Mending Light

by Kiromancer

78 - Hatred's Face

It wouldn't take long for Twilight to plan out the ritual, and we didn't gain much from resting, as that only gave the Banshee more time to attack Dusky. Mint's scouting revealed nothing, and though it was likely that I was a known entity to the Cartel, I was the best option to venture out into Ponyville to bring in our friends. Dusky didn't like me heading out, but we had limited options.

I walked through Ponyville as stealthily as I could to avoid any unwanted attention. This late, flying could potentially draw watchful eyes to my coming and going. Easier to walk, and quieter too. Mint shadowed me, keeping far enough back that I couldn't see her, but she could see me. The town hadn't changed since we'd left, but even so it would have been easy to get the drop on me alone, and we couldn't afford that.

Most ponies would be asleep at this hour. Thankfully, our friends tended to be night owls, and if they were anywhere, it would be gathered together at the Lusty Seapony. Though most every other building was dark, the Seapony's lighted porch still shone like a beacon. I glanced back into the gloom, nodding in signal to my unseen sister, then pushed my way inside the bar.

Familiar smells filled my nostrils, along with the sound of the hearth burning beyond the tables. The sight of Merriweather, sitting alone in one of the gauzy dresses she'd brought back from Ostfriesen was new, though. She sat at a table practically directly in front of the door, batting her eyes at me for a moment before she stopped. "Whoa, wait? Flurry? Flurry! You're back! Where's Dusky?"

I cringed as she cried out, but had expected some fanfare. I raised a hoof to my mouth to quiet her down and walked up to her table. "Merri, it's... a long story. Just you tonight? We... sorta need some help."

"Just me, for now. Sis’ is upstairs, though. And sure! What do ya need help with?" She slowly raised an eyebrow at me. "Or is this like... 'Fillydelphia help'?"

I sighed. "The... the latter. As soon as you can."

She paused to take a deep breath and rose from the table "Right. Guess date night's cancelled for now. Let's get Sis’."

Frowning, I muttered out an apology, but Merri just waved it away as she led the way up the stairs of the bar towards the room she and Starshadow had been living out of since they'd first arrived. Stopping at the door, she knocked and waited.

With surprisingly quick timing, Starshadow opened the door. She was wearing a long sleep cap with a toothbrush levitating at her side. She eyed Merri up and down, then noticed me. "Night Flurry. Ah. Come in, then."

Merri stepped in first, and I followed. The moment the door closed, Merri turned on me, eyes narrowed in concern. "Where's Dusky? What happened?"

I nodded. "She's safe. She's with Twilight at the Golden Oaks Library. She wanted me to get you two, and tell you to be ready to fight."

The twins exchanged glances, and Starshadow took the lead. "Dusky is safe with Ms. Sparkle then, hmm? I take it time is of the essence?" She'd already taken her sleeping cap off, setting it down on the bed.

"Yeah. Dusky and Twilight can explain it all better." I still had no idea what fighting a banshee would look like or how it would play out, but I pushed down the worry and nodded to the pair. "My sister's with us too. I don't know if five of us is enough but... it's all we can do on such short notice, I guess."

Merri smirked. "Okay. Gonna head home, pick up my stuff and uh... call off the date. I'll meet you at the Library."

Her sister nodded. "Travel safe, Sister. Give our apologies to Icicle."

"I'm sure I'll find a way to pay him back~." With a flourish, Merri brushed past me and out the door.

Starshadow turned away, her magic opening a drawer to remove the familiar scaled armor she'd been wearing when I first saw her. Setting it out, she begin to magically remove her pajamas. "One moment, Night, and I shall be ready."

I cleared my throat as I waited for her to prepare. "So, um, Merri then? A home? A date? I guess I'm a bit behind."

She chuckled as she slipped into her under-padding. "Merriweather returned from Terrabona's wedding inspired. She ensnared a weather pegasus associate of yours, and has recently moved in with him. I say she is imposing, but she insists it was his idea. I admittedly did not argue much, as it meant that I get this room to myself now."

"An associate... Icicle? Wait, Icicle Gleam?" I blinked and shook my head. "What about Terrabona, then? And Mahogany. I'm a bit surprised I didn't see them downstairs too."

