Chapter 5

Almost a month has passed since I was dubbed Shining Armor’s P.O.I., and life in prison has somewhat improved for me. I’m no longer getting my ass handed to me, the food is much more filling than just being fed rations, and I no longer feel sleep deprived thanks to Luna. She even visited me during my dreams and I showed her some memories of my world. When I showed her what video games were, she was so blown away she said that she was going to have some of the best inventors in the land come forth and make a copy of one of the game systems I showed her. It was also pretty cool to actually play some games in my dream thanks to Luna’s power and it was quite entertaining how she completely lost herself in playing games.

She almost threatened to keep me sleeping so she could play more to which I had to convince her that this was all still in my head and I couldn’t sleep forever. To say she was upset was a bit of an understatement since she gave me the biggest pouty look I’ve ever seen, like I had just taken away her favorite toy and wouldn’t give it back. Maybe she did have a point that video games are somewhat of a bad influence on people, even ponies for that matter.

Shining has visited me in my cell to update me on his investigation. So far, he’s had little luck but the drawings I gave him of the ponies I saw helped out since he was able to identify them pretty easily. He has some of his most trusted stallions to approach them and interrogate them and hopefully they’ll give up something useful. We sometimes brainstorm where Blueblood could be hiding any more documents he had left over besides the ones he burned. Blueblood may have been an entitled crack pot, but I guess he wasn’t as stupid as he looked. Shining also told me that he’s received a lot of requests from Celestia to visit me to which he declined each and every one. No doubt she probably wanted to knock me around some more and I’m not sure my brain could handle another concussion.

Most would think I’d hate her for all she’s done to me: starve me, beat me, allow the guards to abuse me, but honestly I can’t bring myself to do so. She’s mourning the loss of her nephew and is too distraught to think clearly and is lashing out at the one who is responsible for his death. I also worried about how she might react once the truth comes to light. Will she accept the truth? That Blueblood was a power crazed maniac who had plans to take over Equestria with his totalitarian rule? And then there’s Luna, her one and only little sister who probably still blames herself for Blueblood’s death despite me trying to convince her it wasn’t her fault.

Luna looked like she was under as much pressure as I was and I had the foreboding suspicion that she’d crack and spill everything before Shining could find anything. I couldn’t really do much except keep reassuring her that things will turn out for the better soon whenever she visited me in person or in my dreams.

My mind drifted back to Celestia, how she must be seething because she can’t take any more cracks at me without Shining’s permission. I gotta hand it to the Captain though, he’s got guts to be able to stand up to someone like Celestia. To be honest, I felt real shitty for lying to her and causing her more grief than she deserves, especially making Shining lie to her saying he used the truth spell on me when he actually didn’t. Someone like her, who’s been around as long as everyone says, probably witnessed a lot in the span of over a thousand years. She didn’t seem to be a stranger to death, but I guess this was the first time she’s experienced something like the murder of a loved one. Shining’s P.O.I. thing might be protecting me somewhat, but that doesn’t mean she’d try and find a loophole of some kind. For the meantime, I just have to continue waiting for Shining, and hope he comes up with something soon.

It was another night with moon high in the sky and I was just doodling on a spare piece of paper since I had nothing else to do other than sit around in my cell. I always liked drawing my hands for some reason, like each sketch tells a story depending which way they were facing and how my fingers looked. This one depicts how I am in prison and trying to pull the shackle off. The blood represents my experiences, and hopefully no more would be shed.

I’m brought out of my thoughts when I hear hoofsteps approaching my cell. I thought it was Luna coming to visit me again but to my surprise, it was the thestral stallion I met a while back.

“Hey there.” He said with a mock wave.

“Uh…Rain Claw right?”

“That’s me, how’re you holding up?”

“I’m…fine thanks, what’re you doing here?”

“Well I haven’t seen you in a while so I thought I’d stop by and pay my respects. Don’t worry, I made sure to get clearance from Captain Armor before coming here.”

“Ok, well as you can see I’m pretty caged up, as it were.”

“I can see that.” He chuckled. “But damn, I did not expect you to pull something like this: killing Prince Blueballs? That takes quite a pair.”

“Yeah well, I don’t regret what I did.” I said, trying to sound sincere. “Fucker pissed me the hell off so I decided to shut him up, permanently.”

“You’re crazy.” Rain laughed. “But I see your point, if only a little. Blueblood was probably hated by almost everypony I know. I’m surprised he wasn’t killed earlier on before you showed up.”

“Nothing like a knife through the gut to get the job done.” I scoffed.

“I agree, he must’ve been pissed when you tore those collars up.”

“Oh he was, he even-”

My mind and body froze like a statue all at once. I looked at Rain like I had just seen a poltergeist right in front of me and he was the specter.

“What’s the matter?”

“What…did you just say?”

“I said Blueblood was hated by-”

“No, no…after that…” I said as I slowly backed away from the bars. “I…didn’t say anything about any collars.”

“Collars? What collars?”

“You said he was pissed that I tore up the collars, but I did not say anything about any collars, you did.”

