Gilda and I were thoroughly exhausted by the time Discord returned with Seth. Since we were about to have dinner anyway, we decided we should let Discord stay for it. I'm not entirely sure he has to eat, and if he does, he can just conjure what he wants, but it's the idea of unity at a meal that was more important. There was more than enough room at the table in our suite at Canterlot Castle. The fact that said suite was filled with fluffy red magic clouds that were billowing out into the hallway, the source of which being yours truly, was enough of an indication that with the bullshit of the meeting over, I could finally relax and let myself feel good. Nothing is better than good friends and good food.

"Heyo!" Came the two-toned voice of Queen Chrysalis as she poked her head into our room, just as we were getting seated. "Mind if I join in?"

"I thought changelings couldn't eat real food?" I asked, cocking my head to the side.

"Eh, it's fine by me." She swirled her hoof around in the clouds like a stick in a cotton candy bowl, then crammed it into her mouth. "Love, satisfaction, comfort, desire..." She said as she chewed on the magical mist. "Tension? Very distinct aftertaste."

"Well, you're welcome to have a seat anyway." Chrysalis plonked herself down on my left side, opposite of Gilda and Seth, and began cramming her face full of clouds. Discord pulled out a comically large, twisty straw and started drinking his chair, while he reclined on a grape soda. The rest of us dug in to our respective meals. Seth had his bugs, while Gilda and I had roast rabbit, courtesy of the kitchens. One benefit is that the capital has so many outside visitors, it keeps a stock of... multicultural food, rather than the standard vegetarian fare found in the rest of Equestria.

"So in any case, after this, we'll be heading back to Signal to show the Empress around, then heading south, past the jungle, into Quetzal lands."

"I'm afraid I won't be able to keep watch on you while you're there Griffin." Chrysalis informed. "It's too far away for the changeling mental link, too far away from reinforcements. These Quetzals could be as harmless garter as snakes, but I'm willing to bet it's a nest of vipers. Be on your guard. Their customs are vastly different than ours. Don't think you'll be able to muddle your way through."

"I fully intend to get that information out of Narin while we're on Signal, so I don't make any missteps once we arrive. Stopping in the New Dominion first made sense, since then we wouldn't be doubling back later, but it also gives me an opportunity to gather information. Openly, if possible, but I expect the changelings to keep vigilant while we're in the capital, up until we leave. See if you can learn anything from when she talks to her pair of guards."

"Agreed."

"So, if that's everything, we should probably get some sleep. We leave in the morning."

Dawn came, as it usually does, by means of a magical pony raising the sun. The same magical pony stopped by my room after doing so and noticed a thick red mist coming from under my door. I'm not normally one to wake up early, but when Celestia knocked on my door, I wasn't really... startled into consciousness.

"Ya. Come in."

"I trust you slept well?"

"Yes. I did. Something you need?"

"It seems your magic is seeping out, binding to the ambient humidity, and forming it into clouds. Care to explain?"

"Eh, hell if I know."

"You mean you're not doing this intentionally?"

"Nope."

"Uh... I see." She seemed rather confused. "Is this the first time this has happened?"

"Nah, it's started a while ago. Few weeks."

"And you are not concerned about it?"

"Gilda was more than me. I already saw a doctor about it. It has something to do with me bottling up all my negative emotions, but... lets be honest, for quite a long time I was not a very happy person. I'm not really used to feeling this good. So while I have practice keeping my nasties inside, the happy just flows out. It does make controlling my magic easier, since there's not as much pressure backed up, and it has the side effect of making everyone around me feel good too. Chrysalis was eating some of it last night."

"I'm sure Twilight would love to "

"Nope, as happy as I'm sure it would make her, I'm on a time table. Don't much feel like waiting around while she runs tests and experiments. Besides, it's not hurting anyone."

"So, you're willing to forgo acquiring knowledge, about something mysterious happening to yourself? Would you do the same if it were happening to your family?"

It felt like a slap in the face to wake me up.

"Crap. Wow. Okay, I'll let Twilight run her tests after I get back from the Quetzal Empire."

"Good." She replied, relieved.

Twilight won't need to run any tests. I already know what's happening.

"Huh? Did you say something?"

"Nothing!" And she hurried away.

"Weird."

With that, she left, and I went to go wake up Gilda so we could begin our trip.

Before we met with the Quetzal Empress, I made a conscious effort to dissipate the clouds. I didn't want to alarm her, or anyone else. I also didn't want Twilight to see them and go on a science bender. I laid on the floor, rested my head on my claws and concentrated on stemming the flow.

