Part 13 Plausible Deniability
 
>You spent that night in a cell with two guards on shift
>It was rather warm in there, and as tired as you were, sleep was tempting
>Before you let yourself rest, you took a quick assessment of the situation
>Your hands were bound behind your back with...rope?
>Cool. You could work with that.
>There were a few other cells, but they were empty
>Perhaps they were eager to get rid of prisoners
>Not a good situation for you
>Still, you can't do anything right now
>And you'd say that since you're far different than anything these griffons had ever seen, you deduced you were relatively safe
>POWs generally are safe for a little while, at least after the initial capture, which is the most dangerous part of being captured, or so you were trained to believe
>With that realization, you allow yourself to pass out...
 
>Seven hours later...
>You're woken to the sound of a cell gate slamming shut
>Quickly you observe the events around you
>The griffons had thrown in another captive, this one a pony...
>Well shit, it's Goodwill Wright
>It didn't take them long to put two and two together
>Still, it would help if the both of you denied knowing each other
>"Let me out at once! I demand to know what's going on!"
>"Shut the fuck up, you damn spy!"
>"I haven't done anything wrong! When Princess Celestia hears about this she'll-"
>"What? Embargo us? Declare war?"
>The two griffons laugh
>Which silences Goodwill
>"Your friend over there made a mess with some of our comrades, but at least he wasn't so damn annoying!"
Who the fuck is this guy?
>The guards look at you
>"You're kidding, right?"
Nope. I've never seen this guy before.
>That's got them a bit rustled
>"Listen asshole, you cooperate with us, and you might just live through this."
>Pokerface
I am. But who the fuck is this guy?
>Just then, the door opened
>Who could it-
>Gilda
>"Thank goodness! Gilda, you have to-"
>"Shut up! You think I ever was your friend?"
>He looks so downtrodden, like he lost a really good friend
>She points at you
>"You! You're coming with me!"
>Well, this can't be good
>Your gut feeling doesn't let you down
>The guards drag you out of your cell and into a small room
>There's a table, a couple of chairs, and a mirror
>Well shit. You know where this is going
>"Take a seat buddy."
>You have no choice, so you sit down while you're able to do it by yourself
>She sits across from you
>"Alright, who the hell are you?"
>This is going to be great
I am Captain Anon, of the-
>"Equestrian Royal Guard, aren't you?"
Nope. Of the United States Air Force. My birthday is July 7th, 1989 and my social is xxx-xx-xxxx
>A look of "What the shit" appears on her face
>"Who the hell do you think you are?"
I told you. I'm Captain Anon of the United Sta-
>"Shut up! Celestia sent you, didn't she?"
Sailor who?
>She slams her hands on the table
>"Admit it! You were sent on a spy mission by the bitch herself!"
I don't know what you're talking about. The last thing I know is being in Afghanistan hunting terrorists.
>You might as well be speaking a foreign language to her.
>Which is what you're planning
>She throws the table aside and gets in your face
>"Are we going to do this the easy way, or the hard way?
I don't understand why you're doing this.
>She has the loudest sigh you ever heard. She snaps her fingers and two guards come in
>They're carrying a towel and a bucket of water
>You know what's coming
>You don't flinch as they hold you down and cover your face with the towel
>They proceed to waterboard you
>That was downright unpleasant
>Still, you've been through this before in SERE
>Best to pretend that it was worse for you than it really was
>"Now, Princess Celestia sent you here, didn't she?"
Whoever this princess is, she didn't send me here.
>Again waterboarding
>"We can do this all day if we have to"
I have done nothing wrong. I was not sent by a princess here, nor do I know where I am at
>She rolls her eyes
>"You can rot in your cell for all I care!"
>Dragged back to your cell
>Goodwill looks like he's going to ask you how you are
>A stern look reminds him to keep his mouth shut
>Your stomach growls
Hey, griffon, I'm hungry
>"Deal with it."
I have rights under the Geneva Convention that state as a prisoner, you must feed me adequately
>"What the fuck is a Geneva?"
 
>A couple of days go by without receiving food
>Your torture so far consists of starvation and waterboarding
>At least they give you some of the water you need
>Just enough to live
>You're able to survive
>Goodwill has surprisingly been holding up well
>The two of you haven't talked to each other, but you feel that he knows what he should be doing
>So things were going ok.
>At night, when they leave you alone, you wonder if he has a family waiting for him
>Guilt pains you when you think about that though
>This really is all your fault. How could you let yourself get caught like that?
>The days are similar to each other
>You get brought into that room, and Gilda starts demanding you admit Princess Celestia sent you
>Like the great soldier you are, you never give any indication that you know what she's talking about
>In fact, you made up a story about you having been separated from your unit on your "terrorist hunt"
>She is never amused though
>Meanwhile, those nightmares still plauge you...
 
