Enigma

by Divide

Commutation

Enigma

Chapter Two: Commutation

---

There wasn't much more information that I could glean from the remainder of Starswirl the Bearded's ramblings. His writing slowly degraded into chicken scratch, illegible to all, save himself. Just when I was about to give up hope, it seemed that the old wizard had a moment of clarity.

---

"It is a universal force, a consumer of souls. It is a being of the void, at times corporeal, other times ethereal: a monster between the planes. Even the Great Equalizer, Death, fears Der Großpony; the Tall Pony."

"It is an ancient being of strange gravity, the abyss personified; a twisted voice from out the original darkness, before the first light appeared in the universe. It is the first collapsed star, a black hole grown complicated and sentient; It's motivations unknowable, It's power inexorable; a force of destruction unleashed upon existence itself."

"It is not of our pathetic realm; that much is clear. No, It is forced to wait here until it regains Its power sufficiently enough to leave our boring and meaningless plane. It is trapped by laws that even It doesn't understand, forced into a form that is not It's own: It's true form is so malignant and horrifying that it would rip my soul from my very body should I lay even a cursory glance upon It.

"The form that It currently holds is still terrifying enough to pierce even the most stalwart pony's heart with a spear of cold fear. It is a spindly, amorphous, deformed version of a pony. It is the colour of absolute darkness; the blackest of nights. It has no face, only a pale white mannequin-like head of a pony with no facial features or mane whatsoever."

"We are inconsequential compared to It. Our lives are but sparks compared to the raging inferno that is the Tall Pony."

"Be warned; all who seek It out shall meet a fate worse than death."

...

"I awoke on the outskirts of the forest with my attire shredded and a pounding headache. I don't recall writing any of the above notes. I think that I shall leave the Slender Pony alone, as it is more than a match for me."

---

I shivered and closed the book. It seemed that not only could the Slender Pony cause disappearances and memory loss, but it also managed to possess the greatest unicorn in Equestria's history. If I was to attempt to reason with or even fight this creature, what could I possibly accomplish? I was stuck between dying a slow and painful death at the hands of the princesses or meeting my fate at the hands of the Slender Pony.

I took a deep breath and started packing the things I would require; I would catch the earliest train possible, after I had gotten a few hours of sleep.

Death was universal, but fate could be anything.

---

After leaving a note on the door of my bookstore detailing that I would be away for an undetermined amount of time, I caught the first train to Ponyville, which was a small town that sprung up along the edge of the Everfree a couple hundred years ago. The original founders were a nice folk; I remember trying a delicious jam made from a special type of apple. Their cider was top notch as well.

I received a fearful look from the only other patrons onboard the train, a bright red mare with a light-green coloured mane, as I entered the carriage and sat down in an empty booth. Her two-toned blue pegasus foal was happily colouring away with some crayons that he held in his hooves. I figured that they were curious as to why I was boarding a train at four in the morning, but that was none of their business. I pulled out one of the three books that I had brought along with me, an ancient spellbook with no title, author, or references, and began to continue reading where I had left off from, ignoring the unicorn who seemed like she wanted to ask me a question.

As I read about spells that could possibly prove useful in my upcoming confrontation with Slendermane, I barely noticed another pony board the train. Technology had vastly improved since the first pony-powered locomotives; they used to be so rickety that something as simple as standing up would rock the carriage back and forth. Barely a minute later, the doors closed and the train began its journey to Ponyville.

I would've read throughout the entire trip had the mare not provided me with an interesting conversational topic.

"Excuse me, s-sir, but are you here for us?" she asked from her seat across from me, her voice shaken and scared.

Here for them?

"Am I here for you? No, no I'm not," I asked trying to sound interested, unsure if I should waste any time that could be spent remembering a spell that might save my life on the frazzled unicorn and her pegasus foal.

"O-oh...you're not a member of the N-Night Guard, then," she stammered. "I just thought t-that you l-looked like you've been around, and your c-colouring..."

I narrowed my eyes, my curiosity piqued. My coat was a blackish-grey, with my mane being almost entirely black, aside from a few white hairs that were the only indication of my age. I changed my colouring every fifty years or so. I was even pink and yellow for a little while.

"I've been mistaken for many things, but never a member of the Night Guard," I said. Wondering how and why this mare was on the train at this hour, I asked, "Why are you on this train? Are you hiding from somepony?"

The unicorn bit her lip, as if deciding whether she should answer or not. After almost thirty seconds of deliberation, she finally cracked, the words flowing out of her.

"My husband, S-Strong Stride, wasn't there w-when a bunch of Royal Guards knocked on our door and they s-said that we were in danger and we had to get on this t-train. He came home extremely d-drunk last night and I'm worried sick and I don't know where we're going and--"

I raised a hoof, silencing the unicorn before she talked my ear off. I had a sneaking suspicion that needed confirmation, and I needed quiet to think of the proper questions to ask.

"What does your husband do?" I asked.

"He's a lieutenant in the aerial detachment of the Night Guard," she quickly replied.

I felt a sinking feeling in my gut. One of the stallions that I had gotten drunk went missing less than a day before he told me all about the recent disappearances, seemingly without cause. I had to give the princesses credit; they worked very quickly in cutting loose ends and covering their tracks.

