Rock the Posse
"A ship like Roarke's could easily slip past its outer defenses," Imre said. In the last few minutes, she had crossed the length of the cockpit so that she was now standing by the seat, gesturing at the three-dimensional slice of map. Her hoof pointed at a crevice in the middle of tall mountain peaks. "Landing, however, would be a different matter. There's an outer entrance and a secondary entrance at the end of a long ravine, too small for any transports. Prisoners who are taken to Pale Shelf are dropped off and then escorted in hoofcuffs to the inner doors of the facility."
"And just what kind of a facility is this?" Crimson asked.
Imre fidgeted. "The kind where laborers of the Council of Ledo show no regard for equine life." She turned and glanced at Rainbow Dash. "There are many like it throughout the kingdom, including 'Blue Shelf' to the west, where your friends are apparently from."
Rainbow Dash was silent.
"How in spark's name did you ever end up in a place like that?" Crimson stammered, squinting. "Much less get out in one piece?"
"Look, I told you what I know because I'd like to help you! Not give you my damn autobiography!" Imre snapped.
"I meant no offense," Crimson said. "I simply was curious how—"
"Keep your curiosity to yourself," Imre muttered, turning to look lethargically at the map. "I'm taking a lot of risks by going back to that place."
"And just why are you going back?" Tweak asked.
"Because if your friends are indeed there—or at least one of them—then you're going to need me." She blinked and clarified in a colder tone, "You're going to need a surgeon."
Rainbow Dash bit her lip as the coat hairs on the back of her neck rose on end.
"Imre..." Roarke spoke in a metallic drone. "You've been yanked around enough as it is. There's no need for you to go back to—"
"You and I have never had much of a sympathetic relationship, Roarke. Don't start now. It doesn't suit you." Imre swiveled and trotted for the exit of the manaship. "Seems like it's been my place to prove myself lately. Well, it's never too late for the old college try."
"You sure of this?" Crimson asked.
"No." Imre hopped out of the vessel. "I'll go grab my instruments and things. I'll likely need them."
Rainbow Dash watched as she trotted away. In the meantime, Tweak shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, then, I suspect we're going to need lots of manarifles for if this is gonna turn into an actual mission on hoof."
"Yes, that would be essential to—" Crimson did a double-take. "Excuse me?!"
"What?" Tweak's reflective brow furrowed. "You mean you'd rather use pea-shooters?"
"Did you just imply that you were going with us?"
"Damn straight I am."
"Out of the question!" Crimson grumbled, accidentally vibrating the energy in his new prosthetic. He canceled the sonic frequency and learned forward to say, "Tweak, this is not something for you to risk your skin over!"
"First off, it's crystal, not skin."
"You can still bleed—!"
"And second, I owe you, fella." Tweak somehow glared and smirked at the same time. "I owe you big time. You brought me back my brother, my friends, and my peace of mind. Consider me enlisted."
"Dammit, Tweak! You have a family!"
"So do you."
"But... that's... nnngh..." Crimson shook his muzzle, grumbling. "That's not the point!"
"Isn't it, though?" Tweak raised an eyebrow. "When I'm old and falling to shards, I want my foals and my grandfoals to know that I repaid honor where it was due."
"But—"
"And I would be plum blessed to think of your grandchildren and mine sharing such trust and respect into the far off future."
Crimson opened his mouth, but lingered. The muscular stallion leaned back, exhaling in thought. "Our... grandchildren..."
"Think about it. Franzington and Aurum..." Tweak's lips curved. "Joined by an integrity that is unknown north, south, and east of us. Reckon it's been a long time since this continent has had it's fair share of heroes."
Slowly, Crimson nodded. "Yeah..." He turned and gazed at Rainbow Dash, and his smile widened. "Yeah, I suppose it has been a long time..."
"Right... uhm..." Rainbow Dash cracked a smile. "The more the merrier! Uhhh... bee arr bee." She jumped out of the manaship.
Roarke watched silently, her eye-lenses retracting as she pivoted towards her instruments.
Outside, Rainbow Dash galloped briskly, catching up with the unicorn mare. "Hey! Imre! Hold up, will ya?"
