The Dulling of a Blade

Now it was official.

It was happening. Dusk was part of it. In fact she was the only part of it.

Princess Celestia and Luna had both told her multiple times how this had to go, but she was still worried. Not nervous – nervous was something she tried to avoid, but she didn’t feel…right. After about twenty-two years of running away from this stallion, now she was going to get rid of him.

It felt invigorating, but also…scary. She had no idea what would happen after. Although her confidence in her ability to actually kill Tempest was more than enough to make her certain she could, the idea of ending the illegal assassin life and starting with a new identity was a terrifying thought. She didn’t know if she could fit into pony society anymore. The Princesses had seemed so sure, though… “Your life will begin anew,” Luna had said. “Your days of running and hiding will be over.” Celestia had encouraged her. But she didn’t know if she was ready. Or if she ever would be.

Of course she could run. She could kill the bastard and leave, never letting them catch her again, but…what would she do? The world thought she was dead now, she couldn’t show her face in the criminal world again. She had no other option but to trust the Equestrian royals – two mares that she had previously despised up until about two months ago.

“Dusk?”

Her thoughts were broken as Luna’s voice softly spoke from behind her. She was standing in the doorway. “Are you alright?”

“Huh? Me? Oh…yeah. I’m fine.” Dusk was only now aware that she had been staring out the barred window of her cell for an hour now.

Luna slowly walked up beside Dusk, gazing out the window with her. “Enjoying the night?” She asked with a small grin.

“Yeah, actually…” Dusk rested her chin on her hoof as she stared up at the moon. “It’s…really pretty, to be honest. I can’t exactly stare at the sun like this, heh…”

“I’m flattered.” Luna’s horn lit up, levitating over a pile of fabric and other items and placing it on Dusk’s bed.

“…what’s that?” She glanced at it, out of the corner of her eye.

“Your suit.” Luna nodded. “Your weapons obviously aren’t with it, but I thought you should try it on. We made a few adjustments.”

“…like what?”

“Well, we made sure to add that grappling hook you mentioned.”

“I- really?” Dusk blinked, hopping down from her perch on the windowsill and nosing at the suit.

Luna nodded with a smile. “Certainly. Your equipment is important, I know.”

Dusk looked up at the blue alicorn with a bit of a smile. “Well…thanks.” She neatly tucked the suit into the corner of her bed, then returned to the window. Surprisingly, Luna didn’t leave. Rather, she put her hooves on the windowsill and stood next to Dusk.

“…what’re you doing?” She asked, turning her head to face her.

“I figured you could use a bit of company.”

“I…no, I don’t really…”

“Oh, come now. I know what it’s like to be isolated in such a way.” She turned her gaze back to the moon. “After all, you are looking at what was once my prison.”

Dusk kept staring up at the round white surface, before looking back at Luna. “Er…princess…if you don’t mind me asking. What’s it like?”

“Hm? What’s what like?”

“What’s it like…you know…having to raise the moon every night, knowing you used to…basically live in it?”

“I’ll admit that it does sometimes feel odd. But I have reconciled with my sister. I no longer see it as a prison.”

“…I see.” Dusk turned back to the window.

Luna leaned in a bit. “Is something bothering you, Dusk?”

“Nothing specific.” She traced a hoof along the metal bars blocking the window. “Just…” She sighed softly. “Damnit…I have to admit it. I’m nervous.”

“About going after Tempest?”

“No, that part’s easy.” She affirmed. “But…what comes after that…?”

“We’ll help you start a new life, Dusk.” Luna put a hoof on the Dracony’s shoulder. Faintly, she could feel a trace of muscles twitching. She was shaking.

“Yeah, but…” The shaking became more pronounced. “I…I’ve never…you know…lived in…normal places. Not since I was a filly…and even then it wasn’t anything like ‘normal’ life. How am I going to...fit in?”

Luna slowly let herself smile, gently patting Dusk’s shoulder. “Dusk. I was on the moon for a thousand years. It took me time to get used to royal life again. It won’t be perfect, but you can do it.”

“But…you didn’t have ponies who wanted you dead.”

“Well, perhaps not.” Luna nodded. “But ponies won’t want you dead, either. They want who you were. But that mare is gone now.” She used her hoof to turn Dusk’s gaze to her. “Right?”

Dusk felt like she was being talked to like a filly, but she said nothing. She had never really felt this vulnerable before. “I…yeah…but…”

“Dusk…trust me. It will be fine.” Luna paused. “By the way…I was curious about your name. It doesn’t sound like the sort of thing one would name their foal…no offense. I wouldn’t normally be so interested, but I’ve scoured the Dracony birth records, and there is no mention of any Dusk Rider…”

Immediately Dusk’s shaking stopped, and her muscles went taut. “I need to get to bed.”

