Mending Light

by Kiromancer

85 - Eye of the Storm

We were flying against the clock now. We needed to learn more about Mayor Prideful, and that meant getting into Pasture. Unfortunately, we only had the remnants of the day before Crimson Haze returned to the town with his forces, assuming he hadn’t gone straight back, or worse, was hunting us down even now.

It was a sure thing that Mint, Icicle, and myself would be compromised among his thugs and the militia there, unless we went now, but we were in no condition to head to Pasture.

Mint had a deep gouge across her foreleg, Crimson Haze’s parting gift. For as bad as it looked,i t didn’t seem it was enough to slow her down, but it would definitely be enough to raise questions.

She waved a hoof suddenly, catching Gleam and my attention. Up ahead, a dark shape lay just barely concealed in the foliage. We slowed, ready to face this new threat.

Thankfully, the familiar form of Merri rose up from her hiding spot. Her dull red barding had been dirtied up to ensure it only barely showed against the trees. Already having spotted us, she waved as if we were overdue party guests.

Icicle darted ahead, grinning, "Merri! What's happening?"

"Heh, heya sexy." She smirked as she hugged Icicle, then stepped back to examine him. "Thought I heard a ruckus. I was just out scouting the road. How'd it go?"

Icicle looked over his shoulder at us. "I think we're all a little shaken. Things definitely could have gone better."

Mint landed on her hooves with a harsh laugh, "Definitely. It was fine in execution, but we didn't get much before we had a run in with that camel. Goes by Crimson Haze. He caught us off-guard, I got this before we escaped." She motioned towards the cut on her leg.

"Aw, that's no good." Merri moved forward, horn glowing as she examined the wound. "Crap. That seems fine, but it's deep and I'm no expert. You need to go see Sis', make sure that's not poisoned. I'd bet a creep like that is just the kind of guy who'd poison his weapons."

Mint's face went ashen. "I hadn't even considered poison. I was more focused on getting away."

Merri was quick to hold up a hoof, "Don't get panicky, I don't sense anything, but Sis' is way better about that kinda thing. I just want to be sure."

I sighed. "We've got a lead, but time's short. We need to try to find the Mayor of Pasture, a pony named Prideful."

Merri snickered. "With a name like that, I'll bet they're just a real humble, down-to-earth pony."

"Getting to the Mayor means we need to get inside Pasture, but I don't know if we can do it. We saw the defenses."

"Oh. Well, I can get in there no problem~." Merri grinned. "Been watching the road, and we're not alone out here. There's still some traffic between Iron Shoe and Pasture, mostly merchants but a bit of on-hoof travelers who probably have no clue what's going on beyond the increased presence of ponies in armor. A little bit of sweet talking and I'm sure they'll let me pass~."

I felt a weight growing on my shoulders, and knew that if I walked away now, I'd be kicking myself later. I breathed out a sigh. "I... I need to come too."

She eyed me carefully. "Oh? You sure? If that camel does come back early, it could be a lot of trouble, Night. If this guy is that good, he's gonna inform his company to watch out for you three."

"I know, I know but... I need to be there. I need to figure this out for myself. If anything's happened to Dusky..."

Merri relaxed a little, walking over to set a hoof on my shoulder. "Dusky's fine, I'm sure of it. But if you need into that town, I will get you into that town."

I nodded, smiling up at her. "Thanks, Merri. Besides... same reason I needed to go out this morning. I can't just sit back and watch you all do it for me. I have to help."

She turned back to Mint and Icicle. "Get her to Sis' and make sure to tell her how she got that wound."

Mint nodded, "I'm sure it's fine, but better safe than sorry. I'll let Star know… be careful, Nighty."

“I will be, Mint.” I felt myself flag a little, the adrenaline of the fight with Crimson Haze wearing out, but the day wasn’t over yet. “I won’t be a hero. I’ll see you back at the mansion.”

Merri grinned. "And Icicle, keep the bedroll warm for me~."

"Will do, dear." Icicle saluted with a grin, and helping my sister, the two flew off back to our basecamp.

"So then," Merri turned to offer her hoof to me. "Shall we go raid the town?"

