Agate's Vigil

by Wingnut

Knowledge is Power

❅ ❆ ❅

"Ugh. Go away..."

Usually, Agate woke up by herself. That morning, though, someone or something woke her up, instead. There were odd scratching noises, along with some trilling sounds. Opening her eyes lazily, she scanned the area. No ponies were present, unless they were standing behind her totem. A moment later, she felt something scratch the top of her totem again.

Closing her eyes, she fell forward, landing on her hooves. The only clue of who or what her mysterious visitor was the sudden sound of beating wings. Looking around, she barely managed to see an indistinct shape, fleeing into the distance.

"Birds?"

After spending the winter with nothing but snowponies and trees for company, she almost forgot about the existence of other creatures completely. Shaking her head, Agate took stock of her surroundings. Her clearing was empty of living beings again, her only company being the crystals Earthsong set out yesterday. Looking around, she went to examine her work.

"Hmmmm..."

She circled her totem, muzzle low to the ground. A good five of the twenty crystals were glowing, some brighter than others. Sitting down, she started reviewing yesterday's events. She started with the smallest one there was, a piece a little bigger than a pinecone, experimenting with a couple bigger ones afterwards...

Evidently, charging the crystals was something she was indeed capable of. The question was, though, whether charging crystals was something she could teach others to do. With a sigh, she sat down, attempting to cobble together an actual lesson from her experiences.

"Find the right frequency... Feel the resonance, direct the flow inwards, don't let it spill..."

❅ ❆ ❅

Agate spent the first half of the day messing with crystals again, though this time, she was mostly doing things in her head, finding the best words to describe the process of charging one. Once again, she lost track of time, the hours passing by unnoticed.

Shortly after noon, though, something unusual happened. Just as she was sticking a hoof into a larger crystal, making it light up momentarily, her concentration was broken by a couple foalish voices.

"Ooooooohhhhh...."

"I didn't know she was a shamare. Wonder what's this ritual for."

Getting unannounced visitors was something rather rare for Agate. Turning around, she looked for the source of the voices. Standing right on the edge of her clearing were Cindertail and Autumn Ash, the two foals she met as she was going home from her tundra exploration.

"Oh, right. I did invite them to come visit me," she recalled, getting up and going over to greet them. "I guess they couldn't find the time until now." Out loud, she spoke, "Hello, you two. It's nice to see you again. I'm not a shamare, though. What gave you that idea?"

Both of the foals tilted their necks, looking past Agate and towards the clearing. Her totem was surrounded by an orderly circle of crystals laid out at equal distances, and some of them were glowing. Gesturing at the whole setup, Autumn Ash twitched her tail. "Well, I don't know too much about magic, but that looks like the kind of stuff shamares regularly get up to," she stated, her brother nodding in agreement.

Looking behind her, Agate could sort of see it. Shrugging, she turned back towards her visitors. "I guess it does look like it, but no, I'm not a shamare and I'm not performing any rituals. Not really, anyway. I'm just trying to figure out how to charge these, and then how to teach others how to do it," She explained, pointing at the crystals. "The shamares did ask me to teach them, since I'm naturally good at it. No, wait, I'm not, actually. My people are inclined towards working with crystals, but I'm still quite inexperienced, to say the least. I'm figuring out how to do it myself before I can start teaching others. It's a bit of a slow climb, but I'm getting there."

Cindertail's face fell a little. "Oh. I guess you're doing something important today. Should we come back some other time?"

"No, no," Agate shook her head energetically. "I think I need to take more frequent breaks while I'm at this anyway. Sometimes I end up staring at a crystal for an hour without thinking up anything new. So, uh... Come over here, I guess. I'd offer you a seat, but... Well, I don't have any. Hm. Not too sure how I'm supposed to receive guests, to be honest. Most ponies usually came to me with things to do, or were spirits themselves."

The foals giggled at Agate's awkwardness. Cindertail made his way towards one of the glowing crystals, plopping down on the ground in front of it. "The earth is fine. I don't mind, really. It's barely even cold these days." Leaning his muzzle down, he began examining the citrine chunk.

His sister circled Agate's totem instead, studying the carvings and runes intently. "Yeah," she spoke slowly, most of her attention focused on the artwork. "It's alright. Honestly, it'd be silly for us to expect for you to have a house, or something. Spirits don't really do that."

Agate nodded, wondering at how to proceed. She saw Cindertail reach out with a hoof towards the crystal, before pulling back. "It's okay, you can touch them. They're not that fragile, and I'm pretty sure they're not going to explode. I don't think I'm remotely strong or skilled enough to be able to do something like that."

"Pretty sure, huh?" He asked with a small smile. He picked up the crystal anyway, slowly running his hooves and muzzle over it. "Hmm... Almost expected it to feel hot, with how much the glow looks like a fire. Feels sort of like ice, though. Smooth, cold, but doesn't melt."

