- 3107
- #1
Nebit was on her way to Evervile. On her travels she had heard of some books stores big and small that might help her. She was always interested in things that most wanted to avoid. Of course she excelled in anything with plants being a unicorn but her passion was the things that most didn't understand.
Aacutenieuml of Dorthonion yawned blinking in the daylight. He had gotten used to traveling at night so it was odd to him to be awake at this time but he had come to visit his mother recently and was still staying with her for a short time. Teal Tale had recently moved out and his mother had been busy cleaning and setting up the spare room again. While she was busy this morning Teal had already opened up the bookstore. Deciding to hide from the cleaning mess happening at home Aacutenieuml had deiced to come to the bookstore and start some tea in the back room so when his mother did come over she would have the chance to have a nice break. Nudging the door open he entered. Teal just nodded and didn’t even bother wasting greeting on him. The tiny unicorn amused him. He thought she was kind but stupidly focused on odd things. Glancing around he realized the shop had changed a bit since he was last here. There was some sort of game display. Moving forward he picked up a book to look it over.
Nebit always enjoyed traveling in twilight. Something about it was magical to her but she knew most places weren't open that early. So she had delayed her travel some but not by much. She hoped to get in before the city had its morning rush. While she liked other ponies. She didn't like getting caught up in the hustle and bustle. She walked down the quite morning streets nodding her head in greeting as she passed all the while keeping her eyes peeled for any book shop.
Moving away from the stand in the book store he went to the back room to start tea. He wondered why his mother named the place Words and Wisdom. Someday he was going to have to ask her the story. Perhaps when she was done tearing up the spare room and setting it to rights. With the tea started he moved back out the front counter. “Teal Tale you can take five. I can watch the store for a bit.” He watched as she snagged a book out from under the counter. He saw it was dating advice for morons. Noticing the unicorn staring at him he decided to focus on the front door. With his silence she decided to leave. Thank goodness. He was well aware she would kick him if he had said something snarky.
The street lamps began to wink out as the morning sun seemed to gently caress each one. While Nebit knew that this was a since and magic invention and how it worked. It had never ceased to amaze her. As she was watching the morning light a soft bell chimed catching her attention. As she pulled her gaze to the sound she spotted a fellow unicorn leaving a shop with a book in tow. She nodded her head in greeting before gazing at the sign above the shop. The sign read 'Words and Wisdom '. "That seems to be a good starting point," she mused to herself as she made her way to the front door. As she gently opened the door the bell chimed softly again as she slowly poked her head in followed by the rest of her. "Hello?" She called out as she wandered further in.
“Greeting welcome to words and wisdom. Please let me know if you need anything.” He barely cracked an eye at the unicorn before gazing back toward the books wondering if he might snag one to read. There were few who would ask for help in a book shop unless they had already gotten lost amongst the shelves for a while. He wasn’t sure why that was but it had always been his experience. Perhaps his coloration just put others off from asking for help? Ghouilies were more accepted now but that didn’t mean they were used to seeing a dragon/ghoulie hybrid. Either way it didn’t really matter. He would help if they needed help as he didn’t want his mother’s shop to get a bad reputation. But he wasn’t going to get up if he didn’t have too.
Once the door had shut behind Nebit and the little bell that let workers know someone had either come or gone had stopped ringing she had heard a voice. She glance to the front counter to find a male ghoul/dragon greeting her while reading a book. Nebit found that she loved his shades of blue and that it made great contrast with his mostly black body. Of course she would keep that to herself because even though they were in neutral territory she didn't know what his past experience was with other unicorns and only knew of the long past history. Nope she wasn't going to say anything that upset him or so he hoped. She had no problems with ghouls but not all of her kind felt as she. She flashed him a wonderful smile before replying "Thank you. Um... actually you might be able to. I was wondering if your shop had any books on shadow magic?"
Surprise shown on Aacutenieuml’s face. It wasn’t often that a unicorn came in look at books on shadow magic unless perhaps they were making a history report or something at a college or benefit? That would make sense. “We have a few of them in the back. By the couches on the left side is a magic and lore section. “ actually bothering to Get up and show her would be easier. Moving out from behind the counter he headed to the back his tail waving back and forth as he walked. It was a quick walk but he did turn his head back to look at her once. Arriving at the edge of the technology shelf he raised up a paw and placed it on the shelve. “This on just a bit further to the end where those couches are at.” With that he moved forward back to the front desk still wondering why she was looking at shadow magic.
