//------------------------------// // Chapter 27 // Story: Tales of an Equestrian Mare // by Durandal //------------------------------// *        *        * It was not to be, however. Captain Green Swirl took his ship out of port a week later, with a fresh contract to supply materials, and Hearthfire had not heard anything from inside the City. She had been out to the silver gate twice more, but had been completely ignored on both occasions; at first she was convinced that she had been rejected, but the people who passed for locals around the docks told her that every applicant always received a reply, whether they were successful or not. Although, on the other hoof, no one had ever heard of a decision taking an entire week... “I don’t know what it means, either,” the pony who tended the bar was explaining to yet another curious visitor as Hearthfire came downstairs for breakfast on the eighth morning. She had reached something of a pseudo-celebrity status over the past few days, as the usually predictable and mechanical interactions between the city and the docks were upset. She had settled into a philosophical attitude: if decisions were normally fast, and normally returned a refusal, then anything out of the ordinary was probably a good thing. She ate a hasty meal, and returned to her room. That was where she was passing most of her time these days, reading and playing with Cas, and leaving the barpony to field and rebuff the curious. He was probably getting some extra custom out of it, at least, as there were quite a few bored crewmembers who had taken to passing the time in his establishment in the hopes of being present when the judgement was delivered. The roar of excitement from below carried up to her room; the timepiece on the bedside table read three in the afternoon, but it sounded like the inn’s common room was packed already. Cas’ ears pricked up at the sound of the barpony’s voice shouting for calm, audible over the din, “Better wait here, Cas. I’ll be back in a minute, and we’ll know whether we’re staying or going, all right?” Hearthfire exited the room with trepidation and made her way to the stairs. The scene below was what she had imagined: there was a huge mob filling the ground floor and almost spilling up the stairs. Half of those present were watching the front door, where the grey unicorn stood framed and waiting patiently. The other half were watching the stairs, and a fresh ripple of excitement spread through the crowd as she emerged. “Uh. Can I get through, please?” With much jostling and people treading on each others’ hooves, she was allowed past. She wanted to ask the grey unicorn if they could take their business elsewhere, but there was no way this lot could be persuaded not to follow. “Ms. Hearthfire?” It was phrased as a question, though as near as she could tell, this was the same unicorn she had dealt with before at the arch. And for that matter, wasn’t it odd that it was a unicorn at all? Am I just seeing something that looks like me? “That’s me.” “First, allow us to extend our apologies for the lengthy time taken in reaching a decision. It was far outside of accepted deviation rates, and for that, we are sorry. With that out of the way, our primary order of business today is conveying to you the outcome of your application.” In the expectant silence that followed this announcement, it would have been possible to hear a quarter-bit drop. “The panel has decided that you are to be permitted restricted entry to the Inner City for a period of no more than three days, under strict supervision and with a caveat that revocation of permission may be made freely and permanently at any time by any party with authority in the matter.” She could only barely make out the second half of the unicorn’s statement as the room erupted. *        *        * The impromptu parade that followed Hearthfire, Cas, and the grey unicorn through the streets around the docks to the clear zone were in for a touch of disappointment. Those who were expecting some immense hidden gate to open in the city’s walls certainly didn’t get what they were here for. The crowd stopped short of the dividing line, leaving the remaining three to walk out onto the raked grey sand. It was a minute’s trot to the arch; there was no sign of the four woven cloth boxes this time, just the silver arch. “So, what happens now?” Hearthfire glanced behind, at the buildings on the docks. The crowd was watching silently, craning to see past each others heads and shoulders. “Now we will take you inside. This way, please. Through the arch.” “Is it going to... teleport us inside?” In the end, it turned out to be odd. It was turning a corner, or glancing down and being suddenly, acutely aware of the precise location of one’s own hooves. Origami performed with landscape; the hundred meters of raked grey sand behind and in front of them folded, and the convex line of the outside of the city circumference distorted into the convex line of the same wall seen from the inside. They found themselves in an open circular space. It reminded her of photographs she had seen of Cloudsdale and other cloud-dwelling pegasus colonies, sort of. The buildings, if that was really what they were, that surrounded the space had a similar ephemeral quality to them, twisting seamlessly into each other in an organic fashion. “Woah.” Cas was not pleased, and Hearthfire was feeling a tiny bit nauseous as well. “Where the hay is this?” “This is our area. We are the buffer that sits between the four Seasons. Welcome to the City, Ms. Hearthfire.” “I’ve read about the four Seasons, but I’ve never heard of you.” “Your entrance to the City, as you may have surmised, was not typical.” “So I’ve heard. Are you going to tell me what made it different?” “Yes. Ordinarily any outside allowed into the City has a sponsor. One of the Seasons will host them, and be responsible for ensuring that they follow the rules, and they will have almost no interaction with us. You do not have a sponsor, Ms. Hearthfire. So you will be accommodated here, in the buffer. We should say that you could consider us your host.” “O-kay. How have I ended up without a normal host?” “We are still trying to work out exactly how that happened.” The grey face didn’t seem to be capable of displaying consternation, but that was the vibe Hearthfire was picking up. “The initial indication is that, while the Seasons eventually agreed that you were of sufficient interest to be permitted entry, there was an irresolvable contention over who would host you.” “Sorry...?” “No one wanted you. So here you are.” “I feel welcome already. Uh, so are we going to see other parts of the City at all? Or am we just going to sit here in, in the buffer, on our behinds for three days?” “We imagine that at least one of the Seasons will grant you an audience during your stay.” “No offense, you seem lovely, but is there anyone else here?” The buildings around them seemed suspiciously devoid of any kind of movement. “There is no one besides us, and -” His ears pricked up, although Hearthfire couldn’t hear anything, and wondered if it was reacting to sound at all, or if the ears were a mistranslation of another sense that she did not share. “- an envoy from... the Winter.” The envoy dawned. That was the only way Hearthfire was able to describe it. Yellowish half-light splashed across snow-dusted hawthorn bushes, the tang of cold air bit in the throat, and then the pale winter sun rose over the tree line, scattering long shadows across the white landscape. That was how the envoy of the Winter entered the buffer. That was what the envoy looked like, or what the envoy was, or both. It bent a knee in deference - and that was ridiculous, the rational part of Hearthfire’s mind that was still clinging on protested, it didn’t even have legs, for pony’s sake! - and spoke with the voice of the wind whistling through the barren thorns. “Outsider. My king would meet with you, at your earliest convenience. You and your companion are most respectfully invited to attend him in his Season. If that is acceptable to the buffer?” “We will allow it,” the grey unicorn replied, and Hearthfire found herself mentally filling in a shrug. “And to the Outsider?” Well, what the hay else did I come here for? Even so, she would be happy to admit that she was almost instantly in way over her head, and she suspected she was beginning to have an idea why the few accounts of the inside of the City were so fragmented and logically incompatible... “I... yes. I will accept his... generous offer. You may tell him so.” “That is not necessary. Come. I will take you with me when I return. May I carry your bags for you, to lighten your burden?” “That’s a very kind offer, but I’d rather carry them myself if it’s all the same to you. Cas! Hop on!” The envoy was silent a beat longer than was comfortable, staring at her in a slightly disturbing manner, before it bowed once more. “As you wish. I recommend that you close your eyes, Outsider.” *        *        *