The Road Begins
“Anywhere but here.”
That’s what she had said.
“I need to get out there; make something of myself. I can’t just sit around on my ass all day, wishing that life were more fair for once.”
She’d seemed so confident in that as she trotted out into the street, and started walking through a light drizzle towards the Manehattan train station with naught but a saddlebag of personal knickknacks and a couple hundred bits to her name.
Dawn Gazer, by the way. That was her name. Her parents had told her that it was supposed to represent a never ending journey towards the horizon. A constant hope that her aspirations in life would yet come to pass, if she only reached out to take hold of them. Quite poetic, really. Quite unlike Dawn herself. She was always more of the sit-back-on-the-rooftop-and-watch-the-clouds type than the sit-under-the-great-oak-and-write-about-life type.
There was a park several blocks from her house, and it was home to several nice oak trees, as well as several pines, birch, and a particularly large willow. But it was all fake; sprouted by unicorn magic. The trees, the grass... hell, even the dirt seemed like it was developed in a factory, rather than taken from the earth. That was a complaint that Dawn had always had with the “big city” life. Even the little bits of nature spread through the city seemed to be tainted by industrialization. There was no real life to anything. It was all factories and skyscrapers. Roads and sidewalks.
She could deal with all that. That wasn’t the reason the earth pony had decided to leave. Her problem was a bit more... intrinsic than all that. Something she couldn’t simply “deal with”.
“I’m sorry, Miss Gazer. But we simply don’t have a place for someone of your... particular talents.”
“Of course you don’t. Why should I have expected any different...?”
“I-I’m sorry, Miss?”
“Nothing. Thanks for your time.”
She’d been through several years of general schooling, and had even attended a technical university for a couple years to try to find something that she really wanted to do with her life. Her cutie mark was a white flower of many petals, backed by what looked like spines. So... what? Floristry? Gardening? She liked flowers. They smelled nice and did wonders to brighten up a sour landscape like the one she’d lived under for her entire life. But is that something she really thought she could make a living out of? Probably not. So what did her mark even mean? It was supposed to describe something she loved or was good at, right?
Well, it certainly hadn’t given her any clue on what to do with herself. So the options were either A) something was wrong with her, or B) something was wrong with the people she had to talk to in order to get a job around here. Ever the optimist, Dawn assured herself that perhaps all she needed was a change of scenery. A new pond to flounder about in for a time.
“I’ve heard nothing but good things about Ponyville. It’s small, close-knit, and, most importantly... Rural. As. Hell.”
Then she’d find the perfect job, with the perfect ponies, the perfect pay, and the perfect place to start off her new life. Everything would be great.
That was the hope anyway. Life, though, has a nasty habit of being a bit more complicated than that.
[] [] []
“I MISSED IT?”
The pegasus stallion to whom the question was directed winced visibly at the frustrated mare’s sudden outburst, answering as levelly as he was able, “Y-yes, miss. That would seem to- to be the case. I’m terribly sorry.”
Dawn threw her head upwards, falling back to her haunches and throwing her hooves up and slamming one into each side of her head. Glaring at the ceiling, she shouted, “How could I have missed it?”
She was sitting on a boarding platform at the Manehattan Railroad Station. Terminal #3. Large, white marble pillars, each adorned with wide rings of multi-colored tiles at about shoulder level, were placed every ten or fifteen feet down the center of the platform. Every pillar ascended to a pointed roof, slanting downwards to either side, and a rounded, metal bench surrounded each base. On either side of the terminal were tracks branching off in various directions after leaving the station. Being outside, one could see the skyline of uptown Manehattan with ease on a clear day.
Today, however, was not a particularly clear day; as had been the trend for the past week or so, the sky was dark and cloudy, soundlessly threatening to open the floodgates on top of the city at any time. Seemingly for no other reason than to make the day look even more depressing, a light fog also hung in the air. Either the weather crew was feeling especially lethargic lately, or someone was having a really bad week and was intent on spreading the love around.
It had been early in the afternoon, and rather humid, so Dawn decided to take a quick “power nap” while she waited for the train to Ponyville to arrive. As it turns out, this was a poor decision.
“Well, you were sleeping on that bench for quite some time. Perhaps it came by while you were napping?” the stallion offered, looking hopeful that he was helping the situation. He wasn’t. Dawn shifted her gaze from the ceiling to the pegasus, her eyes betraying a very real urge to wrap her forelegs around his waist and piledrive him onto the train tracks.
