Many of the clean up efforts in the Crystal Empire were still under way as the train pulled into the station. The two-day train ride was uneventful for the most part, but Ice Storm and Presteza could still see the damaged buildings from the station. Most of the debris from the fallen part of the tower had been cleared and when they started getting closer to it, they could see a small memorial of flowers remained in its place to mourn those who didn't make it out.

What was more unsettling for the two unicorns, was all of the distraught looks on the Crystal Ponies. They were all justified. After all, the ponies of the Crystal Empire survived decades under King Sombra's rule, and the empire completely vanishing for a thousand years, for reasons that not even the princesses could figure out… only to have those that they care for taken from them like this. As she walked, more and more anger filled the blue unicorn, and her face showed it.

"Icy?" she heard from next to her, making her jump a bit in surprise.

"Sweet Celestia! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Ice proclaimed.

"Gave you a heart attack? I've been walking beside you talking to you the whole time…" Presteza said, giving pause. "Icy, are you okay?"

"Honestly? Not really. Looking at how hurt all of these ponies are… these wounds," Ice said, pointing to her wraps. "These wounds heal. Those wounds," she said pointing to the emotionally exhausted and hurt ponies around them. "Those wounds don't. The hole that's left behind by the loss of a loved one is deeper than any cut, gash, or stab can reach… I wish I could have saved everyone…"

"Icy… you can't blame yourself for this! You quite literally almost killed yourself getting us out. I don't think anypony else could have done any better if they were in your hooves," Presteza told her comfortingly.

"I know, but it still hurts to see, and it makes my blood boil inside. Vengeance will be had for these ponies. I won't rest until that is the case," Ice Storm replied.

It was only then that The pair of unicorns realized that they had attracted the attention of some of the locals. They could hear the various ponies commenting and asking if "That was the pony from the spire". Ice wasn't sure how she honestly felt about that. Everypony was putting her up on some kind of pedestal, and she didn't really feel like she deserved it. There were more that didn't get out than those who did, and like she had told the princess, she wasn't the only one helping. Still, she at least has a means of preventing such things now.

"I guess word spread pretty quickly," Presteza said.

"It still didn't feel right. I'm not the only one that helped," Ice replied.

"No, but you were the primary force in the Spire. Plus Cadence did say that you were one of four getting awards, so they are recognizing multiple ponies for their efforts. It sounds like there were a lot of places hit. You did say that you saw a lot of explosions in the ground, and by the extent of what we see, it looks like the caribou carpet bombed their path in. There's probably other front liners that they are reaching out to as well," Presteza added.

"I hope so. I guess this just takes some getting used to. This must be how the element bearers feel all the time. I mean they've only saved Equestria like a dozen times already. It's hard to imagine them not getting mobbed wherever they go," Ice said with a small laugh.

"Ice Storm! Presteza! Glad to see you made it!" The two unicorns would hear, turning to see Prince Shining Armor coming towards them. "My apologies. I was supposed to meet you at the station, but we got a bit busier than expected at the castle getting everything set up. If you'll come with me, I'll show you to your room," he informed them.

"Wait, we're staying at the castle? We're not going to get charged a cancellation fee at the hotel right…?" Presteza asked. "Cause we didn't know anything about that so we already booked a room."

"Oh, my apologies. I suppose that we should have included that bit of information… I guess I just kind of assumed that you would know. We're still kinda new to this 'royal hosting' stuff," Shining Armor admitted. "Once you get settled in, we hope that you will join us and the other recipients for lunch."

"Some lunch does sound good, but afterwards I'm hoping to do a bit of digging about the invasion, and I do have some questions for you and Princess Cadence as well," Ice Storm said, trying to remember what Twilight told her to say. It was supposed to be in Solstice Heights, but Ice presumed that any royal figure would be privy to the message and it's meaning. After a moment, she remembered. "Let's just say, A mockingbird has landed."

"I see, well we'd be willing to answer any questions that you might have to the best that we can. If I'm being honest, Cadence and I are just as confused about the attacks as everypony else. There was no warning, and we didn't even know that we had upset any of the Viking clans of Whitescar," Shining commented.

"We'll discuss more when we are somewhere a bit more private, and more formal for said conversations. The middle of the public is probably not the best spot since many of my questions could contain sensitive information," Ice stated.

Presteza just kind of listened a bit, confused as to what Ice Storm was talking about. She imagined that it had something to do with the meeting that she had with Twilight. She knew that had gone tremendously well, and that Ice Storm was quite happy afterwards. It probably didn't hurt that the inhibitor was removed from her horn as well. About the only thing that she understood was that Ice has questions that she couldn't ask at the current time. She wasn't quite sure what a mockingbird has to do with the situation either, especially since she hadn't seen any birds since they got here. "Well, guess I'm going to have some free time after lunch then," she said as the group started making their way up the steps towards the doors.

"Hey, didn't you wanna do one of those Crystal Tours the last time that we were here? I remember you mentioning it before the gala at the spire. After everything that happened I doubt that they were doing much in the way of tourism at the time," Ice commented.