Autumn Ash joined him after a couple minutes, taking the proffered crystal from his hooves. "Spirit stones really are pretty. I've wanted to take a closer look at one for a while. I have to admit, though, I'm still having a hard time believing some of the things you told everyone during your story, Agate. Do your people really grow them? And then build entire houses with them?"

"There's some magic and sometimes reagent mixing involved, but yes. We do mine them out of the ground as well, but the demand for crystals is too big for just what we manage to dig up. You should see our city. Every building, every road... Everything's sparkling and beautiful."

"Wild. Sounds like an amazing sight, but also makes me think I'd get snowblind in moments. Like staring at snow in midwinter. It's just so bright, it makes your eyes water if you don't squint, or let your mane down over your face," she said, setting the crystal back on the ground.

Agate tapped her chin, considering the issue. "It's not that bad... I think. Sure, all the surfaces are a little reflective, but they're not as bad as snow. I remember how annoyingly bright everything was when I was running away from the Empire. Even if I got used to it because I lived there, the city wasn't half as blinding as being outside was."

Cindertail's ears were perked and alert, hanging on to Agate's every word. "You're about our age, but it sounds like you experienced a lot. I wish I could go out of the village for a while. Just... Without ending up as a spirit. Heh."

Agate rolled her eyes. "Yes, that was one experience I could have gone without. I did end up travelling much further than I expected, but it wasn't really my choice. As interesting as all this was, though, I'd prefer to be safe and back at home... Nothing to do about it, I guess. At least now that nothing else can really happen to me, I can go galloping through the forests and tundra all I want."

"Sorry, I... Sorry," the colt awkwardly apologized. "I know that our parents only want us to stay safe, but the lands around Snowpitt are the safest anywhere around. I don't want to go do something stupid like poke a sleeping yeti, or anything like that. I'd just like to go for a trot through the plains or woods now and then. Us growers don't really go out all that often. Some don't even join the nomads for their summer expeditions when they come of age, just spending their entire lives in the village. Snowpitt is fine, but it's like only eating hay for several months. You get bored of the same thing."

"I'm going to join the nomad groups," Autum Ash agreed. "Like Cinder said, living in Snowpitt is fine, but I want to experience more of the world before settling down. The only trees I ever saw are the few sparse ones planted around the village. I haven't seen a proper forest, or what a river actually looks like. Some other foals get to go with their parents on fishing trips, even though they're young. At least they're happy to trade stories."

"Well, I saw the forest," Agate mused. "Part of it, at least. And the river. That was actually quite fun. I made a game of sailing the rapids on floating chunks of ice. I don't think anyone could actually do it if they weren't a spirit. And I went on a gallop through the tundra before that. That was less eventful, but still quite interesting."

Both foals leaned in closer, eyes sparkling and ears straight. "Wait, what game? You did what?!" Cindertail cried.

"Yeah, tell us!" Autumn Ash joined in.

Agate leaned back a little, taken aback by their enthusiasm. "Uh, alright. The river first, I'm guessing?" At their eager nods, she settled in more comfortably. "Okay. Well, at least this actually gives us something to do. I was a little worried I made a mistake when inviting you to come over."

Twin frowns came upon the sibling's faces. Autumn Ash folded her ears halfway, twitching her tail. "What do you mean, "made a mistake"?

"Oh, well, it was only after I really sat down to think about it, I realized that I can't really do any of the things I used to do with my friends back home, now that I'm a spirit. I can't really touch things any more," she explained, waving a hoof through a small branch laying nearby. "I can't play with any toys or any games that require me to interact with anything physical. I guess I could play some games where you need to catch ponies, but It'd be unfair to others. I don't run out of breath any more, I can make impossibly sharp turns, and I can go through walls, trees, or anything else in my way. I was worried you'd just be bored with nothing to do with me."

The two visibly relaxed at Agate's explanation. Cindertail raised a hoof. "Actually, you could probably - no, wait.." He trailed off, reconsidering what he was going to say. "Maybe you could play dig- no, that wouldn't work either..." The visitors pondered Agate's predicament for several minutes, perking up for a few seconds here and there, before remembering something that made their suggestions moot.

Agate shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I remember some foals showing me some games back when I just arrived. I don't think I could play any of them even if I was still alive. Lots of them had something to do with chasing others or snow. And the only reason I can even walk on snow is because I'm a spirit, I think. I'm happy that we found something to do anyway. If you really want me to tell you what it's like outside Snowpitt, I'd be happy to oblige. I haven't been outside all that much, so I barely know anything myself, but I'm planning on going out more in the future. Maybe you two can recommend some places that you've heard about for me to explore."

The ashen-colored foals were smiling again. Agate took it as a sign to continue. "Alright, so. I was trotting through the tundra, trying to remember the path I took to get to Snowpitt from the mountains. I wasn't able to, so I just went exploring. Trotting through the forest, I found some old tracks that led me to the river..."

❅ ❆ ❅

They spent a few hours talking about various things before the sky started to darken, and the siblings had to leave for dinner. Agate told them of her trips through the forest and tundra, and a few snippets from her journey out of the Crystal Empire. They mostly wanted Agate to talk, but she got them to tell some things about themselves and their lives as well.

