Chapter Six
That interrogation was the most excruciating four hours I’ve ever experienced… and I’ve had to sit through military powerpoint briefings. I’m not sure, but I think that could have qualified as torture. It had gotten to the point that I’d just stopped responding to the questions and silently wished they would just torture me. The whole ordeal had me wondering where they’d learned interrogation techniques. If that was the best they could do, I had nothing to really worry about. Assuming they weren’t just trying to lull me into complacency, or bore me into submission.
Currently, I was being led back to my cell by my guards. As we came to an intersection in the hall, the pegasus peeled off, turning the opposite way we had. With just myself and the medic, I thought this might be a good chance to attempt an escape, but after considering some options, and remembering the titbit from Princess Celestia about behaving, I decided now was probably not the best time. Plus, it was me, with a handicap, versus a magic-using, armor-wearing pony, and I didn’t like those odds. I went with plan b: attempting conversation.
I looked down at the guard. “Hey.”
Surprisingly, he responded, though he did so without looking at me. “Yeah?”
“Where’d your partner go?”
“To get your lunch.”
“Oh, cool. What’s on the menu?”
The guard looked back. “How should I know? I’m not the one getting your food.”
I raised my arms, placatingly. “Hey, I just thought you would know what’s being served for lunch.”
“Maybe I do, but there’s no guarantee you’ll get what the guards get.” His expression turned thoughtful. “Unless...”
I arched an eyebrow. “Unless, what?”
“You wouldn’t happen to like burgers, would you?”
I gave him an ‘are you fucking serious?’ look. “Uh, yeah.” What kind of American would I be if I didn’t like burgers? It wasn’t too much of a stretch to think that these ponies would know about hamburgers. Our countries had been in contact for a year, before relations had gone to shit. Still, the fact that I was talking to a pony and that they probably didn’t cater to prisoners slipped my mind, as I was already lost thinking about a big, juicy, burger.
“Well then, maybe you’ll get lucky. The cooks here make a pretty tasty burger. Don’t know how they do it, but the hay is always done just right.”
“Mmm, that sounds… Wait... Hay?”
The guard gave me a curious look. “Hayburgers. What did you think I was talking about?”
To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. “A burger. Big, tasty patty…” I trailed off as the guard broke into a grin. Mother fucker.
“You’re a dick.”
His grin just grew. “What goes around, comes around.”
I’ll admit it was nice to see that some of these guys had a sense of humor, but I was less than pleased that I’d just been so easily trolled by a pony. Good thing none of the guys will ever know about this. They’d never let me live it down.
“Why are you even talking to me?”
“Gotta get entertainment somewhere.”
“Eh. Fair enough, but I thought you guys weren’t supposed to talk to me.”
Frowning, the guard raised an eyebrow. “Who told you that?”
I decided to leave Sergeant Clipper’s part in that out, though I don’t know why. I just shrugged. “I have my ways.”
The pony gave me a skeptical look before returning his attention forward. “Uh huh… Well, I wasn’t given any instructions like that.” At least I’ll have someone to talk to during the day, but why are they different?
“Since you’re not giving me the silent treatment, can I ask you something?”
“You can ask, though an answer depends on the question.”
“What happened to the other guard?”
“He’s getting your lunch, I to–”
Pointlessly shaking my head, I interrupted him. “Not him. The unicorn from yesterday.”
Looking back again, the guard eyed me. “What makes you think that wasn’t me?”
“Do I look stupid to you?”
The guard’s mouth opened, but I cut him off before he could speak. “Don’t answer that.”
His mouth closed, there was a pause, then he said, “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Reasons.”
The guard huffed and looked forward. “Sure, whatever.”
“You’re a medic, right?”
He looked back at the cross on his shoulder. “So that’s how you knew. It is pretty obvious.”
“Well, that and I recognized your voice.”
“Hm. Well yes, I am a medic. What about it?”
I shrugged. “Nothing really. You guys have to put up with some of the most mundane shit, as well as the stuff that makes most people queasy. You’ve got my respect for that, at the very least. What’s your name?”
