Steps before Consequences

by Im a B O X

The bureaucrat with a gray-blue suit and briefcase.

Today, as Celestia lowered the sun, a heavy burden filled her mind. Recently, with how events had transpired with her sister, Princess Luna, and the nation that they ruled, she couldn’t help but feel both concerned yet indifferent towards the pony she called a sister, she had done everything in her power, she governed the nation that they shared and she was justly rewarded with both praise and attention by her ponies, her sister, at least how she saw it, merely did what was needed, never going above and beyond for the greater good, to her, everything was going fine, although had she known that the blindness of her own “success”, she would have done anything, everything, to avoid the regret that would come in the following days.

After what felt like hours of walking, she had finally arrived at her destination; her sister’s personal bedroom. A quick knock was made, but instead of the door being locked, it opened under the small amount of force that Celestia used to knock on it. Instinctively, and more out of curiosity than any malice, she made a quick peek inside the room, but what she saw perplexed her, at the other side of the door stood her sister, staring upwards out to the starry night sky that the balcony of her room provided, doing so in, what Celestia perceived as, an unnatural sense of stillness, immediately there was something that clicked insider her own head, causing her body to move on its own, maybe the thought of her own sister being petrified, concern for her sister's wellbeing to a certain extent, if only to make sure that she was alive, lest she would want to start a commotion or rumor should her sister going insane.

Of course, this garnered a reaction from the night alicorn, but still, in a way, Celestia did indeed find her sister in what was a state similar to petrification, shock.

---

An hour and 34 minutes ago…

Luna laid atop her bed, unmoving and unnerved by her situation, she had grown to, more than she realized, resent and spite towards her sister, it seemed unhealthy yet completely justified in her mind, but there was another emotion that plagued her, one she couldn’t quite get a place on, and one she desperately needed an answer for.

As if on cue, she felt a strong presence enter her near vicinity, and she immediately, in one quick motion, hopped out of her bed and took a defensive stance against whatever was near, even if she had no direct line of sight.

“There won’t be a need for such, harsh reception…” A voice said, its source undiscernible to the alicorn.

“SHOW THYSELF,” She bellowed in her royal Canterlot voice, now having ignited her horn for anything that might come after her, “WE REFUSE TO BE TESTED WITH THOU TRIVIAL MANNERS!”

And as if she was given a response, a door suddenly appeared, located just in front of what would be the doors of her room’s balcony. She instinctively pointed her horn at anything that might leap out of it, and to her surprise, the door slowly opened, emitted a bright white glow that seemed to escape the white void that was on the other side of it. To her surprise, and partial relief, what exited was a creature, at least at first glance, seemed to be one she recognized, but one she hadn’t seen with her own personal eyes.

Before her, a fairly slender figure walked out of this door that appeared out of nowhere, a human, at least to her. Dressed in a sleek gray-blue suit with a briefcase held to his side, he adjusted his tie before the door closed from behind him, disappearing in the process, he looked at the lonely lunar princess, a poker face, one that, if Luna was to guess, had been mastered from countless encounters with death and gods alike. The figure began to walk towards the princess, but she held her ground, refusing to show any sign of fear or hesitation.

“Ms. Luna Faust, a pleasure to meet you in the flesh, and officially so, might I add.” the figure said, his expression unchanging for the moment.

“Why has thou come forth to us?” She asked, falling back to a much more relaxed voice. She had heard of the stories that these humans were capable of, and to see one with her bare eyes was indeed an experience. Nonetheless, she did not relent as she still continued to ignite her horn as she still continually aimed it at him.

“There is, no need for hostilities,” the figure said, raising his free hand as he began to draw his fingers into a specific manner, one of snapping. “I will not have this trip go, uneventful, let alone unfruitful.”

“Please, I do apologize for my intrusion, my employers have sent their regards. Had this been solely a business issue, I would have liked to keep this matter discreet, but… circumstance had made for a deteriorating, outlook, and intervention was the only option they saw fit. The suspension of my, restrictions, has brought many consequences, one of which includes the interference with other dimensions, so this is a huge gamble on my part. Again, apologies.” He said, and on the same note that he finished, he snapped his fingers, the audible sound made becoming that of a much higher frequency when Luna heard it.

