The room was quiet, far too quiet. Very quiet and lonely for the thing that resided inside. It sat very quietly in the back of the room, unable to move due to the magically reinforced restrains keeping it in its place. It wanted to move, it wanted to preform its purpose, its only purpose, to prevent those who it considered its friends from harm. However, it knew it was never going to get out of here for a very very long time. Not after what it did, not after what monstrosity of a crime it committed.
Most other ponies believe this thing is one of them, a living pegasi pony with psychological issues that need to be purged from its mind. However, it knows otherwise. It knows, despite what it may look like, it is not a pony. It is an entity, an entity with one single purpose. A purpose that it will never fail, a purpose that it will always live by, a purpose it will never deny. To protect its friends from anything, even themselves. To always be a loyal subject...
"...Always and Forever." It muttered sadly to itself. It didn't like it here, it Despised it here. For it was certain that this would be the place that it would die in, denying it the completion of its purpose. They were never going to let it out of here, no matter how much it begged or cried for its release. This sadden it to a major degree.
They want it to change, but it is incapable of change. Loyalty is all it know, and for all it cares, loyalty is all it needs. Why would it need any other element? What does it matter that it cannot laugh, be generous, be kind, be honest, or understand the magic of it all? Shouldn't the protection of others that it cares about be all it needs? It simply doesn't understand, but nor could it understand. For it had never been taught otherwise. Why can't the ponies just understand it?
As it was continuing to debate its very existence, it began to hear hoof steps approaching its door. Its mental contemplation was soon forgotten as it quickly got up on all four of its hooves and wipe the dust that had gathered on its coat over the six hours it had laid idly on the floor. It knew who was coming, and it was going to need to make itself presentable, it couldn't fool the Princess of Equestria into thinking it has "changed" if it doesn't at least look sane.
Shaking the dust off, it quickly began to run a hoof through its hair in attempt to comb it before sitting down and putting on its best "sane face" as it awaited for the princess to arrive. As the hoof steps of the princess and her guards continued to get closer and closer, it hoped that this sane act would work this time. The act may have not worked before, but it was confident it would work eventually. It was all it had to hope for after all...
The hoof steps finally stopped at the door. It heard a few whispers from the princess herself to one of the guards and another whisper to someone else it couldn't identify. A female voice, likely the unidentified pony, the whispered back, seeming a bit unsure about something, but the princess whispered back reassuringly. Who could she be? She wasn't some pony it had met before, could it?
Before it could mentally contemplate who the mystery mare was, the door suddenly opened to reveal the princess herself. The sudden entrance of the princess caught it off guard, making it difficult to maintain its "sane act." "Oh! Why Princess Celestia, What a surprise! Heh heh, it-it wasn't expecting you to... to..." It stuttered.
"...Barge in so suddenly? I apologize if I startled you, that was not my intention." Celestia apologized.
"Oh, no no no! You didn't startle it, you just, uh... kind of caught it while it was in the middle of thinking of something!" It said defensively. Things were not going as it planned, it wasn't suppose to get caught off guard like this! Now she was going to see right through its mask.
Celestia sighed sadly as she looked at the poor excuse of a "sane face" it had been trying so hard to keep up. "Right, well, next time you want to try to convince me that you are better, try not smiling sadistically. It kind of gives off the wrong vibe." She said as she brought a table into the room and placed it down in front of it.
It finally sighed and dropped the act, it knew that there was no way to convince Celestia of its "betterment" now. It should have know better when it believed that guard who showed it what "sane ponies" looked like...
Celestia sat down at the opposite side and made eye contact with it. "So, Loyal, how are you doing? Without the games and acting that is." Celestia asked.
Loyal. It is what they have come to calling it by since they don't know its real name, not that it actually has one, but still. It wasn't entirely sure what they hoped to achieve by giving it a name, perhaps they were in hope that it will eventually come to identifying itself by that name, but it has not worked thus far. It doesn't need an identity to achieve its purpose, so it doesn't understand why it needs one at all. To it, it is just another mystery that will go unsolved.
It paused for a second as it thought about what to say to satisfy her curiosity. "It is doing just fine." It decided to say, despite the fact that the statement itself was completely false. It was anything other than "just fine", It was trapped in a cell in which it knew it would never leave, it is constantly denied to perform its sole purpose in life, and the only friends it has left are Celestia and the rats. The rats which are not nice and bully it constantly.
Celestia shook her head as she picked up on the lie immediately and began to search over its body carefully, looking for any signs or marks of recent abuse. She has been suspecting that the guards had been less than kind to it since it have been brought down here, beating it whenever the chance presents itself. However, fun fact, they actually don't. The worst treatment the guards had ever given it was by letting those bullying little rats in here, but it guesses that's just Celestia being paranoid.
"Princess Celestia, your guards have not been abusing it." It says, clearly annoyed by Celestia's paranoia.
Despite its protests, Celestia continued to search. Upon spotting its slightly visible ribcage, she frowned and look it dead in the eye once again. "The guards have been giving you you food, haven't they?" Celestia asked sternly.
"Yes." It replied.
