After Dinner, Luna and I decided to walk around the castle grounds. Well, I decided to, Luna just followed. After a while of walking in companionable silence, I find myself subconsciously gravitating towards the garden. Upon reaching it, the first thing I look at is the broken remnants of my own statue. Luna comes up beside me, and looks at the rubble that used to be me.
Neither of us know what to say, and I don’t know what to feel. Confused, I walk up to it, and pick up a part of the rubble. It all fell from my body like a shell. Looking up at the pedestal, I see myself standing on it. Not another statue, but my actual fleshy self… just… standing there as if I was a statue… then it looks at me; my own two eyes staring down at me. It then fades away, with no rhyme or reason. Looking back down at the rubble in my hand, I chuck it as hard as I can at my pedestal. I don’t want to look at it, but I can’t bring myself to look away… angry at my own indecision, I do the only thing I can think to do. I blast it. It explodes into a shower of stones, and I grasp my eye in pain. Gritting my teeth, I look back at the place where the pedestal used to be, holding my hand over my left eye.
“Null! What has gotten into you!” Luna says from behind me.
“I couldn’t stand looking at it… It was mine, I should be allowed to decide what happens to it.” Luna goes to say something, but then something lands behind me, interrupting her as she lets out an sound of panic. Turning around, I see it’s my plaque. I sigh and pick it up, and wipe off the dust. Of course though, I accidentally smear a bit of blood on it. I hand it to Luna, who takes it in her magic with a bit of confusion. “You keep it. It was a nice gift, but I don’t want to see it. It’s just a reminder of the past.”
Luna fixes me with a glare. “Null. you need to control yourself. You can’t just go and destroy everything that angers you! Not just for the obvious, but because you’re also hurting yourself in the process!” she says pointing at the blood on the plaque for emphasis.
Looking back at the rubble, something clicks in my head. “Hey Luna. If you’re back here… why weren’t you the one that free’d me?” I ask, not taking my eyes of the rubble.
“I was going to! But I’d had only been back for a year or so. And when I got back, I didn’t have nearly enough magic to do it… and when I did, I found out Nightmare Moon tampered with the original spell, so I had to redo a couple parts. I wanted to make sure you were exactly how you should be.” She defends herself.
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding in. Glad she didn’t forget about me… of course she had a legitimate reason.
Looking to the evening sky, I see that it's actually closer to night than evening. “Hey… Don’t you work during the night?”
“I do. But I’m not going to just leave you alone.” she answers.
“So you’re staying?” I ask hopefully.
She shakes her head, much to my disappointment. “I’m going to be assigning a guard to keep an eye on you. I’m sure you can handle that.”
I raise an eyebrow skeptically. “You serious? A guard. In case you can’t recall, I nearly killed some guards when I first woke up. How do I know they won’t try to kill me?”
She rolls her eyes. “Because the guards you nearly killed were my sisters guards. As much as it pains me to discredit Equestria’s defenses, her guards are… below my guards standards. On top of that, this particular guard is from of a group I trained personally; The Crescents.”
I raise my eyebrow higher. “Really now?”
She nods. “Yes, they’re the very best the Lunar guard has to offer.” she says with a stamp of her hoof for emphasis.
I fix her with a skeptical glare. “Best or not, you ever stop to think maybe I don’t want a guard following me around?”
She just gives me a small glare of her own.
“You don’t trust me.” I say simply.
Her look quickly changes into something between sadness and anger. “It’s not that I don’t trust you Null. I just don’t trust that eye of yours. Whether you claim to have control of it or not, however small that control may be, there's no telling what else it’s capable of, or if it could take control of you at any moment. You said it yourself, you don’t know what else it can do. It’s just too much of a risk that cannot be left unchecked. I trust you Null, I really do. But given the history of that eye, I have to do this. Please, understand this.”
I continue to glare at her for a moment before turning with a hmph. “Fine.”
She lets out a sigh of relief; Probably glad I’m being cooperative. “Thank you.” she lets out a quick whistle that I almost missed. After that, I hear the flapping of wings. Landing next to Luna is a Thestral. Quickly using my eye on it, I find that his name is Skyline, and that he is indeed, very tough. Not that I have much to compare to for reference, but he could probably keep up with Luna herself in a fight. Definitely not beat her, but he could hold off for a while.