As a direct result, she suddenly felt light-headed, her horn also becoming numb as she felt her magic leave her defenseless, not only that, but she suddenly found herself unable to move from the sudden shock of what just happened, she found herself only speaking for the moment, yet it did not bring any form of discomfort for her.

“What’s thy meaning of this!?” She asked, immediately scowling at her inability and letting herself get captured easily.

“The liberty of subduing your, abilities, not to worry, I needn’t take anything, unnecessary, else I either return or… suspend the sorts. Blood is not my forte, and so with regards to how this... talk, would transpire, well, as I say, ‘no regrets’.”

Taking a moment to readjust something as he began to think to himself, he spoke once more, “Although I have few words to say, aside from pure business, as I have said earlier, there have been, changes, and I am here to bring a ‘solution’ of sorts to this world.”

“And why is thou?” Luna asked, cocking a brow in response, “thou could simply be defeated with thy elements, amongst and against such similar beings alike. Thou stands no chance in this world. Not to mention thy abilities, a foe alike you would unite all of Equis under one banner if such a thing arose.”

Breathing a sigh of annoyance, the man, for the first time in this conversation, showed an expression, one of scowling in annoyance at the stubbornness of the night princess.

“They are, but a speck in my views, and their opportunities, your people, stand a near to non-existent chance, at least to the greater void I try to ‘save’ you from.” The figure replied.

“What does thou mean?” she asked inquisitively, unbelieving of what the figure is talking about.

“Praytell, are you familiar with the phrase, ‘it is better to show than tell’,?”

Receiving a nod, and another flick and snap with his hands, he went on and did the same trick that he would use on so many others.

---

“Where are we?” The lunar princess asked, having found herself in a seemingly lit-up empty void.

“We are about to embark on a path to see the hereafter of several trillion lives.” The figure said, approaching from Luna's behind.

And as he reached to her side, they were seemingly transported to another room, this time, a battered up castle, and the one that she and Celestia had used to live in together.

“W-what is thou?” she again asked. This time out of instinct as she raised her voice a bit, never diverting part of her gaze away from the scene that was about to play out.

“Patience.”

Returning her gaze to the scene before her, she suddenly saw herself, but not, never with, the man beside her, even with the reflection. Continuing on to stare, her eyes drifted to something unexpected, she drifted to her eyes that was reflected, the hint of spite, of… loathing, but towards who it was reflected towards was not what she expected.

Her eyes, the ones that are reflected by whatever was before her, reflected her loathing to… herself, and it perplexed her, self-loathing? A preposterous idea! How could she develop such an outlook on herself? Yet despite this, she also felt a sense of empowerment, and once that was realized, a flood of other emotions was what she could all see in the reflection. Never realizing that the figure reflect, what was once her reflection had now morphed into a Nightmare.

As if to respond to her mental inquiry, the figure once more spoke, this time, raising his briefcase as if to present it to her, “Consider such, as a ‘parting gift’, there are plenty of individuals, including those of my employers, who lack even an ounce, of knowledge of what is contained in this case. ‘Solutions’ are what I bring, along with only necessities.”

“Hmm…” Luna, perplexed by the situation as is, tried to process what her gaze brought to her.

“Pay attention, I would like to only say this once.” The figure said, this time unlocking the locks that kept the briefcase shut, with Luna’s gaze now diverted to the case, she realized, it was something that should not exist, impossible to even manifest, a solid representation of the future, artifacts relating to something that, at least at the time, are non-existent, it probably made her realize something.

The lunar princess could only gawk at the case before her, the contents having attracted her entire gaze, whatever she was thinking before left her head as it was replaced with thoughts of how such important things, and how such ‘artifacts’ if it could even be called that, had taken the form of something so mundane forms that, had not known and been compelled, she would have simply tossed them aside, if not for the implications they showed here. They were not necessarily filled with magic, but their sheer sight brought out emotions that fueled one’s soul, a source of strong reaction for her, she was at a loss for words, to see such things, it was breathtaking.

