Lengths That Desperation Will Go
"The ponies who bound and dragged you here all answer to a stallion named Sarda," Twilight explained, her ghostly eyes glistening in the underground lanternlight. "He seems to be a very important member here in the village of Braum."
"You mean like..." Rainbow Dash squinted from the cot where she lay. "The mayor or something?"
"A... bit more grizzled than a mayor," Twilight remarked.
"Mayors are seldom so handsome," Rarity purred.
"Yeah, and—" Twilight froze. She threw Rarity a look, sighed, then faced Rainbow again. "And he seems to have done a whole bunch of business with the Consortium."
Rainbow squinted. "The Consortium?"
"They're the ponies who control Steamfall," Fluttershy explained. "Uhm... they seem to be very important."
"Not to mention wealthy," Rarity added.
"Intimidatingly so." Twilight looked directly at Rainbow Dash. "Whoever the Consortium us, they're the ones responsible for the bounty on your head."
"Hrmmfff..." Rainbow exhaled, glancing at the crates and supplies surrounding her. "Figures."
"But they don't seem to believe a word that Sarda or any of his other ponies are saying," Pinkie Pie said. "When the head hauncho went to Steamfall to set up a rainbow exchange, they just... laughed at him n'stuff."
"Now Sarda's sending his number one stallion, Kayman, into Steamfall again to pick up from where he left off. Meanwhile, Sarda's staying here in Braum to deal with the Talon."
Rainbow's head lifted slightly. "Are they here in Braum now?"
"The Talon?" Fluttershy shook her head. "No, but they're circling the town. Sarda and the others expect them to conduct a search of the village soon."
"Knowing Keris' griffon friends, I've no doubt." Rainbow shuddered, resting her head again. "Bet they're pretty cheesed about me losing them back in the Mist Cliffs."
"This is a different situation, Rainbow," Twilight said. "I think the Talon's going to have trouble sniffing you out."
"What do you mean?"
"It... it just feels different."
Rainbow squinted. "Has the egghead gotten a few cracks in her shell?"
Twilight frowned. "Okay, fine. I suspect that the Talon are going to have their claws full of legal procedure in this matter."
"They're the friggin' guardians of Verlaxion," Rainbow droned. "Can't they search any village they want to?"
"Perhaps. But it won't be an easy or a quick process," Twilight said. "I definitely got that impression from the conversations Sarda had with his companions."
"Twilight's right." Rarity nodded. "It would seem as though Sarda is hoping to delay the Talon's search here so they can capitalize on the bounty."
Rainbow looked back at Twilight. "I thought you said Steamfall scoffed at Sarda when he showed up at their doorstep the first time. What chances are their of his buddy 'Kayman' having any luck?"
"Well..." Twilight fidgeted. "Sarda caught word of a high-ranking member of the Consortium headed towards the industrial facility just northeast of here. They're hoping to catch the executive's attention and negotiate a transfer for the bounty."
"Aiming straight for the top, huh?"
"Something like that."
"So, lemme get this straight..." Rainbow gazed collectively at her marefriends. "I'm buried deep in the underground tunnels of Braum—that the Talon do not know about—"
"Well, that remains to be determined, darling," Rarity said. "Sarda and Kayman seem to think that the Talon have no knowledge of it."
"Right. So... Sarda's banking on the Talon not knowing where and how to find me, but they're likely going to be searching all over the village." Rainbow turned to look at Twilight. "And while they take their sweet time doing that, Sarda's buddy-pal is going to make an appeal to some super important member of this Consortium to come and fetch me for a price."
Twilight gulped. She nodded. "Precisely."
"That's the long and short of it!" Pinkie added.
Rainbow let loose a long sigh. "So... the order of the day is finding out how to break these binds so I can then sneak out of town... somehow... and not get caught by Talon, Sarda, or the Consortium."
"With us by your side, Rainbow, anything's possible." Fluttershy smiled. "All you need to do is tru—" She froze in place.
Rarity's eyes widened. "Somepony's coming?"
Fluttershy gulped and nodded.
"She's right!" Pinkie nodded, gesturing beyond the crates. "Play 'casual-prisoner,' Dashie."
Rainbow clenched her jaws.
A stallion with a gray-streaked maned and dark stubble on his chin shuffled slowly up.
Rainbow tilted his head aside. "Is that Sarda?" she whispered.
Pinkie nodded.
"Hmmm... 'grizzled' for sure..."
Sarda stood at the foot of her cot, gazing down at the mare. "I see that you're awake."
Rainbow nodded back. "I see that you haven's shaved."
"Difficult to do so without an abundance of clean water this far north," Sarda said. With an exhale, he slid a box over to the side of Rainbow's cot and sat down on it. "We... don't have an abundance of many things here in Braum."
Rainbow's brow furrowed. "Except for deep, winding tunnels full of stolen supplies."
"These..." Sarda waved a hoof at the multiple crates. "...are not stolen."
"But you have them hidden," Rainbow droned. "Even if I wasn't down here, you'd still be nervous about the Talon knocking on your door."
Sarda's nostrils flared. "Desperation isn't pretty. But some of us have to get our hooves dirty to get by. Surely, you understand this well." His eyebrow raised. "Or was what you did in the Quade a matter of pleasure?"
The mares winced. Rainbow clenched her muzzle shut.
"Look..." Sarda loosened the wooly scarf around his neck, staring into the torchlight. "I don't know precisely why the Talon is after you. And I don't care. All I know is that you mean bits... lots and lots of bits that my village needs to get by." He gestured with his hoof. "I've spent the better part of a decade doing bad things to ponies who have gotten away with doing worse to citizens who can't even protect themselves. If I stopped to soak in the regret and shame of my actions... well... Braum wouldn't even be on the map anymore. I can't expect you to respect that. I can't expect the Talon to. But what matters in the end is that our families have something to eat the next day."
