Author's Note

Ah, you've come to chapter fiver of Fireflower's fanfic that goes beyond the typical oneshots made from before, a Mature fanfic no less on the grounds that three chapters ago heavy subject matters have proven to be unsuitable for those under eighteen, easily offended, and/or quickly nauseated; suffice to say, this was by far a strong note for many readers alike so therefore you were all given an option to skip ahead to another chapter: whether or not you had taken this offer, it was only up to you to do so nothing more.

As always, My Little Pony, or rather Friendship Is Magic, including its settings and characters belong to Lauren Faust and Hasbro; however, this concept of my fanfic belongs to me so I will say this line one time only: please do not steal this story or I will sue.

Lastly, let me also say that I hope you enjoy this chapter now more than the others and still have the strength to continue onward in staying tuned for future chapters later; henceforth, I will leave you with but one saying only: thank you very much.

Graystone

There was darkness, a simplistic form to describe such nothingness within its own world; as a matter of fact, it had already demonstrated its capabilities by harboring the element of surprise by means of uncertainty therein. That being said, the cubic centimeters of this very transient ocean did little, if anything, to hide away the objects that would have been found even with the naked yet trained sort of eye bearing such abilities in so little time. The mere idea that something and/or someone dwelling within the jet black void alone for any number of reasons known and otherwise was but time immemorial thereof; in this particular case alone, not even that can last.

Suddenly without warning, yet as if on cue, the erratic ringing of metal rapidly clanged against another resounded throughout the very darkness itself. As the echo’s reverb quickly departed from the blackened ocean, so too did the uncertainty of nothingness alone; light filling the entire area instantly. Concrete had made up the entire space, uniformed in structure and stricture hand in hand as they had threatened closing in on their own collective target. Here the source of illumination hung in the balance, inching away from the ceiling as electricity had unleashed its collection of photons all throughout. In the confines of the stony loneliness was a bucket standing by at the corner: made of metal, its contents bore an odor organic with such repugnance.

Lying by the floor was a mass of flesh in the form of a man in the altogether, cloaked in both light and cold already hugging his very body. So far, the lone individual’s hair bore a flat texture of the brilliant green barely above the scalp, too short for even the likes of himself to tell. The man’s skin was dark like the gravel itself yet bearing more color than the mass of concrete already surrounding himself as topsoil alone. His two eyes were dark and beady yet they had bore some bright chocolatey pupils right after the eyelids slowly open up to adjust themselves. The man bore a muscular figure that glistened despite the dingy atmosphere; still, even some signs of undernourishment had still remained.

“Zuul, you’re up; get dressed and report to the board…!” a harsh masculine voice was heard, yet it didn’t even belong to the aforementioned individual within the very room.

Nevertheless, the unclothed male had arisen to the call with but an annoyed yawn, “wh’ever, sir…”

“You should be thankful that you’re getting out today: if it had been up to me, you would’ve been going in for another week in the hole; of course, the princess wouldn’t have liked that now…!” the distant voice had shot back with fury as Zuul stood up, “you degenerates make me sick to my stomach: even seeing you make me think back to that arrogant twat Messenger Bag. Always mocking us in the papers and even in the radio stations, criticizing our justice system by making us out into monsters and demons with an agenda; that program her highness came up with to counteract that shit he'd pulled was a mistake: you and that whore should’ve died in that war…!”

“Shouldn’t you have also died in the war as well, sir…?” the middleweight man had retorted with a glare.

It wasn’t long until Zuul watched the door upfront open, standing in the presence of another figure proven to be the true owner of the first voice. The middleweight man was able to find that he and the other individual in question had shared one thing in common: the same gender therein alone. Of course, the very twosome already present and accounted for had possessed many considerable differences separating one another almost instantly.

The figured in question whom had just arrived to see Zuul stood up to him at a similar height range, but with some more density in the former. Unlike the middleweight’s hair which was still clean and clear, the visitor happened to possess thick tresses of gold crawling from the sidelines. Eyes belonging to the bulkier counterpart just so happened to be a witch hazel focusing in onto the thin occupant with such moderated contempt. Simply put, the observant visitor donned a brighter complexion, one that was rather as clear as the sandy beaches where people would walk on. Dressed from head–to–toe were but a jet black ensemble consisting of a headgear, jacket, pants, and shoes covering up the heavier man already. Additional objects were found to be adorning the owner’s clothing as well; out of the many was a luminous badge upon much of its owner’s chest. Yoking raiment were discovered underneath the cumbersome observer’s left underarm, stained in a dyed deep blue with a singular yellow stripe.

