The Immortal Dream

by Czar_Yoshi

Apologies

Over the course of an hour, I told Valey almost everything. How I met with Garsheeva. The screaming I thought I heard, coming from the crystals. How I talked myself into making the descent. What it was like down there, and how I fell when the ladder broke. The structure I found at the bottom of the tunnels, and how it was made of crystal. The pink flame, and the machines nearby. How the flame had called for help, and how I had absorbed it into my emptiness. I didn't talk about my other selves, or my mental state. But on the details of my excursion, I spared no words.

Valey, for her part, never interrupted, not for the slightest question. And, when I finished, she sat back and sighed.

"Well?" I asked, feeling hollow and a little fuzzy after opening myself so thoroughly to another pony.

"So, first off," Valey said, leaning forward and crossing her forelegs. "You're probably immortal. Didn't get the greatest look myself, but your mom had a real nasty habit of healing off her injuries. You got any sort of history with injuries? Large, small, anything?"

I shrugged. "...Yeah. I got put in the hospital once back in Icereach after some shrapnel hit me. From the Aldebaran incident. It felt kind of strange at the time. My memories are a little hazy, but I thought it should have been much worse than it was. I don't think there's been much other than that. I used to spar with the military yaks for fun, but they went out of their way not to hurt me too much."

"Sparring with military yaks?" Valey raised an eyebrow. "Bananas, those guys are tough opponents. Yeah, though. Wish I could tell you more about how that regeneration ability works, but you're probably better off asking an immoral scientist about that one..." She rubbed the back of her head. "Either way, if you can contain an entire flame of harmony, you're made of ridiculously sturdy stuff. Even with the flame in such a weakened state... I don't wanna bore you with magical techno-jargon, but let's just say that's not a very safe thing for most mortals to do."

"I'm a scientist," I said. "I like techno-jargon."

"Then I should introduce you to Shinespark," Valey said, leaning back. "Her hobbies are science and philosophy. Great combination if you like talking about things that mean stuff to only two other ponies in the world."

My face fell. "Would have been nice if you did that a few days ago. Though, I guess I didn't need her help to get down there after all."

"Sorry." Valey shrugged. "As you might be able to guess, it's not just a place we want anyone to be able to get to. And, also a place that the wrong ponies already are. Moving on, though: how much do you know about the flame you just gobbled? Or the place where you found it?"

My backwards ears fell. "...Nothing. But, I could understand if you told me. Back in Icereach, me and Corsica were studying ether crystals. We had a chapel deep in the caves, with access to the ether river. We-"

"Yup. Practically grew up in that chapel," Valey interrupted with a nod. "Go on, though."

I collected my train of thought. "We were studying the fault planes that form in the crystals in response to magical stimuli. We discovered that many of them line up with the dates of major historical events, implying that something significant happening all the way across the world can affect the crystals all the way in Icereach. But I never saw anything like that flame."

Valey nodded slowly. "Alright. So, brace yourself, because this is going to be a lot to take in. First off, the river of ether is called the Lifestream. You know what ether is?"

I frowned. "We've pretty extensively studied it. It's not a normal substance by any known laws of physics. Sometimes it has no chemical properties at all, and other times it produces enough energy to be a base for fuel. It can alternately be crystal or liquid, but doesn't seem to have freezing or melting-"

Valey cut me off with a shake of her hoof. "Nah, nah, not how it works. What it is."

I gave her a blank stare.

"Ether," Valey said, "is the world's will to exist. It's a material that's, like... not only physical. It's a duality, because it's just as much an idea that you can hold in your head as a thing you can hold in your hooves. Sparky explains this better than me."

I blinked at her. "How do you know this? Are you sure? How would you even design an experiment to test something like that?"

"Uhh..." She shrugged. "Honestly, it's been a while. It wasn't through empirical science. My friends and I learned pretty much everything we know through stubbornness and risk-taking and finding the right ancient entities to talk to. Like that flame." She pointed a hoof at my chest.

"What is it?" I pressed. "The flame, then?"

Valey nodded at me. "You're from Icereach. Pretty close to Yakyakistan. You probably know the basic tenets of their faith?"

My ears fell again. "Not from any trustworthy source. Icereach didn't make it easy to learn these things."

