Scintilla (Go the distance)

Rainbow Dash rummaged through the saddlebags in order to find anything to cover herself and Indar during the night, while Randall settled themself in front of her, getting comfy right next to the fire they had lit up minutes before. Despite the breezy and even-tempered attitude they portrayed right now, she still kept a watchful eye on the feline-like creature ever since they left Hellburn.

Randall now layed on the sand with their head resting on top of their backpack – as if it were a pillow – while humming a chipper melody the pegasus knew nothing about, which only helped to unsettle her even more.

Rainbow found a few blankets on the bottom of the right saddlebag, and promptly took two of them out.

The pegasus glanced the direction they had come from in an attempt to see the far town of Hellburn, now several miles away. They had walked – or in Rainbow Dash’s case, flown – all of the early morning and the following day to cover as much ground distance as they could. Granted, their current destination was days away from what she could gather, but the faster they moved, the sooner they would arrive.

From what Rainbow remembered of the map, they were heading straight south towards the Capital City of ‘Nabia’. She would be lying if she claimed not to be somewhat anxious to get there, since her journey hasn’t been smooth sailing all the way thus far, one can only wonder what awaits her there.

The rainbow-maned mare placed one of the blankets on the back of Indars head as some sort of makeshift pillow, while the stallion tried not to move too much, then she placed the second one on top of him – it was starting to get a little chilly –. Throughout the day, Indar had been drifting in and out of consciousness, resulting in Rainbow carrying him all the way until night fell upon them, then they decided to set up camp for a bit in order to recover their energies before leaving in a couple of hours, and by that time he was more aware of himself and his surroundings, although he still needed some help, he was able to maintain his focus.

Rainbow heard Randall exhale a long and dragged sigh, and her eyes focused on the feline-like creature. She knew that eventually one of them would have to address the elephant in the room, and by the looks of it, it would probably be her. Between the mare and the feline, they had no trouble engaging in meaningless conversation along the way. Even so, Randall made a few side remarks about the long road ahead, and Rainbow retorted with her own about how sand should just vanish from the face of the earth – well, except from the beaches, that's the only exception in the pegasus' book –. But, the thing was, neither one of them discussed the more pressing matter of the risky undertaking that led to Randall being so... bloody, and Indar almost passed out.

Now, Rainbow Dash was, in no way, a prude, she liked her fair share of action, combat and bravery, but being from a pacifist country whose policy involved 'harmony', 'friendship', and overall 'goodness' made it difficult to try and think of an alternative as to why Randall looked so... sanguinary. She thought of several scenarios, from imagining the feline-like creature being attacked and in dire need of self-defense, or a big bucket of tomato soup being splashed on them. Either way, the only thing she refused to think was what was probably the truth of what happened: that Randall ended up like that by their own choice.

Clingy perched himself on Rainbow’s extended wing when she offered it. The hawk had been her sole companion throughout this day of awkwardness, so, despite it all, she didn’t feel that uncomfortable. Still, when it was lunchtime she had to swallow her bile to feed the bird – she hadn’t yet got used to the smell of fresh meat, and she doubted she’d ever will.

Indar stirred in his position beside her, bringing Rainbow’s attention towards him once more. She had had a lot of concussions in the past to know how bad it could get, so she tried not to talk to him so much. She could do nothing about the light though, it’s not like she could just ‘turn off’ the sun, so he had to just bear with it and stop whining.

Speaking of whom, Indar spoke in a soft voice, so much that she had to lean over and ask him to repeat it to actually hear what he was saying. “Water” He murmured. The pegasus nodded in understanding and searched the saddlebags for one of his canteens of water.

Suddenly, an extended paw handed her a full canteen of water before she had time to rummage through his baggage. Rainbow looked at the owner of said paw and saw Randall’s green eye slightly open, before closing again, paw still waiting for her response.

Rainbow knew they had little water to go by, barely a full canteen. She had relented her own water so the feline-like creature could wash up all the… blood off of themself, and during their march she had made sure Indar drank plenty of water to help alleviate his aching head – hydration was important for a wounded pony, she would know since being an athlete came with its equal perks and disadvantages, and nasty head injuries were a day-to-day basis. Not to mention the other injuries he sustained from being punched and thrown like a sack of potatoes –. So, she could either accept Randall’s offering or give up their water for the rest of their trip, and she wasn’t certain how much longer they had to go to reach the Capital City.

