The Immortal Dream

by Czar_Yoshi

The Other Reason Why

Our Town had exactly one street, lined with houses on both sides. At the far end was a lone, bigger building, and the near end grew out of a trail that Corsica and Seigetsu had followed down the gulch wall, sloping down from the ramshackle train station.

In a way, it reminded Corsica of the surface of Icereach, a town in a valley that hadn't even tamed the wilderness within its walls, let alone beyond. Odds were, this town had an underground component too, since she saw no traces of agriculture whatsoever.

There were plenty of ponies, though. Even though it looked like a desert, the heat wasn't oppressive, coaxing ponies out of their homes to mingle in the street, which was more of a public plaza than a road. Cords strung across the street between houses played host to a mix of colorful pennants, and one group of ponies appeared to be having a cookout.

"Looks like they're doing well enough for themselves," Corsica remarked, nodding to the village outskirts. The two rows of houses were built on patch of land that had been artificially raised to be safe from flooding, but it was wide enough to accommodate a full four rows, and the edges looked freshly-moved - a sign they were in the early stages of an expansion.

"So it would seem," Seigetsu said. "Perhaps we can accomplish our goal quickly."

Corsica glanced up at her. "Our goal is stalling until Starlight builds up the courage to come through here herself. Not sure we can speed that along."

Seigetsu folded her arms. "I don't believe that was the plan as stated."

"But it was the plan as unstated," Corsica pointed out. "And if we're really here to get a read on the local vibe, I'd say it looks good enough already."

Before she could press her case, some of the locals appeared to notice them, and a pegasus zipped over. "Hey there!" she greeted, sporting a charcoal coat and an off-white mane. "Nice horn! And are you a dragon? What brings a pair like you out all this way?"

Corsica took point, ready with a bluff. "Yeah? Well, nice wings, yourself. We're treasure hunters, thrill seekers, you know the deal. Heard the mountains here had some caves that weren't on as many maps as they deserved to be."

The pegasus seemed somewhere between surprised, relieved, disappointed and curious. "No kidding? First time we've seen someone here for a reason like that, though I've heard much worse ones! The name's Night Glider. And if you're serious about caving, surely you'd want to take a load off in town first and get a fresh-rested start tomorrow?"

Corsica glanced down at the bustling, cheerful town. "Wasn't planning on imposing, but it sounds fun. What kind of amenities you got in a town like this?"

"Good ones!" Night Glider did a loop in midair. "And cheap ones. Treasure hunters ought to be flush in coin, right? Don't worryyy, we won't stiff you just because we're out in the middle of nowhere! Come on down! You'll never meet a friendlier bunch, I swear it on my cutie mark. Did I get your names, by the way?"

"Corsica." Corsica flipped her mane.

"And my name is Seigetsu," Seigetsu added, leaving off her title. "Your generous offer is much appreciated. Rest assured you will be compensated fairly in any transactions."

"Awesome, see you there!" Night Glider zipped away.

Corsica glanced up at Seigetsu. "Her promising not to rip us off isn't weird, right?"

Seigetsu kept walking forward. "You went through Sires Hollow, did you not? Towns built far from natural trade routes tend to have poorly-rounded economies and import as luxury goods things the rest of the world takes for granted. It is possible they have had poor experiences with those who do not understand that reality before."

"How far out of the way is it?" Corsica asked, flicking her tail back at the train station. "For anyone who doesn't know, isn't it just a day trip to the rest of Equestria?"

Seigetsu nodded. "A day trip one would only make with the explicit intention of coming here, rather than passing through. I would imagine the only traders who come here are natives who leave to sell their goods abroad and return with wares for the town."

Corsica stared at the town, its houses reinforced with quality lumber that clearly hadn't been grown nearby. "Guess you're right. But they can't be that starved for trade. Guess we'll see what's what when we get there."

---

The first thing Corsica noticed upon entering the town proper were the foals.

Our Town had a complete and utter lack of ponies her age. Corsica guessed that the youngest ones she saw were in their mid-to-late twenties, and there were none at all who were younger than her... until she got down to the infants. Just at first glance, there were three of those, one carried by a mother who was visibly pregnant.

Something was deeply unusual with this town's demographic, and Corsica had a hunch the catalyst for change had been Starlight's departure. What had she done, forbidden them from having families? Why would she do a thing like that?

Corsica and Seigetsu were warmly and enthusiastically greeted, and given a barrage of names that Corsica couldn't begin to remember. Night Glider had clearly spread her story around, and in no short order she was rapidly solicited with everything from mountaineering equipment to food to lodgings for the night. With copious offers of free samples.

