Nighthaze: Manehattan

That smell of warm rubber drug me from my sleep. A soft green glow filled my windows. The constant hum of the heating towers sounded like an old microwave running on a dying power cell. Hot, stale, and dry air gave me a sore throat and cottonmouth. Everything was just the same as it had always been, so why did I feel so different?

The ninth district was obviously far from safe but what I was feeling wasn't fear. Well, ok, there was some fear... But that wasn't what was carving a hole through me. I couldn't put my hoof on it.

Trotting to the cramped kitchenette I rubbed the grime off the stainless steel mirror above my sink before taking a look. Wildly unkempt silver-grey mane, Dawnray prescription glasses, and those poison-green eyes staring back at me. Shifting I glanced at my cutie mark. A pale crescent moon set against a matted dark blue sky.

"A cutie mark for something I've never seen. Always hated that particular flavor of cosmic humor," I said.

Born 35 years prior I never saw the moon or the sun, but somehow I managed to get a cutie mark of one. Never would have pictured my hobby of stuffing my nose into old paper books to yield me such a brand. It puzzled the corpo aptitude scouts at my schools, my mom said it was a blessing from the goddess Luna, Dusty always shrugged and offered me more soda.

Frankly, I couldn't have cared less.

A chime from my phone told me it was time to head out.

"Good timing, I almost had some real self-reflection," I said.

Room temperature tap water and some double caff peeled my eyelids back a bit. The Bullmek pistol was hung from the bed in its holster. I levitated over halfway before stopping. It was time to try a different approach. Hanging it back on my bedpost I left for the school.

There it was, that feeling again.

//

It started to rain on my walk to the school. The corner bar where I got my noodles provided good cover, and since I left early I had time to spare. A kirin was behind the bar, deftly ladling soup into bowls and filling foam cups with a steaming liquid that looked like black tea but smelt like an exotic three-course meal. A few other patrons lined the other chairs and chatted amongst themselves. Looking up I tried to read the neon sign hug from the ceiling but it was in kana script.

"Hwanyo chi Tia Nimini, it means 'Fresh Food for Old Souls," the kirin said.

She had emerald green hair and a pale brown coat. Her apron was stained with grease and her hair tied in a bun set with a brass needle.

"Huh, would've thought a pony like you would speak equestrian," she said.

I blinked.

"Sorry, I'm just... In my thoughts is all," I said.

"We're out of noodles," she said, dumping a pot into a wide cook pan.

"But, doesn't that have noodles in it?" I said, pointing to a bulbous pot filled to the brim with starch noodles.

"No noodles, spiced dumplings is all that's left," she said, sliding a plate of steaming dumplings in front of me with red and green colors inside.

"Wha- Hey isn't ther-" I said, before she abruptly turned away from me to wash plates. I was hungry so I reluctantly levitated one of the dumplings, half the size of my hoof, up to my mouth and nibbled.

Suddenly it was very hot, beads of sweat ran down from my brow, my tongue needed a hospital, and I took another bite. I couldn't help myself, it was amazing. The rush of flavors had full gladiatorial combat in my mouth, fighting for the right to dominate my overwhelmed sense of taste even as my nostrils filled with spicy aroma. The kirin looked over her shoulder with a sly grin as I hungrily downed another dumpling.

I made quick work of the rest of the plate. Turns out that they name of the shop was printed on them, in equestrian.

"Siojiu's Fresh Food for Old Souls," I said before looking back up at her. She had prepped a box of my normal noodles with some spiced dumplings in a to-go box. They had the name shop name on them, also in equestrian.

Huh.

“Pony should think,” she said softly, “not about what lies ahead or behind, but what he sees in front of him,” she said as she handed me the box of food, the same folded paper box that I'd been getting from her the last two days.

"Thank you Ms. Siojiu," I said.

"Of course, Mr. Dusk," she said, smiling genuinely.

It was about twenty steps away when I stopped and looked back, I didn't tell her my name... did I? She just waved a hoof. I waved back. My phone vibrated in my inner coat pocket. I was going to be late. Part of me wanted to just wait so I could be late enough to cancel the whole class. A nice thought, but not realistic.

Cradling the noodles and dumplings beneath my coat to protect them from the rain on hurried to the school grounds.

