Mending Light

by Kiromancer

54 - Pop Quiz

Although Rainbow Dash wanted to press me for details about my 'adventure', I was quite reluctant to discuss it with her. Not that she wasn't trustworthy, more that she was a little over-eager to hear about all the 'action', like it was just recounting a Daring Do novel. Maybe for her it was, but for me, the parts Rainbow might find exciting weren't exactly the things I wanted to dwell on.

Instead, I focused on my job, packing up my flight satchel for the evening shift. It wasn't even really my job anymore—not entirely. Spring was officially hired on, officially in the schedule. She was still back at home, as weird as that was. I figured that since she'd been covering for me almost since I'd left, the least I could do was give her a night to sleep in. Her 'beauty rest', she claimed. I wanted a night to think as well, a night out alone to process just being home.

The fact was, it was almost getting too familiar, coming back to pick up my life after disappearing for some long journey into danger. I wondered if Dusky had this feeling too. She mentioned getting homesick when she gone was too long, and I'd started to see that on our journey home. Though she was happy to be home, I still couldn't forget the look upon her face while we toured Oasis. It was travelling, exploring which brought her joy, but home healed her heart. I idly wondered where I would fall into her life.

I'd missed home, to be sure, but it was more the kind of longing for safety while in the midst of danger. Once that danger was gone, it had been a strange place, but I was with Dusky, and being with her, everything seemed to be just fine. After all, Ponyville was my second home, after I'd moved out of Cloudsdale. It was a wonderful place, but if I had to choose between it and being with Dusky, the choice wasn't much of a choice at all.

Just over an hour into my shift, a sharp whistle interrupted my train of thought. I slowed my flight. I'd been working almost mechanically, just letting my wings and hooves perform long, familiar motions while I let my mind wander.

I glanced around towards the ground, the same ill feeling rising in my gut as I'd felt when I'd first gotten to my house. Could it be an ambush? Was I being drawn into a trap? No clouds large enough to conceal a pony were nearby, and I took a moment to shake my head. Caution was warranted, but I wouldn't let my life give way to paranoia. A second whistle drew my eyes downward, where a familiar pony waved.

The differences between Dusky and her mother were only made more striking when contrasted with their similarities. They both had the same color coat, and same confident poise. Dusky wore it easily, letting the confidence carry her forward, while Windy Ward wore it like a weapon, making sure everypony knew she was not to be trifled with. Her light purple mane was tied back with a bandanna above her eyes—and those were the biggest difference. Unlike Dusky's eyes, which were like pools of light that I let myself drown in, Windy's were quite the opposite. Looking into them was to open yourself up for interrogation. Her gaze pierced you, left you defenseless, and though she smiled at me, it wasn't an entirely warm smile.

I landed with a bit of length between us, not really sure what this was all about. I felt butterflies rising in my stomach. "I, um, hello uh... Mrs. Ward? W-what can I, um, do for you?"

Her face didn't shift, her cold eyes working their way up and down. She spoke at last, but didn't answer my question. "You're lucky."

I tilted my head. "Lucky?"

"Lucky you're still alive, and lucky my daughter is still safe." She took a step forward, leaning in threateningly. "I heard about Fillydelphia, and I know all about your little acts of heroism up to that point. You need to think with your head."

Her words struck hard, but I shook my head. "I'm... I'm trying. I mean, the heroism. I made a promise to her, to your daughter..."

Windy didn't move, but her gaze grew more critical. "Good. You don't want to know what I'd do to you if I were to find out you got my daughter hurt. I look at you, and I see a liability. You're green, scrawny, and a fair bit too meek. You're lucky that no one has gotten serious with you. Or that you've had more competent fighters with you to carry that weight."

Those were all doubts I held in myself as well. Merri and Star, and Dusky herself, had all been there to help me, and when I'd needed to fight by myself, until now, Bellerophon had guided my hooves. "N-no..."

She bent her head down once more. "Hmm? What was that?"

