//------------------------------// // Why You're Here Right Now // Story: Utaan // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// Skagra's fight ended at a fateful moment in time. The reserve steam tanks in the bellies of so many welded hulls finally ran empty. Even as Rainbow Dash began dragging the top dredger's limp body out of the southern strut, the mists and fog behind her dissipated, thinning into a scarcely visible haze. This exposed the bruised and battered figures of multiple thugs, a scant few of whom were groaning, coming to, and rising up on wobbly legs from the dinted spots where a pegasus and a griffon had royally thrashed them against the rust. Nixkit hobbled up out of the crumbling entrance to the brig. The pale stallion barely had enough energy to walk straight, much less pick up any of the broken weapons or unconscious companions around him. As soon as he breached sunlight, he collapsed to his chest, wincing. With a raspy breath, he opened his eyes to squint across the bulkheads. His vision caught Skagra's ragdoll figure in an angry mare's grasp and he froze in place. Several decks away, Digiff clung to a bulkhead, shivering like a coward. When the fog lifted, he cussed under his breath, then—at last—poked his nervous head out to see where the fight had gone. He sucked his breath in sharply at the sight of Skagra. His bearded muzzle hung agape. One by one, a limping procession of dredgers lurched north. They leaned against bulkheads and one another, watching dazedly as Rainbow Dash carried their shrieking leader towards the centralmost platform. Behind them—hidden beyond metal shelves and pipeworks—a dazed figure awoke, stirred, then disappeared in a conspicuous haze of gold light. Swab blinked, his muzzle hanging wide open. He watched breathlessly—his little body pivoting as Rainbow Dash marched straight past him and the other colts. Skagra slid behind her, his body rattling painfully over every curve and bump in the deckwork. As Rainbow dragged him over the bridge spanning the canal, his broken leg grazed past Swab's fetlocks, nearly tripping the foal. With a squeak, Swab teetered, nearly falling back. A pink hoof held him in place. He looked over his shoulder to see Croche supporting him. The two shared a soundless glance, then gazed forward—along with a thickening crowd of mute Red Barge onlookers. Keris limped and limped, coming to a wincing stop beside the two foals. His hawkeyes narrowed on Rainbow Dash... trailing her as she approached the very center of a forest of vertical vents and steam grates. His beak clenched shut, his feathers fluttering in the dirty air. Th-Thwump! Rainbow flung Skagra hard into the centermost vent. “Aaaaa-aaaaugh!” Skagra arched his spine, hissing through clenched teeth. His scarred muzzle rubbed against blood-stained metal as he lay sprawled across the centermost platform, surrounded by starving eyes and tight muzzles. His eyes rolled back, catching a kaleidoscope of dazed, emotionless faces. Watching. Observing. Devouring. “Hrkkkt... friggin'... muck riders.” He clawed and clambered in futility against the rustwork. “Mrfffnnngh... come... come c-crashing against the barnacles for blood, have you?” He spat up bile from another wave of pain from his shattered leg. “Snkkkkkt—not gonna make it easy for any of ya sea foam. Hrkkkt—Hear me?!” The top dredger barked, rolling, “Get your kicks from smelling each other's farts! Aaaugh! Goddess!” The citizens of Red Barge gathered tightly together. Families and foals. Stallions and mares. Elders and workers. Whony and several of his fellow colts wriggled their way to the edge of the crowd. They stared—gawking—at their once ominous leader, now a shattered waif of a stallion. “I took us somewhere...” Skagra wheezed. “To a place the Continentalist snow huffers couldn't!” He seethed, gurgling. “All these years, they've used us. Snorted us. And when their mountains melt into their flankholes, who will float on top the muck?! Huh?! And who's thankful for it?!” Swab gazed at the trop dredger. Panting, he looked to the left. Rainbow Dash was marching icily towards an array of levers, valves, and switches flanking the platform. Four spectral ponies phased through the bulkheads, orbiting her closely with colors and breaths. “Rainbow...?” Pinkie cooed. “Rainbow Dash...” Twilight took one cold glance at Skagra, then an even colder one at her anchor. “What are you doing?” “Making poetry,” Rainbow grunted. She frowned and—THWAP!