This takes place shortly after the migrant wave on 16th Slate.
After another long day of honest, hard work, Lodestone and Breccia were making their way to the dining hall to find something warm to eat. The snow had long cleared up at least, so there was no snow in Breccia’s mane for Lodestone to fuss over this time, and he immediately sets off to fetch a bit of food for the two of them. He didn’t need to ask what she wanted, it was pretty much the same thing every other night. Hopefully they still had a few veggies to go with the eggs that seemed to have exploded overnight in volume.
As Lodestone goes to procure their supper, Breccia searches for a table. Seated in one corner of the dining hall was what appeared to be a young couple eating their dinner. The stallion was scrawny and poorly dressed, but seemed in good spirits, and seemed to be talking about something. The mare seemed more subdued but seemed to be trying to listen to the other while eating her ostrich egg salad, though she seemed less than entirely interested in whatever he was saying.
Lodestone finally returns after a few minutes of search balancing a pair of plates carrying some scrambled eggs and a few greens of some variety or another. He finds Breccia still standing, failing to feign disinterest in something. “What’s the matter dear?”
She gives an innocent nod toward the couple to her side. “I think that’s one of the new couples. Don’t you think? What do you say we say hello?” Lodestone frowns a bit, but relents and gives her an approving nod. “This seat taken?” Breccia asks the two, laying a hoof on the table next to the mare.
Bittersweet perks up, happy for an interruption of her dear husband’s long winded explanation of the importance of rock farming. “No, please sit.” she says. “I don’t believe we have met yet. My name is Bittersweet, and this is my husband Clever-Cleaver.”
Clever looks confused for a moment then says, “Greetings.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Lodestone replies, offering a hoof to whoever would take it. “I’m Lodestone, and this is Breccia.”
The mare sits across from him, next to Bittersweet. “So, you two came in with the last group of newcomers?”
Clever-Cleaver nods and interrupts before Bittersweet can answer. “Yes. We arrived with the last group of migrants. I am a doctor. Places like this tend to need my kind of expertise. Thus we moved out here.” answers the unicorn firing out the sentences in rapid sequence.
“Oh, a doctor?” Lodestone asks. “Yes, I’ve been thinking for some time now we needed another doctor. I believe we have a surgeon, but it never hurts to have another well trained physician.”
Breccia nods and stirs her food a bit. “What about you, dear?” she asks Bittersweet.
“I am...was a siege operator, but since Tacticssmiles has no use for those skills, I’m going to be falling back on what I did before, which was cooking.” responds Bittersweet.
“Another surgeon?” responds Clever-Cleaver, “I am trained as a surgeon specifically. Would be interesting to speak with them. Must compare notes at some point. Do you know his name?”
Lodestone shakes his head and grabs a mouthful of food. “To be perfectly honest I’m not entirely sure we have another surgeon. I believe I just heard somepony say that at some point or another. We’ve been fortunate enough not to need one so far.”
Breccia continues to pick at her food and tosses a gray hair from her face. “A siege operator? That sounds exciting,” she says to Bittersweet. “I suppose you’re right that we don’t have much use for that, which is for the best if you ask me.” She samples her food before saying, “I believe another cook, especially one who has a bit of experience behind her, would be most welcome though.”
Bittersweet looks off in the direction of the kitchens for a moment before saying, “Well...I’ll do my best with what we have.” A moment passes and then she said, “Oh, forgive me, we haven’t asked about you two yet. Where are you two from?” After she asks the question her tentacle wraps around her fork which she uses to take a small bite of her food.
“Oh, I’m sure you’ll do fine,” Breccia answers before taking another bite of the eggs on her plate. “And we’ve called half a dozen caves and small towns home over the years, but we’re both from a modest sized cave a few hundred miles away named Milky Quartz.”
Lodestone swallowed another large helping of food and asks, “So where are you two from? If they needed a siege operator it must have been a large place. Or were you part of the legions?”
Clever is the first to respond. “We were both born into the Ashler caste. I worked as a butcher until I was 14. Bittersweet was a cook at that time. We both lived in Stalliongrad, though we didn’t know each other yet. I worked to become a field medic in the legions, where I got most of my hooves on training. When I turned 20 I left the Legions and started up a private practice in my hometown. That’s when we met.
Bittersweet takes over the story at this part. “When I met Clever I had been working as a cook for years, but I wasn’t really happy there. My talent is cooking yes, but well, when you work in a restaurant owned by someone else, the ‘cooking’ you do isn’t nearly the same thing. I’m not sure what it was that drove me to seek to join the Partisan caste, but I did so, and found I had a bit of a knack for working the artillery on the outer walls of the city. I only just had my ceremony to join the new caste last year.”
