//------------------------------//
// Act Four: Homeward Bound 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

Nobody came to check on Starlight as the ship sat there in the Equestrian foothills, the harmony comet gone and Aegis standing like a statue in the middle of the deck. Glimmer had retreated indoors, and she started to get the feeling she needed to too.

She stepped across the deck, the Nightmare Modules sitting at her hooftips even though she had no further need of them. Was there any harmonic flame left to turn her back? Probably not... but she was the last pony she was worried about permanent injuries to.

The library was trashed worse than the time the ship ran out of energy on their way across the sea and suffered a midair fall. Tipping upright for the emergency ascent into the mountains had unshelved half the books in the room, and strewn most of them all the way down the cabin corridor. The reading chairs had been tossed and tumbled, and she was afraid to see the state of the pantry.

Harshwater stepped out of a cabin, quickly picking her way over the mess, and she glanced up at Starlight. "If you're not dead or dying, I could use some help, here."

Starlight's ears snapped up in alarm. "What can I do?"

"Check our water supplies down below and bring me some," Harshwater sighed, shaking her head. "Shinespark has a bad fever and Gazelle and Meltdown have wounds that need to be dressed. After that, just keep an eye on the freeloaders and make sure no trouble starts. All the injured should pull through, but we're going to be in a weak position for a while, here."

Starlight was far more interested in helping Maple and Shinespark than Gazelle and Meltdown, but Harshwater was the medical pony and every life mattered. She swallowed and nodded, briefly wondering if her Nightmare Modules or new powers from Glimmer had anything they could do for injuries, then scurried to the stairs and made her way down another floor.

"Hello," Nyala called, laying at the side of the room. Gerardo lay speechlessly next to her.

Starlight blinked, trotting quickly over to her. "You're alive?" she asked, poking her with a hoof to be sure. But Nyala was definitely still a batpony, without a hint of carapace on her.

"Alive and completely useless," Nyala apologized. "I'm not in danger, but I can't really move, so I'm just here... out of the way."

Starlight wanted to question, wanted to comfort and reassure, but if Nyala was physically safe, that was all that could afford to matter. "I'll be back," she promised, hurrying to the kitchen and storeroom. "I just have to get Harshwater some water..."

"Looking for something?" a voice said as she entered.

Starlight blinked and covered her nose. A pungent mess of crushed fruits and vegetables was strewn throughout toppled crates and punctured sacks, and the floor was wet and sticky from however many different things had leaked. She winced, wishing she had her normal crystals so she could coat her hooves in boots, and looked up to see Howe and Neon Nova picking through the chaos. Her ears fell. "What are you two doing here?"

"I've been asking myself that a lot," Howe muttered, rubbing his head. "One moment we were announcing for the tournament, the next an insane pony was slinging fiendish magic, so we took cover in the bunker. Then the bunker was destroyed and we tried slinking to safety before somehow being teleported here and bearing witness to airship acrobatics the likes of which I have never seen..."

Neon Nova shrugged, his shades and trench coat still present but one of the lenses cracked in its frame. "We've rolled with stranger punches."

"...Whatever." Starlight gritted her teeth, knowing these two had posed a danger to her friends in the past yet still bearing that familiar, desirable glow all life seemed to have. "What are you doing? I need water."

Howe nodded at the destruction. "We are sorting through this culinary carnage and salvaging what we can. We're not too trained in the divine art of healing, alas... but wherever we've landed, everyone must contribute to survive!"

"Water," Neon said, rolling over a barrel that had been set aside in his telekinesis. "This one's leaky, so use it first. You got anything to carry it in?"

Starlight shrugged, casting a pair of buckets out of moon glass and hoping severely she wasn't creating a hazardous material that would be difficult to get rid of later. "Fill these."

The barrel was indeed leaky, and grew more so as Neon filled the buckets with his aura, giving a sidelong glance at Starlight for her powers but saying nothing. Starlight hefted one on her back with the swords and took the other in her teeth, quickly leaving before the barrel could deteriorate further and possibly get her soaked.

