Shinespark loped heavily into the room where Amber was already waiting, and Valey got the door behind her. "Food champ gets the bed," she declared, belly-flopping onto it in a move that made both of her friends wince.
"I don't know how you can do that," Amber admitted, shaking her head. "First eat so much, then keep it down like that. It shouldn't be physically possible."
"Eh. Coolness." Valey blinked at her cast. "Though I really shouldn't be doing that while still injured... Good thing it's just a wrecked hoof and not a full break."
Shinespark nodded, settling herself gingerly into a chair.
"So," Amber said, rerailing the subject. "Relationships. Yours specifically, Valey."
Valey's mood went limp. "Yeah. So, uhh... Yeah. All of a sudden I don't know what to talk about."
Amber nodded, picking up the slack. "First off, I guess, is you and me. You remember what we did in Riverfall, right? What was that to you?" She tilted her head. "Don't worry about me or my feelings for a moment. I'll talk about me really soon, but I'm thick-skinned and not a believer in hard feelings."
Valey thought for a moment. "I dunno," she finally decided. "It was really cool. The more I think about it, the more good memories I have associated with it. You stirred up a lot of them when we were hanging out in the storeroom just then, too. Like, some of the best days ever for me, though to be honest my life isn't the best standard for measuring those. But I don't know what to call it. Never paid enough attention to anything to do with this stuff, you know? I just know it was awesome."
Amber kept nodding. "It was really that good for you? Tell me about the good parts."
"Bananas, I dunno..." Valey rubbed her chin. "We were just yukking it up about raiding that candy store and flying around and messing with Ironflanks' windows, weren't we? Good times. And there was also stuff like when I spilled the beans on my past to you. With Icereach and everything. You, like... had a hug for me when I needed it, you know? Felt like you met me where I was and we either went out to have fun or had a heart-to-heart whenever I needed it. Like... right now, even. We just had that crazy eating contest and now we're here. I dunno, I guess you just could have been like... 'Hey, I wanna have fun, that'll cheer you up no matter what's going on!' but you were more considerate about it? You get what I'm saying?"
"Mmm." Amber eased herself into a chair as well, tucking in her legs. "Sounds like you enjoyed having someone take your own needs into account, then. So you did like that! Good." She tapped her forehooves together, then frowned. "But... it feels like we drifted apart slowly after you left. Oh, we talked a lot, but... you know what I mean? Especially once you reached the Empire and things started getting harder for you. Especially once you reached Izvaldi. I remember you talking about Puddles and some other mare-"
"Okay, first things first," Valey interrupted. "Drifting apart?"
"Yeah," Amber sighed. "Willow said it's a thing that's very hard to avoid with long-distance relationships. I'm glad to see we're still friends now, but... do you agree with that? That it felt like things cooled off?"
Valey rubbed her ear with a blanket in thought. "I, uhh... Kinda yeah? I mean, we might have flirted a little less. And Izvaldi?"
Amber gave a worried frown. "Izvaldi. See, before, I thought we were just cooling off but you knew what you were doing and were maybe having fun with someone else. Honestly, I thought you and Shinespark had started something and you weren't telling me because you were worried about how I'd take it." She looked at Shinespark. "Just to be clear, that probably didn't happen? Again, don't worry about my feelings for the moment."
Shinespark hesitated. "I... No. Nothing."
"Nothing," Valey echoed. "I mean... should I have?"
Amber shrugged. "Well, I thought you would. You're the mare who was telling me in Ironridge how you used to use your shadow sneaking to peep and fantasize about every mare in Ironridge, weren't you? And you had fun flirting when I was there. But then you called me one day in Izvaldi, extremely upset, and told me about how there was another batpony mare who was pulling moves on you and you weren't okay with it."
Valey blanched. "Oh bananas, Crystal? I completely forgot about her. Yeah, the less said about her, the better."
"Are you sure?" Amber laid back her ears in concern. "Because I think she's worth talking about."
"...How so?" Valey asked cautiously.
"Well..." Amber took a deep breath. "What I remember is that you said she flirted with you and turned you extremely on. This was another batpony, right? So Garsheeva wouldn't have cared with her same-species rule if you got frisky. And it sounds like you were pent up, and like I just said, you told me you have no reservations thinking that way about random strangers. Everything I think I know about you says you'd have flirted back and taken the opportunity to enjoy yourself. So... help me to understand you, here, Valey."
"Okay, first off, she was a jerk." Valey frowned. "Really didn't strike me as a paragon of mental stability. Did I mention she wanted nothing to do with me and got me worked up just to be rude before saying no?" She shook her head. "I technically could have snogged her anyway, and it would probably serve her right, but she didn't want it. Crystal was weird. Put me really on edge. But, like, doing anything with someone like that was not a recipe for a good time, even if I had wanted to ditch you and go do stuff with another mare." She hesitated. "Worst of all, she was pregnant, too. That kinda shook me a little."
Amber's ears perked in confusion. "That was the worst part?"
Valey blinked at her. "I mean, it was also a surprise, but yeah?"
Amber tilted her head. "I had a flirting buddy a while ago in Riverfall who went out with a mare who was expecting once. It was a little weird to think about, but if she was small enough to keep it a surprise, it wouldn't have gotten in the way of anything. I know Maple has a history with this, but what makes that the worst part?"
