3rd Hematite, 222
The aromas in the sole establishment in Shadytrails were enticing this morning, if repetitive. There wasn’t much in the way of food variety to be home-grown yet, but Silver Rush didn’t mind too much. His current staple was a bowl of cream of wheat, complimented with a blueberry muffin and a glass of strawberry juice. The bat-pony almost marvelled at how large and puffy Shortstack could bake those muffins.
After acquiring his edibles, Silver eyed an open chair next to one of the relative newcomers: a light brown unicorn with tangerine irises. Can’t hurt to say hello, right? I wonder what her story is? Whistling a tune before taking his seat in the wooden chair beside the mare, the fanged stallion opens with a fairly mundane question, “Beautiful morning, isn’t it?”
The unicorn quickly looked up from her food and at the stallion next to her. “Yes, quite… Is there a reason you’re here?” She asks, taking no clues at all that he simply wanted to talk. Her food was boring enough, a few minutes of awkward silence in between bites would just make it worse and all.
He senses that his question has not received a warm welcome, but Silver is not deterred so easily. After swallowing a bit of his muffin, he continues, “Oh, it’s just that I prefer not to eat alone. That, and it’s also a habit of mine to get to know those who share their home with me.” He chuckles and waves a hoof up towards the ceiling, reaffirming that all the current residents do, in fact, share a house at this moment in time. “The name’s Silver Rush. I don’t believe I caught your name when you first showed up.”
She nods idly, not really listening to everything he says. “Yes…” She mumbles, taking a bite of her whatever -she had not really taken much care in getting her share of the food. However, the question about her name caught her ear immediately. “Oh. Yes… Lucky Lands. I suppose the griffoness in charge of this dump hasn’t informed the populace?”
The bat-pony’s ears flinch upon hearing his new home referred to as a dump, but he chalks the rude comment up to her simply not being used to the way things are here yet. “Well, she did, but I don’t recall her mentioning names specifically. If Ms. Hookbill had done so, I must not have heard.” He pauses for a moment to take down some spoons of his creamed wheat, thinking about Lucky Land’s attitude. This one’s a tough nut to crack. “So, where did you call home before you ventured out to this ‘dump’?”
She shrugs. “Various camps, quite a few military outposts. Many places. Sure, I have a hometown, buuut considering you asked me…” She takes another bite of her food, taking the time to think for a second. “Iiiii think you should divulge the information yourself.”
“Sure thing! I come from Hackamore Basin. Ever heard of it? I wouldn’t be surprised if you hadn’t. It’s a pretty small town and it’s even more sparsely populated right now due to the local lead mines shutting down. Actually, that’s why I’m here myself: looking for employment to replace my old mining job.” He takes an enjoyable swig of red juice and throws another question or two at his neighbor, “So, you said something about the military? Are you a soldier yourself or maybe married to one? Commendable career choice.”
She pulls back slightly as the bat pony takes a swig, sighing. “Yes… If you hadn’t noticed, I am a mercenary on hire. I assume that says all that needs to be said about my profession. If you want specifics, you’ll have to make that known.”
Stopping short when he prepared to take in another spoon, he mulls over that term. Mercenary? Surely Ms. Hookbill wouldn’t have allowed somepony in who was dangerous? Perhaps I shouldn’t be too quick to judge her, though. Maybe she just wants to help us. “I suppose all the gritty details aren’t really necessary. I do wonder, did Ms. Hookbill hire your services, Ms. Lands? To help aid the local guard...?” He then stumbles onward with a half-hearted joke, “...or should I sleep with one eye open tonight? Hehehe.”
She chuckles. “Noooo, noo… I was hired by a third party in this. Iiii’m not allowed to divulge the information in my contract though. Apologies for that.” She takes another bite of her food. “I’m sure you’re dying to know.”
The gray-coated stallion relaxes a bit after hearing her take the joke in stride, “Oh that’s quite alright, heh. I respect confidentiality.” He decides to turn the conversation away from the potentially morbid subject, “Any friends join you on your journey here?”
“This griffon by the name of Fargo… At least, that’s the only one I would call a friend to be brutally honest.” She chuckles. “Damn griffon was near crazy with boredom by the time we got close to the town. Should’ve seen ‘im.” Lucky begins, chuckling to herself as she recounts to story in her head. “Beesides that… The other ponies in the trip didn’t interest me. Either they weren’t sociable or… Or I didn’t like them much.”
He finished his muffin as she spoke, recalling a large eagle-lion in their company, “I think I may know who you are talking about. That really big guy? Hard to miss.” Silver washes the baked good down with more of the strawberry squeezings as he addresses her last statement, “Understandable. Not all ponies seem to be compatible. I do try my best to hammer down positive relationships with those I encounter, but there’s one guy here that just doesn’t want anything to do with me: one Mr. Jack Pine. He’s a little on the short side and needs a good shave. Couldn’t mistake him for anypony else. Not sure what he has against me.”
She shrugs, setting the crude bowl down on an empty seat next to them. “This... Jack Pine? I do not believe I’ve met him… And, to be quite blunt, some ponies just plain don’t like others.”
“Yeah, I think he’s like that. Everypony else around here is fairly nice so far as I can tell.” The copper-eyed equine finishes off his bowl as well, “Well, it was nice talking to you, Ms. Lands! Time for me to head off and start my shift. Ore doesn’t dig itself up!”
“Uh… Yes… Have fun.” She mumbles as her horn lights up. “Pick up your mess next time…” She mumbles as she collects the discarded bowls and cups.
“I was going to…but um, thanks.” He shrugs as he watches the mare retrieve his used dishes.