Chapter Sixty-nine
Southern Fields
Rainbow Dash
Morning seemed to come too soon, but at least I was able to get a good night’s sleep. I carefully removed myself from the cocoon of blankets the whole party of three had slept in, successfully avoiding waking up Fluttershy or Angel, and sat silently at the edge of camp, deep in thought. I had spent the whole night snuggled up nice and cozy next to those two... Why was that a problem? I hadn’t meant anything by it... Had I? Fluttershy was a fantastic friend, and I really liked her, but I still wasn’t sure I wanted anything romantic between us.
Besides, I saw how she and Spike had hugged before we left. I was fairly sure that something was going on between those two, and the last thing I wanted to do was get in the way of that... Yet sleeping alongside Fluttershy, just as we had so many years ago, had felt so right... I shook my head. There were more important things to be worrying about right now. We had a dangerous job to do, and I had to be at top focus throughout the whole thing. I could worry about my feelings later.
I stood guard at the edge of camp for at least another half hour, kept company only by my thoughts and the silence and mist of the early morning. My eyes were locked on the opposite horizon, where the capital of Dusk stood out of sight, an eerie reminder of the destruction that went hand in hand with the civil war. What would be left of the place after all this time, when precious few had even laid eyes upon it for the last five hundred years? What could we hope to find that would link us to our distant ancestors that called it a final resting place?
Finally, Fluttershy and Angel both awoke groggily, and we ate a light breakfast before packing up and taking to the skies once again. The fields of green zipped past below as we tore through the grey morning, and we occasionally had to take a detour around a storm cloud to avoid getting soaked and frozen. Angel’s fluffy form still sat on my shoulders, gripping my jacket tightly whenever I sped up or made a sharp turn. Fluttershy stayed close by my side, perhaps a bit closer than she had yesterday, keeping her own flight in sync with my own. I noticed that her wings had become stronger than they were when we had begun, back at the Lunar Festival, and was somewhat proud of her progress.
The morning didn’t get brighter in the hours we were flying. By noon, we had to bank and land because of the vicious winds raging above, and it had become a struggle for me to keep the area above us clear. However, on the ground, I was able to keep a concentrated umbrella of wind energy above our heads, since I wasn’t using up as much effort with flying. Progress may have been horribly slowed, since we were only jogging and occasionally gliding over the fields now, but it was made up for with the fact that we were getting close anyway. Another hour or so’s travel would see us at the final remains of Dusk.
“There it is.” I said in awe, as the three of us stood at the peak of a short hill, overlooking the irregular shadow on the horizon. It mostly looked to be a pile of rubble on the ground, but a fair number of structures seemed to still be intact and upright. Several unusual shapes stood side-by-side with the buildings, almost resembling trees, but with measured identical branches that sprouted from the top and formed an X where they sat. “That must be the capital city ruin. Keep on your guard, my bro told me there’s something dangerous in there.”
“I heard that too...” Fluttershy said, standing next to me with arms crossed for warmth. “Some kind of unthinking creatures, that I won’t be able to sing to... I hope we don’t run into too many. Um... What are those towers in the city? They almost look like giant pinwheels...”
“You’re right...” I mumbled, folding my own arms as we examined the outline of the city. “I can’t imagine what purpose they would serve, especially way out here. Maybe we’ll be able to get a closer look when we get down there.” With a final check on our belongings, and after we had equipped our weapons just to be sure, we set off quickly once again. My broadsword was hefted over my shoulder, ready for action, and Angel held his scythe over his with one hand, holding onto my back with the other. Fluttershy kept her bow before her, but did not yet load an arrow.
Soon, we stood before the collapsed gate to the city, and I was able to see just how ruined the capital of Dusk really was. The stone archway itself had fallen outwards, and we had to step over the chunks of brick to continue. Most of the buildings were also made of brick or stone of some sort, with a few rudimentary installations of metal supports here and there. The whole city appeared to be built on a sturdy concrete foundation, and we had to step a foot off the ground to enter. As a result, plant life hadn’t gotten very far into the city as it had with Dawn, and moss only clung to the outer walls. Most of the structures in the city were mostly intact, if a little weathered out of shape.
Curiously, the oddly shaped towers seemed to only be built near the center of the city, and their looming forms were just as mysterious as before. I let Angel off my shoulders as we began our trek into the city, and we stalked forward, all ready for whatever else was in these grey stone streets. Fluttershy held an arrow against her bowstring, but was having a hard time keeping her hand steady. After a minute of walking through the dead streets, she spoke in a low, unsteady voice: “Dash, I... I should tell you I’ve never actually had to fight anything, so I don’t know how I’ll do... I’m just glad it’s monsters we have to fight, just because... I doubt I could ever take a human life.”
I gave her a sympathetic smile and nod. “Don’t worry about it. Just stay behind me and remember your training, and you’ll do fine. And I guess that is an advantage of having inhuman opponents... Fluttershy, if it makes you feel any better, I’ll let you in on something... I’ve never killed anyone either.”
Her eyes widened at me, partly out of surprise, but I could see respect and approval in her gaze as well. “Really? But, you’re a mercenary, right? You get paid to fight, to protect people from monsters and bandits.”
I nodded. “I know. But when I fight other people... I always just wound them and let them escape- sometimes within an inch of their lives, sure- but I always let them live. All five years I’ve been in this line of work... I’ve never taken a human life, and only ever finished off monsters.”
Fluttershy smiled at me warmly, a new light of confidence in her eyes. She jumped in surprise when the sound of a brick colliding with the ground echoed from somewhere ahead. My grip on my sword tightened as well; I was just as nervous to see for the first time what exactly it was we were up against. We both fell silent, listening for any further signs of our enemy. Silently, I motioned for her and Angel to follow me, and stalked forward through the streets and around the next corner.
We were just in time to see something dash from one side of the street to the other, too fast for much detail to be seen. I was able to tell that it was a rather tall creature, at least seven feet in height, bipedal and shadowy, but beyond that I could see nothing of it. Fluttershy gasped as it passed, more out of surprise than anything. I looked back at them tersely, nodding to both her and Angel in turn, hoping to bolster their confidence, and started forward again, in the direction the form had gone.
When we turned the next corner, there was still nothing to be seen. Wherever the form had been heading, it had gone in a hurry and was already somewhere else in the city. I released a bated breath, glad that we didn’t have to face the thing down yet, but my heart was still pounding with anticipation. We would have to find that thing, and likely others, sooner or later, and I knew Ultraviolet was dead serious when he said they would do anything to kill us.
I was about to turn and suggest we go back a few streets to get to safety, then climb a building to get our bearings, when Angel spoke up softly. His tall rabbit ears were raised, twitching slightly to catch any sound. “I hear something... Down that way.” He pointed towards an alleyway further down the newest street. “It sounds like... someone fighting. A lot of people.” I nodded to him, trusting his word, and looked to Fluttershy. Swallowing my fear, I nodded tersely to her as well, then turned back to the dead street and crept forward towards the alley.
I didn’t see anything further down the alley, except that it led further into the city. Overhead in that direction, I could see the strange pinwheel-like towers looming over the cityscape, showing that we were getting closer to the core of the city. A sudden sense of purpose filled me; somehow, I got the feeling that something was waiting for us at the center, but I could not judge whether or not it was our ancestor’s last will, or the center of our enemies’ operations.
However, as we moved forward slowly through the narrow street, I began to hear what Angel was speaking of. The distant sound of metal clanging against metal, or some other hard surface, just barely reached us where we were, and in quick succession. I could tell that whoever was fighting who, one side was seriously outnumbered. I don’t know who’s fighting here, and we might not want to help either side... But one is guaranteed to be the monsters that inhabit this place. Even if we end up staying on the sidelines, it’ll be handy to know what we are up against, and see their fighting style.
We turned again to the left and into a small plaza, and I had to duck back around the side quickly, pulling Fluttershy with me. The plaza was heavily occupied with pitch darkness, several of the figures we had seen before swarming around the center. I chanced a peek around to get a closer look at them, but as soon as I did my mind went dead.
The shadowy figures were all too familiar to me. Excessively tall, with long limbs ending in long, sharp claws, with glowing yellow eyes and a zombie-like shamble, swarming towards their target mindlessly with claws blazing... These were the same creature the owl-man Lucius, The Order’s Number Five, had summoned seven years ago to fight us. The capital of Dusk was apparently swamped with the things, which I could think of as meaning one of two things; either Lucius was calling them from here... Or they came here after he died.
The crowd of beasts was too thick to see who they were fighting, so it was impossible to judge whether or not it would be within our best interests to help them. Still, I knew one thing; these creatures were our enemy, and we had to take them down. I pulled back around, holding my broadsword close, and spoke quietly to Fluttershy and Angel. Fluttershy’s eyes were huge with fear, and I could tell she recognized the creatures as well. Angel’s own steadiness was shaken as a direct result, but I hoped to pull both of them together. “Alright, so that’s what we’re fighting. Those guys. The’ve got someone in that plaza, and I vote we fight them off. I don’t know who they’ve got in there, but no matter whose side they’re on, these creatures are still evil.
