I find myself unable to sleep. So, here I am. Sitting on the balcony. Looking out across as far as I can see, I can only imagine what might befall this kingdom should Null snap and give in to his desires...I’m sure Luna could take my place, but I know first hoof how difficult it was for me when I… Banished her...
I wouldn’t wish that upon her anyways. Unlike me, she wouldn’t have any hope of her sister coming back. Even moreso, by the hands of her friend no less. I can only imagine how close they actually are.
’I WAS THERE FOR HER MORE THAN YOU EVER WERE!’
His words echo through my head, haunting me. Reminding me of my failure to my own family. Letting out a shaky, breath, I look down at the ground beneath my hooves.
’I’M BASICALLY HER FUCKING DIARY!’
I shudder as I hear his voice again.
Everything was going so well too. Luna was adjusting to modern society, The elements have found new bearers, Twilight’s studies were coming along nicely. And now, Null entering the equation seems to have put a halt to all of that.
He wants me dead. But… here I am; Still alive. He says he has nothing against anypony else, which seems to be true… he could have killed my guards when he first appeared; but he didn’t. Sure, he nearly did, but they all seemed too close to be accidental. Those near deaths had to have been deliberate on his part. Which only makes me even more fearful of him. With how much anger and raw emotion he was showing… he was still focused enough to do such precise actions…
And he was still sane enough to stop when he recognized Luna… I’m not sure whether to find that comforting or disturbing… the fact he recognizes anything at all is a miracle, according to what he says he went through. How did he get free to begin with? Let alone with his mind intact.
I rest my head on the railings and continue to stare out into Luna’s night sky.
And of course, there’s the fact that I deserve all of his hatred… I really am at fault here. I should have at least tried… to at least have said something to him. There’s nothing I can do either. If I try talking to him now, he could fly off the handle. I can’t offer to go through what he did for multiple reasons. I doubt I could go through what he did and come out sane… and I’m too important to this country. Would that even appease him? No doubt everypony else would have their objections. There really is nothing I can do… nothing except wait for a chance.
I begin to wonder, what other mistakes have I made? Who else have I wronged? Who else could be the next enemy lurking around the corner? What else could be going on that I’m unaware of that could lead to the next uprising?
...What if Discord got free? What chaos would he cause? How would he react to Null? And vice versa? Null might hate him as much as he does me if he knows the role that he played in getting him imprisoned.
I let out a sad, mirthless laugh. I say that like I can shift the blame entirely over to Discord. No… while he shares some of the blame, I’m still mostly at fault. Still… it is something to think about… Maybe I could offer to let Null decide what to do with Discord? That could score me a few points. But that’s definitely a dangerous offer to make… depending on what he chose to do, it could lead to Discord being free again. I’ll have to give this more thought.
I sit alone; still on the balcony, looking out at Luna’s night sky. How long I ended up stargazing, I’m unsure of. It must have been a while though, because I find myself starting to nod off. however, just as I’m about to, I hear the telltale sound of wing beats. Looking to where its coming from, I see one of Luna’s guards flying towards my balcony, and perch himself upon my railing. Upon closer examination, I realize it’s one of her Crescents. Wait... “Skyline, wasn’t it? Aren’t you supposed to be keeping an eye on Null?” I ask with a poorly hidden yawn.
He sits down on the railing and greets me with a dismissive wave. “He’s asleep on your student’s couch right now. Passed out drunk probably.”
I raise an eyebrow. “And how did he get there? Let alone get drunk?”
“Long story short? He started drinking and we were just talking on one of the upper walkways. He saw something that interested him, said ‘shiny’, then teleported away. I figured out where he went because the only thing that could have been considered “shiny”, was a light coming from Twilight’s library. He ended up talking to your student, and she let him in. I watched through a window until he fell asleep.” he explains.
“And they’re safe, yes?” I question with a bit of concern.
Rolling his eyes, he responds. “Of course, he’s probably going to sleep til noon with how much he drank. That, and given how old his body is, he’ll definitely be out for quite a while.”
Their safety no longer in question, I turn my attention towards the next most pressing matter. “And you let him drink? Despite knowing that his mental stability is clearly in question?” I raise my eyebrow again.
“It was either show him where it was or let him get mad while wandering the castle. I’m sure we both don’t want him angry, regardless of how weak he is.” he states.
This actually piques my interest. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I ask. “How would you know if he’s weak?”
