Prey knew he was unconscious. The fact that he was reliving the nightmare under Snake's iron hoofed apprenticeship made that much obvious. In a foggy, and detached, dream logic sort of way.
Even while Prey hung in the stillness of thoughtless existence, his mud splattered younger self crept through the forest in the pouring rain. A small, raggedy bag was slung across his back.
He must be fairly deep into his lower mindscape then, the one which most people only visited unawares in their sleep. But Prey wasn't most people. He recognised and was familiar with where he was.
'Definitely unconscious then.' Prey thought as he, for want of a better word, 'looked' around.
---
The best way to describe what it was like being in his lower mind scape was to imagine being underwater in an ocean, but without the drowning. High above you, the surface. Brightly lit water, as if sun rays were filtering down. But the deeper you sank, the darker the water got and the harder it was to move or think.
Dropping away from the surface, the oceans endless expanses of water faded. From light blue, the shade getting deeper and deeper until you were looking straight down and saw nothing but a vast blackness, so far away and yet so close because of its enormity.
Things and scenes from Prey's life floated silently around him. Some large and stationary, and others quick and darting; A hot sunny morning. Carrying a heavy bucket of water. Tall trees under a half moon. A worn smile in a tired face. A blue ribbon. A cracked horn. A crude wooden mask. All these things and more bobbed silently around him, close, near, and faraway.
Prey wasn't in the water, he was the water. It just varied on what depth level he currently existed at.
And currently, Prey felt like he was floating in one of the lower bands of light. Somewhere on the deeper violet level. If he went all the way down to the blackness he would fall into dreamless unconsciousness. Prey knew that, but it was hard to think if he wanted to or not. At present, he wasn't able to ascend up to the surface of consciousness either. So Prey just hung there, existing as part of the familiar weightlessness.
---
'What happened? Was I attacked? No, I was the one doing the attacking.' A flash of memory, 'Captain Fire Strike! No, that's not right. Captain Valour.' He remembered now.
Prey looked down at himself creeping along in the forest, while also reliving the very same moment. He felt the fear thumping in his chest as he strained his dripping ears, trying to pick out anything that might be a predator against the heavy spatter of rain. Yet he also knew that this was just memory, and could observe it with detachment.
Prey took stock of his mental condition, a familiar and practiced action. It informed him that his mind was stable, his walls still held firm, and his checks and backups were still in place.
That meant there was nothing to do but wait.
Prey watched/experienced his past self carefully filling the soaked bag with tiny red mushrooms, using hooves that shivered. He didn't feel strongly one way or the other if he wanted to or not. It was hard to care down here. 'Might as well go along for the ride then.' He thought.
---The Past---
"Pathetic." Snake spoke it as a statement, without any particular dislike or anger as the zebra observed Prey's attempts at brewing Bone Rot.
Prey trembled. He didn't know where he had gone wrong, he'd been sure he'd recalled everything correctly. Snake hadn't given him instructions or even explained what Prey was supposed to do. The voodoo witch expected Prey to be able to perfectly recall how Bone Rot was made, from seeing the zebra brew it once four days ago.
"This will barely melt through the fur and skin, to say nothing of the muscle and tissue, let alone the bone." Snake said dispassionately, waving a hoof at the dull green concoction, bubbling thickly in the lead bowl that was Prey's attempt.
They were currently in the voodoo witch's tent, which doubled as a twisted laboratory. Bundles of night shade, death cap, last whisper, and many other deadly herbs and fungi hung from the grey tents roof poles, while around the rest of the canvas tent, many horrible and noxious things were packed.
Jars of squirming maggots piled high on a rickety table. A fresh pony skull on a shelf. Vials of blood and poison stored in stained racks. A black pot out of which a foul smoke lazily curled. It was something out of a nightmare.
But this wasn't a nightmare, this was Prey's reality. Every moment he was forced to spend serving the witch he feared would be his last. The zebra was insane, but in the cold and merciless kind of way. Prey became more and more terrified the longer he was around Snake. Less than a week ago, Torment had brought in a captured earth pony.
Prey didn't know what the pony was supposed to have done, but he was there in the tent when Torment arrived with a large grin to inform Snake. The voodoo witch had calmly finished engraving a rune on the bone he was working on, pulled on his voodoo cloak hung with feathers and charms, and walked out the tent.
The desperate screaming and sobbing had started up soon afterwards. The laughs and taunts from those Resistance members who'd gone to watch died away as the sounds of agony and fear carried through the trees. Prey had cowered under the bench, trying to block his ears until it finally ended.
In the awful silence that had followed, Snake had walked back in through the tent flap as if nothing had happened, wiped the blood off his hooves, picked up another bone and resumed carving. No one laughed about what Snake had done ever again, aside from Stinger and Torment. Those two were as insane as the zebra.
