Astral paced in the Clocktower room, sunlight still just barely painting the wall in reds and yellows.

She'd left the library half an hour earlier, having read the rest of the Church's historical literature and other, similar topics. Unfortunately, the Church's library was quite limited in its selection within and beyond her interests, and there was nothing but what she'd already found: scattered references to Byrgenwerth and a whole lot of bunkum. The mystery remained.

And much to her chagrin, she'd also had no luck recovering any memories regardless of her attempts or methods. Whenever she tried forcing herself to remember anyways, she endured terrible waves of nausea and disorientation. She did, however, learn that she had apparently only been within Yharnamite society as Director for the past seventy years, causing her concerns about time to feel even more justified than before. That wasn't all that occupied her thoughts, though.

Slowly building in the quiet spaces of her mind rumbled a vague suggestion. Byrgenwerth, it said.

At first she'd written off Byrgenwerth. Not only did she not know where it was, but she already had obligations to remain in Yharnam, and she wasn't about to leave Celestia out in a foreign city at night. But, and this was a big but, she couldn't shake the feeling that all of her questions could be answered by Byrgenwerth.

No matter what, she wouldn't abandon Celestia without some way to ensure that her absence wouldn't affect her friend in any way. But, if she could arrange something and uncover the College's location, she wouldn't hesitate to pursue her intuition. Not that she could remember any methods to those ends anyways, though. Her mind was as blank as a freshly wiped slate when it came to her time in Yharnam, or any of the last seven hundred years for that matter. A matter she found rather disconcerting.

She sighed, ceasing her pacing for the first time in thirty minutes. She could re-evaluate the situation all she wanted, but that wouldn't change it; she needed to design a course of action. In the spirit of doing so she took a brief look at Yvonne, who sat in a chair drinking something warm (she'd declined a cup herself) and weighed her options.

"Pursue the College, or no?" Her primary courses. Remain in Yharnam, or pursue a potential goldmine of information. On one hoof, she would ensure the safe arrival of Celestia, but on the other hoof was knowledge, potentially knowledge that could save them time and save her from making a bad decision. She sat down, coming to a consensus within herself with ease.

"I shall pursue the College." She considered herself a scholar, and the opportunity Byrgenwerth presented was too good to pass up. Though, that left her with a number of issues, the most prominent of which was how to get there and how to failsafe for Celestia. Two issues she couldn't rectify without help, at the moment.

She disliked having to rely on other pony's good nature for matters as important as this, especially when she didn't know them well. For exactly that reason, she once again looked at Yvonne, this time with cynicism and apprehension rather than ponderance.

"I don't know her," she thought, carefully scrutinizing her interaction with the pony thus far. "She's been helpful so far, but I don't know her." She continued looking, essentially staring at the dusky red pony.

Said pony either didn't notice or didn't care. She sipped her coffee, or tea, or whatever it was slowly and continued to relax into her chair.

"I might not trust her, but she's the only pony aside from that librarian I've seen so far," she thought, carefully examining her options again."Either I fumble around in the dark, forget Byrgenwerth altogether, or I ask her and trust that she's loyal enough to be honest to me." She didn't like any of those options, but she could feel that her interest in Byrgenwerth was getting the best of her.

"Eh, she probably doesn't know anything anyways, but, worth a shot at least."

"Yvonne," Astral began, not bothering to hide the curiosity on her face, "you haven't heard of Byrgenwerth, have you?"

Yvonne nodded, lowering her teacup from her face. "Honestly, my Lady, I was wondering when you were going to ask." She gave a little smile, setting her teacup down completely. "I figured it'd catch your attention. You've always been able to sniff out a good secret, and never been able to leave them alone, either."

Astral nodded, slightly taken aback. "So she does know about Byrgenwerth? Unexpected, but welcome, if she is truthful…" Another thing she noted was that for Yvonne to speak so plainly despite the difference between their stations, they must have been quite familiar with one another. A potentially useful point of leverage, should the need arise.

"So, what do you know about this Byrgenwerth?" she asked, trying her best to not turn the silence awkward.

"Not much," the lavender haired pony conceded, "but I know where it is. My former boss, your former servant, told me, though I cannot fathom why. You'd have known where to go, should you have ever wanted to return there."

