Chapter 3

“Is this really necessary?”

“I’m afraid so.” Shining sighed as he sat in his chair in front of me.

Another week has passed since my imprisonment. Blood has stained almost every part of my clothes but my injuries have been treated, only barely and reluctantly by the local doctor. I have a suspicion he didn’t try his best when treating me, probably intentionally not treating me all the way just for the hell of it. My body still aches and I still get beaten up but thanks to the Captain, I’ve now been out under his personal watch since he doesn’t trust any of his subordinates to not have their way with me. Yet despite that, some are ballsy enough to land a quick jab here and there or accidentally trip me whenever Shining Armor wasn’t paying attention.

Today I am sitting in an all too familiar room to the table I’ve been in since my arrest: the interrogation room. It was just me, the Captain, and a couple of his meat-head guards standing side by side. I was sitting on a metal chair with feet shackled to the chair and my hands also bound and latched on the top of the table. The reason why I’m here is because I’m being questioned yet again what happened that night. Only down side about this is I must’ve told this story at least a hundred times. Despite that, here I am, doing the same thing.

“You know this is a waste of time, right?” I sighed. “I already told you all I know and what happened.”

“Well the Princess has ordered it and I have to follow. Personally, I think your side is full of plot holes and doesn’t make sense. Which means you’re hiding something.”

“And what if I am? It’s not like it’ll do you any good.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. You see, Princess Celestia has authorized me to use something on you this time.” Shining said as his horn began to glow.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m about to cast a truth telling spell on you. With it, we’ll finally get the full story.”

My heart sank like a stone in the water at this information. A truth spell? Of all the fucking things? Of course, I’m in a world full of magic so it’s obvious they’d have something like this. My plan, Luna’s future, everything would fall apart if I say anything. Shining would tell Celestia, I might be found innocent but that won’t stop her from most likely coming after Luna. And I doubt Celestia would even believe the underground operations Blueblood had under his hoof. I had to think fast, Shining’s horn was glowing more and he looked like he was about to cast the spell. What could I do? What could I say? Wait, he’s a soldier, right? Which means if he promises something he has to keep his word, right? It was a long shot, but to be honest he’s one of the most decent stallions I’ve met since coming here. I have no choice, I have to tell him.

“Wait!”

Shining stops mid-casting and looks at me.

“I…have a request before you cast the spell.”

“Damn freak! You think you’re in any position to bargain for your life?!” One of the guards sneers.

“Hold it.” Shining said as he held up his hand. “What kind of request?”

“I must ask…no, beg you to please give us, and only us, the room.”

The guards were about to interject again but Shining glanced over his shoulder to them as a sort of final warning.

“And why’s that?”

“Please…”

Shining was hesitant at first, but after seeing how desperate I was he exhaled heavily and waved his hand to dismiss the guards.

“But sir, you can’t be serious?”

“Leave.”

“But-”

“10 laps.”

“Sir-”

“20.”

The guards looked at each other and back to Shining.”

“30, need I go on?”

They took that opportunity to leave the room and begin their supposed punishment. As soon as the door closed behind them, it was just me and him in a room that was as quiet as the still night.

“So now it’s just us.” Shining said. “And only us. But I must ask, why go so far as to beg something like this?”

“Because you’re the only trustworthy stallion I’ve come to know since I was thrown in jail.”

“We barely know each other though.”

“Well I say I know you well enough. You’re a soldier, a stallion of honor who always does what’s right for the sake of the kingdom he swore to protect and serve. You don’t flaunt your status as Captain to everyone you come across nor abuse your title to get whatever you want. And it’s because of that…I’m willing to tell you, and you alone, everything.”

“Why now? Why wait all this time and just now decide to confess when you could’ve just done so earlier on? If what I suspect is true, that you didn’t actually kill the prince, you could’ve spared yourself from looking like the world chewed you up and spat you out.”

“Don’t misunderstand, Captain. I did kill Blueblood. You remember that night as well as I, how his blood stained my hands and his corpse lay at my feet. You were the one who arrested me, after all.”

