Chapter Three
Now fully realizing the position I was in, I started to panic a bit. Outside of what we’d learned fighting them, we knew almost nothing about these ponies. The things we knew for certain were: Canterlot was their capital, and they had two princesses ruling them. What are they going to do with me? Images of P.O.W. camps from previous wars passed through my head in a flurry, leaving me feeling nauseous. After a few uncomfortable seconds passed, I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. No, calm down. They couldn’t be that bad… could they? Instantly I remembered the walk to the chariots, where Captain Armor had said something about them having standards. That knowledge alone gave me a little reassurance, but I was still worried.
In a brief moment of insanity, I looked back over my shoulder. The end of the chariot was only feet behind me, neither of the guards were paying particularly close attention. Just a couple steps back and I’d be freefalling before they knew it. That idea was dismissed faster than Tovey had disappeared off the hilltop. That couldn’t possibly work. I’d just get caught by a pegasus, or grabbed by a unicorn. They’d have me under constant watch, and even more restraints. Besides, suicide is never the answer. Sighing, and coming up with no viable options for getting out of here, I just sat back down, leaned back against the front of the chariot and tried not to work myself up.
With nothing happening for several minutes, I became more and more aware of just how thirsty I was. Rubbing my throat, I looked up to the guard on my left. “You guys wouldn’t happen to have any water, would you?”
From my right I heard, “We don’t have any to spare, use your own.”
Turning to look at the other guard, an earth pony, I responded, “Mine was blown up.”
“That’s too bad.” Harsh.
“Just give him some water, sergeant.” I recognised Lieutenant Steel’s voice from earlier.
“After all the trouble he caused us, he can go thirsty for all I care.”
Steel exhaled in frustration. “I’m not in the mood for this. Prisoner.”
I looked back to the lieutenant. “Yeah?”
Steel’s horn lit up in a green glow, causing me to flinch. That didn’t stop him from producing a canteen from… somewhere, and floating it to me. “Here.”
Hesitantly, I took the offered canteen. Maybe they’re not all bad. “Thanks.”
“Uh huh.”
My shackles had just enough play to allow me twist off the cap with one hand, while holding the container in the other. Raising it to my lips, I took a small swallow, followed by several larger ones. The liquid was the perfect temperature, and did wonders for my dry throat.
Taking one final swallow, I exhaled happily. “Ahh! Much better!” I offered the canteen back to the lieutenant. “Thanks again.”
Saying nothing, he took the canteen in his magic. It floated away, then stopped and flipped upside down. A couple drops fell from the still open top, caught the wind, and vanished.
The lieutenant quickly looked from the canteen to me, then back again. “Thirsty?”
“What can I say? Outrunning ponies is a bitch.”
Steel’s only reply was to return the canteen from wherever it came from, then say, “Stand up. We’ll be landing soon.”
Groaning, I pushed myself to my feet. As I straightened, a gust of wind rushed by, catching my boonie and pulling it off my head. My eyes immediately locked onto the hat, and my hands instantly shot out to grab it. Missing the initial grab, I lunged after my cover, my current location slipping from my mind in my determination to reclaim the headgear. I heard a pair of shouts behind me as I managed to nab the wayward hat. My triumphant grin only lasted a second, before some very important details came back to me. In order to achieve my successful grab, I’d dove out of the back of the chariot. …shit. Instead of plummeting to the ground, like I was expecting, I found myself launched backwards, surrounded by a green glow. I slammed into the front of the chariot, back first, accompanied by a cracking from my SAPI plate.
“Are you out of your mind?!” Lt. Steel shouted as the glow of his magic faded from around me.
Composing myself, I responded, “It’s my favorite hat.”
“You all but jumped out of an airborne chariot for a bucking hat?!”
Standing, I faced the officer. Looking down and locking eyes, I kept my expression neutral. “Favorite.” I placed the boonie back on my head. “Hat.”
Steel stared in disbelief for several seconds, then snorted and faced forward again, shaking his head. “Great, our prisoner is crazy.”
Turning to face forward as well, I made sure my hat wasn’t going anywhere and said nothing.
