//------------------------------// // No Hurry // Story: The Olden World // by Czar_Yoshi //------------------------------// Willow and Starlight paced away from an open-air shop on a tower house's porch, a frosty treat floating in Starlight's aura. It wasn't a real breakfast, but as her tongue traced grooves in its sweet, tangy surface, she decided it was just what she wanted anyway. "How is Maple doing?" Willow asked as she walked, having gotten something smaller for herself and finished before they left. Her tail swished idly, like she had been torn between saying two different things. Starlight looked up from her iced... something. "Didn't you already ask me that?" Willow smiled apologetically down at her. "I mean how is she doing with you," she explained. "Do you think she's being a good mother?" Starlight blinked, eyes unfocusing in surprise. "Well, of course. Why wouldn't she be?" "I was just wondering what you thought," Willow hummed. "Remember, you dropped into her life very suddenly, and she's never done this before. I can see how much you care about each other, though." "...Yeah." Starlight looked away, teasing her snack with the tip of her tongue. "Why are you asking? Maple definitely cares about me." Willow took a turn, motioning for her to follow along. "Oh, I'm just an old mare who worries about her friends and wants to know how Maple is taking to doing what she's always wanted. You see her as your mother, don't you?" "Of course," Starlight replied, shuffling along. Had Willow guessed, or did they cover it when talking the previous day and she just didn't remember? "Hmmmm..." Willow made a sigh that sounded just like Maple; yet another similarity between the three ponies. She, Maple and Amber really had grown up together... or at least with Maple looking up to her deeply, Starlight mused. They continued their peaceful walk, the trip taking much longer than when Amber dashed madly through the streets, acting as Starlight's ferry. But since there was no hurry, Starlight didn't mind at all, watching the houses and the sky and the few ponies not at the plaza she saw. Everything around her, she could stop to take in, even the colored pennants which had functions she had already forgotten. The unfinished dirt roads morphed to ornate dark glass, a sure sign that they were getting close. Starlight stared downward at the sea of bright, polished pebbles suspended inside the traction-giving road. If moon glass was a monochromatic void, this glass looked like the clearest night sky, the rocks forming stars that twinkled and sparkled in the distance. They were both black, but the amount of difference in the types of darkness was almost startling. She wondered if Arambai had deliberately made the aesthetic as a counterpoint to moon glass after moving to Riverfall. It wouldn't have surprised her at all. "Here we are," Willow musically announced, at last trotting up the short steps of a four-story tower's porch. "Do you want to come in, Starlight? I need to at least check on Faron and White Chocolate, and make sure they're both alright and nopony tried to return my foals after we left yesterday." "Sure." Starlight shrugged, standing beside her, having long since finished her treat. What was the worst that could... No, best not to answer that. "Hello?" Willow knocked politely on her own door, then took a step back. "Faron? White Chocolate?" Starlight lit her horn, performing her scanning spell after several seconds of silence. "No one's on the bottom floor," she informed her. "They probably can't hear you." "Oh well..." Willow sighed and pushed the door open. The house's kitchen level looked neat and orderly. If anyone had used it, they had done so with respect and cleaned up properly after themselves. Starlight couldn't tell if the hanging pots and pans were in their real places, or just somewhere that worked, but Willow looked satisfied, moving for the spiral staircase in the center. "Hello?" she repeated, craning her silvery head up to the second floor. "Willow?" two voices echoed back at her, one male and one female. Starlight scurried up behind her, unable to get all the way up with Willow blocking the staircase. "There you are," Willow sighed, sounding relieved. "You two look better than you could have." Faron's voice didn't reply, leaving an awkward silence. But White Chocolate quickly broke it with an invitation: "You can come up, if you like." "Being invited inside my own home," Willow remarked with a small smile, climbing all the way up and making room for Starlight. "I'm glad you're doing better." The second floor was just as stacked with bookshelves as it had once been, two staircases sweeping around the rim in a double helix and a giant felt reclining chair placed in front of a dormant hearth. On it, Faron and White Chocolate were perched, snuggled slightly closer than Starlight's personal comfort. The latter had her fluffy bathrobe, but it was draped around both of their shoulders, and her eyes were clear and unobscured by dangling mane or eyepatches... if a bit puffy and red. Faron looked almost like he was sleeping. White Chocolate's eyes widened. "Your home? I wasn't trying to-!" "Shhhh," Willow interrupted. "I told you you could use it as long as you need, but we can find something else long-term. I'm just checking in. Everything here is all right?" Faron nodded, not meeting her gaze. White Chocolate, though, struggled to her hooves, taking several seconds to extract herself from the seat and properly right herself. "Where are you going now?" she asked, swaying slightly. "Just taking a walk," Willow said. "I might check in on where I left our foals. Why?" "I think I need some exercise," White Chocolate admitted, walking toward the stairwell. "I don't want to go out on my own, though. Do you mind if I come with you?" Willow shook her head, and Faron also shrugged in approval. Starlight was the first down the staircase, propping open the door to outside and sitting in it, holding it open and watching the two mares descend. Side by side, just like the previous day, she really couldn't see a difference... "How much did I miss?" a raspy voice drawled from the shadows next to her. By then, Starlight was used enough to being snuck up on that she only jumped to her hooves instead of hitting her head on the ceiling. "Valey!" "Hiya." Valey waved lazily from the shadowed porch next to her, climbing out and getting to her hooves. Starlight waited, sensing she had more to say, but it never came. Eventually, Willow reached the door, catching the eye of the batpony. "Hello, Valey," she remarked calmly. "If you were following us, you should have shown yourself earlier. I would have bought you a treat too." Valey blinked, then swung a hoof, feigning massive disappointment. "Oh, come on! I missed the treats? Seriously?" When Willow raised a hoof to cut in, she continued. "Nah, I'm... urp! I'm good." She patted her stomach in satisfaction. "Found some great stuff in Ironflanks' pantry to start the morning. Just caught up. So what kind of hooliganery are we up to today, Grandma?" "Grandma?" White Chocolate glanced at them both in concern. Willow smiled ruefully. "Amber's affectionate name for me. Apparently it's starting to spread..." She raised a mischievous eyebrow at Valey. "Though if you knew why she called me that, you might not be so keen to do so." "Uhhh..." Valey balked for all of two seconds, before shrugging and sticking her tongue out. "Nah. Don't know, don't care. Grandma. But like seriously though, where are we going? Nothing trying to turn me into a throw rug is snazzy, but I'm actually getting bored." Willow shook her head, not giving Valey an inch. "We're not blowing anything up, judging by how you were talking last night. Starlight and White Chocolate and I are taking a walk wherever we feel like, and you're welcome to join us." White Chocolate smiled apologetically. "I don't know what there is here to walk to, so..." "Meh." Valey shrugged, picking a direction and taking a step. "Wanna go back to the ship? See how Sparky's holding up? I'd also be down for treats. Or we could go mess with Birdo. As long as we don't run into that stupid pirate or get bored, I'm down for anything." "A pirate?" White Chocolate arched her brows in concern. "Jellyjugs," Valey replied with an irate flick of her tail. "Don't like her. Think she's yours." White Chocolate bit her lip, looking like she wasn't sure whether to apologize. "Going to the boat might be nice," Willow quickly announced, breaking the tension. "I haven't gotten to see it properly from the inside. And it's not a long walk from here." "I didn't see a lot of it besides my cabin," White Chocolate agreed. Starlight shrugged. It wasn't like she had anywhere better to be.