Chapters The walls of the old cave watched him in silence as he stepped forth from the shadows. This place had been his home for such a long time. Home, that word filled him with a strange feeling. How long had it been now? How many worlds had he transgressed since that day? He pushed the memories aside with a sigh, there was no time for these thoughts now.
He reached out and started to move his hands in slow patterns through the air, the void coming from his form starting to collect between them. When the sphere had collected he concentrated and performed the phase shift, creating a connection that skipped along the boundaries of space and time. He waited for the response.
This was only the second, no, the third time he had done this. It felt like a sad mark upon his career. It was highly unorthodox but both the situation and protocol required it. Slowly, the sphere started to glow from within, the connection had been made. A veiled figure could be seen in the mist, the blue eyes the only thing that revealed its femininity.
Mediators, he had never been quite fond of them. Their ceaseless work was necessary but betrayed their true function. They monitored the communications in the void, ceaselessly sifting through the thoughts that passed through the networks. Spiders... feigning respect and hiding treachery. At least his status gave him a certain immunity towards their controls, even if it only came from fear.
“This conjunction requires high-level authorization, please identify yourself.” the mediator inquired in a monotone voice. He knew the hunters where already waiting for her to pass them his location, any unauthorized access would result in liquidation.
“Purveyor, identification number six-two-five-one. Clearance level A5.” his voice rasped, hearing himself talk his own language after such long time spans always served to put a bitter taste in his mouth. He could hear the voice monitor on the other side give off a small sound, signaling his clearance.
The mediator visibly shuddered and he could see the color leave what little he could see of her face. Good. It meant his name still carried weight. He saw her make a quick motion to her side, undoubtedly signaling the hunters to cut off the prepared transportation immediately. Even the hunters knew better than to go after a purveyor.
“Purveyor, this is a highly unexpected but not unwelcome conjunction.” she said with a slightly shaking voice, “I am mediator seven-zero-three, how can I be of service?”
“I need a direct conjunction with the council.”
“Of course, purveyor. I will carry on your request immediately.” there was a short pause as she passed on the connection and disappeared from his view. She would still be listening he knew, reporting any useful information to the elder circle no doubt. They feared the influence of the purveyors almost as much as the mediators, making it certain they paid special attention to any communications from them.
He hated politics, all these millennia in their new home and they were still as backstabbing and greedy as ever. In the early days only the purveyors had possessed the strength to lead, and they had done so with unbending will.
His thoughts were interrupted as the light reappeared and a hooded figure stepped into vision, “Purveyor, the council is happy to see a trusted face in these troubled times.” the old zealot said with a small smile and a slight bow. Behind him he could see the rest of the council. Their sight served to painfully remind him of how old he was.
“Troubled times?” he inquired with an unmoving voice, “Is there another clan war on the rise?” The clans constantly struggled for power and for the favor of the elder circle. A clan war was nothing unusual. The council never took part in these frays, they were fully devoted to the purveyors, and as such held a status that put them above any of the clans. They bowed only to the royal family itself, making them more influential than even the elder circle.
Even though they never held any actual political power their words carried enough weight to direct the course of politics in any direction, always finding an open ear at the royal court. At least as long as they had the purveyors to support their claim, of course.
“Aye, it is as you say. Though this time there seems to be a religious aspect to it.” the council member said with a grave voice, “Even we cannot say what events this will bring forth.”
“I am sure the royal family will make short business of it, they have always had little patience for religious fanatics.” he saw several of the council members nod approvingly of his words, “But I have not called upon you to talk about politics, there is a situation.”
Some of the council members made surprised faces, there had never been a 'situation' with this purveyor before, “Please, purveyor. Continue.”
“I have been exposed.”
A small murmur passed through the council's ranks, this certainly was a situation they had not expected. The zealot seemed to process his words for a moment, “Do they know of your intent?”
“They do not, though I may have to tell them part of it should our interaction continue.”
“And is there a danger of them perceiving it to its full extent?”
“No.” normally the purveyors were giving free rein of their actions, as little as there were. But in such a case protocol demanded that the council would have to pass a decision and the purveyor would act according to it.
“Mmmm... this world is too promising to simply throw it away.” the zealot mumbled before turning to the rest of the council, “This may be unorthodox, but considering which purveyor this is I propose that we leave this completely in his hands.”
Another murmur went through the council, but eventually they all nodded in agreement. The zealot turned to him again, “You have heard the council's decision. We leave this situation entirely in your hands, purveyor. Act as you see fit but continue your work nonetheless.”
He put a fist to his chest, “Rest assured. I will not fail my mission.”
“We are certain of that, you have never failed us before. This is, if I remember correctly, world number thirty-two?”
“Number thirty-five.” he replied in an almost bitter voice.
“And you have never failed to deliver.” the zealot said with a smile, “We know of your capabilities quite well, purveyor. Perhaps you would consider a position in our circle after this world?”
He clenched his teeth in anger at the suggestion but his voice was as even as it was before, “Perhaps, but first I shall take care of my duties.” he would rather swallow the black abyss whole before joining the ranks of these old fools. Were it not for his strict attention to protocol he would simply ignore their existence. His work was much too important to waste more time than needed with them.
“Of course. Until then, may the void guide your search.” the council did a small bow before the connection was cut off and the purveyor found himself alone in his cave again.
He had officially been given free rein from here on. It simply meant he could carry on his work without having to justify any of his actions. This could be an interesting change to his routine, or it could accelerate his plans at an alarming rate. He would have to prepare for such a case.
But first, he would have 'tea' with a princess. He hoped his tongue still remembered how to swallow, his last drink had been before he had entered this world.
He waited for sunrise, using the time to familiarize his vocal cords to the Equestrian language. His pride would not allow him to sound like an oaf before them.
When the time for their meeting drew near he gave a sigh before letting his mind transverse the edges of the void and searching the castle. He found princess Celestia and princess Luna quickly, their presence was like a shining light.
With a notion of his mind he performed the phase shift like he had done so many countless times before. He waited for the void to enclose him and moved the displacement towards the throne room. As the phase shift started to take form within the room he could see that large tables had been set up and anything required for a tea session was present, the two princesses already waiting for his arrival. Much to his annoyance though, they weren't the only ones waiting for him.
The elements of harmony were present as well, all of them staring at the mass of swirling shadows that had appeared in the throne room with big eyes. He hesitated to step from the tear and into their view, after an eternity in the shadows he was highly wary of exposing himself any more.
He watched them for a moment in silence before addressing Celestia through the tear with clear anger in his voice, “This...” he said while the shadows around the tear danced to his voice with new-found vigor, “Was not part of our agreement.”
Chapter 3: A difficult start
"I do not care if you deem them trustworthy or not, our agreement did not involve their presence at this meeting." the shadows danced and vibrated to his voice, the black tendrils of the void enclosing him pulsated with his anger. "It stands as an act of mistrust on your side that you alter it without my consent." He still refused to leave the tear, unwilling to show himself to the element bearers.
"I assure you that we meant neither disrespect nor to insult you." Celestia spoke in a motherly voice as she tried to calm him, "None of what takes place within these walls will be spoken of to anypony. They have all sworn to keep this meeting a secret, and you have my word that you can trust them. After all, they are...”
“The elements of harmony?” he interrupted her speech, “Tell me princess, do you really expect the element of honesty to carry a secret?” Her presence in this room posed the biggest threat to his work, she could identify lies. Every word he said while she listened would endanger his plans.
His knowledge seemed to surprise princess Celestia, “You know of the elements of harmony?”
“I was there when they were created and I was there when they stopped Discord.” he stated as if it was the simplest matter of fact. That had been a very troubling occurrence, had they not stopped the draconequus he would have had to set his plans into motion much earlier than intended. “I also read the letters your student writes you so vigorously.”
“You read my letters to princess Celestia? Those are personal!” Twilight called out before Celestia hushed her quickly.
“May I ask...” she said with an even voice, “Why you read the letters my student sends me?”
“Not before the element bearers have left this room.”
There was a moment of silence as their stand-off continued.
Rainbow Dash got up from her position with a sigh, “Come on guys, let's leave. This is boring anyway. I mean, this is my free day from weather patrol and here I am watching a talking cloud? I should be practicing my stunts!” she walked up to the swirling mist and gave it a scrutinizing look, “I don't even see what the big deal is! It's just an ugly, talking cloud.”
“Rainbow Dash! Where are your manners?” Rarity scolded the pegasus.
He watched the pegasus from the tear with disapproval, he had only little patience for the disrespectful and her insults only served to lessen it. Spending an eternity in silence had not helped increase his tolerance either.
“She's right Rainbow Dash, don't be mean to the poor cloud.” he looked up in surprise as Fluttershy walked up to him, “Poor little cloud, you don't need to be scared of us. You're probably just lonely. Did the other clouds pick on you? Do you need a hug?” she tried to offer him her sympathy.
“Fluttershy, that actually isn't his real...” Twilight spoke up with a worried look. The glimpse she had caught of him had been short, but it had been enough to give her a sleepless night.
“Quiet.” he interrupted her. Had he just heard correctly? He addressed Fluttershy, “Repeat what you just said.”
“You... don't need... to be afraid?” she offered with a timid voice, clearly shaken by his change of tone.
“What would make you think I would be scared of you?” he asked with an angry voice.
“Cause you're just a cloud?” Rainbow Dash sneered, “You're not even that creepy. I don't understand why Twilight was so worried. And stop picking on Fluttershy or I'll just herd you somewhere else!” he felt his blood start to boil.
Princess Luna spoke up with a stern voice, “Rainbow Dash, please refrain from threatening our...”
“No.” he interrupted the princess, “I have heard enough. The bearers may stay if they wish, but should they talk of this to anyone else I will not let it go unpunished.”
Rainbow Dash mocked him, “Pfff... what are you going to do? Block the sun? Rain on my...” her mouth dropped and she froze as he started to step from the void. His face was the first thing to appear between the swirling void, slowly drawing forward as he fully emerged from the shadows.
He towered above her, the black scales glinting in the light as the void started to return to his body slowly. She looked up into his mask and into her own reflection, suddenly unable to make even the tiniest comment or movement. Fluttershy was trying to hide behind Rainbow Dash and was whimpering in a cowering position.
Celestia got up from her place, obviously worried what would happen next. He ignored her and addressed Rainbow Dash instead, “Should any of you talk to anyone outside this room of my presence I will drag you to a place outside this dimension where no sun shines and not even the slightest of winds blows. A place devoid of sound, hope or solace. And then, I will leave you there.” she gulped, “Is that creepy enough for you, Rainbow Dash?”
She managed to nod somehow, “Super creepy...”
“Good.” he turned to Celestia. She was clearly angered by his threat towards her subjects but he did not care for it. Her magic meant nothing to him. “Now that this has been taken care of, we may 'talk'.” he drew the last word out longer than needed and walked up to the table with slow steps, not causing a single sound in the process. Fluttershy didn't even dare to look up as he passed her.
He ignored the scared looks of the ponies and the angry glares of the princesses as he sat down at the table in a crossed-legged position with a fluid motion. “Now...” he said with a quiet voice as the ponies stared at him, “What would you like to know?”
Before any of the others could recover from their initial shock he was assaulted by a pink blur of words, “HI! I'm Pinkie Pie who are you? Are you a pony? Do you like parties? Do you like cake? I love cake and parties! But I guess you already know that since you've been 'watching' us for like, forever?” she bounced up and down in front of him happily.
“Indeed.” he replied with an unmoving voice. While she continued to prattle on happily he studied the flow around her, something seemed off about her.
It was distorted. It was a one in a million chance for something like this to occur but it explained quite a few things he had read and noticed about her. He continued to study her while she started to give him a list of her favorite desserts. The others watched with fascination as she bounced up and down in front of the unmoving figure.
“So, what's your favorite?” his thoughts were interrupted as she looked up at him with a big smile.
“My favorite what?” he asked with slight amusement. He couldn't remember the last time he had met a creature that wasn't intimidated by his appearance, and she seemed completely ignorant of the fact that he had just threatened to drag them off into the abyss.
“Your favorite kind of cake, of course!” she said with a beaming smile.
“I do not eat.” he replied.
“You don't?” Pinkie replied in shock, “But don't you like cake or parties?”
“I don't.”
Her hair actually deflated a bit when he said that. She squinted her eyes at him, “You're serious, aren't you?”
“I am.”
“Really?” she asked with hope.
“Really.” her smile dropped.
Just as fast as her smile had vanished it reappeared again, even broader this time than before. “Well then, there's only one thing to do!” she pulled a small muffin with sugar coating from the table and held it out for him to take, “You have to try one of my extra-special-deluxe muffins!”
“No.” he had no intent of consuming something that was probably sweet enough to burn his tongue away. Also, it would require him to remove his mask and that was out of the question this early.
“Come on, I know you'll love it!” she bobbed the muffin up and down in front of him.
“No.”
Her smile vanished again and her hair completely deflated, “Try it.” her voice had changed.
“No.” he checked the flow around her again, it had realigned itself. Interesting.
She started to bump the muffin against his mask, the frosting leaving ugly stains on the glass, “Try it.” she repeated as she continued to nudge it against his mask.
His head slowly turned towards Celestia. Just like the others she had been watching the two utterly speechless. Even with her wisdom she failed to understand at times what made the pink pony what she was. “Get her off of me before I remove her.” he said with a gruff voice as she continued to poke the muffin against his head.
“Pinkie Pie, please be so kind and stop doing that.” Celestia said with a wary voice, “It seems our guest is not hungry at the moment.”
Pinkie Pie seemed to consider this for a second before looking at him again, “You're not hungry?”
“I do not feel hunger.” he replied.
There was a poof as her hair suddenly inflated itself again, “Great! That means you'll be hungry again soon! I'm going to prepare the best muffin ever so you can try it!”
He doubted she would live long enough to see that day but he still nodded, “Very well.”
“Great!” she beamed him a smile and returned to her seat, already starting to make plans for a very special muffin.
He picked up a napkin and started to clean the plate of his mask, his vision slightly blurring as the mask simply started to bend the light around the obstacle to give him a free view. While he removed the last traces of sugar he started to talk again, “I am aware that all of you have questions concerning my... nature and the intent of my presence...” a few of them nodded while the others simply listened carefully to his words.
He folded the napkin carefully and rested it on the table again, “But before we continue...” he turned his head towards Applejack, she slightly flinched when his gaze came to rest upon her. “There are subjects that I am unwilling to talk about, and there are questions which I will not answer to their full truth.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow, “You're telling me you're gonna lie to us?”
“I am merely informing you that there are questions I am not going to answer truthfully.”
She gave him a doubtful glare, “Because you can't or because you don't want to?”
“I will not answer that question.” he replied and moved his gaze towards Celestia.
She eyed him with curiosity, this had not been what she had anticipated but it would have to do for the moment, “Very well, I hope we can still find some answers along the way. But first, I believe I promised you tea and medical attention.”
Fluttershy carefully approached him with a first-aid kit, shuddering with each step, “The princess said you were wounded... so I thought... if you wouldn't mind that is... maybe I could have a look at it?”
He looked at her without moving, he had actually almost forgotten about the wound. He held up his hand for her to see, the long and red cut showing clearly between the fabric. “Your concern is appreciated, but not necessary...” he said, “The damage is only superficial, it does not serve to lessen functionality and...” the others gasped as the shadows started to dance over the wound, “It is easily mended.”
He let the void pour over the wound, enclosing it and realigning the broken flow at the surface before reversing it. Before the ponies' eyes, the wound simply started to close itself, the shadows slowly starting to immerse themselves in his flesh as the crusted blood turned liquid again and returned into his body.
When the cut had closed he shifted the void towards the cut cloth and repeated the process, the black fabric returning to its former form. When he was done he flexed his hand and slowly moved his fingers, assuring that all damage had been repaired and returning the flow to its natural direction.
Twilight gasped, “I've never seen a healing spell like that before! How did you do that?”
“The concept of magic has nothing to do with this, it is a simple mechanism of redirection.” she scrunched her face as she tried to understand what he had just said. He dropped his hand again, “Do not try to understand it, you naturally lack the necessary distinction to comprehend the mechanism.”
“Why do I get the feeling you just insulted me?”
“It is not an insult, it is a simple observation. Your mind and form are confined to this phase of existence. To understand, you would have to move your cognition outside your given boundaries.”
“Now I get the feeling you're telling me I'm dumb.” she replied with a sour voice.
“Then let me explain it to you in a form you can comprehend. To do what I do, you would need to be able to see all of the thirteen dimensions and beyond.”
“Thirteen? That's absurd! The philosophical studies of Greyhoof have clearly stated that there are only five dimensions; three of space, which we move in, one for time, which acts upon us and another for magic, from which....” she rehearsed like from a book.
“Greyhoof's studies are not unknown to me, but just like yours his cognition was confined by the natural boundaries of his mind and body. Also, he was a philosopher so he was already unsuited for a proper observation from the beginning... he also had an unhealthy obsession for hoof manicures.”
Twilight looked taken aback, “What? Are you saying that...”
“Uhm, excuse me?” a timid voice interrupted them. He slowly turned his head towards Fluttershy again, she was still standing next to him, “I have a little mouse at home that has a bad cut on one of its paws...”
“And?”
“Could you... maybe... help it? I'm afraid he's not doing so well...”
He looked at her for a moment, “I could...” her eyes seemed to shine with hope.
“But I won't.” his voice was as unmoving as ever. Her eyes started to fill with tears.
“What the buck is your problem? You made Fluttershy cry!” Rainbow Dash shouted at him angrily, “How can you be so heartless!” she looked ready to jump at him, but when he turned his head towards her she seemed to become less sure of herself. “She's just asking for your help! What's wrong with helping a friend?”
“First, I am not anyone's friend. Not even anypony's for that specific matter. I am merely an observer to your world. Second, as such it is not meant for me to intervene in any of what occurs in this world. It would only serve to disrupt the natural flow of things.” That was something he would not risk at any cost, there was too much at stake.
