When I continued playing dead beneath my red cart, the stone pony simply tossed it aside with her magic, sending the mixer and the tanks of gas rolling and bouncing across the floor.
"Do you have any idea what you're tampering with?" She asked in a voice that seemed devoid of anger, though after hearing her sister rant and grumble for a month, my impressions may have been skewed. "What have you got to say for yourself?"
I in fact hadn't any idea what I'd done, as usual, and I doubted my ignorance would appease her. Did she blame me for the demise of her sister? For my forced cooperation with Nightmare Moon's plan of escape? For merely trespassing on what was supposed to be her sibling's solitary exile? I didn't know, so I simply stammered my condolences at the hearts-rending decision she'd been forced to take, striking down her own flesh-and-blood (so to speak) like that. Mentioning that she was merely an artifice woven of stones and ancient memories seemed a poor course of action at the moment.
"Dead? No. It will take more than a few rocks to kill that one," she said, sparing a glance back at the mountain of rubble.
I don't know why I even bothered assuming anything could end that pony. And yet, I doubted Nightmare Moon would willingly sit around with tons of rock on her head if she could help it. Remembering I was in the presence of royalty (of a sort) I rose to my feet to avoid giving offense. The little statue had, once again, vanished when I wasn't looking.
I asked the stone statue whether Nightmare Moon was injured. Did she need help?
"Not the kind of help you offer. I don't like what I saw here today."
And she thought I had anything to do with it? I'd been doing nothing but trying to dissuade Nightmare Moon from her terrible plan of vengeance every way I knew how! Granted, I hadn't had the slightest iota of success, but could she really hold that against me?
"That is the problem. She should have been a force of nature, an avenging cataclysm. This," she indicated herself, "should have been torn into ribbons before it had a chance to speak, much less fight back. Instead, she was prancing around and chatting with it like a villain out of a badly-written melodrama. And to be overcome by sororal affection? Unacceptable. Why do I find an ineffectual comic-relief hench-being dogging her steps? You have much to answer for."
I... I... what?
If she wanted to be destroyed so badly, why didn't she just let herself get spitted on Nightmare Moon's horn?
"Because this thing is nothing more than a training dummy. It exists to prepare her to face the real Celestia. Her nerve should never have failed against it."
Then the statue wasn't actually... well, of course it wasn't; I mean, it didn't think it was Nightmare Moon's sister?
"No, that caricature's still in here, and quite outraged too. I am something far nobler than a mere ghost of dust and spells."
My head hurt. Was she... was it going to tell me what it was and what was going on, or did it prefer to make me guess?
"Need I waste our time? You have seen enough; you know who I am," it said mysteriously.
I studied the statue sidelong. Perhaps I had and did. The field of dust ponies changing from joyful to violent when Nightmare Moon's hopes of escape were dashed, her guarded, doubtful reaction when I explained the dealings that my own people called magic, the unnerving disobedience of the statue before the door, and just now, how it had seemed so sincere as her sister, but then immediately changed and struck when she was most vulnerable...
I didn't know the who, but I was fairly certain of the what. I stepped back to the inner wall and folded my upper claws into a sacred sign, a wordless prayer for protection from supernatural evil.
To my dismay, instead of bursting into flame, or even being repulsed, the statue just smiled at me. Perhaps I had my digits arranged incorrectly.
"Poor little hermit, you've got it all wrong. We serve the same master, you and I."
Still holding my upper claws in the sign, I crossed my middle limbs and voiced my doubts that the Increate had sent a divine servant just to torment an insane, despondent prisoner.
Despite my contradiction, the thing continued to stare at me with its calm, neutral expression, so unlike Nightmare Moon or the other statues. It was all the more chilling for its unruffled peace. "You have resigned yourself that Nightmare Moon is destined to return as set forth in prophecy," it stated. "You know who it is who reveals prophecy, don't you? Who weaves the destiny of the universe?"
I did, and thus the vessel that brought me here would return in time for her descent back to the planet. But why was this being pricking and goading Nightmare Moon whenever her rage ebbed? Why make the dust-puppets seem to hate her? How was that necessary?
