Radiance

by flamevulture17

4. Alight

[Alight]

---

The wind began to die down and the rain became a light drizzle as opposed to the full force of the storm. During the last leg of Stanley's journey to save a life, the mushy green grass was extremely uncomfortable under his feet with each step he took as his strength was only getting weaker as the seconds ticked on. Several more factors piled onto his decreasing pace since abandoning ship, but he stood his ground and firmly readjusted Kate in his arms. Her arms and legs swung from her body from the momentum with each step her savior took. Stanley would not give in, even though he damn near wanted to. He cursed Lucas for putting him through this.

Stanley approached the large wooden building from the southern end as it grew larger in front of him and eventually filled his field of vision. Yellow light emanated from the first floor windows, illuminating the outside just enough for Stanley to see where he was going. By the time he reached the front porch of the building, darkness had reigned over the landscape. Whether or not Lucas was aware of Stanley's presence, he was thankful to have the indoor lights guide him to safety. As odd as it sounded, he wondered if Lucas knew he was coming and was waiting for them to arrive.

With soaked feet and aching legs, he limped up the wooden steps of the porch. The floorboards squeaked with each step. When he stood just an arms length from the front door, he kicked it open with enough force to break it off it's hinges. The door flew open violently and Stanley rushed inside. He didn't stop there. Stepping towards another door to the end of where he entered, he used his body weight to slam his back into the door. Stanley could hear noise within the lounge as he stormed in.

“Put her right her,” said a voice at the other end of the room.

Stanley turned to see Lucas standing by the foot of a large tan sofa.

“Why did you just leave?”

“Shut up and put her down,” Lucas repeated.

Without arguing any further, Stanley gently set Kate down on the soft cushions of the sofa, relieving his arms of the increasing agony from holding her for so long. He removed the wet cloth that stuck to her body and stepped back to give her some room.

Lucas grabbed a pillow and blanket from a smaller sofa and placed it under Kate's head and over her torso respectively. He turned and started to leave the room, opening the door labeled 'Employees Only'.

“Where are you going?” Stanley growled.

“She'll be fine.”

With that, he closed the door behind him. Stanley sighed and shook his head.

“This isn't like you, Lucas,” he said to himself.

After a few minutes of rest, Stanley got up and paced back and forth in the dimly-lit room. There was nothing he could do but wait for Kate to wake up. He weaved around the polished wooden tables that were placed around the room and circled the empty couch across from Kate. He never stood in one place longer than five seconds, even when sitting to rest on a chair. For a while, he thought of nothing in particular. He let his mind wander; from thoughts of his personal possessions, to the boat marooned on the beach; from thoughts of stars in the night sky, to his training on navigation; from disaster movies, to the storm outside; from memories of his adolescence, to the times spent with Kate and Lucas.

Subsequently, everything he thought of brought him back to the present. He continued to wonder what was really going on, hoping to come up with the most plausible answer.

Somehow, Lucas started acting less of a cousin and more of a jerk. Perhaps the storm was affecting his behavior, but he couldn't prove that. Surely with the boat crashing on a desolate beach made him angry, but putting the blame on Stanley instead of the storm was uncalled for. He didn't understand how Lucas can just get up and leave like it's no big deal – not to mention his lack of concern for Kate. What's up with that? Lucas has never been so heartless before. Why now?

*click*

The unlatching of the door at the far end of the room stopped Stanley dead in his tracks. The door creaked open and Lucas entered with a few papers in his hand, only to walk towards the door to the lobby and exit the room again. He didn't seem to notice Stanley frozen near the bookshelf. As the door closed behind Lucas, Stanley defrosted his statue-like posture and held his head low. He ran a hand through his short hair and rubbed the back of his neck.

His fear came from the simple thought of talking to Lucas about his recent problems, only to second guess himself, thinking of the possible way the conversation could go wrong. He strayed away from getting himself into other people's business, but he really needed to know the truth before it was too late. Maybe they could come to an understanding and, if all went well, perhaps he could help Lucas reform his behavior. Stanley had been unsuccessful in the past when speaking with his father, so past doubts flooded back into his mind and were practically spilling over the top of his head.

