"I really thought we'd be done with those ponies much faster. How long have we been at this now?" Shining Armor sighed, glancing out a window.
"Long enough to get hungry, so I'd say three or four hours?" Cadance guessed, eating her meal and glancing at the strange ponies.
The fluffy earth ponies were acting like the food they were offered was the most exotic thing they have ever seen, which was impossible. While the Crystal Empire apparently had some unique plants as well as some slightly different breeds of vegetables that they developed during the centuries that they didn't have contact with Equestria, the produce was still largely the same. Both Equestrian and the local flora were cultured from the same plants that the ancient earth pony clans had, while the ponies acted like they haven't even seen bread before. Bread!
"They're really committed to the bit, I'll give them that," He groused.
"Come on, dear, do you really still think they're some kind of criminals? Even Fluent Tongue said that the language they were speaking in is real," She nodded towards a middle-aged pegasus stallion.
After their largely unsuccessful attempts to communicate with the ponies, Cadance had the idea of calling up on the scholars that came from Equestria. Before they left for the north, Celestia reassured them that the language of the Empire wasn't all that different from modern Equestrian, and that they shouldn't have any issues understanding each other, which turned out to be true. Still, a thousand years caused some changes in speech regardless, and one of the scholars sent there after they got rid of Sombra was a linguist, extremely eager to hear the local dialect before it was tainted by contact with modern Equestria.
"Oh yes, your Highness, they're most definitely not just saying gibberish," The stallion nodded eagerly. "I would have noticed if they were, believe me. Have you heard of this phenomenon - an average pony knows approximately forty or fifty thousand words, yet if you asked them to list them all in a row, they'd probably run out after saying a few hundred? If they were just saying "blah blah blah" in an attempt to sound like a foreign language, it'd be easy to notice them repeating the same thing very soon. But no, the inflections, the words... A good part are unfamiliar, but a lot have similar sounding roots to old ponish, with a few modern words thrown in, like "crystal", or "agate". They really seem to have no trouble pronouncing those, for some reason, almost like they had practice."
"Or they know how to speak Equestrian anyway," Shining Armor sighed.
"Well, I'm not able to read their minds and tell whether they're pretending, but the language is real, for what it's worth," Fluent Tongue shrugged and went back to eating, his ears pointed towards the foreign ponies.
The guests, meanwhile, were acting more or less like model tourists. They stared at almost everything with great fascination while discussing it in their tongue, but they didn't resist when gently ushered to go somewhere. Shining Armor was still suspicious of them, though, given what happened with the guards.
Thunder Strike arrived soon after the pegasus sent to find him left, and then proceeded to track down and retrieve the two crystal guards that encountered the ponies the first time. The stallions confirmed that they indeed were the same ponies, pointing to one of them when asked which one of them actually talked for the group during the encounter.
They said that the mare they pointed to was dressed in quite concealing winter clothes at the time, but they easily recognized her unusually long bangs. For her part, the mare seemed sheepish, explaining something in her tongue while her companions chuckled or grinned. As before, they weren't able to understand much, save for the mare insisting that it was "agate talk", and not the mare herself.
When Fluent Tongue tried, the best he was able to figure out was that the mare was claiming that a different pony threw their voice somehow, pretending to speak for the mare for some reason. Such spells really weren't hard for a unicorn to produce, but none in the group were unicorns, and it didn't make any sense for a unicorn that actually knew the language and already was in the group to pretend to be a different pony, which potentially meant that one somehow hid nearby, and helped them get past the guards.
"Too much about them still doesn't add up," Shining Armor complained, going back to eating as well.
"Maybe things will be clearer when the rest of them are found. It shouldn't take long, right? These four were found almost at the same time," Cadance suggested.
"Unless their friends saw them getting escorted by the guards and went to ground," He pointed out.
"They're the only non-crystal ponies left in the city that are not in this castle or working in the library, and they're easy to spot. I'm sure they won't be able to hide for long."
Shining Armor shrugged noncommittally, chewing on his dinner. Cadance's conviction was proven correct before long, though. Once they were done eating and were debating whether to house the ponies in the castle for the night or let them go home and have a pegasus tail them, a servant arrived with another report from the guards.
"I still don't think we should force them to stay. Guest room or dungeon, it'd still be jailing them," Cadance argued.
"Suppose it'd be best to try and find out where they're staying anyway," Shining Armor agreed. "So-"
"Report from the guards, sire. They brought the rest of the foreign ponies that you were looking for, as well as three citizens that are requesting an audience." A servant interrupted.
