Chapter Forty-eight: The Unbeliever
The main square of Canterlot was a large cobblestone intersection, with small spots on the sidewalk selling jewelry and fancy delicacies. These smaller stands stood outside larger boutiques, shops, and company headquarters. These buildings were purple, gold, and white. Banners draped between buildings, over the streams of people moving through it. Canterlot Boulevard was a busy place no matter which day of the week it was.
On this particular day, though, a massive crowd of ponies were ignoring the ivory-colored shops and stands, and those ponies that were in the shops were coming out curiously. There was a small wooden stand that had been erected and set up, and atop this wooden stand was a speaker addressing the crowd in front of him. He had been up there for most of the morning, and as time went by, more and more notable ponies noticed and began to listen.
“Recently,” Prince Blueblood was announcing grandly, holding a hoof to his chest while looking down at the crowd, “a beastly creature invaded Canterlot and disrupted the Grand Galloping Gala. Dipping into his pools of dark magic, he brushed aside the pony who tried to drive him out like a sheepdog, and he remains even now in this city as a wolf among innocent sheep.” Blueblood paced to the side, making the ponies below keep rapt attention. “This Scorpan claims to know the fate of Equestria before it actually happens, as if our fate is unavoidable. My friends, this is not true. Nopony can know of things before they happen! I am a believer that we can change our own destiny!”
Muttering went on from the crowd below in acknowledgment, but one brave mare yelled out, “What about the Mare in the Moon? The legends said that Nightmare Moon would return a thousand years before it even happened! How did they know?”
Blueblood pointed at her. “Excellent question, ma’am! An excellent one indeed, but one easily answered.” Blueblood went back to the side again, and every eye followed him, eager to hear what reply Blueblood would make.
“The legends were true. That I admit freely; there is no denying that Nightmare Moon returned. But she did not shroud the world in eternal night. The night was easily dispelled when Celestia confronted her and forced her to turn back into Princess Luna. This means that the legends were partially true, but not entirely. The ponies who wrote the legends wrote them to keep citizens paranoid and afraid, and they just happened to get one part right.”
Mutterings of agreement followed the answer, interspersed with a few whispers of He’s right and He’s got a point.
“So with that said, the mystic power Scorpan claims to have is no more than the same elemental power we all have,” Blueblood picked up. “The magic of unicorns, the flight of pegasi, the strength and talent of earth ponies! All of us have power in ourselves, and we can be reliant on ourselves. The safest hooves are still our own. We possess for ourselves the ability to shape our destiny the way we want, because we are strong and mighty!”
As he raised a hoof in the air, cheers followed him. There were even a few whistles.
“Good,” came the small voice in his ear. The earpiece was still snug, and the Noxxa’s voice was as clear as ever. “Now speak more about the Prophet’s illegitimate claims.”
Blueblood waited until the cheering subsided. Then he raised his voice and said, “Now, with that said, what do we do about this false prophet who comes into our fair city and spreads the word of doom to us? What does he mean, when he says that we shall be overrun in under six months, when this is the most peaceful time in the history of the planet? Shall we prepare for a catastrophe that will never happen?”
Fierce agreement followed him, especially among the ones in blue suits and in long frilly dresses.
“This prophet came to Canterlot for one reason alone,” Blueblood emphatically said, stamping the ground with his hooves. “To weaken Equestria by dividing us in opinion! He is the one spreading falseness and deceit, dreaming up the existence of an imaginary army that will conquer this fair land and keep us in bondage! My friends, if an army comes, we’ll prepare for it and fight them off. But until then, he wishes only for the division of this people. Stand united, my friends! United against evil and tempting words!”
The cheering that followed was louder than ever.
Then there came several gasps and soft exclamations as a path opened up in the midst of ponies. A solitary figure strode through, hands behind his back. As he stopped in the center of ponies, disapproving eyes traveled all over his gnarled frame and moved away to create an empty circle in the crowd.
“And here comes Scorpan himself,” Blueblood announced, pointing a mocking hoof at the Prophet. “I said something he doesn't like, so here he is, attempting to prove I’m wrong.” He laughed uproariously.
Scorpan didn't even blink. When the prince finished laughing, Scorpan simply shook his head. “Prince of Stars. Your destiny spoke of greater things than this.”
“Prince of Stars?” Blueblood asked, lifting his eyebrows. “What nonsense are you spouting now, Prophet?”
