The Collector

by Equestriapatriot

chapter one: The oddball.

Sand, sand, sand for as long as one can see, combined with the big open and blue sky with nothing but a few vultures circling and circling about.
They are waiting for the traveler down on the ground to die of some reason. The traveler who has been walking for days with no end, no rest for water, food or sleep. But the birds still patiently waits for him to meet his end, as all before him has done to.
The traveler walks through the water fumes that sippers out of the ground and does not seem to be bothered by the scorching sun. The mans clothes is what you would think would be fitting for this kind of trip, if you saw him from afar that is. He wears some kind of dark cloak that is as thick as a thumb, and in this climate it makes you sweat just by looking at it. His pants are some old worn down chinos, and his feet are bare as he walk on the 104 degrees hot sand without hesitation. On his head he wears a wide, brown, threadbare hat and his eyes are covered by some wierd, big goggles with at least five different kind of lincese on the sides to fold down for use.
Now and then he switches license and look around without stopping, and a few times he take out a notebook and scribble something down. He walks, and walks through the day. The scavengers are just starting to lose their patience, when he abruptly stops.
Finally he is done, the birds think and starts to circle faster. The man change his goggles lenses into some black ones and says absently.

"There you are." Reaches out his hand into the thin air and grabs it, startle the birds above as he disappear and leave nothing but his soon gone footsteps in the sand and an unsettling echo of a chuckle in the air.

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The undertaker digs on the grave for whatever poor soul that would need it. The graveyard was quiet as it usually was at the dark hours and the only light came from his lantern that was placed next to the grave.
He stopped for a while to check his pocket watch. It was 11 o'clock in the evening and it was quite cold outside. Luckily his wife would be waiting for him with a nice cup of tea and some scones as he got home. He wrapped his coat tighter around his body and started once again to dig, tugh, tugh, tugh, it sounded as the shovel hit the ground.
The undertaker loved his job, because for some reason handling with the dead soothed him in a way nothing else could. He used to pretend that the dead, or the clients which he used to call them when he was in a fun mood, were still alive and that his job was to make them look pretty as he later on sent them into another dimension as he buried them.

"Krah! Krah!" A raven said and sat down on the lantern handle.

"Here you go Sanguis.", he said and threw a piece of pork to the raven who catched it in the air and feasted on the meat.
The undertaker has always had a strange connection to the Corvus birds. When he was little he used to teach them tricks, and when he was beaten by other kids they soon learned to stop after being attacked by a whole pack of crows, magpies and ravens.

"Krah!" The raven once again exclaimed and bowed.

"You're welcome.", The undertaker said and took a sip from a flask. "Want one?", he asked and reached his flask to the raven. Sanguis took some of the schnapps and leaned back to chug it down.

"Good boy, it will help you sing better.", he chuckled.

Then he heard a pair of lips, whistling on some happy tune from a few meters behind him. He turned around and saw the contour of a man slowly approaching. He was soon out of the unfinished grave and as he brushed of some of the dirt from his clothes he opened his mouth.

"Hello there friend, what are you doing here at this hour?"

"Who me?", the man said with a soft voice and entered the reach of the light. "Oh, i'm just passing through."

The man where, to say in a nice way, odd. What was most odd about him was his bare feet against the frost covered ground and some weird goggles that covered half of his face.

"And who may you be?", the undertaker asked and where on his guard.

"Not important.", the man said casually. "What is important though is that your grave digging skills are wonderful, true masterpieces, and I'm not just saying that to be nice."

"Why, thank you.", the undertaker said surprised.

"No need to thank me for your talent.", the man said and turned to an old grave which gravestone he studied.

"No disrespect, but what are you doing here?"

"Hm? Oh I'm just passing by as i said before, I just wanted to say hello to... a familiar of mine before I continue my travels.", he said and nodded at the gravestone.

"What is your name?", the undertaker asked.

"It's the same as this fine gentleman.", he whispered and started to walk away.

The undertaker looked at the stone and was sure that what was written was not there before. It said: The Collector.
He looked for the man he just talked to, but he was gone.

"Just what i needed.", the undertaker muttered. "When i was in a good mood and all."

He jumped back in his hole, grabbed his shovel and went back to work.

*What he said was true though.*, he thought and looked at his progress. "It is a masterpiece, isn't it?", he asked his raven.

"Krah! Krah!", Sanguis agreed.

