//------------------------------//
// VIII - The Kindness Of Strangers 
// Story: Mortal Coil 
// by Reeve 
//------------------------------//

	As I sat down in the mayor’s office, I was immediately reminded of Duke Blueblood’s office back at Canterlot Castle. It already felt like a life time since I had sat in that particular office, I began fidgeting with my compass as I thought back to the peaceful life I’d agreed to leave behind that day. Just before the mayor shut the door, he called down to somepony I couldn’t see, a secretary I presumed, to fetch some tea.

“Now, Miss…” he began as he circled around his desk and sat opposite me, wringing his hooves in one another.

“Rarity,” I informed him in an even voice.

“Miss Rarity,” the mayor finished. “My name is Pen Pusher; I am the mayor of Pivot, as you no doubt know already.”

At that last comment he puffed out his chest in a very unsubtle manner to emphasis the bright red rosette on his jacket lapel. He coughed awkwardly and sat up straight when he noticed the disdain in the look I was giving him.

“Anyway, my secretary informed me that you were here to check the records office,” he continued. “Something about finding a particular business.”

“Something like that,” I replied coolly. “I needed to know which businesses were still running.”

“Well I can understand that,” he admitted. “It’s hard to come by an open shop these days.”

“And why is that?” I asked curtly, which he seemed taken aback by.

“Pardon?”

“Why is Pivot in this state?” I demanded, leaning in. “The last time I was here this town was booming.”

“Well, there was a war,” Pen Pusher answered, as if it were obvious. “Surely you knew.”

“The war is over,” I reminded him. “So what are you, as mayor doing to fix things?”

“Me?!” he exclaimed, his brow sweating slightly. “I can assure you Miss Rarity that I am doing everything in my power to make Pivot the great city it once was.”

“Really?” I asked sceptically. “Because the pony working in the records office is passed out, drunk!”

He tried to mumble some excuse but I cut across him.

“I overheard that shelters are full and yet the streets are full of homeless ponies,” I continued, leaning in even closer. “Local businesses are going under and buildings lie in ruins. So I’ll ask you again, what are you doing to fix all this?!” 

It was at that moment the secretary entered, wheeling a tea trolley in. She stopped dead when she saw me leaning over the desk, almost snarling at the mayor who was cowering in his seat. I sat back in my own seat, adopting a calm and composed demeanour.

“Thank you Inkie,” the mayor muttered as the secretary set a cup in front of each of us before leaving again.

“My apologies for losing my head,” I began, trying to keep my voice calm once more. “But I still expect an answer.”

“I told you, I’m doing everything in my power,” he repeated, levitating his own tea cup. “Believe me when I say that cleaning this city up, supporting local businesses and funding more shelters are on the top of my to-do list, but for all those things I need money.”

“Am I to take it you’re lacking that?” I inquired, sipping from my own cup, almost gagging at the vile taste.

“She’s new,” the mayor explained bitterly. “It’s so hard to find good help these days, but then you probably know that if you saw Lens Flare.”

“The old mare in the records office?” I asked.

“That’s the one,” Pen Pusher replied with a little nod. “I know what you’re going to say, that there are plenty of ponies out in the streets who could maybe do these jobs better, but it all comes back to money. Ponies like Inkie and Lens Flare may be a bit useless, but they’re the only applicants who were willing to do their jobs for practically no wages.”

“You’re not going to make any money if you refuse to spend any to start off,” I tried to explain. “If town hall isn’t running effectively then of course the rest of the town is going to fall apart, but in order to get this place running properly you need to hire the right ponies to do the right jobs.”

Pen Pusher opened his mouth, presumably to object but once again I interrupted him.

“And that means having to fork out a lot of money,” I insisted. “But it’s necessary, Pivot isn’t going to recover if you aren’t willing to take some risks to make it happen. And since you got voted to this office, ponies must think you’re capable of doing that.”

Pen Pusher squirmed uncomfortably in his seat for a moment, which gave me pause for thought.

“You were elected, right?” I asked in a wary tone.

“Well… not exactly,” he murmured, which caused me to groan. “You have to understand that as bad as this place looks now, it was much worse when the war ended. The rebels needed to put someone in charge, so… I volunteered.”