After dealing with big, important adult things for so long, it was nice to simply talk about foal stuff for a while again. Things they did, games they played, what kind of nonsensical things adults told them sometimes, things they'd do adults would disapprove of if they ever found out, hiding places that they'd make for any neat trinkets they found, and so on.

When they were done saying their goodbyes and Agate reassured them that they were always welcome to come by, the spirit filly turned back to her task. It didn't get any easier, but at least she didn't get as frustrated now that she had a nice break. After a few more experiments, seven out of the twenty crystals were charged. She circled the setup, checking whether any of them were noticeably losing their glow.

Once again, she was interrupted by a visitor, though the voice was more familiar this time. "Good evening, Agate," Gnarled Root spoke. "Still busy, I see, but at least you're not laid out flat on the ground this time. How goes your work?"

The filly shrugged. "Not bad? I think? I never did anything like it before, so I don't really have anything to compare it to. Still, I think I'm making progress, bit by bit. Might go and talk to True Sight tomorrow."

"That's good to hear. So, how are you feeling this evening? Up for a story?"

"Oh, sure. Give me a moment."

Circling the clearing, Agate examined the crystals one last time. Not noticing any obvious defects, she sat down in her usual spot by her totem, the other spirits sitting down in front of her. At first, she wasn't certain what kind of story she wanted to hear that evening, but her surroundings gave her an idea.

"So, how did this start?" She asked, gesturing at the clearing in a wide arc. "The "spirit stones" thing. Ponies use crystals for all sorts of magic stuff, not just as beacons for spirits. Well, we don't use them for spirits at all, but you know what I mean. Who figured out that spirits can see crystals from so far away? And how? Was it the same ponies that found them first?"

"Hmmmm..." This time, Gnarled Root wasn't the one with the answers. Spear Throw tapped his chin, digging through his memory. Nodding, he spoke up.

"I think I know the one, although it is not really a story on its own. Well, to be precise, the discovery of the spirit stones and their use are two separate stories, with the discovery not being a well-known event. Let's see...

As a young colt, I loved listening to stories about the wilderness and exploration from other tribes. Seeing as we live in quite different regions, their knowledge wasn't directly useful to me, but I enjoyed listening to their tales nonetheless. One time, one of their explorers told me the history of their first forays into what they call the Thousand Islands.

It happened quite some time ago. Eight hundred years ago, I believe? Not ancient history, but still quite old. The northern tribe was still young, and Nilas, their village on the shore of the freezing northern seas, was their only settlement. The area was rough, but the ponies that went off to form the northern tribe were the bravest and most capable, and perhaps just a little mad. At least, that's what others called them when they decided to migrate even further north when ponies began to run out of space in the plains. Still, despite the dangers and the hardships, they were growing and expanding rapidly.

You see, their decision to settle the region was not some foolish fit of whimsy. The first explorers found that the sea shore held great bounties, ones they gladly claimed. Besides the fish, crabs, and all sorts of other ocean prey, great mats of seaweed floated in the water, easy to collect and fill your belly with. Even their needs for firewood were partially met, as many pieces of driftwood would often wash ashore.

Naturally, it didn't take long for them to decide to start exploring further away from the shore. They built kayaks worthy of the sea, bigger and stronger than the ones we use to sail through our lakes and rivers. Although they found that the deep seas held nothing but freezing waters and terrible monsters that sometimes surfaced to snatch up the explorers along with their kayaks, they discovered a number of islands as well.

Some were little more than boulders sticking out of the water, roosts for a few birds without space for a pony to even stand on. A number were more useful, decently-sized islets with hills where you could take shelter from the wind, build supply caches for further journeys, and have a good night's sleep. And lastly, a few were truly impressive, with their own mountains, sheltered valleys and small forests.

All of the island's shores held the usual bounty of food as well, so even if an island was bare rock, it still held use to the northerners. In one such island, relatively large but empty of plant life, they decided to build an outpost. Despite its size, it was rather flat, and so the winds were howling through it endlessly. They found that the rock was soft in some places, however, and decided to dig out a number of caves instead of building upwards.

It actually took them quite a long time to discover the spirit stones. A hundred years, perhaps? The outpost was successful, being a fair distance from Nilas, and surrounded by many smaller islands. The northerners would migrate there every summer, curing fish and stockpiling food before moving back in autumn. Every year, they expanded their caves for both living and storage, bit by bit. Eventually, when digging deeper to make some more cold storage caches, they noticed that the usually dull gray rock had some strange glimmering shards in it.

At first, they thought it was ice, but the color was unusual. After bringing some of the rocks outside, they carefully chipped away the surrounding material to reveal strange, but beautiful angular stones that seemed to glow with the warmth of a fire, despite remaining cold. Naturally, the discovery set the outpost abuzz, and they began digging deeper, looking for more deposits.