It wasn't until an elegant silence filled the room when Stanley finally realized it stopped raining outside. He glanced through to nearest window to confirm his findings, but saw that the wind continued to blow the grass carpet outside.

Letting the silence sink in, he took a deep breath. Grabbing a wooden stool from the corner of the room, Stanley walked over to the couch where Kate was left to sleep and positioned himself next to her. It took some effort, but he managed to set aside some of his worst doubts and go forward with talking to Lucas anyway once he returns. He just hoped the conversation would go smoothly and would get a simple straight answer. If not, things could get ugly.

Stanley didn't have to wait long. The door to the main lobby opened again and Lucas strolled in with a two dish-shaped electric heaters. He dragged them over to the table in the center of the room, letting the electrical cords slither across the decorative rug on the floor. He placed one on top of the table and left the other on the floor, positioning both to face the sofa. Stanley wondered why he decided to use electric heaters instead of lighting the fireplace nearby for classic warmth.

“Plug this in,” Lucas said, handing him the cord.

Stanley obliged, searching for the outlet on the wall behind him and sticking it in the slot. Lucas did the same with his, but in the opposite wall. They returned to the table and switched the heaters on, bringing them to life. Stanley tinkered with the dials on his heater, even though he didn't need to. He was simply fiddling with it and nervously waited for the right moment to speak.

Lucas stood up.

“Call me when she wakes up,” he muttered as he started to leave.

“Wait!”

Lucas stopped and turned to face Stanley with a blank expression.

“Can we talk?” Stanley asked.

The man sighed.

“Later,” he said in a flat voice.

“What's a better time than now? You've been acting up lately.”

“So?”

“Do you want to tell me why?”

“Not really.”

The conversation was already dragging much slower than Stanley had expected. He chose his words carefully in hopes to keep Lucas in the room.

“Listen,” Stanley raised his hand. “I need to know what going on. You can tell me anything. I won't hold it against you.”

It worked, even though that last statement was a white lie. Lucas took a seat on the large chair leaned his head against his right arm. Stanley felt his heart pound harder when Lucas made eye contact. He twitched anxiously while his boss stared at him with a definitive look in his eyes.

Stanley blinked profusely. He recognized that look any day of the week. What scared him the most was how Lucas would respond while looking at him like that. So, he temporarily shifted the subject away from him.

“I-I'm worried about Kate. Are you not?”

“Of course I am,” he replied, looking Stanley his death glare. “What makes you think-”

“You left us there alone!” Stanley raised his voice, quickly regretting the action. “You act like you didn't even care.”

“And?”

“Seriously, man? What's gotten into you? I mean, after the accident, you blame me for everything and just leave the boat like that. That's not right at all.”

Lucas looked away for a moment, allowing Stanley to regain his confidence.

“Speaking of which,” Stanley continued with more control in his voice. “What are we gonna do about it? Did you call the coast guard?”

“No.”

“Why not? We can't just leave the boat there.”

“Yes we can.”

Stanley looked at his own feet and put a hand on his forehead.

“What's up with you today?”

Lucas said nothing as he continued to stare off to the side. He tried to not pay attention to what Stanley was saying, hearing only certain words that replayed as incoherent chatter in his ears. The humming noise and warmth of the heater relaxed and dried his skin. He thought of how cozy that feeling was when the heat wave washed over his body. So soothing, in fact, he began to get drowsy and let his eyelids gravitate towards each other and stitch themselves closed, sinking his face in palm of his hand. Any noise around him became muffled. He could fall asleep right there and then, if it wasn't for one thing.

“Hey!” Stanley exclaimed, giving Lucas a weak shove.

“Huh?” he muttered, sitting up straight and shooting his eyes open.

“Wake up.” Stanley paused. He saw the neutral look on Lucas' face, but repeated himself anyways. “Do you really want that to happen?”

“Do I want what to happen?”

“Never mind.”

“No seriously. What are talking about?”

“Oh, so NOW you care all of a sudden.” Stanley grunted and threw his arms in the air in his frustration, slapping his knees as he let them drop. He got up off his chair and walked to the window behind him.