“H-how has thou-” before she could finish, the figure, with a slight hand gesture, motioned her to look in a different direction. This time, as if she was hit by a large blunt object, into a far-future she saw, one that Luna thought as being uncertain and cold, the figures of a large centaur, a tiny alicorn, a changeling, and at a farther distance, the Wendigos roaming free could be seen, their bodies although being outlined, was not the highlight, instead, it was their eyes, glowing in a light that betrayed the dark presence they held.

“Now, understand, that what you see before maybe be of false, hmm... premonition. Rest assured, my employers are everything, but liars. Omitters perhaps, regardless, what you see now, it is but a spec of what I could provide, and that of my employers would consider as, justified interventions. Regardless, we, try to use such things on... minimalistic terms.”

Distancing himself, he prepared to ask a question, one for the princess before him to answer in truth.

“What could you deduce, princess, if I am a being who could do more than what meets the eye, an employee of beings no doubt much… higher than me in many other ways. And please, drop the coy act, I do not find it amusing.”

“Fine.” She said, raising her hoof to signify him to wait for her to answer, she began to think deeply, “It is not to wonder, a being such as yourself, although as they claimed, a powerful one including those he serves under, I would have expected thou to have found a solution to thy problem long before this.” She said, her entire mannerism having shifted to be much more reserved.

“Believe me, had I been given the, opportunity, Ms. Luna, rest assured, I would have already considered and followed through, if it had been an acceptable and readily available option. Unfortunately, the assets that I have under my supervision are, expended or preoccupied as of the moment. I am still in search for, suitable replacements, maybe as a temporary or permanent solution, so long as it, accommodates for the losses of this endeavor, between employers and I.”

“After all,” he abruptly stopped, snapping once again to suddenly bringing himself and Luna back at her own room, but before he spoke again, he made a motion with his hands to recline the curtains of the princess’s room, allowing for moonlight to shine some light in the room, amongst other things, “I came here as more of a representative.”

Suddenly, with renewed vigor, Luna realized her magic had returned to her, and immediately as a response, she shot a direct bolt of magic at the man before her, her bolt staying true and hitting its mark, a cloud of smoke erupted as the shot hit its intended target, concealing whatever was behind it. Luna, for her part, felt stronger, and she could see with a wider range and react with a sharpness rivaling the sharpest points of any blade ever made.

But to her shock, and partially in vain, the man did not move, he stood unflinching, a face of pure… disappointment. But he did not retaliate, instead, another snap and soft thud were made. Looking to her back, where her bed was, she saw the pictures of the future of earlier and... a piece of parchment presumably for her to read. She returned her gaze back to the man before her, now truly confused, but still refusing to show any sign of hesitation.

His face finally diverted its gaze away from the lunar princess and to that of a certain draconic-like statue, he peered through the window that gave way to the sight of the castle garden. His face, never changing, but Luna could sense that he felt a sense of perplexity, curiosity, and irritation? Most likely emitted as a result of whatever he looked at.

Luna for her part, backed away, towards her bed. Holding the items in her magic, she prepared to teleport them into another safe space, but she couldn’t fully see what the man was doing, but she could still clearly hear him, her defensive stance never faltering, and a side-effect of what seemed to have been a result of the heightened sensitivity of her senses and adrenalin.

“I have, done, all of the necessities needed on my part, I am sure my, colleagues would have done their part by now.” As he said this, he turned tails, approaching the doors of the balcony, he began to open it. Reaffixing his tie and checking the weight of his case, he made a small nod in the affirmation that he would indeed leave, having done what he had come to do.

To Luna, she couldn’t directly see where it lead to, but she knew it was a dead-end, no human, pony, or even any creature for that matter, could survive the fall from her balcony, not with the uneven ground down bellow from the balcony door, similar to how this man had first intruded upon her.

This time, as he turned himself before he left through the door, he said something, something directed towards the alicorn, his voice now reflective of his true emotion, and an irritated sigh came from him before he spoke, “Prepare for unexpected consequences.” He said, “And, be relieved of the displeasure that your kind has avoided, with our intervention, even if it was against our restriction and policy. Some recognition is appreciated, regardless of the fact.”

