//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 
// Story: Godly Promotion 
// by Dapper_Dan 
//------------------------------//

Despite the hostility I received when I first appeared in this quaint little village, the room I was given was quite lovely. It didn’t hold much in terms of furniture, but the bed was surprisingly comfortable, and the view over the moonlit ocean was quite beautiful. 

It gave me plenty of time to relax and run through the information I had and study the map to familiarize myself with the villages and cities that dotted the coast of the Oshun Sea. Turns out, I ended up in a quaint little village they called Kabo, which was actually as close to the city of Iram as you could get, meaning I only had a few short miles standing between me and my ticket to Equestria.

Once I did get there, that’s when the hard part begins.

If the zebra there act how they did here, I would likely have more luck crossing the Sea itself instead of boarding a ship that just so happened to be heading there. Only problem with that though, was the simple fact that the middle of the Sea pretty much had a storm cell running along its entirety almost twenty four seven, making it pretty much impossible to navigate it through flight. 

This storm, if I recall, was courtesy of one of my daughter’s demons known simply as Erebus. Wonder what happened to that guy.

I may be an immortal, and while this vessel was extremely hardy, it was still killable, and I was in no hurry to test out its electrical resistance. 

Sure I could just split the storm itself, but then I’d end up screwing up the magical field and ruin somebody’s day, so I didn’t have a lot of options. The only other way would be for me to travel to the land of the griffons and head through the Endlos Ocean, which stretched for hundreds of miles, to reach Equestrian borders.  I could also teleport there I guess, but I didn’t come down here just to teleport around. There was also the risk of a random creature catching me after or before the teleport, meaning I had to explain away the fact a Thestral just cast a teleportation spell...maybe I should have been an Alicorn, would have scared the hell out of the ponies.

Hindsight is twenty/twenty. 

I can’t exactly pray for an easy out either, what with whatever being higher than me in the celestial food chain probably losing interest in me a long, long, time ago. 

Meaning I was effectively screwed, how fun.

Now’s not the time for thoughts like that though, I had more pressing matters to attend to, which basically consisted of every foal in the village staring directly at me the moment I opened my door.

Young and old, big and small, all were there, and every single one of them had the same look in their eye that Obasi had back in the Temple of me.

“...” I blinked and kept staring.

“...” They stared right back, neither party moving a muscle, the staring contest continuing between me and the collective of children...and then I made the mistake of twitching.

Then they were upon me.

I don’t remember what happened next, my vision consisting of nothing but black and white, but I remember opening my eyes again to a familiar face smiling down at me, which just so happened to be the guard who had the gall to poke me with a spear yesterday.

“Sorry for the young ones, they seek entertainment any way they can.” He chuckled, holding a hoof down towards me, which I gratefully accepted.

“Quite alright, not my first time dealing with foals.” I replied, dusting myself off and ruffling my now aching wings, licking off a bit of dirt that found its way on the appendages. The guard chuckled and adjusted the spear at his side, which somehow escaped my attention. “So, name?”

“Imari” was his answer, making me nod.

“Loyal...interesting.” I grinned, moving past him and the ocean of foals still surrounding me.

“You seem to know the meaning behind our names, why is this?” Imari asked curiously, following along behind me while the children continued to watch me and run around us, generally just making sure I was within their sight.

“I spent years studying your culture; I know a thing or two about your naming customs.”

‘After all, your several millennia old grandmother and I created them.’

“I still find it hard to believe you found a high priestess of Yemoja, much less got her to teach you our ways and customs.” He replied, shooing away the overly curious foals as we kept up or trek towards the temple. I just shrugged my wings in response, looking back at him after a moment.

“I find it hard to believe you speak Equish so well. You don’t even have that subtle accent Obasi does.” I commented, making the guys grin widen, while his eyes seemed to dim ever so slightly.

“I was raised by the village shaman; she taught me everything she knew about the world, including how to speak to the ponies, should I ever encounter one.” He answered, his chest puffed out while my sensitive hearing caught I slight uptick in his heart rate. 

Weren’t many happy memories there it would seem. 

I didn’t say anything to him after that, letting him mull over the sudden influx of memories, offering a small pat on the shoulder. He gave me a grateful smile, letting the silence settle over us as we kept on our way, several zebra giving Imari and I a nod and curios look, respectively. I received a glare or two as well, but nowhere near what it was yesterday, meaning the masses of the village didn’t see me as much as a demon and more like a mild curiosity. 

Amazing what the word of a shaman can do to tribals.

