Ch.2: ‘Prisoner of War’
Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadance, and the Mane Six, all pondered on what to do with the alien once he arrived. After hearing what happened in Sweet Apple Acres, it was obvious to them that he was hostile and could lash out at any given moment, so they would need to take the subtle approach, aimed at getting on his good side, before delving deeper to why he came to Equestria. They hoped that in doing so, he would begin to consider them as friends.
Out of all of them, Applejack seemed the most eager about getting answers out of their visitor as she continued to pace back and forth around the interrogation room. She became the primary worry of her friends, fearing that she might let her anger get the best of her.
“Please, you must calm down, Applejack,” said Rarity.
The farm pony turned her head towards the alabaster unicorn, a steely look in her green eyes. It almost looked murderous. “Calm? How can Ah be calm when the same alien that foalnapped m’ah sister is on his way here? Why, if we’d still be at Sweet Apple Acres, Ah’d buck him straight to the moon.”
“I think Big Mac already beat ya there, pal,” Rainbow Dash chuckled, thinking back to the kick that knocked the alien unconscious.
Feeling a hoof touch her shoulder, Applejack turned to see Princess Celestia standing behind her. “I understand how you feel, my little pony,” she said, “but it’s never a good idea to your anger cloud your who you are. Once the alien is brought here, we’ll question him on his actions. And for his sake, he answers them.”
Applejack flashed a smile. “Thanks, Princess.”
Twilight, meanwhile, was occupied with the strange device levitating in front of her. It was small and somewhat bulky, and the metallic casing was painted a burgundy-red colour. She tapped on the plastic screen with her hoof, and was startled when it suddenly sparked to life.
“What’cha got there, Twi?” asked Pinkie Pie.
“I’m not really sure,” replied the unicorn. “I saw it on the alien’s arm when Shining and his guards apprehended him. Whatever it is, it sure looks advanced.”
She soon found herself losing all control over it as it became enveloped in a dark blue aura, before floating over towards Princess Luna. “Our apologies, Twilight Sparkle,” the Princess of the Night proclaimed, “but we must not tamper with any of its things. We still have no knowledge what such a strange device as this is capable of.”
He floated it over to an earth pony Royal Guard standing in the room. “Lieutenant, please take this to the armoury for storage. We will examine it later.”
The earth pony complied, “Will do, Your Highness.” He took the device in his mouth and cantered over to the door, just as it opened and Shining Armour trotted in with his prisoner in tow.
The human’s eyes became glued to the pony as he passed by, or rather the invaluable piece of technology he was holding in the last place it should be. “Hey! How the hell did you get that—?”
He was shoved further into the room, towards a table that’d been set up in the center. Celestia, Luna, and Cadance stood on the other side. To them, from where they were, looking down at the human, he seemed broken and harmless, but that could have been because of the magic restraints around his wrists. They couldn’t let their guard in front of him for even a second.
“Please, have a seat,” said Celestia.
Hesitant, the human pulled out the chair and sat down. Almost immediately, his found himself being constricted, unable to move any part of his body below his neck. “What the hell is this? I can’t move! What did you do to me?”
“We’ve restricted you with our magic,” replied Luna, a faint glow disappearing from her horn. “It is only cautionary to prevent you from causing another incident.”
Despite her words, the prisoner struggled to break free, but with no avail. What they were using was magic, something that didn’t existence in his world. In other words, something Skynet had never trained them for. After exhausting his feeble attempt, he settled for glaring at the three alicorns in front of him.
“Not fair.”
“Hey, you brought this on yourself,” said Rainbow Dash.
Rolling his eyes, he turned his attention back to the Princesses. “So, now that you’ve got me, what happens next? Imprisonment? Execution? Experimentation? Whatever you got in store, I bet I can take it.”
“You’re going to be held in front of the Canterlot court,” said Cadance. “But, before you that, we need as much information from you as possible.”
