Stellar and Quartz: Ghost Town Showdown

Stellar awoke the next morning following an off and on sleep after the bizarre scene last night. Quickly getting ready, she headed over to Cloudy’s lodge and gave the door a knock. Her friend and partner emerged ready to go, although her face shared a similar concern about what had happened.

“You too, huh?” Stellar asked after seeing her eyes.

“So it would seem,” Cloudy answered with a single nod.

“What do you think about all that?” Stellar continued as they began walking to the car.

“I am not certain; whatever happened, that girl was certainly frightened and Ridgeway was quite keen on her not speaking of it further in front of us.”

“Yeah, but that’s just standard business practice.” Stellar let out a hard breath through her nose in thought. “Well, keep it in the back of your head; for now, let’s just go out to the farm.”

Following Ridgeway’s directions, Stellar drove out and away from the town across miles of empty space that was dotted with what must have been remnants of former structures from the old days. Even with an SUV, the old and unkempt road was hell on her suspension; but just as her patience with the terrain was about at its limit, Hathaway’s farm came into view. Resembling a compound more than a farm, the homestead sat at the rear of rows of glass and steel structures. Three silos sat adjacent to the home and the rear acreage was filled with crop beds. Stellar drove up towards the house and her car immediately attracted a half dozen dogs that excitedly sniffed her tires.

“Nice welcome party,” Stellar lowered her window and stuck her head out. “Hey, you better not piss on my car.” Her only answer was a series of barks which finally brought a stallion out onto the porch.

“Hey!” The stallion clapped his hands causing the dogs to immediately come running. “You know better.” He reached down and tussled their heads as he walked out to the foreign vehicle.

Stellar and Cloudy stepped out and met him at the front bumper. “Good morning,” Stellar greeted. “Are you Hathaway?”

“Yes,” He snapped his fingers, sending the dogs heading back around the house. “And you are?”

“Stellar Flare,” She introduced. “This is my friend Cloudy Quartz, Ridgeway told us how to find you.”

“I see,” He smiled knowingly. “You must be here to talk about the sale then?”

“Yes.” Stellar confirmed.

Hathaway nodded. “I had a feeling someone would show up eventually,” He motioned for them to follow. “Come inside and we can talk.”

They followed him inside the quaint but enormous home; several voices of varying tone and pitch were carrying on as they stepped inside and Hathaway led them into the kitchen where a mare was busy prepping vegetables.

“Honey… oh,” She paused at the sight of the strangers. “Visitors?”

“Seems so,” He gestured to the mare. “Stellar, Cloudy, this is my wife Merriweather.”

“Nice to meet you.” Stellar waved.

“Likewise.” Cloudy tipped her head.

“We’re going to have a little sit down; when Harper come back in can you have him water greenhouse five and six for me?”

“Of course.” She nodded.

“Thanks dear,” He looked to his guests. “Let’s go to the study.” He led them upstairs and into a quieter room, he went to a mini fridge and pulled out a flavored tea. “Care for anything to drink?”

“We’re good, thank you.” Stellar politely declined as they all sat. “So, given that you know why we’re here, how about you tell us why you’re hesitant to see this sale go through?”

“It isn’t so much about the town,” He confessed. “I understand that things aren’t like they used to be; visitation is down, patronage is down and the town barely breaks even year to year. All that aside, the main reason I’m on the fence about all this is because of my family.” He gestured outside the window. “As you can see, this isn’t an ordinary farm; what you see out there is the result of generations of hard work. This farm is the only tangible legacy that my family line has; so I’m not exactly willing to part with it so easily.”

Stellar thought back to Cloudy’s advice as she formulated her response. “That’s understandable, just from driving up I can see how impressive this place is,” She adjusted in her seat. “Oak told me how your ancestor saved this town and helped turn it around; you’re a part of its history just as much as the settlers or the native tribe that founded it, all of that is clearly important to you. Even so, that’s something we call intangible value; it’s there and it's worth something, but it doesn’t stand up as collateral. It isn’t a matter of if this town goes under… it’s when; and when that time comes, as a stallion who obviously loves his family, what are they going to do?” She saw his face alter in response to the idea. “It’d be nice if tradition and history translated into a dollar value but they just don’t, and the last thing you’d want is for your children and their children to be sitting on a pile of history with nowhere to go in life.”

