Roarke sat with her back to the east, facing the sunset. The reddening bands casted bright glints off the edges of her brass lenses. As her mane's ringlets clattered in the breeze, a sigh escaped her nostrils. Gone was the tightness in her usually-helmeted face. Everything was soft, sad, and silent.
"You'll go blind staring into it," a voice cracked from above her with a flap of wings.
And just like that, Roarke's jaw tightened immediately. "The sun doesn't mean the same to you as it does to me, genius."
"Still..." Rainbow Dash touched down. "No reason to hurt yourself."
"I'm fine..." Roarke grumbled. "Everypony's fine. There's nothing to hurt."
"There always is, y'know."
"Always what?"
"Something to hurt."
"Pfft. That your friggin' motto or something?"
"Actually, it's the total opposite," Rainbow Dash said. "But I never believed it for the longest time."
"Heh. So you admit it. You're a softie."
"The same softie who beat you to a pulp in the middle of a bombarded forest."
"Ungh... Don't remind me."
"Do I even have to?"
Roarke's ears twitched. "Hrmmmff..." She tightened her folded hooves beneath her armored body. "I'm not exactly 'talkative' material right now."
"Now, I don't believe that for a second."
"Why's that?" Roarke grunted.
"Because you haven't told me to buzz off yet," Rainbow Dash said. "Or flown away."
The metal mare was silent.
Rainbow Dash sighed and squatted down beside her. "The Xonans and the Aurumites have... uh... talked the 'talk.' On top of that, everything's all packed up inside the Noble Jury."
"Everypony's rip-roarin' and ready to go, huh?" Roarke droned.
"Uh... yeah. Pretty much."
"Good for you," she muttered. "You should ditch this place for all it's worth."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"Who are you mad at the most, me or yourself?"
"For what?"
"For saving my sorry flank back there in the canyon three days ago."
"Why do you ask?"
Rainbow Dash shuddered. "Because you're starting to sound exactly like her."
Roarke winced. She hung her head, gazing into the sparse grass along the cliffside.
Rainbow Dash said nothing for a while.
The two sat there, staring at the melting horizon, as if it told the tale of all the battles and carnage that had ever burned in the fields beyond the ravine: a continent full of facist lunatics and ignorant souls.
"I used to hate this..." the pegasus eventually muttered.
"What, the silence?"
"No." Rainbow Dash leaned her muzzle down over her crossed limbs. The tips of her hooves toyed lightly with her ruby lightning pendant. "The sunset."
"Pfft. What's the difference between it and the sunrise?" Roarke glanced towards her. "Aside from you wanting to hurl yourself like a stupid missile towards one of them?"
"Because the sunset was something that I always—like—attached to the past... to a pony I was once dense enough to hate..." Rainbow sighed again. "It was all about regret and guilt too, I guess. The day goes dark, and it's like all the awesomeness is sucked out of the sky. I know lots of ponies where I grew up who would spout all sorts of pretty poetry and junk about how nifty the night would be. Aside from one spectacular princess, I can't think of anything about the night that I appreciate, cuz it feels like the day has lost in the end, y'know?" She gulped. "There's nothing I hate more than losing..."
"Really?" Roarke droned. "Why does that not surprise me?"
"I think you're a pony who hates losing too." Rainbow Dash threw her a thin smile. "So, like, it pains me to see you sitting here all lonesome and stiff and crap."
"Well, then, what in Searo's uterus are you doing here, then?"
"Because you know how much that glowy book thing is giving me a migraine," Rainbow Dash grumbled. "Really, I swear, they'd better fix that crap or this is gonna be a very short trip..."
"For real, Rainbow..."
Rainbow Dash fidgeted with her pendant, sighed, and let it go. "Because... I-I wanna know if you're coming with or not..."
Roarke glanced at her. "With you, you mean...?" Her lenses pistoned slowly in and out. "On board the Noble Jury..."
"Uhhh... yeah." Rainbow Dash gulped. "I think you could use our help as much you need ours."
