The Immortal Dream

by Czar_Yoshi

Fail Mail

The next morning, or perhaps the next afternoon, Papyrus awoke slowly, a thick purple curtain blocking out the sun.

Like many others, he had a well-established morning routine, a set of rituals to pry him out of bed and get him out the door. Unlike many others, his was almost purely mental, a fifty-fifty split between updating his plans for the day and daydreaming about seeing them come to fruition. It served the purpose of a morning briefing for a politician or military officer, only with more fun and fewer other people involved. And today, he had an unprecedented plan on his plate: tear down all his other plans, and then go do whatever.

He smacked his chops, fixing his main and tail to ensure their appropriate disheveled appearance, gave his face a quick once-over, and that was that. Time to go find Senescey, see if the night really had changed her mind as she feared, and if not, give the rest of the crew the low-down on what they were no longer doing.

The first person he found was Floria, holed up in the galley and aggressively cooking the crew's lunch. Her eyes snapped up as he entered, a skillet in each wing.

"Oh," she said, turning back to the stove. "It's you."

"Expecting someone else?" Papyrus asked. Truth be told, he mostly checked here first because he was following his nose; most of the voyage here was spent either in his room or on the deck, and he didn't have as good of an idea as he should have where each crew member had their preferred hangout.

"I have been eagerly awaiting your report," Floria said, prim and formal and ignoring his question. "On the state of the island, and of the Empire at large."

Papyrus awkwardly winked. "Yes, about that, I was just looking for my co-conspirator from last night to summarize our findings and plan out a presentation to you all! You know, have you seen her?"

"Leitmotif?" Floria asked, reminding Papyrus that he really would need to put effort into remembering his ex-cronies' new names if he wanted to follow them around on a long-term basis, and not just think of them by their old ones.

"That's the one!" Papyrus took a few steps forward and grinned. "Seen her? If you could but give me a humble direction..."

"Still sleeping," Floria told the stove with a huff. "As of twenty minutes ago, when I checked to see how much of this I would need to make. You're welcome. Since you were asleep as well, if you want a portion you'll just have to sit and wait for me to make extra later."

"You know..." Papyrus swaggered over and leaned on the counter, figuring she wouldn't have told him he had nowhere better to be if she really didn't want him there. "The true sphinxly way to conduct yourself would be to make too little food on purpose, and then sell your limited supply for a behind-the-back favor while claiming it's an earnest mistake to any not in the know. Now, I was doing some thinking the other day, and I've got this niggling little hunch that won't go away that you might secretly be a sphinx..."

Floria stiffened. "Any deals I make with you will be held in broad daylight, and if I possess something you want then the best thing you can offer is an equal seat at the table. And the 'true sphinxly' way to conduct myself is something I refuse to put stock in, given the track record of my forebearers."

"Yes, yes..." Papyrus flicked his tail and moved on, wandering out of the galley. She wouldn't be upset at the sudden change of plans, would she? He had promised himself he'd find a way for her to contribute, but if the plan as a whole was scrapped, that didn't really count as breaking that promise. Right? She could just help with whatever the next thing they decided to do was.

---

An hour after Papyrus encountered Floria, Senescey finally stumbled out of her room, which by now Papyrus had learned the location of and parked himself across from, waiting patiently.

"...Hey," Senescey said, staring groggily at him for a moment and blinking. "What time is it?"

"Who cares?" Papyrus shrugged. "Not like we're in a hurry. So, had any calamitous second thoughts about what a fool you were last night and how everything we discussed is now null and void? Or are we still on for whatever the plan is now?"

Senescey yawned. "Plenty of second thoughts, but I don't know if they change anything. You?"

"Nothing new, I'm afraid." Papyrus turned in a circle. "Anything we should discuss, or shall I summon the crew?"

"No, nothing urgent." She shook her head. "Just things I should have asked him when I had the chance, like how many others he's extended this offer to, and whether I can meet them. Go knock yourself out."

