I took a swig of water from my flask. My wings ached with every flap. Things had been particularly hectic today for the knights, so I ended up having to do multiple trips to and back from the Captain’s office. Worse, many of those messages had been urgent.
At some point, a single group of scouts had me do three back-and-forths, each of which took fifteen minutes! I wanted to complain to the Captain, but after seeing her face when she read their notes, I decided not to. Even if my job was as mundane as it was tiring, I couldn’t deny its importance, and that I was helping. She still refused to tell me any of the details, of course…
Now, I was on my final delivery mission for the day. The recipients of this message were deep within the prison layer; so far in that it came close to what the Captain called the abandoned prisons. I tried asking her what the Hades her knights were doing so deep, but she brushed me off, claiming a lack of time. I’d almost blown up in her face. How could I help if I knew next to nothing about The Tower? She was right, though, and only that had kept me calm. We truly did not have the time.
Besides, I’d get to ask Keeper about it. The thought made me excited to finish my day and meet her in our usual spot. Today I’d insist on resting, though, and wouldn’t let her aimlessly lead me around the serf layer. I’d probably even return to my room at the Captain’s manor a bit sooner. Soft bed to melt in? Yes, please.
Hopefully the scouts were already done, or hadn’t even started. Then, I would just hoof them the note and be on my way. No need to wait around for them.
However, as the pocket came into sight—at a distance, I nearly mistook it for a regular corridor, but from up close, the colour of its walls set it apart—a groan escaped my lips. Nopony stood outside. Those bloody bats, always making me wait. It was late, and I was tired. Couldn’t they have waited for me?
It… it wouldn’t hurt if I checked out the inside of the pocket, would it? As long as I didn’t venture too far in, I would avoid most of the danger, right? If they had gone deeper, they would be none the wiser. Even if they were nearby, would they really get on my case for barely poking my muzzle into the pocket? Unlikely.
I nodded to myself and headed through the narrow passage. Once the cave started opening up again, I spotted the group of four bat ponies sitting in a circle and discussing something. One of them noticed me. Too late to sneak away, huh? I waved.
The mare shushed her companions, and started stomping towards me, glaring all the while. Okay, maybe I’d miscalculated. “Hey, you’re not supposed to be in here!” she snarled.
I winced. “Sorry, ma’am. I have your orders, and I didn’t wanna wait around since it’s so late already.”
Her gaze sharpened, and she opened her mouth. At the last moment, she must have decided I wasn’t worth the rant and instead scoffed. “Whatever. Hoof them over.”
I did as told, but stayed around while she read it in case they had a response. I really hoped they didn’t, because even that little detour to the Captain’s office would be a pain in my neck.
Her eyes scanned over it, and she turned to the rest of her group. “The Cap’n wants us to finish scouting this pocket before we head off. I don’t wanna say I told you so, but I told you so.” Groans rose from the group.
They weren’t very scared; was this just a case of a large pocket that would take a lot of time? “Uh, maybe I could help you guys.” Sure, I was tired, but I could still push myself a little, especially if action and adrenaline were involved. Besides, getting myself in these ponies’ good graces would definitely be a goo—
“Why the fuck are you still here? Scram.” Well, this answered that. I turned around so nopony saw my dejected look. What an asshole.
No, she’d just had a long day. It still stung, but I couldn’t hate them for something like that.
I was just trying to help, though…
I flew off, ignoring the ache in my wings. The sooner I was out of here, the sooner I could talk to somepony who actually wanted me around.
I landed and groaned as I closed my wings. There shouldn’t be any monsters in this ravine; too many ponies around, too well-lit. I’d even crossed a fence.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen a real monster since I’d started working for the Captain. Only a few wild or domestic animals, like cows—well, they looked like cows anyway, but they didn’t seem to understand me—or rabbits. Stars knew how they survived down here.
Not that I minded. While I did complain about the lack of excitement, I ultimately preferred to avoid needless risk. Especially after a day like this one. Still, I could relax a lot easier in a well-lit area. Twenty minutes should be plenty to rest up.
