//------------------------------//
// The Big Five 
// Story: Jailed 
// by ladyanaconda 
//------------------------------//

Saying goodbye to her friends was perhaps the hardest thing Fluttershy had to endure. She'd have to wait another week to see them again, and just like Twilight had said, many things could happen in this lapse of time, that was why she had to spend the obsids she had received wisely. On one side, Twilight suggested she pay the protection racket to stay safe for one month, while Rarity insisted she retrieve her mane if she now had enough money to buy it from Neckslicer. But for the time being the protection was the best option, her mane would grow back, anyway. 

However, the inmates who had been present in the visit room with their own loved ones had seen the purple mare handing a large bag of money to the 'Newbie', and this started a rumor among the inmates that the Newbie was more resourceful than she appeared. Some of them were already starting to spread rumors about her 'visitors', among them a pink, overly-joyful and incredibly scary feminine version of Twister, and a creature that looked like he had been the result of a disastrous magical experiment. Still, Fluttershy's status remained the same; as long as she was within the walls of Brokenfang, she was at their mercy. 

That day, at lunchtime, Fluttershy felt nervous as she received glances and heard whispers while heading towards the table. She caught a glimpse of Neckslicer, who just gave her an indifferent glance before continuing with his meal. She quickened her steps, until she was at the safety of the table where Fire Throat and Swift Tail were already waiting. However, she froze when she caught a glimpse of a certain purple-haired drake a few tables away, just staring blankly into space with half-shrunken pupils, ignoring his tray of food. All the tables near his were empty, and even the guards keeping an eye on him were a good distance away, as if he carried a plague they didn't want to catch. Fluttershy a pang of compassion for the lonely drake, and she swore she could see a deep sadness in his eyes. 

Until Twister glanced at her. 

As soon as she felt his gaze on her, Fluttershy ran to the table and climbed unto it, managing not to drop anything. She tried to ignore the feeling, but it was almost impossible. Roachie crawled into the table and rubbed against her hoof in an attempt to comfort her.

"Well, looks like Twister is back." Swift Tail sighed. "Better be careful, Newbie."

"Twister's the last thing she needs to worry about right now." Fire Throat retorted. 

"What do you mean?" Fluttershy inquired, taking a small sip of her cheese soup. For some reason, every time she took a spoonful the inmates from the nearby tables would snicker. 

"I don't know if you've noticed, but the word's spreading around about your fortune." 

"Fortune?"

"Newbie, you don't just obtain two thousand obsids in the blink of an eye, unless you inherit a fortune, or make your living from drug trafficking." Swift Tail rolled his eyes. 

"Oh, the money? It's not mine, Princess Celestia gave me a loan, that's all."

"The others don't know it. I doubt they'd believe you if you tried to explain. Don't be surprised if any of the Big Five come over and ask you to pay for-"

"Well, look who it is." 

Fire Throat sighed in dismay as Bullhorn and his cronies approached their table. ".... Protection." 

Fluttershy froze in terror when she felt the drake's claw run down her spine, her whole body was trembling as she brought her hooves to her cut hair. Bullhorn smirked at her reaction; she knew her place in the 'food chain', that was a good thing. Especially now that it turned out she had more to squirm of. "Good to see you, Newbie. How long as it been? A week?" 

Fire Throat started to growl, but Swift Tail elbowed him badly when Bullhorn's henchdrakes returned the growling tenfold. Making enemies with one of the Big Five was a grave mistake. 

"I t-think..." Fluttershy stuttered, terrified, especially when Bullhorn casually sat down next to her, taking a look at her soup. Her little heart would burst out of her chest at any moment. 

"Say, a little bird told me you got quite a gift from your visit."

"Y-Yes..."

"Well, now that we're good friends here, you wouldn't mind sharing a bit of your gift with us, would you?" 

"Just tell her you want her to hand over the obsids and save us your fake sympathy, would you?" Fire Throat frowned dryly, only to regret it when Bullhorn's smile disappeared and he received a glare from him.

"Shut your maw and mind your own business, Osvernitel." 

Fire Throat winced at the nickname he had been given by those who knew. He sighed in defeat and looked down, not saying any other words. 

"Hey, boss, look at this!"

