Starlight rode in a familiar position on Willow's back, the silvery mare trudging slowly through the muddying, darkened streets of Riverfall on her way to Maple's house. A rain-slicked rubber poncho covered both of them, but Willow was slightly bigger than the average pony and with Starlight on her back, the protective covering didn't even reach halfway down her legs.
"Tired?" she asked as Starlight slumped, pressed into her neck.
"A little," Starlight answered with a sleepy sigh. Okay, a lot, but it looked like it was getting late above the rainclouds, and she had been up early that day. Besides, talking and interacting with that many enthusiastic strangers took a lot out of her.
It was as if Willow could read her mind. "You probably enjoyed having Dior there to be the center of attention," she remarked. "I thought we would have to leave a lot earlier."
Starlight's thoughts wandered around the house party they had been invited to when it started raining, unable to distract herself with anything else. There had been mares... lots of mares... lots of bouncy, smiling, teasing mares that had gone to great lengths to harass Dior, even if she got the impression he somehow didn't mind. More than a few had remembered her, but they gave her space. Odd, how they could mercilessly play and respectfully back off at the same time.
"What about White Chocolate?" she asked. "They were constantly looking at her, too."
White Chocolate had left early, one of the party's attendants offering to show her the way home, which Starlight had a sneaking suspicion had been done at Willow's insistence so she wouldn't have to leave Starlight alone. She hadn't done well with that many pairs of curious eyes, even if the mares were more interested in her resemblance of Willow than the state of her family affairs. Starlight thought back to that murderously hot morning in Ironridge, when they had packed the evacuation cart with White Chocolate reluctant to be seen outside...
Willow hummed. "What about her? That she had to go home early, or why she looks like me, or what will happen to her?"
Starlight shrugged beneath the poncho. "All of the above?" She hadn't had anything in particular in mind with the question.
"Hmmmm..." Willow sighed, the rain hissing down around her. "She isn't as resilient as you, Starlight, and has been knocked down to where she is for a lot longer. I'm proud of her for asking to join us on our walk more than anything. I don't think she's used to other ponies, and don't expect her to be, but can tell that she wants to change. I think some day, she'll be able to lead a happy and normal life, just like we do."
"Excluding Ironridge," Starlight grumbled.
"Excluding Ironridge." Willow turned her head inside the hood so Starlight could see her smile.
Willow exhaled. "As for us looking alike, when we were talking the night before, she told me her mother was from Riverfall. It's very possible we're related, though there's no way to know for sure. Ancestry is very hard to track here, sometimes. It's part of the appeal of having a husband and a stable family. But I was raised by a pool of mares who all took turns shuffling around foals, many of which weren't even theirs, and don't know who either of my parents are. It's even possible we are twins. Our ages are similar, though I don't know my exact birthday. Like I said, there's no way to know for sure."
"You're twins?" Even though it had been repeated twice, Starlight's eyes widened, still questioning. She had never questioned the resemblance as anything more than an uncanny coincidence.
"It's possible," Willow hummed. "If she considered it, she didn't say so. Neither did Maple. But I don't think it matters. Either way, my family has always been the ponies I care about, like Maple and Amber, rather than the ones I'm related to by blood. I'm sure you know how that feels."
"Yeah," Starlight grunted. "Though my family in Equestria adopted me, too. I don't know who my real parents are."
"Your real parents are right here in Riverfall," Willow gently told her. "Maple is real, because she's the one who matters to you. And I think of you like a daughter, too."
"Thanks," Starlight said, nuzzling harder into Willow's neck as a stray breeze managed to get under the poncho and give her a tingling chill. When she thought about it, her relationship with Willow was completely different than her one with Maple. Maple, she had been tasked with guarding, protecting and fulfilling, and she cared about her to the degree that she would teleport into a confiscated crate to follow when she was captured, or destroy her horn to summon a shield protecting her from a fall. She cared about Willow as well, but it didn't feel like she needed any of that. Willow had an air of untouchability, like she didn't need to be protected and could solve or ward off problems just by being present. It wasn't a rational feeling, Starlight knew, having more firsthoof experience than anyone could want with just how unfair the world could be, but it was a comforting one. Like right then, with Willow ferrying her safely and warmly through the mud and rain... If Maple was her mother, she couldn't place what Willow was, but she also couldn't present herself with a single reason not to relax and enjoy it.