"Probably aren't doing them now either. It's only been a week and a half, and it looks like they are still doing clean up," Presteza replied.

"The main tours are in fact on hold at the moment, but if you'd like, I can have one of the guards give you an unofficial tour of the Empire while we conduct our meetings. It's the least that we could do," Shining said, making Presteza let out an excited squeal and trot in place a bit.

"You have yourself a deal!" Presteza said with a smile as Shining led them inside to their room.

"Hopefully this will work for the two of you," Shining Armor said, showing them into a room that was quite spacious. The room itself shared the same bluish white Crystal that the rest of the castle shared. In the center of the room, was a Clydesdale King.

"Work? This is amazing! It's probably way better than the room that we were going to get at the hotel! Though thinking about it now, if they are making such a big deal about us here, they might be a bit disappointed that we won't be staying there now. Do let them know that it wasn't anything personal and we appreciate the reservation," Presteza said with a bit of concern.

"You know what, here's the bits for the room," Ice Storm said, fishing out what they were supposed to pay. "Tell the hotel to upgrade the next pony's room to whatever room that they were going to give us free of charge," she says with a smile.

"Wow… I'm sure that they will love that surprise," Shining said with a smile. "Are you sure you're not Rarity in disguise?"

"I'm positive," Ice chuckled. "Besides, I'm not exactly hurting, bit wise. If I can make somepony else's day brighter in a time like this, then that's way more important," she smiled.

"I can definitely see why Princess Luna took a liking to you. In my opinion, you're the exact definition of what a model pony should be. You and your marefriend both," Ice heard Shining Armor say, making her blush a bit. She saw the same blush in Pressy's face as well and giggled a bit as she heard her speak.

"Oh, no no. We aren't a couple. We're like best friends with benefits that just happen to love together for the moment. I'm sure once things take off the two of us will move in separate directions by the time we're actually ready to settle down. Plus by the sounds of things I'm going to be getting a lot more alone time soon anyway," Presteza said in response. She was honestly a little disheartened at the last bit. She wasn't ready for them to grow apart quite yet. Honestly she'd never truly be ready for that and if she had her way, they would at least write to each other when their careers eventually took them down different paths. She was a humble painter. Icy was looking more and more like she was going to be following in Luna's hoofsteps. She didn't think that she would be full Twilight and become an alicorn or anything like that, but even she could see the potential in the mare. She would hate to be responsible for holding her back.

Shining Armor would give the two mares a soft chuckle. "Right. In any case, I'll leave you two be. We're hoping to serve lunch in about twenty minutes," he informed them before departing the room.

"Oh my gosh Icy, this room is amazing!! The bed, the decor," Presteza said before moving to the window and opening the curtains. A gasp escaped her lips as she did. "This view!!! I'm going to have to pick up some painting supplies while I'm out. I simply have to try to recapture this… oh! A sunset view from here! That would be amazing!" Presteza said with an excited smile.

"I'll say. This room has everything in it!" Ice replied, laying on the bed. "So soft… it's like it's made of clouds," Ice said before setting her bags on the dresser. The beauty of the room made her even more self conscious about everything. She didn't want to ruin anything here, mainly because she didn't think she could afford to replace it. She may not be hurting for bits, but she didn't have royalty pockets! She knew that something like this would cost several thousand bits at once.

"I know what you're worried about, and you'll be fine. I promise," she heard Presteza tell her, reading the look on her face.

"It's not that, well… it kind of is, but there's more to it than that. Before we left Canterlot I had a very large new responsibility put on me, and I want to make a good impression and not mess things with that either before things even get started."

"Icy, I'm sure you're already getting tired of hearing this from others, but you are literally one of the most amazing ponies I know. I have no doubt that you are going to accomplish big things and maybe even play a role in shaping Equestria forever. There's a lot of ponies that see this in you at this point, so I know it has to be true!"

"I know that everypony is believing in me… but that just makes it all even harder. What happens if it doesn't work? How quick will everyone turn on me when I make a mistake?"

"Icy, listen to me," Presteza said in a more serious tone, setting a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "No matter what happens, you will always have friends that care for you and adore you. Even if you don't end up having the amount of magical talent that everypony knows that you have, your friends aren't going anywhere. And the ones that do leave weren't really friends to begin with. You can't let yourself worry about any of that. Go out there, have yourself some fun, and keep doing what you're good at. Good things will continue to happen," she said, giving her friend a gentle hug. "Now I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. Let's go see what they are serving for lunch!"

Ice Storm smiled at her friend before returning the hug. "Thanks," she started. "I needed that,"she said, her stomach agreeing with Presteza's call for lunch. "I suppose we can unpack later. I won't need any of that until bedtime anyway, and that's a long way off."

At that point the two mares excited the room before looking at the long hallways. "You know… we probably should have paid more attention when we were going to our room. I have no idea where to go," Ice heard Presteza comment.

"Yeah... I wasn't really paying attention either. I should have been though. I need to get better at that. Celestia knows what I could have missed on the way here," Ice commented, making Presteza roll her eyes.

