Auroram Usque Opacare

Sixteen

Dawn woke up that morning hearing the front door slam shut. She was then greeted by Dusk’s mother who offered her a sandwich apologising it wasn’t very much.

“Its lovely, thank you so much,” she said sincerely.

Once she’d eaten she helped Dusk’s mother tidy up around the house, Dusk’s mother objected at first but soon found the assistance to be relieving.

“Has dusk gone to town hall then?” Dawn asked casually.

“Yes,” she replied simply. Dawn nodded slowly to herself.

“I think I’m going to go see him,” she announced making for the door.

“Oh no dear, it’s too dangerous on the streets,” she said reminding Dawn of her aunt April which made her feel sad. She assured her that she would be fine and left before she could argue.

She had a vague idea where the town hall was so she started moving in that direction. After a few minutes, she realised she was heading in the wrong direction and set herself back on course, but something caught her attention. She was sure she had imagined it, after all nopony had seen them since the royal wedding. Deciding to act on her hunch she edged towards the alley she thought she saw it disappear into.

Peeking around the corner she saw nothing. About to leave and put it down to having an over active imagination, she then heard hushed voices coming from the end of the alley. Tip toeing down, she could hear them growing louder, more distinct.

“What is this?” she heard a voice demand. It was a voice like nopony she’d ever met, it was almost a hiss. She gulped as she neared the corner, poking her head around her suspicions were confirmed.

She’d never seen a changeling before, but she’d read enough on them to recognise one. The jagged horn, the sharp fangs, the buzzing insect wings and the cold blue eyes. It was this changling that spoke, and he was answered by an earth pony holding a brown satchel, with a UWF badge pinned to his blazer.

“This is our deal,” he replied matter-of-factly.

“We agreed two hundred gems,” the changeling hissed back.

“Yes, two hundred, when you fulfil your end of the bargain. This first fifty is just a sign of good faith; you shall receive the rest when we achieve our goal.” The changling shook with anger, but didn’t argue, it just snatched the satchel from the ponies grip examining its contents.

“Satisfied?” he asked, not sounding like he cared either way.

“If the rest are of equally high standard then yes.” Closing the bag he threw it over his back, his wings began to beat rapidly and his legs lifted off the ground. “You can tell your boss, that he can consider his target dead.”

With that he sped into the air and out of sight, the other pony simply turned and walked swiftly from the scene.

Dawn stood there not sure what to make of what she just witnessed. A UWF member paying a changling to perform… what sounded like an assassination, but of whom? Rousing herself she hurried back the way she came, one thing that was for certain, Dusk needed to hear about this. Scratching her head she tried to remember which way she was heading. Flipping a mental coin she ran right down the street, and as luck would have it she found herself on the same road as the town hall.

She briefly wondered where she’d find him, only to see him trotting down the steps and walking swiftly down the footpath. She ran in order to catch up with him calling his name as she went. He turned and she took in the panic in his face, but he relaxed when he saw who it was.

“What are you doing here?” he was about to ask but she cut him off.

“Dusk there’s something you have to know.” Without pausing for breath she told him exactly what she saw after she left the house.

“A changeling?” Dusk said tilting his head unsure what to make of this, “I’ve never heard of changelings in Equestria since their attempted rebellion in Canterlot.”

Something about what he said caused him to stutter the last words and glance nervously at the town hall.

“What’s the matter?” she asked. Dusk began walking back in the direction of the house and she walked along side him.

As they travelled he explained what he what he heard in Claxon’s office, Dawn’s eyes widened in disbelief as he told her about the plans for civil war.

“Is he insane?” she exclaimed, instantly losing any respect she had for Claxon.

“Certainly sounds like it.” Dawn thought this all through.

“Do you think what I saw, and what you heard, are related?” Dawn asked, he stopped and considered this.

“Perhaps, Claxon did say something about a catalyst,” Dusk said, but then he shook his head slightly, “but working with changelings just doesn’t seem like his methods.”

Dawn agreed with that notion, but it was the only explanation she could fathom. Then they turned the corner to Dusk’s house, and the worst possible thing happened.

Seventeen

Dusk’s mouth dropped open. He took in the armed thugs gathered around his house, the front door smashed in. it was April’s house all over again, except this time he stood frozen while she dragged him away. He didn’t resist because he knew in the back of his mind there was nothing left to save. He only became aware when Dawn had dragged him as far as the train station, was she planning to leave?

“Dusk...” she began but he just turned his head away from her.

“Doesn’t matter,” he replied. Was he really so resigned to the way things had become he couldn’t express any emotion for losing his own mother. Dawn began to walk away, not towards the train station but away from it. He began to walk after her but she held out a hoof to stop him.

“I’m sorry Dusk but it’s better for you if I just leave.” He just stood there not sure what to say. True none of this would have happened if not for her, but at the same time he faced with the idea of her leaving he felt the same unfamiliar feeling that prompted him to run to her rescue twice.

