As much as Silver thought that his night would simply end with some stargazing and cuddling in their borrowed room, the reality was a lot different. Thoughts about the state of the town and the crazy amount of work that needed to be done dominated his mind, and his usual dream adventures and studies were consumed by his plotting and planning. The first big step that needed to be done was to organize the different divisions. So far from what he could tell, the town was broken into a handful of groups; agriculture, weather, construction, research, and finally administration— which ultimately organized and ran everything on a day to day basis.
The next step would be figuring out what needed to be done in each, and what that meant for Silver was spending time with each group leader and getting a feel for what worked and what didn’t. This would be the most time consuming process, and one that would definitely result in the business trips that Scarlet had teased him about before. Agriculture and research seemed to be running the best out of the five, so Silver chose to skip them for the time being. What he was left with was weather, construction, and administration— which would really go hand in hand with the others.
Considering he wasn’t a pegasus and had only the most basic idea of how that magic worked, he settled on construction. It was another field he had almost no knowledge in, but it was probably the easiest to manage and get organized. Contractors and workers preferred rigid schedules and deadlines, and Silver could figure that part out better than he could for the pegasi.
That’s where his meeting was leading towards today. With Stanley and Midnight accompanying him to the construction foreman’s office. The pair had been a little hesitant to have Silver take a more direct role in the town planning given that he wasn’t even living there, but their hesitations didn’t last long once he showed them the different notes he had already gathered. Stanley had been the one to point out that an unwillingness to budge to an outsider’s opinion had been what ultimately doomed Sanctuary, and with that in mind, she had quickly agreed that it wasn’t such a bad idea.
This didn’t mean that Silver had complete control over every decision, but like Scarlet had suggested, this at least gave him a hoof in the door to make little nudges here and there, and his hope was that the construction foreman’s concerns and complaints could be the first big nudge in the right direction.
The foreman in question was an old grizzled looking human who simply wanted to be called Smith. His appearance was off putting to say the least, but a few words into the conversation gave Silver the sense that the old phrase don’t judge a book by its cover fully applied here.
“So you said you had some concerns that weren’t being addressed, Mister Smith?” Silver politely asked.
“More or less,” he replied. “Right now we’re locked in a stalemate with the unicorn and the rest of the team.”
“What’s causing that?”
Smith pointed towards the town, “Honestly, that. It’s right in the way of the plans we were given but there’s not a lot we can really salvage and build up on here with the limitations we’re stuck with. I know I can’t really get mad about this, but men are starting to get impatient with the lack of work.”
“Well, we’re hoping to fix that. So what’s the biggest holdup with Tinker? You said you’re stuck in a stalemate right?”
“Right. The biggest issue is that Tinker doesn’t want to demolish any of the old historical buildings, so we can’t even work on the few things we have plans for.”
“I see,” Silver nodded. “I kinda got the impression that there might have been an issue there.”
“Yeah, it’s a big issue. Now I can’t blame him, but at the same time this is what we were zoned for and given permits for, and it’s not like we can just build around what’s there.”
“Yeah and I get that. there’s a whole bunch of red tape for that. So here’s my question to you. Have you thought about moving the planned construction over?” Silver pointed towards the large uneven open stretch of desert. “There’s all that land over there that is part of the property, right?”
Smith shook his head, “It doesn’t work that way… at least not with the plans that are already drafted up.”
“And why’s that? Is it just because they’re written out for that specific spot or something? Or is it just a whole complicated matter that I don’t understand?”
“I don’t want to be rude or anything, but you’re not an engineer or architect. Like I said before, it’s a zoning issue and an issue with what the scope of the work was going to be.”
“Gotcha. So just humor me then, what kind of scope of work was it?”
“The existing plans were specifically engineered for this land and with the assumption that we’d also be renovating existing buildings to bring them up to code. The existing stuff is going to be very costly to bring up to code and honestly not worth the effort for what you guys need from it.”
“I see. So what’s the best next step to take that would help you guys then?” Silver asked.
Smith looked around at the open stretch of land and the nearby dried up lake bed. “We could probably get a new land survey organized and have the plans redrawn for that, but you’re still looking at a whole lot of construction and infrastructure that we didn’t expect to have to build brand new.”
“Stuff that’s going to take a lot of time…”
“And money,” he added.
“Right… I don’t think the money’s going to be a huge issue,” but I’m sure asking for a lot more is totally going to be received well by SPEC.
“Really? How’s that?”
“Trust me, it’s a lot of boring bureaucratic stuff that’s hard to explain and I don’t even know if I can explain. Silver rubbed a hoof against his temple and nodded. “So it’s a lot of work that we’re stalled on and trying to work around.”
“Yep,” Smith replied. “And I hate to say it, but the reality is that you’re probably going to have to spend a lot longer on this than you imagined.”
Silver sat down on the ground and began to flip through the notes he had written up. He knew things were bad, but didn’t realize that so much of the mining town was unsalvageable. In hindsight it made sense, out of the dozens of buildings that stood around, only a handful had been actively used, and even then, some of the ones that were being used were clearly being reinforced as best as they could be.
As he was about to call for the meeting to end, a distant thought flickered through his head. He knew an architect who could probably help them out… but he hadn’t spoken to them in a very long time, and there was no telling what they’d say.
“I might have an idea,” he started.
“Oh?” Smith replied. “We’ll let’s hear it then.”
“I know an architect. Now he’s semi-retired and I don’t know if he’d be able or willing to help, but I can try calling him up to see.”
“Really? Guess you’re in luck. How fast do you think he can draw everything up?”
“Faster than you’d think,” Silver answered.
