//------------------------------// // 90 - Actualities // Story: From Dusk to Night // by KuroiTsubasaTenshi //------------------------------// Star nodded slowly, ears twitching as her eyes fixed on the stairs. Her lack of concern with the streaks of red trickling down her face gave her an intensity that would give even those mercenaries pause. “Reinforcements will be on their way.” “Yeah.” I glanced back, past the swiss cheese walls, at the gaping hole in the balcony. “But... while I've got their attention, I want to buy Ivory some time.” “Careful.” She gave me a meaningful look. “Of course.” Trotting over to the door, I crept toward the balcony, one eye on the sky and the other on the ground. There was nothing in immediate sight, though the general scarcity of the sounds of fighting made me nervous. The crackling fire didn’t help, leaving me uncertain whether the mercenaries were waiting in ambush or if the brush fire had really gotten out of hoof. As scattered shouts fought to be heard above the fire, I could at least take solace knowing that I’d already left them in some level of disarray. “What happened?!” “The boss is down!” “On our flank! Hurry!” I’d already decided to say something, but hadn’t quite been sure what. An idea seized my hoof, leading me to where the projection had been. Edging forward, I called out, “Your boss has fallen. Further conflict is pointless! Let us end this bloodshed now!” Below, the combined forces had split, their frontline having little choice but to fend off the scattered blobs of zombies. The flames had demolished much of the closest brush, leaving the combatants surrounded by a blackened, hellish landscape. Puffs of sooty smoke lingered in the air, obscuring the rest of the battlefield. The rear of their army had most of their attention on me, with a small squad having broken off to inspect the mangled red, blue and white remains of Smokey Mirror. As my words echoed out amongst the crowd, many looked to Crimson Haze, the hulking mass in the midst of their forces. Slowly, his head turned, tilting up. Even from here, I could feel the chill of his stare. “Ha! That whelp? Our boss? Don't make me laugh! The smart ones follow my orders! But if your boss wants to give up, I'll be happy to oblige her defeat!” He strode toward the flaming hellscape that was the frontline. As if on cue, the smoke shifted, giving me a view of Ivory. It was hard to tell from here, but she was standing stock-still, eyes locked on the bottom of the observatory. Then it hit me. Shit! The illusion didn't break until Smokey Mirror died! Which means... Dusky, you idiot! Whirling, I rushed back in. Star was crouched by the door, where the ruined wall was just intact enough to provide cover, yet also offer a nominal view of the battlefield. She met my gaze. Taking a deep breath, it was all I could do to keep myself coherent. “We have to go! She needs us!” Star’s nod was immediate. “Go. I will find my own route.” “Star?” It was my turn to give a meaningful look. “I am too heavy. They will pick us off, which helps nopony. Besides, I know a few tricks. I will not come to harm.” She pointed a hoof at one of the many shattered windows. “Go!” She was right, of course, but that didn’t mean I had to like it. With a sigh, I said, “Fine, you win. I’ll see you there.” Reluctantly, I turned toward the rear. As luck would have it, the window nearest our landing point was out. Taking another deep breath, I ran toward it. Leaping over both the wall and the balcony, I flapped hard, getting just high enough to glide over the top of the mansion. Thanks to the roof, I was halfway to Ivory before one of the unicorn mercenaries glanced up. A trio of fireballs sprung toward me. Diving hard, I waited a couple seconds, then banked equally hard. I could still feel the heat practically singing my back as the fireballs whizzed by. Thankfully, my speed quickly put me out of range. That was when I spotted Crimson Haze, maybe thirty feet from Ivory. At this point, only one zombie buffer group remained, which swarmed toward him. His pace hardly slowed as, one by one, he tossed them aside like rag dolls. Feather was trying to push Ivory back, somehow to no avail. I'd no idea she could dig in so well. If only it wasn't working against us. Just a little bit forward and to the side was Blaze. Her head was swiveling, though each pass saw her lingering more and more on Crimson Haze. At last, she stepped up, barring his way. Even under her banded barding, I could see her shaking. Damnnit, Blaze! I flapped even harder. "Back, fiend!" she yelled, her spear floating out in front of her. She leveled it at his throat. "Another whelp? Go home before you get hurt." He continued to advance, his lack of concern resulting in the bizarre scene of the spear scooting away from him. "And let you hurt Ivory? No way!" Blaze swung the spear in a wide arc. Crimson Haze darted back with lightning speed. He pushed forward again, that same unnatural speed from before letting him slip around each of her swings and jabs. It was almost like trying to watch her carve up an ocean wave. At last, he grew bored of sizing her up and held up a forehoof. As the spear touched his bracer, Blaze’s aura began to distort, seemingly sucked into his hoof. When the spear clattered to the ground, he brought that same hoof down. The shaft exploded into a shower of misshapen wooden chunks. "Pitiful." "I-I'll show you pitiful!" Blaze yelled, pawing at the ground. "Wait!" Feather stepped away from Ivory, but it was too late. Blaze darted forward, throwing out a couple jabs. Crimson Haze turned just enough for each blow to deflect off his chest. With Blaze wide open, he charged, slamming