//

Shutting he school's front doors behind me I wrung my tail out as I tried to bury the dread of the impending day. These students were impossible.

Dripping wet I entered the classroom, puddles formed around me as I looked up. The students were already all here.

"Sorry class, got caught up in the weather," I said sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck.

I hung my coat on my chair and removed my soaked rag of a tie as I shook out my hair and levitated a marker from the desk drawer.

"Couldn't you have made a magic umbrella or something?" said Sable, waving her hoof at me like she was casting some spell. She was propped up in the same place as yesterday, looking unimpressed.

"Abjuration and conjuration are not really my specialties," a blank look. "The schools of magic that deal with creating force fields and objects from the stuff of magic," I said.

"Pretty useless to have a horn if you can't even stay dry in the rain. If you can't make an umbrella what can you do?" she said.

"Well, Sable Sakra, I play with light," I said, levitating the marker back to the drawer.

Now it was my turn to smirk. My horn glowed as I spun the ambient mana in the room into lines and shapes. Slithering strings of bright amber light formed in the air, moving as a snake does through water.

In the empty space between the board and the desks little wireframe buildings and miniature heating towers constructed themselves from the strings of light. A blanket of amber magic formed beneath them and began to morph to match the landscape surrounding Manehattan as the buildings moved with it. The coastal bay opened to a solid polygonal chunk of blue light where scattered structures stood tall above its surface. Massive thermal barriers rose up around the city's borders in a big hexagonal ring and more skyscrapers erupted to fill the skyline. When it was done I was sweating and there was that buzzing at the base of my horn that told me I was going to have a headache later but that didn't matter, this was worth it.

The magical model of the city filled the entire empty space and even stretched under some of the desks. Gasps and muttered excitement filled the room as every zebra, even the troublemakers, look on. Sable Sakra couldn't resist standing and staring herself. Their big round eyes all looking at my light city was enough for me.

"Wow..." said Sable.

"This is Manehattan, set on the eastern coast of Equestria. It was a hub of trade before the sundown and continues to be one," I pointed a hoof at the blue chunk as mini amber ships appeared. "Fleets of icebreaker ships operated by Tempest Maritime clear paths for Freebay Cooperative cargo vessels carrying goods in from the gryphons and other nearby nations," I said.

Having the attention of everyone I pointed to a less developed southern part of the city. "This is the ninth district, where we are. Removed from the city's sprawling commercial core it houses many residents and laborers for neighboring industrial districts," I created a copy of one of the heating towers and enlarged it while making it hover over the city model. It resembled an oversized medieval mace with corrugated fins covering every exposed surface.

"This is one of hundreds of super-conducting dispersive heating towers spread throughout the city. Owned by the Manehattan Municipal Energy Agency, built and maintained by ClearTech, they operate in conjunction with countless miles of underground thermal vents, numerous heat storage bunkers, and several massive thermoelectric plants to ensure Manehattan maintains a livable temperature," I said.

Rotating the scaled heating tower, I made the form come apart carefully, showing the intricacies of its conduction coils, heat pipes, Peltier plates, and its other parts. I stepped back and surveyed the class. All the younger kids were engaged and even most of the older kids seemed laser focused.

One of them in particular, a lanky but tall filly with a long droopy mohawk and wavy stripes, had a sparkle in her eye as her mouth hung agape. I looked at her and smiled, until Zoko shoved her aside and glared at the filly. She shrunk back like a withering flower and looked away as Zoko turned his heated gaze to me.

"Tricks of the light," said Zoko.

The stocky teen shoved his way through the crowd and stomped through the model of Manehattan causing it to warp in several places.

"Manipulation of ambient mana to form strings of slow arcano fires," I said, turning to track him as he shoved past me. Zoko stopped when he reached the doorway and looked back at his posse before shouting a string of zebrican at them. They looked at each other for a moment before they stormed down the center aisle.

"Keep playing with your petty spells, chezoth," spat Zoko as he turned and left as the kids following him spat and cursed in my direction. The lanky filly looked over his shoulder and mouthed something before shutting the door.

I already knew Zoko was going to be an especially headache-inducing case but he just got upgraded to migraine grade. Damn, that feeling was cutting its way through my gut again. Those kids...

