//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: The Black Feather Inn // Story: The Birth of Grenth: Where we went wrong... // by Nightshade shadow kitty //------------------------------// Farune and her filly walked through the city streets towards the inn. Well... Mia walked, Farune limped slightly. Grenth had decided it would be better to remain unseen and had hidden himself in Mia’s shadow. This however, made Mia nervous. She was worried that she would somehow step on him. “Dear, don’t worry. You can’t hurt a shadow.” “But... but he’s not like a normal shadow...” “I’m fine Mia, I can’t be harmed when I’m like this...” She was still a little uneasy but continued on anyway. Farune made a point of ignoring all the glaring ponies as they walked. There was no point in making a fuss over something she had no control over. As they neared the inn a unicorn mare blocked their path. “You’re that Tyrant fellow’s wife aren’t you? You’ve got some nerve waltzing into town like it’s nothing.” “Ex-Wife actually.” The mare took a step back. “Wait, what?” Farune smirked. “That’s right, I said ‘Ex-Wife’. I’ve left him. My daughter and I are going to have a fresh start away from that murderer! So you can tell everypony that we no longer have ANY connections to Tyrant LichSlayer!” She raised her voice for the last sentence so that everypony could hear her. For a moment, everypony stopped what they were doing and stared blankly at the mare and her filly. There was an uncomfortable silence for what felt like an eternity. Finally, the mare that had blocked their path backed away slowly. “You’re insane! If you’re telling the truth... then that means that he’ll come after you! He’ll go on a rampage! Nopony will be safe until he finds you!” Farune glared at the mare. “What are you getting at?” She pointed a hoof accusingly at Farune. “You’re putting us all in danger by being here! You have to leave! You have to leave RIGHT NOW!!!” Farune rolled her eyes and continued on past the mare. “Hey I’m talking to you!” She stopped, turned around, and gave the mare a murderous glare. “You know what? I am SICK and TIRED of everypony treating my daughter and me like WE are the ones who are responsible for all those deaths! If my memory serves correctly, everypony Tyrant has ever killed has been tied to necromancy in one way or another. While I understand that it is against the law to practice necromancy, I do NOT approve of Tyrants methods of dealing with it!” Farune began to approach the mare. “And do you think I supported his actions WILLINGLY? The only reason I didn’t leave that monster sooner is because I was afraid for the lives of my foals. The only reason we got away was because somepony saved us! But it wasn’t soon enough to save Kirin... That... that monster... that ANIMAL took my daughter from me! And if I ever see him again I WILL kill him!” She was now face to face with the mare, a look of anger frozen on her face. The mare shook where she stood. “So if you try to give me, OR my daughter anymore trouble... I WILL kick your sorry flank to the moon and back! GOT IT!?” The mare nodded vigorously. “Good!” Farune turned and began to walk away. The mare fell to her haunches in a state of utter shock. All the ponies that had witnessed the event just stood there dumbfounded. Farune had never been known to raise her voice for ANYTHING, and here she was threatening a mare who was giving her a hard time. Mia stared at her mother in awe. “Wow mommy! You scared that mean mare senseless!” Farune smiled at her daughter. “I guess that’s what happens when you keep all your anger bottled up for years on end.” After a few more minutes of walking through the streets and ignoring the stares of cautious ponies, they finally arrived at the inn. The stone brick building was known to be lower class compared to most other inns in the city, but its prices were reasonable, and had about thirty rooms. The sign that hung over the door had an image of a black crow painted on it with the words “The Black Feather Inn” painted below it. Farune entered the establishment with Mia close behind and approached the reception counter. A beige pegasus stallion with a brown mane and mustache sat behind the desk. He smiled as they approached. “Welcome to the Black Feather Inn. My name’s Phil, can I help you with anything?” Farune smiled back. It was nice to have somepony behave with some maturity for once. “We would like a room please, long term.” Phil nodded and pulled a book from under the counter and flipped it open. “Let’s see here... I’m assuming you want a room for two? Or would you prefer a room for one with a slightly bigger bed? It’ll be cheaper