during the harmonization ritual i kept slipping in and out of a dreamlike trance
i had a vision of myself flying through clouds and not in the "falling forward" way but how i imagine pegasi feel
i didn't see wings when i turned to look but i had a bracelet on one leg that i figured to be a flight charm
medya was somewhere nearby but i was flying alongside a pony – not just a pony but a goddess known to ponies as "luminace the scholar"
she said she was impressed by my legs (and every time i think about that i fill with pride and foalish glee!)
she asked if i'd like to land and talk with her so of course i said yes but i wasn't very good at landing so i nearly crashed
at the last moment i floated safely to the ground and i thought she'd used feather-fall magic on me but she said the feather-fall bracelet was my own idea for "practice sessions" so where did the flight magic come from?
we stood in front of a giant oak tree and she beckoned me inside
there was a whole library carved into that tree! they haven't been built like that since before the scattering
i really wanted to browse the books (and scrolls!) but i knew i was there to talk with luminace
she asked me to tell her about my friends so i sat and rambled about medya and everyone in the group and a couple of the other trustworthy folks i'd met since leaving the everglow
at that point i surfaced from the vision long enough to keep my part of the ritual moving but then i was back with luminace ... making coffee in the student kitchen at academy
we took it with us into the heart and hammer like it was next door and sat and sipped
i don't know how long we talked but she was fascinated to hear about this humble sculptor's approach to magical research
then we headed outside for some fresh air
except instead we found ourselves in the mournland so i asked to go back inside because that disaster area is the last place i want to be even if i know i have to go back sometime
we entered an unfamiliar building that felt like a museum
there was a suit of biped's armor even taller than bell and a large stone slab full of writing i didn't recognize and taxidermy that she called an "owlbear"
then she asked me to listen for a bit
i don't think i've mentioned my brother "catchlight" yet but luminace knew of him
she asked if i remembered the day he came to my door to tell me about the job that turned out to be for ploughshare's new shell
i suppose that could be considered the very start of this journey – and the part involving the least life-endangering combat - but i've come through a lot of fights and challenges since then and she acknowledged that
she said i have an important destiny to fulfill and my journey would get more difficult from here but that i would make it through as long as i stay courageous and believe in myself and my goals
as i finished my coffee luminace asked me a question: "when good battles evil which side do you believe wins? do you have faith that good is triumphant?"
it seems easy to answer yes but after what happened with cazha there's a lot more gravity to it
luminace said that while courage was essential during this journey it was also important that i enjoy myself and keep my sense of humor which will be a little bit easier to do now
she said that after the ritual i would soon travel through a large scrubland and on to the city of "fairhaven" and she wished us all well
i surfaced from the vision just in time to properly finish the ritual
she really liked my legs! and so do i!