The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi

Brief Respite

"And you're sure about this?" Gerardo asked from the safety of their hotel room. "Truly and absolutely? To even consider this feels like a breach of my word..."

Maple waved a hoof at two crates, stacked exactly where they had left them. "Gerardo, we'll be fine. Nothing bad is going to happen to us while we're alone in this hotel. Go look for a way up!"

"Mhmm," Starlight agreed, nodding. "You left us alone while you were flying around earlier!"

"But... that was for... much less..." Gerardo protested weakly. "Fine. Very well. I shall endeavor to return as swiftly as possible. For all of our sakes, please keep yourselves safe." Straightening his shoulders, he marched to the door of the room, opened it, threw one last glance over his shoulder that insisted that this was a bad idea... and the door closed behind him, leaving the room in silence.

Starlight's ears tracked the clicking noise of his talons along the stone hall floor until they vanished around a corner. Two seconds later, Maple sighed happily. "Hmmm... I don't know about you, Starlight, but I'm tired. That griffon is not easy to keep up with. Thanks for pushing to get us a break, there."

"You feel that way too, huh?" Starlight probed, trying not to let her earlier worry show.

Maple immediately moved toward the nearest bed and curled up, tapping a hoof in invitation. "I don't know if I'm made for following him around this much. It's kind of exhausting."

Accepting, Starlight climbed onto the bed beside her. She said nothing, less because she had nothing to say and more because she had too much. What would be appropriate? Where should she start? Or should she at all, and merely enjoy the tranquility while it lasted?

"I can see why he and Amber were such good friends," Maple continued. "They can actually keep up with each other. When I try, I think I'm doing all right, but I just..." She sighed. "It tires me out, and makes me feel like I have no time for anything else." She reached down and nuzzled Starlight. "Like talking to you. How are you doing? What do you think of it here? How does it compare to Equestria?"

Starlight shrugged. "It's nice, I guess. A lot bigger than where I grew up. Umm..." Closing her eyes, she swallowed and made up her mind. "What happens if we don't get along? With Gerardo? If he keeps making you tired?"

Maple was silent for a moment, apparently detecting something in Starlight's tone. "You were thinking about this before I said that, weren't you?"

"The whole way back," Starlight admitted. "Since the museum."

"Well..." Maple paused. "First, we get rid of those crates. They're worrying him, I can tell. And then, we see what happens and decide what to do next. If worst comes to worst, we can always find Gunga and ask him to take us back home... but I don't think things will go that far." She blinked. "I know what I want, but what do you want, Starlight?"

"I don't know," Starlight mumbled glumly. "I just don't want things to change again."

"Well, we just went to Ironridge, which is a pretty big... change..." Maple hesitated for a moment, and then her eyes widened... and subsequently softened. "Do you feel like he's been taking me away? Like I have less time for you? Like you're losing a friend?"

"Y-Yes..." Starlight sniffed. Maple was right. She couldn't make herself really think through the response, so she went with what came first... and what came first were tears. She buried her face in Maple's shoulder.

"Then I'm glad that I mean that much to you." Maple rested her head on top of Starlight's, brushing her cheek against Starlight's horn. "But it's only been a day. Some days are bad days with good parts, and others are good days with bad parts. But I promise, I love you and will always find a way to make time."

How much she meant... How much did Maple mean to her? Now that Starlight thought about it, it was a lot... just like her tolerance of Gerardo had remained completely passive until she had noticed it, there in the museum. When had that happened? At first, Maple was someone she accepted because of a request. But now, she felt like a friend... or maybe something more.

As if she could read her mind, Maple asked, "Do you think of me as your mother?"

There. That was it. "Yeah," Starlight murmured, not lifting her head.

"Well, I hope I'm doing a good job." Maple sighed and adjusted her position. "I'm glad we got to talk right now, alone. I know I want more of this. Somehow, it's... better... than just going on an adventure. Once we finish Gerardo's delivery, I'll find some way to get us more." Blinking, she stretched again. "But while we're here... what do you want to talk about?"

"I dunno," Starlight mumbled. Then, suddenly remembering, she said, "Someone was watching me, earlier."

"Hmm?" Maple tilted her head downwards. "Watching us?"

"In the skyport," Starlight elaborated. "At the museum. I think it was the pony from the gate, with the green eyes. She was looking at us. I saw her, and then she left."

"The gate...?" Maple mused. "The one who let us into the Stone District this morning? Wasn't that a stallion? I don't remember him very well..."

Starlight shook her head. "Before that. In the Earth District. Valey. I was sort of asleep..."

"Well, I was more asleep than you were," Maple sighed. "Gerardo might remember... but I don't want him to worry and insist on never leaving us alone." Settling so she was laying fully on her side, she continued, "Maybe I should speak to him. I don't know..."

Sensing that she was making Maple worry, Starlight bit her lip, then blurted, "I will. Can you tell me a story, instead?" She looked up, hopeful. "Any story. Please?"

Maple perked up, proving her guess of what to do accurate. "Well..." she hummed. "Let me think... hmm... What would you like to hear about...?" It was more of a question to herself than to Starlight. "Oh!" Her ears rose. "I've got a good one. Would you like to hear about how I decided I wanted to have a foal of my own?"

"Okay." Starlight shrugged. Truth be told, she more wanted to give Maple something more stress-free to talk about. Her own enjoyment wasn't an important factor.

