The Things He Carried

Once again, Toby had been abruptly roused by the harsh rapping upon his cell door. He rolled over and watched as the pegasus guard named Clarity pushed in a plate of a presumably stone cold scramble. It seemed that the princesses were tempting him into eating by the slight increase in the quality of food - which was all the worse for him, since it made it harder for him to ignore. Not only this, but his stomach seemed to begin to slightly gnaw at itself - not a good sign, but this was a battle he had chosen.

He forced himself to roll back over onto his other side so that he faced away from the food. He heard Clarity let out a frustrated sigh behind him. It was hard to notice this, however, for he was busy trying not to betray a gasp of pain as he had rolled onto his bad arm. He carefully extracted it out from under him and let it lay next to him, throbbing pitifully. Now that he thought about it, it looked a bit - purple.

"Oh for Celestia's sake, eat!!" she said with a sharp edge to her tone.

A pang of rage burned in Toby's chest - it was funny how they were going through all this trouble to try and feed him, but they seemed to ignore the fact he was hurt - and now they were trying to demand him to eat? It gave him even more satisfaction to ignore her and remain motionless. He was starting to like these ponies less and less every day.

He waited, taking care to take deep, slow breaths like one would if they were sleeping. Then, after a long, silent moment, he heard Clarity sigh quietly and walk back up the corridor. The corner of Toby's mouth twitched as she did.

It was very unusual for the royal sisters to communicate vaguely in their letters - that's why Twilight was still scratching her head as the Ponyville Express puffed up the mountain towards Canterlot.

The last time (that she could think of on the spot, anyway) she remembered the princesses sending her an undescriptive letter was when they had summoned her to tell her about the Crystal Empire for the first time. All they had said was that she had a 'test' of some sort - not remotely helpful.

She had been signing up the last couple of documents needed for an official repair to a portion of the plumbing in the ladies' bathroom at her School of Friendship - long story - when she had received their letter. Right off the bat she knew it was going to be a short one - the scroll was much thinner and lighter than usual. Still, being the eager pony she was, she wasted no time opening it.

Twilight,
We have a peculiar alien situation here in Canterlot - nothing extremely urgent. We require the assistance of the Elements as soon as you can get here. Food, room and board is required upon arrival, and we will provide substitute professors for your friends at your School of Friendship.

Please come as soon as possible,
~Celestia

Not only did the vagueness of the letter frustrate Twilight, it was that Celestia had gone and scheduled stand-in professors at her school, which forced Twilight to then assess their friendship-related teaching abilities (fortunately, they fit the tasks assigned to them quite nicely). Fortunately for herself and her friends, they were in a particularly lax period of the school year, so going to Canterlot wouldn't affect the flow of things too much. She just wished Celestia would have done a better job organizing the request, which she was usually very good at doing.

"What kind of alien do you think it will be?" squeaked Pinkie Pie from the seat in front of Twilight, who had been snapped out of her train of thought with the question.

"Oh - er... I'm not sure, Pinkie," she replied, shaking her head to clear it. "Princess Celestia didn't describe the situation at all. All I know is that there's an alien of some sort involved."

"Do you think it could be dangerous though, darling?" Rarity said from behind a large sketchbook that she had been invested in since the beginning of the train ride. "They scarcely call upon us for other matters."

"Except for being awesome!!" Rainbow Dash said enthusiastically, standing up on her seat.

Rarity rolled her eyes. "You are so unbelievably predictable, Rainbow Dash - you know this, don't you?"

Rainbow blew a loud raspberry at the unicorn and sat back down. "What are you even drawing, Rarity? You've had your nose in that doodle pad ever since we got on the train!"

Rarity raised her chin in a dignified way and turned the notebook to reveal a sketch of a magnificent gown. "Only the best addition to my new line in Manehattan - moonlight-related numbers are all the rage right now."

"Pff, dresses," Rainbow retorted, waving her hoof dismissively. "You should go outside."

Twilight huffed and looked out the window, feeling too tired and stressed to deal with her friend's banter (that would most likely solve itself). She hoped that Celestia wasn't up to her pre-retirement shenanigans - she had been less like herself ever since she and Luna had declared their retirement.

As Twilight predicted, the argument between Rarity and Rainbow simmered down before the train came to a halt at the Canterlot Union Station. Twilight and her friends bade the conductor thanks and began their trek up to the castle. This did not take long, for Canterlot was a fairly small city. The streets weren't too crowded, either, allowing them to pass through easily.

When they had reached the castle's front doors, the guards stationed there instantly recognized the Princess of Friendship and company. They hastily moved aside, nodding subtly but respectfully as the mares passed.

They wasted no time arriving at the throne room doors, and Twilight pushed them open without invitation. She had been prepared to ask what the matter was as well as expecting to see the urgent, dire expressions on the royal sisters' faces. All of her thoughts and calculations came to an abrupt halt when she saw that Luna and Celestia were... confused? Worried?

"Twilight," Celestia said, addressing the confused purple princess. "My sister and I are so glad you could show up."

"Celestia - Luna - I-I don't understand," Twilight stammered. Why were they so calm?? "Is something wrong?"

