Ponyville has just become a little bit safer.... Or has it?
Much to Mayor Mare's own reluctance, she has given approval for a volunteer security team, responsible for taking care of any problematic situations, to be set up in Ponyville. Led by Watchnight, a unicorn who is determined to prove that she is capable of doing whatever she puts her mind to; but as more volunteers are added to the team, something becomes painfully obvious. When payment isn't involved, quality isn't insured.
Equestria, a kingdom formed from the unity of the three types of ponies. It was a peaceful land, where creatures of all kinds could flourish under the watchful eyes of their protectors. For the ponies that inhabited the realm, those protectors were the two princesses, Celestia and Luna, controllers of the sun and moon. The country’s animals were guarded by the different ponies, who also helped the develop the land, with the equines of Earth raising food and providing for others, the Pegasus controlling the weather and helping to keep the land safe, and the unicorns to lend their ability of magic control to all kinds of tasks. The harmony created by all of this was one of the main forces that kept everypony safe, being one of the most powerful forms of magic. However, every once and awhile this harmony was disrupted, from simple criminal ponies and wild animals causing trouble, to full out invasions from other species, not to mention the incident with the world being thrown into chaos by a certain draconequus known as Discord. It was at moments like these that the world’s protectors were called to action. The princesses helped fight off the major threats, along with the Elements of Harmony, six ponies who wielded the powers of good to fight off even the worst threats. But some incidents did not require such power to stop, and in those cases local authorities were responsible to intervene. In most cities, there was a police force to stop crimes and assist ponies in danger. There would usually be a smaller force of ponies to deal with fire, magical outbreaks and such. And sometimes there was even a military regiment stationed, but that was only in cities near the borders of Equastria and in the capital, Canterlot. The point is, in every city, town and village, there was some kind of established safety group to make sure nopony was left alone in danger.
All of them, except for Ponyville. And since the quiet little town was situated directly next to the Everfree Forest, one of the few areas in Equastria not under the influence of magic, and was also adjacent to a large mountainous area were dragons and other such creatures were known to make their homes, it was a wonder the small place hadn’t been wiped off the map yet. Then again, the town was home to the aforementioned Elements of Harmony, which were all extremely brave ponies, and one of whom was Twilight Sparkle, a powerful Unicorn who was a student of Princess Celestia herself! These six ponies had saved the town, and all of Equastria, many times. They overcame incredible obstacles, were always willing to lend a hoof, and never gave up, no matter what.
Plus, even when they weren't saving the day, the friends all had jobs that helped the town. All in all, Ponyville was in good hooves, and wasn't in need of a silly defense force.
“But it is, Mayor!” Watchnight responded, almost biting her tongue to keep from yelling. The Unicorn had been doing her best to convince the mayor of Ponyville to accept her idea, but so far she had made little progress.
“Ponyville has done very well without any kind of security group to keep it safe, and what you’re talking about is a simple… town watch, which the Pegasus already do for us. There is no need to spend more of the town’s budget for such a useless organization.”
The mayor’s tone was sharp, which was understandable, as this was the fifth time that week she had been pestered by Miss Watchnight. The stubborn pony was just not willing to take no for an answer. Watchnight, on the other hoof, was more than just a little agitated. She respected the mare, but Mayor Mare was so obsessed with keeping things nice and orderly that she just wasn’t willing to consider Watchnight’s idea. Not only that, but now the grey haired nag had taken to insulting her request. As soon as the words left the mayor’s mouth, Watchnight felt her blood begin to boil.
“Useless?! I’m proposing the formation of a team to keep Ponyville safe, and you call it useless?!” A nod, as the older pony’s blue eyes hardened into a glare. “I must ask you to keep from shouting in my office. As for useless, while your idea sounds good on paper, Ponyville is more than capable of taking care of its self, so there is no need to pay for such a frivolous thing as…” The unicorn just sighed, her head falling slightly as she tuned out the coming excuse. She had heard this all before, that there was no need to pay for a town guard when nothing ever went wrong.
