The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi

Quest Log Updated

"Glory to Garsheeva! May her love, as deep as the Aldenfold, and her virtue, as pure as the moon, be revealed to the entire world!"

Shinespark blinked, quickly realizing that she and her friends weren't the only ones who had come out to watch the great sphinx clear the storm. A posse of ponies and griffons who worked in the various central buildings had emerged, including a sizable number of batpony mares clustered around a larger, pale peach leader, and plenty of office types from the administration building. The commerce building opened to the south, so no one needed to leave that to watch.

The chant rang out over the hills as most of the crowd lifted hooves or talons in salute and cheer, and then they began to disperse and head back inside, some eager to return to their duties and others looking like they had been present as a matter of ritual. But others acted like they had just been given a divinely-appointed break, standing around on the wet walkways and grass as water dripped loudly from eaves and chugged down downspouts. For a minute, a rainbow hung in the air as the sun unleashed its presence on the last bit of rain, and the weather continued to clear until the temperature rose and everything was fair.

"Guess we won't be needing these." Valey shrugged and wiggled her way out of her poncho, and Shinespark used her horn to do the same, shaking the thick rubber garment free of most of its moisture and letting her coat decompress against the sun. It wasn't hard to understand why some ponies were staying, the air laden with petrichor and the sky suddenly inviting. The world felt like it was waking up, a wave of refreshment almost as good as a full night's sleep blowing through the grass.

"Chauncey!" a strict voice suddenly demanded, and before Shinespark had time to process where it was coming from, Valey snapped to her side, hiding behind her.

Shinespark frowned, and Nyala looked with her. The large, peach-colored batpony who seemed in charge of the rest of the ones there was crossly making her way over, a reluctant, other mare in tow. Chauncey, standing nearby and admiring the sky in his ornate pontifex's robes, gave her a raised eyebrow as she approached, but no words.

"Watch out," Valey hissed, mouthing in Shinespark's ear. "That's Meyneth! Runs the service staff in Percival's place! If she sees me, there might be trouble!"

"You." Meyneth ignored them entirely, marching straight to Chauncey and giving him a cross stare. "I've been hearing stories those Firefly Sisters of yours have gone missing. Small wonder, with the cover article on today's paper. Pressuring them into concerts that split their fans and chase them away..." She tsk'd, clicking her teeth. "Will you never learn what it means to respect your family?"

Chauncey countered with a coldness Shinespark had rarely felt coming from another pony... bearing in mind that Herman was a yak. "You know as well as I do how I feel about family," he hissed, eyes hard and angular. "My girls are in trouble, and you'd use that as a platform to lecture me on things you and only you care about? Despicable." A vein twitched on his forehead, and then he turned to leave. "I have business that's far more important than you are. Now go back to your work, Meyneth."

"Woah! What the...?" Valey stepped cleanly out into view, the fur on her spine raising as she glanced between Chauncey and Meyneth. "Sure, she's strict and rude and stuff, but bananas, what gives!?"

Chauncey turned his glare on her. "Stay out of things that were over before you were foaled. If you want to follow up on my earlier offer, you already have the codes to the hospital elevators."

Then he was gone. Valey and Shinespark both stood, staring... but Nyala turned to Meyneth and tilted her mechanical head. "Excuse me? You're all right, aren't you? He looked scary."

Meyneth gave a dirty, tired sigh, and adjusted her pose, revealing the other batpony hiding behind her. She had a black coat and a long, unkempt mane that was just too muddy to be called aquamarine, yet looked like it could be beautiful with proper grooming, and stared at the ground with defeated, tired eyes.

"You can bother him all you want," the tired mare sighed, dressed in a form-hugging black-on-white maid's uniform that covered her cutie mark with a frilly skirt. "I've told you, I wouldn't forgive him even if he said he forgave me. This doesn't help, Meyneth."

Meyneth wrapped a wing around her barrel. "He's still the only family you've got, Crystal, and he'll have to learn how to appreciate that some day, for others' sakes if not yours."

"Um... hello?" Nyala took two steps closer.

"Hmmph." Meyneth glanced up. "That's a fancy disguise you've got there, kid. Some of my girls would love to tinker with it. I hope you're not hanging around with that hooligan over there."

"Seriously?" Valey narrowed her eyes. "You just got epically chewed out by Chauncey, and you're still picking on me? I nearly felt sorry for you!"

