The Dulling of a Blade

Celestia wasn’t sure what emotion she was feeling.

It wasn’t happiness or relief, that much was certain. She had just been told – by her own sister – that the mare she had been crying with a day ago was dead, and that it was by Luna’s decree that it happened.

“I do not know what to say, sister.” Celestia hung her head slightly. “You tricked her.”

“You don’t grasp the full extent, Celestia.” Luna replied, standing behind her sibling.

“You killed her.”

“It was necessary. And it is not as bad as you think.”

“Luna, I told her I would help her.”

“And I helped her as well.”

Celestia turned around, a fiery anger flaring up in her eyes. “Helped her?!” She ground her teeth together, taking deep, slow breaths. “Luna. You sentenced a mare to death after we promised to help.”

“There was no other way to-…”

“To what?!”

“To convince the public…”

“So you decided it was better for her to die than for her to be thought of as alive by the public?”

“Might I remind you, sister, that you wanted to execute her a few weeks ago.”

“I-…” Celestia bit her tongue, inhaling sharply.

Luna glanced at the door. Come on…she thought to herself. “Celestia, I assure you. This is not as serious as you think.”

“Not as serious? Luna, I just learned that the Duke I appointed to watch over the draconies is a genocidal and racist tyrant, the assassin I’ve despised for almost twenty years is a mare desperately trying to survive in a world that I unintentionally made hostile to her kind, and now I’ve learned that my sister has sentenced that same assassin to death before I could allow her to get her revenge on that same Duke, and far before I could offer her my proper apology.” She glared directly into her sister’s eyes. “How is this not serious to you?”

Luna couldn’t help but smile a little. “You’re beginning to sound like Twilight Sparkle.”

“Luna, how is this amusing to you?!”

There was a knock at the door. Celestia was about to command them to come back later, but Luna opened it regardless. Standing in the doorway was a royal guard, his helmet missing and his mane in shambles. “Y-your royal highness…es.” He corrected himself with the plural as he noticed Celestia and Luna were both present, bowing his head. “We…we have a problem.”

“What is it?” Celestia rubbed a hoof against her forehead, which was throbbing with what she could only assume was a migraine.

“Well…” The guard glanced at Luna, then Celestia. “Today’s execution didn’t go as planned.”

“…what is that supposed to mean?” Celestia asked, not happy with the guard’s vague speech. Only then did she notice that the guard was panting, his body heavily bruised in the places his armour didn’t cover. “What…happened to you? Are we under attack?!” She flared her wings out.

“Not…exactly…” The guard groaned, before flopping forward. Luna just barely caught him with her magic, and gently rested him against the wall. She glanced at her sister.

“We should go.”

Celestia just nodded in agreement, standing up and hurrying out of the room with her sister.

It wasn’t difficult for the two princesses to locate the source of the ‘problem’ that the guard had mentioned. Guards who were running in the same direction, either to assist or to warn the princesses told them where to go.

Soon enough they found themselves in the courtyard. Specifically, the courtyard behind the castle, where the royal gardens were. They saw several limp bodies scattered around the grass. Celestia recognized them all as honour guards – those who were usually entrusted with royal secrets and protection of the most important relics and prisoners. Further ahead they could hear loud thumping and yelps of pain.

Both of the sisters lit up their horns as they ran forward, guards following them.

As if suspended in slow motion, a sharpened sword flew through the air towards them. Luna narrowly dodged it, and it sailed past her head to sink itself into a nearby tree.

Celestia wasn’t stupid, but she was surprised nonetheless at what she saw.

Dusk Rider was standing in the center of a group of guards, holding one in a painful grapple by the neck with her tail firmly wrapped around him. The rest were trying to figure out a way to attack her without having the guard killed.

The Dracony didn’t look the same as when she had been in prison. Her fur was still missing in parts and her body was slimmer, but her muscles were built back up and the fire was present in her eyes once again. Clearly, she was strong enough to overpower the guards again.

“What in Equestria is going on here?!” Celestia growled angrily, stepping forward into Dusk’s view.

The newly-awoken mare looked up from her terrified catch to meet Celestia’s angry gaze. The sun princess watched as Dusk’s eyes went from angry to purely enraged, her hoof twisting around the guard’s neck.

Another guard took this as his chance to strike, but Dusk moved quicker. She swung herself backwards in a reverse somersault, tossing the now unconscious guard’s body over her and slamming it into the advancing guard. Her wings flared out, one of them painfully cracking at the movement but her adrenaline had her ignore the pain. Her body lunged forward, past the guards who tried to stop her – her hooves landed right on one guard’s head to propel herself forward.

