Fluttershy soon learned the status of Newbie was a temporary one, something she was thankful for. Whenever a new inmate, either a single one, or a group, arrived, all the attention and teasing left her and changed over to the newly-arrived. Sure, she still got her share of attention since she was the only pony in that place, but whenever another inmate came he would be the new victim, the new punching bag, and she soon learned the welcome given to her by one of the Big Five wasn't exclusive to her. Apparently, it was a sort of tradition that the Big Five who lived in the same cellblock, or the nearest to the cellblock, as the newbie was to provide the poor bastard his welcome according to the crime that had brought him here in the first place.
This initiation was known as the 'Welcome', a twisted version of the actual meaning of the word.
Fire Throat didn't want to go into details of what despicable acts occurred in a Welcome, Fluttershy soon noticed his mood went sour whenever she tried to ask what had been done to him, so she decided to stop asking.
Swift Tail was not very specific either, he simply said there were certain rules that affected the outcome of the Welcome, and what karmic punishment was given to the newly-arrived according to their personal sins.
Twister wasn't of much help, unfortunately, his mental state made it even difficult to communicate with him, or for him to properly communicate what his broken mind thought.
Neckslicer... Well, Fluttershy hadn't the courage to go near him to hear his version regarding the Welcome.
The good thing was that she was getting sort of adapted, just enough to stay out of danger. The teasing and both physical as well as emotional bullying was still there, but she soon learned that if she stayed out of others' business, they wouldn't look at her unless they wanted form of entertainment. Fluttershy soon learned about the types of inmates, and how the 'penitentiary underworld' worked to some extent.
Each group of particular inmates had their Khozyain, or boss, the Big Five were a clear example of this, and they were in charge of showing newbies their 'place' in the penitentiary hierarchy, in their particular group at least. This place was usually at the bottom, doing tasks to the 'higher-ups' for anything they required, from protection to a cup of coffee on Neckslicer's part.
The Law of the Silence was always present among the inmates. Telltales, or Predatelkys as they were called in the Krussian language, were despised in all the ranks of the hierarchy, the first rule of this place was to never blow the whistle, this rule contrasted with the slams and hits on the walls and bars, in prison morse code, from the inmates when the lights went out.
Corporal language was a key factor. Gazing to an unknown inmate directly at the eyes was more likely to bring trouble, just like messing into others' business without having been asked to. There was a different hierarchy of delinquents, murderers, homicidal bank robbers, condrakes, rapists, pedophiles, etc. Apparently these last two were the most hated and worst treated both by guards and inmates alike. These last two tried to hide or lie about the reason which brought them to Brokenfang, but were usually discovered eventually, and when they were... She still hadn't been told what was done to these particular types.
That was, until that evening.
7:00 P.M
Labor Rooms Corridor
She had just finished her last batch of dresses when the bell rang, signaling the end of the day's shift. Her surprising talent at making simple dresses had earned her a bit of admiration among the inmates in that work, but most of them were scapegoats who had no influence in the hierarchy. Some would even try to steal Fluttershy's work and make it pass as their own, but Fluttershy didn't really mind. She didn't want to get any trouble, besides she still earned a good few two hundred obsids. It should be enough to buy something edible from Neckslicer... unless he augmented the price just to mess with her. She hoped it wouldn't be the case.
However, as they were making their way out of the sewing room, suddenly Roachie's antennae twitched and he ran towards another of the rooms. "Roachie!" Fluttershy called out for him, watching in worry as he crawled towards the door avoiding the large talons which could squash him. She galloped after him and into the room, though none of the others noticed. Fluttershy followed Roachie to one of the other work rooms, it was filled with metal tables, and on top of most of those tables were some sort of hand-used machines to make who knew what, maybe metal objects. Roachie crawled under a desk and jumped in delight when it found a chocolate bar, apparently a few days old since it was opened, and started devouring it.
"Roachie, we shouldn't be here...!" Fluttershy whispered to him urgently. "It's dangerous, those devices don't look nice. We have to get out before-!" Before she could say anything, suddenly she heard a noise and quickly ran beneath the desk to hide. A drake of about thirty with slim body, dark blue hair and brown eyes ran inside with a terrified expression, only to find there was no way out. Fluttershy noticed he was all bruised and his upper lip was bleeding, as if he had just been beaten and wanted to get away from his tormentors.
"Trapped like a rat."