Return there? Intrigued, her ears raised and she gave Yvonne an inquisitive look that brokered little argument.

Yvonne understood. "You went once, a few decades ago. Brought a few ponies with you, along with my predecessor. Apparently you weren't happy with what you found, and threatened to burn the place down." She adjusted her position where she sat. "Not that it mattered much. According to him, the place looked halfway to falling apart on its own."

Astral nodded, but resumed her pacing. 'Halfway to falling apart' put a serious damper on her curiosity, but she knew that amongst even decades old ruins there might still be something of value left, and she just didn't know what that thing might be.

Of course, that could be what she thought decades ago. She couldn't remember back to then, either way.

She battled off another wave of nausea. "You know where it is?"

"Yes," Yvonne replied, raising her teacup again. "I also know who runs the place; an old stallion named Willem. He's the provost of the college, though the title doesn't mean much these days," she said, taking another sip. "He's also the one you threatened."

"Oh, figures," she sighed, nearly driving a hoof into her forehead, but successfully restraining her urge. "Do you think he's been succeeded yet?"

Yvonne shook her head. "Byrgenwerth College is forbidden, to get anywhere near it from Yharnam you'd need the password to the old door that guards the entrance. If anyone's still there at all, it'll probably just be him."

"A password to get anywhere even near it?" Astral thought, suddenly feeling much more inclined to find it. "Do you know the password? Why a password?" she asked, the damper from earlier gone.

"The forbidden forest is thick, and nearly impenetrable without serious effort, effort that only the Church is able to fund. If I remember right, the only route inside starts here in the Cathedral Ward, guarded by an enchanted door." Yvonne said, shaking her head. "I don't know the password to it, though I'd imagine only the higher ranking individuals within the Church would know. After all, the College is kept secret, and is forbidden even for those aware of it," she said, refilling her cup. "The Vicar, and probably a few of the more privy Choirponies would know. You did before, as well."

Astral nodded, continuing to pace. She had to wonder, again, if this was even worth her consideration? According to Yvonne, Byrgenwerth was old, and apparently was dilapidated even some decades ago. With no regular maintenance, she had to wonder if anything interesting was left at all…

Yet her curiosity wouldn't let the subject die. Same as before, a feeling of waiting answers to important questions niggled at her, reinforcing her already strong desire to seek out the forbidden birthplace of the Healing Church.

"Even if I find little of special interest there, I might find something to help me, 'Tia and Twilight, though I cannot deny. A forbidden college! What a tantalizing prospect! Who knows what's been buried with that place? Maker willing, much of it will be intact…"

She was almost drooling already, daydreaming about forgotten magics and dead schools.

"Snap out of it, Astral," she chided herself after a moment, "you don't even know if anything special is still there, or was, and fantasizing certainly won't get you there faster."

She stopped again and sat this time. If she trusted Yvonne, which she supposed she did, then she had the first of her two major issues figured out. "Now, just to failsafe for Celestia…"

She once again turned to Yvonne, who was now looking at her with an expectant look. "Yes, my Lady?" prompted the pony.

"My friends, you remember them, yes? I wish to go to Byrgenwerth, but I don't want my absence to affect them." She gave Yvonne a certain look, trying to look both detached and concerned at the same time. "I need them unharmed, here, in the Clocktower. They are retrieving important information for me, and having either one stuck outside of this room would be problematic for me."

Yvonne nodded. "I see, and because of your memory you can't see any way to ensure their return to this room yourself?"

"Right. In other words, I need your help." She kept herself as neutral but encouraging as she could, keeping her own distaste at needingto rely on Yvonne to herself for now.

Again, Yvonne nodded. "I'm not sure how much help I'll be, I'm just a humble servant after all, but I'll do my best, my Lady." The Earth pony stood, setting her drink aside for the moment and moving to sit closer.

"You have your memory, so you start," she said to Yvonne, not at all surprised when the pony immediately launched into suggestions.

+#+#+

It took a half-hour, but she'd finally settled on a suggestion of Yvonne's.

According to her, Vicar Amelia would be praying in the Grand Cathedral directly below the Research Hall. If the Church's literature was accurate, then the Vicar would be the only pony that Astral, as Director, would answer to and would likely also be the best pony to guarantee her request.

