A Tale of Dusk

Chapter 3

“Wow.” The words left Dusk's lips before he could stop himself.

“Yeah, it’s … tiny.” Spine agreed in an equally shocked and small voice, staring at the distant village with something akin to concerned wonder, the drake's eyes trailing over the crude nature of Ponyville's train-station, little more than a glorified shed where the tickets were sold attached to a large cement platform with a corrugated tin roof from where the passengers could disembark.

“Scratch tiny, I think the Campus dorms are bigger than Ponyville.”

“There’s magi-net this far out, right? If I can’t at least check my messages, screw the Princess, I am going back to your tower.”

“If not, I’m fairly sure I can set something up. It’s not going to be the best, but at least we can receive messages.”

“Oh Tartarus no, Dusk. If I have to play Call of Guard-Duty on a rinky-dink dial-up magi-net, my ranking on the leader-boards is going to plummet, and I will set fire to somepony just on principal.”

“One, I am a fairly powerful Wizard, Spine, so I’m fairly certain I can brute-force a connection to Canterlot’s magi-net that will be almost as good as what we could get at the Campus, and two, let’s save the promises of homicide via incendiaries until after we speak to the Mayor and see what the library has to offer.”

“Fiiiiiine. At least nopony has wandered over and asked if I’m tame yet.”

“Well, with any luck, this far from Canterlot, the usual crowd of bigots won’t have gotten a foothold. We’re more likely to be dealing with ignorant Ponies here who just need to be educated, not wilfully prejudiced ones that need to be threatened with legal action just to make them act like a civilized being.”

As the mismatched pair walked from the train station after organizing with a local, a gigantic brute of a pegasus with albinism and tiny wings who, despite his appearance and inability to use an ‘inside’ voice, had agreed to take their luggage to the Ponyville Library for a pouch of bits, Spine complained the entire way about the dirt road getting dust all over her scales, all the while Dusk’s mind whirled with thoughts he dare not utter aloud for fear of blaspheme.

Firstly, screw the debt they owed her, Princess Celestia owed them for this. If Spine didn’t murder him in the streets for dragging her away from her beloved consoles and online gaming, then Dusk himself was likely to have a coronary from how primitive everything was. It had taken them close to a half-hour of walking down the dirt road to get to the town from the train-station, because apparently Ponyville didn’t even have bicycle rentals, let alone taxi-services, and while the admittedly picturesque landscape was pleasant to look at and walk through, the charm had long lost its lustre well before they even entered the ‘town’ itself and finally got to the streets, cobbled streets no less, and buildings that would have been considered ‘quaint’ about a century ago, and now just looked old and tired. Flames of Tartarus, the lamp-posts were still of the candle in a glass box variety. Not electric lights like what most Earth Pony towns used, and most certainly not magical given the state of the town, no, these were just plain ordinary candles.

This does not bode well …

The government office-building, at least, looked new … and cheap. In truth it was nothing more than a cement cube three stories tall, albeit one that had been painted in pastel colours in a futile if touching attempt to blend in with the ancient buildings around it, where a constant stream of Ponies trundled in through a pair of double-doors on one side and were spat out on the other side by an identical pair of double-doors.

“Wait, is it the tax-season?” Spine whispered as Dusk paused to look up and down the street, looking for some reason for the bizarre conga-line of Ponies moving through the ugliest, cheapest government building they’d ever seen. “Or is there a local election going on?”

“Faust knows. It could be anything, so stay by my side until we know what’s going on.” Dusk muttered back, reaching into the satchel he had taken onto the train as hand-luggage and removing a portable gaming system, handing it to a wide-eyed Spine, the Drake clutching the small flip-top device like it was the crown jewels of the Princess herself. “Use this to pass the time.”

“IS THIS A NEIGHTENDO 3DS? With the brand-new Solar/Lunar Ponymon game? Why didn’t you give this to me on that Faust-forsaken five-hour train-trip! We played Go Fish to pass the time! GO FISH!” Spine hissed, punching her ‘brother’ none too gently in the small of the back as the mismatched pair joined the back of the queue, ignoring the startled glances of the nearest ponies with practiced indifference.

“Because it only has a three-hour battery-life, forcibly recharging it with my magic could cause the battery to explode if I’m not careful or the whole thing to melt if we’re really unlucky, and Faust herself knows how long we’re going to be waiting to speak to Ponyville’s Mayor.” The purple Unicorn replied, rubbing at the small of his back and knowing that he’d have a wicked bruise tomorrow. Spine sometimes forgot her own strength, although on the bright side of things, it would give him another opportunity to practice his healing spells. “So let’s be on our best behaviour, Spine. We have no idea what’s waiting for us in there and we’re stuck here for at least half a year, so let’s not burn any bridges just yet.”