that way.” Farune’s smile widened slightly. She wasn’t used to anypony being so kind to her. “That sounds ideal. I’m sure my daughter would appreciate being close to me. She is a tad afraid of the dark after all. And we had a bit of a scare recently.” He looked up from the book and only then noticed some of the bruises on Farune’s body. He gave a sympathetic smile. “You’re Tyrant’s wife aren’t you? I take it you’re runnin’ away?” Farune’s smile immediately vanished and her ears folded against her head and she nodded solemnly. Then her eyes suddenly went wide and she jerked her head back up. “Don’t worry! He won’t be following us here! That’s why we came to this inn! He won’t think to look for us here! And he isn’t really in any condition to be chasing us right now anyway! Please don’t send us away!” The inn keeper just chuckled softly. “Mrs. LichSlayer... err... I guess that’s Ex-Mrs. LichSlayer... Rest assured I have no intention of sending you or your daughter into the streets to fall victim to that murderer. Nopony deserves that fate. After all, it takes allot of bravery to up and leave somepony that dangerous.” Farune let out a relived sigh. “Tell you what Mrs... err... Ms.?” “LifeGiver. My maiden name is LifeGiver.” He smiled again. “Tell you what Ms. LifeGiver, How about I give you and your daughter a special rate? On top of that, I’ll give you one of the suites and a part-time job until you can find something more permanent.” Farune’s jaw dropped, she stood there eyes wide in stunned silence. Mia looked from her mother to Phil, then back again. “Mommy? Are you okay?” “You alright Ms.?” A black tendril stealthily emerged from Mia’s shadow and prodded Farune on the flank and she let out a startled squeak before recovering her thoughts. It was the Inn Keeper’s turn to be stunned. “Wh... what the hay was that?” Farune gulped. Not good. “Ms. I would strongly recommend that you tell me what that was. You aren’t bringing anything dangerous into my inn are you?” “What!? NOnononononono of course not!” She sighed and hung her head. “Grenth, you might as well come out.” Phil took a step back as Mia’s shadow began to move on its own. Grenth slowly climbed out of Mia’s shadow as if he was climbing out of a hole in the ground. When he was finally out he stretched his limbs as if he had just woken up. “Note to self. Hiding in someponies shadow for too long is bad for the joints...” He said with a hint of annoyance as his joints audibly cracked with each stretch. It was Phil’s jaw that dropped this time. “What IS that!?” Grenth rolled his glowing red eyes. “I’m a shadow pony. Think of me as a living shadow with feelings and emotions and... who looks like a pony...” “Is... is it dangerous?” Mia scowled and put her hooves against the side of the counter to make herself as tall as possible. “No HE is NOT dangerous!!! He is my bestest friend ever and he saved my mommy’s life!” She glared at the inn keeper for his senseless remark. Farune put a hoof on Mia’s shoulder. “Mia, settle down, he didn’t know. To be honest Grenth does look like he could be dangerous to anypony that hasn’t met him before.” Mia’s lip quivered and her eyes began to tear up. “But... *sniff*... but he’s not dangerous!” Grenth wiped a tear from Mia’s eye with his hoof and smiled at her softly. “Don’t worry, I’m used to that kind of reaction from ponies. It doesn’t really bother me anymore.” Grenth then turned to the inn keeper, a serious look on his face. “If you don’t want me here I can leave. I am more than capable of fending for myself. Just don’t throw them out because of me. I have no intention of causing you any trouble.” Phil was quiet for moment, a stunned look on his face. He cleared his throat and gave Grenth a stern look. “Listen, part of me wants to throw you all out into the street, but I’m guessing you’re the one who helped these two get away from Tyrant. So that tells me that you have at least some form of decency or honor or whatever the hay you want to call it. But...” He let out a sigh. “If anypony found you here in my inn they’d shut me town and lock me up. So here’s what I’m gonna do.” He gave all three of them a stern look. “I’ll still give Ms. LifeGiver and her daughter their special rate, and the job. But in exchange I want you to do a few favors for me.” Grenth raised an eyebrow. “That’s it? You want me to do some favors?” Phil shook his head. “These aren’t ordinary favors. They’ll require some... discretion. You can’t let anypony see you. Understand?” Grenth nodded. Phil grinned. “Alright then.” He handed Farune a key. “You’re in room 32, down the hall on your right. As for you...” He turned back to Grenth. “Come with me.”