"What were you asking them about a sword?" Maple asked as the meeting dispersed, everyone returning to their own business with the decision that they needed more time to think on Felicity and her kin. "I don't think I've ever seen you fight with a weapon before."
"It's not important," Starlight sighed, trotting for the staircase. "Something I must have misremembered. Not as important to worry about as Senescey and Felicity."
Maple didn't contest it. "I have no idea what to do about them..."
"I wish Valey's cutie mark could tell us if they were dangerous," Starlight said. "I think they're telling the truth, but they're not promising not to betray us again? But they also seem nice, and like they'd be happier if they did try to be trustworthy."
Maple nodded. "And I don't know how to react to that. This isn't like when Valey kept trying to convince us she was a bad pony while helping us out of the caves and guiding us through the Earth District. She says she feels for them, but I think they're worse than she ever was."
"Do you believe them when they say they're not bad, but not good either?" Starlight tilted her head. "How do you even do that? Either a pony does bad things or they don't."
"I think I do believe them," Maple answered. "They're just... not able to worry about what kind of ponies they are." She shook her head. "When I lived in Riverfall, dealing with the loss of Aspen, I didn't have the room in my head to worry about a lot of things. Thinking about whether I was doing right by my friends? I couldn't. I just had to trust that they cared about me enough to stay. Felicity and Senescey might not be in the same situation I was, but if they're telling the truth, I think I know how it feels. They had something important they needed to do, and just like me, they couldn't afford to care about the consequences for themselves. Now those consequences are here, and they don't know how to deal with it?"
Starlight shrugged, having no choice but to take Maple at her word.
"Of course," Maple sighed, "that's assuming they were telling the truth. They could be playing us again. Though they did make a good point about having nothing to gain from confessing and apologizing, and you know how I feel about being optimistic. I really want to believe them..."
"They were telling the truth," Princess Gwendolyn said, sitting in the library with Glimmer as they passed by.
Maple blinked at the fillies and stopped. "How do you know?"
Lyn nodded. "My apologies for overhearing. It was quiet, and you started talking while I was nearby. I'm good at reading ponies, though. I have a lot of practice in my station, and I think they were being honest."
Starlight regarded her, remembering their conversation earlier about Lyn's cutie mark being a lie detector. Lyn saw it and gave her a knowing look.
"Well..." Maple tilted her head. "What would you do if one of your subjects was talking to you about loyalty to your empire that way?"
Lyn shrugged. "If they honestly told me that they weren't trustworthy and I believed them, I wouldn't trust them."
Glimmer quickly cleared her throat. "That said, leading a nation is complicated. If you govern based on how you wish things to be rather than how things are, everything will crumble, because you were out of touch with reality. This ship isn't a nation. Consequences for taking risks are more personal, with less weight on a populace who looks up to you and is too big for you to know. Believing in the ability of less-than-admirable ponies to change is a risk, and while the ruler of an empire couldn't afford to take it, your situation is different. Whether it is worth it for you is your decision."
Lyn nodded sincerely. "She's completely right."
"Really?" Starlight squinted at Glimmer, trying to boil down her words. Giving Felicity and her siblings another chance was a risk, but it was a risk they could afford to take, and it was their decision whether to take it. Didn't that completely clash with everything Glimmer told her when they were alone? That by extending herself to improve the world around her, she would never, ever find fulfillment and peace? Her lookalike should have been agreeing with Lyn, telling them to leave the three sisters behind and see first to themselves, or at least warning them that giving them a chance wouldn't make them happy...
Maple shook her head. "I have no idea what children like you are doing thinking about things like that. Back in Riverfall, you should have been concerned with playing with your friends, getting excited about whose house you would spend the night at next..." She sighed.
"In case you haven't noticed," Glimmer replied, "I'm older than I look. And no one said her situation was admirable."
"Well, thank you for weighing in." Maple straightened her ears. "I suppose I'm going to sit in my room and watch the scenery for a while. Maybe we'll get close soon..." She nodded at the fillies. "And age or admirable situations or not, if any of you would ever like a hug, they're things I like giving."
Glimmer smiled. "Your kindness is appreciated. We'll keep it in mind."
"And we'll see if we can ever find a way to fix your eyes without putting you in danger," Maple promised. "I know you've been living like this for a month now, and..."
"I will be fine," Glimmer assured. "There are many worse places I could be than without sight or magic. I wish you well in your decision about those sisters."
Maple nodded one more time and left. Starlight turned to follow, but Lyn called out, "Starlight?"
"Umm..." Starlight bit her lip, glancing at Maple. "I'll be right behind you," she promised, turning and pacing back to the others. "Yes?"
Lyn waited until Maple was gone, then lowered her voice in concern. "You lied to her," she whispered. "Saying you must have misremembered and something about your sword not being important. Is something wrong?"
Starlight swallowed. "Oh." She glanced between the two, folded her ears and took a breath. "There's a black sword we've had for a long time. It belongs to Gerardo, but I started using it in a dream in Mistvale, and after everyone woke up, everyone thought the sword had always belonged to me instead. I lent it to Valey when she was going to fight Stormhoof, and when she got back, she told me she lost it there somehow. We were talking about getting it back, but when I mentioned that just now, everyone had forgotten we had it in the first place. Everyone except me, at least. I think someone else must have found it. But Gerardo didn't remember it had once been his, so I don't know why I didn't forget too..."
Glimmer folded her ears, and Lyn narrowed her eyes in thought. "I've never heard of that before. And I was in Stormhoof and saw Valey there, and don't remember her having a sword." She glanced toward Glimmer. "Do you know anything about this?"
"Nothing helpful," Glimmer replied. "I can tell you she's being truthful, but you already know that. How and why the sword changes hooves are less important than what it can do when you wield it."
Starlight nodded. "It doesn't make you bleed, but paralyzes anyone in a single hit, and if you cut anything that's not alive, it tears it like paper. And if batponies get hit by it, they sometimes turn to ash."
"That is concerning," Lyn murmured. "Tell me as much about what it looks like as you can. I will get my ponies and griffons to start searching for this sword across Stormhoof and the rest of the Empire." She gave Starlight a serious look. "If it is that dangerous, what do you intend to do if you get it back?"
Starlight swallowed. "Not use it. I wasn't planning on letting Valey use it, either! Ever since I got it, I've kept it rolled in a blanket in my room. Gerardo used to think it was a merciful weapon because you could stop others without killing them, but I'm not sure the sword is a good thing at all."
Glimmer slowly nodded. "Merciful or not, it's more power than you should ever have to bear the weight of. Leaving it stowed away is a good idea." She turned to Lyn. "The sword is black, with a triangular hole in the hilt. Distinctive, but not elaborate. You aren't likely to find a lookalike by accident."
"Right," Starlight agreed, tilting her head at Glimmer. "You remember it too, by the way?"
"I do," Glimmer answered. "You'll have an easier time thinking of why on your own than I would telling you."
"It doesn't matter, but the same reason as for me?" Starlight blinked.
"That's a simple and sufficiently accurate way of putting it," Glimmer agreed. "It not mattering being the key part. There are a lot of reasons I'm a part of your life, but giving you the ins and outs of phenomena that aren't linked to your happiness isn't one of them. The how is less important than the why, and I hope we've talked long enough for you to get an idea of my hope for you."
Lyn regarded both of them with interest, but didn't say anything.
"Well... thanks." Starlight stepped back towards the cabins. "I'm going to go spend time with Maple, I guess. And I hope your horn gets better soon, too."
Glimmer nodded. "Once we've landed in Grandbell, talk to me if you'd like to help with that."