corralwood corral You've Lost That Loving Feeling (Bellosh & PrinceBlueblood)

[Bellosh]

 

If somepony was ever in the neighborhood of Corralwood Corral and wanted to find a watering hole that wasn’t a blatant tourist trap, they wouldn’t have to look further than Feather Jon’s. In case the name wasn’t enough of a clue, it catered to a clientele of pegasi weather workers and Naval fliers based out of the Joint Weather Station perched just offshore. With an out-of-the-way yet scenic spot next to the beach, Feather Jon’s was the perfect spot for pegasi wanting a good drink and meal, or a session of volleyball after a hard day’s work.

And this time of the year in particular, every pegasus around here worked their butts off like no tomorrow. 

Sugar Apple was one of those R&R-craving pegasi. A few years ago, she had been the Supervisor of the Royal Weather Factory’s Vaporization Department back in Cloudsdale. The sugary pegasus had done well in that job; well enough to be offered a transfer to Corralwood Joint Weather Station in the Gallopagos Islands. While Sugar loved her old job, she wasn’t able to resist the lure of increased pay, extra benefits, and an entire month’s worth of vacation time! 

What Sugar Apple didn’t reckon for was that from late summer through the middle of autumn, the Sparkling Sea’s tropical waters spawned storm after storm. While herding storms wasn’t the job Sugar signed on far, the sad truth was that the Gallopagos weather teams were woefully understaffed; hence the bonus salaries and the regular assistance of the Royal Equestrian Navy. But even then, every single pegasus capable of weather work was needed to blunt the constant onslaught of wicked weather during Hurricanter Season.

That meant Sugar Apple was up there in the hazardous skies with all the rest of the weather team grunts, Navy hotshots, and Search & Rescue personnel.

Right now was calm before the storm. For the next hour or so, Sugar Apple was free to enjoy the morning as she pleased. So she might as well spend that time sitting at the counter at Feather Jon’s, eating some island-style grub for breakfast as she listened to the Keen Logger music blaring from the jukebox. As she waited for her food, Sugar sipped on her coffee and idly gazed upon the photos and memorabilia from prior pegasi crews mounted as decorations on the walls. Sugar's eyes may have developed noticeable bags and her mane may not be all that well-groomed, but she would soon be fully prepared to take on the day's challenges.....

[Blueblood]

Nothing so noble as storm-battling had brought Earth Writer to these islands.  The former journalist, frankly, needed a vacation.  He hadn't been in a healthy environment since losing his position in the Canterlot Chronicle in disgrace, and even his new position, though it paid well, was hardly a refreshing atmosphere.  His boss had been kind enough to provide some time for him to recover himself in the tropics, but even the Gallopagos had lost its charm.  He didn't know whether it was his newly-acquired misequinthropy, or just the kitschy nature of the island's tourist infrastructure, but the unicorn found himself driven to inner mountains, or remote beaches, for relief.

 

But such places were often devoid of good food, and Earth was a bit of a foodie.  Thus, he returned to more populated areas to search for food.  A worn guidebook, bought for a bit in a used bookstore, promised that Feather John's provided a local-approved kind of cuisine, native to these islands and not designed to tickle the fancy of mainlanders with too much money to burn.  He put in his breakfast order, taking a glass of POG (pineapple orange guava) juice, taking a sip of what he was certain was liquid sunshine in disguise, and feeling just a little bit of the dark clouds part.  *I missed this.  Something honest; he squeezed and mixed this himself, and didn't get it frozen in a can.*

 

The unicorn's eyes opened, ready to take in the world... and lit upon the one mare he never expected to and always worried about meeting again.  The surprise was enough for the magical grip on his glass to slip, splashing his entire front in the bright-colored juice.  "Horseapples!"  He expleted, loud enough to remove any possibility of avoiding Sugar Apple's notice.  Nonetheless, he directed a nervous glance her way, in case the Sisters were so merciful.

 

On the possibility that they were not, the pegasus mare would behold a sorry sight.  Gone was the bright, happy, and optimistic up-and-coming reporter that had once frolicked and whispered sweet nothings to her in the Canterlot parks.  In his place was a frankly disheveled stallion, even without the juice dripping off his coat.  He'd neglected to shave, his jacket and hat were rumpled and worn, and his overall attitude was that of a pony who had fought the world and lost.

[Bellosh]

 

When somepony hears the sound of a loud spill followed by a forceful expletive, that tends to get their attention. Sugar Apple was no exception; turning towards the source of the commotion, she was shocked to see a drenched stallion staring in fright back at her. It took a second to look beyond all the unicorn’s gruff before the pieces finally came together... 

