Chapter 15: Shock
Tiran ran, crashing through the dense underbrush. Occasionally, he heard a snap or whistle as something flew by his head. He looked around frantically, trying to spot Ruwa, but she was nowhere to be seen. Afraid that he had left her behind to get captured, Tiran slowed down and ducked around the thick trunk of a tree.
He peeked out from behind the trunk, but had to duck back as something thunked into the thick wood inches from his face. Curious, Tiran looked at the spot that had been struck and was surprised to see something sticking out of the bark. He plucked it from the trunk of the tree and held it in the moonlight for closer inspection.
It was a dart. A strange one, from the looks of it, made to be fired from a rifle. But why darts? Tiran suddenly felt something ping off the armor plate on his back, he had to move. Ducking low, Tiran dove into the underbrush and kept running. Something stung the back of his knee, where the suit was soft and flexible, but he didn't care.
Now he was really getting scared. His unseen adversaries seemed to be firing on him from everywhere, shadows in darkness. Tiran unclipped his pistol and hefted it up, unsure if he actually wanted to use it. So far, whoever it was that was hunting him down were using non-lethals, but it might not remain that way when they caught him.
Tiran's breathing was becoming labored, his thoughts sluggish. Whatever poison was now coursing through his veins was starting to take his toll. Suddenly, he tripped over an unseen rock and went sprawling down, earning a mouth full of dead leaves and other detritus.
He picked himself up and crawled over to a nearby tree and sat down with his back to it, waving his pistol around wildly. Where was Ruwa? Had she gotten away? Tiran didn't know, he could only hope. Another dart struck the ground in front of him, Tiran squeezed off a few shots in fright, his pistol kicking back and expelling small bursts of sparks as the powerful magnets inside launched their deadly projectiles.
It went silent. Uncomfortably so, for what felt like minutes, though it could only have been seconds. Now Tiran could only hear the gentle swish of a night breeze through the trees. A cricket chirped somewhere. A twig snapped somewhere, to Tiran's right. He swung his pistol over to face the threat, but his sight was met with only more darkness.
Something whined through the air and Tiran felt something sharp force its way into the soft flesh of his neck. He hastily brushed it off and saw one of the darts tumble down his chest and onto the soft earth. A strange tingling sensation began to spread from the spot on his neck, working its way down to his chest and up into his head.
Beside him, Tiran heard the crunch of the leaves as some one walked over to him. Tiran tried to look up at the strange figure, but his sight was failing him fast, the muscles in his neck becoming lazy and doughy, all he could make out was a misshapen blob. His head began to loll as he lost the strength to hold it up, slumped against the tree.
"Damn, he really gave us a run for our money." The words were distant to Tiran, as if they echoed from a long ways away. The blob turned to something behind it, "You ok, ya get hit?"
"No," came the answer, "he just nicked me. Lucky shot, no way he knew where we were."
"Wouldn't have made that shot if you had hit him the first time." A third voice teased.
"Hey, I still got 'im, didn't I?"
"All right, wrap him up and stow him." The first figure said as the second moved around to Tiran's side. "And make sure to keep him out of sight of the female, she seems a bit distraught."
"Copy that, we taking her too?"
"Yep, looks like our Princess has some questions for them both..."
Tiran fought to stay awake, fought to listen more, but the toxins were taking their toll. His eyes fluttered shut and he no longer had the energy to try and open them again. As a warm blanket of sleep began to descend upon him, Tiran felt himself being bound up once again.
* * *
Tiran's consciousness came back in a fog. At first, he couldn't remember anything. Where he was, when he was, even who he was. When it came back to him, it was slowly, in steps.
He remembered his name, Tiran, yes, that was it. He was a pilot. He crashed. Ended up somewhere, somewhere foreign. No, it was different. Not foreign, something else...otherworldly. The shock, realization. Things he had previously thought to be imaginary, before him in the flesh.
Ruwa. The strange pegasus creature. No, not a creature. A person, but not human. Where was he? He felt his right arm chained to something. The house, he was captured. The basement? No, this was different. Why was he here?
