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

Maple pranced through the rainy streets of Riverfall, wearing a poncho that appeared several sizes too short and a smile that suggested everything was right with the world. If any ponies had been around to stare at her, they probably would have felt differently, but that was neither here nor there.

"Maple?" Starlight asked, riding on her back with the poncho draped over them both, her head crammed awkwardly through the neckspace. "Doesn't this look really weird?"

"Oh, hush," Maple replied, her ears pressed against her scalp by rubbery fabric that was stretched far tighter than intended by the presence of two heads in the hood. "It's cozy."

"Yeah, but..." Starlight had to lean so far to the side to see around Maple that the only thing keeping her from falling off was the tightness of the over-stretched coat. "It probably looks like we have two heads, or something!" She glanced down at their reflection in a passing puddle.

"It does not," Maple teased, pushing her stride a little faster. "Besides, it saves you from having to walk! I'd sure love to be lazy today. Mmm... This should have been a lazy morning..."

"Yo! Maple, is that you?" Amber's voice sounded through the torrent of rain, followed by the splashing of hooves. Her yellow body skidded into view, characteristically drenched without so much as a hat to protect against the water. Her coat was plastered to her sides, making her seem even smaller than she actually was, but the amount of excitement in her eyes brought her back up to larger-than-life. That excitement drained only slightly when she took Maple in, raising a soggy eyebrow and snickering. "Woah! Did you grow a second head, or something?"

"Really?" Starlight pouted, face slightly scrunched by the close quarters of Maple's hood.

"Well, then, I take that back," Maple breathed, brightening for her friend. "Hi, Amber!"

"Hi yourself," Amber panted, tossing her wet forelock out of her eyes and turning back in the direction she had come from. "I was coming to get you. Thanks for saving me some distance. You won't believe what happened!"

"What did happen?" Maple picked up her pace, following. "We heard a pounding, and..."

"That was probably the parade," Amber urgently replied. "Everyone's super excited. But get this: a boat came!" She spun around, walking backwards on the mud with shining eyes. "Going west! To Ironridge! It's one of the old Sosan makes that's been out of production for years! Specifically designed for this river and everything! I didn't see the crew; there were too many ponies to get close. But everyone's speculating and saying they might use the waterway for trade again, and reopen the docks, even! Hemlock's out there getting his hoist machine thing set up and..." She stopped, gasping for air.

Maple further picked up speed, gaining a look of determination. "Hold on tight, Starlight. This isn't something I'd miss for the world."





At some point after the glass began, the surroundings transitioned from devoid of life to all too full of it. Maple and Amber crashed into a sea of mares, teeming and bustling and chattering with wide eyes and eager faces. Surprisingly few of them wore ponchos, and the resulting plethora of mish-mashed coat colors made Starlight's head spin. Their ages seemed mostly concentrated between young adult and middle-aged, though she figured that some older ones might be hidden beneath raincoats and some younger ones were too short to be visible in the crowd.

Amber herself fit into the 'too short' category. Growling, she nudged Maple and headed off, skirting the fringes of the crowd. "Follow me."

She led them to the door to a tower on the edge of the crowd, and knocked heavily. A few moments later, it was opened by a tan stallion in his early twenties with meticulously-groomed hair and an air of perfume about him. His eyes lit up upon seeing them. "Hey there, girlfriends. Here to petition for access to my VIP box?"

"Depends how reasonable your terms are," Amber answered with a smug smile and aggressive posture. "Otherwise, we'll petition your mother instead."

He laughed and waved them inside. "I wouldn't take a hug even if you offered it to me, not when you're that wet. Towel rack is on the right. And howdy." He bowed to Maple, though his eyes were mostly on Starlight. "Cute kid. Ivy's over; I take it you'll want me and her to keep it down?"

Amber rolled her eyes, draining water from her coat and fluffing it with a towel. "What do you think, doofus?" She coughed and added, "Starlight, this is Cedar. His mom foalsat Willow when she was a teenager, so he's a bit of a family friend. And he has a balcony, so get out there and go see what's happening!" She waved them toward a staircase, spraying droplets from her mane.

"Ow, no introduction for me?" Cedar's mane drooped. "Harsh. Oh well. Follow me, ladies!"

He led them up three flights of stairs and out a door, across a covered bridge between two towers. Below, Starlight unenviously watched the mares jostle, a loudspeaker somewhere booming. They crossed into a lavishly-furnished sitting room, a glass double-door on the far side already open and a patio suspended beyond. Waving again, Cedar strolled out onto it.

"Hi mom," the stallion briskly said before flopping down onto a couch next to a curvaceous, well-endowed mare with a dark green coat and possibly-dyed hot pink mane. "And hi, Ivy," he purred, nuzzling up to her.

As they flirted, a hanging bench that swung from two cords turned towards Starlight and Maple. To the filly's surprise, Willow sat there, next to a slightly older mare in a poofy jacket that looked to be trimmed with pegasus feathers. The mare's lips turned upwards, and she extended a hoof. "You must be Starlight. I'm Juniper, and it's a pleasure. Now pay attention, he's about to get to the good part!"

