//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 - Jail: Part 1 -(R1) // Story: Protocol D // by Topaz Moon //------------------------------// Cassie lay there, her head pounding, in almost complete darkness. Sweat beaded on her face and body, the clammy cotton sheets adhering to any exposed skin. Her tongue felt tender and swollen in her mouth. For several minutes, Cassie just lay there, gasping and listening to her heart as it settled down to a regular pulse. The dream Cassie had had was already fading back into the recesses of her mind, but it still left her shaking. Flashes, barely remembered glimpses of energy bolts exploding around her, the ponies attacking, and… pain. Quickly swinging her legs out over the side of the bed, she pushed off with her hands to stand, only to lose her balance and fall over, hitting the ground with a loud thud. She felt for her leg and noticed it was missing. Before she could look around the room to see where her leg was, she heard laughter, mixed with muted voices in that unknown language. She looked to the direction of the sounds to see a torch light up. Instantly, Cassie noticed bars between her and numerous ponies. Her other senses finally caught up and she felt cold stone against her skin, and… that something else was off. In the dim light, she first closed her right eye, then switched… and she was greeted with pure blackness. Horror of the realization seared into her mind. “My eye!” Cassie howled as she put her hands up to her right eye. “What did you damned horses do to my eye?!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. The guards snorted and trotted down the hall, still making those laughing noises. Cassie sat there, tears gushing from her eyes in a torrent. Her face flushed red with fury; it was bad enough that they had attacked her at her campsite, but now they had locked her up, taken her leg, and somehow damaged the cybernetics of her right eye. Climbing back onto the bed, tears formed pools on the pillow under Cassie’s head. Her fingernails dug into her palms, a few red lines forming. She drew her legs to her chest as she continued to wail, the sound only broken by random hiccups. Horrible, evil horses. Why can't they just leave me alone? I left their town. What did I do to them? Why did this planet have to have stupid talking horses? Through her cries and frustration, Cassie heard the telltale clip-clop sounds approaching. She looked towards the sound to see ponies in armor on the other side of bars. They yelled something at her; Cassie assumed they wanted her to shut up, but she didn’t care. A few minutes passed before the ponies left, and a couple minutes later, she finally stopped, letting her raw throat rest. Via a torch in a sconce directly across from the bars, the only light source nearby, Cassie finally took the time to take in her new surroundings. She sat in a small, windowless stone cell with bars dominating a good portion of the wall across from her, and a heavy, metal-reinforced wooden door next to them. She lay on a small bed tucked kitty-corner from the entrance. To call it a bed was an insult to other beds; it wasn’t much more than a raised platform of wood with a thin mattress, a pillow, and a sheet wrapped around the mattress, topped with a thicker cotton blanket. Cassie had a sudden appreciation for the foam mattress of the stasis chamber back on the ship. Next to the bed sat an end table with a drawer and open cubby under it. In the opposite corner, partly blocked from view from outside the cell by a short divider wall, was one of those trough-like structures for a toilet, though not as fancy as the one from the hospital. The last thing Cassie noticed was the manacles, both hanging from the wall and against the wall on the ground, between her and the toilet. Cassie was thankful to see that she still had on her clothes from before the attack, but wished she hadn’t decided on wearing her dress that morning, especially one she liked. At least the cell's not leaking water, with the constant sound of drips, like dungeons usually do in books. A male voice called out, startling her. “Dana lneokjan, ukqn nwwl.” I thought you would figure out I don’t understand you yet. Stupid horses… The unarmored pony was pointing to a tray on the floor, but Cassie couldn’t tell exactly what was on it due to the pony's shadow stretching across the tray. Frowning at her missing leg, she scooted to the end of her bed. Using the wall as support, she hopped around the room to the tray, the pony snickering the entire time. Cassie’s brow could not furrow any further from the annoyance at not having her leg for her to pay the pony any mind. By the time she reached the tray, even more ponies had shown up. She sat down, doing her best, yet failing, to ignore the noises the ponies were making that caused her to flinch quite often. They sure don't sound friendly. With tray in hand, Cassie scooted to the rear of the cell. She pinched her brows in confusion when she looked down at the tray. The first thing she noticed was that the medium-sized cup provided held water, which she greedily drank in an attempt to sooth her