Only One Speck of Dust

by TheMareWhoSaysNi

Chapter 2

At each end of the night’s watch, his job was to secure the North Gates. That was where passed a lot of criminals and dangerous creatures who crossed the Everfree Forest not to get spotted. And if there were someone who knew the Everfree Forest very well, it was Big Macintosh.

Exiled for two years. Two years being separated from his family and friends. From her. When he had come back, everything had changed. He enlisted in The Militia so he could stay close to the two mares he loved the most. He still had hope yet little by little hope continued to water down.

He had taken an oath by joining the Head’s Counsel. His devotion went to the Princesses Luna and Celestia as well as to Rainbow Dash, as the Head of the Militia. This new position did not change a lot of things to his feelings, the only difference was that with this commitment, he had found a purpose to his life. Something else than roaming through Ponyville seeking futile pleasures.

When his enemies saw him galloping on the battlefield they all knew that his apparently limited vocabulary was counterbalanced by his nonstandard build and his combat skills. When he unsheathed one of his swords, no one would be spared. Blood would flow. Lives would be taken.

This also held true for the most distinguishable constituents of The Militia. However, he had to admit very few were startled by Caramel. At the beginning, of course. It never lasted for long yet the first impression was not easy to annihilate.

The night had been quite calm, if the mare of the night assault was. A burglary and a few minor offenses. Nothing exceptional. Sometimes, misdeeds were as numerous as drops of a nightly shower. Anyone would think that they all passed the word around. Other days, like today, vice seemed to be asking for a little bit of rest.

They always proceeded this way. When dawn approached, each got their separate ways and went to watch over one of the five parts which cut Ponyville into some kind of gigantic pastry. Big Macintosh would always go to the North Gates. Caramel watched over the South Gates, Applejack was in charge of the Great Weaver, and Double Diamond took care of the Red Lights. As for Rainbow Dash, she did one last examination of Immaculate, the very heart of the city since she was the only pegasus and she could fly over the Bridleless River that divided Ponyville in two.

During the Ceaseless Night, they always met at the Great Bell to ring the dawn. Daylight never rose and the inhabitants needed a landmark. Roosters had troubles to distinguish how time was going by. They would only sing at confused hours. Winter disturbed the rhythm taken during spring. Springs never long enough.

The North Gates were the closest to the Great Bell square. Big Macintosh always was the first on the scene. He was staring at the horizon, a straw in his mouth, continually trotting. He had to be trotting continually. Winter was biting even with The Militia’s cloak. With the wind whistling and rushing under the clothes, it was rather risk-taking to stand still.

Ponies maybe were able to live a hundreds of years without getting old yet they could die from the cold. Or be pierced by the sharpest of blades, or exterminated by elaborated poisons. The Spider God was merciful only with the most thoughtful ones. Something that barely sounded compatible with the role played by The Militia. How many of their brothers in arms had perished? He had stopped counting.

A shadow stood out in the horizon. Followed by another one. Big Macintosh was on his guard. In Ponyville like anywhere else in Equestria, one had to be permanently suspicious. None could say what crouched in the dark.

Cloaks floating in the wind. At their flanks, when it was lifted, gleaming shafts of swords stood out. Manes tied with black ribbons. These shadows belonged to his friends. Gradually, their silhouettes got clearer through fog and darkness.

With their usual peaceful trot, the two stallions met Big Macintosh.

Double Diamond was the newest member of the Head’s Counsel. From Canterlot, he had been recommended to Rainbow Dash by Princess Luna herself. He had neither the physical strength or the mischievous mind of his two friends. His short mane meant he had lost fights rather recently.

Usually, only the most experts and the smartest ones could gain access to the highest duties of The Militia. A lot had found it unfair when the pony had blend with them.

The problem was that after Open Skies’ death, finding a fifth member had turned out to be absolutely necessary. Because Ponyville was split into five areas, the absolute rule was that the Head’s Counsel had to be formed by five ponies. Whether they were mares or stallions did not matter. This very number was the only momentum. Rainbow Dash had to find this missing member in a rush, and Princess Luna insisted. In her opinion, Double Diamond possessed a potential that was not to be neglected.

Of course, he had improved during his first year into The Militia yet complaints about him kept on rushing. In the press in particular. His relationship with Applejack did not help things to get better. It was said that he was an opportunist.

