Equestria's Ray of Hope

by The_Darker_Fonts

Breaking the News

Ray wasn’t looking forward to tonight, but he desperately wanted to see the ponies once again. It had been a long day of marching, and the brief respite he was given by riding the Matriarch back to the wayport was a welcome, almost necessary moment to recollect himself before returning to Equestria. However, having to tell them they wouldn’t see him next month after expressly promising that he wouldn’t skip out on any more visits if he could felt… like a betrayal, even to him. It was necessary and there was no getting around it, but if they would understand was still anyone’s guess. Perhaps the older ponies would, since he had reminded them of the gravity of the war, but Apple Bloom? The filly was emotional, demanding, and he hadn’t shown her much of his… dark side, so she didn’t understand quite as deeply how draining the war and everything around it really was.

Today’s march had gone perfectly. The clouds from four straight days of rain had remained, though the downpour had stopped the night before. While there were giant flooded patches that the army would sometimes have to navigate around, by now much of the rainwater had in fact drained away. There was also a pleasantness to the shaded warmth, making today’s march less of an effort and feel leisurely, even if it was for a dark purpose. If the clouds remained even another day, there was no doubt they could make their goal of reaching the grasslands by the end of next week. The mugginess that followed the rainfall was the only slight issue the army had with temperature, and even then, compared to the suppressive sun it was nothing.

Camp had been set up on a hill not any different from those around it, though because of detours around flooded valleys between hills, it was about a mile inland. Ray could easily see the ocean from atop the Matriarch, though they were now moving much closer to the coastline. It was strange to think that in a singular day they had marched past the entirety of the harbor area, demonstrating just how small it really was. Twelve miles in one day was a new record, given they hadn’t had to stop frequently due to heat or exhaustion. It also put them considerably ahead of their original timeline, but there was already an unconscious agreement among the generals to stick to the current timeline.

They didn’t need to arrive early to the grasslands for any particular reason, and forcing the soldiers to keep a pace that was surprisingly swift wouldn’t pay off after even three or four days. Instead, they would probably take the blistering days slower when they came, a fair tradeoff for how far they had come on day one. Besides, even if they were early to the grasslands and found a battle sooner, what difference would it make? They had given up their advantage of surprise and now the war was entering its ninth month, and it had been over two months since the last battle. The minotaurs were already consolidating their forces against the Fallen or consolidated. Now was the time to bide their time, map out their enemy, and find their vulnerabilities.

Sitting up, Ray saw the harbor to their side, recognizing they were nearing the wayport rapidly. Having felt the human stir, the Matriarch idly questioned, “Do you believe they will be forgiving this time, Ray?”

“This time,” he questioned, resting a hand against her head. He felt more connected this way, able to read her better, and vice versa.

“Well, certainly this won’t be the last time something like this will occur, I presume,” the Matriarch stated, slowing down as the shining silver of the wayport catching the last rays of sunlight came into sight. “I’m just wondering if they will be permissive to reality this time, or if it will take this occasion to finally familiarize them with the inconsistent patterns of war.”

“Both, probably,” Ray sighed, holding on as the Matriarch came to a full stop, reaching up a feeler to the human. When once he would have found it humiliating or frightening for the gigantic arachnid to pick him up and set him down, he now knew it was simply an affectionate way for her to help him down. The appendage blindly wrapped around his waist so gently he barely noticed, though he wrapped an arm around it to keep his upper half balanced.

“Then who are you worried about,” the Matriarch asked.

“Apple Bloom, Fluttershy, and Rarity,” he named rapidly, before taking another moment to think. “Twilight, Sugar Belle, and maybe Big Mac, but only if it really tears up Apple Bloom, I think.”

“Sugar Belle,” the Matriarch pressed curiously.

“Big Mac’s wife, so my sister-in-law, technically,” Ray explained. “She makes some of the best food I’ve ever had in my entire life.” Pausing momentarily, he looked up at the Matriarch as she set him down, inquiring, “Can you taste pastries?”

“Not in a way you can, I don’t think,” the World Weaver replied, though there was humor in her tone. “I’ve never truly tasted food, and pies made by ponies may not ever register a response. Even minotaurs are like singular tufts of grass, though I usually consume enough of them per battle to perpetuate homeostasis. Although, that is a manner of illusionment.”

“Pardon,” Ray requested with the slightest smirk. Sometimes the Matriarch forgot his lexicon was much less diverse than her own when it came to rapidfire conversation.

