"Mmmph... Rommmff... Oh bananas, I love food..."
Valey sat in the Dream's brightly-lit kitchen, stuffing her face with everything Maple could provide. Over the course of half an hour, she downed two meals' worth of leftovers, a giant cucumber sandwich and a carrot for good measure, finishing the last bite with a thunderous belch before leaning back and patting her stomach contentedly.
"Feeling better?" Maple asked, hobbling past as she continued washing dishes from the group's dinner, one forehoof held aloft and covered in soapy suds.
"Hurrrgh..." Valey groaned, stretching again and trying to lie down in a chair only meant for sitting. "Yeah. Yup. That's one way to put it. Problems problems problems. All that can wait for tomorrow..." Her head lolled too greedily, and she almost fell out of the chair. "Woah! I mean, uh, yeah. What did you say?"
Maple stepped back from her work and toweled her hooves off, then stepped up to Valey, offering her shoulder. "I asked if having enough food helps with whatever you're dealing with."
"Uh huh." Valey sighed, getting up. "Yeah... it helps. A little. Sorry, Ironflanks, but I'm still gonna need a day or two to get un-shaken from all that stuff. Gotta lie down, get my hooves warmed up, rest my wings, and thing about stuff. Or maybe talk to Amber, or... I dunno. Just let some time pass. Bleh."
"Can I come too?" Maple offered quietly. "I... know a thing or two about going through hard times and coming out on the other end, and I'd like to listen to what happened."
Valey raised an eyebrow. "You mean you want to do your usual hug-therapy? Like, I appreciate the gesture, but that's maybe not what I need."
"You don't need... Oh." Maple blinked. "Valey, I really want to know what happened. Can I at least listen?"
"...Look." Valey held a hoof out for Maple to stop, looking away. "Puddles was annoying, but I should totally be able to get over that. I lost a fight, and then had to win another just to bail on a responsibility, and bananas, I hate losing. And I really wanna be responsible and all that now that I've, like, turned over a new leaf and all. Since Ironridge. Also, I got some news from Amber from Ironridge about something involving my past I'd really, seriously rather not talk about that has nothing at all to do with Puddles. There's what happened. I just... Meh. I thought we were going to be safe and not get into any trouble after Ironridge." She hung her head, then blinked. "Oh yeah, and now that we're out of Izvaldi again, everyone and their grandmother hates me because of my wings and eyes again. Had a super-pleasant reminder of that just while looking for a way to power up my sound stone and talk to Amber."
Maple stepped up beside her, but had nothing to say, just hanging her head in solidarity.
"Not to mention all the other stuff that was blowing up for me before that stupid windigo broke free," Valey sighed. "Bananas, I haven't even been up to the bridge to see Nyala since I got back. Instead I come down here to pig out. I gotta do that, too..."
"You're tired and you have to lay down," Maple decided, putting a forehoof on Valey's shoulder and guiding her toward the door. "I'll go see Nyala for you. You can take care of yourself first and rest."
"Meh," Valey grumbled, moving alongside her. Really, she would be perfectly happy to flop down in a bed and use Maple as a pillow while crying a bunch and ignoring her other friends and rattling off an endless list of the things she was upset about, if only every last thing on that list didn't bother her in some way or another. Using Maple as a pillow? She'd rather it be Amber, and had had far too much hugging courtesy of Puddles anyway. She needed to see Nyala, she couldn't just wander off and leave for the night. Crying wasn't her favorite activity, and she wouldn't be able to talk about the Nightmare Module without getting into why it bothered her, and in turn, how she had originally come from a piece of moon glass... but flopping down in a bed sounded good. She'd do that just as soon as-
"Now rest," Maple insisted, shoving her gently into a bed. Valey landed with a fluffy fwump and the tiniest bounce, blinking around at the ship cabin about her. She had gotten so zoned out, she hadn't even noticed them make their way here...
Valey wanted to protest, but all she could manage was, "This is lame. Stop mothering me..."
"Not until you stop needing it," Maple insisted. "And don't try to tell me you're fine. I can see your eyes. Something happened to you out there, and if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. But I'd at least like to talk to Amber, even if you won't talk to me, because either I can tell her you need help or she can tell me how to help you. Can I have the sound stone?"
Valey shrugged her saddlebags off, reaching in one with a wingtip and pulling out the stone. "Knock yourself out. And seriously, just... I just need one night! I told you, I got a little roughed up in the head. I'll be back to your regular friendly fruit-thrower before you know it, Ironflanks."
Maple took the sound stone, holding it to her chest. "Will you? I can see your eyes, you know. Whatever it was, you lost something that was keeping you going out there. It's a look I know very well. So have your sleep, but please, please keep going in the morning. I'm here for you as best as I know how to be, and I won't share or think worse of you if there's anything ever you have to talk about."
"Let Nyala know I got back, at least..." Valey mumbled, exhausted from her flight and already curled up as Maple tucked her in.
"I'll do that," Maple promised, waiting until Valey's eyes were closed and her breathing stilled before stepping into the hall and closing the door.
"You sound concerned for your friend," Sirena remarked, standing in the library at the end of the hall. "Super sorry to eavesdrop. You weren't the quietest."
Maple sighed, tucking away the sound stone and trotting back into the light. "Maybe I'm too empathetic, but yes, I'm concerned. I don't even know what she went through, just that it was with a creature I only met twice and got a horrible impression of both times. Could you do me a favor?"
"Eh?" Sirena tilted her magenta head. "Yeah, sure. What?"
"Just use magic on this." Maple held the sound stone up. "It needs a charge to work."
A few seconds later, the sound stone sparked with energy, and Sirena stepped back, her and Maple exchanging farewells and thanks as Maple retreated somewhere more private to talk. The deck? No... Her wandering took her instead to the engine room, the giant coils on the ceiling that formed the bulk of the harmony extractor dim and unpowered.
"Valey?" Amber's voice asked through the stone. "How are things? It's been a day. You still okay out there?"
"It's me, Amber," Maple greeted. "Maple. Valey made it back to us less than an hour ago, and I just fed her and put her to bed."
Amber was silent for a long moment. "...You have no idea how much of a relief that is," she finally sighed. "How is she?"
"Shaken. She said she found something out..." Maple stared into the stone. "She says she'll be fine in the morning, but she looks less determined than when I saw her last. Not as bad as I was, but enough to remind me of myself. And we're not out of hot water yet, but that won't be important for another day or two. Do you know what happened to her? I'm not sure what to do..."
"Great. Just great." Amber sighed. "I need to be there with you in person. Would really be great to see all of you again... And sorry, Maple. At least some of what she's dealing with might be my fault. She was under a lot of pressure, and I wound up letting her hear something..." She trailed off. "There's some stuff I don't think she's told you. I'm not sure I should, either, but I'll encourage her to let you in on it. It's a long story. Short version is, she's dealing with a lot from a lot of different sources, and, well... Can you talk? For a while? Now?"
"I'm right here," Maple promised.
"Okay. Let's start with the stuff I can say..."