And so Papyrus rounded everyone up. It wasn't difficult; Felicity and Larceny both knew there was news to discuss without even being told, and neither could match Floria's intensity. Soon, the five of them were gathered around a table, Senescey looking mostly awake but still betraying hints of getting up ten minutes ago.

Papyrus took it upon himself to do most of the talking, Senescey occasionally chiming in to back him up. And, for once in his life, he didn't try to dress any of his information up.

"With all due respect, darling," Felicity said when he was almost finished and searching for anything he had missed, "I don't mean to say I told you so, but this is exactly what I told you might happen yesterday."

Papyrus put on a faux indignant expression in the face of her restrained smugness. "And for the record, I told you yesterday to give me exactly one night on the town to work out how I felt about long-term commitments here. If anyone's predictive abilities are the subject of accolades, here, I believe that honor goes to yours truly."

"Would you stop bragging and think about what you're saying?" Floria burst out. "For one moment? Please?"

Papyrus and Felicity both blinked, turning to her.

Floria took a deep, steadying breath, and kept her eyes closed as she spoke. "It must be nice, having the resources to embark on an extra-national venture and then mothball it after a single day. This airship, Mother's position, Writs of Harmonic Sanction, experience enough to evaluate a location in a single night and determining none of this is worth the trouble. Writing it all off. Having a daughter who will dutifully and diligently accompany you without complaint when plans change without warning less than one percent of the way in."

She opened her eyes. "And I won't. Reach a consensus that this retreat is the right course of action, and none of you will hear any more from me on the matter. But please, first..."

Floria looked away and shook her head. "No. My apologies; ignore me. I was in the wrong."

Felicity was wholly focused on her. "Speak your mind, Floria. You have as much say in this as anyone else."

"...Very well." Reluctantly, Floria took another breath, then focused on Papyrus and Senescey. "I... appreciate that you feel this is a long-overdue chance to hang up your swords. To bury the hatchet and move on. But I have yet to even draw my sword. Day and night for years on end I have endeavored to be the perfect daughter, to look my sphinx blood in the eye and rise above its shortcomings, and the reward for all my effort is this... this peaceful and meaningless stasis! I want to live. I want to do things. And I... I let myself get my hopes up that I would be able to do something in the land of my ancestors, instead of spending one night here on an airship and never so much as disembarking. I'm just disappointed."

Papyrus glanced around to see if anyone more qualified wanted to address this first.

"Don't look at me," Larceny said, still wearing her old bathrobe and not-recent-enough mane dye job, even though Luna had somehow fixed her leg.

"Well," Senescey started, and immediately ran out of things to say.

"If you were in charge, darling," Felicity said to Floria. "Where would you take us? Inside or outside of the Empire."

Floria looked slightly taken aback. "I... don't know enough to set a course. If we have credibly established that Stormhoof is dangerous, I might not remain here either, but I should like to see at least some of the Empire."

"Strictly speaking..." Papyrus tapped his forehooves together, preparing to play his favorite pastime of devil's advocate. "It's dangerous for sarosians and changelings. You and I might get into all sorts of political drama, but I don't think that sort of power can rip out our own souls, even in the worst-case scenario." At Senescey's look, he added, "Not that I'm advocating this as a plan, or anything."

"You look conflicted," Larceny said, nodding to Felicity.

Floria blinked, looking back at Felicity as well. "Mother?"

"I suppose that's a good way to put it," Felicity replied, biting her lip. "I think I've always been rather clear that Floria must come first in my priorities. At the same time, much as I expected it from you, Papyrus..." She turned to Senescey. "I feel like... a meeting between the five of us is too public a venue for the things I want to say."

"Things you've been waiting almost twenty years to say, right?" Senescey asked sheepishly.

"Things I gave up on ever getting the chance to say almost twenty years ago," Felicity corrected. "And things I was never certain would be appropriate to say again, even now."

Papyrus kicked back in his chair. "You know, if you two need some family time, I could always go annoy Floria somewhere else for a while..."

