//------------------------------//
// Séparés 
// Story: Quete 
// by Comrade Bagel Muffin 
//------------------------------//

Escutcheon headed down the sand dune toward the city, Dusk headed down behind him. Her ears drooped doing her best to act dejected. Something that was quickly become less and less of an act.  Escutcheon headed toward the gate the wall towering over him, at least seventy times over.
"Stop, who are you?" One of the black unicorn gate guard trotted over to Escutcheon and Dusk. He wore a layer of light grey armor with the dragon painted in red on the center of the chest piece. He pulled out a leather bull whip. wrapped in a dark gray magical aura.
"I'm Escutcheon." He hoped the fear he was filling wasn't evident on his voice he dropped the leash to answer the question. Both his life and Dusk's depended on this. "I'm coming back from my first hunt." He tried to sound proud.
"Really?" The unicorn motioned with his head calling over several other guards. "So how'd you catch this winged mouse? If you can't even whole onto the leash?" The whip cracked leaving a bright red gash in Escutcheon's side. Dusk stood perfectly still frozen in equal parts rage and fear. Escutcheon grit his teeth the pain was searing. "So runt. Where are your parents I'd like to give them a lash for raising a piece a trash like you, or were they just hoping that you'd just die in the desert?" The other guards laughed. One of them gabbed Dusk's leash, in his red magic.
"Their not here." Escutcheon sucked in air trying not to show fear or pain.
"Of course their not." The whip cracked. The three guards laughed as he flinched. "You're just as weak as the slaves. So were are you parents, runt."
"Their members of Choler." The guards stopped laughing.
"Well that explains why your weak nopony's taught you how to be strong." The guard with Dusk's leash said. "Fortunately we've got this little flying mouse." Dusk's eyes widened in fear as her shackles were pulled taunt in glowing crimson. She was pulled over to the interior of the gate house, where there was a hook her shackles were put in the bite of the hook. Her wings started flapping. The whip snapped. She screeched, as the whip bit the middle of her back.
"Don't!" Escutcheon tackled the guard. He was thrown to the ground realizing the horrible the situation he was in.
"Come now. Really we're trying to give him a good first slave breaking, don't interfere this with this, we're trying to toughen him up." The one that put Dusk in the hook said. "Don't take this from the colt. A first breaking is special."
"She flailed her wings. Can't let the little Trite do that can we?" The guard grabbed Escutcheon and sat him down behind Dusk. "Here's the whip. Go after the soft spots of the wings between the fingers. It breaks them and they'll never fly again." They laughed as Dusk's breaths quickened.
"I-I can't." Escutcheon bowed his head. Dusk looked over her shoulder.
"What?"
"I'm burned out."
"What? Why do you think I care?"
"Because I want to break her and I can't do it right, right now." The other unicorns laughed and nodded their approval. Both Dusk and Escutcheon, let go of a breath they had both been holding. "She's my catch, and I can't enjoy breaking her right now, so back off for now."
"Alright runt." He nodded to his associates. They threw her off of the hook. "Take your catch back to the pins. Once you've got your magic back. She'll be there. Then get your butt to where you belong, or you can join you filly in the pins." The three of them laughed as Escutcheon lead Dusk away from the three of them.
"Are you alright?" He whispered barely audible to himself, her ears picked up on the sounds. He watched her over her shoulder. She nodded, he knew she was lying, but right now there was nothing either of them could do about it. He took her to the slave pins. Massive cages hundreds of yards in width and length. "I'll meet you here at this pin tonight. I have something for you Dusk. Be safe."
"You too." She whispered as she walked past him into the giant cage. Escutcheon nodded and left toward the developing section of the city. Where Pythagorean was suppose to be.