From Dusk to Night

by KuroiTsubasaTenshi

79 - Liberties

Just the thought of going to the clinic made me feel awkward. In a bigger city, I might have been able to present 'bar fight' as a valid excuse for our injuries. Here, it would simply raise more questions. We could have simply tried to treat the injuries ourselves, but I wasn’t taking any chances on the cut from the extraplanar ghost knife on Night’s leg. Not after the last, seemingly minor, magical injury just about killed him.

I briefly entertained the idea of asking Twilight about her healing spell, but one look at her sagging body was all I needed to decide it wouldn’t be right. In fact, had she not assured me that this was the perfectly normal result of a unicorn who had exhausted her magic reserves, I might have insisted she come with us. We settled on Star staying behind to keep an eye on things while Merri escorted the rest of us to the clinic.

Flight helped minimize the strain Night had to put on his leg, though he did eventually have to get his hooves back on the ground to enter the clinic proper. As we staggered in, I could already feel the tired eyes of Nurse Redheart judging us. She squinted at us, a clear demand for explanation. The best I could think of in my addled state was ‘magical accident’, though before I could open my mouth, Mint stepped up.

“Guard business. Any open wounds have been caused by magic.”

Though Nurse Redheart seemed to relax a little, turning to rummage through the medical cabinets, it wasn’t until Mint flashed her badge that she stopped casting us wary glances.

As expected, Nurse Redheart zeroed in on Night, calling for a bed to get him off his hooves. There was that moment, where I was following close behind and he was giving me apologetic looks, that I had that feeling of deja vu. Any level of scrutiny would have caused that feeling to fall apart—what with the situation being more or less my fault—but under the blanket of way too much fatigue, I just couldn’t help feeling bizarrely amused. Night met my gaze, that same realization writ upon his face.

We were led into one of the larger side rooms, where Nurse Redheart began checking Night over, while her assistant quickly procured a small, square device. As he brought it closer, I caught a glimpse of a screen. Attached to the side was a long, curly cord that ended in what looked like a pen. As Nurse Redheart waved the pen over Night’s leg, the device emitted a low, crackly sound, like gravel crunching beneath hooves.

She made several circuits around his leg before sending her assistant back to the cabinets. Turning to Night, she said, “The good news is that there isn’t enough residue to be life threatening.”

Relief spread across Night’s face, though I could see his ears very slowly drooping. “What’s the bad news?”

“It’s a pretty deep cut that isn’t entirely free of residue. In the very least, you’ll need stitches. I’d also like to monitor you overnight. This magic is very likely to dissipate by then, but if it doesn’t, I’ll need to have the doctor examine you.”

Night shrunk a little, perhaps unsure how to feel. I know I didn’t find the condition on the magic dissipation to be particularly reassuring. Slowly, he nodded his head.

With that, Nurse Redheart turned the device toward me. At this point, I had to fight back the urge to shuffle around. I don’t even know why the device made me so nervous. Perhaps I was afraid of this evening’s toll. As with Night, it didn’t deviant from its steady blipping.

“Same case for you,” Nurse Redheart said. “Minus the stitches. Your cuts are rather shallow, but numerous. I would like to monitor you overnight to ensure they aren’t a collective issue.”

By now, the assistant had finished up up with Night and trotted up beside Nurse Redheart. “Shall I prepare another bed?”

“Please,” replied Nurse Redheart. “Now as to the rest of you…”

---

I’d never thought I could sleep so soundly on a hospital bed, but everyone’s injuries being relatively minor set my mind at ease. While Mint had a few additional bruises along her barrel, none were worse than the bump on her cheek, for which Nurse Redheart gave her an ice pack.

Merri had a couple nicks along the front of her muzzle, just before her check. They were so minute that I barely noticed them until Nurse Redheart pointed them out. Similarly, there was very light bruising along her withers and back—a testament to the effectiveness of her barding.

I couldn’t remember what I dreamt, but when I woke, I remembered two distinct feelings. The first was a lingering dullness that made me realize just how much I’d grown used to sleep putting me on edge. The second was loneliness. I wasn’t quite sure why. I certainly didn’t miss Summer Leaf’s hauntings, that’s for sure. Perhaps I’d grown too used to the presence of Princess Luna. For someone of her prowess, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if she didn’t even need to reveal herself to make herself felt.

Groggily, I pushed myself to a sitting position. After blinking a couple times to focus, I turned to my left, glancing at Night’s bed. He was still laying down, resting, saving energy so he could give me his trademark dopey grin.

