Inkwells across Equestria

by Keyslam

The Raven who lurks

Raven lands atop a precariously-balancing building. She keeps her wings unfurled as to retain her balance -- the wind blows strongly, causing the structure to sway.

She peers down upon the various creatures going about their day in the streets far below.

"Klugetown." The name forms at the mare's lips. "A suitable dwelling for the roaming outcast. Even then, my identity mustn't be revealed."

Her attention turns to a ragged flag flapping in the dry wind on a nearby roof, its colors long-since faded.

---

Raven paces down a marketplace avenue, keeping her head low. Even with this makeshift cloak, it is hard to truly conceal herself without a proper illusion spell. Or at least, the mana required to cast one.

Perhaps she may have been overly hasty in her retreat.

"You. The one with the horn--" A voice beckons from the shadows, "--Come with me. I know you're a special one."

Raven glances in the direction of the voice, though there is nobody to be seen in the dark alleyway. "Reveal yourself," she mutters. "I will not give my trust so easily in a place such as this."

"Mm, a careful one, eh?" The voice chuckles. "Well, from one fellow outcast to another, welcome to Klugetown. Please ignore the powdered horns being sold in the next shop over." It pauses before continuing, louder this time. "I hear the owner's got a good sniffer for you ponies."

"Pooooniess?" A second voice, this one low and gurgling, asks. The creature this voice belongs to emerges not long after, their imposing figure looming tall over Raven. They suck in a breath of air. "Yessssss, there is poonyyy!"

Raven lets out a quiet sigh of annoyance. "Must you call to attention my existence so loudly?"

"Yup. Come with me if you want to live."

"How typical. I will follow, if only for the sake of my horn."

A small face emerges from the shadows of the alley. "Come, then! And make it snappy! You're lucky I found you here. Oooh, he's gettin' ready to swing!"

Raven lights her horn, freezing the shopkeeper in place. The faintest of smirks forms on her face. "Not anymore. Now make haste, before I am further noticed."

The face nods and vanishes again into the shadows. Raven follows without issue. Behind her, the shopkeeper finishes his swing, knocking the living daylights out of a passerby. She ignores the sounds of the fight that results.

"Where do you lead me, strange creature?"

"First off, I'm not just some 'creature'. I might not know what I am, but at least I've got a name!"

"Allow me to apologize. What do you wish for me to call you?"

"Eh."

Raven raises a brow. "Eh?"

"Eh." The creature shrugs. "Didn't care and never will, so call me whatever."

"You are a strange one, Eh."

"Oh geez, you took that seriously."

"You say that you do not care, nor will you ever care. Thus, I have decided to call you by the response you initially gave me."

"Pfft. Fine, keep calling me that then, Raven."

Raven's steps halt. "You know my name?"

Eh turns around. "Hm? Oh yeah, I know your name. Heard that you got into a little tussle not too long ago with your folks."

"My--"

"Your mama sure whooped ya bad, didn't she? No wonder you flew the coop!"

A wave of relief washes over Raven. "Yes, I remain sore even now. May I ask where you heard of this news? And more importantly, I must ask why and how you sought me out."

"Just got news that there was some pony headed for this place in the papers, that's all. Word spreads fast when you've got merchants travelin' everywhere."

"I see."

Eh laughs. "You might see, but I sure don't! Gimme some light for this crummy place, would ya?"

Raven rolls her eyes at the notion of being ordered by someone she'd just met. Nevertheless, a dim illumination spell quickly envelops her horn.

"Where do you lead me, Eh?"

Eh crouches down, holding a scrawny finger to his chin. "Right... here!" He points at a worn trapdoor embedded into the ground. "Got some hay n' stuff for ya down in that hidey-hole."

"You act remarkably hospitable for a creature of Klugetown."

Eh shrugs. "What can I say? I run an inn. Stuffing a horse into a hole is plenty easy enough to do in my spare time."

"You wish to sell me, do you not? Or perhaps you plan to dismember me whilst I slumber, and sell my limbs to the highest bidder."

"Whoa, no no no! I ain't gonna be doing any of that!" Eh retorts. "I just got a soft spot for ponies, that's all. There's a couple others down in that bunker if you wanna say hi." He finally finds the handle and pulls the trapdoor open. "Anyhow, I got an inn to run."

He turns to leave. "Oh, and by the way you're gonna need to get used to meat pretty quickly around here."

Raven watches Eh scamper off into the shadows once more. She turns her attention to the open trapdoor.

A pair of glasses glint in the flickering light of her horn.

Author's Note:

I am debating as to whether or not I should increase the rating of this story to "T" due to the nature of topics that are now being discussed within chapters.

Comments

[Level Dasher]

Hm. Yeah, you might wanna up that rating, just to be safe. Never hurts going from E to T. T to M is another thing, but I think you'll be fine.

[Keyslam]

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I suppose so. I will do that then. Thank you for the feedback.

[Pony4Koma]

What's in the hole, Eh?

[Keyslam]

10821495
This made me chuckle.

[Keyslam]

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