//------------------------------// // 33 - Darkness, Part 2 of 6 // Story: The Last Cutie Mark Crusader // by Jatheus //------------------------------// Disorientation was the most common sign that she had awakened, as the complete darkness made it impossible to tell if eyes were open or shut. The other conditions in the cave were equally unchanged. "Good morning," Nitro said softly; if it were possible, he sounded worse. "How long did I sleep?" "I don't know. I can't have been awake for more than an hour." Sparklefly was suddenly concerned that the changelings had come while she was unconscious and replaced her chain, but a quick check quieted those fears. Her progress was slow, but meaningful. At this rate she might be able to work through it in a few days. A sudden urge reminded Sparklefly that she hadn't been able to relieve herself since she'd been locked up. "I don't supposed they let you off to find the latrine?" she asked hopefully. "I'm afraid not," he replied grimly. "I just picked a spot and always go there. They do clean it up... sometimes." “Lovely.” The familiar sharp discomfort in her abdomen signaled that there wasn't a moment to lose. Sparklefly felt around for the roughest spot on the floor, which was fortunately slightly uphill from the smoothest patch. The short, thick chain didn't reach far in any direction, so the side with the smooth face would have to do. Getting into a position that wouldn't make a mess on herself was rather difficult, but she managed. "I can't tell you how glad I am just to have somepony to talk to," Nitro interrupted her contemplation. She ignored him, hoping he would be quiet. "It's pretty horrible down here," he continued. "Don't worry, I'm sure they'll bring us water soon.” Sparklefly bit her lip as she tried to concentrate. Nothing about the situation felt comfortable or natural enough to let her biological process flow easily. The stallion’s inconsiderate interruptions were the worst of it. “They also bring-" "Please stop!" she said a little more harshly than she had intended. "I just need a minute.” "Sorry!" he replied, and then became silent. Sparklefly focused on the agony in her bladder, ignoring the iron collar that was chafing her neck, now threatening to choke her. The pain becoming unbearable, she was finally able to relax in the appropriate manner, and sweet relief replaced the frantic desperation she had felt as the sound of a small stream of water echoed quietly through the cavern. There was no way of knowing how long it had been, but the moment of release may have been the most wondrous bliss she had ever experienced. When she was finished, Sparklefly moved carefully back to the other side and began grinding her chain on the floor again. Somehow, the experience was far less embarrassing than she'd thought it might be. Perhaps that was due to living in close quarters with so many stallions, or perhaps it was the absolute darkness. In any case being locked up was again taking the forefront of her attention. "You don't have to be quiet now. I'm sorry I snapped at you," Sparklefly said into the darkness. "I didn't mean to be inconsiderate," Nitro replied. “They interrogated me once or twice early on, but since then... I haven’t talked to anypony else at all.” The mare felt like a total heel for her outburst, but decided they’d both be best served to just move on. "It's a small matter; forget it." Sporadic talking filled what must have been several hours as she worked on the chain. The stone floor was hard against her body, which required shifting positions fairly frequently. The utter blackness seemed even deeper now, if it were possible; it could almost be felt pressing in on all sides. Sparklefly had to slow her efforts to keep from sweating. She was already thirsty, and there was no water. The last thing she needed was to dehydrate herself even more quickly by overexertion. "How often did you say they usually bring water?" Sparklefly asked. A minute passed in silence. “Nitro?” A weak answer came, "They're not that consistent, but I don't remember it ever being this long before." "Are you alright?" He sighed, “Not feeling well..." It made sense. The stallion had been down here for months. He'd likely been underfed and only given enough drink to keep him alive. He would naturally succumb faster than she would. "Hey, don't you go dying on me," Sparklefly said, "Help is on the way, and we're going to be rescued. I had a whole division with me, and they'll be looking for us by now." The concern that he might be a changeling spy or that they might be listening still threatened, so she decided that half-truths would be the best option. She had to do something to lift his spirits. "A whole division?" his voice sounded thin. “Yes, five-thousand ponies,” she replied. "So you hang on just a little bit longer, soldier." "Yes... ma'am..." Within moments, the pattern of his breathing signaled that Nitro had fallen asleep again. Sparklefly pressed down on the chain with as much weight as she could as she scraped it now in hopes that it would grind faster. She slipped, grating herself against the floor instead and chipped a hoof. Pain from the little fall throbbed up her leg, but she couldn't stop, not yet. She might be able to find water if she could just get free. Indistinct shouting could echoed through the cavern, and it was joined by several other voices all mixing together. Sparklefly stopped to listen for a few seconds, but the noise was so filled with reverberations that any message contained in the sound was obliterated. This did