parched throat. The only other thing on the tray was a small pile of hay. She looked up at the ponies with an eyebrow raised, and a quizzical look in her eyes. Jeers were the response she received. Anger flashed in her eyes. “I can’t eat hay, you stupid horses,” Cassie growled. The ponies continued to laugh and point at her, and some clanked the butts of their spears along the bars. Cassie reached down to grab the tray, then launched it at the guards. The tray hit the bars with a loud chink and rattled on the floor. Bits of hay slowly fell to the ground as it filled the air from her to partway into the hallway. The guards, stunned by her outburst, momentarily fell silent before a few growled at her in obvious anger. A couple brushed the hay off of themselves, while one seemed to take a hoofful and shove it in his mouth, shrugging his shoulders moments later as he continued to chew. Cassie raised both hands balled into fists, then extended the middle digit on each before she hopped back towards the bed. At her movement, the ponies started making their jeering sounds again, and then… pain. Cassie cried out, falling to the floor as fire radiated through her back. The sound of hard plastic rattled on the stone floor behind her. She held back the water filling her eyes, not wanting these ponies to see her shed any tears. Pushing herself back up, she started crawling into the bed, only to be met with pain for a second time and the loud sound of bare flesh being slapped. Cassie cried out again. This time it had been against the back of her thigh. Still holding onto the bed with her arms, she started pulling herself into it. That's when she saw it. The glowing aura flew in from her blind side, surrounding the cup she had just drank from, as it smashed into the top of her hand. She crumpled to the floor, clutching her hand with a wail of pain coming unbidden from her throat. She couldn’t hold the tears back any longer, and they flowed freely down her face. It did not stop there. Once Cassie was back on the floor, the cup in the aura hit her a few more times in the arms, sides, and one final time on her calf as she rolled under the bed to hide. The entire time, she could hear the ponies hooting and hollering. Several minutes passed before Cassie heard a soft voice cut through the noises. Soon afterwards, she heard the shuffle of many hooves growing quieter as they traveled further down the hall. Cassie poked her head out from under the bed to see that the ponies really had gone. She took note that the cup, tray, and hay were also missing. ------------------------------ Hours later, Cassie heard the sound of hooves clopping on stone getting closer. She quickly completed her use of the toilet trough. She had barely finished pulling her panties back up when she felt the increasingly familiar tingling sensation on her forearms. Cassie had no time to react before she was yanked violently forward, and pressed into the wall face first. Cold iron clamped tightly around Cassie’s wrists and legs, just above her knee and connection socket. She struggled against the manacles, the iron biting into her wrist before she stopped. Her knee and connection socket rested on the stone floor, slightly apart from one another, unable to move more than an inch. Her arms had more freedom, letting her bend them at the elbows so they were between her chest and the wall, with her head resting on her palms. Cassie heard a grunt from behind her, and her arms were yanked up above her head as the chain was shortened. She groaned as the sudden movement caused the stone wall to give her face an unexpected kiss. Time stopped as a steady, warm breath tickled the back of Cassie’s neck. She yelped as she felt something smooth and hard press against her skin at the base of her neck, then slowly trail down her spine. The clinking of chains filled Cassie's ears as she renewed her struggle against her binds. The pony whispered something in her ear, but the pounding of her heart drowned it out. She wheezed as a sharp pain in her side knocked the wind out of her, ceasing her struggles. The hoof now rested on the small of her back. Cassie's hair stood on end when she felt another hoof press against her leg near the knee. Gasping for breath, Cassie squeaked out, "Don't touch me! Stop! Let me go!" The hoof slid up her leg until it touched the bottom edge of her dress. Cassie's breathing became erratic, her eyes little more than whites. Just as she felt the edge of the dress tickle her skin as it started moving up, she let out an ear-splitting shriek. She never felt the dress drop back down, or the pony's hooves leave her body, as she savagely pulled on the manacles holding her arms, all the while screaming incoherently in terror. The sound of hooves bounced off the narrow hallway as a pony galloped down it. Cassie heard yelling from a gruff voice, and a calm reply from right behind her. With her strength sapped, she hung limply against the wall. The cool stone soothed the burning skin of her face, tears building up on her cheek before overfilling the blockage of their fall. A warmth slid down one of her forearms, and a stinging