"How's the tea tonight?" Dusky's voice came to me over the barroom din, pulling me out of my thoughts.
It was crowded tonight, everypony else was talking loudly and enjoying themselves, while our little group was in a quiet mood, almost contemplative. Starshadow was reading, and Dusky had been nursing a cider as she sat besides me. Even Merri had slowed her usual drinking pace, with both her more eager drinking buddies missing at the moment. I didn't know where Terra was, but Mahogany was still working late to make up for the time he'd missed while we were in Myrtail.
Meanwhile, I'd still been thinking about Diamond, and the rest of the family. Long thoughts, as I looked back at the things that had happened, what felt different now, and what felt the same. There was a lot of pain there, an old wound, and very deep. Now, however, the wound was healing. Still sore, to be sure, but healing, in a way I'd never considered possible.
My eyes broke from my tea to focus in on Dusky, a distracted smile on my face. "Oh, i-it's nice."
She leaned in to place a hoof against my back, a subtle caress that brought heat to my face. "Well, that's good. Maybe I'll have to try it sometime."
My response was lost at the sound of the doors swinging open as one of our missing crew arrived. Terrabona strode in, the smile on her face speaking volumes. She came to the table without a word, then quickly settled into the seat next to Dusky, the side opposite me. Her whol entry felt a little dramatic, and in the silence that followed, Terra's grin never falling.
I heard Merri laugh wickedly, and two glasses of whiskey levitated across the table to settle in front of Terra.
Dusky broke the silence first. "I take it you and Aster had a fun time?"
The words had only barely left Dusky's mouth when Terra responded. "We have a date on Saturday!"
"I'll take that as a yes." Dusky turned herself back towards the table, though she kept her head tilted in Terra's direction. "I guess that means you also didn't get all the repairs done?"
Terra waved a hoof rapidly in response. "No, no, we got that done just fine. Saturday is our dinner date!"
Dusky smirked, and nearly suppressed a giggle. "'Our' meaning yours and Stalwart Stone’s?"
I smiled at that. For all Terra's meddling, it was good to see her so happy, whoever this Stalwart Stone was.
Terra nodded excitedly. "And Aster’s."
"What?" Dusky turned back to face her and stared, waiting a moment. "Terra. I thought you said you have this romance thing down pat."
She only beamed wider. "I do!"
Dusky giggled, shaking her head. "Says the mare who wants to bring a foal on a dinner date. Look, I can foalsit for you if you want. Just do me a favor and have a proper date, okay?"
"Yeah! How would you even have sexy times with a foal around, anyway?" Merri was nodding to herself, apparently in agreement with Dusky, but with quite her own spin on the end goal.
My face burned, and I took a moment to decidedly not look at Dusky. My thoughts still lingered on that caress.
Starshadow punctuated Merri's statement by closing her book loudly. "Sister. Such speech is not becoming of—"
"Oh, come on. Lighten up, Sis'!" Merri poked her sister with a hoof, her serious face breaking into a wicked grin. "Besides, how's beating around the bush supposed to be more mature? We're not blushing schoolfillies anymore."
The heat in my face intensified, and I started to shrink down in my seat.
Starshadow casually pushed Merri's hoof away. "While that is true, she did not broach the subject and prying into such matters is inappropriate."
Merri giggled. "Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry I implied things about the usage of your lady bits, Terra."
I heard Star let out a pained sigh as she put a hoof to her forehead, but it was drowned out by Terra's laughter. I simply slumped further, face still red as I tried to make myself invisible from the conversation. I glanced to the side to see Dusky give me a sympathetic smile.
She cleared her throat and tried to shift the conversation. "Anyway, just tell me when and I'll be there."
"Okay, okay." Terra had grabbed one of the whiskeys that Merri had provided and took a long drink. "Our reservation is for six, so... five-thirty?"
"Sounds like a plan." Dusky glanced over towards the clock, and her expression fell for just a moment. "Speaking of time, I've got a shift in the morning, so I'd better duck out."
Lowering her glass, Terra jutted her lip out. "Aw, but we're just getting started."
Merri cheered as well. "Yeah! I haven't even bought you a second cider yet!"
She shook her head, already rising up from the table. "Sorry. I really would like to hang out more, but fatigue and storm clouds don't mesh well together; that's how someone gets hit by lightning."
"Oh, yeah. That'd be bad." Terra's exaggerated expression of sadness fell into a real frown.
