//------------------------------// // Pod'nok // Story: Jailed // by ladyanaconda //------------------------------// It wasn't that hard to find out where it happened, considering there was already a large group of inmates gathered in the middle of the courtyard, all of the muttering in Krussian. It wasn't that hard for Fluttershy to squeeze between their legs, ignoring the glares and growls she received, until she came to the center. She gasped at the sight of the familiar purple-haired drake, but the state he was in frightened in. He was laying down on the ground, on his side, completely immobile, his pupils shrunken and his tongue hanging out from his mouth, with a little pool of saliva just next to his head. She could tell he was shivering, and his abdomen rose and fell in a slow motion, signaling his slow breathing. Fluttershy's ears prickled when she heard a sound coming from Twister's throat, trapped words he was trying to express. He was trying to ask for help. But he couldn't talk, he couldn't even move, and it hurt him. "Somepony do something!" Flutteshy yelled in despair as she rushed to Twister's head, but as she tried to touch him she retreated her hooves when she felt his scales were a deadly cold, perhaps even colder than the snow and the air around them. When Twister felt her touch, his pupils moved towards her direction with great difficulty, and he tried to say something, but no words came out. Only a wheezing sound. When she glanced around she saw all the other inmates kept their distance, and stared at her in surprise, though others seemed rather amused. "Aren't you seeing how he is?! Somepony go get help!" But none of them moved, and if they did it was to go back to what they were doing before. She couldn't believe it, they didn't care? Did they have no heart? Had this place truly erased what was left of their humanity? Twister's attempt to tell her something broke her heart, and the other inmates' indifference infuriated her. She glared at the group of Temnokt, her eyes swelling up with tears. "How dare you...?!" Fire Throat and Swift Tail felt the same shiver down their spines when they saw the look on Fluttershy's, so unlike the timid and submissive title pegasus they knew. The other inmates seemingly thought the same, at least some of them did, and they stepped back in surprise when the pegasus started raised her voice and started growling. "There's somepony who needs help, and all you do is stand there and watch?! You should all be ashamed of yourselves! Would you like to be ignored and brushed-off when you're in trouble?!" Neckslicer watched the scene amusingly from the benches, taking a good inhaling from his cigarette before releasing a big cloud of smoke from his nostrils. So the little pegasus wasn't as much of a scaredy cat as he originally thought, too bad her words were falling unto deaf ears. Only five percent of the inmates in this prison understood Equestrian Language, and even these limited pony-speakers only understood part of the language. He was partly surprised she was standing up for Twister after he nearly killed her, either she was stupid or too kind for her own good. The drake chuckled at the second option. He was certain he'd enjoy when she was broken by Brokenfang. Fluttershy soon noticed the inmates either weren't paying attention, or they didn't understand what she was saying. Realizing she would obtain no help from them, she went back to the side of Twister's head and tried to keep him awake. "Twister, hang on! You'll be fine! I'm here with you, everything will be okay!" Soon, the inmates started parting when two prison guards came forward, staring at Twister calmly, almost as if they knew what to do. One of them pushed Fluttershy aside as he and his companion picked the paralyzed inmate up, then they placed him unto their backs to take him away, one of them glanced back at the large group of inmates with a frown. "Get lost! This is not a spectacle!" Soon after, the group scattered completely, but Fluttershy stood there, frozen, sobbing as Twister was carried away. Fire Throat and Swift Tail took the cue and went closer to her, Roachie crawled up to her shoulder and tickled at her neck with his antennae in a concerned way. Fire Throat noticed the angry air around her had dissipated, replaced with a sorrowful, impotent air. The question was there, but she didn't have the courage to ask, she was still shaken by what she had just witnessed, it was notably the first time she ever saw it. "...He had an overdose." Fluttershy momentarily lifted her teary gaze from her hooves and towards the direction he had been taken. "... A w-what...?" "Cocaine overdose. He probably inhaled too much, and his brain couldn't handle it." "Poor Twister! I c-can't...! I can't believe it...! N-None of them...!" she wiped the tears from her cheeks with her hooves. "First rule: don't peek your nose into others' business if they don't ask. Especially when there's a life on the line, you could be held responsible even if you didn't do anything for it." "H-He could have died?" Swift Tail shook his