//------------------------------//
// Fan Filly 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

"Nnnngh... hrmmm... mmmph..."

Valey grunted in thought, her best three limbs wrapped around the underside of a tree branch as she dangled, her free hoof rifling through hanging bunches of bananas. One detached at her touch, falling to the ground with a wet splat.

"Stealing fruit is hard with no wings!" she finally complained, huffing and hanging her upside-down head to look at Starlight and Hestia for sympathy. "And all these bananas are squishy, too! Probably got frozen by that stupid storm. Rrrgh."

Starlight shrugged, opting not to damage her horn helping. She could still feel the ghost of the presence of the pink flame, recalling how last time, she had been able to cast a single spell with the flame's aid after leaving the crystal palace that didn't leave her any wear. If she had another free shot, picking bananas was not the best thing to use it on.

Hestia could have helped, but she was busy keeping an eye on the occasional, clueless passers-by. Probably best for someone to stay wary, even if Valey had her cutie mark and most of the passing ponies paid them absolutely no attention beyond a glance. All carried things; some were laden with bags large and small, while others pulled carts not unlike the ones used in the Gnarlbough evacuation. Still, the traffic was thin, and for all Starlight knew were regular merchants crossing from one side of the city to the other. Ironridge might have lost its connections to the outside world, but was still big and varied enough to trade with itself, right?

Directly overhead, Starlight saw an airship drifting lazily in on the wind. How connected was the world abroad? Did other nations know what had happened to Ironridge? Would they keep sending ships, and would ships already in transit keep arriving, until the lack of ships coming back told them something was amiss? The arriving crews would probably be shocked to find the skyport a shattered, powerless ruin, leaving them with no way to recharge their ships and return home.

"Hey, I found some good ones!" Valey crowed from above her, waving a bunch of bananas. Deftly peeling one with her teeth, she popped it whole into her mouth, munching and chewing as loudly as possible. "Oh, yummerly..."

"What's she doing?" a curious mare's voice asked from beside Starlight.

"Stealing these wonderful bananas," Valey replied around a very full mouth. "Don't tell anyone and you can have one too. Here, this one's mushy. The others are-"

She stopped in mid-chew, halfway through flinging a banana with her good hoof, actually looking at who she was talking to, and her jaw dropped. "Buhhh."

Starlight turned as well, curious at what had gotten Valey's attention. It was a pink pegasus mare, hitched to a small cart with a few boxes and furniture items. The mare's nose was reddened, and she wore a thick, bottle-green sweater. The weather was fair right then, but didn't she know how murderously hot the Earth District could grow?

"...Do I know you?" Starlight asked, trying to recall a reason for Valey's reaction. Pink pegasus mare... Something rang a bell in her mind, but she had met far too many ponies over the past few days to remember what.

"You are!" the mare chirped, her face brightening... and suddenly contorting. "I... I... Ah..."

Starlight furrowed her eyebrows. "Huh?"

"CHOOO!"

The mare blew herself backwards with a mighty sneeze, tumbling and rolling head over heels until she landed against the cart, half-sitting and wiping her nose with a dazed expression on her face. Starlight tried to blink, then realized with alarm that she had instinctively summoned a crystal to shield herself; she dispelled it instantly, hoping it hadn't used up the pink flame's enchantment on her horn.

Behind her, there was a crash of foliage as Valey fell out of the tree.

"Sorry... I..." The mare covered her nose with a hoof, and the next sneeze turned into a yawn. "Still have a cold," she admitted apologetically before brightening. "You're that filly that was with Gerardo! Right? The griffon adventurer extraordinaire?" She cutely folded her hooves, beseeching Starlight with a smile. "Does he remember me?"

Starlight went completely blank. "What? How should I know?"

"Oh, come on!" Valey yelled behind her, stomping off into the heavy undergrowth.

Hestia looked curiously at Starlight, giving her the impression she had just as much of an idea what was going on as she did. Starlight looked back at the pegasus. "I have no idea who you are."

"Oh." The pegasus looked down. "I'm Slipstream. Skyport information desk attendant? I took a griffon named Gerardo to lunch, and a filly that I thought looked like you. Then I helped him get to Skyfreeze a few nights ago. But now things are looking down, and... N-Never mind. I just thought you were someone else."