“I’m going to move in first, since I’m the senior most fighter and can defend myself best. Fluttershy, stay back here and pick them off best you can. Angel, stay by her side and make sure none of them get to her.” Without waiting for a response, I inched over to the edge again, then, confident that I still had the element of surprise, I charged from my hiding place. My broadsword came down quickly, slicing straight through one of the shadowy creatures. It disappeared in a cloud of black smoke, just the same as they had before, and as had Luna’s dark summons.
I spun around quickly and whacked another across the head with the flat of my blade, then thrust forward into a third. Some of the creatures began to notice my presence, but as they turned around, one was hit in the dead center of its chest by an arrow, then evaporated. Fluttershy had found her mark perfectly, and was already loading another shot. I never stopped moving, my sword slicing through the shadows one after another, sometimes two or three at the same time, but it still took a few solid minutes of holding my own against them before the crowd began to dwindle.
My arms were aching by that point, but I kept going. The heavy sword sliced straight down the middle of one of the creatures, then picked up as it approached the ground and sliced through several ankles. Another arrow shot past my head and pegged one behind me, while I saw Angel’s scythe lop the head clean off of another one. I spun around wildly, searching for a new target, but saw none of the creatures remaining. However, a single figure still stood in the center of the clearing, shorter than the beasts, but still dark and clawed...
My sword came up faster than ever, my heart racing and my mind running through any and every possibility of combat or escape. Before me was a person draped in the trademark cloak of The Order, shorter than me by a few inches, with a shiny set of silver battle-claws dangling from the baggy sleeves. As always, the hood was up, all features shrouded from view, but when the figure turned and spoke to me, I was at least able to tell it was a girl.
“Not bad, man.” She complimented me. Her voice was on the lower and scratchy side, and she generally sounded bored, but her words let on that she actually wasn’t. “I heard you were a mean scrapper, and you sure didn’t disappoint. Those two...” She looked beyond me and towards Fluttershy and Angel “Well, they could use some work, but I guess they aren’t terrible either.”
I lowered my eyebrows at her, trying to gauge her intent. “Yeah, thanks... and in their defense, they aren’t used to fighting. One of them is in training, the other is already as good as he can be expected to be at his young age. Now, who are you? You’re a member of The Order, right? What are you doing here?”
“Slow down. I can only answer so many questions at once. Yeah, I’m in The Order. I’m here because this is what happens when you tick off Number One. I got into one little fight, and I get sent on this dumb artifact recovery mission in the middle of butt-crack nowhere.” She sighed, scratching the back of her head, careful not to accidentally impale herself with her claws. “At least there’s a challenge here with these shades. I get to kill something while searching. Now, you’re here for...?”
“We’re also here for an artifact, of sorts.” I answered simply. “The last testament of two people who lived during the civil war.”
“Ah yeah, that whole ancestor deal... Oh, don’t look so surprised, The Order knows everything. Anyway, so you’re here to find some old relic... And this is your whole team? Geez, that may not have been the brightest idea. Why’d you come all the way out here into shade territory, where the only things alive want you to stop being alive, with the equivalent of maybe two skilled fighters?”
I was about to make a comeback about that obvious insult towards Fluttershy and Angel, until I had a sudden realization... What she just said was almost the same as what I had been thinking six months ago, all the way back at the Lunar Festival. I had questioned Twilight’s decision to bring the party she had, when only a few of us at the time were fully confident fighters... But now I understood. It wasn’t all about battle ability anymore- it never had been- because the two of them each had their own abilities that made them not only useful, but have their own purpose and right to be here.
“I knew exactly what I was doing when I brought them and only them.” I answered confidently, leaning on my sword. “Now, I believe you still have one question on the table; Who are you?”
She gave a small laugh, harsh and sarcastic, and reached her hands up to her hood. “Well, I guess if you must know...” The black hood fell, followed by a mess of spiky yet light snow-white hair. A pair of piercing golden eyes were locked on me, the left one of which was at the center of some kind of strange grey, flame-shaped birthmark or tattoo. “It’s Gilda. And don’t you worry, I’m not here for you, so you won’t hear me trying to cause your group any trouble as long as you stay out of my way.”