Point Well Taken
The door to the infirmary swished open, and several armed guards turned to look. Many of their eyes lit up at the sight before them.
"Madame..." An older stallion in a blue uniform marched up. "He's a dangerous, well-trained pony who fractured the limbs of three of my officers." He held a hoof forward. "Please, for your own safety, I suggest you keep your distance—"
"No doubt you dealt him as much pain if not even more so by the time the door was opened the sequencing chamber," Nightshade calmly said. "Please allow me to see him. I have business to attend to."
The guard glanced behind Nightshade. Sir Ordo stood next to two intimidatingly large stallions decked out in surgical gear. With a nervous shudder, the guard stepped back. "As you wish..."
The thick group of ponies parted ways, revealing a bruised and shackled Phoenix squatting on the edge of a medicable table. He heaved in pain, his lungs whistling as blood dribbled out of his muzzle. Through a swollen eye, he glanced tiredly up at the corporate owner.
Nightsahde took a few steps forward. Calmly, she spoke over her shoulder, her eyes trained on the Franzington mercenary. "You've interrogated him?"
"Quite thoroughly, Madame."
"And have you learned anything?"
The guard cleared his throat and said, "No, ma'am. He's keeping silent."
Nightshade slowly, slowly nodded. She kept staring at Phoenix.
Phoenix didn't break his gaze either. Whatever expression he could afford beneath the fresh sea of whelts was utterly placid.
Nightshade gestured towards the two stallions in white. They nodded and trotted across the infirmary. The guards made room for them as they stood ominously behind Phoenix's figure.
The mercenary took a deep, shruddering breath. He wheezed once, but otherwise remained sitting as still as he could muster, gazing intently at Nightshade.
The mare paced before him. "Your friends escaped the building. Successfully, I might add. Oh, we know you have more than one companion. Just how many—we're not sure. What we do know is that they're very fortunate to have escaped the premises... for precisely the same reason that you have not been. I wonder... are they your family?"
Phoenix was silent.
She paused, squinting at him. "Because if you're doing this to protect family... then I can understand." She swallowed. "But it does not change the fact that what is at stake here is worth more than your life, their lives, or even my life. This country—this continent is going the way of a dying spark, and there are very few ponies with the resources and the knowledge to do something about it. Now, the Council of Ledo... they have the tools and they most definitely have the materials to pull us out of this devastating war, but they refuse. So... who then can step up to the call? Who can transform this country into something that's fertile... something capable of growing instead of giving into the ashes of all of our past mistakes? Hmm? Is it you? Is it who you work for?"
Phoenix broke his gaze with her, choosing instead to stare at the ground.
Nightshade's eyes narrowed. "I have discovered secrets... secrets that would flip this entire society up on its head. Secrets that would change the perception of everypony, leading to the collapse of fundamental philosophy and modern idealism. And yet, I have chosen to be empowered by this knowledge, and to use what I know to make a difference. It's not too late to transform this nation into something that is prosperous once again, for I have it within my ability to stop this war."
Slowly, with icy silence, she shuffled towards him.
At last she spoke, "What would you... or anypony in league with you hope to accomplish by stealing that knowlege? Is it for bits? For blood? For glory?" Her lips tensed as she added, "What is it you care for so much that you would sneak so far into this forbidden place?"
Phoenix tilted his head up. He took a long, wheezing breath before sputtering, "For a mare who wants what's best for this kingdom, you've g-got a funny way of sh-showing it..." At the end of that, he spat a wad of bloody saliva onto the tile before her.
Nightshade's eyes traveled down, then lifted back up towards him. Her brow furrowed, but before she could say anything—
"Madame!" With bumbling commotion, a messenger pony sweatily dashed into the room, squeezing past a few guards. "Madame Nightshade! Urgent news from the industrial center!"
Nightshade swiveled about. "What is it?"
The pony winced before stammering, "It's Overseer Fatch. He's been detained, and the whole sector is on lockdown."
"Lockdown?!" Nightshade gnashed her teeth. "By whom?"
"Enforcers, Madame. There's an entire blockade formed at the bottom and at the top of the buildings. Both zeppelin and hoof traffic have been blocked off. Word is that more of the Queen's soldiers are being assembled on the northeast side of Blue Nova. I've been sent to warn you, in case any Enforcers come here next..."
