(Canterlot) The Move (Open)

[Conor Colton]

(Been waaaay too long since I did one of these )

Darkest Dawn, degree holding astronomer and all around rather timid stallion awoke one morning in a shabby old apartment that was sadly, his home. A stream of light parted through his curtains and shined across his closed eyes, causing the black coated pegasus wake up in a rather abrupt manner. He stretched his hooves upwards and readjusted his eyesight to face the coming day. Before he got out of bed however, he was startled by his alarm clock, which always seemed to ring after he had already woken up.

The stallion sighed "Ugh...every morning." He stated as he meekly slammed down on the off button. Dawn proceeded to get out of bed and head to his bathroom, equally as shabby as the rest of the establishment and did his daily morning rituals. Brushed his teeth, combed his red and black mane, got washed, all those sorts of things. He emerged from the bathroom to face a calendar he had placed on his wall. He managed to smile as he looked at the date for today, and what was written on it. "Moving day." Dawn grinned as he got his necessary things together and headed outside.

Dawn was more pleased than he usual was on this day due to his apparent move. The young, educated stallion had secured a property he could have only dreamed of, an abandoned observatory that was left rather decrepit and stained with age. But to be honest, Dawn couldn't have cared less, this was perfect for him. Sure the place probably looked worse than his current lodging but Dawn remained optimistic and called it a 'fixer-up-er'.

In fact this would be Dawn's last day in Canterlot for a while. The city he grew up in, he was soon to leave it all behind. But rather than feel remorse or sadness, he was glad to finally get out of this town. The previous days Dawn had sorted out all the necessary preparations; getting the land secured, a transport for all his luggage and even a tiny plague spelling out his name and title. Quite frankly, he couldn't be happier.

All he had to do know was head to his former place of internship and learning, Canterlot University to pick up a few notes and star charts he had left there over time. The pegasus wandered through the streets of the regal city, taking as much of it is as he could and could only wonder what could happen next...

[sleeps]

Promontory:

Promontory walked through the streets of Canterlot looking at the addresses of each of the buildings. Even though he loved pulling the trains all around Equestria, the pay wasn't exactly the greatest so he had to sometimes pick up a hauling job or two when the trains were running slow.

"Less see here.....A237.....A238.....A240? Sheesh wher'en ta heck is this here place?"

Promontory thought to himself as he looked at each of the residential apartments trying to find apartment A239. Still it some how managed to elude him make the toast colored stallion let out a snort of frustration.

" Ah can find mah way out of ta Pinto desert no prablem yet Ah can't find this here apartment."

He mummbled to himself as he looked up to the clock that towered over Canterlot main local square. The time was getting close to when he was suppose to meet his client Making Promontory feel a lump of nervousness start to fill his throat. He again walked up and down the street where the apartment was supposedly at but again came up empty hooved. He let out another frustrated snort looking back up at the clock watching the minutes tick away.

As much as Promontory didn't want to admit it, he was in need of some help finding the place. He looked around seeing if he could spot some pony that might know the area. His eyes soon settled on a black pegasus with a spiked mane walking through the streets not seeming to be in much of a hurry. As we walked over he could see that the pegasus had a comet for a cutie mark and was a bit smaller then himself.

"'cuse me partner; ya'll think ya can tell me wher' aportmend A239 es at?"

He asked trying to not let his western accent slip to much into the question even though it didn't help much.

[Conor Colton]

Dawn would have continued on his way to the university, had he not been called upon by this pony who was a stranger to him. "Hm?" Dawn asked as he turned to face the stallion. Right away, Dawn felt a bit timid towards this new stallion, considering he had a much more predominate stature than he did. However the timidness quickly passed when all Dawn received from the new pony was a question.

Dawn was about to answer until he realized what the question was. His brain finally clicked and pieced this little puzzle together and guessed that this pony was the pony he had sent for, to help move some things out of his house for his move. He smiled in response to his realization and promptly answered the stallion's question.

"Yeah, I just came from there...Actually, I live there for the time being." Dawn smirked as he extended a hoof.

"You must be Promontory, right? Darkest Dawn, nice to meet you." He said pleasantly. "I was just heading to pick up some research notes from Canterlot U, but if you need help getting to the apartment I'd be happy to direct you." Dawn said as he began retracing his steps.