Luna barely managed to react in time. Her horn lit up, drawing a sword from one of the fallen guards and holding it in front of her. Dusk used her wings to adjust in mid-air and land in front of the sisters instead.

“What in the world is this?!” Celestia demanded. “You were executed!”

“Apparently not.” Dusk’s eyes seeped with pure rage, glaring daggers into Celestia’s. “One of you had better have an explanation.”

Luna held up a hoof, to tell the advancing guards to stand down. They all reluctantly stood still, watching.

“Dusk, you need to understand that what I did, I did for a reason.” Luna began.

“I’m really not in the mood for you pretending to care about me. Just tell me what you did.” Dusk replied with a twitch.

“…fine.” Luna inhaled deeply. “I knew that even if Celestia and some others would forgive you and understand, the vast majority of ponies would not. Even if we released you with a new name and identity, you would be recognized right away. Your face has been plastered everywhere for years, if you recall.”

“Mhm.” Dusk continued staring.

“So we- er, I had to fake it. The water we gave you a day ago was laced with a magically-delayed healing powder that Shining Armour activated with his magic when you…er…died. You were executed, and everypony besides you, myself, and Shining knows that as the truth.”

Dusk’s guard lowered slightly, but her anger was present still. “Wha…what the fuck is wrong with you?!” She bared her teeth, her tail angrily lashing behind her. “You couldn’t have told me? Would that have killed you? I was fucking terr-…” She bristled, then cleared her throat. “I was worried, you know? Scared, even.” She shook her head. “And what exactly is this going to help, anyway? You said yourself that you’re not releasing me, and if you did, ponies would recognize me regardless. And Draconies aren’t exactly thought of very fondly…”

Luna glanced at Celestia, who seemed to have taken in the information much better than Dusk. She looked calm, at least. “Well, that brings me to the second issue.” She said. “If you’ll come with us…”

“…well I don’t exactly have a choice, do I?”

“You do, it’d just be back in that cell.”

Dusk shivered. “Yeah yeah, I get it. Let’s go. I’m still expecting an apology for this shit, by the way. Making Shining the executioner was on purpose, wasn’t it?”

“We needed your reaction to be genuine.” Luna said solemnly, starting to walk back to the castle with Celestia. The guards went about helping up their fallen comrades, most of whom weren’t dead.

“Genuine my left ass cheek.” Dusk was fuming. If she knew how to use magic she would probably be sparkling with it by now.

The Dracony found herself sitting in a lavish dining room, at a circular table with the two princesses. Luna and Celestia had been having an argument for thirty minutes over the implications of what Luna had done, but seemed to have come to an agreement, and were now speaking to Dusk directly.

“The healing solution will also help bring your muscles back.” Luna said. “But you’ll need to train your body again. You haven’t moved properly in almost three weeks.”

“Yeah, I know.” Dusk replied, crossing her front hooves over her chest and leaning back in her chair.

“But we also can’t have many ponies knowing about you yet. The guards are only somewhat aware. We had them swear to secrecy but they likely talk about it in the barracks.”

Dusk nodded. “So what’re you saying?”

“We need to send you somewhere that you can train yourself back to normality before we send you to…take care of Tempest.”

“…so that’s the plan?” Dusk still put on an angry face, but inside, she was starting to feel happy butterflies. Her tail thumped gently against the floor. “I’m going to be taking care of him?”

“Well, we can’t exactly dethrone him without…opposition.” Celestia spoke. “It’s my fault. I’ve given him too much power. I’ve delegated so much of my own royal authority away that Tempest is practically in charge of his own sovereign nation.”

“…I’ll need my weapons.”

“That time will come.” Luna spoke again. “But we need to make sure you’re ready first. You can’t easily train here in Canterlot, but it’s the best we can offer. Whenever the public cannot enter the palace, we’ll allow you to train with the guards.”

“…seriously?” Dusk tilted her head. “I thought you said you didn’t want more of them finding out.”

“They will find out eventually. The best way to keep your training secret is by mingling with them. Don’t worry, you can train independently. It just has to be at the same time as them. For your safety.”

“You mean for everypony else’s.”

“Well putting it bluntly, yes…”

Dusk pushed her chair back and stretched herself out. While her muscles were firm, her body was still scrawny. “I’m going to need better food if I’m gonna start training again.”

“We will provide that. But remember this.” Celestia leaned forward. “You are still a prisoner. You’ve earned yourself some freedom, but if you try to run when we do decide to send you out, you lose any chance at it again.”

