//------------------------------//
// Sneaky Sneaky 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

For a long period of silence, Maple and Starlight sat together after the conversation ended, letting the wind blow their manes and watching the shattered landscape go by. It was almost as peaceful as sleeping, but without the eventfulness of dreams. As much resting as Starlight had just done, she felt no urges to get up or be elsewhere.

Eventually, when the moon was nearly a third of the way through the sky, her ears pricked. It sounded like someone was descending the nearby stairs belowdecks... but the door remained closed, and no one had opened it. She frowned, reaching out with her aura and sliding it open. "Hello?"

Valey's head poked above the floor, watching them from a distance. "Huh," she said. "Thought you guys had gone to sleep, or something."

"Were you watching us?" Maple asked, craning her neck and suddenly very much not asleep.

"Maybe..." Valey glanced guiltily away. "Is that a problem? Everyone else went to bed already, so it's not like I could pester them for fun instead."

"Well, come over here so I don't feel like I have to raise my voice to talk to you," Maple sighed. "What do you...? I mean... is there anything I can help you with?"

"Meh." Valey limped closer, still favoring the hoof she had burned fighting mercenaries in the Flame District. "I beat up Herman, remember? I'm doing awesome."

Starlight looked carefully at her, and decided she didn't feel quite as awesome as she said she did.

"Everyone else on this ship, though," Valey chuckled. "If what I've been hearing is correct... Seriously, I finally put Ironridge behind me, and do it by running off with a party that could make a good therapist megarich. Like, you guys need to sort yourselves out."

Maple frowned. "Is there something you want to say?"

"Nah." Valey leaned against the nearby railing, folding her forehooves and resting her chin atop those, staring off. "I'm just bored. And, uhh... other stuff."

"Valey, are you worried about us?" Maple's tone softened. "We're making it. It's just a little more 'til Riverfall. I can wait that long."

Valey wiped her brow with her good wing, throwing a grin over her shoulder and then going back to brooding on the failing. "That's cool. I was kinda spooked I'd get drafted as group therapist again. Only so much of that I can take, you know? And probably only so much others can take of my kind of therapy. I'm pretty sure last time I just got Sparky off her butt by making her mad."

Maple looked up. "Are you talking about after the dam broke?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"Hmmm." Sighing, Maple lowered her head. "Thank you for saving me, after that. It's something I was trying not to remember, but..."

"Huh?" Valey blinked. "Oh, right, the rising river! Yeah, that was spooky. Pretty sure we both nearly croaked. Good thing I'm basically invincible, though."

Maple shivered, and didn't reply as Starlight looked at her with concern.

"Also, uhh..." Valey glanced away, as if she didn't want to continue talking. "About what you were saying earlier, with running into trouble whenever you're not feeling sad and regretting it later? I don't regret getting saved. Seriously, I'm not one hundred percent cool with certain aspects of what I am, and I'm ninety percent sure we've had this exact conversation before, but it means a lot to me. So... I appreciate it, for what my appreciation is worth."

"...Hm." Maple didn't look up, but she did start to smile. "Thanks."

Starlight, though, narrowed her brows. "About what we said earlier? That must have been hours ago. How long have you been watching us?"

Valey shrugged. "Since you two and that pregnant mare stomped past my room on your way downstairs. I was like, 'Oh no, it's night, gotta go back to bed so I don't turn nocturnal,' but already at max on naps and just figured I'd go see what all the fuss was about."

When Maple frowned too, Valey quickly added, "Hey, sorry if you like privacy, but remember, you knew exactly what kinds of minor mischief I amuse myself with when you insisted on being my friends back in the Earth District. You knew what you were getting into. And don't worry, I won't try to ruin any reputations just because I can. I just like knowing everything that's going on."

"...I guess I did," Maple sighed, relenting. "So you were listening to everything me and her said?"

"I considered following Starlight, but that stupid Jellyjugs was already following her, and I didn't want to deal with that," Valey admitted. "So yeah, I heard everything."

"I knew she wasn't in that chair by accident," Starlight grumbled.

"Really...?" Maple bit her lip. "Well... I don't know if I can ask you a question about that, but... what did you think of White Chocolate?"

Valey raised an eyebrow. "Do you really wanna know? It'll probably make you feel awkward."

