A Sound in the Dark
It was strange listening to ones own heart beat. Most relate that sound to moments of panic, passion, adrenalin, or the adoration of another soul but to be truly alone, bereft of all sounds save your own breaths and listening carefully to the ponderous beating of one's heart can bring a few things to light and a number of disturbing questions. For Solomen the most prominent of those questions was simple and infinitely difficult to attain.
Is there a moment in life of true silence before death?
His thoughts were interrupted by a noise in the shadow of his heartbeat. It was enough to draw his attention towards the real world, but he was hesitant to break the meditation so soon. This was not the first time his ears had fooled him and would not be the last time his mind created something from the nothingness around him, but the noise was persistent and very slowly gaining in volume.
Opening his eyes he gazed at the door of his cell curiously and watched the light bleeding through along its frame for any disturbance or change. The words on his door were the same as always save the color, the light remained as constant as ever, yet still he heard the strange noise draw ever closer...
It was so much like the sound a horse hoof would make on stone, but that would be ridiculous wouldn't it? His heart beat sped up suddenly with the addition of yet more sounds, ones he was almost convinced would never grace his ears again.
Another soul's voice.
"This is so stupid... Why do we have to come down here and check these dumb cells? They should have been blocked off ages ago."
"Because we were ordered to ding bat, now stop being a baby and lets get this over with."
"Don't call me a ding bat. You're the only stupid bat down here..."
"Yeah and you're a freakin baby who's scared of the dark. Come on; we're almost there."
Two voices. One male and the other female accompanied by the ever so gentle clicking of what sounded like metal meeting metal— Armor maybe? That still didn't account for the sound of hooves, but it didn't matter either way. It was finally time for something to happen so he carefully wrapped the long coil of rope resting in a corner of his cell around his shoulder and touched the bracelet of needles circling his left wrist. Each of the items along with his loose pants were a mark of pride for him and created with painstakingly slow progress over the time he was incarcerated.
There was no way he'd leave them to rot in the dark, but his mind was kept from reminiscing as the sound seemed to echo down the corridor leading to his box. Sitting cross-legged in the center of the cell he covered his eyes with a length of rope just as the sound of a lock clicking open echoed around him and a blinding light issued from the edges of his rope. As the door creaked open silence reigned supreme for a moment. Oddly enough the two that opened the door were standing stock still and were not breathing.
Had they stopped because of the writing on the door or were they shocked to see him?
The sound of his own voice was strangely frightening after staying silent for so long, but even though he was the one speaking it still sent a shiver down his spine with how soft it was from disuse.
"Are you here to kill me?"
Both started breathing again which was a good sign, but they were hyperventilating. Quick short breaths filled the silence and was accompanied by metal clicking against metal even though they weren't moving about. It nearly made him smile with the realization that both of them were shaking.
"Maybe... If you asked your superiors they might enlighten you of my presence."
They backed slowly away from him and though he wished to accompany them out of the box he could only sigh and murmur one last thing before they got too far away from the door.
"Lock the door behind you."
As the door closed and locked once more he couldn't help smiling at the sounds of them colliding with one another, spilling to the floor in a mess of armor before scrambling up and running back towards wherever they came from. He wondered when they might return or if they would come back at all considering how they acted after seeing him, but oddly enough his musings were once more interrupted by the sound of a group of people returning. There voices were much louder than the guards, but it was difficult to tell how many of them were actually coming towards his cells.
"This wouldn't happen to be payback for our earlier prank would it Midnight? We would be terribly cross for being lead all this way for nothing."
"Haven't you been back long enough to drop the whole "Our" and "We" thing, Luna? Besides you would be snoring right now if something didn't drag us away from Celestia."
"That's princess to you parasite. I'm not letting you anywhere near this creature for a free meal."
"One day Cadence there will be a breakthrough in medical science to remove that tree lodged up your ass."
It was strange how his door seemed to unlock itself and open with the approaching group still not in front of his cell, but he was sure why they had stopped this time. In hindsight it might have been a good idea to obscure the words on his door before they got down here.
Prisoner 01
You are a prisoner sent here to pay for your crimes.
You were cast into silence and will remain in silence.
You have a schedule, follow it carefully.
You have an appeal, a single rope of hemp.
You may end your sentence at any time.
"Please tell me... That isn't written in what I think it is...."
"No Cadence, that is definitely blood."