"Okay, it comes out when I'm relaxed. So, become un-relaxed. I'm bringing a foreign dignitary to my country. If anything goes wrong this could have severe.... nah, they live like halfway across the world. FOCUS. Focus. There we go. Okay Gilda, I'm ready to head out. You and Seth prepared?"

"Yeah, lets go meet everyone."

Gathering on the upper platform, Gilda, Seth, Chrysalis, Narin, her two guards, and myself grouped together. I had already said my goodbyes to the other representatives, with the exception of Aoi and his group. I wasn't in the mood to look at Fia's face again, and I doubt she wanted to see mine.

"We'll be flying there instead of taking the boat. Saves time and grants a measure of privacy. We'll head straight east from here and fly directly over the ring sea. If you need a break just say so. I'll try and fill you in on some of our cultural nuances on the way so you're not surprised when we get there."

"First thing you'll expect is a warm greeting. Besides our self contained economy, we have a lot of tourism and trade with the mainland. We get visitors all the time and we've made a point of making them feel welcome. Our primary food sources are fish and fruit. We try to make sure the smell from the fisheries doesn't waft into town, so we've set up a persistent westerly wind to blow the smell out over the ocean."

"You make your own weather?" Narin asked.

"No, nothing so far as the ponies and their Cloudsdale where they actually make clouds. We just push naturally occurring ones around to suit our needs. Since we're in the ocean, there's always a fresh supply. We're right over Baltimare, where we would have taken the ship out to Signal. There, you can see the shore now."

I looked to my side to see the empress smiling. She seemed to notice my gaze, and explained.

"It amazesssss me every time I sssssee it. Ssssoo much water. The poniessss and griffinssss are truly blesssssssed, to control the rainsssss. At home, we pray to Tlaloc. We sssssing for his favor, such that he quenchessssss the desert's thirst, thus our own, and we dansssssse in celebration when the rainsssss fall. Sssssuch kindnessssss to give the gift of life, and for payment, assssk only for a ssssong."

"It seems to me then that you're the ones who are blessed. Our gods are far more callous and cruel. In my old home, the legend of Tlaloc claims that he demanded hearts, torn from sacrifices captured in war."

"What became of thesssse people who prayed to him?"

"Legend says they angered him, and they drowned in a river of blood."

At this Narin could no longer contain herself and burst out laughing.

"Ssssuch foolssss they musssst have been, to try and honour the giver of life by the ending of it! Though, I mussst asssk, if your godsss are ssso... heartlessssss then why do you worsssship them?"

"I do not, save the god of the dead, who is far more kind than he is given credit for." She found that a lot less amusing.

"Then it sssseemssss we quetzalssss are indeed the more fortunate, for you struggle all your life, in doubt of the divine, only finding peace in death."

"In any case, back on topic. The people of the New Dominion consist of either former captives, or those looking to start a new life. Most of them have some miserable backgrounds. The fact that they're free now, able to live life safely and without worry, at first they weren't really sure how to handle it. For most of them, they're the best off that they've ever been, and they're looking to live life to the fullest, never wasting a day. We've had a bit of a... call it a 'free love' movement. Given the abundance, security, and zero lack of willing partners, many of the people are eager to start a family. Even if that means with someone who isn't the same species and adopting instead. And, there's also some who aren't necessarily looking to start a family, and mostly just want to 'celebrate' if you know what I mean. While you're on the island, you'll likely be approached and asked if you'd like to find a more private place to enjoy yourself with your new 'friend'. Feel free to accept or decline. Nobody's feelings are going to get hurt if they're turned down."

"Ah... I'll.... take that into conssssideration." I don't think she was expecting that. "Matterssss of romance in the Quetzal Empire are vasssstly different. It'ssss... hmm... I ssssuppossse I sssshould ssstart at the beginning. In our culture, we ressspect sssstrength and sssskill. Dissssagreementsssss are ssssettled by challenge. There are two challengesssss. The firsssst issss open combat, which isss obvioussss. The ssssecond is asssasssination."

"... Your people... assassinate each other?"

"Not truly. You proclaim your intent to your opponent. After which, they leave a knife, engraved with their name and their own sssscale pattern on their bedssside table. The challenger attempts to ssssneak into their room to ssssteal it. If they sssucceed, they target'ssss life belongssss to the victor. If they fail, then the target can choosssse to claim them, or releassse them. While both are acceptable, the sssecond is more romantic."

