//------------------------------//
// Old Fashioned Work 
// Story: The Immortal Dream 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

When you had a special talent that could make anything you wished for drop into your hooves with little more effort than a stray thought, it was easy to find things you were looking for. Corsica had spent the better part of three years living with such a talent, and frequently caught herself pining during that time for the days when her life had actual challenges beyond mustering the willpower to do anything at all.

Running around Snowport searching for traces of a specific train engineer should have scratched that itch nicely. Corsica had memories of days spent crawling through the Icereach library in search of material for a project, days before she was saddled with her talent. Memories that were much fresher after being rewound to the time of the avalanche. By all accounts, this should have been a good old return to form, in which she applied herself, did some hard work, and earned her reward...

By the end of her second day looking for Wheelcakes, it was abundantly clear that her experiences putting in work in Icereach didn't translate well to the real world.

First, Icereach was smaller than Snowport, and she perfectly knew her way around. Physically getting from place to place to chase leads here frequently took an hour or more, between her lack of familiarity with the streets and status as a cripple and the general overall size of the place. And she had to take more trips than she would have liked, because it was much harder to plan ahead and multitask with her trips when she was less familiar with what any given place had to offer. A trip from the northern end of the dragon suburbs to Freedom Town could be up to two hours, and that was without breaks. Breaks that, due to her present physical state, she frequently needed.

Second, in Icereach she had always been able to fall back on her status as the head scientist's daughter, and had a lifetime's understanding of everything that could and couldn't get her. In Snowport's unfamiliar bureaucracy and culture, a connection to Seigetsu was enough to prevent her from getting completely stonewalled, but she still felt as if she were navigating a dimly lit labyrinth without a map.

Third, Icereach was held in stasis as a matter of official policy. Nothing there was ever allowed to change. Quite different from the busy port town of Snowport, where she had finally arrived at the train yards in possession of the information that Wheelcakes was currently running cargo back and forth to the Crystal Empire, as well as the name and location of the dragon who was in charge of scheduling trains along said route, as well as a letter of introduction to convince said dragon to take her seriously, only to learn that the engineer had left minutes ago on her final run of the day and wouldn't be back until tomorrow.

Bone-weary, Corsica rolled out of the warehouse with a sigh, the sunset splaying peach and purple rays across a pile of clouds that weren't dense enough to be a storm, but sure were stacked high. Her wheels crunched on loose gravel. At this rate, she was probably setting back her recovery by overdoing it instead of resting, but hadn't she just been resting for two weeks in a coma? Besides, she was making progress, even if it was much harder than any research she had done in Icereach.

A shouting dragon marched past, directing two others who were carrying so much cargo that they couldn't see where they were going. In the distance, a train pulled away from the passenger platform, moving into the rail yard to park for the night, a gaggle of freshly-disembarked creatures slowly draining into the city. The wind was stiff, but not cold enough to be uncomfortable against Corsica's thick, Yakyakistani fur.

Life was good. Sure, this was a lot harder than she remembered it, but getting to retire for the night with a promising lead and a place to pick it up in the morning? She was getting somewhere. On her own. Towards a goal that she still cared about after two days.

It was exhausting, but satisfying, as well. Corsica grinned into the sea wind, knowing she would sleep well tonight.

Rolling back to the Immortal Dream took her through most of the sunset. She still couldn't handle the stairs, but getting Starlight's attention was fairly easy after they had rigged up a rope on the deck that ran down the entrance to the engine room and tugged a little bell. Starlight was there almost before Corsica had stopped ringing.

On the bottom floor of the ship, Pinkie Pie was cooking dinner, and Rainbow Dash was lounging in the dining hall. Twilight herself hadn't been back from the Crystal Empire since Corsica woke up, but her friends had been in and out: none of them could get back to Ponyville due to having learned how the train magic worked, and apparently none of them had been willing yet to take Discord's offer for a way to cheese the system.

"You look beat," Rainbow greeted, upside-down on one of the side benches with her tail and a wing dangling down, looking up from a novel. "Rehab going rough?"

