Funny, how Mirage managed to sound so confident despite the lack of enthusiasm behind the words. We were both uneasy, and I felt as though the older mare were simply trying to comfort me with her own false confidence in the Gods. To be frank, deities have never been my favorite beings. They often were arrogant assholes, or, in Helovia, abandon you without warning, leaving the land and sky lifeless. Whatever feelings of warmth I had received from the God of the Sun were slackened to practically none in his absence.

The Basin was staring us down, slowly eating away at our numbers. Now was not the time for an extended vacation of magic.
Or, maybe, it was the perfect opportunity.

As I listen to my old friend, I realize that she has much of the same reservations as my own. This night was uncomfortable and eerie, but as long as I did not have to face it alone, I would survive. Without something to fight for, I do not have much fight in me. "Valentine described their disappearance as stepping through some sort of... rift," I say, thinking back on exactly what the herd had told her before her flight to the Edge. "I hope they return victorious," my voice sounding distant as I think of where they might possibly be. "And soon."

"I do not fear these children as I would those of Isilme." An honest statement, I suppose. I did not care for Gods nor their spawn, but I knew directly what monsters the children of Sepagus, Nieque, and Cinnoru were. "Unlike those brats, these children will at least know balance and not blind racism. Besides, if the others are anything like Israfel, they are already blessing the world with good intentions." The worry in my heart still grows, but I did not want to fill Mirage with more doubts. Perhaps this time around, the babes of immortals would not wreak havoc on our land.

The Dragonheart mentions again the issue of the Basin, and I know as well as she that we have been inactive for too long as they take our members prisoner, as well as their lives, without regret or consequence. "We have been silent for too long, Mirage," I say, my voice sad and sincere. "That my kin have been reft from my side and yours fills me with a guilt I cannot shoulder any longer. We will remind them of the power which pushed them from their home," my hoof stomping upon the very loam that once belonged to Mauja the Frostheart. "If they will not stand for our freely given peace, we will just have to make them respect it."

"Whatever your plan, I will support it." I did not fear she would lead us to war. After all, Mirage was not the leader infamous for bloodshed.
That would be me.