“I don’t require constant nourishment, especially not since the earliest days of my creation, hence the two thousand years in which I resided in Tartarus,” the Matriarch stated. “However, I can still consume, my body just has a more unique way of dealing with excess food. It promotes reactions in my body that give me the urge to lay eggs, raise spiderlings, or build a hovel. I’ve already turned the shabby mines of the minotaurs into a rather delightful residence for myself and my kin. The next most convenient urge to fulfill would be having more children, though at this time I have no desire for that. Instead, I think I would need to use my silks for something more draining and fantastical or resign myself to slowly gaining more weight. I’m very conscious of it, however, and don’t wish to gain any more than what I have currently.”

“Wait, you’re worried about your weight,” Ray questioned, doing a mental doubletake. “You're the most massive creature I’ve ever seen, and you’re worried about your calories?”

“Of course,” the Matriarch confirmed meekly. “The ground already shakes with every step I take. It’d be quite embarrassing if it shattered.”

Ray blinked at the spectacular spider before laughing at the statement, unable to help himself. “You’re such a confusing creature.”

“Likewise,” she replied, lowering her head so that her mandibles were mere inches from the ground. “Now, I recommend you make your way to Equestria before you get chewed off by Twilight for being late and the rest for next month.”

“Yeah, I probably should,” Ray reluctantly agreed, looking at the western horizon. The sun had definitively set, with the moonlight filtering through the lasting clouds. It was still strange to see the puffy white bodies floating in the air, especially in such numbers after five days of rain. Finally looking back into the face of the Matriarch, he told her, “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Good luck, lordling,” she endeared in return, watching as he stepped into the center of the wayport. Without much gusto, he raised the pendant into the air and allowed the beams of silver moonlight to activate the portal. In an instant, he was surrounded in warm, bright light.

In the blink of an eye, he was in the Equestrian throne room, standing on top of the little wayport there. Blinking into focus, he didn’t even have time to turn around as Twilight said from behind, “Y’know, I should have told you to just teleport to Skalos’ cabin instead. It would’ve been much easier for the both of us.”

“Yeah, but I actually have something to talk about this time,” Ray told her, turning over his shoulder with a slight frown. “And you definitely won’t be happy about it.”

“Oh, sweet Celestia, tell me it wasn’t a battle,” Twilight demanded, her eyes widening in fear.

Raising his hands in an attempt to make an easing gesture, he told her, “No, we didn’t fight any battles. We remained in place, mostly.”

“Mostly,” the Princess questioned with a quizzical look.

“We began marching today,” Ray told her, quickly continuing before she could interrupt him. “The spiderlings we sent out last month finally made it back a few days ago, and we made plans to march to the new areas they discovered in hopes of finally finding the minotaurs. There are grasslands and forests to the north that indicate a greater likelihood of minotaurs and maybe even permanent water sources. However, they’re pretty far north, two weeks of marching by our estimate, and we wanted to set off as soon as possible. That does mean that I won’t be able to make it back to the wayport by the next full moon, even if we encounter nothing on our way up there or once we arrive.”

“You’re not going to be here next month,” Twilight interrogated, her voice slightly angry. “Why wouldn’t you warn me about this plan?”

“I fight this war how I see fit and I listen to the advice of my well-experienced generals, Twilight,” Ray rebuked firmly, holding his ground against her. She was above guilt tripping him and he had to remind her that. “What must be done in this war may go against your best wishes Twilight. The element of surprise has been lost, so now we need to fight this war more conventionally. We can’t afford to wait around another half a year before our next battle. The pace needs to pick up and we need to learn more. If we’re lucky, our incapability to face the enemy rapidly won’t cause us as many troubles as we fear, however, there is still a reason we feared dilly-dallying.”

“Fine, but what do you plan to tell everypony else,” Twilight questioned, still visibly upset. “You’re kinda betraying expectations here, Ray.”

“I know, but it’s too important,” Ray replied, crossing his arms over his chest. “If anything, I’m keeping my promise I first made to protect Equestria no matter what. Their lives take precedent over their happiness when the war is concerned, not to mention the lives of my Fallen. I won’t let the wayport and my connection to Equestria restrict us.”

Twilight spent a sullen moment staring at the human, trying to pick apart his argument in her head, but ultimately she seemed to give up. “Very well, but don’t expect me to back you up in front of the others. I really would have appreciated some warning.”

“If I could have given you more than this, I would,” he promised her, letting his arms drop to his side. “Really, I do feel guilty about having to go back on my word, but the end of the war is somewhere out there, and it isn’t just coming to us like we hoped. We have to take charge now and dive into the enemy’s land, as far as we can and as deep as we need in order to destroy them. I just hope the others will understand, or at least forgive me.”