Floria huffed at him. "Perhaps my simple aspirations mean little to someone who has toyed with lives and empires, but know that I put up with your japes only at the behest of my mother, and if you intend to haunt us for the indeterminate future then you ought to bear in mind that my patience will one day expire."

"There'll be plenty of time for whatever needs saying once we're flying," Senescey cut in. "The important things right now are things that need to be said before that. We need to pick a direction. And if there are any more last-minute arguments for risking that Consul and staying here, we need to hear them now." She glanced at Floria, and her ears fell. "And personally, I do empathize with Floria, so my vote for wherever we go next goes to her choice."

Felicity sighed, something clearly on her mind that she was struggling with whether or not to spit out.

"Come on, girl!" Papyrus urged. "If you think you've got a good reason not to weigh anchor and need to keep quiet because you like what Sen... I mean, what was her new name?" He stared blankly at Senescey for a moment. "Leitmotif! Because you like what Leitmotif is currently thinking, I've got some news for you."

He got up, walked around the table and positioned himself right over Felicity's ear.

"Saying it later rather than sooner," he breathed, "is how buyer's remorse is born."

"...Fine," Felicity said, brushing him off with a wing and addressing the whole table. "Yes, darling, I... do very much want this... change of heart you've had to stick, because I..." She swallowed. "It feels immeasurably selfish of me to be listing reasons we could and should stay here, but frankly, yes, I do have several."

"Tell me," Senescey said. "I'm not delicate. And even if they change my mind in the short term, that won't necessarily speak for the long term, as well."

Felicity swallowed again, then nodded and fixed her mane. "Very well. First, of course, is what Floria wants. At the very least, I was hoping we could discover the city was stable enough to travel incognito, show her some of our old haunts, give her the opportunity to get invested in a goal here... I struggle with this as a parent, I know it's an issue, but that's an opportunity she deserves to have."

Floria bowed her head and kept her silence in thanks.

"Second," Felicity went on, "I don't know how much thought any of you have given to my work for Her Majesty Luna. But I am officially here on her business, and this thing the two of you have discovered is very directly related to what she wanted me to investigate. Especially if it turns out he already has other changelings in his service."

"Would Luna want you to risk your life for that, though?" Senescey asked, quiet.

"Third..." Felicity took a deep breath, then pulled a small, sheathed knife out of an interior pocket of her suit. "The Princess would never ask a sarosian to undertake work investigating Chrysalis and related phenomena without substantial means of self-protection. I think that if we attempt to engage with this Consul and he betrays us, we have more than means enough to leave him with a very nasty surprise."

Everyone, even Floria, leaned in closer.

"I'd like to be a lot more certain about exactly what intentions he had for Leitmotif," Felicity said, unsheathing the knife. "And, certainly, we'd still be in a significant measure of danger. This is by no means a silver bullet. It's merely... a method to rob Tarunda and anyone like him of their due. Behold."

Its blade was made of moon glass.

"Empty," Felicity said. "Applied to any sarosian, changeling or otherwise, it will dredge out their cutie mark and their soul along with it. And it's been demonstrated in the past that if the soul is taken like this and the body is physically restrained, someone sufficiently capable - such as Her Majesty - can put the pieces back together again. But, there is a different use for this as well."

She passed it to Papyrus with an earnest expression. "Go show Floria the city, incognito. You're right that neither of you are vulnerable, and if Tarunda tries anything that merits resorting to violence, he won't like what he finds. We'll be with the ship, ready to leave at a moment's notice. But I want her to have this chance. Please."

Floria actually blushed. "Mother..."

Papyrus flipped the knife and caught it. "So what you're saying is, we've got an escape ready and waiting and can cause as much trouble as we like, so long as we don't cause quite so much that he sends other ships after us, which he could do whether we have some fun today or not."

"Oh, that's far from the only weapon Her Majesty left me with for situations like this," Felicity ominously promised. "If you feel like it isn't worth the risk, that's your call to make. But I would appreciate if you would do this for her."

