//------------------------------//
// Casting Off 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

Starlight slowly came to, sighing internally. She was going back to Ironridge.

Maple's bed was emptier than usual. It was just her and her mother; Willow had wanted to spend a night at home with her foals before they left, and Amber was who knew where. Starlight couldn't smell anything from the kitchen, good or bad, and assumed if Valey was there, she wasn't trying to make breakfast again. The sound of rain was absent from the roof, but judging by the petrichor she could smell through a cracked window, it had stopped coming down not long ago. It was sad, almost.

Forget that, it was sad. Starlight suddenly shook from a sob she didn't see coming, quickly stilling herself in case she woke Maple. It had only been a few days since Ironridge, and already she had fallen in love with the routine her friends had set up. All of them, waking together in the morning, with Valey just outside the door... It was a portent that the day would be good. Better than the bad days in her life, where she had been sad and lonely enough to run away across an uncrossable mountain range and blame all her troubles on cutie marks.

She hugged Maple, who was still there. Amber and Willow had lives and houses of their own. And while they might stay a little longer if she told them she needed it... that wasn't what friends were for.

Now they were going back to Ironridge, and she wasn't even sure if she was over the last time.

"Starlight..." Maple murmured drowsily, reacting to her hug and wrapping a forelimb around her back. "You're fidgeting..."

"Don't get up," Starlight said. "I'm fine."

"Wasn't planning on it... Mmmmm..." Maple adjusted herself in the bed and went back to sleep.

Starlight sighed and kept her own eyes closed. It wasn't noon yet. They could sleep in a while longer.





"Starlight? Are you awake yet?"

Starlight was. She wasn't even sure if she had gone back to sleep, but couldn't say she hadn't. "Hi," she grunted, mouth feeling sticky from disuse. She needed a drink.

"Today, hmm?" Maple's voice sounded gentle, almost resigned. "I wonder what I was thinking, deciding for all of us we should go back. I suppose it's too late to have second thoughts now..."

"Maple," Starlight said, getting her attention. She swallowed. Valey had said a lot the previous day... or was it the day before? And she didn't know how much of it she believed or even remembered, but she had promised to talk to Maple about it some time before they left. And now was the best time she was going to get.

"About going to Ironridge..." She started, then paused. "Do you really think going to see if anything good will happen is the best reason to go? I know you've told me about how much happened to you and how important it is for you to remember that good thing can happen to us, but that doesn't mean you should be reckless, or that bad things can't happen. We're not invincible, and taking risks because you hope you'll be able to feel like you are..."

Maple stilled. "Is that how you see this?"

Starlight winced. Had she said this wrong? "No. I mean... Valey asked me to talk to you about it. I just want to keep you safe."

There was a long silence... and then Maple sighed. "I don't know, Starlight. Maybe you're right. I feel like... I feel..." She tensed unhappily. "I just feel bad about how much trouble I got us in. I know Valey said it turned out for the best, but that doesn't mean they were smart decisions. We just... got lucky. I got lucky, and luck is the only reason I didn't get us killed. And thinking about that hurts."

"Valey said that too," Starlight said. "That even though she told you she's glad about how things turned out, it still wasn't smart to go back out into Ironridge after her once we were safe."

Maple made an unhappy noise halfway between a groan and a whimper. "I just don't like knowing that I put you in danger. I want Ironridge to have been safe..."

Starlight exhaled. "I know."

"Do you think we shouldn't go, then?" Maple asked. "That we should find Amber and Willow and... tell them I want to change my mind, and cancel at the last minute? Then everyone will be disappointed, and..."

Starlight shook her head. "Valey said she still thinks going back is the right choice. Just that she's worried about your reasons for it."

"And what do you think?" Maple asked stiffly. "Valey can tell me herself, Starlight. Do you want to go back to Ironridge? Do you think I should?"