This thestral is a dark gray color, with a slightly lighter shade of gray for hair, with neon blue tips. Said hair is shaggy and unkempt; same goes for his tail. He’s got no armour, and the only thing to indicate he’s even a guard is the blade that’s strapped to his side. His smile and easygoing expression is strange, like it doesn’t belong on someone like him. After a moment of awkward silence on their part, Skyline finally speaks up. “Hey there.”
“...Hey there? Luna, aren’t guards supposed to be more… is disciplined the word I’m looking for?” I question.
“The Crescents are trained differently. Instead of stripping them of their differences, they embrace it. None of them act like traditional guards do; makes them think differently, and come to their own conclusions. However, they are very disciplined; Each are under a special oath.” she quickly defends.
Examining Skyline again, I see that nothing’s changed. As stupid as it sounds, she definitely seems to have gotten results. Letting out a groan, I just sit down on the ground. “If you say so. Cya around Luna.”
She seems a bit off put by my sudden dismissal, but seeing nothing else that needs to be said, and a growing urgency for her to go to work, she takes off with a huff.
When she’s out of sight, Skyline speaks up again. “You’re too rude to those you consider friends, you know that?”
Fixing him with a glare, I respond tersely. “And you’re too laid back for the position you’re in, you know that? And who are you to tell me how I should treat my friends?”
“Not telling you how to treat your friends, just pointing it your poor attempts at keeping them. Or in your case, your only one.” he quips with the same smug smile he’s had the entire time.
“How do you-” he cuts me off.
“Know she’s your only friend? Every pony in Canterlot knows. You screamed it to the heavens above when you attacked Princess Celestia.” he explains.
“Not my brightest moment. I should have just killed her instead of wasting time.” I state coldly.
“Try it again and I’ll have to stop you. I seem laid back but honestly, you’ve got me more on guard than I’ve been in a long time. Luna trusts in you, and that’s enough for me to give you a chance; but I won’t hesitate if it turns out her trust is misplaced.”
Rolling my eyes, I get up and stretch. “Yeah yeah, whatever. For as different from a regular guard as you are, you all have one thing in common. Your undying loyalty to the throne.”
He raises an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with being loyal to one’s nation?”
“Nothing wrong with that. Just pointing it out. Now, I know you have to have a dueling circle around here somewhere. Where is it?” I question.
“I’m not going to fight you if I don’t have to.” he states.
Letting out a scoff, I look at him like he’s stupid. “I don’t want to go there to fight you. The sooner I get a handle on my powers, the sooner I can rid myself of you. So out of courtesy, I’d rather mess around there than cause more damage. I didn’t care about this pedestal because it was mine, but everything else isn’t.”
He considers this for a moment, then nods and starts walking towards the back of the castle. I follow him and he leads me to what looks to be a training area. In the middle, I spot the big open dueling circle. Bigger than the one back at the Everfree castle. Stepping inside it, he steps inside as well, and a big dome of magic encompasses us. “I thought you said you weren’t going to fight me?”
“I’m not. But two ponies have to be in the dueling circle for it to activate. So, here I am. Just don’t actually attack me and it should stay on.” he explains.
After contemplating the workings of a magic arena, I shrug it off and turn to the opposite end of the circle. “Alright, then lets try going all out. See how that ends.” I say, and start charging my eye. When I feel I’m at my limit, I let out the blast and immediately regret it as an indescribable amount of pain shoots through my eye; enough to cause me to yell out in pain. Clamping my hand on my eye, I can feel a lot of blood flowing from it like a river. I stand there, teeth gritted, and completely ignoring whatever I might have done to the shield, if anything at all.
When the pain goes down to a tolerable level, I glance at the spot where I blasted and find nothing there. Same old dome. Looking down at Skyline, I see he has an impressed look of shock on his face. “How’d it turn out?” I question.
He picks up his jaw from the ground and looks at me. “You actually cracked the entire shield. This entire dome was covered in cracks! And these things are stronger than even Luna’s shielding magic!”
“Huh… so I could have actually killed Celestia if I was a bit more calm and actually focused... too late now.” I mutter to myself. Still clutching my eye, I glance at him. “Hey, how come you’re not disturbed by the blood?”