"Is that all?"
"And... I think you could stand to win something in your life for a change."
Roarke's face was flat. With a cold exhale, she glanced towards the setting sun again. "Ever since you kicked my flank in Foxtaur..."
"Er... yeah...?"
"I've been banged up. I've had my manaship destroyed. I've lost money, metal, and a shot at the local matriarchy. I've gone rogue from the only ponies who respected me and become an enemy to the only ponies who were willing to pay for me."
"Eh..." Rainbow Dash's whole face winced. "Eheheh... uh huh..."
"So, you tell me, Miss Equestria..." Roarke glared at her, or at least as much as could be afforded by a scowl over her lenses. "How exactly is hanging out with you winning?"
"Would you... uh... rather be where you were before?"
Roarke was silent.
"With, y'know, metal 'sisters' at every corner, waiting to stab you in the back? Or at least throw you under Lady Porcupine's bus?"
"'Pestiferous.'"
"Whatever. Skull Face the Re-Ovaring. She got what she deserved in the end. Now how about you?"
"I just want some peace and quiet to think..."
"I'm sure we can give you that!" Rainbow Dash said with a bright smile. "While we're crossing a lake or sea, we're bound to hit some quiet spots!"
"Listen, why are you bugging me so hard about this?!" Roarke growled. "Why am I so important to heave along on your quest into oblivion?"
Rainbow Dash's ears folded back. Her lips quivered, and she gulped hard before saying, "Because... I-I need to know that... th-that I did everything that I could to save the lives of the ponies I care about." She shuddered before saying breathily, "And I don't think I've exactly done that..."
Roarke gazed quietly past the clifface.
Rainbow had to keep from whimpering. "Tell me... did she at least know what she was doing? Did she actually expect to... to talk some sense into him?"
Roarke droned, "Are we being bombarded by Ledomaritan ordinance this very second?"
Rainbow Dash blinked. "Uh... no?"
"Well, there you have it," Roarke said glibly. "She talked some sense into him."
"But this is Shell that we're talking about!" Rainbow Dash stood up and started pacing. "He's nuts! A hardcase! A psychopath!"
"Rainbow..."
"I don't think even his own daughter would have talked him out of trying to burn this whole continent down! It doesn't make any sense..."
"Could you at least sit still? You're rattling me straight through to my rivets—"
"Did you know?!" Rainbow Dash flashed her a frown. "At least tell me that!" She stomped a hoof. "Did you friggin' know that they were related?"
Roarke actually leaned away from her as she stammered, "I-I... I knew things, Rainbow... at least as much as she was willing to tell me."
Rainbow stood there, fuming at nopony in particular except maybe herself.
Roarke then said, "But I also knew that dragging Imre out of the Xonan lion's den wasn't going to do jack when I first met her. She was a pony who couldn't be saved, unless she so chose it herself. So, I gave her another opportunity to step up to plate. I brought her to Searo's Hold. And—well—you know the rest. She simply settled for what she had. I could have hoisted her to the burning rims of the north or south, and still she wouldn't have changed a single thing about herself... about her regret over the past."
"Is that what she finally did, then?" Rainbow Dash asked with a vulnerable voice. "Did Imre change... like... for us?"
Roarke opened her mouth... but lingered.
Rainbow stood before her, breathless.
Eventually, Roarke blurted, "Yes. I... I think she finally changed, Rainbow."
The pegasus' feathers drooped. She exhaled heavily, plopping down on her haunches. "I really do hope so. I've never known a pony so stubborn. All I wanted was for her to break the ice around herself and just be happy, y'know? She's so talented... so gifted..."
"Yes. I... I'm sure she'll be in a better place now..." Roarke gulped, staring into the horizon. "Thanks to you."
"It's not too late for you either, Roarke," Rainbow Dash said with a smile. "I mean, after Searo's Hold imploded and all, you were wanting to get away from it all, weren't you? Well... why don't you let us do that for you? Hitch a ride with us. I'm sure there'll be plenty of pit stops along the way to... er.... 'oil' a metal mare like you up."
