//------------------------------// // Other Questions // Story: The Olden World // by Czar_Yoshi //------------------------------// The soft orange manalights of Redshift's house were shaped like candles, set in chandeliers that hung from faintly glowing conduits of power. Between them and sconces that sat unobtrusively across the walls, they filled the room with a warm, even light, illuminating corners that otherwise would have been cast into the depths of shadow. Starlight stared up at the high window and streaking rain beyond, and was momentarily blinded by a flash of lightning. How would that look with the power out? The window and its gloom would suddenly seem bright, casting dim gray light into the room that could change at any second, leaving sharp, long shadows on every surface and robbing objects and ponies of their color. It wouldn't feel safe, as she felt then. It would feel like being at the bottom of a hole, constantly looking up for fear that water would flood her and leave her to drown. For all the luxuries of being on the top level of Blueleaf, Starlight almost thought she would prefer to ride out a storm in the mid-levels if the power was off, clustered around other ponies for light and warmth. There, at least, the rain would be a mile away. In the silence of their insulated sanctuary, one of the twins shuffled, then spoke up. "I'm bored," she proclaimed. "I'm gonna go read that forklift manual we found yesterday while the lights are on. You coming, Ribbon?" "Yeah," the other grumbled, getting to her hooves and sliding down from the couch. "It doesn't look like they're going to say anything interesting, anyway." Elise shot them a watchful glance. "Girls, be careful. Just because the lights are on now doesn't mean they couldn't go out again at any moment." Starlight caught the frustrated, wishful look that crossed Redshift's face as the twins ignored their elder and bounded down the hall, hooves thumping on carpeted wood. Fernand shook his head and sighed. "Sister, shall I keep an eye on them? I recognize how easy it is to get excited at a time like this and throw safety to the wind..." "Thank you, Fernand," Elise answered with a nod. "Of course." Bowing, Fernand trotted to the door with far more dignity than his siblings. "Give a call if you need me. I shall return immediately if the power fails, either with them or having ensured their safety." He left the door slightly ajar behind him, and Redshift eyed it, considering. "I'm sort of hungry..." "Then go eat," Elise huffed, giving her a push toward the door. "You need to take care of yourself! Knowing you, that means you've been starving yourself to spend more time down below, or something! I appreciate how much you care for our ponies, but you have to care for yourself, too." "I said sort of!" Redshift muttered back, fast on her way to the door. She closed it fully behind her with a click, and the lights stayed even as silence returned once more. The gray static of pounding rain filled the room as Maple and Starlight looked at Elise, and the unicorn back at them. No words passed, and it was pleasant. "If you're tired, I can leave you to rest," she said eventually. "Though I don't mind this, either." "We don't mind," Maple answered, quickly shaking her head. "It's not lack of sleep that's getting us. Just..." She lifted a hoof uselessly, giving an awkward smile. "Too much walking, you know?" Elise nodded. "I can sympathize," she replied, holding up her own hooves. "When I left Ironridge, walking was my own primary mode of transportation." Giggling softly, she added, "I learned how to tell good horseshoes apart from bad in a hurry, then. I also learned having short legs means you have to take a lot more steps to get where you're going. Hah!" "Maybe I should look into getting those, then," Maple hummed, softly massaging the bottom of one of her forehooves. "I doubt they'd help with the cramps, but anything would be welcome..." "Where are you going, if you don't mind me asking?" Elise tilted her head. "To Sosa," Maple answered with a slight bit of resignation. "And before that, to Gnarlbough. There are ponies there we need to see. We'd really like to make it tonight, if possible..." Elise thought for a moment. "That will be difficult," she said eventually. "Unless you're willing to travel under dusk, and even if you were to leave now. Depending on where you want to go in Sosa, Gnarlbough is near the very northwestern tip. All there is up there is a few warehouses that were abandoned when they rerouted the flow of the river several years back. If you go through Grand Acorn, which is the fastest way from here, Gnarlbough and the three factories are in completely opposite directions." Maple sighed. "Well... I trust our guide knows what they're doing." "Mmm." Elise nodded, and didn't press. The tea set remained on the table, and she stared at it, aura forming and disappearing repeatedly around the handle of a cup. "What did you say your names were, again?" she finally asked. "I'm Maple, she's Starlight." "Maple..." Elise stared up at the ceiling. "That sounds like a Riverfall name. My mother was from there, actually. I passed through when I was leaving Ironridge, as well. It was a beautiful place. I almost considered stopping to stay there, but felt it was still too close and wasn't fond of the idea that if I ever had children there, they would likely never know their fathers just like me... Did you once live there, too, before the shipping stopped?" Maple looked like she had suddenly found herself in a cage. Elise quickly noticed, and sucked in a breath of concern. "If it's a sore subject, never mind that I asked. I don't want to pry into any sensitive histories." "Thank you," Maple sighed. "I'm just... we've been in a lot of trouble lately, up in the Stone District. All we want is to finish what we're doing and get out of Ironridge, and it feels like any time we become anything more than complete strangers to somepony, they either become our enemy or want to get us in trouble... It's nothing against you, but we're scared and want to stay as close to unknown as possible. Again, I'm sorry." "I completely understand," Elise answered gently. "I know myself what it's like to have the world breathing down your back the moment they know who you are. If it helps, my house is a haven for all. We are in private, and I won't act on anything you say, if you have things to get off your chest." Maple sniffed and wiped her eye. "Thanks again, but... I think we'll take our chances. I can manage for a little while longer, I'm sure." "As you wish." Elise nodded and sipped at her tea. "You said you'd answer more questions if we had them," Starlight interrupted, changing the subject. "What's with your hairpin? The triangle one? I think I've seen it before." "You mean this?" Elise asked, turning slightly to show off the silver clip. "Yeah." Starlight nodded. "That." "An