"I'm not some tourist, Mother," Floria muttered. "I appreciate the sentiment, but one daylong field trip isn't what I'm looking for, least of all with him as a chaperone... but I'll take it. Thanks."

"Braen is best chaperone," Braen said from directly behind Papyrus. "Impervious to changeling queen magic, too! Why not make party of three?"

Papyrus jumped all the way out of his chair. "Where did you come from-" He cut himself off, his face slowly falling in dawning horror.

Braen tilted her head at him. "Papyrus is alright?"

"Oh nooo," Papyrus groaned, clutching at his head with his wings. "Blast! Arrgh! You've been here all along!"

"Technically, Braen was on the bridge," Braen explained, watching him with a confused mechanical expression. "Pilot with no need for sleep is good for travel."

"Papyrus?" Senescey asked, reaching out a tentative hoof.

"I did a Halcyon," Papyrus whispered. "I forgot about my own teammate! The one I'm technically on payroll to be a bodyguard for, no less! I'll never be able to make fun of her for that again after this!"

There was a beat, and then Floria burst out laughing. Everyone but Papyrus rapidly joined her.

"Laugh it up," he griped, grudgingly admitting to himself that this was pretty funny and trying to ensure his frown didn't give way to a smile.

Braen picked him up and forcibly set him back in his chair. "Please remember that Braen has combat functionality. In event of trouble, enemies will soon find much worse surprise than moon glass knife. Besides, Floria is right! Would be big shame to come all this way and not even step outside ship."

"So is common sense getting overruled?" Senescey asked with a feeble grin. "You're really going to tempt fate by taking a vacation in a city we know to be overseen by an eldritch monstrosity who already has eyes on us?" Her expression morphed to a serious frown. "You know that this is a terrible idea."

"At risk of sounding like a broken record," Floria cut in, "my frustration is mine to control. We have established many reasons why we shouldn't be here. If I am to go out exploring, the trip at least ought to have a purpose to it, such as learning something useful for Her Majesty. But I trust the judgement of those more experienced when they say this area is dangerous. I can find a way to live my life somewhere safer."

Papyrus glanced from her to Braen to Felicity and back. "So... just me and Braen, then? Or are we doing the smart thing and flying away?"

"It sounds to me," Larceny said, breaking her silence, "like everyone advocating for not leaving immediately is doing so on behalf of someone else. Who here, for their own reasons, doesn't want to leave Stormhoof immediately?"

Nobody raised a limb.

"Then there you have it," Larceny said. "Let's get out of here."

A knock sounded upon the door.

Papyrus grinned a stupid grin. "Was that inevitable, or was that inevitable? I'll answer, everyone else stay out of sight, but Braen, be ready to jump in with some cannons or something." He tucked the moon glass knife away in the fold of a wing. "Let's see what kind of parting gift fate has cooked up for us."

Everyone else shuffled, moving out of sight as Papyrus went to open the door to the deck. He creaked it open, wearing his biggest smile and ready for anything...

It was Discord.

Papyrus let his grin drop, raising an eyebrow.

Today, Discord was in his Egdelwonk form, dressed up in an outfit that had probably been politely borrowed from a mail carrier. Egdelwonk bowed professionally and proffered an envelope. "Letter for one Mister Grandbell?"

Papyrus took it and flipped it over. It was relatively thick, unaddressed but marked with the Seal of House Everlaste. "Why are you giving me this?" he asked, staring Egdelwonk down. "No, really. I get it, that shady Consul wants to get one last word in and threaten or blackmail or bribe us to force us to stay here, and it's going to work because that's just the way luck works. But why are you the one delivering it?"

Egdelwonk rolled his eyes. "It's your plot hook to chase or ignore as you please, but a certain sinister theater patron didn't actually know where you were, and I'm so tired of seeing you blitz through every setup and ignore every planned story arc that I decided to give him a hand. Knowing you, you'll ignore this too, fly off to live happily ever after, and derail everything as a result, but at least I tried."

Then he shut the door in Papyrus's face.