Both Fluttershy and the drake jumped in fright when they heard that voice. Fluttershy tucked deeper into the desk when a group of drakes entered, they were led by the one of the Big Five. It wasn't Bullhorn, it was the drake with the hat and black and white hair... Skunk Breath, if she recalled correctly. The drake tried to step back, but there was nowhere to run.
Skunk Breath chuckled. "They were right when they said you were a coward. You cannot bear a little welcome after all you did outside?"
"P-Please, d-don't hurt me...!" the drake begged, trembling. "M-My family t-turned their b-back on me...! They don't send me any money, please help me!"
"Help you?!" At that, Skunk Breath burst out into laughter, followed suit by the other inmates. "I told you, Princess, you pay for protection, we give it. You don't, then don't whine like a little drady and bear your welcome with dignity!"
Fluttershy had to take her hooves to her mouth to keep a gasp from escaping and alerting the drakes to her presence when two drakes grabbed the blue-haired drake from behind and towards one of the machines. The drake was yelling in horror as he was dragged to one of the machines, Skunk Breath snickering in delight. "Your filthy hands destroyed everything they touched, so we better take care of them."
"No! Please, no!"
Fluttershy gasped when the drake's hand was forcefully put into one of the press-machines, and the wheel was turned, making the drake scream in pain. However, Skunk Breath seemed to reconsider, and motioned the drake at the press to stop. "Well... how about we go a bit easier on him? Instead of a hand, we'll cut off two of his fingers." She didn't understand what he said, but her eyes widened when she saw another of the inmates picking up a pair of large pincers, only for Skunk Breath to mutters something to him, and he put them down, picking up a smaller, but apparently sharper pair. The blue-haired drake pleaded and yelled, but he was tightly held by the other, much more stronger inmates, and they held out his right arm as the drake with the pincers approached, smiling evilly...
Fluttershy realized what they were going to do.
She would have hidden in her mane, but by then she was used to the idea that it was too short for that, so she closed her eyes shut and hid her face in her hooves. She started to tremble when she heard the drake's screams of pain, the sound of bones snapping and blood dripping. She heard the pincers slicing through flesh and bone twice, and of two small things falling to the ground, but she also heard the laughter of the inmates who were watching. How could they be so sadist and be happy at other's suffering? The smell of blood reached her nose, and she did her best to contain her breathing to keep the horrible odor out, but it was futile.
A while later, the snapping stopped, but she screams of pain and the sobs continued. Skunk Breath said something in Krussian and left, followed by the other inmates in his group, leaving the trembling, terrified and agonizing newbie behind. Roachie made sure the others were gone before he patted Fluttershy's head and twitched his antennae, telling her it was safe. But Fluttershy was afraid of what she would see, a bath of blood? Broken and discarded limbs? But the smell of blood was overwhelming, she had to get out of here before it worsened.
She regretted at the first glance. The victim was on the ground, clutching his hand as he screamed and yelled at the agonizing pain. There was blood all around his hand, it wasn't enough blood to worry about, but it was plenty enough to scare the heck out of the pegasus. And a few inches next to the drake, there were...
There w-were....
T-Two...!
Fluttershy couldn't bear it any longer. When she saw the two discarded, cut-off bloody fingers on the ground it nearly did it. Her stomach churned inside her as she ran out of the room, not minding if the drake noticed her, galloping through the halls towards the bathrooms, Roachie barely clinging to her mane. The contents of her stomach started tops their way upwards into her throat because of the disgust at the horrible scene, and Fluttershy barely made it into the bathroom and to one of the toilets to throw up, the acidic sensation of vomit piercing her throat as she continued to vomit her lunch. When she was done, she collapsed into the floor, sobbing, trying in vain to erase the image from her head. Roachie tried to console her with his antennae and legs, but Fluttershy wasn't paying him mind for the time being.
She was afraid. That would have been her had Bullhorn decided to take more than just her hair. An ear, a limb, a wing, maybe even an eye... She didn't know what she'd do, if she'd be able to go through with the pain should any of these... creatures decided to take something else from her.
She was unaware that she wasn't alone until she felt something brush against her leg.
Fluttershy jumped when the last person she wanted to see at the moment spoke. She hit her head against the dirty toilet from jumping back in fright, and she had to bite her lip to contain another sob. The large, black lizard had brushed his thin reptilian tongue against her leg to make her react, and a few steps away was....
