As Luci walks with little to no feeling left in her hooves, her eyes widen as she's finally able to see the tip of the pipe that was emitting the smoke from over the hill. As if completely refilled with energy, she runs up the hill as fast as she can, excited to see the town that would be the start of her journey.
"There it is! It's Pony... ville?"
She can see most of the town from where she's standing. It's nearly completely surrounded by industrial factories and the sky seems to be permanently gray, engulfed by the smoke. The town also seems to be surrounded by a chain link fence that runs all around the perimeter. Her parents said the town was small and rural, but that was a long time ago. Now it looks like any other medium sized city.
"It's not exactly what I had in mind... but this still has to be better than Manehatten or Canterlot right? Or at the very least cheaper."
Luci trots down the hill to what appears to be the front entrance to the city. Two ponies are standing guard at the gate and are wearing gray work uniforms.
[ Willow's Perspective ]
"How are the numbers Peri," Willow demanded as she walked down the red hallway with Peri.
"Other than a few outstanding debts from a few ponies, everything is in order, Lady Willow," Peri praised.
Willow nods her head in agreement as she enters a medium-sized room with Peri. The room is ornately decorated and has rose colored wallpaper adore the walls. Multiple chairs surrounded a small table in the middle of the room along with a large couch. She closes the double doors behind them and sits down on the red couch in the middle of the room, which was outlined in gold and fitted with a variety of gems. Peri sits down in a similar chair across from her and continues to write diligently in her clipboard.
Willow's horn glew as she takes out a bottle of red wine and two wine glasses from the desk next to her and sets them on the table in front of her. Within seconds, a stallion dressed in formal attire who was standing in the corner of the room rushes over to Willow and uncorks the wine bottle. He pours the wine into both glasses until Willow nods, in which he returns to his post.
"So aside from those outstanding debts, give me the rundown of this month's report by area," Willow demanded.
"Yes of course My Lady. As I'm sure you're aware, business here in Canterlot is our most successful venue. The chain of restaurants in the plaza, including Zesty Gourmand's own restaurant, brings in about 60,000 bits per month alone. Along with all the other stores such as clothing and bars and such, and the Princesses own personal payments, we have a net gain of about 110,000 bits per month from Canterlot."
"Secondly, The Crystal Empire is just underneath that with a net gain of about 100,000 bits. Even though it has also undergone an industrial renaissance, it is still a prime tourist location and has many different customs that you don't see around here, not to mention we also get a substantial payment from the Princess that oversees it."
"After that we have Las Pegasus, which brings in about 85,000 bits per month. Needless to say, the casinos there are basically the source of all the income there. Ponies always seem to want to gamble with money they don't have," Peri explained as she continued to flip.
Willow swirls her wine in her glass as she listens to Peri's report.
"Next is Manehatten, which comes in fourth with a net gain of 60,000 bits. Due to the city's overcrowded population and there being a store on basically every corner and street, the most successful being clothing stores there, it does well despite the fact that many ponies have a much lesser income there."
"Coming in with a net gain of about 20,000 bits, Cloudsdale doesn't have much commerce, but due to the iconic Weather Factory, other factories have appeared around it and increased productivity. Along with what little businesses there are around the area, I can just barely consider it a good asset."
"Excellent report Peri, as always," Willow praised, sipping from her wine glass. "Now we must prepare for—"
"Forgive me for interrupting you My Lady, but there is still one place I've yet to mention... again," Peri reminded.
"Another place? I don't remember another...," Willow questioned and then began to laugh. "Ohh... that place, you'll have to forgive me Peri, what we get there is so small I can barely remember it sometimes."
"I don't blame you My Lady, but it is somewhat worth something because of the Princess that occupies it."
"So lastly... Ponyville, although heavy industrial work has appeared nearly everywhere, Ponyville has the largest amount of industrial buildings by comparison, and they're more or less a supplier because of it. The commercial district there is minuscule and the only forms of housing are the apartment's scattered throughout the slums. Although it's not most profitable, we still receive 5,000 bits per month, mostly because of the payments from the Princess living there," Peri finished as she flipped back to the beginning.
"Something is better than nothing I suppose," Willow snickered.
