//------------------------------//
// The Flight Down 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

"You know," Valey grunted, "when I asked what could go wrong, I really hoped I'd get like a weird monster or a stupid bad guy or something. Problems you can solve by punching them in the face are easy! So no offense, but this is really, really lame."

"Sorry, darling," Felicity panted, mostly limp. "I didn't want to rain on your parade and really thought I'd be better than this..."

Valey's wings beat fast, struggling to stay in the air as she descended toward a rocky mountainside outcropping that rose through a break in the trees. Mistvale's valleys were dim, with just enough light filtering through the cloud cover to see clearly, yet mercifully not raining. Still, both of them were damp from their descent through the clouds, and that combined with Felicity's weight made the drop much less pleasant than it could have been, the bigger mare draped across Valey's back.

Crunch! Valey's hooves hit rocky gravel, and she stumbled to a stop, kicking the ground and clearing a patch of cleaner stone before crouching down and letting Felicity climb off. Felicity's step was shaky, and she immediately lay down on her side, breathing hard and looking slightly queasy.

"Alright," Valey panted, brushing herself off and stretching her wings, taking a moment or two to get herself back together. They were in a long, narrow valley, and ahead at the end she could see the beginnings of a body of water, but no traces of the distress signal. "Wanna tell me what this is about?"

Felicity folded her ears.

"Look, I know not everyone is super-fit or some kind of crazy athlete," Valey said, clearing a space of pointy gravel for herself as well but not sure she wanted to lay against the cold stone. "But we were flying for like fifteen minutes, and you got tired enough to just drop out of the sky. Am I just vastly overestimating normal pegasi and batponies?"

Felicity looked ashamed. "I'm deeply sorry, darling. Again, I haven't pushed myself in a while, and really thought I'd be better than this, but apparently extended flight, especially when it's cold out..." She glanced down. "Do you really want to know?"

Valey raised an eyebrow. "Is this about me saying I didn't need to hear all your maybe-illegal activities, or everything I could get drawn into? I'm still not interested in that, but if you've got liabilities that can mess up my plans, I need to know. Bananas, I'm still ticked that I have to ditch Nyala again for this, and if this trip winds up taking more than an hour or two I'm gonna flip."

Around them, the wind was completely still, and Valey felt a slight chill go down her coat from the cloud moisture and the perpetual dusk air.

"Well... it's just..." Felicity swallowed, looking unhappily at the ground. "You remember the first time we met, darling? When you and your friends came home with Senescey and visited my house? We told you a bit of our history, including living through a time in Izvaldi where the river was poisoned for several months. It took our mother, though the three of us survived... but I neglected to mention the three of us were left with a few lingering health issues."

"Oh." Valey blinked, suddenly feeling a little colder. "Bananas. Yeah, no, uh, sorry. Look, if you need time, take however much you need."

Felicity nodded appreciatively. "I'll be ready to take another leg soon, I hope. But yes, I... tire much more easily than I should from constant exertion. Usually I can manage more than this, but lately I'm... Well, I'm pregnant, too, and it's probably compounding things a little."

Valey stared at her for a minute... and then sighed. "You are, huh? Well, that's great."

"Sorry, darling." Felicity smiled awkwardly. "I don't want to elaborate too much unless you ask it of me, but that's my situation. Do you mind if we rest here a few minutes longer before trying to make the rest of the flight in smaller jumps?"

"No, no elaborating." Valey waved a hoof. "Look, I just had a really bad time butting heads with the world's saddest, edgiest jerk, who also happens to be a batpony mom-to-be, so I'm just gonna pretend this isn't close to home at all and... never mind." She stared pointedly off into the distance, then sighed. "Bananas, this is awkward."

Felicity gave her an apologetic look. "If you've got things on your shoulders, darling, I'm no one to judge. I can probably sympathize with more than you think, and I do feel bad for getting us stuck here so I would like to help..."

Valey tossed her mane in frustration. "Seriously? Because if you make offers like that too often, someone's going to take you up on them. I have no idea who you are or what you're up to and deliberately told you not to tell me, and... ugh. Look, I just wanna get to the grand temple and get some answers and confirmation on what I am, and maybe a chance for some peace and contentment in my life."

"Well, that could be a good thing, couldn't it?" Felicity shrugged. "It's sometimes easier to tell things to someone you're not obligated to be there for tomorrow. I know that's the case for me. I have burdens I couldn't even admit the existence of to my dear sisters."

Valey stared at her for a while, laying on her side on the stone, and sighed. "Get up and back on my back."

"Excuse me?" Felicity blinked, curious, but did as Valey instructed, her hooftips dangling off the ground once Valey stood all the way up. "I'm not sure I'm quite ready for more flying yet..."

