Without Question

Without Question

Chapter Thirteen – Dancing in the Dark

It had been several hours since the Changeling victory at Thornheart.  Silus had received a message from Queen Chrysalis requesting his return as soon as possible.  His cheerful army was returning to the capital only a few miles away at this point.  The army had passed several hundred construction workers heading the opposite way towards Thornheart to begin repairs.  Silus had been too busy to notice it, but Thornheart was beyond a mess.  At least a third of the residential housing had been burned to the ground, and all remaining buildings were no better than the ones at the capital had been prior to the victory at Opaque Ridge.  It would take years to return Thornheart to its former glory, but at least now it had the chance to be restored at all.

The two thousand prisoners marched between the Changeling army, which had about a Millennium and five Centuries of troops on each side of the line.  Here and there, a massive Changeling shock trooper (dubbed “Colossi” by Silus) shook the ground with each step.  The prisoners all wore shackles on both their forelegs and hind legs.  At the front of the chained army was their former commander, also in shackles.  He had not spoken since his defeat at Silus’ hands, and he walked with a limp due to his injuries.  His shame was as clear as his drooping head.

Eventually, the army arrived at the capital to an overjoyed crowd.  The citizens were just as excited as when the army returned from Opaque Ridge, if not more so.  But when the prisoners were led down the main street, the Changeling citizens shouted jeers and hurled garbage at them from the balcony.  Though Silus wanted to stop them, there was no way he’d be able to.

At the end of the street, the Queen and thousands of Changelings stood in the plaza.  Chrysalis herself obviously stood atop the stairs leading from the plaza up to the castle.  The army bustled about in the plaza until the prisoners were forced into a square formation.  The soldiers then formed a perimeter around them and awaited further orders.  Silus stood at the front and took a knee, awaiting the Queen’s words.

Chrysalis slowly walked down the stairs towards the silent crowd, which still frowned and smirked at the prisoners.  She stopped and stood in front of Silus.

“Rise,” she said plainly.

Silus obeyed and stood at attention.  As always, he could not resist losing himself in Chrysalis’ luscious eyes.  The pounding of his heart made his chest ache.  He could see her smiling, though she held back its full width.

“Lord Silus, you have done what I previously thought impossible.  Thornheart is once again a part of the Changeling Empire.  Your victory at Opaque Ridge gave me hope, but this…this has cemented that hope.  Not only are we safe from extinction; we are now healing our wounds,” the Queen spoke with pride.

Chrysalis paused for a moment to view the thousands of prisoners before continuing.

“And now…you have opened up the strong possibility of negotiations with Equestria.  They will not leave their soldiers to die, and we will not execute them so long as peace is attained and our lands are returned to us.  Not only that, but you managed to accomplish all of this just in time for the most extravagant celebration of the Changeling year…”

Silus furrowed his brows slightly.  He had no idea what the Queen was talking about.  Before he could ponder it further, Chrysalis stood on her hind legs and reached for the sky with her forelegs.

“The Marvelous Mimicking Masquerade!” she yelled, and the tens of thousands of Changeling citizens roared in joy.  The prisoners shuddered at the deafening noise.

“I must admit…I did not think we would still be around to celebrate it…” the Queen went on with a moment of sorrow in her voice.  The citizens quietly nodded; they had not expected to survive as well.

“But now that I see the world in a new way…now that I see hope in a new way…this shall be the greatest, most exquisite Masquerade yet!  All are invited!” she shouted, to which the crowd responded with another roar of joy.

The crowd quickly dispersed to go prepare for the celebration, but the Queen still needed to address the more serious situation at hand.

“These prisoners are to be kept in the Yard,” Chrysalis stated and pointed a hoof to the right of the castle.  The Yard, which was several hundred feet to the right of the castle, was a large, dirt field surrounded by ten-foot walls.  Inside the walls were a few long, stone building with barred windows.

Immediately, the army began leading the prisoners to the Yard while Silus continued to listen.

“And you, Lord Silus…” she whispered as she leaned close to him, “You should go prepare yourself for the Masquerade...I’m sure you’ll enjoy it…” she finished with half-lidded eyes and a sly smile.