[sleeps]

Promontory:

Promontory was a bit surprised that the fellow pony knew where the place was but also his name until he mentioned that he lived in the apartment that he was going to be helping to move goods from.

" Guess ta problem 's solved."

Promontory said as he returned the hoof shake. When the Pegasus mentioned that he was heading over to Canterlot University to pick up some kind of papers that he needed but would lead him back to the apartment Promontory simple shook his head.

"If ya'll got somethin' ta do ferst dan id be awfully rude fer me ta impose on ya ta show me ta da apartment. How 'bout ya'll get yer paper whatchama call'ids ferst an Ah'll follow ya to 'n from. Da way ya don' got ta worry 'bout it 'n da back yer mind."

He replied stepping in front on the Pegasus motioning his head towards the heart of town where the university was.

[Conor Colton]

Dawn had no trouble seeing through the pony's no doubt thick accent and nodded in response to his suggestion. "That doesn't sound like too bad of an idea. Alright, to the University then." Dawn stated as he took the indication from Promontory and headed into the heart of town towards his place of internship. Again as he walked he took in all the surroundings one last time. It could be weeks, months, or possibly years until Dawn saw these buildings again. He never really considered how beautiful and regal the city was, guess he didn't know what he had until it was nearly gone.

The stallion kept leading the way towards the University, going over in his head the research notes and which ones he should bring; most likely all of them. That sparked a notion in his head, a notion of excitement for moving to his new home, and that home being in both a prime stargazing location of Ponyville and for the residence to be an actual working observatory. It could do with some spit and polish for sure from what Dawn had seen but he didn't mind a bit of hoof work if it progressed him in his life's dream.

He then realized that in all his wondering he had gotten completely ahead of himself and never asked Promontory more about himself. He wondered if he should or not, however the stallion seemed like a respectable and pleasant pony so he didn't see why asking a question would be looked down upon.

"So Promontory, what do you do for a living? Besides dragging around random Canterlotian's stuff?" Dawn inquired.

[sleeps]

Promontory:

As the two ponies walked towards the University, Promontory realized that he did stick out like a swore hoof compared to the canterlot folks; not that Promontory cared to much. Most of the high class ponies had there manes trimmed and stylized with what ever the new in idea was and would walk with a bit of a hoity toity trout. Meanwhile the toast colored stallion cut his mane and tail as short as he could so that it wouldn't get caught in the train engines or wheels and walked with a loud clunk since he was use to pulling such heavy objects. The Earth pony also started to realize that compared to him the canterlot ponies were actually a bit smaller.

" Guess these here ponies ain' never had ta lift a hoof fer nothin."

Promontory thought to himself as he continued to follow the pegasus. However when the Pegasus asked what he did Promontory for a living the earth pony snapped out of his train of thought.

"...Oh...Ah...uh...Ah jus' pull ta trains of Equestria."

He replied as he focused his gaze at the pegasus.

" Hauw 'bout ya'll? By yer cutie mark Ah'd guess id be somethin' ta do with helpin' Princess Luna with ta night skah or somethin'."

He said as he nodded to the comet cutie mark on Dawn flank.

[Conor Colton]

As Dawn walked and listened to Promontory response he couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the last thing the toast colored stallion said. He decided to answer in response to his first statement however before deviling into his last. "Good honest work, pulling trains. I can't exactly picture myself doing it but doesn't meant it ain't an important job." Dawn nodded as he continued walking. It was then that he started noticing the same thing Promontory did, that one of them stood out like a sore hoof.

Dawn looked at the passing ponies then back to Promontory, almost comparing the two in his head and began thinking over his findings, "Well he's certainly not from around here. Or if he is he doesn't exactly seem like it...Then again that's not necessarily a bad thing...Most of these ponies are soo much in their own little worlds it makes me roll my eyes at times....Yeah he's defiantly not from around here but he seems like an alright sort." Dawn pondered as he continued walking. It was then that he wanted to address the stallion's last statement.

"Heh, I wish. Nah I'm just a small time astronomer really. I do work for places that need it, like the university for instance, I got in good with them 'cause that's where I went and learned all this stuff about the sky and the like. I can't even imagine myself helping royalty to be honest. Like I said, I'm small time, but hopefully with this move it'll speed things up. Even more so that my new house is gonna be an observatory." Dawn remarked.