Papyrus stared at the envelope, shrugged, and tossed it on the table, beckoning everyone else out of hiding.

"Dare we look?" Felicity asked.

Senescey was already slicing it open, taking care in case the contents were poisoned.

Out slipped a short letter and a large stack of pictures.

Papyrus blinked, spreading the pictures out on the table. Taken at night, yet with decent lighting, they depicted Senescey - in her present disguise, colored like she could be Papyrus's younger sister - engaging in various acts of mundane vandalism, and looking deeply aroused while doing it.

He blinked harder as Senescey took the letter and started reading aloud.

Hey there, little miss! Your old friend Tarunda here - sorry, I don't think I got either of your names!

This morning, my night shift got in with some concerning pictures, copies of which I've sent so you can see. This wasn't you, was it? Now, I figure I owe you one for hearing me out the other day, so I've got this swept under the rug all nice like. Call it a favor between friends! But between you and me, if you've got these sorts of inclinations, you could really use someone powerful on your side to keep things smoothed over if you indulge too hard, you know?

Hope this reaches you alright, and good luck on your travels!

Senescey stared at Papyrus. And then at her sisters.

"Is this supposed to be blackmail?" Felicity turned one of the photos over, but the other side was blank.

"He doesn't know," Senescey said.

"Some pretty shabby blackmail," Papyrus added. "What are we going to care when we're never coming back here?" He glanced at Senescey. "You didn't actually trash the place, did you?"

"He doesn't know," Senescey repeated, flickering with green flames as she regained her original sarosian form. "You can't blackmail a changeling with visual evidence. We can take any disguise, and abandon them at will. He doesn't know I can... do this..."

Floria instantly caught on. "Then presumably he used another changeling to pose as you to create these, and expects you not to know how he did that, either."

Senescey looked up at the team with wide eyes. "He doesn't know that I can shapeshift. We could con him."

Papyrus whistled casually.

"There's something I haven't mentioned yet that didn't sit well with me," Senescey went on, her voice speeding up. "The feeling I got from being around him was similar to being around a dusk statue, but in Equestria, Princess Luna didn't feel that way. Neither did Starlight, and I think she can use the Daydream Network too. And there's no way Luna can't. This feeling doesn't just come from being near someone who can control it. There must be something more specific to it... and I have a hunch that this feeling involves them not being very skilled with the power they're using. Like they're leaving themselves open, somehow. The dusk statues were always open, since the Night Mother used them to talk with us. And what Papyrus said yesterday, about how maybe Tarunda was playing nice because he didn't have enough power to forcibly drain us... What if he actually doesn't know how? I thought we stepped on a land mine here, but what if it's possible we've found someone who knows less about this than we do?"

"You think we could extort him?" Papyrus asked. "Get in close enough to find out more about the limits of his knowledge, and then use it?"

"To what end?" Larceny asked. "Are you going back on hanging up the sword, or would this just be risking life and limb trying to extort an even more powerful lord than last time just for the fun of it?"

Senescey set her jaw in a frown. "I... don't know."

"Darling." Felicity scooted over and put a hoof on her back. "Giving up on your plans because you think they're unfeasible... If that's the only reason you do it, it always leads to this."

"We don't need to take over the Griffon Empire." Senescey shook her head. "I don't know what I want right now. I'm going to need a lot more time than just one morning to sort through my feelings. What I would like is if the three of us can stick together and be a team again... and you did say this situation was something Luna would want to know more about." She looked up at Papyrus. "How much can we trust Egdelwonk when he says Tarunda didn't know where to find us? If that's true, and if we can keep it that way, then we'll have an escape route on the table. And if my reading on Tarunda's competence with his powers is correct, then we might not be in as much supernatural danger as I feared we were, even if this is still extremely dangerous."

She looked at Felicity. "If we got to the bottom of this, we'd both be doing something for you, for your benefactor, and for any sarosians who might still be in the Griffon Empire. They can't all be gone. Tarunda found someone to pose as me, after all." She tapped a picture.