But that was just the thing, Watchnight hadn’t been in Ponyville that long, but she had heard the stories. Timberwolves, parasprites, dragons, a Cerberus, revenge-seeking magic users, the list went on and on. Sure, these things had been stopped, but only through the hard work of the Elements. Those ponies were civilians, and in her opinion, the government of the town shouldn’t be relying on them alone. There should be a group to help out, an official team that could stop the problems and keep every colt, filly, and mare safe. This was something Ponyville needed, but unless she could convince the mayor of that, there was no way the stubborn pony would agree to pay for…
Wait a moment…
“What if it was a volunteer organization?” “A what?” The mayor asked, her eyes now gaining a look of confusion. Smiling, Watchnight lifted up her head, and continued.
“You know, when ponies volunteer to work without being paid. All it would be is a few hours a day to check around town and make sure nopony has problems or has seen anything suspicious. And it would barely cost anything to run!” The unicorn paused for a second, and then threw up her hooves. “Hey, I’ll pay the bits myself! All I need is your approval to run this sort of thing!”
The mayor thought to herself for a moment, and Watchnight could feel that she was actually being taken seriously this time. “Well… I suppose I could grant you permission to start a watch guard… And I guess that giving you a few bits to get started wouldn’t cost too much…”
The smile on Watchnight’s face grew wider and wider, as did her eyes, but the older mare held up a hoof. “But, what if nopony volunteers, or perhaps there is really no need for this sort of service? Wouldn’t it all be a waste of time?” Frantically, the unicorn shook her head. “No! I mean, of course this is needed! We live right next to the Everfree Forest! And I’m sure lots of ponies will volunteer to help out. And even if they don’t, I’ll do it myself!”
Deciding to throw away some more of her dignity, Watchnight sighed, and stuck out her bottom lip. “Please Miss Mare! Ponyville needs this!” She begged, trying as hard as she could to sound official while she did so, which is actually quite impossible.
The mayor stared at her for a second, before giving Watchnight a slightly concerned look. “Does Ponyville need this, or do you need this?” Watchnight’s lavender eyes widened, but she quickly started glaring. “What… Do you mean by that?” Her voice, which was meant to sound annoyed or cross, came out more nervous than anything. The mayor opened her mouth to say something, before simply shaking her head and smiling.
“Never mind… I grant your request to establish a Ponyville town watch, on the condition that you can prove that the town is in need of such an organization, and that you can run it simply with volunteers and a minimum salary. Do you think you can do that?”
This time, Watchnight really did have to bite her tongue to keep from yelling. But that didn’t stop her from breaking into a smile. “Of course! Don’t you worry, Mayor Mare, you won’t regret this! Ponyville will be safer from now on!” With that, the unicorn ran towards the door, preparing to put her plans into action, but she did hear what mayor yelled after her.
“Also, please don’t break anything or hurt somepony. Lawsuits are bad!” But the mayor didn’t have to worry about that, from now on, things were going to go much better. Finally, everything was going just like Watchnight wanted it too.
-One Long Week Later-
The streets of Ponyville were silent, as it was very late in the night. Luna’s moon was exceptionally bright, meaning the Princess had gotten a good day’s sleep.
‘That sounds nice right about now…’ A yawn escaped her mouth as a unicorn slowly walked down one of the town’s dirt streets. Her forest green coat and vibrant orange mane caused her to stand out against the more brightly colored buildings, whose light, happy colors were plainly visible even in the middle of the night. Her lavender eyes were tired of being open, and tried over and over to shut themselves, only to be forced back open, for the mare liked to see where she was going.
‘Maybe I can switch over to simply night patrol… No, trouble happens in the day time too.’ The unicorn rolled an uncomfortable cramp out of her right front leg, and then started to reconsider her outfit choice. A light blue shirt that went all the way down to her hind legs, with a pocket, and a dark blue vest with the words ‘Ponyville Watch’ sewn on its left side, and her name on the right. ‘Watchnight.’
