//------------------------------// // A Strictly Professional Meeting // Story: Northern Venture // by Chengar Qordath //------------------------------// Puzzle tagged along when I went to go meet with Scarlett. He didn’t say anything, but I had a feeling he was a lot more prepared if she tried anything this time. Not that it was likely when I was under Argentium’s protection, but just because it was stupid didn’t mean she wouldn’t do it. Considering I was still less than a hundred percent after the fight with Starlight, I didn’t mind having a little backup. Strumming had vanished a few hours ago, and I was about seventy five percent sure she was ghosting Scarlett. Considering what Strumming was like, that was about as close to certain as I was likely to get. Puzzle’s eyes lingered on me, a faint frown tugging at his lips. “You okay with meeting with your mom?” I shrugged. “I’m not wild about it, but we need an expert in runes.” I frowned at him and gently corrected, “And Scarlett isn't my mom.” Puzzle’s eyes narrowed. “Last time you said that to her, it ended with you getting blasted halfway across the room.” I could’ve done without being reminded of that. “There some point you're trying to make?” Puzzle cleared his throat. “Merely that it would be best if we avoided another fight because someone lost their temper.” I glared at him. “Puzzle, I’m really not in a mood for a lecture about getting along with Scarlett. Especially when you’ve already made the point before, and it was just as stupid and wrong then. There are damned good reasons I don’t want anything to do with her.” Puzzle stoically weathered my irritation and continued on as soon as I was done. “This one knows. You have history with this mare, and it would be stupid to ignore that. She might try and provoke you again, intentionally or otherwise. Argentium’s prohibition on interfering with you would still allow her to defend herself if you attacked first.” “I’m aware.” Though I thought Puzzle probably wasn’t giving Argentium quite enough credit; she wouldn’t be fooled by Scarlett pulling off an end-run around the rules with a fig-leaf excuse. Then again, she probably wouldn’t be too happy with me either if I fell for an obvious attempt to bait me into starting a fight. I had a lot less to lose from Argentium’s displeasure than Scarlett did, but that was no excuse to piss her off unnecessarily. Besides, not letting Scarlett get under my skin was just a good idea in general. Puzzle nodded along. “Then there is nothing more this one needs to say on the matter. Put the personal baggage aside and focus on the mission. Our goal is to find out what’s going on with the Glimmer-mare. Just try to act as if this is any other magus you’re consulting.” “What’s the point of being an information broker if you only ever tell people things they already know?” I groused. “This is just two magi meeting to exchange notes. Nothing more.” “Are you sure about that?” Puzzle pushed. “In this one’s experience, it’s far easier to talk about keeping things strictly professional than it is to actually manage it.” “Yeah, I know.” I sighed and ran a hoof through my mane. “Well, it’s not gonna get any easier if I sit around procrastinating.” I took a deep breath, then headed through the front door of the inn. Scarlett was sitting at a table, half of which was covered by dozens of runestones and most of the rest covered with runecrafting tools. Puzzle headed over to the bar, setting himself up in a position where he wasn’t intruding but would be able to help if things turned sour. As I walked over to Scarlett’s table an old earth pony mare caught my eye, winking and grinning. It took me a moment, but once I was suspicious and curious I eventually recognized Strumming underneath the disguise. Nice to know I had backup, though hopefully I wouldn’t need it. I took a seat across from Scarlett and cleared my throat, trying to keep my voice nice and professional. “Archmagus Runeseeker. I trust Sigil brought you up to speed on recent developments?” Scarlett grimaced and looked up, not quite meeting my eyes. “Yes. I came to investigate after he reported your fight with the Blightspawn, and now apparently there’s a warlock as well?” I nodded. “We captured a criminal who’s wanted for theft and murder in Freeport. More importantly, she has a lot of runes inscribed directly into her back. Sigil couldn’t figure out what they meant and suggested we consult someone a bit more knowledgeable.” Scarlett frowned and nodded. “Well, unless you have Argentium herself look them over, I’m the top expert in the field.” I was tempted to call her out on the pure ego of that remark, but I let it slide for the sake of diplomacy and professionalism. Besides, she was probably right about that. She grimaced and set her tools aside. “Though fleshcrafted runes are ... well, Argentium would treat anyone using those about as kindly as Equestria treats warlocks. That murderer of yours might just be a mind-controlled thrall.” “It seemed like she still had some free will left,” I grumbled. At the very least, she