//------------------------------//
// We're Still Here 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

"She's alive," Maple murmured, stroking Starlight's mane with a trembling hoof. "She's alive. She's alive. She's alive..."

"Yeah," Valey whispered back, sitting across the bed from Maple. "Think she's got a fever, too. Poor kid. You think we can get some lights on in here, or would that wake her again? I kinda want to get a better look at her."

"The light in this room is broken," Maple answered, sadly shaking her head. "At least she isn't cold to the touch any more. I'd rather her be too hot than... that..."

Valey ran a worried hoof down Starlight's side. "You think we should, like, try hooking her up to the ship again? Her horn basically exploded, there. Was she fighting back, or something? I didn't even know you could do that, but she probably overtaxed herself again. She was like this when I found her with Sparky in the eastern valley after she blew herself up at the dam, too..."

"No." Maple gritted her teeth. "I don't know how come it causes her to almost disappear, but it's gotten worse and worse every time she tries and I don't want to trust that that's just because her horn is hurt worse every time. And if it goes as badly as last time, I'd have to carry her in my cutie mark for a whole month to get her back to the Ironridge flame... and that's if we get an airship to take us there."

"Ooh. Yeah. Not doing that, then." Valey slumped down, laying nearer to Maple and looking at Starlight in the dim light. "Bananas, though. This is scary. So much for staying out of trouble and not messing with dangerous stuff when we don't know how it works."

Maple closed her eyes in agreement. "Do you think we should tell her? About... Well, we'll see how much she remembers and how much she already knows, but... you know?"

Fortunately, Valey did know. "That batponies are some kind of machines for running these stupid Nightmare Modules and apparently she is too. Yeah. I think she's got enough on her shoulders, as it is. But... it could hurt her if she finds out in a worse way, too. Hey, though. She... broke herself out of it. Didn't go all cloudy like that mare above. And she actually destroyed the crystal, too. How do you think she did that?"

"I don't know." Maple lowered her head in thought. "I think... You remember what the yaks had built, in the tree in the crystal palace? That machine using moon glass to power up the windigo heart? It was like the flame was burning brighter than it needed to, attacking the moon glass to try to break it and slowly melting it away. When I held Starlight in that flame and it brought her back... well, do you think she's related to it somehow? She said it made her magic a little bit better, but maybe she was able to break the Nightmare Module because the flame is able to break moon glass."

"Huh. Maybe." Valey flicked an ear, too lazy to indulge the urge to scratch her head. "It's weird, though. The flame was pink, right? And Starlight's magic is usually teal. But when she blew that thing up just now, it was, like... dark blue. What do you think is up with that? Does that color mean anything to you?"

Maple thought for a long while. "I... can think of a lot of things that are blue, but none that would make sense here? Unless..." She closed her eyes in thought. "I feel like it's familiar somehow, but don't remember from where."

Valey yawned. "Nyaah. Probably not important. You, uhh... think it's safe to just go to sleep now, and let her try to rest it off? Because I'm actually exhausted, and hadn't planned on staying up with you this late. Seriously, I've gotta get to sleep before-"

The first rays of dawn suddenly pierced through the window, illuminating the roof of the cabin above them.

"Bananaaas..." Valey moaned, rolling facedown on the bed. "My everything hurts, too. Cramps and stuff. I need a massage, and not from a Mistvale Monk."

Maple cradled Starlight in the light. Her eyes were closed, but her coat and mane were just as colorful as they had always been, and she ran her muzzle across the top of the filly's head. Starlight's horn had stopped randomly sparking, but it was still hot. Her entire filly was hot, and she wrapped her in her hooves anyway, making sure she couldn't become as cold as before.

Suddenly, a soft knocking came at the door, and it slid barely ajar. "Hello?" Shinespark whispered, preparing to come in.

"Hey," Valey greeted with a wing, not lifting her face out of the bed.

"How's Starlight?" Shinespark kept her voice down, trotting silently across the wood floor. "I haven't told the rest of the crew. Just you two and me know anything happened."

Maple gratefully met her eyes. "She changed. I think she's back, but her horn did something and now I think it's badly overused again. The Nightmare Module is gone. She destroyed it."

Shinespark shook her head. "When she's awake, tell her I'm wishing her well. I just wanted to let you know, Wallace came back and has been carving up the iceberg with that sword, and we're back in the water and about to head for Stormhoof again. This is goodbye to pirate waters, goodbye to Goldoa, goodbye to Izvaldi... Anyway. We're about to get moving again."

