The Crystal Empire: Building Fences

Silver Dust had been cautious the entire time she was in the Crystal Empire. She hadn’t caught the infection yet and she wasn’t going to let a group of stray brats ruin it for her. She had come so far in her research without the School’s help and felt so close to a breakthrough. As much as the Knights and guards tried to keep the news from spreading, one guard with no concept of volume control allowed the information to leak to Silver Dust.

She found another mare, a pink earth pony pacing in a circle. She was frowning and her eyes flicked between things only visible to her. Occasionally she would stop, make an action that would imply she was going somewhere, stop again, and continue pacing. Silver Dust sucked her teeth and approached her. 

“I understand wanting to do something, but not knowing what to do.” Silver Dust told her. “But you must act now if you want to help. Follow me, bring wooden boards and nails. While you think about the actions you want to do for yourself, you can help me.”

The earth pony paused and gave Silver Dust a look. A look that Silver Dust was used to and immune to. One told Silver Dust that her words were aggressive. But she held an even expression to the mare. She was right, and the mare would see it and help her. Begrudgingly, but she would. The mare broke her gaze. She was thinking it over. And like Silver Dust knew that she would, left and came back with a pushcart filled with building supplies. 

“I’m Pale Blossom.” the earth pony introduced.

“Silver Dust.” the unicorn shared, holding back the ‘I don’t care’. While true, it was detrimental to share that information.

“What are we looking for?” Pale Blossom asked as the mare pair had been slowly walking alongside the quarantine fence.

Instead of answering, Silver Dust grabbed a nearby stone with her magic and trotted over to a particular part of the fence. The wood had a gross crumbling texture and smelled of mildew. She was rather familiar with rotted wood from her time spent in the wilds. Taking a respectable distance back, she used her magic to whip the rock forward, letting go and letting the momentum carry the rock. As predicted, the stone knocked the dead wood away with ease.

“Excuse you?” Pale Blossom demanded, clearly in shock at the destructive act.

“It was going to break regardless if that rock could break it.” Silver Dust demonstrated her point by throwing another rock at a strong point in the fence despite the open-mouthed protest of Pale Blossom. The rock bounced off the wood and the fence only had a small indent from the impact. Pale Blossom closed her mouth but still looked displeased.

“And I’m here to fix the holes in the fence you find?” Pale Blossom asked, clearly holding back a nasty tone.

“You got it, Pale.” Silver Dust winked with her good eye. At least she thinks she did. Regardless, she hated it and told herself she’d never do such a thing again.

“Aren’t you going to help me?” Pale Blossom asked, halfway into kicking out the wood rot and patching up the hole. Silver Dust had been laying on the ground and watching her, not saying much else.

“I would if I could.” Silver Dust lied. “I’m really weak and I needed a strong pony to help me. Sorry that I wasn’t upfront about it. I’m insecure about it.”

“Oh, well…” Pale Blossom’s face and tone softened. “Glad to help then…”

 

Silver Dust and Pale Blossom continued to slowly check the fence’s perimeter. Perhaps they could have gone faster if Silver Dust had trusted Pale Blossom to know what she was looking for. But unfortunately for both of them, trust wasn’t exactly something the unicorn had for others.

What was so much worse about it for Silver Dust was how Pale Blossom looked at her. Like she understood why Silver Dust was the way she was. Like Pale Blossom was worried about her. Like she felt sorry for Silver Dust. She hated being looked at that way. It set her mane on edge and made it hard for her to focus when she noticed it. 

As much as she hated to do so, she had adjusted to put Pale Blossom in her blind spot. She couldn’t see the earth pony, but Silver Dust still felt her looking at her. She hated how warm the gaze felt. She hated how Pale Blossom almost made her feel safe. She hated how she felt her guard lowering around the earth pony. How dare she make her feel this way?

Silver Dust didn’t even realize she was caught up in her own torrent of thoughts until some foalish whimpering broke her out. Nearby, in a small outdoor storage box, there were little foals hiding from the adults. Pale Blossom had already begun approaching the foals, speaking a tone that was somehow soft, but not condescending. Silver Dust didn’t even hear what the other mare was saying. 

She watched as the foals slowly came out of hiding and even rushed to Pale Blossom. They trusted her so quickly. They were scared and they clung to her legs. She cooed at them, petting their manes to soothe them. Some rat that was nesting in her mane came out and entertained the kids, bringing them to laughter.

Silver Dust felt like someone had stabbed her in the heart. Some flurry of hatred, jealousy, and sadness gripped her. She huffed and stormed away, galloping in the opposite direction. How dare that mare? Why did it hurt to see that? And why is she crying?