“Heartmender. Sergeant Heartmender. So, you respect medics, huh?"
"Yeah. There's no substitute for a good medic."
Heartmender turned a grin to me. “Does that mean you’re going to show more respect, and not mess with me anymore?"
“Pfft. No... Well, maybe. It's gonna be boring as fuck in that cell, so I gotta get entertainment somewhere.” I answered, using his earlier statement against him, matching his grin with my own.
“Meh. As long as you’re not a completely disrespectful plothole, and you can take what you give, we’ll be fine. At least the shift won’t be dull.”
I nodded my agreement. I like this guy. It’s a damn shame we’re fighting. We arrived at my cell a minute later. After I’d entered, and the cell was secured, Heartmender removed my shackles and I flopped onto the bed to wait for my food.
Lunch was meh. Heartmender took everything back, leaving me with the pegasus. Turns out, this guard was a lot more uptight than his counterpart. Every attempt at conversation was ignored. The pegasus’ name was Stormfront, also a sergeant, and I only learned that because I’d agreed to stop asking, and trying to talk to him in general.
Fortunately, Heartmender came back rather quickly, so I was able to waste time making small talk with him. Both of us made sure to avoid anything that would get us in trouble with our respective nations. Once we’d gotten tired of that, I spend the rest of the day alternating between what PT I could do, daydreaming, and napping.
As usual, I was denied a full nights sleep when I woke up at some point in it. With a sigh, I checked my watch to find it was 2317. If I hadn’t been dealing with this shit for so long already, this might be annoying. I wanted to roll over and go back to sleep, but nature was calling, and it was pretty insistent. After taking care of my business, I saw Sergeant Clipper standing alone in the hallway, at least I thought it was him.
I was thinking of ways to confirm my suspicions, but the sound of voices coming down the hall stopped me. Moments later two guards, one earth pony, one unicorn, walked into view. They were clearly members of the day guard, so it seemed odd that they were here right now. The two of them stopped in front of the bat pony.
“Captain Stardust needs to see you, Sergeant. We’re here to take your place till you get back.”
The sergeant eyed them. “And why were you two sent? The day shift ended hours ago.” That was all I needed to confirm that it was Sergeant Clipper.
The unicorn huffed and mumbled, “Extra duties.”
Clipper paused for a moment, then nodded. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” As he left, the two new guards took his place. I returned to my bed, having no interest in talking to temporary guards.
Several minutes after Sergeant Clipper had left, I heard hoofsteps, then the cell door opened. What the fuck? Rolling over, I saw the guards standing in the open doorway. Judging by their expressions, they weren’t just letting me out. I’ve got a bad feeling about this… As I moved to stand, the unicorn’s horn lit and I was yanked off the bed onto the floor. Before I could comprehend what had just happened, I was hauled upright and held spread-eagle, unable to move.
“Wha–” The earth pony’s sudden strike to my solar plexus stopped me before I could even finish asking. The unicorn released me, and I crumpled to the floor.
“Look at you. So helpless without your friends or weapons.”
It’s that asshole from the chariot. As much as I wanted to make the bastard eat those words, my current priority was to get air into my lungs. Still gasping, I was, again, magically hoisted back upright by the unicorn. Both of my attackers wore sadistic grins as they watched me struggle.
When I finally managed to get a small breath, I wheezed, “Go… fuck… yourselves.”
The earth pony’s smile vanished and his expression darkened. “What did you say?”
“You... fuckin’ heard me.”
I was slammed against the back wall and held there. Fucking magic! The pressure the unicorn was using to hold me there was uncomfortable, but not so much that it was restricting my breathing too badly.
“I don’t know why the princess hasn’t just ripped the information we want from you. You can’t stop her.”
I coughed. “If you think this will get me to talk you’re a bigger dumbass than you look.”
The two exchanged a look. “You think we’re here to interrogate you?” The unicorn asked. They both burst into laughter. “Who’s the real dumbass here?”
Blinking in confusion, it dawned on me a second later. Oh shit… I found myself desperately wishing Sergeant Clipper would get back.
