//------------------------------//
// Trust Issues 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

When Starlight came to, she was surrounded by nothing but dim, red light.

"Uggghh..." she rasped, drawing in a slow breath. The air would have been hot had she come from any other day than the present one, and as it was, there was a dirty, smoky quality to it that made her slightly dizzy. Or maybe that was her lungs, which felt like cotton after... after...

Realization of what had happened to her struck like a thunderbolt, and she tried to scramble into a defensive stance, only for her legs to fall out from under her and leave her in a slightly more uncomfortable heap than she had already been in. The ground was stone, she noticed. Warm stone.

She focused, rust-red walls blurring into existence around her, along with three grayish piles that might have been her unconscious friends. As she watched, one of them stirred. It was Maple.

"Mapllllle..." Starlight groaned, crawling over to her adoptive mother, not trusting her legs to carry her so quickly again. She reached for Maple's shoulders and shook, rocking her back and forth. "Are you alright?"

"What? Nngh... nguh..." Grunting, Maple kicked her legs, lifted her ears, and opened her eyes. "Starlight? Is that you? We were... What happened?"

Starlight's vision cleared even more, enough to make out the dull red rock boxing them in with sheer walls and a low ceiling. One of those walls, however, didn't exist - in its place was a twisted iron grate, blocking the way to the next room. She doubted she was small enough to slip through the holes.

"I think..." She gulped, throat feeling stiff and rubbery. From gas inhalation, she realized. "Howe opened that box from Valey, and it was a stun grenade. Grenada had some. She said they were Sosan prototypes, and that nobody else had them..."

Maple's pupils were small. "No... she wouldn't! There has to be... Someone else must have set her up, or this could be a misunderstanding, or... or..." She fumbled for words.

Through the iron grate, Starlight could see a row of cells much like theirs, all empty. The corridor between them was just wide enough that, were they full, a passing officer could walk down the middle while avoiding flailing hooves. Its ceiling was higher, too, creating extra space on top of the roofs of the cells that guards could potentially use. That, too, was empty.

"She warned us, I guess," Starlight decided, shrugging. She tried again to climb to her hooves, and this time, succeeded. "Probably a million times, too."

Maple's hoof reached up to her, and the earth pony smiled. "Starlight. We're here, but we're all right. Maybe Valey did betray us, and this doesn't look good... but until I see real proof, I'm not going to doubt her. First, because it wouldn't do us any good now, and second, because if I were her right now and I was innocent, I'd need someone to believe in me, too."

"...We've been imprisoned, haven't we?"

Starlight swung her head over to Gerardo. "You're awake?"

Gerardo smiled, keeping his eyes closed. "I have been for quite some time. When resuming consciousness after a hostile situation, it's a reasonable course of action to pretend to still be out as you determine your situation. After all, if anything was going to kill you while you were comatose, it would likely have already done so."

"Oh..." Maple sighed loudly. "Well, I don't think I see anyone, so it should be safe to get up."

"On the contrary," Gerardo proclaimed, keeping his voice soft... whether deliberately, or because the sedative gas had inflamed his throat, Starlight couldn't tell. "There is someone, admittedly stealthy, in this room, and furthermore I have a very good idea who. Care to take a guess?"

Maple sat up, looking out the grate and around the room. "Valey? Are you there?"

No response.

She cleared her throat and spoke louder. "Valey, if you're there, I... I still trust you. If you captured us... maybe you were forced to, or maybe you wanted to put us somewhere safe, or... I don't know! But please say something? Please talk to us? I forgive you!"

Then, from near the ceiling: "You guys are ridiculous, you know that?"

Howe was still crumpled in an unconscious pile, but Starlight, Maple and Gerardo watched as Valey's head poked down from the burnt-red ceiling, protruding from a shadow. She slithered further out of it until she was completely upside-down, hanging by her tail from a rusted spike wedged purposelessly into the rock. She was scowling.

"Most ponies don't like being betrayed," Valey growled, showing her teeth without smiling. "They get all ticked off. They go, 'Oh no, the pony I for some reason though was my friend who warned me over and over blew me up with a stun grenade after I did one nice thing too many for them! I guess they were a jerk after all!' Why can't you morons be like that, huh?"

Her eyes glowed emerald like slitted bonfires. "They do the sensible thing and cut their losses, or at least have the decency to get mad about it. But not you. I tricked you, blew you up, foalnapped you and threw you in jail, and your first thought was that I was helping you? What do I have to do, laugh like a maniac about it? Mua ha ha, and all that? Throw you in separate cells? Or is it because all I ever do is play silly pranks and call you names and get too close to your personal space that you can't take this seriously? Do you think I'm a big, huggable bat that can't hurt a fly?"

