//------------------------------// // Chapter 25: Tortured Logic // Story: To Serve In Hell // by CoffeeMinion //------------------------------// A faint sound of shuffling papers greeted Sassy as she paused outside the door to Blueblood’s office. She glanced around to confirm that there were neither guards nor servants passing by, then lit her horn and opened the door just a crack. Tilting her head, she studied what she could see of the room. One thing she spotted in the bright firelight was a pony huddled close to the ground at the far end of the room. She pushed the door gently, giving her a better view of the almost-white stallion hunched over a large basket of papers by Blueblood’s desk. “Well, well, well,” Sassy said slowly, making the stallion jerk bolt upright and turn toward her with shock. “Silver Shill. I should’ve known you’d turn against me, too.” “No, ma’am,” Silver Shill said, bowing deep. “I just… I figured you’d come up here after what Fashion Plate said, and I wanted to make sure you’d… find the documents.” She narrowed her eyes and stalked closer to him, using her height advantage to its full. Keeping her horn lit, she pushed the office door closed behind her. “Nopony with half a brain would believe that lie. Fashion Plate said I’d find more detailed information about the Governor’s dealings up here… but you’re in the midst of sanitizing those records, aren’t you?” “No, ma’am! I brought them back up from where Fashion Plate had hidden them in his quarters, along with his own set of documents!” Sassy’s tongue flicked across her lips, and she bent down, taking a closer look at the basket. “No. Plate’s too smart. I’ll bet this is a ruse; you’re just here to plant false records to create a sense of… what, accomplishment for me?” Silver Shill tensed visibly, but shook his head. “Ma’am, I swear… I’m loyal. I’ve done things in the Governor’s service that I shouldn’t have… and he’s pulled me in a hundred different directions since he brought that damn thing inside—” Silver Shill pointed an accusing hoof at the grotesque stone head on Blueblood’s desk “—but I never meant to go against the Mistress. I never, ever wanted to join what they were doing!” “What do you know?” Sassy pressed close to him. He flinched. “Filthy Rich doesn’t lead the Resistance, but he does supply most of the mansion’s produce, and roughly half the books we get.” Sassy raised an eyebrow at him, then picked up several of the papers with her magic and began riffling through them. Some gave the appearance of fairly old invoices, with thin paper that had yellowed even after just a couple years of being in a box. Others looked like notes, though, in writing that she didn’t recognize. “Who wrote these?” “It was Kibitz, the former master of the castle,” Silver Shill said, words coming out quickly, spurred by fear. “I don’t know for sure, but I think he might actually be—” A gentle knock came from the door. Sassy used her magic to stop Silver Shill’s mouth. “Call them in,” she whispered, speaking quietly as she snuck behind the door. “C… come in,” Silver Shill stammered, after she released him. The door pushed open, and Fashion Plate strode into the room. Sassy reached out with her magic, forming bonds that closed tight around Fashion Plate’s legs and barrel. He squeaked in shock and protest, then danced in place precariously, trying to keep from falling over. “Watch the door, Silver Shill,” Sassy said. “And not a word of this to Blueblood. My old ‘friend’ and I need to have a talk.” She slammed the door shut behind Silver Shill and locked it before stepping around to look Fashion Plate in the eyes. “Sassy! What are you doing?!” “I should ask you the same thing,” Sassy said, trembling. “Did you come back to check for anything you might have left when you cleared out the Governor’s office?” He swallowed, and his smile cracked. “Sassy… wh… I don’t know what you think this looks like, but—” “What I think it looks like?! What kind of idiot do you think I am, Plate?” She paused, frowning deeper. “Evidently you do think I’m an idiot, though, with your plan to lead me on a wild parasprite chase for evidence that you’d hidden in your own quarters.” She pointed at the basket. “I thought… after all the times we spent commiserating over the insanity of Fashion Week… or even that time you bailed-out one of the boutiques I was working for… I thought we were friends.” “We are friends, honey.” “Don’t give me that pack of lies!” Sassy’s jaw clenched hard enough to make her teeth hurt. “I trusted you! I respected you for being so… so open with yourself! And now I find out that’s a lie, too? All this hiding of evidence? The Governor meeting in secret, talking about how he’s paying you to distract me from the fire that… that killed Bon Bon? The fire Rarity started?!” “Wait, Rarity…” Fashion Plate gasped. “Oh, oh yes, of course! It was Rarity all along! She’s had her hooves in deep, manipulating—” “Stop.” Sassy planted her hooves and narrowed her eyes. “I think I’ve heard quite enough of your lies, Plate. If you still want to play coy with me, then it’s time for you to face the Mistress’ justice.” He lit his horn, causing Sassy to tense… but then only used his magic to take his sunglasses off, revealing wide, plaintive eyes. “Sassy… what justice? You were telling me about how disappointed you were in somepony… how you were calling everything into question… but you didn’t want to say more. It’s clear enough that you weren’t talking about Rarity; your view of her is pretty obvious. Honestly, how many other ponies does that leave for you to be talking about?” Sassy’s fur bristled. “You mean to say that I’m not well-connected?” “No, Sassy… I mean to say that you’re alone. Whatever you