By morning, the storm clouds had cleared enough to allow the light of sunrise to pierce through and illuminate the grisly details of Lerris' fate. This was the scene that awaited the Noble Jury when it at last arrived, gliding swiftly down the sloping west faces of the mountain range. It coasted over the collapsed rooftops and corpse-ridden streets, plowing through the plumes of smoke that still lingered all across the pillaged dwelling.
When it was still meters above the ground, the hangar doors at the stern opened. Two figures hopped down, landing above all the rest. Eagle Eye stood up, panting heavily as he glanced every which way with wide eyes. Roarke squatted beside him, her body rigged with her tailor-made metal braces.
"Bellesmith?!" Eagle Eye hollered. His voice echoed against the devastation, and he panted heavier and heavier upon each dead, burnt figure that he spotted. "Pilate! Kera!"
Roarke's eye-lenses pistoned in and out constantly as they surveyed the death and carnage. With a cold breath, she muttered, "The battle's long over."
"Don't you say that! Belle!" Eagle Eye hollered, limping down a bloodstained street. He fought back the urge to whimper and yelled towards the gray heavens. "Rainbow Dash! Please tell me you're there! It's Eagle Eye! The Jury's here! Tell us where you are!"
The skystone ship touched down. Josho rushed out, manarifle levitating by his shoulder. He stumbled to a stop, jaw dropped as he took in the desolation all around. "Spark almighty..."
Ebon Mane, Props, Zaid, and even Floydien trotted out last. Props gasped, holding two hooves over her quivering muzzle while Ebon rested a limb on her shoulder. Floydien stared with thin red eyes while Zaid trotted out into the mud with a neutral expression. The former cultist strolled over to a buildingside where he gently nudged a rain-drenched corpse. He turned and looked helplessly towards the others.
Roarke sighed. She turned and spoke calmly, "We should fan out. Groups of two. Comb the wreckage."
Eagle Eye dropped his sword and shield into the mud. By the time he turned around, his face was wrenched in a sob. He was about to say something when—
A lone cry from the distance.
Ebon's ears twitched. He and Props turned to look, their eyes glossy. "Did... did you ponies hear...?"
Again, the cry lifted against the moist morning winds.
Roarke's brow furrowed while Eagle Eye gasped.
"Striped boomer's beloved..." Floydien murmured.
Eagle Eye trotted towards the sound. He began galloping. Mud splashed from his hooves, and soon Josho and Roarke were joining the sprint. They rounded the crest of a hill, and there they found three figures sitting—deflated—against the earth, right between two wooden beams stuck in the mud.
"Belle!" Eagle Eye stammered, tears streaming down his face. "Belle!" He slid to a stop and nuzzled her, hugging her as tightly as he can as he cast a breathless look at the stallion lying dormant in her lap. "Thank the Sp-Spark you're alive!" He gulped. "Pilate... is... is he...?"
"He's unconscious," Belle said. "O.A.S.I.S. is shattered. It sent a terrible feedback through his body, but..." She gulped. "I-I think he's going to pull through."
"And the filly," Josho asked, nodding towards Kera as the rest of the Jury ran up the rear. "What about her?"
"Kera..." Belle looked over, sniffling. "Kera's... she's..." Her face melted as tears streamed down her bloodied cheek. "Blessed Spark, I-I don't know..." She sobbed as she stroked Pilate's mane. "She h-hasn't said a word... she d-doesn't even look at m-me..."
Zaid trotted over to Kera, squatting down to squint at her face. When he got no reaction, he gave the filly's shoulder a little shake. The foal shivered, but nothing more. Biting his lip, the stallion looked at the others before enfolding the filly into a dear hug. The foal limply oblidged, collapsing against Zaid's chest.
Belle buried her face in Eagle's shoulder. "He... h-he made her see everything." He gulped. "Every throat he slit. Every house he burned. Every... every f-foal he strangled. Oh Spark..." She wailed. "Spark alive... he took her from us... he took our darling Kera..." Her next breaths came in indecipherable sobs.
Roarke stared at the filly in Zaid's embrace. For the first time in ages, her ears folded back, and the metal mare plopped down on her haunches.
Josho saw it. Nevertheless, he wrenched his gaze away from her and spoke towards Belle. "What about Rainbow Dash?" The mare was too distraught to answer. "Bellesmith, did you see Rainbow Dash? Do you know what happened to—"
"Guys!" Props squeaked.
Everypony looked up, including Belle.
A lone blue figure limped towards the scene, dragging something along with her. Her feathers and coat were covered with all manners of scrapes and bruises and lacerations.
"Rainbow Dash!" Ebon gasped.
He and Josho rushed towards her. When they came within a meter's distance, she stopped—and they stopped. The pegasus had her head hanging low.
Ebon bit his lip and looked at the obese stallion beside him.
Only Josho had the strength to ask: "Enforcer Shell." His eyes narrowed. "Did you run into him?"
Rainbow was silent.
"Rainbow, it may be too late for the village, but you need to tell us. What happened... to...?"
Josho stopped speaking, for the pegasus had just dropped a sharp stake to the ground. Its pointed end glistened with fresh red blood.
Belle blinked from afar, shivering in Eagle's arms. Both ponies flinched when Rainbow finally spoke.
"Y'know... for all the horrible mistakes that he made..." Rainbow Dash looked up, and a tear rolled down to her quivering lips. "He was right about one thing."
Josho and Ebon stared in silence.
Rainbow sniffled only once. She blinked her eyes dry and limped over to Belle and Pilate. There, she squatted beside them, joining the embrace with Eagle Eye as quiet sobs lit the air.
Zaid held Kera tighter, rocking her gently while smoke drifted over the deathly tranquil cemetery that Lerris had become.