[sleeps]

When the pegasus explained that he was an astronomer Promontory raised an eyebrow in confusion at the idea.

" Ah nefer had much need fer knowin 'boud ta universe 'n stuff. Ta only stAr ah know of fer sure besides Princess celestia sun 's ta northin star n' ta southrn' cross. Ah only use dem ta guide me ad nAhght when ah'm runin cross Equestria 'n need ta make a rail change."

He said as he looked up at the clear blue sky as Celestia's sun started continued to rise as the day continued along. Promontory could start to see the school in the distance. It's large white Ivory towers proudly displayed the symbol of Equestria as giant banners that hung down the sides gently be pushed by the breeze that was in the eastern coast.

"Heck nauw ta ah think 'boud id, I nefer did finish mah schoolin. Mosd wud ah learn'd ah learn'd 'n ta tracks as a colt."

Promontory though as the two got closer to university gates. In fact the more Promontory thought about it the more he realized he had never even stepped hoof into a university, not even for a delivery. The idea of an uneducated pony like himself going onto an elite campus made Promontory actually feel a little bit nervous; however he didn't want the pegasus to notice so he simple pushed the thought away and continued to follow.

[Conor Colton]

Dawn nodded with the stallion's reply and retorted right after that.

"Yeah I suppose it's not the most widely desired after trade but it puts bread on the table, and I enjoy it enough. And don't count yourself short on your knowledge about these things. Someponies I know didn't even know the sun was a star." Dawn admitted with a slight chuckle as the two of them approached the university gates.

Dawn stood for a moment at these gates, taking in the surroundings. Given that he currently spent most of his adult life at the university it made sense that he would want to take in one last visit for all he could while he still lived in Canterlot. Dawn led the way naturally across the main courtyard towards the large building that was no doubt the bulk of the school. He passed a few gazes and even a few waves to some familiar ponies as he continued walking towards the largest building, proceeding to open the large front door and enter.

Once inside, Dawn took another few second pause to both remember where his research notes were, and to take in the surroundings once again. Once that moment had passed he continued on his way, looking back to make idle conversation.

"So Promontory, you ever been to the University here before?" He wondered.

[sleeps]

Promontory:

When Darkest Dawn Mentioned that most ponies didn't know that the Sun was a star Promontory let out a very tiny sigh of relief.

"Welp, Ah guess Ah migd fit 'n if some pony asks 'bout Celestia's sun whijle ah'm her'."

Promontory thought as he followed the black Pegasus into the campus.

The Canterlot University seemed almost like another world to Promontory. There was dark green evenly cut grass instead of wild plants about, Smooth cut marble side walks instead of the rough Earth that he was use to feeling under his hooves, and statues of creatures that Promontory had never seen before. He couldn't help but gawk at the university a bit until he noticed a few wondering eyes from other ponies who were most likely students staring at him. Promontory let out a cold glare at the ponies that made them quickly move along. The idea that he was being looked down on by other ponies made promontory's blood boil a bit until he remembered why he was here and quickly calmed himself down as the two entered into the main building.

The inside of the University building was just as alien to Promontory as was the outside courtyard. Marble lined every inch of the inside of the building along with more statues of ponies that Promontroy had never seen. Along with this everything was polished to a ti to where the toast colored stallion could see his own reflection on the ground. The place to Promontory felt awfully cold and unfriendly but Promontory did his best to ignore it while fallowing Darkest Dawn through the halls when the Pegasus asked if he had ever been in a university.

"Erm....uh....ah'm afraid ah haven'. Edyacation ain somein' done 'n ta class room 'n ta west or on ta rails."

Promontory mumbled out not looking at the pegasus so that he wouldn't have to see the Dawn's judging face when the Pegasus realized what he meant by his statement.

[Conor Colton]

Dawn didn't have any real notion of judging Promontory for what he said, he simply nodded and placed a hoof under his own chin. "Well, takes all kinds to make an Equestria, or something equally as philosophical." Dawn stated with one more nod and a smile before continuing to lead the way down the marble lined hallways. Dawn had seen these walls and these floors more times than he could even count, to think he would be away from it all for soo long seemed rather alien to him. Never the less he simply sighed quietly and continued on his way.