"She hasn't told you how the prophecy of the Mare in the Moon ends, little one. 'On the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape... and she will bring about nighttime eternal.' " It gave me a knowing look. "A knowledgeable alien like yourself should understand the thrust of that poetic metaphor."
My stomach twisted into a knot. 'Nighttime eternal.' Yes, I knew what that meant. A terrible crime that even the galactic empires were hesitant to commit. From what I'd seen of Nightmare Moon's control over matter, It might well be within her means.
But to claim this was the will of the Increate? It couldn't be! This just had to be a wicked, lying power with which Nightmare Moon had made an ill-advised bargain, as I had dimly suspected. But if that was the case, what hope did I have? Nightmare Moon was at least a being like myself, different in degree rather than kind. She could be appealed to or resisted by other mortals. How could one hope to triumph over supernatural evil?
And worse, what if it was telling the truth, and I was uselessly trying to thwart the fashioner of fate? I felt the crawling itch of doubt slithering between my scales.
The thing wearing Celestia's shape still refused to crack its mask of placidity and drew its brows together in pity. "It must be hard for a little being like you to understand. It is not for hate but for love of all living things that she must do this. When you first met, you tried to destroy her, reasoning that it was better for her to die and you to be a murderer than to allow her to carry out her threat of slaying everything on the planet. You would commit a great evil to prevent a worse one. Though you lacked the power to accomplish it, your reasoning was sound." It closed its eyes and bowed its head piously, "That is the way of this lower realm. Sacrifices must be made for the greater good and great sacrifices, even of whole worlds, to prevent the greatest evils."
What was it saying? The universe would be a better place with an entire planet of non-spacefaring innocents wiped from the face of the cosmos? I had heard Nightmare Moon go on and on about the alleged 'crimes' of her subjects. They were as nothing! Why, I could find more shameful doings in the history of my own species, in my own lifetime, and we could actually travel the stars and bother our neighbors. I looked up through the arena's new gold-tinted skylight to where the small blue world hung in the void. What made the ponies on that planet so especially wicked, I wondered aloud.
She moved to obstruct my vision of the planet. "They have what you lack; power: weather control, teleportation, matter generation, mental compulsion... all the things you've seen her do and more. Less raw force and precision, naturally, but still the sort of feats the you and the rest of the mortals could only begin to attempt with the most powerful and intricate machinery. When these ponies begin traveling away from their homeworld, they'll tread down the entire galaxy beneath their hooves. They are simply too strong to merely co-exist with their neighbors."
This sounded reasonable to my cynical mind, but it didn't fit the facts. Didn't the ponies share their own planet with several other native sophonts? How would they throw the stars from their courses if they couldn't even take over a single world?
As I debated with the thing, motion from behind it caught my eye. A miasmic blue cloud edged with purple had begun rising out of the mountain of rubble that had crushed Nightmare Moon. I had no idea what the substance was, save that it vaguely resembled her floating hair, only still more ethereal and apparently detached from her fore and aft ends.
"As she told you, her sister uses her powers to keep them on a short leash," The possessed statue explained, unaware of or ignoring the goings-on behind it, "But if they wish to depart, she will not hinder them. The urge to dominate is strong with ponies, particularly the unicorns. Outside her control, they will show their true nature. The tyrants making life miserable on your own world will be petty thugs by comparison."
How was it so certain, I asked, watching the cloud grow and grow in the background. If the Increate levied judgment based on what we might someday do, who could stand? Did not even that nasty emperor from the chronicle of deeds have a chance to actually do his evil before he got called to account?
It towered over me, and I was covered by its shadow. "And he, knowing who had judged him, still tried to resist. It was not wise of him. I am here to ensure the fulfillment of prophecy. Who are you to hinder me, little one? Yours is not to argue with destiny but to obey what little light you've been given."
It leaned down toward me until its horn was nearly touching my helmet. "I understand your worries. You did not ask for this. Allow me to relieve you of your hopeless burden." the stone horn glowed anew.
