The Many Shaped One

   “I’ve found you,” mumbled Francisco, looking at the crimson monster.

   Red was studying the golden insectoid creature with its multiple yellow eyes, because it looked familiar. Derpy also stood up, wondering why the shapeshifter was there, and why he didn’t seem very happy.

   “Stay away, Derpy,” he said. “I have to kill him.”

   “What?” gasped the gray pegasus.

   Then, the Mane Six, who had followed the black wind, came to the place.

   “Why?” inquired Derpy. “Red hasn’t done anything to you!”

   “He’s the spawn of the Hivemind,” explained Francisco. “He’s dangerous, I have to finish him before he decides to assimilate all of us!”

   The multiple eyes of Red blinked at the same time. Hivemind... that was also a known concept.

   “I remember you,” it said, pointing at Francisco. “You are... The Destroyer...”

   That surprised the shapeshifter. He remembered the voice of the Hivemind, and that didn’t sound like it, at all. However, that creature was not a full-grown Hivemind yet, just a larva, obviously it had to sound different!

   “I won’t let you!” said Derpy, standing in Francisco’s way. “Red is my friend.”

   “You don’t understand!” insisted he. “That thing was programmed to absorb every lifeform in existence, it’s dangerous to have him around!”

   “No, it’s not!”

   “He will assimilate Equestria to re-create the red planet! I have to kill him!”

   “Oh, stop with that!” shouted Pinkie Pie, jumping by Derpy’s side.

   “Pinkie?!” exclaimed Francisco. “What are you doing?!”

   “Just look at him!” said the mare, pointing at Red with a hoof. “He’s so not like the red planet! When I look at him, I don’t feel the same, and my Pinkie Sense hasn’t tingled!”

   “But... He’s dangerous! He could turn into a monster!”

   “So could you, or have you forgotten what the Dark Beast almost did?”

   Francisco stepped back. His fillyfriend had just gave him the verbal equivalent of a megaton slap.

   “And despite that, you’re living in my house!” continued she. “Well, it’s not really my house, since the Cakes are the owners, but...” she shaked her head. “What I’m trying to say, Francisco, is that you can’t solve everything with explosions and fights! I know that he looks like a monster... but so you do, when you’re transformed! If we believed you when you said that you weren’t dangerous, why can’t you do the same thing for him?”

   Francisco lowered his four arms. She had a point. But then, Red stepped forward, and it stood right in front of the shapeshifter.

   “He is right,” it announced. “I’ve remembered what I was, where I came from. I’ve remembered my mission, but I don’t want to fulfill it. Do your work, Destroyer, and kill me.”

   “No!” shouted Derpy.

   “It’s the best thing. I have seen what I was... If I my existence implies even a small possibility for the red planet to reappear, then I must be exterminated. Kill me, Destroyer.”

   Ironically, Francisco was feeling bad for Red. Pinkie had just calmed his rage, now he didn’t want to kill it. But the creature was, sadly, right.

   Francisco put a hand on the shoulder of Red, wanting to give him some condolences before delivering the killing blow. However, as soon as he did that, the residual memories of his fusion with the Hivemind returned, revealing new information.

   The shapeshifter stepped back and returned to his black stallion form, looking at the ground, with his ears down.

   “Well?” asked Red.

   “I don’t need to kill you,” said Francisco, with sad voice. “You’re going to die soon.”

   “Mmh... I thought so.”

   “What are you talking about?” asked Twilight.

   “His lifeforce is running down,” explained Francisco. “He’s dying, because he hasn’t eaten.”

   “He said he wasn’t hungry,” explained Derpy. “But there are lots of food in Ponyville!”

   “It’s not so easy, Derpy. He doesn’t eat our food.”

   “Then... what does he eat?”

   Red pointed at the gray pegasus with its index finger.

   “You,” it said. “And you, and you, and the grass, and the birds... I was supposed to assimilate every living being on this planet to keep existing, but I don’t want to. I’d rather die.”

   Then, Derpy extended her front legs.

   “Eat me,”  she said.

   “What?!” gasped everypony.

   “Eat me,” repeated the gray pegasus. “That way, you’ll live, and you will enjoy this world. It doesn’t matter, after all, I’m clumsy and dumb. It’ll be better for everypony if I go.”

   Slowly, Red knelt to look at Derpy’s face. It surrounded her with his long arms, and for a moment, Francisco feared that the creature was going to do it

   “No,” said Red, hugging the pegasus. “You are precious, Derpy. Not clumsy, not dumb, you’re precious. I’m not going to eat you.”

   “Eat grass, then!” she begged. “There’s nothing wrong in eating grass!”

   “I can’t. If I assimilate a living being, even a small one, my program could take control again, and I would devour all of you. I have to go, Derpy, but I’m glad to have met you, you have been a wonderful friend.”

   The creature stood up. Derpy was crying a bit. She didn’t understand.

   “Destroyer,” asked Red. “Before I die, tell me, what am I?”

   “You are a spawn of the Hiv-”

   “No, no. That’s what I was. What am I now?”

   “I... I don’t know.”

   “I see. Then, could you do me a favour?” Red pointed at the starry sky. “I want to go there.”

