//------------------------------// // The Things That You Leave Behind // Story: Yaerfaerda // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// “Pleasant memories?” Duchess Arcanista asked. Rainbow Dash turned a pair of dust-stained goggles in her forelimbs. The initials “S.L.” glistened in the red afternoon sunlight. “Hrmmm...” The pegasus exhaled out her nostrils, smiling faintly. “More pleasant than otherwise.” She folded the article over and slid it back into the midnight blue saddlebag. Her hoof brushed pat the rough green surface of a thick book, and she fidgeted slightly before closing the pack completely. “It's a reminder that there are lives somewhere.” She gulped. “Aging. Learning. Enjoying peace.” Arcanista nodded. The two stood on a balcony overlooking the lengths of the royal palace. The bronze towers of the Val Roan Capital loomed in the distance. “What you do, Rainbow Dash, is as much for them as for everypony else.” Rainbow sighed, resting the satchel down beside an even bigger pack full of new belongings. “I know.” “Your journey, I believe, is as much preserving your old friends as it is your new friends.” Rainbow gulped. “I know.” She ran a hoof through her mane. “And now the new is old.” She gazed east at the dead horizon of arid mystery. “Everything... just gets old.” “May I ask something?” “Shoot...” Arcanista faced Rainbow directly. “Do you think you will ever care to come back?” Rainbow blinked, then squinted curiously at the Duchess. “Huh?” Arcanista simply smiled. “The plane may be flat, but—presuming you can cross one edge—you can surely cross the opposite side as well.” “I... I-I...” Rainbow winced. “Your Honor, I... don't even know if I can make it past the Grand Choke.” She shuddered. “And then there's all this heavy Verlaxion stuff. And just how does a pony scale the edge of the world anyway?” “You'll find a way,” Arcanista said. “If anypony can do it, you can.” “I dunno, Duchess...” “I believe in you. Your friends believe in you. A... questionably insightful Divine named Axan appears to hold much confidence in you...” “Hmmmph... Axan.” Rainbow shrugged her blue shoulders and gazed at the distant twinkling Yaefaerda symbol once more. “Laziest Divine ever, I swear to Celestia...” Arcanista chuckled. “Well, she did save your life on more than one occasion.” “Only after crushing me to a pulp.” “Yet you pressed on to find friends.” “Yeah.” Rainbow's eyes fell. “I did.” Arcanista lowered her head to meet Rainbow's gaze once again. “You'll live to make even more.” Rainbow bit her lip. Arcanista winked. “And perhaps, when your journey is through, you'll come back to visit Val Roa.” She chuckled lightly. “And all the lands you've ever graced along the way.” “I don't even know if it's possible to go past the Midnight Armory,” Rainbow said. “I mean... that was my goal. For all I know, it's Austraeoh's goal. There... just doesn't seem to be a future beyond it.” “A future? For who?” “Who else?” Rainbow muttered. Arcanista leaned back, shaking her head. “I do not believe that for even one second. Despite every form of adversity you've ever faced, you come out triumphant. And though you've been forced to use brute force, it's always Harmony that wins out in the end.” The Duchess smiled at her proudly. “No, I do believe that this entire plane is ripe with righteousness because of the path you've spun across it, Rainbow Dash. Once your epic sojourn is at a close, I believe whole-heartedly that every land, every nation, every kingdom will be ten times more peaceful than when you first graced their skies. So...” She chuckled again. “What's to stop you from swinging back by and visiting us again?” Rainbow exhaled through a bittersweet smile. “Death.” Her ears folded back. “I can't escape it forever.” Arcanista cocked her head to the side. “And are you so certain you can outfly Life as well?” Rainbow had no response to that. Silence reined, during which the sun continued its descent in the west, casting a crimson sheen over the bronze lengths of the city. “I'm not exactly thrilled for what happens tomorrow,” Rainbow eventually muttered. Arcanista glanced aside. “Are you so certain it must be tomorrow?” Rainbow slowly nodded. “Where is it written that you can't spend a week or two with the ones you've gotten to know?” “Every moment I delay my departure, the more the chaos inside me will gnaw at the pendant,” Rainbow muttered. “I've had a lucky two months, but the dizzy spells are happening more and more frequently. I even had one while speaking with Chrysalis yesterday.” “Are you certain that wasn't just the sheer presence of the mutant alicorn herself?” “I've faced zombie hordes in a storm-drenched flying city and trembled less,” Rainbow said. “This is all a matter of timing. I gotta catch up with the next beacon.” “'Yaerfaerda,' I do believe the Jurists call it.” “Righto.” “And do you think it's out there?” Arcanista asked. “In the Grand Choke, that is?” “I know it is, Duchess.” “Or could it be beyond it?” “Either way, there's only one direction I have to go,” the pegasus said. “I know it. My friends know it. So...” She shuddered. “Tomorrow, I set out.” “Indeed.” Arcanista smiled. “Well, from what I understand, most of the Jurists have been commiserating in the Royal Lobby as of late. I'm certain you can catch quite a few of your friends now... before it gets too dark, that is.” “Yeah...” Rainbow exhaled softly. A smile crossed her fuzzy blue muzzle. “That sounds nice...” “Indeed.” Rainbow looked aside at the elk. “What about you, Your Honor?” “Hmmm? What about me?” “Have you and your brother—erm... the Duke, I mean. Have you and Duke Floyd worked things out?” “Ohhhhhh Floyd...” Arcanista leaned back, sighing. “In truth, Rainbow, I don't think I'll ever reach through what he's become.” “No?” Arcanista slowly shook her head. “I've come to accept the fact that Bountiful must look up to me. Now that I've got Fishberry willing to work by my side, all of the previous issues with the High Council no longer stack up to much. Which is just as well. I'm meant to lead by example, not wallow in discontent.” “And what about Floydien?” Arcanista shrugged. “His future is his own. Once more, he's been relishing in solitude. Apparently, the Lounge—under the command of your beloved Roarke—have scrounged up as much of the shattered skystone from the Noble Jury's crash site as is feasible. Floydien's reportedly been stowed away in the Royal warehouses, studying the material closely.” “To what end?” “I cannot pretend to say. We've had our parting words already, just in case.” Rainbow blinked. “Just in case what?” Arcanista cleared her throat. “It doesn't matter...” She paced across the balcony. “A word of advice—from one lady of importance to another...” She turned to glance at the pegasus. “Use every opportunity you can, Rainbow Dash, to be at peace with yourself.” She lingered for a moment, then added: “Even if that means being at peace with not being at peace.” Rainbow blinked. “Your friends may not be able to follow you, but their love will.” The Duchess smiled. “That's more precious than any keepsake or memory, hmm?” She curtsied and trotted off. “I will see you in the morning... along with the Sun.” Rainbow nodded. As she waved, a delicate voice drifted out of her muzzle. “One last time...”