//------------------------------//
// Jamjars' Adventure 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

"Well... I'm bored."

Jamjars lay on her back, too sweaty to concern herself with getting dust in her mane, and kicked fruitlessly at the air. "We better not have to stay here for too long, or I'm going to lose it."

Starlight paced in circles next to her, having discovered everything there was to discover about the storage closet her semi-friend was faced with calling home. Two meters by two meters and perfectly square, it was certainly bigger than what her house had used as closets in Equestria, and if every bit of floor space could be dedicated to sleeping, it might have been possible to find an eleven-foal arrangement that would let them and White Chocolate rest peacefully and without forming a pile... but with no room to spare.

Beyond that, every bit of the closet had the look of something that was designed to be as functionally pretty as possible for the minimum amount of effort. The white drywalls were clean, the single manalight in the ceiling didn't flicker, and the floor was a sturdy piece of textured vinyl... but there were inch-wide gaps between the floor and the drywall where trim should have gone, cobwebs lacing the upper corners and light fixture, and squares of dust on the ground marking the outlines of where boxes had lain. The two-by-fours that formed the inside of the doorframe were sturdy, but had clearly never been sanded, and one even sported a bent nailhead surrounded by dents where some construction stallion had shown off their lack of skill with a hammer. Starlight sneezed.

"I said, we better not have to stay here for too long," Jamjars huffed, clearly hoping for a reaction.

Starlight eyed the rules paper sitting on the ground. "It says up to three days."

"Whyyyyy?" Jamjars groaned, stretching melodramatically.

"I don't know." Starlight shrugged. "What they said was that there were some bombs on the eastern dam by the Defense Force, and they had to defuse them by putting them underwater for a few days, or something." She carefully omitted names, mention of military tactics, or anything that could prove sensitive... she hoped.

Jamjars stuck her tongue out. "The dam is east of here. And guess which way the river flows? Surprise... it's east! What does that have to do with anything?"

Starlight's brow furrowed. "Isn't there supposed to be a lot of flat land to the west of where the water would land, and some kind of narrow part to the east? I think they said it would back up, or something."

"Who's this 'they' you keep talking about?" Jamjars frowned. "Was that messenger supposed to tell us more than he did this morning?"

"Uhhh..." Starlight fidgeted. "We found a place to stay with some Sosans last night and they were discussing it," she not-quite-lied.

"Hmmph." Jamjars hugged herself, still frowning and still laying upside-down. "So why do they need us to evacuate, then? Couldn't they just deal with it some way that's safer?"

Starlight shrugged again. "They don't know who put them there. I think they're..." She swallowed. "You won't tell anyone, right?"

Jamjars rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"Someone could blow them up from inside the Water District," Starlight said. "They have to be careful about getting rid of them. They don't want to take any risks."

"It doesn't sound that risky to me," Jamjars huffed. "You said they turn them off with water, right? Just glue some buckets of water over them. Easy."

"I... don't think it works that way..." Starlight frowned, suddenly realizing she had missed the latter part of the Sosans' conversation and didn't actually know how they had arrived at their conclusion that it wasn't best to stealthily sabotage the bombs. "Maybe they thought whoever put them there would just put more back later? Or that they could blow them up while they were being disarmed?"

"Then what are they doing?" Jamjars scoffed. "Trying to take over the Defense Force so nobody can reach the dam to put more bombs on it? They're a bunch of pegasi! They'd just fly back past!"

Starlight bit her lip.

"...You know what?" Jamjars flipped upright and shook her mane. "It's nice and cool in here, and I'm feeling better. Let's go exploring."

"Hold on..." Starlight tapped the rules list. "We can't do that, remember?"

Jamjars grinned, leaning on one side. "And just why can't we do that?"

"Because..." Starlight inspected the sheet, narrating. "To reduce crowding in the halls, families must take turns going anywhere, and only travel at designated intervals when employees will be able to escort them, under any circumstances..."

