Chapter 8: Down The Bloody Road to War

Chapter 8

Caius felt a sharp pain shoot through his skull as he slowly regained consciousness, for a moment he seemed unable to remember what happened, his senses slowly all returned, as he tried to get back up, he looked up, and gasped at what he saw. All the ponies in his unit were lined up, hooves behind their heads, a large stallion, slowly pacing behind them. The large stallion was surrounded by five other ponies, all unicorns, all had black coats, and all blind. Caius lost his breath from the shock of his sudden realization. The enemies his team had defeated not long ago, the enemy he at first knew nothing about. He knew the Insurrectionist were more organized than they originally thought, but this, this was too much.

Suddenly it all became so clear to him "This is how they put up a fight, how they cause so many casualties on our end, the reason the insurrectionist’s provided any challenge at all" Caius thought to himself; he tried to sneak another peek, as he quickly crawled behind an overturned cart. He watched as another black pony, approached the largest, and knelt before him.

“Commander, the area is secure, we have driven the oppressors back.”

“Good, have you found anything that fits the criteria?”

“No sir, none of the prisoners match.”

“Keep searching, we need somepony who fits the doctors’ needs for his work, continue your search, the rest of you, get rid of this filth.”

“Yes my liege.” The smaller stallion dipped his head, as his leader used magic to teleport away”

“Go, all of you, find more survivors, when you do bring them to me, you three finish the scum.”
With that there of the black ponies charged their horns, and began to execute the soldiers. Caius looked away, unable to watch the gruesome scene, he closed his eyes, trying to calm himself, when he felt a hoof on his shoulder, Caius felt his heart stop with fear, he turned to see a black pony, uncloak itself.

“Hey I’ve got one, this fool must’ve been watching the whole time.” The stallion grabbed Caius by the horn, and threw him into the opening. Caius shrunk back as the ponies surrounded him, Caius prepared for the worse, bracing himself for a beating, or worse, but instead he felt nothing, they slowly backed off, as the one of the warriors trotted up to him, the stallion then tapped Caius with his horn, for a brief moment, Caius felt a surge of energy run through him, which quickly left and was replaced by exhaustion. The stallion slowly gave a wicked smile, and nodded to the others, Caius looked at him with bewilderment, as one of the stallion trotted up, and with a single punch, knocked Caius unconscious again.

3 Months later

Caius rose from his cot, rubbing his horn as pain shot through it, for the past month, Caius had been having near debilitating migraines, sometimes it wouldn’t be too bad, at other times, he was almost unable to get up, he slowly got off the stained mattress he was forced to sleep in, his cell was a small cubicle, consisting of a toilet, his mattress, and the chains which bound him to the floor. Caius picked up a small stone with his magic, and made another tally mark on the wall. One hundred and sixteen marks, Caius had been keeping track of how long he was imprisoned, using as a way to stay sane.

“Get up you dogs, get up, you have work to do.” A gruff voice shouted through the halls unlocking the cell.
Every day it was the same routine, get up, get rations, and then work in the mine until the your hooves bled, and shattered.

Caius slowly trotted over to a table with his food, which could one could hardly even consider edible, Caius nearly choked from offensive odors, coming off of the grey paste in front of him, still something was better than nothing, he thought to himself, he braced himself for the repulsive taste, as he prepared to eat the waste. Caius winced; the taste was absolutely terrible, their odor rancid, he felt that eating, whatever it was, was just wrong. Caius nearly fell to the ground, choking from the foul material he had just ingested; just then Caius felt a presence around him he looked up to find a group of inmates surrounding him.

“What’s the matter Equestrian filth, you still soft from all your fancy pastries you eat.” The inmates grinned down at Caius, who just glanced at him, as he got back on his hooves, only to be pushed down again.

“You Equestrian ponies are all the same, soft and weak.” The Inmate now spat on Caius’ face, causing him grimace, as he wiped the spit off his face.