"Hey, here comes a guard. Maybe we can get them to give us directions," Presteza said to Icy, before waving her hoof to flag them. "Excuse me! Can you guards help us? We're supposed to be heading to the dining hall for lunch, but we're kinda… completely and totally lost… how do we get there?"

"Actually, Princess Cadence just sent us to come and see if you were ready. If you and Miss Storm will follow us, we'll lead you to the dining hall with the others," the guards told them with a smile.

The two mares followed the guards without hesitation, and they were led through the maze of hallways to the dining hall. Once inside, Ice drew her attention to the other ponies in the room. One of which being a rather buff looking light orange unicorn, with a long mane similar to her own except it was green. The main difference was the manetie. His appeared to be more at the base of his skull where her own was just mainly holding her mane together at the bottom. It was still pretty well kept though. The pony that was sitting next to him Ice recognized from the Spire. She was the grey earth pony that instructed her to leave with the others. She was relieved to see that she was among the survivors. She must have found another way out at the last minute. The last pony that was in the room was another pony that she knew quite well from when she lived in Ponyville. Her name was High Winds, and she had been part of the Wonderbolts for a while. It wasn’t much of a surprise that one of them would be honored for helping.

Upon entering, Ice would hear the stallion call out to them. “Ah! You must be the mare that aided in the rescue of the Spire! We were actually just talking about that with Maud. Quite an impressive display of magic if I do say so myself,” Ice heard him say, watching him stand and come over to shake her hoof. A gesture that she responded in kind to. “The name is Swift Squall, and I’m a sword for hire. I helped with the attack on the front lines to help keep the ponies on the streets safe.”

“My name is Ice Storm. I own the Frozen Delights franchise and am a direct apprentice of Princess Luna,” Ice replied, before setting her hoof back down. “And this is my best friend and roommate Presteza. The best painter that Equestria doesn't know about yet!” she smiled, giving her friend a nudge.

“My My Icy,” Cloud Chaser started. “You’re certainly moving up in the world. I mean, I knew you were destined for greatness when I first tasted your amazing snow cones and ice creams, but I would have never imagined anything like this! You’re one talented pony! I bet if you had wings, you’d be right up there in the skies with me,” the cream colored pegasus commented.

“Ice Cream you say?” Swift commented.

“Oh trust me. Once you had something from one of her stores, any other ice cream just feels like a let down,” Ice Storm heard High Winds say. She couldn’t help but feel a bit empowered by those words. After all, Frozen Delights is where everything started. Just because she was branching off into things that would help Equestria be safer, didn’t mean that she no longer cared for what got her there.

“A renown parlor host, a magical scholar, and an apprentice of the night! I would definitely say you are a pony worthy of some recognition.”

“Indeed she is. After all, that is why we invited her here,” Princess Cadence said, interrupting Swift Squall as she and Shining Armor took their seats at the heads of the table. “That is why we have gathered you all here. Everypony in this room played an integral part in saving lives during the disastrous events of the Crystal Faire. Everypony here put their own lives on the line to help protect their fellow citizens when those who normally do so had been compromised. For that, The Crystal Empire, and Equestria as a whole would like to give thanks. We are forever in your debt."

"Princess, really… I was just doing the right thing. Any pony that had the means to help in a situation like what happened should. I was just doing what anypony else would have done in my position," Swift started. "Judging by the fine ponies that are here, I wasn't alone in that thought process," he added before returning to his seat.

"Agreed," Ice Storm replied as well. "What kind of pony would I be if I just let somepony else get hurt? Especially if I have the ability to prevent it. That would make me no better than the creatures that attacked us. I would mention Canterlot nobility, but they've been doing quite a bit better at extending a good to help others recently. With that being the case I can't really talk down on them anymore. A definite improvement from when I was a filly, that's for sure."

"Not all of Canterlot is that bad, but judging by your comments you've obviously had a run in or to with Jetset and Upper Crust. Those two are absolutely insufferable. The only reason they are even nobility is because a few generations back their great great grandfather was a Duke," Swift Squall stated. "Otherwise, they do little to help anyone, and the only thing they do is suck up to the nobility that actually matter in the city like Fluer, Fancy Pants, The Sparkle family, and yourself at this point."

"Me? I wouldn't really say that I've made that much of an impact on things," Ice replied.

"Um, hello? Icy?" Presteza spoke up next to her. "The owner of the best up and coming dessert franchise in Equestria, an Archmage of the Canterlot Sorcerer's Guild specializing in ice, an apprentice of Princess Luna, current savior of Equestria and The Crystal Empire…" Presteza listed. "Do I need to continue?" she asked, getting a chuckle from both Cadence and High Winds.

