The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi

Getting Directions

"...And that's what we're looking for," Starlight finished, standing carefully at attention. "Can you help us?"

A company stallion with a brushy mustache stared back, pretending not to watch as Valey and Jamjars traded uneasy and predatory glances behind her. "Ahrrrm... Hemmm... Well, it possibly might be possible. What do you say I get you some papers to run this request up to the filing department upstairs? They should be able to get you sorted and on your way to the right warehouse! Hmm?" He raised an eyebrow hopefully.

"We were just there," Starlight said coolly. "Twice. And they told us you could do that. If your company is bad enough at management that they can lose track of a family of twelve, just say so and save us the trouble of walking back and forth."

The stallion's face drooped in sympathy. "Well, that can't be quite right. If only I had the proper documents, I'd help you in a jiffy, but seeing as this isn't my department-"

"What's that?" Valey chirped, ducking beneath the stallion's desk and coming up with a crate saddled heavily on her back. "You don't have the right documents? Huh. That's a shame."

She glanced at her swiped cargo. On the side, in bright red letters, was painted Evacuation Pony Location Registration. The stallion blinked at it.

"They're not in here?" Valey shrugged, grinning beneath the crate's weight. "Huh, that's too bad. It really looks like they should be. I'll just dump this out a window then so it doesn't go confusing anyone. Besides, a little mischief might be just what you paper pushers need to stay... on your... Nngh, here it goes!"

Grunting, she lifted it to a window, the stallion rushing to save it. "No, wait! Those are important!"

Thud! The crate hit the hallway floor, and Valey lounged against it. "Cool. Then stop being lazy and tell us where to go."

The stallion grumbled and began to rifle through the box, muttering about thousands of pages and pushy customers and the unfairness of life. Valey offered a hoofbump, but Starlight didn't take it and Jamjars just looked at her weird.

"Okay. Fine. Whatever..." Leaning back, Valey rolled her eyes. "These bureaucrats are pretty dumpy. Back at the Defense Force, everyone had to be good because they had me to keep them in shape. Slackers."

Jamjars grinned. "Speaking of staying in shape..."

Valey raised a dangerous eyebrow. "I have no idea what your problem is, but can and will give you one if you keep asking that nicely."

"Please don't," Starlight sighed, aware that Hestia was still giving them a wide berth. She was tempted to find the teleporting unicorn and simply request for Jamjars to be sent back to the ship, then incapacitated with Gerardo's sword, but that could lead to trouble later on.

"I know, I know..." Valey rolled her eyes. "The moment I try to pound her, she can scream bloody murder and get us all kicked out of this place in a snap..."

Jamjars smirked. "Oh, I've already gotten kicked out twice. They're just bad at stopping me from getting back in."

"Knock it off!" Starlight groaned, feeling her nerves fraying further. A faint, pink magical presence at the back of her mind whispered peace and calmness, but however much stability she had recovered by getting her sight back and reuniting with Maple was quickly unraveling with stress. She didn't want to think about how much she had hurt herself overexerting her magic, about how helpless she had been while blind, about how Herman had pinned her to a wall with an axe handle at her throat while Valey was fighting for her life when they could have just ran. She didn't want to think about how Grenada had died... Others had died too, but Grenada's only fault had been placing too much trust in the Spirit, and from the several times Starlight had met her, she seemed nice. But the moment she started thinking about that, Starlight knew, she wouldn't be able to stop. That was something she needed to save until it was safe, quiet and dark, surrounded by ponies she trusted completely. She just had to hold herself together a little longer, to see Maple's wish through and help White Chocolate, since Maple was unable to do it herself...

"Ouch!"

Jamjars' shriek pierced the air, making Starlight jump. The yellow filly was clutching her side with a hoof and glaring sourly at Valey. "You cut me!"

"Meh. It's just a papercut. Wuss." Valey examined the edge of her wing, the thin, spindly bones holding it together just sharp enough to be used as an annoyance. "Maybe you've never been beaten up before, but injuries hurt. Seriously, stop trying to annoy me! All my usual ways of making someone feel awkward back aren't appropriate for kids."

Jamjars pursed her lips, the paper-digging stallion thoroughly ignoring her. "Oh yeah? Like what?"

Valey waggled a hoof. "Nope! Flirting and rude jokes and stuff. Maybe I'll tell you when you're older."

"Stop..." Starlight growled, tension building in her throat. "Or I'm going to start yelling louder than both of you put together, and then we'll just leave and you can explain to Maple why we weren't able to help her friend!"

The company stallion was now positively sweating, knowing exactly who Valey was and clearly fearing a scene. Jamjars looked like she was feeding off his discomfort, and Valey shot Starlight an apologetic glance. "Yeah, you know what? Sorry. We'll just go somewhere else."

She matched Jamjars' grin for half a second, and that was all the warning the filly had before Valey tackled her, pulling them both into shadow. Starlight grimaced. She remembered what had happened the last time Valey had used her shadow sneaking on an unsuspecting foal, but really, Jamjars had it more than coming. She stood, ears twitching, keeping the stallion in the corner of her eye, and eventually was rewarded with a distant "Aaaaaugh!" from a supply closet at the far end of the hall.

"Got it! Found it, found it...!" So nervous the stack of papers nearly slipped from his mouth, the stallion straightened up. He scratched away at another paper for three seconds before shoving it in Starlight's face. "There's a map! No numbers! Even a bothersome filly like you can understand it! Happy!?"

Starlight took it and eyed it over. Rudimentary and not artistically inclined, but it left little doubt of where the roads were... or used to be, before the flood turned them into mud canals or else put them entirely underwater. Hestia could certainly use it for a teleport, and once they got to the right place, hopefully someone on duty would actually remember a family as big as White Chocolate's.

"Hmmmmmff..." Starlight exhaled, nostrils flaring, trying to compose herself as the stallion raced away, muttering about incident reports. "I can do this, Maple," she whispered to herself. "I hope White Chocolate will be as glad to see me as she would be for you..."

Comments

[alamais]

Yesss I've been waiting for Jellyjugs to get phantom-zoned. Trauma!