Pulling out a baton instantaneously, the man in uniform pointed it right at Zuul’s neck and snarled, “now you listen here, you fuzzy moss–headed son–of–a–bitch: I didn’t keep my head down during the purge just to be insulted by a lowly foreigner. Princess Celestia may have showed some mercy to the likes of you but that doesn’t mean I have to be nice to you either so I recommend that you show some respect… do you understand…?”

“Then by all means, sir…” the darker male had exhaled immediately, “of course, I understand… you cuck…”

“Just get dressed; even looking at your dick is making me feel like I’m becoming one of you…!” the lighter counterpart barked, throwing the clothes onto the floor up in front of the occupant.

Zuul was quick to comply yet so as to not even disturb the man in uniform right within range, crouching as the former started shuffling throughout the set of textiles therein. The dark skinned occupant had found a lone pair of snow white briefs and a matching undershirt with some socks; upon doing so, he started to dress himself into them at once. Slowly, Zuul soon had began to find a jumpsuit with a zipper lined right down the middle and opened it, finding the patience to slide into the uniformed clothing right away.

Needless to say, the middleweight closed himself up and had said to the observer, “I’m ready now, sir…”

“Your boots and glasses are across the hallway… unless you’re willing to go another week…!” the heavier counterpart snarled as Zuul had started to walk out of the room, following after the latter with truncheon in tow, “don’t forget, bamboula, you could be here forever…”

“Forever’s hardly a long time in the ears of many…” the middleweight’s mind muttered as he'd felt the cold floor underneath his very feet.

It wasn’t long until they were in contact with the sights and sounds reminiscent of the very room Zuul was found in not too long ago so to speak of. Only shades of green and beige were dominating the very background, already showing little to no signs of compromise whatsoever for either one. There were but small lines of doors on both sides of the corridor itself, mostly likely sharing the same purpose in holding the middleweight in place. Any information that would’ve been gained from just looking inward was of little consequence for both of the men, especially for the one in black.

Zuul came across a metallic shelf and heard the clanging of separate pieces in a similar material nearby, belonging to his handler whom had chuckled, “I don’t get how drybacks in this day and age like yourself need to see glasses; even looking at you makes me hard to tell the difference between the two of you…”

“Hmph…!” the dark skinned middleweight scoffed as he stood by and watched his bulkier counterpart single out an entire lock amongst many, “I wonder if your mother would express her love if you were born blind and dumb as fuck…”

“Get on with it now; we can’t keep the board waiting, especially since they went to the trouble of coming this far to see you squirm…” the lone man in black had commanded as the nearby steel clicked open instantaneously, throwing down a pair of boots onto the very ground right next to Zuul’s own feet.

It was at long last when the dark skinned middleweight slid his clothed feet into the footwear at once, asking the heavier observer immediately, “my glasses, please…?”

“Here you go, your Honor…” a snide remark escaped from the man in black, scraps of plastic and glass in tow before they fell onto the ground, “sorry about the damages; I hope you can see better without them…”

“Pretty sure you’re doing fine by yourself, sir…” Zuul grunted.

The bulky individual felt his hands trembling about but regained control over himself, steadying about before leading his charge by the cuffs of the jumpsuit, “move your hide over, they haven’t got all day…!”

There were a series of similar lights directly above themselves as the two men walked past the locked boxes they had stopped at recently. The sights and sounds of footfalls going between the twosome created a pattern in which would be observed for every door frame passed. Of the pair, Zuul watched many other people come and go: while many wore clothes like him, others were dressed in his handler’s style.

Within only mere minutes, the otherwise strenuous pattern met its bitter end, already overtaken by a vastly new area they themselves had just walked into. Although the background in here was more colorful, it was subdued by the faintest of its tones, embracing the minimalistic theme without any bias or fear. Series of windows were found right up in front of the two, bearing the scenery of cloudy skies with a streak of lightning flashing about before subsiding. Here, the dark skinned middleweight bore witness to some furniture in the midst of the new room: a wooden desk and a metal chair were already there. Yonder overhead was some more light in a series of coils burning brightly at once, providing the area they were some extra guidance and warmth as well.

Sitting pretty prim and proper were a trio of people within the chestnut desk, dressed in the more picturesque of attire compared to the two men. The first of these was a bright skinned man with red hair donning a goldenrod camouflage; his elbows were planted onto the ligneous surface. Next to the man, a dark skinned woman with locks of green concealed beneath her blue scarf was pulling out some glasses from her silver blouse. At the far end was another dark skinned man with blue hair, wearing a yellow visor and dressed up in crystalline armor plating with a lone glass.

