//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Interception (edit) // Story: The Watcher // by GnollReader //------------------------------// 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?”