Fortunately for the pegasi’s head, and Dawn’s status as a mare not being jailed for brutally hospitalizing innocent civilians for looking at her funny, she sufficed to shouting some more. “Well, why didn’t you wake me up? Huh?”
If the stallion had realized what an unfair place he was being pushed into, he made no signs of showing it. If anything, he seemed even more apologetic than before. “O-oh my! I can’t even-can’t even begin to express to you how sorry I am for not waking you! I-I-I-I didn’t—I didn’t think! I wasn’t thinking! P-please, miss! Please forgive me!”
Dawn may have had issues with keeping her temper in check, and she might have been prone to blaming others for her problems because of that, but she wasn’t heartless. Seeing the innocent male doubled over in front of her, begging for forgiveness was more than enough to snap her back to reality. She sighed deeply, then picked the pathetic stallion up off of the ground, “No... no. You’ve got nothing to apologize for. It’s my fault I missed the train. I should’ve been more aware of the time.”
Though still shaken, the timid stallion couldn’t help but ask, “Is there anything that I could, um, do? Anything to help?”
The kindness he was showing to her in spite of how awfully she had been acting the past few minutes was humbling, to say the least. “Don’t worry about it,” she responded, her lips curling upward ever so slightly, “I just need to go talk to the guys at the ticket booth. If I explain what happened, they should be able to get me a ticket for the next train.”
This news seemed to please the pegasus, and his fear quickly dissipated. It was replaced with an eerily wide smile. Not that it looked forced, per se, but just something about it unnerved Dawn. Something about the way he was able to snap from abject terror to such an unbearably cheerful grin just seemed... wrong. She shrugged it off, however, and decided a proper apology was in order. “Anyway, I’m really sorry about railing off on you like that. Being a complete stranger and all, I guess I really haven’t made a great first impression—”
“Oh no! Nothing to worry yourself about, miss. A simple misunderstanding, that’s all,” he replied without letting her finish. He was still smiling.
“Uhhhhh right. Well, okay then. My name’s Dawn.”
“Cloudy Weather.” Still smiling. Yeah, definitely weird.
Dawn couldn’t help but take notice of the trio of overlapping storm clouds on his flank. They were dark gray, a stark contrast to his bright yellow coat, and a perfect complement to his heavily graying mane. She hadn’t been paying much attention before, but now that Dawn was really looking, it seemed to her that this stallion was grayed well beyond his age. His face and body didn’t seem very old at all. No older than her parents anyway. Perhaps she wasn’t the first pony to harass him over trivial matters that weren’t his fault to begin with; he certainly seemed like he’d taken his fair share of emotional beat-downs.
After bumping hooves, Dawn turned to make her way back into the station to retrieve a new train ticket. It was a fairly simple process, and it wasn’t long before she was right back on the platform at Terminal #3. This time though with every fiber of her being focused on staying awake to avoid a repeat of that afternoon’s events.
Dawn saw the pegasus again when she returned; it was hard not to as he was the only pony there aside from herself. She smiled weakly at him when he waved at her from across the platform, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a lot more going on inside his head than his overtly friendly demeanor suggested.
Best not to get involved, she thought, seating herself a few pillars away.
About twenty minutes later, a train approached the station from the same direction that Dawn was headed and slowly pulled in. When the doors opened, several ponies exited and the pegasus, Cloudy Weather, hopped on board. Dawn couldn’t help but watch him as he took a seat inside. A moment later, the train gave a loud whistle and began chugging off towards its next destination.
It wasn’t long before all of the ponies who’d exited the train had left to go about their business, and Dawn Gazer found herself sitting alone for the remainder of her wait. Though in reality it had only been about a half an hour long wait, to a mind working at a thousand miles per hour, it seemed like an eternity.
All of the questions that had escaped Dawn when she’d first decided to move out of her parent’s home to seek out her future in Ponyville came crashing back to the forefront of her brain in the relative quiet of Terminal #3.
What if I can’t find a job in time? What if I end up spending all my bits on living space and land myself right back in mom and dad’s place in a week? What would they think of me? Are they expecting me to fail? Are they talking about it over lunch right about now? How I’ll be back in a few days with a new sob story about how no pony in their right mind would give me a job? Would any pony in their right mind give me a job? Is it just me? Am I just doomed to never find a career of my own? Destined to live off of my parent’s income until they’re too old to work anymore?
The thoughts stung far worse than Dawn was willing to let anyone else know. So when the train to Ponyville pulled steadily into the station, she was quick to straighten herself up. She wiped a few tears she hadn’t realized were forming behind her eyes, slung her bags over her back, and stepped lightly into the car closest to where she’d been sitting, careful not to run into anyone exiting.