I’d arrived in a long ravine in the prison layer, with the occasional building partly embedded into one of the walls. Was this a prison? It didn’t look like my mental image of one, but given the fence and location, there were only so many options.
I almost took off again, but the ache in my wings convinced me otherwise. I didn’t want to meet any prisoners and risk being attacked.
They were bad ponies. Criminals. Of course they would try to hurt me. They were bandits and the like. Evil. They were lucky to be alive. They had been granted mercy. They had killed other ponies, and were now working to make up for it. Their jailors were not the bad ponies. Neither was I for working with them.
Why was I so bloody curious about it, then? Why would I want to see these bandits being punished? I would inevitably feel sorry for them, even though they deserved none of my pity.
I groaned. Why was this trip taking so long? I’d had a long day; why couldn’t my brain simply shut off while I walked? Was that too much to ask? I couldn’t even whine about it out loud, because nopony was around to hear me out. No point complaining by myself.
I tried to spread my wings again, only to decide to wait another ten minutes. I could do that much. I didn’t want to, but I could. I should. I hated not being able to fly. No, not just that. That I could deal with. What I really hated was having to stop myself from flying. Or maybe I was just bored.
This ravine didn’t help, either. The walls stretched so high that the lip was shrouded in darkness. Pegasus instincts drove me to fly up and investigate; that would have to wait. Still, the question remained: Where would it lead? The logical answer would be somewhere closer to the serf layer, but given The Tower’s tendency to disobey basic logic, that seemed unlikely. Since Aurora hadn’t told me about it, I doubted it was a shortcut.
Or maybe The Tower made perfect sense, and the issue stemmed from me. What if the lack of sky had messed up my sense of direction? The horror!
As I continued onward, a turn in the ravine revealed a small village. I’d seen it on the way here, but only from above. The buildings were made of the same materials as the serf housing, but they were smaller, hardly bigger than huts. Unlike the serf homes, they weren’t composed of neatly cut bricks, but of jagged boulders of different sizes and shapes, barely held together by mortar. This had to be a prison, didn’t it? Only one way to know for sure.
In the distance, a mare’s laughter echoed off the walls. As I approached, my ears picked up a conversation. They were out of sight, somewhere near the middle of the small town. I continued onward, until I made it into the town proper. Damn my stupid curiosity.
Finally, I turned a corner and spotted the group, consisting of three unicorns and two earth ponies, sitting at a large outdoor table. Technically it wasn’t outdoor, but that was beside the point. Focus, Silver. I breathed a sigh; at least it wasn’t a prison after all.
To the side stood a scrawny unicorn colt with a dirty golden coat, maybe half a decade older than me. While everypony cheered, he was brooding away from the group. Unlike everypony else, he quickly noticed me and disappeared between two buildings before I even opened my mouth. Was I really that scary? I always liked to think I appeared approachable.
Yeah, Keeper mistook me for a noble! I was bloody approachable, and screw that colt for thinking otherwise.
With that, I pushed the strange young stallion out of my mind. I stood there for a few moments as I considered joining in their little get-together. If it hadn’t been for my meeting with Keeper, I wouldn’t have hesitated. I didn’t know any of them, but that just meant they were friends I hadn’t met yet, and I could definitely go for a drink or two.
I shook my head and I decided to leave. I couldn’t stay more than half an hour, and joining them for such a short time would be awkward, to say the least.
With a flap of my wings, I took off. When I rose over the buildings, a mare called out, “Silverstring, wait!”
I spun around. In front of the largest building in town, above a narrow alley, hovered a batpony mare. Underneath her stood the scrawny stallion, a neutral expression on his muzzle.
I cocked my head and flew towards her. “Who are you? What do you want? How do you know me?” Something was fishy here. Something was fishy about this mare. Her body was riddled with many small scars, as well as a couple of larger ones. Was that really so odd? She didn’t have it much worse than me.
“My name is Bloodmoon. Could you give me a moment of your time? I’ll explain everything.” She gestured towards the building behind her. A moment passed while I considered it, frowning. “Please, it’s important.”
