//------------------------------//
// Trust Issues 
// Story: The Immortal Dream 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

"You, mystery mare, have aroused my curiosity," Coda said, pacing in a circle in the dimly-lit room. "Speak! From wither do you hail? And what kind of creature are you, anyway?"

"What?" I blinked, turning to watch her. "I'm from Ironridge. Or do you mean before that? And don't you think it's a little obvious?" I rustled my wings.

"Intriguing. Very intriguing," Coda stopped to muse. "I hear the rude mendacities of the common folk can be quite a sound to behold when they are not dragged into shape by the presence of a goddess, yet you make no pretense of decorum at all despite my royal stature! I knew I was right to summon you here. Think, boor! Tell me you understand the gravity of your situation, and address me so lovelessly only in jest!"

I usually considered myself a reasonably eloquent pony, or at least capable of being one when the situation demanded it, but the large filly's verbosity left me at a complete loss for words. "You what?"

Coda rubbed her chin and stared at me. "No bowing, no platitudes... Quite the consternation. Your reactions are impossible to parse! Creature, I shall ask plainly: do I frighten you?"

"No," I said, starting to wonder if this was really a goddess despite the obvious trappings of her body. "But it's a little hard to follow when you talk like that. Think you could tone it down a tad?"

"Hah! Hahaha! You ask of me an accommodation for your slow, mortal thoughts?" Coda's eyes widened eagerly. "Any true lackey of mine wouldn't dare attempt such a thing. Creature, I find your lack of sophistry surprisingly engaging. Is this the way of the common folk, who live their lives unaware of the grand order of which I am at the top?"

I wracked my brain, trying to figure out what was going on here and how I should respond. "Err, yeah. I'm pretty sure anyone would react like I am?"

Coda watched me with intense curiosity. "You say this for truth? Hmm. I long suspected there were more in the world than adoring believers and despots ripe for smashing. You are not a despot, right? Not a purveyor of hatred and tyranny, here to be redeemed by the power of love?"

"No way," I insisted, starting to feel a little more confident this alicorn child didn't hold any ill will toward me, but not at all confident she wouldn't do anything else. "I'm just a normal pony. I came up here because I was kind of hoping you were real."

Coda chuckled. "Ha! False on both counts. Though I suppose I can't blame you for not knowing you can't fool a goddess. After all, it's clear you've never met one."

I frowned. I certainly had met the light spirit, and unless the pony under my mask was holding back a lot from me, it had been nothing like this. "What do you mean, false? I know why I'm here!"

At least, I hoped I did.

Coda gave an airy, exasperated sigh. "Surely you at least know what I do all day of every day, right?" She pointed an oversized wing at her moderately disturbing throne. "Sit here, listen to and collect prayers from the faithful to bolster my holy power? Love and I are no strangers, and whatever was in your prayer was clearly not love. Whine and deny it, I'm an authority. Although, I will admit I find it strangely refreshing not to be loved and admired for a change, so whatever you're doing, keep it up! The Lady of the Pink Flame grants you her permission!"

I raised an eyebrow. "And you think I'm not a pony because...?"

"Because my magic turns up its nose at you," Coda primly explained. "Your prayer reached me as if through a blanket, and refused to become one with my power. Such was my curiosity that I was compelled to summon you here. And indeed, with you shorn from the presence of my altars, what little insight I possessed into your emotions has vanished without a trace!" She flickered a light along her horn, as if sniffing the air with her magic. "So great is my power that I can read the surface emotions of every pony and being on this ship, and detect the lives of those at quite a distance further. Except for you. You simply feel like..." Her aura touched me again. "Nothing."

My heartbeat sped up. Nothing? I had just learned there was a real, physical component to my mask, my emptiness, my state of mind. Was she saying she could feel that, too?

"But behold," she lamented, pushing back her mane with a wing. "That spark of surprise in your eyes. The sound of a light gasp, inaudible to all but the most divine senses. I doubt you are any mere aberration or ghost. And even were that to be so, you seem to react as though you possess emotions. Tell me, creature: what are you feeling right now? Be truthful!"

I glanced at her, hesitated, and decided to let her have it. "I'm really suspicious of you and a little weirded out. I'm disappointed because you aren't as much like the real thing as I hoped, but I'm also surprised and worried by what you can do. What of it?"

