//------------------------------//
// Take It Or Leave It 
// Story: Urohringr 
// by Imploding Colon 
//------------------------------//

	"Focus... focus..."  Roarke paced around the petite mare before the southern clifface.  Several tiny rocks levitated between them, all covered in a glittering translucence that matched the green aura emanating from the filly's horn.  "Don't lose your grip.  Not even for an instance."

"Heh... that's some tough talk," Kera said with a smirk.  She licked her lips and caused the pebbles to spin around them both.  "Coming from a not-unicorn such as yourself."

"And you expect Dr. Bellesmith to treat you any better?"

"Why don't you just call her 'Belle' at this point?"

"You're not concentrating."

"Pffft.  Like it's making a difference!"  Kera grinned.  "I'm rocking these... rocks!  Heehee!"

"You're too confident.  Arrogance can prove to be your undoing.  No need to turn this lesson into your veritable swan song."

"H-huh?"

Roarke stood above her.  "I think I've tested enough of my weapons for the time being."  Her lenses pistoned outward.  "How about you get some practice out of the way instead."

FWOOSH.

Without warning, a dozen rockets launched from Roarke's suit and screamed towards Kera.

Kera yelped in surprise and instinctively lashed out with her telekinesis. The ensuing whip of energy lanced across the oncoming missiles, deflecting them over Roarke's stoic figure. Roarke didn't even flinch as they detonated across the cliff-face behind her with a deafening roar.

As the noise faded and the dust settled, Kera managed to recover enough from her shock to speak.

"H-Holy poopstains, Roarke!" Kera snarled angrily. "What the hay was that for?!"

A moment of silence passed with no answer, before several multi-pod rocket launchers extended from Roarke's sides with a loud whirring of gears. As they fell into place, Roarke responded with only one word:

"Practice."

And two dozen ribbons of multi-hued smoke trailed the next salvo of missiles as they arced their way inexorably towards the filly, roasting her alive.

"...Kera!"





"Kera?  Kera!"

"Nnnngh—guh..."  The filly's emerald eyes flashed open.  "Huh?"

Before her, a heavy boulder five times the foal's size was floating in a field of green translucence.  Roarke trotted into view, her eye-lenses narrowing on the child.

"You have to concentrate.  Just what were you thinking about just now?" Roarke asked.

"Rrright..."  Kera gritted her teeth as bulbs of sweat collected across her tattooed brow.  "That this thing weighs a ton!"

"Do not pretend that this is out of your element."  Roarke casually shoved the boulder with her hoof, causing the thing to twirl in the air, making Kera's levitation act all the more difficult.  "From what Bellesmith has said, you've handled far more challenging spells while in hiding with both her and Phoenix."

"Yeah, well... grnngh... th-that was... a while ago," Kera's voice cracked.  The boulder wobbled more in midair.  "Couldn't we—I dunno—let me spin around some smaller rocks instead?  My head hurts..."

"Kera, do you or do you not wish to improve your unicorn prowess?"

"I-I do!  But—"

"Then you need to push yourself harder," Roarke said firmly.  "You have what it takes to do ten times that which you're tackling right now.  I have full confidence in this."

"I don't think I can—"

"The filly who warded off a flock of undead pegasi is inside you still," Roarke said.  "You single-hoofedly saved the Noble Jury in a burst of righteous fury.  Somewhere, that filly is waiting to show herself.  Together, we are going to find her."

Kera trembled slightly.  "I... I-I'm not sure that I want to... to..."

"Shhhhh..."  Roarke stood over Kera.  "Concentrate.  This is child's play.  You could shatter this mountainside if you truly wanted to."

Kera sighed.  Closing her eyes, she tried relaxing her muscles.  Slowly—with gradual strength—the boulder lifted higher and higher.

"Good... good... keep focusing, Kera..."





"How exactly do you do that?"

"Hmmm?"  Eagle Eye tilted his head aside.

Ebon pointed at the severed blades of grass flying in complex, intersecting figure-eights before them.  "How do you make them move in such whild yet beautiful patterns?"

"Oh... uhm..."  Eagle Eye glanced down at his hooves. He was in the process of plucking more blades of grass from the ground and tossing them into the telekinetic field before them.  With a smirk, he shrugged and nestled deeper into the large roots of a tree where he and Ebon were lying side by side.  "The key is not to think about it so much."

"Oh yeah?"

"It's all about being in a relaxed state," Eagle said.  The blades of grass orbited the two stallions' heads.  "Not fretting too much, y'know?"