And with that, he was off. Stepping into the door and closed it behind him. Never ever to step foot in the same restricted world trice.

Luna, after shortly making sure that the entire room was free of anything unexpected, tried to give chase, and she opened the now shut door of her balcony from where the man had left, only to reveal… the balcony, the very same balcony that overlooked the castle garden.

Perplexed, she continued to stare on, unable to move that far, not with the sudden shock. Humans, as far as she knew, possessed no magical abilities whatsoever, and yet one had managed to slip under her like it was nothing, no sign of the being ever having existed or left except for what he had left her.

Igniting her horn, she checked a near 1-mile radius for any magical residue, to her dismay, it yielded no fruitful results that correlated to the creature. She slightly slumped back, but never averting her gaze, first to the statue of a stone frozen Discord, next, to the skies, beyond just the skies, to the stars above. Never realizing that she had just managed to check an entire 1-mile radius for any sign of magic, more than double of what was her previous best and the chaotic build-up on a certain draconic statue.

Whatever was out there, unless she was to make it public, she would be the only one to know what happened tonight. So she stayed still, motionless, that was until her sister came into the room without her noticing it initially, the shock of the situation finally getting to her, never realizing anything else apart from what she had just witnessed.

---

Somewhere in a very distant void...

“I see you’ve returned, how did the venture go?”

“Nothing specific, just as requested, but I believe other matters are to be attended, yes?” He asked, the question being directed to only one of his superiors who had come to greet him upon his return.

“No, not quite. Currently speaking, there’s none to speak of at the moment. But I know you’ll enjoy the news I have for you…” The void said.

The G-Man, or Garry as he is fondly called by some of his employers, did not find it amusing of the jovial attitude of the beings he served under. If he was described as cold-blooded, his superiors were the complete opposite, yet to his surprise, he found a niche for his service to them, but being a professional in the field came first in his line of work.

The void itself, well, not exactly void, more like in the lines of a singularity, began to take form, adorning the body of a somewhat old man, but a face with a gray beard and glasses. A face in a distant universe that would be regarded as one of the most influential people to grace the earth, Gabe was his alias, and he was the Newell amongst his peers, well respected, he proved to be a much more capable being than what the first impression might say.

“I’m sure you’re familiar with ‘World 3’, yes? Well, the combines have so far advanced pass 4 and 5, I hadn’t heard back from Xen, I assume that they are still holding out, but not for long.”

“What’s so important about ‘world 3’? From the last report, they are a fraction of the age of our loose asset and a third in technological development comparatively to them.”

“The best part Garry,” Gabe turned away from Garry, the jovial attitude being replaced with one of gratitude and all-knowingness.

“They are near-guaranteed to circumvent Xen as if it was fated, but you and I know very well that there is no such thing as fate, the conditions are to the surprise of many, myself included, to their favor. So to say that, recent... events shall we say, had foreshadowed such and to some extent, we needed to both make sure that other dimensions are unable to circumnavigate Xen, and also mitigate the Combine’s advance as much as possible, hence why we sent you and a few others to mitigate the advancements in interdimensional travel. We must keep such thing as a secret, or in the case of our loose asset, inaccessible, at least until we are able to find suitable candidates to challenge them with an ally that is to our favor, we can’t let our position of over trillion of years of godly stature be challenged and beaten in the span of a few thousand millenniums, now can we? Speaking of which, two candidates that I think you would like to employ are for the taking.”

“Who are they?”

“They are both humans, opposite genders, and each work for opposing companies. Their birth names are, as far as I’ve been told, Chell and Gordon, working for Aperture Science and Black Mesa respectively. One is a test subject and another is a scientist, both work for their respective companies. Regardless, I know this would be a matter that you’ll be interested and deeply preoccupied in for a while.” He said, turning back around before speaking soon after.

“So, is the case empty?” Gabe asked, although he might not know the exact contents of the case, he knew it was always occupied with something. He could only question and guess what Garry has in store this time around.