That autumn, along with the food, they brought boxes of the colorful stones, sharing them out among their tribesponies. No one was quite sure what to do with them. They were unusual and pretty, but didn't seem to hold much practical value. Some ponies quickly took to using them as decorations while the shamares were busy examining them, trying to see if there was some inherent magic to the unusual material.

Naturally, the northerners wanted to share their discovery with the other tribes, and brought a few crates to the Gathering. Everyone was curious about the pieces of "frozen flame", as it was called at first. Despite the shamares of all tribes putting their heads together, though, they weren't able to do anything interesting besides making them flicker briefly.

And so, the spirit stones became a simple trading commodity for a few decades, along with pretty seashells and other trinkets the northerners would bring from their expeditions. They didn't become important for some time, which is likely the reason why the story of their discovery became largely forgotten.

Now, the one who ended up finally discovering the stone's abilities was not some wise shamare, but a regular northerner stallion. And he did it entirely by accident, too. He had lost his mare to an akhlut attack recently, and was grieving for her on the ocean shore. The beast dragged his wife off to the water, and her spirit was lost in the cold depths below. He stood there, cursing and screaming at the waves, swearing that he's spear the beast himself, if he ever got the chance.

He knew that the shamares would be able to call her spirit back during the Calling, and he'd see her once more. Still he grieved, for losing one's love is no small pain. After his rage was spent, he took off an amulet he was wearing. It was a gift from his wife, so that he could remember her whenever they got separated. Her eyes were the same warm color of the spirit stone, and he'd hold it to his chest often, remembering her warm gaze.

He began to sing a mourning song then, holding out the amulet in front of him. As he voiced his laments, his love and his pain, his longing and his commitment to protect their foals. As his voice shook the air, to his great surprise, his wife stepped right out of the waves! He was so startled that he dropped the amulet and reached for his spear, so sudden was her appearance. After making sure that it wasn't some water snatcher trying to drag him into the depths, they embraced, confused but happy.

Deciding not to tempt fate by lingering on the shore any longer, they retreated home, after the stallion retrieved his amulet. It took them a while to figure out how he had managed to summon her from the depths, when even the northern shamares usually weren't able to. He thought it was his song at first, but the mare told him that she heard nothing in the silent darkness. Instead, she explained, she suddenly saw a bright, but tiny dot, like a star in the night sky. With no other options, she immediately galloped towards it, watching it grow slowly in front of her. With every step, her surroundings slowly resolved themselves as she emerged from the depths. She assumed that it was the great bonfire of Snowpitt she was seeing in the distance, the warm orange glow lighting her path. To her surprise, it was the very amulet that she gifted to her love, instead. Somehow, he used its power to achieve something it took a whole congregation of shamares to do.

Other tribesfolk saw the stallion reunited with his wife, and news about the unusual event spread fast. The shamares wanted to know all about his achievement, though they were a little frustrated to find out how he had done it in the end. The mysterious stones stumped their predecessors for years until they gave up, and the current generation weren't sure that they'd be able to crack their secrets, either.

Now, we obviously know that they did succeed in the end, though it still took them a few more years until they managed to figure out how to make the spirit stones light up. Still, they were pleased with the results. What was a pleasant light to a living pony shone like a bonfire to the spirits, and they could see their glow leagues away.

And that's it, I think. We call them spirit stones since it was the only real use we discovered for them, besides just being pretty decorations. I don't remember when exactly the tradition to leave trails of spirit stones leading to Snowpitt arose, but it wasn't long after the northern shamares shared their newfound skills with the other tribes. Many of the spirits say that it makes finding the way home much easier, especially those that got lost travelling far away from their tribe's lands. And so, we continue the tradition."

"Still a dumb name for crystals..." Agate muttered under her breath.

Gnarled Root lowered one ear. "What was that, Agate?"

"Nothing, nothing. It's just that cry- I mean, spirit stones - arrrrrgh." The filly buried her face in her hooves, groaning in irritation. Gnarled Root looked at the scene with a bemused expression.

"Crystals... You've been using that word a lot. Your people's word for the spirit stones, yes? Is ours hard to pronounce? You've been doing fine with our tongue so far."

"No, it's not, and yes, I have been using it a lot," Agate grunted, rubbing her temples with her hooves. "And I feel so dumb every time I do. I know how to say "spirit stone", I can pronounce it, but by the time I remember, I'm usually already three words ahead. It's just that the words don't quite match. A crystal is not a stone. Well, kind of, but not really. There's differences in formation, the structure... Crystals have the crystal lattice, and... Ugh. I don't really have the proper words to explain it."

"Well... It's not a hard word. I don't mind saying "crystal". I suppose you would know more about them than any of us combined do."

Agate shrugged. "I guess. Crystals are really important to my people, you know? We call ourselves crystal ponies for a reason. Crystal Empire, crystal ponies, crystal Heart... I honestly don't think I can force myself to stop saying "crystal" any more. You don't have to change your language for me, though."

Smiling, Gnarled Root shrugged. "We'll see. Don't feel bad if you keep calling them crystals, though. I don't think anyone cares much, if at all."