A knock on the door follows shortly after.
"Enter," Willow said as she sipped from her glass.
Another stallion dressed in similar formal attire enters the room partially.
"Pardon my intrusion Lady Willow, but the Princesses have arrived for their scheduled appointment."
"Send them in," Willow ordered, setting her glass down.
"Yes, My Lady," The stallion said, bowing and closing the door as he left the room.
Willow looks at Peri from across the table and notices she is still writing profusely in her clipboard. She smiles and shakes her head as her horn glew to set the clipboard and pen down on the table in front of her.
"Why don't you take a break Peri? You haven't even touched your wine."
"Forgive me Lady Willow, I just want to make sure everything is in order so I can make your life that much easier," Peri admitted, as her horn glew to pick up the wine.
"You already do so much for me Peri, you deserve some time to relax dear," Willow smiled.
"Also, you know you can just call me Willow, right? You don't need to be formal about it."
"I'm honored that you would allow to me to call you something so... casual My Lady, but I simply can't refrain from doing so, at least not now."
"If that's what you want," Willow agreed.
The doors opened again and two stallions stood on each side. Four Princesses enter the room, each carrying their own briefcase on their side. The two stallions exit the room simultaneously and closed the doors as they left.
"Welcome back Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, and of course, Princess Twilight," Willow greeted as she made a gesture with her hoof.
"Hello Lady Willow, it's a pleasure to see you again... as always," Celestia greeted hesitantly.
"Yes, as my sister said, a pleasure to see you again Lady Willow," Luna greeted.
"It's always wonderful to see you My Lady," Cadence praised.
"It's... great to see you again... Willow..." Twilight greeted nervously.
Willow's eyes veer in Twilight's direction.
"HEY!" Peri yelled as she stands up from her chair and slams her front hooves on the table.
"YOU WILL ADDRESS LADY WILLOW PROPERLY AND WITH RESPECT! HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HER SO CASUALLY!"
"I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to! It must have just slipped out! P-Please forgive me Lady Willow!" Twilight cried, her voice quivering with fear as she bowed her head in apology.
"Now now Peri it's alright, I'm willing to let it go this time. It's Princess Twilight after all, how I can I give her more of a hard time than she already has?"
"Yes of course My Lady," Peri nodded, returning to her work.
"You're forgiven Princess Twilight," Willow said with a smile. "Don't let it happen again."
"Yes Lady Willow..." Twilight gulped nervously.
The other Princesses let out a relieved sigh for Twilight.
"Now then, why don't you all take a seat? We have some things to discuss..." Willow asked as she sipped her wine.
[ Luci's Perspective ]
"Umm... Hi there! I'm kind of new around here and I was looking to move into town and find some work?" Luci asked.
"New around here you said? Well then... I'm sure you can find work and a place to stay inside, I think you have to go talk with the Princess or something about it."
"Really? That's great! Thank you so much!" Luci cheered as she tried to walk past the ponies, but the one she was just talking to blocks her with her hoof.
"I-Is there something else?" Luci asked nervously.
"Yea there is actually, since your new here and all... you gotta pay the first-time visitor's tax."
"Visitor's tax? I-I didn't know there was a tax for entering the city..."
"Well now ya do," The guard pony laughed along with her partner.
"Well I guess I don't have a choice... how much is it?" Luci asked as she took out her bag of bits.
"That's a pretty nice sack you got there... I think we'll just take that!" The guard pony said as she swiped it from Luci's mouth.
"Hey! What are you doing!? That's all I have!" Luci cried as she tried to get her money back, but was restrained by the other pony, who swiftly punched her in the gut, dropping her to ground.
Luci cried and breathed in pain as she tried to stand up.
"Please... why are you doing this!"
"Welcome to the real world little girl, that's how things are around here so you'd better get used to it!" The guard ponies laughed.
"What's going on out here!?" A voice said from inside the city.
"Crap it's her! Let's go outta here!" The guard pony said, throwing the money to her partner as they run away. Money spills out of the bag in their haste. "Close the bag you idiot it's falling out!"
Luci finally stands up but it was too late, the guard ponies were already long gone. Money that fell from the bag littered the ground in front of her as she began to cry and collect what was left.
