The Merchant

by Forgotmyusername

Chapter 1

It wasn’t unusual for the rain to fall on this particular part of Equestria. In fact the vast forests that climbed up into the hills away from the city stood testament to just how much rain fell in that corner of the world, and that day was no exception. Droplets of water fell onto leaves and trickled down into the undergrowth that nestled in between the mighty trunks. Small paths that weaved their way through the trees lay buried under several inches of mud. Eventually most of these paths joined up into dirt tracks that could almost pass for an uptown spa’s mud bath. To the north of the city, all these tracks met the great Detrot-Manehatten Road, a cobbled road with ditches either side to channel the rain away that cut a swathe through the trees and weaved its way from the city and headed off into the hills heading in the vague direction of the great industrial sprawl of Detrot.

It was the late afternoon/early evening. The streetlamps were on, the city lit up like a mirror image of the starry, starry sky that was hidden behind the gloom of the clouds and rain. On the great Northern Gate of Manehatten, it was almost time for the change of the guard. The rain made its unique tinkling sound as it fell on the helmets and armour of the guardsponies by the gate, the sound amplified as it echoed around the ears of the ponies wearing said helmets. So the light seemingly hovering in mid air, around three feet off the ground, slowly moving out of the trees that they saw first. The singing reached them next.

Oh I’m just a simple travelling colt,
My cart hitched to my back.
And I’ll travel all over this world,
‘till I’ve been everywhere on my map.

Oh I’m just a simple travelling colt,
I sleep under the stars.
I enjoy leaning against my cart,
Sat right on my arse!

Oh I’m just a simple travelling colt,
And I’ve seen all kinds of things.
Pegasi with their homes of cloud,
And Unicorns with their diamond rings.

Oh I’m just a simple travelling colt,
I’ve almost reached my next stop.
And when I’m fed and drunk and set up camp
To sleep I think I’ll drop!

Presently the light came close enough and illuminated the singer. His body was a dark grey colour, only barely standing out against the surrounding gloom. His dirty orange hair had a streak of red through it, his tail echoing its forward companion. Dark crimson eyes were focused on the ground in front of him, finding a path for his muddy hooves. His double horseshoe cutie mark left none doubting that he was a traveller, as did the cart he pulled at his back, which looked heavily packed under a green tarpaulin.

At the cry of “Halt!” from the gatesponies, he slowly drew to a stop a few yards from the gate.
“Howdy folks” he said with a northern accent. “How’s y’all doing this evening?”
“State your name and business” came the stern reply.
“My name’s Sale Craft. I’ve got a load of steel coming in from Detrot to sell to a buyer in midtown.”
The guard poked his spear under the tarp and pulled it up, revealing the silvery gleam of rows of metal stacked up inside the cart.
“You might want to let me through sooner rather than later, as I understand it this is for making armour for you boys and the sooner it gets to the buyer, the sooner you get your new armour” Sale Craft continued, hoping to hurry proceedings along. The guards looked at one another, looked at their gold armour, then looked back at the traveller with the universal expression that meant ‘explain or you’re in trouble’.

“You guys don’t know?” Sale began. “Look at your gold armour. Pretty snazzy, I’ll give you that, and nothing looks better on parade. However, do you know just how strong gold is? It’s incredibly weak. You know how ponies bite down on golden bits to check if they’re real or not? Most ponies would assume that if it bends then it’s fake, but in reality the opposite is true. Gold is that malleable that you can bend it easily. It’s why you find field repairs to your armour so easy.”

The Guards looked at each other, but this time there was uncertainty in their eyes, a detail not missed by Sale Craft as he pressed on. “Steel on the other hand may not look so good, and it may be a bit heavier. But even steel armour 5mm thick is one heck of a lot stronger than what you have on there right now, and if you spray it with gold paint, no one’s going to notice the difference. Plus, at 5mm, you could wear warm and comfortable clothes underneath, so you’re not going to chafe as much. So would you like your new toys or would you like to leave me out in this deluge?”

Unsurprisingly, not a minute after he finished his little speech, his papers were stamped, the gates were opened and Sale Craft entered the city of Manehatten.

~

The inn Sale Craft pulled up to was pushed up against the northern wall by the residential areas around it. The Flowing Tap was one of the oldest taverns in the city and was a well known rest stop for anyone passing through the city. The bartender and manager Tempered Scotch was well known to be welcoming to any who passed through the doors of his inn, be they pony, zebra, griffon, small dragon etc. After tying the tarp down tight and setting up the zebrican anti-theft enchantment, Craft plodded slowly up to the main entrance, wiped the grime off his hooves and then went inside.

To say the atmosphere was excitable was to say that Celestia had quite a bit of magic. Ponies of all kinds and sizes were sat around tables, all in various stages of inebriation. The smell of cooked meat could be discerned near a couple of tables of griffons, and there was even a table of changelings playing poker over in a corner. So long as they agreed not to feed off the other patrons, changelings were accepted in Scotch’s place. Sale Craft slowly weaved his way through the cultural melting pot and up to the bar.

“Crafty!” came a sudden call. Flowing Hoof, the barmaid, came hurrying over and practically jumped over the bar and hugged him. A teenage unicorn on Sale Craft’s right wolf whistled, earning himself a smack from Flowing Hoof as she let Sale Craft go and slid back down behind the bar. “Ohmygosh I’ve not seen you in ages Crafty!” she smiled. “How’ve you been? You staying long or just passing through? You have a place to stay while you’re here? Ooh, I’ve not offered you a drink yet! The usual?”