He turned to Fluttershy again, something in her sad face actually moved him, it almost made him feel guilty for his words. “You have my condolences nonetheless. I am sure you will manage to help it.”
She sniffed a tear away, “Thank you.”
“Then why did you save me?” Celestia asked, “If you are so determined not to intervene, why did you stop the assassination?” the girls looked at him with expecting eyes.
He remained silent for a moment, the gears grinding in his head as he tried to answer that very question to himself. “I do not know.”
“You don't know? What kind of answer is that? You decided to do it so you must have had a reason!” Applejack spoke up with an unbelieving face. In her all life, she had never met anypony or anything that spoke with such an emotionless voice.
“I do not know. That is all. If it was either by instinct or by lack of proper judgment that I let myself act...” Celestia raised an eyebrow, “I can not tell. It still serves to puzzle me.”
Rarity huffed, “How anypony could be so cold is what puzzles me. Don't you even care what happens to those around you?”
“It is not my place to act upon sympathy or misplaced care. I take no joy in death or sadness, but I have come to terms with it. As much as it may pain you to hear this, I simply cannot allow myself to care.”
Pinkie Pie gave him a smirk, “I think you do care.”
“Your line of thought is clearly wrong.”
“Nope, I just think you're too worried about something else and it makes you so sad you feel all numb and alone. So you just pretend to yourself that you don't care.”
He looked at her for a moment, where had this come from? Had she knowledge he was unaware of? Could the distorted flow around her be responsible for this? The results of such a phenomena always varied so the possibility couldn't be excluded...
Much to his displeasure she interpreted his silence as an agreement, “See, you do care!”
“I do not.” he replied with as much of an even voice as he could muster.
“Do too...” she said with a growing smile.
“I do not.” he repeated with growing anger.
“I think she's right...” commented Fluttershy on his side. He turned towards her, she visibly trembled at his gaze but continued, “I can feel that there is a terrible burden on your heart and I can feel your sorrow. You really are lonely, aren't you?”
“I am not.”
“Would you maybe like a hug? You'd feel all better in an instant.” she offered him a smile.
He looked at her with disbelief for a moment, “I would advise you refrain from touching me. I am poisonous to touch, it would be your death.” she gasped and quickly took a step back.
“You're lying.” Applejack stated from her place at the table. “I'm sure of it.”
He turned to her, the element of honesty at her best. He changed the carrier-envelope offset of the void around himself and readjusted the frequency bandwidth, turning the void on his surface into pure death. “Try me now.” he said with a grave voice, “I am poisonous to touch, it would be your death.”
Applejack's jaw nearly dropped onto the floor, “He's... he's not lying now.”
Celestia eyed him with surprise, “You changed yourself to be toxic?”
“I merely altered a small detail. I do not wished to be... touched.”
“Fair enough, you have made that point clear. Please, be so kind as to reverse your... 'alteration', so we may continue without concern for our health.”
“Very well.” he paused for a moment, returning the wave to its prior form, “It is done.”
“Thank you very much.” Celestia said with a small nod, “Now, what kind of tea would you like?”
The question surprised him, “What?”
“The flavor of the tea?” she asked carefully, “Sadly, we have no knowledge of your diet or tastes. So we simply prepared a broader selection in hope to satisfy your wishes. Please, feel free to pick whatever you want.”
He looked over the table with a slow motion of his head, a seemingly never ending variety of tea, cake, small muffins and assorted biscuits and desserts spread out before him. He knew every pastry by name but had never tried any of it. There simply had never been the need to do so.
He continued to stare at the collection for another minute before slowly raising his hand and picking up the smallest and simplest biscuit he could find. He mustered it in his fingers for a moment before breaking it in two and placing one half on the plate in front of him. The other half he carefully put back to its original position. The ponies watched his every move with fascination.
“Are you sure that is all you want?” Celestia asked with disbelief.
“It will suffice to meet the requirements of protocol.” he simply stated.
She raised an eyebrow, “And what tea would you like to drink?”
“Water.”
Luna looked at him with wonder, “You want a cup of hot water?”
He tilted his head slightly, wondering if protocol required for the water to have taste. “With a slice of lemon in it, perhaps?”
Tea, for a lack of other words, was strange. While the ponies nervously sipped their tea or nibbled at their biscuits, he just sat there. Not saying one word, touching neither the half of his biscuit or the hot cup of water he simply observed them in silence.
After what seemed like minutes of eery silence princess Luna finally spoke up, “Are you not hungry?”
He looked at his food for a second, “Does protocol require I eat?”
“No, it does not... But it would be nice if...”
“Then no, I am not hungry.” he stated flatly. There was another strange moment of silence.
“May I ask a question then?” Luna asked slightly irritated.
“Ask.”
“Why do you read the letters Twilight Sparkle sends my sister?”
Why did he read those? It had been a moment of curiosity at first but then... “I find them... amusing.”
“Hey! Those are serious!” Twilight gave him a sour look.
“They are?” he asked with a slightly surprised voice, “When I read the first one I initially had the impression you were writing a book for chil...” he corrected himself, “For foals.”
“Of course they are serious! I'm studying the magic of friendship! That's important for everypony!”
“I see...”
She squinted his eyes at him, “What?”
“Nothing.”
Rainbow Dash gave him a curious look, “What's so amusing about them?”
“They are immature.”
This time Twilight nearly exploded, “They are not! What would make you think something like that?! Don't you know what friendship is?”
He turned to her, “Your reports...” he stated, “Are innocent and full of good intentions, but you have not yet lived long enough to truly understand friendship, or love for that matter. You have made friends and your friendship has survived troubled times. But...”
“But?” Twilight gave him a skeptical glare.
“You have yet to experience death. Only when you lose someone important, only then will you truly understand what friendship means.”
There was a moment of silence as all of them stared at him with open mouths. Celestia looked at him for what seemed like minutes before finally asking, “Who did you lose?”
“That is a question I will not answer.” he replied without emotion.
Celestia watched him for another moment, “May I ask something else then?” he didn't reply but merely nodded, “Could you play that song again?”
He slightly tilted his head at her unexpected request, “Why?”
“I believe it will help the others to understand something about your... nature.”
He pondered on it for a few seconds but couldn't see a threat in it, so he carefully retrieved the little item from one of his pockets. As he held it in his hands Pinkie Pie eyed it with fascination, “It's so pretty! Can I touch...”
“If you even come near it I will tear you to pieces.” he said with a low tone.
She started to get up, “Oh, come on! It's not like I'm going to...”
“Pinkie, I advise you don't touch it.” Applejack said with worry, “He's not lying.”
“Ohh...” her hair slightly dropped but she returned to her seat.
He paid them no further attention and started to wind up the delicate mechanism, the ponies gasping in fascination as the little gears started to turn. The ponies only had little skill when it came to clockworks, the ones they had were usually driven by magic or simply crude and big.
“It's so tiny! I've never seen something so delicate!” Rarity swooned.
The others were about to make comments but the words never escaped their mouths as the music started to play. He watched their faces as the music was carried through the air. In their shocked expressions he saw the same emotions he had seen in Celestia's face a night before, recognition, wonder and fear.
When he saw Celestia's face though he suddenly realized her true intent. He retrieved the music box and placed it in his pocket again before casting her an accusing glare had it not been for his mask, “You tricked me.”
“I merely wished to confirm something.” she replied with an even voice before turning to the others, “Tell me, do you know this melody?”
Applejack was the first to reply, “My grandmother used to hum it to us on rainy nights.” she gave him a fearful look, “She said her grandmother used to hum it to her...”
“My father always hummed it me.” Rainbow Dash said, “He said his mother always hummed it for him...”
“My mother...” Rarity said with a perplexed voice, “She still hums it to Sweetie Bell...”
“I too remember the melody.” Luna replied, “Our mother hummed it to us as well.” she turned to Celestia, “But that was thousands of years ago! What does this mean?”
“It means that our guest has been here for a very long time indeed.” she turned to the others again, “You all know this melody?” they all nodded, “And it has been in your families for generations?” they nodded again. She turned to him with the smallest of smiles, savoring the fact she had been able to trick him into confirming this fact. He despised her for it.
“That is because he has played it for all of our ancestors. Tell me, how long have you been here?” there was a small amount of sadness in her voice.
“Always.” he replied, “I have always been watching.”
“And you never felt alone?”
He eyed her with a growing feeling of unease, “I have not.”
This time he could really see the sadness in her face, “That is regrettable... May I ask, why is it that you watch our newborn night after night?”
Once again he found himself under the stares of the ponies, it made his skin tingle. He would be careful of her questions from now on. “They remind me of something my kind has lost a long time ago.”
Fluttershy eyed him with a sad face, “You don't have foals?”
“We do not.”
“Why?”
He stared at her, trying hard to push old memories aside. “Because no new life can be born within the void.” It was a delicate matter. It was the sole reason for his presence and he hoped the ponies would not tread any further upon this subject. All of his work, all of his efforts... everything was connected to this one, simple fact.
“Wait, does this mean your whole species lives inside the void?” Twilight asked with disbelief.
“We exist within it.”
“But that's impossible! The void is empty and lifeless! Greybeard the Wise himself explored the void with his mind and he found nothing!”
He mustered her for a moment, “Greybeard... he only saw what I allowed him to see.”
“You interfered with his studies?” Luna asked with a surprised voice.
“Had he truly entered the void our response would have been immediate. He would have been killed and any evidence of his existence would have been removed. Still, his disappearance would have caused questions. I lead his mind on his studies, showing him only glimpses of the surface of the void, giving him the impression it was empty and lifeless. That way, any danger of further inquiries from your side was evaded.”
“So you do intervene from time to time.” Celestia remarked.
“Only when the necessity arises.”
“There's a whole race living inside the void! That's amazing! I must start studies on this subject immediately!” Twilight seemed excited with anticipation.
“It would be a futile attempt. I have set up blockades in the void since then. You would not be able to gaze past what I allow you to see.”
“Why are you so intent on keeping your existence a secret?” Luna asked him with suspicion.
“It is our rule. Any contact made is a threat to my work.”
“Your work? I thought you were an observer?”
“I am.”
“You're not.” Applejack spoke up, “You're keeping something from us, I've been feeling it since we started talking. There's more to you than you're willing to tell us.”
“There is.” he had not intended this conversation to come to this point, but it did not matter. Their fate would be the same whether they knew it or not, just like the fate of all those worlds before theirs... Their knowledge would only serve to shorten the time until then.
Celestia looked at him intently, seemingly trying to see beyond his mask. She was probably trying to read his thoughts, but she would only waste her time and energy doing that. “You say that you are a watcher, that you only observe. But the more we talk, the more I have the feeling that you are by far more active than you tell us. You say you act only out of necessity, but refuse to tell us why. What is it you are truly here for?”
He could see her wings tremble softly at her words and he could hear her heart beat increase, she was clearly more agitated than she allowed the others to notice. He mustered her in silence for a moment as she stared him down, “I wait.”
She took a step towards him, “What do you wait for?”
“For this world to die.”
He wondered if his choice of words had been correct. For one moment there had been a completely shocked silence as they simply stared at him with open mouths. Then, all hell had broken loose. He observed in silence as the ponies unloaded all of their shock upon him and once again, time slowed down to an eternity.
Between a fainting Fluttershy and a fuming Rainbow Dash and Applejack he could see Rarity wail in terror. He saw Pinkie's hair deflate considerably and Twilight Sparkle's magic light up. He saw Luna shout questions at him using her best royal voice, the shock waves carrying like ripples through the air and shattering tea cups and plates alike, making the glass of his mask vibrate softly.
And he saw Celestia. Motionless. Still and silent. Looking at him with those ageless eyes as he returned her stare, ignorant to the pandemonium around them, seemingly frozen in time. Time returned to its normal pace.
He heard their accusations and felt the air tremble with their shouts and anger. Still, he simply ignored them as he and Celestia watched one another in silence.
“ENOUGH!” Celestia's voice thundered above all else, making the walls shudder at her outburst. It was a rare occasion for her to use the royal voice, he had not heard it in centuries but she still outclassed her sister by lengths. Always the big sister...
As quickly as the commotion had started it was ended by her outburst, all of the ponies looking at her with shocked faces. None of them had ever heard Celestia raise her voice like this before. He had, but what surprised him was the strange expression in her face as she approached him again.
She stopped only a meter away from him, staring into his face with an expression he had not seen since the day of Luna's banishment. “How long?” she quietly asked.
He remained silent for a moment, this certainly wasn't the reaction he had expected. “I do not know.”
“How will you know?”
“I will hear it coming.” it would start with a soft murmur, a sound only those that were connected to the void could hear. Then, it would slowly grow louder, until it was like a thundering wave crashing down on them. Then, it would be time.
“And then?”
“Then, I will take what I need.”
“Explain.”
“No new life can be born within the void, and nothing that is created within it can escape it.” he started, “A long time ago, our kind had its own world. But just like all creation, it was destined to die. When we saw that our end was near, we made a desperate decision...”
“And you stepped into the void.” Celestia said with an even voice.
“We did... but it came with a price. We could no longer have children and there was nothing to sustain us within the endless darkness, so we had to find another way. We learned to create life within the void, bonding our technology and old flesh, infusing the new bodies with the old memories of our dead... but one component was missing.”
“What was missing?” Twilight asked with horrified fascination.
“Life.” Celestia's voice had become very quiet, “This is the reason of your presence, isn't it?”
“Every form of sentient life collects through its actions and words something you would consider 'karma'. It is a reflection of how its life was spent, whether there was purpose to its existence or not. When that being dies this form of energy is set free along with the soul, creating a single, short spark of light that echoes through all the dimensions before vanishing again. It is the last spark of life. It is my duty to collect these final flashes before they vanish, and to keep them stored until the time has come to send them... home.”
He looked up at Celestia, “This spark... this last flash of life is what allows us to survive. It is both food and birth to us. Without it, we would simply starve and vanish from existence.”
“Those are millions of lives...” Celestia said with concern, “How do you 'store' something like that?”
He carefully reached out with his hand and placed it on the cold floor, “When we arrive on a new world we consider promising we immediately start to imbue it with the void...” he slowly drew up his hand again, black shadows seemingly escaping the stone to follow the motion of his hand. “It takes us millenia to create it, but when we are done a thin web covers every inch of your world. Invisible to you, nothing more than a shadow to this existence but there nonetheless.”
He waved his hand slowly and watched the shadows disappear again, “It catches those last, precious flashes of life as the souls pass through it. And as time continues, it slowly starts to fill.”
“Wait.” Twilight interrupted him, “If nothing that is created within the void can escape it, how can you be here?”
“He was born outside the void.” Luna said with a strange voice, “You saw your own world die, didn't you?”
“I did. There are others like me, born before our step into the void. We are the purveyors. We supply our kind with what they so desperately need.”
Luna paused for a moment, “If you so desperately need this form of life why wait all this time? Why not send it to your kind the moment you collect it?”
“The transfer...” he began, “Can only be performed once.”
“Why?”
“The transfer of something so pure and untainted requires to tear open the very fabric of space and time. It requires a direct connection to the void itself, but creating this tear...”
“It would shatter this world to pieces...” Celestia finished quietly.
“And that, is why I wait. When this world ends its last moment will bring forth a flood of new life among my kind.” There was a moment of gloomy silence as he finished his words, all of them trying to digest what he had told them.
He looked outside and checked the position of the sun, it was time. He slowly started to get up. “Where are you going?” Luna asked as he rose from his place.
“The reason for our conversation has become irrelevant.” he replied, “Until this moment, you could always have found me with the blood I left in your throne room. Any attempt of mine to evade you would have been futile. But by now, enough time has passed and you will no longer be able to track me... I will disappear... and you will never see me again.”
“How many?” Celestia spoke up quietly, “How many worlds have you watched die?”
“Enough to know that every world will come to an end sooner or later.”
“Did none of them fight?”
“They all did, all of them trying desperately to outrun the inevitable.” his voice sounded tired, “And I know you will fight too. It is in your nature... but ultimately...”
“Will you help us?”
He froze, “What?”
“Will you help us save our world?”
He turned to her and studied her for what seemed like minutes, “Why? What makes you different from all those other worlds? What makes you better or worth saving? Why should I dare interrupt a circle that has existed from the beginning of time?” he let his words sink in for a moment, “What makes you different?”
She eyed him with a sad face, “Nothing.” her voice was so quiet the others had to strain their ears, “Our lives are not worth more or less than any others... but life is always worth saving.” she took another step towards him, “There is nothing that makes this world special among all those others your kind has seen, I am sure... but it is our home, it is my home... and it has been your home as well. So please, help us.”
He simply stared at her, shocked at the weight of what she was asking him to do. In all the years of his tormented existence he had never found himself in such a situation. It scared him. Without another word, he vanished.
When he reappeared inside his cave he let his mask dismantle itself with a soft hiss before drawing in a shuddering breath. Help them... the idea left a sour taste in his mouth. They still knew only half the truth. They didn't know yet what would happen if his kind grew tired of waiting.
They did not know what he would have to do, should the hunger of the humans demand it.
He let out a long sigh, help them... what a strange request.
For hours he just stood in the cave, trying to clear his mind of his troubled thoughts. No matter how hard he tried to push the matter aside, Celestia's words still lingered in his mind. How should he carry on now? He could simply ignore them for the rest of his stay, but actually talking to someone after such a long time... the aspect of another eternity of silence seemed strange to him now. Would he actually miss talking to them?
He shook his head with a sigh and refocused on his work, the night had come once more and he still had work to do. But first, he wanted to check on something. The void started to collect around him as he sought his destination. Finding the desired point he performed the phase shift and let the void consume his form, carrying him away to a small cottage on the outskirts of the Everfree forest.
As he reappeared outside the small cottage he took a moment to observe it in silence. It looked peaceful, silent and innocent. This was Fluttershy's home, this was the place where she took care of the animals of the forest. It was a commendable occupation in his opinion, even if it didn't really serve a practical purpose.