hadn’t been a completely burnt-out mind slave. “Obviously, we’d want to know exactly what these runes are and what they do. Best to know if she committed these crimes of her own volition before we put her on trial.” “Not to mention any information we can find about who put the runes on her in the first place,” Scarlett pointed out. “What do you have for me?” I pulled a sheet of parchment out of my bag and passed it over to her. “I recreated them as closely as I could. If you need to see them personally I’m sure the local guards would be happy to let you inspect the prisoner.” “I should do that anyway just to be safe.” She took the parchment, frowning as she read it over. “Not to mention doing a bit of research. Argentium keeps a tight hold on any information regarding fleshcrafting, so I might have to...” She trailed off, frowning to herself. “You said these were carved along her back?” “That’s right.” I took a deep breath. “How bad is it?” “Potentially very bad,” she answered simply. “How much do you know about her?” “Back when I first ran into her in Freeport, she was a wannabe revolutionary playing at being Robin Hoof. She kept her head down after our first encounter, though I saved her from a warlock that was trying to kill her a while back. It seemed like she’d turned over a new leaf until she showed up in Coldharbor and tried to kill me.” I grimaced and rubbed my forehead as I thought back to the fight. “From what little we’ve gotten out of her we’re pretty sure she's pacted to someone, probably whoever put those on her back. They weren’t there the last time I saw her.” “That would be the logical conclusion,” Scarlett agreed. “I don’t suppose she gave you any clues as to who that might be?” “Those runes are the best clue we have so far,” I admitted. “Otherwise, all I have is that she thinks he’s really strong, and judging by the power boost she got from pacting to him, she’s right about that.” “Right, I saw the mess the two of you made of the town square.” She scowled and pulled out a bottle of mead. “How much do you know about Blackfyre?” I probably should’ve said something about her drinking alcohol, especially when she was an Archmagus. Celestia had been pretty strict with me about intoxicants; hard to blame her when I was so good at setting things on fire. But ... this wasn’t the time or place to try and lecture Scarlett. “Blackfyre,” I answered. “He’s an ancient evil dragon who allied with Sombra back during the Crystal Empire War. He was also the one responsible for making Blightspawn like the one I fought.” Scarlett grimaced and cracked the bottle open, taking a long pull on it. “You’re not the only one to have had an encounter. Granted, there are always a few reports of them from farmers and traders who see something in the dark and get spooked, but there’ve been more than usual. Not to mention things are different now that we’ve got a confirmed sighting and an actual body as proof. Obviously we don’t want to set off a panic, especially since the uptick in sightings could just be a result of rumors about the one you killed leaking out, but...” “If there’s one, there might be more,” I concluded simply. “Exactly,” she agreed. “We have to investigate every single report right now. Especially after I’ve seen this.” She swatted down at the sheet of parchment. “So that’s tied into the Blightspawn?” I asked. “When you fought the Blightspawn, I’m sure you noticed there were runes carved into its flesh,” she pointed out. “It’s the same with this Starlight Glimmer, except we can be absolutely sure that she isn’t a leftover from the war. Fleshcrafting this advanced can only mean one of two things: Either Blackfyre himself has returned, or someone’s uncovered a trove of his books.” She paused, then frowned and shook her head. “Or possibly Sombra coming back, though the fact that the Crystal Empire is still sealed away makes that unlikely. Only Blackfyre could be the source of this level of fleshcrafting. Do you understand what these runes do?” “Not really,” I admitted. “Mind explaining it?” “It’s a nasty piece of work.” She pointed to a cluster of runes. “Here’s the part she signed on for, a straight infusion of raw magical energy from her patron. Quite a bit of it too, so whoever she’s serving has power to spare. And here’s the catch.” She pointed out another set of runes. “Nobody hands out that much power without adding a leash. If she doesn’t follow orders, talks back, or does just about anything else that offends her master he can cause crippling pain, try to take control of her body, or a whole host of other nasty things up to making her heart stop or killing her in a number of other, slower ways. It also looks like there’s a bit of foundation work for transforming her into a Spawn. No actual changes yet, but it’ll be easier to turn her if her master wants to.” I winced, almost feeling sorry for Starlight. Almost. “So she’s under a pretty heavy compulsion. That’s going to make it pretty hard to put her on trial for anything.” A halfway competent attorney would say that all her crimes were performed