The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi


Pursuit And Aftermath

The teleportation guild was a mess. Shinespark, Maple and Nyala had never seen it before, but as they stood panting in the doorway, they were fairly sure the far wall wasn't supposed to be covered in a fan of ice crystals, and a freshly-cast statue of Puddles and Valey didn't belong in the middle of the room.

A lone unicorn cowering in the corner raised her head, her face round and her coat grayish-brown. "Umm... help?"

"We're here to help," Shinespark insisted, shivering and brushing ice off her hooves. "Someone just came in here with one of our friends! Did you see them!? Where did they go?"

"They're not here, Shinespark," Maple whimpered, folding her ears as defeat washed over her face. "She must have left already. We're too late..."

"A black batpony with a green mane," Nyala insisted, stepping forward and offering the unicorn a hoof to get up. "And a yellow earth pony with weird eyes. They came through here, didn't they?"

"What's your name?" Shinespark asked, also offering a hoof. "Please, it's all right now."

The unicorn took it and stood, looking for all the world like a punched filly even though she was clearly nearing her thirties. "I-I..." She wobbled on her legs.

"Give her space," Maple whispered, putting a hoof on Shinespark's shoulder.

"I'm not even sure what form to fill out for this," the unicorn murmured, wobbling toward a desk. "Violent forcing of passage? Assault on employees? I could file a missing person-"

Nyala stepped into her path, and was very difficult to ignore. "There was a rampage through the hospital and across the entire plaza. I don't think you should be worrying about paperwork right now, miss."

The unicorn didn't stop, trying to pry open a desk drawer that was partially frozen shut, and Maple and Shinespark stood back, unsure of what to do.

"Well, well, well. The trail ends here, doesn't it?"

Everyone but the unicorn jumped. "Chauncey!" Shinespark yelped, the piously-dressed batpony standing in the room's only entrance.

For a moment, Chauncey's frown was iron... and then broke into a merry smile. "Well, I'm glad to see everyone here's still alright. We've had quite an incident just now, and I think we'll be in full cleanup mode for quite a while after this. Miss Gradle." He glanced at the mare still trying to open the desk, and the tendril of ice blocking her efforts shattered as if on command. "Why don't you let me handle this? You look like you could use some time off your hooves."

"I'm sorry, sir," the unicorn, Gradle, apologized. "But they took our others, and I'm the only one authorized to report this!"

"Everyone who needs reporting to is already aware."

Shinespark gave Chauncey a wary glance. "Is that a hint that you want to speak with us alone?"

Chauncey beamed as if everything was right with the world. "Well, I suppose that wouldn't hurt, if you insist. Come, there's a conference room right over here. Gradle can see to her paperwork, if it's so comforting."

Shinespark suppressed her wince. They hadn't even had a minute to discuss what Puddles had said and what they wanted to trust, and now Valey was gone and Chauncey was calling them to a meeting... Of course someone would have noticed the broken recorder. Why couldn't they have used their brains?

"Here we are," Chauncey announced, letting everyone be seated as the lights flickered on. It wasn't a large conference room, but the round single table felt awkwardly empty. "So. It seems you've lost something you rather wouldn't have."

Everyone hesitated, and Maple blinked. "Huh? You mean Valey? You're... more concerned about her than everything else that just happened?"

Chauncey chuckled. "I'm concerned about sarosians. Priorities, I know. But the guild usually has three members here, and I don't know of any other trips that were scheduled for today."

Shinespark was silent. Chauncey had to be fishing for something, baiting a trap.

"Funny, isn't it, how all this happened mere hours after Wallace and his crew sailed away," Chauncey remarked. "It's almost like someone was waiting for their chance to strike."

Shinespark grew visibly uncomfortable, and watched Maple do the same.

"Ho ho..." Chauncey shrugged and smiled disarmingly. "I'm talking about the windigo that resides in poor Puddles. I noticed the broken recorder down in her containment room. Sounds like she talked someone into that."

"We..." Shinespark gritted her teeth and bowed her head. This was it, wasn't it?

"She probably had some secrets or fabrications in mind to convince you to dig a little deeper," Chauncey went on. "Something damaging to our reputation. Hardly surprising, for a base life form like a windigo to do a thing like that. After all, Izvaldi and yourselves have hardly known each other long enough to build up a trusting relationship to weather doubts and accusations, have we?"

Everyone stared in anticipation.