"I see..."  Ebon sighed gently, leaning his head against the ex-mercenary's shoulder.  He produced a tired smile.  "And are you... relaxed right now?"

"If by 'relaxed' you mean 'happy,' then sure."  Eagle smiled.  He tilted his horn forward and "blasted" the levitating pieces of vegetation, sending them into a wild flight over the rippling pond just a few feet away.  The tiny waterfall kept trickling into that end of the basin, causing a misty rainbow to appear in the noonday sunlight.  "It's very tranquil here.  Almost reminds me of—"

"Lemme guess..."  Ebon smirked.  "Foxtaur."

"A little bit, yeah."  Eagle nodded.  "But, all things considered, Foxtaur wasn't a place where I should have been even remotely relaxed."

"Why not?" Ebon asked.  "You were safe from the eyes and ears of Queen Ledo.  At least at first."

"Yes, but we were still AWOL soldiers, and despite how righteous we may or may not have been in our reasons to desert Ledomare, we were still wanted stallions, which kept us constantly just a sneeze away from being caught and executed."

"Yeesh.  When you put it like that, it must have been unbearably stressful."

"And yet, it wasn't.  For a few months there, everything was... as peaceful as could be," Eagle murmured.  "I wasn't on the Xonan front, so I didn't have to deal with random orders to kill civillians.  And I wasn't in Franzington, so I didn't have to deal with my family's cold distaste for who I was."

"I'm... very sorry that you had to deal with such terrible things, Eagle," Ebon said.  "At no fault of your own."

Eagle shrugged.  "I had to come to terms with a lot of major stuff in life, for sure, but I was still... y'know... overall happy."  He turned towards Ebon.  "In the end, it all comes down to who you choose to spend your time with.  In Foxtaur, I had Phoenix and Zenith..."  He gulped.  "And Crimson.  Sometimes they were pretty rough to handle, but..."  He smiled calmly.  "I had no doubt whatsoever that they cared for me... and for my well-being."

Ebon gazed towards the pond waters.  "You must have been very happy with them."  A lavender hoof tilted his face until he was gazing into Eagle's eyes.

"Not as happy as I am now," Eagle softly said.

Ebon bit his lip, his eyes glistening slightly.  He leaned forward, nuzzling his head just beneath Eagle's chin.  The unicorn wrapped a hoof around the stallion's shoulder and held him close.  For the time being, Ebon's mane had a very pungent... very real scent to it.  Eagle concentrated on it, and it steadied his lungs so that he didn't sob as he embraced the stallion dearly.





"And these Elements of Harmony..."  A Gray Feather squinted Rainbow's way from where he hovered in mid-air.  "...you were one of them?"

"Oh.  Yes.  Still am, I guess you could say," Rainbow said.  She, Fawful, and a train of elders were slowly orbiting the lower stalk of the tower.  Young pegasi zipped back and forth above and below them, curiously glancing at the group as they congregated around the fluttering outsider.  "Together, the six of us embodied all that was snazzy and good about peace.  It came with some pretty cool fireworks too... heh.  More than once, we had to combine our powers to stop evil things from taking over the Kingdom of Equestria."

"Was there some sort of process by which the half-dozen of you were selected to possess these Elements?" another elder inquired.  "It seems quite bold of Celestique and Elune to relinquish such power to ordinary citizens."

"Celestia and Luna."

"My apologies."

Rainbow giggled.  "It's perfectly fine!  And, no, there wasn't a big process, per se.  In truth, I never thought all that much about it, but it's kinda like we were all destined to become bearers of the Elements.  We found out almost by accident, and it only made sense once we perceived how we all gelled together as friends..."

"Upon the arrival of this 'Twilight Sparkle' to your life," Fawful said with a smile.

Rainbow exhaled, smiling faintly.  "Yeah... it pretty m-much... all revolved around her."  She gulped.  "And she was Princess Celestia's well-trained student, so... there's that..."

"Sounds remarkable," a stallion said.  "Instead of your First-Borns becoming elders, it seems as if you only relied on two."

"And these princesses formed a Matriarchy," a mare said.  "Even more interesting.  Tell me—did these elders have heirs?"

"Not... exactly..."  Rainbow stammered.  "I'm pretty sure they had every intention of ruling and governing Equestria for a long... long time..."

"Well, surely they had to pass the torch onto somepony else in the not too distant future," an elder remarked.  "Nopony lives forever."

Rainbow fidgeted in midair.

