• Published 16th Sep 2014
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Yaerfaerda - Imploding Colon



Rainbow Dash and the Noble Jury continue to fly east.

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Those Who Are Capable of Change

“Here you go, maggot.” A goblin dropped a rusted platter to the floor, nearling spilling its meaty contents.

Jex glanced over from where he jerked several levers of the skiff's engine. “Breakfast? Already?”

“Pfft. You don't want it, we'll feed it to the rats!”

Jex's pointed ears twitched as he frowned. “I was just wondering what time it was...”

“Don't think about the time, runt.” The goblin pointed while shuffling above deck and into the dim morning light. “Only think about doing your damn job!”

Jex sighed, returning to his work.

“Remember!” The other goblin's voice hollered from the windy world outside. “You're the property of Haman now! From your brain to your balls! So be thankful you've got something to nibble on, ya puissant worm!”

“Yes,” Jex grumbled quietly to himself. “Ecstatic.”

Several seconds passed.

Jex glanced up the steps leading towards the tiny transport's top deck. Clearing his throat, he grabbed a crutch with his good arm and shoved it towards the darkened corner of the compartment.

With a whirr of hydraulics, Roarke poked her helmeted head out and stared at the platter of red meat.

“What is the meaning of this...?”

“God knows how long you've been sneaking around before I found you, pony,” Jex grumbled. “Put some meat in ya. You'll need it in a few hours when you're trying to outrun Haman's bullets.”

“That is not necessary. I am not hungry.” With a metal hoof, she slid the container back. “And do not concern yourself about Haman's weaponry.” Her helmet glinted in cold lantern light. “He'll be dead before he threatens the likes of me.”

“I wouldn't be so casual about Haman's threats,” Jex said, nostrils flaring. “I didn't take him seriously.” He waved a limp metal hook for an arm. “Look what it got me. Or... rather... look what it took away.”

“I do not need to be taking advice from you,” Roarke coldly said. “Eat the food yourself. The more flesh on your bones, the more you can stand up to those asenine misanthropes who constantly malign you.”

“They have every right to shit all over me,” Jex grumbled. His dull eyes reflected off the machinery's condensation. “I'm nothing more than property now. Very lame property at that.”

Roarke was silent for a while. Eventually, she tilted her helmeted head and said. “You are a great deal more than nothing. Giving in to the apathy that your culture has induced will be the one true defeat.”

He turned to squint at her.

She simply stared back. “Are you incapable of comprehending that?”

“I comprehend all that crap just fine.” He squinted. “But why do you give a damn?”

“Elaborate.”

“Every time we've met, you and your Noble Jurists have done nothing but bash my brains in. My fellow Bandits no less. Face it. You hate us.” He frowned. “We're murderers and pillagers and enslavers. For some reason, that just rubs you stupid prissy ponies the wrong way. I'm pretty sure you'd want us to just roll over in a ditch and die.”

“It would simplify things, yes.”

“Heh...” Jex turned back to his engine console. “I rest my pimply case.”

“But, at the same time, I understand what it means to make profit off of the pain and enslavement of others,” Roarke droned. “And I know now that there's a better way. A harmonic way.” She slowly shook her head. “It's never too late to change... not even for the most vilest of souls. And I've been there. I've been that soul. I still am, actually, to a great extent.”

“... ... ...” Jex moaned through an exasperated sigh. “Just shut up and let me get you to Cartel lands, okay?” He twisted a knob and yanked a lever while steam vented. “The last damn thing I need is for a cyborg pony to be preaching to me and my two limbs.”

“Affirmative.” Roarke backed up into the shadows once again. “It's a great deal more complicated than ripping your throat open anyways.”

Silence reined, although Jex found himself going through the engineering motions with greater lethargy, his eyes twitching into the distance as if distracted by something that was previously both elusive and distant. With a defeated breath, he scooped the platter up and shoved some raw meat down his gullet.


“Whoah whoah whoah!” Rainbow Dash flew between Midnite and Ebon Mane. “Nice reflexes, girl, but it's time you put the lamp down.”

Midnite Bastion seethed and seethed, holding the crystalline lamp in both forelimbs like a polearm. Her eyes twitched between Rainbow and the frightened stallion pressed up against a wall of the Plaza Topaz suite. “But... b-but you saw him! J-just now!” She stammered. “His tattoos disappeared!”

