“Um… a simple ‘good morning’ would suffice.”
The next morning Arc awakens on the couch with a smile on his face.
“That was a nice evening. Good company and good food.”
He puts a hand on his rumbling belly and frowns.
“If only that food had been real though.”
Sitting up, he spots the mares from the other night bowing before him.
“Um… a simple ‘good morning’ would suffice.”
“Good morning, sir.”
“How can we serve you today?”
Arc groans. “Would you please stand up?”
The pair quickly do so as Arc continues.
“Tell me, what are you duties?”
“We serve the king and sate his every desire.”
Arc frowns. “Like in the shower?”
“Would you like us to bathe with you now, sir?”
“No, no. I mean… what other kind of things did Buffalo Bull have you do for him?”
“Clean him in the shower, warm his bed, watch his backside while walking his domain, keep his quarters tidy, entertain his lieutenants, relieve his stress by…”
“Okay, okay! Enough! You were his slaves.”
“No, sir. We were well compensated for our services.”
“How?”
“Safety.”
“From what?”
“We… witnessed a murder in the other prison and reported it to the guards.”
“The one whom did it put a price on our heads.”
Arc raises an eyebrow. “A price? With what bits?”
“Ten chocolate bars a head.”
“Twenty five if they brought both at the same time.”
“So how did you convince Buffalo Bull to take you in?”
“We approached him at meal time and begged to be granted his protection.”
“He granted it. But on the condition of servitude.”
“And even then we first had to prove our loyalty.”
Arc grits his teeth. “I’m almost afraid to ask, but how?”
“We both had to crawl underneath him while he ate and… pleasure him in front of everypony.”
“What?!”
“My sister and I did a good enough job that day. So he decided to let us stay as long as we kept him happy.”
They again bow with their faces to the floor before continuing.
“We’re begging you! Please keep us in your employ, sir!”
“Right! We’ll do anything you ask of us without question!”
Arc sighs. “You can stay with me for the time being. But tell me, is anyone else in your position?”
“In our… what?”
“Being forced to do things against their will.”
“No, sir.”
“Right. The other mares on this side are with their stallionfriends.”
“Yes. They can leave at any mealtime.”
Arc folds his arms over his chest. “Are you certain?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good. I don’t like the idea of someone being held against their will. But that still leaves the problem of what to do with you two.”
“We will serve you to maintain our safety, sir!”
“Always!”
Arc sighs. “Like I said, you can stay with me for now. Uh… do I have anything that I need to be doing? As king, I mean.”
“The former king would usually walk around the facility at this time.”
“He said it was important to maintain… what was the way he said it?”
“Keep up appearances.”
Arc puts a hand to his chin. “Kinda like walking the streets of Canterlot.”
“Sir?”
“Nothing. Well, let’s go then.”
They leave the room and head down the corridor together. The mares flank him as they walk. Arc turns to them.
“I just realized that I haven’t asked your names yet.”
“My name is Aloe, sir.”
“And I’m Vera, sir.”
“You two can just call me ‘Arc’.”
Aloe gasps. “Forgive us, sir! But that just wouldn’t be proper!”
Vera nods. “Yes! What would the other inmates think?!”
“If it bothers you that much, just call me ‘sir’ then.”
“Yes sir.”
“That we can do, sir.”
They continue on in silence for a time. Eventually Arc breaks it.
“So… what are you two in for?”
Aloe grimaces. “We… killed our parents.”
Vera bows her head. “Not proud of it, but we did.”
“Why?”
“They were both wanted criminals with long rap sheets.”
“Let’s just say they weren’t the best role models for us.”
“We were taught that if you want something bad enough, you should be able to just take it.”
“Our dad’s final lesson was on that.”
Arc raises and eyebrow. “Oh?”
Aloe frowns. “He… was in the mood for some fun, and our mom wasn’t around.”
Vera grimaces. “So he tried to make me to… lift my tail for him.”
“I walked in just in time to see him force Vera’s back legs apart.”
“The next thing I knew there was a wet sounding thump. Suddenly blood was everywhere and Aloe was standing over our dad beating him with her hooves.”
Aloe sighs. “There wasn’t much left of him when I finally came to my senses.”
“That was when mom showed up.”
“She saw what I had done and came after me with a knife.”
“After what Aloe had done for me I couldn’t let that happen to her. So I grabbed a bottle and hit our mom in the head with all my might.”
“Problem was… the bottle was full at the time. So instead of it breaking, my mom’s head did.”