It was the first time in ages since the general public had something to say about the decisions taken by The Militia. In fact, the last time probably was when Spitfire had resigned, when she had decided to abandon her duties. The shock had been huge.

Behind Double Diamond, Caramel was trotting. If Big Macintosh not often talked and smiled, Caramel was the outgoing type, and the one who always thought there were good things to learn even from the most desperate situations. With time, the both stallions had got to know each other and to enjoy each other company, despite their difference.

Almost the time of a life. As far as “Big Mac” – like he was sometimes called – could remember, Caramel had been there. He was not a friend. He was from his family.

“Quite an uneventful watch, wasn’t it?”, he said while stepping closer to the stallion.

Caramel had to lift up his head if he wanted to speak to his friend eyes to eyes.

“Eeyup.”

This simple answer was the one he gave the more. Most had troubles getting used to this lack of piece of information. Since he did not smile, although the words were spoken with calm, one could never be sure whether his pithy answer was a good sign or a bad sign. His closest friends only were able to determine what his “eeyup” and his “nope” really meant.

However, Big Mac talked little but talked fine. Something Caramel struggled to do. Sometimes he had the feeling that the words he said were getting out in the wrong order. The best would have been to stop talking but he could not stop. He just could not help himself.

“Rainbow Dash has not arrived yet? I’d like to talk to her about something.”

“You can see that neither her nor AJ are here yet”, Double Diamond answered, laughing.

His question had been strictly rhetorical. If Big Macintosh had not rose to it, the ivory-colored stallion, always swift to jump at hasty conclusions, had hurried to notice the weirdness of his statement. Their absence was blatant.

It was because of these kind of details he had acquired this reputation of “the Executioner’s Fool”. Too many ponies thought he was stupid, just because he was very likely to speak before he thought. Or simply because he was very likely to speak, period, even when it was preferable to shut up.

The two mares probably were close. It was usual for them to meet on their way, as he often met Double Diamond.

He also started to stare at the horizon, like his brothers of arms were doing. Not to take the risk that the frozen wind under his cloak would paralyze him, he scratched the ground with his hooves, as if trotting on the spot. Maybe this irritated Big Macintosh and Double Diamond who rather turn around the Great Bell square. He was too nervous to do the same. He had a request to submit to Rainbow Dash and knew that if she was not in a sunny mood, it would probably be quite difficult.

“Big Mac, ring da bell”, ordered a female voice in the distance, easily identifiable, with this typical accent from the Southern farms.
Immediately, the stallion rushed to obey his little sister’s instruction. Although she was the youngest, the fact remained that her position inside The Militia was higher than his. She was Rainbow Dash’s right-hoof pony, her second in command, the only other one most likely to lead troops, outside of her best friend.

The sinister music of the Great Bell filled up the air, though forewarning the end of the nightmare. Quickly, the ponies in charge of the city’s lights would illuminate all the street torches which had been turned off earlier in the night. It was more safety purposes than anything else that made Ponyville dark when everyone was asleep. If a harmful pony decided to knock down the lamps, the city would burn into flames in a very short time.

Caramel was surprised to notice that it was not two but three mares that came their way. If he was always happy to see his foalhood friend Applejack – and he hoped not to have his eyes trickling with stars like Double Diamond – this time, she was not the one he wanted to see the most. This request he had to submit to Rainbow Dash could not wait.

Unfortunately, she was in the middle of a conversation with Surprise, one of the Spotters.

It was rare that other members of The Militia were here with them after their night watch, especially as the members were the only ones to know who the Spotters, a high-profile strategic duty, were. If an inhabitant awoken by the sound of the bell opened his shutters and realized the Head was talking with a pony who theoretically was a part of no groups, it could blow out his or her cover.

Despite this, he started to trot behind them, hoping he would draw Rainbow Dash’s attention. The latter was in the middle of a tactical conversation. Surprise was not a Spotter among the others. She was among the most experimented ones. Her gift to be able to see in the dark was far more extended than any pony else’s. For example, she was the one who had sounded the alarm about the rape attempt they had successfully avoided a little earlier.

Caramel’s stubbornness did not get rewarded as he hoped. Rainbow Dash suddenly turned around, so suddenly that the beige stallion started, and she glared at him keen-eyed, the kind of glare she gave when pushed too far.