“Celestia…” Luna muttered. The sun princess leaned back again.

“But don’t worry. You won’t be staying in the same cell as before. Your new one will be more spacious, with training equipment and access to the castle upon request.”

The Dracony let a sigh escape her. “Fine then. Take me away.”

Celestia clapped her hooves, and two guards strode in. This time they only placed shackles on her legs before they led her out of the room.

This was better.

It wasn’t a lot better, but it was better.

Dusk found herself in a prison cell with actual fresh air being filtered in through the open window. The walls were still grey, but further apart, and not so claustrophobic. Her bed was still just a metal slab, but it had a sheet and pillow.

The thing that she was happy with the most, however, was the equipment in the corner. A weight bench, treadmill and a training dummy were all there for her to use, and she did use them. After three weeks of inactivity and being weighed down by chains, it felt amazing to be able to use her muscles the way they had been built.

She was provided with the food that she needed, as well. Within a few days she was already feeling better than she had in months.

Whenever she trained in the guard barracks, guards were either visibly nervous or angry. Many did not approve of essentially giving a criminal free access to their equipment and resources for her to work for them. Still, they didn’t want to challenge the princess’s demands, so they simply watched in a mixture of wonder and discomfort when Dusk used her tail to lift 300 pounds of weight every day.

It felt good for Dusk to be able to actually work her body again. When she lived in her camp, she didn’t exactly have the best training equipment, but she could at least exercise. After three weeks without it, it felt amazing.

After a full week of work, she was at least back to a level that she could move comfortably. It would take her another month to get her body back up to full strength, at which point most of the guards and ponies who knew about her in the palace were at the very least tolerable towards her, if not friendly. She had lifted her own spirits a bit as well, though not much higher than her norm had been.

Secretly, she was still angry at the princesses, specifically Luna. It really wouldn’t have been that hard for her to tell me, she thought to herself, lying flat on her back on the weight bench with her hooves pushing a large barbell up and down. Her body was slick with sweat, and her muscles ached, but that just meant it was working. She could’ve at least gave me an inkling. While her annoyance was only minor, it still itched at the back of her mind. She had experienced three nightmares over the last month that were based on her execution.

A deep-rooted fear of Dusk’s was one that many didn’t expect an assassin to have. She was afraid of dying. More specifically, she was afraid of dying without contributing positively to the world. She didn’t feel like she had contributed anything to the world, as it was – only taken away from it. Even before the “fake” execution, Dusk sometimes had nightmares about dying. She often wondered if she might die on one of her missions.

She realized that she hadn’t lifted the barbell in almost two minutes, and some ponies were staring. She sighed, pushed it off her chest and onto the rack, before standing up.

“Hey.” A gruff voice came from behind her. Dusk sighed, turning to face whoever it was.

Standing behind her, or now in front of her, was a dark grey stallion with silver fur. He wasn’t wearing his armour, nor were his two friends on either side of him. Dusk recognized their kind, the same that had been fighting her in the courtyard – in fact, she recognized the very stallion in front of her. Honour guards. She was well aware of their status within the Royal Guard. “Can I help you?” She asked with sweetness more fake than whatever Celestia put in the frosting of her cakes.

“How much longer are you gonna be here?”

“Oh I was just going. I’ve been here for uh…two hours?”

“You know what I meant.”

“Nah, I really don’t.”

“How long are you gonna be in the palace, hybrid?”

Dusk blinked. “Excuse me?”

“I said, how long are you gonna be here?”

“However long I want to be, meathead.”

“The princesses might be fine with whatever mind tricks you’re playing on ‘em, but we’re not. You’re a criminal, and a Dracony. Plus you beat up half my squad.”

“Oof, that second one’s the real nail in the coffin, right?”

“We want you gone, assassin.” One of the stallion’s friends spoke.

“This is between me and your pimp, pretty boy. Shut your muzzle.” Dusk replied, earning a snarl from the one who had spoken up.

Dusk ran a hoof through her mane. “Listen, I don’t want any trouble, but I will say I’ve been dying to practice on a real pony. So unless you want to be floor wax, I’d ask you to leave me alone.” She turned away, and began to walk towards the door. She saw the door itself glow, before slamming shut.

“You’re not going anywhere, unless it’s out of Canterlot.” The grey stallion said.

“Okay, like, I don’t think Luna would be super happy with me if I killed one of their guards while enjoying their hospitality, so don’t make this harder for yourself.” Dusk’s eyes met the stallion’s. He was a few inches taller than her, as were his friends. Take the hint, muscle-for-brains…she thought.

