//------------------------------// // 27 - Rebuilding Benchmarks // Story: From Dusk to Night // by KuroiTsubasaTenshi //------------------------------// The sun was high in the cloudless sky, bathing the entirety of Canterlot in its light. It was a refreshing sight, considering that the flight over had been less relaxing than I’d promised myself; lingering thoughts of both past and future had kept my mind more than busy. Rainbow Dash had been strangely difficult to catch over the last few days. Not that she hadn’t been around, but she’d always seemed too busy to talk. When she wasn't blasting through her weather duties, she was rushing off with hardly a word. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought she was avoiding me. More than likely, though, it was Elements business. The irony wasn’t lost on me that extenuating circumstances were keeping me from explaining my own extenuating circumstances. Of course, there was a key difference: they were a national, Princess-sanctioned task force who faced some of the worst the world could throw at us. I was just some mare who could barely take on some angry thugs. It wasn’t until about three days after my return that I’d finally gotten her attention. Despite Blizzard saying she’d vouch for me, I’d expected Dash to at least be annoyed. There were a lot of holes in the story, the least of which was a month’s worth of time sheets being retroactively adjusted—or so I thought. With a wink and a wave of her hoof, Rainbow Dash gleefully told me that the paperwork had been filed two weeks ago. While I was more than a little relieved, the whole thing brought up more questions than it answered. With all the Ponyville stuff settled, I turned my attention outward and was immediately reminded just how much I was out of touch. That pleasure trip to Canterlot quickly turned to business and I was off. The lunchtime crowds made me skittish and I found myself instinctively avoiding any guards. It was Myrtail all over again, but weirder. I knew neither the state of affairs nor whom I should watch out for. Everything was both familiar and unfamiliar. I picked up the pace as much as I dared. It wasn’t until I was once again entrenched among the gaudy vinyl of The Record Club that I finally allowed myself to relax. Taking a moment to collect my thoughts, I leaned back in my booth. The old seat’s backing was a bit more comfortable than I remembered. As Lockbox approached the booth behind me, he paused for just a second. Even with his eyes under all that forelock, I felt them flit over to me. “I heard a hunting party cornered a little bird.” “Their trap had holes.” “I heard they still got her good.” “Maybe. Some birds just don’t die very easily.” Lockbox chuckled. “So it seems.” “Have they set out again?” “Not here. Not even near here. Not after that little ‘cabin fire’ scared them off.” His tone shifted toward the end, the faintest satisfaction tinting his voice. I briefly wondered if it was something more than just small comfort. But, no, it was unlikely he’d want to rebuild his life again. I know I wouldn’t. “Then?” “Fillydelphia. Another band is growing uncomfortably large.” The Mob. There was no need to ask. Even the average Equestrian knew of their clashes. At least, the newspapers seemed more than eager to shove it in our faces. Relief flooded over me; so long as conflict was looming, I wouldn’t even be in their sights. I knew it was selfish, but I hoped it wouldn’t end too quickly. “Anywhere else?” I asked. “Just Trottingham. Word is they’re ramping up resources. Probably for Filly.” I nodded. Seemed they might be expecting something of a siege. That left one more big item on my list. I took a deep breath. “Pasture?” “Other than another failure to get a contractor? Nothing.” There was a tinge of disappointment. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected, but some part of me always hoped that Ivory would see some kind of progress. On the other hoof, nothing bad had happened while I was unable to help. Still, what Blaze had told me about the mayor’s possible connection, I had to double check. “I heard the previous mayor had some dirty ties.” “Several. As does his son. But small fries have little pull in such relationships.” “Then their activity?” “Nonexistent.” “Right. Thanks.” --- The rest of our discussion had been minor tidbits and rumours, the kind that may or may not lead to something, but was good for a mare like me to know. A month’s worth of information might have been a bit much, as I’d left Canterlot more than an hour later than I expected. By the time I reached