Shining narrows his eyes as he stared into mine. I knew this was a big gamble, but at this point I had to take my chances with him.

“What’s stopping me from just casting the truth spell on you?”

“You can if you want, I’ll just still keep my words to myself.”

“You sure you wanna do that? If you resist, you’ll be in immense pain.”

“Does it look like I give fucking two shades of shit?”

“I guess not.” Shining grumbled. “But I can’t lie to the Princess.”

“Then you’ll get nothing out of me. I’ll continue to rot and get beaten and you’ll just have to tell Celestia once again that today’s interrogation, much like the others, was fruitless.”

“And what exactly am I supposed to do with whatever you have to tell me?”

“That’s for you to decide, all I ask is that you keep it to yourself.”

Again, Shining was silent as he contemplated my terms. If you think about it, we’re both taking huge risks. I’m trusting this stallion who I’ve only occasionally spoken to, he’s risking his status as Captain by lying to the Princess, should he promise to keep all I have to say to himself, and if either of us get exposed it’s gonna be a total shit show.

“You must be truly desperate to come to me for help.”

“So do you agree to my terms?”

“It goes against my better judgment, but yes.”

“Say the words please.”

“I swear that whatever is said in this room, stays in this room. You have my word as Captain of the Royal Guard.”

I gazed deeply in his eyes and looked for any sign that he was lying about keeping this to himself. Thankfully, there were no signs of distrust and I actually smirked just a tad.

“Ok, what I have to tell you is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

Flashback

“How are you finding your new surroundings?”

“It’s…still a process, but I’m just starting to get used to it.”

It was during the week I was staying in the castle. At the time, I was still getting used to being in a completely different world filled with creatures I’ve never seen before and I was the only, in a word, alien among ponies. It was late at night and I was walking with one of the thestral guards Princesses Luna assigned to show me around at night. His name was Rain Claw and he was a friendly thestral stallion who seemed like an alright guy.

“I’m still not used to seeing ponies walking upright and with…hands and stuff.”

“Yeah? Well for us you don’t look all that different, aside from not having a tail, fur, muzzle, or hooves, you just look like a hairless pony with birth defects.”

“Gee thanks, I feel so much better.”

“Sorry, sorry.” Rain chuckled. “But seriously, you’ve got nothing to worry about. We ponies are a very friendly bunch and I’m sure you’ll fit right in.”

“I guess, hopefully the Princesses can find a way to send me home. Don’t get me wrong, this world is indeed as warm and friendly as you say, but I still have a life to live in my world and family who are probably missing me.”

“Fair enough, but until then try to relax. But most importantly stay out of trouble, even though we’re mostly friendly, we still take our job seriously when looking out for our kingdom.” Rain warns.

“Don’t worry, if there’s one thing my mom taught me is to always be on my best behavior. You won’t have to worry about me committing any sort of crime anytime soon.”

“I’ll hold you to that. Well, I think that’s enough of a tour for one night. I gotta get back to my post.” Rain said.

“Cool, I’ll see you around.” I said as I fist-bumped him.

He and I had parted ways as I continued to explore the castle. Thanks to Rain and a few other staff members of the castle, I was able to navigate the royal building decently enough not to get lost. The moon was high in the sky and stars were twinkling which made me smile and admire Luna’s work. I turned the corner and came across an empty hall with no guards or staff around, which was odd since there were at least one or two ponies everywhere else I ventured. I shrugged it off since I knew this was a faster route to where my guest room was. Along the way, I noticed one of the doors was slightly opened and I heard someone talking from inside. I would’ve just walked by and ignored it, but me being the curious cat I was said otherwise. I pretended to walk slowly past the door and listened in to what was being said.

“And when exactly will this take place?”

“A month from today, all is set for the usurpation.”

“Why not tell us the whole plan now?”

“Because if I did, you would all blab the plan away like the loose lipped stallions the lot of you are.”

“Excuse me, but we do indeed know how to keep a secret.”

“I doubt that, but it does not matter. Once all is said and done, we shall be the ones sitting on top and this kingdom shall be ours to rule in our image.”

