When I was just a colt, my Father sat me down to tell me about duty. He was a figure of both respect and mystery in my life. He was always away on some errand of great importance, but those few times he was home he would be sure to take time for me. I'm his only son, and as such, there were certain things he felt he needed to tell me. He held great expectations for me, and who I would grow up to be.
"Night, we have a duty." He smiled in his deeply powerful way, a smile of which the weight never ceased to awe me. "To protect Equestria, and everypony who lives within it. To honor the gifts we have been given, and to respect the others with whom we share those gifts."
I didn't really understand then, I only had the perspective of a colt who'd never been more than a few miles from home. The only other ponies I dealt with regularly were my siblings, and they were... well, my siblings. "Even Spring? Diamond?"
He laughed warmly. "Yes, even your sisters. A hero doesn't decide who they choose to save. They act, protecting those weaker than they are, no matter the cost."
My small wings buzzed excitedly. "Like the Knights in all the stories!"
He nodded. "Just like a Knight. Striving to uphold honor, treating his word as his oath, and always diligently protecting others. Saving the damsel in distress."
So it was, like a Knight of old, I had promised Dusky I would stop following her, to try and be her friend, and I meant to stick to that promise. But my heart was still set on her, no words would stop that.
---
I stepped out of the brisk winter air and into the bar in a good mood. The future held a warm fire, a kettle of tea, and an all-night snow scheduled for Ponyville. Not to mention, my mind kept wandering to thoughts of the upcoming weekend in Fetlock as well.
What I didn't foresee was how loud the bar would be. I looked about, expecting a full house, but instead found the bar only just starting to fill up. At the center of the room stood a tall, somewhat lanky unicorn, her long, thin legs belying her powerful muscles. And against her red coat, dulled red painted scale-mail in a style I'd come to recognize as belonging to the foreign Knights of Ostfriesen.
I'd met Merriweather a few nights before, but been too distracted by other thoughts to pay her much mind. Now, sitting at our usual table, she cheered from inside a circle of empty glasses. Her sister, Starshadow, sat nearby, trying her best to ignore her as Merriweather pounded back another glass.
Across from Merriweather sat her opponent. Or would it be mentor? I couldn't tell. Mahogany was clearly doing his best to match the unicorn drink for drink. He turned to wave at me as I gathered up my kettle from the barkeep and approached the table. "C'mon Flurry! Fun's just starting!"
Merriweather tilted her head to wink, her voice low with a predatory note to it. "Oui! Drinks are on me snowbutt!"
I settled down next to Mahogany, nervously laughing as I presented my kettle and poured myself a cup of tea. "I um... brought my own, but um, thank you."
She leaned closer to her sister, prodding at her, with one eye focused on me. "Come on!" She levitated two glasses upwards, bringing one near her and the other towards her sister. "Mahogany here has shown me the finest of Equestrian tastes!"
I was about to raise up my tea cup to sip at the contents when Mahogany nudged at me with his hoof. "Hear that, Flurry? My drink’s popular with them classy ponies too!" I jumped, scrambling to recover from nearly dropping my drink.
Starshadow kept her cool, but refused the drink with a chilly glare. "That fact that you recommend it does not help its case."
I glanced up, smiling as Dusky and Terrabona approached the table. Dusky moved to sit on the opposite side of Mahogany, while Terrabona just stood at the table, grabbing one of the drinks.
Mahogany cheered, throwing a hoof around Dusky's shoulder. "Hey, Terra! Dusky! You're just in time! Her Highness Merriweather is buyin' again!"
Dusky glanced about cautiously, and I watched as she subtly shifted some of the alcohol away from Terrabona. "Yeah, that's... uh, great."
Terrabona responded with her muzzle already sunk into her drink. "The greatest!"
I clung to my tea cup, watching Merriweather and Starshadow, the two of them more or less dominating the table. I glanced at Dusky again, but her eyes were glued to the two sisters as well, as Merriweather made a spectacle of herself.
"Geez, lighten up, Sis'. This is a bar~."
"I am aware." Starshadow seemed used to her sisters banter, doing her best to both acknowledge and dismiss her. "Just as I am aware such things will not help you regain your honour."
