//------------------------------// // Bitter Partings // Story: Wind and Stone // by Ruirik //------------------------------// “I have a report from the front,” a breathless scout burst into Rain’s tent. Rain, along with Dicentus, Summer, and the whole of her Storm looked to the pegasus. Pathfinder jumped a little from the sound of the canvas bursting open, but didn’t bother to look away from the map of Altus he was drawing. So many ponies had come in and out over the past week that’d he’d scarcely paid them mind anymore. As long as Rain was there he felt safe.  “And here we expected news from the rear,” Thorn quipped dryly. Chastened by the small mare’s response the scout cleared his throat and stood up straighter. “I beg to report that Haysar has moved the attack back by a week. Griffon forces have been divided into three separate ranks. The northern element is moving towards Tronti e Fulgure, the Southern makes for Nyx, and the center seems to be advancing towards Feathertop at a cautious pace.” “Then why the delay?” Rain asked. “The Emperor wants to lure the griffon center deeper into Cirran territory. From there he will launch the attack at Feathertop, cut off their supply, and shatter the main body.” Discentus hummed thoughtfully, though said nothing. Pathfinder had come to like the older stallion. He was everything that Finder’s father hadn’t been: Warm, friendly, and curious at what Finder was interested in. It had been at his request Pathfinder was mapping out Altus, a task which the colt was finding surprisingly relaxing.  “We may have an opportunity here,” Discentus mused rubbing his chin. “If the griffon army is dividing itself to counter our advanced units, the Storm could potentially catch Magnus himself. You’d have to leave right away, though.” Pathfinder’s blood ran cold.  “We kill Magnus, the horde scatters. The war could be over by weeks end!” Carver grinned with excitement, his wings almost fluttering.  “You won’t kill him!” Pathfinder cried out with raw panic in his voice. All heads turned to him, though Rain was the first to speak. “Kid?” “H-he can’t be killed,” Pathfinder insisted. He tasted something metallic in the back of his mouth. In his chest his heart began to race like he’d just flown a marathon. He pressed his hoof to his forehead and pressed it tightly into his fur, as though the gesture would hold back his memory. “Everyone can be killed,” Thorn said. “All it takes is a well placed knife.” He vaguely heard the chuckle shared by the ponies gathered in the command tent. A shudder wracked his frame. He wanted to vomit, but his stomach was too empty to produce anything more than the taste of bile on his tongue. “N-not him,” Pathfinder said through clenched teeth. “He’s just another hybrid,” Rain tried to assure him. “What’s the big deal?” “You weren’t there!” Finder shouted, heedless of the sharp pain in his side and the tears welling up in his eyes. “I saw him! I-I saw what he can do!” “Where the Hell did you see Magnus?” Rain asked. Pathfinder pressed both hooves to his temples, trying desperately to bury the memory. But the harder he tried to force it back the more came flooding his mind. He shuddered, cringed, and whimpered, lowering his head into the sheets. Every second of that terrible night was there in perfect detail. From the second he and Longbow skidded into the Throne Room to the moment two Oathsworn snapped his wings.  “Finder? Finder look at me.” Downbust’s bloody body, broken and crushed under Magnus’ giant talons. The lord of Nimbus Winter Rain, slumped dead in his throne. Longbow’s blood curlding screams as his wings were torn from his body: bone, sinew, and muscle torn and shredded while Magnus fanned himself with Longbow’s severed wings. “Finder!”  “Can’t...breathe…” A bottle was pressed to his lips. The sweet scent of wine told him what it contained. He didn’t hesitate to swallow down as much as he could. There was a hoof on his back, rubbing him between his wings.  “Easy, kid,” Summer said, her tone soft and soothing. “Just focus on my voice and take nice, deep, breaths.” Another set of hooves approached Finder’s bed. When, after several minutes, the wine began to kick in he managed to finally open his eyes again. He saw Discentus standing in front of him, with Rain next to him and Summer on the opposite side. The stallion watched him for a moment, then slowly sat down.  “Whatever you saw clearly has caused you pain, son,” he said as tenderly as he could. “But if you have seen Magnus. It you can tell us something we do not know, then I’m sorry, but we can’t leave it be.” Finder cringed again. He would have given both wings to forget what happened at Nimbus. Rain’s hoof continued to rub his back and she too coaxed him to remember.  “Pathfinder, please?” He glanced around the room. All the eyes of his friends and Rain’s Storm were on him. Where Summer, Rain, Discentus, and Carver looked concerned, Thorn, Stonewall, and the nameless scout looked impatient. Shaking his head, Pathfinder pleaded again. “You don’t understand, you can’t kill Magnus. H-he’s not just some big griffon! He’s gigantic and has magic or something!” “How do you know this?” Discentus asked patiently. “What proof do you have.” “I was there!” Finder cried, fresh tears spilling down his cheeks. “He killed my brother after Lord Rain died!” The silence that fell over the room was deafening. Pathfinder tried to catch his breath while all eyes stared at him. The expression on Iron’s face made his heart ache even more. Her mouth hung open, grief and pain carved lines into her cheeks and brow. “I…” Rain started to speak. She paused a moment, seemingly collecting herself before trying again. “Did dad...did father…” Her eyes clenched shut a moment. Haze moved closer to her, though he stopped short of reaching out with a hoof or wing. Rain made a growl, the harsh, scraping rumble rising in her throat. “Was it quick?” Finder’s ears folded back, his muzzle angling down towards the ground. “He… he’d been stabbed before Longbow and I got there.” He paused, afraid to continue. The look of sorrow in her eyes almost unbearable no matter how much she tried to hide it. “Lord Winter… h-he bleed out on the throne.” The room fell quiet again. Summer’s father closed his eyes, whispered a prayer in a language Finder didn’t understand. Rain was trembling, her eyes pink and shimmering with tears she refused to shed. Her monumental efforts to resist her sorrows gave her an intense, almost furious look. In the end it was Discentus who broke the quiet, though his voice was low, melancholic. “What happened when you entered the Throne Room?” Blood. Screaming. Bones. Death. His hooves flew to his head and Finder cringed again. “Please,” he begged. “Please don’t make me go back there.” “You’re right here,” Rain said with a raw voice. “I’ve got your back.” The vivid memories were at the front of his mind. Magnus’ terrifying voice, the raw joy in his eyes while Finder begged for his brother’s life. Longbow’s horrible screaming. It rolled over Finder like waves during a storm. “Magnus broke down the doors and taunted Lord Winter,” Finder started, narrarating the horrors in his mind as best he could without drowning in them. “He...He called the war a game. Promised he’d make pegasi extinct after the legion massacred the griffon’s at Hengsted.” Discentus’ eyebrows shot up, though he remained quiet for the moment. “Lord Winter, he called Magnus a freak and taunted him. Magnus got angry, it was like he was creating wind in the Throne Room. He looked at Longbow and...and… oh Gods…” Finder whimpered, squeezing his head tighter. Rain and Summer did their best to calm him with the latter reaching for the wine again, however her father pulled it away while giving Summer a disapproving look. “Take your time, son.” Finder recovered, at least a little, then continued. “He-He challenged Longbow. I-if Longbow could draw a drop of blood he’d end the war then and there, leave for Agenholt and never come back. Longbow fired, but the arrow stopped midair!” “So he caught it?” Thorn asked with an incredulous expression. Pathfinder shook his head vehimently. “No! It just...stopped! His claws never touched the arrow. It just was floating in front of him like a feather caught in a strong wind. Then he turned it around and shot me.” Finder shuddered, the still tender hole in his thigh aching with the memory. “I never even saw it coming. It was there, and...and then he was twisting it in my leg.” He couldn’t stop the memory now. No amount of begging, wine, or effort was able to keep it at bay. He may as well have asked the ocean to part or the sky to fall.  “Lord Winter died before Magnus could finish him, th-then he...he...he tore Longbow’s wings from his body,” Finder wailed.  