//------------------------------//
// 4 - Declaration 
// Story: Mending Light 
// by Kiromancer 
//------------------------------//

I won't deny it; I wasn't thinking particularly clearly at that moment. I could argue that the least rational thing in existence is a pony with his heart set on love, but there were other thoughts pushing away my common sense as well. The light shining into the Everfree was patchy at best, as if the dense overgrowth was actively trying to block out Celestia's sun. That thought made me shudder, and as I poked my head through the foliage I took a moment to wait.  I watched a moment before I slipped into a seemingly empty clearing.

I held my breath, feeling exposed. Something that resembled rational thinking finally broke into my mind, making me wonder just what in Tartarus I was doing there in the midst of the deadly forest. Of course, I knew exactly why I was there. Because of her. Dusky Down, the adventurous traveler. Bravery and duty, and Starshadow had given me a way.

Somepony needed to stand up against the creatures of the forest and make it safe for the ponies living in Ponyville. Now, to impress Dusky, to show who I could be to Starshadow, I'd decided that pony would be me. That morning, I'd polished off my old armor, from my attempt to join the Royal Guard. After I'd dropped out of the training, some strings had been pulled, and I had received the armor as something of a 'parting gift'. I hung onto it out of a strange sense of obligation. I'd thought that I could finally put the armor to the purpose I had failed to fulfill.

It would have been a terrible mistake, and as I stood in that clearing I was glad that I'd talked myself out of wearing the armor. I was making noise enough on my own, let alone with thirty extra pounds of metal plating. I barely kept myself from flying off in panic just walking through the forest. If something attacked, I was in no shape to fight it off, with or without armor and the meager training I'd received. 

The forest was filled with threatening sounds. I was a stranger here, and it was persistent in telling me I didn't belong. I moved forward, determined to prove to myself that I could do this, that I could be brave, and adventurous. That I was worthy of being a knight.

A voice cried out, interrupting my thoughts. "Do not continue upon this trail!" I jumped as the voice echoed through the clearing, dropping down defensively, seeking its source while slowly spreading my wings in preparation to flee. "Or else your quest shall surely fail!"

I found her moving towards me slowly, one hoof raised in a placating gesture, strange patterns painted upon the hair of her body, and gold jewelry around her neck and forehoof. I stepped back carefully and glanced down at the ground. Directly in my path was a group of stones, arranged into a circle. The stranger came to a halt, gesturing towards them. "Mischievous creatures set these traps of stone, those who enter vanish, their fates unknown."

"S-stones? Traps?" I looked down at the ring and shuddered. I was already on edge, my nerves frayed all the more by this apparent close encounter, but the pieces were starting to come together. "I... thank you, for the warning. You're um... y-you're um... I... I'm sorry. I've heard rumors, but... I don't know your name... y-you're the zebra... who lives here, r-right?"

She bowed her head. "Zecora is my name. Would you be so kind as to tell me the same?"

I bowed quickly as well, not wanting to be rude. "Oh! Um... right! Right... I'm Night... Night Flurry."

"The unprepared should take flight, before they fall into a nasty plight."

"I..." She was right, of course. I knew I had no business being here, and yet I still paused. "Y-yeah... I should go..."

Zecora tilted her head slightly before giving me a kind smile. "I think there is still something here you must find, walk with me and tell me what's on your mind. I shall guide you out of the trees. Perhaps by then you’ll be more at ease."

I let out a sigh. "I...at ease? Well... I'm not... that is... I... I just came to..." I trailed off, thinking of just how stupid the end of that sentence would have sounded. I came to slay a monster, become a knight, and win a damsel's heart. "...to um... t-to pick some t-tea leaves."

"It seems you were lost before you arrived, to my ears your story is quite contrived."

My ears dropped back. Of course she'd seen through the lie. If she'd looked back, she'd have seen it written across my face. But something else about what she said grabbed my attention. "W-wait... lost... before I arrived? Um... w-what do you mean?"

She turned her head to lock an eye with mine and her gaze pierced me. I wanted to flinch away, but something held my eye to hers. "Your head thinks that you know, where you stand and where you go. But your heart does not give its assent, for it knows that something is absent."

I frowned, not sure what Zecora was driving at. "I... no. T-that doesn't make any sense… I mean… I'm making friends..." There was a lump in my throat, and at last I was able to break away from the Zebra's gaze. "...and... then there's... Dusky."

Zecora turned back and stepped closer, bringing up a hoof to set against my chin. She guided my head back until my eyes met hers and leaned in closer. "I see in you such a tangled fate, a soul upon which rests much weight. Friends will help you, I cannot deny, but you must learn it is in yourself whom you must rely."

My head dropped aside as I pulled away from her touch, unsure how to respond to the zebra's rhyme. I stammered, fumbling for a reply to tell her that I knew exactly how reliable I was, but then just fell silent. The truth of the matter was that I wasn't reliable. I knew this was all a fool's errand. 