pain radiated from her wrist. Cassie cried out when she felt the tingling sensation again. The feeling stopped almost as soon as it had begun, and her arms fell limply to her sides. A soft click from her legs and the pressure loosening barely registered in her still-panicked mind. A grimace crossed Cassie's face and a hiss escaped her lips as she rubbed her wrists. Both made her wince upon touching them. One had just been rubbed raw, while the other was sticky and slick. The calm voice from before spoke. "Ajfku ukqn nwwl, ineokjan." Turning around, Cassie finally saw her tormenter. She watched as a slate gray unicorn with a brown mane poured a cup of water onto a tray of hay before he trotted out the cell door and down the hall. Cassie slumped over on her side, shaking, still trying to catch her breath as she made sure to remember the silver shackles on the pony’s rump. "I hate them, I hate them all," Cassie whimpered. Crawling over to the tray, Cassie found that there was a small amount of water still in the cup. Her nose scrunched and she sucked air through clenched teeth as she poured the contents of the cup onto her bloodied wrist in an attempt to clean it out some. Hopping over to the toilet area, she wrapped her wrists with toilet paper. Maneuvering back to the tray, Cassie picked up the soggy hay and let the water drain onto the tray before she tossed it outside of the cell, where it landed with a damp splat. Carefully, Cassie picked up the tray and set a corner in the cup before she tipped it gently, letting the water flow into the cup. With her newly half-filled cup, Cassie threw her head back and let out sigh of relief as the water coursed down her throat. She spit out a few particles of hay and smacked her lips together, trying to get the unique taste of the hay-flavored water out. "I should have used the bedsheet as a filter or something," Cassie mumbled, as she picked a few stubborn pieces of hay off her tongue. For a little while, Cassie occupied her time resting against the wall next to the bars, mixed with her intermittently smashing the tray against them to try and get someone’s attention. The only response she ever received was voices calling out from other cells far down the hall. "Let me out of here!" Cassie screamed as she pulled on the bars. "Can anyone understand me? Anyone from the Quasar here? It's Lieutenant Campbell! Anyone?" Cassie yelled down the poorly lit hallway. No response of any kind, other than a few in that pony language, ever came back. Not wanting to lose her voice, Cassie instead began pondering how to escape. A quick search found no loose stone in the walls, the toilet was secured very well to the floor, and none of the bars were loose. The cell's door dominated her view as Cassie sat in front of it. She ran a hand through her hair and scratched the back of her head in thought. There was a small handle for pulling the door inwards to open it, but there was no keyhole on this side. Her sight fell upon the tray, and a crooked grin came to her face. Cassie leaned the tray up against the divider wall at an angle. Cassie stood above it, smiling down with both hands on the top of the wall for support. With a short jump, she brought her foot down on the plastic tray, snapping it two. She repeated this process a few more times until she had a few smaller pieces, and one that she planned to save for later. Before Cassie got to her task, she took one of the thin, longer pieces of the broken tray and hid it on the underside of the end table’s drawer by wedging it into the wood. She then hid another piece under her mattress, hoping they would find it and not look too hard for the first one. Using a medium-sized piece, she cut a few strips out of the sheet that wrapped around the mattress. Cassie gritted her teeth as she peeled the toilet paper off her wounded wrist. Once she finished picking the remnants out, she secured a strip of the sheet she’d just cut around the wrist. Satisfied with her new bandage, she tucked the other strips into the end table's drawer. Cassie returned to the door with a few of the smaller pieces of the broken tray. She took a thin piece and slid it between the door and the frame. With a little work, she shimmied it down to the bolt. She tried to get the small, hard plastic to maybe push the bolt back enough to pop the door open, but all that she managed to do was break the plastic a few times. Snaking her arm out between the bars, Cassie felt around the front of the door for any kind of way to unlock it. When her fingers found the keyhole, her face lit up. Clumsily, she passed another small piece of plastic into her hand outside of the bars. Ugh. Having no depth perception sucks. The lock seemed to be really simple in design. Cassie could feel the piece of plastic partly moving the internal mechanism, but not enough. Hooves clopping down the hall halted further attempts. Slightly panicking, she gathered all the pieces of broken plastic and quickly hid them behind the toilet in hopes that the ponies would forget about the tray. Cassie hadn’t realized that enough time had passed that they were bringing her food again. She