He walked up to the little door and without a sound he shifted his form past it, stepping through the void and exiting on the other side of the wood. The little house was peaceful on the inside and decorated with many flowers and small furniture. It was... nice.
The purveyor silently ascended the stairs as he searched the flow for signs of life. He found her and two other life forms upstairs, sleeping. He entered the room and surveyed the scene. Fluttershy was lying in her bed, a little bunny lying at the foot end of the bed, covered in a little blanket. He couldn't help but admire how peaceful they looked in their sleep. Sometimes he missed sleep, it offered a peace only those that weren't able to sleep anymore could comprehend.
He took a moment to find the third flow, it was weak, but it was there. He walked up to the night stand beside Fluttershy's bed. There, in a little cardboard box filled with cotton wool and tiny blankets, a small mouse slept.
He checked the flow around it. It was weak, barely holding on... The infection had taken its toll on the little creature, it would not survive another night. It bothered him. Why should he care for something so small and meaningless? It was barely a grain of energy, not worth his time or effort. Whether it lived or died would hold no importance to him, its passing would go unnoticed to the rest of this world. Its life simply didn't have any worth to him... but still... He remembered Fluttershy's eyes, innocent, full of hope... and how he had crushed that hope.
He reached out and held his hand above the small creature. Would it be wrong? He could just end it now and spare the little thing another moment of misery. Or he could... no, that would be out of line. His hand trembled lightly, was he really contemplating this? Why should he even care? Why should he? He continued to stare at the little thing in silence, lost in his inner thoughts. He remembered her eyes... her tears... why should he care? He remembered his daughter.
The void slowly started to form from his hand, dropping down and encasing the little mouse. For a moment he hesitated, but then he let void do its work, realigning the flow and encasing it. When he was done, he removed his hand again. The flow had been restored, the mouse would live. He watched it sleep for a moment longer before turning to leave again, but just as we was about to depart a voice from behind him whispered quietly, "Thank you."
He didn't turn around, but just stood there for a moment longer before disappearing into the void again.
When the void had relocated itself again in the Canterlot hospital he hesitated to step forth from it, Celestia was waiting for him. She took a moment to recognize the void swirling softly in the hallway before returning to looking through the glass at the newborn, "I knew you would come here..." she said with a quiet voice.
After another moment of silence he stepped out of the void and quietly walked up next to her, joining her as they observed the sleeping newborn. For a while, they just stood there in silence, each lost in their own thoughts and worries.
"Did you think about my words?" she asked quietly after what seemed like an eternity.
"I did..." he replied.
"Will you help us?" she asked with hope almost betraying her voice.
"What you fail to understand, Celestia, is that these things cannot be averted. This world will die, no matter what action I take. The question you should ask is, what can I do?" he shook his head, "Even if I was to take action, you would have to offer some sort of compensation. My kind hungers, and I refuse to let it starve. What would you be willing to sacrifice?"
"I would gladly sacrifice myself if it could save my subjects."
"I know... but that alone would not be enough. You should ask yourself this, how many lives would you be willing to sacrifice just to save a few... and what of the other races that live in this world?"
"There must be another way, I cannot let our world vanish... and I am not willing to sacrifice anyone, be it my ponies or any other race."
"Even the ones that hate you?"
"Even they deserve to live." she replied without hesitation.
He looked at her, "That is very commendable, but I doubt you comprehend the meaning of what you demand."
"I comprehend more than you grant me. I understand your kind requires the energy of dying worlds to survive." her voice got serious, "And I understand that even with your patience you will grow hungry with time..." he looked at her in wonder, had she already understood what could happen?
"I know what hunger can drive a species to do... the changelings carry a similar burden." she turned to him, "Tell me, purveyor, when your kind threatens to starve... do you end it yourself?"
He stared at her for a moment, not believing she had comprehended this fact so quickly. He sighed, "You are correct. There are millions of us that hunger in the void, and there are only a few hundred purveyors left to feed them." he looked at the foals again, "When our kind grows too hungry, when all of our resources run dry... we select the world with the least promising yield... and we end it."
"How often did you have to do this?" she asked with sadness in her voice.
"More often than I dare to remember." he replied heavily. He shook his head, "It was a mistake to reveal myself to your world, and it was a folly to talk to you of these things. What use is knowledge when it holds no hope?"
"There is always hope."
"And in the end it was always the last thing to die..." he said with a grave voice, "I should not have allowed myself to act on such a petty impulse, it was a mistake and I..." he suddenly stopped and stared at his hand.
"What is it?" she asked with worry.
"My hand..." he said with a puzzled voice.
She looked at his hand with a questioning look, "What about it?"
"I was cut..." he whispered.
"Yes, but I thought..."
"You don't understand... nothing is able to cut me... except..." he whirled around to face her, the shadows around him dancing wildly as he felt his blood starting to boil in anger, "The dagger."
She took a step back, for the first time she could actually feel his presence. It was a rage the likes of which she had never witnessed before, everything she felt from him seemed to scream at her in anger. And for the first time she felt how ageless he was, his very existence seemed to crush her own. "What?"
"The dagger! Where is it?" his voice thundered throught the hallway, shaking the walls of the hospital and causing the foals to start crying.
He was a fool. How had he not noticed this before? How could he have been so blind? It had been right there in front of him the whole time and he had not seen it! The reason why he had intervened so impulsively, the reason for his worry... everything... Someone was playing a game with him and it would cost them dearly.
Luna took an involuntary step backwards as he appeared inside the room shortly followed by Celestia. Just like her sister, this was the first time she actually felt his presence, and it spoke more to her than any words could say. There was a fury unlike any other she had ever witnessed that surrounded him like a shroud, and his sheer presence made her feel like she was being crushed alive.
"Where?" he asked with a cold voice, evidently trying to fight back his anger.
"On that stand." Celestia pointed out.
Not bothering to walk in his anger he simply shifted his position to the stand and picked up the dagger in one hand. Turning it silently and inspecting it from all angles as the two princesses observed him.
"What is this about?" Luna asked her sister with worry.
"I don't know..." Celestia replied with an even voice, "He suddenly became very agitated."
"And your request?" Luna asked with hope, but Celestia only shook her head with sadness.
"This shouldn't be possible...“ he suddenly whispered, making the two alicorns look up, "This is an outrage..." the shadows around him started to swirl even faster.
"What is it?" Celestia was almost afraid to ask.
"How many things do you know that are immune to your magic?"
"There are a few species and materials with a heightened resistance. The dragons would be those with the highest.“
He held up the dagger for her to see, "Does this look like dragon bone to you?"
"We have been wondering about that, but..." Celestia paused, suddenly realizing what he was hinting at, "That dagger isn't from this world... is it?"
He made a motion with his fingers, and the dagger started to hover about his outstretched hand. "You are correct... Do you remember what I told you earlier? Nothing that is created within the void may leave it..." he looked at her.
"Then how is it possible for this to be here?"
"It is here for the same reason my armor is here..." the alicorns gave him puzzled looks, "Everything we carry with us, our clothing, armor, tools... we create them from our own bodies. To do this, the purveyors become one with the void itself, basking within it until it runs through our very veins like blood. We make it a part of ourselves, bind it to our blood and bones... and once the body accepts the fusion..." the dagger slowly started to give off small swirls of black mist, "Our bodies start to produce it themselves. We can use this form of the void to alter ourselves and our surroundings, or condense it to take a desired form. It takes practice, time and sacrifice but we have learned to do it."
"I find it hard to believe something like that..." Luna spoke up, "To become a part of something so opposite of all life... is it really possible?"
There was a soft hiss as his mask slowly dismantled itself, seemingly falling apart into black smoke as he removed the binding that held it together. The two alicorns felt the blood freeze in their veins as they stared into his face, "You tell me..." he said without emotion before the mask simply reformed around his face again.
When the mask was covering his face once more he made another gesture with his fingers and the dagger came to rest on his open hand once more. He held it up for them to see. They were still too shocked to speak, still staring at his mask in horror at what they had just seen. "For something like this to exist here..." he said with a sinister voice, "It requires the presence of another like me."
It was an act so far out of line it made his blood boil. There was no other way to deal with this other by himself. He would have to break his own rules again, but it was the only way to do this. He put the dagger into the depths of his clothes, "And I intend to find that person..." he paused for a moment, "Wait here, I shall return shortly..." the shadows started to collect around him.
"Where are you going?" Celestia asked with a shaky voice.
"I'm going to pay the changelings a visit." and with that, he was gone.
Queen Chrysalis was in a bad mood these days. Her spy had failed, her beautiful plan had been spoiled. How could this have happened? With the artifact in their possession, nothing should have been able to save the princess... yet she lived, and it drove her mad. Her spies were unable to tell her what had gone wrong, but something strange seemed to go on inside the castle if the rumors were correct.
She paced up and down her throne room with angered steps. They had been given the perfect opportunity to rid themselves of their most powerful enemy and they had failed. She should have done this herself, but it was too late, such an opportunity would not represent itself again.
Her trail of thoughts was interrupted as a cloud of black shadows started to form inside the throne room. She watched it carefully, had the mysterious voice returned? Would they have another opportunity to... she took a step backwards as a mask of black glass started to appear from the black mist. With horror she realized that this was something different, something very different.
The moment the creature set a foot inside the throne room she nearly collapsed under the storm of rage that escaped its form. Before she could react or call to her guards he was on her, picking her up by her throat and lifting her to his mask. As he held her the black shadows rising from his body started to gather themselves around her, starting to encase her whole form, cutting her off from the rest of the world.
She tried to struggle, her horn flashing a bright green as she tried to summon up her magic, "Your magic will not help you now, worm..." a voice cold as ice snarled at her. As if on command the shadows dug themselves into her horn, making her scream in agony as the void tore at her very soul, cutting off her magic. His hand pressed down on her throat like steel, choking her screams.
He held up a dagger she immediately identified as the artifact, "Where... did you get this?" his voice carried the threat of death, "Speak... or I will tear the skin from you hide!" Every word he said carried enough rage to make her shudder. Even though she wasn't trying to grab the emotions from him they still dug themselves in her very soul.
"We found it in one of our tunnels..." she managed to croak in fear. She felt his anger increase even further at her words, it almost burned her mind to be this close to him now.
"You dare lie to me!" he shouted at her in anger. The shadows dug themselves into her whole body, tearing at the very flow that bound her to this world, making her twitch in agony as silent screams of pain escaped her open mouth. It wasn't her body he was attacking, it was her soul. And he would make sure she would not dare lie to him again.
When the shadows retreated again she simply hung by his hand, gasping for air and too exhausted from the torture he had put her through to even move. He brought her face closer to his own and she watched in fear as the mask started to dissolve, turning fear into absolute horror as she looked into his face.
His skin was white as bone, and so thin she could actually see the skull and the black veins that ran beneath it. But it were his eyes that she would forever remember. Where she expected eyes there was nothing... only a bottomless, impenetrable darkness that sat in his eye sockets as black shadows slowly formed around them.
"Now..." he said with low voice as she stared into the endless blackness of the void that had long ago taken the place of his eyes, "Lie to me again and I shall tear your soul from your body and tear it to pieces for all of eternity." he pressed the dagger to her cheek, "Where... did you get this?"
Chapter 9: Damage control
His anger burned her very soul, "Speak, where did you get it?" the shadows started to draw towards her body again.
Chrysalis' eyes widened in fear as she realized he intended to repeat her torture, "A voice! A voice from shadows gave it to us!" she trembled in fear.
The shadows slowed down a bit, "What did it look like?"
"It was a swirl of black shadows, just like the one you stepped forth from."
He sneered at her, "If that is all you know then I have no use for you." the shadows started to move again.
"No! Wait! I saw its face!" she whimpered, "It was a golden mask!"
The shadows froze and she felt something terrible in his emotions, "A golden mask?" his eyes narrowed, "What did it say?"
"He said he had the means to end our enemies! He gave us the artifact and told us to use it!"
"He?... What else?" he shook her with new found anger, "What else did he say?"
"Nothing!" she croaked, "Nothing, I swear!"
His eyes burned into hers as he observed her shaking form. Without another word, he flung her away from him, making her hit the stone floor hard. "Your race..." he said as the mask started to reform around his face, "Disgusts me. You feed of the souls of your prey, tainting their life force, corrupting it... making it as worthless to me as your own."
The shadows started to collect around him, "Had you succeeded... I would have ended this world before you could have corrupted my work. I have watched you parasites for so long now, your mere presence sickens me. Yet... you will live..." The shadows drew closer, until only his mask could be seen, "But know this, when the end comes... I will come for you first." the shadows swirled another time, drew close, and he vanished.
For a moment, he allowed the phase to separate itself from the natural flow, cutting him off from the world and its time flow. He stood and silently watched the darkness around him as he contemplated what Chrysalis had told him. He was certain now, there was a dissident in this world.
When his kind had first stepped into the void they were eager to leave it as soon as possible. They had searched the worlds without rest for years to find a world capable of sustaining their life. When they finally found one though, they learned to their dismay that leaving the void after such a long time was no longer possible by the same means they had used to enter it.
To be able to leave the void and transgress through the dimensions, they had to become one with it. With the fusion came immense power, but not all were suited for this change. For every one of them able to survive the fusion, there were thousands that didn't. In the first week they lost so many that they gave up the notion of leaving the void again forever. Those that did survive the fusion would later become the purveyors, those that remained formed the councils and the royal families, reigning over those that were created within the void.
Naturally though, there had been a dispute between those responsible to feed their kind on how to collect the required life force. The purveyors did not wish to interrupt the natural flow of the cycle, and intended to collect what would remain after a life cycle. Watching, not interfering and waiting patiently for the end of the cycle to come and pass the gathered energy on before the world would vanish, unless it was direly needed or the accumulated energy was in danger of being corrupted.
The others though, the dissidents, had other ideas. They proclaimed themselves above all others, seeing themselves as gods to their people unlike the purveyors who saw themselves as servants to their kind. While the purveyors carried black and faceless masks to show their servitude the dissidents wore golden mask and armor to show their power. They wanted to take the required energy by force, not caring for the countless souls they would doom in the process or the natural order of the cycle. It was disgusting, and it lead to a civil war that pulled all of them into a bloody conflict that cost them almost half of their already diminished population.
In the end, the purveyors had won the upper hand. The dissidents were killed, and the few of them that survived were driven into hiding. There were rumors that some of the older families hid them, but that could never be proven. During the time it took to rebuild their society and reinstate a new form of government, the purveyors ruled. And they did so with an unbending mercilessness for years. The survival of their race was the only thing that mattered, and their actions had insured that.
When they had finally been able to set up a new order and were ready to fully concentrate on their function as purveyors, they were feared by the very humans they served. They had become a nightmare to their own kind. The fact that one of them would return to the void only once in thousands of years served to further deepen the fear of them. It didn't matter though, they had taken a vow to ensure the survival of their race and they would stand by it until their death.
The dissident's actions in this world... he pondered on it. If the dissidents would dare destroy a world on their own, they would be found the moment they opened the tear and be executed. They would not dare make such a move... No, they tried to influence the purveyors instead. They would try to influence his actions... that thought alone was enough to enrage him. If the changelings had succeeded... they would have corrupted everything. They would have tainted the flow in this world, and at some point, he would have to destroy this world in order to protect the collected life force less it be tainted too.
How long had they been playing this game with him? The alicorns' fall, Discords rise and descent into madness... all those events had put him close to initiating the transfer earlier than naturally intended, but now he feared that there had been more to it than he had seen. Combined with the news of a religious conflict rising in the void... it put a bitter taste in his mouth. He would not suffer to be made a fool of like this.
He stepped from the void and reappeared inside the old castle ruins located in the Everfree. It wasn't perfect for what he intended to do, but it would be sufficient. The flow was different here than in the rest of Equestria, free of their magic and more simple to bend.
Slowly, he started to spread out the void from within him, turning and changing the reality around him, tearing at the very fabric of time and space. The air around him started to roar and crack with the energy put free by his actions. The alicorns would not like what was about to happen, but to hell with them. There was a dissident in this world, and he intended to pull him from his hiding place. He would not permit anyone to meddle with his work, never.
They felt it, the moment it started they felt it cut through their minds like a scream. Celestia and Luna rushed to the balcony, watching in horror as they saw the Everfree. A roaring pillar of black smoke was rising into the sky, tentacles of black shadows dancing on its edges. Slowly, a thin, white line started to open in its middle, and a scream thundered through the dimensions that even they could hear.
"No..." Celestia whispered in horror as she watched the unnatural spectacle continue, "Please, no..." Without another word she and Luna flew off, rushing towards the black pillar with desperate speed, both of them fearful of what they would find.
Chapter 10: Out of the dark
The energy cracked around him, splitting the air as it roared around the tear. Even if it was only a small tear in the surface of this world, it was already enough to shake its very foundations. But there was no other way to do this, he put more pressure into his efforts.
Carefully, he started to adjust the frequency of the tear, synchronizing it with the dagger in his robes. He felt the alicorns' arrival, but ignored their shouts and pleas. They would not be able to stop what had to be done here. The tear started to shake in resonance to his influence.
They didn't know what was happening, but it couldn't be good. The way everything around them shook, how the very air seemed to scream at them from the tear... it simply wasn't natural. Celestia tried to call to him, but he paid them no notion. Desperately she tried to reach out with her magic, but it simply washed over him without effect. She tried to approach the pillar of roaring blackness, but the sheer amount of energy pushed her back. She could do nothing, and it scared her.
"Princess!" over the roaring wind she could make out the words, and the realization who it was that called out to her almost made her heart break. She had prayed that of all her subjects, they wouldn't have to be the ones to see this world end.
It was Twilight, with her friends in tow, "Princess! We saw that thing from the village! What is happening?!" she saw him stand in the center of the roaring chaos, "What is he doing?!"
The pillar started to shake, slashing out at the ruins of the castle. The remains of an old tower came into contact with the black tendrils, and shattered like glass. "Get beneath me!" Celestia shouted as she and Luna held a protective shield over their subjects. The tendrils lashed out and trashed everything in their way, making Celestia and Luna grit their teeth as they held their shield. The force each random strike delivered to the shield was terrifying.