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Jonas was running from the bullies from his school. The adrenaline is pumping through his blood and made him run faster than ever before, if it was enough he didnt know. He should just had picked up their trash and maybe they would had chased him this time, but hindsight was to no help here. He snuck in one of the empty magazines and took a risk by resting for a while. He sweated all over his body and his breath was fast and loud, too loud. He tried to be quiet and listen for footsteps.

"JONAS!", Chris yelled. "COME OUT, COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!"

"I think he is over here Chris!", Kaleb shouted. "I can hear him crying."

*Shit.* Jonas thought and just noticed that he was hulkling and that at least half of what he thought was sweat was tears.

"Fourteen years old and still crying like a baby,", Alan said with pity. "that is just sad."

"There you are pipsqueak!", Chris the giant exclaim as he entered the magazine.

Jonas tried to run again but was caught from behind by Alan before he lifted one leg.

"Oh I'm going to love this!", Chris said loudly and took aim as he closed his fist and leaned back as he came closer and closer. Jonas close his eyes and tried to think about something else. It felt like the time has slowed down as the punch never came. It felt like one minute... two minutes... Three minutes.

"Are you going to stand there with your eyes closed like an idiot for ever?", he heard a soft voice ask.

Jonas opened his eyes just to see Chris knuckles right in front of him, but unmoving.

"What is this?"

"Their simple minds and bodies are on standby mode for the moment.", a strange man with bare feet and a coat said a few meters away from him. "I used what many people like myself would call magic."

"Magic?"

"Yes."

"How, and why?"

"How is simple, I just wanted it to happen. Why is a bit more complicated, not even I know why I do what I do, maybe I did it to help a fellow sorcerer."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you have magic in you, you just didn't know that... Would you like to learn?"

"You mean to throw lightning bolts and stuff?"

"Well... yes. That and other... umh, stuff."

"Yes please.", Jonas said eagerly.

"Come over here then.", he said as jonas felt how Alans gripp was gone.
When he was in front of the man, he placed both of his index fingers on Jonas temples and closed his eyes. It felt like being lightning struck as all the information went through Jonas head.

"You now have one percent of my knowledge of magic in you,", the man said. "that is the greatest gift anyone has ever received, so use it well."

"I will.", Jonas said grimly. But he was talking to the air, as the man was gone.

"What the &#@%!" Chris yelled and turned about to find Jonas standing several meters away smiling. Alan was lying on the ground grabbing his stomach and all the others were extremely puzzled.

"I don't know how the hell you did that, but your dead pipsqueak."

The next thing the bullies knew was that they had joined Alan on the ground and were in unexplainable, unbearable pain as Jonas smiled and laughed in pure joy.

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"what is this?!", The oddball exclaim in the middle of a road in Manehattan. All of the ponies look with surprised faces at the weird creature standing on two legs that just stepped out of nowhere.

The man was writing something down in a book and was standing still, mumbling something inaudible.
A green stallion gathered some courage and uttered.

"Excuse me, sir... or mam. Who or what are you, and... what are you doing here?"

The man ignored the stallion and studied his hands which looked just as the rest of his boody, funny for him, and said. "Interesting. Seems I changed into some kind of animated form."

"Excuse me.", the stallion said one more time.

"Yes, yes one second.",the man said annoyed and went back to his notebook.
Some quiet time passed by and the man finally answered.

"The who or what question i answer with the same answer, The collector. And why I'm here? I'm here to collect. Now you must excuse me as i must go that way." He pointed at the direction to Canterlot and started to walk as he he touched his worn hat and some strange fluid ran down from it staining his boddy and made him invisible piece by piece.
The ponies on the road was scared still and listened to the happy tune that pinpointed the collectors location as he slowly walked away from their lives. For now that is.

End of Chapter one.

Author's Note:

Hello everypony. This project has been going on for a while now as just a thought and has now taken form as a text. I don't know if it's good or not, but it's fun to write so who gives a crap.
Sorry If my writing is not that good, though my original language is Swedish and i don't have an editor to help me.

Thanks for reading, hope you like it, and stay tuned for the next chapter.

Comments

[RapTions]

31.media.tumblr.com/38a60505c7d2e5a5c7fce389091c6260/tumblr_mtn177qovW1s2b98qo1_1280.jpg here this all i have to say. keep up the good work

[Equestriapatriot]

3263083 Thanx, I will.