Suddenly, before Fluttershy could prevent it, one of the drakes who accompanied Bullhorn grabbed Roachie by the wing, and lifted the cockroach carelessly, ignoring its equals of pain. "No, leave Roachie alone!" Fluttershy reached out for the bug, but the drake lifted him higher and out of her reach, staring down at her mockingly, and the rest of the Temnokt started to laugh at the pegasus. 

"Roachie?" another drake snickered. "Who would have thought? The Newbie likes filth!"

"Aww, the poor little pony can't live without her loyal pet!"

"Hey, Newbie, I have a dead rat in my cell! I can introduce you to it if you'd like!"

"Please! He has done nothing to you!" Fluttershy tried in vain to rescue Roachie as the drakes started to toss him between one another as if he were a rubber ball. "You'll hurt him!"

"Do we look like we care, Buggy?"

"Hey, that's a good one!"

"Please! I'll do anything!" Fluttershy handed over the bag of money to Bullhorn. "Take it! But please leave Roachie alone!"

Bullhorn continued to smirk as he snatched the bag of obsids from Fluttershy, then he snapped his fingers, and the drake who was fidgeting with Roachie dropped him back on the table, Fluttershy caught him into her hooves and pulled him closer to see if he was alright. "It was a pleasure to do business with you, baryshnya." Bullhorn snapped his fingers again, and waved his hand, leaving the table with his cronies following after him. 

"I hate that drake." Swift Tail muttered, glaring at Bullhorn's back. 

"Roachie, are you alright?!" Fluttershy asked the cockroach in worry as she rubbed its back gingerly. Roachie had a bended antenna, two broken legs and his wing was hurt, but he lifted one of his good legs to assure Fluttershy he was alright.

"Seriously, if you want a pet, why don't you tell Neckslicer to get you a panther?" Swift Tail commented. "Cockroaches are not precisely hygienic." 

"He was my first friend here." Fluttershy noticed Fire Throat's glance was blank, he was just staring down at his half-touched food in deep thought, but she could see some sort of pain in his eyes. "Fire Throat?" 

"He's drifting off."

"Why? Does it have something to do with Bullhorn?"

Swift Tail shifted uncomfortably. "I don't have the right to talk about what doesn't concern me." 

"Fire Throat? Um, are you alright...?"

Fire Throat blinked a few times and glanced at Fluttershy. "Did you say something?"

"I was asking you if you were okay. You looked like you were remembering something... unpleasant..." 

"It's in the past." The answer was dry, it sounded like he didn't want to talk about it. 

Fluttershy shivered in discomfort when she felt Twister's gaze upon her once again. She caught a quick glance of him, and noticed he still stared at her, his food apparently untouched. She didn't understand why he was so interested in her, if he had never seen a pony before, or he thought she was funny-looking with her lack of hair. Maybe if she was careful, she could manage to talk about it with him. Leaving Roachie on the table for the time being, Fluttershy warily jumped off the table and was about to head towards Twister's when Fire Thoat stopped her. 

"What do you think you're doing?!" he hissed in alarm.

"Um, I'll try to talk to Twister..." Fluttershy whispered.

"Are you nuts, Newbie?! Do you want to actually lose your eyes?!" Swift Tail growled with narrowed eyes. "He nearly killed you the first time!"

"Perhaps he felt frustrated that I didn't understand what he wanted. Maybe if I can clear things with him, he won't be as lonely."

"Fluttershy, you can't reason with a mentally unstable person! They can't reason if they wanted to!"

"I think it's worth a try... And I think I should apologize for him going to solitary confinement."

"You don't have to apologize for that! He brought it on himself, not get back on your seat or you'll regret this the rest of your stay!"

Fluttershy chose to ignore the drakes' this time, and still made her way towards Twister's tail, despite Fire Throat and Swift Tail whispering her urgently to come back. However, as she approached Twister and noticed his pupils shrinking, her resolve started to crumble as those empty but disturbed eyes fixed on her, staring at her like he were a predator. The other inmates glanced at the future scene, wondering if the pegasus wanted to die so badly. Neckslicer just stared at them indifferently, though there was an amused smirk on his face when he noticed Fluttershy was trembling. 

