My Little Pony: Eternal Harmony "Fanfic Preview · 4:28pm Jul 31st, 2020
Yep! Its time to take a look at the prologue for Eternal Harmony, or at least a portion of it. I hope you enjoy and that this intrigues you!
Twilight would never get used to his appearance. From a distance he looked like an ordinary earth pony in a dapper navy blue suit, but if you got a close look at him you'd realize something was very wrong. The first think you'd notice were his eyes. They were pitch black, but they still shone. It was as if a raging fire was burning directly behind them. They were such a terrifying presence on the strange pony's face that it would almost distract anyone from everything else wrong with it. His face was used to smiling, and the smile would seem to be genuine. That wasn't the problem. The problem was it made you wonder how he came by that joy in the first place. His name was short, almost to the point of being peach fuzz. Making a diamond of yellow running from the top of his head, to the back of his neck. This stood out against his rust colored coat.
He was sitting on Twilight's throne at the head of the round table. He was already staring at the door. Already meeting Twilight's eyes. "Not like you to be late, is it?" the creature said, casually.
"Scratch," Twilight growled.
"I'm in your seat," the strange pony said. He got off of Twilight's throne and paced around to the front of the room. He took a look at the Council of Friendship's worried expressions, and a smile nearly cut the top of his head off. "Now you all don't look happy to see me at all. You'd think I wasn't welcome. Twily, you should probably introduce me. It would help break the ice."
Twilight nodded. "His name is Scratch," Twilight said, not breaking eye contact with the strange Pony. "He's the Warden of Tartarus... He gives me an annual report on the state of the prison."
"Everything's fine, by the way," Scratch offered. "Keeping your three most wanted shacked up nice and tight. Unless I get distracted, or... You know... Lose interest. They won't be getting out any time soon."
"He seems to have an important job to do," Fluttershy said timidly. "I don't understand why I find him so... Unpleasant."
"Unpleasant?" Scratch said, with mock offense. "Now, Flutters. That's just straight up unkind. You know your better than that. At least, that's what you keep telling yourself..."
"What?" Fluttershy said, shocked. "What do you mean?"
"You really wanna know?" Scratch said, giving his gleeful little smile. "I mean I... could go into your cruel streak... But you've come to terms with that, haven't you?"
"Oh, I get why he's unpleasant," Rainbow Dash said dryly. "He's a jerk."
"Dashie, I could go into the fact that you're terrified you'll measure up to Spitfire," Scratch continued calmly. "Or how AJ is afraid of her little sister growing up. Or how Pinks isn't sure she's a good mom. Or how Rarity is worried about her age is creeping up on her. Or how Twily is sad that your age is creeping up on you..."
The council all looked a little more Melancholy than they did when Scratch started talking.
"But that's the thing," Scratch sighed, sitting on the council table. "You all know these things. You've wrestled with this self doubt. You've talked it out. You've overcome all of it. I would be proud of you but it kinda leaves me at a loose end."
Twilight had never broken eye contact. This was what he did. He reached inside of you, found all of your worries and doubts, and put a big spotlight on them so the whole world could see them. So that you thought they were the only thing that mattered. From there he could twist you to do what he wanted with a few well chosen words. That aside, he was right. They had all moved past those issues by helping each other. Twilight remembers the emotional council meeting where she came to terms with her immortality. So that left one pertinent question.
"What are you doing here, Scratch?" Twilight said sternly. "What do you want?"
Scratch gave a little shrug. "Cut me loose."
Well. What did you think? Thanks for reading.
Looks good!