Hathaway gave a light nod. “That may be true in some aspects, but this farm is capable of standing on its own even if the town goes under. We operate on a solar grid detached from other utility, we have five very active wells and everything we eat we either grow or take from our animals.” He sipped his drink. “And even if income became an issue, we can always make moves to sell our crops to nearby areas.” His eyes almost seemed to reflect regret at even having to consider the option. “I’d hate to have to take that road, I don’t want to see the town and all our lifelong friends be put out… but we can survive.” He looked to Stellar honestly. “All this deal is honestly offering me is money, and that just isn’t enough to move me.”

“That backup plan has a lot of “ifs”, and if any of them fall through then you’d be in trouble.” Stellar pointed out.

“Mr. Hathaway.” Cloudy spoke up. “I am a mare who, like you, was born on a longstanding family farm.”

“Oh?” He focused on her. “Is it still active?”

“No,” She shook her head. “It serves only as my home, on which I am the only one to remain.”

“I’m sorry.” He offered.

“There is nothing to be sorry for,” She continued. “The bond between a farmer and his land is strong and you know that well, you also value the bond of family and wish for them to maintain the legacy that your line has built. I too thought that when my own farm had to close its doors that I had lost what my family had built up over the years, but that wasn’t the case. My little girls all moved on, away from the “legacy” of our farm and grew into fine young women who used what we taught them to impact the world in their own ways. That was when I realized that the farmland was not my husband and I’s legacy, they were. I still value the land I live on and what it represents; without that land my daughters would not have grown into the mares they have become, but what my land represents lives on in them and they spread it farther than I ever could on my own.” She looked out the window. “You may be able to weather the storms that would arise, but you shouldn’t do so in fear of losing what your family means to this world. You are clearly a brilliant agricultural mind as I am certain your offspring are; it may hurt to sell this land, but doing so can offer them the same path my daughters took.”

Hathaway sat quiet at her words leaving Stellar the opportunity to continue. “Look, I don’t have a family legacy or an old home be attached to; I know business, which can make it seem like I don’t know or care where you’re coming from.” She began. “I do have a son though, and he’s been the best investment I’ve ever made. Business isn’t just about money, it’s about investing in the future; and family is a damn good investment.”

“Well,” Hathaway let out a thoughtful laugh. “That certainly is one way to put, a way I’ve never heard anyone put it before. I suppose that if I keep my family here to try and hold onto the past, I’ll run the risk of robbing them of an even brighter future.” He sat forward in his chair. “Can I ask what the intent would be for my land?”

“Alternative energy research and development.” Stellar answered.

“A good choice,” He admitted. “I need to talk with my family about all this, but you’ve certainly given me a lot to think about.”

“Take the time you need,” Stellar offered, a relief flowing through her at making progress with him. “We’ll be in town for a while yet.”

“Okay,” He stood and offered his hand. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Stellar took his hand. “I look forward to your answer.”

Hathaway led them back outside, passing by several of his apparent nine sons and daughters that helped him operate the farm. Under the excited barking of his dogs, Stellar drove from the farm and started back for town.

“I would say that went well.” Cloudy noted as she set her eyes on the desolate road ahead.

“Yeah, thanks for jumping in with all that family talk.” Stellar tossed her a glance. “You really did speak his language.”

“I was only telling him the truth.” Cloudy said humbly.

“Good to know your life hasn’t become all gloom,” Stellar added. “Those girls of yours must do you proud.”

“They do,” She admitted. “Knowing they are doing so well in the world always brings me peace in even the most difficult times.” She looked over at Stellar. “What of Sunburst? You don’t speak of him much.”

“He’s doing alright,” Stellar sighed. “Still trying to find his role in the world; you’d think after six years in college he’d know by now but that’s just Sunburst. He’s a smart kid who has dipped his hoof in all kinds of things, but he’s always worried he’ll miss something new if he picks a lane.” She made a short laugh. “He has his mom’s brains but his father’s commitment skills.”

Finally making it back into the town, they returned to their rooms and swapped out into more casual clothes. Taking some time to relax, Stellar decided to take a moment to return to check in and speak with Dandelion. The mare was reading a book at the front desk, business so slow anymore that she was actually startled by the chime of the bell above the door.

“Oh, Ms. Flare, good afternoon.” She greeted as her book folded closed.

“Stellar is fine, I get enough formality at the office.” Stellar stepped up to the desk. “Listen, I wanted to ask you about what happened last night.”

“I’m sorry about that,” She quickly apologized. “I was just startled by something and I let go of the cart; that’s the problem with not having any street lights.”

“Mmhm,” Stellar toned. “Now that the you’ve given the mandatory response, let’s try the real one now.”

Dandelion flustered at the quick dismissal of her story. “It really is nothing,” She assured.

“A nothing that you claimed has happened several times already,” She added. “Look, I’m not a tourist that’s going to get spooked; I represent a vested interest and if there is something that could impact the value of the property then I need to know about it, so spill.”

