//------------------------------//
// Heating Things Up 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
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Valey didn't need to hear her posse of pirates shuddering and sinking into bowed positions to know that this mare was bad news. She could feel the danger from her like a tide of lava flowing down a staircase, hot and painful yet consisting of many different layers of threat. She had seen her somewhere before, her brain slowly pieced together. Meltdown. When she was lost in Stormhoof Keep, with Gazelle goading her on and more guards than she could handle and terrible cramps after that encounter with the Mistvale Monk in the sewers, Meltdown had not only been reasonable and given her a chance, but broken up the confrontation and ordered the guards, Wallace and even Gazelle away with force of words alone. Whoever she was, she was powerful and important... and now she was mistaking Valey for a pirate.

Meltdown's fans spun, sending an unceasing wave of toasty air across Valey and the pirates. First was the physical threat, but Valey was less scared of being punched and more of bursting into flames. How high could she turn up the heat on those fans and radiators? And where was the heat coming from? If they had to fight, she had to know. The tanks strapped to Meltdown's sides looked suspicious, but a part of her felt the mare wasn't quite right, like the armor's radiators really were for heat dispersion and whatever was causing it wasn't just there for show.

The second threat was societal, and it didn't take a cutie mark to feel that: Meltdown was important, and now she was on this pirate ship. Pirates were heretics, and she was the executor and judge. If Garsheeva's will was to be carried out, if they were to be captured and tried for what they had done, this was how it would happen.

And third... it was distant, like a reflection she could only see from a sliver of an angle that would appear in her sight and then never come again, but there was something about her that made her whole body tingle with dread. Not a physical wound waiting to be inflicted, but something more total and complete... The closest thing she had ever felt before was the danger from moon glass, and that was only a similar strain. Did Meltdown know what that did to batponies? Of course she did. Valey skittishly scanned her, watching for weapons or sharp edges or anything that could be laced with the stuff. Meltdown had come to fight sarosians, and Meltdown had come prepared.

"Ai ai ai!" Gazelle yipped from the ceiling speaker system, saving Valey the trouble of figuring out what to say. "Mercy, fair Meltdown, I beg of you!"

Valey's brow furrowed. Was he... teasing her?

"Gazelle!" Meltdown looked at the camera crossly, completely ignoring Valey and her pirates. "Were you flirting with sarosian pirates?"

"Boundaries overstepped. I'm dreadfully sorry." Gazelle actually sounded sincerely cowed, causing Valey to blink. Whoever this mare was, this was the second time she had seen her send the Empire's unchecked prince packing with a single line...

Meltdown was also distracted, focusing on Gazelle and not them. Time to run! Time to... Valey sighed. Every last one of her pirates sans Grapejuice was bowing in reverence, and Grapejuice was doing a poor job hiding behind her instead. She remained standing against her cutie mark's warning. As long as she had a case to plead, she had plenty of important reasons to get herself out of this.

Then Gazelle didn't continue, and Meltdown turned to them, and it was too late. "You all," she said, armor vibrating. "I've taken temporary command over your ship in the name of the Griffon Empire. Your leaders have already surrendered. By Garsheeva's will, I am here for other matters than to seal your fates, but that won't stop me if you defy me. Cooperate, and you will live to sail again another day. If you understand me, spread your wings."

Most of the mares shakily spread their wings, scared and cowering and looking torn between two bad options. Valey spread hers as well, though she remained standing and made eye contact.

Meltdown eyed her for a moment in return. "You. Admiral Valey, from Ironridge. What are you doing here? Did Gazelle put you up to this, like he did at Stormhoof?"

Valey held her posture. "Yep, it's me, and nope, here on my own. Me and my friends were minding our own business when these pirates jumped us. I beat them up. One got away with some kinda important stuff, and now I'm making these ones help me get it back."

"What kind of important stuff?" Meltdown kept her level gaze.

Valey gave herself all of three seconds to think. Last time she met her, Meltdown had been the most level-headed official in the province... She had been fair, though also tried to test her in an underhooved way to make sure she was following the heresy laws. This was a chance she would take.

"Sound stone." She swallowed. "The one that lets me talk with Ironridge. And some less important stuff. And some super bad-sounding thing called a Nightmare Module."

Meltdown's orange pupils shrank, and her fans whirled sharply for a second. "Where did you get a Nightmare Module?" she demanded, voice laced with tension.

"Somewhere between stealing it and having it shoved into my possession?" Valey folded her ears. "A mare called Puddles had it. You've probably heard of her. She's on this boat too, by the way, and it sorta looked like she was cleaning house from Gazelle's comfy little viewing party up there."

"Puddles is free?" Meltdown's pupils couldn't get any tinier. She looked up and barked at the ceiling, "Gazelle! Verify this!"

"Hmmm? Oh, she is. Currently in the dungeons, freeing the Varsidelians we came here for in the first place. Very thoughtful of her. I'm having a blast vetoing every request someone makes to raise the alarm. This is the most fun pirate raid ever, Meltdown!"

Gazelle snapped her gaze back to Valey. "Did you use the module, and if so, which one was it!?"

"Uhhh." Valey blinked, not questioning how Meltdown knew that batponies could use them. "It, like, asked permission and I said no? Something about lying or deception or something. There was a number, but I don't remember..."

Meltdown visibly sagged in relief. "Good. Of every one out there, that's the least-dangerous one. Valey, by my power as the leader of the Griffon Empire's Power Distribution Agency, you are hereby conscripted into my service until this weapon is either contained or destroyed and Puddles has been re-captured and transported to a safer location in Stormhoof or Grandbell. Gazelle? Start helping."

Gazelle gave an exasperated sigh. "Meltdown Meltdown Meltdown, is it really that big of a deal? I'm watching Chauncey's little experiment right now, and she's not looking very good. Everything they did to her must have really taken a toll on her strength and stamina. Look at this poor thing! At first, she was taking entire squads by herself, and eventually she was reduced to riding around on her allies' backs and letting them do all the fighting! You can take her! You'll be fiiiiine."

"Gazelle..." Meltdown warned.

"Well! Alright! I can tell when I'm needed." Gazelle's voice vanished, there was a click... and suddenly the lights turned to red, and the emergency sirens began.

Meltdown stepped into motion. "Valey. Come. Gazelle, directions." She glanced back, reading Valey's face. "Pirates aren't important right now. They can do as they please."

Valey nodded and jumped into action, wondering how many of her entourage would do the same. As frightening as Meltdown was, she was scary for completely different reasons than Gazelle, and this was a side she decided she wanted to be on.