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         Weakness Lies in the Eyes of the Beholder         
                     -by Mcmuffinator-                     
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   Can't scratch this feeling, no matter how hard I try.   
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Can't scratch this feeling, no matter how hard I try.
"So this was your little home away from home." Aexis sits upon the dirty floor, his back leaned up against a cob webbed stone wall. "Guess no matter where you go, wizards are all the same. You'd think they wouldn't be surprised no one came down to check on them."
Aexis rolls his neck back and forth, the small cracks helping to relieve some tension from his most recent escapade. Rubbing his hands together, covered in black soot but thankfully no longer numb, he simply refuses to heed the lessons of the day torn and shredded across the clothing of his body. Even charred into the stone floor directly in front of him, he could still smell the costs of survival.
"Would have been a lot easier if we trusted each other." Aexis brings up a hand to eye the area being stabbed with invisible needles, bringing focus rather than a distraction. "But I'm not giving you the reigns anytime soon, If ever."
Looking out and as far down as the dimly lit torches would allow, he luckily finds little need of their help to begin with. As long as several hundred feet across, and even more down the far stretch to the only door to be seen, the massive chamber feels more like a castle. Decorated the same it was cluttered, bookcases pale to the amounts stacked upon the floor save for a center path. But most of all, it is the dust and webs that blanket everything that speaks the most clear.
"If it means anything, I'm sorry." Aexis speaks his mind aloud, even if he didn't need to. Pushing himself up against the wall back atop his two feet, he walks over towards one of the closest study tables. Reaching down to slide his hand underneath the opened book, he brings it up to a hard blow of breath to read what was never quite finished. "But it does makes things easier on me."
Reaching down towards the small ink pot with his other hand, he spits inside in the hopes of loosing what had long since dried. Covering the open top of the bottle before shaking vigorously, he continues to read the final half written page in his other with not another care. Bringing the bottle up to his nose to take a whiff, his light smile confirms a concoction still fit to the test of time.
Looking around the clutter for something better to sit upon, he finds nothing but more books and a tattered floor pillow. Kicking the pillow away from the front of the desk, he sets the book and ink bottle down. Needing not to go far for the supplies he needs, he soon builds a nice pile of sturdy hard cover books to which his ass shall find comfort. Sitting down, he is only reminded of how little.
"Knowing wizards, and myself, once I leave here this place will be open for any to come and visit. Now I know we didn't meet on the most amiable of terms, but that doesn't mean I'm not holding up my end of the bargain." Aexis slides the book towards him as he reaches to a matted quiver to pluck into the ink bottle. "Can't leave this unfinished, hero."
Forming a devilish grin, he wiggles his head back and forth with thoughts of how he would bring such a close. But each time the ink threatens to drip upon the page in binding stain, he whisks it away before it can. His grin turned upside down, he makes several more attempts with less success time. Growing frustrated, with his free hand brought up to pinch the bridge of his nose, does it's influence grow.
Closing his eyes, Aexis cusses under his breath, just before the quill makes it's first stain in perfect continued flow.
"Why the hell should I feel guilty? It's not like writing down the truth is going to help anyone who reads this. Hell, it's just going to make it worse. He made a mistake. I gave him a way to fix it. We both got fucked over. Happy ever after, right?" Aexis continues to write, even if the pressure threatens to tear the page fabric right through. "I don't want anyone to even know I'm here."
Letting the page dry, he awaits what has been left up to him to finish, even if he feels less empowered and more subjugated.
"I should just lie. Write that he did it all on his own. Fixed his own screw up, and managed to get home to write this before he passed away. It's not like anyone is going to be able to know the difference, and he's still the hero." Aexis grimaces. "He's dead. Nothing is going to bring him back." Dropping the quill to take hold of the page as if to rip it out. "I ain't got time to run around being his ghost."
How can thee be trusted when thou says to trust none?
Frozen in his moment of choice, he is no stranger to the consequence of his earlier ones.
Thou asks us to risk unleashing a blight, unhindered in warning or foreknowledge. Am I but a fool to ignore a lesson learned?