Dawn took a sharp right turn down one hallway and spotted the room he was looking for, a records room. The pegasus approached a nearby desk and went behind it, he reached into a small pouch he had brought with him and took a key out, he unlocked a small compartment in the desk to reveal, yet another key, which he took. The pegasus worked his way back to the records room door and with a turn of they key and a slight clicking noise, the door was open.

Dawn kept it open with an absent minded hoof for Promontory as he began surveying the room for his desired notes, he spotted a promising drawer and started looking through to see if he could find what he was looking for. As he did he couldn't help but pose another question to Promontory, he saw the pony wasn't at ease in this no doubt unfamiliar environment so he decided if anypony was going to be friendly to him, might as well had been Dawn.

"So what's working on the rails like then, Promontory? Never really looked into that career myself so I have no clue." Dawn stated as he kept looking.

[sleeps]

Promontory:

Promontory didn't exactly get what Dawn meant by it took all kinds to make an Equestria so he chalked up to some philosopher pony logic that he had probably never heard of. Still, the toast colored stallion continued to follow the pegasus through the endless marble halls like a young colt who had gotten lost in a maze and needed help out until they finally arrived at an old oak door that read "Records Room" in old gold in a San Serif style.

"shesh even der records door ar fancy in ta Universites."

Promontory thought as he compared this record door to other record doors he had seen in libraries across Equestria.

However, when the train pony entered the room it wasn't what he was expecting. Instead of a few filling cabinets filled with locations on books and town documents, there were hundreds of large old oak shelves and cabinets that reached all the way to the ceilings.

"Sheesh Ah figured ta University ponies had lots of readin' bud dis here seems ridiculous."

Promontory quietly said to himself as he stood in the main area watching as the black pegasus went over from one drawer to another digging through them looking for something. The smell of old paper was thick in the record room making Promontory let out a snort to keep the dust out of his nostrils. When Dawn asked what it was like working on the rails Promontory raised his eyebrow again in surprise. Most ponies didn't care about the trains unless they weren't working so being asked but him in a stump for a minute.

" Well id ain' exactly fer ta weak hearted. Shure ya ged ta see a lot of place lahike Rockwignton 'n Hoofenheim, bAhud ad ta same taime ya nefer 're really accepted so ya'll 're a bid of an Auwdcasd a taimes. Also Ah guess ya'll always got'ta think da yer nexd raun could be ya last if 'n ya ain careful."

Promontory finally said after giving it a minute of thought on everything that had happened to him from fighting off buffalo in the desert to trying to survive blizzards in the mountains while pulling trains filled with ponies oblivious to how much danger they were really in at times. Still Promontory had always made sure that none of his passengers had to think about those ideas while he was in charge of a train.

[Conor Colton]

Dawn kept looking through various records as he nodded along and responded to Promontory's reply to his earlier inquiry, "Aww that's awful sounding. The not being accepted anywhere I mean, the job itself doesn't sound like that much of a downer." Dawn stated as he continually searched. He kept digging and digging but as he did, he had a slight realization, something similar between himself and the toast colored stallion next to him.

"Funny thing though, I don't feel that accepted, even around here, where I spent years learning. I mean I've shown no signs of meanness or hostility towards you but sometimes ponies rarely give me the chance. I mean not to point out the obvious but, black coat, red and black hair, the name Darkest Dawn..." He started as he pointed to both his side and his hair and then his face, "...Doesn't exactly call for the best of first impressions. Not to mention the whole astronomy thing. Don't get me wrong, it's a great profession and I love it but it's not exactly the most social job, y'know?" He added as he continued.

"I mean you could probably talk for ages about the places you've been. When a pony starts belting out constellations in conversation though, you'd tend to be somewhere else, y'know?" Dawn sighed as he looked deeply into one cupboard, "Has to be here....Aha!" He exclaimed as he pulled out a few loose sheets of paper, some ordinary file paper and some star charts to name only a few.

"Got 'em. Guess it's to the apartment then next, huh?"

[sleeps]

Promontory:

As Promontory listened to how the Pegasus felt a bit of a similar connection to Promontory the Earth Pony simple nodded.

" Mos ponies ain' exactly interested 'n knowin' 'bought other towns, so ah guess ah understand where ya'll 're comin from."

Promontory replied when Darkest Dawn mentioned how ponies would get bored hearing about stars.