And then I sat down. I had just mouthed off to a goddess. Time to accept my fate, whatever unpredictable curveball it might be.

"Disappointed?" Coda gave me an incredulous look. "You? In me? Explain yourself, churl!"

I glanced at the door, knowing when I said it that exasperated honesty probably wasn't the best idea and regretting it now. "Look, like... You know..."

"I know many things," Coda said. "More than most anyone on my ship, pity be unto their intellects. However, the one thing I in fact do not know is what you are talking about. Or do I need to repeat myself about being unable to sense your emotions? Even next to my altars, you were muted and dim. Now explain yourself. With your mouth. Your benevolent, mind-reading goddess of love is shockingly unable to do the work for you, and it makes her very upset."

"You mean like a normal pony?" I shot back, unable to quite keep my nerves in check. "Because most ponies can only use their words to communicate. That's kind of how this works."

Coda frowned, sifting through my words.

"You get all that?" I tilted my head.

"This is most disorienting," Coda said in a perfectly neutral tone. "I can't predict what you're going to say."

"You do that for other ponies?" I tilted my head.

"At first, I took your odd blatherings to be mere chaotic emissions from a specter shaped like a sarosian," Coda told me. "But I'm starting to suspect there's a reason to them, one I cannot grasp." She looked straight at me. "You vex me, creature."

I nodded. "Likewise."

Coda laughed. "This is quite engaging! Consider your goddess enamored by your company, which I might add is no mean feat. Most of my subjects require only a mere trifle of focus to appease, forcing me to liven up our conversations on my own. But you demand actual effort to commune with. Tell me, creature: do your desires go beyond your goddess's blessing, a mere nod of the head and acknowledgement of your presence?"

"I don't even know why I'm here," I answered, feeling surreal from all the filly's mood swings. "Should I?"

"Fascinating." Coda sat back. "What kind of place is it, inside your head? Do you like it there? The workings seem far more complex than my followers, but perhaps that is simply a daydream, after I've bored myself so much picking over them and their goals. After all, you, I cannot know. For all I am aware, the inner sanctums of your consciousness could be just as lively a place as my own!"

"Inside my head?" I blinked. "I, err, like it. I mean, I spend a lot of time there, with both the good and the bad." I tilted my head. "You... really need to ask about that?"

Coda giggled. "This is most exciting... Of course I need to ask. Weren't you listening? I've never needed to ask before because I can read others' feelings. You're different. I can't read you." She hesitated. "You needed to ask because you forgot, because you were thinking about other things."

I nodded. "Yeah, that's... one way of putting it... Have you legitimately had no equine interaction ever?"

Coda shrugged and sighed. "If you mean dallied among the commonfolk, I have not. My calling, heavily upon my shoulders does it weigh, is too important. Unless, of course, you know how I might carry my throne with me so I can-" She glared at the door. "What?"

A monk in lengthy robes was peering in. He bowed his head. "Princess, please do not forget and neglect your prayers. The altars have been used several times since-"

Coda rolled her eyes and lit her horn, a pink-black telekinetic field gently lifting him and carrying him back outside. "Saving the world truly waits for no creature, be they a magnificent goddess or an eldritch anomaly..." She spread her wings, flapping back onto her throne and lounging. The spiky crown on the statue's head seemed to sparkle a little when she landed, and so did her special talent - a perfect image of said crown. Not all that unlike mine, except hers was right-side-up. Probably because my talent was imitating other ponies, and hers was being a goddess - the thing ponies were supposed to imitate.

She sighed, something nebulous and magical happening between her and the throne. "Speak and it shall come to pass," she lamented. "See what I mean? The trappings of my duty are here, and here they shall stay, barring the appearance of someone inequinely good at carrying giant thrones."

"Do they keep you chained to that thing?" I frowned, stepping closer, suddenly worried.

"Stay back!" Coda warned, sitting atop her throne. "The divine energies contained within this relic graduated beyond a mere mortal's abilities many years ago. A single errant touch from a hoof, and it could rend your very soul in twain, severing your life instantly."

I recoiled sharply.

"Of course, I could probably put you back together again," Coda went on, "so don't worry overmuch. I still doubt it would be a pleasant experience. And who knows? Perhaps the shroud that separates you from me would inure you to its touch."

