Ponywatching

by ThunderTempest

Prompt #485-Deals

Stargazer trotted through the caverns, twisting around outcroppings of rock, and being careful not to slip on the damp rock underhoof. The lack of a sky overhead caused her wings to rustle and shift constantly, as she knew they would until she could see the sky once more. Pegasi never liked being in any sort of enclosed space, and least of all underground. But Stargazer was curious.

Too curious, her parents had often told her.

‘Stargazer,’ they had said, ‘keep your eyes in the here and now, not staring up into the heavens.’ Stargazer had nodded, and then had immediately gone back to looking up at the sky and the moon that she so loved to look at. But that had little bearing on what she was doing here, underground in a damp, dark cave. She was here because one of her pegasus friends had told her that a spirit lived here, one who could grant any wish. Stargazer had jumped, both figuratively and literally (off a cloud) at the chance. One true, perfect wish with no cost.

All she had to do was find the spirit. What she might have realised later was that it was simply a prank. Had she turned back ten minutes ago, she would have found her friends laughing at the mouth of the cave. She would have eventually gotten them back, and life would have continued on.

But she didn’t turn back, and eventually, Stargazer came upon a cavern, and sitting at the centre was a twisted statue of a creature that she didn’t have words to describe. It was made up of a bit of everything, and she knew that she had found the spirit she was looking for.

“Oh spirit,” began Stargazer, bending in front of the statue, “Grant me my one true wish. I want to spend the rest of my life just looking at the moon, and admiring it. Please, can you help me?”

She felt an otherworldly presence fill the chamber, and an insidious voice hissed from the stone statue.

“You want to look at the moon for the rest of your life? My dear, all you had to do was ask. Now, if you could just smash the stone over my talon there, I’ll grant your wish.”

Glad that something was taking her desire seriously, she flew up and bucked the talon of the statue, and the sound of a snap echoed throughout the cavern. A white alicorn, marked with the sign of the sun on her hind fell to the ground, where she remained asleep.

The statue chuckled.

“Now you get to look at the moon every day, dear Celestia. Everytime it rises over the horizon, and the light from your sun illuminates it.” A chuckle, a second snap, and the statue vanished.

******

Sun Seed pushed past the patch of brambles, and winced as his hoof caught on a stone, and he was sent tumbling foward, head over tail down a hill until he came to a stop.

Unfortunately, he stopped because his head hit the base of a statue that had not been there the day before, and Sun Seed knew, because he travelled this path every day when he made sure that nothing horrible had gotten into his family’s crop.

As he nursed the growing lump on his head, the statue seemed to glow.

“Oh my,” began the statue, the voice issuing from everywhere, “What have we here? A poor little farmpony, so lost, longing for his family?”

Sun Seed eyed the statue, decided that ignorning it would be the best course, and started to trot away, being mindful of his twisted hoof.

“Or perhaps,” mused the voice, “You just want to watch over your family. Well, go on. Leave. I’ll just not tell you about how you could have prevented the terrible, terrible accident that will befall your family later this week.”
Sun Seed whirled around, glaring at the statue.

“What accident?” he said, “Tell me?”

“Oh, but I’m too trapped to be of any use to you. If you could just free my paw there, I could give you the power to watch over your family.”

Sun Seed hesitated. It sounded too good to be true, and his grandmother had warned him about deals like this.

“Oh well,” sighed the statue, “Guess I’ll be off, then.”

“Wait!” cried Sun Seed, “I’ll take your deal.”

If it could have, the statue would have grinned as Sun Seed delivered a powerful buck to the stone paw, and the statue’s talon’s snapped. With a flash of light, the grown stallion was changed into an alicorn female, of dark blue and with the sigil of a moon on her new flank.

“Now you can watch over everypony, Miss Loony-Moony. Sleep tight, though, because it’s Discord time now! See you and Celestia whenever I get predictable!”

Author's Note:

Written for Prompt #485: “No Taxation without Representation!”
The prompt: Where are the Pegasus and Earth Pony alicorns?

Meh.

Comments

[Themaskedferret]

Interesting idea but not the best execution.