//------------------------------//
// Word of Advice 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

Valey strolled through darkness of Grandbell's rainy surface, this time opting to wear a coat as Amber, Shinespark, Starlight, and their new group of friends from the tournament room followed along. The glowing sound stone sat under a wing, Grenada's formal voice providing directions to where the ship had been moored.

"Thanks for inviting us along," Saffron chirped. "We've been at this tournament stuff practically all day. Things are looking a little more possible after all our work, and it's a real pleasure to have a chance to put our hooves up in good company."

Diego and Randorf had abstained, both having elsewhere to be, but Pierre and Shill followed along at her sides. "We were grateful to have your help," Shill added. "Not a lot of others were going to do it. With all the bad news in the Empire these days, between Meltdown's power rationing and the events at Stormhoof and what happened to Garsheeva, everyone has real drama to worry about instead of the tournament's staged drama."

Saffron shrugged. "On the bright side, if all the spectating nobles aren't thirsty for it, it means the only ones we'll have to worry about cheating will be us fighters ourselves. And there'll be plenty who will, but this still might be the fairest endgame of the decade."

"If it happens," Shinespark insisted. "We're still trying to fairly choose a winner from thirty-seven contestants and enough timeslots for fifteen scheduled battles."

"Free-for-alls?" Valey shrugged. "That sounds kinda unfair, but it would be faster..."

"We're working on it," Shinespark promised. "What's most likely is that we'll do half of it off-schedule, as long as we can agree how we'll choose a champion still at the end. We could also have back-to-back fights, or a four-way battle where the last two standing win... It's complicated."

"Yep." Saffron tossed her mane, not caring about the rain. "So how did you three's talk go with Grandpapa? He can be a little intense and mysterious, but he's looked out for the rest of us fighters in the past."

Valey winced, wobbling her shoulders. "Eh, it went so-so. At least he's not trying to monk me anymore. That's an improvement I'll take any day."

"Mistvale arts are a pain to run afoul of," Pierre agreed. "Those who fear sarosians can say what they will, but it is always good to have a friend who can fix you on hand. The bad ones tend to last a very long time."

"Been there, felt that..." Valey folded her ears. "So apparently they're landed in an orchard over this way? I guess we turn right here."

Saffron gave a curious nod. "How's that thing of yours work, anyway? I've seen magic that sends signals through conduits, but normal technology doesn't just work at long range."

Valey tossed the stone and caught it. "I dunno. It just works. We stole them from some clowns in Ironridge who probably stole them from someone else. They sure are nice, though."

"Literal clowns?" Shill frowned. "Randorf works in a performance troupe, and has friends who are clowns..."

Amber stifled a giggle at the thought, and her and Valey shared a look. "Nah. I mean, sorta." Valey grinned. "Actually the same dudes who were somehow announcers for part of the tournament. Crazy hair and shades with a trench coat? They've kind of got the looks for it."

Pierre snorted. "They must have had some talent in performance to win an audition."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure Gazelle bribed someone. We kind of got them off the hook with him a while back..." Valey shuffled slightly as she walked, fidgeting. "I dunno. Those three can kiss each other for all I care. Point is, the sound stones are cool and they work, so who cares how or why?"

Saffron grinned. "A useful outlook you've got there. So is that your ship?" She pointed to a dark outline among the trees, a glowing crack of lighting along the sides marking where the shielding could retract to reveal the dining hall's armored windows.

"Yep." Valey picked up her pace, heading for the boarding ramp that was ready and waiting.





An hour later, introductions had been reiterated, Pierre had joined Maple in the kitchen, and Saffron and Shill were hanging out in the dining hall with the rest of the adults as Starlight sat at the top of the stairs and watched, hundreds of thoughts running through her mind.

A little patter of hooves announced Glimmer sitting down beside her. "Feeling alright?"

"No," Starlight whispered.

"Can I listen?"

"I keep seeing it again. I keep reliving that day. When Sunburst left and I couldn't handle it." Starlight's ears fell. "For a few months, I think I let myself forget I hadn't left immediately after that. I remembered it in Riverfall. But there was a long time between those where I stayed in Equestria and was afraid of moving a muscle. I thought I had moved past it, and now I'm thinking about losing my new friends too."

Glimmer put a hoof on her shoulder. "Let's go back to your room."