Regain her honour? I glanced at Merriweather again. She certainly didn't act like any knight, not in the way Starshadow did.
Merriweather leaned over to her sister, her voice just as loud as she stage whispered. "Hey, gotta build a fanbase before the heroic deeds mean anything." She turned her head as Terrabona laughed. "You're supposed to wait until I tell a joke."
"A thief talking about honour! That's funny!" Terrabona slammed her forehooves down, shaking the army of glasses arrayed upon the table. I wasn't sure what she was talking about, but I suppose I was surprised that she was staring at Starshadow, not Merriweather.
It certainly got a reaction, as Starshadow straightened up to stare back. "You would dare call me a thief?"
Terrabona slammed her hooves down again to emphasize her point. "Yeah! You... you sexy-stealing thief!"
I stayed quiet, but this time the others seemed to fall quiet with me. I glanced about, suddenly feeling even more uncomfortable with the situation as I could feel the same awkwardness around the table.
Except Merriweather, that is, who seemed on the verge of breaking into laughter, giggling as she poked at Starshadow. "Siiiiis', you lied to me. You should've told me she was your type. I could've hooked you up with a nice mare back in Manehattan~."
I heard Dusky sigh, drawing my gaze to her. "Terra. You can't just go around accusing people of 'stealing your sexiness'. It doesn't even qualify as a proper pick-up line."
Starshadow continued to glare at her sister. "Technically, I just suppressed it." The matter-of-fact explanation hit the table like a terrible weight, startling in its confession.
Terrabona cried out, grinning at Dusky. "Told ya!"
"Wait, what?" Dusky's confusion probably spoke for us all with that statement. "That's a thing?"
Starshadow's expression did not change, nor did her tone. Both were completely serious. "Yes. I made it for a certain somepony who lets her loins run off with her."
Merriweather tilted her head curiously. "Oh, is that all that does?"
If possible, I'd have sworn that Starshadow's glare managed to intensify against her sister. "What do you mean, 'is that all'? I shut down your libido."
"I just dispel it, anyway. But, geez Sis', I expected something more creative, like making beds turn my hair into tarantulas or making me speak alternating Griffon or even suddenly sprouting a—"
Dusky thankfully interrupted the pair. "Oooookay, I think we're getting a bit off topic. Can somepony please fix this?"
Mahogany smirked at Terrabona and laughed. "Whatcha even need it for? You just try to make other ponies get busy." He nudged me in the side again, then turned to grin at me.
My mouth dropped a little, but before I could respond, Merriweather's horn lit up. She pointed it to Terra, wrapping her in a matching glow. "Oh, that's easy. I got it."
Dusky began to back away, looking around the bar. "Whoa, hold on. Maybe we should do this outside."
Merriweather grinned, the magic around her horn brightening in color and intensity. "Nah, I got it. Just relax and it'll be over soon~."
I rose from the table, leaving my teacup behind as I glanced around the room. Nearly everypony was backing away. There was a subtle pressure that filled the bar, like the pressure you get between your ears when you fly too high too fast.
Dusky yelled something, and I quickly looked to find her. She was scrambling to get into cover, and in that split second I realized exactly what was about to happen.
I knew what to do without thinking. Diligently protecting others. The damsel in distress. I cried out. "Look out, Dusky!" I pushed up on my hind legs, throwing open my wings and jumped directly between Terrabona and Dusky.
The world exploded into a shower of angry red sparks. I don't remember what it sounded like, I think whatever noise Merriweather's magic made was swiftly drowned out, as a wave of pain struck me. I think I screamed. I don't remember stopping, either. I twisted to my side, the force of the blast throwing me into the table, and then things went black.
Moments, hours, days seemed to pass in darkness. I heard voices in the distance, but couldn't make them out. Somepony called my name and a gentle caress against my face brought me back to the pain.
"How do you feel? Can you move?"
"I... um..." I clenched my teeth, straining to move. I slowly opened my eyes and found Dusky looking down at me. My voice caught in my throat. The last thing I wanted was for her to be worried about me, especially now that I knew she was alright. "Fine, just fine."
