Chapter 52 - Inner Demons
WARNING: This chapter carries a 'Dark' tag due to the depiction of torture.
I slept fitfully on the overnight train. I never had quite gotten used to sleeping whist travelling. But, it was the quickest way to get to Canterlot and also the quietest; I think there might have been a half dozen other ponies on the entire train.
I had gone straight to Twilight’s library after leaving the Tavern, and asked her to relay where I was going to Applejack and the others tomorrow morning. By then I would be in Canterlot and, with any luck, well on the way to sorting this whole mess out. I had to get the message to the Guard that the Changeling they had was not a typical drone, but a spy, an agent, a rake. My biggest concern though was whether or not this Changeling was part of some larger plot against Equestria; I expected that was not the case though. Ideally, my initial hypothesis would be something near the truth; this Changeling was a leftover of the original incursion, unable to leave due to his old cover. A simple mopping up operation would suffice.
I was travelling pretty light tonight, or was it this morning? Given that I didn’t have time to go all the way back home before the overnight train left, I had nothing bar a few Bits on me. Cousin John would have been proud of me probably, the old colonial.
I wondered what they were actually doing to the captured Changeling. Did they have it in a dungeon, or maybe an interrogation room? I was no interrogator, I like to think that I wasn’t nearly cruel or twisted enough for that. Plus, it would be no easy case to break a Changeling. Still, it had to know that it was done for. Who knows, perhaps it could be convinced to switch sides.
I awoke with a jolt a few hours later as the train’s brakes came on and we pulled into Canterlot. Quickly getting to my hooves, I disembarked from the car I was in and left the station. What little pocket change I had wouldn’t pay for a fare to the castle, so I walked. The exercise would do me good in any case.
The clock was just chiming seven as I reached the gates. As ever two guards were on watch there, completely still. You could easily mistake them for statues, were it not for their eyes steadily roving around their fields of vision. I walked up to the nearest one.
“Do you know where Captain Shining Armor is?” I asked. In hindsight of course, that was a stupid move. These were Royal Guards, they were on duty. I was met with a poker face and a stony silence from both of them. As luck would have it though, I bumped into an old friend.
A Thestral is an unusual sight in the daytime. From what I understand, they do not care much for sunlight; it can over time, damage their specially adapted eyes. Plus the intense UV radiation can cause their skin to blister quite readily. So imagine my surprise when Swift Wing, one of the ponies from the Officers Club greeted me as he trotted along the street.
“Blade Star?” he said curiously. “When did you get here?” I turned around and greeted the Lunar stallion offering him a hoof bump.
“Ah’m lookin’ for Shining Armor, Swift,” I replied. “You seen him? Ah need to speak with him.” The guard’s expression changed noticeably.
“He actually sent me to look for you; I was about to head to the station and catch the train to Ponyville. You’re needed up here. We tried to contact you through Shining’s sister, but we couldn’t get through.”
“Spike’s ability got knocked out last night. My magic only came back a while ago.” While I was glad to be able to cast again, my abilities were still a bit worse for wear. Swift gestured for me to follow him.
“Come on, kid. We best get downstairs; Shining’s been trying to get this thing to talk for hours.”
“What does he want me to do then?” I asked. After all, I knew little about interrogating POWs.
“No idea, all he said was to pick you up and bring you down here.” And with that, we headed into the bowels of the castle
After many twists and turns, we eventually reached an area that resembled a cell block. On each of the walls were one way mirrors, allowing visitors to look in on suspects. All but one of these were empty. The last one at the far end of the hall held three occupants. Strapped to a chair, was the Changeling, and standing across from him was Shining as well as Major Hartwin. While I had expected the Captain of the Guard to be there, I had not anticipated the Major’s presence. Though of course, he did have some notable expertise and like Shining had ‘met’ the Changelings before.
I had expected this interrogation to follow more of a police style rather than a military one, given the ponies rather pacifist nature. So when I saw Hartwin strike the Changeling across the face, I gasped in surprise and almost cried out. Through the built in intercom, I could hear what was being said.
“Where is Queen Chrysalis?” Shining asked as the Changeling righted itself.
“I don’t know,” the Changeling replied, its voice hoarse and dry. This was rewarded with another punch, this time to the gut.
“Where is Queen Chrysalis?” Shining asked, keeping his a voice a monotone.
“I don’t know!” the Changeling replied. Its voice was raised; most likely it was attempting to shout at its two tormentors. Shining sighed irritably and motioned Hartwin to follow him; the two stepped out of the room and almost bumped into us.
