((It is a bit of a predicament, where to put this scene in time. Late autumn 258, I suppose. After the conquest of the badger pony hill and before the end of winter 258 and before Jaxler gets arrested.))
((I wanted to wait for the conclusion of Stiletto being accused by Glaive, but this scene has little relevance with that, so I might as well get it out of the way.))
Indigo has easy access to planned constructions as a mason. What he saw was unbelievable. He confirmed it with Mortar and decided to go see Virtue immediately. He knocks, and walk into her office, visibly angry. "Hello, Lady Virtue. It seems, you have made a big mistake."
Virtue flinches at the expression on his face and the accusation he was making. Was this going to become routine? Today was already turning into one of those days, where she wanted to go lock herself in her room and pretend, she was ill. Maybe she would be shortly, regardless. "A... mistake? What do you mean?" she cautiously asks.
Upon seeing her expression, he closes his eyes, calms down a bit, then begins. "Sorry. I know, this is no way to talk to a superior." He sighs. "Stiletto is building a mansion on a hill overlooking Dawnpick. Don't you see any problem with that?"
She cocks her head. "I'm concerned for her safety outside the walls, but is there something else I should know? Another problem?"
"Saftey? No, she can and will defend herself." he frowns.
Besides there is some kind of shack to the south. I it is probably a hunter's lounge, and nopony lives there, but there weren't any problems with it being outside the walls so far. "Anyway, are the funds for the mansion coming from Dawnpick's treasury?"
So that's what this was about. Well, looks like she might get off a bit easier than she expected. "No, no, of course not. She's paying for it herself. Apparently her family is quite wealthy and sent her the money for it."
Ah... so this will at least improve the trade with caravans. "Good, but have you even seen the plans for how big this thing is? You must have. It is obviously above her station. A mansion on a hill overlooking the town is going to give the impression, that she is the ruler and owner of Dawnpick. Doesn't this bother you? Or what the Crown will think about it, when the liaison looks at the mansion and presents his report? She is a stranger among us, and holds no position of authority."
"It doesn't bother me, no," she replies, trying to digest the rest of what he said. "It might be above her station, as you put it, but if she has the money for it, I don't see why titles should keep her from having it. She might not be able to do something like this in Coupledye, but the laws governing the allocation of land and restrictions based on position in these lands fall to me." She shrugs slightly. "If she can afford it and wants it, I don't see why she shouldn't have it. I'd do the same for you or anypony else here."
"Look around you. Her influence over this town grows. If this continues, soon she will be the de-facto ruler."
She is keeping her side. Why am I not surprised. "She wants a nice house, that she can afford and has a number of friends, but she's not trying to be the ruler of anypony," Virtue replies. Why couldn't Indigo just see that? She wasn't perfect. Nopony was, but she wasn't trying to steal leadership from Virtue. She'd never do that.
At the very least she and her friends will move outside the wall. "Fine, not my decision. But I won't put my hoof nor horn to the construction of this outward representation of her... her immoderation, to put it lightly. I can do other things around the camp, but not this. Oh, one more thing, I've heard, she told the soldiers to help her kill some pony badgers on that hill, so we can get more wood. She never mentioned, it was for her mansion. I wonder, what she'll do if something else stands in her way to whatever she wants at the moment. Don't you? Is the militia her personal guard now? And when I said, that she should be exiled, I didn't mean it that way."
((Telgin: don't even bother disabling his masonry in-game during the construction of her new house, this is just for RP.))
Virtue considers what he just told her. Clearing the hills to allow Ashwood and the other woodcutters to work without fear was a good thing of course, but it did seem a bit strange for her not to mention to anypony what else she had planned. "She's not going to hurt or undercut anypony, Indigo." She lets out a weak sigh. "Naginata is still her superior in the militia. Nothing is going to change about that. And Stiletto hasn't done anything to be exiled for." She lets out another sigh. "But if you feel this strongly about it... I won't ask you to help build it. There is still some work that can be done with the walls here."
Indigo looks at her expression, then speaks in calmer voice. “Whenever I talk to you about her, I'm under the impression, that you think, that me pointing out the problems with her is more of a bother, than whatever outrageous thing she does at the moment. Why is this?”
She looks down briefly, and in a low voice replies, "Indigo... it's not that I think that you or your concerns are a bother. If you're upset, I do care." She returns her gaze to him. "It's just that... I thought all of this was behind us. About her, that is." Her expression grows a bit weary. "I'm just trying to mitigate the conflict as much as I can..." Perhaps she was doing a poor job of that, and maybe it wasn't her place to try to quell the arguing between them, but she couldn't just sit there and watch it grow worse without trying to help. Not that Indigo likely saw her attempts as being much 'help.'
I understand. I'm sorry that I can't make you see things my way and that I'm putting you through so much stress. I just... believe in facing problems more, then trying to diffuse them. And it in definitely not behind us, her obscenity only grows. “I'll go back to work now.”
I'll get no help here. Indigo nods and slowly leaves Virtue's office. He feels, as if he was pushing against an unmoveable object the whole day and looks older and tired. He gets through the rest of his shift, and goes back to sleep early.
As Indigo leaves, Virtue places a hoof to her forehead, shuts her eyes and slowly shakes her head. This stress was going to kill her. She didn't want to upset Indigo any more, and she did genuinely care that he was upset. But at the same time Stiletto's new home didn't bother her and she couldn't bring herself to tell her that she couldn't have it because she wasn't important enough. She stands and goes to lock the door to her office. Normally she wouldn't leave for the day for another half hour, but she needed to lie down for a little while and try to forget all of this.
Author
Topic: Dawnpick (My Little Fortress) (Read 236321 times)