Much to the duo's surprise, the guards did not immediately tackle them. Instead, several of them directly in front of Stellar and Life stepped aside to make way for another guard. The guard to come through had a rather gentle demeanor to his face and gave off an aura of calmness and safety in his immediate area. This stretched towards Stellar whose tension started to well down, making her muscles creak and her back lower into a more comfortable position. Life saw this happen from the corner of his eyes, but he was not duped. He had enough experience to know what this encounter would entice.
The guard in question was the son of the current rulers of the kingdom. His mane and tail were a mixture of vertical yellow and blue stripes that brightened the lower they went, and the left side of his mane was tied into a dangling pony tail with the help of a golden mane band.. His coat was a strange color that confused Stellar as to its actual spectrum. Was it a pale blue-gray or a pale gray-blue? She couldn't figure it out. Life recognized the armor he wore as being that of the royal family. After all, who else would wear golden chest necklaces embedded with a blue sapphire as well as golden hoof armor? As for this guard's cutie mark, it was composed of two swords crossing each other in a downwards motion, the whole thing covered by a glimmering blue heart.
Unlike the other guards around, his body did not take on a cautious stance and was completely calm. Perhaps it was because he was extremely powerful or, perhaps, was it because he was an alicorn and did not need to fear anypony but the sisters themselves. Whatever the case, he stopped just a few feet away from the duo and the exit they were blocking. Even if the guards hadn't noticed yet, the pair realized that the other prisoners were behind them, waiting in the darkness. Worry was clenching everypony here.
"Hello. I am Valiant Heart," the guard spoke with a soothing tone and a faint smile. "Who are you?"
Valiant extended a hoof outwards so as to specify that he was not here to fight. His face even adorned that of a worried pony who simply wished that their kindness would be returned by strangers he liked.
"Why do you want to know?" Stellar replied aggressively.
"I simply wish to know so that we may defuse this little...incident together. There's no reason to be worried. I won't hurt you or your friend."
Stellar took a step back and lift a hoof by instinct of self-preservation. Life, meanwhile, remained cautious of the whole situation. He was watching everything around him. He knew that the guards would jump him and that mare when they were given a signal. He was just waiting to see it.
"Yeah right. Like I'm supposed to trust somepony when they have tons of guards armed with swords and spears surrounding me?" Stellar sat on her rear, crossed her forelegs, then huffed. She was simply unreadable to Life who couldn't help but look at her with a look of complete 'agapedness'. If ever that were a word or became one, it would fit the situation perfectly.
"What's wrong with her? She treats every situation like it's a game. I bet he's expecting me to say something. I'll wait and bide my time. She's digging out the relic from the dirt for study. I'll see what I can dust off the revealed pieces in the mean time," Life thought.
"Would you be more comfortable to discuss this if my guards placed their weapons on the ground?" Valiant calmly suggested.
Stellar hummed and tapped her chin with a hoof in a bid to look like she was thinking. It just made her look like a fool, really.
"Sure. Throw them far behind, where I can't see them and where it would take them a while to get to. If you do something suspicious, then we'll have time to flee," Stellar grinned mischievously. She felt as though she had just won at a great war of the wits. However, a shining glare in Valiant's eyes suggested that it was only a small, insignificant battle.
"Yes. While it is true that you and your gaunt friend would indeed be free to escape, would you really leave your companions behind?"
Stellar laughed loudly and nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about."
The mare still looked behind herself through reflex and caught a glimpse of the frightened, disheveled mass of ponies still in the tunnel. They were looking at her with wide eyes. She was to be their salvation, and they needed to escape. They had to. They wouldn't last in that place if they were sent back. Valiant responded with a bemused expression.
"I seriously doubt that you thought I couldn't see the others behind you nor that you would abandon others like you below. This is for your own good and everypony's safety. I beg you to understand this. We haven't done anything wrong. We just worry for the safety and integrity of our people and Equestria as a whole," Valiant insisted. If he had hands, he would place them together and beg for forgiveness. "I really prefer that this doesn't end up as becoming a fight."
The stallion's words were met by a forced, but mocking, laughter. They came from Life who pushed Stellar to the side with his right foreleg. The mare was irritated at first, but when she looked down at the leg to push it off of her, she realized the words of skepticism and sadism he spouted were from personal experience and views. The details had become clear.
Life was so thin that his bones could be seen sticking through his teal coat. Of course, the orange cracks still raced along it and singed the coat around them, but the teal still fought for dominance amongst the ashes. His eyes were faded to a near blind-like appearance, but the blue they once held could still be seen behind that milky mist; Both eyes were dragged down by heavy bags that denoted not fatigue, but sickness and disease. Even his tired gaze denoted some sort of anger that was kept within for many many years. Life was tired of everything.
"Cut the nonsense. Do you seriously want me to believe that you did this for the 'safety of Equestria'," Life mimed. He was mocking Valiant and didn't seem to care that the guards around the two were coming closer. "It's ponies like you who always intended to 'help' everypony but ended up destroying it anyways just to further your own goals."
"But I--"
"No! I will not hear your excuses! For too long have we all been subjugated to pain and torture. I have seen dozens of my friends die down there because of your-" Life stopped suddenly, his eyes widening into saucers. Slowly, a grin formed on his face, leaving way for a full smile to bloom."Your fear. How ironic."
"Wh-How dare you," Valiant hissed as he stomped a hoof forward.
"Hmhmha. All is going according to plan..almost. I wasn't expecting a full jailbreak. Well, I'd love to stay and watch but they seem to be really invested into arguing," the cackling shadow mused to itself. "I'm going to quietly sneak away and continue watching from another angle."
"What would a small colt know about the responsibilities of protecting everypony? I have trained as hard as I could, and still do, to be able to protect everypony I care about. What do YOU know about that?" Valiant said.
"A colt?! I know more about loss than you do, pretty colt. Oh, thinking he's so 'high and mighty' because of his parents and because he ascended into some sort of pegacorn."
"I'm an ALICORN!"
Life shrugged and looked away, preferring to display his lack of interest at others."Sure you are. Sure."
"I--"
"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" a powerful voice shouted from above.
All the guards gasped and dropped their weapons from their surprise. Cadance had decided to fly down the tower while her husband had been teleported behind the ring.
"Move aside, soldiers!" Shining Armor roared.
"Y-yes, sir!" the guards obliged.
Valiant felt a knot form in his throat that wouldn't go back down no matter how hard he tried to swallow. The closer his parents got to him, the smaller he felt and the more pressure he could feel baring down upon him.
"H-hi, mom. Hi, dad."
Cadence looked behind Valiant to see the two strange ponies looking back with curiosity as well as the many eyes reflecting in the darkness below them. The filly looked so familiar.
"What is going on here?" Cadence asked with an authoritive tone.