//------------------------------//
// Work 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

Starlight stepped inside Maple's house just after it began to rain, long enough for her coat to become wet but not completely soaked. She fluffed it in defense; so long as the water didn't touch the skin beneath, she'd stay plenty warm.

"Starlight?" Maple called from ahead of her, where she was rummaging in the storage room. "Here, I found you a towel!"

"Thanks." Starlight took it without ceremony and, having no magic to hold it in, threw it on the ground and began rubbing her head on it. Around her, the ground floor of Maple's house was slowly becoming lit as the earth pony bustled around, tending to the lights, her own coat either not important or already taken care of. It felt like it was evening, due to the drop in temperature and all the things they'd done earlier, and Starlight had to remind herself that this was still afternoon and Maple had a shop to run.

As she watched, Maple got a rack full of pastries set up, humming to herself as she went up and down the stairs to the kitchen with a stamina that made Starlight jealous. Smells of assorted berry sauces and glazes filled her nose, until she regretted having eaten her fill already at Willow's. Maple even offered her a cookie, and she unhappily had to decline.

Eventually, Maple moved to turn around the sign on the door, letting ponies know she was open. As she passed Starlight, she asked, "Do you have anything you want to do while I work? I'll probably be doing this for several hours..."

Starlight shrugged. "I'll just watch you."

Maple smiled at that, and stepped aside to allow Starlight to pass. The filly took her towel and walked behind the counter, where she jumped and curled up on top of a box next to the storeroom, in full view of anything that might happen below.

Several minutes passed, during which Maple fussed with various small things that probably didn't need attention. Just when Starlight was about to question her decision to stay and take a nap, however, a bell jingled and a stallion in a heavy raincoat walked in.

Starlight watched as Maple's ears perked in interest. "Oh, hello!" she greeted in a tone that suggested she wasn't familiar with this customer but was intent on remaining polite nevertheless. "Forgive me if I don't remember your name... Can I help you?"

The stallion nodded hesitantly, and spoke in a slightly subdued voice. "Sorry. I don't usually come here. I'm with Birch, but she was feeling under the weather and asked me to-"

Maple cut him off, nodding briskly. "Then I'll have to get her something extra special. I assume she told you that I'd know what she would like?"

"Yeah!" The stallion blinked thankfully, accepting a basket full of goods in his aura a moment later. Maple waved him off, bidding him deliver her best wishes to Birch, who was apparently a friend of hers. The door jingled again on his way out, and then the shop was still.

Starlight sat on her high perch, musing. Eventually, the door rang again, and a dark green filly marched inside. Water poured from her bare coat and mane, but her head was held high, and the spark in her eyes dared any pony who saw her to suggest she didn't enjoy it. "Hey, Maple!" She loudly announced her presence.

"Pine," Maple began with a note of exasperation, already moving to fetch towels for the floor, "do you really have to drag so much water in here?" Her ears rose, and she added, "Cookies, scones, or pie? I've got a turnover in the oven, if you want to wait."

"Wait?" Pine stuck her tongue out. "Lady, I waited for the rain to start. Six cookies, please?"

"Seven, you rude thing." Maple packed a bag, rolled up the top, and handed it to the filly. "And they'll taste better if you don't let them get wet on your way back."

The door jingled shut yet again as Pine left. Starlight looked down at a tray of cookies arranged on the counter, eying a hole where Maple had taken several to give to the filly. She sniffed; they were still warm. Maybe she could manage some desert after all...

Before she could get down, the door banged open again, and a red-coated mare with massive bags under her eyes and an umbrella saddle strolled in, sighing massively. Maple greeted her with a wave and presumably a smile.

"Acacia!" she chirped from behind the counter. "You're looking better than I expected. How's life with the foal?"

"One week, Maple," Acacia grumbled with a slight smile on her face. "It's been a whole week, and I've had like an hour of sleep at a time. I don't know if I'm cut out for this..."

"You poor thing..." Maple trotted out to give her a hug. "Let's see what I can get you..."

Starlight stuck her tongue out, having little interest in the conversation. Eventually, Acacia left with a pie, and Starlight half-registered it through the haze that comes when trying to take a nap after already having had too much sleep.

The door didn't ring again for several more minutes, during which Maple restocked her display, ate a cookie, and eventually sat down, doing nothing just like Starlight. After even more silence, Starlight observed, "You're giving all your food away for free."

Maple looked up with a twinkle in her eye. "Money has more value where you're from, does it?"

"Uhhh..." Starlight's face scrunched. "Doesn't it everywhere?"

