//------------------------------// // A Knife in the Dark // Story: Cold Days and Warm Hearts // by moguera //------------------------------// Chapter 15: A Knife in the Dark Shade Steel kept her eyes carefully trained on the forest below, searching for any sign of her approaching quarry. Her peripheral vision allowed her to keep on the alert for any signs of movement in the skies above as well, just in case Dawn Lightwing tried coming in by air. The clear day meant that there were no clouds in the sky that the faux-colt could use as cover. One way or another, when he came, she would know it. She lay halfway out on the ledge that projected out from the cave. Her body completely filled the opening, which she had narrowed using small boulders packed into mud to serve as mortar. As constructs went, the walls closing off most of the cave opening weren't the sturdiest. The dried mud that held them together would probably wash away with the next snowmelt. But Shade Steel didn't need it to last for very long. Her ears twitched as she heard a faint sniffling sound from the back of the cave, where her bed was. Breaking her vigil over the forest, Shade Steel turned her gaze to check on her unwilling guest. Her bed was still there, but the sleeping bag had been shoved to one side, up against the cave wall. A metal stake had been driven down through the weave of tree branches and into the rock below. It had taken a lot of work for Shade Steel to get the stake in place, but it would be worth it once Dawn Lightwing arrived. In the gloom of the cave, her eyes were still able to pick out the form of a pale-purple unicorn who sat with her back to the stake, bound against it by heavy wire wrapped around her barrel and forelimbs to keep her from wiggling free. The filly’s amber eyes met Shade Steel’s blue ones and quickly flinched away. Dinky Doo was scared and miserable. Shade didn’t blame her. It was unfortunate for Dinky that she had gotten caught up in this and was now bound uncomfortably in the back of a cave in the depths of the Whitetail Woods. But still, Shade Steel needed her and needed her to be exactly where she was. But that didn’t stop her heart from going out to the little filly. With a sigh, the former Guardsmare decided to break her vigil and do what she could to offer some comfort to the softly sobbing filly. “Hey there,” said Shade Steel in her softest, most friendly voice, “How are you doing?” “I-I’m scared,” said Dinky, tears running freely down her cheeks, “My back is sore, my skin hurts…I w-wanna go home.” “Shh,” said Shade, gently reaching out with a forehoof to brush away a few of Dinky’s tears, “It’s alright. I know you’re scared. I’m sorry. But I need your help.” “B-but why do you need to tie me up like this?” asked Dinky, her distress seeming to subside a little at the gentle tone of Shade’s voice. “It’s a bit hard to explain,” said Shade, “But I promise that you’ll be safe and, when this is all over, you’ll be back with your mom, safe and sound.” From the look in her eyes, it was clear that Dinky didn’t quite believe her. Shade figured she would have to find some other way to take the filly’s mind off her situation. “Hey!” she said, “I’ve got an idea. Would you like to hear how I got my cutie mark?” “Um…okay…” “I was just a little older than you when it happened,” explained Shade, “When I was a little filly, I used to love Hide and Seek. It was my favorite game in the whole wide world. My favorite event was the yearly Hide and Seek tournament held during the Summer Sun Celebration with all the foals in Hollow Shades. We would all hide throughout the town and the safe parts of the surrounding forest and the adults would come looking for us. Sometimes I would win, sometimes I would lose. But, no matter what happened, I always loved that game. "Then, one year, I figured out how to hide from everypony and not be found. The adults looked and looked and looked...But they couldn't find me. They actually started to get really worried. They called in everypony they could, including the other colts and fillies to look for me. They even had the local Guard do a grid search, but they couldn't find me. I was having so much fun, I didn't want to let them find me, so I never came out. Then, six hours later, the mayor realized that he had never actually ended the game and declared me the winner. When I finally came out of hiding, I was so happy and excited because I realized just how amazing it was. It was like I'd made myself invisible, even without some unicorn's magic. "That's when I got this..." She pointed to the swatch of camouflage on her flank. "But why are you doing this to me?" asked Dinky, who seemed to have calmed down somewhat. Shade sighed. "This may be hard for you to believe, but I was in the Royal Guard once. My entire purpose was to find the bad ponies and make sure that they got punished. I was very proud of