The Things He Carried

by Makerofthebuttswagger


Chapter 4

Another meal had come and gone, and Toby still refused to eat - much to the disapproval of his stomach. This was going to be much harder than he thought.

They seemed to be making more of an effort, however - they included a biscuit along with other items that wouldn't generally suit a human's stomach. The biscuit did tempt him, since he hadn't eaten since he had grabbed that burger - it felt like an eon had passed since that day.

Fortunately for him, a distraction in the form of the pegasus guard came to his rescue.

She had arrived no more than five minutes after a different guard had delivered the food. She paused near the door of Toby's cell, and her eyes found the untouched plate on the floor. Her eyes flickered between the plate and Toby for a brief moment, but she said nothing. Then she breathed in deeply and announced, "Princess Luna has summoned you."

It was as if a bucket of ice cascaded down his throat. He swallowed and clenched his hands while millions of speculations ran through his mind. Why did the mean princess want him? What was she going to do? Was he going to be killed, or sentenced to prison for life?

The guard fumbled with a key, then opened the door and stepped through with a pair of rusty cuffs in her mouth. She stepped into his cell and gave him a pointed look.

Toby hesitated, then, slowly, raised his arms outward so that she could bind him, seeing no reason to struggle. The guard cuffed him, then tied a rope to his cuffs so that she could lead him away. As they were leaving the cell, a sudden inspiration came upon Toby.

He flipped the plate of food over with the toe of his boot, sending his wanna-be meal across the floor. The clatter of the plate caused the guard to jump, making her turn and scowl at him as if to say, Try me, buddy. I've faced much worse. But then her eyes met the mess on the ground.

"Oops," Toby rasped quietly, trying with all his might to not show any emotion. It seemed that he did well, for the guard's eyes widened and looked at Toby in a shocked manner. They then narrowed, as if trying to search for something she couldn't find. Then, finally, she stepped back to grant him departure from the cell.

As the guard led him out of the dungeons, Toby marched along in silence. He could feel his fear and anger fading to numbness with every step. Who cared if he was sentenced to death? Who cared if he wasn't eating? He certainly didn't, for it no longer mattered to him.

They had only traveled a short ways inside the castle before the guard led him into a pitch black room to their left. The only details Toby could make out were those of the iron door that stood ajar. As they passed, he noticed the thick steel bars that seemed to be hidden behind a pane of stained glass. He frowned slightly; why in the world would someone want to hide a room like this in a castle? Or keep one in the castle, for that matter?

He was pulled into the room roughly, shaking him out of his speculations. A pair of hooves roughly forced him into a chair, scraping his chest painfully. He let out a startled hiss of pain, but inwardly reprimanded himself for making a sound.

Then, suddenly, the lights blared on, flooding the room with a harsh, white aura. He squinted and blinked painfully for a few moments before adjusting. He was sitting at a beat-up table in the center of the room, which had blank white walls. On the other side of the table in front of him stood Princess Luna, who regarded him with an expressionless face.

Toby felt a slight tug at his wrists, and turned his head as far around as his neck would allow to see the guard binding him to the chair with the same rope she had used to lead him here.

Luna cleared her throat, grabbing Toby's attention again. The lunar princess squinted down at him shrewdly, taking in his physical stature. Her eyes barely widened, but did so ever so slightly that Toby wouldn't have seen it had he not been paying attention to the details. Luna did not betray any emotion, however, and cleared her throat once more.

"You have been detained on suspicion of being a violent individual," Luna began, not breaking eye contact with Toby. "My sister and I, however, have agreed to give you the benefit of the doubt - a fraction of it, anyway - and hear you out."

She paused as if almost expecting Toby to say something, but he remained silent. He stared back at the princess with intense feelings of bitterness filling him from head to toe. So now she was going to hear him out? Would she even listen?? She didn't the time before - why would anything change now?

"I take it by your silence that you have nothing to say?" Luna replied, and to Toby's immense surprise, seemed to soften her expression upon studying his own.

Toby clenched his jaw and remained silent.

"Well - I see," Luna said with a slightly gentler tone. "I see - since you apparently have nothing to say, I will ask my own questions. You mentioned that your race was violent, but my sister convinced me that it may not be the determining factor of - er - certain individuals. What is your background?"

Toby's mind flashed back to a scene in a certain tropical rainforest, in the dead of night - mortars rumbling through the darkness -

He shrugged, feeling that answering such a question would not help his case. The fact that he had been forced into a war he didn't want fight wouldn't increase his chances of freedom. Did he really care, though?

Luna didn't seem to know how to take his response. She did, however, stare at him as if trying to see him from different emotional standpoints. Was this a lure - a mind game to trick him into liking her, so that he would be more easily coerced?

"You have a past, do you not?" Luna pressed, frowning slightly. "How old are you, Toby O'Leary?"

In his shock that she remembered his name, he yelped, "Twenty one!!" Realizing his blunder, he instantly bit his lip so hard it tasted like iron.