Ponyville, it had been embraced by the sun’s fiery red glow. I really hoped I wasn’t too late for my next stop: Stalwart Stone’s cottage. When Terra had said she’d help Aster with her gardening, I don’t think anyone expected her to come up with an entire pallet of potted plants. Well, as near a pallet as she could get, anyway; some of those leafless twigs looked like a bit of a lost cause. She’d made me promise to come by when I got back—not that I needed much persuasion. As I approached the house, the lighting was just about right, highlighting the majority of the landscaping work. Despite the fact that the pallet had multiples of pretty much nothing, they’d put together something relatively symmetric. Notably, a couple would-be shrubs stood at the head of the path. Each of the two older shrubs by the door were now ringed by a rainbow of flowers; the rings then extended along the base of the cottage. I wondered just how much of that had been thanks to Terra’s newfound knowledge. While there were many things Aster still needed to learn, this was probably the single scenario where she was more likely to be the teacher. Speaking of which, Aster was visible from the street, hanging out near the right side of the house, where the near-empty pallet sat. However, there was no Terra hovering over her. I supposed she could have just stepped inside for a moment, but I almost found it hard to believe that she’d leave Aster out of sight for even that long. As I got closer, Aster crouched over the remaining pots, all of which held the barren plants. She mumbled something to herself as she pressed her hoof against the worst of the plants. I raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. No sense interrupting her, especially if she was trying to concentrate. The plant seemed to twitch, but that couldn’t be right. Aster hadn’t even moved; the light was surely playing tricks with me. Then a tiny spot of vibrant brown appeared at the base of the dry, grey plant. Slowly, creepingly, it made its way up until the plant appeared revived. Aster shuddered, squeezing her eyes shut and as she did, a lush green bud protruded from the top of the plant. I stopped dead, the gravel protesting beneath my forehoof. Rearing up, Aster whirled. By the time she was facing me, the plant’s bud had, what I can only describe as, faded away. Her forehead was matted with sweat and her eyes desperately darted around. When she met my gaze, she visibly relaxed, but she gave me this look that said, ‘You never saw me do this.’ I frowned. The obvious question had half-formed on my lips before Terra’s voice cut through the silence. “Dusky! You made it!” She came galloping up to me, wearing the kind of wide grin I’d more expected of Aster than her. “What do you think?” “It’s pretty. I was wondering how you were going to deal with the lack of duplicates,” I said, trying to keep my thoughts from seeping in. Terra obviously didn’t know about Aster’s little ability and I didn’t know if I should tell her just yet. The bigger question was probably what that ability even was. If my eyes weren’t deceiving me, Aster had brought that plant back to life. But I’d never seen earth pony magic do that. My mind was already formatting a pseudo-letter to the only expert I knew. Dear Ivory, What do you know about plant necromancy? Of course, that would require making use of one of Lockbox’s more expensive services. Such was the price of discretion, I suppose. It also wouldn’t be quick, so I made a mental note to see what I could find in the library. “That’s what happens when you put two great minds together.” Terra giggled, pulling me back to reality. “Well, sounds like you two had a lot of fun.” I smiled at Terra, though my eyes fell on Aster, who was just regaining her composure. “Of course. The whole afternoon was a blast! Right, Aster?” Terra held herself tall and proud. “Yeah, something like that,” Aster replied, smiling a wide smile that, while it started genuine, quickly expanded into a sort of forced awkwardness. After a second, she looked away from me. “So, what’s on the agenda for the rest of the night?” I asked. “I’m going to hang out with Aster a bit longer,” Terra glanced back at her, “but I told Mahogany I’d meet him at the Seapony. You good for that?” “For sure. See you there.” As I turned to leave, I wondered if the library was still open. --- As it turned out, the library was indeed closed; it also turns out that such minor things as being closed doesn’t deter Twilight from long-winded magic lectures and research. Also, also, I’m convinced that Twilight does not