Twilight woke up by herself the next evening, which was a rarer occasion than one would think. And, actually, her rest was rather calm. Perhaps too calm, considering the specific circumstances.

Maybe it was the result of that little vigil that she and her two companions had held for the sake of Lord Sunfall Word’s health. There had been something definitely cleansing about it. Twilight had felt like she had been actually lifting a burden off of her shoulders by offering it to a force greater, stronger, more prepared than she could have been. It hadn’t been the first time, no, but she could still definitely see the benefits of having such an opportunity.

And it hadn’t felt irresponsible to do so, either. It hadn’t been like forgetting about the haspadr’s plight, no. Instead, Twilight had invoked another to help with the matter, and there was nothing ever wrong with asking for aid when one was dealing with a problem greater than the sum of their own abilities.

The Mountain’s herame had not been filled last day, especially considering the late hour of the prayers. But the gazes of the batponies present, as well as the couple antasi leading the supplications, had betrayed that those had been exactly the denizens which had been properly notified. That they had come, losing their precious hours of sleep, not only out of the sense of obligation, but genuine belief that their vigil could have turned the fate of the Honored Lord. Because fate itself could be changed through the might of the Immaculate Moon...

... and perhaps even the Judging Sun, because Twilight’s occasional and covert glances had proved to her that Midnight Wind had been offering his prayers not only to one Goddess. The peculiar focus and slight perturbation on his brow had spoken volumes. And it was such a shame Twilight couldn’t be purely glad about that shift to this moment.

She thought of all of that, again finding herself organizing her mind first thing in the evening while preparing to go through the next night. Although nopony could tell her what it would bring, other than that it started with that slight nausea once again. It was all but forgotten by Twilight, however, when a knock on the door happened, betraying the presence of Rowan Berry.

She started talking as soon as Twilight unlocked her room. “Hwalba kn— ” she began, rolling her eyes at the mistake then shaking her head. “I will get through this, I promise. But, that’s not important – I bring news!” the healer announced, looking far more excited than it could have been expected from her.

“What is it?” Twilight asked, taking note of the mare’s behavior and… actually allowing herself a touch of hope. “Is it about the Honored Lord?”

“Yes. The Honored Lord, still the Honored Lord,” the healer replied with a smile that felt both personal and professional. “I’ve just spoken with one of the local healers, tending to the haspadr, and convinced him to tell me how things are. Solidarity of profession, let’s say. The official one,” she added in a whisper. “Last morning the Lord was going through a powerful attack of his dyhawica, and everypony was preparing for the worst because the haspadr could barely take a breath. However, I was told that when the coughing managed to subside just enough to risk giving him medicine, one of the lupuli decided to truly risk it. Gave the haspadr a most potent mix of herbal remedies, those that are told to open up throat and the… the…! You know, here, before the lungs!” the mare tried to explain, losing the word due to emotions.

“… bronchi?” Twilight guessed to Rowan Berry’s fervent nodding, though she wasn’t sure if the mare knew the expression after all or just recognized that Twilight grasped it.

“Tac! Exactly! It was a heady dosage, one that I would not chance applying… but it was worth it!”

“So, he will recuperate? Really?” Twilight asked with a surprising amount of relief. Even if she knew how much tension she had been holding inside all this time.

“Most likely, yes!” the healer told her with a fanged smile that showed additional belief in these chances. “They had been monitoring the haspadr throughout the day. His coughing soon lessened, and he even managed to sleep at some point. They say he’s much better right now, he even asked for clear water in a stronger voice!”

Twilight smiled widely and sincerely, because those were truly wonderful news! But what Rowan Berry said afterwards was even more intriguing and stimulating for her.

“I won’t bother you with all the medical details, but the lupule claims that she just... just got this inspiration. She describes it almost as if a flash of light in her mind, such a breakthrough it was! She felt that this was the moment to make this call, as there was nothing left to lose,” Rowan Berry shared, containing her excitement just barely. “I hope she writes the recipe down soon, this might be a new remedy for us all to share and use!”

“That does sound most invigorating,” Twilight admitted with a small smirk. “And once again do we learn that necessity is the mother of innovation, indeed. But – a flash of light, she claimed...?”

“Tac, that is how she described it!

“As in moonlight... or sunlight?”

Finally the grimace on Twilight’s muzzle caused Rowan Berry to pause for a moment and consider the circumstances, though nothing could defeat her enthusiasm at the moment.

“I... You’re using the moment well to make a peculiar point. I actually enjoy this opportunism,” the mare told her with a grin of both a healer and an operative. “I would be the last to take away credit where credit is due, but I cannot in good faith place it in a way you would wish it. I don’t have the evidence!” was the laughing protest.

Twilight understood Rowan Berry’s reluctance, and she herself couldn’t just attribute this situation to one prayer to the Judging Sun… but she simply couldn’t have stopped herself. This was all such a relief, such a great outcome to greet right after awakening, that it wasn’t unnatural to seek one responsible. However farfetched the logic against logic could be. And Twilight was sure that the local ponies would find at least one divine to thank for what had happened, regardless of whose victory this was.

She looked past Rowan Berry right at that moment and spotted that Midnight Wind was stepping around the corner. So it looked like the mare had rushed to tell her the news while he had stoically trotted behind, to reach Twilight’s chamber without a rush. With quiet dignity and required restraint, which were both appreciated.

Still, he gave her a small smile as she looked at him with a grin of her own. It wasn’t imprudent to share in the joy. Especially since Twilight wasn’t expecting a huge celebration in a place like the Mountain of Sunfall, so what little scraps of it she could get she would cherish.

“Not a bad way to start the night,” the warrior commented as he approached the two mares, himself looking at least a little less troubled about the whole situation.

“It really isn’t, is it?” Twilight responded, allowing herself this moment of levity. “Here’s hoping the Honored Lord will fully heal and regain his strength soon enough. We definitely could use his reason and temperance in the coming nights.”

Rowan Berry agreed, though motioned for Twilight to lower her voice a little, if they would be tackling these matters like so. “If, Bogine allows, he indeed recuperates in time for the next Covenant meeting, that means that you have another voice of support on your side.”

“However hoarse and wizened,” Midnight remarked, though without malice. “Let us continue praying for this good fortune, I suppose,” he remarked, clearly still considering his actions from last morning.

Twilight’s smile remained as she turned to him. “Good things, hopefully, shall bring with themselves more good things. I mean, why shouldn’t we hope so?” she suggested, making a mental note that his response was but a short, acknowledging nod and nothing else.