“EARTHY?” Sugar gasped; “Is thet you???” Earth Writer... Sugar Apple’s ex-coltfriend. In times prior, the two of them enjoyed a happy long-distance relationship. The pegasus mare could still remember how they met like it was yesterday; how Earthy had been so gentlecolt-like in helping Sugar get out of a scrap during the Running of the Leaves. Sure, Sugar worked in Cloudsdale while Earthy lived in Canterlot, but they managed to make things work.

That all changed with Sugar Apple taking her current job way down here in the Gallopagos. Too far away for enable regular face-to-face meetings, the couple attempted to keep the relationship alive via written correspondence. Sadly, in Sugar’s case, she found the magic of having a special somepony had died with the transition. Furthermore, going through her first grueling Hurricanter Season sapped Sugar of much of her zeal, convincing her it was pointless to keep things with Earth Writer going despite how much she still liked him personally.

Needless to say, the Earth Writer before her... did not look like the stallion she fondly remembered. Tepidly, Sugar Apple approached the disheveled unicorn and ran a hoof along his juice-soaked jacket. “.....Ya’ look like dreck, hon.” Sugar maintained eye contact with Earth; “Did ya’ git shipwrecked or somethin’...?”

[Blueblood]

Earth Writer sighed as his shoulders slumped; there would be no respite for the cowardly portion of his soul, as his past was bound to be addressed.  He could only hope that there was enough of him still suffused with the courage needed to do so, though anypony could see from his posture that he had little confidence in himself.  "Yes, Sugar, it's me."  He tried to smile, though it looked no less sad.  With a bit of magical levitation, he brought a napkin from the table to assist in the cleanup alongside the mare's hoof.

 

"Heh."  It wasn't so much a laugh, as a short outburst of air at hearing the word 'shipwreck.'  "Not literally, no.  But that's not a bad metaphor for what happened."  For the first time in a long time, he looked into Sugar Apple's eyes, searching for any hint of contempt, but finding none.  "I... don't think you heard what happened, did you?  I guess the Chronicle either isn't sent out here regularly, or you haven't had time to read it for a while."  His eye strayed at last, taking in the rest of her.  "I'd guess the latter, you look run ragged."  Sighing, he took a seat, setting his breakfast out on the table next to her.  "I think we have a lot of catching up to do, don't we?  If I can start with an apology... sorry for just letting it die like that.  I don't want you to think you weren't the effort to keep writing... though, I think I might have thought so at the time.  Or at least didn't think what we had salvageable, but a clean break would have been better."

[Bellosh]

 

“Hah, ya’ got me thar,” Sugar Apple affirmed Earth Writer’s assessment of her own appearance. Taking the seat across from Earthy, Sugar listened in as the other apologize for the way their relationship ended with a whimper. As he talked, a waitress came by with Sugar’s own breakfast, along with a fresh mug of coffee.

However, Sugar Apple left her own food mostly untouched for the moment. “No worries Earth Writer,” the pegasus offered a small reassuring smile; “Like they say, it takes two t’ tango, and ah could’ve been honest with ya’ about how demanding my latest job is... especially at this time of year. .....Ah too shouldn’t have strung ya’ along.”

 

She tentatively took a sip of her coffee; "Sooooooooooo......... whatch'a been up to, these days?" That was perhaps the most polite way of asking that question Sugar could think of on the spot.....

[Blueblood]

Earth Writer gave Sugar a weak, but genuine, smile at hearing her try to shoulder the blame for letting... what they had fall apart.  "We'll split the responsibility fifty-fifty then."  He raised his juice glass to take a large gulp, the liquid sunshine doing some work in perking him back up.  "It's good to see you're as sweet as I remember you."  While his mouth was still smiling, she could see his eyes were still sad.  Her steadfastness of character was not a flattering contrast with his own, but that was, as they said, a long story.

 

Of course, a long story is just what she seemed to ask for.  "Well..."  The unicorn sighed, putting the glass back down on the table.  "The short version is, not really anything much.  I lost my job, and I've no chance in Tartarus of getting it back or anything like it.  As for why, that's the long version."  He took a few bites of breakfast, quickly gulping down sustenance to sustain himself through what promised to be a tough confession.  "I know I at least wrote you about the Crystal Faire, so the best place to start's probably there.  It was a pretty terrifying experience to live through.  More traumatic, I think, than I was willing to admit to myself at the time.  I blocked out most of that by doing my job, sending in the first eyewitness report, and a blitz of interviews.  By far, I think those were the best pieces of writing I've ever done to date, and that plus the timeliness made me one of the Chronicle's star reporters in short order.