Fluttershy stared up at Twister nervously, gathering her courage as she managed to smile at him, but her legs had started to tremble. "H-Hi..." she whispered, stuttering. 

Twister just tilted his head to the side curiously. 

"I'm F-Fluttershy... And y-your name is T-Twister, r-right?" She still got no reply, other than the curious but possessive stare. The whole dining hall was in silence, staring at the scene with tension and anxiety, as if knowing something was going to happen. "Hey... I'm s-sorry for-"

"Who are you?" 

Fluttershy blinked in confusion when he asked her name. "Um... I just t-told you... My name is Fluttershy..."

Twister tilted his head in an almost comical way. "What's a Fluttershy?" 

"It's me... I'm a Fluttershy. Well, actually I'm a pegasus, but I'm called Fluttershy." 

"You talk funny." 

Fluttershy didn't know if he was talking like that on purpose to freak her out, or he really had difficulty processing most things told to him. "I talk like this when I'm nervous..."

"Am I scary?"

"Oh, no, no. You're not scary, you are... peculiar." 

Twister remained silent afterwards, just staring at Fluttershy. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. "Well, it was nice talking with you, Twister, but I have to go..." she slowly and carefully stepped back. 

"Where are you going?" 

"Um... B-Back to my t-table..." 

"Why?" 

Fluttershy panicked when Twister left his seat and started approaching her. "Err... Well, I... Roachie is there, and I was t-talking about... I..." 

"Why don't you stay?" Twister pulled her closer with a leg, his pupils shrinking and his voice becoming shaky. "I am very lonely..."

"I'm s-sorry for that..." Fluttershy was trembling in fear. "D-Don't you h-have any f-friends?"

"No, nodrake wants me around. They just s-step away from m-me and... T-They give me w-weird glances, and... S-She stopped coming..." 

"Who?" 

"S-She... She s-said she'd always b-be here...! B-But she left... W-Why did she...?!"

Much to Fluttershy's shock, suddenly Twister stepped away from her and curled up into a ball and rocking himself as if trying to bring some comfort to himself, but his pupils were shaking and his words became incomprehensible as he started to speak in Krussian, completely forgetting about Fluttershy being in front on him, the tears starting to roll down his cheeks. However, the inmates simply turned their heads away as if accustomed to this 'scenes'. The guards simply kept an eye on Twister, but made no movement to console him in any way, like they didn't care. Fluttershy couldn't believe they simply dismissed Twister's feelings like that. 

However, before she could move in to try and comfort him, she was pulled back by Fire Throat. In fact, suddenly most of the inmates grew silent, and a few started to clear the center of the dining hall, as if they knew something was going to happen. Twister remained unmoving, however.

"What's going on?" Fluttershy inquired, yelping when Fire Throat hid her beneath him. Roachie immediately crawled up her left and hid under her right wing.

"The Big Five are coming together tonight." Fire Throat whispered quickly. "It's Saturday." 

"What's so special about saturday?"

"Póker night." Swift Tail retorted. 

"But why does everydrake make such a fuss about it?"

"See, remember about the special treatment I mentioned about the Big Five because they have tons of dough?" Fluttershy nodded at the question. "Well, this is one of their 'privileges'." 

Soon enough, the doors opened and four drakes stepped into the room. The first had a slender build, tail spines, swirly Age Marks and curved horns pointing downwards. His mohawk pointed backwards, and it was colored a very pale blue green, much like his underbelly. His eyes were a contrasting golden. The second had a much more stocker build, his Age Marks were triangle-shaped and his wings were a bit torn, there was a fin running down his neck, and a pair on the tip of his tail. He lacked any sort of hair, but he did have a bit under his chin in the form of a red beard, the same shade as his underbelly. The peculiar thing about this drake was the shape of his horns and fangs; they were swirly, like unicorn horns. His eyes were lavender. The third had a sort of western look to him. He had a black and white wild mess of hairs, and his horns were concealed under a dark brown stetson hat, though he did have a pair of ear-like fins. His Age Marks ran down his sides like lighting, and his underbelly and underwings were a frumpy gray, there was an axe-like appendage on the tip of his tail. The fourth drake was seemingly the oldest, much more older than any of the other inmates. His whole body was all wrinkled, and his skin was clingy in some parts, particularly his legs, and it was covered in scars. His eyes were hidden under thick eyebrows and a lion mane-like blue hair. There was a pair of long hairy mustaches hanging from under his nostrils. the tip of his tail had been replaced with an actual appendage in the shape of a knife. Unlike the other drakes, he had a sort of bracelet in his left talon. 

