//------------------------------// // Friction // Story: Agate's Vigil // by Wingnut //------------------------------// The pair made their way to Thundersnow's abode. She lived close to the center of the village, where the chieftain and other important ponies made their homes. It was a decently-sized affair, perhaps on the large side for a single pony, but shamares often needed the extra space to store all the mystical paraphernalia, ingredients, tinctures, potions, and other such things. The house itself was built of stone, a material most northerners coveted. While they built and lived in all kinds of improvised dwellings, the rough northern weather made them want for their homes to be made of the strongest stuff they could get their hooves on, often preferring to dig into the ground rather than to have something that would get blown over in a storm sticking out above ground. With the settlement being so new, though, the vast majority of the buildings were made of wood. Stone took far more time to work, and while just about every family was slowly stockpiling good-sized rocks and setting out the foundations for future buildings, only a few stone buildings were already finished. Agate could only guess that Thundersnow either had a big, rich family that supported her, or the northern tribesponies felt great respect for her and got together to complete the construction as fast as possible. As they approached, Agate could see the faint glimmers of various runes and magical trinkets, both inside and outside, including a number of crystals. Back in the day, that would have required concentration, but using her spirit sight was almost second nature by that point, requiring little to no effort. The thick door creaked a bit as it opened, some dust floating about. The shamare huffed, stepping inside while taking off her travelling cloak. Gripping it in her teeth, she flapped the article of clothing about, mostly succeeding in getting rid of the dust that had accumulated while she was wintering in the south. Agate took the opportunity to examine her more closely. Thundersnow had a dark gray coat, much like a thundercloud in the distance, with a stunningly white mane and tail, and white fetlocks. Underneath her cloak, she was wearing a curious harness that stretched diagonally across her chest. A number of charms and tiny clay bottles were attached to it in easy reaching distance. Apart from that, she had two thin copper bangles on her right hoof, and a few shiny seashells woven into her tail. "Well then. Let's get out of this thing, at least for a moment..." The shamare muttered, reaching for a small hook that held the harness together. While she was busy undressing and putting her travelling gear away, Agate glanced around the interior of the home. It was obviously a rather new building, the walls plain and the furnishings sparse, with only a few personal touches here and there. The only things of note were the fireplace with a small rug close to it, a stout table with a set of chairs set against a wall, and a wooden stand that Thundersnow was hanging her harness and cloak on. Stretching out and shaking herself, the shamare smiled in relief. "While travelling can be fun and enjoyable, the yearly migration is a bit excessive. It'll be nice to finally sleep in my own bed, instead of camping outside or snoozing in a boat." "Say, why didn't you stay here through the winter with the others, if working on the settlement is so important?" Agate inquired. Thundersnow froze for a moment before shrugging. "It's the elder's and chieftain's jobs to go and catch up with the other tribes. Now, I'm not the eldest, but I am among the most highly regarded shamares of my tribe, so off I went. I'm not sure if I'll go next year, though. Perhaps it would be for the best if I didn't, let them think they chased me away. Suppose I'll ask the chieftain sometime." Agate nodded as her host talked, looking around the room. Finding everything in order, she went through the door on the right. Given the runes carved into the wood, it wasn't hard to guess that it was where the mystical workshop and storage was. The guess was immediately proven correct as the spirit stepped inside, blinking at the gloom. Though she could see many little glimmers, it was quite dark - everything was sealed tight, including the solitary window. "Darn, need to make some light. Where did I hang that thing..." Thundersnow muttered, groping around. Agate immediately saw what the mare was trying to find. Trotting noiselessly towards a string of small quartz crystals hanging from the ceiling, she slowly ran her hoof through all of them, lighting them up one by one. Blinking, Thundersnow watched her with clear fascination. "You're so fast with those. It would take me ten times as long." "It's where my talents really lie, not with dream magic or other things," The spirit replied with a shrug. Glancing around, she saw more crystals, lighting them all up one by one. Soon, everything was bathed in a steady glow, revealing the contents of the room. Unlike the previous one, it was quite obvious that Thundersnow spent a lot of time there. The entire floor was covered by an intricate ritual circle, with bits of ash and scattered dried plants in strategic spots indicating that it already saw some kind of use. Every wall was covered in shelves full of jars and trinkets, save for a large work table placed below the window. Right above the table, the wall had a few pieces of parchment attached to it, depicting a fish of some kind, a vaguely familiar northern bird, and an unfamiliar skeleton of some creature. Nodding, Thundersnow performed her own examination, opening a few jars, smelling some dried herbs and smiling in satisfaction. "Looks like everything's in order. I had some ponies come in and set a fire now and then so it doesn't get damp or moldy. Doesn't smell like anything unpleasant got in. Hm... Suppose I should go check the pantry and go out to stock up a bit... Never had a guest stay over before, but then again, you don't actually need much... Do you?" "Hardly need anything," Agate confirmed with a small grin. "I can sleep anywhere and don't eat." "Hrm... And yet, it still seems terribly rude to make you sleep on the floor..." "Eh. I can sleep on that rug near the fireplace," Agate shrugged. "I suppose... Well, I need to take care of a few more errands us still-living ponies need to deal with, such as food. Make yourself at home, I guess. And don't feel obliged