"Then... I guess... its n-not really worth trying. I'm not any good..."

She blasted out a snort and didn't look back. "Your soul is unfit for such lies. Why can't you see your worth with your own eyes?"

"I... b-because I'm useless. I mean... I can do my job. But... I can't... I'm..." I couldn't hold it in anymore, I had to tell somepony. It was time to confess. "I'm just not able to tell Dusky that... I l-love her."

Zecora laughed lightly. "Your claim to love does not sound quite so strong, I wonder if your heart is telling you that it's very wrong."

"I... I'm not wrong! I know it! I love her..."

She stopped, raising a hoof. I fell silent, ears twitching to listen for some oncoming threat. A minute passed with no signs of danger, and finally she lowered her hoof and continued to move forward. "The love you claim for her would not end in bliss. How can you love another, when love for yourself you dismiss." 

"T-that's... different..." I slowed a moment, looking down. "It's... I'm..." The words died on my tongue. But that strange fire in my heart had been fanned anew. Of course I knew what love was. Here I was in the Everfree all because of love. "I... I understand love. Dusky is perfect. She... y-you'll see. I'm here to prove it! To... to be brave and prove I'm worthy of being with her!"

Disapproval was obvious on her face, but I was too fired up to flinch aside as she made her proclamation. "So I see. You did not come for tea." She pointed a hoof. "Ponyville is just ahead, but I will warn you of where your path has lead."

I turned my eyes to the trail, ears lowering at Zecora's tone. "I... I don't need a warning."

She laughed, but her tone was deadly serious. "You need to hear it now all the more, you're in greater danger than you were before. Only tragedy will come if you continue to stray, and so I tell you to go, do not stay."

I glanced ahead along the trail, nodding my head. "R-right. I won't stay here any longer, thank you, um... Zecora." I started to move past her, ready to leave the Everfree behind me.

She placed a hoof against my chest before I could go. "You misunderstand my word's intent, I do not speak merely of where you went. You must consider who you are, the damage done has not yet left a scar. And if you seek love for yourself and this mare, then with your choices, you must take care. Trod not upon the path of the Knight, for the path that suits you is one of light."

Her last words struck me like a stray lightning bolt. I staggered back from her hoof, my mind reeling. "Y-you... how did you... h-how?"

She closed her eyes and dipped her head. "You read like an open book, and I apologize for the assumptions I took." She stepped back, lowering her hoof down to dig slightly at the ground. "Now best be off, and hurry! To whatever your path leads you, Night Flurry. 

I gathered my strength, and pulled forward to force a smile at the zebra. "I... yes. T-thanks again, Zecora... I'll... just... be off." I waved a hoof weakly and bowed my own head, not able to meet her eyes anymore. It was all too bizarre. The whole forest felt unreal, and Zecora most of all.

The trail was easy to follow as the sunlight grew through the foliage. I turned back at the edge of the forest, catching a glimpse of the zebra as she turned away to move onto whatever business I had interrupted. I gave a nervous wave back, but was sure she hadn't seen me. I let out a sigh and took wing, heading home with a head full of painful memories.

---

I flew straight home from the forest. The whole trip had been a mistake, but despite that knowledge, the fire in my heart still burned. There was something about the Everfree, wild and uncontrollable. I’d entered the forest afraid of the creatures causing some physical injury.  Instead, the talk with Zecora had been an attack of a different sort, it opened old wounds in my heart, but alongside that pain was courage and defiance. Courage that urged me to action, and defiance to prove Zecora, and myself, wrong. To finally push away doubts and just tell Dusky how I felt about her.

It was with thoughts of the future and that foreign determination that I flew to the Lusty Sea Pony again. I had planned every word out in my head beforehand and repeated it over and over as a mantra for strength. It wasn't too late when I arrived, but I’d checked her schedule at work. She'd already be inside, there would be no way she would miss me when I entered.

I stood at the threshold, the goose bumps I felt had nothing to do with the chill winter air, and set my hoof on the door. One last deep breath, now or never. I closed my eyes and pushed inside.

“H-hello?  E-excuse me...” I couldn't stop now, my focus on trying to keeping myself breathing as I continued. "there... there's something I need to say, a-and I've got to get it out before I lose the courage. I... I have to confess... I... I am completely infatuated with you! F-from the day I first saw you. Every time I see you, I just get a lump in my throat that won't go away. I'm sorry, but... I just... I need you to know how I feel. And so..." I opened my eyes nervously in the silence. “...Oh.”

Her seat was empty, along with most of the bar, a few patrons scattered here and there. I dropped down, disappointment flooding into me, everything had been for nothing. I should have known better than to get my hopes up. The courage was all just bravado, lies I'd told myself to get to this point, and now they were revealed. I felt like I was dying inside, my voice punctured like a balloon. "S-she's... not here..."