Imre grumbled and turned around. "For once, I thought I had chosen to do something you'd approve of. What have you come to gripe about now?"
"No griping! I think that what you're doing is really cool!" Rainbow Dash said. "I just wanna know one thing—"
"I'm only doing it for your friends, okay?" Imre sighed. "Maybe it was treating all these ponies here in Aurum. Maybe it was listening to you go on and on about friendship and journeys and crap. Maybe I'm just sick of having my ears stuffed with warm fuzzies. But I know that I can do this. I can help you. And maybe, just maybe, I can get ponies like you and Roarke off my back—"
"You lied back there, didn't you?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You were never a prisoner at Pale Shelf."
Imre glared. "Who died and made you the Queen of Honesty?"
Rainbow Dash opened her mouth, lingered, and eventually uttered in a dry voice, "It takes one to know one."
Imre was silent.
"Well?"
Slowly, the unicorn bowed her buzzed head. With a sigh, she muttered, "You're right. I wasn't a prisoner." She bit her lip, then eventually said, "I worked there."
Rainbow Dash leaned forward. "You were employed by the Council of Ledo?"
Imre winced at the notion.
Rainbow's face twisted briefly. She cleared her throat and said, "Well... uhm... the Council is... the Council is pretty messed up. I wouldn't hold it past them from forcing a doctor like you to use her medical skills for stuff she never wanted to—"
"You don't get it, I chose to work there," Imre said, her frown returning to her face. "And I was never a doctor. I was a butcher."
"Pfft! Please. Don't be hard on yourself again—"
"I am not!" Imre shrieked, making Rainbow jolt. "Don't you get it?! There's a reason why I could take Searonese guts apart and not bat an eye!" She leaned back, panting slightly, but then rediscovered her usual composure. "I was knee-deep in the stuff. I was totally involved and... and..." Her voice trailed off, as did her eyes.
Rainbow stared at her, trying not to grimace. "But... you regret it all... don't you?" She exhaled, nodding slowly with understanding. "And that's what you're now living with."
"At first, I believed that I was doing what was best for my country, that I was helping with the Confederacy's research." Imre swallowed hard, her voice taking on a shaky quality. "I-I was raised in the military by my parents. I was proud, and I wanted to make them proud. So, I went to a military academy, excelling in science and biology. When I was transferred to the mountains up north, I didn't ask any questions. I was willing to go wherever the Council sent me, because the Queen's honor was all that mattered."
"What changed?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Imre squinted curiously at her.
Rainbow shrugged with an awkward smile. "You're standing here, aren't you?! You're not in a uniform! You're not wearing one of their goddess-awful berets! You're healing ponies you've never known before and you're helping me find my friends! Obviously you changed..."
"Something... s-something happened in my life..." Imre stifled a whimper. "I thought I had gotten used to all of the ugliness I was dealing with. What I didn't realize was that I was simply blind to it. It took something devastating to rip the wind out from my sails, to make me see how cold I was becoming. Just like..." She lingered.
Rainbow listened patiently.
Imre took a firm breath, frowning again. "It didn't matter. All that's important is that I left. I fled east. I didn't want to defect to the Xonans, but I knew that the only way... the only guaranteed way to get someplace where the Council couldn't reach me was to put their greatest enemy between me and them. As you can guess, I failed, and it wasn't until Roarke bailed me out that I was able to escape their capture. Y'know, it doesn't matter if you're made of flesh or metal, or if you've got fur or tattoos; somewhere deep down inside, you're ugly, and you gotta learn to face it."
"I can help you, y'know," Rainbow Dash said with a tranquil smile. "Just like you're helping my friends. I can help you get to that place... far far away from the Council and all of this craziness."
Imre gazed up at her, and for the first time since Rainbow Dash knew the mare, her face bore a pained expression. "Why? After what I've just told you... why would you do something like that for me?"
"'Cuz I also had to come to terms with my ugliness," Rainbow Dash said, tapping the ruby lightning bolt around her neck. "But the last step isn't learning to face it." She leaned forward and rested a daring hoof on the mare's shoulder. "But learning to live with it. And that's not nearly as easy to do by yourself as you might think."
Imre exhaled heavily, as if a deep weight was released from her insides.
"You wanna give it a try? Hmm?"