"I'd like to make you a deal." Chauncey's hooked face grew harder, suggesting this wasn't a deal they'd want to miss. "I've lost Morena's daughter, and frankly, I don't think Wallace and his gang will fight for me in the tournament if I'm not working on making her better. You've lost a very good friend of yours. We both have reason to go after them, yet my hooves are tied at the moment with matters of state and my trusted adventurers are out on another mission and won't be contactable for at least a day. Now, if you devote your every effort to getting Puddles and Valey back, I'll completely overlook any role you may have played in her escape, and any potentially sensitive information you may have been told by her. Does that sound fair to you?"

Shinespark met his gaze. "And when we get them back?"

Chauncey's smile returned. "Well, then I'll consider you all allies, and what are allies for if not being in on sensitive information? I could give you all the answers in the world about the things Puddles told you, and I don't need to have heard what was said to know you got more questions than answers out of her. And besides..." His voice lowered conspiratorially. "That's a technologically fascinating suit of armor you've got there. Completely hollow and empty, yet serving as a body for an equine soul. Nothing nearly as good as a real body, though. If you'd ever like an upgrade to flesh and blood, I might have some methods or other things that would be of interest to you. So. Allies?"

Shinespark tensed, looking between Nyala and Chauncey. "You can?" Nyala whispered, gasping as he mentioned he knew.

Chauncey ignored her. "Remember that your friend is missing, too. Puddles and Valey, two teleporters out of three. You have just as much a stake in this as I do, my little ponies, yet here I am offering peace and a reward even though you enabled this to happen in the first place. Shall I sweeten the deal? I can offer a signing bonus, if you wish."

"A signing bonus?" Shinespark looked suspicious.

"I'll take care of one trip through the guild for you." Chauncey closed his gray eyes. "You'll want to get someone after them fast, after all, and we still have one left. But there's only room for one of you to go... I'll also give you free recharges on your ship's mana core so long as you remain in the capitol. Mana energy is under a monopoly in the Empire, so this is quite a generous offer. Do you accept?"

Shinespark frowned. "You know, we're going after Valey either way, and I'm not planning on leaving Puddles running around causing mayhem. Trying to bribe us to do this is... making it weird."

Chauncey's eyes narrowed. "If you'd rather I threaten you, that can certainly be arranged. I merely thought a peace offering would be in order, since trust is clearly strained between your party and Izvaldi right now."

"We'll take it," Maple interrupted, putting both forehooves on the table. "Deal. Just help us find them."

"I'll have a talk with our Gradle," Chauncey said, standing up. "There's a loophole in guild information-shielding policies when it comes to tracing violent criminals who forced passage. You three ought to get back to your ship, and have a long discussion on who the lucky one will be that gets sent on ahead. Like I said, you only have one teleportation unicorn here in the city to chase them with, unless that horn of yours is of the proper caliber."

Shinespark nodded. "Come on, Maple, Nyala. We have a decision to make."


"...And that's what happened," Shinespark finished, standing before a crowd of Gerardo, Slipstream, Starlight, Jamjars, and Sirena. Maple and Nyala backed her up, and Valey was nowhere to be seen. "Puddles, Izvaldi's captive windigo, escaped and fled somewhere with our friend as a prisoner. The teleportation guild network extends all across the continent, so they could be anywhere in the Empire by now. We're going after them. Chauncey is helping, for as much as I trust him. We'll be following along in this ship, the moment it's recharged... and we have the resources to send one of us on ahead."

Sirena hung her head. "You'll be coming back to Izvaldi, right? Because I..."

Shinespark bowed. "You're welcome to come too, if you like. We'll keep you safe from any fighting, won't ask anything of you and will bring you back when we're finished. But yes, if what you're asking is about where you'll stay, it's either find your own place in Izvaldi or join us."

Sirena thought for a while longer, then smiled, her twin tails swaying as she looked up. "Oh, why not. Melia's getting a vacation, and I need one too."

"As for going ahead." Gerardo cleared his throat, wiping a talon across his beak. "As one of the most adventure-familiar soloists on the team, I volunteer myself. However, I'll freely admit that I have no experience in dealing with this windigo, and have been... outshone in combat before."

"All of us have, except Valey." Shinespark hung her head. "Volunteering noted. Anyone else?"

Starlight and Maple exchanged a glance, and it was clear that neither would allow the other to be it. Slipstream blushed and took a nervous step backward, shaking her head. Jamjars pointed a hoof at Shinespark. "Why don't you do it?"