“Looks like he finally figured it out, Prism.” The earth pony said, still laughing.
“Took him long enough.”
C’mon, think! There has to be something I can do! As the two continued laughing, an idea came to me.
“What’s the matter, cowards? Scared of a single human?”
The laughter died instantly. “What did you call us?”
I sneered. “I called you spineless chicken-shits, who are so afraid of one guy that you not only need two of you to face me, but you need to give me a handicap as well? You’re pathetic.”
“You have the gall to call us cowards? In your position?”
“If the horseshoe fits, wuss.”
I’m not sure what part of that did it, but it really rustled the earth pony’s jimmies. He snorted in anger and glared daggers at me.
“I’m going to show you just how wrong you are!” To Prism, he added, “Let him go.”
“Are you sure, Cobalt?”
“Do it!”
The light green glow faded from Prism’s horn, and I fell the few inches to the floor. Landing on my feet, I straightened took a step forward. Did I really think I could take an earth pony by myself? Probably not, and that wasn’t counting the fact that I was unarmed, and he was wearing armor. There were a few things working to my advantage, though. His armor did leave spots exposed: the large openings for his eyes and face, the neck, and barrel. If I could get some blows in those places, I might be able to incapacitate him. In the confines of the cell, I might have the advantage of mobility, and most importantly: I didn’t necessarily have to beat them. If I could distract the pair long enough, there was the chance that Sergeant Clipper would come back in that time. There were a lot of ‘ifs’ in that plan, and I wasn’t entirely sure I could pull it off, but if I had to go down, I was going down fighting. I wonder if combatives would work on a pony?
Cobalt charged, giving me no time to really prepare myself. Stopping short, he used his momentum to pivot on his right foreleg. His maneuver set him up to unleash a powerful, two-legged buck. The kick hit nothing but air as I threw myself against the bare wall on my left. While Cobalt recovered from his strike, I pushed off the wall and delivered a door-breaching kick to his barrel. The blow didn’t hurt him since I hit his armor, but I did knock him off balance. Thank god I fell asleep with my boots on. I followed up with a right hook, going for his jaw.
Instead of trying to regain his balance, Cobalt just let himself fall to the floor with a clang. That made my punch miss, and had the added effect of leaving me open. The earth pony took advantage of my position and swept my legs out from under me. I hit the floor and immediately received a kick to my ribs from Cobalt. Grunting, I rolled away from him, then rose to my feet, as he did the same. Ignoring the pain in my right side, I got into a ready stance and prepared for his next attack. I didn’t have to wait long.
Cobalt came at me again, leaping this time. When I tried to move out of the way, I heard Prism’s horn ignite, and I suddenly couldn’t move my legs. Cheating bastard! Wrapping his forelegs around me as he collided, Cobalt tackled me. Straddling my body, he rose, then brought a hoof down on my chest, hard. That hurt like hell and I felt lucky that nothing broke. When Cobalt moved to repeat the strike, I brought a knee up into his gut. That resulted in his head dropping as the air whooshed from him. My right fist met Cobalt’s jaw as it came down, which probably wasn’t the best idea, as I probably hurt myself more than him. My punch did have the desired effect of knocking him off to my left. Scrambling away, I slowly pushed myself back to my feet. Pain radiated from my hand, and where Cobalt had hit me, every time I inhaled. Can’t get hit like that again.
As the earth pony staggered to his hooves, I moved to deliver a side kick to his head. Before the hit connected, I was blown into the back wall by Prism. I hit shoulder-first, and something in the joint popped as I hit.
“Fuck!”
This wasn’t working. Cobalt clearly had the advantage, especially with Prism throwing in cheap shots. The longer I tried to delay, the more likely it was that I wouldn’t be in any shape to defend myself. I need a new plan. Having recovered from my knee strike, Cobalt moved back towards the front of the cell with his partner.
“Are you done yet, Cobalt? If it weren’t for me, he’d be making a total foal out of you.”
