Perception

by Valen

Epilogue I: Catharsis

“Is that Scootaloo?”

“I heard she died.”

“Well obviously not.”

“Isn’t she supposed to be blind?”

“Doesn't look too blind to me.”

“I heard she killed somepony.”

“Yeah? Well I heard she tracked down that guy who killed Apple Bloom.”

“No way.”

“It’s the truth!”

That was the kind of stuff I heard as I strode through the streets of Ponyville. I couldn’t go anywhere without someone commenting on my presence. Back when I was a filly, I would have loved the attention, but now it was just plain annoying. Didn’t these ponies have anything better to do?

I couldn’t really fault them, I had made quite the show last week. Ponies tend to notice when your bleeding, unconscious body is rushed to the hospital by a well-known guard. Especially when said guard is also carrying a huge, scarred griffon too. Rumours about what had happened spread quickly; pretty soon, Eidolon and I were the talk of the town.

Eidolon…

I was going to see him, but I’d only gotten out of the hospital two days ago. Doctor Greymane had worked some incredible magic to get me moving so quickly, I had no idea how he managed it but my rib was practically as good as new. Sweetie had urged me to take some more time before I spoke to the griffon, but I couldn’t put this off. The guards from Canterlot would be arriving to take him away tomorrow. It was now or never, and I really wanted to see him before he left, if only to show him that he had failed at least one kill.

Sweetie and Firelock had both offered to go with me, but I declined. This was something I had to do alone. I smiled a little as I thought of my marefriend. After the events of the previous week, it was nice to really have some stability back in my life. Sweetie Belle was my constant, my rock. She helped keep me focused on moving forward, making sure I never relapsed back into my darker self.

Of course, I wasn’t the only one who needed somepony to talk to in this relationship. Sweetie had been holding in a heck of a lot of emotions since I arrived, putting them on hold to deal with my own. Always putting others first…

We were dealing with it, though. Now that I was somewhere near mentally stable, I was able to talk to her about her own problems, not just mine. I had my worries about our relationship, especially given what I was, but that wasn’t something for now. We were going to make this work, together. With that in mind, I walked a little faster. I wanted to get this over with so I could get back to her.

It didn’t take long to find the Ponyville prison; there weren’t many brick buildings in Ponyville, especially with bars on windows after all. It was small, because with a crime rate of near zero, there was no reason to have a large prison. From what I had heard, it had three cells and that was it.

I pushed open the doors, entering a small reception area. A bored-looking mare sat behind the counter, reading some magazine about scandals within the canterlot elite. Nearby sat a bored-looking guard who was tossing a small blue ball at the wall, catching it in his hoof when it bounced back and throwing it again. I know the feeling, pal, I thought, remembering the many hours I had spent doing the exact same thing in Las Pegasus.

I cleared my throat. “‘Scuse me? I’m here to see the griffon.” The mare behind the counter looked up at me, her eyes widening as her eyes reached my face. “I’m Scootaloo if that helps,” I added, though judging from the look on her face she’d probably already figured that out.

“Uh y-yes, go on in, Miss. Cell B.” I  nodded my thanks, adjusted my goggles and walked down the corridor. The guard stopped tossing the ball, looking up at me with a smile.

“You can go on in. And good luck, he hasn’t said a word to anypony since he got here. Doesn't look like it’s gonna change, either.” He passed me the keys, though I paused as I was about to enter.

“Would you mind giving me some privacy?” I asked politely. Sweetie had been educating me in the art of ‘persuasion.’ He nodded absent-mindedly, getting up and trotting back into the reception area. I turned back to the door. This is it. It was time to face the creature who not only killed me, but killed my best friend too. I took a deep breath, unlocked it and pushed it open.

The room was simple. Four stone walls, a small mattress in one corner, a dirty sink and toilet in the other. From what I’d heard about where Eidolon was going, this was a luxury suite. At least it had plumbing.

Eidolon himself sat in the centre of the room, his head bowed. His wings were bound to his sides and he was chained to the floor. The chains granted him enough freedom to move around the room, but not with any degree of speed. I shut the door behind me, there was no way I was risking him escaping.

“What’s your name? Your real name I mean, not your assassin title or whatever ‘Eidolon’ is meant to be.”

Slowly, he raised his head to look at me. His left eye was a bloody ruin, his iris a mixture of green and red. a pair of long scars ran across his face, surrounded by smaller cuts. It looked far worse than I had expected it to and I had to fight to keep myself from throwing up. Did I do that? I asked myself in horror. The other watched me, the green orb betraying no emotion. It simply stared. He didn’t speak, just stared. I collected myself, focusing on the task at hand. It was time to try out some of those new smooth-talking techniques.