When only silence greeted him, Dusk glanced over to Spine, who had flipped the portable gaming device open and was rapidly engrossed in it, tongue protruding out the side of her mouth, tapping at the screens with the built-in stylus.

Well, it could be worse. At least this will distract her from the staring …

Of course, it did nothing to distract Dusk from the stares directed at him. Ponyville seemed to suffer from the same gender imbalance that was still gripping Equestria, and while most of the Ponies’ eyes seemed glued to his horn, more than a few were directed at his ass. Hungry stares.

Buck. Let’s just hope this ‘old fashioned country hospitality’ that the Princess was talking about is in play, otherwise I’m going to have to start lobbing some magic around to teach these hicks to keep their hands to themselves and their eyeballs above my belt.

Fifteen minutes passed before Dusk and Spine’s position in the line finally got close to the doors, by which point Spine had already begun complaining out loud about her feet hurting despite never once taking her eyes off the screen, and Dusk was feeling incredibly uncomfortable with the staring.

Ironically, Ponies would tense up when they saw Spine, then visibly relax when they saw the gaming device in her claws, but Dusk found himself the fixation of a half-dozen Mares who made no bones about where they were staring or what they found so appealing, and he had seen one Mare openly remove a wedding band from her finger and get up to speak to him before her husband had come out of a hardware store on the other side of the street a few seconds later. Flushing slightly, the Mare had linked arms with the Stallion and walked off, deftly slipping her wedding band back on with practiced ease while her oblivious husband chattered away about the new power-drill he’d just bought.

Good Goobering Faust, this is exactly like the Canterlot Campus! Dusk screamed mentally as they finally slipped into the building and were greeted by a bored-looking young Mare who seemed rather unimpressed by Dusk and Spine’s presence … until she did a double-take at Spine and began to rummage through her crowded desk, stammering apologies.

“U-uh, you, uh, would you be … Lord Dusk Shine and Lady Spine?” She spluttered, obviously flustered to the point Dusk feared the poor Mare was going to burst into tears.

“No, no, it’s just Dusk Shine, and this is Spine, my … assistant. We’re here to speak to the Mayor, if she is available?” Dusk coughed and gave the Mare his best ‘please don’t panic and blow up the room’ smile, based entirely up the same smile he’d seen the Princess give him … far too often, now that I think about it! “We’re supposed to see her sometime today about taking up the librarian’s position, amongst other things?”

Cue more stammering and frantic shuffling of her paperwork before the now-blushing Mare found the piece of paper with the details and, still apologizing profusely, led Dusk and Spine up a flight of stairs to a small hallway lined with doors of typical government make, plastic and cheap, although the door at the end of the hallway was made of dark, polished wood with a solid bronze door-knob, and a plaque of the same with ‘Mayor’ etched into the polished surface at eye-level on the wooden door.

Well well well, maybe this Mayor might be a bit more of a handful than I thought? Dusk thought to himself. The door was a fairly blatant difference from the rest of the cheap, pre-assembled building, with everything built to a plan, a budget, by the lowest bidder for Equestria’s less-important government offices. Was it was a personal touch, putting herself above the other employees here, or it was something the group had decided on a whole for their leader?

“… Okay, Dusk, just saying, kinda nervous about our chances here.” Spine muttered softly as she powered down the hand-held console and powered it down, slipping it back into Dusk’s satchel given her outfit was decidedly lacking in pockets. “You’re Princess Celestia’s personal student, you’d think ‘watch out for this stallion and this dragon, they’re coming today’ would be something that would warrant more than a memo…”

“And the whole purpose of this trip is to subtly prep Ponyville for the Summer Sun Celebration without bringing the wrath of our most wealthy and entitlement-riddled nobility down on these poor Ponies. Keeping this on the down-low might be part of the plan.” Dusk shot back, tapping on the door with the back of his hand, while his other gave Spine’s shoulder a comforting squeeze. “My apologies, Mayor Mare, but we are Dusk Shine and Spine el’Celest, from Canterlot. May we enter?”

“Wait … THAT’S TODAY?! OH Faust!” A Mare shouted on the other side of the door, followed swiftly by a cacophony of sounds that reminded Dusk and Spine of the time when, at a very young age, they’d come running into Celestia’s private quarters one day to show her the four-leafed clover they’d found in the gardens, and discovered a half-naked and very panicked Princess trying to shove three equally undressed Royal Guards under her writing-table with paperwork, jars of peanut butter and very unusual ‘paperweights’ scattering everywhere in the process.

“Ah mah Faaaaaust.” The young Drake grumbled, slapping a clawed hand over her face in disgust as Dusk vented a gusty sigh.

For close to two minutes the mismatched pair waited as the frantic banging and clattering on the other side of the door continued unabated, then suddenly stopped for the space of twenty seconds. The door opened soundlessly, a slightly-overweight mare of middling age with not a hair out of place and golden half-moon glassed stood in the doorway, smiling calmly at them.

