• Published 23rd Jun 2017
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The Olden World - Czar_Yoshi



Equestrian culture loves cutie marks. Filly Starlight Glimmer hates them and never wants one. So, she leaves Equestria.

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Won't Stop

In the middle of a heavy downpour, a brigade of pegasi marched toward Blueleaf, the lone unicorn at their head doing his best to keep their spirits up through leading by example.

"Selma?" a soaked, bedraggled guard asked, head held low. "Do you really think the Sosans want a fight in this weather? We could leave, and they might just go home."

"Oh, I don't doubt they do," Selma declared, stepping proudly through the mud. "And that's why we're going to hand them an easy surrender and flee. Once they've had a win to soothe their spirits, the desire won't burn brightly enough to keep them out here and they will go home."

Another pegasus blinked. "Or they could be emboldened and come to the Stone district for revenge. Then we'd have come all this way for nothing."

Selma tutted. "It's a good thing you have me to remember our plans. The airship? That we're going to drop on their heads should they try an all-out assault? We have a backup. Now stop worrying. We must give them as ferocious a show as possible, so they don't realize we aren't... What's this?"

He stopped, blinking. In the middle of the road, blocking his path, Elise stood defiantly, Fernand at her side and a camp of equally-bedraggled ponies waiting behind. Despite her short stature, she wore a look of determination that sent every pegasus back a step, her flowing mane teased by an invisible wind. The entire image was helped by the fact that she was dry.

Selma's eye twitched. Her horn was alight, and her unusual, flamelike aura was held in a shield over her head and back, protecting her and Fernand from the rainfall. After a second of staring, Selma snorted, forming his own rain shield far too late to do any good, inwardly berating her for having common sense. He didn't extend his to his soldiers.

"Hah! Someone who looks like they're in charge!" he growled, putting on airs regardless. "We, the Defense Force of the Stone District, are here to-"

"I challenge you to a duel," Elise interrupted, stepping forward, a dress on her back and a set of dainty, ornamental boots protecting her from the mud. "No seconds. If you lose, you and your forces retreat from the Earth District at once, and we will discuss our differences diplomatically and without weapons come the end of this storm and morning."

Selma blinked. "You? A duel? What?" He blinked harder. "You're a shrimpy little mare!"

"I meant what I said," Elise replied. "Name your terms for winning."

"Terms? Pah!" Grinning viciously, Selma dropped his shield as hurriedly as he summoned it. "If I win, I get to take you down in front of whoever you're fighting for!" He swept a hoof at the array of ponies encamped in the clearing behind her. "It's nothing I wouldn't do anyway! Let's fight!"

He barely had time to signal for his stallions to stay back before a gigantic pillar of magical flame hit him like a lukewarm train, knocking him off his hooves and sending him flying towards the forest. Another intercepted him, a hardened wall of chromatically burning telekinesis whacking him to the ground like a paddle against a ping-pong ball. The fire morphed into a giant boot, pressing him down and sending him skidding through the mud until he came to rest directly in front of Elise's hooves, horn stinging, body bruised, and clean white coat turned solid brown.

"Ow!" he yelled, the petite unicorn standing over him with a neutral expression. He had intended to throw the fight; that she had offered a duel with exactly the defeat condition he came to win was perfect, but she hadn't left him even a chance for a fake attack. "What...? How...?"

"Do you yield?" Elise asked, horn still glowing, ready to strike again and again if need be.

"Yes... ow..." Selma croaked. If he couldn't make the battle look close, the next best thing was to play up his defeat. "How are you... so strong...?"

Elise looked flatly at him, then nudged the hem of her dress. "My brand," she informed him. "It strengthens my magic under certain conditions, not that you need to know them."

"Sister, I agree. You've no need to explain yourself to them," Fernand interrupted, fixing her dress with a wingtip. "Defense Force! You accepted her duel, and you lost! Now begone!"

The pegasi with Selma were all too eager to retreat, none bothering to help their leader out of the mud. A whoop came from the Blueleaf encampment further down the road, followed by exuberant cheers as the citizens realized the Defense Force was fleeing.

As they ran, Elise continued looking down at Selma. "You intended to lose, didn't you?"

"Wha...?" Selma sputtered, trying to find a clean thing to wipe his mouth dry against.

"Probably just so he could ask about your brand and hopefully get a look at your flank," Fernand muttered darkly.

"When you came down here," Elise said, ignoring Fernand's remark. "With your pegasi, to fight us. That wasn't the full Defense Force. That was barely a squad. You couldn't have intended anything with so few numbers except defeat, even with the amount of confidence you sounded like you had in yourself."

