//------------------------------//
// Those Lucky, Lucky Few 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

"We're preparing for a minor invasion by the griffon mafia," Amber said, looking over her shoulder on the deck of the Immortal Dream. "And as much as I'm thankful you've changed your tune about helping me with Valey... are you one hundred percent sure now is the best time to hit the river for a bath? Gerardo said they'll be here tomorrow."

Felicity bit her lip. "Darling, I know it sounds like a vain request, and yes I would enjoy it, but if I'm to be doing the sweet-talking it's very slightly imperative that I look as sweet as can be. I'm aware of how it sounds, but this is my preparation."

"Well..." Amber shrugged. "I guess I can't argue with that. Hey Valey, want to come with?"

The empty shell yawned and paced in a circle, preparing to lie down.

Amber blinked at it. "I guess I'll go get my shampoos."

"E-Excuse me," a meek, unfamiliar voice stammered from the rear doorway. "Are y-you going to the r-r-river? Can I c-come t-too?"

Amber and Felicity both turned sharply, regarding a meek gray mare with a limp orange mane and eyes that couldn't seem to focus on any one thing. "Meltdown?" Amber tilted her head. "You're out of bed?"

"Darling, I mean this tactfully, but you look awful," Felicity commented hesitantly. "If you're not alright..."

"I d-don't need r-rest." Meltdown shook her head with a slight tremor, the cutie mark on her flank showing a gauge on a pipe turned all the way to zero. "Help me t-to the r-river?"

Amber quickly walked closer, steadying her with a shoulder. "Easy, girl. As long as I'm being the pamper mare, you look like you could use a morale boost too." She hefted Meltdown onto her back. "Bananas, you're light."

"Really?" Felicity raised a skeptical eyebrow. "The hat is sweet, but trying to emulate her too hard is going to be a little bit disturbing."

Amber sighed. "Okay, I feel a little bad now that I said that too. You good up there?"

Meltdown silently nodded.





They reached the river a few minutes later, a proper trail built by now from all the times she and Felicity had gone down to the water. "So, what do you want to do now that you're here?" Amber asked, unable to make eye contact with the mare on her back.

"Let me in," Meltdown requested, her voice slightly stronger. "And s-stand back."

"Stand back? Oh no," Amber chuckled, wading into the river. "The current is strong enough here that if you need me to carry you, you'll need me to hold you or you'll be swept away. But if you want to get wet, I can-"

Meltdown aggressively struggled, slipping free of Amber's back and falling in.

"Woah! Hey!" Amber's eyes shot wide with panic, and she grabbed for the mare... only to touch something searing beneath the surface. "Yeowch!"

Amber scrambled backwards, getting onto the shore as the water rapidly heated around her and a pool of steam bubbles began rising where Meltdown had gone under. Suddenly, Meltdown broke the surface, her eyes once again focused and her mane far more vibrant even though it was steaming and soaked.

"Thank you," Meltdown panted, treading water, her voice far stronger and more coherent. "I thought about it several times, but I wasn't sure I could make it here on my own."

"What?" Amber blinked. "You're... Wait, you make all the fire magic heat? Not your armor?"

Meltdown shook her head. "My armor was a coolant and exhaust unit, just like this river. We don't know each other well, so don't let me impose on your spa date, though. The water should be comfortably hot downstream from me, if you're looking for thanks."

Felicity giggled, having watched the whole exchange from the safety of the riverbank. "A hot bath sounds even better for what I need. I do have to say, though, it was hard not to pick up on your... habitual exhaust, let's call it, with all my work for Stormhoof. Whatever ailed you, we could have brought you down here sooner had you asked."

Amber bit her lip, wading in again and testing a spot safely downstream from the steaming Meltdown. "Okay, this really is nice. Come on, Felicity, let's get started." She looked up at Meltdown. "Don't expect me not to be curious after behavior like that, though."

"It's your outing." Meltdown shook her head. "I wouldn't want to interrupt if there's anything special going on."

Felicity waded in after Amber, letting the current catch her once she was deep enough, and Amber stopped her and began her work. "Depending what kind of special you mean," she said around a bottle of conditioner in her teeth, "either there isn't, or you're welcome to join. What's been up with you?"

Meltdown sighed, dipping her face briefly beneath the water to refresh the wetness in her fur. "First give me updates. We're no longer in the Empire, and Gazelle isn't talking. What's the status of everything else?"

"In a nutshell?" Felicity floated luxuriously on her back, humming in contentment as Amber lathered her legs and her coat. "Wallace and Gwendolyn are likely dead, Garsheeva stayed in the Empire without her brand, no one knows what befell Crystal, who was calling herself Chrysalis, and Valey is also sort of dead but we have her body and it hasn't been worth giving up hope. Now we are south of the mountains and have attracted the interests of a local griffon mafia..."

Meltdown surfaced enough to nod. "You'll want them as your friends, but be prepared to pay to get it."

Amber blinked. "Dodging my question aside, we want to be friends with money-grubbing local griffons? These sound meaner than Empire griffons."

"If you crossed the border without Writs of Harmonic Sanction and want contacts here who won't care when they find out, you'll want them as friends," Meltdown repeated. "The griffons here are greedy enough to protect your secrets if they think it's in their best interest. The Equestrians, on the other hoof, are the ones who keep the border sealed in the first place."

Amber's eyes widened. "I don't think any of us thought about that..."

Meltdown shrugged. "Gazelle and I already have passes, and Starlight and Saffron are natives. Beyond that, you have two that I know of. If you ever get cornered and think there will be trouble, you should think now about who you're going to protect for free."

Amber stopped washing Felicity and stared.

"Darliiing..." Felicity whined.

Amber mechanically resumed. "I'm... going to have to ask everyone else what we do about that if it comes up."

"I'm just mentioning it while I can think," Meltdown said. "I didn't mean to dodge your question. It's just not a very long story. You can probably guess most of it yourself."

"Your cutie mark generates heat," Amber replied. "But it has some downside?"

Meltdown shook her head. "Generating heat is the downside. My brand increases my physical and mental abilities. I don't know if it has a limit, but the heat scales with how much power I draw from it. If that sounds unusual, it's my wish from the Night Mother. And the reason I wished to be stronger and smarter is that without it, I'm essentially an invalid."

Felicity's ears fell in the water. "Now that's a side of you I don't believe I ever quite dug up before..."

"It's a secret," Meltdown answered. "The only reason I'm telling you is because without some way to stay cool, I'm useless, and it's better if you know why rather than assuming it's related to physical trauma from Crystal. Even with this river, I'm well below the temperature I used in the Empire as my operating normal."

Amber winced. "That sounds... Ew. Wow, I'm sorry. But smarter, too?"

"You noticed the stuttering," Meltdown sighed. "I would describe it for curiosity or learning's sake, but not so I can be pitied. Getting a wish that can overcome things like this happens once in a generation. Pity would be better spent on everyone who has a situation they can't do anything about."

"Alright. I gotcha." Amber kept washing. "Were you always like this, or...?"

"Birth defect, though it grew more noticeable as I aged." Meltdown looked away. "It's not a feel-good kind of story, so don't ask."

Amber winced. "Okay, not imagining. So are you just going to live in this river, or...?"

"No. Not as long as I can come back from time to time." Meltdown did a roll in the water, stretching her legs. "But perhaps we should make use of the time we have to discuss these griffons..."