//------------------------------//
// Counting The Injured 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

"What the...?" Starlight sucked in a breath, reaching the Immortal Dream's deck to a horizon of devastation. After frustratedly holding her eyes closed through Garsheeva's vocal roars, knowing Glimmer hadn't returned yet, the challenge bellowed in her mind had been the last straw.

She didn't care if both of them got seen. She had to know what was happening. But she wasn't prepared for this.

All the world was tinged with red, from glowing embers falling from the sky to the distant horizon, colored by looking through tainted air. Fires burned fitfully in the crater where Izvaldi's capitol had stood, and it took several seconds for Starlight to even recognize the remains of the structure, though the river and distant body of the township gave it away. The edges of the hill rose like lips, and then they sank again, a sharp sphere carved out where and explosion had leveled and torn into everything. A screen of smoke rose drifted as if from the caldera of a volcano, some of the nearby trees were half-stripped from the blast, and all of her friends' manes were blown backwards by the following wind. Nobody looked okay.

"Maple, what happened?" Starlight asked, swallowing.

"Starlight...?" Maple blinked, stepping toward her, confused. She pointed at the railing. "You just jumped off! And teleported a second later..."

Starlight's ears fell further, realizing who Maple must have seen... but it didn't matter. Glimmer could do what she wanted. "Yes, I did. Pretend I don't know about that. What's happening?"

"It's gone," Shinespark whispered, turning to stare through Starlight, not fully registering her presence. "Again. Not again."

Gerardo stood solemnly. "I'd advise everyone who doesn't need to be here get down belowdecks. That ash will soon reach us, and probably better to avoid getting it everywhere. I should make sure the ladies on the bridge are fine."

"Need my help?" Amber offered, tugging on his sleeve. "Or... Maple, will you be fine without my help?"

Maple shuddered. "We just need Valey to get back. And... Starlight, I don't know what happened. But Valey will get back, and then I'll be fine." She forced an optimistic smile.

Gerardo patted Amber on the shoulder. "Shinespark's the real one who will need help, at the moment. Would you mind ushering her below?"

"I will do it," Grenada assured, nudging Shinespark uselessly toward the door. "Come on..."

At that moment, a rush sounded below the railing, and a clump of ponies appeared, flying straight up. Crystal crested the ship's side, barely making it over the barrier before landing in a panting heap, a lilac filly in her forelegs and Valey on her back. Valey's own back was seared and bloodied, less fur and more a swamp of detritus from the explosion. "We're..." Valey's eyes flickered, fighting to stay focused. "Ow..."

"Valey!" Maple jumped towards the pair, skidding and blinking when she saw their full conditions. Valey wasn't stable, Crystal was exhausted, there was a catatonic Starlight on the floor...

With a wordless sigh, Starlight approached her counterpart, staring into Glimmer's sightless, unconscious eyes. Angry energy periodically danced along her horn, and she could feel the filly's fever from steps away. "What did you do?"

Glimmer didn't register her presence.

"Starlight?" Maple's eyes were taken off the two batponies for a whole second. "What's...?"

"Take care of Valey," Starlight requested. "I know who she is. I'll take care of her."

Maple blinked again as Starlight pulled Glimmer from the pile, wincing at the heat from the filly's horn. "It's just like you when..." She swallowed. "Right. Valey. Valey, what happened!?"

"Caught in the explosion." Valey gritted her teeth, hooves scraping the ground as Crystal crouched beneath her but didn't get her off. "Starlight... Bananas, why are there two? Did that thing she does where she blows herself up saving everyone... Ow, please tell me we have medical supplies."

Beneath her, Crystal breathed heavily, low against the ground and refusing to speak.

"You..." Maple swallowed again. "You look..."

"Ash starting," Gerardo warned. "Nyala, Slipstream! Accelerate us away from this cloud, if you please? Slowly! We have injured passengers aboard!" He marched to Valey, inspecting her back. "Mmm... You really know how to take a beating. I'm no doctor, but I'll do the best I can if we can get you downstairs."

"Yeah, do that...!" Valey winced sharply as she was moved.

