Chapter 40
The Time Until Dawn
There was silence for a moment in the sorting room as the crowd of ponies all took in Sail’s words before the room erupted in cries of discontent and arguments. Astro stood huddled in the back away from the chaos willing the raucous noise to end. For a moment she thought she felt it lessen, but she knew that it was just wishful thinking. It was then that she heard Sail’s voice rise over the throng of awful noise. It was hard to make out what she said at first, but eventually she had the room’s attention once more. The tension in the room however was still palpable. “Everypony in this room right now wanted to be here. Every last one of you sat through your examinations and became members of this organization. Whatever your thoughts may be it is not your place to refuse your work, the work that you chose to take on for the betterment of this world.” she told them as they all looked on at her. As her feelings about The Wish Division and its work were no secret her words held more power than they would have if they had come from another mouth. “We were all brought here to do the jobs that we’ve been doing all the time that we’ve been here. If you would deny that work then go now. Just know that you made the decision to leave. No matter your position on this matter this is still your work. If you should plan to waste what little time that we have I suggest you take your leave now.” Nopony rose. “Very well. Just as we always have done the matter is open to discussion, but not chaos. Give your opinions and make your suggestions. If any of you wish to see this letter you may read through it. Pass it around so that you may all see what it has to say.”
She managed to keep the room under control, but there was no denying the discontent that wafted through the air. For the first time in a long time during a sorting session Astro remained completely silent. The others spoke intensely and went back and forth over who was needed and even when she had her own thoughts she voiced none. She stood out of the circle completely secluded from the discussion. She wanted no attention from any of the ponies who clearly felt very strongly about what they had to say. There was also the fact that she didn’t feel entirely qualified as unlike the rest of the ponies there she had not taken the assessment that Sail had mentioned. As much as she would’ve liked to she wasn’t old enough and was still in school. So she kept all of her qualms to herself and let them have their own discussion which she followed with the utmost attention.
It wasn’t very long before she felt that the discussion might never end. When it had begun a great deal of progress had been made quickly, but after the choices had been narrowed all progress that they had been making halted. She saw pros and cons for all of the decisions, but held her tongue. Sail had tried many times during the dialogue to make eye contact, but she had evaded each attempt. She knew that Sail would take notice of her silence, and she also knew that Sail would do her best to end it. She looked up quickly to see if Sail was still looking over at her to find that she was gone from her position. She was worried at first, but quickly remembered that other ponies had gotten up to go around to discuss with others. It then came to her that Sail was most likely headed her way. Her suspicions were confirmed as she appeared next to her.
“You’ve been rather quiet today.” Sail commented.
“I don’t see what I have to contribute to this discussion.” she answered promptly not wanting to get involved.
“You know these things just as well as everypony else here does.” she argued.
“No I don’t.” she answered simply while looking away.
“Yes you do. You work in here with us all of the time and you’re just as capable.” she countered.
“That doesn’t mean that they think so.” she mumbled looking at the ponies who currently held the floor.
“Then why don’t you tell me what you think should be done.” she suggested. Seeing her hesitation she offered her a soft nuzzle of reassurance.
She took a moment to collect her thoughts before telling Sail what she would do, “I think that each of the ones that they’ve been deciding over are all good candidates, but each one has its downsides too. See, the pony he wants would be good in theory, he could plan it all out and possible figure it out, but I’m not certain about execution. Then the pony that she’s pushing for is definitely very talented and knows her way around the subject, but I doubt that she would be able to identify and solve problems as well as the first. This isn’t our usual business so I think we can bend the rules some. I would send both of them together. One could identify and figure out a solution to the problem and the next execute said solution skillfully.”
Sail thought for a moment before responding, “It is not a bad answer for certain.”
“Really?” she questioned a sudden pride rising in her heart.
“Yes, it would also solve some of the problems that are being had with actually deciding on a singular pony. It is a good idea for certain. Don’t be afraid to put forth your thoughts. Now however, I had best return to my place in the circle. You should join it.” she finished before walking off calmly. She considered what Sail had told her and walked closer, but still remained on the outskirts of it all. She watched as Sail reemerged where she had been for the majority of their discussion.
She stood and waited politely for the pony who was speaking to finish. As soon as they had they had she stepped forward. “An interesting point has just been brought to my attention. This isn’t the normal kind of wish that we deal with and it has far more complex elements and implements. I would not be opposed to putting together a team to handle this instead of one runner alone.” she stated. Astro blushed bashfully in the back as Sail put forth part of her idea. The concept seemed to intrigue the group that surrounded them all and there was thoughtful silence for a moment. Soon though murmurs of agreement passed through the crowd. “Then we need not further this argument for who may be the best equipped. All that we must do is create a suitable team. I don’t believe that should be very difficult considering the ponies that we have left to eliminate.”
The discussion began once again, but it had a much less hostile feel to it as they worked together as opposed to against each other trying to build the perfect team. Progress moved much quicker as they all started to agree on conclusions and pairs of skill sets. She realized in astonishment that they might even finish before the sun rose that day and it rose earlier than other day that year. As she thought that however she quickly remembered what day it was and her heightened mood was killed. It was the summer solstice and they likely wouldn’t be released for quite some time. She might never get to have her day with her friends. She sat down solemnly as the discussion was forgotten to her. Her attention had turned to her five friends waiting for her to arrive unaware that she wasn’t going to be able to attend. Of course two might depending on how well that eternal night thing works out, she thought glumly.
