Trees, branches, and clumps of snow whizzed past Rainbow Dash's vision.
She grimaced slightly, twitching in a heavy metal grasp.
At last, the horizon pivoted as she dipped. The mare gasped, then threw her vision ahead. She saw a decrepit barn lying in the midst of a sparse forest. The figure carrying her aimed straight for a gaping hole in the structure's roof.
Thwoooooosh!
The two landed with insane grace. At the end of such a blindingly swift flight, Rainbow was gently placed down onto the frosty ground. She stood—trembling slightly—and spun around.
A mess of feathers retreated swiftly into the shadows, talons scraping. The figure rummaged through a pile of supplies.
Rainbow's maw dropped. "Wildcard...?"
She heard the crunching of snow behind her.
"...?" Rainbow spun around completely.
A stone blue figure stood in the shadows on the other side of the barn.
Rainbow's eyes narrowed.
The figure shuffled slowly forward, coming into the snowlight. Rainbow saw a scruffy brown beard, a brown mane, and a pair of dull hazel eyes... glaring.
"Bard!" Rainbow's feathertips fluttered. Both her right and left. She winced in pain, but was nevertheless a smiling mess. "Omigoshomigoshomigosh!" She spun back and forth between the rummaging griffon in the corner and the deadpan stallion in the center of the barn. "You guys! You guys are here! Luna Poop! You have no friggin' idea how... h-how jazzed I am to see you!"
Bard took a deep, surly breath. He folded his forelimbs and looked away.
Rainbow blinked at that.
"Uh ohhhhhh..." Pinkie Pie gulped.
"My my..." Rarity leaned in. "...quite a forest Mr. Bard has grown on his chin."
"He... doesn't seem too cheerful," Twilight Sparkle remarked. "Not very like him."
"Is it not?" Fluttershy asked.
"Shhhh!" Pinkie pointed. "I think Bardy's about to say something!"
Bard simply clenched his jaw tight and glared off into the corners of the bar.
"Eheheheh..." Pinkie smiled nervously. "Or not!"
"It... is you..." Rainbow squinted. "...right, Bard?"
Bard inhaled, tilting his head up and keeping his flank to Rainbow.
Rainbow opened her muzzle to say something—
Th-Thwump! A bag landed behind her.
"...!" The mare spun, startled.
With dark feathers and even darker goggles, Wildcard squatted beside the bag and began untying it. He looked up, his lenses flickering in the gray snowlight. He lifted his talons and hand-signed swiftly.
"What... uhm... what's going on with you dudes?" Rainbow remarked.
Suddenly, Bard spoke, "'You was doin' fine on yer own until these last two days. Now yer drawin' too much attention to yerself, which is why we had to intervene.'"
Rainbow flashed a look at the bearded pegasus. "Wait... what?" She blinked. Hard. "You guys were following me?"
"Is that true?" Twilight gasped.
"If so, I-I didn't sense them," Fluttershy stammered.
Bard stood in silence, his back to Rainbow Dash.
"Hellooo." Rainbow's brow furrowed. "You gonna answer me or what?"
Wildcard hand-signed, then returned to the bag.
At last, Bard spoke: "'We had eyes on ya, but we had to be elsewhere.'" His voice was dull and emotionless, as if he was reading off a telegram. "'We've still got some loose ends to wrap up, but dun worry. I'm gonna hook ya up with some thangs to help ya get past them varmints in Steamfall.'"
Rainbow's eyelids fluttered in confusion. She flashed a look between Bard and Wildcard. "What... what's going on here?" She gulped. "Bard... why are you being so stand-offish?"
Wildcard paused in what he was doing. Fidgeting, he flung a few hesitant talons through the air.
Bard took a deep breath and spoke: "'Bard ain't talkin' to ya right now. This was my idea from the very start."' The stallion's nostrils flared. "'Just as it was my idea to go fetch the Job Squad so you could finish yer journey.'"
"Uhhhhhh..." Rainbow's head jerked back and forth. At last, she squinted at Wildcard. "...what?"
"I'm c-confused," Fluttershy squeaked.
Wildcard sighed. With a nervous smile, he gestured in the air.
Bard's voice rang behind Rainbow Dash: "'Bard protested from the very start, but t'ain't no matter. He's here 'cuz I'm here. And while I'm too busy to escort ya, that dun mean I can't lend a talon where it helps.'"
Swiveling, Rainbow narrowed her eyes on Bard. "Really?" Her ears twitched. "Is that so?"
Bard frowned into the shadows. The muscles in his folded forelimbs tightened.
Wildcard shifted where he sat.
