Mending Light

by Kiromancer

53 - The More Things Change

With plenty of drinks available, Terra and Mahogany sat by as Dusky told the tale of our ‘adventure’ in Ostfriesen. She didn’t tell them everything, leaving out some of the gorey details and more difficult moments. Still, she told enough that they were both visibly uncomfortable. As Dusky finished with our return home, they sat quietly, letting it all sink in.

At last, Terra voiced her opinion. “You’re crazy.”

Dusky smiled slowly, letting out a sigh. “Yeah… Sometimes I can’t help but think that of myself.”

“No, really,” Mahogany leaned forward. “Rebel conspiracies? Diggin’ up lost kingdoms? Fighting evil dragons? Dusky, yer a walking novel!”

“Know what that means?” Merri grinned wide, winking at Dusky. “You should throw it all together and publish it! Easy money~!”

Starshadow gave her sister a curious glance. “Because I am sure she is all too eager to romanticize our near-death experiences into an adventure book for a quick bit.”

“Hey, whatever helps her get past it~.” Merri leaned over to wrap a hoof around Dusky. “Right?”

Star sighed. “Merri, that is not the point, nor as simple as you make it out to be.”

Dusky laughed it off. “You’re both right to an extent. I think writing it down would be helpful, but I don’t want to romanticize it. What we saw, it should be told, but without the bad being glossed over. It should be more of a personal account—something that can help bridge the gap between our countries.”

Merri and Star began to nod in unison, apparently without realizing their sibling was doing so as well. As they noticed, Star stopped, while Merri began to giggle.

“Anyway,” Dusky grinned and turned back to Terra. “Enough crazy. How have things been with you?”

Terra fidgeted with a smile, running a hoof through her mane. “Well, I might be doing some summer travel after all.”

“Oh? Decided to come along?” Dusky settled back in her seat, taking a sip of the cider she’d ordered.

I lifted an eyebrow, glancing between Dusky and Terra. “Oh, um, you’re planning on traveling with Dusky this summer too?”

“Not exactly.” Terra levitated a card up onto the table. Fancy flowers and intricate line work all bordered carefully set bold letters. Together with their family, Terrabona and Stalwart Stone request your presence at the ceremony and celebration of their marriage

I glanced at the card, carefully rereading every inch, my grin growing with each word. “M-marriage? Congratulations, Terra!”

I turned to smile at Dusky, only to find her holding a hoof up to her mouth. She gave a forceful swallow, then gave Terra a shocked look “What?!”

“Hah! Toldja!” Mahogany pointed a hoof across the table. “Even Dusky thinks you’re bein’ too hasty! I win! S’your round next!”

Terra glanced at me with a sad smile, but her ears drooped as she looked between Dusky and Mahogany.

“It does seem a little sudden. Why don’t you fill me in on the other details?” Dusky reached out for the card and read it closely. “Like, when and where in Orlov? Also, isn’t Orlov a bit far away for Stalwart Stone to travel?”

I leaned towards Dusky to glance at the card, not even entirely sure where Orlov was.

Terra sighed, but pressed on. “I know we haven’t been dating very long, but the more time Stalwart and I spend together, the more we just click.”

“You say that about every couple.” Mahogany lifted his buzzard and drank. When he lowered it again, Dusky was squinting at him, but he shrugged. “What? It’s true.”

“I know. But I’m really serious about this. I admire his strength and conviction, even after all that’s happened. We know just what to say to support each other, almost without any other words spoken.” Terra glanced past us, the smile on her face looking much like the kind Dusky would sometimes give me. “Plus, he’s a bit of a romantic.”

Dusky must have seen something in that look as well. She nodded at Terra. “Well, it does sound like you two mesh well. How about the time and place? And his back?”

I tilted my head. I didn’t think I’d ever met ‘Stalwart’, nor did I know much about his back. I thought maybe, with Terra’s announcement, it might be a good idea to meet this gentlecolt. Any friend of Terra’s would be a friend of mine.

“We’re still working on that. I sent a telegram to a few places with dates, but they haven’t gotten back to me yet.” Terra tapped a hoof against the table. “I think his back should be okay. It might be a problem if we had to walk, but Orlov got a train station last year.”

Dusky nodded. “While that’s quite fortunate, you’re aware that trains aren’t necessarily the smoothest ride, especially out to a smaller city, right?”

