//------------------------------//
// The Truth Will Set You Free 
// Story: Agate's Vigil 
// by Wingnut 
//------------------------------//


  ❅ ❆ ❅ 


"Sorry, Agate, but I can't see that far. Or, rather, I can't make out any details. I can see some kind of faint ribbons woven from magic around the Moon, but that's it," True Sight shrugged. "Maybe I would be able to tell you more if I had actually seen the whole thing unfold, but I happened to be at home at the time. Overall, this mystery seems no easier to crack than the disappearance of your people. Harder, even. We can't exactly travel to the Moon and look around."

"Mhm. Even the shamares with affinities to the sky and winds can't reach that high, let alone those who's talents are tied to the Earth," Earthsong nodded. "Mares like Dreamcatcher are the only ones that can even get a glimpse of what might have happened, and even then, it can be nigh impossible to understand what you're seeing, let alone explain it to others."

"Yeah, Dreamcatcher told me something along those lines already. That whole eclipse thing was really weird, but as long as nothing bad comes from it, I guess it doesn't matter if the Moon looks... A bit odd," Agate trailed off uncertainly, scratching her head.

The filly was sitting down with the two shamares in their home, having found them the day after. After a predictably long mix of a conversation and an interrogation with Cindertail and Autumn Ash about her adventure the previous evening, she turned in for the night, going to visit the mystic elders as soon as she woke up. 

"We'll see if it matters or not yet. While we depend on the Sun and Moon for light, warmth, navigation and other purposes, the spirits of our departed go to the resting grounds beyond the Moon for their final journeys. It would be terrible if that mark on the Moon somehow impeded their passage, though we have no indication that it does. There's going to be a lot of guesswork and attempts to figure out how things might have changed in the future, but if it truly is nothing more than a change in appearance, then everything should settle down in a year or two," True Sight summarized.

"A year or two..." Agate sighed. "...Were things like this when I showed up?"

"Hah! A lot like that, yes! We were guessing whether some kind of titanic beast devoured your entire tribe and was coming for us next, and similar possibilities. You learned our tongue fairly quickly, though, so most of the random guesses were thrown out when you started talking," True Sight chuckled, remembering the discussions.

"I guess I should just try to carry on as normal, then."

"It's all we can ever do, Agate. A dose of caution is fine, but panic never did anything good for anyone," Earthsong nodded.


  ❅ ❆ ❅ 


For the most part, the mood in Snowpitt seemed to fit the shamare's advice. There was a slight undercurrent of tension, or perhaps anticipation for something to happen. However, the ponies still did all the things they usually did - fishing, foraging, collecting herbs and so on, the only difference being the occasional glances towards the Moon whenever it was out. 

Now that she was done with her expedition and didn't have any other projects, Agate went back to the same things she did the previous year. Putting in the knowledge of herbs and navigation that she learned from Spear Throw and Gnarled Root, she went out to look for rare plants for the locals, or joined them as an extra pair of eyes in their trips to secure their territories. 

She went back to Cindertail and Autumn Ash after each trip, sharing her experiences with the excited foals eager to hear more about life outside the village. It was still a few years too early, but the pair kept talking about their plans to spend a year with the nomad groups once they got older. Still, the time wasn't too far away, either, the siblings growing day by day, already getting taller than Agate. 

The routine was interspersed with lessons from Dreamcatcher every week or two, or small talks with other shamares. Now and then, Agate saw messengers from the other tribes trotting about, more than she could recall seeing previously. Whenever she asked, though, the answer was the same: everything is mostly normal, no real news to speak of. There were no more celestial disturbances, at least not as overt as the one that started it all.

As summer waned and nights became longer, some ponies began grumbling that the stars were "off". It was subtle, but the navigators and the shamares that read the skies were swearing up and down that the stars were ever so slightly out of their usual positions, either a pair of them being too close to each other, or a whole constellation getting pitched at an angle, as if  the heavens were arranged by an inexperienced hoof. It wasn't so bad that the snowpony tribes weren't able to find their way any more, but it still kept the undercurrent of tension from going away, everyone still anticipating that some sort of culmination or another calamity was going to come out of it all.

And yet, autumn came and went, and still nothing world-shattering happened. The Gathering was an exceptionally happy occurrence that year, all three tribes finding great reassurance and comfort in seeing their distant kin arrive from the far corners of the world. The ponies were hale and hearty, bringing lots of food that they kept extra busy gathering over the season, and the celebratory feasts did a lot to relieve the collective stress and frayed nerves of the gathered ponies.

Many were expecting some kind of grand explanation from the shamares, one that would put an end to the worrying and speculation for good. Unfortunately, nothing like that was forthcoming. At the meeting in the Great Hall, all the collected shamares could do was shrug, having noticed the discrepancies in the heavens themselves, but unable to divine the meaning behind them, no matter how many times they cast their bones or called out to the spirits to grant them wisdom about the matter. They promised that they'd put their heads together now that the three tribes were in Snowpitt again for the winter, but warned ponies not to get their hopes up.

With that matter shelved for now, it turned out that there wasn't really much to talk about. There were no new stories about dangerous adventures and unknown monsters, seeing that even the northerners spent the season mostly sticking to well-explored and safe territories. Completely inadvertently, Agate indirectly became the main topic of discussion again, this time via Glacier Glider. 

"Just look at that. Isn't it magnificent?" The snowy mare asked proudly, holding up the large quartz spike she dug up in the Twisting Spires.

