It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Me and Celestia had a stare down for what felt like years. I can feel my blood boiling just looking at her. I can feel the familiar trigger; similar to that of gripping a lever or putting you finger over a button. Something must have happened, because I can see her flinch and tense up; and in my peripheral I can see the others recoil in fear as well.
Before anything else can happen, Luna’s face takes over the focus of my vision. “Null. Control yourself.” I open my mouth to try and lie, say I wasn’t going to do anything, but she cuts me off. “Your eye is glowing.” My mouth clicks shut. I force my eyes shut and shake my head. The feeling of that trigger that I long for dissipates, and I rub my eyes before opening them. Looking around again, I can see everyone is still staring at me.
Luna grabs my hand with her magic, something that feels odd admittedly, and leads me to the table. I focus on my hand, trying to avoid looking at anyone. Luna takes a seat at the end of the table, opposite of her sister. I take the seat to her right, which happens to be next to Rainbow Dash. I ignore her, and stare at the empty seat across from me. I don’t know how long we sat like that. I could feel all their eyes on me; It was beginning to piss me off.
Eventually, one of them disrupts the silence with a cough. “So… Null, was it?” Twilight Sparkle asks timidly. I simply nod in response, trying to control my temper. She goes quiet, apparently not knowing what else to say.
Someone else speaks up. “U-um… Null? Can I ask you a question?” Too easy.
“You just did” I respond. I hear a small ‘oh’, and I decide not to be mean to her. Besides, she’s not Celestia. “I’m kidding. Go ahead and ask your question.”
“Oh, um. I was just wondering… W-what are you?” she questions.
“Human” I reply without looking from the empty chair. “The only one as far as I know.” I decide to tack on.
It goes quiet again. Until a certain someone opens their mouth. “Null. I want to apologize… I-”
I cut her off. “Shove it. I don’t want to hear it from you.”
Everyone gasps in shock, and she tries again. “Null, I’m trying to-”
I tear my gaze from the chair and glare at her, cutting her off again. “Your words are meaningless. Maybe you do feel bad, maybe you don’t. But why should I accept your apology? Just so you can clear your own guilty conscious and sleep easy at night? Hell no. You want me to forgive you? Kill yourself. Then maybe I’ll consider forgiving you.”
“NULL!” Luna yells at me.
I glare at Celestia for another moment, just long enough to see a tear form in her eyes, before I look away. “What do you want from me Luna?” I ask.
“I want to know why you won’t just accept her apology!” she demands.
I fix her with a glare. “Let me put this into perspective for you Luna. Would you forgive ME if I kill Celestia?”
She doesn’t respond. “Would you forgive Sombra for his assault on the Everfree Castle, and the countless lives he took? Would you forgive Tirek for stealing everyone's magic?”
Again, she doesn’t respond, but this time she looks down in sad realization. “One more, because maybe this one will hit a little closer to home. Would you forgive Nightmare Moon for what she did to you?”
She looks up at me with a look of pure shock, mixed with a little bit of anger. Everyone else gasps, and Celestia speaks up. “Null that’s enou-” I slam my hand on the table to interrupt her. Truth be told, it hurt a little; which is kinda concerning. I’ll have to remember to be careful. “Answer the question!”
Luna continues to look down, and with quiet shaky rage, responds. “N-no… not ever…”
“You see that anger you’re feeling? That’s barely a fraction of what I feel towards your sister. That’s why I won’t forgive her. Not everything can be forgiven.” I finish explaining.
I’m surprised when someone else from the table dares to speak up. Even more so when I see who it is. “Now wait just a minute there! Didn’t you say she was your only friend? How could you treat her like that!” the usually quiet pegasus rants.
Looking back at Luna, I start to see just how deeply my words affected her. She doesn’t deserve this… but she needs to understand where I stand, and that I won’t be swayed.
Glancing around the room, I can tell everyone is upset with me. Do I care? No. But I can’t just leave Luna feeling like crap… Plus, even if I’m right, if I come off this way, it’ll look bad on Luna for vouching for me...
Letting out a sigh, I look back at Celestia. “I’ll make you a deal Celestia. Don’t talk to me, and I’ll do my best to forget you exist. It’s better for everyone.”
Before she can respond, the blue one next to me pipes up as well. “Now you hold on buster! How do you get off talking to the princesses like that?!” she grabs my head and forces me to look at her.
