"I'm glad breakfast was so tasty. Where are the others? Did you leave them behind down there?"
"Nyaaah..." Valey stretched, laying on her back atop the giant dirigible that carried Wallace's ship, mid-morning sun glinting off the sound stone balanced on her fuzzy belly. "Yeah, Birdo and Bathtub are swapping stories about Varsidel. No fun bragging when I wasn't there, so I figured I'd give... nngh... someone else a call instead! Howdy howdy howdy, and all that."
"It's nice to hear your voice too, Valey," Amber giggled through the sound stone. "Even if you call every other day already. Good thing Arambai let me keep this, huh? So, you've reached Izvaldi?"
"Yup." Valey licked her lips, catching a crumb that was stuck to her with jam. "A whole bunch has happened, so I'll stick to the important parts: unlike stinking Stormhoof, nobody goes psychotic at the sight of leafy ears here! It's great! First Ironridge, then Stormhoof... I was pretty down in the dumps."
"I heard," Amber consoled. "You weren't very happy, calling me in the tunnels. But don't just skip the non-important things! Tell me! I want to know what you've been up to!"
Valey leaned back, resting her head on a foreleg and grinning at the sky. "Well, we got mugged. In a hospital. Apparently some numbskull saw us with a celebrity he didn't like and figured we were fair game. Unfortunately, we were so far out of his league that I completely wrecked him after, and the hardest part was not crippling him by mistake. Speaking of crippling, I can move around again now. There's this weird dude called Chauncey who's like the ruler's second-in-command, or something. Think I'm gonna call him a vizier. He had some doc take a look at me, which was kind of shady but worked sweetly. I fought Wallace, too. It was just for fun, but I kicked his tail pretty hard. We blew up an entire field. It was awesome. How about you?"
Amber sounded impressed. "All that in one day, huh? How much of it did you make up?"
"Err... maybe just a little..." Valey winced. "But not the part about being able to move again. Really, I kinda feel like doing a few laps of the province just because I can."
"Sounds like you've been busy. I've been keeping on my hooves too, working on fixing up Maple's place and trying to make a positive difference on everyone's reputation around town. Carpentry's not too far away from boatbuilding, after all! I've got a new door in and most of the outside fixed up, and currently the ground floor's floorboards are all out while I look for some fresh lumber to replace them with that hasn't been hacked up and vandalized. Fixing the counter and tables will come next, and then on to the second floor! Fortunately the rafters are fine, so all I have to do is change out every single surface in the house... heh heh... It's a lot of work. But you know me, always needing something to do..."
Valey smiled. "Well, I won't ruin the surprise. We'll get old Ironflanks back there some day and see what she thinks of it. Don't get too buff hauling lumber around, though. Gotta stay cute and fuzzy!"
"I don't think you'll have to worry about that," Amber assured. "White Chocolate is a really good cook. Me and Willow are keeping her company, but she's actually doing a great job of staying active herself. She's been out and around the town a bit and even has friends who weren't part of our friend group, and we've been getting her active and involved in the whole pool-raising thing so she's still in close contact with all her kids without being overwhelmed. The oldest two and youngest two still live with her full-time, too. Where was I? Yes! Her food! Okay, so there's this soup she has..."
Valey listened for a while, tuning out the rest of the world as she nodded along. "...You're being quiet," Amber said after a while. "Everything fine?"
"Oh, sure. Just thinking and enjoying." Valey swallowed. "I've got something else to tell you too, but I'm kinda... not really sure how to talk about it. Mind if I just spit something out?"
Amber giggled. "Is it that you have a crush on me?"
"Well, duh, but..." Valey flushed. "It's about what I told you that one time when you couldn't move. About my sister, and my days in Icereach..."
"I'm listening," Amber promised, ready and there.
Valey took a deep breath, then sighed. "Here goes. Last night, I found out... I found out what Wallace and Morena are fighting for in this tournament I've been talking about. Morena's got a daughter. Cute thing, maybe a little younger than you. She's possessed by a windigo."
On the other side, Amber gasped. "What!? But that's... Are you...?" She trailed off. "I guess I can't say that's impossible, can I? After you fought so hard to save Ironridge from those yourself."
"Eh, I mostly stopped Herman. Beating the windigoes was Starlight's deal," Valey replied. "But yeah, I'm sure. I smelled it, and talked to it too. Not a pleasant conversation. Anyway, Izvaldi here is doing everything it can as a province to help find a way to bring her back, and Wallace is torn between wishing for this filly to be exorcised or granting the local lord's wish as repayment for helping him. They're doing absolutely everything they can to get her back, and it's kinda making me think..."
"About Nyala," Amber finished for her. "Your sister."
