Without Question

Without Question

Chapter Twenty-One – Dying Hope

The next day…

The sun had begun to rise.  The prisoners could tell by the slight warmth and light that shone down from their barred windows.  The so-called “breakfast” that the prison staff had provided turned out to be a bowl of cold water with some shredded leaves and a bit of dirt mixed in.  There was no lunch, and dinner was the same as breakfast but with the addition of rock-hard bread.  It was barely enough to satisfy Bon-Bon and her defeated comrades.  To make matters worse, they barely slept.  The cold air and fear was unmerciful in that aspect.

The mare who once led a ragtag militia looked over to her small blue friend’s cell.  Typhoon was sitting in the corner, staring at the wall.  Bon-Bon could swear she heard him whispering to himself during the night.  He seemed a little bit…different…ever since the pair had been reunited.

“What happened to him in that cave…?” she wondered to herself.

She had little time to think; Warden Shade and his four personal guards entered the hallway.  From what little Bon-Bon had seen of him, he didn’t appear very old or very young.  She was also puzzled at his unusually-colored eyes.  Most Changelings possessed light blue eyes, yet Shade’s were white-grey.  The Warden cleared his throat.

“I assume you all enjoyed yesterday’s gourmet meals?” he asked with a disturbingly warm smile.

The prisoners did not speak.  Most of them either looked down or gave a fearful nod.

“Good.  The chef worked hard to conjure up such culinary delights!” Shade’s smile cracked across his face.

Bon-Bon shook her head at his disgusting sarcasm, unless he was serious, in which case it was that much worse.

“Now, would you kindly cooperate and report to the yard for inspection time?”

The four guards did as they did before and let the prisoners out of their cells.  They slowly shuffled into the center of the yard along with the prisoners from the other hallways.  Those who were too weak to walk on their own yesterday were still in no better of a state and still needed to be carried about by those close to them.  The prison guards encircled the crowd as Warden Shade stood in front with his entourage.

“You will now be separated and re-organized into various groups.  I hope you didn’t get too friendly with those in your particular hallway, because you likely won’t be seeing them again except when assembled in the yard.  Now, guards, find the most physically strong and send them to Hall A.”

The guards did as they were told and collected the most muscular-looking ponies into a group.  The majority of this group consisted of earth ponies with a few pegasi.  The new group was escorted back into the prison building.

“The next group will be made up of the most magically gifted amongst you.  These will be sent to Hall B.”

The guards rounded up a group made exclusively of unicorns and led them away.

“Hall C will contain the fastest of you all.  And don’t worry about how my staff can tell your potential speed.  They’ve been doing this sort of thing for some time…” the Warden’s grin reappeared.

A mostly-pegasi group with some thin earth ponies were led into the prison building.

“And lastly, those with no apparent skill will be kept in Hall D.”

Bon-Bon was herded into the final group, but she couldn’t see Typhoon anywhere.  It took a few seconds of panicked glances to finally spot a guard pushing the little dragon over to Shade.

“Uh, Warden, I wasn’t exactly sure where to put this one.  I mean, he’s a dragon.  We’ve never had one of these.”

The Warden pulled back the brim of his cap and leaned down to squint his strange eyes at Typhoon.  Shade appeared to be intrigued at the unique prisoner.

“Hm…a young dragon…this is a pleasant surprise…” the Warden mumbled to himself, “Place him in Hall B.  I feel as though he would…fit in there.”

Bon-Bon watched as the guard nodded and escorted her friend away.  Typhoon had no expression on his face and seemed to stare off into infinity.  It worried the mare to see him behaving so oddly.

Once Bon-Bon had been locked in her new cell, she sat down on the cold, muddy floor to think.  Why had they been separated in such a way?  Why were they not put in hallways based solely on race?  What would happen to her and her “non-gifted” comrades in Hall D?

“Ay…what’s yer name?”

Bon-Bon lost her train of thought upon hearing a nearby voice.  It was masculine, raspy, and tired, but not the voice of an old stallion.  She looked to the closest cell left of hers.  An oddly-shaped figure sat in the shadows, away from the light shining down from the barred window.  Bon-Bon scooted closer to the bars that separated her cell from the stranger’s.

