//------------------------------// // Closure // Story: Agate's Vigil // by Wingnut //------------------------------// Agate galloped. On and on, over the tundra, through the woods, across the bottom of the river that divided the foothills from the plains, she kept galloping, without sparing so much as a single glance backwards. The same energy that kept her back was now fueling her mad dash back towards the Empire. "I have to know... I have to see." She remembered what the snowponies told her, of course. How they confirmed that the Empire was gone with their own methods, through spiritual scrying and dreams. Still, seeing is believing, and she didn't fully trust what she saw back then. Many months had passed since that day, and with her memories becoming blurrier, the doubts only grew. Agate knew that finding absolutely nothing was the most likely outcome of this journey. She was afraid of it, since she had no clue as to where the crystal ponies could have disappeared to and where to look next. And she was afraid of what she could find. Still, Spear Throw was right. Not knowing was eating her alive, and she had to go see and make sure that her eyes weren't playing tricks on her that day. "And to map out the path so I can tell about it to others, I suppose." That thought finally broke Agate out of her trance. She slowed down to a trot, then a canter, before stopping completely. Looking around, she got her bearings. Not getting tired or running out of breath still messed with her perception of time, apparently. On one hoof, she didn't end up all that far away from Snowpitt, relatively speaking. On the other hoof, the distance she covered would have taken a group of snowponies one, perhaps two days to traverse. Looking skywards, she checked the time. "Late noon..." It was late evening when she left. Bit more than half a day had passed, then. Three quarters or so. Shaking her head, the filly looked ahead. She was near the mountain pass that she originally took to enter the northern lands. It, and the twin peaks it sat between, were considered the southern border of the known world by the snowponies. Taking a breath, Agate steeled her will and started moving again. Despite the incline, she made good time - climbing was easy when you didn't actually weigh anything. Approaching the pass, she eyed the rocky walls, trying to recall the first time that she passed through there. It didn't look quite the same. Much of the snow that previously covered it had melted, exposing more of the mountain face and the sheer walls of the pass. What struck Agate as odd were the strangely angular corners and smooth ground in some places. It was almost like the gap between the two peaks was artificially widened, enough to let a cart pass through. "That... Might just be exactly what happened," She surmised, examining one wall for evidence of tool use. If the snowpony ancestors fled from Dream Valley, then this very well might have been the path that they took to get here. Excited, Agate stuck her muzzle to the ground and walls, looking for more clues. Erosion did its part, however, and there wasn't anything immediately obvious by that point. Undeterred, the filly moved forward, glancing left and right all the time. If she could just find more paths that looked like they were artificially made, she could find an easy route that she could use to lead others through most of the mountain range, perhaps even all the way to Dream Valley. It took her an hour of trotting while scanning her surroundings non-stop to find the next patch of road that was carved into the mountainside, leading east. Checking and memorizing her position like Spear Throw taught her, she continued on, ever observant of the terrain. This part of the path was a little harder to follow, since it became covered in a layer of gravel over the years. Still, she was quite confident that it was pony-made. The rest of the mountainside was mostly smooth and sat at a steep angle, compared to the one stretch that was flattened by something or someone. Things went much slower now that she wasn't galloping without looking at where she was going any more. Still, the ghostly explorer made good time, even with her constant stops to look around and see how she was moving in relation to the mountain peaks and other landmarks. Her path took her down the southern side of the eastern mountain - the Silent peak - towards some mountain that didn't have a name. Far as she knew, anyway. Given that it sat in a cluster of mountains that both the crystal and the snow ponies considered unknown territory, it very well might have been completely nameless. "...What if I named it?" Agate mused with a chuckle. Shaking her head to clear the distracting thoughts, she looked around. There was a small valley at the bottom of the mountain, if it could be called that. More like a thin spit of dirt ringing the mountains, bit wider than a street, with some trees and shrubs competing for the limited soil. No clues as to where to go next, though. "Pick a spot, and start going in a slowly widening circle," she recalled Spear Throw's pathfinding advice in case she lost a trail. "Alright, here goes..." ❅ ❆ ❅ "Turn east as soon as you exit the pass. Keep moving east until you find the path carved into the mountainside leading south. Follow it downwards until the end, then turn east again and follow the valley alongside the nameless mountain. The valley itself is a good place to rest, if it's summer or autumn. I think I remember all the gaps between the mountains being covered in snow when I came through during the winter, so finding shelter would be problematic during that time..." Among the many things Spear Throw and Gnarled Root taught Agate about