“I hope they will as well,” Twilight mumbled with the slightest tinge of empathy in her voice. Without a word, she lit her horn, a silent question that Ray answered with a nod of his head. As always, the flash of Twilight’s magic was slightly shocking and arriving so immediately in a new location left him slightly off-balance, but a moment was all he needed to steady himself.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he turned and walked towards the door of his house, barely registering his surroundings. There was hardly any need too, given he could clearly see the ponies in his home through the open window. He did note, with a little surprise, that the air was cold and dry, the ground stiff but not frigid. There were small patches of snow here and there, but ultimately, winter seemed to be passing away. What month was it in Equestria? February? March? It was a little concerning that he couldn't remember.

The door burst open and three smaller forms rushed out in excitement to greet him, showing the slightest mercy as they only tightly wrapped themselves around his legs instead of completely tackling him. Laughing, he bent to scoop them up, surprising all four of them with how easily he managed to pick them up. For a brief, happy moment, he forgot the bad news he’d have to bear as he held the CMC, glad to feel their hooves wrap around his neck. Once he had set him down, he took his time to embrace each of the others independently, before ending off with Discord, who had a strange glint in his eye.

Before he could question it, though, Applejack hurriedly stated, “It’s so good ta see ya, Ray. We’ve got some very excitin’ news ta tell ya, if’n ya don’t have anythin’ ta tell us first.”

“Well, AJ, I do have some unfortunate news, but I’ll make it quick,” Ray told her with a sad smile. Seeing the entire group tense up fearfully, he quickly abridged, “Nothing bad has happened, but we do have to march far from the wayport this month. We’ve discovered lands that are promising, and we want to investigate them for minotaurs. Unfortunately, because they’re so far away, I won’t be able to visit you all next month. I promise, this wasn’t intentional, but luck turned in our favor and we’ve finally made a breakthrough on the Golden Plains.”

For a long, quiet moment, the ponies stood staring at the human, each waiting for the other to say something, until at last, Rainbow Dash simply shrugged, “Coulda been worse…”

“At least… you were here,” Scootaloo added, though her attempt at sounding optimistic was half-hearted at best.

“I know I promised I would do what I could to visit you guys every full moon, but this is an important discovery that can’t go unexplored,” Ray endeared, crouching down. Their eyes were on him, though he noticed the way they also briefly shot from one to another when they thought he wasn’t looking. Sighing deeply, he forced a smile as he promised, “No matter what, I’ll be here in two months, and that’s gotta count for something, right? No matter what, even if the entire minotaur army shows up, we’ll fight them off and keep Equestria safe, and I’ll be there for you all in two months.”

“And you’re here with us for tonight, and that’s all we can ask from Ray,” Fluttershy spoke up. “He promised he would be here tonight, and he looks- and kind of smells- very tired, so let’s just give him a rest. He’s doing what he promised. Thank you, Ray.”

The human blinked at the kind pegasus, unable to read anything past her warm smile. An indescribable wave of relief washed over him as, silently, the rest of the group came to the same consensus, nodding in agreement or moving to return to the house. Trying his best to shake off the lingering air of hesitance, Ray asked Fluttershy indiscreetly, “What do you mean I kinda smell like I’m tired?”

“Humans seem to have a particularly detectable odor, dear,” Rarity explained for the pegasus with a smirk. “Usually it’s been washed off whenever you visit us, but this time it’s quite fresh and clear that you’ve worked hard today.”

“Well, we set out on our march today,” Ray explained, uncomfortable about revisiting the topic of the Fallen. “We marched twelve miles north, so it was a bit of an exhausting day.”

“And ya still made it back ta us,” Big Mac questioned incredulously, gesturing for the human to enter before him and his wife.

Giving him a thankful smile, he explained as he entered, “Well, the Matriarch helped me get back to the wayport in time for sunset, but it was close. I was technically a little late, but that’s also because night seems to be a bit later over there than here. Can’t really confirm of course, but the moon seems to have raised a fair bit more here than there.”

“I’m sure Twilight has some fancy-pants theory about why or how or whatnot, but we’ve got some news to break,” Rainbow Dash excitedly informed the human, piquing his interest.

“Well, I’m all ears then,” Ray declared, seating himself in the rocking chair. He couldn’t help but notice the way everyone wore the same sort of expression, excitement, apprehension, and the slightest hint of mischievousness at knowing something he did not.

He barely caught the look AJ and Dash shared before the former proudly proclaimed, “Well, I proposed to Rainbow Dash the day after you left-”

“- and I said yes,” Dash interrupted with exhilaration.

“- so we’re gettin’ married this August, on th’ full moon so you can be there,” Applejack finished with the most joyous smile he had ever seen. Rainbow pulled her fiance in for a quick kiss, leaving Ray more than speechless as he grinned ear-to-ear at the news.

“Wow, geez- I mean, congratulations you too, I’m so happy for you,” he said, leaning forward in his seat as he met the two mares’ proud gaze. “Really, this is great news! How did you do it?”