Her dejected state remained in place for quite some time as she sat in a saddened daze. It wasn’t broken until a mighty cheer arose from the circle in front of her. She looked up to see Sail standing triumphantly in the center holding up a sealed envelope. It was the same kind that they used to give to runners when they were assigned a job. She realized suddenly that they had made their decision and agreed upon it for the wish. She was quite shocked that they had managed to. Due to the fact that all of their coats were still glowing she realized that they had completed it before the sun rose.
The group of radiant ponies walked out into the hallway triumphantly ready to deliver their completed task to their manager. They walked in a tight group with Sail in the front holding their envelope and herself bringing up the rear. She walked with them feeling uplifted by the fact that she had been able to contribute to the final result, but the sudden realization had dampened her mood far more than it had been raised. She was nearly certain that her favorite day of the year was just about to become the least. She just hoped that maybe that last line could be wrong and the sun would rise just when it should. Of course even if it does, a voice in her mind reminded her, that doesn’t mean they’re ending this lockdown.
As they reached the back hallway where they five managers were waiting a certain jubilant achieving atmosphere surrounded them, but it didn’t extend to her. She looked up and watched as Sail handed the envelope to Mint Drift, the manager for their division. She took it gladly looking quite happy with their achievement as well. “Thank you all. You are dismissed back to your rooms.” she finished. All of them started to disperse and she waited for Sail to come to her. Sail’s triumphant smile fell as she walked up to her and saw her dejected expression. She trotted up to her looking concerned.
“Are you alright dear? You should be. Your suggestion contributed a great deal to the final decision. We would not have been done nearly as quickly. I also doubt that our chances of success would have been as high.” Sail told her reassuringly.
“Is the sun going to rise today? And if even if it does are they going to release us?” Astro queried in response.
“I am afraid that I cannot answer either of your questions. I have the utmost confidence that the sun will rise again, but I cannot rightfully say when.” she answered her.
“So I should count my day with the others cancelled?” she asked disappointedly.
“That is not for certain.” she argued.
“But it is likely.” she responded.
“There are other days to have it. The rest of your summer is free.” she promised her.
“Yeah, but they’re not the longest day of the year, and who’s to say that all of my friends are going to be free.” she retorted as her discontent continued to grow.
“Not everything always works out the way you want it to.” she replied.
“I know.” she said shortly.
“But you have to accept it as well.” she told her.
“Right." she mumbled not truly listening.
“You return to your room now. Do not despair so. Things could be much worse at this moment, but they are not.” Sail finished as they arrived at her door. Astro just nodded solemnly in response. Sail went inside her room and Astro walked on to hers before entering.
She had memorized the minute that the sun was supposed to rise and she moved her clock so that it sat next to her. She pulled out a new piece of paper and her pencils and started doodling idly while the minutes passed her by. Due to where she had placed her clock she could see it easily as she worked. Her progress on the drawings slowed dramatically as it neared the time of the sunrise. She couldn’t stop herself looking over at the clock constantly. The minutes counted down to seconds and the page in front of her was forgotten all together. She watched in tense silence as the moments fell away one after the other like dominoes. The final tick of time left passed by, and nothing changed. Her coat still glowed, the clock still ticked, they were not dismissed from their rooms, the world kept turning. Another minute, still nothing. This is not the end of the world. Another five, still nothing. This morning was not the beginning of our end. Another ten, still nothing. It is a time of trouble for us and the rest of the world. Another thirty, still nothing. We are only just starting to recover. Another hour, still nothing. Maybe one day somepony will find the letter we left of how this place met its end, she thought solemnly.
She sat in a radiant silence with all of the world forgotten to her excepting the forever ticking clock. It never stopped and neither did the glow surrounding her. She wondered which would stop first. As she watched the time pass she recounted in her head what all they should’ve been doing right then. She imagined it all in her mind, every moment that should’ve been her fun filled day. In a moment a blank page lay in front of her. The images in her mind spilled out onto the page and before she knew it the clock was gone to her conscious and she was there with her friends. She lived through every scene as she put it down on the paper. In the back of her mind something was trying to remind her that there was things she was missing, but it wasn’t nearly strong enough to grab her attention. Her mind was far too focused on that which lay in front of her to be pulled away.
She couldn’t have said how much time she spent on it when it was done. She sat back and looked on at her creation feeling quite proud of it. “It looks lovely.” said a voice behind her. She jumped and looked over her shoulder to see Sail.
“I… what?” she paused as she noticed that Sail’s coat wasn’t glowing and neither was her own.
“The sun is up dear. We’ve been dismissed as well. I’m afraid you missed it. I didn’t want to pull you away from your drawing however. You looked rather absorbed.” she told her with a slight smile.
She took a moment to collect her thoughts, “So, we can go?”
“Yes.” Sail promised. Astro looked over at the clock. If sunset remained at when it should she still had hours. “Go.” Sail commanded. Astro had her saddlebags on and was out of the door in less than moments. Sail laughed silently to herself as she walked back to her room.