"Rehab's a secondary benefit," Corsica said. "Though at this rate, I'd better be getting some strength back. But the real goal is to track down Starlight's mom."

"You mean Maple?" Rainbow asked. Starlight was conspicuously silent.

Corsica nodded. "Yup. Best idea is still to poke around with the trains and try to learn more about what happens when you defy the system, since that might point to what she did next. And progress on that front is... I've almost finished tracking down the mare we gave a lift to out of Our Town. After two days. So basically, almost back to square zero for investigating a way to possibly gain a small lead into Maple's next destination, out of however many more destinations she's visited over the past umpteen years."

"Sounds kinda like we'd have better luck just going to the neighboring towns and asking around," Rainbow pointed out. "Not that I know how far away those are, but wouldn't guessing and checking be faster?"

"Could be." Corsica managed a shrug. "I don't have the means to get there, so I'm just doing what I can."

Rainbow craned her neck towards Starlight. "Hey, Glimglam! How close are we to getting airborne again?"

Starlight put her ears down. "Depends."

"On...?" Rainbow prompted.

"I've got an idea that I'm almost certain will work," Starlight said. "Might require abandoning some principles, and I'd need permission from all the princesses, and while it's not impossible they'd say yes, it's not a sure thing either."

Starlight stared at the floor. Rainbow stared at her. "That all? What are you waiting for?"

"You're that sure you can just ask the Princesses a favor and they'll give you whatever you need?" Corsica tilted her head at Rainbow. "I know you're in their inner circle, but you haven't even heard what she wants yet."

Rainbow shrugged. "Yeah, well, neither have you. And every day we're stranded in Snowport is a day Starlight's friends up in Ironridge are trying to hold out against who knows what from Yakyakistan. We fixed the Kindness flame, why wouldn't the Princesses pull out all the stops to let us go up there and finish the job?" She pointed a hoof at Starlight. "And whether they would or wouldn't, you've still got a duty to try, and I've got a duty to make sure you don't shirk that duty."

"I know," Starlight said. "I've spent all day trying to come up with fast and feasible alternatives, and if I don't have any by tomorrow morning, I'm catching the first train to the Crystal Empire to run this over with Twilight and, with her support, the other Princesses." She squeezed her eyes shut. "I don't want to go back to the north, but if I don't take the chance I'm being given... It could really be too late."

Corsica sized her up, and got the impression she had been thinking about personal dilemmas like whether or not to return to the north a lot more than scientific ones like how to fix the engine. But if that was the case, how would she have a foolproof plan for fixing it?

It was foolish to doubt, of course, given Starlight's relationship to her old special talent and the similarity of their powers. But Corsica was deeply curious to see the substance of Starlight's plan, and moreover, a trip to the Crystal Empire would very likely put her in contact with the mare she was looking for. "Count me in," she volunteered.

"Same!" Rainbow pumped a hoof. "Let's get this ship back in the air!"





Morning dawned, but Corsica didn't awaken until someone started rapping on her door.

"What is it?" she grumbled, her vision completely blocked by unbrushed mane. "Feels like it's four in the morning..."

"It's eleven!" Rainbow Dash called through the door. "And Starlight remembers that you wanted to come with, and is using your sleeping in as an excuse to procrastinate!"

"Gross," Corsica groaned, nevertheless starting the process of waking herself up. "Too early..."

Are you trying to sleep? the voice in her head asked as she shifted back and forth, trying to prevent herself from drifting off long enough for her brain to get going.

"Yes," she mumbled back at it. "How'd you tell?"

No response.

Corsica yawned, rubbing her eyes against her pillow in an effort to keep them open. One day, she'd get to the bottom of that voice. The way it was talking to her really reminded her of something, but she couldn't place what... And why did it keep coming and going?

She felt a bit better than usual as she started her morning care routine, not enough to forego the roller but enough that she didn't nearly collapse while getting onto it. Odds were, she could handle the stairs now if she really pushed herself, crawling up and floating the roller behind her and then getting on again at the top... She wasn't sure whether that would be more or less dignified than getting someone else to float her, but hopefully it wouldn't be too much longer until she didn't have to choose.

