Despite the hostility I received when I first appeared in this quaint little village, the room I was given was quite lovely. It didn’t hold much in terms of furniture, but the bed was surprisingly comfortable, and the view over the moonlit ocean was quite beautiful.
It gave me plenty of time to relax and run through the information I had and study the map to familiarize myself with the villages and cities that dotted the coast of the Oshun Sea. Turns out, I ended up in a quaint little village they called Kabo, which was actually as close to the city of Iram as you could get, meaning I only had a few short miles standing between me and my ticket to Equestria.
Once I did get there, that’s when the hard part begins.
If the zebra there act how they did here, I would likely have more luck crossing the Sea itself instead of boarding a ship that just so happened to be heading there. Only problem with that though, was the simple fact that the middle of the Sea pretty much had a storm cell running along its entirety almost twenty four seven, making it pretty much impossible to navigate it through flight.
This storm, if I recall, was courtesy of one of my daughter’s demons known simply as Erebus. Wonder what happened to that guy.
I may be an immortal, and while this vessel was extremely hardy, it was still killable, and I was in no hurry to test out its electrical resistance.
Sure I could just split the storm itself, but then I’d end up screwing up the magical field and ruin somebody’s day, so I didn’t have a lot of options. The only other way would be for me to travel to the land of the griffons and head through the Endlos Ocean, which stretched for hundreds of miles, to reach Equestrian borders. I could also teleport there I guess, but I didn’t come down here just to teleport around. There was also the risk of a random creature catching me after or before the teleport, meaning I had to explain away the fact a Thestral just cast a teleportation spell...maybe I should have been an Alicorn, would have scared the hell out of the ponies.
Hindsight is twenty/twenty.
I can’t exactly pray for an easy out either, what with whatever being higher than me in the celestial food chain probably losing interest in me a long, long, time ago.
Meaning I was effectively screwed, how fun.
Now’s not the time for thoughts like that though, I had more pressing matters to attend to, which basically consisted of every foal in the village staring directly at me the moment I opened my door.
Young and old, big and small, all were there, and every single one of them had the same look in their eye that Obasi had back in the Temple of me.
“...” I blinked and kept staring.
“...” They stared right back, neither party moving a muscle, the staring contest continuing between me and the collective of children...and then I made the mistake of twitching.
Then they were upon me.
I don’t remember what happened next, my vision consisting of nothing but black and white, but I remember opening my eyes again to a familiar face smiling down at me, which just so happened to be the guard who had the gall to poke me with a spear yesterday.
“Sorry for the young ones, they seek entertainment any way they can.” He chuckled, holding a hoof down towards me, which I gratefully accepted.
“Quite alright, not my first time dealing with foals.” I replied, dusting myself off and ruffling my now aching wings, licking off a bit of dirt that found its way on the appendages. The guard chuckled and adjusted the spear at his side, which somehow escaped my attention. “So, name?”
“Imari” was his answer, making me nod.
“Loyal...interesting.” I grinned, moving past him and the ocean of foals still surrounding me.
“You seem to know the meaning behind our names, why is this?” Imari asked curiously, following along behind me while the children continued to watch me and run around us, generally just making sure I was within their sight.
“I spent years studying your culture; I know a thing or two about your naming customs.”
‘After all, your several millennia old grandmother and I created them.’
“I still find it hard to believe you found a high priestess of Yemoja, much less got her to teach you our ways and customs.” He replied, shooing away the overly curious foals as we kept up or trek towards the temple. I just shrugged my wings in response, looking back at him after a moment.
“I find it hard to believe you speak Equish so well. You don’t even have that subtle accent Obasi does.” I commented, making the guys grin widen, while his eyes seemed to dim ever so slightly.
“I was raised by the village shaman; she taught me everything she knew about the world, including how to speak to the ponies, should I ever encounter one.” He answered, his chest puffed out while my sensitive hearing caught I slight uptick in his heart rate.
Weren’t many happy memories there it would seem.
I didn’t say anything to him after that, letting him mull over the sudden influx of memories, offering a small pat on the shoulder. He gave me a grateful smile, letting the silence settle over us as we kept on our way, several zebra giving Imari and I a nod and curios look, respectively. I received a glare or two as well, but nowhere near what it was yesterday, meaning the masses of the village didn’t see me as much as a demon and more like a mild curiosity.