“We ran to get help, of course.”
“But there was nothing to be done for either of them.”
“During questioning we admitted to what we had done.”
“So we were sent here.”
Arc nods as they walk. “How long ago was that?”
“Three years ago.”
Aloe sighs. “Seventeen more to go.”
“At least we’re together.”
“Even when we had to do certain… things for the former king, the knowledge that we’d someday be free kept us going.”
“With luck, we’ll be able to stay together until we get out of here.”
A voice rings out behind them.
“NOW!”
Three burly stallions jump out of the shadows and lunge at Arc. Moving like lightning, Aloe and Vera both engage a target and start beating them. The largest one moves to take on Arc personally. Shaking his head, the young man punches the stallion in the head. He falls to the ground, unconscious. Seeing their leader fall, the stallions turn tail and run away. Aloe and Vera move to give chase as Arc calls out after them.
“No, let them go.”
Aloe turns back, confused. “Sir?”
Arc grabs the stallion he felled earlier and grins.
“This is all the information we need right here. Follow me.”
A short time later they arrive at the room with a large pool of water. The mares look around, confused.
“The Welcome Room?”
“What are we doing here, sir?”
“Welcome Room, eh? Well, we’re going to wash away some filth.”
Throwing the stallion into the pool, he quickly regains consciousness.
“What the…?!”
Looking up, he sees Arc staring at him. Trying to swim away he backs up into a wall before turning back to the man before him.
“Wha-what do you want?!”
“Information.”
“Huh?!”
“Why did you attack me?”
“We… we just wanted to… um… increase our rank in this place! You know… being in charge is better than being an underling!”
Aloe turns to Arc. “Many attack the king, sir.”
Vera nods. “It’s why he has us following him around. To weed out the weak.”
Arc frowns. “I don’t believe him.”
“Sir?”
“The way he came at me. This one didn’t fight with determination, malice, or desire in his eyes.”
“Then why did he…?”
Arc clenches a fist. “Fear.”
He looks to the stallion again.
“Who put you up to this?”
“I… I can’t say, sir! She’ll kill me!”
Arc raises an eyebrow. "Her... interesting."
Aloe turns to Arc. “Regardless of what this worm says, it was most likely the former king attempting to retake his throne.”
Vera nods. “He throws a few weaklings at you in hopes one of them gets lucky. If they win, Buffalo Bull regains his throne.”
“If they fail, he hasn’t lost anything of value.”
Arc nods as he chuckles at the stallion before him. “Clever of him, don’t you think?”
“What are you going to do to me?!”
Arc shrugs. “No idea. Normally I’d say you should be locked up. But… I suppose for you that would be rather… redundant.”
Aloe grits her teeth. “We should confront Buffalo Bull about this at once, sir!”
Vera nods fervently. “Yes! Then we could take care of that vermin for good!”
“I suppose that wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
He looks back to the stallion.
“You. Get over here.”
The stallion quickly does what he is told as Arc looks around the room.
“Am… am I free to go, sir?!”
Arc shakes his head. “Not quite. You still need to be punished for your crimes against me.”
“I… I do?!”
“Yes. Your sentence will be…”
Arc gestures to the room around them before continuing.
“…to clean this room from top to bottom.”
“…what?”
“You heard me. Make it shine.”
He points to the pool.
“Especially this thing!”
“How…?”
“Drain it, scrub it, refill it.”
“But that’s too big a job for one stallion, sir!”
“Agreed. Go find you companions from earlier. I want them to help you with this task.”
“Y-yes sir.”
He runs out the door as Arc turns to the mares.
“So where do I find Buffalo Bull?”
Aloe gestures to the door. “He’s usually working out before breakfast.”
“Where?”
Vera nods toward the corridor. “This way, sir.”
The pair lead Arc down numerous dank hallways. Eventually they come to a large double door. Pushing them open exposes a massive room filled with rudimentary workout equipment. Buffalo Bull is lifting weights in the corner with his lieutenants surrounding him. Arc walks over to them flanked by Aloe and Vera. As they approach Buffalo Bull glares at them.
“What do YOU want?!”
“Just to talk.”
“It isn’t enough that you dethroned me?! Now you want a dialogue?! I don’t have time for your nonsense.”
He motions for his lieutenants to step forward. Arc clenches a fist as they do so.
“Now listen here. I already took you guys down yesterday at chow time. Now I have reinforcements. You really want to do this?”
They look to one another and step back nervously. Buffalo Bull grits his teeth and looks at his weights.