I sighed. “Fine.” Would I ever learn? Then again, what was the worst that could happen? She had no reason to hurt me, so at least I was safe on that front. Probably.
I followed her inside the building, finding it as raw as the outside. The room was rather bare, empty save for a table, three chairs, a single cupboard, and two locked chests in the back.
Bloodmoon sat down, and I soon joined her, not taking my eyes off her.
“Thank you.” She wore a calm smile, which somehow only creeped me out further. “First, I know your name through my connections. I know you work for Aurora, and I know how you ended up stuck here.”
I raised an eyebrow. “If you want anything from the Captain, I can deliver a note.” I had a really bad feeling about this. Bloodmoon already knew this, and her contact could no doubt deliver the message for her.
She shook her head, and her smile grew further, revealing sharp fangs. “No, but you can help us in other ways.”
I stared at her for a few moments. When she didn’t elaborate, I hesitantly asked, “Help you…? With what?” I took a sip from my flask, if only to fill the awkward silence.
“The rebellion, of course.” Bloodmoon was grinning now.
I slowly nodded, then choked on my water. Bloodmoon patiently waited, and once I was done coughing and hacking, I managed to ask, “The bloody what‽ Why would I help with that?”
“Surely you’ve had time to see the state of The Tower, no? I was planning on reaching out to you in another week or two, but since you came to me first…” Her tone, far too suave for my liking, sent a shiver down my spine.
“Yes, but why’d I wanna join a rebellion? I’m a guard. I oppose rebellions,” I said with more than a little snark. If she bloody wanted to play games, I’d play too.
“I know you want to leave The Tower, for one. Besides, you have a good heart, and you are willing to do what’s right.”
My brow furrowed on its own. She was correct; I did aim to help ponies whenever I could. “What makes you think your side is the right one?”
That somehow put a halt to her obnoxious smugness, and she clicked her tongue. “Ah, I see. I guess you haven’t gotten around to grasping how bad things really are.” Before I could truly appreciate the sour expression on her face, it returned to normal. “Give yourself a few more weeks, then come back to me.”
“Why tell me, though? Why are you so bloody calm about this? Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell the Captain?” I started pooling magic in the base of each of my wings. The window wouldn’t stop me if Bloodmoon tried anything.
Yet her expression remained as slimy and smug as always. “Oh, she knows. She just doesn’t have the time to root us out. You could tell her about me, but in time, a new leader would rise up. Unless she cold-bloodedly murders everypony pushing for change, getting rid of me would only complicate things for her in the short term, with no benefit in the long term.”
Bloodmoon hesitated for a moment, squinting at me. “She’d still do it, of course, given enough pressure and incentive from the noble families.” Why was she telling me this? “But where would that leave you? Would you be happy that you managed to have a mare killed for no gain?” Ah, there it was.
She was right, but it still took my entire focus to not lunge at her and beat that stupid grin off her face. Only the knowledge that I would get in trouble kept that particular thread of silvery patience from snapping.
Bloodmoon continued staring at me with that obnoxious smile before dropping the charade entirely. “I hope you realise what I’m putting on the line here. Even if killing me wouldn’t bring you or Aurora anything, I’d still prefer to keep my head attached to my body.”
“Then why are you being such a massive cunt about it‽” I snapped before I could stop myself. For a moment, the conversation outside stopped, only for the silence to be broken by somepony’s laughter, soon joined by others.
“Because I want to make you understand it’s a two-way street, Silver. I am not asking you to help out of the goodness of your heart. Yes, it’s part of it, but I want you to realise I can genuinely help you, if you manage to help me, but also that this isn’t just about you or me. I hold the cards here, and with your help I could actually go all in, and help a bunch of ponies in the process. If I believed that begging was the fastest way to get you to help, I’d do so in a flash.”
Was the room spinning? I pressed my eyes shut. This made no sense. “Why me?” I sighed, folding my ears. After everything, I still didn’t get it. “I’m just a guard in training. I wouldn’t even have that if it wasn’t for bloody dumb luck.” I bit back a tear and shook my head, gulping painfully. “What makes you think I can help?”
