Mending Light

by Kiromancer

90 - Pride Cometh

The fire and the roar of battle in the mansion behind us made stealth the best, and possibly the easiest, option. The air still had a few pegasi in it, enough to make flying too dangerous. The underbrush around the mansion and into the forest made it harder to sneak, but as we grew closer it became clear that no one was really watching nearby. Prideful and his retinue's full attention was on the mercenary's assault.

Their vantage point was a very good one, a raised hill on the western side of the forest. It was high enough to give him a view of the courtyard where Ivory's zombies still fought against the Crimson Hooves. The eastern side facing the mansion was a steep, rocky outcropping that would prevent anypony from approaching the hill without making a great deal of noise and easily being seen, and the north and south were both dense with underbrush and a steep climb. The western side was the obvious approach, a long winding path up the gently sloping ground that seemed like it had been well used once upon a time.

On the top, the hill leveled off. It would have made for a beautiful picnic spot, but the hellscape it overlooked now gave a much less romantic impression. With Mint in the lead, we moved towards the hill until we reached the sheer edge. From there, we turned and quietly climbed the northern side. Merri did her best to clear away brush and twigs with her magic to avoid any extra noise, while the rest of us would slowly fly just over ground level, keeping silent until we reached the top.

There were thirteen ponies in total, as Mint had predicted. Twelve guards, eight of which were all standing ill at-ease as they watched the battle. Four more stood close by a large, fancy tent, where Prideful himself sat with a triumphant grin on his face. The Mayor of Pasture sat on a purple cushion, eyes glued to the same scene as his guards. If his ‘troops’ all seemed uncomfortable watching what was happening, he seemed positively delighted by it. This was his moment of triumph.

Mint’s plan was simple enough. There were only four of us, but the guards around Prideful weren’t trained mercenaries, these were all townsfolk of Pasture. They looked more scared than happy at the scene ahead of them. Mint wanted to give them one last chance to surrender, to let Prideful turn himself in. Merri had objected, resulting in something of a compromise. Mint would step out and offer them their chance to give up. Merri would sneak around back with Icicle and take out anypony they could if, or when, negotiations went poorly. I was going to back up Mint.

Mint kept quiet in the last moments before we struck. She communicated simply by giving a few hoof signs. Merri nodded, giving a signal in response, and then she and Icicle disappeared back into the brush. Waiting a few moments longer, my sister signaled to me to get ready, and then she strode forward with her head held high, emerging into the camp.

There was a moment of pause in the clearing, uncertainty flashing over the faces of several of the guards, none quite sure what they were supposed to do or say to someone emerging out from the bushes. Perhaps Prideful had assured them they’d all be safely out of harm’s way, and the doubt flashing over their faces made me hope that Mint was convincing enough to make this work without violence.

“Prideful Policy, Mayor of Pasture.” Mint stared right at the earth pony with a devastatingly serious expression. “I am Sergeant Mint Creme, Canterlot Royal Guard. Tell these ponies to stand down. You’re coming with me to end this, and report for questioning.”

Prideful leaned forward from his tent, raising an eyebrow. "A single, unarmed, unarmored, totally unknown claiming to be from the Canterlot Royal Guard? Please, I wasn't born yesterday."

Mint smirked, but kept her tone the same. "I didn't say I came here alone." She glanced around at the guards, then addressed them. "You all can just put down your weapons and end this. No pony has to get hurt."

They were hesitant, a few moving their weapons into place, but the rest were looking at Prideful, waiting for an order.

"It pains me to do this too, my dear, but I can see through your lies." Prideful sighed, closing his eyes a moment, then stood up and addressed the ponies around him. "This poor mare has been deluded. No true Guard of Canterlot would fall for the Necromancer's words, but this poor mare has fallen victim to her poisons, be on guard! Now, please, my dear, let me give you the same chance, surrender, and no blame will be held against you for the Necromancer's treachery."

As he spoke, the eight ponies who had been overlooking the town had turned, lifting weapons, from spears to short swords. They walked closer to carefully encircle Mint, all eyes on her.

Mint sighed, "I really wanted to do this easy way, but if you call me 'my dear' one more time I'm going to vomit, so the hard way it is." She raised one wing and dropped it down.

Almost immediately, one of the guards outside Prideful’s tent dropped to the ground, Merri seemingly appearing from nowhere. As the other three guards near his tent turned to watch, Icicle lunged out of from the other side, bringing his forehooves down on the furthest guard, dropping him to the ground as well. The two turned to look at Prideful, the remaining two guards aiming their spears towards the pair and back up to protect the Mayor.

