Arx Equestris

Chapter 1

'Rerum primordia'

All I could do was put hooves against my ears as that loathed, booming sound yet again rolled over the city, continuing its quest to every day irritate and wake up the inhabitants, signalling them about the approaching work time. Over the years I learned that the best reaction to it is to put a pillow over your head and press it down hard, waiting for that annoying, headache-inducing sound to go away. I detested it since I was a colt, and the way it seemed to drill into my skull throughout all those years served only to fuel my hate for it, and what inevitably followed.

When the annoyance finally died down, leaving only ringing in my ears, I let out a sigh – no point fighting the unavoidable. I rolled out of the bed and with a thump landed on the cold floor, which finally woke me up enough to get me on my hooves and started on a morning routine. With a yawn I made my way to the window and pushed it open, rearing up on my hind legs as I put my front hooves on the window sill and looked outside.

Yep, everything is just like it was yesterday. I looked around taking in the familiar surrounding. Sure enough, the buildings with their plain façade of smooth stone and rough edges still stood by the wide road lit by magical lamps that casted a soft light around them and on the few ponies who already were up and about. How anypony could get up even before that hateful racket called ringing spilled over the city was beyond me. I shook my head and looked over the roof of a building vis-a-vis of my room, my gaze directed towards the barely peeking over it palace tower and resting on the large clock on its front. Despite my desire of a malfunction, the clock's hands were in the same position they were in every morning. My hopes of going back to bed shattered, I gave the bell nested cosily in its spot above the clock a dark glare before turning to prepare myself for work. One day, you noisy harbinger of weariness, one day.

After taking care of the hygiene I gave the mirror a quick glance. The stallion behind glass barrier, being a perfect copy of myself, stared back at me with his azure eyes, giving me a sleepy look from behind his short dark crimson mane. I gave my wings a few flaps, stretching them out after the night and my double followed suit, his wings folding back against his pale orange body afterwards. After that short staring contest I left my doppleganger and made my way back to main room, walking up to the table to grab an apple from it, sitting down on my haunches to enjoy my breakfast snack before heading out to work.

Chewing on the treat I lazily looked around the familiar room, taking in the same sight that greeted me every day – a rather small room with few pieces of furniture made from metal or carved from stone, the only wooden objects being the front door and few smaller elements like beams supporting the mattress in my bed, which still called to me with its sweet promises of sleep and dreams. Nothing unusual for a commoner's housing – wood was an expensive materials and only the rich could afford to fully decorate their houses with the exquisite wooden furniture. I've been saving money for some time now, maybe soon I'll be able to least lighten up the décor a bit with a wooden table or something... Anything to break the monotony of the smooth stone and cold metal.

Shaking those thoughts away and finishing my breakfast I stood up and headed for the door. After a short walk down the stairs I nudged the front door open and stepped out onto the street, now filled with ponies that were going about their business, heading for their work, to do some shopping or just idly chatting; a technician was exchanging enchanted gem in one of the nearby lanterns. Finally, the thing's been out for couple of days now, and walking an unlit, empty street at a late hour wasn't really a pleasant thing, especially with the latest break-ins taking place. Cheered up lightly with the fact that the lantern will soon be back to its magically glowing glory I made my way down the street towards my workplace,  wondering how much nap time I'll be able to get today without getting in much trouble with Mr Daven. Being assistant in his shop, my duties were mostly taking care of clients, had it happened there were more than one at a time, and fetching goods from higher shelves, seeing as, being a pegasus, I could reach them much easier than my earth pony employer. It was a common practice – with the limited space, buying land wasn't cheap. Building up was much more favourable in the long run. If your plot of land had enough room for it, of course. And it gave pegasi like myself something to do, since we were able to reach places other ponies couldn't. True, unicorns could do that too with their fancy magic, but luckily for us they were seen as a much more valuable work force, so they often demanded higher pay. In the end, it's just about how many bits you are willing to spend.

I made my way through the streets and finally arrived at the familiar building with a sing saying 'Daven's General Store' carved above the front door. I entered the brightly lit shop just to  come face to face with an elder earth pony, his brown eyes looking at me with the same warmth they always had since I met him on the day I helped him to transport some boxes – it'd seem that karma exists and good deeds pay off, because few days later I got a job offer from him. Smiling at the memory of his kindness I opened my mouth to greet my employer.

“Hello Mr Daven, how are you today? And I hope I'm not late... Again?” I gave the clock standing in the back of the room a nervous glance, wondering just why would he greet me in the doorway instead waiting inside the shop as usual. I don't like when something's out of order - it usually means trouble.

He chuckled lightly, moving aside to let me inside the store. “Ah, hello Wing Flair, I was just about to look around to see if you're coming. And don't worry, I just have a favour to ask from you, and it's kind of urgent.” He spoke with the same calm tone as always. I don't even know why I was so nervous about screwing something up around him, I've never even seen him angry before. Now that I think about it, I don't even know if he is capable of being angry.