In her youth, Corsica had always been the center of attention, rising naturally to the top of the school hierarchy by virtue of her money, parentage, long horn and sassy attitude. That had changed once she finished school, started hanging out with Halcyon and had her spirit crushed by her special talent, but it came with the enduring benefit of being comfortable in situations like this. Eager ponies crowded around her, talking over each other, woefully inexperienced in the ways of making guests feel at ease, and while Seigetsu was a master at controlling her appearance, Corsica could tell that even she didn't find this her preferred way to spend an afternoon.

Halcyon probably would have gotten overwhelmed to the point of panic. And Starlight...

What if Starlight was less afraid of being shunned and blamed than getting a too-friendly reception she didn't feel like she deserved? These ponies didn't carry themselves like their lives had been ruined and they had never recovered.

"Alright," Corsica spoke up, taking command of a situation that had been allowed to remain chaotic for just the right amount of time. "I've been traveling all day, and I'm famished. Which one of you was offering food, again? Was it you?"

She singled out a pink unicorn with a poofy grape mane, who beamed as all the other ponies made some room. "That's right! I run the bakery around here. Follow me, if you would?"

The unicorn led Corsica towards a house that was structurally identical to all the others, but lavishly decorated to indicate it was a bakery. "I'm a pastry chef by specialty, but I can make just about anything to order if you have special tastes! Provided you share the recipe, of course. Right now, I've got all sorts of bread, scones, chocolate cherry cheesecake, fresh-baked apple-"

"Gimmie the chef special," Corsica instructed, in an adventurous mood. "Did I catch your name, by the way?"

"Sugar Belle!" The unicorn swung open the door to her shop, which tinkled with a cheery chime - her section of the road was also the one hosting the cookout, and there were a mix of ponies both outdoors and indoors. "I, um, don't have a chef special, but take anything you like! The first helping is on the house."

"Sure about that?" Corsica asked, walking over to the counter and flipping a bit in her aura, letting her nose do the picking. "We are flush with cash..."

She settled on a doughy glazed bar that was obviously some sort of desert. It wouldn't ruin her figure, though. Nothing seemed to be able to do that. Back in the old days, she used to watch her diet incessantly, before her special talent came along and ruined her ability to care. And surprise, surprise: nothing changed, no matter what she let herself eat. All that worry had been for nothing.

Odds were, she had made a wish about this back before she realized how her talent worked, and now she couldn't change...

Corsica pushed that thought aside for the moment, chomping down on the pastry and getting a mouthful of custard filling. "Not bad," she praised with her mouth full, noting Sugar Belle hovering nearby. "See, I'm all about dessert for lunch. You get me. Nice place you've got here."

"Oh, I'm flattered you think that way!" Sugar Belle crossed her forelegs and blushed. "I really just do this because I enjoy it. Do you mind if I ask where you're from?"

Corsica glanced around, noting that the rest of the ponies indoors seemed to be there because they were the less-pushy types who were happier to leave and be left alone. For her part, Seigetsu had let herself get dragged off to see another part of the town. This was the one-on-one conversation Corsica was looking for.

"Nowhere," she answered. "And everywhere. I'd like to say I owe more allegiance to the places I haven't seen in the world than the places I have seen." She stopped to swallow, doing her best to channel her memories of Gerardo Guillaume and sound like a world-wise wanderer. "And now, that wandering brings me here. How about you? You a native, or came here from some other town?"

Sugar Belle shook her head. "No one's a native of Our Town. It was only founded seven or eight years ago. Before that, I lived in Canterlot. Not in the elite circles, alas..."

Corsica nodded along as she ate. "Huh. So everyone here is just the founding generation, then? I saw some kids out in the street, but they all looked pretty young."

Sugar Belle smiled and blushed. "Aren't they adorable? We've only got five so far, but the whole town thinks of them as our own. One day, they'll be able to say they're from Our Town, and then we really will have natives. Just a part of putting our mark on the map, you know?"

"So you only just got comfortable enough with your foothold here to settle down and start families?" Corsica asked, chewing. "Is seven years fast for that, or slow? Never thought about planting a new town before."

Sugar Belle shifted uncertainly. "You could say it's because of that. Actually, it's because we had a change in leadership, but they're sort of related. I don't suppose you've heard of Our Town by reputation before coming here, have you? Or was it really all about seeing the caves?"