"Here," Maple said, pulling open a drawer and taking something out, hoofing it up to Starlight. "Take a look at this. Pretty, huh?"

It was a small crystal, six-sided and colored cloudy purple. At about half the length of her hoof and much longer than it was wide, it was small enough that she nearly had to squint to look at it. To the best of her limited knowledge, there was nothing special about it: it wasn't a true gemstone, just a common mineral that formed underground and in caves. She had seen plenty like this, on occasion, while walking through the caves in the mountain peaks from Equestria.

"Is this money?" she asked, eventually making the connection Maple wanted her to make.

"It is in Ironridge," Maple answered. "Color determines value, and four-sided ones are worth more than six-sided ones. Lots of them were left here when the boats stopped coming." She turned back to her drawer and sifted a hoof around inside, a rattling from within suggesting it was filled with the stones. "We still use them, sometimes. Every pony honors them. Some, especially the Sosans, just feel more comfortable with some kind of safety they can hold. But money never leaves or enters Riverfall, and there's plenty here for everyone already, so most of us just don't even bother."

"Huh." Starlight licked her lips, staring again at the crystal in front of her. Maybe she would keep it. Even if no one cared, it couldn't hurt to have, right? Of course, that was probably what the entire town thought. Idly, she tucked it away, yawned, and thumped off the boxes, pacing towards the stairs. "I'm gonna go upstairs for a bit..."

"Okay," Maple called after her. "Wait... Here." She caught up to the filly, offering a cookie.

"Thanks." Starlight took it, slowly munching. It was oatmeal and... coconut? Interesting. She found she liked it, and all too soon it was gone.

Starlight eventually found herself drawn to Maple's bedroom, where she set down her saddlebags and curled up on the bed, basking in the silence that allowed her to think. It was nice to slow down now, without having to ignore other ponies to do it. Maybe she really had gotten used to the solitude, up in the mountains with no ponies around for miles.

Slowly, her thoughts began processing the day. Maple, Willow, and Amber... had she only met them that morning, or had it been the evening before? Some part of her remembered soup. That was likely before, then. Now there were Sycamore, Alder, Fir and Arambai... and a few other, less important names. Sprig... or was it Frond? Yew, someone the siblings had said wasn't old enough to play with. The ponies who had just come to the shop. And another... Hemlock? Idly, she wondered how often Riverfall ran out of trees to name ponies after.

She had made a list of all the things she wanted to ask someone about... or, at least, subconsciously thought of them at the time. She tried to go about unraveling it, but the only thing she could remember at the moment was to ask someone about Maple's special somepony. Or maybe her lack of one. Or maybe it would be better not to ask about that at all. Willow was coming over that evening. Hadn't she wanted to ask something of her? She shook her head; she couldn't remember.

...Her horn. She needed to do something about that, though she wasn't sure what. Just as long as she could use it enough to convince other ponies it wasn't defective... Starlight squinted. Tensing her focus, she pulled her magic back up where she could feel it, registering only a dull pain in her horn. No pangs of dizziness. That was good.

Experimentally, she pushed magic into her horn, not letting it go anywhere or do anything; simply a small current to wake the appendage up. It sparked slightly, and eventually glowed to life. It didn't feel good, or even like nothing, but it was manageable. She could probably use it for more or less anything, if she needed to. Thus, she planned on not needing it for anything, provided she could help it.

Just to prove she could, Starlight extended a cyan wave of telekinesis, eye ticking slightly as she hoisted her saddlebags onto the bed next to her. Her horn went out as she examined the contents, prodding her way through her meager possessions. There wasn't much. Three water canteens, all of which were empty. Her blanket, which had been thoughtfully cleaned. And, still mercifully encased in their waterproof wrapping, her cosmetics box for her cutie mark and Sosa's journal.

She unwrapped the book, leafing through its pages. They were still as intact and boring as ever, but once again, she found it to be the closest thing she had to entertainment. As she pretended to read it, she pondered briefly if this was going to become a problem in the future. Back in Equestria, she had always had something to do... first, hanging out with Sunburst, and later avoiding doing anything. In the mountains, whenever she hadn't been sleeping, she'd been forcing herself onward, or else recuperating in the cave. Now, her options for what to do seemed limited to talking with Maple, walking somewhere... and that was it. The only other thing for her to do was sleep.

That evening, she resolved, she would find something better to do with her time. She'd add it to her list of things to ask Willow, maybe. There had to be something to do around here that was either productive or fun. Arambai was proof of the former. Idly, she found herself wondering if she should ask him what to do, next time she saw him... but until then, there was nothing for it but to try to fall asleep.