>Day 3 of imprisonment
>Today would've been the day you left, if you hadn't fucked up
>"Both of you get up and be grateful! Gilda has found it in her heart to give you breakfast today!"
>It's a biscut with gravy, a couple of pancakes, and some eggs
>A couple of glasses of milk help wash it all down
>They had untied your hands to let you eat, retying them when you finished
>Still feels good man
>Gilda walks in, and you're dragged back to the room
>"Such hospitality should be repaid, am I correct Anon?"
I thank you for the meal
>She loses it
>"LISTEN HERE! I KNOW you're a spy, and I KNOW Goodwill knows more than he's letting on!"
>She's nearly foaming, and then she's calm again
>"Look, if you just say that you're a spy, I'll let you go. Between you and me, I'm getting tired of this. My country wants to put Celestia in her place. She's done some terrible things to us, but we can't prove she did it. All we want is for you to say that you're a spy and that the ambassador is in on it. If you do that, I get a good reason for my army to invade Equestria, and I'll let you go. How does that sound?
>Tempting to say the least
>But you don't consider it
Ms. Gilda, in my military service, we have three things called the core values. Integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do. I must decline your offer, because if I were to take part in it, I would be in violation of my first core value: Integrity. And if I did that, not only would Col R.T. be disappointed in me, but so would Major Aether, Captains Sherm and Leucine, and Lt. Wuten. And I would never do that.
>Gilda stares daggers at you
>"Alright. Come here."
>You follow her back to your cell
>She picks up a crossbow
>No sir, you don't like this one bit
>She points it at Goodwill
>"Last chance gramps. Tell me what I want to know."
>"Gilda, stop this madness! You know that I would never-"
>*Click*
>A bolt shoots into his head. His body goes limp almost immediately
>"I never did like that old geezer anyways."
>Inside, you feel terrible. That stallion faired well against the torture, never speaking out, and always seemed composed
>And he died because of that
>Moreover, he died because of you
>"If you don't talk right now, you'll end up just like your friend!"
>On the outside, you have a face of nonchalance
Who the hell was that guy?
>She's beyond frustrated
>Gilda snaps her fingers, and a guard comes in with a sjambok
>He starts whipping you with it
>OHGODTHEPAIN
>She snaps her claws
>He stops, and another guard comes in with a nightstick
>And that fucker starts beating you
>He hits your sides, your arms, your legs
>She snaps again
>The beating stops
>"Well Anon?"
>You spit up a little blood
Just who the fuck was that guy?
>Gilda screams
>Dude, I think you just broke her
>I think she was broken before
 
>Day...19 you think
>You had received daily beatings since Goodwill died
>His memory keeps you from talking
>You still insist you're in Afghanistan "hunting them terrorists"
>Hope was slipping
>You never thought for a second that help would come for you, but you were hoping they'd slip somehow
>So far, they've thought of everything
>"Quit daydreaming! I'll rip your balls off and squish them tomorrow if you don't talk!"
>Gilda seems to have gotten desperate
>Her eyes... man that ain't normal
>They're looking in different directions, almost cartoony in nature
>She punches your stomach, and picks you up
>Being thrown into that fucking room sucks
>"You know, we sent a letter to the princess a few days ago. In it, we mentioned how we killed Goodwill and how we're going to kill you as well. She sent back a reply today. She condemned the killing her ambassador, but she asked who you were. She's forgotten you Anon. You've been forsaken. You have nothing more to lose by cooperating with us. Moreover, you have everything to gain. Your freedom and your life."
>You don't know if it's true about that letter, but you know that the princess would behave that way. In the end, it still increased the odds of you surviving this if she didn't confess to your existance.
>"I'll one up everything Celestia is offering you. We'll help you find Carolyn."
>Wait, what? WHAT?
>You're about to break the rules of a POW, but you just have to know
How do you know about Carolyn? And what do you mean by "find"?
>She smiles for the first time you can recall
>She knows she finally hit a nerve
>"Your little sister, right? You've been screaming her name every night for the past five nights. And something about your dad. I'm just guessing here, but you didn't have a good childhood, did you?"
>You're blank for a minute
>You can't remember
>But apparently, you can, at night
>Are those nightmares...your memories?
>And why can you never remember them in the morning?
>You shake out of your stupor
>And you pokerface
Carolyn was my wife. And my father was a saint. I must have some pretty fucked up nightmares.
>"You're a terrible liar, Anon."
>You cannot tell if she's bluffing
>But you still have your pokerface on
Which is why I don't lie. It would compromise my integrity
>She rages
>Apparently, she was bluffing
>"You just earned another round of beatings"
>Dragged back to your cell, you endure the familiar beatings
>But now, you're beginning to recall something
>The beatings feel...worse
>You see your dad, and he...he's beating you with a switch
>You now remember your childhood
>You remember how your dad listened to Bruce Springsteen, and you listened to it because you wanted to make him happy
>You remember getting good grades because he would be happy
>You remember joining the football team, because he would be happy
>You remember how he was displeased easily
>You remember how he'd hit you with a switch throughout your childhood when he was displeased
>You remember how he'd hit Carolyn with the switch as well
>She was such a delicate little girl, and your father beat her indiscriminately
>You remember that she always could count on you to help her feel better
>You remember giving her bandaids and ice packs whenever she displeased your father
>You remember telling your dad you were joining the Air Force
>He was so displeased at that. For him, it was joining the Marines, or nothing at all
>He tried to beat you that day
>You had earlier that week turned 18
>You punched him in the face
>And he left you alone
>But he took out his frustration on Carolyn after that
>You went to Basic to escape him, but still had a hostage, which kept you from acting out of line with your dad
>He still owned your ass because he still had her
>He had come out to your Basic Graduation, but did not care to act fatherly towards you
>You remember a few months later, after you found your fiance cheating on you, you had visted your home after tech school graduation
>Carolyn had gone missing
>The look on his face...
>You KNEW what he had done
>Still, you couldn't avenge your little sister
>You were helpless to get him in prison
>There was no evidence, and the police were inept as fuck
>You had never hated him so much
>Or feared him as much
 
