For a moment, Valey breathed, her speech finished, waiting for Shinespark's reaction.
"Well?"
"You..." Shinespark slowly began to blink. Then chuckle, though it was tired and worn-out. "Are you sure?"
"About what part?" Valey shrugged, starting to feel self-conscious in the wake of everything she had said. "That all I said I'd do would help? That I'll do it in the first place? I dunno." She stared past her friend into the darkened bedroom, indirect sunlight warming the back of the drawn window curtains. "I hate being down in the dumps. Being sad and mopey makes me not feel like me, and when you have identity crises as frequently as I do, that's kind of a thing to avoid. Really, I wanna be doing awesome and up on my hooves, and if that can even remotely help you at all? Bananas, I'm all in."
"I don't want all those years to have been wasted, though..." Any good cheer Shinespark had tried to muster vanished, and she made half an effort to curl up. "And you're just... telling me to..."
"Nope." Valey reached a hoof back out for her shoulder. "Not telling you to forget about them. Telling you that if it turns out you think they are wasted, count for nothing, that you didn't even get a shot at a big part of your life? That's not the end of the world. I'll show you how it's done, and you'll give me a reason to show that. Think that'll work out?"
Shinespark sighed. "I wish I knew."
"Aww, come on." Valey sat up straighter and nudged her more heavily, rocking her a little where she lay. "This stuff is hard, alright? I don't know why everyone keeps thinking I should be a therapist, but I'm what you've got and I'm trying! Maybe it's because I'm fuzzy. Ironflanks hug therapy? No?" She gave Shinespark a hopeful, questioning look. "Hey. Should I, like, thank you some more and try to make you feel better about yourself, or...? I'm out of my element, here."
Shinespark just slumped, earning a bigger frown. "Well, now I'm feeling kinda silly for saying all that," Valey grumbled. "Look, sorry if I overdid it and made you feel awkward. I was just trying to get through to-"
Suddenly, she was interrupted by a tight hug. "You didn't overdo it!" Shinespark quickly insisted, cutting off anything further from Valey's train of thought. "You didn't. Sorry. I appreciate it. Really, it means a lot to me. Just trying to figure out what I'm feeling before I say something and put my hoof in my mouth."
"Oh." Valey blinked, relaxing partway. "Thanks, then. And yeah. I might've made some stuff up on the fly there, with what I just said, but nothing I wouldn't be willing to commit to. You know."
"Give me a moment," Shinespark mumbled into her chest.
"Yeah. I can do that." Valey put a hoof on her back in return and stopped talking.
Eventually, Shinespark murmured, "You're a good friend, you know that?"
"Thanks. I try." Valey shifted a little. "Kinda helps a lot, having friends. Don't like where I'd be without them."
"It's funny," Shinespark went on. "How long we were enemies in Ironridge. Leaders of opposite sides. I was always annoyed by you for getting the upper hoof on my plans since you could sneak around and were impossible to keep secrets from. I thought you were irreverent and annoying and that we were worlds apart. Never imagined how much we could have in common."
Valey grinned. "Hey, I'm still irreverent and annoying. And if I ever stop, smack me, or something." She turned solemn again. "But yeah. You're right. You always got on my nerves too, having a gigantic district of ponies who adored you for no reason at all. At least, that's how it felt. I kind of didn't see all this pressure stuff you were dealing with for that back then. Thought you were just getting a free pass from everyone around you while I had to settle for quiet excusals and dirty looks."
Shinespark sighed. "You're partly right, though. As hard as maintaining the position was, I still got it for free. One day, I got my... my cutie mark, and it let me do exactly the same thing as a folk hero. I did have a choice, but it wasn't something I asked for or did anything to deserve."
"And I was jealous of you when we were in the same boat all along, huh?" Valey lifted an eyebrow.
"The same way I felt about you, acting like all the rules didn't apply and getting away with it every single time." Shinespark almost smiled. "I didn't really get the loneliness part of it, did I? I spent too much time wishing you'd get what you deserved and leave me alone. It's funny, because I didn't have much in the way of knowing ponies for fun back in Ironridge, either. Like we just talked about now. I was lonely too, I guess. That's what it was like at the top."
Valey shrugged. "Lonely at the top? I don't even know if I was at the top or the bottom. I practically made my own league that was separate from all the others."
"We must be doing okay for ourselves," Shinespark mused, smile growing more genuine. "If we can talk about our problems like this and compare whose are worse and still feel better about it, aren't we?"
"Heh." Valey stayed sitting up. "Yeah, something like that. I figured having someone else who knew how it felt might help. Might help both of us. Kinda weird that even though we're both unlucky, we're lucky to be unlucky together?"
"Heh. Yeah." Shinespark's eyes moistened a little, but she kept smiling. "Sorry you have to be the one who... you know... had it worse. With your past, and all. I know exactly where I came from, and my mother was a pretty inspiring pony. And I still had my foalhood. And I'm sure even if I tell myself it's okay not to take responsibility for Sosa and the skyport and Grenada, there's still a lot of worthwhile things I did with my time as the Spirit's leader. You're putting up with that anyway, and I appreciate it."
Valey winked. "What, to cheer you up? I've got years of practice thinking you've got it better than me. Seriously. Turns out how you feel matters more than just why you feel that way."
"Heehee..." Shinespark earnestly giggled, one of the first times Valey had ever heard it from her. "Thank you, Valey. I actually... I feel a lot better. Thanks."
"I take care of my friends. It's a big part of having them."
Shinespark slowly nodded. "So... the tournament?"
"Yup." Valey nodded. "I'm feeling stubborn right now. Something will probably happen to make me think about it again later, but for now, I meant it. I'm doing it purely because I can."
"But that's in several days," Shinespark murmured. "Do you have anything you need to do right now? If you could stay here a little longer..."
Valey curled back down on the bed, patting it with a wing. "Nothing more important than staying here. Nyaah. As long as you need, Sparky."