I sat back, deciding not to risk it, and breathed a little easier - if she was warning me about danger, that probably definitely meant she wasn't considering anything nefarious towards me. Maybe. I still wasn't sure how this filly worked, but I was starting to get a picture of someone very sheltered and perhaps being conditioned to live in a way that wasn't in their best interest.

This kid may or may not be a goddess, very likely had access to magic I didn't, and also may or may not need my help.

"What are you doing up there?" I asked instead.

Coda shrugged. "Absorbing the prayers of the faithful and adding them to my power. My throne is connected to the altars and acts as a charging pedestal of sorts. Wish by wish, prayer by prayer, the purifying love of my subjects is added to my own, that I might use it to save the world from dire need."

I squinted. "Really?"

"To tell the truth, it is quite a laborious process," Coda admitted. "But I am not one to shirk divine destiny. The power of love is what must be used, and so shall I use it."

"Use it for what?" I pressed.

"To save the world," Coda said, as though it were obvious. "My prayers request it frequently. Are you telling me you think your world is not one in need of saving?"

I had no idea how to respond.

"Oh dear," Coda sighed. "I've said something that doesn't compute. I suppose it was too much to assume your mind was as wide and complex as-"

"I'm thinking!" I snapped. "Saving the world's kind of abstract and vague, don't you think? Like, what part of the world? Do you mean stopping all of existence from turning to dust, or do you mean stopping ponies from being ruled by someone evil? Averting a war? Preventing some natural disaster, like an earthquake or meteor? Sure, we've got societal divisions and stuff that I'm one of the least-knowledgeable ponies around on because I'm pretty new to Ironridge. Does fixing those count as saving the world? If you're being literal about the power of love, seems like that one would be pretty relevant. But does it count as saving the world if you're actually just fixing a problem in Ironridge? To some ponies here, Ironridge might as well be the whole world, but how much is anyone living in Varsidel gonna care?"

Coda looked as though I had clubbed her with a book.

"Well?" I tilted my head.

"The... thoughts you espouse are quite complex," Coda sighed, folding her ears. "Tell me, do you know other mortals who understand the distinctions between these things?"

I blinked. "Not sure who actually talks about it, but I'm pretty sure everyone I know knows that."

"Now that's mysterious." Coda drummed her feathers along the rim of her throne. "Hmmm..."

I didn't need to be an emotion-reading alicorn to tell she was troubled. "Are you alright, there?"

"I am debating whether and how much to trust you," Coda said. "It is quite a conundrum, because unlike others, I cannot simply read your intentions." She looked at me quizzically. "Mortals like you cannot read the emotions of your contemporaries, correct? Tell me, how do you determine conclusively whether or not someone is worthy of trust?"

"We don't." I shrugged. "Best we can do is guess."

"I smell deceit." Coda narrowed her eyes. "Do you mean to keep your goddess in the dark? How could society function in such a way?"

"With a whole lot of risks," I told her. "I once got kidnapped by changelings because I thought they were someone I could trust, and-" I blinked, realizing the way she was looking at me. "What?"

"Kidnapped by changelings..." Coda whispered under her breath.

I felt my heartbeat increase again. "You know something about them?"

"No," Coda instructed, though it felt more like no I don't want to talk about it than no I don't know. "Tell me more of how you decide whom to trust."

"Well, I..." I fumbled slightly, realizing I was trying to explain a basic equine concept like trust to a child who had never needed to understand it, and also whom I would probably benefit from having trust me. This was a situation where, if I was a bad pony, I could play things considerably to my advantage.

I swallowed. "I'm maybe not the best pony to ask. See, I don't really trust... anyone. I trust some ponies, I mean, but like... you don't just trust someone or not trust them. You can trust someone partway, and decide it's okay for them to know some things, but not others. And if someone proves trustworthy by not breaking your trust with the small stuff, you can trust them with bigger stuff. And sometimes you just have to take a risk, and even if you read someone perfectly, ponies change with time, so someone might go from trustworthy to untrustworthy or vice versa. And different ponies will be more or less trustworthy depending on who they're dealing with. Like, there might be someone who's normally pretty trustworthy, but wouldn't be trustworthy to me if they don't like batponies. It's complicated, yeah?"

Coda had clearly been given a lot to chew on. "Your mind is more storied than I thought."

I nodded. "I bet only looking at the surface makes it hard to slow down and get to know ponies, but a lot of us are like that. Bottom line, though, trust is something you just have to choose to give."

