Mending Light

by Kiromancer

80 - Parting

There was a strange sense of deja vu after Dusky had been released from the clinic, yet I remained. She’d gone home to check on things, and to be fair, I’d been sleeping more than I’d liked. The wound was healing well, so Nurse Redheart said, but my body was overtired. My lack of sleep staying up to watch over Dusky on the trip home, combined with the exertion of the fight itself, had just pushed me over the edge.

Still, I wish Dusky had been nearby. Instead, it was too much like it had been in the past. Just me, on my own. I certainly didn’t expect Dusky to be with me twenty-four seven, but I’d grown far too accustomed to waking up besides her on our trip.

My thoughts were rather quickly interrupted, though, with a swift knock at the door before it opened. A somewhat disheveled Dusky poked her head in with a frown.

“Dusky?” I paused, her expression more dire than I anticipated. I let the smile fall off my face, recognizing that look. “What’s happening? What do we need to do?”

She looked at me with an apology in her eyes, and I could feel the pain behind her words. “It’s Ivory. They burned the forest, and I’m certain they’re hunting her. I have to get back there.”

I’d known that was coming, but I’d hoped we’d be able to get a little more rest at least. That didn’t matter now, time was forcing our hooves. I slowly sat up in the bed. “They?”

Dusky frowned, and at last she let out a sigh, voice dropping to a whisper. “The remnants of the Cartel. The ones allied to the mayor, who has held a grudge against her since before we even met.”

Pushing out of bed, I cringed slightly as my leg protested in pain. “Then we have to go.”

She stepped forward, putting a hoof against me and easing me back down. “No, Night. I need to go. You’re still injured.”

I winced. “Dusky… that’s… that’s not what I signed up for, and you know it. I owe Ivory for helping you, and even if I didn’t… I won’t just sit back and let you run off into danger. We’re in this together.”

Dusky shook her head. “We are in this together, but we also have to be practical. I need to go now, and get to Ivory as quickly as I can. Once you’re better, I want to you follow, bringing whoever you can gather, and be ready.”

“Be ready? You’re… not just going to get Ivory, are you?”

She glanced away. “Ideally, I would and that would be the end of it. But it’s not that simple. Pasture has been a powder keg for years. These ex-Cartel might just be the fire that sets it off.”

I forced myself to hold Dusky’s gaze, frowning. “Y-you’re not making me feel better about you going on without me.”

She came in closer to the bed and pulled me into a hug. “I know. I wish things weren’t so dire, that I could wait. But, I can’t. And I know I can’t do it alone. That’s why I need you to bring backup so we stand a chance if the worst comes to pass.”

I hugged her as tight as I could. Doubt and fear fought with my feelings for her. That resolve won out at last. “How will we find you?”

She stayed close, resting her head against me as she thought. “There’s an old, abandoned estate about a mile out of town, near the edge of the forest. One of the buildings there is an observatory. Once I’ve had a chance to look around and determine the safest place to meet, I’ll leave a message there.”

“Old observatory… okay.” I leaned against her, not wanting to let go. “Then what?”

“If things are somehow simple, then Ivory and I will meet you in Iron Shoe. If not… we’ll need to improvise. I’ll try to gather as much information as I can while I’m searching for her.” The way she said improvise told me that she already knew that was how things would most likely pan out.

I sighed. There wasn’t anything I could do now. The leg injury was bad enough that I’d be useless if I rushed off with her right away, and she’d likely already factored that in. “I… I don’t like it. In fact, I hate it. Promise me you’ll be careful.”

She forced a smile. “I promise. I didn’t get this far by being reckless, after all.”

I kicked at the bed with a hoof, feeling myself tear up. “D-damnit Dusky… you shouldn’t have to face things like this… not alone. … I… I promise you, when we’re back, when we finally have the time to breathe and be together… I—”

Dusky eased forward and interrupted me with a kiss.

My face flushed, but I returned her kiss with a sigh, not wanting it to end. When Dusky pulled away, I looked up at her sadly. “I love you, Dusky. Stay safe.”

She nodded. “You too, Night Light. Love you too.”

She turned back towards the door and hesitated, seemingly split between going or staying.

Indecision simply wasn’t befitting her, and I already knew the choice she had to make, as much as I hated that she had to make it at all. “I’ll… I’ll see you soon enough. Tell Ivory… tell her that her friends are coming to help.”

She looked back at me and gave me a weak smile as she steeled herself to fly out to fight once again, ready to risk her own life to save her friend. “I will.”

I smiled back, and tried to speak louder, but the words died in my throat. “Don’t be a hero…”

Dusky moved to the door, opening it to head out. She gave me another look, a sad smile, all of her pain and fear and bravery on display in that single moment as she went out once again. That smile was maybe meant for me alone, it was Dusky at her most vulnerable. It had been from her deepest core, and said more about her in one moment than I could say in a lifetime.

I should have been at her side. Instead, I fell back into bed, feeling useless. Merri and Star would be visiting soon enough, I’m sure. Mint as well. I wanted nothing more than to see this finished, and to give Dusky a chance to be happy without worry for her friends or fear for herself. We’d taken the first step, the Banshee had been defeated, but it wasn’t over yet.