under duress and she wasn’t responsible for her own actions, seeing that she had the magical equivalent of a knife to her throat. “It’s even messier than that.” Scarlett pointed to another cluster. “He’s got a subtle leash along with the overt one. A nasty cocktail of emotional manipulators pumping up all of her worst impulses. She’s going to be a lot angrier, crueler, and less rational.” She shook her head. “If I got called in for expert testimony at her trial, I couldn’t in good conscience say she’s fully responsible for or in control of her own actions.” “So she’s just a puppet.” I scowled down at the parchment. “That begs the question of who’s the puppeteer. What do you think’s more likely—that it’s Blackfyre himself, or just someone who dug up his old works?” I frowned and thought back over my history lessons. “Isn’t Blackfyre supposed to be dead or sealed away?” In hindsight, I probably should’ve bugged Celestia for more details about that thousand-year-old war, but I hadn’t anticipated it becoming so relevant. “Yes. After Sombra and the Crystal Empire were sealed away, Blackfyre requested terms of surrender under dragon law.” Scarlett took a sip of her mead. “The war against Sombra had been long and painful for all involved, and the terms he offered were reasonable enough that everyone thought it best to accept it and put an end to the conflict. Especially since he could use his fleshcrafting to heal anything short of a lethal injury and make a new army of Blightspawn so long as he had the biomass to work with.” “So as long as he got away, he could just patch up and make a new army out of nothing?” I crossed my forelegs over my chest. “That could’ve gotten nasty. What were the surrender terms?” “Blackfyre gave up every single copy of his works on fleshcrafting, a portion of his hoard and agreed to be confined to his cavern in perpetuity,” Scarlett answered. “In exchange, we let him do whatever he wants so long as it doesn’t leave his cave.” “So basically he gets to live and removes most of the threat he posed, and the war ends without what could’ve been a long, ugly fight to pin him down. Makes sense.” I frowned and tapped the table. “But if you think he could be responsible, I guess that means he might break those terms?” “It’s certainly possible.” Scarlett frowned down at her drink. “Though violating dragon law would be unwise in the extreme. Not only would it bring Celestia and Argentium down on his head, but potentially other dragons as well.” She snorted. “Though it’s hard to say if that last would actually apply. A few of them might do it out of actual reverence for the law, but there are plenty who would be happy to take part in bringing down Blackfyre for the chance to take a portion of his hoard. Even after the tribute he paid out in the last war, it’s substantial.” “Figures.” You could always trust a dragon to get a little greedy. Or a lot. “So blatantly breaking the rules is probably out. At least, not unless he thinks he can take Argentium, Celestia, and whoever else decides to get involved. Still, I’m gonna guess he wouldn’t be above exploiting a loophole if he finds one.” “Naturally.” Scarlett frowned down at the parchment. “The only question is whether he’s acting on his own or through a catspaw. I could certainly see him arranging for some of his old books to fall into the wrong hooves, or he could write a new one that just somehow happens to get outside his cave through means that can’t be blamed on him.” “So he could have a useful idiot working for him.” I frowned and amended, “Well, a second useful idiot. There’s already Starlight. Even if it’s not clear how willing she was.” “She was willing enough,” Scarlett growled. “Fleshcrafting is just like any other runic art: it requires an incredible degree of precision. Maybe she’s not fully in control of herself now, but she was when she consented to whatever bargain ended with this.” She slapped a hoof down on the parchment. “Okay, that’s true.” I frowned down at the symbols. “Still, there’s a lot of missing pieces to the puzzle. We don’t even why she made this deal in the first place. Maybe—” “She nearly killed you!” Scarlett snapped. “Don’t think I don’t know about the bruises and bandages just because you’ve got a cloak covering them.” “Some of them are left over from you,” I growled under my breath. Scarlett flinched, her eyes dropping down to the table. She didn’t say anything for long enough to make it awkward, so I decided to try and get things back on topic. “Okay, fine, we agree Starlight did plenty of bad things. But she’s locked up, and I’m fine.” “You very nearly weren’t,” Scarlett murmured. She sighed and shook her head. “If Blackfyre’s using her this could be the prelude to him becoming fully active again. Do you have any idea how many people are in danger if that happens?” “It took Argentium, Celestia, and Luna to beat him last time,” I answered. “Sombra and the Crystal Empire aren’t around to support him anymore, but Luna isn’t here either. So ... yeah, he could do a lot of damage.” “Especially since I doubt he would