Amazing what the word of a shaman can do to tribals.
They still kept their distance though, only the parents coming anywhere close to retrieve their offspring. I couldn’t help but feel a little saddened by this, but I couldn’t really expect a whole village to warm up to me overnight, no matter what the shaman told them. I definitely had to make sure I come back after I dealt with the ponies, make a trip around the villages of Zebrica. Maybe I’ll make a Zebra vessel and see what happens, be a good reason to brush up on my alchemy.
“So, the shaman never told us your name.” Imari said, making my ear twitch as I looked back to him.
“I doubt she would have, after all, she never asked for it.” I cheekily replied, showing off a fanged grin. There was a moment of silence between us, the zebra simply staring at me with a raised brow.
“Mind sharing?” he asked, making me chuckle and return my sight in front of me.
“Names Ash.” I replied simply, making the stallion nod with a grin.
“A fine name, but I’m sorry to say I do not know the meaning behind it.”
“There isn’t one, it’s just a name.” He blinked in surprise, tilting his head slightly. I just chuckled at his confusion. “Not every name has a meaning behind it my friend, my names just a name, pure and simple.”
Imari simply nodded, probably already learning something from this little conversation. Now that I thought about it, this was probably his first time talking to anyone outside of his species. After all, zebra rarely if ever leave their villages, and the ones who do tend to keep themselves in Zebrica. This basically put him on the same level as a child in the aspect of his curiosity, ever eager to learn about the world around him.
Speaking of children, these little things were still here by the dozen.
I will admit that I’m thoroughly impressed that a village of this size could support so many of the little buggers. Not a single one looked all that unhealthy, outside of a few skinny ones, but they still looked far from starving. And each one held that look of curiosity and wonder that slowly drew them in.
This is what led to me holding a number of the little guys and girls on my back and under my wings while the rest circled me, asking me question after question about Thestrals and any information I could provide about the other races of the planet.
Imari got a kick out of this, even going so far as to help a foal situate themselves on my head, the little filly proceeding to flick the part of my mane hanging over my eye.
“I see the children found you early today” I heard the raspy voice of Oni say as we closed in on the temple we met at yesterday. I chuckled and softly nodded, not wanting to disturb the now sleeping foal on my head.
“They’re a curious lot, that’s for sure.” I replied, moving to lie down in front of the fountain of Yemoja, and proceeded to put on my foal blanket.
“They do not hold the same hatred of fear in their heart as the adults do; they only seek to understand a world that is still new and exciting.” She nodded, moving past me to talk with Imari, leaving me alone with the herd of foals, a few sitting in front of me and play with my mane.
“Geniet u uself?” (Enjoying yourself?)
The foals nodded eagerly, moving closer to play with my ears while another poked my fangs softly. I just chuckled and laid there, letting them do their own thing for a while. I might have fallen asleep under the literal blanket of foals, having felt the extreme warmth of several dozen bodies leave me while Oni and Imari grinned at me, Obasi next to them with a knowing smirk on his muzzle.
“Sorry to wake you outsider, but I imagine you would like to reach Iram before nightfall.”
I hummed in the affirmative, picking myself up from the ground and stretching out, feeling several satisfying pops in my back and wings, making Obasi wince for some reason.
“Yes, I have to thank you elder, not many would house a stranger, especially when our races have such a strained relationship.” I told her, bowing my head in thanks.
“It was no bother my dear Ash” I felt my ear twitch “We might not have made the best first impression, but you have been nothing but respectable to us since you have arrived, we only saw to return that respect in kind.” Obasi suddenly looked a little uncomfortable after she said this, making me quirk a brow curiously.
“Yes...I must...apologize for my actions when you arrived.”
“Oh think nothing of it” I told him quickly, waving away his worries with a wing, giving him a grin as I moved forward to give his shoulder a small nudge. “Friends?”
Obasi blinked in surprise, but let a smile work its way on his muzzle as he held out a hoof towards me, which I bumped immediately.
“Yes, friends.” He nodded.
“Neat, hopefully I have this much luck with the Equestrian’s.” I said with a chuckle, moving to give the shaman and guard a hoof bump as well.
“Head north from here Ash, look for the Primis statues, they will lead the way to Iram.” Oni said, bowing her head, Imari doing so as well. I nodded, looking towards the north, seeing nothing but miles of savannah with a small dot in the distance.
