//------------------------------// // The Cavalier // Story: Stranger in a Strange Land // by Andrew Joshua Talon //------------------------------// Ryan followed one of the few colts he could honestly call a peer (in multiple senses of the word), around the dark corners of Canterlot. "Blue...what are we doing?" "Come on Ryan....it's just around here, I know it..." Blueblood replied, eagerness shining out every pore. The young colt lead Ryan down an hour's worth of streets and dark alleys, brilliant smile always present, justification for 'just checking one more place' always on his lips. And Ryan was wearing down, princely training regimen or no. "Blue...come on, it's getting late and I'm getting tired..." "There it is!" Blueblood exclaimed, pointing a finger right past Ryan's head. Sure enough, a second look at the nondescipt shop across the way revealed a soft glow from within, illuminating fine toys of wood and metal, complete with a little train puffing around the window display with mechanical perfection. The sign above the door proclaimed "Old Scratch's Oddities." Ryan wasn't sure if that was ominous or not. Blueblood had, of course, charged in without waiting for his friend. Ryan hesitated a moment longer, but the lure of wheels and gears was too great for the young man. The inside was much like the window display. Soft candlelight belied shelves and shelves of oddities and wonders, some conventional, some exotic, all of them of exquisite quality. If Ryan had a week he probably wouldn't be able to catalog everything stuffed into each shelf and cubby. The shopkeeper looked up as the bell above his door rang. He was…odd, for a unicorn. His man was long and leonine and he boasted a billy-goat style beard on the end of his muzzle. His horn was long and spiraled and his hoofs were cloven…he barely looked like a unicorn at all. Ryan had seen pictures of the mysterious ‘Kirin’ but this odd creature made him question their accuracy as well. “Welcome to my shop, valued cust…” he stopped talking as he saw the pair fully, “Ah! Blueblood! And this must be the friend you told me about!” “Yes sir!” Blueblood beamed, ”I told him about your shop and he just had to see it!” That was a…generous description of the events. Still, now that he was here, Ryan couldn’t help but be glad Blueblood had dragged him along, “Pleasure to meet you, sir,” he said, “Call me Ryan.” “The pleasure is mine, Ryan.” The bearded unicorn said, “Likewise you may call me Scratchpaper.” Ryan nodded, “Does that make you the ‘Old Scratch’ from your placard? It was an interesting name, to be sure. It fell into the ‘witticism’ category of pony names common here in Canterlot, but for the life of him Ryan couldn’t figure out just what ‘Old Scratch’ referred to. “I suppose it does.” Scratchpaper admitted, “though when you say it like that, it makes me feel old. I meant it more in the colloquial way–if you need something, then Ol’ Scratch can get it for you. See? Much more friendly-like.” “Mmm…” Ryan agreed noncommittally, looking around. Blueblood had already vanished into the stacks. “So what? Are you like some sort of wicked fae or something?” Scratchpaper made a choking noise, “Pshaw! That’s absurd, sir. Me, a fae…ah, children and their imaginations.” “That’s not a ‘no’.” Ryan frowned. That got another laugh out of him, “No, I am not a fae of any sort. Scout’s Honor.” “Mmm…so, if I wished to purchase…” he looked around and grabbed something off the shelves at random “...this bag. What would it cost me?” “Bits.” Scratch said simply, “Admittedly, it would be a lot of bits…that’s no ordinary wallet you hold.” Ryan looked at the bag again. It was dark and made of something soft and fuzzy, “How so?” “Stick your hand inside.” Ryan did so…and found he couldn’t feel the bottom. He reached further and further, past his elbow and to his shoulder and still nothing. “That’s…astounding.” Ryan breathed, “I’ve never seen a spatial compression this small. How much space is in there?” “About a cubic yard.” Scratch admitted, “There’s also a weight limit, but it’s about two ponies worth. Think of it. A trip’s worth of luggage in your carry-on.” Ryan WAS thinking about it. Not just the practical aspects of all his tools and equipment readily at hand whenever he needed, but also if he could take it apart and REPLICATE it. Oh, the possibilities… “How much?” he breathed. “Five hundred bits.” Ryan frowned. That was…a reasonable asking price for something like that, but Ryan barely had a fifth of that on him. Well, time for plan B. “Please…” he scoffed, “A well-practiced unicorn could replicate that easy. Fifty bits.” “I have it on good authority that they could not.” Scratch replied, “Still it’s good to see haggling is not a dead art yet…four-hundred fifty.” Ryan sighed, “I’m not going to get you anywhere near a hundred bits I have on me, am I?” “Well, not with that attitude.” Scratch said with a chuckle, “But it does an old soul good to see you try. Perhaps an exchange of services then? What else have you to offer?” Ryan took a step back…he was pretty certain giving this gentlecolt anything other than money was a catastrophically bad idea. But before he could tell him so (politely of course). Blueblood came clamoring back from wherever he’d run off to. “Ryan! Ryan, look at this!” he shoved a glossy comic book into Ryan’s face. There was a flash of light, and both boys vanished from the shop entirely. Old Scratch came out from behind the counter, chuckling to himself as he picked up the comic book, “I lose more customers that way…” MARETROPOLIS, NIGHT While the good citizens of the city snooze away in simple sleep. Evil is awake and frisky. At the Maretropolis Diamond Exchange, fur-coated minions cover the tedious work of disabling alarms and picking locks while the shadowy figure of their superior watches on in wicked glee Dr. Frigid Air: Carefully, my friendz, carefully…ve are on thin ice as it is… Ah-ha. But unbeknownst to the Criminal of Chill, the watcher is also the watch-ed. For across the street, shadowed by gargoyles and billboards, looking through their Battle-goggles, are the Wandering Wonders, the Barded Besties. BATTLE-STALLION AND THE CAVALIER!!! Ryan: For the record, Blue, I blame you for this.