"Valey..." Maple interrupted, looking hurt. "What do you need? All I've done is try to help you, and if you feel this bad about us, it isn't working! What am I supposed to do?"

"You're supposed to possess common sense," Valey grunted, looking away. "...You wanna know what really sickens me? What's disgusting right now about you, and me, and everything?"

Maple's ears wilted, and she reached a hoof toward the grate. "What...?"

"You're right!" Valey let go of the ceiling, kicking off it and slamming into the ground with such force that her hoof chipped the rock, sending out a small fracture of hairline cracks. She barely even stopped to massage it, tail lashing. "Ironridge right now is the biggest powder keg in the world, and some idiot yesterday went and lit the fuse. The whole thing is going to go off, and even when it's my job to stop it, my stupid boss sends me on a dumb escort mission right into a trap that might as well be designed to hold me, and then leaves me there, out of the picture. I'm done with Ironridge. I'm so done."

She sniffed back a tear, looking up and attempting a grin that didn't come out properly. "You know where we are right now? This is the Flame District. The upper part, pretty far from all the drilling. It's called the flame barracks, and is the most remote, unvisited, out-of-the-way location in... well, most of Ironridge. It's certainly a billion miles from anywhere that'll get wrecked by that dam, or the fighting that will follow. After I bagged you, I did my research on what's going on. This is the perfect place to ride everything out, stay safe, and... you know."

"Then..." Maple's face lifted. "You were helping us?"

"Weren't you listening?" Valey hung her head, eyes obscured by her dangling mane. She was missing her hat. "I said I'm done with Ironridge. It's a license to do what I want, and it's all I have, but that isn't enough. The Defense Force can't hope to win against Sosa's arsenal. It's finished. I'm pretty sure Herman wants them to be destroyed. He probably just locked me up because he knows I could beat all of them with my wings tied, and figured I'd starve to death in there. Either way, the Defense Force can't survive without Herman, and I can't survive without it. So... I'm leaving. And I wanted to see if you'd come with me."

Maple frowned. "Really? We'd love to have you, but aren't there more polite ways to ask?"

"Pfft. No." Valey leered at her. "Here's the thing, Ironflanks... You're the first pony in pretty much ever to actually treat me like... not a monster. And that's fun, because I hate being a monster. But instead, you practically worship the air I fly through, and that's even worse. Because guess what? I am a monster. I try not to act like it. I try my hardest. That's why my worst real crimes are flirting with married mares and telling really bad jokes. But... it's not enough to change facts. I'm not a pony."

"Valey!" Maple snapped... then softened. "You're wrong. You might have leafy ears, or strange wings, but that isn't what makes someone a person. I mean, look at Gerardo! He's a griffon, a completely different species, and is just as much of a person as any of us! What you look like doesn't matter. It's what you are inside that-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence," Valey growled, eyes burning. "You have no idea what you're talking about. None of you do, but especially not you, Ironflanks. You're the one who insists on treating me like I can do no wrong. You think I'm not some mythical incarnation of black and white morality? Prove it. Get angry when I wrong you!"

"Why!?" Maple cried, putting both forehooves on the grate, Valey standing just out of her reach. "I know you're not bad, so why can't I treat you like my friend?"

"Because that's not what you're doing," Valey said, pointing back with a hoof of her own. "Look at Pancake. If he had done this, would you be ticked? In fact, he did do this! He was the one who set off my trap! You'd be all, 'I trusted you!' like you should be here! And look at Gerardo! I was following you, two days earlier when you were complaining endlessly about how you felt like he was marginalizing you and preventing you from spending time with your kid, or something. I don't remember. Remember?"

Gerardo paled. "I was? I'm... deeply sorry if I came across as overzealous or rude, or..."

"It's fine," Maple assured him with a glance. "It's fine."

"What I want," Valey said before Maple could ask another question, "no... what I need is something better than your stupid hero worship. Because let's say I went with you. Let's pretend I kept you safe, bailed you out of Ironridge, and we got to a more decent part of the world. Let's say we were going about our business, and I happened to do something really bad for no other reason than that people mess up... and you trusted me so much that you refused to take even the most basic self-preserving actions and wound up dead as a result. Not scarred, not all I'll forgive you, dead. How do you think I'd feel about that? Use your overly-optimistic idea of me on this."

Maple gulped, and didn't say anything.