“We look forward to it, my lord. So you shall be our new king.”

“As is my destiny.”

I quickly hid behind a pillar as the door swung open. 5 unicorn stallions, all wearing absurdly fancy clothing, walked out of the room with their muzzles held up high. Following them was the one stallion I was told to keep away from, Prince Blueblood himself. He shook hands with the last stallion who exited the room and walked in the other direction. I waited until it was only me left around and left my hiding spot.

“What the hell was that about? What could he possibly be planning?”

Part of me wanted to report him for this secret meeting, but something told me it wouldn’t do any good if I didn’t have the proper evidence to pin on him. Against my better judgment, I crept over to the room and slowly opened the door. It was your average office room with a large table, chairs, pair of doors leading out to a balcony, and a desk to the side. At first glance, there was nothing really significant about the room. I quietly paced around the room to try and find some kind of document or something, but came out empty handed. I decided to test my luck at the desk and saw there were a few drawers on the side, one of which was still slightly opened most likely due to Blueblood being careless. I reached out to open the drawer and was met with an unsettling sight. Two collars, one with a symbol of the sun and the other with a symbol of the moon, sat on top of a pile of papers. I shakily picked up the collar with the sun on it and noticed there were words engraved on it.

“Sun Bitch.” I said allowed, only to gasp and dropped the collar in horror.

The other collar probably said something like Moon Bitch which was equally sickening. I should have stopped there, the collars were more than enough evidence to pin against Blueblood, but I foolishly convinced myself that I needed more evidence. I pulled out one of the documents and saw that it was a letter written to Blueblood.

My Lord Blueblood,

All is set for the takeover and our spies are in place. On your command we shall subdue the Princesses and steal the Elements of Harmony so that they may be used for your ascension. You will also be pleased to know that the mercenaries you hired shall commence the cleansing once everything is set. By the end of this year, only worthy unicorn ponies shall remain while the pegasi and earth ponies will meet a gruesome end. Furthermore, your other agreement regarding the two Princesses has also passed. The collars you have at your disposal will siphon away all their magic to the point they are completely powerless. So long as you pass them to us to use them as broodmares to populate Equestria with only unicorn foals. Our organization is pleased that we will at last grasp what is rightfully ours. However you must heed this warning. Should anypony else catch wind of these plans, or if we feel as though you are not a stallion of your word and plan to betray us, this whole operation, the mercenaries, our spies, all you have worked tirelessly to hire and use will cancel our deal without a second’s notice. But hopefully, it will not come to that and your grand scheme will go off without a hitch.

Burn this letter and any other documents if you wish, until write each other again,

The Purest Ones

“Wh-what the f-fuck?!”

SLAM!

I jumped and whipped my head around to see Blueblood had come back looking beyond pissed to see me.

“You…” He seethed. “HOW DARE A FILTHY ANIMAL LIKE YOU STICK YOUR DISGUSTING NOSE WHERE IT DOESN’T BELONG!”

Blueblood’s horn glowed and was about to blast me so I acted fast and grabbed both the collars and held them out in front of me.

“Stay back! If you even think of blasting me, I’ll tear these things apart!”

Blueblood halts his spell casting and growls at me.

“You dare threaten me?!”

“You’re damn right I am, you fucking psycho!”

“I demand you hand those to me this instant!”

“You’re out of your fucking mind if you think I’m gonna do that! What the fuck are you even planning?! Mass genocide?! Hostile takeover?! Forcing Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to become common broodmares?! They’re your god damn aunts, you sicko!”

“SILENCE! YOU KNOW NOTHING, YOU DAMN INGRATE!”

“I won’t let you…” I said as I pulled the collars apart. “I won’t let you carry out your fucked up plan with whoever it is you’re working with!”

“Humph! And just how do you plan to do that, human?” Blueblood huffs as he walks over to me. “You think they’ll believe you? An alien who just happened to stumble across something that I doubt you would be able to explain? You forget who I am, human, I am Prince Blueblood.”

I was scared out of my mind as he walked closer to me. My mind screamed to tear the damn collars apart but the way he was looking at me made my body go stiff.

