Seraphim

by Salacar

Chapter 6

Seraphim

Chapter 6

Our first evening in Old Stable was thankfully uneventful, after returning from Ivory Scroll with our reading material we ate a late supper. I found that most of it was edible, though I did discover that humans weren’t supposed to eat flowers and hay, despite how tasty it seemed to the other ponies in the inn. The salad was filling enough, and it was served along with whole-grain bread and a stick of butter, as well as an amber liquid called ‘apple cider’ according to my unicorn companion. Rather tasty drink actually. All in all it served to sate my annoying need for nourishment, though I did notice that Crystal didn’t partake too much in the food, probably as a result of her earlier eating-frenzy.

Following our dinner, and a sudden influx of thirsty ponies, we decided to retire to our room for some reading and an early night’s sleep. Entering the room I quickly grabbed the nearest book in the pile, dropping down to sit in the bed with a relieved sigh, glad to finally have some much needed reprieve to just think and relax. The tome turned out to be labelled ‘Early Equestrian History’, which I found to be an interesting, but rather dry read.

I briefly noticed Crystal jumping onto the bed beside me, carrying along her own book for the evening, or possibly just her first considering the speed with which she read. Another talent I would eventually come to envy her.

I wasn’t sure exactly when it happened, but at some point I decided to lie down to read for a while, and almost instantly drifted into blissful sleep.

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A cold shiver ran through my entire being as my eyes snapped open, gazing into the darkened room around me. All of my senses told me that something was amiss; I could feel my heart thud strongly in my chest, urging me into movement.
With a quick glance I noticed that I was still in bed, but I couldn’t see Crystal anywhere nearby, the moonlight shining through the single window my only source of lighting. Swiftly I got out of bed, my bandaged arm aching due to the sudden movement, warning me not to strain myself too much.

My body’s warning went unheeded as I found my footing, without hesitation I set into a long stride, taking me to the closed door. Another moment later I was outside in the hall, quickly scouting for anything out of place, anything which could explain my anxiety. Finding none I proceeded down the hall and finally the stairs, my still leather-bound feet making nought a sound on the wooden floor, my entry into the main room almost entirely silent.

The place was dead and empty, save for a still-burning fireplace and a few candles, painting the room in an eerie glow and shifting shadows. My heart had finally calmed down, allowing me to steady my breath and take a few more steps into the looming emptiness, the darkness outside the windows an almost palpable gloom.

I could still feel the wrongness in the air, hanging thick and setting my nerves on edge, causing drops of sweat to drop from my brow and unto the floor. Doing my best to compose myself I concentrated on my sword’s Sealing Mark, willing it into existence as a means to protect myself against a possible danger.

Nothing.

Nothing happened, despite my best attempts the arcane tattoo showed no sign of activity, staying as dead and dormant as my surroundings. Gulping loudly as my sweating intensified in fear, I desperately tried to summon some ounce of my power, anything at all. The only thing I got for my efforts was a feeling of weakness in my body I had never felt before, even when I had laid upon the harsh cold ground of the forest following my banishment from Elysium.

The darkness around me had grown in density without me noticing, clawing its way through the now open windows towards where I stood in the middle of the room. In panic I spun around, trying to find some means of escape, some way to fight back the encroaching darkness.

A deep dark chuckle rang through the room, causing the fireplace and candles to intensify, only creating even larger shadows, which at this point had taken the form of various fiendish figures I had never even seen before. Outside in the unforgiving gloom I noticed a growing crimson light, merging with the darkness as if the two belonged together.

A voice spoke, and with every word I could see the crimson light pulse, as if following a constant heartbeat. The voice was cold and unyielding, sending shivers through my already panicked mind.

“Ah, my little Ascended, my prey, I have finally found your world of refuge.” The voice was unfamiliar to me, but somehow I knew who the speaker was.“I am coming for you, and despite what the Fallen One may say, I have no intention of letting prey escape me this easily.”

The chuckle turned into a full out laugh, causing the crimson light to pick up in strength, bathing the room in a combination of deep darkness and a crimson illumination befitting only the deepest parts of the Lower Planes.

“Yes, heed my words little prey, I will find you, and when I do you’ll wish that the Fallen One had allowed me to kill you in Elysium!”

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I woke with a start, cold sweat pouring from my body, my heart was pounding so fast I was afraid it was going to burst, and my head rang with pain and discomfort unlike any I had felt before.

‘The Balor’

The revelation hit me with overwhelming force, my mind surging with painful thoughts as I realised the implications of the Greater Fiend’s words.