Selma grinned a muddy grin. "Bingo," he growled, getting to his hooves now that Elise wasn't keeping him pressed to the mud. "You want to go home. I want to go home. Neither of us want a fight in this weather. I can take a loss in the name of securing a win later."

As if on cue, the rain stopped.

"Thank you!" Selma rolled his eyes at the hazy, distant sky. "Couldn't this have happened earlier? It would have spared me a very miserable walk!"

Then, the snow started.

"What...?" Elise's breath came out in a cloud as she lifted a fetlock free from its boot, held it out, and caught a flake on its way down. It rested, supported by a few hairs of her coat as she examined the icy structure... and then it was lost as dozens and hundreds more fell around it.

"It snows down here?" Selma frowned. "I can't remember the last time it snowed in the Stone District! The wind barrier is supposed to keep the cold up above!"

"Elise!" Several ponies from the Blueleaf encampment came charging up, worry and confusion written on their faces. "It's snowing! In the Earth District!"

Elise struggled to keep her face straight as Selma continued trying to clean himself off. "I'm aware of that," she curtly replied. "What do you want me to do about it?"

With a jolt, Selma realized the Blueleaf ponies were completely ignoring him; between the mud covering his features and his lack of wings there was nothing identifying him as Defense Force. Instead, they stood around gaping, having no idea how to answer Elise's question. "Well..." one started.

"The Defense Force retreated," Elise told them, shooting a side glance at Selma. "After a short fight. Everyone should return home and stay warm. Myself and Fernand will stay here and keep watch, just in case. Now go home, all of you!"

Hesitantly at first, then gratefully, the Blueleaf ponies obeyed, the camp beginning to show signs of packing up.

"Well, now that you're all happy, I think I'll take my leave," Selma muttered, turning to walk back to the Stone District. "Thank you for angling your strikes so that they hit where they would hurt the most, incidentally. I've always wanted to walk up a mountain in the snow with nothing to do but think on aches I'd rather not have."

"One moment, sir!" Fernand flapped, landing in his path and blocking the way. "You're the Defense Force commander, aren't you? The bad one?" He leered sideways. "If you're telling the truth about wanting a truce, what say you to waiting here with us, instead?" He glanced toward Elise. "For all we know, you could have been intending to sacrifice a small number of your forces to put us off-guard for a greater assault. I think a show of goodwill is in order."

Selma raised a muddy eyebrow back at him, his brown coat turning back to white as the snow began to stick. "If I were intending to backstab you, what good would my staying do you?"

Fernand started to reply, but Elise cut him off with a smile. "Little. You can stay or go."

Weighing his options, Selma looked between the quickly-freezing mud and the camp of departing Blueleaf ponies. He saw Elise hide a shiver, and hid a smirk of his own. If this was what it took to be hailed as a war-stopping hero, better to act in good faith than achieve a one-sided victory through military means... and besides, showing off the high cold tolerance of a native of Yakyakistan might be amusing. "All right," he decided. "You have my presence. Make the most of it."

That made things awkward enough that no one spoke. Above, he could hear wind, which was unusual as the wind barrier was usually silent. The snow continued to fall... Wouldn't it ruin the Earth District crops? If it did, that might be something he could work in his favor. Elise adjusted her hoofing to prevent her boots from freezing in place, and Fernand looked decidedly uncomfortable.

"So," Selma said, finding himself bored with the silence and unable to let his eyes wander thanks to Elise's dress being in the way. "Who am I standing vigil with? A Sosan attack pony chosen for her talent in magic? I don't recognize your faces."

"Of course you don't," Elise sighed coolly, not meeting his eyes. "I'm the wife of Blueleaf's mayor, and have been right here for the past six years."

"Leading by example, hmm?" Selma's jaw twisted in a smirk. "Admirable. A shame the Sky District types can't be bothered to do the same," he hinted, measuring his subtlety. "You'd think Ironridge should be ran by the ponies who actually do things."

Elise looked levelly at him. "If you're trying to recruit me to help in a coup, I'm not interested. Thousands of ponies before you got the same answer."

"A coup?" Selma blinked in mock offense. "Oh, I'd never. I already executed my coup, you see. Herman is dead. I flung him from the ruins of the dam myself as vengeance in the name of Ironridge for his crimes against the districts." He futilely tried to brush the snow out of his mane. "Right now, I'm just interested in bragging."

"Good for you," Fernand deadpanned, standing close under Elise's magical umbrella.

"Nothing tonight is worth bragging about," Elise whispered. "Or in Ironridge for the last twenty years. If you're on the side that wants the fighting to stop, there are better ways to do it than starting fights. If you aren't, I'll defeat you again and again. Fighting skills haven't been what Ironridge has needed for a very long time, but they are something I have, and now, if they're needed to keep the peace..."