"She has a valid point, but we're not here to have a gloating contest over who's done more for Equestria. Today is the first part of the ceremony we had planned to honor the four of you, and your plus ones if they decided to come with you," Cadence started. "We've prepared your favorite meals for the luncheon. Swift, we've prepared a Spinach and Broccoli dish for you with a Unyasi brown sauce on a bed of noodles. A towering plate of spaghetti with a creamy marinara sauce for High Winds, a seasonal fruit salad with extra, extra… Extra strawberries for Ice Storm, a maregharita classico style pizza following traditional Itaillian recipes, and an obsidian bismuth soup for Maud," the princess added as the server ponies brought the dishes out to them.

From there, the luncheon continued. Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor would take turns getting to know the honored guests and how they spent their daily lives. Maud was a geologist that was studying to get a rocktorate degree to further study the makeup of the land. High Winds was a renowned Wonderbolt, and as expected, most of her time was keeping herself in shape for the team. By that point most everypony had finished with their plates and they were starting to file out for whatever plans they needed to tend to on the day.

Ice Storm waited patiently as the other ones left, and once it was just the four of them, Ice spoke up. "I had already brought this up with Shining Armor, but I do have some questions for both of you. Questions that might be better suited for a throne room or briefing room. I also believe Shining promised Pressy a private tour of the Empire with a member of the crystal guard," Ice said.

"I see," Cadence said, looking back towards Shining. Seeing him give a nod, Cadence then nodded in turn herself. "Crystal Breeze, can you show this mare the sights whole we have our discussion?" The guard pony would nod and the rest of them would depart. Then, with little warning there was a flash and the three ponies were back in the throne room. Cadence turned to the guards that were there. "Take post at the doors. We are not to be disturbed until further notice," Cadence instructed.

"Now, Agent Storm, I believe you have some questions for us?" Shining asked, a second look of realization coming over Cadence's face.

"I do. First and foremost, I would like permission to perform an extensive investigation on behalf of EPIC in regards to the attack on the Crystal Empire. Secondly, I would like to ask about everything you know about the Crystal Heart, and how the magic that it emits could be bypassed to allow for such an attack to happen? The very nature of the magic would suggest that The artifact protects the empire from sources that would cause it harm. It countered King Sombra, it helps keep the weather of the Frozen North at Bay, and plays a role in the balance and harmony of the land. Therefore, the magic of the heart should have made it impossible for the Vikings of Whitescar to get in," Ice Storm continued. "Furthermore, the brainwashing of the Crystal Guard is also a point of emphasis. How were so many of the guards influenced by the amulet?"

An awkward pause followed the first few questions before Cadence would start. "There are already a couple of investigations going on in regards to the events, but you have our permission. Even if I were to tell you no, I know that EPIC, and by extension you, would continue the investigation anyway in the shadows. That is after all, what we designed it to do. However, surely you do not believe that we would be behind something like this!?" Cadence said, a bit disturbed at the thought.

"No, Your Highness, I don't believe that. What I do believe though, of that as the rulers of the Crystal Empire, the safety and well-being of your subjects are the most important things. That means that you would be the most aware of situations or areas that are yielding less-than-desirable results. You would also be privy to weak points in the infrastructure where WRAITH could have slipped in and started planning whatever they had that could counter the heart, which hasn't been answered yet whether that should have been possible or not."

"Well, as much as we are loath to admit it, not even we know much about the heart. We just know it works," Shining Armor said. "But that being said, it is still a magical artifact. Magical artifacts can, with the right amount or power, or even finesse, be disrupted. This was something that we were trying to look into ourselves, but we too have found very little information on the matter. There just simply isn’t much known about this particular artifact or why it works the way it does. We don’t even really know who or what made it. The fact that WRAITH was able to manipulate it at all is scary in of itself, because that means they know more about that artifact than we do.”

“That is quite concerning. I don’t know much about WRAITH myself yet, as I haven’t had the full briefing on what they are capable of. I was only accepted into the ranks of EPIC three days ago, and Twilight basically put me in charge of the investigation here. I’ll admit I kind of wish that she would have given me more information to go off of. Considering that it was Twilight doing the interview… I don't mean to be offensive when I say this, but I was expecting her to be a little bit more prepared with information if she was planning on sending me straight here with no briefing. I haven't even been to HQ yet," Ice said.

"That actually is a bit unlike Twilight, but at the same time she's always been kinda super paranoid about things going wrong. She could suspect that there is already some sort of infiltration in the castle, therefore holding information as such in the castle would create opportunities for it to be compromised," Cadence commented. "I can safely say at this point that the integrity of our own guard has been compromised. I'm not entirely sure who I can trust here, and that makes things… difficult to say the least."

"We did have a guard bring a rather odd carving to our attention yesterday though," Shining said, making a scroll appear. "They found this on a pillar next to the heart. We aren't exactly sure what it means, but I do recognize a couple of the runes on it from the language of magic."

"Interesting…" Ice said, taking the scroll with her magic and opening it. "Well, this is definitely a magical circle alright. I'm not quite familiar with the school, but I can recognize a few of the runes. Based on those, this is definitely a mind affecting enchantment, but Twilight can probably give you a better idea of its scope. For all I know this could just make somepony forget something. If this was an ice spell of any sort, I could tell you exactly what it did. This is mostly outside my experience. But, this is still good information. There could be more of these around, I would have the guards scour the city for more, and have them pay extra close attention to any variations that might be on them. And for the love of Celestia make sure they don’t read anything out loud.”