"If he wanted me gone, he would have fired me decades ago when it happened," Meyneth sighed. "Crystal! You should spend some time with this one. Maybe she'll liven you up."

Valey and Crystal briefly met each other's eyes, but Crystal looked away. "Maybe," she said, and left it at that.

Nevertheless, Valey grinned. "Was that an endorsement?"

Meyneth rolled her eyes. "If there's anything out there that can build her some confidence and self-worth, I'll take it, but you'd be an idiot to have expectations." She raised an eyebrow, still hugging Crystal with a wing. "What are you three doing following that old coot around? Something related to those missing Firefly Sisters?"

"Sirena is fine," Shinespark assured her, nodding in greeting. "Melia's the one who's missing. I'm Shinespark. I don't think we've met."

Meyneth walked closer, marching Crystal along with her and extending her free wing. "Meyneth. You've got quite the friend over there, Shinespark. For all of you, if you're dealing with Chauncey and get the chance to knock some sense into him, take it for me... and if not me, then her." She squeezed Crystal slightly, trying to prod the mare into speaking.

Crystal frowned and looked at the ground, and Meyneth sighed. "Whatever you do, good luck, and come and visit some time. I've got a good feeling about you three."

She raised her free wing again in farewell as she guided Crystal back toward Percival's manor, leaving Valey, Shinespark and Nyala looking at each other. "She seemed nice," Nyala offered. "I liked her."

"Why were you hiding earlier?" Shinespark asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Errr..." Valey shuddered. "I dunno, maybe I passed an initiation, or something? Look, like... I dunno. What are we doing now?"

"You wanted to follow Chauncey," Nyala said. "You were going to keep watch for danger and I was going to be cool and technological while Shinespark looked for anything suspicious, right?"

"Yeah..." Valey glanced uncertainly after the retreating Meyneth. "Really, though, that's getting under my skin. Something big must've happened between those three. What we're really doing is trying to find anything suspicious at all that could be tied to what's going on with the Firefly Sisters, right? Like... poking around in general. And honestly, if they're estranged family members and he dotes on Melia and Sirena now instead of that Crystal, you think that could have anything to do with anything?"

Shinespark nodded firmly. "No one can say something didn't happen between them. Are you saying you want to go investigate that instead?"

Valey shrugged. "We have a standing invitation from both of them, apparently. And personally, I'd rather try to cheer up a sad mare with a crabby boss than lurk around in tunnels with weird science. Makes sense, right?"

"I'm at home in tunnels," Shinespark offered. "We shouldn't split up, though. I don't want to go underground if there's a conspiracy going on without some form of defense, and Nyala doesn't know how to fight."

"About that..." Valey raised an eyebrow at Nyala. "Keep getting steadier on your hooves, and stuff, but I'm thinking it would probably be a good idea to get some combat lessons in for everyone on our boat. Like, Slipstream and Ironflanks and Starlight as well. Wallace said something about there being no fair play in the tournament, so at the very least thinking ahead, I'd like you guys to be able to defend yourselves. We've got a month before the second round, but if things are getting suspicious now, why not start early?"

"Good idea," Shinespark agreed. "I should brush up on out-of-armor combat myself. But we will need to get a better power source for Nyala first."

"I'm not sure how much I like the idea of fighting," Nyala admitted, looking at her hooves. "It doesn't sound very fun."

Valey patted her on the back, having to reach mightily and eventually fly to do it. "Eh, we'll talk you into it. For now, though, we should do something. Wanna go follow up on seeing if Crystal can tell us anything suspicious?"

Shinespark shrugged. "Would you do the talking? I'm not the world's best therapist."

Valey raised an eyebrow. "Am I?"

"You..." Shinespark gritted her teeth. "You got me out of that cave after the dam, didn't you?"

"Oh bananas, I totally forgot about that." Valey's eyes widened. "Kinda filed it under things we should never talk about again. You wanna talk about that, or...?"

"Not right now." Shinespark pushed her back with a hoof. "I'm just bringing it up. So, Meyneth and Crystal?"

"Yeah! Sure." Valey grinned, leading the way. "Sad horse spirit raising in the name of information, here we come! And because she didn't actually look that bad. I'm not the only one who thought that, right? Just sayin'..."