The Story of Reik: The Communist Revolutionary: MLP

by Reik

Chapter 21: The Commissariat

FOR SEVERAL SECONDS the room was lost in a clamor of voices. Applejack roared at Iris, Iris yelled at Magnus, Magnus spat at Applejack, and Vladimir barked at all the ponies independently. Derpy shuffled slightly and began to snore softly; Fluttershy shrank slowly and squeaked for the arguing ponies to lower their voices, Cheerilee stared sadly at the warring officials, and Reik continued to stare blankly into space.

Realizing the futility of the conversation, the ponies abruptly fell silent. The room, devoid of sound, became disturbingly peaceful. There was only one window within the room, normally it would allow a great view of the village with several mountains along the horizon, but now all that could be seen where several dark structures illuminated by the numerous street lamps. There was a single makeshift fireplace in the room’s comer. Despite her welling anger, Applejack had to commend the engineer pony Iris on her work, a small iron stove built into the wall, several links of metal tubing guiding the smoke through a hole in the wall and into the sky. Although the room was still dimly lit, several hanging candles saved the ponies from utter darkness.

As the silence dragged on, Applejack looked to the large stallion known as Vladimir. She had seen him around town often, leading packs of guards through the streets and through the forest, searching for threats that obviously weren’t there. Although holding contempt for all of the odd ponies that had ruined the village and threatened Equestria, she viewed Vladimir more as a puppet than an actual puppeteer for her friend’s misery.

Eyes refocusing at the collection before him, Reik turned his gaze to Magnus and spoke in an annoyed tone.

“Magnus, why did you call this meeting?” It was sudden and shocked everypony for the previously silent pony to speak in such a commanding tone. Applejack had seen little of Reik over the past few ‘days’. The only times she had seen him was during the commissariat meetings and even then, he had missed several of them. Remembering the time, Applejack looked down at her watch; it had been 80 hours since the revolution. Her thoughts drifted to Twilight and how she was coping with the new Ponyville as Magnus responded. He spoke in a surprised tone, in contrast to his calculating and scheming tone.

“Well, I’ve heard some arguments between commissars, and, err, I don’t want dissent.” Reik glared at the armored pony for several seconds before speaking again, retaining his annoyed tone. “Fluttershy has building alterations to oversee, Cheerilee has a class to teach, Iris and Applejack have a joint operation to oversee, Vladimir has security forces to organize, Derpy-” Looking over to the commissar for logistics, Reik sighed heavily and continued. “And I have all of you to keep in order, and you have public relations to improve, now tell me, how can we all go about those tasks if you are calling meetings each time officials have a shouting match?” Magnus stood silently and glanced at everypony in the room, as if they would come to his aid. The silence was painful, Applejack was both happy to see misfortune on the side of Magnus, but also fearful of conflict between these ‘communists’. She wondered how a village could possibly be run by a disorganized group. Reik, without breaking his gaze on Magnus, spoke quickly. “Meeting adjourned, if you have an issue with any other commissar, take it up with me or the commissar themselves, I will not micromanage this commissariat, good luck comrades.”

Derpy, Fluttershy, and Cheerilee dashed out of the room first, nearly shoving each other in their charge toward the door. After the general rout, Magnus inched his way towards the door, attempting to escape Reik’s piercing gaze, he left silently, pace increasing once exiting the room. After a brief exchange with the black pony, Vladimir too took his leave. Realizing how much time she was wasting, Applejack sighed heavily and moved to leave the room as well, only to be caught and pulled aside by Vladimir after exiting the portal.

IRIS STARRED AT Reik, knowing he was aware of the gaze even though he shifted his sight away. For several seconds they were alone, without a word. Reik reached into one of his coat pockets and withdrew the small black stone, it pulsed and small multi colored glowing cracks scarred its surface. Iris hated the object, she knew it pained Reik to hold it, he knew it was against everything he had written down in that little book, and she knew the longer he held it, the harder it would be to let it go.