Luna nodded, seemingly confused by this. "Indeed - so you would have to have a background?"

Feeling defeated, Toby nodded his head slowly.

"You have a voice; use it!" shot Luna in an irritable voice.

Toby frowned at her. Yelling at him did not give him any sort of desire to comply - rather, in his bitterness towards Moonbutt, he felt more justified in his silence.

"Fine! You will answer me yes or no," Luna submitted, clearly getting very irritated. "Were the levels of violence high on your world?"

Toby stared. For the human race, that wasn't necessarily a 'yes or no' question...

Amazingly, Luna seemed to understand this, and her expression softened ever so slightly. "Was it occasional violence on your world?"

Toby thought for a moment, then nodded his head.

"Was it world-wide, or in specific areas?"

Thinking of the war, Toby stared.

"My apologies - that was not a yes or no question. So, then... did violence only occur in specific areas of your world?"

Toby nodded.

"Were they organized?"

He shook his head.

"Sporadic?"

He nodded.

"Hmm," Luna said, summoning a scroll and quill with a flash of magic. "Is your sense of unity strong where you come from?"

Toby thought for a moment, then frowned. How could he answer that in an accurate way without speaking? He stared at Luna blankly and shrugged.

Luna sighed and looked at the floor for a moment, taking in a deep breath. This was a much calmer Luna than Toby expected coming into this interrogation. Not that he thought any better of her; he hadn't forgotten what had happened in the throne room.

Luna looked back up from her silence and gave him a hard, silent stare. "I need you to speak - you know that, don't you? I will not ask again," she added irritably when Toby continued to remain silent.

Since Toby still showed no sign of reply, she huffed and continued the interrogation.

"Do you consider yourself violent?" she pressed, poising the quill upon the parchment.

Toby paused. He had been violent - but not willingly... he shook his head.

"Have you ever found yourself in violent circumstances?" she pressed, scribbling furiously upon the parchment.

Toby paused and clenched his eyes shut. Please, dear God please, don't let it come to this...

Luna looked up impatiently. "Well!?" she asked harshly.

Toby slowly looked up to Luna's face. The exhausted, dead, stormy gray eyes met the harsh, teal eyes that seemed to want to drag the information out of him. Slowly, he nodded.

"But that contradicts your other answer!!" Luna protested slamming a hoof imperiously down on the table, but Toby didn't flinch. She glared at him for another second, then removed herself from the table and began pacing back and forth.

"You say that you lack violent tendencies, but on the contrary, I don't think you lack anything if you have been in violent situations!!" she snapped angrily, half to herself.

"Permission to speak, your highness," said a voice behind Toby, giving him a start. It was the pegasus soldier that had brought him from his cell. She stepped forward and stood at his side at attention.

"Granted," Luna replied warily.

"Perhaps the violent situation he found himself in was possibly not one he wanted to participate in," she put in reasonably. Toby stared at her incredulously, but still made no sound. Was she sticking up for him?

Luna stopped her pacing and bit her lip, as if she were mulling this information over. She then murmured something to herself, and looked up at Toby with a slightly calmer expression.

"Is this true?" she asked, staring Toby down fiercely as if she were daring him to lie.

Toby stared back blankly, then, slower than ever, he nodded.

Luna squinted at him, clearly scrutinizing the level of honesty he was providing her, and then seemed to find nothing to criticize. She gnawed at her lip in thought, then sighed.

" My sister and I shall give you the benefit of the doubt, Toby, and consider you," she said carefully. "In the meantime, you shall receive more interrogations as the week progresses - not from myself, but from invaluable assets to Equestria's security. Now, before I send you away, I have one more question, and I require your honest answers."

Toby listened attentively.

"I have received word that you are refusing to eat anything presented to you," Luna said with the air of holding back something, which was strange to Toby, since she hadn't bothered to hold back on her anger for the entire length of the interrogation. "Why is that?"

Toby looked at the floor and attempted to lean forward, but forgot that he was bound and ended up sitting back awkwardly again. Finally, seeing no reason to stay silent, he croaked, "It... it doesn't matter, your majesty."

Instantly, Luna recoiled. Even Toby didn't recognize his own voice - croaky, hollow, void of emotion, even a little dead - it would have scared him, but he didn't care. Luna, however, seemed to have a complete mood switch; she looked scared rather than disgusted.

"Well - alright," Luna said in a reserved manner, eyeing Toby in a strange way - was it concern? "I think there are some definite things to consider from this conversation. In the meantime, Clarity - return him to his cell."

The pegasus guard (who was probably Clarity, since there were no other guards in the room) quickly untied him from the chair, tied his wrists together, and led him towards the door.

"And Toby -" Luna said loudly as he reached the door. The guard pulled him to a halt, forcing him to listen.

"Eat something - please," she said in a calm tone. This was an unnerving change in attitude.

Toby shook his head, and heard the lunar princess behind him sigh. Then the guard pushed open the door and gently pushed him through. As he left the room, Toby smiled inwardly with grim satisfaction.