to be at my side day and night. Go spend time with your kin whenever you wish." "Will do, Thundersnow." ❅ ❆ ❅ Thus began Agate's partnership with the controversial shamare. The first days weren't very eventful or interesting. While enthusiastic, Thundersnow clearly didn't have a clue what to really ask of Agate, so they spent a fair amount of time getting a feel for each other and figuring out their strengths and weaknesses, trying to think up of ways Agate could help. The spirit ended up giving her a few lessons on crystals, with mixed results. Though Thundersnow was certainly powerful, she didn't seem to have the knack for the precise sort of magic enchanting crystals needed. She could mostly brute force the results she wanted, but that had its limits. As she herself explained, her true talent largely lay in the wild side of the spectrum of shamaric abilities, like the thunderous snowstorm that she was named after. Of course, that didn't mean she only ran around causing or chasing away storms all the time. As most shamares did, she did have skills in relatively mundane areas as well, such as working with the various herbs she had in her storage. While the island's flora was largely familiar, the settlers did find some new plants, which was always an interest to the mystics. Agate got to put her rarely-used herbalist knowledge to the test, going out to find patches of curious mosses and odd grasses. Once they were brought back, the shamares would divide them amongst themselves, very carefully tasting and testing the tiniest bits to see what kind of effects, if any, they would have. They mostly spent the first few weeks in the settlement, working on charms and tinctures for the occasional sick pony, with the odd discussion about magic thrown in. While crystals still were a relatively unfamiliar territory for the snowponies, the same could be said for their methods of enchantment and Agate. She'd seen them weave strings of their coats with bits of herbs and other things over the years, and it still boggled her mind when the resulting trinkets produced fairly impressive magical results. It made sense that their coats were magical, given just how ridiculously cold resistant they were, but using your hair for magic still seemed strange to her. After a while, Thundersnow decided that it was time to go out and do some shamaring. The ponies needed food, and though they were capable of catching enough to feed themselves just fine, she still wanted to help cut down on the time spent foraging and fishing, so they could fully focus on settling in. While the warm island was shockingly good for farming compared to pretty much every single other northern territory, the northerners didn't really have the faintest clue on how to set up farms, so they were stuck feeding from the land and sea until they could get a few ambitious southerners to move in and kick things off. "So, this is what got you into trouble with the western tribe?" Agate asked, glancing at the splashing waves. "Kind of," The shamare confirmed with a grin. "Not here, of course. Way further out south, close to the mainland. I overheard some of my tribesfolk talk about how they spent so much time building, they weren't sure their supplies were going to last the winter, and I... Nevermind. The details aren't all that important. Anyway, I don't think there's even any salmon this far north. Then again... Eh, not like it matters, it's not the fish we're going to be catching today." She was wearing her harness, equipped with all the little knick-knacks, potions and charms, along with a set of saddlebags stuffed with even more shamaric stuff. They were floating in a boat not too far from Green Land, along where the fisherponies said the catch was fairly good. Many dozens of other boats dotted the waves as well, a large portion of the population having gathered for the special, shamare-blessed fishing trip. Bits of food were dropped into the water as both offering and bait, though they were all waiting for the signal from Thundersnow to actually start casting their nets. "Right then, best get to it," The mystic nodded, sitting down on the bottom of the boat and digging through her saddlebags. The first item she retrieved was a candle of sorts, though made from fish oil and ground up herbs set in a clay pot, instead of wax. The things produced lots of smoke and almost no light, but that was by design. Apparently, they smelled pleasant and some of them helped you relax if made from the right plants, not that Agate could smell anything any more. And the ones used by shamares often had magic-enhancing effects, too. Two more candles followed the first. Thundersnow set them up in a triangle around her, carefully setting them alight and taking a deep breath of the trailing smoke, a content smile stretching across her face. Taking another deep breath, she retrieved a pair of wrapped bundles, setting them down and opening them to reveal two small piles of fish skeletons, the bones in the first pile around three times bigger than the other. With a third breath, she picked them all up and ceremonially tossed them overboard with a mutter. "Circles within circles, this circle is complete. Cycle of life, cycle of death, the remains of death feed the new life." That step complete, she rose, carefully leaning overboard and sticking her hooves into the sea in the way Agate saw shamares with an affinity to water do. The smoke curling around her, Thundersnow began humming and chanting, slowly swirling her forelegs in circles. It didn't take long for the targets of her summons to show up, silvery, fish-like forms of water spirits darting about. With a small smile, she began whispering instructions to them, a few bits of which Agate managed to overhear. "Chase and glide, herd them up and don't let them divide... The small fry can scurry away, but the old ones will give us a feast today..." Agate watched with some curiosity. Though she was a spirit herself, she didn't really get to see all that many non-pony spirits. As far as she understood, it wasn't too different from ponies and animals - some of them might appear alike at first glance, but the similarities were really superficial, including the ways they communicated. Not every shamare could talk to every spirit, and even then, some could only summon and command them, but not actually listen and understand. After a few moments, she noticed that the water spirits became more defined, looking a lot like the still-living forms