//------------------------------//
// Partial Explanation 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

For a long time, none of the ponies remaining said anything. Then, from Dorable: "See, Nimwick? I told you to talk to them."

"Oh, shut up," Nimwick returned, sulking.

"It seems we'll complete a delivery for once, though," Shinespark observed, before hopping down from the cart in a single bound and snatching her abandoned spear. It was slightly charred from the cannon's explosion and sparked when she hefted it, and she looked at it with disappointment. "So..." She turned to Gerardo, then looked between him and Maple, where Starlight was also cowering.

Starlight looked at Maple. Maple looked at Gerardo. Gerardo swallowed, and said, "Yes?"

"We're going to the upper districts," Maple interrupted, sensing that the griffon wasn't about to say anything useful. "We were advised to stay off the roads to avoid trouble, but we heard shouting and came to investigate. Those two crates were ours, and must have been stolen when we weren't looking."

It was the truth, if not all of it. Shinespark eyed her as if searching for leaks in a balloon, then nodded. "I haven't seen a sword that doesn't cut before. What will happen to those ponies?"

Gerardo shifted uneasily. "It was... special. Purchased from a unicorn enchantress to the north. I'm unclear how it works, but it nonlethally disables the target for several days. The effects wear off on their own, but can be hastened slightly by proper food and rest... I'm rather upset over losing it, as well. And seeing as I acted partially in your defense..."

"You're seeking compensation," Dorable remarked.

"Yes." Gerardo frowned sternly. "I am."

Dorable shrugged. "We have nothing to give, and it was your own fault for getting involved. The Spirit of Sosa, the group who attempted to rob us, is never lethal. Little to nothing was at stake."

Nimwick scratched at his chin. "Nothing to give? Well, it's not like we aren't carrying a bunch of weapon crates or like he just lost a weapon helping us, and we wouldn't even have these if he hadn't! Do you or don't you want to reward those who help us?" He tapped a hoof annoyedly. "Because it's a good way to get us help in the future, as annoying as it is that we've been reduced to a charity case!"

"We've spent too long here," Shinespark cut in. "We need to get going." She pointed her blackened spear at Gerardo. "Sosan business is best kept between Sosans, and we're sorry you got involved. If you're headed for the Stone District, we would be willing to give you a ride."

Dorable glanced uncertainly at her... and she answered him with a firm stare. He nodded. "Very well. There's room on our cart, if you need it."

"Surprisingly generous of you," Gerardo answered with a bow. "Allow me to just get my boxes-"

"No need," Shinespark interrupted. Her horn lit with the same dark, piercing blue as her eyes, and all the way across the clearing the two muddy crates lifted off the ground, drawing themselves to the back of the cart and settling into place. "There's room for you and your friends at the back."

Maple tracked Shinespark's eyes as she led Starlight to the back, where Gerardo helped them up. The mare's gaze followed them in turn, almost seeming to rest more on Starlight than herself. Was it because Starlight was a unicorn? Not impossible, given that that was her general impression of Sosa.

The wooden cart rattled, and began moving again. As soon as the clearing had scrolled out of sight, leaving only winding roadway in view ahead and behind, Shinespark spoke again. "That sword of yours... how valuable is it?"

Gerardo shrugged. "In truth? I have no idea. It's proved itself through utility, and that is plenty."

"How much did you pay for it?" Her face remained static, probing.

"I didn't pay. I bartered." The griffon stared straight ahead, not making eye contact. "From a little filly selling her mother's wares. Supposedly, she enchanted it herself. I got it in exchange for some old exploration equipment I no longer needed. Rations about to go stale, ropes... those sorts of things."

Nimwick raised an eyebrow. "You buy from child merchants? How do you not get hustled?"

Gerardo blinked, staring off into space. "For some reason, I feel I've heard that before..."

"How much would you pay to get it back?" Shinespark asked, rerailing the flow of conversation.

"How much would I what?" Gerardo looked at her sharply. "Exactly what do you mean by that?"

The orange mare shrugged. "There aren't any ways in or out of this city that those bandits have access to. Unless they find a good use for it, it has high odds of winding up for sale somewhere... and I have a good idea of where to look. What I'm saying is, I could probably get it back for you, if you could make it worth my time... and I'm very busy, so my time is worth a lot."

