Equus Proditor Servus

“Jay…Jay…Jay…JAYYYYYYY! The guard tumbled off his seat with a shout of fright, the empty whisky bottle falling to the stone tiled floor and smashing into a thousand tiny pieces with a loud crash. The winded man groaned as he hit the stone, smashing his head hard into the floor. Whoever dared to wake him in the middle of his drunken dreams was gonna pay…big time. Nobody who wished to live a happy life from then on knew never to wake him up when he was drinking and especially never when he had a strong headache. That was the main reason he had chosen this dim, barely lit corridor of Gray-vale military compound. It was quiet. Well…it had been quiet until the ass-hat that was his partner decided to shout as loud as he could in Jay’s ear until the half-drunk guard had jumped awake, then tripped over the foot that the asshole decided to stick out in front of him.

“I hate you so much right now Robin,” Jay groaned, turning his head with a groan of tired anger, pushing down so that his face was pressed hard into the cold grimy, wet stone. “You are one mother…”

“Language Jay,” The other guard said with a laugh kneeling down to sweep the broken remains of the whisky bottle into a corner of the dirty, dim lighted corridor. Jay groaned as another headache tore through his skull, and then rolled over onto his back to glare at Robin. The other guard grinned down at him chuckling at the misfortune that had befallen the hung-over man, then reached down and hoisted his partner roughly back up to his feet. A tall man of 24, Robin was thinner than he was, with a short close-cut mop of dirty-blonde hair, streaked with the grime and dirt that had become quite common with any long duration in the humans military compounds, with cool muddy-blue eyes that shone out of his gaunt, hunger starved, thin face that was glowing alight with amusement at the look of utter disdain on Jay’s face. He picked up a large fragment of glass that had fallen at his feet and scrutinised the ripped label on the fragment with a frown. He clicked his tongue exasperatedly and tossed the glass onto the small pile of fragments he’d made in the corner.

“Has anyone ever mentioned to you that drink far too much whisky?” Robin asked, giving Jay a rather pointed look. Jay simply grinned, shrugged then began stretching his arms above his head with a loud popping of joints and muscles. Jay’s grin widened thinly at the look that Robin gave him over his shoulder. He felt his facial muscles ache terribly from the unfamiliar and unused expression. People rarely found anything to smile about these days. No one ever bothered to even crack a mirthless smile. There just didn’t seem to be any point. Why should any human ever smile when there was nothing good to look forward to anymore. No sunlight, No happiness…nothing of that sort
existed anymore. There was no reason for it to exist, in this dirty, stinking world of steel corridors and hot airless rooms.

“What’re we doing today mate?” He asked, walking back to his partner and taking one of the AK47 assault rifles that Robin had been carrying. He gave the rusted gun a quick check over, pulling the safety catch back and undoing the ammo cache attached to the weapon. Most of the company’s weapons were outdated and inefficient. Falling apart, just like the whole of the compound that they were stuck in. The whole place was falling apart. Light fixtures hung, burnt out, rusted and forgotten, with the odd occasional spark. The grimy stone tiled floors were streaked with the footprints and muck of other soldiers that had passed this way before them. Thin dirt streaked walls provided little to no insulation from the harsh winter winds. People often starved or froze to death due to the inadequate living conditions that the compound provided. There was a saying amongst the lower officers.

“If you’re transferred to Grey-vale compound, you’ve arrived at the back-end of the world. You’re at the back-end of the world. The lowest of the low. ROCK-BOTTOM!”

Jay finished checking his weapon, then glanced up at robin, who still hadn’t answered his question. Robin, who had also been checking his weapon, gave a non-committal jerk of his head. A look of complete dejection came over his face as he replaced the ammo pack of his gun with a harsh grating sound.

“Guard duty,” he groaned, slinging the rifle over his shoulder, smirking widely at the slight popping of Jay’s bloodshot eyes as the two guards began walking down the corridor towards another dirt stained door labelled, “Cells.” He patted Jay on the back as the door opened and another man stepped out from behind the door. Jay stopped dead, his eyes bulging angrily. General Bark had just stepped out of the cells. Bark’s hair had gone from wavy blonde to grey though the arrogant, knife-bladed look to him hadn’t changed. The generals blue uniform was stained with blood across the front, tinting the fabric to a dark purple. He froze, eyeing the pair coolly.

“You…” He growled, with a smile that didn’t quite meet his deep-set eyes. Jay grinned back, a slight tremor in his voice.