“Good help is so hard to find these days.”
Winding up, he heaves a weight at Arc.
“DUCK!”
The mares drop to the floor as Arc grabs the weight in one hand. Using its momentum he does a 360 and hurls it back at Buffalo Bull. Catching it, the stallion flies back into the concrete wall. Arc motions for the mares to stay with the lieutenants as he steps toward his target.
“Now then, are you ready to talk?”
Buffalo grits his teeth as he rubs his chest. “What about?!”
“Three punks attacked me in the corridor earlier. Said something about being put up to it by someone. I wonder whom that could have been.”
“And you think I did it?”
Arc shrugs. “If the boot fits…”
Buffalo Bull scoffs. “Believe me, if I wanted you taken down, I’d have sent the brightest and the best. Like my lieutenants over there.”
Arc looks over to the stallions. One of them caresses Aloe’s cheek as she instinctively draws back. Frowning, Arc picks up a nearby water bucket. Dumping its contents on the floor, he hurls it toward the stallion in question. It hits him squarely in the head, knocking him across the room. The others look to Arc fearfully as he speaks.
“Keep your hooves off of them.”
They take a step back from the mares as Arc continues.
“Anyone touches you again, make them regret it.”
The mares nod as Arc turns back to Buffalo Bull
“So you’re saying you didn’t put out a hit on me?”
Buffalo rolls his eyes. “Yes, I believe that’s what I was just trying VERY hard to explain to you!”
“I’m inclined to agree.”
“You are?”
Arc nods. “Oh yes. After all, it wouldn’t do for you to send weak opponents after me. We’re all locked up in here together. That and I always know where to find you.”
Buffalo Bull grimaces as Arc gestures to the mares.
“You miss them?”
“Certain parts, yes.”
Arc frowns. “They tell me you saved them from the other prisoners.”
“That I did.”
“But you also made them do certain… other things.”
“They had to pay for my services somehow.”
“Well, they’re mine now. You have a problem with that?”
“No. I’m sure they’ll do whatever you tell them to.”
“I’ve already discovered that. But in any case, I do want to remind you to stay out of trouble.”
Buffalo scoffs and looks away. “Whatever. You’re the boss now.”
“And don’t you forget it.”
Turning, he heads for the door. Motioning for the mares to follow him, they close the doors behind them as the stallions turns to Buffalo Bull.
“What now, sir?”
Buffalo Bull stands up slowly. “We need to get out of here.”
“Sir?”
“Somepony’s got that freak in their sights. Something happens to him and he’ll come right back here to me.”
“But we didn’t do anything!”
“Right. However I have the most to gain from him getting whacked! Naturally he’s suspicious of me!”
He heads for the door.
“Let’s go back to my room. I need to do some plotting and planning.”
Meanwhile, Arc and the mares walk down the corridor together. Aloe turns to him.
“Sir, why didn’t we just take care of that problem right then and there?”
Vera nods. “Yes, it’s obvious he’s behind that attack.”
Arc frowns. “I’m not so sure about that.”
“Sir?”
“It’s too convenient. And he was right back there. If he was going to come after me it wouldn’t make sense to attack with weaklings. He’d do best to come at me with everything he had when I least expected it.”
Vera shudders. “So who’s really behind this then?”
“No idea. But that punk we interrogated was sure scared of them.”
Aloe grimaces. “Somepony powerful on the outside?”
Arc sighs. “That’s a scary thought. It’d be a lot of trouble to organize something like that from the outside without getting caught I would think.”
Vera nods. “Extremely, sir. Everything that is sent down here is heavily monitored to prevent such things.”
“How about the guards?”
Aloe shakes her head. “Personally vetted by the warden.”
Vera grins. “And they’re watched too.”
“So it’s impossible to get messages or whatnot back and forth?”
“No sir. There is a way.”
“How?”
Vera sighs. “Fortunate Ire.”
Arc groans. “Where is he?”
“In his room probably.”
“That little fink doesn’t get up until the breakfast call.”
“When is that?”
“Not for another hour, sir.”
“Well then, let’s go see him. Lead the way.”
Walking down numerous corridors, they eventually come to a very secure looking door. Arc looks it over for a moment.
“Paranoid much?”
Aloe shrugs. “Well, he does have quite a bit of product in there.”
Vera chuckles. “You want it, he can get it.”
“Yes, I’ve heard that. So… do we just knock?”
“We can, yes. But he won’t like being woken up.”
Arc shrugs. “And I don’t like someone coming after me either, but you don’t hear me complaining.”