“Nice place you’ve got here,” I commented casually, looking around the dark room. He said nothing. “Not in the mood for talking anymore? Funny, things seemed pretty different when our positions were swapped and you were the one standing over me. But obviously you don’t want to have a nice chat, so I’ll make this short.” I turned back to face him, my one working eye staring into his. “Why?”

He didn’t respond at first, just stared. I stared right back, not blinking. Eventually he looked away, sighing.

“I had heard that you had survived your wounds, but did not believe it. No one has ever survived an encounter with me on my own terms. You are my first and only failure,” he said flatly, his voice rasping slightly through his cracked beak.

This… wasn’t what I was expecting. I had been expecting him to tell me about how I was pathetic and how as soon as he got those chains off he would kill me for what I had done. This… this seemed wrong.

“Why is it me who you will talk to, and not Firelock? She’s the one who beat you,” I asked, voicing the first of many questions I had for this griffon.

“Because while she may have defeated me, she did not best me. You survived where none have, and in the process of surviving you triggered my capture. She defeated me, you bested me.” That didn’t make any sense, but if it meant that I could get information out of him I wouldn’t complain.

“How? How do you still live?” he asked, his voice rising slightly. “I saw you. You were bleeding out in the lake, your limbs were bent in ways that shouldn’t even be possible, the fact that you stand before me now is… is… it’s wrong.” he finished, finally letting some emotion into his voice. He sounded respectful, angry and scared all at the same time.

I considered that for a moment. Even I wasn’t really sure how I had survived, so I explained it in the only way I could. “I… I went to the darkest part of myself, and I lit a candle,” I said simply. He didn’t seem entirely pleased with the answer, but accepted it nonetheless. “Now tell me, why? Why did you kill Apple Bloom?”

He laughed. “For the same reason I kill anyone: money,” he said simply. “I kill because that is what I am good at. Apple Bloom was just another contract.” I felt a burst of anger inside of me, and I raised a hoof to hit him. Just as I was about to swing, I stopped myself. Hurting him wouldn’t get me anywhere. Instead, I took a few deep breaths before continuing.

“If she was a contract, then who hired you?” I asked him. He closed his eye, pulling on his chains a little as he thought. I sat down across from him, hoping that maybe if I made myself appear less hostile he would be more willing to talk.

“A griffon never betrays a contract. I am sorry but I cannot divulge the name of my employer, not even to an equal,” he said at length. I groaned, well wasn’t that wonderful? “However…” he began hesitantly. “I can offer you a warning. A storm is coming, a storm of steel, blood and fire. This job was just the beginning, and soon war will rage all across your lands. You cannot stop it, you can only prepare.”

This… this was big. If what he was saying was true, then Equestria was in great danger. We hadn’t had a major war in centuries, and our military was not prepared to deal with that kind of threat. I had to pass this information on to the princesses. Hopefully, they would know what to do, perhaps be able to figure out who would want to invade.

“Thank you,” I said as I stood and turned to leave.

“I will kill you,” the chained griffon stated. “I only tell you this so that I know you will survive long enough for me to meet you again, I don’t want anyone else to have the honour of killing you. I will kill you because I know that were we to meet again, you would kill me too. Inside our hearts we are the same, Scootaloo.” I paused, turning back to face him.

“We aren’t the same, Eidolon. I don’t know what happened to drive you to this point, but whatever it was, it drove you into a dark, dark place. A place I’ve been. And when you finally found your way to the centre and confronted your inner darkness, it won. That’s what separates me from you. Yeah we have similarities, but when it really comes down to it, I will never be the same as you.”

I stared down at the broken form of a griffon who had probably once had a chance to be great. To save people, and who had failed. “You stumped your own potential with your hate. You killed your own light and left only darkness. Don’t mistake this for pity, though, you are a monster, and if I ever see you again, I will not hesitate to do whatever I have to do to make sure you don’t hurt anypony again.” I took a step closer, staring Eidolon down with my one remaining eye. This was it, all my pent up anger towards this being was being let out in a flood of words.

“But do you want to know what really separates me from you?” I asked him, he just stared back, but I could see a hint of fear in his eyes. “Even if I died, I’m still more alive than you will ever be. I have a reason to live. I have friends. What do you have? Hate, that’s it. That’s all you are. Flesh, bones and hate. Goodbye, Eidolon, I hope that one day you will find what you were looking for.” I turned to leave, there was nothing more I had to say.

“Gaurus,” he called, “my name is Gaurus.” I continued walking. He didn’t deserve any more of my breath. I didn’t look back as the cell door shut. I didn’t really know what I had come here to find, but I did know what I left with.

I found catharsis and I hoped beyond hope that Gaurus had too.