Grenada and Shinespark had already departed inside, and now Gerardo and Amber carried in Valey, tailed by Jamjars, who kept shooting curious looks at the two Starlights. That left Starlight, Glimmer, Maple and Crystal... and as the ship began to move, none of them knew who should speak first.

"Um. Hello," Maple said, badly shaken, eyes now drifting to Crystal's belly. "I heard about you," she added in a quiet voice.

"Quaint," Crystal coughed. "I don't do socializing. I need a bed and someone to check me for injuries."

Maple winced. "Okay. We have those. I'm not a doctor, but can I give you a hoof...?"

Crystal ignored her, staring at herself and sitting halfway upright. "You're still here," she panted down at her child.

Nearby, Starlight had gotten Glimmer onto her back, the other filly breathing fitfully. "Maple, help? I don't know what to do with her..."

Maple glanced at the Starlights, utterly dazed. "Get her to our room. Miss Crystal, can you walk? There's a room..."





Down below, Gerardo, Amber and Valey had stopped in the library, where Harshwater lay on her back doing basic exercises and trying to coax her limbs into usefulness. "Valey!?" She gaped, seeing the batpony's condition.

"Ow," Valey greeted, unable to wave. "What's up?"

Harshwater slumped and sighed. "It sounded like something big was happening. I was trying to see if I could build up enough strength to properly move in however many minutes it's been..."

Valey winced, and Gerardo nodded. "Things are over, if not under control. I don't suppose you have any medical training from your previous career? We're slightly limited on supplies, and things are, well..."

"Passable, but this looks really bad." Harshwater pulled herself upright using a chair, staring at Valey with surprise and concern. "Get her laying down immediately, back up, try not to move. Use sheets you won't mind getting wet, because we need to clean that and see how bad it is. We have fresh rooms? And are there any other injuries?"

Hoofsteps sounded on the stairs behind them, and then Maple was there, Crystal walking stubbornly beside her and Starlight carrying Glimmer on her back. "Injuries. You can help?" Maple asked, fixing Harshwater with a hopeful stare.

Harshwater sighed. "What is it?" She wobbled her way over to the newcomers, nearly tripping and carrying herself with a wall. Her eyes went to Glimmer first. "Horn trauma, something magical. Cold water rags for her forehead; don't try to chill her horn. You'll burn yourself and it could cause cracking. If there's a reason those two look identical, get that seen to too." She turned to Crystal. "Do you hurt anywhere, and permission to touch?"

Crystal's eyes drifted over her. "You know what you're doing? Granted."

"Right..." Harshwater sat down in the hallway, Gerardo and Amber carrying Valey away. Her hooves prodded Crystal, checking over her soot-stained form. "Number one, you need a bath. Trust me, it'll make you feel better. Some minor lacerations, and... what's this?" She frowned, stopping at the batpony's foreleg. "Were you branded with a circlet? The fur here is blackened and fused together... What caused this?"

"Magic," Crystal dourly informed. "Is my child okay?"

Harshwater pressed an ear to Crystal's belly, then stood up. "Alive enough to move. Listen, you're the best off out of anyone who needs help, so get someone to help bathe you and then rest easy. You look like you're showing signs of going into shock." She glanced at Maple. "And you do too. Do I want to know what you've gotten yourselves into?"

"The city is gone," Maple explained simply. "The whole capitol hill is a crater."

"Maybe Kero was in it." Harshwater sounded unimpressed. "Now go clean up and lie down. Valey has it bad, and I need to see to her."

The floppy pegasus dragged herself away, leading Crystal on down the hallway and leaving Maple, Starlight and Glimmer in the library. Carefully, seeing that their own room was in use, Starlight set her lookalike in a reading chair, frowning over her and wiping a bit of ash from her mane.

"Starlight?" Maple breathed, standing beside the two. "Who is this, and what's going on? Is she... you?"

"I don't know," Starlight answered, seeing herself reflected in Glimmer's unseeing eyes. "Whether she's me, I mean. She appears to me sometimes, and I never told anyone, but... now everyone else can see her too."