Coda looked at me. "Do you trust me?"

"It's not a yes or no question," I said with a shrug. "I trust you not to shoot lasers at me or send me straight to the afterlife, which I really wasn't sure if I should do when I first got here. I trusted you with my prayer at your statue, though I still figured by then you might be a fake. Do I trust you with my important secrets, the stuff that keeps me up at night? No."

"So what you're saying is..." Coda mulled over her words. "I should trust you with some things, but not others. What happens if I'm wrong?"

"Could be anything," I apologized. "Once you trust someone, you have no control over what happens if they break it. That's why I'm not usually very trusting. Sorry if I'm the wrong pony to learn this from. But, you realize, by asking me this stuff you're already trusting the answers I'm giving you."

Coda looked disturbed.

"Hey, err..." I hesitated. "When you've absorbed enough prayers, or something, come down off that throne. You can better interact with ponies when you're standing on the same level."

Coda kicked off her throne, not even bothering to wait or finish what she was doing. "If you were in my position," she said, staring levelly at me, "would you trust a shrouded enigma like yourself?"

"I don't know enough about your position to say," I answered. "And you realize that both yes and no are things an untrustworthy pony would say."

Coda frowned. "I suppose I could command you pray to my altars again. Naught but a trace of emotion pierced your veil that time, but a trace is far more than zero. But that trace spoke nothing I recognized about your true intentions, and I doubt anything would change now... Hmm. I think I shall do as you suggested, and give you a portion of my trust. With some things, but not others."

She said that... but when she looked at me, it was like she was searching for approval, for a teacher to tell her she had made the right decision.

I nodded, and she brightened.

Not too long ago, there had been a time when I - or, the pony under my mask - had been terrified of authority, of making choices with consequences. And somehow, now, here I was with a goddess, and entirely against my hopes and advice she had decided I was a moral authority she should learn from.

The lingering dregs of that fear rebelled, and I carefully suppressed a shudder. Whatever I could do with a responsibility like this... It was a good thing I considered myself a good pony, but I really hoped I didn't mess anything up. The one task weightier than being a god had to be trying to teach one.

"Excellent," Coda said, her wings rustling in excitement. "Now I suppose I must invent trials for you to prove your worth. Something..." She hesitated, then tilted her head. "Creature, do you even desire my trust? I would think the answer obvious, but you are rapidly demonstrating that no assumption should be a given."

I shrugged. "Being friends beats being enemies, but I'm not gonna put myself in danger if the alternative is just leaving each other alone. And my name's not Creature. It's Halcyon."

"Ah! So you do have a moniker." Coda instantly looked thoughtful, and then took a deep breath. "Well met, Halcyon the garbed, lady of the veil, impenetrable be her emotions, may all her enemies stumble into holes, warden of trust, she who could resist the pink flame!"

"What?" I tilted my head.

"Your epithets." Coda shrugged. "Creating these is a hobby of mine, and I decided your name was too plain without them. Do try to remember them, though I shall see them penned in ink 'ere long to spare us the trials of forgetfulness. Say..." She pursed her lips. "Do mortal minds require entertainment and stimulation as well? It seems a logical conclusion, but my clergy are quite a dour and serious bunch, and my faithful come here with minds only for love."

"Yeah, we do stuff for fun." I shrugged, at this point completely used to answering questions that should be basic sense. "Reading books, going for walks, listening to music, hanging out with your friends..."

Coda listened along. "Ah, to be unburdened by the trappings of destiny. I have heard friendship involves a mutual exchange of love among equals. Would that I could someday fulfill my duty and partake in it myself. Although even once I no longer need my love, finding a contemporary goddess surely cannot be easy..." She rubbed her chin. "Say, you wouldn't happen to be a goddess, would you?"

I blinked. "I... really don't think so?"

Coda sighed. "A pity. Inscrutable as you are, you could almost pretend to be one and I could do nothing to refute it. In fact, I like you, so I think I shall pretend you are regardless. It would certainly be an explanation for how you defy my powers so. Princess Halcyon the Garbed... Yes, I hereby amend thy list of titles! Congratulations!"

I wasn't sure what to say.