“You could have been a beacon of leadership to the ponies of this fair land,” Scorpan spoke slowly.
“What do you know of my destiny, Prophet?” Blueblood asked casually.
“The answer is in the question. I am a prophet of the one true Goddess. You are a prince who defies expectations of virtue and obedience. Which of us has more right to declare the tidings of good?”
“You don't care about these ponies!” Blueblood declared, steering it away from getting on his own misdeeds. “You were the brother of Lord Tirek, who apparently befriended the ponies here over a thousand years ago, and then, when you delivered your monstrous brother to Celestia, you ignored the friendships you made and returned to your own barbaric land. Now if that’s not friendship, I don't know what is!”
The sarcasm had no effect on him. “Faust had a higher mission for me than staying with the friends I made. I followed her direction to return to my homeland, while I thought I was defying her by going away from Equestria.”
“Faust?” Blueblood asked in confusion. “Who’s Faust?”
“No!” the Nox hissed in his earpiece. “No, stop him!”
“Faust is the one true Goddess,” Scorpan intoned reverently. “The mother of heaven and earth, and the one who loved each of her children enough to provide us with life.”
“A Goddess?” Blueblood let out a hard laugh. “There’s no such thing as a Goddess, and you are not her prophet!”
“You say that to me as if you know for yourself that Faust does not exist. Did she show you that she does not exist?”
“Well, then, how do you know of this?”
“She delivered to me the news of the future, which is grim and dark.”
“You hear voices in your head, telling you things you want to hear? There’s a word for that, you know.”
“And there is also a word for those who defy an all-powerful Goddess,” Scorpan retaliated without a break in tone.
“If this...Goddess really existed,” Blueblood said in ire, “then why have we not heard of Her?”
“To protect you from the king of Tartarus, who seeks to destroy everything and everybody you love. It is him who is seeking even now to overthrow you.”
“So she denies showing herself among us to protect us from yet another imaginary being,” Blueblood replied sarcastically. “Your logic impedes all question!”
Everypony laughed.
“If this Faust is actually real,” Blueblood continued, feeling stronger with the assurance that everypony was on his side, “then prove to me that she is.”
“Her power and grace is present everywhere,” Scorpan responded. “It was her who gifted ponies with magic and friendship. She gave the unicorns magic, the pegasi flight, the earth ponies their strength.”
“You’ve proved nothing.”
“As have you. What room have you to say that there is no Goddess? You have nothing to your claim except for your words.” Scorpan’s yellow eyes began to glow softly. “But I have all things as a witness. I have the goodness in pony’s hearts, and the love they share. I have the words of many who came before me. I have Equus and everything that is in it. I have the motion of the stars and planets above us to prove that there is a higher being.”
Muttering was going on in the crowd again, but this time, they were confused and uncertain of who was right.
“Stop him!” the Nox hissed. “Stop him!”
“If this Faust is as powerful as you say she is,” Blueblood said callously, “then give me a sign of her so-called power.”
Scorpan gave him a deep and sunken glare and steepled his fingers. “Oh, you child of hell.".
“I thought you said I was a child of Faust,” Blueblood instantly snapped back.
Scorpan only continued to stare harshly at him, and he clenched both his fists together so hard the bones under his skin looked ready to pop out.
Blueblood smirked. “So. Are you going to show me a sign of her power?”
Scorpan, glaring malevolently at Blueblood, raised his hand, and everypony backed away hurriedly. They had all seen how Scorpan could do astounding feats by barely making any motion, so when he moved, everyone flinched involuntarily--even Blueblood, who had not forgotten the electricity that had struck him at the Gala.
“If I were to say to this mountain, Become flat earth, it will collapse and become flat earth,” Scorpan said, holding his hand aloft. “If I were to say to the Celestial Sea, Be dry land, it will become dry land. If I were to command the firmament above us to blot out the stars, then the sky will become ink, without a speck of light. Would that be enough for you, Prince of Stars? Or would you have me command the moon to melt, or have the very earth beneath you roll up like a scroll, or command the sun to shrink to the size of a grape?”
Blueblood, temporarily frozen, returned to his previous state. “How can you summon this power?”
“I have power of my own,” Scorpan freely said. “But the power of Faust can do anything if I ask it with pure intention.”
“Ah! So you can't do it right now, only in the right circumstance.” Blueblood smiled in reassurance. “I see what it is all about now.”