“Information, eh?” The human nodded, understanding what was being told. “Well if you wanna know some things, my name’s Parker; Technical Sergeant First Class. Now with that little introduction out of the way, I have my own question: how do I know I can trust you exactly.”
No pony could respond to that. The question had hit them unexpectedly. All eyes were drawn to Princess Celestia as she stepped forward. “There’s no way we can make you trust us. After all, even I know something like this is something hard to come by. But believe me when I say we just cooperation from you. You have my word no harm will come.”
A brief silence lingered between the two of them, though unbeknownst to Celestia, Parker had been monitoring her words.
>>Lie detection… Result: 97% truth…
At least she’s honest about her intentions. But that doesn’t mean I can trust her right off the bat. I’ve been in the Resistance too long to fall for that. It’s better to see where this whole thing goes and start off from there.
The Princesses and girls went through a door that led into another room. Celestia, being the last to enter, turned back to Parker. “Shining Armour will be the one interrogating you.”
“I thought you said I could trust you,” Parker remarked.
Ignoring his comment, Celestia continued, “I really hope you’ve taken what I have had to say to heart. Maybe, when this is all over, there can be a lasting friendship between us.” With that, she shut the door.
Shining Armour trotted into Parker’s line of sight. “Alright,” he said, “let’s get started.”
Thanks to a spell Princess Celestia had cast on the wall in front of them, which allowed them to see through it on their side, the Princesses and Mane Six were able to witness Shining Armour attempt to interrogate the human. Though they could not hear what was going on, they could tell it wasn’t going as they hoped it would.
Soon the Captain of the Royal Guard turned away from Parker and trotted into the back room, and was almost immediately crowded by the three Princesses. “Well, what have you managed to learn from him?” asked Luna, eager to know what new information they possessed.
Shining sighed, “So far, nothing. He’s too stubborn. Aside from his name and rank, the only new thing he told us that he was from a place called Anchorage, but every time I try to go beyond that point, he either stays quiet or says something I don’t understand.”
“He must still not trust us,” said Cadance.
Celestia looked through the one-way see-through wall to see Parker still restrained to his seat. The glare had not left his face since he first arrived. “He’s supposed to be held in front of the Canterlot court within the week, but we can’t do that unless he talks. We just need to find a way.”
As Shining and the Princesses contemplated this, Twilight continued to observe the alien from where she was. Though his glare had yet to vanish, it looked like he was examining rather than looking. Could it be possible that he was—?
“What’s wrong, Twilight?” asked Fluttershy.
“It’s Parker,” the lilac unicorn replied. “I have the strangest feeling that he’s watching us.”
“What makes ya say that?” asked Applejack.
“I think he can see us.”
“That’s crazy talk,” said Rainbow Dash. “That spell Princess Celestia cast makes the wall see-through on our side only. The only thing he can see is a brick wall.”
With his HUD activated, Parker’s scan vision instantly allowed him to see the heat signatures of every pony in the other room. His cybernetic implants were just few of the things he thanked Skynet for since he and the others defected.
>>Multiple hostiles confirmed… Hostile count: 12…
“Let’s see if I can eavesdrop,” he said, monotonously. He used his auditory implants to increase his hearing and listen in on any conversation that might have been going on. Scanning the room, he tuned in until he heard a family voice. It sounded like Princess Celestia:
“We can’t keep him tied to his chair if he isn’t going to say anything.”
“Then, what are we supposed to do?” asked another voice. It was barely above a whisper.
The Princess thought about it for a moment before she responded again, “We might as well take him back to his cell. At least until Luna and I can come up with something.”
“Then we must come up with something at once, sister,” Luna declared.
Shining Armour trotted back into the interrogation room. His horn glowed and Parker’s body was free to move again. He rolled his shoulders, getting the circulation flowing through his arms again. “You decided to let me go? How touching…”
“Save it. You’re being taken back to your cell until we can decide what to do with you.”
“Well it’s better than sitting in this chair all day.” Before he stood up from the chair, Shining’s horn glowed a second time. Magic restraints were placed around the human’s wrists once again.