The interior of the locomotive was nicer than Dawn had anticipated. Having never ridden on this train before, or any train for that matter, she had only the station itself to use for comparison. While the majority of the Manehattan Railroad Station was fairly well-kept, the inside of the car Dawn found herself in was absolutely gorgeous.
It felt almost like looking around a military bunker that had been refurbished into a normal home: more like a really big, cozy bedroom than a vehicle of transportation. The green carpeting adorning the floors was soft to the touch, the cushions on every bench looked plush and inviting, and the swirling, translucent dividers between each seat added a certain flair to the decor. Finding herself drawn to the back corner, Dawn took her seat and couldn’t help but notice that she’d been right about the cushions. Cuddly as a pillow.
It took all of her willpower not to conk out right then and there; she knew if she wanted to catch a nap on the way, she’d have to make sure she was getting up again. There were a few other ponies scattered throughout the car, and all of them seemed friendly enough. Native Ponyville ponies, perhaps?
Dawn approached the one nearest her, a mare not much older than herself. She hesitated for only a moment before giving the girl a tentative tap on the shoulder. The seated earth pony turned her head with a curious look, but quickly began to smile when she saw Dawn.
“May I help you?” she asked politely.
“Um, yeah,” Dawn began, not quite sure how best to word her response, “See, I’m heading to Ponyville. Which I guess most of us are, since this is the train to Ponyville and all. Anyway, I’d kinda like to get some sleep on the way. So, would you mind, uh, waking me up once we get there?” Brilliant work, Dawn. Way to make words. Just talk her head off, why don’tcha? She sarcastically berated herself.
Fortunately, the mare didn’t seem perturbed in the least by Dawn’s finicky reply. She simply smiled and said, “Not a problem at all. We shouldn’t be there for a few more hours; I hope you enjoy your rest.”
Dawn breathed a sigh of relief. Well, that was easy enough. “Thanks.”
Dawn returned to her place in the back of the car, sat down on the velvety cushion, and laid her belongings down in front of her. Giving one last cursory glance around the train car, she tucked her legs underneath her body, slumped her head down onto her bags and closed her eyes.
Whaddya Mean It's An Innuendo?
Whaddya Mean It's An Innuendo?
Whaddya Mean It’s An Innuendo?
Yes, Ponyville was very different from Manehattan. A single hoofstep out of the train was more than enough to confirm that.
The station that Dawn found herself in—or on, rather—seemed closer to an outdoor stage than an actual train station. Manehattan Railroad Station was far from grand, but in comparison to this, she may as well have grown up in Canterlot Castle.
That’s not to say that it was an ugly place. On the contrary, the simplicity of it all actually brought a small smile to Dawn’s face. No, it wasn’t unpleasant. ‘Modest’ would have been a nice choice of words. ‘Homey’ and ‘inviting’ also sprung to mind.
Immediately in front of her was the ticket booth: a small building about the size of the platform itself which looked to be made of equal parts wood and marble. Jutting out several feet from the roof was a thatched awning supported by finely crafted pillars made of dark chestnut-colored wood. There were two of them; one on either side of the building.
About 90% of the front wall was taken up by a large window, behind which Dawn could see a blue stallion grinning back at her: the ticket man, she presumed. Ambling about behind him was a mare, who appeared to be furiously sifting through papers. Either the stallion simply didn’t notice, or this was a usual exercise that he was well used to by this point.
Not particularly interested in finding out, and with no need for another ticket—yet anyway—Dawn merely smiled back and made her way off towards the right side of the booth, descended the small staircase there, and headed off to the town easily visible down the path.
Ponyville.
[] [] []
Dawn couldn’t help but stare as she entered what appeared to be a marketplace; it was the first location she’d stumbled into upon entering Ponyville, and what she found was not at all what she’d expected. Even in the waning evening light, ponies of all races and colors were out and about. Some were carefully inspecting the shops that littered the area, others casually conversing with friends, and others still sitting alone in one of several seating areas, taking in the sights and sounds of the fast-approaching night.
Dawn now knew the difference between “small-town” and “a small town.” While it certainly had nothing on the sheer size of Manehattan streets, this section of Ponyville could only really be described as ‘vast’.
Stalls and vendors of all shapes and sizes took up either side of the dirt road, and most of them had a full-blown store behind them for those whose interests were sufficiently piqued by the outdoor wares. The majority of stalls in the immediate vicinity appeared to be food-related: apples, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and some less wholesome—but infinitely tastier!—treats. Further down the line, Dawn could just make out signs for more fashionable, and less edible, items. There was a stand for jewelry and other accessories, one for makeup and various perfumes and colognes, and even one devoted solely to selling bow ties.