Imre gulped. "Y-yes," she said, sniffling.
"Hey... no more sap, now...huh?" Rainbow Dash patted her shoulder and led her towards the barn. "Lemme help you get your healing stuff. This isn't a time to mope, girlfriend. Roarke's on our side. We can track Pilate. We even have Tweak the army guy is in on this crap." She giggled and her voice cracked, "This is gonna rock!"
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Yow. ITT evil nicknames the imprisoned ponies under Imre's knife called her.
Behold! The revolution grows!
You gotta hand it to the Ledomaritans. They are great at naming things. But probably not places.
I get the feeling that of all the Ledomare compounds, Pale Shelf is the one where prisoners had the shortest shelf life.
fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/014/e/9/pinkie_pie_rimshot_by_perinigricon-d4mbib9.gif
Imre has joined the party!
2802498
Tweak the army guy has joined the party!
2802571
Actually, I was thinking of the party heading eastward when all this fun in Ledomare is done.
We've got Rainbow, Belle, and Pilate obviously. Now we also have Imre.
Roarke is a possibility, but honestly I can see her leaving to do her own thing.
An interesting thought is Eagle Eye. He really has nothing to live for in Ledomare. There's a good chance he'll join up if given the chance.
Only time will tell.
KMCA made a poignant point in chat,
Harsh.
2802571
Space Ghost wants to join the party.
2802784
Careful there, you might get stuck in this story as well.
2802571
PARTY?!
Oh, wait. Other kind of party.
Looks like Imre has a history. I doubt we'll get to it, seeing how quickly we learned about what happened to Dash, and all.
Onward to victory!
Sweet
Alright, we've got our Tank (Roarke), DPS (Tweak, Dash, Crimson (he's kind of tank-y, but Roarke is so much more suited to the role)), and Healer (Imre). Full group, we're ready for this raid. Can someone get a group portal to Pale Shelf up? And remember, everyone, use your stat foods and buffs!
So my suspicions were correct, Imre was a butcher under Ledomare. As long as she didn't make cupcakes as well, I am fine with this.
Keep calm and ZADUBADABU everyone.
If RD can't give Belle and co. backup I don't know who will. Honestly, I can't see Josho being able to cause too much chaos before getting caught unless EE gets away. I wonder when Floydien will get back. According to my Schrodinger's Character theory, we haven't seen his dead body, ergo he is still alive. Others may say he is dead, but they are lying assholes or were fed incorrect information. Mary Jane might be someone interesting. I don't think we ever got a description of Floydien besides "antlered deer" or his occupation, so there's that. If he's a smuggler or revolutionary, they may just break out (if they do find her) a badass. I think that's everyone. Oh, and screw Shell (and by proxy his loyal assistants). He (they) sucks (suck)
P.S.
I had a feeling Imre had some skeletons in her closet in the form of the Confederacy's casualties (or Nightshade's). What I didn't expect was for Tweak to leave his family to go with Dash & Co.
Dash seems to be assembling the most dysfunctional band of travelers this side of On the Road.
2802590
Don't forget Kera. It's not like she has a family or anything - that we know of - and Belle is practically becoming a surrogate mother to her. I could easily see her tagging along, which would be useful, considering her formidable magical abilities.
Chronicles of Vengeance - Alestorm
"It took something devastating to rip the wind out from my sails, to make me see how cold I was becoming. Just like..." Shell. Nightshade. One of the two. And it looks like her Beloved died. If it was Shell that she worked with, her Beloved could have been one of the ponies that he tortured to death (including his own wife). That would certainly be a wake-up call.
Or alternatively it could be Nightshade given how damn cold she was. Heck! Imre, being uber-surgeon that she is, could have been the one to stitch up Nightshade's brother, then witness Nightshade stealing his memories, etc. That too would have opened her eyes.
Or, for added drama, she could have worked on Floydien and co. :shrug:
I'm interested to see where you take Imre, Colon.
I did expect Imre to have an interesting past. I did not expect her to be a Ledomartian Josef Mengele. Now I actually feel bad for comparing her with the TF2 Medic - because after all there is more to her than some harmless funny sadism.
This sentence was so ridiculously cruel that I felt the sting even over here.
