2nd Hematite, 222
It was midday and the unicorn Patina Dreams was busy in her work
shopspace, 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.