Trendy, Dawn thought to herself.
As hip and happening as bow ties were, though, they weren’t on the agenda just yet. They would have to wait until later, once Dawn found a place to stay during her job search.
Being new, and therefore unfamiliar with the basic layout of town, Dawn figured it wise to ask someone about any potential locations where she could temporarily settle down. There were ponies all around her. Surely someone would be able to help. Seeming as good a choice as any other, Dawn settled on approaching the mare tending to the apple stand. From the look of things, she was packing up for the night at a rather frantic pace.
She ambled over to the earth pony, intending to make the conversation as quick as possible so that the mare could get to wherever it was she needed to be in such a hurry. She opened her mouth to speak, but instead of Equestrian words, all that escaped her mouth was a squeak of terror and a moan of pain. Apparently, Dawn came a bit too close and managed to get herself steamrolled by the mare, whom at this point was looking down at Dawn in irritation.
Irritation became confusion, and confusion in turn became sympathy. Dawn, who had ended up flat on her back with a slight ache in her chest and a disgruntled farm pony on top of her, merely stared off into space with a glazed look in her eye.
“Aww ponyfeathers,” the mare muttered, carefully stepping off of the dazed Dawn and offering a hoof to help her up, “Ah’ve gone an’ done it again. Sorry there, partner.”
Shaking her head a few times to clear the fuzziness away, Dawn slowly reached a hoof up to accept the aid. She sure as hell wasn’t getting up on her own after a hit like that; this blonde-maned, orange pony could pack quite a wallop, apparently.
Note to self: do not pick a fight with this girl, Dawn thought to herself as she took a moment to let her breathing return to normal.
“Ah’m awful sorry. Ya’ll weren’t lookin’ to buy somethin’, were ya?”
After Dawn was satisfied that her lungs were functioning properly again, she replied, “Actually, I was just looking to ask you a quick question, if I could.”
The mare cast a short glance back to her stall before answering, “Uh, well sure. Shoot.”
“Well, you see, I’m new in town. So I don’t really know my way around very well. I mean, obviously. It’s not like I could know about a place before I go there myself unless I’d gotten a map or something. See, I’m from Manehattan, and I—“
Hey, brainiac. How about you try asking the question already? She mentally chided herself.
“Um, but that’s not really important, I guess. Sorry. Could you point me in the direction of the nearest hotel?” Dawn tried to give a friendly smile, in spite of the knowledge that she’d likely already managed to come across as an idiotic blabbermouth. Then again, if worse came to worse, she could always play the sympathy card and blame the “trauma” she’d received after getting barreled over just seconds before.
“We don’t have one,” was the mare’s immediate response.
It took Dawn a moment to process the answer. “Wait... you don’t... have one? Like, at all?”
“Nope.”
“What about a motel?”
“Nuh uh.”
“Inn?”
“Hm...” the mare scrunched up her face in thought, “Well, we have got a tavern right up the street there. It’s called the Prancin’ Pony. Ya cain’t miss it. Ah believe the owner rents out a coupla’ rooms on the upper floor on occasion.”
“Well, I guess that could work. What kind of occasion are we talking about here?”
The mare was silent for a moment, seeming unsure of whether she should say what she was about to say. “Ah’d really rather not discuss the details. They usually only stay rented fer a night at a time, if’n ya’ll catch mah meanin’.”
Dawn actually had no idea. The “meanin’” was so far above her head that if it went any higher, it’d be cruising through the atmosphere. Regardless, she put on her best ‘I’m not naive and/or uneducated, I swear!’ face.
“Oh, oh yeah. I gotcha. Totally. It shouldn’t be a problem. You can rent it out for longer than a night though, right?”
“Ah don’t see why not.”
“Great! Sounds perfect!” Dawn blurted out a bit too loudly, earning a concerned stare from the mare.
“Yeah... well, ah really gotta get movin’. Ah’ve gotta git all these apples back to the farm, and then Ah should really be turnin’ in fer the night. Ah’ve got a lotta work to do in the mornin’.”
“Oh! Right. You were in a bit of a rush, huh? I’ll just, uh, leave you to it then. Thanks again!” Dawn said, beginning to back away towards her new destination.
“Not a problem, sugarcube,” the mare responded a bit distractedly, having already gone back to packing her stall up for the night.
