• 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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Just Another Favor

"Wait, wait, wait," Gerardo interjected, holding out a wing and giving Felicity a stern look. "Before anyone goes accepting any generous favors, I want a far more comprehensive understanding of this situation. Someone mentioned lawyers, and that leads me to smell trouble."

Shinespark blinked. "We saw the fight schedule board, Gerardo. Valey's next battle is in barely an hour."

"Yes, you told me as much." Gerardo nodded. "What I'd like to know is precisely whom we're about to owe a favor to in return, and why you should happen to be right her at so convenient a time."

Felicity stopped in her tracks, eyes momentarily widening. "Oh! My apologies, good sir, I was positive all of us had already met..." She shook her head. "No matter. I am Felicity, some of you know me, some apparently don't, and I'm afraid there isn't much more polite of a way to say that if you want to stay in that tournament, you need every inch of help you can get or you're screwed. Hardly have time to dally, either, or I'd be more than happy to stop and chat."

Shinespark slowly nodded. "You're Senescey's sister, aren't you? I've seen you a few times, I think, but Gerardo's right. Why are you suddenly offering to help, and what do you want in return?"

"Oh!" Felicity blushed. "I'm afraid you've got me wrong, darling. This is free. Pro bono, as it were. I have a sister who's feeling rather poorly about all of this, so think of it as a peace offering. An attempt to rebalance the rocking boat! Just... get things more stable until we can all sit down and make up and talk, mmm?"

"Maple?" Shinespark glanced aside. "You've met her and Senescey more times than I have. Thoughts?"

Maple gave Felicity a worried look. The batpony was shuffling awkwardly, a hesitant, hoping-to-please smile on her slightly blushing face. "I know if it was for Willow or Amber, I'd approach a group of near strangers and offer to do the same," she eventually said. "Felicity? What does your help entail?"

Felicity winced. "That's the tricky part, I'm afraid. I don't want anything. Bribing someone official enough to do something about it and having them make an exception in the tournament rules, on the other hoof? Well, you'd need both a suitable alternative and a compelling case, which can be anywhere from a sufficient sob story to a large amount of money to a political favor down the line."

"Oh no..." Shinespark cringed. "And do you have any plans on who we'd be indebting ourselves to?" She glanced around the room at everyone else. "I don't like the sound of this one bit, everyone."

"Whoever you can find." Felicity shrugged apologetically. "Surely you have at least some friends in the higher-ups, no?"

Gerardo frowned. "Gazelle. Meltdown. I recall Chauncey was acting desperate to do us a favor, as well. And, of course, there's Lord Stormhoof himself, though I can't remember us parting with him owing us anything major."

"Did someone say Chauncey?" a voice echoed, and everyone turned to see Jamjars standing in the door, a frown on her face. "Because I've been looking everywhere for him and he's not with the Izvaldi delegation or the tournament administrators' office, and none of them know where he is either."

Felicity blinked, stepping aside so Jamjars could enter. "Well, hello. Do I know you?"

"Probably not," Jamjars grunted. "Anyone, though?"

Everyone slowly shook their heads. "Why do you want to know?" Amber asked, leaning against the railing.

Jamjars sighed. "Because he does things with moon glass, which is connected to the Night Mother, who apparently is responsible for Starlight. So, I'm investigating. It's the best lead I have. Who's she?" She pointed a hoof at Felicity.

"Senescey's sister," Shinespark said. "Jamjars, are..." She swallowed. "Are you trying to help?"

"In my own way," Jamjars huffed. "And really? Is that so?" She regarded Felicity slowly, eventually nodding with approval. "Hmm. You're a lot more confident than you look. Good acting. And you're connected to Senescey and the Night Mother. What do you have to do with Starlight?"

Felicity sadly smiled down at her. "You're quite the uncanny filly, you know that?"

Maple stood up. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ahem." Felicity daintily cleared her throat, then poked Jamjars with her eyes. "For your information, quantity of confidence has nothing to do with being genuine. Are you accusing me of anything, little filly?"

