The silence of the foals

Luster was sitting on a high chair before the counter, inside the Rearing Terminal Market. She had given the bag with gold bits to the waiter five minutes ago and he still hadn't come back. Looking at the void forward, she was whispering a song. “My Little Pony… My Little Pony… Why is this taking oh so long…” She turned her head towards the incoming waiter. She opened her eyes wide.

The waiter was walking towards Luster. On his back there were saddlebags which seemed packed. “Danks for your patience ma’am”. Using his back as a slider to take it off his back, he left his saddlebags on the floor. “One moment please”. With a hoof, he grabbed the saddlebags and put them on the counter before Luster, who had taken her forelegs off the counter and was looking at the object.

The waiter raised a hoof and opened one of the saddlebags. He took a bag that rattled out of it and put it on the counter. Then, he opened the other saddlebag and at that time took two jingling bags out of it and also put them on the counter. After the process, he took the saddlebags off the counter and left them on the floor hidden behind the counter.

Between Luster and the waiter there were three cloth bags who had the words Rearing Terminal Market sewn on them. The waiter put a hoof on top of one of them. He was looking Luster in the eye. “Dere are two bags here with dirty dree silver bits each”. He gently pushed the three bags across the counter towards Luster. “De dird bag is de one included with de bill. Inside dere are dirty one point seven silver bits”.

“Excellent”. Luster smiled at the waiter. With her magic, she took the three clinking bags. She opened one of her saddlebags and put the bags inside. Then, she closed it. She hopped off the high chair. She lifted her saddlebags and put them on her back. She looked at the waiter. He was smiling at her.

“Thanks a lot, colt”.

“You are welcome, ma’am”, he said. “Excuse me, please”. He turned to the side and started to walk. He approached other customers. Luster watched him for a few seconds and then turned her body south. She could see a corridor that led to the exit. It was twenty legs away. She began to move, heading towards the crystal doors. When she was a leg away from the doors, with her magic, she pulled one of them to open it. She crossed the threshold and closed the door behind her.

She was standing a few legs away from the entrance to the Rearing Terminal Market. She was sweeping the environment with her eyes: A few ponies walking around; some dams with their foals; and draft ponies pulling carts.

Instead of going to the known west, she turned her body east and started moving.

After walking three blocks, Luster stopped in the corner of the street and turned her body north. A block north, there was a big sign: Dragon Town. She started to walk north.

When she was a few legs away from the enormous sign, she couldn’t help to open her eyes wide and drop her jaw.

On its entrance there was construction: Two statues of dragons; one on each corner of the street. A roof of tiles supported by two pillars; one opposite to the other.

The place was full of graffilly. The statues were broken and stained with pigeon droppings. There were only a few tiles left on the roof, which made it useless as a cover against rain or worse.

Luster approached the entrance to Dragon Town. She sighed. “This must be the forgotten part of the city”. She looked at a graffilly on a wall: Buck off, cateyes!

Luster looked forward and narrowed her eyes, looking beyond Dragon Town’s entrance. There, she saw a pony lying on the street, asleep or dead, cause she saw him lying next to a trashcan.

She sighed, looking down and softly pawing the paved street. She looked forward and stood still. “Here we go”. She stepped forward into Dragon Town.