It was almost as long as half of her foreleg, which was a fair bit larger than most of the citrine crystals the ponies on Shear dug up. The size wasn't the main reason why ponies were curious, though - it was the material. The spire was milky at the base, slowly becoming purer and clearer going upwards, the top half being almost completely see-through.  The only other kind of quartz that snowponies ever saw were the few amethysts that Agate transmuted, and those were met with abject fascination by just about everyone that saw them. 

Agate could see that Glacier Glider polished it, smoothing down the surface and removing any clinging bits of rock, significantly enhancing it's beauty. Back in the Crystal Empire, the crystal would earn a "not bad" for an apprentice, but here, the crowd was far more impressed, oooh's and aaah's echoing across the large space. Inevitably. the question of "So where did you find it?" was asked.

"Well, technically, I didn't find it. I just dug it up, though I was the guide for the scouting expedition. Apparently, there's a massive deposit of these that's been sitting in the Twisting Spires, right under our noses. Not too surprising, considering the... Peculiarities of that place. Ponies don't exactly go there to look around or settle down. The island's been long dismissed as barren, which is still true, but now we know there's something valuable in there."

"So who did find it? Who were the other ponies on your team?"

"Oh, just one pony," Glacier Glider grinned, many of the northerners laughing knowingly. 

The revelation was met with a wave of whispers. Going out alone was considered reckless, and two ponies was a bit better, but still thought of as pushing your luck. It was pretty clear from their reactions that most ponies in the other tribes didn't really know about Agate's expedition yet, or what the Twisting Spires were like. Shaking her head, Glacier Glider cleared her throat.

"Come now, surely you can guess who and how helped me find it. She's been the talk of the tribes for some time now."

There was a moment of intense thinking before many ponies turned their gazes towards Agate. Snorting quietly, the filly rolled her eyes at the attention. Once the inevitable questions started ringing out, the filly got up from her spot, trotting over to the speaker's carpet. Laughing quietly at the expression on Agate's face, Glacier Glider shrugged. 

"Well, I wasn't going to take the credit for your achievement."

"Yeah, yeah. I guess it's time for another story. This one's much less dramatic than my first one, though," Agate warned, turning to address the crowd. "There's no monsters or close shaves... Well, there was one or two, I suppose. Anyway, the northerner's elder shamare and the chieftain asked me to help them out with an issue. Their crystal deposits were running empty, and I recently discovered the ability to see them through snow or even stone..."

While the story was indeed far less exciting, the crowd loved it all the same, praising Agate for her selflessness and helpful nature. Seaweed, Harpoon and Wave Splash joined her on the rug, and some of the many ponies she met on the way came in to add their piece. There was a lot of interest in the crystal deposits that Agate discovered, many ponies eagerly asking the northerners whether they would have more of them to trade now.

Those who knew about mining poured some water on that fire, pointing out that most of the deposits were still underground, and digging through the Earth took time. Then there was the matter of the Twisting Spires, and the unique issues associated with travelling to the island. However, that only served to spark a long discussion about overcoming them, various suggestions and questions being thrown about. In the end, a number of ponies from the western tribe expressed an interest in travelling north, suggesting a large combined expedition of northerners and westerners to descend upon the island during those few months when the ice floes around it finally melted away.

That, in turn, started yet another discussion of just how the westerners were going to get there, seeing as the tribe wasn't nearly as experienced at seafaring as the northerners were, nor did they have even remotely the same amount of boats, only navigating their rivers and comparatively short distances away from the sea shore to fish. Various deals and offers were made, the logistics of it all getting hammered out bit by bit.

Once the attention moved away from her, Agate tried to return to her silent lurking, but was intercepted by Glacier Glider, the grinning mare dragging her off to where her twins were sitting. The snowy fillies had  already tracked down Cindertail and Autumn Ash, clearly plotting something as they whispered amongst themselves.

"Agate! Just who we needed. We have big plans for this year's Calling..."


  ❅ ❆ ❅ 


The apprehension about the Moon and stars still didn't go away, but the snowponies kept busy regardless. Agate's discoveries rekindled their adventurous spirits, while the filly now had many things to keep her occupied herself. After spending another winter playing with her friends and listening to the great variety of stories and songs told by the lore keepers and storytellers, she was invited on another expedition to the north.

"Well, you only examined thirty or so islands, right? There's lots more than that, as I'm sure you learned yourself by now. And your last journey was rudely cut off in the middle, wasn't it? If you ever feel like travelling through the north again, there's no shortage of ponies eager for the honor to be your companions and guides," Long Stride explained.

"Huh, well. It was pretty interesting, seeing all those different islands. And the strange northern creatures. The seals were really funny..." Agate mused, tapping her chin.

She ended up agreeing, and her pilgrimage to the north became a yearly thing. Sometimes, she only spent a few months, other times, she'd spend the entire season with the northerners, only returning to Snowpitt along with the winter. Not every day was spent looking for crystals, either. Some times, she spent weeks with Glacier Glider's family, going on fishing trips or learning more about the north from the locals. No matter what she did, though, she never really ran out of things to do. With her days busy, Agate didn't even notice as a year passed.

Then another.

And another.

And another.

While the filly "had all the time in the world", as the other spirits told her, time still kept it's firm grip on the other ponies. As her foal friends grew up into lanky teenagers, the elders grew older. And True Sight, who was already ninety years old when Agate first showed up, hit ninety-five that summer. While their strength of spirit allowed some shamares to live exceptionally long and remain relatively spry even into their twilight years, even they had their limits. That autumn, the cheeky, smartflank and impossibly sharp elder finally met her end. At ninety five winters, True Sight passed away in her sleep.