‘He knows I’m in Equestria, he’ll come hunting for me, using whatever unholy means he has at his disposal.’

Just thinking about what corruption and destruction the Balor would bring with it to this peaceful world sent bile to my throat, had I been of weaker spirit I was sure that I would have emptied my stomach right then and there. Damned be the mortal human body! For the second time in my life I felt helpless, I knew that he would eventually find his way here, and with myself in such a state, devoid of all but the most miniscule power, there would be nothing I could do to stop him.

I was promptly brought back to reality by a pair of large azure eyes looking worriedly at me, Crystal having placed herself on my chest in order to look me in the face, uncertainty and fear clear in her innocent blue eyes. Without a word I brought my functioning arm up, embracing her in a tight hug, ignoring the feeling of my body being soaked in ice cold water. And for the first time in my very long life, I cried.

I wept tears of fear and despair, everything that had happened to me came rushing back, the destruction of my home, the death of my friends, what happened to the Flame of Life and Ezekiel, even my loss of immortality. Thoughts of my own wellbeing were quickly replaced by images of Crystal at the mercy of the Fiend, of a burning Old Stable and the dead littering the streets. I hadn’t spent much time on this world, but already had I felt the kindness and sincerity of these ponies. The very idea of Sweet Peach and Ivory Scroll losing their lives because of me, some stranger who did not belong here, sent a new pang of pain and misery through my form; causing me to hug the small unicorn even closer, eliciting a quiet gasp and her placing hooves around my neck in return.

I’m not sure for how long we stayed like that; all I knew was that at the end of it I had calmed down considerably, the coldness of my body replaced with a comfortable warmth courtesy of my young friend. In that moment I decided that I’d do whatever I could to keep these ponies safe, even if I had to give up what little remained of my soul.

With newfound determination I broke the embrace, getting on my feet despite their shaking and sending Crystal a smile.

“Thank you, Crystal.” To her credit she just stood there, returning my smile in full. “We should go get some breakfast, and I’m going to need another bath.”

I was sure that she’d ask me about it, but once more she surprised me with wisdom well beyond her years by staying silent, all youthful curiosity forgotten in that moment, knowing full well that it wasn’t something I could so easily talk about.

An hour later we had both gotten something to eat and cleaned up, it felt nice to wash away the sweat and troubles of my night, and not for the first time did I wonder if I’d ever get a true night’s rest in this place.

After saying our thanks for the food and bath to Sweet Peach, we headed out into the early day sun with a plan for the day.
First we’d get me some new clothes, if possible I’d want to get at least some basic leather armor, guessing that an actual armorsmith would be unheard of in these parts. Then we’d gather supplies for our continued journey: backpack, travel rations, flint and steel, canteens, a compass and at least a simple map being the top priorities. Possibly even bedroll or sleeping bag if we could find any.

The first thing I noticed when we came out into the street were the stares. Or rather, the lack thereof. While the ponies still looked at us curiously we didn’t actually stop anypony in their track, and my own gaze didn’t send them running for cover anymore, instead eliciting only smiles or simple nods, which I responded to in kind. Turns out that Sweet Peach had already spread the news of our arrival, skilfully manipulating rumors like only a true innkeeper could. I suddenly felt very thankful to the kind mare, deciding that I’d at the very least pay a bit extra for our stay.

Our day progressed like we had hoped; the marketplace was full of various merchants with a surprisingly large variety of goods, easily picking out the places we’d need to go after having seen the tailor Sweet Peach recommended, Silver Lining.

Silver Lining’s store was easily one of the prettiest buildings in the town, it was a single-story structure painted in whites and light greys, a rather large porch with intricately carved wooden columns and round windows with matching patterns, purple drapes slightly visible on the other side of the glass.
It looked comfortable and welcoming to me in a way, despite the fact that I had never put much weight on architecture or the likes, judging a vessel almost entirely on what it contained.

As it turns out I didn’t need to be concerned about the owner of the store, as the first thing Silver Lining did when she opened was to gasp in shock. At first I believed it to be because of my own form, but I quickly discovered otherwise when her firm professional gaze wandered between the dirty rags which served as my meager clothing.

“What is that you’re wearing!?” Her voice was aghast. “Did you steal a diamond dog’s clothes and decide to roll around in garbage simply because they weren’t dirty enough!?”

I’ve never been the most fashionable person, but I’ll be the first to admit that I did look like a wandering beggar more than anything else. It didn’t stop her words from hurting though, especially with Crystal snickering at my side, the clothes were a necessary sacrifice after all, it’s not like I wanted to look this way.