"Come here." Snake ordered without even turning his head to look at Prey, still disdainfully regarding the attempt at Bone Rot in the lead bowl.
Going closer to Snake was the last thing Prey wanted to do. He was scared and tired all the time, always terrified of what someone or something was going to do to him. He didn't want to be here. He hadn't seen his brother since he'd been rejected, and he knew it was only a matter of time before he slipped up in Snake's tent and died horribly.
However, he also knew the cost of disobedience. His back now bore three new, still healing scars from Stinger's whip.
Trying to hide the shivers, Prey shuffled over to the zebra. The moment he was within legs reach, a hoof shot out and grabbed him by the scruff. With Snake's hoof digging painfully into his wool, Prey was dragged up onto his back hooves, tottering for balance as Snake's grip brought Prey's face dangerously close to the bowl.
Prey went still, eyes locked on the dark green mixture slowly bubbling away in the bowl a few inches from his nose. He didn't dare move, if he over balanced or if Snake let go... Prey swallowed, trying to only take shallow breaths to avoid the acrid scent that burned his nostrils. His eyes were watering.
"I have no use for failure, but I have even less use for those unable to learn from their mistakes. Tell me where you went wrong." Snake's calm voice spoke in his ear.
Prey didn't dare take his wide eyes from the bowl, but his heart and mind were racing, 'I have one chance before he dissolves my face, but what did I do wrong?' He frantically thought. 'Did I measure the bone powder wrong? No, the ratio was three to five. Wasn't it? Yes I'm sure. Think think!' Prey stuttered, trying to buy time; "I- I think- I mean... I don't-"
What had it been? What?! He was sure he'd recalled everything correctly. 'Enough to bet my life on?' He had no choice, if he didn't choose Snake would push him in face first and then- 'No! Don't loose focus! I know I measured everything everything right.' So that only left-
"IWaitedTooLongBetweenAddingIngredients!" Prey blurted out, "I waited too long. I should have added the ingredients at the correct intervals. I'm sorry I'm sorry! Please! Please I'm sorry, please don't do it!" He begged.
Snake grunted and let Prey fall back onto his hooves, "For now that will do," He said to where the sheep had sunk to the floor, breathing erratically and looking sick, "As you know where you went wrong, you can try it again. I expect no failure this time."
Prey wanted to curl up and sob, but then he would die. He didn't want to die. He just wanted his mother and his brother back. Tears silently leaking from his eyes, Prey forced himself back to his shaking hooves and started again.
One week later, the news came that his brother was dead.
---
Prey pulled back from the memory as he felt the tingle of returning consciousness, a feeling of his mind speeding up and rising out of the water and then he was wincing through slitted eyelids as sight and sound slowly came back into focus.
"-no further involvement. We will take it from here." The loud voice sounded like one of the Solar unicorn Guards that he didn't know the name of. There was quite a lot of noise in the background, murmured conversations and some shouts. 'A crowd then.' Prey thought. He sniffed. 'Smells fresh, open air. Must be outside as well.' They must not have reached this Cedar Field's mansion yet, but it sounded like they were just outside. Why couldn't he see though?
As he returned to full consciousness, Prey became aware that he was bundled up in a much too large travel cloak, the dark green material hiding his every feature from any ponies curious eyes.
'Wouldn't want word to get out that the Solar Guard is using a hardened criminal to solve their problems for them now would we?'
He didn't actually feel too bad, considering he'd been hit by at least one stunning spell. Just tired and sore, with the lingering taste of bile at the back of his throat.
He was also being carried through the air with magic.
Prey stiffened and had to stop himself from lashing out instinctively. 'Filthy unicorns.' He snarled internally. He hated having magic used on him in any shape or form, and he especially hated it when it left him powerless to do anything about it. He was completely at someone else's mercy right now, and he hated it.
"Sir, I think the prisoner is awake." Came the voice of Gold Bit.
"About time. Sky Flight, Sunshine, get inmate 452 in through the servants entrance. Take him to a secure room until we have need of him." Came the voice of who could only be Captain Valour. Although the fact it wasn't a booming shout for once was almost enough to make you think twice about the speakers identity.
"Yes sir." Came the joint reply. Prey felt himself being floated along after the clop of four pairs of armoured horse shoes. The cloak was still covering him and Prey couldn't see, but when he tried to shift to take it off the magic around him rapidly constricted.
"Keep still." Came a curt voice.