“I know...”

“He's one of those ch-changelings you've been telling me about!” Midnite yelped. “He's one of hers.”

“I know.” Rainbow glared. “And—like I've been trying to tell you as well—he's on our side. He's a good guy. One of us.”

“But... b-but...” Midnite gnashed her teeth. “It doesn't m-make any sense!”

“Mother's influence over me has vanished,” Ebon Mane said. He gulped and put on a courageous smile, despite his shivers. “There are hundreds if not thousands like me all across this plane! We're free now! We're trying to stop Chrysalis from enslaving us once more! Or non-shape-shifters, even!”

“That's a rather convenient thing to believe,” Midnite spat. “Isn't it?!”

“Convenient or not, it's the truth,” Rainbow said. Suddenly, her eyes stabbed the mare like daggers. “And I don't care if you have ten years of military training or two hundred. If you don't stop pointing that thing at my friend's neck, I'm going to break every bone in your body and sell the rest of your flesh to the Lounge as jelly.”

“... ... ...” Midnite glared at Rainbow.

Rainbow Dash glared back.

With a cold breath, Midnite slapped the lamp back into the corner of the room. She stood up straight and cleared her throat. “My... apologies f-for overreacting.”

Ebon slumped down from the wall, exhaling with a puff of green flame. “Hey... no harm no f-foul.”

On the far side of the room, Mamunia and Jet stopped flinching. They exhaled with relief.

“... ... ...” Arcanista slapped her hooves together. “Well!” She grinned. “Now that we have that ironed out, who's for breakfast? Hmmm?”

“With all due respect, Madame,” Rainbow spoke up, keeping an eye trained on Midnite. “Although she's now properly filled in, there's still the issue of what to do next.”

“What can be done?” Midnite clenched her teeth. “From the sound of things, you're still too few in number. All you've managed to do here is piss off Chancellor Fishberry. She's already got enough bad blood with Arcanista as it is. Now you had to show up in Val Roa and exacerbate the issue.”

“It was a necessary gamble,” Arcanista said. “There was simply nothing we could do from the outside... not while I was still unofficially banished to my home in Bountiful.”

“And plus, it's not like we're entirely empty-hoofed.” Rainbow smirked. “I learned enough from all my snooping around to figure out that there's something of interest to the far north. I'm secretly kinda hoping it's Chrysalis' lair.”

“Her lair?”

“Yeah. Like... maybe she's controlling your father and the other two from there,” Rainbow said. “I've already radio'd my buddies on the outside. They're sending a party up there to check it out. Hopefully they'll find something really snazzy that will shed some light on this.”

“Just where up north are you talking about?”

“Someplace in the Lemuel Tundra,” Rainbow explained. “I've got the coordinates written down somewhere. Essentially, it's right where the arctic landscape rubs up against the skystone fields. So, like... super far north.”

“Hmmmm...” Midnite Bastion paced around suddenly.

Arcanista raised an eyebrow. “Does that strike a bell for you, Midnite?”

“Actually... it...” Midnite shook her head. “No. That's too weird...”

“Please, tell us,” Ebon said with a slight smile. “We're used to weird.”

Midnite bit her lip. “Months ago... almost a year, to be exact... my father sent an expedition up north.”

“General Saikano did?” Rainbow asked.

“What kind of an expedition?” inquired Arcanista.

“I presumed it was to gather skystone samples,” Midnite said. “You see, for decades, Val Roa has always been relatively weary of the Lounge's possession of skystone. It's been a constant concern that the naga might someday trade with the Cartel, giving them a rare edge in their weaponry.”

“A fear that's suddenly coming true,” Rainbow said. “At least, that's what I could tell from what I overhead.”

“Yes, I heard it too,” Midnite said. “And I still think my father's simply leading Fishberry and Sharp Quill on so that they will overplay their hoof and reveal themselves.”

“That seems rather... convoluted,” Ebon said. “Don't you think?”

“What sense would it make for Saikano to play this deeply into the others' plans?” Arcanista asked. “With the Coronation just two days away, it's putting an awful lot at stake.”