---

It was definitely odd to switch tactics from sneaking through the forest, to sauntering straight down the road. Merri led the way in, practically whistling as she trotted down the packed dirt that connected Iron Shoe to, some great distance later, Las Pegasus. Pasture was just a minor detour along the way.

I soon recognized a part of the road, someplace where I had been not that long ago. At the time, I’d been fleeing alongside Dusky into the safety of the woods, before my first introduction to Ivory. I definitely hadn't thought I'd be back here so soon, and so casually. Hopefully none of the ponies that had chased us that day were still in Pasture, ready to point me out.

Merri smirked, leading the way down the road away from the main thoroughfare and towards the small town. She'd stowed her barding away in a hidey-hole, taking the time to clean up a little after the past few days, and now she somehow looked like she’d just stepped off the train again. She was definitely confident, and as we got closer, she turned to me and winked. “Just follow my lead~.”

The fortifications around Pasture gave off an eerily similar sense to the frontier forts of Ostfriesen, sitting at the edge of the Badlands awaiting the imminent monster attacks. Two ponies stood at the gate in the plain heavy plate of Crimson Hoof's band.

The first was an older earth pony mare with a purple coat. Her gaze was filled with menace as she watched our approach. On the other side of the gate was a rather bulky-looking yellow unicorn who looked more bored than intimidating.

The mare stepped into the center of the road as we got close. "Pasture isn't open to visitors. Turn back."

Merri tilted her head, then glanced back down the road. "Not open? We heard about some trouble further on in Iron Shoe, but didn’t know it’d reached out here. How far is it to Iron Shoe?”

The mercenary shrugged, “Couple hours, not my problem.”

Before I could blink, Merri had slipped in-between the two guards, a hoof wrapped around the mare. “Look, Iron Shoe isn’t safe, and Las Pegasus is too far away to get back to. This is the closest town. What’s going on in there that two travelers can’t get a room for the night, there’s an inn right?”

I was a bit surprised the mare didn’t do something to throw Merri away from her. Instead, she sighed, “Look, the town doesn’t want visitors. You’re not going to be getting a warm welcome, miss.”

“Silvertongue. Miss Silvertongue. Now, please, we’re just looking for a room. ” She grinned, letting her hoof fall off. “Tomorrow morning, we’ll be out on the road same way we came in, back down to Las Pegasus, I guess, if we can afford a room.”

I mirrored her sigh. “I think we can, provided we don’t stay in one of the big hotels.”

She nodded, then looked back at the mercenary, “Oh, shoot, hey, that really isn’t your problem. Just, uh, well… what do you say?”

The mare glanced over at the other guard, who just shrugged. “Boss said keep an eye out for anypony suspicious. Search the packs and let ‘em in.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, fine. Saddle bags on the ground. And step over by him.”

We complied, Merri slipping out of her saddle bags. My flight satchels were back in the mansion, so no worries there. I just hoped Merri had thought ahead far enough not to have anything incriminating.

The mercenary glanced in, rummaging through Merri’s first bag and pulling out a hair brush, some snacks, a bottle of suntan lotion, toothbrush, and then she stopped, looking up to give Merri a withering look. “Lingerie?”

Merri smirked, “Gotta keep things interesting, even on the road, right dear?” She glanced back at me and winked.

I blushed hard, starting to stutter out an answer but the guard cut me off. “Whatever. Let’s see the other bag.”

With a smirk, Merri watched my face. “Just some postcards and souvenirs in that one. And a few toys, of course~.”

My face only went redder, but the mare stopped. “You know what, forget it. Just get out of here.”

Gathering her things back into her opened bag, Merri levitated them both back onto her back, leading me into town.

I muttered a quiet “S-sorry,” to the guard as we walked past, but she remained stone-faced. The stallion was clearly suppressing a laugh though.

Somehow, we were inside Pasture. Now, all we had to do was find the Mayor’s house, and whatever else we could find. I glanced over at Merri, “Does the other bag actually have, um… well…”

She shrugged, “Nah. But it has a few things that’d be hard to explain. Your face sold it though.”

“G-glad I could help?”

Merri took the long path through town, circling the outer edge for a bit, just close enough to the wall to get a good look at everything, while just far enough into town so as not to look like we were snooping. From the forest, we’d observed the town long enough to map it out mentally, but knowing the layout didn’t help us as much as I’d have liked once we were inside.