“You are nothing but a fly who flew too close to the spider’s web.” Blueblood said as he stood before me. “Now give me those before I-”

RRRRRRIIIIIIIIPPPP!

With all the strength I could muster, I pulled the collars apart out of the spur of the moment. Blueblood watched in horror and rising anger as the collars actually fizzled a bit, probably losing whatever power that held them together.

“You…how…dare…” Blueblood muttered.

“Now you won’t hurt anyone without these.” I said as I threw the tattered remains of the collars on the floor.

“HOW DARE YOU?!?!”

Blueblood took the opportunity to blast me with a beam of magic, sending me flying into the wall and falling to the floor on my back. I felt like I had just gotten hit by a truck as I cried out in pain. I tried to pick myself up but something hard slammed on my head. I glanced up to see Blueblood glaring down at me with his hoof digging into my scalp.

“You meddlesome little bug, you should have kept to yourself and not meddle in others’ business. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!”

“I saved everyone, that’s what!” I definitely snapped.

“Wrong!” Blueblood hissed as he stomped on my head. “You merely delayed the inevitable. I still have my hired forces ready and waiting to strike! So what if you destroy the collars? I shall simply acquire new ones and my plan will continue without a single obstacle in my way!”

“I’ll tell everyone what you’re planning! I’ll tell this to Celestia and she’ll be livid with you for what you were planning! I don’t care if no one believes me!”

“You don’t seem to be grasping the situation. You won’t do a bucking thing, freak! I’ve been planning this for years, ever since I found out that urserper bitch of an Aunt Luna of mine was set to return from the moon! Aunty Celestia should have killed her for her crimes against Equestria, she’s not fit to hold the Alicorn name! But I am.” Blueblood leaned down to look me dead in the eye. “I shall use those stupid Elements of Harmony, along with the combined Alicorn magic, to give me the necessary power to ascend to an Alicorn myself! Those blasted aunts of mine have sat on the throne for too long! All they’re good for is living the rest of their lives as common whores! My perfect world, a world where only the worthy shall live, is within my grasp! And you, a disgusting alien, think you can thwart my plans after ripping up something I can regain in a matter of months?! A fool! A blind bloody fool you are! This kingdom, this world, is mine! It’s all mine to rule and I will cleanse it in my own image! And as for you, I will now personally ensure that every waking moment of your presence in this world is a living nightmare in Tartarus! No pony shall deny me my destiny of godhood! Not you! Not Luna! Not Celestia! No one! I shall be the eternal ruler of the world and I will destroy anypony in my way!”

The mad fucker had completely lost it. At the time, I was afraid for my life. What was he planning to do to me? What sick and twisted acts of torture did he have in store in order to keep my mouth shut? I couldn’t think straight, I was so scared, and all I could do was just lie there.

“Now then.” Blueblood said as he levitated the documents from the drawer. “I highly doubt you would be able to expose me, but just to make sure no pony gets any ideas for your allegations.” Blueblood snapped his fingers and the papers all burst into flames as they were suspended in mid air. I watched in horror as the only evidence available to pin him burned away to ashes. “Now that that’s taken care of, what shall I do with you?” He said in a sadistic tone as he pulled out a dagger from his suit pocket.

“Blueblood…”

Both of us froze as we both turned to the doorway to see a very very pissed off Alicorn of the moon. Luna stood there with her fists trembling and her eyes glowing completely white as she glared at Blueblood with a burning fury.

“A-Aunty Luna?”

“We hath always known of thy cruel intentions. But we did not foresee just how cruel and twisted thee actually was.” Luna sneered.

“W-Wait, Aunty Luna, it is not as you think!”

“Release the human at once.”

Blueblood looked down at me and seethed at me as he looked back up at Luna with a defiant glare.

“IF I AM TO GO DOWN, I SHALL TAKE THIS HUMAN WITH ME!” Blueblood roared as he prepared to stab me with the dagger, making me clench my eyes shut.

Shit! I don’t wanna die!

SHUNK!