“You have had signs enough,” Scorpan said. “Will you tempt your Goddess?”
“If she can't prove her existence, then how is she real? Why should I believe in something unseen and indescribable?”
“Will you believe after you see?” Scorpan asked.
“Of course I will!” Blueblood lied.
Scorpan grimaced. “Then you won't get a sign. A pony like you will never believe in the power of Faust, always insisting the signs I give you come from my own hand.”
“But I’ll believe in Faust if she just makes me believe in her!” Blueblood insisted angrily.
“That’s not the point of believing!” Scorpan heavily said with intense irascibility. “With your belief comes the signs that it’s true. Believing in something already proven right is meaningless; you believe in proven truth, but it’s already been proven true, so you seem stupid for only believing in things proven true. Belief in something you have no witness of for yourself, however, will grant you proof. But when a pony like you demands a sign after slandering the Goddess and demeaning Her prophet, do not expect to get one.”
“Are you saying I'm not good enough for you?” Blueblood asked, pointing at himself and leaning forward.
“Your life is as a dried reed, prince. Ready to be blown and driven in the east wind. You ask for a sign, yet you disbelieve in the Goddess who has created you.”
“If there is a Faust, then I wouldn't deny her,” Blueblood said. “But I know that there isn’t, because there’s no proof of her. She doesn't exist, and never has, and never will.”
Scorpan threw his arm forward like he was lunging for Blueblood, and everyone recoiled, especially Blueblood. Scorpan hadn't moved an inch, but the air around him had changed in quality and density.
“Then this shall be your sign, Prince of Stars,” came another voice from his mouth, altered in pitch and power. Blueblood fell onto his flank and listened to the voice issuing forth. “Not two moons shall pass away before your life on this planet shall end by your own sword.”
Blueblood’s heart leapt into his throat.
“You shall perish without even knowing you will pass away, and everything you possess shall rot away and be destroyed. And when you face me at the gates of heaven, stripped of your power and wealth, and when I stare you down, that shall be your sign that I am real. When that happens, my son, do not insist I did not send my servant to tell you these things. I tell you these things to turn unto me. Repent, my beloved son, and humble yourself, or your own sword shall reap your life away.”
Scorpan stopped speaking, then leaned back and lowered his hand. His expression was as indeterminable as ever. “There is your sign...Prince of Stars.”
And he turned around and tramped heavily away. His hands were behind his back and his head was down. As he went ponies scrambled away and stared at him leaving without even looking to the side. Scorpan had no interest in the reactions of the nobility.
Blueblood panted, holding a hoof to his chest. When Scorpan had spoken, it had felt different somehow. It wasn't him who had spoken, but instead it was a much more powerful one. It was an influence that put pressure on his breastbone and made his stomach queasy.
Scorpan had obviously faked it, of course. He could have easily used magic to alter his vocal chords and push on his stomach. Scorpan was just doing it to prove he was right. Blueblood knew it--he knew it with all the certainty he had in his soul. Scorpan was faking it all.
But he had made the prophecy that Blueblood would perish in two months. So what would that mean in the large scheme of th-
Scorpan was going to kill him.
Blueblood had locked his room after the day was over, then he looked into the ceiling. “You can come out now.”
The Nox crawled out of the loose tile near the ceiling and scuttled down to the floor. He straightened his leg with a groan. “Oh, Prince! It’s so hard to be up there all day. When I was a pony I could have fit perfectly in there, but now…”
“Well, where would you rather be?” Blueblood irately asked.
“I just wish I was a pony again,” the Nox lied expertly, slumping down and staring at his barbed claws. “This Prophet ruined me!”
“You heard what he said in the market today?”
“Yes,” the Nox said, and this time, it was true. “He faked his prophecies again. You can never trust other creatures who aren’t ponies.”
“You’re definitely not a pony,” Blueblood reminded him.
“Oh.” The Nox slumped in feigned sadness. “I forgot.” He rubbed his sharp-tipped claws together and mumbled, “So... what do we do now?”
“We get rid of him!” Blueblood decided, smacking his hooves together swiftly. “We need to do it before he does it to us!”
“A great plan, my prince,” the Nox complimented him. “How will you do it?”
“Simple! We’ll…” Blueblood stopped abruptly, changing his demeanor from determined to stupefied. He put a hoof to his chin. “Oh, this is harder than I thought.”
