The Tome of Faust

by DungeonMiner

Chapter 29

When he woke, Mouse found himself lying on a marvelously comfortable bed.

This made him immediately suspicious, and he quickly began searching the room for his things. The place was bright, cheery, airy, and no doubt hid some sinister purpose. There had to be somepony watching him, no doubt from the walls, waiting for him to move before dealing the final blow. The silky bed curtains around him rustled in a faint, cooling breeze that made the whole room as wonderfully comfortable as possible, without being too cool or too warm. The bed gave way like a cloud beneath him softer than anything he had ever felt before.

The table beside him held his cloak, belt, bag, and knives, and with a panicked leap, he jumped off the bed for them, dragging his sheets with him. He landed hard on the perfectly smooth, stained hardwood floor as his back, sides, and chest erupted into pain.

He groaned again, rolling onto his hooves, but found himself caught in the sheets and slamming into the ground again. He pulled against the fine bed linens, tugging and pulling, and trying to free himself, as panic began to fill his mind.

It’s a trap! A great, elaborate trap, lure him into a false sense of security with the bed, and sheets, and the nice, comfortable room, and then kill him as he tried to escape! He was done for if he didn’t get out now!

He struggled against his bonds once more, pulling and grabbing and trying to break free, even as the blankets now covered his head and tale.

Blind, bound, and cursing, the assassin tried to reach out for his knives, and was about to cut himself free before a voice called out. “Oh! You’re awake!”

He was lifted bodily in the air, and was carefully placed back in the bed, A moment later, the sheets were unwrapped from his body, leaving him free to see his rescuer.

And his jaw dropped.

A midnight blue mare stood in front of him, with a gentle blue glow surrounded her long, spiraling horn as her magic carefully put things back the way they were. Yet, despite this, her towering figure quite obviously had wings.

It took a moment, but his mind slowly came to a single, terrifying conclusion.

Before him, was a literal goddess.

Leaping out of the bed again, and narrowly avoiding getting caught in the blankets again, before he hit the floor in a bow. “My lady!”

And then the goddess squealed in joy.

Looking up, Mouse saw the mare prancing in place, looking not unlike a filly who had just found a new kitty. “Oh! Oh! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! I knew you were one of mine!” She beamed as she danced, and smiled wide as she saw him.

“One of yours?” Mouse asked carefully.

“Yes! Yes!” she said. “You’re one of my followers, I’m Luna! Oh, I’m so happy you’re awake!” She jumped onto the bed, staring down at him from her new perch as she grinned at her disciple. “Let’s see Ghost was it? I think that was your name, am I right?”

“I’m actually…”

“Mouse?” Luna asked. “I’m so sorry, I’m normally better at names, I knew it was one of those. But then again, I’ve never had the chance to meet one of my followers before.” She squealed again, lifting him in the air, and holding him above her as though he were a stuffed animal.

Mouse was doing his best to take this in stride.

“Oh, I’m so happy!” Luna sang, throwing him about the room in excitement. “This is better than I could have ever imagined! I knew we could save you! I knew we’d save you from all those awful wounds. I knew we could.”

His wounds?

His wounds.

The manticore.

The egg. Oh Luna, the egg! It was shattered into a thousand pieces at the bottom of the ravine.

It all came flooding back, set aside only for a moment as he tried to process the danger that could have surrounded him.

He suddenly felt sick as a ball of guilt dropped into the pit of his stomach.

“Oh, my little Mouse!” Luna said, before she began to slow. “Are you alright?”

“I’m...I’m…”

“Oh, no,” the goddess said, holding her tiny pony in her arms, before stuffing him back under the sheets. “I didn’t hurt you, did I? Stay right here! I’ll get my sister!”

The egg was destroyed.

The thought rang through his head, and sapped his strength.

“You couldn’t even take care of an egg,” he thought to himself. “It had no arms, no legs, couldn’t run off, and you couldn’t do it. All you had to do was make sure that you didn’t drop it, and you failed at that. It fell so far…”

Before he could accuse himself any further, another mare stepped into the room. Towering, white, with a mane as pink as a sunrise, she practically floated into the room . She too, was a goddess, as her horn and wings shone briefly. Luna was just behind her, staring at the the assissin on the bed from behind the larger pony.

