//------------------------------// // Welcome to Ponyville // Story: Light in the Dusk // by AlphatheGriffin17 //------------------------------// Dusk could barely contain his anticipation and excitement as the train pulled in at Ponyville station. He was the first to rise from his seat, thank the conductor for his efforts and set hoof in this new town. Immediately, he could tell how this place was a lot different from Canterlot. All of the ponies there came from a higher class, smartly dressed and snooty, with their heads held up so high, they were almost joining the Pegasus ponies in Cloudsdale. They were so uptight, false even and caring little beyond their own lives, that was he viewed them. Not here. The Princess was right, everypony here certainly seemed a lot more friendly and cheery. As he walked along he caught snippets of conversations, discussing what wonderful weather the Pegasi had given them (Hard to argue with that), laughing at the antics of young fillies and colts or how they should always be looking up whenever somepony called Pinkie Pie started twitching. He decided not to read too deep into that. He recalled some little things he'd learned about the settlement in A Gentlecolt's Guide to Equestria. It had been founded by Earth ponies in the early days and held many long and proud traditions, including Winter Wrap-Up and The Running of the Leaves. It was getting close to autumn, so that was bound to be starting soon. That would be interesting to watch. A few noteworthy locations included Sweet Apple Acres, owned by the Apple family and the only makers of Zap-Apple Jam in Equestria, the Carousel Boutique, a fine provider of clothing and fashion for mares and stallions and the Everfree Forest, a place full of strange and unnatural things. Like clouds moving on their own and animals taking care of themselves. Dusk found that a little fascinating. Best stay away thought, he'd heard about the dangers the forest held: manticores, cockatrices, there were even rumors of a Hydra, lurking in Froggy Bottom Bog. Yep, steer well clear of that. His stomach rumbled suddenly. He hadn't had any lunch yet. Looking around the marketplace, he spotted a nearby applecart, tended to by an orange Earth pony. Might as well. As he approached the cart, he got a better look at the seller. Her fur coat was a sunset orange, with her blonde mane and tail tied up at the ends. She wore a brown, slightly battered stetson hat, that just added to the whole farm girl look. It suited her well, to say the least. She gave an honest, friendly smile as Dusk approached her. "Well, howdy there. What can ah getcha?" she asked, her voice having a Southern twang to it. "I'll take one apple, please," Dusk answered, politely. He reached into his bag and pulled out some money. "Comin' right up." She flipped an apple onto her muzzle, flicking it in his direction. "That'll be one Bit." "Certainly," he said, catching the apple with a spell and handing her a gold coin. "Thank you, miss." Even if nopony cared what he had to say, that didn't stop him being polite. He turned and was about to head off when... "Hey, you're new in town, ain't ya?" He turned back to the farm pony. She still had that smile and was still looking at him. "Are... are you... talking to me?" asked Dusk, unsurely. "Well, 'course ah am. Sure as hay ain't talkin' to the apples." She laughed a little at her own joke. "Why wouldn't ah wanna talk to ya?" "Um... well... you see..." He stopped himself. Back at Canterlot, nopony never spoke to him. They just let him be alone, after they learned he was nothing special. She would learn eventually too, but he might as well enjoy it before she did. Besides, it would be rude not to. "Actually, never mind. Yes, I am new here." "Figured as much. Ah ain't seen you 'round here before." Her smile seemed to brighten as he walked back. "Where ya from?" "Canterlot." "Well, hot dang! That's some pretty fancy livin'! What brings ya to our lil' patch-a Heaven?" "I guess..." He paused, looking for the right words. "I guess I just needed a change of scenery. Get some country air, so to speak." "Well, ya certainly came ta the right place." She held out a hoof. "Name's Applejack." "Dusk Noir," he introduced, as she shook his hoof enthusiastically. It was still shaking a bit afterwards. "It's a pleasure to meet you." "Pleasure ta be met." She laughed a little as he stopped his leg moving up and down. "Well, let me the first ta say 'welcome ta Ponyville,' friendliest town you'll ever see. Anytime ya wanna have a chinwag, come on