“Viktor, let us crush this puny filth, he is so useless in the mine’s anyway.” One of the shorter inmate’s now spoke up, the leader of the three simply grinned, and nodded, as the other four began to beat Caius. Had this been a different situation, Caius would have by now destroyed all five of them, he would have crushed them with his bare hooves, but he knew that if he didn’t act, he would be innocent, and wouldn’t be punished when the guards came to break up the fight,, the only question was, where were the guard’s. Caius tried to see if there were any guards even around, when all of the sudden another inmates joined the hazing, except he didn’t attack Caius, he was defending Caius. Caius looked up in shock, as several other inmates, got up and joined in decimating Caius’s attackers. Caius slowly got up and got ready to leave, when he felt a hoof on his shoulder. Caius turned bracing himself for a punch, but to his surprise, not hoof met his face; he turned to find a stallion behind him.

“Come, we must go before the guards get here, move soldier. MOVE!” The grey stallion said, now motioning Caius towards the door, Caius took the opportunity, and galloped to the exit of the cafeteria. Caius stopped to catch his breath as he slowed himself just out the door. The gray stallion, trotted past him.

“Come on, this way, I need to talk to you soldier.” The aging stallion waved Caius over, who promptly followed him. Caius followed the pony, till they reached a small cave, the stallion stopped, and turned to Caius. Caius looked at the stallion in front of him, he had a gray coat, with a short, and graying navy blue mane, scars all over his face, and had a red scarf on. Caius, gave a puzzled look, as the stallion turned to face Caius.

“So,” the stallion said with a low raspy voice “you’re the new Equestrian here, name, rank, and unit.” The stallion demanded. Caius felt as he was in interrogation again.

“Cirrus, Caius L, Sergeant, 203rd Infantry Division. Anything else you want to know?” Caius asked slightly annoyed, a frown on his face. The gray stallion chuckled lightly, as he reached over and gave Caius a pat on the back.

“Son, I hope you realize you’re not alone here, you’re not the only Equestrian trooper who was unlucky enough to get captured, and sent here.” The gray stallion pulled a tan, and gold beret, out a small crack in the wall, Caius recognized it instantly, the beret worn only by the best soldiers in the Equestrian military, The Solar Legion, Caius recognized the beret, due to the fact that his brother Caesar, was a Legionary himself, Legionaries, had the most dangerous jobs in the military, only the best of the best could become legionaries.

“ So, now that you know I’m a friend, I should probably introduce myself. I am Broken Steel, and I couldn’t help but notice that. Steel paused and looked around for guards, seeing that they were still in the clear, he resumed. “ That the prison commander, seems to have some special interest in you.
Caius raised an eyebrow, giving a suspicious look. “What are you even talking about?” He asked.

“Oh come on, you know what I’m talking about.” Caius leaned in closer; he couldn’t wait to hear this crazy inmates story.

“He must be crazy, he has to be.” Caius thought to himself.
Broken began to explain. “Every other night, the guards come and take you away, your usually gone for about four to five hours, and then they bring you back, only last night, you returned with something.

“And what would that be?” Caius asked chuckling slightly with disbelief.

“See for yourself friend.” Steel pointed a hoof toward Caius’s head. Steel looked around for something reflective, soon coming across a small gem, he picked it up, and held it in front of Caius. At first Caius didn’t see anything in his reflection, but upon further examination, he found a large scar, behind his horn, Caius felt his legs become weak as he began to have strange flashes, he suddenly began to remember moments, moments when the guards took him out of his cell, he remembered being strapped to a table. Caius felt like screaming, as the painful memories, or pieces of them, returned to him, Caius almost collapsed under the weight of realization.

“What did they do to me?” Caius asked, struggling to get the words out.

“WHAT DID THEY DO TO ME?!?” Caius suddenly sized up, grabbed Steel and slammed him into the wall.

“Son, I wish I knew, but listen, right now we should focus on a way of getting you out, don’t you think?” The gray stallion said sincerely, trying to reassure Caius whose side he was on. “Your choice friend” He said.
Caius looked away for a moment, thinking about what to do. He thought hard about it, what he chose to do now, would affect everything in the future, after a minute he released Steel from his grip, and made his decision.