"No!" I snapped back, but withdrew, lowering my voice. "I mean, yes, my friends are stronger than I am, and yes... I've had help. But that's why I'm training, why I was trying to get better in the first place, before..."

I stopped, about to say before Bellerophon. I wondered how much of my drive had been me, and how much had been him. I didn't really want to think on that.

Windy, however, grinned like a predator staring down its prey. "Then show me."

"Show you?" I suddenly had a suspicion why, exactly, she'd stopped me. I frowned, thinking back to our first meeting, when she'd attacked her daughter. A 'pop quiz', she'd called it.

She struck a combat pose, motioning me towards her with a hoof. "Prove to me that you've been training—that you can protect yourself."

"I... I don't want to fight you, though." I didn't want to fight at all. I wasn't a fighter, not really, not like my father or my sister Mint.

"Fight?" Windy shook her head. "No, this isn't a fight. This is you showing me what you can do. Now come on."

I'd fought against Mint in Myrtail, and asked Dusky to let me spar with her. Maybe this wasn't so different. I didn't like it, but I somehow doubted Mrs. Ward would take no for an answer. "Alright, fine."

She only smiled in response.

I braced myself, getting into my own defensive stance, then met Windy's eyes and waited.

With a burst of speed, she flared her wings then flapped hard, rushing in to buffet against me.

It was all raw power, no finesse or intent, but no less painful if it connected. It was a basic Guard test, teaching recruits how to react in combat, rather than freeze up. I dodged to the right, letting her waste her energy, while I dipped back. I kicked up into the air, bringing up my forehoof when I recalled that I had no more hoof blade

She pulled back from her strike, wings dropping to her side. "So you actually know how to use that stance. Not bad. Taking to the air might be smart, too, if your opponent wasn't a pegasus as well. "

Her wings opened up in preparation as she turned. She stepped forward slowly, almost casually, and I started to edge backwards through the air.

Stepping forward one hoof at a time, she analyzed me once more. "Something about this stance, though. It offers you no obvious advantage. I left you opportunity to strike, but you didn't take advantage. Why the hesitation?"

I kept watch of her movements, still backing away. "I... I'd been training with a hoof blade. I fell into that drill but couldn't follow up."

"Ah, yes. Hoofblades. Every recruit is so eager to pick up a weapon." Her pace didn't change at first, but then she launched forward with a lunge. "So much that they might cut corners!"

Her first wing strike was another obvious hit, and I dodged aside without issue, but the second strike came in hard, right where I'd dodged. I threw up a hoof to push it aside and used that momentum to push my wings backward, giving me more distance.

She didn't give me the chance, rushing after just as quickly, wings kicking up the wind around me as she kicked forward with her forehoof.

Dodging as best I could, I avoided her first two strikes, but the third got past, striking the side of my head. I dropped to the ground, letting gravity drop me out of her line. I staggered back, but managed to recover quickly enough to dodge out of the way of her dive. My head swam, but Starshadow's training kept me focused, as I managed to keep her in the center of my vision.

She didn't push her pursuit, instead landing at that same measured distance away. She grinned wide, amusement leaking through. "Not bad. But surely you're not going to just let your opponent beat on you until you can't stand."

I shook my head as my wits came back to me. "You're... you're Dusky's Mom! I can't just hit you. What would she even say?"

Windy laughed hard. "Do you know how many times we've hit each other? She'll know this is just like any other practice session."

That line of thinking was uneasy to me. I'd been taught as a colt to respect mares, Still, if I was seriously going to spar with Dusky, to train alongside her, I'd probably have to do exactly this with her. The thought of striking Dusky turned my stomach, but it was no different than training with Star, or Merri, or even Mint. Just because it was Dusky, or her Mom, didn't mean it wasn't 'any other practice session'.

I sighed. "Alright... I guess." I shifted in place, letting my legs move from defense, to a more balanced stance.

She simply smiled more, and began to walk forward once again. Slow, deliberate. She moved forward in a rhythmic pace.

One, two. One, two. One, two. I watched her moves, and as her wings began to tense down, I lunged.