I opened my eyes ever so slightly to see Luna’s horn glowing with a horrified look on her face. I felt something drip on my face and looked up to see a very grim sight. Blueblood stood there with blood seeping out of his mouth and nostrils. He still held the knife in his hand as it was covered in a midnight blue aura…but the blade was stabbed in his chest which meant he stabbed himself.

“Wh…at…”

Blueblood collapsed backwards and I scrambled to stand up. Blood pooled from the stab wound as Blueblood stared up at the ceiling, coughing on his own blood.

“My…godhood…” he muttered as he reached his arm up, only for it to go slack and his body go limp as blood continued to pour out.

“He’s…dead.” I said.

“I-I-I didn’t…he held the dagger…I-I tried to pull it away from him…but his grip was strong!”

Luna collapsed to her knees and looked at her hands.

“What have I done…?”

“Princess…I-“

“We heard the shouting down here!”

“This is where Blueblood’s office is, we must hurry!”

Voices were heard from outside the room which meant the guards were closing in. Luna was still in shock, Blueblood is dead, and if anyone saw this grim sight now, one can only imagine what was going to happen. I quickly had to weigh my options: can’t Luna hide the body? No, there’s not enough time to decide where to hide it plus there was too much blood to clean off the floor. Do we quickly burn it? No, that would only worsen the situation since Luna probably wouldn’t have the heart to desecrate Blueblood’s body. Time was ticking by fast and the guards were closing in. So many possible choices, yet none seemed to work since the prime suspect is dead and either one or both of us would be in serious trouble. Not to mention, if anyone learned the truth, Luna would probably be punished for this crime. Even after she had just returned from her banishment I had heard about a little while ago. There was no time left so with my mind set on what to do, I walked over to Blueblood’s body.

“I…I didn’t…”

“Go.”

“What…?”

“Get out of here.” I said as I grabbed the dagger and pulled it out of the body. Blood splashed on my hands as I looked at Luna.

“You need to leave Princess. Right now.”

“But…what about you?”

“It doesn’t matter, you need to get out of here now. Fly out the window and return to your chambers or something.”

“But-”

“GET OUTTA HERE BEFORE I KILL YOU AS WELL!”

Luna flinched and stood up and ran towards the balcony doors. She opened the doors and quickly took to the skies. I sighed as I looked down at the blood that stained the dagger and my hands. The door swung open and multiple gasps filled the room. I slowly looked up to see multiple guards, Shining Armor, and even Princess Celestia all in a state of shock and disbelief.

“Blue…blood…?” Celestia whimpered.

“What did you…” Shining muttered.

“Isn’t it obvious? I killed the fucker for the bastard he is.”

End of Flashback

“And that’s the whole story.”

Shining sat there as he listened to my tale, unable to process the information given to him. Meanwhile I just told my story without missing a single detail. Shining then reached up and held his head, still with a look of disbelief and stared at his other hand.

“Princess Luna…killed him?”

“An accident, he was gonna kill me. After a week since I was arrested by you and sentenced to the dungeons, Luna came to visit me for the first time and I told her everything I told you before you and Celestia showed up in the office. The first thing she wanted to do was tell Celestia but I forbade her from doing so since there was already too much heat on me as it is.”

“But why take the blame if it was an accident?”

“Luna already has a bit of a rep ever since her return. Even if it was an accident, do you really think Equestria would believe her? Especially Celestia, the mere thought of her own sister being the cause of her nephew’s death would destroy her.”

“So…you lied not only for Princess Luna’s sake but for Princess Celestia’s sake?”

“Yes.”

“Even if it meant being branded as a murderer?”

“Would you do the same thing in my shoes?”

“I…honestly don’t know.”

“All that matters to me is that Luna continues being free and I continue taking the fall for what happened for her sake.”

“But what about your home? Don’t you wish to return to your world?”

“I have bigger things to worry about now besides getting back home.”

“And the documents? You’re sure there was nothing else you found?”

“Whatever else he may have stashed away from prying eyes is beyond me. Besides, Blueblood got what he wanted in the end: he brought me down with him and the only difference is he’s 6ft under.”