Lucas raised his head and squinted his face in confusion, wondering what made Stanley so angry. His own annoyance with forcing himself to talk to Stanley had faded and was replaced but a feeling of guilt. Maybe it had something to do with him falling asleep in the middle of a lecture.

“Why are you so mad?”

“Why am I mad?” Stanley retorted, turning around and stumbling over to the couch as he put pressure on his sprained foot. “You tell me,” he said, pointing at Kate.

It was at this point that the attitude of each men had completely inverted.

“I told you she'll be fine,” mumbled Lucas.

“Come on, man! You just left me there alone with her when she needed help. You can't just assume she'll be fine when you don't even know what happened. First off, you just blame me for damaging the boat. Then you just waltz outta there like you don't give a damn. I didn't know what to do and it was dark and cold and I had to carry her all the way over here in the rain and I sprained my foot and I left my stuff in the boat and-”

“Whoa hey!” Lucas interrupted. “Calm down before you do something stupid.”

“You telling me to calm down!?”

Stanley continued venting words on how stupid everything was; from the storm outside and to his fake career. Any hint of his inherent tactful qualities were completely non-existent at that moment. Lucas just watched the scene unfold. He waited for the fire inside Stanley to burn itself out. Hopefully it would end in Stanley doing something stupid.

---

Twilight shuffled around in her sleep. She made occasional grunting noises before a monstrous yawn broke her dreams, which then faded away instantly, leaving her mind blank. She stretched her legs and kicked something with a hind leg.

*thunk*

An metal bucket fell over, spilling water all over the floor. Twilight rolled over and stood up to stretch some more, but winced in pain. Her sore muscles cried out for mercy. Letting out another yawn, she slowly opened her eyes.

It was still dark out. She had no idea how long she'd been asleep or if it was morning yet. Despite the looming darkness outside their temporary shelter, her immediate field of vision was as bright as several candle lights. Strangely enough, she could see most of the boat house, with the docking rails at the center and the wall on the other side. She glanced down and found Cadence and Rainbow Dash still sleeping soundly on the floor.

Twilight's wondered why her normal hearing hadn't come back to her since everything was nearly silent. She rubbed her ear with a hoof, but could still hear nothing. Either it was awfully quiet, or she's deaf.

…

She went with quiet. Damaging her eardrums in her sleep was highly unlikely. It was right then when she noticed that the rain had stopped falling and the wind blew as a peaceful breeze that crept along Twilight's fur coat, making her shiver.

Remembering how well lit her surroundings were, she searched for the source. Her eyes darted around the sizable building, checking the walls and floor. Her gaze finally made it to the source, on the very top of the indented ceiling above her. The single point of yellow light appeared to hover above in a perfectly fixed position without flickering or dancing from the draft. She stared at it for several seconds, mesmerized by its mysterious brilliance.

*clank*

A faint, sharp noise broke Twilight's concentration and she shook her head after staring at the the light for an unknown period of time. She snapped her head to where she thought she heard the sound, somewhere in the darkness just outside the building. It sounded like shattering glass. She leaned forward and waited for another noise to follow. None came.

“What was that?”

Twilight jumped at the sudden voice.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash.” She let out the breath she held in. “You scared me.”

“Didn't mean to.” Rainbow proceeded to stretch her legs and back. Her wings were far too sore to spread out completely, so she carefully fluttered the main joints while they were still folded to her sides.

“Did I wake you?”

“No. That weird sound did.”

“Oh.”

“Let's go check it out.” Rainbow prepared herself by wiggling her legs and deliberately swaying her body in place as if getting ready to sprint in a race.

“No wait.” Twilight said, holding up a hoof. “We don't know what it is. It could be something dangerous.”

“That's what I'm here for,” Rainbow gloated. She punched the air a few times to mimic the fighting match between her and a monster she fantasized in her mind.

Twilight cleared her throat, narrowing her expression to look more serious. Rainbow quickly recognized that familiar stare.

“What?” she shrugged

“Please don't to anything that would make things worse,” Twilight stated. She turned to face the moonless night. Though, the absence of the moon was odd, to say the least. Maybe the clouds above obstructed the moonlight and she just couldn't see it yet. “I'll go see what it was. Maybe find some help. We won't last much longer out here.”