down ta Sweet Apple Acres. We're always happy ta make new friends." "Maybe I will." He couldn't help but smile at her honesty and hospitality. "Okay, I'd better get along to my new lodgings. See you around, Applejack." "Hope so. Have yourself a nice day now, ya hear?" She waved at him as he left the marketplace, heading off where his new home was located and munching his apple. As he walked along, he noticed that he was attracting a little bit of attention from the local populace. A few ponies, as they passed by him in the street, gave him friendly smiles, or even waved when they saw him. He felt a little embarrassed at the attention, but he guessed it was to be expected. It was a relatively small settlement, so a new pony in town would be sure to turn some heads, at least for a while. Soon enough, he thought, they'd lose interest in him and he would return to being the silent drifter, that no-one even spared a second glance for. He brushed those thoughts aside for now, as he reached the fringes of the main part of the town. Turning right from the path, he approached the door to his new home. It was modestly sized and kept up the pleasant aesthetic of the other buildings. Well, it certainly looked nice anyway. Dangling from the side was the key, on which a small note had been attached. It simply said Welcome! Again, he found himself smiling as he slipped the key in the lock, turned it and opened the door. It was just as pleasant on the inside as the outside. He looked around to see it had all the essentials: a living room, with a fireplace, a kitchen-joint dining room and a small study, complete with desk and bookcase. Upstairs housed a small bedroom and a bathroom just opposite. Not too shabby, he thought to himself, setting his bag down and opening it. He set his oddly shaped stones on display at the window of his study, as well as his quill on the desk and the books he owned on the shelf. Well, that was unpacking done. Deciding he might as well catch up on some reading, he pulled down Creatures of Equestria from its place on the shelf, walked to the living room and set it open at the place he had marked it at. Dragons was this particular segment. It was one of the few books in Equestria that contained an even partial study on them. Due to their fierce nature, nopony had managed to successfully study dragons without being scared off. He came across the part documented about their young, wherein even baby dragons were remarkable. From an early age, dragons could speak fluently, walk without problems and be capable of learning. Any foal would have to be at least three years old before they could even trot without tripping. His mind drifted again to Twilight Sparkle. She always had that dragon running around after her. He'd heard some ponies talking about him back at the school. What was it... Spike, yes that was his name. He wondered how long she'd had him, where had she got him from and what he was like. He would be able to ask tomorrow. A feeling of nervousness and excitement gripped him again. He was actually going to see her, talk to her and work with her. Even if she had new friends, maybe he could still be hers. All the things they could talk about! She'd be able to show him what she'd learned from the Princess, he would share what he learned with her. It was going to be great! But the doubt returned. Or maybe she wouldn't even talk to him. Maybe she would just have him work in silence, just getting on with it right after he said 'hello.' She would be his boss, after all. What if he was wrong about her? What if they were nothing alike? If it didn't work out, he could always find somewhere else to work. Or go back to Canterlot... He sighed again. Yeah, that sounded a lot more realistic. Sadly, he returned to his reading. He didn't know how long he'd sat there for, but by the time he reached the section on Cockatrice Survival Tips, the sun was just touching the edge of the horizon. He'd spent the whole afternoon, in this new town, just sitting here. "I could at least go for a little walk," he said to himself out loud. "Better than just sitting here. And I really need to stop talking to myself." Placing the book back on its shelf, he exited back out of the door, locked it and set off back towards the centre of town, still receiving the odd smile or wave from passing ponies. Some, he even returned. As he trotted along, he saw a rather unusual sight. In came in the form of an Earth pony, with bright pink fur and a mane and tail that made him think of cotton candy. She was bouncing along