In a world far from Starlight's, where the moon hung in the sky over a stranded airship, the entire crew of the Immortal Dream sans Maple and Jamjars sat around a table, talking in earnest.
"And that concludes our report," Gerardo finished, Slipstream sitting tiredly beside him. "Our mafioso friends are presently off our backs, albeit with one of our sound stones in their possession. We still have no food, though there is a large cache of it by the shore a feasible distance away. And the most recent report is that the Equestrian monarch is returning this way, this time with a specific interest in our ship."
"Finishing what Chrysalis started," Shinespark said, her usual post at the head of the table vacated in favor of the far end at one side.
"Well, that's no plan," Amber pointed out with a huff. "There has to be something we can do."
"Does there need to be?" A weary Felicity raised a wing. "While I've dealt with more than my fair share of corrupt heads of state, my admittedly rudimentary understanding of this Princess Celestia is that she's more of a Garsheeva than a Gazelle or Lord Gyre. And Garsheeva herself has largely acted in our favor."
Grenada narrowed her eyes at the ship's lights, still on and glowing from Jamjars' machine. "Were we not trying to hide from her gaze?"
Gerardo sighed. "Strictly speaking, that was under the advice of some griffons who are very definitely aligned against her. However, I think it would be possible to distance ourselves from them should the situation require it... not that I can say how much difference that will make. The policies of this land are sadly something I've never had the chance to study extensively before."
"What's the worst that could happen?" Amber asked. "They send us back north? Crystal might be waiting for us on the other side, but if the mountains are crossable and she's already coming for us, they'd totally have to deal with her themselves first to stop her from messing up Equestria."
"Chrysalis, now, apparently," Gerardo corrected. "And not to incite fear, but that's far from the worst that could happen."
Harshwater nibbled her lip. "How bad of a fate are we talking about? As bad as whatever Chrysalis did to Valey? As bad as whatever just happened to Starlight?"
"Well..." Gerardo raised a talon, then put it back down. "Honestly, being instantaneously reduced to cinders potentially doesn't stack up, there. Maybe. I'm a little hazy on exactly what Chrysalis was trying to do..."
"Either way, we are gambling with death," Grenada finished. "I have been imperiled too many times to enjoy that unnecessarily."
"It isn't a gamble if the odds are guaranteed," Shinespark whispered. "There are powers in the world you can't fight. I gave everything to save my city and it wasn't enough. Chrysalis didn't even give us a chance to fight, and the champions who let us escape with our lives no longer have theirs. Now we have the ire of another god. Either the griffons are bluffing and we live, or else we fail. Either way, we don't even get the decency of a choice."
"Shut up!" Jamjars snarled, standing on the landing of the staircase. "Are you ever going to grow up and stop saying that!?"
Shinespark whipped around, giving her a baleful look.
Jamjars marched down the stairs, hopping up and onto the table before squinting at every last creature there. She squared her shoulders and sighed. "So are you all going to sit around talking about how screwed you are, or actually get off your rears and let me not have to do everything? You're all bigger babies than my siblings. Oh, woe is us, we're in the Plains of Harmony past our bedtimes and Mommy Celestia is going to catch us and call us naughty!" She blew a raspberry. "It's like none of you know how to deal with the most common problem in the world."
Everyone stared at her. "The what now?" Amber dug a hoof around in her ear.
"If you have options, we'd be all for hearing them," Gerardo offered.
Jamjars sighed and rolled her eyes. "Step one: don't get caught. Step two: have your excuses ready. Step three: better to ask forgiveness than permission."
"We've already been found out," Harshwater pointed out. "If we try to abandon the ship now, she'll know it. And then we'll be stuck here without a ship."
Jamjars winked. "Who said anything about abandoning the ship?"
"Explain," Shinespark grunted.
"Well, since you asked so politely..." Jamjars tongued her cheeks. "What was the harmony extractor originally built to run on, before you got your fancy windigo hearts?"
Harshwater frowned. "Isn't it literally in the name? Harmony? I'm not the biggest scientist, but..."
"Brands," Grenada cut in. "Cutie marks. But Shinespark's was significantly more powerful than any we had ever seen before, almost unnaturally so, and it could barely allow a suit of armor to walk around for a day."
Jamjars grinned. "And you tested it on everyone, did you?"
Gerardo cleared his throat. "If there's a point to be gotten to, here, we are on a timer. Better to skip the grandstanding and get to the point? You already have our attention."
"Fine..." Jamjars sighed, looking thoroughly put out. "Valey's was an artifice. Sorry if I'm breaking that to anyone, I don't remember how much of a secret it was, I snoop around a lot. You remember, those things that are supposed to be knockoff versions of those really powerful virtue things? I'll bet you it's strong enough to get this ship in the air."