I stood up alongside Dusky and nodded in agreement. "V-very bad. T-Take care of yourself, Dusky."
"You too." She said quietly as she leaned in, pressing her muzzle against mine. That same warmth came to my cheeks, but it was not unexpected this time, as I gently returned the gesture.
She pulled back and raised her voice. "See you later, everyone!"
As she headed out, I slipped back into my seat with a contented sigh, sipping at the last bit of tea. The warm feeling didn't go away, and had little to do with the tea.
The moment of contemplation lingered on for only a few moments before I heard snickering. My ears perked up as I glanced down at the empty mug. "What, um, what's so funny, Terra?"
"You." She slid over into the seat Dusky had just vacated, her whiskey following along as she prodded me with a hoof. "All this grown-up talk about dating and mares and mares using mare parts and you haven't even fainted."
Star sighed. "This entire discussion has such an air of impropriety. Have you considered that perhaps that is the reason Dusky left?"
I flailed a moment, trying to gather my thoughts. "That's not what I... I mean, it's not really something I th-think about. Spending time with Dusky is more than enough. D-dating her is... wonderful. I wouldn't want to—"
Merri's voice rang out far too loudly over the bar crowd. "Think about foals?"
My eyes went wide. "F-foals?"
Terra put her hoof beneath her chin and examined me like a fresh bale of hay. "Yeah, you know, now that you mention it, Merri, just imagine what Night and Dusky's foal will look like."
Merri's pose shifted to mirror Terra's, making me even more uncomfortable. "She'd be a pegasus, that's probably obvious, though."
Some part of my brain had locked up, prevented me from articulating more than a single word at a time. "Sh-she?"
"Hmm. Hmm. Yes. You'd definitely have a filly. You'd probably do well with a daughter, Flurry. Think of her like a little Dusky. She'd probably look a lot like Dusky too. Though she'd probably get your eyes."
"M-my eyes? I-I don't know wh-what you two are talking about."
Terra giggled more. "Eyes, Flurry! The Eyes, remember! Very important. Come to think of it, you do know where foals come from, right?"
My face burned, I tried to talk more, but could only stutter in place as the table all turned to watch me. Even Star had raised an eyebrow at me, as if she were just as curious what my response would be.
Merri laughed. "Ahhh, look at him! He knows! And now he's thinkin' about it.~"
"A-am not! I-I'm... not interested in Dusky l-like that... I... I mean... I am... err, I w-wouldn't n-not, th-that is..." Thankfully, in a sense, my waning voice was drowned out by Terra and Merri's laughter.
Star rolled her eyes, looking back down. "Despicable, both of you. Night Flurry is a perfect gentlecolt and you two seek to corrupt him."
"Corrupt? Nah, we're helping!" Merri grinned wide at Terra.
Terra's smile grew in response. "We can both see it, now that she's not hiding it. Dusky's into you. And I don't mean just into you. She's into you into you. A mare's got needs, Flurry."
It wasn't as though I hadn't noticed. Even tonight, she'd made an effort to make contact, touching my back, gentle nuzzles. Those brief moments were mixed, wonderful feelings of warmth blended with an awful sense of guilt. Dusky was amazing, for so many reasons. I didn't want to be with her solely for physical ones, but I couldn't deny how looking at her, nuzzling her cheek, or holding her hoof all made me feel.
I sighed and dropped my head to the table, which only prompted more laughter from the others. I didn't notice that somepony else had approached our table until they cleared their throat.
His coat was a chalky white, like burnt ash in a fireplace, topped by a light red, almost orange mane which was tied back into a short cropped knot. The cutie mark on his flank was a campfire, with a marshmallow on a stick over it. There was something in his eyes as he scanned our table. "Pardon me, I need to talk to you all in private. I've news about your friend, Mahogany."
Something is wrong.
I tried to compose myself, but was still too flustered from Merri and Terra to say much.
Starshadow, however, wasn't flustered at all. Her voice was steady, she clearly sensed something too. "Mahogany? He is working late, is he not? Has something happened?"
"He's fine. But we should discuss this in private, please." He motioned back to the rear of the bar and then headed to slip Barkeep a few bits. I carefully watched him go,
This is an illusion, like the false Guard. This is a trap.
Terra glanced about, "It is kind of weird for him to be this late, even with the extra hours."
"Sis...?" Merri raised an eyebrow.
