The Crystal Guard had had a long and fraught history.
Even with Sombra's defeat, the memories of the crystal ponies were a little bit scattershot. Sometimes piecing together their whole history took a lot more than asking. Books would be uncovered and consulted, different art pieces that had survived Sombra's reign would be examined, and occasionally outsider accounts from that era would be looked into, while being aware that said accounts were bound to be biased toward the culture of the observer.
All of that uncertainty meant that the deepest history of the guard, and a lot of their traditions, had been lost. After all, Sombra had felt he had no need for a royal guard. He'd tended to rely on his own magic and every dirty trick that he could possibly employ with it to protect both himself and the things he didn't want anypony to touch. Any guards who had survived his takeover had been stripped of their status, at minimum, in short order.
It had made rebuilding the guard a high priority when Cadance had taken the throne, a job that Shining Armour had taken incredibly seriously. For a long while, he'd been de-facto leader of both Equestria's and the Empire's guards, adding more to an already incredibly full plate. He'd needed to find locals with the desire and correct temperament, handle their training, and hunt for those ponies with officer material, including one good enough to replace him at his job.
Where he'd eventually found that new captain had been both unexpected and, in hindsight, made complete sense.
Leadership may not have been any of their marks, but it did still seem to run in the family.
A pair of dragons in the barracks tended to get stares. The crystal ponies had started to get a lot of more used to other species visiting, and at any given time there were changelings, yaks, reindeer, and other various creatures coming to see the splendid shining city in the north. Dragons, however, were still a rarer sight in colder climates, even with the Heart keeping things warmer. And so various guardponies looked up from what they were doing, surprised and confused.
Then realization dawned across several faces.
"It's Spike the Brave and Glorious!"
Walking down the street, Spike could usually avoid that reaction these days. The statue in town depicted him much younger, even before his wings came in, and didn't reflect the colours of his scales. For the average citizen, he flew under the radar. Guardponies, however, were not average citizens.
They were mobbed in an instant, as if every guardpony had instantly transformed into foals eager to meet their favourite film star. Ember had a rare experience of not being the centre of attention, and she obligingly stepped aside to let Spike engage with his adoring fans. She watched him sign autographs and pose for pictures, all with a faint smile of bemusement.
A place that had never seen a dragon before, or at least had only done so far enough back that nopony remembered, and their first experience had been of one with heroic qualities. There was nothing in them that felt an urge to recoil, no old stories about treasure-stealing or village-burning dragons to work against. They just knew Spike, and that Spike was a good creature, and that was enough for them.
It reminded her what she was working towards, and bolstered her hope that it was possible.
"I was wondering when you'd come by to say hello, Uncle Spike."
Ponies looked over, and hastily backed up away from their idol to take up proper guard poses again as Flurry Heart stood there with small smile on her muzzle and amused twinkle in her eyes. She stood there in her crystalline armour, helmet tucked her wing, and Ember found herself wondering how she kept those voluminous blue-and-purple curls contained within a helmet in the first place. She'd certainly taken after her mother, too, with her long legs, strong-looking wings, and sharp-looking horn.
Spike grinned. "Flurry!" He stepped closer and threw his arms around her, yanking the young alicorn into a tight hug. "It's great to see you."
"Great to see you too, uncle." After the two broke off the hug, she nodded politely in Ember's direction. "And it's a pleasure to see you, of course, Your Lordship."
Some of the guardponies were looking at her with new eyes, and she hastily waved a claw before anypony got the idea to start asking for her autograph next. "It's not an official visit. You can just call me Ember."
Flurry giggled slightly. "Alright, Ember. Turning off formality mode, just for you." She trotted closer, and held up a hoof. Ember obligingly bumped it with her knuckles. "Still, it's good to see you. Last time was a few years back, when you and I had that javelin toss."
Ember laughed slightly at the memory. "I still want a rematch, you know."
Flurry Heart tossed her head. "Why wait, then? Come on, I'll go get them."
"Oh you are on, mare!"
A couple of hours later, out in the barrack's training yard, a very smug alicorn was prancing in a circle, her subordinates cheering her as she celebrated her victory. Several javelins were sticking out of the ground nearby, one significantly farther away from the gathered creatures than the others.
Ember, meanwhile, had her arms crossed, her snout lightly smoking. "You cheated."
Flurry stopped and struck a pose like a model on a runway, the curls of her mane and tail bouncing. "No need to be jealous of my alicorn power, Ember. You're basically up against the one of the strongest earth ponies, most agile pegasi, and most precise unicorns all at once."
"There is no way you didn't slip magic in there. Javelins don't move like that on their own."
"Maybe for you, they don't." Flurry flashed a wide grin, jabbing Ember in the ribs with a wing. "I think you just need to work on your throwing technique, Your Lordship."
More smoke snorted from her nostrils as she swatted the wings away. "Flames, you're infuriating."
"Why thank you." The audience was dispersing, and once they had relative privacy on the training field, the smugness faded and she glanced from dragon to dragon. "Okay, we've had our fun and the ponies got their show... So maybe want to tell me why you're really here?"
Spike frowned. "I can't just want to see my niece?"
Flurry quirked a brow at him. "Come on, Uncle Spike. We both know you're a busy creature. I don't doubt that you wanted an opportunity to spend time with me and watch me trounce your partner at javelin-throwing again--"
"I still say you cheated."
"--But we both know that you rarely go anywhere for just one purpose." She looked between the two again. "So is this a business thing? Something to do with the Dragonlands that you can't discuss officially?"