"Mmmmm..." Selma rolled his eyes. "You can fight, but can you plan? My tactical genius defeated Herman, after all. In fact, your victory over me was only a victory because I threw the match! I still could have effortlessly annihilated your entire camp, and could even do so now!"

Fernand bristled in alarm. "What are you talking about? You have a trap set for us, fiend!?"

"Oh, I did." Selma stared upward into the impenetrable curtain of snow and wind that blew just above the treetops. "I had an airship stationed above this area with a skeleton crew of pegasi, ready and waiting for a signal to slam it into the ground and annihilate both any target and your spirits! But I didn't, of course. That was just a backup in case you and your Spirit tried to pillage the Stone District." He blinked. "Where are the Spirit, anyway?"

"An airship." Fernand blinked slowly at him, flicking his ears. He pointed up at the chaotic sky. "Up there."

"Yes...?" Selma looked cautiously at him.

"No airship can fly in this weather," Elise murmured, suddenly tense. "They would have left earlier, as the storm was building."

Selma froze, realizing the hole that had just been punched in his plan. "Of course they wouldn't!" he sputtered, stomping. "The Defense Force are fearless. Besides, I saw the ship just before the rain started! They wouldn't break position. They would..."

He trailed off, eyes widening at what he was suggesting.

Then, with a cavernous groan, the sky reacted, like it had been waiting for that connection to be made. Visibility doubled, tripled, until everything up to the clouds could be seen in a narrow column of free air... and in that column hung the storm-tossed remains of Selma's airship, falling with murderous precision towards the still-emptying clearing where the Blueleaf ponies had set up camp.

"What!?" Selma's jaw dropped. "Those idiots! Why didn't they break position? I had a holding peace treaty! I had it...!"

Beside him, Fernand was equally speechless. "What...? How...?" He blinked in shock at the falling ship. "This makes absolutely no sense! It falls straight for a large cluster of ponies, waits to drop until precisely the moment you mention it, and the storm somehow clears exactly in the way it must to allow us to see it happen? Any one of these would be a coincidence of the highest order, but I have no knowledge of any kind of magic that could explain this!"

Elise's boots were empty, frozen in place in the churned-up mud as their owner raced towards the clearing.


"Everybody, move!" Elise screamed, the glow of energy around her horn flaring violently as she charged into the camp. Ponies dropped what they were doing, looked at each other, looked at her, looked up, and instantly broke into a panic, trying to flee. But it wasn't going to be fast enough: some stumbled, others tripped, and at the rate the ship was approaching, the clearing had less than ten seconds before impact.

With a roar of colorful flames, Elise's spectral magic surged upward toward the falling ship, the ghostly light suffusing the area dimming and darkening for contrast. She seized it in a giant cone of flickering telekinesis, straining, but didn't even make a dent in its speed.

Still, she pressed, legs nearly buckling as her aura concentrated near the needlelike prow. Finally, it shifted, not slowing but altering its trajectory by a fraction of a degree. Elise pushed harder, turning it more...

FWOOOOOM!

An explosion of blinding teal rocked the forest as the airship impacted barely one treeline away from the clearing, the ensuing shockwave throwing every pony off their hooves and thawing the newly-formed ice with a wave of intense heat. That quickly faded, a teal glow settling and lingering over everything. For a moment, the world sat in silent shock... and then the snow resumed.

"Sister! Elise!" Fernand came racing across to where Elise had fallen. She was slowly getting to her hooves, but he seized her in his wings, quickly helping her upright. Both were glowing the same pale teal as everything and everyone else in the clearing. "Are you hurt? Tell me!"

"At ease, Fernand." Elise struggled to support her own weight, eventually standing. "Nothing worse than cuts to my side and hooves, and a ruined dress. Check on everyone else!"

The other ponies were also climbing upright, staring around and murmuring in shock. "Ew, what's this blue stuff?" a mare with a nasally voice complained, looking at her hooves. "It's all glowey and doesn't taste good!"

"Don't panic! I remember that!" a grungy stallion urged, raising his voice. "It's likely fallout from that ship's manacore exploding! Nothing more than concentrated energy... but it does weaken you and makes wings and horns fairly useless. A shower and a good night's sleep will put you right as rain!"

"He's right!" another called. "I used to get like this all the time working in the Flame District!"

Fernand nudged Elise. "They're telling the truth about my wings not working. Now tell me that you're well!"

