//------------------------------//
// Breakfast And Catchup 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

"Maple? Starlight? Hey, are you in here?"

"Hmm?" Maple lifted her head from a bundle of blankets, sitting in her room on the Dream with a book in her hooves and Starlight snoozing at her side. "Shinespark? Come in."

Shinespark slid the door open, looking like she had been awake for quite a while now. "Good morning," she greeted, quickly glancing around. "Wallace is here. He's wondering if we'd like him to take us for breakfast? His treat."

"Wallace?" Maple shuffled, putting her book down and gently trying to rub Starlight into wakefulness. "I haven't seen him in a while. That might be nice. Did he say what for?"

Shinespark shrugged. "He probably wants to talk with Valey about the tournament? Seeing as she's going to have to make a decision very soon about whether she wants to be a part of that. And maybe he just wants to catch up. We haven't exactly sat down to talk since Izvaldi, and who knows how much has happened in his life since then?"

"Right," Maple murmured, earning a snuffle of wakefulness from Starlight and climbing out from the covers.





Two full hours of wake-ups, throngs of admirers and waiting for food later, the sun was well on its way to midmorning, and Wallace was seated on the balcony of the tavern Starlight recognized as their destination when he took them for food their first visit to Stormhoof. Morena and Diego were elsewhere: on business, Wallace said. But the weather was pleasant and their waitress was cheery, and Starlight had a bowl of broccoli soup to occupy herself with as Wallace began.

"It's been a long time, my heroic friends," his noble voice boomed. "How are things? Getting by alright in the seat of the Empire's military?"

"Eh. We're managing." Valey didn't bother to disguise her features, Wallace's huge presence more than enough to deter any unwanted attention. "This place is still pretty lame, but we're staying out of trouble. Somehow. Kinda involves more ignorance and burying our heads in the sand than anything."

Wallace looked disappointed, yet understanding. "An understandable lifestyle," he sadly rumbled. "The Empire has always been rife with hostility toward your kind. And you got yourselves into plenty of more physical danger with that business surrounding young Puddles and that pirate frigate, as well."

"Yeah." Valey hung her head, Maple and Starlight to one side and Shinespark, Gerardo and Slipstream to the other. "How's, uhh... How's Puddles doing, by the way?"

"Vanished without a trace," Wallace sighed. "Meltdown insisted she be taken into her hooves, seeing as she escaped from the best containment Izvaldi had to offer. Chauncey wasn't thrilled, but they came to an agreement behind our backs and the matter has been settled. All we know is that we know nothing." He ruffled his neck feathers. "And you, however? How are your pirate charges performing in their alleged redemptions? It would do my heart well to see such a thing possible after all."

Shinespark looked away, keeping her voice low. "They're living in the underground, since Golbez is apparently famous. I have no idea if they're keeping their acts clean." She glanced at Valey.

Valey shrugged. "Knowing Howe and Neon Nova, they were probably scoundrels long before they came to the Empire. No clue about them. The only actual pirates, I think, were the griffons and the batpony. I call her Grapejuice, dunno what her real name is. I see her a lot, though it's more like she sees me. I think she's okay? Just spends time lurking around in the city finding the best ways to get by? I dunno. I couldn't track her if I wanted to. Haven't actually seen the griffons in forever, so I don't even know if they're still down there. But the stallions think they're starting a secret society or something. I think? I dunno. It's weird."

"And then there's Grenada," Shinespark sighed.

"She was the mare who was familiar with you," Wallace agreed. "A strong visual resemblance in manestyles. I take it you were acquainted before all this began."

Shinespark hung her head. "You could say that. I... messed up with her, I think. Kind of badly."

Valey winced, and Maple and Slipstream looked concerned. Wallace nodded sagely. "Even my limited knowledge of the situation implies it is sticky. Could I lend an ear?"

"...Maybe," Shinespark said. "Our relationship is complicated. First, I'm her half-sister, but she doesn't know it. In our old life in Ironridge, I ran the organization she worked at, and treated her... maybe better than she deserved. Not that she was unworthy, but I looked out for her more than I would have for any other pony. Got her a special position, tried to take care of her. It's a very long story why, and about all the details, and our father... I have a lot of half-siblings. The point is, I tried to take care of her and give her room to grow without letting her know she was in my shadow, because I was unusually special and privileged."

She put her head in her hooves. "I always planned on telling her eventually, but then I started to realize she was getting a crush on me, wanted to let that wear off first... We're in the Empire where that would be extremely bad now, even... And eventually, I messed up majorly and thought I got her killed along with everything we were working toward destroyed. So now I've been being distant for a month because there's a conversation I really don't want to have and don't know how to have. She lives on my ship. I gave her a place there. But I haven't even needed to tell her once that I need more time, because she clearly has a ton of issues too, since my leadership failed her and almost got her killed, and wound up with her fighting for the bad guys for a time and she knows it. We're just... sadly avoiding each other indefinitely. If I had ever imagined we'd get a reunion, this isn't how I'd have wanted it to go."

Valey nodded awkwardly. "Doesn't exactly help that me and her were kinda on opposite sides for everything that went down, and everyone else she's met either once or never."

Starlight watched Wallace think, keeping her own silence. Once or never? She had met Grenada twice. Once at Shinespark's dinner, and once in the power tunnels at the Spirit hideout... She frowned inwardly, pushing this issue up on her list of things she needed to do for her friends. As much as she had noticed the tension and awkwardness, this was the most in-depth she had heard Shinespark's thoughts on it, and it seemed much more like somewhere she could make a difference.

"Matters of the heart are never easy, heroic Shinespark," Wallace eventually replied. "I'm afraid I've always been better at solving issues I could either inspire people beyond or punch in the face. Are your friends able to assist you in this?"

"Hey, I've got my own worries in this department." Valey shrugged. "And no idea what to do about it. Not much more to do than commiserate."

Maple bit her lip.

"Regardless." Shinespark looked away. "That's how the pirates are doing. How about the Firefly Sisters?"

Wallace folded his talons. "Doing limited performances in Grandbell. They refuse to go back to Izvaldi for reasons they won't tell anyone, though it's not very difficult to guess, given the circumstances under which Melia ran away. We've been back that way several times, and the atmosphere seems... tense. It's probably wise of you to stay here rather than there if you want to be left alone."

"Yeah." Valey glanced at him. "You still fighting for them in the tournament, now that they're apparently no longer taking care of Puddles?"

"A duty is a duty." Wallace nodded. "One I'd be loath to renege on. And with that said, we finally arrive at what I invited you here to talk about!" He switched to a broad, heroic grin. "Young Valey. Do your aspirations continue? Because if so, the moment to chase them swiftly approaches."

"...Yeah," Valey slowly said. "So it's been a while. Give me a refresher on just what I'm signing up for."