How dare you give me hope? A nopony like me couldn’t change anything. Everypony always told me that, even if they didn’t say it.
Bloodmoon was smiling again. Not the obnoxious, overly confident smile of before, but a more genuine one. “Simple. You’re a flyer, you’re decent with a crossbow, and you work directly for Aurora. While she doesn’t trust you, you’re still by far in the best position to stab her in the back. Figuratively, of course. I doubt you would survive if you actually tried to assassinate her.”
“I… see.” When she put it like that, it almost made sense.
“Like I said, take your time to think it over. Take a look at the other prisons. When you change your mind”—If, I mentally corrected her—“I’ll be waiting. I have an outside contact that really holds the cards.”
My mind was stuck on one particular word, though. “The other prisons, you mean that…”
She raised an eyebrow for a moment, before lifting her whole brow, and mouthing an “Oh”. She nodded “Yes, this is a prison. One of the smaller ones, so we’re not expected to produce as much. We mostly survive by stealing the resources the others produce.”
My eyes snapped wide open, and my ears sprang up. I needed to tell the Captain about this! I couldn’t sit by and let thieves do as they pleased! Bloodmoon smiled at me, ever confident. In a flash, my anger died. “She knows, doesn’t she?”
Bloodmoon simply grinned.
“I don’t believe it. Why would she be okay with criminals running a prison‽” I stomped a hoof on the table. “You talk like your cause is just, but you steal from others. You have no leg to stand on!”
Bloodmoon snickered. “Think of how you saw my prisoners when you came here. Think about it when you check out the other prisons.” She snorted. “As for Aurora? She has more important things to worry about. As far as the knights are concerned, as long as each prison produces the resources they’re supposed to, everything is under control.”
“But…”
She shook her head. “I think it’s time for you to go. I’ve told you all there is to tell, and I know that somepony as righteous as you will eventually come around.” There was that tone again. I hated it.
I frowned as I flew away. I needed to talk to somepony about this. If I brought this up to the Captain, would she take me seriously? Or would she brush me off? Worse, what if Bloodmoon was wrong, and the Captain would immediately have her arrested or executed?
While Bloodmoon wasn’t the obvious moral party here, I had to at least give her words some thought. At best, the Captain would be biased and would offer no real advice. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t trust the Captain. She saw me as yet another hoof soldier.
What I needed was somepony neutral on the matter to talk to. Keeper would also be biased. There was somepony else here, though. Somepony I trusted. But who? Her name wouldn’t come to mind, no matter how much I thought about it.
Huh. I was already going insane. Lovely. Well, hopefully insane Silver would have an easier or at least more fun life than sane Silver. Sane Silver was already starting to think of himself in the third person.
I shook my head. I would need to visit one of the prisons.
Keeper and I were wandering the lower parts of the serf layer, currently in a large, well-lit tunnel. One of the main arteries leading down. This was our third venture together into the depths of The Tower, and we were hoping to get further than last time.
“By the way, did you finish Tarot Cloth’s tale?” asked Keeper, still relaxed. She’d come a long way since the first times the two of us had ventured down here.
I smiled and nodded. “Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you since we ain’t seen each other for a couple of days, but I did.”
“What do you think, now that you have the whole picture?”
Our voices echoed throughout the tunnel, but it was common for ponies to travel through here, so it was safe to hold a conversation, even at this volume.
“I liked it! When I got to the last chapter, I just couldn’t stop reading, and stayed up way too late.”
“So…” She raised an eyebrow. “You actually liked the ending?”
I couldn’t stop the grin spreading on my face. “The first half of the book was pretty fun, but what really drew me in was the final battle, when Tarot killed that evil demon thing.”
Keeper lifted her brow and blinked a few times, then chuckled. “That is the opposite of my opinion of it. I think it starts off great, but the gradual escalation of stakes shifts it away from a character-centric masterpiece and towards a bland adventure that constantly strains suspension of disbelief. The characters never lose their shine, of course, but it eventually becomes difficult to take their struggles seriously. Once their personal stakes waned, and only the grand quest to save Equestria remained, the book lost its appeal to me.”
