"What do you think she's doing with all of Dashie's stuff?"
"Pinkie, we've been through this. Rainbow's clothes were sopping wet. She risked freezing to death. This mare just saved her."
"She's gotta be up to something. I don't like the looks of her!"
"I share Pinkie's concern, Twilight. This bazen vixen is... far too displeasing to the eye."
"Let her actions speak for her, Rarity. Not her looks."
"But where did she come from all of the sudden? Don't you find that the least bit suspicious?!"
"She came from the south, Rarity. I... I-I think she was tracing Rainbow's steps."
"Certainly, Fluttershy, but even you said that you had a hard time sensing her at first."
"Ermmm..."
"Just something about this seems off, is all I'm saying."
"Well, she did save Rainbow's life."
"Did she?"
"Shhh! Girls! I think Dashie's waking!"
"Oh, thank Celestia!"
"Rainbow? Are you there?"
"Speak to us, Dashie!"
"Mrmmmff..." Rainbow Dash stirred. She winced. Her limbs moved—and she experienced a brief lapse in heartbeat upon realizing that she could feel them. She moved her head, feeling the scratchy stroke of hard leather against her naked figure. Her nose brushed against furs and pelts. The mare realized she was lying under a thick sheet of indulating hides. "Hrmmfff..."
With a wincing expression, Rainbow lifted her weary head. Her ears twitched, exposed to the bitter cold of a dull, shadowy cave.
Her vision was foggy. At first, all she could make out was a sliver of gray light. Howling winds rippled in her direction. Standing in the path of the blistery gusts was a thick, muscular equine figure. Rainbow caught the supple outline of a mare's snout. Strong forelimbs stoked a fire burning between them, and in each flicker Rainbow caught the glinting highlight of a full mane of fiery red dreadlocks.
"Mmmmm..." Rainbow squeaked. She trembled harder, and a tear gathered at the edge of her eyes. "...Roarke?"
The figure's rummaging slowly came to a stop. With icy grace, she turned to look at Rainbow. A pair of chiseled green eyes glistened in the dark.
Rainbow blinked.
Muscles rippled. The mare marched towards her. The light of the fire shifted, revealing a dark violet coat and heavy muzzle lines. At last, a granite specimen of a pony loomed above Rainbow Dash. She spoke in a deep, deep voice. "I am nopony you know." She thrusted a hoof down.
"Guhh!" Rainbow Dash winced as she was forced into a sitting position.
"However..." The mare leaned in, green eyes squinting as she studied Rainbow's eyes, ears, and complexion. "...someone who cares... or feels like they should... has promised a great, golden reward for your safe transport. Thus, here I am to save what's left of the merchandise." Her nostrils flared as she tilted Rainbow's chin up. "I can't say I'm all that impressed."
Rainbow gulped hard. "Remna."
"You know, there was a time when saying my name out loud was a sin, and one I personally chose to punish with great mercilessness." The mare's voice rolled rich and reverberating off the cold walls of the cave. The howling wind outside provided a tense backdrop. "It would appear that Wildcard's lost his touch... dulled his minds with the musical levity of a backwater charlatan." She lifted one of Rainbow's eyelids, examining her cornea. "Hmmmm... no wonder she takes pity on a mere child turned fugitive..."
Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy hovered into view, gazing at Rainbow.
"She showed up within an hour of you collapsing, Rainbow," Twilight said.
"I-I hadn't noticed her at first," Fluttershy added with a gulp. "I was so scared... so focused on you and your condition."
"She saved you, Rainbow." Twilight fidgeted in mid-air. "But she hadn't spoken a word up until now."
Rainbow glanced over to the side as she hung in Remna's grip. She spotted her saddlebags. "My stuff..."
"Leave them be," Remna grumbled. She ran a hoof over Rainbow's stubbled scalp, checking her skull for bruises. "They're still drying. They were nearly the death of you." She grasped Rainbow's forelimbs, examining the fetlocks. "Among other things..."
Rainbow sense a glint of gold. She glanced down. "You... d-didn't take my pendant off?"
"What do you take me for?" Remmna's muzzle resembled a gargoyle's when she frowned. "A thief?" She grunted out the side of her muzzle as she reached for Rainbow's side. "Thieves are cowards. I learned years to ago to just skip straight to murderer. It's harder and pays better." With that said, she stretched Rainbow's left wing out to its full length.
"...!!!" Rainbow arched back. "Aaaaaaa-aaaaugh!" Her marefriends winced as she thrusted a rear hoof out and knocked Remna's grip away. "Ya friggin' melon fudge!"
Remna merely blinked. "Hmmm..." She arched an eyebrow. "I see." Shifting, she stood up and trotted back to the flame. "Well, at least your muscles have recovered their reflexes."
