"Ok, my little ponies, before we begin our first lesson in obscure pony history, are there any questions?" asked Twilight Sparkle, sitting on a cushion with a pile of books off to the side.
An orange hoof went up in the front of the crowd of fillies and colts that were gathered.
"Yes, Scootaloo?"
"Is this going to be as boring as those lessons on obscure unicorn history we had before?" asked Scootaloo.
"Yeah, sorry Twi, but ah'm kinda only here as punishment fer not doin' mah chores," added Applebloom. "The last lessons ya had were real borin'."
"Rarity told me to come here because I was in her way again," said Sweetie Belle.
Soon all the other fillies and colts explaimed the reasons they were there. And not a single pony said 'I'm here because I want to learn about history!'.
"Ok, ok, so my last lessons didn't go so well," said Twilight, blushing. "But, these lessons will be different. Instead of just telling you things about history, I'm going to be reading you legends and stories. You could almost think of it as a storytelling session."
"But ah thought legends weren't real," said Applebloom.
"All legends start out as the truth, Applebloom."
"Is it going to be more unicorn history, or all types of pony history?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"These lessons will be all about earth pony history," said Twilight. "The stories I'll be reading to you are all from a small country called the Emerald Isle (1)."
"Where's that?" asked Scootaloo.
"It's a small island way off the coast of Los Pegasus," explained Twilight. "There are no Pegasi or unicorns. It's mostly farmland and mountains, and only earth ponies live there."
"So, we're gonna be hearin' about legends from some little earth pony island we've never heard of before?" said Applebloom.
"Exactly! And I've decided to start with a story called Séadna. It's not a legend per se, but it is a very popular traditional Islish story."
And with that, Twilight opened the book and began to read.
There once was an old stallion named Séadna. Séadna was a farrier. His shoes were the finest in all of the Isle, and ponies from every corner of the country, from Waterford to Donegal would come to buy his shoes.
Séadna had a beautifully crafted cathaoir súgáin (2), which he made by himself, for himself. Every night he would sit by the fire and get warm, whilst eating oatmeal retrieved from a sack hanging on the coat hook. Outside his house he had an apple tree. When he was made thirsty from the oatmeal, he would merely trot outside and help himself to an apple. His tree was said to grow the sweetest apples in all of the Isle..
One day, Séadna found that he was out of the metal he used to make shoes, and his hammer was split and his forge without coal.
"I shall have to buy more," he said. He reached for his purse and discovered only three bits. "This shan't buy much," he said.
"Ar'a (3) once I've the metal bought, I'll make and sell a pair of shoes, and sure then won't I have the money for more."
So Séadna put on his old caipín (4) and pulled on his tattered old coat with the three bits in the pocket and set off for the town of Macroom.
He was no further than a mile up the road when he saw a beautiful young colt, with a scruffy green mane and a striking yellow coat. The colt spoke to him in Islish, "Dia's Muire dhuit, a Shéadna!"(5)
Séadna responded, "Dia's Muire dhuit agus Pádraig."(6)
"Would you give me something to eat, for I've nothing and I'm dying with the hunger!" pleaded the colt.
"I'm sorry, I've only just left the house and I've nothing for you," said Séadna. He heard the bits rattle in his pocket. He took one out and handed it to the colt. "Here, take this and buy yourself something with it," he said.
"Thank you," said the beautiful colt. "You have done a great service for Celestia, and She will reward you for it!" With that, the colt vanished into thin air.
Séadna rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what he had just witnessed. He felt in his pocket, and sure enough, only two bits remained, so it must have been real.
He continued to walk when he encountered a dark brown elderly stallion with a mane greyed by age. He turned and spoke to Séadna the same words as the colt.
"Dia's Muire dhuit, a Shéadna," said the stallion.
"Dia's Muire dhuit agus Pádraig," replied Séadna.
"Would you give me something to eat, for I've nothing and I'm dying with the hunger!" pleaded the elderly stallion, mimicking the colt exactly.
Once more, Séadna retrieved a bit and handed it to the stallion. "Here. Take this and buy something to eat with it."
"Thank you! On this fine day you have performed a great service for Celestia, and She will reward you for it!" And, like the colt, the stallion simply vanished into thin air.
Séadna stared straight ahead for a moment. "Strange happenings, to be sure," he remarked.
He felt in his pocket, and, sure enough, only a single bit remained.
He continued to walk, when he encountered a third stranger. She was a pretty little bit of a mare, with a shining white coat and a silky blue mane. She wore a simple brown cloak which covered her entire body.
She opened her mouth to speak. "Dia's Muire dhuit, a Shéadna," she said.
"D-dia's Muire dhuit agus Pádraig," replied Séadna, stammering his words, so awestruck was he by her elegant beauty.
The mare continued, "Would you give me something to e-”
"Yes, I know, for you're dying with the hunger and you've nothing." Séadna extended his hoof with the final bit. "Here. Take it and buy yourself something with it."
