//------------------------------//
// Sarosian Rehabilitation Services 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

"See? How does it feel?" Meyneth asked, standing and watching Valey with a final look of long-withheld approval, four equal-size, fancily prepared and frankly generous sandwiches plated up and the kitchen cleaned around them. "Go on, bone bag, and share them with your friends."

Valey was beyond the point of retorting to the nickname. "Nguhhh... You guys better think this is six-star Karma Industries warehouse cuisine, or something, because I'm pretty sure I busted every bit of pride I had making it. So much for making friends with the kitchen staff..."

Meyneth took one for herself, chomping down with a crunch of greenery and nodding acceptably. "It's less important how it stacks up to fancy foreign restaurants and more important that you made it yourself. Food always tastes better when you work for it, and so does your confidence in your own abilities when you're not mooching or swindling."

"Rommmff..." Valey gulped, swallowing without bothering to chew. "Yeah, but..." She wiped her tongue around her mouth and swallowed again. "What if I'm good at mooching and swindling? And no offense, but I'm pretty sure I'd be just as satisfied with a quick run to rob some orchards somew-" Whap! "Ow!" Valey rubbed the back of her head. "Knock that off!"

"It looks like I'll have a lot longer yet before I get through that dense skull of yours," Meyneth sighed. "Young sarosians these days always have no idea how to be productive members of society."

Maple gave an awkward smile, holding her sandwich as she ate. "You know, we came along hoping to see what we could find too, and I think all of us were ready and expecting to pay. How come you're not being hard on me and Starlight?"

Meyneth shook her head. "Because you're not the ones society has singled out as interlopers or pests. Izvaldi is lucky to have a lord like Percival who runs the place so that hooligans like her can run amok and do whatever they want to, but guess what? The rest of the nation is watching. And if we behave like opportunistic bums and try to get while the getting's good, then this is as good as the getting will get. We can't run around grabbing every advantage we see just because we need to do it to survive in other parts of the world. This is a dry run for sarosiankind joining the rest of the Empire's civilization, and what's more important than anything is that we prove to them we can be civilized."

Valey blinked, sandwich half-poking out of her mouth. Slowly, she set it down. "Y'know, you could have just said that in the first place."

"What, and be forgotten the moment you were on your way?" Meyneth frowned. "You'd just offer to get food somewhere else and leave. But you bet your roly-poly biscuits you're not forgetting this any time soon."

"Would you please make up your mind which way you want to insult my weight...?" Valey groaned, reddening slightly and slumping. "It's normal! Right in the middle! Not... gah..."

Meyneth nodded in appraisal. "The first thing you'll need to do is kick that defiant streak. I doubt it'll be a simple matter to turn a scruffy urchin like you polite and courteous, but that'll be your job to work on. It's less about pleases and thank yous and holding the door and more about how you carry yourself... Chin off the table!" She tapped Valey's nose again with her rolling pin. "You want to know what makes an impression? When someone calls you a bone bag and you take it with your shoulders straight and your head held high! Not yelling at someone you think is weaker than you and rolling over like a sea cucumber when it doesn't work."

Again, Maple tried to intervene. "She really does have a lot to worry about already, and this is kind of a deprecating etiquette lesson..."

"It is," Meyneth agreed. "Unfortunately, the world doesn't wait for you to sort out personal problems before hitting you with its best shot, and I know all too well what that looks like. I've had a lot of girls under my employ throughout the years, dating back to before Izvaldi was so tolerant a place, and a lot of them are carrying so much you'd think their backs were broken seeing them walk down the hall. Valey can complain all she wants, but if she couldn't take it, I wouldn't dish it out. There's a lot of fire left in that girl." She took a long sigh. "Besides, what are the odds of me seeing you again any time soon? This is my one chance to make an impression. I'm working with what I've got."

Valey raised an eyebrow. "I might not be coming back? Yeah, I wonder why..." She snorted. "If you wanted to bait me, there's an easy way to do it."

"No bribery," Meyneth declared, "and that's final. But if there's anything you want and you show up when we're not busy, I would teach you how to make it free of charge."

"I don't suppose that applies to me, too?" Maple asked hopefully, trying yet again to get a hoof in the conversation. "I enjoy myself a lot in the kitchen."

"Well, I don't see why not," Meyneth relented. "You've got the look of someone who's seen plenty of troubles too, though you don't seem vindictive about it or relentlessly judged."

"You'd be surprised," Maple whispered. "My old house was destroyed by a mob who didn't like that I was associating with strangers from out of town... I didn't fly across an ocean because I fit right in with everything."

"And vindictive?" Valey raised a suspicious eyebrow. "Lady, I spent most of my life getting booed at and mistrusted by this dumb city even though I went out of my way to keep the peace and never did anything worse than causing some major headaches, and even though I owed them nothing, I still risked my life saving them from a giant berserk tyrannical yak. You call that vindictive?"

Meyneth matched her gaze. "And did they thank you for that, either?"

"No? What do you think?" Valey tipped her head, teeth faintly bared.

"They didn't, did they?" Meyneth countered with her own eyebrow. "And are you fine with that?"

Valey didn't even need to answer, Meyneth setting her hooves down and finishing the last bite of her sandwich. "It's probably asking too much for you to be. In an ideal world, things like that would be recognized, and you wouldn't even have to ask. But consider what would do more good in the long run: if you shrugged it off and went back to help someone else in need even if you had already been denied a reward, or if you curled up and complained until the world worked the way you wanted it to."