" Ah guess id don help ta mos' train ponies have a bad rep of fightin' when angered too."

Promontory thought to himself as he watched the Pegasus find some pieces of paper that had some writing on it and some star symbols that he didn't exactly understand. Still It wasn't Promontory's business to butt in on what the Pegasus was doing. He noticed one of the small loose leaf papers fall to the ground near him. He walked over to it and picked it up. On the paper where all sorts of calculations and symbols that Promontory had never seen. Sure he knew addition, subtraction, multiplication and all the other basic but beyond that he had no idea.

"Here, Ya dropped this."

Promontory said as he handed the paper to Darkest Dawn with a bit of puzzled look trying to understand what he was looking handing over to the Pegasus.

When Dawn mentioned that they should head to the apartment Promontory nodded his head in agreement.

"Dat sounds gUd. 'ter all dats whah Ah'm her'."

He said as he followed the black colored Pegasus out of the records room towards the apartment.

[Conor Colton]

As Dawn turned to head out the door he stopped dead in his tracks when Promontory offered him a piece of paper, claiming it was Dawn's. After a quick inspection, Dawn saw that this was in fact his. In fact it was a vital piece of information, it was Dawn's own little star chart he had made when he first entered the University; it had various calculations and star coordinates that were, dare he say, vital to his research. "Oh, thanks." Dawn stated as he took the paper and placed it in his saddlebags with the rest of them.

"Don't know what I would have done without that, thanks for spotting it." Dawn continued as he smiled and continued out the door. Now it was just a matter of retracing their steps back to his apartment; Dawn having done this more times than he could think meaning it was a trivial task. As the two of them walked Dawn continually checked his papers over and over again in case he was missing anything. He couldn't see anything missing nor something that wasn't supposed to be there so he assumed he had all he needed. Dawn continued along the marble path leading out of the University and to the steep, strong metal gates that lined the outside.

Dawn took one step on the threshold that divided the University from the rest of the city before turning around to face the establishment again. He looked it over for what was going to be the last time in a while. Years of memories flooded back to him as he surveyed the grounds, all the way from enrollment to graduation. After a while the pegasus merely smirked before turning back around and continuing on his way, deciding to put more conversation into this journey.

"Y'know you may be a tad wrong about that nopony wanting to know about any other towns thing. Most of the ponies I knew in Uni wanted nothing more than to travel, to see the world and all that. Me I was fine there for the time being but whenever a well traveled pony would show up they wouldn't stop asking that pony questions as to what they had seen and what they had done...Though, I guess you have more of an argument here since you've been all around Equestria and my argument lies with a bunch of preppy Canterlotian students." He nodded.

[sleeps]

Promontory:

Promontory followed the Pegasus out of the university stopping when he noticed the Pegasus taking one last look at the large school. The by the look on the pegsus face he was somewhat hurting from leaving this place but was also happy at the same time. However Promontory pretend to not notice as the two walked down the cobble streets of Canterlot back towards the apartment where they first met.

As the two walked Dawn mentioned how the University ponies really did want to know about stories from well traveled ponies like himself. However Promontory rolled his eyes a bit at the idea of Upper class ponies talking with working class ponies like himself.

" Well Ah may naut be ta smardes' pony baud wha' ah think ya'll 're seenin' en them University ponies es more ponies hopein' that ah'm like dat Darin' Dew like from dem books an' watin' adventure stories like dat den wha' ah've seen."

He replied with a little bit of a cockish snort.

"Naud that I haven' had tahmes like dat though."

He quickly added onto the end of his response puffing out his chest a bit to act a little bit more macho like. Still the feeling past as Promontory continued to walk down the streets next to Darkest Dawn. As they got closer to the house Promontory's mind was wondering back to that paper he had saw. He may not of understood it but it seemed interesting enough. All of the scribes of dots and stars, the odd sets of numbers, it was like a foreign language to the train pony but almost hypnotic in a way. Promontory wanted to ask what his meant but his stubborn pride of not wanting ponies to judge him kept getting in the way.

[Conor Colton]

Dawn couldn't help but chuckle slightly at Promontory's reply, it was refreshing for the pegasus to actually talk to somepony outside his family who wasn't very stuck up. Modesty is all well and good, but Dawn didn't just see that in Promontory, he saw something he rarely saw in these high end Canterlotians he would associate with...Genuineness .

