//------------------------------//
// Where We'll Soon Be 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

"Yeowch," Valey remarked, sitting on the ship's stern with Amber glomped around her, the pre-afternoon sun still rising through the sky. "That's a lot of nope. Almost surprised you guys are still standing through all that. Not that you aren't tough, but..."

"Everyone has been hanging on in their own way," Amber replied. "And now we're here."

"Yeah." Valey stared out at the bay shore. "Gonna be a lot to do to fix everyone's spirits again. I'm still feeling great enough to try, but this is the kind of thing where there's only so much one mare can do. I can count on you, right?"

Amber nodded, then sighed. "Someone has to, and I'm better off than most. But Valey... I really need a vacation. Everyone here does. I've just been surviving this whole time, and it lost every bit of the fun I once imagined in adventuring the moment we were out here for real. Stranded, injured, no food, friends dead..."

"At least the local guards are friendly for once." Valey shrugged. "They said they had stuff to take care of and would be back, but I think they're a little spooked of me. Our best bet seems like it'll be to get their attention again, ditch the ship, and use this train thing to head back into the rest of Equestria."

"We do have to wait here for Princess Celestia," Amber murmured. "She's the one who was going to talk about how we would be allowed in. We did cross the mountains without passes, remember."

Valey waved a hoof. "Eh, you said she sounded like a pretty decent gal. Anyway, we wait a day or two for her, or however long it takes. Get her to agree to let us in. And then we... probably split up? I don't want the Howe bros around. Saffron's got her own thing to do. Meltdown and Gazelle need help. Birdo's probably gonna want to wander, and I'll eat my hat if Slipstream doesn't try to follow him. Harshwater's only here 'cause she thinks she owes me a debt, and she's got her own life to live. Felicity and Grenada... Who knows?"

"And what about you?" Amber asked.

"Good question." Valey kept staring. "You and Ironflanks are sticking together, obviously, and Starlight too. I seriously wouldn't mind following you three wherever you decide to settle down. Hard to imagine Sparky ever stopping, though, and I know she'll want me around too. And I'm not leaving Nyala, wherever I go. Honestly, I don't have anywhere to go aside from where you all are. I'm just going to stick with my friends."

Amber bowed her head. "When you put it that way, it sounds like we have a good-bye ahead of us."

"Yeah..." Valey rolled her shoulders. "You all are my first friends, and I'm not super keen on it. But I can't expect every last pony I pick up on our adventures to stick around for the rest of my life, you know?"

"Every pony you pick up?" Amber whacked her with her tail.

"Hey, Harshwater joined because of me." Valey poked her back. "I dunno. Forever's always been a weird thing for me to think about. Probably because my life's been so short. Speaking of which, I probably even have a birthday coming up. It'll be nine years since that meteor fell soon."

"I don't know. It feels like a weird thing for you to say." Amber hesitated, then turned to look up at her. "You seem different, you know?"

Valey grinned. "I'll say."

After a silent request for elaboration, Valey shuffled in place. "Just a whole lot of glad-to-be-alive, I guess. As grim as things seem around here, I feel like I've got a future that could be about me in addition to you guys. Just... I dunno. Don't look a gift in the mouth, and all that. I'd rather enjoy it than think too much about it."

"I wish everyone felt that way." Amber closed her eyes, leaning against Valey's shoulder. "We're all incredibly fortunate to have escaped from the Empire with our lives. Now that you're back, that makes only Wallace that we lost. But sometimes, you get beaten down too much to see what you still have."

"Speaking from experience?"

"Yes. With Maple." Amber sighed. "Back then, a year or two ago, I swore an oath to myself that I'd never be the one who couldn't summon the will to get out of bed in the morning, and always stay on my hooves so that I'd be there for anyone who couldn't. That was... a big part of why I refused to accept that you were gone. Having been there now, I don't know that it made it that much better... I bet you're grateful I took care of your body and kept you in shape, though."

Valey winked and nudged her shoulder. "Yeah, thanks for that. Would have been hard to clean those monsters' clocks if I'd lost half my muscle mass."

"Anyway." Amber shook her head. "I mean it when I say we need a vacation. We might have made it through to the other side, but there's no way we're alright and we're not just going to sleep this one off. Shinespark was so devastated she didn't even try to get you back. Maple's spent all her time bedridden and unable to help, and I know she's shaken by what that filly did last night in the engine room. Starlight won't talk about it, but who wouldn't feel the pressure of being the one to stand up to an evil maybe-goddess and win? And don't get me started on Felicity."

