//------------------------------//
// Decisions Set In Time 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

The Immortal Dream was right where everyone had left it, idling in the bay east of Sires Hollow. Wisps of energy traced broad rings and spirals inside the crackling, glowing harmony comet, causing sparkles of orange light to dance off the wave tips whenever their angle was just right. The trail around the eastern ridge went high enough up, they entered the bay above the comet altogether, looking down at the deck from above and taking a long, winding route to the stairs.

"Woahhh..." Fluffy Fleece hovered at Gerardo's side, skipping the chance of chipping her hooves on the steep, rocky path. "That can really fly? What's it made of?"

"It's super complicated," Valey replied, also hovering. "We've had some scientists try to explain it, but that honestly doesn't make it make much more sense. It's basically made of magic."

"Like a unicorn's magic?" Fluffy pressed, staring into the blazing, elongated teardrop.

Valey shrugged. "Uhh... technically, it's more like a pegasus's. You fly, the ship flies... Makes sense, right?"

Fluffy frowned in concentration, her brain working overtime. "It can't be that simple."

"Perhaps you could grow up to be an airship scientist, and learn all the complexities and appreciate them to your heart's content," Gerardo suggested earnestly. "Personally, I'm less concerned with how it works and more with what it allows me to do. You don't think about why you're flying when there's an endless horizon to be chased and taken in."

"I've been high up," Fluffy replied. "My mom once carried me out south above the forest foothills to look at the view. You could see at least five hills away, and that's only the ones that were close enough to count. I loved it. But I bet you could see way further than that from an airship. How high does it go?"

"I dunno if the captain's tested it," Valey chuckled. "But you can see a seriously long way. We can go way higher than the clouds in this thing."

"Coooool..."

The sounds of their conversation registered in Maple's ears, her leading the way along with Fishy. Starlight was riding on her back: a tradition they didn't engage in as often as they used to, but more practical here with the limited walking space. Besides, Starlight didn't seem to want to be far away.

"It shouldn't be more than a little paperwork to give you Starlight's old house," Fishy was saying. "And with me in your corner, that won't take more than an hour. The place is cleaned out, though, so we'll need to requisition furniture quickly. You could stay with me for a night if you need to..."

Maple's ears swiveled towards her. "Is the house really yours to give? I know you mentioned the ponies here not caring for freeloaders."

"Yep. All of them are, technically." Fishy shrugged, having no trouble navigating the path with her low center of gravity and long years of familiarity with the area. "We've got it outlined in a town charter somewhere, but the best way our ponies figured out to make our way of life work is to sort of say everything belongs to everyone. That's not like you can just walk up and take something if you want it, but it is saying it wouldn't be fair if everyone else was deprived because somepony was hoarding significantly more than they needed. So certain bigger things are technically owned by all the town together, like houses, and everyone else trusts the officials to make wise use of them. It's a system that only holds up when everyone acts with honor and dignity, but what system isn't? It means we can do stuff like this for ponies like you who need it."

"That's interesting," Maple murmured. "But aren't some of the houses bigger than others, or in better places, like closer to the school or stores?"

Fishy nodded. "Sure, but some families are bigger than others too. And Sires Hollow is small enough that you're pretty close to everywhere most of the time. So someone's five minutes away from the school, and someone's fifteen. No biggie, unless it's pouring."

"That's still thrice the distance, though," Maple pointed out. "Even if it's not too big of an increase, it's still there. Does everyone just not care?"

"Not really?" Fishy thought about it for a moment. "Okay, I've maybe had to settle one or two disputes where someone complains about a thing like that, but usually they're mad at something else and just looking for things that'll look like evidence for their case. I'd really say we just don't care. The whole point of the system is to make sure that everyone has enough, not to take exacting measures to ensure you're not being stiffed by anyone else. If we wanted that, we'd just buy and sell the things, and whoever cares the most could take getting their dues into their own hooves. But we don't, and so we don't, and everyone's happy with what they have."

Maple shook her head, pressing on. "With how many greedy creatures I've seen over my travels, it's almost hard to believe."

"Oh, I'm not saying our town is free from greedy types," Fishy went on. "And if you really care about having things, you can. You're just going to be mostly alone in that care." Her eyes roved the mountainsides, steep and filled with plants and outcroppings that made the area anything but barren. "Besides, a lot of us have done duty on caravans to the southwest. Hard to feel bad about what you have when you have more than the next town, and they have more than the folks further down the line. We've all put in the effort together, here, and just no one sees any point in not cooperating once it comes time to reap the rewards."

Throughout the explanation, Starlight stayed silent.

"Whew! I feel like we're getting off track." Fishy wiped her brow. "Point is, you want that house, I can get it for you just fine. You want furniture, we're going to have to find some, but it shouldn't be too big of a deal. Whatever you need getting settled in, you just need to ask. And I'm more than certain your neighbors will help out, too."

They rounded the final bend, avoiding a rocky outcropping and reaching the staircase connecting the mountain to the dock. Wood creaked beneath Maple's hooves. Shinespark was waiting for them on the deck.

Valey was considerably less patient. "Yo, Sparky, what's up!?" She dove from the sky, hitting the deck at an angle and landing with a huge grin right up against Shinespark's face.

"Nothing unusual," Shinespark replied. "And you're in a good mood."

"Yeah..." Valey dusted off her shoulders. "I threw a mare in a garbage bin and apparently scored points with some ponies for doing it. Including the mayor."

