Solitaire

by Acologic

Chapter II

Masterduke and Starburst stared into the trench. Marius and the unnamed subordinate were still and their eyes glassy. The moans came from their leader. His snout was bloody and torn, and he was missing an ear. Blood dripped from the wounds. He spluttered. His body shook. The Unicorns watched each other. They stared at the pony in the trench. Starburst was pale and stiff. Masterduke was wide-eyed and trembling. They looked at each other. ‘What do we do?’ said Masterduke. Starburst blinked.

‘You’re asking me?’

‘Yes! Yes! In the manual – you know, the guidelines! What do they say?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘About casualties! Enemies! You know!’

‘Ah. Well, if they’re defeated –’

‘Yes?’

‘Well, if they are, then we take them prisoner. Thralls we always take back when we can because – well, you know. Liberators can deal with the helmets.’

‘Who are these, then? None of them wore helmets.’

‘Officers,’ mumbled Starburst.

‘And what if they’re dying? Do the guidelines change for that?’

‘Well – if they’re hurt and we can’t take them…’ Starburst watched Masterduke. Masterduke blinked.

‘No,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘I can’t. This night’s casting has taken most of the magic that I have.’

‘Then we leave him, or it’s – you know,’ said Starburst. ‘Coup de grace.’

‘The coup de grace,’ repeated Masterduke, flinching. He paused. He licked his teeth. He nodded. ‘The coup de grace. Very well.’ He waited. Starburst frowned.

‘You – you want me to do it?’

‘Well – yes. You’re a soldier, aren’t you?’

‘A soldier! Flanks! Wasn’t I the colt who made ribbons not long ago?’

‘But I can’t do it!’ protested Masterduke.

‘Why not?’

‘I’m – it’s not,’ he stammered. He stopped. ‘I can’t do it,’ he repeated. ‘I told you. My magic’s out. If you won’t do it, then we leave him.’ Masterduke flinched at another moan. Starburst paled and swallowed. He closed his eyes.

‘We have to do it. All right.’ He breathed in. Masterduke stepped backward as Starburst marched into the trench. His horn glowed. He stiffened and held his breath. Then he stopped. He exhaled. Masterduke frowned.

‘What?’ he said, stepping forward.

‘Curse – you,’ rasped a voice.

The leader was conscious. He gasped and spluttered and glared at the Unicorns. ‘Lie still,’ said Starburst.

‘You little fool,’ gurgled the leader, struggling to sit. ‘Gah!’ He collapsed, gasping. He spotted Masterduke. His eyes flashed red. ‘You devil,’ he snarled. ‘Whatever you conjure, you won’t – s-set – a hoof –’ His eyes rolled. He stumbled and his face slackened. Masterduke’s eyes bulged. He looked at Starburst.

‘Dead?’ he asked. Starburst checked and shook his head.

‘No. I’ll stay here, professor. You can get help.’

‘What?’ snapped Masterduke. ‘Help? Why? Are you sure? Won’t he bleed out?’

‘I don’t think so.’

‘And this is what the guidelines say?’

Starburst frowned. ‘What problem would you have with it if they didn’t?’

‘He tried to kill us.’

‘I have enough magic to press the wounds,’ said Starburst. ‘Captain Meadow’s out there, maybe even the rest of the platoon. If you bring them here, we can take him back to base.’ Masterduke stared at Starburst, who leaned the injured pony against the wall of the trench. He licked his teeth.

‘It’s dangerous out there,’ he muttered. ‘I’ll stay.’

‘What?’

‘What if I were attacked? In any case, you’d be quicker. I’ll stay with him.’ Masterduke dropped into the trench beside Starburst and squatted. Starburst watched him.

‘You’ll apply pressure?’

‘Yes.’

‘I thought you said your magic’s out.’

‘Confound it, Starburst; I’ll use my hooves!’

‘So, you’ll stay?’

‘Yes.’

‘While I go and get help?’

‘Yes, yes.’ Masterduke blinked. He snorted. ‘You don’t trust me!’ He met Starburst’s gaze. Starburst, pale, swallowed. They watched each other. Masterduke smiled, though his face was tense. Starburst’s grew paler. ‘So I thought!’ snapped Masterduke. ‘What do you think I’m going to do, impale him with my horn?’ Starburst’s eyes flicked to the ponies’ blades, sitting on the dune. Masterduke’s face twitched. He held up his hooves. ‘Why would I kill him?’

‘I think you’re worried about your spell,’ mumbled Starburst. Masterduke rubbed his chin and licked his teeth. He paused.

‘It’s dangerous,’ he said. ‘We’d be splitting up. We’d risk the platoon or at least what’s left of the squad. To what end? We could leave him here. Maybe his thralls will pick him up. Yes, maybe they won’t. Maybe he’ll die. That’s cruelty. Why let him suffer?’

‘So, you say we just kill him.’

‘Exactly what you suggested, Starburst! The coup de grace.’

‘Yeah, when he was half-dead.’