"Yeah," Valey breathed, and was still.
"Where is she now?" Amber asked. "Still in that pendant you wear?"
"Yup." Valey patted the golden artifact around her neck. "Pretty much haven't taken it off since I left Ironridge. You can see what I mean though, right? They're doing all this, and I'm..." She gritted her teeth. "I gotta do more. Izvaldi's peaceful. I've poked around, and the bad guys here are weak and I don't think anything majorly sinister is going on. There's these sisters, and I'll tell you about them later, but they're domestic trouble at worst. Point is, I'm safe, my friends are safe, and this is the best chance I've had or might ever have to get her back. You understand?"
She could practically feel Amber nodding. "You're changing what you wish for if you win the tournament, aren't you? Well, you can still get the Writ of Harmonic Sanction from Yakyakistan, right? I'm sure everyone else will understand. They'd probably be mad if you didn't!"
"Of course I am," Valey said, mouth straight. "But I can't do just that and call it a day. Wallace lectured me for hours on how to win in this tournament, you have to commit a hundred and ten percent to it, and I'm starting to get what he means by that. Even if I give everything I've possibly got to winning, that's not enough. I've gotta look for other ways to get Nyala back too, and so many are staring me in the face I feel like an idiot for spending so long doing nothing as it is."
"You're not an idiot," Amber corrected forcefully. "You might not be making progress with her sitting in your pendant, but it won't do either of you any good to focus on her when you're not safe yourself. Right now, she's just as safe as you are, so getting yourself and your other friends out of a dangerous situation is just making sure you have the chance to help her another day."
"Yeah, I know," Valey sighed. "It's just... Dorable spent so long and went to so much effort in Ironridge while I just sat around and fudged paperwork and ate bananas. You know... the half-dead scientist dude I brought back with me to try and find a way to fix me and her and got a job as a factory chief? Braen's armor works; Sparky used it as a second body for years. All I've gotta do is take this stone and put it in there where Braen's heart goes, and Nyala will have a body again. Not her real one, and she'll probably have no memories, but she'll be back, and we'll be able to work together to return both of ourselves to normal."
Amber exhaled. "Because you're missing something too. The original Valey's cutie mark, that got replaced with yours from a piece of fallen moon glass."
"I was gonna say soul, but yeah," Valey breathed, now sitting up and huddled around the stone. "It would be so easy. All the work's been done. All I'd have to do is put this stone in place. But I know that the moment I do it, there'll be no going back. I couldn't just decide to quit and turn Nyala off, or something!" She grimaced. "Last time my life changed completely and irreversibly, I was a mess for a pretty long time trying to figure it out. And... I'll have to tell all my friends, too. About her, and me, and Icereach. About how I'm something that fell from space instead of a normal pony who was born and raised with a family and friends and memories and all that good stuff."
"I guess you will, won't you," Amber said.
"Yeah." Valey sniffed. "I will."
"How can I help?"
"Way I see it, there's only one thing to do." Valey's grin returned slightly. "Talk me into it. I have to wait until Sparky gets here with her boat, either way. It'll help if you wanna listen in or be there when I actually do the talking, too, but go ahead. Talk me into it."
Resolutely, Amber paused. "It sounds like you're pretty determined to talk yourself into it before I even get the chance."
"Don't you know it," Valey replied, grin broadening. "I'm not going to be beaten by you at a silly little thing like convincing me to do something I don't wanna. Hurry up and convince me harder!"
"You said you fell from space," Amber told her, voice straight and clear. "And that that somehow makes you different, abnormal or less. But do you think Herman came from the moon? Do you think Hemlock flew here from beyond the stars? Both of them had parents and were born here, and still got to choose what side they were on in the end. I'd take you over either of them in a heartbeat, and it sure isn't because of where they're from. But if I was considering that?" Valey could almost hear her teeth glint. "I'd choose you anyway, because being from space is cool. I know Maple will agree with me, and everyone else, too, and if anyone doesn't I'll catch an airship the moment Arambai has any flying out of Ironridge and come over to slap them myself!"
"Heh. That's the spirit," Valey chuckled, standing up with the sound stone tucked beneath a wing. "I'm probably going to try to chicken out at least once more before I get the chance to tell them, so I'll be sure to keep you on call. But there's another reason I need to mare up and do this. You wanna hear it?"
"Bring it," Amber goaded, firmly on her side.
"I've got a lead." Valey smirked out at the hospital building, standing opposite from her across the central plaza. "Something to follow for getting Nyala's body back and my real soul and putting everything back together even after I put her in Braen. This mare, who got possessed by a windigo? It happened five or six years ago, and not far from Icereach."