Prideful roared. “More traitors! Defenders of Pasture, stand true at my side! We will persevere through this treacherous assault! Copper! Spritely! Frame! Fall back and help us!”

Of the eight ponies that had been surrounding Mint, three glanced back, splitting off to help the two left at Prideful’s tent. The other five had weapons raised at Mint. One, an older mare in armor more well-kept than the other defenders, frowned. “Miss, just stand still and you won’t get hurt. We’re not here to kill anypony, we’re just here to stop the necromancer and save our town.”

Mint sighed, “Yeah, we don’t want to hurt anypony either. We’re here to make sure no pony has to die at all, including the necromancer. So, sorry about this.”

She moved like lightning, rushing towards one of the spear ponies before he could react. The older mare lunged, and Mint was quick to dodge out of the way, grabbing the first pony she’d reached and spinning him into a second, tumbling them both to the ground.

The other mare spun to follow her movement, and I leapt out of my hiding spot to assist Mint, rushing in to throw a hoof at the mare. She must have caught sight of me from the corner of her eye, as she turned just in time to turn my strike.

I flapped my wings to pull back quickly, trying to prevent her from getting in a strike at my open side. She was good, though, and already had her spear pulled back, letting it graze across my leg, the same leg that had taken the injury from the banshee. The wound split open once again and I bit my tongue to drown out that pain.

The mare, perhaps a retired guard or adventurer in her own right, didn’t press the attack, “We’re trying to protect our home. Stand down.”

I shook my head, “You’re trying to kill a pony who’s wrongfully accused. T-this isn’t protecting anything, it’s insanity.”

“You don’t understand what it’s like living in fear of her power.” She lifted her spear towards my other leg.

My eyes widened, and I tried to swallow my panic. “And you don’t understand that you’re being misled.”

She shook her head sorrowfully, clearly intending to prevent me from fighting any longer, but as she stabbed at my foreleg, I kicked forward on my bad leg, pushing through the pain. She didn’t startle, but her strike went wide as my wings buffeted against her head, knocking her helmet loose. She swung her spear wide and caught my side with the wooden pole, but it let me pull in my wing and grasp the spear handle.

Locked in close, neither of us refusing to let go of the spear, she tried to pull it free while I tried to spin it loose from her grasp. Tired of the tug of war, she dug in her hooves, and as she prepared to pull with all her might, I let the spear go and charged. Unprepared for the sudden lack of resistance, she fumbled the spear, leaving herself open as I headbutted her as hard as I could.

Head ringing at the impact, I stepped backwards, only for my leg to give up beneath me, forcing me to the ground. Looking up, I watched the mare wobble, a bit of blood running down her muzzle. She staggered back, dropping to one side, then she collapsed to the ground in front of me.

Mint was close by soon after, spinning one of our assailant’s spears in her wings and cracking it on the ground, breaking the metal tip off to leave her with a wooden staff. “You okay?”

I wearily stood back up and shook off the fuzziness of the impact. “Y-yeah.”

She leveled her makeshift shaft at the remaining three opponents, having apparently knocked one out while the first two she’d thrown had recovered from their fall. “Easy. You with me, Night?”

“I got your back, Sis.”

She smirked, keeping her eyes forward. “Just like you always promised, eh?”

I couldn’t help but smile, but did not have time to reply as two of the ponies charged forward, the unicorn levitating a rusty looking sword up and took a sloppy swing, but Mint batted it away with her staff. I galloped into the gap, passing Mint as she spun to strike one of the other ponies, and back to back, we batted aside our assailants.

Time stretched, and though perhaps only a minute or two had passed, but it felt like we’d dragged this fight on far too long. My leg ached from the renewed injury, threatening to fail me at any moment, but as we finished another series of strikes, Mint brought down the staff on the third pony’s head, sending him into unconsciousness. Only two remained.

A sudden cry drew my attention away from our foes. I glanced towards the scream of pain, immediately recognizing Merri’s voice. My heart sank, unsure what could have hit her that would possibly make her cry out so loudly. but before I could fully ascertain what had happened, my eyes locked onto a deep red shape disappearing down the hillside.

"Focus!” Mint’s voice drew me back to the fight before us.

I spun, eyes searching for an immediate threat. Mint was holding the last two of the defenders at bay, and I frowned. "He's getting away! Prideful!"