of the skeletons Thundersnow threw out before. The bigger ones were clearly predatory, all sleek and sharp-toothed, while the smaller ones looked like prey, darting about with great speed. "Go," The shamare breathed, and the swarm dispersed, the bigger spirit-fish seemingly chasing after the small ones. Leaning back, Thundersnow kept looking into the water, though she pulled her hooves out. Agate herself couldn't see anything, but the shamare must've been getting some kind of information, as she nodded in satisfaction after a while, turning towards the nearest fishing vessel and giving the occupants a nod. The fisherponies nodded back, releasing a quick, sharp whistle towards the other boats. With smiles and eager grins, the rest of them readied their nets, alerting the entire fleet with similar signals, the sharp sounds carrying over the waves. It didn't take long for the action to begin, the sea that was calm mere moments before turning into a complete frenzy of pulling great, wriggling masses of fish out of the water, the water churning and splashing from all the activity. From what the northerners told her, Agate knew that fishing was a fairly complicated matter. There were multiple tools - nets, fishing rods, even harpoons for some of the really big ones - and different methods, and even if you were an old hoof at fishing, you could go for weeks without catching anything if you didn't have a seal friend helping you by chasing the fish up from the depths. This seemed to be even better than fishing with seals, though. The fish were practically jumping into the boats, the ponies barely managing to keep up. Whether they could smell the blood or just saw what was happening, a swarm of birds soon showed up to join the fray, their bird calls adding to the cacophony. The nimble avians would swoop in and catch the guts and other bits of refuse the ponies were throwing out of their boats right from the air, merry laughter echoing from the observers at the displays of flying skill. As she slowly scanned her surroundings, Agate could see the occasional flash of the water spirits among the fish, darting in and out of the depths, either guiding or chasing their quarry towards the surface. Although she wasn't participating in the event at all, she did want to see the whole thing, and not just because of the whole drama surrounding that particular method of fishing. A short while later, something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Blinking, Agate turned her head upwards, scanning the skies. Something wasn't quite right. Squinting and focusing, she tried to understand what she was seeing. There were loads of birds filling the air, their flight paths criss-crossing and almost colliding, but higher up, there were... "More birds?" She muttered, confused. Thundersnow's ear twitched and turned towards Agate, but she didn't say anything, her forelegs back in the sea as she slowly splashed the water and hummed some shamaric chant. The smoky candles had almost burnt out, and as she looked through the last wisps of smoke rising into the sky, Agate finally understood what was so strange about the birds circling above. "They're spirits," She spoke aloud, puzzled about what she was seeing. Thundersnow still didn't say anything, but she did turn to look at Agate from the corner of her eye with a questioning expression. Pursing her lips, Agate thought for a moment whether interrupting the focused shamare was a risky move or not, before deciding that it was better to ask. "Thundersnow, I saw you call the water spirits, but did you summon the spirits of the birds, as well?" "Huh? Spirits... What? These birds are all still alive, and..." The shamare trailed off, speaking slowly and swaying with the rocking of the boat. Whether it was the magic exertion or the herbal smoke she breathed in, the mare was clearly a bit out of it. Wordlessly, Agate pointed right up with her hoof, an action at which Thundersnow only frowned with confusion. It took several slow blinks for her to finally get it and raise her face upwards, gazing at the sky. Unfortunately, that turned out to be too late. While they were talking, the bird spirits were circling lower and lower, and when they saw the mare's unprotected face, they all swooped down with an unearthly shriek. "YAAARGH!" Thundersnow only had enough awareness to cover her face with a foreleg before they reached her, clawing and pecking her with their ghostly claws and beaks. The flock wasn't all that discriminate with their targets, however. Though their main target was obviously the shamare, there were hundreds of birds, and those that couldn't find an opening spread out in every direction, assaulting ponies left and right. Even Agate wasn't spared, gasping in shock as she felt pain for the first time since she died, claws raking across her back and neck. "Arrrrgh!! "What is happening?!" "GET THAT THING OFF M- *splash*" "PONY IN THE WATER!!! PULL HER OUT, QUICK!" The already frantic fishing expedition turned into complete bedlam. Between the loud splashing, panicked shouting, and screeches from both living and dead birds, the northerners could barely even hear themselves, let alone others. Smacking the birds away with her hooves, Agate snorted angrily, turning around again and again as they kept circling her, looking for a weak spot. Shaking her head, she looked at their main target, the shamare curled up into a ball on the bottom of the boat as the birds kept assaulting her. Before Agate could take a step to try and help her, though, Thundersnow surged upwards, releasing an explosive breath. The breath was almost literally explosive, as a blast of wind scattered all the bird spirits, panicked shrieks echoing around as they attempted to right themselves in the air. They wouldn't get that chance, though, as Thundersnow continued her counterattack. Pulling a number of charms and pouches from her harness, she began throwing them at the largest clusters of spirits, scattering them even further with sudden blasts of flame, puffs of oddly-colored smoke, or loud bangs. That was only the beginning, however, as she took in another massive breath, letting out a furious avian cry. The war cry rallied the local, still-living birds that had been circling around in confusion, similar shrieks answering the shamare with enthusiasm. They fell upon the spirits, and though they couldn't actually kill them, their attacks seemed to hurt the attackers, just like their own attacks hurt the living