Nebit gave him another brilliant yet reassuring smile. She has seen the surprise and felt the curiosity coming off him in waves. She didn't want to seem like any sort of threat. She followed behind him at a respectable distances though that gave her a view of watching his tail swing. The end looked so soft she wanted to touch it but knew she shouldn't so she bit her lip and told herself in her head to behave. As they arrived to the shelf he was talking about she had stepped up to his side still giving him a couple feet of room as a sign that said 'see I'm no threat'. She nodded her head in understanding before turning to him and saying "Thank you sir," as he began his way back to the front she made her way closer to the couches while looking at the shelf.
Sitting up at the front desk he tapped his claws on the counter. She was researching shadow magic. It was something only available to ghoulies. It was one of the things that was used to counter the unicorns and also to hide during the ghoulie burning of the past. He had learned as much in history class. Having grown up in everville he was raised with acceptance as the war had passed a long time ago but there were still a few unicorns and ghoulies who kept such traditions alive. A part of Annie had wondered if his father had been one such ghoulie when he had been younger as Annie heard from his mother that his father called himself a demon and had never intended to stay with his mother. He never understood why she didn’t hate him for leaving instead just accepted it. He supposed this late in life it hardly mattered. Annie had taught himself how to use his magic and was decent at it. He glanced around wondering when his mother or Teal were coming back. Edging to the edge of the counter he was tempted to head back and ask the unicorn was in need of help and why she was interested in this topic. His mind help pushing to a logical conclusion of she must be doing a speech project for a university or something like that. But another part of his brain was wondering.
As the nice male ghoul wandered away from her Nebit took a couple steps closer to the shelves. She really had no idea what she was looking for or where to start but obviously books were step one. She just wanted to help everyone in some way and she knew it was common for others to fear what the didn't understand hence Unicorns not liking Ghouls to some degree. But she knew they weren't all bad. Heck most probably weren't. But every culture had it's bad apples that reflected badly on the group as a whole. Ghouls, or at least most, wouldn't stand for themselves and would rather hide away so she figured she would try. The wars had passed years ago. It was time for someone to try and bridge the gap.
What in the world could she be researching Shadow Magic for. He had peeked back before and was now sitting back and finding staring at the wooden sales desk. The bell rang our and he looked up at an earth pony. Nodding he didn’t even bother with a greeting. He knew this pony. They were an accountant at the local bank. The earth pony wandered around the front few isles. The distraction was good so he wasn’t tempted to go back and bother the other pony with senseless questions. The simple fact was the unicorn was a customer and he shouldn’t poke them with questions unless the needed help. His claws tapped the wooden counter while he scolded himself quietly for being so foolish. This was his mother’s shop and he should not bother her customers.
Nebit bit her lip. She really wasn't sure what to look for or how to go about her search. She nervously looked up as another pony entered the shop and it happened to be an earth pony. That pony seemed to need not any assistance and went on their way. So the other male seemed to be free. She took a deep breath she wondered back to the counter and was still chewing on her lip in nervousness.
The earth pony was still checking the shelves when the small unicorn came back up. Aacutenieuml looked over to them. They were just standing there looking like they didn’t want to talk to him but also needed to ask a question? His tail curled at the very end wondering why she seemed so scared of him. Really now ghoulies were not all that uncommon here still were they? Perhaps it was his hybrid nature, or perhaps they were just a nervous pony. “Something you need help with?” He kept his tone as bored as possible after all it was going to be something simple like where the bathroom was he was sure.
“Hi…um…yes kind of,” Nebit mumbled or more accurately stuttered out. She really needed to get a grip. It wasn’t like he was going to bite her. Worst he could do is tell her no and to leave right? Right! She thought as she tried to find the words she needed to form what she wanted to say. “So uh while it was helpful taking me back to that section with information on Ghouls. Which by the way thank you for that. I still am unsure where to start within those books. What will tell me about the length of what one can manipulate a shadow? Can the shadows be made to be a more tangible object? Can you travel using them?” She paused for a moment realizing she had started to ramble on about the things that made her curious. She blushed brightly feeling a bit silly. “Or would it be better to do interviews and observer a ghoul as they worked their magic.” She glanced back up at him a blush still clear on her cheeks but she had her bright smile back.