I flinched back, expecting to finally meet my end. After all, this thing was under no onus to spare me! Instead of casting a spell to destroy me, it looked at me expectantly. "Well? Am I permitted?"
Permitted to what?
"Simply say the word, and I will take you back to your cell, relieve you of your memories of this entire unpleasant interlude, and find another way to get her to her fated destination on time. I will lead her away, and she will soon forget you as she returns to her proper state of mind. Their blood won't be on your claws. It will be as if none of this had ever happened. You can go back to the solitary life, untroubled by the fears and doubts that have plagued you ever since that night. All will be well."
I am not sure how the offer seems to disinterested observers hearing about all this as a tale or a history, but it was like the sight of a pool in the midst of the desert to me. I'd felt tired, scared, and angry ever since that mad pony stalked into my life. It was as if my mind was a string being stretched tighter and tighter every hour. Surely I couldn't take any more. Surely I'd go mad or die or get killed if I didn't escape this miserable situation.
And my pretenses of saving the ponies and the rest from Nightmare Moon? Ridiculous. Any being could see I was the worst choice for the task of placating a raging alien. How could I get someone like that to agree with me, when no one even listened to me back home among my own? And now, learning that I was fighting not only that stubborn, bloodthirsty princess, but also either an evil supernatural power bent on destruction or an implacable servant of the Increate! There are lofty hopes, and then there is hubris.
A hermit should have humility. A wise being should acknowledge when he's been outmatched, cut his losses and resign. This thing speaking through the statue, whatever it was, was right. What did I know of the powers that turned the galaxies? Only what I'd been told by those more learned and enlightened than I.
It must have been honest in the offer, at least. If it wished my harm, why did it bother asking my permission? Best of all, if it spoke truly, I would feel no guilt; I wouldn't even know what had happened. I couldn't recriminate myself with regrets and might-have-beens as I surely would otherwise.
As I prepared myself to end all this, the words of my hierarch returned to me. It seemed like a lifetime ago when had been pleading with him for the dozenth time for his permission to enter into holy seclusion, citing the villainy and squalor all around us as proof of my case. Would I not serve the Increate better away from all that, offering up my prayers and penances without the distraction of the world's failings? I had always thought his answer weak and unconvincing.
I finally relaxed my upper limbs and let my claws sink to my sides. It was right, I admitted. I knew nothing of how fates and destinies were brought to fruition. It was not my place to decide the course of the universe. I could only stumble along with what little light I had.
It smiled warmly at me. "You've made the right choice. You will not regret this." Its horn glowed more brightly and it leaned toward me to touch the blazing spike to my helmet.
I declined its offer.
The stone thing stood still, the horn only inches from my face. "What?" A dangerous edge had finally appeared in its voice.
I took a moment to swallow my fear, then explained. The good hierarch who taught me what little wisdom I possessed, when I begged him to allow me leave my life and world behind, told me that while contemplation and sanctity are worthy pursuits, what the universe needs now are not fortresses to hide from the evils of the world, but bold raiders to descend into it and rescue our fellow-sufferers. To be able to enter the hermit life would be good, he told me, but to serve in the clinics, to visit the prisons, that would be far better.
At the time, I was certain he was mistaken. As an elder, he had grown overly sentimental and unaware of the depths of evil in the cosmos. To think, easing the lives of those who'd worked to ruin everyone else's! But now I had seen the most villainous, hateful being I'd ever met, most likely deserving of every woe she'd suffered up to this very moment, show a glimmer of decency and regret only to get brutally punished for it. And... It wasn't right. No matter how awful she was, Nightmare Moon was not some blind, uncaring disaster, not an inanimate bomb to be tinkered with to make her destroy the largest amount of victims along with herself.
My hierarch had known better all along. Tend the wounded. Visit the prisoner. I had refused and ran away, but one cannot run from destiny. Under those rocks was a sick, forlorn inmate. I would rather she was not also a violent, arrogant, petty, grudge-nursing social maladept and most likely crazier than a reclamation scavenger, but that was not mine to decide. I must go to her and do what I can. That was the feeble light I'd been given.
"You will fail. She cannot be turned aside. Her fate has been written."