Loosening his grasp on the page, he begins to relax his posture as his misgivings leave him.
Thou asks for a morsel, as to not be weighted down and anchored. We know what ye are.
And ever so slowly, Aexis reaches and takes hold of the quill once more.
Yet we do not know who thee is, to just allow taking our place among those harmed already by our ignorance.
To begin to write, with far less pressure, and a return to the flow of words almost a thousand years old.
Did ye not realize, young one, there is no where left for us to go? To ask of any, thou must be given all.
"Crafty bearded son of a bitch."
We shall become the anchor until thou has proven thyself worthy of a home not thy own.
"Hope he knows there is more than one way to cut the cord, if this goes too far." Aexis puts no anger into his words, even if they would normally be mutually exclusive. "But a deal is a deal, and as long as you hold up your end, I'll do the same."
There is, of course, one last condition.
Bringing his hand up to slap his own face, Aexis remembers the last condition that he hoped he would have been allowed to skip. Having finished with needing only two more pages, he begins to blow on the final in order to hasten the ink dry. Reaching over towards one of the thinner books nearby, he begins to swipe the air to the point that the nearby torches waver to the breeze.
"Good enough." Aexis slams the book closed. Standing back up and taking the book in hand, he wastes no more time before turning and walking briskly down the long chamber towards the far away lone door. Coming up to the polished trim, even under all the dust and grime, he simply stares towards the foot pedal for a door handle with a hint of contempt. "Not thy home, no shit."
Taking the large foot pedal in hand, he applies only enough pressure to gradually move it down and inwards. Unsure what may await on the other side, and fully aware of just how true his words just uttered, he creeps it open just a crack. Prepared but still surprised, the first assault comes to his nose in the scent of misty lavender, almost taking his breath away with a sharp inhale. Squeezing his eyes shut for a moment to get a hold of himself, he props his head up along the inside door trim to try and get at least one eye full of what lays beyond.
"Creepy, but better than old man ass smell." Aexis whispers in a mumble, observant to all before him that defies all behind him. Pushing the door open a little more, he takes in just how neat and tidy, with very little furniture save the even larger pillows on the floor. A few dressers, one with quite the large mirror, reflects the dim flicker of the sole candle upon it's white table base. "Shit."
"Mmhmm." A feminine murmur soothes through the air as a cracked door almost shuts. "Mmm."
Put on alert, but otherwise brazen as ever, Aexis tests his luck by pushing the door open far enough to put one foot out. Creeping forward with one foot still anchored behind just in case, he leans far enough to get one eye past the ornate door edge. Instantly curious, he moves forward even farther to get both eyes upon the sound of a sleeping figure in the far corner bed. Concealed under dense cover, the snips of mums and murmurs through the air only teases him to expose himself farther.
Looking around many times over with each step taken, his journey by a few dozen feet takes almost as long in minutes. Testing to to see if he triggers a response, he nearly topples over when his foot snags the corner of fluffy pillow slung up against the nearby wall. Cussing on the inside as his toes crack out a snort in response from the bed, he remains frozen even as his big toe begins to howl and thump.
Covering his mouth with his free hand, he takes a few more minutes before moving forward once again. Having tested for certain his presence, he moves quicker until he comes up alongside the small space between the bed and wall. Brought back to his earlier state, he stays as close to the wall as he can without touching until he comes to stand just off from the headboard and corner wall.
"So this is how you coped." Aexis looks down towards Princess Celestia, whom he instantly recognizes even if it is the first time seeing her with his own eyes. Watching the covers rise and fall, he dares only whisper. "Something rather silly, for someone as old as you."
Suddenly amused to the situated of having such a short journey to keep his word, he does his best to keep the thoughts of another from swaying him too far off. Even if those thoughts just to the foot of the bed, staring right at him.
"I can't give him back to you." Aexis continues to whisper. "He knows why."
Bringing the book forward to be held by both hands, in offering.
"But at least now you may know why, too." Aexis moves with a grace not often afforded from the likes of him to anyone. Swift, blunt, all the things he knew was worth more than wasting time being nice and gentle. "He had hoped it would still have worked. That we would come back to before everything had started to go wrong, and maybe through me he could do what he failed to do the day he left."