“Yeah? Well who is he then, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Silver paused, “He’s my dad…”
The sun’s bright rays covered the land all around them, giving the deep red mountains and the old town below an almost dream-like feel. This was no dream though, at least not in the traditional sense. It was a dream being made a reality in the waking world, as many problems and setbacks as there would be in it. Silver’s visit was never meant to be a wrench in gears, but in an odd way, it was turning into that, but not necessarily for the worst.
For as long as Stanley could remember, he was always taught to look to the past to find the future, and in a way Silver’s visit had shown him that once again. No one could know whether their shared dream of the Oasis would be successful, but with the right kind of help, it could get as close to that as possible. He couldn’t help but smile as he thought about how far they had come in only a few months’ time.
“Do you think he’s right about this?” Stanley asked Midnight as he looked down at the idle construction machinery and the momentarily abandoned materials.
“Well, you did point out that we really need this kind of input. So I guess we’ll have to trust that it’ll work.”
Stanley silently nodded his head, and then let out a soft chuckle. “Who could have thought that starting a village wouldn’t be as easy as just drawing lines in the sand?”
“Probably a lot of people,” Midnight shrugged. “We learned it the hard way I guess.”
“It’s funny how you learn that,” the almost familiar sounding voice of a mare answered from behind them.
“What did you learn from it?” she replied, turning towards the mare. “This is an awfully long way for you to just visit, Dawn.”
Stanley turned to face the mare. In front of them sat a disheveled looking Dawn, who seemed distant, yet non aggressive.
“It is,” Dawn replied. “But I guess I just wanted to see how you did.” She walked towards the edge of the overlook. “To answer your question, I learned a lot. In case you’re wondering, Sanctuary isn’t a thing anymore.”
There was an unmistakable hint of anger carrying in her voice, but also the smallest hint of regret.
“So why are you here then Dawn? Just come to reminisce on the memories, ask for a place to stay? Or do you just want some petty revenge?”
“None of that really,” she calmly replied. “I heard about this place in the dream realm, and I knew that you two were probably at the heart of it, and I can’t say you’ve done a bad job.”
“Have you seen this place though? We’re not exactly thriving like Sanctuary was.”
Dawn shook her head and chuckled, “Oh Midnight, you of all ponies know that Sanctuary was never thriving. It may have looked like it, but that was just an illusion that was as thin as smoke.” She looked away and brushed a hoof across her long mane. “I didn’t realize what was wrong until you left and took half of the village with you…”
Midnight slowly trotted to the mare’s side and rested a hoof on her back. “Dawn… I’m sorry— for everything we did. I know it hurt you, and it hurt me a lot too.”
“Don’t be sorry. It hurt, but you opened my eyes.”
“By killing what we had…” she replied. “You were a lot more than just a friend to me, I hope you know that.”
“That’s why it hurt…” Dawn admitted. “You have a long road ahead of you here, but I know you’ll weather the storm.”
“Will we?” Midnight raised an eyebrow. “We’re not perfect and as much as we tried to avoid it, it’s already falling into some of the same pitfalls that you fell into.”
“That may be the case, but you were clearly smart enough to catch them early. So how are you going to address them?”
Midnight sat in silence for a moment. “I… I don’t know.”
Dawn looked up at her and smiled, “You don’t have to know. Just take what you already have and use it to your advantage. Get creative, work around the problems… and listen to your ponies. What you did showed me that setting boundaries and laying down the rules is important, but you also have to strike that right balance so the scales don’t tip too far either way.”
“That’s easier said than done,” Midnight mused. “But I get what you’re saying.”
“Nothing in life is easy, Midnight. I think you started teaching me that from the time we first met back in Primm. ETS didn’t change that drive we had… it just pushed it in a different direction with the vision. You showed me that it wasn’t just a one way path, but a guideline.” She looked back over the town, “Use that. Learn from your mistakes, move onto the future. I don’t know what either of our futures have in store, but I do know that you can make it right here.”
“You know, that vision taught us something else,” Stanley spoke up.
“Oh?” Dawn turned toward him, “And what would that be?”
“A pony forgives. Maybe you made some mistakes, but you’re not evil. You’re not even a bad pony.” He paused. “I guess what I’m saying is that you could start again here. Put the past behind you and help us move to that future.”
The mare smiled. “I appreciate the offer, but my place isn’t here. There’s too many ponies who hate me who I know won’t want to see me here, even if they forgive me.”
“I think you’d be surprised,” Midnight interjected. “A lot of ponies might think it was a blessing in disguise. The farmers are happy, the unicorns seem to like the weird legends around here, and even the pegasi are having fun with the small clouds they can make.”
“Maybe, but it still isn’t my place. There’s things I want to see in the world, places I want to go… and I don’t think I’m ready to settle down here just yet.” Dawn looked up at Midnight. “What we shared was special, but that’s not really there anymore… at least not as strong as it was before. I’m not saying I don’t consider you family, but we’re still finding our places in the world right now, and I don’t think mine is here.”
Midnight nodded her head. “I understand. Where do you think you’ll go after this then?”
“Maybe Flagstaff? I have some family up there who I haven’t talked to in a long time, and I think I need to right some wrongs there. After that? Who knows.” She paused and smiled. It’s not all that far away though. So who knows, maybe our paths will cross again someday.”
Midnight smiled and pulled the mare into a tight hug, letting a few joyful tears fall from her eyes. “Thank you Dawn. I guess I just needed closure on this more than I thought I did.”
“I owe you a thanks too,” Dawn held her close. “You made me a better pony in the end, and I appreciate it… as hard of a lesson as it was to learn.”
The two mares sat in silence for a few long moments before Dawn took off into the sunset horizon. Stanley truly didn’t know what to make of the encounter, but Dawn’s words were still true as ever. The path ahead of them wouldn’t be easy, but Stanley had a feeling that it’d all work out in due time.