He looks at me again. “I’ve seen my fair share of nasty wounds. Wasn’t expecting it, but I’m definitely more used to it than I should be.”
I scoff. “Sure, you’re probably just a vampire, and don’t wanna admit it.”
He chuckles. “Nah, you can tell a sanguine apart easily by their eyes. They have red eyes; I’m just a regular thestral.”
“Sanguine?” I question.
“The correct term for what you called a ‘vampire’”. He explains.
“Right… well, let’s see if I can figure out what else I can do with this thing.” I say as I turn away from him.
After a couple hours of just standing in that circle, Skyline being bored, and me trying to do anything other than blast or examine, It starts to click in my head that this is gonna be way harder than I thought. Groaning, I look back at Skyline. “Hey, you. Try to attack me.”
He raises an eyebrow at me. “Uh… are you sure about that?”
“Yeah, I’m thinkin maybe I’ll figure something out in the heat of a fight. I won’t fight back, don’t worry. And go slow! I know you can keep up with Luna, and she’s way faster than I could ever hope to be.” I explain.
He shrugs and unstraps his blade, and holds it at a ready position. “You ready?”
I nod and keep an eye on him, lowering into some form of a defensive stance. He simply walks up to me, and does a couple of regular slashes at me. I jump away from them, simply avoiding each attack. However, I quickly find myself against the dome wall, which he quickly thrusts at my head. His blade and himself, along with me, is quickly caught in a magical aura, inches from my face. He’s floats away from me, and me to the side, before we’re unfrozen and I glare at him.
“Again!” I yell out in frustration.
He shrugs and steps outside the circle, then back in, causing the dome to reappear. We both take positions in the middle of the circle, and we begin when he starts throwing the same lazy swings at me. This time, instead of letting myself get cornered, I roll to the side a step or two away from the wall, and watch as he raises an eyebrow at me. He shrugs and continues his lazy onslaught, and me backing away constantly. Two more near corners and a couple rolls later, he swings one a bit too far, and I decide to capitalize on that. His apathetic behaviour is beginning to piss me off. I duck under the swing and rush him. Once I get within a distance I can attack him, I kinda lock up and don’t exactly know what to do; I settle for just grabbing him by the neck.
However, the match doesn’t end as neither of us are encased in magic. He takes this moment to thrust at my abdomen, ending the match then and there.
“What were you planning to even do? You caught onto my intentional slip up, but after that you just… froze.” he questions.
“I don’t know, I don’t actually know how to fight! I just got tired of you not taking this seriously.” I vent.
He rubs his neck at the spot where I grabbed him. “Well one thing’s for sure. You’re not very strong. I almost didn’t feel you grab my neck.”
I let out a sigh. “One more time. This time, put me under more pressure. Don’t let up either.”
He looks at me like I’m stupid. “You sure you wanna go through with this?”
I nod. He resets the circle, and we take up our positions again. This time, he is constantly making swings at me, and I can barely keep up with them. After one particularly close swing, I ended up falling to the floor, and he swings downward at me. I roll to the side, and recover my footing at the end of it, and dart my head back from a thrust that very nearly touches my nose. I jump back again, and now there's a fair distance between us. He quickly closes the distance between us with a flap of his wings. In a quick moment of panic, I find myself falling down to the ground again, but he quickly adjusts to keep me in his line of attack. In a split second, I look a little ways away past him from underneath him, and suddenly, my world shifts. I feel a strange sense of vertigo, combined with a feeling of motionlessness; one that I would associate with weightlessness. It all passes in less than a second, and I hit the ground, landing on my hands and knees. I hear the sound of Skylines blade dinging off the shield, and I get up and look around wide eyed. I find myself a couple feet behind him, and he turns to look at me confused.
I look at him just as, if not more confused. “I can teleport!?”
Teleportation's always nifty, and I see poor Null's running up hard against the limitations of an adolescent body. Can't even rely on a heavy training regime to fix that, nothing but time is going to fix an immature skeleton and musculature.
Hey, slow down there, bucko! How long was he lying there? Better wash that thing off before you go shoving it in everyone's mind!
I hope he doesn't go to ZA WORLDDDD later...
