Chapter II: Introductions

Silence fell over them all, the three ponies staring in shock at the thawed out King standing before them, his icy blue eyes observing all of them. He sighed in frustration.

"Must I repeat myself? I asked you what you are, who you are, and what you are doing in my kingdom," the monarch said irritably. "Also, why is Gustavus with you?"

The three snapped out of their daze and bowed before the King.

Culture was the first to speak, "Our deepest apoligies, your Majesty. I am Culture Shock, an esteemed archaeologist and scholar. I am a unicorn.  The unicorn stallion in the blue coat is my colleague and friend, Mono Lithic. The pegasus mare in the grey coat is our hired guide as well as an archaeologist and famous explorer, Daring Do. And who is Gustavus?"

"Gustavus is the wisp currently floating behind you. I assume that he lead you here, but that leaves the question as to why you are here." The King seemed to be deep in thought for a moment, his eyes closed before he opened them again. "Tell me, what year is it? And where do you hail from?"

"We are from Equestria, a land far to the south, past the mountains. The year in pony terms is 2036 A.N. After Nightmare. The year in regular terms is 9568," Lithic informed.

"This definitely does not bode well. I do not recognize either of those dates. Were there any wars with strange creatures in the past of your race or any other? Undead, golems, wolves, phantoms, harpies, wyverns, anything like that?" the King asked.

The three ponies looked at each other for a moment before turning back to the King. "No, nothing that we know of aside from wolves, phantoms, and wyverns. Although none of them were large enough in number for there to be a threat of any kind like that. And wyverns evolved into dragons thousands of years ago. They have been allies of ours for centuries. And there are very few real wolves around now aside from timberwolves. There have been no undead since the law passed a thousand years ago stating that all dead be cremated." Culture explained.

The King sighed in relief. "That is good news. Although very mysterious. Assuming from the fact you are archaeologists and that you know I am a king, I am going to guess the records of my kingdom have passed into story and legend. Am I correct?"

Daring nodded. "The legends say that Terraria was a great kingdom that spanned the entire continent millenia ago that had amazing technology and powerful magic. It also states that it was one of the first civilizations on the planet."

"Is that all? Do they say nothing more?"

"Just that all Terrarians died out or disappeared, leaving behind only ruins. Most are dust now, but there are records of ruins being in numerous areas." Daring answered.

"I see...Have there been any records of monsters or beings made of frost?" queried the King.

"Thousands of years ago, yes. They were called Windigoes, and they fed on hatred and negative emotions. But they disappeared when the pony tribes united with the appearance of the Fire of Friendship." Culture replied.

"Hmmm. Much has changed, it seems. But it is only a matter of time before everything falls back into chaos and war. And I am certain it will happen soon." the King said cryptically.

"What do you mean?" Lithic asked.

"All will be revealed soon enough. For now, since I am the only Terrarian left here, I wish to welcome you to The City of Auroras. Follow me, please." the King replied.

The King began to walk out of the throne room, and the three ponies followed, the wisp floating next to the King, who was whispering to it for an unknown reason. Culture Shock broke the silence.

"Um...Your Majesty, could you tell us your name? The records only ever called you the King of Terraria." Culture asked.

"Aldia is my name. Aldia Fairfax." the King answered.

"Fascinating...How does your naming system work? Does your name have any meaning?" Culture queried.

"Our names do have meanings on occasion, but a fair amount of the time they are a mismatch of different words or a singular word. Most don't even think about the meaning of the name when naming a child. They simply pick one that sounds good to them." Aldia explained.

"Interesting..." said Culture.

"Um...Your Highness, do your kind have any fur? And why do you wear clothes?" Daring asked, her curiousity getting the better of her. Which made sense, she had dreamed of this place since she was a filly, but to actually see it? The legends just didn't do it justice. She was doing everything she could to keep from squealing in glee.

The King sighed. This was not a subject he wanted to talk about. But it was inevitable for them to ask. They were, after all, scholars of a sort.

"We have no fur. And there are a few reasons that we wear clothes. One is that we have no natural protection against the elements, as you can see. Another is that it quickly became taboo to not wear at least some clothing. And the last reason...well, you don't exactly need to know that unless you plan on pursuing a relationship with myself." Aldia explained. The three ponies sputtered, especially Daring. The King sighed. "Calm down. It doesn't mean you have to. Honestly, I would have thought you ponies to be more collected when it came to courting. Or are you all reacting like that because you don't have any experience in that subject?"

"We have experience!" the ponies shouted in unison.

"As you say." the King replied simply.

"What about you, your Highness?" Lithic asked.

"Hm?"

"Do you have any experience in relationships?" Lithic queried.

"That isn't your concern." Aldia said coldly.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to—!" Lithic started.

"We're here." the King cut off.

In front of them stood a door made of a silver metal with a golden knob amd gold wing engravings standing vertically instead of horizontally. The King opened the door, and the ponies gasped. Inside was the most luxurious bedroom they had ever seen. The bed was a four-poster canopy bed with lustrous silver drapes and prismatic embroidery that seemed to glow like the rainbow bricks that constituted the castle. The floor was, like the rest of the castle, white tiles, with a blue rug in front of the doorway and another by the white couch and  glass cofee table in front of the fireplace. The fireplace was dormant, but there were still some logs in it. It was made of marble, with chiseled sides and a mantle holding a few decorative vases. The entire room was covered in frost, and the moisture in the room seemed to have frozen and made snow, the light from the drapes and the bricks reflecting off of the ice.

The King walked over to the fireplace, took out a strange flower, then swung the flower and a fireball erupted from it and landed on the logs of the fireplace, instantly melting the frost and setting the logs ablaze. The King then stared at a portion of the wall, as if calculating something, before swinging the flower again, causing another fireball to shoot out of it and bouncing around the room a few times, defrosting most of the room. The King then turned to the ponies, mouths still agape.

"Make yourselves at home, I have some things I need to check on," the King said, hurrying out of the room and closing the door behind him, leaving the ponies alone and amazed. After some time, they snapped out their daze and started bouncing around like a familiar pink pony. Save for Daring, who was silently wondering in her head how the King used magic without a horn. After chewing the two stallions out, they all sat around the fire and waited for the King to return.