As the hospital elevator dropped into the giant underground generator chamber, Valey stood next to Starlight, her brain running at miles per minute. She needed a perfect grasp of what she was doing, and her goal was specifically not to rationalize going to Mistvale to chase Kero's mercenaries. Right now, she needed a clear head, focused on one thing: she was tired of not knowing who she was, of finding tidbit after dark tidbit that renewed her doubts and prevented her from being at peace. Chauncey was going to give her all the answers he was worth, and that would be the end of that.
"You're nervous," Starlight remarked.
"Me? Nervous?" Valey brushed it aside... then hesitated. "Yeah, look, who wouldn't be? But I'm gonna be a whole lot more nervous the next time someone tells me something spooky about where I came from if I don't find out on my own."
Memories of Ironridge floated across her mind as the elevator slid to a stop, of a dim red prison in the flame barracks where she had become Maple and Starlight's friend once and for all. When Ironridge and the Defense Force had no longer been enough, when she officially broke with pretending to be the monster she always believed she was... She had tried to be good. She had tried to live a normal life, away from her history and all its secrets. And everything she had started there was about to be finished here and now.
"Come on, Starlight," she said, sliding open the doors to Stanza's room. "Chauncey! Where are you!?"
The room was lit yet empty, Stanza's monstrous form nowhere to be seen. Valey's eyes flitted back and forth, from the observation platform to any other entrances, and finally to the rails leading to the tunnel in the wall. "Chauncey!"
Starlight shrugged. "Well, it can't be like he spends all his time down here. Right?"
"Nah, this place must have a security system." Valey frowned, striding forward. "He's gotta be-"
"Looking for someone?" Chauncey's voice interrupted from the doorway they had just used.
Valey and Starlight both spun. "I see you're back," Chauncey told them, standing in the entrance with his miter swapped out for a hood on his robe. "Fancy meeting you again. After our last talk, I had begun to fear you wouldn't want anything to do with me."
"Yeah, that was yesterday." Valey fixed him with her gaze, taking a step closer. "Look, old dude, I've got some questions and you've got answers. Cutie mark. Seeing the future. From the moon." She tapped her flank, then pointed upward. "I know you know what I am, and I wanna know too."
Chauncey gave her a look, Starlight standing behind Valey for the time being. "Then it sounds like we're on the same page. I assume you know of your purpose, and what I am here to help you become."
Valey held out a wing. "Nuh-uh. I like being me, and you're not doing any weird stuff to change that any time soon. What I want to know is how you knew I existed in order to start looking for me."
Chauncey shrugged. "Well... that's a long story."
"Tell it." Valey glared.
"I lived in Mistvale once," Chauncey began, starting to pace. "In fact, you could say I was an acolyte of some renown. You'd be surprised at the things you can learn, being near the highest circles of the Night Mother's teachings. And I may have heard a story about Luna's Artifice. Are you familiar with the Church of the Nine Virtues?"
"Yakyakistan's religion?" Valey tilted her head. "Yeah, a little. Seeing as I'm from Yakyakistan..."
Chauncey nodded. "Hope. Love. Knowledge. The three societal virtues that compliment the personal virtues of the Elements of Harmony. It is said the world contains three immensely powerful artifacts that embody these virtues, wielded by goddesses or else lost long ago. Our creator, Princess Luna, wielded the Immortal Dream, the crystallized virtue of hope. With it, she was able to create brands from nothing, and eventually our entire race. If a single brand is the power to make one wish come true, this is the ability to grant all wishes. To make manifest any and every one of your heart's desires... the true power of a god."
"Okay..." Valey watched him warily. "Don't start rambling, dude."
Chauncey eyed her with a be quiet look. "So what do you think would happen if someone wished upon the Immortal Dream for one of the other two virtues?"
Valey blinked. Then she frowned. "The same thing it always does. Make a cutie mark?"
"Please use real terminology," Chauncey sighed. "They're called brands. And yes, that's precisely what it did."
Starlight stuck her tongue out from behind Valey, where Chauncey couldn't see.