Prey didn't want to keep still, he wanted out, but he was powerless to do anything about the magic holding him immobile. He hated being powerless. 'If I ever escape, the first thing I'm going to do is get this blasted inhibitor collar removed.' Prey promised himself. Then at least he'd have some way to fight back against unicorn magic. Prey forcibly slowed his breathing to calm himself.
There was a change in the hoofsteps like they'd arrived at a door, and then the air changed and the sounds of the crowd cut off, meaning that they were now inside.
"Left or right?" Came the voice again. It wasn't Sunshine's so it must be this Sky Flight. 'Undoubtably a Pegasus with a name like that.' Prey thought. Which meant that the only unicorn currently guarding him was Sunshine. Prey perked up at this, 'Perhaps there will be the opportunity to escape then.' He thought.
The Solar Guards decided to go left, and Prey focused on memorising the path they took as he floated along behind them, counting the number of hoof falls.
There was the faint creak of hinges, and then the expensive kind of 'thump' from a thick door which spoke of oak, antique and money. Then there was a shuffling and scrape of chairs and tables while he still hung there sightless, and then the magical aura holding him vanished.
Prey tensed in anticipation of hitting the floor, but only fell a couple of inches before landing in a chair. He'd kind of expected to be thrown to the floor.
Prey still couldn't see out of the cloak, but when he moved to take it off he was stopped, "That stays on until I say it comes off." Sky Flight snapped.
"There's no one else in here to see me," Prey pointed out with a long suffering sigh, "At least let me shift the hood so I can see out if it."
"Fine. But keep your face hidden." Sky Flight warned.
Prey did as instructed without further protest, he'd gotten what he wanted out of the exchange. The travelling cloak was much too large for someone of his small stature, so once Prey had managed to locate the hood and arrange it enough to at least to see out of, he still looked a lot like he was wearing a sheet.
The room was square, with not much in it aside from one sturdy antique looking table and seven other plush chairs, the latter pushed against the wall. Prey was sitting in the eighth chair behind the table, opposite the door, where the two Solar Guards stood on guard. The only other thing of note about the room was the fine hoof carved wooden panelling adorning the walls.
None of them moved, just silently watched each other, waiting.
---
Prey spent the long wait splitting his focus between watching the guards for an opportunity to escape, and slowly scraping a series of patterns under the table. A very specific series of patterns.
The voluminous cloak hid the movement of his forehoof, but he could still only proceed drawing at a crawl. Making runes wasn't as easy as just scraping out the symbol, there was much more too it than that.
Some runes could only be drawn with certain materials, or on certain materials, or both. Others required power or fuel. Things like blood and energy to give them power. Some could only be made in the presence of other types of runes, or sometimes in their absence. The price for getting it wrong or over extending your self could quite easily be agonisingly fatal.
Prey didn't have the means, time, energy, necessary sacrifices or strength to inscribe anything powerful.
The three runes he was repeating under the table top were some of the most basic. 'Thj', 'Myru', and 'Grem' were their pronouncements. Together these old runes made up one of the simplest foundation arrays. If Prey added one more of four possible runes to the array, he could get one of the following results: A compass, a minor heat sink, an air veil, or a lesser power conductor.
All of those results would be weak in the extreme, not having any supporting runes or interlocking arrays. Additionally, they were only inscribed from the lower, weaker side of the Old Runic Alphabet. Such a weak foundation array would never do more than be a tool, the magical equivalent of a spoon or fork.
However, at present that was all Prey could manage, and only one of the four possible combinations was likely to be useful anyway. Specifically, the lesser power conductor.
As he finished the last line of the rune, he felt the slightest tingle on his hoof, like the lightest trace of a feather. It was a sign that the array was finished and working. A trace of background magic began to trickle into the conductor, starting to fill up its very limited storage capacity straight away.
The pull would be unnoticeable to all but the most magically sensitive, because it only drew from the environment in such minuscule quantities. Prey knew the conductor would never hold enough power to even lift a paper weight, let alone help him over power the guards and escape. But he wasn't a unicorn who could throw around lightning bolts at will, this was all he had. He'd save the build up from the conductor for later.
There was the faint sound of hooves approaching from the corridor. Prey shifted his ears to listen, counting one, two, three, four? Yes, four, at least four sets of hooves heading in their direction.
Prey casually laid his own hooves, still covered by the cloak, back on top the table and waited. A few moments later when Sunshine and Sky Flight heard the approaching 'clip-clop' as well, they shifted and half turned to the door in readiness.
There was a sharp rap on the door in a quick pattern. Prey immediately memorised it; 'Two, pause, three, pause, three, pause, one.'
Sunshine pulled the door open and both Solar Guards saluted; "Sir."
"As you were. Anything to report?" Captain Valour asked as he strode in. The other ponies in the hallway stayed out of Prey's line of sight for now and didn't come in.
