Magehold Nights

As the group left, they spoke with each other about a range of topics, sharing names and odd inoffensive anecdotes. The weather outside was mercifully clear, sunlight illuminated the dark cobbles of the main street.

The mood was warm as they entered a near-abandoned café, a sign hung at the entrance which read Joe’s Coffee-n. As the trio entered they were met with décor one would honestly expect to find at a Dread League eatery, black tablecloths paired with spider-web decals that were cliché back when they were introduced. Light from the outside was blocked by repurposed tablecloths, the source of illumination within the building consisting of three odd candles. Needless to say, it wasn’t very bright within the building.

“Anything that you’d recommend, miss Poppy?” Walter, the priest, inquired.

“Nothing you’d like, the salad or cupcakes might be safe for your palate, but you really ought to ask the server” She responded.

Nervously, Bolt asked “Aren’t the cupcakes, you know,” The unicorn paused, looking around.

“Huh? No, you’re thinking of the pies, why would you bake somepony into a cupcake?” The earth pony questioned.

“I don’t know, savory cupcakes exist, it's just, I don’t know, when I was setting up power lines around The Rock one of the villages had a little Aquileian shop that had something called Cake Salé. That was a savory cake, and cupcakes are just, teeny cakes you know?”

The priest opted to inspect the tacky spider-web patterns as the two ghouls argued the semantics of what constituted a cake. Poppy, being less exposed to the rest of the world, insisted that cake, and its tiny companion were defined by being soft and sugary. Bolt, having a greater deal of confidence in herself due to feeling like she had friends for the first time in her recent memory continued to argue. Regardless, context clues relating to the discussion and why exactly savory cupcakes would be eaten at such a locale eradicated what crumbs of an appetite the Griffon could muster.

Eventually, an older unicorn who was, to the priest’s surprise, alive approached the group. He was your typical necromancer-looking unicorn, gray fur and a somewhat darker mane with a white stripe going down the middle. “You want menus or do you already know what you want?” He smiled at Poppy, before looking at the other two.

“Could I get a menu please, it's my first time here,” Bolt said, smiling at the aged Unicorn who responded with a disinterested nod.

“I’ll just have a coffee,” The griffon said, forcing a friendly expression.

“That’s probably a good choice for you,” The gray unicorn said in a flat tone before looking back to Poppy and smiling, “I take it you’ll be having the usual?”

“You know me so well Joe, quick question, cakes are always sweet right?” The earth pony asked, shooting an immature glance to Bolt, sticking her tongue out. The unicorn not wanting to take a challenge flatly responded with the same gesture.

The older unicorn paused, thinking “I mean, connotatively yeah, but I guess if you’re some kind of weirdo you could make an argument on what constitutes a cake” He shrugged, “Not really in the mood to discuss the epistemological nature of cake, so, I’ll just say you’re right because you’re a repeat customer. I’ll be back with your menu and drinks in a bit.” The unicorn added as he walked off to a back room.

Poppy, considering this an apparent sign of victory focused her gaze on Bolt, a smug expression plastered on her face “See, only weirdo ponies pretend savory cakes exist.”

“I can’t really argue with that.” The unicorn smirked, more relaxed than she had been for a long while.

“It’s alright Bolt, not everypony can be as smart as me,” the earth pony teased.

“I was going to say because it's impossible to win an argument when the other pony falls back on ad hominem, but I’m glad you got a confidence boost out of this one.” The unicorn added, before the two of them giggled softly at the insignificance of the topic.

Walter mainly listened, not having much to add, he was happier than he was upon entering, the warmth the two shared in arguing about such a simple thing gave him hope that his evangelical journey wouldn’t be entirely without success and that with effort some of the other wayward undead may be given a second chance to find fellowship in the guidance of Eyr.

Eventually, the aging unicorn returned, levitating a tray with two cups of coffee, one plain and the other topped in a layer of cream. He’d place the fancy looking one in front of Poppy and the plain one in front of the Griffon. He’d levitate a menu over to Bolt and give her a chance to choose something to drink. Thinking quickly she’d avoid the awkward silence that comes from looking at a menu with an expectant person and just ask for what Poppy got.

Joe nodded, heading off to prepare another one of the coffees. “So, what is the usual anyways Poppy?” Bolt asked.

“A ‘Bug Coffee’, it's got whiskey, sugar and cream. It originated on that one changeling island.” The earth pony responded proudly, clearly a fan of the concoction.

“That does sound good, actually, I’m starting to regret not coming here earlier all things considered.”

“Tell me about it, you know back in the day before the war, the menu was a lot more varied, and the place was more, well, I don’t want to say alive but, more packed, you know?”

