Aphelion jolted awake. The first thing he perceived was the pounding pain in his head. Everything around him was spinning as Aphelion was dizzy from the pain. Feeling every part of his brain burning in response to every single stimulus, Aphelion attempted to brace himself. As he moved a hoof to feel the ground underneath him, a sharp sound sent waves of pain flooding in his head. With great difficulty, Aphelion looked down and focused his sight until it steadied and stopped spinning. On his forelegs, he could see chains wrapped around his hooves and bolted down to the stone wall around him. The stone walls were close to him, and Aphelion felt that if he was to stand up on his hind legs and spread his fore legs apart, he could easily touch both surfaces with little issue. In front of him, he saw tiny little steel columns blocking his path. Steel bars. it then dawned on him: he was in a jail cell.
His memories were blurry. Trying to remember the events of the day prior caused more waves of pain to come crashing down in his brain. He instead decided to the here and now before anything else. His mouth and throat were dry, his entire body was sore, and he felt like throwing up. All in all, Aphelion was in a rough shape, but nothing too unfamiliar as he was used to the effects of severe magical exhaustion. All he needed to get back on his hooves was to drink his body mass in coffee, which would be more complicated than usual since he had been arrested. "...Oh, shit. I'm in jail," he groaned, the reality of his situation finally setting in. Closing his eyes and sitting down, Aphelion tried to remember the events of the previous day. While the details were hazy, he was still able to piece together the larger elements that led him there: he remembered the botched delivery, Sandstorm's plan, the infiltration of the castle, the discovery of the strange dungeon underneath the palace, the running away from the guards... And the betrayal. He sighed, feeling even worse than before. The pain became both physical and emotional. Hearing hoofsteps beyond his cell, Aphelion reopened his eyes to see two royal guards approaching his cell, a pegasus and an earth pony.
They glared at him with spite, though Aphelion was able to pick up on a hint of another emotion on the guards' faces: hesitation, uncertainty. One of the guards spoke up. "You're going to follow us. Captain Armor wants to see you. No funny business on the way, got it?"
Aphelion silently nodded and watched as the chains on his hooves were removed. The guards clearly didn't see Aphelion as a threat, as he would have otherwise been brought to this 'Captain Armor' in hoofcuffs. Nothing had been done to prevent Aphelion from using his magic as well, but in his current state, any attempt at spellcasting would be enough to knock him out once again.
Following the guards, Aphelion went through many flights of stairs, doors and security checks. Looking through a window, he saw that he was still within the palace, though on the complete opposite side of the royal library. The guards pushing him forward, Aphelion was unable to linger there. Not that he minded, however, as the sunlight was enough to strengthen his headache. Eventually, he was brought into a small room with just a table, two chairs and no windows. He sat down as he observed the guards leaving him in the room, locking the door behind. And then, Aphelion waited.
Without any clock, or without any windows to see the sun in the sky, Aphelion had no way of checking how much time had passed. He initially attempted to count the seconds in his head, mostly to remain calm while left to his own thoughts, but he lost count after 2000 due to his worsening headache. "Textbook interrogation method," he thought. "Leaving me alone to feel the pressure rise, trying to see if I'm going to crack before they even start... Not quite what the Pact told me their interrogation methods were like, though."
After another painfully long wait, another pony entered the room. A large, white unicorn wearing an ornate royal guard armor. Aphelion guessed that it was this 'captain Armor' that would interrogate him. Sitting down in front of him, Shining Armor stared at Aphelion and levitated a notebook in front of him. The two stallions observed each other in silence for a moment, before Shining eventually spoke up. His tone remained neutral as the captain of the guard didn't allow any emotion to show, unlike the two previous guards.
"Let's start with the basics. What's your name?"
His thoughts being a total mess, Aphelion was in no capacity to lie and create a story. He decided to settle on short answers. "Aphelion."
"Where do you come from, Aphelion?"
With a frown, Aphelion took a moment before answering. He didn't want to reveal the manor's location, and so went for a half-truth. "...I'm from Manehattan."
"How old are you?"
"23."
After scribbling a few notes, Shining started to think for a bit, wondering which approach to take. Taking into consideration everything he had been told about the unicorn in front of him, Shining decided to go easy on Aphelion. Besides, in his current state, putting any additional pressure would be counterproductive. "So, Aphelion, what happened yesterday?"
"I'm pretty sure we both know what happened today."
Shining sighed. "Listen. I understand that you'd rather not talk about what you did, but this is your chance to explain yourself. You can remain silent if you want, or you can ask for a lawyer, but I wanted to give you an opportunity to explain yourself."
Lowering his head, Aphelion weighed his options. Staying silent would be the best course of action in the short term, as he would be sent back to his cell where he would be able to sleep (or try to, at least). However, it wouldn't improve his odds at walking away free. Getting a lawyer would be difficult, as the only one he knew worked for the Crescent Pact. Aphelion didn't want to deal with the Pact even though they would certainly be able to get him out of the palace, but that would also mean going back to the manor. "Not yet," Aphelion thought. "I still need to figure out the truth... Whatever it may be."
And so, taking a deep breath, Aphelion opted for honesty and transparency. "Yesterday, I snuck into the palace in order to steal classified documents."
A faint smile appeared on Shining's lips, glad to see Aphelion cooperating, before turning back into an expressionless state. "How did you manage that?"
"It's a long story, so I'll summarize the important points. Yesterday was a good opportunity, as I was told there would be less guards in the royal library. We went there under the pretense of visiting the literary convention and found a secluded area there. I used a spell to pass through stone and we... Ended up in the archives after some time."
"You keep saying 'we'. Can you tell me more about those with you?"
Aphelion winced, indicating to Shining that this was a touchy subject. "...Yes. Two mares. They took care of planning out the infiltration. I... Thought I could trust them."
Shining then started asking questions on the finer details of the infiltration while writing down notes. Most of the questions felt rhetorical, or more specifically, they gave the impression that Shining already knew the answers. He just wanted to hear it coming from Aphelion's mouth. The only exception to that were the questions surrounding the strange dungeon found underneath the library, which Shining was legitimately curious about. After going through every aspect of the heist (much to Aphelion's chagrin, his headache not getting any better), the captain of the guard went on to the next part of the interrogation.
"Alright, I think we've got a good grip on what happened. Now, we need to figure out the 'why'."
Aphelion tensed up. The Crescent Pact had remained dormant, hidden for 200 years. Was he going to blow their whole cover out? But then again, the archives contained files on the Pact itself, so the Pact wasn't as hidden as they thought...
"We can take a quick break, if you want," Shining added after noticing Aphelion's hesitation. "I can get you a glass of water. You look like you need one."
"I... Yes, please. That'd be nice," he replied, defeated. As Shining Armor stood up and was about to leave, Aphelion decided to ask a question first. "Wait. Why are you going easy on me?"
Stopping in his tracks, the white unicorn looked at the dark gray one. "Three reasons. One, you're already in a rough shape. Pushing you around wouldn't really help me getting answers. Two, you've gained a lot of sympathy in the eyes of the guards after you've saved those in the tunnels. You could have saved yourself, but instead you stayed behind. As their captain, I respect what you did. And three..."
Shining paused for a moment for dramatic effect. He could see Aphelion getting antsy while waiting for the last reason. "...Princess Celestia herself asked us to go easy on you," Shining said as he left, leaving behind a flabbergasted Aphelion.