Okay, so she’s got a hell of a poker-face at least. Dusk gave back what he hoped as a smile of equal calibre as the mayor stepped back and let them into the room … which was also immaculate, which seemed impossible given the volume of noise just recently head from the other side of the door. For an earth-pony, that’s all kinds of impressive. Must have stashed all the paperwork into the filing cabinets and locked the suckers shut.

“Greets, Lord Shine, Lady el’Celeste, I apologise for the delays, our … situation here is a bit hectic. Ponyville has recently had an outbreak of Mule-Flu, so we’re having to have the entire town immunized.” Still smiling calmly, the mare walked around to a small coffee-maker that sat precariously atop a filing cabinet and flicked it on, the low, soft drrrrmm of the grinder in the machine getting to work on those beans a welcome distraction to the awkward silence. “So you can understand that my staff are somewhat … underprepared for your visit. Most of our efforts are going to making sure everypony is getting their injections and then ensuring the public records are updating accordingly. It doesn’t help that some of our more … eccentric townsponies tend to believe that the injections cause certain medical conditions.”

“Oh Faust, not the ‘Derpitis’ idiocy again?” Dusk muttered, putting a hand to his chin and frowning in thought. “There’s been test after test, verified by some of the best doctors and scientists Equestria has ever seen that you’re more likely to get stuck by lightning bolts on a clear summer day than pick up Derpitis from Mule-Flu inoculations.”

“Yes, well, what one knows and what one believes can be two very separate things, sadly. Still, we’ve finally gotten most of the town dealt with, and those who are refusing have been informed that the government or their employers cannot be held responsible if they come down with the Mule-Flu. Still … you two …” Mayor Mare’s smile cracked a bit as the well-dressed mare seated herself behind her desk, and gestured for Dusk and Spine to do the same, her voice laced with panic. “I will be blunt with both of you: I had never imagined her Radiance would ever pick Ponyville for this year’s Summer Sun Festival, or any meaningful festival for that matter, and to be perfectly honest, as honoured as we are at the faith in our abilities, I doubt we’re going to able to pull off anything even close to what she is expecting …”

“I’ll stop you right there, miss Mayor. As Princess Celestia’s student, I can assure you that the Princess doesn’t want the formality or endlessly convoluted social conventions that the Summer Sun Festival has come to have associated with it. All Celestia wants is a festival where she can get away from Canterlot, mingle with her ponies and not have to deal with stifling protocol and tradition … or inbred and overly-entitled nobles who get their collective panties in a bunch over the slightest deviation from aforementioned protocol and tradition.” Dusk removed the hand from his chin and raised it into the air to help pause the Mayor’s stream of words. “Princess Celestia hates stuffy events, but puts up with the charade because it placates the Nobility and stops them from causing a fuss and taking too much time out of issues the government needs to focus on, which is probably why she has gone to such lengths to put this year’s event into your hands, and in secrecy no-less. A Summer Sun Festival where the Princess can walk around and mingle with the average citizen for a night without having to worry about causing a political pissing-match between the nation's movers and shakers will last for the rest of the year because she spent thirty seconds more chatting with one faction than the others. I’d bet my annual stipend that this whole situation is probably something she’s had planned out for decades at least.”

“I’m no stranger to the idiocy of politics, but … it’s that bad in Canterlot, really?” The Mayor whispered after a few moments of silence, her expression turning from mildly panicked to obviously depressed as Dusk and Spine both nodded. “Oh bother. I … uhm … may have tried to set up the festival to mimic what Canterlot holds every year. Well … we’ve got months to get things back on track, at least, and with her personal student and … oh, my apologies, young miss, but what exactly do you do?”

“I’m Dusk Shine’s assistant, and Princess Celestia’s ward.” Spine said proudly, grinning at the mayor who thankfully didn’t freak out at the array of sharp fangs on display towards her.

“Oh, that’s a relief, I was afraid I was going to have to assign a staff-member to be your assistant, and we’re short-handed enough as things stand. And your, ah, your reputation proceeds you, Lord Dusk. The only staff I felt I could assign you that wouldn’t be tempted to be … unprofessional, or not meet your high standards, are ones vital to keeping Ponyville running.”

“I was … more than a little unsettled to see the same kind of Mares in this town that I’ve just given up a great deal to get away from in Canterlot.” Dusk said, ignoring the startled look Spine gave him, his eyes fixed on the mayor, who winced and sagged even further in her chair. “Princess Celestia and I had hoped that this far from Canterlot’s morass of intrigue, I would also be able to get away from the sort of Ponies who would only see my gender. And the chance to put another notch on their belts.”

