Life sucks. Period.
Such was the way Toby lived his life, anyway. After that stupid, stupid war, what had he become? A shameful presence. A loser of a son. A sucker to love.
A reject.
It was morning - as far as he knew - when he woke up. A tin platter of some sort of green mush was pushed into his cell. While he looked at it in revulsion, he caught a whiff of daisies and hay off of it.
No eating, he thought to himself sternly. We're going to see how they will handle it.
He moved to the back wall, trying to place as much distance between him and the food as possible. He wanted no temptations - not that the food was remotely tempting at the moment, but he knew he was in for a bumpy ride.
He did his best to roll over and drift away, but there seemed to be a draft in the dungeon that morning. It may have felt nice to someone wearing a sweater, but a beat-up, torn, ragged t-shirt? Not so much. At least it took his mind off the food.
So he lay there in his gloomy chamber, and as he did so his thoughts rolled over his pitiful situation yet again. The princesses weren't very forgiving... plus, the dark one - Luna, right? She seemed, according to her sister, out of touch with herself. If that was the case, what did the normal Luna look and act like?
They also kept going on about that "protocol" - what did it mean? Did it have to do with strange new creatures they had never seen before?
Probably, he thought bitterly as a particularly chilly breeze rolled over him. He was too busy trying to keep warm to care where the draft had come from. He would not use the blanket, or the cot, or anything the princesses would provide him with. Just the thought of those two sent a spiteful chill down his spine.
Hopefully he would just die... it wouldn't matter anyway, right? His whole life had turned out to be a lie the moment he had been drafted into that stupid, stupid war. Why should America care about the stupid affairs of their Asian friends? If they wanted to be communists, just let them, as he would say.
But for the time being, he would be vigilant. He would not give them the pleasure of imprisoning him, since they seemed to be rather keen on it. He would not speak, eat, or use anything they gave him - and hopefully die in the process.
He rolled over and closed his eyes, but a hazy image floated to the front of his mind.
In front of a small, white chapel, he was talking to a man in his Sunday best - although this Toby was much younger. Eight years old - Toby remembered this moment very well.
The man in the image had a loving smile upon his face, as if nothing could ever make him hate anyone. He had short, jet-black hair that was swept aside tidily. He wore a simple grey fedora upon his head, keeping the sun off of his tanned neck. He was slightly shorter and skinnier than your normal man; around five foot four, Toby remembered him saying one day. The way the man carried himself, however, made him look much taller - the confidence with which he existed gave him an extremely strong look, despite his weedy appearance.
Mr. Thompson, Toby's youth pastor - one of his biggest all-time role models. Oh, how he loved that man. He was a major factor in Toby's success as a student.
Mr. Thompson's voice echoed in Toby's head, saying something that Toby had remembered from the time in his image to the present day...
I'm extremely pleased to hear of your exam, it said in a warm, firm voice. But remember remember, Toby, that your grades and your teachers are not things that give you value. Only God can do that, man. Keep in mind that he may have a bigger plan in store for you - one that doesn't involve the things you love.
Toby vocally scoffed at the thought. So, according to Pastor Thompson, it was God's plan for him to be thrown into prison without proper trial. It was God's plan to send him to the war, the war that ruined everything. It was God's plan to change himself from an intelligent, hardworking, sane man into a depressed, war-torn, hateful, suicidal thing he was right now.
This had to be all God's fault - and right now Toby wasn't even sure if there was a God.
He rolled over onto his side, facing the wall. There was something strange about the way Luna was acting... Celestia basically gave it away.
None of this adds up, he thought miserably as he finally drifted off to sleep.
"Luna! What has gotten into you!?" Celestia cried as soon as the last subject had left court. "You have never treated any-creature like that before!!"
Luna looked at her sister with that stubborn look Celestia knew so well. "I - sister, I was following the protocol -"
"But something's just not right, Luna - it seems incredibly wrong to do what you did," Celestia said angrily. "I think Toby deserves a chance!"
"What do you mean, 'you did'??" Luna cried in outrage. "You mean 'we', right? You were for the idea of detaining him as much as me!"
"I was not!!" Celestia shouted indignantly.
"Then why didn't you stand up for him, sister?" Luna said smugly. "You seemed pretty on board for a minute there."
"Because of the protocol," Celestia replied dejectedly, deflating a bit. "You know that going against it would be an insult... but we've ignored it before - and besides, keeping Toby in the slammer with next to no knowledge about him seems wrong, Luna!!"
"We were eliminating potential threats to Equestria," Luna said haughtily. "It's the protocol, sister -"
"Which, many times, has been given exception by the both of us!" Celestia countered. "No - something was off about you back there, Luna, and you can't hide that - especially from your own sister."
"Well, I seemed to hide the fact that I was overshadowed by you pretty well a thousand years ago!!" Luna snapped in reply.
It was as if a white-hot dagger had been thrust into Celestia's very soul. A very hot, wet feeling developed behind her stinging eyes. It took a lot of willpower to develop her lip from trembling.
Luna recoiled as well - her pupils shrank to pinpricks, and she looked severely abashed.
"Tia, I... I didn't mean that..."
