The Severed Exile

Location: Uncharted Lands, Southwestern Equestria
Time: Daybreak

"Kaffir! Kaffir!! Wake up, ya stubbo'n lump! Lions be on da assault. We havta scram, pon! WAKE UP!"

Kaffir groaned as he was shaken awake forcefully. "Huh, wha..." he muttered sleepily as he head cleared, the sounds of screaming suddenly ringing through his conscience as his eyes widened. "Lions? Now!?"

"Dhem dirty fuzz-necks caught us wit' our guard down. Dhey here in full force and dhey not takin' any prisonahs." Allambee shook his head as he craned his head toward the door. "We needta get outta here an' fast!"

"No, no not yet. Where's mother? Father?" he asked worriedly as he scrambled to his hooves and began to pack his things, stuffing an assortment of random things, including a blood-stained journal, into his pack in a mad rush.

"It probably be too late fa dem, pon! Dhey already killed half our people! And dhey be werkin' on da otha half as we speak! Unless ya want ta be part o' dat statistic, we need ta leave NOW!" Allambee stomped a hoof.

"Not without my family!" Kaffir barked back stubbornly as he threw his saddlebag over his back and rushed out the hut. Nothing he has ever done in his life prepared him for what he was about to see, his deep azure eyes dilating in shock and horror, all time slowing down around him as he witnessed the gruesome scene before him. Zebras of every age, gender and class being taken down and ripped apart by their mortal enemy, the lions. Great, ferocious furred beasts with jagged teeth and claws meant for rending and tearing. The streets and huts were coated completely by the blood and entrails of fallen zebras, half eaten corpses littered the walkways in piles while some lions roared out in satisfaction with blood-drenched maws and bloated bellies.

"Kaffir! Snap outta it, mon! Let's move! C'mon!" Allambee nudged into Kaffir anxiously.

"No. We can't leave yet. I need to find my family!" Kaffir pushed Allambee back and began to gallop through the village, avoiding crossing paths with one of the attacking lions the best he could, though they were mostly distracted by the village warriors. Despite the trained zebras combat prowess, they were no match and easily outnumbered by the feral aggressors. He finally reaches the hut where his family lives but to his horror, he finds his father, Olwenyo, standing over the half-eaten corpse of a dead mare whom he quickly identified as his mother. "M-mother!? NOO!!"

"Kaffir!" Olwenyo called out as he stood on his hind-legs, brandishes a sharp-pointed spear. "Kaffir, you must flee, my son. This village, our people, we are no more." the zebra shook his head. "There is nothing we can do to stop them. You must flee. Save yourself!"

"I'm not leaving you behind, Father!" Kaffir stomped down stubbornly. "The warriors are keeping them distracted, we can all escape together!"

"I can't, my son." his father sighed solemnly as he looked down at the corpse of his lover. "I cannot bear to lose anymore than I have already. Your mother is gone and I'll be damned if I let these maned bastards take you or your sister as well! I plan to fall this day, but I will take a dozen of them with me when I do!"

"Perhaps a dozen of us will feed on your corpse, if that's what you mean..." came a deep, growling voice as a dire lion appeared, his maw curled up in a sinister smile, his teeth bare, red-tinted and jagged for all to see. "There's plenty of you to go around, I'm sure."

"Lionotus!" Olwenyo roared as he brandished his spear, glaring hard at the dire lion before him. "You have tormented the lives of my people for too long and today you have crossed the line. This ends NOW!"

"You and what army, meat? Oh wait..." Lionotus snerked, mocking trying to hold back a laugh. "We killed them all. Dead. Quite unfortunate, really. So, then, what have you got then, exactly, that's going to 'end this'?"

"My unbreakable will." Olwenyo snarled as bucked off the ground with astounding force, sending the zebra propelling through the air toward Lionotus, spear hefted and ready to impale the great lion, however Lionotus simply swipes a paw, deflecting the spear as his other paw darts forward and grabs Olwenyo by the neck, the zebra dangling helplessly in the air.