"Easy," Jamjars interrupted.

"I'm not done!" Starlight frowned. "Also, to keep a claim to this room, somepony has to stay with it at all times. Or somebody, if Gerardo was here, but it actually says somepony so maybe they'd even kick him out too."

Jamjars looked like she had swallowed a lemon. "Oh. That's stupid. Well, help me think of something, then!"

Starlight didn't oblige, standing back and watching warily as Jamjars took up pacing, muttering under her breath. "We could bribe someone... mess this room up enough that no one else would want to use it... hmmm..."

"What do we have to bribe anyone with?" Starlight waved a hoof at the empty room. "There's nothing here, and neither of us have saddlebags! And we'd get in trouble for trashing the room, and then you'd have to live in it anyway."

"You could make some crystals," Jamjars suggested. "We could bribe ponies with those."

"They hurt my horn to keep out for too long," Starlight countered, careful to downplay the extent of her horn's issues. "Eventually, I have to let them disappear."

"Oh." Jamjars scowled. "We could steal something from someone, then bribe someone else with it..."

"No!" Starlight stepped back in shock. "I mean... really? That wouldn't be nice."

Jamjars tossed her limp mane. "Too bad I'm not nice. Fine, though. What are your bright ideas, Starlight?" She raised an eyebrow. "How do you propose we get out of here?"

"Why does it matter, anyway?" Starlight paced to the door, standing between it and Jamjars. "This is where you're going to stay, isn't it? We could just stay here like we're supposed to."

"Don't remind me," Jamjars scowled. "It matters because I'm bored, and stuff. You're strong. You could probably freeze someone if they tried to punish us for going exploring."

Starlight's ears folded. "I don't want to be the bad guy!"

"...Fine. Okay, fine." Jamjars stretched like a cat, walked around Starlight, and pushed the door open with one hoof. "In that case, you stay here and be an angel like Hayseed, and I'll go exploring by myself."





Frowning, Starlight sat in the windowed hallway of the fourth floor of Karma Industries, her back to the door to White Chocolate's new home. She figured as long as she was right there, she could say she was still with the room, yet it was significantly less claustrophobic and the air was freshly ventilated. Somewhere, a great fan drove cool air through pipes, much like the wind infrastructure she had felt in the Defense Force base, though here it was less a matter of defense and more to make the place livable. As an extra, her position let her watch Jamjars, snooping and scouting out the hallway and checking out all the other doors.

It also exposed her to a cacophony of crying... and made her very glad their room was at the farthest-upwind end of the hall.

"This place," Jamjars announced upon her return, "is a giant nursery! Every single one of those rooms has exactly the same thing, and that's a million foals and their mother and sometimes their father too. It smells, it's noisy, it smells, why do we have to be here, and did I mention that it smells?"

Starlight nodded, again grateful for the direction of ventilation.

"None are as bad as Mom, though," Jamjars added as if it was something to be proud of. "Most of them have only three to five kids."

Starlight slumped, deciding that particular thread of conversation had worn out its welcome long ago. There was only so much to say about the size of Jamjars' family, after all.

"Also, though, you know what I found?" Jamjars' face broke into a grin. "This hallway is full now. That means they shouldn't be checking it for empty rooms. So nobody will notice if we leave."

"Are you sure...?" Starlight squinted.

"Definitely." Jamjars' teeth flashed. "So do you want to go exploring, or what? This is the capital of the Earth District. There's gotta be something worth finding here."

Starlight didn't respond.

"Look," Jamjars huffed. "It's my family, so we'll pay the price if we mess up. You've got... wherever else you're going to stay, because even if Mom wants to let you you're not sharing this room with us. You don't have any risk in this. My fall, my call."

Starlight glanced down the corridor. A uniformed pony was visible passing in the distance. "And what about them? We're not supposed to be clogging the hallways, remember?"