"Luna's Artifice," Chauncey continued, "is a brand with a lesser, limited ability to predict the future, a shadow of the ultimate power of the embodiment of love. The power only Garsheeva is allowed to wield..." He narrowed his eyes. "Something upon which she stakes her claim to godhood."
"Well, that's great," Valey groaned. "Except, you know what? I'm not sure I believe you. First off, just because you know something like my mark might exist doesn't explain being sure it'll come out of that moon glass meteor if you just look hard enough. Second, if I am that special, why was I the very first mark from there to get a body? Just gonna call that a massive coincidence?" She raised an eyebrow. "Third, okay, maybe you've got some reason you're sure Luna sent me down from the moon, or wherever this is going. What about all the hundreds and thousands of other souls in that meteor? You got a story for where they came from?"
"Are there any coincidences for one who can change the future?" Chauncey shrugged. "I only learned of your existence when Kero decided to tell me you had been living under his nose for years of searching and experimentation, and in a body Stanza could work with at that! You know more about your powers than I do, Valey. If you see a future you don't like, why not change it? What might seem a lucky coincidence to others could be a calculation from you, because you can know things no other can."
Valey tapped a hoof. "Not really answering the question there, old geezer. So I'm gonna ask again: congrats, you knew I existed. Why did you think I was gonna be in that moon glass?"
Chauncey didn't seem to have a better answer. "Ancient legends and prophecies from another time. You don't think Luna wouldn't have used the artifice she created, would you?"
Valey frowned. "Buddy, I can tell when someone's... You know what? Nah. I'm not telling you what my butt can and can't do. But I'm pretty sure it can't read stuff thousands of years in advance, if it's a 'more limited copy' of the real thing."
"Then maybe Luna made a promise on what she intended to do," Chauncey offered. "If a goddess possesses the power to make their will an absolute reality, what is the difference from them between a promise and a prophecy?"
Valey folded her ears. That was actually a good point... "So what, you guys have lore up in Mistvale that said this meteor would come?"
"Something of the sort," Chauncey said, tilting his head. "You're not thinking of going to Mistvale to fact-check me, are you?"
"Lemme guess." Valey hovered, folding her forelegs and pointing a rear one at Chauncey. "If I say yes, you're going to ask me a favor about a certain insane monk who got sealed away, aren't you?"
"It sounds like you're very astute," Chauncey agreed. "I have two Nightmare Modules, and I want the rest. Actually, there's only one I really need... Nightmare Module Five, the Treachery Module. Mistvale also has legends on what each of the modules do, and this one is very relevant to my interests."
"Do I wanna know?"
Chauncey bowed his head. "Oh, it's completely harmless," he assured. "The fifth module is nothing but a recording of a memory. One of Princess Luna's memories... specifically, a memory of her greatest betrayal. I want to see this memory and know what it contains."
"Uhhh..." Valey squinted. "Dare I ask why?"
"Apparently you do." Chauncey shrugged. "And I have my reasons. You sound like you're familiar with the tale of Monk Lord Yanavan. What's he infamous for, again? Betraying someone?"
"The Mistvale high monk council..." Valey nodded, slowly following.
"It's fascinating." Chauncey turned, continuing to pace. "All the stories say he stole the modules as part of his treachery, but what if it's the other way around? What if he learned what was inside, and it was such a terrible secret it destroyed his faith in the religion altogether? The most devout becoming the most despised in a single night... Such a secret could be very powerful."
Valey squinted. "You think it's a weapon to blackmail the Night Mother. Something you could tell all the batponies in Mistvale and the Empire, and get them to abandon her and follow me instead. After you've finished whatever you want to make out of my cutie mark."
Chauncey's grin widened. "Well, you caught on perfectly! Now, it would be much simpler if the Night Mother cared about her borrowed children and stood aside or helped us, but I've always been an advocate for contingencies."
"Ohh bananas." Valey gave him a worried look. "Yeah, I'm really not thinking I'm cool with where you're going with this."