"Ah, well. That's something. It is a bit late, but maybe we can get this wrapped up today?" Shining Armor nodded, turning towards Cadance with a questioning look.
"Oh, I'm burning with curiosity. Call them in," Cadance nodded, glancing towards Fluent Tongue.
"I'd be more than happy to assist, princess," The stallion nodded happily. "This is far bigger than looking for the minuscule differences in dialects. Amazing as that opportunity is, these ponies are ten times more interesting. It's like they're from another historical epoch entirely."
"As for the citizens, they'd probably have to wait a bit too long while we deal with this. Make an appointment for them first thing in the morning, alright?" Shining Armor asked the servant.
"Of course, sire. Right away," He nodded, trotting off.
"Well then, let's wrangle these four towards the throne room again," He waved to their guests, the ponies getting up while glancing at the two royals, still talking between themselves.
"Hm. They keep glancing at me a lot. They act like they never saw a pegasus before, so they probably haven't seen an alicorn, either."
❅ ❆ ❅
"So what were you doing when their warriors showed up?" Goat Hop asked.
"We went out of the city to cool down in the snow a bit," Shatterhoof said. "The bird ponies must have seen us."
"Oh. I wish I had thought of that," Spring Hoof frowned.
"It didn't last long. I'm warm again," Shatterhoof sighed.
"We'd probably be fine if we didn't have our winter fur," Ice Elation shrugged. "Anyway, it's not too bad. And it's not like it's not interesting. We got to see both narwhal ponies and bird ponies!"
"And the strange narwhal-bird-pony," Spring Hoof nodded towards the large mare. "I still can't figure out if she's the chieftain, or the elder shamare."
"Right, she has both wings and a horn. But I'm just distracted by how she's so pink," Ice Elation said.
"I know, right? The stallion could blend in the snow even with his blue mane, probably. But she's just the pinkest... Anything I ever saw."
❅ ❆ ❅
"What's going to happen now, Agate?" Freezing Point asked.
"They'll bring us to our new chieftain, I think," The spirit replied.
While they waited, Agate glanced around, almost as curious as the snowponies. She hadn't actually been inside the castle herself, and it was interesting for her to see the Spire. The guards, meanwhile, seemed to be subtly, ever-so-slowly inching away from her the longer they looked at her.
"Will be interesting to see them up close," Obsidian Spear remarked, giving a sidelong look to the pegasi.
"Say, uncle, do you dislike the pegasi? I noticed you giving them looks ever since they first landed," Agate asked him quietly.
Thinking heavily for a minute, the stallion eventually shrugged, replying in a volume loud enough for everyone around them to hear, looking the pegasi dead in the eye. "I can't say that I dislike them personally, and it's nothing to do with their tribe. Rather, I, and many of the other former guards dislike what they represent. Equestrian dominance over the Empire."
Frowning, the pegasi shared a look, before the senior one spoke up. "I am just following orders and helping out, sir. Two weeks ago, I did not even know this place existed."
"Exactly why I said that I don't dislike you personally. From what I saw, you're plenty fine examples of soldiers, and, from what some of my friends that renewed their oaths told me, you didn't start acting like you own the place, which is a good sign. But it's only been a couple weeks so far, like you said. And the ones sitting on Equestria's throne are the same exact ponies that were sitting there a thousand years ago. They're patient, I'm certain. What's a hundred or a thousand years for them to clinch a prize?" He shrugged.
Frowning harder, the pegasus pursed his lips. "A thousand? Are you implying that princess Celestia had something to do with your Empire's disappearance?"
"Ha! Well, she obviously did have something, since she participated in the battle that caused it," He laughed. "Who knows, with beings like them? Who even was Sombra? He wasn't a unicorn from the Empire. Was he an Equestrian? And now, another unicorn from Equestria sits on the throne, with an alicorn who was raised from foalhood by Celestia, from what I heard. No matter how you cut it, this whole debacle worked out in Equestria's favor."
His little speech caused all kinds of reactions among the guards that were standing around, the Equestrians seemingly restraining themselves from saying something provocative, while the crystal guard's expressions ranged from thoughtful to disapproving. One of them spoke up, his voice neutral.
"I am not certain that you're right in that regard, sir. You must have seen that "train" thing the Equestrians brought their reinforcements with, yes?"
