"Professor Mane."
The stallion clenched his eyes tightly shut. His jaw muscles pressed together, tense and rigid.
"Professor... we've landed. It's quite alright. You can let go of me now."
Ears twitched. At last, Theanim's eyes flickered open. He clung to Lieutenant Keris' backside with a vice-like grip. Meanwhile, the griffon shuffled to a stop, positioning the two of them beneath the spreading branches of a dense forest canopy.
"Erm... r-right..." Clearing his throat, Theanim release his grip of the guardian and stood on numb hooves. "A thousand pardons." He shuddered. "Blessed Verlaxion. I have no idea how half of the Tribes manage to do that."
"Perhaps you should ask your midnighter companion," Keris said. "No doubt he's properly experienced."
"Correction: he used to be." Theanim slid his goggles up over his mane. "The poor chap had his wings clipped by the miscreants of Bleak's Plummet ages ago."
Keris' magenta hawkeyes blinked. At last, he said, "I am most sorry to hear that."
"That pleases me."
Keris hummed curiously.
Theanim explained: "It's just that very few souls on this continent sympathize with those of Echo's kind." Theanim swallowed. "It's refreshing to witness a far more amicable opinion."
"Several 'bat ponies' dwell peacefully with the rest of the Tribes along the northeastern bluffs of the Twilight Lands," Keris said, gazing about the forested setting. "They are Verlaxion's foals to protect as much as the rest."
"Indeed." Theanim gazed aside. "And your Commander? Does she express the same compassion?"
Keris' beak clenched. "Please, Professor. The Talon is not what we've set off to investigate."
"Erm... r-right..." Theanim grimaced. "I'm always disastorously inquisitive. Please forgive me."
"Only be sorry when it's appropriate," Keris said, peering about. "It was your inquisitiveness that brought us to this juncture to begin with."
Just as he said that, the air whistled from another pair of wings incoming. Keris calmly pulled Theanim aside.
Thwoooosh! Starstorm landed behind the pair. She panted for breath, looking considerably more exhausted than her superior. "Lieutenant..." She tilted her helmet back so she could peer solidly at him. "I believe there's a settlement just to the south." She swallowed. "A river runs through the mountain due west of it, and there's a steamship station there."
"No doubt where supplies arrive from the southwest farmlands." Keris nodded. "Best that we get a good eye on just who we're dealing with."
"Would you wish me to scout out, sir?"
"Yes. The Professor and I need to survey the supposed meeting area."
Starstorm saluted. "Rendezvous at the final coordinates?"
"Indeed."
"I won't be long." Starstorm sped off through the trees.
Keris exclaimed hoarsely: "Stay low!"
"How long are we resting this time for?" Theanim asked.
"This is not a rest spot, Professor," Keris replied, pivoting east. "We're here."
Theanim blinked. "...we are? This... this is Sunset Prefecture?"
"Affirmative."
"My stars..." Theanim brushed his bangs back. "That was far faster than I had anticipated."
"As a member of the Talon, speed is your second most important quality."
"And what is the first?"
"Tact." Keris sniffed. "Or so I always believed."
"Shouldn't... shouldn't we be quieter?" Theanim remarked. "After all, our... uhm... 'quarry' can't be too far away."
"I was telling the truth when I said the three of us landed in Sunset Prefecture," Keris said. "However, we are a good two miles from our destination."
"Two miles?" Theanim blinked wide. "What do you intend for us to do? Walk the rest of the way?"
Keris simply looked at him.
Theanim coughed. "Right." He nodded. "I suppose—if these parties are wishing to remain hidden—they would have their eyes trained to the skies."
"Surprise can be your greatest ally, one that I haven't exercised quite so well as of late. But that can be amended." He motioned along and began marching through the foliage. "Come, Professor. If we keep our momentum, we should reach the site detailed to you within thirty-six hours."
"Yes." Theanim stumbled after the griffon. "It would behoove us to be there early, so we can observe any scenario that might unfold."
"Precisely what I was thinking."
"And what of your Sergeant? Will she okay on her own?"
"I trust Starstorm's restraint and skill in stealth," Keris said. "She will be more than fine. For the time being, it is my duty to look after you just as much as it is to investigate this potential situation."
"Well, I'm more than thankful," Theanim said. "But what of you? You look like you could use some assistance."
"Do not worry," Keris replied, shaking the left cast in question. His left limb hung at his side, braced in reinforced metal. "The aid I received in Frostknife has been enough to sustain me—at least for the time being."
"Your resilience is admirable," Theanim said. He craned his neck while the two trotted over and under wooly vegetation. "Tell me. How did you receive such an injury? Terrorists? A flight mishap? Agents of the Consortium?"
