The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi

All Coming To

The sky drifted by as Maple and Starlight sat in their room in the Immortal Dream, watching over Glimmer's unconscious form. Starlight wasn't sure how to broach the subject of who this was, and Maple had too much on her mind to ask, sitting at the bedside with Starlight and holding her like a cushion.

A knock sounded at the door. "Harshwater..." a tired voice announced.

Maple's ears perked. "Come in!"

With a sliding of wood, the announced pegasus slipped inside, holding a wall for support and giving the room a thin look. "Alright," she droned, "how is everyone doing?"

"She hasn't woken up," Maple murmured. "I'm just startled. But you look ragged..."

"Gotta earn my keep somehow." Harshwater dragged herself over to the bed, glancing over Glimmer and touching her forehead with a pinion before feeling her pulse. "More stable than earlier. Good. Now what about you two?"

Starlight just watched her, but Maple's eyes didn't focus. "I was on this ship the whole time. We're not injured."

"Shock is a serious issue," Harshwater reprimanded, no volume behind her words. "I've done what I can for Valey. Crystal is getting cleaned up and Shinespark is beyond my skill level, so congratulations, you're up next."

"What does that involve? You're a therapist?" Maple's ears rose slightly. "I feel like I just need some time with others..."

Harshwater flicked at her messy bangs. "You don't serve in a self-sufficient army without learning how to get ponies through trauma, both mental and physical. I'm not a professional, but from the state of your crew and what you just witnessed, I'm the best you've got."

Starlight coughed, a faint odor of smoke tickling her throat. "Where's Amber?"

Maple nodded. "It's the middle of the day, but really what I need is to lie down with my friends and just process things. I'm trying not to have flashbacks of Ironridge, but... it feels so surreal. Like I'm not me and this isn't really happening."

"Understandable that you'd feel that way," Harshwater replied. "Amber and Slipstream are taking shifts looking after the sarosians. They're holding together well enough." She glanced away. "So do I count as someone to talk to? I'm here, for what it's worth."

Maple reached out a hoof, beckoning her over for a hug.

"Huh?" Harshwater raised an eyebrow.

"Closer?" Maple asked. "Sorry. I just respond well to... you know. And you look like you need it too."

Harshwater regarded her with a tilted head... then dragged herself over and let Maple hug her too. "If comforting others is how you help yourself, there are plenty who could use it more than I can," she informed her as she moved. "Just so you know. You all look like you've seen a lot less, but wartime destruction is business as usual for me, and hugs aren't going to get my strength back."

"Fine," Maple murmured. "Let this be for me, then."

Harshwater relented, joining Starlight as a therapy pillow. Eventually, she took a breath and asked, "You need to talk about it?"

Maple's breathing slowed as she thought. "Maybe. Not really," she eventually decided. "It's just that in Ironridge, everything went so explosively wrong on the bridge, and all because we were caught up in it. A lot of us got badly injured. We were in far worse shape than we are now, and were separated and unable to escape... I thought that couldn't happen again if we stayed on the sidelines better." Her eyes shadowed. "At least, Valey thought that, and I believed her. She's the team leader. Her and Shinespark."

"Congratulations on both of your leaders being down for the count for the foreseeable future," Harshwater droned, lacking the energy to put more emotion into her voice. "But did she really think that?"

"Why wouldn't she?" Maple cocked an ear. "In Ironridge, if we hadn't all agreed to take action and tried to figure out Herman's plan..."

Harshwater closed her eyes and sighed. "Maple, this is war you're dealing with. Collateral damage is always a part of it. Staying on the sidelines? You'd have to completely leave the area to not get injured, and if you haven't learned by now that what-ifs aren't worth considering, you're going to have a lot more trouble with this in the future. Getting in the center of things might make you a target, but bystanders get hurt in war. That's just how it is."

"I don't..." Maple looked at the ground. "I don't like that."

"Join the club." Harshwater limply shrugged. "You're not very schooled in how the world works, are you?"

Maple blinked. "Well, I am from Riverfall. But am I not? Ironridge was a harsh lesson..."

Harshwater just sighed.

Suddenly, there was a noise from the bed, and all three looked up to see Starlight's duplicate shifting and groaning. Glimmer tried to roll over, muttering something incoherent.

"Is she waking up?" Harshwater tried to struggle from Maple's grasp, and Maple helped her to her hooves. "Get another cold rag. It looks like she's coming to."

Starlight climbed up on the bed to watch as Glimmer shifted again, horn sparking slightly.

"Here." Maple pulled one out, having stored some ice in her cutie mark to refresh the towels. "Is this good?"

A teal aura lit as Starlight took the rag, gently applying it to her impostor's forehead. It was strange, using her magic like this. When her horn was dim, everything felt normal, but while it was lit, especially when moving near Glimmer, she felt the distant sensation of an enormous pressure or force, like she was attuned to the magical backfire that had built up in her horn. It didn't feel dangerous, but it was hardly pleasant, either.

At the touch of the fresh cold, Glimmer jerked, breathed sharply... and lifted a hoof to the towel. "Who's there?" she moaned, still feverish.

"Just three of us," Maple whispered, brushing the tips of her shoulder fur with a hoof. "I don't know who you are or why you look like Starlight, but you're safe. Can you see?"

"No, it's..." Glimmer trailed off. "I'm blind, aren't I?"

"That's what happened to me," Starlight quietly said. Her memories of the last night in Ironridge weren't perfectly intact, and she knew she had recovered enough within hours to walk around, but from what Valey had told her later about her condition... "You tried to use your horn too much, didn't you? I saw the crater. Did you...?"

Glimmer groaned again. "I told you, I'd just do what you would have..." She swallowed, convulsed, and managed not to throw up. "Quiet..."

Starlight got it, and her friends seemed to too. After a minute of stillness, Glimmer croaked, "Do you want them here?"

"It's fine." Starlight shook her head, only remembering after that Glimmer couldn't see it. "Everyone has bigger things to worry about than why you're here. Just rest. If you're like me, it stops hurting and feels like it isn't there pretty quickly." She hoped she was remembering accurately.

Harshwater raised an eyebrow. "Is that my cue to ask who this is?"

Maple hesitated. "Starlight, if you know about her... should we wait until after you and her get a chance to talk to ask questions? Or does it not matter?"

Starlight glanced at her duplicate, thinking. Really, she had a lot more she needed to ask about, and soon: if Glimmer's horn was broken in the same way as hers, that meant they likely really were identical. So Glimmer couldn't be a poser, since no one in a disguise would copy such a major weakness... but she had just been asked if she wanted her friends here. Not whether Glimmer wanted them; whether she wanted them. "I think it's up to me."

Both adults watched her expectantly.

"...Stay for a while," Starlight decided. "Once she's feeling better, I want to talk, but for now she shouldn't have to be alone."

Glimmer half-rolled over and thankfully groaned.