Breccia nods in understanding. “I don’t have it with me at the moment, but I’ve been working a crossbow for better part of my life, so I think I can sympathize. It’s not quite the same thing, but perhaps you’d be interested in trying something like that?”
Lodestone smiles and sits back a bit. “Yes, the two of us have been quite the pair for many, many years now. She brings the critters home, and I turn them into useful leather. There hasn’t been a lot of demand for that around here yet, but enough to keep me busy at least.”
Bittersweet nods softly, “So, how did you two meet.” she asks.
“You’re talking about a long time ago, but really we’ve known each other pretty much all of our lives. Both born and raised in Milky Quartz.” Breccia pushes her empty plate aside slightly and turns to get a better look at the mare next to her. “We were good friends since foalhood, and one thing led to another I suppose.”
Lodestone chuckles and grins. “I’m sure a couple like you have a more interesting story than that?”
“Oh, I don’t think it is all that interesting.” replies Bittersweet.
Clever Cleaver follows in his usual rapid form or speech, “When I moved back to Stalliongrad I set up my practice down the street from the restaurant Bittersweet worked at. Of course we hadn’t met yet. We met when she burned herself on the right foreleg at work. They brought her to my office and I treated the wound.”
Bittersweet smiles and then adds, “And then he came to my work every day after that until I finally married him.”
Clever looks at her then back to the elderly couple, “Yes, it was important to check up on the wound to make sure it was healing properly...and you had the best curly hay fries in town.”
Bittersweet rolls her eyes and gives her husband a playful push.
Lodestone chuckles and nods. “Well, I’d say that’s a bit more interesting than just being foalhood sweethearts. And if you really make the best curly hay fries then I’m looking forward to seeing what you can do,” he adds with a gesture toward the kitchen.
Breccia nods herself. “Yes, the current cook is doing a good job, but things have been a bit bland lately. Although I suppose there’s only so much you can do with the ingredients we have.” She looks between the two. “So, why did you decide to move out here?”
“Oh,” replies Bitter, “That was his Clever idea.” she nudges her husband.
“Working my practice in the city was...uninteresting.” begins the doctor pony, “Treating scraps and little cuts, and colds and such. Very important work, but dull, and took up most of my day. More interesting cases got taken to Stalliongrad hospital. Considered getting work there. But they work long hours. No time for independent research. But then had idea to come to frontier. More good to be done out here where doctors are scarce. Smaller customer pool means time for research, and new settlements tend to be...interesting.”
“That makes sense,” Lodestone says. He leans back and points at his wife. “As for us, it was Breccia’s idea to move here. I think it was mostly because it would be ‘interesting.’”
The aging mare smirks. “Yes, things weren’t really going anywhere back home, so when I heard about the opportunities out here I thought it was an interesting chance. It hasn’t been quite what I expected, but it certainly hasn’t been boring.”
Bittersweet tries to think of a polite way to ask why ponies of their age would be out here looking for that kind of excitement but fails to think of one and instead says, “Well that’s good to hear. Just so long as things don’t get too interesting, if you take my meaning. We are a long way from the capital’s walls.”
Lodestone rolls his own eyes and decides against mentioning his disapproval of the idea in general. “Yes, I know what you mean. Still, fortunately it’s been pretty sedate around here so far. The parasprites are the worst of it, other than the fact that it seems to get very cold during the winters.”
Breccia says, “Yes, the parasprites have been a bit of a nuisance, but it’s been pretty quiet otherwise. Very pleasant.”
Having finished his plate Clever Cleaver stands up, “It has been nice meeting you. However I have some items to attend to. I have asked Patience to have the miners dig me out an office, but until then I’ll be working out of our room. Please come by if you have any issues to discuss.”
Bittersweet stands as well, “Yes, it was nice meeting you Lodestone, Breccia, but I should go over to the kitchens and see how I can help out. We will talk again soon I hope.”
The two older ponies wave them off, and Lodestone says, “Looking forward to it. Don’t be a stranger.”
After Clever Cleaver and Bittersweet are out of earshot, Breccia gives her husband a playful smile and says, “Now, see, wasn’t I right? Didn’t they turn out to be a lovely couple?”
“You always are,” Lodestone says, mirroring her expression.
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Topic: Tacticssmile, the Rainbow Fortress (Community Fort) (Read 5607 times)