pathfinding were reminders that one should not only notice all the important details, but make sure to remember them, as well. "No point in being aware of your surroundings if you just forget everything the moment you look the other way," Gnarled Root explained. "I'm being hyperbolic, of course, but after spending a whole day out and about, the important details of what you find might remain fresh in your mind, but the small parts like how you actually got there and how to find your way back to a specific place again might get lost. And often, those "small" details are the most important. "It's like snow," Spear Throw added. "Every time it snows, it gets deeper, layer by layer. Do the same thing with your memories. See something, and you can remember seeing it. Repeat to yourself where and how you saw it, and you will have memories of both seeing it and remembering it. Describe your journey out loud to yourself at the end of the day, and you will have memories of seeing it, remembering it, AND speaking it out loud. It's a good way to make sure you don't miss anything. "And now I have an excuse to think out loud all I want," Agate chuckled triumphantly. The filly was sitting down, recounting, repeating and memorizing all the important parts of how she got there, "there" being a hole in the ground where a large pine tree once stood. The old tree had fallen over some years before, its roots ripping out a sizeable chunk of the earth as it fell. Agate didn't really need any sort of real shelter from the elements any more, but she still felt more comfortable resting in the kind of place she would have used if she was still alive. Lying down in the hole, she tried to clear her mind, but her mind kept replaying the memories from the day's events. After trotting back and forth through the thin valley for some time, she gave up on finding any kind of old trails or paths. No clues of any kind of ancient passages presented themselves to her, and she concluded that either the path got eroded to the point of nonexistence, or the ponies were simply able to make their way through this part of the journey without having to carve into the mountains. After seeing things get dark, the filly stopped, wondering what to do. As before, she didn't feel tiredness or any other kind of detrimental effects she would have felt after moving non-stop for a full day. However, she still remembered that her mind needed rest, even if she didn't feel it yet. Seeing as keeping her mind clear was crucial for this expedition, she found a place to sleep. "I wonder if I'll even be able to fall asleep without my totem..." Falling asleep in the home the snowponies built for her was always extremely easy, the totem's magic lulling her to a deep and dreamless sleep. She did sleep as a spirit without a totem a couple of times, back when Glacier Glider took her in. It didn't feel much like sleep back then, but she was still able to drift off eventually. Closing her eyes, she got comfortable and did her best to clear her mind. ❅ ❆ ❅ The sleep was unusual. Agate kept drifting in and out of a strange semi-dream state, sometimes opening her eyes only to close them immediately after and drift off again. Odd colors, shapes and places showed up in her mind's eye, disappearing before she could comprehend them. Brief flashes of concerns about oversleeping would bring her to near-waking, but she would forget them moments later. When Agate finally woke up fully, the only concrete thing she could remember from her jumbled dreams was the vivid sight of Dreamcatcher, giving her a nod right before she woke up. Out of all the other fleeting glimpses that Agate saw, the shamare was the only thing she recognized. "Was that a dream?" The filly muttered, scratching her head in confusion. "No, wait..." It being a dream didn't exactly preclude Dreamcatcher from being real, given her abilities. Agate pondered the significance of her appearance for a few minutes before shrugging and getting up, stretching her legs. Looking skyward, she tried to tell the time. Much of the skyline was blocked by the mountains surrounding her on all sides, but she figured it must have been somewhere around noon. Agate still had trouble telling the time on some days, given how crazy long/short the days were during the changing seasons, but the late autumn days were still somewhat normal. Reorienting herself according to the mountain peaks, she climbed out of the hole, setting off southwards. "Alright. Here we go again..." Agate kept her head on a swivel, looking left and right for the best path ponies could take or would have taken in the past, moving between the mountains. The valley probably was the best candidate for it, but she still tried to do her best and take in as much detail as possible. Besides the rocky terrain, there really wasn't much to see around there. With the terrain being so inhospitable, the most life that managed to survive seemed to be the few pine trees in the very bottom of the gaps between the mountains. Which was probably good, all things considered. It wouldn't really be possible to forage for food on a journey through the mountain range, but ponies could rest easy, knowing there were no dangerous predators anywhere near them. The hours ticked by as Agate kept moving southwards, circling the nameless mountains. As her thoughts wandered, she idly considered giving them actual names. Should she? How did one go about naming mountains, anyway? Did you need to be an empress of those lands, or a princess, or maybe a chieftain? Squinting at the mountain to her right, she considered the idea. "Hmmm... Eh. Can't think up anything good. And naming them after myself or my friends doesn't seem right." With a shrug, the filly