Salvation

by voroshilov

Salvation

Beneath the cool sun of the early morning, dew-drops hanging lazily from the plasteel bars that rung her balcony, Sunless-Halo-of-Penumbra watched the arrival of a Dominion fleet.

Every muscle of her body was still sore and she was held up more by the solid bar than by her own strength. She had awoken merely an hour before, her brain still convinced that she was energised and in battle, whilst her body dully cried out that she needed to lie down for the next year.

From what she could tell, from her position overlooking one of Legion’s Hold’s many courtyards - now full with troops and materiel - the Dominion had been moving in troops all through the night.

The carcasses of the Worms had dissipated, crumbling into ash and floating away on the wind. No doubt a few Dominion personnel would be annoyed at that turn of events, though not for particularly long. All that mattered, as she knew, was that the Worms were gone.

She couldn’t keep herself from reflecting on the events of the previous day.

That had been him. That had been Emperor Nicholas - whether a ghost or the man himself didn’t matter - it was him. Oathbreaker had spoken to her, so too had Emperor Nicholas, earlier. Was it really him speaking to her? Or was it just a half-memory, something her mind conjured up in delusion?

She didn’t care that she would probably never know.

Normally, she would have rushed to find her friends. However, the screaming of all her joints and muscles marked out the moment to her as far from normal. She knew they were okay, of course, but she had to see them. She also really had to rest.

“Rest now,” she mumbled, “friends later.”

With no further fanfare, she slumped to the ground. Hard plasteel was comfortable enough.

When she next awoke, she beheld the cool sun of early morning, dew-drops lazily hanging from the plasteel bars of her balcony and from her whole body. She groaned as she rose, shaking off the dew and the tightness that came with sleeping on metal with no support. Regardless of that, she felt again energised - not enough to cast any sort of magic, mind.

“Friends now,” she mumbled.

Her quarters had been chosen by a Dominion officer for its comfortable bed and spaciousness, she assumed, for certainly her unconscious body had no say in the matter. It was, though she didn’t particularly have the mindset to thoroughly enjoy it, a good choice.

She thanked whoever that officer had been for placing her in the central keep, closest to where her friends were likely staying. Energised - the term used far more loosely than any serious lexicographer would allow - didn’t mean up for a long-distance hike, especially considering she hadn’t the foggiest clue where her friends actually were, meaning she could well end up walking for twenty miles in the wrong direction without realising.

Hyper-aware of that fact, she trudged to her door. Not even the four thousand years of her life in the Irenton Dominion had got her used to the semi-automatic doors that the Irenton populace seemed to so adore. Sometimes, she leant in to press the button to open the door, which would always result in some hidden motion sensor detecting her and opening the door before she was ready, scaring the wits out of her; other-times, she would walk forwards, expecting the motion sensor to detect her, only for it to not and her face to become suddenly introduced to a new and pleasant friend which called itself “two inches of solid plasteel”.

Sure enough, she leaned in to press the button, only for the door to swing open. She murmured a grumble under her breath, only to be cut off mid fairly mild curse by a voice.

“Penumbra.”

Her head jerked upwards with all the speed her tired joints and tireder mind would allow. There before her, looking regal and radiant as ever, was Astrid. The umber rays of the early morning sun lit up her armour like fireflies in the night sky and thin sparkles lined the fluting. The blade of her Dreamblade, scabbarded on her hip, could be seen to glow a faint purple. Her hair was done up in an immaculate plait, not a single hair out of place. She looked, for all intents and purposes, like she had never fought a day in her life - only Penumbra’s knowledge and the strength of her lean muscle gave away that she had.

“Yeah.” Penumbra’s reply sounded so distant, even to herself.

Astrid’s lip cocked into a smirk. “They really banged us up, huh?”

Penumbra nodded. “Yeah.”

Astrid was far stronger than even she looked, Penumbra thought as Astrid locked into an embrace, but gentler too.

As the pair of them walked towards the Retaliator, safely sequestered away from the fighting inside one of Legion’s Hold’s shielded landing pads, Penumbra knew it would soon be over.

Weeks, months even, of stressors and fighting and ancient vendettas had taken its toll on her, true. And yet, as the Retaliator’s silver hull glistened in the mid-morning sun, she found herself lamenting that it was coming to an end. Four thousand years of waiting, four thousand years of wanting, and now her latest adventure was reaching its final pages. She walked slowly, deliberately, determined to hold desperately onto these last moments.

It would soon be over.

