Chapter III
The city of Canterlot is known for its many shops. Its crowded streets. And its sunny weather. Ponies from all over Equestria visited the place. Whether it was for holiday, or visiting relatives. The city was the center of Equestria. But in such a big city; it is easy to get lost. Luckily for her, Twilight knew the city from the back of her head.
“Let’s see,” Twilight said to herself, passing several different kinds of shops. “The Paper and Quill bookshop should be somewhere around here.” She trailed of. Turning her head sideways, she let out a sigh of relief when she spotted the bookshop. “I must have overlooked it, or something” she said as she walked towards the bookshop.
Reaching the bookshop and entering it, Twilight inhaled the scent she had come to love over the course of years. The smell of books sure was something that others would find disgusting. But not her. No, she adored the smell.
“Good to be back,” Twilight said to herself, accidentally startling the stallion behind the counter.
“Well I’ll be,” the cashier said, rubbing his eyes. “If it isn’t Twilight Sparkle. How are you doing? I haven’t seen you since… for how long have you been absent, now?”
“About six months now, I think,” Twilight replied, smiling at the cashier. “How are you doing, Mr. Quill?”
Muttering something underneath his breath, Mr. Quill quickly returned the smile. “I’m good. New books come in every month.” Looking down at the counter, Mr. Quill let out a sigh of despair. “Who am I kidding? Ms. Sparkle, I’m going bankrupt. Bills have been stacking up and I haven’t been able to sell any new books.”
Giving him a compassionate look, Twilight made her way over to him. “’Mr. Quill,” she said, standing on her hind legs and putting her front legs on the cashier’s desk. “If it means anything to you, I’m looking for some new books to add to my collection.” Twilight smiled at him.
The brown coated, white maned unicorn stallion nodded his head in appreciation. “Of course it does. You are, and will always be, my number one customer,” he said. Straightening himself, he walked away from the counter and motioned for Twilight to follow him further into the shop.
“Any specific interests?” Mr. Quill asked, glancing over at Twilight.
Twilight held out her tongue in thought. “I’m looking for the sequel to: Dragons of the ages,” she replied, looking at Mr. Quill with hope filled eyes. “You wouldn’t; by any chance have that one, would you?”
Chuckling to himself, Mr. Quill nodded. “As a matter of fact, I do,” he replied. Walking over towards a nearby bookshelf, Mr. Quill levitated the book in question for the bookshelf and presented it to Twilight. “Here it be. Tales of the Dragons.”
Twilight quickly grabbed hold of the book and held it close to her chest, like a mother would to her child. “Thank you so much, Mr. Quill!” she thanked him. “This means the world to me. I’ve just started to read the first one, and when I found out there was a sequel, I just had to have It.” she said, turning to face him directly.
“I’m glad you like it,” Mr. Quill replied. Looking down and the wooden floor of his shop, Mr. Quill let out a long sigh. “I think you might be my last customer. Heck, I might even have to close the shop; next week.”
“Has business really been going so downhill, lately?” Twilight asked.
“Yes,” Mr. Quill replied. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong here, Ms. Sparkle. A few months ago business was going as it always was: Good. But now it’s like ponies aren’t interested in books anymore.”
Twilight bit her lower lip. Closing her eyes, she began thinking for a solution to this problem. But what could she do? Bills had to be paid. And if business really wasn’t going too well, what was she supposed to do about it?
“There is one thing I could try.”
Mr. Quill looked up from the floor. “And what could that be?” he asked, his eyes filled with sadness as he looked up at Twilight.
“I could try and talk with Princess Celestia about the situation, see what she has to say about it,” Twilight replied, looking at Mr. Quill with a compassionate expression. “It’s the least I can do.”
“Ms. Sparkle,” Mr. Quill began, only to be cut off by Twilight.