Rain stared at me for a moment and blinked a few times, only for his lips to curl in a very unsettling fanged grin.

“Heh…I knew you were stupid, but I didn’t think you were sharp.” He muttered as he reached for something behind his belt.

“Wha-”

SHUNK!

I gasped after Rain threw something at me as something sharp pierced my gut and I slowly looked down to see a small knife sticking out of my shirt. A red blotch spread all around as I looked back up and Rain had just entered my cell and shut the door behind him.

“You’re one unlucky bucker, you stupid human.”

Before I could respond, Rain raised his fist and slammed it across my jaw, making me fall backwards and against the wall. The wound in my gut made itself known as I cried out in pain. Rain was quick to step up to me and slammed his hoof on my knee, causing it to crack and me scream out in pain louder.

“That’s right, keep screaming, it’s what you get for being a thorn in my employer’s sides. It’s just you and me in this cell, and I’m going to make sure I enjoy this very much.”

“GAH! What are you talking about?!” I demanded.

It then donned on me that none of the other guards that were supposed to be on duty had come to even check on why I was screaming. When I glanced at Rain’s hands I saw that they had blotches of blood all over his gloves.

“You…sick fucker! You murdered the guards?!”

“What’s that I hear?” Rain asks as he raises his hand next to his ear. “Is that the sound of the pot calling the kettle black?”

“It’s not the same, you sicko! I killed Blueblood because he deserved it! Those guards were innocent and you killed them in cold blood!”

Rain scowled at me and reached over and yanked the knife out of my gut, causing me to yelp and blood began to pool out of my stomach.

“I guess it takes a killer to know a killer.” Rain said as he flipped the knife around and plunged it into my leg.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRHHHHH!!!”

“You just had to stick your nose where it didn’t belong, didn’t you? This land should be on its knees by now, bowing down to its new ruler but you went and killed him.”

“Gah! You…worked for…Blueblood?!”

“Yes, and he was my meal ticket to living the good life after he would’ve taken over. I should be surrounded by my own herd of mares and laying on a heap of bits, but you had to go and buck it all up. After Blueblood was pronounced dead, the first thing I wanted to do was kill you as soon as I got my hands on you. But then you went and got yourself arrested and I couldn’t get anywhere near you, not even at night since that moon bitch kept visiting you. But then that idiot Captain went and declared you a pony of interest, so all I had to do was wait for the perfect opportunity. Just imagine how The Purest Ones will reward me once I bring your head to them on a pike, they’ll probably even let me take a seat at their inner table.”

“They’re nothing but a bunch of fascist terrorists! Hell bent on committing regicide and mass genocide! How could you even think of throwing in with bastards like them?!”

WHACK! SMACK! WHACK! WHACK!

Blow after blow, Rain kept striking me in my face and chest, leaving me even more bloody and battered than I ever was before.

“You think I give a shit about the bucking kingdom? All I care about is being on the winning side and being set for life. I don’t even give a shit what that organization does to Equestria, this and they can all go to Tartarus for all I care.”

“You…sick…fucking…prick…”

“Yeah well it doesn’t really matter now, does it? Blueblood’s dead, their plan as been set back, and it’s all your fault…or is it?”

I didn’t answer as Rain grinds his hoof into my open wound in my leg, making me grunt.

“When I first met you, I thought you were the most weak as shit creature I’ve ever met. You looked like you wouldn’t hurt a fly, and you spoke so carefree and innocently. Then all of a sudden you make a complete 180 turn and go and kill somepony? I may be a grunt to most ponies, but I ain’t that simple. There’s no way that Blueblood, a member of royalty and a unicorn for that matter, could’ve possibly been offed by a little shit like you. Which can only mean you weren’t alone that night, and you didn’t actually kill Blueblood. So that begs the question, who actually killed the Prince?”

I glared defiantly at Rain through the blood seeping into my eye and spat at his hoof, making him glare at me. He then raised his hoof and started stomping on my chest, knocking the wind out of me before I had a chance to catch my breath.

“All I wanted to know was the truth, but you went and made it difficult. And since I don’t really wanna waste anymore of my time, I’ll just get right to business.”

Through my fading vision, I watched as Rain leaned down and grabbed the back of my head and forced it to look upwards as he pressed the blade of the knife against my neck.

“When you see Blueblood down in Tartarus, tell him I really hated working for him the whole time before he died.”

As Rain pressed the blade more into my neck, I closed my eyes as my body began to feel numb. I lost a lot of blood, my chest hurts from the many ribs he cracked and broke, my knee is shattered, and I’m about to die alone in this cell. My life started to flash before my eyes, how I wouldn’t be able to return home to my family, my friends, my life. All of it was slipping away, yet I was so close to living that life again. As I started to lose consciousness, I felt the knife being pulled away from my neck and a loud crashing sound. I couldn’t see clearly as my eyes began to shut, but I saw many figures quickly approach me and try to tell me something but I couldn’t hear them. I guess this was my end, but at least…I managed to do some good. Even if it was all a wasted effort.

What…a bittersweet…end…

Author's Note

Could this be it…?

~WurkyWilk has left the building…