The pegasus received the canteen in between her hooves and opened it, tending to her travel buddy.

“Is he more lucid?” Randall asked, eyes closed.

Rainbow looked between the both of them and shrugged. “I don’t know--” Rainbow turned her face towards Indar. “-- Are you ‘more lucid’?” She asked, to which the stallion nodded. “Yeah, he is”.

“Good” The feline-like creature nodded, and stayed put for a second or two before sitting up against their backpack. “‘Cause now we get to chit-chat for real”.

Rainbow tapped Indar’s forehead a few times to get his attention, and by doing so she got Randall’s as well. “First off” They said. “What the fuck happened back there?”.

Both Rainbow and Indar cringed at the question, which was, in fact, a good question. What did happen back in Hellburn? Rainbow only could answer for the Bandits, but the Lasir Group – or whatever those Minotaurs called themselves – were a mystery to her.

The Pegasus shrugged her shoulders in a clueless manner. “Um… The Bandits followed me even before I met you guys, but I don’t know anything about the Minotaurs” She said, scratching the back of her neck. “I just know that this one right here sucks at making friends, so everypony wants to-- “ Rainbow crunched while she made a gesture with her hoof referencing a slit throat. “-- You know?”. Clingy screeched as if supporting her statement.

“Yeah, he’s awful” Randall acknowledged, looking directly at the stallion.

Indar grimaced at the Pegasus, showing his obvious disagreement. “I’m not that bad” He said, and when both Rainbow and Randall chuckled, he frowned. “I’m not!” He tried to defend himself, then turned to Clingy for support. “... Am I?”. The Hawk, noticing what Indar was asking him to do, could only turn his head the opposite way, as if saying ‘you’re on your own, buddy’, for Clingy, despite being a loyal bird and companion, was no liar. “Traitor... Anyways” The stallion said, trying to change the subject, and as he did so, he glanced at the rainbow-maned mare. “How did you meet Shalab?”.

Rainbow snickered, recalling their first encounter. “He tried to rob me, I kicked his butt and took his sword, then I sold it”.

“You WHAT?!” Indar asked/yelled flabbergasted, Clingy, perched in her wing, jumped in surprise at the sudden exclamation.

“It was worth a pretty penny” The Pegasus smiled, proud of herself, and with her hoofs she adjusted her ruana to let the hawk rest on her shoulder, that way he would not scratch her the next time Indar decides to scream again.

“Aye! What's goin’ on? Wha- what are you guys talkin’ about?” Randall called.

“I can’t believe you sold Shalab’s sword” Indar covered his face with his hooves.

“Hey! You’re the one who said ‘no money, no journey’! What else was I supposed to do?”.

"Shalab’s sword is a token” The stallion said, this time for all to hear. “It’s a symbol that the Bandits have, it’s like an heirloom, like-- like a crown for a king”.

“Mhm, yeah, that’s common knowledge” Randall agreed. “Whenever the previous leader dies, the sword gets passed on to the next leader. Usually it’s one of them who kills the other but who am I to judge”.

Rainbow’s eyes widened. “Say what?”.

“No wonder he wants to kill you so badly” Indar commented, giving her a side eye.

The Pegasus let the weight of her actions crawl on her back. She felt so foolish now that she thought about it, but she didn't know better! It's not her problem she broke some stupid unspoken rule that didn't apply to her! If anything, she did what she had to do in order to escape that situation alive! She had no regrets whatsoever.

Clingy patted her head with his wing in pity, though.

Randall laughed at her in a non-mocking way (or at least not as much as they could have been), and turned to the stallion. “And how come you’re so kin to that Bandit, you even know his name”.

Indar grimaced. “I met him a few times too. Sahida ain’t kind to no one”.

“Ye”.

“Yeah”.

For a few seconds, Rainbow contemplated the chances of having found Randall back in Hellburn, or more like the other way around; they couldn’t have appeared at a better moment. If it were not for the feline-like creature, Indar might have never made it out of that fire, she thought. Which brought her to her next point. “Hey, Randall” the Pegasus called. “How did you find Indar?”.

Randall looked at her, seemingly going over their answer, and the stallion used their hesitance to comment on the subject. “It’s weird, actually” He said. “How did you get inside the Warehouse? Were you following us?”.

“Not everything is about you” They tsk-ed, looking somewhere else but at the ponies. “I was following Nohrrus and Tegur, it just so happened that you were there”.