As the drugs wore off, things began to flood back into Tiran's mind. Traveling, from the town. The incident at the waterfall, the aguement with Ruwa, the airship, sitting at the fire, an attack, materializing from the darkness. Ruwa! Where was she? Was she ok? Tiran needed to find out, it was all his fault. He should of seen it coming. Li, where was she? He couldn't feel her presence. Was she powered down?
He was wearing something, not his suit. Some kind of robes, clean, soft. Tiran looked at the table in front of him. It was stainless steel. The room was concrete, three gray featureless walls with a floor and ceiling to match. An interrogation room.
Tiran needed to get out. He yanked on his chains, surprised as he found his right side was free. Why was that? Tiran looked down at his shoulder and flinched. He did a double take. His arm was gone. The broken and battered frame of his limb was missing, and Li along with it. All that remained was the scarred and lumpy flesh surrounding the metal socket and dangling wires that was what was left of his shoulder.
A series of clicks, like a key being inserted into its lock. A turn, a click, then a clang as the lock released its relentless hold. Tiran heard a door open behind him. It sounded heavy and it squealed on iron hinges. With a bang, it swung shut again and the lock clicked back into place. The hooves again, approaching him. Some one came to the edge of his vision, but stopped, denying Tiran the identity of his captor.
Tiran was getting more of the vibe from the person that the room gave off. This was an interrogation. Tiran reverted to his training, tongue still thick from the drugs, "Tiran, Lieutenant, United States Navy," he said mechanically.
The person behind him seemed to pace about, sharp hooves clacking on the concrete floor. "Officer, huh? You look a little young for that, care to elaborate?"
"Tiran, Lieutenant, United States Navy," was Tiran's answer.
"Guess you're not much of a talker. I know the gist kid, you don't have to tell me. We're trained much the same way." The sound of hooves moved off to Tiran's left.
A stallion came into view, dark rusty red coat, a horn sprouting from the top of a short electric blue mane. He moved around to the other side of the table and took a seat in a metal chair opposite of Tiran. Tiran tried not to betray his amazement as a faint blue aura sprung from the grim stallion's horn and engulfed the manila folder. It slid towards the stallion, even as it opened, allowing him to examine the contents.
"That was a very specialized looking piece of equipment we found up on the mountain." The stallion looked up, reading Tiran's face. "I would imagine that you are its pilot. Had a little trouble, huh?" When Tiran didn't respond, the stallion continued, "That's some interesting technology, far more advanced than we've encountered before. Not to mention that suit and the pistol you had on you. Very interesting stuff. I gotta ask, exactly how far have you advanced?"
When Tiran remained silent, the stallion shrugged, "That's ok, we'll find out soon enough. We have your aircraft, you know. Plus, the female has already told us plenty."
Tiran went rigid. They had Ruwa, who ever these guys are. He wondered what she had told them. Hoping that it wasn't anything he couldn't explain away or deny. Tiran strained to remain passive, the stallion seemed to be watching for any hint of a reaction. Tiran wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
Behind Tiran, the door opened and closed again. The stallion looked up and another pony entered Tiran's view, this one a mare. She was wearing what looked like a lab coat and leaned in close to the stallion, whispering into his ear.
The stallion's face betrayed him, but just for a split second, something like surprise then disbelief flashing across his face before quickly switching back to the stoic, emotionless expression he had been wearing. The mare in the lab coat excused herself, Tiran wincing slightly as the door clanged loudly behind her.
The stallion, leaned into the table, forelegs resting on the edge as he scrutinized Tiran's face. His eyes narrowed and flicked about wildly, taking in all of Tiran's facial curves and angles before finally coming to rest on his eyes. Tiran thought he saw a flicker of confusion mixed with recognition in the stallion as he leaned back and gathered up the folder with the same strange energy as before.
"We'll talk again later," the stallion said in a short tone and left room, the door once again squealing open and clanging loudly as it closed.
Tiran heard the lock click back into place and the room fall silent. Almost immediately, he began shaking at the chain on his arm, attempting to wiggle the manacle loose on his wrist. He wasn't very successful, the workmanship was solid. He tried getting up from the chair, only to find that he was chained to it as well and the chair bolted to the floor. Whoever these people were, they didn't mess around. The whole set-up looked as if it were designed to hold some one a lot stronger than him.
He wished Li was there with him, she would know what to do. Or, at the very least, know what to say in order to comfort him. Tiran really didn't know how he was going to get out of this one.