continued on, picking up the pace. She moved from a trot to a gallop, tearing down the valley towards the mountain in front of her. She still glanced from side to side now and then, but it was pretty obvious that the only viable path for ponies that weren't spirits was the one she was taking. She could have climbed the mountain walls without much trouble, but she wasn't sure that even the usually capable snowponies could navigate the sheer walls surrounding her. A few hours of galloping later, she moved past the main bodies of the two mountains to her sides, fully curving around the western mountain. Her path led her to a (comparably) tiny peak in front of her, more of a shard of a mountain than a real one, and an absolutely massive mountain right behind it. Squinting, Agate looked at it, something tickling at the filly's mind. "Is that...?" She couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like the same massive mountain that stood on the northernmost edge of Dream Valley. If that was true, large as the obstacle was, that meant she only had one last mountain to circle around before reaching the valley. Puffing out her chest and glaring at the mountain, she got ready to gallop again, only to get interrupted by a ray of sunlight flashing right in her face from a patch of snow. Distracted, she looked around, only to see the rapidly lengthening shadows all around her. The day was ending, darkness enveloping the land again. Agate briefly considered going ahead anyway, before discarding the idea. She was going to do it properly and map everything out, the way Spear Throw and Gnarled Root taught her. Scanning the area, she looked for any caves, rocky overhangs, copses of trees or other spots ponies could use for shelter. No such locations presented themselves to her, and she moved forward, keeping her eyes peeled. Trotting ahead, she approached the tiny mountain, still looking left and right. This patch of the mountains seemed extra inhospitable, nothing but bare, jagged rock in every direction. Cliff, mountain face, boulder, angular ditch - wait. Angular? "Well hello there." By the looks of it, Agate had found the old trail again. Galloping closer, she eagerly examined the stone in front of her. There was another smoothed-down trail cut into the rock, starting at the foot of the small peak, leading upwards. It was barely visible, almost looking like a natural formation, but it was far too straight and even for that. She tried tracing its path with her eyes, but the curvature of the mountain blocked its destination. With a shrug, the filly started climbing. It was a little confusing. Instead of curving around the mountain or easing the passage in some other way, the trail went straight up at the peak, and at quite a steep angle, too. The filly stopped several times to make sure she wasn't seeing things, but the path's direction remained the same, with rough, uneven rocks on either side. It didn't take too long to reach the apparent end. The trail cut off at a small flat space, nothing more than a small outcropping enough to fit two-three carts in. Immediately further, there was a snowy cliff, going straight upwards, with more steep mountain walls to either side. Agate circled the area several times, but couldn't figure out the purpose of the trail. It seemingly just ended there, on a random patch of mountain. Huffing in irritation, she sat down, staring at every surface in the darkening evening gloom. Was there an avalanche? Or a rockslide? Did the trail lead west or east around the mountain, but got destroyed by the elements over the years? Nothing suggested that was the case, though. There wasn't even the faintest sign of any other artificial stonework as far as she could see. Standing up again, she walked back to the trail, following it into the outcropping with her muzzle to the ground. Creeping forward step by step, she tried to pry the secrets from the weathered stone, watching for the faintest irregularities. Soon enough, her careful examination brought her right to the rock face. The trail seemed to continue right into the cliff. Tilting her head, Agate looked at the stone further. Most of it was covered in snow, the powdery stuff spilling out slightly. "Hold on a second..." Agate walked forward again, her head disappearing into the wall. And kept walking. A few more steps later, she entered a cave of some sort. The trail didn't lead to a random cliff, it actually went to what must have been some kind of underground passage! Elated, the filly looked around. Obviously, things were rather dark, but her spirit sight was still able to pick out the shapes and angles of the walls. Unfortunately, she encountered a problem almost immediately. A few body lengths further in, the cave had collapsed, rocks spilling out from the ceiling. Looking at the mess, Agate chewed at her cheek, considering her options. She could have went outside and looked for another path. Or, she could probably keep going, simply phasing through the blockage. It wasn't something other ponies could do, so that path would be no use to others. However, she was immensely curious to see what the passage was and where it led. The whole thing was definitely artificial. She even saw the splintered remains of support beams among the rubble. After a few more minutes of internal debate, she closed her eyes and focused, performing one of the exercises Dreamcatcher taught her. Her chest rose and fell rhythmically, as if she was breathing again. With a hum, she slowly opened her glimmering green eyes again. Everything seemed a little brighter, the details resolving themselves into sharp focus despite the darkness. "Thank you, Dreamcatcher," Agate muttered quietly, looking around with