may think of me now, the fact is that we were friends once. I respected you as a fellow businesspony and a competitor. But now?” He shook his head. “I pity you, Sassy. You’ve sold your soul for power… but what kind of power? The power to be ordered around on a leash as the Nightmare wills? If you’re gonna sell out, wouldn’t you want the price to at least be worth your while?” “It isn’t me who needs to be concerned about standards or power,” Sassy snapped… though on the inside, the words resonated. “So then: what power did you sell out for?” Fashion Plate shook his head, frowning at her. “Sassy, what if you could be free again? Free not just from the Nightmare, but—” “We can’t be free from her!” Sassy shouted, throttling him with her magic. The outburst startled them both. Sassy stood in shock at what had just escaped her lips, and released her magical grip on his throat. Fashion Plate gasped for breath and looked at her with wide, frightened eyes. “I mean…” Sassy reached for anything that could possibly explain herself. “I just… I’ve never, ever thought that we could run from her, or hide from her, or fight her. She’s made this world her own, and the simple truth is that opposing her only gets more ponies killed! Far better to bring about an order that pleases her, than to goad her into lashing out.” “I just can’t live that way anymore,” he said, his voice thick. “Whether it’s true or not, I’d rather believe that some kind of change is possible.” She shook her head and fought to hold back tears. “You’re just saying that to try to rationalize your betrayal.” He swallowed. “That’s not true, Sassy.” Her lips curled into a snarl. “All these lies disgust me.” She turned away, seeing the mocking countenance of the gnarled stone head on the desk— and spat on it, then flared more power into her horn. “You’re going to tell me about the evidence you were hiding. All of it. And how thoroughly you tell the truth might make a difference in whether you end up seeing the Mistress after all.” Fashion Plate blanched. “No, Sassy. No no… you don’t understand. They’ll kill me! Kill both of us!” She bared her gritted teeth at him, then cocked her head to one side, loosening some tightness in her neck. “Ah, good; that means we’re getting somewhere…” Sassy tried not to let her eyes linger on the trembling, moaning figure who stood trussed up in her magic. Instead, she focused on one question that she kept coming back to, and that she still hadn’t heard a good answer for: “Who was the pony in the Governor’s mirror, Plate?” A whimper was the only reply. She squeezed her eyes shut and lashed out with her magic. He made a sound that was indistinct, but pained. It was far from the first iteration of that exchange. Sassy sighed. “I need answers, Plate. Whatever you’ve gotten yourself caught up in seems like a matter of security to the kingdom as a whole. Right now all I know for sure is that one of my oldest friends is dead, and another of my oldest friends… isn’t actually my friend after all. But I will not stand idle in the face of some conspiracy to sow chaos—” Hearing a commotion at the door, Sassy turned her head just in time to see the burst of golden magic that blasted its lock asunder. Governor Blueblood pushed into the room with a lit horn and narrowed eyes. Behind him were a number of guards, and several chamber-staff who seemed to have been pulled along in his wake. It wasn’t clear if Silver Shill was with them or not. The Governor stood looking between Sassy and Fashion Plate in turn for several moments before loosing a deep, heavy sigh. “All right, show’s over, everypony. Looks like I’m just in time to join Lady Sassy’s little pain-party, now that my Seneschal has got her all warmed up.” He turned, meeting the crowd’s incredulous eyes. “Well, go on! Back to work! You can look forward to cleaning up after us later!” The staff departed with murmurs of apology. Blueblood closed the door, cast a small spell to lock it despite its mechanism now being broken, then cast a sound-damping field over the room as a whole. “Governor—” He raised a hoof, and she went quiet. “Overseer, why are you torturing my Seneschal?” “I am interrogating him.” “Oh, so now you want to shelter in tiny little semantic differences? Be my guest. But I happen to like that pony, and right now you’re breaking him. And what’s more, you’ve gone and made my lady-in-waiting all nervous about having you around.” He tsked and shook his head. “What’s gotten into you, Overseer?” “What’s gotten into me?” Sassy sneered. “He was withholding a considerable amount of evidence, and pointing me away from it. I wonder, though… did he do it on his own initiative, or did you put him up to it?” Blueblood nodded. “I see. And that’s it?” Sassy’s eyes went wide. “That’s it?! Governor… this is damning by anypony’s standards. And now, hearing about this fire in the Lower City, I have to wonder if you might even be working with Rarity to—” “Oh, Overseer.” He smiled, shaking his head. “You know, I can’t imagine how you get on inside the tiny little box you seem to think the world fits into. You think Lady Rarity is such a threat? You honestly think she stands half a chance of… what? Inciting something that could overthrow my lovely new auntie?” He leaned closer. “Or is it that you fear how it would change things if you lost your position of power?” “How DARE you—” “I dare often, and with several mares at once,” he snipped. “But let’s think about whether my dear Seneschal Fashion Plate here might be colluding with somepony else who has designs on overthrowing auntie Nightmare.” He shook his head. “Sassy, all of us have thought about getting rid of her from time to time. Haven’t you as well?” Sassy felt a hot blush