Empty Eyes
It was a busy day outside the castle of Canterlot. The streets were empty, the stores were closed, and the castle courtyard was packed tight with ponies who had ventured into these horrible conditions to watch history. Today was the day that a very unique pony would be freed from the dungeon, on a probationary period. The uniqueness of this pony was for a simple, horrid purpose. She was the only known pony who had dared to break the ban on necromantic magic. It had come as a surprise and, in lieu of a usual punishment, she had been sentenced to ten years in a cell. In half the time, however, she had earned her freedom by keeping peace within the dungeon. With only an empty, lucid stare criminals would fall silent, fear striking them to the core.
Of course, empty eyes were all she had anymore.
Some would say that the princesses were being extremely merciful, letting her live at all after what she had done. Truth was her punishment was anything except mercy. When her spell had gone horribly awry she had attempted to take her own life as an attempt to escape the insufferable waves of grief that beat against her soul. She had been stopped by the guards that had arrived on the scene, just in time. They were the only ones to witness what had been summoned aside from the royalty and the necromancer, and without speaking they agreed never to talk of it.
A separate contingent had escorted the weeping mare away, a trip that quickly devolved into a forceful drag. The princesses had reviewed the case in-depth, but had decided to avoid the death penalty. They had immediately assigned a small contingent of guards to ensure that the guilty pony didn’t kill herself. It didn't stop her from trying though. And try she did, multiple times for the first year, in fact. However, she eventually grew fatigued of the pointless struggle against her captors and gave up on ending her own life. The princesses were proud that they had managed to save her, and in turn were blissfully unaware of the horrible punishment they had enforced.
And now, five years later, the necromancer in question began to stir inside her cage at the sound of approaching horse shoes. The ringing shattered the air, and she slowly lifted herself from the unforgiving cobblestones and looked towards the guards. A tattered red coat fluttered about her, it had been beautiful once, back when she had first entered her prison, a majesty of a cape made on the cheap by an extremely talented dress maker. Briefly, the side of her flank was visible, a pair of bells were displayed happily against her white coat. However, the cheerful little mark was all but obscured by the black brand that crisscrossed over it, burned deeply into her hide as an eternal, self-inflicted testament to what she had done.
Without a noise the unicorn raised her head and looked out from underneath her pink and purple curls. She looked down the nearby hall, towards the approaching contingent, with uncaring eyes that were ringed with signs of insomnia. She didn't care why they were coming, nor what the princess had decreed. To the mare’s mind, she had died a long time ago, now she was just waiting for it to become official.
The leading guard approached the cell. A pained expression was on her face, but none of the other guards wanted to comment on it. They were scared to. Her orange wings fluttered absentmindedly as she approached and when she reached the door to the cell she had to force herself to look at the pony within. There was a silence as the two looked at each other, and for a moment the purple haired pegasus thought she saw some emotion behind the dead eyes of the unicorn, but that was just wishful thinking.
“Sweetie Belle.” The name echoed through the empty stone halls, filling every corner with a melancholy ring. The tone that spoke was seasoned, but betrayed a hint of a child’s voice. The guards made a note never to bring it up. A breath of time passed while the mare kept her gaze on the inmate, waiting for a reaction from it’s sole occupant.
“Scootaloo.” The name came out as rigid as the pegasus’s armor. It was the tone you would expect from two old acquaintances. There was no emotion and that fact alone tore the lead guard’s heart in half. Unbidden, Scootaloo remembered what her friend had been like before all this. She steeled herself against her emotions and faced her old friend with a cold stare.
“It’s been five years,” Scootaloo said, her bronze protection shifting slightly as she fell back into the strict habits and stances that had gotten her to her position as captain of the pegasus guard. A steering wheel adorned her flank, lightning shooting out from behind it, a testament to what she had done for Equestria.
No response came from the unicorn in the cell. So the pegasus continued. “That means your jail time is up.” Still nothing. Deciding to share in the silence Scootaloo didn’t say anything else, instead taking a key from a nearby hook and placing it firmly in the lock. With a tight twist the jail door opened and Sweetie Belle watched as the bars that had marked her confinement for five years swung outward, showing her the possibility of freedom.
She didn’t move.
Her gaze looked past her surroundings and through Scootaloo. A few of the guards shuffled uncomfortably and Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. After a few more moments of inaction, she spoke up. “Come along then.” The tone was annoyed and piercing, a few of the stallions behind her flinched, having been met with the voice before during their time as recruits.
Sweetie Belle’s gaze remained looking straight ahead for the majority of their trip through the cold stone building. Until, that is, they reached a crossroads of halls. Instantly her head snapped to face a pair of massive double doors that marked the exit to the courtyard. But that wasn’t where they were headed, they had somewhere else to be first. Scootaloo abruptly turned away from the threshold of the outside world and began to walk away from it, towards a second set of massive doors that were placed directly in line with the entrance. Sweetie Belle followed without complaint.
They entered the glimmering throne room, drawing the gaze of Celestia and her council. The Pegasus Guard brought the necromancer forward, but the convict's eyes weren't on the dawn princess. No, they gazed through an ajar door, and at the purple irises on the other side.
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interesting start.
So Scoots is alive. But who did she try to resurrect? Was it AB? Anyway poor Sweetie Belle. She needs some loves.
Interesting world you got here. Please continue.
i shal fav this
Strangely, I haven't come across a sad CMC story until this point.
I like where this is going, though, so please continue.
You've got another fave from me.
3002448 T_T i have and its is not a good thing to read.
Fantastic imagery here. I'm loving how well things are described, especially when you described Sweetie's and Scootaloo's voices. This is an amazing start to a story, and I'm going to finish it.
Loving it so far. I think I know what happened already, but it's still early. Good start!
Two things:
"moment the purple haired pegasus thought she same some emotion behind the dead eyes of the unicorn."
I think you meant saw.
“It’s been five years.” Scootaloo said,
It's been pointed out by other users that, unless ending on punctuation which is supposed to show emotion or question, when the next descriptor is "so-and-so said" it's best to replace periods with commas.
On to the next chapter!
I could've sworn I faved this ages ago. Thankfully I was pointed out to this fic once again by Anonymoose's blog. So I get to re-read the first chapter before continuing on to enjoy the rest of the fic.