“What happened there, anyways?” Rainbow asked, and she looked directly at Indar. “When I found you guys, you looked like crap” She recalled, and even if she didn’t say it, it was pretty clear she was talking to the both of them.

It took a few minutes before any of them responded to her query, and while the time passed, the group fell surrounded by heavy silence. Obviously they were avoiding answering her, Rainbow knew that much, which sparked her uneasiness again, leading her to think the worst case scenario. Rainbow looked at the hawk perched on her shoulder and scratched his little head with her hoof, focusing on the way Clingy tilted his head in delight. She was about to retract her question when one of them decided to speak.

"Tegur was about to kill him" The rainbow-maned mare glanced at Randall. "I made sure that didn't happen".

From her position, Rainbow Dash was directly across from them, which put her to eye-level with the handsaw and the severed horn on their belt. The pegasus briefly glanced at the horn, noticing the dry blood on its base, and then and there she knew that, no matter how many times she wished she was in the right, this was not one of those occasions.

Tegur, as maniatic and bloodthirsty as he had been, was still a living creature. She only knew him from that one encounter in the Marketplace, so there was nothing much she could say about him, but if this same situation were to have happened back home, then the outcome might have been different. Back home, after the more dark and grim past of their founding history, everypony was taught that every life matters; nopony was beyond a second chance, and Rainbow knew for a fact that her friends would've tried every little trick in the book to push for redemption, maybe even forgiveness.

But that was not her fight, and most certainly not her friend's fight.

Forgiveness, that’s a tough decision, even for the most kind of creatures.

"Was it the only way?" The pacifist in her asked, despite knowing they might have had no other alternative.

Both of them answered at the same time. "Ye".

Rainbow Dash grimaced and looked away. Feeling sour. She knew this wasn’t Equestria, and these creatures were not Equestrian, so why was it so hard for her to accept that things here were done in a different way? Of all of her friends she was the one who opted for the more radical, non-friendly type of choice! So why… ?

"Why were you following them?" Indar asked, directing the center point of the conversation towards something that had been bugging him since Randall jumped into the picture. Consequently, Rainbow lost her train of thought and focused on them, rather than on her self doubts. “Why did you help me?”.

Randall tilted their head upwards, facing the night sky and the twinkling stars. The dark mantle of the sky above them seemed infinite, and some folks said that the sky they would see every night and every day was just a very small portion of the constantly expanding universe surrounding the little rock that was their planet, full of galaxies and stars light years away.

You know, all that intellectual bullshit.

Sometimes, Randall would sit on the rooftop of their house and glance up at the sky – whenever they felt like being a mock-philosopher – and wonder about their place in the universe. They would think about anything, really, but now their thought drifted to whatever selfish asshole was cruel enough to play with their short lives only to end them whenever they felt like it.

Randall hated being alive. And it's not like they were suicidal, they just thought life was not worth living. They were all going to die, one way or another, and now that 'cuz Jack... They had nothing to live for, not anymore.

The only reason they had to have followed Nohrrus and Tegur was to do justice for their 'cuz. Simple as that. And they didn't care about the outcome, or whatever means they'd have to take to make it, their life was already so hectic as it was, and it's not like there's a system that could reinforce justice. If anything, the continent was as lawless and anarchic as it has ever been! There were no rules, no boundaries, maybe there had once been a ’figure of authority’, perhaps, but now there was no such thing, all that history had been lost centuries ago. First come, first served.

So there's that.

The feline-like creature turned their glance towards the ponies, on one paw, they knew Indar from when they arrived in town. Cynical and mistrusting, a pretty stormy personality if they said so themself, and socially inept (he could not make friends for the life of him), so it's no wonder he was always alone, and because of that he tended to think about himself most of the time, or at least Randall never saw him openly socializing with anyone other that 'cuz Jack, that bird of his, and/or themself.

And then there's sunshine. Fact is, they only knew the bare surface of her personality, which was practically nothing, but she seemed nice enough (probably too nice). From what they had talked about along the way, she also appeared to be full of energy, and clearly she wasn't from around here, so all that made her an innocent foal in the reality they lived in. Whatever reason she had to be wandering alone, being a pegasus no less, was a mystery to them, but it better be a damn urgent, willfully strong reason to be doing so, otherwise she was just plain stupid.