—slapped two levers to the side. Hsssssssssssssssssssssssss! The pipes rattled as the central platform's steam reserves poured into the tanks directly below. The temperature in the air heated up. Vaporous ripples danced above each vent surrounding the scene. Swab blinked at Rainbow, then looked at Skagra. He began to wince... “Rainbow...” Rarity floated in. “Darling. Far be it from me to preach to you—” “Then don't.” Rainbow switched to a nearby valve and began spinning it. “We've opened our eyes to the worst this world has to offer,” Rarity said. She pointed at Skagra's quivering figure. “And there it lies. Crippled. Powerless. What more needs to be proven?” “Rarity, you don't know the 'worst,'” Rainbow snarled. She slapped a button, and the hissing vapors in the air magnified. The valves heated up, their grates turning red. Skagra's neck made contact with the cylinder he was lying against, and he yelped from the scalding touch. His body rolled aside—only to be gripped by Rainbow Dash as she marched back. “But I do,” she continued, glaring past Rarity as she dragged Skagra's body up, pivoting him around. “I made the mistake of being graceful before. And it cost me more than I can put into words.” “Whatever you're talking about, Rainbow, it's not here,” Twilight said, her brow furrowed. She hovered across from the mare. “And here... we made a deal.” Regardless, Rainbow slumped Skagra's grunting body against the top of the vent. “Yes... th-that's it...” He wheezed in her grasp. “Just... flush all the muck away. That's right. Red Toilet. Red Toilet! Hahahahaha—snkkktt... cheese and crackers...” Using her weight, Rainbow pressed his scarred face to the grate at the top of the cylinder. He lay against it, panting, sweating from the intense heat. “Rainbow...” Fluttershy looked at her with sad eyes. “I might be able to handle the feel of more deaths...” She sniffled. “But from your hooves?” Rainbow glared down at the stallion beneath her. She inhaled... exhaled. “He deserves to die...” Her teeth showed above a shaking jaw. “He needs to die.” “We know, Dashie.” Pinkie nodded, her mane limp, like the deflated tone of her voice. “We know.” A gulp. “But he needs to do something even more.” “And what's that?” “Change.” Rainbow clenched her eyes shut. After a deep breath, she grumbled, “Pinkie.. he won't change.” A snarling tone. “None of them ever do.” Pinkie shook her head. “Who says it's gotta be for him?” Rainbow's eyes opened, bleary... moist. In a blink, she saw Swab standing far across the platform from her. The little colt stood in the shadow of Keris. His one ear folded back as he stared back at Rainbow with a glint in his yellow eyes that she had never seen before. “Yes... fear...” Skagra hissed. “...?” Rainbow looked down at him. “I... I get it now...” He gargled on his own sweat, his bangs curling from the heat bubbling deep in the vent beneath him. “Mrmmfff... I've lost it. The strength. The balls... heh... heheheheh...” It started as a chuckle, but limped off into a squeaky sob. “But you... you you you you... yesssss...” He hyperventilated, staring into the polluted ceiling of his pungent existence. “A beast from the west... the Rainbow Rogue.” His throat swallowed hard. “You can take the Barge where I couldn't... sailing high on a wave of muck...” His eyes squinted up at her, tearing. “Take it high... take it far...” Clicking teeth. “None of the sea foam her can... like we can... please...” Rainbow fumed. Jaws tight. Fluttershy leaned in close—nuzzling range. “Rainbow...” She whispered. “Our greatest... most loyal friend...” A calm smile. “The change... is you. It's always been you.” Rainbow blinked, eyes fogging over. Her hoof reached out, grasping a lever beside the vent. Skagra held his breath. Keris's headcrest folded back. “We'll accept your decision, whatever it is,” Fluttershy said, drifting back. She looked at the other mares—but most especially Twilight. “Won't we, girls?” The others nodded their head, including Twilight—her eyes clenched shut. At last, Rainbow let loose a pent-up breath. “Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww frig.” Frowning, she yanked the lever. Skagra gasped— FWOOOOOOOOOOOOSH! Burning hot steam vomited up out of the vent.