“Morning, beautiful. You, um, look like you slept well.”

“Just a bit. Flatterer.” I met his smile. By now, the fog of sleep had fully lifted, leaving the general, dull ache of stiff muscles. I leaned forward, then stretched side to side, doing what little I could in such a cramped space. As I turned to my right, I caught a glimpse of the visitor chairs: Mint and Merri were still here, sleeping rather awkwardly in the plastic seats. Though they’d been discharged, they insisted on staying to keep an eye on us—understandably so, given the circumstances. Turning back left, my eyes fell on his bandaged foreleg. “How are you doing?”

He lifted his leg rather slowly, flexing and unflexing it a few times. “Fine. Barely feel it, now. I’ll be fine in no time.”

“Good.” We’d gotten lucky this time. Granted, there theoretically shouldn’t be a next time, but there was just one thing nagging at the back of my mind. Hopefully, when Merri woke and had a chance to get settled, I could get it all sorted out.

Night shifted a bit, extending his neck over the side of the bed. “Hey… I’ll be fine. This isn’t your fault, if anything, it’s my fault. I… sorta screwed up again. I‘m… sorry I couldn’t do more to help.”

“I’m sorry you had to be involved, and that you got hurt.” This was the whole thing I’d been trying to avoid from the start.

He looked down, but not soon after, a chuckle escaped his lips. “Some pair we are… always apologizing for… for things that aren’t our fault. It’s not like you wanted me to get stabbed, or… or that I wanted to get stabbed.”

“No, but I still feel bad you had to go through this.”

“Well, don’t feel bad. I feel bad for… for you having to end things the way you had to. I should have been stronger… but I couldn’t hurt you, even when I knew it wasn’t you.”

I shook my head. “Well, don’t feel bad for that either. That whole thing was just… weird in general.”

“Then we’re agreed?” A smile was starting form on his lips.

I raised an eyebrow. “Agreed to what?”

Night reached a full-on grin. “Not to feel bad. We… you did it. You’re free.”

That nagging feeling gripped me again. “I hope so.”

“Dusky… just remember, I love you. I’m here for you. No matter what.” He shifted again, this time reaching out his hoof.

“Love you too, Night Light.” I mustered a smile, leaning out to meet him. It was a bit of a stretch, but our hooves just barely touched.

Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Merri crack a lid. It slipped shut again as I turned her way. I breathed deep, then let it all out. Time to face my fear. “You can stop pretending to sleep now, Merri, I’ve got a question.”

Merri’s eye opened again, this time with a deliberate slowness. “Aw, how’d you know? I was kinda hoping you two were gonna start making out. Night’s been watching you for awhile, I almost figured he was gonna climb into bed and at least snuggle with ya, Dusky. I considered it myself, but Flurry’s sis’ here is pretty fluffy~.”

Colour flooded Night’s cheeks. “I… what? You and Mint… I... H-how long have you been watching me?”

“Hmm. Don’t know. How long were you watching her~?” Merri leaned forward and fluttered her eyes.

I shook my head. “Not now, Merri. I need to know something.”

“Err, sure. What’s up?”

“Could you close the door first?” I asked.

“Right!” Merri spun as she stood, just about ramming muzzle-first into her sister.

Star stepped back through the doorway. “Merriweather! Pay attention!”

“Oh, hi, Sis’! Good timing!” Merri flashed Star a silly grin. “Dusky has serious questions and you know how good I am at those.”

Rolling her eyes, Star stepped past, shutting the door behind her. “Is something the matter?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” I sighed. “But first, how did things go on your end?”

“Not a peep. If they had anyone in place, they retreated when their leader was defeated. Do not worry about Twilight Sparkle—I left her in the care of Rainbow Dash.”

“Right. Then… Merri, when we defeated the banshee, you said that it would be difficult for her to come back from that. Does that mean…” I swallowed, “...that she could be back someday?”

“Nope.” Merri shook her head, then thought for a second. “Not usually, when it comes to banishment spells, anyway. I guess there have been some cases where it didn’t work, but, uh… hey, Sis’, you wanna take over?”

Star sighed. “What would you ever do without me? When a spirit is affected by a banishment spell, it finds itself unable to interact with anything for a long period of time. While there have been reports of spirits with a particularly seething hatred returning for another bout, for the most part, thirty or forty years is a long enough hint to move on. However, Merriweather, what have I told you about casting spells without proper study first?”