"I bucking swear if you don't shut up cheese legs...."
"Sorry about that. Those rules do serve a purpose, but I didn't have anything else to write with."
Once more he was greeted with dead silence as the group just outside of his cell seemed to forget how to breath. One of the group seemed to recover first and carefully approached just close enough to peek into around the doorway. Even with the rope still covering his eyes he could see the shadow of something obscuring the light.
"By my egg its a giant muscle!"
For the first time in ages he actually laughed filling the silence with the sound of his voice as it echoed around the cell and off into the distance.
"I'm not surprised. Nothing to do down here except exercise."
"Hold on a sec... Can you see at all?"
"I can see a little, but that light behind you is blinding me at the moment. The only light I've had down here was what can bleed in through the door cracks."
"You're hive blind. Hold on... I think I might be able to-"
"Not on your life Chrysalis! You're not getting your hooves around another-"
"Cadence."
Whoever they were it was nice that he could command some sort of attention even if it might be a bit short lived.
"I've had barely any light for years. I'm surprised I can even see at all with how long I've been in near darkness. Would you kindly leave her be? I would take anything over nothing."
"We have the best doctors in the castle who I'm certain can help you recover. She's just trying to manipulate you-"
"And you are not?"
"You haven't heard what she's done."
"I have not, yet here we are arguing in the dark about whether or not I should have my eyes back when someone offers to help me. Care to enlighten me?"
"I tried to take over Equestria to use the ponies as a permanent source of love to feed my children."
"..... How is it you haven't been executed for that offense?"
"Ponies are pretty forgiving."
"Go ahead and fix my eyes Chrysalis."
"But-"
"No Cadence; I don't care. If any part of that mess Chrysalis just spouted was true then anything she does is entirely the fault of you... ponies. Is that what that clopping sound was earlier? Hooves over stone? I haven't actually seen my captors."
"Yes... They're ponies. Then again I've been all over the world and I haven't seen something like you before."
"Curious..."
A green shade of light slowly replaced the blue one at the edges of his rope somehow causing his eyes to tingle and itch in a maddening way.
"Don't itch them it'll disrupt the magic. This isn't a permanent fix, but you should be able to see a bit better. Bright light is still going to be painful, so try not to look at any directly."
"Thank you Chrysalis. You mentioned hive blind earlier?"
"My kind are usually born in caves. We are far from blind, but its what we call the blindness of a changeling entering the surface world for the first time. The ponies probably do have doctors that might be able to fix that sensitivity entirely, but this will do for now."
Carefully Solomen moved the rope obscuring his eyes out of the way and squinted a bit at the brightness in the room, but smiled now that it didn't completely blind him. He blinked owlishly at the large, slitted, green eyes not two feet away from him.
"Easy with those eyes Chrysalis you might catch my fancy with such a lovely shade of green."
"Oh my~ A dangerous prisoner and a gentlecolt? Whatever will I do..."
With Chrysalis holding out a mind bogglingly holed hoof towards the door he happily left his box and moved past the pair of guards (that he assumed were the ones that came earlier) towards the darkened spiral staircase towards the end of the corridor. The others followed closely behind as they ascended the first few steps before he stopped and carefully listened.
"Why did you stop? Do you miss your cell already?"
"No Chrysalis I'm waiting for Luna."
"How do you know all of our names? I know we're famous and all, but if you haven't even seen a pony before how do you know about us?"
"You two weren't exactly quiet on your way to my box. Things tend to echo in the absence of all other sound."
After a few moments Luna caught up with them as they continued on their way.
"I can't wait to hear my charges. If you got let off the hook for attempting enslavement and hostile takeover then I wonder what the hell I did."
"The ponies gave the god of chaos a second chance so I'm taking my complimentary free pass too."
"It should have been you in that cell instead of him Chrysalis."
Solomen stopped for a moment at that comment and had to take a few deep breaths before continuing. He wouldn't wish his imprisonment on any soul no matter the offense, but Cadence most likely didn't have a clue as to what happened in the dark. A sudden bout of dizziness did wonders to distract himself and reign in his emotions. A glance to his side showed Chrysalis staring at him a lot more intently than he would have liked, but for some reason she was also panting gently.
"Sorry about that... Just a bit of dizziness. I am grateful for your help Chrysalis, but if you were a human in my country that stunt would have landed you in the chair."