"Besides." Coda shrugged. "You did not say you know yourself for certain not to be a goddess, which means there exists a possibility in which I am right. But on to more salient things. I desire for you to have a reason to desire my trust. Please, ask of me a boon that could only be granted by a goddess of considerable power."

"Like, as a free favor?" I tilted my head. "Or would this put me in your debt somehow?"

Coda chuckled gracefully. "Debt? How barbaric. A true goddess attains fealty through the love and admiration of her subjects, not by forcing their hooves. Nay, it is a simple matter: once you have earned my trust, I have an important favor I would ask of you. Of course, no favors to a goddess shall go uncompensated. So speak, Halcyon! What wishes inhabit your soul that would be most compelling to see fulfilled?"

Well, that was hard. Not because I had too few goals, but because I had too many of them... What was something I wanted recently, yet wasn't just a thing I could acquire by wandering around and exploring?

Private space. Yes, that was it. I nodded. "How about a house?"

Coda looked like she had just swallowed a fish. "A house? The Holy Princess of Love offers you your heart's desire, and a meager house is the extent of your imagination? The desires of the common folk must be substantially out of touch with reality..."

Not the response I was expecting, but in hindsight, not too surprising, either. "You're saying no because that's too small?" I pressed. "Like, what's your idea of a good reward?"

"Behold," Coda instructed, lighting her horn. "And move aside a bit. I shall show you the true extent of my power."

I moved, realizing a rectangle on the floor where I had been standing was suddenly glowing. Coda's aura flared... and a section of the floor lifted away as she pried open a well-concealed trapdoor.

She set it aside, and motioned for me to look. I did.

Down below, in the ship's hold, was a veritable ocean of gold. Coins, goblets, candle holders, treasure chests full of coins floating in deeper piles of coins, crowns, necklaces, gem-encrusted jewelry, swords made of gold, golden horseshoes, golden body armor, all sorts of things that had no business being made of gold and yet were.

I couldn't tell how deep it was, but at no point could I see the floor. I couldn't see any walls, and upon gripping the edge and lowering my head all the way in, it ran across the entire base of the ship, all lit by a pink haze from Coda's horn. The amount of gold on display roughly matched my expectations for the royal treasury of a cross-continental empire. It was probably more money than was contained in the entire rest of Ironridge put together... Physical money, at least. Banking and economics weren't my strong suit.

The sheer quantity of money on display left me gobsmacked. And, while one side of my brain was on vacation, the analytical side decided to step in.

"How does your ship fly with all that?" I got up, staring at Coda in disbelief. "And how does the hull not fall off?"

Coda shrugged. "The ship is powered by my throne, which is a link to my own power, and not even a force such as gravity can oppose the power of love. I suppose the hull must be good old-fashioned engineering." She gave me an appraising look. "Now that you have witnessed the ordinary, real-world, financial power of a goddess, which is not to say I possess a shortage of mystical powers either, are you quite sure you would be motivated by something as paltry as a house?"

I hesitated... and suddenly remembered one of my first goals, one I had immediately written off as very long-term. "How about an airship?"

Coda's eyes lit up in interest. "An airship... Now you're thinking. Small, crewable by one, built for range and speed over cargo capacity, I take it? Or perhaps something bigger? Either way, that could make quite the enticing reward..."

"Now hold up," I protested. "Just so we're clear, you're not trying to hire me for a bogus gig with promises that are too good to be true, right? Because I've had that happen before. Maybe you're trying to flex your wealth, maybe you really could buy one, but trust runs both ways."

"Indeed." Coda nodded. "That is why before making any offers, I must test whether I can trust you."

"Hold on," I warned. "That's not what I said. I've got a bad history with being offered jobs that sound too good to be true. Tell me why I should trust you."

Coda blinked. "How do I...? I..." Her eyes narrowed in realization. "I need to take opportunities to build your trust in me."

She looked at me, once again, for approval.

"Yeah, that's..." This didn't feel like Aldebaran at all. This, if anything, felt like I was Leitmotif and Coda was a seven-months-younger me. "That's how it's done."

"Hah." Coda replaced the floor cover, hiding the gold away. "So then, Princess Halcyon. How can Princess Coda, scion of Izvaldi, averter of ruin, smarter than that Chauncey guy but pretty too, demonstrate to you her worthiness of trust?"