"Well. That was unpleasant," The mare remarked, stretching her ethereal, partially translucent legs.

She was surrounded by all the shamares in Snowpitt, their chieftain, and a number of other ponies. Their expressions were solemn, though no one was crying. Many knew that the time was coming, the elder mare becoming more and more lethargic the previous months. Though she was widely known as a joker and a pain in the butt, she was a genuinely capable shamare that helped  a lot of ponies during her lifetime, and a sizeable crowd turned out to pay their respects.

Agate was among them, having been invited personally. She would have shown up regardless, obviously, having gained a fair amount of respect for the wise-crack mare herself, but True Sight was extra insistent on making sure that Agate was there. Picking the filly out from the crowd, she gave one of her signature grins.

"Well then, Agate, ready to go?" She asked, trotting past all the slightly confused well-wishers.

"Go? But... I'm not going to the resting grounds yet, elder, you know that," Agate replied, flicking her ears in confusion.

"Yeah, well, me neither. That's not where we're going. I told you that I wanted to take a peek at Dream Valley myself some time ago, haven't I? I didn't forget, nor did my curiosity diminish. Shall we?"

Agate's eyes went wide at the reminder. She never gave up on finding her people, and neither did the rest of the snowpony tribes. While she went on her expeditions to the north, the northerners and adventurers from other tribes organized a few more trips to the south during the winters. However, they turned out to be as fruitless as the previous ones, never finding anything more than the slowly decaying structures that have already been thoroughly examined. 

With their lack of results, there hadn't been any journeys to Dream Valley in the last couple years, and Agate hadn't made any big breakthroughs with her shamaric magic training either, though she was slowly getting better at it. Having True Sight take a look around with her legendary piercing gaze was one option that wasn't explored yet, which, quite obviously, hinged on the ability for the elder to actually get to Dream Valley.

"I... Yes! Yes, I think I'm ready. It's almost winter, and I'm not really busy at the moment. I can disappear for a while, no problem," Agate nodded eagerly, already digging through her memories for the route she'd need to take through the southern mountains.

The conversation was met with excited babbling from the gathered crowd, well-wishes sounding out from the onlookers. Some offered to come with, but True Sight quickly shot them down, shaking her head with a roll of her eyes. "Spirits only, younglings. You won't keep up with us, no matter how spry you are, or how old I am. This trip is for Agate and I."

Shaking her head with a slight grin, Earthsong trotted over to True Sight, giving the ghostly mare a hug. "You'll truly never change, elder. Try not to get into too many shenanigans with Agate, alright?"

"What, me? Shenanigans? Never," The mare scoffed disdainfully, to a great many eye-rolls, groans and laughter from the crowd.

"Good luck to you, True Sight. May you succeed where others failed," Frostbeard nodded to her, the chieftain managing to keep his expression serious. 

"We shall see. I promise nothing," She shrugged. "Anyway, I guess I shouldn't gallop off just like that. We still need to take care of my body, and little Agate should get the time to say goodbye to her friends. Let's meet here in a few hours, alright, Agate?"

"Sure thing!"

The crowd began dispersing, some going towards the ritual grounds or to gather firewood for the shamare's cremation, while Agate excitedly galloped off to find Cindertail and Autumn Ash, followed by her spirit teachers. She was a bit too excited to stay long with each pony, not that the situation needed much explaining. For their part, Agate's friends were used to her constant travels by now, only wishing her luck on her latest journey.

Coming back to True Sight's house, the filly trotted in place excitedly until the old spirit showed up. She was only accompanied by Earthsong this time, the mare bending down to give Agate a hug and a pat on the head. Heaving a heavy sigh, she gave the pair a long look.

"Well, I knew the time would come. Doesn't make things much easier, though."

"Oh, calm down, you worrywart, this isn't the last you've seen of me, I'm not going to gallop off to the sky right after I'm done with the journey. I still have to tell Sky Breath what a birdbrain she is one last time, so I won't leave until the others have arrived for the Gathering, at least," True Sight waved her off with a scoff.

"Hmm, yes, I'm certain they're going to be terribly torn up when they hear the news. Just devastated," Earthsong nodded, her heavy tone of voice becoming much flatter at hearing True Sight's reasons for remaining.

"I know, right? What are they going to do without my wisdom?" The elder nodded back, deadly serious. "Anyway, I guess we shouldn't dawdle around. There'll be plenty of time to listen to my invaluable advice after we're back. Shall we be off, Agate?"

"Sure, there's still at least a few hours of sunlight left. We can cover a fair amount of ground yet," Agate nodded, waving goodbye to Earthsong and eagerly trotting away.

"Hmm, feels strange to be able to stretch my legs so much again. Feeling light as a feather, though I don't weigh even that much now," The old mare mused, shaking her legs and hopping around experimentally as she followed the filly.

Agate examined her curiously as they made their way outside the village boundaries. Much like any other elder, True Sight used to canter with a hunch, in a slow, unhurried fashion, her limbs not as flexible as a younger pony's. Now, though, she was skipping along, her neck arched and back straight. She still looked old, though some parts of her seemed to have gotten a little younger, or perhaps it was simply because it was a little harder to make out the fine details now that she was a spirit.