like she had springs attached to her hooves and had a bright, cheery smile upon her face. Everypony seemed to brighten up themselves a little as she pranced along, as she bid an enthusiastic 'hi' or 'how ya doin' to anypony close enough. Then, as she was close to Dusk, her tail started to twitch and she stopped. "Uh-oh!" She still said this in her high pitched, bright voice but with a hint of worry. Everypony backed away from her. Curious and it made him think back to something. "Excuse me, are you Pinkie Pie?" he asked her. "Yep, that's me!" She raised an eyebrow. "Hey, how did you know? I've never seen you. Are you psychic? That's it! You're psychic! Ooh, ooh tell me what I'm thinking right now!" "Um..." He wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. "No, I'm not psychic... I just had a hunch." "Nope, wrong! Not even close!" What in the name of Celestia... "Come on, try again!" "Look, I'm-" He stopped as he heard something from above. "Would you happen to be thinking that I should move one step to the left?" "Oooh, so close! I was thinking one step to the right!" "Right, okay. Hold on..." He stepped to the right, just as a piano hit the spot he'd been standing in seconds before. He looked up to see a flying removals van, manned by a few Pegasus ponies. The larger one, no doubt the guy in charge, scolded a grey one, with a blonde mane. The guilty culprit, thought Dusk. "Sorry about that!" he called down. "It's okay, just as long as nopony got hurt!" Dusk shouted back. He looked back to Pinkie, who was peeking around the debris. "You alright?" "Yep yep yep! That was a close one!" She turned about face. "Well, gotta get going! See you later, Mr. Psychic Pony!" "Thank you, Miss Pie. I'm-" "Don't tell me your name! I wanna see if I'm psychic too, maybe I'll figure it out! I love guessing games!" She resumed her prancing. "Gotta dash! See ya later!" "Alright, watch out for anymore... falling pianos." He couldn't quite believe he'd said that. "Okie-dokie-lokie!" And she was off, bouncing along like nopony's business. He still didn't know how quite to react to something so.. random. So, he did the only thing that seemed sensible at the time: he laughed, a smile plastered on his face as he walked back into the marketplace. It only grew wider when he saw the only other pony he'd spoken to that day. Applejack looked to be closing up her stall. The baskets and shelves were empty and she was busily folding up the apple cart, flipping the boards shut and moving on to the canopy, collapsing it inside the rest. That looked to be a nice, simple and stable life: farm the apples, sell them in various forms, then head home. It at least made her important and got her involved with ponies. Dusk felt rather envious, almost wishing he lived like that. He laughed a little at the mental image of himself, sitting under a tree, perhaps chewing on a piece of hay, just watching the world go by, before getting up to do some applebucking. Somehow, he couldn't quite picture himself doing that. He was about set off once more, just in any direction when... "Dusk! Hey, Dusk!" He looked to see that Applejack had attached the cart's harness to herself and was waving at him. Again, he felt surprise. She still wanted to talk to him? Hadn't she realised by now how uninteresting he was? He guessed it was too early for her to learn that yet. She would, soon enough... Still, it would be rude to ignore her, so he trotted back over. "Back again for more, huh?" She smiled at him. "Sorry, all sold out ah'm afraid." "It's fine, I... I wasn't hungry," he mumbled. "Ah'm jus' messin' with ya, Dusk." Her smile became a little more sympathetic. "Where ya headed?" "Um... nowhere really," he answered simply. "I'm just... wandering. It's one of the things I like to do." "Well, how 'bout ya walk with me? I jus' gotta haul this on back ta the farm and ah could use the company." Was she being serious? She really thought he was good company, enough to walk however far to talk to? Well... at least, this way, she would learn more quickly, and it wasn't like he had anything better to do. Even though he probably wouldn't openly admit it, he was starting to like her. "Um... sure." Dusk walked to her side, matching her stride as she towed the cart along. Okay, conversation, he thought to himself. "You.. managed to sell all of your apples then?" Was that really the best he could come up with? Fortunately, she didn't notice what an obviously stupid question it was. "Sure did, made a nice lil' bit-a money from it too. Ya won't find better