His brow above his left set of eyes rose as though asking Are you really asking me this? But he didn’t say it allowed. “What a thing you want to know.” it sounded somewhat sarcastic though he hadn’t meant to. Clearing his throat he tried again. “Shaddows it depends on how much magic you have or how much you use them like other kinds of magic. So length may vary.” He drummed on the counter his nails making little clacking noises. He eyes the stones on the end of the counter and a dark tendril of magic reached out and snaked up a stone and brought it up to a counter showing shadow magic could be tangible as it could touch things. Honestly these things could be found in the old documentaries on ghoulies. Still if she didn’t know which books he supposed it was fine to help explain things to her. “Ah one moment.” he noticed the earth pony come forward with a book to purchase on designs in the home. Ringing her up he looked back to the unicorn. “What was the last one? Shadow moment… that’s complicated. it's yes and no.”
Nebit stepped to the side so that the earth pony could make a purchase and not feel like she was going to do something to them. Space and privacy was key to these things. She didn't want to disrupt the other patrons. But her eyes sparkled a bit as she watched. She hadn't been able to actually observe a ghoul using their magic. It was most intriguing. Once the earth pony left she stepped back up to the counter. "The last question is shadow travel. Like could one use the shadows to travel or maybe only object to travel." She held his gaze as she answered his first question that had sounded sarcastic. "The reason I want to know is to try and help the societies. Think about it people fear what they do not understand. Most do not understand a ghouls magic so they then fear it. Of course it seems that as more generations come that fear lessens but there is still uneasiness . All the other breeds of ponies that have magic have some how made their magic to benefit the breeds that don't have use of that magic. As far as I know shadow magic hasn't been added in. I am hoping that if I learn more I can somehow help bridge that gap between ghouls and the rest. If I could make that magic beneficial for all in some way after time it should less all of this fear and distrust even in the older generations and then we would all hopefully be a peaceful blend of communities."
Shadow travel? “both. It’s hiding in shadows. If you carry things and are strong enough you can keep them but if your magic is weak you might drop things when you go it. If the shadow is long you can travel down it but would have to get out where it ends. You could ride in another’s shadow but that’s a trust and courtesy thing.” He didn’t really want to get to far into it as honestly he had learned about ghoulie culture over time more in his travels then from being born a hybrid given he was raised by his mother and his father was never in the image. “The older ones will likely die out before they admit to being comfortable with shadow magic.” He gave a warry smile. “Also with the number of ghoulies out in society now there has been and increase in acceptance whether they want it or not.” He knew a few ghoulies who were still skittish here and there. “Also to be fair. It really depends on who you ask and what their upbringing was like.” His tail lifted and waved at her. “Perhaps I was raised by dragons or ghoulies or perhaps neither all together. Who raised you will have an effect as well. Since really unicorns are the ones with the grudge and a lot of others don’t care. Look at Kitsune for example they are cautious given what happened to ghoulies but not prejudice against them. That might affect your study as well.” His lower set of eyes narrowed trying to study her face to see how she would take this line of thought since he was sure she hadn’t considered it before.
"So shadow travels depends on ones strength in magic and the availability of the shadows around them as well as the weight of whatever is being moved," she murmured allowed more to herself then anything. It would make sense that these three variables had a huge impact on ones ability. She went quite as he continued to talk. He had valid points and she had thought of that but since this was the start of it all she was just doing a generall and then would get further into different sub directions and told him so. " I had thought of that but since this is the beginning of say my idea or project which ever you would prefer to call it. I felt that I would get pulled into to many directions all at once. I thought it better to get a better general overall knowledge before breaking it down into sub directions almost. I would of course note any and all similarities and differences to compile and review." She paused and bit her lower lip has a set of his eyes narrowed onto her. Maybe she was being stupid with this idea. Maybe she should just let it be. "Though maybe I should just forget my silly idea and let others be. They are slowly getting better and mending things so maybe I should butt out and let things run there course, " she shrugged and kind of became smaller upon herself. "It would probably be for the better huh?"
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"When it hurts to look back, and your scared to look ahead,