The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi


Sacrifices And Being Selfish

Shinespark left on her own from the meeting with Celestia, needing to be on her own after the princess's ultimatum. At times like this in Sosa, she would have flown to the roof of a building, and if she didn't have Braen around to let her do that, she would have teleported. But her horn was broken and she didn't have either, so that left her with only one course of action.

"What are you doing?" an imaginary voice asked in her head.

"Climbing," Shinespark grunted at her conscience, her back against the wall in a concave corner of a building, her hooves braced against two fishbone support columns to keep her from falling. Moving like an inchworm, she struggled to gain height without losing her traction and falling.

"Is this really necessary?"

"No. So what?" Shinespark managed to gain another foot, though the building's rough stone ground uncomfortably at her back. She would be scraped up after this, for sure.

"This island has a lot of pegasi. If you're asking yourself what you're doing already, imagine how it will feel when one of them notices you, flies up and asks themselves."

Shinespark growled at her own wavering. Princess Celestia had wondered if her own flow was powerful enough to twist fate and make it so there was always a way forward, a way to survive, even when they lost. Well, that sure would do a lot to explain why she had been barely conscious from pain while Valey had risked her life fighting Herman, and why she had been crippled and tossed to the side like a punctured sandbag when Starlight defied Crystal in Grandbell. What a comforting thought that she was still the reason they survived...

"If I really have the power to overcome anything, I can at least climb this building! Maybe I was the reason we survived all these times, or maybe it was the harmony between us, but I have to try!"

Her self-doubt didn't reply, and she forced herself up again, twisting her head to look at how far she still had to go. Shinespark wasn't a climber and hadn't practiced this, but stubborn determination let her grab and swing around, until she was hugging one of the fishbone supports like a tree. From there, it was barely a foot more to the roof of a wing that extended at the first floor.

Shinespark hooked her limbs and rolled over onto the top, sore and panting and certain she had made a mess of her back. But the building extended for two more stories still... She didn't need that. She had made it far enough.

Now came the hard part: sitting down and stopping to think.

All her friends had turned out to support her, there when Celestia challenged them with force of presence to defend their convictions. Some of the crew were ponies she didn't even know that well, who had mostly joined while she was out of commission. Why did they stand with her? Did they believe that much in her, or in Maple, or Valey? Ponies who weren't even there? Or did they stand up because of a stubborn determination not to back down, or just because they had no other choice? The princess had been right; they did face this before. And every time someone with that kind of power, like Crystal or the windigoes, challenged them to go beyond or go home... the alternative to fighting was death. Was it bravery or loyalty that brought her friends to the fore?

Or was it nothing more than the instinct to survive?

And if it was, did it even matter? The end result was the same. There they were, just as powerful together. If only that power would be enough to get them where they needed to go.

Ironridge... Shinespark sat down and stretched a hoof out, orienting herself by the sun and reaching far northwest for home. She knew where she belonged, someday. But that day might not be today. It might not be for decades. Whether they chose to take the writs or continue their search, it would still take time for her homeland to be restored... either by them creating new trade that would put Ironridge at the golden center of a world economy, or by her returning as a visionary when the city could afford it.

By that logic, there was only one choice to make. Grenada had already settled for trying to re-found Sosa somewhere else. This was her dream... versus all the others'.

She could be happy in Equestria. She would be happy in Equestria. Valey would be happy, and she could get to know her friend without the twin clouds of duty and failure that constantly fogged her mind. She had all the administration skills to make the new town Maple wanted to found into a successful one. And while she knew someone had to lose, someone had to give up on a chance at their dream... it was a leader's duty to put their ponies first. One for all, as Princess Celestia had said. Shinespark knew what she had to do.

Valey was probably having thoughts of her own, or even talking it over with Maple, Starlight and Nyala, but... Shinespark lifted the sound stone. She didn't have a mechanism to activate it, so she would have to make do.

With a surge of effort, she pushed power into her cracked, broken horn. It flared with pain, but also sparked with energy, not in any form she could control or use but more than enough to light the sound stone. She immediately stopped, the pain quickly receding. It was far from comfortable to wield, but didn't feel like it had caused further damage.

Soon, the sound stone pulsed in reply. "Yo, what's up?"

"Hello, Valey." Shinespark sat back against the building wall and stared at the blue sky.

"Hey. Needed to bounce some thoughts about that crazy offer, huh?"

Shinespark shook her head, knowing Valey couldn't see it. "No. I just wanted to tell you that I'm... okay with taking the writs. I'm the captain of the ship, and it's my duty to put my crew first. That's what I've always done, and it's what I'll do now."

"Ever tried putting yourself first from time to time?"

Shinespark grimaced. "I've made my decision. If I second-guess, I'll only..."

"Yeah, well... hold up just a second. 'Cuz I was gonna tell you that as much as all of us want it to be over, we're having a real hard time ourselves asking you to bail on your own dream. No, I haven't forgotten all the nastiness we dealt with up north, but hey. We care about you, girl. So what do you really think is worse? Us having to deal with the north a little more, now that we have an end goal in sight, a princess at our backs in spirit, and an opportunity to recharge here a little more and at least try to find some ways to make the going easier? Or all of us living with the fact that you gave up your dream for us? We could take these writs and remember for the rest of our lives that you did this and you're the reason why we're here."

Shinespark's face creased, and her ears fell. "Are you saying you'd rather... go back?"