“No. When I was still a small filly, my mother and father used to take me to this bookstore; every month. You were always kind to me. You always gave us discounts when we didn’t bring enough bits to pay you,” Twilight said, looking at Mr. Quill with a serious, yet kind look on her face. “I think it’s about time I did something in return.”
“The Princess surely has other, more important things to do, than to care about me and my little shop,” Mr. Quill rubbed the back of his head nervously. “I mean, I’m not that desperate, but--.”
“Mr. Quill, I’ll be back in a few hours, with the Princess,” Twilight said as she turned around and trotted out of the shop, accidentally dropping the book on her way out.
Mr. Quill walked towards the dropped book and picked it up. Blowing the dust off its cover, he put the book on the counter. “I swear, that mare is one of a kind,” he said, smiling to himself. “But she’s still the same little mare that walked into my shop; all those years ago.”
Walking behind the counter again, Mr. Quill stared at the entrance of his shop. Normally the door would have opened and closed about four times now. Whether it be an earth pony, pegasi, or unicorn. They would all look around the shop, and buy a book or two. But where did it go wrong? Mr. Quill repeated the same routine every day. Open the shop, greet and help his customers, have a lunch break, help his customers again, and close the shop when it was getting late.
Were books really that outdated? Had today’s youth finally found another way to entertain themselves? Mr. Quill simply did not know.
Mr. Quill opened the second lower cabinet of his counter. Using his magic to levitate an old, outdated picture out of the cabinet. On the picture there were three ponies. One unicorn with a book and quill for a Cutiemark. One Pegasi who had a trumpet for a Cutiemark. And a young pegasi colt who still had to earn his Cutiemark.
“I hope the two of you are having a blast in Manehattan,” Mr. Quill said to himself, smiling at the picture that was taken so many years ago. His son, whom he had taught everything he needed to know about how to manage the shop, once his father would retire. His wife, who had helped him through the good and the bad times in life. He couldn’t believe this was happening. There was no way the shop could be saved. Princess Celestia wouldn’t care about his shop. There were so many shops in Canterlot, and his was just another one of them.
Placing the picture back in the cabinet, Mr. Quill straightened himself and cleared his throat. “Come on, Quill. You don’t have to worry. If you’re going to have to close the shop, then make sure you go out with a blast!” he told himself.
Before he could continue his pep talk, Mr. Quill was cut off by the sound of books falling on the wooden floor of his shop. Raising an eyebrow, Mr. Quill slowly turned around.
‘That sounded like it came from the storage room,’ Mr. Quill thought. Guessing it was probably a bird that flew through an open window, Mr. Quill ignored it… that was, until he heard it again. Deciding not to ignore the noise again, Mr. Quill walked to the back of the counter, opened the door that led to his storage room, and entered it.
Upon entering the storage room, Mr. Quill inspected every single bookshelf. Should any books be out of place, then he would know. He knew this storage like the back of his head, and he was not about to let a stupid bird knock down any books form their shelves. Slowly walking through the straight hallway, passing several shelves, Mr. Quill heard the noise again. Quickening his pace, he took a left and walked into the ‘Conjuration are’ of his storage.
“Shoosh! Go away!” He said, hoping the bird—or whatever animal had entered the storage, would obey his command. He was surprised when he saw something rather… strange. It appeared to be a top hat, a hat he used to wear himself; when he was just a colt. The hat itself wasn’t the issue, no, it was the fact that it stuck out above the bookshelves. Whatever was wearing that hat; had to be at least six feet, even seven. Slowly, but cautiously walking towards the edge of the hall, Mr. Quill could see the top hat sticking out from the bookshelf on his right.
Mr. Quill had two choices. Turn back and walk away, or walk eight feet forward and make a right, thus facing whatever was in his storage. Deciding to go with the second option, he took a few cautious steps forward. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, he quickly turned right. “Get out of my shop!” Mr. Quill shouted.