"So your kind call themselves humans? You never told us your name either... Is the chair comfy?"
"My name is Solomen and the chair sends an electrical current from your head to your lower limbs. The first more powerful current is used to induce unconsciousness and brain death. The second less powerful current was used to fry your internal organs and possibly kill you off from the extreme heat generated by the current. The saying 'You're going to fry for what you did' refers to the execution by electric chair."
"I would be the first to agree with executing Chrysalis, but that is horrid."
"It's an eight minute twitchy affair as opposed to a ten to twenty minute strangulation from a short drop hanging. I'm pretty sure attempting a coup and enslavement warrants capital punishment without the nice way of going."
"I'm never visiting the land of humans."
"You know they might even bring back the gas chamber just for you Chrysalis..."
"Can we please stop talking about awful ways to kill me? I've done a pretty good job of staying alive without you giving them ideas."
They carried on their ascent in silence for a few moments as Solomen eyed the two guards in front of him before taking a careful look at Chrysalis, who waggled her eyebrows at him in a questionable manner before they finally got out of the stairwell and into an open, well lit hallway. With Luna moving to his right side and Cadence still taking up the back he took a peek at the other two.
"So... Are all ponies just ponies or are they mixed with other things?"
"Ponies are ponies and I'm a Changeling. Like a pony, but not quite the same."
"I got that, but look at these two guards. One looks like a normal Pegasus, yet the other one looks like its mixed with a bat. You look kinda like a bug and Cadence... She looks like her mother had an obscene affair with cotton candy and somehow got pregnant."
"WHAT?!"
The sound of another person's laughter and the restrained snorting of the guards in front of them was almost as pleasurable as Cadence vehemently berating him and insulting the cheese legged parasite.
"What about Luna? What's she mixed with?"
The Princess in question wasn't paying attention to the conversation in the least which gave him the opportunity to poke the moon symbol on her butt with two fingers.
"PSSSS"
Seeing her hop a good three feet into the air before hopping away from him with her wings spread out and her front half lowered below her hips got a chuckle out of him.
"Luna is obviously part cat."
"You would do well not to take such liberties Solomen."
Stopping in his tracks he slowly turned to the irritated blue pony leveling a glare at him. He was taller than her but something about her demeanor made it clear that had no say over her stance. Carefully he leaned down until they were eye level and very slowly brought his hands up to cup her cheeks.
"Luna say meow~"
"I am a princess and ruler of-"
"Luna I am both petty and childish enough to lie here in the floor resisting every instruction imaginable by you or the other princesses. I'll even go so far as to force either you or the guards to drag me through the castle like a sack of potatoes if I have to, but I will humor your requests if you say meow~"
Her glare never faltered as Solomen slowly crept his fingers up the side of her face and gently scratched behind her ears. It was odd watching her entire demeanor shift under that little touch. She was quite a bit more wriggly, but didn't seem very keen on knocking his hands away or stopping him.
"Just one word Luna and you have my fickle obedience for the rest of the day~"
Heaving a massive sigh, rolling her eyes, and stomping the ground with one hoof Luna looked away from him as he felt her cheeks heat beneath his hands.
"Me... Meow~
Looking back at their group turned his little smirk into a full blown smile with the way they were staring, mouth's wide open, and eyes bugging out of their heads. Maybe it was because Chrysalis looked bug like already that her peepers appeared so much larger.
"Its a shame the day's almost over. Should be bedtime in another hour or so."
"That is not fair Solomen!"
"What isn't fair? I said exactly what I meant. I just didn't mention the day's almost over and its close to bedtime."
"You know its almost dawn don't you?"
Eying Cadence suspiciously he glanced over at Chrysalis who nodded in confirmation and then at Luna who was also eying him. Regardless of how much staring was going on it didn't change the odd little fact that his entire time in the box was scheduled around a nocturnal timeline.
"Now that's something to think about, but for now where are we going exactly?"
"We are heading to your new lodging since the schedule you follow dictates sleep. I am also nocturnal so I will be in charge of your handling from this point forward."
"Very well, but a question Luna. Who ruled before your return?"
That stopped their little group as the princess in question turned to look at him carefully.
"I feel that you are speaking in circles Solomen. You feign ignorance of ponies and everything around you, yet you know of my return. Pray tell how exactly do you know that?"