"No way. Bananas, no. But I am saying it's not a done deal. And at the end of the day, I'm willing to bet a whole lot of us who would be happy here are gonna have trouble asking you to do that for them. I've been talking with Ironflanks, and I guarantee you she is, for one."

"I'm sorry..." Shinespark sighed. "I'm the captain. This is what I do. It's my duty to put the rest of you first."

"And what if putting the rest of us first means being selfish for a second and asking us to help you?"

Shinespark gritted her teeth. "I'm the captain, Valey. I can't ask all the rest of my crew to put me first. I am not okay with asking for help."

"Nah, I know you can't. But you can give permission. Girl, listen... whoever wins here is gonna feel guilty that they won at the expense of their friends. You really wanna take one for the team? What if you took this decision off their shoulders by being needy for a second and letting them feel like there was a right choice after all? We're pretty beat-up, but we're on the mend. I think we can take a little more. I know I can, at least, and Celestia said only six of us need to stick together for the ending. Maybe Birdo and Slipstream will fly off and do their own thing, maybe Harshwater and Grenada will get on with their lives... but we've got you, me, Ironflanks, Amber, Starlight, and Felicity for sure. I'm just saying... we know you're alright with staying in Equestria. But it might change a thing or two if you were alright with leaving, too."

"Why are you trying to talk me into this?" Shinespark whimpered. "You have the most to gain out of anyone, staying here! You said yourself that you wanted to!"

"Yeah, well, I'm in it for you too."

"Valey..."

"Look, you're not advocating for yourself. I know what I want. Bananas, I do not have a problem with that. But I'd be a terrible friend if I let you just walk over what you want to give it to me. Yeah, I know it's one against a dozen and throwing in the towel is the pragmatic thing to do, and yeah, I know you're pragmatic. But if you're not gonna have your own back, I gotta do it for you."

Shinespark slumped against the wall, her eyes watering. "What does Maple think?"

"She's scared of deciding. You know how many bad experiences she's had with making a split-second decision to charge off somewhere far away? She's trying to be strong, but I think she'd really love it if she wasn't a factor in this decision... but that's just my read on it."

"You really think she'd be alright with being left here?"

On the other side, Valey took a breath. "You wanna know my best idea, super honest? We have two Writs of Harmonic Sanction with us right now. The big cheese said these would count. So what if, like... we gave one to Maple? Starlight doesn't need one. And then we flew northwest to Ironridge, and... left those two behind in Starlight's old village with the sound stone, just across the mountains? They could settle down and have their life together, and I know it would be a huge weight off Starlight's mind if she could just be a filly again. And since writs let you cross whenever, all they gotta do if we want to see each other again? Cross the mountains, just like Starlight did all those months ago. Maybe someday, they'd be ready to join the adventure, or meet up with us at the end when we're done collecting and it's time to come home."

Shinespark was quiet. "You think that would work?"

"Only one way to find out."

"Valey..." Shinespark choked. "It could be years. More than a decade. Nearly my entire life so far, and double yours."

"Plenty of time to pay the north back double for what it hit us with, if you ask me. I kind of have a bone to pick with it anyway. But... you know. I've said my piece. You're thinking about it. Need some space now?"

Shinespark shook her head. "I still... don't know. I'll have to ask Princess Celestia, and... but..." She sighed. "Even with her lead about the generator, we'd need to find two more..."

"With our track record, easy."

"I wish there was a third way."

"Do you? Do you really?"

"Why? Of course I do."

Valey took a breath. "Because saying something like that around a group like us... you know there's gonna be one, and you know it's gonna be the hardest of the three. Just like we made another way with Herman and Crystal and the windigoes, if there isn't any other... we'll take one anyway. Do you really want to start us down that path?"

Shinespark stilled. "You're saying that like you already have one."

"Well... sorta. A big part of me hopes I don't, but another part of me is afraid I do."

"What is it?"

Valey sighed. "No one knows about this. The only ponies who ever knew in the first place were me, Ironflanks and Starlight, and I will one hundred percent guarantee they have long forgotten. You sure you even want me to say it?"

"...Is it that dangerous?"

"Oh bananas, I can't even begin to count the ways it could go badly."

"More than us returning to the north and looking for Writs of Harmonic Sanction?"

"You don't even wanna know."

Shinespark shook her head. "And the upsides?"

"Potentially getting whatever we want out of Equestria, Yakyakistan or both, immediately. No questions asked."

Shinespark frowned. "Does this have anything to do with why you ran off with the terminal on my ship?"

"Do you really even want to go there?"

"...No." Shinespark stood up. "If this third way is that bad of an idea, we don't even need the temptation."

"Slick. Just thought I'd mention it in case... yeah. You know."

"Thank you for being thoughtful." Shinespark shook her head, holding the sound stone in a hoof. "But it sounds like a last resort that will only get us in more trouble, and we're far from in need of one of those. What I need most is time to think... and to ask Princess Celestia what happens if we use our existing writs to split up. I appreciate the talk. I'll... try to make a decision with all of us in mind."

"Yeah. You do that. Stay cool, Sparky."

"...Stay cool, Valey."


In the depths of the Arc Manta, Valey watched as the sound stone went dull.

"Ah bananas." She sat back and played with her legs, face creased in an eternal frown. "Bananas. Bananas bananas... bananas. Bananas."

Reaching up with a wingtip, she rubbed the old Defense Force insignia on the front of her beret and sighed. Shinespark was smart, but what if they did need an edge? She glanced down the ship toward the distant area where the KarmaTech Thirty-Four was stored...

Nah. Not now. Maybe someday soon, but she didn't need a wildcard now.