“Never empty, never will be.” Garry of course knew this as fact. This case was one of the few things he had earned and kept throughout most of his many long years of service, within it contained any piece of item, artifact, technology, or other things for that matter that could change shape, and even dictate worlds, anything to his will so long as he willed it, a gift that his superiors had mastered long before he offered his service to them.

“Well, since most of the work is done, we could now move forward, pass these so-called ‘incursions’ of our loose asset, having made sure to restrict their reach for the moment doesn’t ensure much, but the point still stands, they can’t just reach out of our bounds and onto our fellowship’s turfs, at least until they reach Xen, but by then, I expect you to have a plan and to play your cards right, Mr. Garry.”

A nod affirmation and he continued.

“Goodness me… Celle really does like playing with her own creation, always reliving what it’s like to be mortal as close as possible, can’t have her figuring out about the portals for now, even if she’s on our level, her little playground of a dimension will do her fine for the time being. Now, onto the other important matters, the restrictions on the employees and ourselves. Still, remember the Rule of Five Thousand?”

---

Back at the Castle of the Two Sisters...

“Luna? Luna are you alright?” Celestia asked as she approached her sister.

Swiveling around in an uncharacteristic manner, the lunar princess for a moment stared blankly at her sister, with her eyes having lost their apparent hue before being reignited, sending her out of her stupor.

“I- uh…” Luna found herself unable to speak the next words she intended. She fought with herself to form words, the words she needed to say or the words she wanted to say, it fought against the other, with the apparent shock and suddenness she had just been put forth leaving a big impact on her.

Taking Luna’s stupor as just plain naivety, Celestia spoke first, “Well now sister, I can’t have you looking like the idiot, even if it might make me look better. You might-"

“Sister, what has thou to say about thy last humans?” she interrupted.

Now it was Celestia's turn to enter a stupor. For so long, she hadn’t heard, let alone expected her own sister, to ask about humans, long-extinct creatures last heard in the ancient times

“A-are you insane Luna? Are you feeling off?” she asked instead, buying herself more time to form a proper answer if she could even form one.

“Why, dear sister? It is merely of personal… curiosity, I ask such question, has thou have no answer?” Luna asked, making sure that what once laid on her bed was well hidden, at least until she could get her sister to listen.

“Well, it’s not that I can’t answer that question, Lulu, it’s just that…” Celestia tried to think of an answer, but nothing she could think of would give a satisfying answer to the question.

Breathing a sigh of disappointment at her inability to give her sister a fully honest answer, Celestia decided to answer with what she could.

“It’s that what?” Luna asked, ever a bit eager to her what her sister’s answer is despite a sense of hesitation from her.

“It’s that such a race is regarded in near-total obscurity,” she finally said, deciding to teleport one of Star Swirl’s old history books, which *poof* into existence with the command of her magic. “even Star Swirl's old books could only provide us with myths and legends, but nothing solid.”

“Well, are thy books written to describe a creature of one to beyond reality? Perhaps thy Lord of Chaos or even a magical connection to thy correlation. Anything at all?” Luna asked, although not reflected, was unwilling to lose hope of not finding any answers.

Reading through the pages of the book, Celestia tried her best to find anything that could bring satisfaction to her sister. It was uncharacteristic of Luna to ask for something as specific as this, but Celestia ignored the paranoia that radiated off of her sister, she had her own problems and so long as Luna kept shut, the kingdom would remain stable.

“Hmm…” She thought for a moment, still processing her next response.

After a few moments of waiting, Luna would get her answer.

“From what the books could tell,” Celestia began, observing the apparent shift of her sister’s posture when she was about to answer the question. “It only described them as an above-average race with nothing notable about them, from their way of life being comparable to griffons or dragons to their technologies being comparable to what the crystal ponies have, although the most notable things about them are what they don’t possess. Magic being amongst the things they lack, along with an allegiance, two things that they are most well-known for and only remembered.”

“…”

“I-is that all, sister?” Luna asked.

“Yes, this was all the book could provide.”