"Well..." What was I supposed to say? This was the part I explicitly didn't know. No one could demonstrate they were worthy of my trust because that wasn't just something I gave. Not when I was trusting them to do a thing like not pull an Aldebaran on me when offering something of ridiculously high value as compensation for work. The best thing I could do was stall. "How about, for now, we just settle for meeting again soon? Not ask for anything big or make any promises right now. Be patient. That sort of stuff. You know?"

Coda puffed out her chest. "I am a paragon of patience! Wait, paragon of... Aha! I must remember to add that to the official epithet register... Yes, this is good. I, likewise, shall trust you to return in about...?" She tilted her head. "As an immortal, my perception of time is likely far different from the common folk. What say you, Princess Halcyon?"

"I dunno." I shrugged. "A day, two days, a week? Sometime within the next week. I've kind of got a real job, and I don't always know when I'll be able to make a trip up the mountain." Jamjars had given us our upcoming work schedule, I recalled, but couldn't remember it off the top of my head.

"So I have occasionally heard." Coda nodded along. "The world of the commonfolk must be a fascinating place. For my part, may I trouble you to bring me a book next you visit? One you would not mind leaving with me. My clergy pen their own literature for my consumption and enjoyment, but I am quite curious to see how the trappings of your world compare."

"Yeah." I nodded. "I can do that. So let's just forget about airships and jobs and whatever, and I'll come visit again in the next few days?"

Coda's eyes sparkled. "I should enjoy that very much. In the meantime, take this as a small and unconditional gift." She lit her horn and floated several gold coins towards me. "This should go a long way towards your house, should you still want one in lieu of your airship. You did leave a prayer, after all, even if it was not one I could make use of."

I took the coins. "Err, thanks?"

"It is my pleasure." Coda bowed. "Moreover, meeting someone I could not predict has been one of the most interesting things to happen around here in quite a long time. Receiving prayers and saving the world is..." She narrowed her eyes, glanced around, and drew close to my ear. "Frequently boring beyond measure. Refrain from passing this secret along to the ears of my clergy, would you? I must present a strong and noble countenance for their continued inspiration. It will be our little secret. With which I am trusting you. Haha!"

I chuckled too. "How long have you been doing this, anyway?"

Coda bowed. "I am nineteen years of age, though I am told I bear the physique of a filly not half that. This is because, as a goddess, I age differently than mortals. A body as powerful as mine takes longer to mature, so I likely am much more of a child than a mortal equally old. Not that I would know, with how infrequently I am visited by the younger generations... But do not let this worry you. I am prepared for my destiny. Your world will be safe under my loving wings."

I frowned. She hadn't answered what I asked, but in a way, maybe she had. "So... your whole life has been spent on this airship, then?"

"Not always this one," Coda told me. "But other ships, indeed. If you wish to partake of my history, however, perhaps we might discuss it on your next visit? The hour grows late, and I should not like to be hurried in hearing your thoughts upon my tale."

Right. I had caught her late in the night, not long before they usually took off to fly who knew where... "Where do you go when you're not at the skyport, by the way?" I asked.

"We circle the city," Coda explained, walking with me toward the exit. "There, I use my holy power to scan and measure the land. It is an important duty pertaining to our search-" Her eyes widened. "Ah, but I should not yet speak freely on these things. My apologies, Princess Halcyon."

A search, huh?

We entered the main room, which had less activity than earlier in the night, but still several city ponies lounging about and chatting with the clerics.

"May the evening lovingly greet you, O faithful followers," Coda said, raising her voice and addressing the room. "Your love and devotion stirs the very echelons of my soul with its commitment to peace. Alas, the time has come, as it always does, that we must depart 'ere the setting moon. Your princess bids you go with love, and return again to mark the moonrise come tomorrow."

Everyone began to murmur, shuffle and leave, with many throwing out deep bows and honorifics to the alicorn on their way out. I watched them, not needing alicorn princess magic to read the feelings on display. Many of these ponies, the ones who had stayed here until the night's close, looked at her like the proprietor of an estate. Their thanks was a mix of obligatory, ceremonial, and taking her for granted. They didn't dislike her, or hold anything against her. They weren't particularly afraid of her. There was no love or legitimate admiration, either. Just a kind of respect reserved for a deliberately negligent authority figure that allowed patrons to bend the rules. They looked at her like she was a pony who was capable of taking away their fun, yet didn't. And that was the wary, watery extent of their gratitude.