fresh eyes. The shamare taught Agate a number of things to hone her spiritual abilities, including her spirit sight. All spirits naturally possessed it, seeing as they lost their regular sight when they died. However, most of them could barely see unless a shamare helped them out or they had a totem built for them. Some ponies, like True Sight, learned to use it while still alive, and were able to see things no other pony could, whether they were dead or alive. Agate wasn't even comparable to True Sight, of course, but she could still enhance her sight a tiny bit. Keeping her focus, she started moving forward again, sticking her head and eventually her whole body inside the rubble. It was disorienting, but she tried to picture the floor, putting her hooves forward step by step. Suddenly, glowing, angular lines started appearing in her vision, distracting the filly. Blinking, she stopped, wondering just what the heck she was seeing inside the solid rock. Approaching one of the shapes, she almost facehoofed. "Crystals. Of course. I could see them from massive distances since I became a spirit, and I guess I can even see them through solid rock now," She concluded. With a shrug, she moved forward again, emerging behind the blockage and looking around. Almost immediately, she turned towards a wall, something catching her eye. There were chalky outlines on it, like some kind of writing, or maybe pictures. Refocusing her sight, the filly reared up against the wall, trying to decipher the symbols. They were a little smudged, likely from moisture, but the collapsed section probably blocked the airflow and prevented further damage. Unfortunately, the letters appeared to be in Old Ponish. Then again, Agate wasn't all that certain she would have been able to read them even if they were written in modern Equish. On closer inspection, what seemed like straight lines turned out to be stains from the no doubt mineral-rich water that dripped off the walls years ago, making the writing completely unrecognizable. Shaking her head, she turned her eyes towards the image. The drawing turned out to be rather straightforward. An elongated, smudged cloud with hooves - a windigo? - was pouring snow upon the ground, a few crude pictures of homes and dead trees buried under the mass. Two gruesome-looking pony skulls were drawn on both sides of the picture, likely warnings or remembrance for those who lost their lives to the blizzards. Agate sighed, sitting down and considering the implications. This proved her suspicions and then some - those trails really were cut by the ponies fleeing the windigoes. The windigo winter must have been a truly world-shattering event for the ancient pony tribes, scattering them across half the world, from the deep north to the far south. For a brief moment, she thought about getting up and seeing where the tunnel led, but she remembered the time. It was late evening when she came upon the trail, and it was likely already dark outside. Instead, she started repeating the day's journey to herself again. After a few repetitions, she yawned and closed her eyes, confident that she was able to recall all of the important details. Lying down on the stone floor, she stretched out, repeating Dreamcatcher's instructions in her mind. ❅ ❆ ❅ Agate slept. Her sleep was fitful again, though it didn't last as long as before. After some more confusing images she forgot as soon as she saw them, the dream resolved into Dreamcatcher's visage. The dreamwalker looked around, her voice somehow echoing from behind Agate, despite the fact that the shamare wasn't even moving her mouth. "Hello, Agate. How goes your journey?" It took the filly a moment to gain enough awareness to remember the concept of talking, and then a few more moments to actually think of what to say. "I am retracing the hoofsteps of your ancestors," She eventually replied. That earned her a raised eyebrow. "That is a fascinating claim, Agate, if a little cryptic. Could you elaborate a little, please?" Agate started thinking, which was enough to bring her to near-wakefulness, most of the dreamy haze lifting from her mind. Blinking slowly, she looked at the shamare standing in the cave before her. "Wait, is this a dream? Am I just dreaming about you, or are you really here?" "I could answer "yes" to all three of those questions, and I wouldn't be lying," Came the reply. A small smirk was visible on the elder's muzzle. "Right, never mind. Well, when I was crossing the pass between the Silent and the Howling peaks, I noticed that it looked artificial. Not entirely, but it was widened and deepened, likely so carts or sleds could pass through. As Agate spoke, images appeared around them, brief flashes of things she saw, the important details in sharp focus while the rest looked blurry. Dreamcatcher examined them curiously, tilting her head in Agate's direction. "I'll defer to your expertise on this. We do not go around carving up mountains, so I wouldn't know what looks natural and what doesn't. Was there anything else?" "Oh, yes! That was only the beginning. I immediately started looking for more pony-made trails, and found one not too far. I've been following it on and off for the entire time. There were a number of places where the rock was cut out and smoothed down, and it all lead south, towards Dream Valley." More blurry images appeared around them, though they flashed by too quickly, Agate not really focusing enough on the details. Dreamcatcher help up a hoof, trying to get the filly's attention. "Slow down. Step by step... Show me the important parts, please, if you don't mind. This sounds very interesting, but how do you know that our ancestors were the ones that did it? Did you just assume, because