I tear my head away from her grasp, and look away. “First off, because it’ll probably end up saving lives; Yours included. I may hate Celestia but I’ve got no vendetta against the rest of you. I just severely distrust you all. Second, word of warning. Don’t ever force me to look at you. My power is my eye, and I’d hate if my second chance at a life that was stolen from me was spoiled by accident because of some arrogant child who thought she had some sort of moral high ground, and decided to try and start a fight with someone that could end her life in an instant...”
honestly she could probably whoop my ass… I still don’t have a hang of my power… doesn’t mean I can’t accidentally hurt someone with it.
She shrinks back, obviously frightened by my threat. I let out another sigh. “Look. I don’t want you all to fear me. I’m not the next big bad guy for ya’ll to go blast with the elements or whatever it is you do. But I won’t let you all push my buttons like you know how everything should be, like I’M the problem here. Whether you all like it or not, I was wronged. Nothing will change that. You don’t get to decide what fixes it.”
Another survey around the room, and everyone is still mad at me. Jesus christ, what’s it take to appease these ponies… way back when, they were pacified with combat in the dueling circle. Now, words offend them like I had spit on some puppies.
Groaning, I put my head in my hands. “Look. I make no promises to actually forgive her, but Celestia will get a chance to earn forgiveness. When that chance will come along, I don’t know. But will that be enough to satisfy you all?” I look up and look at Celestia specifically. I still want her dead, but I know I can’t do it. Any chance I’d have at a normal life would vanish in flames if I did. Celestia seems to contemplate my offer, and nods solemnly. Everyone else, upon seeing Celestia agree, calms down a bit. Even Luna seems to be looking somewhat happy that I at least made an effort; despite how small it was.
Letting out one final sigh, I raise my hands into the air and take a breath. “NOW CAN SOMEONE PLEASE BRING US SOME FOOD!? I FEEL LIKE I’M BEING EATEN FROM THE INSIDE OUT!”
an eye that sprays cheese whiz
Awesome chapter, keep up the good work!
Amazing how short everyone's memory is. 1k years with your only friend being one of the ones responsible for being stoned, 1k years without her, a minimum of 2k years total without food, sleep (losing consciousness doesn't count), breathing, being a prisoner in a cell shaped like your body, and more all because of 'what if' this and 'what if' that. Condemned a 14 year old kid to a fate worse than death for 2k years, 1k as a diary and the rest alone. At what point in time has he been unreasonable, unfair, or unjustified when murderers, rapists, and slavers got off easier than he did?
Not a bad chapter, i can only wish that you would produce them with greater expedience.
He can project illusions, most overpowering abilitie ever
9628732
But what about the crackers, cheese wiz is only as good as the crackers
(shut up I know about just putting it in your mouth but one that’s unsanitary and just ew two it gets your mouth all clackie and that’s just no good three depending on the type of cheese wiz it tastes so much worse without the proper crackers)
9628742
I'm pretty sure Dash doesn't know any of that history, however.
9628758
clearly he will need to always carry around a box of crackers in the case of accidental cheesing
That was tense... I don’t know what to feel tbh. I wonder on how this story will go? I kinda feel while the problem with Null and Celestia won’t be the focus of the story. Either the story will go as a slice of life or an adventure story with Null possibly going through a possible hero’s journey. Maybe a bit of both. There are a lot of characters for Null to interact, the world building as well, since it’s an alternate universe. I can’t wait for more, especially since he knows a bit of history with the ponies. But I’m a bit worried about how fast this is putting out, I wouldn’t mind to wait for a month or two for the author to figure things out on the story.
Neato.
Looking forward to what abilities he'll gain. I wonder what's gonna happen next.
He needs an eyepatch.
Something metal (metaphorical not mineral), custom made and still lets him see out of it.
I am ashamed I wasn't here sooner
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First thing that comes to mind:
usajacket.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Cyclops-X-Men-Scott-Summers-Costume.jpg
So tense it can cut frozen butter with a heat-sharpened knife.
Leet chapter, yo.
Yeah, that's the joke about the word count.
No, i am not sorry.
Seriously tho, great chapter.
This is honestly the best reaction anyone can expect from Null at thos point. Everyone and thong he loved has been stolen from him on suspicion. There is a reason our laws focus on provable action rather then suspicion. Wanting to kill is not a crime, taking steps to do so, or carrying it out is. He's communicating and not bottling his anger, that's rather healthy. When he calms he tries,at least a little, to listen for his friends sake. As his anger cools I imagine Celestia will prove that she is better then she was. Maybe he will see the truth of forgiveness. Its not about the other person. Forgiveness is letting go of hatred so you can move on to better things. As my mother often said; Forgiveness is for me, Forgeting is for fools.