“Have a seat, mister Zuul…” the woman in the middle stated, which the eponymous occupant did as he went to the chair in question, “the report indicates you’re responsible for one inmate in the hospital with a broken femur, another with a fractured collarbone, and yet another with a sprained wrist. Now we’ve already heard from the officers whom were on duty at the time of the assault; of course, being that your stay in the institution has amounted to less than a year, what do you have to say for yourself…?”

“Uh gee, what is there to say besides the fact that I’m guilty and that I’m totally responsible for everything that happened on that day; of course, with all due respect, even you three as well already know that, am I right…?” the grassy haired inmate scoffed, raising some eyebrows from the three almost instantaneously.

Out of the threesome, the redheaded male said, “are you aware of what you’re actually saying here…?”

“I’m sorry but it seems to me that even you have an unfortunate habit of wanting something yet feeling dissatisfied at the end of the day…” Zuul had answered immediately at once, “despite our proximity, we cannot hope to gain any knowledge of one another or ourselves; don’t get me wrong, your presence is needed because apparently the war opened our eyes. I’ve been in and out of jails like this since I barely made it to puberty and while you’ve been on the job for more decades than I can pay attention to, you couldn’t begin to scratch the surface of this culture you and I have feared and hated for so long. As a matter of fact, I can remember the riot that took place years ago because some, pardon the fanciness, dotards got mad about a drug trade that went bust the second their precious courier got caught bringing in contraband; do you, mister Reed?”

“I’m sure that the courts would have been enlightened by your geopolitical tirade; unfortunately, the matter of what society does is not on trial… you are…” the titular tenant responded with a glare radiating beyond the orange.

A mirthless laugh had escaped from the lone inmate, causing the redhead to increase in intensity, “if one could call it that, with all due respect, sir: as far as I should be concerned, there was a fight going on not too many weeks ago; of course, we should not forget how it happened either: if anything, that so–called pussyboy should’ve been helped but, aside from them, nobody came. For what it’s worth, this reminds me of the day when Persimmon Tart came to trial: the second the verdict was delivered, to say that he behaved like an animal would be an insult to many in the kingdom; even Fluttershy understands that, especially since all she ever wanted was a license. Now, I’m not saying that everything that happened in this prison, or any other legitimate prison, for that matter should be blamed on that sorry excuse of a husband and father; after all, it was my choice to get involved and escalate things in a similar fashion compared to Messenger Bag.”

“Just what do you think you’re trying to imply?!” the armored man interjected loudly, causing even the likes of Reed to glance back in an awkward shock, “Messenger Bag was given a chance to redeem himself after the war ended and it was only through the grace of our princess that it was possible, even after that extremist bombing up in the capital claimed the life of her niece! You, on the other hand, continued to be a pain on our lives in the homeland: spouting horrible things left and right while killing so many other people; it’s even frustrating that you, of all people managed to avoid the death penalty in such a more egregious manner than the poor girl herself!”

“Only because your predecessors alone were embodying the worst traits of your homeland: incompetence of command, failure to abide by regulations, and negligence in regards to the young and old alike; even without the war or my role in the trial, their mere existence was enough to open our eyes…” Zuul spoke back in return, still maintaining his composure overall.

The lone woman quickly fired back, albeit more gently than the men themselves besides herself, “even so, something like this can’t simply be ignored: a choice of action must be taken, other than what will happen to the instigators or the victims; history can’t be allowed to repeat itself.”

“Agreed, Miss Gibbous…” the redhead said, rapping his fingers along the surface of the table, “after Persimmon’s trial, you and four of your own classmates were let go with but a slap on the wrist and some caveats. You had to deal with a lowly soldier on his last legs and a scholar to keep you, Lighthouse, and Krill from corrupting the two while keeping balance, a method that proved to be ineffective since the former died. Then you had the nerve to lash out when said scholar, Twilight Sparkle was nearly killed trying to save your girlfriend; this time, we have an obligation to control the outcome of any war that dares to come to our doorstep and we can do that more civilly than our predecessors have and haven’t done.”

“So what you’re saying is, you even agree that Gelatin was a terrible Prime Minister as well…?” the lone inmate replied, eyebrows at an all–time high thanks to his sudden yet brief commentary.

The blue tressed individual took a deep and long breath before finally jumping into the conversation, “now, what’s that supposed to mean…? People like myself had fought and died to protect the homeland from those that have threatened it; you haven’t done anything to earn the right to criticize our administration…”

“Ironically, I agree with you, soldier: even though I shared similar traits to the likes of my former classmates, I’m nothing alike in regards to them or, with all due respect, your council at large…” Zuul spoken up, voice barely louder than a feigned whimper or a careless whisper in the least, “after all, even Krill would’ve satirized our past if he wasn’t so busy giving in to wrath that day.”