To this, Roarke leaned back, rubbing the hydraulic ports along her chin with a metal hoof. "Hmmm..."
"'Hmmmmmm' what?"
"Well, you've got a bunch of floozies in your party," she droned. "Not to mention one or two who are simply vain nerds waiting to be smacked silly."
Rainbow sighed. "Uh huh..."
"And you do owe me a very expensive and very hard to build manaship."
Rainbow sighed even harder. "Uh huh..."
"But, then again, with you on board..." Roarke shrugged, facing the burning horizon again. "It's gonna be a crowded ship."
The pegasus squinted at that. "The fuzz do you mean by that?"
"You think a crowd that small could handle two flank kicking ponies like us?"
Rainbow Dash smirked. "You think tey'd have a choice?"
"Heh..." Roarke actually chuckled. "For once, I like your attitude."
"So come onnnnn..." Rainbow hopped up and down, her tail flicking. "What's the hold up? Say you're gonna come with?"
"I... I can't friggin' give you an answer that quickly," Roarke said.
"Ungh! Why not?"
"Because..." Roarke's nostrils flared. "All the smart things I ever did, all the stuff that made me 'Roarke Most Rare,' I did on my own."
"So...?"
"So, it stands to reason that maybe my path should remain just as solitary."
"Girl, buck reason!"
"Buh?"
"No, buck!" Rainbow Dash kicked at the air while smirking. "Like the stuff you do to Ledomaritan buttheads who need to know their place! Or underground monsters who wanna munch on you for a snack! Or rows upon rows of boring apple trees that need to..." She winced as she allowed the words to trail off. She slowly plopped her rear legs to the ground and sighed.
Roarke raised an eyebrow at that.
"Look..." Rainbow Dash glanced sadly at Roarke. "There was a time when I thought I was too cool for friendship. I just wanted to be my own mare... to be a legend... to be awesome." She gulped. "But then I realized that there was no point in being so wickedly cool if there weren't any ponies around to witness and say how true it was. So, like, I allowed myself to make friends—as many as I could comfortably afford at the time. Heh... Boy, did I get addicted to being buddy buddy with other equines..."
Roarke gazed at her. "It didn't last forever, did it?" she murmured.
Rainbow Dash blinked, her face taking on a painful twitch. "It... it didn't, no..." Expressions of confusion and shock conflicted with one another. "Funny... How long have I been flying around like an idiot for? Eight months? Nine? I was out for most of them, but still, it feels like forever." She glanced wistfully towards the west, her eyes melting with the sunset. "I... I only knew the gals for barely a year. I mean... that's only how long the bunch of us really, truly hung out."
Roarke glanced at the sunset, then back at Rainbow Dash.
"Crazy..." Rainbow Dash's whole body sagged as she bowed towards the dying light. "I wonder if it'll feel weirder as time goes by, if I actually get to live that long." She gulped. "And yet, those twelve months were the most important days of my life. And... and th-they're all gone now..."
A shadow crossed over her. Rainbow Dash looked up towards the sunset.
Roarke was standing in the way. "How do you measure time, exactly? What's awesome is awesome. If your old friends were still around, I'm sure they would proud of you."
Rainbow blinked. A tiny smile blossomed, accompanied by a light flutter of wings. "Yeah... h-hey, yeah. No doubt about it!" She clenched her eyes with an ecstatic grin. After a blink, she opened her crossed-eyes, then squinted at Roarke. "Wait, did you just totally say something nice to me?"
Roarke lurched back as if being dealt a punch to the muzzle. "Uhhmm..." In the penumbra of the broken sunset, her brown cheeks looked slightly rosy.
"There she is!" Kera's voice rasped over the eastern slope of the hilltop. The little foal hopped up and down as a lavender shape limped up to join her. "I toldja! I toldja she was up here!"
"Wow..." Eagle Eye blinked, followed shortly by Bellesmith leading Pilate. "You were right!"
"Heh! And everypony thought you had the good eyesight!"