"Yes." Star closed her eyes. As the pony disappeared into the back room, she opened them and nodded. "Everypony follow me."
We stood from our table and followed after the stranger. He was lighting a lantern in the back room as we entered, and I watched Merri take position at the door, staying back as Star led us in. The room appeared otherwise empty.
I stopped in the center of the room, awkwardly reaching out a hoof to stop Terra as well. She came alongside me and gave me an odd look, but the sudden noise drew both our attention.
Starshadow had lunged forward, but this mystery pony was ready. He sidestepped her strike as if it had been in slow-motion, then threw a hoof out, but not in attack. "Hold, please! We don't have time for this!"
Besides me, Terra gaped. "Wh-what the hell, Starshadow! This guy is some hospital orderly or something, you can't just attack him!"
Coming from behind, Merri whistled. "He just dodged Sis. She was going to knock him off balance, get him pinned, and he saw it. He's definitely not what he appears."
The pony nodded, reaching down to his leg as if scratching an itch. "I'm not. But I don't have time for deception with you four. Your friend’s in danger."
Starshadow regained her balance, maintaining her stance. "Mahogany?"
Dusky.
My heart froze. "N-no... not Mahogany. Dusky."
The stranger twisted at his foreleg and a simple metal band appeared upon his leg. A second later, it was off, and the pony was gone. His features morphed, like looking at a reflection in a river. Soon, in his place, a pony appeared with a familiar face, royal purple mane, slicked back in a more military style, and a cutie mark of shield upon a sunburst. His voice confirmed the worst. "Yes. Dusky has been taken."
"D-dad?" The shock of seeing him here and now quickly gave way to fear and rage. "Wh-what do you mean? Taken?"
He raised a hoof to place a familiar device upon the table. It was a folded metal blade, one which could be placed upon the fore of a wing. His eyes dropped sadly as he stepped back. "Night, I'm sorry. They want her more than I could have anticipated. I thought I'd have time, that I could get a warning to her, but their timetable must have accelerated."
My hoof shook as I reached forward. There was no doubt in my mind. This was Dusky’s wingblade. I stared at it, holding it carefully.
"Perhaps you should tell the entire story, yes?" Star watched my dad closely. "You are Night Flurry's father? The same Noble Light who sent us to Panamare Beach?"
He smiled sadly, but shook his head. "We met in Twilight Sparkle’s home that night. I sent you to Myrtail Beach."
Starshadow nodded her approval.
"And yes." He nudged the silver loop that had previously sat on his hoof. "Forgive the deception, that was for them, not you. The same illusion spell that was placed on the guard helmets by the Cartel, only refined by unicorn artificers in Canterlot."
He sighed. "After we cleared out the guard of infiltration, I got word from my agent inside the Cartel. He told me that they'd called off the hunt on Dusky due to a few issues. First, they were suddenly exposed, and getting too much attention from myself and Canterlot. Second, there’s been a rise in competition from the Manehattan Mob, and that is pressure they couldn't afford to ignore.”
“But, apparently someone else in their organization has disagreed. I only just got word that a second group was being sent by the Cartel to retrieve her, though I thought I’d have gotten more time." He glanced around the room. "You all are at risk again. Perhaps more than before. They got to Dusky by targeting Mahogany."
I shook my head quickly, clutching her wingblade tight in my hoof. "But… she… gone?"
Dad's face was pained as he turned to me. He stepped closer. "Night, I'm sorry. I got there too late. They'd made it look like an accident to draw her in, but the threat to Mahogany’s life was real. Dusky traded herself to them to spare him."
My heart sank. She'd done it willingly. She'd traded herself, sacrificed herself. For all her talk about not playing the hero, for all her promises not to put herself in danger, she was gone.
I couldn't react, it didn't seem real. It couldn't be real. She'd just been here, in the bar tonight. I'd seen her, talked to her, touched her. She couldn't be gone.
"No..." Terra reacted for me. She whispered at first, visibly shaking. Then her voice rose sharply as she violently shook her head. "No no no! Not again! I... I can't do this! I just made a date, I just—oh Celestia no, Aster!"
Whatever Terra feared for that foal must have overridden anything else in her mind. She reared up, and spun. Her horn lit up just long enough to throw open the door as she bolted out into the crowded bar.