"Yeah I would suppose that's what most of those types of ponies would be expecting. Don't get me wrong, I've had friends in the past who were like that, but honestly...They had more dreams than money could buy them. See you're genuine in your travels, you go because you most likely need to. Those guys go because they want to, whole other story there, my friend." Dawn continued as he wondered over the fact that he just called Promontory a 'friend'. Dawn shrugged it off though, thinking to himself that there were a lot, A LOT worse ponies to have as a friend.

The pegasus finally reached his apartment and took the small stair on the outside to the front door. Taking yet another key out of his saddlebags, Dawn unlocked said door and held it open for Promontory. After a few more staircases, Dawn had reached his own front door, with yet another turn of a key he was back inside. Again holding the door.

"Well, here we are. The boxes and stuff are there in the corner. You want any help?" Dawn inquired as he pointed to said boxes.

[sleeps]

Promontory:

As the two got back to the area where they had first met Promontory raised his eyebrow a bit at being called a friend. Sure he had work friends that help out on the tracks but the idea of having friends outside of the train system was a little bit of an oddity to him. Still he didn't worry to much about as the pony opened up a door that lead to a flight of stairs.

"welp, dat explains wAh ah couldn' fahnd id earlier."

Promontory thought as he followed the Pegasus up the set of stairs then another and then one more.

"Sheesh, ah know dat dem unicorns can make buildins look smaller from the auwd'side with magic bud ah wasn' expectin' there ta be dat many stairs."

Promontory said as as he looked back down at them for a moment as the Pegasus unlocked another door that lead to the apartment.

As Promontory entered into the small apartment his mind shifted from conversation to to work mode. He didn't pay much attention to the grim looking apartment or even the squeaking floor boards that groaned under the pressure of the stallions mass. When the Pegasus offered to leaned a hoof Promontory simple shook his head.

"No thanks pardner, if ya'll started helpin den there would be no reason fer me ta be here."

He said as he looked over at the group of boxes. Surprisingly there weren't many of them Promontory could probably get all of them in a single go thanks to years of pulling the heavy trains around Equestria. Still Promontory knew that if something looked easy that there would probably be a catch.

"Hmmm, these here boxes don' lUk ta heavy an ther' ain no damage so they will probably hold up goin down dem stairs ."

Promontory thought to himself as he walked around the boxes inspecting them. He then put his hoof on them and gave them a slight push. He watched as the box swayed back and forth a bit before coming to a rest. Promontory slightly chewed on his lip as he realized the problem he was faced with.

"Figures. These here boxes are top heavy and will fall if ah ain' careful."

Promontory continued to himself as he finished inspecting each box and taking a step back think of how he was going to move them.

After a minute or two of thinking Promontory finally had an idea. However the Stallion was going to need some supplies.

"Say...ya'll wouldn' happen ta have some rope would ya lyin' rauwnd?"

He asked casually while he started to push the boxes around and stack some of the smaller boxes on to of the large ones.

[Conor Colton]

Dawn nodded as Promontory explained why he needed no assistance. Dawn's stubborn attitude though wasn't about to let that slide, "Well...If you want help, I'm alright to...do...that." He murmured, realizing his argument just sort of melted away there. He hung his head low for a brief moment before spring back into his normal mood. As Promontory started moving boxes Dawn figured he should do something constructive.

He started looking around his home for anything small he may have missed. He began in what was both his office slash bedroom, picking up various framed photos and documents he could only feel were safe if they were right next to him in his saddlebags. With every photo of certificate he put away he could feel himself becoming less and less attached to the room he was in...Almost like he had never set foot in this place before...It was alien to him by the time he was finished collecting his things.

The pegasus chalked this feeling up to that, simply...It was time to move on. Dawn took a few steps forward and sat on the edge of his bed, remaining silent for a time. He peeked into his saddlebags and looked over what was once the substance of this room...And it could all fit in one saddlebag. The pegasus sighed and walked back into the main room, wondering how Promontory was doing.

Apparently Promontory opted to carry all of Dawn's things on his back. Now that Dawn thought about it, it made sense, he just had thought Promontory would have a had a wagon, or a cart or...something. What confused Dawn even further was when the stallion asked him for rope. Again it took Dawn a bit to catch on here but he figured out the reasoning. He shook his head though after having a look around. "Not any that I can see...Sorry." Dawn frowned.