The bird was a whole other story, with such an expressing personality they acted like another pony in their party and not at all like a pet. Randall always thought he was a pet, now they're doubting it.

"I'm guessin' you already know" They started. "That 'cuz Jack's dead".

Indar nodded, remembering his short exchange with Tegur. But Rainbow and Clingy opened their eyes wide in surprise at the announcement. The weight of Randall’s words suddenly sunk in the pegasus’ conscience. ‘Cuz Jack was… He was dead? But they had seen him barely a day ago, two at most, and he was just… He was just healthy and breathing and alive! How? Why?!

From her perspective, Rainbow could not see for the life of her what might be the expression on Indar’s face, but she could make a few guesses of her own, since they (Indar and Jack) were kind of close. After some time of weighty silence, he sat up straight. “I'm sorry" He said sincerely.

"Heh, 'sorry'..." Randall looked up at Indar, the stallion seemed withdrawn and quiet, his eyes cast down without the courage to face them, but his words were sincere enough. Too bad they were not enough for Randall. "You can be sorry, but bein' 'sorry' won't bring him back" The feline-like creature faced him with a stern glare, even when their eyes never met his, and in a fast maneuver they grabbed the pony by his cloak and held him close to their face. "It should've been you. You should’ve been there. But you ran away, you always do! You're just a drunk asshole who spends all day wallowing in self-pity waitin’ till someone comes and solves your problems!".

Indar watched in silence, receiving every word without making a single comment on his behalf. His eyes deadlocked on Randall’s green orbs. Neither Randall or Rainbow Dash could decipher what said look meant.

“And you don’t even care” Randall shook their head, dropping the stallion to the sand as if all the strength on their body just left them. The feline-like creature stumbled until they let themself fall next to their belongings again, and held their head with a paw. If anypony were to pass them by right now, they would see the very picture of sorrow, as if Randall was too disappointed to face the world before them.

Rainbow could hear their voice cracking, but no tears in sight yet. Indar, for his part, stayed right where he landed and faced the sand, mirroring Randall’s own feelings.

The pegasus lacked the words to say to Randall right now, and even if she had them, they would fall on deaf ears. She barely knew them and vice versa, there was nothing she could say to try and console them, nor did she try to pretend as if she knew what they were going through. Something like this… This is the kind of situation where one needed their closed ones the most, and by the looks of it, Randall just lost theirs.

"What happened to him?" Rainbow asked after a long pause where nopony said anything.

“They fuckin’ tortured him. Then they got bored and just chopped his head off” They scoffed. “But the best part-- Oh, the best part… You know what was it? Wanna hear it?” They didn’t wait for an answer before continuing. “They hanged his body in the southern gate, and they emptied his head--" Randall suddenly raised their head only to show their resentful scorn turned into a mad grin, laughing in what Rainbow couldn’t differentiate between grief or complete insanity. "-- My ‘cuz is now in a fucking WALL HANGIN’ OVER THEIR FUCKIN’ TABLE! And all because he. Helped. Him! Because he warned him!” Randall turned their glare towards the stallion for emphasis. “All because he protected you!” Randall let out a dry chuckle, not even blinking. “And where were you? Gettin’ cozy with some nasty pegasus bitch”.

Rainbow frowned. "Hey!".

Randall didn't seem to have heard her, or perhaps they didn't care.

“I did nothin’” Indar stated.

“And in doin’ nothin’ you murdered him”.

The stallion stood tall on all fours. Be it pure spite or stubbornness, he would not stand for any of Randall’s recriminations. “I did nothin’” He repeated himself sternly and louder than he thought he would, his voice was deep rooted and firm. “Jack made a decision. I didn’t make him do nothin’, I didn’t ask him to warn me, I didn’t ask him to protect me!”. Indar walked over to Randall until the bonfire framed his silhouette. “I get it, you’re mad and everything sucks right now, what the Xatir’s did to Jack is fucked up, he didn’t deserve it and they should die. But I didn't make any of that happen so stop blaming it on me and leave me the fuck outta this!”.

Randall frowned and gritted their teeth. "You’re done, pony". The feline-like creature stood up again, towering over the stallion and grabbed the handsaw from their belt.

“Bring it on, puss” Indar raised himself on his hind hooves and started to throw punches in the air, as if daring them to get closer.