Okay, so I'm not in trouble. Relieved about that fact I smiled brightly back at him “Of course Mr Daven, you know I never turn down a bit more work to help the store. What do you need of me? Express delivery? Staying overtime?” I extended my wings to prove the point that I'm ready, willing and able to do what needs to be done.

The small display of heroism made him chuckle again as he shook his head lightly. “Oh, I know you are, but this is actually a much simpler task. You see, there are some problems with the latest shipment, I'm not sure what it's all about yet. I'm going to go to the trading post to find out what's going on. On top of that, Kahib finally agreed to to work with me, so I have to go visit him to work out the details.”

I cringed a little hearing the name. “The cranky old zebra? He gives me the creeps.”

“He may be a bit weird, but he's a talented alchemist. With his potions, I'm sure we could make some extra sales, especially since it'll be a cheaper and more reliable source than buying them from other alchemists in town or caravans. I don't want to lose this opportunity.” The elder dark green pony explained giving me his this-is-a-serious-matter look. “But back to the point – you know how the trading post works, it'll be ages before I find out anything, and am sure Kahib will also be hard to negotiate with, so I may be out for a long time, maybe even most of the day. I don't want to lose an entire day worth of business, so I'd like to ask you to take the store on your shoulders today. Do you think you can manage on your own?”

I sighed quietly to myself – so much for naps, can't sleep when am the only one in the store. I didn't let my disappointment show and brought back my smile, nodding at my employer. “Of course, please don't worry. I worked here for a long time and I think I learned enough from you to run it for a day. I promise the building will still be standing here by tomorrow”

“I trust you Flair. I hope the day won't be too strenuous for you, I remember how it was before I got you for an assistant... Well, hopefully I'll see you soon.” With that Daven left the shop, stopping for a moment to place the wedge to keep the door open as the store was now officially open for business.

I made my way behind the counter and sighed to myself, dropping onto my haunches as my head fell on top of the table, my eyes fixed on the entrance as I awaited first clients. It was going to be a long day.

***

After about five hours I had to admit – today was turning out to be much less work than I thought it'd be. The day was rather slow, with few customers coming by for some minor shopping. Out of that I just passed my time by making sure none of the products escaped their designated area and tried mingling with the native inhabitants of other shelves or lazily stared at the street outside, trying to see how many blue or red ponies I can count before my mind gets dangerously close to convincing me that the stone counter is actually a fluffy pillow.

I was brought back to reality as two figures entered the store - a unicorn stallion, draped in a leather cloak, followed suit by an earth pony mare who was wearing what looked like a light armor with metal plates covering her flanks, a sheath with sword hanged on her side; both were wearing saddlebags. The mare gave me a kind smile as the stallion approached the counter.

Travellers or caravanners passing time before moving out, I guess. I righted my position and addressed the orange pony before me. “Welcome to Daven's General Store. I hope you're having a fine day, what can I do for you?” I recited the greeting Daven ordered me to always welcome customers with.

The unicorn looker around the shelves briefly before focusing his attention on me. “Yes, yes, good day. We are in need of some supplies for our travel” he responded with what sounded to be a bored, mildly irritated voice. “We've already wasted a lot of time going through shops in this city, I hope this one will finally be decently supplied and not just another waste of time?”

I stared at him for a brief moment, not sure how to respond before regaining my composure “W-well I'm sure we have everything you need fo-”

“We'll see” the stallion cut in as his horn glowed with pale red light and he pulled a list out of his saddlebags, coughing before he started reading it to me.

The list wasn't very long, but consisted mostly of rather unusual items, ones that most stores indeed probably don't have in stock. I placed the last item on the counter – a pair of blacksmithing goggles – and looked back up at the stallion. “Alright, anything else I can help you with?” I asked with a polite smile as he looked over his list before putting it back in his bags.

“Yes, do you sell Light Seeds?” the unicorn asked in a little more friendly tone, apparently pleased with how smoothly his shopping went.

I nodded and grabbed a pouch from under the counter, spreading my wings and taking into the air to get to one of the higher shelves where a small pile of multi colored gems lied, all of them glowing dimly as a hint of a flame flickered within them, trapped by the enchantment. “How many do you need?” I called down at the pony that stood by the counter, preparing the pouch.

“All that you have” he shouted back to me, again causing me to look down at him with a blank stare.

Alright... Definitely long-distance travellers, nopony needs that many Seeds unless they plan very long journey through unlit tunnels. Trying to push my curiosity away I filled the pouch with the glowing gems and fluttered back down, placing it in front of the unicorn.