It taken several days for the young mare to get everything setup for the new town guard, which means it was very hard to find a place that was actually in her budget that could be used as a headquarters. But she had finally managed to find a small, rundown building on the edge of town. It used to be the towns printing press, but nopony had used it in years. Thankfully, because it was so old, the mayor sold it to her for a very cheap price. As for the outfit, Watchnight had made it herself. She had at first asked Miss Rarity, who ran the town’s boutique, to make one for her, but when she saw the fashionable unicorns basic sketches, she immediately told her to forget about it. It is hard to look official with a diamond studded color. Instead, Watchnight bought a few simple shirts and vests, and sewed the names into them herself. It wasn’t the best, but it was good enough. Of course, so far she had only had to write one name, as nopony had actually volunteered yet. But she was sure that would change, after all, she had only put up the posters three days, and this had been her first time to actually patrol the town. Everypony she had talked said it was a great idea… All right, most of them did, some were indifferent, and a few told her to go bother somepony else… But who cares what they think anyway? Finally, the tired unicorn reached the ‘Ponyville Watch Station’, as the wooden sign above the door read out in bright blue paint. Not exactly the color of choice, but it would do. Using a bit of magic to open the door, Watchnight slowly crept into the newly refurbished… office, she guessed.
It looked like one, anyway. A small wooden desk sat in the middle of the room, completely covered in papers, some of which had fallen onto the floor. On the right side of the room, next to the building’s only window, was a table, with four chairs seated around it. The table, unlike the desk, was completely clutter-free. Behind said table was the doorway into the back room, which was almost completely empty except for a few boxes, which was good as it was about the size of a broom closet. To the left of the desk were a few filing cabinets, a mirror which hung on the wall, and a coat rack.
Watchnight wasn’t sure why there was a coat rack, but there was.
The pony sighed, and used a quick illumination spell to light the lamp that set on her desk. While the mayor’s workers had done a great job fixing up the place for Watchnight, going so far as to paint the whole place, she was still waiting on constant magical lights.
And for volunteers, and for anything important to actually happen.
‘It’s only day one, you just have to wait and be patient. Things will come together eventually.’
Unfortunately for Watchnight, waiting was not something she was good at.
Letting out yet another sigh, the green-colored unicorn walked over to the chair behind her desk, and plopped down, resting her head on the many papers for a few minutes. It had been a long day, which was shown in the pile of reports she was currently laying on. After several uncomfortable minutes, Watchnight lifted her head, and looked down at the top taper.
“Ponyville Watch report, day one….”
Her eyes skimmed over the words, since she knew what it said. After all, she wrote it. Mostly, it stated what ponies she had talked too, and a summary of anything suspicious that they claimed to see. Turns out, ponies love talking about strange things.
‘Especially Mr. Turner, I should probably bring an extra notepad next time I visit him. That pony can rabble for hours.’ She had actually run out of paper several times during her patrol, and had to go all the way back to the ‘HQ’ to get some more. Needless to say, she knew the route pretty well now. Again, it had been a long day.
Watchnight yawned, before letting her head once again rest on the stack of papers. There were several odd sightings that she would have to read-over, and decide if they were worth investigating. And she would get right on that… In a few minutes…
“Pardon me, are you Miss Watchnight?” The unicorn blinked, becoming aware of how light the room had gotten, and suddenly not feeling tired anymore. She shook a few strands of her mane out of her face, and looked up at whoever was speaking to her. She was… mildly surprised when she realized she didn't know this pony. He was a burgundy stallion, with a sandy-brown mane that was cut short and spiked up; his tail was also very short and spiky. Suddenly realizing that she had been caught sleeping at work, something the mayor would definitely not be pleased with, Watchnight immediately straightened up in the chair, and tried to look as official as possible, which wasn’t easy as her own short mane was a mess.