"I'm... sorry to hear that, ma'am. I wish I could help you, but I--" I started to say before I was interrupted by a different pony, the one that had entered right before the train departed.

"You."

The word was said with such disgust and contempt that I had to force myself not to respond in an equal format.

"Pardon?"

"What the hay did you do with my coltfriend, you--you monster!"

I'd been called a lot of nasty names by ponies over the centuries, including 'monster'. While name calling always hurts a little bit deep down, I'd become practically immune to it over time.

"...Do I know you?" I asked calmly.

The rust-orange coated and silver maned earth pony mare gave me a cold, hard stare. "Don't play dumb with me, you fiend! I know that you're the one that took my Star Hunter away from me!"

"And how do you know that?" I questioned, my exterior relaxed and calm while my interior reeled and plotted.

"I know because he was talking about a tall, black unicorn--you!--after he came home last night!" exclaimed the upset pony. "Well," she mused for a second, losing her aggressive tone. "It was actually this morning... but that doesn't matter!" she finished, her anger returning to full form.

"Argent? Is Hunter missing as well?" the unicorn across from me asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

The agitated pony tore her attention from me and looked over at the previously silent unicorn. "Cherry?!" she exclaimed, seemingly noticing her right then and there. "What do you mean 'as well'?!"

I held my head gently with my hooves. This day was already off to a terrible start. How in Tartarus was I supposed to explain that I was the reason that their stallions were kidnapped, possibly murdered, for talking about information that was probably top secret? I couldn't claim ignorance either, as I was the one who further loosened their lips with alcohol. I did so fully aware of the possible consequences for the two members of the Night Guard.

I sighed and closed my eyes, concentrating briefly through the two ponies conversation. Roughly a second later, I opened my eyes to see the two mares sway and collapse, unconscious. I caught both of them in my telekinesis before they could brain themselves on the tough, steel carriage. I placed each one in a separate cot, and pulled up some blankets to look more natural should somepony else board the train.

I went back to reading my book before being nudged by a small hoof.

"Mister? Why are mommy and auntie Argent sleeping?"

I looked down to see the small form of the unicorn's pegasus foal. I had forgotten about him, quiet as he was. The colt was looking at me with a confused expression, like he already knew the answer to his own question, but decided to get a second opinion.

I paused for a second before answering; I was never good with foals. My first daughter used to tell me that before she moved on with her life.

"Your mom and aunt were getting hysterical. Do you know what that means?" I asked.

The blue colt shook his head.

"It means that they were starting to act crazy. Both of them were in shock and denial." I tried to explain it as best I could without using the larger words that I would need to properly clarify.

"So you made them go to bed so they could calm down?" asked the colt. I could see the gears turning in his young head.

I nodded. "Exactly. Your mom and your aunt will wake up in a few hours, and they should be feeling better by then."

"Okay, mister!" said the colt, the worry gone from his face. He turned to go back to his colouring book, but something caught his eye.

"Wow! What does your cutie mark mean?!" he exclaimed, trying to clamber his way onto the seat so he could have a closer look at my flank tattoo. My cutie mark is indeed interesting; it doesn't seem to mean anything in particular, not even relating to my birth name or my original profession. It's an assortment of lines, both straight and curved, all interconnecting, in the shape of a circle. From a distance, it looks like nothing special, but up close, the patterns and abstract lines are truly amazing. I've stared at it for hours at a time with a magnifying glass, and I've still yet to discern its true meaning.

I wanted to put the nosy colt to sleep so I could study the ancient text for a little while longer, but a part of me felt bad for even thinking that. He's just a foal, the part said. You were once a curious colt yourself. Besides, seeing as how you might die soon, you might as well tell somepony your story.

I have a journal that has a brief autobiography of my life up until several months ago, but there's no certainty that it will be found. It's over five hundred pages long and protected by dozens of spells.

Sighing, I levitated the colt beside me in the booth, as he was having a difficult time climbing up. His wings were too small for flight.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Blueberry!"

Blueberry. I once knew somepony named Blueberry: I owed him my life. I suppose that it was only fair that I tell his namesake the story of my cutie mark.

"Nice to meet you, Blueberry. My name is Enigma. Would you like me to tell you the story of how I earned my cutie mark?"

"Yes please, mister Enigma!" chimed the colt, his eyes large and pleading.

I smiled.

"Well, Blueberry, it all started when I got lost in a large cave..."

Comments

[Kly]

This is shaping up to be an excellent story so far. I really love the complexity of the main character, Enigma, very true to his namesake as well. Maybe when I'm done with Anthropomorphism I'll read this one as well

[Ellipsis Interrobang]

Wow. I'm surprised: you don't find many good Slender/MLP crossovers, and this is one of them. Good job so far and give that mysterious user a brohoof for thinking of the idea!

[Crusadier]

Yep.

This is going to be on the featured page eventually.

[ForeverFreest]

But... Enigma is the guy who writes Epic Rap Battles of MLP But seriously, I'll read this. I mean, it's DBZ. Duh.

[Null_Void]

I'm the person that made this request as my name suggests.