Also, I was randomly listening to this while reading Tweak's parts and now have it stuck in my head as his theme song:
Called it. Imre worked for the Confederacy.
It seemed pretty obvious to me, since if she wasn't from Searo or Xona, she had to be from there, and being that skilled and trained, to have experienced that much she can make snarky comments while knee-deep in gore, I knew she had been through some deep shit.
And as soon as Pale Shelf came up, well, it was obvious. She sure as hell wouldn't be trained if she was a prisoner.
I also find it pretty evident of just how Eljunbryo actually healed Dash inside. That comment from Imre about Honesty would have utterly destroyed her way back in Austraeoh. Instead, she just shrugs it off after a small moment of silence. Nice development, there.
Shit Imre, watch your mouth.
Convoluted backstory GO!
2802452
If nothing else (and knowing Colon it's not even), this is the only logic behind the naming scheme.
2805252
I was just thinking this. Austraeoh Dash flinched at any mention of her past. Now, a callous (yet unwitting) remark alluding to the pony she was bff's with and also harboured (unrequited?) feelings for merely gives her pause. She's using the pain of her experience to help and confront others about their own issues now, instead of bolting eastward without a second thought.
Moments like these amidst all the drama and shenanigans are what really make these stories. Not to say that drama and shenanigans, - complete with a liberal coating of cheese and a hearty helping of corn - are bad, mind you. Its the combination. Cheese, corn and feels: the trifecta of entertaining writing.
2825476Cheese!
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
...Oh. That's actually pretty interesting. I suppose that it makes sense with what we already knew about Imre, but I never really thought about it before. And just to clarify, seriously - they're NOT supposed to go to Pale Shelf, right? Everyone's at Blue Shelf. I'm not missing anything, right? These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
Imre's getting sappy? God damnit Rainbow, stop corrupting those around you with friendship!
2804595 I just realized, I wonder if your profile picture was what inspired ):( to put foxes in the story.
That was extremely surprising.
Imre working for the Confederacy?
-Spirit
4299032 immsa stretch a thought out and call a relation to shell.......
Hmm, seems like a long shot... but screw it, maybe Shell is Imre's dad? It's a bit of a shot in the dark but a hell of a twist (
).
4759118
Hmm, interesting theory. Too bad I already saw the answer thanks to your comment.
Also, I will catch up to you. I just had to work.
Ouch.
Also, Imre worked for Ledomare.... Did I not call 'dark past' when miss self-depreciating tried to force RD to leave her in the Hold
Rainbow, imre wouldve seen you in a whole new light if you told her YOUR ugly side...
Oh god, not my poor heart
wh-why Imre...
Well, damn, Imre.
Holy fuck, dat line
AJ did
I think you are doing an excellent job so far Rainbow.
See? Dash can be a deep, intellectual pony when she has to be.
Player six has joined the party.
Awesome timing on the exposition!
It's heartwarming to see Rainbow slowly gain a sense of purpose on the journey. More and more, she's coming to terms with what happened back in Ponyville, and possibly coming closer to realizing how important her flight really is.
since I don't see it in the comments, here's a new theory:
what if Imre is the "she" from the Shell flashback near the beginning of the story? what if Imre is shell's daughter?!
now, I could be way off here, but guessing is fun.
7243859
While I don't recall the flashback you're thinking of- Oh!
Oh... right... that flashback.
Anyway, so you're thinking that 'Shell' or 'my father' is what was behind the ellipses in:
I can believe that.
No way to be certain though; not until Imploding actually outright says it anyway.
2803160
By my calculations, they have a 33.33% chance (repeating of course) of survival.
Leeeeeroooy Jennnnnkins!
I happen to remember that you forced Belle and company to wear em and stole a good 20 something berets once reawakened. Are they too sassy for your saddle now, Dash?
Arrr! We be bee pirates!
Tweak the army guy!
8232976
I mean, she did spend months comatose and drunk on chaos magic, so she was sorta out of it at the time.
『Roarke』 has joined the party!
『Imre』 has joined the party!
『Tweak』 has joined the party!
That does not mean you were not a prisoner, just that your chains and walls were internal and not external
09/04/2019
15:45 UTC