Soon after that quite excited conversation breakfast was served by the palace servants, though nothing about the meal spoke of the jubilant nature of this night, especially for the whole Family. Still, nopony was going to object to sinking their fangs into some fresh produce. Only Rowan Berry seemed a little bit more cautious while dining, looking at Twilight from time to time throughout the shared meal.

It wasn’t hard to reason why that was, and Twilight didn’t feel annoyed in the slightest. “Nothing wrong with the fruit this time... Well, alright, maybe a touch, but it’s more like I’m remembering yesternight instead of going through it again,” she finally explained to the healer.

“Benu. And thank you for sharing out of your own free will,” the healer remarked with a small smirk.

Twilight laughed a little. “Was it actually that? You kept glancing and glancing...”

“And I got my information, so it turned out to be the right technique. It’s beneficial for us all to pay attention to such matters,” the other mare remarked, helping herself to one more fruit. “Maybe it was just a spontaneous thing, but let us be cautious. Actually… Maednoc Wentr, since we are on this topic – did you feel something out of place lately when it comes to your health? Pain where you used to have the wounds, strange sensations, taste, hearing? Anything caught your attention, even slightly? Something bothering you?”

The warrior give it a thought, a breath longer than one would consider it necessary, then shook his head. “No, nothing comes to my mind,” he replied dryly.

He wanted to say something more. He felt this urge, this need to vocalize it, it was blatant to Twilight with the way his jaw tightened. But he stopped himself. Because some things he was meant to be silent about. Twilight knew exactly why his reaction was like so, and she appreciated the effort to… withhold something, recognizing it this time as something noble.

Rowan Berry wasn’t so sure about the stallion’s response, but then again she didn’t know everything there was to know. “I know you like to act brave, but do tell me about anything out of place, it might be important considering your encounter with the Lesy. I take it you still don’t remember anything else about it, but—”

“I do,” the warrior interrupted, then went back to sucking an orange dry despite the wave of shock that passed through both the mares.

Actually, Twilight almost choked on her fruit when that declaration happened. Although she managed to send the juice down the right hole in her body before she fell into a coughing fit that possibly could have rivalled those suffered by the Honored Lord.

“... y-you recall something?” she asked in disbelief, recognizing that this was another thing that he had meant through his reluctance. She looked at Rowan Berry who leaned so far over the table she was nearly falling right onto it. “Memories came back to you?”

“Not fully,” Midnight admitted after he had exhaled loudly. He cleaned his hooves very stoically before continuing. “But I can tell some more details. That we were going through the thicket of that being, battling thorns... and then that we talked with it. I can actually recall that there was a conversation, that we exchanged sentences. What those were about, I do not know still, but... there it is. We shared a talk with a Lesy, I can confirm that much.”

Rowan Berry leaned back, satisfied and unsatisfied with the answer alike. “When did it come back to you?”

“This day, I think. I don’t remember what I dreamt about, but... when I got up, when we started getting ready for the night, I just... I could just tell that there was something more. From behind the fog, like a silhouette of a memory appeared. If I don’t sound too stupid saying it like that…”

“Definitely not, this seems too vital to be considered silly,” Twilight remarked, though the short attempt she made to recall something more there and then was without success. “It was… a peaceful conversation?”

“I... think so. As peaceful as it can get with a being like that,” the warrior mentioned, still appearing a little distraught over the whole thing. “And it was both of us talking with him, not just... you,” he added, cautious in tone and words. “Again, I don’t know what was the exact topic, there’s just this... knowledge that words were exchanged. In what language, I know not. In what purpose, I have no idea. Is this helpful?” he asked with a little touch of cynicism in his voice.

Understandable one but misplaced, considering Rowan Berry’s expression. “That’s already a lot, I’ll have you know,” she remarked, putting a hoof to her chin. “This might be an indication of something. That this is not a permanent hole in your memories. I, too, have that moment in my mind, meeting a Lesy, but the vital parts are riddled with misty holes to this night,” she remarked with a shudder. “But this, you beginning to recall what it was about so quickly...?”

There was a pause that prompted Twilight to ask aloud. “You’re considering something specific, Rowan Berry?”

“I think so, yes,” the healer admitted, clearly trying to draw from her expertise, even in the field of the supernatural. And perhaps hitting a breakthrough just like a colleague of hers had done in the crucial moment for Lord Sunfall Word. “Sometimes, in the general theory of medicine we practice, it is agreed that postponing dealing with an issue can be advantageous. It can allow the body to steel itself against a problem on its own first, like when going through a period of fever for its beneficial effects of battling an illness. Of course, this should be done when the circumstances allow, and one should have a remedy at hoof, but…”

Midnight Wind looked at the mare with interest, but maybe a touch of impatience as well. “I fail to see your point so far.”

“I don’t blame you, because I wouldn’t have arrived at it without these specific circumstances – what if… whatever conversation you shared with the being, it wanted you not to remember it for the moment.”

Twilight blinked. Not that she was finding such an idea completely ridiculous, but she was considering if it could have been done in a controlled manner. If they were talking arcane means, well, mentalism would be the easiest bet, with its complex but sometimes quite precise applications. But Bho’Rhu’Tah w—

She heard whispers mounting in her ears right that moment, sharp but alluring, scary but enticing, and she reminded herself that invoking that name wasn’t the most fortuitous of choices.

At least it seemed that it was just a reminder of the creature’s power and presence, not an actual invocation and summoning of his attention. At least she hoped so, not seeing something like a gaping maw of the abyss wreathed in a makeshift skull manifesting in the chamber’s corner.

Rowan Berry’s eyes were immediately on her. “Twilight? What’s wrong? What happened?”

“N-nothing. Well, nothing much,” she confessed, shaking her head. “I just thought of the situation, thought of… the name we were told and it seems that it causes adverse effects to even focus on it in one’s mind in passing,” she admitted with a touch of shame. She needed to be more careful. “Have you heard anything just now?”

“No,” Midnight Wind told her, giving her a glance which then shifted onto Rowan Berry. “No peculiar sounds,” he spoke, though Twilight missed his specific tone.

The healer didn’t pay attention to it herself, more engrossed in the theory she had just presented. “These creatures have incredible power, as this further proves. Thinking about an individual one’s vocation causes a detectable sensation, that’s concerning to consider,” she pointed out, reminding herself of this phenomenon first and foremost. “But… what would you say to that idea? That this being, with its immense and strange might, could cloud your mind for the moment. Until a right moment, perhaps.”