I took a deep breath, then pulled my hooves in to steady myself. I pushed upward, almost collapsing back to the ground at the sharp pain in my side. I bit my tongue, and powered through, somehow managing to rise up on all fours. I looked at the ground, and stood in shock a moment at the amount of blood on the bar floor.
Dusky's tone was grim and stern. "You are not fine." She moved to my side, and pointed a hoof at the point where I felt the pain the most. "Let me see your wing."
It was more of a struggle to unfurl my wing than I expected. The feathers seemed to stick, and trying to spread them caused a burning sensation to pierce into my side.
"We need to get you to a doctor."
I was about to protest, to tell her I'd be fine, or that I'd see somepony after my shift was over. But as I looked back, I caught her eyes. I traced their path, following back to my wing. It was then that I saw the mangled mess of feathers and welts, burning embers and magical residue. The blood on the bar floor was mine.
One of the tall unicorns approached, silent and graceful. Starshadow bowed her head before Dusky and I. "I apologize for my sister's rashness. May I?"
I looked back as the Ostfriesen approached me. I nodded, then gingerly extended my wing all the way outward. As Starshadow's horn began to glow, I prepared to flinch away, but a swift flash of magic later and it was over.
"I agree with Dusky Down's assessment. You should see a physician immediately."
Terrabona practically tripped across the bar, coming between Starshadow and I. She started talking, but her voice was quiet. I strained to listen to her, then to Starshadow in turn. I leaned forward, their voices getting indistinct. It was getting frustrating, all the whispering, and I just wanted to tell them to speak up, but couldn't. My mouth refused to work, and as I tried to bring this to somepony’s attention, the room seemed to spin, and then I fell into darkness.
I think I saw Dusky, as I swam through the inky blackness. I called out to her, smiling as she looked at me. She was safe. I'd saved her, that was what mattered. And so long as she was okay, whatever happened to me was acceptable. "Worth it." She faded from sight, the darkness swallowing me up again.
---
It was cold and dark when I awoke. As I peeked open my eyes, the silhouette of a mare stood blurry and non-distinct as my eyes adjusted to the light. "D-Dusky?"
A pleasant laugh answered my question, the image resolving into a white mare wearing a nurse’s habit. "Oh, no no no. I'm Nurse Redheart. I assume Dusky is the friend that brought you here. You're very lucky to have been brought in when you were."
I smiled and tried to rise up, but found I couldn't, still too weak to pull myself up. "I um... I can't feel my wings."
"Just a mild anesthetic, I wanted to make sure you slept through the night, the surgery was successful, but there were fragments of wood much deeper than we expected, and I imagine you would have been in a fair bit of pain."
"Oh... I didn't think it would be bad..." I tried to piece together the night before. "...h-how long was I asleep?"
"Nearly fifteen hours, dear." I gaped, and laid back in the bed as she continued to check on me, and applied more pain killers to my wing. As she finished up, she smiled. "A few of your friends are here to visit, if you feel up to it?"
I nodded and the nurse stepped out of the room. Mahogany poked his head in first. "There he is. Sheesh. You doing alright Flurry? Gotta suck being cooped up like this."
He trotted in, Terrabona following close behind. "I've been trying to tell ya, keep chasing after mares and this is how it ends up."
I frowned, both at Mahogany's statement, and at the fact that my wings were bandaged tight against my sides. "Well... yeah. I'm grounded. For a week, at the least."
Terrabona stuck out her tongue in mock disgust. "Blah, that does suck. But, I mean, still alive right? You and Dusky both!"
I pulled up the covers of the bed to hide my face. "Well... g-good. As long as Dusky is... safe." Part of me was proud of what I'd done, risking myself for her. But the way Terrabona eyed me only made the whole thing feel wrong.
She nodded to herself. "Well, you're both okay. Now, we just need to figure out your next step."
My head moved over to the door, part of me contemplating how far I could escape before Nurse Redheart dragged me back into bed. "Well... I don't really think... not like there's going to be a next step..."
Mahogany chuckled, and Terrabona ground a hoof into his side. "Shush. Listen Night, next step is easy! Your date’s still on right? Forelack Falls?"
