To Bring Light to Eternal Darkness

by scifipony

Nightwalker

I tore out of the house, barely noticing that Da and Summer Daze had gone to bed. The sun had dipped to the west but, because the mages had cast Sun Rise in the early afternoon a'clock, it had to be evening. I softly shut the door and the gate, cushioning them as the first hissed into the jam and the second clicked into the strike. Nopony was out on the street, nopony but me.

I shuddered, remembering Umbra's deep voice as he warned: "Do not force my position by further impropriety."

Nightwalking—being alone, at night, wandering the street, unmarried, not escorted by my father or brother—was exceedingly improper behavior for a mare. It might even be a crime, though I knew of nopony who admitted to having been caught. I raised my hood, then pulled the ties so the midpoint of the hood caught on my horn before I snugged it to my throat. The overhanging sleeve of fabric shaded my face to the tip of my muzzle. It interfered with my sight, and it might hamper my spell casting, but it was something. I'd have given most anything to have had Summer Daze's Don't See, Don't Look, Don't Hear and the skill to cast it, but I'd have to rely on luck—and to sticking to the dried grass and dirt to muffle my hoofbeats while I avoided the broken poorly-repaired red and black cobbled town roads.

I didn't think to check the town clock tower until I was headed toward the Council Paddock. I jumped when it chimed midnight.

The entrance stood unguarded, so I walked in. Slowly. Rehearsing my plea. Figuring my negotiation points. Like how my brother was low maintenance. Give him a book, make sure he eats and sleeps, little more. Nothing more, really.

I went quietly, for surely everypony was sleeping. Waking them would be annoying enough, right…?

Looking down into the bowl of the amphitheater, I saw naught but swirling dust lofted by an arid breeze that whistled in the angled late-afternoon sun. The tables had vanished. Only a peppering of fresh horseshoe marks lying between clumps of dried grass indicated that anypony had visited here recently.

I had assumed they'd camped, but they were city-ponies. They might not do camping. That meant they lodged with folk in town. I hadn't spent any time gossiping since the Collegiate had posted their broadside. I'd have known "where" had my world not been turned upside-down.

Where could they be?

Of course! Obsessive Windell! He would have not only visited the testing grounds, he would have shadowed the mages wherever they'd lodged, just to see how they acted to glean any detail that might aid him in winning.

I raced to the Dells.

The basket-weavers were wealthy and it showed in the fresh whitewash upon the walls of their compound. The red tiles that topped them were perfect. Crusted with minerals, for sure, but none were broken. The pull bell on their gate gleamed.

I hesitated pulling the brass dewdrop. A'midnight had been fifteen minutes ago. I shook. I could wait no longer. I had to intercept the mages before they left town. I jerked the cord way too hard.

I heard the ding! from the street, and only then did I think how to explain everything. I had to assure that Windell didn't become envious and refuse to speak. And why was Summer Daze's sister asking? Right, he sent me—

The gate unlatched and creaked open in green magic. I caught sight of an unaccountably cute rumpled black mane and a minty-green face. I noticed a creme-white patch of thick fur that ran down his chest and between his forelegs. He wore only his cutie mark. His emeraline eyes went wide when he registered my mares-cloak and my lack of an accompanying stallion.

"Wha?" Windell cried and slammed the gate. "Who are you?"

"Sunny Daze," I hissed.

I heard retreating hooves and a whispered, "I'll fetch Fern."

"But I need to talk to you—" I said, my voice petering out.

A minute later, the gate creaked open to reveal a light green mare with a curly yellow mane full of clumps that resembled fiddleheads, wearing a worn purple nightshift. She rubbed a barely open dark-brown eye with a knee and said, blearily, "Sunny Daze?" Even the sound of my name sounded slow and sleepy. "Wha' time is it?"

"It's late. I figured out what happened with Summer Daze and the mages—"

Her wide yawn interrupted me. "I have a whole list of things that happened with the mages thanks to my pointy-headed brother. Can we go over it a'morning?"

"No, it'll be too late. I need to talk to your brother."

She yawned again, but opened the gate to usher me into the yard. Terracotta pots held small palms and various blue-green non-edible succulents. The white gravel looked freshly raked. "Aside from a lack of sleep, how can we be too late?"

"Can I please speak to your brother?"

She rolled her eyes, which sparkled in the sun. "Don't think you'll escape me gossiping about me chaperoning my brother and you late at night."

I had visions of a certain red-robed propoli. "Please don't."

"You're going to owe me a good story tomorrow."

"You wouldn't believe."

It must have been in my tone. Her eyes widened. "I'll get him."

I heard the crunch of hooves in the gravel and turned to face the brother and sister. Windell wore a white shirt, and he'd greased his black mane back. I found it funny how he slunk behind his sister, never quite looking at me. Coy. I'd never had an opportunity to meet a colt before, not one on one. Oddly, it didn't occur to me one would be shier about a meet-up than I was.

"Hi."

"Hi."

I got to the point. "Do you know where the Collegiate of Mages is lodging?"

"Lodging?"

Were all colts lost in their own world like my brother? "You know, like, staying in town?"

"Oh." His hooves crunched in the gravel as he approached. He glanced at me, peering up into my hood. "They're on a 'grand promenade.' They arrived just before the test and left immediately."

"What? Where?"

"Don't know. They packed up the wagons and rolled on down the main grade into the valley. Somewhere east from there, I think."

"They left immediately?"

"Yep."

"Oh, no!" I was shaking again. I didn't want to have to chase them all the way to the capital! "Thank you. Really. Gotta go!"

It didn't occur to me to wait for "morning" or go home to sleep. The further they got, the more likely I'd miss the road they took and the further I'd get into Unicornia, away from the safety of the High Desert.

I intemperately raced through town back toward the road that curved past the Council Paddock, no longer caring about the clatter my hooves made on the cobblestones—just about moving fast. I thought it was good, at least from what I'd overheard, that Greater Unicornia had no propriety police.

None.

Right?

Comments

[djthomp]

Given how the mages were behaving towards Sunny, it seems likely that at the very least they have different views towards mares. It may well be a better place to live in general, regardless of how things turn out with Summer and the collegium.

[Skulljack17]

Race, race! Let your hooves fly and your heart push you onward Sunny. You can do it!