“Just like I said, I beat her because she wanted to sell me drugs,” Babs said, carefully watching the guard in front of her. “Can I go home?”
“Not yet,” the guard replied. He searched through the papers on his desk. “White Dove’s father says that he saw you with his daughter a couple of times. Were you friends?”
“What that has to do with her death?” Babs asked and blew a large balloon of her bubble gum. “We’ve seen each other in school from time to time… From what I’ve heard, she was killed by some griffons, right?”
“We’re still looking for them,” the guard replied. “You seem to know a lot about her… Do you know that her father also recognised one of her friends as the guy who killed Golden Sunset? His name is Cracker or something like that...”
Babs froze. “I don’t know him,” she replied quickly.
“Strange, because judging by his talks with other inmates he knows you…”
“He’s a pervert, he talk bullsh–”
“So you know him?” The guard smirked.
Babs stood up. “Listen, am I a fuckin’ witness or a suspect here? Are ya gonna arrest me or what?”
“Maybe,” the guard replied, unfazed by her outburst. “For an innocent little filly, you seem to know a lot about, umm, shady aspects of life in Manehattan, Ms. Seed.”
“Bullshit,” Babs muttered. “Ya just can’t imagine a rich filly sellin’ drugs. All of ya are thick-headed–”
“I’ll pretend that I didn’t hear that, Ms. Seed,” the guard said dryly. “You’re free to go… For now.”
Babs left the guard’s office muttering curses under her breath. She trotted down the corridor and left the station without looking at anyone.
Nightcap was waiting for her outside. “So, how was the interrogation?” she asked. “Are ya prepared for meeting all those fillyfoolers in prison?”
“There’s only one fillyfooler I want to meet,” Babs replied and kissed Nightcap’s cheek. They trotted down the pavement, leaving the station behind. They didn’t even get two blocks away from the station when they heard shooting. They turned back and saw a couple of griffons circling above the station and shooting at the windows. The guards’ answer was quick – one of the assailants was already lying on the pavement.
“What the hay is goin’ on?” Babs asked. “Are they crazy or what?”
“I guess they think that stunt ya pulled is the guards’ work…” Nightcap replied. “Let’s get outta here!”
They ran into the nearby nook, watching the sky for any sight of a griffon. Babs thought about her submachine gun – she hadn’t given it back to Lightning Dust after they’d buried the griffons and it was still lying somewhere in Nightcap’s flat. Then she thought that even if she had it with her, she still had no ammo.
“Seems that it calmed down,” Nightcap said. “I guess it was just a demonstration…”
“Way to go…” Babs muttered. “If they keep on demonstrating like that, the Big Guy won’t have to shoot ‘em. The guards will do that instead of him…”
“Yeah…” Nightcap shook her head. “It seems that they’re losing it…” She looked at Babs and smiled. “So, what's it going to be then, eh? Are we gonna go to my place and have some horizontal refreshment before ya get arrested?”
“Not today,” Babs replied. “My parents will freak out when they hear about that…” She pointed at the direction of the Guard Station. I’m gonna show ‘em that their daughter is still safe and sound and I can come to ya in the evening…”
“I’m workin’ in the evening…” Nightcap said. “My cunt is gettin’ sore… Work, then ya…”
“Are ya suggestin’ that I’m, like, a buspony’s holiday for ya?” Babs furrowed her eyebrows. “Also, ‘cunt’ doesn’t fit your… Hmm…”
“If you’re tryin’ to come up with some sickeningly sweet name for it, don’t.” Nightcap chuckled. “And I wouldn’t call it ‘buspony’s holiday’... With ya it’s… different…”
“It’s the lack of dick, I guess…” Babs replied. “And nothin’ comes to my mind… We’re really bad lovers, ya know? I don’t even have a pet name for your–”
“I wouldn’t call it ‘love’,” Nightcap interrupted her. “We hang out together, we fuck – that’s all.”
“You’re shallow…”
“I’d rather say ‘experienced’.” Nightcap sighed. “Anyway, weren’t ya, like, goin’ home? Your folks are probably gettin’ crazy...”
“Oh, yeah…” Babs spat the bubblegum and took a few steps toward the main street. “See ya, Nightcap.”
“Take care, Babs.”
Babs trotted through her neighbourhood. Almost nopony was there – the adults were either at work or wandering around the town, looking for some job. Most of the foals were at school. Empty, the street looked almost like a scenery of some horror movie. Babs couldn’t help but shudder – it was quite cloudy outside and cold wind was chilling her to the bone, even though she was wearing a jacket.