"Well then... Wildcard..." Rainbow Dash smirked devilishly in Bard's direction. "The next time you see Bard, you tell him that he's a smelly off-key melon fudge, and that his new beard looks like the inside of a buffalo's dirty buttcheeks."
"Snkkkkkt!" Bard gnashed his teeth. Her jerked in place, hissing. "Sonuva—" As quickly as he started, her froze in place, locked into an iron frown.
"But..." Rainbow Dash's ears folded back as she sighed through a soft grin. "...make sure he knows that I'm super... super happy to see him."
Bard breathed in and out. His hazel eyes swam across the dark confines of the barn.
Rainbow turned towards the griffon. "And you too."
Wildcard's dark goggles reflected the double faces of an apologetic mare.
"No words can properly share how friggin' sorry I am for what I did in the Quade." She gulped hard. "And it was a totally idiotic thing to send you two away... especially after you saved me." A cough. "Multiple times."
Her marefriends hovered in tense silence.
The mute griffon exhaled. Looking away, he gestured sharply in the air.
"'We ain't got much time,'" Bard said.
Wildcard pulled a few things out of the bag and resumed hand-signing.
"'We've gotta hurry our keisters northeast to Lichen Prefecture to find the last members of the Job Squad.'"
"Who in the blue fudge is this Job Squad?" Rainbow asked.
"'Old partners of the Desperadoes. Before Bard's time.'" The stallion snorted, adjusting his black stetson. "'Like I said. T'was my idea, not his.'"
"Well, alright then." Rainbow Dash nodded at the griffon, then cracked her joints. "Let's get going—"
Wildcard dramatically held a metal palm out, glinting in the pale light. He shook his head.
"'No?!'" Twilight reacted.
"What do they mean?!" Rarity breathed.
Rainbow blinked. "What's wrong?'"
Wildcard gestured.
Bard interpreted: "'There's too much at risk now. You're bein' hunted. We can't delay you gettin' to yer destination.'"
"Yeah! I know!" Rainbow nodded. "So are you gonna come with me or not?"
Wildcard sighed and gestured.
"'You won't survive yer journey unless we round up the Job Squad.'"
"Why not?"
"'It'd take too dang long to explain. But ya need them. So while Bard and I go fetch them, you've gotta make yer way to Wyvern Point.'"
Rainbow nodded. "Ah, I see—"
"Wait, what?!" Twilight sputtered.
"Wait..." Rainbow's eyes bulged. "What?!"
Th-Thwump! Wildcard dumped a black button-up uniform at Rainbow's hooves.
"'Here,'" Bard interpreted as the griffon paced across the barn, collecting more equipment and adding it to the pile. "'These here duds were grabbed from the lockers in Steamfall. They should fit ya... help ya blend in with the Consortium fellas.'"
"And just what in the hay am I supposed to be doing in Steamfall?!" Rainbow cackled.
Wildcard shuffled up, shrugged, and gestured.
"'Hijack a train, of course,'" Bard said.
"A train?!? Grkkkk!" Rainbow clenched one eye shut as if she burst a vessel. "Yo... dudes... what the buck?! Like... seriously!" She scampered after Wildcard's tail-feathers with an incredulous expression glued to her muzzle. "Are you trying to help me or aren't you?!"
Wildcard's talons sliced the air.
"'We are. But as I plum told you, the Job Squad—'"
"Look, I get it! You're trying to round up 'the old gang' for some important half-assed reason." Rainbow frowned. "But what's hijacking a train got to do with any of this?"
"'Because without bein' able to fly, a train's the quickest way you can get through Dust Prefecture and reach Wyvern Point to the northwest.'"
"That... it..." Rainbow's muzzle hung in the air. She flashed her marefriends a stupid look and received four identical expressions back. At last, she squinted at Wildcard again. "Wyvern Point."
The feathered mercenary nodded.
"Uhm... yeah..." Rainbow leaned back on her haunches and folded her forelimbs. "I don't know if you remember the whole Austraeoh thing. Y'know... east horse? Flying towards the rising sun?"
Wildcard nodded again while rummaging through supplies.
"Well, in case you have forgotten..." Rainbow frowned and gestured. "Wyvern Point is kinda sorta northwest of here!" Her wide eyes reflected in Wildcard's emotionless goggles. "Oh yeah! I know! A shriveled old lady in Kunmane told me!"
Wildcard stared at her, stared off into the shadows... then shrugged.
"Wildcard!!" Rainbow sputtered, forelimbs flailing. "Dude! I'm supposed to be heading east! That's where Yaerfaerda's pointing me! That's where Verlax is waiting!" She shuddered, her breath forming vapors in the sparse light. "...where Applejack is needing to be saved..."
