An assortment of voices echoed throughout the Crystal Empire Castle’s crystalline hallways, overpowering their hooves’ rhythmic clopping. Windows to the outside world allowed Celestia’s warm star to pierce through with its rays, illuminating the structure’s prismatic makeup, further adding to its beauty.
Several banners depicting snowflakes and the Crystal Heart, along with silhouettes of Princess Amore’s head, flutter and come to a stop by winds that managed to creep through opened windows.
Olstrom Shattershield is flanked by two of his saddle arabian warriors, his head turning in nearly every direction to intake the sights. Before the prince trots the forms of King Malik and Princess Amore, the duo conversing on political factors and trade agreements—the usual, he reckoned.
His adoptive mother and father would always handle the visits to Equestria and the Crystal Empire, often leaving him and Malik to oversee Saddle Arabia in their absence. But all that changed when…
The prince shook his head, alleviating himself of those thoughts. Now wasn’t the time for it; he needed to think clearly and, besides… there’d be all the time in the world for such reflection once they got back to Saddle Arabia.
Interestingly, as Olstrom’s gaze passed by the two royals before him during his sight-seeing, he had to admit, albeit secretly: Amore indeed had a pleasant flank. He’d never disclose that outwardly; his warrior’s resolve wouldn’t allow it.
Even so, a seasoned and proud warrior he may be, he’s still a stallion. It’s only natural to be attracted to a mare’s beauty.
“Gottah say: ah already miss the warm sands of home, and ah nice pint of apple cider.” Olstrom’s ears flickered in response to Apple Crisp’s voice coming from the rear—praise the sands, a distraction. “The Empire is ah mighty fine place, but its tundra outskirts and tight, choking crystal structures feel… limit’n.”
“Huh, what do you know,” the other saddle arabian, a light-gray stallion with black hair, began with a flourish. “I was unaware that the Apples are as good at bitching as they are growing their signature fruit. The sands hold many surprises, I suppose.”
“Hey—watch it,” Apple Crisp threatened with a sideglance. “Lest ah shove yer next instrument straight up yer flank, Melody.”
“Mature, my friend. Very mature.”
Olstrom chuckles. “Alright. That’s enough, you two.”
“Alsayr,” the warriors respond in unison, ears shooting upward and hardened gazes resumed, at least from what wasn’t concealed by their metal and cloth coverings.
“Just down this hallway to my left, gentlecolts,” Amore’s voice declared. “And we’ll reach the dining room.”
“Splendid!” King Malik adds.
And as the group passed a duo of stoic crystal guards holding their posts before turning around a bend, the guards dismissed their stature and pose, curiosity getting the better of them as they looked at the passing equines just before they vanished from view.
“Did you see those warriors from Saddle Arabia?” the orange stallion crystal earth pony began before turning to his cohort. “They’ve got curved swords—curved swords.” he finished with a smirk, wriggling his eyebrows.
“Ugh…” his fellow guard, a yellow crystal pegasus mare, sighed in defeat, finishing with a facehoof. “That’s hooves down the worst pun you ever made.”
“Tch. Somepony’s no fun—no wonder you’re single.”
“Buuuck you.”
Amore’s gaze shifts and turns to various pictures and paintings etched onto the walls of either side of the hallway, giving the two royals behind her and their escorts a brief explanation of who or what they depicted.
“I’m truly moved by your sentiment, princess,” King Malik drops. “You honor your subjects’ deeds with these fantastic works. Their legends shall be sung throughout the ages, thanks to you.”
Amore giggles, looking back over her shoulder. “I can’t take all the credit for that. It was my great ancestor’s idea—Princess Platinum. Such a fine mare she was; I’ll happily give you a proper recollection once we proceed with our talks in the dining room.”
-That’s not the only thing that’s fine here~- Malik inertly commented, his eyes resting on Amore’s flanks after she turned her gaze forward.
“I always enjoyed the stories my mother would tell me, passed down from generation to generation and dating back to the unification of the three pony tribes.”
“That’s marvelous!” Malik beamed, eyes still traveling between Amore’s flank and the back of her head. “You simply must tell me more about that.”
-There’s that strange feeling again,- Amore said internally, discomfort threatening to take over her features. Her eyes nervously drifted to her rear, at least as far as they could go without the vermillion mare needing to adjust her neck.
And at that moment, it didn’t take Amore long to pinpoint the root of her discomfort, not to mention what she felt when she first met King Malik.
She shakes her head with a low chuckle as all the pieces fall together.
-Stallions being stallions…-
“Is something the matter, princess?”
Malik’s voice tears Amore out of her inner thoughts, and she quickly looks back with a forced, awkward, and sheepish smile—nearly jumping in place.
“Nothing at all, King Malik!” she grinned, looking forward again. “Just lost in thoughts is all. Oh, look! Here we are!”
-Thank goodness!-
The Crystal Princess skips forth with due haste—having absolutely nothing to do with the King trotting at her rear—and turns in place, rather hurriedly, before presenting a closed duo of giant double doors with a flourish.
A duo of crystal earth pony guardsmares stationed at either side of the doors' crystalline doorframe salute their princess in tandem, their spears holstered between the crook of their forelimbs.
“Now then, let us convene within the dining room.”
Amore’s words garner the rapid response of her guards parting the doors for their princess. Amore shoots them a smile but remains in place, her gaze turning to the saddle arabians.
“After you~” she sang.
King Malik nods happily, his hooves clopping as he enters the well-kept dining room. Prince Olstrom proceeds a short way across the doorway but suddenly stops, his head turning back to Melody and Apple Crisp.
“You two stay here and fall into formation with these two guardsmares.”
The duo nods. “It will be done,” they say in unison.