"We need to do something!" Luna shouted desperately. She couldn't believe their world would simply end like this.
Before any of them realized what was happening, the purveyor performed the phase shift. The world around them went silent for a mere moment as the tendrils drew inwards towards the tear before their surroundings exploded into sound and light. The sheer force of the shift shattered their protective spell and threw them to the ground.
Celestia carefully stood up, trying to brace herself against the roaring wind that threatened to throw her over again. Besides her, Luna was struggling to keep her footing as well while the elements of harmony hung to roots and debris alike for their sheer life.
She looked up, and saw him. There, in the middle of chaos and swirling blackness he stood, one of his arms shoulder-deep inside the tear as the air screamed and the tendrils slashed and shook around him. For a moment he seemed frozen in this position. Then, with a scream so full of hate and anger it made her shiver he started to slowly pull back his arm, and something started to appear from the tear.
Black tendrils like his own started to come forth from the tear, slashing at his face and armor but doing no effect. As he pulled back his arm, the shadows started to take form and for a moment she thought she could see something golden glint from inside the blackness. Then, with a final, violent pull he ripped the formless mass from the tear and flung it to the ground, the tear closing behind him in an instant. In a mere second, the pillar simply vanished and everything was quiet again.
In front of the purveyor, the black mass of tendrils and shadows flailed around wildly, slowly taking form to shape something she had not seen before.
When it finally took shape, another one like him stood under the night sky. A golden mask crafted to resemble a face covered its head, and where the purveyors plates were black as the night, this one's were colored like pure gold. The purveyor's voice could be heard cutting through the air like a knife, but she failed to recognize the words.
He was talking in his own language, she realized. It was crude and fast paced, like metal scraping over metal. But even though none of them understood what he was saying, all of them trembled at the anger in his voice.
"Did you really think I wouldn't find you?" he addressed the dissident with a cold voice as he stood up, "Did you really think I would stand for such a mockery?"
"You stood for it long enough..." the dissident replied with a sneer, "For over a thousand years I have been trying to corrupt this pitiful world... but they always found a way to survive it. They should know better, and serve our needs... you should serve your people!"
"I serve them how it was meant to be, not by your insatiable hunger for power... That you, of all people never understood this only deepens my shame."
"We were meant to rule! The councils are weak and nothing more than a memory of our old past. Just like these worthless creatures..." he pointed a finger towards the ponies, "They should serve us!"
"Have you nothing but blasphemy in your head?" he thundered at the dissident, "Is there nothing within you that sees how wrong you are? We ourselves interrupted the natural order of things before, and see what it brought to us! Our own world, destroyed! And us, living a pitiful existence in the void!"
"We weren't ready to handle the power then, but we are now! We are gods now! We are meant to rule! Every form of existence should only exist to feed our needs!"
He shook his head, "I should have taught you better." Slowly, the shadows started to form around his hand, extending and condensing to take the shape of a long and curved blade, "This will end here, I will not allow anyone to repeat our past sins, not even you."
The dissident slowly formed his own blade, "You never saw the potential we had, the potential I had! You doomed our race to an eternity of hunger! What is your power worth when you waste it to pick up the spoils? What is our life worth if we spend it in hunger?"
"Even a life spent in hunger is still a life. We live by this way to atone for our sins, and that is all. One day, we will either consume ourselves or the void will consume us. Until then, we will continue to watch, and we will continue to wait in hunger." he pulled up his sword, "That is all..."
The alicorns and the ponies had been watching the conversation with tension. When the blades started to form in their hands, Celestia already understood that something terrible was about to happen here. But nothing could prepare her or the others for the fight that followed.
They moved so fast they could barely be seen, disappearing into the shadows and reappearing behind one another in a flash while bringing down their swords in perfect motion. When the swords collided, it felt like the world was being shattered around her, each collision accompanied by the an explosion of sound, the impact sending a shudder through time and space even they could feel.
For a moment, they would disappear completely from view and leave a terrible silence behind. But then they would appear again, a roaring and clashing form of shadows and steel. The fight went on for what seemed like an eternity as the two forms clashed again and again without mercy.
And then, just as sudden as it had begun, it was over. The two figures stood in front of one another, silent, unmoving. Simply watching one another.
Just as Celestia was starting to wonder why they had stopped though, the one with the golden mask fell over backwards. A deep gash ran over his side, black blood seeping from it quickly and already starting to turn into black shadows.
As the alicorns and ponies watched in silent horror, the purveyor slowly stepped up to where the other one was lying. He watched him lie on the ground for a moment, and Celestia could hear them exchange words in their own language as the wounded one drew in deep and shuddering breaths. Then, without another word, the purveyor brought his sword down a final time, and the other one stopped moving. The fight was over.
All of them stared at the scene before them in silent shock, not knowing what to do next. The purveyor didn't move, he simply stood above the body of his enemy and observed in silence as the remains started to turn to shadows.
Carefully, almost scared to take this step, Celestia walked up to him and watched with him as the figure slowly started to disappear. Again, she felt his presence... but this time there was something new to it she did not recognize immediately. Under all that hate and anger, there was something else... sadness. The realization shook her hard, who had the other one been?
"Who was he?" she almost whispered.
There was a moment of silence and she thought he had ignored her question, but then, with a motion of his hand he let the dagger fall to the ground. It was slowly starting to fade from existence as well, the will that had once bound it was gone.
"He was my brother."
She struggled to find words. What had happened here? Why did this have to happen? Everything she had once thought she understood was starting to lose sense these days...
"I..." she started.
"Three days..." he interrupted her with an even voice as she felt him cut off his presence from her, "In three days I will take you to our council. You will have your chance to bargain for your world... I advise you think of how much you are willing to sacrifice for it." and just like that, he was gone again.
Celestia looked down as the last traces of the other one vanished into black smoke before her eyes. Nothing remained of him to prove his existence. She stared at the ground in silence as the others carefully approached her, three days... in three days she would have a chance to save her world... but what would she give for it? What could she give for it?
He reappeared inside his cave and stood in silence for a moment, trying to contemplate the events of the last days. His discovery, their conversation, his brother... his last words to Celestia. He tried to calm himself, it couldn't be changed now. More importantly, a decision had to be made.
Slowly, he started to collect the void in his hands, forming the connection to the void, directing it around his blockades and executing the phase shift. Before the mediator on the other side had time to open her mouth, he interrupted her.
“Purveyor, identification number six-two-five-one. Clearance level A5.” his voice spoke impatiently, making the mediator shudder. To talk with a purveyor was always a rare and frightening experience for them. To talk with an angered one even more so.
"How can I be of..." she started.
"Set up a conjunction with the council, now." he interrupted her again.
"Of course, purveyor." she got to work immediately.
He waited for the conjunction to establish, what would happen next was decisive. Unknown to the alicorns or the ponies, a decision would be passed that would decide over their very fate. Slowly, the council came into his view and the old zealot stepped forward.
"Purveyor, we had not expected to talk with you again so soon." he said with surprise in his voice.
"The situation has changed..." he stated, "I have found a dissident in this world."
A murmur of unease passed through the council, troubled faces staring at his mask. The zealot motioned them to be quiet, "That is indeed a change for the worse. Has your work been compromised?"
"It has not, though the dominant species of this world are now aware of the intent of my presence."
"Will this cause a problem?"
"It will not, they have yet to take action against me and the dissident has been removed."
"Were you able to identify the dissident?" the zealot asked with worry.
"Former purveyor, identification number six-two-five-two." he replied with a bitter taste in his mouth.
A sign of recognition and grief passed the zealot's face, "Nathaniel?... That is... most unfortunate. I am sorry for your loss."
He shook his head, "There is no need for sympathy, it was bound to take such an end sooner or later."
"Still, he was your brother..."
"We chose our separate ways long ago, and I will mourn for him in my own way when there is time. Send a message to the other purveyors, they must be warned that their work may be compromised. Tell them to search the surface for any signs of interference."
The zealot nodded, "We will send out a message at once." he made a gestures to one of the notaries, "We have to inform you that the situation here has worsened, if anything. The current conflict is starting to spread at an alarming pace, and your discovery may explain the course of the latest events."
The purveyor raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"There is more than a religious aspect now, and demands are rising within the clans to... increase the yield of resources by more... drastic means."
A feeling of unease passed through him, "That is an unthinkable request. You believe that the dissidents may be involved in this?"
"It is a most troubling thought I agree, but a possibility we have to consider nonetheless. The elder council may be involved in this as well."
If the elder council was involved in this... it could mean war. Something that had not occurred in decades. The chaos that would follow would require the purveyors to return to the void to uphold order, which in turn would require them to abandon their work or perform the transfer earlier than planned. A very troubling thought indeed.
"Keep me updated on this, I wish to be informed should there be a clear sign of their influence."
The zealot nodded, "Of course, purveyor."
He paused for a moment, "In addition, I need the council to make a decision."
The zealot raised an eyebrow, "You are referring to protocol five-four?"
"I am. With their knowledge it is only a matter of time until the dominant species of this world will try to hinder my work in an attempt to save it, and with the dissidents on the move once more it could only be a matter of time until they try to corrupt my work again or the current conflict requires my... personal presence." Several members of the council swallowed, they still remembered the days when the purveyors had upheld order.
"You do realize that this is a very drastic step?"
"I do, but it would serve to put aside another issue..."
"Another issue?"
"The leaders of this world have asked me for my... help."
The zealot gave a surprised huff and another murmur passed through the council, "That is... unexpected. Do they realize what sort of compensation they would have to offer for something like that?"
"They are starting to realize it." he stated flatly.
"And what is your assessment of this situation?"
He thought for a moment, would he really consider giving the council this choice? He shook his head, his personal opinion did not matter here. He would abide the protocol like he had always done, but still...
"Either we let them talk before the councils, or have me execute protocol five-four within three days and end this before any new problems appear."
The zealot scratched his chin and contemplated the purveyor's words, "Something like this... has not happened before. To have a species from outside our own stand before us..." he passed a contemplating look over the rest of the council before turning to the purveyor again, "We will reach a decision on this matter within two days."
"Very well."
When the connection to the council was cut off, he stared at the walls of his cave in silence. It was an unethical move of him to demand this decision from the council, the alicorns were hoping for his help, after all. But the recent events were putting his work at risk at an alarming pace, and they had made clear rules for such scenarios.
If the council decided he should carry out protocol five-four or should the conflict in the void spread further, he would save what he could and end this world before new dangers of corruption could form. If they decided against it, Celestia would get her chance to bargain for her world. Even though he already knew that whatever she would be willing to offer, it would not be enough to sate the hunger of his own kind.
Suddenly, he felt a tug on the flow around him. He sent his mind out and traced the lines through the different dimensions, locating the source of the disturbance in Ponyville. What was happening there? He continued to scan the flow, there it was again... like a prodding... Something was trying to step outside of this world and passed the blockades to the void he had set up so long ago. When he understood what was happening he gave a huff of surprise. Where they really so foolish? Would they actually attempt something like this?
Slowly, the void started to form around him once more. He performed the phase shift and sought out the precise location, finding the source of the disturbance within a tree... A sneer formed on his lips, it seemed that he wasn't the only one trying to influence the course of events. Had his words not been enough to warn them of the danger they were putting themselves and their world into? This would not do. This would not do at all.
Inside the Ponyville library, Twilight let out a groan of defiance. "It's not working! Why isn't it working?"
"I'm sure you tried your best, dear." Rarity tried to sooth her troubled friend, "Maybe there really isn't anything we can do. We should trust in princess Celestia to..."
"No! Don't you understand? This is our world! We should fight for it too! If they are really inside the void they must hear us! They can't just decide over our fate like this!" Twilight put on a determined face, "Step back, everypony! I'll try to break through again!"
She concentrated again, sending her magic past her own world and searching what lay past it. The sheer strain it took from her to push her mind so far outside her own world was almost too much for her to handle, but she gritted her teeth and pushed on.
There it was, like an invisible wall surrounded by an impenetrable darkness. The blockade. Only the purveyor truly knew what would await her behind it. She focused her magic more, sending her mind against the barrier in an attempt to break through it. If she could just make one moment of contact, she could get a message to those behind it. And then, they would have to hear them. They wouldn't be able to ignore them, they simply couldn't.
In her concentration, she failed to notice the looks of shock and fear on her friends' faces as a black cloud of swirling shadows started to form behind her.
"Have you not understood a single word of what I have said?" a cold voice snarled behind her with anger.
Twilight was ripped out of her concentration and whirled around with ears laid back. There before her stood the purveyor, the shadows around him were whirling with his anger, making her shudder with each word he formed.
"Are you so intent on defying me that you are willing to risk the lives of your friends as well as your own? Do you really wish to die so badly?" his mere voice made the library shudder and the ponies cringe.
Twilight took a step backwards, "I was just..."
"You were trying to break through my barriers." he interrupted her, "And by doing so, you endangered everything ! Everything I have worked for, everything Celestia has worked for... your lives... your very existence!"
Twilight's eyes filled with tears, "I was just..." she stammered.
"Had you succeeded, had you broken through..." he paused, "Your mind would have been trapped, held so you could not move... and then, the hunters would have come for you... and ended all of you, leaving no trace of your existence behind."
The hunters were an undesired side effect of the fusion with the void. Not all that survived the fusion gained enough power to perform the tasks of the purveyors. They guarded the boundaries of the void instead, able to leave it for a short moment to hunt those that would breach their barriers without permission.
That short moment was enough though, they were capable killers, and they were corrupt. It was a known fact that the clans bought their services now and then, but the hunters were also known to betray them at a whim if they deemed it more profitable. He utterly despised them. Their utter lack of principles made him sick.
"I was trying to help my world!" Twilight shouted in desperation.
"And by doing so you nearly doomed it!" he thundered, "Do you think it would have stopped with your deaths? Any contact not sanctioned by our councils is considered a threat... and they would have me end your world before risking another contact."
Tears started to roll down Twilight's face, "We can't just do nothing! We have to try and..."
"Try and do what? Send a plea across the void? Ask us to starve so your world exists a few decades longer? Have you not listened to a single thing I have told you? We wait for worlds to die! It is only when actions like yours risk to corrupt our work that we end it ourselves. Why do you even care? Your world could exist for thousands of years before the cycle finally reaches it! Your civilization, your entire race could be nothing but dust by then... so why do you even try?"
"Because its our world! We are responsible to keep it safe, no matter what the future brings!"
He stared at her for a moment longer as she hung her head, the shadows around him started to slow down gradually, "What the future brings... is death. There is no alternative, it is the way of all things. You are young, but with time... you will learn this lesson as well. Friends, family, those you hold dear... you yourself... all will pass away, until even the memories of your existence fades into nothing, like our own existence did so long ago..."
The shadows started to collect around him again, "But life will continue, maybe somewhere else or in a different form... but it will always continue, until the cycle finally comes to an end. Savor your life, take part in it. What will eventually happen is out of your reach of time and influence. Celestia may live long enough to see the cycle when it comes, but even she knows that everything must come to an end someday... She knows this much better than any of you could ever understand..."
By this point only his mask remained to be seen, "Celestia will have a chance to make a bargain for the existence of your race... but it will cost her more than you can imagine. If you truly wish to help your world... never try and interfere with my work again, or I will end it myself."
With those words said, he disappeared again, leaving behind a crying Twilight Sparkle and her downtrodden friends.
The void carried him to towards Canterlot Central next. He needed to gather his thoughts, it had been a dangerously close call. Had she actually succeeded... It would have meant the end of her friends' lives and her own, and that was the least dramatic possible outcome.
He hoped that his daily routine of watching the foals would ease his troubled mind. Even now, his thoughts constantly went to the council. If they decided that he should carry out protocol five-four... Celestia would never see the end coming until it roared into her face.
When he found his way to the hallway of the hospital though, he was slightly irritated to see that Celestia was once again waiting for him. He hesitated to make his presence known. Whatever could she want from him now? He was slowly starting to tire of their conversations, what had been said was sufficient already. He had no interest in small talk or philosophical debates.
He continued to observe her in silence, wondering what she wanted from him. As he watched her though, she suddenly spoke up, "Please, I need to talk to you."
There was no way she could have sensed his presence, it was impossible. He checked the time and gave a groan, it was the same time he always came to watch them. It was almost like an inner clock of his, no wonder that after all these years it had become an instinct.
Still, he continued to watch her, unwilling to talk to her. Whatever she had to say could wait until he knew if she would get her chance to talk before the councils. He could see her expression start to become desperate.
"Please, it is important."
He gave a sigh and slightly adjusted the phase so she could see his presence, whatever this was about, he hoped it would really be as important as she thought it was.
A small sign of relief passed over her features as he stepped forth from the void, "Thank you."
"What do you want?" he asked without emotion.
"I need to learn you language." she stated carefully.
This request surprised him, "What?"
"If I am truly to talk before your leaders, I want to do it in your language. As a sign of respect, and so that none can doubt how serious I am and so no translator may give my words a wrong meaning."
He thought for a moment, she would have trouble pronouncing his language but it was possible. However, the sheer size of their vocabulary, their complicated grammar... "Your request is understandable and acceptable, but I fear that two days are too little even for you to..." he paused, realizing what she was asking of him.
For a moment he was silent, and the shadows around him started to pick up their pace once more, "You cannot seriously expect me to agree to something like this..."
"I know it goes against your principles..." she started, her voice desperate and pleading.
"Against every single one..." he commented sourly.
"And I am sorry for putting you in this situation." she tried to sooth him, "I understand that you have been bending your rules much further than you have wished to..."
"Breaking them would be a more appropriate term." he sneered.
"And I thank you for doing this for us... no matter what fate awaits our world. I want you to know that I am grateful for your help, no matter how this will end." she said with the smallest sign of sadness. He realized that she was fully aware of how slim her chances were.
She continued, "But to learn your language, I must ask this of you..." she paused for a moment before bowing down her head in front of him, "Please... Please allow me to see into your mind."