She looked at the walls of the nearby houses. The graffiti artists were now at war with the mayor, who declared that vandalism was the cause of Manehattan’s high rate of crime. It could be seen on the wall – the mural Babs used to like had been painted over with a dull, white paint. On it, someone drew a couple of rather dirty pictures, complete with “This wall used to have art on it. Now it has cocks.” inscription written in the middle of them. Babs shook her head and trotted forward, reading numerous inscriptions, such as “The Sleepless Killer will be back”, “Owls are not what they seem to be” or “Daffodil loves Flash”. All of them were relatively new; as Babs knew, they were changing quite often.
She noticed that the street was much cleaner than it used to be. She wasn’t sure when it happened. Was it her neighbours themselves who cleaned it? Or maybe the mayor sent someone to do that?
Babs was only a block away from her home, when suddenly she heard some noise behind her. She quickly turned back, but then she smelled something weirdly sweet. Her legs suddenly became wobbly and she fell on her knees. She tried to get up, but then she felt a sharp pain in her head and she collapsed on the pavement.
“Hello, Seed…” she heard a voice above her. She blinked and looked around, recognising the place immediately.
She was lying on a sofa in the house of the boss of Manehattan mafia – commonly referred to as the Big Guy. He was standing in front of her, smiling menacingly. Two of his bodyguards were standing behind him.
“What the fuck…” Babs muttered.
“Oh, no,” the Big Guy said. “I want to know what the fuck…”
“What?” Babs exclaimed. “ I don’t even work for ya anymore… Ya drugged me and brought me here for no reason! What’s goin’ on?”
“Shut up!” He smacked her. She felt a taste of blood in her mouth. “There’s a couple of things you need to explain… For starters, what were you doing on the station today?”
“They called me…” Babs replied. “I’d beaten the crap outta White Dove some time ago and they thought I had something to do with her death… I didn’t snitch!”
“Yeah, right…” The mafia boss shook his head. “Speaking of which… I’m trying to make peace with those griffons and I was almost there, when some crazy kid just had to shoot four of ‘em…”
“They raped and killed Dove!” Babs exclaimed, standing up. “Your ‘filly scout!’”
“Shut up!” He punched her, sending her back on the couch. “Filly scouts are disposable. We got the drugs back… Who gives a fuck about her?”
“Well, I do!” Babs shouted. She felt she had a black eye, but she didn’t care. “She… She didn’t deserve to die…”
“For the last time, I’m telling you to shut up!” This time, the punch was aimed at her stomach; she gasped and held it with her hooves, trying to catch her breath. “I can forgive you that… We always need ruthless ponies, and from what Dust told me, you’re quite… promising…” He chuckled. “But there’s one thing you have to learn. It’s not about the guards or that stupid little bitch…”
“Then what is it about?” Babs asked, swallowing her tears. She didn’t know what to think about it. On one hoof, she was sure that they were going to kill her. On the other, if the boss wanted to do that, he’d just shoot her in the street.
“The two traits most valued by mafia, traits you’re sadly lacking, Seed…” The Big Guy shook his head. “Obedience and loyalty.” He leaned closer to her and looked into her eyes. “Obedience and loyalty… And you… You left us and started to whore yourself. You want to work on your own? Okay, I can understand that. But you should pay me some money for, well, protection… Especially since your moves were, I’d say, risky. Have you heard, by any chance, the name Jet Set?”
Babs froze. If Jet Set was friends with Manehattan mafia… “Y-yes…” she muttered.
“Oh, he wasn’t happy when he woke up to see his money missing…” The brown unicorn clicked his tongue. “Of course, he went to me and guess who he described…”
“I can give the money back…” Babs said quickly.
“Oh, it’s not necessary…” the Big Guy replied. “You still think only about the money… As I told you, there are more important things… Obedience and loyalty. And you need to be taught ‘em…”
The bodyguards approached Babs, turned her over and held her firmly in place. She thrashed, trying to free herself. The unicorn trotted to her, using his magic to lift her tail. Babs managed to free her leg and kick his thigh, leaving a large bruise on it. One of the bodyguards smacked her in the back of the head. Her vision darkened a bit when she hit the back of the sofa with her head.
“Do that one more time and you’re dead…” the Big Guy muttered, rubbing his thigh. “I’m not some griffon… She needs to be alive…”
“No!” Babs screamed, trying to bite or hit the bodyguards. She shuddered, feeling the stallion’s hoof between her legs. She remembered Cracker and how he used to touch the mare they had been mugging. She remembered the fear in her eyes. Then an image of White Dove's body appeared in her mind.
