//------------------------------// // Concerning Birds and Brothers // Story: Ofolrodi // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// Stars twinkled endlessly overhead. The group still hadn't found their way out of the canyon. Exhausted and spent, they set up camp for the sixth time since entering the dried-up riverbed. Rainbow Dash kept her distance, waiting for Flynn and Logan to "shut down" the chaotic bits of metal empowering the wagon. Once the vehicle had been disenchanted—its dim gray glow extinguished—Rainbow found it safe to approach the camp site. She helped Kepler and Ariel set up tents. In the meantime, Logan started a fire. The scent of mushrooms, beets, and herbs lit the air. The group had long run out of the meat supply acquired from the brief hunts taken prior to meeting the Spindlers. This caused a mild panic among the Herald, but they maintained their calm—rationing from the vegetarian bounty that Abaddon's children had given them. Flynn and Logan held onto faith that the group would find game for the spearing at some point during their twilight journey. Rainbow Dash promised to be as supportive as possible, and she was constantly checking with Fluttershy for the presence of living things along the nearby horizon. Rotation shifts were quickly decided on. As was becoming usual—Seraphimus volunteered to keep watch first while the others slept. Nopony protested. Ariel was the first to collapse from exhaustion, rolling over in her tent and descending into fuzzy slumber. Flynn followed shortly thereafter while Logan and Kepler lingered upon the precipice of sleep, minding their own supplies to carry the time. Wildcard was curiously restless—more so than usual. Rainbow Dash was keen to notice it. Then again, she had been paying special attention to him over the past twelve hours. It got to the point that she was scarcely touching her own food. An hour into the group's camping, Wildcard sat on the edge of a chunk of rock that was sticking up out of the dead river bed like a table. Even when doing nothing important, the Desperado preferred to perch on something elevated higher than the rest of the environment—even if by a single foot or two. It was as though he always wanted to be in the best position to leap into action, sailing protectively above the heights of his companions. At this present moment, the griffin was hunched over and examining his prosthetic. With a set of tools that Flynn had lent him, he opened a panel in his metal wrist and proceeded to tinker with the mechanical matrices set deeply within. It took a better portion of the second hour of silent pondering for Rainbow Dash to summon the strength to approach the Desperado. As her hoofsteps scuffled closer, she detected his headcrest twitching. He knew she was nearby. He always knew. "Is... is your arm alright?" Rainbow Dash asked. He gave a nod. Dark goggles glinted with starlight. A calm beak remained closed. Contemplative. "If you gotta give it an upgrade or something, I can go and wake Flynn." Rainbow smiled faintly. "So what if it pisses him off? Not the end of the world... especially if you need your arm tweaked with." Wildcard slowly shook his head. His wings coiled and uncoiled, and he continued fiddling with the innards of his arm. A pulse of mana flickered, and Rainbow saw his metal talons twitching as the griffin continued with his calibrations. Rainbow bit her lip. Her tail flicked to one side... to the other... "Wildcard... Jordan..." She looked pensively in his direction. "How are you doing?" His response was remarkably swift. The Desperado raised his flesh talon and pivoted it from side to side before returning to his task. "It's... uh... it's okay to not be... okay, y'know?" Rainbow Dash stepped closer. "Nopony's invincible, y'know. The Dark Side... this crazy place? It takes its toll on all of us. Ariel, Logan, Flynn—they all vent when the pressure gets too high. Kepler too, I suppose. But you? I feel as though... as though you've been strangely silent since we crossed the Edge." A rattling sound. Wildcard paused briefly, and there was a hint of his goggled head pivoting slightly towards her. Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Okay. You know what I mean. Of course—you're always doing your heroic Desperado schtick. Always protective. Always vigilant. But..." She shuffled ever so slightly closer. "Even you need to talk every now and then. Like... really talk. The way you always have with me. The way you always did with... with..." Her muzzle hung open, too nervous to say the name. He took a breath. With a snap, he shut the panel of his metal arm. Whirring, the fingers flexed back to life—giving him the motor function to swiftly hand-sign to her: "I am doing fine." Rainbow nodded. "Maybe you are. But that doesn't mean you gotta clam up all the time." Her ears dropped. "The rest appear to have gotten used to it. But me? I... I don't know if I ever can." He remained still. "So much of our time spent together was... was with Bard as well. And when he was still alive..." She fidgeted. "You... were just as alive too. I... I'm sorry, Jordan. Maybe you don't want to hear me say it. Maybe you don't want to think about it. But he was such a big part of you... such a big part of all of us." She gulped. "I've since learned to talk to you directly, and even still... I-I feel like you don't express yourself as much as you did when... when he was still—" His fingers sliced the air. "Do not worry about me." She sniffled, shaking her head. "It's not worry." "... ... ..." She exhaled. Soft hooves brought her up the rock so that she was perched beside him. She leaned back on her haunches and sat beside the larger griffin. The same twilight glinting off his dark feathers cast a nebulous sheen over her fuzzy coat. For a moment, the two blended softly with the melancholic dimness of the world. They gazed as one at the stars dwindling overhead, seemingly receding. For each pulse of light there was a patch of darkness separating, devouring, and both souls cast their lonesome thoughts into the heartless depths of it all. "He... he must have told you something," Rainbow Dash murmured into the void. "You were there, Jordan. You were his one and only friend when everything mattered. What was it that he said?" She looked at him, eyes glistening. Wildcard's goggles remained affixed to the cosmos. His fingers floated through the air: "He told me to take care of you." She squeaked past a sore lump in her throat: "But what is it that you want, Jordan?" She cocked her head gently to the side. "What does the last Desperado desire out of all this?" Wildcard remained dead still. Rainbow didn't stop staring at him. At long last, his fingers spoke—and softly too: "I simply wish to keep moving." "Hmmmff..." Rainbow bore a tearful smile. "I feel ya." Another sniff, and she hummed: "I can help you with that. Really, I can. I've got the experience, after all. How does that sound?" Wildcard nodded into the starlight. His wings and tail had gone limp, and he remained straight and proud like a statue. Even as he felt Rainbow's forelimbs surround him from the side, he remained still. Even as he felt her gentle, sisterly nuzzle and the fuzz of her cheek leaning gently into his soft neckfeathers, he stayed at his post. There was a shifting limb between them—a talon of metal that rested protectively on her shoulder—but that was extent of it all. The two lingered in that embrace, a very warm thing, and the stars continued their chaotic path. Rainbow contributed to the gesture with every fiber of her being, but even that succumbed to sleep at some point. As unconsciousness overtook her, she knew she would be safe. But the thought that painted a smile on her muzzle—bittersweet and sincere—was the possibility that someone else felt safe too. If even for one tender moment.