Thing A Day: Affliction
Why me, Celestia? I wonder, pretending to pray to a false god. But I won't give up.The light of the true goddess will one day take this plague from me.
In the meantime, I'm sitting in these ruins, retching all day, surrounded by loons who also retch all day. They worship some "Lord of Decay," who is the reason plagues and famines exist. Honestly, I don't understand why this guy is a 'good guy' to these madponies. What's good about death and disease on a mass scale?
Maybe they've got something I don't? Maybe they've been infected by some sort of fanaticism disease which makes them go bonkers and love this dude. I don't know.
Thankfully, the sermon in the main chamber is over, I can get back to my cot. That's when I feel a hoof on my shoulder. "Brother Pious, I would like to have a word," comes the voice of a particularly familiar stallion, yet I can't put my hoof on it.
I turn around, and my heart falls to my hooves. It's the overseer, the most zealous of us, who was tasked with finding those of us with this affliction and to bring them here. "Yes, overseer?" I reply. Unfortunately for me, he motions with his gray-green hoof for me to follow him. I bow my head, like a colt caught with a hoof in the cookie jar, and then follow close behind him.
We reach the doors of the Arcanum, where nopony but the overseer and his advisers go. "Brother Pious. Please close your eyes. You may take hold of my tail if you need to, but keep following me. And whatever you do, don't open your eyes." He stares me down until I do so, and then I reach out and grab his tail. "Now stay close." he says, before I hear the sounds of the massive bronze doors being pushed open. Like an obedient colt, I hold onto his tail as he leads me down a spiral staircase.
For some reason, the staircase feels like it never ends, and with a pace like this, I really can't tell how long we've been walking. Eventually, he stopped, and turned a corner. I could feel myself being led into the room, and then he turned to me and said "Alright now, you can open your eyes."
I open my eyes to a strange scene. Thousands of ponies, all milling about, in shoulder to shoulder density. They all seem to be trying to get from place to place, but the sea of limbs, wings, and horns slow down each and every pony until it looks more like a multicolored sludge. "What are you showing me?" I ask, confused.
He smirks, and motions with his hoof. "This would be any pony town, without our lord's blessings." Shocked, I look back. Ponyville, this size? I ponder, and turn to face him. "You see," he continues, "This world can't naturally get rid of all the ponies being born at such a fast rate. For each second, a child is born. And for every five seconds, an elderly pony dies. You can see the math, right? We would cover the world like rats."
"And that isn't all. Should the population have continued growing like it does here, you can see an important question raised: Where does all the food come from? With ponies covering the majority of the world, we can only hope to feed everypony."
A shadow of doubt crossed my mind. That's an excellent point, the traitorous shadow whispers. How does everypony get fed. With the need for living space growing exponentially, there can't be enough food.
The overseer continues. "And then, when it all reaches the apex, do you want to know what happens? A famine, unlike ever seen before. Major rioting, ponies dying in droves. And what comes next? Extinction?"
I tried to fight it, but the shadow only got stronger. Think about it, it egged. You're a logical pony, see the numbers. Even at best, only a tenth of the population would survive. What would come after that? How could we rebuild?
"And then, our lord stepped in." In the blink of an eye, half the crowd was gone. "Disease, my friend. It kills, so that more can live."
It's logical, the shadow whispered.
Shut up, I hissed back. I'm listening to this.
"You see, he isn't evil, but benevolent. He keeps the population in balance so that more ponies can live full lives." It showed, happy, healthy ponies enjoying room and having fun. "And, when he does unleash a plague, it's not a curse, but a blessing. He wants to show that he still cares, and he wants to make them stronger.
"Because think about what happens when a plague comes through. Ponies build an immunity, and then terrible diseases are no more a threat than a common sneeze." He finishes, showing the happy crowd once more.
It's a horrible concept... and yet, it makes complete sense, I think. But no! Causing others to suffer is a terrible fate. And that's his compassion? There can't be any basis.
Listen to yourself, the shadow goads. Bickering with yourself. You see the logic, the cruel reality, and you understand what it means. Yet you fight it on beliefs! Insubstantial claims made by insubstantial figures.
The overseer watched me for my reaction, but I could see he was enjoying the show of internal combat my face was displaying. "Do you see now why we worship our lord? We are the first of his to be blessed, and even though it feels like agony now, soon, you will have survived. He chose you for a reason. He wanted you to survive, so he gave you the blessing first.
"He wanted me? To live? Why me? I'm used to be a priest of the celestine order. I used to view him and the others like him as nothing more than evil spirits." I blurt out. The overseer smiles patiently, letting me put the pieces together. "Wait, I used to view him as evil. And then he blesses me? What, out of the goodness of his heart?"
The overseer nods. "Yes. He wanted to show you that even though you were a lost sheep, he still loved you."
The concept of unrequited love stuns me. I've grown up in a world where you give to get, and yet here we are, an ungrateful priest and a loving god. I nod, realizing how truly good this so called demon is. "I... I think I understand." I mumble, and he smiles.
"Good, good," the overseer says, clapping my shoulder with his hoof. "Then let us return to the congregation. And I was hoping you might lead the next sermon." He ads with a wink.
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The next day I rise, with a new view of the world. How childish I must have been, refusing the gift I've been given, I think, while I don the green robes of the ecclesiarchy, and I step out onto the pulpit. "Hello, my brothers and sisters. Today, Brother Pious will be giving the sermon. So, without further delay, Brother Pious, if you please." The overseer states, before stepping aside.
"Today is a new day, my family," I shout out. "Let us rejoice in the life our patron has provided, and show thanks."
And to think, just yesterday I loathed this.