Violets are Blue

by hell00001


Chapter 11: Discrepancies

Violets are Blue Chapter 11

Grey skies hung overhead Canterlot’s south cemetery, draping a dark sheet of cool air over the city’s landscape in the early autumn. Trees had their first tinges of fall colors coating their leaves, retaining a mix of greens, yellows, and reds running through the canopies. The wind had yet to rip those leaves from their branches, leaving the ground relatively devoid of the crunchiness under ones hoof that came with the change of seasons. Healthy, green grass instead remained prominent over the rolling hills and flat grassy meadows, looking as beautiful as ever before the leaves would take their place.

Carbon and Lilo stood at the gate of the cemetery, staring through the iron bars that blocked their passage onto the grounds. Lilo—fully disguised as Rosebud—gave Carbon a side glance as he stood there. The lock around the iron bars that normally sealed off the cemetery remained wide open, allowing for ponies to easily pass through, as demonstrated by a young unicorn mare and her foal.

“Carbon, is everything alright?” Lilo asked.

“Yeah, there’s something that I wanted to show you,” Carbon replied, exhaling.

“You told me that already,” Lilo said, frowning.

“There’s some ponies that I want you to meet,” Carbon said. “I, um… I consider you to be the closest pony that I know, and, well, come on. I suppose we should actually get in there.”

Lilo’s ears flopped back against the side of her head as she fell in behind Carbon, stepping through the gates and onto a narrow rocky path. The path snaked through the grass and around a sea of tombstones that covered the cemetery grounds. The outermost tombstones resembled the small semicircle headstones that ponies typically put out in their yard during Nightmare Night, but as the path wound deeper into the cemetery the stones became more and more ornate. Intricate carvings marked some larger tombstones, depicting names and respects given to the pony that lie buried, while others looked like tall obelisks or tiny plaques.

A shiver ran down Lilo’s spine as she looked in every direction around the tombstones. Ponies lay scattered through the cemetery, paying their respects to their deceased loved ones or reminiscing of years long since passed. An old stallion stood over the grave with a tall headstone decorated in a multitude of colors, silent and staring at the name engraved on the stone. The unicorn and foal from earlier sat hunched over a plaque, the unicorn’s face hidden by her mane.

Above all else, not a single sound made its way through the cemetery. The distant sounds of Canterlot’s marketplace fell short at the walls while the birds that originally chirped happily from their perches on the trees fell silent. Not even their hoofsteps crunching on the rocky ground made any noise, leaving Carbon and Lilo in an eerie void.

They wound their way through the gravestones until they stopped halfway up a hill that gave home to a massive willow tree. Carbon sighed and turned to face three semicircular headstones that stood alone from the rest that surrounded them. Lilo turned with him, sidling up to his side and leaning forward to see the names inscribed in the stone.

“Lilo,” Carbon began, “when I first kissed you back in that sandwich shop two years ago, I felt a rush of euphoria that I had not felt in a long time. I felt happy, renewed, excited, and optimistic. I had another pony in my life that could bring the color back that life once held so vibrantly. The change in that moment was almost immediate, the love that I felt come from you was something that no words can describe, aside from that what the kiss that we shared was true.”

Lilo’s chest felt warm as she felt the aura of love surrounding Carbon accentuate the more he carried on. Listening to his words filled the base of her hooves with what felt like tiny pockets of air, replicating the same feeling as if she stood on a plush cloud from Cloudsdale. Her ears drooped, however, and the light in her eyes all but extinguished as she read over the names of the gravestones.

“Now it has been two years since that day,” Carbon continued. “Two years we have both grown around each other. The dates that we went on, the laughs that we shared, the tears that we nurtured, all compiling together into what stands here today. You and I stand here as products of each other; not like the products of somepony’s parents or school teacher, but the products of two lovers.”

Starting from the left, a medium sized tombstone with flowers and vines decorating the sides read, “Here lies Wildflower, proud mother and wife.” A bouquet of withered flowers lay at the base of the stone. Next to Wildflower’s tombstone on the right was a smaller tombstone also engraved with flowers and vines that read, “Here lies Bumblebee, beautiful daughter and faithful sister.” Lastly, to the far right was a tall tombstone that read, “Here lies Silicon, respectful father and dedicated husband.”

