A Cute, Cheeky, Charismatic, Cold, Crunchy, Chubby, Clever, Crackerjack title
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Interrogation or Conversation?
A Cute, Cheeky, Charismatic, Cold, Crunchy, Chubby, Clever, Crackerjack title
The faint clopping of hooves could be heard throughout the castle hallways as the princess of the Crystal Kingdom frantically trotted to the destination she was summoned too. She didn’t need to be the ‘princess of emotions’ to feel the unease that all the castle guards had. This only fueled her tempo to get to the rendezvous faster. The light pink alicorn was starting to feel the lactic acid burning her muscles as she reached her final stretch. Panting, Cadance opened the door to the interrogation room. “Guards” she said with a strained voice, but kept her tone of authority. The guards looked at their princess worriedly, but their worry was put to a halt when they heard her next words. “Leave us, I wish to speak to the creature alone.” She stated firmly.
“Princess, I must advise against that” A yellow pegasus spoke up. Flash Sentry was his name, and he was the captain of the crystal guard. “I know you won’t let all of us stay, but will you at least humor the idea of one guard accompanying you? We still don’t know what this THING is capable of! He could be an assassin sent to harm you or worse kill you!” he tried to reason “If not us, then at least your husband will suffice to bring a sense of relief for the guard”
Cadance thought this over. On one hoof she did want to have some privacy with the creature in question, on the other she did not want her guard to have too fret over nothing. She knew it was their job to make sure she was protected at all times, but she could easily protect herself. She couldn’t get Shining, He was up all last night going over trade negotiations. Alas, the life of a leader is always filled with some of the most trivial decisions. She made up her mind after a good moment of internal thinking
“You have swayed my judgement, Captain Sentry” She began with a calm voice, but it quickly change to one of bargaining. “I will permit YOU to accompany me into the interrogation room, the rest of you…” She paused to look at the other guards, as they stood stock still while under her gaze. “..are dismissed, proceed to your daily posts, and if Shining Armor inquires about my whereabouts, you are to inform him that I am in here” She ended her statement with a command. The guards nodded and exited one by one. Cadance stopped the last two guards and gave one final command before her session with the creature. She looked at the two veteran guards, a pegasus and an earth pony. “You two, You are to guard this room until I am done with the creature.” They nodded waiting for more of the assignment “ You will not permit anyone to enter OR leave this room, unless it is Shining Armor or Myself. Do I make myself clear?” Cadance finished with a stern attitude.
“Yes, My princess” The two guards said in unison.
“At ease and proceed to your post” Cadance said signalling for the two to leave the room. As they left Cadance turned to look at her captain. She saw that he was about to address her, but she quickly cut him off. “Captain Sentry” She began with a monotone voice that showed no emotion whatsoever. He froze for a second as he got pulled from his thoughts. He looked up to his princess, so she may finish her sentence. “You will stay with me until my husband shows up. After that, you will head home to take the rest of the day off and report back to me tomorrow morning at 5:30, so we may discuss what to make of today’s events. Finally, What is said in that room will not be repeated to anyone else. I expect this to be between the four of us. You, The creature, Shining, and I, will be the only ponies to know of what happens in this room”
Flash gulped hearing that last part, but his duty was explicitly to the princess. “Yes princess” Flash Sentry replied in a calm voice. Flash knew he was gonna need a drink after this meeting was done. He made a mental note to get the ingredients for his special drink.
Cadance nodded and signalled him to follow her with her hoof. “Come now, Captain. Let’s not keep our guest waiting” she said with a now more upbeat attitude
Trotting slowly Cadance opened the doors to the interrogation room. The room was blanketed in darkness. Cadance could make out a lone silhouette, and as she was about to address the creature she found herself cut off by a young, male, hoarse voice. “Who are you?” The silhouette asked.
Cadance replied to the question with a soft voice “I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Ruler of the Crystal Empire and the Princess of Emotions. Who are you?”
The creature sat in silence taking in the new information. He was determining what his next move should be. Should he answer her truthfully or should he blatantly lie to her? She would not know what he says is true, but he did want to leave this place as soon as possible. He decide he should be truthful for now and play by their rules to make his life a little easier for now. “My name is Kaleb, Kaleb ...” Kaleb started but was cut short by his sore throat causing him to break out in a coughing mess “~hchu hcuh~ Do you ~hcuh~ have ~hch~ some water?” He let out trying to stifle his cough with his fist.
Cadance summoned a glass of water, and levitated it over to him. Since, the room was still basked in darkness she had no idea where he was. After a few seconds of mindlessly levitating the glass, she turned to Flash. “Captain, It would be much appreciated if you were to turn on the lights. I am sure this creature would like a glass of water without spilling it all over itself”
Flash nodded and proceeded to turn on an oil lamp that was near the door. “My apologies, Princess”
After the oil lamp as turned on Cadance could feel a spike of emotional fear from her captain. She turned around to see the creature. She took note of Kaleb’s rapid, shallow breaths. ‘It seems he is hyperventilating, but why can’t I sense its emotions?’ she thought. She continued to stare taking small notes on his appearance. He had a minotaur-esque body figure, his skin tone was a light brown, and his eyes were forward facing. She easily deduced that this was a type of predator. She spoke up softly trying to ease the creature “You seem tense?” she posed the statement more as a question. Kaleb nodded not saying anything. Cadance realized she was still staring and levitated the drink over to the creature.