It certainly also helped that Amelia and herself were apparently on good terms. Though, that didn't change her current situation.

They both currently stood on a bridge that spanned the gap between the Research Hall and the Clocktower. Somehow Yvonne had almost convinced her to try using her wings while she could, since it was unlikely anything with a 'gun' would shoot at them here.

Behind her stood the red pony, and behind Yvonne was the weirdest garden Astral had ever seen. A giant, wilting sunflower with a stem thicker than many trees she'd seen barely held its head aloft, drooping rather dramatically as it's oversized petals covered its face. All around its base grew grass, brown and dead while flowers of an odd extremely pale blue wilted, much like the sunflower tree, amongst the grass. A few torches lit the garden, as the sun's light had finally abandoned the city of Yharnam altogether.

"Come on, its muscle memory, right? Wings are like legs, aren't they?" Yvonne said, looking over the edge with her. "Besides, can't you just teleport if you screw up?"

She scoffed in response. "Sure, if I wanted to wind up a gory mess," she said, giving Yvonne a raised eyebrow. "An inertia spell would work better; teleportation just moves you through space, it doesn't actually stop things in motion."

Yvonne just smiled at her.

She just blinked at the mare before briefly looking over the edge again. It was a long way down, but Yvonne was right. If she knew a good inertia spell and kept her cool she probably wouldn't be in any danger. "You're sure I won't get hit by this 'gun', right?"

"More like a bullet than the gun itself," Yvonne said, nodding, "but yes, we should be fine."

She sighed, resigning herself to a moment of– wait, we? "Yvonne, what do you mean by 'we'?"

"You're not going to make me walk all the way down, are you? That'll take ages!" She looked up at Astral with big, innocent eyes.

Astral groaned internally. "Fine, but if you slip off and wind up dead it's your fault."

If she was going to do something as stupid as throwing herself into the frying pan, or flying pan in this case, she'd make damn sure her fallback was sound. She tested her memory, or, more accurately, her reflexive memory and found that she could recall the inertia spell's form and formula with relative ease, much like she had already with simpler illumination spells and telekinesis, but could not recall any memory of ever using or learning it.

She jumped into the air as far as she could without using her wings, and cast the inertia spell on herself. For a brief moment she was suspended in mid-air as the spell exacted it's effects on her, before she fell to the ground. She repeated this test another six times, to ensure she wasn't simply lucky.

She wasn't just lucky, thankfully. She'd have to go through her entire vocabulary and see what could remember by reflex.

Either way, with that done she stepped up to the ledge and let Yvonne on to her back. With little left to do except actually test Yvonne's guess, she jumped off the side of the bridge.

She plummeted straight down, Yvonne gripping her middle tightly as both of their manes and tails whipped in the sudden onslaught of air. Suddenly, she found herself thinking of the ground, and as she watched it get closer she –

– spread her wings.

Apparently, she did have muscle memory. On instinct she'd spread her wings, and far more expertly than she'd ever considered herself capable of she angled her wings correctly to bring them into a gentle glide. On either wing she could feel the rush of air between the feathers, and, perhaps more surprisingly, the gentle pulse of magic, not unlike when she used her horn.

She tore her attention away from the fact that wings channeled magic and her shock at having actually managed stable flight back to their current situation. They were gliding away from the lower garden and the Cathedral fairly leisurely considering her previous downwards velocity, but if she wasn't a complete idiot she'd be able to bring them back around fairly easily. With a slight adjustment to the angling of her wings, she brought them into a fairly wide turn, judging her deceleration and descent as she did so to try and at least land somewhat gracefully.

With imminent danger past, she took a moment to enjoy flight, or enjoy it as much as she could. She'd never flown before, not even in any pegasus-drawn carriages, so for her the sensation of flight, let alone personal flight, was quite surreal. Wind in wings, freedom to move in three dimensions without the need for solid ground or spells… it was rather exciting, perhaps even intoxicating.

On her back the earth pony mare gripped her sides like a vice, barely moving a muscle as she brought them both back to solid ground. She was probably having a different experience.

All too soon the lower garden's patio was nearly beneath her hooves. Lucky for her, she wasn't coming in very fast. Unlucky for her, she had no clue how to land, so when she actually landed on the patio above the garden she stumbled, throwing the mare on her back off as she bit the cold, hard stone.