Carbon sat down on his flanks and read over each of the names. “I love you, Lilo. I love you more than anything else that this world can give me. You are what makes me laugh, smile, and wake up everyday, eager to see your beautiful face once more. You’re the light in my eyes, just like how they all were the light in my eyes.” He shakily holds his hoof up to the tombstones. “But no matter what I say or how often I say it, words cannot describe what my love is for you. Language is underwhelming in that regard, only my heart can fully express what it is that I feel.”

Lilo turned and threw her forelegs around Carbon, hugging him as tightly as she could manage as her pegasus disguise dropped.

“I love you, Carbon,” Lilo said. “There isn’t anypony in the entire world who I would rather spend an eternity with. Nopony could ever love like you do, or care like you do, or make me smile like you do. Nopony can ever replace you, Carbon.”

“I love you, too, Lilo,” Carbon said, wrapping Lilo up in his hooves and his wings. “You’ll always have a place by my side and by the side of the rest of my family.”

~~~

Light shined on Carbon’s face and he groaned, flickering his eyes open. His vision met a cold stone floor, and he saw the tiny grooves and cracks that creased along the material.

“Ah, so you are awake,” a dark voice said. It sounded vaguely familiar. “I was thinking I was going to use this bucket of water here to wake you up. It’s not exactly entertaining talking to myself.”

Carbon looked up and met the eyes of Zumas. A wave of dread washed over him and he scampered backwards until his back butted up against a wall. A thin set of metal bars separated Carbon from Zumas, but it did little to protect Carbon from the dark unicorn’s cold, piercing eyes and hostile frown.

“I wasn’t actually going to still throw the bucket on you,” Zumas said, gesturing at the bucket of water that sat next to him. “You know what, I have a better idea, why don’t I give this to you and, uh… the changeling so you can have a drink?”

Zumas pushed the bucket of water up against an intersection of metal bars, indicating the presence of a second holding cell next to Carbon’s. Looking over, Carbon noticed Lilo butted up against the wall as well in the other cell, trembling as she refused to take her eyes off of Zumas. However, shortly after he felt the tingling and dryness within his throat and he nodded at the bucket.

Lilo got to her hooves, then both she and Carbon very carefully approached the metal bars. Seeing as Zumas merely watched them approach, Carbon knelt down next to bucket of water and tried to take a drink by sticking his tongue between the metal bars. Neither he nor Lilo could drink from the bucket.

“Oh, can’t reach the water, I see,” Zumas said with mocking sympathy. “Well, I suppose that I’ll have to get you two some later after we’ve had a little talk.” Zumas took the bucket of water away from the metal bars and set it down next to him again. “In any case, why don’t we all catch up? It’s been two years since we last spoke and I know that we didn’t start off on the right hoof,” he nods in Carbon’s direction, who flinches under his gaze, “but I’m interested in what you two have been up to.”

Carbon and Lilo looked between each other before turning back to Zumas. Neither of them utter a word, keeping their mouths clamped shut and watching the unicorn carefully. Zumas’ frown deepened.

“I guess I’m going first, then,” Zumas said with a sigh. “You know, ponies always rant and rave about the accommodations and hospitality that the castle supplies to their guests, yet I didn’t experience that during my stay. I sat in a cell for most of the time staring at a wall or the castle guards as they walked past, then occasionally was let out for some free exercise down in some sort of underground chamber.” He shrugged. “It wasn’t all bad, though. The food was decent.”

Carbon and Lilo both narrowed their eyes at Zumas, who didn’t notice as he stood up and paced back and forth in front of their holding cells.

“All of that time that I spent in that cell wasn’t for naught, though,” Zumas added. “I got to thinking—really thinking—about what it is that I had done and what landed me in that… cesspit. I ran this brothel full of ponies who were practically indebted to me because they failed to read fine print or owed some money.” He stopped. “Do you have any idea how many pretty, pretty mares are looking for money these days?”

Carbon and Lilo didn’t answer. Zumas threw his head back and scoffed before he resumed pacing in front of the holding cells.