“His power is great,” the Nox said. “I speak as a witness of it. With barely a swish of his hand, he will unleash mystical and unseen powers from whatever mudhole he was raised in. Darkness surrounds him like a fart. You could smell it if you got too close.”
“So we’ll rally the ponies against him,” Blueblood decided.
“To what extent?” the Nox pointed out. “Say you assemble the citizens together to drive him out like a pest. He will simply destroy them all, blast Canterlot off the face of the earth, and spread his false and foolish doctrine elsewhere. You would do more harm than good.”
Blueblood groaned and collapsed into his purple bed. “I’m lucky I have someone like you to help me,” Blueblood muttered. “How can I do this if even the princesses accept him as a true figure of authority?”
“There might not be a way,” the Nox said sadly. “Not to achieve your goals of snagging this Rarity of yours, or of getting at Noble Blade and Scorpan.”
Blueblood sat up. “No. I refuse to let that happen.”
“Then what’ll be your plan?”
“Keep convincing everypony that Scorpan has no authority to preach about friendship or destiny or Goddesses,” Blueblood responded, getting out of his suit and tossing it on the back of a chair.
The Nox lifted up an edge of the suit with an ebony claw and narrowed his eyes. “Do you wear this seven days of the week?”
“I have six more in the wardrobe,” Blueblood said negligently. “I have the servants wash them every week.”
K’ra suppressed a growl of hatred in his throat and resisted tearing into the tux. He had never had so much as a set of clothing, let alone a place to live before, and here the prince was, sucking the world dry and getting larger and larger, like a water balloon. He hated this. He absolutely hated it.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” the prince said to him, shuffling into bed and spreading his golden locks as his head hit the pillow.
K’ra swallowed his disgust. “See you tomorrow, prince.”
Blueblood nodded and turned off the light with a chime of his horn. Within five minutes, he was snoring.
K’ra, once he was sound asleep, pulled out the self-built communicator and began to whisper to High Command what had happened.
“What about their war strategies? Are they preparing for war?”
“A little,” K’ra dubiously reported. While Blueblood had been out among the citizens, K’ra had eavesdropped on the strategy room that Celestia and Luna were talking in. “Nopony in Canterlot is enthusiastic about either Scorpan or the prophecy. Morale is low in the capital. That didn't stop the princesses from mobilizing, though. Princess Celestia sent out letters calling for volunteers all across the land, and even more pegasi are attending Wonderbolt training camps than normal.”
“No major movements yet, though?”
“Only expeditionaries stationed in border cities like Fillydelphia or Manehattan. No major troops are moving across the land.”
“Does Celestia know yet that we have taken the capital of Saddle Arabia?”
“Word is slow to spread, considering... did you kill all of their mailponies trying to get word to Equestria?”
“Their bodies scatter the sands and water the desert with blood.”
“So... yes.”
“Yes.”
“Then no. Celestia didn’t mention Saddle Arabia at all. She doesn’t know of your triumph.”
The other voice on the line let out a deep laugh. “And here I was, thinking we were almost exposed. Saddle Arabia is ours, and it didn't even slow us down. Next is Griffonstone, which is far easier to take. They’re bankrupt and depraved. We’ll wipe the griffons out.”
“Celestia will hear about it, though.”
“By then it will already be too late. Celestia thinks we’re attacking far later than we really are. By the time Celestia hears about the destruction of Griffonstone, we’ll have already swept across the land bridge and invaded Manehattan. Celestia can’t deploy her forces fast enough to stop us.”
K’ra smiled in relief, displaying his rows and rows of long, thin fangs. “Let’s tear their filthy little heads off, then.”
“Remember your place, K’ra. Your duty is here.”
And the voice hung up.
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9285910
Bluey here is trying to discredit the authority of Scorpan as a prophet of the Goddess when he says Stand up and unite against evil--evil as in Scorpan. Don't root for him.
And right now almost nopony in Equestria knows about Faust. She hid her existence from her children, against her will, so as to reduce the amount of influence Solaris had over the ponies of Equestria.
Dang, things are not looking good for our heroes right now.
A lot of this definitely reminds me of the debate battles between Christians and atheists, that’s for sure. I definitely know from personal experience, particularly from debating with a couple of certain somebodies who are atheists. One being a really nice and polite person, and the other...well, he was an absolute jerk.
They say that Satan comes as an angel of light...in Equestria, Blueblood comes as the Princess of Friendship.