Valey tilted her head. "Yeah, what's her deal?"

Amber looked away. "The short version? Had a falling-out with her sisters over how they treated us, snuck onto our boat alone to apologize, was in the one safe spot in the Empire by pure luck and is never going to see them again. She's been doing... a lot of coping."

"Bananas." Valey sagged, ears folded in exasperation and a hint of pity. "I guess I've gotta give her... what, a third chance? Or is this the fourth? Either way, we really gotta deal with those guards first and make sure we have a future. If they don't come back by the time Birdo and Sparky are up and about, we're flying out there and seeing what's up for ourselves."

Amber's face fell. "You know Shinespark lost her magic and can no longer fly..."

Valey winked. "Nah, that one's easy. Just you watch. I got this."





A stiff sea wind blew through Shinespark's mane, ruining the first job anyone had done to brush it in weeks as the sea shone crystal blue in the distance below. Valey swooped and wheeled, doing tricks just for the sake of it, and her friend almost smiled, clinging tightly onto her back.

"So? How's the view?" Valey asked, pulling up.

"...Thanks, Valey," Shinespark answered. "I hadn't realized how long it had been since I did this."

"Well, until Birdo gets his rear in gear, we've got nothing but time to kill." Valey dove again, the wind shredding through her ears and pulling her cheeks back in a forced grin, but she didn't fight it. Throwing herself into a sharp turn, she angled out perfectly to skim the water with a wingtip, sending a spray of droplets and mist into the air that she and Shinespark cascaded through, emerging with misty manes. "Yahaa!"

She did a barrel roll, pulling into another hover. "How long actually has it been?" Valey asked, carrying too much weight to fly lazily but still trying to look like she was relaxing. "Didn't you only ever fly around in armor back in Ironridge? How do you get a breeze going?"

"I went out to the wastelands to practice before I had my mark removed," Shinespark replied. "And I flew sometimes while we were flying to the Empire. It gave me time to think."

"About Sosa?" Valey bit her lip. "Yeah... So speaking of that, what are you thinking of doing now?"

Shinespark instantly shook her head. "I have no plans. I haven't been able to afford to. I'm sorry if you expected more from me, but... I'm past my limit, Valey. I've put in more than a lifetime of effort being a hero for Sosa, and I just don't know how much more I have to give. Even if I try, I've already given my all. What more do I even have?"

"Time." Valey did another flip. "A whole lot of time. Ironridge is pretty smashed, and is going to have to rebuild a whole lot of basic infrastructure before they can support any kind of ambitious project like you're good at. And you're practically still in your teens. Are you? Did I miss your birthday?"

"It's coming up." Shinespark shook her head. "Continue?"

Valey shrugged. "Way I see it, Ironridge is still gonna be there in ten or fifteen years, and it'll be in a whole lot better of a place for some ambitious mastermind to come in and try to help it seize the future then than it is today. So if I were you, I'd swear I'll return someday and then go do other stuff for a while. Live a little, do stuff for yourself, don't even try to be a hero. Settle down for a few years, and get some smaller project if you're restless. Do some stuff with your friends, or even get a family. Point is, you've got a lot of years left and unlike when Herman was there, time is on your side now."

Shinespark sighed. "Maybe you're right."

"Just try it." Valey patted her, then threw herself into a rising corkscrew. "I've been talking with Amber, and we've gotta get this crew room to de-stress and recover like we completely couldn't do after Ironridge because Hemlock was a prick and did his thing. What do you want to bet all the guards will know a place that's close enough for us to reach, is one hundred percent safe, has ponies living there who are chill and not evil, and some other good stuff that's icing on the cake?"

"We need to wait for Princess Celestia," Shinespark insisted. "She said she was going back to her capitol, and would return for us. Even if you're strong enough to defeat a patrol of half-dead royal and border guards, that would be a bad way for us to find somewhere with no one harrying us."

Valey scanned the ship below with her eyes. "Well, I think I see Birdo looking for us. He did the most scouting, so I wanna have him along when we go look for the guards again. Ready to go?"

Shinespark took a deep breath. "I feel like a dry sponge. I have no readiness left for anything. Let's do this."