"Sure I have. Asked a few innocuous questions about it and Equestria in general, too, such as "what's the biggest city in Equestria?". According to the current standards, the Empire is somewhat larger than a village. They have industry, population, magic, and science far above ours now, with the means of simply rolling over us any moment that they wished. That's where you were going with that question, right?" Obsidian Spear rolled his eyes.
"In that case, isn't it a bit too much effort to go through all that just to add a village into their territory?" The crystal guard asked.
"And why not roll over you, if we're so evil?" A pegasus grumbled.
"I never called you evil. But nobles are nobles. It's like jockeying for power is everything they ever do. They care for the status of owning something more than for what any practical use it might provide them," He shrugged, the guards not really having any arguments against that point. "And the Empire's power doesn't exactly work if the population is not happy."
"Our nations were - and still are, I don't think the treaty was ever annulled - allies. The princesses came to your aid, both then and recently," Another pegasus spoke.
"That they did, and I'm certainly happy to no longer be a slave. Doesn't mean I'm happy with the situation otherwise. I already heard of the Emperor talking about "reorganizing the Guard from the top down"," Obsidian Spear sighed. "What's to become of the Empire?"
"The Empress claimed that she will work for the interests of the Empire, sir, and she risked herself in the fight against Sombra," Another crystal guard said.
"She did say that, yes. Words are cheap, though. I think I will wait to see some more actions until I make up my mind on whether to swear my oath to her."
"She also bears the Crystal Heart on her mark. Some say that she is Amore reborn."
"...An argument worth thinking about. Cutie marks and fate are a bit beyond my ken," Obsidian Spear conceded.
"While I understand your anger - heaven knows I would be angry if something like this happened to my home - I still must express my disapproval of you lashing out against the ponies who came to save you," A pegasus said.
"I am hardly "lashing out". I dare say I stated my thoughts quite calmly," Obsidian Spear glared at the offending guard.
"You also fled from your duty. A proper member of the Guard does not flee because his commanding officer fell," The pegasus continued regardless.
"A proper... My sovereign is dead, colt. I failed in my oath, and there isn't exactly anyone to fight right now, is there? If there was, though, you'd better believe I would have a spear in my hooves faster than you could blink," Obsidian Spear said, his normally disciplined voice tinged with audible anger.
"You said yourself that we are plenty fine examples of soldiers. Perhaps you should actually find out what cap- what prince Shining Armor's plans for reorganizing the Imperial Guard include, instead of dismissing them outright as an attempt to sabotage your people. Since Equestria is such a large and prosperous nation, maybe there is a thing or two you could learn from us, if you fear getting left behind," The pegasus argued.
"...Perhaps. Is he a warrior himself?"
"He was my commanding officer, sir. I do not know about the supposed machinations of the alicorns, but he is a good stallion."
"Hm. Well. Something to talk to him about, if he'll be willing to explore that topic," Much calmer, Obsidian Spear nodded.
"I'm certain he will. I know that your people went through a terrible tragedy, but from what I learned, the actual casualties are low. You should focus on rebuilding and perhaps modernizing your domain a little. Once train travel opens up, you'll be able to travel to Equestria just as easily as they will be able to come here. Perhaps you should go. See if you can pick up some ideas," The pegasus suggested.
"Yeah, the casualties were quite low, I suppose, though there were some," Agate spoke with a crooked grin, suddenly reminding everyone in the hallway about her presence, the guards taking another tiny step back.
"Is she... Is she really-" One of the pegasi finally got the courage to ask, only to get interrupted.
"Bring these ponies to their Imperial Majesties," A servant trotted in, commanding the guards and pointing towards the snowponies before turning towards the remaining members of Agate's family. "Unfortunately, your request for an audience has been denied, on account of their Imperial Majesties being busy. However, they graciously offered an audience for you first thing in the morning."
"Busy with them? We're kind of involved in this whole thing as well," Radiant Cut nodded towards the snowponies, who were looking around with mild concern as the guards divided the little group into two parts.
"Oh? Well, perhaps there was a misunderstanding, but I'm afraid my orders are clear. Yesterday evening, orders were sent out to the guards specifically to find those ponies over there, with no mention of their associates, and they said that they will not have time for an audience tonight. If you have something you wish to petition their Imperial Majesties in regards to those ponies, then you can do it tomorrow," The servant said in a completely even voice, his mind clearly made up on following his orders to the letter.
"Don't worry, dad, I'll take care of this," Agate waved him off as she trotted after the slowly retreating snowponies, making the servant's perfectly neutral expression shift slightly into confusion.