While she was busy looking absolutely horrified I took the chance to look her over in turn, she was a white unicorn with a curly greying mane, her eyes were a pleasant magenta and on her flank was her cutie mark, a needle with silver thread stitching a piece of cloth.

I coughed lightly to draw her attention back to me. “I realise my clothes are not quite… in the best of conditions, which is the reason I’ve come to you. Sweet Peach told me you were the best tailor in town.”

She looked at me incredulously for a moment. “More like the only tailor, dear. No need for more than one when ponies so rarely wear clothes.” A smile appeared on her face before she continued. “Now, you must be this ‘mysterious creature’ I’ve heard about, to be honest a lot of the rumors say that you’re some sort of ugly diamond dog. I think you look quite pleasant really,” she gave my ‘clothes’ another look-over. “If only the same could be said for your choice of clothing.”

Before I could respond to her accusations I was enveloped in a pink aura and quickly brought through the door, then deposited unceremoniously on a small pedestal. Having myself practically forced somewhere didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would, finding instead a small amount of joy in how dedicated to her work Silver Lining seemed to be.

“Now, you just stand there while I take your measurements, won’t take long at all!” Her voice was almost singsong, betraying her excitement. “Oh, and you my dear,” she said, motioning to Crystal. “Feel free to look around, and do tell me if anything catches your fancy.”

Crystal happily obliged, trotting around the shop with excitement clear in her features, I somehow guessed that she wasn’t used to seeing beautiful clothes like this. At least I guessed that the clothes were beautiful, I could obviously tell that they were made with careful and experienced craftsmanship, but my own knowledge of fashion in pony society was very lacking to say the least. It wasn’t on the top of my priorities when it came to gathering information.
Some of the dresses seemed very… extravagant to me, with frills aplenty, a multitude of colours and a healthy amount of both silver and golden thread.

We spent roughly an hour with Silver Lining, at some point Crystal had slumped down in a couch for a nap, and during that time I was surrounded by measuring tape, scissors, and a very large amount of gossip I had no context for. It was somewhat terrifying. Despite almost constantly talking while she worked, Silver Lining seemed very proficient at manipulating her tools with magic, supposedly a skill developed for use in her tailoring.

In the end she had gotten the measurements she needed and we had decided, though I suppose it was mostly her, on the clothes I was going to have made. A white tunic and pants to replace the ones I had ripped apart, as well as a double layered robe which I was used to wearing. While she insisted on a rather colourful robe, I was able to convince her to stick to something a bit more inconspicuous, mainly making use of white, blue and silver in its design.

She also promised that she’d try and figure out some better footwear, and I also had some luck in trying to get her to reinforce or at least harden pieces of the clothing. At first she didn’t really see the purpose of such protective garments, but in the end I managed to convince her that travelling could be dangerous, and that I’d need some additional protection so I wouldn’t damage the clothes, or more importantly, myself.

In the end she promised that she’d try her best with what she got, and what I could afford, though she had assured me, despite my protests, that I’d get a decent discount. Something about me walking around in substandard clothes being some sort of ‘crime against fashion’.

Deciding that Silver Lining was somewhat eccentric, though still kind and generous enough, I chose not to press the subject, and I left the tailor feeling better than I had previously. It was uplifting to meet such good people, or ponies rather.
It would take a few days for her to finish my clothes, and during that time I’d take as much rest as I possibly could, certain that I’d need it for the future. I wasn’t terribly afraid of staying in Old Stable for a bit; even if the Balor had managed to find Equestria he wouldn’t be able to find my exact position quite so easily, especially considering how weak my aura was.

After returning to the marketplace we were able to pick up the few things we needed, though we didn’t exactly find a ‘backpack’, it was more like a modified saddlebag of sorts. The compass and map was the most expensive, but with our stay in Old Stable possibly shortened we were able to afford them regardless.

Deciding against picking up travelling rations until the day we actually left, we returned to the Green Clover for lunch and relaxation after a long morning of walking around.

That night I decided to meditate before going to sleep, putting in place as many mental barriers as I could in a bid to keep any Fiendish intrusions from my dreams. I also chose to follow Crystal’s advice and give a short prayer to Luna asking for pleasant dreams, which was apparently a common method of keeping away nightmares in this world.
If it was because of my countermeasures or simply because the Balor didn’t try, I still found that night’s sleep peaceful and restorative.

My first real rest in Equestria.

Comments

[TheTownCrier]

Now this a really good read. Good character development throughout.
Silver Lining made me laugh. Great job!!!!