"Thanks," Harshwater grunted as Starlight appeared again in the cabin corridor, stepping through the doorway to Shinespark's cabin. The once-fine bedroom had been turned into a triage center, with several beds from other rooms dragged in and Maple, Saffron, Shinespark, Gazelle and Meltdown all arranged throughout. Of the five, Gazelle and Saffron were out cold, and Shinespark's eyes were open but she only appeared to be half-conscious.

"Oh!" Felicity looked up, also present and tending to the injured. "Darling, you..." She stopped halfway through pointing a hoof at Starlight, staring at the moon glass.

"Oh." Starlight blinked back at her. "Maybe I should have found some better buckets..."

"Never mind, I'll handle them." Harshwater relieved Starlight of her load, glancing briefly at the two swords on her back but saying nothing, moving over to Shinespark.

Starlight stared around, taking in everyone's condition. Meltdown was still trapped in her armor, burnt skin visible all down her side where part of it had been blown away, and looked weak and terrified compared to her usual imposing figure. Shinespark's horn was cracked hideously, steaming as Harshwater wet a rag and touched it and occasionally sparking with magic, but it was still there, all the way down to the tip. Maybe it would someday heal... At least the odds were better than if it had been reduced to a hole in her head.

"Starlight..." Maple gave a feeble smile.

Starlight quickly stepped over. "Maple?"

"No hugs," Maple whispered. "My barrel hurts. They say I have cracked ribs. But I feel like I'll survive." She looked Starlight over from tip to tail, as much as she could while pinned in place. "You're gray again. What happened after I passed out? I haven't seen anyone who knows..."

Starlight hung her head. "I used the Nightmare Modules again to save you. They were the only way I could block her laser." She didn't add anything about the moon glass sword, or the weight it now contained. That wasn't something she was even ready to think about.

"Hey," Harshwater said, having finished transferring the water to buckets that were safe for Felicity. "I need to borrow your sword. The one that supposedly cuts anything?"

"This?" Starlight blinked, holding out Gerardo's old sword, its metal as dull and lifeless as ever. So it was hers again... "How come?"

Harshwater took it and turned to Meltdown. "I need to get her out of this armor. It's too damaged to be useful and will get in the way of treating her, and however its fire powers work, I don't want it broken and laying around."

"Don't do it over the bed," Meltdown warned, voice distant. "There are coolant loops that might not have ruptured yet, and it could be wet. I can't remember where..."

As Harshwater carried the other mare away, Felicity looked up from Saffron, one hoof on her back and the other on her head. "Well, I've done what I can for her concussion, but unless we can get some materials for a cast, her broken leg is probably just going to get un-set again. I may have gone to the liberty of checking her saddlebags and finding her tournament potion, but I... feel like we should probably allow her to wake up before deciding how to use that. Especially since no one seems to be in danger of imminent death."

Starlight looked away, holding her moon glass sword. "...Where's Valey?"

Maple's ears fell, and Felicity winced. "You mean her... shell, darling? Amber tied it up and refuses to leave its side. I don't quite know what she hopes to accomplish with it, but that's mourning for you."

Starlight slumped. "You survived."

Felicity stood up and leaned against a wall. "Albeit with a splitting headache caused by some uncomfortable voices in my head and a terribly upset stomach from our aerial acrobatics and my usual poor constitution, yes. I'm alive..." She glanced down at the injured. "I came here to see if I could help out a little as a token of apology, but this puts things into a slightly different perspective."

"So what do we do now?" Starlight stared at her sword.

Felicity tilted her head. "First off, do you need anything yourself? You're, um... Darling, you're gray."

Starlight hesitated. "I've been like this before. It's not an injury."

"Well..." Felicity glanced at Maple. "It... might be a prudent thing to do to get everyone who's able together to talk about what we do next? I know we've had our differences in the past, but I really hope it's safe to say we're all in... whatever it is we're in together."

Starlight wasn't going to argue. She knew, logically, that Felicity had betrayed them before, but that knowledge didn't reach her heart. "If you're going to be our friend." She nodded, stepped over, and hugged Felicity's chest. "I forgive you."