Elise tried to pull her dress aside with her teeth and failed. "I told you, Fernand. My hooves are cut from running on the frozen mud, my side is cut from landing on it, and my dress is ruined from the same. Hmmph." She tried to brush herself off, earning a puff of glowing mana drifting away into the air. "If you want to yell at Selma, he's right there. You have my permission."

Before anyone could act on it, there was a sparkle of dark purple magic... and a large yellow stallion appeared on the edge of the clearing, briefly adjusting his hoofing.

Everyone blinked in disbelief, Elise most of all. She took several steps toward the stallion, mouth moving in a silent whisper. Eventually, she said, "You're back."

"Yeah. And I don't like what I see." Arambai's broadsword quivered, strapped to his back and ready for action. He took several steps forward of his own, quickly realizing that he had appeared in a mana-irradiated zone that was interfering with his horn. "First you get warnings, then a flood goes right by your home. When you get back, your old home is underwater..." His eyes narrowed. "And I'm pretty sure I just saw someone use an airship crash as a weapon."

His eyes fixed dead ahead, staring up the road to the Stone District. "Not too many places I know of that have access to that dam, airships, and I constantly get warned about by a certain unicorn's letters," he growled. "I've been gone a long time, and it sounds like I'm needed now to kick some tail."


That was all Valey needed to hear.

She had been keeping her distance, just close enough to make out the display's picture and hear its crackling speakers. She needn't have hidden, since Herman didn't give her a look either way. Dior's attention was divided between Shinespark and the screen; he rested his hoof on her, feeling her breathing, but from the moment Arambai had appeared he had been transfixed, unable to look away.

"Come on, kiddo," Valey whispered, getting Starlight more securely on her back and turning to leave. "I've heard stories about that guy, and if he's here and out for blood, that's one more thing we'll be toast if we're caught in. Sparky can stay here, I'm done trying to help her. I'm just... done. Let's go."

Her hoofsteps were inaudible against the muted fury of the storm raging outside, clicking softly against the skyport's marble floor. Starlight tensed against her back, whining carefully. Herman was out of earshot. The exit was near. Still, Valey stopped, angling her ears back toward the filly. "What's up?"

Starlight sniffed. From a wetness where her face was pressed into Valey's neck, she was probably crying. Valey groaned. "Oh, come on. Not you, too. Can I, like, do anything? Or am I basically doomed to be lugging around sad unicorns until the day I change my mind again and decide to keep going it alone?"

"Is no one else nearby?" Starlight asked, lifting her head. "I've been being quiet just in case..."

Valey glanced at the information kiosk. "Well, sorta, but they're not gonna hear you unless you scream your little heart out. And even then, I'm not sure if they'd care. One's unconscious, one has his own problems to deal with, and one would probably find it cute. Need a minute?"

Starlight sniffed again.

"...Well, okay, then." Shrugging, Valey moved to a waiting bench with nice, fluffy cushions and flopped down, carefully depositing Starlight next to her. "Welcome to another round of Valey gets drafted as a therapist and has no idea what she's doing! What totally subjective trauma do you want me to unpack and then fix by carrying you physically out of here exactly like I was just doing?"

Starlight huffed. "Not me. You." A pause. "...You're giving up."

"Buh?" Valey's face scrunched up.

"I just blew up that dam," Starlight said. "Remember? Not you, not Shinespark, not Herman. Me. And I also just blew up my head fighting pegasi and then saving Maple. Now I can't see, haven't even gotten to make sure Maple's alright, and am completely helpless. I hate being helpless! And I'm mad because I can't do anything! And I want to!" She sniffed harder. "But you can. You're not in danger of walking off a cliff or into a wall if you try to take two steps on your own. You know about Ironridge. You're a good fighter and can talk or trick your way into anything. If anyone should be messed up and quitting, it's me, but I'm not. So why are you?"

Valey blinked. "Quitting? Who's quitting? Kiddo, I'm just straightening my priorities. Right now, there are exactly two must-dos on my list, and they are to keep my two friends alive and as safe as possible through this mess. That's you and Ironflanks, in case you forgot our deal down in the Flame Barracks. Sparky? Grenada? Whoever else we've ditched? Cute, but that's not enough for me to risk my life bringing them along when they're being suicidally aggressive maniacs. You saw... uh, heard her. We had a clean run to the exit, and she flew off all on her own and got busted up. Her fault, not mine."

"What happened back there?" Starlight asked. "With Shinespark. And Herman. Just now."

"You see..." Sighing, Valey sat back against the bench. "So Herman's here. Looks like he fell off a cliff, which matches what Selma said he did to him. Dior's here too. They're watching this repurposed screen with a backup power supply. It's showing the battle in the Earth District that we totally flew past the opening of. That's what you heard. Then there was some drama with Shinespark and Dior... Ninety-nine percent sure they're siblings, lovers, or maybe both. And then-"

"Not that," Starlight interrupted her. "Important things. Things I could use to make a difference. I just got an idea and want to see if it would work. You said there was a power supply?"