"Ahh, it's been a while since I went out anywhere," She continued. "Quite a while. Care to give me a rundown of where we're going, Agate?"

"Well, first, we need to cross the tundra and the forest leading up to the southern mountains. There will be a river we'll have to get across along the way, but that's not really a problem to us. There's a mountain pass we'll have to climb, and then it's going to be nothing but bare mountains all the way until Dream Valley," Agate summarized.

"Sounds simple when you put it that way, but I remember the others grumbling when they returned from their expeditions south, heh. For all our experience with the tundra plains, climbing mountains is something else. Still, though, we're both capable of cheating a bit right now, aren't we? How about we gallop for a while? Been ages since I did that, too," True Sight suggested, grinning excitedly.

"Oh, sure. You can gallop without running out of breath pretty much forever now, though your mind gets foggy if you don't sleep for a long time," Agate explained, picking up the pace.

"Getting taught things by a spirit feels strange after I spent so much time dealing with spirits myself," The elder mused, trying to match Agate's pace with her longer legs.

They continued their journey in silence, each one lost in their own thoughts. Agate was nervous and excited to be going back to Dream Valley once more, running through her memories of the paths she took and looking for familiar landmarks. True Sight, meanwhile, was busy experiencing the differences between having a body and being a spirit, glancing around every which way with her glowing eyes.

The elder was amused by being able to move underwater, attempting to say something before realizing that she wasn't really able to speak under the rushing river. Climbing out, she reflexively started shaking herself dry, even though there wasn't a single droplet clinging to her ethereal form. She didn't even realize what was happening until Agate started giggling at her.

"Oh, right. Silly me."

The late autumn days were rather short already, and darkness soon fell upon the land. The pair glanced at the Moon, still marked with the mysterious scar. Though the shamares performed all kinds of rituals, from attempting to dreamwalk to the Moon to scaring the celestial narwhal away, the mark persisted. There was some kind of barrier around the Moon that pushed the dreamwalkers away, or so they claimed, and no other attempts yielded any results, let alone reveal any new information.

Fortunately, the world seemed to function as before, and even the instability in the stars faded away after a few years. Not seeing a point in bothering any more, the shamares ceased any further attempts at meddling with the Moon, giving helpless shrugs whenever ponies asked them about it. A number of stories about sky narwhals made of darkness sprung up, and though no pony ever saw such a creature before, they weren't really able to deny the possibility of their existence either, given the mark on the Moon.

Galloping through the night, they reached the southern foothills. Glancing at the sky, True Sight hummed. "So, Agate, how long is this journey going to take for us?"

"Well, the last time I did it alone, it took... Four or five days to get to the valley, I think. There was a day that I galloped through without resting, though. But, I was also scouting the route as I went along, so... Four, maybe three days? Do you need rest, elder? I still remember how hard it was being a spirit when I didn't have a totem. I had to constantly focus just to see, the world fading in and out constantly."

"Hmmm, well..." She smacked her lips, looking around. "Seeing was never an issue for me. Those of strong spirit can hold themselves together just fine, at least for a time. I think I'll be alright, though skipping sleep might be a bad idea. I suppose we should recuperate before tackling the mountains."

"Alright. We can sleep on any surface, so let's just find a spot that looks nice and get some shut-eye. There's still a lot of galloping to do."

"Aye aye, expedition leader."


  ❅ ❆ ❅ 


They didn't talk much during the next few days, save for True Sight asking Agate about some detail or other about the mountain paths they were following. Without having to stop for food or much rest, they swiftly navigated through the rough terrain, arriving at the base of the giant mountain after a couple of days. Looking upwards, and upwards, and upwards, True Sight whistled.

"That's a big one."

"Yeah. It's too bad I never learned its name. I know it has to have one," Agate nodded.

"I'm sure you'll learn it someday, whenever you find your people. Speaking of... I remember your story about some kind of old underground passage. Can we still see it?"

"Probably. I imagine it's been slowly collapsing more and more, but we can still move through the caved-in sections just fine. Let's go, it's just up there," Agate nodded, climbing the steep incline that led towards the entrance.

Leading the mare to the entrance, she confidently trotted right through the boulders, True Sight blinking and following behind her after a moment, chuckling quietly. Making it past the blockage, they both focused on their spirit sight, examining their surroundings. There was nothing interesting just yet, so Agate went in deeper with a wave, looking for the painting of the windigo on the wall.

"Here it is... Dreamcatcher was able to work her dream magic on it, but... Well, there's not much you can make out besides the windigo," Agate explained, pointing towards the smudged picture.

"Hum... Curious..."

True Sight stared at it for a few long minutes, tracing every detail with her magically sharpened gaze. She didn't cast any spells on it, but seemed satisfied with her own examination, nodding silently to Agate and moving away from the ancient warning. Nodding back, the filly led them forward, through the abandoned depths of the mountain. 

By the time they emerged from the mine, it was quite late, and not much could be seen in the darkness. Laying down by a cluster of pines, they got some sleep, waking up when the first rays of sunlight rose over the mountaintops. Looking around, True Sight frowned a bit, taking in the sight of the valley for the first time.

"It's a bit dark, isn't it, Agate? The mountains block out a lot of light. Dawn already broke some time ago."

"Yeah, I guess so. With how tall the mountains are on all sides, I think our days end up being as short as in the north. Maybe even a bit shorter? We never really had any problems with it, though. The whole city was built from crystal, and there was a soft glow coming from the barrier all the time, so even in the darkest night, you could still easily find your way around," Agate shrugged.