head, sighing. "You seriously should get out more, mare. Yes, he could die. It's a drug overdose we're talking about." The rest of the inmates stared at Fluttershy from afar, intrigued, wondering how such a weak, whimpering creature could have shown such change in character when she saw the deranged drake dying, only to go back to her weaker self just afterwards. Solitaire, in particular, gave a small growling sound as he watched the little pegasus weeping, stroking his lizard's head in an affectionate way. The drakes who were within earshot jumped in surprise when they heard it, it was the first sound they had heard from him in decades. Some thought it was a sign of interest in a certain person. Saturday, 7:40 A.M Visit Hall "D-Drug overdose?" Fluttershy nodded, still trembling and letting out sniffles every now and then. She hadn't heard from Twister the rest of the day, and the guards refused to tell her anything (or simply didn't understand Equestrian). And yet, the other inmates somehow found out his condition and started chattering about it, though considering the information passed from one mouth to another the actual truth had been twisted and changed according to the version. From what she could tell was that Twister had a seizure provoked by a cocaine overdose, and he was in the infirmary, connected to tubes and being supervised by Dr. Skyler. Twilight's expression was one of utter shock, but there was also a glint of sympathy in her eyes, even though she wouldn't say it outloud. She knew better than to show pity for a criminal, no matter how tough their situation was: they had brought this upon themselves, after all. "N-Nopony... None of them wanted to help him! They just stood there...!" "They don't care about anyone other than themselves, Fluttershy. That's why I say you shouldn't trust your companions, they can stab you in the back at any moment." "Visit's over, unicorn!" the guard snapped in Equestrian. Twilight muttered, but she handed over another pouch with two thousand obsids to Fluttershy. "Here are some more obsids for protection. Whatever happens, Fluttershy, watch your back. I know you would never look for trouble, but those drakes are certainly to look for it." She shared one last hug with Fluttershy before she left the table and walked out of the room, her eyes wet. Fluttershy sniffled as she took the bag, sensing the greedy stares the other inmates, and some guards, were giving her. She skipped all the way back into the mess hall, all the tables back into place, boiling with activity. She had no appetite as she made her way to the table. On the way, she saw a few inmates with that infamous white powder, either sliding it across the table and receiving another item in return, or being sniffed in tiny quantities. She couldn't understand how come they consumed it despite knowing how dangerous it was, and having seen it on Twister. Then again, Swift Tail had said that stop using it wasn't as... easy as she made it sound. Sadly, she was so distracted she failed to notice one of the inmates putting the tip of his thick tail in the way, and she barely had time to react as suddenly she tripped and fell to the ground with a painful yelp, muffled by the sounds of laughter from the other inmates. "Watch where you're going, Flutteroach!" the culprit, an elder drake, snickered. "S-Sorry..." Fluttershy apologized, swiftly standing up and making her way towards the table. She hated not being able to understand a word, but she did manage to catch the last 'Flutteroach' part, undoubtedly her new nickname based on her friendship with Roachie. Speaking of Roachie, she noticed he was happily feasting on a bowl of cold porridge, which prompted both Fire Throat and Swift Tail to push their trays of food away in disgust. As soon as she climbed unto the metal seat, Swift Tail muttered. "Seriously, Flutteroach, must you bring the least hygienic insect on the planet to the table?" Great, now even he was calling her like that. "I can't leave him alone, he might get squashed by somepony." "So what? Those bugs carry more bacteria than rats, but they are easier to get rid of." He noted how she was getting stiff. "Don't tell me you haven't had an infestation in your house." "Not really. I keep my house clean, and all bugs stay outside." "Lucky you." Fire Throat muttered. There was a commotion nearby Fluttershy was reluctant, but her curiosity got the better of her, and she turned towards the other tables. There was a fallen tray in the ground, its contents spilled over the marble floor, and its owner, a burly, scarred and one-eyed drake, was growling at a smaller, but as equally menacing younger Temnokt. The two were exchanging heated words in their native language, probably they were arguing over who was to blame for the dropped meal. Then they started to violently push each other, snarling. Fluttershy had a bad feeling about what was going on, especially when the rest of the inmates abandoned their tables, including those behind the kitchen counter, and gathered around the bickering pair at a safe distance. They were smashing