of the path's direction?" "Yes, at first. But I found some proof right before going to sleep. It's right here, actually," Agate explained, trying to will the underground passage into existence around them. The rocky walls surrounding her in the waking world appeared in her dream as well, the underground darkness swallowing the previous images. Agate got up, pointing at the wall, Dreamcatcher obediently coming over to examine the painting. She stared at it for some time, not saying a word. Agate blinked, simultaneously feeling like only a second had passed, and that they had been standing there for hours. Dreams were strange. Eventually, the shamare tore her gaze from the wall, though only momentarily. "Very interesting," She declared, waving Agate over. "A bit damaged by time, though. I wonder how it looked like when it was made." Reaching out a hoof, she brushed the wall, the image blurring and resolving itself into something else. Agate watched in awe as the drawing shifted and moved, the now sharper-looking windigo writing in the sky, raining chalky snowflakes into the valley below. Slowly, parts of the painting started disappearing, starting from the skulls, then the snow, and finally, the windigo itself vanished. However, something else appeared in its place - a mare was standing next to the wall, rearing up on her hindlegs and bracing herself with her forelegs, a stick of chalk held between her teeth. She was barely more than an outline, visible even less than a spirit, but the shape was unmistakable. "Ancestors..." Dreamcatcher muttered, noticing Agate's awed look. "Echoes, Agate. Time matters a little less in dreams than in the waking world. The echoes of the past can be heard many years later, if you know how to listen. They are often of little use, but infinitely easier to decipher than the uncertain echoes of the future. I must say, you aroused my curiosity with your discovery. Let us go see these ancestors of mine, shall we?" The filly nodded mutely, still watching the slow-moving shape of the mare rubbing the chalk against the wall, drawing the outline of the windigo. The scene soon began to fade as Dreamcatcher turned away, slowly cantering deeper into the passage. Scrambling, Agate went to follow, moving to walk alongside the shamare. The two walked in silence for an indeterminate amount of time. Every now and then, the tunnel would branch, small passages snaking off somewhere deeper into the mountain. The pair examined a few of them, but they all turned out to be dead ends, leading nowhere. Looking at the walls, Agate squinted. "I think this wasn't a passage they dug to get past the mountain. It looks like it was a mine, probably for crystals, or maybe metals. Those side passages must have contained pockets of materials that were mined out." "And luckily for them, the mine provided them a convenient escape route when they needed one," Dreamcatcher surmised. "Yeah..." They went back to the main passage, moving through the mountain depths. Agate kept an eye out for more paintings, but the rest of the walls remained bare. Dreamcatcher kept her gaze straight ahead, though she kept moving her ears back and forth, listening for something. After a few more side passages, she raised a hoof, signaling for Agate to stop. The shamare stepped aside, the filly following along. Nothing happened at first. Everything remained quiet, dark and dead. However, after a bit more waiting, Agate started to hear something. Twitching her ears, she tried to focus her vision. That proved unnecessary moments later, as a whole herd of ponies suddenly appeared out of the darkness, the sounds of hooves on stone clacking all around her. Flinching a little, Agate pressed herself against the wall. "Whoa!" Dreamcatcher said nothing as the shadowy herd moved through the tunnel. They were led by a huge stallion, moving at a steady, ground-eating trot, ponies of all kinds moving in line after him. Young, old, big, small... All earth ponies, however. The vast majority of them were nothing but shadowy figures, but some had a few glimmers of colors in their eyes or where their cutiemarks used to be. All of them were wearing saddlebags and all sorts of equipment, and were interspersed with pairs of ponies dragging small carts and wagons. Some had the wheels replaced with rough-hewn logs, evidently modified in haste to turn them into makeshift sleds. "Ancestors..." Dreamcatcher muttered again, watching the procession, paying special attention to the ponies that had more color than the rest. As her gaze would fall on them, their forms would flare a tiny bit brighter for a moment before they moved out of sight. Agate was burning with curiosity, but she had enough self control not to interrupt the shamare. She waited patiently as the long line of ponies snaked by, Dreamcatcher eventually waving a hoof, making the images fade. The sounds of hooves disappeared as well, nothing but the faint impressions of thousands of hoofprints remained on the stone floor. "What you saw there... Not the ponies themselves, of course, what was happening there is obvious - but the few that were slightly more distinct than the rest... Blood calls to blood, and kin calls to kin. Those were, indeed, my very distant ancestors. Specifically mine, not just my tribe. Had they not walked this path, I do not think I would have been able to summon the echoes of their passage like that. Ironic, considering your mission. You set out to find out what happened to your people, and yet you're uncovering the forgotten history of ours. Thank you for showing this to me, Agate. I shouldn't keep you any longer." "No, no, it's okay. I think you deserve to know about this, and it's probably better for you to see it