“So the rebels got you into this office,” I repeated. “Is that why… Sufferthorn was meeting with you?”

“Um…” Pen Pusher shrunk in his seat once more. “Sort of, it’s not really important.”

“Is it not?” I muttered darkly. “Well however you came to be here, you’re the mayor now and that means the responsibility is on you to clean up this town up.”

I stood up; intent on leaving since I didn’t think Pen Pusher would be any use in finding the businesses I was looking for.

“You should seriously think about what I told you though,” I continued. “You’re not going to change anything if you hoard every bit you have for fear of being broke, you need to spend money if Pivot is ever going to make any. I had a business myself before the war, so I can promise you I know what I’m talking about.”

“Yes, yes,” Pen Pusher agreed, standing up and hurrying to the door to open it for me. “I’ll be sure to get right on it, thank you for your advice, truly. Also I’m sorry we couldn’t be more help to you, but I hope you find what you’re looking for and that your stay in Pivot is… well I’m not going to say pleasant, you’ve seen the state of it, but I hope it is satisfactory.” 

I was pleased to find that when I left the office, the crowds of ponies weren’t still waiting in the entrance hall to stare at me some more. I was able to slip out relatively unnoticed, as I did leave however I noticed the rest of the guards I had seen earlier. These ones definitely appeared to be guards as opposed to soldiers, and like Inkie and Lens Flare it looked like they were the cheapest the council could afford. The one standing next to the door didn’t even notice me as I walked out right past him, he was too busy picking his nose and yawning at the same time. 

Once I was back out into the town square I was able to see how low the sun was getting, obviously I wasn’t leaving Pivot that night, so I decided to put off looking for a transporter in favour of finding somewhere with rooms to let. As luck would have it, there was an open tavern almost directly opposite the doors to town hall, right on the corner of where the main street entered the square. It was surprisingly well lit, packed and noisy, even if they didn’t have rooms I might be able to talk up a few locals and find what I was looking for elsewhere.

There were several ponies standing outside with their drinks, laughing and talking loudly, completely oblivious to the homeless sitting mere metres away from them. As I made for the door, one pony hurried past me, he was a youngish stallion wearing filthy rags and eagerly counting out the bits he had collected in his metal cup. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that, the boy was lucky enough that his begging earned him some money, but now he was going to spend it all on a drink. Maybe that was for the best, if you had nothing left to your name and no hope of building a better life, a drink might ease the pain and help you forget. 

I walked into the tavern after him, glad to see that nopony here was paying any attention to me either. I made a beeline for the bar, weaving in and out of poorly placed tables. The vagrant was already at the bar hoofing over his money, a part of me wanted to stop him, but as he was given a tankard of cider which he began chugging down in desperation I decided that it was none of my business. Clearly there was a problem in this town, and I wasn’t going to fix it by reforming one stallion. 

That thought gave me pause, since when was I trying to fix anything? All I came to Panchea to do was get to my house and see if everything was alright for my family to travel over so we could restart our lives. Shaking my head I carried on towards the bar and leaned against it while waiting to be served, as I waited however I began to get a prickling sensation on the back of my neck, as if I was being watched. Almost instinctively my magic began reaching out to the knives that were now strapped to my cincher, I had no desire to use them, but after my encounter with those soldiers I wasn’t about to take any risks. 

“What can I get you?” the mare behind the bar asked, tearing my thoughts away from the possible threat.

“Oh, uh…” I mumbled trying to remember what I can in for. “Oh yes, I was wondering if you had any rooms to let.”

“All taken I’m afraid,” the mare replied. “You aren’t the first we’ve had to turn away tonight.”

“Oh, well in that case I’ll just take a cider,” I said, slightly disappointed. “Just a half pint please.”

As she fetched my order and I began fishing out a few bits from the purse tucked safely inside my satchel, somepony approached me from the side and joined me at the bar.

“Excuse me,” she began, grabbing my attention. “Did I hear you were looking for a place to stay?”

I glanced up, taken aback by the mare’s sudden presence. She was a small pegasus, lime green coat with blonde mane and tail, her cutie mark was a twisting serpent.

“I was…” I replied warily. “Why?”

“Well I sort of run a shelter,” she explained. “My name is Grass Snake by the way.”