"Still find it hard to believe your people built your city in such a crazy way. Let's go see what we can find then, hm?" True Sight nodded towards the bottom of the valley, still partially shrouded in the shadow of the mountains.

"It wasn't crazy... It was a very well-designed and beautiful city. Until that monster ruined it..." Agate muttered, leading her charge down the mountainside.

The old mare glanced at Agate sadly, but didn't say anything. Once they reached the valley floor, she whistled again, this time at the amount of empty space. Though the mountains did seem rather restricting and imposing with how they loomed all around you, the valley itself was impressively spacious, wide and long enough that she almost wasn't able to see the southern border of the mountainous circle.

Agate kept moving forward, and True Sight followed along, though she began scanning her surroundings more intently as she did, her expression one of intense focus. Both of them kept entirely silent, for differing reasons. Agate kept slowly increasing her pace until she was galloping as fast as she could, the elder shamare noiselessly following along. It still took them a few hours, but soon, they were standing in front of a mostly nondescript patch of earth.

"It... Started here. The street... I can barely see it. It's already eroded," Agate pointed at a slight indentation in the soil, a long trail leading further southward.

Frowning, True Sight shook herself. "This is unpleasant. I can feel it, the way those younglings described it... The Breath, it's almost like a lack of air... I might not be able to last long here, Agate. Let's hurry up. Lead me to... Wherever you think is most important."

"The seat of power," The filly nodded immediately. "The Spire, the location of the Crystal Heart. Let's go."

Galloping ahead, they made their way towards the former epicenter of the Empire. Once they reached the holes where the Spire's foundations used to stand, True Sight immediately got to work, circling the area at a steady trot and scanning everything with her spirit sight. 

At first, she frowned in confusion, then in anger, then confusion again. Pawing at the air, she trotted back and forth in several spots, before moving on and trying the same thing elsewhere. She took almost an hour before returning to Agate, shaking her head.

"I don't understand, Agate," She said, her voice sounding fainter, her whole body having turned barely visible. Only her eyes were still clear, but it was obvious that she expended a lot of power.

"Did you actually see something, elder? That's already a lot more than any other pony managed to do," Agate eagerly inquired, her voice laced with hope and desperation.

"No more than Dreamcatcher, I'm afraid. I can see glimpses of your people, and the city you spoke of. They're right here, and yet at the same time, they're not. I have never encountered a trick or illusion that I was not able to see through, but it does not feel like an illusion. And yet, whenever I try to grasp it, just a tiniest thread, they vanish before my eyes. Hrmph... Strange, foreign magic indeed..." She grumbled, pacing back and forth.

"Is... Is there anything else you can do?"

"Well... It might be like like trying to tell the size of a lake when you're floating in the middle of it - you can only see the whole thing clearly from a distance. If we're standing in the middle of this magic, then perhaps I can figure something out if I look at the entire puzzle from some ways away. Let's move a bit further out," The shamare suggested thoughtfully.

"Okay, um... Does the direction matter?" Agate asked, glancing around.

"Well, we already came from the north, so let's try looking at it from the south, I suppose," The elder shrugged.

Moving away at a quick trot, they reached the former southern border of the city, turning around and looking at the plain in front of them. Grunting, True Sight squinted and stared in the direction that they came from for a while, eventually shaking her head angrily. Muttering under her breath, she started looking in other directions.

"There has to be some kind of thread somewhere, magic is just woven like that... And no one is capable of doing it without leaving even one loose end..."

Despite her disappointed complaints, though, the old mystic was not able to find whatever it was that she was looking for. Trotting around in a circle once more, she scanned her surroundings on all sides, eventually stopping with her head turned southwards. Narrowing her eyes in a glare at something that she saw, she turned to Agate.

"Tell me, Agate, is there anything significant in the southern mountains?"

"Not... That I know of? The mountain pass leading to Equestria is there, but... Well, it's just a place. I'm assuming you're asking about magical stuff?"

"Mmm, yes, I am," She nodded. "And I can see something in the south. Some other glimmer of either a spirit, or magic. I'm sorry to say that I can't really understand what I'm seeing here, and since  we're lacking any other leads... Mind if we check it out?"

"Well, not like we have any other options. Let's go," Agate nodded, immediately galloping away, True Sight in tow.

Thanks to the valley's size, and the fact that they needed to climb for a fair bit as well, by the time they reached their target, evening fell upon the valley again. Blinking in the slowly gathering gloom, they examined the structure in front of them, both ponies curious, though for different reasons.

It was built of wood, not crystal or even stone, which clearly marked it as Equestrian. It appeared to be an inn, a sign hanging above the entrance proclaiming it to be the "Final Stretch". It wasn't newly built, either, nor was it abandoned. The windows were all shuttered or boarded over, but there was a faint golden light spilling out from between the small gaps in the boards.

And what caught True Sight's attention were the protective wards woven all over the place. The whole building was spider-webbed in faint lines of magic, with something magically powerful that she could see on the second floor. It didn't look like the snowponish runes, but she could still guess at their purpose. Raising a foreleg, she pointed towards a glowing string that was stretched across the porch, in front of the door.

"Can you see these, Agate?"

Focusing on her own spirit sight, the filly nodded slowly. "Yeah... I can. Someone's here."

"Well then... Should we knock and ask if they know anything?"

"Can I knock?"