“You think they might be activated verbally?” Cadence asked.

“Verbally, or by actually touching it. Magic circles like this always have a trigger. It’s how they were. Almost always, the trigger is something touching it. Exhibit a, an Ice Trap,” Ice Storm said, taking a few steps back. Once she was at what she considered a safe distance, her horn lit up and a similar circle appeared on the ground. It was glowing, and while similar in shape, the runes, and the actual symbol inside the circle was different. “This trap is activated when a pony or creature steps on it. The potency of the spell used on it is intentionally dumbed down for demonstration purposes.”

“I… don’t think that a demonstration will be necessary, but I appreciate your enthusiasm. I would just rather not treat a guard for frostbite today. That makes sense though. We use similar methods for trials,” Shining said.

“And Twilight had a really complex multi-stage circle set up for when she did my interview. The amount of magic that would use is immense. It’s definitely something that would be noticeable. Still though… You would think that the guards would have brought something like this up before hoof. After all, it would be hard to believe that every guard in the Crystal Guard has gone rogue. You would have thought in the days prior if any would have found that symbol, they would have spoken out about it. Though there could have been a clause in the activation of it to make them forget that they saw anything. If you’re trying to brainwash somepony with a method like this… I suppose that would be rather important.”

“I’m sure we’ll have more answers on that front once Twilight has dissected the spell. We could sit here and speculate all night and be no closer to figuring anything else out other than what we already know,” Cadence replied.

“That said, do you know of any creature that might have more knowledge about the Crystal Heart? I still believe our answer lies with that. Maybe someone like Discord? He’s almost as old as the land itself. If there would be anyone that would know about the Crystal Heart, it would be him.” Ice Storm said herself.

“You know Discord?” Shining Armor asked surprised.

“I’ve met him around the castle a few times, and been tested by him once… I think… you can’t ever really tell with him,” Ice replied.

“Isn’t that the truth! I tried to go to see Twilight for a weekend, and he pretended to be sick for the entire thing! He had us running to the end of Equestria, literally to find this exotic flower to cure it. Then Twilight and I fought some wyrm thing and some of its… whatever you would call it got on Discord. Sometimes karma likes to bite back,” Cadence smiled.

“Of course. Karma is the house, and the house always wins. That being said, I believe that wraps up everything that I had questions on. It’s not as much to go off of, but it’s not like you and Shining Armor were around when the Crystal Empire was founded the first time. The Crystal Heart is a mystery that I would like to solve though.”

“As would we. I’m sure that Shining Armor and I both would be quite interested in finding out any information that you find on that. Any way that we can help better protect our subjects, is something that I would be all ears for,” Cadence said.

"If I figure anything out, the two of you will be the first to know. What time do we need to be back in the morning for the ceremony?"

"The rehearsal is at nine tomorrow morning," Cadence answered.

"Then I will see the both of you then," Ice Storm said before departing. Unfortunately, she felt like she left with more questions than answers. But, nopony said that this was going to be easy. If it was, there wouldn't need to be an investigation on it. Still, it was a little bit concerning to the fact that ponies knew little to nothing about the very thing that was supposed to be protecting the land here. She shared Shining Armor’s assessment as well. The fact that their enemies knew how to manipulate it better than they did was also concerning.

She made her way back to her room with the help of some of the guards to get directions, and she sat on the bed in thought. While she was thinking, she used her magic to carefully put her overnight supplies into the dresser before placing a notebook and a few quills in it. She wondered if she might be able to get some information out of the locals about anything that they might have seen before the attack, or in the days leading up to the faire that might have seemed out of place. She would also want to question the guard at some point to see what they remember of the events. That would also put a few things in perspective for her, or at least she presumed. Something like that could end up being just like the questions she asked earlier, creating more questions than answers. “Well, I’m not going to find any answers here, so I might as well see what I can find out in the city,” she said to herself before making her way back through the halls of the castle and back outside.

As soon as she reached the door, a tall figure seemed to be making its way up the steps towards the door as well. It looked to be a caribou, and judging by the fact that guards weren’t swarming it, it was easy for Ice Storm to conclude that this was probably one of the Caribou that was helping with the clean up efforts. The blues bou's horns were a bit more rounded than the ones that she saw on the Jarl that attacked then. Her coat was also a lot better kept. She wore a simple gown that had several emblems on it.

"You must be one of the caribou that I saw from the hospital helping with the clean up. At least judging by the fact that you're here, and the guards aren't making a fuss about it," Ice Storm started.

"Quite the observant little pony you are. I wish some of the others would stop looping us all together with that daufi, miklimunnr blot."

"I'm presuming you're talking about the Red Jarl. The one that attacked my friends and I in the spire," Ice commented before watching the caribou spit on the ground next to her.

"Aye, that be the blot me talkin' about. The fact you dealt with him and survived is quite a feat. He might be a meinfretr and a tik, but he can swing an axe with the best of them," the bou stated.