The young mare quickly caved under Stellar’s intimidating business-mare manner. “Well, Ridgeway doesn’t like anyone talking about this; but there’s… some kind of weird monster out in the desert.”

“A monster?” Stellar repeated incredulously. “Seriously?”

“Nobody knows for sure, except apparently for the native buffalo tribe. They call it the Ataata.”

“Sorry, my buffalo isn’t up to date.”

“It means “father”, they consider it the father of the land here.”

“Okay,” Stellar played along. “So what does daddy want?”

“It started appearing the moment talk of selling the land started; the buffalo say it isn’t happy with the idea of its land being taken away from its rightful owners.”

“But, the founders are all dead.” Stellar noted.

“Not all of their line is gone,” She informed. “Ridgeway is the last living descendant of Light Spur.”

“Alright, nobody mentioned that to us.”

“Outside of the buffalo here, he’s the last link to the original settlers of the town.” Dandelion continued. “Ever since he committed to selling the town, the Ataata has been attacking; it wasn’t more than just some scares at first but the longer this goes on the more violent it seems to get. It’s getting to the point where we don’t feel safe at night; but Ridgeway doesn’t want to scare off potential investors or the precious few visitors we have left, so he asks us to not talk about it publicly.”

Stellar absorbed the extraordinary explanation. “Well, I don’t believe in monsters,” She said surely. “But I do believe that something came after you.”

“You should be careful,” Dandelion continued. “Talk is already spreading about you and your friend about why you’re here. If you’re linked to all this, then it’ll come after you too.”

“Lady, I spend my life dealing with rich pigs, greedy corporate suits, lawyers and bitter interns who spit in my coffee,” Stellar gave her a hard look in the eye before heading for the door. “I can handle some desert animal.”

Stellar left the front office and headed back to Cloudy’s; spending the next hour relaying and discussing the information. Also not one for superstition, Cloudy took the story in stride but expressed similar thoughts on the matter as Stellar’s.

“That seems very suspect,” Cloudy held her chin. “But, it sounds like she truly believes in what she saw. Areas as old as this, with as much history as this place has, are breeding grounds for folklore.”

“Well something has got everyone spooked.” Stellar stood with a sigh. “I guess I’ll find out if it tries to jump me in the middle of the night.” She looked down at Cloudy with a smile. “Today’s been a good one, let’s go grab a drink.”

“You know full well I don’t partake of alcohol.” Cloudy reminded.

“I know, I know,” Stellar rolled her eyes. “Against the farmer’s code or whatever, I’ll buy you a tall glass of milk then. Let’s just try and have whatever fun this place can offer while we’re here.”

The two mares strolled back down the main road, heading for the only bar in town simply known as Alabaster’s. Loud murmur could be heard as they approached the door which dulled as they walked in; various eyes looked them over as they made their way towards the front bar.

“I feel like I’m in a western already.” Stellar muttered as they took stools.

“Hey there,” A lean and rowdy looking female griffon in an apron appeared behind the bar. “What can I get for you?”

“I’ll have a scotch and soda to start,” Stellar shifted her eyes to Cloudy. “Get my friend here a hard lemonade, minus the hard.”

“Gotcha,” The griffon laughed. “Be right up.”

Stellar twisted on the stool and looked around the bar; filled with mostly workers and those that lived on the land, it was an eclectic mix.

“You must be Ms. Flare,” A well dressed stallion came up to Stellar. “Ridgeway told me about you.”

“And you are?” Stellar swung her legs around to face him.

“Wheeler,” He tipped his head. “Ridgeway’s partner.”

“Ah, nice to meet you.”

“The same,” He smiled, although it carried the insincerity of someone closely tied to the world of business. “I hear you’ve come to further discuss the offer made on this land.”

“That’s right,” Stellar offered a similar smile in return. “Is now a good time?”

“Hardly,” He waved his hand. “Business is done for the day; and I never find it prudent to discuss business off hours. When you are ready though, my office resides in the former town bank.” He lightly tipped his head. “Tonight, I merely wanted to introduce myself and welcome you to the town.”

“Well, that’s appreciated.”

“I just hope that you…” He stopped as a microphone screeched feedback across the bar. “Oh… it’s that time already I see.”

“Huh?” Stellar looked over at a small stage that had been flooded with light.

“You’ll see for yourself,” He sighed. “I apologize in advance; till we speak again.” He left her and a fairly timid voice came across the mic as a mixture of groans and laughter rolled across the room.