“I’ll put him in his place right now, then we’ll finish what we came here to do.”
The exchange gave me enough time to recover somewhat before Cobalt came in once again. Just like the last time, he charged and leapt. Unlike last time, Prism didn’t interfere, and I rushed Cobalt in return. As we closed, I sidestepped, grabbed his outstretched foreleg, and used his momentum to spin around, redirecting him straight back at Prism. The unicorn’s eyes widened, and he dove out of the way, rather than catch his airborne partner with his magic. They both hit the ground with a clatter from their armor, and I bolted for the open door.
I’d just made it out, and was turning to take off down the hall, when I was grabbed and hauled back into the cell by Prism.
“No you don’t!”
The unicorn slammed me into the back wall again. This time, there was a crack as my left shoulder blade erupted in searing pain.
“MOTHER FUCKER!”
“Just finish him off, Starburst.”
With my eyes closed, and teeth clenched in pain, I felt myself hoisted into the air by my neck. Seconds later, I felt the pressure increase around my throat, till it stopped me from breathing. My eyes shot open and locked on the two guards. They were wearing their sadistic grins again as they watch me struggle in vain to draw a breath.
“Looks like we’ll need a new prisoner to interrogate.”
I couldn’t decide what was worse: that I was going to die, or that I could no longer do anything about it. My vision began to blur and darken, and for the first time in my military career, I was terrified. Not like this! I was never religious, but I found myself praying for a miracle. Someone… please… help me. As everything was fading out, my prayers were answered.
“WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE MOON AND STARS IS GOING ON HERE?!”
The hold on my neck vanished instantly, and I fell to the ground. The ringing in my ears, and the pain that radiated when I landed didn’t matter, as I gasped and inhaled a lungful of glorious air. As I lay panting and coughing, relieved beyond words, I could see Cobalt and Prism cowering before a pony who could only be Princess Luna. As with Princess Celestia, I only knew who she was because of pictures and descriptions.
The dark blue alicorn stood over the two guards, wings flared and a furious expression on her face. “Well?!”
“T–the prisoner a–attacked us, Your Highness! W–we were d–defending ourselves!” Cobalt stammered.
“And why were you in his cell in the first place?” The princess’s eyes narrowed. “You would be wise to refrain from lying to me.”
Sergeant Clipper and two other night guards came to a skidding halt in front of the cell before the day guards could respond to Luna. The two new guards wore the same armor and looked extremely similar to Clipper, but were different in that one was a unicorn, and they were both female.
“Princess! What happened?” The unicorn asked.
“That is what I would like to know, Captain Stardust. I arrived to find the cell unsecured, and these two,” Princess Luna folded her wings and pointed a hoof at the still cowering guards, “attempting to kill the prisoner.”
Rolling from my right side, to my stomach, I pushed myself to my knees. I watched the scene unfold, trying to move as little as possible once I was upright, and trying to get my shaking under control.
“Are these the ones who told you I wanted to see you, Sergeant?” Stardust asked Clipper.
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“And you believed them?”
“They said they were here because of extra duties, and we were told there would be a couple day guards around tonight, Ma’am.”
Stardust paused. “Oh, they’re those day guards.” Fixing Cobalt and Prism with a hard stare, she addressed them, “You two! On your hooves!”
They scrambled upright and stood at attention.
As Captain Stardust began dressing down the two guards, Princess Luna approached and knelt next to me. “Are you alright?” She sounded genuinely concerned.
I looked to the princess. “Yes and no. I’m not dead, but something in my shoulder is broke and it hurts to breath deeply.” My hand still hurt, but I didn’t think it was important enough to mention.
“Do not worry. We will get a medic for you.”
“Thank you.”
“Even as a prisoner, your well-being is important.”
I shook my head. “Not that.” Luna gave me a confused look. “For saving me.” I took a shaky breath. “I really thought… I was going to die.”
The princess gave me a small smile. “You are welcome.” Looking to the collection of guards, she said, “Captain, send for a medic.”
Stardust stopped berating the day guards. “Yes, Princess. Sergeant Clipper?”