“Oh, yes, that’s me. How may help you Mr.….”
“Dusty, mam, I’m Dusty Trail.” The earth pony replied, bowing slightly as he introduced himself. He spoke in a slow drawl, much like the stallion who worked at Sweet Apple Acres, only Dusty sounded younger.
“Well, Mr. Trail, what service may the Ponyville watch do for you?” Watchnight asked, hoping that it was something important. She didn’t want to waste more paper; it got expensive after a while.
“You see, I just got into town from Dodge Junction…” Dusty began, again in a slow, calm manner. “But I ain’t found a job yet, and I hate just sittin’ around doin’ nothing. Then I saw one of them posters askin’ for volunteers, and thought I’d come by and see if I could help out while I look for some payin’ work.” By the time the western stallion finished talking; Watchnight was levitating a volunteer form and pen in front of him.
“Just sign here!” Dusty’s bright blue eyes blinked in surprise, and he gave the unicorn a questioning look.
“Uh… That’s it? That’s all I got ta do?” Watchnight nodded, but did give a slight nervous chuckle.
“Well, yes. We’re a new organization, and I’m currently the only one working here. So I’m not too terrible picky about what pony volunteers.”
“Ah.” Taking the pen is his mouth, the earth pony wrote… what Watchnight assumed was a name. His signature was incredibly sloppy, despite the fact it took the stallion forever to write it.
“Ah am sorry, I grew up on the outskirts of Dodge, so I never had no formal schoolin’” Dusty admitted, looking somewhat sheepish about it. Watchnight just smiled and waved a hoof. “That’s not a problem, I’m the one who takes care of the paperwork, and you’ll be my assistant. Or second in command, I’m not sure which.”
Dusty's eyes grew hopeful. “So, Ah’m hired?”
“Of course! To be honest I was afraid it would be a couple of days before somepony else would volunteer.” The lavender eyed unicorn straightened her jacket, and climbed down from her chair. “And we can get to work right away, if you feel like it.”
She really hoped he would agree, as she didn’t wasn’t to have to everything herself… again. Thankfully, the stallion smiled, and straightened himself up, so that he was standing at attention. “Yes mam, what do ya need me to do?”
Returning his smile, Watchnight turned and walked towards the backroom. “First, we’ll get you an outfit. Then, we go on patrol.”
Things were starting to shape up now. Dusty seemed nice enough, and hopefully he would be a good worker. And she was certain that more volunteers would come, then she could take this were she wanted it to go. Everything was going to go like she wanted.
“Wait, outfit?” Yeah, fat chance of that happening.
Today marked the eighth day since Mayor Mare had given Miss Watchnight permission to start up that town watch of hers. Surprisingly, there had been no complaints yet, and the persistent unicorn had stopped coming by the office every day.
So far, it was working out pretty well.
The grey haired pony, who was busy reading over her schedule for the third time that morning, couldn’t help but sigh in relief. The past seven days had been wonderful. Nothing had gone wrong in Ponyville, there were no special events to take care of, and what orders of business she did have to attend to all went smoothly.
Best of all, nopony had spread rumors about her hair color. It had been a good week.
“But why can’t I just wear the vest?”
“Because the whole uniform makes you look more official.”
“It’s itchy.”
“It’s professional!”
Emphasis on ‘had’. Mayor Mare let out another sigh, this time of despair, as the familiar green-coated unicorn briskly walked into her office, followed shortly, and considerably more slowly, by a burgundy-colored stallion, who was looking down at the outfit he was wearing in annoyance. The older mare felt a bit worried when she noticed that she didn’t recognize the earth pony, but this concern was very much overshadowed by the dread of what Watchnight could possibly want this time. Somewhere in the mayor’s mind, she questioned if perhaps she was overreacting.
But before she could get an answer, the other mare spoke. “Miss Mayor, a good morning to you.” Watchnight said, putting on her best business face, as she nodded to the city official.