“Where did you find that masterpiece?” Iris said in her tone casual. Reik remained silent for some time, responding only after several seconds of silence. “I for one like Derpy, her simplicity reminds me of better times.” Iris chuckled slightly, but continued in the casual tone. “Magnus, where did you dig that rotten piece of work up?” Reik removed his cap and dusted off the brim, Iris had known this to become an odd habit for the black pony. “Magnus, wanted for theft, assault, and fraud, found by one of the expeditions to Canterlot.” Iris was unsurprised by the origin, she responded quickly. “Did he require any ‘convincing’?” She quickly regretted saying such, she knew Reik hated controlling the guards with the talisman. “Yes, however” there was a brief pause during which Reik lowered his head. Iris remembered Vladimir informing her that such an action indicated that he was contemplating whether or not to reveal a piece of information. After the brief silence, Reik spoke once more. “How is the farm coming along?” Iris was annoyed at the sudden change in subject yet responded. “The additions to the original structure are proceeding as planned, the lighting has yet to be transported, and civilian workers are proving reluctant, now, what is wrong with Magnus?” Iris felt strong as she spoke, displaying both fortitude and intelligence. Reik spoke quickly. “Excellent, however we will have to risk civilian sabotage if we are to complete the farm in time.” Iris quickly cut in. “And Magnus?” Pausing quickly, the black pony spoke in a quieter tone. “As of now it is not an issue, if it becomes an issue, you will be the first to know.” As he finished, silence took the room. Iris was angered by his secrecy. It made no sense to her to withhold information, right now, when so much was at stake. Reik began to pocket the talisman.

“I don’t like that stone Reik.” Iris said sternly, advancing towards the stallion. Halting in his action and lazily tossing the stone onto the wooden table, the black pony sighed sadly. “I don’t need this Iris; I swear I don’t need this.” The red Pegasus groaned quietly, stopping several feet away from the slouching chairman. “You will have to face it at some point, you can’t just ignore this.” Iris tried to maintain a strong, official tone, but little expressions of soft kindness slipped through. To her surprise, snatching at the stone and sending it hurtling towards a wall, which it bounced off of with a resounding ‘crack’, Reik exploded. “I have an entire village to take care of, I haven’t been outside, let alone seen the sun in days, I can’t remember the last time I bathed, the artificial farm isn’t even started and the entire territory will starve without it, this council is a joke, and on top of that-” His outburst was silenced by a sudden embrace by Iris. It was sudden and without pause, bringing an expression of surprise to the black ponies features. The hug was peculiar, Reik was unfamiliar with the action and debated whether to return the action, or remain motionless. Iris wanted to speak, to voice some form of reassurance, but as her mind went blank, she released the black pony and moved to gather the talisman, its dim pulsing light casting odd shadows across the floor, from the corner of her eye; she noticed a slight reddening of the black ponies features. Upon reaching the talisman, Iris was reluctant in touching it, it made her eyes itch just to look at it this close and she wondered what untold power might be contained within its small stature. Shutting her eyes, she gathered the stone, upon touching it, she felt as if her hoof would melt, not with pain, but with an odd sensation she was unaccustomed to. Wanting to rid herself of the terrible burden, she rose quickly and tossed it recklessly onto the table. After bouncing several times it rested on the wood, to her surprise, the wood did nit singe or smoke upon contact with the enchanted object. Noticing that Reik was still in his position, Iris was overcome with sadness, she knew he was in misery, yet she felt helpless. He was always so secluded, so alone; it pained her to see a pony in such a state. If only he would speak, give voice to his conundrum, then she could help, yet he remained silent, no matter the intensity of her mental pleas. After a gentle sigh, Iris spoke. “We’ve gone far Reik, just a few days ago I was an evicted seamstress, But now.” Without knowing how to end the phrase, she started anew. “We are all behind you, and your friends will follow you to whatever end.” Reik smiled weakly at the comment and advanced to the window, casting his gaze over the shadow covered territory of Ponyville. It was a miserable sight, the leader of the revolutionary party, one who had done in the space of one evening, done what had taken countless others years to attempt. Cursing herself and already thinking of ten ways she could have acted and spoken in a more supportive tone, Iris turned to leave, floorboards creaking under her hooves.

Upon exiting the chamber, she was approached by Vladimir, who shoved the obviously angered Applejack at her. The orange pony spun around and fired an enraged stare at the grey stallion, who glared angrily at the two of them. He spoke in a deep foreboding tone that immediately suppressed the orange pony’s anger and caused her to take a fearful step backwards.

"Make nice.” It was a short phrase, but it left no room for refusal.

Comments

[Reik]

138156

...it sounded more awesome when I was typing it.

[Wilhelm]

138264
HULK SMASH, HULK SAY MAKE NICE OR HULK SMASH.

Good day.

[CarnationStar]

Nice. Love the story man.