//------------------------------//
// Lying Makes You Happy? 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

The walk back into Sires Hollow was anything but silent, Valey chatting Maple up with Shinespark nearby and Amber eagerly joining in. It wasn't a somber trek. Starlight knew she was biased, but looking through that, these ponies seemed legitimately happy.

Her memories drifted back to a rainy Riverfall night when Amber and Willow had marched in silent procession to see them off at a secret dock to Ironridge. It was a night where the three of them had a dream together, Maple and her friends, and Maple was shouldering all of their wishes and carrying on to experience the adventure herself. That night had been secretive, quiet and cold, a night where Starlight was only running away for the second time and was still flush with hope that the next time would be better.

Now, the weather was opposite, an afternoon sun peering through sparse cloud cover, and the mood was too. None of her friends were holding their breaths for the future. This time, there was no reverence for their past attempts and failures, only a giddy anticipation that this time around, it would finally be done. Her friends were actually giddy. And the only difference she could see was that instead of continuing on to the unknown, she and Maple were committing to a place they already had an idea of.

It meant this was more likely to work. This was it. It was finally going to be over. If Starlight could have brought herself to feel giddy too, that would have been a good enough reason for her.

Fluffy Fleece felt like the only one who was as quiet as her. Whether her friends were having a good time or not, she appreciated the solidarity.

"Starlight?" Fluffy eventually prodded. "You're not as talkative as your friends."

Well, at least she wasn't being silent because she was upset about Jamjars. "No," Starlight answered, "I'm not. I'm just usually thinking about things instead."

Fluffy looked her over uncertainly. "You're going to be okay, not saying goodbye? I remember you always said it was so sudden, last time."

"I'll be okay eventually," Starlight said, a conspicuous lack of guarantee in her voice. "That's the whole point of staying here. That eventually it'll be a better place for me."

Fluffy raised an eyebrow. "But what about right now?"

"Right now I wasn't okay before this decision and wouldn't be either way, no matter what I do," Starlight grunted. "So I'm just thinking instead."

In truth, she wasn't thinking. Her head felt like molasses. And that was the point: she had a whole lot of experience dealing with hardships that had already happened, but no idea what to do for ones that were still in her future. Sure, it wasn't pleasant, but what was the point in fighting something she herself had chosen? Fighting herself wasn't a thing she had the strength to do.

Up ahead, the conversation was far more lively. "You do have pineapples here?" Amber pressed, jaw agape. "I mean, that's awesome, but how? I didn't figure this was the kind of climate..."

"Shipped from the east." Fishy shrugged. "They're canned pineapples, but who cares? I hear sections of the southern coastline get even subtropical if you go far enough. We sometimes import coconuts, too."

"That's mildly more than subtropical," Gerardo remarked, weighing a talon. "I don't suppose there's anything anyone is thinking of doing with said pineapples, of course?"

"Grilled pineapple." The look on Maple's face was resolute. "That's what I made the night we left for Ironridge, and it was a special dish for Amber and Willow and I before that. It's the only thing I could make for an occasion like this." She stared into Amber's eyes. "And we're going to save a plateful, and you'll take it to Willow for me."

Amber drew a hoof across her chest, sealing the promise. "It'll barely even have time to get cold."

"I wonder what kind of cooking utensils I'll have to work with," Maple continued, tone much lighter. "I didn't take too good of a look at the kitchen when we were there. How furnished is it, Fishy? What will I be using?"

Fishy shrugged. "There's an icebox and a range, but they'd both be empty. And a sink, cutting board... probably no knives. Don't know if you'll have much else to start, but while you get yourselves settled in I'll rouse the neighbors and see if they can pitch in a little." She glanced all the way back at Starlight. "You remember Meadow Rose and Timber Trail? They still live next door."

Starlight remembered them. They were the couple her parents often invited for dinner, though she had rarely seen the inside of their house because they didn't have kids for her to visit of their own. They were the ponies she had always been okay around, but never paid attention to: her parents' friends, not her own.

"Maybe not." Fishy shrugged, taking her silence as a no. "Long-time friends of mine, though. I bet they'd be happy to help with a housewarming."

"I'd be down to meet them!" Amber chirped. "What kinds of ponies are they?"

"You mean what are they like?" Fishy waved a hoof, slightly short on breath after the climb. "Well, Rose, she's pretty easygoing. And a little rowdy. It's a combination that looks odd on paper, but really works once you get to know her. And then Timber is the kind that never wastes a word. Lets her do the talking for him. But his attention span and memory are just unrealistic, and there's no one better to talk at and feel like you've been heard. Real nice folks, both of them. Trust me, you'll hit it off." She glanced over at Amber. "Especially you and Rose. Too bad you can't stay longer."

Amber rolled her eyes and winked. "Start putting it on the calendar. We won't be gone forever!"

"Ah, there's nothing like meeting an old face after a long sojourn apart," Gerardo agreed. "I once had this friend, a mercenary named Winsom. He was either a camel or a llama, and I always used to annoy him by referring to him as the opposite of what he was. Tragically, now that we're in the present it makes it hard to remember what he actually was..."

"Hello, Sires Hollow to Big Bird?" Amber waved in Gerardo's face. "Think the meaning of your tangent is getting a little vaguer than you intended."