"Let's never do that again," said a breathless voice, lying on the pavement much like her.

"Hm," Astral vocalized, "Not so excited to try flying now, are you?" She peeled herself off the ground, taking a bit of a jawache with her. She'd fallen forward after stumbling, her jaw and chin hitting the paving first before the rest of her. Thankfully, whether by luck or her new form she couldn't detect anything aside from soreness.

Standing, she took a brief look around. The garden was a small square, with an odd U shaped section of patio surrounding it, they'd landed on the bottom of the U, and immediately behind her a large stained glass window looked into the Cathedral. Flowers, much like the sunflower tree above, grew from the dirt in the garden. They wilted as well.

"Not at all, that was terrifying!" Yvonne said, standing up as well and looking back up at the bridge. "I don't know how you do it, but flying isn't for me. No, ma'am."

"Well, I quite enjoyed it, bad landing aside." She extended a wing, the motion coming unexpectedly naturally. "I think I'll like having these…"

"Right, well, before you get any ideas," Yvonne said, quickly trotting towards the window, "here's the Vicar." She opened the window, using a small latch to swing a significant portion of the window on a hinge. It must have been used frequently; it made no sound as it opened.

Yvonne stepped through first, followed by Astral as she finally observed, for the first time, the inside of the Church's Grand Cathedral.

She stood on an odd balcony-landing-walkway that ran the length of the Cathedral, high above the main floor. Moonlight shone through a few windows nearly horizontally, catching and colorfully painting flowing drapes that hung from the ceiling in various locations.

At the very head of the Cathedral was a massive altar, mostly carved with stone but with a few large metal statues, the largest of which poured a pitcher. Before it knelt a small figure, clad entirely in white. It's soft voice clearly identified it as a mare, though she could not make out it's words from where she was.

Details she noted as she scanned the room for an easy way down. Surprised, but not disappointed, she saw none. Apparently, Yvonne had chosen a path that required flight almost exclusively…

How ironic.

Astral smiled. "Not your thing, huh?" she said, scooping up the despondent mare in her magic and depositing her on her back. She looked over the edge, calculating the distance, velocity and trajectory she'd need to pull off to get down without looking like an absolute fool. While she didn't have any experience, she did at least know flight theory, and, if earlier had been any indication, so did her reflexes.

"Well then, you should've picked a slower path." She hoisted herself over the edge and dropped again, spreading her wings and using her magic to supplement her relative inexperience. With some slight adjustments to her wing positions and a few magical thrusts to keep herself from either slowing down or speeding up too much, she gently guided herself down to the floor, her hooves soundlessly meeting the marble as she landed half decently, only stumbling a little as she folded her wings and pried the mare off her back.

Now on the ground, she could hear the words the Vicar spoke.
"Remain wary of the frailty of ponies. Their wills are weak, minds young. Were it not for fear, death would go unlamented. Seek the old blood."

Let us pray, let us wish to partake in communion. Let us partake in communion, and feast upon the old blood. Our thirst for blood satiates us, soothes our fears. Seek the old blood."

She let the Vicar finish, both perturbed and intrigued by her prayer. She spoke of many things Astral was unfamiliar with, but the talk of feasting on blood set her red flags up straight. She didn't have much personal experience with cults, but that sounded really cult-y.

What had she gotten herself into?

Either way, she didn't wish to dally. "Ahem," she vocalized, gently clearing her throat to gain the Vicar's attention. True to the acoustics of the room, Astral's voice reverberated through the Cathedral, amplifying significantly before dying out. She couldn't help but feel like there was some magical help in those acoustics, as well.

Sure enough, the Vicar heard her. She turned, shuffling in her spot to get a better look at Astral. Or, maybe, Astral noted, simply to be polite. The Vicar was a unicorn, all white, without wrinkles despite features that denoted a somewhat advanced age. Her eyes as well as most of her body was covered in white bandages and white robes, and if she wasn't blind she wouldn't have been able to see anyways.

"Ah, Director. To what do I owe the pleasure?" she said, her voice gentle and sweet for a mare previously speaking of feasting on blood.

"A few reasons, Vicar," Astral replied, dipping her head slightly in a show of deference despite the Vicar's blindness.