“Blade Star. Good you’re here. Swift got you here faster than I expected.” Swift Wing promptly saluted his superior officer.
“Ah got here this morning, Shining. Took the overnight train last night.”
“Oh, so did my message get through in the end?” he asked. “I tried to contact Twilight but I thought Spike’s fire breath was still knocked out.” I shook my head and began to tell him what I had uncovered.
“Ah think Ah’ve found something out about your prisoner, Captain,” I answered. “He ain’t no normal Changeling.” I then went over the basics of my conversation with Thermos last night and the revelations it had produced. “If this was a normal drone, it would have fled by now; instead it came back and stayed where it was. My guess is it that it was meant to gather information. But now that their attack has failed, it’s stuck here; its cover is too deep for it to just slip away.” The two digested this information in silence. Eventually, Shining found his tongue.
“Alright, here’s what we’ll do. Swift Wing, I want you to quietly work with Signals to alter all our communication codes and passwords; we have to assume they’re compromised. Stranded or not, this Changeling may have been passing messages” The Thestral nodded. “Major, can we use this information to our advantage?”
“I think so,” the griffon replied. “Any spy can be turned, particularly when they’re desperate; this may even be a chance to get eyes and ears inside the Changeling hive.” He chucked mirthlessly. “Or what’s left of it.”
“Captain,” I interjected. “If Ah may, why did you send for me anyway?” Hartwin spoke up to answer my question.
“You’re here by special request actually,” he said. “We’ve been trying to get that bug to talk for the past five hours. The only responses we get are ‘I don’t know’ and ‘Let me talk to Blade Star’. So, here you are.” I pondered what this could mean.
Changelings are creatures of deception; they play on your weaknesses and hide where you least expect. Perhaps this Changeling, which had befriended me over the last couple of months thought it could find an ally in me. I’d been deceived by this thing before though, and I had a whole lot of hatred for the species. I wasn’t in any mood to be forgiving. It was time to let my human side out.
There’s an old saying my grandfather used to say on occasion: ‘Like the greatest virtue and the worst dogs, the fiercest hatred is silent’. I suppose this summed up my feelings toward Changelings. I didn’t particularly care for them as a species. I saw them as thieves, bandits, deserving of the fate that befell them. Unlike Shining though, I didn’t want to scream or shout at them, just talk. I would be most grateful of an opportunity to ‘talk’ with one of them.
I walked into the room the Changeling was sitting in. It was warm, dry, and comfortable, in other words no good. If you want to get answers, the subject must not be comfortable for any length of time. I decided to try an illusion spell Twilight had taught me back in November. Its function was similar to that of a holodeck, insofar as that it allowed you to create a virtual environment. She would sometimes use it when she wanted to study somewhere other than the library. To quote a certain clock repair pony, I changed the desktop setting.
I walked into what could be described as the traditional interrogation room. With a fair bit of effort, I was able to transform it all into a place much more fitting. The drab grey walls and the one way mirror, even the door, were replaced by beautiful purple crystals, while the floor became plain earth. The buzz of the overhead light was replaced by dripping water and the temperature dropped noticeably. All that remained when I was finished was the desk and the two chairs. I sat myself down across from the Changeling. It regarded me curiously.
“Is that supposed to scare me, Rookie?” It asked, still mimicking its old voice.
“No,” I replied. “Ah just thought we should go somewhere more appropriate to talk. You ever been down here before, perhaps with an alicorn princess in tow?” The Changeling, chuckled, in a weird buzzing way.
“And here was I thinking I might get a fair hearing. You’re not exactly cut out for the interrogator role are you?”
“Ah wasn’t aware that Ah was interrogating you,” I countered coldly. “If Ah was interogatin’ you, Ah’d have stuck a hot iron poker in your chest and pulled your wings off by now.” The Changeling started at that.
“Rookie, listen to me. I’m not one of them. I was once but not anymore.” Its pitiful plea of a Nuremburg defence merely intensified my hatred of my former friend’s species. With one right hook across the table, I hit him on the side of the neck (it doesn’t show a bruise as easily there). The Changeling had the breath knocked out of it and clattered to the ground. I sighed.
“Why do you lie to me Changeling? You know Ah can’t stand liars. Though Ah suppose you can’t help it. Is that it?” I tilted my head in mock confusion. “Just your instinct, just your nature, you’re just a scorpion?” A small part of me asked why I wasn’t giving the poor sod a chance; he had been my friend after all.