Half of the room drew a sharp breath, and the other half sighed. "Great," Amber muttered. "So Valey could save us, if only she was here."
"Yeah." Jamjars' grin returned, and she reached into her mane. "If only."
Something golden slapped down on the table, a pendant that had once carried Nyala's moon glass and now sat empty. Amber looked wistfully at it, but most of the rest of the room blinked in confusion. But slowly, Amber's expression changed.
"Wait a minute..." Amber pointed a hoof, her other leg wrapped around Valey's shell. "Valey used to use that thing." She pointed across at Nyala, who was completely silent and unreadable. "It let her... let you out, or something, or share her body with her!" She turned back to Jamjars, eyes widening, and gaped. "Are you saying...?"
"How should I know?" Jamjars shrugged. "I didn't build this thing. I'm just doing what I can with the things I have to keep myself safe and out of trouble, and you along with me. And it sure wouldn't hurt for you to be complaining less while I'm the one doing all the work." She glared at Shinespark. "I was going to keep this a surprise until I knew if it would work, so I didn't get your hopes up. But you're all 'This is impossible!' and not even trying, and it's really ticking me off."
A faint flicker crossed Shinespark's eyes. "Your plan is too riddled with holes to stand a chance. And even if it wasn't, we're up against forces that are just too strong."
Amber stood up, walked straight around the table, and slapped Shinespark in the face.
"I hate having to do that," Amber said, staring down at her, the force of her blow having knocked Shinespark from her chair. "And I love doing it. There are ways to get Valey back and always have been, as long as we're ambitious enough! I know nothing about magic or science, and have been doing my utmost by caring for her body and taking care of it so if she does get back, she won't be an atrophied husk, and if everyone put in an equal amount of effort, we could really do this!" She stomped a hoof, turning around to face Jamjars as Shinespark hissed and rose. "Tell me anything I can do to help, and I'll do it instantly at your command. Felicity, you're with me?"
Felicity hesitated only slightly. "If there's a real chance? A-Agreed."
"You're idiots," Shinespark whimpered, gritting her teeth. "You don't even have her soul! Chrysalis does! Stop clinging onto feeble hopes! They'll only make it longer until you can move on..."
"I beg your pardon." Gerardo loudly cleared his throat. "But aren't you the most vocal prophet of us all meeting our ends at Celestia's hooves? If we're all bound to die, why not reach the end with our heads held high? Completely ignoring any hypothetical chance of success, I have never planned on dying crushed and broken, and I would rather not revise that intent now."
Jamjars' grin grew as several took her side. "Hah. See? Giving up is out of style. It's certainly not what Starlight would do, and you know where she is now?" She pointed with her tail at the engine room. "She's too antisocial to say it, but with how closely she carries around that sword all the time, it's obvious what it is. Moon glass absorbs cutie marks. I'll bet you rights to your bedroom once it's no longer an infirmary that the reason Chrysalis was chasing us is because Starlight stole Valey back. And maybe the rest of the batponies, too. She probably jumped in there just to go find her or something, just in case we found a way to put her back together again, because she's even stubborner than I am."
Everybody squinted and blinked at each other. Felicity rubbed her chin. "I suppose that makes sense, darling, but you'd think if that was the case she'd have told us..."
Jamjars shrugged. "She's probably being sad and not feeling up to it. Who knows. I've been busy working rather than being a cheerleader for your morale. Though if someone wanted to step up to that, it's sorely needed..."
"All this is irrelevant!" Shinespark protested, her voice getting higher. "So what? So what if you got her back? It would just be a brief respite, and then we'd be back where we are, and worse than ever before!"
Harshwater shrugged. "If we can fully recover from something like this and get someone back from the dead, I'm pretty sure we can come back from anything that doesn't kill all of us outright. This plan is honestly ridiculous, but it still could be worth a try."
"See?" Jamjars stuck her tongue out at Shinespark. "Everyone believes in me. Maybe they should make me the captain instead of you. So, are you going to help too? I could use it..."
"What do you want?" Shinespark whispered.
Jamjars sucked her cheek. "Well... the reason I needed power back, other than so it wasn't stupidly cold at night, is so I could check your terminal and see the plans for this thing so I could modify it, since it doesn't turn on automatically and I need it to do that. But everything on there just says the data is corrupted, which is lame. So I need you to show me how it works and help me change it."
Shinespark stared at her.
Jamjars tossed the pendant, catching it with a hoof. "I'll bet you your room I can get her back."
Shinespark turned her back and slumped her shoulders, shaking her head as she walked away.