Coda, however, appeared to be drinking it up. "Ah, the adoring populace," she whispered into my backwards ear. "I still suspect them to be quite a bit more shallow than the possibilities you present, but only the most devoted remain until the finale."

"Princess." Two robed ponies bowed to her as the last guests departed. "Did your meeting go according to your will?"

Coda glanced at me. "No," she said with a knowing smile. "It did not. I actually found it most engaging. This is Princess Halcyon the Garbed, and you are to afford her the same respect as me in all manner of things, except as regards to privileged information. I am still deciding how much to trust her."

The two clerics gave me a worried look. Apparently, they were perfectly aware of how that sounded.

I shrugged. "I just... visited and talked with her?"

"I see," one said. "Regardless, we are taking off for the day. Unless Her Holiness desires you to remain with us for the coming day, you should take your leave."

"She possesses wings," Coda pointed out, giving him a weird look. "I am most certain the Princess Halcyon can depart whenever and at whatever time she chooses. She needs neither invitation nor permission to leave."

I gave her a look. Hadn't she just been saying it was a good time for me to go? Besides, it wasn't like I could just-

Slyly, at an angle the clerics couldn't see, Coda winked at me.

Oh, I saw how this was. Turning up my chin, without another word, I marched right between the clerics and out onto the boarding ramp. Without turning back or looking, I could practically feel the clerics' stupefaction, and swore I heard Coda suppress a snicker.

Those clergy might have been Coda's loyal followers, but they were probably still the closest thing in her life to authority figures. She just wanted someone to play with, in a way that would get on their nerves.





"Hey there, little dudette!"

Howe's voice stopped me as I was leaving the boarding ramp and beginning the journey home. My ears flicked; I noticed him near a bank of worn-away chairs where the rest of Coda's guests had congregated.

I glanced at him. "Eh?"

He got up, wandering towards me and leaving the others. "How'd your time go with her majestic ladyship? Brighten up that kid's life a little?"

I tilted my head and lowered my voice. "You think being treated like that is a little depressing, too?"

Howe shrugged. "What, a bunch of strangerinos stroking your ego in exchange for cash? Yeah, the Howenator's worked for a lot of dudes, and anyone who needs folks doing that has big issues."

"Doesn't feel like she thinks she needs it," I admitted, not entirely sure why I was being candid with him but a little more trusting after he turned out not to have led me into a trap. "She sounded like she thinks she has to."

"Mmm." Howe nodded, walking a little further away from the group - they were loud enough that I imagined we had full privacy. "The Howenator had a feeling you'd be the type of pony to notice a thing like that. Thinkin' it's good he sent you."

I frowned. "You pitched that place to me because you wanted me to meet her?"

"Ol' Howe was curious how you'd react," he said, noncommittal. "Didn't expect you two to be hanging out after one go, but what does he know?"

"Yeah," I agreed. "What do you know?"

"Say what now?" Howe looked at me sideways.

I remembered Jamjars telling me this stallion was an informant - one of the most knowledgeable ponies about illicit activities in Ironridge. "Give it to me straight," I whispered. "You're smarter than you look, I can tell. The way you're talking... Do you know something's up with that group, and did you try to get me involved for any reason other than me being a random pony on the street?"

"Those are complicated questions for a simple public speaker for hire, babydoll," Howe said, rustling his wings. "But ol' Howe does like looking out for the ponies he runs into who look like they need it. He ain't saying he's one for complicated contingencies and the like, but if you think you and that kid could be good for each other? Hey, maybe that's all that matters."

I squinted at him.

"Word to the wise, by the way..." He lowered his voice and glanced conspiratorially around. "She give you any money?"

Uncertainly, I nodded, then pulled out the hoofful of gold coins and showed him.

"Nice." Howe nodded appreciatively. "Enough for a drink or a sandwich! Most of their hoard is griffon gold, see. Kind of shabby exchange rate. Not worth nearly as much as she thinks it is. Just, like, know before you try to pay with it and get caught unawares, yeah? Take it to a money changer, or best, find someone who can melt it down and cast it into art, then sell it at a pawn shop. Got a friend who runs a real good one, if you need recommendations. Much more money that way! It pays to stretch your coins."

I blinked. "Huh. Thanks."

"Just tellin' it like it is because I like you, kid," Howe said, sauntering away. "Have a good one!"