Fluttershy did gulp when she found herself face-to-face with the Solitaire.
She froze, as if he would attack her at the slightest movement. But Solitaire was just staring at her coldly, with an air of curiosity with a bit of inquisitiveness to it. Roachie crawled under Fluttershy's wing to hide from the lizard, lest he wanted to be his meal. The lizard hissed in annoyance again when Roachie disappeared, and a pair of collar-like fins perked up, giving him a rather funny look. Unfortunately, Fluttershy's animal knowledge didn't extend to reptiles that much, Pinkie's alligator was the only domesticated reptile in Ponyville. And this was a different type of reptile. Did he bite? Or scratch? Or both? And she didn't want another unintentional enemy, much less from the Maximum Security Cells.
"Umm...." Fluttersy tried to break the ice. "H-Hello..."
Solitaire didn't respond, but his eyes were still fixed on her. Fluttershy wondered if they were right when they said he was mute, or he simply didn't talk to keep appearances. Eventually, his pet took a step forward, his collar fin spread out, his pupils turned into slits as he tried to find any trace of his potential meal.
"Um, excuse me..." Fluttershy recalled she didn't know the lizard's name, and the didn't think Solitaire would tell her. "...Mister Lizard, Roachie is my friend. I'm afraid I can't let you eat him..."
The lizard seemed disappointed at this, he stared at Fluttershy with contempt and stepped back, hissing. Fluttershy trembled when Solitaire frowned at her for a moment, before his expression softened again. The silence made her feel uncomfortable, how was she supposed to know what he wanted if he didn't tell her? When his lizard went back to him and climbed unto his arm, however, she could tell he was an animal person, that was the one thing they had in common... maybe.
"You have a nice pet, mister Solitaire..." Fluttershy whispered unaudibly, which she noticed when Solitaire narrowed his eyes in confusion and leaned his head closer to hear better. "You have a nice pet..." she said, a bit louder. This time he did seemed like he heard her, for he gave a grunt, it startled her, it was the only sound she had heard from him. Was he planning something...?
The siren signaling dinner made her literally jump, the sudden and loud noise after minutes of utter silence except for her nervous stuttering and the lizard's grunts and growls. "Umm, we should... You know, it's dinner time and I'm a bit hungry..." Fluttershy gulped internally at Solitaire's cold gaze performing through her skin and into her soul, if he looked hard enough. "W-Well, s-see you later...!" she finished the one-sided conversation and galloped out of the room, but it seemed the feeling of Solitaire's gaze still followed her even when he was not in sight.
Tonight's menu consisted of 'mystery meat' salisbury steaks, something which she didn't crave for, but of which the other inmates were so fond of that they often asked for double rations. Instead, she was content with some gruel, a secondary meal that was not as popular, but some inmates still ate it for nutritional purposes. As always, Fluttershy sat in the table with Fire Throat, Swift Tail... and Twister had apparently thought he had been accepted in their little group, though as much as disturbing as he could be Fluttershy didn't have the heart to tell him to go.
"Are you okay? You look like you saw a ghost." Swift Tail commented when he noticed Fluttershy had not touched her meal, and she was staring apprehensively at their meat. "I know, we don't know what kind of meat it actually is, but it's the closest thing we have to actual meat."
"You're not helping." Fire Throat growled at him.
Twister sat next to her, fidgeting with her gruel, watching as Roachie warningly tried to get his claws of his meal, but which the Temnokt found entertaining. Fluttershy didn't respond, she was still in shock over what she had seen at the room, she didn't want to vomit again, yet the memory of those t-two... she couldn't bring herself to remember it.
"Hello?" Twister noticed she wasn't listening. He tapped her head with a claw gently. "Any...pony in there?"
Fluttershy reacted with a 'meep', and she would have fallen of the table if she hadn't been caught by Twister's tail. It took her a few more seconds, but she managed to speak. "I'm sorry, I was thinking of something..."
"You were pale, honey, that only happens when you're thinking of something that either frightens or disturbs you." Fire Throat pointed out. "Did something happen?"
"N-No..."
"You're a terrible liar, mare." Swift Tail rolled his eyes. "If you stutter, we notice you're nervous, which is a synonym of 'I'm hiding something'."
"I don't like lying, it's not right." Fluttershy said.
"Telling the truth doesn't save your scales here. Sometimes you have to resort to things you don't like to keep yourself breathing."