"No sir. We just brought the prisoner in here through the building, and kept her-err, his head covered the entire trip. Nothing else of note sir." Sky Flight reported, shutting the door after receiving some signal to do so.
A vicious scowl furrowed Captain Valour's brow when his gaze turned to Prey, looking angrier than usual. 'It was just a cushion.' Prey thought sardonically. Or perhaps the captain was just annoyed at being outsmarted by these thieves yet again.
"Cedar Fields is outside, he's had his memory tampered with. You're going to interview him." Captain Valour told Prey shortly. Prey wasn't surprised, it made sense. Why else would he have been brought here?
Swallowing his hate of the unicorn, Prey pitched his voice calmly; "Are you asking me to try and restore his memory? If so then you're going to need to remove this inhibitor-"
"I don't ask anything! I tell you. And I'm telling you to interview Cedar Fields. You will not tell him anything about yourself, or allow him to see your face. You will not answer any of his questions pertaining to this investigation outside of his own part in it. Your only task is to find out what he still remembers about the attack, and to dig out any details about who could have done this. Am I clear?" Valour asked, just managing to keep his tone civil.
Prey only nodded. It was more than the Captain had said to him in one go before, at least without shouting. Prey could plainly see how much it grated on the captain. The feeling was mutual. But once again he was being presented with a problem by the Solar Guards, and told to solve it without being given all the pieces.
The Captain jerked his head at Sunshine, "Bring Cedar Field in, then tell True Spear to guard the door and the other two to set up a perimeter patrol outside."
"Sir." Sunshine acknowledged, opening the door with a glow of his horn and stepping out.
A few muttered words were spoken outside while Prey tried to plan a way to turn this interview to his advantage, and then Sunshine was leading the way back in. He lead a dazed looking unicorn, with orange fur and green mane wearing a rumpled silk shirt in behind him.
Prey could tell straight away that this orange unicorn was Cedar Fields. The fine grooming, glossy coat and slight lines of soft fat spoke of good food and care. Even the way the unicorn walked spoke of confidence and entitlement.
'Inherited money then.' Prey decided.
Cedar Fields glanced around at the rooms inhabitants, the uncertainty quickly giving way to caution, "Okay, I'm here. Care to explain why I can't remember anything, Captain Valour wasn't it?" Cedar asked, his words all clearly pronounced, indicating grammar schooling.
"Take a seat please." Captain Valour told him politely but firmly, pulling one out for the other unicorn with his magic. After only minor resistance, Cedar did just that. Sky Flight moved to stand behind him while Sunshine stood behind Prey.
"Well?" Cedar asked curtly, but Prey could sense the hidden fear. The unicorn didn't know what was going on or what had happened to him, and he was afraid but not quite sure why. All of these were clear signs of a sharp memory extraction. 'Crude, but effective.'
Captain Valour gestured to Prey where he sat shrouded in the cloak, "This here is-" A moments hesitation, "-One of our special investigators. He will be talking with you, Mister Fields. Don't worry, you're not in any kind of trouble. You're the victim here, we're just here to try and ascertain the facts."
With that the captain stepped back. Cedar shifted his gaze back to the cloaked figure of Prey, apprehension at not being able to see who or what he was speaking to clear in Cedar's green eyes.
'Oh if only you you knew. I'm sure you'd be shaking in your hooves at the sight of a lamb runt being your interrogator.' Prey thought with sour amusement. Prey cleared his throat, and then ruined the impression of some dark and spooky cloak and dagger investigator by speaking; "Please tell me what you last remember on Friday the 17th."
Cedar blinked stupidly at the high pitched and carefree voice. Obviously not what the unicorn noble had been expecting.
"Err, right, 'ehem'. I remember I was sitting in my study." Cedar answered, confidence returning to his tone.
"Do you specifically remember why you were doing that?"
Cedar shook his head, "No, not really. I was having a glass of carbenet and reading a report-"
"Which report?"
Cedar frowned slightly in an aristocratic fashion, "Is that important?"
"Please answer the question."
"Then no, I don't remember." Cedar declared.
"What do you remember then? The title, author, anything?" Prey asked.
"No, I already told you I don't remember, weren't you listening?" Cedar replied. Prey could see that the pony was getting worked up, all the uncertainty about what had happened to him and what was going on was wearing on the unicorns nerves.
"Can you tell me approximately what time it was then?" Prey asked.
"Ye- No..." Cedar said with a frown.
'Interesting.'
"Tell me about the attack then." Prey said, abruptly changing tack.
"Attack? What are you talking about?" Cedar demanded. Around the room Prey noticed the Solar Guards stiffen ever so slightly.