Sir Ordo began shivering. "The Council of Ledo..." He gulped. "It's all a conspiracy! They're onto us!"
Nightshade was silent. She spun back around and glared at Phoenix. "Who do you work for, really?"
Phoenix said nothing this time.
Nightshade's nostrils flared. "Very well. If I can't get the truth from your mouth, I will from your mind. Sir Ordo?"
"Yes, ma'am?"
"Prepare the table." After a breath, she spoke without looking to the two heavy-set stallions. "Gentlecolts... prepare him."
Phoenix blinked—only to have two telekinetic fields thrust him forward. He was slammed chest-first against the bed. Two pairs of forelimbs held him in place with an iron-grip before he could even try breaking free. Then, quicker than a heartbeat, an electrified hatchet flew across his skull. With a hideous whack, the end of Phoenix's horn shattered completely.
"Gaaaa-hauuugh!" the stallion shrieked. His face tensed to the breaking point as his eyes turned red and blood trickled out of his ears. "Grrnngh—mmmmmfff-haaaugh!" He writhed and twisted in the ponies' grasp, powerless to stop them from applying a series of cables and electrodes to his sparkling stub. The sequencing device only magnified the waves of pain coursing through him. "Mmmmmmnnnghhhh..." He hissed before sobbing openly into the infirmary bed.
"Keep his vitals steady for as long as I am sequenced," Nightshade said unemotionally as she laid down, affixing cables to her stub. "Sir Ordo?"
The stallion stood, squirming, staring at Phoenix's tortured figure.
Nightshade spoke sharper. "Ordo..."
The stallion looked over with a jerk.
Her eyes were still as stone. "Your assistance, if I could."
"Yes... Y-yes, but of course, Madame Nightshade." He trotted briskly over.
"Much appreciated." She fully reclined, shutting her eyes as Ordo activated the apparatus. "Do not worry about the Council. Sooner or later, I will have answers."
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Brutal.
Feels a little bit like Axan there in Nightshade's grandiose speeches about dying sparks. I suppose that's what happens when you stumble upon ancient prophecy and don't fully understand it.
Holy fuck. Poor Phoenix.
Nightshade, you about to get beat down...
So Nightshade's gonna die, right? I really hope Nightshade dies.
I wonder, now that we have two hornless ponies, if Belle's prophecised "death" is more likely to be an actual one.
She and I might share a name but I pray to the eternal spark that she die a slow and agonizing death.
I wonder... must unicorns be without their horns in order to be sequenced? I feel like an idiot for just noticing that now...
As much as it was brutal, in all fairness, extremely effective. She will get the information she needs, and wasting no time at it as he's clearly not giving up easily and her entire plan is coming crumbling down around her. It may be brutal, but potentially necessary if she's going to continue with her plans...
Try "This world" on for size. Oh, if only Nightshade was less of a dick. And Phoenix knowledgeable on the spark and all that it entails.
And now Phoenix is going to die absolutely horribly, and there is nopony who can save him.
A heroic sacrifice is just that, a sacrifice, but holy shit, what a nasty way to go.
Oh damn, that HAD to have not felt good...
2768121
I'm guessing that Nightshade is the frying pan; Shell's going to be the fire.
It's surprising how much pain we can feel for Pheonix now, but before, we wanted him to die a horrible death. I too feel sorry for Pheonix. He has protected Belle to the very end, like he said he would... That is... If this is the end...
Goddammit RD, what's taking you so long?
You know, I would really like it if we have a change of POV very soon. That way his fate will be ambiguous, and then we get to speculate all we want on his Schrodinger cat status.
Another possible twist. Nightshade sees the truth and suddenly RD gets an entire country (boom boom rolls the cash) willing to help them in their quest. Knowing their luck, however, I seriously doubt she can pull off a heel face turn after all the crap she has done without remorse for the "greater good" which may have been wrong all along.
Ha! I finally got something right! I called that Nightshade knew about the upcoming end of the world. Now I can feel proud of myself.
Anybody get and "end of the line" feeling for Phoenix right here? Nightshade's gonna see everything he's seen with Rainbow Dash. At that point, she'll have no further need of him, which we all know is villain-speak for "is going to kill him".