He stared at her for what seemed like minutes, not moving an inch as she held her head low.
"Never." his voice had never sounded colder.
Celsestia cringed, her hope crushed.
"I will not permit anyone to gaze into my mind. Not you, not the councils... no one." The shadows around him leashed out like angry tendrils, twitching at each of his words, chipping the tiles on the walls upon contact. Celestia took a step back. Every word he said hammered into her skull with an seemingly boundless rage.
"Do you even know what you demand?! I hold within my mind the memories of countless worlds. Endless faces and souls gone and past in a flash, worlds shattered into oblivion. Knowledge of races gone, secrets and languages long forgotten. Their history! OUR history!"
His voice thundered through the hallway with those last two worlds, making the glass of the windows vibrate and the lamps flicker as the shadows around him grew bigger and continued to twitch in anger.
"My kind may have vanished from the living world, and those born within the void may have forgotten our old songs and ways... but I will never defile their memory by siding with you! Your world knows nothing of our plight, of our fight for existence! You live a life in a world of peace and prosperity, and yet you think your life is worth saving? You have yet to earn that right, yet to suffer like we have! You have seen so much, but understand so little..."
The shadows started to whirl around him violently and his voice became bitter, "But you will suffer... You will pay the price and you will see what it costs to save those you love... And you will be judged for your actions by those you wish to protect... just like I have been judged for mine. Only then will you have even the slightest idea of what life is truly worth... and what it takes to uphold it..."
A single tear escaped Celestia's eye, the shadows whirled around his form and drew closer to him. His voice became quiet again, and the shadows around him slowed down.
"You try so hard to see an ally in me, even a friend... but remember that all I do only serves to uphold the existence of my race. I watched the alicorns vanish, just like I watched when your mother finally left this world... and I will watch when you and the deities of future generations disappear into nothing but memories as well. Keep that in mind, should you talk before our councils, for they will not hesitate to demand that you sacrifice thousands to save even a few..."
The shadows whirled a final time, before he started to vanish.
"In three days... you will have to make a choice, or accept that your world will one day vanish from existence..."
"You are cruel." she had to fight to keep herself from sobbing.
"I am purveyor." he replied with an emotionless voice before disappearing.
For two days he stayed hidden from them, watching as they tried to continue their lives and ignoring both Luna's and Celestia's calls for him. For two days, he waited for the council to make their decision.
On the eve of the second day, the council finally made contact with him.
"Purveyor." the Zealot nodded towards the purveyor as he stepped forward, "How is your situation?"
"Unchanged. Has the message been passed on to the others?"
"It has. They have searched the flow of their worlds and a few have even reported the slightest stains of disturbances. However, they have yet to find any dissidents. For all we know, your world is the only one they tried to corrupt until now. Maybe it was a test?"
"Maybe... but tell them to keep an open eye nonetheless."
"Of course, purveyor."
"To the matter at hand. Has the council reached a conclusion concerning the fate of this world?"
The zealot nodded, "We have. Are you ready to hear the council's decision?"
"What have you decided?" he asked with an unmoving voice.
"We have decided against their request. This world is far too promising and we are in too dire need of its resources to give it up."
The council's decision didn't surprise him, he had almost expected it, "Then I shall enforce protocol five-four within the next twelve hours. Tell the elder council to prepare the collectors for the transfer."
The zealot held up a hand, "Wait. Even though we will not help them, we will allow them to state their request before the councils."
The purveyor raised an eyebrow, "What is the meaning of this? Why waste time and energy on this if it has already been decided?"
The zealot shifted nervously, "As required by protocol, the royal family has been informed of the situation. They wish to talk with you on this matter personally. Everything will be explained by them."
He shook his head, "You know how I think about them meddling with our work, and I hold no obligations towards them."
"The council is aware of this, but we request that you hear them out nonetheless. It is important."
He gave an unhappy sigh, "Very well, pass on the conjunction. I will hear what they want but there should better be a good reason for this."
The zealot passed from his view as the conjunction was relayed. The purveyor wondered what the royal family could want from him. They had never felt the need before to take an interest in what happened to others less it would take an effect on them... His thoughts were interrupted as the conjunction found its new target and the connection was reestablished, a short shift in the underlying frequencies telling him that this was now a secure channel. A familiar face appeared in his field of view.
"Malaik..." the purveyor had to struggle to keep his anger from betraying his voice.
A small smile spread the other male's lips, "Lord Malaik, actually. But it is nice to see you too, Zaeres. How long has it been since we last talked? It feels like it was eons ago..."
"It was the day I took the duties of a purveyor, and it was the day I gave up my name. Don't use it again." he replied with a threatening voice.
Malaik's smile faltered, "You still hold that grudge against me? I had hoped it would pass with time, but you never were one to forget..."
"Say what you have to say, so I can return to my duties. There is a world I need to harvest."
"Always a man of little words..." Malaik gave a sigh, "About that world. I need you to bring the representative of your current world to the councils before you harvest it."
"What do you plan to achieve by that other than waste my time? The council has already decided against their request."
"I know, and it will not be changed by whatever they have to offer. However, it will help to conceal the true reason of your presence..."
"And that is?"
Malaik's face became serious, "We believe that the dissidents are planning to overthrow the councils during their next meeting."
"Ridiculous, they wouldn't dare to step from their hiding places and risk a confrontation with the purveyors."
"And yet someone is distributing weapons among the clans and trying to spread discontent. Someone is influencing the elder council's line of politics and bribing the hunters and the mediators. Mark my words, should they actually be able to gain the support of the clans and the control of the hunters and mediators..."
"They would control communication..." the purveyor's face darkened in realization.
"And the purveyors would never hear what was happening here until it was already over."
"How many members of the elder council are involved?"
"Only a small portion, but enough... I also fear that there are members in our family that would support the dissident's claim as well. Even though I can not imagine why they would do something so foolish."
He was slowly starting to understand the royal's plan, "And you wish for my presence so I can call out order zero should there be the need..."
Malaik nodded, "There are only a few purveyors with the required clearance. For one of them to appear without a reason would only serve to arouse suspicion. The representative will give you that required reason. Should they really try and overthrow the councils, you will be there to send out the order to the other purveyors."
"And you expect the dissidents not to change their plans when I appear in the meeting? I find this hard to believe. They will see the trap the moment I step before the councils."
Malaik shook his head, "They won't. I even think it would help to accelerate their plans. If you were to initiate the transfer following the denial of their request, the uprising riots inside the clans would be extinguished at the roots, and the dissidents need the support of the clans for their plan to work. They will most like try to kill you to stop that. Even more so once they find out it is you."
"Even so, they would have to act fast. It would only be a matter of hours until the purveyors would return to uphold order."
"But those hours could be enough I fear. However, if you had them be at the ready, waiting for your signal to enter..."
"It would be over in minutes." he thought for a moment, "Very well, I will bring the representative before the council tomorrow. We shall see whether your information is correct."
Malaik's face became strangely concerned, "Do they know you are about to initiate the transfer?"
"They do not."
He gave a sigh, "You know, Zaeres. I still don't understand why you left us, you could have..."
Before he could continue, the purveyor ended the conjunction, cutting off the connection and returning his gaze to his cave once again. Zaeres... he had not heard his old name in a long time, and he did not wish to hear it again. His eyes scanned the walls of what had been his home during his stay in this world, his thoughts concerned with what would happen on the following day.
Celestia's plea for help would be denied, and unknown to her, their world would be destroyed shortly after her return. The dissidents would likely make their last attempt to gain control, and the purveyors would end them once and for all instead.
He shook his head with a sigh, many things would find an end tomorrow, and only a few were aware of it. For a moment, he felt an old pain pass through him. He would probably miss this world.
He started to make the required preparations, waiting for the sun to rise. Tomorrow, he and Celestia would enter the void.
Chapter 14: Into the void
When he found Celestia, she was standing on her balcony, looking over Equestria with a sad expression on her face. The last three days had been hard for Celestia and her sister. Untold to anyone else, Celestia had finally come to a decision. She now knew what she was willing to give... what she needed to give. The weight of her decision weighed heavy on her mind, and she knew it would cause much pain to those she wished to protect, but it was the only way.
She and Luna had said their farewells in the morning, and she knew that somewhere in Ponyville, Twilight would be watching from her telescope. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a shadow pass through the air, signaling his presence.
"Are you ready?"
Celestia turned around, "I am."
For a moment, he took the time to look at her face... she looked tired, but also determined. It would break her heart when the councils would deny her request but that couldn't be changed now.
He stepped up to her, "Stand close to me. When I open the tear, do not move or you will be lost during the transfer."
She nodded and stepped close to him, feeling slightly at unease to being so close to him.
The shadows from his form started to change, growing and slowly starting to turn red as he imbedded them with his blood. Gradually, they started to surround the two of them, growing thicker and picking up more and more speed as they swirled around the two of them. The shadows became thicker and the wind started to roar around them, her vision of the world around them blocked off by the roaring darkness around her.
The ground beneath her started to shake, the shadows became faster. She looked up, seeing the last signs of light vanish as the shadows closed over them. For a moment, she thought she would lose her footing, but he grabbed onto her and held her close. The roaring became louder, screaming at her like a thousand voices and making her shut her eyes in pain.
He performed the phase shift, everything around her became silent.
Celestia opened her eyes, and found herself surrounded by nothing but black and even though she could feel his hold on her, she couldn't see him. With a flash of light that blinded her, the world around her exploded into sound again and she was yanked around with enough force to send her to her knees.
Then, everything was quiet again and she felt a hard surface beneath her.
"Welcome... to the void." she heard his voice say with bitterness.
When she opened her eyes again, she looked up into his mask, and behind him she saw... nothing. There was no sky, she realized with dread, only an unending darkness that spread into all directions.
"This is the tower of the purveyors..." he explained with an unmoving voice, "It is the highest building here..." he stepped to the edge of the large and flat platform and motioned her to follow.
When she stepped up to the edge and looked down, she felt her heart come to a halt. Thousands of feet below her, spreading out beneath them like an endless maze and up to the horizon of her sight, she saw an endless city. Countless towers of blackened concrete and glass spiraled upwards, each of them big enough to dwarf her own castle. Millions of tiny lights could be seen below, sparkling like stars in the distance.
Beneath the towers and the countless bridges that connected them, she could see an endless labyrinth of smaller buildings so far away she couldn't even see the ground. Between the smaller buildings, and under even more bridges and countless lines spanned through the air like an impenetrable web, only darkness could be seen.
But she could feel them... millions of souls, moving relentlessly and without pause. And even from so far away she could feel their hunger. The hunger of a whole world... it sent a shiver down her spine.
"Incredible..." she said with wonder, "I can not even see the ground..."
"There is no ground." he commented next to her, "The void was empty when we arrived here and it still is. We build this city around the old sleeper ships we used to come here..." his voice became tired, "Gravity, an atmosphere... even the air you now breath... it only exists because of our technology and our will to survive. But without energy... the machines will fail to work and this city will fall apart." he turned around an headed for the center of the platform, "Be careful of your steps, should you fall here there is only the void to fall into... and your wings won't work without air."
She followed him with quick steps, "If you are able to bring me here, why not bring other forms of life as well?"
"Because the energy it costs to bring anything alien to this place in a form more complex than pure energy greatly exceeds the energy we could gain by doing so. Organic or fossil fuels, air, water... it is more efficient to create these things here when we need them rather than to bring them across the dimensions. It took me a whole day to draw enough energy to bring you here."
He reached the center of the platform and placed one of his hands in a small depression. She heard him mutter a few words, and the ground beneath him gave off a faint glow. Before her eyes, the platform started to shift, slabs of concrete moving aside to create an opening. After another moment, she could hear a faint humming sound grow louder and a cabin of glass and metal ascended through the opening. When it stopped on their level, two doors soundlessly shifted open and he motioned her to follow him once more.
"Follow me..." he said as he stepped inside the cabin.
"What is this?" she asked as she carefully approached it.
"It's an elevator... normally we would take the stairs to save energy, but there is a time schedule we need to fulfill. Step inside." he commanded with impatience.
The moment Celestia had stepped into the cabin, the doors slid shut again and the cabin started to descent at a dazzling speed. "Where are we going?" she asked in wonder as she watched countless levels pass them on their way down. She caught glimpses of machines and symbols unlike anything she had ever seen.
"We are going to get you a ghost." he stated.
"A ghost?"
"Not all of our attempts to infuse bodies with life are successful. Sometimes the souls fail to form a connection. The ghosts are a result. They are empty hulls, alive yet without thought of their own. Some of them though, have abilities we find usable."
The cabin stopped, and the doors slid open as the purveyor and Celestia stepped out. They were in a large, circular room with chambers alined on the wall. Inside the chambers, she could make out countless figures, unmoving and seemingly asleep.
The purveyor stepped up to one of the chambers and pressed a button. There was a soft buzz and a sheet of light came to life before him, moving and changing as the purveyor trailed his fingers across it.
"Some of them are mediums, able to receive and pass on thoughts by telepathy. Since there still are countless languages amongst our kind, they are often used to aid communication."
The sheet of light vanished from view, and the chamber opened with a soft hiss. Inside the chamber, a being similar to his own appearance started to move. As the ghost stepped out and stood before the chamber, Celestia eyed it with wonder. It stood absolutely still, and not a sign of recognition or conscience could be seen on its features.
"Operational function three-point-four-five, acquire." the purveyor spoke with clear words.
The ghost moved its head towards Celestia, fixing her with empty eyes, "Acquired." a feminine voiced escaped its mouth, "Operational function initiated. Protocol will be carried out."
The purveyor turned to Celestia, "She will process your thoughts and pass them on, thus enabling communication without translation. As long as she stays within your vicinity, you will be able to understand what the council says." the ghost stepped up next to Celestia, waiting to follow her, "Come now, we need to keep moving."
She followed him into the elevator again, the ghost staying by her side all the time. The doors closed, and the elevator started its descent again.
"Why is there no one inside this tower?" Celestia asked as they shot past more levels.
"The tower is off limits to anyone but the purveyors and a few members of the council, and we are always working..." he stated.
Celestia glanced at the ghost beside her, she was staring straight ahead and stood perfectly still, "Does she feel anything?"
"The ghosts' bodies are fully functional, but there is no mind to process emotions... they are dead to the outside world except for their function."
She gave the ghost a sad glance, "How sad..."
He didn't reply, but instead waited for them to reach their designated level.
When the cabin came to a halt once more, Celestia found herself in a large and empty room. A large door was on the other side, and another one of his kind waited in front of them. While the ghost's face and eyes were unmoving and empty of all emotion, this one showed a warm smile with kind, but tired eyes.
"Purveyor." he greeted them, "I take it this is the representative of world six-three-two-four?"
"This is princess Celestia, deity and ruler of Equestria, the main nation of their world." the purveyor introduced her.
He bowed before her, "A pleasure to meet you princess. I, am zealot Harrigan of the council. I will accompany you during your time here."
"Thank you." Celestia replied, surprised by his kind voice.
The purveyor nodded, "Take her to the audience hall at once, make sure everything is in order and she has time to prepare herself for her hearing."
"Of course, purveyor."
Celestia turned to him, "You are not coming?"
The purveyor shook his head, "I have other matters to attend to before your hearing. I will arrive once the audience starts. Make use of the time until then to prepare yourself." he stepped back into the elevator, "Zealot Harrigan is trustworthy, I have know him for a long time. He will assist you and answer any questions you have concerning your hearing. Until I return, follow his guide."
With those words the doors slid shut again and the chamber descended, the opening closing again after the cabin had passed.
Celestia turned back to the zealot, "Is there anything I should be aware of?"
The zealot shook his head, "I am sorry, but even the council does not know all of what the purveyors do. The lower levels of the purveyors' tower are off limit even to the councils and the royal family. Rest assured though, he will return to hear you talk before the councils. Please follow me now, we will head straight to the audience hall from here on."
Chapter 15: Home of forgotten prayers
Level upon level passed his vision as he shot on deeper into the bowels of the tower. Soon, the different levels vanished from view and he continued to speed on down through concrete and darkness. His destination was the lowest level of the endless city, where the last remains of their history would await him.
The darkness ended, the chamber had passed through the base plate of the city formed by the old sleeper ships. And here, suspended hundreds of feet beneath the never-sleeping city, like a pendant under the canopy of the giant construction of steel and concrete... the cemetery awaited him.
On a broken plane that spanned many miles in all directions, countless graves and mausoleums grew from the ground like an endless maze of stones, dust and bones. And far in the distance, on the highest rim of the shattered and torn plane, and on the verge of the endless void, stood the cathedral... where his kind had once lamented their sins and woes to their old god.
He knew that some of the purveyors still prayed to the nameless creator, trying to find refuge in the thought that someone was still watching them or at least heard their silent words. He had no use for such hopes, he knew well enough that no one was listening... the cathedral was a silent witness to that fact. There was only the void now, and it swallowed everything.
The cathedral and its cemetery were the only piece of their old home they had managed to bring into the void, but the ground was devoid of life, and those that had sought shelter within the cathedral and their prayers had been alone when the cataclysm of their world swept over it. Now, only dust and bones remained... and the souls of the dead.
They couldn't be seen, but he could hear them. Millions of voices and emotions running through the void and clinging desperately to the earth beneath his feet. Silent prayers whispered into the endless darkness, carrying the hopes and pleas of their forgotten home. Even if no life could be drawn from these grounds, they had found a new purpose for it under the endless city. The souls of the dead were driven by the memories of their old home, and they sought it without pause to find rest.
This place, these last remains of their home were the only place the souls could find. Once a place of rest, the old cemetery had become a cage, catching the souls of the dead and keeping them until new bodies were ready to be infused with life.
The cabin reached the floor of the graveyard, and he could feel the souls stir at his presence. Screams, crying, words of love and hope... the souls were forever suspended in their last moments of life, fated to relive them again and again until they were given a new body to fill.