Valey blinked harder. "You're worried about it getting... Bananas, no, it's like..." She grimaced for a moment. "Starting a family should be a big deal, you know? Like, hello, you know that's some dude's foal, right? You don't mess around with having kids, Amber. I kinda had no foalhood so I'm not really in a position to say, but, like, look at Starlight. You think she turned out the way she is because she had a loving and supportive family that was there for her? She ran away, and was adopted in Equestria in the first place. You don't... If you're gonna have kids, you should be ready for them. You can't stick with your partner in the first place? How do I know you're gonna stick with the kid? I might not have had a foalhood, but I definitely had no parents. And, like... if you're gonna break that kind of a commitment, there's no way you're not gonna ditch me in a heartbeat as well."
"Oh." Amber folded her ears. "That... I need to process that for a moment."
Valey waited, watching. Eventually, she whispered, "It stinks. That's why I was so torn up about it. Her body was seriously hot, but her personality was like a corpse in comparison. Being attracted to something so unattractive? And it was a trap, since she didn't want anything more than to make me feel awkward in the first place. And wanting it felt like being disloyal to you, and you're, like... a really cool person."
"...Wow," Amber whispered back. "I don't know what to say, and I was the resident expert. Can I think about this for a while longer?"
"Go ahead." Valey waved her on, content to wait.
A long time passed, spent with Shinespark looking at her hooves and Amber staring off into space and Valey uncertainly watching them both. Eventually, Amber raised her head. "I think I get it."
"Yeah?" Valey gave her a hopeful look.
"I think I don't have a normal idea of what relationships are," Amber admitted. "I'd guess you don't either, but I know for sure I don't. And I don't know what normal is or where we'd find it, when the Empire has its own weird rules and restrictions. But I think we've been using the same word for two different things, and that's making us confused about what each other wants."
Valey tilted her head in interest. "Oh? What's it mean to you, then?"
"Right. Not saying relationship." Amber squared her shoulders. "Here's what you are to me, Valey. I like seeing ponies happy. All ponies. I think it's a great thing, and I try to make things bright, but I'm just one mare and that means I'm content to do what I can. You, on the other hoof..." She pointed a foreleg at Valey's face. "I have a personal investment in you. I think your past is sad and unfair, and in spite of it you saved my best friend and her adopted daughter and everyone else in Ironridge in the process. I could keep listing things for hours, but the point is that I think you are awesome and it makes me feel awesome to see you feeling it. You're something of a hero to me for what you did for my friends, and I also love feeling like you're there for me, but what I want most is for you to be happy. And you were just plain cool when I met you. Does that make sense with how I've treated you? Can you understand me feeling like that?"
"...Huh." Valey blinked, a little smile coming out at the praise. "Yeah, well, being awesome is what I do. At least, I try to. You're seriously welcome."
Amber nodded. "So, when I say relationship... I mean it like there's something special between us. Like I'm committed to doing what I can for you that much more than an ordinary stranger, and like... by you acknowledging me, it gets a little more special. And that we think each other are hot, and that's the best. But I'm starting to think you see some things differently from me, like... like just what would constitute breaking that between us."
"Huh?" Valey watched her with anticipation.
"Mmhm." Amber glanced at Shinespark, then back to Valey. "I want you to be happy. And if you checking out another mare's legs makes you happy, I'm not going to say you need to have eyes only for me, I'm going to sit you down and want to hear about how hot they were. But I'm... starting to think you don't see it that way."
Valey sagged in the bed, still maintaining eye contact. "Okay. So how about when checking out another mare's legs makes me unhappy because I feel like I'm cheating on you, or something, but my dumb eyes and wings get excited anyway? Like, you told me you're not upset about that before. This is hardly the first talk we've had about this, remember? Maybe you're not feeling like I'm disloyal, or something, but I sure was. With Crystal... and Puddles, too, though I had even less choice in that."
Amber sat up a little with a small smile. "Alright. So what's your idea of a relationship, then? I'm hearing... well, you feel bad about having eyes for everyone who crosses your path."
"Yeah." Valey's ears went down. "I, uhh... didn't exactly have parents, remember, and sorta lived on the fringes of society for my first year. In Ironridge, I saw relationships, and the ones I always interacted with most were the ones where I could make some dude in the guard mad by hitting on his mare. Maybe it's for no better reason than pulling too many dumb pranks, but it's kind of just ingrained in my head at this point that you, like... stay committed, you know? Like, no matter how golden of an opportunity it would be to just have some quick, casual fun." She lifted a weary eyebrow. "But you just don't feel like that?"
Shinespark cleared her throat. "Sorry to interrupt, but I've actually seen this a lot before, and it's a whole lot simpler than either of you think."
Amber and Valey both looked at her. "I'm pretty sure I see what it is..." Amber tilted her head. "I thought you had no experience with relationships, though. Is this not even a relationship problem?"
"It is." Shinespark shook her head. "I don't have experience, but what I have done is spent a lot of days going around Sosa and listening to my ponies. Hearing their problems. And it's far more common than it should be to find couples where there's a Sosan stallion living with a Riverfall mare, they have different expectations on where the line is between closed and open relationships, and he gets hurt or mad because she does something with somepony else."
Amber and Valey turned to look at each other instead. Valey folded her ears. "So... basically what we've been saying, but in like zero words instead of a million. If it's a thing you've seen before, though, like... how do they resolve it?"
Shinespark sighed, looking small. "All too often? They don't."