//------------------------------//
// All Your Fears 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

"...You went under the mountains," Saffron said, regarding Starlight with a dawning understanding. "Can't say I've ever heard that idea before. I have no idea how possible that would be. Guess it never crossed my mind..."

"Starlight," Maple warned, concern spread across her face. "Are you sure you want to talk about this? I thought we agreed we weren't..."

Starlight nodded much more firmly than she felt. "We said we wouldn't talk about it because I didn't want to get attention in Riverfall, and not mentioning the caves in case someone misused it. But she already has a real pass, and she's one pony instead of all of Riverfall or Ironridge. Besides, she might understand."

Saffron watched her slowly. "So... you still never got a writ, or anything. Not that there's any way you'd not remember something like that, unless you were real small..."

Starlight's ears fell. "I don't know. It's possible. How likely is it? My home was in the foothills of the mountains, near the sea. I don't remember ever being anywhere else."

"About as likely as a filly crossing the place by herself without one." Saffron rubbed an ear. "So why'd you even do it? Surely you had to know what you were up against, being so local and all."

Starlight shook her head. "I ran away. I didn't know what the mountains were like, or that they were supposed to be uncrossable. I just thought I'd find the next town, and that it would be harder for anyone to follow me if I went uphill..."

"Well, shucks." Saffron was wide awake by now. "That's... uhhh... I'm glad I'm trustworthy enough to hear something like that. Mighty curious, too, about the whole thing. But you need anything I can get you?"

"I don't know," Starlight said. "Most of my friends know, but I've never told anyone else, or met anyone else from home. I just wanted to."

"Aww." Saffron smiled, leaning forward. "Well, for what it's worth, I don't meet Equestrians all that often either. Occasionally I meet folks who want to go that way. My old mentor who took me under his wing when I arrived here even left for there the year after. Won the tournament and used his wish for passage through. It does feel real nice to see a slice of home..." She hesitated. "So if you're an Equestrian, I'm guessing Starlight isn't your full name?"

Starlight suddenly blinked. "Um... no. But I don't use the other half. Ever."

Maple tilted her head. "You told it to me once, didn't you? It was when me and Amber realized you were from far away. It was... Sparkle? Shimmer?"

"No!" Starlight's eyes widened. "I mean I'm not using it! Please don't..."

Maple's ears pressed back in apology, and Saffron gave her a strange look. "Everything alright there, sugarcube?"

Starlight bit her lip. "The rest of my friends don't know, and I really need it to stay that way. This is different from where I'm from. I don't want to talk about it."

"Sorry..." Maple whispered.

Starlight hugged her encouragingly, and didn't offer anything more to say.

"Well... my apologies too." Saffron put a hoof over her heart. "Even if you didn't know the deal with those mountains, must've taken an awful lot just to run away out there in the first place. I mean, technically I was a runaway too, but I'm getting the idea you didn't do it for the sake of adventure."

"I did it to find a better place to live," Starlight said. "Because I didn't like where I was."

"Huh." Saffron shrugged. "I guess I can't be talking at all, then. Same here. I just kept living my life at home, thinking there's gotta be more to life than that. Until one day, I packed my saddlebags..."

Starlight looked up, watching her curiously. "Did it hurt?"

"Which part? Watching the world go by before I left and knowing I belonged somewhere better than where I was at?" Saffron drew a hoof in an arc across the sky. "Or actually leaving it all behind? Sure, I might've gotten homesick or lonely a time or two, and there's nothing quite like falling in a patch of poison ivy and not having anyone else to take care of you or tell you what to do. But if I could go back and change anything, only thing I might do different is leave a little earlier. And even then, who knows? That would trade out all the ponies I met along the way for a completely different crew. Short answer, yes, but it was worth it."

Starlight bit her lip.

"Something tells me you don't quite feel the same," Saffron said, raising an eyebrow. "Wish you could go back?"

"No." Starlight emphatically shook her head. "I left my home because there was nothing there for me and I didn't want to be there." She paused, looking off to the side. "Everyone I hadn't wanted to leave behind was already gone."