"I don't know what I want," Starlight said. "I mean it, and I'm trying to find out. I need something I can be happy with, and I don't even know if I know what that means. I love waking up with you and your friends in the mornings, like yesterday and the day before. I want to keep you safe. I want to live in Riverfall, be happy in Riverfall and make Riverfall work, for you. I'll follow you to Ironridge, or stay here and make myself enjoy Riverfall, no matter what."

"Make yourself happy?" Maple sounded worried.

"Yes." Starlight huffed. "Riverfall is... nice. It's peaceful. But some of the mares are weird, and I think they're afraid of me. I don't know anyone except for you, Amber, Willow and everyone we went to Ironridge with. Remember how last time, Hemlock found out and told everyone I was from Equestria, because he wanted revenge on me for his crane? He still hates me. He might try something like that again. At least I don't have any big secrets this time. Maple, Riverfall is good, and I'll make it work for you. But at least I'll need to work for it."

"Oh, Starlight..." Maple murmured, hugging her close. "I don't know what to do..."

"Ironridge did just blow up, you know." Starlight shrugged in her grasp. "If there are any Spirit ponies left, they're leaderless, and I think they all gave up while we were in the skyport. I don't think the Defense Force will cause trouble, if they even still exist. If Arambai thinks they will, he can disband them. The yaks are gone, and Herman started it all. I think everyone who's left is on the same side, and Gerardo promised not to be pushy and get us in trouble again. Maybe it will be safe this time."

"Ohhhhh..."

Starlight didn't say anything. Maple needed her to lay there and let her hug her, so she did. For several long moments, Maple's face was buried in her coat, and eventually Starlight felt two wet spots where Maple's eyes were.

"Starlight? Can I tell you something?"

Starlight shrugged. "Okay."

Maple took a deep breath. "In Ironridge... at the end, when I was paralyzed and holding you and trying to keep you from disappearing... my memory is fuzzy. There was a lot of magic involved, and a lot of fatigue. But somehow, I got inside Braen's armor, and it made me strong enough to carry you all the way to the crystal palace and that tree. It didn't... It didn't feel like I was doing it. I don't even know how I got inside the armor. It was like I was in a dream, almost not even moving for myself. I felt the same way for the hours I was laying there, holding you and not able to do anything. This could just be me wanting to believe in something better than what's true, but it was like there was something helping me. Something watching out for me."

"Huh," Starlight said.

Maple adjusted her foreleg around Starlight's back. "I know, my memory is fuzzy and there was a lot of magic and it was so difficult, I'm sure I could believe anything about it that would help me to cope. It's probably just me being me and looking for something special where it doesn't exist. Right?"

Starlight murmured in half-agreement. Anything that Maple found to help, though...

"But there's one thing," Maple whispered. "One thing I keep getting stuck on every time I try to dismiss it that I don't understand. Maybe I'm forgetting something again, and please tell me if I am. But..." She swallowed. "I never saw much of the skyport. We were there a little on the first day, when we went to the museum. I wasn't there at all on the last day. I was laying paralyzed in the airship the whole time. I didn't even see it. But somehow... and I know I'm not imagining this, because I saw it again after I got you back... when I was going down below, I went into a maintenance tunnel beneath the skyport. It was an underground road for workers, or something. And there was an emergency exit door, and a long staircase, and it let out into the Flame District. Into that giant drilling room with the elevator to the tree. If I ever knew that was there, it was subconsciously at best, but I can't think of when I ever would have found it out, or how I would have remembered it then. But it was like I knew my way perfectly."

Starlight thought, parsing her brain for explanations. "The same passage we used on our way back out?"

"I think so," Maple murmured. "I was so tired then, too. I don't really remember. But I think so."

"Hmmm..." Starlight frowned. "Maybe... Braen knew about it, or something, and you somehow got it from her memories even after she turned back into a suit of armor?" She shook her head. "I don't know how. I remember Fire was using Braen to help us out since the elevators were destroyed, and she couldn't figure out how to use Braen's jetpack. If the armor gives you memories, that shouldn't have happened. But maybe that's how it works? I can't think of anything else..."