"We're two fillies!" Jamjars grinned. "We take up, like, no space. We'll be easy to avoid."

Starlight raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe you don't believe me..." Jamjars swung open the door to their closet. "Then come in here real quick and let me show you what I could have done if you hadn't been so hasty when I wanted a magic duel last night."





"You're..." Starlight blinked rapidly. "Camouflaged?"

"I prefer to call it invisible," Jamjars bragged, "but yeah. I am. Aren't you jealous?"

Jamjars' once-colorful coat and mane were now flaky white, blending in smoothly with the drywall behind her and making her quite easy to miss when she closed her ruby eyes. Starlight could clearly see her, and she was definitely still there, but an overworked employee who only wanted to see an empty line, a paycheck and a thermos of coffee wouldn't notice her if she reached out and slapped them.

"You can do that without a cutie mark?" Starlight asked.

Jamjars shrugged. "You can make your crystals without one."

Starlight frowned... and didn't press the point. "But that's just you. How long can you do it for? And if I come with you, what about me?"

Jamjars' grin turned sharkish, and she lovingly fluffed her mane. "You can hide behind this."





"I can't believe this is working..." Starlight groaned, voice an inaudible whisper as she crouched in a corner between a hallway wall and a crate that had been removed from storage to make room for ponies. Jamjars stood in front of her, balancing on two legs for height, keeping a forehoof in contact with the wall to maintain her enchantment as she acted as a living curtain to shield Starlight from view. A pair of Karma Industries mares paced by, chatting obliviously.

"And so," one chittered, "I was like, 'screw you, buddy, I like my flank the way it is!'"

"Wow, really?" the other cooed. "And did he leave?"

"Yeah, he did..." The first tossed her mane. "I considered filing a complaint with Skyfreeze for unprofessional conduct, but that would have meant walking all the way up there, and they actually got back to me first... Kero sent a letter and it sounded all sorry and everything, and I felt kinda bad for him since he had nothing to do with it and didn't want him to have to deal with it, you know?"

"I know, I know... It's a shame, too, since the two of you were getting on so well!"

"I know! Like, it's one thing to want to keep things casual and realize when you've gone too far, but I work for Karma, baby! All I need is an apology, not some kind of..."

They trailed off, passing around a corner and out of earshot. Jamjars giggled, dropping back to the floor and letting her disguise fade. "Hee..." She nudged Starlight. "Sounds like somepony's love life was getting a little dramatic. I'd say sneaking out here was worth it already!"

"Yeah... Dramatic..." Starlight murmured, falling into step behind Jamjars and letting her choose the way forward. She still had reservations about leaving the closet room unattended, but as Jamjars had pointed out, it was no fur off her back if anything bad happened. A hidden, grumpy part of Starlight secretly wanted something to happen and see the filly get what-for.

That wasn't what swirled in her head as she followed Jamjars in search of... whatever Jamjars was looking for. Something about the passing mares' conversation stuck with her, making her feel uneasy and faintly like she needed to lie down, and she couldn't put a hoof on it. They had been talking about a relationship gone bad... some kind of compensation, and a stallion being sent away. Someone named Kero. Did that name ring a bell? Starlight couldn't remember. She had been introduced to far too many faces over the past three days, and even more counting Riverfall. Worse, a faint fog still hung over her memories of the previous night, so if it had been anything to do with Shinespark or the Sosans, she would probably never remember.





"Jamjars?" Starlight stopped her companion with a hoof. "I know you're bored, but... do you really think this is the best place to go?"

They stood in front of a tall iron archway, crossbeams of riveted steel forming a doorless entry to a staircase leading down. It stood large, gray and jarring against the hallway's white drywall, which obviously made it irresistible to curious fillies. A sign on the wall next to it, written in capital letters, warned, BASEMENT LEVEL - POWER AND AIR-CON PLANT - AUTHORIZED EQUINES ONLY.

