good to see ya!" Gilda exclaimed, giving Twilight a hug as she entered the cabin.
"Good to see you too, Gilda. You definitely seem to be in a better mood than last time we met," Twilight wheezed, feeling crushed by the griffon's surprisingly powerful claws.
"Well you can thank those two over there for that," Gilda said, pointing to Pinkie and Rainbow. "Turns out, spreading friendship throughout the Griffonstone is a pretty sweet gig. And now I'm the ambassador for the whole Griffon Kingdom. It's pretty rad, not gonna lie."
"Well I'm happy for you, Gilda. If Rainbow and Pinkie trust you to be a suitable ambassador for the Griffon Kingdom, then so do I."
"Sweet! I brought some scones from home if anypony wants one." The upbeat griffon offered.
The other three griffons immediately rushed to her side, hoping to get a confectionary treat of their own. The only one who stayed back was Gelgen. Now that they were in the same room together, Twilight could very easily see how old he really was. She was taken aback at how or why such an old griffon was still working. Though she didn't spend too much time ruminating, as when she turned to look at him, the griffon suddenly averted his gaze, as if he were trying to hide the fact that he had been staring at her. It made her uncomfortable, and after the craziness of today, the last thing she needed right now was something else to be upset by.
"You're commendably patient. I must say I'm impressed, princess," Twilice commented.
"Well I am the princess of friendship. I would like to give him the benefit of the doubt and not make any negative assumptions based off of one split second interaction."
Twilice's only response was a raspy grumble as Twilight tried to find some quiet solace upstairs.
"How did you rule your kingdom if you find my behavior so surprising, Twilice?" Twilight asked.
"I like to believe I ruled my people justly, but I admit that I was often quick to action. Perhaps it is because of my combativeness that I found myself in my current situation..." Twilice spoke morosely.
"I'm sorry Twilice... I'm still more than happy to help you," Twilight assured the voice in her head. As she walked down the hallway, Twilight noticed that one of the doors was closed, yet the light was still on. Evidently, it seemed that Spike had chosen his room. Then an idea sprang into her head.
"Hey Twilice, what if I-"
"No. Absolutely not," the voice interrupted her mid-thought.
"Look, I know you don't have the best reputation with the Crystal Empire, but Cadance might be the only pony in Equestria who has the information you need to get out of that ice."
"Prove to me that colluding with the... Crystal Empire... is our one and only option, then I'll listen to you," Twilice growled.
Twilight sighed. She was gonna have to find some way to prove to Twilice that the Crystal Empire wasn't as bad as she thought, but how was she gonna do that?
"Hey... Twilight? Are you alright?" Spike swung open the door to their bedroom, comic in hand. "You've been talking to yourself outside the door for the past minute."
"Oh. I'm sorry Spike. I've just been thinking-"
"It's fine Twilight. Just don't do it in the middle of the hallway... It's weird." He said, walking back to his small bed in the corner of the room.
The room was decently sized, more than enough room for the three... two of them. Some of Twilight's bags were leaned up against the side of the very comfy looking bed. Without pause, Twilight leaped on to the bed with a long, pacified sigh. It hadn't really occurred to her just how much sleep she needed until she finally laid down. The last few days were mentally exhausting, now was the perfect time to relax and do some reading.
Or better yet...
"Don't." Twilice warned
"Hey Spike, you didn't happen to pack anything on the crystal empire, did you?" Twilight asked innocently.
"Other than that one Abridged History of Sombra and the Crystal Empire that you've read like a hundred times, no."
Twilight huffed, annoyed by both her lack of texts on the Crystal Empire as well as the croaky snickering from Twilice. Feeling thoroughly defeated, she decided to read the book anyway. A hundred and one times couldn't hurt.
"For your sake and mine, just drop the whole Crystal... Empire thing. You seem to be an awfully talented magician, and I should know." Twilice
"What, were you a great and powerful magician in your timeline?" Twilight joked, giggling internally.
Twilice laughed along with her, the raspy, snakelike timbre of the voice's chuckles seeming alien compared to Twilight's sonorous mental laughter.
"Oh Twilight... you have no idea the power I held in my day. It was... beautiful." Twilice tittered.
After gathering herself, Twilight resumed her reading as she listened to her friend. "Heh, if you say so Twilice."