"I'm presuming that you're not a park of his see l clan, might I ask who you are exactly? We're being honored tomorrow for some of the deeds that we did to help out with the attack and all. I would like to make a mention to you and yours for helping out in the aftermath."

"Little pony is generous, and unjudging. A peculiar combination of traits. Me like you. Thy name is Sigrun, Jarl of the Askr clan. Me and mine are aware of the upcoming festival of sorts. It is why we are here. The Jarls of you land asked for help keeping land safe from attack during event, and asked clan Askr for additional warriors. We simply need to know where they need us," Sigrun stated.

This was a little bit of a startling revelation as Ice heard the Caribou introduce herself as the Jarl. Given her past experiences with the jarl of a viking clan, she was definitely not expecting to have been speaking with one at the moment. “My apologies. I had no idea you were a Jarl. I’m afraid that I don’t know much about Caribou customs to know how to identify that sort of thing. I’m also not sure what the proper procedure is to show proper respect.”

The larger Caribou chuckled heartily. "Well, a simple 'nice to meet you' will do for now. It has been quite a pleasure to meet you and well… miss…" Sigrun said, giving pause and hinting to the mare that she had yet to introduce herself.

"Oh, my sincerest apologies. My name is Ice Storm, and I own a popular franchise in Equestria. In addition to being an apprentice of Princess Luna."

"Ah, an apprentice to the moon. We ourselves pay homage to the celestial body. The sun, the moon, and the stars are all vital to being able to navigate the seas. They also give power to the land. The sun brings what warmth it can to our lands, while the moon brings out dangerous predators that must be respected in order to survive. You must be quite strong yourself to have garnered the attention of such one of power," Sigrun commented.

"I'm sure that Princess Luna would love to hear that. She often feels that her work goes unappreciated because very few are awake to experience it," Ice replied.

"That be not how it is, in Whitescar. We have patrols that run at every moment, day or night. As I said, many of our homeland's dangers rear their heads at night. In order to keep the clan safe, others must keep watch," Sigrun responded.

"Well, there is a night watch here in most cities as well. But usually that's it. Large cities have a busier nightlife I've seen though," Ice commented as a spark ignited in her eyes. "Hey! Even if you're not on good standings with that other clan, you would have more knowledge on them than we do. Do you have any idea what they could have used to suppress the magic of the Crystal Heart?"

"The red clan is rather brutish in their ways, but they aren't complete blots. Just their Jarl. They probably used materials made from Askr wood. The trees grow all over Whitescar, and the wood absorbs all magic and renders it inert. Thy would tell you how, but that is not mine expertise. But… well… to demonstrate, shoot me, with the most powerful spell you got."

"Are you kidding me? And risk an international incident!?"

"There would be no incident, because nothing would happen. This gown is made from fabric made with the fibers of the tree. Thus it protects me from all magical effects," Sigrun stated.

"Oh. Well a demonstration won't be necessary. You don't have any reason to lie to me. Plus even if I wanted to, I'm on restricted magic at the moment as it's still recovering from the fight. If I used a combat spell right now I'd never hear the end of it from my doctor next week…"

"Hmm… perhaps I misjudged little pony’s power, if pony is afraid of medic,” Sigrun snickered a bit.

“Considering that any medical pony has the power to render a unicorn completely magicless until they deem otherwise, yeah… I am a little bit scared of them…” Ice Storm replied.

“Your medic ponies have that kind of power? How is Equestria not ailment free then?” Sigrun asked. “The magic from them should be able to cure anything they see!”

“Well, it’s not magic. It’s a device that they have. Imagine if they used this magic absorbing wood that is from your land, and made it into a ring to go on a pony’s horn. What would happen?” Ice Storm asked.

“Honestly, not sure. Never tried. It would either prevent pony from casting spell, or absorb all of their magical essence and leave them a husk,” Sigrun responded.

“Right… remind me to never actually get close to those trees if it’s the second option… But yeah, that first option pretty much hits the nail on the head. The only ponies that can remove one of those devices is another medical pony. Not even Luna or Celestia can remove them.”

“That is not smart practice. Easily exploitable. Princesses lucky only good ponies in medical field. Bad medical pony could easily seize power,” Sigrun replied immediately.

Ice Storm was going to respond and say that something like that was impossible, but she gave pause. Sigrun was right, and the fact that it was very possible shook her nerves a bit. If Sigrun saw this straight away as soon as Ice mentioned such a thing, then others probably had as well. It’s possible that it was already an avenue that WRAITH was exploring! “Thank you for this warning. I will definitely be making more ponies aware of such possibilities existing. Still the procedure itself is vital to our medical treatments. Otherwise an ailing unicorn could easily kill themselves with their own magic.“

“The very nature of magic is dangerous. Me not surprised that something like that is possible.”

“So… You said that this Askr wood could absorb and inhibit magic… This is information that I should get to Cadence and Shining Armor. They will want to know about something like that being possible,” Ice Storm

“Thine be happy to inform them as such meself, since me already goingthat way. That being said, probably shouldn’t keep them waiting too long. It would be impolite to do so,” Sigrun commented.