watched a tangerine mare levitate the cup out through the mid-level slot in the bars, while a purple pegasus mare slid the food tray through the slot at the bottom. The hay was of no concern to Cassie— she only wanted the water. She hopped around the room once the ponies took a few steps back from the bars. Slight surprise flashed in her eyes when she saw some form of large-blade grass next to the hay. She shrugged her shoulders and bent down to grab the cup of water. Cassie's world swam. The floor rushed into her vision with a thump. Her jaw was in pain as the two ponies laughed. She lay there, secretly wishing for the pony who hit her to lose a leg. Cassie brushed her tongue across her lips to be greeted with the unmistakable metallic taste of blood. "Asshole," Cassie muttered. Eventually, the two ponies left. Cassie sat up and felt her puffy lip. There was only a very slight split on the lip, but it still stung. She drank the water and looked at the grass. Cassie sighed when her stomach grumbled. Tentatively, she reached for a piece of the grass. Cassie looked it over; it was about as wide as her thumb, and about as thick as a piece of lettuce. Another grumble from her stomach made her throw caution to the wind. Mere moments later, her face scrunched up and she spat the grass back out. Well that was a stupid idea. Cassie spent a little while messing with the door lock again. Eventually, she grew tired of failing. She took the pieces of the tray and broke them into as small of pieces as she could. She saved a few, but flushed the rest down the toilet. She was surprised that none of the ponies came to check on the racket she had made the entire time she was breaking it up. Just after getting rid of the busted tray, Cassie was startled to hear wing beats, followed by the soft tapping of hooves landing on stone. She looked over to see a dark blue, possibly black pegasus mare looking at her through the bars. Cassie quickly hopped back to the bed and wrapped the blanket around her, only giving a quick glance to the pony, hoping it would go away. The mare did not laugh at her, did not glare at her… in fact, she did none of the stuff Cassie had come to expect from the ponies. Instead, the mare quietly grabbed the cup and tray, said a few words in a soft voice, and trotted away. Cassie let out a long exhale once the pony had gone. She unwrapped the blanket from around her and did a final stretch before deciding to call it a night. The night was not restful for Cassie. She mostly flopped around, unable to fall asleep more than a little bit at a time. She assumed it must have been morning when she was awoken by a slight splash of water to her face. Cassie scowled at the tangerine unicorn. The unicorn just lifted her chin, causing her blonde mane to spill from her shoulders, and made a humph sound before trotting off. Cassie was disappointed to see that it was just a pile of hay and a cup of water… again. Some time later, Cassie heard hooves approaching the cell. She got up and hopped across the room to put the cup back on the tray. She held onto the bars for balance and saw that same tangerine unicorn, along with a plain tan stallion sporting a short, tan mane and tail carrying a spear. The two ponies seemed to be in a heated argument. The mare was saying something in a stern voice, and the stallion was answering back with a questioning tone, a look of defiance in his eyes. As they neared the bars, it seemed to Cassie that the stallion had just conceded to some point, if the sound of his voice and mannerisms were anything to go by. Cassie turned to hop back to her bed just as the ponies reached the cell. Her action was stopped when the stallion jammed the spear butt into her stomach. She lay on the ground doubled over, coughing and trying to get air back into her lungs. The mare yelled something at the stallion. He seemed to hesitate and said something back. Again, the mare yelled at the stallion. Cassie was on her hands and knee when the butt of the spear forcibly rammed into her left side. A scream of pain echoed through the halls as Cassie fell over, clutching her side. Her face contorted as she ground her teeth together, trying not to cry out anymore. Her face was wet with tears; every time she tried to breath in, it felt like her side was being jabbed with a knife. The mare said something, then hit Cassie several times with the cup. Cassie heard the stallion say something gruff to the mare, causing her to stop briefly. The unicorn scoffed at whatever was said, and the stallion trotted off. The unicorn said something with a blatantly mean tone towards Cassie, hit her several more times with the cup about the torso, and then spat at her before also trotting off into the darkness of the hallway. For a long time, Cassie just lay on the stone floor, trying to get the pain to stop. Every breath hurt, and every movement filled her with pain. Finally, she sat up. She hissed when she lifted the dress up to look at her side. A dark bruise had already begun forming. I hope he only bruised it. ------------------------------ The hallway was busier today than it was yesterday. Cassie