The sun was setting when the Kinmari archipelago finally appeared on camera feeds within the Arc Manta, and entire crew mobilized to disembark. Within minutes, the ship slowed, circling around the island to the east and riding close to the surface as it entered its docking bay. Finally, for the second time in two weeks of travel, the ship stopped.
Mechanized supports anchored into its sides, securing it against bumping around in its bay. Dock worker ponies dragged over cables and hoses to resupply the ship's power and water, and the hatch ground open in preparation for them being threaded in to be used. But first, the crew disembarked: Valey first, leaping out and skipping the ladder, quickly followed by Anemone with a slightly-less-graceful version of the same. Caballeron was next, and then came Maple, with Starlight immediately behind her. All their friends were waiting to greet them on the dock.
Princess Celestia was too.
Starlight immediately squeaked and tried to hide behind Maple, but it was too late. She had the princess's attention.
"You took a filly along on that voyage?" Celestia tilted her head and frowned. "I recall you said you had children with you, but two weeks is quite a long time to..." She shook it off. "It is okay, little one. I do not mean to scare you."
"S-She's camera-shy," Maple managed, making herself a little bigger for Starlight to hide behind while also trying to bow. "And... hello, Princess."
Valey spread her wings and did a triple backflip in the air, before coming down to hover in front of Celestia, stealing the spotlight. "Yeah, hate to break it to you, but two weeks is hardly the longest solitary voyage we've been on. She's used to it, whether you want her to be or not. So, you're Princess Celestia, though?"
"Yes, we have foals along," Shinespark added. "This is another reason your offer is difficult."
Starlight peeked out from behind Maple, silently hoping her friends' ploy would work and that Celestia would be happy considering her just a kid who was along for the ride and not ask too many questions about her own powers or contributions. She hadn't bathed in two weeks, and though Maple had tried to groom her, her mane was an unkempt mass, hiding both her teal streaks and her horn... This wasn't actually as bad as she had imagined. There was enough distance between her, the nameless urchin who let the adults do the talking, and Starlight, the filly who killed windigoes, that she almost felt some tension lift from her shoulders...
And the ploy did work. Celestia's eyes snapped to Valey's pendant with great interest, the sarosian hovering noisily in front of her face. "And you must be Valey, whom I've heard so much about."
"That's me, boss." Valey continued hovering on eye level with her, floating over the water. "I hear we sorta met when I was still stuck in a chunk of moon glass."
Celestia eyed the pendant intently. "So I did. I hope I will be able to ask your forgiveness and understanding for not acting on your behalf, but that is a conversation that should perhaps wait until after your reunion. I take it you have been missing each other for quite some time, and would not wish to interfere."
"Yeah..." Amber trotted, then ran, jumping onto the roof of the ship and giving Maple a big hug. "Welcome back, you. You look a little more back to normal."
"Heh." Maple giggled lightly, returning the hug tightly. "Well, my ribs are certainly all better. I think this was enough time for that healing spell of yours to work its magic." She nodded at Celestia. "And we... took care of a few things I'll tell you about later. But it's so good to see you again..."
"Missed your cooking too." Amber leaned down and ruffled Starlight's mane. "And missed you as well, kid."
Even Felicity was there, leaning against a railing and panting lightly. "Hello, darling," she puffed, making an effort as Valey flew around hoofbumping Gerardo and Slipstream.
"Yo." Valey landed in front of her, sizing her up. "Bananas, you don't look so good, girl."
Felicity grimaced at herself. "Thank you for reminding me."
"You look rather unkempt yourself," Gerardo pointed out, coming to Felicity's aid. "Really giving the image of a scruffy ragtag adventurer a run for its money."
"Am I?" Valey lifted a foreleg, tucked her head down, and sniffed. "Eh, it's not too bad. But hey, if you say so. Hold my hat." She tossed her beret at Gerardo and backflipped into the sea.
Celestia stared in surprise at where she had gone down. Half the room didn't even blink.
Seconds later, Valey surfaced, shaking herself off before rising and hovering again. "There we go. Good as new."
Celestia gave her a wide-eyed look. "Well, your lack of royal decorum is something I don't see every year. I can see why Garsheeva took a shine to you."
Valey shrugged. "Hey, if you'd been in a big barrel for two weeks solid, you'd go swimming too."
"The Arc Manta is a bit more of a work of art than merits calling a big metal barrel," Caballeron said, walking past, "but I can see your point. Princess. If anyone has a pressing need of me, I will be taking the next day off, so too bad unless it is you. Please feel free to drop by my estate at any time."
"I shall consider that," Celestia replied, sounding like she had already decided there were more important ponies to spend her time with. "Now, has anyone immediate need of me? I do not wish to interfere in your own reunion, but my time is also limited."
"Yeah, what are we doing?" Valey asked, slapping her hat back on. "Last I heard was something about a doctor for Felicity?"
Felicity sighed. "Awaiting the results of a blood test, apparently. Which should supposedly be done by tonight, and it really better be because they both have a princess breathing down their backs and they gave me a very bad time extracting it. Though honestly, what do you think they're going to do about my condition? My whole body just doesn't work in general."
"Wanna bet they'll be done by the time I finish a really good shower?" Valey stretched.