“Oh, yes. My apologies for holding you up. It was a pleasure speaking with you, and I hope I get the opportunity to do so again.”

“Aye, ye pleasure be mine. Ice Pony have friend in Askr Clan. Will definitely speak again,” Sigrun said before departing inside.

Ice Storm herself waved to the jarl before making her way down the steps and into the city proper. She wanted to go down to where the Crystal Heart was and see this carving herself. She had no doubt that it was still there, and she wanted to see if there were any indications of how it was placed. She also wanted to look for splinters or anything of the like that might be in the area of this ‘Askr Wood’. “Alright… so…” she said softly to herself. “We have these carvings, at least one that we know of, and the possibility that this wood could have played a part. If this wood could block artifact level magic, then I don’t want to think what it could do to a normal unicorn. In fact, I definitely think that a ring of the stuff would drain a pony’s magic rather than restore it. I'll need to let Twilight know and see what she thinks," she said, making a note. She still couldn't help but feel like she should have been the one to report that information to Cadence, but at the same time, if she stopped the investigation every time she found a singular piece of information she'd never get anywhere.

She found herself in the Crystal Courtyard under the castle and she started looking around and instantly spotted the magic circle carved into the pillar. "Okay… I spotted that instantly… how in Equestria did nopony find this before the Faire and report it?" Ice said aloud. "Yeah, there's definitely a mole here. Or at least there was," she said, wrapping her hoof in cloth and rubbing the dust off of the circle. "Let's see…" she says looking at the other pillars. "Only one was inscribed… at least here by the heart. So this is likely the one that was affecting it…" Ice said, walking to the heart itself. It was rotating in its holder without any indication that anything ever happened. There wasn't a mark or blemish anywhere on it, nor were there any splinters of any sort around its base.

Ice Storm let out a small sigh. "Should have expected that anything else that was here would have been cleaned up by now. If it was easy, I wouldn't need to investigate. If there is one of these though, there’s probably more. Now I kinda wish I could have gone on the tour with Pressy. No doubt that a tour from the guards would hit all the important spots in the empire… Wait, that's it! The librarian should be able to point out places of historical importance here! The places of historical importance would be the places that would have more of these inscriptions,” she said to herself. Without any further hesitation, she made her way to the library.

She was quite happy to see that the library hadn’t been hit too hard with any of the falling debris, but the first thing that she noticed was something just on the inside of one of the doorways. “Another inscription! This one’s a lot smaller though. At least it looks like they were trying to be subtle with this one. Still…” Ice started, making her way up the steps of the library to the door. “I could spot it from the bottom of the steps… How can nopony remember seeing these… and why is nopony else acknowledging them?” She began to wonder if they had always been here now, and if the ponies in WRAITH had just somehow managed to activate them. That didn’t make sense either though. What kind of pony would leave mindwarping runes all over the empire? Ice took a quick rubbing and then made her way inside.

The inside of the Crystal Empire library was about as grand as they come. The foyer was wide open leading to a grand double staircase behind it that led to an upper level of book shelves. As she looked around, Ice Storm could count at least four different wings of the library on both sides, further exemplifying the amount of knowledge and literature that was held within these walls. In fact, she was almost willing to bet that this library was larger than the one back at home in Canterlot. This made her even more flabbergasted that the library here was this expansive and there was literally nothing here on the Crystal Heart.

“Good afternoon, and welcome to the Crystal Library! Is there anything that I can help you find today?” the librarian asked, before realizing who it was. “Oh! You’re the mare from the Spire! What an honor! I can’t thank you enough for what you did!”

“I appreciate it, but I still wish that I could have done more. I was just doing what anypony else in my position would have done!” Ice replied.

“Still! My son is still alive because of you! I can’t possibly thank you enough!” Ice heard the librarian say, making her blush a bit. It did make her feel beyond good though. Sure, she felt a bit awkward at all the praise that she’d been getting so far, but this time it felt a lot more wholesome coming from a pony that she apparently had a direct impact on. “Anyway… I’m getting off-topic… What can I help you with, Miss Storm?”

“You know my name?”

“Dearie, just about everypony in town knows your name by now. Princess Twilight wasn’t all that modest when she announced who her saviour was, and who helped the ponies she could out of the spire. You’re almost as big of a legend here as Spike the Brave and Glorious! Many have started calling you the Mistress of Ice!” The librarian told her.

Ice really had to blush at that comment. She wasn’t sure that was the word that belonged there, considering what the term mistress actually meant. She wasn’t a pure daisy by any means, but she also didn’t want ponies thinking of her in that light. Then again, it seemed most ponies were only paying attention to the face value of the word. That would have to be good enough for now, and she’d address the other meanings should they arise. “I see… Well, I was actually coming here to try and figure out what all the important places in the empire are, as well as any place that might have historical significance. I know that all the tours are closed right now, so I thought that I would try to make one myself,” Ice Storm commented.