“What the heck is going on?” Stellar swiveled around to Cloudy.

“It’s just Legerdemain,” The bartender noted as she set their drinks down. “We just call him Ledge, he’s a magician… or at least he thinks he is.” She laughed.

“A magic show, in a bar?” Stellar eyed her sourly.

“We know, but it’s his thing and it’s mildly entertaining.” She shrugged. “I humor him and let him work on his act here, doesn’t do any harm.” As she left them again, Stellar and Cloudy watched the awkward and semi-successful performance. The twelve minute act clawed its way across the finish line to a lackluster response; even so, he thanked his audience with a smile and packed up his props before leaving the stage.

“Well, that was… something.” Stellar took a long sip.

“I am not one for magic,” Cloudy confessed. “But he does seem earnest about his craft.”

They noticed the unicorn take sight of them and head over with an eager smile. “Hey there, always good to see new faces.”

“Hello yourself, uh.. Ledge.” Stellar greeted.

“Oh, caught the nickname?” He laughed as he took the stool beside her. “So, what did you think?”

“It was… magic, I guess,” She said as honestly as possible. “You seem to have a little trouble with your stage presence.”

“Yeah,” He admitted as he ordered a drink. “My tricks aren’t all that great, but I keep working on them to improve the act.”

“If we may ask,” Cloudy interjected. “What exactly is a magician doing in a historical mining town?”

“Odd, I know,” He raised his hand in concession. “Magic has always been my passion and private hobby, but I thought I could use it to help the town out; that… isn’t going so well.” He chuckled nervously. “I do want to improve though, play Las Pegasus like my idol The Great and Powerful Trixie. I’d love to be able just to meet her someday.”

“Trixie?” Stellar snorted a laugh. “You aren’t missing much, kid.”

“What?” He eyed her in shock. “You… know her?”

“Oh yeah, her mom and I go way back.” Stellar informed. “She definitely inherited the bitch gene, that’s for sure. Do yourself a favor and don’t meet your heroes.”

“Wow.” He smiled. “Wait, is she really not that nice?”

“She’s nice,” Stellar clarified. “She just… has her mother’s ego is all. It’s cute for about ten minutes, then you just want to slap her.”

“Well, no matter what her personality is like, she’s one of the best at stage magic.” Ledge carried on. “That’s where I have trouble.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a deck of cards, shuffling them. “Here, watch this; pick one.” He fanned out the cards and offered them to her.

“Okay,” Stellar chortled and pulled a card. “Now what?”

“Memorize it and put it back,” He instructed, as she did so he began shuffling. “I started with card tricks when I was a kid, I guess every magician does.” He quickly brought the deck up and twisted on the stool, slamming it down onto the bar. Extending his hand, he fanned the cards out again along the bar top and began looking them over. “Hmm,” His eyes panned over them. “I think…” He sat upright and started to cough. “Oh, excuse me.” He hacked into his hand a produced a card from his mouth, holding it up to her. “This one?” He smiled as her eyes widened.

“Holy shit.” Stellar grinned. “Yeah.”

“Neat huh?” He held the card sideways. “Magic has been a part of my diet since I was a little colt.” He reached his head forward and took a bite out of the side of the card. “Figuratively though.” He blew a quick breath across the card and the chewed out spot reappeared.

“Oh my.” Cloudy pulled her glasses down, rarely impressed.

“Why don’t you do that up there?” Stellar asked.

“Close up magic is a whole different ball game,” He returned the cards to his pocket. “Not really stage stuff.”

As Stellar and Ledge spoke, Cloudy felt a presence sit on her opposite side. She moved her head around to find a thirty something griffon smiling at her from the next stool.

“Hi, sorry to just pop over like this but ice breaking isn’t really my specialty.” He laughed. “I’m Hatch, nice to meet you.”

“Cloudy Quartz.” Cloudy responded politely.

“I heard the buzz about you two, most talk that’s floated around town in a while now,” He tapped his talon on the bar. “Hey sis, can I get another beer?”

“Your sister?” Cloudy glanced over at the bartender as she approached.

“Yeah,” She confirmed as she sat a bottle on the bar. “You aren’t bothering her are you?”

“Geez, Stormy, can’t a guy be friendly?” He asked.

“Without a motive? Rarely.” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Nothing like being bossed around by your little sister,” He laughed as he used his nail to open the beer. “So, where are you from?”

“I live in a rural area, not unlike this one.” She informed. “On what remains of my family farm.”

“I guess this place is a little loud for you then?” He asked.

“A tad.” She admitted.

“It’s nice though, this is the liveliest this place gets anymore and it reminds me that we still have a community here.”