his chest into hers. She tumbled across the ground, rolling with such intensity that she might be mistaken for a runaway barrel. When she finally came to a stop, the pony-shaped groove left in her wake was at least ten feet long. "No!" Ivory was suddenly moving again, anger in her eye as a series of purple bolts leapt from her horn. To our collective dismay, Crimson Haze simply held up his bracer again and the bolts grew small enough that they plinked unceremoniously off his armour. Ivory frowned deeply, but didn’t budge. "Stand down!" Feather leapt between them."You are interfering with Guard business!" Crimson Haze tilted his head. "Ha! You expect me to believe that they would back a dark sorceress? Come up with a better lie!" This far into the battle, Feather probably knew it was futile to try reasoning with him. But that was all the time I needed. Coming in with the full force of my dive, I slammed my hooves into the back of his head. It was like hitting a brick wall, and while his head did snap forward, I felt my entire body almost following suit. I stabilized just in time, landing with merely a graceless skid—instead of on my face. Not a moment later, Crimson Haze's rancid scent nearly knocked me flat. Turning back, I was just in time to see Feather slamming into him. While she was about half his size, catching him off guard let her send him staggering. The clang of steel on steel echoed out as Feather rained blows across his chest and helmet. Small dents appeared where her reinforced shoes found particularly good purchase. I slipped around to his flank, though I wasn't quite sure what I could do—if Feather’s earth pony strength could barely dent his plating, my wingblade certainly wasn’t going to fare any better. Instead, I opted to wind up a good buck, planting it straight in the middle of his barrel, hoping to keep him destabilized. Crimson Haze lashed out a forehoof, and while I quickly ducked, pain rippled across my back and I found myself spinning. I flailed, hooves trying to find a place to stabilize, but all I succeeded in doing was tripping over myself. A couple feet of tumbling later, I pushed myself up, shaking off the lingering pain. I was just in time to see Crimson Haze lay a rather vicious headbutt into Feather’s helm, leaving a sizable dent. She tried to stumble to the side, but he was too fast, ramming straight into her, lifting her into the air as he body checked her aside. A couple more purple bolts lanced through the air, this time curving to come from both the left and right. The first caught him in the chest and he grunted, pivoting just in time to swat the other out of the air. Blaze's spearhead stirred, returning from its grave to strike again. It dug into the back of Crimson Haze’s helmet, bringing with it the shrill screech of metal on metal. With one smooth motion, he batted it away before facing Ivory again. Blaze was once more standing by her side. "Give it up." Crimson Haze growled. "You cannot penetrate my armour." "Never!" Blaze snarled back. She limped forward, defiantly holding the remains of the spear shaft in her magic. “Magic flames, heed my call! Burn as bright as dragon fire!” Star yelled as she appeared from one of the plumes of smoke on my right. I wasn’t sure if her yelling or the infernal glow of her hoofblade drew more attention. Regardless, Crimson Haze had already turned by the time she reached him. For the first time, I saw him take a hesitant step back. Star brought her enhanced blade down in a diagonal cut, leaving a long, uneven singe mark across his neck. The tip caught his shoulder and a terrifying roar erupted from the helmet as that bit of the armour actually separated. Then the follow-up came, aimed straight for his head. His bracer met hers, the flames on her blade dimming as part of them were sucked into Crimson Haze’s bracer. Star ducked his counter swing, whirling to bring the blade across again. This time, the hoofblade clanged against his bracer, leaving only the slightest mark as the last of its fire fizzled out. The rest of us converged, attacking from all sides, though our reward was just a series of dull clangs. Crimson Haze’s attacks became less focused, almost sloppy, as he tried to ward us all off at the same time. And yet, without the aid of magic, we might have had more success trying to demolish a castle with our bare hooves. What’s more, this melee had gone on long enough that the other mercenaries were beginning to encroach on the battle. I caught glimpses of them out of the corner of my eye as Ivory frantically tried to place any remaining zombies between them and us. Worried that we were either going to wear ourselves out or end up surrounded, I took to the air again, aiming another hard buck at Crimson Haze’s head. I wasn’t quite sure what I was trying to do. Perhaps if we could topple him, we wouldn’t have to worry about his armour at all. In the very least, the clang that followed was rather satisfying. "Enough!" Crimson Haze screamed. His bracers glowed an ominous red-purple. The air around him exploded, my vision washed out by that same red-purple light. As I sailed through the air, I pumped my wings, trying to right myself, but the fall was too fast. I bounced once, then twice, losing all my breath. My whole body felt like it was on fire. Judging by the scent of singed hair that came alongside my desperate gasping, I probably had been. I paddled feebly, trying to get myself upright again. Something heavy pressed painfully into the side of my head, the dirt crunching in protest beneath. I didn't need to look—I could already smell him. "You really want me to kill you, don't you? Fine!" He pressed harder. "As! You! Wish!" My