//------------------------------// // Recollection [Intermission] // Story: The Black Cello Mafia // by WolfOblivion //------------------------------// The Black Cello Mafia Chapter 2: Recollection =-=-=-= "By Celestia's plot do these cuffs chafe." "Hush. You'll keep yourself quiet until we get to the destination." A gruff stallion answered back. The mare that had complained was blindfolded and chained betwixt her hooves. She slumped against the back of the carriage that she was currently being transported in, sighing in exhaustion. It's been two years...how much longer will I be pulled along like this? She thought to herself. Two whole years of almost constant blindness, broken occasionally to view the bleak, greenish-grey mold covered walls of a cell. Disgusting food being shoved in her face, and the rusted, dusty old cot that would serve as her bed. Some of her cells didn't even have cots. Those were definitely the worst of times. What used to be a beautiful mane, was now a disheveled mess, full of muck and dirt from being thrown to the ground so much. Her stomach had permanent bruising over the years of beatings. They really like to focus there...not sure why. She was pretty much indifferent to most of her torture and terrible living conditions now. She used to bawl, scream and feel like dying, but after two long years of seeing the broken, lifeless faces of her fellow inmates, coupled with a complete detachment from emotion and the material things that she used to cherish, she had practically become insane with a sense of humor for everything. Even then she huffed a passing giggle. "Must be how Pinkie feels." She said under her breath. The carriage drew hard on the ground as it came to a halt, lifting slightly and coming down with a thud. The steel locked door that lined the back of the carriage swung open, an armored stallion standing slightly away. "Come on out. We're here." The mare slid off of the bench and onto her hooves, shuffling out of the carriage and unto the blaring hot sun that instantly charred her stiff body. Her blindfold protected her from the shine until the stallion pulled it off, making her flinch in surprise. The guard shoved her in the ribs, causing her to stumble slightly, giving the stallion a disgusted look. Looking to her left, she saw the grand prison that was planted among the rolling desert hills that surrounded it. Dust kicked up around her feet as she shambled away from the front gate and toward the processing station. An already present line was prominent, the same old look of beaten ponies who had suffered as much as her populating the small space in between two tall black, barb wired fences. The mare came unto the post were another armored stallion sat behind blue tinted glass, staring intensely at whatever was in front of him. Under the small slit of glass, the guard pushed a wrinkle covered paper toward the mare, along with a circular pot of ink. Pressing her dirty, dove white hoof into the pot, she repressed it over an already stamped hoof print. She couldn't remember how many times she had stamped that paper, but still, every time she had been forced to move, the familiar old paper greeted her with typed print giving description and charge. Her old blood still stained the top-right tip when a guard had punched her in the snout, bleeding profusely onto the desk and the paper itself. The guard took the paper back and gestured a hoof to keep moving. The line moved silently and somberly into the prison itself, the all too familiar stench of terrible food and dingy ponies wafted about her nostrils. Sniffing curtly, she moved along with the line into a main cell wing. She was guided up the stairs and to the first cell after them, a recently shaved and fairly young golden mare on the bottom cot, shivering and broken to tears. Walking into the cell, the still chained mare felt her mind reel as she noticed this small framed mare had wings and golden fur. She slowly walked up to the cot and looked down at the mare with sore eyes, mouth parted in awe. A whisper escaped her shocked lips. "Flu...Fluttershy?" She asked out to the crying mare. She sobbed once more and stopped, looking up at the white mare above her, her eyes a dull hazel. Her bottom jaw stuttered about while trying to hold the sob. The standing pony shook her head and sighed. I'm disappointed but...it's better off if I never see her anywhere near me. "W-what did you s-say?" The pegasus stuttered, sniffing back snot produced from crying. Shaking her head, she answered. "Nothing." The pegasus seemingly had began to pull herself together, sitting up and wiping away the tears with her legs. "I guess we're cellmates." The still shaky pegasus stated. "What's your name?" The mare looked up and pushed a large lock of her hair behind her ear. "Huh?" She asked, genuinely confused. "Your name. Don't you have one?" The mare asked. Wow. She must be younger than she looks. "Oh, uh...yes, I do. I just haven't heard...or even said it in a very long time." "Then...could you tell me what it is, please?" The standing mare finally sat beside the cot, the cell door having been closed awhile now. "Rarity. My name is Rarity." =-=-=-= Tossing and turning on her stiff cot, Rarity slept uneasily. Her sub-consciousness raced in a blur of different events that had taken place in her life, taking the cruel pleasure to stop and force her to relive some of the worst that had plagued her psychosis for years, and many of years to soon come. For what seemed hours that she had to come to these moments, she began to course the recent weeks, The weeks ran to days, and the days rode into the current, ending with her climbing into bed that night. Suddenly, darkness consumed her vision, brightening to the small golden pegasus sobbing in the cot, but instead of daylight coming through the bars, it was moonlight that drilled past the iron baring into the cell, barley illuminating the sorrowful mare in front of her. After a couple of slow moments, the mare stopped crying and shifted around. Her neck craned up and toward Rarity, stuck in place in the corner of the cell. Slowly, her face came into the faint light, showing the bruised and damp face of Fluttershy, her blue eyes breaking the grey and black surroundings. She broke into a sob, this time visible, but her eyes and muscles did not move, only her mouth. The cries echoed in the dark cell, berating Rarity's ears. "RARITY. PLEASE....HELP ME!" The frozen face of a shaven Fluttershy vibrated violently, intensifying the agony of her cries ten-fold, soon turning into a shrill shriek of pain. Rarity felt as if she was screaming. but couldn't tell. Her whole body was frozen and numb. Her perception shifted, moving downward. She realized she was sinking into the ground, a pool of violet swirls consuming her body until her open and loud mouth was swallowed under the ground. In that instance, Rarity shot up in her cot, sweat dripping at an alarming rate down her face. Breathing hard and taking huge gulps of air, she quickly looked beneath her bedding at the pegasus under her. A mare was there, yes, but not Fluttershy. This mare was younger, curled up in a ball with her wings curved around her body as if to protect her. Rarity fell back into her cot, still huffing in panic. The sweat was cooling under her prison uniform, clinging to her fur. Becoming so exhausted from the day's events and her recent nightmare, she was too tired to think about anything. Instead, falling into a gentle sleep. She had no more dreams that night.