Mending Light

by Kiromancer

89 - Opportunity

For all our worries that the mercenaries might catch us off guard, it was almost a relief to hear their forces smashing through the forest. At least we knew where they were coming from, and when they'd get here. Dusky and Starshadow had some initial concern that they might be using the noise to distract from another, stealthier force, but both Mint and Blaze scouted out the surroundings. The mercenaries were just coming straight through, no tricks, just the tactical subtlety of using a sledgehammer to pound in nails.

They spent a day approaching and forming into position. Enough time for our preparations to be completed. Ivory was stationed as far back as possible, visible to the mercenaries to make a show of it, with her army arrayed between her, and the mercenaries. It was her job to coordinate everything, and when the battle reached the height of confusion, to get lost, substituting herself for the double. Then, she could escape deeper into the mansion, into the safe rooms, and out the hidden tunnel in the rear.

Dusky was waiting in the mansion, there with Star, Feather, and Blaze, to make sure the safe room was undetected and safe for the retreat. I waited with Merri, Mint, and Icicle at the rear entrance, making sure that once they were heading out, they didn't meet an ambush in the rocky corridor that would lead us out of this nightmare at last. I tried not to let my concern for Dusky get to me.

That gut feeling that Dusky had shared with me that the plan might not work at all wasn't helping. She tried to cover her bases in that direction too, and she'd told us a signal she'd give if she needed backup. If that was the case, it'd mean our escape tunnel was compromised, or just impossible to reach, and our small force would have to take off around the mansion and try to flank the mercenaries to buy time. It wasn't the best wildcard, but it was really all we had.

I was on the ground, anxiously pacing between the canyon walls. I had no desire to watch the battle, even if in theory, nopony alive was going to get hurt. Ivory’s zombies were disturbing enough, let alone seeing the gore of the battle. But I didn’t have the luxury of completely tuning it out, so I kept my ears up to listen, and to watch the canyon exit for any stray mercenaries who might spot us.

Mint was carefully perched atop one of the walls of the canyon, doing her best to lay low and spy the battle, both to keep an eye out for any air support snooping too close, and to watch for Dusky's signal. She glanced about, keeping her head low. "We're lucky, not many pegasi. That might keep us safe, and will definitely help Ivory move when she needs to."

Icicle glanced up at the sky from his position beside Merri. "Cloudy, though. I don't think there's rain planned, but lots of space to hide reinforcements up there, if they're willing to hide out at that altitude."

Merri, the sole unicorn in our group, sat near the magical barrier, as she and Star had convinced Ivory to teach them the spell to open and close it. She hummed quietly to herself as she lifted her head to follow Icicle's eyeline. "Hope not. If they are, let's hope we're too boring to notice hiding out here. The shows all up front this time. Shame Sis is gonna have all the fun."

I shook my head at Merri’s comment, but almost felt the same way. Not the 'fun' aspect, but I was certainly nervous about Dusky being that much closer to things. Hopefully her gut was wrong, and the distraction would be enough to ensure none of us were in harm's way. Somehow I doubted it, though. Dusky's gut seemed pretty reliable.

A horn cut through the forest, echoing in the canyon and we all went stiff.

Mint leaned forward up above. Being the only one watching things directly, she was going to be giving us the play-by-play. "The camel’s here. He’s moving forward now. Guess things are getting started."

The booming voice filled the air like thunder, loud enough for us to hear the words clearly from the back. "Necromancer filth! Today is the day the Crimson Hooves bring your tyranny to an end! Forward!"

Anything else he might have said was drowned out by the shouts of the mercenaries and their clanging weapons and armor. The initial collision between them and Ivory's zombies made me flinch, and then the noise just became a single unintelligible cacophony. The war had started.

Mint watched, eyes scanning back and forth to follow the battle. "This... isn't going too badly. If they keep up like this, at least."

"Uh, I don't think that's their plan." Icicle pointed a hoof up at the sky where he'd be watching. From above, a few pegasi had indeed descended out of the cloud bank, carrying some kind of pots tied to their hooves.

Mint's eyes went wide, as we watched them sweep around the battlefield and out of view of the canyon. "Oh hells. They're making good on their promise."

The roar of the fire and the shadows it cast filled the canyon. Merri glanced up. "That Mayor may be an ass, but I guess he wasn't exaggerating. They're burning it all."

With a sick expression, Mint nodded. "Yeah, the zombies, themselves... by Celestia..."

I watched the sky above the canyon as smoke billowed upward, the clouds above reflecting the glow of the fire. I wanted to fly up towards Mint and peek for myself, but also knew I wouldn't like what I saw. "Are... are we still good? Any sign from Dusky?"

She shook her head. "Nothing from Dusky or the others. It's a mess but—"

Another voice rose above the din, but unlike Crimson Haze's voice, this one didn't roll across the battlefield. Instead, it was like somepony was whispering through a tube. I could hear it, but couldn't make it out. I twitched my ears, wondering if I was hallucinating. "Anyone else hearing that?"

Merri stood up slowly, craning her head. "Yeah, but that's really weird. It sounds way too quiet for us to be able to hear, but there it is. Got to be some kind of magic, but I can’t get a sense of it from here."

Icicle tilted his head, "It's like I'm eavesdropping on somepony's private conversation, but I can't make it out."

I glanced up at Mint, "What is that? Any clue?"

"No idea but... there's something else weird over there. I think that's..." Mint wasn't looking towards the battlefield, instead she was looking off into the west, away from the mansion. Suddenly, an odd look crossed her face. "Oookay. I think we need to move out."

