//------------------------------//
// Fiery Fate 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

A foreleg reached around, pulling Starlight close. "Well, that explains why we never heard about this," Maple's voice said lowly. "He... probably felt responsible, somehow..."

"What have you found?" Gerardo asked, striding over. "Is it, perhaps-?"

"Shh." Maple cut him off, and for once the griffon was silent. Starlight appreciated the silence. It wasn't something she had fully realized she was missing... but the difference was undeniable.

Above and beside her, Maple was still reading the description, eyes moving silently around the picture of the explosion. It seemed appropriate that Starlight do the same... but when she tried, it was as if her eyes simply bounced off the timeline plaque. She furrowed her brow. Thirty-five ponies had died. Ponies and yaks and griffons and who knew what else. Maple was silent, contemplative. Gerardo was silent, doing who knew what. She was silent... but as important as the crash seemed, her thoughts simply didn't want to focus on it. Instead, she found herself enjoying the silence and absence of chatter. She found herself recollecting the mornings she had spent in Riverfall, waking up to find Maple cuddling her or else making breakfast, completely content to let the day go by as slowly as it pleased... and she enjoyed it.

Why? Wasn't she supposed to be sad? It seemed like the kind of thing most ponies would do, but when she tried again to force her thoughts onto that track, the rational side of her brain protested. Those ponies had died over twenty years ago. Her tears wouldn't bring them back, or change anything whatsoever. So why cry?

Gerardo snapped her from her thoughts by opening his beak and making noise once again. "Hmm... After that incident, it seems the more obvious Sosan innovations, such as a sealed dirigible and propeller propulsion, were copied by the world at large and air travel once again passed into the realm on single entrepreneurs. The kind who would build and operate one ship, by themselves..."

Maple joined him, and to her relief Starlight couldn't hear any hint of wavering or sadness in her voice. Apparently she was overthinking her own reaction to the crash. "Let me see... huh. Here's 965, but there's no mention of Shinespark."

As the two adults proceeded, Starlight ignored them, sitting and leaning against a pedestal that held a miniature replica of some obscure ship. She kept her ears swiveled backwards, making sure Maple and Gerardo didn't leave her behind or wander too far away, but for the most part let herself become lost in three thoughts. Usually, Gerardo never stopped talking. It was as if the griffon saw conversational silence as an offense, and took it upon himself to banish it wherever it occurred, at all costs. But he had, for a moment, stopped and allowed her to hear herself think... and she had enjoyed it. And finally, depressingly, he had been personally bade protect her and Maple, which likely meant he would never shut up and she would never get silence. That the only way she could be as alone as she was now was to-

In the shadows of a nearby trophy case, a pair of slitted, emerald eyes stared up at her from the ground. She wasn't alone.

"Ah!" Starlight scrambled backwards, wincing as she banged her head against the wall behind her... and the moment she focused again, the eyes were gone. It was just an ordinary shadow.

"Starlight?" Maple came bounding back slightly faster than museum ettiquite would usually allow, concern evident in her voice. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Hit my head," Starlight grumbled, rubbing a hoof against her sore scalp. "Probably... fell asleep and woke up too fast..." She stifled a fake yawn for emphasis, though it wasn't hard to do. She was still tired from the night before, after all.

Maple bit her lip. "Gerardo? How much longer do you want to stay here before we go back to the hotel? Starlight's getting tired."

Starlight felt her eyes widen. It wouldn't do if Maple cut her own enjoyment short on account of her, especially since she really was fine. "No, no," she protested, "you can stay. I'm fine."

"Hmmm..." Gerardo scratched his chin, staring out through the glass wall at the snowdrifts outside. "It does appear to be getting later in the afternoon. Not what I would call evening yet, though it would be wise to return within several hours if we are to hope to complete my delivery tonight. To postpone it until tomorrow would be..." He closed his eyes. "Well, it would require renting another hotel room if you wished to wash yourself again, after carrying the crates."

"I guess," Maple agreed with a shrug. "Honestly, I read the timeline, but most of the stuff here is more technical than that and goes over my head. And all the rest, I could have guessed anyway. Airships go back into single, private use... contractors arrive... companies form and the skyport is built here, when Sosa doesn't think it will happen and isn't prepared. But the details? It's like this was made for ponies who... well..." She blinked. "Have seen an airship before today, I guess. I guess I'm kind of an outlier?"

There wasn't a hint of self-deprecation in her voice, but Starlight took two steps closer nonetheless. "So...?" she asked slowly. "What are we doing?"

Gerardo raised a talon. "One vote for returning to our room and calling this outing a success, provided nothing negative has transpired while we were away. Do note that I left unguarded my cargo..."

Maple nodded. "Make that two. I wouldn't mind just laying down for a while..."

"Okay." Starlight scrambled up on Maple's back again, and leisurely settled in. "Let's go home, then."

"Home..." Maple sighed as they began walking. "I wonder what my home is now. I haven't really thought about it, yet. I wonder if I could ever truly call Ironridge home..."

"Well, do you like it?" Gerardo queried.

"I don't know." Maple shook her head. "It's pretty and impressive, but I haven't really felt it... you know?" She looked up hopefully. "I'm used to things going so much slower than this, and it feels like all we've done so far is hurry, hurry, hurry to see this or find that."

Gerardo shrugged. "There is no rest for the adventurous. The day I lose all urgency will be the day there is nothing left to learn or experience in the world."

Maple didn't answer, instead drooping slightly. Riding on her back, Starlight was acutely aware.

They paced away, past the giant statue of Shinespark and through the gate of the museum, around bunches of colorful equines probably out on day trips just like theirs. Gerardo got some looks for his species and size, but for the most part, they went unnoticed and unbothered.

The spot where they had stood moments ago, next to the timeline showing the rise and fall of Sosa's air program, was left vacant... and then became occupied by the one equine in the room who seemed to take more than a passing interest in the trio. The pony blinked, adjusted her black beret, and watched until her line of sight was broken by a passing couple. By the time they had moved out of the way, she was nowhere to be seen.