Kaleb eyed the glass suspiciously. He reached out to grab it, but hesitated for a brief second before actually grabbing it. As he got a hold of it with his hands the cool, blue aura surrounding the glass dissipated. He still eyed the drink. “How was that floating? I mean I saw this blue… something, that I suppose was ho ~Chhuc HChu~” Realizing he still had a sore throat, he took a wary drink of the liquid inside. He let out a hum of approval when he felt the cool water hit the back of his throat. The he couldn’t control himself as he downed the rest of the water in under a five seconds “Thank you” Kaleb said blankly, as he gently placed the glass down on the table.
Cadance responded with a heart-warming smile adorning her muzzle “You are most welcome” The smile was short lived as her face turned into a more serious one “But on to more pressing matters. I ask again: who are you and what are you?”
Kaleb gave a small nod at her question. He thought over her question, thinking over various outcomes that could decide his fate He settled on one and began to answer the question with his signature blank tone. “I am going to be honesty with you… I do not know how I ended up here in this room exactly. One minute I am driving from my graduation party, and a car just rams me. I know I got knocked out which explains the headache I currently have. However, I can not explain why my throat was dry, or why I awoke in this room. My guess is I freaked out whoever was on the other side, when I started banging on the doors to ‘Let me out’ like a madman” Kaleb finished his explanation with a sigh.
Cadance was perplexed. He didn’t seem to be lying to her, which made her question the unknowns in his story. “Hmm. Very interesting” Cadance mumbled to herself quietly.
“If I may be so blunt to ask?” Kaleb spoke up pulling cadance from her thought process. She stared at him signalling that he had her attention “I would like to inquire on where I am exactly? Because I can feel my surroundings, I can safely assume it is not dream. And there aren’t any sapient creatures other than my species on earth… I can’t help but wonder if this is a different planet or... “ He paused. His heart rate started to speed up slowly again “Am I dead?” he asked softly
Cadance saw that his shallow breaths were returning. She attempted to calm him again “I can assure you that you are not dead.” She saw his body start to relax a little, but Kaleb was still on edge. She continued in a comforting voice that usually soothed her clients “ To be precise you already know that you are in the Crystal Empire. It is the sister nation of the Equestrian Empire.” Cadance concluded
That explanation didn’t help Kaleb one bit. In fact, It made him even more nervous about being here. He deduced that this place was a bunch of horses. His tips being the horse with wings and a horn sitting right in front of him, plus add on the fact that equus meant horses. He slowly found his voice “So this place is just filled with a bunch of talking horses?” He asked looking up for confirmation. He heard a gasp from the pony by the oil lamp. He raised an eyebrow “What? I just asked…”
He was abruptly interrupted by Cadance “Did you just call us whorses?”
“Yes… Is there a problem with that?”
“WHY I NEVER WOULD OF THUNK IT…” Cadance said while she started slipping into the royal voice. “BUT THE DAY HAS COME THAT SOMEONE HAS THE AUDACITY TO INSULT MY KIND”
“I just said the word horse” Kaleb quickly blurted out while he started holding up his hands defensively.
“YOU SAID IT AGAIN. DO I LOOK LIKE A WHORSE TO YOU, KALEB?”
“Yes, You are an animal that is standing on all four limbs, you have a long face, you make random whinnies when you stand around. AND to top it all of your tail is freaking out because you are upset by something.” Kaleb responded
The explanation that Kaleb gave was not what Cadance was expecting. She responded to his explanation in her normal tone “Wait a minute, What is a whorse were you are from?” she asked giving him a quizzical look.
“A horse is an animal on earth. From your reaction, I assume it has a bad connotation around here.” He said while raising an eyebrow and putting his hands back down.
“Yes, it does have a horrid connotation in this country, I would advise you refrain from using that word in a normal conversation.” Cadance explained. She was now calmer thanks to the explanation given by the human.
They sat in silence for a few minutes before cadance got up. She looked the human up and down before nodding to herself. She addressed Kaleb “Kaleb, While it has a been pleasant meeting with you, I must be off on my way to perform my royal duties” She then looked to Flash Sentry, and she addressed her captain “Captain Sentry, Show Mr…”
She heard him speak up “Thatcher. My last name is Thatcher”
She nodded “Thank you. Show mr. Thatcher to the guest bedroom.” She then turned to Kaleb and gave him a reassuring smile. “Kaleb I have some books in the guest bedroom for you to read. They will be on the topic of social norms in Equestria, it should make you life here a little easier.” Kaleb looked downtrodden for a second before Cadance said her last thought “ I know you probably want to go back to where you came. I assure you that I will personally find a way to hopefully get you back in one piece. Until then, might I request that you make yourself comfortable in my home?” She asked tilting her head awaiting the answer that will finish this conversation.
Kaleb sighed and looked at the pink pony in front of him. “Considering that I don’t really have a choice in my living arrangements right now, I will accept your generosity. Thank you Princess Mi Amore Cadenza” Kaleb finished with a slight bow showing his gratitude.
Cadance walked toward the direction of her throne room. She told her guard that day court has been resumed.
Kaleb on the other hand walked off towards the east wing of the castle. Flash Sentry brought him to the guest bedroom, and was on his way out. Kaleb was left alone with his thoughts.
“I am so fucked” Kaleb said as he looked at the small table filled with books. He shrugged and began reading a book on Equestrian body language.
Author's Note
I was going to turn this into a full fledged story, but I decided against it. However, Getting criticism is essential to becoming a better writer. So point out any, inconsistencies.
A checklist to help you(Add to it if you need to)
1) Did I represent the characters right?
2) Was I too descriptive?
3) How was my pacing?
4) I already know I struggle with this. How was my language for the characters? Aka Did I use words for the level of that character?
Thanks for feedback. It is an invaluable resource that I need to improve my writing.