“…”

“Listen, Luna, I don’t know if there’s anything bothering you, but you better just forget it,” Celestia said, trying to reassure her little sister as she left her sister’s room.

Once the audible click of the door was heard, Luna began to slowly draw the picture given to her closer for her to properly inspect with the use of her magic. Eyeing it as if it held lies, it had to be a lie, and while she was part of the Diarchy she ruled with her sister, even if it was only by title and nothing more, she still only wanted to do what was best for the nation she led with her sister.

She held it in her magic, contemplating the current status quo of Equestria and the perceived threat that she was seemingly chosen to prevent. Here within hoof’s grasp, from seemingly out of nowhere, given to her by a race thought to be extinct and a show of power seemingly challenging that of harmony, was a possible future that held both an uncertainty to her ponies yet the possibility of change.

She wanted to do what was right, and it fueled her somewhat insane state, questioning herself and the world she lived in. She just wanted to do what was right… The world around her always seemed to push her aside, and there was a chance to change that view, she had a direction, and she could choose to act upon it.

Her loyalty lied to her passion for the good of her subjects, and repeatedly, they pushed her away in favor of her sister… She had knowledge none yet knew, and with every moment she stayed with her sister, she felt as though she was being belittled, overshadowed, her sister could claim she understood her when she bathed in the praise of their nation.

Soon enough, history in Equestria will play out just like we’ve known. Insanity, hate, passion, amongst a plethora of other things, and how the world had seemingly treated her. Luna, by the string of events of this single night and the combined perceptive she had of a seemingly seen from this ungrateful world… the need to stand out, it had driven her to question herself, what she stood for, and what to do, and soon enough it would literally take form, taking her ideals and motives to a whole new level, even if she would turn into a Nightmare.

Her sister played a part, the ponies of Equestria played a part, the world of Equis played a part, but the nail in the coffin, what cemented the actions, the string of consequences in place, was the single ‘man’ that met her that night, he changed how she thought, brought her to view of a future even he was unsure of, the idea of fate was something he was told to keep a distance from, but a set string of action could bring about a set rule of consequences.

And that was the important part, no action comes without consequences, be it for the better good or naught. Our actions serve to accompany our stand, our words, be they serving as an inspiration, a lesson, or even a memory to remember, the things we do shape the world we are in.

“After all, aren't these, the consequences, we reap…?”

Author's Note:

Little Epilogue moment: So, after the events of this night, the events that would transpire would essentially follow the shows cannon, and to clear things up, what Luna saw was essentially the picture of the Young Six, the Mane Six, and the Pillars of Equestria, all in one picture. Take note that this was probably a good thousand years back before the show even began, and you could probably tell that at that time… let’s just say that the views of the pony kind were much in line with the racist views of a certain Chancellor…

---

Ok, this is definitely a story I will have to revisit at another time, maybe I'll probably revisit this or something similar for it in the future, but definitely, If I could only improve upon it, if only...

Leave a comment, give some constructive criticisms, be a bro and leave a like for me.

And I’ll see you all...

Later!

(Edit: 03/10/2022)
Although I may not tell it directly, I am greatly thankful that you guys (and gals maybe?) for only giving this story a chance, but also enjoying it to some extent. I did take the criticism to heart and I wish I could get the G-man style of talking to heart, but as it stood, this was a story I just did as a side gig for something else to come.

Comments

[Mister Morden]

I enjoyed the story... But the dialogue was a little off even for G-man's style of talking.

And I am left slightly confused, did he nudge things into happening just as the show reveals. Or would it have happened anyway?

[The_0b5erver]

Hey, I really liked this one!

I, having difficulty with writing mysterious encounters and creating tension in a subtle, non-invasive way, really respect the time and thought that went into this.

Now, there were a couple words out of place, but it never ruined the atmosphere, which I would consider as the most important thing to upkeep.

On the other side, there was a lot of great, varied vocabulary used throughout and I'll probably have to re-visit this story multiple times to catch all the good phrases (and also because whenever I read a story for the first time I end up doing the reading equivalent of going around with my mouth open, failing to appreciate all the fine details of the plot; but hey, can you blame me? I just love reading good work!)