Man Meets Mage

With my new items in hand, I headed back to the sheriff's office to meet the last pony. I wonder if the pony I'm meeting is a pony I've met before.

I arrived at the office shortly after I started walking, only to notice that there was no pony outside the office. Maybe I was early or something. Since no one was outside I went towards the office door and decided to head inside. As I reached down to the handle a large popping sound came from behind me along with a flash of orange light.

"Hmmm...sheriff Silver wasn't kidding when he said you were odd-looking." I knew that voice, but of course, I only realized that after my really manly shriek of terror.

"Jesus criminy biscuits," I couldn't help exclaiming as I turned around.

"Peter was it?"

He was completely unphased by my amazing screaming abilities, he didn't even blink!

"Y-yep that's me."

"We need to have a lengthy discussion but before then let's relocate to a more comfortable environment."

The stoic stallion turned around without so much as a backward glance and started walking to the local inn. I rushed to catch up to the fast-paced stallion. I tried chatting while we walked but he was somewhat cold to any small talk, god I hate awkward silence.

We walked into the inn, upon entry it seems the awkward silence spread to everyone in the inn. This is torture, pure unadulterated torture. He walked up to the barkeep and made some gestures before sliding the barkeep something. I couldn't overhear the conversation because of the now spreading background noise.

The stallion, what was his name again? Stoner? Mr. Stone? Damn, I'm getting worse at remembering names. He gestured for me to follow him, he started walking into a backroom. I'm getting the 'I'm about to get jumped' feeling. The backroom must have been for VIPs or something, there were cigars and alcoholic beverages already ready for use.

Mr. Stoneface or whatever his name sat down in the corner booth. The feeling of meeting a mob boss continued to rise once I realized we were the only ones in the backroom. Once I sat down opposite of him, he levitated a bottle of wine and poured it into two glasses.

Man, magic is neat.

He took a sip of the wine and then stared ahead, his stoic face moved minimally as he talked.

"You played a crucial role in saving my daughter. Since I don't like being in debt I have a set of offers for you."

"W-well, I really didn't do too much, it was mainly-"

"I can't give everypony a reward, I said you played a crucial role."

Jesus, this guy is something else.

"Oh, well, what are the offers?"

"Offer one, I give you a certain amount of bits and we never speak of this again. Offer two, I've been informed you are homeless, so you may have a spot on one of the Stone family carriages arriving tomorrow morning. If you accept offer two, the carriages will be going to Stone Haven located southeast of here. Stone Haven is nestled in the Macintosh Hills. Lastly, offer three is negotiable."

This pony really hates being in debt. Any of these options would be great for me. However, it seems that offer three is the best option for me.

"I think option three would be pretty good because...well...I have an odd traveling companion."

"Another seat on a carriage won't hurt my pockets."

"I...uh...my traveling companion is a giant alligator."

The stallion across from me took a sip from his glass with furrowed brows. The stallion closed his eyes and leaned back, he must be mulling over something.

"Hmmm...here is the deal, I can give you a pass that'll let the Stone family guard escort you to the estate. However, this means you will have to travel there by hoof or by...alligator."

This pony is seriously going out of his way to make sure that his debt is completely cleared. I didn't really do that much. If he's going to do this much, I might as well accept it.

"I like that idea, so how is this going to work out?"

With his magic doodad, a small popping sound and a small blank stone tablet appeared on the table. A quill infused with some magic started carving into the stone tablet. Once it finished carving it became inanimate.

"There, this pass should authorize you to enter the private portion of the estate. Maybe you'll find an opportunity once you get there."

He levitated the pass over to me. The language that was written on the tablet slowly untangled, the lines rearranging themselves into English. It's still freaky to see it, but it's nice that I don't have to know an entire written language. Now that the deal is settled, I should probably speak to the sheriff about the alligator.

"It's good we got this settled, so this means I probably won't be at Stone haven until a week or so from now."

He nodded his head and took a sip from his wine glass. While I left my poured wine untouched, I didn't have any intention to be rude.

"I have to go speak with the sheriff, so I must get going, It was good speaking to you."

"Of course."

The response pushed my buttons a bit. I turned towards the front room of the building and started making my way out. Once I left the building I headed over to the sheriff's office. Upon entering the office I noticed the sheriff speaking to his daughter.

"Hey sheriff, do you mind telling me where the alligator I was with when I came is again?"

"That alligator is in the field out there. Just speak ta the farmer, he'll show ya where ya lizards at." He pointed his hoof south of the office.

So with Stonehaven in mind, I wandered southward to a ran across a small homestead. There was an older stallion working in the field so I decided to greet him.

"Hello! I've come to get the alligator."

The stallions confused expression slowly morphed into one of unbridled rage.

"So you're that sumbitch that dumped that dagger toothed demon on us."

oh jeez.

Author's Note

The amount of times I forgot to save the chapter is immeasurable. I lost so many words.

Howdy doody, I hope you enjoyed it.

Tell me if you see any errors.