"See?" Valey snarled. "I get that you'd forgive me. It's in your nature. You're too optimistic and too nice. It's like nothing bad has ever happened to you before, which is funny because I recall guessing something about you having a really bad history with a Sosan stallion and it made you all cringey just like it's doing now!" She jabbed a hoof as Maple recoiled from the bars. "And I'd be happy with that. I'd love having someone around who could live with it if I mess up, just like normal friends do! But for all your talk about how wonderful I am, you couldn't even do that much for me, could you? You hypocrite!"

She stalked forward, tail flicking violently. "All I wanted was to see if you actually could see me as the person I wish I was, and you can't! I got this place all set up! All you had to do was tell me off abducting you, and yell at me or get mad or anything to show you weren't fine with this, and we could have been perfect! I would have apologized, you would have forgiven me, I... I could have been your friend. But now I can't. I'm not going to go along with someone with such a caricatured view of me that they think I'm perfect. That would be just like Herman. But instead..." She deflated, losing all of her tension and nearly falling down. "Well, that was my last plan. Now I don't know what I'm gonna do."

Maple stared, speechless. Gerardo didn't talk either.

"...Heh," Valey lifelessly chuckled. "My cutie mark is tingling. See? I'm even using your name for it. I guess at least one of you got a little-"

Flash!

Starlight appeared from a burst of teleportation in midair, right next to Valey's head. Pow! She punched with all her worth... which wasn't much, since she was both a filly and airborne, but Valey didn't dodge. The blow caused Starlight to land awkwardly on her side, but it also sent the batpony reeling. Valey shook her head and spat. "What the...?"

"How dare you!?" Starlight squeaked, scrambling to her hooves and posing aggressively like a small, puffed-up cat. She winced only briefly at the crack in her voice; her throat felt coated in wax paper, but it would have to deal. Valey blinked, watching to see if she would go on.

"I don't know what you've done," Starlight hissed, "or had done to you! But you also don't know about me, and you definitely don't know about Maple!" She stalked forward, and Valey actually scooted back. "She spent years having the world step on everything she ever wanted to do, and for a long time thought because that was the only way things were, that was the way they had to be!" She glanced over her shoulder at Maple, checking if she was overstepping any bounds. The mare was listening with wide eyes.

Bolstered, Starlight went on. "She has to be nice! She knows how dumb the world can be, just like I do, and the only thing that keeps her going is believing hopeless situations can get better! Hopeless like you, when you keep going on and on and on forever about how bad you are! Right, Maple?"

In the cell, Maple was torn between beaming and worry. Valey still looked stunned.

Starlight fixed the batpony with her best glare and stomped, her filly-sized hoof landing squarely in the slightly bigger impression left by Valey's earlier blow. "It's not fair that all the Ironridge ponies treat you like dirt when you don't want to be. I hate things that aren't fair, and I'd be your friend just to change that! But I've got other friends over there right now with their own hopes and worries, and if you're going to try to use their quirks to get what you're missing and then abuse them and do weird experiments like locking them up to make them mad at you when it turns out to not be what you want...!" She trailed off, her train of thought getting away, and refocused. "I'll never judge someone by what they are. But if you want to be our friend, you have to be honest about it just like you want from us. You..." She clenched her eyes. "Instead of being all vague and telling us not to trust bats, you should have just told us what you were worried about in the first place."

Valey gaped. The room was silent. After a few seconds: "...Wow. You actually get it."

"I'm sorry," Maple murmured from the cage, hanging limply onto the grate. "I guess I didn't... I should have..." She shook.

"So, Ironflanks," Valey said, shaking herself and flicking her ears. "And Starlight. And the rest of you, I guess. I really am sorry about that. I mean, not like you wouldn't forgive me anyway, but..."

"Yes." Maple folded her ears. "I do. I should have noticed how I was making you feel. And I'm sorry too. I hope I'm right about what your answer will be, but... would you still like to...?"

"To join up with you?" Valey raised an eyebrow. "To be your friend? To make you put up with me and do what it takes to get you out of this exploding city in the same number of pieces you entered in?" She smirked. "This is your last warning: I'm not a real pony. I try to be different, but it doesn't change what I really am." She raised a hoof. "Say yes, and I won't bug you about it again... unless it comes up for some other reason."

Maple reached out, touching Valey's hoof with her own. "Yes."

"Heh..." Valey shook her head. "And you're not even going to press. Typical. Oh well! Let's get you out of here. My cutie mark's been complaining for the last few hours about me having nothing to fight for."