"Yeah, but once you are, you probably won't be ready for much longer if you're frozen from laying on that for too long," Valey countered. Her legs stiffened beneath Felicity's weight, but didn't buckle, holding the mare above her and entirely off the ground. "And body heat, and all that. And I need something to do. Bananas, you're heavy."

Felicity gave her an awkward grin. "Well, I am slightly larger than you, darling."

"Don't call me small," Valey answered, standing at the edge of the outcropping and looking out down the forested valley. "Look, Felicity, I'm pretty good at reading ponies. My cutie mark helps, since I can tell if anyone means me harm, but even without that. It was important for getting by back in Ironridge. And you... I really, really wanna trust you. Maybe it's because you've done me and Shinespark a favor and helped her keep me in the tournament. Maybe it's because I've spent too much time around Ironflanks and am some kinda giant optimist. Might also just be because you're another batpony in the Empire and I've got a feeling you really get it."

"I know there's a but in there, darling," Felicity chided. "And you don't have to butter me up quite so hard."

"Yeah, there is." Valey looked down at the treetops and rocky slope immediately at the cliff base below. "Thing is, I know you're up to no good, and I don't wanna know the details. Like, really, whatever conspiracy or criminal activity you and your sisters get up to, I've got way too much on my plate as-is. And that's a problem, because... Well, you told me to let it out on you, so time for a bit about me."

She took a breath. "I was a pest in Ironridge. Really not a great mare. Sure, I had a job that helped the city and I was pretty great at it, but I was a menace. And there was this mare called Maple who I always call Ironflanks, and I did her a good turn or two and she just kept believing in me, no matter what. And on the one hoof, it was cool and felt nice, but I had a lot of reservations about actually switching teams and joining up with her. You know why? Because I really did have some dark and messed-up stuff in my past, and no matter how much I warned her that there was something she didn't know, she didn't care. You know. The moon glass stuff."

"I see where you're going with this, don't I?" Felicity murmured. "Sounds like we have a lot in common."

"Yeah. And I'm about to guess at a little more." Valey folded her ears. "Maple didn't listen to my vague, annoying warnings. Maybe she saw I was better than I was making myself out to be. Maybe she only saw an image I was trying hard not to project, of being better than I was, and refused to see through it. She certainly didn't see me the way I saw myself, couldn't see that I was afraid of my history, and couldn't confront or challenge me even when I did something and set it up to look like I was hurting her. If I actually messed up, or my past caught up to me somehow? I didn't think she would try to stop me. And I was pretty scared of that."

Valey turned her head, trying to look at Felicity on her back. "So that brings us to you. You're not trying to hurt me; I know that. But what do you want from me? Do you want me to just see you as being nice to me for no reason, ignore all the stuff you're trying to let me ignore, just hang out and... I dunno, unload my problems on you? Or are you hoping I'll get it and show some integrity and actually turn on you or be not okay with it if you do something messed-up where I can see? Are you afraid of me asking you to spill the beans because you wanna be friends and think it will ruin that? Or are you scared I won't ask and will keep not seeing you as you?"

Felicity chuckled weakly and wiped at an eye. "That tells me a lot more about yourself and your problems than I ever could have gleaned by asking directly, and yet lines up with everything I already knew. You don't know who you are, do you? Identity issues, darling. Not fun, and perhaps I can help. You want to know about me, though?"

"Yeah. What's your deal?" Valey made eye contact, neck twisted nearly upside-down to look at her. "I'm trusting you, here, but I wanna know what kind of pony you are, too."

"Haha. Alright. You showed me your heart, so here's something in mine." Felicity wiped her eyes again, then smiled. "I don't care whether you ask me to tell you about our plans, my sisters and I. I think you'd probably offer to help us, and I think we could greatly benefit from your help, but I don't care on such a personal level as that. What I'm most afraid of is that by watching you and your little quest to learn about and live with your reality, my own resolve will weaken and I'll find myself questioning what I've done all these years, wondering if there might have been a better way."

Valey hesitated, looking back out ahead. "...I think I might need to know what you're up to, now," she decided. "If you could keep as much politically sensitive stuff out of it as possible, I'd appreciate it. But... give me the general idea."

"An abridged version for safety's sake," Felicity agreed. "Alright then. Have you ever heard of finding a way to visit the Night Mother?"

"Uhh... yeah, actually. Right before we left for Mistvale." Valey frowned. "You guys wanna do that, huh? You have a wish?"

"Indeed," Felicity sighed. "And it shouldn't be too hard to guess. We want to ask the Night Mother to heal our bodies from the damage the poison caused when we lived in Izvaldi. My physical stamina is gone, along with some... other problems. Senescey and Larceny have their own issues, though mine might be the most severe."

Valey closed her eyes in thought. "And it's not just as simple as going to a dusk statue and asking where she is, right?"

