"I can't believe you're being such a thick-headed moron about this, Johnny! I'm not a little filly any more!"
"Ain't my head that's the thick thang here, darlin'. Yer precious to me... to Ray and Kelly and James and the rest. I can't be havin' ya followin' me to the Dark Side."
"Oh—and where would I be better off, huh? You think there's an ember's chance in the Spring Havens of me going back to Blue's Ranch and living a normal life?!"
"Hell no! You can... uhhh... go and sit all safe and proper deep inside Frostknife! We'll send a message to Professor Mane! Ain't that right, Echo? Theanim will take care of ya there!"
Echo's voice stammered: "Uhm... I-I really don't want to be brought into this—"
"Oh hush!" Nicole pouted. "You're already taking Johnny's side! I can tell!"
Rainbow Dash slowly wandered into the cabin. She passed Wildcard, Logan, and Ariel who were all leaning against the entrance to the spacious metal chamber. Bard and Nicole faced each other in the center of the room while Echo lingered off to the side.
"What's going on?" Rainbow muttered.
"The inevitable," Logan huffed. "I bet Flynn ten bits she'd blow up before we even made it to Bleak's Plummet." He stifled a yawn. "Looks like I'm gettin' rich soon... not that it matters at all at this point."
"What's Nicole getting all angry about?" Rainbow asked.
"What do you think?" Ariel glanced aside. "It's not like we're taking her to the Dark Side with us."
"We're not?" Rainbow asked.
Ariel bit her lip.
Wildcard hand-signed.
"The pelican's right," Logan remarked. "Even if she was capable of kicking butt beyond the normal constraints of a simple farm filly, ain't no way in Hell that Bard's going to allow it."
"I... guess I never put too much thought into it," Rainbow muttered.
"None of us did," Ariel said, gesturing at the ensuing argument. "But you can get your pretty feathers we're going to be thinking about it now."
Rainbow craned her head towards the heated conversation, ears twitching.
"Johnny, I've lived in the Twilight lands all my life," Nicole said, stomping her hooves. "I'm naturally nocturnal! Unlike Echo here, I can actually fly. So—lets' face it! I'm more than prepared for the Dark Side!"
"No you are not!" Bard huffed, frowning. "There're way darker evils lurkin' about on the opposite side of this here plane than you can ever possibly imagine!"
"Yeah? So?!"
"There's a whole flippin' Trinary War between mindless changelings... sarosians more bloodthirtsy than the likes of Bleak's Plummet... and a whole mysterious cabal of baddies called the Night Shard! Ain't tellin' how long ponies have been slayin' each other over there in the dark! It's a dang livin' cemetery of murder and ugliness!"
Nicole's slitted eyes narrowed. "Sounds to me like you and your friends are the ones who are clueless about what's waiting for us over there."
Bard blinked. He adjusted his hat, fidgeting. "Uhhhhhh..."
"Come on, Johnny..." Nicole took a brave step forward. "Whatever's lurking on the Dark Side, let us find out together! Face it! You need me! You could use all the help you can get!"
"Ain't nothin' over there that needs you meddlin' with to understand!"
"Oh—but it's just fine and dandy to use me for getting past the Seventh Tribe!" Nicole scoffed. "Is that it?!"
"Hell naw!" Bard frowned, gesturing wildly. "You've blessed us enough with the supplies, ya crazy varmint! As for Bleak's Plummet, Princess Luna's spell on Rainbow's necklace has got it covered—"
"If you believed that for one second, then why did you even bring Echo along?!"
Echo smiled. "What say we agree to disagree—"
"Shut the buck up!" Nicole barked.
"Okay." Echo shrank into the corner.
"Nicole..." Bard sighed, reaching a hoof out to caress her shoulder. "I did not cross the entire ocean, beat the ever-livin' tar outta Tim, and free you from Blue's iron hoof just so you could leap into the jaws of death—"
"Grrrrr!" Nicole batted his hoof away. "And I did not reunite with my favorite brother just so I could watch him fly off on a suicide mission!" Her leafy ears folded. "I know that you're on a very important quest... but aren't you and I important to?"
"Darn tootin'." Bard nodded. "Which is why I want you stayin' here... on the light side." He gulped. "Where it's safe."
"You mean with the windigoes and the sarosian pirates and an entire continent full of victimized xenophobes?"
"Uhhhhhhhhhh..." Bard sweated, gulped, and braved a smile. "...yeah?"
Wildcard facepalmed.
Nicole huffed. "You can't just sweep me under the rug, Johnny. You're better than this. Herald or not... you're my brother..." She gulped. "And I'd rather run the darkest gauntlet in the cosmos than just... wait here to die without you."
"Now dun put it like that, darlin'." Bard smiled nervously. "All we gotta do is get Rainbow to the Midnight Armory—and then we'd all be headed back. You and I will be with each other again! And we can live in a happier... warmer... restored world! Now wouldn't that be snazzy?"
Nicole was deadpan as she said: "You must really think me stupid if you expect me to believe that you... that any of you have a realistic chance of coming back from all of this."
The cabin hung in silence. Thunder and crashing waves echoed beyond the hull. Logan, Ariel, and Wildcard hung their heads.
"She's right," Echo muttered. "You're all idiots."
"Grrrr..." Bard spun to snarl at him. "Why not go make yerself useful and shove yer head into a toilet?"
"I bet it'd stink less than this conversation—"
"Okay guys..." Rainbow stepped boldly into the center of the cabin, spreading her wings out at full length. "Let's settle down, okay?"
"And you!" Nicole turned to face her, frowning. "If you really cared about this situation at all, you'd do something about it!"
"Like what?" Rainbow shrugged. "I can fly over purple mountains. I'm not so good at moving them."
"Considering the passion that these ponies believe in you, I sometimes wonder." Nicole stared Rainbow down. "You've got the Mother of Nightmares on our side! Have her speak to the sarosians!" Her fangs showed. "Let's bring the Seventh Tribe to the Dark Side with us! The Trinary War has its armies, right? So let's bring ours! Stronger in numbers, right?"
Echo glanced between Nicole and Rainbow.
"I... uh..." Rainbow gulped. "It's... complicated. I'm not even sure how we're going to get ten of us over to the Dark Side... much less a whole frickin' culture of misplaced sarosians."
Nicole leaned back. She sighed, folding her forelimbs. "You're not very certain of anything, it seems. Still... that doesn't stop you from risking your life and the life of my brother for this journey of yours."
"No." Rainbow slowly shook her head. "It doesn't."
Silence.
"Mrmfff... whatever..." Nicole spun about. "Heroes are stupid... stupid-heads. Just like Johnny's 'Desperadoes' crud." She stormed off for the far end of the cabin. "No wonder you're all called the 'Job Squad.'"
"Uhhhh..." Echo smiled nervously. "I'll go... uhm... talk to her."
"Really?" Rainbow squinted at her. "You'll talk to her."
"Well... I'll sit quietly and stare at her, at least." Echo flinched from Bard—but the Desperado was too distracted to bother threatening him. With a shrug, Echo shuffled off to join Nicole in the corner.
The rest of the group trotted off in separate directions, save for Wildcard who approached Bard and gestured something.
"Oh hush!" Bard snapped. "How 'bout you have a baby sister and you see how easy it is!" He tossed his hat and marched off in a huff. "Hrmmmff... blabber-beak."
Wildcard sighed.
Rainbow glanced around at the empty shadows of the room. "Well..." Her voice cracked. "This is going nicely."