With a magnificent squelch, Starlight bit into a tangerine, practically purring as juices dribbled down her fuzzy chin.
"Clean that off, you," Maple murmured, looking up from her own meal to wipe the nectar away. "It'll get sticky if you let it dry."
Starlight dubiously accepted the treatment, then turned back to her food, beginning the process all over again. Maple groaned.
"You two certainly are carefree," a male voice remarked from a nearby doorway.
Redshift's brother Fernand leaned against the entrance, coolly observing Maple and Starlight as they sat on bar stools by a counter, a bucket of cores and rinds on the floor growing gradually fuller. "Enjoying the selection?"
"What is it," Starlight asked around a mouthful, already reaching for another piece from the basket on the counter, "with Ironridge and fruit? It's good, but it's like it's all everyone here ever eats."
Fernand blinked. "You aren't aware? Ironridge is one of the few places in the world with the climate to grow crops like these so perfectly. They're a cultural staple and the city's most renowned export, particularly now that we are no longer in the business of building boats."
"I kind of agree," Maple added, halfway through a papaya. "They really are delicious, but how healthy is a diet with this much sugar?"
"Well, there are other crops, too." Shrugging, Fernand drew up a stool alongside them and sighed, staring up at the ceiling. "The Stone District's reputation is for residences, but the terraces of its western half are largely for farmland, not roads. Wheat, rice, potatoes... But those can be grown anywhere. They aren't things for impressing foreigners."
At that moment, Elise walked through the door, practically gliding on stately hooves, an understated dress hanging from her shoulders that nicely complimented her sky-blue mane. "Hello, Maple, Starlight!" Her eyes lit up as if she had been searching for them for some time. "I wondered if you would still be here."
Maple shrugged. "Well, there's been no sign of our friend, so I don't see why not?"
Elise giggled, voice musical. "Oh, I meant in the kitchen. I recalled the twins interrupting your nap earlier, and spent all this time checking the bedrooms first!"
"What did you want to see us about, then?" Maple asked, ears twitching. In the distance, rain beat violently against the roof, its thick background rush the kind of noise one would only notice when it was gone.
"Nothing important." Elise's horn lit, light vanishing from the corners of the room as a ghostly, colored flame materialized in the fruit bowl and levitated her over an apple. "I'm just paranoid that the lights will go back out, and need something to do with myself."
Maple smiled back, taking a fresh piece of fruit in one hoof. She couldn't say it, but Blueleaf needed likely never worry about random power outages again. "Coming from a pony who's had plenty of bad happen over the past day and a half... I wouldn't worry about it. Maybe the world will give us a break today?"
"Maybe it will," Elise agreed, with a smile that was pleasant but unconvinced.
Rather than reply, she reached to take a bite... and found her hoof suddenly empty. "Huh?" She squinted, and slowly turned.
The peach sat on the dimly-lit countertop, being examined from a hair's breadth away by a pair of eager, slitted green eyes.
"Are you gonna eat that?" Valey's face asked, poking barely out of the shadows.
"Waaugh!" Maple flailed backwards, falling from her stool and landing heavily on her shoulder. "Ooomf!"
Elise and Fernand simultaneously rushed forward to help her, and were over halfway there when Valey stood entirely, holding the fruit morosely and looking down from the counter. "I guess that's a 'no,' huh?"
"Y-You!" Fernand froze in his tracks, a shaky hoof pointed upwards. "I'm aware of you! You're a Defense Force commander!"
Valey rolled her eyes and sighed. "Admiral..." she muttered under her breath.
"That was mean," Starlight protested from the side, her own fruit forgotten. "Could you say hello normally, for once?"
"Sister," Fernand demanded, "please remove this enemy combatant from our house at once!"
Elise ignored both him and Valey, however, kneeling and helping Maple up. "Are you all right?"
"Ooof... yeah..." Maple gingerly stood. "Just one more bruise to add to all the rest. Nothing a weeklong vacation and the world's fluffiest bed can't fix..." With a crack, she stretched, arching her back and making sure her spine was in proper place. "She's the one we were waiting for, by the way, so please don't start any fights."
At that, Elise finally looked up, acknowledging Valey's presence. "You are?"
"Valey," Valey belched. "Doesn't everyone know that?"
"You are their friend," Elise corrected, gentle eyes narrowing beneath her sky-blue mane. "Who they've been waiting here for?"
Valey shrugged, biting into the stolen peach. "Not my fault if they want to call me that, but I guess?"
Elise looked to Starlight for confirmation, Maple having already said her part.
"She's the one we were waiting for," Starlight repeated with a nod.
Carefully, Elise gave the batpony a final scrutinization... then drew back a step. "Very well." With a half-curtsy, she added, "Then you are welcome-"
"Sister, I must object!" Fernand loudly protested. "You know full well who she is! If we allow her to remain here, she might..."