"Did you see new Newbie?" Twister inquired, spontaneously changing the subject. "He has eight claws!"
"Eight?" Fire Throat repeated. "You mean ten."
"No, eight. His hand is all covered in bandages, and there are red spots on it." He pointed at a table, where at the corner sat a blue-haired drake, who clutched his bandaged hand, staring at the empty spots where his two fingers once were in shock and horror, trembling when he spotted Skunk Breath a few tables away, enjoying a much more luxurious meal with the rest of the Big Five. "Look, there he is."
"Oh, you mean Erick the Newbie?" Fire Throat said. "if you ask me, it's little compared to what he actually deserves."
Fluttershy's curiosity was spiked at it. Just what had he done that even Fire Throat wanted to see more harm inflicted than just lying two fingers. "W-Why is he h-here?"
"If we listed it down it would take a while. You want the short or long version?" Swift Tail inquired, taking a big bite of his meat.
"Mmm... is there a medium version?"
Fire Throat sighed. "He was the kid of one of the High Bloods, but apart from being spoiled he was greedy, immature, not a real drake, and you know what I mean. Anyway, his father didn't realize it until it was too late. But since he was a mama's boy he couldn't discipline him like he wanted. Things went downhill after his younger sister died of drug overdose. His parents discovered he had purposely asked her to meet him at a certain place where the drug dealer who had been selling her cocaine was waiting for her, pushing her into drugging herself, and to her death."
"That was the last straw for the family. He was cast out like the parasite he was, but it didn't end there. Other things came to light: he orchestrated the kidnapping of his own kid to take the hatchling custody just to mess with his ex-wife because he didn't want her to be happy, he had raped his her because she refused to sleep with him anymore, since she had fallen in love with his more mature, kind and loving brother. His parents returned the custody to the child's mother and then he was sent here. As far as I know, they don't even send him protection money."
Fluttershy stared at Erick in horror. "That's awful..." Rape... She knew where it was going... As she stared at the trembling inmate, the mere sight of his bandaged hand to send her into a panic attack as the image returned.
"Fluttershy?" Fire Throat panicked when Fluttershy became pale, and she started to sweat and breath in a rapid succession as she slid out of Twister's grasp and under the table. Unfortunately, the inmates in the nearby tables saw what was going on. A few snickered, others wondered what she had seen that she was making such a ruckus. "Honey?"
"I got the feeling she saw something." Swift Tail added. "If you noticed, it started when she saw Erick's bandaged hand."
"You think she was present? The others would be bothering her with it."
"Maybe they didn't know she was there... Otherwise, Skunk Breath wouldn't have let the opportunity pass..."
Twister soon joined Fluttershy under the table, still looking at her curiously. "Who are we hiding from?"
No reply. Fluttershy merely continued to tremble, her breathing becoming more frantic, her heartbeat increasing, wrapping her hooves around her body in an attempt to protect herself.
"You look scared." Suddenly, Twister's behavior mirrored that of Fluttershy's, and his pupils started t shrink. "Are y-you afraid of m-me...? You d-don't like m-me...?"
"Nonono!" Fire Throat reacted before Twister could start another episode, taking Swift Tail's hidden stash of 'emergency cocaine' and slipping it under the table. "Here, have some candy!"
Fluttershy finally reacted when Twister unknowingly struck her wing with his talon to grab the small bag, opening it and sniffing, relaxing almost immediately. She bit her lip to contain a cry of pain as she felt something in her wing bone snap, not something very serious, but when she tried to retreat her wing a sharp, unbearable pain overcame her, so she kept it extended. With some difficulty, she climbed back unto the chair, trying to contain her tears of pain to no avail.
"What happened down there?" Swift Tail inquired, staring at her wing. "Did Twister do something?"
"H-hurts...!" Fluttershy whimpered in pain.
Fire Throat leaned in his long neck closer take a look. "Oh dear, looks like it's mildly dislocated, not too much but it needs to be put back in place before it gets worse."
Swift Tail snickered humorlessly, taking a drink from his cold coffee. "And that's why you don't sit in the same table with Twister."
The prison's infirmary could be called, to some extent, the most comfortable room so far. The walls were a pasty-off white, with metal furniture where various medical utensils and medicines accommodated perfectly, though all the etiquettes were in Krussian and could not be read by ponies. Unlike many of the rooms, there were actual windows in that place, though there were bars on the outside to keep any attempted escapes on the inmates' part.