Laying the book just in front of her warm breath, to which she thankfully did not stir, he moves to the foot of the bed. Moving faster but still not loud enough to bring any noise, his passage near the mirror brings him pause. With a reflection as expected for any other who may see, it is only through his eyes that he peers down into the reflection of another filled with guilt and shame as they stare upon the mirror base.
"It's her birthday, I guess." Aexis whispers, catching the metallic plate with several dials out the corner of his eye. "The real one."
Looking back over his shoulder towards the bed that has remained silent through his painfully denied tumble and even his light rambles, his features slightly sour. His way, to him, was still the best way to be no matter who thought different.
"You're just like this idiot beside me. Too caught up in how good things were working out for how you ran things to notice the girl who was stumbling to keep up." Switching his target to just before the mirror. "After what you pulled, you don't get a say in that."
Taking to shaking his head, Aexis just flashes the back of one hand towards the floor in front of the mirror almost violently. Caught up too fast in things needlessly complicated, he simply looks towards the large door with another large foot pedal.
"Alright then. I'm out of here."
Aexis stills his breath as the air around him lights up like fireflies in the meadow. Encircling his body before slamming into him, they continue to do so until every inch of his body is submerged in a dull yellow glow. Saying nor making another sound, his form shrinks as if liquefied until only about as large what his foot used to be. Flashing a few times as explicit form begins to take shape, it all comes to an anticlimactic end with two long furry red ears fling upwards along with an even longer red tail curled at the end.
Shaking off any remnant flakes of crust, Aexis scratches his ear with his rear paw like any common squirrel much to his internal embarrassment. Running in a small circle a few times, he suddenly darts towards the door and jumps to land hard on the flat pedal with a loud snap. Almost knocking himself out as the door swings in, not out, he recovers just in time when someone opens it from the other side to dart out and down the hall. With all the speed his hops can muster, he pays no heed to the chase lumbering giants have no hope of winning.
Meanwhile, not far away, a princess sits alone on her birthday
"How I wish this day would end as uneventful as it began." Princess Luna, sitting upon a most comfy plush throne, mumbles to herself. Her lunar guards, as diligent and watchful as ever, react none whatsoever. "Perhaps no one would notice if the moon moved a little faster?"
Staring high into the night sky, Princess Luna tries to tear away just a little of what she had worked so hard to create. Like a story, she takes the puzzles of her life and shifts them like a shooting star, setting in place what only she would understand. With some so old, from a time she had just started to undertake her role, does the least amount of skill speak the loudest from her once unabashed heart.
It was her scrapbook, made of constellations that took almost all of her time.
"Must I continue to torture myself, even after Tantabus?" Her eyes slowly closing before peeking back open to a low but ever growing screech of a animal falling just behind her from the high castle inner wall. "Philomena, who let you out-"
But her words, like her turnabout, are neither quick enough to realize or catch the falling squirrel before it slams into the hard soil, impacting hard enough to disperse debris out in a small crater. Stunned, she rushes over to find only the very tip of fur poked out with no sign of movement, even if she knew not to expect it. Granting the spark to the gathered kindling, she rears both front hooves into the air.
"Tas de conneries!"
Luna slams her hooves back down, cracking the earth and popping the not so dead squirrel back out from under it's temporary burial. Squirming and rolling around in a frenzy, it causes the fire it had started to quench long enough to almost get a muzzle full as two large eyes and one horn give it all of their attention. Frozen under Luna's gaze, it's only reaction comes in the lightning fast leap atop her head.
"Wha- ahhh!!" Luna lightly shakes her head, only to be driven more frantic as small paws begin to travel from her head onto her back. Beginning to buck in place out of instinct, fleeting bouts of unnerve are quickly replaced by fire once more. "Hey! Don't touch that!"
Trying her best to reach with her teeth to ward the squirrel's constantly padding paws from her cutie mark, she begins to blow on it's face even as it anchors down, claws and all. With her lower jaw now quivering from the unmistakable discomfort, she snaps her teeth extra hard.