The formation landed in a courtyard next to the castle. Despite being the home of my enemies leaders, the place was damn impressive. With the size and detail that had been put into its design, I could only guess at how long it had taken to build the thing. Distracted by the sight of the castle, I didn’t follow Lieutenant Steel out of the chariot.
I was snapped out of my revery by the other guard shoving me from behind. “Get moving.”
“Sergeant! What the buck was that?!”
From where I was lying, I saw Lieutenant Steel glaring at the sergeant, who was out of my view, before I rolled to my back.
“The prisoner wasn’t moving.”
“So you shoved him out of the chariot.” Steel deadpanned.
I heard a snort. “These humans don’t deserve any kindness.” Who peed in his cheerios?
“That’s not for you to decide. Now report to the barracks.” I recognized that tone. You’re in trouble now, prick. “We’ll deal with this later.”
There was a long pause, then. “Yes, sir.”
I heard the pony demount the chariot, and walk away. Trying to ignore the pain, I rolled to my left side, and got to my knees.
“You okay?” The way the question was asked made it clear that Steel was asking as a formality, rather than out of concern.
Standing, I answered, “I’ll live.”
I was surrounded by guards again before I could blink. These guys weren’t going to give me any opportunities to try anything.
“Let’s go.”
Giving my shoulder a few rolls, I turned and followed the officer. I remembered my helmet was still in the chariot, but when I looked, it wasn’t there. One of the ponies must have already grabbed it. Whatever. Not like would do me any good anyway. The group was approaching an entrance to the castle, when a pegasus guard exited, approached and saluted. “Lieutenant.”
Steel returned the salute. “What is it?”
“The princess wishes to see the prisoner. Report to the throne room.” This day just gets better and better.
“Understood.”
The guard left to whatever duties he had, and Steel lead us through the doorway. Out of habit, I removed my boonie as I crossed the threshold. The lieutenant lead the group on a meandering course the the maze of hallways, and I quickly lost track of what turns we’d made. If I ever escape, I’d just end up lost in here. That was assuming, of course, that wherever they were going to keep me was connected to the castle. Five minutes of walking found us outside a large double-door, with a pair of gold armored unicorn guards.
“The princess is expecting you.” The left one began.
“Go right in, Lieutenant.” The other finished.
In perfect unison, their horns lit, and the doors opened. Whoa... Just like the castle exterior, the throne room was no less extravagant, maybe even more so. Detailed stained-glass windows occupied space in both walls. Along the same walls, ornate columns rose to the ceiling. Hanging from the ceiling were fancy banners and tapestries. Starting just inside the doorway, a red carpet ran the length of the room, through the center, all the way to, and up, the tiered platform that the throne rested on. And sitting on that throne, was Princess Celestia. The continuously-flowing, multicolored, mane, and gold regalia made her identity perfectly clear. I only knew who she was and what she looked like from the handful of pictures and couple videos that popped up, before our countries became hostile.
The princess was currently talking with a helmetless Captain Armor. As we started across the room, she looked up, her eyes immediately locking onto me. Even at this distance, her gaze was unnerving, like she could see the contents of my soul. Not wanting to show any weakness, I pushed my uncertainty aside and kept my expression neutral. Crossing the length of the room, we stopped at the base of the platform, where Lieutenant Steel, and the other guards, bowed to the princess. I came to a sudden realization that, I had no idea how to interact with royalty as a soldier. … Ok, what do I do? Do I bow? Salute? Stand here like an idiot? This wasn’t covered in any of my training! Saluting would have been my go-to action, but with my restrains, I couldn’t do that properly. I instead opted for a small bow. Our countries may be hostile right now, but she was still royalty and leader of her country. That, in my mind, entitled her to some respect.
Straightening, I noticed the princess was now giving me a strange look, before Steel said, “The prisoner, as you requested, your Highness.”
Turning her attention to him, Celestia nodded at the lieutenant. “Thank you, Lieutenant. Has he caused you much trouble?”
“Not really, Princess. Since we caught him, he’s been oddly compliant. I expected more resistance from him.” Don’t you worry, I’m just waiting for the right opportunity. “There was one incident, however.”
“What happened?”
“He jumped out of the chariot for a hat.” Steel said, flatly.
“He what?”