Opening his eyes, Mr. Quill’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened at what stood in front of him. In front of Mr. Quill stood a creature; unlike anything he had ever seen. It was a bipedal creature, it was wearing a strange attire that looked like it was very outdated. Holes in its attire. Scratches, and pieces of cloth were out of place. It stood at a towering seven feet, had shoulder-length, grey hair and wore a black top hat along with a brown leather jacket, which was colored red on the inside, dark red colored trousers, a tattered mantle and a scarf. Its legs were slightly different from one another. One leg appeared to be a V- shaped hoof, while the other was missing that V-shaped hoof, and was replaced by what appears to be a peg leg.
Mr. Quill was already confused, if not frightened about the fact that a creature he was unfamiliar with had suddenly appeared in his storage. But the fact that it was carrying a humongous blade made it all the more intimidating.
Mr. Quill was frozen in place, his eyes fixed upon the creature that stood in front of him.
And then the creature looked directly at him.
“Equines that talk? Is this another sick; twisted experiment of the Healing Church, gone terribly wrong?” It spoke up.
“I-I…” Mr. Quill stuttered.
The creature raised an eyebrow at him, slowly limping towards him (which was probably because of its peg leg). It now stood in front of Mr. Quill, towering over the poor stallion as he could do nothing but stare up at it in fear. “Tell me, beast. Is this the waking world?” It asked, looking down at him.
“B-beast?” Mr. Quill repeated. Trying to regain his composure, Mr. Quill cleared his throat. “I am a unicorn, not a beast. And you are trespassing. If you leave now, I will not report this to the local authorities,” Mr. Quill said, trying to sound as intimidating as possible.
“Where… am I?” It asked, raising what appeared to be an eyebrow at him.
Mr. Quill raised an eyebrow at its question. “Where are you? Why you’re in Canterlot, of course,” Mr. Quill replied, glaring at the creature. “Have you been drinking? Is that how you ended up here, in my storage?”
The creature let out a sigh, and sat down in front of Mr. Quill. Even while sitting down, it was still towering over him. “I assure you, I have not been drinking,” it replied, looking down at Mr. Quill. “I haven’t had a drink since… a long time ago. I am Gehrman. What is your name, talking equine?”
Mr. Quill gulped. Maybe he should have just kept on cowering in fear, instead of starting a conversation with it. Deciding to be polite, Mr. Quill spoke up. “I am Silver Quill, but most ponies call me Mr. Quill. Now, could you please explain to me what you are doing in my storage?”
Gehrman looked around the storage room, a curious expression planted on his face. “Are you a librarian?” he asked, looking down at Mr. Quill.
“No, I am not,” Mr. Quill replied, glaring at Gehrman. “Please answer the question, Mr. Gehrman. What are you doing in my storage?” he asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
Gehrman placed his Burial Blade beside him, and stroked his chin. “I am not sure, Mr. Quill,” he replied.
“That’s it?” Mr. Quill asked.
“All I know is that I am finally freed from the dream. Freed from the night,” Gehrman replied. “I do not know how I ended up in you storage. All I know is that I am free.”
“If that’s the only explanation you’re going to give me, then I’m afraid I’ll have to report this to the local authorities.” Mr. Quill said as he turned around, ready to walk away from Gehrman. ‘To think I was actually scared of that thing.’ He thought to himself.
“It’s quite fascinating, you know.”
Mr. Quill stopped in his tracks. Turning around to face Gehrman, he raised an eyebrow at him. “What is fascinating?” he asked, a curious expression planted on his face.
“The amount of books here,” Gehrman replied, looking at the many bookshelves surrounding him. “I take it you are an expert?”
“Yes,” Mr. Quill cleared his throat. “Yes I am. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to contact the local--.”
“Before you do that,” Gehrman interrupted him, reaching for a bookshelf and grabbing a random book. “Could you explain to me what,” he said, reading the book’s cover. “Magic and other tricks, by Manedini; is about?”
“I suppose I could do that,” Mr. Quill replied, cautiously walking back to Gehrman. “But only if you promise not to hurt me.”