"Are you okay? What happened out here!?"
Luci looks up at the worried pony, she's wearing a similar uniform to the ponies that just robbed her, only hers seems to be more formal.
"Two ponies were guarding the front gate here... they said I had to pay a visitor's tax to get into the city... and now... now I barely have anything!" Luci sobbed. "They're already long gone..."
"Not again dammit! I have to be on top this! I can't keep letting them trick ponies like this!"
"Trick?" Luci asked, wiping tears from her face. "You mean... there's no visitor's tax?"
"Of course not, those two ponies you just encountered like to stand out here and rob unsuspecting new ponies that try to come to the city... you just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." The pony said sadly, looking at Luci who had collected what money was left into a pile in front of her.
"Here," The pony said, giving Luci a small bag for what remaining money she had. "How much do you have left?"
"About 80 bits... I came here with 500! I saved up my entire life so I could try to start something somewhere! but it's all gone now... and I don't know what to do now..." Luci admitted, trying her best not to cry.
"Your entire life? What is it that you planned to do?"
"I wanted to try to make some more money here in Ponyville... and then work my way up to living in Canterlot or something so I can join Princess Celestia's Royal Guard... I lived on a rock farm in the middle of nowhere basically, so I don't know much about other cities and towns... just from what my parents used to tell me, but that was a long time ago... I guess things really changed."
"I'm so sorry... your dream is the most admirable thing I've heard in a long time to be honest. As you can see, things are... quite different then how you expected them to be... what do you plan to do now?"
"I don't know... I guess head back home at this point, I don't have any money to do anything anymore... it was foolish of me to think I could anything... I wanted to be a part of the Royal Guard and I can't even see through two fake robbers, let alone hold my own... anyway it was nice meeting you, at least not every pony I ran into today tried to rob me..."
Luci picked up her small bag and turned around and slowly started to walk back in the direction she came.
"Wait!" The pony said. "Don't go!"
"Huh?"
"This... this is my fault! You're not the first pony this has happened too, and every time I think they've stopped they just come right back! If I had bothered to do something serious about them a while ago this would have never happened to you!" The pony said, tearing up with anger in her voice.
"So listen, I want to help you! If I put you up with a place to stay and help you find work here, would you be willing to stay?"
"You... You would do that for me? Really!? But I don't have much money anymore... I can't pay for housing."
"You just leave that to me for now, okay?" The pony smiled as extended her hood.
Luci's eyes widened with joy as she holds back tears and shakes the pony's hoof happily.
"Thank you! Thank you so much! I promise I'll repay this kindness! My name is Luci by the way!"
"It's nice to meet you Luci, my name is Starlight Glimmer and I promise I'll help you as best I can."
Luci hugs Starlight abruptly which catches her off guard, but she happily returns the hug. Luci and Starlight enter the city through the gate and trot through the crowded streets into the residential area. While trotting, Luci notices white flakes falling from the sky and there were white patches all over the streets of the city. At first she thinks it was snow, but it wasn't cold, if anything it's really warm.
"Hey Starlight, what's this white stuff falling from the sky?"
"Oh, that's ash. I'm sure you've noticed that factories pretty much make up Ponyville now. Since they're on 24/7 those smoke stacks are always blowing out heavy smoke and so it sprinkles down."
"I've never seen that before, I don't know if it's pretty or not..."
After trotting for a few minutes, they arrive at an apartment complex that was close to the main street of the city.
"Wouldn't this place be kind of expensive considering its location?" Luci questioned.
"You let me worry about that, come on."
Starlight and Luci enter the building, it looks a little run down with only an old couch in the small lobby and the light is dim and flickering slightly. There's a stallion at the reception desk reading the newspaper behind a barred window.
"Why don't you wait by the couch, I have to talk to the owner alone," Starlight suggested.
"Oh, okay then," Luci agreed as she went and sat down on the uncomfortable couch.
Luci watches as Starlight speaks with the owner behind the desk, but she can't really hear what they're saying. While they're talking, she notices Starlight pull a pouch out from inside her uniform and slide it to the owner. He opens the pouch behind the desk and his eyes widened as he closed it immediately, he then set the pouch aside and nods in agreement with Starlight. The owner leaves the reception room through its side door and shakes hooves with her and goes upstairs.