"Yeah, well, there's a difference between being the world's nicest nice guy and a random crook," Valey pouted. "I show up when the world needs saving, don't do anything too nasty on the villain scale... If any of those chumps in Ironridge actually knew what went down, I'm pretty sure they'd rather have me stop an invasion than carry myself with dignity and poise and all that."

"Or," Starlight added, replying to Meyneth, "you could change the world so it did work the way you wanted it to and everything was fair."

Meyneth seemed to realize she was there, eyes widening slightly and then softening. "That's the job of people like Percival and Chauncey," she softly lectured, "and even they can just put a little weight on our side."

"Yeah, I hate to break it to you..." Valey stretched, then grinned, starting to recover from the relentless cooking session. "But a little weight? We're practically professional heavyweights at this stuff. You wanna make a bet? How about this: we change the entire Empire's stance on batponies, and you make me all the cake and goodies I can eat. Deal?"

"You're an idiot," Meyneth laughed. "But I'd like to see you try. I'd make you a cake if you could even flip one province to treat us like Izvaldi... One of the harder ones, like Stormhoof or Everlaste. Who knows? Maybe you really are all you make yourself out to be. You're certainly a capable chef, when you put your mind to it."

Valey winced and rubbed the back of her head. "Only because you used your weird magic to fix a million and one random things... Cheffing really isn't my strong suit."

"That's why you learn and get better." Meyneth poked her again. "And my brand really isn't that special. All it does is take spoiled or damaged food and make it whole again, when it's a minor task. Appropriate, since my life's work seems to be taking damaged mares and getting them back on their hooves..."

Valey raised an eyebrow. "Y'know, it sounds like you'd actually be kinda alright if you could lay off poking me and insulting me and bossing me around."

Meyneth glared at her. "It's called tough love, and like I said you're only seeing it because I can tell you can take it. Count yourself lucky, bone bag. Resilience is one of the most important things you can have."

"And friends," Maple added. "You're talking about all the ponies who work for you?"

"The mansion's cleaning and cooking staff," Meyneth sighed. "I've been in charge of it for longer than Percival's been alive. I get first and final word in who stays and who goes, and it's been a long and tiring road that's ultimately very fulfilling whenever one of my girls makes it out and up into the world. Some are like you, and only need a lesson that they don't need to be at the top of the world to get by. Others need uplifting instead. So yes, and friends."

Maple nodded. "So earlier, when you said you were here in case anyone needed it..."

"My girls." Meyneth nodded back. "They should all have the day off, but I'm sure at least one or two aren't feeling up to it. So I'm here for anyone who needs me..." She drew a breath, then pointed at Valey. "And that includes you, bone bag. You may not work for me, but if you ever need an ear to complain to, I'm always here."

"I get it." Valey looked forlornly at her empty plate. "Yeah, sounds like a hard job. Not really my thing, so props for putting up with all that. Guess I can't blame you for expecting the worst and being hard, but seriously..." She looked up and glared. "If you keep calling me bone bag, I'm calling you old hag, and that's final."

"Heh. Fair's fair," Meyneth chuckled. "I take it that means you'll be coming back after all."

Valey gave a sidelong grin. "Eh... maaaybe. You do keep going on about all your girls... batponies, right? As in-"

"That depends," Meyneth interrupted, not missing a beat, "on your idea of eligibility. Care for a list of what you'd be hitting on, you horny bum?"

Valey blinked. "Uhh..."

"One of my girls is missing a hind leg after stepping on a land mine in Gyre," Meyneth began, locking down Valey's gaze. "Still one of the warmest souls I've met, but good luck if all you're looking for is a look. Another can't stand being touched, and has scars on her back to show why. Yet another has major abandonment issues, and would abhor the idea of a short fling. Several are either straight, already in committed relationships, or pregnant, so good luck with those, and don't even get me started on Crystal."

"Crystal?" Valey blinked.

Meyneth sighed and shook her head. "Didn't I just tell you not to get me started, bone bag? Crystal is one of the rare girls I've never had any luck with. She's somehow related to Chauncey, though something terrible must've happened in their past because they aren't on speaking terms, ever. I have a hunch it relates to Percival's father, though nothing to confirm it. Either way, she spends all her time quiet and alone, and he wanders around treating those Firefly Sisters like family while ignoring his actual relations. As much as he's done for us here in Izvaldi, that old coot can be dense as a brick at times..."

Maple gave a resigned smile. "Why do we always run into so many ponies who need help? I always feel like I need to do something, and I haven't even met her. How much trouble do you think we'll get in this time if I decide I won't be able to rest while she's in trouble?"

"You mean like bailing me out in Ironridge?" Valey raised an eyebrow. "Beats me. Probably just however much trouble not being able to rest causes."

Starlight swallowed another bite of her sandwich, savoring it much more easily than Valey. "She could always tell you some dark secret about Chauncey that makes us enemies of the state for knowing."

Meyneth shrugged. "I'm well aware of what it feels like to be unable to leave another pony in need, and trust me, working on that has cost me my entire life so far. If you don't fancy yourself devoting your whole lifespan to seeing others become their better selves and still having a world full of wrongs and problems when it's over, you're better off seeing to yourselves and leaving the cleanup to me."

Suddenly, there was a screech and a crash from the hall outside the kitchen, and a mare's voice rose in frustration. "Aaargh! Not again... The balance is all wrong!"

"I wonder who that could possibly be," Meyneth muttered, glancing at the door with no curiosity whatsoever and not bothering to get up.

"Uhhh... ugh!" the mare grunted from the hallway. "Seaweed! I'm stuck! Nooooo! Meyneth, help!"

"Speaking of certain sunny personalities..." Meyneth pushed herself to her hooves. "It looks like you'll get to meet one of my girls today after all."