“His hat got caught in the wind, and he went after it. Said it’s his favorite hat.”
Celestia looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “I see.”
Standing, the princess strode down the ramp. Once she reached the bottom, I could see the height difference between us. She’s taller than I expected. I’m only five-foot, eight. On average, most of the ponies came up to my chest, but Celestia stood a few inches taller than me, not counting her horn. Giving me careful examination, the alicorn stopped an arms-length away. I briefly considered trying to get my shackled arms over her head, to take her as a hostage, but with all the unicorns, and spears, in my immediate vicinity I decided that action would be detrimental to my health. Well, all that and she was their ruler for a reason.
“Shining Armor tells me he put up quite a fight before you finally subdued him, though I find it hard to believe that he kept you all at bay by himself. He doesn’t seem like much of a threat.” Gimme back my weapons and some ammo, and I’ll show you a threat.
Shining Armor, having followed the princess, spoke up. “He was very stubborn. Made it very clear that he didn’t want to be caught.”
“Indeed.” Slowly, the princess began circling to my right. I watched her till she left my sight, tensing as she did. If half the things I’d heard about her were true, the last place I wanted her was behind me. Thankfully, she reappeared on my left a moment later, and I relaxed, slightly.
Stopping before me again, Celestia gave one more quick examination, then turned to Lieutenant Steel. “Take him to the dungeon, Lieutenant. Relieve him of all his possessions, then place him in a cell. We will begin dealing with him tomorrow.”
Steel snapped a sharp salute. “Yes, Princess!” Turning, he pointed back toward the doors. “Get moving, prisoner.”
Sighing, I turned and mumbled, “I have a name, you know.”
“I don’t care.”
Behind me, I heard Princess Celestia say, “Oh? Do tell.”
Can these ponies not read? It’s on my damned name tape. Pausing, I slowly looked back. She was giving me the same unnerving look from before. “Duran. Corporal Jaden Duran.”
“While I can’t say I’m exactly pleased to meet you, Corporal.” Celestia smiled. “I do look forward to our upcoming conversations.”
I swallowed, and my neutral expression cracked slightly. The princess must have noticed, because I saw her smile grow slightly. Gah! She’s messing with my head!
Looking past me, the princess nodded to Steel. “Carry on, Lieutenant.”
“Yes, Ma’am!”
Feeling a nudge, I slowly tore my gaze away from the Solar Princess and started walking. “Yeah, yeah, I know the drill. ‘Get moving’. No need to get pushy.”
“That attitude won’t do you any favors.”
I didn’t reply. As we left the throne room, I glanced back. Princess Celestia had restarted her conversation with Captain Armor. I was probably going to be seeing a lot more of her, and I really wasn’t looking forward to it.
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Sometime, Boy can be true love for men
5772788 In my experience, no. I never received any interrogation specific training. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
5772788
Only soldiers at probable risk of being captured. SOF, pilots, etc.
5773787 You're thinking of SERE. The basics are told to everybody. Name, rank, number, nothing else.
Duran needs to keep his cool, which he is not doing right now.
5774870
I know what I was referring to, thanks. I don't consider the Code of Conduct to be "training to stand up to interrogation".
A line grunt is not gonna stand up to torture, or even enhanced interrogation, no matter how many times they recited Article V. What unit are you in?
5775762 Nobody withstands torture indefinitely, but no grunt is "little." He knows his obligations, and he will break or not based on his willpower, constitution, and abilities.
And do not waste your time trying to intimidate me.
5775765
I said line as in a line unit. And I'm not trying to intimidate you, I just wanted to know where you got your information from, whether it was from personal military experience, which I find unlikely, or otherwise. And If you're getting that defensive over the question, I can safely assume the answer.
5775772 Your condescension does you no credit. Even if he had training he would break eventually. If they have long enough, he is going to break.
Not having special training does not assure he will sing like a jaybird any more than having it assures he won't break no matter what he endures.
I have relatives who have served, and they're very information. Now, since we're sharing, what was your unit?
5775784
And your arrogance doesn't do you any.