Parker lay in his cell, staring up at the ceiling. Everything in the dungeon was quiet, except for the occasional loud squeak from the rusted door whenever the Royal Guards would change shifts. The guard standing in front of his cell was a pegasus, by his wings, and had gold armour. If it wasn’t for the magic barrier keeping him contained, he would’ve easily snuck behind him, knocked him unconscious, and proceeded to escape.
The sound of that damned squeak echoed throughout the dungeon as a Lunar Guard appeared at the door. He seemed a bit too nervous about being down here, as was a couple before him. “I’m here to take over,” he said.
The pegasus nodded and made his way for the door. “Thank Celestia, I’m tired. How long till the Princesses call him back for interrogation?”
“I don’t know. The others say we should just wait for the word.”
“I hope they don’t take long. Whatever the prisoner knows that we don’t, it can’t be good for the rest of us.”
The pegasus stepped out of the dungeon, leaving the Lunar Guard alone with Parker. The I-950 turned his gaze from the ceiling to the newest guard in front of his cell, using his HUD to diagnose the pony.
Heart rate and perspiration increasing. Breathing irregular. I’d say he’s a rookie; just recently joined in the military. Maybe a little over a month ago. Eh, I’ve been quiet long enough; maybe I can have some fun with this one.
He sat up, stretching his arms, and turned his attention to the pony. “So…” The moment he spoke, he noticed a large spike in the guard’s heart rate. Yeah, this’ll be fun. “I bet it gets a bit nerve-raking dealing with something like me.”
The guard scoffed. “Please, I’ve been trained to face things more dangerous than you. Things you would dream of seeing.”
Of course, because don’t things don’t exist in my world, idiot. “You’ve trained for them. But have you actually faced them?”
“Well… no.”
“Then how do you know if you’d be willing to actually fight, and not run away?” His question, though rhetorical, was not met with a response as he expected. Great, he’s ignoring me. He sighed. Now I’m bored.
Another hour passed; Parker was back to staring up vacantly at the ceiling when the dungeon door opened, and three Celestial Guards trotted in, spears levitated at their sides. “We’re here to take the prisoner back for interrogation.”
The Lunar Guard smiled. “That’s a relief. Took them long enough.”
“Were you scared, rookie?”
“What? No! I was just bored being down here all day.”
“Sure you were,” replied Parker, earning a laugh from of the guards.
“Shut up!” The Lunar Guard trotted away from the dungeon as fast as he could; the Celestial Guards approached the cell with the lead guard lowering the barrier. He used his magic to restrain Parker’s wrists, and they led him out of the dungeon.
The time it took to get from here to the interrogation room was somewhat long. It gave Parker enough time to think of a way to escape. There were two guards positioned on each side of him and the last one behind him to ensure that he wouldn’t try to escape. Within seconds, he knew exactly how to get out of this. And all it took was one cough…
Bringing his hands to his mouth, he coughed in them. He kept doing this, and eventually his coughing began to grow more violent. This managed to attract the attention of his captors.
“What’s wrong with you?” the lead guard asked, right before Parker dropped to his knees, still coughing violently, relentlessly. He started wheezing and gasping for air.
One of the guards became worried and backed up. “Lieutenant, I think he’s sick.”
“He sounds bad,” said the second guard. “Shouldn’t we take him to the infirmary or something?”
Before they had a chance to react, Parker attacked. He reeled his leg and threw a kick to the guard behind him, sending him flying backwards, and then threw a punch at the second, knocking the pony unconscious. The Lieutenant quickly aimed his spear and fought back. He thrusts his spear, but missed with each of his attacks. One final thrust and Parker dodged; he ducked under the spear as it was thrown towards him and sent a hard kick at the Lieutenant, striking him in his chest plate.
The Lieutenant slammed into the wall behind him hard, leaving a large crack in the stone. The restraints around Parker’s wrists disappeared. He walked over to the unconscious pony and placed two fingers against his neck and sighed in relief to feel his heart still beating.