"Right, okay. Sorry, Spear Throw. Thank you for the story, it was very interesting. The northern tribe keeps sounding more and more interesting the more stories I hear about them."

"They are. Living on the edges of settled lands is always exciting, though also more dangerous. The northerner's fierce attitude means they both survive and thrive in those wild territories, though. When I was younger, I was tempted to go join them myself, but things turned out a little differently than I planned at first. Life had different ideas, I suppose."

"I think I know the feeling," Agate nodded at the stallion.

He snorted, nodding back. "I imagine you do, better than me even. Your life certainly not only fell off the trail, but rolled down the whole mountainside, picked a few wrong turns, and then took a dunk in the river."

Agate chuckled, stifling a giggle. That seemed to signal the end of this night's meeting, the visitors getting up from their sitting positions.

"Until next time, Agate," Gnarled Root waved, Spear Throw giving the filly a nod.

"Next time," the filly waved, turning towards her totem.

❅ ❆ ❅

No birds disturbed Agate's slumber the next day. Opening her eyes, she looked around, before hopping outside.

Sitting down, she considered her progress so far. Should she go to True Sight yet? On one hoof, she mostly figured out how to charge the crystals, and wasn't too sure that she would come up with anything new. On the other, she'd only been at it for a couple days. Perhaps there was some room for improvement after all.

After weighing her options for a while, she decided to go talk to the shamare. Her goal was to teach others, not to get good at it herself. Better to see if she could even teach them the basics before thinking about honing her own skills. And besides, it wasn't likely that they would start learning on the same day. True Sight was likely busy with something or other.

The path to the shamare's home was a familiar one by now. Coming up to the building, she remembered the talk she had about her whole "being incorporeal" problem. With a mental shrug, she stuck her head through the door again. The two ponies were sitting at the table, as usual for this time of the morning.

She tried to get their attention without speaking this time, clearing her throat quietly. With a blink, Earthsong turned towards her, True Sight following suit.

"You know, it's odd to see your head just sticking out of the door," Earthsong mused with a small smile. "Come on in, Agate, no need to ask for permission. You're a welcome visitor in this house."

"Thank you. Right, so, um..." Agate approached True Sight, shuffling a bit awkwardly. "I did what I could, I think. I never tried teaching anyone anything before, so I've no idea how this is going to go."

"Time to see if anything useful will come out of my fool's request, then. I'll gather the others and we can take a crack at it tomorrow," she decided with a shrug. The old mare seemed completely unbothered by the possibility of failure.

"Oh, okay. Wait, others?"

"Well, sure. Oh, did you think that I'm the one that has to charge up the spirit stones? No, no, that is a job for all the tribe's shamares. It's not hard, but it does take time, and there's never been anyone that was ever good enough at it to undertake that task alone. Now, most of them are travelling with the nomads for the summer, so it'll only be me, Earthsong, and Dreamcatcher. If you manage to teach something to these dusty old mares, then we'll deal with passing it on to the younglings."

"I'm not dusty," Earthsong objected, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, of course not. You spend most of the day lying on the ground listening to the earth, and then walk away without a speck on your coat, yes?" True Sight asked, one of her signature wry smiles on her face.

"Why yes, because I shake myself off. Unlike some dusty old mares, I'm not yet so stiff that I'm unable to do that."

"For now," the elder chortled.

Agate shook her head, deciding to leave the two to their verbal needling. "I'll see you two tomorrow, then. Where are we going to do it? Should I wait by the totem, or come somewhere?"

That got the two shamares to quiet down and think. Earthsong scratched her head. "Well, I don't think there's any special place we need to go to, is there? Unless you actually have something in mind?" At her question, Agate shook her head. "Well, alright then. We could just gather by your totem, since there's already a bunch of spirit stones there. Unless you managed to light up all of them while you were practicing?"

Once more, Agate shook her head. "No, there's... Thirteen empty ones left. Should be enough, at least for the first day."

"We're agreed, then. We'll see you tomorrow morning. Be well."

Agate was about to step back through the door, before True Sight spoke up. Her expression was neutral, but her tone of voice was serious. "One last thing, youngling. I can see how tense you are about this. I understand that this is the first time in your life that you had to truly work on something that wasn't just a learning assignment. I certainly still remember how nervous I was about doing something by myself for the first time, things that later became routine and even dull. And I know from experience that me telling you this is not going to change much, but: don't worry too much about whether you succeed or fail. This isn't some grand project that's needed for our survival or anything of the sort. What feels like a heavy and crushing responsibility will appear little more than a tiny pebble later on. "

Agate grimaced a little. "You're right. It doesn't help much."

Earthsong choked on her tea, while True Sight's expression quickly morphed into one of mirth. "Hah! Oh Agate, you're truly one of a kind. A snowpony foal would have just said "yes, elder", and went off on their merry way," the old mare cackled.

The filly shrugged. "I just try to be honest. I understand what you're saying. I still want to do my best, though."

