"Wh-" Null sits there, Banana on his face, exhaustion looming over him. He opens his eyes, and the portal is gone, but the banana remains. "I... WHAT?"

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"Wh-" Null sits there, Banana on his face, exhaustion looming over him. He opens his eyes, and the portal is gone, but the banana remains. "I... WHAT?"
Three Months, not counting the weeks in the forest. That's how long he's been here in this little town, searching for a cure and mentally languishing over every failure. Three months he has spent building the small connections he has, though he keeps everyone at a distance, the allies have proved useful in his endeavor. He thinks that, knowing that the Fanfaire family was far from capable of offering him aid, more often than not, he helped them, neither expecting nor desiring anything in return. But he'll keep lying to himself that this was about the usefulness of others, not anything else. No, never anything else. The mission is everything; everyone else are just pawns.
That wasn't something for him to dwell on now, anyhow. Right now? Right now, he had to run. It doesn't matter the age or race of the pony; a Growler's strength is deadly. Confetti will tear him apart if she catches him, even though she's young and barely reaches his midlegs.
WOE, FANART BE UPON YE!
The character I drew is Null The Stranger from @thegreenhordes, which is a cool little MLP Infection AU askblog that I stumbled across and have been reading up on every now and again as of late. 🎵 I thought his design was neat and I was in the mood to doodle, so I decided to try my hand at drawing ‘em! (Which. I hope I did decently enough?)
As a quick warning for anyone curious, the blog contains stuff such as body horror, death and injury. If you decide to check it out, please keep these things in mind.
Small Edit: I just noticed I made a mistake with one of the legs, I fixed it real quick so it should be good now?? I hope???
Null lies on the ground after cleaning the banana from his face and mane, perturbed and unnerved as he fights unconsciousness. Suddenly, a voice is heard, almost a whisper, as if the voice came from a distance. His pulse skyrockets alongside his anxiety, his pinprick pupils staring into the middle distance. He doesn't respond, doesn't entertain the hallucination. It has to be a hallucination. He has those, lots of those... If he waits, it will surely go away...
The voices fade, and Null breathes a sigh of relief. Though it would not last long as the growls and wheezing of the horde reach his ears once more. His heart pounds and his legs feel numb- he tries to stand, limbs shaky and buzzing as he moves. His bones ache, his magic exhaustion is quicker and more violent than ever as he thuds back down, groaning. "I can't stand up..." he whimpers, tired.
Null's eyes fall shut as his barrier shifts and cracks, sickly green replacing the resplendent hues of pink and purple. It begins to fall, and he braces himself for the end, silent and resigned. Then, he hears a voice in the distance, high above. Moments later, he is gripped and lifted just as the barrier comes crashing down, the voice of an Element of Harmony in his ears. "Up we go!" She grunts as they ascend. Then, quieter, "Hang in there..." He's surprised she can lift him, being so large and ungainly as he is, but the promise of living another day does not displease him. He has someone to look out for, after all.
Decided to post the first half of the Animatic now, and the other half once it's finished bc I'm annoyed with how long this is taking me lmfao.
You Are Glass with Null and his Brother, Worthy. Just FYI, not their actual names. But I'm running on the assumption you all have at least guessed that by now.
They fly overhead, his large body dangling from thin limbs. She has grown strong in the time since this mess began, he supposes, for one so small as her would have to be to lift his oversized form on her own. Null grunts, exhausted and short on patience. His eyes open as she addresses him. "You alright, big guy?" Ms. Dash asks him, and he replies in kind. "Fine," he tells her, voice low. "Exhausted, but fine." Her exasperated sigh comes quickly, and it irks him to hear- as if she is a friend about to chastize him for 'not taking care of himself'. "It's your magic again, isn't it?" she questions, her tone knowing. "-Yes. Always." his voice is a clipped, curt response. She intones back with more exasperation, "You need to be careful," and oh, that doesn't sit well with him at all. He knows well there is no care here, no concern, there cannot be in this transactional relationship he has with the Princess and her companions. If he dies, his research and field knowledge are lost- then they'd have to risk more of their own to learn what he did, to scrounge back what disappeared with him. "Can't lose my field research, yes?" He asks rhetorically, knowing the truth in his soul, his ever paranoid being. "That's not the only reason." She says to him. Lies. He tells her then to take him to the rendezvous point, and she protests- but he presses on until she concedes with clear reluctance. He is running on fumes now and doesn't much register their short pleasantries as she drops him off where he requested, speaking to her with disinterest. But, for a moment, his mind comes back to him as he turns to her. "Ah," He begins, "Do inform Princess Sparkle I'll have a report for her soon..." His head tilts, thinking. Ms. Dash only looks at him with concern and a bit of annoyance. "And... Samples..." "Yeah, ok" is her reply, before she turns and flies off into the cool night, and he begins his short trek 'home'.
He wanders the darkened streets, legs wobbling and head heavy to hold upright. He passes cleared out homes and blood stains and broken glass and bones. Chaos, Chaos everywhere, never clean enough, never free of torment. He wonders if survivors still hear the screams of their sundered home like he hears the death throes of his own. Null's mind turns elsewhere, thinking solemnly. "These bindings are starting to ache," He says in whispers to himself,. "They need changing, soon..." Then a flash of light, the barrier that protects his home and the treasure within blazes to life as he draws near. He'd never be able to hold it himself for long, but magic artifacts holding traces of his power surely do. "Finally." His horn alights, and he is let through. Ahead, the door opens to bright candlelight, and his charge steps through on stubby earth pony legs, a smile on her face. They greet each other, her excited chatter going on as he wanders the front rooms of the home, putting together a soup he'd prepared that morning so she could eat before being sent to bed. The rations she has access to during his times away only do so much for a growing filly, after all. "G'night, Null." She says to him with a yawn as she enters her room. He retires to his own, the smile he'd held for her falling as dim thoughts drone on yet again. "...Hopefully she'll sleep better with me home." Null sighs to himself as he opens a drawer labelled 'Bandages'. "Now, to change my bandages..." Thoughts turn to his better, the First, as he tends his many faintly seeping bites. "What would you do if you were here..." A grunt as the old bandages fall away, not seeped through, but the inner lining is tinted red. "Mock me perhaps.. Mm.." His head shakes as he prepares to rebandage his wounds. "You were kinder when we were young. Before this mess..."