Merri couldn't react in time as the turquoise unicorn escaped. "Terra, don't— ah, crap." She turned to Starshadow, her voice clearly pained. "Sis? Should I...?"
Star nodded, eyes never leaving my Dad. "Do it. Make sure she stays safe."
With that, Merri was out of the room just as fast as Terra. Star's magic shut the door shut behind her.
Noble stood aside as she went, then sighed. "I doubt they'll be waiting. So long as she doesn't do anything foolish, she should be safe. They got what they wanted."
All the pain of that sentence settled in on me, the terrible meaning behind it. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe. Only one word could escape. They got what they wanted. "Dusky..."
Dad frowned, but slowly nodded.
"Then why are we still here talking? We still have time." Starshadow's voice cut through the air. "If we move now, we can still catch up to them."
"Too dangerous. There's too many, if we move too fast, they might decide she's not worth keeping alive."
I blinked, trying to clear my eyes of the growing tears as those words struck me. "Sh-She's alive?"
Star tilted her head towards me, then turned back to Dad. "Well? Is she? She had me convinced that they had her marked for death. If that were so, time would be of the essence."
Dad sighed. "They do. But, she's also a special case. They won't want to kill her right away unless they have to. Dusky did something to hurt the Cartel's leader very deeply, and for that, she'll want to make her pay. I’m sure they have something worse in mind."
"I see. Then, again, why are we not moving now?" Star leaned forward, her words holding the edge of a threat.
"Because we're not ready. And fortunately, neither are they. Their obsession with her is to our favor in this case, and will buy us time." He took a moment, considering. "I've been paying close attention to this ever since she brought me the information on Hoofington. I've looked up everything I could about Dusky. My agent, my spy in the Cartel, he's the one who apprised me that they were about to strike again, and it has been his belief that should they get her, they'll keep her alive, for awhile at least. Long enough to allow us to respond."
Starshadow hissed, making her displeasure clear. "I cannot accept that. We should move immediately. If this agent of yours was really so reliable, you would have been ready for tonight. Instead, the best you can do is come bearing bad news."
My dad stood his ground, but his voice sounded so tired. "I'll need time to get a squad ready. I'll need time to coordinate ponies in Canterlot with the Guard in Fi—"
Star cut him off with a command that would tolerate no rebuttal. "You have one day, Sir Light. I have respect for you, and what you've done for Dusky, but at this point things are out of your hooves. If you want to make this right, gather only those you know you can trust, ponies like Sergeant Creme, who I know will not hesitate, and meet back here tomorrow, or my Sister and I will depart to find her ourselves."
"A-and me... I... I'll go as well. I won't... I won't let anything happen to her." I barely stepped forward on my nearly useless legs. "N-no sacrifice... no sacrifice would be too great. E-even..."
Even your life?
Dad looked at me, exhausted but not defeated. "Don't say that, Night. You know she wouldn't want y—"
I couldn't help but snap as well. "We don't know what she'd want! She's gone! Sh-She's gone... and... the Moon damn her, sh-she promised... She..." I broke as the weight of it all finally overtook me. I wouldn't let her be gone. I couldn't.
But she was. She was gone, taken, despite all our efforts. Despite everything any of us had done to stay safe, to train, to hide. They'd come, and they'd found her, and they'd hurt Mahogany to get her. I'd wanted to stand with her. Now, there was nothing we could do. Nothing anypony could do.
After the little time we'd spent together, it was over. My world was over.
Star's voice cut like a dagger. "Do what you can in one day, Noble Light."
He sighed once again. His voice was ragged, filled with a strange mix of resignation and pain that spoke volumes. “I'm going to see this fixed, Night Light. You have my word. Tomorrow. I'll be here."
Night Light.
But I couldn't see it. I curled up, burying my head in my hooves. All I wanted now was to just shut out the world, to lie there and hope everything would just go away. Anything was preferable to this pain. One day wouldn't matter. Dusky would still be gone. She'd been right to fear the Cartel.
As my father and Starshadow's voices grew less and less distinct, I let myself cry until I was simply making the motions, no tears left. I was hollow, broken and useless, just like always. Had Dusky never met me, she'd never have gone to Fetlock, never have learned about the Cartel activity there, never gone to Hoofington to be tracked back here. If not for me, Dusky would still be happy. She'd live to see another day. It was all my fault.
Darkness engulfed me, smothering me to death.
And then, something came to me.
Night Light. I believe it is finally time we talked...