"Why, the attack on yourself, your house and your property." Prey answered sweetly.
Cedar stared at Prey, "What are you talking about?"
"Surely you have noticed the state of your mansion? The damage and stolen goods?" Prey asked. To be fair, Prey hadn't seen it either. He'd been stunned and wrapped in the cloak on the way in, but he was certain from the pattern of the previous attacks, that this mansion too would have suffered the same treatment.
Cedar stared at Prey with a blank look in his eyes.
"What- My.. My mansion, nothing- nothing was..." His eyes snapped back in to focus, "Could you please repeat the question?"
"The attack and robbery on your person? Do you not find it strange that you have no memory of yesterday? I am sure that you had appointments that you needed to keep? Can you not remember why you didn't keep them? Or why none of your servants are around? Surely you can figure it out, can't you?" Prey pushed.
Cedar's green eyes were glassy and his mouth worked, "I- I don't.. I.. There isn't... But that mean's-" his eyes cleared and locked onto Prey.
"You!" Cedar screamed in fury, "I'll kill you!" He leapt from his seat and was across the table before Prey could blink.
Prey tried to hastily slide under the table, a remarkably safe place for someone of his size, but the folds of he oversized cloak tangled his limbs. "Die!" Cedar screamed swinging a hoof into Prey's face. The blow was wild and unfocused, and Prey managed to roll with it, but the force still rattled his teeth as the hoof caught him in the jaw.
Prey was knocked to the floor spitting blood. Prey tried to scramble to his hooves but couldn't manage it in the cloak, but for some reason Cedar didn't follow him to the floor. Prey had expected Cedar to jump after him in a mad attempt to rend him limb from limb.
Prey squinted up through dazed eyes to see that Sunshine had finally stepped in and stopped the fight. A golden aura held Cedar back as the orange unicorn continued to spit and thrash on top of the table, "Die die! Kill die!"
Prey realised his heart was hammering in his ears, he hadn't been expecting such a violent reaction at all. Anger kindled in his chest, "What was that?" Prey squeaked, cradling his injured cheek.
"This is what has happened with all of the victims. Any attempt to make them think about the break in on their property is met with a violent rejection." Sky Flight answered loudly over Cedar's screamed death threats , trying to gently drag the restrained unicorn back to his chair
"And you didn't think to warn me of this before hoof?" Prey half squeaked, half hissed. He could tell the inside of his cheek was split quite badly.
"No. Seeing is believing." Valour said dismissively, "Let this be a lesson not to do it in the future."
Prey wiped a string of blood from his lip as he got up, "A lesson? What kind of lesson was that?! Getting punched in the face is a lesson? If so, I've had plenty of those lessons in my life already." He turned his head and spat out the rest of the blood, "I think your real reason, Captain, is because you're petty and power abusive. Just what I'd expect from a Unicorn."
Prey hadn't meant to say that last bit out loud, usually he was in much better control of his feelings.
However, right now, Prey wasn't operating under the best of circumstances. He hadn't slept more than five hours in the last two days, he'd been blasted unconscious, punched in the face, he'd only eaten half a cupcake during all this, he was in chains, surrounded by those he despised, and for the rest of the time spent under their control, he'd been working hard non-stop on all those reports.
Not his worst day, not by a long way. He wasn't bleeding to death in the mud for one, or crippled by pain for another. But the thing that really lead Prey into goading Captain Valour was hate. Pure and simple. Captain Valour was too much like Captain Fire Strike.
And so it was that the last insult slipped out. Huge muscles bunched under Captain Valour's fur and his furious scowl said it all. 'Fool! This will delay my plans, how am I supposed to escape with broken legs?' Prey berated himself, focusing only on the impending threat to his chances of escape rather than the incoming pain.
To Prey's surprise, instead of eviscerating him with magic, Captain Valour only pointed at Prey and yelled in a voice loud enough to make glass rattle; "I will not tolerate disrespect from a criminal! This is your last warning, understand?"
Prey blinked. Why wasn't he sobbing in pain right now? In the war, a unicorn Guard wouldn't have hesitated to rip the legs off any resistance fighter.
"Sir," The voice came from Sky Flight who had succeeded in getting Cedar Fields back into his seat, "He'll be waking up soon. We don't want him to know about 452, right?" The Pegasus asked.
'Oh, that's why. There's a witness present.' Prey thought, mind immediately starting to go over possibilities of how to use this to his advantage.
The 'witness', Cedar Fields, was currently sitting in his chair stupidly, eyes blank and expression slack. Despite Sunshine's magic having faded away, Cedar Field's didn't immediately leap back up and resume the attack. Prey understood what was happening at a glance; 'He's resetting.' Prey thought. Cedar Field's mental state was reverting to the point from just before he snapped.