break a thousand years of quiescence without some reason,” Scarlett murmured. “He surrendered rather than face Celestia, Luna, and Argentium on his own, and if he’s active again you can be sure that Celestia and Argentium would work together against him. The last time Celestia suspected he might be growing active she actually left the throne in the hooves of a regent to see to the matter personally.” “Right, when the whole Shining Path thing happened after the Lunar Rebellion.” I nodded along. “So he has to know that he’d be getting double-teamed. Beating Celestia and Argentium at the same time is a pretty tall order. Either one of them is supposed to be more-or-less an even match for him, and both of them working together...” I frowned and shook my head. “Can’t imagine he’d be trying anything unless he thought he could win. Maybe he’s found a way to bring back Sombra and the Crystal Empire? They were his old allies, after all.” “Argentium is actually investigating the possibility right now.” Scarlett sighed and shook her head. “We tried going by Blackfyre’s old lair as well. No signs of activity, but we only checked it from a distance. Getting closer would involve placing our agents at considerable risk, not to mention that intruding on his territory could provide him with an excuse to claim we’re breaking our agreement with him. It’s even possible that he’s hoping that’s exactly what we’ll do so he can claim that he’s the wronged party.” “So he somehow arranged for bunch of stuff to make you suspicious of him, so that if you investigated he could call you out for trespassing?” I frowned, thinking it over. “That’s a pretty convoluted scheme, but not the craziest one I’ve ever heard of.” He’d been locked up for over a thousand years. That was plenty of time to come up with a few overly-elaborate plans to bring doom upon all his enemies. Scarlett nodded. “It’s a possibility we can’t ignore. Whatever’s going on here, whether it’s some master plan of Blackfyre’s or just a warlock who stumbled onto forbidden knowledge, it’s got the potential to be extremely dangerous.” She frowned at me. “And that’s why I want you on the Venture and out of here. Don’t get involved.” “You know that’s not your call to make,” I shot back. While a part of me was tempted to push the issue, there really wasn’t any point to it. “I’m already leaving anyway. I’ve got to get Glimmer back to Freeport to stand trial, and there are other matters.” “Starlight Glimmer won’t be leaving Northmarch just yet,” Scarlett cut in. “She’s tied up in all this, and until we know just how deep it all goes I want to keep her close at hoof. I understand her current crimes in Freeport are more severe than anything we know for a fact she’s involved in, but she’s still the subject of an active investigation and could potentially be tied into far worse than killing a single antique dealer. Once our investigation is done, we’ll be happy to extradite her to Freeport if needed.” Tempting as it was to argue with her about it, she was right. If Starlight had potentially gotten herself mixed up with someone as apocalyptic as Blackfyre, that took precedence over what should be a pretty open-and-shut case. Especially since putting her on trial for killing Frozen Finds would be pretty hard when there were obvious gaping holes in how and why she did it. There were too many questions and not enough answers. So I did the sensible, mature thing. One of us had to. “Yeah, might be best if you keep her for now. I still need to get back to Freeport regardless. As I said, she’s only part of why I need to get back.” My eyes flicked over to Chainbreaker, which still felt a bit uncomfortable resting on my back. Scarlett must have caught it, because she was frowning at the sword. “I was rather curious why you were carrying that around. May I?” I hesitated a moment, but when I was trying to get along with her and be a professional it would probably be a good idea to go along with a relatively harmless request. Besides, maybe she could tell me something more about the sword. I slowly drew the blade, then carefully set it down on the table. “Interesting.” Scarlett looked it over, a faint frown tugging at her lips. “I know you never used a sword when Celestia was training you, and I hadn’t heard about you picking one up elsewhere...” Her horn lit up as she tried a quick analysis spell. “I thought it might have been a gift from Argentium, but this isn’t her work. Where did you get this?” I didn’t want to outright lie to her, but we did want to avoid the news of Chainbreaker’s theft getting out. No need to mention the sword’s cultural significance or ties to Freeport unless I had to. “Glimmer was using it.” “I doubt that.” She set a couple runestones along the flat of the blade, then nodded to herself. “Swinging it around as a sharp piece of metal, maybe. Actually using it?” She snorted and shook her head, tapping the parchment once more. “Somepony with that carved onto her back would never be able to use this sword.” She picked up her runestones, then dropped them to the