"Sounds like a rough life," Harshwater said, laying on her back and holding still. "The Empire's been giving you that much grief over the cross-species thing?"
"No! I mean, well, yeah." Valey rubbed the back of her head self-consciously. "Seriously, it's far from the worst part about this place. But there you have it. Tournament, Wallace, Chauncey... I might have left out a few super sensitive things, but you'll get filled in pretty quick if you stick around."
Harshwater closed her eyes. "Not like I'll be doing much else. Still. I still think you're a completely different mare, Valey."
"That a good thing?" Valey gave her a look even though she wasn't watching.
"Depends how much I believe it. I'm still skeptical." Harshwater took a slow breath. "Would you say it isn't?"
Valey rolled her shoulders. "I dunno. I mean, me not being in Ironridge anymore is great, because that place stank. But it kinda came with an identity crisis, and that's not cool either. Not exactly easy to have that big of a break with who I was and come out of it unscathed, you know?"
Harshwater exhaled. "Believe me, I know how that feels."
"Yeah?" Valey raised an eyebrow. "You feeling any better about yourself? I kind of figured commiseration would help."
"I'm fine," Harshwater snapped, no force in her voice. "I told you, I'm far better than I was a week ago now that I'm not about to get murdered in battle."
Valey got up, turning to face her. "Alive, maybe, but your self-esteem is a trash can. Like, come on, you just got betrayed again by the guy you already forgave once! You can't just shrug that off!"
"Actually, I can," Harshwater said calmly. "If your emotions are going to hurt you, compartmentalizing and saving them for later is a basic part of improving your odds of survival."
"And this isn't later?" Valey frowned. "I mean, if you don't want me to see you upset, I can bail, but weren't you just going on about how I'm completely in charge of you and everything? Look, I know you're miserable. Sorry if I thought you also wouldn't want to deal with that on your own."
Harshwater slowly, calmly sighed. "Let me rephrase. I am not a stoic pegasus. Stoicism isn't my thing, and normally I'd have had at least three tantrums about this by now. One that I'm mad at Kero, one that I'm mad at myself, and one for attention. So I appreciate your offer. I really do." She looked down at herself. "But right now, I have at least three cracked ribs that haven't been given a chance to heal properly, already know what it feels like when I exert myself, and will be ten times more miserable than I am now if I hyperventilate and turn on the waterworks."
Valey blinked. "Oh. Uh. Yeah, that changes things... Bananas, are you alright? Like, physically?"
"Let's put it this way. In a life or death situation, I would fight. I would go down very quickly, but I'd fight." Harshwater gave her a grumpy look. "Barring that and to see a doctor, good luck getting me out of this bed."
Valey's ears drooped. "I'll take that as a no, then. Sorry we used all our healing supplies on everyone else, by the way. They were, uhh... in even worse condition, I guess."
"Don't apologize," Harshwater requested. "You weren't there. And not all of them were. They just weren't getting an airlift to civilization, and needed to survive in the wild in whatever condition they were in. As long as I was stable, I was fine."
"Well, I hope that fine-ness continues," Valey said. "And I promise, we're gonna pay off whoever we have to pay at the grand temple to get you patched up. If you have something that heals wrong, it's going to be fun for nobody."
"Thanks," Harshwater mumbled, then looked up. "Look, not to be ungrateful, but could you save talking about how great you're going to be to me until after you've done it? I am trying not to get worked up, here."
Valey saluted with a wing. "Gotcha. That, uh, sounds like I've visited enough? I'll make sure someone comes by with food later, or something. See ya."
"See ya," Harshwater replied, going back to reading her book.
Valey slipped out into the hallway, not entirely sure whether she'd excused herself too early but fairly certain Harshwater wanted to be alone. The ex-mercenary's social cues were weird, and she had either missed far too many not to be cautious or was deliberately being messed with. Either way, painful breathing was as good a reason as any to do what it took to stay stoic, so she wasn't about to begrudge her the grumpy mood.