yourself than just to hear me tell you about it later." "Thank you, though I don't think that there is much left to see here. Well... Let us go to the end of this passage and see if we can find anything else along the way." The filly nodded, taking point this time. The pair of disembodied ponies made their way through the old mine, stepping over a few stones that fell from the ceiling here and there. Though the old tunnel lasted this long without collapsing completely, it likely wouldn't last that much longer. Further proof of that fact came when they came across another collapsed section, passing through it, only to find that there was yet more rubble barely a few body lengths away. If there were any more signs, clues or messages left by the ponies of old, they were gone by now. Squinting, Agate walked through the rubble, her dreamwalking spirit guide following along. After a stretch of darkness and odd shapes of the stones, they broke through, though not to another stretch of the tunnel. Instead, sunlight greeted them, the collapsed entrance to the mineshaft behind them. Agate turned in a circle, trying to figure out where she was. The mine entrance was completely covered by rocks, no signs of something being buried there whatsoever. Trees dotted the area, moss and sparse grass growing in the meagre soil. There was a small patch of bare ground that might have been the beginning of a path leading off the mountain, but the rest of it was too weathered and overgrown. It seemed like, unlike the other side of the mountain, time managed to erode every clue that might have led to the discovery of the old mine. Not that she needed the path, of course. She was on the other side of the mountain now, Dream Valley stretched out before her. She turned towards Dreamcatcher, the shamare looking on placidly. "So, this is it... Dream Valley. I wanted to ask if you could do that time-turning thing to see what happened to the Empire, but you said it was only because of your connection to the ponies that you saw, right?" "Yes, and it was not effortless, either. I am sorry, young one, but you will have to undertake the rest of this journey alone. I think I'll need to catch a nap...." Dreamcatcher shook her head, sounding like she was somewhere far away. "Uh, are you alright?" "Everything's fine, little spirit. Like I said, that took effort. I'll be going now... The shamare faded out, the dream-like qualities of Agate's surroundings blurring her surroundings and making her dizzy. The filly closed her eyes, shaking her head in confusion. Lying down on the ground for a minute, she kept her eyes closed before slowly opening them again. "Well, guess it's time to get up. Wonder if the tunnel will look like it did in my dre- What?!" Instead of waking up in the mine tunnel where she went to sleep, Agate was still on the mountainside, the buried mine next to her. Bewildered, she whirled around, scanning her surroundings. Everything remained the same as before. "Wait, what?! What the - How? What? Was I sleepwalking?" Shaking her head again, the filly sat down. When Dreamcatcher did her dreamwalking thing, she would wake up in the same place she went to sleep to. But Agate didn't have a body to wake up in, and the shamare did explain that dreams were one of the ways spirits could travel to other places, even other worlds... So if she was a spirit... "Huh..." The implications and possibilities in regards to dream magic were a little above her level. Or a lot, she didn't really know. Still a little confused at the fact she traveled during her dream (which wasn't remotely unusual in itself, but the fact that she stayed where she traveled to was weird), she did her best to get a grip on herself and focus on the present. Looking into the distance, Agate did the thing she both anticipated and feared - she gazed across Dream Valley, looking for the familiar shape of the Spire. Nothing presented itself, though, the plains impossibly even, pristine, and Spire-free. She scanned the terrain, trying to find something, anything, but there wasn't anything that would have indicated that a huge city stood there less than a year before. She wasn't just seeing things back then - the Empire really was gone. She let out a long breath, feeling the ball of worry and stress in her chest unknot slowly. The crystal ponies did disappear, but at least she knew where she stood now. She wasn't mistaken, or fooled by some magic of Sombra's. That really wasn't some trick that she saw back then. Looking down, she examined the mountainside, looking for the straightest path into the valley. It was time to take a closer look. Jumping from rock to rock, she quickly made her way downwards, setting to a gallop immediately. There was no need to look for safe paths through the open and flat terrain, so she tore forwards with wild abandon, trying to cross the valley before darkness fell. ❅ ❆ ❅ The journey along the valley floor was uneventful. The plain was much like it was during her first trip - lacking plant life, quiet, and covered in snow. She was a little confused by the fact that there was still snow here while there wasn't any in snowpony lands, until she remembered the old stories. "...the hateful cold had seeped into the very being of the land so much, the unicorns said it might never thaw out..." Shaking her head, Agate refocused on her task. Given that there were no visible landmarks indicating where the city used to stand, she was a little worried about missing the place completely. Gaze down, she scanned the earth, looking for any kind of irregularities that would indicate that a building or a road used to stand there. It wasn't very distinct, but she did notice a difference eventually. There was only