Freezing in the Emptiness
By
Tealfeather123
Prologue
I sat on a small wooden chair, inside a gray bland room. Its four corners were nothing but cold stone as they watched over me. In front of me was an empty wooden table, that had a light bulb hovering above it. The light bulb barely lit the room, giving a dim look to my surroundings. Behind me was the door from which I entered, while in front of me was another door. Where it led to, I didn't know. My eyes were locked towards the direction of the door, as if Celestia herself was going to come out. My stare was unfazed as my gaze was purely concentrated at the metal door in front of me.
I didn't know how much time I spent staring at the door, but after, what I presume, a long time, the door opened to reveal a light brown earth pony.
The earth pony was about my size, wore a gray hat on top of his head and had tinted glasses covering his eyes. He gently entered the room, carrying a folder in-between his teeth, and gently closed the door. My eyes gazed upon his glasses, trying to pierce through it, but weather it had any affect to him, I don't know.
He stood on the opposite side of the table, before dropping the folder on top of it. He then moved a chair, which was also on the opposite side of the table, before sitting himself on top of it.
He faced me, body stiff and still, as if he were a stone statue, as he played his assessment game. Although he said nothing, I knew that he was sizing me up, wondering what he was u against for today. After a couple more minutes of silence, he finally spoke up, with his deep husky voice.
"So…" He said as his hooves opened the folder, that he carried earlier. "…you are Midnight Sky, I presume?"
I only nodded in reply, not wanting to waste my breath to answer a simple question. Besides, I was busy with my own thoughts, as I felt something with his presence. Something that didn't seem good.
He continued to read the folder, which I presumed was my personal records, as he talked.
"It says here that you used work as a shopkeeper, before being arrested for murder…"
At the very mention of my crime, I immediately slammed my hooves on the table. Anger boiled in me as I felt my blood rise. My heart pumped faster as I gave him an angry glare. But he didn't seem fazed by my act, but I didn't care.
"I told them I was innocent!" I yelled, as my anger surged through me. "I only killed him because I thought he was going to kill me first!"
"Alright calm down now…" He said, beckoning me to relax and take a sit. I was still furious at his acquisition, since I knew I didn't kill that pony on purpose. I should have had a homicide case, but instead the court charged me of murder. But after a couple of deep breathes I calmed down and took my seat.
"…I'm not here to judge you or anything." He continued. "Besides, court is over, you can do nothing now to stop your sentence. Which is a life sentence, at least that's what your file says."
"Alright…" I said, now calm and curios. "…if you're not here to change my sentence and set me free. Can you kindly tell me your purpose here?"
"Well I knew you would ask that." He said grinning, before adding quietly. "…they usually do."
Closing the folder, he sat back on the chair and said:
"I am here to give you an offer. We give this offer to anyone who has the great misfortune in ending up in jail." He said. I groaned when he said 'jail', since it reminded me of the harsh truth of my terrible disposition.
"Alright, so what's the offer?" If he was going to offer me something better than a life sentence in jail, then I would be willing to take it, no matter what it was.
"Excited to get out aren't we?" He said, grinning. The only word in his sentence, which lit my attention, was the 'get out'. Was he going to offer me a chance to get out of here? If he was, then I am now more willing to accept it. I know that I have only been in jail for a week, but during that week I learned to hate the place. Which was very uncommon of me, since I usually gave things a chance. I learned to never give jail a chance.
"Well here's the offer…" He said as he leaned on the table towards me. "…we are going to get you out of jail, if, and only if, you join the Equestrian military and 'survive' a two year service. Once you 'survive' the two year service, you will be considered free and will be returned home. Sounds good to you?"
As he spoke, I notice him emphasizing on the word 'survive, which made me curious. "What do you mean by survive?" I asked, my curiosity leading the way.
"Oh, well. It probably won't hurt anyone to tell you, so I will." I watched him as he made himself comfortable on his seat and begun explaining.
"When I mean survive, I mean survive battles. You know, fighting of enemies in 'the war' and protecting Equestria, the usual soldier stuff."
I nodded, as I understood the information he was giving me. So all I had to do was serve in the Equestrian military and survive two years, it couldn't be that bad? At least, compared to a life sentence in jail.
"Well, it seems fair and better than my other option." I said, giving it some thought. If I accepted his offer, then I would technically be free. Then after that I would be able to go back home in Ponyville and return to my shop. Although it was going to take two years, it was way better than never going home.
"Alright…I'll accept your offer." I said, making my final decision.
"Good." He said, standing up from his chair He then took the folder and said:
"Then we wouldn't need this anymore. All former records about this will be burned"
I smiled, seeing that I might be cleared of any crime. I was getting a two in one here, making me believe that I made the right decision.
As he turned around, towards the door, and started to leave. A small thought went around my head. I mentally debated on whether to ask him and soon gained enough courage to do so.
"Excuse me…" I said, gaining his attention, and making him turn his head towards me. "…earlier you said 'the war'. What do you mean by that? Where you stating the war with Changelings, since I thought that was more of an insurrection."
"No, it's not a war with the changelings." He said as he headed for the door. "It's something bigger. I would like to stay and explain more about it, but I have a schedule to keep. Besides, you'll find out soon enough."
With that he closed the door behind him, leaving me alone in the room. The room was once again quiet and cold, with no one but me. Through the silence, I tried to think of the meaning of his words, and what he was trying to tell me. Little did I know a life time in jail was a thousand times better than what I signed myself for.
See you in the next chapter.