//------------------------------// // Salvaging What Is Left // Story: Ofolrodi // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// Zzzzzzzzp! Logan tied a satchel shut. "There..." He heaved the heavy pack over his flank, wincing slightly. "Mmmmmmyeahhhh..." A shrug of his shoulders, and he allowed his body to get used to the extended weight. "Pain and life... life and pain..." A dull grin, and he faced Rainbow. "Good to go when you are." Rainbow's brow furrowed. "Are you sure you can handle all that weight, Big Show?" "It's in the name, girl." He began marching slowly—steadily—towards Curveside. "Besides, I'm the only member of this posse who's built for this shit. It's worth it if we can preserve most of our stuff." He glanced over his shoulder. "By the way—Baldy—is this most of our stuff?" Flynn sighed, scribbling notes into one of Kepler's notepads with a levitating pen. "We've still got food. Bows and arrows. Kepler's alchemic supplies. Runestones... a pair of boomsticks... and some stuff from Darkreach." "How much stuff from Darkreach?" "Down to one pack," Flynn explained. "Mana shards. Ranort's CAINE device. Some of the manuscripts we pilfered." He folded the notepad up and gazed woefully across the stone wasteland. "We now officially have less stuff than we did way back when we first set out from Wyvern Point with Mortuana... rest her soul." "So we're moving light," Rainbow Dash said. "Cool." The barest hint of a smirk. "I can do light." "You are light," Flynn muttered. "Me? I feel naked without a good assortment of gadgets at my side." "You... mrmmfff... wanna carry all of the good stuff here?" Logan offered, sweating. Flynn shook his head. "You enjoy the exercise, Big Show. Your fat ass could do with building character." "Cute." "Wait..." Ariel rushed in, blinking at the others. "What about the last bits of spare armor from Darkreach?" "What about them?" Flynn droned. "Well..." Ariel squirmed. "...I know we're all carrying just about all we can right now... but are we honestly leaving that behind?" "Think about it, Ariel." Flynn sighed. "Would any of that had done good against shit like the hungry hungry deatherpillar we just ran into?" Ariel bit her lip. She looked at Rainbow. Rainbow exhaled. "I don't know about you guys, but I was never cut out for the knight-in-shining-armor schtick anyways." She gestured. "Leave it behind. We can only carry so much and we're already loaded with the absolute essentials." "The swords, however..." Seraphimus twirled two Emeraldinian blades and sheathed them into makeshift scabbards hastily fashioned out of scavenged canvas and leather. "They certainly will prove useful. They already have, in fact." "Go ahead, Sera." Rainbow nodded. "Hrmmmfff..." A slight smirk. "You seem to have grown attached to them." "In a manner of speaking." Seraphimus' charcoal brown eyes narrowed. "What of the wyvern?" Rainbow pivoted about. "Keps? How are you holding up, buddy?" "Mrrmmfff..." Kepler squirmed, squinting without the aid of his glasses. The busted spectacles in question were strapped uselessly into a pocket of his bandolier. "I would be holding up betterr..." He winced as Wildcard shuffled around him, fastening the last strap of multiple packs to his shoulders. "...if I could see wherre all the pieces werre." Wildcard gave the bags a final tug, then turned to face Rainbow. "I felt that the alchemy tools would be safest with him. He can only carry so much." "I do hope he is not saying anything rrude." Kepler's nostrils flared. "I am in no condition to surrvey his Desperrado sense of humorr." Ariel giggled, trotting towards him. "Who? Wildcard?" "The Job Squad has always been a most efficient bunch. I suspect I know a fifth wheel when I see one... orr fail to see one." Kepler sighed. "I fearr that I am no longerr of much use to you, my frriends. Fitting that you should utilize my body as a packhorrse—no offense intended." "He is not wrong," Seraphimus said. Upon receiving multiple glares, she calmly glanced back. "In the wyvern's latter assertion," she clarified. "We're not leaving you behind, Kepler," Ariel said. She briefly frowned. "Unlike some ponies." "But without my sight, I cannot keep my bearrings..." "Then let me be the bearings for you!" Ariel trotted Curveside of him and flicked her tail into his claws. "Just grab ahold, lil' guy! I'll lead the way!" "Oh, but Arriel, you poorr dearr!" Kepler protested. "How will you fly?" "Quite steadily." She winked. "With a good counterbalance on my tail." A beat. "I... uh... I just winked at you a second ago." "But of courrse! I had assumed as much. Bra-hah!" "Heeheehee..." Kepler sighed. "But I darresay my futurre herre on the Darrk Side is now imperriled by my visual handicap. I serriously... serriously doubt that therre is an optometrist within rreasonable distance of ourr currrent location." "We'll find a way to get those glasses of yours fixed, Keps," Rainbow said. "Don't you worry." "But Rrainbow One, I haven't even seen an inkling of the materrials rrequirred to fashion glass—" "I said we're gonna get them fixed!" Rainbow frowned. "We'll bridge that gap when we get there! Right now, we..." She trailed off, fidgeting. "Well?" Flynn craned his neck towards her. "What now? Don't tell me we're still following those sorry-ass flankholes." Rainbow gulped. "Fluttershy still senses them. They're making a beeline towards Curveside. No doubt, if we follow them... ... ..." She trailed off again. Ariel grimaced. "Do we really wanna go someplace where there are even more of those jerks?" "The Bloodwings ain't after them," Logan said. "Yeah... but we can't expect the Dihmers to give a shit about our lives even if they come after us!" Ariel frowned. "You saw what they do to their own kind!" Rainbow shuddered. "About the Bloodwings...?" The others looked at her. "Yes?" Kepler blinked blindly, craning his neck in the mare's direction. "What about them?" "... ... ..." Rainbow took a breath. "I'll tell you in a bit. Right now..." She pivoted and faced Curveside. "We gotta go where the Dihmers are going." "Uggggggh..." Ariel's everything deflated. "Come onnnnn," she whined. "You sure that's wise, Rainbow?" Flynn asked calmly. "I'm not looking forward to meeting more Dihmers any more than Ariel is." "It's not the Dihmers I care about at this point," Rainbow said. "It's the Ocean... and what it'll mean for us once we get there." The members of the Herald looked at one another. At last, it was Wildcard who gestured, "Any haven is a safe haven compared to where we are now." Seraphimus nodded. "Jordan is on point. It would be best not to ignore his wisdom." She sighed. "I've made that mistake once before..." Wildcard stared at her. She frowned. "Alright. Multiple times before." Wildcard smirked. "Works for me." Logan heaved the weight of his supplies and marched steadily Curveside. "Come on, everypony! Follow the bouncing balls." "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeugh..." Flynn telekinetically lifted his share of the weight and moved swiftly. "I'm taking point." "Come on, Keps," Ariel said, guiding the wyvern along with her tail. "Have I mentioned—fairr one—just how silky smooth your hairr is?" "Well...!" Ariel winked aside. "At least someone appreciates my conditioning." "Mrmmmfff..." Seraphimus glided forward. "It had better be a cold Ocean." Rainbow lingered at the rear of the freshly re-formed Caravan, along with Wildcard. After sliding on her saddlebags, she turned and looked back. Her eyes dully reflected a pile of broken stones... where the Herald had quietly managed to bury the scant remains of the deceased Dihmers left behind. A metal talon gently squeezed Rainbow's shoulder. Rainbow took a breath, gave the Desperado a meager smile, then trotted side by side with him as they joined the rest of the team's diligent march.