>You come out of your stupor, and it appears to be night time.
>Trying to make sense of it all, you deduce that you were in a trance while you were beaten, and they stopped hours ago
>Perhaps they saw what was happening to you, maybe they didn't
>You don't even try to stop the tears
>You loved Carolyn, and that bastard beat her to death
>And he got away with it.
>Your body was sore, and it was broken. Your mind was breaking, and it needed rest.
>But you refused
>Instead, you formulated your plan
>You notice that your rope was a little loose tonight
>Perfect
 
>A couple of hours later...
>Two night guards were on shift
>One left to use the bathroom
>Perfect
Hey, griffon, come here. I need to take a shit.
>"So take a shit"
In here? I refuse.
>"Where the hell else have you been shitting?"
In your mother's face
>That rustled his jimmies
>As he came into the cell to hit you, you surprised him by pulling your hands, unbound, from behind your back
>Running on pure adrenaline, you snap his neck and drop the body
>You quickly get out of your cell and head towards the desk at the front of the room
>On it was your knife
>They sometimes taunted you with it, knowing you couldn't take it.
>Fucking snakes
>You take it, and wait
>You weren't going to risk another fuck up like before
>Soon enough, the other guard shows back up
>"What th-"
>You stab him in his neck before he has time to comprehend seeing his partner dead in your cell
>You feel euphoria at killing him
>That feels good
>You get the urge to go on a killing spree. They fucking deser-
>Hey.
>What?
>Get out of here first. Then killing spree.
>You're the boss
>Damn fucking right I am
>You stealthily walk through the hallways you think you remember going through your first day here
>Your memory serves you well as you reach the kitchen
>You suddenly remember that those fuckers took your boonie cap
>You liked your boonie cap
>But you'll pay them back in kind later
>Right now, taking some food will suffice
>Oh god! There's..MEAT!
>Savagely, you eat a whole chicken bare in less than 3 minutes
>Fuck salmonella
>Before you leave, you sate your thirst
>Now let's go
>You ran
>You ran so far away
>And you ran
>You ran all night
>Literally, you did not stop
>As the sun started to rise, you see the outline of a familiar castle
>Canterlot
>CANTERLOT
>Canterlot!
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3dZl3yfGpc
>You sprint towards that castle, hoping against hope that-
>"Stop him!"
>Well that didn't last long
>You recognize that voice as Gilda's
>ShitshitSHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT
>There were four guards around her, and they were all trying to get you
>Just a little further...
>You're not going to make it
>Just a little further
>Look behind you
>Barely enough time to comprehend: They were 2 seconds away from tackling you
>You were game
>Drop to the ground, pulling your knife out simultaneously
>A loud voice cracks as you're about to thrust your blade into Gilda
>"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?"
>You see a familiar regal white alicorn flying down from the sky
>"Shit! Come on guys, let's get outta here!"
>The griffons fly away, leaving you with Princess Celestia
>She lands feet away from you.
>You try to get up, but finding that all the energy you had is now gone, you succeed in only getting to your knees
>They really did beat you worse than you thought
>Might have broken a few bones
Princess
>"Shh, Anon. We'll get you the medical help you need."
In my shoe...
>She wraps you her wings
>That does it. Your strength is completely gone
>You slowly drift into unconsciousness