//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: Insight // Story: The Watcher // by GnollReader //------------------------------// "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."