"Well, to be fair, it's not like we know anything much about Agate's friends. This is a conversation for her to have," Garnet Necklace shrugged.
"True, though I kind of wanted to see their faces when they saw her," Radiant Cut smiled. "But I suppose it's better not to bother the new rulers for my own amusement. Let's get home, then."
"Fair enough. Good luck, Agate!" Obsidian Spear nodded, turning around.
❅ ❆ ❅
"Excuse me, what is the meaning of.... This?" The servant asked, curling his lip at Agate as he caught up with the guards.
"I'm a spirit," She smiled as the guards nervously pinned their ears back.
"Very funny. Now dispel this at once. This is the Spire, not a street show. You are being disrespectful to their Imperial Majesties," The stallion spoke to the snowponies, his voice full of disdain.
"You can't "dispel" me. I'm not an illusion," Agate said, trying not to laugh.
"Suit yourself. I was polite and gave you a chance to be civil. Guards, cease moving. Deal with this immediately," He ordered.
"Um, majordomo... I'm not sure we can," One of the crystal guards said.
"Not sure... Do your job or I will make sure you are kicked out of this castle and patrol the wilds for yetis," The stallion hissed.
"Majordomo, none of these ponies are unicorns. We, ah... We can't ascertain the source of this... Illusion," Another guard said nervously.
"Is everything alright, Agate? That stallion seems to be causing a scene of some kind," Trailblazer asked.
"It's fine. They just haven't ever seen a spirit before. There might be some shouting soon. Don't worry about it," Agate reassured him.
"What is he saying to them?" Freezing Point asked as the stallion gestured angrily at the snowponies.
"Oh, he thinks I'm an illusion one of you is creating. Just don't panic."
"Alright," The shamare nodded, her expression bemused at the hubbub that simply seeing a spirit caused.
"Search them for artifacts, then!" The majordomo shouted angrily.
"I... Yes, sir," The guards nodded, Agate sniggering as she translated.
The two snowponies were amused at the faces the guards made when they awkwardly searched through their thick fur with apologetic expressions and, predictably, found absolutely nothing. Freezing Point was wearing some baubles and bangles, but none of them were determined to be the source of the "Illusion".
"This is ridiculous. Dispel it directly, then," The majordomo huffed, his foreleg glowing faintly as he swatted at Agate himself, losing his patience.
"Eek!" Agate shouted in surprise when he shoved his hoof inside her, her form blurring faintly for a moment before she reformed herself. "Rude."
"Gah! Cold! What in the world... Get to it, you fools!" He shouted, stepping back and looking at his foreleg with confusion.
The guards grimaced, their expressions apologetic as they tried to make Agate disappear, focusing on their magic as they rather unenthusiastically struck at her. The snowponies tilted their heads at the strange display, not sure whether to be concerned for Agate or laugh at the guards.
Getting attacked wasn't exactly a new experience for Agate, though it wasn't a common one, either. Unlike the highly magically adapted creatures of the north, some of which could really hurt her, though, the crystal guard's attempts weren't really doing much. Some snowponies that didn't know much about spirits thought that nothing physical could harm a spirit, which was technically true, for the most part - but ponies weren't just physical. A living pony could, in fact, strike at a spirit - after all, they very much had spirits of their own inside their physical bodies. And if she hadn't been so old and experienced, the guards might have forced her away with their attacks. But since she was quite old and experienced...
Shaking her head, Agate stood there, their limbs passing through her form. "Sorry, guys, but I'm not going anywhere. You could probably easily get rid of me if you had the right skills, but you're not shamares. On one hoof, you're striking me with magic, which is the right thing to do, but on the other hoof, it's so unfocused towards my essence that it's barely doing anything more than a tickle. I could stand here for an hour before I'd have to return to my totem to rest."
"That's an unacceptably long delay," The majordomo huffed, gathering power and slamming both forelegs on the floor, sending out a wave of magic across the crystal in every direction. "Begone!"
"...Oooh," Agate smiled, her form suddenly glowing brighter as she absorbed some of the magic. "Two hours, now. If I was an illusion, congratulations - I'm sure the raw, unfocused magic would have absolutely shredded me. But since I'm a spirit..."
"Gaaaah!"
Gritting his teeth, the stallion snorted angrily at Agate. The majordomo clearly didn't want to give up, but he wasn't given a chance. Two more guards trotted up to them, the senior one clearing his throat as he looked at the scene with a bemused expression.
"His Imperial Majesty sent us to see what the delay and ruckus is about, with orders to bring the ponies to him immediately and render aid if they are trying to resist."
