Shadows Can Be Friendly

Consciousness came back grudgingly to Shady. For a long while he floated in the half-world between wakefulness and sleep.

His mouth was dry. He tried to swallow, resulting in a painful, hacking cough as his parched throat nearly choked on his bloated tongue. His eyes fluttered open, then snapped shut as a searing light burned his pupils.

Even with his eyes closed, he could still see the brightness pressing insistently down on him. He tried to roll over to shield himself against it, only to find he was immobilized.

A jolt of adrenaline washed away the last remnants of the spell, and awareness came crashing in on him. He was lying on his back atop a cold, hard surface. His hooves were held down at his sides by thick straps on the wrists and elbows. His legs were similarly restrained at the knees. Three more straps—across his thighs, waist, and chest—completed his bondage.

He opened his eyes again, squinting to block out most of the light. He tried to turn his head from side to side to get a sense of his surroundings, but it, too, was anchored in place. A strap under his chin kept his jaw clamped tightly shut; he couldn’t even open his mouth to cry out for help. Not that he expected any help to come.

There’s no escape this time. They will do whatever they want to you.

A wave of panic swept over him, and he struggled madly against his bonds, straining and twisting in a futile effort to gain even an inch of play in the straps.

“You’ll only injure yourself,” a voice said, speaking from close by his side.

The brightness dimmed substantially and Shady opened his eyes fully to see Twilight leaning over him.

“You’ll have answers soon enough,” Twilight assured him as she leaned back.

With Twilight no longer dominating his field of vision, Shady could see a large lamp hanging down from the ceiling directly above him, like the kind found in an operating theater. It was off now, but it explained the unbearable brightness from before.

They weren’t alone. He could hear the sounds of other ponies moving about the room.

He cast his eyes from side to side, trying to take in as much as he could before they turned the light on again. At the edges of his peripheral vision he could make out just enough detail to realize he was in some kind of hospital or lab.

Twilight was standing just to his left, blocking out most of his view in that direction. But he did manage to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be several strange and terrifying pieces of medical equipment over his shoulder. And then the blinding light came on again, forcing him to once more close his eyes.

Shady concentrated on his breathing, struggling to keep it slow and even. Whatever was going to happen to him, he didn’t want to give Twilight the satisfaction of showing his fear, grief, or impotent rage.

She's watching you. Toying with you. Just stay still. Don’t move. Don’t give her anything to work with.

He could hear the others in the room—doctors or scientists, most likely. He heard hootsteps and occasionally he would pick up a snatch of a low, whispered conversation, but the voices were too soft for him to make anything out.

“We haven’t done anything to you,” Twilight finally admitted, once he realized Shady wasn’t going to entertain her with a reaction. “And we won’t. I keep my promises, and I wouldn't kill a fellow pony being without a good reason.”

You’re a real prince.

         >--<

Shady woke to find himself in a dimly lit cell. He was lying on a small cot in the corner. There were no blankets, but he didn’t need any,he wasn’t cold. There was a toilet against one wall; against another was a built-in shelf stocked with enough food and bottled water to last several days. Apart from these few necessities, the room was completely empty. No sink. No shower. Not even a chair.

He had no idea how long he’d been unconscious. His limbs were heavy; his mind was groggy. As he sat up, a shooting pain laced its way from the top of his skull down through his teeth. Instinctively, he reached up to rub his head, then pulled his hand back in surprise when it touched bare scalp.

Oh... yeah... I'm a changeling.

He should have been afraid, terrified even. Instead, he just felt tired. Drained. Even thinking was a struggle; his thoughts were enveloped in a thick fog, and concentrating brought on more flashes of pain in his skull. But he needed to try and piece together what had happened.

His stomach growled, and he glanced over at the food.

Careful. It could be drugged. Or poisoned.

The last reason was enough to make him ignore his hunger, though he did open a bottle of water and take a long drink. He could go a long time without food, but he needed water to survive. And Shady wasn’t about to give up on life just yet.

He spent a few minutes examining the rest of the cell, only to find there was nothing else of interest to discover. Then utter exhaustion set in and he had to lie down again. Before he knew it, he was in a deep sleep.

Shady had no idea how long he’d been imprisoned in the tiny cell. He’d fallen asleep and woken up again five or six times, but that had little bearing on how many days had actually passed. He had no energy. No initiative. Just trying to stay awake required a monumental effort.

Nobody had come to see him. But he knew they were out there. Watching him. Studying him.

His best guess was that a week had passed. Maybe two. Probably not three. The passage of time was impossible to track in the cell. There was nothing to do but eat and sleep. But when he slept he had dreams—nightmares he could never quite recall on waking, but that left him shivering nonetheless.

Shady didn’t move when he heard the cell door open. He was lying on his side in the cot, facing the wall. He heard hoofsteps crossing the floor and he tried to tell how many ponies there were. Five, maybe six, but even if there had been a dozen armed guards it wouldn’t have made a difference; he knew this was probably his only chance to escape.

The hoofsteps stopped. He could sense someone standing beside the bed, looking down on him. He waited another half-second just long enough to let them lean in to check on his motionless form. Then he sprang into action.

But then he stopped when he saw who was standing next to him. Princess Sun-butt herself.