Maple sighed. "You're probably right. It happened, so I'm not sure it matters how. I guess I just like the idea of being watched over, somehow. Like there's something that doesn't have to make sense keeping me safe. I just don't want to imagine everything that happened to me before I met you being able to happen again..."

"Bad things happen, Maple," Starlight said apologetically. "You had to deal with it. So did I. It hurts, but you can't just pretend they don't any more or you'll get hurt again. Like with Ironridge."

Whimpering, Maple burrowed back into her coat. "I guess I haven't dealt with everything from before I met you as well as I thought..."

"Can you even truly fix things like that?" Starlight asked. "I still love you anyway. Just so you know. And that won't change."

"Mmmm... thanks..."

They were silent for a minute, Maple holding Starlight as she thought. Eventually, an idea flickered across her mind. "Remember when we were in the skyport right after Herman was defeated, when Fire showed everyone that there were windigoes and everyone was trying to think up a plan to stop them?" Her brain started spinning faster and faster. "I sort of remember Gerardo mentioning a passage like that then? I don't know if he said how to reach it, but maybe he at least said it was there? Maybe?"

"I wasn't there, remember?" Maple corrected, sounding disappointed. "I was in the engine room of the ship, being used as a battery."

"Oh." Starlight felt her ears droop. "Well... I heard it, so... since you were holding me, maybe somehow... I was looking out for you?" She shrugged. "I don't remember anything. But the last few times I used the harmony extractor before that, I forgot a little about what I was doing before I woke up, too. So maybe I did and just forgot?"

Maple nuzzled her. "I don't think it matters. We're all right now, and maybe going back to Ironridge is safe. We should ask our friends one more time to be sure, but I really want to... to be happy, and know that everything is all right. Thank you for talking to me, Starlight. And for enjoying these mornings with me."

"Mmm," Starlight agreed.

Maple stretched, releasing her from her hug. "I think," she announced, "that we should get breakfast... or an early lunch, if we've slept in as long as I think we have, and then go to the airship to see if the others are there. Unless you're not that hungry, in which we could go to the airship first and see if they have food there?"

Starlight shrugged. "Okay. Either is fine."

Maple nodded, getting up. "I think I can make it to the airship. It feels lonely in here with the two of us. Hmmm..."

"Okay." Again having no objections, Starlight climbed to her own hooves, ran a hoof through her mane, checked her horn and prepared to start the day.





"...And that's how we feel," Maple finished, standing with Starlight before Amber, Willow, Valey, Shinespark, Matryona, Dior and Gerardo. White Chocolate and Faron were there as well, as were Willow's elder foals Alder and Fir, and White Chocolate's Hayseed.

"You thought it over." Valey nodded appreciatively. "Good for you. Sounds like we've got a full party who are going!"

"It sounds like it..." Amber sighed, grinning apprehensively. "There go those nerves again. Whooo boy. I'm simultaneously so excited and scared and I really hope Ironridge is everything we thought it would be..."

Maple smiled sadly. "It isn't, but maybe it will be more enjoyable than the last time I went. At least this time won't begin with me saying goodbye to all of you..."

"That's something I'm glad for," Willow agreed, walking over to stand next to her. "Even if I am needing to say goodbye to my children for a few days longer..."

Both of her foals saluted so smartly that it had probably been practiced as a joke. "Don't you worry about us, Mum!" Alder proclaimed, his likeness to Sunburst still triggering the tiniest feelings of alarm in the back of Starlight's head. "Living with Madrona and Sequoia has been an adventure! And we'll get to tell you all about it when you're back!"

Fir good-naturedly rolled her eyes. "You can go on adventures too, so long as you have good stories when you come back! Nothing interesting ever happens in Riverfall!" She lifted an eyebrow at Starlight. "Except for you, River Filly. How come you haven't been by again to hang out with us? We should be friends!"

Starlight shrugged. "Okay." Really, she had just been complaining about how few ponies in Riverfall she knew...