[sleeps]

Promontory:

When Dawn said that he didn't have any rope Promontory let out a bit of a frustrated snort.

"Guess dat old wime is true fer sure."

Promontory thought as he looked to the boxes again seeing that his original plan wasn't going to work out. However as he looked at the boxes again a second plan came into his head.

"Well ids a bid risky bad' id 'all work fer nauw 'till we pass a place dat sells rope 're somein'."

Promontory continued to himself as he walked over to the largest box and gently started to lift it onto his back. He then turned it so that in stead of being vertical it was horizontal and laid across his back. He made sure that the front of the box went in between his yolks keeper pins and his shoulder blades so that it wouldn't shake much. He then grabbed another two and repeated the idea until all the boxes were on his back horizontal instead of vertically. He could feel the pressure of all the boxes on his spine and shoulder blades but as he took a few test steps he found that the boxes weren't swaying nearly that bad and could make it down the stairs and to at least a shop with little to no trouble. '

As Promontory slowly walked to the door he looked over to where dawn was.

" Ya'll...Ready?"

He grunted out a bit making sure not to role his shoulders so that the goods would stay in place as waited by the door of the apartment.

[Conor Colton]

Dawn couldn't help but feel uneasy as he saw Promontory lifting and no doubt struggling with his boxes. It made the pegasus feel guilty in a way; in the sense that it was his belongings that were no pressing down on this stallion's back, so Dawn couldn't help but feel a little bit responsible for the current situation.

Dawn followed Promontory out the door and down the set of stair, standing right next to him. A few times Dawn instinctively lifted a hoof or a wing whenever he thought the boxes were going to fall over. Luckily they never did, which full credit for had to go to Promontory. The pegasus continued following down the stairs and out the front door, locking it behind himself and the stallion. He would have taken a few moments to say goodbye but he had more pressing matters at the moment, like making sure he didn't hear the sound of broken glass anytime soon. Dawn took a few steps down to street level before looking at Promontory and inquiring as to his current state.

"You sure you're alright? Like seriously don't need any help? I could take a few boxes if you want, it's not trouble really. They are my things after all..." Dawn asked as he waited for a response. As he did he remembered that this was in fact, Promontory's job and he was seemingly prideful of it when he didn't accept any help lifting things earlier. Not to mention from one look at the stallion's face after Dawn mentioned that told him he should probably think of another way to help. He thought over his options until an idea hit him. He figured Promontory had the idea before him but one pony had to say it.

"There's a place down the street that should have rope. Want me to go get some or you alright to walk the distance?" Dawn asked.

[sleeps]

Promontory:

As the two made there way down the stairs of the building and out onto the street Promontory could feel Dawn hoof every now and then come up or feel his wing brush against him trying to make sure the boxes didn't fall. Though the train stallion knew that the Pegasus was only just helpful and being concerned for his items it couldn't help but feel a little bit annoyed. When the Pegasus asked again if he wanted some help Promontory just let out a small glare and a snort. He then mentioned a store that had some rope nearby and wanted to know if he should go and get some.

[colour=#A1745E]"Ah'll be fine 'n walkin ta distance. Jus lead ta waehy."[/colour]

Promontory said as he puffed out his chest to make him look bigger and take away attention from the boxes pushing on his spine's nerves.

As the two walked down the street Promontory could hear his metal pony shoes clang hard against the cobble streets due to the weight which made a few ponies stop on the street and gawk at the two. However Promontory would just ignore the gawkers and focused on his steps. As the two got closer to the store he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his hoof followed by a loud metal cracking sound. The Earth Stallion bit his lip hard while he readjusted his balance so that the boxes wouldn't slide.

[colour=#A1745E]"Ah Hayneddles! Mah shoe shattered!"[/colour]

Promontory thought as he continued to slowly move so that the shattered pony shoe remains would did any deeper into his skin.

[Conor Colton]

Dawn backed off slightly at Promontory's reply, he could tell there was no helping at this point so he sighed and admitted defeat. "[colour=#b22222]Okay, I will.[/colour]" Dawn stated as he started making his way to the store he had previously mentioned. As they walked, Dawn wondered why Promontory wouldn't accept help and seemed completely and utterly objective to that whole concept, "[colour=#b22222]I can understand it's his job but surely a pony can tell when they need help right? Well...maybe he doesn't need help...Maybe he's done worse jobs than this and I'm just annoying him by offering to do his job for him...I guess that's reasonable enough. Okay, I'll just be quiet and not worry. He can handle this I'm sure.[/colour]" Dawn pondered.