  ❅ ❆ ❅ 


Storm Chaser stretched, quietly grunting in pleasure as his unused muscles got a tiny workout. While he'd go out flying every day, even in the cold weather, the short flights weren't entirely sufficient for the rather fit soldier. Running his eyes over his body, he tried to figure out how much time it would take for him to get back into a shape that was acceptable for a Royal Guard once he got back to civilization.

Thinking of civilization inevitably got him thinking about the remaining time on his unusual posting. It was late autumn, and winter was already nipping at its heels, especially in the valley. That meant that three quarters of his term were done, and once spring arrived, he and his partner would be relieved, and the accursed posting would (hopefully) be dissolved.

Contrary to what a pony would think, though, the assignment was not a punishment detail, far from it. Despite being stuck on a mountainside several week's of travel away from settled lands, the guards were chosen from the best and most disciplined that the higher-ups could find. This was an actual, important mission that was carried out following direct orders from Princess Celestia herself.

Though it had been delayed for a few years because of protests from the generals claiming that the legions were stretched too thin by having to deal with the upheaval caused by the Celestial Schism, Princess Celestia's eternal youth evidently kept her memory as sharp as ever.  Once things calmed down a little and she restored order to Equestria's cities, she gave the orders to her court mages and the Guard to set off towards their former ancestral homeland once more.

The pain of the Crystal Empire's disappearance was felt all across the nation, despite its distance from Equestria. Though very few Equestrians personally knew the odd crystalline ponies, they were often spoken of with respect, their sheer bull-headed determination to remain in their homeland and fight the windigoes or die trying being a point of both inspiration and an occasional jest. 

Storm Chaser happily volunteered for the assignment, as did Jade Barrier, his partner. They both had the same rank, which was highly unusual, but the same could be said of the entire mission. Taking in the irregular circumstances, it was decided that the two stallions might work better together with a looser command structure, especially seeing as it was going to be only two of them for the entire year.

They were stationed in an abandoned inn that some clever businesspony built right on the edge of the Empire's territory. It was a good spot to rest and recuperate, especially for heavily cargo-laden merchants that overestimated their chances of crossing the mountain pass in one go. Now, it served as their base, the two stallions diligently carrying out their duty.

Hearing a sharp intake of breath, the pegasus glanced towards the suddenly alert unicorn. Raising an eyebrow, he trotted over to where his equipment was stashed. "What's up, Jade? I haven't seen you jump up like that yet."

"Something's triggered the wards," He replied with a frown.

"Hmm. Suppose it's a yeti, or something less dangerous? We haven't really seen anything yet, and it's been nine months already," Storm Chaser asked, putting on his helmet and hefting his spear.

"I'm not sure that it's an animal. It's too rhythmic, almost like someone's trying to knock," Jade Barrier replied, conjuring his namesake shield in front of the door.

"Really? That's... What, did some adventurers from Equestria want to see the site of the Empire? There's no one around for leagues and leagues, and the crystal ponies are long gone," The pegasus mused.

"Well, you know what some young nobles are like. They'd do something like this just to be able to brag to their friends later," The unicorn replied with a disdainful snort.

"Alright, well, if there's not too many of them, I suppose we can let them stay the night. Ready? Open the door," Storm Chaser nodded to his partner, putting on his "Serious Guard" face.

"*Ahem* Identify your- self?"

Both stallions blinked in confusion at the sight in front of them. Two illusions of ponies were standing in front of the door, one of a young filly and one of a rather old-looking mare. They weren't terribly well done, the mare looking fairly translucent. Their eyes were the most detailed and realistic ones they ever saw on a conjuration like that, though, moving as if they were actually looking at the stallions. Glancing around, Storm Chaser called out.

"What is the meaning of this trickery? This is a very odd place to be performing such pranks. If you are afraid, do not be. We are of the Royal Guard of Equestria. Dispel these illusions and come forward."

"Illusions?" The filly said, tilting her head in confusion.

That got the guard's attention again. Making illusions talk was high-level magic, which was quite odd to encounter so far away from civilization. Regardless, whoever the travelling performer was, they weren't fooling the stallions. Rolling his eyes, Storm Chaser puffed up his chest, tapping the floor with the butt of his spear and raising his voice.

"These are indeed impressive, but you're not fooling anyone. Come now, we can see right through them. Whoever you are, dispel these conjurations and show yourself. And if this is some attempt to lure us out of the building into an ambush, we're not falling for it. If you do not reveal yourself, we'll simply shut the door and leave you out in the cold."

"See thr- Oh! You think we're some kind of unicorn tricks? I remember those from when they visited the Empire during the fairs," The fake filly mused.

Pursing his lips, Storm Chaser examined the illusionary duo more closely. Somehow, they looked more alive than any other illusions that he saw, moving and fidgeting in ways only real ponies did, unlike the manual motions conjured by the unicorn performers. He opened his mouth to speak again, only to stop dead at what he saw.

The mare was poking at Jade Barrier's shield with an expression of utter fascination, rubbing and tapping the surface. What alarmed him was the fact that tiny cracks were appearing in the spots that she touched, which was supposed to be completely impossible. Illusions were not capable of something like that, especially not ones so low-powered that they were see-through.

Swallowing a sudden lump in his throat, he glanced back at his partner. The unicorn's pupils turned into pinpricks, and his expression was one of utter terror. "Jade...?" He whispered hoarsely, receiving no answer. Though there was no obvious threat yet, the unicorn never displayed needless fear or paranoia yet, and this reaction put the pegasus on edge. Feeling his heart rate pick up, Storm Chaser turned back to the impossible duo, addressing the filly. "W-what are you, and what are you doing here?"