so much read as osmose the knowledge of any book she touches. It took me the next three days and about a half-dozen textbooks for me to fully understand what she’d been talking about. Earth ponies, like pegasi, tend to make indirect use of their natural magic. Their mere presence in a farming workforce is said to increase output tenfold; without dedicated earth pony farmers, the industry would never be able to keep up with Equestria’s population. Of course, that wasn’t my main concern, but I would be lost without the basics. No, it was earth ponies’ ability to directly apply their magic to plants, much like pegasi can craft weather, that interested me. I went to the Seapony early that night, hoping to catch Terra while she was still sober. I arrived just in time too, since Terra and Merriweather were hunkered down behind a small cluster of still-full glasses. No Mahogany, though—something that was sadly becoming more and more common. Seemed that his boss decided he should make up for his sick time with increasing amounts of mandatory overtime. I really needed to find a way to make it up to him. “Oh, Dusky! Hi! I knew you’d be coming~!” Merriweather waved as she shouted over the table. I raised an eyebrow. “Because I told you last night I’d be here?” “Yes, but you didn’t say what time.” Merriweather grinned widely as a glass of cider slid out from the clump of alcohol. “Tada! Ice cold cider~!” A quick taste test proved her statement to be true. “Huh, so it is. How many ciders did you have to order to pull this off?” “One, thanks to my future-telling powers~!” Merriweather placed her forehooves to the side of her head. “Uh, riiiiight.” “Toldja she wouldn’t be fooled by it.” Terra beamed. “Shhhhh! Never reveal a magician’s trick.” Terra stuck out her tongue. “You just don’t want to pay up.” “That bored, huh.” I couldn’t help but laugh. “What was the bet?” “Ten bits that she couldn’t fool you without spells.” I tilted my head. “And how many have you had? I mean, I hope you didn’t waste good cider.” Terra waved her hoof. “Oh, just two. How do you even get a buzz off this stuff, anyway?” “Practice.” It was my turn to stick out my tongue. “Anyway, you sober enough for a quick chat?” Both Merriweather’s and Terra’s eyes flitted toward the back rooms. “Oh, no…” Terra began. “Did something happen?” Merriweather’s face was suddenly serious. “I can go get Sis’.” “No, no.” I shook my head. “Nothing that serious. I just need to you to actually remember what we talked about in the morning.” “Phew.” Relief washed across Terra’s face. “What is it?” “It’s about Aster. The other day, when you two were gardening, did she do anything strange to the dying plants?” “No. She didn’t even touch them. Why?” I spoke carefully,“Well, while you’d stepped away, I happened to see her fiddling with one. She was concentrating hard and then the plant appeared to return to health.” “What?! Like, bringing it back to life?” Terra planted her hooves on the table and leaned forward, nearly knocking several of the glasses over. “No.” I shook my head for emphasis. “To an outside observer, it may look like that at first, which is part of why I wanted to talk to you about this. When I thought about it a little harder, I realized that it wasn’t necessarily dead. A plant’s roots will often survive, even when the rest of it has withered.” “What? So does this mean she has some kind of super special power?” This time, Terra did knock over a glass, but it hardly tipped more than an inch before Merriweather’s aura righted it. “All earth ponies can do it,” Merriweather said as she casually leaned back. “In fact, they do a minor version of it when they farm. Any one of them can also infuse a plant with their magic to make it do things. It’s just not a very good trade-off, so most ponies don’t do it.” When we both looked at her, she smirked. “What? A Countess has to know things about her ponies~.” I mirrored her smirk. “Fair enough. Anyway, it is a little more complicated than that. Ponies with plant cutie marks have a much easier time of it. That isn’t to say it isn’t tiring, but if what I read is right, an adult should be able to handle a small plant or two before it starts to get taxing.” “But Aster doesn’t have a cutie mark, even though she might as well have a gardening mark,” Terra said, her voice almost tangibly trailing off into thought. “Which is why I think a foal like her even got away with doing it without collapsing.” “So that’s why she was so tired. Thanks, Dusky. I’ll have to have a firm discussion with her.” Terra’s eyes lit up with motherly fervour. “Any time.”