Twilight pondered, ironically, for a moment longer, returning to her interrupted thought. So, a mentalist’s trick was one thing, but the… Lesy wasn’t utilizing anything that she would name arcane means. The ley lines, as she recalled from before she no longer remembered things, had been avoiding the being a little bit, as if repulsed by the presence. But the creature had not been utilizing them, hadn’t been directing them and creating spells and charms that way. It had been more like a connection with the natural realm and its mysteries that had been making him do these minor wonders.

And if it could restore a recently slain bird to life, then perhaps this memory manipulation wasn’t beyond its capabilities?

“So… you suggest that he decided to strip us of memories for the moment to… achieve something with it?” Twilight asked of the healer, who nodded.

“Just a thought, but… not illogical,” she replied, quite sure in her bet, but looking over to the stallion next to her for additional support.

“Withholding information that is already in our brains… Well,” Midnight pondered for a moment with a sour expression, “I find it a stretch, and I don’t enjoy it one bit, but what’s wrong with deliberating upon that? There’s a thought to it, even if a little crazed,” he admitted, reaching for some of his own reasoning. “ ‘Why?’ Now that’s an interesting point to consider. If I were to utilize such a unique form of… assurance that this is a knowledge secured… and needed at exactly the right moment, if it can come back, then there is this one question – why would I do it?” he presented the inquiry before himself, but also opened it for the mares to suggest anything.

“It is a threat if revealed outright?” Rowan Berry spoke on a whim, but Midnight Wind only shook his head.

“Not to a being like them, I presume. You saw it yourself, even a magical spell did little but… piqued its interest,” he assessed, giving Twilight an acknowledging look. “It’s not fear that’s motivating them. It has to be something else.”

“How about… Hmmm,” she did pause before saying more, actually. She racked her brain for anything that could be useful, anything she had read in the many and differing books during her studies. Was there something that was similar or peculiar in that regard? Closing information away, or delivering it when… “What about…? No, actually, that doesn’t help. Or maybe?” she mused aloud, as she arrived at a point in her mind. Maybe faulty, but a point.

“Anything might aid us here,” Midnight suggested. “I mean, this is a mad venture we are on right now, but I suppose anything goes. We’ve delt with an ancient being, I’m healed, as much as I can tell. How much crazier could this get?” he commented with a touch of irony.

Twilight only shook her head, however, because her adventures so far had told her that there could be reason even to chaos. And she could almost tell that somewhere, in that very moment, Discord hiccupped.

“I was thinking, maybe wrongly, but about this possibility – I’ve dealt with a lot of dangerous knowledge during my studies. And I don’t mean ‘uncomfortable’ or ‘clandestine’. I mean dangerous, as in presenting a certain threat to one’s well-being. My mentor, the Judging Sun, Princess Celestia, considered that a studious mind needs to remember but also be prepared for matters, topics, secrets that can be perilous if not approached from the right angle or with adequate preparation.”

Twilight wasn’t sure if the batponies were following, but it seemed that Rowan Berry saw at least a glimpse of the point that was being made.

“Like staring straight at the Sun?” she suggested, and Twilight had to smile a little, for it wasn’t a bad comparison.

“Yes, for example. Even we don’t do that, you know,” she explained, looking at her companions and hoping she was showing her reasoning transparently enough. “Just like in the case of doing just that, turning one’s eyes towards the Sun, taking the brunt of some knowledge directly can be… harsh. Blinding and damaging. Like… Like when I read your Testimony, for example. Learning all of that, having never known about this dark part of our shared history, that was… That wasn’t what I had expected. And I paid the price. I couldn’t have steeled myself beforehoof, and afterwards I needed time, effort. I had shot nerves. It was all just to process it. To process everything that it meant and implied...”

Midnight nodded, as he was perhaps, for better or worse, the one pony closest to her that had seen most of what she had had to go through. In all contexts, actually.

“So, in regards to what we are saying and what we don’t remember… You think that the Lesy would consider us unprepared to leave with the sort of information he had granted us during that conversation?” he summed up, sounding a little unconvinced.

“Or that he wants us to recall it when the time is right, so that the circumstances shield us from the brunt of it… yes?” Twilight responded, though even she wasn’t sure whether that was the right thinking.

“I… Alright, I know I initiated this, but that does not seem to me like something that the Lesy would do. Would a creature like him care to help? Or is he toying with the two of you, because that is his want?” the healer asked, old wounds clearly motivating her question.

Twilight leaned back in her seat, the remnants of the meal before them almost forgotten as they had travelled down that particular line of reasoning. “Peaceful conversation does not deny that it might be the case, no?” she asked rhetorically, glancing at Midnight. “The Lesy wanted to talk, but prior to that it had almost destroyed the carriage with us inside of it. It doesn’t seem to follow the regular logic here. Its perspective could allow for an amiable talk and a vicious trick at our expense at the very end…”

She did say that, though expressing it like so suddenly felt… unfair. For no apparent reason whatsoever.

Midnight’s voice distracted her from that sensation. “I’m the one that suddenly got the usage of his wing back, yes, but I still don’t enjoy planks like these…”

“I think it’s ‘pranks’, Maednoc Wentr,” Rowan Berry corrected him with a smirk.

“Makes me think of another, rather rare word that could be used in this instance,” the stallion spoke, glancing at the healer with irritation, but one that held no real ill will, at least. “Regardless, we don’t know what we cannot remember, so it is hard to assess why we should not remember it. And, let me just say – I hate sentences like these,” he complained with a roll of his eyes.

“It’s true, however, this is not a comfortable situation,” Twilight agreed. “The thought that I could be missing something crucial is… deeply frightening to me and—”

Considering the very apprehension she had just mentioned, she shouldn’t have been surprised that a knock on the door, actually sounding more like somepony just ran into it with full force, caused her to jump from her seat. Hitting one leg against the table, nonetheless. Her hiss was not unlike a batpony’s, though her attention quickly shifted to what caused this reaction, especially when Midnight made his way to the threshold in record time. And in a stance that betrayed readiness to engage whatever was on the other side.

Rowan Berry stood nearby, asking the wordless question about a possible injury. Yet Twilight just rubbed her leg and motioned at the stallion to check who was so keen on gaining access to the chamber.