"Well..." Maple stared off toward the brown, stony ceiling. "I was a teenager. It was about the time the final boats stopped coming from Ironridge. Alder was getting old enough to start trying to talk, though he wasn't good at it yet. But he was walking, and that foal got everywhere. Amber and I thought he was really cute. It might have been because we really wanted to see something good come from us not going to Ironridge... but that was more than two years ago at that point. It was mostly because he actually was that cute."

Pausing for a moment, she eventually continued. "Anyway, he was getting faster and faster. And at that time, Willow was getting ready to have Fir... and that slowed her down a lot, enough that she stopped being able to catch him at all." She closed her eyes, imagining. "It was actually pretty funny, watching her getting winded waddling around chasing him at times. He must have thought it was a game. I remember him laughing almost nonstop when that happened..." She sighed pleasantly.

"The point is, she made us watch him a lot, because we were younger and could actually catch him when he got too adventurous. Amber especially enjoyed it. She was good at roughhousing with him without making it unfair, boring or dangerous. She knew how to tire him out so much, even he would stop running around. But there was one night where she was occupied with something... I don't remember what, maybe she was sick, or at a friend's house. Either way, I wound up watching him alone, for a whole night. I sat up and played with him past his bedtime. I wanted him so tired, he'd sleep the entire night through and let me wake up on my own terms."

Maple glanced away, failing to hide the smile growing on her dusty-brown muzzle. "But when I woke up the next morning? He had somehow climbed out of his crib, made it all the way into my bed, and was tucked against me, snoring his little head off." She shook her head. "I don't know how or why he did it, but when I woke up there and realized that, I just decided I didn't need to get up, or make breakfast, or do anything important except lay there and enjoy it."

"Huh," Starlight interrupted, sensing the story was nearly done. "Is that why you're so cuddly?"

Maple snorted, then blushed. "Is that a problem?"

"No." Starlight shook her head. "It makes it easy to make you happy."

"And what about what makes you happy?" Maple looked concernedly at her.

Starlight blinked. That was the response, she realized, she'd given, or at least thought, when she had first noticed the trend in Riverfall. How much thought had she given it since then? None at all, actually. It wasn't something she even noticed happening, for the most part; just part of her new normal. But... what was wrong with doing something you didn't mind for someone else's benefit? And riding on Maple's back during travel was an act she did almost by instinct. Besides, it was good for warming up if she was cold.

"Yeah," she answered, having decided that the specifics didn't matter. "It makes me happy."

"Hmmm..." Maple sighed, and nuzzled her again. "Well, back to the story. I enjoyed that morning... but what really made me stop and think was the next morning. I woke up then, and Alder was back with his mother where he belonged... and I just sat there for almost an hour, by myself. I didn't get up. I just sat and thought about how nice it would be to start every day that way, with someone by my side like that, and enjoy the company... and so I started wanting a foal of my own."

Starlight's brow furrowed. She knew what she was about to ask was risky... but decided to go for it anyway. "Isn't that what getting married is for?"

"Huh?" Maple tilted her head in confusion. "Mmm... they are always there, I guess. It does happen, sometimes. That... actually sounds kind of nice." A wistful smile spread across her features as she imagined, and then slowly turned sad. "Is that how it is in Equestria?"

"I dunno." Starlight shrugged. "I didn't care much about my parents there. They enjoyed being around each other, I guess. But I think that's supposed to be how it works."

"In Riverfall, it's..." Maple stopped, swallowing. "Well, not entirely. There are ponies who really, truly do enjoy being married. It's something you hope for, I guess. I hoped for it. But it isn't why we marry. In Riverfall, if you want foals, you can either have them yourself, like Willow's first two... or find someone who will stay with you. A husband. So that they all have the same father." She looked away. "If you're friends with them, or something more... it's wonderful, but it's a bonus. It isn't why." Hanging her head, she finished, "It's not something I try to think about anymore."

Starlight was about to say something comforting, and considering questioning Maple's viewpoint further, when the door loudly banged open and Gerardo Guillaume stuck his head in. "Good news, friends! I have located the nearest..." He blinked, evidently seeing the looks that were being shot his way. His headcrest drooped. "Erm... am I interrupting something?"

"Yes," Maple answered coolly, seeming to instantly can her previous emotion. "You are. Starlight and I were having a conversation, which seems to be over now. Gerardo..." She hauled herself to her hooves, stretching without taking her eyes off him. "We need to talk, eventually, about how we work as a team." She glanced toward Starlight, and Starlight returned it. "But it would be better first if we got your boxes taken care of. Did you say you found where to take them?"

"Well..." Gerardo began awkwardly. "I found an entrance to the Defense Force fort from quite nearby, and upon friendly discussion the posted guard seemed quite open to allowing us to traverse it for our purposes. The sun is setting, but we could easily complete the delivery before it is too late."

Maple stared upwards and sighed. "I'm tired, but I suppose we should. Starlight? Do you want to come? I doubt it will be very exciting, but-"

"She comes." Gerardo cut her off, holding out a wing. "I'm glad to see you both unharmed, but I have every intention of taking Arambai's warning seriously, even if I have recently been forced to break it. Now, I do believe it would be best to depart sooner rather than later, and as such..."

"I know." Maple sighed again, moving to the corner and taking up a box. "Let's get going, then."

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