"Well, you obviously have the most fabulous mane, so it balances out."
"Heeheehee—Yeah—Hey!." Kera frowned and kicked his fetlock.
Eagle Eye barely jolted. "Sorry, girl, but you gotta try harder. I'm too strong for that." He smiled... then smiled some more. With a belated twitch, the corner of his eyes watered.
"Ha!" Kera pointed and prepared to kick again.
"Kera, darling..." Bellesmith patted her outstretched leg as she and Pilate trotted by. "No kicking the cute ponies."
"Awwwwww."
Eagle Eye raspberried at her, only to receive a flung clump of grass. "Gaskkkh! Pllbfft! Plffbbt!" Kera chuckled again.
"Rainbow Dash?" Pilate spoke into the advent of twilight.
"Right here, Stripsey."
"Haven't we grown past that, Rainbow? Seriously..."
"Seriously, Pilate! Seriously!" Rainbow Dash reached over and ruffled his mohawk. "You're the most serious zebra that I know! At least you don't rhyme. Ha!"
"I... give up..." Pilate shrugged.
Belle did a double-take. "My stars! I think that's a first from you, beloved!"
"Eh..." Pilate smiled crookedly. "Show biz."
"Did you both climb Mount Awesome to bequeath me something important?" Rainbow asked.
"Ebon Mane has prepared a traditional Xonan meal for the families, and we thought you might want to join us for our last dinner in Aurum."
"How... uh... how did he get the makings for something Xonan?."
"Oh... he improvised," Bellesmith said with a smile. Then her ears went flat. "With a buckload of crystalline nuggets."
"Ah, I guess Tweak is taking the first bite."
"You're welcome to come take the last." Belle pointed at the pegasus' belly. "With how fast your wings were first to recuperate, there's no telling what kind of an effect it could have had on your metabolism."
"Whoah whoah whoah!" Rainbow Dash waved her forelimbs. "Watch where you point your hoof, Dr. Mom! You're supposed to be mothering that tattooed little shrimp over there! Not me!"
"Very funny, Rainbow Dash," Kera grunted.
"I know." Rainbow rolled her ruby eyes. "Shrimps with tattooes. They'd sooooo go for body piercings instead!"
Kera giggled.
"She likes your sense of humor," Pilate droned.
"Yes." Eagle Eye smiled. "Spark help us all."
"Well, somepony's gotta!" Rainbow Dash trotted into the middle of the group. "Celestia knows I don't!"
"Hahahaha... awwww..." Bellesmith leaned in and nuzzled the pegasus. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Rainbow. We're your friends."
"Heheheh... Yup. Yes, I know..."
As the group chuckled and gathered around the sapphiric sight in the middle of them, Roarke stood on the fringes, staring. Her mouth hung agape as she tilted her face to the side with a thoughtful expression.
At last, just as her tongue was starting to dry up, she swallowed and said, "Yes."
Rainbow Dash turned around as the rest of the group went silent. The horizon behind them was as dark as charcoal, but was just now starting to brim with stars. It was enough that the night felt lit up by Rainbow's mane alone.
"Whazzat?" the pegasus in question muttered.
Roarke took a deep breath. "I said 'yes,' ya smoke-brained Noble Jurists. I'm willing to join your little trek."
Pilate tilted towards Belle with a curious expression. Belle shrugged.
"Well, Luna poop..." Rainbow shrugged. "Sounds fine by me. After all, you can never have too many warriors in the party."
With a wave of the hoof, she motioned Roarke along. The metal mare hesitated at first, but ultimately stumbled down along with the group, heading towards an assortment of gathered tables between the farm house and the Noble Jury below. All the while, Kera hopped and hopped, telekinetically toying with the ringlets of Roarke's mane while Eagle Eye let loose a good-natured giggle.
"This calls for an awesome story... y'know... to celebrate?" Rainbow Dash brought a hoof around Belle's shoulder as she happily thundered, "Did I ever tell you guys about these really, really stupid minotaurs...?"