The two deer were now within the walls of the Crystal Castle and waiting within the throne room. It was an extremely long room that was practically empty save for the throne mounted on a small pedestal and the tinted glass windows depicting what looked like a stubby, purple iguana-dwarf holding up a blue heart.
"They don't often come in here, do they?" Stelimus noted while he stared at the glass.
"No. They don't. They're quite different from your mother and father in many ways. Mainly that they don't exaggerate with their position or try to be as eccentric."
Stelimus looked at his uncle and chuckled. "You don't really see the king with a good eye, do you?"
"No," Grimliss answered flatly.
Stelimus looked down. "That was direct."
"I say you take that aspect from me as I'm also very direct with my thoughts and actions. If something displeases me I will tell the person in question directly into their face regardless of who they are or what position they might find themselves in." He flicked off a piece of the darkness curling along his skull. "You cannot threaten the dead."
Stelimus gulped and looked around for something to change the subject of the conversation. "Hey, what is this stuff made of, anyways?"
"The castle? It's all crystal."
"All crystal? That's not possible. Some of it MUST be glass."
"Nope, all crystal."
Stelimus gave pause. "Whwhdgddguh, but so much crystal is impossible, let alone forming it into some sort of gigantic, seventy-story building!"
"Yet here you stand within it."
The stag's eye twitched and simply gave up trying to reason with his uncle.
An hour passed and Stelimus' rage was starting to boil over."It's like waiting at the hospital for the doctor's appointment."
"What?"
"How long is this going to take? I can't stand it anymore! I'd rather go back outside with that weird giant stomping everywhere than stay here any longer!"
"Then it's a good thing we finally arrived," a feminine voice assured.
Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor had finally arrived and didn't seem discontent at the notion.
"Sorry for the delay. I had to show up for a few unveilings at the festival," Cadance apologized.
Grimliss bowed his head to the side in understanding. "Of course."
"So this is the son of King Anglacite?" She grabbed Stelimus by his cheeks and lifted him up. "He's so cute."
"Leh go o' muh!" Stelimus tried to say.
"I'm so happy to see you."
"I'm not," Shining spat.
"Shining!"
The stallion stepped in front of his wife and pointed towards the deer. "Cadance, they're deer! They're known to hate ponies, and that one is Anglacite!"
" 'King'," Cadance corrected.
"He'll NEVER be a king in my eyes!" He approached Stelimus and pushed his muzzle against the young stag's. "I bet that you even think that we are inferior to your kind."
"Acting like a spoiled brat who thinks he knows everything and how the world works.No," Stelimus answered blandly.
Shining became confused. "Wha..."
"Why would I? If anything, you're the one employing prejudice. That's a fallacy if ever I heard one." He smirked.
"I'm not being prejudicial."
"Yes you are." Stelimus passed by the captain and asked Cadance a direct question. "Say, you're a princess, I heard?"
"Yes." She smiled.
"Then I guess that big baby is your prince." Stelimus gestured behind him.
"Big baby?!"
Shining's jaw dropped and he became completely demoralized while Cadance chuckled.
"Yes, he is."
"So when are you marrying?"
Cadance frowned. "I...We're already married."
"So then you're a king and queen."
"No."
"Yes you are," Stelimus insisted.
"Just because we're married doesn't mean we've become king and queen." Cadance proudly put a hoof to her chest.
"Then you're not the true rulers of the Crystal Kingdom."
"We are the rulers of the kingdom," Shining interjected.
"But you can't be the rulers if you're only a prince and princess. That's not how the monarchical system works."
"What do you even know about monarchy? You're just five!"
Grimliss stood in the background, content to watch his nephew display unusual intelligence. "Geniuses, even at a young age, still act like children when speaking to adults who have seen more than them, but Stelimus...Stelimus talks like an adult that has seen more than these two. How curious. What will he be like when he grows up? Will he become even smarter, or is there something else involved?"
"I know that in Absolute Monarchies, like this one, the crown is passed down to the elected of the direct descendance if there are several children. The children in question are considered as princes and princesses. I won't go into details about their roles. I also know that if there are no heirs to the throne, the closest blood relative is chosen. If even they are not present, then a person can be chosen that the current sovereign deems most worth or a person may claim it for themselves."
Shining armor rubbed his chin blankly and looked like he was about to drool.
"You are a prince and a princess from separate families who have married and, as your predecessors have either stepped down from the throne or perished, then you are now the King and Queen of the Crystal Kingdom-" Cadance was about to interject but was spoken over by Stelimus."-REGARDLESS of what you may say or think."
"Well, I refuse those titles,." Cadance crossed her forelegs and turned away stubbornly.
"That is your choice, but you are still a queen and Zan the Wondertwin over there is your king."
"Wondertwin?" Cadance said.
"Form of: River of drool!"
"I think that's enough with that, Stelimus. You seem to be exceptionally rude with those that are part of any form of royalty. You could show them as much courtesy as you do the street folk. Both are still people with feelings," Grimliss explained.
"But what I said is the truth!"
"Perhaps, but saying it with such a tone and attitude won't lot you any friends."