'Therefore the trigger must be trying to force him to think about the robbery. Quite a clever control memory implant by whichever unicorn did this.'
"Sir, is it a good idea to continue?" Sunshine asked with a glance at Prey.
"Yes." Prey immediately snapped at the Solar Guard, if they stopped now then he wouldn't be able to learn what he needed.
Sunshine ignored him and looked to Captain Valour, "Sir?"
The Captain was considering Cedar Fields with something that could almost be called concern, "For now we'll continue. We have no choice." He eventually said.
"Will you at least put him in a binding in case he snaps again?" Prey asked.
"No. He's a victim, not a criminal like you." Valour responded curtly. Prey wasn't surprised, it's what he'd predicted the Captain would say. 'So noble.'
Cedar Field's blinked and shuddered slightly, the light returning to his green eyes, "What? I'm sorry did you say something?" Cedar asked in mild confusion.
"Don't worry about it. You're safe and there's no need for concern." Valour told him.
Prey hoisted himself back up into the chair with some difficulty, legs kicking as he scrambled up and turned around to face Cedar Fields again, "Mr Fields, if we could please continue?" Prey asked sweetly, even as the hot pain in his cheek flared.
Once again the Solar Guards withdrew into the background as Cedar focused on the cloaked figure of Prey, "Who are you?" The unicorn asked.
"That's not important. Sufficed to say that I am a special investigator called in here by the good Captain Valour." He said in his sweetest tone.
Once again Cedar frowned in surprise at the light tone completely at odds with the sinister cloak wearing figure in the chair opposite.
"Alright then." Cedar answered cautiously.
"Please tell me what you last remember on Friday the 17th?" Prey asked.
The Solar Guards shifted in the background at the repeat of the same line of questioning from last time, but when Prey held up a hoof they kept quiet.
"I remember I was sitting in my study." Cedar answered confidently.
"Do you specifically remember why you were doing that?"
Cedar shook his head, "No, not really. I was having a glass of carbenet and reading a report-"
"Which report?"
Cedar frowned slightly, "Is that important?"
"Please answer the question."
"Then no, I don't remember." Cedar declared. 'Hmm. Very interesting. Exact replication of circumstances.' Prey noted, before continuing on with following the script.
"What do you remember then? The title, author, anything?" Prey asked.
"No, I already told you I don't remember, weren't you listening?" Cedar replied
"Then no, I don't remember." Cedar replied. 'Still exactly the same.' Prey thought.
"What do you remember then? What was the article was about, a headline, anything?" Prey asked, word for word.
"Alright that's enough." Captain Valour said stepping in. Prey ignored him and focused entirely on the orange unicorn in front of him, "Please answer the question Mr Fields."
"No, I already told you I don't remember, aren't you listening?" Cedar replied, getting frustrated.
Prey saw the Captain opening his mouth to order Sky Flight and Sunshine to intervene, so Prey quickly cut in, "Could you please tell me the items of greatest monetary value on your estate?" He asked. Unseen by Cedar, the Captain paused as Prey changed his line of questioning.
"I'm not sure that's something I'm comfortable with sharing." Cedar replied, straightening his back and lifting his chin to look down at Prey.
'Ah, and there's the noble breeding coming into play.' Prey thought nastily. "And why's that?" He asked.
"That's personal." Cedar replied.
"Personal you say? I can understand that completely Mr Fields. Heirlooms aren't to be taken lightly after all. But it's important to this investigation you understand, so I'm afraid I must insist. So, tell me, what is the item of greatest monetary value on your estate?" Prey asked. He watched the unicorns face carefully for the tell tale blank look.
Cedar looked back at Prey flatly, "I refuse." He stated.
"And why is that? Do you have something to hide perhaps?" Prey asked.
Cedar Fields shoulders tensed, "Don't be ridiculous, of course not," He scoffed, "But I know how this works, I read about it. I'm not obligated to answer anything I'm not comfortable answering." Cedar replied, folding his hooves.
"Come now, what's the harm? We'll just be going through your estate anyway looking for clues, so why delay the inevitable? Please, it really would be most helpful to us." Prey said innocently, his tone of 'butter wouldn't melt in his mouth' making Cedar Fields half nod before he caught himself.
"I'm still not comfortable with this..." Cedar muttered.
"How about this? I'll make it easy for you." Prey offered;
"Since these thieves have likely stolen or destroyed your valuables, by telling us what you have we can work out what was taken or damaged. Then we will know what to look for, and what we need to recover for you. Also, when these criminals are caught, it will be a lot easier to charge them in court, and make them repay you the correct amount of compensation. Wouldn't you like that?" Prey asked persuasively. He cringed internally at how heavy hoofed his bait was.
