"...And that's we were doing for those hours," Shinespark finished, having spent the last hour or so quietly narrating what had happened between her, Amber and Valey. "It feels like... I don't know. Like now that I've said something, I have to do something, even though I was content to hold my peace. And Amber just..."
"Was perfectly fine with it?" Maple smiled. "With stepping back and telling you and Valey to enjoy yourselves? Sounds like something she'd happily do, alright."
Shinespark mutely nodded.
"So you want to be out there, helping to do something too? You don't feel like you're not pulling your weight enough with our team, do you?" Maple's smile turned into a gentle frown of concern.
"I don't know. I'm just being reminded of why I felt like she was so far ahead or unattainable in the first place," Shinespark murmured, stretching a hoof out the window. "It's special, but... makes me wish I hadn't said anything at all. Like now I just have yet another expectation on my shoulders..."
"Can I tell you a secret?" Maple whispered, leaning in. "If you do nothing to contribute, I'm doing a whole lot less. All I do every day is sit around and enjoy spending time with my friends, mostly. And I've never felt like anyone blames me for it."
Shinespark frowned. "That's because it's supposed to be the job of ponies like me to bear the burdens of letting you live the lives you..." She stopped and swallowed. "The job of ponies like the one I try to be."
Maple side-hugged her. "No one will blame you if you take a break from trying so hard, you know."
"I have no idea how any of us will react." Shinespark shook her head. "Even when I think I do, ponies do things that are completely unexpected, like Amber just... stepping back and pushing us together like that. And even if I was sure, I know how I'd react. I wouldn't be happy, just sitting back and doing nothing to help."
"Because you feel like you've got something to prove to yourself after Ironridge," Maple murmured. "I can't tell you how to feel about something like that, but can I tell you something about Amber?"
Shinespark nodded. "Yeah."
Maple took a breath. "Back in Riverfall, our big sister and best friend... Willow was married to a Sosan who arrived after the boats stopped coming. The Riverfall version of marriage, at least. They had a foal, and were raising hers from before him as well. And while we were in Ironridge, we found his old wife and the rest of his family, and they weren't okay and we brought them back to Riverfall with us. We had no idea how it would work out, just that they couldn't stay in Ironridge... and even though it hurt her immensely, when Willow talked with them and saw them together again, she did everything she could to step aside and try to help repair their relationship."
Shinespark's ears pressed back. "I don't remember a lot of Riverfall. I was still recovering physically and mentally from the skyport and the dam, had a cold and rarely left the ship..."
Maple nodded, gently rubbing her back. "Willow is very strong. I've had a major life crisis of my own, too, before, and Amber has always done everything to be there for us when she can. I'll have to talk to her, but I bet seeing you and Valey reminded her of Willow, at least a little. You should talk to her about it, but if I know her, she's very happy to have gotten to see something like this happen between her friends and know she had a hoof in it."
"Heh." Shinespark's eyes glistened. "Well, she definitely hasn't been treating me coldly after it. I'll have to talk to her, indeed."
"Mmm," Maple agreed.
"Maple, you don't do romance, right?" Shinespark looked up. "Probably not the best pony to ask for words of wisdom on what to do with Valey herself?"
Maple thought for a moment, then sighed. "I'm not sure any Riverfall mare is, to be honest. The more I see of the world, the more I realize how strange our situation was, and how we had a system that worked for us but would never work in a broader, less-isolated society. Willow didn't realize that what she had wasn't the real thing through two years of an emotionally detached relationship, until she her husband with someone else. Amber... I think she thinks things are too simple and idealized, even after all she's seen. That if you're patient, friendly and never harbor hard feelings or see your setbacks and losses as losses, that's all that's involved. She's so open with everyone, I can't imagine what she'd look like being emotionally intimate, since she already holds nothing back."
"Huh," Shinespark said, leaving the air open as to whether Maple wanted to talk about herself.