confirm to Sparklefly that most, if not all, of her company had been captured. They were likely all chained up in this place. That meant that they had to still be somewhere near Canterlot. It also meant that she had her work cut out for her if they were all not being given water. Her tongue felt swollen in her mouth for lack of moisture. She redoubled her efforts against the hardened steel. Minutes stretched into hours. Grind, grind, grind, grind... Sparklefly became lost in thought as she carried out the repetitious action. She’d been unable to get Nitro to talk to her for a long enough stretch of time that she was beginning to get rather worried for him. Her own strength eventually gave way to exhaustion, forcing her to rest. Without food or water, her energy seemed to spend faster every time she made effort of any kind. Sleep would help, but she didn’t have time. She had to save Nitro. It was the sound that first awakened Sparklefly, but the light was the first thing she took note of. Two dim magical lights moved toward her. Uncertain, she lay still and hoped water was being brought to them. “They’re coming,” Nitro whispered weakly. Voices drew closer, the pattern of their speech containing a hissing quality that she recognized, making her feel in danger. Three changelings approached, two of them with faint green magical light emanating from their horns. It was enough to hurt her eyes nonetheless. A heaviness knotted up the mare’s stomach as she held her breath. The third changeling had a broken horn. Dread filled Sparklefly as the changelings stopped over her. Lungs burned for air, and Sparklefly had little choice but to give in to that base need. Something akin to a low growling hiss escaped the one with the broken horn. He was laughing. “Well, well,” his voice was deafening as it echoed through the cave. “I never thought our paths would cross again.” The broken-horned changeling leaned down close to her, the dim light making him almost silhouetted, but even so she recognized him. “Ash Eater,” the name escaped her as an almost involuntary whisper. “You remember,” an evil grin crossed his face. “If I recall, you were less than cooperative the last time I had you for questioning.” Since he already knew she was awake, she slowly sat up to face them more easily. “Is she the one you told us about?” one of the others asked. “She is.” Sparklefly’s heart was racing. It was all she could do to just keep breathing. Ash Eater never took his eyes off of her. She could just see them glinting in the darkness. “I took the liberty of making sure you and Nitro got to see each other again, so to speak. I hope you’ve been able to catch up while you waited.” A chill ran through the mare. It occurred to her that she should have expected she’d been deliberately placed beside her former comrade. Her thoughts turned to her progress on the chain, and she made every effort to not draw attention to it. The other two changelings took small bottles, giving nature’s life-restoring elixir to the pair. In truth, it was hardly a sip of water, but it revitalized the mare somewhat. She could only hope it did more for Nitro. “I suppose I’d best tell you the rules,” Ash Eater spoke evenly. “It seems your form was needed, so I won’t be allowed to make any new scars on you, which is a pity. I’d love to take an eye, or maybe an ear for a trophy, but don’t worry. There is quite a lot of pain you can endure without it leaving a visible mark. How much pain will depend on you. I ask questions; you answer, truthfully this time. Shall we begin?” The mare’s mouth still felt dry though not from thirst; she decided her best response was to remain silent. “Tell me something I don’t know about the EUP’s defenses.” She wasn’t sure what to do. He was going to hurt her, of that Sparklefly had no doubt. On the other hoof, she didn’t want to betray anything useful to him. If she lied, it would likely just anger him more rapidly than her silence. Nitro was totally quiet now, but she couldn’t see him as the others stood in the way. “No smart replies today?” She returned his stare. Ash Eater sighed and nodded at the other two. They walked to either side of the mare, the light from their horns now illuminating the sinister expression on Ash Eater’s face. Each took a turn and kicked her ribs. She took it with a grunt and tried to steel her resolve. “I know you’ve been assigned to a special detachment. What is your objective?” She could only wonder how much he actually knew. He wasn’t dumb, but he was likely to play as if he were in hopes that she’d slip. Her concentration buckled as the pair struck her again in turns. Ash Eater’s eyes were gleaming with delight. “Why did you attack Dodge Junction, only to abandon the battle after you’d taken the town?” Another delay prompted a much more vigorous beating from the other two. Sparklefly’s sides ached. She still felt her best option was to cooperate as little as possible and hope he got bored. She noted that this time, he did maintain just enough distance to keep her from trying to head-butt him again. “You’re a tough mare, aren’t you?” he hissed. “We’ll just have to try something else.” Ash Eater stood and nodded. The other two changelings walked over and stood over the captive stallion. Nitro made a whimper. One of them struck him in the gut, and a child-like cry escaped, followed by coughing. Sparklefly felt sick as the two began beating on the stallion in turns as the leader still faced the mare. “You can make them stop,” he said above the whining cries that Nitro made. Tears were already