“Rarity, and if you own a shelter,” I began as the mare returned with my drink and I slide a few bits across the bar to her. “Then why are you offering a room to me? There are plenty of ponies outside who I’m sure would appreciate it.”

“Sorry I should have made it clear,” she began quickly. “I wasn’t exactly just giving you the room, like… for free.”

“Oh, of course,” I replied, taking a swig from my glass. “Some shelter then.”

“No, no, it’s not like that at all,” Grass Snake insisted, sounding panicked. “We’re pretty packed already which is why I’m not out there taking in strays… but we’re also pretty poor. You could squeeze in for the night, or more if you wanted, and in return you maybe you could give a little to help us keep everypony fed.”

I thought about the offer for a moment, it definitely sounded like they weren’t fit to be keeping anymore ponies under their roof, but it’s not like I need much space and I’d be giving them something in return to help with the upkeep of the shelter, which was more than what the mayor or the council was doing at the moment.

“I think that could work,” I replied. “Do you want leave now?”

“Not just yet,” Grass Snake replied. “I came here to pick up something.”

As I glanced around I noticed the mare who had served me was standing by with an unmarked bottle of clear liquid.

“Next time I’m going to have to charge you, you know that?” the mare asked as she handed the bottle over.

“I know, I promise I’ll get some money before then,” Grass Snake replied gratefully as she accepted the bottle.

With the transfer made, Grass Snake turned and began to make her way out of the tavern while I followed closely behind. 

“It’s medicinal alcohol,” she explained. “For one of our residents. It’s the best I can get since the pharmacy closed down.”

Together we exited the tavern and began making our way across the square, Grass Snake quickly explained where her house was, somewhere in one of the outer districts. I noticed she walked very quickly, I wondered if maybe it wasn’t safe to be on the streets at night, and indeed the sun was already set and the last light of day was fading fast. As we left the ex-business centric part of Pivot the number of homeless ponies dropped dramatically, no doubt they chose that area to beg in specifically as it was where most ponies would be traversing.

“So how many ponies are you sheltering?” I asked in an attempt to break the eerie silence as we walked through the residential areas.

“At the moment,” Grass Snake began, thinking quickly about it. “Five.”

“Five?!” I exclaimed. “I thought you said you were packed!”

“We are,” she insisted. “Trust me when I say my house is tiny, besides… it’s not exactly a normal shelter.”

“What do you mean?” I asked curiously.

“You’ll see soon enough,” she replied. “We’re almost there.”

I didn’t respond after that, I simply kept my mouth shut and followed Grass Snake until we arrived in a narrow street where all the houses were tightly cramped in next to one another. I could tell what she meant about her house being small, assuming it was the same as the rest of these houses which were all three stories tall but only a single small room wide. About half way down the street Grass Snake turned left and ascended the front steps of one of the many identical, tiny houses.

“Pixie!” Grass Snake called out while knocking on the door. “It’s Grass Snake, could you open the door for me please?”

There was a moment’s pause while Grass Snake glanced up and down the street nervously, but the entire estate was deserted. Then I heard the snap of a lock… followed by the click of another, and the rattling of a chain. Just when I thought it was over there were several other clicks in close succession followed by one loud thump. I gave Grass Snake a worried glance but she just took all this in her stride like it was normal for her.

As the door opened, she hurried me in before squeezing in behind me. I found myself in the narrowest of hallways; two fully grown ponies would have to squeeze past one another if they tried to cross each other. There was an even narrower staircase on the left hand wall while the right side of the hallway lead to an open door at the end of the hallway and another door leading off on the right. In front of me was the pony who had presumably opened the front door, I wasn’t sure what I had been expecting, perhaps a scruffy stallion. What I was not expecting was a unicorn filly who looked younger than my own sister, staring up at me with barely disguised fear.

“Thank you Pixie Dust,” Grass Snake said as she closed the door. “We have a guest; can you go make sure the den is tidy please?”

Pixie Dust nodded, still looking nervous towards me, but she turned and hurried down the hall to the door on the right. I turned, ready to question Grass Snake but stopped when I saw the door. The sounds I had heard gave me an idea, but I couldn’t have been ready for the sheer number of locks and bolts on the inside of the front door. As Grass Snake finished resetting all the various locks, she lifted a wooden plank that was leaning against the wall and set in place to barricade the door.