"Aww, shucks." Saffron's eyes softened, giving an apologetic glance to Maple before turning back to Starlight. "You got your friends now, though, right?"

Starlight nodded. "Yes."

"Well..." Saffron stared at the ceiling in thought. "I'm having a hard time counting how many friends I've come across and left behind in my travels. Your crew here seems real solid, at least. Definitely a bigger group of adventurers than I've ever run across. It's mostly couples and soloists out in Equestria. Something happened to someone you cared about, though, back down south? Parents?"

"My best friend moved away."

Saffron gave a grim smile. "Looks like that still bothers you a tad."

"Starlight?" Maple nudged her. "Is this still weighing on you? I haven't heard you talk about it much for a long time..."

Starlight hung her head. "Some ponies said some things recently that made me start thinking about it again. I never got over it. I just buried it because in Ironridge, I couldn't afford to care."

Maple folded her ears. "That was such a hectic time..."

"...Well." Saffron stood up. "Mind if I share with you an adventurer's secret or two, Starlight?"

Starlight perked back up. "Okay."

"The first one," Saffron began, "is that this here life's the kind of life you live when you hate saying goodbye. The world's always moving, and it doesn't take a life dedicated to moving around to go from the country to the big city, or vice versa. This sort of thing happens all the time, no matter where you are. But if you know how to carry your house on your back and take everything you need wherever you want to go, goodbye forever becomes see you next time. Your friends might move around, so you just gotta move faster so you can visit all of them."

Starlight blinked, slowly processing Saffron's words. "Really?"

"Sure thing." Saffron relaxed back onto her bench. "Now, that's not me, granted. I have been at this long enough to run into some familiar faces who are just traveling around, but I'm more about seeing new places I've never been before. Though visiting places from a long time ago to see how they've changed is something I've never done before, so that could be new too..." She rubbed her chin thoughtfully, then happily shrugged. "Who knows? Point is, I've run into a lot of folks who were different, especially sailing the east Equestrian sea. There's a whole bunch of island-hoppers there, some of the nicest and most helpful folks you'll ever meet. And they do it because settling down in just one place would mean they wouldn't get to see everyone who lives everywhere else. Sure, you'll go for months or a year or two without seeing somebody, but that just makes the reunion all the sweeter. And when you're a little older, that's not so long. If you do make it back across the border, you could even go visit your old friend!"

Starlight watched her with no small amount of awe. "I've... never thought about it that way..."

Saffron chuckled. "Heh. Well, you want another secret? I can't speak for all your friends, but your mum here seems like a smart and caring pony who likes kids, and there's no way she's going to move away on you too. Sure, your friends will come and go, but you'll never need to cut ties with your whole family at once unless it's you who decides it's time. You want my bet, just from what I've seen of your crew? You, Maple and Amber are gonna settle down in Riverfall, Shinespark's gonna go lead Ironridge, Valey will wander all over the place but spend at least half her time with some of you or other, and you're all going to hop back and forth and visit each other like crazy. That make you feel better?"

Starlight ran forward and hugged her. "Thank you..."

"Oh! Heh heh..." Saffron's cheeks lightened in surprise, and she patted Starlight's back. "Glad I could help, there, sugarcube. Can I give you one more secret?"

Starlight nodded.

Saffron leaned down to whisper in her ear, not yet detaching the filly. "Every once in a while, there'll be some never-do-well who thinks they can get away with messing with your friends. But if you're all toughened up from surviving in the wild, wrangling monsters for food and what have you? Hooo boy they'll be in for an unpleasant surprise."

Starlight felt herself smile. It was something she hadn't done for a very, very long time.

"...There." Saffron picked her up and set her back by Maple. "So, you still feel like swapping stories about Equestria? I have to say, I'm still mighty curious about how you crossed those mountains. And if you don't know much about what the rest of the place looks like, maybe I could tell you something interesting myself!"

"Could you?" Starlight asked, latching onto Maple instead. "I would really like it."

"Aww, sure thing, sugarcube." Saffron made herself comfortable again on the bench. "So, let's get back to those mountains you went through. Wouldn't hurt to have an idea of your reference point. And I'll see what stories I can come up with from there."