It had been a week since the Eclipse and her crew had left the smoldering remains of the small Buffalo camp behind and two days since they had entered the badlands. Vex decided to go check on their passenger for the third time that week. The ship’s infirmary was dark and smelt of antiseptics and blood, the air was damp and heavy and the work space was crowded with all sorts of tools from bone saws to rib spreaders and the occasional mallet left lying about. Taking a moment to look at the organized chaos that Stitches called his work place, Vex decided to call out for the brown stallion.
“Stitches, you in here?” Vex listened and was about to call again when a loud crashing sound and some cursing met his ears.
“What do you want Vex, I am in the middle of an experiment.” Stitches said as he came sliding out from behind one of the many partitions that made up the patients area.
Taking a look at his friend, Vex noticed that he was wearing a surgical mask and a blue apron which was currently covered in blood and bits of bone. Deciding he did not want to continue his current train of thought, Vex refocused on why he had come down here.
“How is our tag along Stiches?” Vex asked as he made his way towards one of the partitions that held the white mare they had rescued.
“She is still out cold but she is healing and making progress. You should know that whoever did this to her, they took their sweet time to cause this much blunt trauma.”
“So the beat her to a pulp because they could?” Vex asked as he eyed the bandages that covered the mares chest, head and legs.
“It would seem that way. She put up on hay of a fight though.” Stitches said as he fumbled with a small set of scalpels.
Turning to look at Stitches, Vex decided to get him to clarify.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that when I was examining her I found that her hooves were chipped and had traces of blood on them that did not belong to her. Now if you will excuse me I have an experiment to get back to.” With that, Stitches went back to his little area leaving Vex with his thoughts.
What are we going to do with you? We can’t really drop you off out here in the badlands and I don’t think it would be wise of us to take you with us.
Vex was startled out of his reverie by the overhead call system they had installed at the last minute.
“Vex, Luna has a message for you waiting in your chambers.”
Vex almost had his second heart attack of the day when he entered his room. Sitting there on his bed was Luna or at least a projection of her.
“Ah... and here we thought that thou was to keep us waiting.” Luan said as she idly examined her hoof while barely hiding a smile.
“Forgive me, my lady, there were some minor last minute details to see to.” Vex replied with a short bow.
“So your report mentioned, it worries us though that the Buffalo feel so threatened that they try to hide as close to our borders as they can.”
“It would seem that even that is not enough, my lady.”
“So it would seem… Oh and Vex my sister recently lost contact with a small patrol of her guards that were checking in on the Buffalo camps around our border, so please keep your eyes open for them.” Luna’s projection flickered then disappeared, leaving Vex alone in his room with nothing but the gentle humming of the Eclipse’s engines to keep him company as he sat down to chart their progress once more.
This place was hell for Little Strongheart. One could not see more than a foot in front of you, the tunnels smelled of death and disease, everyone was starving and the guards were inclined to either ignore you or try to kill you and eat you in front of the other slaves. She had lost track of how long she had been down here... days, weeks, months. In the end all that really mattered was staying alive and keeping one’s head down was a good way to do just that.
“Hey Strongheart, you got any rations left?
“No, Shale, I don’t, now quit asking before one of the dogs decides to shut you up for good.”
“Please these mutts don’t scare me.”
Strongheart could feel the presence of the dog behind her even before she heard Shale cry out in pain.
“Not scared of mutts are you?” Came the gravelly voice of Shale’s assailant. “I’ll show you true fear.”
The dog took Shale by the scruff and tossed him against the far wall where Shale’s head made contact with the smooth wall, resulting in a bone jarring crack that echoed through the cavern, beckoning everyone to see what was happening. Two more dogs joined in, one holding Shale upright while the other laid into him with some massive blows. Strongheart kept watching even though her heart sank with each pained whimper Shale let out. Finally, the dogs seemed to tire but not before one of them grabbed Shale’s foreleg and slowly applied pressure.
“How much can you take little pony?” The dog spat out.
The dog gave one final twist and received a loud snap and a scream of agony for his efforts. Strongheart took a look at her friend, his lime green coat was now dark, dirty and covered in his blood, one of his deep brown eyes was swollen shut and his left hoof was bent at a wrong angle. The only sign of life from him was his labored breathing. With nothing else to do, Little Strongheart scooped up her friend and carried hip back to their shared cell where she began to clean his wounds and silently pray that help would arrive soon.