//------------------------------// // 60 - Deadwood // Story: From Dusk to Night // by KuroiTsubasaTenshi //------------------------------// I’d never done so much paperwork in my life. While I certainly didn’t have the most bureaucratic position on the weather team, the very nature of cloudwork meant I dealt with some pretty hefty documentation. However, as interesting as the learning process was, filing a legal complaint was on its own level of exhausting. I supposed that part of it probably had to do with the fact that this normally isn’t the kind of thing handled by us civilians, but still. Despite her training, even Mint had had some issues sorting things out. Mahogany and Night seemed to have fared the best, able to wade through the forms quite readily, even if they constantly had to ask Mint about some term or process or another. The end result was one big, fat, beautiful mess of a file folder. If it hadn’t already been going into a sizable, sturdy box, I’d have insisted we bind it to keep the pages from escaping before they reached Noble. With nothing left to do but wait, I turned my attention back to other things—and realized over a week had gone by without me dealing with Terra’s wedding stuff. I knew Terra understood the gravity of the situation well enough to forgive me, but I still felt awful for essentially dumping the whole of both our duties onto Tower Tracer. A few days of frantic correspondence later, he had brought me up to date, even adding, Don’t worry about it. I’d have done the same for Stalwart. In the end, it seemed I wasn’t the only one who felt guilty. And so we found ourselves in the bar, toasting to Mahogany’s first strike back against his father, with a bunch of pamphlets and about a dozen pages of notes spread across the table. There was probably only about three pages’ worth of data, but the wedding appeared to have made Terra incapable of recording information in any way resembling organized. I creased my brow. “Okay, so let me see if I have this straight: Bay Breeze has the Sapphire Lagoon and Crystal Reef available. The Lagoon’s hall can only hold fifty, but the veranda is sizable enough for another fifty and faces the beach. The Reef’s hall holds all of one hundred and is three-quarters the price of the Lagoon, with a balcony that also holds fifty, but only the thinner south side gives a decent view of the beach and it’s distant.” “Yeah.” Terra nodded. “I wish we could afford the Tsunami Sandbar. Then we wouldn’t have to decide.” Not cringing was a bit of a task. It was their main hall, their selling point, the best of their facilities. Technically, it was available for Terra’s wedding date. It was also triple the price of the Lagoon. Not that it wasn’t warranted—its capacity was also roughly triple and was practically on the beach, with a great view from the hall itself. “It would be nice, but we don’t need it. Sapphire Lagoon has a view that’s pretty much just as nice.” “I don’t know… you really think we can we fit everything in?” Terra’s eyes flitted down to the papers. “Of course.” I gave her my most reassuring grin. “We’ll just need to make ample use of the balcony. Between Tower Tracer and I, I’m sure we can come up with a good layout. We might just need to make a trip down to verify, since I don’t like to rely on photos.” “Mmm.” She seemed convinced at first, but with each passing second, she looked worried again, eventually settling her chin on her forehooves. “But what about the weather? The outdoors will be useless if it rains.” I placed a wing on Terra’s shoulder. “Well, Bay Breeze employs a private weather control team, so I don’t think that should be a problem.” Her eyes slowly turned toward me. “But what about that rogue weather stuff you guys are always talking about?” Mahogany sighed from behind his fifth Buzzard. “Willya calm down? Orlov’s notta place witha crazy forest. ‘Sides, if their pegasi are slackin’, we can always send Flurry up. Right, buddy?” “Y-yeah.” Night shrunk a little under the spotlight. “Um, but I don’t think I’ll have to do that. Mahogany’s right. Rogue weather happens more in the wild when there aren’t pegasi around to keep it in check. The Everfree is one of those weird exceptions that sends it out.” “You’re sure?” Terra’s gaze turned to Night. “Yeah. I, um, I’ll still keep an eye out if it makes you feel better.” He mustered a reassuring smile of his own. “Sorry, Flurry. I’da volunteered, but…” Mahogany shook his head. “...y’know, schquare clouds an’ all that.” “Right. Square clouds.” Night let out a little chuckle. It was at that moment that I realized Mint was watching Night, grinning ear to ear. How long she’d been doing it, I couldn’t say, but it reminded me of the way his sisters had looked at him after the supper in Cloudsdale. As he turned to take a sip of tea, Night also noticed her gaze. “Um, Mint, is something wrong?” She shook her head. “No, nothing wrong. I’m just admiring how much my little brother has grown up.” Colour filled Night’s face. “I, um, thanks?” “Sorry,” Mint giggled. “Probably not the best time for that, huh?” “I do not see what the problem is,” Star said, a small smirk forming on her lips. “I am quite familiar with such feelings and do not believe there is anything to be ashamed of on either side.” “Oh, shush. We’re twins.” Merri stuck out her tongue. “Somepony had to come out first.” Star tilted her head. “That’s only fifteen minutes!” Merri waved her forehooves, but it was so overdramatic that she had to be playing along. Widening her smirk, Star shrugged. “Really? The way you act, somepony might think it was several years.” Merri held a neutral expression for all of five seconds before she burst out into laughter. “Look at you, making jokes. I think Equestria is rubbing off on you.” “I joked before.” Star frowned. “It was not a foreign concept to me.” “Mmmhmmm.” Merri leaned back in her seat. “Ma-ho-gany!” All eyes turned turned to the door, where Birch stood, his large, brown frame highlighted in the moonlight like a villain out of a comic book. Mahogany sighed. “Dint I tellya to goway?” Birch didn’t seem to hear, nor did he seem to notice the rest of us, marching up to the table and leaning across it. Disgust practically dripped off his muzzle. “You think you can get away with manufacturing some trumped-up accusations?” “Trumped-up?!” Mahogany matched his indignance. “You