“You have my word.” Gehrman replied.
Mr. Quill looked closely into his eyes. He had this gift. In the past, when his son would lie to him about something, he would always blink twice in a row. His wife did it too. And even some of his old employees did it. Looking closely into Gehrman’s eyes, he noticed he did not blink twice. His eyes were sincere, not a single lie to be seen.
“Alright,” Mr. Quill said, levitating the book to him and flicking over to the first page. “But after this--.”
“I will come peacefully,” Gehrman interrupted him again. “I might have been a hunter of beasts, but I do have a reputation to keep. I always keep a promise.” He replied, nodding his head to Mr. Quill.
“Alright, if you say so,” Mr. Quill said. “Chapter one: Magic, where does it come from?”
Twilight could not be more excited than she already was. Not only did she get the opportunity to show her mentor her favorite store in all of Canterlot, but she also got the opportunity to save Mr. Quill from going bankrupt. When Princess Celestia agreed to tag along, Twilight almost cried tears of happiness.
Princess Celestia ordered her guards not to follow them when she and Twilight left the castle. It was now getting dark, and most of Canterlot’s population had already returned to their homes. But the ones who were lucky to come across Princess Celestia and her student, bowed before them.
The duo finally reached Paper and Quill’s bookstore. Entering the bookstore, the Alicorn and unicorn looked around the store, trying to find Mr. Quill.
“That’s weird,” Twilight commented, walking towards the counter.
“What is?” Celestia asked, following her student.
“The book that I wanted,” Twilight replied, levitating said book off the counter. “He never leaves a book out of its shelf.” Twilight said, turning to her mentor. “I don’t like this, Princess.”
Celestia just laughed a bit. “I’m sure everything is fine,” she replied, calming her student. “Maybe he forgot to put the book back on its shelf.”
Twilight looked down at the book. Nodding her head, she placed it back on the counter. “You’re right, Princess. I worry too much.” Twilight gave her mentor a sheepish smile.
“That is quite all right, but remember to—“
“For the last time, Mr. Gehrman. There is no such thing as ‘Arcane’ in Equestria. All we know of is basic and advanced magic. If this so called ‘Arcane’ does exist, surely Star Swirl the Bearded would have discovered it.”
Both Twilight and Celestia turned their heads towards the source of the voice. It appeared to be coming from behind the counter.
“Should we?” Twilight asked, looking at her mentor.
“Let’s just go,” Celestia smiled at her student.
Both Alicorn and unicorn walked behind the counter. Opening the door that led to the storage—which Twilight had told her mentor about when they were walking through Canterlot—. The duo both entered the storage, looking around and inspecting every bookshelf.
“I still don’t understand why we didn’t just teleport our way to here,” Twilight said a little too loud than she wanted to.
“Because I like to walk through the city, with my number one student at my side.” Celestia replied, giggling at Twilight’s reaction of surprise and embarrassment.
“What about blood ministration? Surely you must have heard of that?”
“No, I have not. And as a matter of fact, I’m happy about it. Because it sounds absolutely disgusting.”
Twilight’s ears perked up as she followed the two voices, her mentor not far behind. The voices were getting louder and louder, indicating that they were following the right track. Taking a left and walking several feet forward. Twilight could clearly hear the two voices; coming from behind the bookshelf to her right. Deciding to keep her mouth shut, Twilight slowly walked forward. She saw that she could turn right, and so she did.
‘Please be all right,’ Twilight thought to herself as she turned right.
What she saw upon entering the ‘hallway’ blew her mind. There sat Mr. Quill, on the wooden floor of his storage, talking to a creature unlike she had ever seen.
“Twilight, you’re walking a little too fast for—oh, I didn’t know he had company,” Celestia said, looking down at her student.
The creature, in return, tilted his head sideways. “Oh,” it said, taking a quick glance at Mr. Quill and returning his gaze upon Twilight and her mentor. “Are you by any chance the local authorities?”
