Band of Five Attributes (Re-Written)

The next morning, the duo who were locked away in darkest of confines fared no better, and neither had spoken to the other. Koto shifted in unease, a burning sensation still lingering in her lower region. But that was something she could care less about at this point--it had already happened, and there was no changing it now. She heard something else shift, but could not tell exactly what was moving. True, Rekka was still very much present in the same dark room she was in, but she could not tell whether he moved his head, tail, or what.

She didn’t bother asking. The stallion did likewise. The darkness seemed to embrace them now, almost as if it pitied them at this hour. A sort of silence gripped the two, but neither minded it too much. If anything, it was comforting for the two to not speak at all, especially in regards to what had transpired last night.

Eventually, though, the serene darkness and peaceful silence had to be broken. Hooves echoed in the bleak world of black, and both ponies rose their heads attentively. As the hooves got closer, a light blue glow came about, and so did a white unicorn mare who opened the door, walked inside, and shut the gate. She exchanged quick glances with the two ponies who looked at her almost as if they were statues.

At last, Rekka spoke, narrowing his eyes in doing so. “The fuck do you want?”

The white mare turned to him, an eyebrow arched. “Oh my, you sound cranky.” She remarked, blinking a few times.

“Spent last night with a gold-pelted bastard, what else would you expect?” Rekka hissed, a scowl embedded in his muzzle.

The white mare’s eyes widened. She sighed soon after. “I’ve been told to inspect you two for any damage, and--”

Koto very quickly cut the mare off, “I’d rather die.”

“Excuse me?” The mare asked, glancing at the younger unicorn with eyes still widening.

Koto shut her eyes and rested her head on the cold floor. “I’m not repeating myself.” She snarled, her tone of voice lined with building anger.

Rekka proceeded to mimic his cellmate, but he chose to not say anything.

“Raki! Are the brats giving you trouble?” Cried a masculine voice from somewhere.

Raki’s ears fell flat on her head. On one hoof, she failed to do her supposed inspection and on the other, the current prisoners did in fact tell her very plainly they did not want her around.

“Raki!” The voice called once more.

The mare sighed. “The children did not give me trouble, and I inspected them thoroughly!” She called back, turning around and walking out of the cell, opening and then closing the door as she went. The darkness and silence took precedence once more and both ponies locked within the cell had preferred it stay that way.

And then he showed up, the one who dragged them here last night. The one who caused them to suffer. The door opened and then closed as he made his entry, gold horn aglow with a crimson light. Both of the prisoners looked at him once, and in their narrowed eyes he could see hate and loathing in the voids of red and blue, and he merely flashed them a demon’s smirk in response.

Just the one glance they gave Maki was more than reason enough for them to turn their heads away. Bobbing up and down eagerly between his legs was a dark mass, made all the more visible as he sat on his rump. Again, he looked at the ponies slowly, almost as if contemplating which one to violate first. His crimson aura then bathed Rekka and dragged his form to him, the elder unicorn’s eyes widening in response to how quietly he came.

The younger stallion let his form get dragged along without showing even a hint of resistance. He let himself get pawed at as the cruel unicorn looked him over every single inch of his body. Koto, to be blunt, let this happen to her as well without fighting once.

Maki’s eyes narrowed, and he scoffed as he put the ponies exactly where they had been positioned prior to his arrival. “You two aren’t fighting? It’s such a buzzkill.” He said, getting up and turning around, mumbling something about Raki as he went out the door.

He began to shout for his comrade like the end of the world was approaching. It was then Koto had, at last, stirred. She rose onto her hooves, her mouth slightly open as she heard the demented stallion who tormented her call out for his colleague over and over like a broken record.

Rekka also rose onto his legs, ears perked as he continued to listen to the sound of one pony shouting for another constantly. He arched a brow, and his tail twitched slightly. By now, ‘Raki’ was practically being shouted every five seconds by the tormentor of the two unicorns in the cell who then sat on their rumps and tried desperately to drown out the caterwauling by placing their hooves onto their ears.

A few more minutes of the shouting passed before it had finally stopped. The two ponies left in the darkness placed their front hooves onto the cold floor, noticing the silence had returned once more. They softly sighed, still placed on their rumps like obedient dogs.

Koto spoke at last. “What was his problem, exactly?”

“If you’re referring to what’s-her-face,” Rekka started, his ears twitching, “I ain’t got a clue myself.”

Faint thumps resonated from above, almost like hooves beating on the floor in a frantic gallop. Accompanying it was faint shouting, any words produced being indiscernible to the duo.

“Something’s going on up there...I think.” Koto murmured, looking up at the dark ceiling.

“Whatever it is,” Rekka started, his eyes narrowing as he too glanced up, “I sure as hell don’t like it.”

The thumping resounded again, this time louder and accompanied by what the two ponies could’ve sworn was Raki screaming something along the lines of ‘stay away.’ The two young unicorns jumped back onto their four hooves in that instant.

Koto trotted up to the wretched metal grid, placing a front hoof on it despondently. She turned around after a moment and began to kick at it with her back legs. It held firm despite being hit with hooves over and over again. Another moment passed, and the young mare was laying on the floor with her legs splayed, gasping for breath.

“I just want out of here…!” She said in between gasps.

“I dare not remark on why.” Rekka replied, also trotting to the metal gate that seemed to mock both him and Koto at this moment. He ran a front hoof along the entirety of the metal grid and found no bent rods at all. Not even a dent had been made by the mare’s hooves. Then, he turned around and began to kick at it himself.

This, eventually, caused him to lay on the floor breathing as frantically as Koto had been.

“Fuck! Bastard backed this thing up pretty damn good!” He cursed as he gasped for breath. He briefly looked up as the noises above died down for the time being.

“We won’t ever get out at this rate…” Koto murmured, her ears falling flat on her skull. She rose onto her four legs, a single tear falling from one of her eyes and hitting the cold floor. The mare slowly walked back to her corner, head hanging low. Another tear fell as she went, and then another.

The stallion rose onto his hooves, his ears also flat on his head. He looked back to the obstacle that prevented escape, and it stood strong as ever, not dented once by the assault of hooves. He turned back to his cellmate, and when he looked at her darkened form, a tear fell from his eye and a pang of pain wrenched itself into his chest, causing him to wince a bit.

He turned away. He could not bear to look at her, not after what he was forced to do last night. He recalled the events that followed as he woke up.

She screamed at him. She pushed him away. Afterwards, the only sound he could make out was the sound of her sobs. All went quiet after that.

He wanted to speak, but each time he opened his mouth, his throat burned with searing hot pain. In addition, it felt as if it clenched itself around a golf ball, and he had to close it to ease the tightening grip somewhat. Another tear fell from his eye, silently hitting the floor.

He lowered his head, and sat down on his rump. Another tear slid down his face, and another, and he grit his teeth to keep his whimpers at bay. His chest tightened greatly, a horrendous wrenching pain causing him to wince and his breath to come out in short-lived gasps.

By now, his body shook in pain and sorrow. Despite the metal band still lingering on the base, his horn began to sputter and glow vivid red. The band itself tightened, and the sputtering of magic immediately ceased. Then, the sound of hooves hitting the floor resounded again, this time very close by. It stopped on short notice before he felt a pair of hooves touch his shoulders.

He looked up, just barely seeing Koto’s form right in front of him. She pulled him in for a hug as he turned his head away.

“It’s not your fault.” Koto whispered, another tear falling from her eye.