“Thank you Watchnight, and who is this with you?”
The spikey-haired stallion opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off before being able to utter a single syllable. “This is Mr. Dusty Trails, he’s my first volunteer, and I was bringing him here to introduce you two.” The unicorn stated, with no small amount of pride in her voice.
Mayor Mare was visibly surprised as she examined the new pony, who gave her a friendly smile and a “Hello Ma’am.” The mayor returned the smile, before turning her attention back to the more vocal of the two. “I must admit that I’m impressed. It has only been a week and you’ve already recruited another member.” Then, a thought occurred to her, and her eyes narrowed.
“You aren’t forcing him to do this are you?”
Watchnight’s face turned indignant, and she groaned. “Do you really think I would do something like that? The whole reason I thought up the Watch was so I could help keep ponies safe! Forcefully making them join would defeat the purpose.”
In truth, it was an idea that had become increasingly appealing to Watchnight throughout the first week, but she guessed the Mayor wouldn’t appreciate hearing that.
“Sorry, but since the Ponyville Watch is technically a government program, I will be held responsible for any… less-than-pleasant events that may occur. Which, by the way, reminds me of something I have been… reluctant to talk to you about.” The tan pony closed her eyes and brought a hoof up to her head, as if suffering from a headache that wouldn’t go away. “As the mayor of Ponyville, I am committed to keeping this town, and its residents, safe. Now, part of the reason I have been content with allowing the brave ponies who life here to assist me in this goal is that the town’s government is not responsible for any accidents that occur. With the Watch however…”
“I understand, Mayor.” Watchnight interrupted, straightening herself a little more. “Trust me, we will do everything we can to prevent any collateral damage to the town. After all, that’s the whole point of our job.”
Sighing, Mare nodded her head slowly, giving the unicorn a slight smile. “I know. But do be careful. Any damage done to the town or the ponies comes out of the treasury. If the cost gets too high, I’ll be forced to shut you down. Understand?” The green-coated pony nodded in conformation. “Also, I am going to request that you send me a report on all major incidents that the Watch handles. I know it’s extra paperwork for you but…”
“Not a problem, Mayor Mare.” Watchnight interrupted again, smiling. “I’ll be sure to record every single detail.” Strangely, to Watchnight at least, this earned another groan from the mayor.
“Just… a simple recount will suffice. Now, I’ve got several more issues to deal with soon, so I won’t detain you two any longer. It was nice to meet you, Mr. Trails, have a good day.”
Dusty, who had been standing silently the whole time, caught on to what the older mare really meant, and bowed his head to her. “Good to have met you too… Uh… Miss Watchnight, didn’t ya say somethin’ about patrolin’?”
The purple-eyed pony, who was about to say something else to the frazzled civic leader, glanced over at her new assistant, then down to the small watch on her left front leg. “Oh! My, er, OUR rounds were supposed to begin five minutes ago! I’m so sorry Miss Mayor. We’ll get right to work! Follow me, Dusty.”
Nodding again at the mayor, who mouthed a ‘thank you’, the young stallion hurried after his new boss, leaving Mayor Mare alone in her office. “Thank Celestia…” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Uh… Do we really gotta visit every pony in town? This seems like it could take a bit…”
Watchnight, who was just about to knock on the door of the house directly across from the one they had just been at, gave the burgundy stallion a glare.
“Of course we have to visit everypony! It’s our job to check in on the citizens and make sure their safe!”
“Well sure, but all of ‘em in one day? Ain’t that goin’ to get tiren’?”
The unicorn continued to glare at her comrade, before nodding and lowering her hoof. “Ok, it is obviously not the most efficient method,” She admitted with a sigh. “But until I have come up with an actual schedule, it’s the best way to keep track of any incidents. Besides, it’s a lot more official than just wandering randomly from house to house…”
Dusty Trails blinked, and then tilted his head in curiosity. “So, uh, why ain’t ya got a schedule yet…? That seems like it’s an important thing to have.” It was more than a little surprising for Dusty when, in answer to his question, a blush appeared on Watchnight’s face, which she quickly turned away to hide.