“Dusk, I’m only asking-“

“I need to sleep. Got a lot of stuff to do tomorrow. I’m sure you have princess things to do.” She hopped down from the windowsill, striding past Luna and pulling her blankets back with her tail.

“Dusk. You could just say you don’t want to-“

“Please, leave.”

Luna’s eyes lingered on Dusk for a moment, before she sighed and started walking towards the door. “I apologize. It was crude of me to ask such a question without warning.” She gripped the door with her magic, gently closing it behind her. “Goodnight, Dusk.” She said, before it shut completely.

The Princess of the Night lingered at the door, her ear cocked to the side to listen through the bars. She heard the rustling of sheets, the sound of hooves trotting against concrete, and then the sound of a hoof against metal, but in a soft way. She was back at the window, presumably.

Luna simply sighed and trotted away from the door, allowing the guard standing nearby to take his post.

Dusk found herself in a vast swathe of nothing. She was the only thing there. It wasn’t quite pitch black – she could see swirling smoke and odd patterns around her, but nothing else. It was eerily silent, but not entirely so. A dull thrumming filled her ears, and her chest felt heavy.

“Not this again…” She muttered to herself, rubbing her temples with her hooves. “Not…fucking…again.” She tried to think normal thoughts. The cool sound of water trickling down a stream. The gentle chirping of birds. The shimmering image of Luna’s moon…

None of it worked. The thrumming was invasive. It was quiet, but it filled every corner of her mind. “Wake up, you stupid bitch…” She muttered again, though of course she was literally talking to herself. “This isn’t the night for this…I don’t have…fucking…t-time…”

Her body started to quiver. This was a dream, she knew it was. It was a dream she had every night. She almost never dreamt of anything else. This was all it ever consisted of. A painful, heavy, almost judgemental thrumming that made her feel that she was well and truly alone. That ponies only saw her as a pawn. At least…that was what she interpreted it as. She was no psychologist.

“…stop…” She whispered, her eyes clenching shut. She laid herself down on the ground, or at least what this horrid dreamscape had decided was the ground, and put her hooves over her head. Her tail tucked down between her hind legs. “…p-…please…”

This was usually how she spent her nights. Lying on the cold, inky black ground of a world with no surfaces, her mind reeling with the oppressive weight of nothingness. The weight of her own loneliness.

Sometimes this dream got better. On occasion she dreamt of her family. She dreamt of all of them, sitting in this world of blackness together – all terrified, but all embracing each other. When her mind was feeling especially cruel it would have that same scene, but have Dusk wrenched away, watching as her family comforted each other and she was perpetually running to try and get to them.

On most nights, though, it was just this. Her mind didn’t want to let her remember that she once had a future. It didn’t want her to even think she had one now. She was practically certain she didn’t, regardless.

She was about to shut herself down and resign her mind to another eight (or so) hours of torture when she felt a hoof on her shoulder.

Her eyes opened wide, and she glanced back to see Luna standing over her with a warm, almost maternal smile. Describing it as such, even to Dusk, seemed a bit cheesy…but she had actually never felt so happy to see her.

The darkness slowly melted away. The black void was replaced with a moonlit meadow, a wide open field of flowers and grass with fireflies dancing in the light of the moon.

“…is that what you normally dream about?” Luna finally spoke as Dusk stood up.

“I…” Dusk nodded slowly. “Yeah…it’s…basically every night…”

“I’ve never seen anything like it.” She had a look of concern on her face, a look that Dusk appreciated more than the princess would ever know. “Are you alright?”

“I’m used to it.” Dusk said slowly. “It’s fine. You really don’t need to do this. I know there are plenty of ponies you could be helping with their dreams and all.” She walked a bit away, the feeling of plants rubbing against her legs and cool dirt for her hooves to land on was pleasant. A firefly buzzed past her nose, and she suppressed a smile.

Luna stepped forward with her. “You clearly aren’t alright, Dusk.”

“I’m fine.” She ran a hoof across her mane. “I don’t…know many other ways to say it. I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. That dream wasn’t fine.”

“There’s no other word for it.” Dusk bit her lip. “I…fine means that it’s normal. Means that it’s…okay. That I’m fine with it.” She asserted. “I’m used to this. I’m used to the dreams. Sometimes they feel like they last weeks and sometimes they’re a couple minutes long.” She scuffed her hoof into the grass. “I dunno. It’s fine to me.”

Normally Luna only felt a twinge of pity for Dusk, but seeing her dreamscape with no tampering for the short time she did was making her feel a lot more. “It doesn’t need to be that way, though.”

“What, you’re going to come in and fix everything every night? I don’t need it, Luna.”

“Ponies often deny the things they need.”

“I don’t. Okay?” She snorted.

“Why do you always reject help when it is offered to you? Why must you be so stubborn? You’re hurting, Dusk. I know an aching dreamer when I see one.”