Nodding with satisfaction, Olstrom enters the room, and Amore skips into the passageway before firing up her horn with a light-blue aura, willing the doors to close shut behind her with her magical gifts. Leaving the guards of the Empire and Saddle Arabia to their own devices.
Both Apple Crisp and Melody stood before the crystal mares, their forms towering over them. It was established that all ponies, barring the alicorn siblings of the sun and moon, stood 1.2 meters on average, although this mainly concerned stallions. Mares, on the other hoof, are often even shorter, with only a select few rivaling the opposite sex.
The crystal mares slowly looked up to meet the eyes of these warriors from Saddle Arabia. They had always heard of how tall their fellow equines were, often rivaling and surpassing Princess Celestia of their ally kingdom, Equestria.
“By Amore’s grace,” the opal-colored mare to the left began. “You guys really are tall.”
“And hot~” the purple-coated mare to the right began, clearing her throat. “My name’s Steady Grapevine, but you two can call me Grape, for short.”
Melody raises an eyebrow while Apple Crisp chuckles. “Mighty upfront, aren’t we?” he inquires. “Sho-hoot, can’t say ah don’ respect that.”
Grape shrugs. “I see no reason to kick around the bush. You two are hot, and a single mare’s got to make her pitch, you know?”
“Wow…” Grape’s brown-coated cohort commented, rolling their eyes. “Somepony’s quick to act.”
“Oh, hush, Opal Pie,” Grape retorts, shooting her gaze at Opal. “With how much we mares outnumber stallions, can you blame me for casting out my hook?”
“That’s not the point, Grape.” Opal locks eyes with her cohort. “You could be offending them for all we know.”
The mares are suddenly drawn to the unified chuckles of the saddle arabians before them, their ears perking up.
“Heh. No need tah be alarmed, ma’am,” Apple Crisp began. “No harm done.” he raises a forelimb and rests it on his chest, “Mah name’s Apple Crisp,” he gestures to his fellow saddle arabian, “And this is Musiqaa Melody, though yall can just call em Melody if ya like.”
Musiqaa bows. “A pleasure.” he raises his head, curiosity present on his features. “If I may,” his eyes focused on Grape, “I overheard you saying something about mares outnumbering stallions. I had my suspicions as we entered the Empire, but to hear you confirm it…”
“It’s, uh, not nearly as bad as you might think,” Grape responds.
“Mares do indeed outnumber stallions,” Opal began. “But the ratio between both genders is somewhat healthy. It’s just that we mares still outnumber stallions, is all.”
“Hmm…” Apple Crisp starts with an interest and thought. “Ah’m get’n the impression thin’s weren’t always like that.”
Both mares shared a look, their ears folding against their heads before their gaze fell downward.
“Y-you could say that…” Grape said.
The saddle arabians shared a look of their own. “We apologize if that’s an uncomfortable topic,” Musiqaa said.
“I-it’s, well…” Grape hesitated as she glanced toward Opal, who sighed with sadness in their tone.
“It was because of the Windigos,” Opal began, garnering the attention of everyone present. “They’re Winter Spirits that feed on negative friction… so many ponies were lost during those times…”
“I see…” Apple Crisp sympathized. “You have my sympathies, ma’am. I can tell that this topic is more personal fer ya compared to Grape here.”
“Oh, that’s right!” Grape exclaimed in realization. “Opal’s family are direct descendants of ponies who lived during those terrible times. Don’t you guys own a Rock Farm somewhere in Equestria, Opal?”
Opal nods. “Yeah. My mother and father are running it, and my two brothers keep the staff going and the harvest flowing. It’s southwest of the Castle of the Two Sisters, Capital of Equestria.”
Apple Crisp nods and trots forth before resting a forelimb on Opal’s right shoulder, looking down upon her with his massive form.
“Ah’m sorry about what yall had tah go through, Opal.” he rests his forelimb onto the crystalline foundation with a clop. “Trust me; we saddle arabians know what monsters like that are like.”
Opal’s cheeks turn beet red, looking away from the saddle arabian. “I-it’s ok. I mean, it happened a long time a-ago… s-so it’s not like I was there.”
“But yer liv’n proof of how yall persevered. Yall are still kick’n, and that is a feat in itself. Living can be a great way to fight back against those who tried tah snuff ya out. Nev’r ferget that.”
Opal looks up at the brown-coated stallion, amazed by his words. “I-I guess you’re right.” she tears her gaze away again, flustered. “T-thank you.”
Both Grape and Musiqaa observed their allies quietly but with content expressions, taking a mental note of how Apple and Opal seemed to be kicking it off quite well.
“Hang on a sec,” Grape began with curiosity drenched in her tone, eyes on Apple Crisp. “You said that saddle arabians know of monsters like the Windigos?”
“We do,” Musiqaa responds. “I’ve researched a bit of Equestria and the Crystal Empire’s history. Based on what I dug up, the Windigos terrorized the lands that would eventually become Equestria. And as for the Empire, that would be the Umbrum.”
Grape winced, Opal looking at her worriedly.
“I was there…” Grape said, horror dancing on the cadence of her tone. “Those things are true monsters…”
“We’ve got monsters of our own who function similarly to both of those varmints,” Apple Crisp gritted his teeth, eyes narrowing and heart pounding before he took a deep breath to regain his composure.
The action was both shocking and all too familiar to the two mares. It’s how many denizens of the Empire and Equestria often reacted to the very mention of the Windigos and the Umbrum.
Although… there was also that whole Discord incident. But both nations, even some from beyond their territories, agreed never to talk about that. Often only doing so behind closed doors.
“Tell me, ladies,” Musiqaa began. “Have you ever heard of Sirens?”