noted that the guards seemed to stop at several cells farther down the hallways and converse. They even stopped by her cell on occasion, though they only seemed to talk at her in rude or uncaring voices. Cassie just sat on the bed. She hoped the activity would stop so she could fiddle with the lock again, but her thoughts were interrupted by a soft voice. She looked up and saw that dark blue pegasus mare pushing her food tray in. The mare then placed an apple onto the tray. "Q jzwcopb pdeo noz ukq. Q dkla ukq hega ep," the pegasus said, pointing at the apple before trotting down the hall and out of sight. At first, Cassie was apprehensive. She thought that it might be some sort of trap to hurt her again. She waited a little longer to make sure no ponies were near. Once satisfied, she hopped across the room and clumsily reached for the water and apple. Sitting back on the bed, Cassie inspected the apple in the dim light. It didn’t appear to be tampered with. Her grumbling stomach decided it did not care what the apple’s condition was, but that it wanted it, and it wanted it now. Cassie slowly took a bite out of the apple. Her eyes widened in delight at the taste. It wasn’t the best apple she had ever had, but it was up there in quality. She quickly devoured the rest, doing her best not to get juice all over her face. She was so hungry that she ate everything but the stem and seeds. She placed the empty cup back on the tray before retreating back to the relative safety of her bed. Cassie had no idea why the pegasus put the apple on the tray, but she was grateful for it. Cassie was laying on her stomach when the ponies returned to get the tray. Her breath caught in her throat and her pulse quickened when she saw the slate gray unicorn from the other day with that purple pegasus mare. She quickly pulled the covers over herself in an attempt to make herself as small as she could and appear to be asleep. Rough poking to the bruises on her back and sides from a hard object caused Cassie to grit her teeth and squeeze her eyes shut to prevent any whimpers from escaping her lips. Suddenly, a loud smack filled the air. She jolted up and let out a scream while holding her butt. Cassie's eyes squinted, burning with fury and pain. She saw the offending tray held in the unicorn’s amber anti-gravity aura. She furrowed her brows even further when she turned to the smug-looking unicorn. The pegasus backed slowly away from the cell, looking around like a child about to be caught, before she turned tail and galloped away, dropping a broom in her retreat. The unicorn just looked back and shrugged his shoulders. A smile crept onto his face, and Cassie saw the tray fly at her. She turned away and tensed up in preparation for the hit… which never came. The tray had stopped mere inches from her. Cassie watched as the unicorn danced the tray in front of her, laughing every time she flinched when he brought it in like he was going to hit her with it. Cassie got her breathing and pulse back under control when she realized the unicorn was just toying with her. The next time he brought the tray in like he was going to hit her, she just stared at him. The unicorn's eye twitched. He yelled something in Cassie’s direction and gave her a feral grin. He swung the tray again, but this time it came towards her much faster. She ducked, not seeing he had sent the cup at her also. Cassie yelped and held the side of her head. Her vision blurred from the tears forming. The tray and cup clattered on the floor. She heard the unicorn mumble something, then felt the tingly sensation around her chest briefly before she was shoved into the wall behind her. The unicorn quickly levitated the cup, tray, and hay out of the cell. He mumbled something else, then turned and galloped off down the hall. "I hope your fur burns!" Cassie yelled. The rest of the day was quiet for the most part. Ponies would walk by on occasion just as they had earlier. Cassie much preferred this over getting hit. Unfortunately, it left few chances to try and escape. When her sixth… meal was delivered, the ponies had brought a wad of grey cloth, and seemed to want her to put it on. She noticed that they seemed eager, and talked in hushed whispers while watching her. She hid behind the short wall as she disrobed and put the itchy, rough-spun cotton outfit on. It was little more than a really long sack with holes cut out for her head and arms, with short sleeves that seemed to have been hastily sewn on. Once Cassie drank the water provided, she retreated to the shelter of her bed, being struck once in the shoulder by that tangerine unicorn on her way. So much for thinking I wouldn’t get hit by putting on this god awful... thing. Under the sheet, Cassie curled up and buried her aching head in her arms, sobbing to herself. An unexpected drowsiness soon washed over her, and she succumbed to the lurid song of sleep. ------------------------------ Hooves could be heard clopping on the tile, each step vibrating through Cassie's hands and knee, which were bound to a gray, tiled floor. The damp air chilled her skin. She could feel pressure on her upper