Soon, Bullhorn joined the other four drakes in the center of the dining hall, where the tables had already been brought together to make an individual space for each. A guard came forward and placed a deck of cards, the expensive sort, apparently, in the center of the table. Fluttershy noticed each of the other four drakes was accompanied by a few drakes, surely their own group of followers. Some had stoic expressions, others were depressed and sullen, and a small number were nervous, particularly the smaller ones with the bald drake. One of each of the Big Five's followers placed a bag of obsids on the table. 

"So that's why Bullhorn wanted my obsids so badly?" Fluttershy inquired. 

"In reality, he has his own stored away safely, but he is so stingy he'd rather bet others' money." Swift Tail muttered. 

"Who are they, by the way?"

Fire Throat pointed at the first drake with blue green hair. "That's Cloudslicer. You could call him the 'most reasonable' of the Big Five, but stay away from his tail." Then he pointed at the bald drake with swirly fangs and horns. "Unicorfang is not very smart, but he is very aggressive, one could say even more of a psycho than Twister when he wants to be, so try not to cross him. Next we have Skunk Breath." Fire Throat glanced at the drake with the hat. "And no, he didn't earn his nickname just because of the color of his hair. All I will tell you is to stay way from his mouth, it has sent people to the nurse's office because of nausea or vomiting." The last was the oldest drake. "And last but not least, we have Warfang. It's rumored he has spent the most time here out of all the inmates, so he knows everything that happens inside these walls."

"Long story short; try to stay on their neutral graces as much as you can, kiddo." Swift Tail muttered. "Bullhorn technically claimed you as his 'property', so don't be surprised if he exchanges you with one of the others."

Fluttershy glanced up at him in confusion. "Property? What do you mean?"

"You pay him protection to stay alive, that makes you his property until he decides otherwise."

"That's unfair. I am not an object."

Swift Tail rolled his eyes. "Newbie, if life were fair, Brokenfang wouldn't exist."

Meanwhile, Unicorfang had already shuffled the deck of cards and handed out to the rest of his companions. Then he glanced at Neckslicer. "Hey, Neckslicer, did you get what I asked you?"

Neckslicer nodded and snapped his fingers. One of the guards stepped forward and placed various bottles of unknown beverages in the center of the table. "White wine of Rkatsiteli grapes, Ruskova Zyr Vodka and all your favorite brands."

Satisfied, Unicorfang snapped his claws and motioned one of his cronies to give Neckslicer the payment. The small drake walked over to Neckslicer and handed him two large bags of obsids. Neckslicer accepted the payment with a satisfied, but respectful smirk. "A pleasure to do business with you, dhentlezen."

"You know the drill. Whoever loses invites the drinks next saturday." Skunk Breath stated, lifting his cards to plan his strategy. 

"You better not have any aces under your hat, Skunk Breath." Bullhorn narrowed his eyes. "We know your tricks." 

By then, all of the inmates-at least those who were not under the Big Five's possesion-were leaving the dining hall, most of them heading over to the courtyard, the guards were leading them away. Fluttershy thought it wasn't fair, but this time chose to keep her words to himself. However, as she was about to follow Swift Tail and Fire Throat, she noted Twister had not moved an inch, and kept mumbling things to himself about her not loving him anymore. Apparently, the Big Five had noticed.

"Could somedrake drag that loony out of here? He ruins my concentration." Cloudslicer frowned at Twister, who remained oblivious to their presence. 

"One of my boys already lost an eye dealing with him, so forget it." Skunk Breath growled, pointing at one of his own henchdrakes who, in fact, had an eyepatch in his right eye, said inmate flinched nervously at the reminder. 

"Well, somedrake has to get him out." Warfang said, glancing at Twister, and noticed there were still three othes outside their 'circle' inside. "Maybe those three..." he noticed one of the inmates was not a Temnokt at all, but a pony. "Hey, where did that pony come from?"

