//------------------------------// // Chapter Twelve // Story: Human Relations - HR // by LucidTech //------------------------------//         Ledger’s hands slipped over the smooth laminate backs of his playing cards, skin to plastic, unadorned by gloves. He hadn’t dealt the slight pieces in a while; he’d been shuffling them over and over as he stared at the wall. He’d shuffled the night away, only interrupted by occasional trips to the restroom and to take snacks from the cupboard. He was far too afraid to sleep given the sharp turn his nightmares had taken as of late. Preparations had been made, Spike and Octavia had left Canterlot, and the Queen’s birthday was coming to fruition, but that was barely the beginning of what was unraveling today. To the subjects, it represented another anniversary of iron rule. To the Queen, it was a day for remembrance of foes destroyed. To the Resistance, it was perhaps a day of hope, but to Ledger, it was something else.         Ledger glanced towards the door, bags lining his eyes. There was a knock; one that he answered. A servant looked at him in surprise, not expecting to find Ledger so absolutely fatigued, but delivered the message he’d been given all the same. “The queen wishes to speak with you, after you’ve finished your morning routine.” And then he left, trying to hide the deep urge he had to run. Ledger, in response, moved to the bathroom. He dipped his hands in the sink, one full of cold water that he’d left out overnight. He felt a sharp panic in his bones to pull them out in response, but it amounted to nothing more than a plea of mercy to the weary, drowsy mind that moved them. He waited for a few brief moments as the makeshift bowl of his hands filled with water,  then he threw it over his face. The startling temperature invigorated Ledger’s mind, repeating the process a number of times before he decided it wasn’t going to help any more. He rubbed his eyes and stared into the mirror, hating the reflection it showed. He fought back the urge to stash it in the corner closet like he had so many times before. After all, it wouldn’t matter much longer anyway. He glanced at the small pair of bottles that rested on the sink’s edge. The first was a white bottle, one he’d gotten during his time in the dragon empire not too long ago, whose pills didn’t come in any larger doses. It was perhaps the least of the annoyances that plagued him, and it was far from unbearable, but he still wished it had been otherwise. He took a handful of pills from it, perhaps a few more than was recommended, and downed them with assistance from a cup of water. The second bottle however, filled with a strange liquid that sloshed to and fro as it was moved, was placed into an inner pocket of Ledger’s coat. Out of sight and within easy reach. He seemed content with this and left the bathroom, heading for the door. Before he left, he paused at the threshold. A small book rested on a waist high stand, and Ledger reached to grab and read it. He flipped through the pages delicately, but with haste. Names were written in one column, dates in the next, and short descriptions in the last. He paused at one, taking a pen from a pocket and hovering it left and right over and entry. “Crystalline,” he muttered. He knew her; they’d met for the first time a year ago or so, and for the second time just yesterday. His eyes skipped the date and moved to the last column. “Illegal brewing. Questionable potives. Stolen equipment.” Ledger uncapped the pen and placed it neatly at the start of her name. With the container in his coat heavy on his breast, Ledger drew a straight line across the page, marking void all the information he had just read. Then, above it in bold, he wrote simply Paid in Full.  The page was covered in similar entries, all crossed out. Ledger moved to close it, but stopped again. With careful hands, he opened it fully once more, glancing only briefly at the page of his edit. Then, with practiced movement, he flicked a few pages more. Each entry was singular and complete, name and date and description, all of them struck through with his pen, until he came to the last page he had written in. Two entries rested there, unsullied by a mark through. The first was simply Trixie, the description was blank, and the date had been removed. Ledger placed the tip of his pen at the tip of her name. It fell easily into the horizontal imprint that rested by itself, its path across the entry discontinued many many times before, and Ledger did the same this time, pulling the pen away without any further marking. The second entry simply bore whitespace as a name. It was a name that Ledger knew, but hadn’t felt comfortable putting down. The date was marked as that of his last trip to the dragon empire, and the description held only the word Quarry. That was enough of a reminder, and Ledger needed little else to put in that column. He tapped the pen to the side of the page for a moment before he closed it again, laying it to rest once more on the stand. With no more delay, Ledger left his room. There was one more place he needed to go before he visited the queen, and at this rate, he would have to work quickly before arousing her suspicion. His steps were paced but speedy as he moved through the castle, avoiding the eyes of the ponies around him. Crowds of party planners, decorators, designers... They all moved through these public parts of the castle, and Ledger was eager to ignore each one and even more eager to ignore the cacophony that followed them around. He slipped through a set of doors and found quiet. He would have loved nothing more than to enjoy it, but he had no time. The castle’s kitchen rested up ahead, and Ledger pushed himself onwards again. There were far fewer ponies in these halls, as the public was prohibited from entering this part of the castle. It was home to the guard ponies, and once to Ledger himself, until