"And you have been eating it right?"
"..."
"Loyal, answer the question." Celestria ordered sternly.
"Uh, kind of... you see, the rats were hungry too and-" It tried to explain.
Celestia facehoofed and sighed, cutting it off mid-sentence. "Loyal, how many times have I told you not to feed the rats?"
"About 33 times so far..." It reluctantly admitted, causing Celestia to let out a sigh.
"If you keep giving them food, they will continue coming back to torment you. You know that right?" Celestia asked.
It didn't respond this time, diverting its to the table before it in order to pretend not be listening. It knew where the conversation would go if it did acknowledge her. Celestia would offer to kill the rats and it would have to give an hour long lie of why it would prefer her not to. Personally, it actually liked the rats' company to an extent, they gave him a tiny bit of company so that it didn't get lonely and allowed it to perform its sole purpose by saving the rats from starvation. It didn't wish for Celestia to know this because it knew that Celestia would kill them for sure then, and start bringing paid ponies to "Be your friend"; as Celestia would say. It personally preferred the rats over the therapists, the rats were much more understanding and never lied to it.
Recognizing its silence as "this conversation is over", Celestia decided to change the subject. "So, Loyal, I brought someone to come visit you today."
This regained its attention, looking back from the table to Celestia. Seeing that her expression has changed from frustration and worry to happy and hopeful. It really didn't know whether or not it should be happy about this or scared to death by this. It knew one thing for certain though, that this was either a hired pony who was to "Make friends" with it, or some pony scientist here to study its "psychological condition" and "help" it "get better." Those two reasons would be the only explanation it would come up with, it knew that would the only to reason anypony would want to come and visit it. It could only hope that she was not a hired therapist. Again, it would prefer the rats...
Celestia got up and approached the room door and looked out its window. "Twilight, you may come in now." Celestia addressed the pony from the other side. After a few seconds, the door reopened and the mystery pony finally entered the room. Who it saw emerge from behind the door surprised it significantly, although it never let its shock show. It had been expecting some unicorn of some high stature or rank to be its mystery guest, it couldn't possibly been anyone insignificant considering how much of a secret it is.
However, it definitely didn't expect another princess of Equestia to be visiting it, especially this one.
***
Princess Twilight Sparkle was nervous, Princess Celestia had asked Twilight over a week ago if she could help her with a little project she was doing. Twilight was, naturally, happy to help in whatever way she could. However, she was never told what that "little project" was; until just a minute ago that is... Now she can't stop thinking about it and questioning whether or not this is a good idea.
"She asked me for help with this project over a week ago, and she thought NOW would be the best time to tell me that I was going to be helping cure the mental illness of the biggest psychopath in Equestria!? Why didn't she tell me this earlier! Why couldn't have she just mentioned 'Oh, by the way, Twilight! This little project has something to do with the most infamous killer in Equestia. Just so you know.' Now I have to go in a room with a psychopathic killer and make small talk with him. I am not even prepared for this! How would I even talk to him!?" Twilight mentally ranted to herself.
Celestia told her not to worry, but that was all she could do. In her mind, she could picture the killer she was about to meet now. An evil pony with a sadistic smile, a stare that could send chills down your very soul, and a expression that says "Your my next victim!" Twilight shuddered just thinking about it.
Twilight's mental contemplation was broken as her mentor's voice rang in her ears. "Twilight, you may come in now." Celestia said.
Twilight Froze as she heard her mentor's words ring in her ears. It was time to meet the psychopath, Twilight wasn't so sure she wanted to, but she knew she had to. She had already agreed to help Celestia; although not knowing the exact details. If she walked away now, it would disappoint her mentor. That was something Twilight would never do.
"Alright, lets just get this over with... Twilight prepared for the worst as the door began to open. As Twilight began to enter the room, she could already picture what the killer was going to look like, scars all across his face, a thuggish look, crazy psychopathic eyes, sadistic smile, a ravaged mangy coat-
Twilight's mental picture of what he would look like was instantly degraded once she finally gained a good look at who she was dealing with. She was surprised to say the least. This killer didn't look like a monster at all...
...It was just a kid.
He was young, a little too young to even be considered an close to an adult. Quite possibly only sixteen years of age, if not less. His appearance did not look sadistic, evil, or even thuggish. His navy blue coat looked dusty, but still looked free of any sort of abuse. His Lighter blue mane and tail seemed were unkempt, but didn't scream "crazy alert". And his brown eyes didn't hold and malice or evil intentions, they looked filled with curiosity and wonder if anything.
The "killer" took interest in Twilight as she made the rest of her way into the room, but the psychotic look she was expecting never happened. The colt only looked to be simply curious about his new guest. "What is going on here?" Twilight looked over to Celestia questioningly, but Celestia wasn't paying attention to her.
"Now Loyal, this is Princess Twilight. Twilight, this is Loyal. Twilight is here to help you get better, so I expect you to treat her with as much respect as you would me. Do you understand, Loyal?" Celestia asked.
"Yes, it understands..." Loyal responded.
"Wait, did he just refer to himself as 'it'?" Twilight was about to question loyal's choice of words before Celestia continued.
