//------------------------------// // Chapter 18 - Ponyville // Story: The Red Dusk // by Barony //------------------------------// Red sat on the bench, slumped over as he looks out the window at the passing trees and fields, what little he could see at this time. Bored would be an understatement. Considering the fact he lost the means of writing in a journal without the possession of ink for his quill, his only ways that he could have made the entire trip faster was to try napping, but he couldn't, he was too anxious. He sighs, it has been two hours. One of which he almost slept it off, but the other he has waited through. Its the beginning of the third hour, at the very least about twenty minutes in. Halfway across the second hour, they did distribute tea and coffee from the back of the train, ofcourse Red taking some coffee. He still had the mug, infact. In between every bench in the rail car were small tables that only went up about 25% of the bench's lengths. Ofcourse, they were rather small, but it was so that ponies would have less of a hard time getting up or doing something, so its put to the side. Besides, the train ride was supposed to be short, if Shining was to be trusted, which he was. Here on his bench set's table lay his empty coffee mug, and although he would have appreciated some more, they stopped serving it right after Red was done with his share. Right beside it lay a map and an advertisement pamphlet, both of which had barely any value in keeping Red from being bored to death. The train continued to chug along through the night, and Red began to hear talking from a group of three mares, all pegasi. By their body language, they seemed to be pretty happy about something. His prediction was proven true as a laugh came from that area of the train, one of the mares taking out what seems to be a magazine and handing it to the one opposite of her, saying something as she did so. The mare took up the magazine, quickly reading through it and nodding, talking. The alicorn growled, if only the train was not so loud all of a sudden, he could better decipher what the mares were saying, but alas, no. Red only looked away, looking out the window with a bored, blank expression. He could only predict that it would take yet another half an hour, at the worst an entire hour, until they got there. "Wait... Didn't I have a book inside my bag?" the alicorn mumbles to himself as his ears perk suddenly. He looks over at his bag on the floor, just as a slight digital sound from the top of the railcar is heard. It was a beep from the intercom, and a few ponies who did manage to take a nap were woken up, all stirring and some yawning. The mares stopped talking. "Attention passengers, we are nearing Ponyville Station, and we shall arrive within five minutes. Prepare your luggage for unloading, thank you." the stallion said over the intercom with some noise coming in from the background.Probably it was something going on in where he was, most likely the front, if he's correct in thinking he's up there. Meanwhile, as Red thought for that moment, ponies began to stand up, grabbing their luggage. He looked back at his own bag, and proceeded to take a big chunk of the stuff he had in there out to see what was inside. He peers inside only to see that he only had his journal, which was just a meager, hardcover, grey book. He did not have a book worth reading after all, he thought to himself as he huffed and threw everything back in with a thud and clang. Some of the passengers look over, rolling their eyes and shaking their heads. The alicorn could only feel bad, but he knew he can't worry about it. He stands up, immediately beginning to stretch his legs and wings with a strained face, springing back into a normal standing pose. and looking over at his saddlebag, his horn alight and the bag surrounded by an aura of red magic. As Red threw the saddlebag onto his back, he looked out the other side's window only to see a few houses pop up, surrounded by fields and some immediately adjacent to an apple orchard, Applejack's property, he could only assume. They were tall with walls crisscrossed with wood and filled in with what he can only assume might be plaster. At nearly the same time, the train begins to lose speed, the low drone of the brakes getting louder and louder as they slowed down even more. The sound of a steam horn blares from the locomotive up in the front as all the ponies begin stacking up on the front of the car, except Red. Red went over to the other side's windows after the train makes a nearly perfect stop on the platform of Ponyville's train station, which was drastically different looking to Canterlot's large, architectural beauty of a station. The platform was wooden with a small overhang with lights within them and benches directly underneath. Behind that was a building, probably the ticket booth or offices? He did not know. Maybe that was the other building to Red's left that was where the ticket booth was located? Such a building was painted blue, looking drastically different from the buildings that were off in a distance, the Ponyvillian houses. With some initial information being used to draft out a prediction of life in Ponyville in his mind, Red Dusk stepped back into the isle, only to bump into a male earth pony. Immediately, Red turned around to apologize, only to be met with a frown and furrowed eyes. "Watch where you're going, moron." he spits outs spitefully, leaving Red to stand there and slump his head down with a miserable look as he gets off the train. The alicorn blinks, before moving towards the exit of the car. The stairs only served to almost kill him due to a misstep, the stallion stumbling back from the steps down before going again, this time along more careful. He shook on the small steps with his saddlebag, before finally emerging onto the platform with a group of ponies making their way out of a five meter radius of him. Looking around, he could see the passengers from the train meeting up with some other ponies on the platform, others going straight to Ponyville, and some just reorganizing their stuff. The steam locomotive leaked excess steam through its side valves onto the platform, creating a fog at that side of the platform akin to the one in