“So what do you plan to do now? Just stay in prison for the rest of your days? What about that organization you said he wrote too? Surely if we prove that Blueblood was planning those awful things you’d be granted leniency.”

“We? What do you mean we? I surely can’t do anything.”

“But maybe I can.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m saying I wanna help you.”

“Just like that? No more further questions? No trying to make sure I wasn’t lying?”

“You swore that all you said was the truth, and I believe you. You’re being unfairly imprisoned for a crime you took the fall for and you deserve to be as free as anypony else.”

“But what about Princess Luna?”

“I’m not entirely sure yet. But if I gather enough evidence, we can reopen the investigation and prove that what happened was an act of self-defence.”

“That organization would have been gone by now, you know.”

“Who cares about those ponies, all I care about is finding whatever else Blueblood hid in his office. I’m sure there’s something in that room we can use to grant your pardon.”

I thought about his offer, that if he would be able to find something else at the scene of the crime I’d be able to get out of here. But if I did, Luna might use it as an opportunity to confess what really happened.

“Ok, I’ll leave you to your investigation.”

“Thank you, and maybe we-”

“But I still have to take the blame for Blueblood’s death.”

“What? Why? You didn’t kill him.”

“It doesn’t matter. I won’t allow Luna to tell Celestia what really happened. You want to prove Blueblood being the true criminal? Then go find as much evidence if there is any. You also want to try and convince Celestia it was all in self-defense? Good luck with that since she hates my guts. But as far as who’s to blame, that’s my burden and mine alone to bear.”

“You’re asking for a lot but not much in return.”

“I don’t really want anything in return anyway. Just the satisfaction that Luna stays clear of all charges and Blueblood dies with a legacy of corruption and attempted bloodshed against Equestria.”

Shining glanced away for a moment as he scratched his chin. If Shining could truly prove all of Blueblood’s plan to overthrow Celestia, then maybe she’ll listen to me when I tell her it was an accident without involving Luna.

“Fine, I accept your terms.”

“And I can trust you to find evidence and prove this case an accident?”

“It won’t be easy, Blueblood was always a snake in the grass. He was an uptight jackflank but he was no fool.”

“Then I guess I’ll leave you to it, and good luck to you.”

Shining nodded and stood up and turned to the door. Before he opened it, he turned to me and smiled a little.

“You know, I kinda always knew you weren’t the killing type.”

“And why’s that?”

“You don’t really look like somepony who would be able to take a life.”

I only stared at him with a blank expression as he opened the door.

“Captain.”

“Wh-what are you doing here?”

“I have come to speak with the prisoner.”

“But I already questioned him.”

“And?”

“He…just said the same thing as usual.”

“Is that so? Then I maybe I should try to get him to speak his mind.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary. He’s guilty of the crime, what more could we want from him?”

“He may have murdered my nephew, but he didn’t say why. I want to know what else he’s obviously hiding.”

“But your majesty-”

“Move Captain, that’s an order.”

I heard Shining gulp as he stepped to the side and Princess Celestia herself walked in and already shot me a glare. I saw Shining shoot me an apologetic look before the door closed and it was just me and her. I looked down at my hands as she calmly walked over to the chair and gently pulled it out and daintily sat down and folded her hands on the table.

“I have been patient, more patient than I care to admit. You are a fool if you think you can trick me into believing you killed my nephew simply out of spite.”

I didn’t answer, but then felt a small tingling sensation on the back of my head. I glanced up to see her horn glowing which could only mean one thing.

Shit…

WHAM!

Celestia threw my head down on the table with her magic and my eyes were blurry and there was a ringing in my ear. Celestia didn’t give me a chance to recover as she slammed my head on the table again.

WHAM!

“Until you give me a proper answer, I will not stop until you are left unconscious.”

“…Go…to…Hell…”

“…Very well then.”

SLAM!

Author's Note

The tension is high and his life becomes more difficult for the burden he bares. Will Shining Armor be able to help grant his leniency?

Hope you all enjoyed!

~WurkyWilk has left the building…