"Now now now, we both know that's just not how things work between us, silly zebra." Lionous shook his head, clicking his tongue, making a 'tsk tsk' sound. "We both know that heroism and valiance has bought nothing but the most painful of deaths..." he snarled wickedly as he lifted his paw and jabbed it forward, it ripping into Olwenyo's stomach obscenely. He twisted and worked his paw about, causing Olwenyo's body to jerk and contort before he finally rips the blood-drenched furred paw out, clutching Olwenyo's liver while his intestines and other organs dangled grotesquely from the wide open wound. "Mmmh, liver. My favorite. Don't mind if I do..."

Kaffir's heart lurched in his chest, skipping a beat too many as he felt a cold chill rush up his spine, watching his father twitching and contorting as he dangled helplessly, his entrails dangling down below his hind legs and dripping crimson, creating a puddle beneath the grievously wounded zebra. "Oh, I'm sorry...are you suffering?" Lionotos asked as he takes the fresh, dripping organ and bites a sizable chunk out of his, chewing obscenely into it, causing Kaffir to clutch his own stomach in utter disgust. "Here, let me help you with that..." he offered plainly as he tosses the liver aside like a useless table scrap before grabbing Olwenyo by the throat and pulling...

RRRRIIIPPP

Lionotus pulled a massive jumble of flesh and muscle from Olwenyo that went from his lower jaw down to his lower chest, the dire lion holding the dripping mess triumphantly while Olwenyo gurgled and thrashed about for several moments before falling limp, finally at rest. "Hmph, too bad. I like it when my prey plays hero." Lionotus smirked as he looked at Kaffir and tossed the disemboweled zebra away for others to devour. "How about you? Will you make the same mistake, meat?"

Kaffir found himself stepping backwards, his eyes wide and his mouth agape, all emotion and reason having left him from what he had witnessed before finally looking around frantically, a thought entering his mind. "Nikita! Where is she? Where's my sister!?" Kaffir screamed out.

"Does he mean this 'sister', boss?" came a voice as a lion walked up, holding a flailing little zebra filly in his maw.

"N-Nikita..." Kaffir felt his heart sink even lower as he stepped back even further. "Please, for the love of Mother Sun and Sister Moon, let her go..."

"Let her go?" Lionotus quirked a brow as he reached a paw over and snatched the young filly from the smaller lion's maw. "But she's...she's so cute! I want to keep her, thank you."

"She's too young! Please, you must have some reason, some dignity!! Let her go!" Kaffir pleaded desperately.

"Nngggmm..." Lionotus groaned as he looked at the young filly before looking at Kaffir, back and forth, back and forth, again and again before sighing. "Fiiiiine. You can have her back..." he would say rather begrudgingly before smiling wickedly, grabbing the filly by the head and twisting it hard, Kaffir nearly throwing up as he heard perhaps the most horrendous moist cracking and ripping noise ever. "Oops...I think I broke her..." Lionotus mocked a pout as he tossed the filly's removed head toward Kaffir. "But hey, I thought instead of me letting her go, we could share! You can take that part, and I'll keep this. Deal?"

Kaffir didn't respond as he stared on at his sister's head, he nearly crumbling to the ground in despair until he heard his friends voice screaming behind him. "Kaffir! Stop ya fuckin' stalling and lets get outta here!!"

"Yes, I think your friend there has a good idea. You should go now before I decide to stop being so nice." Lionotus waved a paw in a brushing manner.

Kaffir gritted his teeth toward the careless, maniacal lion before finally turning and galloping toward his friend Allambee. They both began to escape the destroyed and blood-splattered village. "Where are we to go anyway?"

"To da known lands of da north, mon. Dhey say dhere be ponies. Dhere might e'en be some o' us dhere too. But dhere be a great desert between here and dhere we havta cross." Allambee said as he galloped.

"After what I've seen, a desert would be like paradise..." Kaffir muttered as he galloped on, the pair making good pace as the sun began to rise into the sky. "Do...you think anyone else escaped?"

"Nah pon, dhey all came in wit' da intention on killin' all o' us." Allambee shook his head.

"Then...how...why did they just let us go?" Kaffir quirked a brow as the question crossed his mind.

"No clue mon, my guess would be fa sum sick huntin' game, cause we not da only ones runnin'..." Allambee said, nodding back behind himself.

Kaffir peered back over his shoulder and to his horror, there were lions chasing them. 3 of them...

The Severed Exile