“Anyways, I suppose I was well known to the ponies in Canterlot. By no means are brothels illegal in Equestria, although the princesses frown upon them. Strange, really, when plenty of their subjects seem to turn those frowns upside down when they visit those establishments, but that is besides the point.” Zumas sat down in front of the cells and looked between Carbon and Lilo. “The point is that I thought that my notoriety and infamy would hide me from ponies such as you.” He sneered at Carbon. “That you would hide, and cower, and let me take your precious changeling away from you in fear that somepony like me would tear you apart.”

Carbon glared back at Zumas, but he still refused to open his mouth. Zumas snarled and slammed his hooves against the iron bars of both of the cells, eliciting a jolt from both Lilo and Carbon.

“Looks like I’m going to force this conversation out of you two,” Zumas said as he levitated a set of keys over from the wall. “Swifthoof! Get in here.”

The door on the far side of the room opened, allowing for the earth pony that Carbon saw at the sandwich shop to enter. He carried a second bucket of water with him along with a rag hanging over the edge of the bucket. He dropped the bucket down next to a table that was centered in the room.

Zumas plunged the keys into the keyhole of Lilo’s holding cell door, and he twisted the lock and shoved the door open. Lilo screeched and darted to the furthest corner away from Zumas, but the unicorn merely smirked and took hold of her tail with his magic, dragging Lilo slowly across the floor towards him.

Carbon dashed up to the iron bars of his cell and hammered on them with his hooves, trying to some degree to break open from his prison. He was unsuccessful however, and he watched in horror as Zumas dragged Lilo out of her cell.

“No!” Carbon shouted, his hooves scraping along the iron bars. “Take your hooves away from her. Don’t you dare hurt her, Zumas!”

Zumas dragged Lilo up onto table and pinned her on her back. Swifthoof work true to his name, quickly locking Lilo’s hooves in place on the table with leather bracers, immobilizing her aside for her neck and wings. Lilo tugged frantically against her bonds, but she remained secured against the table.

“You know,” Zumas said as he levitated one of the buckets of water up onto the table, “waterboarding is an ancient form of torture that was used incredibly often during the Lunar Rebellion. Ponies on both sides of the conflict were taken from their homes by soldiers if they were thought to be spies, then were brought to chambers just like this one to be waterboarded.” He paused, watching as Lilo’s struggles against the bonds weakened. “The technique occasionally had some serious adverse effects to the victims. Brain damage, damage to the lungs, and, well, you know, death.”

Carbon pawed at the metal bars with his hooves, tears streaming down his face as he caught Lilo’s eyes with his. Zumas turned towards the noise and cocked his head.

“Please don’t hurt her, Zumas,” Carbon pleaded. “What good is there in harming her? She just wants to be free like everypony else. Just like you or me.”

“Good?” Zumas asked. He slapped the rag over Lilo’s mouth. “This isn’t about good or bad, profiting or losses, this is about a little… revenge. Conversational revenge.” He lifted one of the buckets into the air. “But I promise Lilo won’t get hurt if you answer some questions. Well, won’t get hurt much.”

“How can you be so petty as to go after something like revenge?” Carbon asked, poking a hoof through the metal bars and reaching for Lilo. “We beat you, Zumas. You had an illegal operation going on here in the city, enslaving ponies and mistreating them to terrible degrees. How can you talk about revenge when the crimes you committed in the first place were far too great to even warrant such a thought?”

“What makes you think that I care about the crimes I committed?” Zumas snarled. “You ruined the business that I worked so hard to build. You destroyed the contacts I had, killed my employee. Don’t you think I’m at least a little pissed off?”

With that Zumas slowly poured the water over the rag on Lilo’s mouth. Her eyes widened and, to her misfortune, she opened her mouth to scream only to have her oxygen cut off. Lilo flailed in her restraints, unable to relieve the terrible sensation filling her lungs. She wanted to cry out, but she couldn’t. Not a single breath of fresh air made it through the water pouring on her face.