“Well, er, I was incredibly busy the first week preparing everything, making the posters, designing the outfits, and buying enough paper to… Um…” The unicorn’s excuse came to a stop, as she heard her companion’s laughter, turning back to his with a renewed glare.
“Shut up! I just ran out of time, and needed to get the patrols started before the Mayor changed her mind about allowing me to do this!”
Dusty, having forced himself to stop chuckling, bowed to the angry mare, a smile still present on his lips. “Sorry Ma’am, I just thought it was funny how flustered ya’ll was getting’. I shouldn’t have laughed at ya…” As Dusty finished, his smile did fade, and his look turned sheepish. “But really, we need a schedule. Ya look tired enough as it is.”
Watchnight’s glare wavered, and then was replaced by a very small smile. “It’s ok; I know it is stupid of me to not have come up with schedule, especially since the Mayor is skeptical about this program already. But I was just worried that, unless I got out and made my presence known, nopony would volunteer. If there aren’t any volunteers, then what’s the point of a planning out the work?”
“I can’t really argue with that,” The western pony gave a shrug, as he cracked another smile. “But ya got me now, and I’m pretty sure there’ll be more ponies that want to lend a hand around town. Trust me; ya’ll will have more helpers than ya know what to do with.”
Watchnight stared at him for a second, and then found herself smiling much wider. “Thank you, Mr. Trails. You are right; I need to just be patient…” Sighing, the mare gave a chuckle and walked away from the house. “All right, I will go come up with a schedule. But first, it is way past lunch time, and you must be starving. Let me treat you to lunch!”
“Ya’ll can just call me Dusty, Ma’am. And I appreciate the offer, but I still got some bits left from ma trip here, let me pay for it.”
“That is very kind of you Dusty, but I insist that you allow me to pay. Think of it as a celebration of the Watch gaining its first volunteer!”
“I’m glad to have helped, Miss Watchnight, but I should pay. I’m the stallion after all and…”
“Dusty.”
“Ma’am?”
“I’m paying!”
“Uh… Yes Ma’am.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A short while later, the two ponies were sitting at an outdoor table of the Ponyville Café, making small talk as they waited to be, well, waited on. Dusty, who had apparently never eaten at “Such a fancy place!” was still sitting awkwardly, as he had been the entire time, despite Watchnight telling him several times there was nothing to be worried about.
“This isn’t some high-class restaurant in Canterlot Dusty,” the mare had said, motioning around to the outside dining area, which held only a few other ponies. “It’s a small diner in a small town; there is no need to be so… nervous…”
It didn’t seem to help him much, however, as the stallion had simply kept staring at the menu that lay open on the table; it was getting to the point where Watchnight was certain she could see sweat on the other pony’s brow.
“Dusty… Are you ok?”
Swallowing hard, the stallion grabbed the menu with his mouth, and placed it on Watchnight’s side of the table. “I… Could ya…” Dusty stuttered out, before turning away and speaking the last part in a barely audible whisper. “…Tell me… What it says… Please?”
Watchnight blinked, before glancing down at the menu, then back up at Dusty. “Why? Is there something wrong with… Oh.” With a look of equal concern and confusion, the mare leant forward and lowered her voice.
“You can’t read it?”
Dusty shook his head, a red blush visible even through his burgundy coat.
“But you said you read the poster I put up. That’s how you found out about the Watch, right?”
Again, Dusty shook his head, but did give a response this time. “I asked a passin’ pony if there was any place around town I could help out at, and he told me about ya needin’ volunteers… I wanted to do somethin’ useful while I was here, and it’s hard to get a job when ya can’t read or write…” Bowing his head, the stallion gave a long sigh. “I’m sorry for not tellin’ ya, but I was afraid ya wouldn’t let me in the Watch if ya knew.”
