//------------------------------// // Val Roa Forsakes, Noble Jury Protects // Story: Yaerfaerda // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// “Roarke?!” The metal mare sat, squatting, in the middle of the engine room. Her thin blue eyes reflected the lavender glow of the tome within its iron cage. Booster Spice stuck his head in further from navigation. “Roarke? There's something you may wanna see here!” The mare glanced over, blinking. With a firm breath she stood up, shook her metal-plugged joints loose, and briskly trotted after the stallion as he led her towards the front of the ship. Booster Spice climbed up into the cockpit and Roarke followed after. They both stood up behind the piloting chair. “What is it?” Roarke asked. Zaid pointed straight ahead through the windshield. “Check it out for yourself.” Roarke squinted. Lying ahead of them, south of the mountains that hugged the edge of the Val Roan central plain, stretched long arid fields of sparse vegetation and dry brush. This far east, the land had transformed into a veritable desert, but the desolation was nothing near the scope to match that of the Grand Choke's legendary descriptions. But that wasn't what Roarke noticed first-hoof. In several random patches, flames could be seen, spitting smoke and ash into the air. The closer that the Noble Jury hovered, it became obvious that towns were burning, each in a smoldering patch. Bodies below trotted hurriedly between buildings, gathering wagons and piling up loot and storage. “Are they under attack?” Roarke asked. “Looks like it!” Booster exclaimed. Roarke clenched her teeth. “Green Bandits?” “Not sure, but I wouldn't doubt it.” “Is it go time?” Zaid asked, gripping the controls. “Please tell me that it's go time.” “It looks like we're too late to stop what's happened here,” Roarke said. “But we can still stop it, right?” Booster Spice asked. “Highly unlikely.” Roarke shook her head. “But we can definitely inflict much pain upon the attacking party.” “So, why won't we try to stop it?!” Booster exclaimed. “I didn't say we wouldn't.” Roarke's nostrils flared as she turned to the stallion. “Go fetch Eagle Eye and Josho. I'm taking the Lounge transport. You and Zaid follow up.” “Yes, ma'am!” Booster scurried back down the passageway. “Get Props prepared!” Roarke shouted as she opened the doorway to the top deck. “Have Pilate and Belle ready for backup!” “Can't you at least say 'Go time' though?!” Zaid sputtered. “Rainbow Dash isn't here.” Roarke paused to glare back at him. “When she is... then we can do with the pointless catch phrases!” “Awwwwww.” “Keep the Jury in a low flight!” Roarke pointed before galloping out. “Whatever you do, follow my lead!” Shooooooooom! Whizzball descended on a cluster of buildings still spitting ash and flame. Several zebras looked up, gasping. They dropped what they were doing and hid behind their wagon trains. The black sphere reflected rows upon rows of bright fires as they sent smoke into the heavens. Not long after landing, the side doors hissed open. Roarke glided out, fully-armored. Eagle Eye and Josho galloped tightly behind her, weapons drawn. “Stop right there!” Roarke shouted through her crackling helmet. She held a hoof up with a fetlock-mounted mini rocket. “Drop your weapons! All of you!” “There is no attack... There is no attack!” one zebra shouted. “Roarke...” Eagle Eye murmured. He leaned in, wincing at the smoke and devastation. “Put your stuff away, for real.” He gulped. “I think whatever happened here happened a long time ago.” “Yeah...” Josho nodded, clutching his shotgun. “Something's off about this.” “Please... we s-simply wish to leave this place!” A zebra mare said. Roarke glanced left. Glanced right. Cl-Clak! She retracted the weapons in her armor and strolled calmly ahead. The zebras shivered more as she drew closer. Nevertheless, she approached the mare who had spoken and stood before her. “Who set these houses on fire? Was it the Green Bandits?” The zebra winced, shook her head, and stood up straight. “No.” She gulped. “It was us.” Josho and Eagle Eye exchanged glances. Clak-Clak-Clak! Roarke retracted her helmet so she could stare with calm eyes. “You?” she inquired. “For what purpose?” The zebra mare took a deep breath. “For months, now, our southern farms and water wells have been attacked... over and over and over again!” She frowned. “And despite all of our pleas, there has been no help from the north! No answer whatsoever to our constant entreating!” “The Val Roans have abandoned us!” one zebra shouted. “They care only for elk and deer kind!” exclaimed another. “They would stand by and let our foals die, rather than protect the land that the Council rules!” “That's awful...” Eagle Eye said. Josho and Roarke glanced at him. He frowned. “Well, it is!” “We've lost too many loved ones to the Southern Cartel,” the mare said, She brushed back her stiff mane and shuddered. “The goblins took my husband last harvest. I... I know that they're using him as a slave...” She gulped. “Or for food. I've long given up hope of ever seeing him. Everypony here has given up hope... for it's clear to us that Val Roa has given