“I know... I know.” Midnite sighed, staring out the window into the dim glow of early morning. “Maybe the General sent the expedition to the Lemuel Tundra in order to extract enough skystone so that we could have a deterrant to any invasion from the south or west.”

“You mean... with some sort of secret weapon or something?” Rainbow remarked. “Have you seen something like this from the inside?”

The mare merely bit her lip.

“Midnite...” Arcanista strolled over. “I know we're asking a lot from you. But you've trusted us this far. Please... anything you have to share with us can be immensely helpful in our quest.” She slowly shook her head. “No harm will have to come to your father... or even Sharp Quill and Fishberry.”

Midnite glanced up. “How so?”

“Er... yeah...” Rainbow smiled awkwardly. “How so?”

“If we can uncover the truth in all of this and reveal it to the public, then perhaps Chrysalis' entire plan can be deconstructed peacefully.” Arcanista looked at the others. “Would you not agree?”

“With all due respect, Duchess...” Rainbow Dash smirked. “I've never encountered a single changeling plot that could be resolved with anything except explosions galore.” She shook her head. “No matter how deep undercover we go, something has gotta buckle at some point or another.”

“She's right, you know,” Ebon said with a nod. “The tenser things get, the more wound up our targets as well. Whatever solution there is for Mother's influence in this kingdom, we have to find it quick.”

“It's simply not going to be pretty,” Rainbow said. “What we need to do is get a jump on all three of the party members involved.”

“What for?!” Midnite grimaced. “To assassinate them?!”

“No. Just to subdue them!” Rainbow glared at her. “Believe it or not, sister, I'm not out to crush skulls in this kingdom!” She sighed. “We're not talking worthless goblins here. I wanna shed as little blood as possible. But nothing is ever easy... especially with those soul sentries out there, aiming their green gunk at us with every turn!”

“Yes... right...” Midnite nodded with a sigh. “The soul sentries...”

“Is there any light you can shed on them?” Ebon asked.

“You inquired if there was some sort of weapon the Val Roans are using as a deterrant.” Midnite shook her head. “The soul sentries are that weapon. They're everything that stands between Val Roa and all potential invaders. It used to be that they were just an elite force of defenders. But now... thanks to my father's work... they are the army in total.”

“Thousands of deer,” Ebon muttered. “All answering mindlessly to a military authority.”

“Sounds familiar to you, Mr. Mane?” Arcanista asked.

The changeling shuddered. “Only the precise way in which my Mother likes to work,” he said, biting his lip.

Rainbow glanced from him to Midnite. “Is what your father's expedition found in Lemuel Tundra essential to controlling the soul sentries?”

“No. I-I mean... I dunno.” Midnite ran a hoof through her mane. “I don't think so, because...” Her words trailed off.

“What?”

Midnite shivered slightly. “I've seen it done. I've seen how he makes recruits into soul sentries. And... and I trust my father and all, but...” She shuddered. “It has always... always frightened me to my core.”

The others stared at her in silence.

The sudden knock on the door sent a mutual jolt through the crowd.

“Uhm...” Mamunia shuffled across the room. “I'll get it.”

Ebon trotted over and squatted behind the sofa as the servant opened the door. Within a minute, she closed it and trotted back into the main suite.

“What's that in your hoof, Mamunia?” the Duchess asked.

“It's... it's a letter, Madame,” Mamunia stated. “An invitation to the Royal Palace.”

“An invitation?” Arcanista blinked. “For whom?”

“It's addressed to Princess Kera Tin Mehjj of the Xonan Empire, Madame.”

Jet looked over her shoulder, suddenly producing a girly gasp. “It's... it's got the Royal seal!” She looked up, eyes bright and sparkly. “From the Prince himself!”

“Wait...” Midnite Bastion pointed with a hoof. “Do you mean to tell me that your little scampy pretender has gotten an invitation to meet with Prince Eine at the Royal Palace?”

“Nyeuuuughhh...” Kera stumbled into the room, her mane a frumpy green clump of bed hair. “Morning everypony. A royal invitation from Prince Eine? Heheh... how lame.” She trotted into the kitchen... but suddenly froze in place, blinking. “Wait.” More blinks. “Wat.”

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