Mint swore, lashing out a wing to throw one of the two off balance. She was growing tired too, but as she sidestepped back from another spear strike and nodded to herself. Not looking toward me, she called out. "Night... mrph... go get him!"

My concern grew, but I didn't have time to sit and think about it though. I unfurled my wings and called out to my sister, "Mint! I'm counting on you! Stay safe!"

I took off before I could hear her response. No time for anything fancy, I just had to speed over the hill and down to spot the mayor, then dive in for the catch. I spotted Merri, clutching her side, a pool of blood on the ground below her as she backed away from her three combatants.

One of the ponies facing her looked back, a pegasus holding a long spear in one hoof. He spotted me, lifting his spear in his forelegs and taking to the air to intercept me. I'd have to slow or take the spear at full speed, and losing time in dogfighting this pegasus was going to cost me Prideful. The longer he had to run, the easier it would be for him to disappear into the forest, and if he got back to Pasture or any of his other forces, it was safe to assume we'd never get another opportunity like this, regardless of the outcome at the mansion.

The spear pony angled himself towards me, weapon ready as I began to slow. He wasn't smiling, and he started speaking to me, saying something that neither of us would get to hear as a sudden gray blur smashed into the hovering guard. Icicle Gleam dove into the pony, forehooves forward as the two of them collided, both collapsing together on their way down, corkscrewing together into a mess of limbs and wings. I hesitated, about to jump down to help Icicle, when a second voice shouted out.

"GO!" Merri called out, still fighting with her two remaining ponies.

Without any more hesitation, I went.

With the air clear and my friends holding the guards at bay, I pushed my wings to give me every bit of speed I could manage. I was no Rainbow Dash, never one to value speed in flying one way or another, but I could still outspeed a galloping earth pony if I had to. And right now, it felt like a lot depended on doing just that.

Prideful was running, but he hadn't deviated his course to try to get lost in the forest. Either he hadn't thought of trying to hide off the main path, or he didn't think it was necessary, I couldn't say. He didn't even look back as I caught up, and in emulation of Icicle's strike against the spearpony, I angled my hooves into a dive and let my wings fall back, dropping me like an arrow into the mayor.

I struck him at the top of the barrel, dropping him to the ground and tossing me forward as the momentum of our collision flipped me over his head and down the hill. I could hear him grunting somewhere behind me as the ground and the sky spun around me, my head smashing into something on the road, a sudden burning on my left temple. I finally came to a stop, catching my breath for a moment.

"Damned fool. You don't get it, do you?"

Adrenaline perhaps the only thing helping me move so quickly, I rolled upright and stood. Prideful's belly was covered in grit and patches of blood from his fall, his face bearing a nasty cut across the cheek, but his eyes were all fury.

"The things she brings back aren't even ponies anymore, just monsters, suffering endlessly. I've seen it since the beginning."

My left eye struggled to open, and wiping my hoof over it I found a stream of blood covering it. The gash on my head throbbed. "F-funny... to me, I only see one pony responsible for all the suffering today. A-all Ivory wants is a bit of trust, a-and all you've done is spread hate."

"And so this is revenge for her?" He dug in his hooves, making it clear this was going to be a fight.

I shook my head. "My sister would say justice. The guard is going to have a lot of questions, no matter what happens today. But, I just hate this... all this fighting and pain... and I think you're the pony in the best position to stop it all."

He chuckled grimly. "And what makes you think I'm going to stop any of this?"

"Y-you don't really get a choice... sorry." I lunged.

The ponies from town had been old veterans, ponies who were long out of practice, and ponies who had eagerly taught themselves to fight but had no real experience. They were backed into a corner, and fought fiercely. Prideful Policy was none of those things, and I doubted he'd ever seen a fight in his life. He talked a big game, but that was all.

My lunge was reckless, but he didn’t know that. Drawing up a hoof, I began to throw a feint to his right, and he fell for it with a smirk. He brought his hoof up to counter, leaving his left side exposed. I swung my hoof hard and struck him in the temple, a single blow was all it took to shut him up.

I panted as he collapsed to the ground, after everything else leading to this point, it was almost anticlimactic. Prideful Policy had caused enough pain that I couldn't feel sorry for him now. I hefted up the rather large earth pony, struggling under his weight, and began to carry him back up the hill to hopefully put an end to all of this.

Comments

[Yami Vizzini]

Finally!

Here's hoping everypony can be patched up....