Silus’ face flushed red and grew warm.  He returned the smile, bowed, and went off to his chambers to get ready.

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“I’m s-so…c-cold…” a unicorn stuttered as she tried to warm herself by a fire.

Widow Battalion had settled into the sea cave beneath the capital.  However, the warm ocean air did not reach into the dark cave, and many ponies had started fires in the sand with driftwood to stay warm.  Many of them were quiet; the reality of their actions had finally set in, and they felt horrified at what they had done.  These ponies were not warriors, they had simply gotten lucky.  They fought with blind passion, and now that the adrenaline had died down, they were haunted with gruesome memories.  All of that blood…all of those bodies…

Bon-Bon herself was trying to cope with the shock of it all.  She was shivering in a corner, staring at her bloodstained hooves.  She did not regret what she had done, but the harsh reality of combat was grinding at her.  Was this was Lyra did on her missions?  How awful!  And the fact that Lyra dealt with it so calmly…it was hard for Bon-Bon to comprehend.

The ponies of Widow Battalion had eaten nearly all of their food; they hadn’t expected to run out so quickly.  The only things they had left to eat were a few dozen loaves of bread and some vegetables.  Some suggested there might be edibles further into the cave, but none were brave enough to test the theory.

“Bon-Bon!  Bon-Bon!” a green earth pony shouted as she sprinted over to Bon-Bon.  The shouts echoed through the cave and shook Bon-Bon from her trance.

“What is it?” she mumbled.

“Changelings!  There are hundreds of them marching towards the cave!” the green pony explained as she panted.

“What?!  How did they…ugh!  The food!  They must’ve found thrown-away food!”

“What do we do?” the green pony asked worriedly.  Nearly every pony in the cave was now listening.

“I…uh…we…we can’t possibly fight them here…we have to keep moving.  Yeah, we need to follow the cave deeper and see if it leads to another exit!”

The observing ponies whispered in fear, but they had no choice.  They did not want to die at the hooves of the Changelings.  They would take the risk and follow Bon-Bon into the cave.  Several of them made crude torches and followed their leader, who didn’t seem too sure of her own plan.

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Grimsoul and his soldiers halted as they reached the entrance of the sea cave.  The Imperial Guard raised his head and sniffed a few times.

“Smoke,” he said to himself.

With a wave of his hoof, the task force followed him into the huge cave.  A few dying fires were scattered around, as were pieces of bread and lettuce.

“Sir…do you think they know about the catacombs?” one of the soldiers asked Grimsoul.

“No.  The catacombs have not been disturbed for at least three thousand years.  Equestrians have never set hoof this far into our lands.  They don’t even know they exist, let alone what lies within…” Grimsoul responded.

“I almost feel bad for them,” the soldier muttered in the cold air.

“You shouldn’t.  We are going after them, and we won’t be leaving until those ponies are accounted for.  Dead, or alive,” Grimsoul frowned.

The task force made torches of their own and cautiously entered the depths of the cave.

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“How deep is this cave?” a pegasus whispered in frustration as she followed the rest of Widow Battalion.

“Hush!  Do you want the Changelings to hear us?” a unicorn replied.

The cave had become no less gigantic; the light from the torches did not reach high enough to reveal the ceiling.  The dark grey walls looked moist, and drops of water occasionally fell from the darkness overhead.  The floor of the cave was no longer sandy; it was the same dark grey stone as the walls.

Bon-Bon had lost track of time.  It felt as though they had been walking for hours, but she couldn’t be sure.  Her head ached.  The gruesome memories of her battle kept running through her head, and it was playing tricks on her mind.  She kept thinking that she heard screams, only to realize she was remembering the Changelings she had killed.  Her vision would grow blurry and she would think she saw shadows moving around.

“Bon-Bon?  Are you alright?” a blue earth pony tapped Bon-Bon’s shoulder.

“Wha…yeah…I’m fine…we just need to keep moving…shouldn’t be much further now…”

The group was getting tired.  They had no idea how long they had been walking, but their hooves were sore and the flames of the torches were dying.  Some ponies began to panic, especially those who were still trying to cope with their actions.