She slipped into the shadows, moving underneath the grate and partially surfacing to grab Maple around the barrel. "I don't remember if I've done this with you before while you were awake, but it'll feel weird. Hold on."

An instant later, they were out, Maple gasping and climbing to her hooves. "I've done it, but it feels no less weird..."

"All right, griffon guy," Valey announced, brushing her hooves off. "You next. You're fine with all this too, right?"

Gerardo nodded. "I'm always down for the assembling of a band of heroic compatriots, and have no objections to your presence. Though right now, I think a far simpler way out would be..." He grasped for the hilt of his sword... and came up empty. The sheath on his side was bare. "What?"

Valey raised an eyebrow. "Something the matter, Birdo?"

"I... could have sworn I had my..." Gerardo blinked frantically, searching the cell. "Wherever did you put my sword? Has it been stolen?"

"Uhhhh..." Valey glanced back and forth. "You know, I did get an off-duty squad of Defense Force dudes to lug your carcasses most of the way here, so I guess it could have fallen out..."

"This. Is. Troubling." Gerardo drummed his talons against the floor. "Still, nothing I cannot overcome. I was prepared to leave the city without it regardless, and only got it back the first time by a stroke of good fortune. If anything, I'm more worried that our enemies might have it."

"Yeah, that would stink, wouldn't it?" Valey shrugged, then turned to Howe. "Pancake's still out, huh? I hope he doesn't get too triggered by all this. Still, his fault for holding the grenade when it went off. He probably got the worst of it." She grabbed him, still sleeping, and deposited him on the other side of the grate, before performing the same for Gerardo.

"By the way..." Maple glanced around. "What time is it?"

Valey tapped a hoof to her chin. "Uh, I'd say... An hour and a half 'til sundown? Maybe two? From the Sky District. So from what I've gathered, we've got that long to either blow this popsicle stand or hunker down in this room and hope nobody manages to turn the city into an even bigger crater than it already is. Any ideas?"

Gerardo's headcrest drooped. "Even more unfortunate. I wager it will take much of that time to even get back to Sosa, assuming we travel at top speed?"

"Yeah, probably." Valey shrugged. "You guys weren't thinking of playing the heroes, were you? Because take it from me: even with me on your side, brawling skill isn't what it'll take to keep the peace any more. You'd have to assassinate Herman and keep those armies apart with a forcefield... and that yak is basically invincible. Even I probably couldn't lay a scratch on him. You could probably stab him with your magic sword and still not be able to kill him while he's stunned. So basically, that's a no-go."

Maple wilted. "So after all this, we probably can't save Sosa from the bombs?"

"Bombs?" Valey tilted her head such that one ear flopped, squinting at Maple. "Well, I mean... Hey, you remember how I kept saying we were stuck in that trap, right? As in, more than just me?"

"I think I do...!" Maple breathed. "Why? Who was with you?"

"Some representative from Yakyakistan." Valey shrugged. "Probably a scientist. Her name was Fire. She was pretty cute, and didn't say much about herself, but was completely clueless about the situation with the districts and all their tensions here. One thing I considered was that the trap was for her and not me. Something tells me Herman doesn't want to do anything too bad while she's watching... but it's just a hunch. Anyway, as long as she's out and about, I've got a feeling the worst that'll happen is a Defense Force massacre. I mean, if you ask me, that's all Herman wants in the first place, but still."

"Might I ask what your plan was, then?" Gerardo interjected. "And, incidentally, where might we find this scientist? It sounds like she could be a valuable ally."

Valey stretched her wings, staring at the stairs to the room's exit. "Well, I thought we'd break into the skyport, steal ourselves an airship, and high-tail it somewhere else. Maybe, uh..." She blinked. "Wherever you guys were going next? Honestly, Varsidel's a dump, Yakyakistan is Yakyakistan, and the griffons are... Well, I figured there was a reason why Birdo was here and not there. Maybe we could go hang out in the Griffon Empire."

Gerardo hesitated. "So, in short, we would make a direct break for it."

"Not quite direct," Valey corrected. "I have one stop to make first. It's in the Flame District, so not a forever-long detour. It's super important to me, and we are not skipping it no matter what. Fortunately, it's also the place that scientist was heading when she and I parted ways, so if you feel like doing some hero work instead of running for the hills, that helps us there, too."

Maple nodded. "Then it sounds like that should be our first stop, no matter what?"

"Yeah," Valey agreed. "Then we have a plan!"

Purposefully, the group set out, Howe's unconscious form draped on Gerardo's back and Starlight once again riding Maple.