“Dawn it’s not your fault, and trying to go it on your own won’t change anything,” he said. She contemplated this, but then shook her head.

“Its better this way, I’ll only end up getting you hurt too.” And before he could say anything she ran into the sea of ponies jostling the street. He made to run after her but he lost her within seconds. Strange, he’d barely known her but he felt a pang of loneliness after she left.

Eighteen

The next week was hard for Dawn, a part of her regretted leaving Dusk but she knew in her heart he’d be better off without her. She drifted through the city all day, completely at a loss for what to do with herself. It was only now that it dawned on her how hopeless her chances of survival had become, let alone doing anything of significance regarding everything that had happened since he arrived at Manehattan.

Her first problem was where to live. For a wild moment she considered climbing the wall and trying to make it with the unicorns or pegasi. But then she remembered just because she didn’t see them as the enemy, didn’t mean she wasn’t an enemy to them. Dusk’s house wasn’t an option, assuming the thugs had left, it was his house to go back to. Staying someplace public was an option, though it would draw a lot of attention to herself, and where would she even find that would take her in, there were no hostels or hotels, not any more.

She finally settled, though if she’d known that coming to Manehattan would see her squatting in the burnt ruin of her late aunt’s house, she would have stayed in Baltimare. And that’s where she stayed, good in that nopony would find her there, bad in every other way. She got very little sleep, due to both the cold and the occasional gust of ash flooding her nazzel passage. The second problem she encountered was money, and by extension food.

There was nothing in the house she could recover, either bits or something undamaged she could sell. She was afraid she’d end up begging or stealing to survive. She’d come from a modest background, but her family had never been so bad they had to resort to either. However in the end she didn’t have to fall to those depths, as three days after parting ways with Dusk she was lucky enough to stumble upon somepony’s purse which had been dropped and lay in a gutter.

She hadn’t expected it to contain anything, but to her delight she discovered a small fortune inside, at least she would have described it that way purely because she was so hungry. In fact it was nothing spectacular, but it would be enough to get her by for the next few weeks if she was careful. That night she’d managed to sleep properly, having a full stomach helped. The next day she was able to set about business in considerably brighter spirits.

Since she’d left Dusk she was determined to uncover what was going on with the changeling and the UWF; however this was rather futile as she hadn’t a clue where to start. Asking around wasn’t an option as anypony might have her arrested under some pretence, or worse. After another two days she was feeling thoroughly dismissed, she budgeted well but she was always tempted just to splurge it all on one good meal.

Then one day, six days after she left Dusk, she came across a charged piece of paper blowing across the pavement. Picking it p she recognised the flyer she’d seen when shopping with April, the Harmony fundraiser. Even if she had nothing to donate, it was still something for her to do, and she’d be among allies, perhaps who could help her with her ‘investigation’, for lack of a better word.

It said it was tomorrow night, which would give her time to find some way of getting a wash. It was becoming obvious she hadn’t had a bath since she was last living with April over a week ago. She didn’t consider what came next to be breaking the law, after all if it was her she’d gladly let somepony use her house for a bath. True it was technically breaking and entering but she justified it by leaving two bits on the window sill on as she was climbing back out half an hour later.

Nineteen

Dusk could tell his house wasn’t as empty as they wanted it to seem. While there was no visible presences he somehow knew whoever they were, thugs, rioters, UWF, they were waiting for him to come home. But he wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction, he had his workers jacket and a few tools, it was all he needed. Like he’d discovered at the town hall, if you look like you belong somewhere, no pony will question it.

And to his great relief he made it into his old factory with ease. Who would argue with a colt, dressed like a worker, entering a factory where other workers had seen him before? Of course they didn’t know he no longer worked there, they had themselves to worry about without paying attention to somepony they hardly knew.

Taking the stairs he reached his old post. It was obvious nopony had been working here for some time; he didn’t want to think about what might have happened to Derek. Now that he stopped to think about it, the whole factory seemed emptier, the streets seemed emptier. Claxon had said all their supporters would be present at Canterlot; it looked like he was serious.

Dusk stayed there the whole week, leaving only to steal food from the canteen. He knew nopony would find him there, or even check here. While there he couldn’t help but go about his old business, fixing and maintaining the machines in the cramped little rooms. It kept his mind at ease, allowed him to escape the reality of the world outside.

After six days hiding he was leaving the canteen, a sandwich and bottle of water hidden under his jacket. It helped there were so few ponies around. As he reached the stairwell, something caught his eye. Stopping he saw it was a notice board, but amidst the propaganda there was one flyer which stood out as different. Upon examination he discovered it was for a fundraiser tomorrow night, held by Harmony.

Dusk was pretty surprised by this, both at the fact such an event could take place in such a militant area of Manehattan, and that somepony had the guts to advertise here. He didn’t know a lot about Harmony; just that they were an agitation group like the UWF had started out as. From the little he knew their cause was more respectable than that of UWF, Neigh Sayers or any other group. He mulled this over in his mind briefly, and then shrugged. It would be nice to get out of this building, and if there was a cause he could get behind without feeling guilty, Harmony would be it.