"I mean, I knew it existed," Corsica said. "Heard we'd be able to stock up on supplies here, as well. Are you guys known for more than that?"

"Really? You heard you could get supplies here?" Sugar Belle relaxed, wiping her brow. "That's such a relief. I guess word has finally started spreading from the folks who have been here before."

Corsica raised an eyebrow. "You guys are that worried about getting your reputation out there?"

"Well, there's no reason not to tell you this," Sugar Belle said. "Under our old leader, Our Town was incredibly closed off from the world. it was essentially a place ponies went to escape from society... and didn't come back from. I have no idea what ponies actually say about us in the world abroad, if they know about us at all. I haven't left this town since I came here, and neither has anyone else, at least not after putting down roots. Save for our old founder, that is..." She shook her head. "Anyway, everyone here is trying to be future-oriented, really get us on the map as a tourist destination and get more ponies to visit. We do have some great desert views, right? So everyone's just a tad nervous that we might have an old reputation at odds with our new vision for ourselves."

Corsica's ears fell. "Sounds rough. That why everyone got so fired up when me and Seigetsu walked in?"

Sugar Belle giggled. "I hope it wasn't overwhelming. We just want prospective visitors to speak highly of us once they go back home, so word of mouth can spread. And we haven't had much practice welcoming ponies the 'normal' way yet, I'm afraid... You seem to be enjoying yourself, though?"

"Yeah, I'll put in a good word for you when I get the chance," Corsica volunteered. "You've got good snacks, at least. So who was this old leader of yours?"

"Hopefully you don't know her," Sugar Belle said, then caught herself. "Actually, I take that back. If you do know her, hopefully she really has changed, and it wasn't just a passing fancy. Her name was Starlight Glimmer, and she had some... extreme, and hypocritical, views. It's not the happiest story... You sure you wouldn't rather talk about something else instead?"

"Bad memories, huh?" Corsica guessed.

Sugar Belle shrugged. "Well, it's not that I mind talking about it. Always nice to air out old grievances with a friendly ear, you know? I just don't want to color your perceptions of Our Town when there's so many other things to talk about. Like you! Have you got another destination in mind after seeing the tunnels here?"

"I think we're heading west, but dunno if those plans are hashed out for sure," Corsica said. "Keep your plans flimsy, and then it's a good thing when you learn about something better to do." She folded her forelegs on the table. "Really, though, I don't mind hearing about your past. It's nice to know a town's character, the kinds of things they've overcome. And believe me, whatever your situation, I've heard wilder."

"Oh, well, if you're sure..." Sugar Belle glanced around, then leaned in and dropped her voice to a whisper. "The way we all used to live... was without our cutie marks."

Corsica's eyes widened. Valey had told told her about this; it was half of the reason she had sought Starlight out: if she really, truly decided that she would be better off without her special talent and the powers and tradeoffs it held, and if Starlight couldn't teach her a better way to live with those tradeoffs, she could take it entirely away.

But no one had told her Starlight actually did that to an entire village.

Suddenly, things made... marginally more sense. Sort of.

"Starlight did that, then?" she guessed.

Sugar Belle nodded. "She recruited all of us personally to come live here, as part of an 'experiment in equal society'. She learned about the things that were wrong with our lives, and promised us that they could be fixed by living somewhere where you were no different from everyone around you. Those promises have an intoxicating lure to ponies with certain backgrounds, and she had a way of making them that made you feel the depths of her convictions... at least until those convictions turned out to be a lie. We chased her out of town with help from some visitors - including a Princess - after we realized she never gave up her own cutie mark like the rest of us."

"A Princess?" Corsica leaned in, intrigued. "Which one?"

Odds were, it was Twilight, right? Twilight was the one who usually went around Equestria getting her hooves dirty with individual ponies' problems rather than sit around and pontificate all day, at least to hear her friends tell it. But that didn't sound like the kind of thing that would lead to Starlight coming back to Ponyville and making friends with everyone there, either.

"Twilight Sparkle," Sugar Belle said, swooning ever so slightly. "And the Elements of Harmony. Equestria's heroes. They came back once, several months ago, with Starlight, to tell us they'd patched things up between them and that she was trying to change. You know, so that she could apologize."

Corsica blinked. Wait, what?

Starlight had already been back here to apologize? And yet... she was scared of coming back here to apologize?

"And did she?" Corsica pressed. "Make amends? How did that go?"