He takes a deep breath and looks down at the castle grounds. “He wanted to get a better handle on his powers, so he asked to go to the dueling circle. How he knew what one was or that we had one, I have no clue. I let him mess around in there for a while, then he asked me to fight him a lil bit. How do I know he’s weak? He doesn’t even know how to fight. He managed to take me by surprise by lunging for me under my blade, and grabbing me by the neck. But he couldn’t follow up; He didn’t know what to do. Barely felt it too. I didn’t even have to try against him; his body would have given out had I not stopped him. He’s not strong at all Celestia. Even a foal could take him down if he didn’t have that special eye.”
“A foal? Really?” I question with obvious skepticism in my voice.
He simply shrugs. “Maybe I’m not giving him enough credit, but he’s definitely a glass cannon. Yes, he could really hurt ponies, definitely can kill them too; But he’s just as fragile.”
I take a moment to digest this information before I remember something he said earlier. “You said he can teleport? Did he display any other abilities? Any magic?”
He rubs behind his head awkwardly. “Well, maybe ‘teleport’ is a bit of a stretch. He can only go as far as he can see. He tried teleporting somewhere but only ended up a few feet in front of himself. So the best way I can describe it, is he can blink. Of course, it hurts him, but apparently it doesn’t if he’s in immediate danger; if that makes any sense.” he brings a hoof to his chin in mock thought. “That’s the only thing he discovered while in the dueling circle. As for magic, I’m not exactly a unicorn, so I couldn’t really tell you. Maybe your student will turn up some information on that.”
I let out a sigh; of relief or disappointment, I’m not sure. I feel Skyline place a comforting hoof on my shoulder. Bold move honestly. “I wouldn’t worry too much about him Princess. Your safety isn’t in jeopardy.”
I look at him. “It isn’t my own safety I fear for. There’s plenty he could do to get to me. And I can’t take any measures to protect those things, else it might anger him more. Even me knowing what you told me could anger him.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Why do you care so much about his feelings?”
“Because… the guilt I feel for what I have done compels me to care. His case isn’t like Sombra’s or Tirek. He’s willing to try and live a normal life. His grudge against me is justifiable; just because I’m a princess doesn’t place me above any wrongdoing. So I have to do what I can to help him, as much as I can from the position he’s placed me. Would it really be so different had it been Discord who put him in stone? Or even a random citizen?” I rant out loud.
He thinks over this for a good moment. “Well, had it been Discord who imprisoned him, I’m sure he’d have no problem allying himself with us. He’d still want to kill Discord, but would anypony really object to that? Had it been a random citizen for whatever reason, he’d either hate all ponies or have no care in the world because whoever would have done it would be long gone. At least, that’s what I think. But none of that matters, because those aren’t the case.”
Letting out a sigh, he prepares to take off. “Get some rest Princess. Judging by how he’s behaving, if you give him the space he needs, everything should be fine.”
With that, he takes off back towards Ponyville, leaving me alone with my thoughts once again.
Little known fact: In Gen 1 of MLP, Teleporting was called Blinking.
Nice chapter. Can't wait for the next.
Yaaaaaas another update! Thanks for the chapter!
I can't wait to read more, but school is priority.
AWESOME chapter!!!
This was WAY more emotional chapter than any of the others have been, which i think makes this chapter a lot better.
Though the writing was confusing at times, it didn't hurt the chapter's quality in any significant way.
Glad to see this continued!
I feel like Skyline doesn't really know how to properly measure strength
Physical strenght needs mental strength and willpower.
Adrenaline, determination, killing instict and instinct kill or be killed should give Null a huge boost
I hope Skyline will be on Nulls black list
They are literally working behind his back and any bystander would see it as a planning to backstab him later, probably even Luna would see it that way and be mad at Celestia
9776741
I don't doubt that Celestia was feeling emotions while thinking about all this stuff, but to call this chapter "WAY more emotional" than any of the others is a bit silly. Unless anger doesn't count, any chapter where Null is screaming in rage from the injustice he went through easily tops Celestia's small amount of regret and sorrow.
And she's speaking in logical terms. She's using "logos," not "pathos," in her persuasive reasoning to herself.
EDIT: For clarification, "logos" is using logic and reasoning to persuade people, "pathos" is an emotional appeal to action (pathos means pain), and "ethos" is for ethics, or appealing to a crowd based on your qualifications, history, and moral character, your authority.
Ah yes, the blame game. Oh how you make a despicable Celestia. I just hope Null doesn't pussey out of this. Justice is due.
You baited your audience with wrongful suffering and promised justice to make them stay. I sincerely hope you can deliver.
