//------------------------------//
// Answers 
// Story: The Immortal Dream 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

Corsica woke up.

It wasn't a proper awakening, because she wasn't really awake. Just like she hadn't really been asleep. That was just what happened when you were bedridden for too long. Your existence entered a malaise where you were too well-rested to sleep, but too under-stimulated to do anything but.

The doctors of Fort Starlight periodically checked in on her, and kept her updated on how long it had been so she could keep a sense of time, though she didn't remember what they had said. Fortunately, Unless knew enough about the nature of Corsica's special talent that she had kept the doctors from panicking. There wasn't a whole lot doctors could do for her, anyway. Either she would regain enough willpower to get up on her own, or...

She didn't know the alternative. She had never pushed her talent this far before. But, worse than being bedridden, paralyzed and unable to do more than move her eyes? There weren't a whole lot of options to go from there.

Now, however, she felt different. Her thoughts were clearer, almost normal. She wanted to get up. And on other, much-less-severe mornings, that was usually the sign that meant...

Corsica focused, telling herself to move. Gravity still hit her with its full intensity, but she got one leg beneath her, and then two, and when she rolled out onto her hooves, she didn't even wobble.

Huh. Apparently she had rested for long enough.

She took stock of her surroundings. This was an old airship cabin, the floor listing at an awkward slant - an intact room in one of the smashed-up hulls that formed the wall around Fort Starlight's interior. Someone had bothered to make it look nice and homely, for an airship wreck. There was a mirror, and a small open cabinet holding her shoes and ear ornaments and even the scarf she used to wear when exploring the surface of Icereach, though she was pretty sure she had never taken that out of her closet once moving in with Jamjars.

A quick peek in the mirror told her her mane was ruinous, and a much quicker sniff told her she hadn't bathed in nearly a week. Eugh. For some reason, caring for her appearance never took any of her limited willpower, and instead was relaxing or even restful, so letting her grooming slip this much was nigh unheard-of. That wouldn't do. Abandoning her usual cosmetics, she started searching for a towel. Fort Starlight was a military installation, and its showers were hardly meant for looking good, but anything was better than this.

Towel, towel... bingo!

Corsica lit her horn, pulled it down... and was interrupted when her stomach growled hard enough to make her wince. How long had it been since she last ate?

Long enough that she wasn't sure she could make it through a shower.

Whatever. Not like she could afford to care what other ponies thought of her appearance anyway.





Corsica didn't spare too much effort on her surroundings as she searched for food, only stopping to look around when she had acquired a chair and a bowl of soup. The sky... Gray. Hadn't gone back to normal yet, huh? The sun was up, but it looked lifeless and dull, and somehow even staring directly at it didn't hurt her eyes. Also, the stars were still out. Weird.

The southern horizon was monopolized by an immense spire of pink crystal, reaching like a knifeblade for the heavens. Tall enough that the top was difficult to make out, it looked more organic than most crystal formations. And yet there was an order to the patterns in which it had organically grown, like a grafted hedge or tree. Almost like it was a shape something intelligent had chosen.

After two and a half years of studying ether crystals with Halcyon, Corsica felt like she could put down some interesting hypotheses for how this monolith had appeared, and why it looked the way it did. But... better to wait until Halcyon was here for that. She was the one who really got excited for that project, even though Ironridge hadn't been giving either of them much time to work on it.

And Halcyon would be back. She had disappeared; Corsica knew that much for sure. But with such a hefty penalty from her most recent use of her special talent, it must have done something big. Halcyon would be fine.

There wasn't a way for it to be otherwise.

"Corsica?"

Corsica blinked. It was Halcyon.

"Did I just-?" She felt a momentary spike of alarm, and rubbed at her eyes.

Halcyon tilted her head. "Did you what?"

"Never mind," Corsica sighed, relaxing. Must have really been a coincidence... though she reddened a little at being caught with her mane like this by a pony she actually cared about. "Look..."

She got up, walked over, and without warning grabbed Halcyon in a full-body hug.

"Hey!" Halcyon squeaked in surprise. She also smelled like soap, and was wearing her old coat. The dumb one from before her birthday.