"When I was first thrown into my cell naked and half dazed I remember a few words exchanged outside my door between a man and a woman. The princess is too busy dealing with Luna's return to waste time on this creature. Keep it alive, but unguarded. The cell is more than enough to keep a creature without magic contained. The woman mentioned a rank and part of a name before he struck her. They left after that."
"What was the name?"
"Captain Shield was all I could hear."
"We have ways of validating that information if you are willing to comply."
"Anything you need..."
"Very well. My sister Celestia ruled alone before my return and Cadence is the ruler of the reformed Crystal Empire. The only other princess is the newly crowned Twilight Sparkle. Chrysalis is the queen of changelings."
"Former queen."
"Still queen princess Cadence."
They continued on their way as the two bickered and traded insults to the oblivion of Luna, himself, and the guards leading them. It wasn't until Luna brought their group to a pair of double doors that they quieted down.
"This will be your room for the time being Solomen. My own room is down the hall on the left Celestia's is on the right. I will post guards outside your door if there is anything you need or questions you may have should one of us be unavailable."
"Can I sleep with you Solomen?"
"NO!"
"That's... Incredibly forward of you Chrysalis, but I don't see why not."
"There is no way in tartarus you're sleeping with him parasite!"
"Before we go to bed why is it you want to sleep with me?"
"Because I'm sick of the emotional scraps I get fed around here and want something tastier."
"So you really do eat emotions?"
"Essentially yes. It doesn't do anything if I'm not actively mind controlling you or if multiple changelings are feeding from the same source, but I'm not about to go delving into the mind of someone who's been locked up in isolation."
"How do I know you won't try?"
The look she gave him was difficult to describe. It appeared to be pain and sorrow mixed with a touch of anger.
"Changelings feed on emotions and are also connected to each other through a shared link. There are very rare cases of our kind surviving after that link is broken, but one fact remains; being placed in isolation will cause our kind to commit suicide long before starvation sets in. Peering into your mind is too much of a hazard than any payoff it may have."
Gently wrapping his arms around her neck he hugged the odd creature that nuzzled against his head in response.
"You're still not sleeping with him."
"If you're so worried Cadence you can join us."
"Mmmm a threesome sounds good."
"I'm a married mare!"
"Invite your husband along."
"Oh yes~ We're so close to an orgy."
Luna's horn glowed for a moment and bathed the doors in the same blue light before opening them.
"Enough Cadence. If Solomen wishes to take such a risk then I shall allow it for the time being. I'm sure Chrysalis knows her precautions situation enough not to try something as stupid as what you are suggesting. If we could have a word in private Chrysalis?"
That was his cue to enter the room as the heavy doors closed behind him. Sitting down where he was and calming his breathing Solomen closed his eyes and fell into a slow downward count from ten. After so much practice with meditating he managed to completely wipe his mind as the sounds from around him picked up in volume. Their tiny group split in two with the guards waiting by the door and the princesses walking away down the hall.
They didn't quite understand just how sensitive his hearing was when he focused on that sense by itself and even though they whispered gently from down the hall he could still hear them clearly. The poor girls weren't nearly far enough away nor speaking in a quiet enough voice for their conversation to escape him.
"Chrysalis... Was that pause in the stairwell your doing?"
"Sharp as ever Luna. Care to take a guess what caused it?
"This is what I meant aunt Luna! We can't just let her do as she pleases!"
"No Cadence, but she provided you both a service in the stairwell. How close was he to lashing out?"
"Surprisingly far off. That male has a terrifying amount of control over himself, but the stuff underneath that isn't something to be trifled with."
"Should something go astray, can I count on your intervention?"
"No guarantees Luna. I might be the queen of changelings, but the things lurking below are both poisonous and volatile enough to be a hazard even to me. I will do what I can, but don't expect me to step in between him if somepony can't keep there mouths shut."
"That is all I ask Chrysalis. Be careful with your words niece, so as not to provoke unwanted memories. Imprisonment is a delicate subject especially in the case where we do not know if it was justified."
"Aunt Luna we can't simply leave him to Chrysalis! If he's innocent then how do you justify allowing this parasite to drain him of emotion?!"
"I would have given a great deal to have a changeling after my return Cadence and I will allow Chrysalis to drain away his emotions to a safe degree. Trust my judgement in this and you will see reason on the morrow after I've spoken with my sister. This matter is not something I wish to explain more than once."