9628841
Your mother sounds like a smart woman. I'm the guy who would just let others suffer for no other reason than spite. Even if I don't hate the person there aren't many better ways to prove a point, to really drive the nail in than to let the other person suffer. He's doing a lot better than I would have, even if I had a friend trying I wouldn't have even tried a peaceful outcome.
Had I been in Null's position upon release the first thing on my mind wouldn't have been regicide. No, I would have made Celestia watch as I destroyed everything she worked so hard for. What other reason besides revenge would I have needed than 'what if'? "If I don't do this everyone might imprison me again, if I don't do this I might never be able to sleep peacefully again" and so on. If I could I would have turned her to stone and made her watch as her kingdom was reduced to ash before leaving her alone for 1k years. See if she still has her sanity, see if she understands what she did, see if she realizes why, see if she can control her bloodlust.
When he was feeling stomach pain and complaining he might be dying from not eating in 2,000 years... It would have jut been several days without food at the most. As evidence from his backpack, even with a full stomache, the half digested food would have just been petrified as well.
9628855
And at the end you would be alone. And you would have proven all of them right. In doing all of that you would have given them victory. I can do everything you mentioned. I choose not too. I choose to be better because that is the best way to win. My mother was the toughest bitch on the face of the planet. If you came at her or those she loved she would destroy you. But she also helped all those who asked, even those that wronged her in the past. Sadly 9 yrs ago she waa drafted into the Angel Army. But I remember her lessons. Anger and vengeance are easy. Their the lazy way out. Forgiveness is hard. Its difficult. Sometimes seems impossible. But without it I would not have a single good thing in my life. They were hard won, but they are all the more precious to me for it.
9628813
Eyepatch. Not Visor.
Think more Metal Gear Rising.
*Sigh*
You made him sound like an asshole.
That's... sad.
9628892
Eh, close enough.
Thank you for the lovely update!
9628742
The problem is exactly that 1k years. For over 1000 years Celestia has been their benevolent ruler. To most of them, Null's just the 3rd guy in about a year who's shown up with some sort of beef against her. But Celestia is entrenched enough as the good guy, and Nightmare Moon and Discord were a lot more clearer as bad guys, that it might take a while for some to really get just what a monstrous thing Celestia did, and that Null has legit reasons to be pissed at her.
Also it's Dash, and she's 75% action without really thinking anyways.
9628876
It should also be noted that forgiveness does not equal reconciliation, I can forgive someone and cut them out of my life entirely. Forgiveness means only that I divest myself of the onerous burden of hate.
9629016
Which brings us back to the lesson. Forgiveness is for me, forgetting is for fools. However, the Celestia of current times would not do what she did back then. That is what leads to reconciliation and forgiveness can lead to that, it doesn't have too, but it can. Most of the worst mistakes of my life were because I held a grudge and then acted on it. The one hurt the most was me and those I cared about. I agree with you completely. It is better to let such things go.
Some of the abilities you'd thought of, and others you hadn't. Very informative, saying that we gave you suggestions (because that's what it boils down to).
Celestia should just commit suicide.
Problem solved.
If there is any sort of forgiveness from Null, I’ll riot. He should also really, really stop trying to make the ponies less mad at him. They should literally mean nothing to him and it really is detrimental to his character.
I don't know shit about Naruto, but I think I read, or watch a youtube video, that one of the bad guys had an eye ability that your consciousness would be forced to go through torture for what feels like hundreds of years in the course of an instant if the bad guy used it on you. Imagine that, but just being forced to stand still for that long in your mind.
Or in the movie The Crow, the anti-hero touched the main bad guy and transferred all of the memories, sadness, and suffering he had experienced from himself and his wife dying, to him. Villain was so overwhelmed by it all that he fell off the roof and died.
If Null's eye has some way to do this to Celestia, and does so, then he can actually forgive her. Bonus points if she chooses to go through it willingly to atone to him. Or he could do it to her unwillingly, and then they actually have to forgive each other.
9628855
There's one problem with that, it involves punishing the innocent. So it'd actually be worse than Celestia, for she at least was trying to protect her kingdom - not that it justifies the unjust imprisonment, but at least it had a reason. Revenge is no reason for innocent suffering.
9629239
No it's detrimental to the character you picture him as. The authors character is doing pretty good i would say and i am liking were he is headed with him.
9629016
Well said.
My reaction:
https://imgur.com/gallery/PquFOlJ
9629363
That is not even remotely true. It's a fact. Why? The entirety of the last story was about how he forgot more and more about himself and only remembered what happened to him during his time in stone. This should mean that the only two things that he holds true is his respect for Luna and his hate for Celestia. This setup was masterfully done.