“INSOLENT WRETCH, I HAD HALF A MIND TO–––” one of the guards in uniform yelled out, storming to the inmate’s side with cudgel in hand before she waved her hand in the former’s line of eyesight with a stern glare.

Miss Gibbous declared afterwards, “we’ve all suffered enough during and after the war, before and after Persimmon’s trial brought these flaws to light, and before and during the attacks when riots broke out in and out of prisons. The troubles that were persisting had prevented even a highly respected military official from being able to speak out without the threat of being silenced; as a result, even the grunts who should have followed orders got into fights with civilians. Following the war, the towns in the countryside were hit with the worst economic depression’s since only merely centuries ago, including one that was founded by the likes of Granny Smith herself…”

“Yeah, the whole entire class I was in read the stories about the hometown, which made sense considering the fact that all of us weren’t even living there directly…” Zuul said flatly, unperturbed by one of his handlers’ recently sorry attempt at a rebuttal, “as a matter of fact, it was even shameful about what had been done to the family itself as soon as the war began. I know that because the girlfriend I once had cheated on me with an Apple but I didn’t do the things that got Persimmon on the road to his own damnation, especially since he brought this all on himself: even I gave props to Fluttershy knocking some teeth out unlike that former bailiff. It’s a shame I didn’t see that same courage from her when she was taken away on the same week when my other classmate got killed in an explosion; of course, I couldn’t blame her for that: compared to that deadbeat’s trial, she’d been exposed to a farce that Twilight herself pointed out. After all, even her own friends outside of our class were aware of this, not that they could do anything about it even if they tried: aside from Rainbow, they had to deal with protecting their own families and even that wasn’t enough for the lot of them responsible for her failed execution! There were stories in the newspapers about how people like them had gotten raped and/or killed for reasons outside of Fluttershy’s so–called trial, my imprisonment, or even Persimmon’s shameful attempt at escaping punishment; in addition, even Twilight nearly being killed for trying to save her gave me insight on how stupid we’ve been acting…! Even though the monarchy managed to survive long enough to keep this country from sliding into the underworld, there were still some problems we’ve been facing: the former prime minister was a thief and a liar of the worst kind, our military was staffed with rapists and marauders, and some nobles sold and bought sex to and from the youth without any consent!”

“As what we have said before: society is not on trial today; you are, Zuul, so unless you keep using your inside voice, I’m afraid that we can’t guarantee your release, understand…?” the armored man said at once.

The aforementioned inmate answered back, “aside from that, the only thing I do understand is that if things keep going like they have before, then the people will be angry again, even more than ever, sometimes to the point of surpassing the likes of these officers in prison. I’m acutely aware that there is nothing I will ever be able to do that will erase my past sins completely, let alone kill or change; I’m ashamed, appalled, affronted, afraid, angered, anguished, and afflicted by the fact that I have to live with the guilt and shame from my actions, inactions, and reactions for as long as I live and maybe even after I die. I don’t ever want this to ever happen again, not now, not ever, not here, not there, not even in the stars; otherwise, history is destined to repeat itself…!”

“Zuul…” Reed said tardily, “we know nothing said or done here and there will satisfy anyone, not even ourselves; we understand it more than you’re willing to think or believe. We also know that not even you wanted this: that’s why we’d bothered to talk to you here today, rather than letting you be sent to some courtroom with all the others to be sentenced left and right for crimes committed in and out of prison. Please understand, though: this is the best course of action probable; at the very least, it should serve as a temporary solution to this current problem. That being said, we would like for you to stay out of trouble for the time being; although you had acted in self–defense, the words and demeanor you had chosen shown us today are enough to prove that we can’t let you be sent back to the general population. It’s already been established your past as a deviant over a decade ago would’ve been grounds for your separation from not only society but also from its general refuse likely to snuff you out for merely existing; of course, thanks to the princess’ mild wisdom and your willingness to redeem yourself, even we need to show some mercy, something you agree separates us from them. Are we clear on that, dear sir…?”

“As an unmuddied lake, sir, we’re clear as an azure sky of deepest summer; of course, even that shouldn’t be taken as a simple promise alone…” the eponymous listener sighed, resigned to the notion to the point he could see the raindrops reflect upon the surface of the situation itself alone.

Zuul had stood up and went right out the door with two uniformed individuals, one of them being a female, trailing after the former upon doing so.