2nd Hematite, 222
It was midday and the unicorn Patina Dreams was busy in her workshopspace, she had a lump of stone on her table, and was carefully chipping away at it with a chisel and hammer held aloft by her magical touch. She had a book next to her open which she referenced before each strike.
A shimmer of light comes off this mare, hitting Lucky Lands in the eye, the source, the unicorn mare’s gold. She had a circlet around her head, pierced by her horn, and bracelets around both forelegs. Such opulent wealth had no business being in such a place as Shadytrails.
Lucky blinks for a moment after nearly being blinded. “Gah… That stuff yours?” She asks, still blinking, turning slightly.
Patina blushes, “Oh.. I’m sorry, did it shine in your eye… I just cleaned them this morning. Sorry… but yes, they are mine.”
The unicorn nods and her vision unblurs itself moments later. “So… You own these?” She asks, looking at the various jewels, admiring them -even if she didn’t want to admit it. “They’re quite expensive looking…”
Patina nods looking at her right bracelet, “I assume so… they were gifts though, and I’ve never had them appraised.”
Lucky shrugs. “They look nice… A bit uh… too nice to be a luxury to a common pony.” She chuckles. “You get dragged to this dump through contracts and stuff too?”
The young unicorn places her hammer and chisel down on the table, “Oh… well… this is the first time I’ve ever been on a job quite like this. But… Mistress Isolde took me in and gave me work when I really needed it… so here I am.”
“Oh. So the griffoness cares for you? A mother figure, I assume?” She asks, backing up slightly from the table, turning to face her fully.
“Mhmm, no… not like that. Just a… patron. She has money and resources, and I have skills she wants and needs… so I offered to serve her, and she accepted,” Patina gestures to the half finished wood and stone sawmill behind her.
“Ah… Well, I assume you’re being paid well for all of this? Such high quality work deserves high quality pay.” Lucky asks, examining the sawmill as she speaks.
“Paid?” Patina looks genuinely confused by the notion.
Lucky sighs, turning to face her. “Money, gold… The thing that turns the world.”
“Oh… I don’t know. Maybe in a year or two, when we have everything set up, and things to trade with other places, I could get a stipend… but we never discussed it. I trust Mistress Isolde will give us what we need to get by.”
“Ah. Well, if the griffon decides to avoid paying, I suppose you’ll be needing some form of pay? Most ponies don’t work for no pay.” She trots closer to Patina, keeping a respectable distance between the two.
Patina looks a bit uncomfortable, “I don’t… I mean… Mistress Isolde is very kind. You just got here, so you wouldn’t know that, but she is. She isn’t going to just toss me back out on the street.”
She shrugs. “Juuust saying and all.” She lifts a hoof, looking down towards it. “Should you ever need some money, I can let you borrow some from my pay. Provided you can pay it back and all.”
“Oh. That is very generous of you,” Patina says happily, “I will remember your offer if I need it, but I don’t believe I will. Thank you anyway.”
She nods. “Anyways… You work with masonry and all this, yes? Oor is it a hobby?”
Patina nods proudly, “I am a trained architect and mason… but my true passion is for my art. Metal crafting, stone carving… The sand here is good for making glass… I haven’t done that before, but when the sawmill is working, I might give it a try too. If Mistress Isolde says I can.”
Lucky nods before chuckling. “Any reason you call her Mistress? I’m sure the griffon won’t mind being talked to without any honorific, no?”
“Is Mistress the wrong honorific?” Patina looks embarrassed, “I’m sorry, it seemed like the one that best fit her position.”
Lucky shakes her head. “Nooo, nooo. Mistress sounds too formal… At least for now. Wait until she hobnobs with the wealthy. Then use Mistress.” She chuckles.
“Until… but… isn’t she already wealthy? She’s organized this whole expedition,” Patina says with some surprise.
“The wealth is most likely in the debts she has by now.” She explains. “The cost to outfit and maintain something, even if it’s this small, would be too much to handle with one person’s payroll. Maybe she is wealthy enough to handle the costs with no debts, but in my opinion?” She chuckles, raising her hoof again, inspecting the underside. “She’s swimming in debts.”
“I… see…” Patina says with the voice of somepony that has just realized they may have made a terrible mistake, “But… still, Shadytrails should be very profitable for her in the long run. Right?”