"Ah," she said, smiling, "then do feel free to give me your reasons."

Astral nodded, calculating her angle of attack. Her primary mission was to secure the password and the Vicar's cooperation with keeping Celestia safe, but she knew this could be her best opportunity to get knowledge straight from the horse's mouth.

"I've had a bit of an accident," she began warily, watching the Vicar's face carefully. For her part, she looked concerned at Astral, questioning her nonverbally.

"I'm sorry to hear that. You are not hurt? It will not affect your ability to conduct the Research Hall?"

Astral nodded and hummed affirmatively at her first question, but hesitated on the second. "See, that is the problem. Something went awry, and now I have come into a rather concerning state of amnesia," she said, seeing all the right tells on the Vicar's face that she needed to see to proceed.

For once in her life, she was glad that she'd taken the Viceroyalty and had had to deal with deceitful nobles and craven backstabbers. That made this so much easier.

"I'm afraid that I cannot remember any of the last seventy years, and seldom little beyond that either. I have exhausted the library, and now I come to you for what I may have missed," she continued, careful to leave out her suspicions of the Church's infidelity to truthfulness.

The Vicar nodded, her concern vanishing beneath a layer of contemplation. "I see, I will answer your questions as well as I can. Ask away."

She nodded in response, the first question coming naturally. "What is the purpose of the Healing Church?"

"Truly, or what is known?"

"Truly. I have read much of what is known," Astral replied, keeping her voice serious.

"Truly, the Healing Church seeks the Old Blood," the Vicar said, deadly serious as well, "we seek the Old Blood, and the comfort it provides. We seek enlightenment and salvation, through which the Old Blood is our holy medium. It is our water of life, our path to success, our prophet, our messiah."

"I see," Astral said, slightly put off by the zeal and passion that came through the Vicar's voice. "This Old Blood, is it…?"

"Yes," the Vicar said, understanding her question, "it is a holy gift from deep below, a glimpse into what awaits us through devotion. It is the blood of God, it is our holy medium."

Astral nodded, shaken. She did not show it, but… she was both disgusted and frightened. Never, ever had she come across anypony, in history or in life, that had glorified blood so far as to ingest it as a ritual pastime, even if they had regarded the blood as holy or coming from a godlike figure. It was unnatural, and quite horrifying to her.

"And the Old Blood, it is shared?" she said, pacing her words carefully to not seem upset.

"Yes," the Vicar said, beaming spectacularly, "it is shared between all the faithful who partake in communion. Through the saints of our Church, the Old Blood is born anew and spread to those who would partake in communion, who would partake of our holy medium."

Astral did not close her eyes or breathe in deeply, though she sorely wanted to. A whole society, built on worshipping blood? Worse, worshipping blood as a means of ascendance? And she sent Celestia out into that?

She felt like a terrible fool, but still, she had faith in Celestia's capabilities.

"Right, and so what is my explicit purpose within the Church?" she asked. She hoped to the Maker that she wasn't some blood-worshipping nutjob, too.

"You operate the Research Hall. There are some, like yourself, who abstain from the Old Blood. I do not see why, it brings us comfort," she said, giving a wide and cheerful smile to Astral, "but you seek enlightenment in other places. We too, seek enlightenment. Even though our methods differ, our goals are the same. While you do not partake in communion you offer invaluable research and information, and perhaps one day, through our combined efforts, we both can achieve our holy goal."

Internally Astral released a huge ball of tension. She did not partakein communion… what a relief! "Ah, that is good to know. So then, what are my capabilities and rights as Director?"

The Vicar hummed, appearing to think. "For the most part, your capabilities and rights are not so dissimilar from my own. Our relationship is symbiotic, after all. However, my word is final in almost all aspects, though never have I had to levy my authority against you."

If she inferred correctly, that meant that she inhabited essentially the same power sphere as the Vicar. Convenient, if disturbing considering the company she kept. "Is that so? I'm glad to hear that, symbiosis would be important if we were to attain such a lofty goal," she said, hoping to butter up the mare before her before she asked what were bound to be more difficult questions.

"Yes, yes indeed," replied the Vicar, "I am glad you see it that way. Our goal is beyond the spectrum of the ordinary, it is quite holy. You have always been wise, Astral. I am glad to see no amnesia could take that from you," she said fondly.