"They are resisting! Subdue them!" The majordomo shouted, pointing towards the completely placid-looking snowponies, who were standing calmly and doing absolutely nothing else.
"I... I'll just bring them to their Imperial Majesties, then," The guard nodded to the other guards, clearly deciding that whatever was happening there, he didn't want any part of it.
"No! You can't-"
"We have direct orders, majordomo," The guard called out, not slowing down in the slightest, the other guards following him with relieved expressions while Agate sniggered quietly to herself.
❅ ❆ ❅
"I wonder what that shout was about," Cadance mused.
"We'll find out in a moment. It'll be disappointing if their friends started a fight. At least these guys weren't violent so far," Shining Armor said.
A few moments later, a group of six guards, four crystal ponies in front and two pegasi in the back, escorted the final pair of the fluffy earth ponies into the audience hall. As they approached, both Cadance and Shining Armor blinked at the strange, partially translucent form of what looked like a crystal pony following along with a smile. As he glanced at Cadance, she only shrugged.
"Sir, there was a... Small disturbance of some kind, but it was not related to our visitors," The senior guard from the pair that Shining Armor sent out reported.
"Ah, good. All of you, go back to your posts. We'll take it from here," He nodded, four of the guards leaving, while the two took up spots by the door.
"And what... Or who is that?" Cadance asked with a bemused smile, looking at the illusory form.
As the two newcomers went to talk to the other four of their kind, Fluent Tongue listened intently beside them, saying a few short phrases now and then as they replied in their language. The illusion, meanwhile, trotted up to steps leading to the throne, giving them both a short bow.
"Greetings, Your Imperial Majesties. It is a pleasure to see you again, though I doubt you saw me before. I am Agate of the Crystal Empire, daughter of Radiant Cut and Garnet Necklace, granddaughter of Coal Hoof and Crochet Hook," She introduced herself.
"That's what that name was. That's the name of the filly who's parents were in the crowd that stopped the messengers... But wait... Then..." Shining Armor blinked, looking at Cadance.
"Um, you appear to be..." Cadance trailed off helplessly.
"Dead? Yes. I'm a ghost. Though I prefer spirit," Agate nodded with a serene smile.
"....Riiiiiiight," Shining Armor rolled his eyes after a few moments. "Good one, you really, honestly had me going for a moment there."
"Oh, come off it. Everyone's calling me an illusion, but I haven't seen even a single unicorn that could do one like me," Agate argued. "Unless they got much better in the thousand years I've been in the north."
"Um... Illusions are a very artistic rather than power-based magic, so how good they are depends entirely on the pony. There's no way to make a spell to make them easier to perform," Cadance said slowly, examining Agate's form with an uncertain expression.
"Well, someone's good. Congratulations. I told you that someone in that group knew how to talk Equestrian," Shining Armor gestured towards the group of ponies to Cadance. They were watching their exchange, Fluent Tongue looking on in confusion.
"None of them are unicorns," Agate stated plainly.
"...Well, maybe-"
"None of them are wearing any magic artifacts."
"Uh..." Shining Armor scratched his head.
"Um, if you don't mind me asking, how did you..." Cadance began uncertainly.
"Die? I was chased out into the snow by some mind-controlled guards and tried to go to Equestria. I got lost, though, and I couldn't get back to the city due to Sombra's fear magic, so I froze to death," Agate explained calmly.
"Dear, don't entertain them. They're very good, clearly, but let's try to figure out what they are even trying to achieve with this charade," Shining Armor sighed.
"Dear, I'm not sure-"
"Cadance, ghosts aren't real."
"Spirit."
"Uh huh. Sure. Spirits aren't real either," He rolled his eyes.
"...Windigoes sure are real, as well as a whole bunch of others," Agate countered.
Pursing his lips together, Shining Armor considered his next steps before putting on a smile and slowly cantering down from beside the throne, going towards the ponies. "Alright, folks, you put on an amazing show. Good job, really. Tell you what - we'll even let you stay and perform and get your dose of fame, if that's all you came here to do. Just admit what you were doing, tell us if you stowed away on the train or not, and we'll let you off with a warning."
"I no talk good. Talk Agate," A mare pointed towards the illusion.
"You really want to be difficult? Fine. Let's just get rid of this," He said, flicking a tiny bit of magic towards the illusion, dispelling it to nothingness and continuing his speech. Except, the illusion apparently didn't feel like getting dispelled.