Maple winced. "They're back? How... was the fighting? Was there anything left for them to end?"

"Barely," Shinespark sighed. "There were Varsidelians left. About a dozen of them, all wounded. They apparently put up the fight of their lives, and between them and everything Puddles, Meltdown and I did, we killed over three-quarters of the sarosians on that ship. There are few enough that they might not have a full crew for basic ship functions. At least they'll have to go back to shore, but..." She sadly shook her head. "It was a massacre for both sides. Not like Ironridge, where the infrastructure was damaged but all the ponies survived. It... leaves a bad feeling in my gut. I hate having been a part of this."

"Yeah, well, guess what?" Valey waved her over, beckoning her to stay. "Life smells sometimes. There's a whole lot that's bitter to me, but we just gotta keep going. You wanna talk about it, or just try Ironflanks hug therapy?"

Shinespark stood and stared at the invitation. "It's just so difficult. I know I shouldn't have to fight through situations like these, but if I don't, there's no one who will. It doesn't seem fair."

Valey folded her ears. "Wonder where I've heard that before. Come here, Sparky. No point in wallowing on your own."

"...Alright." Shinespark sighed, walking around the bed and climbing in next to Valey. "Maybe I should have made the beds in these cabins a little bigger..."

"Nope. Not on the edge." Valey slithered forward, grabbed Shinespark and feebly suplexed her into the middle, so that she was between her and Maple. "There ya go. Bananas, you actually washed up. Now sit there and think about having friends, and stuff. We're all in this together."

"Of course I washed everything off." Shinespark frowned. "I was filthy. You did too..." She sighed. "This feels weird."

Maple looked over, still rocking Starlight, and scooted a little closer to Shinespark. "What does? Being in the middle?"

"Having... this." Shinespark deflated, Valey and Maple touching both of her sides. "All of us having the same troubles together, being in exactly the same place. This continent hasn't been kind to any of us. I don't know if Maple, you're used to doing this in Riverfall, but in Ironridge I always just helped other ponies with their problems and occasionally leaned on Dior or Arambai for mine. When we're all in the same bad place... I feel like this will be silly to ask, but..."

"Beats me." Valey leaned into her, letting Shinespark lean on her side as well. "For most of my life, I had no one to go to but myself. Seems like the best person to share a problem with would be someone actually having that problem, though, right? I mean, it makes sense..." She shrugged. "But we're kind of not in a position to be picky. We've all got each other as friends, and that's about it. And somehow, ignoring your own issues doesn't seem like the smartest way of going about things..."

Shinespark sighed. "I didn't have a choice. Sosa had ten... twenty years of pain from lost jobs and loved ones and cultural significance. It's a leader's job to put their homeland above themselves, isn't it? I had hundreds and hundreds of ponies to..."

"To help with their burdens?" Maple murmured. "It sounds lonely. I bet you still have a lot of weight from some of the stories you have to carry around, now."

"You could say that," Shinespark sniffed, closing her eyes. "I-I just..." She took a breath. "It was all worth it as long as I was doing it for Ironridge. For Sosa. And I thought I left all of it behind when we left, but... does that make me ungrounded? Now this happens, and I don't know how to deal with it. It feels... numb. But if I close my eyes, I can see those puffs of ash as they burst apart..."

"It sounds like it does make you ungrounded," Maple whispered. "Can we be your ground? No one deserves to carry all that by themselves."

"Sure. What she said." Valey rolled a little bit closer in the bed. "I dunno exactly what specifics you've got going on, but if you need to just let go, or something... Seriously. We're friends. Let us help."

Shinespark suddenly trembled between them. "T-Thanks," she managed breathlessly.

"You're welcome." Maple stroked a comforting hoof along her side, leaning against her. "You've got us and we've got you..."

Suddenly, Starlight shifted in Maple's embrace, giving a low, pained moan. "My head hurts..."

"Starlight?" Maple's breath caught. "Are you awake?"

Starlight put a hoof on Maple's chest, half-trying to stand up. "I think I hurt my horn again," she managed. "But I can feel it and I'm not blind so it's not as bad as last time."

"Starlight..." Maple rubbed her back, feeling the filly slump back against her. "We were so worried..."

Whatever bout of lucidity had woken Starlight had passed, and Starlight just whined weakly under her breath. "It was cold..."

"It was cold. You were cold," Maple agreed. "Sleep, Starlight. We're going back to Stormhoof. Sleep and be well..."