//------------------------------// // 76 - The Den // Story: From Dusk to Night // by KuroiTsubasaTenshi //------------------------------// With Ivory’s ward expected to run out soon, I found myself growing tense. We only needed to hold out in this room for the night, though I was distinctly aware that, should things start going wrong, we needed to move quickly, lest it become nothing more than a giant coffin—a fancy, gold-plated coffin, but a coffin, nonetheless. I set to work, closing the thick, red curtains of the bay windows. Their shape was rather convenient, such that if I stood near the sidewall, I could be out of sight of the window, yet still have a decent view of the strip. Not that I expected the Cartel to start a frontal assault, but with the golden walls running the perimeter, the gate was the only real easy entrance. I supposed there was potentially the delivery entrance, though I suspected the secluded location also meant the Mob would have a substantial set of sentries in place. If something happened, I expected to hear it. To that end, my watch routine became several minutes at the window, followed by a quick pass by the door, ears twitching. A side benefit was that the constant pacing helped me shed bits of anxiety. Of course, keeping this up all night would leave any one person a ragged mess in the morning. Thus, Night and I agreed to resume the watch rotation we’d developed on the road. Despite the long journey and the relatively late hour, neither of us were sleepy enough to be the first to bed. While anxiety was the leading factor, Las Pegasus’s sights and sounds considering the night to still be young certainly did us no favours. As such, Night lay atop the sheets, worry ever so slightly growing on his face with each circuit I made. At last, the frown grew too deep and he sat up. “I think I have an idea.” “Hmmm?” I’d just started scanning the street, though even as I directed a little more attention to him, I couldn’t recall anything we discussed that may have served as a source of inspiration. “Idea for what?” “The trip home, when the ward has worn off.” Night stood and walked up beside me. “We can send for help and meet up part way.” “It’s a good idea, but I don’t know if I have the right contacts to get it delivered in a timely matter. I guess I could ask around a little.” “You don’t have to. After Fillydelphia, my dad gave me a special address. He said if I ever found myself in trouble, I could send a letter to it through the Guard and it would reach him in a day. I’m not sure it can help us with a banshee.” Night smiled sheepishly. “But it might mean some extra protection on the road, at least. If I can give you peace of mind, I’ll do whatever it takes.” I leaned over, pressing my muzzle into the brown strands of his mane. “I appreciate the concern. Guess it might be time to send out those postcards.” “Yeah.” Night hurried over to the desk, though he hesitated a bit before sitting down. To be entirely fair, the thing was so comically oversized that, were he to fall underneath, I might never see him again. After fishing one of the postcards from his bag, he began furiously scribbling. About a minute went by when his writing came to a halt. He looked up at me. “Where can we meet?” I took a moment to consider. I hadn’t fully decided yet, other than that I wanted to do something odd and unpredictable. To have to throw predictability back in had me wondering if I’d need to revise everything. “Without knowing how fast he can get people ready to meet us, it’ll need to be someplace that gives them a head start. There’s a number of options, but I think all the best routes will take us near or through Cloudcrest. It’s a bit old and isolated, but your father should know it. That should give him and his people the advantage in reaching it and settling in before any significant Cartel force can arrive.” “Okay.” He resumed writing. Crystalside was a lot of fun! Beautiful scenery and an amazing old dig site. It’s no Daring Do, but it’s still neat. The flight out was a bit rough, ran into some trouble with the weather. Just like that time in Myrtail Beach, remember? We took to ground near Cloudcrest to wait for the weather to pass. We’d hoped for clear flying, but you know what Mom says, Sometimes being a pegasus means getting tossed around like a leaf in a storm. Wish you were here! -Night and Dusky. As he tucked the postcard into his flight satchels, I slung my own over my back. “Since we can’t sleep, let’s go for a stroll down the strip. Maybe play a round or two of roulette.” Night gave me a funny look. “I thought you didn’t like gambling.” “I don’t.” I let out a sigh. “But if we go straight to our destination, our hosts may get the wrong idea. We need to act the part. At the same time, I don’t want to bankrupt us. However, these tables tend to get pretty busy. So, I figure we go over, lose a few spins, then find someone on a winning streak and pretend to be in awe. That should