the work I did there, because I was making Equestria a safer, better, happier place. But then...something happened. "I'm sure you know a lot about this...But, one morning, on the day of the Summer Sun Celebration a couple years ago, the sun didn't come up. Nightmare Moon had returned from her banishment and was trying to plunge Equestria into eternal night. I thought we were going to have to go and fight Nightmare Moon ourselves. But then, all of a sudden, it was over. Those mares found the Elements of Harmony and used them to defeat Nightmare Moon and free Princess Celestia." "Uh huh," said Dinky, nodding her head, "I know about that." Shade smiled sweetly at the little filly and brushed her mane gently. "Of course you do. After the sun finally came back up, I thought everything was going to be alright. But then..." She let out a low growl that sent tremors up Dinky's spine. "Nightmare Moon showed up in Canterlot, claiming to be Princess Celestia's younger sister. Our sweet and gentle Princess actually welcomed that fiend with open arms, even as she lied through her teeth." "But it's true," said Dinky, "Princess Luna is Princess Celestia's little sister. She plays with us on Nightmare Night and-" "Lies!" Dinky let out a small shriek of fear as Shade slammed a hoof into the stone floor of the cave. "Princess Celestia was, is, and always shall be the only true Princess Equestria has. That monster is just a pretender trying to usurp our beloved Princess. She is simply waiting for another chance to plunge us into unending night again." "But why would Princess Celestia let her back into Canterlot if that was true?" asked Dinky. Shade gave Dinky a sour smile, "Because she needs us to defeat Nightmare Moon. Princess Celestia wants us ordinary, mortal ponies to be the ones to bring about that monster's end, so that we can earn our place in her paradise of eternal day." Shade turned to look towards the entrance again. "But I realized that, if Nightmare Moon was allowed to rule from Canterlot, then she, like Princess Celestia, could give orders to the Royal Guard. I refused to remain in the service of such a monster and resigned so that I could help those who knew the truth fight back against Nightmare Moon." "But what does that have to do with me?" asked Dinky. "You may not realize it," said Shade, "But Nightmare Moon has creatures who serve as an extension of her will, monsters who sow disorder and suffering at her order. Even when she was imprisoned on the moon, these creatures still tried to carry out her will in the world. These demons do not have any material form, but can infect the thoughts and feelings of regular ponies. Even worse, these demons have the ability to take possession of certain ponies. "You see, every once and a while, when a foal is about to be born, something goes very wrong and the foal is born dead. It is unfortunate but true. These foals are known as stillborns. But those filthy demons can tell when such foals are about to be born. They inhabit what would otherwise be a lifeless corpse and restore it to some semblance of life." Shade looked at Dinky and noticed that the little filly was having some trouble following what she was saying. "So...these mean spirits make dead foals not-dead...?" said Dinky, trying to see if she understood. "Exactly," said Shade with a happy smile. "So they're zombies, right?" The pleased smile dropped off Shade's face. "Um...well...not really?" "You mean they don't go around moaning 'Braaaaiiiiiiiinssss' and trying to eat ponies?" "No." "Awww," moaned Dinky disappointedly. Shade Steel sighed. "You see, these creatures try their hardest to act like regular ponies. They pretend to just be regular foals that will grow up into ordinary mares and stallions. But, in reality, they are monsters, secretly waiting for their orders from their mistress so that they can do their evil in her name. "They are exceptionally good at hiding their true nature. But there is one thing that truly distinguishes them from regular ponies. When they are about to carry out their malicious acts, their eyes will change and take on the same form as Nightmare Moon's showing the truth about their ties to her." "Oh..." said Dinky, clearly thinking about something, "Oh! You mean like Dawn's eyes?" "Well...yes..." Shade was a bit shocked to see that Dinky made the connection. "Wait! You think Dawn's one of these bad ponies?" "Yes!" exclaimed Shade, "That's exactly it!" Then, to her utter shock and amazement, Dinky began to giggle. "You're silly," she said between laughs, "You're a silly pony." "Huh...but..." Shade's jaw dropped. Dinky carried on without noticing her captor's astonishment. "Dawn's a good pony. He saved me from bullies once and he helped my mom to fly without crashing. There's no way he's one of those...demon...not-dead...foal things..." Dinky blinked. "What are they called again?" "B-but..." stammered