creatures. Grunting angrily, Thundersnow used the reprieve to truly gather her strength. While the birds were fighting, she began whispering, then chanting, then howling like a furious gale, the winds almost immediately answering her in kind. Raising a foreleg, she circled it around as if she was swirling the water, the wind following her directions as it swept up the aerial combatants. Oddly enough, the spirits seemed more affected than the material birds, getting blown away far into the distance. Meanwhile, the fisherponies took the opportunity to right their boats and restore order, as much as they were able to. A number of them began speeding towards the shore, while a couple approached the boat Thundersnow and Agate were in. "Shamare? Are you alright?!" "Urrrg..." Shaking her head, Agate got closer, twitching slightly as she moved. She still felt some pain, something which threw her off quite badly. Doing her best to focus on the situation at hoof, she examined Thundersnow. There were no injuries that she could see, but she was fairly certain that the mare was feeling plenty of pain as well. Her pupils had shrunk to pinpricks, and she was shaking all over, breathing heavily. "They dare," She whispered, barely audibly. "Thundersnow?" Agate asked in a low voice. "THEY DARE!!!" The shamare suddenly howled furiously, standing up straight and staring southwest, her eyes still wild and somewhat unfocused. Agate grimaced, the ponies in the boats shrinking back. It wasn't too hard to understand what Thundersnow had meant. The flock of birds immediately reminded Agate of Sky Breath, the old elder shamare of the western tribe. Though the avian-masked shamare was gone now, her brand of magic and affinity to birds and other animals was a common one in her tribe's shamares, just like water was a common affinity for the northerners, or earth for the southern tribe. Despite being rattled, Thundersnow had clearly figured it out as well. Turning towards the ponies in the boats, Thundersnow yelled angrily. "Get back! And get out!" "Shamare? W-was it something we did?" The mare in charge of the nearest boat asked fearfully. With a groan, Thundersnow massaged her temples, taking deep breaths and clearly trying to contain her anger. "No, no, no one here did anything to cause this. I am sorry for shouting at you, the situation was very shocking, and I'm still a bit muddled from the ritual. This was not the spirits getting angry at us for not performing the proper rites, or anything like that. No, it was a deliberate attack. An insult most shocking, one which I intend to answer in kind. You should secure your catch and go to shore now. The weather is going to get a bit... Wild." "Deliberate... Attack?" The mare pursed her lips in confusion, tilting her head at Thundersnow's grim tone of voice. "Oh yes. If you had a chance to look at them - have you noticed that almost none of the bird spirits were of local birds that live around our islands?" Dark mutters came from the other ponies in the boats, the mare slowly nodding and waving a hoof in a signal. Every remaining boat turned towards the shore, ponies slowly paddling away while others still kept gutting and slicing up the fish, tossing the innards to the flocks of the victorious local birds. The avians happily gobbled up the offerings, trailing the boats and shrieking proudly the entire time. Glancing sideways into the distance, Agate shook herself to try and get rid of the stinging sensations. "Answer in kind?" Blinking, Thundersnow looked at Agate, as if she forgot that the spirit was even there. "Ah. Yes. Tell me, Agate, have you figured out the nature of what just happened?" "It was the westerner shamares, right? I saw them call flocks of spirit-birds like that in the past." "Indeed! You are entirely correct, unfortunately. It seems they decided to escalate this... Entirely one-sided spat they have with me. Well, it was one-sided. It would seem it is time to make it less so. Not only was this a most grave insult, in their careless foolishness in attempting to "punish" me, they attacked others of my tribe, as well! Simple bystanders, who had nothing to do with my actions. And they have the gall to say that *I* use my powers frivolously and without thought about the consequences! The nerve!" Agate opened her mouth, only to see something on the horizon. "I think the birds are actually coming back. The spirit birds, that is..." "Hrm, yes. I didn't really put all that much strength into getting rid of them. I just wanted them out of my face and a moment of peace to focus properly." "Do you think they waited for this? Specifically for you to do the fish luring ritual again before attacking, to... Send a message?" "Oooh. Hmmm. Curious notion, but... I doubt it. More likely, they attacked me because I left the village and all the protective wards around it. The minds of spirits can be cunning and clever, but they are rarely wise, at least the animal ones. I doubt they could even recognize what I was doing. They simply saw the opportunity and took it. Now then... Pardon me, Agate, but I need to focus before they come back." "Alright..." It wasn't hard to deduce what Thundersnow intended to do. The shamare was in her absolute element now. No bystanders nearby that could be harmed, just the open sea and the sky, the wild spirits at her beck and call. Breathing in and out, she began whistling, talking the language of the wind. Despite what she just went through, there was a wild, slightly crooked grin on her face as she worked her magic. Looking into the distance, Agate could see that the flock of spirit-birds was actually quite smaller than what hit them the first time, only the most persistent and ornery ones coming back for a second round. Despite their determination, though, they stood no chance whatsoever, now that they lost the element of surprise. Thundersnow was howling up a storm - literally. "HOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAHHHHH!" It was strange to actually hear such sounds coming out of a pony's mouth. It matched the howl of the wind almost perfectly, and if Agate wasn't looking, she was fairly certain she wouldn't be able to tell the difference. The waves got choppier as the weather turned wild at the shamare's call, the sky roiling and churning. It didn't seem to deter the birds much, though, and Agate remembered her own bird-flight through the north. Back then, the wind didn't bother her either, but Thundersnow clearly knew how