Edit: While I'm at it I'll point out that while Celestia knows what she did was wrong she in no way feels remorse for her decision and refuses to accept any form of repentance. She is remorseful, but is not willing to right her wrong.
Like a banker who unlawfully mortgage a family's house, he knows what he did was wrong, but under no circumstances will he account for his own actions.
Good to see you back, Deka. Celly’s been ruling so long that she just can’t afford to care for others at all. Celly’s so used to seeing the big picture that the little things are what will undo her... like her neglecting Luna so she can rule Equestria or “pretending” to care about Null when she’d rather use him as an example as to why humans are a dangerous bunch.
9776946
I feel like you misunderstood what i meant a bit there,
While yes, i do see the point you're making (and it's a good point mind you) i just feel that emotions such as sorrow and guilt carry more of an emotional impact (which i realize as i'm writing this that my previous comment didn't really indicate that that is what i meant, and for that i apologize) than anger in the context of this story so far.
We expected Null to be furious at Celestia because that point is driven home throughout this story's prequel and has since lost most of its emotional impact whereas we see Celestia feeling remorseful because of what she did to Null for the first time and thus provided this chapter much more of an emotional impact than the previous chapters.
I hope this clarifies what i meant.
9777116
Makes sense to me. New emotions and what not. I don't believe I've ever seen Celestia show remorse for anything she's ever done in the show. But I did stop watching mid season 6, so I don't know about after. It's implied that she was sorrowful for banishing her sister, but you never see that in the show. Even in the flashback fight with NMM, she only shows determined resignation.
I'm just not a huge fan of the pedestal that the ponies of Equestria, the show writers themselves, and fan writers and readers on this site usually seem to put her on.
9777136
Yeah, i can't tell you how many stories were ruined for me because the alicorns were treated like soulless robots pretending to be made of flesh and bone.
Skyline sniping at Null just makes him look like a douchebag.
strange. This update didn't show up in my tracking list. I only noticed this after seeing it in the featured box's "recently updated, previously featured" box...
9776946
So Celestia is Spock! I'll take that. Appeal to emotion is a logical fallacy.
9777397
Not so much sniping as an Honest Assessment of what he thinks of Null, It's about what I have gathered from reading. Null is a Glass Cannon, Emotionally damaged, has no skills other then brute strength and cunning and he is Apathetic to those around him and his own life to the point that if it weren't for Luna? I would expect him to commit suicide trying to kill Celestia.
On the upside, given time, some friends and a bit of a cool-down I can see him talking to Celestia and MAYBE patching things up a bit.
9778454
I disagree Skyline was intentionally trying to belittle him and we didn't know how Null stacked up physically to a pony at least within the story but most automatically think humans would be defenseless against ponies because that's just how this fandom is, they treat ponies like they are so kind of Ubermensch. If Null and Celestia just patch up their relationship then the prequel to this story becomes irrelevant there would have been no purpose for us to read how much he suffered over his imprisonment just to forgive her for "reasons". If that happens that just makes this another story where the human gets guilt-tripped into forgiving a pony for greatly wronging them.
9778476
I am not saying that, I am just saying that's what SKYLINE thinks of him and to some degree he is right. Null has been trapped in stone for a thousand years and prior to that he was young as is so likely didn't have any combat skills or fight training. He doesn't know his powers, he is young and has little to no training.
I think he could stack up well to an Untrained pony, but to a Guard? No I think he would get trounced due to nothing more then their training and this is putting aside Unicorn Magic, Pegasus flight and Earth Pony Strength much less weapons. Given time and training though? I think he could easily take on a Guard or multiple.
He is at to much of a disadvantage to really do anything at the moment and rather he knows it or not he is taking the slow route to power.
I never said Forgiving her or even being friendly to her, but to at least bring their standing to a more neutral stance if for nothing more then Luna's sake. What she did is unforgivable and the only way for it to be made right is for Her to experience even a DAY in his hell.
Good to see that a new chapter is out!
And after going through a few comments to see if others saw more then me, I have a few things to point out in discussion.
1. It seems that Celestia is going more of the path of logic then regret, though it is there. But more so for herself then anyone.