Shade Steel, "Y-you've seen his eyes haven't you?" "Yeah!" exclaimed Dinky, "They're so cool." This is worse than I thought, marveled Shade Steel. She'd realized that Dawn's hold over the town must be severe if he could walk about with his eyes undisguised. But this was more than she'd ever thought possible. Dinky pressed on. "That whole eye-thing sounds stupid anyway," she declared, "Why is somepony evil just because their eyes are different? That's like the ponies who keep saying that my mom's stupid, just because she can't see well and used to crash a lot. Besides, it's not like he can help it if he was born like that." Shade heaved a disappointed sigh. "It isn't the same at all. It isn't that Dawn Lightwing was born with different eyes. Those eyes are a hint of the true form that inhabits the body of that colt. The pony named Dawn Lightwing never existed. The pony that he would have been died before he could even be born." Dinky fixed the mare with an impressively deadpan stare. "I still think that's pretty stupid." Shade Steel opened her mouth to argue further, but stopped herself. There was little logic that would work on a foal. She would just have to let Dawn Lightwing show his true colors when he arrived. As if on cue, Shade's ears picked up the sound of flapping wings that unquestionably belonged to a pegasus. Turning, she looked out the opening towards the sky. There, hovering in the open air outside the cave was none other than Dawn Lightwing. His turquoise eyes narrowed as they met Shade's. She glared back at him, meeting his draconic gaze without flinching. It's time. Dawn landed on the ledge outside the cave and folded his wings before walking inside. Once he was inside the cave, he came to a stop only a couple of meters away from Shade, his body relaxed as though he wasn't expecting a fight at all. He had already done away with the scarf and jacket he'd been wearing earlier and now stood before Shade unclothed. "Well," he said simply, "I'm here like you wanted." "Dawn!" shouted Dinky exultantly, like a pining filly being saved by her knight in shining armor. Dawn turned his attention to the filly and gave her a small smile before returning his gaze to Shade, his hardened expression slipping back into place. Shade frowned slightly. She had been expecting Ditzy to come with Dawn. But there was no sign of the gray mare with the blonde mane anywhere outside the cave. Was she waiting in the forest down below? Still, it didn't matter. Dawn was here and he had willingly come inside the cave. Now he was in her chosen battlefield, where the majority of his techniques could be sealed by her preparations. "Now that I'm here, please untie Dinky Doo and let her go," said Dawn. "I think not," said Shade harshly, "I need the filly to stay right where she is and I'm certainly not about to release her into your custody. She will serve as my witness when you reveal your true nature." Dawn looked past her at Dinky once again, frowning darkly. "An iron stake and steel wire. I get the feeling that you are keeping Dinky here for other reasons as well." "Perhaps," was all that Shade would say in response. Dawn's lips pressed into a thin line as he realized that conversation would serve no further purpose. "Fine then. Shall we get this over with?" Shade Steel sank into a crouch as Dawn began to move closer. Just as he took another step, she exploded into motion, kicking off the ground and beating her wings to launch herself towards him. However, the angle to her launch carried her over Dawn's head and towards the ceiling, right where it met her crudely constructed wall. Shade twisted around so that her hind hooves slammed into the solid stone of the ceiling. In the same motion, her right foreleg slipped under her barrel to her left side. Shade was currently wearing a belt of dark-gray fabric, a shade matching her coat so that it was nearly invisible. Attached to the belt so that it hung from the right side of her barrel was a sheathed knife, which hung so that the handle was angled slightly downwards. Now, her right fetlock curled around the handle of the knife, drawing it out from the sheath in a curving slash that came up and across her chest. Drawing and striking had occurred in a single smooth motion even as Shade's kick propelled her towards the back of Dawn's head, the slash aimed perfectly for the back of his neck so that the blade would slip between his vertebrae and sever his spinal cord. The motion, with its perfect precision spoke of the breadth of Shade's experience. Without even looking, Dawn bent all four of his legs. An instant later, he kicked off the floor, launching himself straight forward. It had happened so quickly that, for an instant, it had looked as though Shade's knife had cut into his neck. However, the blade passed effortlessly through the afterimage. As he surged forward, Dawn planted one