“Huh?” Merri tilted her head for a moment before suddenly straightening. “Oh! You think I did it. Nope, wasn’t me.”

Star narrowed her eyes. “Do not lie to me, Merriweather. I appreciate that you mean well, but putting everypony in danger like that is not a commendable act.”

“Um, can someone fill me in here?” I glanced between the two sisters.

Clearing her throat, Star said, “Banishment magic is a very fine art. Even in Ostfriesen, only the most powerful of unicorns have a natural affinity for it. While our knight academy covers the barest of the basics, the rest of us must spend well over a decade studying at the Exorcist’s Guild if we hope to master a spell such as what Merriweather cast.”

Merri frowned. “I’m telling you, I didn’t!”

“If not you, then who?” Star tapped a hoof.

“I just assumed Twilight did it.” Merri gave a bit of a shrug. “She’s got an affinity for all magic, right?”

“While that is correct, did you forget that she was busy concentrating on the planar spells?” Star turned to me. “Was a banishment spell in the plan?”

“No, not from what Twilight told me.” I shook my head.

“That is troubling.” Star’s frown deepened. “Such powerful magic does not simply appear from thin air.”

Mint, who had just been studying Merri and Star up until this point, stood. “Are you sure we didn’t have anypony else helping us? Did you send for anypony else? Maybe they arrived late?”

I shook my head again. “Only those who Night contacted.”

“And you were with me the whole time.” Night chimed in.

“That’s true.” Mint scrunched her face. “What about Twilight? Did she send for anypony?”

“Not as far as I know,” I replied. “She was rushed enough with the spell preparations.”

“Ivory?” Night asked.

“If her reach was that long, I doubt we would have had this issue in the first place. The ward would have also long lost its power.” It was then that one name came to me, yet something didn’t seem quite right. “Maybe…”

“Dusky?” Night’s voice brought me back to reality. “Maybe what?”

Since I had no real answer, I simply let my thought process tumble out. “Well, sometimes, when I was having my nightmares, Princess Luna would do little things to alter their course. I rarely even knew she was there until after I woke up, but I think I owe my sanity to her. I guess I wonder if she could have had a hoof in this. She certainly has the power, but… I don’t know. We were on an imaginary plane, which technically isn’t the dream world, right, Star?”

“You would be correct.” Star took a moment to think. “However, I would certainly think it within the realm of possibility that she could access it if she decided she really wanted to. At this point, there really does not seem to be any other logical explanation.”

“Ugh, then why does it feel like we’re trying to fit a square peg into a round hole?”

---

With no satisfying answer, my brain was left to stew in itself. We spent a while just chatting, which helped keep me distracted from my creeping worry. Merri was now dating a coworker of mine, which she was only too happy to provide a little bit of TMI on. Aside from that, Terra had apparently gotten pregnant on her honeymoon, only recently alerted by the day-to-day side effects. I made a mental note to go see her once Night was out of the hospital.

I was already a bit loathe to leave his side, but I needed to check in at my apartment to make sure everything was still okay. And besides that—if I was going to be hanging around Night all day and night for the next day or two, I really needed to take a shower.

Of course, the visit would have to be short. I was already delaying my return to Pasture by longer than I would have liked, but there was no way I was going to force Night to travel without giving his leg a proper chance to heal.

As I slid the door shut behind me, I turned on the light, ignoring the pile of what was likely ninety-percent junk mail on the floor for the moment. After shrugging my flight satchels onto my living room table, I let myself slump down for a second, taking a few deep breaths. Is this really what victory is supposed to feel like?

The plop of paper on paper made me whirl. The mail slot was already closed, but a fresh white envelope was now sitting upon the junk mail.

That’s… odd. It’s a bit late for mail.

Trotting over, I scooped the envelope up, weighing it carefully on my wing. There couldn’t be more than a single page inside. Flipping it over, I caught a glimpse of the seal, and felt myself pale: it was a picture of a heavy steel lockbox.

This… he never sends anything to anyone!

Resisting the urge to tear it right open, I carefully broke the seal, then opened the flap with equal measure. Inside was a business card, the same lockbox printed on the front, though this time it was in colour. On the rear side was a message: The Seapony. 8:00PM.

Comments

[Yami Vizzini]

Heh, Dusky may have unanswered questions, but at least she’s still got plenty to occupy herself.

[AppleTank]

Oh boy.

.... uh, who?