Watchnight stared at the illiterate pony for a very long time, and then put a hoof to her forehead. “You know, I shouldn’t be all that surprised. After all, you could barely write your own name…” Realizing that she wasn’t exactly helping, the mare shook her head, and started again. “I am… upset that you were trying to keep it a secret, as I do not appreciate liars. However, you do seem to be a very helpful pony, and…” Chuckling, the mare’s horn started glowing, as she lifted the menu up. “I am short on volunteers, so I am in no condition to complain. If you are willing to put up with me, I’ll find a way to work around your… hindrance. Deal?”
The big smile that appeared on Dusty’s face was all the answer needed.
“So, how does a… ‘Daisy Sandwich’ sound?”
“…Very nice… Thank you, Ma’am…” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “I am still unhappy with the sign color…”
“Didn’t ya get to choose it?”
“Unfortunately, no. I was a busy with setting some other things up and was not present to oversee the renovations to the old building… As much as I would have liked to.”
Sighing, Watchnight glanced up at the light blue sign above the entrance to the Ponyville Watch’s HQ, office, and pretty much anything else they would need it to be. After staring at the painted wood disdainfully for a few seconds, she turned to Dusty and managed a smile.
“Well, I guess we are done with the patrols, it will take me the rest of the day at least to come up with a proper schedule… For once I’m glad there are only two of us.”
“Ya need any help?”
“No thank you, Dusty. While I would appreciate the company, I would not want to bore you with sitting around while I scribble on several thousand sheets of paper for hours. You go have fun; after all, you’ve barely met anypony yet. If you are going to help the Watch, then you should get accustomed to the residents of this town…”
A smirk crossed Watchnight’s face, as she leaned a bit closer to Dusty so she could whisper.
“And believe me, there are definitely some weirdoes here that will take A LOT of time to get accustomed too.”
With a wink and a laugh, the forest-green mare left her new assistant standing in the middle of the street, as she entered the recently remodeled building. Dusty blinked, as this strange sentence ran through his head several times. Deciding that he was going to learn what she meant soon enough, the stallion started walking back to the center of Ponyville.
“Well, she said to go meet some folks, so I might as well make myself useful while I’m at it… Even if it does mean puttin’ up with this itchy shirt a bit longer…”
After a few minutes of walking and tugging on the blue fabric which tormented him, Dusty finally came across what he assumed was the town’s market. There were several carts set up in an open area, with shopkeeper ponies advertising their goods, as customers shopped around.
After wandering around the crowds, he finally spotted a cart that wasn’t busy, and walked up to the mare who was running it. She was amusing herself by counting the amount of carrots she still had left, so it wasn’t until Dusty spoke up that she noticed him.
“Um, excuse me Ma’am?”
“What?! Oh, I am sorry sir!” After yelling, the green-haired pony quickly apologized, blushing. “Welcome to Carrot Top’s Carrot Shop!... Well, ‘Cart’ really. How can I help you?”
Smiling, Dusty bowed his head in greeting, and then pointed at the name on his vest.
‘I sure hope I do this right…’
“Howdy, my name is Dusty Trails, and I’m with the Ponyville Watch. I’m here to make sure ya’ll haven’t had any problems lately…” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “Alright… So we need to patrol the market at least once a day… and all the businesses at least twice a week. Now, how to divide up the home visits…”
Sighing, Watchnight sat her quill back into its well on the desk so she could have rest. Her head was starting to hurt from both using magic for a long time, and trying to come up with a schedule. This new issue with Dusty certainly complicated things. It was more than likely that he would be unable to perform residential calls as he could not record any complaints or sightings.
‘Though he does appear to decently strong, probably having worked on a farm or a ranch.... That will definitely be useful…’ Sighing, the orange-maned mare climbed out of her chair and walked over to the only window, which looked out towards the center of town.