"Stop that this instant, you vehement creature!" Luna's anger shimmers into a forced plea. "You're injured, and I do not wish to injure you further, but if you do not dis embed those claws from my posterior I'll..." Only to notice one in return. "Why are you looking at me that way?"
Holy shit it's you! The squirrel drags his claws and paws away from the cutie mark as Luna's eye twitches to the sensation. You're supposed to be dead! Or something like that. But there it is! The squirrel slaps the cutie mark suddenly, only to be bucked into the air before plopping back down on top of Luna's head. But if this isn't the past, then how the hell are you no longer made of bitch?
"That is no better the alternative, small injured creature who ignores all proper decorum!" Luna rolls her eyes straight up in her accusation without merit, for the squirrel seems hell bent on squawking at nothing just off to her side. "Please don't have rabies."
Hey you stupid old bastard, I call it how I see it and she went full blown bitch before her sister took her down. Aexis the squirrel continues to make a ruckus at the thin air, able to still a confused and worried Luna in the process. Well whatever happened the girl seems to be doing pretty good now, if you don't pay attention to how down in the dumps she is on her birthday.
"There is nothing there, you wild rodent." Luna narrows her eyes towards the empty space that holds the squirrel's attention, so much so it just whirls about to go back to making the most angry squeaks and squawks ever heard from it's kind. "Now I can only guess that you would be something of a squirrel, if it weren't for your rabbit like ears and beady little eyes. But I know somepony who would for certain."
So what do you want me to do now? Give her a hug and wish her happy birthday?  Aexis begins to shake under the unease of lifting high into the air, given just enough time to hunker down and hug the ever living hell out of Luna's horn before soaring off. This don't count!
Still holding on for dear life, Aexis looses track of time and feeling across his furry little face as wind shear threatens to relieve him of both. Numbed, and entirely pissed off at the most recent turn of events, he bashes his nose off Luna's horn when she comes down harder than even she had intended. Not knowing, or even caring, to the scream that ushered out, he just tries to catch his tiny little breath.
"Fluttershy!" Luna bolsters her voice in official tone and pitch before but a humble red stained dutch door. "I have come with what I believe is a squirrel, but perhaps it is a rabbit, I do not know." Nodding to an internal idea. "It was injured-"
"Injured?!" Fluttershy pushes the top door cut open hard enough to narrowly miss the tip of Luna's muzzle. "Oh no!"
"...and perhaps a mild case of rabies." Luna finishes to the wiggle of her nose. "It is good to see you, on short notice."
"S-s-sorry!" Fluttershy profusely apologizes as she pushes the lower dutch door open far more gently, hovering in the air backwards as Luna slowly travels inside. Looking in silence, her expression pops like the air near her wings with her zip up to Luna's horn, taking the tiny fur creature into her hooves before zipping away again. "Oh no oh no oh no...."
Quick to follow in Fluttershy's wake, only to come full stop as the yellow pegasus flies around her cottage in a frantic foray, Luna knows best to just sit down and wait. Sighing to the events of her night thus far, she still finds some bliss from seeing one of her new found friends show their best. Watching as Fluttershy lays the animal on a blanket and then gently rubs with another, she cannot hold it any longer.
"Is it dead?" Luna moves closer, leaning down to get a better look at the furry little creature.
C-come closer, birthday girl. Aexis goes into convulsions, his tiny body lashed with each beat of his thawing little heart. Making a pitiful long squeal with paws lurched up towards Luna, they suddenly slumps back down motionless. Damn it. This feels too damn good.
"Stand aside." Luna gently but firmly pushes a distraught Fluttershy back and away. "I know what we must do."
With nostrils shrinking to the expansion of her chest, Luna's normally petite form stretches and strains from the muscles forcing their way just underneath. Causing an already saddened and distraught Fluttershy to quiver and quake from the display, Luna ignores the outstretched hoof and scream when bones pop from her sharply rising foreleg.
"I remember far too much this day already." Luna looks down upon the slumped squirrel. "I do not need to remember you, too."