"Just remember that if you overdo it, it'll cause more harm than good in the end. Now then, off you go. I'd suggest for you to go and relax a bit somewhere, but I'm guessing that you're tempted to go and practice with the spirit stones some more. You're free to make your own choices, but you know which one I would choose."

"I... I guess. Thank you for your advice. Maybe I'll go wander around a bit." With a wave goodbye, Agate went through the door.

True Sight's words rang in her head. "If you overdo it, it'll cause more harm than good in the end." It sounded a lot like what Spear Throw said when he and Gnarled Root found her splayed on the ground after she spent too much time experimenting with crystals.

Refocusing on where she was going, Agate realized that in her distraction, she picked a random path, instead of going towards her totem. Finding the right direction was trivial - all she had to do was focus on her totem's pull for a moment. After a few minutes of weighing her options, though, she decided to heed the old shamare's advice and go for a trot somewhere.

Glancing at the sky, she saw it was still early morning. Her visit didn't take much time, and so she still had a full day to spend doing... Something. Continuing down the street, she considered her options. She could go north to explore the endless plains of the tundra some more. (She knew they weren't really endless, but they certainly looked that way.) Go south, and see if she could find anything interesting in the forest again, or...

"I wonder what's to the west of here. Or east. I think there's only more tundra there, though... Tundra to the north, west, and east, and the forest in the mountain's foothills to the south.

Exploring Snowpitt itself was also an option, but a less tempting one. She assumed that she already saw most of the important places in the village. And if she did find anything strange or interesting, it'd likely be another one of those odd snowpony things that would require someone to explain it to her before she could even fully understand what she was seeing.

Nodding to herself, Agate turned north. The forest was interesting, but her last gallop through the tundra did wonders to clear her head. Exchanging amicable nods with the ponies she was passing by, she scanned the skyline to find the Great Hall in the distance. Using the large building as a navigational landmark, she reached Snowpitt's northern border after a short trot.

Once again, she stood in front of the massive plain. The sight was a little less exciting than last time, but only a little. After taking a few minutes to appreciate it and psyche herself up a little, she took a step, then another, breaking out from a canter to a gallop almost immediately. Moments later, she was tearing through the snow, the landscape passing by.

❅ ❆ ❅

"There's something strange about this place..."

Agate was never the sportiest pony around. Whenever she galloped somewhere, it was because she had to. The vast majority of times, it was because she didn't want to be late to something. Some foals liked running around so much that they tended to get in trouble for it, bumping into things and getting underhoof when adults were doing important things. She preferred to move around at a comfortable trot or a canter, and just sitting down with a book somewhere during her free time.

The tundra had the strange effect of making her want to start galloping and never stop, for no apparent reason. Maybe it was the illusion of infinity, the way the plains seemed to stretch on forever without any barriers looming on the horizon. Or maybe it was because no matter how fast or how far she moved, the rather featureless landscape made it look like she was just galloping in place, without actually covering any distance at all.

Whatever it was, the spell was broken as she finally came upon something that changed up the monotony of the plains. It wasn't anything strange, just a small creek with a pond nearby that looked like it was dug by pony hooves. The bottom was lined with stones, likely to prevent the water from becoming scummy and slimy from pond weeds.

The area was empty at the moment, though there were signs of recent activity. Snow was torn up in many places, where only the tiniest stalks of dried grass remained uneaten. A number of tracks covered the area as well, though they looked like they were made by sleds rather than ponies or animals. From what she could surmise, one of the nomad groups passed through there on their way further into the tundra.

After nosing around for a while, Agate decided to lay down, gazing up at the sky idly. Tracing the shapes of a few thin clouds with her eyes, she glanced at the sun. At her rough estimate, it was around midday. It was still a little hard for her to tell the time around here, but she was slowly learning the paths of the Sun and Moon in the snowpony lands.

She managed to spend half an hour like that, trying not to think about anything important. Unfortunately, her thoughts eventually caught up to her. The Empire, her family, the snowponies, crystals... With a sigh, the filly got up, reflexively shaking herself off before trying to find the way she came from.

Clearly, her tundra navigational skills were still severely lacking, as she wasn't able to tell anything apart except for which side of the creek she came from, and a very general direction. She didn't see any of the navigational stone piles this time around either, so her path from Snowpitt to the creek with the pond was completely unmarked in any way.

"Looks like I'll have to cheat again," she muttered, closing her eyes.

She turned her face towards her totem's glow, opening her eyes once she locked on to it. With a small whinny, she reared up, charging off towards the village. It wasn't really cheating, she supposed, since the snowponies themselves needed their guiding stones to find their way. At least she assumed that they did. That was probably something to ask Spear Throw about that evening.

The trip back was slightly less spellbinding, since she was able to see the peaks of the southern mountains in the distance. Step by step, more and more things appeared on the horizon, and before she knew it, she was standing at Snowpitt's borders again. With a last glance towards the mountains, she stepped into the village proper, weaving between the buildings as she made her way to her clearing.

