• Published 18th Mar 2013
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The Watcher - GnollReader



A creature of old has been present in Equestria since the beginning of the rule of the alicorns, watching, waiting. He saw their fall and the sisters' rise to power. Now, for the first time in eons, he steps from watching and takes action.

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Chapter 17: Zaeres' decision

Celestia looked around herself in shock. Everywhere around her she could hear screams and the clashing of swords and metal. All over the ranks of the council, a battle was in process unlike any she had seen before. Shadowy figures flitted through the air at impossible speeds to clash with one another in a spray of sparks. On the lower floor, guards and hunters were locked in fierce and bloody fights to the death.

Above her, the air roared.

Celestia looked up, and into the storming shroud of darkness as it descended upon her. And then... nothing. Just like the time she had entered this world for the first time, everything around her had vanished and a terrible silence had fallen over her.

And in the impenetrable darkness that surrounded her, she could hear his voice like thunder, "This ends here..."

The world around her roared into life again, and she felt herself picked up and torn around violently by a massive force, almost falling when her hooves connected with the ground again. When she opened her eyes, she realized with terror that she was now on a huge graveyard.

And standing before her, with shadows roaring around his form and framed by an intimidating cathedral stood the purveyor, a soft glow forming from his mask of black glass as it reflected the fires in the endless city above them.

"To think..." he said, "Had I known what you would offer I would never have allowed you to come here... When did your mother tell you about the last act of your race?" his voice carried no emotion, but the shadows around him clearly showed his dangerous mood.

"She didn't..." Celestia replied with sadness, "I figured it out on my own long ago. When an alicorn dies..."

"A star is born..." he finished her sentence.

There was a soft hiss as his mask started to dismantle itself, and for the second time she found herself staring at his dreadful, empty eyes.

"Do you even realize what your words have caused?" he asked with a heavy voice.

"I thought it would give you hope! If you had a star here, wouldn't it give the energy your kind needs so badly?"

He frowned, "It would... To bring such a massive energy source into the void is something we were never capable of... and we have tried in vain to create a comparable source of our own."

"Then what happened? Why is everyone fighting?"

"They fight because of the hope you offered them." he replied, "For as long as they can remember, there has always been one, single form of order. The purveyors and the council select and harvest the worlds, the royal family transforms the energy and the elder council distributes it among the clans. That... has been the only form of order those living here have ever known."

His frown deepened, "And now, with your words... the order that has been upheld for so long has been rendered obsolete in nothing more than a moment... The very pillars of our society have been crushed by nothing more than a few words and the hope for a sun."

He made a motion with his hand, and several screens of light came to life, showing countless scenes of riots, chaos and battles.

"The councils see their power and influence shattered, and they fight to uphold it just like the dissidents... they demand your death. The void-born clans see a chance to rise to power for the first time in decades, for with a sun they would be free of their dependence of the councils and the purveyors. They know the councils will not give up their power, so they fight to destroy them... and the purveyors..." he sighed, "The purveyors remember their old home. They are torn between their vows to uphold order and their dreams of a long-forgotten past... Some still stand to their old vows, others are driven by hope, and the rest... just want to settle old debts."

He made another motion with his hands and the images disappeared again, "And now... the endless city burns in the fire of their hunger, just like our old home burned for our hunger so long ago. I had hoped so much that they would learn... that they could become more than we were capable of... but our hunger never ceased. Just like before, hunger and hope drives them to war."

Celestia observed him in silence for a moment, "And what about you?"

He looked at her, a strange expression on his face, "Me? I have watched for too long, I now realize. Our encounter, your words... you have driven me to a point where I can no longer watch or hope to uphold the order I thought was necessary. Now, I will have to make a decision."

His face became hard, "Should I allow you to sacrifice yourself so our world is blessed with a sun, and render it to chaos in the process? What would become of the purveyors and those not born in the void? Would they find a new way to live, or would they simply be forced to vanish all together? Should I kill you or throw you back into your world, then storm through the endless city in an attempt to quench the fires by nothing but terror? Would I dare enforce another age of oppression and starvation for the sheer cause of upholding something that has no future?"

He sat down on one of the gravestones with a heavy sigh, the shadows around him starting to die down more and more and his expression turning grave.

"But I can understand their hunger... I can understand their wish for more than a simple life here... I can understand their hope, and I can understand the fear of the councils and the purveyors of the future such a change would bring. But I also know that without their hunger to unite them, the clans would start to fight for power once more. And just like before, I know it will be our downfall. I am starting to realize that our kind has no future in this place, that even with your sun or my influence, we would do nothing but prolong the inevitable."

Celestia turned pale as she realized where his thoughts were going, "You can not seriously be saying that..."

A sad smile spread his lips, "I wish for my kind to finally die?" a moment of silence passed between the two of them, "Perhaps it is time for me to accept that I was wrong to bring us here, that I was a fool to believe I could build up a new world here. We do not belong in this place, and I failed to see it for long enough."

"You tried to save your own kind just like I try to save mine..." Celestia replied.

"And look where it has brought us..." he moved his hand over the scenery above. By now, the whole city was ablaze.

For a moment he turned his head to look up, a strange expression followed by one of sad realization passed his features, "It seems the decision has already been made for me..."

Before Celestia could understand his words, a blinding flash of light erupted from the city. When she looked up, she watched in silent horror as the audience hall broke through the lowest plane of the endless city and fell towards the void beneath.

"The void-born have cut the audience hall from the city... and once again, hope turns to madness..." he whispered as he saw the tower fall.

"You must do something! Save them!" Celestia shouted as the tower fell past their plane.

"There is nothing I can do... not even the purveyors or the dissidents can escape this, unlike me they need too long to form a transition... they are lost to the void... And they aren't the last..." he replied, "Look..." he pointed upwards.

Celestia watched as more buildings started to fall, each of them accompanied by a blinding flash.

"Why? How could my words cause something like this?" she whispered as tears started to fill their eyes.

"Because that is what they demand... Your words only accelerated the inevitable." he stood up again, and the mask reformed around his face, "And now, as this city finally tears itself apart... I will make my decision."

Celestia watched him approach her with gut-wrenching feeling. He stood in front of her in silence for another moment as the city fell apart above them, the shadows from his form starting to grow.

"Go home." he said with a somber voice, "Live your life."

"What will happen to this world?" she asked with fear, "What will you do?"

The shadows started to roar around her, becoming so thick she could barely make out his mask.

"Whatever I need to do."

He performed the phase shift, and with a final roar of the void, she was gone. Only the purveyor remained on the old graveyard, looking up at the burning and crumbling city above him as countless thoughts ran through his head.

For the first time in decades, he felt a strange form of peace settle over his mind. He started to walk towards the old cathedral with quiet steps, and with his last words... he called the void to finally swallow their world.