Larceny glanced at Papyrus.

"What?" Papyrus shrugged. "I have no idea what I should be advocating, here. What she talked me into was throwing away my vague ambitions, signing on with you girls, and taking each day as it comes with no glorious underlying schemes, plans or goals. Now that a glorious scheme is spontaneously and unpredictably materializing, is it more in line with my new promise to talk you all out of it, or go along with whatever you decide?"

"We can do the same thing for different reasons," Senescey said. "This wouldn't be about testing out my ideas of governance."

"Even though you haven't had your moxie revitalized by a new reason to act so much as a new method of action," Papyrus pointed out.

"...True." Senescey drooped. "What does everyone else think? I won't stick my neck back out there unless we're unanimous. But I think getting an existential scare and then having my viewpoint flipped on its head in one night is a great reason to have my reasons change."

Felicity fidgeted with a wingtip. "If we decide we're determined to poke our noses into this Consul business, which for the record I agree with Leitmotif's current reasons for doing... I, for one, do have a vested material interest in figuring out what's going on, and I think making life better for any hypothetical remaining sarosians in the Empire would be a decent way to balance the scales a little for our past deeds without doing something quite so grandiose as a full reconquest. But if we do all agree on this, Her Majesty did leave me with a few other tools that could prove much more adept at handling this situation."

"What have you got?" Larceny asked. "Speaking for myself, as long as Halcyon stays out of the Griffon Empire, I couldn't care less what goes on here. But I signed on with this already and got my payment in advance, so..." She flexed her restored foreleg.

Floria nodded. "I would like to see what tools are on the table as well."

Hesitantly, Felicity nodded, then reached into her suit and pulled out something else. This time, it was a heavily-ornamented box that looked like a wedding-band case. She folded it open.

Inside were three crystalline needles, each about half a hoof width long and too thin to properly determine their color. They rested on a velvet bed in pre-made depressions, the case clearly crafted to custom specifications. Papyrus stared at them, reaching for an observation that could make himself look smart and finding nothing at all.

"What are these?" Senescey asked, inspecting them closely but not daring to touch.

"Something dangerous, largely useless, and incredibly potent in certain niche situations," Felicity said, everyone watching the box over her shoulders. "Her Majesty referred to these as Iklofna. She wouldn't tell me what they are or where they come from, and from her reluctance on the matter I gather we'd rather not know. Furthermore, she cautioned me that using these is likely to be mind altering in some way, and that dying after using one is a much worse idea than usual."

Papyrus raised an eyebrow. "Fates worse than death? Oh, goodie... And what does it do that's worth all this hassle?"

Felicity looked back at him. "They supposedly allow one to retain consciousness and memory even after having their soul torn out by a changeling queen."

Larceny, Senescey and Floria all drew in a breath.

"I wish Her Majesty had told me more about how these work," Felicity lamented. "I've studied the workings of memories and souls, both sarosian and otherwise, since coming into her employ. Need I remind you, a major target of our investigation is these 'awakened changelings' such as Leitmotif, whose bodies were stolen during Chrysalis' rampage, then spontaneously regained cutie marks and souls. Subjects whom, if Tarunda does have other changelings in his employ while not believing they can consciously shapeshift, we have likely already found in the Empire."

She tapped the pictures. "Now, the difference between Leitmotif and these other awakened changelings is that she possesses her memories from before her awakening, and they don't. This is because memories exist in the space between unique combinations of bodies and souls. Consider two bodies, Body A and Body B. If you move a soul from Body A to Body B, the result will be a creature who has no memory of its time in Body A, and if you then reverse the transfer, they will remember their previous time in A but not in B. This works the same if you perform the experiment with one body and two souls, or really any numbers you please."

Felicity picked up the box with a wingtip. "Those laws are supposed to be inviolable. However, most of what I've learned about them has been from Her Majesty herself... and she was also the one who gave me these, and told me what they could be used for. That means whatever exception she has discovered to her own rules, she doesn't consider it worth teaching. And these are rules, mind you, that not just anyone would be allowed to learn in the first place. So whatever is going on here must be unusual indeed."