As they talked, Starlight made her way down the gangplank, hoping Celestia couldn't somehow detect all the magic artifacts she had in her saddlebags... but from the princess's lack of attention beyond a passing curious gaze, she couldn't. Starlight made herself small, and when the next pony spoke, it was Shinespark, not her.
"I see the way you're looking at her," Shinespark said. "It's the same way you were looking at Felicity earlier. Princess... yes, we have two fillies with us. Both of them are just entering their teens, and both of them have had unstable enough lives already. They've been living on the go with us for a while now. Both of them have had to deal with a lot of stress and adult decisions even some of the rest of us shouldn't be old enough for. Don't you see what you're asking us? It's one thing to test our commitment to each other as friends, and how far out of our way we'd go to ensure all of us win in the end. But it would be irresponsible of us not to put their lives first. You're not asking whether we would postpone our own peaceful lives to help each other see our ultimate dreams through. You're asking if we'd put aside the best interests of our children."
A deeply conflicted look spread across Celestia's face. "I see."
Gerardo cleared his throat and stepped closer. "When you challenged us, you did ask us if we would stand against the will of a goddess. And so, here we are. Perhaps this wasn't in the manner that you intended, but our situation is in fact far more complex than a mere question of healthy, capable adults who are fit and well-prepared to tackle the world."
"An even more impressive testament to your victories, given your setbacks," Princess Celestia said. "I will have to give this consideration. I am already mulling over redacting my deal entirely and offering you some other way to demonstrate and strengthen your abilities and earn my aid for your city."
Shinespark nodded. "You mentioned that yesterday."
"And it has grown no less true."
"Well..." Maple took a deep breath, stepping up to Celestia as well. "While you're deciding, Princess... would it be okay if I asked you not to bother our fillies too much? They're already overwhelmed, and they don't need more very important ponies in their lives. They need to settle down and grow roots, not branches that reach for the sky."
Celestia chuckled. "Of course. I will leave it to them to approach me."
"I'm surprised the other hasn't been trying that already," Gerardo muttered under his breath.
Throughout the conversation, after Sea Star had disembarked as well and maintenance ponies had began crawling into the Arc Manta to clean its insides and refuel its components, Nyala stood like a shadow on the deck, unnoticed by everyone and staring at Celestia with a faintly haunted expression.
"I have to say, it's been a while since I've gotten to taste this cooking," Gerardo praised, sitting in the brightly-lit living room of Generosity Two after the sun had gone down, stars twinkling through the panoramic window. "I feel like the constraints of working with limited ingredients for so long have led you to improve significantly from Riverfall."
"Thanks..." Maple blushed. "I'm just glad to taste something beyond dehydrated rations and water. The Arc Manta doesn't really have a pantry..."
Valey belched in agreement. "Sparky? Putting that big of a food room on your boat was the best decision you ever made."
"Debatable..." Shinespark looked to the side, also chowing down. "But thanks."
"Speaking of which, how are the restorations on the Immortal Dream coming?" Maple looked up from her food. "I heard you've been busy."
"Very busy," Shinespark sighed, her mane limp but her eyes with a spark that was stronger than before. "It took several days of research, but I determined Kinmari at least has the fabricating technology to re-make all the parts the Dream is missing. Without the schematics, though, I've had to redesign some of them from scratch, which I've been putting off because I'd rather get my old designs back, which I can't because someone ran off with my terminal."
Valey shrugged. "Hey, I told you, all the data's gone. Completely wiped out by that harmony storm. I did get the rest of it fixed, though, so if you can deal with a blank storage system, it should be good to plug back in."
"I can give them your plans," Nyala mumbled, looking lost in thought.
"I would appreciate that." Shinespark nodded formally. "In the meantime, the replacement outer hull sections are partially remade, and they've cleared and smoothed the broken parts so we can immediately proceed with installation when the treatment and reparation rune inscriptions are done, and the deck is already finished, including the railing. We fixed and upgraded the insulation, too. And all the damaged mana components have been inventoried and removed, and the connections cleaned and readied for reassembly."
"How do you even work that fast?" Valey swished her tail, talking with her mouth full. "Bananas, it took you years to build this boat in Sosa."
Shinespark shrugged. "About seventy percent of that was research and design for the harmony extractor, and another ten percent was forging the inner hull, which is still intact and in perfect condition... though we actually used a leftover prototype from Mobius's work during the previous years. And much of the other time was spent on artistic embellishment like carving the wooden trim, so that the craftsponies had something to do. And it was built in secret in an abandoned warehouse by a very small team who contributed hours outside their regular jobs."
"Well, you certainly are productive," Felicity mumbled, already eating her seconds. "Mmm. Whatever else may be wrong with me, I'm certainly glad I can enjoy my food..."
Shinespark nodded, not quite finished. "Well, I'm glad too. But I've also been splitting my time between that and Meltdown. Her new armor is... not going to be armor, and I don't think it will run at her old standard Empire temperature. Forty to fifty percent is a stretch goal. But I'm reasonably confident I can make it portable at thirty percent within another week. She might have to pull a cart along behind her that carries necessary equipment for the pumps, reservoirs or power banks and generation, but-"
A knock sounded at the door.
"I'll get it!" Amber hopped up and flung open the door, finding herself faced with an earth pony mare in traveling medical garb. "Oh! Uh, hello."
"Is this a bad time?" the mare asked, looking in through the doorway. "I have some test results for Felicity, and was told the Princess required them in by tonight."