“We… take safety kind of seriously here,” she explained, looking sheepish when she noticed my wide eyes.

“I can see that,” I murmured.

“Why don’t we head into the den,” she suggested, gesturing for me to take the lead. “I’ll introduce you to the family.”

Nodding, I turned and began making my way down towards the room Pixie Dust had disappeared through. As I walked I noticed a small, grotty kitchen through the open door at the end of the hall, if looked very unsanitary. When I turned into the den I found a small room with two sofas that looked ready to fall apart, a single rickety bookshelf that was only half filled with a mismatch of titles from children’s picture books to the complete works of famous poets, and a wooden crate that Pixie Dust and two other fillies were putting some toys away into.

Apart from that the entire room was stripped bare, literally in the case of the wallpaper, and the floor looked in such poor condition that it may very well have been sandblasted at one point. An aged unicorn stallion sat in an armchair that was in just as poor a condition as the sofas, he looked up in surprise at me also entered, as did the other two fillies. 

“Everypony,” Grass Snake began as she stepped in past me. “This is Rarity; she’s going to be staying with us for a few days.”

That earned a few confused looks; I noticed that most of the glances were directed at my clothes.

“I am paying,” I explained quickly. “Grass Snake said you could do with some money to help keep this place up and running, and I needed a place to sleep safe for a night or two.”

That elicited a groan from the stallion.

“So I take it you had no luck at the town hall,” he said despondently to Grass Snake.

“No luck,” she replied with a little sigh. 

“Town hall?” I repeated. “You were at town hall?”

“Yes I was,” she admitted before looking to the three fillies. “Do you three maybe want to go upstairs while the grownups talk for a bit?”

The three fillies went without arguing and as I heard their hooves clopping of the wooden stairs I was invited to take a seat on one of the sofas.

“My apologies Miss Rarity,” the stallion began. “I should have introduced myself first, my name is Lock Pick.”

“I take it you’re responsible for all those locks on the front door then?” I enquired, noticing his keyhole cutie mark. 

“That I am,” he confirmed. “You can’t be too safe these days, especially when you’re looking after children and…”

He stopped abruptly as he entered into a coughing fit. Grass Snake leapt up and went straight to his side but he managed to stop without any assistance.

“And old cripples,” he finished, giving me a weak grin.

“Those girls,” I began, glancing up at the ceiling. “Are they… related to either of you at all?”

Both Grass Snake and Lock Pick looked solemn at that.

“No,” Grass Snake stated as she took her seat again. “They’re all orphans.”

“Orphans?” I repeated quietly, thinking about what that meant. “Wait a second, do you mean they became orphans because of the war?”

Grass Snake nodded sadly.

“The war took its toll harder on some more than others,” she continued. “Surely you know that though. You look like you’ve been doing pretty well for yourself, but surely you haven’t been blind to the effects all around you.”

“Actually,” I began, looking away guiltily as I remembered Sufferthorn’s comment about me being a coward. “I moved to Equestria before the war, I only returned a few days ago.”

“You got a place on one of those refugee ships?” Lock Pick asked to which I nodded. “Well you were one of the lucky few then. So did you know nothing of what happened until you got back?”

“I heard stories,” I answered. “Oh there were plenty of stories, but nothing could ever have lived up to the reality of it all. The longer I’m back, the more I hear, the worse it all seems.”

“Well now you know just one more terrible truth,” Grass Snake said. “Everypony knows that wars claim lives, but what most forget is the children who are left behind when their parents die fighting or are simply caught in the crossfire.”

“So that’s why you only keep a few ponies sheltered?” I enquired.

“Yes,” Grass Snake replied. “I am fully aware that there are others out there who need a place to stay, and it kills me to ignore them, but those girls have suffered enough. I want to give them a home, not just a square foot a floor to sleep on.”

“And that’s why you were in town hall?” 

“Yes, I went there in the hopes of getting some funding,” she continued. “If I was really lucky I might have been able to expand the shelter into some other houses that are vacant at the moment, but I didn’t get a single bit.”

“I’m sure you tried your best Grass,” Lock Pick said, trying to console her as she buried her head in her forelegs. 