“Alright, let’s see this follower of yours Luna,” the goddess with the sun on her flank said as she approached.

Mouse tried to sink back into bed as he watched a goddess approach him, and reach out with a horn that could run through a normal pony. Unlike most unicorns, whose horns were basically knubs, hers was a weapon of war. Yet, despite that, the magic that soon enveloped him was gentle and warm, like the sun on a cool, spring day.

After the golden magic washed over him, she shook her head. “There’s nothing wrong with him, Lu, he’s fine.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, like a young filly who was afraid that she had just hurt her new puppy.

“Yes, he’s fine,” the larger one said, before turning back to Mouse. “Are you alright…?”

“Oh, uh…Gh—” he began, before stopping himself. “Uh...Mouse. I’m Mouse. No one important.”

“And are you alright, Mouse?” the larger pony repeated.

“Yes, I uh...I just...I just remembered something is all.”

“There, you see, Luna. He’s fine, he says so himself.”

And the midnight blue mare grinned at the news. “Oh! I’m so excited, Tia! It’s one of my followers! When was the last time we talked to normal ponies?”

“It’s been a while,” the one called Tia admitted.

“He’s just so adorable!” Luna said, leaping on to the bed to grabbed him again, holding the small pony tight.

“Ack!” Mouse choked, the air shoved out of his lungs by a bone-crushing hug.

“Luna, you’re crushing him.”

“It’s not my fault! He’s just so adorable.”

The larger pony sighed. “This is why we’re not supposed to be with ponies anymore, you do know that, right?”

“But they’re so amazing, Tia!”

Mouse tried to breathe again, before he was pulled from Luna’s grasp, by a soft, warm glow. “Luna, let him recover before you kill him at least,” the larger one said.

As Mouse was dropped back into his bed, the larger one spoke. “Welcome, Mouse, to the Castle of the Two Sisters. I am Celestia, the Dawnbringer, and this is my sister, Luna the Starsinger, welcome to our home.”

“I...th-thank you for your hospitality…” Mouse said. “How did you find me?”

“Well, you were in our backyard,” Luna said.

Celestia nodded. “You were lucky we came across you, young Mouse. We almost were too late to save you. You had lost a lot of blood, and were on Halden’s door. You been sleeping for three days.”

“I see,” Mouse said simply.

“Once you’re ready, you’re free to explore the castle, just be sure to call for us,” the larger goddess said. “Luna has already introduced herself, but you may call me Celestia.”

Mouse nodded.

“In the meantime, rest. It’ll be some time before you can walk on your own power.”

“Thank you,” Mouse said, before he pulled his blanket up and gladly went to sleep.

The next few days passed by slowly. Mouse would wake at random hours, haunted by the ponies that were kind to him, and were betrayed for their trouble. Food was left for him, but he barely touched it. Instead he lay still in his bed, living with the pain that was growing in his stomach.

He deserved it, after all. He should have simply stayed in his cell, and waited for death to take him like so many other inmates. It was better that way. Cedar would be alive, Windswept would be alive, Demon, Phantom, Oracle, and Spectre would all be alive, and there wouldn’t have been a problem.

Mouse would have suffered, yes, he always had, but it wouldn’t have been any worse. In fact, that dark prison under Canterlot seemed preferable to this, to living with the knowledge that he tried and failed. He tried to be a normal, average pony, and failed so spectacularly that he turned into a he kind of creature that other criminals believed are morally depraved.

He just wanted a normal life, that’s all.

How did things go so wrong?

Another plate of food sat at his bedside, as fragrant and warm as if it had just come out of the oven. Mouse barely spared the honey bread a second glance before turning over to pull the blankets tight.

As he slipped into unconsciousness, though, he was surprised to see that he wasn’t alone.

“Why are you doing this to yourself, Mouse?” Luna asked him from his dream.

Mouse blinked at the sight of the her, as she stood in the void he was floating in. He looked to the left, where Cedar stood waiting, ready to tear into the small pony and tear him down again.

Luna ignored the spectre, and stared down at Mouse, with sad, pitiful eyes.

