This was it.
The beginning of the end.
Selune was standing outside GOB’s office, sitting on a bench quietly. The very thought alone was capable of pushing her to hyperventilate, but she had to keep it together. Selune took a deep breath. In, and out, she repeated until her heartbeat slowed down, and her mind was clear. There was so much to think about, and so little time.
So far the challenges were… unique to say the least. Facing her fears, coordinating with an unknown stallion to escape a maze, boxing with another, she wasn’t sure but falling in love felt like part of a challenge too. They had varying levels of difficulty, and that was what worried Selune the most. It wasn’t hard to think on the move, since comedy and pranks required knowledge of timing and quick wit. Knowing the time to make a move, and acting on instinct when the moment came had proven useful for her so far. She needed her quick reflexes, her wits, and every last drop of her willpower to adapt to each situation and pull through.
GOB hadn’t just challenged their physical strength, or speed and intellect. He had gone out of his way to challenge their very morals, their souls, their minds and throughout all of this Selune couldn’t help but feel like a puppet moving in accordance to her master’s commands… if only to entertain him with her struggles.
She gritted her teeth, grinding them into each other, and felt her own blood boil inside. She HATED it, she hated being a puppet, hated being used like a clown for the entertainment of others. She’d willingly been through it enough in her childhood and regretted every moment of it, but at the same time it wasn’t that she was doing anything bad.
She just wanted control.
She wanted to be able to entertain others in a manner that was healthy for herself as well. To help those lost in the dark, to give them just a little bit of the brightness she had within her. Looking back to the challenges she had been through, she realised that, though the reason they happened was questionable, they had aided her a lot. Looking at her own hoof, and at her markings, Selune realised that neither darkness nor her own image bothered her as much as they did before.
Those problems weren’t gone fully, not by a long shot, but now she knew she had the mind, body, and heart to get through them.
The nude photoshoot, facing the incarnation of her fears, boxing, and even falling in love; as far as she was concerned she was a winner already. So the biggest question of them all now was…
What was she fighting for?
There was that sense of things being incomplete, like something was left to do. The ponies she had met through these challenges nagged Selune in the back of her mind: a teacher, a mercenary, a member of the Order of Balance. There were more of course, but she hadn’t gotten to know them too well, though she knew for sure that in the last challenge another couple had been separated.
Would they find each other again? Would they get to experience love? Would she still meet Merc after this? What if she lost? And if she won, then what? What would be her wish?
Selune continued her breathing exercises. There was no point in worrying too much, for when the time came the answer would present itself. The sound of hoofsteps approaching snapped her out of her thoughts. She wished they would never come, she wished that the turquoise mare with the clipboard cutie mark and wearing glasses wasn’t looking at her. She wished GOB’s secretary would take more time, enough for her to sort things out in her mind.
“GOB wishes to see you now, Miss…” This was it. The final moment. The moment in which Selune would be able to see this demon first hoof. She wouldn’t muck this up if she knew what was good for her. Standing up from her seat, she began walking towards GOB’s closed office door. As she moved to open the door, it opened itself, revealing a Victorian-styled office. Although she didn’t wish to admit it, the office was nicely decorated and furnished. The wooden flooring was a nice touch, along with the older looking shelves and chairs. But what really caught her eye was the figure who sat behind the large wooden desk.
This figure was anthropomorphic and instead of fur, he had a flesh. On his head sat a shining crown, but there was one shining green gem in the center, with what looked like two missing gems on either side of the final gem. The creature also wore a light blue vest with a pink dress shirt underneath. Running up his left arm were countless amounts of wrist watches. Selune stood before this figure, who didn’t seem to notice her presence and continued to work on whatever paperwork he was working on. She stood there, not knowing what exactly to say or do until the figure called out her name.
“Selune Darkeye?” The creature called out. His voice sounded eerily familiar. It sent chills down her spine just like in their previous meeting.
“No it’s the cleaning services.” She answered sarcastically, trying her best to maintain a poker face. She wasn’t sure if she should laugh at the ridiculousness of the question. As she waited for a response, the creature looked up, revealing electric blue eyes, bright as flashlights, almost glowing. He also had a faint five o’clock shadow on his lower face.
“I’m sure you know who I am then, Miss Darkeye. And I’m sure you know why I called you in here. Unless you havn’t a clue as to why you’re here. Then you may ask why.” GOB answered in his chilling smooth voice.