Summer carefully pulled him up and hugged him. He wept openly into her shoulder, unaware of anything else in the room. There were voices, there was talking, all of it was just white noise to him. He was vaugly aware of Summer humming to him while her hoof petted through his mane and back. When he’d recovered some time later he noticed that the room was emptied. Only Summer, Rain, Discentus, and Carver remained in the tent with the two stallions hovering near the door and speaking quietly. “We can’t fight him,” Finder whimpered into Summer’s wet shoulder. “We have to try,” Rain said, then turned to Discentus and Carver. “Could you give us a moment?” Carver arched an eyebrow, but was quickly ushered out by the Senator’s guiding wing. Rain waited until they were outside, then motioned to Summer. The two mares locked eyes, a silent battle of wills between them. Summer seemed to relent first, and held Pathfinder tighter. “Everything will be alright,” she promised, just as his brother had not so long ago. Pathfinder wasn’t about to let such a gentle lie fool him ever again. “We’ll settle this once and for all.” “Please…” he begged again, looking up at Summer and seeing the tears in her eyes as well. “Please don’t go.” “You’ll be alright. You got a big job to do here keeping an eye on my dad and Carver,” Summer cracked a smile, though it looked forced and awkward. “Carver especially. Gods know that oaf needs it.” Summer leaned down, kissing Pathfinder between the eyes, then slowly let him slip free of her hug. She let out a breath, sniffled a moment, then quickly walked out of the tent. Pathfinder swallowed down the whimper that he felt climbing its way up his throat and simply hung his head low. Between him and Rain there was no sound save for the gentle sound of her hooves moving her in front of him. He felt a soft primary feather wipe a tear away from his cheek, then move down to his chin to shepherd his head up.   Tears were in her eyes as well, tears she’d been holding in for some time now. For just a moment he saw the corners of her mouth tremble. He was then swept up in her forelegs with her wings enveloping them both like a warm blanket. It took Pathfinder a moment to realize that she too was crying.  “Thank you,” She whispered into his mane. “For telling me about my Dad.” His heart fluttered, hooves sliding around her waist and squeezing her with all the might he could muster. He nuzzled his cheek between her neck and shoulder, his tears smearing drying themselves in her fur. “Please don’t go.” “I have to.” “But why?” he asked, looking up at her. “Why you? Why Summer?” He paused again, voice dropping to a broken whisper. “Why Longbow?” She rubbed his back gentle as she could, taking a moment to consider her words before she spoke. “Because it’s our duty.” “Fuck duty,” Finder shouted, clutching her tighter. “What’s the point if it just gets everypony killed!” He felt her muzzle rub between his ears. “I don’t intend to get killed. I’m gonna kill Magnus. I’m gonna kill his oathsworn. I’m gonna kill every last hybrid I can get my hooves on. For Nimbus. For both our brothers, for…” Rain caught herself, the word hanging on the tip of her tongue  They stared at each other, the seconds stretching seemingly into eternity. He would never forget the way the light from the candles framed her face, outlining her cheeks, ears, and course mane in delicate lines of gold. What he would have given for that moment to last even one single second longer. Rain leaned down, pressing her lips to his forehead. “You’re a strong pony, Pathfinder.” He shook his head. “No I’m not. I’ve never been strong. I couldn’t protect Dawn. Couldn’t protect Longbow. I… I can’t protect you.” Rain’s hoof touched his chest, gingerly sliding over his heart. “Here. You’re strong here.” She smiled to him, though her eyes were laced with sorrow. “You’ve survived worse than I could imagine.” Finder sagged, the hooves and wings wrapped around him squeezing tighter for a moment, then starting to slacken. Rain pulled herself away from him with a pained slowness, went to the corner of her tent where her armor and sword were laid out on a table. Pathfinder watch her dress. First the body plate, then the grieves, and her wingblades after those. Her helmet sat on the table, and she stared at it a while before he watched her extend her left wing, and pluck a feather. She dropped the pale feather in her hoof, and moved back to Finder, offering it out to him.  “Just in case…” she said, momentarily allowing the reality to settle in for both of them. “Promise you’ll remember me?” He tried to speak, tried to make any sound at all, yet all his mouth would do was hang open, useless as the rest of his tattered body. He took the feather in his fetlock and clutched it tight to his chest. Rain offered him one last smile, then turned away, taking her helm and sword, and disappearing out of the tent into the evening air. A moment later Carver slipped inside. His face told Pathfinder all he needed to know. He moved quickly to Finder and pulled him close. Finder clung to him as though his very life depended on it. Longbow was gone, and now he’d lost Rain and Summer too. Was it better that he wouldn’t have to witness their deaths? Or was it more cruel that even when he had the chance, he still hadn’t been able to say ‘goodbye’?