//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Seraphim // by Salacar //------------------------------// Seraphim Chapter 5     As it turned out, most of my fears were somewhat unwarranted. Walking into the small village, Old Stable was its name according to a wooden signpost on the road, did cause quite a reaction from the populace. All of them stopped and stared at us as we walked the dirt road leading through the village, it didn’t matter if they were carrying saddlebags filled with groceries, pulling carts or just trotting about in general. Without fault each and single one of them would halt what they were doing and just look at us passing them by, most of the stares were simply ones of uncertainty or curiosity, thankfully few of them were fearful and not a single one was truly hostile.   That’s not to say that they didn’t hurry along if I looked in their direction, as if simply staying in my gaze for too long would cause them to burst into flames. And even though I realised that they reacted to my strange presence as was only natural, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt and sadness. The last thing I wanted to do was to make these ponies think that I was somehow dangerous, some kind of monster just waiting for a chance to pounce. All in all I was glad to discover that they did not, at least not immediately, bring out the torches and pitchforks.   Crystal Heart seemed to take the attention at a somewhat better stride, rather remarkable really as I considered the last few experiences she had had with her fellow ponies. That’s not to say that she wasn’t nervous, even without my Soul Sense I could tell that she was at least concerned about something.   “So Crystal, do you know of any inns where we might find room and food?” I looked down at her with as comforting a smile as I could muster. “We should probably lay low somewhere until news of our arrival has spread, no need to startle a crowd if we can avoid it.”   She contemplated my question for a second before looking up at me. “I think they normally put inns on the main road, so it shouldn’t be hard to find one.”   Simply nodding in reply we continued on our way, and although the number of buildings in the village was somewhat small there were quite a few parks and other such open areas. After another few minutes of walking we did come across an inn, a pleasant looking two-story building with a sign out front spelling ‘The Green Clover’, it had a wooden carving resembling its namesake. A bit further ahead the main road opened up into a large area, a village square with quite a few ponies and a number of carts and merchant-stands, most likely the marketplace.   Deciding against heading into the general public so soon after our arrival, we instead opened the door of the Green Clover and walked in. I had to bow down a bit to avoid hitting my head against the top of the doorframe. We came into a cozy looking and well-lit room, a number of tables, with chairs obviously made for pony use, were spread around the room in an orderly fashion. A single set of stairs led upstairs, and on the right hand side after entering was a long wooden counter, a somewhat plumb earth pony mare with a tan coat and light red mane standing behind it, casually cleaning a mug with a rag. There were only a handful of ponies in the room, each and every one of them growing quiet and looking at us, or me more specifically, the 6 feet bipedal with bloody bandages.   They weren’t exactly hostile or even fearful as far as I could tell, it was almost as if we had just entered a domain sacred to them, and we didn’t exactly belong. The mare on the other side of the counter looked back and forth between us and the other ponies for a moment, before waving us over with a hoof and a smile.   “Welcome to The Green Clover travellers, come on in and make yourselves comfortable.” Her voice was surprisingly sincere and nonchalant, causing me to let out a small sigh of relief I hadn’t realised I had been holding in.   As if on cue, all the other ponies turned their attention away from us and back to their earlier conversations, obviously satisfied with the innkeeper’s decision. Crystal and I quickly went to the counter, not wanting to give up on the invitation we had been so thankfully given, my unicorn companion jumping up to sit on a tall stool, while I tried to appear the least intimidating I possibly could.   After giving us another quick look-over the mare’s smile was back in full. “You’re an odd pair if I ever saw one,” she gave a small joking chuckle. “Name’s Sweet Peach and I’m the owner of this here establishment, what can I do for you?”   I gave her a relieved smile in return. “My name is Lysander, and this is my companion Crystal Heart,” I motioned to the filly on my right, who was busy taking in her new surroundings. “and we’re looking for a place to stay and rest for a few days, preferably with food to go along with the room if you offer any such service.”   “That shouldn’t be a problem at all, is a single room going to be enough for you?” I nodded in reply. “One room it is, and I’ll just go ahead and write you up for three meals a day then. You should look forward to my fruit salad; best one you’ll ever have.” She gave me a wink at this before turning around and heading through a nearby door, probably leading to a kitchen. As she did I noticed something I had only vaguely seen on ponies earlier, on both of her flanks was a rather intricate image depicting a small bunch of various fruits.   I turned my attention to Crystal, who at that point was busy observing the other ponies in the room. “Crystal, could I ask you a question?” At this she turned her attention back to me with a quizzical look. “What are those markings that ponies have? You don’t have one, but I’ve seen them on other ponies before.”   She gave me that familiar ‘Are you kidding me?’ look before she finally remembered who she was talking to, and promptly giggled at my question. “Those are cutie marks silly.” She coughed lightly and shifted to her ‘lecturing’ voice. “You see, a cutie mark is something unique to every pony, it appears when a pony discovers what makes them special. It could be a talent or even what sort of job or work they’re good at; sometimes a cutie mark can even represent a concept or an idea instead.”   With a satisfied smile and a nod she ended her lesson, obviously pleased that she was once more able to educate me in what is supposedly basic knowledge for ponies. I really should try and find a book on Equestrian and pony culture, it wouldn’t do that I needed a ten year old to fill me in on these kinds of things.   I was brought out of my musings by the return of Sweet Peach, who was carrying a wooden tray in her mouth with practiced ease, on top of said tray were a couple bowls with various fruits, covered in a white creamy substance of some sort. Without batting an eyelash she deposited the two fruit salads in front of us, beaming all the while.   “There you go, a couple of my special fruit salads on the house, I even added a little extra yoghurt in yours my dear,” she smiled at Crystal Heart, nudging one of the bowls closer to her. “I hope you enjoy, eat up and I’ll show you to your rooms in a little while.”   Crystal Heart grabbed the fruit salad with glee, giving a quick ‘Thank you’ to Sweet Peach as the older mare headed to the kitchen. I noticed the innkeeper giving a light shiver, which she responded to by looking around for any open windows, before simply shrugging and trotting into the back.   We quickly found a free table and settled in, Crystal doing so somewhat easier considering the chairs weren’t exactly made for my kind. But eventually I managed to sit with some comfort and started eating the, very delicious, fruit salad using the smoothly carved spoons we had been supplied with. I couldn’t help but be puzzled about the eating utensil; no matter what I tried I just couldn’t think of an explanation for how ponies were able to actually use these with their hoofs. Looking at Crystal didn’t give me any answers, as she just wrapped the spoon in her green magical aura and ate away, with quite some fervor I might add. Shrugging the question away as just another unexplainable part of Equestrian magic, I returned to eating the tasty dessert, suddenly not all that annoyed by the fact that I now needed food for sustenance.   A few minutes passed by as we sat there and ate, Crystal managing to finish quite a bit faster than me, at which point she scowled a bit before promptly shifting her attention to my still half full bowl of fruity goodness, her eyes filled with an almost scary hungry gleam. After casting a quick glance I reached the bowl across the table towards her, which was quickly grabbed from the air with an eager use of unicorn magic. I felt the familiar tingling sensation as she spoke words of thanks through mouthfuls of food, wolfing it down like she hadn’t eaten in ages, and I couldn’t contain a mirthful chuckle.   “Easy there Crystal, I’m sure the fruit isn’t going to try and escape.”   With a bashful expression and a light blush she sat the, now empty, bowl down on the table. “Sorry, it’s just that we don’t really have fruit where I’m from, so I guess I got a bit carried away.” She looked at the empty bowls for a moment before she grew a slight frown. “Besides, mother says that I shouldn’t eat too many sweet things. It’s not good for you.”   I was about to ask her a bit more about her home when Sweet Peach returned, and after giving us our key we were shown upstairs to where our room was. It was a simple one-roomed affair, a single bed, dresser, table with mirror and a wooden tub for water. A single window allowing the late day light into the room. The bed was pony-sized and somewhat small, but without even asking for it Sweet Peach moved another bed into the room to stand in conjunction with the first, creating somewhat human sized bedding. Satisfied with the result we locked up again and headed downstairs, it wasn’t all that late yet and I still needed a bit of information.   