Canterlot. He blows air through his nose, his hooves moving with a set goal, Ponyville. But as he did so, the sound of some two ponies trotting at a fast pace began to be heard. However, he ignored it, it could be two passengers eager to just get off the train and maybe to someone or something. "Red Dusk?" a voice comes out from behind him, his legs immediately snapping back onto the ground. He turns his head around with a blank face, unsure of what was to come, only to meet face to face with two of Twilight's friends: Twilight and Fluttershy. His eyes widen a small bit in surprise, but they quickly go back to normal 'size'. Right off the bat, Fluttershy looked quite tired, which was a direct contrast against Twilight who looked full of energy, or atleast sort of. He could barely tell if there was anything on them, the residual light from the platform just preventing his eyes from getting used to the dark. "Oh... Uhm... Hello." Red had been thinking a bit for five seconds and Twilight tilted her head at him in that time span. Essentially, he had just stared at them for five seconds, for no reason, it seemed. He slaps his hoof against his head mentally, sighing. "Huh... Uhh, we've been waiting here for thirty minutes for you, how was the train ride?" Twilight asked him, with an obvious smile. Fluttershy struggled to just focus, her head kept drooping. She puts a hoof up to her eyes, rubbing them. "It was better than I expected, but very boring, actually. Some dolts broke my inkwell." Red responded, licking his dry lips. Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Ink well? That's not good." "Yes, my ink well that I need for my quill. I was planning on passing the time since Shining Armor predicted a travel time of about an hour and thirty minutes by recording the day and the train ride, maybe this too, but ofcourse, no." Dusk said in a rather annoyed tone of voice, complete with a face. However, Twilight kept her eyebrow raised, and she brought up a reasoning hoof. "But why didn't you bring another book?" Red only shrugged. "I thought I did, but in fact I did not." Twilight just slightly leaned to the side with her whole body as Red said the sentence with a dejected tone, going back to her normal stance with a sympathetic frown. "Oof... I know how that feels, you forget something and just completely regret it later on. But dont worry about that, you're here now and that's all that matters. Talking about being here, we should get going to Fluttershy's house." Red gave a stout nod, allowing the two mares to go first and take point before he came up from behind them. He split the two mares who walked side to side, and as they walked away from the Ponyville train station, he was finally able to have his night vision work. Right beside him, Fluttershy walked with a tired gait, increasingly lagging behind both Twilight and Red Dusk. He looks back at her, looking her over. She notices him looking at her, and quickly makes a nervous grin, but Red was not amused at all. He looks back over at Twilight. "I do understand you have been at the station for thirty minutes, but do you mind me asking why Fluttershy is in such lethargic condition?" Twilight moves her head slightly to look up at Red as they walked closer to the town. Barely anypony stirred in the quiet town at this time, it seemed. The stallion could only take a mental note, it was perfect. "Fluttershy kind of stressed quite a bit over preparations, but I assure her that it'll all be worth it. Rarity and I helped her clean up her cabin and set up a bed in one of the small empty rooms in her house, which was the only one she could have spared." Red only nodded, on the moon, his room was not the biggest by any stretch of the imagination, but it was tolerable for the then loyalty crazed alicorn of times past. Actually, could he consider himself loyalty crazed? Granted, he still feels loyal connection to Nightmare Moon, but he just doesnt feel as much of the drive. In the final two hundred years, he just started losing the drive, everything felt more empty. Is he empty? Has he truly lost the will to continue serving and he's just fucking himself over? He clenches his teeth hard, he had to stop thinking about this and focus, he reminded himself. He closes his eyes, breathing in and out, before looking at Twilight. She was silent, maybe he could go behind and talk with Fluttershy, he thought. But he can talk with her at the cabin, hopefully. By this time, they were walking down the streets of Ponyville. He could see the tip of the town center building from a certain angle at a street, just the tip of it. Around him were usually just houses, but also small clearings with stalls ,small markets that were usually restricted to hugging the backs of some houses, most of which illuminated with streetlamps. There were also permanent shops, cafes and restaurants, even a hashed out, extremely decorated bakery, judging by the fact that it looked like a large gingerbread house from common Equine fairy tales, and the fact that there was a sign with a cupcake on it. The pink one should live there, he thought, questioning himself whether or not he remember's correctly. There were some houses with the lights on, but it did not seem that they were being watched, which was a relief, for Red. Twilight walked with great strides, for a pony of her size, while Fluttershy kept lagging behind. Once in a while, the tired pegasus did catch up in spurts but to no avail. Red could only feel the compulsion just to assist her by carrying her with magic. It was not long before they happen across a gigantic tree with a house carved out inside? Red questioned this, he felt awe struck, infact. How was the tree itself still alive if it's been carved out? Nonetheless, it was 'cool', in Shining Armor speak, to Red, and he felt attracted to it. "That's the library, Spike and I live there." Twilight seem to notice, tapping him before saying what she wanted to say. He only looked at her for a second and then back over. "I must admit that I am rather awestruck by the fact that the tree is still alive even after being carved out." The stallions says to Twilight, who just shrugs. "I dunno, just maybe magic or something. I never really looked into that." "Hmph. Is it always