“No?” she heard his voice above her. “You should’ve thought about it earlier…” He poked her flank. “Too bad your cunt is so loose you probably won’t get the lesson… But we can fix that…” His hoof moved upwards, to her anus. Babs screamed and tried to kick him, but the bodyguards held her. The smell of their sweaty bodies was overwhelming. Babs felt her stomach twist; she wanted to pass out, but she couldn’t; she could only lie there, her body shaken by dry heave.
A wave of sharp pain caused her to bite her tongue. She spat the blood and gritted her teeth, trying desperately not to scream. The thrusts were expanding her anus, almost tearing it apart. She sank her face in the back of the couch, letting her tears soak into it. Another jolt of pain caused her knees to bend. For a moment she felt relief when the unicorn’s penis slid off from her.
Then a heavy blow to the head almost rendered her unconscious. Almost. The boss knew exactly how much force he could use without knocking her out.
“Don’t do that again…” he muttered, slapping her flanks several times. She could feel something warm and sticky dripping down her legs. “You ruined the sofa with your blood and shit, you dirty whore!”
Another blow to the head. Babs didn’t even feel it – her whole nether regions were burning. When he mounted her again, she didn’t even shudder – she just hung limply in the bodyguards’ hooves, hoping for it to end quickly. The blood was flowing freely from her mouth, mixing with sweat and tears. “Somepony help…” she whispered weakly.
“No one will help you…” the stallion said between pants. “You’re worthless… I could snap your neck right now and no one would care… I guess your parents wouldn’t even notice…”
Babs said nothing, gritting her teeth. She was sure some of them would break soon, but she didn’t want to show any sign of weakness anymore.
“Maybe your friends then?” The stallion laughed. “Oh, I forgot… You don’t have friends! Not even that whore… Also, she’ll be next…”
“No!” Babs screamed. “She’s–” Another blow cut her off.
“So, you talk again…” The stallion muttered. “You can squeal, you know… No one will hear you… And who knows, maybe I’ll finish the lesson sooner?” He moaned and thrusted harder, causing her to give out a muted wail. His hooves were leaving bruises on her back, almost snapping her bones.
Finally, Babs heard his jerky groan and felt a stream of his cum hitting her bowels. She was released from the bodyguards’ grasp and fell limply on the couch, panting. Blood and semen were slowly leaking on her tail. She tried to get up, but her hooves couldn’t support her weight and she collapsed on the couch again. Still, she was glad that it was over.
“She’s yours,” the boss said to his bodyguards, smiling menacingly.
“Babs? Babs!” Someone shook her brutally. “For Celestia’s sake, Babs, don’t die here! Fuck…”
It was dark outside. Babs couldn’t see exactly who was talking to her. She tried to get on her hooves, but the pony stopped her. She looked upwards and noticed an amaranth wing.
“You need to get to the hospital… Where are you going? Stay here…” The voice ordered. “No, no shower! I… I know what happened, but… You need to go like that…” A short sigh. Babs felt a pair of strong hooves lifting her from the ground and an air current caused by flapping of the wings. “They’ll get him…”
“I’ll… get… him…” Babs muttered weakly.
“No! Don’t you get it? They were lookin’ for a proof of any of his crime… And now they’ll get him for what he did to you…”
“I don’t… give… a fuck…” Babs hissed, trying to free herself. “I want to…”
“I’m on it…” The voice interrupted her. She recognised it. Lightning Dust. Lightning Dust found her and was now carrying her somewhere. “Don’t try anything… Stay outta trouble…”
“I tried… And…” Babs couldn’t hold her tears any longer. She sunk her face in Lightning Dust’s coat, embracing her with her hooves.
“I know… Don’t worry, we’ll be in the hospital soon… And then the guards will get him…”
“Not… enough… I… want… myself…” Babs whispered.
“You can’t. Not in your state… Try not to talk.”
“My…” Babs shuddered. The pain overwhelmed her; her loins, her tongue, her head… Everything hurt. She touched her head and felt that part of her mane was missing; judging by the scratches, it had been torn.
“Shh…” Lightning Dust whispered. “Let me and the guards do the job… It’ll be better soon…”
Babs shook her head. She didn’t trust the guards and none of the things Lightning Dust was saying was going to change that. Not to mention that even though she didn’t know what would happen to her, she knew one thing for sure.
It wasn’t going to be better.