Someone had saved her some breakfast, which she scarfed cold before reporting to the engine room alongside Starlight, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Nanzanaya. "Alright," Rainbow prodded, poking Starlight with a wingtip. "Everyone in Snowport is here and ready to go. No more stalling. You gonna tell us what this plan is and why it requires the Princesses' permission instead of being something we can do right here and now?"

Starlight sighed. "It's for a good reason, and I'd rather not tell anyone else this until I can get Twilight's opinion on whether it would be remotely sane to try. No offense, but she's seen things you haven't." She straightened up, folding her ears against the engine room's buzz, and took one last look at the cloud of rails holding Corsica's old special talent. "But I haven't had any luck in thinking up other fast and effective ways to deal with this. So let's get going."

Nobody dissented, and Corsica soon found herself rolling through the streets to the train yards once again... At least until Rainbow Dash picked her up and started flying her there, since she was far and away the slowest member of the party.

As embarrassing as it was to be carried around in public, it was drizzling, so at least she didn't have to spend as long in the rain.

The train platform was sparsely populated, and once the others' conversation drifted to facets of life in Ponyville, she found herself tuning it out, her thoughts drifting instead to Ironridge. If Starlight got her way and this unspoken plan of hers worked, she could be back in Ironridge by the time she woke up tomorrow. And some of the things she had been avoiding thinking about so far would become far more in her face than they had been so far.

Things like Ansel. Since getting rewound, most of the time when her thoughts threatened to wander to dangerous places, they veered towards Halcyon. But Ansel had stayed in Ironridge, and even if she wouldn't have to deal with Halcyon again, her present course sure would mean dealing with him.

Part of her said there wasn't anything to deal with. She had a working relationship with post-avalanche Ansel. Everyone else had to get used to the fact that she was now three years younger; he could get used to it too. But even if she remembered that working relationship, her memories were now much closer to their romantic relationship, as well.

That relationship had been cut off as effectively as if the old Ansel had died and been replaced by a new one, thanks to his amnesia and change in personality. Corsica's old frustration and mourning at their sudden incompatibility was overshadowed in her mind by the inescapable weight of her special talent, but it had still been there. Would seeing him again like this dredge up things that she had already moved on from and were best off forgotten? She was her old teenage self again, and having blurry memories of having done this once before could contribute everything or nothing at all to change that.

At least she'd have it easier than any random other pony in the same situation. They wouldn't even have their memories to fall back on. Then again, they wouldn't have to do this twice, either.

Life sure could get messy when you were actually living it instead of taking everything like a limp slug. And she wasn't even living it yet. Just pondering things that might happen while waiting at a train station in the rain.

A headlamp glared off the misting droplets, and with a muffled screech of iron against wheels, the train arrived.

The door was flung open by a vaguely familiar yellow-and-blue mare, and a small hoofful of passengers disembarked. The mare waved when she saw Corsica and her entourage.

Yep, that looked like Wheelcakes. All that work, and Corsica could have found her just by trying to catch a train to the Crystal Empire.

"Nope," Wheelcakes said when Rainbow Dash tried to present the group's tickets. "You guys gave me a ride on the house, so the least I can do is return the favor. Crystal Empire, right?"

Corsica shook her head at her own luck, rolling up to the train's doorway and refusing help as she navigated her wheels over the crack. This train had only a single passenger car, cozy and lit with warm pink and woody colors, and so far, she and her entourage were the only riders.

Was traffic between Snowport and the Crystal Empire just not that great? Or were the trains frequent enough that it just felt sparse, on account of Wheelcakes having no other routes she could run? Corsica presumed that was the case, at least. The dragon who told her about the engineer's present route didn't specify why she was only doing those two stops, but it didn't take a great leap of logic to guess why.

The others filed in as well and took up seats, Rainbow hogging an entire bench to herself. According to the schedules, there were at least fifteen minutes left before this train departed... Wheelcakes was presently standing by the door, looking out and surveying the empty platform.