They still kept their distance though, only the parents coming anywhere close to retrieve their offspring. I couldn’t help but feel a little saddened by this, but I couldn’t really expect a whole village to warm up to me overnight, no matter what the shaman told them. I definitely had to make sure I come back after I dealt with the ponies, make a trip around the villages of Zebrica. Maybe I’ll make a Zebra vessel and see what happens, be a good reason to brush up on my alchemy.

“So, the shaman never told us your name.” Imari said, making my ear twitch as I looked back to him.

“I doubt she would have, after all, she never asked for it.” I cheekily replied, showing off a fanged grin. There was a moment of silence between us, the zebra simply staring at me with a raised brow.

“Mind sharing?” he asked, making me chuckle and return my sight in front of me.

“Names Ash.” I replied simply, making the stallion nod with a grin.

“A fine name, but I’m sorry to say I do not know the meaning behind it.”

“There isn’t one, it’s just a name.” He blinked in surprise, tilting his head slightly. I just chuckled at his confusion. “Not every name has a meaning behind it my friend, my names just a name, pure and simple.”

Imari simply nodded, probably already learning something from this little conversation. Now that I thought about it, this was probably his first time talking to anyone outside of his species. After all, zebra rarely if ever leave their villages, and the ones who do tend to keep themselves in Zebrica. This basically put him on the same level as a child in the aspect of his curiosity, ever eager to learn about the world around him.

Speaking of children, these little things were still here by the dozen.

I will admit that I’m thoroughly impressed that a village of this size could support so many of the little buggers. Not a single one looked all that unhealthy, outside of a few skinny ones, but they still looked far from starving. And each one held that look of curiosity and wonder that slowly drew them in.

This is what led to me holding a number of the little guys and girls on my back and under my wings while the rest circled me, asking me question after question about Thestrals and any information I could provide about the other races of the planet. 

Imari got a kick out of this, even going so far as to help a foal situate themselves on my head, the little filly proceeding to flick the part of my mane hanging over my eye.

“I see the children found you early today” I heard the raspy voice of Oni say as we closed in on the temple we met at yesterday. I chuckled and softly nodded, not wanting to disturb the now sleeping foal on my head.

“They’re a curious lot, that’s for sure.” I replied, moving to lie down in front of the fountain of Yemoja, and proceeded to put on my foal blanket.

“They do not hold the same hatred of fear in their heart as the adults do; they only seek to understand a world that is still new and exciting.” She nodded, moving past me to talk with Imari, leaving me alone with the herd of foals, a few sitting in front of me and play with my mane. 

“Geniet u uself?” (Enjoying yourself?)

The foals nodded eagerly, moving closer to play with my ears while another poked my fangs softly. I just chuckled and laid there, letting them do their own thing for a while. I might have fallen asleep under the literal blanket of foals, having felt the extreme warmth of several dozen bodies leave me while Oni and Imari grinned at me, Obasi next to them with a knowing smirk on his muzzle.

“Sorry to wake you outsider, but I imagine you would like to reach Iram before nightfall.” 

I hummed in the affirmative, picking myself up from the ground and stretching out, feeling several satisfying pops in my back and wings, making Obasi wince for some reason.

“Yes, I have to thank you elder, not many would house a stranger, especially when our races have such a strained relationship.” I told her, bowing my head in thanks.

“It was no bother my dear Ash” I felt my ear twitch “We might not have made the best first impression, but you have been nothing but respectable to us since you have arrived, we only saw to return that respect in kind.” Obasi suddenly looked a little uncomfortable after she said this, making me quirk a brow curiously.

“Yes...I must...apologize for my actions when you arrived.”

“Oh think nothing of it” I told him quickly, waving away his worries with a wing, giving him a grin as I moved forward to give his shoulder a small nudge. “Friends?”

Obasi blinked in surprise, but let a smile work its way on his muzzle as he held out a hoof towards me, which I bumped immediately.

“Yes, friends.” He nodded.

“Neat, hopefully I have this much luck with the Equestrian’s.” I said with a chuckle, moving to give the shaman and guard a hoof bump as well.

“Head north from here Ash, look for the Primis statues, they will lead the way to Iram.” Oni said, bowing her head, Imari doing so as well. I nodded, looking towards the north, seeing nothing but miles of savannah with a small dot in the distance.

“Thank you for your hospitality shaman, may Primis shine his light upon you and Yemoja watch over you always.” I bowed to her and the others, my wings snapping open and vaulting into the air, taking one last look at the village of Kabo, before shooting towards the City of Iram.