The sound of snickering snapped me out of my misery. "Nobody here but us chickens!" My head jerked towards the voice. Mahogany sat at a nearby table, doing his best to keep himself from breaking into laughter.

A second voice jumped in. "She who?" Blizzard Breeze sat across from Mahogany with a drink of her own. A green-blue pegasus, we'd met at one of those big weather conventions up in Cloudsdale through our mutual friend. And she'd heard me too, of course. 

I panicked as the room closed in on me. "N-No! Y-you two! You can't say anything about this! I... t-this can't leave here! I... I knew it was a terrible idea... k-knew I'd screw it up."

Blizzard managed to stifle her own laughter before standing up. Her face showed some actual concern as she stepped towards me. "Okay, calm down. Look, whoever it is you thought you were talking to, you obviously care for her."

Mahogany snorted. "Yep. I'd figured you had it bad, Flurry. Let's get you a drink and get to work at getting you over her, whoever she is."

I nodded dumbly, looking down at the bar floor. "I... I was rehearsing that... I needed to be able to say it s-straight through, without thinking... or I knew I wouldn't be able to do it."

Blizzard glanced at Mahogany before she smiled back at me. She raised a hoof to tap against my head. "Well, there's your problem. You're not thinking."

A nervous laugh was all I could manage. "Yeah... that's been the problem since I first saw her... w-when I see her, she's all that I can think about."

Mahogany sighed. "Yep. He's gone. Ze evil, evil love. An' the only solution is more booze!" He raised his glass before downing the drink.

With a gentle prod, Blizzard leaned in closer. "Come on Night, its okay. Who is she?"

My voice failed me as I barely stammered out a whisper. "D-Du..."

"It's not that mail mare, is it?" Mahogany raised an eyebrow.

I shook my head, taking a deep breath. "N-no, it's... Dusky." The name came out like a sigh of relief.

"So what's the problem?" Blizzard looked up towards the bar ceiling in contemplation. "Why not just tell her?"

"A-after this?" I waved a hoof towards the few scattered patrons of the bar, most of which had turned back to their drinks by then. "It's hopeless... I just... can't."

Taking another drink, Mahogany gave his opinion on a slow drawl. "Aaaaaangst!"

Blizzard grinned at her drinking partner and flashed me a wicked smile. "Fine. I'll just tell her next time I see her."

"W-what? No! You can't! Please! If... if she ever found out I was this... this pathetic... this stupid..."

Mahogany cackled. "Do it, Bree! Reveal his secrets! Unmask his wuv!"

Ignoring Mahogany, Blizzard stepped back, glaring at me as if studying a bug. "Well, you're right. I'm convinced. Why would she want anypony so lacking in confidence."

"I... Y-yeah..." I dropped my head in defeat, staring at the bar room floor. Failure after failure, Blizzard was right. Best to just give up and go home. But without thinking my voice rose back up. "What... what am I going to do...?"

She pushed a wing under my chin, lifting my head back up to look at her. "Hey. Okay, question one: Does she know who you are?"

I gave a weak nod. "I.. yes? Maybe..."

Blizzard nodded firmly. "Does she know your name? Does she ever say hello to you?"

I tried to relax, but was far too worked up to untense now. "She... has. She said h-hi when she saw me... and... we... I talked back... a little... kind of."

She moved in to wrap her wings around me in a gentle, but firm hug. I shook, wanting to flail and break free, but her gesture was too strong. "Okay, next step. What does she like to do?"

That I could answer. I'd spent some much time thinking about what she'd revealed about herself the night before, there was no doubt of the answer. "She... likes to travel."

She pulled her wings back and clapped her forehooves together excitedly. "Perfect! I know just the thing then! The Fetlock Falls Winter Festival is happening next weekend, you could take her there."

My gut twisted as my hooves tried to buckle beneath me. "I... l-like a date? S-should I plan a trip schedule? P-pack some food? Do I need tickets? Oh Luna... I um..."

Blizzard giggled as she watched me and made some placating gestures with her hooves. "It's alright, Night! I already mentioned it to her, and she seemed interested. Next time you see her, just bring it up casually. Then suggest going together, maybe offer to pay for her train ticket, and there you go!"

Mahogany gave a dark laugh from his seat. "Awful lot of work and bits just to break his heart. You'd be better off forgettin' about her, Night. Mares are just trouble." He raised his glass towards Blizzard. "Present company excluded."

"Oh hush, 'Hoggy." She moved to the table and tapped her glass against his. "We're angst buddies, but don't be stomping Flurry's dreams. It's just a crush. It's cute."

Mahogany gave a snort. "He's my buddy. I'm not the one who'll be stomping on his dreams. We'll leave that to Dusky, I guess."