"And then there's me." Maple folded her ears. "I know what I wanted. I know what I got. And now I just have... being that way with another pony associated with a whole lot of pain in my mind, that still gets triggered from time to time. Every time I see someone treating their partner like they're disposable, every time I see someone pregnant or hear about dead foals, I get overwhelmed with memories. I'm not sure I'll ever be any different. After all the work I've done to spring back, maybe there are some wounds that never heal. But anyways. I can still tell you about how I wished things worked, but I don't think I can speak to how they actually do."
Shinespark hugged her back. "It's funny how some issues can be on a national scale and others so personal, yet still hurt just as bad."
"Hmmhmm." Maple closed her eyes and smiled. "At least you didn't spend so many months being emotionally dead to the world. You're very resilient. Even if you're having issues believing in yourself over all this, can I say I'm proud of you?"
"Thanks," Shinespark muttered into her coat.
For a moment, they stayed silent in an embrace... and then a voice echoed from behind them. "While that's all very touching, darlings, you really ought to choose a less-public place to talk about your mixed-sarosian relationships. Otherwise, someone's bound to be listening in."
Maple and Shinespark gasped, jumped to their hooves and whirled.
"Remember me?" A carnation-maned, well-built batpony swayed her considerable hips, standing nearby in the corridor with concern etched on her face. "I have to say, you all were dreadfully easy to sneak up on."
Maple's brain clicked. "Senescey's sister? Fe..."
"Felicity," the mare declared, closing her eyes and swishing her tail as she trotted forward. "At your service."
Shinespark's eyes narrowed. "That was private! How long have you been listening?"
"Nothing's private in public, darling," Felicity effortlessly countered. "Especially not when the city is poorly-lit and any old bat can hide just about anywhere. As for me? Long enough to watch your backs against the twenty or so ponies and griffons who have innocently wandered this way while you were talking, and definitely long enough to hear that you have far too many feelings for your own good about one of my kind." She poked Shinespark in the chest with a wing.
"Twenty...?" Maple folded her ears, eyes constricting to pinpricks.
Felicity gave her a giant, reassuring pat on the back with a wing. "Oh, please. Where did you even think you were, a giant stadium with 'round-the-clock entertainment and people coming and going? No, clearly this is the comfort of your own private, vetted home." She winked.
Shinespark's eyes narrowed. "So are you here to help us or not? This is making me nervous."
Felicity pursed her lips. "Would a little you-scratch-my-back-I-scratch-yours be too much to ask for? I'd really love to do you the favor and keep this on the down-low, and that is a thing that friends do for one another, is it not?"
"What do you want from us?" Maple winced.
"There, there, don't looks so cornered. I didn't say I wouldn't if you refused." Felicity gave a disarming smile, stepping back a pace. "I didn't mean it like that at all. Believe me, I do feel for your-" Her ears snapped up. "Shhhhh!"
With a quick rush of darkness, Felicity spread her wings and pitched forward, grabbing Maple and Shinespark tightly against her sides and pulling them into the shadows. Several moments later, a stately griffon in a suit with a small posse of griffonesses walked by, not giving their alcove a second look as they carried on a quiet, excruciatingly-polite argument about the latest trends in theatre.
Felicity rose, gulping down air and letting go of the two ponies. "There, see?" she whispered, panting. "On your side. I feel for your plight, I really do. Emotions and romance have always resonated strongly with me, darlings." She tapped her flank, a cutie mark emblazoned of a heart with several vibrating strings protruding almost like an instrument. "But I do have a favor I'd very much like to ask of you, once we're in a place where you're feeling a little safer?"
"Ask away." Shinespark gave her a careful nod.
"It's just..." Felicity's smile wrinkled. "Senescey. She feels quite awful about what happened, recently, and I assure you the three of us have been talking at length about it and what it means for us and what we do. Would it be too much to ask to think about giving her another chance, perhaps?"
Maple smiled reassuringly. "We already have. I have, at least. Although if there's anything more you can tell us about what happened to Starlight..."
"If that's what it takes as a show of good faith, I'm more than willing to," Felicity promised with a curtsey. "Though first, if I may, you really ought to check the fight schedule board..."