Me and Fleur

We arrived at the Inn in a few minutes before the dinner was served. Walking in through the front door I looked over the Inn with an eye for good quality and that the place was well cared for. I was happily surprised to find both those expectations met. The wood that make up the building was a good strong oak and chestnut mix, there were round tables situated around the whole place and had pillows to sit on, that were filled with straw from the farms that surrounded the town. There was a stage that was at the wall to the right of the door and on the other side of the big mingling room was a bar.The room was only 7”0 even so I had to slouch a little so as not to scrape my head on the ceiling when I walk. Walking up to the bartender who was a bright yellow unicorn  stallion with a chocolate brown mane. That is one of the worst color schemes that I have ever seen, I thought to myself as I reached the bar and tapped the countertop with my middle finger to get his attention. He turned to me with a smile that quickly turned to a shocked look. Looking at the other ponies in the Inn I saw that they were looking at me with a mix of fear and wonder. Sighing I shook my head with annoyance. The bartender cleared his throat to get my attention back on him.

“Hello my name is Stiff Drink and what can I do for you today?” Mister Stiff said as he started to polish a glass in his magical grip. Laughing at his now no nonsense attitude I slowly shook my head as the pony races of this world will never stop shocking my.

“Me and my companions are here to use your fine and might I say well cared for establishment. But I am not in a position to pay with money as I would like to hold on to it for now. So I was wondering if I could entertain your fine customers with a song of story instead.” I said smiling politely as I am a good guest... and if my mother were to find out that I didn’t use good manners she would come out of the afterlife and slap me for throwing away her teachings. Stiff Drink nodded a few times and put his hoof over the counter top.

“Buddy I don’t know what you are but if you can tell a good enough story tonight you can stay the night and partake in supper free of charge.” The bartender said with a smile on his face. Reaching out I grabbed his hoof, shaking it once in a downward fashion to seal the deal. Mister Stiff Drink walked out from behind the bar and out into the town proper. Hearing him shout something that I didn’t catch I just shrugged my shoulders thinking that I would learn soon enough. After a few seconds he came back in and walked up to me.

“Just wait till we get good and packed for you to start your story.” Stiff Drink said walking back behind the  bar and serving up a few drinks. Walking up onto the stage I sat down on the pillow with my legs crossed Thinking about the incident that my mind made earlier today.

“Did I really think that she was cute? Am I falling for this pony...no don’t be absurd that is ridiculous there not even humanoid.” I said under my breath while waiting for the sign to start from Mister Stiff.

After a few minutes the whole floor was packed with ponies holding drinks and waiting on my to start my story. Well this is interesting I might just have to come back here one day. I thought to myself as I looked over the ponies that had come to listen to the strange creature spin a web. I opened my mouth and heard thunder boom with rain starting to hit the roof of the inn, I smiled as I knew just what story to tell.

“This story is about a girl , a boy, and a ghost; on a night very much like this one...” I said taking a pause in the starting of my story for dramatic effect.

“Susan and Ned were driving through a wooded empty section of back country road. Lightning flashed, thunder roared, the sky went dark in the torrential downpour.

“We’d better stop,”  said Susan.

   Ned nodded his head in agreement. He stepped on the brake, and suddenly the car started to slide on the slick pavement. They plunged off the road and slid to a halt at the bottom of an incline.

Pale and shaking, Ned quickly turned to check if Susan was all right.  When she nodded, Ned relaxed and looked through the rain soaked windows.

     “I’m going to see how bad it is,” he told Susan, and when out into the storm. She saw his blurry figure in the headlight, walking around the front of the car. A moment later, he jumped in beside her, soaking wet.

   “The car’s not badly damaged, but we’re wheel-deep in mud,” he said. “I’m going to have to go for help.”

   Susan swallowed nervously. There would be no quick rescue here. He told her to turn off the headlights and lock the doors until he returned.

Axe Murder Hollow. Although Ned hadn’t said the name aloud, they both knew what he had been thinking when he told her to lock the car.  This was the place where a man had once taken an axe and hacked his wife to death in a jealous rage over an alleged affair. Supposedly, the axe-wielding spirit of the husband continued to haunt this section of the road.

   Outside the car, Susan heard a shriek, a loud thump, and a strange gurgling noise. But she couldn’t see anything in the darkness.

   Frightened, she shrank down into her seat. She sat in silence for a while, and then she noticed another sound.  Bump. Bump. Bump.  It was a soft sound, like something being blown by the wind.

   Suddenly, the car was illuminated by a bright light.  An official sounding voice told her to get out of the car. Ned must have found a police officer.  Susan unlocked the door and stepped out of the car.  As her eyes adjusted to the bright light, she saw it.

   Hanging by his feet from the tree next to the car was the dead body of Ned.  His bloody throat had been cut so deeply that he was nearly decapitated. The wind swung his corpse back and forth so that it thumped against the tree. Bump. Bump. Bump.

Susan screamed and ran toward the voice and the light. As she drew close, she realized the light was not coming from a flashlight. Standing there was the glowing figure of a man with a smile on his face and a large, solid, and definitely real axe in his hands. She backed away from the glowing figure until she bumped into the car.

   “Playing around when my back was turned,” the ghost whispered, stroking the sharp blade of the axe with his fingers. “You’ve been very naughty.”

   The last thing she saw was the glint of the axe blade in the eerie, incandescent light.” I finished my story as lightning flashed and and as the light was shining I quickly teleported to the back of the room making the ponies scream in fear once they had regained their sight. One of the ponies heard me chuckling and turned around to see me leaning on the counter. The pony nudged his buddy and soon the ponies were all cheering and stomping their hooves. They liked my story so much that almost all of the ponies walked up to the stage and placed some money on the surface. After the ponies that only came to hear my story walked out of the Inn and I could move again. Walking over to the stage I counted up the money. There were twenty lead one bit pieces, fifty bronze ten bit pieces, and one fifty silver bit piece on the stage. I scooped them all except the silver piece which I tossed to Mister Stiff. I walked to the table that Fleur and Sharp were sitting at. I sat down and not a few seconds later Mister Stiff walked up to our table and put down three shots of scotch.

“This is for bringing more business in one night then I have had in the last month, and you have earned your keep tonight.” Stiff said as he walked back to the bar tossing the silver piece over his shoulder and onto the tabletop where is spoon like a top for a few seconds before settling on the table. Reaching out with both hands I grabbed the drink and throw it back drinking it in one painful gulp and with the other I grabbed the silver piece and put it in my bag. I now had to thank him for his generosity somehow and I started to rub my chin in thought. After a few seconds I snapped my fingers and walked over to Mister Stiff. Once there I leaned down and whispered into his ear. Stiff nodded a few times and he got a huge grin on his face. We shook hand and hooves for the second time today. I walked back to my table and sat down a small smile on my face.

“What was that about?” Asked Sharp completely confused as to what just happened; she looked at me and back to Mister Stiff. I shook my head while my smile grew a few inches causing her to huff in mock annoyance. A bowl of mixed greens stew was placed in front of me by a teenaged filly Unicorn who had the same color scheme as Stiff, just that it was inverted so that her coat was chocolate brown and her main was bright yellow. She placed down a few more bowls and then bread and walked back to the kitchen to get the next tables food. There was no talking between us as we ate our dinner and after that we went up to our room each of us falling asleep a few seconds after each other.