"Well he definitely does not like you, hates that you did something cool I bet." Said Sable.

"I just wanted to teach them..." I said weakly.

"You aren't gonna be able to reach them, they got their heads above wings they don't have," she said.

I thought about that for a moment. That there might be some colt or filly too far to save.

Save? Where the hell did that come from. I'm just their teacher. I'm just their teacher. It's not my place. I can't do anything outside the classroom. They're not my foals. I took a deep breath and let it out. Levitating out a marker I began drawing conduction, convection, and radiation diagrams.

"Ok everyone. Let's talk about how the heat gets from the plants, to the towers, to our bodies to keep us from the ice beyond," I said.

I continued the lecture, passing out paper and pencils and helping those who struggled copy the diagrams. Those that were left paid close attention that waned in some of the dryer points of thermal infrastructure. Even Sable listened, her usual slumped posture upright and attentive. The hour slid by in a moment. The bell rung. As the students began to leave I smiled.

Now it was just me and Sable again.

"You actually care, don't you?" she said.

"Hmm? Well, yes I suppose I do. I should after all. I am their teacher," I said, levitating my coat on.

"No, I saw that look earlier. That hurt crunch in your body. It wasn't when Zoko was yelling at you, it was when he left," she said, slowly walking towards me.

Huh.

"They... They were going to miss the lesson. Their academics will suffer," I said.

"Uh-huh, something tells me you're not the kind to dangle scores above a student's head. You care what happens to them don't you?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

"I-" stammered. Is that what it was? It'd be ridiculous. I didn't even understand where they came from, anything about their culture or world views. How could I?

And yet, I wanted them here. Because Manehattan chewed people up and spat them out. They'd be stuck in these slums forever, maybe one day they'd run a gang and have control of a few blocks but they'd still be pawns of the corpos. Either way, the city would pull gobs of flesh from their bodies until nothing remained but bones in a sewer.

Could I prevent that? I didn't know. I don't think I cared. Whether it was possible or not I had to try.

"I do," I said. Straightening myself I fixed my tie tightly around my collar and snagged it.

Sable's eyes walked up and down my front some times before locking onto my eyes with a narrow look and a toothy grin.

"Shit. You're serious," she said. Rubbing her chin with a wing she looked off before returning the gaze.

"Tell you what, this weekend I wanna show you something," she said trotting past me.

"Uh, sure I guess. What is it?" I said, turning to follow her.

"Too late, you already agreed. When the weekend finds you come see me. I live at 303 on Brightwood," she said as she trotted out.

She seemed a lively sort.

I spent the rest of the day helping individual students and filling out initial evaluations for everyone to be turned in to Gabby.

At lunch the starch noodles tasted way better than the last few days and were irresistible when combined with the dumplings. One of the other teachers asked me if levitating globs of food into my mouth was like eating with my hooves. I chuckled and made a small fork of light. It was just for looks of course but garnered a laugh from her. Ms. Rudy Pastures was her name, she had a bouncy bush of a mane, freckles, and a golden yellow coat.

When I left the school part of me was still twisted up about Zoko and the others leaving but another part was actually happy that the other half stayed. Hell, I even got to know a teacher. I never even spoke to the other teachers outside of meetings back at the DC Youth Academy. For all the good of the day though I couldn't stop replaying the events in my head, what could I have done differently?

A scream.

I galloped towards the source, it was nearby. Right behind the school's disused annex. As I turned the corner I was horrified by what I saw. The same lanky filly from earlier was pinned against a wall, tears streaming down her face as Zoko and several others sawed off her hair and tail with blades.

"Stop! Get off her!" I screamed as I ran towards them. Most backed away but Zoko turned to face me as two kept the crying half-bald filly up against the wall.

"Her? Maybe my equestrian is poor, or maybe you are blind. The long hair and makeup are just this coward’s way of hiding. This is a colt," Spat Zoko as he threw a nasty one-leg buck square between the helpless lanky kid's rear legs. They crumpled and whimpered as tears ran down their cheeks.

"See?" said Zoko.

Rage. Blood-curdling anger. There was nothing else. I grit my teeth as my horn lit like a blowtorch.

