//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8: Letters from the past 
// Story: The Watcher: Rise of the Purveyor 
// by GnollReader 
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Twilight Sparkle sat inside her chambers, the room illuminated by countless candles as she concentrated on her task. "Come on," she whispered to herself, "I know you're there." She concentrated harder, sending her call across the boundaries of the void. "Please answer..." Even now, two hundred years later and with all the things she had learned during that time, the void was still a mystery to her.

Twilight felt a sudden shift to her side and her eyes snapped open, "Twilight Sparkle..." an unmoving voice she remembered all too well spoke up. "I do not like being interrupted during my work." She whirled around with ears laid back to face the purveyor as he stepped forth from a cloud of shadows. "Why have you called for me?"

"You really are back!" Twilight gasped before letting out a breath of relief. "And you're still good at making me jump... Couldn't you use doors like everypony else?"

Unseen by her, the purveyor frowned before repeating his question with impatience. "What have you called me for?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow and pointed behind her. "To give you these, of course." His gaze followed her hoof, countless books were stacked up on a table.

"What are these?" he asked with an impassive voice.

"These are my journals of the last two hundred years," Twilight explained.

Zaeres' frown deepened. "What?"

"Well, I figured you'd like to know what happened during your absence... now that you're going to help us?" Twilight replied with a slightly uncertain voice, a bit concerned by his impassive response.

"Help you?" The purveyor paused. "What exactly has Celestia told you?"

"Not much..." Twilight frowned, "Her letter simply stated that you were back and would help us..." she eyed him with a skeptical look, "You are going to help us?"

"I have an agreement with Celestia," the purveyor replied. "And part of that entails my aid when the cycle finally arrives." He paused and let his gaze wander over her chambers. "How long?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

He turned his attention to her. "How long after your friends passed on did you stay with Celestia? When did you decide to leave and come here?" By the looks of the room, she had been here for quite some time already.

Twilight gave him a surprised look, but after a moment of silence she answered his question with a sigh. "Almost fifty years after Applejack passed on." her gaze became questioning, "Why do you ask?"

The purveyor ignored her question. "And why did you come here?"

A sign of realization passed Twilight's expression and her voice became stern. "If you think I left because I had a fight with Celestia, you're wrong. I had a good reason to leave." The purveyor eyed her in silence, his shadows dancing about his form with slow motions. "I came here for Cadance."

"I understand." he replied after another short moment of silence.

"You do?" Twilight asked with a perplexed voice.

"I assume she was already devastated when her husband passed on," he stated with a quiet voice.

"She was," Twilight commented with sadness.

"And I can imagine that the death of her daughter was even harder for her," he continued without a sign of emotion.

Twilight hung her head. "We all knew that she wouldn't be immortal... but it still hurt when she left. Cadance was in a constant state of devastation from that day on." she looked into his mask, "So I came to give her company, and take care of her duties during her recovery."

"And has she recovered?" he asked more out of interest than actual sympathy.

She gave him a sad look, "She tries... but I still see the sadness in her eyes. She does her best to hide her pain and be loving and joyful around everypony else, but I've never felt so distant to her before..." She shook her head. "I had hoped my presence would help her, but sometimes I wonder if it hasn't done the opposite."

"And you?" Twilight tilted her head in surprise at his question. "How do you cope with the loss?"

Twilight stared at him for several seconds before her ears dropped. "I try to grow stronger by keeping their memories alive... at least that's what I tell myself." She looked up into his mask. "Did the pain ever become too much for you to bear?"

The purveyor studied her face as he contemplated her question. "Keep in mind that you and I are very different. ...But yes, I too have felt the pain of losing those close to me. I have long since come to accept it though... and it has not bothered me since then."

"And you're never sad?" Twilight asked with a strange voice, "Do you feel anything at all when you look back at your old life?"