chest and stomach, seemingly holding her up from lying on the floor. She tried to turn her head, but found it restrained, only able to look down at the ground and see the hooves at the edge of her vision. Her cries of fear were muffled, unable to escape her mouth. The sounds of laughter echoed around her. Cassie's skin crawled as a warm wetness pressed against her lower back. Ropes of a slimy substance slid along the curves of her spine, forming small pools. She struggled against the bindings, but to no avail. Cassie flinched as something semi-rough started to massage her side in slow circles. The wet pressure upon her lower back started pulsating, and slid down her legs. Her heart thundered in her chest as it tried to escape. Her tears splattered on the floor. Mucus dripped from her nose as her panicked breaths robbed her muscles of oxygen. Cassie's body ceased its futile struggle and went limp, but the restraints held her up. Her increased pulse filled her ears with ringing. Color started fading from her vision as black and white bubbles appeared on the edges. Her stomach lurched, and a burning pain filled her nose. Cassie's eyes bolted open, her breathing shallow and rapid. The back of her hand came up and brushed against the cold, wet stickiness on her forehead. She trailed her fingers through her damp, tangled hair, only to get them stuck on a knot. Cassie's hands grasped at her clothes, her body shuddering underneath. "Th-th-that was the most vivid nightmare I have ever had. It felt so… real. But no… it couldn't have happened, right?" she murmured to herself. Metal clinking on metal grabbed Cassie's attention. She rolled over to peer out into the hallway, fully expecting some new torment to be coming. Instead, she saw another pony with restraints around its limbs being led further down the hall. A small hint of a smile started forming on Cassie's lips for a mere blink of an eye when she saw a bundle just inside her cell. Her eyes darted around as they searched for any pony near. Satisfied they were not, she hopped across the cell to pick up her freshly washed dress and undergarments. While changing, Cassie noticed her bruising had gone down greatly. Most even seemed to have healed. Her wrist was still tender, but the skin had healed, and even her side felt a lot better. A few minutes later, she was redressed, with the long shirt thing from the ponies folded and tucked in the cubbyhole of the end table. Unfortunately, her shoe was now missing. While at the table, Cassie retrieved the long, thin piece of plastic tray from under the drawer. She took one of the strips of cloth from when she’d cut the bedding and wrapped it around one end. She looked at her newly made knife and said, "This’ll do, I guess." Cassie then grabbed some small pieces of the broken tray from under the bed and went back to the door. She hoped whatever the guards were doing with the other prisoner would keep them occupied for a bit. A small, pink tongue poked out of the side of Cassie's mouth, and her brows pinched in concentration. A soft click sounded in the silence. Cassie used her free hand to pull in on the handle, and the door swung open. Cassie had to clamp her hands over her mouth to prevent herself from shouting in elation. She slid the knife into a newly made belt from the leftover cloth strips. Carefully, she crept into the hallway. Cassie listened for any sounds of hooves on the stone. Unfortunately, she had a dilemma— she had no idea which way to go. She could go straight, or she could go left. Having no clue as to which way was correct, Cassie pulled out her tried-and-true method of twirling her arm in a circle and counting to ten with her eyes closed. It had worked great back in the hospital, so why not here, too? Cassie headed off straight. It was slow going; she passed a few prisoners, but they either didn't look to see or they just ignored her as she went on her way. Soon, she ran into a T-intersection. The right appeared to lead to a dead end, so she went left. The clip-clop sound of hooves on stone stopped Cassie in her tracks. She desperately looked around for a place to hide, trying several of the cell doors until one finally opened. She ducked inside and hid behind the door. She held her breath and refused to move, even with an itch on the back of her knee. When the pony passed by, Cassie let out a sigh of relief, then bent down and took care of the itch on the back of her knee. Standing back up, she brushed the hair out of her eyes. A quick peek into the hall showed that the coast was clear. Hopping back out into the hallway, Cassie was partly thankful for having no shoes. Sure, it sort of hurt a little, but her bare foot made hardly any sound on the stone. At the next corner, there was only one way to go. Seeing nothing down the hall, she continued on her way. Cassie never noticed the wooden door near the end of the hallway; she did notice when it opened, and a familiar tan-coated pony stepped out. Cassie and the pony froze, staring at each other on opposite ends of the hallway. "Bnaava!" the pony shouted. "Fuck off, asshole!" Cassie shouted back. The pony started pawing