 

"Well, I was pretty chuffed, as you can imagine.  After giving a front-page piece on the Manehattan International Friendship Fair, as a kind of bookend to the events of the Crystal one, my editor informed me that I could have my pick of posts.  I wonder if he was trying to give me an opportunity to come out here to see you again, but while I was in Manehattan... I met her."  That last syllable had as many years of bitterness and regret as was equinely possible to cram into one expectoration of breath.  "I don't... remember, clearly, if I sent you one last letter or not.  But I can assure you, if I ever mentioned a mare called Heart Stopper, whatever I said was a bunch of nonsense that only a lonely and vulnerable stallion would have said about an attractive mare that focused her attention on him.  I ended up following her to Kastrot, and...."

 

He sighed deeply, very nearly faceplanting into his rice.  "I guess I don't have anyone to blame but myself, but when a powerful and beautiful mare seemed to want me, well, I found myself doing whatever I could for her.  Writing up her realm in big terms, and sending back propaganda for a foreign government disguised as journalism.  I got used and abused by that... witch, and, well, it didn't escape the notice of my editor what was going on.  Obviously, once the fact that I had become corrupted was known, he couldn't keep me on.  And once I lost my position in Equestria's premier daily paper, Heart Stopper cast me aside as no longer useful to her.  Had to crawl home with my tail between my legs.  And when I got back, I found out that my reputation had been thoroughly trashed.  I was pretty much regarded as an unhung traitor among newsponies, and blacklisted from every major periodical and publisher.  And blackballed from all the bohemian clubs I was a part of too.

 

"Now..."  Earth trailed off.  There was still a bit more, sordid stuff, really, and one last classified bit, but nothing that really affected what he saw as the ending of the story.  "I'm ruined, basically.  I lived by my pen, and now no respectable pony will give me money for what I write.  The disreputable still pay, but that doesn't make me any less of a bum."  Having recounted the whole sorry tale, he drooped like a discarded sock, not daring to meet the eyes of his former special somepony...

[Bellosh]

 

Sugar Apple gasped when she heard that Earth Writer got fired from his job! How in tarnation could THAT happen??? Journalism had been Earthy’s bread-and-butter; his purpose for existing! And the stallion had been banned from journalism just like that?

The story started to make more sense once... she entered the picture. Sugar Apple remembered now; Heart Stopper was that new mare Earth Writer couldn’t stop blabbering about in that very last letter he wrote. Sugar didn’t want to hurt Earthy’s feelings further, but yeah, she was able to recall feeling very put-off by her ex-coltfriend’s obnoxious gushing over the temptress that had apparently filled in the void left by Sugar without any hint of remorse. Like it or not, that letter discouraged the pegasus from bothering to ever write back.

It didn’t help matters that it had been the period when Sugar Writer learned that a high-paying weather job in a tropical paradise wasn’t exactly the paradise she had first envisioned.

All that being said however, it was plainly obvious that Earth Writer got the short end of the stick as far as that so-called “relationship” was concerned. It made Sugar Apple’s blood knowing that Earthy had been taken advantage of, deceived, and then left with a ruined career once his usefulness to that vile Heart Stopper ended! Sure, the stallion made a mistake, but did being tricked into cozying up with a Maretonian noblemare warrant permanent ostracization?

Once Earth Writer ran out of words to say, an uncomfortable silence filled the booth for several seconds as Sugar Apple finished processing everything she heard. “So lemme get this straight,” the pegasus’s voice contained a hint of indignation; “We’re supposed t’ forgive ponies who tried bringin’ eternal night and chaos to th’ world, but then we don’t give somepony like ya’ th’ time of day evah again over far less? Thet ain’t right.....”

[Blueblood]

The indignation Sugar Apple felt on his behalf couldn't help but buck Earth up just a little, enough to lift his head up and give a little smile, as well as take a little food.  The food seemed to help, too; poor stallion had probably been getting a little low on his blood sugar.  But with nourishment came equanimity, and despite the soiling of his reputation, Earth Writer was still enough of a journalist to be able to see both sides of a story.  "To be perfectly fair, at least to the editors, it's hard to argue that I deserve a second chance when so many hungry writers with potential haven't even gotten their first yet.  Especially when all I've got to show for my recent work are stub articles in trashy tabloids.  The things I do to eat..." 