A faint orange glow greeted Agate from some distance away. For a brief moment, she was puzzled at what could be causing it, until she remembered the charged crystals lying around her totem pole. She smiled faintly as the clearing came into full view. It wasn't remotely like the Empire, but returning somewhere adorned with crystals still brought feelings of coming home in her.

Unfortunately, the feelings also brought memories of her actual home, and her smile turned into a frown. Shaking it off, she checked the sky. It was darkening, but not full night yet - she still had a few hours to kill until the time came for her nightly talks. Picking out a crystal, she sat down in front of it, repeating her lesson plans.

"Take a deep breath, calm down. Touch the crystal, get a good feel for it..."

❅ ❆ ❅

This time, Agate saw the approaching spirits before they announced themselves. It was far easier to notice their dark outlines when they were silhouetted in the crystal's warm glow, she noticed. Getting up, she waved towards them.

"Hello Spear, hello Root. It's nice to see you again."

Spear Throw nodded, while Gnarled Root smiled. "Hello to you too, Agate. Keeping yourself terribly busy, as usual?"

"More or less. You're not the only ones telling me to calm down a little. True Sight told me to try and relax a little more," the filly shrugged. "It's a little hard when I'm constantly surrounded by strange new things that I need to learn about, but I'm trying. I went for a gallop through the tundra today, and that was pretty nice, but in the end, I just returned with more questions that I wanted to ask. Relaxing is harder than it sounds."

Gnarled Root put a hoof to her mouth, suppressing a smile. "Ah, relaxing. It's truly a terrible task when you know you have something to do, isn't it? Well, Agate, I suppose we can't stop you from being your curious young self. And... I'll admit, I haven't really thought about your situation from your perspective before. You've been thrown into a place where not only the ponies, but the very earth under your hooves is completely unfamiliar. You made excellent progress so far, though. I'm certain you're going to be alright."

"I guess so. I'm slowly making sense of this place, bit by bit," Agate said, gesturing for them to sit down. Laying down on the ground, they assumed their usual positions.

"And I hope our lessons are helping you with that. So, anything that you want to know about this evening?"

"They are. And, well... I enjoy the history a lot, but I think I'd like to learn something a little more practical this evening. Today, when I... Actually, not just today, but the last few times I went out to explore, I wasn't really able to orient myself very well. Finding the way back was easy because I had my totem, but I'm pretty sure I would have gotten lost otherwise.

My parents... They always told me that I'm "observant". I am pretty good at noticing details and stuff, I think, and I never got lost in the Empire. Then again, getting lost in there is almost impossible with the Spire being visible from any part of the city, so, uh... Hold on," she trailed off. Tapping her forehead, Agate tried to find her train of thought again. After a minute of thinking how to best explain it, she continued.

"I guess I don't know what to look for? I don't leave tracks any more, so I can't even see which way I came from. I'm sure there's something I can look at to find my way when I'm out in the tundra or somewhere deep in a forest, but I don't know what. So, if I'm going to be exploring around Snowpitt - and further, eventually - I'd like to know how to do it best. It'd be a shame if I found something interesting and couldn't find it again because I didn't memorize the route properly."

"Pathfinding," Spear Throw nodded, his voice serious. "You wish to learn pathfinding. A crucial skill indeed, even if you're travelling with a group that contains experienced scouts."

For a moment, Agate wondered why did he say it with such weight, until she remembered the fact that he used to lead groups of foragers into the wilds. This was likely one of, if not the most important skill to him, save for his skill with spears. Clearly, he took the matter seriously. Unconsciously, she sat up a little straighter as he talked.

"Now, you mentioned this... "spire", yes? It is a building that can be seen from any part of your village, if I recall your story correctly. Such landmarks are indeed the most useful for pathfinding - even if you are not going towards them, you can tell where you are by checking your position in relation to them. Out in the wilds, mountains most often fill that role. However, even the mountains are not always visible.

When that happens, we turn our eyes towards even greater sights - the heavens themselves. Of course, the sky is sometimes obscured by clouds as well, but that does not happen very often. Out here in the south, the guiding star, Polaris, always shines bright in the north, by which we are able to tell all four of the cardinal directions. Granted, trying to find your path by something that is so far away only helps you with large distances - if you just lost a trail you were on mere moments ago, you need something smaller and simpler.

Now, as you know, moss grows almost entirely on the northern part of a tree's trunk, which makes it easy to find your path, if you know which way you need to go, or at least which way you came from, even if the deep forest's gloom. If you're familiar-"

"Sorry," Agate interrupted. "But I didn't know about that, actually. Moss grows... Only on the northern side of a tree?"

"Ah... Apologies. I shouldn't assume you know all the little details snowponies usually already know. Yes, the next time you are in a forest, keep an eye out for that detail. Granted, some old trees that are sickly or dying have their entire trucks covered by moss, but even then, the northern side tends to be the one covered by the thickest layer. Examine at least a few trees standing near each other, and if they all have moss growing on the same sides of their trunks, that means you know which way is north. It is not a perfect method, but it is extremely simple and quick," the stallion elaborated, Gnarled Root nodding along before speaking up.