let us kill enough time to be safe.” He frowned, the reminder digging deeply. At last, he nodded. “If you think it’s necessary.” The strip seemed a little emptier, though the open doors of several nearby casinos made it pretty clear people were not done for the night. Being unable to blend in as readily made me feel a little uneasy, but it was technically a blessing of a sort. Anyone watching would see exactly what I wanted them to see. Now it was just a matter of finding a casino far enough away to circumvent the question of why we didn’t play at the Gooseneck. Slowing to a saunter, I pretended to get distracted by everything, all the while keeping an eye out for my quarry. At last, I spotted the perfect excuse: a neon sign that exclaimed, Rehaa’s Beginner’s Night! The words flashed individually in succession as they flowed out of the stereotypical squat, yellow Saddle Arabian lamp. Said sign was attached to a smooth white wall, with golden trim. To its left, a spade-shaped gap beckoned us in. I answered. A wide carpet of all colours led the way into the heart of the casino. Before long, it forked, then forked again, cutting through the sea of green felt tables. Dealers in oversized turbans shifted cards, chips and balls around with dazzling speed. I relaxed a little as I turned down the right fork. This place was so crowded that sometimes it was difficult to tell what was at which table. While that did make finding what I was seeking a bit tougher, it also made our cover look that much more legit. If someone from the Gooseneck had followed us, I seriously doubted they would go much further than this. At least, not when we’d given them little reason for suspicion. To keep it that way, I decided we should stick with the plan. As luck turned out, the second crowded table I checked was roulette, which was on the very divide between its own section and a Blackjack section. Sliding up to the side, I put on a bit of a touristy voice as I swapped twenty bits for chips. Turning to Night, I grinned, motioning to the betting board. “All we have to do is guess which section of the wheel the ball will land. What do you think, black or red?” “Oh, um…” Night scrunched his face a little, uncertain about this choice that had ultimately had no meaningful difference. His eyes drifted over to my coat. “Black.” “Okay,” I said. With a giggle, I set some chips down. “Five on black!” The dealer nodded, sliding my bet over to the little black bar on the betting grid. After a couple more bets, the dealer held the ball up to the table, giving the wheel a firm spin. As the grand golden grid of numbered slots reached full speed, the dealer dropped the ball in. The sound of stone on metal echoed as the ball deflected twice, then thrice, before finally getting caught up in the current of the wheel. It struggled a little longer, but ultimately found a place in one of the far slots. “Black twenty-six!” the dealer called out, setting out about paying and collecting chips in turn. “Hey, good call!” I said to Night. “Um, thanks?” His voice quickly oscillated from question to statement as he tried to play along. I had a feeling he was less confused by the game so much as to why anyone found it so exciting. To be perfectly fair, I’ve never been particularly excited by this kind of thing, either—even when I win. “Let’s see if we can double it again. We’ll stick with our lucky colour.” I pushed the chips back toward the grid. With a flourish, the dealer spun the wheel again. “Red three!” “Aw. That didn’t last long.” I swatted dramatically at the air. “Well, don’t worry. We can win it all back and more. Think we should swap to red?” “Yeah, maybe that will be luckier,” Night replied. With that, I put the rest of our money on red. Round and round the wheel went. “Double zero!” I blinked. Turning to me, Night tilted his head. “That doesn’t count as red, does it?” “No. No, it doesn’t,” I replied. “Maaaaybe this is a sign we should take a break. Hey, that guy’s got a lot of chips. Let’s see if we can figure out how he does it!” --- The rest of the hour passed with us hovering from winner to winner, pretending to fawn over them. It was a strange experience, but better than blowing through our entire bit stash pretending we loved roulette—not that I had much left after paying for the hotel, anyway. We came away more relaxed than I expected, though I really should have expected that might be the case when the entire objective was goofing off for long enough. The trip to the Guard station was uneventful. The streets were still relatively sparse, such that I would have noticed anyone following us over a longer distance like that. The receptionist took Night’s postcard without so much as a comment. Were it not for the meaningful glance that she gave him, I might have worried that our message wasn’t going to get out in time. I couldn’t blame them, really, as the whole point of a secret mail system is not advertising its existence. Just how much we