"He?" Starlight's face scrunched as she slipped down from Maple's back. "There's only one?"

Willow got up, drawing a hoof around her and moving to the edge of the balcony, rain plummeting only a short distance beyond. "See for yourself. He's an explorer."

Below, in the center of the huddled crowd was a clearing, and in that a covered tent. Beneath it, a griffon stood, gesturing exaggeratedly. "By that point, I knew there was little reasoning with them," he proclaimed in a refined voice, "so I drew my sword faster than they could blink, and felled all six with a single blow!" He cleared his throat, adding, "Unglamorously, I made more from looting the mercenaries than from the treasure I fought them over, but that's neither here nor there. And that is how I was able to afford this ship!" He bowed humbly, the crowd roaring and stamping their hooves in applause.

"Hoooo-whee! Sounds like that was one pack of unlucky llamas," a familiar stallion with a top hat announced, standing beside him. "Yer' one impressive adventurer, Gerardo. Go on, give us another one. How about tellin' us how you got that fancy sword of yours, what do you say?"

"Gerardo Guillaume," the griffon corrected, brushing something off his red coat. "And are you quite sure you can't move my boat now? I would feel much better about entertaining if I knew you were making the same effort to aid me in return."

"Eh, we'll get to it." Hemlock turned to the crowd surrounding him, and bellowed, "Ladies and gentlemares... Gerardo Guillaume, griffon adventurer extraordinaire! So, what would you like to hear about next?"

Gerardo sighed into his sound-enhancing device. "Very well. I suppose I can do one more..."

"Heh. 'Griffon adventurer extraordinaire,'" Juniper chuckled as he launched into a slightly unenthusiastic tale. "That's how he referred to himself when he first showed up, and the first time that old crone has said it the right way. I bet he's tickled pink inside!"

"He's been sounding more and more annoyed each time Hemlock asks for an encore," Willow informed Starlight, still watching the griffon below. "He might just fly off, if this continues."

"Or start telling stories that are bad on purpose," Ivy drawled, a bored expression on her face as she looked over the railing, ignoring the stallion who was lovingly rubbing his face against her. "Cedar, knock that off. There are fillies present."

He raised his head, smiling guiltily and without remorse. "What? You know you like it, babe..."

"Slap him for me and then shut up," Juniper tartly requested. "I wanna hear this story."

As Gerardo began describing what he had eaten for dinner two nights ago in fulfillment of Ivy's prediction, Starlight leaned closer to Willow and whispered, "Why isn't he quiet like you said?"

"You mean Cedar?" Willow leaned down, murmuring in her ear. "And the Sosans? It's because he's not a Sosan. He was born and grew up in Riverfall, and just wasn't old enough to leave by the time the boats stopped. There are quite a few like him, actually. Most of them figured out that being rare makes you special, so they banded together to live in this part of town, looking for thrills and getting whatever they want." She rolled her eyes, and added, "Most of the time, that means making the most of the fact that they live in a city full of mares. Don't expect Maple to take you here very often."

"Then I added another stick to my fire," Gerardo rambled below, "and another! By the fourth one, I knew I risked ruining the soup if I didn't take utmost care, so I took my sword and whittled it down precisely to the size I needed!" He glanced around dramatically, somehow managing to maintain a convincing stage character while telling a story about absolutely nothing. "Alas, by the time I finished that the fire had burned down considerably and I needed to stoke it again..."

With a thunderous boom, the rain tripled in strength, a sheet of falling water veritably flattening the audience. Many along the fringes instantly broke off and began fleeing, while others hugged buildings or backed nervously away. Starlight recoiled from the edge, hairs raising from the sheer force.

"Well, would you look at that," Gerardo cheerily announced, covertly kicking the tent stand next to him and causing it to collapse. "It seems we're out of time! A pity, that. But fear not, there will be time for more later..." His voice took on a businesslike tone. "After I move my boat. Might we get on that?"

"Arrrgh!" Hemlock flailed, his hat knocked off by the tent as it imploded overhead, immediately becoming drenched by the pouring rain. "Shucks! Uhhhh... Hey, y'all! Who wants to come see the first boat raising Riverfall has had in some seven years?"

"I know I do," Gerardo muttered, shrugging off the rain as if it were nothing. "A shame about your tent, by the way. They really don't make these things like they used to. Now, if you all would be so kind as to allow me to pass..."

Starlight watched as he pushed a path through the adoring, drenched crowd, the rain evidently too heavy for him to fly. "Huh," she commented, having little else to say.

Maple was already prodding her. "Well? Want to go see them lift the boat?"

"Do it," Willow whispered, nodding. "I've seen it many times, but it'll be less crowded."

Nodding her assent, Starlight prepared to walk back into the house... when she ran straight into Amber. "Hi, girls!" the yellow mare chirped. "Whoo, finally got dried off. What'd I miss?"