"Alright, then." Valey straightened up. "There are nine virtues that the yaks venerate. Three societal virtues: love, hope, and knowledge. Six personal virtues: laughter, loyalty, kindness, honesty, generosity, and the spark. The societal virtues are traits that Yakyakistan believes should be embodied in a fully enlightened society in order for it to evolve: knowledge provides a foundation and a building material, love provides the direction to use it in, and hope provides the will to use it in the first place. The personal virtues are traits individuals are supposed to dedicate themselves to. Like, picking your favorite and focusing on it. In case you're wondering what a spark is, it's supposedly a wildcard trait for the glue that keeps ponies with the other traits together. So, got all that?"

I slowly nodded.

"Boss." Valey tapped her forehooves together. "So, I'm not a historian and couldn't tell you exactly how their faith evolved, but it's not completely bogus: those nine virtues are real. There are, in the lifestream, nine focal points scattered around the world, each one corresponding to its own virtue, where there is a crystal palace and a flame of harmony. Ironridge is built on top of one of them. Ours is Kindness. The flames are like intelligent power sources at the hearts of the crystal palaces. You could think of them as hyper-distilled shards of the world's soul, sitting there and doing whatever in their seats of power. And now, one of them..." She leaned forward and tapped my chest. "Is apparently mostly dead and guttering on in you."

My eyes grew wider and wider the longer she talked. "A piece of the world's... soul? The world is alive?"

"That's what all the evidence I've seen points to." Valey leaned back again. "Now, maybe you're thinking, bananas, this seems really dangerous, why is that hot bat telling me all this? Or maybe you're thinking about how screwed you are because you stuck your neck out and acted on instinct and are now in too deep. Well, I'm telling you this because you really did stick your neck out and are now in too deep."

"But..." My eyes wavered. "The gray sky. This flame... You mean, like, the world is dying?"

"Eh." Valey shrugged. "If it makes you feel any better, it was already down two flames before this one. That said, yeah. I can tell you with a pretty high degree of confidence that not only is this world in the twilight of its life, but it's not the first world to exist, either. There was a world before ours called Indus. And when it met its end, every single one of its inhabitants banded together, pushed science past its limit, and created a new home for themselves in this world. Hopefully we've still got a few thousand years left for technological advancement before we reach that point, but one day it'll come."

I stared at her. "You can't be serious."

"Why not?" Valey raised an eyebrow. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not rolling out the welcome mat for the end of all things. And if you want to help prolong the world's lifespan, doing what the flame says and tracking down this Fluttershy is probably not the worst you could do. But... even ridiculously exceptional individuals like you and me have our limits. If you wanna do some good for the world, bananas, we could use you. But I know what happens when someone with too much power and not enough stability in their life gets handed more than they can carry."

I swallowed. "If that was on the table... When everyone was arguing when the tower first appeared, you made it sound like someone did this on purpose. Or, someone else made it sound that way. Sorry, I've... had a lot on my mind. But would someone really do that?"

Valey shrugged. "Yeah, Jamjars sounded a little guilty when she was arguing with the windigo. I think I told you, but that's why we've got her locked up now. She always was a schemer. I've had my hooves a lot more full with preparing for the future than litigating the past, though, so I haven't exactly had the time to investigate and properly cast blame."

"Can... I talk to her?" I ventured. "I'm still... wrapping my head around everything that's happened. Everything I've learned. She must have known who and what I was, though."

Valey nodded. "You wanna ask if she was planning to use you for something or other?"

I bit my lip. Honestly, I wasn't sure how to articulate what I wanted to ask. It felt like there was something I needed to say to her, and it was all jumbled up in my head and I wouldn't understand what it was until I just went and said it. I felt betrayed, sure, but I just... wanted to see what she had to say for herself.

Valey read my look. "Yeah, if you want to, you can chat her up. I probably don't need to give you the lecture about not getting super manipulated, right? Words are powerful tools, even for someone who's locked up."

"Thanks," I said. "I... Are we done, here?"

"Up to you." Valey stretched in her chair. "If I were you, I'd need some time to think before I had too much to ask. I'm sure that no matter how long we spend here, you'll kick yourself for forgetting something the moment you step outside the door."

"I can come back, though?" I asked. "If I need to ask more?"

"If you don't, I'm dragging you back anyway," Valey said. "Got some stuff to give you for your trip, if you're headed to Equestria."