“I would have gotten help, Luna. I really would have.” She turned to face Luna. “But in case you forgot, I’m kind of a criminal. When I needed help I was a street urchin that didn’t have a bit to my name. When I was safe in the Guard I was fine. And then, when I needed help again, which was pretty much every day since I left, I knew I couldn’t get it. I’d thrown away my chances at that.”

Luna’s chest ached slightly, even in her ethereal dreamscape form. “You chose to leave for a good reason.”

“I did, but that doesn’t mean it helped me. I couldn’t ask anypony for help after that.” Dusk sat down. “The only ponies that knew me were criminals. The only ponies that knew me that weren’t criminals were guards, and they all hated me.”

“On the contrary Dusk, many of them were quite fond of-“

“Please don’t bullshit me, Princess. None of them liked me. Half hated me because I was a Dracony. The other half just hated me because I was an ass. I’m pretty much a hundred percent of the reason that ponies think Draconies are lawless brutes, and about ninety percent of the reason why they take all the abuse they’re dealt.”

Silence fell over Luna, and Dusk maintained hers. “Why did you ask about my name?” Dusk said, suddenly.

“What?”

“My name. You asked about it.”

“I was curious.”

“That wasn’t a curious question. You already know.”

“I truly don’t.”

“Well then, you’re not going to know.”

Again, Luna went silent.

“…I do appreciate the landscape though.” Dusk looked out around the field she was standing in. Her eyes closed, and a deep breath slowly filled her lungs with the cool night air.

“Hm? Oh, this wasn’t me.”

“What?”

“I didn’t do this. I simply entered your dream.”

Dusk blinked twice. “…yeah…right. Okay.”

“Well, seeing as you’re alright now, I suppose I should get to helping the other ponies in need of my assistance.” Luna turned away, her horn gently glowing. “Good luck, Dusk.”

“Er…I…yeah, I guess that’s…” As Luna disappeared, the world did with her. Flowers shrivelled away, dirt turned to ash and reverted back to the inky blackness that pervaded her senses like thick oil. Her mind was overtaken by the heavy thrumming noise again, her pupils shrinking and her hooves immediately going over her head again.

“No…w-wait…” She whispered into the darkness. “…c-come…back…”

Celestia managed a sigh of relief as she saw the briefing room doors open and Dusk striding in. She wasn’t sure why, but she had been nervous at first about whether or not Dusk would actually attend, given her increased amounts of freedom around the castle grounds.

“Good morning, Dusk.” Celestia bowed her head politely. Dusk only managed a grunt and a minor nod of her own as she hopped up into the chair beside Luna’s.

Two more ponies filed in. The first was Princess Cadence, who certainly did not look happy to see Dusk sitting there, wearing her combat outfit, with no shackles at all.

The next was Shining Armour. Dusk couldn’t say she was surprised, but she didn’t quite feel comfortable with him around. She was glad that he sat a few seats away.

Two honour guards took their posts at the doors, which swung shut. The table they sat at was circular, with Celestia and Luna sitting beside each other, Dusk slightly to the right of them, and Shining and Cadence across from her.

“I know what your first question will inevitably be.” Celestia spoke to Dusk. “Cadence and Shining Armour are here because we feel it is best to have the monarchy completely aware of this.”

“What about the new one?” Dusk asked.

“Princess Twilight is not well versed in official business like this. It might be a bit much for her to handle.”

“Mhm.”

Shining glanced at Cadence, then back at the two princesses.

“Now, you all know why you are here.” Luna’s horn glowed, and the surface of the table began to project images, a collage of Bellephron, both old and new, and several images of Tempest. The smug noble was a white unicorn with a dark grey mane and tail, and piercing blue eyes. His cutie mark was a blue shield with a crack running down the middle. Typically, he was wearing a suit.

“Tempest Diadem.” Luna continued. “Duke of the land of Bellephron, previously known as the Bellephron Empire. The land once was home to the Draconies, like our…” Luna hesitated. “Like Dusk here.”

Cadence couldn’t suppress a snort.

“Over the years, Tempest has overseen the assimilation of Draconies into Equestrian culture.” Luna went on, ignoring Cadence’s disdain. “Celestia appointed him to watch over the Draconies, and to ensure their safety and wellbeing. Unfortunately, it seems he has failed to do so…in a most grievous way.”

More images came up on screen. Tempest lying on a lavish sofa while a Dracony, looking bedraggled and fearful, brought him a platter with food on it. Another with him overlooking Draconies as they toiled in the gemstone mines. And a few others that were too inappropriate to look at for too long.

“Tempest has turned the Draconies into glorified slaves.” Luna said. “However, Celestia granted him a level of power that makes Bellephron nearly its own sovereign territory. We cannot remove him.”