“I’m aware of what I am here to do. At least as far as it concerns me, I am here to compete, and this meeting is to prepare me for the next round. Not sure as to why I am competing, but if I can take a wild guess it is your entertainment? You and whatever other individual enjoys this kind of thing, I suppose.” She humphed. “Wouldn’t be hard to find individuals with similar interests. There’s all kind of weird creatures out there, but I’ve reached a point in my life where I can pretty much expect anything, and I’ve deleted the word “impossible” from my vocabulary. So…”
She motioned to him with her hoof “I’d really appreciate if you could ‘spill the beans’ per se. I think I deserve as much since I’ve reached the finale… right?” She raised her brow quizzically.
GOB paused his work, and leaned back in his chair.
“I believe you’ve earned the right to know what’s going on, and though it may sound weird, my explanation is quite simple. See, if you read that note carefully, it had my apology for the shooting. It also stated; vaguely I admit, my reason for doing so. Which was because of my boredom. But it’s not like I did anything terrible. All I did was send them back to their universe. Which we need to talk about, by the way.” GOB mentioned.
“What do you mean?” Selune wondered “Is there something wrong? Let me guess… you broke the time-space continuum again and you need to call the plumber to fix it?” She snickered, stifling a laugh with her right hoof. GOB laughed back, but his laugh was louder and sounded thick.
“You got spunk kid, I’ll give you that. Wouldn’t have thought sarcasm of all things would come from a girl who was bawling her eyes out when I ‘shot’ two ponies that night. Anyway, no I don’t need a plumber to fix the universe… That’s what Juan is hired for. No, it’s about Merc. See his wish is simple, but it does require you. Maybe it’s something you’d enjoy, too. But I’m not you, am I? No, so only you can tell me how you feel about his wish. See, Merc’s wish was to live a normal, peaceful life… With you. His wish was to live a peaceful life, and to be able to start a family with you.” GOB admitted, almost in a very serious tone.
“He… does?” Selune just stood there, mouth open wide, trying to comprehend the magnitude of the love she was experiencing. “Is that even possible? Are you telling the truth?” She asked, looking at GOB, whose eyes opened wide as if hurt by her question.
“Miss Darkeye, I’ll inform you I’m no liar. I may joke about a lot of things in this world, but if there’s one thing I don’t joke about, it’s romance. And being with someone who you love… That and patriotism and the troops. I don’t joke about those either, but mainly romance. He wants to be with you, Miss Darkeye, that’s why I have a feeling he’ll pull out all the stops for his final challenge. A challenge I also presented First Spark, and now you. But we’ll get to that later, now we must discuss your wish. I’ll offer you a wish, but I’d like to hear what you have in mind Miss Darkeye. I’m curious, do you share the same wish Merc has at all? The same desire to be with him?”
Selune paused for a moment, letting the question sink in. She’d considered it herself, and now was the time to decide, to make the final step.
“To be honest? I never had a wish to begin with. I could wish to become the greatest magician in all of Equestria, but I don’t know what I’d do with all the power. Money doesn’t interest me either, I like working for what I have, because there’s a sense of satisfaction and achievement, same thing with knowledge. So…” She stroked her chin thoughtfully “My wish would be either something really really stupid, or so grand and crazy that it would inevitably end up being stupid. You see, I’m self aware.” She turned her head to look out the windows of the office. Luna’s beautiful moon greeted her, and her thoughts turned to those close to her heart.
“But with Merc in my life?” She sighed and closed her eyes as her imagination flew, and their future unfolded before her eyes. A warm smile spread on her face as it lit up despite her black coat.
“I’d like that. To live a peaceful life with him, I mean. I know it sounds simple, but yes. I would be satisfied with that wish. To never have to bother myself again with these kind of challenges? To live a life in love? Now that I know what it feels like, I’m not letting it go. Besides, whether that wish could come true or not I’d still search for him.” GOB smiled at Selune’s words. Then, something happened, his electric blue eyes began to dim, almost to a dull blue instead of their illuminated form. Selune tilted her eyebrows in confusion.
“In this line of business, it’s always nice to see and hear things such as this. It’s always so nice to hear a pony or creature request something more than riches and fortune. I respect you and Merc for that.” GOB sighed. pausing, thinking of something else to say. “Yet, that is Merc’s wish. I still yet to know your own. Perhaps I could present my idea, that I frankly think you won’t need since the last challenge helped you so much. But, it’s still worth asking…” GOB paused, letting Selune wonder what he could possibly be offering.
“You really do like keeping me wondering do you? You cheeky little dick-waffle.” She placed her hoof in front of her mouth and coughed “You look like you’ve done this… ‘business’ before.” She mentioned.