Amber sucked in a breath. "That scientist who got away, Navarre... you think he might have had something to do with it?" She paused, then gasped again. "Starlight killed windigoes in Ironridge, so she might be able to get rid of this one, too. And if the mare got her memories back, she could potentially tell you a new hint for finding him! And he has Nyala's body, and might know where to find your own piece of moon glass! Valey, that is a way!"
"Nope. Even better," Valey replied, twitching her ears. "That windigo can talk. It's a pretty unpleasant conversationalist, but as far as I can tell, it's also an equal-opportunity lover of hatred. We are gonna help Morena get her daughter back, and if you and I are right that Navarre might have had something to do with this, I'll take any lead she can give me and follow it up with the wrath of whatever I really am. But we might not even have to wait that long. I'm gonna see about talking to this windigo again, and whether I can talk it into helping me in my feud with Navarre."
"Be careful," Amber urged. "It would be so easy for it to trick you as well! What if it gave you some arcane counterspell with horrible, irreversible effects? Or if it gave you directions to an ice cave that would just collapse and kill you? You can't trust a single thing someone literally made of hatred says!"
Valey sighed, glaring at the ground. "Yeah. I know. I'll need to be careful, and if I've got any hope of doing this, it'll involve getting it to want to hurt Navarre, as well. What I'm more worried about is the possibility of it somehow turning me against my friends, or any important allies. Wallace and Morena told us about how it almost broke apart their own team when it first appeared, and they had been friends for well over a decade. And I'm in much better shape than I was after Ironridge, but to be honest? I'm not the most mentally sturdy mare around. I've got some weak spots and flaws it could exploit, and if it doesn't have a way of magically figuring those out, my favorite flavor is old boot. This'll be hard. Really, really hard, and I'll need my friends to help me. But... it's a chance."
"Acknowledging your weaknesses is the first step in not getting them exploited," Amber assured, sounding hesitant. "But... I'd still stay completely away from that thing if I were you. It's guaranteed to be dangerous."
"Yeah." Valey glanced across the plaza, then to her hoof, a small earring laying within. Studded with a single tiny gemstone that glowed with an enchantment, she put it away and sighed. "I originally found the windigo because it smelled wrong. After we got back last night, we ran into Chauncey... the vizier guy who seems to be in charge of the hospital. He said the windigo smell thing is a problem for all batponies and gave me this little trinket that's supposed to keep it away in case it bothers me, but I'm not wearing it. The smell's a reminder, I think. To stay on my hooves, never let my guard down around that thing, and of what Wallace is fighting for, so I don't forget what I'm fighting for either. The one good thing about this windigo is that it's not omniscient and can be tricked, but... believe me, I'm being careful."
"Good," Amber insisted. "Still... just because you know you have weaknesses and fears doesn't mean you're safe from them. You'd be so much stronger of a pony if you could deal with them some day..."
"I know," Valey growled. "But... I dunno. How? I'm a weird space cutie mark that does personality overrides on normal ponies and comes packaged in a box that can turn batponies to monsters. I can't just sit down and say I'm fine with that. Ironridge was me attempting to do that, and I just wound up as a petty trickster trying to justify everyone not liking me by giving them reason after reason for it. What am I supposed to do, fly to the moon and poke around for clues until I find something that says we're all sunshine and rainbows and everything that makes this look sinister is just a spooky coincidence? Say I actually did, and found out something bad instead? What would I do then?"
Amber was silent.
"Or no, not that one..." Valey winced, then kept going. "How about the way my entire existence was defined by being invincible and unstoppable and winning whatever fights I wanted, and then the moment I got something to fight for besides myself, I went and threw against a bunch of mooks and had to get bailed out by my friends? That was the second time that happened, too! I couldn't protect Nyala from the moon glass and Navarre in Icereach. I couldn't protect Ironflanks and Starlight from the mercenaries in the Flame District. That reminds me, I've got a bone to pick with Kero, but still!"
"...And if you hadn't had friends, the mercenaries would have captured you and you'd be dead or worse," Amber finally said. "Friends help each other. It's not a one-way relationship. That's what we do, Valey, and I'd do the same for you as well."
"Meh," Valey huffed. "Doesn't change the fact that I was only down there in the first place because of them, and might've been able to sneak away if they hadn't been in danger too. Urgh..."
"We need to talk about something else," Amber decided. "I'm sorry, Valey, but I can't do this. If we're talking about this, I need to be there in person. Just... promise me you won't go talk to the windigo alone, and any decisions you make will be as a group, okay?"
Valey wiped an eye. "Yeah, you're right. I hate being pouty and mopey anyway. Makes me not feel like me. But are you sure? Some day or other, I'm gonna have to deal with these, even if I have no idea how."