I nodded as she spoke, and when she was finally done, I said, “I don’t understand half the words you just said.”
As she explained, in detail, what she’d just said, we continued onward, and eventually turned down a smaller path to avoid reaching the prison layer.
I listened carefully. This stuff really interested me. I had no idea this much thought could go into analysing a story! I might’ve dozed off if my actual teacher tried explaining it to me, but like this I managed to stay attentive. I almost lost track several times, and if not for the energy she put into it, I would have. Something in her voice compelled me to pay attention, even when it was difficult.
At some point, I forgot to look where we were heading. Part of me knew this was a bad idea, but I refused to break the moment. Keeper was still as relaxed as before, despite our position in The Tower. I couldn’t take that away from her. We’d passed one of the subtle gates for the prison layer a few minutes ago, and she hadn’t noticed.
Oh, oops. “Uh, sorry, Keep, but I got distracted, could you repeat that?”
She opened her mouth, but shook her head, a bashful yet elegant smile on her lips. “I went on a tangent there, apologies.”
“No need to apologise, it was really interesting, and I wanna hear more.”
“I know, but whenever I talk about this subject, I lose track of time, and I think it is a bad idea to be distracted th-this far in.” Her eyes grew wide, and she practically shrank before my eyes. She’d come to the same realisation as I. Bloody Hades.
After that, we continued in tense silence. We eventually reached an opening, lit by a bright, long cluster of natural gems. A few dozen paces away, a steep drop cut off our path, but we could follow the ledge for a while.
I turned and began walking, but Keeper stopped me with a hoof on my withers. “Could we sit down here? My legs are tired.”
“Sure.” She was tired from such a short walk? Then again, she didn’t get out of the estate much, did she? I was tempted to ask if we could sit closer to the edge, but I knew how she felt about heights. If anything, I admired that she was willing to stay and rest. Yes, everything around us was lit up, meaning nothing could sneak up on us, but that didn’t take away from her fears.
After we settled in, she cleared her throat and spoke up, “You know, Silver… I really admire you.” The words caught me off guard, and I found myself blinking at her, mouth ajar.
I didn’t immediately reply, trying to gather my thoughts first. Eventually, I said, “Because I can trot here without being scared? That’s really nothing to brag about. I was born in a dangerous place and—”
“Not just that…” She sighed, folding her ears. “Yes, circumstances beyond your control have led you here, but what really impresses me is, well, everything else. For one, you are really smart. You were given no education to speak of growing up, but here you are, learning at an incredible rate.”
I tilted my head to the side. “Me? Smart? Just because I like reading doesn’t mean I’m an egghead. It’s just the basics, so this stuff’s easy, especially with somepony teaching me. I had to learn to fly on my own. That was a real challenge.”
She gave me a sad little smile. “I struggled with this subject matter, basics or not.” Before her words could sink in and send me into a state of panic, she added, “I was younger than you, yes, but I do not think that discounts your achievements.”
For a while, I just stared at her encouraging eyes. I couldn’t find the words to express my feelings. I couldn’t even figure out what I was feeling. Should I be sorry? Should I be proud? Should I be happy?
Thankfully, Keeper broke the silence first. “Say, if you could restart your life, as a noble, would you take the chance?”
I nodded. “In the blink of an eye.”
Another sad smile. “I thought so. How come?”
I furrowed my brow. “Isn’t it obvious? I wouldn’t have ever needed to deal with daily survival. My life would have been so much easier. I would have been born as somepony, without the need to claw my way up the ladder.”
She stared at me, eyes wide. “You say that like a noble has no responsibilities.”
“I know they do!” I grimaced and lowered my voice. “It’s part of why I’m so bloody jealous of them. They get to change things. They can help ponies.” I gulped. “When I took the Trial of Soulfire, I was hoping, from the very bottom of me heart, to receive something high enough to make a change. I knew my dreams would be shattered, because I knew I wouldn’t get a good score.”