"Better than anyone expected," Sugar Belle admitted. "A few nerves on both sides, to put it mildly. You could really tell she had been cowed, though, and we pretty quickly got the picture that she wasn't here for revenge. This probably sounds weird to you from what I've just said, but many of us were worried about her. Her betrayal stung deeply because we did believe in her cause, or at least understood it. I don't suppose you've ever felt liberated from something, but also like you've lost something precious at the same time?"

If Corsica thought about it hard enough, she imagined she would be able to spin getting her special talent that way, but she was more interested in knowing what Starlight was up to, dragging her hooves on something she had apparently already done. "I think I can relate."

Sugar Belle nodded. "Getting on without her has also made us realize how much she did for us. She basically carried Our Town on her shoulders, and it's been an enormous amount of work to keep the town functioning without her. So, it's tough to reconcile the ways I feel about her. And for me and many of the other townsfolk, seeing her contrition was the push we needed to make up our minds and let bygones be bygones."

"Huh," Corsica said, still trying to puzzle out why Starlight was stalling. Must be that she just hadn't let her lesson sink in despite learning it, and was panicking about nothing? Halcyon sure did that sometimes. Hopefully Twilight would talk her out of it, because they weren't swimming in free time...

"Now, I think that's quite enough about me and Our Town's sordid past," Sugar Belle declared, stomping a hoof for emphasis. "How about you repay the favor with some talk of your own? We hardly ever get news from the outside world, and who wouldn't be curious about what you're looking for in our caves?"

"...Well," Corsica began, making the executive decision that Starlight was being a wuss and these ponies would respond reasonably to the truth. "First off, it's not just the two of us. There's actually quite a few more hanging out just outside the town. We just came down here on our own to get a feel for things..."

---

I floated through the desert sky, liberated and free.

The flight to Our Town from Ponyville had given me ample time as a ghost, and I spent most of it pretending to fly. It was sensible that flying as a ghost felt different from flying in my body; after all, my body couldn't fly. But what I hadn't expected was that thinking about flying felt different.

In my body, contemplating it usually gave me a lump in my throat, some nebulous feeling between wistfulness and shame. Jumping off short ledges and flapping my wings just wasn't something I did, because it wasn't fun. I wasn't some dreamer, throwing myself off every cliff I saw and hoping that one day my wings would suddenly catch air. I had accepted my ground-bound state, made peace with it, and contemplating it further felt awkward or bad.

Not so when I was a ghost. Here, those feelings existed just as much as the ground and walls. I could run right at them, and they would simply never arrive. For all I knew, if I could isolate this state of mind, capture it and reproduce it when I was physical, that alone would be all the help I needed to finally take to the air.

It was easy to plan and get excited about things like this when I was a ghost. Those plans and mindsets never survived the transition back into my body, but right now I was a ghost, and so life was good.

Corsica and Seigetsu were getting mobbed by ponies at the entrance to Our Town, a fact that made me doubly-glad I was a ghost. Smiling, eager faces stumbled over each other in an effort to get a slice of the newcomers' attention, a visage that wasn't in the least overwhelming when I was protected from it by the veil of quasi-existence, just like a picture of an angry mob chasing you down was much less frightening than the real thing.

As usual, Corsica handled the situation like a pro, knowing just when and how to speak to avoid getting interrupted or flustered by those interruptions. Corsica was so cool... Part of me demanded that I follow her and listen in on whatever she was going to learn once she got the situation pared down to a better size. Another part suggested I tail Seigetsu, because I trusted Corsica to give me the parts that were relevant to my goals when we got both got back. And a third part wanted to go look at the foals.

The third part won out. It wasn't like anyone knew I was here, or was counting on me accomplishing stuff with my presence. And I was feeling good today, so I might as well make the most of it and enjoy myself.

Two of the foals were being watched over by their fathers at a table on the side of the road, which seemed to function less as a table and more as a general point of congregation. A third stallion was there too, not carrying an infant, and all three of them were watching the ruckus at the entrance.

"We haven't had a single pony in the entire last year show up thinking this was still Starlight's haunt," one of the fathers said, bouncing his infant as they looked around with wide eyes, too young for their irises to have developed. "My money says they aren't here for her old services."

"And one's a dragon," the lone stallion said. "He doesn't even have a cutie mark."