"Funny thing about the 'ends justifying the means,'" Rainbow Dash muttered. "Nothing ever ends like you expect it to." Her eyes narrowed. "What you do here—well intentioned or not—you're still going to have to live with. And living wouldn't be living without remembering."
Sarda stared at her. "... ... ...if I only had me to worry about, I'd agree with that."
"You have more than just you." Rainbow glared. "So you should agree harder."
Sarda leaned back. He blinked. "...you're not at all what the Consortium paints you as."
"Watch it." Rainbow's muzzle curved slightly. "You're starting to care."
Sarda sighed, gazing away. "Don't think for a moment that I take pride in this."
"I don't think that." Rainbow fidgeted slightly. "Thanks for not taking my pendant away."
"Yes, well..." Sarda cleared his throat. "I... wasn't too fond of what I saw when it came off."
"There are worse things to be afraid of."
The mares glanced at her.
Sarda raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I understand what you're doing here," Rainbow Dash said. "I know that your village ain't exactly doing well for itself. I know that you sent Kayman back to Steamfall to try and negotiate with the Consortium under the Talon's very beaks."
Sarda blinked. His chapped lips pursed: "How... h-how do you know—?"
"But understand this." She glared at him. "You're dealing with something that's way above Braum. It's way above the Consortium... way above the Talon... and way above Verlaxion."
Sarda's eyes twitched.
Rainbow Dash winced from her left wing. Nevertheless, she sat up as far as her bound body could allow her. "Stronger... more resourceful ponies than you have tried to imprison me. Entire friggin' armies have struggled to contain me." She gulped and shook her head. "It always... always ends up badly for them." Her eyes darted towards the earthen roof above. "You got a sweet little village here, and no doubt it's super important in Ivory Prefecture for staving off the corporate control of those jerks up in Steamfall. But if you don't let me go... if you don't drop this messy 'Rainbow Rogue bounty' business and disentangle yourself while you still can..." She gulped and said, "Then everything you've worked so hard for will crumble and burn from the pressure of everything that's coming to collect me. You don't want that." She shook her head. "I don't want that."
Sarda leaned back. He rubbed his stubbled chin in deep thought.
"Please..." Rainbow spoke breathily. "Let me go. Or else, one way or another, Braum is going to vanish from the map of Rohbredden." Her ears twitched as her gaze hardened. "You can count on that."
Sarda sighed. He rubbed his face and grumbled, "I'm sorry..."
Rainbow's ears drooped.
Sarda looked up. "...but I simply cannot afford to make such a gamble." He swallowed a lump down his throat. "Not after all I've already risked." He shook his head. "You're the last pony I can trust right now."
Rainbow leaned back onto the cot with a sigh. "Then you're totally... totally screwed."
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Oh Braum. How little we knew ye. I didn't even get a chance to ship any of your people before you got wiped off the map.
If there's one thing Rainbow has mastered on her journey, it's charisma.
So much truth to so few words.
Well Dash.. you tried to be reasonable
I had to stop for a second after reading that.
Colon, you prick, that's baaaaad.
Kinda sad to see this little, desperate town to vanish just like that though. Even worse, the ponies living here aren't really bad either.
Whoa rarity... Keep it in your pants
Well this place is looking pretty screwed right now. Hopefully Rainbow can get others to listen to her.
The final mistake.
Well, if Rainbow has learned to love anything, it is second chances. As long as she hasn't been given up to the consortium, Braum still has a second chance. Lets hope they use it well.
I'm getting a baaad feeling bout this.....
Rainbow Dash has changed so much since her journey began.
....And Rainbow Dash will take her leave, with only a large hole in the ground to say that anyone was ever here.
static.fjcdn.com/pictures/Braum_0fadeb_5557353.jpg
R.I.P. Braum
6839930
Oh god Dash's warning was boss. The level of charisma Dash spoke with and the sheer undeniability in how she warned Sarda, that Braum WILL be destroyed not as a threat, but as a consequence of Sarada's actions, was the epitome of awesome.
I love this story.
Hell yeah! Been waiting on dash to spew lines like that!
Your Charisma is high, oh shaven rainbow, but not high enough for this persuasion check.
Pf, you people. It's not charisma that's getting to him, it's confidence and wisdom.
He should have listened to the flying bag of skittles . . .
6884154 minus the flying part.
6839930 yeah, there will not be any bending over here.
6930433
Scratch off the skittles too, unless her mane and tail have grown back.
Rarity, I think you may have a problem.
Typo or horse-pun? I don't even know. But if it is a horse-pun, then ouch.
You don't simply contain the Austraeoh. She's a Keter-class horse.
7385513
He should have listened to the bag.
She is the only pony that is being honest with them. Like Rainbow said, they are screwed if they cannot trust the honest one, especially if the other side knows that they have nowhere else to turn.
08/19/2017
14:00 UTC
We already know the bounty is a bust. Rainbow is absolutely right - but by the time Sarda realizes that, it'll be too late.
8375281
but from his perspective, she is tied up and trapped. and she will say or do whatever she must for the simple goal of escaping. I wouldn't trust her if i didnt know better.
Pretty realistic actions Sarda is making in this case. As much as we the viewers would beg him to trust her, from his perspective, he has NO IDEA who she is at all aside from word of the bounty.
Well, sorry Braum. We hardly knew ye.