"Thank you, Vicar. I am honored." She breathed in now, preparing herself and the Vicar subtly. "I have another question, if I may."

"Of course, I will answer as best I can."

"You know of Byrgenwerth College?" she asked, watching the Vicar carefully.

The Vicar's face turned slightly sour, but there was a hint of wistfulness mixed in too. "Yes, it was the birthplace of the Healing Church. It was from that place that Vicar Laurence first learned of the Old Blood, and from which he learned its holy power. It strayed from our path long ago, and is now forbidden."

Astral nodded. "Yes, I desire to visit it," she stated bluntly. "I wish to observe the place where this all began." Of course, her real motive for visiting Byrgenwerth was different from what she said.

The Vicar nodded. "Yes, I understand. It is a blasphemous place, filled with lies and falsehood against the Old Blood, but it is also a place of great wisdom. Although, its time has long since past." The Vicar said, carefully picking her words now. "As I said earlier, you have always been wise, Astral. I believe you to be honest and true, and so, even though I am hesitant, I will grant you passage into the forbidden forest that shields the world from that place. However, I warn you, remember what I have said. Byrgenwerth is not to be trusted, and especially the Provost, Willem, should he still live." The Vicar stood, her robes draping around her quite magnificently.

"Vicar, if I may," Yvonne spoke up, taking a deep bow before the white mare, "I know the way to Byrgenwerth. You need not venture all the way there with us," she said, not rising from her bow.

"Oh, is that so?" The Vicar looked over Yvonne skeptically, cautiously. "How would you know something we've been so careful to hide?"

"My predecessor, Lady Astral's former servant whom I have now replaced, journeyed to that place with her many decades ago," she said, speaking calmly and fluidly, "he described the route, its landmarks and the College itself to me, based upon his travel there alongside my Lady."

"Hmm," the Vicar said, falling silent as she contemplated this. "I see. I trusted Wellis, perhaps that was wrong. Very well, if Lady Astral trusts you so shall I, for now. The password is a phrase, a rather blasphemous phrase. 'Fear the Old Blood,'" she said, not hiding the disdain on her face. "I implored Laurence to change it, but he always said that it was secure."

Astral nodded, giving Yvonne, who remained bowed, a bemused look. "Ah, then there is one other matter."

"Oh?" said the Vicar, clearly curious. She sat once again, facing Astral still.

"Two winged unicorns, alicorns as they are called, visited me recently. They look much like I do, though one is a pure white with a sun shaped cutie mark and the other is purple, with many stars for her mark." She watched the Vicar, who nodded as she listened to her descriptions. "The purple one is smaller than I am, and the white one is slightly larger. Their names are Twilight and Celestia, and I have sent them out tonight to retrieve information for me. I would appreciate it if you could ensure their safety."

The Vicar raised her eyebrows. "Tonight? Tonight was a bad night to send anypony out. How would you have me guarantee their safety?"

Astral swallowed quietly. She didn't like the Vicar's statement at all, but she had faith in Celestia's capabilities. "I directed them to return to the Research Hall, to my office in the Clocktower. I would appreciate it if you would ensure they arrived in that room when they returned."

The Vicar hummed in response. "I expect you know them well?" she asked, and upon receiving an affirmative nod from Astral, she nodded herself. "Very well then. So long as I am here, as Vicar, I will ensure their access to your office and the Upper Cathedral Ward." She smiled at Astral, a silent question in her expression.

She understood. "Thank you, Vicar. You've answered everything I needed, I will not take up any more of your time."

"No, thank you," said the Vicar, "you have been a great ally to the Church, and we are all grateful for your aid in our quest. Go in peace, and may the good blood guide your way."

As Astral and Yvonne left, she turned back to the altar and began her recitations anew.

"But beware the frailty of ponies. Their wills are weak, minds young. The foul beasts will dangle nectar and lure the meek into the depths. Remain wary of the frailty of ponies..."

Author's Note

5k. Didn't see that coming until we got there. Wow, thanks quarantine!

I have only proof read this chapter once, you are free to inform me of any mistakes I missed.

I am aware of what the definition of inertia is, for the folks who did physics. In this case the spell Astral named is so named because it overcomes her inertia, and as well with any object it is used on. It is a very specialized spell.