"The longer we go without it happening just makes me wonder more and more how things will go when it does happen," the second father pointed out, his own foal sound asleep. "For all that we've done to turn Our Town into a place ponies want to visit, the one thing we can't control, or even know, is how other ponies see us. Maybe Starlight didn't speak a word about this place to anyone she wasn't actively interested in recruiting. Maybe she spread a wide net. Maybe she badmouthed us in between leaving and falling in with the Princess. Maybe she even put in a good word for us later." He sighed. "I don't like that this is the one thing we're forced to leave up to chance, when it's practically the most important. You can't build a tourist town with no tourists."

I flicked my ears. Talking about Starlight already? Well, maybe I would learn something good here after all...

"You worry too much," the lone stallion said. "Time is on our side, dude! All this stuff we're building will pay off for us even if it doesn't wind up making money or getting us better-integrated with Equestria."

The second father sighed. "Forgive me if I can't get fully on board with your outlook. Times are good right now, but what about when they're not? What do we do if someone gets sick or injured?"

The first father seemed partly swayed. "Isn't that all the more reason to hope those visitors are here because word about us is finally starting to spread?"

The second one didn't answer.

"I want my kids to have opportunities too," the first said. "But a day we get visitors seems like the wrong day to freak out about what if that doesn't happen. And there's always the possibility they won't even be stuck here like we are."

I tilted my head. Stuck here? There was a train station just over the gulch rim. Had these ponies never explored their surroundings before?

They had to know about it. How else would they have gotten here?

"Would be great if that was the case," the second father said. "But we can't count on it. The fact is, we don't even know why the trains don't work for us, let alone whether they'll work for our kids. Is it a curse Starlight left on us? Is it because we came here via airship, rather than by train? Is it because we spent so long without our cutie marks? Maybe our kids will be able to go out and decide for themselves where and how to live their lives, or maybe they'll be stuck here like us."

I sucked in a breath. Starlight and flown everyone here on her airship.

The train magic was preventing every last pony in this town from leaving.

"Maybe having kids makes it different," the lone stallion said, leaning back. "But me, I haven't forgotten the spirit that brought me out here. Even if Starlight turned out to be a fraud, spending the rest of my days building out this town from nothing is exactly the life for me. Really gets you going, stepping back and going, 'I built that,' you know? I've got everything I need right here, exit or no."

The first father looked down at his foal. "Yeah? Well, I made this little guy." He sighed. "Might be crazy to say this, but I wish Starlight would come back. Odds are certain that she'd know why the trains only work for visitors. If she really has turned over a new leaf, maybe she could fix them."

"Hey, I didn't bring it up last time because I didn't want to kill the mood," the lone stallion said. "And besides, she came back once already to apologize. If there was something she could do, you'd think she'd have done it then. Ask yourself why you didn't ask her, if you wanted that badly to know."

My head spun. All of this was painting a very different picture than I had gone in expecting. As likely as it was that I could learn more by staying and listening, I needed to get back to the ship and share some of what I had overheard.

---

Aboard the Immortal Dream, I found Faye exactly where I had left her, and she wasted no time in turning control over to me when I explained what I had put together. Starlight and Twilight were both on the bridge, waiting in an awkward silence.

Starlight nodded at my arrival. "Getting restless?"

"Just had a thought," I said. "About the trains. You have some exception to them, right? You can ride them without tripping up the magic."

Starlight nodded. "If you're wondering whether my way will work for you, the answer is probably no. Did you forget something back in Ponyville?"

I shook my head. "How did you figure it out? Was it something you could always do, or did you have to discover a bypass?"

"I figured it out less than a year ago," Starlight said, clearly not wanting to say how she did it.

"So you couldn't use the trains before that?" I asked. "How'd you get to and from this village, airship?"

"I already said that," Starlight sighed, drifting back into contemplation. "Look, I've got a lot on my mind, so if you're just here to chat..."

"Fine, I'll spit it out," I told her. "You didn't happen to use your airship when convincing ponies to move to this town, did you? Because I've been thinking about how likely that would be, and what it would mean for their ability to use the trains to leave if so."

Starlight sat straight up, her pupils constricting. Twilight watched her reaction, suddenly worried.

"I never even thought about that," Starlight whispered. "Why didn't anyone tell me, though? Surely they must have tried and found out. They would all be stuck here. I... That was part of the point of using the airship, and I completely forgot I did that..."

"Not to put too fine a point on it," Twilight said, fully alert. "But you didn't give them a whole lot of chances to test what would happen if they left."

"Not then," Starlight protested. "Later, when we came back to apologize! You think they would have mentioned it if they tried and failed to leave but saw that I could do it just fine?"