She shrugs. “Probably. Don’t know enough about the intended purpose besides some Confederacy backing her.”
“Oh? Didn’t she tell you when she interviewed all of you?” Patina asks.
Lucky shakes her head. “Nah. It was mainly me explaining the terms of my hiring.”
“Oh… well, we are situated right on a crossroads of at least two trade routes. We’ll be able to offer a place to rest and things to trade to merchants passing through this area… once we are step up of course… which requires me to get this blasted saw mill working… it’d be so much easier if I had some steel…”
“Ah… Well… Interesting. Unsure if it’ll make the money required.” She says before shrugging. “I suppose the bat should get to work then, eh?”
“Silver Rush? Well, he did find some lead and silver ore already, just no iron yet,” Patina gets a dreamy look in her eye, “but think, we are sitting right here on a motherload of silver… I can’t wait to get at it. Trust me, when we are ready, ponies will come from all over to trade for the things we make here.”
She nods. “I trust the ponies in charge to succeed, however I am required at minimum to stay here for five years, regardless of what happens soo… We’ll see how it plays out in that time, eh?”
“I suppose so… Oh gods, I’ve been so rude, I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself, my name is Patina Dreams,” the unicorn mare says suddenly realizing she doesn’t know the name of her conversation partner.
The other mare raises her hoof, chuckling at the mare’s sudden guilt. “Noo, noo. It’s fine. Lucky Lands. Pleasure to meet you.”
Patina holds out a hoof towards Lucky, “Pleasure to meet you too, Lucky Lands.”
Lucky returns the gesture, nodding before quickly removing her hoof. “If you excuse me, I have some business I need to handle. Talk to you later?”
Patina nods, “Yep, I have a sawmill to finish anyway. I’ll see you at dinner, if not before. Talk to you later.”
Lucky turns and nods, trotting off to who knows where.
As the forest won’t de-forest itself, Pine Jack is again out on the edges of camp, logging down a couple thick logs. Special requests for logs that can gap the leg deep ‘river’ this time. It seems the new migrants never learned the doggy paddle and Isolde and Patina want him to solve help the problem with lumber for a bridge.
Pine Jack leans on his axe and takes a moment to wipe the sweat off his brow. Then something above him give him an unexpected relieving bit of shade ...
The object casting the large shadow over Pine spoke out “Hello there my friend.” It then walked in front of the lumberjack. In front of him stood a griffon who was large even for his kind. He was wearing some mail made of bronze and had a halberd on his back and a shield strapped to one of his forelegs. “Mind if we talk a little?”
Pine Jack quirks a brow at him. He doesn't have many friends to start, and this new stranger sure ain’t one of them. He gives an annoyed little huff. “Sure, long as you’re comfortable walking and talking in a sec. A quota is still a quota. You’re one of the new migrants right?”
“Yes, yes. I’m indeed one of the new guys.” He was smiling, “And I don’t mind at all.” He made sure to still stand in front of the pony, and kept his eyes on him. “And, if you don’t mind me asking, how long have you been working here?”
“Been working here the past few months... Isolde claw picked me for the job. What you want me to whip out my credentials?” He slumps off his axe and moves to the next tree needing felling.
“Yes, I can see she has good choice in her workers.” He said, waiting until the pony had his back turned. “You know, I was a caravan guard a few years ago. It was good business for a while and made good money.” He kept waiting, wanting the woodcutter to swing his axe.
“Oh, good for you. Worked the Mist Valley Trade Road or the South Coast Circuit? Still wonder’in why you’re tellin’ me this enthralling information.” He says, winding up for a swing.
He kept speaking waiting for just the right moment to act. “It’s just... I think I’ve met you on the job before. Thought I’d come by and see things would suddenly click together-” As if on cue, the moment Fargo finished his sentence was punctuated by a sudden blunt pain all over jack pine's side as well as a great force bashing into him.
The wind is knocked out of him and he’s sent prone, axe skittering away from his telekinetic grip.
*Omf!* “The hell?” He angrily cries out through the pain in his side and the sudden disorientation.