"Thank you! On this day you have performed a great service for Celestia, and I shall be the bringer of Her reward to you," said the mare.
Séadna saw movement at her sides, and from under her cloak unfurled a beautiful pair of feathered wings. He couldn't believe his eyes.
"As thanks for your gracious services and selfless acts of kindness, Celestia has allowed me to gift you with three wishes. But, do not forget to make one of your wishes to be granted mercy when you face your Maker at the end of your days!" said the mare.
"I will not forget. But, do you promise me that I will have my wishes?" asked Séadna.
"Speak your wish, and you shall have it."
Séadna thought for a moment. What did he most desire?
"For my first wish...hm...I have a cathaoir súgáin in my cottage. I enjoy sitting by the fire and working away, but every old pleidhce (7) for miles around thinks he can just come and sit in my place, and sure don't I be without a seat then? For my first wish, from now on, anypony save for myself who sits on that chair, may they stick to it!"
"You have wasted a wish, Séadna. A dire mistake. Remember, wish for mercy and love at the end of your days," said the mare.
"For my second wish, I have a bag of oats which hangs on my wall. And every pleidhce who enters my house thinks he can just grab a hoofull for himself, and then don't I have none for myself? From now on, anypony who sticks his hoof into that bag other than myself, may he stick to it!"
The mare looked sadly at Séadna. "You have wasted another wish, Séadna. Remember, ask for mercy!"
Séadna ignored her. "And for my third wish, I own a fine apple tree growing in my garden. And every filly and colt for miles around thinks they can just climb the tree and steal my apples. From this moment forth, anypony other than myself who climbs that tree, may he stick to it!"
The mare looked both sad and enraged at the same time. "You have wasted Celestia's gift to you. You shall have your wishes, but think of what you have done and what you have lost." With that, she beat her wings and took off into the air above. In a few moments, she was no longer visible.
Séadna's grave mistake hit him like a wave on Rosneigh beach. "What a fool I am!" he said. "I could have asked her for anything, but instead I wasted my wishes. I could have asked for money, or all the metal and coal I could ever need!"
Sighing, Séadna continued along the worn path, and became frighteningly aware of his empty pockets. "I suppose I'll just have to ask your man down at the store for the metal and coal now, and I'll pay him back when I have the money."
Séadna was less than half a mile from Macroom when a blackened lightning bolt struck the ground in front of him. The air was filled with a foul stench and a cloud of smoke.
When the smoke cleared, standing before Séadna was a dark grey stallion, with slitted amber eyes, a webbed crest upon his head and the same webbed material for his tail. The wings of a bat were folded against his sides.
The stallion bared a set of gleaming white fangs. "Séadna! You have committed three atrocities against me today! What say you in your defence?"
Séadna shook with the fear that had overcome him. "I-I have n-never seen nor heard of you before. You must have the wrong stallion, for I'm only a simple farrier."
"You are the one I seek. If you wish for me not to smite you, listen to my proposal. I have heard you require money. I can give you all the money you could ever want, on the condition that you will come with me when thirteen years have passed."
"And where would we be going when the thirteen years are up?" asked Séadna warily.
"That is neither here nor there. Do you see this purse?" asked An Capall Dubh (8), holding up a small purse of bits. "No matter how much you take out of it, it will always remain full."
Séadna thought. He could have all the money he needed! He could own as many forges as he wanted or train as many apprentices as he wanted. In a split second, he made his decision.
"I accept your bargain," he said, and the two shook hooves on it.
An Capall Dubh handed the purse to Séadna, and disappeared in a puff of black smoke.
Séadna walked to Macroom and entered the store. He gathered his materials and took out the purse to pay. After removing the required amount of bits, he was amazed to see that the amount of bits in the bag was still the same.
He soon was home and soon making shoes again, and thinking about his odd day.
Three years later, Séadna was doing well for himself. He'd taken on an apprentice and hired assistants. His shoes were famed all around the Emerald Isle for their quality and low price. One day, Séadna decided to buy a chicken for eggs and a sheep for wool at the fair.
He arrived at the fair, and soon spotted a fine wooly sheep with a luxuriously soft fleece, and a hen who laid flawless speckled brown eggs. He was just about to ask the owner of the hen if they could work out a price, when he heard a colt laugh behind him.
He turned and saw a beautiful young colt with a green mane and a yellow coat.
"Hahaha!" the colt laughed. "I can see you are about to try to buy a chicken and you haven't a pingin rua (9) to your name!"
Séadna was about to react with some sort of response, when he felt into his pocket and realised that the purse was not there. He patted himself down, checked in his mane and and tail, on the ground around him, but he could not find it.
He turned to accuse the colt of robbing him, but the colt in question was nowhere to be seen.
Gloomy and irritated, Séadna began to trot home. As he trotted, he began to think about what had happened. "Perhaps it is for the best," he said to himself. "Sure, a chicken and a sheep would only be a bother to me in the end. And as for the purse, well, I earn enough now on my own, I don't need it anymore. I'll be grand without it."