this quiet in Ponyville?" the stallion inquires, the unicorn only nodding. "Usually it is, but there are parties every now and again and the holiday's are not an exception. Apart from that, Ponyville is pretty quiet." As the small group moves through town, they pass the last few houses, before going forward towards the Everfree. The road they walked on, formerly paved with greenish stones, turned into a gravel path that crunched beneath their hooves. They passed through some parts of the Sweet Apple Acres orchards and some houses before passing it all. Before he knew it, they had passed multiple groves of trees to behold a small cabin that was also a tree. By this point, Red did not care, he just kept on walking. The cabin itself was elevated on a small formation of what he can assume is rock and surrounded by a little brook that branched out two ways, one into the Everfree forest and the other in a copse of trees. Around and within the boundaries of the brook, which had a small bridge over it, were birdhouses and other stuff that was intended for the caring of animals. This included a hoof operated well pump that included a little wooden trough of water, the wood most likely coated with creosote oil or some kind of water rot retardant. All in all, the place was a beauty to behold, yet it looked relatively small. They walked up to the bridge, and as they do so, Twilight stops which leads to Red stopping aswell. Fluttershy seemed to catch up pretty quickly, but she went past them and to the door. She took some keys from within a birdhouse and began fumbling with them to unlock the door. "So, Red Dusk, I assume you're okay with all of this?" Red nods, the sound of a door opening being heard. Red was unmoving, but Twilight looked over at where Fluttershy was. The door closes with a click. "Ofcourse, why put you through the trouble of preparing only to say I'm not?" Twilight made a circle in the bridge with her hoof as she looked up at him, nodding. "Well, I guess this begins a process which I hope will be good for all of us because I sincerely doubt its going to be easy." "Ofcourse it won't be easy. If I am not correct, Equestria is in the era of cowards, with a majority of our people being those who generalize all and cannot bear to resist the norms, which would be hating me, I could only assume." The unicorn, taken aback by the long response, just kept looking at him. She smacks her lips once, before smiling. "Well, good night." she says nervously, and Red nods with a small smile aswell. Twilight turned around on the spot, going back down the path and looking back to wave. Red waves his leg close to his body, before walking over to the now open door of Fluttershy's cabin, spilling light out into the outside. He walks in, slightly tilting his head down to make room for his horn as he walks towards a small archway.However, Fluttershy runs up, infront of him, and shakes her head. "What?" He looks at her with a confused face. "Upstairs, your room is upstairs." it was the first time he had heard her voice this entire day, and he had almost forgotten about her meek voice. It was like a mouse trying to speak, it was quite adorable, infact. He looks at her with a confused face still, but moreso confused by her voice. But in the end, Red turns around, walking up the stairs with Fluttershy following close behind. Yet again, Fluttershy took the place infront of Red, and he followed her through the small hallway, past what he assumed was her bedroom. Down they went the hall, before to his right, Fluttershy stopped at a door. She opened the door, walking in to flick the light on and turn around to face Red. "This is your room...I...I tried to get you a big bed because mine was too small andthat'd be very bad for your back, I'm sorry, so I really hope that its a good investment."Red only blinked. "What was that in the end there?" "Nothing!" she smiles sheepishly, before walking back into the hallway, looking at him with tired eyes. "Im sorry, I just never get guests over as much as I should. I'll talk to you more in the morning, but for now, I have to go to~" she yawns, smacking her lips, "~sleeep...". Fluttershy gets out of Red's sight as she drags her hooves into her room, the door closing with a click. He looked inside of his new room, which contained a rather large bed with a cute blanket decorated with red hearts on a green background. On the otherside of the bed lay a small desk with a kerosene lamp ontop and a cushion underneath, and at the foot of the bed was a bedtrunk and a shelf across from it. This room was obviously a walk in closet, proven by the shelfs that were level with his head and a stepladder at the same side of the room as the desk. Red smiles heartily, it was a nice room and the wooden walls actually gave off some kind of personality. He walks deeper into the room, putting down his saddlebag on the bottom shelf across the trunk, the bigger space. He flaps his wings slightly, the bag pinched them a small bit during the time he had it on, and then he walks over to the desk. The desk was made of birch wood, very light in comparison to the values of the walls it stood infront of. He proceeded to put his hoof on it and lightly drag it across the desktop, the wood giving some resistance to his hoof. He snaps his hoof back up for him to turn around, and sit on his bed. Everything seemed so smooth, everything nearly perfectly done. No problems have been encountered as of yet, and Fluttershy, although tired at the time, seemed receptive to him. The stallion yawned, stretching his legs out on the bed once more. The anxiety of the train ride seemed to end right then and there, and finally, the onset of tiredness was almost immediate. Ofcourse, he would not mind some sleep, after the long night. He wondered what his friends were doing as of now, probably sleeping like they should. He snorts, before letting his head fall onto the pillow and his body to begin to stuff itself in a blanket that run right under him and then over. He shimmies himself into a more comfortable position, letting one eye open so that he may see the light switch. His horn glows and the light switch is engulfed in a red aura, the lightswitch making a click as the room goes dark and Red descends into unconsciousness.