//------------------------------//
// Bygone Days 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

The central room of the Oasis was even quieter when Gerardo stepped back inside, soft indigo light shining down from the enchanted ceiling. Streaked with a flurry of stars and lacking clouds or a moon, it was unblemished by light pollution of any sort, reminiscent of the very best kind of nights one could spend while traveling. Since no ponies were pressing on him with demands for attention and he had no goals to attend to, he took a moment to stare up, reveling in the expert enchantment.

Slowly, his eyes wandered down the walls, tracing the rivets that bound metal plates together and occasional squares where an access panel had been welded shut. The stage at the room's far end sat unused, its curtain hanging high above the floor, a small lectern standing humbly at the head. Across from it, the bar counter was unstaffed, most of its dispensers covered with cloths for the night.

At the tables, only four ponies remained. Two stallions chatted inaudibly over plates that had long-since been licked clean of food, and three tables over, a third had fallen asleep, head resting sideways on the surface in front of him. The last was a large figure, keeping a watchful vigil of the entry door from beneath a gray-and-purple hood, her square white muzzle just visible beneath.

Gerardo silently tapped forward, letting his talons strike the floor with just enough force to announce his presence.

Without turning her head, Matryona slipped a long wing free from her cloak, nudging a stool out in invitation. Gerardo took it without word, waiting to see if she would initiate conversation.

"We have a room for you, too, if you would like it."

"Thank you." Gerardo nodded at the door, himself and Matryona watching each other out of the corners of their eyes. "I believe I'll seek to retire soon, but not perhaps yet. I would very much like to finish my conversation with your daughter, and am not nearly to the level of exhaustion that I must sleep early. Do you have any clue as to when she will return?"

"I haven't," Matryona replied, holding still. "Shinespark often leaves too quickly to tell anyone where she is going, and she wouldn't tell you if you stopped her and asked."

There was a slight pause, before Matryona continued, "You have your sword back. I take it what you discussed was productive?"

Gerardo blinked. He couldn't remember whether the pegasus had left the room before Shinespark had brought out his sword... Had they discussed this ahead of time?

Opting not to risk a potentially troublesome subject, he instead said, "Think of it as a token of my agreeing to remain here for a time, until I have sufficiently ensured our business is finished. A signature on my honor, in other words."

Matryona sat silent. The two talking stallions walked past, having finally abandoned their table in a quest for the door, their dishes still sitting, unbussed. Well-oiled hinges swung shut without a squeak. Twice as much time as that passed afterward... and eventually, she said, "Your friend sleeps fitfully."

"Ah. Yes. Her." Gerardo's face fell. "...You were watching her sleep?"

"She wasn't comfortable," Matryona explained. "Even to ponies from the Stone District, it is important that we be tolerant and hospitable, as much as possible. So yes, I watched her in the same way a mother walks past her child's room at night."

"I see." Gerardo wasn't entirely sure what he expected, or why he asked aside from latent paranoia from the Defense Force, but felt it would be awkward to let the conversation die then and there. "How often do you have guests in this place? Of the vein of myself, that is. Non-Sosans."

"Rarely," Matryona sighed. "Much of what they're for is to care for the families of our workers when they need it, such as during a housing transition, or if one has a condition of any type that requires ponies nearby to help. Once, you know, Sosa was the entryway to all of Ironridge. Remnants of that time are why the Earth District and we prize hospitality so much. But now, we are at the far back of Ironridge, surrounded by a climate alien to visitors and separated from the entrance by walls of propaganda from ponies who like the new way of things and fear that all of Sosa is like the Spirit, wanting to turn back time and in turn erase their own progress. Ponies just don't come to Sosa any more."

"My condolences," Gerardo offered, unsure of whether to interrupt the matriarch's reminiscing.

"The ponies here feel it heavily," she continued, hood reflecting her somber tone. "Ten years ago, it started. Seven years ago, it finished. That's recent enough that everyone remembers it, whether they were a worker or a foal, but more than long enough ago to idealize what it used to be like. They don't comprehend in terms of 'I want the past.' When they look at their home, they think, 'I don't want the present' instead. ...At least, that is what Shinespark says."

"Oh, really?" Gerardo lifted an eyebrow. "Forgive me, but I can't help but sense a but..."

Matryona nodded. "I am not from Ironridge. For nearly two decades, I never even set hoof in the city. When I did, I came when it was at its greatest... during the dying days of Project Aslan. The Ironridge I first saw was magnificent, and Sosa was its capital. Every pony at every corner was overflowing with optimism, every direction you could look was decked in color. I was there to spread more joy and happiness, dancing in a traveling performance troupe. I even met a handsome, powerful stallion who took an interest in me... Mobius. None of it lasted, of course. I assume you've heard many times what happened to the city. That tragedy hurt me tremendously, and I never looked at the world the same again... but the memory of that first impression was even more powerful. The Sosans here see their city as what once belonged to them; what was theirs to give to and share with others and was taken away. But I saw it from the other side of the window, and always will."

"...I see."

Gerardo let the conversation die. He had a feeling it would be rude to break the silence; there was no question in his mind that Matryona was being as painfully honest as possible. How did that line up, when Shinespark had emphasized exactly the opposite as a virtue?

His mind wandered over the catwalks and corridors of the factory above, where two guards on patrol had jovially invited him to their base despite the admittedly-suspicious circumstances of their meeting, then down to the testing room where two out of three had been more than eager to show off their work, no matter how secret it had been intended to be. He thought of how Shinespark had spoken frankly and passionately about her beliefs and goals, almost going so far as to apologize for having things she couldn't tell him. And now Matryona...