Sale Craft chuckled at Hoof’s rapid fire questions. “I’ve been alright, I’ll be around for a bit, I was going to ask for a room at some point and yes please” he answered, hoping he got it all in the right order. Flowing Hoof reached under the bar, pulled out a pint glass and started pouring a Guinness as a huge griffon came through the door to the kitchen wearing a chef’s hat and carrying a meat cleaver.
“Did I hear the name Crafty?” He asked to the bar in general. The bar area fell quiet.
“Uh... Hi?” Sale Craft said quietly.
The Griffon slowly stalked over, slammed the cleaver into the bar where it stuck quivering, grabbed Sale’s neck and pulled him close so they were muzzle to beak. The bar was still for a few moments. The Guinness started to overflow. The tension grew for a few seconds.

Suddenly, the griffon began to chuckle. Craft joined in, as did Flowing Hoof. The griffon threw back his head and laughed long and deeply, which set the entire bar laughing, and things returned to business as usual. The griffon released Sale Craft and punched him in the shoulder. “Where’ve you been mate? It’s been a long time since you’ve graced us with your presence.” He asked, retrieving the cleaver. Flowing Hoof set down Sale’s drink and excused herself to attend to other customers.
“Oh I’ve been around, Greyfeathers. Oh, before I forget, I saw your brother up in Griffstonia, he said to say hi.”
The chef of the Flowing Tap chuckled some more. “Oh yeah? What’s that old reprobate doing these days? Still hunting squirrels for some noble?”
“Actually no, he’s got a job with the Emperor now.” That earned a glance from Greyfeathers. “Something to do with ‘Master of the Hunt’ or something.” A few seconds passed. Sale moved side to side, then waved his hoof in front of the griffon’s eyes. “I think I broke your cook” he said to a passing Flowing Hoof, who laughed.

“Master of the Emperor’s Hunt?” Greyfeathers repeated in an awed voice.
“Yeah, helped me out of a scrape too. I was trying to get away from a manticore, and he came right out of nowhere and killed the thing with one strike. Got me to carry the thing back to the Imperial Palace for dinner that night.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me” Greyfeathers was shaking his head. “There’s just no way...”
“Oh, he gave me this letter for you. Got the official Imperial Seal and everything.” Sale Craft said, digging a scroll out of his saddlebags and hoofing it over. Greyfeathers wordlessly opened the scroll and scanned through it.
“...your meals are all on me” he said, looking up. “While you’re here, you don’t pay for food, do you hear? You want a nice mushroom soup with a nice big ciabatta roll? I think I’ll make you a nice mushroom soup with a nice big ciabatta roll...” he moved off back towards the kitchen, muttering “mushroom soup” under his breath as he went. There was a shriek of joy just after he closed the kitchen door behind himself that made the bar pause for a moment.

Sale Craft had almost finished his Guinness when Flowing Hoof came back and handed him a key. “I’ve got you your usual room. I assume that’s your cart outside as well? It’s 9 bits for the room and 3 for the parking per night if you’re still ok with that.”
“Can I pay you tomorrow? I put all my money into the steel, so I’ll be able to pay you as soon as I’ve passed it on to the buyer.”
“Should be fine” she replied. “I’ll just have to check with Scotch, but because we know you I’m sure there won’t be a problem.”
“My thanks.”
A bell dinged, and Flowing Hoof quickly left and returned with a large steaming bowl of mushroom soup. “Well looks like he wasn’t joking when he said all your meals are on him.”
“For today at least, I’m glad about that. Mind if I take this up to my room? I’ve been on the road all day and I’d like to get some rest. I’ll stay up with you all tomorrow night, I promise” Craft added quickly, answering her next plea.
“I guess. You’d better though” she allowed.

Craft drained his glass, and took his food, room key, and another drink from Hoof, and weaved his way back through the throng to the stairs by the bar. Heading upstairs, he passed several doors until he came to his room. Carefully balancing his grub on his back, he opened the door and went inside. Putting the food on the desk, he quickly took advantage of the facilities in the en suite, then returned and began eating while scanning through the provided Manehatten Times newspaper. Articles on vastly improved buffalo-pony relations in the Appleoosa Valley due to the mediation of the Element Bearers, and the subsequent drop in apple prices and rise of pastry prices held his attention for a while, until he finished eating and lay down on the bed, appreciating more than most ponies ever would the softness of the mattress. The rain drummed a steady rhythm on the window as he slowly fell asleep.

Author's Note:

What are author's notes? You mean I can talk to the readers without breaking story flow? Well that's just silly. Oh well, I guess I may as well say something. Um... Banana Split. There, I said something. Hey, I'm hungry now. I want some banana and ice cream. Hold fire on the story for a bit Trix, I'll be back.

While that idiot's gone for a while, I may as well put something in. I'm writing down everything as it's dictated to me and publishing it as is, which means that any mistakes Cloud makes will be missed. So if anyone's got time to proofread this, it'd be much appreciate it. Trixie would do it herself, but she doesn't have the time. Just send send me a scroll if you find anything wrong and I'll look back over it later.

Comments

[Emerald Harp]

Hey bud, good story you got going here. We liked the exchange with the guards about their gold armor. The sentences flowed smoothly and the pacing was great. Keep at it.