Obviously, it was not the right moment to ask her what he wanted to ask her. Leading an attentive ear to the conversation between the two mares, he realized it was about the young filly they had saved, precisely thanks to Surprise’s message. Rainbow Dash wanted someone to take care of her, to make sure that she wanted for nothing, and that nothing wrong should be happening to her.

While following them now that he had started, Caramel could not help a smile. Rainbow Dash was redoubtable with her enemies, merciless during practice, she liked to highlight her incredible skills, and her extraordinary speed, but deep within, she had a big heart. Circumstances of life made that she did not had a chance to express her generosity quite often.

He did not take notice of what had happened almost at the same time at a few inches away. However, he probably would have been delighted.

Applejack arrived a little after Rainbow Dash at their meeting place while her eldest brother finished ringing the bell. Her usual hat glued on her blonde mane that she loosened on rare occasions, she smiled when she reached Double Diamond.

A little while after he arrived at the Head’s Counsel, Double Diamond had announced his admiration to the mare, for her strength and her fighting skills. Flattered, she had agreed to go to a cabaret with him several times, then finally had said yes when he had asked her to be his marefriend. It was a sure thing that the scale of passion was not very stable in the couple they formed yet this detail never bothered them.
Until then.

Applejack had just come back from a travel that had led her to Canterlot where her father, Longreen Woodrow had met his death, for her yearly pilgrimage. During her trip by locomotive, she had all the time of Equestria to think. About her life in The Militia, her work as Master of Rituals and her relationship with Double Diamond. She had come to the conclusion that a Member of the Head’s Counsel’s lifespan could be short and that she did not have time to act childishly. She had to be an adult about it as well.

And so, when Double Diamond begged for his well-deserved end of the night watch kiss, she resolved to do what she had postponed since she had been back.

She asked him whether or not he would be annoyed if they talked while trotting. He said it would not.

Passing them by, Big Macintosh and his young sister exchanged knowing glances. He knew what she was about to do. It would probably shake up the very balance of the Head’s Counsel but at the same time he knew it was best for everyone that she would be honest with her heart the same way she was honest in life.

“Well, Double Diamond, listen… I’ve been thinkin’ ‘bout you and me…”

The stallion opened wide starry eyes. It was easy to see that what he felt about Applejack was beyond words. He worshipped her. Harder the fall was going to be. She had to do it, despite it all.

“We can’t carry on. I’m sorry but it’s best for us to part. In fact, ya see… Ah think I’m in love with somepony else.”

The shock Double Diamond felt was as if he had been pierced by his own sword. For sure, being a member of The Militia, and even worse, a Member of the Head’s Counsel, it was to agree to live a life like cut off from the rest of the world. It was to respect several rules, to train hard, to fight unceasingly, not to have the same huge life expectancy than the other ponies. He knew it and had prepared himself for it for all his life. However, it was thanks to his love for Applejack that he had been able to go through it all without a fail. He had collected the courage to fight and to train harder into the green of her eyes.

Now he had lost his compass and he felt himself drowning under the snow. Buried under an unprecedented avalanche.

Comments

[Vitae]

Ah. So this would be a tale of unrequited love and the quickly spiralling control of duties lost to raw emotions then.

[Vitae]

7576636

Lucky I took a second look at this story in the first day otherwise it could have been a while before I realized you responded to me.

Dishonoured is a video game set in a post victorian era Europe where they use magic and steam-punk inspired tech to go along with everyday life.

To reply to these comments then simply click the small 》 at the top right of the comment you wish to answer.

[TheMareWhoSaysNi]

7577468 Oh, thank you Guess I still have a lot to learn about how the site works...

I really didn't know about this video game, but I'd say that yeah, in some kind of way, it is the same "arcanotechnological time period"

[Vitae]

7576636

The old-ish style speech is good but it seems a bit forced upon the characters with a few missing words here and there, though nothing major is that it seems there are a few punctuation errors scattered throughout the story.

The reason I say this is that, I have a particular reading style to pick out certain forced dialogues and I remained in monotone for a good three paragraphs of them talking, and even paused once in the middle of a sentence!

But it's good for a first fic and I look forward to reading more of this world.

[TheMareWhoSaysNi]

7577517 Well, it is not an excuse but English is not my native language, so there might be some spelling errors or mistakes here and there... Next time, I'll reread before posting, to make sure I would not miss any word or else.

Anyway, thank you a lot for your comments and tips. They may be my only comments so far, but they are good and interesting ones (really enjoy that smiling Twilie thing)