So Corsica turned around and rolled up behind her. "Hey," she greeted.

Wheelcakes flicked her ears and turned around. "Did you get in an accident?"

"It's a long story, but you could say that," Corsica admitted. "So, I heard this is the only line you can run now."

Wheelcakes nodded sadly, keeping a keen eye on the platform. "I tried the other major directions, but none of them work. This one is the only one short enough to not need the train magic, since Snowport and the Crystal Empire are so close together. I've been talking with the government about getting my memory wiped, but they'd have to go back pretty far, so until I can make a decision, I get to be the queen of the Snowport-Crystal Empire line."

"That's rough," Corsica said. "Really banged your head against the proverbial wall? No chance you were getting somewhere and just didn't try long enough?"

"I tried it enough before that I've got a sense for these things," Wheelcakes told her. "Didn't take more than a try or two to know I was getting back to Snowport faster than I was leaving. I've talked about it with the dragons and the Order of Silence, and this isn't something that starts working again just because you bang your head against it."

Corsica grinned. "Call me bored, but I kinda wanna bang my head against it myself sometime. I'd like to see how this fake endless terrain stuff stacks up against attempts to empirically measure your location."

Wheelcakes tilted her head. "It's not that interesting. And are you really the enterprising type?"

"I am now," Corsica gloated, trying to put a hoof across her chest and wincing. "And I think it's plenty interesting. Don't you want to know how this works?"

Wheelcakes grimaced. "What I'd rather be able to do is take my train wherever I please."

Okay. Corsica backed off a little. Apparently, this was a situation that called for empathy rather than goading. "Bet you're not the only one," she said, rocking back a little on her roller. "The dragons have to know if there's a history of people finding loopholes in the system, right?"

"I asked." Wheelcakes shrugged. "It's not something you can just find a loophole around. This isn't a magic barrier that prevents you from going where you please, it's magic that shortens your path when you're unaware of how long that path actually is. And it only works when you're not aware of it. Trying to subvert it, your goal wouldn't be to avoid the magic. It would be the opposite."

Corsica raised an eyebrow. "Is that what they told you? Because if it takes you less time to come back after you turn around than it does to get to the point where you turn around in the first place, that sure sounds to me like the magic is doing something when you know about it."

Wheelcakes frowned in thought.

Corsica grinned.

"I only have the answers they've given me," Wheelcakes eventually said. "Snowport's economy lives off of trade. You might have a point, but they have every incentive to make the tracks usable for everyone. I don't see any reason not to trust their answers when they're trying to help me do what they want."

"So why not-?"

Corsica cut herself off as another pony appeared on the platform. It was already poor form, discussing this material in a public venue, even if that venue was empty. Definitely better not to create more work for the dragons' memory erasers... though when she saw who this was, she realized she probably needn't have bothered.

It was a mare, and a batpony at that. Her age was hard to guess, because she was clad in heavy ornamental robes and a tall miter, but based on the amount of wrinkles on her disinterested face, she was probably between forty and fifty. And she was completely gray, right down to her irises.

"Ma'am!" Wheelcakes quickly bowed. "Are you... here with any updates on my situation?"

The cleric sized up Corsica with a bored look. "No," she said in a toneless voice. "Just going to the Crystal Empire."

"You know me?" Corsica asked, rolling out of the way so that she didn't block the door.

The cleric lazily met her eyes. "You match the profile of someone I've read about. Corsica?"

"Yup." Corsica winked, feeling like no amount of charisma could faze this mare, yet that she was obligated to try. "You?"

"Halandyne," the cleric said, stepping onto the train and passing Wheelcakes a ticket with the barest motion of her wing. "You're from the north. Have you ever heard the name Nencosay?"

Corsica tilted her head. "Nencosay? You just up and ask that to strangers? Can't say I have. What context would it have been in?"

"Someone who can erase memories." Halandyne walked past her, no longer making eye contact or even turning her head. "How about Halcyon?"

Corsica blinked. "Uh, yep. Know her a little better than I'd like. Why?"