---

Of course I couldn’t get back to sleep after that. Even if I’d wanted to. Dusky’s departure had been like a shot of adrenaline. I couldn’t do anything but sit there in silence and wait. She was flying off into a warzone. I should be there with her, and instead, I was here, second guessing myself for not pushing harder to leave right then and there.

My wound was deep, but didn’t do much more than sting horribly so long as I didn’t put any pressure on it. A day or two, Nurse Redheart had said. Then she’d patch the leg up one more time and so long as I promised not to overexert myself, I could walk out without a cast. I would refrain from telling her that I was instantly rushing off to fight alongside my fiancee against criminal thugs and the bloodthirsty townsfolk hunting our friend. Best she not hear about that.

Dusky had said to gather up everyone to help. Backup. I’m not sure if she’d said that just to make me feel useful or… no, she didn’t know what was coming, and needed allies, even if I couldn’t be so sure who else would be with us other than Merri, Star, and Mint. Maybe I should tell Mahogany about this, or have Mint get Dusky’s friend who helped us in Fillydelphia, Blaze. The only pony I for certain couldn’t get involved was—

Terrabona pushed open the door, a mix of emotions on her face, “Dusky! Flurry! You’re back!” She looked about the room, but slowly realized it was only me.

I waved my good hoof. “Um… Hi, Terra. What um, what’s up?”

The conflicting fear and relief vanished, and at last her face settled on annoyance. “Why? Why didn’t you <i>tell</i> us?”

“T-tell you? Tell you… what now?”

She came in closer, poking a hoof against me. “This! That you two were back! That you’d been hurt! That… that... anything!”

I bit my lip, “W-well… we just had… something we had to take care of first… um, something… urgent.”

Terra narrowed her eyes. “Oh, I know. Merri told me. At least somepony felt I deserved to know that my friends were fighting and had gotten hurt! C’mon, Flurry, seriously, what the hell?”

Wincing as her tone shifted, I shook my head. “Star said you were pregnant… I didn’t want to put you in danger. We needed fighters, and Dusky—”

“Hey yeah! Where is Dusky?!” She glanced around the room as if Dusky had been hiding from her.

I frowned. “She’s… already left.”

Frowning, Terra prodded me again. “Left? Left for what!? Isn’t she injured too?”

“Not as badly.” I lowered my head. Terra deserved to know as much as any of our friends, but this wasn’t the best spot for sharing. “It’s not over yet. We won a pretty big victory, we think. But… there’s still more that has to be done, for Dusky. For her friends who are still in trouble.”

Terra glared at me, but her expression slowly began to soften as the implications sunk in. “Damnit, Dusky. I’m your friend too. You could have at least said hello.”

I sighed. “If she’d had the time, she would have. The only reason I’m not with her is because she needs her friends to follow after.”

“Follow after… This is like Myrtail isn’t it?” Terra frowned deeper, voice dropping. “Like Fillydelphia?”

I nodded slowly.

“D-damnit Dusky. H-how bad is it, Night? How worried should I be?”

I took a deep breath. I didn’t want to scare her, but I couldn’t lie to her. I knew that if she’d been able, Dusky would have told her the truth. “I mean, y-you’re fine. Everypony here is fine. Nothing else is coming after her… but… I… I’m petrified. She’s going after them this time. I… I think she knows it’s going to be rough.”

Terra laughed loudly and awkwardly, staring up at the ceiling. “Ha! Petrified, right! Right… So, I’m safe, but my friends are all rushing off to danger once again, and all I can do is sit here in Ponyville and wait. That’s no real relief, Flurry!”

I looked down at the bed. “It’s really not…”

She rolled her eyes, “You have no idea. At least I wasn’t worried about you two while you were on your trip, but I guess I should have been. I’d drink enough for both of you, but I can’t now.”

I managed a smile. “I take it you don’t want to come meet up with Dusky, then?”

“What, are you crazy! I’m pregnant! I can’t go rushing off into a brawl! I couldn’t even kick a hoof before I was pregnant. I’ll leave that to you all. I guess that’s all I can do.” She sighed.

I poked her back at last, raising my hoof and forcing a grin. “Congratulations, by the way. Hopefully Starshadow didn’t ruin any plans to make it a surprise for us.”

“What? Ah, nah. And thanks…” Some of the weariness fell away, and was replaced by the most wicked smile I’d ever seen. “And according to your postcards, you deserve some congratulations as well, eh? I knew it, from the first moment I saw you two, I knew you and Dusky would make the perfect pair.”

“I guess you were right, then.”

“I’m always right.” She began to laugh, “Or at least, I’m eventually right.”

Laughing along, I took a moment to forget a bit of the things troubling us, but swiftly felt that weight return. Terra’s laugh petered out and we both tried to keep up the pretense. We were both worried to death about our friend.

Terra slowly sighed. “When you see her, tell her she better damn well make it back in one piece and tell me the whole story. She owes me.”

“Yeah… trust me, Terra, we’ll be around. She’ll have to spend an afternoon with you giving you all the details.”

She grinned once again, “Perfect. I’m holding you both to that, Flurry.”

Comments

[Yami Vizzini]

Tell Ivory… tell her that her friends are coming to help.

Would be interesting to see the others’ inital reactions to her, though.

One way or another, hopefully a long overdue reckoning is coming.