"Nope. Not going to work. Your majordomo already tried to sic the guards on me, with the same exact attitude. Didn't work for him, either," Agate grinned.
"Whuh- what?" Losing his momentum, Shining Armor frowned.
Following him down, Cadance looked at him with concern. "Dear, stop. Something very strange is happening here. I think-"
"Just give me a second, dear," Shining Armor interrupted, his Sparkle family nerd genes activating as he was presented with a magical conundrum. Next, he charged up his horn with more power, and surrounded Agate in a magical bubble. "The shield blocks all magic, so it should stop the flow of power from whoever and whatever might be casting it and make it dissipate immediately- How are you still there?!"
"Spirit," Agate sniggered from inside the shield.
"What are they trying to do, Agate?" Freezing Point asked, barely restraining herself from jumping forward to touch the magical bubble.
"They're still thinking that I'm a trick of the eyes of some kind and are trying to unravel the "magic" that's causing it. I think they're running out of ideas, though," Agate smiled as the two royals argued.
"But Cadance, ghosts aren't real!"
"But spirits are! And whatever she is, she is real! I can feel emotions from her, Shining! Love! For her family, for the Empire, faint love for these ponies..."
"But that's just- not- how-"
"I think we should hear them out, dear."
"One last test. Let me just amp up the power," He frowned, charging his horn up again and sending a stream of magic towards the bubble.
"Whoa! Hey! I'm losing my connection to my totem! I... Never felt that before..." Agate said, her form becoming a bit more translucent.
"Ha! I knew it!" Shining Armor crowed.
"Stop it!" Agate shouted, blindly reaching for the now almost indiscernible connection to her totem.
"No, I think I had just about enough of this absurdity," Shining Armor said calmly, still pouring magic into the shield as the watching earth ponies started making concerned noises at the sight.
"I - said - STOP!!!" Agate screamed, her voice getting distorted as she felt a sudden surge of power, taking on a wolf-like form and tearing through the shield.
"What in the world?! Illusions can't-"
"SPIRIT!!!" Agate roared at him, baring her fangs.
"Dear, I think she might be a spirit," Cadance said calmly, though her wide-eyed expression was anything but calm.
The noise didn't go unnoticed, of course, and the guests didn't take the situation all that calmly, either. The guards by the door sprang into action, two more bursting in from the other side of the door, followed almost immediately after by another pair of pegasi flying in. Meanwhile, Fluent Tongue dove to the side as the foreigners exchanged a few quick phrases and took up combat positions, eyeing the guards, some of who were now pointing their spears at them.
"Sire! What do we do with the apparition?" A crystal guard shouted, his spear passing harmlessly through Agate, who was just standing there, calmly examining her limbs.
"Everyone stand back! Don't engage!" He shouted, charging up his horn again, though things were happening a bit too fast for his orders to be all that useful.
Two of the fluffy ponies deftly dove around a guard, feinting an attack before grabbing his spear and ripping it from his grip and jumping back into their circle, the mare with the long bangs now armed. The huge stallion that helped her grinned and stomped his hooves, the incredible strength of the stomp making the guards jump back in fright. Shining Armor was quite certain the only reason he didn't shatter the floor was because it landed on the carpet.
A pegasus was making a pass above them, getting ready to dive-bomb the ponies when he heard the order not to engage, flapping his wings to change course. The sound didn't go unnoticed, though, and a long-legged stallion from the group barked out a quick word as he jumped on a mare's back, kicked off her into a nearby pillar, and then easily kicked off the pillar almost straight up, going directly for the wide-eyed pegasus with an impressive kick, the guard readying his spear.
"Enough."
Cadance didn't shout, but the word was said with power. Before the two stallions could collide mid-air, a teal aura grabbed them both, separating the combatants and returning them to their respective groups. Next, she grabbed the stolen spear, the ponies babbling wide-eyed at the glowing weapon that wrenched itself from the mare's hooves, floating back towards the guard it was taken from.
Trotting in between the group of visitors and the guards, who had retreated a small distance, Cadance imperiously spread her wings, tapping the crystal floor with her golden hoofshoes. "Peace. Peace. Freod," She spoke, turning to look at the guards first, and then at the earth ponies. "I thank you for your swift reaction, but your assistance is not necessary. This was a misunderstanding. Go back to your posts."
"Are- Are you cer-"
"Yes."
"As you say, my liege," The guards bowed, trotting outside and closing the door, the pair stationed inside glancing tensely at Agate and the foreign ponies.