forehoof and twisted it, using it as a pivot to spin his body around, his eyes finding Shade as she landed on the floor where he had been standing, getting his first real look at her weapon. Shade wielded a straight-edged knife with a broad blade of black steel. The blade's center had three rectangular holes along its length, probably to reduce the weapon's weight and make it lighter in her hooves. Shade held the deadly weapon with an easy familiarity as she pushed off with her remaining three hooves and charged straight for Dawn, thrusting forward with the tip of the blade, aiming between his ribs for his heart and lungs. Dawn skipped sideways so that Shade's charge now carried her past him. Before she could switch from a thrust to a slash, he lashed out with his wing, compressing the air between them so that it would explode against her flank and slam her against the wall. Shade's three unoccupied hooves smacked against the cave floor, stopping her charge and launching her straight up so that the gust of air that resulted from Dawn's attack rushed under her and dissipated across the wall. As she jumped, Shade went into a roll that sent her over the top of Dawn's back and allowed her to swing her knife down at Dawn from above, once again aiming for his neck. Shade's blade only managed to clip a few silvery hairs from Dawn's mane as he quickly ducked beneath the line of her slash. Continuing her roll, Shade kicked off the wall, sending her hurtling across the cave to the other wall, which she turned and kicked off of at an angle, propelling herself down towards Dawn from the opposite side, just as he turned to meet her. The knife was a black blur as she went through a series of thrusting and slashing attacks, coming at Dawn from a variety of directions. Some slashes aimed for Dawn's limbs, seeking to open a vein or artery and force the colt to bleed out. Other slashes targeted the tendons on those limbs as well, trying to lame the colt and cut down his maneuverability. She aimed her thrusts for his chest and neck, seeking to penetrate between his ribs and the soft organs they protected, or slash his throat open. Every strike faultlessly aimed for a vital point that would either incapacitate or kill. There wasn't the slightest bit of waste in Shade's movements and she attacked with all the grace and efficiency of a professional. None of her blows found their mark. Dawn's form seem to double, then triple, then multiply further as he danced between her strikes, which always seemed to sink into one of the illusory doubles created by the ebony colt's speed and acceleration. His wings remained tucked in close to his sides as Dawn relied almost entirely on his hooves to maneuver between Shade's relentless offense. A straight horizontal slash from Shade missed Dawn's throat by a paper's breadth as the colt pulled his head back just barely far enough to escape the strike. Shade abruptly reversed her grip on the knife and thrust back along the path of her slash, threatening to stab the blade through the side of Dawn's neck. Rearing up off his forelegs, Dawn avoided the strike by lifting his forward half up off the floor. Shade stopped her thrust, rather than allowing the momentum to carry it all the way around to her side and switched the grip on her knife once again, this time stabbing straight up for Dawn''s head from below in an attack that would drive the blade up between the mandibles of his jaw and up into his brain. Death would be nigh instantaneous. With a beat of his wings, Dawn turned his motion into a backwards flip, which carried him clear of the line of Shade's slash. Dawn's backflip carried him back to the cave wall, which he was preparing to kick off of. The air around his wings began to buzz as an electrical charge built up around his feathers. Rather than channel it into a lightning bolt, Dawn kept the lighting circulating across the surface of his wings, letting the flow concentrate down toward the tips of his feathers. When he came at Shade again, he would only have to barely brush his feathers against the mare to channel an electrical jolt into her that would stun her into submission; all while ensuring that Dinky wasn't put at risk, thanks to her being tied to an improvised lightning rod. Just as he was about to kick off of the wall, Dawn felt Shade's wings beat erratically, a motion that was frighteningly familiar to him. It was sheer reflex that surpassed even his comprehension of the mare's action that saved him as he kicked off the air, instead of the wall, skipping to the side just as a thin, flat blade whistled through the space he had occupied and ricocheted off the stone with a loud ringing noise. For a moment, Dawn simply allowed himself to fall back to the floor, staring at Shade in astonishment. When she had first lunged at him, Dawn had thought he'd felt something off about her wings, but had quickly