"Might what?" Valey leaned over the counter edge like a vulture, smirking. "Eat all your fruit? Put all your dishes in the wrong cupboards? Tell a really bad joke? Here's one: what do you get when you cross me and a seagull?"
"That's perfectly irrelevant! Sister-"
"A see-eee-eeegull! Hah! Get it?" Valey grinned broadly.
Fernand gave her a stupefied expression.
"Nothing? Really?" Valey's face fell. "You stinking killjoys. That was worth at least a boo."
"Sister," Fernand groaned, "please do something about her!"
Valey lifted an eyebrow. "Okay, that's like the fifth time you've said that. And seriously, I'm trying not to judge, but it's giving me the impression here that you have a little thing for her, or something?"
"You two are ridiculous!" Elise giggled madly as Fernand sputtered. "Really, Fernand, she's not doing anything wrong right now. Have you even met her before?"
Fernand grimaced. "No, and I'm sorely wishing I had kept up that streak..."
"And neither have I," Elise hummed, bouncing her shoulders. "At least, not in person. So as long as she behaves, I'm perfectly fine with her being our guest."
"Uhh..." Valey hesitated, drawing a hoof to her chest. "Wow, thanks? Tip from a pro, though; never trust a bat. Like, you guys have heard the stories about me, right?"
"I have." Elise nodded. "I'm also a believer in judging ponies not by their pasts, but their presents. Unless you actively try to endanger or hurt my family and friends, you are welcome here."
Valey grinned, flexing a foreleg. "And what can you do about it if I do?"
"Then I will kick your rear all the way back to Yakyakistan, along with that of anyone who gets in my way," Elise replied, tone dangerously calm.
"Bwaah hah hah!" Valey doubled over, slapping the countertop and cackling. "You have no idea who I am if you think you can do that. But seriously, though, don't worry about it; I like you. Your kids are safe. And your, uh, 'brother.'"
Fernand bristled, but was finally smart enough not to respond.
Elise, however, smiled mysteriously. "I don't look like a very good opponent, do I?"
"Eh, you're just saying that to make me underestimate you." Valey waved a hoof. "You can probably do something crazy like punch out a yak or hit really hard with a frying pan. You are kinda shrimpy, though. But I'm invincible, so it's no contest."
Nudging Valey with a hoof, Maple interrupted. "I know you're having fun, but shouldn't we get going? The day's more than half over, and we still need to get all the way to Gnarlbough and then Sosa by nightfall..."
Valey grimaced. "Eeergh..." Staring up at the high, vaulted ceiling with its dark red coating and gold-trimmed supports, her eyes wandered to an upper window, pitch-black save for the ruthlessly pounding rain. "Are you guys sure about that? It's really nasty out there, and you were already basically ready to collapse. You'd barely make it past the city gates without dying of hypothermia. I mean, I'm in great condition, and the only reason I dared come back here was because it's nice and dry inside shadows."
"Well, what else are we going to do?" Maple shrugged, a slight note of desperation in her voice. "Gerardo is probably looking for us, and he'll never find us here. Besides, there's still a long time before sundown!"
"Ask her if you can spend the night." Valey returned the gesture, pointing over to Elise. "Let this storm blow over, and head out in the morning."
"Would a covered wagon help?" Elise asked.
Everyone turned to stare at her. "...You'd do that for us?" Maple asked, ears folded.
Starlight lifted an eyebrow. "Who would pull it?"
"No one." Elise shook her head. "Not if you use the carts I'm thinking of. Let me explain. All of the Earth District's produce is exported through the Sky District, and we use pull carts to transport it. But somepony always must bring the carts back after they've been unloaded at the end of the day, and that was seen as inefficient. Recently, Sosa started working with Grand Acorn to make mechanical carts that could re-travel their last route, on their own and without any oversight. The carts are kept in the distribution center there, taken out in the evening, pulled up the Stone District by ponies, and then return to the stable on their own power. Less than an hour from now is the time when they usually come through Blueleaf on their way back. You could climb on one as it passes and have a free ride to Grand Acorn, which is most of the way to Gnarlbough."
"Wow..." Maple breathed. "That's..."
"Ridiculous? Convenient? Straight-up sweet?" Valey grinned. "Ponies do crazy things when they have nothing better to do with themselves. Better the Sosans waste their time and oodles of money with that than flooding this city with even more weapons. And it lines up for us, so hey, let's roll with it!"
Starlight narrowed her eyes. "Wouldn't you know about something like this already?"
"Eh, yeah." Valey shrugged. "They're kinda new though, and it's not really my department. I figured there were other things worth remembering more. But if you guys wanna go, we'll take it, right?"
"Right!" Maple nodded, enthused.
"Then I'll teleport us there whenever you're ready," Elise said, glancing between the three. Fernand had long since slunk off to another part of the house, and was no longer present.
"Heh... No goodbyes from that red kid?" Valey scanned the room as well, and her ears drooped slightly. "That's a shame. She was funny. Loud, too. Oh well! I've got what I need, so get your stuff and let's go!"