“I…”

“Why are you doing this to yourself? Why are you carrying all this guilt?”

Mouse sighed, before he grunted. “It’s not like I don’t deserve it.”

“How could you say that?” Luna asked.

“I killed them, of course I deserve it,” Mouse bit back. “I killed them, and I deserve to die.”

“Oh, Mouse, how did it come to this?”

“It’s what I wanted!” He growled. “I gladly traded their lives for gold, and now, I get to die.”

“You should be so lucky,” Cedar growled. “You deserve to suffer for eternity! You betrayed me when I had done nothing but help you! You killed me.”

“Be silent,” Luna ordered.

Cedar went silent.

“Mouse, look at me,” Luna said, and the small pony obeyed. “Is this really what you wanted? You wanted to trade lives for gold?”

He wavered. “Y-yes.”

“He did,” Cedar growled, before Luna shot him a glare.

The image withered under her glare.

And Luna gave him a soft smile. “That’s not what your heart tells me.”

Confused, Mouse looked around him, and the first thing to cross his vision was the Howling Dragon, where Mouse was happily working alongside Punch, serving drinks from behind the bar. They laughed as a pony performed on the floor, and one of barmaids slid up close and joined the fun.

It...It seemed...nice.

Mouse turned away, returning to the void for comfort, but then found himself staring at a young Farmer Mouse, who was carefully working in a field on the outskirts of Baltimare. It was hard work, but he tended to Lady Ruby’s field with care, working alongside the earth pony farmers to bring in the harvest.

Mouse turned again.

There he stood with Storm and Cedar, singing in the Darkwood Company building as they drank and celebrated. He was being awarded, climbing the ranks. The ponies around him were cheering as he was awarded his newest rank, and Storm was delighted to be the first to call him a peer.

Mouse sighed.

“That’s what you wanted, isn’t?” Luna asked.

“Just leave me be,” Mouse sighed. “I’ve strayed too far from that path to think of it anymore.”

Luna shook her head, before she turned to the sneering Cedar that dared not approach her. “Well, if nothing else, then allow me to turn this parody into a true memory of your friend.”

“He was never my friend!” Cedar growled. “He betrayed me, lied to me, and—”

A silver-white light shot across the void, and tore into the apparition in Mouse’s mind.

“—and it hurt me…” Cedar said, his voice calmer. “It hurt me, because I know we could have been friends. Real friends. Instead, I scared you away, and led you down on this terrible path, and now it’s too late for us.”

Mouse didn’t answer as he was left alone with with his dream, with this new Cedar that he knew in his heart was more like the real Cedar than anything his mind had ever dreamed up. This less abusive, kinder Cedar, that was more hurt than angry. This new Cedar that just wished the two of them could have genuinely been friends.

Mouse wasn’t sure which was worse.

When Mouse woke next, he was met with the sight of Celestia, who glared at him angrily from above. “What’s this about you not eating?” she asked, a fire deep in her eyes.

“I...um…”

“I am not letting you starve yourself after all that!” She asked, her hair flapping angrily as sparks of fire popped around her head,before her horn shimmered to life, and pinned him to the bed. “We were put in charge here for the sole purpose of taking care of you ponies, and I’m not going to let you die while you’re literally within leg’s reach. Not when we are so close to finishing. So, I am going to give you one chance, mister. Eat, or I will make you eat.”

Mouse carefully weighed his options, before he quickly grabbed the plate beside his bed, and ate.

Celestia continued to glare, before finally nodding, and stepping out of the room, continuing to glare the whole time.

Mouse ate until the goddess left him, and then picked at his food, slowly nibbling on his food as he sat there alone. His stomach rejoiced at the food, and though it was a little painful, he managed to finish the plate.

He did have to admit that it did feel good to eat again. It really did.

Sighing, Mouse pulled the sheets up around him again, and went to sleep.

Days went by, and, under the watchful, wrathful eye of Celestia, and the excited, almost intrusive gaze of Luna watching him in his dreams, Mouse was well on the way to recovery, despite his original attempt at otherwise.