The sisters exchanged a look, and then Luna looked at Twilight. "Er... sort of. It's quite the confusing situation, but we need your help. Guards, leave us please."

The soldiers stationed around the room automatically left their posts and marched out of the room. When the last guard had bowed and closed the door behind him, Twilight saw a flicker of concern on Celestia's face. She turned to Luna with a calm expression that looked a bit forced.

"Is it true he's not taking anything we give him?" she asked in a hushed voice.

Luna shook her head slowly. "I'm afraid not, sister."

Celestia sighed and turned to face Twilight and her friends, whom all were staring at the princesses curiously.

"Er - Princess Celestia," Twilight said, stepping forward. "I take it that this isn't... urgent?"

"Well..." Luna cut in as her sister opened her mouth to reply. "It is yet to be seen whether or not the creature we told you about is a national threat. It seems that so far he is harmless, but we have been fooled before."

Twilight grimaced as a hazy image of Cozy Glow floated to the front of her mind. She nodded. "So what do you want us to do?"

"We ask that the six of you stay here for the following week," Celestia said in a serious tone, "So that each of you in turn can interrogate the creature that is currently being held in the dungeons."

"Interrogate?" Pinkie asked. "What is interrogating? Does it involve confetti or silly string?"

"It's basically questioning," Twilight said, throwing a meaningful look in the bouncy mare's direction, as if to say Seriously? This is important!.

"Ooh! What are we asking him?" Pinkie continued, completely missing Twilight's attempt to get her to act serious.

"That will be up to the six of you, plus myself," Celestia replied. "Although they shall be questions that are appropriate and respectful to an interrogation," she added, glancing in the direction of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie.

There were nods of agreement, Rainbow doing so grudgingly (she had clearly been hyping herself up for a rather... intense questioning).

Celestia smiled. "Now, before I give you some general information, I would like to apologize for the short notice - my sister and I wanted you here as soon as possible."

"No worries, Princess," Twilight said in what she hoped was a cheery voice. "It was a good thing we weren't so busy."

Celestia nodded in acknowledgment. "I'm happy to hear that. With that said, you need to know everything you can before going into your interrogations. Luna, why don't you tell them?"

"Well, for starters," Luna began, "The creature is a male and identifies himself as something called a human."

Twilight gasped, as if someone had hit her across the face. A human?? HERE!? She refrained from saying anything, however, and let the princess continue uninterrupted.

"His name, from what we gathered, is Toby," Luna continued, ignoring Twilight. "Whether or not that is his true name has yet to be seen. We have detained him on account for suspicion of violence - royal protocol, of course - but thus far he has claimed and shown to be relatively harmless. What we need you six to do is to find out as much about him as you can, so that we can take action if necessary."

"When do we start?" Twilight asked, careful not to betray a look of eagerness.

"Today, if possible," Luna continued. "Only one of you will interview him each day. The order in which you choose is completely up to you."

Twilight nodded. "I'll go first, if that's alright with anyone."

"In mah opinion, Twilight's the most qualified ta go first," Applejack put in. "Not to point hooves, but she is a princess an' all."

"Yeah! And she's super smart!!" Pinkie added, bouncing up and down.

"She's definitely capable enough to handle a dangerous alien," Rarity agreed, earning an appraising look from Twilight.

"It's decided, then," Celestia said, bowing her head slightly in Twilight's direction.

"So - when do I start?" Twilight asked, suddenly feeling slightly nervous. "I need time to prepare some questions!"

"Preferably today, but only if you feel comfortable enough to do so," Celestia said with a motherly smile. "If you need to prepare, I understand. In my experience with interrogations, however, you don't find the questions; the questions find you. In other words, you may not need to prepare. The creature in question isn't exactly, er - talkative."

"Um, excuse me, please," Fluttershy said in a very quiet voice. "I'd like to ask a question... if that's okay with you..."

Twilight inwardly grinned. Typical Flutters - almost always timid and over-polite, even in the most welcome environments.

"We'd love to hear it, Fluttershy," Luna said encouragingly, making the shy pegasus perk up.

"Well, you said he wasn't talkative..." she began, looking more confident. "Do you think I could... you know... talk to him after Twilight?"

"You would have to wait until the next day," Celestia replied with a smile. "We don't want to overwhelm him, but I think you would be a great pony to be among one of the first three to interrogate him."

Fluttershy smiled. "Of course, your majesty."

Luna then walked closer to Twilight. "Will you need a day to prepare, then, Twilight?" she asked, and the purple princess looked at the ground.

After a long moment, she said in a quiet voice, "No - I can question him today."

Once again, Toby found himself ushered into the steel interrogation room where he had been questioned by Princess Luna. He would, without a doubt, be subject to another interrogation. He resolved to his old plan, with a small change - he would not speak unless if it was absolutely necessary. Unless he could get out sooner by talking more, and if that were the case he would be more than happy to comply.

Clarity sat him down in his chair, but something seemed different this time. He didn't know if his mind was playing tricks on him, but the pegasus guard seemed to handle him more gently.