Wildcard paused to gesture.
"'We know,'" Bard interpreted. With a soft expression, he looked over. "'But if ya keep hoofin' it on this journey alone, you'll plum kill yerself.'"
Wildcard nodded, then added a few more talon-swipes.
"'Or get nabbed by the Talon, which I can promise you is just as bad.'"
"They have a point here, Rainbow Dash." Twilight Sparkle leaned in to murmur. "You've always excelled when you had help."
Fluttershy nodded. "It certainly wouldn't hurt to accept any assistance at this point."
Twilight smiled. "Remember Eljunbyro."
Rarity nodded. "The Noble Jury."
"Yeah!" Pinkie nodded. "And the Lunar Ninth!"
"I know, girls, but it's just—" Rainbow's eyes crossed, and she grimaced at Pinkie. "The heck?"
"'We've got friends at Wyvern Point who can help ya. And you can bet yer bottom bit that the creatures that there place is named after can be trusted.'" Bard waited until Wildcard finished hand-signing some more words before interpreting: "'And once Bard and I show up with the Job Squad, then we'll be ready to get the show rollin'.'"
"That's all well and good, but... like..." Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Can't we just head east now? I mean... is Rohbredden so dang awful that we can't take it on? Just the three of us?" A twitching grin. "Like old times?"
Wildcard and Bard stared at her.
"... ... ..." Rainbow Dash blinked. Her eyes rolled. "Unnnnnnnnngh..." She rubbed her muzzle then waved her forelimbs. "Okay okay okay! Fine!" A deep sigh, and she muttered, "But still... don't you think that it's... it's..."
"Counterintuitive," Twilight suggested.
"—counterintuitive to say that I need help and then... j-just send me packing on my lonesome?!" Rainbow frowned. "I've heard enough about Dust Prefecture and Wyvern Point to know that it's no friggin' walk in the park. I mean... how do I know you're not just sending me some far off place to die?"
"She brings up a good point," Rarity murmured. "She did rub them the wrong way in the Quade."
"Shhhhh!" Twilight hissed, eyes locked on the Desperadoes. "Not now, Rarity."
"I'm just saying..."
"They don't seem cruel enough to abandon Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said.
"I'm with Team Flutters on this one!" Pinkie grinned wide. "Despies for lyfe!"
Rainbow Dash cleared her throat, looking in particular at Wildcard. "Well?!?"
Bard glanced aside at his partner.
Wildcard's beak clenched and unclenched. He sliced the air with flesh and metal talons.
"Ahem..." Bard looked at Rainbow Dash. "'You won't be alone. Part of why we was gone for so long was that we searched far and wide for Remna. She's gonna be yer ticket to Wyvern Point.'"
"Remna?" Rainbow Dash blinked. "Who's Remna?"
"Who's Remna?!" Bard blurted. "Only the most bang-up bounty hunter in the history of Rohb—" He bit his own tongue, turning instantly mute. Clearing his throat, he took a step back with a frown.
"... ... ..." Rainbow looked at Wildcard.
The griffon rolled his goggled eyes and gestured swiftly.
At last, Bard continued: "'Remna's taught me everythang I know about bounty huntin'. Dun worry, she won't double-cross us or nothin'. I paid her somethin' no other client ever can ever hope to surpass.'"
"You... uh..." Rainbow fidgeted. "You sure about this?"
Wildcard gestured.
"'Also, she owes me big time. Call it a code of honor.'"
"Alright... so lemme get this straight..." Rainbow Dash pointed at the clothes. "You want me to put on this uniform... pose as a Consortium worker... waltz into Steamfall... steal a train... then look for a bounty hunter chick named Remna who'll escort me to Wyvern Point while the two of you hop around looking for a bunch of old traveling partners to round up?"
Wildcard and Bard exchanged glances. They both looked at Rainbow Dash. Bard nodded while Wildcard held a metal thumb's up.
"Well, you have to admit..." Rarity smiled crookedly at Rainbow Dash. "...at least they're loyal."
"The one in goggles is cute," Fluttershy said, giggling.
"Darling, don't you even start." Rarity fanned herself.
"Soooooooo... okay..." Rainbow Dash picked at the dark uniform. "...let's say I actually play along with this craziness." She looked up at the two. "Where am I to run into Remna? I mean... like... what does she even look like? How am I to find her?"
Bard looked at Wildcard with an expression just as inquisitive as Rainbow's.
Wildcard forced a smile and gestured.
"'Dun you worry...'" Bard looked back at Rainbow. "'You won't find her. She'll find you.'"
Twilight and Pinkie grimaced.
"Why... do I not like the sound of that?" Rainbow wheezed.