//------------------------------// // Of A Feather // Story: The Olden World // by Czar_Yoshi //------------------------------// "Or remember and try if you want, just don't try to be a hero for the entire world! You're not a goddess..." Glimmer raised an eyebrow. "This feels like eavesdropping..." Starlight mumbled, pulling her ear away from Harshwater's door. "Why are you having me do this?" Glimmer shrugged, beckoning Starlight down the hall into another room. "It just sounded like that conversation was going somewhere interesting, and I thought you should hear. Seems I'm not the only one who's been giving someone else on this ship that advice." "So?" Starlight followed her in, and the door shut behind them. "How did you know they were talking about that, anyway? Were you eavesdropping too?" "I was hiding," Glimmer answered, pacing in a circle and sitting down on the floor. "I have to be somewhere when I'm not talking to you, and let's say I prefer to stay close by. It's not my fault if someone starts having a shouting match where I can hear it. They weren't being all that subtle." Starlight supposed she didn't have any answer for that. "So is there any other reason you're here? I haven't seen you since..." Glimmer nodded. "Things have been quiet. No reason. I thought I'd leave you alone for a while so you could process what they showed you." Starlight's brow darkened. "The Nightmare Module..." "Nightmare Module five," Glimmer agreed. "Now that it's been a few weeks, how much do you remember? What sticks with you? Anything you need to talk about?" "There's another one. With my name on it..." Starlight looked down. "Is Garsheeva the Night Mother?" Glimmer sighed. "Shouldn't be a tough question." Starlight didn't speak. "You don't look thrilled," Glimmer remarked. "Hey, there's a bright side to whatever has you down. Now that you know where she is, it should be easier to avoid her, right? If you don't want anything to do with this empire and the higher being that governs it..." Starlight swallowed. "When I was foalnapped in the hospital. Everyone in that place in Gyre was going to be taken to Garsheeva as a sacrifice. That's how the Night Mother wanted to use that to meet me." "I wouldn't be surprised." Glimmer nodded. "That could explain a lot of what happened to you." "Do you..." Starlight looked up. "Why is she interested in me? Do you know? What does she want me for? First to meet me, then to make me watch that memory..." For a moment, Glimmer's eyes held an almost-infinite weariness, but it was gone in a flicker. "Do you really want to know? You're trying to escape all this and live the way you want to as a normal pony. If letting a cutie mark decide who you are is enough to send you running across the mountains, what about a goddess who's lived for two thousand years?" "That depends if knowing would help me get away," Starlight mumbled. "I don't like it in the Empire. I just want us to find somewhere better." Suddenly, Glimmer was beside her, a hoof around her shoulders. "There's that drive again. Well enough can't be well enough with you. You wouldn't be happy settling down here to rest, so you have to keep striving for bigger and better things, but the reason you wouldn't is because here, you'll just get pulled into something even bigger. Goddesses make big plans. I just want you to be peaceful and free." "I know," Starlight grumbled. "You think I want anything to do with Nightmare Modules or Garsheeva? I'm tired..." Glimmer held her, and Starlight accepted it, leaning her head on her twin's shoulder. Eventually, she added, "How special am I? Really." "Are you really sure you want to know?" Glimmer frowned. "In this world, there are no barriers stopping anyone from becoming anything. Obstacles, certainly, but nothing is impossible for anyone with the drive to try. What makes you special and dangerous, more than anything else, is your unstoppable drive to keep trying. You'll beat your head against walls, and you'll find yourself places you never knew existed and would rather not be. The only thing stopping you from being a normal pony... the only thing that's ever stopped you... is your determination to keep going when someone normal would give up and live with their fate. It was like this when you lost your friend, and only you can change it." "Who are you?" Starlight asked, looking Glimmer directly in the eyes. "Who are you, really. I want to know." Glimmer shook her head. "Someone who knows everywhere your path could take you. You don't want to know more." Starlight narrowed her eyes, but dropped the subject. "So what were they talking about in there, then? Why was that important?" "Valey and Harshwater?" Glimmer shrugged. "Starlight, do you ever notice how similar most of your friends are?" Starlight tilted her head. "With the exception of Gerardo, everyone on this ship is a mare." Glimmer pointed, waving her hoof past the roof as if indicating everyone. "He's an outlier. And then you have two kinds of mares: cheerful ones like Amber and Slipstream, who are here for everyone else's sanity, and everyone else. It's not that you don't meet anyone different, it's that the kind of ponies who stay around all tend to have similar problems. They doubt something in their past, have poor self-esteem, can't escape from some major burden or darkness on their shoulders. Shinespark failed Sosa. Grenada attacked this ship. Nyala has no body, but she's like Amber and Slipstream too. Felicity is an assassin, Jamjars had no upbringing, Maple lost her dreams of adventure and then her foal... and listen to Harshwater." "What's that supposed to mean?" "What do you think?" It was an honest question. "Valey and Shinespark are the crew's essential leaders. They have a lot in common. They see themselves in others, especially Valey." Glimmer glanced at her. "Do you think surrounding yourself with ponies who have the same problem as you is a way to all find an answer together, since everyone is looking? Or is it a way to waste what strength you should be spending on yourself trying to prop up others, who are hurting in areas you don't know how to fix?" Starlight furrowed her brow. "Why are you asking me? What's that have to do with anything?" Glimmer stared into her eyes, waiting for her to answer herself, but Starlight had nothing. "Do you do the same?" Glimmer whispered. "Many here are also looking for a home, because they weren't happy with where they were. But none more so than you. Does looking together strengthen you, wrapping all your desires together and letting your hearts beat as one in pursuit of a single, shared dream?" Her eyes found Starlight's flank for a fraction of a second. "Or does it compound your weaknesses as well? Does it make it so your friends, like you, can never stop at good enough, and live with the same lives as the millions of other ponies in the world?" "I..." Starlight suddenly realized her stomach hurt. "I think I need to lie down..." "Yo." Valey's voice crackled on over the intercom. "Look, I'm sorry to do this but I need everyone down in the dining hall to get some opinions on stuff that stinks, but is important anyway. Especially you, Ironflanks. Be there in five." Starlight's ears folded balefully, and she glared up at the intercom. "No rest for the weary," Glimmer sighed, glancing at Starlight. "You don't look so good. You think they'd miss you if you sat this meeting out?" Starlight's glare shifted to Glimmer. "We are going to find a place to live together. It won't have to be perfect. Just good enough that me and my friends can live in peace. You think I can do anything just by trying hard enough? I'm not going to mess with goddesses, I'm not going to run myself to death, I just want a home! We could even found a town in the middle of nowhere if we had to, where no one else could find it and mess it up except whoever we decide to have live there. We will stop at good enough." Her eyes turned downcast. "I don't think I can take much more." Glimmer's shoulders slumped, and she smiled. "Right. I'm sorry. Can I make it up to you?" Starlight shook her head, struggling back to her hooves. "I have to see what my friends need..." "Don't." Glimmer put a hoof on her forehead, gently stopping her. "If you need a moment, take care of yourself." "But..." Starlight struggled feebly, though she didn't have much energy to devote to it. "I'll cover for you," Glimmer whispered, giving an encouraging smile. "Just this once, and I won't do anything you wouldn't. Take care of yourself?" Starlight blinked, taken off guard by this sudden offer... and thankfully laid back and nodded.