“Right behind ya,” Rainbow squeaked.

“No. I need you to stay put.”

“Why? I can be your backup.”

“I need you to stay here and watch over Cadence and make sure she's alright,” Twilight ordered, looking back at the sleeping pink Princess. “We're on somepony's property. Maybe they're home now. I can talk to them and find out were we are and ask for their help to figure out a way home.”

“Fine,” the pegasus grumbled.

Rainbow Dash appeared disapproving of Twilight's plan of having to look after Cadence and let the unicorn go out on her own. She should be the one to go, not Twilight.

“I won't be long.”

Twilight lit up her horn, with effort, and started walking out into the dark. As the veil of the night swallowed her whole, the wind became stronger without the protection of shelter. The sky was blanketed with a dark-brownish color instead of its usual midnight black. With the lack of light and vibrant colors surrounding her, the only two things that stood out from all that darkness was the boat house behind her, and the larger building she saw earlier.

Both had their lights on. She couldn't recall it having them on earlier. She was right. The owners of the building had returned when they were sleeping.

She glanced on last time at the boat house where she left her friends to rest. In no way did she like having to leave Cadence and Rainbow behind like that, but they really needed help and she was confident that the residents could provide some kind of aid. Any aid would do. She tried to suppress any doubt that would lead to an bitter encounter with the ponies inside if they were unable or unwilling to help.

As Twilight crept closer to the building, she noticed just how enormous it really was. From afar, it looked similar in size to Ponyville's own town hall. Up close, however, it was easily larger than it that. It loomed over her like a classic haunted house from horror stories. It wasn't long until she heard muffled voices seep through the walls.

At that moment, her legs began to shake and her heart rate increased. She tried to calm herself with some controlled breathing and a slower pace from a walk to a crawl. However, when she remembered events in her life that were far more terrifying, it practically made her forget that it was just an old house at night. Maybe the horror stories getting to her head.

She made it to the wooden steps. Refusing to back down now, she forced her body to keep moving and eventually found herself at the front door. The light from the windows illuminated the porch around her.

Her eyes widened as she gazed up at the length of the door. It was huge! At least twice her height. What kind of pony lives here? Why do they need a door so big? The again, the doors of Canterlot Castle were enormous as well, but those served a purpose. There's nothing royal about this place, that she was sure. Also, why does the door have an image of a fish on it?

Twilight shook her head free of all the questions that bombarded her mind at the same time. She'd have time to think about them later, or just forget about them completely.

Finally gaining the courage to move her trembling muscles, she lifted a hoof and properly knocked three times.

---

With Stanley cleaning up the mess he made, Lucas sat back down near the sofa next to Kate. He stared at her and secretly apologized to her in his mind about his recent faults. His original effort to avoid any trouble had failed, so he decided to pull a one-eighty by caring about people a little more, starting with Kate. For some reason, Stanley's speech actually got through to him more than he wanted it to, who was right about everything so far.

Perhaps a speech was exactly what he needed to hear to get him thinking.

*knock knock knock*

Lucas perked up at the distinct, yet distant knocks coming from outside the room. He looked at Stanley as he continued picking up shard of the ceramic lamp he broke, apparently lost in his regretful action and oblivious to anything else. His mind was probably playing tricks on him. He was exhausted after all, and insomnia was probably kicking in. He let his head drop again where he sat and buried his face in his hands again.

Pity began to sink in hard once the idea of losing Kate was implanted in his mind. Despite all their fighting in the past, he wouldn't know what to do without her. She was his employer after all.

*knock knock knock knock*

Lucas perked up again and whirled his head towards the lobby door. Those thuds were much louder and couldn't have been formed by his imagination.

“Visitors?” Stanley asked.

Lucas was too distracted by his thoughts to notice the room had gone quiet.

“You heard it too?”

“Aren't you gonna see who it is? Or should I?”

“No.” Lucas' expression turned to one of concern. His first thought was that the local police in the area had come to investigate. Pretty fast response for such a scarcely populated area. Besides, the closest town was about five kilometers away. “I'll take care of it. You stay here.”

