The Ties that Bind

by the7Saviors

An Odd Introduction

Shining Armor was bored.

He had no idea how long it had been since he woke up as he hadn't seen the Sun in quite some time. His 'room' was little more than a dimly lit stone dungeon with a bed, a desk, and a chair.

Rather than the traditional iron bars or steel door you'd find in a normal however, this 'room' had no door.

All four walls were solid stone.

No chance of escape.

He had figured out the trick by now.

It was a bit of fancy Elemental Magic by one of the unicorns that were part of whatever group had foalnapped him. It wasn't like he could do anything about it anyway with the anti-magic ring around his horn.

Well, the food they brought him regularly was surprisingly good at any rate.

But good food wasn't enough.

It wouldn't set him free.

It wouldn't tell him where he was or why he was here.

...It wouldn't bring his father, mother, or little sister back.

And so he lay on his uncomfortable bed, with nothing but his ever darkening thoughts to keep him company. When he had first woken up in this room, he was a wreck.

The confusion, anger, despair, and fear had nearly broken the colt, but with unfathomable effort and the will of an immovable mountain, Shining Armor had just managed to cling to his sanity. He may have bore firsthoof witness to the brutal slaughter of his parents, but he had been knocked out before he saw what happened to his sister.

That was important.

That meant there was a chance, no matter how slim, that his little sister was alive - that she hadn't been...

The grip he had on his sanity was still tenuous at best, so it was in his best interest not to think about it.

Either way, he felt he had done well, considering he hadn't been told a single thing since his awakening. He had yelled at, begged, bargained with, and even attacked the ponies that had come to give him food or drink.

He had learned very quickly not to attack anypony again.

It didn't help anyway, as they had remained as tight-lipped as ever.

But he was beginning to get their game.

They were trying to break him down with the silent treatment. The only time anypony ever showed up was to give him food and drink. In and out - didn't say a word, didn't stay for more than a minute at most.

He wouldn't let them win though.

He was stronger than that.

He had overcome his grief for the sake of his sister.

He would break out and see the Sun again.

He was lying to himself.

The silent treatment was working quite effectively.

He wasn't strong, he had no will to escape, and he certainly hadn't overcome his grief.

On the contrary.

He had sunk so far into his grief that he felt nothing but numb. He lay on his bed not because he didn't have anything to do, but because he couldn't be bothered to do anything even if there was something to do.

Shining Armor wasn't bored.

No.

Apathetic would've been a better word for what Shining Armor was.

He didn't even flinch when a teal maned thestral mare he had never seen before walked right through the solid wall and sat on the bed next to him. For a long time she didn't say anything, opting to idly sweep her gaze around the barren room. She didn't even seem to acknowledge that Shining Armor was there.

Not that he particularly cared much.

"Wow... this place sucks."

Shining blinked and slowly directed his dull-eyed gaze towards the mare. The thestral was still inspecting the surroundings with a look of disdain.

"If I had known this is where they put you, I would've had them send you somewhere else."

Shining Armor just stared at the mare with utter disinterest.

"And you've been here for..." she tapped her chin as she thought, "I think it's been a little over a week now."

The colt blinked again and went back to staring at the ceiling.

The mare finally turned her ice blue eyes to Shining Armor and frowned in concern.

"Geez, kid," she muttered, "you really don't look too good-"

"Why are you here?"

Shining had looked back to the mare with a slight frown of annoyance.

It was the thestral's turn to blink. She stared at the colt for a few seconds before letting out a bark of laughter.

"Ha! So the kid speaks!"

Shining snorted and shifted his position so that he was facing away from the laughing thestral.

"Well that's my first mission accomplished," she said, still chuckling, "now for introductions."

She jabbed the colt in the back with a hoof making him cry out in surprise and making the mare laugh even more.

"What do you want!?" Shining Armor yelled indignantly.

"A name," the mare said, not even batting an eye at the colt's tone, "your name specifically."

Shining eyed the mare suspiciously for a brief moment before giving another annoyed snort.

"You're clearly one of the ponies giving orders," he reasoned with a grimace, "shouldn't you already know my name?"

"I do," the mare said with a casual shrug, "tell me anyway. Oh," she booped the now thoroughly irritated colt on the nose, "and I'm not technically a pony."

"And I don't particularly care," Shining Armor shot back as he batted her hoof away, "but if you're gonna make a big deal out of it, my name is Shining Armor."

"Great!" Shining yelped as the thestral mare wrapped a foreleg around his withers and pulled him into a one legged side hug, "name's Gale - Frigid Gale to be precise, but you" - she booped him on the nose once more with her other hoof - "can just call me Gale."

"Alright already!" the red faced colt cried, pushing himself away from the chuckling mare, "anypony ever tell you you're way too clingy?"

"Not if they know what's good for em'," she replied easily. She hopped off the bed and cracked her neck a few times, "anyway, I wanna show you something now that the introductions are over," she trotted towards the stone wall she had come through previously, "think of it as a sort of... apology for not coming to see you sooner."

When Shining Armor didn't move the mare looked back towards him with a raised eyebrow.

"What, don't tell me you actually like this place?"

Shining Armor remained seated on the bed as he eyed Frigid Gale warily.

"So that's it?" he asked, his voice heavy with skepticism and suspicion, "you keep me locked in here for over a week without any explanation and now I'm suddenly allowed out just like that?"

"Yep," Gale replied with a smirk, "I'm not just one of the ponies giving orders, I'm the pony giving orders," she paused, "thestral giving orders," she waved a hoof dismissively, "whatever. Point is, I'm the one making the rules and I say you get to leave this crappy cell." She started trotting towards the wall once more as she spoke, "So are you coming or what?"

She didn't wait for an answer as she vanished through the wall.

Shining Armor stared after her for a moment before shaking his head and trotting after the mare.

"At the very least, I might be able to get some answers," he muttered.

The thought was enough to bring a bit more color back to his dull cerulean eyes.

Comments

[FinalLegendZero]

Is the chapter ending mid-sentence there intentional, or did something get deleted somehow?

[theoldhunter]

I really do enjoy this but the constant cliffhangers are annoying but other than that keep up the good work

[the7Saviors]

8797560
8797551
Ha! Looks like I hit the publish button accidentally at some point!

Well that's a bit awkward.

[Venerable Ro]

A good idea on the cell, somepony's definitely thinking with geomancy. don't need fancy doors or locks, just make a box! And you can do this anywhere! very good for hiding prisoners.

[the7Saviors]

8890632
It's not a complete box though, there are various slits in the walls to provide air. We wouldn't want Gale coming in for the first time to find Shiny in anymore of a 'grave' mood than he was, eh?

That was terrible and I apologize for it.

[Equestrian Defender]

8890656

[Prince Leviathan]

Great

She's cute....

And she's the antagonist?

Conflicting thoughts...