lost that train of thought while trying to evade the ferocious series of attacks from her combat knife. All that changed, now that he realized that Shade was more heavily armed than she had first seemed. His eyes, more acute in the darkness of the cave than those of most ponies, found the blade that she had thrown at him. It was about as long as one of her primaries, thin and flat, with an elongated triangular shape, like a long dagger, but lacking any kind of hilt or handle. Once again, Dawn was struck by the eerie sense of familiarity. The wired feathers wielded by Perlin Bluestreak...Dawn's mind immediately made the connection. While these blades were simpler and cruder in design than Perlin's artfully crafted feathers, made from some sort sort of simple alloy instead of mithril, they appeared to operate on the same principle, a small, light blade, hidden amongst the feather's of the wielder's wing, which could be launched with almost no warning and impressive accuracy. Now Dawn was able to identify what was off about Shade Steel's wings. Several of her feathers had seemed too heavy and too rigid to be normal feathers. As he let his awareness wash over the mare with the flow of the wind, Dawn was unable to detect any kind of sheath or apparatus to hold the long knives. Rather, Shade seemed to pinch them flat between her feathers. In the darkness of the cave, they were virtually indistinguishable from the feathers themselves. Dawn was amazed she could use her wings to maneuver so well, even holding the blades between her feathers like that. Shade, for her part, appeared just as surprised to see that Dawn had dodged her attack, so much so that she failed to follow up on it and press Dawn. Instead, she too paused to stare at the colt. For a moment, they simply stared at one another in mutual astonishment. "That weapon," said Dawn, "Where did you learn how to use it?" Shade was surprised by the question. "It actually came from my time in the SES, just right before I retired. I heard that the method actually originated as a writing technique in Guoxia before some-pegasus got the idea to use it as a way to use weapons." Dawn stared at her again, flummoxed by the sheer happenstance that his facing such a weapon represented. I wonder what Storm Front would make of this. Sadly, he would have to wait until later to get an answer to that, as Shade Steel exploded into motion once more, leading with the heavier knife in her fetlock as she slashed straight down at him from above. Dawn sidestepped the attack, raising his wings to send a blast of air at the mare. However, he stopped himself as he realized that Dinky was in the line of his attack. Dawn was forced to abandon the offensive before he could even begin, while Shade turned to press her attack, leading with a flurry of slashes the forced Dawn back as he dodged from side to side and up to down, trying to slip into the spaces between her maneuvers. If he could slip around to the other side, then he could make a more active effort to disable Shade without having to worry about Dinky, as his attacks would be directed towards the cave entrance. Unfortunately, Shade Steel's skill with her knife was not to be underestimated. She refused to let Dawn break away from her so that he could get around. Frequently, after a slash, she switched the grip on her knife to make the return stroke come all the faster, continually keeping Dawn on the defensive as he looked for some hole in the barrier of razor-sharp steel that Shade weaved between them. Dawn decided to switch to a lighter attack in order to drive Shade back and give himself more room to work with. He swept one wing forward, compressing the air between them. It had enough force to shove her away and open the distance between them. However, it wasn't sufficiently powerful to inflict injury, which was just as well, since that meant it wouldn't pose any threat to Dinky, who was also in the line of attack. With more space available, Dawn sought to shift to an angle he could strike from without putting Dinky at risk. However, he felt that familiar motion from on of Shade's wings and he had to abort his sidestep to avoid catching another of her throwing blades in his chest. His dodge gave Shade the time she needed to close back in and put him back on the defensive with another flurry of attacks. Dawn frowned in irritation as he found himself back at square one. He had to admit that Shade was controlling the situation splendidly. By choosing the cave as her battleground, she limited his range of motion, preventing him from ever being able to get enough distance to attack with his full strength. Even if he could, one wrong blow could bring the walls of stone crashing down on top of them. Even if Dawn managed to get enough distance to shift to a position of greater advantage, Shade would disrupt his movements with one of the throwing