“Me?” Bon-Bon whispered.

“Yeh,” it affirmed.

“Bon-Bon.  I’m a pony from—”

“Don’t matta where ya from now, sweetheart,” the raspy voice interrupted.

Bon-Bon furrowed her brows and frowned.

“And why is that?”

“‘Cause this is home now.”

The ex-militiamare leader snorted in irritation.

“No, this is not my home.  I was forced to come here.  I’m a prisoner of war.”

“Heh…nah…yer just a prisoner…”

“Even if I can’t escape, they’ll have to let us go once we win the war!” Bon-Bon shouted in a hushed tone.

“Sweetie…ya think Shade gives a damn about the war?”

Bon-Bon’s expression slowly drifted to confusion.

“Well…yes…he has to.  His own race is in danger.  And if his nation is defeated, then he’ll have to—”

“Hafta what?  Lemme tell ya a li’l secret, pony.  He don’t care.  Neva’ has.  This is his own li’l world.”

The beige mare grew more puzzled with every word the calm stranger spoke.

“B-but…the Queen…if she says we have to be let go then—”

“Ya don’t get it, do ya?  This prison…it’s the Queen’s way of fergettin’.”

“What do you mean?”

“If she puts ya here, it means she don’t eva’ wanna hafta think about ya again.  She knows Shade don’t care about anythin’.”

“Wait…you mean…”

“Now yer gettin’ it…”

“We really are never leaving here alive…are we…”

Bon-Bon slumped back from the bars and stared at the floor.  She had no idea how she could possibly escape.  And now, her mind was truly considering the possibility of the war actually being lost.  She and her followers had been abandoned from the world.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart…”

The beige mare glanced over as she heard the voice again.

“The sooner ya accept it…the sooner ya learn how to last…”

Bon-Bon scooted back over to the bars.

“Who are you?” she asked, staring at the shadowy figure.

“Two…two…seven…five…nine…”

“Wha…what?” Bon-Bon’s confusion returned.

“Heh…sorry, I ferget how long I been in here.  They used ta number us, but I guess they stopped doin’ that.  Don’t really remember ma name…”

“Can I see you?” the curious mare leaned closer to the bars.

The figure shifted hesitantly, as though reluctant to make its appearance known.  Bon-Bon could tell the stranger was not used to company.

“Please?” she kindly pressed.

Bon-Bon heard a raspy sigh as the figure slowly scooted into the light.

“Oh my Goddesses…what kind of nightmare is this…”

Meanwhile…

“Milord!  Our progress in constructing defenses is coming along nicely!  We expect to have enough trenches for our troops by the end of the week!  The forward perimeter is already complete.  The midsection is nearing twenty-five percent completion, and the rear where the bunker will be located has not yet been started.  We also constructed several wooden barracks for the troops just behind where the bunker will be located.  There are not enough supplies to build enough barracks for all of our soldiers, so most of them will be living in the trenches until it is their shift to stay in the barracks for some time.”

“Thank you for the report, Millennion.  You may return to your duties,” Silus nodded at the officer in front of him.  Considering the officer was in command of a thousand Changelings, he must have seen quite a few skirmishes in his time.  Silus could see the marks of war across his body.

“As you wish, Lord Silus,” the Changeling bowed his head before returned to the construction area.

The sounds of work were constant.  Colossi thumped about, dispensing more raw materials to those who were digging and sawing.  The pile that would be used as a bunker had grown quite large.  Overnight, the weather had gotten much colder than during the day, so the troops huddled close in what trenches had been completed in order to stay as warm as possible.  It was far from comfortable, but it got the job done.

Silus took his time strolling about the field, observing and encouraging his hard-working troops.  Not a single complaint among them.  They were warm as could be, they had decent living conditions considering where they were, and the concept of defenses other than simple walls excited and impressed them. Things were going extremely smoothly; this was uncomfortable for Silus.