Midnight’s moves as he reached for the handle were methodical and cautious, and it paid quickly. The moment that the door gave somepony tried to desperately force their way in, in hurry and with unknown, but stern intention.

Twilight was on the verge of naming this an attack, but the voice that came from behind the door, which Midnight proficiently blocked with his firm stance, betrayed that perhaps this maddened insistence was not necessarily hostile. Simply that – maddened.

“Hwalba knaze! You! You!” were the frantic shouts that reached Twilight’s ears first.

“… Countess Consort?” she asked in disbelief, letting Midnight know that he could let go of the door. Gently, because she suspected that otherwise the mare could have just fallen into the room with the strength of her intention to push onward.

Thankfully for everypony, the stallion certainly knew what he was doing. He took a tactical step back, in a way to screen Twilight from the noblemare and vice versa, and by doing so he spared both the mares a very unfortunate and direct encounter.

The Countess’ eyes were wide with sorrow and the sort of delirious madness that, unfortunately, one could expect from the sheer tone of her voice. The strands of her wheat blonde mane were haphazardly escaping from underneath the traditional coif, making the mare look even more distraught than she was. And if it weren’t for Midnight’s presence, it looked like she was ready and hoping to get to Twilight, to reach out, to hold onto her gown with all her might.

It felt more than urgent to ask about the whole situation outright, but the Countess was ‘unhappy’ to share the reasons for her presence. And doing so in the same, strangely focused tone she had shown before, perhaps even more pronounced this time around.

“You! This is your doing! Certainly yours!” she wailed, in a strange accusation that seemed both serious and utterly overdone.

To the point that Twilight flinched, for it reminded her of some shards of Ebony Crescent’s own madness. And the Countess didn’t miss the grimace, it even fueled her outburst further.

“You have helped, healed, harkened! I saw you yesternight, you prayed! It was you! Why would you?! Why?!”

Rowan Berry moved from the side of Twilight to the front of her, making sure that there were two ponies blocking the Countess’ access. She also tried to calm down the delirious mare with a gentle gesture, but that only caused a vicious hiss to escape from Sunfall Glint’s throat, like she was a threatened animal.

Perhaps, in some ways, she was, Twilight thought, recognizing that she had to get this situation under control, and quickly. She doubted that they had a long time to deal with it themselves, as the shouting could soon make more ponies gather to check on the ruckus.

“Countess Consort… what do you mean? What happened that caused you this—?”

“What happened?! You know what happened – he lives! He lives and he’ll continue living, and nothing will move on!” the mare shouted again, trying to step past Midnight, but he was proficiently maneuvering and blocking her access with his whole body and gently extended wings. He definitely wasn’t keen on hurting the mare in any way, no, but looked ready for anything as she kept shrieking and throwing accusations. “It was you! That’s all you do! You help! You help, even if help does not help!” were the deranged words, accompanied by tears flowing down the mare’s muzzle as she dealt with a bout of madness.

But madness always had its sources, serious ones, and Twilight felt determined to get to those rapidly. She was thankfully connecting at least some of the dots rather quickly. “Sunfall Glint,” she spoke, believing that doing so more directly and without titles could help break through to the mare, “I wouldn’t call myself responsible for the Honored Lord’s return to health, no. But why would that be a bad thing anyway?” she asked, as it was impossible not to present that question in hopes of getting some explanations.

If only they would carry with themselves a semblance of logic. “Nothing moves! We stay as we are! I stay where I am!” were more screams from the Countess Consort, and at this point it was all too easy to hear the commotion coming from outside the room.

Midnight assumed a more stoic and steady stance to tackle any newcomers, expecting anything to happen, including a lunge from the poor mare before him. Rowan Berry also remained cautious, especially since Sunfall Glint reacted with fear to the sounds from the corridor, which both of the batponies had spotted.

“And nothing will happen, and nothing that must happen will happen, and I’ll still be alone!” the Countess Consort screamed, looking around for something. For a moment Twilight was considering whether the mare wasn’t searching for an actual weapon. And judging by Midnight’s movements, with his head following the mare’s every turn and one of his hooves slightly lifted to stop any unreasonable actions, he thought of the same possibility.

Twilight had only a moment to consider the sudden turn this evening had offered, when the sound of rapid hoofsteps came right to the threshold and nopony else than Count Sunfall Decree appeared in the door, looking concerned and frazzled. Had he been chasing after the mare, actually?

“Hwalba knaze,” he began, trying to sound dignified despite his wheezing breath, with his eyes darting from Twilight to his wife and back. “Bogine, I… I do apologize, iaa marite is very unwell today, please, I—”

“Why didn’t you do something?!” the Countess Consort shouted at him, turning sideways and backing away, to have a chance to react to both Midnight and the hrabiy, as if one or the other was about to attack her instead. “You really have so much hatred in you?!”

The Count mouthed something and then sighed, looking with mounting sadness and embarrassment at his wife, thrashing around like a wild animal in a cage. “Marite, conmod, tue wenae—”

“Why do you hate her so much?! You couldn’t even let him die for her?!” the mare continued to shout, nearly oblivious to how it looked and sounded.

But how could she be? Anguish was pouring from behind those words, anguish and hurt which were the very foundations of this episode, whatever affliction had her currently in its grasp. Regardless of that, unfortunately, it looked like the Countess Consort wasn’t going to calm down anytime soon, despite her husband’s pleas, and Twilight saw in the corner of her eye that one of Rowan Berry’s forehooves was already in one of her satchels. Perhaps the healer was already preparing to take the necessary action, using both of her professions in tandem.

Twilight didn’t want her to be forced into it if there could be an alternative, so she spoke up. “Sunfall Glint, look at me,” she began gently, but with intent. When that didn’t work, she repeated herself, with more authority. “Sunfall Glint, you will look at me.”

That worked, and Twilight was soon meeting this wide, delirious stare of sadness, trying to connect with the pony underneath its overbearing veil. And it worked, though the other way around. For Twilight realized that the pony before her was looking into the same set of eyes as last night, hoping to find in them a memory, a shade of a familiar pony.

“I know. I know, and I understand,” Twilight assured, trying to be calm and controlled not to spook the mare further. She needed the Countess Consort to come through with her askew reasoning. For it would help her and everypony gathered. Even the servants behind the Count, which had arrived a moment earlier and were now gazing inside with care and curiosity both, ready to be given any commands necessary.