"Mahogany is much as he was. He spends a night or two here, then a night or two at another bar. I do not believe he likes me." She chuckled lightly, then glanced at me after sliding her scale mail into place. "There's been little other company here, with you and Dusky gone, and Terrabona is often with her family now. She is pregnant."

My ears perked up at the news. "Pregnant? I mean... Wow. I guess that makes sense, after the wedding and, um... well, still, that's amazing. I'll have to congratulate her, I just... wasn't expecting."

Star stretched her neck back and forth to let the armor shift into place. "It's been an eventful month, since the wedding. Things have felt like they have moved quickly, but such is life."

"Well... It's not like I thought your lives all stopped just because Dusky and I were gone. They just feel like some big changes. All for the better, it sounds like?"

Star smirked, and her horn lit up to levitate a stack of papers off her dresser. "They are not the only changes, or so we have heard." She flipped the first one, and I immediately recognized my own wing-writing.

"My postcards?" I blushed, recalling the news I'd passed along. "Oh! Right! Our engagement! Well... yeah, of course. That's our biggest change."

Star smiled at me as she finished her preparations, sliding her hoofblade into place as the final move. "Well then, lead on Night Flurry. To Dusky's side."

I turned back towards the door, Starshadow's armor clinking behind me as we moved down the stairs and back into the night.

---

Merri was waiting patiently at the door to the library. Clad in her scale mail, she looked almost bored as we approached. She only half whispered as we approached, “About time!”

I led, with Mint and Star flanking me. Starshadow glared at her sister, then nodded to the door. “I am sure it is locked for the night. You have a means of entry, Night Flurry?”

I nodded, pulling Twilight’s spare key out from my saddlebag. We’d made arrangements before Mint and I left, both for how I’d get back in, and to confirm that everything was okay once I was in.

The door creaked open as I slowly pushed it open, stepping just inside the main room.

“I-I, um…” I heard Mint snickering behind me, and Merri started in as well, but Star shushed them both and I continued. “... found a filly who fell upon a fuchsia futon.”

There was a moment of silence, and then Dusky stepped out from behind the curtain where she and Twilight were setting up. With a wave, she smiled at me. “Welcome back.”

I smiled at her as the others follow me in. “Thanks.”

The back room of the library had primarily been cleared out, making a hugely vacant space where Dusky had been resting earlier. Twilight Sparkle stood in the back with a large chalkboard and Ivory’s scroll, jotting down formulae that quickly went over my head.

With the door closed and locked behind us, Starshadow looked around. “Now that we are in private, what are we fighting?”

Dusky’s face dropped apologetically. “Er, well, it’s something rather unusual: a banshee.”

Clearly caught off guard, Star gaped. “I… beg your pardon?”

“She said a banshee. Geez, Sis’, pay attention.” Merri poked at Star’s side, grinning.

Star glared back, her horn lighting up to gently shove Merri's hoof away. “I know that. That is just not something I expected to hear in Equestria. Vengeful spirits are a very Ostfriesen problem. Are you sure your bloodline does not extend back to our people, Dusky?”

With a tired smirk, Dusky shook her head. “I have no idea. I also have no idea if that would be more or less helpful. Perhaps I can ask my mom when this is all over, but for now, we should focus.”

Mint stepped past me, her voice betraying an unexpected excitement. “So, what’s the plan then?”

Dusky almost seemed to blank out for a moment, and I started to step towards her when she shook her head. ”As far as tactics go, it’s pretty simple: we corner the banshee and defeat her. On the magical side, well, I’ll let Twilight explain that.”

Twilight Sparkle nodded and turned her attention away from her equations. “First, I’ll have to construct a parallel artificial plane, then apply a planar summoning to allow and the banshee to materialize in that realm. Following that, I’ll have to apply several essence-binding enchantments to the plane, which will bind you and the banshee.”

She’d lost me at ‘parallel artificial plane’, and as I looked around, almost everypony else too.

The exception was Star, who nodded long, studying the chalkboard behind Twilight.

Dusky stepped over and tapped Twilight on the shoulder, halting her explanation. “Uh, Twilight, as much as I enjoy hearing the details, perhaps they could wait until we’re in a less dangerous situation?”

