Mirror of the Moon

Charcoal Flame shot up from his bed in a sudden burst of panic and reached for his sword out of instinct. With a heavy sigh he loosened his grip as he realized that once again he had allowed his mind to get the better of him. Peering up at the window he could see that dawn was fast approaching and he had no luxury of waiting. Pulling his body out of bed with his hooves he allowed himself a moment for a quick stretch.

So far his arrival seemed to have gone unnoticed, but he knew full well that it would not take long for word to reach Celestia if he dawdles too long. He slipped the black robe back on and lifted the hood to again hide his red mane. Sheathing his sword, he exited the room and ventured down the corridor towards the stairs. Tall Tale as the town was called was largely the same as he had been informed by the historical records presented to him by various historians. Even still actually being
among pony kind that was not his own made him nervous, they seemed harmless enough but he knew all too well how deceiving appearances could truly be.

After moving down the stairs he found himself drawn to what could only be described as a great aroma for a body that had spent weeks on mere preserved rations. The smell was of various types of foods and beverages being prepared. Inside a large room was an array of various ponies seated at wooden tables going about their early morning, most still yawning. He knew it was risky but his desires got the better of him as he found himself choosing a chair for himself in the far off corner of the room. It did not take him long to notice his attire was extremely out of place for such an establishment, most of the ponies were of the earth variety and were dressed in simple traditionalist clothing. A younger mare who worked behind the counter wore a red blouse and skirt and trotted over. He must have looked alien to her because she raised an eyebrow in a questioning pose. Despite her uncertainty she did not hesitate to lower a book onto the table before trotting off.

Charcoal gazed down at the book. It was clearly the menu to the shop and as he flicked through the pages with his hooves he could only be stunned in amazement at the variety of options. Back home land was a rarer commodity and much of their nutritional needs came from the sea around them, many of the earth ponies had been driven towards learning how to work the sea rather than the land. But even so there was no shortage of ocean treats that made its way to this town either. He however was more interested in the pleasantries of land food.

"What can I get you?" The mare said as she returned to the table noticing that his flicking had come to a halt.

"Two hay burgers and a barley tea with milk please." Charcoal asked.

"Won't be long." She smiled at him and twisted back to the kitchen.

Charcoal could feel almost all the eyes of the other ponies around sneaking glances at him. He knew that it was a problem, if word of him spread.

After some time passed the mare laid out a plate full of food and slid the tea across the table over to him. Charcoal steadily sipped at the tea not having had anything but water since his journey across the Luna ocean. The burger buns were fresh and only recently removed from the oven and broke apart easily in his mouth. The hay was fresh and reminded him of home.

He devoured every morsel until his plate was completely empty, then getting up from the table he made his way over towards the counter where the mare stood waiting for him.

"Thank you for the meal." Charcoal said ignoring her glare.

"My pleasure, we don't get many ponies as shady as you here." She said clearly trying to make light of the situation she viewed as awkward.

"My apologies." Charcoal responded as he moved his hoof toward his coin pouch.

"My advice is you might want to change your attire if you are going to stay here, folks here don't trust those who act suspicious." The mare said seemingly trying to be helpful.

Charcoal held up another of his silver coins. The mare however was not as pleased as the last.

"No bits?" She asked with an annoyed expression. "My shop does not typically do barter."

"It is all that I possess." Charcoal said uncertain how to react.

"Oh, alright. But just this once." She said accepting the coin. "But I aint going to try to calculate your change."

Charcoal was about to protest when he heard a pony mare scream from behind him. The mare at the counter looked up and gasped in shock. Charcoal turned around and in the doorway stood three rather large red Rock Lobsters. The one in the middle being the biggest.

The first Rock Lobster on the left moved forward and used its large claws to tip over a table, sending the stallion in the chair tipping back and falling onto the ground before scampering away. The other ponies began to panic and leapt up from their seats, but with only the one way out could only move to the other side of the room.

Charcoal turned slowly towards the lobsters as the leader turned towards him.

"This building is now ours." The lead Rock Lobster declared. "We will be taking all of your food too."

Charcoal placed his hoof upon his silver blade and slid it free from its sheathe, drawing it and pointing it towards the aquatic creature.

"The pony wants to fight." The Rock Lobster laughed as the other two refocused their attention on Charcoal.

"slash him up a bit." The leader of the Rock Lobsters pointed at him with his claw.

The pair of Rock Lobsters rushed forward with their claws extended forward. Charcoal leapt forward and slashed at the left Rock Lobster and leapt on top of his back. hoping down he turned and brought the weight of his blade down upon the right Lobster.

Despite the hard shells the lobster's possessed, both now had slice marks along their bodies and appeared to be frozen in shock at what had happened. As the seconds ticked by both collapsed and began weeping in agony.

"You'll pay for that." The lead Rock Lobster said bringing up his claws before charging at Charcoal.

A lobster claw came smashing down towards Charcoal but he managed to quickly dodge it, and then the opposite claw soon followed and he blocked it with his sword. The lobster was strong but Charcoal was able to put the strength he had just gained from his meal to work holding it up.

Charcoal moved backwards breaking the lock and then pounced forward once again bringing his sword down. The lobster used its claws to block his blow but was too distracted to notice Charcoal spinning around and using his hind legs to slam into the lobster's front.

"Not a bad fighter." The Rock Lobster said amused at the pain he had been caused.

"We have no mercy for scum like you." Charcoal said before raising his sword again and moving forward to deliver the final blow.

The Rock Lobster collapsed unconscious from the sword cutting his front. The two smaller Rock Lobsters rushed forward past Charcoal, grabbed their leader and scurried out the door. With his robe torn and damaged, Charcoal allowed it to drop to the ground. His black fur and red mane now fully exposed.

"Thank you!" The mare said rushing toward him. "You truly were impressive."

Charcoal had no time to waste, already he could hear yelling and the sound of metallic horseshoes approaching. He quickly used his horn to pick up his tattered robe and ran out of the building. On his way out he could see blue dressed ponies with helmets, what passed as so called law enforcement in Celestia's kingdom rushing toward the hotel. He could not afford to be spotted, he had already drawn too much attention. His only saving grace was that most appeared to be chasing the fleeing lobsters back to the shoreline. He ran for a nearby alleyway and from there he would determine the quickest way out of town.