//------------------------------// // Chapter Ten // Story: Human Relations - HR // by LucidTech //------------------------------//         The world was dark, all except for a singular isolated table and a biped that was strapped tightly to it. The one on the table was lost, all the surroundings were drowned out by the spotlight that flooded his eyes and kept them from looking into the shroud that surrounded him. He tried to sit up, but to no avail. The bonds on the table kept him from moving. He saw movement stir in the black and lay still. The light beat down on him for minutes, unabating, as wisps writhed just out of sight.         A solemn face came out the darkness, looking at him with all the emotion of a dead fish. The light was too blinding to make out the features, until at last the head moved between him and the light, casting a menacing shadow. Caramel looked down at Ledger, his face visible in a silhouette. “I wanted to avoid killing you in Appleloosa. I didn’t want any blood on my hooves. I only wanted to save my family.” “Caramel I-” Ledger tried, only to be abruptly cut off. “But then you escaped. I thought you would come peacefully but you escaped. You put everyone in danger, just to save yourself. I had you all wrong.” “Caramel no, it- I needed to-” “Don’t make excuses Ledger. I won’t listen to the lies that come from your lips anymore, you taught me better than that last time.” Caramel moved away from the light, disappearing into the darkness again. “I’m going to kill you Ledger, to save my family. They’re in danger every moment that you’re still breathing. Still talking. But, before I do that, there are some ponies who wanted to talk to you, seems they want some answers.” A unicorn walked into the light, a soft glow emanating from her horn. She was too hard to make out, the light was making Ledger’s eyes water. Luckily, the voice identified her. “You killed my parents.” “Twilight?” “You killed my parents and my brother and all of them didn’t you? We weren’t even given the bodies for a proper funeral service, we were denied even that. The queen’s guards showed up and whisked them away in the midst of the night with hardly a word… but you remember that don’t you? You were there, after all.” “Twilight they’re still-” Ledger felt a knife slice into his hand, a sharp fresh pain that burned and forced more tears from his eyes. He clenched his teeth in pain and did his best not to shout. Glancing down through watery eyes Ledger saw the handle of the knife sticking out of his hand, the blade buried into his skin and the table beneath. “Don’t lie to me Ledger, I’m not in the mood.” She said coldly before vanishing into the shadows. The next pony started at the point that Twilight ended on, and he felt the knife immediately pierce his other hand. He wasn’t prepared enough to stop himself and let loose a muffled scream as he tried to ignore the pain. As he blinked out the tears he saw a familiar silhouette above him, the hair gave it away. “Cadence I don’t know what-” “What don’t you know?” Came the simple question. He felt a knife pierce into his shoulder, and he let loose a scream in response, she twisted the blade a little, moving his joint in the socket before letting it rest. “Well?” She asked as Ledger tried to cope with the pain. “What don’t you know?” “I don’t-” Ledger breathed in tightly, trying to ignore the pain that hit him from his limbs. “know what to say.” She looked back at him, he thought he saw the shadow of jail bars on her face, but it could have been a refraction of the light as it passed through the layer of tears that was coating his eyes now. “I’m sorry.” “I’m not.” Came her curt reply and she disappeared into the shadows as well. There was a long pause, stretched on eternally by the excruciating pain that pushed Ledger as close to death as it could without pushing him past it. The next face he knew immediately, it seemed exceptionally clear. And when he saw it he knew there was no way it could have been anyone else. “Octavia please.” He begged, seeing her already approaching with a knife in her hoof, ready to drive it in with pure earth pony strength and not unicorn magic. “Let’s get this over with.” She said simply, bring the blade down as strong as she could. Ledger clenched his eyes in preparation for the fear. After several minutes with a startling lack of sharp pain he felt someone shove him on the shoulder, he waited a moment before he carefully and slowly opened his eyes. Octavia stared back at him gravely and he lost whatever will had kept him from fighting his bonds, he pushed away and found that his hands followed easily. He felt a board behind his back and glanced around in panic. It took a moment before he remembered. Train car. He was on a train car. He put his hands over his eyes to hide the fear that was still fresh in his mind, phantom pains lingering in his limbs. He sat there in silence, waiting, hoping it would fade from his mind. “Ledger?” Octavia said, looking at him strangely, having just seen him back away from her in panic. “Ledger are you alright?” “Fine, Octavia.” he said, moving his hands from his eyes to his hair, running them once through it before he looked back at her. “I’m fine.” “Are you sure?” Spike piped up from nearby. “I mean I could go get some warm milk from the food car if you needed it.” “No Spike I’m fine, thank you but I’m fine.” “You don’t seem fine.” Octavia said with a disapproving tone from nearby. “Quite the opposite in fact.” “I’m hoping that if I keep telling myself that I’m fine I’ll start to believe it.” Ledger said simply. “Why do you care anyway, I’m probably just faking it to get you on my side anyway right?” “Ledger I’m sorry for that…” She said, glancing at the ground, and then to Spike who looked back her with a face like her own. “Yea, that’s nice. I’m glad you’re sorry for insulting my integrity, my character, every aspect that I pride myself on and thinking I was in it because I wanted a slave, makes me feel completely over it now that I know you’re sorry for it.” “Why do you-” She bit back angrily before sighing. “What can I do to make it up to you?” “Nothing, Octavia.” She looked at him with a mixture of annoyance and rage, only to see him looking at his hands solemnly, the white gloves covering up his skin. “Did you know that the queen has other ways of keeping people in check besides the clothes?” He said, seemingly idly. “I didn’t.” Octavia responded, unsure where he intended the situation to go. “What other ways do you mean?” The light trickled in from the window behind Ledger, the sun barely high enough to peak over the horizon. “She’s very fond of nightmares. She has a spell she likes to use, gets in your head, knows what you’re thinking. If you start doing things she doesn’t like it gets worse, has a little bit of her consciousness in it, she saves it for important ponies in her service. The more you go against her wishes the more real the nightmares.” Ledger was busily rubbing his hands now, again and again as if he wasn't quite convinced by the story his senses told him, constantly rubbing his palms as if checking to make sure they were intact inside the gloves. “They’re… really quite frightening.” “Oh… I see.” Spike looked between Ledger and Octavia, eyebrow raised in curiosity, not quite sure what they were talking about. “So… like Captain Dash then? She would have one of those on her?” “Yea… I suppose she would.” He said idly. “Saw a mare get institutionalized from trying to fight it, ended up in the asylum ranting about shadows. Not the kind of thing that a pony wants to get into, not if you value your sanity anyway.” “What about a not-quite pony?” Octavia pressed on. “What would a not-quite pony do?” “I imagine he wouldn’t want to get into either. But, we all have to do things we don’t want to every now and then don’t we?” Silence hung in the cabin for a long moment as Octavia thought. Canterlot showed itself on the horizon, not more than a few more minutes away from where they were. “Ledger… why are you telling me this?” “Well, you know… I hear there’s a concert going on in Ponyville this upcoming week. It might be good for you to get out of the town before the celebrations for the queen’s birthday begin. I hear they’ve got quite a venue there, lots of variety.”         Octavia glanced worriedly at Ledger. “What about you?”         “Well, I’m under the queen’s employ. It would look bad if I left wouldn’t it? Besides, there’s still plenty of action that’ll be going on in Canterlot. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”         “Yea… well I’ve heard that parties like that can get pretty wild, especially if things start to get too frantic. Keep yourself safe okay?” Octavia gave Ledger a half smile and Spike, for his part, seemed to be catching on to all the subtext that had been thrown around him.         “Ha… I wish I could make that promise…”