"Well, you could always ask them to find out for sure," Twilight pointed out. "But you were glued to my side for that entire trip. Maybe they wisely thought me and the rest of the element bearers would get stuck here too if they made a fuss about it? There could be a lot of reasons, but you won't find them sitting in this cabin."

"Or, maybe they didn't trust me," Starlight darkly mused. "For understandable reasons, still, but... Or maybe they thought since I arrived on the train, I had somehow forgotten, and so asking me about it would trap me there with them even if they got me on my own? That's probably the real reason."

Either way, Starlight had been back to apologize already, like the stallions had implied. Which meant that this whole thing about sending Corsica and Seigetsu to test the water amounted to stalling, because Starlight didn't want to take to heart a lesson she had already learned, or else some irrational fear was refusing to dissipate.

Well... I couldn't blame her. I knew exactly what that was like. But maybe I could help Twilight to give her a gentle push.

"Look," I began, "I dunno what this is about having been here to apologize already. I'm guessing it didn't clear one hundred percent of everything up if you're still this nervous, but don't you think this is a pretty good opportunity to make it up to them? If they're really stuck, we've got a link to the outside world with this airship. We could give them a lift if someone needs it, deliver some mail, I dunno, buy something they can't get here and hire someone to take it to them on the train..."

Twilight nodded along. "What she said. Starlight, I know you're nervous about seeing the flame again, and about your visions. But those burdens will be easier to manage once you've got the reaction of the ponies here off your chest."

"A reaction which you should already know, if you've already done this before," I added. "Speaking of, you don't think that would have been an important detail to tell us earlier? Or was I just not around when you did?"

Starlight looked embarrassed. "And you would have taken this more seriously if you knew I had already been here to ask forgiveness once before?" She sighed. "You're trying to recruit me to solve a conflict in the north after we're done here. You've been sent to my doorstep by ponies who undoubtedly think of me as some mythical savior. But I am scared of this, even though I've already faced this fear and it turned out fine. I'm a coward, I'm irrational, I didn't learn my lesson, go ahead and say it. That's just... not what I wanted you to see me as, with what you're asking me to do."

My backwards ears perked. Was she worried about my confidence in her abilities?

But she didn't want to go back to the north. She was stalling and doing everything she could to get out of it. And yet rather than trying to tarnish her reputation to make me think she wasn't the one I needed for this job, she cared about protecting my opinion of her.

In some, that would be vanity. But this felt more like she had secretly made up her mind to join me, and was trying to reassure me that her aid really would be enough.

I grinned.

"Been there. Done that," I told her. "Sometimes, you learn that something's nothing to be afraid of, and then it doesn't stick even when you learn it five times over. It stinks. But it's not just you. That happens to everyone, okay? And even if it doesn't stick this time either, you won't have to face them again for a long while."

Starlight looked at the door. "If it was just them, I could have had this over with an hour ago. But even if this goes well, and even if our trip to the flame goes well, our next destination is..."

"The north?" I guessed.

Starlight shook her head. "We're going to Snowport to take Seigetsu up on her offer to search for any hints of Maple's passage. I owe it to her to... to find out what happened. But I don't want to learn that I was too late. That's the other reason I'm stalling."

Twilight reached out a hoof.

"I can tell myself the townsponies have forgiven me," Starlight said, walking out of reach and heading for the deck. "I can tell myself restoring the flame is objectively the opposite of moving toward a future where the world falls to ruin. But I can't tell myself Maple would have stopped looking for me if she still could, and I can't tell myself that search wouldn't have ended after two decades. Something happened to her, and I'm not ready to learn what."

Comments

[Sharp Quill]

For Starlight, there is always a way. If she wants to stall, then stalling shall happen.

[Venlinelle]

"Twilight Sparkle," Sugar Belle said, swooning ever so slightly. "And the Elements of Harmony. Equestria's heroes. They came back once, several months ago, with Starlight, to tell us they'd patched things up between them and that she was trying to change. You know, so that she could apologize."

Aha, so she did already come back! I was curious why that hadn’t come up.

In some, that would be vanity. But this felt more like she had secretly made up her mind to join me, and was trying to reassure me that her aid really would be enough.

Well, you’ve got impossible things to do! Of course Glimmy’s coming.
Still, it’s nice to get confirmation that she’s getting over her worries/denial.

You know, since nopony knows what happened to Maple, Corsica could just… wish that she were okay. Now that we know how this power works, I’m going to apply it to every situation.

It’s very weird to be at the parts of the story that are updating live! Not entirely unpleasant, though.

[PropsValroa]

Look for Maple...