//------------------------------// // Chapter 39: Loyalty Shmoyalty // Story: Bounty Hunters 3: Genesis // by Jasper77W //------------------------------// Still the stars shimmered, and still Rainbow failed to find sleep. Almost everyone was curled up around the flickering camp fire- except for Silver, who was standing guard over at the cliff edge. Rainbow sighed, and pulled the small device out of her pocket. Still the little blue light pulsed, as if the thing had its own heart beat, however weak. She turned it over and over in her hooves, trying to figure out what it was- when it occurred to her EDI wasn't sleeping either. She looked behind her at Lily and Dainty, who were both curled up on the back seats and fast asleep, and looked back at the control panels. "EDI." She said softly, and the panel flickered to life. "Sleep eludes you?" EDI asked, Rainbow's face lit blue by the screens. "Yeah, despite the calmness." She sighed. "Dim down the brightness and lower your voice- I don't want to wake anypony." "Acknowledged." EDI said, and instantly the brightness of the scenes and indicators dimmed, and so did her voice. It was still clearly audible though. "EDI... This is probably gonna sound like a stupid question, but- how good of a friend am I, based on recent events?" Rainbow asked, and almost chuckled at herself. "Statistically, you haven't been very efficient in preservation efforts. However, keep in mind that these recent six casualties may have been spanned out over tens of years, and not just today. It's highly probably you couldn't have done anything at all." EDI replied, and that somehow made Rainbow feel slightly better. "You do know what happened right?" She asked. "This whole new reality, and everything?" "I only know what I have learnt after my creation, and what was already there." EDI said. "But my guess is that there's been a time altering." "Yeah... I was hoping for a bit more than that." Rainbow sighed. "But it's okay, I didn't expect you to know anyway. I doubt any of us do really know what happened." She sighed. "I know you've been seeing everything. Did the others talk about me in any sort of negative way while I was gone?" "I will not answer that, however imply it. These ponies here, are your friends, if I am correct?" EDI asked, for the first time. "Yes, they are." "And you are the element of loyalty, correct?" "Yes, I am." "Then you should understand the loyalty and trust between friends more than anyone else." EDI stated, which surprised Rainbow. "Learn to trust them- who are you to be the element of loyalty if you cannot give trust as much as earn it?" Rainbow was a little shocked at EDI's statement. Then she shook her head and laughed, keeping her voice low. "Ha! Look at me, getting lectured by an AI in FRIENDSHIP." She gave the control console a pat. "Good job, EDI. That actually helped a lot." "I can appreciate the gesture." EDI said. "Alright... Hey, can you tell me what this is?" She held up the small device. "Please put that in the scanner." EDI said, and a holographic projection lit the consoles and projected outwards and upwards from a little socket. Rainbow placed the device over the socket, and it hovered there as EDI scanned the device. It took a while as EDI sorted through the files and searched for a match, and Rainbow watched with interest as nominees were selected from the database then discarded as the match failed. Then finally, something. "USB 14 wireless portable storage device, minimal encryption with simple four-digit passcode." EDI reported. "Minimal encryption, aye..." Rainbow rubbed her chin. "Shouldn't be of much importance then. But I want to see what's in it, so hack it." "Scans indicate it may be a possible Trolljan Horse, which could compromise my systems. A full diagnostic test should be run first." EDI said, twirling the device around in the magnetic scanning field. "Yeah, run whatever tests you need- wait, did you just say 'Trolljan'?" "An obvious miserable attempt at humor." EDI said. "The real word would be 'Trojan'." "Yeah, I know; but... That was actually kinda funny to hear it from you." Rainbow smiled. "It's nice to hear that. Scanning and running diagnostics." A holographic status bar appeared, slowly loading towards the end. Then it finally filled up, and went away. A window replaced it, showing multiple files of various sizes. "Files detected. Inspecting elements. Access denied. Decrypting..." Another bar, which produced more windows with strings of binary codes running through them and security warnings, but everything was closed down by EDI once the decrypting process was done, and the files were viewable. "One video file detected. Fifty eight gigabytes free of fifty eight gigabytes. Rounded to two significant figures." "Only one video file?" Rainbow frowned. "Isn't really long either. Play it." "Opening file... Playing...." The console's screen shimmered to life, and the holographical images faded away to show the color image. It was Applejack, behind her a metal wall. Rusted and with its paint peeling off, she AJ herself couldn't be in better condition. She had blood dripping down from a wound on her left forehead, and her mane and skin were matted with muck. Her eyes were still that intense green though, and they darted this way and that; crazed. "Recording.... Damn, this thing still works." She chuckled, even though the audio was a bit on the low quality side. There was a lot of indistinguishable background noise, which was annoying. The image fizzed a bit, but went back to normal. "Alright... Alright... I don't think anyone's here. I thought I heard somepony, but... Few weeks out here in the wilderness? I don't think I classify as sane anymore." AJ chuckled. "I haven't had food or water in.. How many days? Darn it, I lost count. So I'm just gonna record this... And if anyone picks this up, please give it to whoever I will be addressing. Which won't be a lot of ponies... Everyone's all dead and crap, so I don't even expect anyone to find this anyways." She took off her hat. "Now, I'm definitely dying. Won't be too long before I become one of those scurrying mutated bastards. So here goes.... Applebloom, if you ever get this... I just want to say, I'm sorry. Is all. They came storm'n into the house, and your brother put up quite the fight... But they had way better stuff than we did. That darn old shotgun barely did anything against em robots... Wasn't long before he went down. He got me outta there though, but looks like I won't be making it either. I... I don't have much for you, really. Everything's gone... But at least, at least... I know you're safe. Love you little sis... And please, please just STAY safe too. I don't want to lose anymore than I already have." Applejack whimpered, and wiped a tear from her eye. "Well won't ya look at that, I still got water in me to squeeze out some tears. But I guess there's no point in preserving them anyways. And to Twilight- wait, no... You're already dead. Keep thinking everyone's still alive- these darn memories will be drive'n me insane before the wasteland does. Hell, all us damn elements are dead except me and Rainbow, which I bet ya I'm be gone soon too. I did managed to dig something up though, if the resistance is still here. Does 'Operation Ascension' ring any bells? I just heard it from one of em soldiers that raided the safe house. Not so safe after all, eh. Oh yeah... And if Rainbow finds this... Rainbow..." Rainbow had her full attention concentrated on the video now. What was Applejack going to say to her? "Rainbow, I can't believe what you did. After all these years..." AJ shook her head, even more tears welling up in her eyes. "I thought we were friends, I really did." Rainbow's heart was immediately crushed. What...? "We trusted you as a friend. We thought, with your power... We could've stuck together and survived. In fact, now WE'RE ALL BUCK'N DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!!" AJ yelled with the last few ounces of her strength. Rainbow stared in shock, eyes wide, her body frozen. What the hay was this about...? "You know what, I don't care if they find you, torture you, or even give you the most painful death imaginable. Because with what you did? YOU BLOODY DESERVE IT! YOU HEAR ME? YOU DESERVE EVERY BLOODY BIT OF IT! I don't care if Val sets you on fire and burns you down, because that's what a bucking liar like you deserves! Element of Loyalty? ELEMENT OF LOYALTY!!?? ELEMENT OF LOYALTY MY APPLE-BUCK'N ARSE!! You... You sold us out to Val at the last moment! How the hay COULD YOU!!!???" Rainbow didn't know what to say to the recording. EDI saw her reaction, and quickly turned it off. Rainbow blinked, and looked down at the ground. She slumped back into the seat, her body shivering. Not from the cold, but from the shock. Why was Applejack so mad at her, as to leave such a clear message for her death...? What on earth did she do? "Are you okay?" EDI asked after a moment of shocked silence, in which Rainbow did nothing but look sadly at the ground. "I don't think so. What did I do? Why... Why is she..." Rainbow sniffed, and sighed. The campfire was starting to get cold to her- despite nothing changing. "My guess would be that you sold them out to Valkyrie, leader of the Science Faction. This is reliant on what the recording said only, however." EDI stated. "But I didn't... They were dead before I came to this rea-" Rainbow stopped and looked up, her eyes widening. "Silver." She almost snarled, and leapt out of her seat. "Where are you going?" EDI asked. "To find the truth, and to set things straight. Make sure you don't wake anyone, and keep them safe while I'm gone." Rainbow said, and ran towards the woods. She stepped past the campfire and Octavia who lay next to it, and Octavia's ear twitched and followed her as she disappeared into the woods. The moment she was gone she sprang to her hooves, and ran to EDI. "What the hay happened? Where is she going?" she asked urgently, the frown on her face accompanied by a somewhat panicky expression. "It would seem she has gone off to investigate a matter with Silver." EDI said. "What. Did. You. Tell. Her?" Octavia asked slowly, a bit of a growl evident in her quiet voice. "I told her nothing. She merely played a data drive with recordings on it that suggested Silver Dash or her theoretical former self sold the Elements of Harmony out to the Science Faction." EDI said. "Which I also believe to be the truth, according to your behavior towards Silver." "Then why the hell did you play the video anyway? You must've scanned it, and you must've known what was on it!" Octavia bared her teeth. "I do not see a problem with Rainbow taking her revenge. I will let you know, she was losing faith in herself. And that is because of Silver's actions, and weighing the factors- Rainbow Dash has earned some well deserved revenge for herself, all she needs to do is get it for herself. We need Rainbow sane, not Silver." EDI said coldly. "You idiot!" Octavia snarled. "I believe myself much more intelligent than that who tried to hide the truth." EDI said, and Octavia cursed. "Guard the others- I'm putting an end to this." she said, slammed the door shut, and ran in the direction in which Rainbow left. * Silver watched over the river that flowed below the canyon, and the half-destroyed shadow of Canterlot from her side of the canyon, standing perched on the cliff edge. The