 

He let out a breath that tried and failed to be a laugh.  Even if he was being a fair critic of himself, he still felt hard done by.  "So, I don't blame them so much.  But being barred from the Veiled Garden?  I don't know if I did anything to upset the proprietor personally or what, but whatever happened there, so many half-truths and lies sprung out of that situation that it's pretty much killed most of my social connections.  Which, for someone trying to make a living as a writer already precariously, is pretty much career-killing."  He sighed again, returning to his food briefly before looking up again.  This time, able to meet the mare's eyes.

 

"It's let me know who my real friends are at least.  Didn't have as many of them as I first thought, but I still have some.  It's why I'm not dead in a ditch right now, frankly."  Even though, if he was honest with himself, he sometimes wished he was-

No, shake that thought.  Sugar didn't deserve to deal with that baggage.  "So... how have you been doing?  I don't want to take whatever time you have just for my troubles; you don't look as if you've had much for yourself lately."

[Bellosh]

 

Sugar Apple had been to the Veiled Garden on several occasions back in the day; it had been Earthy’s favorite hangout, after all. He even convinced Sugar once or twice to let her travelogue photos be put on display during the pub’s amateur nights. That was all fine and dandy, but the blue-collar mare with the country accent and weather factory job had always felt uncomfortably out of place whenever she went to that establishment, although she lacked the heart then to tell Earthy that. Like the classic stereotypical depiction of Canterlot, Sugar found the so-called “Bohemian Club” to be filled mostly with snobs who looked down on everypony they deemed too pedestrian... although without vast sums of riches to back up their elitism, such clientele weren’t much more in the grand scheme of things other than impotent hipsters.

“...Wif it makes ya’ feel any better hon,” the pegasus offered in sympathy, and the need to get the morbid vision of Earthy in a ditch out of her system; “Ah never did like thet snotty club, anyway.”

And now it was Sugar Apple’s turn to play the role of sorrowful storyteller. “Ya’ can say thet again,” she wearily commented as she chugged down a large amount of hot coffee, somehow not scalding her throat in the process; “When ah first took this jerb down hyar, ah thought it’d be all be sunshine an’ loungin’ around on th’ beach at th’ end of ev’ry workday! Boy howdy was ah wrong; well, it was paradise for th’ first several months... before mah first Hurricanter Center rolled ‘round.....

Funny thing about late summer near th’ Equator; thar’s no need t’ keep VaporDep online this time of year ‘cause Mother Nature will stir up a storm for ya. Dozens of them in fact, including hurricanes! When Hurricanter Season comes, it’s all hooves on deck ‘cause when hurricanes come, the hurricanters tend t’ follow.....”

[Blueblood]

Earth Writer was a little taken aback by Sugar Apple's blatant dismissal of what had been his longtime watering hole, even during his student days.  "I never thought it gentrified that much."  He said, leaning slightly back as her words forced him to look back and try to re-contextualize his experiences.  "I was welcomed even when I was broke student.  Didn't even have to pay for my drinks half the time.  Everypony always tried to encourage me, said I might make it on the wall of greats who hung out there-"  He struck the table with his hoof as realization struck him.  "Darnit, that must have been it!  They were aiming to use me as much as Heart Stopper was!  And once my career as a journalist went down in flames..."

 

He slumped in his chair, one more set of false friendships made clear to him.  "Sorry, I didn't mean to... go on like that."  He drew himself back up to listen, attentive as he was to any interviewee.  Honestly, from what Sugar was beginning to tell him, here was a little slice of life that not many ponies knew about, but would likely be interested in.  Very much worthy of a story in the Chronicle.  It was a pity that only he would hear it, but that made it no less worth listening to.  Perhaps more so, in fact.

 

"Huh, yeah, I remember hearing about that from some of my relatives in the southern Strand, but I know it had to be worse up here."  He pursed his lips a bit at her wording.  "Hurricanter?  Is that the term for your team... or is there a tropical equivalent of a Windigo that you have to battle every summer?"

[Bellosh]

 

“...Yer very close, actually,” Sugar Apple flashed a smile; “Hurricanters are kinda like th’ cousins of them windigos, except these fellas feed off panic an’ concern, and turn thet fuel into galeforce storms of their own! Just imagine yer out on a small boat in th’ middle of th’ ocean in th’ middle of a tropical storm, Earth Writer. If ya’ don’t have a clear head out thar, th’ hurricanters come after ya’ and make ev’rythin thet much worse.”