“Yes, well, once you establish yourself in town, I’m sure most of that … that type of mare will decide getting on the wrong side of Celestia’s prized pupil isn’t worth it. I wish I could say that we didn't suffer the same problems as Canterlot, but sadly the Sisterhood has a rather sizable foothold in our little town.” The Mayor sighed heavily and took the glasses off her face, rubbing at them with a tissue for a few moments before inspecting them closely and slipping them back on. A delaying tactic, Dusk thought to himself. She’s buying time to think.

“A question I want to ask, how’s the magi-net out here?” Spine asked, leaning forwards to lock eyes with the Mayor, who visibly flinched and looked away after a few seconds. “We’re talking thirty mana-bytes a second, right?”

The Mayor refused to meet either Spine’s desperate gaze, or acknowledge Dusk’s groan of annoyance.

“Twenty?”

The Mayor fidgeted. The coffee-machine pinged as it finished making a fresh pot of government-grade brew. Dusk tried some breathing exercises to try and keep his temper cooled.

“Fifteen? Please say at least fifteen …”

“We’re … we’re a very long way out from the magi-net hubs, Lady Spine el’Celeste. On a good day, we get around eight, maybe ten mana-bytes a second, but I do believe that, a few years from now, the magi-net is planned to expand to the outer regions of Equestria, and we should be able to reach the fifteen mana-bytes benchmark by then?” The Mayor said hesitantly, getting paler as she watched the young Dragon’s face get grimmer and tiny plumes of smoke leaking from between the drake’s sharp teeth as the Mayor delivered the unwelcome news. “I … ah … believe that one can get a more powerful connection to the magi-net privately, but that will cost a considerable amount of bits. Sadly, the Ponyville council is only given a small amounts of funds per annum from the Royal Treasury, plus whatever we can scrape together from fundraisers or donations from our citizens.”

“I had noticed the state of the roads and street-lamps. I think, after we get settled and I get our magi-net issues sorted, I’ll see what I can do to finagle some extra funds from the Princess for Ponyville. As charmingly rustic as the town is, if we’re really going to have the Summer Sun Festival here, we need to update your facilities to accommodate the population-boom for the festival itself. And unless I’m gravely mistaken, there’s been some gross misappropriation of funds going on since Ponyville looks like a replica of a town a hundred years from the past.” Dusk pointed out, leaning back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling in thought. “Humm … would it be too forward of me to get a list of what we have in place already? How big are our public toilets, how many Ponies are trained in first-aid and crowd-control, how large is the local hospital and how many staff can they have on standby at any given moment, how many restaurants are open and how many Ponies could they comfortably serve with in an hour, things like that?”

“I could probably get you a comprehensive list by the end of … day after next.” Mayor Mare said eagerly, a grin spreading across her face as the older Mare got up and poured three cups of coffee, “Milk? Sugar? I’ve got a little bit of cream … you have no idea how grateful I am to hear somepony else mention how under-funded we are out here. Our school, our hospital, our town … we’re so stretched for bits, Lord Dusk, that I’m surprised I can pay the council-workers some weeks.”

“Cream and ten teaspoons of sugar!” Spine demanded, still frowning. “And yeah, Dusk, kick some ass for these Ponies, will you? Nobody deserves a magi-net of a mere 8 MBS!”

“She gets four teaspoons of sugar and at least half a cup of milk with her coffee, or Spine will be clinging to the ceiling with her toe-claws and screaming like a banshee before five minutes are up. Don’t give me that look, Spine, you know your brain-chemistry goes seven different kinds of crazy when you have that much caffeine. Ah … I’ll have mine straight-black please.” Dusk countermanded, giving his ‘assistant’ a stern look that just resulted in a raspberry blown in his direction. “That’s fine, two days will give us plenty of time to see to the library, send a letter or three to Princess Celestia about your funding issues and take a look around town on our own, get a feel for the place before we get an official tour and give you and your ponies a chance to deal with your current crisis in peace.”

“That will work out fantastically for us! Oh thank you, Lord Dusk, Lady Spine!” The Mayor’s voice brightened as she delivered the coffee to her two guests and seated herself on the other side of the table. “That said, before you leave, would you mind if I pitched a few ideas at you for the Summer Sun Festival, just some ideas to bounce off you while you’re here? What you think might work, we can polish over the next few days and give you a rough plan you can fine-tune once you’ve settled in?”

"I think it's a good start, ma'am. We've got half a year to get things right, and I'd rather get the ball rolling now, before we hit any more problems." Dusk took the cup of coffee and, for politeness's sake, took a sip, the warmth of the coffee and the astringent bitterness of the cheap coffee bringing back fond memories of visiting his father at the Starswirl Observatory, and the rare few times Dusk didn't have to keep up the charade of being the Sparkle family's nephew, rather than their child. "I think the first thing we're going to need to focus on is how to get the citizens from your train-station to town effectively. As lovely as the scenery is ... we get a few thousand ponies tramping their way to town, there's going to be a lot of things sore than just their feet."