"Grnnngh..." Rainbow fell on her side, shivering with pained spasms. Gnashing her teeth, she hissed across the cavern floor. "Did Wildcard really send you?! Huh?!"
"You're awake, aren't you?"
Rainbow blinked. "Huh?"
Remna fished around through a separate selection of supplies. "If I was doing this purely for myself, you would be on your way back to Steamfall by now. The Consortium is offering over ten times more for your body than Wildcard is promising. They'd even pay me more if I brought you in as a popsicle."
"Then wh-what's stopping you?"
Rarity looked aside, trembling. "Is that truly a necessary question, Rainbow?"
Remna turned to squint at her from across the cave. "What the Consortium lacks in honor, our griffon friend provides. For years, I've sought favor with the wyverns. They've always rebuffed me."
"Jee, I wonder why."
"If I can fulfill my promise to Wildcard, his associates up in Wyvern Point are bound to notice. Their influence spreads far and wide throughout this continent. It is an ancient code of honor, even older than Verlaxion's. Something more priceless than all of the Consortium's gold." At last, she grasped a strip of dark brown jerky and wandered back to Rainbow. "Some bounties are nameless, you see, much like that nebulous thing which motivates you."
"What... nebulous thing?"
"The hell should I know?" Remna's jaw muscles tensed. "You use more energy than thought, little pony, which is precisely why it runs out all the time. I had to trace an exploding train tunnel, an abandoned mine, and a dead frost wyrm just to find your pathetic flesh nearly frozen to death. Quite frankly, I will be greatly relieved once I've finished escorting you to your destination." She thrusted the morsel towards Rainbow's muzzle. "Now. Eat."
"That..." Rainbow's pupils shrank as soon as she got a whiff of the smoked material. "That's meat, isn't it?"
"It is nutritious, full of protein, and it will give you strength. Far more than that, it will save your pissant life." Remna grabbed Rainbow's head from behind and thrust the jerky towards her muzzle. "Now, eat."
"Nrnnngh!" Rainbow struggled. "Friggin'... cut it out! I won't—" Her weak muzzle scraped the dried material, and she nearly wretched. "Rrrrgh... flippin' psycho jerk!" Her eyes flickered red on yellow. The pendant briefly strobed, and suddenly Rainbow was shoving Remna away with a violent burst of energy. "Raaugh!" She hopped up to her hooves, trembling. "I said no! I will not eat meat!"
Remna simply stared her down. "Hmmmm..." With scuffling hooves, she turned around and trotted back across the caves. "Looks like it gave you strength after all." She reached towards Rainbow's things and tossed a wet bag of brown lettuce her way. "There you go, little pony. A feast for fools."
Rainbow grimaced. "What... h-happened to it?"
"Cold moisture and neglect, which is the best you could provide for yourself thus far. Meditate on that the next time I tell you to do something for your own good."
Rainbow huffed. Squatting to her aching haunches, she nevertheless grabbed a wet clump of lettuce and bit into it. She grimaced from the taste, but persisted. "I was doing fine until the friggin' frost wyrm..."
"And like a frightened child, you wasted all your frost rods on deterring it."
"How would you know?" Rainbow took another bite and squinted. "Were you watching?"
"I deduced enough from the carcass of the beast."
"You dug the thing up?"
"Where else do you think I got the meat?"
Rarity made a wretching sound. Fluttershy reached over and patted her back.
Rainbow tilted her head to the side. She spotted the cutie mark of a crimson-colored broadsword across the mare's flank. "Without frost rods, just how did you get a fire started?"
"Very, very easily."
Rainbow frowned. "Look. You might think I'm some moron or something."
"And you might be right."
"But I-I've been dealing with every nasty thing this continent has to throw at somepony!" Rainbow barked. "And before that, I was constantly avoiding death by the skin of my teeth!" She took another bite of lettuce, winced, and pointed. "Mrmmff... I'm willing to bet I've seen more crazy things and been on more dangerous adventures than you can even shake a stick at!"
"As Wildcard was keen to suggest..."
"...so don't treat me like some stupid rookie! And do not call me 'little pony.'" Rainbow glared. "I've just been unlucky, that's all."
"You've been a dead mare trotting," Remna grumbled, gathering her things. "And a corpse is still a corpse."
Rainbow blinked. "Huh?" She twitched. "Wait... are you getting all your stuff together?"
"Indeed I am."
"You're... you're leaving already?"
"Correction. We are leaving."
"But... b-but..." Rainbow blinked out the cave. "The blizzard! It's still blowing something fierce!"