Rainbow saw Indar throw the first punch in Randall's direction, jabbing them right on the stomach, but the feline didn’t wait still for the next punch when they mirrored his move, just this time hitting him in the jaw. Indar backed a few steps before he fell on the ground, which was most likely what Randall wanted to happen, only to be deceived by their own plan. The stallion grabbed some sand on their hoof and threw it towards Randall's eyes, using the momentarily distraction to kick the handsaw out of their paw.

The pegasus covered her mouth with her hoof, not because what was transpiring was any less serious, but because it also was oddly amusing to her. “Put it together, Rainbow Dash!” She thought, feeling the corners of her mouth turn upwards and battling it like her life depended on it. She was about to chant for a fight between the both of them, when she felt the drilling judging look on Clingy’s face. “What?” She asked in a hushed voice. “Come on! Let them fight it out, if anything happens then I'll step in, okay?”.

The hawk let a tiny squeal in an attempt to huff, but eventually gave in to her reasoning. She was right after all, they needed to let out some steam and fight it out, otherwise they would all suffer from the tension they built up.

Randall hissed and charged at the stallion, their right fist coming up towards his face in full force. Indar settled his weight onto his right back hoof and quickly blocked their fist with his left forehoof, throwing his own punch and narrowly missing the side of their head. Randall grunted, and pushed forth, grabbing Indar's right shoulder and twisting the two of them around to try and get the necessary momentum. Indar pushed on their shoulder as well, and as Randall's rear paws settled back into the ground, he leaned on his left back leg, bending it as he quickly brought his right knee into Randall's stomach. Clearly, Randall wasn't expecting that, crumbling easily and wheezing out of breath. They tried to adjust their footing, but Indar pushed down with a snarl, using all of his weight to force them onto their knees.

They fell unceremoniously, somehow managing to drag Indar with them to throw off his balance. Randall took the opportunity and used their bigger frame to shove Indar over until his back hit the ground, the cloak wrapping him in the process.

Rainbow watched it all unfold, secretly wishing she had something to snack on right now, so as to better enjoy the show these two were putting on.

The two of them struggled on the ground, ripping and tugging and hitting and pulling each other's hair/mane and clothes, the occasional snarl and yelp coming from any of them here and there, neither giving in or overpowering the other. Randall's sheer size in comparison to Indar gave them a clear advantage, but Indar was obviously a skilled fighter.

Nevertheless, this was brutal, Indar had yanked several locks of short hair out of Randall's body, and, in retaliation, they had littered his cheeks in scratch marks – adding to his already very present scar over his muzzle –, but at some point, the feline had started to laugh, as if they were two foals kicking the shit out of each other just for the bragging rights.

Finally, it's Indar who ends up on top of Randall, one forehoof locked on their throat and the other holding their wrists. The pegasus stood up from her spot and walked over to them both, she knew this was probably the moment to step in a break the fight, but as she got closer, she realized they didn't need her to stop it for them.

"Alright, I give in" Randall said, accepting their loss by letting out a wheezed laugh.

Surprisingly, Indar let go of their wrists without protesting, although his eyes widened at the sudden metaphorical white flag waved by Randall.

Randall sat up right away, forcing the stallion to roll off of them and sit by their side. Both of them were out of air completely, but what threw indar off was that Randall was still laughing.

"For what it's worth, I care" Indar said, and he kept on surprising everypony today since none of them expected him to be the first to speak, now more than ever.

Randall's laugh steadily, albeit a bit fast too, died down within a few moments of no response, and when they decided to speak, they first took the severed horn in one of their paws to examine it for what was most likely the uptemph time since they sawed it. They took a deep breath, never looking away from the trophy in their paw. They raised the horn to frame its silhouette against the fire as if it were a halo. "You asked me why I was following them" They sighed, giving the pair one of the most serious countenances either of them had seen in the feline (like ever), directing themself mostly towards the stallion. "My 'cuz died because he wanted you to get out of the desert alive. He wanted you to live, and so he gave his life... I'll make sure you fuckers get outta here, I won't let him die in vain, but there's one thing that you two must know" Randall guarded the horn back into their belt, taking their sweet time securing it. "When the time comes, I'll take care of Nohrrus, and if either of you stands in the way, I won't hesitate to take you down".

Rainbow lowered her gaze. She felt the familiar weight of the element she carried in her neck, and as she directed a hoof to it she pondered on Randall's statement.

She reminded herself this wasn’t her fight, and the creatures here dealt with their problems in a different way than in Equestria, despite how much she wanted it to be the other way around.