Stelimus pouted. "And what if I'm not looking for any friends?"
"Then I can say with certainty that you're shaping up to be just like your father."
A shiver went down the stag's spine and apologized directly to the two ponies who were baffled at the sudden change of attitude from the mere mention of him possibly being like his dad.
"If you would be so kind as to show little Stelimus to his, um, 'friend', I would be grateful," Grimliss asked Cadance.
"Oh? OH! Right! Uh, GUARD!" A crystal guard galloped forward then came to attention. "Please escort the young 'prince'," She used the word with a sour note and some salty spittles. "to his 'friend', if you will."
"Right-o. Please come with me, sir," the guard insisted.
"What friend? It's not that wendigo again, is it? She weirds me out."
The guard started pushing the young stag along the floor and out of the throne room, leaving Shining and Cadance to sigh in relief.
"Good grief. He's a handful," Shining sighed.
"I know. That's why I think he's my favorite nephew to date," Grimliss teased.
"He seems bizarrely versed in the matters of royalty. Is it the same with political matters?" Cadance asked.
"Not that I know of. It is only since we came here that I've been noticing such words coming from his mouth."
"I guess he was just hiding it to show off, although I'm surprised he even knows what the words are." Shining chuckled.
Grimliss composure became darker and his smile faded away. "Now is the matter of the arrangements."
"R-right," Shining whined.
"I trust that everything has been prepared for the future?"
"Yes, but isn't there another way to do this?" Cadance asked. "I can't just have that done with a future young mare who probably won't even like him!"
"I understand your concerns, but you know how precarious and stubborn my brother is. I watch him closely so I will make sure that no 'advantages' slip through the proposal of your alliance with the reindeer of the tundra."
"What kind of 'advantages'?" Shining asked.
Grimliss' facial aura flickered a little, revealing a bit more of his skull than the two ponies wanted to see, not that anyone wants to see the skull of a living being. "He has lived for several millennia and has become quite savvy in the ways of contracts and accords. If he can find a way to subdue pony kind and convert them to his way of life, he will, and he has subverted the minds of his own ilk to the same way of thought."
"Propaganda can be a powerful thing," Shining said.
"We can talk of this later after you tell me what the Abyss that giant creature is that roams the tundra!" Cadance stomped the ground viciously.
"I do not know, but I trust you have already gathered the details of its coming?"
"Yes. We have."
"Good. All I can say for certain is that it has characteristics similar to the first appearance of 'Black Snow', but multiplied several times to an alarming extreme."
"What does it mean?"
"Perhaps it is waiting for something?"
"Waiting for what?" Shining asked.
The stag pondered the question for a moment then shared his thoughts. "It came around ten to fifteen years ago, correct?"
"Yes," the couple answered in unison.
"Well, it's come to my attention that it is only recently that the giant has become active, and the more years that pass the more aggressive it has become. The strangest part about all of this is that past arrivals had the snow spreading itself slowly across the tundra with the help of many beasts, similar to minions in comic books read by the young ones."
"Then why would it waste all of its resources in a single, gigantic abomination? Sure, it's powerful, but if it's destroyed, then the snow is finished."
Grimliss looked towards the exit of the throne room of hummed. "Well, what if it was waiting for something to appear? Waiting for something to be made? It would know the god-kings that have faced it countless times so it already know it can't kill us so easily."
Cadance's head started to chime with bells of ideas. "It wasn't waiting for something to be made, but to be born. Something it knows could be a threat to it."
"And the one who poses the gravest threat is Stelimus, the one who would ally both the magics of ponies and the essence of ice and spirits together," Shining added.
"Individually, unlike his father, aunt, and uncle, he has no power and mot likely never will come to even a fraction of our power, but the threat of allying both ponies and deer, even if temporarily, is enough to stymie its power again."
"Then we must watch the prince when he leaves into the tundra again."
"No need to worry about that. I will be accompanying him again during our travel back towards his home, and this time, I'll be ready."
"Good. I'll see to it that no problems occur on our end either and will protect my...adopted daughter."
"I'm still against this whole arrangement. It goes against what I stand for." Cadance pushed back a few tears and was quickly comforted by her husband.
"I know, Princess of Love, but it is not my choice. I rule a kingdom far to the south where the swamps stretch far. I don't control every individual aspect of my siblings."
"But you are the most level-headed of the two. Even if you aren't a pony, if the marriage ends correctly, I would be proud to call you my sibling." Shining tapped the shoulder of Grimliss roughly in sign of friendship.
"Oh?" Grimliss readjusted his shoulder after the strike. "And this after you just recently slandered deer right in front of me?"
Shining shrugged.
"I should leave my swamp more often. I don't meet many colorful individuals like you."
"Then, while the two become more acquainted, perhaps we should have a meal together and share how our two 'worlds' are like," Cadance suggested.
"I have yet to taste the meal of ponies, so I would be delighted to come with you."
"Then follow us," Shining gestured.
"With pleasure."
While Grimliss might have seemed level headed, the discussion just raised a tremendous question that gnawed at his very soul.
How did it know about Stelimus before he was even conceived?!