Felicity grimly smiled. "Actually, it is. She heard our pleas and made a bargain with us. In exchange for our services, she will guide us to her, create new, restored bodies for us, and transfer all of our memories and souls."

"Your services, huh?" Valey dubiously folded her ears. "What's that entail? And for how long?"

"That's the sticky part," Felicity apologized. "For how long is however long she deems necessary. And our services... first and foremost, darling? We're assassins."

Valey felt a lot colder.

"Not targeting any of you," Felicity promised. "Though we do whatever the Night Mother asks of us regardless. If that was baking someone a cake and sending it with a get-well card, we would do it posthaste. But... well, you know how it is."

Valey took a shaky breath. "And what if she actually did ask you to kill one of us?"

"Honestly, darling?" Felicity's voice grew a lot quieter. "Senescey already advised you take Starlight to that hospital on her request, and the results shook all of us quite deeply. If the Night Mother requested such a thing...? Well, that's one of the reasons I'm afraid being around you could weaken my resolve and suggest there might be another way."

Valey closed her eyes, spread her wings, and took off.

"Eeep! What are you doing!? I'm not ready!" Felicity glomped tightly to her, wrapping all her legs around Valey's barrel.

"Flying! And giving myself time to think," Valey growled, enough force beneath her wings to keep both of them aloft. They streaked forward with a red and green trail, Valey turning their weight into a powerful glide at breakneck speeds. Barely ten minutes later, they had crossed three-quarters of the valley, and she pulled up, flapping hard to gain altitude and finding another ledge to settle down on.

"...Valey?" Felicity's voice was hesitant, and she didn't cling any less tightly.

"I've got a few questions," Valey said, not looking back or trying to get her off. "You can probably guess what some of them are, and answer in any order you like. How much does this bother you? Where would you draw the line? Will you be able to live with yourselves once you finish? Why did you think I would help you? And do you want me to condemn you for this, or be okay with you anyway?"

Felicity took a deep breath. "We have... always been free to walk away from the table at any time," she began. "Valey, the first thing I hope you will understand is that the Night Mother is a loving and caring goddess who is there for all of her children. Would we refuse if she demanded a murder that was blatantly vile and unjust? Yes, we would, and we've never needed to. We are our own mares with our own morals, and yes, at the end of everything, all we want is to be normal again. As for you? Well, that's a very good question."

Valey stood still for a moment longer. "So what does she have you doing?"

"That's getting into politically dangerous things, I'm afraid," Felicity apologized. "She has us working odd jobs aimed around shifting the balance of power in the Empire. A lot of them involve helping High Prince Gazelle, and most of them involve using our skills for things that don't quite amount to murder. Especially recently, we've been liberating large quantities of money from Gondolus Gyre, and the particular incident I'm here with you to avoid involved implicating Lord Stormhoof in a botched assassination attempt on his son to throw Stormhoof into political turmoil. We are going to actually kill someone soon, and while I can promise it's someone you probably would do in too, I think the details on who are something I'll only tell you if you ask directly. For sensitivity's sake."

"...So you're not actually assassins," Valey sighed, deflating as much as she could without dropping Felicity. "You have the skillsets, but you're doing high-level manipulation and stuff."

"I'm not saying what we may or may not have done in Gyre as a means of getting by," Felicity warned. "But Gyre is... kind to nobody, I'm afraid. Still, there you have us. We try to-"

Suddenly, she was unclasped from Valey's back and thrown down on her own back on the ground. Valey's forehoof slammed down... and hit the ground inches from her face. Felicity gasped, suddenly muzzle-to-muzzle with Valey.

Valey stared at her for a moment, neither of them able to break eye contact. "I think I get it," Valey eventually said. "You've got some stuff in your past, and I know about second chances. You've also got some stuff in your future, and I know about desperation. If you need it, and it sorta sounds like you do, I'll be cool with you... but I will turn you into melon paste if you try to do better and mess up. Figuratively speaking, of course."

Felicity sucked in a breath.

"So there." Valey leaned down and hugged her.

"Oh my," Felicity breathed. "This is... well, err, I appreciate the gesture, but this ground is extremely hard on my back..."

Valey grabbed her, pulled her upright, and continued the hug. "You got that? You want a chance, I'm good with that. You want to be better than your circumstances, I think that's awesome. But part of my deal is if you're not, I'll remind you of it, and pretty hard if it hurts my friends. And maybe give you another chance after, but we'll see. If you wanna work for the Night Mother and benefit batponies, or something, go ahead. I've killed dudes who really needed to go, too. But you better try."

Felicity winced in the embrace, and Valey brushed a bit of gravel out of her fur. "Well. Something tells me we'll be talking more about-"

In the distance was the sound of a small explosion.

"This later? Yeah, probably." Valey stood up. "Either fly on your own or get back on my back, though, because we've got business to take care of."