But hey thanks for the New chapter...
Does she realize how hypocritical this is? This is exactly the line of reason they used to justify petrifying an innocent child a thousand years ago.
Edit:
Also why do they act like he has to earn their forgiveness/trust when he didn't even do anything wrong in the first place? What about all the real villains they just forgive and forget? Why do they let the people who have actually committed wrongdoings off scott free and yet try to push blame onto an innocent child that they wronged?
Glad to see an update!
Awesome awesome!
Cant wait to find out more of Nulls powers!xd
You probably already thought of it but how about the powers sasuke from naruto has? Like amaterasu and stuff.
Every time he starts using his eye and bleeding in pain from it due to his attacks with it, I'm reminded of Anima from FFX.
I'm done, this is not worth my time anymore.
Skyline is cute.
9642405
He literally has a Extinction level device stuck in his head. Those other villains had full control, Null does not. Luna has to be responsible to her subjects safety first. Discord was supervised by Fluttershy, Starlight by Twilight, even Sunset was supervised by the mane 6 of her world, and now Null has Skyline. Once he has control, the guard will be eased, then reassigned. Honestly, this is what I would do in her place. Leaders and rulers can't do what they want, they have responsibilities, they have those they are sworn to protect. Luna did not want to do this, but it's much better than the alternative, a danger is a danger whether it is intended or not.
Besides I think that Luna did it for another reason too. I think she picked Skyline to be Null's friend. A friend that would be able to prevent Null from doing anything to stupid and at the same time could protect Null from the stupidity of others. I think Luna realizes that Null needs someone other than just her. Skyline is as close to a neutral party as you can get in the current circumstance.
I don't mind the new OC. I know that Night Guard OCs are usually more laid back than their counterparts, but I think it would be cool for Skyline to introduce Null to durians. Or other Night Guards.
Fear the pearl for she the vampire goddess. Mahahahaha
*cough* well great story. Want to see more.
9642405
I believe that while they want to forgive and forget, Null does not seem willing to also forgive and forget ( or will not stick to it ) in order to live with them.
I think as long as null is this angry, they will keep treating him that way.
BTW, not trying to excuse anyone's actions here, just stating what the situation looks to me.
Intriguing as always.
9642493
Are you being serious right now? That eye is nowhere even close to extinction level. It harms the user just by blowing small things up and you want to tell me that it's so dangerous that it could wipe out all life on Equestria?
Thanks for the update!
9642783
First chapter, the last being that had the eye tried to kill everyone. Even if you just go by that blast he can do, he still has a louded gun that operates according to his mind. He has already expressed the desire to kill. All of that makes him a clear and present danger. Luna wants better for Null. But he has to chose it. If he remains angry, justified or not, the needs of the many out way the needs of the few. Those you talk about, were not just forgiven. They stopped being a clear and present danger. Chrysalis did what she could to feed her people, that she was wrong or unkowing is irrelevant, yet as long as she remains a clear and present danger she won't have forgiveness. Null is in the same boat, he is a clear and present danger. No society tolerates that. However he is striving for better. Thus I see good things for him.
9642467
cya round buddy! don't let the door hit ya on the way out. seriously, if you don't like something, you don't gotta make a scene and act like you have some sort of high ground by stating it. if you don't like something, just ignore it. simple kindergartners can do it, why can't you?
9642418
congratulations! that is the exact inspiration I got to do it from. i was thinking to myself, eye...blast.... don't want to straight up rip naruto... hm... Anima! favorite summon in the game my guy. should probably clarify that to people so they stop thinking its a laser... cuz a laser operates completely differently, wouldn't you agree?
9642846
"Let's punish a child for being angry that we punished him for no reason!" Yeah what a great philosophy.
9642868
I would say a psionic blast of pure tortured agony would be closer to how to describe Anima's attack. Everything I've found out suggests: the greater her pain, the more she is able to share that pain.
R32, R33, or R34? Make sure you get the GTR model!
