Mending Light

by Kiromancer

21 - Beyond the Sea

It took quite a lot to convince myself I wasn't dreaming. I pinched myself, slapped a hoof across my face and even dunked my head into a sink of cold water. I watched myself in the mirror, mane dripping, and laughed.

This whole situation was madness. Far from home, in the midst of this unknown city, working to keep Dusky safe, and here I was, thinking about a date. Not just thinking about it, utterly terrified of it. I'd never looked at a mare the way I looked at Dusky. I'd never even been on a date before.

Love was the only word I could think of to explain how I felt for her, but she said that word was too strong. What did that mean? How did she feel for me? Did she feel the same? It wouldn't surprise me if she understood it better than I did.

The important thing now, against all odds, was that she'd decided I was worth giving a chance. I had to find the right place. I trotted through the hall, glancing at Dusky's door as I went to the elevator.

The lobby was quiet, with only a few ponies lounging about, including the receptionist who'd greeted us the day before. My destination was a large bulletin board just inside the entrance, with large letters over the top proclaiming 'Events'.

It was like a giant monthly planner, listing out the shows and special activities across Myrtail Beach, as well as in-hotel events. My eyes traced down the list. First was a boat festival, cutely titled the 'Seapony Festival', then listings for bands appearing at local clubs, and a 'Wine Tasting on the Pier.' event. At the end of the month, there was even a Wonderbolts show, which sounded impressive, though I hoped we wouldn't still be here that late.

Nothing jumped out at me. I had to find something perfect, something I knew she'd enjoy. I lingered on a karaoke contest, but dismissed it as too crazy. I'd only embarrass myself trying to sing. What would Dusky want to do? Would we even enjoy the same things? What if she didn't have any fun at all?

I sighed and trotted away from the board, glancing out the giant windows onto the beach. The ocean was... huge. My wings flexed as I felt that urge again, to go out and fly and see it all. Maybe there was something in that.

I wandered past a restaurant inside the hotel, one that was almost intimidating in its fanciness. Past that my ears perked up to a familiar laugh as it echoed from the hotel bar. Honestly, I should have guessed it'd be coming from the bar.

Mahogany sat alongside Terra, tipping back a shot as she laughed, cradling a drink of her own. A half-full bottle sat between them.

Terra took her drink and smacked her lips, before pulling away the empty glass. "See? Dis' is what I needed. No blood! No dumb trains. And no dumb fffffancy!"

Mahogany rocked forward, raising a drink as if in toast, but drinking it before anypony could respond. "Yeah! Screw fancy!"

"Yeah!" Terra parroted, pouring another drink. "Screw the fancy!"

I raised an eyebrow at the pair as they traded turns, drinking and cursing. Terra was probably Dusky's best friend. If anypony could help, it'd be her. I approached slowly, taking the seat alongside Mahogany.

Terra leaned her head against the counter and waved a hoof. "And Flurry!"

"Yeah! Screw Flurry!" Mahogany stopped mid drink. "What? Flurry?"

I grinned awkwardly. "Oh um, hey Mahogany. Hey, Terra."

Mahogany burst into laughter. "Hey, Flurry! What brings ya 'round to our humble abode? Take a load off! I get you a drink?" He dramatically swung a hoof around the bar. "At Mahogany's, ev'rypony knows yer name!"

I blinked, casting a look about the bar. "At... Mahogany's?"

He grinned wide, raising a glass. "I've claimed this kingdom fer the duration of our stay as a ruler in exile. You and Terra are welcome here, of course, so partake as you wish!"

"I'll drink to that!" Terra clinked her glass against Mahogany's and downed the liquid within. "We're drinkin' our cares away! I'm helping!"

As the barkeep approached, I smiled apologetically and ordered a tea. He shrugged and went back to retrieve my drink. "Helping! Um, right. So um... m-maybe... you two can um... give me some help?"

Mahogany nodded. "I'm a just ruler, Flurry. Speak your wishes, and I shall see it done!"

"Well... I'm, um... just... curious." My face burned red as I stammered through the question. "Where w-would you take a mare out on a date? Y-you know... if you were going on a date?"

Mahogany's expression had turned into a flat stare.

Behind him, Terra made a rising squeal that quickly shifted into an ominous giggle. I suddenly doubted the wisdom of this course of action.

"Yessssssss." In a blur that would have made Rainbow Dash blink, I found myself face to face with Terra, her hooves grasping my cheeks as she pulled me off my seat. "Tell me everythinggggggg!"

"So she finally caved, eh?" Mahogany chuckled. "I guess it was either gonna be you here crying, or the two of you actually doing something.

Terra tilted my head back and forth in her hooves, examining me carefully. "So, what happened?"

