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// Here, Read This 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
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"Oh bananas," Valey groaned, stumping up the stairs from the Immortal Dream's dining hall. "You know when you get so full, you're like 'yeah, it's time to hibernate,' and you just sleep for twenty-four hours and pretend the world doesn't exist? Because I am at least twice that full. When Ironflanks goes all out and everyone tells me to go all out too, they should mention not to take it literally..."

Beside her, in a cloud of sapphire telekinesis, Shinespark floated, her body limp and ragdoll but her horn and cutie mark working normally. She wore a faint smile, her whispers audible now that the party had finished and the ship was quieter. "You alright?"

"Hey, who said this is a bad thing?" Valey grinned. "I'm still... urgh... pretty beat-up from all the stuff that's happened over the last few days. Could do with taking some time off my hooves. So you wanted to hang out, or what?"

"There's not much I can do," Shinespark apologized, her voice weak and raspy. "We could go sit down and talk?"

Valey nodded. "Sure. Your room?"

"My room is fine."

With a glow of blue, Shinespark gripped the handle, sliding her cabin's ornate door aside. Twice as big as the other rooms on the ship, her private cabin had an ornate four-poster, a full-sized vanity she probably never used, and enough floorspace for some small chairs and a coffee table.

"Make yourself comfortable," Shinespark instructed, floating onto her huge bed and letting her horn extinguish. "Or join me up here. Sorry if I'm hard to hear."

Valey grinned, plodding over and dragging herself atop the bed before rolling on her back and flicking her tail. "Whew. Good thing I don't wear dresses, or none of mine would fit..."

Shinespark chuckled, the door sliding closed until they were alone in the window's dim light. "So, Valey. Tell me about things."

"Things?" Valey raised an eyebrow, glancing aside at her. "Like, what kind of things? Kind of had a lot of things happen recently."

Shinespark also lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling. "You. Our friends. Everything. Ever since you left to go flying after Starlight, I've only heard bits and pieces about what everyone's up to. Gerardo tries to keep me informed, but he's only watched from the sidelines."

"Oh. Yeah." Valey bit her lip. "Yeah, you know, I don't think I ever, uhh... Never really thanked you for throwing yourself under the cart like that for me. To keep me in the tournament, I mean."

"You did, but I wasn't able to respond," Shinespark said. "You're welcome, though. I guess I just... felt strongly about it. I had to do something."

"Even if that something was getting rolled over in an arena for the strongest warriors in the world," Valey answered. "And getting stabbed with a sword that turns batponies to dust. Forget me getting beaten up, I'm used to taking some hits. What about you? You gonna be okay?"

Shinespark frowned. "The sword is wearing off. It's inconvenient, but I can talk and move around. Soon it'll be like I'm just sick or tired, and I'll get better from there. I'm a little more worried about the ponies I had to indebt myself to in order to get in there in the first place. Like Lord Gyre."

Valey's face fell. "You owe him now, don't you? Yeah, I'd... Look, having been to Gyre, it's really not the kind of place you wanna take a vacation, you know? If he comes calling..."

"I'll figure it out," Shinespark sighed. "I knew what I could be getting into. I just hope I get a chance to fix Braen and Nyala first. Knowing what that sword does to armor..."

Valey hesitated. "Ever wonder what it does to moon glass?"

Shinespark didn't answer.

"...So yeah, though. Stuff that's happened to me?" Valey changed the subject, remembering Shinespark's original request. "Yeah, which part do you wanna hear about? How I flew a million miles chasing Starlight to some catacombs with a really scary scientific abomination? This really crabby mare I met in Percival's mansion who makes me feel all kinds of bad about myself? Or you guys being cool and actually having a good time exactly when I needed it most?"

"All of the above," Shinespark said. "Plus everything you've been hearing and learning about Chauncey and Izvaldi. And yourself, and why we want to go to Mistvale."

"Oh, that's a long one." Valey rubbed her face with her wings. "Bananas, gimmie a moment to figure out where to even start..."

Shinespark let her think for a minute, then spoke up. "We could start with Felicity and her sisters. Do you trust them?"

"I..." Valey fidgeted. "Honestly? Yeah, I think I do. You know how Ironflanks always talks about your dad, Arambai? How she knew he lied or kept secrets about everything and never told her the full story, but always got the feeling he was a good guy? These mares are like... exactly the opposite of that, but also kind of the same. I have no idea who or what they're fighting for, and for all I know, they're ruthless opportunists or scheming bad guys. But at the same time, I trust them. Not, like, with what they'll do to other ponies, but this isn't like Chauncey where it feels weird or desperate. I kinda feel like they like us and wanna play fair."

"So you'd like Felicity's help guiding us in Mistvale?" Shinespark asked. "You think what happened with Starlight at the hospital wasn't their fault and was an honest mistake?"

"I dunno. It's just a hunch." Valey shrugged. "But hunches and my cutie mark were how I got by in Ironridge, so I like to think I'm decent at reading ponies, you know? And they don't feel... Well, they do feel dangerous, but not really towards us. It's like how you could walk by an open power coil and it's not gonna jump out at you, but could still really hurt, right?"

Shinespark let out a breath. "You are good at that. Better than me, at least. I wondered your opinion."

"Hey," Valey gently admonished. "No being hard on yourself just because of that one lapse of judgement on the dam. But yeah, Felicity is like..." She thought for a moment, twirling the fur on her chin. "The first time I met her, she basically told me she was up to no good, you know? She offered to let me in on whatever it was they were up to, and I said no because we'd just made it a month in Stormhoof with no trouble. And guess what? She was actually pretty cool with that. And it sorta makes sense, you know? If you were some hyper-secretive vigilante, which you totally were, wouldn't you love having someone who knew you had secrets, knew they could get them if they asked, and were cool with you without knowing?"

Shinespark's breathing slowed, a far-away look growing in her eyes.

"Like, I'm pretty sure they're ponies," Valey continued. "It's technically possible they aren't, like Chauncey... Long story. But even if they're grand actors, I'm not really getting any sociopathy or cold brutality in there, and I'm pretty sure they have wants and needs too. So... yeah, I trust them. And someday we might be disappointed for it, but for now, I think they and I can be cool."

"You're the one who can tell when things are dangerous," Shinespark whispered. "I've been going back and forth on making a call, but if that's yours, I'll leave it up to you."

Their conversation continued, but outside in the hallway, Senescey stood, neither hiding nor shadow sneaking, a single tear dripping from her eye.