ground, carefully studying how they fell. “Chainbreaker. A nice name, very evocative, and I’m sure you know that names have a certain power to them. A servant of darkness and tyranny could never use this. It takes a certain ... free spirit. Curious that she would have a sword she can’t use.” Her eyes flicked back up to me. “You wear it well.” “Thanks,” I grunted, not quite sure what to make of all that. “Why’re you so interested?” Scarlett smirked. “Celestia might have the best foresight, but I’m no slouch at divination. There is a touch of wyrd here, between you and the sword. Perhaps the reason Starlight Glimmer had that sword was not so she could wield it herself, but so that you could claim it from her.” I stared at her, trying to make heads or tails of the words coming out of her mouth. “Um, I’m not sure destiny or fate or whatever you’re talking about works that way.” Scarlett snorted and shook her head. “If you think you know how it works, you’re wrong. Not even Celestia grasps all the intricacies of fate and destiny, and she knows more than either of us.” She picked the sword up and carefully passed it back to me. “Have you used it yet?” “In the fight with Starlight.” Most of my memories of the fight were a bit hazy, probably thanks to the brain damage, but I remembered that. “She had the sword, and I took it from her.” “Right after you used Argentium’s rune to push your combat instincts into overdrive,” Scarlett pointed out. “It would hardly be an extreme leap to say that you felt an intuitively drawn to the blade, and an almost instinctive drive to wield it. As I said, wyrd.” She smirked at me. “I think in a hundred years, when they discuss the history of Chainbreaker your name will be mentioned alongside Ushabti and Torch Charger.”  “Oh.” I grimaced and sheathed the blade. “So you know what it is.” “Magical weapons are something of a hobby of mine,” Scarlett shot back with a knowing grin. “I would be a poor Archmagus if I didn’t recognize it. I know the proper thing to do is to return it to a museum, but that sword came to you for a reason. It might be a good idea to keep it close at hoof until things settle down.” “Right.” I sighed and ran a hoof through my mane. “Just because I’m done with Northmarch doesn’t mean trouble won’t follow me home.” I shook my head and secured Chainbreaker. “Well, thank you for your help, Archmagus Runeseeker. If there’s nothing else...” Scarlett took a deep breath. “Two more things, Sunset. First, I handled our last meeting poorly. I’m sorry.” “Right.” I didn’t say anything more, and there was a long, awkward silence. She was probably waiting for me to forgive her or tell her everything was okay and we could move on. That wasn’t likely to happen anytime soon. I didn’t want to make a big ugly production of it or carry a grudge, but we were way past the point where all she needed to do was apologize and everything would magically be fixed. After the silence had gotten downright painful, she took a deep breath. “Second ... perhaps by way of explaining if not justifying my behavior, there’s something you need to hear from me.” She didn’t say anything for several seconds, long enough that I was wondering if she was going to say anything at all. Finally, she got the words out. “Your father and I are getting a divorce.” I sat there, trying to process what she’d just said. “What? Another long silence hung the in the air. “No, seriously, what?!” She sighed, slumping down in her seat and pulling out another bottle of mead. “I’m sure I don’t need to explain why. I’ve seen him five times in as many years, and even when we can spend time together his mind is always on that damned Steel Rose. Honestly, we should’ve admitted it wasn’t working a long time ago.” “Oh.” I tried to make sense of what she was saying. I mean, it all made sense in that the words logically fit together and whatnot. Of course a married couple that barely even saw each other would eventually decide to call it quits. But at the same time, it just ... didn’t make sense. “It’s ... I mean ... is it really that bad?” Scarlett grimaced and nodded. “I’m sure you know our marriage was as much a political partnership as a matter of romance. It’s not like we never liked one another, it’s just ... I never see him.” Her eyes flicked over to me. “And the old reasons why we stayed together aren’t there anymore. There’s nothing really holding us together but inertia, and now even that’s gone.” Nothing holding them together. I guess that was one of the things couples that would otherwise break up always said. ‘We’re staying together for the children.’ Something that pretty obviously no longer applied when I was long gone. “Um ... wow. I’m sorry.” Scarlett’s ears went flat against her skull. “So am I. This ... it isn’t how I wanted things to go. Your father isn’t a bad stallion, it’s just that...” “He’s off chasing Steel Rose,” I finished for her. “It’s all he’s been doing for years.” “Right.” She sighed and ran a hoof down her face. “Solar’s always swearing he’s right on the verge of finally catching her, that he’s nearly broken the case. I know Gingersnap and Golden Aster were his best friends, and when he said he need to catch their killer I understood and supported him completely, but ... he’s given up everything else in his life to focus on that. You’d think at some point he would’ve realized...” She trailed off weakly, shaking her head. “I suppose there’s no point going over what might have been. I’m sorry you had to hear this. I know it can’t be easy. It’s ... I suppose maybe I thought if I could bring you home he would...” She snorted and let out a bitter sigh. “A fool’s hope. He left long before you did, and I doubt bringing you back would’ve snapped him out of his obsession.” I grimaced, struggling to think of what I could say. It was just so much to deal with. I settled on something safe and easy. “Thanks for telling me yourself.” She nodded glumly. “You deserved to hear this from one of us. It’s ... I know things aren’t right between us, but I can at least do that much for you. And I know you’ve got plenty of reasons to want nothing more to do with me, but...” She sighed and slumped back into her chair. “I lost both of you. It’s too late to save things with Solar, but I’d like a chance to try and make things right with you.” I thought about it for a second. Sure, I had plenty of reasons to be mad at her, and nothing she said changed any of that. Just because she was getting divorced and that was sad didn’t make anything else she’d done okay. Still... “Celestia offered me a guest teaching position at her school for gifted unicorns. Unless something comes up, I’ll be taking it once I get Chainbreaker back and all the other fallout from this mess sorted out. That’ll mean at least a year back in Canterlot. If you’re serious about wanting a second chance, that’s enough time for you to make an effort.” I held up a hoof to cut off whatever she might say next. “I’m not saying you can fix this, just that if you want to have a calm, civil discussion a few months from now, I won’t slam the door in your face.” Scarlett took a deep breath. “Thank you. It’s probably more than I deserve.” “Probably.” I groaned and got out of my chair. “So ... um ... I’m gonna go now.” “Of course.” Scarlett sighed and started putting up her runes. “I suppose I’ll see you in Canterlot, once your business in Freeport is settled, and I have this situation taken care of.” “Yeah, I guess.” I trotted out of the inn, still trying process everything that had just happened. The new inn we were staying at wasn’t quite as nice as the one Starlight had blown apart. It was also more expensive, probably because nobody was too eager to take us in after the last place we stayed at got leveled, even though that was mostly not my fault. Not that I really cared about how much our room and board cost. I had bigger things on my mind. I was still trying to sort everything out when Puzzle rapped on my door, then stepped in a moment later. The trencher full of soup he had smelled good enough that I didn’t complain about him not waiting for permission to enter. He set the food down, then took a seat. “You’re going to wear a groove into the floor or just stomp your way straight through it if you don’t stop pacing so much, Shimmer-mare.” “Yeah, no trashing the inn,” Strumming chimed in as she entered behind her boyfriend. “We had to promise the owner this place wouldn’t get completely wrecked if he let us stay here. You level one building and suddenly you have a reputation...” She cleared her throat. “Anyway, you’re brooding again. We figured we’d help with that.” I grunted and picked up the food, listlessly trying the soup. It was good and I’d been pretty hungry, but after a couple spoonfuls I realized I wasn’t in the mood to eat anything. “Well if I’m brooding, I’ve got a good reason. You were there, you heard the news.” “So we did.” Puzzle took a seat and waved for Strumming to join him. “Sorry about that, this one didn’t intend to intrude on such personal matters. Though perhaps it was inevitable, given you wanted backup in case matters escalated.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “In any event, this one doesn’t blame you for being upset. It’s a natural reaction to such news. If you want to talk about it, we’re willing to listen.” “What’s there to say?” I snapped. “They’re getting divorced, and that sucks.” “Oh really?” Strumming leaned back in her chair, staring at me. “Why’s that matter to you? I thought you said they were nothing but a couple DNA donors to you.” I groaned and ran a hoof down my face. In hindsight, maybe I’d let my bitterness make me say a few things I regretted. Hindsight sucks that way. “Look, just because we’re estranged for very good reasons doesn’t mean I’m happy about their marriage falling apart.” “So talk to us about it,” Puzzle prompted. “Getting it all out in the open is probably better than stewing over it.” “Yeah, we’re your buddies,” Strumming chimed in. “Your number one pals. Boon companions. Whatever you wanna call it, we’re here to help you out.” “That’s the problem!” I groaned, setting the food aside. “I don’t even know