//------------------------------// // Chapter 87: Messes Made // Story: Pandemic: Starting Over // by Halira //------------------------------// All dreams must end, even magical ones hosted by Dreamwardens.  When I awoke, I was once again in the dark. I sniffed the air and smelled that something had changed. I stood up and followed my nose, and eventually, my hooves brushed against some hay. Feeling around some more also netted a bowl with what felt and smelled like water. Hay and water, the breakfast of champions; at least they weren't going to starve me.  It occurred to me that the cell lacked anything resembling a toilet. I didn't think they were going to give me bathroom breaks during the torture sessions either. I would have to pick out a corner and deal with the fact my cell was going to smell like piss and shit. Maybe I could find an area where the floor was slightly depressed so the stuff could pool there rather than seep all over the cell floor and force me to lay in it. I hadn't asked how the others had dealt with the issue. It seemed a massive oversight on my part. Then again, maybe I didn't want to hear the truth.  I ate a little bit and drank some water. Without finishing the food, I walked around the cell some more, hoping that the floor was slightly indented somewhere. Unfortunately, it was not. That left me with a pressing problem when it came to sanitation. I sat and considered it, with my bladder now aching in response to me remembering it existed.  It wasn't going to be pleasant, but I had an idea of how to deal with it. It was time to make the shoddy construction methods I had used in Riverview useful. My talent was making the most of what I had and creating something more significant than the sum of the parts, and right now, I had hay, shit, water, and piss. I would have a smaller breakfast today, but at least I would have a makeshift latrine. This was going to be sickening to do, but it would keep the cell slightly more sanitary than it might otherwise be. If it worked, I could share the details of how to do it with the others if they hadn't worked out something already on their own.  I pulled the remaining hay over to a corner and pissed and crapped on it, then got to the filthy business of shaping and molding the mixture by hoof. I worked for what I was sure was more than an hour, wiped my hooves on the close-by wall, and stepped away to try to catch my breath. My eyes were watering, and I felt like vomiting. If I knew if vomit would be helpful in my work, I probably would have forced myself to add that to the mixture, but I had no idea. I was no chemist or construction worker. I only knew about this method by experience with the ponies who had shown it to me and instructed me in how houses could be built with this stuff as material. Technically I was supposed to have sticks to use as a framework, but this would have to do. After catching my breath, I went back to work, and after another unbearable amount of time, I was fairly sure I had a small makeshift wall around the corner to keep the piss from spreading out from the corner. I hoped the cell was warm enough that it would dry up between uses rather than just sitting. The crap and piss in the hay seemed like it was drying well enough, so there was that much.  I wiped my hooves against the wall again, returned to the water bowl, took what was probably going to be my last drink for the day, and then washed my hooves in the remaining water. I carefully nudged the bowl across the floor after that and dumped the remainder of its contents in the makeshift latrine.  Well, that was probably all the productivity I would get on the day, at least until they came and grabbed me for another session. Then I could focus on trying to learn more details in between bouts of agony. It reduced the chances I would get sick from the conditions here, at least. I would be struggling as it was to keep alert without worrying about becoming gravely ill. Doing everything I could to maintain my health helped aid me in getting out of this alive. I waited in the dark. Again I went through my counting exercises. I paced the floor for what little activity I could manage. I tried to use magic, failed, tried again, and failed yet again. I tried a dozen different spells of increasingly simpler complexity; nothing would work. I felt the magic inside me, but it was like someone had stopped up my horn.  Hours went by as I counted the seconds. I checked the status of my latrine and was pleased that the liquid within seemed to have dried. Although, that did indicate that the cell might be on the warmer side. It was best not to overextend myself with pacing. I had already drunk and fouled all the water I was likely going to get for the day. I didn't want to dehydrate. The door opened, and the light from the other side blinded me briefly. Before I could try to get a look at what lay beyond, I was in agony again. I kicked and thrashed as Fain picked me up and practically slammed me onto something metal. She thankfully let go at that point, but I already had someone forcing that hood over my head.  "Have a nice night, Apostate?" Fain taunted. "We know your Dreamwarden bitch and her buddies like to take care of all the prisoners. Pray for sleep; it’ll be the only thing you’ll get to enjoy." I heard loud barking behind me and tried to turn in the direction it was coming from, but Fain slapped my head.  "Don't you worry about my pups," the voice I now knew was Dog Bite said. "You just stay on your cart, and they won't try to use you for a chew toy. If you are thinking of escaping out of your cell later, they'll be on you in a second. Don't think about trying because I don't want you to give my poor dogs indigestion." I heard Fain walk away, and the barking intensified as I heard another metal door open. There was a quick scuffle, and the sounds of someone crying out in pain, followed by the sounds of a body colliding with another metal cart.  "Nice try," Fain complimented whoever she just slammed. "I didn't expect you to respond so quickly to the door opening. Didn't take any time at all for you to recover from the first light you've seen in days. The Apostate didn't do half as well, and she's only been here for one. Hell, I've had to try to pull that myself, back in the day, and I know I didn't do that well either. You're quite the spirited fighter." "Why are you doing this?" Salt Shaker, one of the earth pony prisoners, asked with a pained groan.  "Me personally? I want to be what I should have ended up as, what I deserve, and these shitbag Harmonists finding out what the old preacher knows is the only way that will ever happen," Fain replied. "I also like seeing you undeserving disappointments get what's coming to you for turning your backs on the truth." "You're just as bad as the people who tortured you eight years ago, worse even," I growled.  