"I'm glad that you acknowledge that. Now, please acknowledge that I care little." Remna hoisted a large bag over her flank and turned to glare in Rainbow's direction. "The storm will lessen eventually, but we cannot afford to wait for it. We cannot afford to wait for anything. There is more at hoof here than Wildcard's insistence that we get you to the wyvern sanctuary."
"Oh yeah...?"
"The Prefectures of Rohbredden are shifting power. The Council stands upon the brink of a collapse that they're not willing to admit."
"Since when...?"
"And Verlaxion—the goddess of unification—stirs somewhere, unseen and uncontested. These are anxious times indeed, times in which we cannot afford to hesitate any longer." Remna's green eyes narrowed, chilled, chiseled. "Can you see now why I seek the support of the continent's most tenacious tribe?"
"Hmmmff..." Rainbow Dash fumbled to gather her cloak and things. They were dry to the touch, if only barely. "Well, let's get going then... so you can get the support you need."
"That's more like it." Remna trotted out the cave. "I'll scout for a good hiking path. Try your best not to collapse again. I haven't the wood left for too many more fires."
Rainbow shuddered as the muscular mare left.
"She's... uhm..." Fluttershy fidgeted. "...abrasive."
"Yeah, well..." Rainbow grumbled. "I can think of another A-word."
Pinkie grinned. "'Awesome?'"
"No, not awesome!" Rainbow sputtered.
A deep voice pierced the howling winds outside: "What was that, little pony?"
"Wasn't talking to you!" Rainbow snorted, slipping through her cloak. "Butthole."
"You must admit," Twilight Sparkle said. "For a bounty hunter thinly described as a 'mentor' to Wildcard, she certainly fits the bill."
"Yes, quite, but a certain degree of civility was lost along the way," Rarity added.
"Rarity, do you even remember how tough Rainbow's first fight was against Wildcard and Bard?"
"I only remember a bunch of wind and loud noises, Twilight. Are you attempting to make a point?"
"Eugh..." Twilight face-hoofed.
"As much of a meanie-head this Remna seems to be, she did save Dashie's life," Pinkie said. "Seems like a good reason to give her the benefit of a dumbell."
"Yeah..." Rainbow's nostrils flared. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it."
"Just try being nice to her, Rainbow," Fluttershy said. "After all, this is more about Wildcard's favor to us." She smiled. "Don't the Desperadoes, at least, deserve such consideration?"
"As far as I'm concerned..." Rainbow Dash finished garbing herself and then reached for her saddlebag. "...this is gonna make us even for the friggin' Quade."
Wow, what an ass this Remna is. Seems like she has been so long without a real challenge that she holds everything else in contempt. I doubt she would be so contemptuous if she knew what Dashie was keeping from escaping, and just how small she really is in the grand scheme of things.
Man, I'm a bit of a jerk aren't I?
Jerk with a heart of gold I'm sure, but still...
Welp, guess I'm the new substitute AJ for now.
Interesting....
Why must you tease us IC?
If Rainbow had her wing healed, she'd destroy you, Remna. She's just had some bad luck. Courtesy of a few short skirts.
First Kera 2.0, now Roarke 2.0. Interesting.
Thirty crunches, ):(. Knock 'em out!
[youtube=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vfIuoVwhlgU]
Srsly I was squealing in delight then......
Also whose she?
Verlax? Saraph?
I'm willing to bet that the word is assh--
Or butthole. That works, too.
Enter Roarke 2.0, now with 20% more sandpaper. Man, Dash, do you just have a magnet for attracting these types? I'll give her some time, see how she developes. Roarke started off as a pretty one note pony as well, with an almost identical amount of abrasive standoffishness as Remna.
Actually,that's a good point, Dash didn't really struggle, they were just really tenacious until Dash fried them with lightning.
Wait what?
-Companions have returned, inner darkness spurned. Utaan.
Damn you you IC, I knew it was Renma, the foreshadowing was perfect, but like Dash...I wanted Roarke.
6970002 If anyone really thinks that Remma is really any worse than Roarke at first encounter, I would have to argue the point. At least she doesn't seem to be out for Dash's blood for fun and profit.
For the sake of it, I'm going to apply the needless shipping just because she's not Roarke, because this line:
got me all fired up, and because I'm in a weird mood today.
Besides, who says Renmabow can't happen in the future?
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasdf
6969910 I missed you so much. Please sir, may I have some more?
Well, at least Dash was stationary long enough in one place for someone sort of on her side to catch up with her.
Now to handle the blizzard thats Verlaxions curse?
The Wyverns predate Verlaxion? No wonder they have a very big bone to pick with her. Her skull.
6970168
Roake. Roake says Renmabow can't happen in the future.