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The Prancing Pony was a rather large building by Ponyville standards, though it wasn’t particularly pretty. Where most of the town’s architecture was composed of various colors, the local tavern looked more like a log cabin. More at home in the middle of a spooky forest than a rural pony town. Still, stylistic preferences aside, it seemed to be a fairly well-maintained establishment.
Dawn could hear a dull roar coming from inside. From what she could tell, the majority of the noise came from simple conversation between the ponies gathered; loud, obnoxious conversation. The sound was mostly consistent, with a particularly boisterous laugh breaking through the rest every now and again.
Through the windows, Dawn could just make out a few key features: a rack of bottles, filled with liquids of various colors, adorned the right-side wall. Just a few feet from the wall was a smooth, wooden countertop running parallel to the back wall, and a row of slightly raised cushions were lined up in front of the counter. She could also see a faint blue light, coming from a sign on the wall next to the bottle rack. It read: “Come, drink, and come again!”
Interesting slogan... Dawn mused to herself as she approached the front doors. She reached out and wrapped a hoof around the door handle, pausing for a moment to brace herself for the inevitable volume change. As predicted, the main room, which was nothing more than a large, rectangular area of wall-to-wall wooden tables, was practically deafening. Ponies with shot glasses, ponies with store-owned mugs, and even some ponies who seemed to have brought their own special mugs.
What Dawn couldn’t have seen from outside was that the upstairs could actually be seen from the lower level. Off to the left was a large staircase leading to a balcony of sorts which overlooked the main floor. She assumed that’s where she’d be staying.
With a glance towards the counter to her right, Dawn quickly picked out the bartender and made her way in that general direction, carefully maneuvering around the tables. The ponies she passed, most of whom she noted were stallions, didn’t hardly seem to notice her walking by; once or twice, she actually had to jump back to avoid being sandwiched by an oblivious male doubling backwards in his seat in a fit of laughter.
Since all of the seats were taken, Dawn settled for standing just off to the side and waiting for the bartender to come her way. Fortunately, the ponies at the bar seemed to have finished their drinks and were mostly just talking amongst themselves. This left the pony behind the counter free to oblige any newcomers, namely Dawn, within the time it took to walk from one end of the bar to the other.
“What can I do for ya, miss?” the somewhat elderly stallion asked with an amiable smile. He had a pale, yellow coat and an orange, slicked-back mane which had likely been quite attractive in his younger years. He was also sporting a rather impressive mustache.
“Yeah, can I talk to the owner, please?”
“That would be me.”
“Oh... um, anyway, I’m kinda looking for a place to stay for a little while. See, I’m from Manehattan, and I’d been running around like crazy trying to get someone to hire me, but nobody there seemed to be willing to give me a job, so I decided to try coming here in hopes that I’d have better luck finding something to do with myself, but I obviously don’t have a hou—Celestia above I need to stop doing that,” she sighed. “Do you have any rooms available?”
The pony looked torn between utter bafflement and silent amusement. “Sure do, missy. Just follow me.”
The owner led Dawn back through the sea of tables, expertly dodging his way through the crowds. Clearly, he’d been working in this business for quite some time. He led her across the room, up the stairs, along the balcony, and into a small hallway that cut down the center of the second floor. There were only two rooms: one on either side.
As the door to the right was already closed with the lights off, Dawn figured that she’d be getting the one to the left. The older stallion moved just past the open door and waved Dawn into the room.
It was a simple room. There was a bed against the center of the back wall, a nightstand with a lamp on it to the left side of the bed, and a wardrobe on the right wall. And no windows. Groovy.
“This’ll be fine,” Dawn said, turning around to face the owner standing in the doorway, “How much?”
“55 bits a night,” he replied without hesitation, then took a moment’s pause to look at Dawn, sizing her up, “Or... for an extra 20, I could hook ya up with a little company.”
Dawn adopted a confused expression and looked back over her shoulder at the bed. “But... there’s only one bed. Where would they sleep?”
The tavern owner opened his mouth to speak, but then seemed to think better of it. Instead he simply chuckled and fished a key out of his bag. Dawn retrieved the necessary payment and the two exchanged items.
After the stallion had left, presumably heading back to the bar, Dawn closed the door and flopped down onto the bed. I wonder what that was all about... I mean, seriously. Why would I want to share a bed with another pony I don’t even know?
Suddenly the farm pony’s words came back to her, “They usually only stay rented fer a night at a time, if’n ya’ll catch mah meanin’.”
“Bah. I may as well get some sleep, I guess.”
Dawn lightly flung her saddlebags off to the side of the bed and reached out to turn off the light on the room’s one night stand.
...
“OHHHHHHH! GROSS!”
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