"Actually, if you must know, my limb was broken by your old companion back at Red Barge."
Theanim's lips pursed. "...you mean Rainbow Dash?"
Keris nodded.
Theanim grimaced. "But... but I-I can scarcely believe she would inflict physical harm on a representative of the Council of Rohbredden!"
"If it helps to know, she was... not her usual self." Keris cleared his throat. "For lack of a definition."
"I'm afraid I don't read you."
"She had transformed into a horrid beast... neither pegasus nor pony. Not even a windigo could match its terrible qualities." Keris' eyes narrowed. "With claws and teeth the likes of which can rend a manticore in twain."
"Blessed Goddess..." Theanim gulped. "How... h-how did this happen, pray tell?"
"It started the moment that the despicable dredgers of that platform stripped the mare of her gold and ruby pendant."
Theanim blinked. "Oh... well, that... would explain it then."
Keris chanced a look back at the stallion.
Theanim coughed. "To say that it's the source of her magic would be oversimplifying things. Suffice to say, she's always been mindful to those around her never to remove the jewel. I can't count how many times she gave the Desperadoes a death glare for so much as looking at it." He rubbed his head, shuddering. "Dear Verlaxion... to think it was holding back such a monstrosity..."
"I've been meaning to ask, Professor..."
"Yes, Lieutenant?"
"Precisely how much do you know about the creature that's come to be called the Rainbow Rogue?"
Theanim took a deep breath. "I know that there's enough good in her to afford a thorough examination of the actions committed in the Quade."
"As a scientist, don't you think that's rather subjective?"
"Mmmm... perhaps." Theanim craned his head to the side. "But then, if a highly decorated guardian of the Talon was there with her in Red Barge, how—precisely—did she manage to leave the place?"
Keris clenched his beak shut.
Silence.
At last, Theanim spoke: "The mare comes from a distant land. She bears much information—much of it downright heretical at first glance. However, one thing is undeniable: she has an innate desire to bring about change... a change for good. The Syndicate would still be at large if it weren't for her intervention. When we were in Shoggoth, the monarch of the Sirens herself reached out to the mare—both in mind and in spirit. If that isn't a sign of healthy trust, then I don't know what is."
"From what I understand," Keris said, "The royal family of Shoggoth deeply desired a fundamental power shift for years. Would it have mattered at what cost they procured it?"
"Lieutenant, is Red Barge still riddled with filth and corruption?" Theanim pointedly asked. "Look at me—or any other equine soul in the eyes—and try and tell me that the place is any worse off than it was previously."
Keris suffered a long sigh.
Theanim glanced from behind. "You feel the same way that I do, hmmm?" He blinked. "That despite all of your misgivings and loyalties, a part of you can't deny the fact that there's less 'rogue' and more 'righteousness' in this mare that's gotten all of Rohbredden riled up." He exhaled. "I went through a crisis of morals when I first encountered the mare. Everything she had to present me was radical—both scientifically and spiritually. And yet, simply by observing her in her element, I discovered enough to lend credence to her cause... and her journey as a whole."
"And did all of these observations still legitimize the actions she committed in the Quade?"
Theanim hung his head in mid-trot. After a while, he muttered, "No. They do not. Which... is what brought me to investigate the Luminards who had been sequestered by the Consortium to begin with. I wanted to find answers."
"Have you gotten any closer to them, Professor?"
Theanim gulped. "I assure you, Lieutenant. I would tell you if I had an inclination."
"But you still have faith."
Theanim looked up.
"That she still has good in her," Keris murmured, rounding a series of trees and bushes. "And that denying that would be embracing the same blindness that has allowed so much corruption to blemish this kingdom of ours already."
Theanim slowly nodded. "Something very... very important is happening right beneath us, Lieutenant," he said in a solid tone. "I don't know if Rainbow Dash is fully conscious of it... but she knows a great deal more than we do. We... simply cannot afford to throw all of that into the Frosted Shelves and continue to pretend that everything is pristine with the Six Tribes."
"Perhaps, with our collective knowledge combined, we can attempt to reach a point of understanding."
"Huh?"
"I'll share with you what I learned at Red Barge," Keris said. "In the meantime..." He looked back. "You tell me what about Rainbow Dash and her journey is so 'heretical.'"
Theanim instantly paled. His ears drooped beneath the straps of his goggles.
"Is there a problem, Professor?"
"Erm... n-no!" Theanim gulped. "At least... not at the moment."
"Because you've yet to relate to me what you've learned from her."
Theanim sighed. "Let us simply... find a place to sit first, dear guardian. Then I will fill your feathery ears."
"Very well." Keris looked forward. "This should be quite interesting."
"Yes." Theanim shuddered. "Quite."