//------------------------------// // Act 1 | Sweet Release // Story: Daughter of the First Reign // by LegionPothIX //------------------------------// The door to the cell opened and spilled the mare that had collapsed next to it onto the hallway floor. Her eyes were glazed over, cheeks stained with tears, while her hoof traced out the oak tree on the cold stone floors. Her hollow voice echoed her experience, “Mother is dead… The armies came… They came anyway… I couldn't… stop them…” The malevolent stallion had returned to question Nurse Clarity about her progress. This happened often but today would continue to be a day of firsts. Today he got an answer. He was surprised to see the interrogator reduced to a sobbing mess. More importantly he was intrigued to see that the filly could do that to her. It meant that she could communicate her ideas on at least some level, which in turn meant she could answer his questions. “Somepony get her out of here,” he bellowed down the hall. This attracted the attention of two earth ponies in similar paper hats to that of Nurse Clarity. They rushed to the mare’s aid and the black stallion growled at them, “Not her.” It took several tense seconds of internal debating for the guards, as they question who they feared more, before they slowly entered the cell. They unfastened the chain from the wall, then the filly from the chain; leaving a few links on the collar to serve as a leash should the need arise. Once she was led out of the cell the guards relinquished her to their guest. Nurse Clarity continued to babble on the ground as the stallion and filly stepped over her to leave. “The army took my mother away… Theirs… I will take theirs.” These slow deliberate words were accompanied by equally slow and deliberate movements as Nurse Clarity rose up from the ground. Her hat fell from her head when she lowered it to point her lit horn at the stallion, and it was crumpled under-hoof with the first step of her charge. Treeling turned to watch the familiar scene, this time as an outsider, when crystals grew out of the stallion’s shadow. They broke the mare’s charge, first by allowing her to slam face first into a wall of stone, before a second one grew to push her into the cell. “Keep her here until I come back for her,” Sombra ordered before adding: “And get this one a new slate.” The stallion and the filly continued their trot to the stairs as one of the guards galloped to the storeroom while the other locked the cage and cleared away the crystals obstructing the hall. After returning with kindergarten construction materials the guard strung a length of twine around the back of Treeling’s neck and tied both ends to two small holes in the corners of a fresh slate. A small reed was loaded with a piece of chalk before magnets affixed it to the board for easy handling and a box of additional chalk was magnetized to her collar. “Th-there you go miss!” the guard hesitantly said before bowing and backing out of the way of the pair. “I-is there anything else that you require Sombra?” His body language betrayed him. It was evident that he hoped the answer to the question was "no" and, luckily for him, it was. After a few short steps to the stairwell they made their way out of the prison. Sombra glanced down to the frightened filly before offering his reassurances. “You have been asked enough questions for today.” he said before turning his gaze back to the path he was walking, “The answers can wait until tomorrow.” The nervous manner in which Treeling fidgeted while they were leaving caused Sombra to stop and turn to her. “Is there something you wish to tell me?” he asked. He knew that he had said that she wouldn't be asked any more questions today so he was left only to encourage the child to “speak” her mind. Nearly a full minute passed while she looked up to him questioningly. She glanced back in the direction of the cells before tapping her horn. “You want Nurse Clarity?” Sombra posed, to which she shook her head, tapped her horn again, and then tapped the ground with the same hoof. “You want to go back to the cell?” Sombra asked while trying to interpret the signs. She shook her head again. Then dropped to the ground and drew the chalk from its place so that she could draw on the board. She hastily sketched a stick figure of herself and Crystal Clarity. The nurse’s horn was glowing with arrows pointing into the walls and ground. Then she drew the arrows from the walls and ground into her own stick-figure, circling it with a wavy magical aura, before drawing one big arrow from her body to the face of Crystal Clarity. Recognition dawned on Sombra’s face and he mirthfully voiced his conclusion: “Interesting... so that’s how you did it.” The filly nodded then looked back toward the direction of the cells since they were walking away from the one place bleached with enough magic for her to "speak" again. “Don’t worry about that.” Sombra said, “I know another way.” They continued walking down long halls, and through twisting corridors before reaching a second flight of stairs. Along the way they frequently passed guards and nursing staff alike. The screams of other prisoners were magically sealed in their chambers, for the sanity of the staff, though Sombra could tell Treeling could hear them. It was written all over her face and with her magic it must seem like they were calling out to her to save them. Another army wrapped in the darkness, hold up in the stone and iron of whatever mighty tree they were now leaving, it sickened her and she was glad to be free of it. After they climbed up out of its roots Treeling looked to the sky for the first time since she arrived, but it was not the sky she knew. The stallion spoke to the filly without addressing her directly. “You’ll be seeing a lot more of that now, I think, but we need to talk to one more pony before I can say for certain.” They traveled through the city streets for the remainder of the evening, trying to find something that would satisfy the filly’s fickle pallet, before taking their trek to the castle where they were quartered for the night. Tucking the filly into the first bed of her life, Sombra said "On the morrow, we will speak with the Queen, but I will need to ask you some questions before then. Rest well tonight." Treeling drifted to sleep thinking of how she still liked the black army. << Earthbound | Mind Games >>