"My name is Agate. Oh, uh, it's a pleasure to meet you, sir. Sorry for my poor manners, I just... Never mind. We were trying to find out what happened to the Crystal Empire, and Sóþ Gesihþ saw this building all the way from the valley. We were surprised to see that it's occupied, and wanted to ask you what were you doing here," The ethereal filly explained politely.

Though her demeanor was of a very well-mannered foal and that helped him calm down him slightly, Storm Chaser knew that appearances could be deceptive, and he didn't let his guard down. "What happened? The Empire is gone, everyone knows that. Sombra cast his curse... And you didn't answer my question. What are you? And what was that strange-sounding name?"

The filly's eyes went wide, the ethereal pony rearing up and putting her forelegs on the barrier. "You know what happened?! Tell me! Please! I've been trying to find out for years! Where did they all go?! Where are my parents?!"

Feeling his temper rise, Storm Chaser yelled. "Enough tricks! What are you?!"

"I'M A GHOST!!!" The filly shrieked furiously, making the mare glance at her briefly. 

The sound made Storm Chaser spread his wings in a panicked reflex, which immediately turned the mare's attention on to his feathers, the apparition staring at him in a way that made him uncomfortable. He felt like he was being examined down to his very soul, which, if what the filly just said, was not out of the question. Meanwhile, the little ghost kept shouting, tapping against the shield with her hooves.

"My name is Agate! Daughter of Radiant Cut and Garnet Necklace! Granddaughter of Coal Hoof and Crochet Hook! Pony of the Crystal Empire! There, I identified myself as well as I possibly could! Now tell me what happened to my people!"

Storm Hoof gulped nervously. "But, you're, you're..."

"I'm dead, yes," The filly confirmed casually, rolling her eyes and calming down a little. "I got chased by Sombra's minions into the snow and froze to death. Now, no more questions! I answered yours, and you answer mine. What happened to the Empire?"

Feeling weak in the knees, the pegasus did his best to keep his composure. The claims of ghosts by themselves would mean little to him, but Jade's shield that was covering the door had a few sizeable cracks running through it by that point. "Are there more of you? Ghosts aren't real. Did the curse-" Seeing the filly grit her teeth in anger, he quickly changed course. It's not like the knowledge wasn't public. "Sombra. You... If you're really from the Empire, you know who he is, I imagine. The Princesses came to battle and dethrone the usurper once they learned what happened, but he gathered too much power at that point. Though he was crushed, he managed to cast a powerful curse on the entire city before they managed to banish him."

"Curse... What kind of curse? What did he do? Sóþ Gesihþ said that she could still see the city, right there..."

"What is that strange language?" He asked, glancing at the elderly mare. Looking at her still made him nervous, though she went back to examining the shield instead of him.

The filly smacked herself. "Oh, duh. Sorry, I didn't even realize that I was speaking her name in snow- Hold on, you didn't answer my question! For someone constantly demanding that I answer yours, that's quite rude! Now tell! Me!"

"I, I, um, I'm a pegasus warrior, not a mage. I can only explain it in a rather crude way, to the best of my understanding," He stumbled awkwardly, glancing at his partner. The unicorn was still doing his best impression of a statue, though.

"Well good, since I'm not a mage either, that means that I should understand it, too. Go on," The filly nodded eagerly.

"He... Froze them in time. The Empire - the ponies, the city - are still right there, except they're... Well, gone. Though some unicorn sage said that a more accurate description is that they were banished to the future, since if they were simply frozen, we could still see them. Either way, for them, time has stopped."

"Banished to the... Future?" The filly frowned, mulling on the concept. "To, um... What future? How... far? Is that the right word?"

"We... Don't really know," Storm Chaser admitted awkwardly, hoping that it wouldn't cause another outburst of anger. "We're here to try and find out, actually."

"Really?"

Seeing that the filly was keeping her composure, he nodded. As he was never given orders to keep the mission secret, he slowly shrugged. "Yes. A bunch of highly acclaimed wizards set up a magical array on the second floor to measure the curse's decay rate. We're here to protect it until it's finished, and then we're going back to Equestria."

"Can't you just... I don't know, do it yourself? Like your unicorn friends do, just cast a spell and find out? Or even break the curse?" She asked, though by her town of voice, she already knew the answer.

"They... Tried," He ventured forth carefully. "The Princesses themselves both tried, and their best court mages, and even a whole bunch of volunteers. None could find a way to successfully unravel it. Breaking is possible, but..."

"Yeah?"

"Well, again, as the mages explained it to me, breaking a spell is like smashing a rock. You need lots of brute force, and it can get messy. If you know what spell it is, you can safely unravel it, instead. Yes, Equestria has the raw magic to break the curse on the Crystal Empire. However, it would be like trying to retrieve a delicate glass sculpture stuck in a jar by smashing it apart with a huge boulder. It would break the curse, yes, but..."

"...It would break the Empire and all the ponies to bits along with it," The filly finished for him, despondently looking downwards.

"I'm afraid so," He slowly nodded.

"How long? Do you have any clue?" She asked, raising her eyes again.

"Well, um..." He hesitated, grimacing slightly.

It didn't go unnoticed by the sharp-eyed filly. "You know something, don't you?"