I nodded from within her grasp before I finally pushed her hooves away. "Y-yes...." I couldn't stop the grin from creeping onto my face. "M-me and Dusky... w-we're going on a date..."

"About time!" She pulled me towards her again, this time into a tight hug. "Congratulations!"

I grinned like an idiot, but felt incredible despite it. "I um... don't really deserve congratulations... I mean... she's the one giving me a chance."

Terra noogied a hoof into my hair quickly. "Aw, c'mon. She's giving you a chance because you're worth giving one to. She just finally sees it."

My ears dropped a bit from the attention, my cheeks burned. "I... j-just doing what I can."

Terra waved her hoof dismissively. "Bah. Even grumpy here figured it was a foregone conclusion."

Mahogany set his glass down and gave Terra an odd half-smile. "Grumpy? Hey, I just didn't wanna see my buddy get himself hurt. You and Dusky have been pretty obvious, even without Terra's meddling."

"Hey! I haven't meddled! Much! I mean, Dusky doesn't really take to meddling too well." She glanced back at me with that over-large grin. "She just needed to find the right one."

"I uh... w-well I think you're jumping ahead here, T-Terra. I mean... I don't even know where we should go for a first date."

I glanced between the two, Terra still staring at me in barely contained glee, and Mahogany already flagging the bartender for another drink. I started to doubt they could even help me, but then I considered my other options. Merri and Starshadow. Neither of them seemed a much better option for dating advice.

"So um... I thought... you two could help?"

Terra giggled like a foal with candy on Hearth's Warming Eve. "Yes! Alright. Let me tell you what to do."

Mahogany rolled his eyes, sliding his new drink closer. "Ahh, right. Here we go."

She cleared her throat. "Okay. You're going to want to go big, but don't. Keep it simple. Find someplace quiet with low lights, get her roses, candle light, and definitely, definitely not the fancy." She shuddered.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Err... fancy? But.. isn't a date supposed to be um... something special?"

"No! No fancy!" Terra spun to press her hooves into my cheeks and stared at me. "No. Fancy. The Fancy is the last thing you want."

I shrank back. "Are... are you drunk?"

Mahogany cackled. "She's not nearly drunk enough yet!" He spun down from his chair and draped a hoof across my back. "Flurry, I don't do this very often. Dating is crap, and romance is worse... but you're my buddy."

This was absolutely the worst idea. "Um... okay?"

"Terra's crazy," Mahogany quickly cut off Terra's denial. "But she's right. Dusky's not gonna be impressed by some fancy-schmancy place. Why else would she hang out with us at a place like the Seapony, eh?"

"I um... hadn't really thought about that..."

He squeezed my shoulder with his hoof and waved about the bar. "Flurry, we've been thinking. What we need is a little bit of home."

Terra clapped her hooves together. "Right! We've all been kinda stressed... what we need is a night where we kick back, forget about the fancy, and just be with friends. And to celebrate your newly found dating status, we've decided to give you the most important part!"

Mahogany leaned in with a stage whisper. "Honestly, we were gonna make you do it anyway."

"D-do? Wh-what?" I knew Dusky didn't like surprises, at least, not the jump out and shock her kind, and I certainly wasn't going to start off any kind of relationships with her by lying. "I... I'm not going to do anything to trick Dusky."

He scoffed. "Trick? Flurry, I'm insulted!"

"Yeah!" Terra pouted her lip out. "We're not the types to engage in trickery! Just a little... get together"

Mahogany grinned wide. "Get this. In my scouting out of the locale, I have placed reservation upon a barrel of vintage Sweet Apple Acres cider. All you have to do is bring Dusky here." He patted my neck before he took his hoof off my neck. "And we'll all make a toast to being okay."

"To... being okay?" I laughed as Mahogany threw my words back at me. "Merri and Starshadow too?"

Terra cheered. "Of course! And trust me, Flurry, nothing is going to make her happier than a night with all her friends together, just like back home."

"Y-yeah... Yeah. I think you're right, Terra. I'll do it." I raised a hoof and held it between us, Mahogany and Terra each raising a hoof to meet mine in agreement.

---

I left the two of them to their plans, convinced somehow that they had the best of intentions. A night to relax might actually be just what we all needed, although, the idea of it being a date still had me nervous. At least with the others there, if I screwed up somehow, Dusky would still be with her friends.

Beyond the hotel glass, the ocean still sparkled bright, like it was catching Celestia's light and trying to mimic the stars in the night sky. I pressed a hoof against the glass and gazed out at it. It called to me in a way I'd never felt before.

Mahogany and Terra were intent to drain the bar, Dusky wasn't in her room, and Merri and Starshadow were probably with her, keeping watch. Everypony was occupied doing what they needed to do to cope with our 'exile', as Mahogany had called it.