“Me…” He replied, his hands balling into fists. Robin frowned at Bark, tilting his head slightly and grimacing at the thick smell of blood coming off the generals uniform.

“I thought we were doing the guard duty now?” he grunted reaching out a hand to open the door. Bark stopped him, still looking at Jay. He licked his lips slowly, as though savouring the taste of dried blood on his lips.

“I’ll be back soon,” he said quietly, moving to stand directly in front Jay. Jay continued to glare at him, his arms shaking with the force of resisting the urge to punch the arrogant man in the face.

“Will you?” he asked, through gritted teeth.

“Yes I will,” Bark said slyly, walking past the angry guard, smirking coldly. “So you better not do ANYTHING to piss me off Jay, or I’ll have you in the cells along with the new guest we have here.” Jay sighed then turned to Robin and signalled. Robin opened his mouth to argue but seeing the look on Jays face, turned and opened the door for the pair of them.

There was only one occupied cell. The cage was right at the end of the block. The occupant was covered by a thin, patched blanket. The prisoner was shaking madly, whimpers emanating from the inside of the patchwork shell. The small hiccupping and pattering sounds suggested that the unknown captive was crying. Jay and Robin both looked at each other nervously ten walked to the cell.

"Hey..."Jay called out gently tapping lightly on the bars of the cell. The creature looked round. Jay heard Robin gasp. It wasn't a human. It was a pony. The pony had light yellow fur and a dishevelled but still curly pink mane that curled down over one of it's watery, teal eyes. The other, was wide, staring and full of fear. The ponies bottom lip quivered as she, )Jay was pretty sure she was a she judging by the eyelashes that curled over the ponies eyes) gazed out upon the two guards.

"P-p-p-please...let...me..." The soft, terrified voice sputtered its way out of the cowering ponies lips, as she shifted her way towards the back of the cell. Robin took a look at the name on the cells key-card reader.

"Says here...."he mumbled, bending to look closer at the name, "That the Pegasus in here is called...fluttershy." He glanced at Jay almost at a loss for words. "We're supposed to guard a pony?" he asked coldly.

Jay eyed the cowering Pegasus then turned to Robin. His face was set in a cold grim mask of anger. "They told us that there weren't going to be anymore pony prisoners," he said, very quietly. "They said it was just traitors." Robin glanced at him then looked back at the door lock.

"Hmmmm," he mumbled, "She's been brought in for interrogation and..." Robin turned a sickly green.

Jay moved to the lock. Pushing his partner roughly aside, he patched in a code. The door swung open with a click.

"WHAT IN GOD'S..." Robin began. Jay turned to look at him, a fire burning in his eyes the likes of which Robin had never seen before. He watched Jay walk over to the whimpering mare, pull the blanket roughly over her head, then hauled the sobbing pony into his arms.

"I'm done with this," Jay said, a cold tone in his voice, "If Bark gets away with this murder, god knows how many others he's managed to get away with Robin....I wont stand by and let him torture anymore people."

Robin shook his head then reluctantly took the shaking bundle from Jay. He shrugged at Jay, who had raised an eyebrow.

"You're weaker than I am Jay at least I can carry her to the je..." but just as he was about to finish, there came a bull-like shout from the corridor.

"TRAITORS!" Both guards turned to face the door. Bark was standing behind them, a pistol in his hands. He was shaking, his hands gripping the gun with white-knuckled intensity. He glanced from Jay to Robin to the shaking, sobbing bundle in Robins arms. He smiled shakily, raising the gun to point at Robin.

"Finally...I can finally do what I've been meaning to do for years...ever since I met the pair of you..." Jay raised his hands and stepped forward, his eyes fixed on the gun.

"Bark, you know what your doing isn't...."

BANG!

Robin stumbled backward, letting out a howl ass pain blazed through his knee. He tripped over his other foot and crashed to the ground, clutching his leg, feeling a deep warm flow of blood pouring out through the wound. His vision clouded over. The bullet...
"Of course," he thought gazing stupidly at the ceiling, oblivious to the shouts and yells as Jay and Bark fought for control of the gun a little ways off. Bark was known for using poisoned bullets. Robin groaned, feeling his body starting to go numb. His vision clouded...coming over black. He reached out weakly, placing his arm almost protectively over the bundle containing the shivering frightened Pegasus that they had tried to rescue. He watched Jay and Bark through a small circle of shrinking colour, as they grappled, trading punches and kicks. He closed his eyes tiredly, allowing the pain...the colours...everything to float away into darkness.