Prey didn't know if that bit about recovering what had been stolen, or charging the criminals in court was true, and he didn't care either. Cedar Fields misfortune meant nothing to Prey. He was only plucking on the heart strings of what Prey knew mattered most to any wealthy noble: Money.
Cedar Fields thought about it for a while. Prey didn't interrupt him, already knowing what the unicorn would do.
"Alright. For the good of reclaiming what is rightfully mine, I will help you." Cedar decided.
"How very generous of you." Prey exclaimed happily; "So, what item has the greatest value in your mansion Mr Fields?"
"That's not a straight forward question. There are many items of great value that I own, even if I do say so myself. Naming just one over all the others isn't easy you know?" Cedar Fields boasted, having already forgotten his previous reluctance to talk.
"I'm sure that you have many things of great worth, this is a very impressive mansion after all. But for the sake of consideration, would you please tell me anyway?" Prey asked, silently wishing that this unicorn would stop posturing and just skip straight to the bit where he told him what he wanted..
"Hmm. I've decided picking one is impossible. So I shall pick three." Cedar announced;
"The Autumn of Blessing vase, one of a kind, antique, over 700 years old, made by DeHoofing himself. The second is the diamond necklace from the La Fresza set. 34 ice tint diamonds were used in its construction alone, white gold metal work, with of course the centre piece being a pure, twenty sided sided, hundred and eighty five karat sun diamond. And the last item would be, hmm, I think it would have to be the hoof crafted crystal wine goblet set dating back to the crystal empire itself, very hard to come by you know. Priceless in fact." Cedar told them, voice animated, having obviously gotten carried away in the moment.
Prey regarded the unicorn. He very much wanted to inform Cedar that all those things were no doubt lying smashed and broken upstairs. With the exception of the diamond necklace, which had probably been stolen instead. But Prey controlled his spiteful instincts and offered words of praise and awe instead. 'Wait until after he's answered my questions.' Prey told himself, gingerly probing his split cheek with his tongue.
"That certainly is impressive. Very impressive. But what else do you have?" Prey asked.
"There are many heirlooms and treasures that a wealthy family such as mine will have." Cedar agreed.
"Good, good, how about this; You list them and I'll tell you when to stop?" Prey suggested, knowing that the unicorn noble would like nothing more than to do so.
"If you insist. Let's see. There's the paintings from various eras, the centuries old silverware and gold platters, velvet Prancean carpets, a number of black pearl necklaces, my collection of ancient Germane puzzle boxes, the actual mansion itself is marble, oak and cedar you know, inlaid with carvings from many famous artists done over the generations." Cedar Fields listed.
Prey murmured encouragement and gestured for the unicorn to continue.
"I of course have a strong box full of gems and gold bits, although I won't tell you where. There's a pink crystal statue of the Hearts era, the antique Hallmaker grandfather clock, my specially tailored Istallion suits and coats, all of them silk embroidered. Antique self sustaining magic glow stone lights, my great great great grandfather Half Fields gold and topaz encrusted pocket watch, a whole box full of diamond cuff links, any number of wall to wall woven tapestries, the jade lacquered desk in my study, and the red alchemy stone." Cedar Fields said with satisfaction.
Prey waited a moment to see if he was finished, "Are all those the items that hold the highest value?" He asked.
"Yes. While there are plenty of other things I own, but those aren't worth nearly as much. Those other things cost under a thousand bits." Cedar answered airily with a dismissive wave of his hoof.
Prey nodded, "Mmhm, so you won't mind me asking; what about your library?" He asked, having finally arrived exactly where he wanted to in the conversation.
Cedar Fields froze, "My library?" He asked uncertainly.
Prey's smile went unseen under the hood, but it was the smile of a Timberwolf's. "Yes, your library. Spell books, old scrolls, ancient history texts, all of these must be worth a pretty bit. Surely you must own some. So why didn't you mention them?" Prey asked. Cedar opened his mouth but nothing came out as he just stared blankly at Prey.
The Solar Guards took a silent step forwards that went almost unnoticed.
"Mr Fields, could you tell me about your library. Please." Prey added pleasantly.
Cedar Fields eyes went blank, then fury surged into them, "I'll kill you!" He screamed.
This time Prey was ready for the outburst and rolled off the chair onto the floor away from Cedar Fields lunge. Gripping the chains and cloak in a bundle to keep from entangling himself, he braced for the raging unicorn to leap after him.
It was unnecessary. Sunshine had acted before Prey got struck this time, and Cedar Fields was already restrained harmlessly in the gold aura, floating just above the table. Sunshine was a powerful unicorn to be able to do that.