"Got any idea how long you were gone for?" Corsica asked, not letting go. This wasn't something she frequently let herself do, and Halcyon usually didn't appreciate it, but after the price she had just paid, she deserved it.

"Howe... said almost a week..." Halcyon sounded nervous, and started squirming just a little.

Corsica sighed, let her go, stepped back and looked her over. Something about the way Halcyon was carrying herself... She couldn't put a hoof on it, but something was different. Hopefully she hadn't messed anything up too badly.

"Don't bother with excuses," Corsica said, sitting back down and returning to her soup. "Let's just say you owe me big time. For making me worry." She pushed at her snarled mane with a hoof. "Fixing this might be a good start, if you think you're up to the challenge."

It was mostly a peace offering - Halcyon had asked to do that, once, months ago in Icereach, and Corsica felt just a little bad for accosting her with a hug. But she was also fishing for a reaction indicating Halcyon did or didn't remember the last time. Because some part of her, deep down, was hoping that this was still the other Halcyon, the one she met in the hideout, and they could talk some more...

If that was even how it worked, and the other Halcyon wouldn't remember that too. Maybe it was a dumb test. Corsica sighed.

"Err... yeah. Sure," Halcyon replied, sounding distracted. "Look, I... have something to tell you. In private. Are you busy?"

Corsica gave her an expression that said I'm eating soup.

"Right. I..." Halcyon looked away, as if she had just been distracted by something invisible.

"Lemme finish my soup," Corsica said. "And take a shower. And then we can talk. Good?"

Halcyon pointed halfheartedly at Coda's airship, visible over the opposite wall. "There's a bath up there. Much nicer than the ones here. Didn't actually realize it until I trekked all the way back to Jamjars' to get my clothes, but... One moment. I'll be back."

Corsica watched, slurping her soup, as Halcyon beat a slightly-too-quick pace out through the main gate of Fort Starlight.

Some days, Halcyon's thoughts were plain and easy to read. But other days, she hadn't a clue what that kid was thinking.





"Do you mind?" I asked, staring at Procyon, a safe distance away from Fort Starlight. "I've literally just been on my own for hours on end, during which you could have floated around and waved at me as much as you want, but now I'm trying to talk to my best friend. What is it?"

Procyon raised a colorful hoof, cutting me off. "Yes. I know. Good on you for taking space and handling yourself as well as you are after all that. I just wanted to let you know, before you got too familiar or vulnerable or anything, that Papyrus has been spying on you for a while now."

I blinked.

"I didn't think it was worth coming out to mention when you weren't saying anything interesting for him to hear," she said, turning away. "Now I'll stop interrupting you. Good luck."

I watched quizzically as she floated away. "That's all?"

Procyon stopped and shrugged. "I've got plenty of thoughts and plenty to say, but you look like you're doing fine without it. Why risk ruining that? We'll talk later. It's not like I'll be going anywhere, ever..."

And then she was gone.

I turned to look for Papyrus. He wasn't impossible to find.

"What are you doing up there?" I shouted up at a giant pile of rubble, the pegasus peeking out at me from an alcove three quarters of the way up. "You're not very good at hiding."

"Me?" Papyrus innocently put a hoof to his chest, then soared down to meet me. "I was practicing monologueing to myself! Admirable quality, always wished I had a friend who enjoyed it too. I'm being completely serious, by the way." He gave me a serious look. "Anyway, what have you been up to, Butterfly? Most days I'm pretty fast at finding fools who fear being followed, but ever since the sky went topsy-turvy, it's like you blinked out of existence."

"That's kind of private," I countered, straightening my priorities in my head: give Corsica and Mother my spare Writs of Harmonic Sanction, and skip town before anything else happened. A very simple list that didn't need to involve Papyrus.

"Private?" Papyrus's eyes twinkled. "I love private things! But, if they're really not for me to know, I suppose I could be persuaded to butt out. Nice coat, by the way. Much better than your old one." He gave me a wing signal that I was pretty sure meant cool approval.

"Thanks...?" As always, I wasn't sure how to handle him.

Papyrus swaggered. "By the by, I've been on loan recently to Fort Starlight - Egdelwonk's orders, don't ask - and Valey's had me looking for you. Apparently you made her some sort of promise to stay out of trouble and let the adults handle things, then gave her the slip the moment her back was turned?"