"I wonder how Amber is doing," Willow mused, and Starlight realized she recognized one of the building decals she had memorized as a landmark: they were almost home. "She was talking this morning. Do you think she can move enough to read a book? I'm guessing tomorrow she'll try to get out of bed before she's ready, fall over and wake all of us up. But you've seen more of what that sword can do than me."
Starlight shrugged as they stepped onto Maple's porch. "Not really. I was blind, separated from Maple and unconscious for a while after she got stabbed."
"It sounds like a truly incredible trip, when you say it that way," Willow said, reaching for Maple's door. "Not that there was anything ordinary about it, of... course...?" She pushed twice at the door, and it gave a wooden grinding, budging an inch and not much more. "Is something wrong with the door? It won't open, but doesn't usually feel like this when it's locked."
"I'll get it," Starlight announced, teleporting off Willow's back and into the house.
Almost immediately, she landed, tripped on a towel, and faceplanted in the darkness. "Ow!" Lighting her horn, Starlight got to her hooves, glad she hadn't used much magic that day, and examined the door. "Uhhh... it looks broken," she announced, seeing Willow watching her through a crack. "This hinge is just hanging here and not in the wall." She frowned, turning for the staircase. "Hello!?"
"Starlight!" Maple's voice called back, and a moment later her adoptive mother tumbled down the stairs, barely keeping her hooves beneath her in her haste. Her mane had the half-frazzled look of being extremely stressed earlier and no brushings since she had calmed down. "You're back!"
Starlight was immediately wrapped in a hug, and took a step back to brace herself against falling over. "You missed me," she noted. "Uh... I'll let you know myself next time I take a walk? And I wasn't meaning to be gone the whole day..." Her ears flattened. "Are you all right?"
"I'm not mad at you," Maple reassured, letting her go and staring at the hinge. "Just... still steamed at that griffon. Willow, are you stuck out there?"
"Maple, what happened to your door?" Willow called back through, standing patiently with the rain pouring down on her poncho. "It can open, right?"
Maple wore an awkward frown. "It took a long time to re-seat it so it would be as insulated as possible. We were going to fix it tomorrow. Give me a minute? I think I can get it open again..."
"No need!" Valey strolled lazily down the stairs, her bandages looking like they had seen better days. "Leave it to the Valey Express. Weird shadow magic doesn't freak you out, right?"
"Are you talking to me?" Willow asked, unable to see what was going on as Valey tapped Starlight's horn to extinguish her light spell, then slipped into the shadows and swam through the crack under the door. "I don't have any experience with-"
"Aaagh woah it's raining out here!" Valey suddenly yelped from behind the door. "Okay, doing this fast!"
A second later, and she and Willow were inside. Willow staggered, clutching her chest, eyes spinning as she panted for breath. "I wasn't expecting... What was...?"
"Spooky bat magic," Valey grunted, streaming water onto the already-sodden floor towels with her head down and back arched like an unhappy cat. She twitched several times, repressing the urge to shake and repeat Gerardo's mistake, so waterlogged even her cheek fur drooped under the weight of what her coat had absorbed. "Hey, Ironflanks? A little help here?"
Maple looked helplessly between her and the empty towel rack. "There's a laundry place we usually take them to get them dry..."
As Willow tried to fold her poncho so it wouldn't drip anywhere important and Valey dripped endlessly, Starlight hefted a towel and thought. She could take her saddlebags with her when she teleported, right? Maybe it would be possible to visit a neighboring house and borrow some to bring back. She had knocked on a door that morning, after all. Acacia's house was nearby, and had a balcony covering the porch she could safely teleport under without getting wet or entering uninvited, though they also barely knew each other. And she had just teleported inside, and didn't think she could manage three times in quick succession. Two would already be pushing it...
"Meh," Valey said, rolling in the wet towels. "Not that important. I'll just sleep in front of the oven tonight and hope I don't get the sniffoos. Seriously, rain isn't fair."
So much for that plan. Starlight's stomach growled as she gave Valey one last glance. Tomorrow, at least, or whenever it stopped raining she would see about visiting Acacia again, though. It would be useful to be on good enough terms that she could ask to borrow towels or anything else in a pinch like this.
Maple heard the noise loud and clear, and it snapped her out of her stupor. Nosing Starlight, she pushed the filly toward the stairs, murmuring, "Come on. I pulled a tray of spiced garlic broccoli out of the oven just before you arrived, and I think you'll love it."