Shining Armor kept his horn charged up the entire time, ready to unleash his full power and put everyone into bubbles, if that was what it took. Blinking slowly, he observed the... Spirit as she unceremoniously turned back into a pony. "That was... Quite the... I don't know what to call it. I expected you to jump and rip into me."
"I'm not that kind of pony," Agate shook her head. "I'm usually pretty calm, too. Fear is quite foreign to spirits. But you disrupted the link to my totem for the first time in... Probably forever. It made me freak out a little. I also got surprised by the sudden rush of power."
"I... Have no idea what that is. Some kind of artifact that grants you power to shapeshift like that?"
"No, that's my own magic. It just... Keeps me tethered, and helps me recharge. Feeds me magic. I didn't think I could draw power from it from such a distance, though. The rush... Was that the Heart itself? The brief touch... It was beautiful..." The spirit muttered, her mind clearly still far away.
"Why would the Heart help you?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Heh. Dead or not, I suppose I'm still a daughter of the Empire, foreigner," Agate chuckled, returning her full attention to the present situation. "Crystal ponies get attuned to the Heart with their first Crystalling. A thousand years outside didn't change that, apparently. I'm honestly as surprised about that as you."
"I... Don't actually know what the Crystalling is," He coughed awkwardly.
"You have a lot to learn, then," Agate nodded at him.
"We all do," Cadance proclaimed, trotting up to Agate and bowing to her. "I would like to apologize for this misunderstanding, and for whatever... Injuries we have caused you."
"Heh. You really can't hurt me much. I'm dead," Agate chuckled. "Apology accepted, I suppose."
"Your friends still seem a little, uh... Could you tell them to calm down? Please?" Cadance asked, looking towards the group.
For their part, the fluffy ponies actually seemed rather placid, the bow to Agate having calmed them down. One of them, though, was in some kind of trance, her eyes half-lidded as she muttered and twitched, a strange, localized blizzard seemingly forming around her.
"What in the- How is she doing that?" Shining Armor asked. "I've never heard of an earth pony with weather control powers."
"She's not an earth pony. Freezing Point, as are they all, is a snowpony," Agate explained, trotting up to the mare and rubbing her cheeks with her ethereal hooves, whispering something into her ear.
"Snowpony," Shining Armor stated, not quite asking.
"Yup," Agate nodded as the mare came out of her trance, blinking slowly as her breath came out in visible puffs, the temperature in the throne room having dropped by at least several degrees.
"When we say snowpony, that's not quite what we mean," Cadance supplied. "Are you saying that they are another tribe of ponies?"
"Yes. Just like crystal ponies are not just shiny earth ponies, snowponies are not just fluffy earth ponies. They have their own magics and abilities. Manipulating snow and ice, calling on spirits..." Agate trailed off, sharing a few sentences with the snowponies.
"Wh- Oh, right. Fluent Tongue? Are you alright?" Cadance called out, noticing the spooked, but curious form of the pegasus stallion trying to listen in on the conversation from behind a pillar.
"I am fine, princess," He nodded, slowly cantering closer.
"Well. We have experienced many.... World-changing revelations in the past couple weeks. Though perhaps still not nearly world-changing as what we learned just now," Cadance said slowly, examining Agate's ghostly visage. "Normally, I'd invite you all to sit with me and talk - I'm assuming that since they came here so quickly, they must be some kind of diplomatic delegation and their people live relatively close by, yes? - But, ah... It is quite late, so perhaps we should all calm down and pick this up after a good night's sleep?"
"They're actually a band of adventurers," Agate smiled, making Shining Armor think of his O&O games. The group certainly fit the theme of an adventuring party, reacting to danger swiftly and efficiently. "Though one of them is the son of the southern tribe's chieftain."
"Southern? And they live north of there... So is there a northern tribe, then?" Shining Armor boggled, not quite believing what he was hearing.
"Oh, yes," The spirit chuckled, making Shining Armor's head spin.
"As fascinating as that sounds, ah... May I call you Agate, or do you have an ambassadorial title of some kind? I see you're the only interpreter in the group," Cadance noted.
"Bleh. Plenty of titles," Agate stuck her tongue out. "Never liked them much. Traveler spirit is fine, I suppose. Though I'd prefer just Agate."
"Very well then, Agate. Do you acc- do you and your friends accept my offer?"
Turning towards the group, Agate talked to them for a moment before turning back and nodding. "Yes, they agree to come back tomorrow."