what I’m supposed to think about this! It’s just ... it makes perfect sense and has an entirely reasonable explanation, and yet at the same time it doesn’t make any sense at all.” “It’s only natural,” Puzzle assured me. “Children tend to assume their parents will always be there, and you weren’t even present to see their marriage falling apart.” He sighed and shook his head. “Not every marriage lasts forever. Considering how long it’s been since they’ve spent any real time together, perhaps it’s for the best that they go their separate ways.” “Easy to say that when it’s not your parents,” I grumbled. Strumming snorted and shook her head. “Trust me, speaking from experience here, sometimes it’s better to let go. Holding onto things way past the sell-by date just makes them get all nasty and moldy, until the smell spreads and you end up having to clean out your whole icebox with bleach to get rid of it. And then you gotta scrub it all out and stuff to get the bleach smell out, but then you stock it up with fresh veggies and...” She trailed off, then shrugged. “Might’ve let that metaphor get away from me. Point is, sometimes giving up something that’s just not working and is never gonna work is the smart move.” Well, that was about as helpful as anything Strumming usually said. So not at all. “What am I supposed to do? How do I fix this?” “‘Fix this’?” Puzzle repeated incredulously. “You mean the divorce?” “Well yeah.” I shrugged. “I mean, they’ve got a problem, and it needs to get fixed.” Strumming sighed and put a hoof on my shoulder. “Sorry, but this isn’t something you just fix. From the sounds of things, your parents have already decided on this, and they’ve probably been thinking about it for a long time.” “What could you even do to fix it?” Puzzle asked. “Even if your father caught Steel Rose tomorrow, that wouldn’t undo the years he spent away from his family because of his obsession. Just like you won’t immediately forgive your mother for neglecting you and leaving Celestia to raise you just because now she has regrets and wants to reconnect. Even if you do eventually reconcile, the two of you will never have anything close to a traditional mother-daughter relationship. The damage has already been done, and it can’t be erased. Only dealt with.” “And divorcing probably is their way of dealing with it,” Strumming pointed out. “I mean, it doesn’t sound like it’s really bitter or acrimonious or anything. Just like they’ve both kind of accepted that what they’ve been doing isn’t working, and they need to change.” “But what if I...” I trailed off helplessly, trying to come up with some sort of solution to the problem. Nothing came to mind, but I couldn’t just ... not do anything. Puzzle sighed patiently. “This is just a decision you have to let them make on their own.” I slumped down helplessly. “Yeah, I guess it is. I mean, there’s nothing I can do, and it sounds like there’s nothing I should do. It’s just ... it sucks. Especially since...” “You think it might be your fault,” Strumming finished for me. “I mean, you running off and abandoning them couldn’t have been great for the family cohesion, and I’m pretty sure they had a couple fights over whose fault it is that you don’t want much to do with them.” “Strumming,” Puzzle groaned. “However,” she continued on heedlessly, “let’s not kid ourselves here. Your birth parents dropped the ball in a huge way. Sure, they weren’t outright abusive monsters or anything, but they hit you with so much neglect you latched onto the first pony to show you an ounce of positive attention. Sometimes parents are bad. Not evil or horrible or monsters, but just really objectively terrible at some of the big things that go into raising a kid.” She frowned, looking out the window at the snowy night. “Their flaws and obsessions that made them bad parents are also what’s breaking them up. Everyone says your dad’s been off chasing Steel Rose for years, way before you left Canterlot. Just like your mother always put her career over you. I’ll bet you all my snacks she put the job over him, too. S’pretty obvious that’s the number one reason your parents are going splitsville.” Strumming shrugged “Really, it’s just making the de facto separation official. Beats pretending everything is fine when anyone with a working brain knows it’s not, or acting like one day he’ll finally catch the bad guy and it’ll all go back to normal like nothing ever happened. Just gotta be realistic about these things. Sure, it sucks, but that’s just the way things are sometimes. Deal with it.” I groaned and flopped back on the bed. “I’m working on it.” I sighed and looked up at the two of them. “Thanks for the talk. It helped, but I think I’d like to be alone for a while.” “No prob.” Strumming got up and opened the door. “You heard her, bug boy. March your cute little butt outta here.” She paused, glancing back at me. “Let us know if you need anything, okay? You know where to find us.” The two of them headed out, leaving me alone in a dark room, with only my own confused and unhappy thoughts for company.