• Published 4th Apr 2023
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The Stereotypical Drafts - JinxTJL



The anniversary collection of Chapter 40 drafts.

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3/24/22 - Chapter 43 - Dead-End Destiny

He was here. He was listening. He was scared- how could he not be- but that was no reason to shut down.

Nightmare Moon seemed to take solace in his affirmation, as the almost unseen lines of tension in Her face lightened just that little bit. His fur itched uncomfortably as one of the metal-clad hooves softly swept across his shoulder; to repeat again and again in a gesture that might've been comforting from anypony else.

She didn't say anything for a few seconds; just staring down at him with conflicting emotion in Her eyes as Her chest shook with a suppressed sigh.

////////// Bridge //////////

"Do you remember, so long ago now, what was said in the letter that spoke of your future? Your first, buried abstinence?"

The low tone of Her voice begged attention, and as much as he wanted to ignore the heed in favor of thinking of some kind of insult about Her pores or something: the thread of memory was tugging voluntarily.

He did remember. A letter sent one week after he'd gone into the Everfree for the first time. A frightening letter detailing and dictating his entire life to him; including his potential deaths. He'd obsessed over it, even after he'd buried it in the backyard to protect him and his mother; the writer had seemed so lofty and all-knowing.

If he ever somehow cracked the secret to Chronomancy: his first stop would be that day to tell his younger self that the writer was completely full of it. They didn't see Nightmare Moon coming, and that mistake far outweighed whatever help they'd been trying to give.

"Yes... of course I remember," he spoke, slowly. He enunciated each syllable as they tied off his tongue to watch the face in front of him for any hint of change. So far, nothing of interest. "It was.. unforgettable. I don't think I ever really stopped thinking about what it said about my destiny."

His eyes lowered, narrowed down at the scuffed stone floor. "I think I began to hate it as time went by. It... Thinking about it sometimes made the idea of.. of villainy sort of... disgusting."

Maybe it had been the consuming corruption by way of moon parasite, but he hadn't really thought of himself as much of a villain in recent years. Maybe that was a good thing; his entire outlook had been a bit childish.

Applejack certainly wouldn't abide by villainy. He'd been more conscious of Applejack lately, too.

He wondered if Applejack would know what to say to Nightmare Moon.

He was literally shaken out of his reverie with the floor as Nightmare Moon's grip on him tightened and shook him. Startled, his eyes swept up to see a reproachful stare on him for a moment, before the same, sincere stare returned.

"Listen, child. Your feelings on the matter do not matter as does your memory." Her tone slowly grew more severe through Her words, even as he bristled noticeably at the disregard for his feelings. "You identify the letter's contents as speaking of destiny, and that is well enough; but have you given it greater thought?"

Greater thought? What, about destiny?

He had a weird feeling.

He shook his head, and let an incredulous expression take his face. "If.. If you're trying to say something about the concept of destiny, then why did you..?"

She'd just gone on and on about destiny as a matter of fact. Was She contradicting Herself? Was She- Okay, She was definitely absent enough to argue against a point She'd made just minutes ago. Or was that crazy? Absent, crazy: She classified as any number of concerning mental states.

He'd let his question trail in an obvious lead, though She waited for longer than he would have expected before She got the heavy hint that he was done. She must have known what he was going to say, though: because She eventually sighed, and let Her head hang.

Incidentally, Her hanging head was close enough that Her sharp horn came dangerously close to his head. He couldn't help but stare at the sharp point pointed precariously at his forehead with wide eyes, even as Nightmare Moon began to speak again.

"You ask why I would raise question to destiny, when I have so enthusiastically raised the term to a pedestal."

Author's Note:

Despite the great title I came up with for this one, it's not too interesting. Especially when compared to what I replaced it with.

This just came in the junction between my cutting of the last draft, which I really liked, and what I decided to publish. An in-between idea that went nowhere, and so, it got cut. Some funny jokes and a reference to Chronomancy just weren't enough to salvage this one.

I believe I found this lacking for speed, funnily enough. Just too circuitous, and not brisk enough. Actually, now that I mention it: in the folder I saved this draft to, I titled it 'keep it brisk.'

There was some interesting development on Light's feelings that I'd like to reassert someday, but overall: not very interesting. Some drafts just aren't. More often than not, that's why they get cut.