“Oh! Right, of course!” She cleared her throat and started over. “The short version is I’m building a small, temporary area for me to trap the banshee. The rest will be up to you, since maintaining so many spells at once will take all my concentration.”

Star grinned with an eager glint in her eye. “Clever. How will we signal you when we are finished?”

“I’ll be able to monitor the battle, since I’ll need to bind myself to it in order to do all this. However, my binding will only be partial, so I won’t be able to interact with anything.” Twilight proudly continued to walk through the equations, but stopped suddenly with realization. “Oh, and I’ll need someone to keep any distractions away. If the spells break and the bindings come undone incorrectly, it could cause catastrophic damage to our spirits. This includes the banshee, but given what you’ve told me, I don’t think she’ll be too concerned about that.”

Dusky blanched, and she began to look us over. “I… this is really dangerous. Is everyone sure about this?”

Merri moved up to Dusky, wrapping a hoof around her with a laugh. “You’re really asking this after what happened in The Forge?”

Dusky glanced at Merri and smiled. “Well, when you put it that way…”

Starshadow stepped forward. “I agree. Aside from the fact that we owe you, it would not be right to abandon a friend.”

“And I knew what I was getting into when I proposed.” I grinned awkwardly. “I’m staying.”

Merri grinned from besides Dusky, wiggling her eyebrows at me. “Proposed already~? Night, you casanova~.”

“Sister, not right now.” Star sighed, shaking her head.

My own sister was last, but not from lack of resolve. She locked eyes with me and nodded. “If my baby brother decided you’re family, then guess what? I’m protecting my family.”

Twilight Sparkle turned to Dusky and grin. “Now this feels more than a little familiar. As Dash would say, no way am I going to leave you hanging.”

“Thanks, everyone.” Dusky lowered her head, and I could see tears threatening to break free. “I guess we should get back to the plan. This won’t be an easy fight, but I think our best bet is to end things as quickly as possible. To that end, I want to outnumber her as much as we dare without putting Twilight in undue danger.”

“I shall stay, then,” Starshadow straightened up. “The rest of you go to the parallel plane.”

Dusky tilted her head, “By yourself? Are you sure?”

“Do not worry about me. We are in the heart of the most guarded part of Equestria, with a plan the enemy will have little time to react to.” Star’s predatory grin would have chilled me, had she not been on our side. “Plus, I know a glyph or two that such hooligans will find to be a rather nasty surprise, should they think they can overwhelm me.”

Twilight smiled, nodding. “If that’s the case, I have no objections.”

Dusky closed her eyes to take a deep breath. “Right. What’s our first step?”

“Come to the back. I’ll need about an hour for the first component, but you’ll have to stand in the circle.”

---

I’d never enjoyed unicorn magic. There was something disconcerting about it to me, a feeling like pins and needles going through me whenever somepony was using it. When I was the target, that feeling was magnified, though in this case, I barely had time to react once it started.

Twilight’s library faded away as a white nothingness ate my vision. I wanted to scream, but found I had no throat to do it with. It didn’t hurt. It didn’t give me any sensation at all, other then a piercing sense of wrongness that filled me.

Then, like nothing had happened at all, I was somewhere else. Dusky was already there, and she became my anchor. Standing on an unfamiliar floor of purple mist, I needed something to ground me, and Dusky’s eyes did just that. I took a breath to steady myself. “Th-that was…”

Dusky looked at me and shook her head. “Yeah. I don’t know how to describe it, either.”

“Whoa!” Suddenly, Mint appeared, standing approximately where she’d been standing what felt like ages ago in Twilight’s library. She shuddered, then nodded. “Okay! Everything’s still there. That’s good.”

Only a moment later, Merri winked into existence, her face betraying no shock or fear, only a type of satisfied curiosity. “Huh. So, that’s what Sis’ meant.”

“Meant about what?” Dusky turned to watch Merri curiously.

“Oh, just some of Sis’s magic theory mumbo jumbo.” Merri waved a hoof dismissively. “I’ve always been more of a hooves on learner~.”

“If you say so.” Dusky slowly smiled at Merri before she started to look around. “Now that we’re all here, we’ve got a job to do.”

“How?” I looked across the vacant landscape, nothing but that pale purple mist everywhere. It was like we were trapped inside a vast thundercloud that stretched on forever. “There’s nothing for miles.”

