//------------------------------//
// Don't Say That 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

Soon, Grandpapa was gone, having swam under the door and leaving Valey, Amber and Starlight alone in the room. Valey frowned. Amber fidgeted. Starlight stared at the metal that had once been a part of Chauncey.

"Sooo..." Amber began, trying to break the silence. "Boy, it's awkward in here. Valey, which part of that do you want to talk about..."

"What's with you?" Valey cut in, giving Starlight a look that was half cross and half worried. "We give up and stop trying? To do what? The only thing I've ever tried to do since coming to this empire is keep you guys safe! Yeah, so Grandpapa saw one guy go bananas and figured everyone must be the same. I'll admit, he did have a point: we know too much about that creepy science too, and I'd do anything for you guys. But while I get what happens if you go too far, the answer to that is to find a balance, not just morosely sit there!"

"I...!" A look of fear washed over Starlight's face.

"Hey." Valey's voice grew gentler, but stayed firm, and she rested a hoof on Starlight's shoulder. "I know. It's okay. Whatever you were thinking made sense at the time." Her brow straightened. "You feeling okay?"

Starlight suddenly clung to her, careful to avoid her wounds but burying her face in Valey's fur. "No. It hurt to say that..."

"Uhh..." Valey patted her uncertainly. "Hey, kiddo, it's okay. Talk to me."

Starlight sniffed, then stilled. "That's what G... What she's been telling me. The other me who's with us. She talks like she knows things about me, and says that if I don't learn to let go of things I care about when I could stop them from leaving if I didn't, I'll never be happy."

Valey's ears perked, and Amber moved closer. "She does?"

"Yes," Starlight mumbled into Valey's side. "I thought he was saying the same thing, so I agreed because it makes sense when she says it, but it hurt to say."

"Oh boy." Valey sat back, putting a wing around Starlight. "Sounds like you've been thinking about a lot of stuff for a while. You talk about this with Maple? She's the one who knows most about you. I heard you had issues with this back in Riverfall, but kinda figured..." She uncomfortably scratched her head.

"It feels like I said something wrong," Starlight insisted, still burying her face. "I know you want to keep your friends! I want to keep my friends, too! I don't want to ever lose you if there's anything I can do to stop it, and even if there isn't I'll make a way! Losing you won't make me happy..."

Valey gritted her teeth. "You better believe it won't. And I'll punch anyone who says otherwise. So there."

Amber bit her lip. "You did just let Grandpapa tell you that fighting for your friends stacks up to becoming a monster."

"Yeah, well, he can put a sock in it."

"He's right, though," Starlight said, her voice taking on a duller tone. "He wasn't saying letting myself be left behind is a good thing. He was saying some of the things I can do to stop it would be worse. There is a line that should be drawn, but if I keep getting better and better at keeping all of you, I'll always need to reach just a little further..."

"Snap out of it!" Valey bapped her, holding Starlight up and meeting her eyes. "Wherever we are and whatever we've done, none of us are remotely close to being Chauncey. We have not crossed any lines, and there are none to cross for miles around. Every time we've done something huge or heroic to save our friends, it's come entirely at our own cost. We haven't turned into monsters and we haven't hurt others, especially not the ponies we're trying to save. Unless you think Maple feels hurt that you and I tried so hard to catch her when falling off that dam in Ironridge that we hurt ourselves more than we would have, injuries from which we're all better now? I sure doubt all of Ironridge feels ungrateful that we saved them! Yeah, we can do some cool stuff, but there's nothing stating we can't do it for good."

Starlight stared back. "If you got stuck in moon glass, what do you think we would do?"

Valey blinked. "I mean, that would be stupid, but what could you do? Nyala's already that way all the time."

Starlight's gaze didn't waver. "Do you think we'd bring you to Riverfall, and ask one of Maple's old friends who knew what would happen and didn't have a cutie mark if they would help us bring you back?"

"Uhh..." Valey gulped.

"If we explained everything involved, Willow would say yes," Amber murmured. "I know her."

"Would you want us doing that for you?" Starlight insisted. "Well?"