their tails against the ground, and excitedly chanting as the two dukes circled each other like wild animals about to break out. "Pod'nok! Pod'nok!" "W-What are they saying?" Fluttershy asked. "It's a one-on-one fight." Fire Throat said. "A sort of duel between two individuals who think they have been offended, and seek to punish the aggressor both to teach them a lesson and to set an example to others. In other words, they defend their 'reputation'." "It's the only real entertainment we get here!" Swift Tail said, snickering. "If you will excuse me, I'm gonna see how it turns out this time." He left the table and walked towards the large group, chanting pod'nok excitedly, joining up with the chants. "Why can't they just talk about it?!" Fluttershy asked in alarm. "Surely they can solve the issue without resorting to violence-!" "They could, but they don't want to. In this place, we think that's for weaklings." "And the guards?! Why don't they do anything?!" The yellow pegasus had noted there were about three or four guards inside, and they just... watched. In fact, two of them were even exchanging words, maybe betting on who the victor would be. "They don't get much entertainment either. They will only intervene when one of them gets seriously hurt." Finally, the fight broke out. The one-eyed Temnokt (known as One-Eye) and the younger one (known as Ripper) lunged at each other and fell to the ground. One-Eye dug his teeth into Ripper's shoulder, and Ripper retaliated with kick in the ground. When Ripper managed to get free of his rival's teeth, he dug his own into One-Eye's wingbone. With a shriek of pain, One-Eye's claws came into contact with the side of Ripper's face, knocking him away and leaving him with three bleeding cuts. Meanwhile, the rest of the inmates continued to chant around them, almost deafening the sound of the growls and snarls. It wasn't until a one of the two rivals fell to the ground, half of his blood pooling underneath his body, that the guards finally intervened, pushing the inmates aside roughly to get to the center. One-Eye stood triumphantly on top of Ripper, who was barely breathing by then, his whole body was covered in fresh slashes of One-Eye's claws, one of his eyes was purple and he was missing three teeth, which were scattered across the ground. Two guards violently subdued One-Eye against the ground, while the third guard put two of his fingers on Ripper's neck to check his heartbeat, telling the fourth guard to fetch a stretcher as soon as possible. One of the guards holding down One-Eye snarled. "It's off to solitary confinement, you rat!" One-Eye simply grunted, spitting out some blood casually. "Whatever." Fluttershy watched as he was dragged away from the scene, and out of the room. "W-Where are they taking him?" "Solitary confinement, also known as the 'Hole'." Fire Throat explained, staring at the doors through which they had disappeared. "You are put in a tiny cell, isolated from any sort of contact, and left to rot for days, or weeks, it depends. It's main purpose is to break your spirit, and it does the job pretty well. One thing is being alone but surrounded by people, and a different one is to be completely devoid of any contact at all, inside a tiny space, with only your shadow as your company. Most prisoners in the Maximum Security Cells are subjected to this, except for a few who show a considerable change in their behavior and are allowed to interact with the rest of the inmate body, though they are still under a much stricter vigilance than the rest. Some end up losing their minds from spending so much time by themselves, but they cannot take their lives to escape the hell even if the idea actually crossed through their heads. Those cells have no items to do the job." Fluttershy gulped internally, it didn't sound like a pleasant place to be in. Two guards burst through the doors, bringing the stretcher with them. They set it down on the ground and carefully placing Ripper on top of it, then they lifted it once again and carried him out of the room by the door they had came, leaving a trail of dark blood as they did so. By then, Fluttershy had gotten quite a bit accustomed to seeing blood around the place, but the sight was still gruesome enough to give her nausea. The rest of the inmates went back to their business, avoiding the pool of blood as they did so. Swift Tail had made his way back to the table, and noticed Fluttershy's face was obtaining a greenish color due to the sight of the blood on the floor. "Hey, mare, are you gonna eat your stew?" "T-Take it... I have no appetite..." She replied, sliding over her tray over to his side of the table as he went to sit down. Swift Tail pulled it closer, sliding his own tray with the empty bowl aside, and shooing Roachie away with his claw despite the bug's protests. Sunday, 9:00 A.M. Much to Fluttershy's surprise, it turned out there were educational programs in this place. Even though most of the inmates would never leave the place alive again unless they got a Royal Pardon (which wasn't likely to happen anytime