knives she carried concealed within her wings, giving her enough of an opening to close in again. Dawn found himself quite grateful for all the extra training he had done with Red River, gaining additional experience with fighting in close. That training had already saved his life a dozen times over in this fight alone. Dawn also had another advantage. Unlike Perlin's wired feathers, which Perlin could retract at will, Shade possessed no such mechanism for retrieving her thrown knives. Each one that she launched reduced the total number she had at her disposal. Dawn supposed that, if he strung the battle along long enough, he could force her to use all of her projectiles. Then he would only have to worry about the weapon she gripped in her foreleg. Unfortunately, that one weapon seemed to be more than enough to serve her purposes as she continued to drive him back. Dawn tried another approach. Once again, he used his feathers to agitate the air around his wings, making it buzz as he built up an electric charge. Once again, he had no intention of launching a lightning bolt, especially when there was every chance it would miss Shade and strike the rod Dinky was tied to instead. Rather, he would move one of his feathers close to Shade so that it would jump to her knife with her next attack. Shade, possibly hearing the buzz of the electrical charge's buildup, fell back before Dawn could reach out with his wing. Frowning, Dawn let the electricity dissipate. However, he found a new target. Fully extending one wing, Dawn slashed it through the air, angling the feathers so that they moved like the blade of Shade' knife. In the dark of the cave, the hair-thin distortion created by the crescent-shaped vacuum that stretched from the floor to ceiling was all but invisible. The only warning that Shade had was the pair of lines carved across the stone above and below as the blade rushed straight for her. However, that warning was more than enough for the mare, who had already recognized the form of Dawn’s attack. She threw herself to the side with room to spare. Regaining her footing, she fixed Dawn with an angry glare. “I guess you’ve finally decided to kill me,” she said darkly. This was what she had been waiting for. Now Dinky would see what Dawn was really like and would be able to share the truth with the rest of Ponyville, regardless of whether Shade managed to kill him or not. However, Dawn simply smiled wryly. “I have no intention of killing you,” he said, “But every action has its purpose. I’m rather pleased to say that I’ve been working to be more precise with that technique than I was before.” “I’ll bet you are,” growled Shade, tensing for another lunge. Dawn flicked his ears back and forth. The cave’s shape and the fact that Shade Steel had closed off part of the opening made it difficult for him to tell what was going on outside of it. However, he was comforted by a faint, familiar feeling from outside. I think this has gone on long enough. Dawn’s smile widened. “Dinky,” he said, looking past Shade Steel, “Do you trust me?” “Yeah,” said the little filly without the slightest hesitation. “When I tell you to, you need to run for the entrance as quickly as possible. No matter what happens, don’t look back. Can you do that?” “‘Kay…” Shade Steel blinked in confusion, wondering what was going on. Dinky wouldn’t run for the cave entrance. She couldn’t run. She was bound to an iron post with steel wire. She wouldn’t be able to move at all unless Shade or somepony else untied her…unless… Suddenly, Shade remembered the vacuum blade that Dawn had launched, the one she thought she had dodged, and she realized that she had never been Dawn’s target. Shade twisted her head around to look over her shoulder and confirm her suspicions. That was a mistake. Dawn had been waiting exactly for that moment of distraction. The moment Shade’s head turned, Dawn closed the gap between them. His left wing lashed out, compressing the air between their bodies and forcing it up against Shade’s side. The mare cried out as she was launched away from Dawn and smacked hard against the unyielding stone wall of the cave. “Now!” shouted Dawn. Dinky didn’t need any further prompting. With a sharp pull, the wires that Dawn’s blade had cut through bent and fell away, allowing her to pull herself away from the post and rush toward the entrance to the cave. “No!” shouted Shade. Her body moved on reflex, her only thought being to keep Dinky, whose presence was so critical to her plans, from escaping. Before she realized what she was doing, she had already acted. Her wing flicked out, her feathers releasing another one of the long throwing daggers, this one flying directly towards the running Dinky, just as she was about to pass by where Dawn stood. What have I done? Blood splattered through the air, glittering in the faint light of the cave as the blade bit into flesh.