"Going to make a pretty picture for us?" sneered Zoko as he smiled wickedly and laughed.

I strung a few tiny lines of light in front of the kid's tear-filled eyes. It was just big enough to read and hovered centimeters in front of their eyes. It said 'Look Away'. They clench their eyes and wrenched their head away. That was my cue.

Streetlights flicked as I drew on nearby sources for mana, the pressure building in my skull felt like I had 100-pound barbell balanced on my head.

These kids had never seen the sun, neither had I, but I imagined it looked something like what I manifested behind the annex that day. A blinding pure-white blast of light erupted from my horn with a crack like a whip. I could see it through my eyelids as they cried out in pain around me.

It only lasted half a moment before I saw what I'd done. Ten zebra teens curled up on the ground groaning in pain, rubbing their eyes. That was too much, way to fucking much. Shit these kids could be permanently blind from that much light! I didn't know what to do, so I did what I could.

The lanky kid had been dropped and was standing there on trembling legs. I slowly approached and placed a hoof on their shoulder, half for their comfort and half to keep me from collapsing as the spike of pain in my skull threatened to knock me out.

"You're fucking done for! I'm telling your whole family tonight; I'm telling them everything you henzotana!" yelled Zoko.

The kid's shakes got worse as they began to cry again.

"Let's go." I said.

They nodded dumbly as I walked us away from the school. The groaning of the other teens drowned out in the sudden downpour. We just walked in silence for what felt like an hour before I realized I didn't know where we were going. I turned to the kid and spoke softly.

"Where do you live?" I said.

They didn't respond.

"Do you speak equestrian?" I said.

Their ears twitched at 'equestrian' and they shook their head.

Great. I stopped us and tried gesturing the shape of a house while making a puzzled expression. They looked like they were about to cry again and looked away.

Well now what the hell was I supposed to do? I didn't know any zebras in this district.

Wait. I did know one, even where they lived.

//

Standing in the pouring rain I keyed the intercom, it was a few moments before the buzz sounded.

"Hey, Sable. I need your help," I said.

"Wha- is that you teach? I said the weekend remember?" she replied.

"Please," I said softly. "A kid is hurt,"

The door lock chimed and opened. I ushered the kid inside and shy the door behind us.

Sable flew down the stairwell and gasped in shock when she saw them. She breathed and rushed us up the stairs to her apartment on the third floor. By the time we were in I noticed that bruises were starting to swell on the kid's face.

Sable wasted no time getting an ice pack on their face and blanket around them. She put them on her couch with a hot cup of coffee.

"Uluthwe fuso calla calla, Zamor," Sable said. The kid winced at that.

"Shit, Zamora. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." she tried. Zamora just curled up underneath the blanket. Sable reached for her but stopped short. Instead she turned and pulled me aside into another room.

"Who did this to her? Zoko? Ghinu? Shiny?" she said.

"Z-" I started.

"That little kozak, I'll string him up by his balls and feed his eyes to the crows!" said Sable.

"Sable, I think I blinded him. It might be permanent," I said.

"Good, it better fucking be. Him and his little gang have been harassing Zamora since they were foals," she said.

"So... Is she transitioning?" I asked awkwardly.

She sighed and nodded. A bit of the anger leaked away as she stared off to the side.

"She's been struggling with it as long as I can remember. We were in the same tribe I should mention. Always managed to keep it a secret from her family. They'd disown her is they found out," she said.

That was not good.

"Zoko said something about telling her family, said he'd tell them everything," I said.

"That little shit!" she huffed, anger restored. "And just as Zamora was starting to come out of her shell. She had hoped she could get away with her appearance her in Equestria as long as she covered it up when she got home," said Sable.

"I know trans zebras aren't the most widespread thing but surely it isn't that bad, right?" I said. Here trans persons were tolerated, disliked by some but ultimately accepted if still discriminated against in some areas.

"It is. One of the worst taboos for a zebra. The elders say it is a rejection of one's true self, like denying fate. As if gender is just something that you roll a die for at birth and boom, that's it for the rest of your life. Maybe for them it's like that but it is not for Zamora," she said.

She scoffed and kicked the ground.

"Can't believe I called her Zamor at a time like this, I've only ever used that name when she was in front of family," said Sable.