“This isn’t right…” he thought, “Nothing is this easy…”

The human broke a fat icicle from the side of a trench and began carving and smoothing it with a round stone.  After a few minutes of tedious work, his labor yielded two thin, circular, and slightly concave disks of ice.  One was a bit smaller in diameter than the other.

“Hm…good enough…” Silus muttered.  He gently set the disks down and grabbed a few handfuls of snow.  The fluffy white crystals were crisp and could be packed tightly.  The human sat by the disks and placed the snow on his lap, delicately manipulating the shape of the snow with his hands.  Slowly but surely, he crafted a cylinder of tightly-packed snow that became more like a cone on one end.  Using a stick to hollow it out, he grabbed the ice disks and eased them into the non-pointed opening of his snow tube.

“Please let this work…” he groaned, bringing the open pointed-end of the tube to his eye.

It wasn’t much, but Silus’ makeshift spyglass amplified the range of his vision by a fair amount.  He still couldn’t see more than two-hundred yards past the forward lines due to the snowfall in the distance and the ice made the view somewhat blurry.  After a few moments of observation, Silus could make out a few silhouettes at the edge of the snowfall.  It was Grimsoul and his scouts.

“Heh.  Give me a little bad news…don’t keep me paranoid…” Silus thought.

Once Grimsoul’s party arrived, Silus ran over to meet them.

“Report?” the human asked, trying to contain his anxiety.

Grimsoul shifted his jaw a few times before replying.

“The Equestrians are…just beyond the snowfall…” the elite Changeling stated.

“What?!” Silus nearly shouted, “How close?”

“As I said, Lord, just beyond the falling wall of snow you can see…” Grimsoul remained calm, knowing this would be a surprise to his commander.

“Agh…how many?”

“Approximately six thousand, sir.”

“We are outnumbered?  This is a minor problem…we are dug in and well-prepared to hold the line.”

“That’s not all, Lord Silus.  They seem to be…copying us…” Grimsoul muttered the last few words with a hint of annoyance.

“What do you mean ‘copying’ us?”

“It would appear they have been scouting us as well, observing the way we build our defenses.  However, because they could not get close or hear your instructions, their trenches are rather poor in quality compared to ours.  I expect they’ll figure out how to fix them soon.”

“By the Queen…this is not something I anticipated…” Silus rubbed his forehead.

“What would you have us do, sir?” Grimsoul awaited a new command patiently from his friend and superior.

“Do not tell the troops.  Simply inform them to stay alert at all times, but not in a way that would cause suspicion.  I don’t want them to know until our position is completely fortified.  That will lessen the impact of the situation.”

“Understood, sir.”

“Grimsoul,” Silus stopped the Imperial Guard before he went off to relay the message, “Do you think it is wrong to mislead the soldiers like this?”

Silus’ friend chuckled and put a reassuring hoof on the human’s shoulder.

“You do what you think is right, and I will follow you.  I am confident we are safe under your command.”

These words brought a relieved smile to Silus’ face.

“Thank you, brother.  I needed to hear that.”

Grimsoul nodded and headed for the trenches and barracks.  Silus looked to the sky for a moment.  The snowfall seemed to be clearing up very slowly.

Lift the veil, so that two snakes may become like lions…

Meanwhile…

“How interesting…” Sagemaster Macabre mumbled as he poked and prodded the black rock.

“Sir?” Obscure curiously inquired.

“The rock…it appears to be much weaker once separated from the primary mass.  It still takes a bit of force, but small fragments can be chipped off.  One those fragments are chipped off, it takes even less force to work with the mineral,” the old sage explained.

“Acids still do nothing to the rock at any stage, though,” Gloom stated.

“Indeed, Gloom.  It would seem that the simplest method of working with this mineral is through physical manipulation rather than chemicals.  I need to test something…” Macabre spoke as he grabbed a small torch.

Very lightly, the flame was held up to the still mostly-intact rock initially taken from the wall.  The rock was currently about twelve inches in diameter and weighed nearly six pounds.  Nothing happened as the flame touched the black surface.