to give it more kick, breathing magic into it to scatter the invaders. Then, with a flash of light and a boom, a lightning bolt struck through the middle of the flock from the darkening sky, making the last of them flee back where they came from. Waving her hooves wildly, Thundersnow kept making various noises, seemingly trying to herd the wind in a specific direction. After a short while, it seemed to work, the gales beginning to blow steadily to the southwest. Catching her breath, she grabbed a small clay bottle from her harness, ripping the cork out with her teeth and greedily gulping down the contents. Taking in a few more deep breaths, she held a hoof on her chest for a moment as she closed her eyes. "Hmpf. That's the end of that, I think..." "So... Did you send a storm to the western tribe for this attack?" "Ah... Wish I could, Agate, I wish I could. Alas, a storm is not like a spear, not at all. It does not fly precisely without so much as a sound until it hits its target, oh no. A storm wrecks everything in its path, and there are a great many of our islands along the way to the western tribe's shores. I did send some northern winds their way, though. Chase those damned birds back to whoever summoned them, make their spring a little colder. Ugh. What an annoyance... Can't say I saw this coming, not at all." "Me neither. I think we should stop talking, though, and you should start paddling. The winds are blowing us away from the island." "Ah. Quite. Let's get out of here and back to the village." ❅ ❆ ❅ Though the weather turned foul, the northerners didn't seem bothered by it in the slightest, the gale paling in comparison to the wrath of the winter storms they learned to endure. The unexpected avian assault did rattle them, though, some of the more nervous ponies glancing at the sky now and then as they secured their boats and catch. Despite the interruption, the amount of fish they caught was staggering. In all likelihood, they would have had to stop and return to shore soon anyway, if they didn't want to capsize under the weight of their bounty. As such, the overall mood wasn't as festive as it would usually be with such a huge catch, but it wasn't fearful or panicked, either. A few ponies got soaked, wringing water and picking bits of seaweed out of their coats, but overall, there weren't any visible injuries. Some ponies did sustain invisible injuries, though, carefully examining their backs or their legs with confused and slightly pained grimaces, trying to shake or rub the pain away, with little results. As Agate and Thundersnow reached the shore and disembarked, half a dozen ponies rushed towards them, helping them secure the boat while peppering them with questions. "Shamare, I feel a strange pain, but I see not a drop of blood on my foreleg. Is it some kind of curse from the bird spirit?" "Did they cut my spirit? I hurt inside..." "Is there some kind of ointment for this? I don't want it to hurt forever..." Thundersnow cleared her throat, calling for attention. "Worry not, this is nothing serious. Yes, your spirits can be injured, and feel pain. There are stories of ponies that lost their limbs, but still felt pain in them from time to time, the flesh gone, but the spirit still experiencing pain. This is what we shamares have learned to call "phantom pains". These, though? They're superficial scratches, nothing more. Some spirits do have enough strength to hurt and even kill you without leaving a mark on your body, but those are few and far between, and certainly don't include those birds. The pain should fade in no more than a day or two, if not a few hours. Now, I'm sure you have more questions, but we should finish with the tasks at hoof and get back to the village for those." As the ponies nodded and went back to work, Agate pursed her lips, examining her own back. She could actually see faint lines where the birds clawed at her, and they still stung a little. "Hm. I didn't think I'd ever feel pain again..." "Usually, you wouldn't. It is indeed very rare for a spirit to experience something like that. We shouldn't have felt more than a tingle. In this case, though, I think the shamares that cooked this up breathed quite a large amount of extra strength into those birds, perhaps even put some kind of charms specifically on their claws so they would hurt more. An interesting workaround to having to summon a powerful spirit that'd be capable of something similar, yet might be uncontrollable. Pretty clever, I have to admit. Too bad that cleverness was spent on such a petty act." "What are you going to do about the whole thing?" "Honestly? I'm not sure. My pride is telling me to travel southwest and flatten their forests to teach them some humility, but I am not stupid, no matter what those foals say or think about me. This was a clear provocation, and if I give in to my anger, I'll only make myself look like the guilty fool that they make me out to be. I suppose I shall simply have to wait for an opportunity to present itself... Unless the chieftain decides otherwise. He will find out about this, and I don't think he'll be very happy." ❅ ❆ ❅ "I am not happy to hear about this," Jagged Ice grumbled. After coming back to the village, Thundersnow decided to go and report what happened to the chieftain herself. She did need to calm a few more of the fisherponies that were attacked, but that didn't take long. Along the way, a number of shamares joined them, having felt the disturbances and the riled up wind spirits blowing about. Together, they made their way to the chieftain's home, where Thundersnow proceeded to tell them what happened. "I didn't think you would be, chieftain. I was quite furious myself," Thundersnow agreed. "Was? I would still be quite miffed, I think," A shamare snorted. "They probably think this "evens the scales", or something like that. What Thundersnow did is not even remotely comparable to deliberately assaulting us, though," Another one added. "In our main sanctuary city that we're still building, no less. Can you even imagine any tribe deliberately assaulting Snowpitt? Madness," A third one agreed. "Well, they clearly don't consider Smoky Bay of equal worth or importance to Snowpitt or Highglade, they made that much quite clear during the Gathering," Jagged Ice sighed. "This can't go unanswered," One of the shamares groused, to which Thundersnow shook her head. "As I already said, elder, I don't think doing anything rash would be a good idea. We would make