...but what happens when you cut away either the respect or the hate? Well, you lose pretty much half of Nulls personality. I'm not saying that reconciliation should not be an option in the future, but to even HINT at there being such a thing from Null at this early stage just makes his character completely unbelievable. If someone sealed you in stone for two thousand years, which is undoubtedly one of the most horrific crimes to put on anyone, you would NEVER forgive that person. That is just truth. Reconciliation in this case should only be possible through an almost godly act from Celestia, such as sacrificing herself for some end.
I say this because if it isn't so, logically his hate is nowhere near that strong. And if his hate isn't that strong, the forgiveness and reconciliation means nothing. That is the essence of gravitas.
So no, this is not my representation of the character. This is the authors representation of the character, and the direction it's going is detrimental to his character development.
Awesome!
Never forgive, never forget.
9629464
ever thought that he didn't mean a damn thing he said? it's possible he was just saying that to get everyone off his back. despite his respect for luna, that doesn't mean he wants ONLY luna as a friend. and, at the moment, to sort of apologize to Luna without actually saying the words "im sorry", this seemed to be the course of action he decided on.
1337 words.
That had to be on purpose
You lost me last chapter. But this one almost makes up for it. I’m still reading but still leaving a dislike for now. Maybe the more I read the more I like it and drop off the thumbs down.
looking for something to do after family movie of bumblebee is ruined because of internet
notices this page in bookmarks
Me: hmmm.....
looks through stories, sees the new story
Me: yes...
has over six hundred likes
Me: YES...
with 5 chapters
Me: YEEEEEEEEEES!
i love the mistrust that paints a former hero as a villein for the protagonist. keep up the mistrust and milk it for all the content.
(not a writer, my words hold no water)
9629279
Oh it would have punished the innocent there's no doubting that, but when you have the same reason to do it that she did on top of your nearly overwhelming desire for revenge you can't get much worse than her. As far as I'd be concerned Null would have held the moral high ground for the following reasons.
1. As I've stated before, murderers, rapists, slavers, terrorists, drug lords, the people we imprison for life or execute get off easier and the MC's only crimes are being wrong place at the wrong time and having a different eye.
2. Monsters are made, not born. When the world wants you to be a monster and goes through lengths like this do so, give you every possible reason to feel justified, to not feel remorse or regret because you are no longer capable doing so, the world is reaping what it has sown. Who's the real monster? The creator or the creation? Or in this case, the kid who spent the last 2k years being broken down and forced to put himself back together, or the princess who did it without a second thought? Without a care in the world? Even wanted to keep him in stone out of fear he would become what she feared thus making things much worse.
3. The innocent wouldn't have suffered any longer than it would have taken to kill them, thus ending their suffering.
4. Celestia is royalty, her only punishment if revenge isn't chosen is guilt, even if she was put on trial the crime was committed during a time where the laws were all on a single piece of paper, she would more than likely be found innocent or would receive a slap on the wrist because of her status. She could step down, but that would only create more problems for everyone.
5. Nothing had been done to her that she hadn't already done first for less justified reasons. Keep in mind Null didn't know Luna was still alive until he was about to kill Celestia. Imprisoned and left alone in a cell shaped like his body and forced to watch as his only friend was murdered. She took everything from him so it would only be fair to return the favor.
An eye for an eye may make the whole world blind, but the world has proven itself time and again incapable or unwilling to learn in any way that doesn't involve a bloody massacre.
9628928
How long though would she try to keep that part of history hidden though? She would still be seen as good, but Null would be acknowledged as a victim. Good luck hiding the fact she gave a guy with potential world ending power a reason to kill her or just follow the same path as his predecessor.
9630508
She hasn't appeared to be trying to hide it. She may have attempted to justify it before Null shut that down, but unless she's been feeding everyone else a load of crap offscreen, nothing we've seen her do yet indicates that she's trying to deny what she did.
9630504
You assume that there wouldn't be those who weren't killed but lost family, that the disruption of the establishment that Celestia's death would cause wouldn't bring suffering, that such action would only serve to justify the action taken by Celestia, and in doing so condemn any and all other inocents in the same shoes as Null to the same date.
It wouldn't be revenge, it'd be a childish tantrum thrown by a true monster that deserves everything done to him.
Want revenge? Imprison her, take away her power but not her longevity, and repeatedly cause her unimaginable pain interlocked with years of total sensory deprivation. Keep that for some decades and she'd most likely be reduced to an insane wreck due to not having the protection from being stoned.