Shinespark facehoofed, hiding the tiniest smile. "I hope it doesn't come back to haunt you."

"Kinda likely," Valey admitted. "I think she took it as a flirting challenge. But she's off her rocker, so what can I say?" She shrugged hard, pointing back at the other ponies plus Gerardo who were approaching the gangplank. "Too bad for her I'm taken. Anyway, time to focus. We've got a case."

"Shinespark," Maple said, coming aboard. "Starlight and I are... going to stay."

Shinespark met her eyes for a long moment, searching Starlight's as well. Eventually, she nodded. "It's been a pleasure. Is this goodbye?"

Maple glanced up at the sun and grimaced. "I hope not. It's barely past midday. We've still got a good number of hours left... or did you mean it another way?"

"Let's go below." Shinespark waved her over. "I'm certain this won't be forever, with our plans to get more writs and return here again. But we also don't have a spare sound stone to leave with you like we did for Felicity. I know you've been thinking about this, so... everyone will want to know."

Maple nodded, and Fishy followed, all of them accepting the invitation to go inside. Valey hesitated, glancing back at Gerardo and Fluffy. "Birdo?"

"You go join with everyone else," Gerardo requested. "I'm sure I'll get my time as well, but we do have a very eager passenger I'd prefer not to leave on her own."

He pointed to Fluffy, who was too busy inspecting every inch of the deck to pay much heed to the conversation. "Some of this wood looks newer than the rest!" she remarked, scuffing at a seam with a hoof.

"I can always watch her if you don't have time," another voice added from the stern entry. "It's not like I've got much better to do."

"Jamjars..." Valey slowly looked up. "You, uh, should probably have someone watching you too?"

"Jamjars?" Fluffy looked up. "Who's..." She blinked. "There are other fillies here? Are you friends with Starlight?"

Valey vanished, deciding Gerardo had missed the chance to protest and ditching him to watch the kids alone. He blinked, glancing around and realizing what had happened.

"Yep. Jamjars. That's me." Jamjars stepped forward and fluffed her mane. "And I'm more of her rival, but sure, you can call us friends." She smirked, regarding the newcomer... and her smirk slowly melted into surprise as she beheld Fluffy's impossibly silky mane. "Who are you?"

"Fluffy," Fluffy said warily, also evaluating Jamjars' demeanor. "Fluffy Fleece. I live here, and I used to know Starlight. Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Do you have a stylist?" Jamjars breathed, stepping quickly forward. "Who lives here? What are their hours, and can you schedule me before I have to go? Can I touch your mane?"





In the dining hall, everyone who wasn't Gerardo, Fluffy or Jamjars had gathered. It didn't even take until they had arrived for word of Starlight's decision to spread around.

"So this is it, then?" Amber asked, looking solemnly at Maple. "Your new home?"

"It seems to be." Maple stepped forward and wrapped her in a hug. "I know I left without you back in Riverfall, and you had to catch up. Now it's the other way around."

"Yeah, but I'll come back." Amber completed the hug. "First I gotta check on Willow, of course, but unless I'm needed at home, you can bet I'll go with Gerardo and Valey and hunt those writs for us. And if we take too long, we can keep Felicity posted, and maybe even someone can get her up here to hang out with you herself after her foal is born."

"Everyone seems so gung-ho about getting more writs," Maple murmured. "That's the plan you're committing to?"

"Well, duh." Valey shrugged. "Felicity's already gone, and you and Starlight are staying behind... The three of you are the ones who've had the biggest reasons to settle down. I'm still game to run around and kick tail, and Birdo never planned on stopping. And with a reason like getting the crew back together, who's got time for anything else?" She winked. "You girls live your retirement, here. The moment we get even one writ, one of us will come back to say hi, and we'll get more and more until we can all hang out at the same time and have a feast together. And that's a promise. You can count on it."

Maple smiled softly. "A promise we can count on. Well, I promise to look forward to it."

"What's all this about getting writs?" Fishy asked, raising an eyebrow. "You couldn't mean Writs of Harmonic Sanction... Those are borderline impossible to get ahold of, especially in the north. I only even know they exist from secret mayor know-how! And you're thinking of getting enough for all of you?"

Valey shrugged. "We got two in a span of like six months, and Yakyakistan owes us another. Dunno exactly how much you know about the north... I'm guessing at least a little. But it's totally possible if you've got, like, once-in-a-millennia levels of gumption. Which apparently we do."

"And even if it's not possible," Harshwater added with an uncertain swagger, "that's never stopped any of this lot from trying."

"No," Nyala murmured, "it definitely hasn't."

Fishy stared around at them. "Huh."

"Will you be fine with us just leaving, though?" Shinespark raised an eyebrow. "If it's for the sake of farewells, there's such a thing as drawing it out too long, but this will be goodbye for quite some time. And I can't imagine you just seamlessly integrate into a society."

Maple shuffled where she stood, wishing Starlight would speak up... but the filly was silent. "If I could spend one last night with you all, I'd really appreciate it."

Valey winked. "Easier done than said. Right, Sparky?"

Shinespark slowly nodded. "We can delay for one more day. Spend the time we have as needed. See to it you're getting settled in. But we'd set off early tomorrow morning."

"Early tomorrow morning," Maple whispered. "Well then, let's make it a goodbye worth remembering."