//------------------------------// // Ch - 2 - bars // Story: A Fatal Error Has Occurred // by Orderly Disassembly //------------------------------// That day was an interesting one, but dear, dear Ring Lead was not why; not the entire reason at least.  My silence was to end in five minutes but then something unprecedented happened; something horrifying, something exhilarating, something new.  The air heated up, the walls quivered, and shivers ran down the spines of all who were kept there.  Tartarus itself spoke, as if to demand something of us.  `We have a visitor,' it said. ‘Please step forth’ it asked.  ‘Behave’ it screamed.  All of its words and every intent within were conveyed through the lightning that cracked the air, the anticipation that bled into our souls, and the dread that followed. Laughter, grunts, begging, and screams all joined the cacophony that chorused at Tartarus’s message.  It was music to me: a silent, smiling observer of what I considered the greatest art to ever be wrought. Hate, anger, greed, despair, and above all, regret, saturated the stale winds of this hell.  I did not join for I was but an observer, a fellow artist looking in rather than a mere piece of the puzzle.  So I smiled, so I smile. I heard hooves clopping on the slate that served as the dismal street for my wretched home.  My grin widened as I watched the code of the air straighten itself out into perfect lines that were almost as clean as my string. Almost.  Then a magnificent, horrifying, distasteful, and beautiful sight greeted me.  An alicorn of pristine white with an ethereal multicolored mane strode into view with a few guards flanking her. Arcane energy arched through the air around her in blinding flashes of functionless code.  She stopped as the guards passed by to retrieve my neighbor. The clean feathers, the manicured hooves, the flowing mane, and the straight horn all disgusted me.  However, she had one saving grace, one feature that overshadowed the rest of her over perfection.  Her scowl was darker than the deepest pits of my prison, the hate palpable, and I had to resist drinking in the rage that barely lay hidden beneath. Celestia was a powder keg itching to explode. However, that only fueled my joy, the sight of such a graceful, pure, ‘perfect’ monarch with such an ugly expression. As a fellow artist, I felt the need to compliment her work. “You should frown more, princess, it suits you well.” Her glare hardened as she fully focused on me. “I have a demand, beast.” I sighed as I tilted my head back. “I keep telling you princess, I’m a monster, not a beast. There’s a difference you know.” Her silence prompted me to continue. “Well, what do you want? I may have all day but I doubt that you do.” She grimaced as she spoke. “I want you to use your talents to extract information from a criminal.” My gaze snapped back to her and my dead eyes stared for a moment before she continued. “He refuses to cooperate, and you seem to be well-acquainted with the necessary methods of… convincing him.” Opportunity. I reached out to grab the bars and clenched boney fists around the grainy cylinders of metal.  “And why, pray tell, would I do that?” Celestia held her head high while staring down her muzzle at me. “Is doing something good for once in your life not enough? Is the challenge, the thrill, or the satisfaction not enough? Or are you too scared to try?” I had to snuff out a cloud of anger after that comment.  Do something good? I do good every time you put a prisoner next to me, I scare them, I remind them, and I make them less likely to make the same mistake ever again.  Sure, I do it more for my own entertainment but still. Though, I suppose the attempt at appealing to my ego was amusing.  I waved a hand as I shook my head.  “No no no, not at all princess. I love playing with the toys you so graciously continue to send me.” I tilt my head, letting one fist relax and drag bony fingers down the bar. “And failure doesn’t scare me, especially since it’s nigh guaranteed as I am now. I just don’t see why I should try to help you.” Celestia blinked. “You don’t believe you would succeed?” “Oh, most definitely not. All I'm able to do currently is tell people things they don’t want to hear, to remind them of their mistakes. In all honesty, I probably couldn’t break the stronger of your guardsman if I wanted to at the moment.” Celestia sighed as she turned away. “Then you’re wasting my time.” I wanted to make a remark about how she was wasting her time all on her own, but I bit it back. “Now now, I didn’t say that, I just need some… wiggle room.” She faced me again with suspicion written all over her face. “What do you mean by that?” “Oh, just the smallest smidgen of my magic needs to be released, that's all, just an itsy bitsy little bit.” Her face contorted into a grimace. “Absolutely not!” Her near-instant reply left a ringing in my skull but I pressed on. “I don’t need much, just my strings, the unicorn equivalent would be allowing me the weakest of levitation spells.” Her scowl deepened. “You yourself have claimed that you are not adept at the task at hoof. Why should I make such unwise concessions when I gain nothing?” I tilted my head. “I said ‘as I am now.’ With that tiny bit of magic and a little bit of space, I could probably break almost anyone.” She stepped closer to the bars, looking over me as her magic crackled around her. “Do you think I honestly believe that? When one gives such contradictory statements, they are almost certainly lying.” Almost? Not very confident are we, Celestia? Too afraid to deal in absolutes? “My statements do not contradict, I said that I couldn’t do it as I am now. However, with a little space and my strings…” I let the statement hang and she brought her head down in thought. I wasn’t asking for much, just a little room, just a little power, just a little leverage.  However, sometimes the smallest of tools can deal the greatest of damage. After all, is a bullet not more dangerous than an arrow when fired? “All you need is your strings correct?” Hook.  “Correct, give me my strings, give me a solitary cell to roam freely, give me some time, and you’ll find out everything you want to know.” She took a deep breath in and let it out. In, out, in, out, letting the calm rhythm soothe her. “And you’re sure that you can do it?” I leaned away from the bars. “What am I dealing with?” No hesitation held back her answer. “A horrible villain with almost no peer and no morals to speak of.” “A year and a half.” Celestia blinked. “What?” “Give me a year and a half, then you’ll find a broken person crying in his cell.” She bit her lip as she paced in front of my prison for a moment before she snapped her head in my direction. “You’re sure, you’re absolutely sure?” Line.  “Yes.” She stared into my eye sockets of red and blue; one to see the lies, one to see the truth.  However, I don’t know what exactly she saw. Eagerness perhaps, arrogance, possibly even pure evil?  I suppose it does not matter what she saw because whatever it was didn’t prevent her nod.  “Then let’s shake on it, my strings, and a big cell for your information.” I reached a hand through the bars but Celestia only looked at it. I coaxed her forth with a few words. “It is customary to seal deals with a hoofshake is it not?” She hesitated for a moment before she let my hand grasp her hoof… And failed to notice the string that lined the inside of my hand.  The smallest of tools, those are all I ever need. And sinker.