He sat there, vaguely aware of the scratchy rope holding his wrists to the back of the chair. He looked around, feeling suddenly nonchalant. Why did these ponies have to be so interested in him? The level of justice and xenophobia was diabolically annoying on so many levels that he could practically just... die.

Hey - now there was an idea. A bit extreme, but he could leave this mixed up, crazy, stupid, violent world permanently. No more dreams about the War. No more crazy waves of loneliness. No more agonizing thoughts of what could have been with Marietta...

The sound door behind him opening brought him back to reality with a slight jolt. The soft clatter of hooves on the ground slowly approached the table, inching their way around. Toby closed his eyes, mentally preparing himself, and opened them again.

On the other end of the table stood a smaller unicorn with wings - probably another figure of power. Her mane and tail were a deep violet color with a pink streak. Her coat was lavender, and her eyes were also a deep violet. She wore a small gold crown upon her head.

"Hello, Toby," she said brightly. Huh. This one may try to be friendly to him. "I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship."

Toby swallowed a snort of laughter that would have surely been cause for his death. Why the hell would someone need a princess for friendship?

She studied Toby's form up and down with an odd expression, like he looked incredibly familiar before. Then she said something that threw all of his conscious side thoughts into the bin.

"I've seen humans before," she said quietly, still gazing at him. "I was once in the human world for a month - then I returned again later..."

"Wh-What??" Toby stammered hoarsely, completely forgetting his vow to be silent. The alicorn recoiled, clearly startled by the sound of his voice.

"Well, yeah... the only confusing thing is, when I traveled to the human world my physical form became human. When I came back to this world, I became a pony again. So why didn't you change?"

Toby stared. "What city were you in when you went to the human world?" he asked quietly.

The pony thought for a moment. "Canterlot City, I think. Why?"

"Doesn't exist," Toby said quickly.

"Sorry?" Twilight asked, furrowing her brows.

"It doesn't exist," Toby said in a gravelly voice. "I know my geography of Earth really well - such a place as that has never existed."

"Earth?" Twilight said curiously. "The name of the human world I visited was called Equestria - just like our country here in this world." She frowned in thought for a moment, then let out an excited squeak. "Are you from a different dimension of humans?"

Toby, suddenly remembering his plan to stay quiet, shrugged. He stared at the table, determined not to meet the princess's eyes.

"Did - did I do something?" Twilight asked nervously.

Toby slowly shook his head.

Looking mildly disconcerted from his sudden change in demeanor, Twilight cleared her throat. Levitating a piece of parchment in front of her, she glanced at it before stowing it under the table. She tried to look Toby in the eye, which was very hard considering the fact he was in an intense staring contest with the table.

"You know why you're here, right?" Twilight asked.

Toby shrugged, knowing very well that this pony government was trying to find out whether he was a danger to their society or not.

"You have been brought in for questioning so that we can determine if it would be safe to integrate you into our society," she explained, putting her forehooves up on the table and pulling out a quill and a roll of parchment . "Princess Luna has informed me that you have claimed to have been involved in violent activities, but didn't want to participate. Is this indeed true?"

Toby nodded.

"Would you mind giving me an example, then?" Twilight pressed, looking straight at Toby.

Toby thought for a moment. Should he tell her? It was, obviously, his least favorite topic by far. Maybe if he just kept it simple, and didn't go into it - no, he wouldn't say anything more than the necessary words...

"A war," he said, repressing a shudder. He hated the disgusting word.

Twilight recoiled. "Oh... my... er - would you - you know... care to elaborate?"

Toby made a point of looking Twilight dead in the eye, giving her what he hoped was an intense glare. It seemed to work, because she frowned and scribbled at the bottom of the parchment.

"It was that bad, huh?" she asked in a conversational way.

Toby shook his head in sad disbelief. How could she, or anyone in this weird land, understand what he had been forced to experience?

What he had been forced to do...

Twilight put down her pen and quill and paused to stare at Toby. Everything about him screamed 'harmless', but something else was bugging her - and frustratingly enough, she just couldn't put a hoof on it. There was one thing she was sure of, however - something about Toby was wrong.

The sound of the human's voice knocked her out of her trance. "Is it possible for me to get out of prison?" he asked in a hollow voice.

Twilight regarded him, then thought her reply out carefully. "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna request that you be questioned by each of my friends before you are considered for release... it's not my place to release prisoners - yet."

Toby looked up slowly. "Y-Yet?"

Twilight sighed. "I'm going to be crowned Princess of Equestria in a couple weeks, and by then I'll be in charge of everything - including prisons. And to be frank, I don't know much about you yet, so legally I couldn't release you because of the protocol. Thank you for you time today, Toby."

Right. The stupid protocol, Toby thought to himself bitterly. It makes no sense. I've taken government classes, and the rule is the dumbest and most pointless thing I've heard.

Twilight looked at him sadly, then turned to walk towards the door. When she was halfway out of the room, she hesitated. She then turned and smiled sympathetically.

"For what it's worth... I don't think you're harmless, Toby," she said quietly. She then left, leaving Toby in a stunned silence as the guard untied him to return him to his cell.