“Alright, but how the hell are we going to escape? In case you haven’t noticed, this place is practically a fortress, only one way in, or out, how do you expect to get out?” Caius asked, now very serious given the new circumstances.

“Nopony ever said we can’t make a way out.” Steel said a wicked grin on his face as he looked up at Caius.

“That’s not really possible either, this place is patrolled, watched, and guarded, by everypony, and their cousin, nothing would go unnoticed, and plus what about the other inmates, wont they want in on this as well?”

“Oh they already are, and even if none of the others escape, we can still use the chaos of the uprising, to make our getaway.” Caius looked at him with shock. Did he not care about the other ponies he was imprisoned with?

“What about the other Equestrian POW’s?” Caius asked concerned. “Aren’t they going to get out with us, what about their chance at freedom?”

Steel now sighed and lowered his head; he took a long breath as he tried to say this in a way that would offend Caius. “We won’t abandon our brothers, but we cannot control their fate, if they die here then at least they went down fighting, but believe me when I say that I don’t see the others as expendable.”

“Then who is, surely you’re going to use someone as cannon fodder?” Caius now became more and more frustrated, he knew where this was going, but he just couldn’t stand the idea of using other ponies as meat shields.

Steel spoke “A large majority of the ponies here, aren’t Equestrian prisoners, most of them are common criminals, traitors, people who refused to fight for the rebellion, the works.” Steel sighed again as he continued on. “Most of the ponies here are locals, and they’re here for a reason, we’ll just have to throw them out there.”

Caius now frustrated with fact he’d have to accept this reality. He didn’t want to use, and exploit these ponies, but Steel was right, most of these prisoners, were here with good reason, but that didn’t excuse the fact that using another ponies life to your own benefit, controlling them like a puppet, was just wrong, still Caius knew that if he wanted to escape, it was be necessary for his survival.

Caius felt a lump form in his stomach, he already felt sick, just thinking about the ponies he would have to manipulate, and how they would all probably die, Caius closed his eyes, and thought for a moment, would this all be worth it, the death of thousands of ponies, just to save a handful of ponies? Caius thought long, an hard about for the rest of the day, he thought about it all day, at the end of the day, he knew what needed to be done, he would do whatever it took to escape, even if it mean losing a piece of himself.

~Present~

“Well Mr. Cirrus, I’m happy to say that it appears that you have recovered much faster than expected, and that we will be releasing you tomorrow.” Sketch’s eyes shot open as he came back to reality.

“I…I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”

“Your finished recovering, you’re going home tomorrow.” The doctor said, he turned as a knock came from the door. “And it appears you have a visitor, Miss Shine probably. The doctor trotted over to the door and opened it, outside stood Morning curious as to the why the doctor opened the door, instead of Sketch calling her in.

“Ah, Miss Shine, I figured it would be you, your free to talk to him if you like, I just leave you two alone for a while. Morning simply nodded, and slowly walked in through the door, as the doctor excused himself from the room.

“Well you’re looking a lot better.” Morning said as she trotted up to Sketch’s bedside, and took a seat next to him.

“Yeah, I can’t wait to get the hay, out of here, now the only problem is where to go, once I’m up, and at it again.” Caius said smiling lightly.

“ Can’t you go stay with your family, like your parents?” Morning asked puzzled.

“And suffer another near death experience at the hands of my relatives? No, no usually my brothers take me in when I need a place to go, whenever our crazed cousins try to make me suffer an “unfortunate accident”.”

Morning gasped at this, and whispered “Your family tried to kill y- ” Sketch interrupted her, knowing what the question would be.

“Oh yes, multiple occasions, the others in my family, are extremely prejudiced against any other tribe, well actually just unicorns, earth ponies aren’t really my families enemies, but the cirrus family has always hated unicorns, until my grandfather that is.”

Morning looked confused, Sketch could tell she didn’t quite understand the situation, and how the ponies in his family ticked.

