The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi

Be Like Elise

"Is everything alright? You look a little subdued."

Maple settled into one of the plush chairs in the Immortal Dream's library, looking across at Valey after the long walk back from the colosseum. She nodded after the question, inviting her friend to sit too. "Something went wrong with the fight? Or is the amount of attention Howe and Neon Nova are bringing on you getting concerning already? If it helps, they do that to all the fighters, and I haven't had anyone recognize or notice me for anything related to the tournament."

"Huh?" Valey blinked. "Oh, nah, I'm good. Ran into someone else who almost wasn't, though. Kinda feeling a little lucky it wasn't me."

"Oh?" Maple tilted her head to listen, but only for a second, figuring if it was something that needed to be talked about, Valey would do so. Starlight wandered past, and Maple reached a hoof out to her as she went by.

"Yeah." Valey took the invitation, flopping upside-down in a chair with her hindquarters in the air and her mane dangling to the floor. "You know those dudes we went and visited the other week? Senescey and her sisters?" She waited for Maple to nod, then continued. "And remember how it kinda seemed like they were up to something? Turns out they're totally up to something after all." Her tail flicked. "And whatever it is involves Senescey being in the tournament. Seemed to think it was pretty important. And I'm pretty sure I trust them when they say they've got good intentions, since they were respectful enough to leave me out of it and not get all of you dragged into it too."

Maple frowned. "I see. I can... think of a lot of ways that could bother you, honestly."

"Because it felt like looking in a mirror?" Valey gave a halfhearted upside-down grin, bracing herself in the chair with her wings so she didn't slide out. "Get this: she had some friends she was working with. They have a hangout. Probably want to discuss some stuff. Then one of them isn't all there, invites a dude who's even less all there, that dude doesn't even know it's supposed to be private at all and starts inviting random strangers, everyone else tries to roll with that to not look suspicious... and the first person he picks up is me. Who already knows someone in that group and is all 'Hey, what are you doing here?' Sound familiar?"

"Should it?" Maple blinked, slowly thinking.

Valey chuckled sadly. "That's the sound of being in too deep, thinking you've still got things under control, and then the slightest little thing goes wrong and suddenly stuff spirals out of control and you get drawn deeper. Bananas, I felt bad for her."

Starlight frowned, sitting down where she could see both of them. "So what was she doing?"

"I dunno." Valey licked her lips. "She offered to tell me, but like I was gonna press her there. Poor girl needed a break." She glanced up at Maple. "Besides, I know a thing or two about trusting shady batponies even when it's a bad idea. That's not to say it's not a bad idea, but... I dunno. Not something I want to get involved in, and she was majorly relieved."

"I'm glad it worked out, then?" Maple tried a smile, rolling over so she sat on her other side. "So you're just thinking about how that could have been you, hmm?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Valey slipped an inch further down the chair, struggling uselessly to get back in and settling for falling out, getting up and sitting back down normally. "I kind of wanna..." She rolled the words around in her mouth, tasting them. "I feel like doing something, to be honest. Like maybe we could take her to lunch here or hang out for a day on the mainland or... I dunno. She was thrilled enough that I offered to be her friend even after I didn't wanna be in on her plan, I feel like she could use a break more often." She twiddled her hooves. "Is that making sense?"

"How sure are you you want to be her friend?" Starlight asked from the floor. "Maple gave you a chance and you were worth it, but we also got involved in everything happening in Ironridge and nearly died several times. And we've been happy and not bothered by any guards for over a month now. Don't you think that could happen again?"

Maple glowed for a moment at Starlight's implication that being friends with Valey was worth nearly dying, even if it chilled her slightly that her filly could be so casual about such a subject. "You're right..."

Valey stroked her cheek with a wingtip, thinking. "Yeah, but what about, uhh... what about Elise, in Ironridge? Remember her? Sparky's big sister in Blueleaf? She hung around and gave us a break, especially you guys. Several times, even. And she did have to get her hooves a bit dirty at the end, but for the most part, her thing was that she was at the center twenty years ago. She was in yesterday's mess, kind of like we are now with Ironridge. And we barely even told her about what was going on with ourselves. You don't think we could just be like her and be cool and stable and helpful without actually putting our necks where they'd get whacked, do you? Because I want to."

"That's a good point," Maple admitted, murmuring. "Elise did help us a lot, even if it was just to give us a roof during a rainstorm and tell us a story to help us understand Ironridge better. She seemed like the kind of pony I wouldn't mind being like at all."

"Eh, I'm sure she has skeletons in her closet just like anyone else." Valey fluttered her wings, restlessly rolling around in her chair. "But yeah, definitely what I was hoping to do. Also, this is completely unrelated, but bananas, did you see my fight today?"

Maple grimaced, accepting the change in topic. "Was that what it looked like? She just... What was a pony like that doing in the arena?"

"Cheating." Valey shrugged. "I was wondering what that looked like from the hologram thingy. That jerk had knives hidden in her mane and was trying to trick others into lowering their guard. Seriously glad I keep my cutie mark under wraps and never tell anyone here about how it works, because when enemies don't know I know what they're up to... I might have gotten stabbed without it. Or have had to be really callous and just not trust her. I honestly didn't know what to do, though. Don't want to make enemies, right? So would I make her less mad by seeing through her act and revealing it, showing any future opponents who are watching what she's made of? It's not like she won't get spotted and remembered after doing that more than a few times anyway. Or should I have done what I did and played along? It must have been humiliating, but it was better for her chances in the long run. Not that she's getting anywhere, fighting like that."

"So that's what she was doing." Maple swallowed, listening stoically as Valey complained. "I... don't really have a good answer for that, I guess."

"Yeah. Not like I was losing, and I definitely don't wanna get stabbed." Valey stuck out her tongue, protectively ruffling her chest fluff. "I'm way too cute for that. Oh well. Probably just standard luck for this place. I do feel cheated out of a real fight, though."

"I wouldn't worry too much about that," Maple chuckled. "There will probably be a lot of fights that are almost too real at the rate you're going."