Bullhorn glanced back at her. "Oh, her? That's the Newbie, the Equestrian who supposedly tried to murder a High Blood."

The other four drakes merely took a glance at Fluttershy to let out chuckles of disbelief.

"That puny thing? Against a High Blood?" Skunk Breath snickered. "She wouldn't have even gotten here in pieces if that were the case." 

"Don't underestimate Equestrians. I've heard the Royal Sisters Luna and Celestia have a 'flawless' defense mechanism to protect their little country." Cloudslicer stated, staring down at his hand of cards. "Elements of... I don't know what. But apparently that's the reason Bittercold hasn't dared to start a war with Equestria."

"Judging by her lack of hair, I can assume that's where you got that pink fabric from." Unicorfang added, staring at Fluttershy's badly cut strands of hair greedily. "I wonder how long it'll take for ponies to grow back their hair..."

Bullhorn stared at Twister, then at Fluttershy, then he had an idea. "Dhentlezen, would you like to see something amusing?" he chuckled evilly. 

"What do you mean?" Warfang raised an eyebrow, though his eye remained unseen. 

Bullhorn glanced at Fluttershy. "Hey, Newbie!" 

Fluttershy froze in place and tried to hide behind Fire Throat, but nevertheless she peeked out her head. "W-What is it?" she whispered.

"What did she say? I didn't hear it!" Skunk Fang snapped. 

"Speak louder, Newbie!" Bullhorn yelled again, losing his patience. 

"W-What is it...?" Fluttershy inquired a bit louder, but not audible enough for them to hear. 

"Is she deaf?" Cloudslicer inquired, frowning. 

"More like mute." Unicorfang retorted. 

Rolling his eyes in irritation, Bullhorn gave a sign to one of his cronies, who walked toward Fluttershy menacingly. Fire Throat was quick to speak. "She asked what is it!" he yelled in panic.

Bullhorn snapped his finger, and his henchdrake stopped. "Drag the loony out of here." he pointed at Twister, who still didn't react. 

"M-Me?" Fluttershy gulped.

"Do you see any other Newbies around here?" Bullhorn rolled his eyes. "Go on, we're trying to play here!"

"Now that we're on it, tell her to bring me a pig sandwich." Unicorfang snickered. 

"You two, out." Cloudslicer glared mildly at Fire Throat and Swift Tail, motioning them to leave.

"B-But..." Fire Throat didn't want to leave Fluttershy alone with Twister and the Big Five.

"Okay, we're going! We're going!" Swift Tail didn't give him time to react, and pushed his friend away and out of the mess hall. 

Fluttershy gulped as she warily approached Twister. As incredible as it seemed, he still hadn't caught on to what was going on around him, and was hidden inside his little 'ball' inside his wings. How would he react if she just disturbed him like that? Would he attack her or gorge an eye out? Or both? It seemed the Big Five wanted to see a blood spectacle if they didn't mind her being potentially hurt by a mental unstable drake. Gulping, Fluttershy came close enough to touch Twister's shoulder. "Um, Twister..." she jumped back when suddenly Twister uncurled from his ball, lifting his head to look at her. His eyes were bloodshot from all the tears, and his gaze was almost disoriented. 

"Oh, this is going to be fun..." Skunk Breath snickered, leaning his head forward.

"Let's see how the Newbie handles it..." Warfang stared at the scene apprehensively. 

Fluttershy hadn't felt under so much pressure, not even back when she had been caught impersonating BigMac's singing voice that time when he lost his voice. At least that audience wouldn't have ripped her to pieces at the slightest mistake. Gulping, Fluttershy managed to speak. "T-Twister, the B-Big Five are asking u-u to l-leave..." she pointed her hoof at the drakes in the table. "H-How about we g-go outside to...." she tried to find a suitable word. "...p-play?"

At the word play, Twister picked Fluttershy by the wings, his mood the opposite of a few seconds ago, and carried her away and out of the mess hall despite her fearful whimpers. The Big Five and their henchdrakes just stared at the direction they had gone, disappointed at the lack of blood or a freshly plucked member of the pony's body. Skunk Breath breathed out the smoke of his cigar through his nostrils. 

"The next time we should make sure Twister is on his bad days."