"Give me a minute!" Valey protested. "Look, you know where I came from is kind of a sore spot for me. Even after what the Night Mother said about my mark, I'm, like..." She shivered. "Bananas, I don't wanna think about that. I'd feel bad if you did. I wouldn't have any memories, either."

Starlight kept watching.

"And I'd be a kid again," Valey thought aloud. "You'd practically have to raise me. It would take forever for me to be old enough to get what had happened. The me that's here now and remembers this conversation wouldn't exist. I wouldn't even get a say in the conversation. But, like... you guys would be glad to have me back, even if it was just a part of me."

"Right," Starlight sighed, glumly drooping in Valey's embrace. Valey set her back down. "But I know we'd consider it, because no one wants to lose you. And if we crossed that line, what would be next? The bigger our reach is, the more impossible things we can try to grab for that we shouldn't..."

"Yo." Valey grinned. "Maybe ponies like Chauncey will do that, but when have we ever compromised on our ideals so far? Sure, we might have played friendly with a couple of shady dudes, but we never did anything evil knowing that it was wrong. Saving Ironridge? You and I were heroes, kiddo. And Maple was too for saving you afterward. You were the one who even talked me into fighting Herman when I wanted to get you out of there and bail. And just to stick it to everyone who says we can't, I bet you we can find ways to all stay safe and together without crossing any lines."

Starlight's lip trembled. "But what if we can't? There was nothing I could do in Equestria..."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Valey promised. "If we come to it. I'm not planning on getting glassed any time soon. Not with this baby keeping me safe." She patted her butt. "And if I do? You watch. I bet you'll figure out whatever Navarre did to get me out of my glass in the first place, and it won't involve having kids or waiting years or anything else that feels wrong. Or maybe you'll find an even better way."

Starlight's face shadowed. "I do know another."

Valey blinked. "Wait, really?"

Starlight nodded, lowering her voice to a whisper. "There's a seventh Nightmare Module. Remember the one that had a memory, that Chauncey wanted to watch? The whole point of that memory was saying that this one even existed. It's not with the others. I don't know where it is. But they said it let you move around cutie marks easily, from pony to pony. Since moon glass is made by a Nightmare Module, I bet this one can take cutie marks out of it, too."

"Uhhh." Valey sat down hard. "Well, bananas."

"I think Garsheeva has it," Starlight offered. "She was in the memory. But I don't know. But does it matter?" She tilted her head. "Would you be any happier being brought back by a Nightmare Module, even if I found it? Would I be happier, using them to help my friends?"

Valey hesitated. "You've used them before..."

"And I'm never using them again," Starlight promised. "Especially after hearing what they did to Chauncey. They make me feel different inside. I've mostly had you all to care for me while I was like that, but I'm afraid of what could happen. They make me really strong. And if one of you was in danger, I don't think I'd be able to tell where the line was on what to do..."

"Yeah, well, there were no nightmare batponies at Icereach, so you won't have to."

"Sounds like there's another way," Amber agreed. "Since they didn't have any harmonic flame to set themselves back to normal. But don't you worry about the Nightmare Modules. As long as we have a good supply of that stuff, we'll be able to put you back right as rain."

Valey winced. "I mean, to be fair... we kinda don't. Sparky used up a lot getting us to Izvaldi while Crystal was in labor. Apparently when you push the ship too fast, it gets way less efficient..."

Amber's brow creased in worry.

"Yeah," Valey sighed, "I'm expecting us to have a group talk about where we're going pretty soon here. We've got enough to get back to Ironridge if we don't mess around with anything else first, and then we can refuel and maybe hit up Yakyakistan for the rest of our windigo hearts. They owe us more, right? And we can get that Writ of Harmonic Sanction they owe us, too. Two isn't a bad start on thirteen..."

Amber glanced at the door. "That thing at the bottom of the city was a crystal palace. The one by Garsheeva's giant throne. If only we could get in there and get more..."

Valey rolled her eyes. "Yeah, breaking into a goddess's inner sanctum is at the very top of my priority list. It would be neat, but my butt hurts just thinking about it. That place is a no-go."