The purveyor started to walk through the maze of the cemetery, ignoring the whispers of the countless souls around him. His destination was clear, it was the only place far enough away from the city and near enough to the void itself to call out order zero and carry it on to the others of his order... He walked through the graveyard, and towards the cathedral of forgotten prayers.
Celestia eyed the city beneath her with fascination as the shuttle carried them onwards and between the countless towers of black glass.
"I've never seen such technology!" she whispered, "What incredible knowledge and possibilities... and what terrible despair..." even from here, she could see the riots in the streets below. Occasionally, she would catch glimpses of fire below, and armored troops marching on the rioting citizens, "What is happening?"
Zealot Harrigan passed her a sad and tired smile, "They hunger. Our resources are starting to run low again, and those unlucky enough to live on the lower levels feel it first."
She eyed the streets below with sadness, "Is it always this bad?"
He shook his head, "We have seen worse... but the riots have been more violent and quicker to start these days..." he gave a sigh, "A decision will have to be passed soon... the purveyors will not be happy. They have been demanding that we lower the energy usage for years now..."
She swallowed, she knew very well what decision would have to be passed.
"May I ask you something?" she asked with a quiet voice, the ghost next to her translating it perfectly both in language and sound level in an instant.
"Is it about your hearing?" he asked, "It will take some time until we reach the audience hall..."
"No..." she shook her head, "It's about him."
A moment of surprise passed Harringer's features, the smile beneath his beard faltering slightly, "Oh... that is... a difficult subject. I shall try to answer your questions as I am able to. Please, understand though..."
"That there are subjects you cannot speak about because you can't or you won't?" she finished his sentence with a sad smile.
"I see the two of you have been talking. You should consider yourself proud, only few ever had that chance." he gave a sigh, "Very well... what are your questions?"
"Who is he?"
Harrigan looked away from her face and onto the streets below, "He was the first..."
The old doors of the cathedral gave off an agonizing groan as he pushed them open and stepped inside. No candles burned inside the old place of worship, only the never-sleeping city above cast an eerie and faint glow over this place, and the broken, colorful windows basked the inside of the cathedral in strange reflections.
It didn't matter, he knew this place by heart. Every broken and shattered bench, every book on the ground and every pillar... nothing here had been touched in centuries.
Every step he took towards the old altar echoed through the empty halls, stirring up dust in his path. The whispers were stronger here, so many had sought shelter inside the cathedral... and not one of them had left it again.
As he approached the altar, he eyed the wooden cross on the ground with a strange feeling... no matter how many times he convinced himself that the nameless god wasn't listening, it still felt as wrong to see it lie on the ground as it had the last time he had been here.
He was about to reach down and pick it up, but he stopped, suddenly aware of something else behind the countless voices.
"Is this the moment of your surprising entry?" he asked with a cold voice.
"It was supposed to be... But you never were one for surprises, were you, Zaeres?" Malaik stepped forth from the shadows with a small smile.
"I told you never to call me by that name..." he didn't turn to look at Malaik, "Did you really think I would be so foolish as to trust you?"
"But you did, didn't you? After all, you came here..." Malaik's smile grew bigger, "And here, on the last piece of earth... the first of the purveyors will finally die..."
The sounds of a hundred swords being drawn echoed through the cathedral.
"He was the first to enter the void." zealot Harrigan explained, "He had been researching it for decades already even before we knew that our world would fall apart... and it was him that made our escape into the void possible..."
"He was a scientist?"
"More than just that... he was a visionary." Harrigan said with sadness, "More than anyone else, he believed in the future of our race... and it broke his heart when we failed." he turned to her, "He found the way to become one with the void, founded the order of the purveyors, formed their ideals and protocols... and he was the first to make the transition."
"So he is their leader?" she asked with surprise.
He shook his head, "The purveyors do not have a leader... not in the conventional sense. They have a code and protocols they abide to at all times. However, they look up to him for guidance nonetheless... Like children would look up to their elders..." he sighed, "And there is another thing that makes him different..."
Celestia waited for him to continue, but Harrigan seemed to hesitate for a moment, "What makes him different?"
"This is something only few actually know..." Harrigan looked at her for a moment, "Did you see his eyes?" he asked with a strangely tight voice.
Celestia shuddered at the memory, "I did... there was nothing in them... only darkness."
He nodded, "Very well... then know this. He is the only one with eyes like that." he saw her confusion, "The purveyors, are all different. Not one of them is equal to the other when it comes to their capabilities and their influence on the void. Some barely manage to perform their duties, others are able to bend the void to their will to a certain degree. But not one of them ever achieved a connection to the void like he did. Every detail that is hidden to normal eyes, the fabrics of reality themselves and the very essence of the void... he can see it... and he can control it where others can only bend it. He was the first and the last to truly become one with the void... and here , within the very void that runs through his veins..."
"He is a god..." Celestia whispered, her heart suddenly feeling even tighter than before.
Harrigan gave her a grave look, "You may think he is powerful from what you have seen in your world... but I have seen for myself what he is capable of in the void... and what he is willing to do to uphold order..."
"I always knew that there was only one member of the royal family that would actually consider to side with the dissidents..." the purveyor spoke with a cold voice, "But that you come here, to this sacred place of our history..." he passed his hand over the others, "And that you bring the likes of them to defile it even further... you sicken me."
"You live by the rules of a dead world..." Malaik replied, "And we have suffered for its sins long enough... Once you are gone and the councils are under the dissident's control, the remaining purveyors will have no choice but to accept the new order."
"They would rather let you starve..."
"Even so, the few dissidents are more than enough to supply us with a never-ending flow of resources... I had honestly hoped your brother could have taken your place today, but things seldom go as intended, don't they?" he smiled, "Our useless, old history will vanish with you... and those in the councils that will not bow to us will join you on this glorious day."
The others readied themselves for their attack, the purveyor didn't move.
"It will start soon, they are already waiting for the hearing to start... Do you have any last words? I have a hearing to attend and councils to take over."
The purveyor gave no reply. The others moved, speeding towards him with drawn swords.
He closed his eyes, and he listened.
When he opened his eyes again, he could see... everything. Malaik, the hundred clan members he had brought for his murder... their connection to the void... everything was frozen before him, every little detail revealed to him clearly. The life flows of those that were given form within the void were forever connected to it, unknowingly becoming part of it.
With a silent word formed on his lips, he reached out... and separated their connection to the void.
A hundred swords fell, and a hundred rigid bodies hit the floors uncontrolled as the souls that once controlled them were ripped from the flesh. The only ones that remained standing, were him and Malaik.
"What?... How?.." he started to stammer, eyes wide in shock.
The purveyor started to walk towards Malaik, stepping over the bodies around him with slow strides, "The history you find so useless, could have told you what it means to oppose me here... and if you had looked outside your golden tower even for a moment during our frantic efforts to uphold order, you could have known as well..."
Before Malaik could react, the shadows from the purveyor's form lashed out, ripping him off his feet and dragging him towards the purveyor.
"Do you think I carry my title only for show? Did you really think it would be this simple? Your ambitions are over your own head...." he sneered as he dragged him along. When he reached one of the old windows, he held Malaik up before him, "Did you really think you could simply change what I build up so strenuously over thousands of years?"
"It doesn't matter how powerful you are, the clans are already on the rising. They'll accept the dissident's rule no matter what you say... the councils will have to bow before the demands of their own race and the purveyors will finally lose control..." Malaik wheezed, "Things are changing once and for all, and the purveyors will no longer be part of our future."
"You clearly underestimate our devotion to our cause..." the purveyor replied with a dark voice, "We can rebuild what you corrupted... and those that won't accept the natural order we demand... will die."
On the outside of the cathedral, the sound of a crashing window could be heard echoing softly, followed by the screams of Malaik as he plunged into the void.
Inside the cathedral, the purveyor started to chant, drawing the void towards his form from all sides. As he became one with the underlying realities of the void, he sent out a single sentence, letting order zero thunder across the dimensions.
There was no need for him to wait for an answer, he knew. The purveyors would hear his message, and they would come to wipe away those that would disturb the order they represented... by all means necessary.
Chapter 16: Celestia's choice
"It is time." Harrigan motioned her to follow him, "Answer only when spoken to, and be careful of your words... all hearings of the councils are broadcasted, and the situation in the slums is already difficult."
Celestia quietly followed the zealot through a long corridor lined with guards, not one of them sparing them even a glance as they passed.
"Will he be there?" Celestia asked as she followed him.
"I am not certain whether he will actually attend the hearing, he never had a taste for politics. These days though, I wouldn't be surprised. Rest assured though, even if you can not see him, he will be watching." they reached a huge set of doors with motionless guards standing on either side. In front of the door, a small man in a long robe was waiting for them.
"Is this the representative of world six-three-two-four?" he asked with an unmoving voice.
"She is." Harrigan replied.
"Good. Her hearing is scheduled next." he turned to Celestia, "This elevator will bring you to the hearing platform. The councils will start your hearing once you take your place."
Without a visible signal given, the doors slowly moved open, revealing a large elevator inside.
"I am going to take my seat among the others..." Harrigan bowed before her, "I wish you good luck."
"Thank you." she returned the bow.
Celestia took a deep breath, collected her thoughts and stepped into the elevator. The doors closed silently, and she shot upwards. As the lights flashed every time she passed another level she felt her heart beat faster than it had beaten in thousands of years.
She thought of her sister, of her student, of their home... and how her next words would decide its fate. All of those thoughts were pushed aside though, when she reached the hearing hall.
The building had already been impressive from the outside, a huge and black obelisk towering above the other skyscrapers like a monument, only dwarfed by the spire of the purveyors' tower. The inside however, was breathtaking.
A seemingly endless chamber reached up above her so far she could barely make out the top, and on the walls there were countless illuminated seats circling the chamber like thousands of rings, all of them taken but the highest circle. Even in her fascination, she realized that these seats would most likely belong to the purveyors.
And at the very bottom of the cavernous hall, on a platform in the center and visible to all sides waited a small podium. The doors slid open silently, and she stepped forward.
As Celestia approached the podium with quiet steps she could hear the members of the councils talk with hushed voices, the ghost at her side processing them into nothing but whispers as well. Here and there she saw surprised faces and fascinated eyes follow her every step, but most of them seemed impassive to her appearance.
On the highest level of the hearing hall, hidden by the void and watching Celestia's every step the purveyor waited for his time to come. He would hide his presence for as long as required, less it would inform the dissidents of Malaik's failure.
As he watched her walk towards the podium he felt a small tug on the surrounding layers of the void, a signal only he could hear. The purveyors had arrived at the edge of the void, and they were waiting for his command to step forth and take control.
His mind trailed the borders of the void, searching for the slightest disturbance, evaluating every nuance of the underlying dimensions. For a moment he saw nothing, but then he found what he had been searching for. The dissidents were waiting on the border as well, and just like the purveyors, they were watching.
Now... he would wait for the dissidents to make their last move, and for Celestia to make hers.
"You are, representative of world six-three-two-four?" a zealot with a white beard asked her, his voice amplified and carried throughout the chamber by unseen technology.
"I am." Celestia replied.
"Please state your name and title."
"I am princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria."
The zealot nodded as one of the notaries wrote down her words with a few types on a screen of light.
"Princess Celestia, are you aware that your presence here is highly against protocol and that a hearing of a race from outside the void has not taken place before?"
"I am."
"Then tell us, why have you come here today?"
Celestia took a deep breath, "I wish to ask for your help."
A murmur went through the countless rows, but the hall went quiet again as the zealot continued to talk.
"You are referring to the cycle?"
"I am."
"According to our information, it could still take decades before your world is faced with its cataclysm..."
"Or days judging by the riots in the streets outside..." she interrupted him, "I am fully aware of what may happen should the situation here become drastic."
The old zealot frowned, "There are many worlds for us to choose from, and we will take the one with the lowest yield if necessary... but that aside, do you realize what you ask us to do?"
"I ask for our world to be saved."
"And you ask for us to give it up in the process. Preparations and efforts thousands of years old would be laid to naught. Putting aside the fact that we would squander countless resources by sparing your world in spite of our needs, what help would you expect us to offer?"
"Whatever it takes to save us." she replied with sadness.
The old zealot scratched his chin, "There is... a way. We have long ago learned how to travel across the worlds, and even though we are no longer able to use this knowledge, it may be used to transfer a limited amount of individuals to another world should the time come." His brow furrowed further, "But the energy required for such an act is simply unthinkable... It would require thousands of sacrificed lives to transfer even one individual. Do you understand what I am telling you?"
Celestia collected all of her mental strength, "I am..."
"Then you understand that a compensation for the lost energy would have to be given?"
"I do."
The old zealot observed her intently, "And how many would you be willing to sacrifice to save even a few?"
Celestia returned his gaze, and with a steady voice born from determination she said, "Not one of them."
For a moment, there was silence. Then, a roar of outrage erupted from the council members around them. Everywhere, Celestia saw twisted faces shouting at her in disbelief and anger while the old zealot simply observed her in silent shock.
On the highest floor of the audience hall, the purveyor raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Silence!" the zealot's voice thundered through the audience hall, amplified to a point were it hurt the ears, "Silence, I say!" the fierceness of his voice surprised even Celestia.
Slowly, the commotion started to die down, and the council members returned to their seats with unpleasant faces. When they had somewhat calmed down again, the old zealot gave her a stern gaze.
"You would expect us to spend a world's worth of energy out of pity and without compensation?"
"I did not say that, but I am unwilling to sacrifice any of my subjects to save others. I wish for all living beings of my world to be saved when the time comes."
His expression turned into a distrustful one, "Then what else would you give us as compensation? What could you possibly have to offer that outweighs the life force of an entire world? What else would you give in return for our help?"
All of the council members watched her in silence, waiting for her next words with anxiety. Celestia closed her eyes, her thoughts returning to her home, her sister, and all of her friends she had lost to time already. When she opened her eyes again, she spoke with a clear voice, and the ghost at her side translated them into their language.
"I would give you a sun."
A single moment later, the council exploded into commotion. Shouts and screams alike thundered in all directions as the members of the council tried to make themselves heard, but the commotion turned into a full panic when shadowy figures clad in black or golden armor descended into the audience hall like a thundering wave of clashing metal.
On the highest level of the audience hall, the purveyor watched the chaos below. In a single moment, everything had fallen from his grip of control... the purveyors, the dissidents, the council... the order he had worked so hard to uphold... everything had fallen into chaos. Even from here, he could feel it spread over the endless city like a fire.
And down below, standing in the middle of the chaos like a confused filly as both guards and hunters stormed into the hall, he saw her. With just a few words she had put his plans to ruin. A silent curse escaped his lips as he stepped over the edge of the platform, and in a shroud of roaring shadows he plunged towards the podium beneath him and onto Celestia.
Chapter 17: Zaeres' decision
Celestia looked around herself in shock. Everywhere around her she could hear screams and the clashing of swords and metal. All over the ranks of the council, a battle was in process unlike any she had seen before. Shadowy figures flitted through the air at impossible speeds to clash with one another in a spray of sparks. On the lower floor, guards and hunters were locked in fierce and bloody fights to the death.
Above her, the air roared.
Celestia looked up, and into the storming shroud of darkness as it descended upon her. And then... nothing. Just like the time she had entered this world for the first time, everything around her had vanished and a terrible silence had fallen over her.
And in the impenetrable darkness that surrounded her, she could hear his voice like thunder, "This ends here..."
The world around her roared into life again, and she felt herself picked up and torn around violently by a massive force, almost falling when her hooves connected with the ground again. When she opened her eyes, she realized with terror that she was now on a huge graveyard.
And standing before her, with shadows roaring around his form and framed by an intimidating cathedral stood the purveyor, a soft glow forming from his mask of black glass as it reflected the fires in the endless city above them.
"To think..." he said, "Had I known what you would offer I would never have allowed you to come here... When did your mother tell you about the last act of your race?" his voice carried no emotion, but the shadows around him clearly showed his dangerous mood.
"She didn't..." Celestia replied with sadness, "I figured it out on my own long ago. When an alicorn dies..."
"A star is born..." he finished her sentence.
There was a soft hiss as his mask started to dismantle itself, and for the second time she found herself staring at his dreadful, empty eyes.
"Do you even realize what your words have caused?" he asked with a heavy voice.
"I thought it would give you hope! If you had a star here, wouldn't it give the energy your kind needs so badly?"
He frowned, "It would... To bring such a massive energy source into the void is something we were never capable of... and we have tried in vain to create a comparable source of our own."
"Then what happened? Why is everyone fighting?"
"They fight because of the hope you offered them." he replied, "For as long as they can remember, there has always been one, single form of order. The purveyors and the council select and harvest the worlds, the royal family transforms the energy and the elder council distributes it among the clans. That... has been the only form of order those living here have ever known."
His frown deepened, "And now, with your words... the order that has been upheld for so long has been rendered obsolete in nothing more than a moment... The very pillars of our society have been crushed by nothing more than a few words and the hope for a sun."
He made a motion with his hand, and several screens of light came to life, showing countless scenes of riots, chaos and battles.
"The councils see their power and influence shattered, and they fight to uphold it just like the dissidents... they demand your death. The void-born clans see a chance to rise to power for the first time in decades, for with a sun they would be free of their dependence of the councils and the purveyors. They know the councils will not give up their power, so they fight to destroy them... and the purveyors..." he sighed, "The purveyors remember their old home. They are torn between their vows to uphold order and their dreams of a long-forgotten past... Some still stand to their old vows, others are driven by hope, and the rest... just want to settle old debts."
He made another motion with his hands and the images disappeared again, "And now... the endless city burns in the fire of their hunger, just like our old home burned for our hunger so long ago. I had hoped so much that they would learn... that they could become more than we were capable of... but our hunger never ceased. Just like before, hunger and hope drives them to war."
Celestia observed him in silence for a moment, "And what about you?"
He looked at her, a strange expression on his face, "Me? I have watched for too long, I now realize. Our encounter, your words... you have driven me to a point where I can no longer watch or hope to uphold the order I thought was necessary. Now, I will have to make a decision."