“Yeah. I know. But it’s Stalwart’s hometown and his parents are there and he showed me pictures. There’s this beautiful beach that would be perfect!” Terra looked about wistfully. “Plus, I always dreamed of a destination wedding.”

Dusky laughed, setting the card back on the table. “Okay, Terra, you’ve convinced me for now. We’ll have to see what the finer details look like as you work this out.”

“Fine by me.” Terra smiled, but the look wavered as she kept watch on Dusky. “That brings me to my next question. Will you be my Maid of Honor? I know you normally travel around then, but the dates we’re looking at are all pretty early.”

“I’d be honored.” Dusky grinned wider. “And don’t worry about it. I have quite a bit of leeway to push things back.”

I didn’t know how I would handle a wedding. All it really made me think was just how much I wanted to ask Dusky the same question. Will you marry me. It was too early. If there were concerns about Terra rushing into things, then, well, I certainly didn’t want to rush into it either. I had to be sure.

Mahogany nudged me out of my thoughts. “Uh, oh. Here comes the boring, girly details.”

I glanced back at Mahogany, still caught up in the idea of the wedding itself.

Dusky grinned. “I think Mahogany’s volunteering to be a bridesmaid.”

“Uh, uh. Nope. Not unless Flurry here wants to be one with me.” Mahogany pushed me forward. “An’ Flurry doesn’t want any of that. Right?”

Dusky gave me an apologetic smile, though Terra was grinning ear to ear now.

I dug at the ground with a hoof and forced a smile. “Yeah, um… I don’t really like dresses. Err, wearing them, that is.”

Terra leaned over the table with her old evil grin. “Aw, but you’d both look so good in pink.”

---

Returning to Ponyville had a strangely bittersweet feeling to it this time. Though, it was obviously a relief to be home, to be out of danger, there was an emptiness to the fact that tonight I'd be sleeping in my own bed, alone, after having slept alongside Dusky during our trip.

I winged my way home, having said good nights to everypony, with Dusky’s including a long hug and a kiss that still lingered upon my lips. I wanted more than anything to be by her side again, and her summer trip was, hopefully, the perfect opportunity. Assuming that she’d still be happy to have me along. She'd become so much more important to me than I ever thought possible, despite the dangers that it had brought into my life. It was all worth it.

Terra’s wedding was prominent on my mind as well. It struck me now that, before we’d left for Ostfriesen, Terra’s peculiar behavior and line of questioning hadn’t been trying to push me to asking for Dusky’s hoof. Instead, she’d been gathering advice in preparation for asking Stalwart the question herself.

At last I settled down on the front landing to my house, the clouds yielding beneath my hooves with a comfortable familiarity. I had just started to retrieve my key from its flight satchel pocket when I noticed something was wrong. It was more a feeling than any real evidence. Something was out of place. I cautiously tried the door, and sure enough, it was unlocked.

I slipped open the door as quietly as I could, peeking into the darkened entry. I walked slowly, glancing everywhere, my own home an avenue for attack. Had the Cartel come back? Had they managed to identify me, and were lying in wait? Were they in Dusky's apartment too, waiting for her? My mind raced, and the need for that now missing hoof blade made itself known for the first time.

The living room appeared as I left it, but the kitchen was a mess. Dishes and food were scattered on the counters, with the remnants of what looked like a cake. The tins of tea leaves I kept on the counter had been left open, and I could smell the drowned, rotting leaves. It gave me pause. What kind of monster broke into a pony's home, made a mess of their kitchen, and went out of their way to defile their tea? My train of thought was interrupted by a great roar from the living room. I nearly jumped as the realization struck me. This was no pony, but a beast. Had some monster strayed out of the Everfree? Or had some enemy unleashed a creature into my house, waiting for me to return so it could attack and devour me.

I stood in the sudden silence, ears tilting towards the living room to listen carefully. The roar subsided, and then moments later, rose again. The beast was sleeping. Without a weapon, it'd be stupid to try to attack it, even sleeping. I crept forward slowly, only pausing when the beast made noise once again. At the very least, I could find out what it was, so that when I came back with help, we'd be prepared.

