another gemini star secret – she had a teleport sigil to take us all to equestria
specifically to a room in the basement of yarrowfield castle
so once hellebore finally arrived we headed home in an instant
back home after most of a year
10 months
302 days
7251 hours
i didn't count minutes but the important part is that we're here
of course being on the other side of the world we went from evening to mid-morning in a flash so it'll be a long day
i'll sleep very well tonight
when we teleported i felt suddenly as though i'd been in a stuffy room for so long that i forgot how stuffy it was then went outside into fresh air
i'm certain the cause is the same as why those teleport glyphs were longer than usual and why zer'atesh had to put so much effort into teleporting us
the everglow is within a manifest zone – an intersection of the "prime material" plane and the fae realm – so the everglow's inherent magic has a different and much more familiar feel
it's good to be back home and i look forward to visiting family and showing my studio to the group and checking in with friends
but i can't do that just yet – the regent's requested that we all stay in the castle for the day before roaming the city
this is in part to give the bipeds in the group a chance to adjust to their "herding bracelets" – simple woven bracelets imbued with magic to temporarily change their forms to something less conspicuous
...
slightly less conspicuous
bell looks like a much smaller everglow-style dragon which the rest of us think is really cute but she dislikes – perhaps in part because kaba is much closer to her height now
she's still clearly forged though
same for spark who is very pleased to be a gleaming metal gryphon with a fiery crest
zer'atesh is a unicorn ... though a strange one because his horn and hooves are crystal and his horn isn't actually attached!
it floats above where it would normally be rooted
it's neat!
relic is the smallest as a very handsome wood-and-metal rabbit
and then there's ploughshare
they are an absolutely gorgeous forged prairie pony – as before in polished grey stone with enameled blue trim and my sculpting skill translated very close to how i would have designed them from the start if they wanted to be a pony
and i suspect they do because they've taken to the form so very naturally
i haven't seen them so happy since i first met them in this very castle years ago
regent iliana is speaking with hellebore at present
i would love to be in there to hear what's being said
i'm also a little nervous about my meeting with the regent later today though i really shouldn't be
while here we're considered "honored guests of the crown" as the regent put it
they also asked for us to simply call them iliana and to dispense with formalities – those from out of town aren't equestrian subjects anyhow
it feels a little strange but i certainly won't argue
so we're spending the day touring the castle
i probably won't be journaling much for a while since i'm home and this is a travel journal
anyhow things aren't constantly falling apart or becoming terrible here like they are outside equestria
it'll be a nice vacation for all of us!