Starlight nodded and stood, guiding her blind lookalike on the short walk through the library before sitting down at the foot of her bed. "I'm imagining too much. Valey losing her cutie mark, Maple dying, us finishing our adventure and everyone walking away." She gulped. "Myself, telling them I give up, and staying together isn't worth the price of saving them."

Glimmer was quiet for a moment. "The worst part of learning to live with loss is seeing it coming."

"I didn't want to believe you," Starlight said, "when you kept telling me I need to learn to stop trying. And then Grandpapa was telling Valey how he had watched Chauncey try so hard to save someone he cared about, he became evil instead. And I knew the answer, and I said it, and it physically hurt."

"In here?" Glimmer put a hoof over her heart.

Starlight closed her eyes and nodded. "It felt dirty to say that drawing a line for yourself is more important than taking care of your friends."

"Oh, Starlight." Glimmer leaned forward, wrapping her forelegs around Starlight in a hug. "Nothing is more important than your friends. It may not feel like it in this broken world, but friendship is magic."

Starlight sniffled. "But you said I have to be able to let them go..."

"You do," Glimmer apologized. "But I know a little about Chauncey. The point where he crossed the line was where he stopped fighting so the pony he loved would be safe and happy, and started fighting so he wouldn't lose them. When the foremost thing in his mind had gone from her needs to his needs, that's when he had gone too far."

"But..." Starlight rubbed an eye, feeling herself start to grow teary. "I need my friends! I'm scared of being without them. I know what it was like..."

"Everyone does," Glimmer told her. "A lonely existence is the saddest existence possible in this world. Being together is the reason why ponies exist. You've learned about how Luna created batponies. The rest of ponykind was born for the same reason, much longer ago. And every pony has the freedom to love and care about whoever they wish. You can care about anyone, or even everyone, Starlight. And there will always be ponies who freely care about you. But if you try to take that love, caring for others so that they will love you instead of because you love them, you will only be lonelier, because the love you long for is not the kind that can be taken."

Starlight blinked. "So you're talking about them leaving me. Not something taking them, but..."

"It could be anything." Glimmer shook her head. "Maybe they will. But they care about you too much to want you hurting yourself for their sake. Maybe they will find themselves in a situation where they don't think they're worth the price of saving."

"But they'd be worth it to me," Starlight reluctantly mumbled.

Glimmer nodded, still hugging her. "And you've saved them from situations like that already, in Ironridge. That's why times like that are your decision. When you are the only one who can step in, no one else can decide for you whether your friends are worth it."

Starlight folded her ears. "So what if I decide they're always worth it, and never stop trying to protect them?"

"If you had all the power in the world, what would you have done when Sunburst left?" Glimmer pulled back, looking straight at her with her sightless eyes.

Starlight trailed off, no answer coming to mind.

"You could have gone with him, but he was one pony. What about when multiple friends go their own ways?" Glimmer continued. "This ship's crew is large. You'll have to choose someday who to go with when they no longer fly together, even if all of them survive every danger along the way. And whether they do that will depend on how far you're willing to go to keep them safe."

Starlight looked at her hooves.

"The world is infinite, Starlight," Glimmer assured, putting a hoof against Starlight's head. "How many years can you remember?"

"I don't know," Starlight murmured. "I'm not that old... I was adopted six years ago. My old parents said I knew my name when they got me, but it's kind of fuzzy. I don't really remember it that well."

Glimmer nodded. "I've lived for longer than anyone else on this ship, and I can tell you this. The world stretches for hundreds of thousands of miles before its boundaries. It existed for so many thousands of years before you remember that history itself has forgotten, and it has the lifespan to continue for thousands more once the hardiest of your friends have died of old age. There are so many ponies throughout space and time, even creatures like Celestia and Garsheeva couldn't hope to know them all. There will always be ponies, always be stories, always be friends waiting out there in the universe for you, friends I can guarantee you could live with happier and more peaceful than your life so far has ever let you dream of. Relationships are transient, but that's their beauty. There will always be new beginnings for every goodbye, and you'll be able to remember every one of them in your heart until the day you, too, cease to exist. Endings aren't the end, because there is no end. You can and should fight for your friends, but when the time comes to let them go, it will be okay."

"But I'm scared," Starlight sniffed. "I don't want to lose everyone again..."

"Even if you do, it will be okay," Glimmer urged. "Shhhhh..."