Spike hastily shook his head. "No no, nothing like that. It's more... personal."
Ember snorted her last cloud of smoke, and breathed a sigh. "Let us explain."
And so they did. They relayed the talk that had led them to the Crystal Empire in the first place, Ember's talk with Cadance, Spike's talking with Shining, and the chat as a group that had eventually led them to the barracks. All the while, Flurry listened thoughtfully, nodding occasionally with a serious expression. Every word seemed to be taken in and thought over, with no attempt to hurry either dragon to get to their point.
"So... Yeah." Spike ran a hand over his head-spines nervously. "We were hoping to get your perspective on all this."
"Since. You know." Ember shrugged. "You haven't tried to take over the world, so clearly someone did something right."
"That you know of." There was a brief flash of a playful grin, before her expression became more thoughtful again. "And I'd say that that's a low bar to clear, but I know what Uncle Discord got up to back in the day. And Aunt Starlight. And the army that Uncle Thorax was part of." She counted off with stomps of her hooves as she named names. "So I get it. The odds of somepony in this family going mad with power is definitely non-zero."
Flurry seemed to think on it more, and then she shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you two, honestly. I like to think my upbringing was pretty good, not just from the obvious fact that I don't have any particular desire to conquer and enslave my fellow ponies. I've got a lot of good memories."
"So it wasn't so bad having busy parents?" Spike asked, the hint of hope in his voice tentative.
Flurry shrugged again. "Not really. It taught me pretty fast that I'm not the centre of the world. That everyone has responsibilities and they can't drop everything and come running just because I want them to. And that's pretty important for a foal to learn, especially an alicorn foal. I can't just wave my horn and have things my way, because the world is bigger than just one alicorn."
Spike hesitantly pressed forward. "You didn't feel... neglected or anything?"
"No?" Flurry blinked as if she couldn't even fathom the question. "There was always someone around. Whether that was you and Aunt Twilight, Uncle Sunburst and Aunt Starlight, or anyone else. No one could drop everything for me all the time, but someone always had time for me."
"But they still weren't your mom and dad--"
"Uncle Spike?"
"Yeah?"
Flurry took to the air, her slightly-oversized wings aiding her in taking on an effortless hover. It placed her at the perfect level to knock one of her hooves against his skull, punctuating each tap with the words, "Herd. Spec-ies." She landed again, folding her wings and rolling her eyes. "Besides, weren't you basically half-raised by Aunt Twilight? You spent a chuck of your drakehood living with her."
"She's got a point," Ember said with a cross of her arms. "And I'm going to again point out that you turned out fine."
"...That's... true..." Spike shuffled his feet. "But a lot of our families are pretty busy these days, not to mention that the drakes would be living in the Dragonlands. Sending them to Equestria or the Crystal Empire every time we need a sitter isn't really...."
"Garble would drakesit. So would Smolder." Ember said without hesitation. She thought for a second longer. "Come to think of it, Crackle likes kids too. We could probably talk her into helping here and there. And that's just off the top of my head."
Spike visibly hesitated. "Yeah, that... works..."
Flurry tilted her head, giving him a studying look. "You still don't sound fully convinced." She narrowed her eyes. "This isn't really about being busy, is it? What are you really worried about?"
Ember watched several emotions play out across Spike's face. He wrung his claws, tugged slightly at his head-spines, and grasped at his tail, one after another, as if he couldn't decide on a nervous tick. All the while, his wings flapped behind him, as if they had a life of their own, never quite enough for him to rise from the ground.
"It's..." His voice cracked slightly, and his voice dropped to nearly a whisper. "...What happens when they molt?"
Understanding washed over Ember, and she came closer, placing a hand on his arm. "That's what you've been really worried about, isn't it? Not just about being busy or having been isolated from other dragons growing up. You've been staring down that question."
"I can't just kick them out and leave them to the rocs!" Spike burst out. "It was luck that I managed to get my wings in time to be able to fight back when one went after me." He gives a worried cringe. "And that 'luck' was mostly just it deciding to grab Zecora and Rarity first. I nearly lost two friends that day and I just... the thought of forcing my own drakes to leave the nest when they're vulnerable and not ready and there are predators--"
"Then we won't."
Spike blinked, and stared at Ember. "We... won't?"
"We won't." Ember shrugged, and smiled weakly. "My parents didn't. Not really. It took a long time to get them to admit it, but they kept nearby and kept watch over me until I got my wings." She managed a laugh. "I mean, come on, do you think with how protective they are, especially my dad, that they'd have done anything but?"
"I..."
She placed her claws on his shoulder, speaking gently. "We don't even have to go through the motions of pretending to kick them out, not if we don't want to. I'm already trying to be an example for other dragons. Might as well put my gold where my mouth is and show them all how to really raise a family."
She saw the tension in his shoulders relax, and he gave a slow, relieved smile. "...Thank you, Ember."
Flurry looked at the couple and gave them an approving nod. "Feeling a little better about things now?"
"Yeah, I am." He gave a faint laugh. "Still a little nervous at the thought, but I think for something that big, we should feel a little nervous.... but we're not facing it alone."
"Exactly, you big dork." Ember grinned. "Now, come on. We don't want to be late for dinner."
Two dragons and an alicorn left the field, heading for the palace where the other alicorn and unicorn were waiting for them--
No, the young couple left the field with their niece, to meet up with her parents, so they could have dinner together as a family. And Ember, as she looked at Spike, his fears finally eased and wearing the most relaxed smile he had in a while, couldn't help but feel her heart grow warm.
Yeah, everything was going to turn out just fine.