Prey glanced at Sunshine as Cedar Fields continued to scream and kick, "Why didn't you put an inhibitor ring on him? If he starts casting magic while in this state we're all in trouble." Prey told them.
"That's not your call." Captain Valour answered, moving closer to Cedar Fields in case his help was needed, "We already measured him, he's a tier 2. We can handle it."
Prey kept his opinion on the matter to himself. Magic was never something to be underestimated, it could be dangerous and unpredictable to the extreme. From what scraps of information he'd either stolen or found on unicorn magic, he'd read of more than one incident where an ordinary unicorn's magic went wrong with horrible consequences. Like where a stallion had accidentally grabbed a chisel in his telekinesis wrong and it'd ricocheted out and skewered his wife. But he was a lowly prisoner and had no say in the matter.
"Why did you do that?" Sky Flight asked Prey angrily once he'd gotten Cedar Fields back into his seat, "There was no call to put Cedar Fields in danger once more. We don't know what damage it'll do to his mind each time-"
"He'll be fine." Prey cut in.
"You don't know that." Sky Flight responded.
"Yes I do actually," He turned to Captain Valour and forced himself to be polite, "I have everything I need from him. I just need to check the house to be sure." Prey told him.
"Explain." Valour ordered.
"I will do, just not in here. If we could just go and look at the library section of the mansion I'll explain it all." Prey soothed.
"I said explain. Now." Captain Valour responded.
"I'm sorry, what's going on?" Cedar Fields broke in, having recovered. Everyone glanced at Cedar Fields, who was looking back with some confusion.
"I'll explain everything. But not here, or else he's going to have another incident." Prey said.
"Excuses me, but who are you and what are you talking about?" Cedar asked with a mixture of annoyance and nervousness.
"I can promise you won't regret it." Prey told Valour, completely ignoring Cedar Fields.
The Captain all but sneered at Prey, but at a glance at the confused Cedar Fields he relented, "Fine."
Captain Valour rapped sharply on the door, 'two', 'three', 'three'. The question of "I demand that somepony tells me what's going on right now!" From Cedar going unanswered as Captain Valour spoke to the two Solar Guards who opened the door.
"Day Light, Storm Ride, you two take Cedar Fields to the hospital, you know which ward. Get his details sorted out and settled in with the others, then return here. Be gentle." He ordered in an undertone. Prey heard it perfectly with his large ears, put Cedar was still asking what was going on as the the Unicorn and the Pegasus gently lead him away.
Unnoticed by all the ponies, Prey casually pressed his hoof to the underside of the table for a moment.
"Now explain 452." Captain Valour ordered, returning to Prey.
"Take me to see the library in this place and I can show you-"
"You will do as I say and explain it right now! I don't trust you not to try something if I let you out of this room, so you're gong to have to explain it from here." Captain Valour shouted, back to his normal volume.
"Take me to see the library." Prey repeated stubbornly, "There is something that I need to check before I can give you an answer. Currently I'm not sure, and I don't want to give you the wrong idea till I know for certain."
Prey tried to put on a brave face and not cower as Captain Valour towered over him. His hatred and fear of unicorns was enough to make the manacles jangle faintly under the cloak as he tried, and failed, to suppress a shiver.
Never the less, he stood his ground.
Captain Valour's hoof twitched as if he longed to reach out and strike him. Even though Prey had his hooves free of the magical restraints, he couldn't invade the Captain's mind to defend himself, even if he could touch the unicorn for long enough with the runes on his fore hooves.
Taking over a mind and stealing its memories was hard, the stronger the mind the longer it took. Unicorns always took the longest because of how much magic they naturally had to focus their minds to use. And in that time, Sunshine and Sky Flight would bring him down before he'd even half way finished stealing the Captain's mind.
And since Prey wasn't currently able to break Captain Valour's mind either, that option of self-defence was out. Plus, it would ruin his plan of escape if he did. He needed to get one of the Solar Guard's alone and unawares, so that his meddling would go unnoticed by their comrades.
"How did you even know there was a library in this mansion? Cedar Fields didn't tell you one way or the other, so how did you know?" Captain Valour demanded, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Because all the other mansions that were robbed also had one." Prey replied calmly, rubbing his cheek, "Besides, you just confirmed it."
"Fine, you can look at the library for clues, but not touch." Captain Valour said, still glaring down at Prey, "Sunshine, get the chain leash back on the prisoner. Sky Flight, you and Sunshine keep a close eye on inmate 452. I don't want him stealing or messing with any evidence on route. This is still a crime scene." He reminded them all, opening the door back out into the mansion's corridor.
"This way."
---I---