   Francisco smiled, and transformed into an enormous phoenix of white flames.

   “Let’s go,” he said.

***

   A small body of flames was floating outside the limits of Equestria’s atmosphere, giving his back to the planet. The fiery wings of the white phoenix were holding a dying crimsom body.

   “It’s... beautiful...” whispered Red, as he contemplated the cosmos. “So many stars... And Derpy was right, it’s so quiet and nice... So peaceful...”

   “Hang in a little bit,” said Francisco. “There’s another thing that I think you should see.”

   The shapeshifter turned around. Red gasped when he saw the planet Equestria right before them, gigantic, blue, and almost... magical. Silently, it was floating in space, sustaining life on its surface, defying the black Void. That image awoke new memories in the mind of Red, memories which were from a long time ago, before the many voices, before the Great Assimilation... Memories of a blue marble, like that one, floating in the Cosmos, like a beacon of hope.

   Red cried. Through its many eyes, it cried golden tears.

   “I remember!” it exclaimed. “Before the Hivemind... I was Earth!”

   Earth? Yes... yes, it could be.

   Maybe the Earth had always had a spirit, some kind of Gaia; or maybe it had developed one after God-knows-how-many years of being parasitized by the Hivemind, and now Red was that spirit, finally free of its abhorrent prison. Maybe the magic of Equestria had had something to do with all that, maybe it had altered Red when he was in the cocoon, awaking that same spirit, giving it a conscience and allowing it to overcome its program.

   Francisco then realized, he was holding Earth in his wings.

   Earth... he hated it, he had rejected it, and he had no intention to return there never, because it was an ugly world.

   But... if Earth, from the outside, looked anything like Equestria, if his former home planet was really that nice and innocent creature known as Red; perhaps he had been a bit harsh with her.

   Maybe Earth wasn’t so ugly, after all.

   “Destroyer...” whispered Red.

   “Yes?”

   “I still don’t know... what I am...” Its life was about to vanish. “But I don’t care... I just... would like to be... Earth... once more...”

---------------------------------

  “Bravo,” said the drooling god. “A loophole in the Rules, very well done. I guess we have another deal, then. Do you still want to be my Nyarlathotep?”

   Francisco had the answer very clear: No.

   This time, he wanted to return as a normal earth pony. No more weird powers, no more bizarre transformations. He had thought that being able to transform into anything would be awesome, and truly it was, but eventually it had turned to be a bit stressing. Francisco had meditated about it, and he just wanted to live a normal life in Equestria, nothing more.

   No more Nyarlathotep.

   However, for some reason, he didn’t said No. He asked for all of his powers back, but he didn’t know why.

---------------------------------

   Now, Francisco knew. The mysterious reason why he had wished his powers again was right now in front of him. One last miracle had to be done. One last transformation.

   The white phoenix embraced Red, and both of them became a golden light. And, in that light, a voice spoke:

   “Do whatever you want. Be Earth. Be life.”

   Then, the golden beacon split in two shining comets. The smaller one returned to Equestria, and the other, much bigger, flew towards the deep space.

***

   The seven mares saw the two lights. The small one fell from the sky and landed right in front of them. It vanished, leaving Francisco on its place. Pinkie ran towards him.

   “Are you ok?” she asked. “What happened up there? What was that light?”. Then, she realized: “Oh, your cutie mark!”

   The yellow eyes had disappeared. Now, the black stallion had quills on his flanks.

   “Well...” he said. “No more transformations for me. It’s ok.”  

   “Where’s Red?” asked Derpy.

   Francisco looked up. The golden light was still visible, like a new star in the skies, even though it was slowly fading away.

   “He’s gone,” he explained. “But he’s not dead, he has just went to another place, one where he will be happy, where he will finally be what he wanted to be.”

   The mares didn’t understand his words very well, but they didn’t ask anything. Maybe it was that golden light, now just a tiny spot, but they had the feeling that everything was ok. They were sure that that was a happy ending.

   Derpy wasn’t crying anymore. She looked up at the fading star, and moved her hoof, saying goodbye.

   “You were a wonderful friend, too,” she whispered.

   Francisco and Pinkie looked at each other, and smiled. They approached Derpy, and asked:

   “Would you like to be our friend?”

***

   Imagine a silent dead planet near a small yellow star. There’s nothing in its rocky surface, no movement, no green plants, no animals. Not even air to breathe.

   The comet of golden light, at an incredible speed, clashed against that planet, but it didn’t make any crater. Instead, it bathed the celestial body in its glow, filling it with energy.

   The energy of a miracle.

   The silent rocky surface broke, and the magma ascended through the mouths of roaring volcanoes, elevating columns of black smoke to the heights. Electricity started to jump between the dark clouds, and shortly after, it came the first rain.

   It was going to take time, maybe millions of years, but the process had already started. Eventually, the rain will fill the immense valleys of stone, creating seas, and in those waters, the first small lifeforms will be born, someday.

   From that point, everything could happen. The tiny bacterias could become billions of different lifeforms, billions of different possibilities, and several of them could happen at the same time, sharing oceans, mountains and skies. The first animal to step on land in that planet, what will it look like? The answers to that question were nearly infinite.

   Life is the true Many Shaped One.

THE END

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