“Yes, Ma’am. I’m on it.” I looked in that direction just as he took off down the hallway, the sound of his hooves fading rapidly.
Princess Luna stood, and addressed the other night guard. “Assist the Corporal, Private Breeze.”
“Yes, Princess.” The bat pony entered the cell, which was getting crowded at this point, and stopped at my side. “Let’s get you on the bed.” She helped me to my feet, and steadied me when I staggered.
I watched as Captain Stardust stepped aside to allow Princess Luna to exit the cell. In the hall, the princess turned to face my would-be killers, a disapproving look on her face. “To assault, and nearly kill, an unarmed prisoner in our custody… No matter the circumstances that brought him here, what you two attempted is appalling. I shall wake Captain Armor and my sister, and you will explain yourselves to them.” To Stardust, she said, “Captain, take them to my sister’s office. We will meet you there.”
Stardust bowed. “Right away, Your Highness.”
Prism must have really wanted me dead, because when Luna turned to leave, he suddenly spun. As he faced Private Breeze and myself, a look of grim determination on his face, his horn lit in his light green glow. I could only guess he figured he had nothing to lose at this point. This pony is fucking crazy!
“Sergeant, stop!”
Breeze’s shout was ignored. Disregarding my injuries, I instinctively tried to throw myself out of harm’s way, even as the private lunged at the unicorn. My attempt at evasion proved to be pointless, as I was grabbed in Prism’s magic and thrown headlong into the side wall. The instant I hit, everything went black.
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Shit got real!
Damn, this is getting good!
how much do you guys wanna bet the whole thing was a plan to get him to think of luna in a more positive way so he'd be more willing to talk to her. if luna is the one interrogating him the next day then i call it.
OK, this is the most interesting chapter so far. The fight scene was amazing and he ending was a great cliffhanger. I hope the next chapter comes soon.
Cliffhanger?
i.imgur.com/HuXFtwj.png
To make up for it, you'd better have another chapter up soon.
5870087
If this were the case (and I honestly don't think it is) I believe he'd be wise about it.
You can't owe a life debt (even if you believed in such things) to those who are responsible for your well being and prevent you from being able to defend yourself properly. It's their job, and him being at risk their fault.
Though it's a good question if Luna only appeared because he prayed for anyone to help. That may be magically binding in some sense. But again, there is no way to know that it wasn't setup and I hope he'd keep that in mind.
Sounds like a story worth telling, even if it's not necessary for the context of this particular story.
Don't trust them Corporal! This could all be a trick to get your trust.
Why the hell did relation gone to shit?
Greed of the politicians?
5870745 Maybe I'll get around to writing something about that. I wouldn't hold my breath, though. PoW is my focus for writing, currently.
5872802 It's always the politicians, isn't it?
5870087 Speculation, I love it! You're going to have to wait and see.
5873124 There are good and there are bad Politicians...But, the amount of good ones is so low on the field that politician almost always accompanied with trouble...
Edit: And shits flying at the fan.
Either this is a legitimate incident, or a very well choreographed bid to get him to open up to "friends" among his captors.
Either way, he needs to keep in mind he is a prisoner, and to act accordingly.
Unless he is a complete buffoon, he will know not to get too friendly, whether Luna interrogates him or not.
5873872
Talk as much shit about the government or politics as you want, but don't generalize the entire country with them.
This is obviously a ploy to make the soldier become friends with the princesses so he would be more willing to reveal information.
Disgusting, truly disgusting.
The conversation between the American and the medic reminds me of this
6052503 Smart really. It's very smart.
5873872 Hey, we happen to have the strongest military in the world. I this were to happen, America would most likely go all out after a few months of recon.
5873872
Please kill yourself. I'm serious, just fucking end yourself right now.
at this point of the story I fill like the USA is busy some where else in the world
7025688 this made me giggle
6745708
Calm down, this isn't the YouTube comment section.
6058005 grandfather was in ww1 German army don't think he was there though
6745708
Hello I am 8 years in the future telling you to chill
6745708