“You really do hate me, don’t you? Not just Changelings, but me personally.”
“Ah’d say Ah have every reason to hate you. You and your kin haven’t exactly been a friend to Equestria.” Images of that fateful day flashed in my mind. Twisted blue eyed monsters grinning evilly. Buildings burning, ponies running in fear, the Guard nowhere to be seen. And at the centre of it all, that evil, twisted demon they called their queen. Somewhere amongst their ranks had been the creature that now sat before me. “Where Ah come from, your queen would probably be up against a wall by now.” And with that, I sank to my lowest.
“But Ah guess you’ll have to do.”
A ring of magic appeared around the Changeling’s neck, lifting it up out of its seat. The ring promptly began to shrink and I heard it struggling, slowly choking. I smiled as unbeknownst to me, my aura had turned black and purple smoke poured from my green and red eyes. It was creatures like this that had almost destroyed Equestria; one of the few places where I was truly happy. I reduced the ring’s radius even more, listening to its struggled breaths all the while drawing on the most powerful source of dark magic.
“Celestia forgives all, Changeling. But Ah’m just a unicorn; so Ah don’t have to.” And at last, the Changeling cracked.
“For the love of Celestia, let me go!” it wailed through my hold. I continued to grin.
“Don’t worry; this’ll all be over in another minute or so.” I taunted cruelly.
“I’m-I’m not spying!” it managed to wheeze. I released my hold on its neck, allowing it to drop, spluttering and coughing, the few feet back to the chair. The little voice telling me to hear him out grew louder.
“So why are you still here then?” It seemed Thermos’ idea of the Changeling being forced to stay behind was correct. Still, I had no reason to trust it; Changelings after all aren’t exactly revered for their honesty. I kept my horn flared, threatening a repeat performance. The Changeling, sighed, I suppose is the right term.
“You better bring Shining Armour in here.”
It was about fifteen minutes later, and I had been joined by Shining, the Major and a court reporter from Day Court who would take down the Changeling’s statement. Our little gathering provided a spectrum of expressions. Personally, I was willing to listen to what it had to say; my views on Changelings hadn’t changed, but I believed this one might be of help. Hartwin seemed impassive and neutral. Shining on the other hand had an expression of barely contained fury. In spite of my assurance that this this Changeling probably had no connection to the hive, he still saw it as a threat and wanted to be rid of it as quickly as possible. I had kept the illusion spell active; it was a better vista than the drab room we sat in anyway.
“Alright, Changeling,” I said. “Start from the beginning.” And with that, it began its story.
“Well, first of all, I am the only Strong Shield. I never captured or replaced anypony. I simply took a generic disguise and joined the Guard. That was about six years before the wedding. My history from then on is just as it appears in my record. I rose through the ranks and quickly found myself in command of my own section here in Canterlot.
“What they didn’t know was that I was slowly passing information back to the hive. I was one of the first Changelings to venture beyond the borders of the Badlands. As soon as my reports reached our queen, she began to draw up plans to take over this nation and use it as a feeding ground for generations.” Shining cut it off.
“Yes, yes, we’re all familiar with your queen’s megalomaniacal plan,” he said sneeringly. “How about you skip to the part where you betrayed your friends and guardsmen?” Strong Shield glowered at him briefly before continuing.
“Anyway,” he went on. “My role then changed. I was now to disrupt the operations of the Royal Guard when our army attacked. This would give us an advantage in battle. I still remember it all so clearly.
“When the shield came down I had sent many of the guards under my command to far off areas of the city. They would be unable to reach the castle to relieve it. They would then be bottled up by our army and dealt with later. I still had my disguise active. I remember,” he paused. “I remember watching it all. Our supposedly well trained and disciplined army all but ransacked the city. I was dumbfounded, they attacked mares and foals, pillaged, destroyed everything. I was loyal to my queen, but I would not stand by while such things happened.”
Strong Shield, since that was now assuredly his name in my mind, paused again. Remembering all this was clearly difficult for him. For the first time, I got up from my seat and walked round to his side and placed a hoof on his shoulder. The carapace felt strange to the touch.
“Take your time,” I said reassuringly. Off to the side of me, I saw Shining scowl. Strong Shield resettled himself and then continued.
“I found one of the commanders of our forces. I demanded to know what he was doing. When he brushed my concerns off, I challenged him. He said I had spent too much time amongst ponies, that I’d forgotten my role, that I was no Changeling, that I was a traitor. I attacked him for that. That’s how I got this.” He gestured to his eye patch, the one constant regardless of what form he took.