“Thank you for your hospitality shaman, may Primis shine his light upon you and Yemoja watch over you always.” I bowed to her and the others, my wings snapping open and vaulting into the air, taking one last look at the village of Kabo, before shooting towards the City of Iram.
Is this a crossover?
10039321
Uhm...no...not that I'm aware of.
10039321
What were you thinking it might be crossed over with? I'm curious now.
10039400
Agreed
Loved this chapter, please keep up and I'm sorry about your situation right now, I hope you get a new and good job buddy
Hey, you can find a job, and when you do, you can gain skills that can make you highly employable. One such skill is knowing multiple languages (at least in the USA it is) (no idea what country you are in). I am currently learning Spanish, as it is a good base to learn Italian, Portuguese and a couple other geographically close languages.
If you're really having trouble and live in the US near or in a city. Try Indeed and LinkedIn upload your resume and let an employer find you. If you have a nice resume for whatever field you're in or a lot of experience in a certain aspects it won't take long until you get contacted.
Ah don’t worry. You as the author comes before us as the readers. You take care of yourself first before worrying about the stories.
Take your time with the chapters, we can wait for a good story :D
Question: Do neither of them know what ash is?
For some reason, I can't wait for him to snap, have enough and use his destructive powers to punish someone, or groups for example with a curse
I can't think of any others than alicorns, specifically Celestia and Luna(if they even exist yet) to do something that would deserve gods wrath
I can't think of right now of many arrogant (probably) candidates
Also how short-sighted and unqualified you can be to not find a solution to his powerful effect on magic and world or at least not acknowledge the problem before, now he can't do anything
But
Even if you don't want to play a surgeon on the world's magic to fix that, there is still a lazier option, bound to you artifact to focus, filter part of your power
Sauron had a good idea (but poor execution with unnecessary risks ) to create a tool to focus his power through
Just for example make it so it will teleport to you and will turn to stone everyone who will want to steal, use it and destroying it won't kill you or destroy the power that was inside it
I like it so far. Look forward to reading further.
Hum, interesting, I wonder how Equestria is like in this world?
Welp. No doubt about it. This is going on my favorites list. I don't even have to read it before putting it in my list.
Time to get reading...
Well... damn now I wish that...
A) I had a time machine to read the rest.
B) I was cryogenically frozen so I can read the rest.
C) I Could somehow(by any means possible) get to read the rest.
D) There were stories as good as this on a daily basis.
E) I was a being that could do whatever it wants. (For example: Read the next chapter)
F) I could speed up the process for every chapter coming. (For example: Getting you another job)
G) Creat a world of my own How/When/ and where I want to enjoy the stories IRL(Basically E)
H)
Choose every single one of the options above...What would you choose?
Btw does anyone know the time in the history of Equestria dose the Main Charter come in? I know it's an Alt Uni. but there are at least some similarities to the show, right? tbh, right now I want to see the MC meet Tia and Lulu and Twilight??? maybe? If this was set waaaay back before that then maybe it could sequel?
10040672
True it would be fun to see the mc unleash a god's wrath. although it's kinda annoying on how he doesn't want to surge up the world it only makes me want to read more and see if it going happen. Else if not then this isn't just going get removed off my favorite list. Also, Him using is powers seems like something you would put near the ending of a story. Plus you get all the satisfaction of seeing the face of those who wronged the mc. It would be awkward and probably turn this into a short story. Sad but true at the same time
This is quite interesting... I'll keep an eye on this one for sure.
First story in awhile where I'm interested the whole way through so far. This AU of yours is very interesting. Cant wait for more^-^
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It took me a few moments but when I look at ur profile pic I remember it from the movie Oblivion.
10050948
youd be right with that, im one all for advanced human technology so despite the oblivion drone not being human tech its still cool.
This is ny far one of my favorite book/fic styles. Where a god lives on a planet he created/influences. I like how you’ve made the protagonist relatable instead of just ‘I do what I want, it’s my fic!’
I continue to love this.
10040196
The name comes from the tree of the same name. In Old English it is synonimus with [spear].
Ash wood is a strong elastic wood used for furniture, tool handles, and sporting goods such as baseball bats. The meaning of the name could then be deduced to be one who is strong yet flexible while adaptable to many tasks.