Tiran waited for what seemed like hours in his little cell, silently counting to himself and making speculations as to what was going on. Occasionally, he stiffened up as he heard more steps outside his door, but no one ever came in. He was contemplating trying to sleep again when he heard a multitude of steps stop just outside his door.
Tiran listened, almost holding his breath so he could hear better. There was some kind of muffled argument, the sound just barely making it through the thick iron door. He recognized the stallion's voice. There was another, the one he was arguing with. It sounded female.
For a split second, Tiran allowed himself to believe that it might be Ruwa. He longed to see a friendly face, even if it was one that was so foreign to him. But as he listened more, Tiran realized that it wasn't her. The tone was more authoritative, the syllables much more rounded. Whoever it was, they were used to giving orders.
Tiran sat up straight as he heard the lock disengage again. The door opened and Tiran heard two pairs of hoof steps enter, but only one continued, the other set halting just inside the door. A dark, sparkling blue appeared at the right edge of Tiran's vision. He turned to look and almost had to lean back at what he saw.
It was another pony, but this one far larger than any Tiran had yet encountered, she was almost as large as a horse. Her midnight blue mane twinkled and glittered as if it were filled with a multitude of stars and it wavered about as if it were being toyed with by a gentle summer breeze, though Tiran was sure there was no ventilation in this space. Her coat was just as dark and hinted at the calmness of night. Upon her head, a crown of obsidian rested against a delicate spiraling horn, her back graced with large feathery wings held regally aloft.
As she made her way to the other side of the table, the chair leapt back to the wall, seemingly of its own accord, the large mare taking its previous place. She stood there, gazing down at Tiran with big eyes the color of liquid teal. She blinked a few times, fixing Tiran in an odd stare. At first, he though she almost looked like the shadow in the cloud from his dreams, the old memories that haunted him like spectres. But that couldn't be right, she wasn't there, not that night, and he'd never seen her before. How could she have shown up in his dream?
"Lieutenant Tiran, I presume?" Her voice was soft and kind, yet commanding. "I apologize for your rough treatment as of late, but my operatives had to be sure you couldn't be a threat."
Tiran tried to glance to his rear, but couldn't look all the way around. He was sure the stallion from before was back there, watching him. He redirected his attention back to the large crowned pony as she started to speak again.
"I'm sure this is very traumatic, but please trust us, we are just trying to get to the bottom of things. Is there anything I can do for you to make you feel more comfortable?" she asked sincerely.
Tiran glanced at the empty socket of his shoulder, "You can give me my arm back," he said in a flinty tone.
The mare across from Tiran eyed his shoulder with one large teal iris. "Ah, yes. I apologize, but it was an extremely pecular device. Rest assured, it is in good hooves, I have one of our best working on examining it." She tilted her head ever so slightly as another thought came to mind, "That piece of machinery is quite beautifully mastered, I might add, would you please tell me where you acquired it?"
Tiran kept up his stare, "Tiran, Lieutenant, United States Navy." he once again droned.
"Hmm... yes, I have heard of your reluctance to reveal much else," she mused. "A Lieutenant." She repeated to herself. "Tell me, why so young? You appear to be in your early twenties, if I'm not mistaken."
"One makes rank pretty fast when everyone else is dying." Tiran allowed that much to slip wryly past his lips.
Tiran had intended for that to shock her, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. If anything, she seemed even more interested in him as some kind of specimen. "Interesting," was all she murmured.
"Perhaps you would be more comfortable speaking with me if we knew one another better," the mare continued. "I know you to be Lieutenant Tiran; the pilot of a rather strange aircraft we recovered from the Smokey Mountain some days ago." Tiran shuffled uncomfortably in his chair at hearing that information. "I don't expect you to know exactly who I am," she went on, "but you should be aware." The pony drew in a large breath and rose to her full height, "I am Princess Luna of Equestria, ruler of the night and Head of Equestria's Royal Special Tasks Group." Then in a just as firm, yet kinder tone, she said, "Tiran, I know how this may look to you, especially given the nature of your retrieval, but we are not your enemy. We are here to help."
It was quite a speech. Tiran watched her the whole time, trying to find some flaw, some chink in the armor of her facial expression as she talked, but he could find none. Li might have been able to tell him, being possessive of software for just such analysis. For the second time, he wished she were still with him.