Our host beat me to it however, as no sooner had we gotten back downstairs before she turned a somewhat worried look towards me, glancing at my bandages and broken arm.   “I’m sorry if you take this the wrong way dear, but I really think you should go see somepony about those wounds of yours.” After finding only surprise in my features she went on, somewhat more determined now that she knew I didn’t take offence. “In fact I insist that you do, I won’t stand for one of my guests being in that state.”   She put empathy on her words by stomping a hoof to the floor, I merely responded by shrugging away the surprise at her sudden empathy and smiling at her.   “That’s quite alright, I was actually hoping to find some…-pony capable of helping me, but I appreciate your worry.” I gave her a slight bow in gratitude, which she responded to with a smile.   “I’m glad to hear that, you would be surprised by how stubborn some stallions can be when it comes to things like this.” She shook her head in annoyance at the thought. “As for somepony to help you, I’m afraid we don’t have an actual healer here, but Ivory Scroll might be able to help you, he’s somewhat of the town apothecary.”   A short while later we had directions to Ivory Scroll’s house, and after saying our thanks we headed back out into the street. The sun was somewhat low in the sky, signalling late afternoon or early evening, and not wanting to disturb the pony ‘apothecary’ too late in the day we decided to set a brisk pace. Thankfully the pony’s house wasn’t too far from the Clover, and we didn’t even have to go through the market square to get there. Once more we were met with the stares of curious ponies, but this time any hint of fear had been replaced with genuine interest in the new strangers, and I could hear several hushed conversations erupt in our wake. It was all the same to me what they thought, as long as they didn’t start up a mob and drive us out of town.   A good ten minutes later we found ourselves in front of a simple two-story house, there was a small balcony with a tripod-mounted telescope, and all of the windows on the ground floor were impossible to see through thanks to what I guessed to be piles of books. Other than that the house seemed entirely normal, even though it had obviously seen better days. With a shrug I took a few steps up to the door and knocked, after a few seconds I could start hearing movement on the other side, like someone, or rather somepony, moving something out of the way. A moment later the lock on the other side was unhitched and the door opened to reveal a rather dazed looking unicorn stallion, his coat was a dark grey, his mane black with white highlights, and a pair of reading glasses were positioned on his muzzle, on his flank was his ‘cutie mark’, a sealed white scroll.   He yawned audibly. “Hmm, yes? Who…is…it?” At this point he had noticed me standing on the other side of the door, his blue eyes turned to pinpricks and his speech started getting incoherent at best.   Not wanting to scare the poor pony anymore than I had, I decided it would be best to speak up. “Hello and sorry for the intrusion, would you be Ivory Scroll?” I tried my best to give him a reassuring smile, hoping that I hadn’t just scared the wits out of the one pony who could possibly help me in this village.   The grey unicorn took a moment to compose himself, shaking the daze from his head. “Oh, erm, yes that would be I. Can I…help you with something?”   I sighed in relief. “You can, yes. As you’re probably aware I’m not exactly from around here, and I could use some educated assistance.” I gave him a sincere smile, hoping that he’d be willing to help me. “My name is Lysander, and this is my travelling companion Crystal Heart.” I motioned to the white unicorn filly at my side.   Ivory Scroll took a moment to look me over, after a few seconds he stepped back from the door, motioning with his hoof.   “Well come on in then, you don’t seem like the bad sort and I’m always willing to help a pony in need.” He stopped for a moment, looking unsure. “Or well, whatever it is that you are.”   We happily walked in, making sure not to step on any of the multitude of books and scrolls covering the floor. In fact it wasn’t just the floor which was covered with books, all around the walls were several bookcases filled to the brim with tomes of all sorts, and wherever there hadn’t been space for a bookcase there was simply a pile of books instead. It looked like someone, sorry, somepony had tried to take the content of a library and stuff it inside a normal house. The only other visible furniture in the room were a couple of tables, one of them a reading desk while the other sat in the middle of the room, a few dusty pillows visible beneath even more books. A stair led upstairs to the second floor and a few doors led into adjacent rooms.   “So sorry about the mess, I don’t normally get many guests.” Ivory Scroll said, using his white-grey aura of magic to move books out of the way, giving us the chance to sit down on a couple of pillows by the small table.   “Think nothing of it; I’m just glad you invited us in at all.” I said, relief obvious in my voice.   “Well,” Ivory Scroll gave a low chuckle. “I’m nothing if not a scholar, and I’ll admit that at the moment I’m rather interested in knowing who you are and how you came to be here.”   I nodded at this, guessing that I would need to tell a lot of ponies the same thing if I had to stay here for an extended period of time. “I’d be more than happy to tell you what I know; at the very least what I feel comfortable talking about.”   A quick glance towards Crystal and I discovered that she was busy rummaging through a pile of nearby books. “Do you think my young friend here might borrow a book or two to read while we talk? I’m pretty sure she’d be bored hearing the same story again.”   The grey unicorn nodded with a smile. “Of course, feel free to read anything you like.” He said, making a waving motion with his hoof towards Crystal.   The white and pink filly’s eyes lit up with excitement, and she quickly started going through the various books with great eagerness. I couldn’t help but smile at the sight. After a moment I turned back to the scholar, he himself eagerly waiting with a blank scroll and quill in his magical grip.   “Well, I suppose I should start by telling you about the Ascended…”   For a long time I told him about my people, what little I knew of my human life as well as the most important bits about the Ascended, I told him of my former duty, the various groups within the Ascended, our role in the structure of the Planes and how I had come here. Though in reality I suppose I didn’t exactly tell him of the Fiendish invasion and the destruction of the Flame of Life, not only was Crystal still in the room with us, but I felt that it just wasn’t something I could speak of so easily. All the while the quill only stopped moving to be dipped into ink, before hastily being returned to a blank scroll waiting to be filled, he must’ve gone through a couple of them before I finished.   “That’s…certainly an interesting tale, I suppose it sounds a bit farfetched, but at the very least I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.” He said after I finished my recounting, nodding his head in contemplation and thought.   I simply nodded in response. “I know you probably don’t believe me, and to tell you the truth it’s not really important that you do. Most of all I was just hoping that you’d be able to help me with this,” I motioned with my working hand to my broken arm and the bandages. “and that I might borrow a few books on Equestrian culture and history from you.”   Ivory Scroll placed the newly written scrolls on the nearby reading desk, turning his gaze to my damaged body. “I can certainly help you with the books, as for your wounds I suppose I’m the closest you’ll find of a healer in this village.” At this point he had walked around to my side of the table, closely examining my broken appendage. “As for this arm, I suppose it might be structured in much the same way as a diamond dog’s, and that should make it a bit easier to fix.”   What followed thereafter were some rather agonizing moments in which my arm was examined in several ways, most of them making use of some kind of scanning spell as Ivory explained it to me. He also put new bandages on my wounds and used a few basic healing spells to aid in the healing process, though he did tell me that healing was a rare art and very difficult, so I shouldn’t get my hopes up. As for the arm, after finally having deduced its structure he bound it into a tighter cast of white cloth, magically applying some sort of white paste-like substance to it which hardened shortly thereafter.   “There we are, I’ve done pretty much everything I can, though I’m afraid your arm is going to have to remain in that cast for quite a while yet. Without knowing anymore about your bone structure and general physiology I dare not use magic to try and speed up the healing process, lest your bone heals incorrectly.”   I nodded in understanding, nevertheless glad for all of his help. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, I don’t plan on doing anything too strenuous if I can help it.” At this I gave a chuckle. “Though with my current record that’s probably not saying much.”   Turns out that Crystal had gone through quite a few books in the time we had been otherwise occupied, I was actually quite surprised at the speed with which she had went through them, as we had not spent more than a few hours in the place. Regardless of this she seemed really happy, I suppose that just means that she really likes books too. I should try and get her a few before we set out again.   “So, about those books…”   Another handful of minutes later I had gathered up a few books Ivory Scroll had recommended to me, most of them regarding Equestrian culture and history, but also a few about basic magic and the world’s natural energies. Crystal had gotten a few books from him as well, and all in all we were both quite a bit happier as we said our thanks and returned to The Green Clover for some well-deserved rest.