“No!” Carbon shouted, pressing his entire body against the metal bars. “Please, Zumas! I’ll answer your questions. Please, stop doing this to her.”

Zumas tipped the bucket back up and set it down on the table before he pulled the rag off of Lilo’s mouth. She gasped frantically for air, her chest heaving just before she broke into hysteric sobs.

“For now,” Zumas said casually, “but I know you like to play the stubborn hero. Now then, where were we?” Zumas watched with nary a smile on his face as Carbon slumped against the bars. “I really am curious as to what you two, um, well, one of you isn’t exactly a pony, but I am curious as to what both of you are up to.”

Carbon gave Zumas the most vehement glare he could muster. “Leading happy, fulfilling lives with hardly any cares about ponies taking that from us. You know, if there is anything I can thank you for, as twisted as it is, it is letting me find her.”

Zumas’ eyes narrowed for just a moment before he took the bucket in his magic again. “Even so, there are all of those anti-changeling protesters walking around the city streets. I know that Lilo here uses her disguise to keep hidden, but I want to know your take on the whole thing.”

“They’re bigots and imbeciles,” Carbon growled.

“Indeed?” Zumas asked, cocking an eyebrow. “Or maybe they’re afraid and remember what happened two years ago? You know, a city getting attacked is nothing that somepony would forget. What’s more, they all are terribly upset over the news of the first pony and changeling being married. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

Carbon remained silent, although he very slowly looked over at the sobbing Lilo. Zumas followed his gaze.

“Nothing?” Zumas asked.

Carbon opened his mouth, but no words came out. A little spark flashed through Zumas’ eyes, and he turned around and put the rag back over Lilo’s mouth. Carbon let out a shout, but Zumas failed to heed it as he poured the rest of the bucket of water over Lilo’s face. She thrashed about in her restraints and a tiny crack in her chitin split down her left hind hoof, but she hardly uttered a sound above a few forced gurgles as the oxygen was sapped from her lungs.

“Zumas, please!” Carbon shouted, banging his hooves against the iron bars. “Please, I…! Yes… Lilo and I… Lilo and I are the ones who are… who are slotted to be married…”

Zumas tipped the bucket up again before he threw it to the floor, spilling the rest of its contents all over the ground. He turned back around with a malevolent gleam in his eyes.

“So it is true,” Zumas said. “You know, when I first heard about a pony and a changeling openly marrying themselves I couldn’t believe my ears. Of course there are about as many changeling sympathizers as there are who hate the bugs, but I didn’t expect an open marriage to be a viable option for you guys for another few years. You know, give the bigots some time to cool off so that only the loudmouth minority are the ones doing the talking. But no. Oh, you. Are. Brave.”

Carbon panted as he slumped against the iron bars again. Lilo lay reeling on the table, gasping in between her sobbing and whimpering. He looked over her and, although he didn’t know if she saw him or not, he gave her the most sympathetic stare.

“So brave, in fact, that I’m going to change tactics a little here,” Zumas added. He picked up the other bucket full of water and tossed it away, splashing the water everywhere. “You see, using one method just isn’t enough. Have you ever heard of the phrase double tap?” Zumas walked along the other side of the table and bent his head down. Carbon heard some clinking echoing from behind the table and his eyes widened as Zumas popped back up over the top of the table with a long fillet knife in his magic.

“Zumas, no, please,” Carbon pleaded, his heart pounding in his ears. “Zumas, don’t hurt her anymore. She’s suffered more than anypony ever should. Look, we’ll tell you anything else that you want to know.”

“You know, at one point I might have reveled in hearing you plead for your marefriend’s life,” Zumas said as he looked over Lilo’s damaged wing. “I can’t seem to find any satisfaction in any such groveling, though. All I want it some revenge, so, you know, I’m going to get it.” He lifted Lilo’s damaged wing with the knife. “Now, Lilo, can you tell me how long this wing has been damaged for?”

“T-two years…” Lilo squeaked between her sobs. “P-please, Zumas…”