Sunfall Glint was perhaps aware of them, aware that so many ponies had her firmly in their sights, but definitely paid no mind to the situation she was in. Again focused solely on Twilight, she tried to stop herself from sobbing just long enough to formulate actually sentences.

“You… You know, so… why would you help? You could have not helped and then… And then…”

“Hwalba knaze, my wife, she’s… She’s obviously—” the hrabiy tried to explain matters, inadvertently making them worse, for Sunfall Glint shrunk into herself the moment she heard his voice.

Twilight wasn’t going to have that. Not at this moment. “Honored Count Consort, I would advise you to stop talking this instant and instead listen,” she spoke in a tone that caused Sunfall Decree to petrify, and even one of the witnessing servants pressed her hoof to her lips in shock.

But Twilight didn’t care, instead focusing again on the mare before her. And if these circumstances demanded that the Count would have to hear a piece of Twilight’s mind, in an even harsher tone than before, then so it would have to be.

“Sunfall Glint, it’s alright,” she focused solely on the mare, or at least tried to do so for a moment longer. “Speak. Say it to me. I understand, but say it to me. Please.”

The combination of the tone and the gaze did it, thankfully. The Countess Consort, still shaking all over, continued, though her delirium was far from over.

“You… You didn’t help. Maybe you wanted to, maybe you really, really wanted to, but nothing of this helps. Not me, but that matters less – this does not help her. For the Lord is still the Lord, and my…”

The mare’s eyes darted to the Count, who again felt the need to open his mouth. Yet Twilight’s own stare, piercing and forceful, combining the might of alicornhood and the righteousness of her cause, was more enough to keep him silent for at least a moment longer. And she didn’t care if he would be deeply insulted by this situation, this was more important than just him and his pride.

Sunfall Glint wasn’t at least oblivious to the fact that somepony allowed her to continue by having stopped her husband from interfering. And perhaps that was the straw which instead of breaking her back, allowed her to straighten it instead, however shaky her tone still was.

“… my marit is not the Lord yet. Which means we are where we were. Nothing got better. For… For the pony that w—for my daughter,” she accentuated, breaking through some terrifying mental barrier which had been forced upon her, “is… is not the hrabiye yet. And that means she’s… She’s still away…”

It was just as Twilight had suspected. And, yes, she could have explained it to all the gathered in short, sharp words, but it was so much more important to let the Countess Consort say it aloud. It meant more, it resonated, perhaps it healed her a little bit. But it was especially vital with the palace servants behind the Count. Bearing witness to the whole scene, bearing witness to the mare speaking of the terrible secrets of this very palace, if they hadn’t been aware of them.

And perhaps the Sunfalls weren’t the Dusks, but ponies were the same everywhere, and not even the most pious courtier was resistant to something as delicately insidious as gossip.

The Count knew, he knew that too well, and that much was clear from his agitated gaze. Oh, he definitely was not glad about what Twilight had just allowed. But his irritation forced him to actually seek words first, so Twilight beat him to the continuation of this conversation, talking directly to the Countess Consort once again.

“I understand. If things would ‘progress’, that would make your daughter, Captain Sunfall Ordain, return to begin preparing for her future duties,” Twilight spoke with clarity and stoicism. “And I understand that pain is speaking through you. For you don’t really wish death upon the Honored Lord, do you, Sunfall Glint?”

“I do,” came the response, dreadful in its simplicity.

And Twilight felt a shiver traverse down her spine, one that nearly broke her concentration and stance. Her mind connected some more dots as that happened, however. Was that why the Countess Consort had been lurking outside the Honored Lord’s quarters, when Midnight and Rowan Berry had thought she had been merely eavesdropping on them? Had she, instead, been monitoring the situation? Had she actually had her hoof in this whole scenario…?

Such were the thoughts rushing through Twilight’s mind as Sunfall Glint continued speaking. “I do. Yes, I do, Bogine forgive me. But I must, I have no choice. Because it will make my daughter come back. Because she will have to… Because there will be no more choice, even for my marit,” she spoke.

She spoke with clarity that cut through the madness ever so briefly. She spoke as if she had just forgotten that Sunfall Decree was right near, red in the face and fuming to his core.

Because if there was one thing that the Count had proved to be, despite everything, it was being a dutiful son. And nothing could have kept him silent there and then when his own wife was declaring things like that, regardless of her delirium.

“This…! Outrage. I won’t listen to any of this! Ramblings of an ill mind, nothing more. I will have my healers take care of the matter,” he declared in a tone in which a hope and a threat were hard to distinguish from one another. He lifted his hoof to command the courtiers behind, but Twilight’s voice stopped him.

“Ramblings?” she asked of him, as the shouting additionally caused the Countess Consort to back away and more into the room’s distant corner. “These aren’t ramblings, Honored Count, far from them. This is what your wife is dealing with. What she has to wrestle with every night. Haven’t you seen any of this before?”

“My wife,” he accentuated in a very specific tone which did not sit right with Twilight at all, “is definitely not well, and the stress of my father’s sickness clearly affected her to the point of this unfortunate episode. I will not pay attention to her mutterings, for she does not mean them, but I will take the necessary actions.”

“Maybe she doesn’t truly contemplate the part about wishing ill upon the Honored Lord’s, your father’s, head, Honored Count, but the rest?” Twilight asked, leaving no room for an actual answer by the stallion. “She’s very serious about that, as any caring and loving mother would be. Though perhaps you had no idea, after all? Or, more likely, you decided not to pay attention, because that was the easier way out of your decision.”

That sentence was a direct threat and challenge to the Count’s position and standing, and both he and Twilight were very much aware of it. The stallion was also aware of the presence of an audience, not only behind him, but before, because both Rowan Berry and Midnight Wind were paying very close attention and were still keen on protecting Twilight. And so Sunfall Decree was very careful about his response.

Which meant – slow in delivering it, which allowed Twilight to carry on.

“I have met Captain Sunfall Ordain on my way here, as you know. And it is as I have told your father, the Honored Lord, right at the Seat of the Covenant – I have received caring attention and much kindness from her. Her openness and her character both installed in me a greater hope for my mission, which had just started at that time,” Twilight stated, her declaration backed by belief and honesty. “Had I only known that you hold her in such a low esteem. She’s a mare which joined your most elite unit, achieved a high rank, grants your Rodine such an honor through her service… And that’s not enough for you, Honored Count?” she asked, poking at the topic accordingly, in hopes of getting through to the stallion.