“Oh Celestia…make it stop…the faces…Oh Celestia, the burning faces…AHH MAKE IT STOP!  PLEASE!  MAKE IT STOP!” a white pegasus fell to the ground and screamed as she covered her face.  Several other ponies tried to calm him down and shush her, but she thrashed about like a wild beast.

“OH CELESTIA, WHY?!  MAKE THE FACES GO AWAY!” she screamed even louder and slapped at her forehead.  The other ponies held her down and a unicorn finally managed to cast a sleeping spell on her.  Even in her sleep, she mumbled about various horrors and shifted around, but at least for now she was a bit quieter.  Two earth ponies lifted her onto their backs and carried her with the rest of the group.

The cave had grown significantly smaller and more structured.  It began to look artificial as they kept walking.  The walls, ceiling, and floor were still moist, but they were smoother and it almost resembled a large hallway.

“By the Princesses!  What in Equestria IS that?!” a unicorn shouted.

The floor ahead of them was covered in dark yellow bones.  Some of them had bits of ancient brown flesh still on them.  The walls had rectangular spaces hewn out of them.  The spaces were occupied by ruined, stone coffins.  Most of the coffins had fallen apart and all that could be seen inside were more bones.

“What…what is this?!  This can’t be real…no…no it’s not real…it’s not…can’t be…” one of the earth ponies near the front began to panic.  Those near him had worried looks on their faces.

“That’s it…none of this is real…ha ha…HA HA HA!  IT’S NOT REAL!  NONE OF IT!  HA HA HA!” he laughed hysterically and fell to the floor, his pupils dilating rapidly.

“Someone shut him up!” Bon-Bon shouted.

The group hesitated, but a few ponies stepped forward and held him down.  A unicorn also approached to put him to sleep.

“IT’S JUST A BAD DREAM!  JUST A BAD DREAM!  WAKE ME UP!  PLEASE!” the earth pony was now crying and shrieking.  The other ponies tried to restrain him, but he was stronger than them and shook them off.

“He won’t hold still!” the unicorn shouted at Bon-Bon.

“I JUST WANNA GO HOME!  IT’S JUST A BAD DREAM!  MOMM--!” he screamed just as a bone slammed into the side of his head.

The entire group gasped at the loud cracking noise that the impact had made.  Bon-Bon stood over the unconscious earth pony, panting as she held the bone.

“We’re going home…we have to get out of here…” she whispered with tears in her eyes.

Another two ponies lifted the unconscious one onto their backs.  He wouldn’t be waking up for a while.  As the group continued down the hall, their torches grew weak and barely gave off any light.  The unicorns of the group cast some light spells, but the multi-colored glows would not last very long, considering how tired they already were.  They dragged on, unaware of how much further into this black hell they had to travel.

“I’m sorry, Lyra…” Bon-Bon whispered to herself as a tear fell to the floor.

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“Grimsoul, sir!  The catacombs are just ahead.  Lots of um…lots of bones…” a soldier reported to the Imperial Guard.

“We have to be catching up to them.  They’re tired, hungry, and cold.  If the exhaustion doesn’t get them, we will,” he stated.

“Yes sir,” the soldier responded and returned to formation.

The task force moved on, right on Widow Battalion’s trail.

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Silus was getting dressed in his chambers.  His uniform had been enhanced even further.  It was the same deep green with golden epaulettes, but the buttons and seams were now gold as well.  A golden pocket watch sat in the pocket of the vest with its shimmering chain slightly hanging out.  As he looked in a mirror, he felt quite pleased with his appearance.  Silus wondered what time it was and took a peek at his new pocket watch.  It was five hours past midday.

“Lord Silus, I have a message for you.”

An Imperial Guard stood in the doorway, awaiting Silus’ response.

“What message do you have for me?”

“Though the Masquerade is to begin at eight, Queen Chrysalis wishes to inform you that the Equestrian royalty will be arriving at midnight.  Negotiations will begin shortly thereafter.  This is to be a respectful and civilized meeting; absolutely no violence will be tolerated.  Er...not that she expects you to be violent, sir.”

“I see.  Very well, thank you.”

The guard left.  Silus went back to the mirror and began to comb his long black hair.

This would either be the greatest or worst night of his life…