For a long time, Amber thought. "If you really want to take and fix something that could be used against you now... how about telling Starlight what really happened on the docks with Hemlock?"
Valey deflated again. "Nooooo..." she moaned, trailing off. "I mean... don't you think she's forgotten about that already? I kinda hope she has. But that wasn't me, it was... you know?"
"I don't think she's forgotten," Amber said. "I don't think a filly at her age would forget conjuring a dark crystal sword and trying to murder an old stallion who also tried to murder her, while both were stranded on a slippery platform in a swollen river. And you're right; it's her problem that she'll someday need to deal with just like you have fears about where you came from. But until you tell her that you lied and her version of events really happened, she can't think about it or come to terms with it, and it's a weakness for both of you because anyone could seriously damage your friendship if they ever found out and told her."
Valey's ears were flat against the sides of her head. "You weren't there," she whispered. "I told you about it, but you didn't see her. Her eyes were gray, Amber. Whatever kind of magic can do that... I don't want her looking into that or trying to do it again. She's happier thinking it was a hallucination, that all that never happened, and I am too. Besides, it makes sense. You said so when I told you, and Maple even accepted it without question! The Hemlock you two knew wouldn't do something like that, and if he would, it wouldn't be nearly that extreme. I don't want it to be real..."
"And neither do I," Amber assured. "But unless you want to say Starlight hallucinated, you hallucinated, and the things Hemlock said after we captured him and sent him back to Ironridge were lies, it was real. And don't worry. While I work on Maple and Starlight's reputation, I'm also poking around to see if I can figure out a motive for why he would be so extreme in trying to get rid of you. I'll get to the bottom of this yet, Valey, and you'll be the first to know when I do."
"Even if you can explain Hemlock, that doesn't explain Starlight," Valey unhappily whispered. "Find anything, though?"
"I got punched in the face by Mangrove," Amber chuckled darkly. "She was one of Hemlock's friends, and the one who organized the mob that wrecked Maple's house. That means she's got something to hide! You worry about killing that windigo and getting Nyala back, Valey. Leave Riverfall to me."
"Heh. Or it just means she doesn't like you." Valey stuck her tongue out. "Nyaaaah... guess things have to balance out somewhere, don't they?" She waggled her eyebrows.
Amber giggled. "Oh, don't you know it. Anyway, like I said, worry about yourselves for now. I've got Riverfall covered, and Dior's trying to help me whenever he's not with some mare or other. Really, that stallion's too popular for his own good... Anyway! What else should we talk about? I told you about White Chocolate, and about Maple's house... How's everyone doing over there?"
"I'm cute and fuzzy," Valey belched. "Jamjars is lurking around, as usual. Still don't know what she thought of the windigo; she was there too. Haven't seen Sparky for a while, though she should get here sometime in the afternoon. She's with the boat. Birdo's living the life with Wallace and his friends, though it was pretty funny to see him all starstruck... Basically nothing's changed."
"And Maple?" Amber pressed. "Is she doing a good job relaxing now that you're in a friendly part of the Empire? She really needs it..."
"Eh... yes and no." Valey shrugged. "She seems to be enjoying herself. We went to this concert last night, and she was freaking out over how cool it was. I think the windigo kinda freaked her out, though. Actually, she didn't seem to like the hospital much in general. There was this nervous dude in the lobby, and he kinda just stammered a bit and that instantly put Ironflanks on edge. She's got some bad history with having kids, right?"
Amber sighed, torn between sympathy and tiredness. "Her husband left her when he found out she was expecting, and then she miscarried. I'm sure you've heard it before; it's what put her in such a bad place two years ago to begin with. It's the one thing she can't seem to move past, even after everything else she's done. Willow and I have done our best, talking with her about it, but it's not the easiest thing to talk about and we've started to accept it just might be a wound that never heals. So if you could be patient with her about it... that would mean a lot to us."
"Yeah, figures." Valey rubbed the back of her head. "Seriously not even sure what you'd do about that. But seriously, talking about exploitable weaknesses..."
"I know," Amber murmured, resigned. "Be sure to keep her away from the windigo too, and Starlight as well. And Shinespark, since I'm sure she's still hurting about Ironridge... and I have no idea what it could exploit in Gerardo's history. Just be careful, okay?"
"We'll take care. And you, too," Valey insisted. "Next time I call you, it's probably going to be so you can listen in when I talk to my friends about Icereach. Not sure whether to do it one at a time or all at once, but they do need to know, so... y'know."
"I know."
The connection went dim. For a long moment, Valey just lay there, the rising sun burrowing its rays into her black fur until she was toasty and then some. She rolled over, still comfortably full from breakfast, let out a snort... and got up and spread her wings, unable to justify napping when there were things to be done.