Gerardo's crest flopped. "It's a long story, and I was just getting started. Do you want to hear the rest or not?"

Valey looked up from where she had been muttering with Shinespark about something, clearly not paying attention. "Story? Yes please! The longer, the better. Show those non-storytellers who's boss." Shinespark giggled under her breath, and they went back to muttering.

Gerardo drooped. "Well, excuse me..."

"Ahem..." Fluffy had flown on ahead of Starlight and now was hovering near the griffon. "What's a llama? Or a camel?"

Gerardo's eyes shone with an eager light. "Llamas are fickle and fascinating creatures. There is a port city I passed through once upon an adventure, governed entirely by the creatures, and they passed ordinance to change its name each and every day. They wanted to stand out from the crowd and not have just another city, so they made one you're forced to refer to as that llama city and everyone remembers. Should you ever meet one, ask to hear a joke. I hear they're masters of that type of cleverness and humor."

"Really?" Fluffy buzzed in the air. "Wow. I hope one visits here someday. So what's a camel?"

"Imagine a pony with a long face and a hump on their back."





Egged on by Fluffy Fleece, Gerardo's storytelling continued all the way through town. Fishy entrusted Maple and Starlight with remembering where the house was and vanished, wandering off to do official errands. Meanwhile, Valey and Shinespark's conversation didn't let up, to the degree that Starlight suspected they were planning something and had no idea what it was. This distracted her enough that she forgot to navigate, and since Maple was too new to the town to fully remember, the group somehow was guided by Fluffy, who barely even paid attention to her surroundings as she flew backwards and listened to Gerardo.

"And that is why one should never cross swords with a camel," Gerardo finished. "Technique, finesse, strength and experience all have their roles, but there will never, ever be nothing to be said for raw meanness in a fight."

"You know how to swordfight?" Fluffy pressed. "I have a friend at school who thought we should start a fencing club, but the teacher said no, because none of us knew how. She didn't listen when he told her that was the point."

Gerardo chuckled. "I'm not quite certain youngsters like yourself in a peaceful town like this have a lot of practical applications for swordfighting. And even if you did, casual duels for sport are very different than a life-and-death struggle."

"So?" Fluffy didn't look like this was particularly relevant to her interests. "My friend certainly thought it would be cool. He talked me into it."

Amber butted in, interrupting. "Speaking of cool things, what's the coolest thing you've ever done? Not dreamed up, not planned to do, actually pulled off."

Fluffy whistled. "The coolest I've actually done? Um... I don't know. I sure felt cool when I first learned to fly. My wings took a little longer to start working than normal, but one day I was trying to get to school and the breakfast cereal ran out, and we were all out of it on the bottom shelf in the pantry. So I reached and reached and couldn't quite get it, and then... you know!" She blushed a little. "Okay, that's probably not very cool. Not when you have an airship. But it felt cool."

"Wuzzat?" This time, Valey's attention was properly captured. "Hey. For your information, if there's ever a tree with some fruit in it, and no one else can get it? You'll sure feel cool if you can reach up there and get it all for yourself. Just saying. Flying to get food is really cool."

"Thanks..." Fluffy still looked somewhat embarrassed. "There was also the time I thought would be cool, where I wrote a really funny story and asked if I could read it to the class. But then when I did, nobody laughed at my jokes, and after I was done, my teacher called it an 'insightful commentary on the equine condition'. I don't even know what that is! And I read a lot, so I have a good vocabulary..."

Valey snorted. "I'm ninety percent sure that's what folks call something when they want to sound smart but don't know any smarter words."

"Says an uneducated scholar of poetry," Gerardo interrupted, raising a pious talon. "What it actually means is..." He saw Valey and Fluffy's faces. "Ah... my mistake. That's actually exactly what it means."

Amber had to stop and lean against a fence, laughing.

"Well, here's to high spirits," Maple happily sighed. "I know this is goodbye, and I know it's goodbye for a while, but thanks for making it an uplifting affair. This is what I should have been doing with my goodbyes all along."

"I'm sorry I couldn't have been a better mentor in the subject." Gerardo adjusted his uniform. "That said, I usually am the one who's leaving, not staying... But we haven't even reached the party, let alone the parting. The night is so young, it hasn't even begun! Ha-ha!"

"Well put." Amber punched him so hard in the shoulder he staggered and barely kept his balance, muttering about earth pony strength. "Ironflanks, we're not leaving until there's been so much laughter in your new house, it already feels like a proper home. We're gonna break in this house for you the good way."

Starlight didn't say it, but she liked the sound of it. She was glad to see Fluffy getting along with her friends and glad to see her friends carrying themselves with spirits held high. There was still the inevitable parting, and she wasn't sure if it was truly better to lie to herself and tell herself this time was happy, but... it looked so much more appealing than moping and closing herself off until it was over. It wasn't like there would be something better on the other side to open herself up to, was it?

...Well, there was Fluffy. And she was only the first pony from this town Starlight had tried reconnecting with. All around her, there were unfamiliar faces, some of whom stared at her with shock and dawning recognition.

It had to be a lie. Partings couldn't be happy. But the more she watched and the more she listened, the more she longed to take the risk and find some way to join in too.