"And what are you proposing we do with these, again?" Papyrus asked.

"Well," Felicity said. "The original idea was that, in lieu of moon glass, if someone was trying to steal my soul, I would be able to use one of these instead. And while that would do nothing to actually stop them, it would mean that were I ever to be put back together again, I would retain all memory of things that happened while I was inside my captor. A highly unlikely scenario, but bear in mind that this has happened multiple times before..." She pointed to Senescey. "Including to one of our own. So Her Majesty gave me these because on the off chance we could repeat that stroke of luck, the information yielded could be invaluable."

Senescey poked at the box. "You think if we can be reasonably certain that Tarunda will borrow my body, then put me back together when he's done, we can use this to spy on him." She shook her head in disbelief. "She couldn't possibly have foreseen that being useful. Did Luna just load you down with crazy unknown magic for every conceivable once-in-a-blue-moon scenario?"

"As a matter of fact, she did," Felicity said. "These are far from the only magical failsafe Her Majesty left me. Far from the most dangerous or esoteric, as well. Merely the most suited to our present situation."

"Should we know about any of the others?" Larceny asked.

Felicity cleared her throat. "I feel like it would be best to keep those options off the table until we actually need them, lest we risk doing more damage to ourselves using Her Majesty's power than we would avert from the trials around us."

"Question from the peanut gallery," Papyrus said, waving a wing. "All that seems dandy enough. I, for one, know more than I'd care to about what kinds of skeletons gods can have in their closets, especially ones who used to be really evil. But do you know how I know that? Because I used to be one. With a very different body than I have today."

He rested his cheeks on his hooves, stretching his mouth out into an artificially wide smile. "So how's your memory science explain that one? Think I've got one of these Iklofna bits already?"

Felicity frowned. "I don't know enough about how they work to say. I don't understand any mechanisms by which that law could be violated. Her Majesty did warn me that non-sarosians could use these as well, but ought to stay away from them because there wouldn't be any benefits to go with the myriad downsides. Hence why she only gave me three, and not ones for you or Floria. But if you'd like to know more, I think asking herself would be your best recourse."

"And she might be more inclined to humor me if we brought her the sweet, juicy intel we came here to find..." Papyrus mused. "Ironic how the moment I give up on finding some deeper meaning or secrets or whatever to myself, I find a real and tangible avenue to do just that. Oh well! Are we doing this, or not?"

Everyone looked at each other.

"For what it's worth," Papyrus added, "it would be funny to see the look on Egdelwonk's face if I actually humor him for a change."

Senescey knocked on a trash can. "Egdelwonk? If this is something you're actually trying to steer Papyrus into, can you give your word that you'll be in our corner if anything goes particularly badly off the rails?"

A pair of red-on-yellow eyes shone back out from within. "This is not a safe and cuddly adventure for the faint of heart."

Senescey swallowed.

"Aww, he doesn't mean that!" Papyrus reached in and pulled Egdelwonk's head up and out into plain sight, then gave him a noogie. "Right, Wonky old pal?"

Egdelwonk suplexed him into the trash can, trading places with one smooth movement. "I solemnly swear and give my word as the most honorable and sacrosanct sultan of sewage that there is at least one decision you can collectively make right here and now, as a group, that results in at least one person present surviving for at least one day after the fact. Excluding me. Good enough?"

"Better than worst-case scenario," Braen remarked.

"Come on, is that really the best we get?" Papyrus hauled himself out of the trash can, picking a banana peel out of his tail.

"My job is to keep things interesting around here, not to keep anyone safe and happy," Egdelwonk lectured. "And it won't be very interesting if literally everyone dies, because then there would be no one for anything to happen to. Now stop relying on the powers that be and go eat your plot hooks! Lazy ponies, I swear..." He climbed back into the trash can, and was gone.

Everyone looked at each other and shrugged.