"Yes, when you're looking for herbs in the woods, the mountains and the sky are usually obscured by the trees. You need to learn other tricks so you don't get lost, and also so you can find your way back to herb patches hidden inside the more overgrown and twisty parts of the forests. In some places, ponies have grown signal trees, saplings specifically curved to grow in a special way to point out the paths in the woods. Some of the oldest ones have been standing for hundreds of years now."

"That's... Amazing. I never would've thought of something like that," Agate marveled, shaking her head. "And, uh, Polaris? Astronomy wasn't really something I was very good at, either... And I bet we had a different name for it, anyway. If we could even see it, that is. There's this absolutely massive mountain that stands in the northern side of Dream Valley, and it blocks the entire northern skyline."

That earned her some raised eyebrows from both spirits. Gnarled Root stood up, gesturing the other two to follow. "You've never seen Polaris? Now that is just a crime. If I still could, I'd go give that mountain a piece of my mind. Perhaps climb to the peak to knock off a few boulders so that your tribe can appreciate the full view of the night sky. Seriously..."

Agate wiggled her ears, squinting at Gnarled Root a little. It sounded a bit like she was joking, but Spear Throw's expression was entirely serious as he trotted along. Clearly, the stars held some kind of special significance in snowpony culture. Shrugging, she followed the old spirit out of Snowpitt, to an empty patch of tundra southeast of the village.

Gnarled Root sat down, waving Agate over. Hugging the filly, she extended her right foreleg, pointing towards the northern sky. "Polaris," she intoned. "Also sometimes called "never moves". While the other stars shift with the seasons, it sits still patiently, right in the middle of the northern sky. A useful guide for the southern tribe for many centuries, one we are thankful for.

Not all tribes respect the same stars, though. For example, I heard that in the north, they barely care about Polaris at all any more. Since it hangs right above the northern pony's heads, that makes it useless for navigation. But that is a different story, I suppose. One for which you'd probably need a different pony - I only know the few stars that are needed to tell my way around the tundra."

"Do the stars have stories about them, too?" Agate asked, trying to memorize the one star in the dizzying array of the night sky.

"Oh, yes! Most certainly. I know a few, but only the general details. Like I said, that's not really my area of expertise. I wouldn't be able to do those stories justice if I tried telling them. There are some ponies that spend a lot of time studying the stars. When the sun goes away during the great darkness, they become the only way to tell the passage of time, among other things.

But, we are getting sidetracked. Let us go back to pathfinding. Now, take a good look at Polaris. If you remember to, try to do it every evening. You will see for yourself how the other stars slowly shift around it over time, while it patiently stays in its place. With just a little practice, you should be able to find it with ease..."

They spent a long time talking about all the ways a pony could find where to go in all kinds of situations and through all kinds of terrain, Spear Throw and Gnarled Root taking turns to teach Agate what they knew. She thought it'd just be a few tips, but the elder spirits kept going and going, piling on all kinds of amazing and bizarre ways to see, find, and remember details and landmarks. Halfway through the night, they actually cut it off early, just to let the filly get some rest. They promised to continue the lesson tomorrow, assuring her that there was still a great amount that they didn't tell her.

Head spinning, Agate went back to her clearing after saying her goodbyes for the night. Despite telling her to relax a bit, those ponies certainly knew how to keep her busy. Smiling tiredly, the filly went to sleep.

Comments

[FridayPie]

11236568
In case of "spirit stone ponies". Something about vague incantation on the wall of Spire's throne room?

[Eversong]

So adding things to the totems can make the spirits see their way home.does that mean they can find a combination to make ghosts touch and grab things?

[Lexiebommel10]

11236617
Maybe Sombra was a ghost I don't think he ever touched things all he really did was grow crystals and be all smoky
Ignoring the comics of course

[Wingnut]

11237231
Weren't Celestia and Luna the ones who turned him immaterial? The exact line from the episode is "he was ultimately overthrown, and turned to shadow, and banished to the ice of the arctic north", with the video showing the Sisters both blasting him with magic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ON34ccTLXo&t=225s
Seems dumb as hell, as it not only didn't seem to cause him any harm at all, but actually gave him more powers to screw around with.

[Lexiebommel10]

11237389
Sounds like either he was killed and sealed as his hate was enough to keep him or element bullshit. It doesn't really say they turned him to shadow they prob just tried to vaporizing him and when he was still there all ghosty stuck him in some ice with a containment spell.
Comic book lore says he's an umbra shadow pony (all of whom I don't think have physical forms) who was thrown into the kingdom, by his people somehow, to mess it up and free the others who are all full of hate. Talk about demons in your closet/basement.
So natural? evil ghosties/demons/umbra

[new55]

That was a really good story. Goodluck with the next chapter.

[Wingnut]

11283203
Thanks. I've got studies and some extra workload to deal with, so I've been too exhausted to write even when I have a bit of free time.
Hopefully, I'll have more time in the near future.