Mint shrugged. “I bet if we start walking, make a little noise, Summer Leaf’s bound to find us.”

Stepping up, Dusky eyed the horizon. “Yeah, that’s probably our best—maybe even only—option. Stay on your guard.”

We stayed close, walking forward through the magical storm. After a few minutes, we saw a purple light, stronger and larger than any of the flashes of light and stray magic that suffused this place. It remained solid, flickering from time to time like the edge of a flame.

The whole place seemed to be without. Without time and without form. It took us far longer to reach that purple flame than it had seemed like it should have. Every step forward made our destination two steps further away, but at last, we found it. Twilight Sparkle floated suspended within the flame, eyes closed and a look of deep focus upon her face.

“That’s… weird.” Dusky paused. “Though, I suppose not much weirder than the whole concept of wandering off into an alternate dimension to kill a ghost.”

“I think she’s trying to keep things simple.” Merri laughed. “This whole place is imaginary. It could look like whatever she wanted. Fancier means more places to hide. But, looks like she couldn’t resist a little symbolism~.”

Dusky prepared to respond, but was cut off by a sudden flash. A knife cut through the air, followed by a green blur that pierced straight through Twilight. The flame, and Twilight herself, parted in the strike’s wake, reforming moments later. On the other side stood our opponent, a hulking green earth pony. She rose up, raising her long blade and striking it into the ground as she turned to glare at us.

“So she’s not as stupid as she looks.” Summer Leaf rose, spitting at us as she stared down Dusky. “But she’ll get hers once I’m done with you.”

Dusky tensed, shaking her head. “Aren’t you tired of this?”

The banshee remained focused on her, as if her gaze alone could strike Dusky down. “No shit. Which is why this is the day I end you.”

“And then what? Keep killing until the world drowns in blood?”

“If that’s what it takes to put our enemies in their place.” Summer Leaf’s glare turned from rage to amusement, and she began to laugh, unhinged laughter that sent a shudder down my spine. “Don’t give me that look. You know what it’s like to leave bodies in your wake to get what you want.”

Dusky dug in. “It’s not because I want to. I only do it to protect those closest to me.”

“Just like we help ours.” Summer sneered. “Only difference is we’re on opposing sides.”

Merri snorted, letting out a mocking laugh. “As if. Last I checked, Dusky doesn’t go out and terrorize ponies for fun and profit.”

“Yeah! You’re nothing but a common bully!” Mint cracked her forehooves, ready for action. “And I hate bullies.”

Summer’s words slapped me, filling me with disgust. Was this what Dusky had been forced to deal with in her nightmares night after night? This condescending bitch taunting her, telling her they were no different. That Dusky was the same as her? I couldn’t imagine a greater lie.

“Comparing Dusky to a monster like you?” I couldn’t keep the hate out of my voice. “Could you be any more wrong?”

“Bully? Monster? Get out of your ivory tower, you judgmental little shits.” She threw up her head, posturing. “You think you’re the only ones who care about anything?”

“I understand if you hate me.” Dusky tilted her head. “But I wonder, what about those you’ve wronged in turn?”

Summer lowered her head and swung her hoof through the air. “Bah, too bad for them. If they were smart, they would have chosen the winning team.”

Dusky looked back at us, giving the barest hint of a nod. I readied myself as Dusky turned back to Summer. “Then I could say the same about Autumn Leaf.”

“You!” Half screaming, half howling, Summer lunged, taking her machete back into her mouth and attacking Dusky with a reckless strike.

Dusky back-stepped out of range, then raised her wingblade to strike back, but Summer was ready.

I moved with the Merri and Mint as if on cue, We surrounded her, but even as we did, she seemed to become a blur. I struck out, hoping to break her focus on Dusky, but my hooves struck some barrier.

“Dusky! Now!” Mint called out as she threw herself into the banshee. Mint’s tackle was pointless, and even seizing on the moment to strike, Dusky’s blade found only air as she slashed through the flickering green ball that had been Summer mere seconds before.

I kicked up my forehooves, unable to get through the barrier to strike at Summer, but only struck nothing. Mint was back up, edging in besides Dusky, but as I eyed to my right, I found that Merri was missing.