Lucas huffed and stood up to stretch. The police theory stuck in his mind. Who else could it be at this hour? They hardly received any clients or distribution representatives during that time of year. Not to mention the extremely rare traveler who happens to stumble upon the estate with the primary excuse of 'exploring new frontiers'. Pretending to be a prestigious adventurer who is trying to visit every place on Earth within their lifetime take away all your credibility. Come on people, Lucas thought. Be more realistic.

He left Stanley to his cleanup operation and swiftly waddled his way to the lobby. He had to come up with a convincing story to fool the lawmen into believing the boat was supposed to dock at the marina several kilometers north, but missed their target due to the storm. If is wasn't the cops, he prepared to restrain a junkie who may try to rob them, or immediately slam the door on the weird traveler and tell them to get lost. Lucas chuckled at that last scenario. What if they were already lost? He knew it was wrong to think that way, but laughed anyways.

As he entered the lobby, he paused less than a meter from the face of the front entrance to fix his hair and straighten the collar of his jacket. He cleared his throat and leaned in where he stood while closing on eye and peering through the lens of the tiny peep hole with the other.

The porch was empty.

He waited a few more seconds before shrugging off the huge waste of time. Sighing for the hundredth time that day, he walked away.

As soon as he reached the living room door, he stopped a mere foot from the doorway, wondering if he wanted return to the same room was Stanley again.

He extended his arm to leaned against the door and dropped his to look at the floor. He needed to stop thinking to lowly of his cousin. Deep down, something inside told him that their relationship wouldn't last if he continued faking his friendship to only get what he wants. He hired him for a reason. Was it empathy that made him change? Or the fact that this whole situation was finally starting sinking in?

*knock knock knock*

Lucas snapped his head towards the front door and frowned. Whatever prank this was, it was starting piss him off. He stomped his feet on the ground as he walked. Instead of taking the time to catch a glimpse to the perpetrator outside through the peep hole, he violently grabbed the doorknob and forced the door open.

“Eep!”

Not a second after looking out into the dark, he flinched as a tiny squeal pierced his ears. He immediately looked down to find a small creature frozen in place with its large eyes frozen in fear. It cowered back a bit, but remained in a frightened stance.

Lucas relaxed his muscles and rubbed his eyes with both hands. The poor lighting made it difficult to see any detail, but it was surprisingly horse-like in form. It was some shade of purple with perfectly combed locks of a darker tone of violet. It looked like an oversized stuffed animal.

He rubbed his eyes one more time, but the creature was still there. The did a quick double-take, but the creature refused to disappear. One last attempt to regain his sanity, he slapped himself in the face. He hoped that would work.

It didn't.

He exhaled a visible puff of hot breath and put out his arm to touch the animal.

“AHH!” screamed the tiny animal as it scurried away from Lucas.

“Whoa!” Lucas yelled as he, too, jolted his entire body back while flailing his arms around, falling to the hardwood floor. He was not expecting that to happen.

The door creaked halfway closed, obstructing his view of the porch. Lucas rapidly got to his feet and threw open the door again. The horse was nowhere in sight. It must have ran off into the night after he scared the crap out of it.

“What the hell?” he whispered to himself in a curious voice.

He solemnly stared off into nothingness as the living room door behind him blew open.

“What happened now?” said Stanley.

Unable to take his eyes off the porch, Lucas took a deep breath and pushed the door closed to cut off his own hypnotic stare.

“I, uh-” he stammered and swallowed the saliva in his mouth. He tried to find the right word to describe what he saw.

Stanley raised an eyebrow, waiting for a response.

“You what?”

“There was a pony at the front door.”

Author's Note:

This chapter has only been proofread and edited once, so don't be surprised if you find yourself confused at times. Changes will be made in the future if necessary.

Comments

[Rainbow87dash]

'NOM NOM NOM

[poisedanimeBloke]

2523896 Twilight is NOT a Marrysue, aperiantly everyone hit their heads and forgot about the whole Smarty Pants incident... and all the other times she completely goes insane.

[ultrasolarflare]

lol surprise!!!!