Piece by Piece

by Eltirions

Omake 3: Shatterpoint

Jungle Trek awoke in a cell. Again. Really, this was getting old.

‘’Urgh…’’ he groaned as his opening eyes were exposed to a dazzlingly bright light, whilst his body protested against every movement he attempted to make. He closed his eyes again, and breathed in. Out. In. Out. In. Out. In.

He sat up. Out.

He could sit up, at least. That was something. With his head now bent towards the floor, he could open his eyes and see something else than a poor imitation of the Last Gate of Ponykind.

He was on the floor, a cold but dry floor. Not even a bed for him? How terrible.

Before he could look up and around the cell - which would no doubt be bare and grey - there was a very loud pounding on the door. His poor head.

Three ‘knocks’ - more like artillery shells being fired than polite knocks, to his headache-addled brain - later, the door opened, and a tall shadow loomed over him.

‘’Good afternoon,’’ a familiar voice said. ‘’You're finally awake.’’

Jungle looked up, one hoof above his eyes to block the ceiling light, and saw his captor standing there, looking down at him with obvious distaste. ‘’Still alive too, I see.’’

‘’Sort of…’’ Jungle mumbled.

If Sunset heard that, she didn’t comment on it. ‘’I need you,’’ she said instead, ‘’to answer some questions for me.’’

‘’Did you not already try this?’’

‘’If you do not answer them in a manner that I find satisfactory,’’ Sunset continued, uncaring of his interruption, ‘’then I shall be forced to use more aggressive methods. Such as the following.’’

Jungle’s head exploded with pain. FUCK!

After a moment, the pain vanished as suddenly as it had come. ‘’That was one of the less harmful methods,’’ Sunset said in a chipper voice. ‘’So, would you like to comply now?’’

‘’What,’’ Jungle began, ‘’do you want to know?’’

‘’A few little things,’’ Sunset replied sweetly. ‘’Nothing big. Just tell me where Cabelleron is hiding, and where he got his money, and I’ll get you some decent food and a better cell.’’

Tempting offer. Really.

‘’I don’t know where he is.’’

That wasn’t a lie, not really. He knew where Cabelleron could have gone; but he had no idea if he was at any of those places, or somewhere else entirely. Stars, he didn’t even know how the war was going. If it was still going on at all. It mightn’t even be.

‘’You said that before.’’

‘’And since I’ve not had any contact with the outside world at all, why do you think that has changed?’’

Sunset seemed to consider that for a moment, before shrugging. ‘’Your lack of cooperation has been noted.’’

Fuck.

‘’Alright, alright!’’

‘’Yes?’’

‘’I… I might know about a few places,’’ Jungle admitted. ‘’Down in Aztlan. But I don’t know if he’s using them right now.’’

‘’That’s good enough.’’

It wouldn’t be. Not for long. ‘’As for his money…’’ Jungle paused for a moment, collected his thoughts. What could he say?

He was already damned now. He’d finally broken, though at least he could say that he had resisted taking the easy way out by yielding at the first inquisition. Still, the physical torture wasn’t something he would subject himself to, for any cause. Certainly not for the good doctor.

Oh well. In for a bit, out for a diamond, no?

‘’We sold artefacts,’’ he began. ‘’Stuff we got from ruins and temples all across the Southeast. They went for massive sums to the right people. The doctor also led some expeditions funded by Canterlot nobility, or took specific people out into the jungles. We also extorted some of the local tribes.’’

‘’And that’s it?’’

No, no it wasn’t. ‘’When the war broke out,’’ Jungle continued, ‘’Cabelleron started meeting with some shady figures. I don’t know who they were, or why they were there, but money was never an issue afterwards. We never saw them either.’’

‘’Mysterious donors?’’

‘’Yeah.’’

‘’And you don’t know anything else about them.’’

‘’Nope.’’

‘’Sounds believable.’’

‘’I know, right?’’

‘’Not at all. But…’’ Sunset sighed. ‘’We’ve interrogated one other pony from your little group of insurgents. He said something about shady individuals too, but we discarded it. Only, now you are saying the same things, and I know you haven’t been in contact with him. So either you all agreed on a story to tell us, or you’re telling the truth.’’

‘’For the record, it is the truth,’’ Jungle offered, making sure to put as much honesty as possible into his voice.

‘’Then it seems I have someone else to investigate,’’ Sunset concluded with a sigh. ‘’Now. Next question. What did you have to do with the attempted prison break?’’

Jungle took a breath. This was going to be difficult. ‘’It just happened,’’ he said. ‘’A stallion opened the door, threw me a rifle and told me we were breaking out. Was I supposed to stay in the cell?’’

‘’Yes.’’

‘’Well, I didn’t.’’

‘’I’m aware. And this just… happened?’’

‘’Well I certainly didn’t know this stallion.’’

‘’And I only have your word for it?’’

‘’I refuse to believe you haven’t captured others and asked them the same questions.’’

‘’You were the only survivor.’’

Jungle blinked. ‘’Really?’’

‘’Yes. The IIS and the Guard weren’t very merciful.’’ Sunset sounded… annoyed. ‘’It was a bitch to clear out all the blood, I must say.’’

Jungle gulped. That was what she cared about? ‘’I’m sure,’’ he chuckled nervously. ‘’Anyway, that’s all I’ve got.’’

‘’Hm? Ah yes.’’ Sunset smiled at him, and Jungle felt his hairs stand on edge in reaction. ‘’Thank you for your assistance. I’ll have some food sent up to you.’’ With that said, she turned around and walked out of the room, the door closing behind her.

Jungle sagged back against the wall. What had he done?

At least there would be food.

Hopefully it was good food too. He could really go for a hayburger right about now, or a dandelion sandwich, or or or…

When his meal consisted of stale bread and cold water, it was all he could do to not pout at the door in disappointment.

Author's Note:

Surprise!

Comments

[Flurry-Heart360]

Hey, I just wanted to let u know that I have been following this and your other Equestria at War fics for a while now (I just recently created an account tho) and I’m absolutely hooked on this fic and Rising Sun, Mending Heart, though I’ve never played the actual mod of the game it’s based on. I also wanted to tell you that there are probably plenty of others like me who are reading but not commenting on your fics, which is a shame since it would help you get the recognition you deserve on this site and more people would see your fics. Anyway, I’m rambling, but I hope you continue these fics cause I don’t want it to stop without a satisfying conclusion.

So excited for the next chapter (although no rush, life gets busy sometimes)

[Eltirions]

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Thank you for your kind words! I'm really happy to hear that you like my fics so much, and I'll try my best to upload more consistently in the future