Jamjars looked her over again. "Hmmm... No. I meant what I said and I said what I meant. Just a hunch. So is anyone going to answer my questions?"

Felicity blinked, completely nonplussed, and glanced at Maple for an explanation. Maple shrugged in return.

"Kid..." Shinespark winced. "Jamjars, we've got a fairly major problem to deal with right now called Valey not being able to make it back for her second fight in a row in the tournament! No, none of us know anything about Chauncey. In fact, we're thinking of looking for him to ask a favor, so if he's not here, that's one less option we won't have to waste time on. Thanks for letting us know."

"What about Wallace?" Amber suggested. "He's around, isn't he?"

"He is, and he'd likely want to help." Gerardo nodded. "Unfortunately, he's a tournament participant, not an organizer, so I'm not sure he'd carry much weight in being able to change things in our favor. And Felicity here was correct: even if we find someone who's willing to make an exception to the rules, what would our exception be? Rescheduling a fight? Postponement in the second round would be a favor of the highest order, seeing as you make it to the third round by surviving longer than everyone else. We need a better plan."

Maple folded her ears. "We are trying to make a plan, right? I care about Valey, but... politically indebting ourselves to someone again, after our close shave in Izvaldi and everything that happened in Ironridge?"

Felicity coughed. "For what it's worth, seeing as I'm the one hoping for a chance for my sister from you all, I'd be more than willing to turn the tables a little and take any heat you risk incurring onto my shoulders. I'll have you know I'm quite accomplished at both drawing attention to myself and carrying out tasks of... any... nature."

Jamjars' tail twitched. "I bet you are. Why doesn't one of us try to stand in for Valey in a fight?"

"...Would that work?" Amber blinked. "Not that I know anything at all about fighting, but..."

"Hmm. That is an idea, indeed." Gerardo nodded along. "I do have plenty of combat experience to draw on from my many years as an adventurer. Though, as has been demonstrated, being a skilled fighter and being Valey are two very different things."

Felicity nodded hesitantly. "Yes, the latter fights of the second round are known for being quite brutal... That's certainly a plan you could go with, but you'd still need to win."

"That could be a problem..." Maple winced. "I can't fight, Amber can't fight, Gerardo can but just said he'd be outmatched..."

"I can fight, too," Shinespark added. "Better than Gerardo, but not nearly as well as Valey. And I've seen some of the unicorns in the ring. My horn is powerful, but I'm too reliant on it. Anyone who was smart would be able to counter me easily."

Her gaze lifted, slowly drifting across the room from Jamjars and Felicity to Maple, Amber and Gerardo to Slipstream and Nyala, standing in a corner.

"Don't look at me!" Nyala backed up, shaking her head. "I don't know how to fight!"

Slipstream grinned and nodded apologetically. "This really doesn't seem like our conversation... Sorry!"

"How about you?" Maple glanced toward Felicity. "You said you would be willing to put yourself on the line earlier, and you told me you know Mistvale arts. Would you fight for us?"

"Ahem, well, I would..." Felicity cleared her throat awkwardly. "Except I can already tell you I would lose, and it would hardly be fair of me to offer a favor I actually couldn't follow through on."

"Oh." Maple's ears fell. "You're sure? The way Valey talked about them, I figured..."

"Being able to do things with your hooves doesn't equate to an instant and automatic win, unfortunately," Felicity sighed, rubbing her forelegs together. "While I might look the picture of perfect health, I'm... actually not quite as hardy as I usually am at the moment, thanks to some certain circumstances, and I'd reach my limit all too quickly if I taxed myself. Besides, I prefer to fight my battles as battles of the heart, instead." Her tail rubbed against her heart-stringed cutie mark. "And having Mistvale arts won't be much of a boon when one's opponent is better at them than you are. You did remember to check Valey's opponent when we were at the board, yes?"

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