The pegasus took another sip of coffee; “Thet’s why et’s important for us here weather ponies t’ work as fast as we can to find tropical depressions and dissipate them before they git any bigger. So ev’ryday, ah have to fly dozens or sometimes hundreds of miles t’ go cloud smashin’ an’ then fly all th’ way back hyar.....”

[Blueblood]

Earth Writer gave a low whistle at Sugar's description of Hurricanters.  He had to hand it to her, that little description of the small boat in the storm was one of the few hypothetical situations he could picture worse than his own low point.  "You know, that explains why most navies around the world traditionally gave a grog ration.  Alcohol numbs fear, which would help to starve out those beasties."  A bit of fun trivia there.  

 

"I suppose you're not given the same privilege on the long flights, though."  He gave his former marefriend a rueful smile, old habits causing him to pull out notebook and pen.  "That's unsung heroics right there, I gotta say.  The old western's often have stories of dustpunchers, flyboy pegasi that break up the tornadoes of the plains.  But this?  I don't know anypony who's written about the Gallopagos Depression Lifters.  I might not get this into the papers, but maybe a bit of short fiction, on the Hemmingneigh model..."  He looked back up from his scribbled notes.  "You certainly have been having a time.  I'm... honestly sorry I've missed out on it, even without all I've gone through in the meantime."

[Bellosh]

 

“Awww,” Sugar Apple reassured Earthy; “Thar's nothin' t' apologize for. Ah ain’t done anythin’ all thet heroic anyway; th’ real heroes... well, y’all know what they say ‘bout real heroes.....”

On that downlifting note, Sugar finally got around to munching a bit on her meal. However, a minor thing Earth Writer mentioned a minute ago triggered an old memory of hers. “Ya’ know Earthy, back when ah was growin’ up, mah childhood dream was t’ be one of them dustpunchers.....”
 

*OOC Commentary*:

Spoiler

Sugar Apple's character sheet actually says her original dream was becoming a Wonderbolt, but her backstory's getting a bit of a retcon now. Thanks a lot, Bluey.

 

[Blueblood]

Earth Writer nodded.  "No pony is a hero to their valet.  But there an obverse that is also true, that every pony would be a valet for their hero.  Or, heroine as the case may be.  And it usually is for stallions, I've come to learn."  They were just not always wise in their choice, and even when they were, could end up being more fickle than they would have thought themselves.  Nonetheless, it didn't affect his opinion of Sugar Apple all that much; heroes, real heroes, did tend to be modest.  Rainbow Dash excepted, of course, but she was a fun interviewee, so he didn't hold it against her.

 

The mention of her childhood dream brought a raised brow from Earth over his juice, and he chuckled a bit into his glass.  "Is that so?  I will say, I sometimes dreamed of being an author, but almost never a journalist.  I guess we do ultimately, in some say, get what we want.  Or else, never really leave our desires behind, even when we're unconscious of them."  The thought was a sobering one, though, as he reflected on his past.  Would he ever truly be rid of Heart Stopper's influence?  Or had the Kastrotian noblemare made him into a kind of sleeper agent?

 

"I suppose you will have to leave for work soon; my ticket back's still good for a few days, do you mind if we meet up for dinner or something, after you come back?"  He wasn't sure what made him ask, besides the fact that he felt the mere hour fate allotted to them for breakfast just wasn't enough to give him, or Sugar, true closure on this.  

[Bellosh]

 

Sugar Apple reflected on Earthy’s musings as she finished breakfast and waited to be delivered her bill. As she started counting the bits for both her and her ex’s meals (as if she was going to insist that a down on his luck stallion foot up his half), Mr. Writer proposed another meeting this evening. The mare replied without hesitation; “Sure thing, hun! Ah may run a lil’ late, and ah’ll definitely be pooped as heck, but meet me back hyar at ‘round six or so.”

Leaving her money on the table, the pegasus mare got up along with Earth Writer. “Ah suppose ah gotta head off now,” Sugar announced as she put a hoof on one of the stallion’s scruffy cheeks; “Take care, Earthy.” The mare stood there for a moment or so as if unsure what to do, before ultimately giving Earthy a quick peck on his other cheek; “.....Ah missed ya, hun.” With all the changes to her life, Sugar Apple was glad to indulge herself with at least one little bit of happy nostalgia.

With nothing else left to do, Sugar started to trot out of Feather Jon’s, but not before giving her former coltfriend one last grin; “Don't be a stranger now, you hear!”

*EXIT SUGAR APPLE*