needed that ridiculous outing didn’t become apparent until we returned to our room. Night fell into something of a sleep, though I did see him crack an eye the odd time that I went to check the hall. For my own part, while we were largely safe, I could feel myself getting tightly wound, little by little, each time I stared down the street or pressed my ear to the door. When the shift change came, I found myself just shy of tossing and turning. I figured that, if nothing else, I could doze and conserve energy. But as I sunk into the sheets, I felt myself slip into that haze that sat on the line between dream and reality. I saw Ivory in the distance, standing in the middle of a blinding light. She was ringed by several shapes in the shadows, though what they were, I couldn’t tell. I tried to call her name, but nothing came out. I tried to run to her, but my hind legs were leaden, almost bolting me to the ground. So, I did what I could: reached out with my forelegs, pulling with all my strength, as I dragged my body forward. After the fifth or sixth pull, I found myself no closer. Was it a trick of my exhaustion? Five more and I began to suspected I wasn’t seeing things. Five beyond that and I was certain. But, I couldn’t stop. No, I wouldn’t leave her behind. An eternity went by. I thought I could hear someone cackling, just at the barest edge of my hearing. I ignored it and pressed on. When at last the exhaustion was too much, I lay there. Just five minutes of rest. That’s all I’d need, then I could begin anew. Feebly, I reached out a hoof and, as it crunched softly against the dust, I returned to reality—and my next shift. --- Despite the fatigue inherent to alternating two hours asleep and two hours awake, the night became easier as it went on. The streets began to clear out to the point where it almost seemed barren. Of course, there were still packs of loud, drunk people stumbling around, but it was pretty easy to identify those as not being a hit squad. Anyone else serious enough to still be out was likely going to be throwing thousands of bits around at the tables until the sun came up. My dreams continued to grow more restless, though the haze of being in and out of sleep so much left me unable to remember much. I took the lack of vivid memories as a blessing, a sign that Summer Leaf wasn’t able to break through just yet. Even so, there was always one detail I could never forget: that long, distant cackling. In any event, the night passed without a gang war breaking out in the hallway, allowing us to conserve enough energy for an early start. Cloudcrest Hill was a little over halfway to Canterlot, meaning we’d be pushing ourselves again. I made a note to bring Ivory something extra next time, since without her protection, this second day would have been hell. Still, we couldn’t afford to get sloppy. Rested or not, there could be Cartel agents along the route. It was for this same reason that I avoided significant population centres. Even a touristy town like Lunar Lake could have sleeper cells about. With mostly wilderness between us and home, the only real effective blockade for a couple pegasi would have to also be airborne. Enough emplacements like catapults or adept mages could also make the skies very dangerous, but they lacked something we had: extreme maneuverability. As such, while I spared some glances down at the forest and plains below, what I was really looking out for were suspicious cloud formations. Anything excessively large or several medium clumps that created tunnels of sorts were to be avoided. The sun was falling through the sky as we arrived. Strangely, there weren’t many clouds around, a fact that unsettled me about a town that was all but abandoned. It almost felt like we were being lulled into a false sense of security. My eyes drifted downward, to the multitude of places that people could hide. All around the hill was what used to be fields of wheat. By now, they’d grown well out of control, becoming more like a mini forest. The remnants of some paths cut through them, though they were usually isolated chunks of stone, unable to truly guide anyone. We circled the perimeter, but as best I could tell, the wheat hadn’t been disturbed. My eyes drifted inward, to the hill itself. It was on the larger side of the categorization, steep, almost craggy drops on three of the sides. The rear had a somewhat more gentle slope, though the remnants of manually carved paths climbing it made it clear just how gentle the hill really was. At the top were a number of stone structures, hollow and abandoned. At one point, they had housed a detachment of Guard and a scant few officials. Back then, what was now overrun by tall grass had been what were likely wooden houses, completing the outpost that had once been Cloudcrest Hill. But that was before my time, when Equestria was still new, and this paltry stone’s throw from Canterlot was where the border guard deployed. Halfway through the