She stopped walking, letting me close the gap. I rushed in, rearing up to strike with a one-two combo with my left, right hoof up try and block while my wings kept me balanced.

She ducked the first strike, then parried the second with her right forehoof. Then came the retaliation, her right wing shooting forward in a motion not unlike Dusky's own strike with her wing blades. I had a brief panic at that thought, the realization of just how fast and how dangerous this fight could be if it were serious.

I forced back the panic and evaded her strikes. I darted aside, ducking my head to avoid her wings, then she drove a hoof into my gut. I flailed out and swung my wings forward in the hopes of driving her back.

Instead, Windy sidestepped my clumsy strike without much effort. Then, with a forceful jump, she body checked me, slamming me back and even further off balance.

Reeling to the side, I flailed out my wings to pull away, struggling to regain my balance. I only managed to get back on kilter after what was surely too much time, but I quickly brought myself back into a defensive stance, ready for her follow-up assault.

Windy folded wings back to her side and nodded. "Good enough. You've obviously had some training, both standard Guard, and something else. That's definitely not Noble's style."

I took a few deep breaths before I realized I hadn't dropped my stance yet. I shook my head. "No... No, I've... I've never asked my father for help. I've got the early basics of Guard training, but after that, I've just been teaching myself. I had a friend help train me with the hoofblade."

She watched me carefully, nodding along. "Mmm, your effort shows, at least. Which friend?"

"She goes by Starshadow, she and her sister had been giving me a lot of help."

"Starshadow, and Merriweather, then? By all accounts, they're both competent teachers. However, I want you to talk to Noble. There are many things you could take from his style to improve your own."

Finally, my stance dropped, the adrenaline starting to bleed out. "Yeah, maybe it's time." I'd been meaning to take that next step, to reach out to Dad and the family as a whole, outside of any kind of crisis. This might just be an excuse to do so, but it would be enough.

Windy walked up closer. "Indeed. If you wish to protect yourself and help my daughter, you must learn as much as you can. Be as prepared as you can." She narrowed her eyes at me, with little doubt that she took this extremely seriously. "Because in that crucial moment, your enemy may not give you a second chance."

My ears dropped back. The enemy. Our enemy. What a weird concept to be so accustomed to. "I will. As much as I can for her. For myself."

She stepped up and then did the thing I least expected out of the entire encounter, and gave me a hug. It wasn't a long hug, or terribly strong as I might have expected, just a simple, gentle hug. "Good. You take care of yourself. And don't you dare forget what I said. I'd hate for Noble to tell me you ignored our little chat."

I recovered from the shock slowly, and managed to give an awkward hug in return before she pulled back. "I, uh... I won't. Mrs. Ward, I love your daughter. I love her more than anything, and... regardless of what you think of me, I'll do whatever it takes to make her happy, and to keep her safe. But, I've learned, part of making her happy is... is keeping myself safe, too. I'm not going to go back on my word to her."

She smiled, and this time, I could see the resemblance to her daughter. "Good. I'll hold you to your word as well, then. Good bye, Night Flurry." Without another word, she turned and walked away, kicking up not too far away to fly off.

I waved a wing in response, though she never looked back. I spoke aloud, but by that point, it was all to myself. "Good bye, Mrs. Ward."

Training with my father. Training with Dusky. That same fire, the reason I’d started training in the first place, was still there. I wasn't going to be letting myself slip, there was too much was on the line. While thinking about what Windy Ward might do to me if I let something happen to her daughter was bad, the thought of breaking my promise to Dusky was far worse. It was plenty of motivation for me.

Besides, it was time. I'd already made peace with my father, when he'd helped us rescue Dusky in Fillydelphia, but now it was time for me to go home. It was time for me to go back to Cloudsdale.

Comments

[Yami Vizzini]

And Night goes through another dating rite of passage.

[Kiromancer]

8221286
A fairly unconventional rite of passage, I hope! Then again, Windy Ward is a rather unconventional mare. All par for the course of getting involved in Dusky's somewhat strange life.