As the pair made their way there, Dawn also noticed a few ponies gawking as Promontory's shoes made loud clanging noises. Honestly the pegasus didn't mind, if anything he was used to it himself, "[colour=#b22222]Yeah look at what we have here, one stallion with loud feet and Darkest Dawn, the evil looking astronomer guy.[/colour]" Dawn sighed as he fixed a small misplacement in his mane and continued walking.

He took a look back to see if Promontory was doing good, only making it a quick glance in case it looked like he was going to insist on helping again. As he did though he noticed the stallion was looking a tad in pain and was walking noticeably slower. Dawn was close to asking what the problem was but due to Promontory's reaction to Dawn's previous questions he kept his mouth shut and instead slowed down himself less he go too far ahead of Promontory.

[sleeps]

Promontory:

Promontory continued to bite his lip with each step. He could feel one of the nails that had held his now broken shoe splinter off and was getting driven deep into his frog. The train pony only took a deep breath followed by a quick snort to make it so the Dawn wouldn't notice that the earth stallion was in pain. Promontory continued to try to keep up his appearance by stiffening his back again and puffing out his chest like he had done before as he took another step. However, Promontory could again feel the nail get driven in deeper with each step making him wince.

[colour=#A1745E]"ow ow ow. Stupid pony shoe whAhd ya'll haf ta break 'n me nauw of all tahmes?!....Pull id' t'gether Promontory; ya'll still gots a job ta dew. Can' call id quits 'till ta works done."[/colour]

Promontory thought to himself with an angry huff as he again felt a sting of pain from the nail in his frog. As he finished giving himself a pep talk he noticed that Darkest Dawn had suddenly slowed down and was next to Promontory. It only took the train pony a second or so to figure out that the pegasus had slowed down because he himself had.

[colour=#A1745E]"Shoot! Misda Dawn 's startin' ta notice gotta speed back up."[/colour]

He continued to himself as he started to take longer steps hopping that maybe he could shake the nail loose while speeding up. It didn't do much good and made Promontory feel the nail a bit more making him wince again as he felt the small shock of pain go up his leg.

However as he took another step he heard the dreaded sound of metal cracking under pressure. He could feel his back left shoe starting crack from carrying so much. Promontory rolled his eyes in annoyance and frustration as he continued towards the supply shop that had the rope he needed.

[colour=#A1745E]"T'is here jus' ain mah lucky day."[/colour]

Promontory thought as he silently hopped the shoe would stay until they at least got the rope.

[Conor Colton]

As Dawn slowed down to remain at pace with Promontory he couldn't help but feel there was something wrong. The stallion looked to be...well in pain, not surprisingly given the load he was carrying on his back. Dawn had to almost mentally fight back the urge to say anything, to the point he was constantly closing his mouth whenever he would go to speak or ask anything regarding the stallion's condition. Not long after the fifth or sixth time Dawn had done this though had he noticed the two of them had reached the place with rope.

Dawn quickly darted inside, motioning for Promontory to wait outside. Dawn thought he would motion regardless that it was pretty evident that Promontory was not getting through that door with all of Dawn's things on his back. Dawn scanned frantically across the store, trying to remember where he had seen rope. After about a minute or so, Dawn had found a large strip of good quality magic woven rope and quickly purchased it and headed back out.

With this rope in hoof Dawn gave Promontory one end to hold onto as the pegasus floated a fair distance upwards and began wrapping rope around his boxes; ultimately bringing the rope end of his back to the stallion with a smile. Dawn was fairly sure his things were much more secure. It was then though that he thought he should inquire to see if anything had gone wrong with Promontory, as he still looked to be in pain.

"[colour=#b22222]Uhh...Promontory? I know you said you don't want my help, and that this is your job to do but...I'm not really offering to help, just asking a question here...Are you...okay?[/colour]" Dawn started. "[colour=#b22222]From the looks of things back there you looked to be...in pain...or agitated in someway.[/colour]" He finished.