"I don't think you get it, Starlight," Jamjars gloated, body rigid with adrenaline. "I've lived my life from birth to hours ago in the same hole in the ground, with too few exceptions. Now, I can go where I want because no one is around to stop me, and it would be the world's biggest waste not to do it while I can. So are you coming, or not?"

Starlight stared at the steep, darkened staircase. The other reason she was with Jamjars and not back at the room, she realized, was in case she needed to keep the filly safe from something like this.

"Well?" Jamjars pressed, twitching and impatient.

"Just because you can do something doesn't mean you have to," Starlight pointed out with a frown. "That sign is probably there for a reason."

"Pfft." Jamjars blew on her mane. "Everything happens for a reason. Doesn't mean some reasons aren't better than others."

"It's probably dangerous down there, though..." Unhappily, Starlight leaned forward, trying to parse the darkness. She didn't want to use her horn, but it might have been required.

"Starlight," Jamjars patronized. "When was the last time you did something dangerous? Don't you dare say never, because I'll know you're lying."

Starlight blinked. "Well..."

"Hah! You have to think about it, don't you?" Jamjars pointed triumphantly. "Because you've done it so much. The most dangerous things I get to do are tease Snow when he has something he can throw at me, so you'll be a hypocrite if you say we shouldn't go down there. And don't you want to go on an adventure?"

Ignoring the first half of the argument, Starlight stomped. "I've been on an adventure for the last month, and it's not as fun as you think it is! So no, I don't want to make it unnecessarily more dangerous! Let's go back and make sure no ponies have taken your room!"

Jamjars opened her mouth to reply... when a startled voice came around the corner of the main corridor. "Who's that!?" an employee queried, followed by the sound of hoofsteps.

"Uh-oh." Jamjars' eyes widened, and she bolted down the staircase.

Grumbling, Starlight trotted after her as swiftly as she dared. "The moment we run into any fan blades or giant pendulums positioned to knock us off a walkway, I don't care what it does to my horn, I'm crystalling you and carrying you all the way back to the room myself..."





A world of jungle heat away, Maple panted and fretted, trying to find support as she slumped against the wood of her harness, caught in yet another traffic jam.

"White Chocolate..." She gulped, her saliva having the consistency of syrup. "Do you have any water back there? If you do, I'd really appreciate it..."

A hoof passed her a water pouch, and she sucked greedily, draining the entire thing dry. "Ugh. Thanks..." She wiped her muzzle with the least-dusty part of her hoof. "Howe? Do you need one too?"

"If you... have one to spare..." Howe's tongue lolled, and Maple had slightly too much sympathy for the pegasus to giggle at how silly it looked.

"Here's for you, too." White Chocolate passed another down, leaning over the forward railing of the cart. "Maple? I think I can see a warehouse in the distance..."

"Don't worry," Maple reassured, detaching herself from the harness and turning around so she could look White Chocolate in the eye. "Either Gerardo will find us and fly our fillies back here, or Howe will go out and find them to tell them what happened to us. Won't you, Howe?"

"Glug, glug... Urp! Yup! Sure will!" Howe offered back his own canteen, also drained of contents. "Speaking of finding a place to stay, though, it looks like there's a thing coming back this way along the road..."

"Wagons to the right, and hooves to the left, please!" an authoritative voice blared, projected from a pony who was pushing themselves down the middle by riding a device that looked like a very thin ironing wedge. "No exceptions! We're trying to get this cleared out and flowing, and that means traffic belongs where traffic belongs! Wagons to the right, and hooves to the left, from your perspective..."

In their wake, as ponies rearranged themselves, the trickling flow of hoof traffic slowly untangled itself from the cart wheels, and suddenly the wagon in front of Maple began moving again. Maple gasped, fixing her harness as quickly as possible. "We're moving! Oh, we're moving and can finally get out of this heat..."