“Oh I have… I’ve been doing this for a while now. Anyway, my deal was to… help you, in a sense. See, it’s come to my knowledge that your, er…” GOB hesitated, almost as though he didn’t wish to speak of it. “Pardon me if it’s rude to point out your fur color, but I learned it’s not natural, but a disease. Is this correct?” GOB asked, giving a serious face.
“What are you playing at?” Selune narrowed her eyes, a stern tone in her voice.
“Selune, my offer is simple. If you can complete the task I give you successfully, then I shall… cure you of your disease. Thus turning you back to how you should look without that pigmentation. I know you may be over it now thanks to the last challenge, but like I said, it’s worth asking.”
“No.” Selune responded immediately. She shook her head, almost disappointed at GOB for proposing this.
“You just don’t get it, do you? I didn’t want my coat changed. I wanted respect, I wanted acceptance, I wanted to have friends. I could go change my coat, and still not have any of that. Through this pain I was able to gain so much more, I was able to grow as a character, as a person, pony... whatever.” Selune found the nearest chair and sat down, looking between her hooves.
“This coat was never an inhibition, and if it was it was all in my head. Besides, if I wasn’t weird because of it, it would be something else, like my cutie mark. This coat is more than ‘what’ I am, it made me ‘who’ I am, pushing me to overcome my limitations, to try harder, to be better than what my appearance told others. So thanks, but no thanks.” She stated firmly, looking GOB in the eyes. GOB nodded, his eyes turning back to normal.
“Not every deal can be accepted. I know that. But as I said, it was worth asking. So, since you’ve denied my suggestion, have you at least thought of something you’d want to wish for? Anything at all?” GOB asked, and in that moment Selune’s eyes gleamed as her wish presented itself in her mind.
“Love is life. A life without love is no life at all. I love Merc, I really do, but in the last challenges we became the reason for two other couples to be separated. I won’t accept that!” She punctuated the last sentence with a grim determination “If Merc wishes that we live a life in love, then I make the same wish, and extend it to the other two couples. So wishes Selune Darkeye, daughter of Azure Melody and Lumina Oculus, so does she declare!” Selune said, pumping her chest in pride. GOB smiled a bright and large smile.
“Ha! Wonderful! I like your pride, and your willingness to help others! I don’t see enough ponies like you! So, with that out of the way, let’s discuss the final challenge. It’ll be a heist. Since Merc chose the weapons heist and Spark chose the cash heist, you’ll be assigned the artifact heist. Don’t worry, it’s nothing illegal. It’s just stealing back something that was stolen.” GOB informed.
“Yea…” Selune smiled awkwardly while rubbing her neck, “I think I’m entitled to more info than just that. I mean it still doesn’t sound nice, stealing never is nice, and I’m pretty pretty sure I’ll be making some individuals angry, which miiiiiiiiiight make it hard for me to live in the open later.”
“Actually, it would be a lot easier than you think. First of all, this mission should be held at night. Late at night. Second, these are not ponies you're dealing with. Actually, they’re not of your world. They, well, look like me. Believe me, they’re not like me, but they look like me. If that makes sense.” GOB paused. He glanced at Selune who made a grimace, puzzled by what he said. “See, these ‘humans’ have recently found a device of mine. The year is 1947. An easy year for you, since their technology isn’t as high tech as it would be now. Anyway, they found what they foolishly call a ‘UFO’, or ‘Unidentified Flying Object’, and are holding scientific experiments on it. I want it back! And you’ll be using this, to get it back!” GOB presented a small potato sack before Selune who eyed the sack with a bit of confusion.
“What’s in there? More important, what is this device you want, and what does it do?”
“Here’s a photo of the device.” GOB handed a small picture to Selune. She saw a large disc-like thing the size of a carriage, and GOB was standing next to in the picture. “I won it off some punk in a poker game. I got drunk that night and I thought it would be fun to fly it over ‘Earth’, the planet the humans live on, for a sec. You know… give ‘em a scare and whatnot. Well, we know not to drink and drive and I got in a nasty accident. I escaped without getting caught, but my ride wasn’t so lucky. I need you to get it back for me.” GOB informed.
“So… this is just a vehicle? Really? No catch? One could easily replicate it if that was the case. Either that or there’s something in it.” Selune’s brow furrowed as she was fishing for more information. GOB groaned.
“Fine! Fine, it has a nuclear reactor. If those apes poke and prod at that thing some more, it’ll surely wipe them out. As a god I can’t have that happen! So I need you to get it back before something bad happens, because as you can see even gods get swamped with bureaucratic matters. I know it seems too big to fit in this small sack, but it’s special. It can fit anything of any size inside and will still have room for a little extra. Now I will warn you, these humans do have firepower and will shoot on sight if they see you, so try to be stealthy about it.” GOB informed.