he’d been moved away; he was bad for morale, apparently, and led to his current abode down the hall from the Queen’s throne room. Guards watched him pass, but they did so with a stony gaze, the same look they gave to all passersby. It was, perhaps, the only time Ledger didn’t feel out of place. He was worried about that, but there were always more important things to worry about, and he did his best to ignore it. He arrived, at last, to the kitchen and entered with as brisk a manner as he could, receiving a few passing glances. A queue stretched its way along the counter, then along the wall, guardponies lining up as they waited for food. He’d arrived in time, barely. Ledger looked at each of them in passing as he drifted by them. His steps faltered ever so slightly the more and more of them he passed. At the head of the line, he took the position of the first customer. He saw angry glances all at once, as he heard grumblings and curses half-hidden in sighs, but none of them moved to stop him. Ledger hadn’t expected them too. The voices had only barely begun to fade away when the kitchen opened, the unicorn at the counter appearing in a flash of light. “Hello, everyp—” She stopped as she spied Ledger at the front of the line. Her eyes shifted between the man and the line behind him, a frown adorning her muzzle, before shaking her head slowly. Ledger, for his part, pretended not to notice. “Hello everypony! Today’s meal is potatoes and celery in a soft soup!” she said with another glance to Ledger and slowly settled herself behind the counter. A simple clay bowl levitated across the counter to him, full to the brim.“Here’s your bowl, sir.” Ledger stood there with the bowl for a second before he took a sip. It tasted divine to him, even without a touch of meat. It was so delicious and soothing, it felt like it would drift him away. And he wanted for all the world to say that to her. He wanted more than anything to tell her how good it tasted, but he forced the next words from his mouth all the same. He placed the bowl on the counter and stared at the unicorn, eyes steely and cold. “This is the worst thing I’ve ever tasted,” he said at last, clenching his teeth in both an effort to look menacing and an effort to keep the truth behind his tongue. She stared at him dumbfounded. He heard murmurs from the ponies behind him. They would be a lot louder by the end of this. Ledger stared at her and swung his legs over the counter, forcing her to back away and give him room to approach. It also put him in the kitchen proper, the large pot that held the meal for the day resting under the counter, where Ledger remembered it would be from his time in this part of the castle. “I said that is the worst thing I’ve ever tasted,” he accused, jabbing a finger towards the meal. The words, however, were far more bitter to his tongue than the meal would ever be. “Do you have anything else?” “I-I...” she stumbled, backing away from Ledger, even though his approach had stopped at the end of the table. “Well? Do you?” “I might have something in the back—” “Then go get it!” Ledger demanded with a burst of fake anger. His menacing appearance more than covering up the stuttering he felt at the tip of his tongue. She looked at Ledger for barely a moment more before she ran into the back of the kitchen. With her in the backroom and his back to the counter, no one saw as he took the bottle from his coat and tipped it hurriedly into the pot, making sure to not turn around a bit, lest he give away his charade. In the silence, he heard ponies murmuring. He heard his own name in there, along with several other words often associated with himself. It wasn’t anything new. He stoppered the bottle with a few drops lingering around the edges and put it back into his coat. Ledger knew he would have to quit this act soon. The guard ponies would only take so much of it before they hit him in places where no one would see the bruise, so he was excited to see her return, managing to disguise it with an eye roll. She held to her side a preheated bowl of the meal the day prior, her magic grip holding it aloft. Some kind of vegetable stew, it seemed. She handed it to Ledger carefully. He grasped it, restraining himself from snatching it up too eagerly, and took a bite. The bowl was still hot from the warming spell she’d cast on the food, but the food itself was cold in the middle. She’d obviously rushed to get it out to him, not that he could blame her for it. He would have liked to take back the bowl on the counter, the warm and inviting soup, but he knew that wouldn’t do. Not after the show he’d put on. So, he sighed a very real sigh for a very fake reason and looked at her. “It’ll have to do.” Ledger clambered back over the counter, leaving with his bowl in hand. Not wanting to waste food, the unicorn poured Ledger’s serving back into the pot and stirred it for a moment. She scooped out a new bowl for the next guard. “Sorry if it’s not to your taste…” she muttered with a voice that fluttered off as she handed the bowl across to the hungry guard. He took a sip and smiled at her. “It’s as good as ever, Rosie. Don’t listen to that snob. He may be all but second in command, but he sure as heck doesn’t have a taste for food.” Ledger wanted to apologize, but knew it would be far too late anyway. “In fact, I think I’ll have two bowls to start. We’ll all have two bowls to start! Ain’t that right, boys!” There was a resounding cheer that was cut off as Ledger let the kitchen door swing shut behind him. He ignored the squirming of his stomach and continued on; he had to cover all the ground back to the Queen. Yet, just as he pushed open the door to the public part of the castle he paused in surprise. The blue unicorn who stood there turned to look at him, the doors telling of his arrival. “Hello Hendrick,” Trixie said calmly, barely managing to hide a smile. “Long time no see.”