Sol had come to expect the unexpected in life: many things had happened to her, after all, that she had never predicted would come to pass. She had a family she never would have imagined; she had come to respect and even enjoy the company of ponies whom, in the past, she never would have spared a second glance. She had put down her most cherished weapons, and taken to using the power of magic and body alone to defend a world that, in the past, she would have never, ever gone to such great lengths to protect.
But she would never have expected an emissary of Veliuona to arrive, begging for aid.
Help was not something that Sol felt comfortable with offering the so-called Mistress of Cursed Shades, but Titan said that if someone was asking for assistance, then they had no right to turn them down.
Morgan was suspicious, but as always, her brother's compassion inspired her, even if she was trying hard at the same time to show her sister that she was learning from her, that she could be logical and astute. She hesitantly said one of Sol's own teachings back to her: that while the enemy of their enemy was still their enemy, if two opposing forces could be guided against one another, why shouldn't they take advantage of this?
Titan disapproved of the wording, saying that they need not be enemies no matter what their past, and Morgan began to squabble and bicker with her brother, in spite of however not-so-secretly she seemed to agree. Perhaps it was for Sol's sake, perhaps it was simply because Morgan liked to argue, but for the moment, Sol simply tuned them both out.
They both had a point, although likely not the ones they thought they did: Titan was right, that they would not benefit from turning down this request for help. Morgan was right that they could use the Tyrant Wyrms and Veliuona against each other. But the key point for Sol was that they would not benefit if Veliuona was destroyed at this juncture: right now, she could serve better as a possible resource for them to exploit, or a sacrificial lamb for them to use as bait for the Wyrms.
Knowing full well that for the ambassador to approach them had to mean that the Tyrant Wyrms had either rejected an offer of alliance from Veliuona, or perhaps attacked her outright, Sol decided to prove the emissary for information: what could the Mistress of Cursed Shades offer them, and what was she willing to concede? It was no secret, after all, that the living dead often hungered for the spirits and vitality of the still-alive.
But that, of course, was among the first promises that the emissary made on her goddess' behalf; while they were allied, no minion of the dead would raise a claw or hoof against the living. If any souls or lives needed to be taken, then the guilty or condemned would be harvested, or those of wild monsters, but not the living ponies of Equestria.
It was a dangerous deal to make, and Sol knew that ultimately, Veliuona would betray them. But all the same, it was a deal she made without fear or hesitation, knowing that the consequences of ignoring this chance would be far worse.
And as Sol shook the hoof of the deathless emissary, she only hoped that she was able to not only defeat these Tyrant Wyrms, but figure out a way to outsmart a cunning goddess whom she knew would be both their greatest ally and worst enemy in the days yet to come.
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