grabbed me! You broke’nto mapartment! Yer a psycho!” “You’re clearly not in your right mind, son. I’m just a concerned father, here to save you from yourself. Now, stop making up lies to discredit me and get your ass on that train.” Birch thrust a wing at the door. “Then we’re going to see a friend of mine about getting your head put on properly.” As Birch started to move around the table, Mahogany was already on his hooves, digging in. No one could blame him. Birch’s antics were beginning to feel quite patternistic. I was already standing, wondering when—or if—I should step in. Though they’d yet to move, Star and Merri were sharing purposeful glances and Mint’s eyes were firmly fixed on Birch. “No! You ain’t even said nothin’ to convince me since last time!” Mahogany lowered his head, his wide stance only a few hoof scuffs away from a possible charge. Don’t do it, Mahogany. He’s just baiting you. Had I actually believed he was going to rush in, I would have said it aloud. However, I suspected he was bluffing and as the seconds passed where neither stallion did anything more than stare, I became more and more certain. “Convince you?” Birch snorted, then made a show of sniffing at the air and wrinkling his muzzle. “You smell that? That’s the stink of entitlement. I am your father, Mahogany. I know what’s best for you.” “Oh, yeah?” Mahogany matched Birch’s snort. “How many Father of the Year ‘wards ya won for chasin’ yer son around tellin’ ‘im he’s a screw-up?!” “Truth hurts, son. Sometimes a foal’s got to be taught a lesson.” “In case you ‘aven’t noticed, I’ma grown up, no thanks to you!” Birch let out an exasperated, parental sigh, letting it draw on for a few seconds too long. “Yes, perhaps I should have had more of a hoof in your upbringing. Perhaps if your mother hadn’t coddled you far too much, you wouldn’t have grown up to be such a little shit.” “You… Yer right.” Mahogany stepped forward, though his tone was far from defeated. “Of course I am, I’m your f—” Then, faster than I thought Mahogany was even capable of, he was in Birch’s face. “This place does stink like ‘titlement.” Mahogany contorted with rage as he thrust a hoof at Birch’s chest, stopping just shy of touching him. “Ya come in here, treating me like shit, then you can’t even admit yer wrong. Ya gotta shit on Mom. Birch, the only foal here is you!” “You ungrateful—” “Shut! Just… Shut up!” Mahogany drew in several deep breaths as he seethed. “I’m going home. Ta my home. An’ I don’t want to see you ‘round here again.” “You—” “Get the hell outta my town, Birch!” And with that, Mahogany strode past Birch, shoving the doors so hard that I thought they might come off the hinges. “M-Mahogany!” The blur that was Night called out as he followed. I felt a smile creep up my lips. There’s no way that could have been easy, but he’d done it. Yet, somehow, I didn’t think Birch would take it lying down. Luckily, he was still dumbstruck, staring out the slowly closing doors. I seized the opportunity to edge toward them. At last, Birch recovered. “You… You little shit! How dare you take that tone with me! You get your ungrateful ass back here!” He strode toward the door, but found me in the way. I cocked my head. “He said no. You should respect that.” “Who the hell are you and what makes you think you can question my Celestia-given right?!” He looked down his muzzle hard. “Celestia-given right? Are you serious?” I met his stare. “Mahogany is his own person. He’s free to make his own choices, choose his own friends. Friends, who, I might add, he is happy with, because we treat him like a real person—not some puppet for you to have complete control over.” “Oh, I see. You’re one of those terrible influences. Get out of my way. It’s because of your screw-ups that I have to clean up this mess. Get the hell out of my way!” He took a few steps forward, but I held my ground. “You can spout hot air all you like, but the only terrible influence here is you. Everyone can see it and the only one you’re fooling is yourself. I’m not going to let your delusions hurt my friend.” “I’ve had enough mouthing off from you, whore bitch! Move or I’ll move you.” Birch’s stance shifted as he advanced again. It was clearly that of someone who had been in a few scraps before—something that made me suspect even further that his high-and-mightiness was just bluster, hiding behaviour that was likely far worse than anything he’d accused Mahogany of. Despite that, he was coming in wide and hard—something that would only catch someone who didn’t know what they were doing. I ducked as late as I dared, letting his momentum carry him forward. As he stumbled, he twisted awkwardly, trying to bring his other hoof around as his first touched the floor. Too bad for him, my forehoof was already there, stopping the strike before it could even start. I leaned right in and tossed my head as hard as I could. While the bar had been rather quiet during the whole exchange, the following crack sent them into a dead silence. Birch let out a pained gurgle as he stumbled back. I cocked my head again, waiting until I had his eyes. “I wouldn’t try that again.” “Bitch!” He raised a hoof, ready to charge straight at me, this time likely to press his weight advantage, but he stopped. A green wing rested on his withers. Mint stared straight down at Birch. “I’d listen to her if I were you.” “And who the hell are you?! Another one of those bitches corrupting my son?!” He twisted, shoving her wing away, only to find her other wing on him. “Last chance. Stand down.” Mint’s eyes were perhaps a little too enthusiastic, just daring him to make a move. And move he did. I could only suspect he was bringing his hoof up for a strike, as he barely got it halfway before Mint spun, her other wing sweeping out his far forehoof. His knees hit the floor hard and I could see the pain fill his face as he barely stopped it from meeting the boards. Mint finished her rotation, winding up and planting a hefty buck into his flank that sent him tumbling. He came to a stop on his left side and when he looked up, we were all standing over him: I, above his head, Star and Merri to his sides and Mint straight ahead. Despite Mint being right there, his gaze fell over the rest of us before reaching her. “Me?” Mint shrugged. “I’m just the officer who’s going to take you for a nice walk down to the station.”