ourselves look like the villains, and might even end up alienating the southern tribe, as well." Jagged Ice grunted in agreement. "She is correct. The westerners were posturing and postulating about how morally bankrupt our tribe supposedly is. They would use whatever retribution we enact against us, not to mention they might outright lie and deny that the attack had anything to do with them to begin with. No one got truly hurt, so the best course of action would probably be to confront them during the next Gathering... If, and only if, this was a one-off event. If there are any repeats of this... I honestly don't know what we're going to do." There was a long minute of silence as the enormity of what they were truly discussing sunk in. They were talking of going to seek retribution. To fight, to battle, to war, with one of their own sister tribes. Not wild beasts or strange spirits. Other living, breathing ponies. Nothing even remotely like this ever happened in the entire snowpony history. Clearing her throat, Thundersnow was the first one to break the silence, changing the topic. "Speaking of that, chieftain, I was thinking about not going next year. Let them think they scared me off, if they think themselves so mighty. I don't really care what they're going to say about me in the meetings. I could just stay here and get more work done." Jagged Ice rubbed his chin thoughtfully at the proposition. "Interesting thought. It could go either way, though. They might claim it as proof of your guilt, saying you were too afraid to show your face because you knew how terrible your actions were." "Gah! Spirits, there's just no winning this, is there?" Snorting, the stallion shook his head with a wry grin. "Oh, I'm sure we'll overcome this nonsense, one way or another. We dealt with far, far worse things than this, this... Tantrum the westerners are throwing. I have to say, though, the matters of spirits are largely beyond my ken. If they try to pull something like this again, will you be able to deal with it?" "Without a doubt, chieftain," Thundersnow rolled her eyes disdainfully. "I'm certain it took multiple shamares to conjure up that flock of birds and give them so much strength, and I managed to deal with it alone. Not only that, but they took me by surprise, too. I'll be more aware now, and I'll call on the others, if need be." The other shamares all agreed as Jagged Ice slowly nodded, his expression thoughtful. He seemed slightly skeptical at their ability to provide assistance swiftly enough, given that, besides Thundersnow, they were all quite old and could only amble about at an old pony's pace. Still, he didn't challenge their assertions. "I suppose this meeting is concluded, then. Be safe, Thundersnow, and inform me the moment something suspicious happens." "I will, chieftain. Be well." ❅ ❆ ❅ The shamare group chatted as they left the chieftain's abode, theorizing the possible ways the westerners could have summoned and sent the bird spirits at Thundersnow, trying to figure out the ritual and possible countermeasures, or come up with a version of their own. Just like in the meeting, Agate didn't really talk, only listening and silently trotting along. "I wonder how they tracked you down, though. They can't just tell them "Go and hunt down Thundersnow". Unless those spirits actually saw you before, they wouldn't know what to look for," One shamare wondered. "Hey, that's a good point. Or did they just send them to attack the first shamare they could find?" "If so, that is an even dirtier attack than I thought," Thundersnow mused. "But, I think they must have had something from me to use as an anchor, to give them the scent. Could be something as simple as a strand of my coat they picked off the floor in the Grand Hall." "Hmmm... That would mean they planned this attack long before they even left Snowpitt, though." "Spirits, Thundersnow really ticked them off with her little fishing trick, didn't she?" "No kidding..." The conversation carried on until they reached Thundersnow's home, whereupon the elderly mares dispersed. Coming inside, the mare removed her harness, letting out a long groan while massaging her temples. She continued rubbing, slowly moving downwards along her face and neck, where the birds were clawing at the hardest. "Ugh... What a day. I feel like sleeping through the whole of tomorrow, but I know I'd just wake up eventually." "I knew a shamare that could do that with no effort. It was harder for her to wake up than go to sleep, really," Agate supplied. "Mmm... Sounds kind of inconvenient, honestly. Some kind of dreamwalker, I presume?" "Yes, my old teacher. She's gone now, but I still meet her in the dream realms... Sometimes." "Interesting, but I doubt I'll be learning about that any time soon. Dreamwalking is the one area of magic I really have no expertise on. Well, I suppose there's more, but that's besides the point. Plenty of work to do while I'm awake already. Can't imagine having to work while I'm asleep, too... And I'd probably wake up so hungry, I'd end up chewing on my bedding. Speaking of food..." Her stomach let out a huge growl, making Thundersnow grab herself by the midsection with another groan. Fortunately for the mare, her pantry was well stocked. While shamares hardly, if ever, went out to forage for food themselves, going hungry for them was almost never an issue. The medicines and charms they produced were always in high demand, and high-end stuff like the magical ice weapons they made could earn them a pledge to provide food for a whole year. Grunting in either exhaustion or pain, she dragged herself to the pantry door, throwing it open. After a moment's thought, she retrieved a huge dried fish, something a pony would eat in two or three sittings, not one. Unceremoniously dropping it on the table, she dug in, not even bothering to get a plate. After a few large bites, she glanced towards Agate, standing idly by the fireplace. "I think I'll be out of it for today and probably tomorrow, Agate. Go... Have some time off, I suppose. I made it sound easy, but that whole thing did take a lot out of me. I'll need to recharge, then replenish my charms... Hrm, will need to brew more potions, too... Better to be on the safe side..." "Alright then. I'll find something to do." ❅ ❆ ❅ After a moment's thought, Agate went to see Glacier Glider. She knew that the mare and her family definitely participated in the fishing, even if the matriarch herself was getting on in