"I mean this in the least offensive way possible..." Gerardo blinked slowly. "But you apparently have enough time to arm yourself and escort a convoy, yet sit idly by while it is robbed. You don't strike me as poor at combat, either. It would surprise me were you unable to handle that mob."

Shinespark shrugged. "They weren't why I came. I didn't need to do anything about them."

"You... didn't need to..." Gerardo tilted his head in confusion. "You were being robbed."

"It's economically sustainable," Dorable answered. "We get hired on contract to build weapons for the yak embassy. The deliveries are stolen by bandits. The yaks hire us again, because they still want their goods. Money comes in, ponies keep their jobs, and everything works out."

Gerardo's brow furrowed. "That makes no sense whatsoever! Why would they continue using an obviously faulty service? Where does all that money even come from? Why does-"

"It doesn't matter," Shinespark interrupted. "What matters is that it works. But we're telling you things you don't need to know." She tapped her spear against a crate. "What I do need to know is, will you make it worth my while if I go looking for your sword? Because I'd have to pay what they want upfront. And I can do that... but I'd need a guarantee you would come for it."

"Hold on," Maple objected, "this is shady. Who even are you? There are so few guarantees here, and..." She looked up at Gerardo with a mixture of hope and frustration. "Is this really a good idea? I feel like I'm walking blind into a canyon. What are we even doing?"

"Business," Dorable said, Nimwick sitting beside him and stubbornly looking away from the conversation. "A common thing, here in Sosa. Notice how we're trusting you, not inquiring as to what you're doing here with outbound goods and little knowledge of the area, when everything that leaves Sosa is made in Sosa." His hairless brows scrunched briefly. "Courtesy and trust are difficult virtues to abide by in these times, yet we've found that a no-questions-asked policy can sometimes prove beneficial to everyone." Sighing, he turned his gaze forward, alongside Nimwick. "But, if you wish to know more, I am Dorable, lord and chief of one of Sosa's three central factories. The beta factory, to be precise... Nimwick, here, is in training to take over the gamma factory. And this is Shinespark."

Maple and Starlight both folded their ears. "You put two leaders on an undefended convoy you know is going to be attacked by bandits?" Maple asked. "But... why?"

"The Spirit of Sosa doesn't fight Sosans," Shinespark answered, rotating her spear. "Aside from themselves, apparently. I suspect that group may have been younger recruits, entirely inexperienced. Their ideals are extreme, but well-meaning. To us, at least."

"What do they even want?" Maple pressed.

"To restore the days when Sosa was the capital of Ironridge. What else?" Shinespark shrugged. "An impossible dream, as anyone who knows an ounce of economic theory will tell you. But it's also an appealing one, easy to follow and fight for, and too many ponies these days need a dream to give their lives meaning."

"And that armored pony?" Gerardo asked. "The one who bore likenesses of both wings and a horn? What of her?"

The cart hit a stone in the road and jostled, but even the sudden motion didn't break Shinespark's composure. "The leader of the Spirit. They call her Commander Braen... It isn't hard to see where she adopted that name, or anatomy. Nopony knows what is really beneath the armor, but it's easy to tell what they want you to think. Everything the Spirit does is to raise their own... spirits."

"Blazing Rain..." Maple breathed. "The magical pegasus hero?"

"Her." Dorable shrugged. "She didn't have a horn, but it's what ponies think of. Ponies born after her time, like all of the Spirit."

Shinespark nodded. "I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a single pony over thirty in the Spirit. Any old enough to have had jobs before the airships would... well, they would remember."

"Pardon my asking," Gerardo began, "but you can't possibly be that old yourself. What do you remember that they don't?"

Dorable looked concernedly at him, and opened his mouth to speak... when Shinespark interrupted, again. "Stop the cart," she suddenly commanded. "We're getting close."

"Close?" Gerardo blinked in confusion. "To what?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Actually, if you want to get a head start on paying me back for your sword... get off the cart, keep walking down the road, and act like an innocent traveler, exactly the same as you did to us earlier. There's supposedly another holdup in the road, and that one I'm here to check."