‘Well, Dusty’s situation is not so bad. I cannot very well expect every volunteer to be perfect can I? But, I am certain that the rest of the ponies who ask to help out will be normal, intelligent…’
Before Watchnight could finish the thought, a sudden chill passed through her body, and she could swear that a mischievous laugh rang out somewhere far away. After standing in complete silence for about a minute, the unicorn calmly walked back over to her desk, climbed into the chair, and adjusted herself.
Then promptly let her head fall onto the wooden surface, letting out a cry of despair. “Celestia help me!” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It was his boss’ worry-filled face that removed the smile Dusty had borne until entering the Watch’s HQ.
“Um… Miss Watchnight, are ya alright?” He questioned carefully, not sure what could have happened while he was gone. Although she nodded, the stallion still couldn’t help but feel the sorrow that his new friend was, for some reason, suffering from.
“I am fine, Mr. Trails. Did you enjoy your walk around town?”
The look she gave him made it very clear to Dusty that Watchnight was purposely changing the subject. As if it wasn’t obvious enough.
“Yes ma’am, there sure are some nice folks in this town, as well as some that are… uh…”
“Odd?”
“Yes ma’am, that.” A long silence followed, as Watchnight turned her eyes back to the many reports on her desk, though she did not actually seem to be reading any of them. Dusty spent a minute adjusting the jacket he wore over the uncomfortable blue shirt, before clearing his throat and walking over to the largest piece of furniture in the room. “Er, Miss Watchnight. I hope ya’ll don’t mind, but while I was gettin’ the feel of the town, I did some patrolin like ya showed me earlier.”
The unicorn blinked, as she tilted her head to look at Dusty. She… honestly had not been expecting that. “Really? But I thought you did not know how to write.”
“Well, I can’t. I just went up to ponies, introduced myself, and asked if’n they had seen anything suspicious or had any troubles. If they did, I asked ‘em what it was and if I could help ‘em out. Nopony needed any help, but they was all grateful that I had asked ‘em.” The male pony ended his explanation, the happy look from before returning to his face as he thought back to all the smiles of gratitude he had received, most of which had been from mares.
In fact, now that he had thought about it, almost everypony he had talked to was female. It wasn’t as if he had avoided talking to stallions, it just seemed that there were not that many around. Very strange, when he thought about it; which was why he did not want to think about it for too long.
Thankfully, Watchnight started speaking again. “Wow… I am… honestly impressed, Mr. Trails. That was… very ambitious of you.” She managed out, a strange look on her face that was somewhere between confusion and happiness. There was a bit more confusion added when she realized Dusty had suddenly started looking very self-conscious.
“Heh… Paw always said I was a bit too ambitious for mah own good…”
The unicorn sensed the sudden unease that had come upon her male companion, and though a part of her wanted to press his previous statement a little further, she definitely did not want to discourage such… good behavior, as patronizing as putting it that way sounded.
“On the contrary, Dusty.” Watchnight said, smiling at him. “You have no idea how relieved I am. I was very worried about how we were going to manage the new routes I have come up with. But, if you really do get along so well with other ponies…” “Bein’ friendly is one of the things I am good at, ma’am.” The dusty-haired earth pony proudly stated. “Excellent. Oh, and speaking of the new routes, I have the schedule finished. Would you like to look… er, hear it?” the green mare stuttered, catching herself mid-sentence. Thankfully, her partner either did not notice, or did not care.
“If’n ya wouldn’t mind…”
“Of course not. Now, take a seat.” Watchnight levitated the newly written schedule off of one of the many piles of paper, and walked with Dusty the short distance between her desk and the slightly smaller table; two chairs glowed a dark green, as she pulled them back for the duo to sit in.
“Oh, and Miss Watchnight?”
“Yes Dusty?”
“Can I please take off this stinkin’ shirt?!”
Watchnight sighed. “Yes Dusty… you can take off the shirt.”