“Two years?” Zumas asked. “Oh yeah, that’s right, I remember now.” He jabbed the knife into Lilo’s wing and twisted. Lilo shrieked and her wings buzzed, causing for her damaged wing to tear apart due to the knife lodged in her membrane.

“Lilo!” Carbon shouted. He rammed himself against the metal bars, but all he got in return was searing pain through his shoulders. “Zumas! Stop!”

Zumas left the knife embedded in the table and through Lilo’s wing. Lilo’s wings slowly ceased fluttering as the knife hardly damaged her wings anymore, leaving the membrane an absolute mess. She quietly whimpered to herself as Zumas turned towards Carbon.

“So, now that we have gotten that out of the way,” Zumas said, “there’s something else that I want to ask you. Are you going to cooperate this time, or are you still going to play hero with me like a sniveling colt?”

Carbon glared at Zumas, but he begrudgingly nodded his head.

“I know that you have ties to the former changeling queen,” Zumas said, pulling the fillet knife out of the table, “and I also know that she is operating in the study of the castle. Now, as you probably saw when you asked for her to marry you two, the study is filled with tome upon tome of documents and ancient spellbooks that are not typically offered in the Canterlot Library. In fact, if I remember correctly, the study is just a remodeled version of the Star Swirl the Bearded wing.”

Carbon’s eyes narrowed, but they didn’t hold as he winced from the pain coursing through his shoulders.

“So you do,” Zumas concluded. “Well, there’s a certain scroll that I’m looking for that is located in that study. The letters are written in one of the ancient languages of the world so I would need to show you the symbols themselves, but what I’m asking of you is to retrieve that scroll for me.”

“You want me to retrieve a scroll that is potentially not only dangerous to yourself, but all of Equestria as well?” Carbon asked. “All of Equestria will be put into danger because of a scroll that is supposed to be locked away in the hooves of the princesses is given to a cynical and maniacal menace.”

Zumas sighed and lifted the fillet knife again. “You know what, why don’t we continue this another time, Carbon? Time’s almost up and I need to address some business propositions with a few of my old clients. Looks like you guys are off the hook, for now.” He turned back to Lilo and very carefully fit the knife between the ripped hole in her membrane, careful not to touch the edges. “In fact, maybe I’ll have much more luck with you, hm?”

His face contorting into a snarl, Zumas slashed the knife through Lilo’s wing. She let out another scream and tugged against her restraints, further splitting the crack in her hind hoof. Carbon stuck his hoof into his mouth to suppress another cry as he watched his fiance struggle and squirm in her restraints.

Waiting until Lilo stopped convulsing in her restraints, Zumas unfastened the leather straps around her hooves before taking her tail in his magic again. He lowered her onto the ground, then dragged her into her cell and deposited her on the floor, leaving her to reel and whimper. Carbon dashed over to her cell and stuck his hooves through the bars.

Zumas stepped out of Lilo’s cell and closed it behind him, using the key to lock it up. He then levitated the keys over onto the far wall.

“I’ll see you two in three hours,” Zumas said, exasperated. “Maybe then you will actually cooperate, otherwise I may be forced to take more drastic measures than simply making that changeling more crippled.”

Zumas walked with Swifthoof out of the room, leaving Carbon and Lilo alone in their cells. Carbon pushed himself as hard as he could against the cells, trying his best to reach Lilo with no success.

“Come on, Lilo,” Carbon said softly, “I know it hurts, but come closer. I might be able to help a little.”

Lilo whimpered, then she shakily used her forehooves to drag herself across the floor towards Carbon. Her bad wing dragged along the ground, the membrane twisted and torn in all places, hardly even resembling a changeling wing anymore. Carbon did his best to not tear up, but he couldn’t save the tear that rolled down his cheek.

When Lilo finally reached Carbon’s cell, he scooped her up in as much of a hug as he could muster through the bars. Lilo nuzzled into his forelegs, burying her face as she let herself cry.

“C-carbon, it… it hurts,” Lilo whimpered. “It hurts so much.”

“Don’t worry, Lilo,” Carbon said, stroking the back her head. “We’ll… we’ll think of something. Don’t worry, please…”