I cringed. "F-fetlock... and... we're supposed to fly in. That's not a possibility now."
She tilted her head, face going hard. "So? Alright, we just need to readjust the plan. Travel is out, but Dusky likes other stuff! Like... books. And knitting. I assume she knits. She made that scarf herself. And um..."
Mahogany picked up where Terrabona trailed off. "Pasta! Everypony likes pasta."
Terrabona grinned. "Yep! Pasta! Perfect! I'm sure she'd love to go out for pasta with—"
A knock on the door interrupted her train of thought, as she and Mahogany both turned.
I tried to look past them, doing my best to rise up out of bed and peek around them, silently thanking Nurse Redheart for her perfect timing.
But it wasn't Redheart's voice that came from the doorway.
"Hello, everypony." Dusky's voice struck me like a lightning bolt.
I dropped back into the bed, trying to make myself small. My voice betrayed me again as I answered her call. "E-evening, Dusky..."
Terrabona's voice squeaked as she struggled to throw Dusky a response. "Hey. We were, uh, just talking about weather."
"Right." Dusky's voice sounded tired. She approached the bed, with the look of a pony who'd barely slept. "If it's about the night shift, I've got it covered."
I cringed. Of course. Of course they'd assign Dusky to fill in for me. I tried to bury myself deeper into the hospital bed. "Oh. Th-thanks..."
She came up to the side of the bed, looking down at me. "Anything special you do compared to the day shift?"
I tried not to panic, brain scrambling to come up with something to fill in that gap. "Um... I guess ponies don't care about gathering clouds early. Maybe they just don't see. B-but, it's good when I have to spend a lot of time with the Everfree."
"Anything else?"
There was so much more. I wanted to talk about the air currents at night, the temperature shifts and changes in how clouds react, along with my techniques, and the most ideal patrol route. "I-I don't think so."
She gave a short nod. "In any event, I'm glad to see you're awake."
I poked aimlessly at the blanket with one hoof, trying not to meet her eyes. "Umm... yeah.... I slept p-pretty much all day. Nurse said I was out for about fifteen hours..." I looked down, the habits of my life for the past five years were another reason why I'd slept so late. "But... um... I can't sleep at all during the night..."
Her voice was understanding as she nodded once more. "I'd be surprised if you could fall asleep again right after sleeping for fifteen hours."
"I've got a little something that can fix that." Mahogany grinned, holding out the flask he carried at his side. The room was silent as I simply stared at my friend
Dusky peered across the bed. "Mahogany..."
"No?" He offered me the flask. I pulled back, shaking my head. "All right, your loss."
I turned back to Dusky, finding my voice amidst the silence. "I.. um... Dusky?"
"Yes?"
"I... I... wanted to thank you for everything you did. Nurse Redheart says you brought me in and made sure I was okay... and I just... um... thanks..." I looked down at the blanket. I'd somehow managed to tangle it around my hooves in my fidgeting. I tried to relax and slough it off, but was still too tense.
She simply smiled. "What else was I going to do? Leave you at the bar?"
Heat raised up in my face. I wasn't sure what I'd been expecting. "I... I guess not..."
Whatever I'd been expecting, it certainly wasn't the sudden shift in her tone. "You really need to take better care of yourself so you don't end up in here again."
I blinked, looking around the room as I tried to parse what she'd just said. "W-what do you mean... I thought I took care of myself just fine."
She sighed, and suddenly any warmth in her voice was gone. "You jumped in front of an exploding wall of magic."
My face burned, but I knew what I'd done. I knew why I'd done it. I spun in bed, rising up to look her in the eye. "But... I... um... I did it to... I did it to protect you!"
Dusky and Mahogany both moved with me, each setting a hoof against me to push me back into the bed.
Mahogany tsked, shaking his head. "Real smooth, Flurry."
Dusky's hoof rested against me a moment, making sure I was staying down. "Look, I know your heart was in the right place, but if you were really paying attention, you'd have noticed I was already under a table. Throwing yourself into the open like that was nothing short of foalish."
I looked into her eyes, hard and cold, but held her gaze. Diligent in protecting others. Striving to uphold honor. Saving the damsel in distress. "It's.... it's who I am. I don't even know... I just... acted on instinct."