When I first walked into that room, I had felt nothing but hatred for the vile demon that sat across from me. It was an opponent, an enemy, a monster even. Now though, I could not hold to that view. We all think of the enemy in the way I thought of Changelings, and that view doesn’t last long when you actually meet one. My views had been altered though my feelings toward Chrysalis remain unchanged. But I could not blame Strong Shield after what he had just told me. It is one thing to take a bullet for your own country, it is quite another to lose your eye for a nation that is not your own. I felt sick over what I had done to him and what I had contemplated doing. Amazingly though, he was not quite done.
“They managed to gouge out my one eye and they were about to start on the other one, that was when two of my own guards came over and pried them off. I still had my disguise on so I was able to play it as being jumped by them. It was then I truly switched sides. I took command of what little of the Guard was near enough to render aid and got them to hole up in the concert hall. By using some love from the guards for their princesses to increase my firepower, we were able to pose enough of a threat that most of the forces in the city were sent our way, everything else was sent after the Element Bearers. If those forces had been in the palace, there’s no way, Cadence would have been able to reach Shining Armour unnoticed.
“We held that perimeter right until the end when the shield reactivated. When that happened, I got sent flying just like every other Changeling, I guess the spell Princess Cadence used didn’t care about my intentions, just my species. Luckily, it didn’t send me out of the city, only to the outskirts; I was able to make my way back to the palace in the confusion.” He paused. “And then, I re-joined the guard, cutting all links with the hive. I knew we needed love to survive, but I decided conquest and destruction was not the answer.”
As Strong Shield finished his story, we all sat in silence. To my mind, he was almost a hero for what he had done, what he had told us certainly explained the night terror I had witnessed back at the library; he was lucky not to have PTSD. But, he had betrayed both sides, and as a wise man once said; ‘Espionage is the world’s second oldest profession, and just as honourable as the first’. Finally, I managed to put together enough words to form a sentence.
“So what do you intend to do now then, Strong Shield?” I asked.
“I am a guard,” he responded. “And I’ll stay a guard until the day I die, or Equestria no longer has need of me.” It was immediate with no hesitation. I didn’t have Applejack’s talent for spotting liars, but my gut told me Strong Shield had meant what he said. I placed my hog’s tooth on the table.
“Captain, what you just told me hasn’t changed my views on Changelings. I still think you are all twisted little freaks. But it has changed my views on you. You aren’t just some mindless drone. If what you’ve told me is true, you played a role in saving Equestria and possibly Shining’s life.” The Captain of the Guard snorted in disgust. I removed the old bullet I had carried with me and looked at it and the name carved on its side. “You are not her; this round isn’t meant for you.” I put it back under my hat and got up, turning to Shining.
“Sir, Ah request that you allow Strong Shield to take his duties again. We can set up a cover story to convince ponies to trust him. As long as he keeps his disguise active, there should be no problem.” Shining looked at me as if I had gone mad. His face turned into a mask of calm, Strong Shield’s story had evidently not softened him as it had me. He was about to throw a retort back in my face when a voice came over the intercom.
“I agree, Blade Star,” Celestia said. My brief fright caused the illusion spell to drop just as the Princess of the Sun entered the room. She looked at Strong Shield. I never thought I’d see her kind, gentle expression being directed toward a Changeling. “I see no reason why he cannot re-join the guard. Unless you have any objections Shining?” She turned to him. The captain still looked on the verge of losing his cool, but he recognised Celestia’s question for what it was and shook his head.
With that, the majority of us left. Hartwin and Celestia headed back upstairs, the princess being due back in Day Court and the Major due for some P/T exercises. I too turned to leave; with this whole mess, for the most part, sorted out and Equestria in no apparent danger, I would be glad to return home to Ponyville and allow things to return to normal. Well, as normal as they were. However, I noticed that Shining was not following, indeed, he seemed rooted to the spot where he stood. I turned the corner and watched the unfolding spectacle through the mirror.
Shining had far more reason to despise Changelings than me. He would never say it, but I know he saw it as his own personal defeat and failure, his own wife kidnapped, his nation under attack, and he had been entirely oblivious. And here was one of the creatures responsible. Like I said before, the fiercest hatred is silent.
