A pair of red lights flickered on, illuminating the shoulder plates of Roarke's armor. The metal mare peered about the hazy darkness of the partially collapsed basement. Twin crimson bands swathed from her armor's glow as she trotted slowly through the settling dust of her most recent attack.
Her opponent was nowhere to be seen, but that didn't stop her from piercing the recesses of the place, her copper lenses whurring in and out as she grinned sadistically.
"Somehow, I suspect, even if you were dead, your corpse would have something to say." She opened a panel and whipped a coil of metal rope into the nothingness. Dust and pebbles flew from the motion. "So stop being so quiet. You're positively electric when you talk." Roarke's nostrils flared as she hissed forth, "Yes, like a Xonan praying to the gods of mana before being gutted."
She whipped her coil again. Chunks of granite littered the floor, and then all was once more quiet.
"I've killed many a Xonan in my time," she muttered, her metal hooves sliding through the debris. "But none of them quite as resourceful as you. It's not the wings that make you formidable. No... it's something deeper than that. I've no doubt that you're a warrior liken unto Searo. It will be an honor to bring home your head."
She slapped a wall of rock. Symbols shattered at her metallic touch. Her brow furrowed as her lenses focused on a glinting shape amidst the darkness. As soon as she paused, the sheen of light darted away.
Smirking, Roarke pretended not to notice as she continued her mechanical stroll into the next crumbled chamber. "I wonder what it was that made you so hated in the eyes of the Confederacy. Did you rob them of something? That pendant around your neck, perhaps?" She slapped through the space, casting sparks across the ground. Her crimson lights caught nothing but haze. "Or was it murder? If so, I shall count your kills as mine with pride."
Roarke scuffled to a stop, finding very little room left in the chamber. Her lenses pistoned back into their sockets.
"And your companions will easily earn me the gold to fix the armor I broke to end you."
Just then, the dark shadow of a pony appeared to Roarke's right.
"Grrkkk!" Gnashing her teeth, she spun and struck two sets of cables to her side.
However, the whips slapped into a barren wall. The shadow was still there, though, for the ruby light source was behind her.
Roarke jerked. Before she could turn around, a series of blue forelimbs wrapped around her neck from behind.
"Y'know, I'd give a real mind if you'd shut the buck up." Rainbow hissed, blurring her wings.
The two scraped loudly across the chamber, propelled forward by Rainbow's appendages. They flew into the wall with Roarke's skull slamming first. She sputtered in pain—only for Rainbow to grip her head and slam the bounty hunter's muzzle into the stone face repeatedly.
Rainbow hissed through her teeth and brought two hoves together to slam down into the back of Roarke's head. However, at precisely that moment, the metal mare extended her flight wings, knocking the pegasus off her.
Rainbow Dash stumbled back—then felt the unmistakable tug of a pair of cables ensnaring her shoulders. Just as she was being stretched towards the ceiling, she thrusted her chest forward. The ruby lightning bolt of her pendant glowed brightly.
"Gaagh!" Roarke flinched from the strobing light in the dark chamber. Her lenses attempted to adjust—
But Rainbow Dash was already using her cables against her, yanking the bounty hunter across the room until she grabbed her body and suplexed her hard to the granite floor.
"Ooof!" Roarke hissed. Two new panels opened in her armor, exposing twin glaives.
Rainbow flashed a look down. "What the—?!"
Both circular blades fired out, soaring at Rainbow's head.
"Whoah!" Rainbow lunged backwards, stretching her body thin and avoiding both discs in mid-air. She landed on the ground with a grunt. Her ears flicked from multiple impact sounds. She spun and looked over her shoulder.
Both glaives were bouncing off the walls and ceiling of the place. Showering sparks, they glowed with bright mana and ricocheted back, hoaming in on Rainbow Dash.
"Oh for Pete's sake!" Rainbow scampered up to all fours and galloped away. The air whistled from the weapons' hasty chase.
Roarke stood up on wobbly limbs, watching with a pained expression.
Rainbow Dash had very little room to run. A solid wall formed a dead end in front of her. Holding her breath, she took wing, jumped, and planted all four hooves onto the granite wall.
The two glaives converged on her.
"Nnngh!" Uncoiling her muscles, Rainbow sprung back in the opposite direction. She miraculously rocketed through the last space available in the criss-crossing glaives. They bounced off each other, ricocheted off the walls, and took the long way pursuing her.
With her flesh untouched, Rainbow Dash flew backwards and let loose a sharp breath.
A pair of metal forelimbs grabbed her from behind.
"Aaugh!" Rainbow's voice cracked as Roarke held her still in the incoming path of the two projectiles.
"Give it up, featherbrain!" The bounty hunter hissed into her ear. "I'm too full of tricks!"
"Yeah..." Rainbow gritted her teeth. "I bet you're also full of blood." She shot her rear hooves down, locked them with Roarke's and upset the metal mare's balance.
Roarke found herself being flung forward just as the glaives arrived. They grazed her shoulders, piercing the armor in a snap. "Gaaaugh!" She shrieked as a spray of crimson juices littered the nearby wall. Her lights shattered, flickering with broken mana conduits.
Rainbow gave her no breath to recover. "Nnnngh!" She slammed a right hoof, then a left, then a knee into the bounty hunter's chin. The pendant strobed with ruby fury, illuminating her merciless punches in blood-red snapshots. Finally, as the glaives scraped to a stop along the granite floor, Rainbow shoved Roarked up against a wall. With wings spread and legs straight, she galloped forward and plowed the two of them against the granite partition—smashing violently through to the blinding sunlight beyond.