“I actually saw you there,” she said, brightening up slightly. “But then everypony saw you. I was still at the back of the line when you had your little… spat, so I was only just finishing up when you left. When I ran into you in the Trapper and heard you were looking for a room I thought… well anypony who has money to buy clothes like that, and has the guts to stand up to Sufferthorn…”

Lock Pick began coughing and sputtering at that.

“Maybe they’d be willing to help,” Grass Snake finished, getting up once more to check on Lock Pick.

“I actually make all my own clothes,” I began. “It’s what I did before the war, but I do have a bit of money on me now, and of course I’ll pay you well for letting me stay here. Although I should point out that I had a strong word with the mayor, and he might actually start to get things fixed around here.”

Both ponies chuckled at that which I raised an eyebrow at.

“Sorry, I don’t doubt that you gave him what was coming to him,” Grass Snake explained. “But I can tell you now you’re not the first pony to do so.”

“That Pen Pusher is the most corruptible stallion I’ve met,” Lock Pick spat. “He takes money from the coffers to help fund the rebellion, and in return they keep him in power so he can keep living comfortably in his big house while the rest of the town falls into squalor.”

I gritted my teeth at that, I felt like such a fool, believing that he had been sincere when he said he would take my advice. It made sense that he would be passing bits under the table to Sufferthorn; it would also explain their meeting when I got there. 

“I know it’s hard,” Grass Snake said in a slightly morbid tone. “Heart breaking even, to see what this city and country has come to, and to know that the ones in power are doing nothing to try and fix it.”

“What about Port Mule?” I asked suddenly. “Do either of you know what things are like down there?”

“I take it that’s where you live,” Grass Snake answered to which I nodded. “From what we hear it’s much better off than Pivot, although that might have something to do with the Liberators raising their banner down there.”

“The Liberators?” I questioned.

“You haven’t heard of them yet?” Grass Snake said in a surprised tone. “I figured you would have if you had been staying in Equestria, although maybe word hasn’t reached there yet. The Liberators are a group, they…”

Before Grass Snake could finish however, one of the fillies called down from upstairs.

“Aunty Grass!” she called. “Granny Willow needs you!”

“Sorry, I’ll be back in a bit,” Grass Snake replied, scooping up the bottle of medicinal alcohol before hurrying upstairs.

“She’s a good pony,” Lock Pick said sadly. “She does so much for all of us; I dread to think what would have happened to those girls if she hadn’t taken them in.”

“What about you?” I asked without stopping to think that I might be intruding in on something personal. “How did you come to be here?”

“Me?” Lock Pick began, pondering the question for a moment. “That’s complicated.”

I frowned at that, sure he wasn’t going to continue but after a few moments of silence he opened his mouth again.

“I used to live in Brine,” he began. “I was a locksmith, no surprise there. It was about a year into the war when I left, fighting in the area had intensified and it wasn’t safe there anymore, so I packed my things and ran. The next year was a bit of a blur as I travelled from place to place, always trying to stay one step ahead of the fighting; I… wanted nothing to do with it. When things began to cool down, I ended up here in Pivot and found that I just couldn’t travel anymore.

“My health was failing me,” he explained. “But I had nowhere to go, and not a single bit to my name. I ended up being just another tramp on the streets until Grass Snake found me. I don’t know why she chose to save me of all the ponies that needed saving, I never brought myself to ask, but she’s been taking care of me ever since and in return I do whatever I can to help around here and looking after the girls while she’s out.”

Lock Pick fell silent as he presumably thought back to the time he was describing; I wondered if there was something he wasn’t telling me.

“It must have been a hard time for you,” I said after a while when I didn’t think he was going to speak again. “Before you met Grass Snake that is.”

“More than you know,” he whispered in a hoarse voice. “But if there’s one thing that I learnt from my experiences, one thing that you should take from all this, is that you can’t always do things on your own. And while it may seem difficult to find somepony to trust in times like these, if you put your faith in the goodness of other ponies, in the kindness of strangers... you may just find what I found in Grass Snake, and you’ll know that you’re stronger with your friends than you will ever be on your own.”

“I’ll be sue to take that to heart,” I assured him, smiling at him as a faint warmth began emanating from the pouch around my neck.