"...Amber?" Valey looked at the sound stone, her back hair slowly raising. "Yo, Amber! You alright? Amber!?"
The stone remained silent, occasionally emitting muffled clunking or tapping noises. Starlight's ears pressed back, a sinking suspicion setting in, and she slipped out of sight, heading for the stairs. A blast of salty air hit her as she pushed the door aside, the outside world greeting her senses all at once, and she blinked for a moment, letting her eyes adjust to the light.
"Look who's back," Jamjars announced, nudging her with her shoulder. "It's a pity you left when you did. I just got some more action! Hurry, though, and shhh! They're still splashing around!"
Starlight had questions, but it wasn't even worth asking about what happened. She followed Jamjars to the railing, obstinately not bothering to hide herself, and peered over. Two suitcases bobbed next to the dock, a few bubbles rising to the surface between them and no ponies to be seen.
"Turn off that spell," Starlight instructed, lighting her horn. Amber should have been a great swimmer, but just in case her guess was as implausible as it felt like it should be... She lit her horn, expanding and softening her telekinetic field in a spell she hadn't used since Ironridge. Carefully, she lowered it into the water like a net half the size of the ship, keeping it just solid enough to feel tugs wherever it met something more solid than water.
She closed her eyes, focusing her entire brain on pruning the flow of information into something useful and not headache-inducing... There. Far beneath the surface of the water, under the hull, even, a pony was kicking about, moving quickly and trawling back and forth rather than trying to make for the surface. She frowned, searching harder yet tightening her area of focus around them. Were they looking for something? She reached further down, probing for the seafloor, but it was far deeper than the range on her telekinesis. Straining, she almost gave up on pushing herself... and felt something sinking at the very edge of her field, not far off from the point in the water where the suitcases bobbed.
Fruit-sized and mostly round, the object was snagged by her aura, and she quickly maneuvered it to where the pony was swimming so that they ran into it. After a bit of surprise, they felt it, grabbed it and decided it was what they needed, kicking out from under the boat and back toward the surface. Finally relaxing her effort, Starlight tightened her field on them, helping to boost them upward.
Splash! An orange-maned head broke the surface, bobbing to a stop and treading water with a weird object clutched to her chest. "Whooooo!" She fountained water, splashing a bit more and shaking her mane off. "Valey, I'm back! I'm back! You're still here? I thought I lost this..."
Starlight narrowed her eyes, leaning over the railing. "Amber?"
Amber looked straight up, grinned sheepishly, and waved. "Heehee. Hi, Starlight."
There was a loud thud from within the ship, and barely a second later Valey was there, standing and falling against the railing to lean over. "Bananas, what the...? Amber?"
Starlight frowned and concentrated, lighting her horn again and hauling the suitcases onto the ship, then gripping Amber and lifting her out of the water as well. Seawater streamed from her coat and mane, and with a puff of exertion, Starlight heaved her over the railing, setting her in a growing puddle.
"Hey, Valey." Amber grinned, dropping what looked like a Varsidelian flash club with her mane drenched and her coat plastered to her sides. "Surprise?"
"You... Buh..." Valey worked her jaw.
"Look really good when wet, I presume," Amber finished cheekily, tossing her mane with a spray of droplets and not even bothering to shiver. "Have to make up for you looking like a wreck, but we can catch up on that later. Did you miss me?"
At that moment, everyone slower than Valey arrived, Shinespark practically getting pushed out the door as Maple ran behind her, even though she hadn't been party to the conversation in the library. "Amber!" Maple yelled, throwing herself toward the dripping mare in an open hug, Senescey watching awkwardly from the doorway. "What are you doing here? How did you even get here? I don't..."
"Woah!" Amber caught her with ease, blinking. "You've lost weight, girl. No longer carrying ballast? Also, careful. I had some sort of accident on the dock and might have fallen in..."
Jamjars slunk up beside Starlight, camouflaged to look like the ship's wood. "...Huh. I remember her, now that I think about it. Oh well. False alarm?"
Starlight kicked her.
"Yeah, though," Valey went on, trying to get her bearings back together. "What are you doing here? I guess that's why you didn't let us talk to anyone for a while, but still, I mean..."
Amber giggled. "I didn't think it would be this much of a surprise, but then you apparently forgot all about the last thing I said when we were saying goodbye, and I couldn't resist. Sorry!"