9642875
They are not punishing Null. They are protecting everyone else. The world is not fair and just. He has already made clear his murderous intentions, something they can put you in jail for. He has proven he is capable of killing and will hurt others to get to his target. I am not debating justice or right. Hell I have been in Nulls shoes more then once. But those in power have to protect as many as possible. It has nothing to do with punishment. It has to do with not letting those under your care come to harm. Celestia and Luna learned that the hard way. Anger does not excuse violence. Being wronged does not give the right for vengeance. Both are posion to everyone and everything. He holds on to his rage he will become the monster they fear. When a dog becomes rabid, there is only one option. You end its suffering before it spreads that suffering to others. It is never about punishment. It is about gaurding those you care for.
9642988
Yeah, just treat him like a rabid animal! He should just forgive and forget the fact that they imprisioned him in stone for 1000 years for literally no reason. Yep, he has absolutely no right to be angry or express that anger at all, he should totally just lay down and take it like a door mat because 'being angry is bad'. Well guess what, anger is a natural response for the shit that happened to him so stop trying to use that bullshit excuse that only works in fiction. Celestia deserves punishment for what she did to him and he deserves justice for being wrongfully imprisoned without even so much as a word to him.
9643026
Well, if you're a human and suddenly spot a giant unknown figure with a in it's hands, most people would be threatened by "it". Even if "it" have meant no harm, to us, there is a chance that it might have been evil, and look, it even have a weapon of evil that many "humans that have used it before cause cause disaster." and can cause havoc in just a split second. so it's natural for Celestia to be care around "N" even if his anger is justified, think about celestia point of view, and if you not haven't watched this video I would recommend it.
Even if it's not entirely about this dispute.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rr6c0RIOxc&list=PLUc1plf1zNq8aBTOxEXtYA3Xz80fZ3Ys5
9643026
First I need to throw down some of my qualifications on my opinion, then some clarity. First, I am a rapidly cycling Bipolar with severe anger issues. On top of that I have alot of dangerous knowledge in my head. I love that you think I am not talking from experience. I never said to forget. You're right she should face justice. I never said his anger was unjustified. I said for his own sake and the sake of others he needs to put it down. Sure Celestia hurt him. What about the gaurds he hurt? You know the ones you forgot about that the only crime they commited was standing in his way to kill the only reason the sun rises and sets. Kill her you kill everyone. Go ahead pull the trigger. Doom Equestria for one person's pain. I talk from experience. All of my misfortune happened because I acted on my rage, my anger. Do you know how to set concrete and rebar on fire? I do. Do you know how to make a fertilizer bomb that would make the one in Oklahoma city look like a firecracker. I do. I hold myself to a higher standard because if I give in to my pain I will hurt alot of people. And if I ever did, I hope there exists someone that will be kind enough to take me out. I have nightmares about what I am capable of. You still think its about punishment. The world is the way it is because of that viewpoint. I want to live in a world were people act to protect others not anger. Were we seek to help each other, not take veangence. You call it a bullshit fantasy, I call it heaven. You say it can't work, I say you never tried so how would you know?
His cutie mark is JEFF HARDY'S LOGO. Thats surprisingly awesome
9643066
I'm not exactly saying that he should go on a mindless slaughter, just that Celestia deserves punishment for what she did. So long as we can agree on that I'm happy.
9642866
Yes, why? Why would you respond if you didn't want to start something? I got that a lot of your characters are hypocrites but now it is clear where they get it from. My goal was to see how many people can't stand the stupid mistakes you make based on the likes and dislikes of the comment. So far it's two.
So either the Crescents were fully trained in only a year... Or they're immortal as well.
9643066
Unicorns made the sun and moon move long before Celestia and Luna. Them dying is not really world ending, just more work for all the other ponies
9643084
We never disagreed on that. But on that note, she is not likely to get it. There is just nothing that can be done that is comparable, realistically. If she is stone her for the same amount of time, the world dies. If you kill her, the world dies. If you imprison and isolate her you risk her going insane and everyone dies. On top of all that, her reasons for doing what she did where understandable. If your calm enough to think it through. Personally, I would have a sit down with Twilight and tell her everything. I would do so as calmly and collected as I can. I would make the Princess of Friendship understand the horror and terror I felt all those years. Hell, I would write it all down and get it published. Then I would let my grudge go. I would watch as it all fell apart for her. Violence is easy, killing is easy. Hurting someone without leaving a single physical mark, that my friend takes a master.