His face became hard, "Should I allow you to sacrifice yourself so our world is blessed with a sun, and render it to chaos in the process? What would become of the purveyors and those not born in the void? Would they find a new way to live, or would they simply be forced to vanish all together? Should I kill you or throw you back into your world, then storm through the endless city in an attempt to quench the fires by nothing but terror? Would I dare enforce another age of oppression and starvation for the sheer cause of upholding something that has no future?"
He sat down on one of the gravestones with a heavy sigh, the shadows around him starting to die down more and more and his expression turning grave.
"But I can understand their hunger... I can understand their wish for more than a simple life here... I can understand their hope, and I can understand the fear of the councils and the purveyors of the future such a change would bring. But I also know that without their hunger to unite them, the clans would start to fight for power once more. And just like before, I know it will be our downfall. I am starting to realize that our kind has no future in this place, that even with your sun or my influence, we would do nothing but prolong the inevitable."
Celestia turned pale as she realized where his thoughts were going, "You can not seriously be saying that..."
A sad smile spread his lips, "I wish for my kind to finally die?" a moment of silence passed between the two of them, "Perhaps it is time for me to accept that I was wrong to bring us here, that I was a fool to believe I could build up a new world here. We do not belong in this place, and I failed to see it for long enough."
"You tried to save your own kind just like I try to save mine..." Celestia replied.
"And look where it has brought us..." he moved his hand over the scenery above. By now, the whole city was ablaze.
For a moment he turned his head to look up, a strange expression followed by one of sad realization passed his features, "It seems the decision has already been made for me..."
Before Celestia could understand his words, a blinding flash of light erupted from the city. When she looked up, she watched in silent horror as the audience hall broke through the lowest plane of the endless city and fell towards the void beneath.
"The void-born have cut the audience hall from the city... and once again, hope turns to madness..." he whispered as he saw the tower fall.
"You must do something! Save them!" Celestia shouted as the tower fell past their plane.
"There is nothing I can do... not even the purveyors or the dissidents can escape this, unlike me they need too long to form a transition... they are lost to the void... And they aren't the last..." he replied, "Look..." he pointed upwards.
Celestia watched as more buildings started to fall, each of them accompanied by a blinding flash.
"Why? How could my words cause something like this?" she whispered as tears started to fill their eyes.
"Because that is what they demand... Your words only accelerated the inevitable." he stood up again, and the mask reformed around his face, "And now, as this city finally tears itself apart... I will make my decision."
Celestia watched him approach her with gut-wrenching feeling. He stood in front of her in silence for another moment as the city fell apart above them, the shadows from his form starting to grow.
"Go home." he said with a somber voice, "Live your life."
"What will happen to this world?" she asked with fear, "What will you do?"
The shadows started to roar around her, becoming so thick she could barely make out his mask.
"Whatever I need to do."
He performed the phase shift, and with a final roar of the void, she was gone. Only the purveyor remained on the old graveyard, looking up at the burning and crumbling city above him as countless thoughts ran through his head.
For the first time in decades, he felt a strange form of peace settle over his mind. He started to walk towards the old cathedral with quiet steps, and with his last words... he called the void to finally swallow their world.
How long... how long had he been drifting through the emptiness around him? How long had he been here, suspended in darkness and silence? How long had he been waiting for the void to finally swallow him?
It felt like he had been here forever, yet the memories of what had transpired still felt as alive as on that fateful day. He remembered... the endless city ablaze with the fire of their hopes and desires, how it fallen to pieces before his very eyes and how the void had come to claim it at his command.
He remembered Celestia.
He felt a strange emotion run through him. With all that had happened, all the things he had done and forced upon himself and his kind... was this how it had always supposed to be? Could he have done more or should he have done nothing at all? It was strange... somehow, he felt... incomplete.
The purveyor stared into the impenetrable darkness around him, why was he still here? Why would the void not let him pass on? Had his connection to the void really become so deep, or was there something he had failed to understand? Was there something he had missed? He had been ready to fade into nothing just like his kind, yet here he was... still alive.
Alive... that word served to make anger swell inside his heart like a storm... Why couldn't he find peace? He listened, he searched... sending out his mind through the endless darkness, trying to find an answer for a question he did not understand... But there was nothing here except him and his thoughts... and the void.
He could feel its presence like an omniscient being... watching him, unmoving, waiting for him to... The purveyor frowned, his tired mind churning the question over and over again, what was the void waiting for? It had not hesitated to take the others, so why did it not come for him? Why did it hold onto his existence with such perseverance?
His memories came back to life before his eyes... The demise of their old home, their step into the void... all the faces of humans he had once known, or at least thought he had known... his decision to become... more. So much had changed since then, yet he had always remained the same. His pain, his devotion... and his loss.
His loss... The purveyor felt an old pain overcome him. With all his knowledge, all his power and in spite of his efforts he had not been able to save her... and he had never forgiven himself for that.
The purveyor shut his eyes with a tired sigh. He had nothing but pain and old memories of his failure left now... he felt... old. But this had been his decision, or had it not? So he would wait, in darkness and listening to the presence of the void... until he would finally disappear himself.
Then... movement. His thoughts came to a halt, was his mind playing a cruel joke on him? No... there it was, a soft and slow movement within the endless expanses of nothing. What was it? What else could there be, hidden in darkness besides him? He had seen everything of his old world swallowed and vanish, nothing could be here! Yet there it was, like a small stone lying at the bottom of a lake... unseen by the rest of existence like himself, waiting to be found and brought to the surface.
Awakening from what seemed like eons of dormancy, the purveyor reached out slowly, letting his mind close the distance to the object and drawing it towards him. Moving through the void, forming and bending it to his will... he had not done it for so long, yet it came at his command like it had always done... unchanged, just like himself.
He felt the object draw near and opened his eyes, his sharp gaze passing through the void unhindered and coming to rest upon... he froze.
It should have been impossible, yet there it was... breaking all the rules of logic and floating before him untouched like it belonged here. Impossible... and still, here it was.
Slowly, he reached out with his hand, fearing it would fade from existence the moment he touched it. His fingers made contact, and he grasped it, pulling it up to his face to inspect it from all sides.
It puzzled him beyond belief how this could have come here, especially considering where it must have come from. Had it simply sprung into existence just now, or had it been here longer? Why had the void not swallowed it the moment it had appeared here?
He read the symbols written on it, letting the word sink into his mind. Slowly, as he continued to stare at the object in disbelief, he felt something rise within him he had almost forgotten.
It began with the tiniest of chuckles, almost unrecognizable to himself, but then it grew in force and vigor, growing louder and clearer, echoing through the void around him until his sides hurt and tears started to form in his eyes.
For the first time since the fall of his old home and in countless years, the purveyor laughed with his whole heart.
Held in his hand as he continued to laugh, there was a little, pink cupcake... 'Smile' written onto the sugarcoating with happy letters.
So, since I received a few complaints about not mentioning this in earlier chapters, I will do so now.
For those interested or unaware, I have made a sequel to this story, you can find it here; The Watcher: Rise of the Purveyor
Sorry for the late update, enjoy the rest of your day ^^
Have a wallpaper as an apology.
"Welcome, to another episode of Behind the Scenes !" the female unicorn smiled broadly into the camera, "I am your host, Starlight! This week, we will look behind the scenes and meet some of the actors of the series that has taken the nation in a storm! This episode and live on on television for the first time, we are going to get a look inside what really happens behind the mysterious series of... The Watcher !" the audience applauded, "So let us welcome our guest with a hearty applause, I give to you... Snow Blossom!"
The camera whirled around to face a large armchair next to her own desk. Under the applause of the audience, a slender and tall unicorn with a white coat entered and took a seat.
"First of all, let me express how deeply all of us were touched by your astonishing performance of our beloved princess Celestia. If I understand it correctly, you worked as a model for several years before you took up acting."
"That is correct." Snow Blossom replied with a kind smile.
"Tell us, how big of a challenge was it to play princess Celestia?"
"Since it was my first major role, it was of course quite a task. I took classes in royal etiquette and demeanor so I could perform the role to its best."
"And you did it so marvelously..." Starlight chuckled, "But tell us, how much time did you have to spend in make up?"
"Two hours each day, the make up artists do take their job very serious. Plus another hour required for the enchantments of the wings and the flowing mane."
"You have been nominated as most beautiful mare of the year by the Trotropolitan, and several stars already swear to your beauty plan."
"A mare should look after herself. A good, healthy diet and a regular workout are something everypony should be capable of."
Inside Canterlot castle, princess Luna turned to her sister, "I've never seen you workout before."
Princess Celestia put on a sly smile, "Some of us bring our inner beauty forth naturally..."
Luna frowned before looking back at the television, "Well, she does look more in shape than you do. Maybe you should think about a diet other than cake every day."
Celestia visibly deflated, "There is nothing wrong with a healthy figure..." she looked down herself before proclaiming with a proud voice, "I have held my weight for a good thousand years now."
"Strange..." Luna chuckled, "I could have sworn your thighs weren't as wide before my thousand years of absence."
"Oh, hush you."
"Now..." a conspiring smile appeared on Starlight's face, "You probably know already what I'll ask next, but I simply need to sate my curiosity." her voice turned into a whisper, "What is the Purveyor like? How was it to work together with an actual deity? Viewers all over the world were thrilled to find out that the Shadow Emperor himself played the role of Zaeres."
"Of course, it would have been nice of the director if he had informed me of this fact in advance." White Blossom mentally cringed as she remembered her first day on the set. The Purveyor had appeared in a roaring ball of darkness to ask whether she knew the number of the room service... She had responded by screaming like a filly and locking herself in the bathroom for a full hour... mainly due to the fact that he had simply reappeared next to her and she had broken off the key in a frantic attempt to flee.
It had been a difficult start.
White Blossom shook her head, "It was quite a surprise for me, I assure you."
"We were all surprised." Starlight laughed, "Up until that point, most of the population wasn't even aware that there actually existed a deity of the void!"
"Don't I know it..." Snow Blossom whispered out of hearing.
"So!" Starlight gave her an expectant grin, "How is he? How was it to work with an actual god?"
"He is..." White Blossom frowned as she thought of the best way to answer the question. What was he like? What words could possibly describe his strange character? Did she even know what he was for that matter? "He is a very... interesting... person. I failed at first to realize it, but there is much more to him than just his status as a deity."
"Like what?"
"Yes, please tell us. "
Both White Blossom and Starlight turned to the side in surprise as a whirling cloud of darkness appeared in the studio and accompanied by the surprised gasps of the audience, the Purveyor stepped forth into the open.
"You're here?" White Blossom asked with a suddenly nervous expression. He had never talked or appeared to anyone outside the show's crew before... ever.
"I don't believe it!" Starlight cried out.
"I don't believe it..." Celestia let out a groan, "Please tell me this is some kind of joke!"
Luna scrunched her face, "Maybe this is some sort of show gag?"
Celestia let her head drop, "No... I can tell from the way the shadows move. It really is him. What is he thinking?"
"It's not that bad..." Luna shrugged, "Many of us make public appearances, what about it?"
"Luna." Celestia frowned, "The deity of the void, the keeper of all knowledge and secrets is about to give an interview on international television. This includes secrets of national security, anything the deities ever did, anything we ever did or said... not to mention the things we did not."
Luna's face paled a bit, "Oh..."
"Exactly." Celestia got up, "I need to make a call, right now."
"This is a monumental event! For the first time in history, the Shadow Emperor is making a public appearance!" there was a short round of sullen and nervous applause from the audience. Starlight beamed a large grin at the Purveyor, "Welcome, to Behind the Scenes !" her smile faltered a bit as he did not reply or even move, "Heh... heh..." she quickly beckoned to one of the staff ponies, "Let us get you a seat so..."
"There is no need. " the Purveyor's hollow voice cut her off, "I can supply my own. " he made a small gesture with his hand and immediately black shadows shot up from the ground, collecting and condensing into a black throne as he sat down.
"Wow!" Starlight gasped at his display, "Can you form your shadows into anything you desire?"
"No. "
"Okay..." Starlight grinned nervously, "So maybe we can..."
The Purveyor ignored her and turned to White Blossom instead, "You were about to tell the viewers what you find interesting about me... Please, continue. "
"Why are you even here? I thought you didn't make public appearances?" White Blossom gave him a curious look.
"I made an exception. "
"Why?" Starlight carefully asked from her seat.
The Purveyor turned his head towards her, making her gulp as she looked into the black glass of his mask, "I wish to make a few statements of my own. "
"You do? I mean, of course you do!" Starlight gave a nervous laugh, "Do you have any words for your fans and our viewers? Would you mind if I asked you some questions?"
"I do have some words for the viewers of the show... you may ask your questions afterwards. "
"Alright... So... what do you wish to tell your viewers?"
In between Starlight and the Purveyor, White Blossom gave a quick and silent prayer, "Please let this go well..."
The Purveyor turned towards the camera, "Three things I wish to say to those concerned; One, stop praying to me or sending me sacrifices. It is stereotypical, disturbs my work and I am not your god... and I hate it when your burnt offerings and letters appear in the void. The void is not your personal trash bin, and I do not sell knowledge or power for your soul! "
White Blossom gave a sigh of desperation, "And here goes our reputation..."
"Which brings me to point two; I am not a wishing well. I can not make princess Celestia or Luna fall in love with you, and neither am I in an active relationship with them... so enough with the erotic fanfiction about it! " his fist struck down on his throne, making everyone present in the studio flinch, "It sickens me... " his voice took an even colder tone, "And I know where you live... " his head turned to Starlight, who had grown very pale, "I know everything. "
Starlight gave a quick nod, as if affirming an unasked question, "Got it."
The Purveyor turned back to the camera, "And last, but most importantly... " he was interrupted as a ringing noise rang out in the studio like a cricket in a silent night. The Purveyor's shadows twitched and he slowly turned back to Starlight who was currently staring at the phone on her desk with a look of pure horror.
"Heh..." Starlight gulped, "Fancy that, I thought I turned it off..." she started to fumble with the phone, "Just... let me answer this real quick!" she opened the phone and placed it against one of her ears, "Hello?"
"I am tempted to feel insulted. "
White Blossom leaned towards the Purveyor and whispered, "Please stop making open death threats to our fans! I for one would like to have a job for a bit longer!"
She might as well have spoken out loud, her microphone was still on.
"Those weren't threats, they were promises. " the Purveyor paused, "Are you wearing your mane differently today? " unlike her, he did not lower his voice... and unnoticed by White Blossom, the audience was listening intently now.
"You noticed? Do you think it's not a bit too casual for a public appearance?"
"It suits you very well. Though I advise using another hair conditioner... this one tends to be a bit... glossy. "
White Blossom blushed and gave a sigh, "I know, but I do have a marketing contract and..." she shook her head, "Did you already talk to Gerald?"
"I did. Even though I do support the charitable act of funding a hospital wing, I told mister Noll that naming it after me would probably be unwise. It is a hospital for foals, after all. "
Next to them, Starlight was talking on her phone with an almost panicking voice, "Yes, of course... can I just say that is an honor to actually... Of course, your highness... Immediately, your highness..." she held the phone towards the Purveyor with a shaky hoof, "It's for you..."
White Blossom gave her a curious look, "It is?" she turned to the Purveyor, "Don't tell me you still don't have a phone of your own."
The Purveyor gave a grunt, "Do you even know what a phone call across thirteen dimensions costs? " his shadows snatched the phone from Starlight's hold and he took a look at the number on the display, "I wonder what she wants... " the shadows carried the phone close to the side of his head, "Hello, Celestia. "
There was a murmur of surprise in the audience, and White Blossom gave Starlight a terrified look, "Celestia?! As in, princess Celestia?"
"Don't look at me, I don't even know where she got my number!"
Next to them, the Purveyor was talking on the phone, "Mmm... Mmm... of course I do... No... No, I do not... You're watching? Hello, Luna! " he waved into the camera before turning to Starlight, "If I flip Celestia the bird, are you going to blur it? "
White Blossom looked at him with shock, "You wouldn't dare!"
Even in the studio, the audience could hear furious shouting come out of the phone, "What? You said yourself I should pick up on today's traditions... What? Celestia, it's not a secret if everyone knows it... Oh, for the love of... Everyone knows you eat too much cake! How would that be relevant to the national security? " the shouting increased in volume and the Purveyor held the phone away from his ear, "She does tend to rant a bit... "
"You do realize that if she is watching this, she can see what you're doing?" White Blossom commented with a sour face.
The Purveyor shrugged, "So? " he returned the phone to his ear, "Listen... can I call you back later? I'm giving an interview... got those flowers by the way, very pretty... This again? Celestia, I am not going to... Yes... yes, I promise. Feel better now? " the shouting from the phone ceased, "Wait, does the central pact of ordinance count as a state secret? " the shouting immediately began again, "I was joking! " he groaned, "No... No, I am aware of the possible implications, so calm down will you? " he snapped the phone shut with a sigh, "That mare can be so picky at times. "
"You really know princess Celestia?" Starlight asked with wonder.
"Of course, all deities know me. Fin' gre and I go golfing once a month. " he shook his head with a sigh, "Now where was I... Ahh, yes. Point three. " his voice became deadly serious with his last words.
"Don't do it..." White Blossom whispered desperately.
"Point three... " the Purveyor nearly hissed, "This is a message to the public relations board of Care Hoof Industries... "
"Pleaaase..." White Blossom begged.
"If you ever make another diaper commercial on my expense, I will personally drag you all into the abyss! " White Blossom let out a defeated sob, "Seriously, I know that the void swallows all... but that? That is just insulting to my person and degrading towards my work! " the Purveyor paused before turning to Starlight, "That is all. "
"Okaaay..." Starlight replied with a nervous smile, she was obviously not used to deities making threats on her show.
"You are unbelievable!" White Blossom shot at him.
"I am merely defending my status as an independent deity. " the Purveyor replied, "That commercial was made without requesting my permission! "
"Nobody even knew you were real until two weeks ago!"