---

I couldn't think of more to ask, and so we left the office, heading for where Jamjars was being kept. My train of thought felt fuzzy, the big picture blurry and obscured. Did something need to be wrong? I was fed, clothed, washed, not under physical strain and not pressured by any immediate daily obligations. If I ignored everything Valey just told me, everything I had learned about my past - and I was pretty sure I could ignore it - I would feel normal.

Blissfully, pleasantly normal.

Thinking about that sensation, basking in it as we walked, I realized how badly I deserved a break.

The muffled mental silence didn't get to last, as we entered a darkened room that looked like a maintenance corridor for the blown-out building Fort Starlight's airships were piled together in. It was certainly more solid than the ships up above, and with more level flooring, too. A few words were exchanged, and I was ushered into a room with a reasonable amount of amenities that could roughly be described as a makeshift jail cell.

Jamjars was laying in a hammock tied between two lifeless mana boilers, playing with a length of yarn in her aura. She looked over at me as I entered without turning her neck.

The door closed behind me. We were alone.

I noticed the complete lack of restraints in the room. There was a vanity, a proper bed, a bookcase, even a few paintings on the walls. I even saw an unsecured ventilation shaft that a determined escapee could crawl through, if they were limber. This felt less and less like a prison and more like they really just didn't know what to do with Jamjars, and she was staying here by choice rather than going to the hassle of getting out and then figuring out what to do next.

"Well," Jamjars said when I didn't talk. "I imagine Valey or someone else has been filling your head with talk about what a hag I am, and now you're here to see if the rumors are true. It's times like this that make me hate losing, I guess... Might as well get on with it. What can the evil Jamjars, source of all things bad in the world, confess to now?"

She was good at hiding it, but there was an undeniable bitterness in her voice. She sounded more sad than guilty or defiant. A skilled actor could do that on purpose, of course, to build sympathy and lure someone into a trap... but I was tired of being that paranoid, no matter how warranted it might be.

"Why do you think everyone hates you that much?" I asked. "You're taking the conclusions I'll draw for granted."

Jamjars just raised an eyebrow.

I tried harder to tell what she was feeling. She was hurt, and not physically...

"Look, I'm not here to pry," I said with a shake of my head. "Valey did tell me some stuff about you, but I wanted to hear your side of it as well. And... you know, about what I am, and why I was in Icereach."

Jamjars rolled her eyes. "Cruel, manipulative Jamjars, opening her home to you and maintaining a no-questions-asked policy for anything you wanted to get up to."

"Knock it off!" I snapped. "I want to hear your side of things, not what you think everyone else would tell me! Why are you wallowing in here, anyway? If you're evil, you'd be plotting your escape, but if you're good, is Valey really not willing to offer you a chance? Because this is a way more cushy room than is given to someone who's ran out of chances."

Jamjars gave me an owlish look, trying to read me.

I sighed. "Just say what you're thinking. I'm not interested in politics and I don't have a side. I'm just trying to make some sense out of the things that have happened in my life. Or do you really have such a low opinion of me that you think I must be trying to trick you just because... I don't know, what even has happened since we were on good terms? So I found out that you own the hideout and were probably responsible for the Aldebaran incident. My life's changed so much since then that that's basically ancient history."

Jamjars kept trying to read me, and I finally realized what I wanted to say.

"You did offer me a pretty good home," I told her. "And a job, no questions asked. Like you said. It was nice. If you were trying to use me for something, I haven't figured out what it is, and that's saying something because everyone else was painfully obvious in trying to get me on their side. I just wanna know why."

"Is being a decent pony off the table?" Jamjars shrugged. "I'm not you, but I can imagine what it must be like. Perhaps I just saw someone I felt for, and felt like giving you a better chance than the world would give you otherwise."

"...Is that really all there is?" I wasn't sure how much to press.

"Oh, you could go mining in my psyche for weeks and never run out of reasons to pin something on," Jamjars explained, rolling her eyes at the ceiling. "If I was feeling up to it, at least."

I got an idea. "Do you regret what happened? With the crystals, and the sky? That wasn't part of your plan, was it?"

"That you even need to ask proves you've spent too long talking to Valey," Jamjars sighed. "I'm not a mad scientist, and I'm a lot more interested in saving the world than breaking it. How many ponies do you know that would do something like that on purpose?"

"I dunno." I shrugged. "The windigoes? Maybe someone working for Chrysalis?"

"Windigoes aren't ponies." Jamjars waved a hoof. "And Chrysalis might have been one once, but she gave up her claim to equinity with what she did. I would know. I was there."