a slight dusting of snow on a stretch of land before her, while her surroundings still had snow that looked at least hoof-deep. Gingerly taking a step forward, she bent her muzzle to the ground. The earth was a little uneven and bare, but that was it. Not a single piece of crystal or anything similar was present. With a sigh, Agate set off towards what looked like the middle of the barren plot of land. It took her some time to reach it, and she tried measuring the time as she went along, comparing it to the time it used to take her to get around the Empire. It didn't help very much, seeing as she didn't really bother measuring time back then, but at least it kept her busy as she trotted along. Some small part of her still expected to see signs of battle and destruction, not complete emptiness. A shard of crystal, a hole from a magic blast, pieces of a building's foundations buried in the earth, anything. However, the barren land remained the same. There were some slight indentations in the ground where buildings might have stood at some point, but that was it. The Empire really just up and vanished, down to the tiniest grain of sand. Eventually reaching the middle of the barren earth, the filly finally saw the first thing that stood out in the unremarkable plain, not that it was overly impressive. A large, circular depression was sunk into the ground, it's edges smooth and even. She pondered at what could have possibly been there, until her eyes went wide. "The Spire... This is where the palace used to stand..." Slowly, she clambered into the hole, muzzle to the ground again. Like before, nothing was there. No crystals, no magic, no clue that there ever was a civilization that withstood the tribal schisms, windigoes, and a dozen other things besides. Sitting down at the deepest point, she lay down, performing Dreamcatcher's exercises again. If she couldn't see anything normally, perhaps her spirit sight would help. ❅ ❆ ❅ Nothing. It was early evening by the time she reached the place where the Empire used to stand, and while she was focusing, darkness slowly fell upon the land. As she emerged from the hole, looking all around, she saw... Nothing. Gritting her teeth, she did her best not to lose her temper, as that would just ruin her concentration. Re-focusing, she looked back towards the Spire's former location, desperately wishing to find at least some kind of clue. Ever so briefly, she managed to see images of the Empire as it used to be, but she wasn't sure if she was actually seeing it, or whether it was just her memories and imagination, showing her things that she was desperately trying to see. She was forced to admit that it was likely the latter, as after over an hour of wandering, the most she managed to see were some faint outlines of motionless ponies in the corners of her eyes. As soon as she looked straight at them, though, they vanished. "I think I'm just seeing things by now..." The filly stood there for some time, sorting through her goals and thinking about what to do next. Make her way to the Empire? Check. Examine the area thoroughly and make certain that the Empire really was gone? Check. Map out the route so snowpony explorers could safely get here too, if they wanted to? Not finished yet, but only because she went under the mountains through that tunnel. She'd finish that task on the way back home. "..." That was it, then. It was time to go back. Or... Go to sleep, maybe. With a frown, Agate looked around one last time, this time looking on into the distance rather than scanning the ground. The skies, the stars, the moon, the mountains ringing the valley... The familiar landmarks all were right where she left them. She left homesick, but she knew she couldn't stay here. Well, she could, but there was no point to it. Looking for a place to sleep, she shot a look southwards. A light glimmered there for a moment, likely a reflection of the snow in the hills. She briefly considered going even further, all the way to Equestria, but gave up on the idea almost immediately. Chances were, they'd just get scared of her and run away. She didn't think the Equestrians would have the same relaxed attitude towards the spirits of dead ponies trotting around that the snowponies did. And even if they did, it likely wouldn't matter. They had to know that the Empire disappeared. Almost a year had passed since then, after all, and if they could have brought it back, they probably would have. With a huff, the filly turned towards where the Spire used to be, settling down to sleep one last time before going home. No dreams or shamares interrupted her sleep. ❅ ❆ ❅ Agate galloped. It wasn't the same fear, uncertainty and determination driven gallop that she left Snowpitt with, but it wasn't a victorious return, either. She didn't really have anything to show for her trip except confirmation that the Empire was well and truly gone. Which still was some kind of result, but not one she really liked. Even if other explorers followed her path and came here, she wasn't sure whether they would be able to help in any way. Pursing her lips, she tried to clear her mind from the annoying thoughts, focusing on moving forward. The trip back through the valley went by in a blur, the filly only slowing down when she reached the northern foothills. Looking left and right, she briefly wondered whether to circle the giant mountain from the east or west, turning west after a minute. Going at a full gallop again, she kept glancing to the sides, looking for any obstacles or memorable landmarks, deftly moving through the rocky terrain. The going seemed far easier on this side of the foothills, more soil and trees creating a more tolerable terrain to travel through. As