Starlight blinked in recognition. "That was you?" Before Slipstream could say anything, she added, "If you want to know whether Gerardo remembers you, just go ask him yourself. He's probably up by the bridge that used to connect the skyport and Skyfreeze. It's not that cold up there, right now."

"That was you!" Slipstream gasped, getting back to her hooves. "I knew it!"

"Okay..." Starlight looked her up and down, wondering whether to ask her what she was doing in the Earth District. Now that she tried to remember, she had a vague recollection of being taken to lunch in the skyport on the first day, with a host who didn't seem to like the lower districts much. Part of her was curious, and the other part didn't want to get sneezed on again.

"The skyport is gone," Slipstream said, deciding she didn't need an invitation to talk. "The news isn't completely sure what happened yet, but... I've been to Skyfreeze and I'm out of the job. And now that there are so many homeless Earth District ponies from the flood, ponies are probably going to get pushed south, and the cost of housing will go up. So I decided to move west and find a cheaper place down here, since I don't have any more income and need to make my savings last as long as possible. I have a cold from flying with Gerardo through the snow, too. I probably won't be taking anyone out to lunch again any time soon..."

"Flying Gerardo through the snow?" Starlight shook her head, trying to remember how events had gone. "He doesn't owe you anything, does he?"

Slipstream brightened slightly. "Well, he did say he was an adventurer, and I might have been fantasizing just a little when you showed up..."

Starlight frankly had no clue how to deal with the pegasus, barely recollecting her herself. Still... "Hestia?" she called. "Could you take her back to Gerardo, then come back here?"

Slipstream jumped, unbuckling herself from the strap tethering her to the wagon as Hestia bowed her head. Soon, they were both gone in a flash of light.

With a crackling of fallen branches, Valey picked her way back out of the forest, a large haul of bananas cradled against her. "Ow... ow ow... ow...!"

"Are you okay?" Starlight looked at her in concern. "Did you know her, or something?"

Valey grinned halfheartedly. "Nah. She was just totally my type."





Hestia returned, only to vanish again, porting away some of Slipstream's belongings with her. And again, and again, until the entire pile was gone. All the while, Valey hoarded more fruit, eventually convincing Hestia to lug that back to the ship as well.

"My horn," the teleporter informed them upon clearing the last of the load, "does have a limit. It isn't close, but I will reach it with too much more of this work. I apologize, but if there's anywhere important left to go, please make that a priority."

Starlight took a moment to think about that. As far as she was concerned, Ironridge and her didn't get along, so aside from getting herself a breath of fresh air or Valey some fruit, where did she even have to go to? Anything for any of her friends? Gerardo had his sword; she wasn't sure what else he would want. Maple...

Maple would want to check on White Chocolate.

The problem, though, was that Starlight didn't know where White Chocolate was. She had gone to Karma Industries during the evacuation, and all she knew was that everyone in the wagon supposedly had been diverted somewhere else. Maple or Gerardo could probably find them, but Maple was asleep and she had just left Gerardo to deal with a problem that sounded at least partially of his own making. But how else was she supposed to get there?

"Take me..." She hesitated. Karma Industries, in hopes someone had kept things organized enough for ponies to be found? Or back to the airship, to try to ask Gerardo? "Ummm..."

"Is there anything particular you're looking for?" Hestia asked, trying to read her face.

"Yes," Starlight sighed. "A family. Evacuated from Gnarlbough. Probably put in a warehouse somewhere. Maple and Gerardo might know exactly where, but I don't."

"A family?" Valey blinked curiously at her. "Who's this? Have I met them?"

Starlight shook her head. "The mother's name is White Chocolate. Probably not."

Valey's eyes perked. "White Chocolate? Ooh. Does she live up to it? Quality candy makers are ridiculously hard to come by, and that stuff keeps way better than fruit."

"I can take you to the evacuation headquarters at Karma Industries," Hestia offered. "Someone there might be able to help you look them up, if they're not too busy."

Starlight didn't doubt that they would be... until Valey interrupted, pointing a smug hoof at herself. "Hey! Good with paperwork, remember? I mean, mostly good at ruining it, but you have to know the rules to break them. You need some records parsed, I can do it lickity split."

"Okay." Starlight shrugged. "Let's go to Karma Industries, then."