… that good Baldomare is actually a very bad conversation partner.
...really?
"Why I'm saying this? Wait, you haven't heard? Or perhaps it hasn't happened yet? What day is it… ah, but of course. Yes, yes, my apologies. I just happened to look ahead a little bit. You see, our summoner is coming back tonight, finally, and she will bring somepony back with her. A new guest, I suppose, to fill this house with."
ah, it's the lack of a common reference point?
Of course, good Baldomare is not without her fair share of fans and admirers. And those ponies will quickly jump to deny such slanderous claims.
However, the fact remains that, well, everypony agrees Baldomare knows everything.
And that makes her a great storyteller, for sure. A great storyteller, a wonderful advisor, and a very mischievous fortune teller for those who dare ask.
Still, wouldn't that make her a terrible conversation partner? After all, how can you have a proper conversation with somepony who already knows everything? Wouldn't that make it a lecture? A monologue? Or perhaps an exercise in futility?
ah, that makes more sense.
"[FORGE]?"
"No, no, not that kind of guest. But you are right, in a sense. Or maybe you are coming from the right place? Well, it doesn't matter. Although I agree with you. Because maybe I shouldn't call that newcomer a guest…?"
was she guessing the forge name? She's right "in a sense" because we're sort of "destroying/changing" the old twilight to get a new one?
There is old Biedde, who has on occasion had lengthy conversations with her about… well, about fantasy books that they both read, apparently. But that they appeared to be discussing as vigorously as if it was actual history.
of course it's very much likely those were
history books of a special kind...
Firefly Breeze, a relatively young and innocent maid, is spoken of as one of the few ponies who can make Baldomare change her mind after she made a decision
PLEASE TELL US YOUR SECRETS! 
"[MOTH]?"
"No, no, it's not that either. Our summoner and the guest are separate ponies. But as I was saying, I shouldn't call her a new guest. I should call her an… acquisition."
...what, was she guessing we "changed" ourselves and our old self became sort of a separate being?
Or is that a reference to the Master's potential possession?
Fair Mareinette who, in her great charity, convinced the Lady to let some of the farmhoofs keep their jobs even after they lost a hoof or a leg. Who took them in, even, as their favored and "dedicated" servants.
...
@OurLadyOfWires tell me she's NOT the cause of those missing hooves and legs!
Because we wouldn't be able to do much if the first words out of our mouth always had to be be not afraid, no?"
fair enough.
"Exactly! After all, despite their disagreements, Lantern and Moth are still neighbors. And it is so easy to go from one to the other and… No, that's not right. It's easy to fall from Moth to Lantern. But there is no easy way back, once you do it."
so... it's easy to fall from ignorance to knowledge, but it's not easy to forget what you've learned?
"It seems that our summoner realized that her life, or maybe everything, is a masquerade. It seems she finally realized that everything we do, from our habits to our thoughts to our very lives, are masks that we wear. That the very world, even, is nothing but the continuance of these conventions and habits and words that we jointly agree carry a particular meaning. And tonight, when she bring her new guest… when she brings back her latest acquisition, she will have taken an important step in accepting her place in all of this."
"[GRAIL]?"
"Oh, no. I wish that was the case, but it is much worse than that. Because she thinks of herself as a... the Hostess. And after tonight, after this latest decision of hers, our summoner will become obsessed with it. With keeping this masquerade running, with keeping this delightful party on rhythm with her music. With keeping the ignorant in ignorance, and the performers dancing. Of course, that is all well and good, and I think she will be a good host. After all, it was the hosts and hostesses of old that kept us all from killing each other back then, no? Somepony needs to keep the wheels spinning. And more importantly, somepony needs to keep everypony else from noticing there are wheels to begin with. Quite fitting, then, that she has the word covers on her name."
mh... implication seems to me that, once she took the "mirror" twilight here, she'd reasonably be obsessed to make sure NOBODY WOULD EVER FIND OUT what she did.
to keep the masquerade that this is the real Twilight.
To be fair it would be surprisingly easy. there's exactly THREE ponies still alive that know Twilight enough to notice the differences, beside Velvet.
Shining Armor, Cadance, and Celestia. and some of the differences could just be explained as the result of trauma.
"I think you would approve of her, yes. I think this will be to your liking, in the end. Because just like the hosts and hostesses of our time, our summoner is not without her own habits and likings. In fact, I think you will come to the same conclusion when you see her. Our summoner does not care for her latest acquisition. At least, she doesn't care for her with the same fixation she does her family, and she will treat her like any other of her pawns. And yet, she made this decision all the same."
"…"
"Because this isn't about her latest acquisition. This isn't about the student herself. Oh no. This is about what she represented. Because the reflection of her acquisition, the one that will be whisked away by the snake in a few hours, was a failure. Worse than that, she was evidence of her failure. Living proof that our summoner couldn't protect somepony she took under her wings. She was… a crack on our summoner's mask. And that crack would only widen and grow, if left unattended, until it snapped her mask in half. And that simply wouldn't do for the Hostess of this masquerade, no? So… she did what every good hostess would do. She did what was necessary to continue the masquerade."
OH!
So, according to Baldomare (and Baldomare is nearly always right...), the motivation for taking Twilight would be mainly to hide a failure and remove a crack in our "perfect" record. A potential threat to our role.
In a way, taking Twilight is cement the fact that we'll NEVER reveal some of our secrets. That we'll make the lie our new truth.
Mareinette is delighted by your recent decision, she has decided to reward you with [REDACTED]
Well, there is no reason to delve too deep into what could have happened, or what you might have gained. After all, this is just a Was Not now. Right?
Right?
Move along now, dear. Back to where you came from.
I suppose Mareinette would have appreciated our self-indulgence, basically? I didn't consider that at all.
Also, unironic question, since WHEN does this site have a "open voting" option and a "new tally" button??? Did they import the SV tally system and didn't tell anyone??? I am genuinelly surprised, and this is a legitimate question that I just noticed.
WHAT?!
...uh.
That was NOT there until a few days before!
nice
Trying not to mald. I know I said earlier either option would've been fine in the end, but I did want that vote to win.