He glared at Strong Shield, fire in his eyes. He didn’t know I was still there. Perhaps the Changeling turned guardsman was due to have an ‘unfortunate accident’. He charged up his horn; a powerful, most likely lethal spell, it convulsed with his purple aura. It was damn near close to descending into the realms of dark magic, simply due to the strength of the emotion behind it. As he glared at Strong Shield, I couldn’t help but see myself, I felt my heart sink. There was nothing I could do, I’d never reach him in time; I had no choice but to watch.
He stood there a moment longer, his horn pointing straight at Strong Shield. Then without warning, he tilted his head upward and unleashed the spell. A beam shot from his horn and impacted with the far wall, leaving a black burn all over it.
“Cross me, Changeling,” he said, almost whispering. “And you will regret it.” He then turned around and left, not noticing me as he headed back up the stairs. As soon as I was sure he was gone, I rushed in to check on Strong Shield, my friend. Though after everything that had happened I doubted we were still friends.
Equestria, as much as most humans know it, is known for its occasional musical numbers. It was actually one of the first things I asked Twilight about along with a few questions on her knowledge of the species Pinkius Picus. Apparently, they did happen from time to time; ponies did break out in song when the mood took them. Up to this point, I had seen nothing of this facet of Equestrian life. But as Strong Shield got to his hooves, I was treated to a duet.
It began with a few blaring trumpets, which quickly gave way to the Changeling bursting into song. Even more oddly, it was a song I recognised.
“Who is this pony?
What sort of devil is he
To have me caught in a trap
And choose to let me go free?
It was his hour at last
To put a seal on my fate
Wipe out the past
And watch me clean off the slate
All it would take
Was a flick of his knife.
Vengeance was his
And he gave me back my life!”
Instantly, green fire swept over the grinning Changeling’s form as violins began to play feverently. Regardless of my feelings toward Changelings, they do know how to put on a show. As it receded, I was met by the familiar face of Strong Shield the unicorn, blue coat, brown mane and that same eye patch. I couldn’t help but smile.
I followed him back up the stairs toward the main halls of the castle. Much to our surprise though, we found Shining there still. He was staring at the stained glass window depicting the defeat of Chrysalis and her army. And just like Strong Shield, he began to sing, pacing before the windows as he went. Any foal could hear the anguish in his voice
“Damned if I'll live in the debt of a thief!
Damned if I'll yield at the end of the chase.
I am the Guard and the Guard is not mocked
I'll spit his pity right back in his face
There is nothing in the world we both are
It is either the Shield or the Star.
And my thoughts fly apart
Can this thing be believed?
Shall his sins be forgiven?
Shall his crimes be reprieved?
He paused briefly as the violins faded, and turned to look at the window completely, his back to us.
And must I now begin to doubt
Who never doubted all these years?
My heart is stone and still it trembles
The world I have known is lost in shadow.
Is he from heaven or from hell?
And does he know
That granting me my life that day
This stallion has killed me even so?”
The music finally faded and disappeared, its origin still a mystery to me. Shining hung his head low before the image of him and his wife. I could understand his pain. Not only did he have to live with the fact that had been duped, but also saved by creatures that stole his love and used it as a weapon. I was about to go and try to offer some comfort, but the unicorn by my side stopped me and went over himself.
Shining remained where he was, pretty much unaware of our presence. He noticeably started when Strong Shield put a hoof on his shoulder.
“Sir, what I did that day, I didn’t do it for you. I did for everypony I know here. I never had the chance to save you. After all, it was your reactivated shield spell that saved everypony in Canterlot. It is I who is in your debt, not the other way around.” Shining pondered this for a moment before lifting his head and turning to look at his comrade.
“Come on, let’s go down to the club; I could use a drink.” Figuring that my job here, if it had ever existed, was done, I quietly excused myself and caught the train back home. I would have to face Strong Shield another time, still, the New Year was looking up.
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...To be honest...I'm not sure if Chryssy is even truly evil to begin with...Her "Children" could be starving and desperate time call for desperate measure and with all the power talk during the wedding is a way to keep the image of the conquerer.
4922544 While that MAY be true, remember this: Strong Shield stated that the other changelings during the invasion were attacking mares and children indiscriminately, and they even felt like the ponies were nothing but food, and should all be treated as such. Even if Chrysalis' intentions toward her people were benevolent, she most certainly did not intend to ever show the ponies any sort of mercy.
4922724 Eh...That is up to the th01.deviantart.net/fs70/200H/i/2012/171/1/4/what_i_think_of_when_headcanon_by_ennervateindustries-d548mg0.png of ourselves...
bioshock infinite reference get!