“Well, the most important part of the Crystal Empire is the Crystal Heart, in the Crystal Plaza. I’m pretty sure that most ponies know about that one though. The library here is a place of importance because we hold every piece of information that’s been created since the Empire’s founding. Though um… bear in mind we haven’t had a lot of time to add new scriptures to hardly any sections. Almost everything here is at least a thousand years old, but we’ve slowly been getting new material in.” The Librarian stated.

“Are you kidding? That makes everything here even better! This is a gold mine of historic literature from ancient Equestria! I could spend a lifetime here and not even be able to take in all of the knowledge that’s here!” Ice proclaimed.

“Indeed it is! That’s why we are a site of historical importance. There’s also the city gates, The Faire Grounds, which are mostly off limits right now. The Crystal Colosseum, which is where we hold all kinds of tournaments. Oh, and the Crystal Art Museum! At least those are the ones that tourists would be interested in. We have several city and tax offices as well as guard stations all over town, but I don’t think you’d be interested in those.” The Librarian continued.

“Actually… that’s exactly what I’m looking for. You wouldn’t happen to have a map or be able to point out where they are on mine would you?” Ice Storm asked with a smile.

The Librarian gave her a bit of a weird look at first but shrugged. “I personally can’t say that I see what the appeal is of a tax office or district halls, but if those are what you’re interested in, I won’t judge. Everypony likes different things,” she smiled before marking everything down. “These are the locations that I can remember. I don’t know how many survived the attack though, so I can’t guarantee it’s accuracy anymore,” she noted.

“Understood! This is all very helpful information. I appreciate all of it. Oh! How much will it cost?” Ice Storm asked.

“Cost…?” The Librarian asked, confused.

“Well yeah! Information always comes at a price. At least that’s what I’ve always been taught,” Ice Storm admitted.

“Well, I can assure you that’s not how things work here. The only time we charge for anything is when ponies are late bringing a book back, or they want to use the private study rooms. Otherwise, it’s impossible to put a price tag on information since it’s impossible to know what information is important. Like you for example. I would have never guessed you would have been looking for the government offices rather than the tourist spots, but here we are,” The Librarian giggled.

Ice returned the laugh. “I suppose that’s a fair point. I appreciate it all the same.”

“Is there anything else I can interest you in? We have a whole section on Crystal Tax Law over in the E wing on the back wall!”

“I’ll keep that in mind. I might actually look into that sooner than you think if I decide to open a store here,” Ice smiled. “I appreciate your time.”

“Come back and see us soon!” She heard, waving back to the mare behind the counter.

“Alright… Now I’m getting somewhere. Let’s see what I can find.”

The rest of the morning was spent walking around to all of the locations that were marked off on the map, including the other points of interest that the librarian mentioned. From that she noted that three of the guard barracks that were marked on the map had suffered catastrophic damage during the attack, and they were all fairly close to ground zero so that was to be expected.

She had made her way back to the castle and started going back up the steps so that she could start getting ready for the Ceremony Rehearsal, but she also wanted some time to piece everything together. Once she was back in the room she pulled out her notebook again. “Okay, so… There were a total of fifteen places of importance, counting the tourist spots and the government offices. Three of them were destroyed, and the other four that I was able to get to today all had an inscription on them. That means that the other ones likely have one as well. Well, at least the government ones. They are also all identical to another. That’s not what I was expecting at all. I was expecting some variance to keep from rousing suspicion. From how everypony’s been acting though, it’s like they never existed at all! That’s the biggest thing I don’t understand… how can nopony else not see these things!? It doesn’t make any sense!” Ice said with a huff before hearing a knock at the door.

“Miss Storm, Rehearsals will be starting soon. Will you be ready?”

“Yup! Is there anything that I’m supposed to wear?”

“Not for the rehearsal, though part of it will be getting measurements for the gowns for the actual ceremony,” the guard added.

“Sounds like a plan. In that case,” she said, setting her notebook down before realizing something. “I’ll be out in just a moment. I just have a couple things that I would need to take care of first.”

The guard nodded and stepped back outside. Once he was back outside, Ice Storm opened the drawer that had her overnight supplies in it, and slipped the notebook inside one of the folded up garments, and then put that one on the bottom of the stack. She wasn’t sure who she could trust right now, and leaving notes like this out and about would be asking for somepony to take them. She didn’t need her cover to be blown already to those that might be suspecting things. She closed the drawer and then sealed it shut with her magic. If somepony tried to get into that drawer that wasn’t her, she’d know.

With that done, she made her way back to the door. She opened it with her magic and trotted outside up next to the guard. “Alright, I’m ready now. Lead the way!”

Author's Note

I apologize for the lengthy delay between chapters, but my health took a drastic turn for the worse and I spent the last several weeks fighting off a bout of pneumonia. Needless to say during that time, my creative juices were not in full swing. This chapter also ended up being much longer than anticipated.

A little hint to the future though, one of the characters introduced in this chapter plays a pivotal role in the creation of star. Which one, I'll leave up to debate.