She held her stern look, but there was something else behind it. "You can't rely entirely on instinct in dangerous situations. If you don't learn when to let logic intervene, you'll end up putting yourself in unnecessary danger."
My gaze dropped away from hers. It was just like my time training with the Royal Guard all over again. What my heart told me I should do and what my head told me to do in conflict, and I always picked the wrong thing. "I... maybe you're right... but... It didn't feel unnecessary to me... I just... I couldn't bear the thought of you getting hurt... um... s-sorry..."
She was silent a moment, then leaned in slightly. "I can see what you're getting at, but think of it in reverse. You have friends and they don't want to see you get hurt, either. So next time, put a little thought into your actions."
Beneath the anger, that's what I heard. Concern. For me. She didn't want to see me get hurt anymore than I wanted to see her injured.
My smile fell from my face as I tried to talk through it. "I... oh... you're right... it was pretty stupid of me..." And beyond my own health, I'd manage to end up forcing more work onto her because of my stupidity. "A-and about the shifts... I... I never wanted you to get stuck with them. S-sorry..."
She moved her hoof onto my shoulder, and following the gesture up, she broke into a wonderful smile. "So long as you learn from your mistakes. We all make them, after all. As for the shifts, well, I'm used to getting shuffled around a lot, even if the night shift is out of the ordinary for me. Just promise me this kind of thing won't happen again."
I relaxed. "It... it's a boring shift... unless they planned some snow or something..." I grasped at my sheets again, the sudden realization of my plans from the night before. "Oh, Luna... that was last night, wasn't it?"
"It was still manageable. More or less."
I sank into the bed, going still. I took a deep breath, and turned my head to break away from Dusky's gaze. I drifted around the room, and found my eyes stopping on Terrabona.
She was tapping her forehooves together, eyes darting from Dusky, then back to me. She was puckering her lips, and whispering ever so quietly to the room. "Now, kisssss~."
My eyes went wide, the heat in my face burning red in embarrassment. I flailed, trying to think of something, anything, to get them out. "Oh... um... you know what, I think, um... I think those injuries did more to me than I thought... I'm suddenly really tired, yep... definitely need to get some more rest..."
Terrabona threw her hooves up. "Oh, come on!"
Dusky was already on the move, snorting out her exasperation. "Yeah, this is over. I need to get to work soon, anyway. Seeya, Night Flurry. Let's go, Terra," She grabbed her friend by the tail and dragged her towards the door.
Terra scraped her hooves on the floor, crying out as Dusky pulled her away. "Hey! Don't—"
Mahogany followed after, a clear grin on his face. He nodded to me one more time before he ducked outside. "Get well, Flurry! I'll bring some more 'medicine' tomorrow." He slipped out before somepony closed the door, leaving me in silence.
I laid my head down on my pillow, doing my best to breath and calm myself down. Terrabona... why did she so badly want to see me with Dusky? It seemed like every time she helped, all she did was make things worse between Dusky and I. All for what? Some cheap thrill for her?
A sigh escaped my lips in the noiseless clinic room. Noiseless except for the strange rattle at the window. It persisted for a few moments, then stopped, then began again moments later. I rose in bed, catching the telltale glow of magic as somepony threw my window open.
I threw my hooves down, weakly pushing myself up in the bed again. I barely had time to react before a slender unicorn swung into my room. She flew in, back legs first, landing in a skid before she dropped to all fours, posing dramatically.
Merriweather smirked at me, rising up at the end of the bed. "’Ey there, lover boy."
"Y-you!" She'd come to finish me off. That was the only explanation. I reached over to the nightstand, looking for any kind of weapon, but my hoof found no purchase. "S-stay back!"
She frowned, raising a hoof to make a 'shush' gesture. "Hey, calm down! You're going to summon that uptight Nurse! Can you believe she wouldn't let me visit you?"
I looked her over. She was still wearing the dulled scale mail and some kind of crossbow slung into a holster at her side. "I-I wonder why! You're the reason I'm in here after all! Y-you and your sister! Knights! Hah!"