“Understood, sir.”
The mares approach the door and bang their hooves. A few moments later the sound of stomping rings out as the occupant opens the sliding peephole and yells out.
“Hours are from after breakfast to lights out! Why can’t anypony…?!”
He gasps as Arc kneels down to his level and frowns.
“I’d like to have a chat.”
“Y-y-yessir! Right away!”
He closes the peephole. Immediately thereafter the sound of innumerable locks being fiddled with rings out. A full minute later the door opens and the stallion within steps aside to allow them entry.
“Come in, come in! What can I get for you today, sir!?”
Arc frowns as they enter. “I need some information.”
“On what, sir?”
“Three stallions tried to take me out a little while ago.”
Fortunate Ire nods soberly. “It was most likely Buffalo Bull, sir. He’d do anything to retake his throne.”
“I’m aware of that. But it got me thinking about something.”
“What would that be, sir?”
“How does one get messages into and out of the facility?”
Fortunate Ire grins. “I offer that service, sir. It’s normally at a fee, of course. But for you I’ll do it for free. Whom do you want to contact?”
“No one really. But how would one get a message from the outside in?”
“I do that too.”
“How?”
“Professional secret, sir.”
“Any incoming messages from mares?”
Fortunate Ire nods. “Lots, sir. Mostly just marefriends and wives of prisoners though. Although I get the occasional sister or cousin too.”
Arc folds his arms over his chest. “You have a radio, don’t you?”
Fortunate Ire sighs and nods.
“Let me see it.”
Walking to his bunk, Fortunate Ire presses a hidden button in the frame. The mattress raises and the boards which hold it up lower down into a makeshift ladder.
“This way. But there isn’t room for everypony.”
Arc turns to the mares. “You two stay up here. I’ll be back in a little while.”
Leading Arc down into an underground room, he walks over to a small table and puts his hoof on a makeshift radio connected to a rather strange looking computer.
“Here it is, sir.”
“That’s… really impressive. But how did you get all that stuff past the guards?”
“Professional secret, sir.”
Arc sighs. “Of course it is. So how’s this thing work?”
“I receive transmissions via radio waves. This computer translates them into text for me in real time.”
A light comes on and the computer boots up.
“Looks like I’m getting something.”
A printer below the computer spits out a page. Fortunate Ire picks it up and reads it silently as he grins.
“Wow.”
“What is it?”
“A very… colorful letter to one of the stallions.”
He holds it out to Arc. Reading it over, he blushes before giving it back.
“They’re very… descriptive.”
Fortunate Ire grins. “Yeah, that’s pretty normal. After all, being separated from each other is very hard long term as far as sexual health goes.”
“In any case, can you pull up past messages?”
Fortunate Ire nods. “Sure. But they’re mostly like this one.”
He leers at Arc before continuing.
“Looking for a little something to spice up your alone time, sir?”
“Not exactly. I want to see copies of any… how shall I put this… non-sexual messages.”
“Oh. Well, that narrows it down a bit. Can you be a bit more descriptive though?”
“Anything that sounds out of the ordinary then.”
“Um… anything?”
Arc raises an eyebrow. “Yes.”
“Anything at all?”
“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”
Fortunate Ire sighs. “Well… the king, I mean… Buffalo Bull gets a lot of coded messages.”
“Coded how?”
“They’re just worded really weird. But I can’t give them to you.”
“Oh? Why not?”
“Because he’d kill me!”
Arc clenches a fist silently as he narrows his eyes. Fortunate Ire sighs as he turns back to the computer.
“But I suppose that’s preferable to being killed right now.”
Arc nods. “Smart move.”
Pushing a few keys, the printer spits out a piece of paper. Picking it up, Fortunate Ire gives it to Arc whom reads it aloud.
“The shipment of red sticks you requested has been delivered to the normal place. No witnesses. Payment has been remitted via the normal means and we await your next message.”
He looks to Fortunate Ire.
“Red sticks?”
“Contraband in here has special names. ‘Red Sticks’ means licorice.”
“So you’re telling me that Buffalo Bull took the time to pay someone to bring him licorice?”
Fortunate Ire nods. “Yup. He must really like the stuff too. I got in a whole crate of it earmarked just for him.”
“A crate of licorice?”
“Everyone has their needs.”
“Any other messages?”
“Yeah. Here’s one.”
Printing another page, Arc takes it and looks it over.
“Now he’s getting bricks?”
