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Chapter 1, It Started with a Book... (like that's a surprise)2,718 words
Chapter 2, Whispers in the Wind1,796 words
Chapter 3, Defiance3,272 words
Chapter 4, Departure2,449 words
Chapter 5 - Dingy3,304 words
Chapter 6 - Songs of Demeter3,515 words
Chapter 7 - Razorpoint2,362 words
Chapter 8 - Five Gold Pieces2,891 words
Chapter 92,510 words
Chapter 101,990 words

Chapter 8 - Five Gold Pieces

The afternoon was winding down and Twilight and Julanza still sat in the inn. He offered to pay for her room that night but she refused.

"I'm the one supposed to be paying you, not the other way around!" She cried.
"What are you going to do? Sleep on the street?" Julanza said with a smirk.
"Ma'am," Twilight asked the barmaid. "Is there anypony-"
"Anyone," Julanza corrected.
"Anyone in town I could do a little work for to earn some quick money?"

"Well," she said in the same Nordic accent as the fisherman Twilight first met on the dock. "You could go next door to Lida's shop if you have anything to sell. Hulgar the blacksmith might have a little work that needs to be done. You could also go and chop a little wood for the fires in the inn for me, I'll pay you."

"Thank you." Twilight looked through her bag. "Things to sell...I don't really have any- oh. I guess there's this."
"What is it?" Julanza asked.
"It's not much. Just a little thing a friend gave me. But it was gift, so maybe I shouldn't sell it?"
"I am sure your friend would understand."
"I guess you're right." Twilight closed her bag and stood.

Julanza accompanied her to Lida's shop next door. The place had shelves covering the walls that overflowed with vases, bottles of unfamiliar liquid, necklaces, textiles, bowls of minerals and plants, and other things. There were articles of clothing folded neatly on the tables along with a few weapons. The more valuable items were behind the counter with the pretty Nord mare. Her coat was ashy brown and her mane was a deeper, chocolate brown. Twilight noticed that she had no cutie mark.

"Welcome to Lida's Mercantile," she said. "My name is Lida. I see you are a visitor, miss. How can I help you?"

"Good evening," Twilight smiled. She approached the counter and took out the half-formed gem that Spike had given her. "How much can you give me for this?"

Lida picked it up and turned it over in her hooves, examining it. "Hmm...half-formed Amethyst. Where did you find this?"

"A friend back in Equestria gave it to me as a farewell present."

"Ah, Equestria!" Lida smiled. "I hear that country is rich with gemstones. Rubies, sapphires, emeralds, diamonds and the like teem from the soil, is that not so? They are probably not worth much there, are they? Since they are so common?"

"You could say that. A friend of mine uses a lot of them in her fashion designs."

"It's a shame you didn't bring more. Gemstones fetch handsome prices here in Skyrim." She looked back to the stone in her hooves. "Hmm. Equestrian almost-Amethyst. I can give you five gold for it."

"Five gold? That's the currency here?" Twilight asked Julanza.

"It's worth at least ten gold, Lida," he said.

"Ok I'll give you six," Lida said.

"Uh- no I'll take only ten," Twilight realized quickly that they were haggling.

"Eight."

"Nine."

"Done," Lida counted out nine pieces of gold on the counter. Twilight replaced the bits in her coin purse with the gold.

"Any chance you'd be willing to buy some Equestrian coins?" Twilight asked.

"Hm...I'll give you this sweetroll for them."

"Fair enough." Twilight took the sweetroll and tore it in half. "Here you go, Julanza."

"Ah, many thanks!" He said, biting into it. "Try it, the sweetrolls here are to die for."

Twilight tasted the roll. "Wow, it is good! My friend Pinkie Pie would love these. I should get her a recipe sometime. Thank you, Lida."

"Oh, if you're looking to make a little more coin," Lida said. "Would you please take this package to the blacksmith? I'll give you five gold."

"Sure," Twilight placed the package on her back, not thinking to haggle for at least eight gold. "I'll be right back."

Twilight had spotted the blacksmith, Hulgar, earlier. The dirty, graying blond stallion had given her a nasty look. He was hammering some iron nails into shape when she arrived.

"Good evening, sir!" She said. "A package for you from Lida."

He raised an eyebrow at her and motioned to a table. "Put it there," he said in a gruff voice and Twilight did so. "Thank you." He grumbled. As she was leaving, he said "I'll see you tomorrow."

She stopped. "Pardon?"

"Tomorrow. I'm closing up here in a few minutes. I'll need more time to fit you with horseshoes." He started to put his tools away.

"Horseshoes? What are you talking about?"