“Ah, well, shucks, it weren’t much,” Applejack began with a modest blush, before getting playfully shoved by Dash.

“Oh shut up, you, it was perfect,” the rainbow pegasus silenced playfully. Her eyes grew dreamy as she told Ray, “The sneaky mare invited me on a little run, and of course I went along with it. I didn’t expect anything to happen, but then- bam- we were on the same path as the Running of the Leaves. We got to where the starting line always is, stopped, and pulled out a ring and asked me if I’d start another adventure with her here, where we had begun so many other ones. And I mean, how could I ever say no? It was just too perfect!”

“It was so sweet, man,” Scootaloo suddenly sighed. “We were all watching from the bushes because the girls and I had spent the morning hyping up AJ to finally do it, and when Rainbow said ‘Yes’... well, she was blushing so hard she was only one color of the rainbow!”

“It was pretty romantic, coming from her,” Rainbow agreed, nuzzling against the earth pony mare. She returned the gesture and Ray couldn’t help but beam at them. He didn’t know exactly why he felt so radiant at the news, but he indulged in the rare, pure bliss. His friends were getting married, a couple almost too perfect to have been made in anything but a dream.

“Wedding’s gonna be here, at the farm,” Big Mac explained. “Gotta gather th’ family for it, which is half th’ reason we’re waitin’ ‘till August.”

“That and it’s both a’ our’s favorite season,” Applejack added. “A full moon wedding in th’ crisp autumn air is just perfect fer an Apple-Dash union.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Ray nodded with approval. “No matter what, I’ll be there,” he promised them, slapping his hands against his knees energetically. “I’ll see what I can wrangle as a wedding gift for you two, but no promises it’ll be the coolest thing in the world.”

“Ray, your life is already a legend,” Rainbow teased. “Just having you there will be enough.”

Much of the rest of the night was spent talking about the wedding. Not once did Ray’s smile waver or his emotions change. He was stuck in his shocked state of joy and delight for the two mares. Tales of the two from their youth to events he had missed while in the Tauran plains were shared, along with some of Sugar Belle’s finest catering. It wasn’t until the waning hours of the morning that Ray had to take a break to use the restroom, and even then he did so in a hurry, not wanting to miss a moment with the happy couple. However, when he emerged from the bathroom in his room, he found Fluttershy and Discord there, the mare flying in the air beside the draconequus, both waiting nervously for him.

His joy fleeing at the sight of them, he immediately paused, looking them up and down before asking, “Hey, what’s the matter?”

“Well, we didn’t want to say it in front of everypony else because they already know, and it is kinda personal, but… well, Ray…” Discord began, his confidence fading as his words became indistinct mumbles.

“We’ve decided to make ourselves an official couple now, Ray,” Fluttershy finished, staring intently at the human. For a moment, he stood there, slightly perplexed. They had been a couple in everything but word before, so what did them making it official have to do with…

“Oh, I get it… do you want me to approved,” he realized, giving them a questioning quirk of his eyebrows. “Why?”

“Well, I know we clarified that we weren’t ever going to be anything romantic, but I still highly value what you think… and thought it’d be best to tell you about Discord and I, since you’re the only other creature I’ve had feelings for like this,” Fluttershy revealed with a tinge of worry.

“Of course I approve, but you didn’t need my approval,” Ray told the pair, still giving them a quizzical stare. “You’re both your own people. Do what you want. I’m happy for you, actually. You two definitely do good for each other. Enjoy this, if anything, and don’t worry about me. This is what I want, for all three of us.”

“Honestly, I thought you’d be more offended,” Discord said before snapping his mouth close with a claw. Fluttershy gave the draconequus a befuddled stare as if to ask why he would say such a thing while Ray simply rolled his eyes. Prying the claw from his face, Discord defensively stated, “Well, to be fair, it kinda looks like he goes off to war and I just swoop in and steal the mare.”

“She was never anyone’s to be stolen, and both of us already identified that our feelings for each other were misguided,” Ray patiently explained, eliciting a relieved sigh from Fluttershy. “I mistook my need for friendship and closeness for romance. I can’t speak for Fluttershy, but I’m guessing it was similar for her.”

“Exactly,” the mare agreed with a mature smile. They had a perfect understanding, and now Discord’s eyes seemed to light up as he realized he had both been wrong about Ray and that he wasn’t competing with the human.

“Well, in that case, I’m very happy we had this talk,” the draconequus said with a confident grin. After a second of thought, he hesitated and asked, “You do approve, though, right?”

“Of course I do,” Ray assured him, looking back and forth between two of his closest friends. “I’m looking forward to the future you’ll have together.”

Author's Note:

Hurray, a much more lighthearted chapter to go around! As always, questions, comments, and concerns welcome and wanted!