Sketch cleared his throat. “Its like this, back when Equestria was still being formed, before we had the princesses, my great, great, great, great, great, great, grandfather, Magnus Lanius Cirrus, was one of Commander Hurricane’s lieutenants. Lieutenant Cirrus, was still hateful of the other tribes, and despite what Commander Hurricane told him, he still hated the other tribes, especially unicorns, because during the tribal wars, rumor has it, that the unicorns who were short on troops, used magic to make soldiers, they used the dead bodies of ponies, and used magic to put life into those soldiers, these soldiers were extraordinary, they felt no pain, they never became fatigued, and they were even rumored to have supernatural powers, you turn invisible, ghost, spooky stuff. Once the unicorns made enough troops, the made them into an army, an army only referred to as the Ragnarok, this army was supposedly unbeatable, well good ole gramps, full of pride, up on his high pedestal, he thought he could be them.”

Morning interrupted him for a moment “So he lost right?”

“ Yeah, but not before his forces managed to slaughter hundreds of them, turns out though, that every time a pony, killed a Ragnarok soldier, the magic inside, leaped into the soldier they were just killed by, then after the battle, as a few of the undead soldiers still stood, old Magnus formerly basking in his glory, was forced to watch, as his entire army was eaten by the magical energy, it slowly ate away at their flesh, this built a really deep grudge against unicorns, after his army fell, the Ragnarok, forced him to watch as they tortured, any and all survivors. Magnus pleaded Hurricane to allow him, to find a way to wipe out unicorns, but Hurricane, would have none of that, two days later the war ended, because no tribe, could afford to do so, and a few weeks after that, Equestria was founded, but that grudge still burned as if it just happened. After that Magnus forbid his sons from marrying anypony who wasn’t a Pegasus, and to show he was serious, he killed his first sons’ wife, who had just married a unicorn. He told his sons of the atrocities that unicorns committed during the war, his sons naturally agreed with him, except his first son of course, his first son left the family, and Nopony knows what happened to him, but after that, the Cirrus family hated unicorns with a burning passion.”

Sketch suddenly grew concerned as Mornings eyes widened as she took in the story. She blinked a few times, with a blank expression before coming back to reality, she looked at Sketch with a raised brow.

“Wow, must be great to live with them given your situation, j...just how did you manage to survive living with them?” She said briefly waving her hoof at his horn.

Sketch looked up for a moment, thinking back to his foalhood days, "Well, theyre werent really homicidal back then, they mostly just bullied me, and they knew if they did anything to me my father would find out, and believe me making him mad, is the biggest mistake a pony can make, ESPECIALLY if it involves his family." Sketch chuckled lightly " Dad was always extremely protective of us."

Morning slowly shook her head, she wondered how one could live like that, and still be sane (and alive) after all those years. Back to the main problem, where will Sketch stay? She thought to herself, then she got an idea, she had to think about this though, was is really a smart decision, why not, he wasn’t a stranger anymore,if anything he was more of a good friend, and it wouldn’t hurt anyone, would it?

“Well, I guess, that … maybe you could……stay with me for awhile.”
Sketch’s ears perked up slightly, not having heard what she said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that, what did you say?”

Morning was now turning beet red, she spoke up, but was still inaudible near the end of her sentence.

Sketch, now leaned closer, “um I’m didn’t get that last part, say it again please?”

Morning drew a long breath before finally saying it loud enough for Sketch to hear her.

“I said, you could stay with me if you like” She quickly clasped her hooves over her mouth, and blushed furiously, as Sketch sat there, almost not believing what he just heard.

Inside Sketch felt his heart shoot out of his body, and take to the sky, what he heard was the best thing he’d heard in a while, but he sank as he thought of the possibility of him trying to impress Morning while he was staying with her might creep her out, or that she might resent him for it, he didn’t want to come so close just to lose it all, still he couldn’t reject an offer this generous, it would be rude of him.

‘I would appreciate that very much.” He simply said, smiling back at her.

Morning was so distracted by the spur of the moment she hardly noticed the time on the clock, when she did she nearly panicked.

“CRAP, I’m going to be late to pick up Star, Morning quickly grabbed her bag, and shot for the door, shouting goodbye, as she left.

Sketch smiled a little, dropping his head back into the pillow, he decided to close his eyes and get some rest, he would need it for tomorrow.