"Girls? Everyone?" Maple cleared her throat, stepping forward. "Remember how last time we left, I made grilled pineapple for everyone as a special treat? Valey just restocked my pantry, and there's another pineapple in there. So this time, I'd like to make it again, when we get back. In the name of having a successful trip to Ironridge."

"Hear, hear!" Amber pumped a hoof, still leaning on Valey.

"If we're saying good-byes..." White Chocolate looked around, glancing between Faron and Hayseed. "I want to thank you, Maple and Willow, for getting me out of Ironridge and giving me your old house and reuniting me with my husband, and..." Faron braced her shoulder fondly with his, and she bowed. "When you get back, I hope your trip will have gone wonderfully."

Willow nodded back to her, touching her chin with a forehoof. "And I hope your new life in Riverfall goes just as well. Perhaps we will get to meet your foal when we come back?"

White Chocolate put a hoof on her belly and smiled. "Perhaps."

"Since this is the time for good-byes..." Dior cleared his throat. "Mother, may I?"

Matryona nodded, her signature robe still missing. Starlight almost wondered if she had been wearing it with the intention all along of taking it off once that recording was played... or maybe it was in anticipation of reuniting with Arambai.

Dior gave a bow of his own. "I'll be staying in Riverfall, doing my best to continue my father's work here, and do all of you proud. I may not be welcome in Ironridge any longer, but you all are my family and I would be honored for you to visit whenever you see fit. As has been par for all my life... I'll do my best to ensure the town is still standing when you return."

"We'll be back," Shinespark said with a resolute nod, some of the fire that defined her eyes for her entire time in Ironridge having finally returned. "No matter where I go next, we'll stop by Riverfall first. We'll have some friends to drop off, after all." She glanced to Maple, Willow, Amber, Starlight and Valey.

"And I shall travel wherever the winds take me," Gerardo vowed. "Erm... Miss Maple, I'm horrifically sorry I never got around to repairing your door. I'll do that upon our return, I assure you."

"You'll have to beat me to it!" Amber grinned, eyeing the black sword stashed at Gerardo's side. "Once I'm back in shape, that is."

Maple sighed loudly, giving Gerardo a vaguely forgiving look. "I do appreciate that you gave me space when I asked for it, at least. Even if it took until we got back from Ironridge. The door's... still standing, even if it doesn't close properly. It'll definitely need work when we get back."

"And we will return," Valey insisted, covering Maple and Starlight's backs with her wings, her golden pendant glinting in the noon light. "All of us. I'll keep us safe. You can count on it."

"Don't you know it," Amber said with a wink.

Dior turned for the gangplank. "Well, we shouldn't keep you. All who are staying, feel free to drop by Arambai's house with me later today, if you'd care for a non-adventurers party. Foals are welcome. We'll make everyone who's running off to Ironridge wish they'd stayed here instead!"

"Har har," Amber chuckled dryly, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, maybe best not to tempt fate on that so soon."

Dior nodded. "Point taken. Sister, Mother, I bid you all farewell."

"And you too, Dior," Shinespark said, standing tall despite her cast, watching as he, White Chocolate, Faron and the foals sans Starlight disembarked, before lighting her horn and retracting the gangplank. "Well. If any of you are hungry, help yourselves to the galley. I'm going to get us underway, and see how fast this airship can go when it's really working."

Resolutely, she stepped into the bridge, and soon the ship's magical energy comet flared to life, suspended by a wire mesh of glowing lines and sending thrumming, shimmering vibrations through the bodies of anyone close to it. Starlight and everyone else watched as the ship shuddered, moved... and lifted free from the running river water, the anchor retracting as it took on altitude and soon cleared the trees.

"There's no one to wave to, this time," Maple remarked, looking over the railing.

"Yeah," Amber agreed, leaning against her and watching as Dior and the others walked away, chatting among themselves. "That's because all your friends are with you, this time."

"As it should be," Willow added.

"I love you all," Maple promised. "You too, Starlight. And you, Valey. And this time, our trip will be different. It will go right. You'll see. I'll see. After everything it did to us... we are going back to Ironridge."