I nodded. "Alright. If you regret breaking the flame of harmony, will you help me fix it?"

Jamjars gave me a suspicious stare. "Do you have a plan, or just determination?"

"A plan," I said. "And I'll tell you it if you lighten up a bit, or at least tell me why you're being so prickly."

"Use your empathy," Jamjars said, rolling over in her hammock. "You should be good at it. Start with thinking about where I am right now, and how I got here."

"In a dungeon," I said. "Mostly powerless. Not completely, but all the moves you do have would have consequences worse than just doing nothing. So, you feel cornered."

"Congratulations," Jamjars muttered. "And?"

"She's scared of you," Procyon said.

I blinked, turning to her.

Procyon shrugged. "She was there when Chrysalis ascended. She told you, just now. She's seen changeling queens at their absolute worst. And the last time you two meaningfully interacted, she trapped you with stun powder and then removed your clothes and washed you to neutralize it. You weren't pleased. Your life is eventful enough that you might have even forgotten, but remember that she was likely thrown in here mere hours after that event. I can't read her mind, but I suspect she thinks you're here for vengeance."

I looked again at Jamjars, realizing Procyon was probably right.

"Look," I said. "I... forgive you, for the stun powder. You were probably under a lot of stress at the time, and I know windigoes aren't good for ponies' thoughts. Don't do it again. But, it's okay."

Procyon was right. Some of Jamjars' tension seemed to loosen.

"...Why?" she eventually asked. "It's kill or be killed out there. You make one mistake, and it's all over. If you're thinking that because you're generous with others, it'll come back to benefit you, you're-"

"I don't think that way," I interrupted. "I'm not in everything for myself."

Jamjars sighed, and didn't continue.

"If you..." I chewed on my words. "If you want, you can trust me. Sometime soon, I'm leaving Ironridge and going to Equestria, to look for Starlight. Already got my writ and my airship sorted. I don't know how she thought about you, but you obviously cared about her."

"Are you?" Jamjars raised an eyebrow. "Good luck."

"Think I'll need it?" I asked.

She took a deep breath. "Equestria isn't a nice place. I've only seen a few small areas of it. But any country with a border policy like theirs? Splitting up friends and family, just because they didn't have enough impossible-to-obtain writs? There's no justification for that. Princess Celestia seemed nice on the surface, but she could have just given us all writs and let us stay together, no matter which side of the border we were on. I needed Starlight. I tried everything to keep us together, and it only drove her further away. I wouldn't be surprised if she never wants to hear from me again, even though every one of my plans is made with her support in mind. You don't need to hear about my troubles, but you do need to temper your expectations. I saw how much Ironridge's government was out to get you. You don't want to be in a country that's even worse."

I blinked. I... hadn't really thought about that before.

But she was right. If Equestria really did enforce their Writs of Harmonic Sanction, even when the result was what Valey described... maybe I needed to temper my expectations that the next destination would be better than Ironridge.

Temper them severely.

"Thanks for the heads-up," I told her. "But I'm still going. And I will tell her that you miss her."

Jamjars closed her eyes. "...Thanks. Just don't get your hopes up."

I looked away. "Tell me about when Aldebaran came to Icereach. You must have known about it. I'm not mad anymore. I just want answers."

"What's to say?" Jamjars shrugged. "I didn't have much of a hoof in it. That hideout is legally owned by me, but Kitty still looks like a kid, and was much younger when we became partners. Part of our contract was that I do all the public-facing things, and paperwork. Not like I wasn't a kid myself at the time. That incident was... supposed to be an aptitude test of sorts for Aldebaran. Kitty enjoys taking the measure of her prospective minions. I was something of an intermediary, both having ties to Icereach and being the one who discovered Aldebaran in the first place. I was trying to get you and your friends out of Icereach before all this war business started, but you know better than me how that went down."

"You really just wanted to protect us?" I looked levelly at her. "All the crazy motives flying around Ironridge, and you're that nice?"

"I thought we already established you believed I was a nice, cuddly, harmless princess of goodness and niceness," Jamjars grunted. "Make up your mind. And excuse me for feeling a smattering of kinship with you when all three of you had parent issues and so did I. I'm not so twisted that I can't look at kids in a place I once was and not want better for them."

"Mother was a good parent," I gently protested. "She gave everything she had and more for me."