The goddesses, unsurprisingly, made for good company however. Celestia was the serious, older, and arguable wiser sister, who offered him information in exchange for cleaning his plate, while Luna was the more excited of the two, eager to share about her subjects, and her love of the night sky. She spoke endlessly about her favorite stars, the constellations, and the plodding journey of the moon and planets across the sky, describing them in great detail, even after Mouse had lost her completely.

Still, it was enjoyable to have someone to talk to.

As the second week of his stay passed, he was finally able to walk about the Castle, and quickly found himself marveling at the sheer size of it. Any second not spent being coddled by Luna or watched by Celestia was spent ogling the mighty Castle of the Two Sisters

The Castle was large, with many rooms, tapestries, and suits of armor, which were all covered in a layer of dust so thick that everything appeared gray. The castle had its own, fully stocked library, with so many books that Mouse had a hard time believing what he saw, and it had a kitchen to match, ready to serve hundreds of people. It had an organ room, with an organ that appeared untouched for decades, as well as a single secret passage that Mouse had discovered on accident, which could only mean that there were more.

Yet there was nopony here. Not a single pony besides himself and the goddesses.

The whole castle was empty.

It made almost no sense this massive, fully stocked castle was so empty.

On the other hoof, it made tracking down the goddesses easy enough. All he had to do was follow the clean halls, or barring that, their hoofprints that were left behind in the dust.

This was useful, because after all this wandering around, Mouse had a question he wanted answered.

It took him a little time, but eventually he found Celestia, carefully reading through a book, before she quickly spotted their guest.

“Hello, Mouse. What brings you here?”

“I’m curious, my Lady,” he said, bowing to her.

Celestia motioned him to continue.

“I was curious as to why the castle is empty. It is obviously made for many ponies, but only you and Lady Luna live here. Why is that?”

Celestia didn’t even look up from her book. “Because we are leaving.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’m not surprised,” Celestia said, before finally looking him in the eye. “Mouse, the question you’re asking has a long answer, and I’m not sure I want to answer it, especially not to a murderer.”

Mouse’s ears flattened.

“In fact, I want you to know, right now, that the only reason I have not kicked you out of my castle to die is for my Sister’s sake. She, for some reason, believes that it’s okay that you’re a murderer and wants to keep you as one of her followers, because of some excuse that it’s not what you wanted or something.”

Mouse took a step back.

“If I had it my way, I would have you killed, but my sister’s heart is too big to allow such a pitiful thing be killed, so you will stay for now, Murderer. For now, I will pretend that I don’t know, despite Luna’s awful attempt to hide it from me, so you’re safe. Besides, it would be a mark against our hospitality if I were to force you out.”

Mouse nodded. “I see, thank you, Lady, for your patience.”

Celestia nodded, and Mouse took his leave.

Mouse was served his dinner in his bedroom, though “served” is perhaps the wrong word when the living moon goddess brings the plate herself.

“Hello, Mouse,” she said, smiling as she came to feed her follower. “I have brought you some biscuits, baked potatoes, and shortbread.”

“Thank you, my Lady,” Mouse responded, still unsure of how to respond when a god offers you a meal.

“So, as I was saying,” she said, picking up her conversation from a few hours ago. “The cluster of stars that I call the belt has a clou—”

“Lady Luna, if I may?”

“Oh, of course, of course. Please.”

Mouse took a moment to breathe, before he spoke again. “I’m a killer. You know that, I know that.”

Luna shifted.

“So why are you keeping me here? Why are you letting me stay? Why haven’t you kicked me out, and sent me into the forest to die like I deserve?”

Luna’s face softened, and she gave him a small grin. “Because, Mouse, it’s our duty to take care of the world, and the ponies in it. We are supposed to care for the innocents and protect them from the dangers that they are not yet ready for.”

“But I’m not innocent,” Mouse said. “I’m almost anything but innocent.”

“Yes,” Luna said, setting her plate aside, "but you are a facing a great and terrible danger, Mouse. You are facing the danger of losing your way.

“And I will not let you fall to that while I’m still here.”

Comments

[TheCommunistDog]

18 chapers left? Fuuuuck that means mouse will live for even longer

Ps im not sure if you have noticed, but i really don’t like mouse…