Looking at them, the Sosans didn't seem at all like a band of ponies who had once had everything, and had it taken from them over a series of brutal blows. Up close, they seemed far too innocent, too optimistic, too hopeful for anything their situation would warrant possible. How could that be? Was there something about their history he still didn't understand, something that made their spirits that unbreakable? Or had Shinespark really done that much for them?

...With a slight misting of his eyes, his thoughts turned to the trapped bombs along the eastern dam, and for a split-second he felt just as protective of the Steel District as Shinespark did. But he wiped the thought away; it would be dangerous to become overconfident or deviate from his plan, even though things were going well and his sword had been reclaimed.

"You seem lost in thought," Matryona remarked, hood shielding her mane from the enchanted starlight above.

"Perhaps." Deciding to repay honesty with honesty, Gerardo added, "Just contemplating the attitudes the ponies here seem to possess. All in all, they're far more innocent than I could have expected, given their situation."

"They are," Matryona admitted, stoic and tall. "Part of it is denial. They've been through so much, so quickly, they don't want it to be true. Enough that when somepony tells them it isn't, so long as their needs are met..." She sighed, head turning toward the table. "Remember, Sosa's crises isn't one of means, but of meaning. What the ponies need most is to know that they matter, and what they do is still important, now that they are unable to do what they've done for centuries. They want to believe, and they need to be told. They know that they should, as well. Part of me... shivers, whenever I think about what would happen if someone tried to break them entirely. I think they would try to break them back."

Gerardo listened, pondering a world of isolation a short river-ride away, where actions ponies took could never affect more than just their community, trying to reconcile that with how far a pony would have to fall in Ironridge to believe they could do more if they just left. "...How familiar are you with the situation of how I entered Ironridge?"

"I know every detail Shinespark does," Matryona answered calmly. "From the letters he writes us. They're mostly about science, but he told us about you and Starlight and Maple. Willow and Amber, too."

"Hmm..." Gerardo sighed, sitting back. "Well, I'm... Hmm. Now that I think about it, would you be terribly offended if I asked precisely how your and Shinespark's familial situation works? From what I've gathered, she is Mobius' foal, yet treats Arambai as her father?"

"That is correct." Matryona nodded. "It's a very, very long story... but the important parts are shorter. I fell in love with Mobius during my first visit to Ironridge. It was a very brief affair. My friends at the time told me it was part of an infatuation with the city itself, and I don't trust my judgement to say they were right or wrong. After that, I returned to the city when Shinespark was born, but it was at a time when there was a lot of political drama happening, which I got swept up in. Eventually, Arambai rescued me from it and hid me from the public eye, allowing me to live out my existence and raise Shinespark in secret. I fell in love with him, too, for real that time."

She folded her hooves beneath her robe, voice silvery in the starlight. "He cared for me and her... sometimes more like a proud uncle than a father, but he was there for her. Mobius had said he had no need for heirs, but eventually Shinespark began to grow up and show off amazing talents, and in turn he began to desire a relationship with her. Now, he dotes on her with all kinds of material and political favors, though it matters little when she is already richer, more powerful and more loved than he. It's too late, though. He wasn't there for us when we needed it, and she will never truly think of him as her father."

"I see..." Gerardo mused. "From everything I've heard, it sounds as though Mobius-"

At that moment, the room sparked with a soft flash of light, and Shinespark materialized on the stage. Her mane was wind-blown and looked like it had been rained on, and she waited out a breath or two before climbing down to the floor, trotting toward Gerardo and Matryona.

"Welcome back," Matryona invited, gesturing with a wing and pulling out a free stool.

"It's true," Shinespark replied, sapphire eyes alight with an unquenchable fire. "What dad described in his letters. I saw it, and it's really true."

Matryona sat silent for a moment, facing away such that Gerardo couldn't read her expression. Then, she climbed down, spread her wings... and buried her daughter in a hug. "You doubted him?"

"No," Shinespark muttered back. "It's just... it's been so long. So many years, and I can't believe we're almost there..."

Gerardo hesitated, unsure of whether to butt in. "My apologies, but I'm afraid I'm missing the point..."

Shinespark extracted herself from her mother's embrace, nodding up at Gerardo. "I have a lot to fill you in on. But first, I think we have an unfinished conversation to get back to?"

"That would be most appreciated." Gerardo bowed deeply. "I was up at the crack of sunrise this morning... which is admittedly not that early, thanks to the mountain's shadow, but still, the night is beginning to get to me. I would enjoy it immensely to not feel as if I were sleeping on unfinished business tonight."

"Of course. Let's get back to my office, then." Shinespark nodded in return, tracing her hooves along the metal floor as hew aura eagerly propped open the door, several strides away. "I think we'll discuss an exact plan in the morning, but there are some things we can go over now."

As she held the door open, letting Gerardo and Matryona pass by, her eyes flickered to the sash that held his newly-sheathed sword. "I take it that means you agree to stay and help us as long as needbe?"

Gerardo shrugged. "For what my help is worth. As you've said yourself, though, I am a player with sadly few cards to contribute at present."

"Lucky for you I'm good at finding meaningful things for others to do!" Shinespark smirked gently, then followed, closing the door behind her. "Here's what's important, though. I've thought about it... and you can leave tomorrow, if you want, under some conditions. You can also stay and help us. All you have to do is hear me out first. I know what I would do, of course. ...Anyway."

"You make it sound almost foreboding," Gerardo remarked as they traversed the corridors beneath the Steel District, eventually coming to Shinespark's office. "What kind of conditions are we talking about, here?"

They stepped inside the office antechamber, Shinespark immediately making for the door to the back conference room. "Oh, you'll find out."

Once again, she held the door open with a hoof, Matryona's cloaked form gliding through on graceful hooves. Gerardo stepped into the dimly-lit room himself... and immediately collided chest-first with a tall, full-body suit of polished golden armor.