The Terror Below Hayseed Manor

by the7Saviors

Chapter 5

In the end, Kickshaw lacked the tools necessary to further our research into the tome's secrets, and even had he the items we needed, I felt he wouldn't have sold them to us regardless. I found I couldn't blame him for the sentiment, as I still had my own misgivings about the book and our studies thereof. Moon Dancer, unfazed by the stallion's portentous words, continued to doggedly pursue the issue, asking what more he knew of the tome and who had owned it all those years ago.

While the shop owner knew nothing else of the tome, he did—albeit reluctantly, give us a name to put to the aforementioned customer who'd gone mad. The previous owner of the book had been one Lucerne Hayseed, of the old Hayseed Family. Moon Dancer and I had never heard of the family, and Kickshaw knew no more beyond what he'd been told regarding Lucerne and the book. That and the fact that the Hayseed Family had been wealthy landowners at some point in the past.

With no more information to be gained from Kickshaw and a grateful farewell from me, Moon Dancer and I left the shop. As we stepped through the door, the stallion made one last attempt to dissuade us from our current course, to no avail. I felt, now more than ever, the need to discover what dark mysteries the tome held. If it was truly as dangerous as Kickshaw claimed it to be, then I needed to know exactly what Moon Dancer and I were getting ourselves into. That aside, I refused to let Moon Dancer handle the situation alone, not now that I knew something might be horribly amiss.

If I was being completely honest, Moon Dancer's odd behavior was beginning to unnerve me. It had only been a day, almost two days, and she had grown more distant—more withdrawn. Of course, that was when she wasn't skimming the pages of that book or muttering to herself. As we exited the shop and made our way back to Manehattan proper, I thought about the mare and how she'd evidently began to change in the presence of the tome, acting much like she had back before we'd reconciled in Canterlot only a few years ago.

She had by no means become an extrovert, but she'd changed drastically since that visit, becoming far more open and friendly, not just to me, but to everypony she met. To see Moon Dancer revert back to her old disposition so quickly—almost overnight really, was extremely disconcerting to say the least. Her curious and rapid change in demeanor seemed to suggest that there might be some truth to the tale, as much as I didn't want to believe it.

With these thoughts in mind, I asked the mare about our immediate goals. With the discovery of Lucerne's existence, we now had a possible lead that could bring us closer to the truth and perhaps, with any luck—whether good or bad I was unsure—we would find the key to the language barrier that barred our way. It was clear to Moon Dancer that the next step was to find out more about this mare, and so we pressed on with our search for answers.

What followed next was an in-depth investigation into the Hayseed Family, and as we were already in the city of Manehattan, we decided to start there. It was fairly late by the time we returned, and Luna was likely to raise the moon within the hour from the look of the sky. With night looming so close by, Moon Dancer and I rented a room in one of the many hotels that dotted the city. When I recommended we rest for the night, this time there was no complaint from Moon Dancer, for which I was incredibly grateful. I felt like I'd hardly slept a wink in the last day or so, and was eager to get to bed and be done with the day.

Hoping this night would be more restful than the last, I settled into bed and closed my eyes, only to open them once more at the sound of magic being cast somewhere near me. I turned to see Moon Dancer not resting in her own bed, but rather sitting at a nearby desk, her back facing me and her horn lit with a pinkish grey glow. I didn't have to guess to know that she was once again perusing the pages of that tome.

I couldn't understand what that mare could be gleaning from a book whose text she could no more read than I, yet she continued to pore over its contents as though it alone held all the answers. A wave of irritation passed over me and I told her to put the book away and get some rest, but as she turned to face me a sudden haze filled my mind and my vision blurred with the immediate, almost violent need to sleep. The last thing I saw before my consciousness faded was Moon Dancer's unreadable expression as she watched me, her eyes hidden behind the glare of the light coming from her horn.

When I next awoke I couldn't be sure of whether or not what had happened the night before was a dream or reality. What I knew for certain was that day had already broken and I felt just as exhausted as I did before I'd fallen asleep. The nameless fear and headache both came again, and this time the latter had grown slightly stronger before fading away. I had no time to ponder what this could mean before the door to the hotel room opened and Moon Dancer stepped in, her expression full of foalish excitement. The anomalous mare I'd seen yesterday had vanished and been replaced by this joyous creature who looked so eager to seize the day.

I could make neither heads nor tails of this radical change in attitude, but I suspected it had something to do with our upcoming venture to Manehattan City Hall. I thought back to last night's surreal incident one last time and chose to write it off as a dream born of my immense fatigue. That decided, I asked Moon Dancer where she'd been while I was asleep, and she informed me she'd gone to get directions to City Hall, though there was something in her face that made me believe there may have been more to her trip. I couldn't quite place what it was that had perturbed me, but I nevertheless made note of it.

Barring my slight suspicions regarding Moon Dancer, the morning began on a pleasant note. We both shared breakfast provided by the hotel and the mood was overall much better than it had been previously. There was even a bit of small talk between us and, satisfied that all was going well, I followed Moon Dancer out of the hotel and deeper into the heart of the city where City Hall lay.

Our intent was to access the city archives in search of any and all information on the Hayseed Family and Lucerne Hayseed specifically. Kickshaw had mentioned that her family had been fairly wealthy, and a family with wealth was likely to make some kind of hoofnote in history. Getting into the archives was simple enough with my status as a Princess, but that was were the simplicity ended. From there we spent the next few hours browsing the sizable font of information that was the Manehattan city archives.

It was a draining task to be sure, but progress was made, and soon enough we had amassed enough data to start making some connections. While the majority of the Hayseed Family wasn't originally from Manehattan, their family owned business had been based in the city and many of the records we procured focused heavily on said business. Most of our time was spent sorting through legal documents until we found the specific information we were looking for. It took time, but our efforts eventually bore fruit.

Contrary to what their family name may have implied, the Hayseeds were a well respected family of earth ponies who had owned a large, isolated plot of land between what was now commonly known as the Hayseed Swamplands and the Forbidden Jungle. How they came to inherit so much land in such a strange location was a detail Moon Dancer and I failed to uncover, but the land they owned had been home to rare breed of tree that couldn't be found anywhere else in the world.

The tree produced some of the highest quality lumber in Equestria, and the family had built their fortune off of selling the lumber as contractors for other wealthy ponies, most of whom came from the then relatively new city of Manehattan. Eventually they had garnered enough wealth to start a large business and gain a sort of landed estate, though all assets aside from the actual lumber and a singular manor—which had been built on the property—were kept within Manehattan.

Several years passed and much of the extended family dwindled down to only a dozen or so members. Those that remained moved from their isolated home and to the city of Manehattan either to oversee the family business or live their own lives free of it. The only ponies that remained in the manor by the time Lucerne Hayseed was born, were the employed servants and workers, Alfalfa Hayseed, Orchard Hayseed, and their only foal and heir to both the family manor and business, Lucerne Hayseed.

Comments

[BirdsBooksBrownies]

I couldn't understand what that mare could be gleaning from a book whose text she could no more read than I, yet she continued to pour over its contents as though it alone held all the answers.

Ignore me if I'm wrong, but I think I found a typo. I believe that the highlighted word above ought to be pore. Aside from this tiny detail great work.

[Acadians6545]

10473118
No pour is correct within this context.