I didn't remember making such a promise. Granted, I had been exhausted at the time, so maybe I was just forgetful... but I wasn't about to tell that to Papyrus. "I'm pretty sure I'm older than you," I said, turning toward the compound. "So, is she waiting for me right now?" I might not mind a chance to press her for answers, now that I knew enough that it would be harder to hide them from me...

"Perhaps," Papyrus mused. "She was in a meeting in Cold Karma, but maybe that's wrapped up by now. And if it isn't, I'm sure it will be soon. Plus, after the last few days, you're the last pony who gets to complain about being kept waiting. Now hop to it, Butterfly! If you get there before her, you'll have the room to yourself to practice your monologues."

I scurried along, more than a little annoyed, not about to waste the invitation to be rid of him.





Valey wasn't there when I arrived. But, I was a good guest, so I waited, and waited... and eventually, after the sun had moved enough that I realized it wasn't casting shadows anymore, like all its light had become ambient instead of point-source, Valey returned.

"Politics reek," she greeted, bags under her eyes as she collapsed into the shadows and swam under her door, not bothering to unlock it. "And you can totally come in," I heard from the other side of the door.

Feeling a little weird about it, I swam in after her.

When I surfaced, Valey was already at her desk, hind legs on the table. She seemed to want me to speak first.

I didn't know what to say.

She sighed and sat up straighter. "So, uh... What did I tell you," she began, "about sitting this one out?"

Oh. Maybe I did remember that.

My backwards ears fell.

"Listen, kid," Valey said. "I'm too nice to give you this talk in a way that'll make it stick, so just, like, pretend I'm a massive hypocrite who's chewing you out right now for running off to do something important to you while doing the exact same thing myself. Nice? Nice. Now that we've got that over with, you alright? Anything you need? My hooves are just a little full at the moment, but still, I'm here for ya."

My muzzle scrunched in confusion. "What?"

"What do you need?" Valey shrugged. "Advice, answers, resources? You look better than you did a week ago. Back then, you look like you'd just dragged yourself through the foothills of Griffonstone. Couldn't just let you fling yourself back in for more. Now that you've slept it off, or did whatever you did, what next?"

I took a deep breath. "You knew," I said. "About... what I am. And why I was in Icereach. And why everyone in Ironridge was so eager to get me on their team."

Valey nodded seriously. "Yup. Sure did. To be honest, I was gobsmacked when I first realized you didn't know. You wanna make sure we're on the same page, with whatever you just found out?"

I swallowed. "Coda's... a fake. That they made because they didn't have me."

"Not a fake," Valey sighed. "She's the real thing, just as much as you are. But, uh, yeah. You know..." She gestured at the window. "Her mom? Nyala? She was my sister. Bananas if I know what she was thinking, joining up with that group for a plan like that. Especially when she knew about you, in Icereach." She folded her forehooves on the desk and leaned forward. "Well? What do you wanna know?"

"Why now?" I asked. "I tried so hard to get answers, and got so much resistance. Why just straight-up offer to tell me?"

"World changed." Valey shrugged. "Stuff I've been trying to stop since soon after you were born is now in motion. Buying more time is no longer an option. The first time we met, you were getting harassed by every division of Cold Karma to join up with them, and were super paranoid I'd try to recruit you too, remember? I said I wasn't gonna make that offer, because I figured maybe if I used what influence I had to take some pressure off you, you could have a bit more time to grow up and live normally before choosing what you wanna do with your powers and your life. Now, that time is up, so I might as well put everything on the table."

I looked away, searching for words. "After all this, I almost don't know... what to ask, anymore. What about Jamjars?"

"What about her?" Valey raised an eyebrow. "Did she know who you were? Yeah, I can't imagine she didn't. Impossible to know what that mare is truly thinking, though. She's a real piece of work. Letting you stay with her wasn't a mistake, was it?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. "I haven't really gotten to interact with her once I realized that she owned the hideout. You know, where..."