‘He is half-dead. Why are you so hesitant? You were happy to fire a splash spell. Would it help if I made it an order? Do you want me to order you to do it?’

Starburst scowled. ‘Flanks! You aren’t a soldier, and you said it yourself. You’re fine with me calling you “professor”, but you want to pull rank on me now?’

Masterduke bristled. ‘Can’t I?’ Starburst stayed quiet. Masterduke closed his eyes. ‘He tried to kill us.’

‘We killed his friends.’

‘He killed ours.’

‘He’s helpless.’

‘Is he? What if he’s bluffing and slits your throat?’

‘With what? He’s going to fly there, back and at me?’

‘Young ponies,’ muttered Masterduke. ‘Stubborn little mules. All right, then, Starburst, demanding justifications – the professor has a question. Elucidate. How many ponies did you kill tonight, yesterday, the day before? From where has this special dispensation come?’

Starburst glared at him. ‘It’s not right,’ he said.

‘What isn’t?’

‘You know.’

‘Poor student, that’s no answer. “It’s not right”. Oh, out would come the red ink. “Substantiate”.’

Starburst scowled. ‘You think it’s right?’

‘Ah, mistake again! Questioning my question is not an answer.’

‘You’re just playing games now.’

‘I assure you I am not. I am absolutely sincere and serious. Look! Look me in the eye.’ Starburst obliged. Masterduke glared at him. Starburst scanned his old teacher’s face. He paused.

‘You’re asking me why it’s wrong? To kill a defenceless prisoner in cold blood? It’s a war crime.’

Masterduke’s lip curled. ‘What does that mean, exactly? And no, before you answer with what you are expected by Colonel Comet or Celestia or Equestria to say – I don’t want to hear that. What does it mean to you? Take away the modifier. Start with crime. What is that?’

‘You promise you aren’t playing games with me.’

‘Absolutely! Look at me!’ Starburst stared. He sniffed and blinked.

‘If I got hit with a spell,’ he muttered, ‘and I was wounded, and I got caught by them, I’d want them to take care of me. Not torture me or kill me.’

‘Well, there we are. A start. Treat them as you hope they will treat you. Stalwart and pedestrian.’ Starburst stiffened. He turned away. His horn glowed. The leader mumbled as his wounds contracted. ‘It’s a common principle,’ continued Masterduke, ignoring them, ‘and with that in mind, let’s return to “war crime”.’ He rubbed his chin. ‘Some yes or nos. Do you want to be in a war?’

‘Of course not.’

‘Do you want to fight?’

‘Not really.’

‘Did you want to cast spells tonight?’

Starburst paused. ‘No,’ he said.

‘Yet you did!’

‘Yes.’

‘Did you want to kill tonight?’

‘No.’

‘You did.’

Starburst worked his mouth. ‘Yes,’ he said.

‘So there you have it. A war criminal. You!’

‘That’s not how it works.’

‘Isn’t it?’

‘No. We were fighting for our lives.’

‘Oh? A caveat? What’s this? Explain exactly why you may breach your principle when firing splash but not when squatting next to a half-dead killer.’

Starburst narrowed his eyes. ‘Because he’s helpless.’

‘Oh? What does that mean, “helpless”? What difference would it make to him, do you think, if he were killed in a charge or a coup de grace?’

Starburst glared. ‘It feels wrong.’

‘“Feels”,’ snorted Masterduke. ‘That’s it. You’ve placed your hoof precisely onto the true guiding principle, at the heart of all matters, the tyranny of whimsy!’ He smirked as he spoke the word ‘true’. ‘You’re standing on rock. Yes or no.’ Starburst shrugged.

‘Yes.’

‘Prove it,’ demanded Masterduke. Starburst shrugged again.

‘I can see it. I can feel it.’

‘Oh? Prove that, then.’ Starburst stared. ‘You don’t see or feel it. You think that you do. You think that you think that you do. Sooner or later your proof, so-called, runs out. You feel it, you say? What if you don’t? What if it isn’t there? How do you know? How do any of us know anything, any “fact” at all? Our options are few, Starburst. The first is to accept our “fact” as fact, immortalise it and move on. The second is to rely on other “facts”, which we also cannot prove, as proofs and move on. The third is to ask the question endlessly, demanding proof forevermore.’ Masterduke’s face was flushed. ‘Lies! All of them! Blindness, circles and infinity! Now, here’s the real “truth”. Hah. “Truth”. What lunacy. What’s true? What’s right? What’s wrong? It’s all programming, imposed by nature and society – and that’s nonsense too! It is and it isn’t! Who knows? Hah! That’s the madness! A principle, any principle – it’s just a cruel, dogmatic joke! No pony has any real reason to believe any word any other pony says, or any stone he ever touched, or any image he ever thought he saw! We’re just a pack of liars indulging dressed-up whims!’ He spat the final sentences and stopped. He swallowed. Starburst stared at him. His eyes shone.

‘I think,’ he said, ‘that you’re a very sad pony, professor.’