Fargo lowered his shield after successfully bashing the pony to the ground with it. He then picked up the metal axe and threw it away as if it were made of wood, hoping to get it far away enough to be out of the range of the pony’s magic. “Shut up. I know exactly what you are.” He walked so he stood over the pony, and looked him dead in the eye.
“I’m clean! I’ve been out of the game for six years! Six years doin’ honest!” Jack Pine says, shakily getting to his hooves, and stumbling. “And if you’re expectin’ me to come to an epiphany an’ suddenly realize who you are? Grovlin’ with an apology? I’m sorry, but I’ve robbed a lot of caravans, I’ll need another detail or twenty.” He painfully exhales out.
“Do I look like I want an apology?” He said, before reaching down with his claws. “Your kind kill and steal as if the world yous.” He got his talon’s around the pony’s neck. It was tight, but not enough to choke the pony. “I’ve seen my fellow men die to your kind, and it’s my job to keep this town safe.” He had no way of knowing if the unicorn wasn't lying about going clean, so he chose believe it was a lie.
“Yeah?” He choked out uncomfortably. “Sympathies for ya, but never harmed a soul. Never! And not plainin’ on it!”
“Sure...” Fargo then started to lift the pony in the air, looking him coldly in the eye as he did so. “I don’t care about what you did, just what you are.” His claws tightened a little, and dig a little into the back of his neck. “Tell me what you plan on doing here.” First his group of travelers get attacked by bandits, and now he finds one among the town’s folk? He’s probably just a spy or something.
“Chopping wood, benefiting society. I’m done with that life, done look’in over my shoulders for ... “ Pine narrows his eyes at him as well. “ ... psychopaths with a grudge.”
“I am not that thing, my friend.” He starts to tighten his grip making it hard for Jack to breathe, his claws digging in deeper and starting to pierce the skin on the back of pine’s neck. “Now, tell me what you're doing here.” He spoke calmly, and leaned in towards Pine, still looking him right in the eye.
“Ask - Isolde - for - my - record -” Jack Pine gasps. “or - kill - me - go - ahead.”
Fargo kept tightening his grip, “Tell me!” That was the first time he’d let any anger show in him. He was practically choking him out. By now his talon’s were really digging in. For Jack pine it would feel as if the bird was trying to break his windpipe.
“Es-cape ...” Pine nearly whispers out, unable to breath and drifting in and out of consciousness.
The bird kept him like this for a few more moments, before suddenly loosening his grip on the pony. His claws were still dug into him though. “Damnit...” He figured if Jack was lying he’d have cracked if he was afraid of death. He didn’t though... Either this pony was really dedicated to not screwing his other bandits over, or he was telling the truth. “Tell me. Does Isolde know about your past? Do all of them know?” He waited for the stallion to catch his breath before responding.
After a minute, regaining his composure.“It’s in my public record if they want to know. Three caravans, three years. Three years busting my balls in the frozen tundra for this Company for the charge! And I was so damn good they hired me on payroll after!”
“I asked you a question. I very much expected an answer.” He tightened his grip again, though not nearly as much as before.
“No! Isolde, she might. She handled background checks ... other than that they got no reason to ...” Pine says in as earnest a tone he can for being crushed in the throat
“Alright.” loosened his grip again. “Here’s what’s going to happen then. You tell nobody about what happened here, and I don’t let it fly that you are-” he caught himself “were, a filthy a bandit and if you give me any reason to think you've lied to me here, or that you're a threat to the town, I’ll let them know, or even worse, you’ll disappear.”
Pine Jack gives him a slight solidary nod, as much as Fargo’s grip could allow, to tell him it’s been duly noted.
Fargo nodded as well. “Very good.” He then finally let go of Jack, letting him fall to the ground. He’d probably feel a lot better now that he didn't have griffon talon’s dug into his neck. “It was good talking with you.”
Pine Jack just scrambles back from the griffon, gasping.
“I’m sorry for choking you within an inch of your life, but please understand my concerns.” He said, starting to walk away, not bothering to help the pony up.
Pine Jack just rubs his throat with his hoof, coming to terms with what exactly just happened. After a couple minutes goes to his axe, which was thrown so hard it was embedded in a trunk. Ripping it back out,he bitterly asides "With good, friendly, loving neighbors like these, who the hell needs enemies?"