“So…” Cadence spoke up. “You plan to have…” She waved a hoof at Dusk. “Her take care of him?”

“Yes.” Luna replied bluntly. “The Draconies have barely been treated as living creatures, at this stage. It is simply fitting that the most skilled pony for the job is a Dracony.”

Cadence didn’t look convinced.

“Dusk, you’ve studied the maps of Tempest’s compound, yes?” Luna asked directly to her, and the Dracony nodded.

“Mhm.”

“And are you prepared to take on the mission tonight?”

“Mhm.” She nodded.

The princess of love certainly did not look very loving, her eye twitching a bit at Dusk’s blasé attitude. Still, at the gentle touch of her husband’s hoof, she kept her mouth shut.

“Excellent, then.” Celestia raised the projection, now showing multiple different cities and a few documents that were easily readable to those sitting at the table. “Now, there is the issue of who we replace him with. Originally, I had considered putting an old friend of mine in charge, but given that Tempest was once a friend as well…”

“What about Twilight?” Shining spoke up. “It would be a great opportunity for her.”

Celestia shook her head. “Twilight is not yet ready to govern. Especially not in a broken land like Bellephron. No, we need somepony else…”

“Or perhaps we could give the Draconies the option to govern themselves?” Luna suggested.

Another snort came from Cadence, and Dusk’s hoof tapped the table.

“Is there a problem, Cadence?” Dusk asked.

“It’s Princess Cadence.”

“Well, Cadence. Is there a problem?”

“And yes, I do have a problem. I don’t think we should be allowing a contract killer to freely take revenge on a pony she doesn’t like with no consequences – in fact, we’re rewarding her for it. This isn’t right.”

Shining Armour put a hoof on his wife’s shoulder. “Cadence…”

“No, let her talk.” Dusk crossed her hooves in front of her. Her eyes centered on Cadence’s. “It’s all she’s good for.”

“Dusk, please dispense with the insults.” Celestia asserted. “And Cadence, do you perhaps have any better ideas?”

“We could reclaim the land. Make it Equestrian territory and put it back under our control.” Cadence replied, earning a scowl from Dusk. “Or, we could instigate a coup, either with the Draconies or Tempest’s own guards. Or…”

“While those are decent options,” Celestia said. “They won’t deal with the problem. Tempest is extremely manipulative. He needs to be out of the picture.”

“…hm.” Cadence leaned back in her seat.

Dusk simply grumbled under her breath. She had no idea how Shining had ended up with her, or how other ponies saw her as so nice – but she didn’t want to question it at this point.

“Now.” Celestia continued. “Are we all clear on what is being done, and what the response should be?”

“Yes.” Luna nodded.

“Of course.” Shining bowed his head.

“…” Cadence growled softly before nodding. “Yes, Auntie.”

“Good.” Celestia made the projection disappear, and cleared her throat. “Dusk, head to the armoury to retrieve your weapons. Practice with them in the training yard if you need, and meet myself and Luna upon the terrace when the moon is raised.”

Dusk nodded and stood up. As the doors swung open and they began to file out, she started walking down the hall. Her hooves gently clacked against the polished floor, but she heard accompanying sets…

She turned around to see who it was. Shining Armour slowly trotted towards her, a friendly smile attempting to overtake his neutral expression. “Hey.”

“…hey?” Dusk stopped walking, letting him come to her. Dusk’s head only came up to his chin.

“I…have to apologize about the ‘execution’. I’m sorry that was the way we met for the first time in…what, five years?”

“Seven.” Dusk corrected him. Her face gave nothing away, but a faint bit of anger could be seen in her eyes.

Shining nodded. “Right. Seven…”

An awkward silence hung between them both. “I really am sorry.” He said again.

“Mhm.”

“And I know you’re probably angry, not just about that…”

“Yeah, pretty good assumption.”

“But I want you to know I want to help you.”

“That’s the same thing you said when you first met me.”

“It was true then too, wasn’t it?”

“If that’s your idea of helping, I really don’t need it.”

The white unicorn sighed and looked down. “Maybe I messed up, Dusk. But you didn’t exactly make it easy.”

“You offered me a home, why wouldn’t I take it? I’m not a military pony.”

“So what exactly are you going to do when this is done? Stay as a prisoner in the castle?”

“…” Dusk’s eyes gently moved from his face, to his left, and then darted to the other side. “I’m sure I’ll figure something out.”

Shining abruptly leaned down so he was at proper eye level with her. “Dusk, I don’t want to see you go back to the way you’ve been doing things for the last seven years. You’re so much smarter than that.”

“The fuck are you trying to be, my dad?”

“I’m trying to be your friend.”

“Ship’s sailed, Shining. And I hear you get pretty airsick…” Dusk turned her back on him, trotting away without another word.