In b4, bounty hunter cat fight.
6970230
This would be even better.
This made me chuckle.
So... Remna. Kinda a bitch, but I already like her. I propose a toast to more party members!
6970168 Not to mention green eyes, green eyes means that someone's getting fucked. In more ways than one.
6970253
Just you wait, Rainbow's gonna be wanting that flank soon enough.
Holy crap, did I just... catch up?
Is that even possible?
Whoa.
Nice chapter
6968555 lol. The references ):( uses are rather expansive random and amusing.
Is this common knowledge all of a sudden, or is Remna just really filled in on Dash's adventures?
Ya fuckin' sly bastard with that character introduction...
Ugh and here I was excited that roarke made a comeback
...Just had a thought. Didn't Rainbow leave the sword back past the blight? And doesn't it still communicate with Celestia? Can't the old Jury go and send some messages to Celestia via that, who can relay it to Luna, who can relay it to Rainbow? And the back the other way?
I just sense the immense amount of fun coming off her! She's gonna be a blast to have around.
6970106 The dream we will never live again.
6969788 If you recall, when RD first met Roarke, the MechMare was somewhat unfriendly.
Remna knows nothing of Dashie's trials, and even less of her strengths, her response is to be expected. She does however display a sense of honour. Honour goes a long way.
6969834 To better show us the true path.
6970168 To be honest, I can't imagine RD falling for Rems, Dashie's been down this too road many times maybe? However, Remna falling falling for Dash, oh yes, I can see that well enough!
6970260 Wanting? Sure, but finding herself in dragon country and without the cosy scaffold of the Noble Jury, would she allow herself the freedom? Not to mention the risk. Also ghost buddies.
6970284
OK, I'm going to go out on a limb now, I have a bag of bits here that says Remna, maybe a dozen chapters or so from now, will make some significant and possibly tragic sacrifice for Dashie. You can hold me to this.
6970640
I never thought about that but now I want it.
):( make it happen
6970106 same man....same
6970239 I'm doubtful this Remna would stand up to missiles and prehensile everything coming from Roarke... Would still be worth popcorn though.
Wait, wait, Remna was supposed to be at the location Dash was trying to get to - but this chapter indicates she was following Rainbow? Somewhere, a lot of time could have been saved if they had directly met up instead of playing a cat and mouse game here.
A very interesting, and strong, reaction to being forced to eat something that would save her life. Rainbow's conviction to not eat meat goes so far as to release the chaos inside of her to hold herself to it (weakening her pendant?). I wonder how long this will last, as that lettuce is already going bad.
6970426
This is a very curious line, considering we've had no indications that any of the 'faithful' of Verlaxion know she's still around. Either Verlaxion has been making herself known to some of the shadier parts of her society, or someone can sense when Verlaxion uses her powers to appear and manipulate her ice golems and Remna knows them. I suppose perhaps Wildcard could have told her that Rainbow believes Verlaxion is still kicking and she put the pieces together, but that's a bit of a stretch.
It is also curious how Remna brings to light the coming power struggle between the various factions, giving us some foreshadowing here, I wonder if this is their own doing or if Verlaxion is influencing this coming change of power.
6970771 True, but she should know that one does not get as far as Rainbow had gotten in her condition without a lot of luck AND a lot of skill. Especially with the limited resources that Rainbow has.
6970922
I'm wondering if Remna's perspective results from the apparent contradiction between what she knows to be true, having apparently followed Dashie's trail from the wreckage of
my beautifull steam engine(cough) the trainwreck, and the admittedly small mare she see's before her. Throw in Wildcard's presumed commitment (which must also confuse her) and Rems finds herself bemused and a little irritable, to say the least.You're no Roarke.
I miss Roarke.
So, how does Remna feel about hammocks?
6970985 Maybe, I guess we will have to see.
6970995
I also miss Roarke. She was cool.
6970284 Welcome to the front lines! Prepare your feels for impact and keep your digits tight on the edge of your seat.
6970892
I'm thinking Remna heard (or heard about) the train explosion, put 2 and 2 together, and came to check it out, then followed the trail from there.
That's Bard.
Renma managed to follow Rainbow's tracks through the mine?! How good is this hunter?
Hmmm. I liked Roarke better
6970284
Buckle up, it's a bumpy ride.
Characters like this always bug me. It doesn't matter if they're a good guy or a bad guy, I'm always hoping for them to be taken down a peg or two. And hopefully Rainbow will get her chance.
6969910
I am not willing to except Remna as Roarke 2.0.
She's not better than Roarke.
Not yet.
Poor Dash
6969792
Welcome to the prismatic harem, friend.
6969901
Don't forget a few explosions.