Encouraged by these happy thoughts, Séadna returned home and finished the days work, paid his assistants and went to bed.
When he awoke the next morning, it was a chilly day. He slid on his coat, and was surprised to feel a weight in the pocket. He reached inside, and what was there but the purse?
Séadna was confused altogether. He couldn't fathom how it had disappeared and reappeared, and why it had done so just then.
Séadna carried on working, but the purse's disappearing act never left his mind.
Several more years passed, and Séadna's assistants and apprentices noticed that he became more and more distant from them. He seldom talked except to ask for meals or materials, and he never laughed in their company. He often would just abandon his work mid-shoe and go for a walk.
On one such walk, he climbed to the top of a hill and just gazed out across the countryside, and was surprised to find somepony sitting to next to him.
It was the shining winged mare. She did not wear a cloak this day, revealing her cutie mark to be a small orb that appeared to be made of glass.
"You are worried, Séadna," she said, turning to him.
"I am," Séadna agreed.
"Why are you worried?"
"I struck a deal with An Capall Dubh, and now I see the error of my ways as the end of the thirteen years draws near."
"Take this," said the mare suddenly.
She extended her hoof and dropped a small glass ball, the same as her cutie mark onto Séadna's hoof. Séadna instantly felt calmer.
"When you are worried or afraid, just touch the orb and you will be calmed," said the mare. Séadna continued to hold it in his hooves, enjoying its calming magic.
"Now, in order to defeat An Capall Dubh," said the mare. "This is what you must do."
Séadna listened intently to the mare's advice. He placed the precious gift into his coat pocket, and set off for home in good spirits.
Another few years passed, and the day Séadna dreaded had finally arrived. The thirteen years were up. To Séadna, it seemed to only have been a few hours since he had accepted An Capall Dubh's offer. But, no matter how long the day might seem, the night will always follow.
Séadna dismissed all of his workers early and sat down in a chair, leaving his cathaoir súgáin empty. Séadna had the winged mare's plan and he intended to follow it.
At precisely midnight, there was a roar of thunder and a bolt of lightning and An Capall Dubh was standing in Séadna's home.
"Your time is up!" he screeched.
Séadna was suddenly frozen with fear. His plan wouldn't work, everything would go wrong...
Séadna placed his hoof on the little glass orb and was relieved of some of his stress. He held up a hoof to stop An Capall Dubh.
"The thirteen years aren't over yet. There was a time where I didn't have the purse. It was taken from me at the fair, and so I haven't had it for the full thirteen years of our bargain. But you must be weary after your long trip. Why don't you take a seat on my lovely cathaoir súgáin and help yourself to a hoofull of oats?" he said.
"I think I will," said An Capall Dubh. He sat down on the cathaoir súgáin and reached for the bag of oats at the same time.
As he tried to withdraw his hoof, he became panicked when he found he couldn't. He tried to stand up, but was stuck firmly to the chair. He beat his leathery wings, but only succeeded in lifting the cathaoir súgáin slightly off the ground.
Séadna began to cackle with laughter at the sight of An Capall Dubh's predicament.
"Release me now, you ungrateful worm!" roared An Capall Dubh.
"I think not," said Séadna.
He went to the corner and grabbed a bucket of morning dew gathered specifically for this purpose, and threw it onto An Capall Dubh.
An Capall Dubh screeched and screamed and thrashed around. He caught fire and soon nothing but ashes were left of him.
There was a flash of light to Séadna's left, and he turned to see the beautiful colt, the elderly stallion and the winged mare.
"We have come for you, Séadna," said the stallion.
"Come with us, and you will be happy forever!" said the colt.
"I'd say I will," said Séadna, as he walked towards the light.
The next day his workers found him. From the smile on his face, you could nearly say he was asleep and having a wonderful dream.
"So how was that?" asked Twilight, closing the book, which bore the title of Séadna and the image of a horseshoe.
"Awesome!" exclaimed Scootaloo.
"That was way better than yer last lessons!" agreed Applebloom.
"Yeah, last time, you just told us stuff and we tried and failed to not fall asleep," added Sweetie Belle.
Twilight blushed furiously at the mention of her previous failed attempts to get young ponies interested in history. "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it. We'll be here again next week for a different story. I think I'll read you Tír na nÓg or Bradán an t-Eólas next week. Maybe Cú Chulainn."
"I'm definitely coming! 'Coo kill-in' sounds cool," said Scootaloo, attempting to pronounce the story name.
All the little fillies and colts began to run out of the library to their parents, with cries of 'I'll see you next week, Twilight!' or 'I want to hear more stories!"
"Who knows? Maybe if this goes well I'll teach them about Pegasus history. Or maybe I'll try to do unicorns again," thought Twilight as she began to clear way the books and cushions.