"Thank you Loyal, that is all I ask for. Now, Twilight, why don't you and loyal get yourselves introduced. I am going to have a few words with my guards."
Loyal rolled his eyes at Celestia's response. "Your guards didn't do anything to it, Celestia."
"It won't hurt to make sure, Loyal. Okay, I'll be back in a minute." Celestia said as she made her way back to the door.
"Wait! Celestia, I am not sure that I-" Twilight tried to say.
"You will be fine Twilight, just talk to him like you would any other pony. I will be on the other side if you need anything." Celestia reassured as she exited the room and closed the door behind her. A dreadful silence began, Twilight was now trapped in a room with a supposed psychopathic killer.
Twilight turned her attention back to Loyal, but found that he was no longer paying attention to her. His full attention was now focused on moving his hoof back and forth across the table out of what appeared to be a severe case of boredom. Twilight, at this point, had absolutely no idea what to do. "Where do I even start!? How does one talk to a killer!? If there even is a killer that is... What am I suppose to say? "Hi! How are you doing today!?'... Well, that is a start, and Celestia told me to treat him like any other pony... Twilight mentally debated for a few more seconds before deciding to just go for it.
"So, Loyal. How are you doing today?" Twilight asked.
Loyal did not respond, his attention was still solely on his hoof.
Twilight walked over to the table sat down across from him. She tapped on the table in attempt to draw his attention, but she still received none. "Uh, Loyal?" Twilight asked again.
Loyal still did not respond, apparently his hoof was still far more interesting than her. Twilight was beginning to become annoyed by the silent treatment she was receiving.
"Loyal, you are ignoring me." Twilight said in a stern voice.
"Yes, it is." Loyal finally said, but his attention was still on his hoof.
Twilight paused for a second, she still not used to Loyal's choice of addressing himself, but she quickly recovered. "Well, why are you ignoring me, Loyal?" Twilight asked.
"Why are you here?" Loyal responded, still looking down on his hoof as he moved it side to side.
Twilight was a bit thrown off by the sudden and irrelevant question, but remained firm. "Why don't you answer my question first?"
"The answer to your question is in its question, so answer its question first." Loyal replied. He was still looking down at his hoof, but was no longer moving it.
Twilight was confused for a second, but quickly realized what he meant. "Alright, I am here to help Princess Celestia cure your-"
"That is not what it asked. It asked why you are here." Loyal said, growing irritation was evident in his voice. This was making Twilight nervous.
"I-I don't understand what you're-"
Loyal quickly went from studying his hoof to jumping on the table and getting a few mere inches from Twilight's face under a second, the only thing stopping him from getting any closer were the magical restraints. Loyal's sudden reaction caused Twilight jumped back from her sitting position a few feet and land on her back. Looking back up at Loyal standing on top if the table, Twilight could see a firestorm of anger, hurt, and emotional frustration in his eyes glaring back down at her.
"It asked why you are here!? It asked if you are here because you want to be here or if you are here because Celestia wants you to be here!? WHY ARE YOU HERE!!!??? Loyal snapped at her. Frustration and emotional pain was evident in his voice and tears were beginning to pour out of his eyes.
Twilight remained silent. Loyal was extremely upset, and she had no idea why nor what to do or say. Anything she could think of she believed would only make the situation worse, so she kept her mouth shut.
Seconds pass in silence as Loyal continued to stare down at Twilight with hatred and frustration, awaiting an answer that would never come. After nearly a half of minute, Loyal broke his stare and backed down from the table. He sat back down, placed his hoof back onto the table, and poured his attention into it once again. However, despite this distraction, he was still crying.
"It thought as much, no pony Celestia has brought down here to visit it really ever wanted to be here in the first place. They were either here because of the bits, a dept, or a favor. No pony should care about it, no pony could care about it, and no pony would care... Everypony knows you shouldn't, you couldn't, and you wouldn't care for a monster." Loyal said.
Twilight slowly got back up on her hooves, in fear that making any sort of noise would result in Loyal lashing out again. Once on her hooves she began to slowly make her way back to the door, her full intention was to leave and never come back again. However, as she got closer to the door, the shock and fear of what just happened was slowly being replaced with pity and remorse for the colt.
A few feet from the door, Twilight stopped and looked behind her. Loyal was still there, still moving his hoof back and forth across the table, still crying. The sight of him sent a pain a guilt through her heart. "I should say something... but what?" Twilight contemplated what to do for a few seconds before deciding.
Twilight turned around and took a few steps towards Loyal. "Loyal, I'm-"
Before Twilight could finish what she was saying, the door behind her opened. A serious looking Celestia was in the doorway. "Twilight, I need to talk to you outside, now." Celestia said urgently.
"U-uh, alright" Twilight stuttered before turning back around and following her mentor.
Both Twilight and Celestia leave the room and the crying Loyal to himself. Twilight cast on last glance at Loyal as the door closed. She saw he was no longer looking at his hoof, he was staring straight at Twilight. His tear stained face was twisted in confusion, as if curious of what Twilight was about to say.