She’d backed away, preparing to circle Summer like prey. As we all stopped to catch some breath, Summer took a coherent shape again. She glanced back at me with a vicious smirk, and that’s when Merri struck.

She’d kept her crossbow at the ready, magically holding it behind her until the moment that Summer materialized. Then she’d raised it over her flank and fired, the arrow striking solidly into the banshee’s chest.

Summer screamed like a wounded animal, a wholly unnatural wail that seemed to shake the world around us. Dusky leapt at the opportunity, driving her wing forward into Summer’s throat, but the opportunity was gone too quickly. The banshee dropped down, or, almost melted down into the ground, the blade passing through her and Merri’s crossbow bolt dropping to the ground as Summer Leaf vanished beneath us.

“Don’t let your guard down!” Dusky called out, spinning and keeping her attention above us.

“Call her out if you see her!” Mint responded as she did much the same, covering Dusky’s blind spot.

I nodded, eyes darting for some sign of our foe. “R-right!”

After a moment without response from Merri, Dusky called out “Merri! You okay?”

She stood shakily, but nodded as she regained her stance. “Yeah. Something just threw me. That’s all. I’m fine now.”

The whole world echoed with Summer’s voice as it seemed to surround us. “What’s wrong? Afraid of the dark?”

Mint spit. “Seems to me you’re the one who’s afraid!”

The voice responded, but this time it wasn’t the same, it was a stallion’s voice. “Really? When you’re always worrying about losing me?” Mint’s eyes widened in recognition, but she recovered quickly.

A second voice joined the stallion, this one easily recognizable as Starshadow. “Even you, Merriweather. You hide behind ridiculousness because you can’t bear to think about it.”

“It’s why you told me not to be a hero. You’re afraid of everyone dying around you.” I felt a chill run down my spine. That one was my own voice.

The fourth was Dusky’s. “That’s why you’ll throw yourself away. Everypony is worth more than you!”

“Trying a little too hard, are we?” Merri shouted back, unshaken.

Mint nodded, just as ready. She waved a hoof in challenge. “Get on with it!”

The four voices responded as one. “Fine.” “Fine.” “Fine.” “Fine.”

“You know, of everypony here, you disgust me the most.” Dusky, but clearly not Dusky, stepped forward out of the darkness in front of me. “You’re just a sycophant, hanging on in hopes that one day she’ll fuck you.”

I froze, backing away as Dusky—no, the banshee, practically sauntered towards me. “Sh-shut up. You’re not her!”

“Aren’t I, though? I look like her. I sound like her. I’ve killed like her. She and I are the same.” She laughed, but I couldn’t take it anymore.

I lunged, a stupid reckless strike, but anger clouded my vision. She dodged aside, and kicked a leg into my side, toppling me over. I could hear Mary’s voice shouting amidst the melee, but my ears were ringing, and not-Dusky’s voice was still taunting me.

“Ha! Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you’re not a sycophant, You’re no better than she or I.” Her face twisted into rage, unlike anything I’d ever seen from Dusky. “You’re the one who killed White Riot. I’d say she deserves you, but she doesn’t deserve a damn thing.”

I pushed myself upright, everything she’d said only making me angrier, but some part of me knew that’s what she wanted. “She… she deserves more than you do.”

She sighed. “You’re making this very hard on me. I just can’t stand your face, or your voice. Do I kill you and drag your corpse back to your whore, or do I just leave you bleeding out and kill her in front you? What do you think?”

“How about… you die first.”

The banshee wearing Dusky's visage only grinned. “Feel free to try.”

This is just like sparring with Dusky. N-no big deal. I just… can’t hold back. I leapt forward, bringing my hooves down hard, but she dodged out of the way. For a moment, it became just like sparring, but I couldn’t let myself lose sight of the fact that this wasn’t Dusky.

I struck hard, striking her in the chest with a kick. She audibly gasped, but then I felt an impact in my chest, as if the kick hadn’t only struck her, but had echoed back against me. I cried out for a breath, staggering back, but she was there. “Enough playing around, love.”

She hefted her wings, striking me in the head. Already off-balance, I struggled to stay upright, and as she moved in to take a second strike, I lifted my hoof to block, only to find that she’d not been relying solely upon her strength. I felt the wingblade stab into my leg, my vision going red momentarily as I cried out in pain.