the ground, lowered its head, and snorted. Cassie could almost see the steam shoot from his nostrils. In response, she drew her makeshift knife and held it firmly out in front of her. Narrowing his eyes, the pony said, “Tiab kpivkm— dih hyv gjeba lwev obr ush cb hyv ufcibr.” Cassie had no idea what the pony was saying, but she didn’t care. With one hand against the wall to keep her balance, she used the one holding the knife to flip him off, and stuck her tongue out at him. "Q swnjaz ukq." With that, the pony reared up, nickered, and started charging at her. He was upon her much faster than she anticipated. Cassie tried to dodge while making a wild slash towards the pony. It was a futile effort. The pony collided with her around the waist, causing the knife to fall from her hand and skitter down the hall. A wild scream escaped Cassie’s mouth as she used her fingers to claw at the pony on top of her. He tightened his grip around her torso in an attempt to keep her down. The stallion released a grunt each time Cassie's fist pounded into his back. The pony released her waist and was now trying to pin her arms. They continued rolling around the ground in a tangle of limbs until the pony was finally able to pin her arms to the ground with his hooves. "Get off me!" Cassie screamed. Cassie's eyes were feral; she didn’t even think about her actions. She tried to kick him between the legs, but he just took the blow. His face, however, pinched in a tight grimace. Another voice filled the air. The pony stopped, looked back, and hollered something back to the newcomer exiting the room. It was all Cassie needed— she lunged forward and bit his ear. The pony yelped in pain, releasing her arms. Cassie spat out the little bit of blood in her mouth. She quickly got out from under him, put her arm around his neck, and started squeezing. The stallion wasn’t going out without a fight. He started squirming, and then tried to buck her off his back. Cassie used her other arm to punch him in the nose once, then yanked on his front legs until they gave out. They both grunted when his chin and chest hit the floor. Cassie's actions finally started to take effect; the pony's resistance waned to almost nothing, and his face took on a purplish hue under the fur. A wicked grin formed on her face. She bent down to whisper in his ear. "Payback's a bitch, but you're lucky I'm not you. I don't beat those that are defens—" Cassie found herself violently yanked off the pony by another and slammed to the ground. She tried to get out of their grasp, but two new ponies lay across her, firmly holding her legs and arms in place. More ponies showed up. Cassie's adrenaline dropped off and her body started hurting again from old and new bruises. She knew she screwed up by fighting with the pony, but at this point, she didn’t care. She stopped her struggling to save what little energy she had left. Cassie was released by the two ponies, only to have three spears facing her. Her eyes widened in fright and she dared not move. An older-looking, dull red stallion stepped forward and said something to the others. She saw the unconscious pony being carried off. The couple left backed off and hooked the spears back onto their armor. Crap, I screwed up big time. The older pony stared at Cassie. She thought she saw sadness in his eyes. He did not say a word, only raised a hoof and pointed back the direction she had come from. With her head hung, Cassie got back on her foot and started hopping back down the hall. Small, wet dots marked her trip back to the cell. The dull red pony said something and pointed to the corner opposite the door, next to the bars. An unfamiliar unicorn entered the cell and began using her anti-gravity aura to pick everything on Cassie’s bed up and shake it out. They searched the rest of the room as well. They took the shards of the tray and the cut strips of material. Cassie's eyes widened in surprise when unicorn remade the bed before she left. As Cassie sat huddled in the corner, slightly shaking, she heard the unicorn say something to the red stallion. Cassie saw him nod his head, and the unicorn cantered off. When the old pony turned to look at her, Cassie looked away, unable to look him in the eye. A few moments later, she heard his steps retreating from her cell, replaced with lighter ones approaching. The unicorn had returned with a smile on her muzzle. Cassie watched her shoe and sock float back into the room. The smiling unicorn nodded once and disappeared as fast as she had arrived. "Huh?" Cassie asked with an eyebrow raised in confusion. So I try to escape, choke out one of your guards… and I get my shoe and sock back? Cassie shook her head. She was now at a loss of what to do. There was no way she could try to escape again, and she was afraid of harsher attacks now, too. She decided she’d had way too much excitement for one day, and crawled into bed. ------------------------------ Cassie had begun to lose track of time, but still knew it had been no more than a few days to a week since her imprisonment. At least most of the guards had stopped their taunting, and all of the physical attacks