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Good chapter, also:
There's a not missing
Me like :D
6578102 Unless he likes it
Oh wow, this has been so interesting thus far. I especially love the way you have Gehrman so true to his polite characterization.
Honestly, I'm hoping he's the only thing crossedover. Seeing his interactions with the ponies, and, more than anything, simply having a chance to finally just relax and enjoy himself would be immensely satisfying.
I am giddy as hell waiting for the next chapter.
6578162
There's a reason there are no whips allowed amongst the people of Yharnam
neat story, never played the game in question, but i don't feel like that detracts from the story too much at this point. granted i am likely to miss all the subtle jokes but baring that it is fun read and i loved that last paragraph at the end. "are you the local authorities?"
OK you got me hooked I got the two ending that end in killing him so i'll be reading this and his personality is funny so let's do this.
i wonder if their going to realize he was trapped in the dream realm right off the bat or if they'll be dense about it.
Huh, never realized that Gehrman had a peg leg.
So in the game, Gehrmans purpose was to keep the dream going, or serve the moon presence? And on the topic of insight, does he have enough insight to ascend his humanity into an old one?
6578836 No matter how time was distorted or how many hours you feel had passed, it doesn't change the fact it still all happened in one night. There are countless grave in the Hunter's Dream, which is proof that there have been other Nights of the Hunt before the current one. And when the Great Ones are gone & the night ends, the order of the world returns, & the things that happened will seem like blurry dream in the morning.
welp cliffhanger more
6578870 That's true, but the fact that Gehrman has lived through those countless nights is proof that he has been living in the Hunter's Dream for a very, very long time. Just look at how many gravestones there are in the Hunter's Dream.
6579824 I agree about that. But my point exactly, is that the Night of the Hunt is still exactly what it's called. It's a night that lasts from sunset to sunrise. But it is the presence of the Great Ones that make it feel as if the night goings on for so long. But once the night is over, 12 hours have only passed with everything that happened in between squeezed into that small stretch of time. This is why in a sense, we real people spend roughly 40+ hours in our 1st playthrough, some even longer, yet where the story is concerned, the Night of the hunt will always only last as long as any other night.
6579969
I agree that a night of the hunt is compressed time due to the otherworldly influences but inside that compressed window time still progresses as normal during a regular Hunt. But the one in the game is somehow different, mostly because the Hunter has to perform specific actions to advance time and you happen across and kill a lot of enemies, mostly bosses, that a Hunter on a regular Hunt would never even see. Also several NPCs comment on how this is the worst Hunt yet and i'm pretty sure that after the night is over a lot will change, mostly because you killed a lot of the creatures that made everything so horrible to begin with.
6578541 As far as I can tell, a little bit of both, and probably not, respectively. It's a little difficult to speak to Gehrman's role, as it's only ever seen from the outside, and never in full. As for transcending humanity, it seems to be incredibly difficult; the only way the player character manages to do so is through using the umbilical cords and then actually, physically killing an Old One. I'd imagine it has something to do with the echoes in the Moon Presence's blood, as well as Insight.
Axed the underlined part, it's entirely unnecessary to the narrative and makes the reader feel like you're trying to justify an asspull.
Also:
Pegasus = singular (only one)
Pegasi = plural (more than one)
First half of this chapter, especially the dialogue between Mr. Quill and Twilight, just sounds very awkward and a bit unnatural sounding. If I had to place i, it just doesn't flow very smoothly and seems especially choppy.
However, the second half has few of these problems, and I found Gehrman's entire segment to be the most enjoyable to read.
Anyway, interesting idea you have here, and I think I'll begin reading this in earnest.
Gosh Gehrman is such a pleasant guy when he's not bound by the Moon Presence.
...Why couldn't I talk to him more in the game?!
It's because you've been gone, Sparkle.
It's all your fault, Sparkle.