years. She also guessed that they would definitely be interested in hearing what happened from the spirit herself. "Knock knock!" Muffled noises of hooves on floor sounded out from inside, Flurry Spinner opening the door a few moments later. A few foals were darting between her legs, getting in her way in the most inconvenient ways foals always seemed to find. "Auntie Agate! Auntie Agate is here!" "Sure am. Thought I'd check in with you little seal pups. May I come in?" "Not like walls or anything else would stop you," Flurry Spinner quipped, turning around and waving her in. She led the spirit towards the back of the house and back outside, where the rest of the family were working on preserving the fish, hanging them up on smoking racks or tossing them into a barrel filled with brine. The foals groaned when the adults directed them to get back to work, making their parents roll their eyes. "You lot sure as hay don't complain when it's time to eat the fish, so quiet down and get to it. It's high time you started to learn the basics, at least," Glacier Glider chided. "Yes, grandma..." Snorting at their tone, she turned to Agate. "So, my wandering daughter, what brings you here this time?" "The whole mess with the fishing trip. Thundersnow is exhausted, so I don't have anything to do at the moment." "Hmm, yes, we were actually a fair distance away from where her boat was, so we didn't see all that much, but I did notice something fishy going on," Glacier Glider nodded, grinding off the scales from one particularly large specimen. The entire group paused for a second before collectively groaning, Agate letting out a chuckle. Shaking her head, she sat down, launching into the story of the sudden attack by foreign bird spirits. The family remained quiet and didn't look particularly surprised, likely having heard some details from the other fisherponies already. Even after Agate was done, they remained silent, only shooting glances towards Glacier Glider now and then. Pursing her lips, the old mare paused in her task before shaking her head. "There are a great many stories we tell our foals, as I'm sure you know very well by now, Agate. And the vast majority, if not all of them, have a lesson to teach. There are stories of ponies that meddled in the dealings of shamares, and they... Rarely end well. Some have attacked shamares that were seemingly assaulting an innocent pony, only for the pony to turn out to be a shapeshifter that repaid their kindness by attacking and taking a chunk out of them before getting beaten back. Others went to areas barred by shamares, getting led astray by bodiless voices and bizarre sights, sometimes returning days later on the brink of death, sometimes not returning at all. Or, much simpler, they'd catch the last pair of fish from a pond, feeding themselves for a day and making the area barren for years." "Right. I can't say that I saw much of the scary stuff shamares have to deal with sometimes, but... Well, today was one of them in a way, I suppose. I guess I'd be more nervous around shamares if I was still alive. What, exactly, are you trying to say, though?" "I'm saying that, much as I hate it, I don't want to get involved in this spat. Even though everything points to the westerners being nothing more than craven cowards, they may have their reasons... Emphasis on the "may". Honestly, I don't believe they do." "Yeah, no kidding. Thundersnow is not some rampaging windigo that needs to be taught a lesson," Spinning Flurry exclaimed disdainfully. "Right. For us regular ponies, though, getting in the middle of fighting shamares is a tremendously bad idea. Even if one side is obviously in the wrong here, the warnings from the stories still apply. It'd probably still end badly for us," Glacier Glider finished with a sigh. "So, should we avoid Agate while she's out and about with Thundersnow?" Flurry Spinner asked. "I'm pretty sure you're plenty safe while in the village, but... Those birds did start attacking other ponies that were close by, too," Agate shrugged. "Some distance might be wise. We had the younglings with us on the fishing trip as well," Glacier Glider nodded, glancing towards the foals. "I'm still going to drop by from time to time, though." "Of course, Agate. You are a welcome visitor in my home, come blizzard or flood." They spent the rest of the day chatting about less serious topics, the foals screaming happily when they were finally done dealing with the fish. Agate got to lead the rambunctious half-dozen of her nieces and nephews to the nearest hot spring, the adults trailing behind at a more sedate pace. Though she was more or less an adult, Agate still felt a kinship towards foals, though it didn't always go both ways. Some found her spooky or odd, given her unusual looks, but the ones in her adoptive family were always happy to see her. They said that it was because she always had interesting stories and impressive magic, but Agate had a sneaking suspicion it was just because she was immaterial, and couldn't twist their ears when they inevitably started goofing off. ❅ ❆ ❅ The next few days were calm, Thundersnow mostly eating, sleeping, and making the occasional charm. While the shamare was recuperating, Agate went out to scout around a little more, marveling at the sheer amount of hot springs and volcanic rifts the island seemed to have. Though she thought she had seen just about everything after decades of travelling through the northern islands, once again, she was proven wrong, the rough, rugged landscape appearing both intimidating and oddly beautiful. It suited the northern tribe's character just perfectly, really. "Find anything interesting today?" "Maybe. There was an amazing cave some distance to the north. The walls were all old obsidian, still looking like it just froze solid, and there was a completely still, clear, beautiful pool of water at the bottom. I don't know if the others have discovered it yet." "Mmm... Sounds like a nice place to retreat and meditate for some time... I'll have to find the time someday. For now, though - ready for a trip outside the village?" "Me? Sure. It's not like I'm the one in danger," Agate pointed out with a snort. No one was too sure whether there were any more nasty surprises the westerners sent their way, so stepping outside the village's wards was a slightly daunting action. Just slightly, though. Thundersnow certainly wasn't going to let that stop her, especially now that she was on alert. Though they