Or be an adult and simply tell her to stuff it and just go on with your life. Sure, Null has the disadvantage of being a teenager (and that's bound to fuck everything up sooner or later), but any adult that actually decides to make others suffer for the mistakes of two does deserve to be punished for that anew. And no, one mistake does not justify another.
Hell, a couple years and Celestia will get over it. She certainly screwed a lot more ponies over the years, Null's only a tragedy because it hit home. Else it'd be an statistic.
9629644
Yeah just write the character as you like. I am totally fine with this and want to see where this leads as you write this interesting story.
At first I was thinking about skipping the first story... A guy trapped in stone? How good could that be? I thought, but I decided to read it anyway and was pleasantly surprised by it.
And this story looks to be shaping up to be just as interesting. I hope to read more of it when it comes out!
9630876
You're forgetting that the human mind doesn't handle isolation very well. And only the god of being a saint or just Jesus himself at a minimum could forgive someone for putting you through a fate worse than death for 2K years. He didn't get to grow and didn't have any way to mature even mentally since he couldn't have social interaction. 1000 years of watching life just pass you by, Then seeing your one (sort-of) friend be consumed by anger and jealousy then be possessed. He had to suffer another thousand years of INSANITY after his one and only friend seemed to have been murdered in front of his eyes (He didn't have the benefit of knowing the cannon due to forgetting almost his entire life due to living so long) so even after he finds out she's alive he isn't really feeling much better with her defending her sister. Celestia acted as if she was in the right the entire time he has seen her when he was a statue.
He can't remember anything about his life and was punished for the classic "wrong place wrong time" bad circumstance and was not compensated. Then everyone still treats him as the villain because of their zealot-like loyalty to her even though he just told everyone what she had done to him. He was rightfully super pissed and any adult would be.
Celestia didn't even try to deny what she did to him, Though I wouldn't be surprised if she twisted the words in history books to justify it. The reasoning one would have in your day-to-day life wouldn't even exist in your wreck of a mind after just coming back out of that hell and you're expecting a kid to act calm and collected? Forgiveness isn't something she could even properly earn in anyone's book, doesn't matter that it's been 2K years for everyone else, he JUST got out of that suffering and is expecting recompense in the form of her death instead of being a true monster and trying to make her suffer in the same manner which might not even work since her mind is likely made to handle the passage of time, unlike normal mortals. Death would be a mercy in comparison.
And what the other dude was talking about, The "what-ifs", What if putting her through that or death now would be his only chance? he might just get stoned again and never get another shot if he so much as sneezes wrong or Celestia just says the word to stone him. He is already the villain in everyone's eyes (excluding luna for now), after just appearing right after another villain just caused trouble and he tried to kill her. NOT doing anything will still make the ponies want him re-stoned already. They already did the cliche "Princess Celestia would never do that..." And if he didn't try to kill her immediately, he would probably be seen as the villain due to Celestia herself anyways if she decided to talk about how he had the "Evil eye" from that other villain that nearly ended the world. So this could be his only chance in his mind. Remember, They have only known "Celestia the benevolent ruler" their entire lives, not "Celestia the war princess" because Celestia never saw a need for them to remember, 2K years is hard to understand, especially for the ponies who have only known of "Celestia the good guy", not "Celestia who caused a lot of problems in her brash youth" because they weren't alive back then (Though she likely never let one ever see her that way back in those days) there's no way for him to not be seen as the bad guy when the one who did this to him is the one in power holding all the cards, Like Rising Of The Shield Hero, Just no rape accusations.
Celestia's statue garden... just imagine what else could she have done? I mean, it is canon that she only briefs in Twilight in pony history when a threat is already presented. We almost never see info disclosed as a normal history lesson.
9630504
So tldr: celestia imprisoned someone she coundt be sure was nice, and knew if it was a good person she would turn said person most lightly evil.
nowto add my take
if Celestia knew that petrifying creatures
would be aware and not telling luna, It would sorta her a realy bad person, more than she already is.
Also a good story so far but wish we got to know some of his powers earlier other than 1) he has a virus infected pc for an eye (pop ups) 2) If eyes conect he can now see true the other left eye (so far nothing he can do while spying)
3) Told but not shown he "view" things and see "something" about them. (Nothing is told about it at all until he examens himself. Maybe in a brief passing that he could do so but no example while he was a statue.) 4) When not a statue eye can burn fire and use said fire to shoot lasers, cost when angry and crying blood?