Pained sobbing filled the dark room, occasionally punctuated by a hiccup. The abused zebra filly was spattered with blood, tears, and other bodily fluids. Her mother lay next to her. Bound, gagged and beaten, she was forced to watch the numerous atrocities performed on her foal. But her attention was focused elsewhere at the moment, at the unicorn buck standing in front of them.
He removed the gag from the mare. She flinched, jerked, and was met with the butt of a revolver cracking against her temple. The zebra swore in her native language, and the filly began to sob louder.
“Cute,” the unicorn said. “Now shut that thing up, we have some business to discuss.”
“What more do you want from us?” the mare replied, nuzzling her child. “You’ve already taken everything. You murdered my husband, burned our village and raped my daughter.”
A schink, then a scream, and the zebra was left looking at the handle of a combat knife sticking out of the spine of her filly. She would never walk again.
“You know exactly what I want, bitch,” he said. “The megaspells. We know they are being launched soon, but when? I want specifics. Speak anything but a date and the next blade goes into her eye.”
“You monster! I-”
Schink.
No scream this time. No sobbing.
“Now, one last time,” the buck said, pulling back the hammer on his revolver. “When do they fall?”
“Forty eight hours. The cleansing comes in two days. You are too late to stop it.” the zebra said, in an emotionless tone.
“A pity, but it isn’t in our best interests to stop it. Thank you for your cooperation,” said the buck. He holstered his revolver and walked out of the room, leaving the mare with her child’s corpse.
“Tell the O.I.A. its showtime,” he said to the bucks just outside. “Leave the bitch locked in the room, but feel free to have a bit of fun. After all, we’ve only got two days until the end of the world.”