"What happened? What did you do?"
"Just give it a minute."
Shortly after, loud noises and yelling can be heard from upstairs and they started to get closer and closer. The owner comes back down the stairs with what sounds like an angry tenant.
"You can't evict me I just paid my rent for the month!"
"Something's come up, oh and you won't be getting your security deposit back either," The owner declared.
"This is ridiculous! Who put you up to this! If you think I'm just going to stand for this then you—"
The angry tenant stops short when he notices Starlight Glimmer in the corner of the room with another pony.
"Of course, I should've known it'd be you you coward! You think you can just do this ponies and get away with it, right? Just because you're the adviser to the Princess!?"
Adviser to the Princess? Starlight... is Princess Twilight's adviser!? Luci thought.
I suggest you watch that mouth of yours sir, I don't want to have to report your grievances to the Princess," Starlight threatened.
"Grievances? What grievances!? I haven't done anything!"
"Oh I know, but it's my word against yours... so tell me, who do you think the Princess would believe?"
Luci sits in silence with wide eyes as she watches the confrontation unfold before her.
"This is why you're a coward! You hide behind the Princess and use her name to get what you want!"
"I won't warn you again sir... and I'm sure you realize that if the Princess is made aware of your grievances, then Willow will no doubt find out soon enough," Starlight hinted.
The owner gulps and backs away slowly.
"W-Willow? Please! S-She's nothing more than a rumor made to scare ponies!" The tenant said nervously.
"Do you really want to take that chance? Willow apparently has eyes and ears everywhere... and I'm sure you've heard the rumors about those who have gotten on Willow's bad side... but it's up to you sir."
"I'll leave! I'll leave! Just please don't tell the Princess anything... I don't want her to find out," The tenant said terrified.
The tenant breathes a sigh of discomfort and leaves the building. Starlight in turn breathes a sigh of relief and takes the Room 104 key from the owner.
"Come on Luci, let's head upstairs."
"Oh... yea sure," Luci said, still dazed by the entire conversation.
Luci and Starlight head upstairs to Room 104. The halls are decrepit and dirty much like the rest of the building.
"Here you go Luci," Starlight said, handing Luci the room key.
Luci takes the room key and opens the door. The apartment is in relatively bad condition with old floorboards and peeling wallpaper. There's a small table and chair and tiny kitchen on one side of the room while the other side has two windows, a couch, small coffee table, and tiny television. There are two more rooms that lead to a small bathroom and small bedroom.
"Would you believe me if I said this is one of the better apartments?" Starlight giggled. "Anyway, this your room now, I hope it's somewhat to your liking."
"I grew up on a rock farm Starlight, I don't need anything extravagant," Luci snickered. "Thank you... Starlight, I really do appreciate what you did for me... but I have to ask you something."
"If it's about what I did downstairs, it was the only thing I could do Luci. I wanted to get you someplace convenient and this was the only place that fit the bill... I don't like using methods like that, but in today's society... sometimes that's all you can do."
"I see... well in any case, thank you Starlight. By the way you didn't tell me you were Princess Twilight's adviser!"
"I was going to tell you, but I wanted you to get settled in first. Tomorrow morning I'll help you find a place to work, we've got a lot of things to do! Make sure you set your alarm since you can't really tell when morning is anymore."
"Alright Starlight, but I have one more question to ask you if you don't mind."
"What is it?"
"Who's Willow?"
Starlight suddenly becomes worried.
"You mentioned her before and it seemed to really scare the other ponies... is she someone important or—"
"Luci... I'll tell you about her tomorrow or something, but there's one thing you should know," Starlight said ominously.
"W-What is it?" Luci quivered.
"Don't ever say her name out loud in public, or if you can, avoid saying it in general... it's dangerous, do you understand?"
"Umm... not really but... if you say not to say it then I won't... I'll wait till tomorrow," Luci said nervously.
"I'm sorry to scare you, but it's really for the best. Now why don't you go get some rest, you've definitely had a long day. I'll knock on your door first thing in the morning." Starlight said, turning around and leaving the room.
"Welcome to Ponyville, Luci."