I was struck, there was agony, and consciousness must have escaped me again. The next thing I knew I was in a lighted metal room without a hood on my head. I looked around myself. I was on a metal cart, like one of those carts the AV club back in high school might have used for transporting televisions from classroom to classroom, and I was tied down to it. Salt Shaker was also here, on an identical looking cart, also tied down, but he was still out for the count. Fain was standing in a corner with her arms crossed, watching us. Doctors Rossman and Lair were here, standing far away from Fain, and looking like they would rather be anywhere else. The final person in the room was Royal Bearing. "Waking up?" Royal asked me as I looked around the room. "We got word this morning that there are suddenly warrants to search my property and the homes of several others here. I guess we went through that whole spotlight crap yesterday for nothing. I said I wasn't going to underestimate you and your Dreamwarden pals, but it seems I did. I thought I had covered everything by making sure Honey Dew never heard me and no one ever saw my face, but you must have figured something out. Memory of my voice? Is that how you pulled it? Only the ones that talked have warrants." "If you're too stupid to have figured it out, I'm not telling you," I growled.  He shook his head. "You are in no position to be defiant. Just to let you know, yes, your magic does work in this room, but Fain has been doing her thing to you the whole way in here, and will continue to do so. So, don't expect to pull any magic mischief to get out of here. If you try to do something despite my warnings, I will immediately kill whoever we brought to be your playmate for the moment." "What happened to not killing anyone!" Rossman angrily protested. Lair, a unicorn mare who was his primary assistant, whimpered at the suggestion.   Royal looked over at him with a wicked grin. "If the Apostate doesn't act up, we won't. Calm yourself, doctor. You were the one that said that lives sometimes needed to be sacrificed to advance magical knowledge, after all. So be happy and hope that she’ll cooperate." "Why do we have to be here for this?" Lair whined. Royal chuckled. "Who else is going to make sense of what the Apostate spills if we get something from her. It isn't out of the question we can break through her compulsions with enough… incentive. You two add an extra layer of protection against any mischief. The Apostate is tricky and sly, and I feel better having a crystal pony in here in addition to Fain. Rossman is the only one of the traitor tribe we've got." "I’m going to be a crystal pony," Fain muttered. She seemed to take the term traitor tribe personally. Maybe she felt some weird kinship with the tribe she was on track to become back during ETS. This entire conversation was filled with information. He could be lying about there being only Rossman for crystal ponies here, just to give me misinformation, but his distaste for the tribe felt real.  "Taking notes, Apostate?" Royal asked me with a raised eyebrow. "Nothing useful, I expect. Let me explain to you how this is going to work. We are going to wheel you in here, and then wheel one of your Blessingist followers in. Fain is going to play with them, play with you, play with them again, and keep that up until we can't keep them awake anymore. Then we are going to replace them with another and start the whole process over again. I know a spell that can wake just about anypony, and I'll be using that exclusively on you, to make sure you get to enjoy all our time together. Once we have gone through all your friends today, we'll toss you all back in your cells and see how the Dreamwardens feel about those compulsions. If they don't remove them, we will start fresh again tomorrow." He walked up close to me and held my eyes. "And I have no problem offing any one of them at any time if you or they try to escape. We'd be down a playmate, but I've got to send a message, now don't I?" He lowered his voice to a whisper, too low for the others in the room to hear. "In fact, if you still have your compulsions on you tomorrow when you rejoin us, I think one of them might just pass in their sleep from all the strain they are under the next night, and another the next night, and so on. I can tell these things, you know? In fact, if we lose a playmate, I might need to find a replacement. Now, where would I… oh I know. We have a nice little filly who no doubt is eager to play." I screamed with rage and lit my horn. I might not be able to control my magic right, but I could blow Royal and me to kingdom come with a sloppy spell.  My magic started draining immediately, and I knew the telltale feeling of a crystal pony at work. The next instant I was in agony as Fain grabbed onto me.  It lasted several seconds before it came to an end. It was several more before I could see straight.  What I saw when I could was Royal walk over to Salt Shaker. Royal lit his horn and the earth pony struggled to do anything in panic, but was still reeling from Fain’s touch. With a single burst of magic, Royal blasted Salt Shaker's head off.  Rossman and Lair were crying, and I even heard Fain gasp. I was in shock, staring at the remains of the pony who had been counting on me to help get him free.  "Go get another one, Fain. This one is broken," Royal sneered. "I don't think the Apostate is going to try anything like that again." I couldn't even cry. The shock was too much. I couldn't help repeating one thing in my head. I did this. Royal walked over to me, sneering. "Maybe now you understand, I don't bluff. Each of those Blessingists is going to get wheeled in here, on that blood-stained cart, knowing they could be next. I'm going to make sure they know why this happened, and who is to blame. I'll leave them waiting until your Dreamwarden friends go to find you tonight to find out who this pony was, so they can spend the rest of the evening stewing on it. You aren't to say another word today or try anything else, or you will end up down another pony. It won't stop our playtime, but I'm going to enjoy the look in your eyes. I wonder how many of them will look at you in admiration now. Are you feeling clever now, Apostate?" I lowered my head and cried.  Royal used his magic to lift my head to force me to look at him. "You know… we're down one now. I guess the filly will be joining us tomorrow. You had better behave yourself, and Yinyu better consider what her granddaughter's life is worth." "We agreed we were just going to use that as an empty threat!" Rossman screamed. "She's a foal!" Royal turned to glare at Rossman. "I don't make empty threats. This is to pressure Dreamwardens to do what we want. You can't bluff a Dreamwarden. If you're going to make a threat to them, you had better sure as hell mean it." Fain had been sloppily making sure the body was secure on the cart, but paused where she was at briefly, and looked at Royal, then wordlessly resumed what she was doing.  "You got a problem, Fain?" Royal demanded.  She hesitated for just a half-second. "Nope...just annoyed at the mess you left," she replied. She then started pushing the corpse-laden cart away. "Don't make any more messes. I ain't your cleaning lady." "Just go get the next one," Royal growled. He then looked back at me. "Settle in. The day is just starting."