Felicity recoiled sharply. "Ah! N-No offense, but please keep that sword where I'm not close nearby..."

The recoil stung far, far harder than Starlight had been ready for, like a slap straight to her already-hurting heart. She couldn't stop a tear from building in her eyes.

Felicity saw it too and winced. "Darling please, I just... You have moon glass! Please don't look at me quite like that..."

Starlight nodded, setting the sword by Maple's bed. "Look after this," she firmly instructed. "It's important."

"I'll do my best," Maple whispered.

Once Starlight had set it away, she felt a hoof on her head. "Sorry," Felicity promised. "I'm not looking to make enemies. Friends?"

Starlight couldn't take it anymore. That was an invitation, and a friend was exactly what she needed. She buried her face in Felicity's chest and grabbed at her shoulders, and it was finally safe for her stress and emotions from the past day to catch up to her.

Maple gave Felicity a serious look as Starlight began to sniffle and cry, and Felicity nodded, sitting down and leaning against the bed. "Poor thing," she remarked, rubbing Starlight's back as Maple was unable to do. "I wasn't even on the ground, and I'm feeling a little in shock. This day has probably been absolutely horrid... Physical trauma aside, I can't imagine anyone's escaped those events without some serious weights on their mind as well..."

"We'll have to take care of ourselves however we can," Maple whispered. "Valey is dead, everyone's injured, I can't get out of bed... It's a bad day. And sometimes you just have to lie down and take it and remember that the sun will still rise tomorrow."

"Ah." Felicity slowly nodded. "Maple, I... was on your ship today in the first place to... try to butter myself up so I could feel a little better about giving you all a proper apology, and-"

"Apology accepted," Maple insisted. "As long as we're in this together, like you said. If you want to be friends, you know about medicine and have a working set of legs. We're helpless right now. You'll have a lot of opportunities to prove it."

Felicity chuckled regretfully. "Not as working as I'd like. I'm in no condition for physical labor, what with every last ailment that's wrong with me... but you're right. I'll do what I can."

"Everyone will," Maple whispered. "And those of us who can't do anything will just..."

"Survive," Felicity finished for her. "We'll see to it. You have my word."





Slipstream, Jamjars and Glimmer stood on the deck, looking out at the mountains and the distant sea.

Glimmer was pacing, growling occasionally in frustration. "What?" Jamjars asked, looking over her shoulder.

"What else?" Glimmer angrily shrugged.

"The fact that there's water down there, and down there is the southwest, and that means we're through the mountains and in the Plains of Harmony?" Jamjars victoriously grinned. "Or my awesome stunt flying? I don't know how that plan of yours worked, but if Starlight was half as ambitious as you, we could do things like that every week!"

Glimmer slumped, and Slipstream lifted a wing to chime in. "It is a lot better than it could have been."

"Jamjars, there's a pendant Valey used to use," Glimmer thought aloud. "That held pieces of moon glass. Do you know where it is?"

Jamjars rolled her eyes. "What do you take me for, a filly who doesn't track where her friends keep their valuables? Of course I do. But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Right." Glimmer massaged her temple. "Starlight probably isn't feeling up to anything right now. I don't know if I should talk to her right now or let things sink in, but I'm going to need her again..."

"Whatever you're planning, it probably won't get us in the air again," Slipstream pointed out. "I know everyone's shaken and upset, but since all of us are able-bodied and this situation isn't good, we should be doing something to help."

Jamjars' grin returned. "Only if the thing you're thinking of doing involves seeing if you can carry two fillies at once while in the air."

Slipstream nodded out over the railing. "We're stranded here without power, and I don't think we'll get the ship moving any time soon. Someone needs to explore to find out about any threats or resources, and I'm not one of the ones with medical knowledge."

Jamjars rubbed her hooves together, staring out at the hilly horizon. "Yesss..."

"Alright. Exploring it is." Glimmer sighed, stepping towards Slipstream. "Let's see what this area has to offer."