moon hung high in the sky, lighting the clearing and hiding the shadows. The river shimmered like the stars in the sky, and despite it being so far away; one could still hear it splashing through the utter silence, however distant. She heard light hoofsteps behind her, and her ears instantly flicked back. She angled her head slightly to the right, and spotted Rainbow approaching her and emerging from the woods. She joined her on the clearing, meters away behind her, and stopped. Silence settled again, and Silver sighed. "It's not time for your shift just yet, Rainbow." She said, looking up at the sky. "I'm not here because of that." Rainbow said. "Can't sleep? Because the view here is quite lovely." Silver said. "I'm not here for that either. I'm here to ask you a question." Rainbow narrowed her eyes so they focused on Silver. "A question? You're me, and I am you- what is it that I know and you don't?" "If the answer to this question is yes... Then... Don't ever associate yourself with me. I won't accept it- because you are NOTHING like me." Rainbow said, almost with a snarl. "I think I know the question..." Silver sighed, her hooves slipping into her coat pockets and her silver mane shining under the moonlight. "And I will answer it truthfully. Once you know to ask the question, I don't think there's any point in hiding it." "Silver...." Rainbow lowered her head, the edge of her hat casting a shadow over her eyes. "Did you betray my friends?" Silver didn't reply. She just stared up at the moon. But then she looked down, and nodded to herself. "Yes. Yes, I did." She said, and Rainbow could see that tiny bit of sorrow sparkling in her eyes. Too little for her to pity her though. "And I still bitterly regret every bit of it till this day, to the extent that all my color has been drained away without them." She looked down at her hooves. Grey, not cerulean like Rainbow's. "Alright. That's all I needed to hear." Rainbow growled, without a slimmer of forgiveness. "You know, I didn't have a choice. They would've killed me if I didn't tell them where we were hiding." Silver shook her head. "And so one by one they were hunted down. And I was left miserably alive." "I don't care whether or not you had a choice. I would've died before I would do something like that!" Rainbow roared. "Element of loyalty!!?? YOU'RE BUCKING PATHETIC!!" She screamed. "I wouldn't agree any less." Silver said, and slipped the cleaver out of her pocket. She weighed it in a hoof, and activated it. Slowly, the plates shifted and crept along the handle and unfolded into its full length and size. It glimmered in the moon light, but there was no red glow... Just a grey shade. Loyalty had been shed away long ago. "Oh? What now- you sold them out, and now you're gonna kill me!?" Rainbow spat. "No, I'm not going to do so. But I can't say the same for you, now can I? I doubt you're here to only ask the question." Silver said, turning around. "I've seen your vengeful side." "Damn right you have. And intimidated you should be." Rainbow snarled, whipping out her cleaver. There was a sudden mass of motion as they both leveled their cleavers at each other, synchronized clicks as they both slid their cleaver handles forward. "Put down the cleaver, Rainbow. I don't want trouble." Silver said, her aim steady. "You KILLED my friends! I'm not going to let you get away with it." Rainbow growled. "If you were in my position-" "I WOULD'VE DIED TRYING TO PROTECT THEM!!" Rainbow screamed. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HARD I WAS TRYING IN THAT OTHER REALITY!!?? EVERYTHING I DID, WAS FOR THEIR GOOD!! I WAS TRYING TO KEEP THEM FROM HARM- AND ALL IT TOOK, WAS ONE LITTLE PIECE OF PATHETIC DROPPING LIKE YOU TO RUIN EVERYTHING!!!!" She yelled, her voice tearing through the silence. Silver didn't say anything as Rainbow tried to catch her breath. "Don't say it like I don't regret it." She whispered, narrowing her eyes. "I do. And it haunts me." "Then prove it. Put down your cleaver." Rainbow said, her aim a little shaky. But she still wouldn't miss. "I don't plan to until you put down yours." Silver snarled. "Put, down, your cleaver." Rainbow growled. "Not gonna happen." Silver said, her hoof tightening around the trigger. They were meters away- any hitting shot would be lethal. "PUT DOWN YOUR CLEAVER!!" Rainbow yelled. "I'M WARNING YOU THIS ONE TIME!!" "NEVER!!" Silver yelled back, and two bright muzzle flashes seared through the darkness, creating a dark crack between the two former friends that will separate them forever. Alternate ending: "It's not time for your shift just yet, Rainbow." She said, looking up at the sky. "I'm not here because of that." Rainbow said. "Can't sleep? Because the view here is quite lovely." Silver said. "I'm not here for that either. I'm here to ask you a question." Rainbow narrowed her eyes so they focused on Silver. "A question? You're me, and I am you- what is it that I know and you don't?" "If the answer to this question is yes... Then... Don't ever associate yourself with me. I won't accept it- because you are NOTHING like me." Rainbow said, almost with a snarl. "I think I know the question..." Silver sighed, her hooves slipping into her coat pockets and her silver mane shining under the moonlight. "And I will answer it truthfully. Once you know to ask the question, I don't think there's any point in hiding it." "Silver...." Rainbow lowered her head, the edge of her hat casting a shadow over her eyes. "Were you the one who drank that last bottle of cider I kept hidden in the back of the car?" "Yeah..." Silver sighed sheepishly. "I'm sorry. It was me." She said, and heard a loud click behind her as Rainbow deployed her cleaver.