“Hm…maybe…” the Sagemaster pulled back the torch and grabbed one of the small fragments chipped from the rock.  The particular fragment was about three inches long and just over one inch thick.  Gesturing to his assistants, the trio of sages exited their tent and found a small, flat area near their camp.  They passed Cloudhorn on the way to the spot; though still mostly staring at the sky, he occasionally glanced at the prisoners to make sure they had not left.  They were still far too weak to attempt to escape the Colossus, and they had nowhere to go even if they ran.

“Stand back, young ones.  I have a rather dangerous hypothesis…” Macabre warned Gloom and Obscure, who retreated a few yards from where the Sagemaster stood.  They stared at him with anticipation.

“Queen save me should this go wrong…” Macabre mumbled as he set the fragment on the ground and gently touched it with the torch’s flame.

Listening closely, Macabre could hear a small hissing sound emanating from the fragment.  As he pulled the torch away, the hissing continued.

“What is this…?” he rubbed his chin in wonder.

An orange glow could be seen growing within the core of the fragment.  It grew brighter with every second.

“Uh…Sagemaster?  I mean no offense, but I would not recommend standing so close to that thing!” Gloom shouted.

“Y-yes that may be wise…” Macabre nervously spoke as he slowly backed away.

The glow was now extremely bright to the point where the rock was no longer a solid black in color, but a neon-like orange.  It hissed louder and vibrated in place.

“Agh!” Macabre rapidly backpedaled towards his assistants.

The fragment violently vibrated in place before exploding, sending chunks of muddy snow flying into the air and melting a few yards of snow in every direction.  The sound of the blast was deafening at the distance the trio was standing at.  They could feel a small shockwave push them off-balance.  Macabre and his assistants stared at the smoldering patch of dirt where the fragment previously sat.

“Well…I am slightly closer to the conclusion I desire…” the Sagemaster stated.

“What conclusion is that, sir?” Obscure asked without removing her stare.

“The weaponized use of this mineral to aid our military, dear.  Lord Silus told me many things about a substance in his old world that ‘revolutionized’ warfare.  I believe if we learn more about this mineral, we can refine it into something that Lord Silus could help our forces use.  It could turn the tide completely in our favor!” the old sage grew excited as he explained.

“But what if it brings more suffering, sir?  What if other nations do as we do and this ‘revolutionized’ warfare amplifies the chaos?” Obscure worriedly pressed.

The Sagemaster frowned at his assistant, but quickly shed the frown as he understood her concern.

“This will be the first time in the history of our world that such a weapon will come into existence.  Of all the books I’ve read and all the stories I’ve heard, it would appear our Empire is the only place where this sort of mineral has been found.  Not only that, but only Lord Silus and we sages know of how to exploit this new resource.  Or at least, we will know how to properly exploit it.  Besides, we will not need to fight anyone else once we complete this little project.  The amount of fear generated by our advances will be enough to keep any other nations from daring to bully us.”

“So you deem the use of fear as a deterrent to be acceptable?” Obscure shot a glare at Macabre.

“Shut up, Obscure!” Gloom snapped, “We don’t live in a world where everyone just plays nice and gets along!  If there was a better way, don’t you think we would have found it?  If fear serves the greater good, then it is a means that justifies its end!”

The young female sage backed away a few steps, her eyes beginning to water as she stared at her fellow student.  Macabre simply closed his eyes and began heading back to the camp.  Gloom’s anger shifted to guilt as he saw the sadness sweeping over the hurt Obscure.  He attempted to approach her.

“Obscure…I didn’t mean t—”

“But you did!” she barked at him, a few stray tears making their way down her face, “You made your point and I made mine!  I guess I’m a fool for wanting life to be more than living in fear!”

“That’s not wh—” Gloom was cut off as Obscure clenched her eyes shut and galloped back to the camp.

Gloom sighed and closed his eyes.  After a moment of silence, he opened them and looked at the spot where the fragment had exploded.  The smoke had dissipated and the blackened ground was already being covered up by the light snowfall.  He shook his head before heading back to camp.

We all hide our scars…