"We'll talk about it tomorrow, Hulgar," Julanza appeared beside her. "Come on Twilight, let's get your gold before Lida closes."

"What did he mean, 'horseshoes'?" She asked.

"We'll talk about it later."

After they had retrieved the five gold from Lida, Julanza showed Twilight where the wood block was. It was a tree stump with an ax sticking out of it and large pieces of wood piled around it. Twilight used her magic to place the wood and chop it with the ax. She just finished copping the first one when Julanza said, "Woah, what is that?"

"What is what?"

"Is that magic?"

Twilight nodded. "Yes. Most unicorns know this telekinesis spell. Have you seen magic before?"

"Yes but...not like that."

"What do you mean?" She chopped another piece in half.

"It is just strange. It looks... odd." Julanza scratched his head. "It's not supposed to look like that. I've read a bit about magic, and the Telekinesis spell takes a lot of energy, even for unicorns."

"I'm very gifted at using magic. It's my special talent. Can Argonians do magic?"

"Being Argonian doesn't have anything to do with it. Anyone can do magic. I hear Lida has studied a bit of the Restoration arts."

Twilight stopped chopping. "How is that possible? Only unicorns can use magic. Lida is an earth pony."

"The only thing special about unicorns is that they can learn magic faster. Anyone can learn magic. All you need is a magic tome and some patience."

"But that's... impossible. Only unicorns have magic within themselves that they can use to perform spells. Nopony in Equestria that isn't a unicorn can perform magic."

"I don't know what to tell you, Twilight. Anyone can learn magic. It's always been that way."

"But that's..." Twilight took out her journal and began to write. She quickly recorded her evening so far then continued to write about magic. "That's impossible...unless...unless you draw the magic from somewhere else. But how? Where else could there possibly be any magic?"

Julanza scratched his head. "It's getting late, Twilight. Perhaps we can investigate this further some other time."

Twilight chopped several more pieces of wood and piled them onto her back. When she delivered them to the barmaid, Twilight got five pieces of gold. She now had nineteen pieces total. She paid ten for a room for the night and the barmaid showed Twilight to a door just across the room from the counter.

"Oh, ma'am," Twilight asked. "Do know where I can learn more about magic here in Skyrim?"

"I'm not sure how many towns still have court mages," the barmaid replied. "Many of them don't even have courts anymore. Whiterun might still have a mage, and The College of Winterhold in the northeast was once a famous institution for teaching magic. I don't know if it's still in use, but it may be worth a try."

Twilight thanked her and closed the door. She locked it just to be safe and placed her bags by the bed. Before she went to sleep she wrote a bit more in her journal, noting especially the College of Winterhold.

Twilight awoke to knocking on her door and Julanza's voice saying, "Wake up, Twilight Sparkle. There are a few things wee need to do before we set out. Can you hear me?"

"Yeah," she called. "Hold on, let me get my things." Twilight made sure her supplies were in order and opened the door for Julanza. "Good morning," she yawned.

"Good morning! Come, I've already filled some canteens." He threw a canteen around Twilight's neck. "Follow me. We need to get you fitted with horseshoes."

"Horseshoes what - hey wait!" Julanza was already heading for the door.

She caught up to him just as he stepped onto the blacksmith's porch. Hulgar was stepping on the bellows, pumping air into the forge and making the coals glow brightly. The heat was a surprising sensation against the freezing Skyrim air. A heavy set of horseshoes sat ominously on top of a table near the forge. A scattering of thick nails lay on the table with a hammer.

"Julanza," Twilight said nervously.
"It won't hurt," he said. "Will it?" he quickly added to Hulgar.
"No." the stallion said gruffly.

"What won't hurt?" She didn't like where this was going.
"Uh-"
"Horseshoes." Hulgar interrupted him. "I made them fresh this morning. They've been cool for quite a while."
"I'm not worried their temperature," Twilight protested. "I'm not so fond of those huge nails, though!"
"Do you want your hooves to bleed after a day of travel in our land?" Hulgar said. "I wouldn't insist you get shoes had you been born here, but the Equestrian landscape is soft and easy to move on. The terrain here is made of hard, razor-sharp rocks. Trust me, you need these."

"But..." Twilight knew plenty about horseshoes. Not the light, decorative ones that Rarity collected for special occasions, but real, metal, nailed-into-your-hooves horseshoes. They used to be used regularly in Equestria, but the need for them slowly evaporated. Nopony has used them in centuries.
Skyrim, it would seem, had not had the benefit of advancement beyond the use of these ancient tools. She understood that she would most definitely need them, but the idea of nailing them into her body made her shiver.

"Well?" Julanza said, motioning towards the shoes.
Twilight sighed. "I guess there's no helping it."