We walked along, talking casually about the weather. Despite the heavy log walls and the ominous guard tower in the back, this could have passed for any town in Equestria. The sun was only a couple hours past noon at this point, and the townsfolk were out and about on what seemed like a daily routine.

At last, Merri stopped by a little shop as close to the town hall, eyeing some fresh produce. “What do you think, Night? Fresh? Imported?”

I looked down at the produce. “I don’t see a whole lot of farms around here… Maybe imported from somewhere around Iron Shoe?”

“Yeah, I dunno.” She glanced into the shop, calling out, “Hey shopkeep? Sir? Sorry to bother ya, but is this produce fresh?”

An older unicorn stepped out, eying us cautiously. “It’s fresh. Even through the crisis, we’re getting food, thanks to those ponies the Mayor hired. I’d be afraid to think what’d happen if they weren’t escorting the wagons from Iron Shoe.”

“Is… is that why they’re here? Escorting wagons?” I blinked, catching onto Merri’s game. “What’s attacking them, um, timber-wolves?”

The shopkeep glanced up and down the street, lingering on the town hall a moment, then gave us a look as if he were giving us the passcode to Celestia’s secret vaults. “You’ve heard of the Necromancer of Pasture, haven’t you?”

Merri took in a sharp breath, then shook her head. “Necromancer? Like, the dead? That’s horrible magic!”

He nodded. “It is. Some ponies say she’s just a legend, but we know the truth here. She’s older than any of us, sloughs off old bodies like a snake. She was even bold enough to attack the town a few years ago.”

“She’s really real, then?” Merri shivered rather convincingly. “Explains all the security, we had no idea!”

“N-no… none…” I hoped my lying passed off as just nervousness at the ‘terror of the necromancer’, but I didn’t much hear the response. Instead, my ears perked up at the rather loud slamming of a door. A Green-yellow pony in the same kind of flashy armor as the makeshift militia in Iron Shoe was storming up to the door, not bothering to knock.

I glanced over towards Merri, and she looked back and winked, then bowed her head as she flipped the storekeep some bits. “Thanks, for the apples and the warning. We’re just here for the night, and I’m all the more eager to get away from this town, no offense.”

“None taken. It’s my home, but… between the Necromancer, and these new guards, I just don’t even know sometimes…” He took the bits and headed back into the store.

Merri tossed me an apple. “C’mon. Let’s go find a nice shady tree to snack under.” She started heading towards just such a spot near the town hall.

Clutching the apple in one wing, I nodded, trying not to look back at the door. “R-right.”

Flopping down with her back against a tree, Merri whistled a bit, as she took a bite out of the apple, motioning me to sit down across from her. “Let’s just see here… if I were the Mayor, where would I want my office. Second floor, rear? No… Front and center? Yeah, he’s the sort to stand and look out over his town I bet.” Her horn glowed, and she pulled a little cup-shaped object out of her satchel.

“What’s that?” I leaned in to examine it.

“It’s a cup. Now hush. I don’t wanna do this too loudly, so eat your apple, and make sure no pony can see me from that angle.”

I glanced back towards town, then shifted in place, taking a bite as I did so. As Merri focused, soon enough, a voice began to emerge from the cup.

“-ting stupid, Moss! Those mercenaries are bleeding me on purpose, and I am getting sick of their excuses!” That had to be Prideful’s voice.

The other voice was obviously Moss, and though he’d entered the Hall rather agitated, he spoke rather calmly to the Mayor. “She’s either gone, or she’s holed up somewhere they can’t find. She’s spent years hidin’. And if I were you, I wouldn’t go tellin’ Crimson Haze he’s tryin’ to cheat you.”

Prideful practically spit, “Enough of that damn camel. He doesn’t scare me anymore. You go tell him he’s got ‘til the end of the week, you hear me! Burn the rest of the forest. Raze the mansion. I don't care what you have to do so long as you guarantee the safety of Pasture and bring me that monster's head!”

Comments

[Yami Vizzini]

It’s easy to forget sometimes how clever, or at least experienced, a warrior Merri is in her own right.

[Kiromancer]

9526039
For certain. Starshadow may act the more serious of the two, but that doesn't mean that Merriweather is a slacker.