soon), the limited group of prisoners who did count in their calendars how much time they had left before being free took part in educational activities, being prepared for life outside Broken Fang once again and enhance rehabilitation. Said programs were divided in two categories: academic, which meant the individuals in question could learn to read, write and perform basic mathematics (turned out most of the inmates were under-educated), and vocational. The latter one, however, was very limited due to the Maximum-security status of the institution, and it was exclusive to particular inmates with good conduct. Fluttershy wondered if said activities weren't just a way to keep the prisoners busy so they'd cause less trouble. She was shocked to find that Lighttalon, Bonesnap, and even Neckslicer were enrolled in 'Basic Equestrian Language', along with her. She inscribed in that class because in a way she thought it would remind her of home, and because she felt a hobby of this sort would do good to kill the time. She wondered why such a class existed in such a place, though, it wasn't like they would go to Equestria on vacation, would they? The classroom was almost bare, and it didn't give her the relaxing air she had hoped. The walls were marble gray, the tables were bare, and the windows were barred from the outside. Most of the tables lacked chairs, since the Temnokt's size made it hard for them to sit on such frail and thin-legged furniture, only one tall chair was put for her... right next to Neckslicer, who didn't seem happy to have her as a table-mate. It turned out each table was meant for two individuals. Remembering all of Fire Throat's tips to avoid Neckslicer's wrath, Fluttershy went to the chair, but once she was next to it she noted it was too tall for her to climb it, and since her wing was still recovering she couldn't fly up. Fluttershy timidly glanced at Neckslicer, who was entertaining himself by scribbling in his notebook. "Um, excuse me," she called out to him quietly. He didn't hear her. "Hello?" "Mare, raise the volume of your voice," Neckslicer said simply with an annoyed frown. "With that little voice not even a bat could hear you." Fluttershy spoke again, in a more-or-less proper volume this time. "Sorry, but I wanted to ask you if you could help me get on top of my chair." "Why should I?" "It's just a little.... thing I'm politely asking you to do," Fluttershy responded, avoiding the word 'favor' in fear he might charge her for it. "A little thing that doesn't benefit me at all." Neckslicer retorted, catching up to her loophole. However, a few moments later his tail grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up to the chair abruptly. Confused, she glanced up at him. "Thanks..." she whispered thankfully, though she had a bad feeling in her gut when she saw the evil glint in his eyes. Fluttershy glanced back at the rest of her 'classmates'. Lighttalon (who waved amicably at her) was at the table at the bottom with a red-haired drake, Bonesnap's 'tablemate' had merely a little tuft of dark and neon hair and underbelly. Other of the drakes who caught her attention was a particular drake with green hair, orange eyes and a pair of yellow fins on both sides of his head, with matching fin-like eyebrows who was carving on the table with his claw. "Neckslicer, sorry to bother you, but who is he?" she timidly asked, glancing subtly at the green hair. Neckslicer didn't reply. Instead, he tore a sheet from his notebook and wrote on it, then slid it over to her. Fluttershy tentatively took it and read. If you're wondering why I wrote it here instead of answering straight out, I'll let you know that speaking behind someone's back when they're in the same room is... dangerous. It made sense. She wouldn't like to hear ponies talking bad things about her when she's in earshot. That's the Boa. Serial murderer, his favorite method is strangling because for some reason he's obsessed with constrictor boas. Perhaps you'd get along nicely. Fluttershy gulped, wondering if what he meant with nicely wasn't actually the opposite of what the word meant. He seemed to enjoy toying with her. She had another doubt, but since it didn't have anything to do with any of the other inmates, she guessed maybe he'd answer normally. "Who is the teacher?" She was right. "Mrs. Mriksha, the living proof of the Equestrian/Krussian war. Unfortunately, since she's the only Temnokt of fluent Equestrian who is willing to impart classes in this place." Just then, an armored guard stepped into the classroom, looking both afronted and irritated. "Okay, you dogs, I must inform you that unfortunately, Mrs. Mriksha will be unable to attend for... health reasons." the inmates chuckled. "Um..." Fluttershy had no idea of what he was saying, but she didn't dare to ask Neckslicer for a translation. "Until she gets better, a substitute teacher will take her place. You better don't cause her any trouble." He coughed uncomfortably. "Allow me to introduce you to your substitute..." When the substitute teacher stepped into the room, Fluttershy gasped.