//------------------------------// // Conflict // Story: Lost In The Light Of Shadows // by Satsuma //------------------------------// The umber-coated pony wearing in a dark brown leather jacket walked briskly but unhurriedly down the street, and turned down one of the many side alleys in pursuit of his target. It was late in the night so he did not have to worry about prying eyes. Upon entering the alley, he quickly took note of his environments. The alley was a dead end, with a two-metre wire fence blocking the way through to another street. Other than that, there were a few dumpsters on either side of the alley, and a set of rusting metal stairs and platforms running up to various residences on the right side. An orange lambda symbol was graffitied on one of the walls. There was nowhere his quarry, an earth pony (who was frankly not in good physical shape) could go. ‘Heyyeeaaah!’ He brought his right hoof forcefully behind his head, where it made contact with his target, who seemed to have attempted a noisy and unsuccessful ambush. There was a dull thud as the other pony landed unceremoniously on the floor. ‘I could hear you breathing, you know.’ The dun, grey-maned earth pony scrambled to take hold of the knife he had dropped, but it was whisked out of his reach by his pursuer. His expression changed from one to wild determination to dread. ‘You know, ambushes are usually quiet.’ The assailant toyed with the knife as he spoke, throwing it the air, spinning it around in his grasp, before finally throwing it casually behind him, where it landed with a dull clang in an empty dumpster. ‘Look, Dusk, I can make it worth your while. Take a rain check. Please.’ Dusk continued to approach his target, taking his time as he slowly trotted up to where the dun-coloured pony was scrambling backwards. He found that it tended to make his victims nervous. ‘I would, but how am I going to answer to my employers, Smoke? In my line of work, it’s all about trust you see. ‘ He got closer. ‘Who’s going to give me another contract if I breach their trust? Like how you breached our employers’ trust two week ago and ran off with nearly five thousand bits’ worth of marejuana.’ ‘Please, Dusk. I have a family to feed. Just let me off. Let us off.’ Dusk was now standing almost directly over his ‘contract’, silhouetted against the dim moonlight that penetrated the depths of the alley. He let out a laugh of cruel amusement. ‘Well, you’ve caught me in a good mood with your antics. So I guess I can make an exception.’ Dusk noted with some pleasure at the expected reaction. Smoke’s shoulders visibly sagged with relief and he let out an undisguised sigh. ‘Thanks Dusk. You don’t know what this means to me. Really—‘ ‘Just tell me where you hid the stash.’ ‘It’s in an abandoned shed, three kilometers south-east from here. The combination from the lock on the door is five, eight, one.’ ‘How do I know you’re not lying?’ ‘Um…’ ‘Because…’ Dusk picked up the other pony’s wallet from where it had fallen, forgotten until then. He back faced his target and started rifling through the contents of his wallet, then turned around. ‘…if I find out you’re lying, it’s not you I’m going to come after,’ He threw the wallet onto the chest of the other pony, still on the ground, followed by a photograph of a younger Smoke, a dark yellow mare and two young foals. ‘It’s them.’ Dusk really was in a good mood. The contract had gone off without a hitch, even though it was only a low-risk and –pay ‘soft’ job. He had managed to conform to his employers’ wishes to retrieve their package while maintaining a minimal amount of violence. He preferred to keep his approach non-lethal. This brought his mind subconsciously to the non-legal and non-moral quality of his line of work. At the edge of his mind, the ghost of a conscience still nagged him. He really hadn’t wanted to threaten his quarry, to see him in fear like that…but business was business, and he had to look out for himself anyway. Besides, nopony got hurt. Distracted by his musings, he almost missed the old shed Smoke was talking about. Stopping at the door, he noticed with satisfaction and minor relief that there was a numerical lock on the door. At least he would not have to make good his threat regarding Smoke’s family. No matter how his career had become part of him, he did not want to take an innocent life, much less two or three. What was the combination again? Five…eight…one…bingo! The lock opened with a clack. Dusk swung the thin wooden door open on its rusted hinges. His eyes fell on the medium-sized cardboard box on the floor, its content of cigarettes, supposedly of legit brand names visible through a gap in the lid. Good. Now there was only one thing left to do. Dusk watched soundlessly from a rooftop, close to Smoke’s apartment. He watched as the dull brown-grey pony approached his apartment with caution, unaware of Dusk’s prying eyes. Smoke rang the doorbell and waited for a few seconds before a bright green filly threw the door open and jumped into his arms joyfully. Returning the gesture with a hearty laugh, Smoke entered the house and closed the door, locking and latching it. He sat down on the couch and called out to somepony out of sight. Dusk changed his viewing position to an open window on an adjacent wall. What appeared to be the mare in the photograph from earlier appeared and hugged Smoke tightly. Dusk in contemplative silence as Smoke conversed with his wife, head hung low, about tonight’s events. ‘They sent someone after me tonight, and I had to tell him where I hid the stuff.’ The mare simply looked at him lovingly and kissed him lightly on the cheek. ‘It’ll be fine. We’ll get through this. It’s about time for us to live clean anyway, for the foals’ sakes…’ The couple sat by each other, their mutual love and trust breaching the wall of physical silence between them. Smoke sighed deeply, momentarily just another stallion with a huge burden and no way of shouldering it. ‘He threatened me, you know. He threatened to go after you and our kids, if anything wasn’t right. Maybe all of you should just go somewhere safe and wait this out.’ Dusk Edge felt his guilty conscience become a little more noticeable in his mind, and cringed. Every job had a negative factor. Smoke’s wife placed a hoof on his cheek, gently guiding his line of sight until their eyes met. ‘Do you remember when you first told me about your job, and why you didn’t want to make commitments? Like I said then, no matter what happens, I want to be right here with you. We’ll face this together.’ Dusk broke off his gaze and edged away from his viewpoint, mulling over the outcome of the situation. Part of him was glad that he hadn’t caused any permanent damage to the family, but there was also disgust. Disgust that he had pursued the matter to its end, disgust at his blatant excuse of an attempt to be responsible for his actions, disgusted that he was so soft. Two long years and he still couldn’t come to terms with is job. It was a weakness, and it caused him to scorn himself to the very core. It was all very confusing, as emotions always were after the incident, so he simply pushed it aside, save the personal compromise of an exasperated sigh and a wistful, longing glance into the distance, where the moon perched itself on a faraway mountain range.