Maple groaned. "If you're going to tell me you have a crush on-"

"Oh, no way!" Valey stood up and stepped back, holding her forehooves out protectively. "I know trouble when I see it, and that is such a big basket of nope looks don't even start to matter. I was going to say she totally has a crush on you."

Maple froze, going completely blank. "What?" Starlight asked, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes.

Valey licked her shoulder, smoothing a ruffled clump of fur. "I told you it would be weird."

"But... she..." Maple's pupils were tiny, her muscles rigid. Starlight worried that she was about to hyperventilate, until she finally relaxed. "Whooo," she sighed. "Okay. You're right, I wasn't prepared for that. I'm fine now. What makes you say that?"

"You saw how she was acting, right?" Valey started to pace in tight circles, still favoring her hoof. "When she was talking about her foal and all that stuff that set you off. I haven't actually met her before this and have no clue what you two have done or talked about together or how well you know each other, but that was some grade-A talking about being vulnerable to make someone else with a predisposition for it feel protective. Pretty sure she was fishing for some hugs and reassurance, and more because she wanted it than needed it. Poor her, since it totally backfired. But that's my opinion. Maybe she's just really needy and completely oblivious, or something."

Maple's face briefly washed with pain. "Well, that's going to make talking with her awkward," she finally sighed after regaining her composure. "I don't really know enough to say you're wrong. You're sure she isn't just lonely and needs a friend?"

"Oh, she's totally that too." Valey leaned back against the railing, this time resting casually. "She's probably confused herself, I bet. But still, whatever. Keep on doing your thing. Whatever she needs, she needs something. And I'll be lurking in the background just in case she goes on too much about things that are vaguely related to naughty stuff and you need someone to kill the mood and bail you out."

"This is weird," Maple sighed. "Why does everything make no sense all of a sudden? I miss Riverfall..."

"Meh. Making sense is for chumps." Valey shrugged, then resumed pacing. "But hey, you did ask, and I told you it would be weird."

"Hmmmmff..." Maple exhaled through her nose, laying down and closing her eyes. "I don't care if you're right or not. I just want to get back home. Willow and Amber can help me sort things out..."

Valey strolled over beside her. "Probably do the whole hug-hug-it's-alright thing that seems to be all the rage these days. My own recent comments aside, you have to be the most touchy-feely group of platonic friends I've ever seen."

Starlight glanced suspiciously at her. "You're talking about hugs a lot..." she said slowly. "Are you going to ask if there's room under this blanket?"

"Har har," Valey scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Nah. I told you, being a therapist isn't my thing. Unless you're specifically asking me to, in which case I've been dragged into this before..."

Maple chuckled under her breath. "It sounds like you're asking us to ask you to. I'm sure you can be lonely too, and since you'd listen to anything we talk about anyway..."

Valey raised an eyebrow. "Are you asking me to ask that?"

"I'm inviting you to," Maple said softly. "I don't know what you were up to while I was paralyzed, after Gerardo left me in the ship. But I do remember what you told me while we were in the eastern valley, that time when you stopped to rest. So I know you didn't have it easy either."

Briefly, Valey looked like she had been hit in the face with a frying pan, then laughed nervously. "Heh heh... Oh, that? Yeah, first off, I got over that when I dunked Herman. A-okay on that front, Ironflanks. And if I did want to talk about it, it would be... I dunno. Probably later. Alone. But seriously, I feel great. I'm past that."

Starlight watched her eyes, and there was a clear indication that she did want to talk about things later. "Alone?" she asked with loaded words. "Weren't you just bragging about spying on us?"

"Hey..." Valey looked away, awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck. "I'm bad at this, okay? Not a model citizen, here. I never promised I wouldn't be a hypocrite back when you convinced me to defect."

"You could try," Maple gently offered.

Valey rolled her eyes, spinning in a circle. "Yeah, right now trying for me amounts to actually being here having a conversation instead of lurking all the time. So are you going to ask me to join you under that cuddly little blanket, or what?"

Starlight lit her horn, raising the corner of the blanket on Maple's side. She might have been used to it, but this was Maple's problem to deal with.

"We're both wusses," Valey muttered, shuffling around until she was laying with all four legs tucked beneath her, only an inch separating her from Maple.

"Whatever you say," Maple murmured, choosing not to close the distance herself and instead wrapping a foreleg around Starlight as the blanket fixed itself where it had opened. "But right now, I'm the coziest wuss in the world."