the elevation began rising into the mountains proper, the trees began to thin noticeably, everything becoming rocky and barren. Chewing on her lip, she watched the sky, the Sun already going down behind one mountain. She really, really didn't feel like sleeping yet, nor was she feeling distracted or drained. She just wanted to get back home. Making a decision, she bolted once more, though she did remember to keep her eyes peeled for the easiest trails and paths to circle the mountain. There were some uneven patches where she had to zig-zag back and forth, climbing up and down the mountainside, but none of them looked unsurmountable, just inconvenient. Before she knew it, she was already halfway around the mountain, Dream Valley mostly obscured behind the mountain's massive girth. Shooting a last parting glance behind her, Agate continued on, briefly noticing a faint orange flicker in the far distance. "My totem. I can feel it even all the way out here." For the first time since she began the trip, a smile crossed the filly's face. With a feeling of blossoming warmth in her heart, she picked up the pace even more, moving her legs furiously. Galloping that recklessly would have left her winded in a couple minutes, if she still had lungs, but seeing as that wasn't an issue any more, she took full advantage of it. She did finally go to sleep once she fully circled the mountain, finding a small, shallow crack/cave in the mountainside. Recounting the day's experiences to herself, she curled up on the floor, dreams of her family and her snowpony friends carrying her off to slumber. ❅ ❆ ❅ Seeing the mountain pass again brought mixed feelings to Agate. On one hoof, she felt relief, reassurance at returning somewhere familiar, and a measure of joy. On the other hoof, she wasn't sure if she should be feeling like that, given that this wasn't her original home. The filly sat down on the highest point of the pass, looking on into the vast tundra. It's not that she didn't like it there, quite the opposite. Hence the feelings. She knew she was entirely welcome in snowpony lands, and she was also free to leave whenever she wanted. They told her as much. Turning back, she considered the vast mountain range separating her from Dream Valley. "I'm not going to forget you..." She got to her hooves, turning towards the tundra again, making her way downwards. It snowed since she was gone, and the surroundings were slowly regaining the blinding white luster Agate saw the first time she came to the tundra. "...But I shouldn't distance myself away from my new friends." The filly didn't feel like galloping for this part. She made her way towards Snowpitt in an unhurried trot, taking in her surroundings with a slightly confused expression on her face. She saw the tundra, she explored a fair amount of territory around the village, and was pretty confident about her pathfinding abilities at this point. However, for some reason, this stretch of the journey felt incredibly surreal to her. After a good while of trotting, it finally clicked. While she was exploring, the seasons were changing, and the landscape changed as well. Now that it was snowing again, though, everything looked almost like the first time she passed through the place, and she just so happened to go through the same route. Blinking, she tried to shake off the persistent feeling of deja vu. It wasn't quite winter yet, of course. The snow was barely a light dusting, compared to the massive drifts that were piled up during the true winter months. Still, winter was coming, with all the things that entailed. Moving through the forest in the foothills, Agate tried to remember the things the shamares told her all those months ago, about what happened in winter. The Great Gathering, when the other tribes came to visit Snowpitt and spend the winter, the Calling, when the shamares summoned the lost spirits of their kin, the long months spent in darkness, sharing warmth and knowledge... "Oh, I guess this means that I'm going to see Glacier Glider again... Have I really spent almost a whole year here?" With a start, the filly suddenly realized she forgot something. Something that was important! Or, it used to be. She turned eleven in summer! Did spirits celebrate birthdays? Probably not. There wasn't much she could even do to celebrate, anyway. Gifts and cake would be pointless, and she couldn't even blow out the candles. Thinking it all through, she figured that it was probably meaningless now. Birthdays were for living ponies, a celebration for having lived a year longer, which no longer applied to her. Not like her body was changing, either - her mane and tail remained the same, constant length the entire time, and she wasn't growing bigger. Mentally shrugging, she continued on. The realization of her unchanging nature made her think of something Gnarled Root mentioned several times. "You have all the time in the world now." Agate understood that, but only on an intellectual level. It took nearly a year and the sudden realization that time no longer held power over her for the statement to really sink in. With her mind full of various philosophical thoughts, the trip to Snowpitt went by in a blur. Absent-mindedly, she crossed the river, reached the end of the forest, and finally crossed the short distance between the woods and the village, coming face-to-face with her totem. Blinking in surprise, she looked around. As usual, her clearing was dark and quiet. The sun was long gone, and the village was asleep. She'd have to wait until she could go and find someone to report to, not that she didn't feel like getting a good night's sleep, either. "Well, Agate... Welcome home," She muttered, reaching a hoof towards the totem.