It only took a single bend for them to discover the wagons' destination. One by one, they were ushered into a lot of unloading stalls next to a raised platform to make disembarking easier... which was more likely intended to make it possible to wheel on heavy crates. The door-riddled wall of a slate-gray warehouse loomed immediately behind, and whenever a wagon became finished, a team of pegasi would swoop in and lift it away, clearing the way for new arrivals.

A stallion who had gone a week without shaving waved Maple and Howe through, pointing them to a stall near the middle, the line of hoof traffic diverging and heading for a ground-level entrance to the warehouse some distance away. For the briefest of moments, Maple paused, pondering how to properly back into the unloading dock... when a team of well-built earth ponies approached, coats glistening from sweat.

"Out of the harnesses," one commanded, tapping a hoof. "We'll take it from here."

"You're all sticking together?" another asked, craning her neck to see into the cart. "How many do you... Wow, that's a lot of foals."

"Sorry..." White Chocolate's ears folded.

"Nah, we've gotcha." The mare grinned, hardly needing her reflective vest in the broad daylight. "We'll, uh... I'm sure we can find something that'll work. Easy does it, now..."

The wagon backed into its stall, hardly even rocking as it came to a butter-smooth stop. Two stallions dropped the gate at the back, one whistling at the contents and the other admiring the canopy. "Did you make this here umbrella yourself, Ma'am?" he asked, impressed.

"We did!" Maple nodded, motioning to Howe. "It took a bit of work, but..." She slumped, drawn like a homing pigeon to the relative darkness of the warehouse's interior. "Oof. I'm glad that's over."

"It was worth it," White Chocolate assured, stepping out of the cart with two foals on her back. "I wish I could have helped, or at least paid you back by pulling the cart..."

"I told you not to worry about it," Maple growled. "We're here to help! I mean it!"

Meanwhile, the mare from the unloading team was waving and shouting through the entrance, summoning backup. "Hey!" She reared up slightly, stomping a hoof. "Can I get a team for moving infants? We've got a huge family in stall number seven!"

"Follow us, Ma'am," a stallion urged, standing nearby in case White Chocolate needed support. Herself and Howe, Maple realized, still looked capable of handling themselves to the overseeing pony team, a fact for which she felt mixed frustration and relief.

"Well, that's our benevolent deed for the day out of the way," Howe sighed, leaning gratefully against the metal wall of the warehouse, angled such that it had been shaded all day and wasn't yet hot. "Feel like sticking with them for a while longer? Or should we call it quits and go find that Starlight of yours? Looks like this family's in good hooves, now..."

Maple chuckled, rubbing her aching forelimbs. "If there's a place for it, I think I might need to sit down for a few minutes before I go running off somewhere again. And don't even think about trying to carry me somewhere by flying. I'm heavier than I look."

Howe's lip curled in a smile. "Was that a self-deprecating fat joke? Because let me tell you, you don't-"

"Don't finish that sentence," Maple interrupted with a hoof. "Please."

"...Suit yourself." Howe shrugged. "What should we do, then? This pegasus has a bit of punch left in him, still."

"Do you..." Maple stretched, still taking stock of all the places she was sore. It was a more wholesome soreness than that caused by the windigo heart, at least. "Think you could go look for Gerardo and Starlight in Grand Acorn? If you find them, it'll probably be easier to move Jamjars here than to take White Chocolate and her family all the way back there, unless they found a place that's really nice and worth it..."

With a grin, Howe's bravado returned. "Your wish is my command! The Howenator departs... with gusto!"

With a swoosh of wings and a blast of air, Howe was a lavender speck in the sky, swiftly lost beyond the treetops. Maple sighed, following with her eyes as long as she could, before looking back to the loading dock where a convoy of ponies were assisting with White Chocolate's foals and supplies. Smiling, Maple picked up a box of her own, falling into step, damp coat prickling at the rush of shadow as she entered the cool warehouse air. It had been a long walk, but if the weather was the worst she had to deal with, that was absolutely fine.