up.” “So that's it?” Josho asked. “You're just going to burn everything you own and leave?” “We shouldn't be alive right now,” the mare said. “The goblins have been attacking with such frequency that it's surprising that we're still in one piece.” “They've retreated?” Roarke asked. “They h-had no reason to!” the zebra exclaimed. A two story building collapsed behind her, but she didn't flinch. “They had our farms surrounded! Our homesteads within their reach! But at the last second, they pulled back!” She frowned. “Well, they'll be back soon, and no Val Roans will bother to protect us. But we're not about to let the goblins have any piece of us!” “We're leaving this place,” an old stallion said, his stripes gray and faded. “The homes of our fathers... forefathers?” He slowly shook his sad face. “They mean nothing if our children cannot live there in peace.” “We'll find another place to dwell,” the mare said. “Alafreo... the southern swamps...” She shuddered. “We'll even work for the Lounge if we have to. But we cannot...” She bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes. “We simply c-cannot live here anymore!” She covered her face, sobbing. “Nopony c-can live in Val Roa anymore...” Roarke took a deep breath. The air thundered with skystone engines. She looked up to see the Jury flying overhead. “If they've retreated when all that they needed was in their grasp...” Josho thought out loud. “Then the goblins must have been ordered to retreat by a higher authority.” “And for a bigger cause,” Eagle Eye said. “But what?” “Invasion,” Roarke muttered. “It's a sure sign.” “As in Val Roa?!” Eagle Eye balked. “That's suicide! The Soul Sentries Arcanista spoke about would fry the goblins to a crisp! We had to bend over backwards just to get Rainbow, Kera, and Ebon through!” “You forget...” Roarke turned to glance at Eagle. “There's a Coronation happening soon. The timing simply can't be coincidental.” “Hmmmff... Never fails,” Josho grumbled. Eagle looked up. “What's that?” “The best and worst thing to come out of a huge power shift is another huge power shift.” He glanced aside at the smoke and burning buildings. “Think about it. This 'Prince Eine's fella's parents have kicked the bucket, and he's surrounded by deer and elks and cruddy moose-goons with a whole lotta power. Seems like the perfect time for the Council to take over and kill the monarchy for good.” “By what?!” Eagle Eye exclaimed. “Calculating an invasion with the Cartel from the inside?!” “They wouldn't even need to succeed with the attack,” Roarke droned. “Simply give the populace of Val Roan proper an excuse to legitimize the transfer of power to the Council.” “And all the while...” Eagle Eye gazed with glossy eyes at the devasation. “They ignore the perils of their own subjects... what a waste...” “Perhaps...” Roarke nodded. “Perhaps not.” She stepped forward, approaching the sobbing mare. Reaching out with a metal hoof, she raised the zebra's chin up. The mare gazed up at her, eyes quivering. Roarke squinted. “Do you all have a solid plan for your exodus?” She nodded, sniffing. “We were... h-hoping to head west and find a province willing to give us shelter before we made our way into the lands beyond Val Roa.” “Have you ever heard of a place called Bountiful?” Eagle Eye and Josho did double-takes. “Uhhhh... Roarke...?” “Bountiful...?” The zebra blinked. “I think we may have just the place for you to stay.” “Psssst! Eagle Eye leaned in. “Roarke...!” Josho cleared his throat and tilted his muzzle towards her ear. “Isn't it rather presumptuous on our part to assume Bountiful can hold this many zebras?” “What if Arcanista doesn't approve?” Eagle squeaked. “I mean, it's her town!” “The Duchess is still flesh and blood,” Roarke said. “Which means, with the simple application of miniature explosives and surgical blades, I could very easily recondition her into a duke...” She turned and squinted at the stallions. “...and you two into baronesses.” “H-hey!” Eagle Eye clapped his hooves together and grinned at the zebras. “Wagons west, everypony! Looks like you all have yourselves an escort!” The zebras exchanged glances, murmuring with the first sign of enthusiasm in a long while. “This... won't exactly be easy,” Josho said. “Much less that swift of a task, Roarke.” “I'm well aware of that,” the metal mare said. “But these zebras won't be safe from the goblins this far south on their own.” “I thought we were supposed to be on standby for when Rainbow Dash needs us.” “And we will be.” “You really think this isn't biting off more than we can chew?” “Think hard about it.” Roarke leaned her head aside. “Would Rainbow Dash—loyal to the core—do things differently?” Josho took a deep breath, leaning back. “Nope.” He frowned. “But between you and me, she can be really... really stupid.” “Hmmmm...” Roarke tapped her chin and gazed up at the smoke. “'Roarke Most Stupid.' Has a nice ring to it.” She rattled her armor for punctuation. “Given the proper accessories...” “Heh...” Josho shrugged, stifling a belch. “Works for me.” And he began signaling the Noble Jury to hover at a low, protective glide. “One zebra train coming right up...”