Who straightened up, summoning the authority he had and the confidence in his own choices. Considering the lowering of gazes from Sunfall Glint and the courtiers at the door, he wasn’t in danger of running out of sovereignty and status anytime soon, despite this damaging moment. Perhaps claiming that he was ready to challenge Twilight with full force was too much, but the Count clearly wasn’t going to just give ground to her.

“Our Rodine prides itself on its humble service in the name of Bogine, tradition and the common good. I take it from your tone, hwalba knaze, that you are at least somewhat aware of the reasons why I have sent Sunfall Ordain away. And that you disapprove of my choice,” he spoke, gathering courage to contest Twilight with relative ease, despite everything which had been happening. And despite that he must have also stayed up that particular day, to tend to his father. “But I take it you don’t have foals of your own, Honored Princess. Nor a Family legacy, stretching back hundreds upon hundreds of years, to uphold. And so it might be considered unwise to speak of matters in which you have no experience, regardless of your belief system,” he riposted, with a clear and regal voice, which made even his simple gown look much more intimidating and stately.

Twilight had already learnt to withstand such blows, in no small part thanks to the way she had been ‘trained’ by her mission in Noctraliya. “No, Honored Lord. You are right – I don’t have foals yet, nor do I come from a noble family, not in your understanding of the word. But I come from a loving family,” she told the Count back. She used the pause afterwards to look from him to the Countess Consort, standing silently in the corner with her head hung. The shaking of her body suggested that she was likely sobbing to herself. “A family that recognizes that there is something more important than political ambitions and the ‘good of the bloodline’. One that sees individuals as worthwhile in their own way, not just because they remain obedient to demands. One that allows them to choose their path, with respect and understanding, offering guidance if necessary. Not one pushing away those that fail to meet a standard or a forced vision of grandeur. Not one somehow denying them membership. What sort of pony thinks they have the right to declare that?”

The Count at least gave her the courtesy of listening without interruption, though the firm look on his muzzle wasn’t betraying even for a moment what his thoughts were. Was Twilight even getting to him like so? She hoped that she was presenting matters clearly, but the effects remained to be seen, unfortunately.

But the fact that the stallion turned to his own wife rather than tackling the arguments head on was something of an indication, at least. “Marite, calm down, please. Come with me, I will ask our lupuli to help you,” he spoke, and despite everything there was care in that tone. It was just hard to say how deep it really went.

Sunfall Glint didn’t move at first, still looking down. Perhaps her madness subsided a little, perhaps she had realized what had been happening and what sort of a scene she had been causing up to this point. Twilight recognized that it would be a great source of shame to the poor Countess Consort, piling yet more reasons for the mind to escape into insanity.

Sunfall Decree gave the mare a moment longer, but then spoke up once again. “Come, please. You need rest, marite. We will talk about it all later,” were his words, but nopony could tell whether he meant the recent situation she had caused or the whole scenario with Captain Sunfall Ordain. It seemed more the former, unfortunately.

Again there was no response, so Twilight felt it prudent to take action again. She had the mare’s good in mind, naturally, because it certainly wasn’t her fault that this whole scenario happened. She just couldn’t bear the pain, and it manifested in madness. At least, as opposed to what had happened with Ebony Crescent, it looked like the Countess was an unfortunate victim, not a crazed perpetrator…

And so Twilight spoke up. “Honored Count, if the Honored Countess Consort doesn’t want to go with you right now, then perhaps—”

“I am more than certain that you are not suggesting that you wish to keep my wife as some sort of a hostage, Honored Princess,” Sunfall Decree riposted. “I know she needs rest, recuperation, a safe space to calm and center herself. She will be given that, as she should.”

And, considering the presence of witnesses, it was time for Twilight to recognize that she was treading on dangerous ground. She had no reason not to believe the Honored Count, but… still feared for Sunfall Glint a little bit.

“I hope that you improve, Honored Countess Consort,” she again spoke directly to the mare, but with volume that would make it clear to everypony what she truly wanted to convey.

The mare also heard her, yes, and looked at her with wide eyes, nodding after a short while. There seemed to be recognition in her gaze, but not to the level that one could be certain about her state.

The Count stepped back a little, to indicate that he was giving his wife space to leave. And she finally decided to do so, with a wobbly trot and teary eyes. Then, without a word, the stallion ordered for the remains of Twilight’s meal to be taken care of, and for eveypony else to clear the premises. The only sentence that he shared with her after the courtiers disappeared around the doorframe was said in a levelled tone of a stoic noble.

“I will notify you of my father’s state soon, hwalba knaze.”

And with that and a courtly nod, the Count left, leaving Twilight behind with her entourage, silence, and a whole lot of questions. And she soon let out a communal exhale right alongside them, because nopony could have predicted quite such an eventful evening happening to anypony.

“Kirwe,” came a swear, and Twilight wasn’t sure whether it was Midnight Wind or Rowan Berry who decided to let out their irritation and relief alike in such a way.

“I agree,” she still told them both, trotting back and taking her seat by the table again. It felt like a few nights had passed already, with how the situation had unraveled right before her eyes.

Midnight checked outside whether everypony was truly gone, then locked back the door and actually leaned against them. Although this time his desire to keep anypony from accessing was more metaphorical than forced by circumstances.

“You know what? I’m actually going to say it – I completely agree with just how tired you are with our… ‘absurdity’, let’s call it that,” he told Twilight with a quite the visible scoff on his muzzle.

“Thank you,” Twilight responded, because by Midnight’s tone alone it was clear that he recognized just what amount of… absurdity he had himself added to her burden. Still, his general point stood firm. “You asked me whether I will try to help the Countess Consort and everypony around, well… There you have it, I suppose.”

“Wasn’t much by choice,” he commented, still holding the door in place as if it was ready to fall off the hinges. “Not that your choice would be much different, I imagine.”

He wasn’t wrong, so Twilight just rolled her eyes and supported her head on the table in general protest about the state of the world around her.

“Headache?” Rowan Berry asked almost immediately as she took her seat as well.

“On the cusp of one,” Twilight admitted with a defeated tone in her voice. “Honestly, I know that every place, every family, every pony has their problems, because life is very complicated… but I think I’m overworked here,” she commented, trying to find at least a little bit of humor to deal with the situation.

“I heard a local expression in Ekwestriya – toss it all and go to the mountains,” Midnight decided to respond, shaking his head and finally letting go of the door, gently trotting to the table himself. “Only you are here already, and things aren’t that much better.”