"I'm not sure I follow."

Narin then went into a long, drawn out history lesson. Originally, quetzals who had disagreements would challenge each other to combat, with the victor having their claim verified, and the loser's refuted. It came to be, however, that those who knew they would be defeated in direct combat began killing their opponent in the dead of night. This, obviously, was a bad thing. So, a law was passed that once a challenge of assassination was declared, you'd leave the knife on your night stand. If someone could steal it, then it would be the same as saying they could kill you, in which case, if you persisted in the disagreement, then they could actually go ahead and do it. After all, if they could do it once, they could do it again. If you didn't want to die, you'd recognize that they beat you and submit.

Of course, as things go, boy loves girl, but father doesn't want them to be together. The boy challenges the father for his daughter, and stalks him for months to learn his patterns before he strikes, and he succeeds. But then the daughter states she is her own person, and challenges the boy for her freedom. Little does he know, she has been stalking HIM ever since he made the challenge to her father. She succeeds as well, proving to her father that she can handle herself. Not only that, but she did love the boy, however she refused to be treated like a trophy or object, so they did wind up getting married, but SHE became the head of the household, which completely changed the gender role dynamic in the entire country.

"So, if you lose, your life belongs to the other person, but they're also responsible for taking care you you?"

"Yessss, in thissss way, nobody is left with nothing after a loss. All that they own belongssss to the victor, but they mussst care for the one they defeated, elssse they are sssseen unfavorably. Any who hassss lost may not be challenged again. So, if they are challenged, they sssimply ssssay 'I cannot.' Alssso, many who are sssskilled can make multiple challengessss. The bond formed by the challenge isssss not limited to hussssband and wife, but can form the bond of father to ssson, or brother and sssister. There are many large familiessss, all under the head. Ssssshould the head die, then the members are free once again, though many will rush to assassinate each other and claim the lead for themsssselvesss."

"The only thing is, if you're challenged and you win, you're not required to claim your opponent, in order to prevent people from intentionally binding themselves to someone who doesn't want them?"

"Correct."

"Okay, so let me see if I have all this down. Disputes are settled by challenges. Strength and skill are key, and being a stalker is seen as romantic because you have to care an awful lot about a person if you're willing to go off the deep end of obsession, which is necessary if you want to assassinate them successfully?"

"... yessss?"

"Good. I'm glad I've got it figured out."

"You're not at all concerned that someone may challenge you in an attempt to claim the throne of the New Dominion for themselves?"

"You may not believe this, but if someone challenges me to assassination, I have the right to say 'I cannot'. It may not have been an official challenge, and it was combat rather than assassination, but sometime around the midpoint in my campaign, I was completely defeated in single combat. I'm stronger now than I was then, but the fact remains that I lost. So, I can reject challenges of assassination. On the other hand, since I made that declaration at the summit, if someone has an issue with me and they challenge me to combat, I'm obliged to accept. If I don't, I'm basically giving them the go ahead to go after my family instead."

"That isss not how it workssss."

"Then I'll just say I was instructed by my clan head that I must accept challenges of open combat, and refer anyone who beats me to them."

"That is acceptable, though what if someone does defeat you?"

"Narin, I mean no disrespect to you or your people, but there's not a chance in hell. I've only been beaten twice. Once, by Fia, though it was more of a draw, AND she had an entire country at her command. The only other time was by her, which was one on one. I'm not a superstitious person, but when it comes to her I'd rather not say her name, just to be on the safe side. She's the only person I've ever met who was, at the time, more insane that I was."

At a forest campsite in the ring sea archipelago, on one of the unsettled islands, the black dragoness Ember sneezed, accidentally setting everything on fire. She cursed to herself as she tried to stamp out the blaze, before deciding it wasn't worth it, grabbed what belongings she had that hadn't been consumed by the blaze, rushed to the shore and got in her sailboat. Pulling out a map, she flipped it around to try and catch her bearings.

"Five more islands, then I reach Signal."

Author's Notes:

I know that in the newest episode the new dragon lord is Ember. At which point Griffin is gonna be all 'You've got to be kidding me.' only, upon meeting her, be like 'Oh. My apologies. You have the same name as another dragon that I don't particularly like. Got a bit worried when I heard 'Ember is the new dragon lord' Relieved to see you're not her. Carry on.

My gosh, this new episode gives me SO FREAKING MUCH new material. I already know what I'm going to do with it.