‘Hah. How completely correct you are or may be. As correct as anyone. As correct as anything. Don’t you see? The maddening equality of it all. All of it, equally shallow and empty. No proof of anything. Well, if nothing exists, everything is possible! I have no reason not to do anything, none but what I perceive as my own weakness! I’ll kill him. What reason do I have not to? My whims shout “Yes!” Let them. So be it.’ Starburst nodded. Masterduke blinked and rubbed his chin. ‘You aren’t going to try to stop me?’

‘No.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I’d rather you kill him than us kill each other.’

Masterduke shuddered. ‘Pragmatist!’ he hissed. ‘Typical. All right.’

‘I’ve lost a lot of respect for you.’

Masterduke bristled. ‘Why should I care?’

‘I didn’t say you should. Saying so was my whim.’

‘Hah. Good. You begin to see.’

‘First I was afraid that you wanted to kill ponies. Then I thought that you wanted to save them. But it has nothing to do with them. It’s all about you.’

‘Yes,’ said Masterduke. ‘My spells. My triumphs. My whims.’ Starburst worked his mouth. Masterduke climbed from the trench and walked over to the blades. He chose one and lifted it with his mouth. He returned, squatted and pointed the tip at the officer’s heart. He rubbed his chin and licked his teeth. The blade wobbled. He was shaking.

‘You know,’ said Starburst. ‘After all you said, you might as well leave him. If it’s all whims. If it’s all the same.’

Masterduke blinked. ‘Yes. And I might as well not.’

‘Well?’

‘Well, what?’

‘You haven’t. Maybe you don’t want to.’

‘I do.’

‘Why?’

‘Damn it, boy; you heard me! You know that question has no answer!’

‘Yeah, no answer. Any answer. Every answer. All the same, right? So give me one, professor. This is me, here, indulging my whim. I want to hear you tell me.’

‘Tell you what?’

‘Do you want to kill him?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then why haven’t you?’

Masterduke turned away and licked his teeth. He stared, his mouth trembling, at the leader. He stared at the blade. He gritted his teeth and lunged. The blade did not move. Tears ran from his eyes. He pressed them shut and pushed. The blade slipped from his grasp and rattled against the rock. He stumbled sideward and fell, shivering. ‘I – I can’t!’ he gasped. ‘Programming! Accursed programming!’

‘You call it that,’ said Starburst. ‘I call it mercy.’

‘Weakness!’ moaned Masterduke.

‘Or maybe it’s just a stronger whim.’

‘Huh!’

‘Well? Couldn’t it be?’

‘Yes, yes! Of course it is! Weakness is a whim!’

‘And because it’s all the same, I get to call it mercy. And I get to call it good. And I get to say that you’re better than you think you are.’ He smiled. ‘Maybe there’s respect left after all.’

‘You poor fool,’ muttered Masterduke, wiping his eyes.

‘I think I’ve got you here. If it’s all nonsense, here’s some more. Who says you aren’t just doing what you feel is right? You’re just answering that question, “Is it right?”, and what you do reflects that.’

‘Hah. As silly as anything. Perhaps. I admit it. Well said, Starburst, well said. Whether one calls it weakness or mercy, I cannot kill him.’

‘So, you won’t?’ Masterduke closed his eyes and sighed. He shook his head. Starburst beamed at him.

‘What do we do, then?’ croaked Masterduke. ‘Thralls might come for them. If either of us stays, and they do – well. Now that I think about it, that’s not a risk I mean to take.’

‘Then we get back to base and report it,’ said Starburst. ‘A search party can get to him in the morning – if he’s still here. As you said, the thralls might come anyway.’

Masterduke sighed. ‘Very well. Let’s go. One night, and already I’ve had enough of this place.’

‘We’re going? Flanks! Even though you told him? About the spell?’

Masterduke glared at Starburst. ‘Are you trying to tempt me, boy?’ he growled.

‘No, no! It’s just – nice to see.’

‘Huh. Years of toil. Years of my life.’ Masterduke licked his teeth. ‘It’s my fault. My weakness. Well, Starburst, let’s pray the fool forgets the details. Come on.’

They walked in silence along the dunes. They searched for the fissure inside which Meadow and the others had lain. When they did not find it, Starburst suggested that they heed the Captain’s advice, find another and wait until dawn. Masterduke said that this was pointless since no thralls were following them. They traipsed south, Starburst smiling, Masterduke sighing. ‘Fool,’ he muttered. ‘The world is mine, yet I do not claim it. Oh, to be single-minded! Certitude, that deadly power! I am weak, but there is hope. Perhaps here, in the midst of war, strength will come. But why did I tell them? Why didn’t I lie? I will rue this day, the day I let that pony live. It’s all nonsense. I said it myself. Why waste my time? End the war? Is that truly my goal, my whim? Of course not. I am an artist, and an artist needs only one thing: an incontrovertible masterpiece. I have it.’ His lip curled. ‘Now I must show it to the world!’

Comments

[Nebbie]

Hmm, it's certainly an interesting argument they have, but it feels like way too much when out in the field like this, like most sane people would cut it short much earlier.