The guard stared at her for a few seconds, before his eye twitched. The door swung back open with a flash of his horn. “Get out.”

“Kinda was my plan already.” Dusk said, turning back around and strutting out the door. “Fucking meathead stallions…”

“Nice try, but I’m not fighting any guards.” Dusk’s voice broke a brief silence in Luna’s quarters bedroom.

“It would not be to the death, of course.” Luna’s voice responded.

“Princess, everything I do is to the death.”

“Well, he knows that.”

“And don’t you think it’s a bad idea, given I’m an assassin who just trained back to full strength after you killed me?” Dusk raised an eyebrow.

“Are you still not over that?”

“I’m not.”

“Why?”

“You literally killed me to preserve your public image.”

“To preserve yours.”

“You mean to end mine.”

“The semantics are unnecessary, Dusk. My sister and I want to make sure you are at peak physical performance, so you’ll be sparring our top soldier.”

“Not doing it.” Dusk crossed her arms.

Luna rolled her eyes. “You’re acting like a filly. “

“You’re acting like a lunatic.”

“You’re sparring with them, and that’s final.”

“I’d sooner spar with Celestia.”

“I will fight you for real if you continue to disagree.”

“You know what?” Dusk stood up. “Fine. I’ll fight ‘em. But don’t act like you think it’d be a fair fight.”

“For which side?” Luna shot Dusk a sly smirk.

“You-…” Dusk gritted her teeth. “I’ll be stretching in the training yard.”

As Dusk left the room, Luna put a hoof to her mouth and giggled.

Sure enough, when Celestia and Luna arrived 20 minutes later, Dusk was on one end of the yard and stretching out. Her wings were spread, her rump pushed out like a cat’s, her hind legs alternating positions as they kicked out, then pulled back in.

She didn’t react when the princesses walked up beside her, observing. Her body rippled with each movement she made, her legs especially, muscles bulging. “I still think this is unnecessary.”

“That does not matter.” Luna said firmly. “We require you to show us that you can still function as you have before.”

“I took out six of your guards after resurrecting from the dead, and you’re asking me if I can perform?”

“Yes.”

“…ah.”

Her opponent didn’t take long to get there, either. As Dusk turned around to prepare, she couldn’t help but look him over. A fairly standard looking soldier, with grey fur and- “Oh for fuck’s sake…”

“Hm?” Luna glanced down at Dusk.

“Really? This was intentional, wasn’t it?”

“What was?” The princess tilted her head.

“This guy. The one who kept talking to me in the training room? For like a week?”

“Ah. I…was not aware of this.” She leaned down, whispering into Dusk’s ear. “Try not to kill him, but he agreed that any injuries he sustains are his responsibility.”

“…you did do this on purpose.”

“Hush.”

Dusk stepped forward into the field. The dirt of the worn-down yard was scuffed up slightly by her hooves, sending small plumes of dust up around them. “Surprised you said yes to this. You seemed like the type to never want to let a Dracony touch you.”

“Only when it’s me forcing them into submission.” The guard replied. He was wearing his armour, but Dusk knew that wouldn’t matter.

“That sounds a bit sexual, but I can tell you haven’t gotten any in a few…ever, so.” Dusk shot him a smirk and the guard’s eye twitched.

Celestia glanced at Luna, who smiled back. “Shall we?”

Celestia nodded.

Luna raised a hoof. “Begin!”

Immediately, the grey, muscular stallion charged forward. Dusk watched him come towards her, then dodged to the side as one would do with a charging bull. As she slid across the dirt the guard abruptly changed direction, launching himself to throw his weight at her. The Dracony leapt backwards to avoid it, narrowly twisting her body in mid-air to avoid a shot of green magic from the guard’s horn.

“You’re fast,” The guard yelled, and Dusk felt a pair of teeth clamp down on her tail. “But you’re too cocky.” He swung his head towards the ground. Dusk adjusted her body’s position so she landed on her shoulder, heaving her rear end above her and using her tail to throw the stallion in turn. His eyes went wide in shock as he was thrown over her, slamming into the ground a small distance away.

Luna spoke up, turning to Celestia, who seemed incredulous at the strength Dusk showed. “Draconies have exceptional physical strength by default. Dusk’s record in the Academy was five-hundred pounds lifted with only her tail, I believe.” Celestia’s jaw remained slightly open, despite the explanation.