"As the ship's captain, I'd hate to leave you..." Shinespark shot a glance at Nyala.

"I saw how Puddles was fighting," Maple added. "You'll need a ranged fighter to deal with her, or someone good at weapons."

"Ah, yes..." Gerardo glanced to his side. "An incapacitate-and-return task, correct? I think I nominate you as well, Shinespark. After all, you're the only one aside from I who has experience wielding this."

He thrust out his black sword, glittering darkly in its sheath. They made eye contact, and both blinked.

"Oh yeah..." Shinespark's eyes focused on the sword's hilt. "I did use this once, didn't I? Coming to rescue Maple and Starlight, too. Heh. Fitting."

"Will you be fine out there?" Sirena added, tilting her head as Shinespark accepted the sword.

Shinespark strapped the sword to her side and patted it with a hoof. "Maybe. But I'll need to be at my best, and that means using abilities I normally don't show off that I have... and that means I'll need a disguise; one that Valey will still recognize me through. One second, you all."

She stepped up the staircase and into her room, and moments later returned, covered from head to hoof by lightweight plates of white-and-gold armor with a pair of wings embellished on the sides. The suit looked like it hadn't been worn in years, yet with the visor down, it obscured her features completely.

"Braen, version 1.0, from when I was a filly," Shinespark said from inside the helmet. "I kept this around and retrofitted it for my adult size out of nostalgia. It may not be as advanced as you, Nyala, but this is still a feat of Sosan engineering. Light enough for a kid to wear without training, thermally insulated against the Sky District's cold, so it'll give me resistance to her touch attacks. And it conceals my identity. Someone's bound to recognize it eventually, but it'll still let me use my cutie mark at will." The sword dangled at her side. "And... I've always hated leaving my last action as Braen as one that I regret. Anything else?"

Maple gave a broken smile. "I just knew we were poking our noses into something that would run away with us. Why does life have to keep moving so fast?"

"Hey." Shinespark laid an armored hoof over her shoulder. "You watch. This'll be over in a blink, and when it is, we'll stop sniffing around and ignore whatever Chauncey wants to tell us and just live the quiet life, okay? At least you can. I've still got a city to rebuild, someday, so I have every intention of doing this right and making it back alive."

Gerardo saluted. "I shall captain the Dream to the best of my ability in your absence, milady!"

Shinespark returned the salute, then turned to Maple and Nyala one more time. "You two. About the stuff the windigo told us... I wish we could talk it over, because I have some ideas about how all that ties together, and Valey looked like she did, too. But until we're all back together again and have Puddles under control, there's no point in worrying about it. So try to think of... whatever Valey would tell you to think about right now. Bananas, I think. But we're not up against a citywide conspiracy this time. We're up against one runaway creature, and that's something we can do, even if it's magical and more powerful than any of us alone. Maybe Valey will even have her tied up by the time I get there. Wish me luck, and don't lose heart."

Everyone nodded, and Maple hugged her, and then Shinespark left, heading for the iced-over teleportation guild.


"All ready," Shinespark reported, standing in the final doorway, her armor strapped down and Gerardo's sword in its sheath at her side.

"Well! Someone's taking this seriously," Chauncey greeted, standing in a corner as Gradle worked at her de-iced desk. "Miss Gradle, it looks like your services will be needed now."

Gradle cleared her throat once, twice... three times. "Oh, of course! I hope my husband and Kotlin are all right... Thank you for giving me the excuse to find out." She threw a stiff but enthusiastic bow at Chauncey that spoke of too much time in an office chair, and trotted over to Shinespark. "I-I've been explained the situation. Are you my passenger?"

Chauncey nodded, stepping over beside them. "What we know so far is that they went west. Beyond Izvaldi is Goldoa, and beyond that is the sea, so I think I'll be telling your friends in the ship to follow you that way once I've charged up the energy core. I'll make sure there's a way of staying in contact. Gradle, can you handle that much armor?"

Shinespark was seized in a green telekinetic aura and hefted, bounced up and down as Gradle weighed her. "I can manage," the mare decided, in a voice that sounded forced above its natural pitch yet still relatively deep. "Still less mass than most stallions. All right, miss Shinespark! Here we go!"

Gradle stepped closer, put a hoof over Shinespark, her aura grew brighter... and they were both gone in a flash of light.