“Mhm,” Bolt responded, shifting her focus to the menu “When they put, savory they mea-”

“Yeah, that’s what it means, it's really not that subtle.” Poppy said, interrupting.

Bolt nodded “Right, right.”

Inevitably the owner returned, placing a pie in front of Poppy and a Bug Coffee in front of Bolt, maintaining his focus on her, he asked “Have you decided on what you want?”

The unicorn nodded, “Could I get one of the, uhh, Savory pies?” She smiled uncomfortably, the relaxed environment helping her disassociate from what she was ordering.

“Chicken or Rabbit?” Joe asked, the apparent subtext clearly not bothering him.

Guiding Bolt looked over towards Walter, then back to Joe, “The uhh, the Rabbit.” She said, a twinge of discomfort materializing.

“Good choice, you sure you don’t want some kind of weirdo cake? You weirdo.” Poppy teased, poking bolt with her hoof.

Bolt smiled, once again distracted from the grisly activities that she was cursed to deal with. “Yeah, I’m sure. Jerk, it's not weirdo-cake, it's Aquileian.” The unicorn responded before taking a drink from her coffee.

Poppy shrugged “Whatever lets you sleep at night,” Yawning, she’d turn towards the priest “So, Altarchick, where are you from anyways? It’d be a bit awkward if you were from Aquileia.”

Walter chuckled, “Brodfeld, actually. The majority of recovery efforts fell into the claws of Evites, and, seeing as I’d recently passed the rites to join the cloth, my parish suggested I do some missionary work abroad before getting comfortable at home, I was told about a conflict in the North and considered it a good place to try and help creatures find fellowship..”

Poppy nodded, “Right, Brodfeld’s the one with Prime Minister Violinaldori or something right?”

He nodded, “All things considered, the story of how he wound up in that position exemplifies the peace which comes from following the Guidance of Eyr. It was the bonds of family that allowed the prince to sway his father away from an abyss of revanchism.”

The earth pony squinted at him, clearly missing some of the finer points “...and this led to the violin guy being in charge how?”

The griffon paused to think “The prince managed to calm king Kloseau’s anger, and, as a result he recognized his own failings and shifted towards a less absolute form of governance, allowing a prime minister to be elected and they happened to support him”

“Right, right” The earth pony nodded, taking a bite from her pie, “I heard they’re planning to do something like that here, well, not here but in the Arcturian Order proper. I don’t get it myself, seeing as Steelbeak won the war. I suppose a couple hundred thousand dead and a newfound rich factory-owning population wanting to throw their weight around prompt such things.”

The older unicorn returned, placing a pie in front of Bolt. She looked at him and smiled “Thank you.” The older Unicorn nodded, heading back to the kitchen. Bolt turned her attention back to the conversation. “Well, the Griffonian Republic is right to the west of the Order, and they sent a lot of guns and griffons to help which could be a factor. Though, it seems like Headmaster Steelbeak just genuinely cares for the average creature, and wants to see them represented in government..”

Poppy shrugged “I guess,” The earth pony yawned, taking a drink of her coffee and changing the subject “Can you believe what Hellquill did to the Riverlands? They released some kind of plague on them a few weeks back. We did some terrible stuff, but, like, the worst thing I remember doing took minutes, or hours to finish the job, not, well, months.”

Bolt perked up, looking towards Poppy “I’ve heard that the Order is planning on sending some volunteers under Rosa to provide relief to the River Ponies, I’d like to go, but I’m hesitant to go alone. I’d like it if you’d come along.” She smiled at Poppy, with the discomfort that comes with asking someone if they want to go on a crazy adventure to a brutal warzone.

Poppy sighed, pausing for a bit before shrugging “Yeah, sure, whatever. It beats waiting to get shot by a knight or stabbed to death by some random wannabee necrolord.”

The unicorn beamed, “I’m happy to hear that, one more thing, I’m going to visit the local chapel tonight to talk about the war. They said it was a matter of state security and I’d really appreciate it if you’d come with me.”

The earth pony rolled her eyes “Yeah, I agreed to go to some weird foreign locale with you so I’ll sit through a sermon. If a griffon tries to dunk me in water I’m going to beat him up though.”

Bolt smirked “I’ll keep that in mind if one approaches you.”

Poppy grinned, nodding “You better, priestly types freak me out,” She turned towards the Eyrite, “No offense”

The griffon laughed, still nervous due to the locale, “none taken.”

The meal continued on in relative silence with the two ghouls focused on their meat pies, and the griffon doing his best to focus on the coffee. Once they’d finished eating the priest paid for the meal as promised and the two ghouls headed off towards the chapel.