"I... Yes. The array... It was built because, and I quote, "Trying to measure the decay of that blasted monstrosity is like trying to figure out how fast mountains crumble by staring at one. It's too slow for a normal pony to even notice. It could take a decade, though the more likely answer is centuries or even millennia." That was what the wizards told me before ordering me to never enter the second floor and keep the door sealed."

"Wait, I know those. Decades means tens, centuries means hundreds, and millennia... Uh... Oh."

There was a long, tense moment as the filly and the stallion stared into each other's eyes. The silent old mare kept tapping at the barrier, the thing almost broken by this point. Storm Chaser tensed up, preparing to flee, if the situation came to it. While he was a trained guard, he seriously doubted whether he could even slow them down with his spear, if the two charged at him. Feeling his heart beating like crazy, he saw the filly's muzzle slowly twist in anger. Fortunately for him, her fury was directed at someone else.

Taking a step back, she turned around, screaming her rage into the heavens. "SOMBRA!!! You windigo-borne son of a floewolf! I hope you get eaten by an akhlut! I don't care how small or weak I am, If I ever find you, I swear, I'll make you regret it! You total-" She continued what must have been an impressive string of invectives in a foreign tongue of some kind, the old mare turning towards her with an impressed expression.

Looking down at the crushed spirit, Storm Chaser finally realized that this entire situation truly was real, and not some fevered dream. "I am... Sorry for your loss," He said lamely.

"I don't care!" She yelled, whirling around and jumping forward, smashing through the weakened shield.

"I-I'm sorry?" He took a few steps back as the glimmering shards of the barrier faded back into the æther.

"I made a promise! And I'm not going to break it, you hear me?! I'm not going to let him win! I will see my parents again! Even if it takes a THOUSAND YEARS!!!"

Not really knowing what to say, the stallion stood there, his spear reflexively held in a defensive position, his wings flared and quivering for a sudden takeoff. Seeing his expression, the filly cringed a little, her ears folding. Turning around and stepping back outside, she called out over her shoulder.

"I am sorry for scaring you, sir. Thank you for helping me out. I won't bother you again. Good night. Let's go, True- Ugh, I mean," She trotted away, saying something in that foreign language to the mare. 

For her part, the mare remained silent, shooting one last appreciative look towards the two stallions and giving them a lascivious wink before turning around and trotting after the filly. For a long moment, Storm Chaser looked at their retreating forms, only daring to move when he was sure that they were completely gone. Closing the door, he trotted over to Jade Barrier, punching him in the shoulder. 

"Wow, great backup you provided for me there, partner."

Still stuck in his stupor, the unicorn squeaked. Going from stock-still to shivering, he collapsed on the floor, breathing like he just galloped a marathon. Looking him over, Storm Chaser tried to look for any obvious injuries, but unsurprisingly, wasn't able to find any. Waiting for the unicorn to compose himself, he kept giving him a flat look.

"D-d-don't look at me like that! You don't know what it's like for Death to touch your soul!" Jade Barrier finally shouted.

"Death? Well, if you're calling that Death, then I just talked to it, and I was standing closer than you, if you'll recall," Storm Chaser grumbled.

"Not the filly! The silent mare! With the ancient name! That was the Pale Mare herself, it had to be! Guiding the lost spirit around! You don't know how it felt when she touched my magic! Death's touch itself, and if she touched either one of us, we'd be dead too! She could unravel my shield with barely a touch, you saw that!  It felt like a whole legion of skeletons was doing the can-can on my grave!"

"That's an... Oddly descriptive feeling."

"Shut- shut up," Jade Barrier laughed hysterically.

"So... That was all real, then," Storm Chaser asked, though it came out as a statement rather than a question.

"I... Yeah. It was," Jade Barrier confirmed after a long pause.

"Tartarus damn it... Lost souls. I never believed in ghosts, but then again, we never saw or heard about dark magic of that magnitude unleashed upon the world, either. There's nothing we can do, is there?"

"No. You heard her. She wants to see her parents. And we know that's not possible until the curse runs its course. And don't even think of reporting this to the higher-ups. It'd instantly get dismissed as a case of cabin fever, and if we insist that it really happened, we'd get discharged from the Guard for being insane. No one is going to believe us on this, ever."

"Damnation... Celestia have mercy on her soul."

"Celestia have mercy on ours, too. I don't think the crystal ponies hold Celestia in a very high regard."

Trotting away, Storm Chaser sighed. Removing his helmet, he put his spear away, moving towards the storage rooms. A number of rooms in the abandoned inn were converted into pantries, with enough supplies for the two stallions to last the entire year. Given the length and the unusual circumstances of the mission, they were afforded some supplies that were usually not available to the Guard.

One of those was a pair of large casks, filled with strong applejack. Normally, alcohol, if given at all while on deployment, would be strictly rationed. In their case, though, they were trusted and known to be disciplined enough not to drink themselves into a stupor. Either way, the amount that they had would only be enough to keep them nice and drunk for a few weeks at most, if they really went at it. The idea was for them to consume it sparingly and have something to warm their bones on cold winter evenings. Which was exactly what they were planning to do, but Storm Chaser knew that they were about to make a noticeable dent in their reserves this evening.

Filling up a pair of mugs, he carried them back to Jade Barrier, who managed to compose himself, sitting despondently on a rug in front of a fireplace. The pegasus didn't even have to say anything, the unicorn wordlessly picking up a mug and clinking it against Storm Chaser's.

"May she find peace one day."

"May she find peace."

The pair of shaken soldiers took a deep swig each, watching the branches in the fireplace slowly burn away.