She gave him a knowing look, resulting in him nodding and getting ready to grab a seat for himself, without more words coming from him for the moment. But Twilight actually lifted her hoof and her head and spoke up to both of her companions.

“I don’t feel like staying here, this room feels… wrong right now,” she admitted. “Can we go for a walk around the Mountain, or something?”

Rowan Berry made a small face. “Not much to visit about here, unfortunately.”

“Maybe we could step outside?” Midnight suggested, but the healer shook her head.

“I don’t think they have terraces on the mountainside. I suppose it would be seen as redundant, sinful, or… whatever,” she commented, resulting in Twilight growling just a little.

“Then could we just, I don’t know, walk around the Iug? Maybe in the opposite direction than last time? Anything to break this… feeling,” she finished her sentence that way, though it felt like she could have said much, much more.

Midnight wanted to say something, perhaps express support… or maybe disapproval instead. But he just shrugged and clearly changed his approach before ever making an attempt.

“They will find us with any news, I presume…”

He wasn’t wrong, Twilight figured, and soon the three of them were venturing down the spacious, circular cavern of the Mountain of Sunfall. Which, at least for Twilight, seemed even less welcoming than before. Yes, she had engaged in a very, very delicate matter handled in a very indelicate way. And now even the austerely carved stone of the local dwellings seemed to hold some sort of a grudge against her, for pushing against the strange, spiritual status quo.

Whether the batponies with her felt that too, the situation was clearly on their mind, with Rowan Berry speaking up first, just after she had looked back as if expecting to be trailed by somepony.

“That whole thing was… Tac, he won’t forget it.”

“The Count?” Twilight asked about the obvious.

“Yes,” the healer confirmed the unfortunate suspicion, keeping the voice low, though there wasn’t a chance of being directly overheard. Nopony was loitering about, of course. It was just the echo which could prove treacherous. “He might forgive you, perhaps. But forgetting this? No, not likely,” she assessed with a grimace. “Private meetings, private problems, alright, that can sometimes work. But you chastised him, and I’m not saying ‘wrongly’, but in front of witnesses. Many. Yes, they might be sworn to discretion as courtiers, but…”

“Yeah, I thought of that already,” Twilight admitted, shaking her head. She would have sat down and buried her muzzle in her hooves, if only briefly, but continuing to trot felt a touch more therapeutical. “Well, he’s not the one with a vote in the Covenant, his father is. Goddess… or both of them, give him health and strength,” she remarked, feeling the irritation pouring out from her. “So I think I can deal with an upset heir for the moment at least.”

She felt Midnight’s gaze on her. He was clearly asking a rather obvious, silent question, and she addressed him. “You want to say something to that?”

“Well, only that you could have been the ‘Protector of the Iug’, or whatever else the hwalbu haspadr conjured up in his mind, so the hrabiy is getting off easy if all he has to endure is a couple of harsh words,” the warrior remarked, also looking behind him. “He might need some. I don’t like the way he looked at hrabiye hitve.”

Twilight had to concur, looking around the stern rock and simple entrances to several corridors and dwellings. “Well, he obviously sees how much this whole situation is hurting everypony,” she said, thought she doubted she would find signs of torment and despondence in the lives of regular ponies. Other than the self-inflicted, penitential one. “Even the Lord himself is aching at this. You recall what I told the Count? Back at the Seat?”

“I do. The haspadr looked rather distraught when his question was translated like it was,” Midnight invoked the very scene Twilight had in mind.

“It looks like the Count is the only pony who is succeeding in trying to push away the knowledge he sent away his own daughter. Or, at least, hiding it deep enough inside. Hard to say what sort of damage it is doing to him, because I refuse to believe his is inured to such injury.”

“Certainly his pride helps him contain it,” Rowan Berry remarked with a small, contained hiss. “Or maybe the sheer obstinacy from seeing what he had done, and whom he hurt.” She stayed silent for a moment, then presented the question. “So… what now? I suppose that the hwalbu haspadr might actually regain enough strength in the coming nights to invite you to see him again, but…” She almost hissed again, and this time it appeared like it would have been with more volume and intent. “And this evening started so nice. Hopeful, even.”

Twilight couldn’t help but grin just a little, even if it was a sour expression in the end. “You know, that’s the sort of thing I have felt now for quite some time. But…”

She almost stopped. But moping would do nopony any good. Assessing their situation was important, yes, but not at the expense of things such as hope for what was to come, if Rowan Berry invoked the feeling already.

So Twilight just continued musing as they trotted on, mindful of any wayward locals after all. “I must say, with everything happening, I think that we’re heading towards some sort of a conclusion at this point…”

“What would you mean?” the healer asked, as Midnight surely paid great attention to those words as well.

“I have now visited most of the peaks of Noctraliya,” Twilight remarked, herself again realizing what that meant. “I was dealing with problems that I have found, yes, but also proceeding with my quest. Have I healed all of your country out of nowhere? No, of course not. There’s much to be done still,” she declared, changing the pace of her steps a little. “But I think I have made some progress. I haven’t given in to thoughts of despair, despite everything.”

She took a moment to look back at the two batponies. “You might ask – what is bringing this on and why am I even invoking it? Well, I think I have just seen a pony that was… defeated. That let hope fall from her hooves, without her fault. But to the point when her mind suffered so terribly, out of love, out of anguish, that it cracked in some way. A different way than what I have seen before…” she paused, making sure that her companions recognized what she meant. “And though I have suffered greatly in your lands, I am in no way going to let such hopelessness win over me. Instead, I believe that we are close to something pivotal, instead.”

Rowan Berry nodded to herself, following Twilight’s train of thought. “In the great scheme of things… you’ve gathered quite the support for your cause by now. Or, at least, understanding of it. Haspadri Sunfall Word and Blessed Fang shall undoubtedly be with you… Bright Crescent won’t take a step against you after what… you just had in mind,” she remarked pretty quietly, betraying that she understood the situation all too well, then glanced at Midnight.

He agreed with a small, irritated hiss, and then continued himself, though trotting on like nothing was happening. “Dusk Harvest was always for the idea of peace, now he’s only the more grateful and happy to be on your side. Hwalbu haspadr Midnight Eye…”

He paused and Twilight was sure that he was giving her a look, allowing her to finish that sentence in whatever way she saw fit.