Yes she worries about her student, Twilight's friends and especially Luna. Though her thought process is more of wanting Null to pass blame elsewhere or have a live and let live situation. I think most can agree that this isn't going to work for a few simple facts.
a) Celestia is not repenting on her deeds. She doesn't want to fully admit her blame, though she agrees she was a big factor to it. But she also ties Discord in as a third party to pass some blame on when there is none. This is entirely on her head and no one else.
b) Null has repressed anger that stems from a millennia imprisonment in stone, not to mention a possible whole heap of mental issues that he has on his shoulders. Yes I agree with Celestia that its s miracle that hes even just slightly sane enough to consider Luna his only anchor. If she hadn't intervened, Celestia would be dead of this I'm sure.
c) As the only one that really tried to do anything for Null, Luna would truly never let Celestia go without some effort of repentance or to see her error. Luna is, if anything at heart as you've shown in this story, bound to her want of justice herself. She would want Celestia, at least so I believe, to look at the face of the man she ruined, and be remorseful.
2. Skylines assessment is not out of the ordinary from the perspective of a military trained individual, but I do agree on one thing, which I do like. He underestimates Null. This is important, because he looks at the there and now instead of the true big picture. Null has been, in some relative terms, been backed into a corner with no real out. Hes still getting his bearings socially, mentally and even physically.
He underestimates the animal running and guile that can come from a human when pressed further into that corner, and I like it because it truly shows their ignorance of the species, as it should be because hes such an unknown. They can only draw half sided parallels, and even then, Null seems more like a predator in their eyes which can bring up interesting dilemmas, if not push in for tactful workarounds. Because for all intents and purposes. Null is a predator now in their eyes. And that will mean questionable potential outcomes.
There is maybe more I want to say, but i don't want to be an ass and flood the comment section.
I hope my input makes sense in some way, and helps! I want to see how this turns out!
great chapter hope to see more sometime
Huh, for some reason I still think that ponies are assholes. If Null was a older foal, they would treat him better and they would try more to understand him. It is like he is not a victim but teenager alien with gun glued to his hand... wait, he is one. But still, I wonder how they would treat a foal with similar eye.
But story is good ;) I hope you will continue.
For some reason the site didn't update to show me that a new chapter showed up for this story... I managed to notice it thanks to a random browsing of the update notifications. Wonder why my library didn't show the chapter...?
Alright, I haven't read this chapter yet at the time of commenting but that's because it never showed up in my new chapters list. I did some testing and no matter what I tried and how hard I looked it just wasn't there!
Really makes me wonder what other stories I've been missing out on because of this supposed bug.
Edit: typo
9790328
He posted the chapter to fimfiction on that date, but made it public at a later date. At least I think...
Well, duh.
You can't divide by zero.
First book was interesting, because of an idea, of uncertainty and possibilities, because it was something new and had observational mood. I would even preferred if he continued being unmovable, yet became some sort of deity, a wiseman who can help with words and whatnot.
What we got though is emotionally unstable immature kid with sad backstory (which we already know, so no one cares about), dirty mouth and superpowers. We got monologues and angry shouting, hurt feelings and sometimes quite cringy humor.
It's not bad, it's just dull. I had little doubt that he will get normal life in the end and be friend with everyone, except discord, perhaps.
It's just looks like many other novels right now, especially one of this displaced fics, where guy goes into ponyland BT and gets stoned and goes ballistic on Celestia or someone else. Really, really alike.
This book gives me a feeling of being something expected from author, but something that wasn't planned beforehand. It's fells like a Hypescraper, a building, that was build higher than allowed by blueprints because it was beneficial to builder, yet unstable and shaky because of that.
I think you need that unique element again. Not the same perhaps, but this fic is not even true to it's name anymore. It's there only as connection to prequel. Which is very, very bad sad.
9803527 Fair dinkum. Though, if people are still enjoying it, I'd say calling it dull would be just opinion. I can see where you're coming from, though.
9803527
Personally, I came for the slice-of-life schtick. Though didn't get what I wanted, I stayed for the character developement and to see how it will go. His descend into near-insanity was definitely very interesting, but what I see it as is a paving for the eventual recovery or apocalypse to come.
Honestly, I'm just happy that people make stories for me to read. Making one is incredibly hard, frustrating at times, tedious at the other. I love the part where I can imagine worlds to live on, characters to live as, and goals to live for. I hate the part where I need to jot it down on a typewriter.
I'm surprised he's coherent and capable of holding sound conversations. There's only so much that the mortal mind can take before shattering or shutting down completely.
null seek comfort in this and know that in some alternate universe or multiverse celestia is already dead.
i also would like to see celestia not breathing as well!
things you cannot unsee once seen, knowledge you cannot bear once known!
you've been warned!
you've been warned twice!
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!!
10747457
a warning I was given. heed it I did not. much regret I now have.
10747457
That's a bit dark.
Again, perfect chapter. I do have to say that I love these shifting POVs, it is amazing.
10747457 ……………neat