Keeper listened intently, ears pointed towards me despite the occasional noises far away, eyes beckoning me to continue. I found myself smiling. “Yet I did. It wasn’t high enough to make me into somepony important, but I could suddenly do something with me life. My options were limited, and the best I got was becoming a guard. Still, it was a starting point.” Yet my smile grew heavier with every word. “I could work my way up to a position where I could do good.”
My mouth twisted into a frown and I sighed. “Or at least I thought so. Progress was slow, and being treated like a bloody foal sucked.” Why was I telling her this? She needed somepony strong to motivate her, not a sad stallion moping about his life.
Yet I couldn’t stop. “Most guards start their training at a young age, so I was the oldest. Often by over a decade.” My eyes were threatening to tear up, but I wouldn’t let them. I gulped. “It… it was so bloody hard to convince myself that I just needed to bide me time, to wait for the right moment to prove I was special.”
I sniffed and scoffed. “I want to be somepony who can help others, but the only special thing about me is my wings. I’d give them up in a flash if it meant becoming somepony. Anypony.” I muttered, “I’m so tired of being a nopony…”
I nearly jumped when Keeper put her hoof on my shoulder. She said, “And I bet being thrown in here didn’t help matters.”
My throat locking up, I nodded. “Everything I’ve built up, every little achievement… gone. The Captain said she’d put in a good word for me, but dodges the question whenever I ask her when I can leave.”
I stared at a flat rock on the ground. “What’s her good word mean if…” I held in a hiccup, before slamming the rock with my hoof. “What’s the point if I’m just gonna end up wasting half a decade in here‽” My voice broke mid-shout. I hung my head and started sobbing. Why was it all coming up now? It had been so easy to not think about it.
Keeper wrapped both forelegs around my withers and pulled me into a hug. It was so unexpected that I lost my balance, falling over and knocking her over too. She yelped in pain as she hit the ground, but quickly added, “I’m okay.” This drew a chuckle from me. A chuckle mixed with a sob. I went back to crying.
For a few moments, I lay there, wetting her neck’s fur with my tears. Her heart beat fast, each thump calming me down ever so slightly. Her flowery smell reminded me of the forest. Not the dark, scary parts, but the quiet clearings where I’d often fallen asleep as a foal. Every time she stroked my mane, breathing came a little easier, and tears flowed slower.
When our position finally caught up to my mind, I wrung myself free, a fiery blush on my face. “I… uh… sorry. I didn’t mean to blow up on you like that. You probably think I’m all talk, now.”
Keeper shook her head, blushing even harder than me. “Not at all. If anything, it is reassuring to know that you can be so fearless and so strong, yet still be equine.” Her smile shone brighter than anything around us. “Thank you…”
She looked away for a moment and chuckled sheepishly as she somehow blushed even redder. After regaining her composure, she met my eyes again. “I am amazed you managed to keep it together for so long, even when everything was ripped away from you overnight.”
I nodded, and a comfortable silence draped over us. She shifted closer to me, and we sat like that for a long while. I’d always thought admitting this to anypony would lead to incredible awkwardness. Awkward enough to never look them in the eye. Yet here I was, more comfortable than ever.
Eventually, Keeper stretched and stood up, then something in the distance caught her attention and she slowly walked towards the edge. I followed her.
Far below us was an island, surrounded on all sides by the abyss. On top of it stood some sort of town. “What is that?” I said.
“A prison. One of the bigger ones. I believe the Duskbringer family owns it. If you want to go check it out, I can return home on my own.”
I shook my head. “I’ll go some other day. From what I can tell, I’d need to fly to check it out, and I’d rather spend more time with you.” Also, she would be scared if she had to walk back through the dim tunnels all alone. I kept that to myself, though; she was trying to be brave, and I’d respect that.
“Why do you even care about seeing the inside of a prison? Mere curiosity? That seems… unhealthy.”
Could I tell her? I thought about it for a moment and decided that yes, I needed to trust somepony, or I would go insane. Even if she ended up influencing my decisions, it would be worth it.