Porcelain Heart

Chapter 3

Solstice Love wakes up to the dreadful clang of the bell. She sighs. She obediently gets up, and goes to work. The callouses on her wings and hooves worsen, and when free time comes, she grabs the provided wrap from the cells, and heads out to the rock field again. She wraps her hooves and wings with the gauze. She sighs and makes her way to her cell. She sits in her bed, gritting her teeth against the urge to just destroy the stallions taunting outside her cell. She pushed away her worry for the eight stallions who were taken into the castle and never seen again.

Finally, the horrid sound of the bell again. She sighs with relief and falls asleep, hooves and wings throbbing, to a dreamless sleep like she loved.

~•~•~•~•~

Sombra sighs. Another meeting. Oh, joy. He hated meetings, especially when he wanted to have some fun. He wanted to tease his slaves. After all, he had the right. He sighed and went to his meeting room, before everyone else as usual. He plays with his magic a little while he waits. He forms the image of a fire, a sort of mist image. The image forms into a butterfly. Sombra watches, just letting his magic lead.

The butterfly swirls into a ball, and forms a phoenix. Sombra stares at the beautiful, vivid bird. He hears the door open, and he drops the magic instantly, and he looks as though he'd been waiting for them. The men apologize.

Thankfully, the meeting ends in a half hour. Sombra makes his way to the mines. He grins as the slaves bow. All of them. "Rise," he booms. Some chains rattle, some ponies trembling with fear. What does he want to do with them? He wants to prove power. "You will be tested," he says, "tomorrow. Do not ask what kind of test, because I won't answer. It will be a test as a whole. All of you, together. Stay alert. You'll never know when it will happen."

He leaves, humming on the way, leaving the dead silence behind him.

~•~•~•~•~

As soon as he's out of the caves, the slaves erupt with rage, fear, and worry. "What could it be?" "Why?" "What does he mean?" "Why should we?" "What?" "Oh, no." "Please, no..." "This is really happening." "What if we fail?!"

Solstice Love returns to mining, and is the only one who does. A stallion leans against the dirt wall. "Why won't you rebel, beautiful? You're a goody two-shoes. Live a little! A few scars won't kill your beautiful perfection."

She ignored him and kept working.

"What, are you mute? Deaf?" he teases.

Silence.

He laughs, and snatches the pickaxe before it can descend against the wall again. She yelps in surprise, and tries to get the axe back.

She stops, and flicks her wings once in annoyance. "Give it back," she snarls through her teeth.

He laughs coldly. "Fight me for it," he says evenly.

"No."

He scowls. "No? Did a lowly mare just tell me no?"

She glares at him, if looks could kill...

He slaps her suddenly, sending her reeling into the wall. He pins her to the wall, pickaxe against her neck. She doesn't breathe, doesn't move, doesn't even swallow. "Nopony ever tells me no."

Silence.

He slaps her again, sending her to the floor. Her jaw flashes pain. Ponies gather and begin chanting. "Fight, fight, fight, fight..."

He kicks her. She rolls, and goes to dive into the crowd, but gets shoved back inside the circle. He pushes her into a wall. Gunshots ring out. Her vision blurs. The stallion looks unfazed. He traps her against the wall with the pickaxe again. She doesn't move, but her head spins. The crowd lines up in an orderly fashion, guards finally here. She still doesn't move. The guards march up, and the stallion falls to the floor, twitching with the electricity infused when there's resistance. She falls to the floor, gasping for air.

Solstice is lead to the castle infirmary. The stallion... who knows.

~•~•~•~•~

Sombra fumes at the news of the outburst in the mines after he left. He decides to go find out what happened for himself. He knows for sure the stallion wasn't at all innocent, but wants the mare's story. Sombra is furious. He makes his way to the infirmary, ignoring whatever meeting he's to be at.

He walks in, the little room is just occupied by the mare lying in the bed. He walks up, stunned for a moment at her beauty. Who is she? Is she okay? Is she alive even? He'd seen the stallion, the brute he was. How could she be okay? He sees the bruises on her cheek as she snores gently. He also notices the lack of scars on her shoulders. Did she never rebel? How could she possibly be guilty if she's clearly never done anything wrong? She even has a lack of scars to prove it.

He breaks from his daze, and clears his throat. She jolts awake, and flinches at the movement. He feels a pang of guilt- but only a small one.

"M-Majesty!" She tears at the sheets attempting to get up and bow.

"Please. Don't bow," he says, trying to control his voice. "Just get comfortable."

She blinks. Then tears start to form in her amethyst purple eyes. "Are you going to punish me?" She shakes her head, tears disappearing. "I'll take whatever punishment you issue," she says, voice strong and clear.

Sombra clenches his jaw to keep from gaping. What did she just say? She'd willingly accept any punishment? From him? In all of his tyranny? "You will, will you?" he asks, trying to sound bored.

"Yes, Sir. Without a fight, or a word."

He stops for a moment, then snaps out of it. "I'm not here to punish you." She blinks in awe. "I'm here to ask what happened."

She nods, but frowns. "May I ask a question first, Majesty?"

"A question? Why not."

"What will happen to the stallion?" she whispers.

He full on gapes now. She swallows. "What's your name?" he asks.

"Solstice Love, Sir."

He nods. "The stallion will become one of my guard now." Her shoulders sag with relief. If only she knew what that entailed... "Now, what happened?"

She hesitates. "Well, Majesty. When you left the mines, I returned to work-"

"You didn't burst into conversation?"

"No. I prefer to work than to gossip about my ruler. I don't have scars, and for a reason."

He nods.

"Anyway, Majesty. I returned to work. The stallion came up to me and taunted me, which I promptly ignored, as I usually do."

"Usually?"

She flushes. "Yes, Sir. The stallions in the cells tend to... throw themselves at me. I ignore all of them."

He blinks. A mare as beautiful as her, and no stallion? "I see," he says, voice flat.

"He grabbed my pickaxe, and I told him to give it back. He didn't, and told me to fight him. I wouldn't, not for the world. I'd never involve myself in a fight, you see Majesty. I'm not the kind of pony who enjoys hurting others. Or being hurt, for that matter. He then hit me, pinned me to the wall and held the pickaxe to my throat." She pauses. "Then, when I didn't reply to his next taunt, he hit me again. Kicked me a few times, and pinned me to the wall with the axe again. Then, I ended up here, Majesty."

He nods. "You did nothing wrong. You shall not have any punishment, and I shall have my guards watch more closely to the stallions. Taunt you a lot, do they?"

She nods.

"Now, I must get to a meeting," Sombra lied. He had to get out of there. Now. "Your honesty is appreciated." He walked out, ears twitching a bit with embarrassment. Goodness, she was pretty.

He heads to his rooms. He falls asleep quickly, wanting all the rest he can get for his 'test' tomorrow.