"Yeah, I know the one," Valey interrupted. "Honestly, we're really not sure what to do with Jamjars at this point. She very obviously had something to do with the little apocalypse out there, but it's not like any of us can ask her and expect a remotely helpful answer. So she's kind of just tied up in a dungeon right now."

"Tied up in a dungeon?" My ears pricked in alarm, then went back down. "What happened between you, anyway? It's always a thing everyone is vague about. No one's told me the real story."

Valey gave me a look. "Guess you're never gonna rest until you hear it start to finish, huh?"

I met her eyes. "Please?"

Valey sighed... then opened a drawer and pulled out a familiar scroll. "Gerardo probably showed you this on your way here. Maybe I showed it to you myself. Don't remember. Anyway, know what this is?"

I swallowed. "A Writ of Harmonic Sanction."

"Bingo." Valey nodded, juggling the writ with a wingtip. "So, this might be a bit of a story, and I might repeat a few things I already told you just because I've danced around this a lot, so it'll be better to have the full story at once. Starlight... She's a filly who was traveling with us, with me and Gerardo and Jamjars and whoever else you know on our big airship tour of the world. Thing is, Starlight's an Equestrian. The Plains of Harmony, south of the Aldenfold? That's what they call it there. No one really knows how, but this pre-teen unicorn filly with a defective horn hiked across a mountain range so big, the first generation of airships couldn't even summit the initial cliff face. Seriously, don't question it. Barely even registers on that filly's resume of miracles. And, if you know what this is, you know that Equestria doesn't really think highly of their border being crossed."

"Starlight didn't have a writ?" I guessed.

"Nah." Valey shook her head. "Didn't matter at first. No Equestrians up here to care. Eventually, though, we hopped the border to Equestria, a whole boat full of a dozen-odd ponies. Did it to escape all the badness going down in the east. By some fluke, Chrysalis or her invasion knocked out all the power, which caused the magic barrier that usually repels ponies without writs to drop. So, all of us made it to Equestria, mostly without writs."

I nodded, listening intently. "And then there was something about it they could do."

"Yeah..." Valey rubbed at the back of her neck. "They were surprisingly chill about it, thanks to us being a bedraggled boatload of refugees and a million other extenuating circumstances, and we even got to parlay extensively with their boss. Princess Celestia? She's an alicorn. The real deal, not a pretender like Coda. Anyway, after we had a bit to recover, we went back to the border to go live in Ironridge again. And, on the way, we passed through Starlight's hometown."

She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "Our lives, on that ship? It was rough for all of us. We were trying to figure out who we were, clinging to each other because we all had the same problems, but that just meant they were problems none of us knew the answers to. But it was particularly hard on her. She had powers none of us understood, like fate itself would sometimes bend over backwards to accommodate her and other times form an impassable wall in her way. And after we stayed a day or two in her old town, she made the decision, along with this mare called Maple, to stay there. Settle down, get off the journey. Thing is, Maple was a northerner. Not a native Equestrian like Starlight."

I held my breath.

"We had spare writs, believe it or not," Valey said. "Well, one spare writ, by that time. So, the idea was, with the whole group's blessing, we'd give it to Maple, and she and Starlight could legally stay there. And Jamjars..."

She hung her head. "I've tried so many times to empathize with what must have been going through that kid's head. She probably thought she was losing her only friend, or whatever. But, anyway, she stole the writ and used it on herself so Maple couldn't stay behind. Poor idiot didn't remember that Starlight would need a writ to stay with us, even if she changed her mind about staying in Equestria. We couldn't afford to bite Equestria after they'd been as nice as they had been to us. And, so, eventually... Starlight stayed behind, alone."

My heart felt like a bowling ball. "What was stopping you from breaking the law and just taking her anyway?"

"You don't understand." Valey shook her head. "Starlight was miserable. Even before that stunt, but that was the final straw. She needed to stop, though. Every last one of us was on board with saying screw Equestria and bringing her back, except for her. We even flew back across the border the very next day to try again. But she had made up her mind."

"That's not right," I protested stiffly. "You could have done something..."