I wanted to go out there and experience it. The beach and the ocean. I bit my lip and hesitated. My hooves moved before I realized it, my heart already set upon the course of action before my mind could stop it. I couldn't hold myself back any longer.

The salty air struck my nose immediately as I left the hotel. I dug my hooves into the beach sand and smiled. It was kind of like snow, but grittier, and warm on the surface. Digging in deeper, it was cooler below, the grains of sand clinging to my coat.

I moved through the sand, letting each step sink in as I approached the water. The sand grew wet as I came to the edge, my hoof leaving an imprint that filled with water as the ocean rushed forward to engulf it. The cool water splashed against my legs, then retreated back.

It was endless. I could fly across that ocean and it seemed like I would never find the other side. The water continued to lap at my hooves as I stared for I don’t know how long.

"Pretty impressive, eh?" Merri wandered up besides me, gazing out across the sea.

I nodded dumbly. "Beautiful..."

She gasped dramatically. "More beautiful than Dusky~?"

I pursed my lips. The ocean was incredible, gorgeous almost without compare. "I... no. No, it's not."

Merri let out a low whistle. "Dang, it's got you good, eh?"

"I suppose so..." I smirked at Merri, then turned and started to walk along the beach.

She stepped into my path with a cough. "Err, I'm heading the other way, actually. Walk with me?"

With a shrug, I turned to walk back along the beach with her. "So what have you been up to all day, Merri?"

She chuckled. "Sis went off with Dusky to do... whatever. I've just been pony watching on the beach, if you know what I mean~."

"Err, not really." The ocean was right there, dazzling and wide. "Just seems like... better things to watch, you know?"

Merri snickered. "It all depends on the view."

"It's... new. And so big, Merri. Is the whole world like this?"

"As much of it as I've seen. Ostfriesen has a beauty to it all its own, and everything we've seen in Equestria is just as unique. So yeah, probably."

What wonders lay beyond that ocean? What wonders still sat within Equestria that I'd never seen. The more of the world I saw, the more my own limited perspective bothered me.

I lowered my head with a sigh, but cut short as a shard of white caught my attention. It was like a piece of a dinner plate, contrasted against the wet sand. I quickened my pace to reach it, carefully digging around it with my forehooves.

Merri trotted after, lowering her head towards my little excavation. "Oooo, what'dja find there?"

As gently as I could, I lifted it from the sand pit, a perfectly formed sand dollar, rounded and white, with a rounded five point star seemingly etched upon it. "It's perfect."

"Sure is! Nice find! What're ya gonna do with it?"

There was really only one thing I could do with it. "Do... do you think there's some place in the town where I could get it put on a pin? Or a chain or something?"

She looked down, studying the sand dollar. "I don't know. Feels like that'd ruin the beauty, you know? That kind of thing is best left unspoiled." Merri winked at me. "Especially if somepony plans on giving it as a gift."

I blushed, but didn't care. "M-maybe just some kind of box then..."

"Yeah! Solid gold, lined with jewels!" She nudged me in the side. "Don't go overboard, casanova."

"R-right..." I chuckled, carefully holding the sand dollar. "Should we um... head back, then?"

Merri grinned wide. "We could. But, meh. Sis’ is busy. Dusky too, I'd wager. We've got some time to kill."

I tilted my head. "Err... doing what?"

She cracked her neck back and forth, then looked down at me. "You know, Sis’ always had her training regimen planned for you, but we've never sparred. It'd be good for you to face somepony different. I think we can find someplace secluded enough to let us stretch our hooves. What do ya say? I promise I'll go easy on ya~."

My hooves dug into the sand slightly as I flexed. I slowly smiled back at Merri. "Yeah, alright let's do it. I um... need to stay in practice, after all."

"Alright! C'mon. And be careful with your gift for Dusky~."

My cheeks were still red as I stowed the sand dollar carefully under a wing. Seeing Dusky as hurt as she'd been, and knowing just how helpless I'd felt... I never wanted to let that happen again. No matter what happened now, I needed to be ready.

I walked with Merri along the ocean shore, prepared to continue my training.

Comments

[Meta Four]

Foreshadowing that Night's eventually going to take the open road at Dusky's side?

There's some italics formatting you need to fix:

Find someplace quiet with low lights, get her roses, candle light, and definitely, <i>definitely</i> not the <i>fancy.</i>

Those should be square brackets, not angle brackets.

[Kiromancer]

6213560
You'd think that I'd remember to use the proper format, but old html habits are hard to break, thank you!

And perhaps so... he's always dreamed of such travel, but never had the confidence. Now through circumstance and in helping his friends, those dreams are becoming a strange reality.