flowing at the brutality her friend was suffering. But she couldn’t answer the questions. She couldn’t betray everything she knew and stood for, no matter the cost. Could she live with that? Somehow, she wasn’t sure she’d have to no matter how this played out. Nitro cried out again, and was then silenced after a blow to the head. “Enough,” Ash Eater sounded annoyed. “Not even to save a comrade,” he mused. “I wonder how deep that conviction goes.” Sparklefly’s heart sank, and an uncontrollable chill went through her. The look in his eyes was like an insatiable malicious hunger. “Grab her hind legs.” In a flash, the other two obeyed, and though she didn’t think it wise, Sparklefly struggled against them. Fear drove her, but the pair pulled as Ash Eater swept her front legs out from under her. She crashed into the stone floor, seeing stars for a moment. Before she could gain any footing, the chain tightened as they drug her backward. Panic took over. Sparklefly struggled wildly and futilely against their grip. Ash Eater sauntered around them, behind her. He ran a hoof across her flank. The iron collar was choking the mare, but she continued thrashing. Ash Eater stepped on her back and pushed her against the stone, and then his front legs were on either side, holding her wings down. He was careful to not break anything, an effort she did not have the presence of mind to appreciate. She continued to struggle, but she was hardly able to move. Between the other two and the chain, she was practically pulled taught like a rope suspending a piano. She thought her heart would explode for the fury of its pounding, sounding out her fear as a rushing in her ears. She felt his hot breath on her neck. “You’re not really my type, so I doubt I’ll even enjoy this, but here’s the thing. I will do whatever it takes to make you talk. You think you know pain? I will show you pain. We will explore the darkest depths of suffering. I will break you if that’s what it takes.” Sparklefly gurgled, her voice cut off by the iron collar. It was still the blind terror driving her. If she could talk, if she could say anything at all, maybe she could buy some time. Ash Eater backed off, and the others relaxed their grip just a little. Sparklefly struggled to breathe. “What was that?” Ash Eater asked. She coughed, trying desperately to speak. “I’ll talk!” she croaked. “I’ll talk, I’ll talk!” “I’m listening,” he whispered in her ear. Sparklefly’s mind raced as she was unsure what to say. She had to do something, find some way out of this. “The EUP is planning an attack,” it was vague, but might buy her a few seconds to weave together a half-truth that satisfied the psychotic changeling and didn’t betray her own kind. “I mean, a new offensive. It starts with retaking Canterlot.” “Get to something I don’t know; this is your last chance.” Sparklefly shivered. Her tongue felt swollen in her mouth, almost preventing her from breathing, let alone speaking. “We’re going to press from the north, retaking everything north of Canterlot and establishing a new perimeter. That’s our next push.” There was silence for a long moment before Ash Eater sighed. “You know, all you had to do was follow the rules.” Sparklefly felt herself tense all over as her blood ran cold. “I warned you not to lie.” The other two pulled again from either side and a fresh wave of panic took Sparklefly. She struggled, tensing every muscle in her body, as if by force of will she could overcome the iron collar, chain, and three changelings that had her firmly in their grasp. She couldn’t, she wouldn’t let this happen to her. Ash Eater sniffed at her neck as if savoring the moment. She pawed at the stone in vain, as if she could escape through her own power. The realization flooded through her that there was only one card she had left to play. She grabbed the chain and pulled, giving the collar just enough slack to allow breath to pass. Sparklefly heard herself cry out, but it was as if she were somepony else, listening to it, “Task-taskforce! We are tracking the queen!” There was a heavy pause, only broken by the savage pounding of the mare’s heart. “Go on,” her tormenter whispered in her ear, his weight still on her. “W-we... we went to Dodge Junction,” she heard herself say, a convulsion running through her body, “looking for, looking for the queen. We saw her and gave chase. That’s why, why we aban... why we...” She took another breath and continued, “After everything is... is harvested, we’re going to abandon the... abandon... farms.” Sparklefly was shaking uncontrollably. The weight lifted from her, and the other two let go. Realization of what Sparklefly had done filled her mind, and it felt as if something in her heart died. Every muscle was sapped of strength. A hollowness grew in her soul as well that threatened to devour all the happiness she’d ever known. She was a traitor; she had betrayed her friends to save herself. Her body was bruised and sore all over. As if moving of its own accord, her frame curled itself up. Her attacker returned to face her, the other two by his side. “That wasn’t so hard, now was it? I will return, and I expect you to be more cooperative.” Nitro gurgled, apparently still alive. Ash Eater paused for a long moment, staring down at the mare before turning from her. As the three walked away, the wounded form was left in the dark with nothing but her thoughts. She heard a ghastly cry of sorrow echoing through the vast cavern. It took several minutes to realize that Sparklefly herself was the source of it, but she didn’t care.