“Is that all?” He nodded in response and I quickly counted the combined cost of all the items he requested. “Alright, your total comes to... 450 bits?” I looked at him in amazement once more, only now realizing how expensive his little shopping spree was – it was definitely biggest sale I made working in the store.

I was even more amazed as he simply nodded and pulled out a pouch from his saddlebags, levitating out coins of pure gold with little rubies in their centre – highest officially accepted form of currency, worth 50 bits each. I gave them a close look, but sure enough – they were real. I nodded to him, swooping them up and put them in a small safe under the counter, when I looked up again the unicorn and his companion were finishing putting the items in their bags. I watched them for a moment before my curiosity finally took the best of me.

“Excuse me Sir, if you don't mind me asking... That's a lot of Seeds... Not to mention your other supplies. Are you planning a journey to the Core or something?” I chuckles at the obvious joke – nopony has been so deep underground in over a century, and only tales of extreme dangers guarding equally big riches survived to these days as stories for little foals.

The stranger didn't seem to sense the joke and came back to his irritated tone. “You should learn to not stick your nose in other ponies' business. But to satisfy your curiosity, no – we're going in the opposite direction.” He threw my way as he placed the pouch of Light Seeds inside his saddlebags and closed them.

I blinked a few times, taking in what I just heard “Opposite direction? You mean... The surface?” My voice was now clearly showing my growing curiosity and excitement. The surface wasn't much better than the Core, but I heard some bold scavengers sometimes exit the tunnels to grab whatever they can before they freeze to death. Personally meeting and talking with one of them was something I never thought I'd have chance to do. A wild idea popped inside my head as I tried to grab onto a possibly once-a-lifetime opportunity. “Do you... Have a full group?” I asked, trying to keep my hope and excitement at bay.

The unicorn gave me a cold glare and was about to say something when the mare nudged him with her hoof, producing a low grunt from him as he turned to face her, his eyes showing mild confusion “What is it, Crystal” he growled looking at his light blue companion, the mare still had that kind smile on her lips.

“Well, you DID say we could use a pegasus-” She started but was quickly silenced as the unicorn stomped his hoof on the ground.

“I was talking about hiring a mercenary that'd be of some use, should we meet bandits or other problems on our way to the exit and back” Annoyance was showing in his voice as he raised his head and fixed the mare with a stare, apparently reminding her that he's the one making decisions.

However his companion didn't back down, she simply tilted her head a bit, continuing to smile at him. “Well, if you're sooo insistent on spending everything we've got left from our previous escapades when there's a perfectly fine volunteer willing to join us for free, then I guess-” she was once more silenced as the orange stallion groaned and shook his head before glancing at me briefly, then back at his friend, visibly considering the options.

She did have a point, after all. Finding somepony to join them on their journey to the surface wouldn't be easy, and even then it'd probably cost a lot of money. Me? I was just too excited about the possibility of leaving the town and coming back with riches that'd finally let me move out of that stone cage called apartment and lead a life I always envied the upper class folks. I spent my entire life in Springcastle, living a boring life like almost everypony else. Asking for a payment for this opportunity would be like telling the baker to pay you for making you a cake.

“Come on Tang, in worst case he'll run back screaming as soon as we leave the gates, in best -  we'll save a lot of bits and maybe even get a trustworthy companion for future.” The mare called Crystal continued, prodding her companion with a hoof.

The unicorn finally let out a low sigh as he shook his head. “Fine, you have a point. He may come, but he better not chicken out on the first day. Or try to stab us in our sleep.” He casted one more stern glance my way before stomping out of the store, leaving me with his chuckling friend. She looked at me and walked over, moving her black mane from her citrine eyes.

“Welcome on board rookie! I'm Crystal and that cranky guy is Tangerine. He's actually quite cool if you get to know him.” She greeted me in a cheerful voice, sitting across me on the other side of the counter. “I hope you won't get me in trouble for convincing him, but just to make sure, I'll give you a quick run-down of what exactly we're doing and help you prepare for tomorrow. Got some free time?”

I rubbed the back of my head with a hoof, trying to return her cheerful smile. “Well, actually I've got to stay here until-” Suddenly smiling became much easier as I glanced over her shoulder and noticed Mr Daven trotting down the street, heading to the shop. “Y-yeah, I think I can get some time off right away.”

Sure enough, the elder pony had no objections against me leaving earlier, seeing as I kept the store running all day by myself, and between dealing with formalities of trading post and negotiations with spooky zebras, he himself decided to call it a day already. As I was saying my goodbye before joining Crystal, who was waiting outside, he gave me a small smile and winked at me before whispering “Good luck”.

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And here's the first chapter. Again, apologies for any and all grammatical errors and whatnot. I hope you've enjoyed reading, and thank you for your time.

'Rerum primordia - 'The origin of things' (lat.) Next Chapter: Chapter 2 Estimated time remaining: 28 Minutes