Jamjars snorted. "Giving everything you have and more is called going into debt. I'm sure you love her, but you just haven't seen a real relationship yet to be jealous of."

I tilted my head quizzically.

"Don't give me that look," Jamjars sighed. "Just because I'm a chronic bachelorette who carries out seductive mail correspondences with lonely, divorced officials twice my age to gain power and influence doesn't mean I can't recognize a healthy family when I see it. Ugh, Starlight never appreciated how lucky she was..."

"And you also adopted a windigo," I pointed out. "Why did you take in Kitty, anyway? How long have you been working together, and what for?"

Jamjars hesitated. "That's... dangerous. To say."

"You do a lot of dangerous stuff," I pointed out. "And if you really had a good reason to do what you've been doing, and just don't trust anyone to see it charitably because you're not used to being trusted, isn't it better to have someone else know? I'm already neck deep in dangerous secrets. My very existence is a dangerous secret."

Jamjars looked conflicted. "You don't know what you're asking."

"I'm a changeling queen," I whispered. "The world is alive, but it's dying. Yakyakistan and Ironridge are going to war, and if there's a battle over the Yakyakistan capitol, it could unleash a swarm of windigoes that causes untold devastation. All that's to say nothing of what could happen if Yakyakistan wins, since it's probably controlled by Chrysalis. And I have a chance to make a difference against all of that. What could be more dangerous than that?"

I was trusting her, by saying what until now was unspoken. I didn't know for sure that all of this was information she knew. And given how everyone else treated her, it was probably stupid. But it felt like the right choice.

Jamjars just shook her head.

"That's all I get, eh?" I shrugged, giving up with a wry smile.

"I'm never going to be remembered fondly, no matter which course I choose," Jamjars said. "So, it's not much of a sacrifice for me to pursue my goals through unsavory means. Maybe history will judge me for associating with the windigoes. Maybe it won't. Either way, Valey and her friends are trying to do right by themselves, you're trying to do right by yourself, and I'm trying to do right by myself within the means that I have."

I squinted at her. "You know, you say that, but have you ever sincerely apologized to Valey? For trying to keep your friends together? You were a kid at the time, and in a really bad situation. When she told me about it, she sounded more regretful than vengeful. Are you that certain your bridges are burned beyond mending?"

Jamjars scrunched her face. "Certain. Two hundred percent."

"Even if-" I lifted a hoof in protest.

"I burned them the first time and I burned them again and I'd keep doing it over and over as long as I have bridges to burn," Jamjars interrupted. "I did it with you with the stun powder, and even if you're feeling charitable now it's only a matter of time until it happens again. Doesn't matter if I want to or not. This is my lot in life. I was born without the ability to sincerely apologize and raised to live with the consequences. My admirable qualities are looks, money, influence and cunning, and that's a set that's meant for drawing ponies in and manipulating them for the short term, not forging lasting friendships. And I had the gall to try for something better than that with you, and three weeks in, look where it's gotten us."

"Where has it gotten us?" I raised an eyebrow. "You in jail and having me as a visitor instead of nobody? I'd say that's a pretty good start."

Jamjars gave me a look. "I still haven't apologized. For the stun powder. Or the bath. You forgave me, apropos of nothing, and I still can't say it."

"How come?" I asked, sounding as non-judgemental as I could.

Jamjars clenched her teeth.

"I guess it could sting a little, admitting you were wrong," I ventured. "If you were expecting yourself to be perfect. But you've been kinda self-deprecating down here. Not exactly sounding like someone on an ego trip. And now you look mad at yourself for not being able to spit it out. Like you want to, and you can't."

Jamjars sighed and deflated.

I frowned... then got an idea. It made me cold just at the thought of doing it, but I was stronger now. I could do this.

Off came a boot. Just one - no need to overdo it. "Look," I said, showing off a bloodstained hoof.

Jamjars gave me a confused glance.

"It's fine," I insisted, feeling very much not fine, turning to catch the light better to emphasize my point. "I'm... alright with this." Very much not alright, but it was for a good cause. "It's not that bad."

"Stop it." Jamjars looked away. "And put that back on. I can see the discomfort on your face. Making it something that doesn't need an apology won't fix my problem, anyway, and it's my problem, not yours. I've already complained to you too much already. Go get on with your plans to visit Equestria."