"I've heard she frequently wears heavy clothing," Halandyne said dispassionately, looking across the empty seats. "Have you ever seen her naked?"

"Yes..." Corsica said. From her garb, this mare was obviously the replacement for Yelvey, Snowport's previous Order of Silence cleric in charge of erasing memories for those who accidentally learned about the trains and still wanted to ride them. "What's it to you?"

Halandyne didn't so much as flick an ear. "Was there anything remarkable about her body?"

Corsica squinted at her, aware that she could be poking a sleeping dragon yet not feeling up to restraining herself. "With the way you're asking, do you see a scenario where I wouldn't say no?"

"I see," Halandyne said. "Thank you for your cooperation. Good job."

Without another word, she moved to the back of the train and took a seat, her hoofsteps barely audible against the carpeted floor.

Corsica raised an eyebrow at Wheelcakes.

Wheelcakes shrugged. "She's the one I've mostly been talking with about getting my memories altered so I can drive anywhere again. Unfortunately, their power is a blunt instrument. All they can do is start at the present and completely erase back however far they want to go, like cutting off the end of a rope. She's nicer than she acts, though."

"I'm not sure I'd call that 'not nice' so much as weird," Corsica muttered back. "Who just up and asks what someone else looks like without clothes on with barely a word of introduction? That's gotta be one of the conversation starters of all time. And I want to say she was being sarcastic at the end, but with that tone, I really can't tell..."

"They say the members of the Order of Silence sacrifice their equinity for the powers they wield," Wheelcakes said. "I've heard only rumors about what that entails. But now that I can see for myself why they're important to society, I wouldn't begrudge the ponies who make that sacrifice anything. Including strange mannerisms."

Corsica stared at Halandyne again.

"It's about time to get this train moving," Wheelcakes said, glancing at the station's clock. "I should get back to work."

"Hold up," Corsica cut in. "One more thing before you do that: after your shift is done, would you mind taking me out somewhere we can't go anymore? I wanna see for myself what it's like."

Wheelcakes hesitated. "Will you pay me? That would technically be overtime, and I do need to make a living now that I'm back in normal society."

Corsica frowned. She didn't exactly have finances that she carried around...

"...On second thought, I'm already giving you this trip for free." Wheelcakes shook her head. "I guess I could make that a freebie too, if that's really how you want to spend an evening. But only once. And believe me, there are far funner things to do in town."

Corsica flashed her a toothy grin. "Say that after I make the discovery of the century. It's been too long since I got to commit myself to a magical mystery."

Wheelcakes rolled her eyes and started preparing the train for departure. "Knock yourself out."





Corsica spent the train ride with a mix of listening to Rainbow and Pinkie's banter and watching Halandyne from across the train car. Halandyne spent the ride with a mix of looking out the window and watching Starlight. Starlight looked as if she was a thousand miles away.

It took several hours, just like the last time Corsica had ridden this way. Her memories of that trip were doubly hazy; not only had she been under the lethargic effects of her special talent, but it had been boring and largely uneventful. She had expected it to be eventful, since they were ostensibly transporting the metal dragon Aegis to the Crystal Empire for safekeeping, and Abyssinia would ostensibly attack and try to steal Aegis for themselves.

Which hadn't happened. All Corsica remembered about the last trip was a whole bunch of tension that built up to nothing at all.

The train churned through well-plowed snow, the tracks kept free and clear by the passage of many trains before it. And as the Crystal Empire's protective magical shield began to grow on the horizon, Corsica's boredom got the best of her, and she decided to try talking to Halandyne once again.

"Hey," Corsica greeted, rolling closer.

Halandyne looked up, her gray eyes partially obscured by a gray bang. "Do you need something?"

"To sate my curiosity," Corsica said. "You're the memory eraser Snowport got to replace Yelvey, right? After he went missing, or something."

"My role is not to give knowledge, but to take it away," Halandyne said dispassionately. "If you are curious, perhaps you should visit a school instead?"

Corsica decided to ignore that. "Why are you heading out here if your job is in Snowport?"

"To ensure that the Order of Silence fulfills its role," Halandyne explained, as if that explained anything.

