A Changeling Goes to the Market
The creature was mostly black. Only its back was royal blue, covered by its scraped elytra. Its four legs were riddled with holes, like Swiss cheese. It was dressed in a patched shirt, and a large sack hung from its side. Its two large eyes were blue and it had three horns—one which grew from its forehead and two smaller ones on each side of the first—that combined into a single mass. This horn structure was damaged and had several cracks which ran over its surface. The creature had two long ears as well, each one tattered and damaged. Two fangs stuck out from each side of its mouth and finally, it had what looked to be a normal tail, though it seemed to be made from a rougher material than a tail from a stallion. The creature itself was just slightly smaller than the average stallion and it carried itself with its head held high.
It left the Everfree forest and passed the edge of town. A house filled with all kinds of animals and bugs ceased all sound as he passed, and its caretaker, a yellow pegasus passed out at the sight of him. She just collapsed into a bush.
The bug-pony blinked at the strange display and pushed on over the bridge and into Ponyville proper.
The market was noisy enough for the bug-pony to find it with ease. Though the market was hardly satisfied with his arrival. The ponies watched the strange bug-pony with fear and trepidation. One mother hurried away with her foals. A guard took a step closer to watch the newcomer with scrutiny. Applejack dragged away Applebloom, the younger begging the older to let her watch the strange creature. But most simply hid behind their stalls. Though one mare in particular, Silver Wind, shrunk as the creature stopped before her stall.
Silver Wind had a silver chain with wings as a cutie mark, a white coat without a single blemish, and a long silver mane that was tied into a large braid. She was dressed in a faux leather apron with tools on its side. Her stall was one of the larger ones in the market. Jewels, golden rings, but especially silver trinkets and jewelry filled the glass display boxes and mounted busts of mares and stallions. She was the town's jewelry and silversmith, the only one for miles, and was good at what she did. She had customers in Canterlot, Manehattan, and Los Pegasus. She had even helped create a fine piece for Prince Blueblood. She'd seen many strange customers in her life, but never one like this one. No one as creepy or unsettling.
The creature’s big eyes stared at her. They blinked one at the time in a lazy manner, as if the creature was tired or bored. Silver opened her mouth to speak when the bug-pony pulled out a… pebble? It was no larger than a gemstone. The pebble was completely black with round groves that ran all along its length. Said grooves had an eerie orange glow to them, like embers. The bug-pony very slowly slid the pebble across the wooden desk. Its eyes never left Silver's, and if anything it ceased to blink once the pebble was brought out.
The pebble was also on fire.
The pebble then began to speak to her.
“Plebian of the Ponyvillian tribe, descendant of the noble pegasus armies, my compatriot requires your finest silver trinket! It is of utmost importance that his home will no longer be in squalor, and the fine folk of the land may treat him as the lord of cinders that he is!”
Silver Wind blinked and stared at the pebble, and then the bug-pony, and then back at the pebble. “I… What?
“DO YOU HATH NO EARS PLEBIAN!? My compatriot requires silver! The true currency of the free world! What has doomed empires and started republics! Tell me you have not forgotten the art of silversmithing in the absence of the true lord!?”
“No, no I can smith silver! I… You’re a rock?” Silver said and poked the burning pebble. There was no pain from the fire it produced, only warmth.
The pebble shook in anger. Or well, it didn’t, but Silver got the impression that if it could shake in anger it would have done so. “Silversmith plebian of Ponyville!—”
“Please stop calling me a plebian...”
“—Thy name shall be hallowed for millennia to come for the work you shall bestow upon my chosen lord and his grand home! Our palace of the Everfree! Do not waste precious time with questions!”
The bug-pony stared at Silver. He had not said a single word. Silver just swallowed thickly. “What kind of ‘trinket’ do you want?”
“A statue in the shape of a spider! My compatriot has received no welcome from the followers of Arachia here, and so he has not been given a shrine for his worship! Oh, it is a woe of untold proportions, silversmith! He has no shrine to his goddess, no way to pray for her greatness and blessing! WE CAN NOT LET SUCH A TRAVESTY CONTINUE! He requires something of pure silver, for only that is holy enough for his holy patron!”
Silver Wind eyed the rest of the market. Ponies that had hidden before now dared watch the bizarre interaction. A few eyed the pebble, and some blinked in confusion as to why the rock could speak.
“I can do that, I mean, I have a silver necklace that has a spider on it. It was a Nightmare Night order but the customer never ended up picking it up and—”
“Spare me your life’s story, silversmith! Tell my compatriot what he must pay for such a gift! Blood? Servitude? His first-born son!?” the pebble said with a dramatic gasp.
“I… No, I just want two hundred bits. It is pure silver you know,” Silver mumbled and pulled out the necklace in question.
The chain was weaved, the pendant attached fit in her hoof, but just barely. It was meant for some vampire costume or the like, but she supposed for it to be used in the worship of… Arachia? Yes, that was the name the pebble had used. Being used in the worship of Arachia didn’t seem too bad.
“Then my compatriot shall bequeath you such a sum!” the pebble said.
The bug-pony pulled the large sack from his side and placed it on the counter. Silver had first assumed it was used to store tools or wares, but the unmistakable cling of bits made her eyes widen. Surely such a big sack couldn’t be filled with—
The bug-pony opened the sack and golden coins poured out over the front desk of the stall. The rattling of coins hitting the glass displays, the wooden counter, and the ground filled the market. The ponies looked on in awe as dozens of bits pooled around the silversmith’s stall. The bug-pony just blinked lazily and then closed the sack. He picked up the pebble and placed it in the front pocket of his shirt. He then took the necklace and left the market at a slow pace.
Silver stood there for a second. She slowly looked over the bits that had been left behind and began to pick them up one by one. Once she was finally done she’d counted to three hundred and twenty-two. “He paid too much… I should...”
As she looked around however the bug-pony was nowhere in sight. Silver eyed the pile of coins and eventually just shook her head. She needed a drink. Preferably something strong. And then she would need to inform Twilight Sparkle about the strange customer. Surely the smartest pony in Ponyville would be able to make sense of the weird interaction. With that hopeful and naive outlook Silver left the market to find some strong vodka.
Author's Note
You tell me why I wrote this story or had this idea.
