Chapter 2: Dusk-at-Dawn

The day opened as per the usual.  Or, at least that was how it felt to him.  Ampere turned off his alarm clock that read "5:50 A.M." and then walked into his bathroom.  He looked at himself in the mirror for a few seconds, adjusted his mane with his hoof, and then commenced his routine morning rituals.  He dressed himself for work with a black dress shirt - the topmost button unbuttoned and set his cuffs to a comfortable setting.  He stepped into the kitchen and made himself some instant coffee.  The fumes failed to penetrate him as he was accustomed to their aromatic miracle (or perhaps his isolationism barred it).  He did not possess any sugar - for the past four months - and therefore drank the black liquid without any regards to taste.  Taste was an alien word to him.

It was late summer and fall was fast approaching.  His job allowed him majority of the summer off but he decided to work overtime, defying the average-minded pony.  Besides, he needed the money.  He was saving up his money for something.  He didn't know what, but he knew he had to.  His mother told him to treasure what things he held.  His mother.

He went down a mental list of material that he needed before leaving the abode... wallet, I.D. card, pen... keys, watch... evidently a smile was not one of them.  But of course, a cold skin and an unemotional mind were givens.  He opened the door and stepped outside.  He turned around and locked the door.  When he was finished, he stood a few steps back and said, "I'll be seeing you later."

Dusk-at-Dawn was an industrial city.  With the land being infertile and agriculture a non-possibility, its citizens had grouped together in living quarters and had their food imported.  A few greenhouses were scattered throughout the city, but traditionally Dusk-at-Dawn had established a trading pattern with other cities:  manufactured goods in exchange for produce.  Their wealth did not come from the land but rather the factories that produced said manufactured goods.

Its inhabitants were generally kind but had seen their share of thieves, villains, and criminals.  In short, corruption coexisted with smiles.  You never knew who was who but there was some degree of safety.  If anything, most were ready to smile after a hard day’s toil in the factory.  Honesty pay was ingrained into their lives over thievery.

Ampere was, of course, never a victim of thieves and pickpockets.  However on one occasion, a pony with a knife, a sickly fellow desperate for food, attempted to stab him while he was carrying groceries.  Ampere swiftly dodged the thrust, forced his opponent to lose his balance, and then stared at him coldly.  One scowl was all it took for him to rethink his life and begin looking for a steady wage job.

Ampere was quite the unusual fellow in this city.  He lived alone on the outskirts of the city in a one story house, never really talked to many ponies - if any, and wore his apathetic mask.  Though in truth he did display semblances of his emotion, it was just that he rarely did so.  On his way to work there was nothing out of the uniform.  Save for one thing.