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// 3/1/2022 - Chapter 42 - Self-Deprecating 
// Story: The Stereotypical Drafts 
// by JinxTJL 
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It felt like he'd asked that so many times, as Nightmare Moon held her promise of truthful answers just over his grasping hooves. When was She going to stop needling him and just tell him anything?!

Maybe never; as She continued to simply hold that lofty smile over him; leaning Her head back from its gradual lean with a smug air. "There's something I feel you must understand if we're ever to continue, Light. When I say that a pony is a weapon, I want you to see outside of the traditional meanings.


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"I'd hope that you've found my meaning already, but if it is not clear enough: I am saying that there is far more than one way to use, and even abuse a pony. Different methods for utilizing them, as one might any regular tool."

His face twirled into a rough scrunch as he looked through the rant for some hidden understanding. There must've been something, right? 

Well, if it wasn't a trick, then it wasn't that hard to understand. A simple matter of forward thinking. A little ethically dubious, but what had She taught him that wasn't?

Very straight forward, though. Of course he knew about using ponies, it was a frequent topic between the two of them. She practically never left the topic.

Obsession or what? Maybe overcompensating for something... A perceived lack of control? Had She ever undergone periods of powerlessness? That and Her very put-forward disregard for ethics could definitely imply overcompensation.

Tangent.

He nodded to show his obvious understanding, and let the second question that came to mind roll off his tongue. "So, you have some kind of alternative use for me in mind, then?" He raised an eyebrow. "It isn't my temper, is it?"

Nightmare Moon let out a hearty chuckle at his joke that wasn't really supposed to be a joke, which She made a show of half-hiding behind one hoof. "Oh, if only something so frankly silly, Light. You know that I could have my choice of far more unstable ponies if needed."

The way Her words slipped off Her hidden smile sent uncomfortable creeps down his spine, but he largely ignored the feeling in favor of frowning in consideration. He blinked a few times, before his face fell askew in a questioning tilt.

Well, it could be anything, then.

"Okay, If not my temper, what else is there? I'm not exactly bursting with power over here." The question as it hung in the dead air felt familiar; probably because he'd been asking the same thing over and over the whole night. and She'd been dodging for the past however long they'd been here.

Nightmare Moon's eyes narrowed, and Her hoof fell away from Her mouth to show Her regular frown. Her eyebrow arched, and the hum that rumbled up from Her throat had an almost trill-like quality to it.

"Let me ask a question... If I could be so... bold." Her face lifted in a toothy smile for a moment, before it parted to roll out an exaggeratedly defined cackle at Her own joke.

Yeah, because he was in any position to be refusing Her anything. The 'joke' was so funny, he found himself nervously chuckling along while his ear not-so-subtly flicked in irritation. A purposeful gesture he made very sure She saw.

So funny.

After a second of leagues-apart spectrums of laughing, Nightmare Moon drew the noise to a close with a gradual peter out, before fixing him with a lidded, glimmering stare. Mischief mixed with malice poured from Her cat-like eyes, filling Her next question with a putrid tonic such that his stomach nearly rebelled from the intent.