4923905 Well done!
I be live that chrissy is not (intirely) evil and the changlins are only blind because of there mother's hate I blame chrissy but not the changlings. Though how you had this I have a little less respect for them
4926288 I can't hate Changelings as a species; that's just racism. Chrysalis on the other hand, I have a damn good reason to despise, and we will be meeting her in a future chapter. Still, I could never quite see Changelings as 'cute'.
4925678 If it helps I have just written that chapter, so you're almost halfway there.
4926633 I respect that and I think a small thing will meet chrissy very fast and intimatly
I think they can be cute but only the kids (foals?).
4804591 now I want the first man/woman
4926684 I believe pupa is the correct term for an infant Changeling.
4926788
Most go with Nymph, and Pupa is a popular name for a the changeling princess, basically Chrysalis's only royal daughter.
4927971 Oh right.
Learn something new every day. 
4927868 No, but the whole chapter does focus on magical shields.
4926788 oh
4949852
Yes there needs to be
Blueblood's "Actions" are hardly that much compared to the actions of Gilda, Flim Flam, Amulet Trixie yet he is the one who gets all the hate.
I didn't know that hiding from a cake is worse than ensalving an entire village or scaring an old mare
4955738 He didn't hide from a cake, He lost his honour. In my one non-wounded eye, (and my opinion) I can see that he did not become noble by his actions, but by his dirty, cowardly, selfish, whiney, blood. The last mean thing I have to say about him is that he has a silver spoon shoved so far up his diseased s*** hole that he can taste it.
Loved the Le Mis reference
4922724 Morality is a funny thing, so is war. If the president of the united states believed killing every man woman and child of an enemy city would save his nation he would do it. How do I know? We already did that. Twice. Then locked every single person in the nation related to those enemies in camps almost as bad as those holding Jews in Germany at the time.
Did that president see those actions as wrong? Yes. Did he do them anyways? Yes. Why? Because morality is a scocial construct designed to make a society operate smoothly. Cooperation is more advantageous to survival than compatishion, thus evolution has encoded a basic sense of morality into humans. But when one civilization attacks another, the attacked civilization, threatened and fearing for it's safety abandons morality until the danger is over. Look at history, this is how all of humanity works. We are moral until threatened then we do not care.
The Changelings are no different. They were in a position where their nation was going to die and starvation is a horrible way to go. Of course their actions are morally reprehensible! They were fighting for their lives, for the lives of their loved ones, for the lives of every single changeling. They attacked to avoid the extinction of their species. If they killed every single living thing in Canterlot and raised it to the ground as a show of force so their harvesting of love would not be resisted we could NOT blame them. Morality dose not apply to war, we only pretend it dose after the fact so we can sleep at night.
5614210 YES we'd blame them ironically after the fact morality kicks back in and armchair generals judge actions and how it could've been done better if done at all. The only thing is the Changlings if they had won wouldve been writing the rules
I honestly don't believe or trust him. It all seems too convinient to just take him on his word.
9214876 What reason does he have to lie? He'd kept his cover for years and could have done any number of things, such as replacing Shining, but he hasn't. And as the saying goes; a man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.
All I can think of was.
When Blade Star came in to interrogate.
5614210
The people developing the A-Bomb signed a petition (over 30 signatures) saying to never deploy it on enemy soil. Dwight D Eisenhower agreed with them. Leo Szilard spearheaded the movement.
Truman, well aware of this, decided that the murder of 300,000 Japanese Civilians was worth saving 100,000 American Soldiers in an invasion of the mainland. The bomb wasn't even necessary. The Soviets declaring war a week prior was enough to cow the Japs, and they knew it.
The bomb was deployed because either Truman wanted to kill the civilians, or was willfully ignorant of the implications Russia entering the war had. In war, morals don't matter. Even if you've won, morals are irrelevant.
9669124 I did some reading on Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of the Japanese Home Islands. The big push was to end the war quickly, because the Russians were already in Japanese held Manchuria. There were concerns that they might try and seize the territory first and spread communism in Asia. Also, the estimated US losses for this op were in getting on for a million dead or wounded, and considering how Japan was still not actually willing to give up (although they had put out peace feelers through the Swiss) the bomb was a better option. The second bomb...well, that's another story. That was just less to hammer the point home, and more to the test the uranium gun weapon 'Little Boy' design.
9669124
9669562
From what I've read, the Japanese military code didn't permit surrender regardless of casualties.
US army estimates were that the invasion would cost 100,000 dead.
Neither A bomb caused as many casualties as some of the bombing raids on Germany.