As Twilight scooted off to get some book or another, Rainbow slid closer to their visiting divinity. "So..."
"Yes?"
Rainbow flashed a big grin. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Nothing would make me happier at this moment." Luminace returned a smile, though hers was a much more subtle gesture. "What knowledge do you seek?"
"So, I have this friend, uh, Applejack." She was rubbing one leg up and down the other nervously. "She came back from Everglow with this crazy Scythe." Luminace raised a brow behind her monocle. "Yeah, not her kind of thing, right? So she comes back with it and she tries to start making ponies do things right, by force. I mean... she even kinda... banished a filly or two." She was looking progressively more nervous as she went on.
Luminace's expression grew more severe. "Does she still possess this?"
"No! No. Thank Celestia."
Luminace's face erupted into radiance. "Is that a local deity? You invoke it as if it were so."
Rainbow started in surprise. "Huh? No. She's a pony, just, you know, kind of long-lived, and powerful. Anyway, enough about her. We got the scythe away from Applejack, but she's still just a little bit... off. I mean, she's better than when she had it, don't get me wrong, but..."
Luminace gave a slow nod. "It warms my heart to see such concern for your friend even as it is chilled in the thought of what may have occurred." She began describing Severance, the unholy artifact. A scythe capable of performing cuts as precisely as any surgeon's scalpel. "Is that the weapon she returned with?"
Rainbow bobbed her head. "Yeah! Can you help her?" She started. "Oh, and getting those brats back might be nice."
Luminace gave Rainbow a little scowl. "You should not speak so of the next generation. Who will continue to learn when you are gone? I should imagine their parents are beside themselves with terror and lament. This blade is one of darkest intent. It is wielded by the Tyrant of the Night, the literal Night Mare."
Rainbow cringed even as Twilight returned with a book. Twilight peered between the two. "Did I miss something? Are you bothering her, Rainbow?"
"She is," agreed Luminace. "However, it is a heavy matter worthy of consideration. Your friend, Applejack, has also been touched by the divine. I'm afraid the gods of Everglow are hungry to spread their influence to a new world. One that has a species so compatible with Everglow must draw at them all the more intensely." She shrugged softly. "I would accept even human worshipers, if they were studious. The number of legs of my faithful matters little beside their eagerness to learn."
The book fell from Twilight's momentarily numb mental grip. "She has?! Is she alright?" She looked between Luminace and Rainbow Dash frantically.
Rainbow held up a hoof. "Chillax, Twi. She's alright. She's just... stuffier than usual." She looked back at Luminace. "So, what do we do?"
Luminace shook her head. "If you had clerics of sufficient power, an atonement spell would do well to restore her fractured alignment. Without that option, you must simply be as you have been. Be her friend, stay close, and very gently guide her back towards the light. Now, about those fillies?"
"Fillies?" Twilight blinked in building confusion.
Rainbow prodded Twilight lightly. "You didn't hear? Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon? They were being bullies and Applejack did some kind of crazy magic and sent them away."
Twilight blinked slowly. "I... did not... How hasn't everypony heard of this by now?"
Rainbow shrugged. "As many ponies think 'Honest Applejack' sent them somewhere to learn some manners as anything else. Their parents are real torn up." She rubbed behind her head. "That's why I asked about it."
Twilight bristled. "Why didn't you tell me?! I have the spell to get there and back. I could be fetching them!" She had become a harried mess, her mane frizzing with intense distress. "Do you know where they went?"
Luminace's horn glowed gently as she separated the two. "Let us not lose our reasoning. Even in darkest time, our thoughts will be what allows us to victory."
"Thoughts, right..." Twilight began the breathing technique taught to her by Cadance.
Rainbow shrugged gently. "Everglow. That's all I know. You can go there whenever you want? I thought it'd be, like, a big deal." She suddenly clopped her hooves together. "Alright!"
Twilight blinked. "Why are you so happy all of a sudden?"
Rainbow pointed at Twilight's Everglow spellbook. "You know Everglow magic. With you at my side, I can go anywhere! Let's gather up the girls and go rescue some fillies." She bobbed her head, looking quite confident. "I bet they're scared for their lives right about now."
Luminace dipped her head. "It seems your path is set. Twilight, it has been a pleasure to see you again and share knowledge. I would know you as a friend, and hope the feeling is returned. If you need help, think of me. You have no god in your heart, perhaps I could fill that hole within you. If not, I will not take offense, but it would be a pleasure and a delight."
Twilight pinkened in her cheeks as she staggered back half a step. "W-wait, can't you help?"
She shook her head lightly. "You return to Everglow. There are rules, and I will not disobey them any more than you would break your own land's laws, I should imagine." She turned to Rainbow. "Thank you for being her friend. The Great Library awaits you in time."
"Wha?"
Luminace offered no further answers but to return to the book she had emerged from. "Good luck in your travels. You may call me again, but please wait at least one full season. There are others who require my presence and I mustn't play favorites too intensely."
All too swiftly for Twilight's liking, the goddess stepped into the book and was gone.
But they had a mission to accomplish.