Merriweather looked crestfallen, her ears dipping back. "Hey now... that's part of why I'm here. To apologize."
My hooves pulled away from the table at the side of the bed, slowly moving back to the bed sheets. "Um... oh? Really?"
"Yeah. Sorry. I didn't do it on purpose, you know."
She looked sincere. For as much as I'd heard about Ostfriesen from Starshadow, I'd not talked to Merriweather at all. Besides, as Dusky had said, it was my actions that had gotten me put in here.
"Well... I kind of overreacted to the whole situation, so um... apology accepted, err... Merriweather."
She grinned, not that wicked grin from before, but a warm grin. "Call me Merri." Her horn lit up again, lifting open a satchel at her side and levitating out a small box towards me.
I reached out, grasping the box in my hooves gently. "What... what's this?"
"It's a... well, I don't really know. But it's shiny." She snickered to herself, then lowered her voice into a more serious tone, the most serious I think I'd heard Merriweather be. "You showed a lot of guts last night. Sis and I were impressed. If you'd been born in Ostfriesen, you'd be a Knight already."
I raised an eyebrow at Merriweather, opening the box delicately. "Not me... I'm... I'm not good enough to be a Knight. Trust me, I've tried." I blinked. Inside the box was a solid metal Bracer, designed to slip over a forehoof and protect from the fetlock to the knee. It was ornately engraved and inlaid with gold which was long tarnished by age. It felt light in my hooves, but something about it held a terrible weight in my mind. I couldn't draw my gaze away from it.
Merri chuckled. "I wouldn't worry about that. I'm not that great a knight either." She looked down a moment, pondering something. I didn't interrupt, one eye still admiring the bracer, and the other watching her.
At last, she broke her silence again. “I got banished. For… well, there was this stallion. Things didn't work out.”
“So… you’re… not really knights then?” I didn't want to be disappointed, but somehow, I was. I idly handled the bracer.
Merri gave a brief snort. “We’re still knights. I mean, Sis’ is. She wants me to regain my honor, and then we can go home. I guess, I don’t really know what I want.”
“So… what about this?” I held up the bracer. “Why me? The… the apology is more than enough.”
That brought back her grin. “You Equestrians are so humble. Kind of a nice change from back home.” She levitated the piece of armor back up to her eye, looking it over. “It’s just some old trinket from home. A piece of traditional Knight regalia passed down something something. I didn't pay a lot of attention when Sis’ explained it.”
She gently lowered it back down to me, releasing the magic. “But you showed a lot of heart last night. And so, that’s a gift. And an invitation.”
She nodded. “If you ever want to be a knight… well, we’re living in one of the rooms above that bar now. I think you could make it. You know, if you ever want to be a hero.”
“A… hero?” I weighed the bracer in my hooves again. So that’s what the weight was. Responsibility.
Merriweather’s ears perked up, and she glanced towards the door. “Oh crap, that nurse is coming.” She darted for the window, throwing her first foreleg over the sill. She glanced back and smiled. “Get well soon, Night!” And with that, she vaulted out of the window in one swift motion.
I blinked. “R-right… bye?”
Redheart opened the door and trotted into the room, glancing about suspiciously. I waved nervously, feeling a bead of sweat carve a path down the side of my head. I tried not to glance towards the window, but couldn't help it as I anxiously fiddled with the bracer.
Her eyes narrowed, tracing a path back to the window. She walked up and slid it closed, then reset the lock. Turning her eyes back to me, she paced back to the door, then flipped off the light. “Get some rest, Mr. Flurry.” There was no questioning her. “No more… guests today.” The room went dark as she closed the door behind her.
I laid back in the bed and considered my friends. Terra, Mahogany, even Merriweather. I considered Dusky, as well. Maybe Fetlock wasn't a total loss… maybe I could make up for this whole mess somehow, buy tickets for the train up, if she was still willing to go.
Heroism. I gently traced the patterns on the bracer, wondering if that path would ever be open to me again. Exhaustion overtook me; despite all the rest I’d already had, I soon found myself drifting back to sleep. And as I faded, a faint voice echoed through the back of my mind. “You would be a great hero.”