had stopped. The last of which had involved a spear from that slate grey unicorn, which put a gash in the back of her dress and cut her slightly. She had torn a strip from the bottom edge of the long shirt to use as a bandage wrap, too afraid to tell any of the other guards she had been cut. So far, the ponies did not seem to care that Cassie couldn’t eat hay, or the variety of large-bladed grass that they brought on occasion. At least, they never made any indication of the fact when they used that strange anti-gravity aura to float the food-filled tray away. The water was welcome and drunk each time, but Cassie always wished they’d give her more. Cassie recalled the time that pegasus brought her the apple. She had enjoyed the apple immensely, but the pegasus had not been back during feeding time since. Cassie briefly let her mind wander, and wondered if the pegasus had gotten into trouble for that. The pegasus had shown up a few other times, most likely while on guard duty, and seemed to talk to her with a happy-sounding voice. It was either that, or the mare really liked to hear herself talk, Cassie surmised. She still did not like the small equines, and the recent days reiterated that they were nothing but horrible creatures, like she had always known. However, that particular pegasus seemed to be trying to be nice to her. Cassie also remembered that the three ponies from the hospital never did her any harm either, but the nice ones seemed to be the exception, rather than the norm. Even Sparks turned out to be traitorous; bringing those armored ponies to her campsite was the reason Cassie was captured in the first place. Cassie rolled over on the cot, trying to forget the hunger pains. She cringed at the feeling of her ribs as she wrapped her arms around her sides. Lying there, she started thinking back to the flashing red console on the ship before her capture. Since her imprisonment, Cassie had been racking her brain trying to figure out what ‘Protocol D’ was. Still, not even a rumor or a hint of what it was came to her mind. It bothered her not knowing, and she hoped these ponies would release her soon so she could investigate, but doubted that would happen. Cassie also wondered when particle cannons had been installed on the transport escape ships. The only weapon equipped on the ships should have been a small energy gun, used to break up small meteoroids, or other objects in the way of a landing zone. Yet, the computer had said it was trying to activate a particle cannon. There was a bump on the top of the ship, but Cassie had been told that it contained scientific packages for the exploration mission; that must have actually been the weapon. She also wondered why a security sentry gun was in the ceiling of the cabin. Neither one of those systems should have been on board, to her knowledge. Granted, Cassie was on the lower end of the hierarchy, but there had only been fourteen officers on the ship, five of which were below her in rank. Another Lieutenant had been on board as well, but he had seniority in rank. Regardless, Cassie believed she should’ve had at least a little knowledge about the protocol. She also didn’t understand what the computer meant by ‘secondary weapons’, since it was apparently not the cannon; it was all too vague. Frustrated, Cassie groaned, then brought her hands to her temples and began to rub. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of hooves clacking on the stone hallways, followed by the click of the lock on her cell being unlatched. Cassie rolled over in her bed to see a very large, pearly-white, winged unicorn that seemed to give off a soft glow in the dim light provided by the torch. It had a flowing mane and tail of four pastel colors that seemed to ripple and shift in the windless dungeon. Cassie noted the stylized sun tattooed on the large pony’s rump. Debating between calling this one Apolla or Sunny, Cassie flipped a coin in her head, and came to the conclusion that she would refer to this one as Apolla. Apolla took a step forward into the cell, causing Cassie to retreat to the corner of the room on the end of the small cot and let out a small, barely noticeable whimper. She watched as Apolla turned to the guard and asked, "Qa apm iteiga hega pdeo?" Cassie heard the guard quietly reply in that strange language. "Gma, apm’a iteiga ogeppeod izwcvl ca." When Apolla turned back to face her, Cassie threw her pillow, hitting the white mare square in the face. Cassie saw a bemused smirk flash across Apolla’s muzzle. She didn’t know that the princess’s thought, ‘It’s not every day I get hit in the face with a pillow… and by a prisoner no less,’ was what caused the smirk. "Let. Me. Go," Cassie stated softly. The two guards bristled and made to step forward, but a look from Apolla stopped them. Cassie clutched the blanket on the bed around her like armor, as Apolla approached until she was about one pony length away. Cassie’s eyes widened in fright when Apolla’s abnormally long, sharp horn started glowing. Cassie tried to push back into the corner farther, but the stone proved to be unyielding, leaving her with nowhere to go.