Fawful cleared her throat.  "This has been very... very informative," Fawful said.  "However, seeing as Second Light has come and gone, and we've chosen to ignore the call to feast—might I suggest we take a break to compose ourselves?  I'm certain Rainbow Dash would enjoy the respite as well."

"Oh... uhm... sure..."

"Very well, Fawful," a mare said, bowing in mid-air.  "We shall reconvene later."

"You were right about the fresh air, child," a stallion said, floating by Rainbow Dash with a wrinkly smile.  "It's served us well to meditate on your words, though I don't know why you would find them so troubling."

"Eheheh... hey..."  Rainbow shrugged.  "Wasn't sure how much of Equestrian business you could easily swallow..."

"Please, elders, enjoy your rest," Fawful said.  "I'll make sure that Rainbow Dash is given all of the ammenities she deserves."

"Very well, Fawful."  A few elders bowed, turned, and floated towards the lower platform below.

Rainbow took a deep breath.  "You know, for a while there, I was a teensy bit intimidated.  But they're all cool.  Really.  They're like a bunch of Sivrem's and Kitsune's only with their manes all dyed."  Rainbow chuckled dryly.  "And here I was expecting a room full of Jerrio's.  Heheheh—"

"Rainbow, my little pony..."  Fawful turned and calmly gazed at the mare.  "I know you are hiding something."

Rainbow instantly clammed up.

But Fawful bore a gentle smile.  "Please.  Don't be afraid.  It's more than obvious that you're anxious about opening up to the other elders, but you need not hide anything from me."

"Who's... h-hiding...?"

"When you speak of Equestria..."  Fawful's red eyes narrowed.  "When you speak of your elders—the Princesses—you are leaving something out... something you're terribly afraid to share for some reason."

Rainbow simply bit her lip.

"Heheh..."  Fawful brushed her white bangs back.  "If you must know, Rainbow, the true reason I was chosen to be your direct contact here in Central D is because I am one of the youngest of the Gray Feathers.  I haven't lived so long in personal isolation and constant meditation—not like the others.  So, in many respects, I truly am like a Sivrem or a Kitsune.  The rest of the elders anticipated this—just as they anticipated that whatever you may have to share wtih me... the truth that you have to share with me could be quite eye-opening.  Please, Rainbow, you needn't fear shocking me like the others."

Rainbow stared steadily at Fawful, gulping.  Eventually she spoke in a dry, raspy voice, "It's not so much about shocking... but it's about re-inventing.  Fawful... I..."

"Do you truly believe that you are here completely by accident?"

"Huh?"

"You with your flying silver and your natural-born mane colors that match the description of the Valkyrie to a T?"

Rainbow Dash was at a loss for words.

Fawful flew in closer, speaking in a softer tone that only the two of them could hear.  "There is a very special reason for the Gray Feathers' existence.  Our lives serve a purpose that none of the second, third, and fourth-borns partake in.  We are protectors of the scrolls.  But we don't preserve just the scrolls' sanctity... but we also preserve their secrets... secrets that could be very alarming to the ponies who have sworn their very lives to honoring the Valkyrie's legacy."

"What... k-kind of secrets?" Rainbow's voice cracked.

"Truths that have mystified and perplexed us for generations," Fawful said.  "So that many Gray Feathers have been forced to take their enigmas with them to their graves."  She took a deep breath.  "I am hoping... all of us are hoping that a pony like you might be a sign..."

"A sign of what?"

"Illumination."

Rainbow bit her lip.  She glanced over her shoulders, then looked back at the mare.  "Fawful, what if I was to tell you that... not only do I know who and what the Valkyrie was... but I also can tell you things you've never known about the Light From Above?"

Fawful merely gazed at her.

Rainbow sighed, face-hoofing.  "Nnnngh... who am I even kidding?  Nopony would believe me."  She gulped.  "I don't blame 'em."

"Hmmm..."  Fawful smiled gently.  "Then perhaps a test is in order."  She twirled about and glided earthward.  "Follow me."

"Huh?"  Rainbow blinked, then trailed after her.  "Where are we going?"

"To show you the Gold Lights," Fawful said.

Rainbow's eyes bulged.  "Wh-what?!  But... but I thought you guys said—"

"Rainbow, this is something that I was personally tasked with doing," Fawful said.  "And if my assumption is correct, then this is a necessary step that we must take.  Do not worry—it is all for the best."  She glanced over her shoulder.  "Besides, do not pretend that you are completely devoid of curiosity yourself."

"Heh... girl, you may not be an 'elder' but you've got the whole 'wisdom' schtick down pat."  Rainbow nodded her head.  "Light the way—er... you know what I mean."