The doctor working there was a lovely drady with beautiful lavender curls and underbelly, who wore a white coat over her dark scales, and her cyan eyes were so unlike the cold, hard and hostile eyes of the rest of the staff and inhabitants of the prison: warm and caring. Fluttershy was relieved to have found the first actual friendly face in that dreaded place, apart from Fire Throat and... Swift Tail and Twister, sort of.
Fire Throat had kind of exaggerated, he told the guards that her wing had been broken and she needed immediate medical attention. Fluttershy's expression of pain and tearing up for a mild dislocation was enough for the guards to buy it, she guessed they thought she was like a glass menagerie that could be easily broken... which wasn't completely false. Apparently, a dislocated wing wasn't enough of a serious injury to be sent to the infirmary, only actual serious wounds were sent to the medical ward, like amputations, drug overdose and other things Fluttershy didn't want to remember.
The doctor, whose name was Skyler, was taking a look at her dislocated wing quizzically, every now and then peeking into a book, which Fluttershy assumed was a sort of book that explained how to treat ponies.
"Looks like it's merely dislocated a bit." she sighed, glancing at Fluttershy's wing. "I have to put it back in place, but it's going to hurt a bit."
Fluttershy gulped. She had heard it wasn't a pleasant experience. "Isn't there a way to make it hurt less?"
"I could cast a spell to numb your wing so it won't hurt, but when it fades it's going to be sore and you won't be able to move it."
"I think that's okay."
Skyler nodded as her horns glowed, the magical aura flowing to Fluttershy's wing. Fluttershy shivered when the aura flowed through her wing, leaving behind a cold sensation, but soon she felt relieved when the pain started to subside. The terror began when Skyler placed her large talon on top of her wing, and she closed her eyes shut waiting for the agonizing snap; much to her surprise, she merely felt a tug on her joint, putting the bone back into place.
"Done!" Skyler chirped. "Be careful the next time you go flying, sweetie. Especially with such short wings."
"Thanks, though I don't really..." Fluttershy processed the word short wings. "Short wings?" She was a pegasus pony, it was normal that her wings weren't as large as a Temnokt's.
"A pegasus pony's wings are usually 5 feet long, but yours are only 3.5 feet long. Shorter wings usually affect flight negatively, since they don't have as much power or resistance as longer wings are. I don't exactly know how pegasus flight works out, but in any flying creature shorter or longer wings than usual can cause a few problems."
"Well, I was never good at flying..."
"You don't have to feel bad about it." Skyler smiled sympathetically. "Half of the people here have wings that are too short or too long too. Just be careful when you fly near the larger inmates, okay?"
Fluttershy nodded, smiling. "Thank you very much, miss Skyler."
"Oh, there's no need for formalities, sweetie. You may call me Skyler. See you around!"
Fluttershy allowed Skyler to levitate her off the table and down unto the floor, then she made her way out of the infirmary. Since it was located in the less restricted area of the prison, injured inmates were brought by guards, though in her case only one guard was needed. Fluttershy followed him back to the area where the inmates lived. She noticed there were more guards around this area, having coffee, or preparing to go home for the change of shifts, and having a much more enjoyable meal.
They crossed another set of doors that led into the inmates' area, and was led to her cellblock. By then Fluttershy had gotten to know where her cell was located. Most of the other inmates were in the cells, the doors still open, and most of them merely gave her a glance upon hearing her hooves clopping against the floor before going back to whatever they were doing. thankfully they had lost interest in her for the time being, so Fluttershy wanted to enjoy it as long as it lasted. As soon as she was inside her cell, all the doors to the cells closed, trapping her inside once again.
Roachie crawled from underneath her blanket, waving his antennae in a friendly way, then it pointed at Fluttershy's wing in worry.
"Don't worry, Roachie, it's okay. I feel much better now." Fluttershy smiled at him. "And the doctor was very nice too." She lay down on the old mattress, slipping underneath her bed covers. It wasn't long before the lights were turned off, leaving everything in complete darkness again, save for the light from the barred window. Fluttershy was sad that all the sky was cloudy and snowing, with not a single sign of stars or even Princess Luna's moon. She wondered how her friends were doing, she just couldn't wait for the next visit to see them again. Her eyes swelled up with tears at the thought.
Fluttershy closed her eyes and slept.