hellebore's green coat and purple mane and tail are in fact the exact shades ekuruk used in "how i felt when i heard"
that is no coincidence
hellebore killed signal flare!
it wasn't completely an accident – she was lashing out at prim rose but my grandmother interposed
they were arguing about whether the yarrowfield rearguard should remain loyal to breland and prim got so worked up she kicked at hellebore whose combat reflexes took over and she attacked so strongly ...
now that she's told me what do i do with this knowledge?
do i reject her? leave her here and tell the regent she's not to be bothered?
do i bring her with anyhow and try not to think about how i'll be walking next to a murderer who committed so many terrible acts during the war?
do i let her just go on living as a glitterreed farmer and convince myself all that happened in a different time and she isn't like that anymore and wouldn't hurt anyone again so it's fine?
do i keep quiet out of fear that she's an absurdly powerful druid and any discussion of it could turn into another fatal argument?
do i tell my family? prim rose had a year to tell them and she said nothing
that's another thing
hellebore isn't my great-grand-aunt – according to her she's my great-grandmother and she doesn't know why the rest of the family has been pretending otherwise
if this is true then why would they do that? how do i even bring up this subject?
i don't think anyone in our group is in immediate danger though i'm willing to bet signal flare and prim rose thought the same thing
but hellebore is living peacefully out in the middle of nowhere and she seems like such a nice pony and maybe she really isn't a danger when there isn't a war going on
ploughshare says glitterreed might be how she blocks out the the memories and feelings of what she saw and did during the war
i feel i can relate a little bit but ... wow
in other news she wasn't especially thrilled to learn that she's kind of the reason the house tharashk folks showed up in equestria
they came to the farm asking if she needed a sales and distribution team and she refused by telling them that if they really wanted glitterreed they could find their own and grow it themselves
they're not farmers – they're finders
so of course they went looking for another source and it seems glitterreed carries a sense of its own origin
that small patch of glitterreed i found in ringbriar forever ago was probably a result of her trying to grow her own supply while she was traveling
thus she's been responsible for most of my supply while i've been traveling
on the subject of growing things
the obnoxious-smelling stuff in that package for her? she was happy to receive it – it's magical fertilizer
why someone would use it around an undead tree? was somebody actively trying to get it to grow that way?
i have other questions as well
why did that morgrave university student mistake me for her when she's obviously so much older?
why does she have leather saddlebags? ... for that matter why does gemini star?
anyhow she has a couple days' business in mossmantle so we're heading there tomorrow and then we can get back home
. . .
"hey mom i'm here with your murderous grandmother and you two must have so much to talk about"
perhaps not
i don't know
i just don't know
we're staying the night in a small house that's inside a tree that hellebore simply ... grew ... for us on the spot
she has the nicest demeanor and she's been the very model of classic pony hospitality
she and her friendly assistant "baancha" are part of a coven called the "grove warders" that do land restoration of the places the war scarred
they're both perpetually glittered – more than i am! – and it's hard to imagine either one bringing harm on anything or anyone
one more thing
the timetable the regent gave me to work out when it would be possible to travel back through the hedge to get home?
utter nonsense
apparently the path is open all the time and she only brings up that 44-day cycle to try and convince ponies it's too much trouble so they stay home
so i have questions for the regent as well
though they all seem so minor now ...