didn't ask for it, a few of the other shamares accompanied them to the settlement's borders. It slowed them down a bit, but they didn't mind. Stepping outside, Thundersnow took a breath and puffed her chest, looking around with a stern gaze. When nothing happened for a few minutes, she snorted, shaking her head and glancing backwards. "Doesn't look like there's anything. I should be back in a couple days. Let's go, shall we, Agate? We have a boat to catch." They made their way to the bay, where a few dozens of ponies were milling about, busy either loading or unloading various trade goods, or slowly improving the rudimentary docks. Thundersnow glanced around, finding the crew she was looking for and climbing in. With a nod and a polite greeting, they were off to one of the many islands. Such wanderings were quite common for the younger northerner shamares, those that were still fit for travel hopping from island to island and helping the inhabitants with whatever ailed them, while the elders would settle down in the biggest islands, most of them now having moved to Green Land. Thundersnow wasn't a spring chicken any more, but she was still plenty young, so she gladly took up the duties. The main issue was actually knowing what, or even whether they needed anything at all, so all the separate islanders tried to visit their neighbors at least every few weeks, sharing news about everything from odd sightings in the seas to an illness having befallen their kin. The method was tried and true, but sometimes a bit slow to reach the ears of the ones they needed to reach, when there was a need for a shamare in a hurry. If a pony badly needed help, their families would try to bring them to the bigger islands with a shamare, though that wasn't always an option, either. Sometimes, an entire island would fall sick and be too weak to travel, which was an issue due to the lack of various healing herbs that didn't grow on most of the northerner's rocky islands. The lack of medicine potentially meant more deaths, which was why the shamares still wandered, trying to give their tribe's territories a more or less even coverage of shamaric aid. This particular call-out turned out not to be anything overly serious, a few ponies complaining of persistent gut pains being diagnosed with parasites and given some medicine from Thundersnow's bag. After they returned from the trip, though, the shamare smacked herself, groaning in exasperation. "Argh! Why didn't I think of this before?! It's so obvious! Bird!" "Birds? Where?" Agate asked with a hint of alarm, looking around. "No, not the westerner's summoned birds. You! You're a bird!" Thundersnow exclaimed dramatically, pointing towards Agate with a foreleg. "I am?" The spirit, who was pretty sure she was a crystal pony, blinked. "Well, not right now. But you can be!" "Oh, right. The whole shapeshifting thing. What brought this on?" "Well, you thought that ability up so you could travel faster, right? And to see some interesting sights from up above, I'm guessing. Anyway, you could travel from island to island far, far faster than even our fastest kayaks. And you could even ask the ponies what they need, so if it's something as simple as a potion, I wouldn't even have to come out myself. I'd just send a pack of medicine along with a merchant or some other pony traveling in that direction," Thundersnow explained, clopping her hooves excitedly. "That.... Makes sense, I guess. I barely know anything at all about diseases and stuff, though. I don't think I could actually diagnose the ponies," Agate pointed out. "No matter. As long as you get the symptoms... It's not ideal, but it would still help a lot. And hey, maybe you can learn a thing or two about healing while you're at it. You learned so many different things already, after all." "I guess so." And so, Agate became Thundersnow's messenger bird. Though hopping from island to island was nothing new for her, the novelty of employing the still largely untested dream magic made it exciting once more. With the lack of experience, there were some hiccups along the way, of course. Ending up on the wrong island, flying way off course or forgetting to ask something basic were common mistakes. Fortunately, Agate's speed usually made the mess-ups easy to fix, and she was improving fast. Word about her new abilities spread, and where, at first, the northerners would react with suspicion or outright hostility when she'd just drop in from the sky and shapeshift right in front of them, they began to recognize her even in her avian form, laughing and sending her on her way if they didn't need any assistance. As much as she disliked getting titles attached to herself, "bird spirit", "unbound soul", and "wind rider" became added to the list of things the northerners called Agate. With something crazy almost always happening in the north, there was always something to do or someplace to get to for the shamare and crystal pony spirit duo. And when there wasn't, then there were plenty of preparations to make for a time when you needed to gallop out your door in a hurry. Time flew like the wind (or like Agate in a rush), and, eventually, the season ran it's course. During the year, no more overt attacks came from the western tribe. While flying about, Agate got chased by birds a few times, both material and spirit, but it didn't look like they were deliberately sent after her. While the time helped the chieftain and the elders of the tribe cool down, they still weren't going to take the westerner's affront lying down. Preparations for the Gathering weren't done with much enthusiasm, though there was grim determination aplenty, as if they were going on a floewolf hunt instead of a meeting with their sister tribes. "Well. Last year really took me by surprise. Let's see what madness this year's Gathering brings," Jagged Ice grumbled, idly looking at the silently falling winter snow. "We'll overcome it, chieftain. In fact, I think the best solution would be to just ignore the westerner's tantrums, if they try to start anything again. Don't even acknowledge any of their nonsense," Thundersnow supplied reassuringly. "They have no excuse whatsoever for anything like that this year, unless some of the tribesfolk did something without my knowledge. Think they'll brag about the attack during spring?" "We'll see. If they do, I say we just ignore that as well. Show them that their petty revenge seeking is beneath our notice." "I suppose. Let's get going."