I frowned. So it had come down to the worst case scenario. "Did Dusky give the signal?"

"Nah, this is way better." Mint slowly smiled and motioned everyone closer, waiting for Merri and Icicle to move in as she continued to watch to the west. "I've been keeping watch expecting the odd pony to stumble this way, or even a little squad to scout around the premises, but nothing. Instead of an army, I just spotted the biggest fish in the pond, just waiting for us to reel him in."

Merri perked up, taking my sister's meaning and clearly growing just as excited at the prospect, "Ohoho, you can't mean he came out here personally?"

Mint grinned wider as she peered down at Merri, "He absolutely did. Mayor Prideful Policy came with his personal entourage. He's got a small camp set up to give him a good view of the Manor entrance without being so close as to put him in danger. It's outside the ring of fire too, so I’m afraid he won't even be getting reinforcements from the force at the mansion."

Returning Mint's eager smile, Merri clapped her forehooves together. "Ha! Beautiful. How many with him?"

She turned back and squinted. "I count eight, but I'd wager there's a good dozen. These don't look like the mercenaries either, they're all green. These are just townsfolk playing soldier, probably only there so they can see Prideful revel in his 'victory'. We can handle this."

I waved a hoof to try and pull their attention away, "Whoa whoa, wait. The mayor? So that's four on, what, thirteen ponies? The odds are already against us here, and as anxious as I am just waiting for Dusky, that doesn't mean we can just run off on a... a crazy suicide mission."

Icicle sat back to consider. "So, what does getting the mayor get us? The battle's already happening."

Merri laughed, "For one, he's holding the purse strings on those mercenaries. You'd be amazed how quickly ponies like those stop fighting when the bits they've been promised disappear."

I blinked. "You... think we could actually stop the fighting?"

Mint shrugged. "Might, might not. I want him for Guard reasons. The abuse of power going on here, and the deals that Prideful's been making here in Pasture and Iron Shoe means the Guard will be very interested in talking to him. Catching him out here red-hooved just gives us that much better leverage on him."

"So it might stop the fighting now, but if nothing else, it'll let us remove him from his position and deliver him to the Guard." Icicle shrugged. "Sounds almost too good."

"And what if Dusky needs us while we're fighting there?" The odds were stacked against us on all sides, and if we were supposed to be the turning point of the battle if it went south... and if we weren't there when Dusky needed us...

Mint's ears fell back. "We'll have to capture him fast so we don't miss Dusky's signal, if she needs us out there."

"There's a lot we could gain here, Night." Merri stepped closer and set a hoof on my shoulder. "It's an opportunity no pony could anticipate, including Dusky. But there's risk, too. Dusky's your fiance, Night. It's gonna have to be your call."

I closed my eyes, my first thought being to wonder what Dusky would do in this situation. Dusky wasn't the type to take the easy way out. She'd do the right thing, but what exactly was the right thing in a situation like this? To stick to the plan, or to… do the right thing? That almost seemed to be the answer all by itself, but before I could think on it any further, Mint called out once again.

She whistled, waving her hoof up to me. “Hey! Get up here, Night. Something else is happening.”

I blinked, then hopped into the air, flying up to my sister’s side. She pointed, a hoof off towards the observatory we’d been using as our camp, but it had clearly become the center-point of the conflict, filled with holes like swiss cheese and the dust of recent debris shimmering as it caught the reflections of the dancing fire all around. There was a large hole in the wall on the top floor, giving a good view of the collapsed telescope and the interior of the third floor.

In a sudden flash of light, a cloud of shrapnel and debris rained down from the ceiling, another part of the wall came down. Peer through the widening hole, I gasped as two figures came into view. Dusky, and another pony, a stallion. My wings flared up, but Mint put a hoof against me to keep me from rushing off. Grimacing, I nodded and slowly settled back down, just as Dusky charged at the stallion.

Smashing against each other, the two figures seemed to hold still, pressing against each other. They seemed to hold still there, locked together head to head, as the seconds crawled onward. Then, Dusky pulled her head back and cracked it forward. The stallion staggered for only a second, and Dusky whirled in response, swinging out her wings, and likely her wingblade, against him. As her spin completed, she delivered the coup de grace of her attack with a sharp, solid kick that made me cringe.

The stallion’s head lopped back at an angle that definitely wasn’t natural, and he went limp. Dusky’s momentum was the only thing moving him as his body stumbled over the wall, falling three stories down.

Mint whistled. “I, uh… I think the plan’s officially off, now.”

I slowly nodded, watching as Dusky stood still, staring off, before turning back to rush down into the observatory.

“I, uh, guess so.” My mind raced over what I’d just seen. “I guess… she saw an opportunity to take out an important target… and she took it.”

Mint tilted her head at me and slowly grinned. “So, you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Prideful was the key to the mercenaries, and the central figure that enabled everything to build to this. I couldn't stop thinking about Dusky's doubt that the body double plan would fail, and Ivory's insistence that so long as she were alive, Prideful would always come after her. That vendetta, that open wound between the two, made up my mind completely.

If we captured Prideful, we’d stop the mercenaries, we’d end this damn war, and we could all go home that much faster. For Pasture, and for Ivory.

"Let's get him."

Comments

[Yami Vizzini]

Well, I guess it’s as good as any plan at this point.

[Kiromancer]

9682902
No plan survives first contact with the enemy!
Night is just trying to... 'be flexible', especially considering how quickly things have seemingly gone off the rails.