“Code for ‘chocolate bars’. That one was a lot smaller package though. But it was HEAVY!”
“Any idea why?”
Fortunate Ire shrugs. “None.”
“But you’re sure it was chocolate?”
“That’s what the box said, yes.”
“Did you open it to see?”
Fortunate Ire shakes his head. “Not a chance. Buffalo Bull would’ve knocked my head in for that!”
“So you don’t really know for sure that it was chocolate?”
“Sir, a stallion in my position just gives his clients what they want. It doesn’t make sense for me to question things when they’re happy with a delivery. Especially when they’re roughly the size of a building and specifically tell me not to.”
“So Buffalo Bull told you he didn’t want you verifying the goods beforehand?”
“Exactly. Granted, I’m a professional and do my best to make sure every order is filled properly. That means verifying what’s in the box is the same as what’s on the label. Just not in his case as per his wishes.”
“Makes sense. Anything else come across as weird to you?”
“Just one more thing. Take a look at this.”
Printing another paper, he gives it to Arc. Reading it, the young man scratches his head.
“He asked for sand? I mean, I know that isn’t what it is, but…”
“Code for sleeping pills. He got a really big bottle in a while back.”
“Huh… insomnia.”
He turns and looks up the ladder at the mares waiting for him.
“Does Buffalo Bull have trouble sleeping?”
Aloe shakes her head. “No, sir.”
Vera shudders. “If anything he pretty much fell asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow… er, me. That is, when he wasn’t rutting us.”
Arc turns back to Fortunate Ire. “Could he be stockpiling it to parcel out to others?”
“No way. I’m everypony’s supplier down here. That and he wouldn’t lower himself to a common merchant. His words, not mine.”
“Anything else you can tell me?”
“One other thing. A while back he got in a LOT of canned goods.”
“Define ‘a lot’.”
“He could survive on that for a month.”
Arc puts a hand to his chin thoughtfully. “So either he’s a grade A-1 weirdo or he’s up to something.”
“Like what?”
“No idea. Those things don’t really have much to do with one another. Well, other than being food, that is.”
Fortunate Ire shrugs. “He could just be turning into a doomsday prepper.”
“No necessarily a bad idea. But not so practical in prison.”
“So… you satisfied?”
“Not really. I didn’t really learn anything of value here today.”
Aloe sighs. “What now, sir?”
Vera grins. “You could just ask Buffalo Bull forcefully. Beat the truth out of him.”
Arc shakes his head. “I don’t really think that would work. After all, he’d just say whatever I wanted to hear to make me stop.”
“Then what should we do, sir?”
Fortunate Ire shudders. “Whatever you do, please don’t tell him I was the one who let the beans slip.”
Vera raises an eyebrow. “The what?”
Arc chuckles. “Spilled the beans.”
Fortunate Ire frowns. “Whatever that means.”
“It means… aw, skip it.”
Fortunate Ire rubs his hooves together greedily. “In any case, can I interest you in anything today, sir?”
“Like what?”
“I just got some rope in.”
Arc shakes his head. “I’m not planning on escaping if that’s what you mean.”
Fortunate Ire points a hoof. “Naw, I mean for tying up your mares there.”
“Why would I…?”
Aloe sighs. “Buffalo Bull used to like doing that.”
Vera nods. “Yeah. He’d tie my front hooves to the headboard and tell Aloe to lie down under me, belly to belly.”
Arc raises an eyebrow. “Uh… why?”
“He said he wanted Aloe to… feel every thrust he made into me.”
“That and he got a kick out of various… uh… liquids coating both of us.”
Fortunate Ire grins slyly. “I can acquire any toys or restrains you’d like for them, sir.”
Arc sighs as he turns and climbs the makeshift ladder out of the tunnel. “Not interested.”
Fortunate Ire calls out as he does the same. “Well, you know where to find me if you change your mind.”
Arc opens the door and steps out into the corridor with the mares. Sighing, he walks down the hall.
“Something wrong, sir?”
“You seem a bit upset.”
“It’s not your fault. I was just hoping to get a lead on whatever Buffalo Bull was planning.”
He turns to Vera.
“But I think I will take your suggesting from earlier.”
“Sir?”
“About asking Buffalo Bull what the heck he’s doing with all that stuff.”
Aloe rubs her front hooves together as she smiles wickedly. “Would you like some help with that, sir?”
Arc shakes his head. “No thanks. I’m just planning on talking to him.”
Vera frowns. “He probably won’t let it stay civil though, sir.
“That… is up to him.”