"Well!" Papyrus took charge of the conversation. "That leaves us with four probably yesses and one who hasn't yet commented?" He tapped his hooves together and grinned at Floria. "What do you say, matey? Change our minds about being smart enough to sit this mystery out and try to swindle the guy sitting on your dad's throne, or intelligently make a mad break for the hills?"

Floria looked taken aback, but also conflicted.

"For what it's worth," Papyrus added, "the stuff we got up to in the old days was technically a lot more dangerous than this. I'm inclined to agree with the read that if Fatso could and wanted to insta-kill us, he would have played his hand very differently. At the same time, back then we had the backing of a reclusive goddess, and out of our two divine patrons this time, one is a clown and the other is a zillion miles away. Back to the first hoof, you wanted a role to play, and if things do reach a point with Tarunda where we're not just conning him, but leveraging him where he can see it, you'd be better equipped than any of us to make threats."

"And you require a unanimous decision to stay here," Floria said. "Meaning this truly is up to me."

Papyrus winked three times in rapid succession.

"I... shouldn't be given a decision like that," Floria whispered. "Even if it is what I wanted. I will... side with the majority. And I pray that nothing ill comes of this."

Everyone's eyes locked... even Braen, whom Papyrus belatedly remembered he hadn't included in the vote tally. They all nodded.

"Right, then!" Papyrus slammed a hoof down in the middle of the table. "To bad ideas! And feature creep! And teamwork! And giving up on vague and nebulous goals in favor of achievable ones!"

"To playing with dangerous magical artifacts in the name of getting Felicity the information that Luna needs," Senescey said, putting her hoof on top of his.

"To Her Majesty," Felicity added, joining her hoof to the pile.

"To scamming people!" Braen enthusiastically joined as well.

"To hoping we didn't jinx ourselves." Larceny rested her restored hoof at the top.

"To hoping I don't regret being the first one to object to leaving, and the last one to sign on with staying." Floria capped off the hoof stack. "And to making up our minds."

Out of nowhere, Egdelwonk appeared, one-upping her with a seventh hoof. "And to chaos, and the magic of friendship!"

Everyone gave him a weird look.

He shrugged. "What? The six of you have gotten marginally less self-centered in your reasons for being here over the past few days. In fact, it's almost like you decided to stay because you're more in it for each other's goals now than your own, which quite frankly wasn't supposed to happen for at least a few more chapters. Whatever cosmic balance keeps karma greased up and ensures that stories have morals, I'd say it's roughly as likely to reward you for that as it is to punish you for not running away. So enjoy your scheming, and ta-ta!"

Once again, he was gone. Papyrus looked at the trash can, shook his head, and then looked back to his team.

"Right," he said. "If we're doing this, let's hash out a plan..."

Comments

[Venlinelle]

"Right, then!" Papyrus slammed a hoof down in the middle of the table. "To bad ideas! And feature creep! And teamwork! And giving up on vague and nebulous goals in favor of achievable ones!"

Well, he’s getting some use out of the fourth wall powers.

Out of nowhere, Egdelwonk appeared, one-upping her with a seventh hoof. "And to chaos, and the magic of friendship!"

You know, this story doesn’t have a ton of magic of friendship moments; we mostly get by with the magic of mental illness and lesbianism. It’s nice that Discord has some brand loyalty.

[BurningSkies]

"Something dangerous, largely useless, and incredibly potent in certain niche situations," Felicity said, everyone watching the box over her shoulders. "Her Majesty referred to these as Iklofna. She wouldn't tell me what they are or where they come from, and from her reluctance on the matter I gather we'd rather not know. Furthermore, she cautioned me that using these is likely to be mind altering in some way, and that dying after using one is a much worse idea than usual."

Iklofna, one of those magic Tenets of Eternity words from thirty-two chapters ago...
Finally we start on one of those hanging threads.

[PropsValroa]

Guess they are back in because they know Felicity has some cool tricks up her sleeve. Let's hope this Tarunda guy knows a lot more than they do, it's time for some answers...or if he doesn't, than things could get interesting...