"Oh, we did do something," Valey vowed, her eyes becoming deadly serious. "We went off looking for more writs. Simple, right? All we had to do was find one more, and then Maple could take it and fly south to meet her. Which, as soon as we got one more, she did." She looked at the writ in her wing. "This part, I told you a lot more about. But if you need a reminder... we had a bargain with Princess Celestia that, if we could ever get six of these and have all the bearers of them together, as friends, within the next fifteen years, she'd open the gates and let everyone through, forever." She scowled. "Probably don't need to do the math for you, but we didn't make it in time."

I didn't know what to say. "Why didn't Princess Celestia...?"

"Do anything about it?" Valey shrugged. "Well, we were in the middle of a major international incident at the time, which believe it or not wasn't the Chrysalis one. Eventful year, that one. I've seen Celestia once since then. It was after Maple left, and it kind of ended with me having more obligations than before, not less. By then, enough time had passed that I just asked her to leave Starlight alone, since that kid needed less special attention in her life, not more."

She got up and paced over to the window. "Anyway, not long after we parted ways with Starlight, I got tied up in this windigo business that's culminated in our present situation. That one, I'm certain I told you about: there's a million and a half windigoes sealed by a barrier under Yakyakistan. They wanted to reinforce the barrier with a certain harmonic artifact of mine, and if Starlight ever learned I gave it up she would come to get it back for me. Starlight can also beat windigoes in a fight. So, Yakyakistan was basically being coy and asking me for bait to lure Starlight over to deal with their windigo problem."

I knew about this. "Ludwig told me the same thing," I offered. "The windigo at Icereach. He said the reason they wanted to start this war was to make Yakyakistan lose on purpose. He said if there was a big final battle at the center of Yakyakistan, the chaos from it would give the windigoes enough of a boost to escape once and for all."

"Did he?" Valey rubbed her face with a wing. "Bananas, that's some good intel. Sorry you had to deal with a windigo to get it. Those things can drive even the sturdiest soul insane in a matter of minutes."

"Speaking from experience?" I guessed.

Valey shrugged. "You know Kitty? I knew her before she had that body. She, uh... once kidnapped me and dragged me halfway across a continent to go hang out in a seaside resort town. It's a long story."

I squinted. Even a windigo wouldn't do something so... out there.

"Yup." Valey nodded, seeing my look. "So, enough about the past. You asked about Jamjars. What else do you want to talk about? And if you're out of ideas, what are you going to do next?"

"What are you going to do next?" I asked. "With Ironridge? And your coup?"

"Politics." Valey scowled. "Never been my favorite part. Ironridge presently contains no less than four Changeling Bishops, and that's only the ones I know of. Three of them are involved in Cold Karma's government. We've sealed the windigoes here for now, killed the leader of the military and usurped Junior Karma, and have a real position in the government. But we don't have the resources to fight those bishops, don't have the resources to keep the government running without them, and don't understand why they aren't moving against us when Yakyakistan is presently under changeling control and also our primary enemy. So what I'll be doing, one way or another, is flailing around in the dark trying to learn why things are the way they are and hoping I can do so before I either break something or get backstabbed. Sound like fun?"

I blanched, then almost brightened. "Sounds exactly like what I've been doing since getting to Ironridge."

"Poor kid." Valey shrugged. "Yeah, if you thought it ever stops being that way, I hope I broke it to you gently. I'm guessing you aren't super eager to help with that."

"Not really..." I backed away, though somehow felt immeasurably better knowing that someone this powerful felt the same way I did.

"Hey, though." Valey kicked her desk. "If you've got nothing else, mind if I ask what you were doing the last week? Some folks were, uh... worried. To put it gently. Corsica in particular, you owe the biggest thank-you-slash-apology your inclinations can manage, if you know what I mean."

"I was trying to talk to her when Papyrus started stalking me to tell me to meet with you," I sighed. "Anyway, I'm... err... Probably a dumb question after how much sensitive information you've given me, but you can keep a secret, right?"

Valey nodded, and pursed her lips in interest.

I reached into the pockets of my coat and pulled out my remaining two Writs of Harmonic Sanction, one in each wing.

Valey's jaw hit the floor.

"...Are those real?" she eventually managed.

I nodded. "Stole 'em from Jamjars, I think. Six months ago. Found them in a secret compartment in the hideout after being stranded by Aldebaran. There were originally three, but I used one on myself before I learned what they were."