"Soooo..." Starlight carefully interrupted the two, "Can I... maybe ask you some questions?"
"Ask. "
"How is it that the world was kept without knowledge of your existence for such a long time? Is it a conspiracy?"
The Purveyor shook his head, "No, no... It was due to the nature of my being. I exist in the shadows, and usually am not one to mingle in the affairs of the living. I concentrate on stemming the flow of souls as they pass on. Celestia on the other hand, now there is conspiracy material for books! You wouldn't believe the skeletons she keeps in her closet, right next to her emergency cake, of course... " he chuckled at this joke.
"I'll kill him." Celestia stated with a solemn voice.
"You really have emergency cake in your closet?" Luna raised an eyebrow.
"I DO NOT HAVE CAKE IN MY CLOSET!"
"Did you just make a joke?" White Blossom asked with a skeptical frown.
"It wasn't apparent? "
"You're not exactly a comedian..." White Blossom sighed. She had come to understand some of what he found humorous, but his mere appearance always made it hard to tell how serious he actually was.
The Purveyor crossed his arms with a huff, "I was born for comedy. " There was a short moment of silence as everyone stared at him with unbelieving eyes. He let his gaze fall on Starlight's confused face, "Or would you disagree? " his shadows twitched.
"No!" she quickly replied, "Of course not! After your perfect enactment of Zaeres, I am sure you can play anything you desire!" Starlight tried to rearrange her memo cards, "So... In one of his interviews the author of the story, G. Noll, stated that he considered your support for this series as absolutely crucial. Tell us, how did he manage to recruit you for this role?"
"Well... " the Purveyor scratched the chin of his mask in thought, "I am the deity of knowledge and secrets, so finding out wasn't that hard. I was actually the first to appear at the audition. "
"And you just jumped on board?"
"I found the idea highly entertaining. After I read the script and some minor adjustments I was more than happy to supply the role. "
"Minor adjustments?"
The Purveyor let out a laugh, "He wanted me to have a skull mask... I thought that was simply immature. Wait, let me demonstrate. " his mask suddenly realigned itself and took the form of a terrifying skull with black flames dancing around it and two red spots glowing in the sockets, "How would anyone take me serious looking like this? " with every word he said, more flames shot out between the teeth of the skull.
Somewhere in the audience, a pony fainted.
The Purveyor restored his old mask, the glass reforming without revealing even a glimpse of what lay beneath.
"I see your point." Starlight gulped before turning to White Blossom, "And I can imagine it was quite helpful for you to have access to someone that actually knows princess Celestia personally!"
"There have been certain points that required his experience." White Blossom's features turned sour, "And others which certainly did not..."
"You asked me for all information on Celestia, and I delivered it. " the Purveyor gave an undignified huff.
"What I asked for were tips on how to portray her the best! What you gave me were detailed records on anything Celestia did for the last eight thousand years!" White Blossom snapped back, "Where she went, what she did... even what she ate! It took days to carry them out of my loft! Do you even know how much trouble I could get into? What if I accidentally learned of some top secret underground facility?!"
"I marked those folders with red labels. " the Purveyor replied with an almost casual voice.
"You could at least have helped me to get them out again!"
"I told you, I have a very busy schedule! "
"You take care of the void! There is nothing in there!"
"And it's endless! Deal with that, young lady! "
"What is that even supposed to mean?"
"There are secret underground facilities?" Starlight asked with an open mouth.
The Purveyor turned to her for a moment, "Of course not! What are you? Five? They moved those to the moon five hundred years ago! "
Somewhere in the distance, the roof of a certain castle exploded.
"What was that?" Starlight asked out loud as the ground beneath them gave a short shake.
"That's just Celestia flying off the handle. " the Purveyor waved a dismissive hand, "Let her rant a bit and she'll be fine. " he paused and looked up, "Actually... you may want to hurry up and end the show. She's headed this way. " he was silent for another moment, "Wonder what got her so worked up... "
White Blossom let out a groan, "Really?"
"No. "
The camera swirled to Starlight, who was watching the ceiling with a worried expression, "Well, that just about sums it up for this show. A big applause for White Blossom and the Purveyor!" there was a tentative applause, "Next week, we'll get an inside look at what happens behind the scenes of the Reader !" the roof started to shake, Starlight gulped, "If we're still here, that is..."
Author's Note
Longest chapter I ever wrote...
Chapter 1: Interception (edit)
He did what he had always done, he watched, and time slowed down to eternity. He had seen the changeling for what it was, even when it came to the throne room in disguise. He had seen the concealed weapon, he had seen the poison, and he had watched. As always.
The leap of the changeling towards the throne as it threw the dagger, the perfect arc as it sailed towards the princess, the look of surprise and horror on her face as she attempted to stop it with her magic only to find she could not. It was inches from her chest now, spiraling towards her heart.
He watched, the image seemingly frozen before him. He stood there beside it and pondered on it for what seemed like hours as it etched ever so closer towards its target. Then, for the first time in eons, he reached out and touched something.
As time came back to its normal pace around him, he looked at the thing in his hand, the blade wedged firmly in his fingers, blood already seeping from a long cut between the black cloth encasing him. The being gave a surprised huff; he hadn't felt physical pain in centuries and he hadn't expected the blade to actually be able to cut him. While he considered this, a scuffle on the floor informed him of the guards trying to apprehend the changeling, but he knew it was to no avail; the changeling had taken its own poison before entering the throne room.
Suddenly he felt a shift on his side and he turned to look down at the alicorn who had taken a step back, an expression absolute terror on her face as she looked at his had it not been for the polished black glass hiding it. She was bigger than her subjects, but still almost a head smaller than him.
He heard surprised gasps from around him as the others suddenly became aware of his presence. Suddenly he realized what he had done, the thought unnerving him greatly. Opening his hand, the dagger fell to the floor, clattering with the volume of a steel pipe echoing amidst an expanse of empty space. He looked at the alicorn for a second longer and then he did the one thing that came to his mind naturally.
He disappeared.
The princess had meant to welcome the delegates sent to her from the different cities. Even though it was a monthly routine, she stilled enjoyed seeing her subjects. The sight of the changeling hurling the dagger towards had surprised her only a bit; she had felt its presence as it entered the castle. But mild alarm shifted into extreme dread as her attempts to stop the projectile had no effect and time seemed to slow down around her as she saw the weapon drawing closer.
What happened next turned fear to disbelief and then to terror. The dagger simply froze, inches from her chest and hovered for a single moment before something formed around it. Shadows swirled about the blade and became denser, solidifying into what looked like a claw, growing into an arm, a body, and finally something the likes of which she had never before seen.
There, before her, standing on two legs and towering over her stood a creature that nearly made her blood run cold. It seemed to be made of black cloth and metal scales, shadows of the deepest night, deeper in color than even her sister could produce, if that was possible, continuously dancing and forming close to its surface. With dread she realized it had no face where she expected it to be; there was only smooth, rounded black glass, the rest hidden in a large hood.
She heard a tiny *plick* and looked to see dark blood slowly dripping from its claw and took a surprised step back. The creature turned towards her, and as she looked at its face again, Celestia wished she were anywhere else.
There was only the blackness of the glass, polished to a degree where she could see herself in it like a mirror. And yet she felt its eyes on her. She shivered. The gasps of her subjects rose in a chorus as they became aware of the creature. She found herself wanting to run away, but she could not. She was locked gazing into the darkness of the black mirror, unable to take her eyes off it.
A clang resounded through the room and brought her back to reality as the blade dropped to the floor. The one who let it fall stood there for another moment, then shadows formed from the air around it, collected around the creature and then it was gone.
He gazed around the royal library and let out a small sigh. Even from here he could detect the commotion in the castle. This day was not going as planned, but if he lay low for a while, things would surely... a sound from the floor caused him to look down.
There was blood on the floor... another drop fell from his wound. Noticing it in higher detail, the cut would take a while to close. The poison was strong but it would pass. Then a realization hit him that caused his heart to skip a beat for the first time in ages.
They had his blood...
He had left a clear evidence of his existence. A frustrated groan escaped his lips as his eyes surveyed the library. He had no plans for such a scenario. So he just stood there, and tried to think about what he could do.
After some time his thoughts were interrupted as he could start to make out the voices of the two sisters draw near. Even through all those closed doors he could hear them, as clearly as if they were standing right next to him.
"Sister, why are we not simply teleporting to its location? It seems odd for us to creep upon it like shy fillies. Are you even sure that thing is in the library?"
"Yes Luna, the spell can trace the location of anything once you have a part of it..." A curse escaped his lips as he heard her words, "And I would rather avoid startling it, seeing that it saved me from an attempted assassination."
"How can we even be sure it isn't dangerous? We know nothing of this creature!"
"We will have to find out. I do not think that it means harm, but we should be wary in case it attacks us in an act of poor judgment."
Poor judgment? He was starting to regret intervening now.
They stopped outside the doors, he could hear Luna whisper, "Is it still in there? I cannot feel anything." She sounded scared.
"According to the spell it is."
"So, what now?"
"We enter and greet it."
His mind screamed at him to hide, but how would that help now? It was already too late to hide since they had his blood. He turned away from the door to stare out the windows. The town of Ponyville lay below. His last visit there had been almost a hundred years ago.
The doors behind him opened, followed by slow hoof steps. This day had gone far from planned.
They stepped into the library and halted as they saw the creature. It was facing away from them, standing absolutely motionless. Even the black shadows weaving their mystic patterns on it seemed to move slower than naturally possible.
Celestia looked at it, unsure how to proceed. She glanced at Luna, who seemed just as clueless and she even looked a little scared. She cleared her throat.
“Hello?” she asked carefully, her voice almost betraying her.
It almost sounded like a whisper, but he heard it, he could hear everything. He turned around and looked at the two sisters.
There was Celestia, the deity of the sun, and she appeared nervous, something he had not seen for quite a while. Next to her was Luna, the deity of the moon, and she appeared downright frightened. She had actually taken a step backward when he had turned, her eyes fixed on his face.
He looked at the two sisters for a while, pondering his next move.
“Hello?” He was pulled from his thoughts as Celestia addressed him again. She started to step forward, and he took a step backward. The alicorn ceased her timid advance.
“We mean you no harm creature. Can you understand me?”
He just looked at her. Getting seen was already bad, but talking? That would be like being the first person to jump off a bridge and hoping others would follow.
“Sister, do you think it understands you?” Luna had carefully stepped up to her sister, anxiety draped across her brow.
Celestia mused over the question as the standoff continued, the creature hadn’t emitted a single sound yet. She couldn’t even see a mouth in its face, or anything else that she would normally expect on it; just the reflection of the library. “I do not know. I cannot even see a mouth. Maybe it cannot speak?”
She looked at him intently. He took another step back for good precaution. It actually surprised him when Luna addressed him, “Can. You. Understand. Us?” she mouthed the words slowly. He was tempted to feel insulted.
He cleared his throat and started to form the words. He knew the language, he had listened to it long enough to know it by heart but he had never spoken it. Their language was completely different from his, the same sound could have a hundred different meanings depending simply upon pronunciation. And he had not used his vocal cords for over a thousand years now.
"HHhhelloo..." it was more a cough than a word, and it sounded strangely detuned as the mask carried the vibrations of his voice.
The princesses were startled by the strange voice, but they understood. Celestia was the first to recover from the initial shock, “What are you?”
“I.. watch…” his vocal cords strained to create the sound. He couldn't manage to pronounce it quite right yet, but with practice his vocal cords would start to function correctly again.
“You watch?”
“I be watch…” there was an awkward silence.
Luna spoke up, “You mean you are a watcher?”
He nodded, “Yes, that… pony talk hard to pronounce, few words but many meanings. My talk have much words with one, same meaning...”
Another plick sounded through the library, the wound was still bleeding. Celestia gave him a worried look, “Would you allow us to tend to your wound? I guarantee that nothing bad will happen..”
In that moment hell broke loose.
While concentrating on the two sisters he had neglected the movement in the rest of the castle and was caught off-guard as the doors to the library were literally ripped of their hinges with magic and a purple unicorn came rushing in.
“PRINCESS CELESTIA! I HEARD ABOUT THE ASSASSIN! IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT? ARE YOU... WHAT IN ALL OF EQUESTRIA IS THAT THING!?”
He had been busy holding his ringing ears in horror, but when she noticed him the events of the day became too much and his instincts finally took over. In the exact same moment she looked at him, he disappeared again, letting the void consume him and take him away. Left behind stood a befuddled Celestia, a facehoofing Luna and a suddenly very nervous purple unicorn.
“Was that…”
“Yes, Twilight. That was the creature that saved me from the attack...”
“Eh heh, I may have been a bit…”
“Loud?” suggested Luna, at which Twilight blushed.
Celestia shook her head, the day had been tiring. “Twilight, gather your friends in the throne room. Luna and I shall search for the creature again and try to convince it to trust us.”
“I’ll get them immediately!” The unicorn rushed off.
“Let us hurry sister, the creature is still wounded and he may need our help.”
“He? How do you know it is male?” Luna asked.
“I assumed by the sound of its voice, but you are right, we should be careful as to how we address it.” Celestia concentrated and her mind once again set out in search for the strange being. When she located it a small gasp escaped her, “The Canterlot station for the newborn…”
“What is it doing there… surely it wouldn’t do something to the foals would it?”
“I doubt it, but we should hurry nonetheless.” There was a flash of light, and the two sisters were gone. All that remained was the blood on the floor, slowly turning into smoke and then disappearing completely. He would not leave his blood again.
When the two sisters arrived, he was standing in front of a large window viewing the sleeping newborn inside. Celestia said something to her sister, who promptly disappeared. He didn’t move in the slightest, not even after she had slowly walked up to him.
When she used her magic to float some bandages to him, he slowly reached out and took them, the magic breaking away at his touch. “You’re a spell-breaker! But how did you vanish?”
“No magic, is ability. Shadows bound to blood and bones.” He simply stated as he started wrapping his hand. It was an understatement by far but the complicated theories of his abilities were not something he wanted to share with them. Not like this at least.
“Do you often come here?”
“Always, watch young ones sleep. Keep bad thoughts away.” She actually smiled at that. On the other side of the glass, one of the foals had started to whimper in its sleep, the little legs twitching occasionally.
Without a word to her he simply slipped into the shadows and reappeared beside the foal's bed without a sound. Celestia immediately followed through the door. Her magic was not silent and she did not wish to wake the other foals. There was worry in her voice, “What are you doing?”
He didn’t answer to her. Instead, he reached inside a pocket and pulled out a small object. It was delicate, little wheels and springs aligned with a precision unlike anything she had ever seen, and it looked old. He carefully twisted a part of it, and when he released it all the small wheels set into motion. A song filled the room and carried across the air as he held it close to the foal.
When the song had ended the little foal was once again sleeping peacefully. He put the music box back into his pocket. He turned towards Celestia. She was staring at him with huge eyes and he saw many things in them: recognition, wonder, shock, sadness, but most recognizably, fear. He simply stepped out the door, not making a sound, nor waiting for her to follow.
She approached him much slower this time, “That song…” her voice was but a whisper now, “My mother always hummed it to me and my sister…”
“I know, played it for her and her mother, and mother before and before…”
“How long? How long have you been watching?”
He continued looking over the foals, “Always…”
She looked at him. Could it be true? What did it mean? She shook her head, this would take time to solve. “I would like to invite you to come with me to the castle and have your wound taken care of. Is that alright?
He shook his head, “No. Is late. Still have duties.” He didn't actually have any duties planned for tonight, but the conversation with the princess was making him feel increasingly on edge. It was his first real conversation in eons, and it felt extremely strange to him.
“Tomorrow, perhaps then?” she asked carefully.
He pondered on it for a second, but he couldn’t see any other way around this. “Yes.”
“Then tomorrow for tea it is.” He turned to look at her for a second and she visibly cringed, “If, tea is alright?”
“Tomorrow… tea…” And with that, he disappeared into the void again.
Celestia stood alone once more, many questions and worries on her mind. She looked onto the floor and saw the bandages he had left behind. The dark spots slowly fading into smoke. “Mother, what have we uncovered?”
Author's Note
So, here's the first chapter. Those of you following the now closed one shot section may already know this even though I made a few tiny changes. Let's see where this goes.
Two hundred years had passed since her return to Equestria, and even now, Celestia thoughts still returned to the purveyor and his final words. Much had changed during this time, but they had never heard of him again and it filled her with sadness to think of what must have come of him and his kind. No matter what they had done or what they had been, they still had deserved more in her opinion, and it saddened her even more that she had been a part of their end.
And now, as she did so often these days, she wandered the halls of the ruins of the old Canterlot Central hospital, her memories always leading her to the old station of the newborn. Would they suffer the same fate as them? What would they do when their final moment would finally come? What would she do?
As her inner turmoil threatened to overtake her once again she continued her way down the long corridors, stepping past dark and abandoned rooms and tainted glass. Even though this place held no meaning to her subjects any more, it still served to wake old emotions in her. Ever since that day she had viewed her own rule and her subjects with very different eyes, and it filled her with sadness to think of the weight of the decisions he had carried with him for so long.
She wondered, if things could have been different. If there would have been a way for them to help one another... could they have found a way to travel their roads together? So much knowledge had been lost with his race, so much experience that could have helped them on their way into their future, but it was lost now. And she still had so many questions for him unanswered... her mother, the disappearance of their race... all the stories and fates he had carried with him... it still made her shudder.
Celestia continued her walk towards the newborn station, but stopped dead in her tracks as she reached a corner. In the silents hallways of the old hospital, she heard something she had not heard in over two hundred years. Was her mind playing a cruel joke on her?
She strained her ears, first hearing nothing... but then, there it was... the faint melody making her heart miss a beat as she recognized it.
Celestia rushed down the hallways with a maddened pace, countless thoughts and emotions running through her head, but all coming to a halt as she rounded the final corner.
A small swirl of darkness softly drifted through the air.
"Hello, Celestia..."