"What about Ruwa?" Tiran finally said, letting this Princess Luna hear the threat in his voice, "If you have done anything to hurt her..."
Luna's lips remained a tight, thin line, but one of her eyebrows arched, "Oh? Tell me, Tiran, do you have feelings for her?"
That caught Tiran off guard, he nearly sputtered as he tried to speak again, "W-what? N-no, no, I mean..." Tiran took a deep breath before letting it out slowly, raising his head and looking the Princess in the eye, "She's been a very good friend to me," he told her in a low voice. "When I came here, she fed me and offered to guide me, even though I was a complete stranger. So you better be treating her well, is all I'm saying."
Luna seemed to smile, almost imperceptibly so. "Rest assured," she acquiesced, "even now, she is being well cared for. Ruwa is lodged in one of the empty Officer's Quarters, getting the rest she deserves after such a trying night." Almost as an afterthought, she added, "Would you like to visit her?"
Tiran very much wanted to do just that, if only to be sure she was ok. But he didn't want to show as much, not to these people. "In time, sure. But first, I want my friggin' arm back," he demanded.
Luna smiled and slowly blinked, "Of course." She walked around the table heading back for the door, "I shall have you moved to more accomodating quarters in the meantime. Rest up, Lieutenant. We shall have to speak again. Commander Sparks!"
"Yes ma'am!" barked the gruff voice of the stallion who had been standing guard.
"In my quarters, please, we must discuss the ramifications of the blood test results."
The door slammed behind them and Tiran heard no more. About half an hour later, another stallion entered the interrogation room and began to release Tiran from his shackles. Tiran briefly entertained the notion of escape, but swatted it down quickly as he turned to leave. There were two more stallions at the door, unicorns in a dark patterned uniform with weapons held at the ready. Tiran did his second double take of the day as he saw what they were wielding. Hovering at their sides were ancient looking pistols of similar design to Tiran's own inherited sidearm.
One of the stallions caught Tiran eyeing the weapon and gave him a threatening look, but otherwise did nothing. They led Tiran through darkened halls, lit only by strange flamless balls of glass, the slap of Tiran's bare feet mixing with the echos of the hooves of his escort. Moments later, they took him through what looked to be the passages pf a lab. He lingered a moment as he studied the odd surroundings. It earned him a hard shove in the back, thowing him off balance.
"Hey!" he spat harshly at the culprit.
"Yeah yeah, keep moving," came the bored reply.
They passed through four more corridors and climbed two flights of stairs before finally coming to their destination. At least, Tiran assumed it was, as his escort stopped him in front of a thick wooden door and gestured for him to open the door. Tiran did so, reching out and depressing the heavy iron handle.
The door swung heavily open to reveal a spartan little room. Tiran stepped onto the hard wood floor inside, examining what he assumed was now his quarters. Before he could look at everything, the door behind him slammed closed and let out a heavy thock as the deadbolt engaged. Tiran made a mental note to remember that this was more likely just another place to keep him locked up in. He was still their prisoner rather than their guest, it seemed.
Still curious about his new accomodations, Tiran wandered around the room. There was a small bed, just big enough for him to comfortably lie in. Against the far wall was a desk carved from oak, sitting adjacent to a small, plain window. Tiran went over to the window and opened it up. He leaned over the sill and gazed all around, taking a small involuntary gulp when he looked down.
He couldn't even see the ground, instead there was just a sea of pale gray as the moon reflected off the back of a sea of clouds. Wind howeled, clawing at his head, and when he looked to his right, he saw that the structure he was now imprisoned in was most likely sitting on the side of a very high mountain. The wall around him was completely featureless, except for a small balcony to his left that he didn't have access to.
Tiran pulled himself back inside and closed the window, feeling the room instantly grow warmer. Besides the bed and the desk was a low coffee table and two other doors. One was already ajar, and he could see it opened into the head, but the other was curiously locked. Tiran jiggled the handle a few times to be sure, but to no avail.