“I suppose so,” Cloudy concurred. “What do you do here?”

“Mostly keep an eye on my sister,” He looked across the bar at her. “I never liked the idea of her working here; she’s a spitfire and all, but I just feel better hanging around. Outside of that, I just lend my talons where they’re needed.”

“That is rather noble.”

“How about you?” He looked back at her. “What do you…”

“Hey!” A deep and surly voice rose above the casual chatter and all but silenced it. A large minotaur stood at the door, eyes set on the two strangers and the company they were keeping.

“Oh crap,” Ledge whispered. “Earnhardt.”

The large creature loomed over and looked down upon the foursome. “You know why these two are here, right?” He asked. “The want to help take away our home, so why the hell are you being so friendly with them.”

“Well…” Ledge cowered.

“Back off, Earnhardt.” Hatch stared up at him. “You act like these are the only two having that discussion; go be mad at Ridgeway, he’s the one looking to sell.”

“I’m plenty mad at him,” He assured. “But these two aren’t any better. Couple of slick, city bitches who think they can throw money at us to make us leave.”

“Don’t come in here starting shit!” Stormy came over and pointed her talon at him.

“You too, you’ve got just as much to lose from them being here.” He scowled at her. “I swear, it’s like none of you want to fight for what’s ours.”

“This isn’t the old west,” Stellar stood and looked up at him fearlessly. “No matter how much I’m sure you wish it was. But what would a little city girl like me know about that, right?” She asked in a gimmicky southern accent. “I’m just here to do a job, I’m an impartial third party acting between two vested entities so don’t go accusing me of being anything.” She glared back at him. “Especially a bitch.”

Earnhardt’s fist balled to the point where his knuckles popped. “You’re a long way from home, I suggest you be careful what you say to who. There’s a lot of desert between us and anyone that could save you.”

“That’s enough!” Arcus stepped from the crowd and got between Stellar and Earnhardt. “Did you really just threaten her!” Although young, Arcus was more than a physical match against the minotuar. “That isn’t how we do things around here; these are guests, no matter why they’re here. Now I think you need to leave.”

“Little welp…” Earnhardt took a step forward but a far larger and far heavier hand fell to his shoulder.

“That is enough, Earnhardt.” The massive buffalo said in a calm and soothing voice. “Violence will not solve any issue.” Earnhardt immediately responded to the creature, bitterly turning and leaving the bar. “I am sorry, his anger is a river with no dam.” With that, the large creature turned and followed him out of the bar.

Tensions began to ease and Arcus immediately turned to Stellar. “Are you okay?”

“Of course, that big sack of shit doesn’t scare me.” She smiled up at him. “I appreciate the effort, kid; but I had it under control.”

“You… did?” He asked.

Stellar reached into her pocket and produced a taser. “I’m never completely unarmed.”

“No offense, but that little thing…” He yelped as she gave him a zap in the hip.

“Packs a lot of punch.” She waggled it before him. “I may be from the city, but this isn’t my first rodeo.”

“Noted,” He rubbed his side. “As long as you’re okay though.”

“Come on, Cloudy.” Stellar motioned for her to follow. “I’ve had enough night life for today.”

“A wise choice,” Cloudy glanced over at Hatch. “It was nice to meet you, have a good evening.”

“You too.” He raised his beer to her.

“Yeah, be careful out there.” Ledge added as they started for the door.

“Wait…” Arcus followed them out onto the porch of the bar. “Can I at least walk you two back to the lodges?”

“Look, we’re…” Stellar looked back, seeing that he was being genuinely kind. “Sure, kid.” The three of them walked the moonlit road back to the porch lights of their lodges, chatting idly about more pleasant matters to erase the encounter at the bar. They saw Cloudy off at her lodge and headed over to Stellar’s. “Well, thanks for the escort. I can take it from here.”

“Okay,” He smiled down at her. “Listen, I know you can take care of yourself but this business with the town has got a lot of creatures on edge and riled up. Please be careful, and if you ever need backup… I’ll be happy to help you.”

Her eyes rolled downward to see his tail wagging back and forth anxiously along the ground as he spoke. She laughed lightly and nodded. “Good to know, I’ll keep it in mind. Goodnight.”

“Right… goodnight.” He waved shortly as she headed inside.

Stellar took a hot shower and emerged with the towel hanging over shoulder. She went to the dresser and poured herself her nightly shot. Downing it, she stared at her reflection as she often did. “No.” She said sternly to her reflection as the shot glass came down onto the wood. “We’re here on business.” She tossed the towel to the floor and pulled the drawer out to get ready for the night.