I stared at her for a long moment, trying not to let my relief show as I re-booted my leg. This mare clearly had a lot on her mind and seemed like she could desperately use a friend who had a stable life situation and saw her as an equal... which wasn't me on either count. Maybe I could ask Valey to give her another chance, though from what I had seen, they might not just be meant for each other.

Oh well. I had a herd of windigoes trying to break free, an evil changeling queen, and a dying flame of harmony to deal with. Maybe it was for the best that Jamjars hadn't plied me with any more duties or dangerous secrets that I'd suddenly feel compelled to take up a job for. With my track record, I was woefully underqualified for my current duties as it was...

"Alright." I walked for the door. "See ya. I hope you can make some more friends, because right now, you sound like you need one."

---

I thought about my talk with Jamjars all the way to the Ice District, which was a much longer trip than usual because power brownouts had apparently staggered the train service. It had to be made, though, because Coda's airship was going to be my home for the foreseeable future, and that meant I had some belongings to retrieve.

My feelings toward her still weren't perfectly straight, but I could live with the way they were. Long ago were they days when my worldview would keep me up at night if it had any flaws and inconsistencies. I had a vague picture of a very flawed mare who was unable to manage normal relationships and had taken me and my friends in because she was lonely. Her interest in my powers and history likely centered less around using me and more around a hope that my uniqueness would make me something of an outcast, and thus more relatable to her.

Maybe. Jamjars was hard to read. But at the very least, she didn't seem to mean me any harm, and that was a state of affairs I could live with.

I shadow snuck under the door, announced my presence just in case, and looked around the house. A few things were in slight disarray, as though the place had been hit by a very minor earthquake, and it was ever so slightly dustier than usual. But, this was the second time I had been back since visiting the crystal palace, so I didn't feel like searching too thoroughly.

Hmm... I stared at my door. Well, the door I shared with Corsica. If I was inviting her to come with me, maybe I should move her stuff too...

Down the hall, a different door creaked open, and Ansel stepped out.

"Hallie!" he greeted, relief evident on his face. "I've seen neither hide nor hair of you for an entire week! You're not avoiding me, are you? Though it would be fair if you were, but I assumed, since Jamjars and Corsica have also been gone..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "You've probably seen what an uproar the city's in. Listen, whatever you've been up to, I just wanted to apologize for Blueleaf. I wanted to show you a good time, have a little adventure, you know..."

I stared blankly at him. Blueleaf... The weapons shop... Getting arrested...

How long had it been since I had last talked with my brother?

In terms of waking hours, probably barely three days. In terms of life-changing events, multiple lifetimes. I couldn't even remember what we had last done together, beyond how it ended.

A wastebasket sat at the end of the hallway, behind Ansel. I spotted Egdelwonk peering out, holding a tiny sign that said I told you to follow up on the weapons emporium.

Well. This was a relationship I would need to spend a lot of maintenance on.

Comments

[ZanyZapper]

Ooh, loved this chapter! I know the readers are split over Jamjars, but I've always felt bad for her and now even moreso. She needs a hug. I am disappointed that she is unwilling to travel to Equestria with Hallie. But she hasn't left yet so maybe things will change...

I can't remember from TOW if we got a reason for Celestia being such a stickler for the writs. Pretty sure she could tell the crew was harmless. Maybe it was about sending them back because she thought the could do more good there I'm the long run?

[Thunder twister]

11387140
If I remember correctly Celestia said she would give them all writs but there was something about opening trade with ironridge if they could collect them from the other side. I believe there was something also implied about her suspecting that they may be candidates for the elements as well and wanted to test them?

Agree about Jamjars too - always liked her and did have a bit of hope that she might go to Equstria too

[Numinos]

Do you try to nudge me to reread TOW? You know how big it is? : )

Another nice chapter of a great story : )

[PropsValroa]

I loved this chapter, very good! I personally don't think Celestia was in the right in not allowing them into Equestria like that.

[Alchemik]

Jamjars was hard to read.

Understatement of the century, here.

Ah, I've been wondering when Ansel would show back up. It was telling that she forgot him in her Writ calculations.

[Venlinelle]

Seeing Halcyon, a devout scientist routinely baffled by religion, told that the world is alive and powered by friendship was very entertaining.

I can’t imagine Celestia feels particularly good about what happened to Starlight (I do really want to hear about her apparent other meeting with Valey). I wonder how Luna’s return would’ve affected her disposition relevantly to all of this?