The sound came again, and I wondered if the animal might be in pain, dying. Perhaps that was why it had sought refuge in a pegasus house. Maybe I could ask the local animal expert, Fluttershy, to help me coax it out of the house peacefully. That'd be best, really. I didn't really want anything getting hurt if there was another way.

I reached the couch and glanced at the beast, hoping it wouldn't wake up, but rather than a wounded manticore or phoenix with a broken wing, I found a monster of a different sort. "Spring?!"

The sleeping pony flailed, letting out a half-snore, half-mumbled response as she struggled against the blanket. At last, she opened her eyes one at a time. "Bluh? Birwa... whirly..."

"Spring? What are you doing here?"

"Mmm'vited here." She slurred, rolling off the couch to stand on tired legs. "Bwah? Nighty?"

I glanced back to the mess in the kitchen. "Why are you sleeping on my couch?"

She moved suddenly, shoving me back. "Me? Wait, what are you doing here? You're back?!" Her shove knocked me off guard, then she used the opening to pull me into a hug.

I stumbled, then hugged her back. "I um, yeah. I'm back. Been gone awhile, but I'm home. Just... wasn't expecting you here."

"You invited me here, ya doof!" Spring pulled back, pouting as she stared me down. "Bree set me up here in Ponyville, but you'd already left, and then Dash said you were off on an adventure, and I was all like 'I'll do his job', and she was all like 'cool whatever get flying'. And I didn't really have any place to live, and once Bree vouched for me, Mahogany had your spare key, so I've just been sleeping on your couch for a week now."

My mind raced to catch up with her train of thought. "Okay, uh, okay, right. Right, this is about the job. Right. I didn't think you'd be transferred so quick, and definitely wasn't planning on the trip to Ostfriesen."

Spring tilted her head. "Ost-a-what-now?"

That was a story I was definitely not looking forward to sharing with my sister. Not all of it, anyways. "Just... an unexpected trip. And you know, I have a guest room."

"A what?" Spring looked down the hall. "Oh, I watered your plants too. Poor things were so dry."

"My... plants? Those are dried tea leaves, it's not supposed to be watered, Spring. And yes, a guest bed, I was setting it all up for you."

"They weren't? Huh. Guess that's why they weren't growing. I thought you were just a really irresponsible plant owner." Spring gathered up the blankets off the couch and started walking towards the rear hallway. "Now, show me this guest room!"

I blinked, then followed after. "It's not finished. I just started to set it up for you before I had to leave, and, well... I wanted it to be someplace you could kind of feel like home in... especially if I wasn't here..."

She stopped at the door, craning her neck back. ."Hey, why did you leave anyways? This was that big trip you were planning for, right?"

"Not... quite..."

Her face dropped. "Oh, hells, Nighty. Is this another trip like... before?"

I shook my head. “Not quite… it had moments that were… intense. But, at the same time… I saw some really amazing things. Things I couldn’t even begin to imagine before.”

She stared. “You really have grown up, haven’t you?”

“I… have. I suppose.”

Spring awkwardly shuffled the blankets in her hooves to shift the weight enough that she could step forward to give me a hug. “Just weird, is all. Feels like everything’s changing.”

I chuckled. “I know that feeling, Sis’. I know that feeling.”

Comments

[Yami Vizzini]

Hmm... wondering if one of these stories may be Dusky's book.

Maybe Terra's rushing into things, but I hope it works out. They're cute together and it's funny to see something like this progress while we've been focused on another adventure.

[EmberLight]

Finally! It's been six days and a half without any new chapters from any of my tracking books and I'm going mad! Thank you so much sir!

Spring seems right at home in his home, still though, to defile someone's tea. Shame on you Spring!

[Meta Four]

All it really made me think was just how much I wanted to ask Dusky the same question. Will you marry me. It was too early.

Night, you utter and complete dork.

(If I were in his position, I'm sure I'd be thinking exactly the same thing.)

[Kiromancer]

8174682
Perhaps it was that train of thought which led her to write down her adventures! Certainly seems plausible.

8176203
Night takes his tea very seriously, and Spring can be a bit overwhelming to have around. She can be a force of nature, and acts first, thinks later.

8200172
Well, I certainly can’t say that Night’s not a complete dork He’s certainly been considering that question for awhile now, but is trying not to rush it. He doesn’t want to push it on Dusky just as much as he’s not really sure he’s ready for marriage himself.