work its way over her cheeks. She looked away from him. “Ah, there it is. And haven’t you ever talked to somepony about it?” “It’s treason,” Sassy said, her voice somewhat muted. “Of course. But be honest with yourself: isn’t there a tiny little voice inside that would love nothing more than for it to happen?” She looked up at him with furrowed brows. “Are you admitting collusion yourself?” He sighed again. “Well, now you’re just being obtuse. And if all you’re good for is looking… severe, commanding… and hurling half-formed accusations every which way, then the least you could do is wear the dress I’ve picked out for you while you do it.” “At the ball, Governor? And what, pray tell, is the point of such frivolity at a time like this?” “What isn’t the point of it? Sassy, I don’t have the advantage of being made of ice like you are. See, I have feelings, and friendships, and an ever-growing list of ex-lovers. Things you don’t have. Things that might help you understand…” Sassy glared at him. “I have feelings and friendships.” “Do ya, though? Do you really? Because it looks like one of your ‘friends’ there wasn’t ever much of a friend anyway… aaaand he just passed out.” She turned back to Fashion Plate, eyeing the unconscious pony for anything that might need to be mended as part of his captivity. But he was simply out cold. “Tell me,” Blueblood continued, “what bothers you more: that your friend is a traitor, or that the one friend you thought you still had wasn’t really your friend after all?” Sassy looked away again. She felt sick, like her whole being had been hollowed out. “I know what should bother me more,” she said. “Yes, but that’s not the—” Sassy slammed a hoof down with a satisfying crack. “That is the only answer I can give now! I just… some things are more difficult to think on.” Blueblood smirked. “I bet some ponies find it hard to think on your insistence that you wear that leather armor.” The roiling in Sassy’s gut intensified. “I’m not overly bothered by it, of course,” Blueblood said, looking at a hoof with nonchalance. “I think it’s poetic that you’ve covered yourself with the cured skin of some other creature to hide what you’ve let yourself become. I think you’re hiding from yourself, though, more than protecting yourself from the world—because, deep down, I think you know that you’ve succumbed to your own pettiness and worst instincts. It’s hard to face the better ones that are still in there fighting, even as they’re starved for oxygen and screaming to get out.” He looked up. “I mean, the rest of us can see it. All the ponies who’d actually dare to look at you, anyway.” “I think it’s easy for you to lean on your position of power to heap criticism on others,” Sassy said through her teeth. “Oh, far be it from me to criticize,” he said, holding his forehooves up. “I’m not the one torturing a friend.” “I’m not…” Sassy paused, looking over at the tear-streaked, bloodied face of Fashion Plate. She let her hornlight fade. Fashion Plate collapsed in a heap on the floor. “See, that’s the thing,” Blueblood said. “I think you’ve still got the remains of a good pony in there, even if they're in danger of choking to death on a daily basis. Maybe if you actually confront the fact that you’re not living up to what you believe in, you can save that pony… bring her back from the edge.” “What do you mean, that I should turn over a new leaf?” Blueblood laughed. “Not at all, my dear! I think you should let it all go and let me help you get more in touch with your freaky side. But short of giving in, I think you have a struggle ahead of you. But maybe you’re taking a good first step by taking an honest look at what you’ve become.” Sassy shook her head. “It’s… you asked which hurt me more.” She looked up, trying to stanch the tears that welled in her eyes. “All these years, even going way, way back… I thought he was my friend.” “Of course that’s what bothers you more! Well, good for you. Now, of course, you truly have done me a service by finding out that my poor misguided Seneschal has been up to some naughty things. Truth be told, I very well could just hand him off to somepony to torture the details out of him. But hey there, long and tall, that doesn’t have to be you.” “That doesn’t make it better,” Sassy said quietly. “No? Well, look at you; there’s a heart in there after all. I’ll tell you what, why don’t you let me help you out of that armor, and—” She looked up at him with bared teeth and flaring nostrils. “Okay! Okay, never mind. But seriously, why don’t you relax a little… take a load off? Get a little time to sit and think about all this heavy stuff you’re going through?” “I… I don’t think I can rest now,” Sassy croaked. “I just lost my two oldest friends. I don’t think I could fake feeling better than I do.” “Then don’t fake it! Sassy, what I have in mind is really pretty simple: you, me, dungeon. Well… minus me. Not that I couldn’t, just… my lady might get the wrong idea, y’know?” “D… dungeon?” “Yeah. Oh! I forgot.” He dropped the sound-muffling field and clopped his forehooves together. “Boy I should’ve thought to put one of those babies up earlier when I was talking to my lady. Hindsight! Anyway, guys? Can you come in and show miss Sassy-pants here downstairs?” Sassy stepped back, eyes widening in shock. “You can’t.” “I can!” “You wouldn’t dare!” He shrugged. “I might? I mean, let’s face it, you’re kinda just being a pain now.” Four guards entered the room. Though unarmed, they were large and muscular enough that Sassy doubted she could take them in a straight fight. The only option was to flare her magic at them, dodge between them, and run. And so she did, neither hesitating nor looking back as she made good on her escape.