"Woah, hold on." Valey leaned in close, eyes narrowed. "Things you could use? As in...?"

"Me. Myself. I." Starlight shrugged, then climbed to her hooves. "I hate this city. I didn't like where I was from; it took my best friend. Ironridge is trying to take my friends and my eyes and my magic and kill me. It's even worse. I haven't had a single chance over the last three days to think about who I am or what I want or even remember that a week ago the worst thing I could imagine was getting a cutie mark. It's reduced me to trying to survive!" She stomped, tears at the corners of her unseeing eyes. "Same for you. You're trying to run and just keep me safe, aren't you? You don't have room to want or worry about anything more because you can't afford to! Would you help Shinespark if it wasn't likely to get you killed?"

Valey blanched. "Starlight, I did! I've given her so many pep talks and dragged her out of fights and... Yeah. I would."

"See?" Starlight turned in the direction of the kiosk, guided by the memory of which way they had came. "I don't like being like this. It's nice to not worry about my cutie mark every day, but not because I can't afford to. I want to be me again! The whole point of this was so the world wouldn't change who I was... and now I feel more than changed. I feel gone. Like I don't have time or safety to be me anymore. Valey, I know about running. This is what running got me... running from home and running again from Riverfall. A pony I care about told me that I'd never be able to find a world worth living in by looking; that I'd have to make it myself if I wanted to be certain. And the one thing I can still do? The one thing the world can never take from me?"

Her eyes flashed with determination. "It can't make me give up. We could run, but we'll just find somewhere else that needs fixing. So you can run if you want, but I'm going to keep trying to fix Ironridge."

"...You're insane," Valey muttered. "Completely insane. And... wow, hearing that makes me feel all tingly inside. Kinda like I've heard all that before, somewhere..."

"Cool." Starlight started waddling toward the kiosk. "If you think of something I can use, say it."

"Hold up!" Valey stopped her with her tail. "There's such a thing as beating your head against a brick wall until you pass out with a concussion, and it's not called being smart. I'm feeling maybe twenty percent more galvanized, but not nearly enough to let you walk up there and try to punch out Herman."

"Then you do it," Starlight countered. "You know how to fight."

"Nope." Valey seated her hard on the floor. "I'm Ironridge's designated baddie, remember? And maybe I'm trying to buck that trend and do something legitimately nice for two stubborn, unlucky ponies... but there's no way I'm the entire city's savior. That's Sparky's job. Besides, even if Herman's pretty beat up, I am too. And if I somehow did manage to kill him, what would it accomplish? That Arambai dude will still rough up the Stone District, and there's no way Herman could have predicted him showing up, so there's probably yet another component to his big, bad plan. We have no plan-"

Starlight tapped her with a mis-aimed hoof. "I have a plan. I'm making one right now."

"Oh...?" Valey raised an eyebrow.

"They were talking about mana radiation," Starlight said. "On the screen. That means there was a bunch of mana everywhere, right? Was Selma standing in it?"

Valey looked aside, thinking. "Uhh... I'm not a technician, but I'm pretty sure that's a yes and yes. Why does it matter?"

"And Arambai's still there?" Starlight pressed. "He's smart. Really smart. And he likes me."

Valey shaded her brow, looking at the distant screen. "Can't see from here, but I sure think so?"

Starlight nodded. "And when Selma gave you your hat back, he didn't give anything with it?"

Valey squinted. "Where are you going with this?"

"I'm going to talk to Herman," Starlight declared, stepping toward the kiosk once again. "He'll probably tell me all his plans if I ask right, since I'm helpless and can't do anything. Then we need to tell them to Arambai, so he can stop it. And that'll be easy, because there's a power supply right there... and the sound stone in my saddlebags is buzzing."

"Oh." Valey's eyes widened. "Oh bananas. Would that work?" She tore open Starlight's saddlebag, dug around inside, and pulled out an enchanted crystal stone... which was presently glowing with the signal for an incoming communication; the kind that appeared when the other end was energized. She looked back at the screen. The clearing was still bathed in magical energy. If Selma had picked up her hat on the bridge, then he likely would have found the sound stone with it... kept it as a trophy... not given it back... and Arambai would be right there with him.

"All right, Starlight," she snapped, crouching down and lifting the filly with a wing. "Back on my back. I hope you're not wrong about what this Arambai dude will be able to do with a secret confession, because trying to steal Sparky's job of saving Ironridge would be a pretty lame way to die."

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