Forcibly calm emotions... It was a perfect segue in her mind for who she had to talk to next. Maybe Felicity and Harshwater could even help each other. She knocked on Felicity's door.
"Who is iiit~?" Felicity sang, voice soft but reasonably upbeat.
"Yo, it's Valey." Valey put an ear to the door, her muzzle near the crack. "Permission to come in?"
"Help yourself, darling. But forgive me if I'm not feeling up to getting the door..."
Valey entered just like she had for Harshwater, finding Felicity in a similar state, sprawled on her bed. The batpony wasn't tucked in and had no book, but looked reasonably like she was enjoying herself, a brush beside her and her mane half-tended. She greeted Valey with a beatific smile.
"What's up?" Valey asked, stepping closer.
Felicity sighed airily. "Not me, I'm afraid. That battle was incredibly rough on my physique. I tax easily and recover far more slowly than I should, and seeing as I pushed myself to the point of passing out..."
Valey leaned her back against the bed, looking away. "Seems like everyone's busted up from all that. Bananas, I did the most fighting, and I'm in the best shape of anyone on this ship..."
"No need to avert your eyes, darling," Felicity urged, and Valey looked over her shoulder to see a curled lip. "If you're worried, I do think I stopped short of anything permanent, and as long as I'm allotted a peaceful recovery I should make it back to as good as I usually am."
"Glad to hear it." Valey stretched. "Anyway, I kinda recall we chatted on the way down, and before everything blew up with the fight and the cave, we had some stuff we were going to talk about. You feeling up to a chat?" She raised an eyebrow.
"We most certainly did save some topics for later!" Felicity beamed, her face slowly merging to a sultry smirk. "I'm sure you remember which one was my favorite."
"Uhhh." Valey reddened. "No idea what you're talking about."
Felicity gave a knowing nod. "A slip of the tongue. No sense in taking dessert before dinner, is there?" She winked, then grew serious. "So. As I recall, we agreed to trust each other for the time being. You trusting me and my dangerous skillset around your friends, and me trusting you not to throw me out in the dust. And now the urgency of that truce has passed, and the time has come for a more thorough understanding of one another. Is that a reasonable grasp of the situation?"
"Yeah." Valey swallowed. "You're an assassin. You work for the Night Mother, and she has you working for Prince Gazelle, and he has you doing weird stuff like stealing and something involving Stormhoof. And you're pregnant, but I don't remember if you said that had to do with anything."
"All correct," Felicity agreed. "And being that I am in the employ of such lofty powers with the intention of performing such unscrupulous deeds, you wanted to know what would happen were I ordered to bring harm to your friends. I replied that I might not be able to go through with it at all."
"And then we left things for here," Valey finished. "So?"
"So, darling?" Felicity returned the look. "What next?"
Valey met her gaze for several moments, unblinking. "...Bananas, I have no idea."
Felicity sighed, sinking into her bed. "I'm afraid any script I may have had for this has run its course. Ask me anything and I'll answer to the best of my ability, but I have no window into your desires. What do you want, Valey?"
"I don't even know." Valey shook her head. "I know there was more we were supposed to say, but I don't even..." She gritted her teeth, swallowed and shook her head. "That whole conversation happened before the battle, you know. It happened before Shinespark got blown up by her dumb sister and knocked unconscious, and you fought until you passed out to keep her safe from the dudes on the beach. You could have hid or ran, and you risked your life for her. I dunno exactly what we would have said on that flight if we hadn't reached the camp when we did, but bananas if actions don't speak louder than words."
Felicity closed her eyes and smiled. "Glad to be of service, darling."
"Still feels like there's something to say," Valey pointed out. "You know? Like, I wanna say something, or..."
"Something to solidify that we've reached an understanding, perhaps?" Felicity looked hopeful. "Not to be presumptuous, or put words in your mouth, and if I'm wrong, please correct me. But..." A familiar calmness washed over Valey, and she could feel Felicity's cutie mark activating. "Try saying nothing for just a moment, and see if silence isn't the right word after all."