"I do not," he replied. "If anything, I only feel resentment in view of what I was incapable of." He sighed, this conversation had already gone on long enough and he had not intended to talk to her about his own feelings and failures. "Keep the journals." he told her with a grave voice, "I do not need them."

"You don't? But how will you know the current state of things?" Twilight asked with surprise.

"The shadows of this world now serve as my eyes and ears... and I already gathered all the information needed to take my plans to the next step."

Twilight eyed him with worry, "Your plans? What are you going to do?"

Zaeres let his gaze wander over her for a lingering moment, did he really intend to tell her this soon? Then again, she was bound to find out one way or the other. "I intend to bring my race back to life in your world."

"You... what?" Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You're going to bring a new race to our world..." She eyed him in thought. "Is this why princess Celestia has called for a council?"

"It is," he replied. "Are you going to be present as well?"

Twilight shook her head. "The older deities still consider me too young to partake... what will you do?"

"I will lay down my claim as a deity of this world," he stated flatly. "I am sure Celestia will inform you of everything needed in due time... until then, do not call for me like this again. Putting your mind out onto the borders of the void is dangerous, and it disturbs my concentration."

"But what if I have questions? What if I need your help? How will I contact you?"

"What help would you ask of me that princess Celestia could not provide?" his voice was as impassive as always and made Twilight cringe.

"I don't know," Twilight replied. "But there should be some way for me to contact you nonetheless!"

"If you truly wish to send me a message you can do it using the shadows," he stated. "As I already told you, they are my eyes and ears now. If you want a message relayed to me, call out to me into the darkness and I will hear it." The shadows started to dance over his form. "I will leave now."

"Wait!" she quickly ran to the table and picked up a small bundle of scrolls. "Take these at least! They're special." she held out the bundle towards him.

"What are they?" he asked, the shadows already starting to consume him.

"They are letters that my friends wrote for you," Twilight said with a sad voice. "And it's a special report that I wrote for you as well." She saw that he did not move. "Please, take them and read them. We all put much thought and effort in what we wanted to tell you should you return, so at least read them!"

The purveyor eyed the little bundle with surprise, wondering what messages the bearers of the elements had written for him. Zaeres frowned, what interest did it hold to him? They were the words of those long gone... they held no relevance to his plans. And yet... his shadows trembled for a moment, signaling his hesitation but then they reached out and picked the bundle from her hooves, making Twilight shiver as she felt a strange coldness seep through her at their touch.

For a moment, Twilight thought she could hear countless whispers and a strange presence pass through the room around her... but the feeling left as his shadows pulled back from her.

With a last whirl of his shadows and without another word spoken, the purveyor disappeared.


---


When he stepped out of the void again he found himself at the edge of the Barrier once more, the city he had created waiting in the depths of the ground beneath him. He looked around himself for a moment, realizing that Celestia had departed.

Zaeres' eyes scanned the constructs he had created beneath him for a moment. There was still so much to be done... the creation of chambers to hold the new bodies he intended to form, the forming of the bodies themselves... the list in his mind went on and on, but he figured he would be able to complete everything needed before the council would take place.

He started to reach out once more, the void starting to move as his will passed through it... but then he hesitated. Was it really this important? Did he really care for their thoughts and messages? He let his connection to the void cut off for a moment and the shadows returned to their natural order. With an almost lazy motion the shadows from his own form brought forth the bundle Twilight had given him. As he held it in his hands, Zaeres wondered again... did it really matter?

He remembered his words to Twilight. "If anything, I only feel resentment in view of what I was incapable of," he whispered the words to himself. Resentment... he eyed the city beneath him as a lone beam of sunlight passed through the clouds and fell into the crater. 

In the back of his mind, he could hear the countless souls' whispers surround him like they always did, but their presence felt different to him this time. ...Or was it his own presence that had changed?

Slowly, as the Barrier continued to thunder and change around him the purveyor opened the bundle with a calm hand... and started to read with a strange feeling of anxiety and remorse.