pass, I almost had to double take. Standing just barely in the shadow of the skeleton that had once been a barracks, was a figure. Green coat, blonde mane. Seemed obvious. Almost too obvious. I waved Night over to a nearby cloud—the only nearby cloud. As we hastily settled, I pointed a hoof, walking Night’s eyes over. He squinted, whispering, “Mint?” “It looks like. There’s no one else that I can see, and she’s not exactly hiding.” I shook my head. “But it could also be an impersonator. I can’t really tell from this distance. What do you think?” Night leaned as far as he dared, scrutinizing the figure who might be his sister. “Yeah... almost certain that’s her. Want me to go down first, just in case?” “No. We’ll check together. Head down carefully, and keep your eyes open. I’ll circle around and if anything’s amiss, get out of there.” Night went straight down, while I cut about a third of the way around, giving me a decent view of the remaining structures. A little more and I’d be in a position to flank the figure if Night got into trouble. That was when the figure looked up, stepped out of the shadows and waved. She let out a whistle, which my mind took as a signal. There was a short moment of panic where I scanned for additional figures emerging from the stone hollows. As I calmed down, relief flooded over me. Night seemed more than persuaded, hastening his descent. “Mint?” She stepped forward, clearly giving him a moment to see who she was, before rushing forward and confirming with a tight hug. “Nighty? You alright? What’s happening? Where’s Dusky?” Though I kept an eye behind me, I saw no reason to linger in her blind spot. Setting down, I said, “Here. I’m glad to see you, Mint. Thanks for flying out with such short notice.” Mint let out a deep sigh and it was then that I really noticed how disheveled she was. It was less a few hours of hiding in an abandoned town and more the weary look of someone who had been fighting a battle of attrition. “Thank Celestia you’re okay. We’ve been hearing reports of Cartel activity all over the place. Some big power struggle after the Mob escalated things and Summer Leaf fell. The Guard’s been cleaning up the pieces, but they’ve suddenly been on the move, organizing fast. Dad’s been keeping me up to date... and then we got your postcard this morning.” “It’s a lot more complicated than someone winning the power struggle, but that’s certainly part of it.” I gave her an apologetic smile. Somehow, I felt responsible, as though my years-old mistake had been the slow burn that set off this powder keg. It was a ridiculous notion, of course, with so many moving parts from so many different parties, but the feeling was there. “We’re going to need all the help we can get to put an end to this.” Mint stood straight, breaking out a friendly salute. “You have my hooves, Dusky, Night. Is this new Cartel leader targeting you?” The whole thing was so stupid and complicated. I wanted to explain right there, but three people just standing there chatting in the open was a recipe for disaster. Instead, all that came out was something of a bitter laugh. “Yes, and no. First, we need to make camp. We can deal with Summer Leaf once we reach Ponyville.” “Wait, Summer Leaf? Isn’t she dead?” Mint stared at me. “It’s a long story…” “Right, and we don’t have time.” She glanced over her shoulder, past the structures, past the edge of the hill. “There’s a Guard safe house about an hour northwest of here. We’d get there after dark. You two both able to keep going?” I swallowed. The sharp scent of blood reached my nostrils and I almost took a step back. I gritted my teeth, pushing the memories away. I refused to break now. I refused to put us all in danger. “Maybe that’s not the best idea, Mint,” Night interjected. I let out a sigh, continuing to ignore the scent that was clearly there, but not there. Shaking my head, I turned to Night. “No, it’s probably the best option we’ve got for a good rest. So long as you hadn’t planned this ahead of time, Mint.  We’re in a situation where what we say, and where we are, is compromised, so your safe house won’t be safe once we leave.” Mint gave me a weird look. I could see the possibilities running through her mind, of which none of them fit. “Right. You really need to fill me in as soon as we’re secure.” “We will, Mint... it’s... well, complicated and weird,” added Night. He slid up beside me and as he pressed up against my neck, I leaned into it a little. “But it’s still worth it.” “Flatterer.” I pulled away and grinned at him. Letting out a bit of a snort, Mint glanced between the two of us. “Celestia bless her, Nighty, but your marefriend is nothing but trouble.” “It’s worse than that, Mint. Much worse. She's my fiance now.” His eyes lapsed into that trademark sappy look. “Well, I’ll be. I win the bet. All the more reason to get this all settled and behind us. Gotta look out for my little brother.” Mint’s smile widened. “And my new sister, too.”