My gaze drifted to the window. "I've heard Coda left me her airship. So, I'm gonna give these to my friends and go to Equestria. No particular reason there instead of anywhere else. And for all I know, the pony I'm looking for could be anywhere. I just want to get us all a break from Ironridge."

Valey chuckled weakly. "Three whole writs, huh? Wonder who she stole them from. Any chance this pony you're looking for is Starlight?"

I shook my head, thinking of the faint spark of pink in my chest. "Their name is Fluttershy, and I know basically nothing about them," I said. "Sound familiar?"

Valey looked thoughtful. "Never heard of 'em, but that's definitely an Equestrian name. Rule of thumb, if it sounds like a flavor of ice cream, it's probably an Equestrian. Bananas." She pulled out her own writ again. "And here I was thinking of trying to foist this on you."

I blinked. "Me? Don't you need those to reunite all your friends with Starlight?"

Valey shrugged. "Kinda. Sorta. Look, I told you about how the best I can possibly do in these circumstances is keep the north's problems in the north, right? Keep all this mess with windigoes and changelings and stuff as far away from Starlight as possible? So even if I can't see her again, I can still stop her from having to deal with this?"

I nodded. "Yeah..."

"I dunno how much longer I can keep that up," Valey said. "You see, for, uh, reasons... Equestria might not be super happy with what's currently going on up here. You can probably think of a few yourself. There's a pretty decent chance they're going to get involved somehow before all this is over. And Starlight needs to not get swept up in that. So, I was... kinda hoping you could find her, and warn her. To stay away."

"To stay away?" I blinked. "You mean you want me to come tell her that you need help."

"What!?" Valey stood straight up. "Bananas, that's the opposite of what I said."

"But it's what you meant, right?" I guessed, a sixth sense telling me beyond certainty that Valey believed her old friend could fix this, and knew she couldn't do it on her own. "You can't say it directly because you don't want to betray your duty to her. But, it's been nearly twenty years. Wherever she is now, she's all grown up. Maybe... she's ready to handle it, now. Asking a foal for help wouldn't be right, but you're hoping that maybe now she can really manage it. Properly, this time."

Valey looked ashamed, and didn't meet my eyes. "Look. You... remind me of her. Just a little. You might be older and better-adjusted, but you're still in over your head. You've got powers you never asked for, don't know your place in the world and are lacking a place to call home, right? I never could connect with Starlight nearly as well as I wanted, even though I'm basically her aunt, or her cool big sis. If it's you... Well, you'll probably be better at reading her than I will. You wouldn't have the ghost of how I failed her looking over your shoulder. And, if you decide that asking her for help isn't right? That it would be better for her to stay wherever she is now, and let the world sort out its problems on its own? I wouldn't mind if you were out of harm's way with her."

"No," I said resolutely. "I will search for her. In fact, I even have a lead on where she might be, and know how to get more. But even if I can't convince her to come back, or decide I shouldn't convince her that you need each other, I will be back. You're right that I don't have a home, and that's not gonna change if I keep abandoning every place I've been before I can put down ties. I have real power. It's bogus to suggest that I've got a responsibility to stop this war because I'm Chrysalis's daughter. But whether I deserve that responsibility or not, I want it. And if nothing else, I'm going to find a way to save Coda."

"You heard about her, huh?" Valey raised an eyebrow.

"Saw her." I shrugged. "I went down to the bottom of the world. Found an elevator back up. Went straight through the hangar with all those Whitewings."

"Bananas...!" Valey gritted her teeth. "I knew we should have scoured the blueprints more thoroughly..." She focused on me again. "How'd you get down? What were you doing for a whole week? And what did you find? I... kinda assumed it was a lost cause after the sky..."

"I went through the caves." I shrugged. "It was a little rough. Apparently being a changeling queen means I can regenerate from injuries. I don't think I was too late, though. Do... you know anything about a pink flame, down there?"

Valey was completely taut. "Yep. Know it well. Used to go down there all the time before the Steel Revolution. What did you see, and what did you do? And what do you mean, you don't think you were too late?"

"It's a long story," I began. "But if there's anything you know that might help me with what I'm trying to do, I might as well tell you everything..."