"What do we do?" I said. This was so far out of my territory I couldn't even rationalize any sort of action.

"Zoko is vile enough to act on that threat. She can't go home; we can't put her through that. Her parents will tell the elders, they know we are close and they'll check my apartment. She can't stay anywhere in Zebratown," said Sable.

The train of logic in my brain only had one destination and I did not envy it. Everyone Sable knew would turn Zamora in and I knew no one in this district. I had never cared for a kid before, let alone a traumatized teen. I guess that didn't matter though, there wasn't a choice.

"She can stay with me," I said, surprising myself with the sincerity in my voice.

Sable stopped her darting eyes and slowly looked up at me. She threw herself at me and hugged me tight.

"You have no idea how much this means; Zamora is like a little sister to me," she said, voice cracking.

"I've got too. You said it yourself, there's no other way," I said.

Sable pulled herself away and wiped a tear from her face.

"There's a thousand paths, but only one to trot them," she said.

I raised an eyebrow and offered a quizzical expression. Sable waved a hoof and grinned.

"Just an old saying. Anyways, let me get you some things for Zamora. I don't imagine you've got much in the way of amenities at your place," she said.

"What makes you say that?" I said.

"You work at a school for refugees. Hardly someplace overflowing with bits," she said as she trotted back to the main room. I made a 'fair enough' shrug and followed her.

Sable went and sat in front of the ball of blanket on the couch.

Sable spoke soft zebrican while nudging the lump that was Zamora. The battered filly lifted her head from the blanket, streaks of eye liner running down her swollen cheeks. Sable embraced her in a warm hug and cried more than a few tears of her own.

Sable rose and patted Zamora on the shoulder before going to her kitchen to rummage through her cabinets. I sat next to the kid and offered a smile. She grimaced but leaned against me.

In that moment the cold wet blanket pressing against my side felt warmer than anything I'd felt before. Whatever happened, this was worth fighting for.

Soon Sable had a loaded set of tribal saddlebags for me that I levitated onto my poor back. I had given Zamora my coat and Sable had thrown a waterproof ushanka on her head. Sable hugged us both before we left, taking her time explaining how to reheat the food she'd given me and to call her for anything.

The walk to my apartment building was silent but not quiet. Zamora had the weight of the world on her shoulders as she walked beside me and I could feel it. Her whole world was collapsing around her. I knew what that felt like.

I hadn't paid much attention to my fellow tenets before and likewise they had never noticed me. Tonight everypony stared at me and Zamora, their cutting glares dancing between the two of us.

Yeah bringing home a bruised filly in the dead of night did not look good.

"Stripe-fucker," said a stallion leaned against a wall as he spat in front of me.

Oh, it was only racial prejudice. How fun.

Back in the second district species of all kinds mixed, they were preferences sure but it was a pretty homogenous mix. ninth district was shaping up to have a very different dynamic.

I pulled Zamora closer and hurried up my apartment, avoiding the elevator packed with hitters. When I shut my apartment door behind us we both breathed a sigh of relief. This was going to be harder than I thought.

Without saying anything Zamora trotted over to my couch and collapsed. She was undoubtedly exhausted from her ordeals. I set the saddlebags down on the counter and pulled a nearly folded heavy synth fiber blanket from inside. Walking over beside her I laid the blanket over her gently. I sent a picture and a text to Sable telling her that we made it safely, she responded in seconds telling me to keep her safe.

Zamora drowsily turned and reached out to touch my horn. "Sunny..." she said in broken equestrian before yawning and shutting her eyes.

A warm fuzzy feeling replaced the normal worm in my stomach. I tucked her in extra tight and sat next to the couch. Turning to face the windows I stared at the glowing neon signs and flashing adverts.

What the hell was going on. Just two weeks ago I had a stable life, a nice place, a good job and now... now I worked in a school for refugee kids, I had assaulted a swath of students with magic, and there was a zebra filly sleeping on my couch.

Ain't that a kick in the head. That's what Dusty had said when she'd received orders for her second tour just a month after she had finished her first. I thought about her and the times we spent together in that short month. It wasn't long before my eyelids became heavy and even the splitting pain in my head was forced to a dull ache as my head came to rest on the hoofrest and I fell into sleep.