In the Beginning......

by Arn

Stake of the Coin

“We do call this book the word. How did you know?”The pony asked.

“Ah, it was my gran. She was a reformed fortune teller. She stopped because some ponies got hurt believing she could actually tell the future. She realized to believe in a pony like that was wrong."

“If it is wrong, how do you know the skill?”The pony asked.

“She told me.’ If you look at a coin you can usually tell where it has been. …I cannot tell you how important in my life and profession my Gran’s teaching has been to me! For the skill being right or wrong, well, she said she was told in a dream to teach me.I don't think an aquired provable skill is wrong””
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“Two coins.” Gran held two coins.“Tell me about these two coins.”

“If you look at a pony. You can usually tell what they’re thinking.If you say enough. They’ll tell you everything! Their body will tell its language.”All wishes answered. “That coin. One with Celestia’s picture on it? Celestia! For taxes, for deeds great and small. The other? Good things! For the unseen! Something greater!”

“Very good!”

She gave the coins to All Wishes."Now. I trust you. Go and pay the tax!"
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“…and…and he would say,cough,cough, ’Brother, come away from the fire! Follow me! Follow me into life…into light…into…into…”All Wishes felt light headed.

“The open sky,” said a pegis he met before at the snack bar beside the unicorn, stepping into the pony's view unaffected by the smoke. ”up!”The pegisis pointed a hoof into the sky.” Into the cool air, ‘meet me in the clouds, the cool refreshing clouds!’He would say! ‘We can look at all the sky, you and I! We’ll perch on a soft clouds, you and I.A plain ordinary, common, cloud.Nothing special, but the view is tremendous!Then I can show you the land that spreads on before you, hilly and green.’ None too steep to climb and plains to run for miles and miles…”the Pegisi beckoned the pony toward him.

the pony shook his head and refocused on the unicorn.“But the hypocrites would kill him…”

No! No! No! Get him back, get him back, draw his attention back!

“What? Can you kill an idea? Cough.He would come back! They would pierce his mortal flesh but he would come back! They would throw him into a hole dug into the ground and put a rock on top, but he would come back! Push his way up and throw the rock of his back,as if it were nothing! Most assuredly he would come…he would come for you! He would say,’ See, I have come back! I have come back because you did not lovelessly throw yourself to the fire. Now, you live for me! Do good! For if you love me you do good. I am strong but see how light my yoke is? If you do good, you love me and love is life, love is my law! Even a foal could take it with no trouble.”

The pony's head and face moved wrong in the dark.He became more erect. His voice went slimmy.It was if he were a different pony.“You ssswear by sssomething greater?Hmmm?…Is he…”he looked to the sky at the great eclipsed ring, “greater than the sun?"his hoof shot up and pointed at the blind orb in a way that made All Wishes wince." Ha,ha!"The laugh airy coming from the back of the pony's throat.He turned and looked at All Wishes unvervingly. "Make it worth my time to sstay,little pony!Better wages. "The pony's eyes rolled to the top of his head then rolled back."Something tasty..."His mouth opened with a smack."We have not had Osier in a long, long age,hmmp,hmm,hmm"the pony chuckled"...swear by Celestia!”the pony said with a truly unnatural grin.

The unicorn swallowed.His pupils shrank and his ears lay flat against his head. What he saw! It weas if time had stopped and he was alone with this predator thing! This thing in the dark! His eye’s! The pony’s eyes flashing like two shinning coins,like embers, reflecting a dying, hateful flame! That "thing" did not belong here! That wasn’t right here!It made All Wishes want to run away screaming! At least he would be safe.He, Celestia and the other ponies....

But what of the pony in front of him?

Something had just raised the stakes of the game and only All Wishes could see!

He would talk to priests and scholars and telalogians later but what had Celestia brought into their world?