No doubt it was correct. I heaved a sigh. My duties remained nonetheless. I pushed the tip of its horn aside with a claw and the magical glow evaporated from the stone. When the statue didn't make a move, I began walking around it toward where Nightmare Moon had been buried. By this time, the blue and purple cloud hung over the rubble like a thunderhead, with occasional flashes of light escaping from within.
A great wing with a few stone bones poking through the dusty plumage snapped open across my path. "Not so fast, little one. If you will not accept my best offer, we still have to come to an accord. Give me the translator and swear that you will not try to communicate with her any more and I shall keep her away from your dreams."
The translator? If it wished to hinder my duties, let it kill me and be done! Why hadn't it already? If it was necessary for the good of the galaxy, surely the Increate wouldn't balk at one more untimely death atop the billions on that world.
The thought occurred to me that perhaps Nightmare Moon's oath still bound her magic even if she wasn't the one wielding it. A heartening theory, but not one I was eager to test.
"We are no longer bargaining. Do as I say or I will hurt you until you do. She will not save you. She will watch and laugh. Give it to me."
I reached down and checked the module plugs on the back of my suit. With a shrug, I apologized. Not even the Increate could take the translator from me.
"Blasphemy, little one? You are better than that."
I was. It was only logic; I could not lose what I did not possess.
Before it could reply, a small rock bounced off the back of its head. The statue and I both turned toward the source of the missile. There, atop the rubble of the collapsed half of the arena, stood the little statue. It waved my translator in the air, kicked another rock which bounced harmlessly off the stone pony's side, then began gesturing with its hindquarters and tail in what was clearly some sort of taunt.
"Clever." The thing that looked like Celestia faced it, crouched and opened both its wings to leap, then stopped, still coiled, and addressed me again. "I see we will have to finish this later. In the meantime, ask her what became of the Crystal Empire. Finish reading in your book about what a unicorn truly is. You will serve me when you understand."
With that, it propelled itself through the frigid air, arcing like an arrow toward the tiny dust pony. The little statue grasped the translator beneath one wing and tried to dive between two slabs of the wreckage to hide. It probably would have fit if not for its cargo, but instead it got stuck halfway inside, with the bulky gadget wedged between the stones.
I loped toward it, already knowing I would be too late. The stone pony was stooping down on it like a bird of prey, its front hooves extended to smash the electronic device to bits when it landed.
It didn't land. The blue cloud shivered and surged forth like a living thing, engulfing the flying statue. I couldn't see what happened, but ear-splitting grinding sounds emerged from the mists and a steady rain of gravel began to fall across the ruined arena for a solid minute. The shell of magic patching the roof gradually changed its tint from gold to blue.
After this ceased, the cloud began to turn and spin about itself. The rest of the air in the arena remained still and undisturbed as the cloud twisted into a whirlwind. The tip of the cyclone stretched to the floor and the entire cloud spiraled down into it, shrinking until it parted to reveal Nightmare Moon and became her mane and tail once again. She looked crazed and elated.
The princess proudly crowed something or other, skipping in a small circle and kicking through the remains of her opponent. She found a shard of the statue that was larger than the others and stamped it into powder, laughing. Then she called sharply and beckoned for me to approach. Of course, I understood none of the words without the translator.
I hurried up to her anyway. Never before had I been glad to see that inky, stilt-legged, scale-less creature! Forgetting that I was as unintelligible to her as she was to me, I began trying to tell her what I'd discovered, what danger she was in and who her true enemy was. I doubt I'd have made much sense even if I'd spoken her tongue, so hurriedly I babbled.
Nightmare Moon stopped this farce of mutual misunderstanding by snorting in annoyance and silencing me with a cuff to the side of my helmet that sent me sprawling. She laughed once more as I scrambled to check my headgear and neck joint for damage.
They were still sound, but it seemed the blow knocked something loose in my brain; it was suddenly rather difficult to recall why I'd rejected the false Celestia's offer and chosen to expend my life and sanity for this egotistical, bloodthirsty, barbaric—
Duty, I reminded myself. I had my duty.