• 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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Oh, Powerless Heir

"Okay..." Valey rubbed her forehooves, deep in thought as Percival and Crystal watched her with varying degrees of hope and despair. First and foremost, she needed to decide if she actually wanted to help them. On the one hoof, they were in deep. She had always suspected Chauncey was off his rocker to some degree, but despite all that had happened between them, they still were on some semblance of good terms. The old stallion wasn't rational thanks to prolonged Nightmare Module exposure and whatever else his history held, so getting Percival and Crystal out of their trouble would likely require taking him down. Unfortunately, he had some of Luna's powers, and she had no idea how deep his connections ran. This could be a harder fight than taking down Herman and stopping war in Ironridge.

Was she seriously about to plunge her friends right back into that? Absolutely unthinkable. They couldn't relive the chaos of Sosa's final day. Everyone, her included, was still barely recovering from that months later. Not unless they were struck first, pulled into the whirlpool of Empire politics they had so far observed from the sidelines and forced to fight again for their own escape and survival.

Escape... that was another option. She surveyed Crystal again, the batpony looking uncomfortable from a lot of things but drawing strength from Percival's embrace. If they left the Empire, the two forbidden lovers in tow, who would follow them? She shook her head; that contained too many problems as well. For one, the Immortal Dream was running low on rooms, now that Harshwater and Grenada were on board. Her existing friends were cobbled together well enough that the two lovers wouldn't be out of place, but could Crystal get along with everyone else? They had enough problems with emotional health already without needing to care for her, too.

Most importantly was Maple. Valey had no idea what her friend's reaction would be to taking on a mare who would almost certainly foal before they next made landfall, but felt like Maple would be happier without it. And finally, cutting and running would involve abandoning Felicity and the tournament, and they had no next destination in mind...

"So what do you guys want from me?" she asked, looking for a hint. "Helping you bail doesn't sound feasible. You asking me to just beat up Chauncey? 'Cuz I'm not sure I want to do that either..."

Percival shook his head. "You couldn't. He has magic that renders him invincible, among other things. Besides, he works diligently for the Izvalden State's cause. This isn't a problem because Chauncey is in the wrong by the Empire's laws, Admiral Valey. Extreme, foolish and self-destructive, yes, but we are the ones who broke our goddesses' commandments."

Valey scratched her ear. "You know, it does seem a little strange that Garsheeva would be ticked at you for this if she knew. Like, I thought love was supposed to be a good thing."

"Lamenting our fate, are you?" Percival raised an eyebrow. "That's questioning Garsheeva herself. When challenging our fate, she is the highest possible authority we could contest."

"Okay." Valey nodded. So both of them acknowledged being on the wrong side, at least according to the Empire... There was no way she was fighting an entire empire. "So basically, you two need to live somewhere where everyone's okay with your kid. That means either away from everyone, or getting that tournament wish so Garsheeva will be cool with you. Both cases mean making sure Chauncey won't bother you about stuff. Right?"

Crystal sniffled into Percival's shoulder. "If we could disappear, that would be enough..."

Valey hummed to herself. "Yeah... Yeah, I think we can do that. Like, wait for no one to be looking, then you two sneak onto our ship and we just fly you away somewhere? Nobody sees, nobody knows. Chauncey can make as much of a racket as he wants, but we can covertly spill the beans to Gazelle about there being no sphinxes in Izvaldi, he'll come in and take over, and probably run Chauncey out. Let Gazelle do the work for us?"

"We can't." Crystal sniffed again and grimaced. "I t-told you about Stanza. It's made from a dusks statue, using something from me as a c-core. I can't use dusk statues because the magic that talks to them is permanently bound to it. As long as Stanza exists, he can u-use it to f-find..."

"Well, that's not cool." Valey's pupils thinned. "So Stanza can track where you are? I guess that means we'd have to get rid of it. Either destroy it or steal it, and I have no idea how to do either of those..."

"I do," Crystal mumbled.

Valey's ears shot up. "Wait, you do? Because I've seen that thing before, and it's seriously bad news. Like, the kind of bad where it would probably benefit the whole continent if we took it apart. Can you just not do it yourself?"

Crystal made tearstained eye contact, her emerald eyes boring into Valey's. "Chauncey avoids me as much as possible because he despises me. If I betrayed him by unmaking his creation, that could all change. He could lock me in a lit room until my child arrives. He could kill me after. He's already bringing down Garsheeva and the Night Mother both on himself; he's committed to losing. If I drew his attention, it would just be more collateral damage..."

"And he was seriously always this unbalanced?" Valey blanched. "How have you let this dude stay in power for twenty-something years?"

Percival shook his head. "More than that, but no, he wasn't. We told you, his ambition has always been directed toward the goals of Izvaldi: the betterment of the sarosian race, without compromising any others. This last, greatest dive happened after the collapse of many plans centered around Puddles." He gave Valey a look that clearly said he knew whose fault that was, but was pleading and would put it all behind them if she would only help.

"I..." Valey swallowed, heart beating painfully in her chest. "Right. So Crystal sabotages Stanza, or whatever, and then we immediately give you two a boost to the middle of nowhere. That's what you're asking?"

"It still isn't that simple," Percival apologized. "We then have Prince Gazelle to deal with. Gazelle knows about Goraldi, my grandfather. It's he who has done the most to keep my dynasty in power and our secret intact, even more than Chauncey. He works with us because Izvaldi is an undeveloped province with no major cities, a low population and no strategic military advantages. He doesn't want it. So we have an agreement to keep me in power that benefits us both. But if I suddenly disappeared, that could be thrown out of balance. Chauncey is old and would be swept aside in a regime change, but Gazelle is young and ambitious and will likely hold a significant portion of the Empire's power for decades to come. He isn't someone we can afford to offend."

Valey nodded. "So you have to stay put, where Gazelle and the other lords can see you. But until Crystal breaks Stanza, she can't run, and the moment she does run, Chauncey will be out for you, and if he can't get her, he could try to get you instead? But if nobody does anything, Chauncey will get her kid and that's game over." She pointed at Crystal. "That's basically your situation?"

"You see our problem," Crystal sniffed. "We've talked about this."

"Okay... No, no, we can do this." Valey nodded more firmly. "Gazelle's in trouble if Percival disappears, right?" She glanced to the griffon. "So if Crystal breaks Stanza and then runs off with us, we can go find Gazelle and tell him to bully Chauncey into leaving you alone. He'll need to, because he has to protect your job, but then that's his problem and not ours..."

Both lovers watched her intensely, so she elaborated. "I'll need to clear all this with my friends first. One hundred percent. But if we're all cool with it, you two split up, we'll hide Crystal. She can even hang out on our ship for safety." An image of Maple floated again through her mind, and she insisted again, "If my friends are cool with this. From there on, Chauncey can do what he wants and it'll be Gazelle's problem. As long as no one knows we have Crystal, no eyes on us. Once Gazelle has solved Chauncey, we bring Crystal back, she can raise her kid in secret with you in Izvaldi. Someday, you get to retire and live together. Or hey, maybe I win the tournament? Still don't know what I'm using the wish on, but no promises." Valey shrugged. "How's that sound for a plan?"

Crystal watched her evenly from Percival's embrace. "I think," the griffon said, "we would appreciate if you talked to your friends."

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