“Don’t try and tell me about how to fight.” Dusk dusted herself off and shook her wings, flaring them open as he got back to his hooves.

The guard stood back up, and immediately fired three bolts of green energy at Dusk. Instinctively she raised her tail to block them, but remembered that she didn’t have her tail blade on. She quickly flapped her wings and took off, narrowly avoiding them all. The stallion had no way to physically get to her while she was in the air, so he resorted to firing magic at her. She easily dodged and weaved through them, knowing he wouldn’t be able to keep it up.

“While many Draconies are slow,” Luna began. “Dusk’s training focuses on the muscles needed to react quickly and make tight turns.” She was not an expert in Dracony anatomy or culture – none were, really, but she knew more about Dusk than many.

The stallion’s horn glowed, but nothing came out. At first Dusk thought he had already run out of energy, but he shook his head to the side and she heard a whizzing noise from behind her. Four of the bolts he had fired at her changed course before they had time to dissipate, flying back through the air towards her. She dodged two of them, but one hit her in the stomach. She hissed, breathing through clenched teeth. It had knocked the wind out of her, and out of instinct she raised her hooves to shield herself from the fourth.

THOOM.

The thunderous noise that followed rattled Dusk’s ears, her eyes clenching shut and her body automatically pulling back to the ground. When she opened her eyes, she found the stallion staring incredulously at her. Even Celestia looked a bit surprised, more than she already was.

She glanced down at her hooves. One of them was glowing, and the light slowly died down as she landed. “Oh…right.”

Luna cleared her throat, turning to Celestia again. “Draconies’ bodies are resistant to magic. A unicorn would not be able to grab hold of the Dracony themselves, only perhaps their mane of accessories they might be wearing. Their four hooves are all made of a special, magic-absorbant material akin to a unicorn’s horn…though as far as I know, not many are adept at using magic in the same way. It is significantly harder for them, but extremely useful for a mare like Dusk.”

The stallion growled. “What the hell did you just do?!”

“I…kinda forgot I could do that.” Dusk stood on her hind hooves, a gentle smirk crossing her lips. “Wanna try it again?”

Seeming not to understand what she had done, the guard fired a green beam at her. Dusk brought one hoof up, tilting it to the side so the beam hit it at an angle. Some of its energy was absorbed into its blue surface, while the rest bounced off like rays of light. Dusk’s teeth visibly clenched, her eyes squinting nearly shut. It was not a comfortable feeling.

“I think that is enough.” Luna said suddenly.

The stallion’s horn stopped glowing, and Dusk’s body jolted a bit with a discharge of blue electricity. “Fuck!” She yelped, shaking herself off to rid her muscles of the uncomfortable tingle.

“You fought well, Dusk.” Luna put a hoof on the Dracony’s shoulder. “We don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Please, I wouldn’t-…” Dusk stopped herself. She didn’t really want to keep fighting this meathead, anyway.

“Right, yes. Go back to your room-…er…cell…and wait for us. We will bring you the information you need when we’ve discussed.”

Dusk straightened herself, trotting towards the edge of the training yard where two guards were already waiting to escort her. Honour guards again…pompous pricks. Dusk thought to herself as she was led away.

“Sister.” Celestia said.

“Yes?”

“Does this mean Dusk is immune to magic?”

“No, not entirely. Nopony has gotten to study Draconies in depth, at least not their anatomy. However, we know that their skin is exceptionally tough against the arcane.”

“So…she is immune.” Celestia frowned.

“No. She simply resists it. Did you see how she strained when blocking the beam? A Dracony’s body can only take so much before the magic starts to affect them. So while she can take far more than a pony, she isn’t immune like a…er…” Luna failed to find an example of someone immune to magic, so she just shrugged. “Dusk isn’t immune. But her abilities are extremely useful.

Celestia tapped her chin. “But…can she utilize magic like a unicorn?”

“Certainly not.” Luna shook her head. “The most that a Dracony has ever managed was a rather impressive explosion of arcane energy brought on by several weeks of absorbing it from unicorns who…er…tormented him. It was not controlled, and was simply a discharge of built up energy.”

“So their hides are so tough that the magic can’t escape once it’s absorbed…”

“Right.” Luna nodded. “I would love to see more studies conducted on them, though…”

Celestia blinked, gently lighting up her horn and making a quill and paper appear in front of her. “I do have a pony who would be quite eager to take up the endeavor when this Tempest business is over…”

“…oh.” Luna winced. She knew very well what Celestia meant, and knew Dusk wouldn’t be fond of it.