Celestia walked over to her sister and embraced her.
"I-I know, Lulu," she replied quietly. "But you know better - I love you, sister, you know that."
After a long moment, they released one another. Luna looked back into her sisters eyes as her lips puckered into a reluctant grin. "I love you too, sister - I'm sorry, I was feeling so - so..."
Her voice faltered off, and Celestia looked at her curiously. "Feeling - what?"
"It - it's not important, Tia," Luna replied impatiently, blushing slightly.
Celestia studied her sister's face for a long moment, then sighed. "Will you at least tell me what spawned that awful behavior, then? Luna, I'm concerned - please - tell me. Is something wrong?"
Luna looked at her sister and bit her lip, rocking back and forth upon her hooves, as if on the verge of revealing forbidden information. She then ground her teeth nervously, avoiding eye contact with her sister.
"I - I would rather not say, Tia; it's rather embarrassing," Luna said in a pleading voice.
"You acted hateful back there, Luna, hateful - that's not like you..." Celestia put in.
"I know, sister," Luna admitted, "But I had my reasons..."
"Luna, look at me."
Luna looked into her sister's eyes, and Celestia scrutinized her face deeply. As Celestia leaned in for a closer look, her own face scrunched up in a shrewd manner. Then, suddenly, she recoiled, looking at her sister with an expression of happiness laced with amazement as well as confusion.
"Luna - no."
Luna grinned. "Guilty as charged, sister... please, do not make a fuss about it -"
"That's why you acted that way?" Celestia said, staring at her sister in a slight daze. "Luna, there are healthier ways to disguise your true impressions, you know."
"Yes, I'm aware, sister," Luna replied hastily, "But it's not something I wanted to show -"
"Your secret's safe with me, Luna," Celestia said with a twinkle in her eye. "I am your sister, after all. Now, I believe you have some duties to attend before you raise the moon?"
Luna froze. "Oh! My apologies - I forgot it almost completely - with Twilight being crowned in a couple weeks, and the fact we are to retire afterward, I occasionally forget my duties."
"As did I," Celestia chuckled. "Well, you get to it, then - I'm going to turn in. Goodnight, Luna."
As Luna began to walk away, she frowned and turned back. "Tia, if this gets out - especially to the ape -"
"Wait, wait," Celestia said, taken aback at Luna's choice of words. "Why would you call him that if you -?"
"Don't!!" Luna yelped. "Don't say it!!"
Celestia grinned stubbornly, biting her tongue. "Fine. Could we at least address him with the proper pronoun, please? I think both you and I are agreed that Toby is a male."
Luna huffed. "Fine."
Celestia stared at her sister blankly. "You can be so confusing sometimes, you know that?"
"Goodnight, Tia," Luna replied with a warm smile. Then the two went their separate ways.
It had been a long march through the downhill marsh-like areas that were a result of the downhill area that surrounded the Song Tra Bong. During the day, the black, tropical soil turned into something more along the lines of sludge, and it soaked up the torturing heat of the sun. Hour after hours would be spent trudging through the muck - and it only became harder the farther you went, for the sludge would find its way into your boots, weighing you down. Pulling them out of the muck was a grueling task as well, for every time your boot pulled away from the sludge, it followed with a horrible slurping noise.
Everything was so tranquil during the day, especially when compared to the horrors of the night. Passing by villages, you could see the villagers making about under the afternoon sun - tending to their crops, making the daily commute for water, and watching the very young children were probably only a fraction of the things going on in the village.
Toby remembered seeing a village such as that in the second day of their march. They had spent that morning walking through the goo of the Song Tra Bong River, but now they had plodded up a ridge that overlooked the valley. From up top, the valley below had looked so innocent in the afternoon sunlight. The trees glistened far below, covering the valley in a gentle-looking green blanket.
The said village was in a nice little alcove on the mountain - there was a slight overhang provided by the trees that hung over a vertical cliff-face, which dropped into the village below. The villagers from Toby's distance looked like pinpricks, but he couldn't help but wonder how active they would become as soon as the sun dropped behind the horizon. He shuddered at the possibilities.
The only thing worse than marching by a village from afar was when they were forced to march through them - you could never tell which of the passerby were studying you, your movements, your habits. You could never tell if they would be the ones to deliver the final shot or blow to snuff out your life. They would just watch you as you passed, unmoving, like vultures perched upon the branches of a parched tree.
Toby's squad had set up camp on the west side of the ridge; the rest of his platoon were stationed at strategic positioned along the rest of the ridge, which ran southwest of their position. Fortunately for Toby, he was assigned to be in the same squad as Garbanzo - his sanity check of a human being. They seemed to be on the same page with about almost everything.
"You'd think it would all be like something outta some cheesy movie," said Garbanzo that night as the two surveyed the village down below through the trees. Lights from fires flickered up to them and danced in their eyes, hiding the hollowness underneath.
"I guess," Toby replied after a short moment of silence. "The nights are much more... surreal. More surreal than they make it seem in the movies."