interesting question." Elise smiled bemusedly. "I haven't been asked about it in a long time, actually, mostly because here in the Earth District, there aren't very many ponies who know what it means. This symbol, three triangles forming a single greater one, is Chancellor Dior's brand." "Really?" Maple leaned forward in interest. Then she whispered aside to Starlight, "When did you see it?" "Doesn't matter," Starlight replied. The symbol, she recalled, had been on a pendant Arambai owned that she saw the first time she went to his house, but she wasn't about to say she knew the former Sosan chief so soon after Maple had declined to tell Elise her own tale. "So why do you have it?" "Nopony knows for certain what it means," Elise answered, the room softly darkening in contrast as her horn lit again. Light traced its way across the table, forming the gently rotating glyph around the teapot. "Or what it does. There are theories... Some ponies think it bears a passing resemblance to to a symbol the yaks use called the Emblem of the Nine Virtues. Others think it represents balance; a leadership trait that would help explain how Dior managed to get and keep his job while he was so young. Between the three races of ponies, some would say... though they can't agree on what the empty middle means, if anything at all. However, without any explanation, what it ultimately means is what ponies see it as, and that is the symbol of the leader of Ironridge." The burning pattern lifted off the table, breaking into three pieces that swirled and danced around each other like colored fire in the night, the room's normal manalights mere pinpricks shining against the blanket of Elise's projection. "As such, anyone who claims they have a right to rule the city wears it as a statement of defiance," she continued, horn glowing softly against the darkness. "In the Spirit of Sosa, Braen has it emblazoned on her armor. Shinespark has a clip much like mine she often wears, as an acknowledgement of what her ponies expect of her. And as for me?" She adjusted the clip slightly in her magic, and turned her head to hide it from view. "I wear this as a reminder of what I could have done, had I found a way to act twenty years ago." "...Huh." Starlight sat still, pondering. How did Arambai say he came by his triangle pendant, again? Was it a gift from a friend? Elise had said she left Shinespark and her mother in his care. Maybe it was her... "What happened to Shinespark after you left her with Arambai?" Elise shook her head. "I didn't learn that for nearly thirteen years, until I returned to Ironridge to find him already gone. When I got back, her mother, Matryona, was one of the first ponies I sought out. I found her amid the Sosan elite, well-dressed and groomed. She told me after he had agreed to take care of her, they fell in love, and he took her as his own wife..." Maple's eyes widened. "So that's why he never showed any interest in other mares..." "Hmm?" Elise looked up. "Pardon?" "I didn't say anything!" Maple quickly gasped. Elise watched her with a mix of pity and worry, then continued. "I offered to let them come live with me, and told them me and my family were going to re-establish lives here in Ironridge. They politely declined. Matryona was well-off, and while her history with the chiefs made her interesting to the local ponies, she didn't lead a bad life. If she had, I would have been ill-equipped to protect her." A far-off look grew in her eyes as she continued. "Shinespark, though... she was an intense filly. She reminds me of how Redshift is now, only she had no brand, and aimed even higher. It's been interesting, watching her grow over the last seven years. She's taken the legend I had, as Mobius' lost daughter, the returning heir to Ironridge, and made it so much more than I ever did. She doesn't split the city like me; the Sosans want her to bring back their glory and the Stone District sees her as the voice of reason next to the Spirit. She has a middle ground, and somehow truly manages to please everyone." Lightning flashed again outside the window, and the rain redoubled in strength. "Part of it is because she doesn't do very much," Elise narrated. "Before the crash, everyone in Ironridge truly was optimistic about the world. During my time, they were too jaded and scared to rally around any kind of symbol of peace, because the memory of having those kinds of aspirations and seeing them destroyed was too raw, and there was too much tension between those who rejected it and who clung to it. Now, the ponies are even more scared and desperate... enough that they're ready to believe in anything, even if it is too good to be true." She lowered her muzzle and sighed. "That is what happened to Shinespark. She became Ironridge's symbol of hope and justice. She doesn't do, she inspires. She gives the ponies the strength to face another day, knowing that there's an entire district just up or just down the mountain who fears and sometimes hates them and the divide just keeps growing. Is she lying to them, that there's some old ideal worth fighting for? If there isn't, does it matter that she is? It truly is a sign of these times that a pony like her can do so much for the soul of such a city and not even have a brand..." Starlight looked at her own flank, lilac and smooth, unmarred by sigils of any sort. Her mind flashed back to a time, far away, when she carried a box of ashes and a dusty cutout mask... and suddenly, she asked, "If having one would mean so much, why doesn't she make a fake one?" Elise blinked. "What?" "I mean..." Starlight blinked back. "I used to want ponies to stop pestering me about not having one of my own, so I made a filter and painted one on using ashes..." "Oh..." Elise visibly relaxed. "That's good. I thought you were talking about the... never mind. I suppose because it wouldn't be very honest? She's supposed to be a role model. And then if she ever did get a real one, she would have a lot of explaining to do..." "The what?" Starlight leaned in curiously, suddenly remembering how Valey had reacted the last time she had asked about ponies who didn't have brands. She almost pressed further, but the uncomfortable look on her host's face made her reconsider. She didn't want to be rude to the pony who was keeping them out of the rain, after all. "Right." Maple nodded, then broke off into a yawn. Sighing, then stretching, she said, "If I don't get back on my hooves, I'm going to cramp even worse, but I don't want to... Ugh. I suppose we just wait here until our friend gets back?" "I assume so," Elise answered. "That is what was said. I can get something to eat, if you like, or leave you to rest? We also mentioned horseshoes earlier?" "Something to eat would be nice," Starlight announced, untangling herself slightly from her robe. "I'm kind of hungry too." Elise beamed. "Well then, right this way..."