Maple frowned. "The last thing you said?"
Amber winked. "I might not exactly be leading an armada of airships or saving your tails in an epic battle, but I did say I'd be right there behind you once Riverfall settled down and Arambai got Ironridge back in the air. It took a while, but... ta-daaa!" She struck a silly pose.
"...Huh." Valey just stared for a moment, mouth ajar. "Yeah, I... honestly didn't register that for some reason, I guess. Bananas. Wow."
"And now I'm soaked and salty," Amber decided, looking down at herself. "Stand back, I need to shake. I did bring presents, and even made sure to get waterproof suitcases, but... kind of forgot to waterproof myself?" She giggled sheepishly, then kicked the flash club toward them. "Also, this is the sound stone. I did a little tinkering to make it easier to use, since I'm not a unicorn. You can do what you want with them now that they're back together."
Shinespark regarded it curiously, pausing to erect a wall of force as Amber shook herself off. Starlight looked in over her shoulder. "That's the sound stone?"
"It is," Amber explained, nodding once she was done. "I used the chassis from one of those things and replaced the filament and burst charging mechanism with the stone, so now it regulates power from a battery to the stone with the switch. I tested it for a while and it lets you hang up instantly now instead of waiting for the horn charge to wear off like it used to. It's really useful." She glanced at the railing. "Doesn't float, though. Would have been a shame to lose it right now, after all this... I also got a weird battery from Arambai that's supposed to last an extremely long time."
Shinespark caught her breath. "I completely forgot about that project..."
Maple was still wide-eyed, standing where Amber had left her after breaking the hug. "Amber, I didn't think I'd see you again. You came all the way out here... I thought Riverfall still had promise for you? Being the new ferrypony? But you came for us?"
"Yeah?" Amber shrugged. "I mean, I took care of business. This was going to be a surprise too, but I rebuilt almost all of your house before I left. It looks better than it ever did, and I've got a few friends taking care of the last touches. I got everything sorted out about Hemlock and your anti-fan club, enough that time should heal anything that's wrong there. And I did say I'd come. They've been clearing a new area out of the badland to the north of Ironridge, cutting the trees and using the lumber for reconstruction while they try to tame the broken ground there. There's talk of building an entirely new capital district to replace Sosa, closer to the Earth District this time. Restoring power to the city is one of their biggest priorities, and they've been working on new wells too, and finally were able to store up enough to send a ship out of the city. It's actually been crazy; I didn't come directly here at all. I've got a lot of stories to tell now that I can without ruining the surprise!"
Maple hugged her again. "I missed you..."
Amber grinned, soggily patting her back. "...I also might have had other reasons. Like I said, presents. Want to open them before I get myself and Valey cleaned up?" She pointed to the smaller of the suitcases, hard and black and looking locked and armored.
"Uhhh..." Shinespark regarded it cautiously. "What's this?"
"One second." Amber broke the lock, lifted a hoof, and with a bit of effort, pried her horseshoe off. A key fell loose, pinned in a secret recess atop the shoe, and she bit it, inserting it delicately into the suitcase. "It's enchanted for safety. Can't be too careful with what this is..."
With a gleam of light, the seal broke and the suitcase opened like a clamshell, revealing a velvet-lined interior with four pockets holding burning, fiery-pink orbs. Everyone gasped.
"Are those..." Valey blinked. "Windigo hearts?"
"They're windigo hearts." Amber nodded. "I actually forgot about this too, but when Yakyakistan took them after Ironridge? The ones Starlight killed? They said they belonged to her, and we just took them up on an offer to process them or something. There are four more they're still working on, but these ones are refined and coated with glass and gold just like the ones from Howe and Neon Nova. They're not as full as the one that made you explode, Maple, but they should still provide a month or two of flying time each?" She grinned hopefully. "I thought it would be important for you to be in the air again, along with everything else these can do."
Maple's eyes sparkled, reflecting the light. Valey quivered. Shinespark closed the case and hefted it in her aura, glancing Starlight's way. "With your permission, I'll take these down below? This is... unexpected and important."
Starlight shrugged. "I don't have anything to do with them. I don't care."
"Whew!" Amber wiped her forehead, only making it wetter. "Well, delivery complete! Mission accomplished. Now, someponies need to get cleaned up. Shower?"
"Yeah, sure." Valey nodded, still slightly dazed, leading the way below.