“You have a ‘Bag of Holding’?” Selune gasped as her eyes fell on the bag and glinted with glee, but then she remembered what GOB had said, and shook herself back to the matter at hoof. “Wait firepower? What kind of firepower? Are they magic resistant or something?”
GOB chuckled, which escalated to laughter at Selune’s question. “Please Selune. You’re giving them too much credit. Sure, they did master the power of atoms and wipe out two cities with said power. They’re not magic resistant, but they have the tools to wipe you out instantly. Like bullets of steel and lead that shoot as fast as lightning.”
“Hey, I gotta cover my flanks now, don’t I? Questions like this have to be asked.” She said, tilting her eyebrow.
“That’s why I’m giving you this bag!” GOB then handed her yet another potato sack. “Think of any inanimate object, and it’ll be in that sack. To prove it, think of anything. Think of, say, a rock. Go ahead, try ‘er out!” GOB said with a smile.
“Hmmm…” Selune took the sack, closed her eyes and thought of an anvil. To test it out, she kicked it with her left hoof and immediately retracted it, holding it with her right. “Sweet mother of mercy that hurt! Where do you get this stuff? I need something like that next Nightmare Night!”
“Here, I’ve got a bunch of them. The potatoes I buy come in these sacks!” GOB handed Selune three extra potato sacks. “Have fun. Anyway, these sacks will help you during the mission. For example, if you find yourself in the middle of a shoot out between those monkeys, think of a gun or bow and arrow and shoot away. Or if you need something to blind the cameras, think of some spray paint or stickers to cover the camera lenses.”
Selune smiled as this reminded her of her projection magic. Conjuring blades was hard enough, but maybe after the mission she could study those sacs and learn more about them? “Hmmm, alright if that’s all you have that’s okay. Otherwise, I’ll need a map of the area, patrol schedules, any security codes if they have them, and last but not least, a means of transportation. Unless these sacs can procure those items as well. They look small.”
GOB only chuckled. “You really think so?” GOB then took a sack and reached into it. Seconds later, a large wooden limb stuck out from the sack. “This here’s a coffee table. Want me to spawn a car next? Or maybe a building? We’ll have to go outside for that, though.” He said with a chuckle. He then put the sack on the floor and came back up with a small map in his hand. He placed it before Selune.
“The location is called ‘Area 51,’ be cautious, they don’t have Equestrian guards protecting this shiz, they have dangerous troops with guns that can kill you in an instant!” GOB warned once again.
“Just another day in the life of Selune Darkeye, I guess? No point in whining about it.” She said, shrugging and letting out a sigh.
“That’s the spirit! So, you have your wish, your job, your sacks… The last one can be taken wrong, but you still have them! Is there something else you need?” GOB asked.
“No, I don’t think so. Wait what do you mean ‘taken wrong’?”
“Must I explain? You’re a grown mare, you’ve graduated middle school and high school. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, there was always that one kid who made those nasty jokes. Anyway, I feel like this meeting is complete! Any questions?” GOB asked as he began to wrap up his work on the desk.
“Just the one: when do I start?”
“Tonight… Well, technically tomorrow. You’ll go to sleep tonight, but at midnight, you’ll wake up in the human world just a mile or two away from Area 51. You’ll still be a pony if you’ve been wondering that.” GOB said.
“Jolly. No offense but I wouldn’t like you messing with my genitals again.”
“I had no intent… Unless…” A devilish smile graced GOB’s face as he held up his two fingers and got ready to snap.
“NOPE NOPE NOPE!” She waved her hooves dismissively as she backed down in her seat.
“Fine, fine. Oh! Before you leave…” GOB took his crown off and turned the lone gem towards himself. He took a breath and smiled at the shiny stone. He took the gem with his fingers and began to pinch and pry it from the crown. After some effort, GOB pulled the gem from the crown and held it in his hand. Amazingly, a single tear fell from GOB’s face as he smiled at the gem. He handed the gem over to Selune who took it in her hooves. “This will be the thing that makes your wish a reality. Trust me,” GOB smiled.
“Don’t I have to succeed first?” She said, examining it and spinning it around.
“Yes, but if you don’t it comes right back to me. But something tells me I won’t be seeing this one again. If you play your cards right, of course.” With that, GOB stood and held his hands behind his back. With a toothy smile, he spoke one last time.
“Good luck, Miss Darkeye.” GOB then held his fingers up once more and snapped them. Selune began to fade away. Knowing she was leaving, she made sure to quickly grab the sacks GOB gave her along with the green gem. Before she was fully gone, she heard GOB mutter ominously: “Thanks for playing…”