Nightshade, you bitch. I hope my namesake realizes what a bitch his sister is, before she dies a slow, painful death, full of shattering keratin.
Ouch.
Nightshade has become what she needed to be in order to save her nation, her country and the world itself. I imagine that to become this villainous and utilitarian would require a great deal of sacrifice on her part... and to some extent I respect her for it. She believes she does what is necessary for the good of all, unlike Shell she seems to not take any pleasure in the act and has accepted that her name will go down in history as a despicable villain... but at least they'd be a history.
Under different circumstances, she'd have made a damn good hero. She is deluded, driven and in a way, worth of respect.
...But at the same time, that bitch needs to be stopped before her distorted perspective royal screws things up.
Holy f
k.
I actually winced at Phoenix's behorning. It's funny how you can feel phantom pain in a limb that you never even had in the first place.
Also, now more than ever before, I have noticed that Nightshade is the one character that I can't picture as a pony at all. Whenever I try to visualize her, I automatically see this:
studioli.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/besuch-der-alten-dame.jpg%3Fw%3D510
"Point well taken". Ouch...
Jesus. Things are looking grim for Phoenix... I hope he survives.
Son of a bitch.
Nightshade is that one type of villain that I absolutely love. Her goal are pure and good for the world as a whole but her action are brutal and morally wrong.
Something tells me she is going to be a little disappointed.
Oww...
I can feel that. I can really, really feel that.
DAMNIT, EMPATHY!
Gotta feel sorry for Phoenix here. Shouting at him, "who does he work for" when he doesn't actually work for anybody.
I highly doubt Nightshade is about to believe he's assisting an acquaintance/friend. He can't even wimp out of the torture.
But out of the ashes shall rise anew, the Phoenix.
So...
Phoenix is experiencing the same agony inflicted on numerous orphaned enemy children.
Who still feels sympathy for Nightshade?
2773152 Here.
...
Wow. Nightshade does her job much better than Shell, that's for sure, because she can at least manage to interrogate Phoenix.
Point Well Taken?
...
You, sir, are terrible. I feel really bad for letting a single chuckle of realization escape.
I was already calling for Nightshade's downfall before, but now I might just bust out the picket signs. I never thought I'd say this, but...Go Shell! Kick her stupid sun-hatted head!
As to Phoenix...someone's going to save him, right? I mean, there are enough characters running around that some sort of last minute escape is still possible...probably. Gah, gotta read more - onward!
2769540That lady looks like an ostrich.
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Oh...um. Wow. That just happened. This, I think, is a testament to Nightshade's character. It shows that she is driven to get to her goal, no matter what that means. In a way, she's just as crazy as Shell. But while Shell is well and truly blinded by his insanity so that he doesn't realize he's insane, Nightshade commits horrible acts but honestly believes that she's doing the right thing. I like that contrast, Imploding. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
That's horrible. You can't hide anything from that lady, can you?
It's just... wrong to pry information from someone's mind like that.
>Nightsahde took a few steps forward
Typo'd again!
-Spirit
That's probably one of the worst, most cruel thing someone could do. For a mare that says she is out to do good, she certainly . . . has a funny way of showing it. But I guess that's how the saying goes, right? The means justify the ends.
No more magic for phoenix....ever...
Eeee! Fuck, Phoenix!
Might be kinder if the bugger was dead...
Well, if Phoenix hadn't paid for his mistakes before, he did now.
Ouch, Phoenix takes another for the team.
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions..."
Well, we're just slipping down the sliding scale of idealism and cynicism with this little arc, aren't we? Who knows, maybe next Colon will start killing off characters.
Also, I can't believe I just called this 400-chapter arc "little".
Holy moly!
Nightshade certainly doesn't shy away from action when she feels it's needed.
Aaaarrrgh
I flinched, and I don't even have a horn.
I'm hoping that, by devlibg into hsi mind, she will see the truth behind what Belle says, that's he really knows the Austraeoh and that she is Eljunbyro
Today we have lost a precious character...
Phoenix's horn—
Wait what?
the ends only justify the means if the means are reversible. nightshade should be executed for permanently crippling someone in her quest for ‘utopia’