Sunless-Halo-of-Penumbra, joined by her friends, new and old, had won. Astrid, Ablazed Glory, Sun Glow and Moon Glow, and Cain, they had been victorious. All that was left was to divide the spoils, as it were, and depart. A happily ever after ending, but one spent apart.

She would miss Ablazed Glory’s jokes, her willingness to have fun, her complete disregard for personal safety in the name of aeronautical acrobatics. She would not miss the smell of cigarette smoke and alcohol permeating all of her things. Nor would she miss the many, many petty crimes she was involved in.

She would miss the Glow Sisters’ insights, their little determined glances they gave whenever they conquered another fear, their penchant for drinking tea from one cup shared between the two of them - okay, no she wouldn’t, she could happily live without that mess.

She would miss Cain’s logic, its cold and calculated yet somehow still fiery and lively discussions of intellectual matters, its surprisingly playful debates with Ablazed Glory, and its ability to think beyond an organic creature’s orthodoxy. Above all, she would miss its ability to brew the objectively perfect cup of tea - to hell with what Ablazed Glory said, the sugar went in before the milk.

She would miss Astrid. That was all.

“Penumbra,” Astrid said, turning around to beckon her forwards.

Penumbra had been stood stock still for minutes. She sighed, involuntarily, then gave a little chuckle. “Gods,” she whispered, as if the word was taboo, “I don’t want to go.”

Astrid smiled. “All good things.”

“I know, I know. I just.” She turned back to Legion’s Hold - battered as it was from the Worms’ attack - “It’ll be so strange, being all alone again.”

All good things must come to an end, she knew, so why was it so hard to move forwards?

“Penumbra.” Astrid closed the gap between them, placing an arm over Penumbra’s shoulder. “This chapter of the long book of our lives may be closing, but another one will begin right after it, that’s how books work.”

Penumbra shook her head, she couldn’t help but argue. “No, this isn’t the end of just a chapter. A whole story is coming to a close here. One book of many. I happened to like the characters and their interactions in this book though, I don’t want it to end, even though it has too.”

They stood in silence for a moment; there was no rush to leave, after all.

When they finally reached the Retaliator, Penumbra had expected a tirade from Ablazed Glory, but none came. Instead, the typically fiery alicorn seemed subdued, her flames small and timid.

“Well,” Penumbra said, “this is it.”

The Glow Sisters nod. Ablazed Glory looks down at the ground.

Penumbra lets out a cross between a chuckle and a sigh, unwilling to pin it down to one or the other. “We won.”

Normally, that would have been a cause for celebration. Yet, in the balmy late-morning sun, none of the group could say they felt like giving so much as a cheer.

“It’s time to part ways.”

Ablazed Glory nodded then.

“The Glow Sisters and I,” she said, almost hesitant, “we’re going to go back to New Horizons. When you were asleep we started drafting a few plans. We’re going to make a new life for Equestrians: ponies, Changelings, dragons, and all.”

Penumbra nodded glumly. She had known full well Ablazed Glory and the Glow Sisters would go off, and was almost certain they’d go back to New Horizons, but to hear it confirmed still stung.

“I shall sleep,” Cain said, “until I am needed again.”

Penumbra couldn’t even bring herself to nod.

When the Retaliator entered the orbit of Sanctuary’s Watch, Penumbra was suddenly reminded of the old feeling she had when she first boarded it. It wasn’t a lively home-away-from-home anymore, it felt alien, empty and quiet.

The tea beside her had gone cold hours ago, still half full. Everytime she had taken a sip it had reminded her of something Ablazed Glory or the Glow Sisters had said when she was drinking before, then a wave of melancholy and disquiet washed over her and she had to set it down again.

“Penumbra,” Astrid’s sweet voice punctured through the din of her mood. Now would come the moment she had been dreading, perhaps the reason why Ablazed Glory and the Glow Sisters leaving still felt so painfully active.

Penumbra’s silence was answer enough to the Archon. “If it is quite alright, I should like to stay with you.”

To stay she was stunned would be an understatement. Penumbra’s jaw flapped open and closed for a few seconds. Even her immense mental fortitude struggled to wrestle back control of her body.

“Ah, you, you would?”

Astrid chuckled. “Of course. Do you have anything you would like to do?”

Still taken-aback, Penumbra nodded slowly. “Erm. Yes, I suppose so. I do like to star-gaze?” She mentally chided herself for phrasing it like a question.

“Then let us take Cain to its spot of rest, then we shall go star-gazing together.”

Slowly, but with more certainty, Penumbra nodded. “Yes, yes I would like that.”