“… is likely to support me, all things considered,” she made her choice of words, meaning much more than her following sentences would suggest. “After all, I convinced him by the end of my stay that I am a more worthwhile pony to enter talks with than he had initially considered. I believe that whatever plans he had by the time I started this quest, he changed them at this point. Not to mention I will have a conversation with him prior to the next congregation.”

“Yes,” Midnight agreed quite shortly while Rowan Berry was pondering for a moment. And not betraying if she was listening in to that particular exchange.

“Well… that still leaves two haspadri, then. Crimson Shade and… my hwalba haspadre,” she pointed out, mostly to herself considering that one, concerned tone. “I know what I have said. And I still firmly believe in you,” she added. She nodded towards Twilight when she turned her head back to her. “But I cannot help but be wary about the coming meeting in the Tuarie. As I understand, there will have to be a decisive vote, with all the implications that go with it.”

“I am more than aware of the stakes,” Twilight assured, having reminded herself of them many times in the confines of her head. She could still remember, clear as day, the moment when Midnight had been explaining to her the nature of civil wars in Noctraliya, and to this night she felt firmly opposed to the premise. “But I also know that a good cause can make even the hardest hearts move. Still, sometimes those couple harsh words, a touch of grim reality are a necessary thing. They remind of an important perspective that we sometimes lack, or refuse to acknowledge because it is, by itself, harsh. I think… this very country taught me that.”

“Would we were kinder teachers,” Midnight muttered under his breath, then hissed through clenched teeth, but it was all audible to Twilight.

“Indeed,” she remarked, slowing down a touch to stay closer to both the ponies now. “I want to believe that we will soon have another chance of trotting down the right path, for both of our nations. Even Lord Bright Crescent was well aware of the fact that if there is one pony among the Lords that could convince Lord Crimson Shade to allow me visit to the Mountain of Shade, that would be Lord Blessed Fang. And I believe that, when we return to the Sanctuary, we will know something about being granted that possibility. However…”

“Yes?” Rowan Berry asked, as Twilight’s eyes now rested on her.

“Do you think a report, properly prepared, would be enough to prompt Lord Azure Mist to let me see the Mountain of Mist?” was the genuinely hopeful question, if quiet question, though the healer’s gaze betrayed deep skepticism.

“With all due respect – a ‘too kind’ of a report will be immediately suspicious. And we both know in what tone we were keeping those thus far… But we could try something, maybe formulate some sentences in a way to make her less concerned about the possibility of actually embracing a deal with Ekwestriya?” the mare replied, with genuine intention to help and a cautious look around.

“We will do so, then,” Twilight decided, nodding to herself. “Even if she doesn’t budge in the end, it will not be hard to show and prove that we have given her every chance to do so. And when the ultimate vote occurs, well, I must trust that the pressure from the other Lords will do its part, too.”

“You must be rather certain that you will manage to convince Lord Crimson Shade instead, then,” Midnight commented and deduced alike. “His disposition towards Equestria is negative, and openly so. It will still be a monumental task, even with the help of the likes of Lord Blessed Fang, you must know that.”

“I’m definitely not downplaying the situation in my mind, Midnight Wind,” Twilight declared in a strong tone, though without the unnecessary volume.

She was now trotting in line with the two of them. She was glad that she had decided for this brief walk, to simultaneously stretch her legs and work through what had occurred just before. Now it felt the more prudent to continue the talk from a more appropriate position for planning and scheming. Alongside the batponies.

“I think I feel ready to deal with him now. Before? Perhaps I would have fallen apart, sunk into unchecked emotions, reacted like an unprepared pony, indeed. But I believe that at this point I have received enough… lessons. Some overt, some covert. I know that I will be able to convince Lord Crimson Shade, despite his animosity. And perhaps we will again be given a chance to help with a problem that will be a good enough icebreaker… Seems to be the case so far. As if designed by somepony greater.”

Rowan Berry’s gaze hung on Twilight even when she returned it. There was a healer’s worry in it, definitely, aside from an operative’s understanding. “Learning to endure matters, to contain one’s emotions when necessary is a sign of growth. It’s not a healthy thing, however, to bottle all things inside with unnecessary and unplanned intent…”

“Oh, I know, I am aware. And it’s certainly not just that,” Twilight told her back, her eyes staying on the mare for the moment. “There are a lot of things that could overwhelm me, even at this point. The more obvious… and the less obvious ones. But that is what is giving me strength – the necessity to have it,” she commented, now speaking to both the batponies. “What good will it do if I cry? Break apart? I have something to achieve, something to work for. What is the alternative? War? With my family in Canterlot? My friends in Ponyville?”

The last part of Twilight’s question was spoken with quite the strength, causing Midnight’s gaze to lower accordingly, and Rowan Berry to look around covertly. Thankfully, nopony was around that could be eavesdropping, in the spacious main thoroughfare of the Mountain. At worst, somepony was witnessing a foreign dignitary conversing with her entourage, though Twilight doubted anypony would linger, busy, humble and not wishing to stare in sinful curiosity.

And so she continued, feeling that stinging in her core as she continued. “My friends… They are more threatened than one can realize. And though I haven’t spoke of that matter aloud, you think I haven’t felt the pressure? Even subconsciously? Why do you think I am trying so hard to make sure peace prevails? And do you think I haven’t taken… certain precautions by this point?” Twilight pointed out, causing a tense silence to fall upon the group.

Broken only by Midnight’s words a couple seconds later. He would be one of the few ponies to know of Twilight’s way of doing so, and the weight of those questions. “Some precautions do work. Some don’t. Yours… will, I believe,” he enigmatically shared his view. He had no choice, to be fair, but to admit to that.

“It is good to have friends in the right places, however unpredictable they can be,” Twilight told him, with some measure of satisfaction. “And I want to believe that, despite everything that happened and that might still happen, I will count you both as my friends by the end of this,” she expressed her hope, however battered and bruised it was.

It was the sort of hope that could be a lot for one pony, and yet very much not enough for another. But it was hope, nonetheless.

And one had to hold onto it, as long as it lasted in one’s chest with its gentle warmth.

Author's Note

Greetings, everyone,

again, I feel the need to express my apology for yet another delay in posting this particular chapter. And, well, I do hope this installment can be found at least worthwhile by all of you, it took much more out of me than I anticipated. The exact reasons for it I will put down in my blog post at the end of the current year.

For the moment, please enjoy, remember the title, and stay tuned,

~Gulheru