There was a small knock at his door, followed by the lock being opened. Tiran jumped back as the heavy oak door swung open and a cart forced its way through. A demure little earth pony in a maid's uniform followed in close behind it, looking rather unimpressed with the one-armed human standing in the middle of the room wearing nothing but a robe and a bewildered expression. She quickly removed two covered trays and a pitcher of water, setting them on the coffee table, and pulled the cart back out into the hall, closing and locking the door behind her.
Tiran waited a moment, in case there were any more surprises, then ambled over to the table. He picked the cover off one of the trays, revealing a small assortment of food. There was a note tucked into an envelope by the plate, Tiran took it out and read it.
Mr. Tiran,
It has been quite some time before we have had to accomodate one of your unique eating habits, so please do not be too displeased with the selection. I know your kind requires a heavy amount of protien in their diets, so I've had our chefs prepare suitable substitutes for your consumption. I think you may find the soy steaks to be to your liking, our chefs are very skilled. If you require anything else, feel free to ask the guards stationed just outside your door. I shall return to visit you in a few hours, eat and rest until then.
Her Royal Highness,
Princess Luna
Tiran made a sour face and crumpled up the note, tossing it into a waste basket in the corner. So there were guards outside his door. That just confirmed his suspicions about still being a prisoner. A prisoner with a very luxurious cell by standards, but a prisoner none the less.
Tiran tried the food anyway and actually found it to be quite delicious, not much different from the meat substitutes back home actually, but a lot tastier. He had been hoping for real meat, but seeing its inhabitants, he really shouldn't have expected it. Tiran guessed a mostly vegetarian meal wouldn't be too bad, as long as he didn't have to stick with it forever. The other tray contained some pastries, he left those alone for the most part.
He ate his fill and washed it down with a few glasses of water, then flopped down on the relatively soft linens of the bed. Tiran pondered his situation. One moment, he was hiking through the wilderness with a strange mare, then he was getting hunted down by ghosts in the dark, only to end up being held captive in a mountainside fortress by a magic flying princess that may or may not control the moon. It was a lot to take in.
Still, he knew it wouldn't do to dwell on it and try to make sense of it all. Tiran took Li's old advice and just went with it, hoping it would all work out. In no time, he was soundly knocked out, deep in a dreamless sleep.
* * *
Just as he finally got himself straightened out, the lock disengaged and the door swung open, "You did not have to knock that hard." Luna chastised one of the guards as she strode in.
"My apologies, ma'am," the guard replied, returning to his post.
With a swish of her horn, Luna magicked the door closed, leaving Tiran standing alone in the room with her awkwardly. Luna was the first to speak, "Mr. Tiran, I trust you are well rested?"
"Please, just call me Tiran. A-and yes... thank you," he stammered out.
"Ah, I'm pleased to hear that, Tiran." Luna took a few steps toward Tiran, causing him to back up cautiously. She noticed, "Please, Tiran, I come bearing gifts." Her horn began to glow, causing a bag that was slung over her side to unclasp and open. Tiran watched in reserved awe as his arm came floating out, good as new, along with a few sets of clothing. "I believe your limb is now fully repaired, though I must say, it posed a considerable challenge to my talented engineer," she said as Tiran grabbed it out of the air.
He immediately sat down on the bed and began to fit it onto his shoulder, ensuring all the connections were solid. "Why was it a challenge?" he asked innocently as he worked.
"Well, beside the level of technology and the phisiology of your arm involved, once activated, it displayed a few...quirks, for lack of a better word."
Tiran made the last connection and smiled as it powered up. Through his neural implant, he could feel Li's presence as his body began to feed power to her, allowing her to awaken. "Quirks?" Tiran asked, curious as to what the Princess meant.
"Yes, when power was applied to it for testing, it immediately tried to run away with... well, with its fingers." Luna told him with an odd expression.
"What?" Tiran was a little confused, he had never had that happen to him before.
"Yes, it was very odd. It was if your limb was possesed by a deranged spirit. It took nearly all night for them to catch it."
"I am not 'deranged', as you so eloquently put it."
Luna nearly jumped away from Tiran, her face betraying a hint of fear and surprise for but the briefest moment. Tiran was almost as surprised, he hadn't expected Li to come online quite so quickly. On the other hand, he was amused at continuing shock he was getting from others at the sound of her speaking.
"It speaks!" Luna exclaimed as she was backing away.