“He’s out cold, but at least I didn’t kill him.” He reached down and picked up the spear off the ground. “A bit too primitive for my tastes, but it’s much better than nothing. Now to find my weapons and get the hell away from this place.”
Everypony waited in the interrogation room for the guards that were sent to retrieve Parker. It was quiet; not a word had been spoken since they returned. Applejack soon found herself pacing the floor again, impatient on the amount of time it was taking. Although she no longer though about attacking Parker (not any more than she did previously), she’d been deep in thought about a lot of things considering the alien, including what his intentions might be for coming here, specifically to Ponyville.
“How long is it gonna be? They should’ve been back by now,” said Rainbow Dash.
“It normally takes time to get here from the dungeon,” replied Shining Armour. “They should be here soon.”
A few minutes rolled through, and the ponies were still waiting. Before too long, there was a knock on the door. “Come in,” Princess Celestia called out.
A Royal Guard entered, breathing heavily as if he had been galloping for miles. “Princesses! Captain! The prisoner escaped!”
“What?” they all yelled in unison.
“We found the guards that were supposed to be escorting him knocked out in the hallway. And they’re in bad shape.”
“Put every guard on alert. We cannot allow him to leave the castle,” ordered Luna, almost bold enough to be speaking in the Royal Canterlot Voice.
The guard nodded obediently and galloped out of the room. Shining Armour turned to his sister and her friends. “You six, on the other hoof, are going back to Ponyville.”
Twilight reeled back in surprise. “What? But we can help—”
“No buts, Twilie. If Parker’s loose in the castle, it’s too dangerous for you to stay. Corporal Air Burst…” He turned to a pegasus Celestial Royal Guard, “make sure Twilight and her friends get back to Ponyville unharmed.”
Air Burst, being the loyal Royal Guard that he was, nodded. “You got it, sir. Okay, everypony, right this way.”
Twilight hugged her brother before heading out with Air Burst and the others. Throughout the basements of the royal castle, guards were gearing up and going out on patrol, searching for the escaped alien that was loose somewhere inside their castle. Air Burst led the six mares through the catacombs on their way outside.
The violet unicorn mare came to a stop when they cantered past the armory. “This is where Princess Luna wanted to keep Parker’s device?” Though she did not want to disobey a direct order from one of the royal sisters, the thought of taking it tempted her. It was for science, after all. “It wouldn’t hurt to study just a little.”
She entered the armory, trotting past the various weapons and armors before coming upon a crate which Parker’s device laid upon. She used her magic to pick up the device and placed it into her saddle bag.
“Twilight!” Applejack called from down the hallway. “Come on! We gotta go!”
“Coming!” the lilac unicorn galloped out of the armory and hurried back to her friends. However, unknown to her, she was being watched. Parker looked from behind a nearby wall, waiting she left before quickly hurrying into the armory.
He searched around until finding his equipment, and went through them, finding that one very crucial item was missing. “My Hacker! Where the hell did they put it?” His thoughts immediately raced back to the unicorn. “She must’ve taken it. Great. I’ll have to find her once I get out of here.”
Loading his rifle, and holstering his plasma pistol and M1911, Parker set out to find a way out of the castle.
Shining Armour led a task group through the castle. Much of the security had been heightened; Royal Guardsmen were everywhere. It would be a miracle for any pony to get out without being seen. Parker was no exception. Turning a corner, they came upon something they least expected.
“Oh, Dear Celestia…” Some of the guards could feel his knees began to shake at the sight of the carnage in front of him. A cadre of Royal Guards lay on the ground and the area around them had been completely devastated. Walls were destroyed, the marble columns smashed, and the entire area was smoldering.
He trotted up to a Lunar Guard lying on the ground who was just barely holding onto consciousness. “What happened here? Was it Parker?”
The guard shook his head. “No, it was something worse. Something much worse.”