9643140
I agree with the method of revenge, just not that the world would die without her. Like 9643134 said unicorns moved the sun and moon before Luna and Celestia did, and if Celestia could move the moon than why can't Luna move the sun? Overall regardless of what happens to her Equestria will be fine.
9643134
It's also canon that it burnt the unicorns out and those were unicorns when the did not have a Goddess to do it. By the time that they got their shit together Equestria would be dead. It is already canon, from the movie, that there is no one left that can do it. Without the need the unicorns that had the talent died off. No conspiracy, just natural progression. It would take a couple of generations to filter back on, if it even would. Luna is there and she would be able to raise the sun for a bit, but she has trouble with it. Celestia herself had trouble with the moon, she just shoved enough power into it to make the system work. I imagine it's why she is so diminished in the modern era. Luna would be starting with lower power, having it stripped by the elements and being in stasis for so long, so it would be a question if you could breed unicorns to perform the task.
9643148
Again, Celestia has remarked in the show that she always had trouble with the moon. Luna is nowhere near the powerhouse Celestia is. Which is a byproduct of the elements purging her magic and her imprisonment. Twilight remarked in the film that the only reason she could do it was because she had Celestia and Luna's magic insider her, otherwise it would be impossible for her. Which seems to imply the necessity of a connection to the system through a cutie mark. One that has been fulfilled by two and only two for several thousand years. I am not saying that unicorns didn't do it, I am saying that there are none left that can. Discord might be able to pick up the slack, but he is the lord of chaos. I am willing to bet that his good behavior will only last so long. So yeah, even if you disrupt that system just a little, others die. So, is it worth the price? I like my way, it damages the one thing that Celestia truly cherishes, the opinion and safety of all her little ponies. It exposes what she was and makes her take a hit. She will outlive it, but I will be dead by that point, so I won't care.
9643159
I think you're overestimating Celestia's importance. Luna could do it, Twilight could do it, Cadance could do it, unicorns could do it, Discord could do it. There's really nothing that makes her existence absolutely necessary for the people of Equestria. Once again I do like that method of revenge, but I don't agree with your assessment of how important Celestia is.
Will we be seeing more of Luna personally train guard?
Good chapter, I think I kinda like Skyline, seems pretty nice, one question though, what is his weapon? It's not a normal sword, not quite a lance, nor a javelin or war axe. Not quite a polearm, Its like someone took a broken quarter staff and attached a ceremonial short sword to the end of it. The handle length makes sense for the species that weilds it, but the blade design itself doesn't make much practical sense. But this is a high fantacy setting, so silly blade designs are welcome.
And a piece of writers advice, just because its been longer since the last update doesn't mean you need to make up for the time by making a bigger or longer chapter, because down that path lies anxiety and stress about posting and even getting on the site, its not a pleasant state to be. (Not that I'm complaining about it, I just don't want you to get stuck in that trap.)
I didn't come up with that advice, I'm just passing it on.
9642866
heh, it's kinda ironic how you say that about a comment you don't like
9644107
Because the trains already rolling, might as well blow the whistle. He said he did it to see others opinions based on likes and dislikes of his comment, which only furthers my point. He felt he needed others opinions backing him up to validate his own. Either way, this will be my last comment on that line of topic.
9644048
I... Genuinely wouldn't know what to call it on a technical term. Not exactly a big melee weapon expert. I guess I would call it a sword/Lance hybrid adapted for ponies? I dunno. The blade does have a name tho. (Like a personal name not a technical one)
9644042
Who said it didn't?
Well done and well quitter story.
You have a new follower. Keep up the great work
The Monk
Her hands were still bound with rope, she debated an escape before all the stupidity gave her an aneurysm. -Scarheart
Ooh, that’s a cool power! I’ve always wondered what it would be like to teleport...
Anyway, great chapter! Skyline is cooooool
9644407
Truthfully, it is a fictional weapon due to it being unfeasible as a weapon in real life. You might be able to use it as a bladed spear like the Naginata, but it would be too unwieldy to use. The amount of drag the thing would make would slow it down considerably.
9644407
A Swordstaff seems like a good answer.
9644042
Because one is a simple relocation and the other is forceful expenditure of power at a variable level?
Or just the author not making him an OP Gary stu ascharacter.