vision went red, each crushing crunch consuming all of my thoughts—whether it was my helmet or my skull breaking, I couldn't tell. I cried out, trying to get my forehooves up around my head. Then the numbness came, leaving one last broken train. No... No... I can't... This can't… Night… I… I’m... All was black. All was soundless. Then, there was something. Something rising—I couldn't quite put my hoof on it. But it wasn't pain. I reached out my forehooves. The next blow stopped dead. As I opened my eyes, blinking through the blood dripping down my muzzle, I was treated to the sight of Crimson Haze’s hoof, held between mine. He snorted, pulled away and brought his hoof down again. I felt like I was moving in slow motion, my hooves smoothly sliding up to intercept him. His hoof stopped dead again. I twisted. With a surprised grunt, Crimson Haze toppled, rolling sideways away from me. To my disappointment, he had little trouble using the momentum to carry him back to his hooves. And yet, as I stood, something inside me told me it didn’t matter. Before I knew what I was doing, I was advancing on him. He held his ground, but his stance shifted ever-so-slightly. I rammed into him and he staggered back, just in time for my head toss to catch him under the chin. It was a stupid idea, smashing a broken scale helm into full plate armour, but, somehow, he was the one reeling. Rather than ask questions that would just slow me down, I pressed my advantage, barraging him with alternating wing and hoof strikes. Oddly, he always seemed a step behind, hunkering down as I pushed him here and there. What’s more, being up in his face didn’t make me want to throw up. Whirling, I planted a hard buck into his chest, and it must have been my imagination, but I swore I felt the plating give way—if only a little. “Grah!” Crimon Haze’s grunt was guttural, almost wild, as he was propelled back a few inches, skidding in the ashen dirt. He took a couple steps even further back, his stance deepening. “So the filly has spunk. Well, then, come on!” I zigged left, then right, coming in hard with a hoof strike, then bringing my wing blade over top, aiming for his helmet's eye slit. He got his own hoof up in time, cleanly deflecting me. Quickly dropping my right forehoof, I put a left jab into his neck, where the armour had melted, and tried again. And again. I couldn’t get my blade in, but I wasn’t going to object if he kept giving me free hits—even if their effectiveness was limited. At last, I felt my wingblade catch something, but it wasn’t the helmet. No, it had somehow snagged the bracer, carving the start of a fine line into it before shattering with a shrill, heartbreaking ping! I caught the barest glimpse of the line growing deeper, zigzagging across the bracer. Then he shoved me back, a vicious series of right-left barrages coming my way. Even though I was able to block or dodge well over half of them, I could feel the assault wearing on me. Despite my newfound strength, his size advantage practically enclosed me. He spun and I ducked, waiting for the buck so that maybe I could go for his underside. His tail slashed across my muzzle, that forgotten razor splattering blood all over the ground. While it didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would, I found myself stumbling back. His chest collided with mine and I was airborne again, then on my back, still moving across the ground at a frightening speed. I flailed, trying to ward off the ash and dirt as I came to a stop. “Dusky!” Ivory appeared over me, though something was wrong. She looked especially haggard, like she’d been picked up and thrown across the courtyard several times. A line of pale purple light streamed from her horn to… me. Oh. Oh! I shook my head and groaned, pointing a hoof at the line. “Ivory? What are you doing?” Her eyes flitted down to the beam for just a moment. “What is necessary.” I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t dodge the question, Ivory.” “It’s not a dodge, it’s…” she sighed. “I’m empowering you. Direct magic can’t get through.” With a frown, I shook my head again. “There’s no way that’s the whole story. You look like hell, Ivory.” Ivory glanced up and I followed her gaze. Star, Blaze and Feather were barring Crimson Haze’s path again, but they didn’t seem to be faring any better than I did. Looking down, Ivory leaned in close. “Okay, it’s… more of a life link... I think.” “You think?” I raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know?” “It just… came to me. When he was laying into you, smashing your head into a pulp, I just knew I couldn’t let it end that way. So… I guess I threw something together. Trust me, Dusky, I wouldn’t keep using it if we weren’t desperate.” Another of Crimson Haze’s grunts drew my eye again. Small, but obvious, fiery sparks were falling away from his left bracer. One of Star’s fireballs had connected. One of Star’s fireballs had connected. “Ivory, I’m not strong enough—even with your power. But I don’t have to be. His bracer is damaged. Take your power back and fight. No, wait…” An idea hit my mind and ran away with it. It was crazy. It made me a hypocrite. But it was just what we needed. I met Ivory’s eye. “Reverse the link.” “What?!” Ivory gave me a horrified look. “No, Dusky, I can’t.” “You asked me to trust you. I do. You won’t overdo it. I know it. You know it.” I put on my best reassuring smile. Biting her lip, Ivory wrestled with herself, several pained looks passing over her face. She started as Blaze sailed past us, tumbling end over end. With a shudder, Ivory nodded, determination slowly creeping up her muzzle. She took a deep breath. “No more running.”