Hulgar motioned for her to sit. She hesitantly took her place and the blacksmith went to work. His years of experience made swift work of each hoof, but his progress was hindered several times by Twilight's squirming. He even had Julanza hold her down at one point.
The first shoe was the worst. She had no idea what to expect and yelped when the first nail was driven in. It didn't hurt at all, but she could still feel it forcing its way into the bone. The sensation was completely unknown to her and entirely unpleasant. By the third hoof she stopped squirming and only groaned in discomfort.

"Alright, alright," Hulgar grumbled. "Stop your bellyaching. You're all set." He stepped back and waited. Twilight didn't move.
"Are you, uh," Julanza said. "Gonna get up?"
"...Yes."
"....Today?"
"...Um-" Hulgar suddenly pushed Twilight out of her seat and she nearly fell over before catching herself.

"Goodness, these sure are heavy," she said. The new horseshoes made her hooves much heavier, making her very clumsy. She doubted she'd be able to walk a long distance in them.
"You'll adapt," Hulgar said. "You'll build up the muscle. Now go for a walk. Test them out."
Twilight took a few cautious steps in her new hooves. Each clop was accompanied by a heavy metallic clang. The sound alone was going to take some getting used to.

She began walking slowly at first but gradually worked her way up to a brisk canter. Her balance was seriously out of place with several extra pounds added to her hooves. When she walked she clopped down each hoof with and awkward and unintentional flair in an attempt to keep her balance.
"Lookin' good, Cloppy!" Julanza called out to her as she walked about town.
Twilight smirked at him and returned to the blacksmith. Hulgar nodded in satisfaction.
"They'll do," he said. He began to put away the hammer and extra nails.

Twilight rummaged through her coin purse. "How much do I owe you?"
"Nothing. I don't charge newcomers for basic shoes." He started to clean his hooves with a rag.
"Really?"
"Of course. All newcomers need these shoes. If I started charging, a few might walk away with bare hooves. They wouldn't last long without them."
Julanza stood beside Twilight. "What about armor attachments? Are those free?"
Twilight stiffened. "What attachments?"
"No," Hulgar grumbled. "They are not free. I have a light set made if you'd like to purchase it."
"Why would I need armor?"

"We'll take the light set!"
"Julanza!" she hissed.
"Trust me, Twilight. You won't be sorry."
"Julanza, I don't want-"

"You might want to consider it," Hulgar interrupted. "You are aware of how dangerous Skyrim can be?"
"Yes, I've been told but...armor?"
Julanza and Hulgar only nodded and they waited patiently for her to think it over.
She finally said, "I don't know if I can handle any more weight to my legs."
"Here," Hulgar presented her with a plate of armor that was molded to the shape of a foreleg. "Feel it, it's quite light."

Twilight weighed the armor in her hoof and found it a much more manageable weight. But would she really need it? She had been told over and over that Skyrim was dangerous, but she never really thought about what that implied. She would need armor, sure. But what else had she neglected to think of?
She sighed. "Okay. How much is it? I only have nine gold pieces."
"I'll give it to you for five."

Twilight handed over the money and Hulgar fit her with the armor. He showed her how to put it on properly, remove it, and keep it clean. Twilight listened intently. The system was crude and obviously an ancient design, but it was also ingenious. The horseshoes had extra holes where the armor could be attached with large screws. The armor also had straps to secure the top section around the leg. The inside was lightly padded with fabric so it was comfortable enough. The set that she was being fitted with was indeed light, but it was also weak.
"This is a flimsy set," Hulgar said. "I'd suggest purchasing a heavier set later on."

"Let's just hope it doesn't come to that," Twilight said as the final screw was placed.
"There you are," Hulgar said. "I hope it serves you well."
"Thank you, Hulgar. You've been very helpful to this newcomer." She extended her hoof.
He shook her offered hoof and said "Just doing my duty, lass. Good luck out there."

Julanza and Twilight departed from the blacksmith and walked down the street.
"Are you ready to go, Twilight?"
She paused and glanced around the town. The moment had finally come for her to brave the Skyrim wilds in search of whatever it was that was calling her there. She was so eager to learn everything she could about this new world, and find out what it was about this place that had drawn her to it; What the voice that called her was. Or who.
"Twilight?" Julanza was looking at her quizzically. She smiled back.

"Yes. I'm ready. Let's go."

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Psycho Kid

Psycho Kid #1 · May 27th, 2013 · · ·

Not bad, can't say I'm a fan of no indentation but it beets center aligned text. You may want to add a little more to the back and forth bits, it took me a second to realize who was talking and about what. Other than that I like how this story is turning out, hope to see more!

LunarSeraph