apples than ones from Sweet Apple Acres." She turned to look at him as he walked. "Did ya enjoy your apple?" Okay, so they were getting somewhere. "Yes, I did. You are right, I don't think I've tasted a better apple in all my life." "Well, that's nice of you ta say so," she said sincerely. "How has ya firs' day in Ponyville been then?" "I can't really say. I... well, I didn't really do very much." He almost felt ashamed admitting. "Came to my house, unpacked, made myself comfy with a book and didn't come out until... well now." "No problem with that, jus' so long as you enjoyed yerself." She chuckled a little. "'Sides, ya can't really call this 'your firs' day' here, ya did come pretty late in the day. Ah'm sure you'll get more done tomorrow." "Yeah, you're right." This might be worth bringing up. "It wasn't entirely uneventful. I did run into this rather..." He paused, searching for the right word. "... unique pony, and narrowly avoided having a piano dropped on my head." "This 'unique' pony, her name ain't 'Pinkie Pie' by any chance?" "Yes, it was. You know her?" "Dusk," she began, sniggering a little, "chances are if ya find a pony in this town who doesn't know Pinkie Pie, they're either new or had their heads stuck in a hole in the ground." Dusk laughed at that. "I know what you mean. Is she always like... you know... hyper, all the time?" "Hyper ain't the half of it, but that's our Pinkie Pie." She gave Dusk a reassuring look. "Don't worry, you'll get used ta her." "I suppose so." He had a look at their surroundings. They had followed the country path, white fences lined on either side of the road. Beyond them were miles and miles of apple trees, all of them baring the glint of freshly grown apples, just waiting to be picked. It really was quite beautiful, especially in the glow of the setting sun. "Ain't it somethin'?" She was looking fondly in the same direction he was. "There ain't nowhere else ah'd rather be than here." "I find it hard to argue with that," he agreed. "It really is a beautiful sight, all of those trees. You must be very proud, of the work you do." "Ah am, all ma family is. It can be tough, demandin' and exhaustin' at times, but it's always worth it." She looked up the path. "Ah, here we are!" He looked up as he passed under a wooden arch, vines growing all over it. Up ahead was a large barn, that looked like it was also the farm house. Chicken coup, a well, cornfields. A good farm by anypony's standards. "Well, better get this inside," Applejack said, heading towards the barn-house. "Thanks for the company Dusk, nice talkin' to ya." "It was nice talking to you too," Dusk replied, knowing she was just saying that to be nice. "I'll... see you around, I guess..." He turned to leave. "Hold on a sec. Have ya had any dinner?" He realised that he hadn't. He hadn't gone and done any shopping yet, so he'd have nothing in. He shook his head. "Well, why don't ya help yerself to some apples from the orchard, on the house? We got plenty ta spare." "Oh no, Applejack," he flushed. "I... I couldn't ask that of you. I can pay for them..." "Trust me, it's fine," she assured, giving him that honest smile again. "Anythin' ta help a new friend." Even though he knew that she was probably bored out of her mind with him, that she was doing this to be nice so it wouldn't be so bad later, Dusk couldn't help but smile. She considered him to be her friend. Even though it wouldn't last, he still felt good inside from it. "Thank you, Applejack. That's very kind of you." "Anytime. Enjoy 'em, it's what they're grown for. G'night, sleep well." With one last smile, she turned and walked to the barn, towing her cart behind her and humming a country tune. On his way back, Dusk used his magic to pull down about five apples from their branches, munching on them gratefully as they filled his empty stomach. But there was more than chunks of fruit that made him feel good. He didn't dare hope too much, just in case things changed and went back to how they should be, but had he really just... made a friend? When, from his perspective, he'd done so little, offered so little? An inkling of hope began to grow inside him, from this experience. As Princess Luna brought out the moon and stars, bringing her vigil of darkness across Equestria, it soon grew as big as the orb that shone above him. It was still there as he climbed into bed, drifting into a peaceful sleep. The hope that he could become more than he thought. That he could offer more than he thought. That Twilight Sparkle would be... his... friend...