The banshee twisted the blade with a grin, when she suddenly looked back over her shoulder to sneer. “Damn her… good news, runt, I’ve decided you get to watch your beloved die.”

I staggered, trying to stay upright on my bloody leg. Before I could make a move, she turned to gallop away. I struggled to chase after, unwilling to let her hurt my friends, and especially not my fiance.

She broke away, and soon enough I saw her target. Dusky. The real Dusky. I started to call out, but it was too late, as the Banshee lunged. Dusky only turned around just in time to catch her in mid-air, sending them both tumbling to the odd cloud-like ground.

They barreled over one another, a mess of tangled hooves and wings as they each struggled to push the other off. They were both throwing punches, kicks, attempting to slash at one another in an awful mess.

They paused a moment, and one of them met my eyes. I stammered out, “W-who… who do I help?”

“It’s… me, Night!” The first one called out.

The other gritted her teeth. “She’s lying!”

The were both exhausted, struggling, one swung with her wingblade, narrowing missing the other’s face.

“Hit her, Night!” Mint’s voice came from behind me, as she galloped towards us.

“Which?”

“Both!”

“What?!” I could barely hit the Banshee before, when I’d known it wasn’t Dusky. Both of them before me, unsure who was who, I felt like that wingblade was in my heart. “Are you crazy?!”

“Damnit, Night!” Mint came up to me, face in intense focus. She waved a hoof over her head towards Dusky and the Banshee. “Merri, follow my lead!”

Merri ran past me, horn lighting up to blast the two apart in an explosion of red. Mint tackled one, flipping her to the ground and pinning her. Merri held the other one in her magic.

Mint wound up, then kicked, hard.

Dusky screamed, “G-gah! M… Mint!”

Mint barely hesitated, waiting for something, then quickly released Dusky and charging after the pony Merri was holding.

The pieces fell into place slowly. When I'd struck the banshee, I'd been hurt as well. Some spell or power that I didn't figure out, but Mint had. She'd struck Dusky, and felt no retribution, meaning this was the real Dusky. Shaken, I stepped up to Dusky, offering my hoof. “S-sorry…”

“For what? Know what, never mind. We’ll worry about it after.” Dusky sounded exhausted, and I couldn’t blame her. She stood up, only to have her legs nearly betray her. I quickly braced her as best I could, but my own leg wasn’t exactly feeling much better.

Together, we hobbled over to the Banshee. She struggled, still holding onto Dusky's form while Merri and Mint held her in place. She glared at us, a look that was nothing but raw, primal hate.

Dusky lifted her wing, the hoofblade set upon it, and without fanfare, she slit the other Dusky’s throat.

I turned away too late, only hearing the gurgling after the fact, but I already saw the image of Dusky dead, and for a split second I had the terrible thought that we’d picked the wrong one. I looked back as the Not-Dusky melted apart, breaking up until she was nothing but mist. The mist climbed upward, falling apart bit by bit, until the last of it broke away into nothingness. There was nothing left of Summer Leaf.

Dusky turned, throwing up. After a moment, she staggered aside and collapsed, panting. I had to take a moment to gather myself.

“Did we… did we get it?” Mint walked closer to Dusky, still in a defensive stance as she peered around. She was bruised and battered, but overall still looked fine.

“Its magic is gone now.” Merri's horn was glowing. She followed after Mint, looking unphased by the whole experience. “It’d be pretty hard to come back from that.”

I laughed feebly, joining Dusky to lay down and do my best to hug her with my good foreleg. “Then… we did it. We did it, Dusky.”

“So it seems.” She leaned against me, and I could feel just how exhausted she was. “Let’s go home.”

Comments

[Yami Vizzini]

Wow, life really has gone on while we've been away! Everypony has their own story going on, after all....

Twilight Sparkle floated suspended within the flame, eyes closed and a look of deep focus upon her face.

vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/d/dd/Princess_Twilight_Sparkle_meditating_MLPTM.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/320?cb=20180112051442

Refreshing for the heroes not to bother angsting over the villain's attempt to play on their insecurities. Still almost feels too easy, but they've earned a break for now....