He went back to his post where he ate his salvaged sandwich. Once he was done he gathered his tools and made to leave the factory. Again, just like when he arrived nopony questioned him, as he looked like every other worker finishing their shifts and going home, except he didn’t know if he was going home yet. It had been almost a week; surely they’d have given up. When he arrived back at his house he saw nothing to suggest it was occupied.

Staying vigilant he approached the front door, listening carefully before opening it. He searched around but soon realised that whoever had been waiting for him there, must have given up earlier in the week. He locked the door and made makeshift barricades in front of the windows by stacking furniture in front of them. When at last he felt sufficiently safe, he lay down in his old bed and tried to get to sleep. It didn’t take long as it was a much better alternative to the cold, hard ground of his workplace.

When he woke the next day he waited in the house until it was time to go. The clock read nine p.m. and it would take roughly an hour to get to the hotel it was being held at. After getting a quick wash at the kitchen sink he left, removing his work jacket as he did. Not particularly formal, he’d have to do without it for a night.

Twenty

Dawn reached the hotel in good time, the clock on the wall of the reception room showed ten to ten. She was surprised to see there was a large enough number of ponies gathered there. She recognised one or two of the teachers the school she was supposed to work at. Now that she thought about it, everypony in the room seemed to be of middle to upper class and, she guessed, from an educated background.

She approached a trio of mare’s talking animatedly, as she got close she could make out they were discussing the flaws in UWF’s policies.

“And what do they believe alienating the pegasi will achieve? Come winter wrap up, in the rural parts of Equestria productivity will be vastly reduced as a result of farmers being unable to plant their crops until the snow melts of its own accord,” said the speaker and all the ponies nodded in response to this suggestion, and then they noticed Dawn watching them from just a few feet away.

“Hello there, are you new to Harmony?” one asked politely.

Dawn felt at ease by the welcoming tone she spoke in, and she came closer before answering.

“Yes I am, I learnt about it through flyers in my local shop,” she answered, this felt like the kind of crowd she could get in with.

“Well it’s a pleasure to have you supporting us,” another said inviting her into the circle. “Claxon can’t ban these nights without coming out as a complete dictator. His minions will tear down our posters and look threateningly at anypony coming in the door, but they can’t physically stop us.

Dawn remembered the group of colts gathered opposite the hotel as she arrived, staring her down.

“So what happens at these fundraisers?” Dawn  enquired.

“Well the aim is to raise money to finance Harmony’s efforts, but we understand in these times not everypony can afford to spare money for the cause,” she replied casually, “so mostly we just get together to share our views, have a drink, dance a little, and just try to enjoy ourselves.”

“Did you say dance?” Dawn said hesitantly.

“Yes, didn’t you know?” she nodded at the clock, “at ten we go into the main room. The founder of Harmony always sings at these.”

Dawn wasn’t uncomfortable with dancing, just a taken aback. Only a couple minutes to go, she excused herself from the group and went to find the little filly’s room.

When she came out the crowd was moving through the now wide open doors. She joined the back of the group moving slowly in. The room was very large, although most of this was taken up by the dance floor, around which there were circular tables. The room was fairly dark, the only lights being candles on the tables and dim ceiling lights she figured would turn off when the dancing started. She couldn’t find the mare’s she’d been talking to and wasn’t sure whether to approach any others, so she walked to the food table in the corner where two colts were already helping themselves.

Awkwardly she lifted bits and pieces off the table and put them on a paper plate. Satisfied she had enough to make up for her lack of food all week but not so much she’d look greedy she turned to walk away from the table and almost walked right into a pony who had been walking behind her.

“Sorry…” they both said, both trailing off when their eyes met. She instantly recognised the red coat and orange mane, but she had never seen Dusk without his blue workers jacket.

Even though the room was full of talking ponies, it was as if they’d stepped into a bubble, blocking out all sound, where they stood staring at each other in silence. Finally Dusk broke it.

“Dawn I’m so glad to see you’re alright,” he did indeed sound relieved and Dawn was touched by that.

“Thanks, I'm sorry I ran off,” Dawn said. She meant it, but he just shook his head.

“I understand why you did it,” he replied, “and besides you were probably handling yourself better than I was.”

“Don’t be so sure,” she said smiling and they both laughed.

They walked together back through the room stopping on the edge of the dance floor. Dawn occasionally nibbled on her snacks while they exchanged stories of what had happened in the past week.

“Maybe you were right, we would have been better off sticking with each other,” she said. He sighed and shrugged.

“Maybe, but what’s important is we're both here now.” They smiled at each other, once again entering their bubble of silence, blocking out the rest of the world. “I was so worried after you left; you have no idea how happy I am to see you again.”

Dawn blinked surprised, and Dusk blushed and looked at his hooves. Clearly embarrassed by what he said.

“I missed you to,” she said not looking away. He looked back up at her, it seemed all time had stopped, but then the lights went out, and the music started.