Tiran rolled his eyes, ignoring Luna and talking to Li as he moved his arm through its full range of motions, "That wasn't nice to do Li."
"Neither is poking around in some one's body and then insulting them." Li shot back.
"Still, you should've let me introduce you first. In fact, I was considering not even telling them, but now you've gone and fouled it up. Oh, and what is this about you making my arm crawl around like a spider?" Tiran demanded.
"It is a program I wrote that allows me to take direct control of your artificial limb in the event of our separation and/or your incapacitation and I needed to escape with classified information, did I not explain this to you before?"
That caused Tiran to pause. She had most certainly not told him about this. That and it wasn't like her to remember something that never happened, not even mentioning the fact that she had written and executed a program all on her own withut his prompting. Tiran filed the thought away for later processing and turned to the Princess that was nearly backed up to the door and giving his arm the evil eye.
Tiran huffed in exasperation, "Your, uh... Highness, is it?" Luna simply nodded in the affirmative, eyes wide. "This is Li," Tiran said dryly, "My partner."
"And certainly not deranged." Li insisted, causing Tiran to roll his eyes again.
"Wh-wha... w-what is she?" Luna managed to stutter uncharacteristically. Tiran actually found it pretty amusing, though he didn't show it.
"I am a construct. An artificial intelligence, designed to assist Tiran in his duties and daily life." Li explained, taking the initiative.
"How is that... how is that possible." Luna seemed to still hardly believe it.
"I know, she's a complicated piece of work and it still doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but then again, neither does most of the things that exist here in your plane of existence," Tiran said. "So I guess we're about even."
"Oh, um... ok..." Luna was left speechless.
This was tickling Tiran to no end. He, by way of Li, had a monarch, ruler of an entire kingdom, at a loss for words. Tiran mentally crossed it off his bucket list with a soft chuckle. Still, he couldn't help but feel a little bit of guilt for causing his captor to go into a state of shock.
But just a little bit.
"Listen, Princess? I'm actually really grateful for all you've done for me so far, feeding me and repairing my arm and all," Tiran said as he picked up a glass of water with his prosthetic and took a sip. "But I gotta ask why I've been treated so roughly during my capture if you're really not my enemy, like you said earlier."
Tiran's kind words and calm and even tone seemed to throw a switch in Luna's head. With a shake of her head, she returned to political mode, "Oh, uh, yes. I must apologize, but we had to ensure our safety, as well as yours."
"That was a pretty strange way of doing it." Tiran commented dourly.
"Yes, and again, apologize, but we had to be sure of your intentions."
"My intentions?" Tiran said incredulously. "Lady, I wanna go home!"
"In the past, that was not the case with your kind." Luna put softly.
"Yeah I heard about them, the other humans."
Tiran's remark drew an astonished look from Luna, "You have?"
"Yeah," Tiran went on, reaching for a pastry from the plate that had arrived hours earlier, "there were three of them. Heard they helped you guys out a lot."
Luna smiled slightly, but it soon began to turn into a frown, "Yes, that is true. The three you've heard of had been a great assistance. However, there was a fourth."
Tiran paused with a pastry half way between the plate on the table and his mouth. He put the pastry back down and looked directly at Luna, "There was a fourth?"
Luna's expression went grim, "Yes, by all accounts, probably the first. But he was a cruel and terrible man. His heart thirsted not but for death, destruction and the conquering of our kingdom." Tiran could almost here the hate in her voice. "However, fortunately," her voice seemed to cool somewhat, "he was repelled and defeated."
"Ugh," Tiran grimaced, "Not really the best first impression, is it?"
For the first time, Tiran heard Luna laugh. It was strange, the way her chuckle burbled out, like the patter of rain in the night, "No, I suppose it is not." Tiran chuckled a little himself, though he made him feel uncomfortable. "But good thing for your species, he was not the first we encountered."
"He wasn't?"
"No. In fact, I was hoping you might know who it was we met first. He must have been a great man even in your world. I'm sure you would be very proud of him."
Tiran felt confused. How was he supposed to know some guy he'd never met? "I'm sorry, I think you might've made a mistake. How could I know this guy, I wasn't here thirty years ago. I wasn't even born!"
Now Luna looked confused, "You don't know him? But how could you not know of your own family?"