//------------------------------// // Chapter Seven // Story: Human Relations - HR // by LucidTech //------------------------------//         Ledger stood at the door, patient as always. His mind was assured of his belongings being safe back at his rented room in a nearby hotel. His errands had been taken care of, his to-do list all swept clean of the many things that had littered it for the day, each one taken care of in an empty and easy manner with skill and apathy. Visits with dignitaries and nobles had been taken care of one by one, visits primarily filled with empty and meaningless greetings accented by unimportant small talk that both sides had weaved into something that could be construed as a meeting. The dragons didn’t like him and he didn’t like them. Both sides knew it but neither spoke the words. It would have been impolite, after all.          But now, finally, Ledger stood at a door.         It was extracurricular. He still had other things to do under the queen’s orders during this visit, very important things, and he fully intended to do them of course. But there was a pony he needed to visit out here, one who had been removed and exiled from the boundaries of the queen’s borders in fear and anger. More the latter than the former. And, though she hadn’t spoken of her in the briefing for this particular trip, Ledger knew that his remaining time today would be better spent doing this than anything else.         He heard the jingle of keys and looked around to the source, which just so happened to be quite easy to spot. An elderly dragon, a little shorter than Ledger himself, was approaching the door with a set of golden keys in his claw. He wasn’t hardly slowed by the age that was apparent on his form, and Ledger would have bet the dragon could beat him in a foot race if it came down to it. But his age still showed in his hair and his claws. Weathered tips, scratched by the passing of years, and grey hair that danced lightly with every step.         The dragon reached the door and slid a key into the lock softly. With precise hands he turned it neatly, steady watchful eyes lingering on Ledger  as he did so. There was a soft click in response, not from Ledger but from the door. Both of them looked towards it but the old dragon didn’t open the threshold. Ledger raised an eyebrow as the seconds of uneasy silence stretched into an anxious minute.         The dragon faced him fully, the key hanging in the lock as he left it behind to hold a single digit of his claw up as he turned to the man. A threatening look adorned his face as he spoke, and Ledger was sure to listen, if only for his own safety. “Thirty minutes.” Came the almost raspy voice. “No more, no less.”         “I’m aware.” Ledger responded, his face unreadable. The dragon looked at him a moment longer, unsure if Ledger was being rude or apathetic, before he removed the key from the door and pushed it slowly open. “Thank you.” Ledger responded before stepping across the threshold and into the adjacent room, leaving the dragon and his keys behind.         A quick glance around told Ledger it was more or less the same as it had been the last time he visited. And while he toyed with the idea of attempting to sight see, he found that he grew tired of the pattern of bricks and prison cells all too quickly to admire anything at all. He followed the path in his head, partially from his memory of walking, partially from the directions he’d been given the first time. It was simple enough, more or less a straight path.         He moved steadily towards his destination until he could make out the mark of color against the sepia stained stone. Bright and vibrant in defiance of it’s surroundings. Ledger’s pace slowed slightly as he approached, and he drew the attention of the prisoner as his shoes clicked across the ground. She turned to face him, her features tainted with contempt and rage, as if she had already known he was coming and had prepared her visage just for the occasion.         “I see the Queen’s kept her pet human on his leash.” She said, looking over his clothing, every facet of her demeanor growing more angry and volatile with the passing moments.         “Hello Cadence.” He responded half-heartedly.         They looked at each other for a moment, the alicorn with anger, the man without care. They’d met about a year ago now. When the Queen had first sent him on this trip to the dragons, that time had been with specific instructions to visit her, to check and make sure nothing had gone wrong.         And, of course, nothing had. Nothing would. The queen had a deal with the dragon king. And Cadence would not be getting out anytime soon. As conceited as the king was, he wasn’t stupid. And pissing of the alicorn who controls night and day wasn’t something that wise men did.         “I see you’re doing alright, all things considered.” Ledger said, offering small talk, almost absentmindedly as a bad habit from his meetings only hours or so prior. As he spoke he knew full well no matter what his words were her rage would only grow towards him. He had thirty minutes though, he fully intended to use them.         “I see you’re still a soulless puppet of your Queen.” The sarcasm on the last word was almost unbearable, but it fully delivered her point to Ledger. Not that he needed a reminder what her thoughts were on the current ruler of Equestria. “You remember that I can see the feelings of your heart don’t you? You seemed to have guessed that the first time we met. And I doubt the queen told you. It’s all empty in there Ledger. I assume you know.”         “I think being so far out of Equestria for so long has ruined your magic sense Cadence. Perhaps you see that I want to feel empty, but I can assure you that at the moment I don’t.”         “I think you misunderstand your feelings. Or rather, the lack there of. Perhaps you should have spent some more time looking inward and less time being the lackey of a corrupted crown.”         “Fairly certain you’re wrong, because I assure you, the scars I can feel with perfect agony. I can feel every betrayal under my skin like a razor.”         “Wha-”         “Cutting my veins, scarring my blood, corrupting me and all I have as they dig into my heart with each passing beat, latch onto anything, anything solid they can find as they are rushed through my system. Trapped in a loop just as I am, stuck like I am. In an inescapable pit of torture that never seems to end, caused by people who don’t even begin to think. To think that maybe I have emotions somewhere inside of me.”         “I didn’t mean-”         “It wants nothing but to be free of the never ending cycle, to spill out of my veins and at last find freedom in the abandoned cold of the ground. But it knows, like I know. That to find that freedom would mean death. And it would mean pain to more than just myself. So it politely follows the rules that bind it, the veins the cycle through me and carry it onward. Obeying and following orders. Knowing that one day it will all mean nothing and it will fade into history unremembered.”         Cadance looked at Ledger, who returned an empty glare. She broke away from his faze first. “It doesn’t matter. Not for much longer. The true queen will be free soon, and she’ll take back the crown. Do you know why? Huh, Ledger? Has your queen told you?”         “Because a long time ago, about a thousand years now, Luna and Celestia had a battle. Luna corrupted and angered by being underappreciated and Celestia unwilling to assuage her fears. And so they fought and, in the end, Luna won, empowered by her emotions. And she sealed Celestia in the sun for one thousand years. With that done she donned the mantle of Nightmare Moon and has ruled Equestria since, moving the sun and moon. Ruling each day in the same manner as her subjects. Slaves to an iron crown.”         Cadance looked at Ledger bewildered and he continued. “I’m sorry, were you going to do that rant? Maybe with a little less fact and a little more righteousness involved?”         Cadence looked at Ledger, her eyes searching him for something. “You’ve always known a bit too much. Even the first time. You knew me. Not just of me, you knew me.” Ledger blinked and glanced at the sun outside a nearby barred window, as if to check how much time had passed. “How?” She snarled the last words, leaning forwards to the bars, her muzzle peaking out past the confines but the rest of her trapped firmly within.         “Lucky guess.”         Cadence’s eyes narrowed and a look of contempt crossed her face as she stared him down. Ledger, however, seemed unperturbed “Who’s side will you be on when the true queen comes? Will you cast away your sins for justice. Or will you stay by the side of that false ruler that’s owned you for these past two years?” “I assure you I fully intend to stand with Luna until this all comes to an end.” “Luna? A mare you’ve never known? You think there’s any ounce of Luna left in that twisted creature of darkness? I think you give her far more praise then she deserves. It’s very-” “See,” Ledger said interrupting her, holding one gloved finger to his lips and looking up at the ceiling. “It’s funny you mention that, because right now, and I’m fairly certain you’ve noticed before but I’d like to remind you just to make sure, you’re in a jail cell.” “So what?” “Well, back where I come from, and I fairly certain it’s the same here too. There’s a large difference between a jail cell and a graveyard.” Ledger looked at her again, his eyes still unmoving. She didn’t respond for a while, and Ledger let her keep her silence until he heard a soft bell back the way he had came, indicating five minutes remained and he needed to start making his way back. “Besides, worst case scenario. I die. And, given how things have gone recently. Gotta say,” Ledger shrugged before he began to make his way back, “that’d be a pretty happy ending.”