"Which is...?" Corsica tilted her head.

"To preserve the status quo, as desired by the Holy Convocation of Cernial." Halandyne shifted slightly as she spoke, but didn't meet Corsica's eyes, staring straight ahead as if she didn't even notice her.

Corsica raised an eyebrow. "Careful not to explode from passion for your mission," she prodded.

"I have a lot of emotions," Halandyne agreed. "Few of them are about you. Do you need something?"

She made eye contact, and Corsica almost rolled backward from the dissonance. "Does that mean you don't mind if I keep asking you things?"

Halandyne unfocused, as if being here in the present took more effort than she wanted to give. "I don't mind. Do you mind learning nothing of importance?"

Corsica cracked a grin, accepting the permission. "Does that mean you think you've got nothing interesting to say, or that I'm not worthy of it?"

"Things that are interesting are rarely important," Halandyne said to the bench in front of her. "Things that are important are rarely interesting. I have nothing interesting to say, and you have nothing of importance to hear." She made eye contact once again. "If you are bored, perhaps you should visit a circus instead? I hear they have clowns which are quite funny."

Corsica kept grinning. "See, you're funnier than you give yourself credit for."

"I am glad you found entertainment," Halandyne said, looking up at her. "Good job."

A shimmering wall abruptly entered the train and swept through Corsica. They were inside the barrier.

"Good talk," Corsica said as the train began to slow towards the station. "Have fun preserving the status quo, and all that. I'll be rooting for you. And, uhh... Good job?"

"You will be safe in my hooves," Halandyne agreed, getting up and meandering towards the door as the train was coming to a halt, barely even wavering from inertia as it rolled to its final stop.

Corsica watched her go, the first one out the door after it was opened, with nary a word to Wheelcakes or anyone else.

What a strange mare. Maybe it was her hauntingly familiar lack of passion and enthusiasm, or maybe it was the name... The same first three letters as another strange mare Corsica knew. But even though she knew nothing about her, Corsica felt an odd compulsion to brighten her day.

Corsica shook her head. Flirting with a heavily cursed church official thrice her age as a proxy for annoying a thick-headed friend she didn't want to decide whether she loved or hated was a weird idea even by someone like Papyrus's standards. She had a mission of her own to see through, and it was time to get back to work.





When Starlight said earlier that she wanted to run her plan past Twilight before sharing it with the other Princesses, Corsica took that to mean that it wasn't for her ears yet either, a perception that was reinforced by Starlight ignoring Rainbow's repeated pleas to let her in on the details. And yet, as they drew into the center of the Crystal Empire and approached the palace, Starlight had yet to make an effort to ditch her entourage.

Not that Rainbow Dash was possible to outrun, and she was pretty sure Pinkie Pie could track anyone over any distance as well. But Nanzanaya was still hanging around, and even though Starlight could easily outrun Corsica in her wheel-bound state, she made no efforts to ditch either of them.

That was either tacit approval of their presence... or Starlight was just stalling because the upcoming conversation included a subject she didn't want to broach.

Corsica pushed herself to pick up the pace, her recovering body groaning in protest. If she hadn't been a cripple, she would have felt a spring in her step, and her hooves still itched with the phantom temptation to start skipping: there were plenty of things she could imagine making Starlight stall for a day in Snowport looking for alternatives, complain about breaking principles, and then stay silent throughout the entire train ride, but none of them could also fix a toxic special talent jammed in an engine. The palace loomed immediately overhead; if anyone tried to force her to turn back, fall behind or sit the inevitable meeting out now, they would be in for an earful-

...The entrance to the palace elevators was blocked by a short, two-step staircase.

What was even the point of that? Could they not have made the elevator go down two more steps instead? Had the Crystal Empire's designers ever heard of ponies with disabilities? Scowling in disbelief, Corsica tackled the staircase, wedging one of her wheels onto the first step, determined not to get carried or telekinetically lifted yet again.

Starlight looked over her shoulder, saw Corsica, and lit her horn. Corsica preemptively reddened; the plaza had at least a dozen other ponies...