"Hmm," Amber exhaled, sitting back down. "Well, I hope Crystal appreciated it. She was very demanding to midwife for, much worse than Willow. We didn't have to get her there that quickly."

Valey winced. "Yeah, she might have... had other things on her mind at the time. I'm pretty sure if we ever see her again, which I hope we won't, it won't be a happy reunion."

Amber blinked. "Was she not okay?"

Valey stretched unhappily, glancing at Starlight. "I guess all we said was that Gazelle was causing trouble, huh...?" She huffed. "Crystal had her kid, alright. And it was a batpony."

Amber tilted her head. "And batponies breed true..."

"Yep. Not a griffon." Valey shrugged. "Percival thought she cheated and tried to forgive her, but didn't listen when she said she didn't. All the nurses and stuff were Chauncey's old goons, and they kinda made things worse by not seeing a problem, so she thought they thought she was a floozy. And then Gazelle was laughing at her through a window... We beat him up, and didn't check back in."

"So her foal's father... You don't think, if she really didn't want to acknowledge it, it could have..." Amber lifted a hoof.

"Nahhh, I'm pretty sure Crystal was telling the truth," Valey assured, pushing her hoof back down. "I mean, maybe there's a chance she was so unstable, she was lying to herself for an illusion of stability, but that feels like stuff wouldn't add up. And for Chauncey's doctors never to tell her what was in her during a checkup or something is suspicious. I bet you that since Chauncey had a thing for eugenics experiments and using her as a test subject, he somehow modified her so that rule doesn't hold anymore. I mean, Grandpapa even said something about him wanting to control a batpony's offspring. It's weird stuff, but there was so much messed up going on in there that you could tell me and I wouldn't doubt it for a second."

"Poor girl," Amber said. "She was needy and unpleasant, but I don't doubt it was because of her circumstances. I wish there could be a happy ending for her. Hopefully she and Percival can make up and retire happily together."

Valey rolled her shoulders. "I never really saw them together that much, but it's hard to believe their relationship could be anything approaching stable. Whatever works, I guess."

Both of them looked at each other until Starlight cut in. "Does this remind you of anything?" she asked, holding up Chauncey's metal.

"Uhh..." Valey squinted at it. "It looks vaguely like moon glass, but maybe I'm just saying that because it's black. Doesn't feel dangerous. I think it might be the stuff Stanza's crown was made out of. Having this created supposedly made Chauncey unreadable by the Night Mother, and Crystal said dusk statues never worked for her, either..."

Starlight frowned back at the metal.

"You look like you were thinking of something else," Amber remarked.

"It's nothing," Starlight assured, tapping the metal and listening to its clink. "It reminds me of a sword neither of you would remember."

Valey blinked in thought. "Yeah, don't remember it. One other weird thing, though: you know how he said you can apparently smell this stuff from ages away, if it's yours?"

Starlight tilted her head. "You don't mean like how you can smell me?"

Valey nodded. "Mhmmm."

"But I'm not metal," Starlight protested, checking herself over just in case. "And you can use dusk statues."

Valey shrugged. "Well, technically, I've never tried. But I can feel them calling me, and I heard the Firefly Sisters' concert and Stanza's music, both of which apparently use the same thing. So yeah, I guess it might be different."

"It's weird, though," Amber said, rubbing her chin. "Right? You never did find out why you can smell Starlight like that."

"I mean, no." Valey squinted at the chip again, then stood up. "But I'm not the only one with weird smell senses like this, either. Puddles had this really weird ability to beeline straight to Melia on that pirate ship after she had gotten captured. And since Puddles apparently wrote Stanza's songs that they were singing, there might have been this weird communication stuff somehow involved there too."

"Puddles isn't a batpony, though," Amber pointed out.

"Yeah, I dunno." Valey paced over to the door, flicking the lock open. "Look, I dunno about you, but all this talking has made me hungry. Who wants to invite some of our new friends over and have a good old hangout?"

Amber happily raised a hoof. "Me!"