"Very well. We'll prepare some rooms-"
"No need. They're staying with my parents," Agate shook her head. Then she became thoughtful, seemingly reconsidering her words. "Then again... They don't all fit in there, and my grandparents went home already... Guess they might as well stay here. Though I'm coming back here tomorrow with my family. They'll bring some things for a... Demonstration."
"Very well. Do, ah... Do you need a room?"
"Heh. No," Agate shook her head with a smile. "I'll go back to my parents anyway, like I said. One moment."
Turning towards the group of snowponies, Agate began to explain things as they nodded along. While she was doing that, Cadance quietly approached Shining Armor, giving him a questioning look. Naturally, the stallion could only shrug helplessly at the whole thing. This was well beyond anything he ever experienced in his life, and that included fighting Sombra.
"They agree to stay here," Agate confirmed.
"May I ask why did they react so aggressively if you're, as you said yourself, already dead and can't really get hurt?" Shining Armor inquired, inspecting the once again calm snowponies.
"I'm kind of a... Highly respected figure among them," Agate shrugged.
"A thousand years, you said... You waited for the Empire to return among their people... For a thousand years?"
"Pretty much. Staying around that long leaves a mark, I guess. I'm a living legend, more or less. Well, not really living. You know what I mean. Some call me mad. Some call me eternal. Some call me the most patient pony in the world," She nodded. "I'm sure you're going to want to hear about it."
"We will, but tomorrow. I don't think we have time left in the day for a thousand years of history," Cadance confirmed.
"It'll take more than a day, believe me. Better get someone to write things down, because I don't feel like spending weeks telling you stuff only for you to turn around and go "Whoops, we'd like to get it in writing, can you repeat all that?" "
"Oh, you better believe we'll be writing down every word," Shining Armor agreed.
"Alright. I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then. Don't worry about me, I'll find my way out," Agate grinned, turning into a bird in front of their eyes and casually flying through a wall, leaving the guards and the royal couple blinking in disbelief and confusion.
"That all really just happened, right?" Shining Armor asked no one in particular.
"I saw the ghost - spirit? And I certainly heard her talk, your Highness. And the, ah, snowponies certainly talked back to her as well," Fluent Tongue confirmed.
"I can see now why "may you live in interesting times" is considered a curse," Shining Armor said, rubbing his forehead.
❅ ❆ ❅
Once they called up some servants to show the guests to their rooms (and warned the servants that the visitors couldn't actually understand them), the royal couple retreated to their chambers. Getting some sleep and an early start the next day was the obvious choice, though, naturally, the couple were a bit too overwhelmed to go to bed right away.
"Damnations," Cadance muttered under her breath, crumpling a parchment as she fussed over a writing desk, a flurry of objects hastily set out on it.
Trotting over, Shining Armor noticed the specially enchanted candle that they were given by Celestia. It was supposed to work much like Spike's dragon flame, though with much more limited uses, which meant that it was for emergency use only. Considering what to say for a moment, he turned towards Cadance, who was glaring angrily at her parchment.
"What are you thinking, dear?"
"Nothing! I can't get more than a single sentence out of my head! What am I even supposed to say here?!" She asked with a slightly panicked voice, shoving the parchment towards him with her magic. The only words on it were "Dear auntie Celestia, are ghosts real?", with several crossed-out scribbles. Shining Armor could still see "Because I think we just met a ghost." under the ink.
"This... Yeah. I got nothing," Shining Armor shook his head.
"What do I tell her, then?"
"...Nothing, maybe?" He ventured after another minute of thinking.
"What? But this changes everything we know about the world. Everyone knows ghost stories aren't real just as they know that things will fall down if you let go of them," Cadance frowned.
"Yes, but... Is it an emergency? Are we and the Empire in mortal peril?" He asked.
"Well, I mean... I guess not..."
"So we'll send her a regular missive via train," He nodded. "Other than that... This is diplomacy, which is entirely for us to deal with. Those snowponies don't share a border with Equestria, so... This is entirely Crystal Empire business. Which is our job, now."
"Right, of course. International diplomacy. My first foray into being a ruler for real," She chuckled weakly.
"Just yours?" He grinned.
"Sorry, dear. Ours, of course," She hugged him with a wing.
"Right. The train left today, so we have a few days to write something that's coherent and wouldn't sound like we went insane. And add a few pictures, too. If we start going on about how a bunch of "snowponies" and a ghost visited us, Celestia will probably think that we broke under the pressure in less than a month, or something."
"Spirit."
"Shush."