But instead of her, Starlight's horn targeted the ground, coaxing the crystals that made up the street and palace and everything else to grow into a gentle ramp at the edge of the staircase. Starlight nodded at her handiwork and pressed on.

"Thanks," Corsica grunted in relief, taking the ramp.

"Don't mention it," Starlight said, sounding distracted. "Surprised they didn't have one of those already..."

Their entourage swiftly picked up a quartet of guards, all unicorns wearing armor with a crystalline sheen and sporting sublimely toned muscles. Nanzanaya got a side-eye or two and Corsica got a questioning glance, but Starlight and the others were clearly well-recognized, and the group of five soon became a group of nine. From the guards' demeanor, Corsica decided they were there less to guard against any threats, and more because they thought Starlight, Rainbow and Pinkie ought to look important.

Surprisingly lax, compared to how uptight things had been before.

"The Princess Twilight has been working from her suite," one of the guards explained, leading the way through a familiar hallway to the room where Corsica had spent the night last time. Crystalline plants grew from crystalline soil in crystalline pots that dotted crystalline alcoves in the walls, all colored just slightly differently enough to be visually stimulating instead of monotonous.

"She'll be overjoyed to see you," another guard promised.

"Come on, buddy." Rainbow smirked at him. "Do I look like I don't know the obvious?" She scratched at the back of her head. "Actually, she's probably gonna be annoyed if we drag her away from her work to go have a good time..."

They reached the door, and Starlight took three whole seconds to knock. "Come in!" Twilight's voice instantly called from the other side.

Starlight opened the door. Inside, Twilight was seated on the one of the couches around the central table, opposite from a studly white unicorn with a royal blue mane, both studying what appeared to be a game board surrounded by reams of parchment.

"My Lord!" All the guards bowed in practiced unison, not quite as stiff as Corsica expected.

"Starlight!" Twilight greeted, her face brightening. "Any luck with the Immortal Dream?"

"Hey guys!" the unicorn added, flashing the kind of smile that couldn't let someone remain a bachelor for long.

"...About that," Starlight said, rubbing one foreleg with the other and standing to the side while everyone else filed in, save for the guards in the hallway. She didn't continue.

Twilight read her expression and frowned. "Complications?"

Starlight hesitated again, then glanced awkwardly at Nanzanaya. "Would you... mind waiting out in the hallway with the guards?"

Ah. Here it was. Corsica held her breath. Was Nanzanaya getting the boot, but not her?

Nanzanaya shrugged. "Whether my ears are too delicate for your secrets or your secrets are too delicate for my ears, I suppose I don't mind. I'll be around if you need me..."

As she filed out the door, she threw Corsica a wink no one else but the guards could see, and closed the door behind her with her tail.

"...What about me?" Corsica spoke up, daring to draw attention to herself. "Am I good to stay?"

Starlight glanced at her. "You weren't one of the ones who got in major trouble with the Crystal Empire for sneaking into the Aegis vault last time we were here. Which, I suppose is as good a segue as any..."

She took a deep breath, then nodded to Twilight and the white unicorn. "Figuring out how to get the Artifice free is slow going, and even if I manage to protect the ship, it's pretty likely I'll hurt myself in the process while canceling out that premonition flux. Not permanently, but badly enough to set back our timetable for going to the north, which... the more I think about Maple, the more I wonder if I'm a fool for waiting this long as it stands. Even with all my power, I can't do this both quickly and cleanly."

Twilight looked concerned. "I know you don't want to leave the Immortal Dream behind, but I agree that time is of the essence, and we can always use an Equestrian ship..."

Starlight wasn't finished yet. "I've been thinking about how I would have solved this problem as a filly," she continued. "Back when I... leaned into being unstoppable. Sometimes, I did just use brute force and hurt myself for it. But most of my victories came through resourcefulness, and having no boundaries I wasn't willing to cross to get the tools I needed. And there's one tool that, if we brought it into play, I'm almost certain could solve this problem instantly and effortlessly..." She sighed. "Aegis."