"I feel ya, Tobes," Garbanzo sighed. For such a big man, he had a surprisingly smooth, calm voice. He turned to Toby and put a hand on his shoulder. "Listen, man. I'll take the watch this time - what you - er, witnessed the other night at the river? You need your break. If I've said it once -"
"You've said it a million times," Toby finished. "Look - I'm fine. You took night watch last night. Let me take it - get your rest."
"No, man, I'm serious," Garbanzo said firmly. "Listen, you weren't the only one to see that kid you blew -" He cut himself short upon seeing the expression upon Toby's face.
"Okay, okay - take it," Toby said, wanting with every inch of his existence to avoid the topic. "I-I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"
Garbanzo seemed to want to say something in reply, but shook his head and turned away. Toby watched him as his large form receded back into the trees -
CLANG!!!
A familiar metallic noise woke Toby from his slumber. His left side was sore from the stone floor, and he noticed that his arms were wrapped tightly around his legs to keep warm.
He slowly turned himself over to face the guard he knew would be standing at the door. To his complete lack of surprise, a pegasus guard that he had never seen before stood next to the door to his cell.
"Breakfast!" the guard barked in a feminine voice. Her eyes then met the plate of unfinished food from the day before - probably his dinner, which he slept through, he couldn't remember. Her eyes then slowly moved from the unused cot and blanket to Toby's form.
"Aren't you cold?" the guard asked, dropping her professional manner in an instant.
Toby didn't reply; he just stared back at the guard stubbornly. No eating. No speaking.
The pegasus stared back, then frowned a little. "Well... okay. Enjoy yourself." Her tone was impassive, but to Toby it sounded as it had been almost disdainful.
He did not move as he listened to the clack clack of the guard's hooves as she moved away. Then he rolled over, facing himself away from the food. They wouldn't be able to make him eat, no matter how hard they tried. Even then, they didn't seem to care much.
Funny how that keeps happening, Toby thought with a fierce bitterness as he closed his eyes again.
"Morning, Luna!" rang out Celestia that very same morning as her sister trudged into the room. Luna looked at the spectacular display of pancakes that lay steaming in wait for her on the table, and grinned sleepily.
"Thank you, sister," she yawned as she took her seat. She took a massive bite out of the stack, not even bothering to use the fork, and sighed as she sat back and closed her eyes. Celestia watched with amusement as her sister swallowed and let out the most uncouth burp she had ever heard.
"Excuse me," Luna slurred. She then met her sister's eyes. "Had I known your breakfasts were this good, sister, I would never have become Nightmare Moon."
Celestia chuckled. "I'm flattered, Luna," she said sarcastically with a grin. "Though I do appreciate the fact that you enjoyed them. Or enjoying them, anyway," she added as Luna ferociously tore out a chunk of pancake that was much larger than her mouth. She retched, and the chunk landed on her plate with a depressing plop.
There was a moment of silence between the two, and then they burst into a massive gale of laughter.
"Oh, how I will enjoy retirement," Luna laughed, wiping a tear from her eye.
"As will I," Celestia said brightly. Then, suddenly, her face became serious. "Luna - I know it's a bit early, but... can I bring an idea I have to your attention?"
Luna, who had finally decided to use the fork and had it halfway lifted to her mouth, paused. "Er... of course," she said, disconcerted from the sudden change in her sister's expression.
Celestia sighed. " I know it's a bit - um, quick - to bring this up, but I was thinking one of us -" she gave her sister a pointed look "- could interrogate Toby further today."
The atmosphere in the room changed immediately. Luna just stared at Celestia without reply, making Celestia shift uncomfortably in her seat.
"Luna - we need to give him that chance," she said after a very uncomfortable silence. "I know your feelings are torn, but please give him this chance. We can't know whether we can trust him or not until we know him better... Luna?"
Luna looked at her sister, and took a deep breath. "Fine," she said in a dampened tone. "On one condition."
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening."
"I want Twilight and her friends to interrogate him as well - individually," Luna replied. "It will give us the best angle on him. Mark my words, Tia, if he's anything like I said he is -"
"No, I don't think so," Celestia replied coolly. "He was pretty quiet during the interrogation yesterday."
"You've been deceived before, Tia," Luna pointed out. "All I'm saying is that anything could happen."
"Which is why we'll take the necessary precautions, of course," Celestia said with an affirming nod. "I assure you I'm not letting down my guard with the request I made; I just feel that it should be within our morals to give the poor thing a chance. I will, however, summon Twilight and her friends to the castle to interrogate him -"
"He should be interrogated by one of them once a day," Luna interjected. "That should total up to seven days."
Celestia bit her lip, but then sighed, knowing that they would never reach a consensus unless if she agreed to this.
"Have it your way, Luna," she agreed after a short moment. "Can I say just one little thing, though?"
Luna nodded.
"A less aggressive attitude would go a long way," Celestia said, standing up from the table. "Just saying. Oh - and the time during which you interview him will be up to your discretion."
Luna nodded again, curling her lips into a slight grin this time.
Celestia smiled back at her sister and made to leave the room to attend her morning court. Before she could reach the door however, it was flung open and a female pegasus guard stepped through.
"It hasn't eaten any of the food it's been presented so far, your majesty," she said nervously. "None of it."