Yeah, some people are gonna break faster than others. However, going through SERE is an absolute gut check, mentally and physically. It's the closest thing to really being tortured that you could possibly endure, and it will push you to your breaking point and past it. A soldier who hasn't gone through it is going to have a fear of the unknown, which is the worst part of an interrogation, as well as being completely unused to stress positions, starvation and thirst, psychological ploys and so on. So yeah, the guy who's gone through SERE is going to have a better chance of not divulging information, keeping their morale high, and even surviving.
Your relatives gave you bad information. Unless you're in a special operations unit, aviation, some aviation support and a smattering of other positions, the most "interrogation training" you're going to get is some Sergeant telling you, "Here's the code of conduct. Read it."
And I was in the 11th ACR, currently inprocessing at a Military Information Support Battalion (Airborne), though I won't divulge which one. Satisfied?
5773077
You've served, so would you mind if I asked why a Colonel is leading a squad-sized patrol? Dude needs to be in the brigade TOC where he belongs. No disrespect meant, so I hope you don't take it the wrong way, I'm curious as to whether there's a reason for it or not.
5775784
5775808
You can carry this on here. This story will probably attract more people if the comments aren't distracting and off-topic.
5775886
I fail to see how a discussion about interrogation training (the subject of the story) of soldiers (the protagonist of the story) is off topic.
Go shill your group somewhere else.
5775886 We'll probably take it to telegrams if it gets heated. A polite request was all that was required.
5775808
No, it doesn't, does it?
Aye, but he doesn't need SERE to just keep his head on straight in a basic sense.
I do not recall saying my relatives told me grunts receive SERE or specialized training.
No, I am not, but that's a different issue.
Goes to read story...
Sees comments involving an incomprehensibly heated internet penis measuring contest about military knowledge.
Nopes away.
5776127
You're right about that. Yeah, any soldier could and should be able to resist. But it's like a guitar player who practices a song over and over versus one who reads the sheet music for the first time. One is gonna be a lot better than the other at keeping the tune.
5776286
I doubt you were that interested in the story if comments about the military somehow triggered you.
5776571 I'm not talking about resisting torture. I'm talking about basic composure.
5776657
Well why didn't you say so?
You're absolutely right.
5776666 To be honest? I thought my meaning was somewhat obvious.
He needs to keep his **** together, not react to provocation, and remember whose flag is on his uniform.
5772788 Drama inbound O_o
5775847 Yes, I realize it's odd that a Col would be leading a patrol like that. It was my intention that Nelson be one of those 'hands on' kind of officers that like to get down and dirty once and a while. While those tend to be rare, I've come across a couple .
5776787
Gotcha, thanks for the explanation.
I don't think Duran realizes that she's the most dangerous being in the room.
Although it looks like Molestia rumors have spread pretty widely over in Earth.
5777184
vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/mlpfanart/images/c/cf/Princess_Molestia%27s_face.png/revision/latest?cb=20121101191836
So far, this is fairly interesting!
Just one question: Why has Canterlot not been hit by ordinance yet? If we're at war, and the city is within visible sight of the FEBA, they why haven't they sent a missile or two in the direction of the palace full of VIPs? (To say nothing of spec ops teams infiltrating and the like.)
You want crazy, Look at Marine Corps and Navy SEAL boot camps. That shit is insane.
This Duran guy reminds me of Col. Jack O'Neill.
fuck, not buck. you pussy
6403796 Hush, you.
Aand nnope. I don't deal with weak, pansy humans. Tired of that crap.
6747265 Silence, and be patient. Good things come to those who wait...
6747265
Ohhh yes cause the "brightest" idea is to try and assault the leader of the enemy forces with no weapon or plan while surrounded by several armed hostiles >_>. You're a god damn idiot and the corporal is correct in waiting and being silent for the most part while waiting for a opportunity to present itself.
Why don't we just nuke them, or saturation bomb them. If we know where canterlot is that'd be the quicker cleaner option. Crippling equestrias capitol would send their whole country into disarray. Seeing as the ponies are so dependent on the princeses, on top of that the royal family and nobles can't ever agree on anything, so the impromptu council of snobby manchildren would probably fall apart soon after. Sending all of equestria into self sustained turmoil. That's the way my brothers.
Dude minda reminds me of Jack O'Neill