The Equestrian Warden

I woke up in a small prison cell. All my clothes had been taken, and all I wore was rags. The metal bars were rusty, and the cell hadn’t been cleaned in years judging by the skeletons decorating the floor. Groaning I sat up and rubbed my head where the guards hit me a week ago. Suddenly a voice spoke from outside my cell.

“Hey you! Prisoner!”

I quickly stood and walked over to the bars of my cell. All I could see was a stairwell to the right that led to somewhere else in the prison, but across from me was another cell. And inside that cell were two blue eyes. I could barely see the face of my fellow prisoner, but seeing how the only light in the prison was a small hole in the ceiling, she probably couldn’t see me either. I was surprised that anyone was in that cell considering that she hadn’t spoken the entire week I was there. The guards only brought food at night.

“What’s your name prisoner?”

The voice sounded desperate. She didn’t sound hostile, but I was still wary giving any information away about myself, even to a fellow prisoner. When I didn’t answer she groaned in frustration, but still asked another question.

“Can you at least tell me what race you are?”

I looked at the blue eyes, but I still didn’t see any hostility in them.

“Pegasi, Earth Pony, Unicorn? Anything?”

She listed the races proudly, as if she accomplished some big test. I groaned in annoyance, before I answered,

“Pegasi.”

There was a long silence until the inmate let out a long laugh that made my skin crawl.

“This is an earth pony prison! You’ll be lucky to last a week in here. If there is anything these earth ponies hate most, it’s pegasi and unicorns.”

I growled at the mare’s laughter before smiling smugly.

“Then I guess you won't last long either bat pony!”

The laughter suddenly stopped, and silence seemed to grip the room. But then mare spoke in a now low and sad tone,

“How did you know?”

Although she couldn’t see my smile, she could still hear the smugness in my voice.

“Your eyes. No other race in Equestria has eyes like yours.

What’s a bat pony doing in an earth pony prison?”

“What’s a pegasi doing in an earth pony prison?” The mare shot back defensively.

Before I could respond, we both heard a loud clicking sound that rang throughout the room.

“The guards are coming! Get away from the bars!”

She whispered hastily as her eyes disappeared deeper into her cell. I moved away from the bars quickly and I pressed my back against the wall as ponies came down the stairs. I could see a small light stopping in front of the door to my cell. Then I heard the sound of a key being turned and the door was quickly pushed open blinding me with a light. When my eye’s finally adjusted I could see the guards standing over me, one holding a lantern, while the other one held a sword.

“This is the pegasi.”

The one carrying the lantern sounded unimpressed as he looked down at my wings that I kept folded to my side.

“How the mighty have fallen.” The one carrying the sword said as he pointed it at me.

“Come with us pegasi. You and your bat pony friend are going to fight today.”

I looked at him in confusion.

“Excuse me-“

I was cut off by a quick kick to my stomach. I doubled over in pain but the one with the lantern, probably the one that kicked me, grabbed me and pulled me up.

“Come on now. I hope you aren’t this soft in the arena. You wouldn’t want to get your friend killed.”

I tried my best to ignore the pain in my stomach and the guard with the sword went to open the bat pony’s cell. It sounded like there was a little resistance as the bat pony hissed and growled how she didn’t want to fight any more, but soon the dark figure joined me, but I did notice her bruised on her lip.

“Let’s go.”

The guard with the lantern stood in front of us while the guard with a sword brought up the rear. They escorted us up the stairs and down a narrow hallway. The guards didn’t seem to mind our slow pace, so I decided I might as well talk to my bat pony companion.

“So what’s-“

“How are you at fighting?” The mare asked quickly, interrupting my question.

“Excuse me?”

“I asked if your any good in a fight? Your race is known for their war like culture. What’s your weapon?”

My confusion disappeared and I answered honestly,

“I'm not a warrior. I'm only a scholar, I write about history.”

She looked at me for a couple seconds before looking away.

“I'm dead. I'm dead. I’m so fucking dead.”

She repeated it over and over again as she looked at the ground. So much for a friendly chat. We were quiet for the rest of the way, until we stood in front of a large steel door about ten feet high.

“Good luck you two.”

One of the guards muttered with no remorse. They closed a gate behind us to prevent us from escaping. I stood in front of the large metal door, curios about what was on the other side. However, I turned away when I heard the bat kneeling, her eyes closed muttering s a few words that I didn’t understand.

“What are you muttering about bat pony?”

“A prayer to my gods. May they give us a quick death.”

“Charming.” I muttered, “Your gods aren’t here for you.”

“Then what do you expect me to do Pegasi.”

I looked at her before turning towards the metal door again.

“A ponies last thoughts should be of home. I learned long ago that gods do not help mortals. They simply sit aside and help when they feel like it, or when it’s convenient for them.”

“And what brought this hatred for gods into your heart pegasi?”

I looked at her for a couple heartbeats until there was a large clang and the metal door slowly started to open.

“I'll tell you. After we win.”