You groan. “I think my nose is broken,” you observe, touching your nose with a hand and flinching at the contact.

“I told you to ‘look out.’ Not turn around.”

"I was turning around to look out."

“You’re an idiot.”

“It was just a natural reaction. If you’re so smart then why are you in here? You should’ve just flown away.”

“Not like I didn’t try.”

You observe your bleak surroundings.

You are in a very small, dimly lit jail cell, with Daring in the cell next to yours. The floor is dirt. The walls are dirt. All is dirt.

In front of the cells is a hallway lined with torches, providing the only light. There are small windows above each torch to allow the smoke to escape, but they don’t provide any light.

The cell is barely large enough to fit you. If you lie flat on the floor, your head will touch the wall and your feet touch the bars in front.

There is nothing in the cell except for you. There is no toilet, or even a simple hole in the ground. There is no blanket or pillow. It’s just you and the dirt floor.

A metal collar has been attached around your neck with a long chain that attaches to nothing. It just hangs on the floor.

Daring has chains shackled to both of her hind legs, and a rope wrapped tightly around her wings.

“Why am I not tied up?” you ask the only other being in the room.

“...What?” she responds.

“Why are you tied up and I’m not?”

“You sound disappointed.”

“I don’t mean to sound dis-”

“Just be quiet for a minute. I’m trying to figure something out.”

Daring observes her surroundings diligently, as if looking for something.

A full 60 seconds pass in silence, but you have too many questions in your mind to allow the silence to continue.

“Where are we?” you ask.

“How would I know? I was just as unconscious as you were when they brought me here.”

“Who took us?”

She shrugs. “Some angry zebras, I guess.”

“You don’t know them?”

“Don’t think so. All zebras look the same to me.”

That’s the most racist thing you’ve heard all week.

“Ms. Do!” a very deep voice exclaims from the end of the hallway from the now open door. Walking through the door is a zebra wearing a large necklace with a purple stone hanging from it and a large smile on his face, accompanied by two other zebras, neither of them wearing anything. “Finally, I get to meet you in person! You are very famous amongst us zebras.” He sounds a little too excited.

“Oh no,” Daring says, barely above a whisper. “Please don’t be him. Not him.”

It doesn’t surprise you that the zebra can talk. What were you expecting? Daring can talk. This zebra can talk. You can talk. It wouldn’t surprise you if everything living could talk. Even snakes and trees.

“What is it?” you whisper, wanting to know whatever Daring does about this guy.

“I’ll tell you in a sec,” she says quickly, trying to get you to be quiet.

“Let us out of here!” Daring shouts, turning her attention to the zebra and trying to lunge towards the bars in front of her but is stopped by her chains.

“Oh! Of course, Ms. Do!” he says quickly, apologetically. “My mistake.” He grabs a set of keys from one of the other zebras accompanying him and reaches for the door. “Allow me to get that for you.” He motions to stick a key in the door...

Before throwing the keys behind him, which are caught by the other zebra.

He laughs loudly to himself, no one else joining in. “Ha ha! Oh, Ms. Do! You are a funny one, very funny, indeed.” He chuckles to himself. “But really, Ms. Do, have you never heard of me? I’m sure you’ve heard the story of the Swan of Tissit? Hmm?”

Do shakes her head. “Yeah. Yeah, I heard.”

He laughs again, as if understanding some joke no one else does. “Good, good! Then you should know that I always get what I want.”

“What do you want, Kiduttaa?” Daring asks, addressing the zebra by his supposed name.

Why can’t anyone have a normal name?

He smiles. “Oh, I think you know exactly what I want, Ms. Do.” He glances at you, smiling even wider, and looks back at Daring. “And you brought a friend!” He points a hoof at you, sounding even happier than he just was. “Funny. I didn’t think you had any friends.”

Daring glares at the zebra.

He looks back at you before speaking again. “And what is your name?”

You shrug. “I don’t know.”

It’s true. You still can’t remember who or what you are.

“Oh, I see, I see,” his voice gets even deeper. Creepier, really. “So you want to play it like that, huh?”

Play what like what?

“Don’t worry, friend, we’ve got just the thing for you.”

Just the thing for what?!

He grabs the guards keys once more and tries to fit it in the keyhole. “Oh! Silly me! I must’ve brought the wrong keys.”

He tosses the keys back to one of the silent guards with him.

“Don’t go anywhere, you two,” he says, walking away with the guards following him. Before he reaches the door, he starts laughing again, but you’re positive no one said anything.

The door shuts and the laughter ceases, the only beings in the room are you and Daring.

“That guy is a psychopath,” you observe, pointing towards the door on the far end of the dimly lit hallway, still trying to process what just happend.

“You said it,” Daring sighs.

“You know him?”

“Kinda. I’ve heard stories about him and I’ve seen him before. His name is Kiduttaa. He doesn’t run this place, exactly, but he helps out a lot. And he’s insane.”

“Clearly.”

“He used to be a big competitor of mine, but we never actually saw each other in person. Good thing too. He’s creepy as hell.”

“What did he say about a swan?” you ask, curiosity piqued.

Daring swallows. “He was looking for this swan statue. It wasn’t really anything important, though. It didn’t have any magical capabilities like the elephant does, but it was worth a ton of money. So naturally, we both wanted it.

“He received a tip that the swan was hidden somewhere in a local village, and the ponies and zebras and camels and whatever there thought it was some religious artifact. So they were worshipping it, basically.

“So asshole over there,” she points towards the closed door, “goes into the village and tries to get it. Well, the ponies there don’t take kindly to that, and run him out of the village.”

“How is that a bad thing?” you ask.

“It’s not. But later that night, he comes back with a group of zebras, and he burns the village to the ground, killing everypony.”

You don’t know how to respond to that.

“This guy is bad news,” she continues. “If he really wants something, he’s not afraid to do whatever it takes to get it.”

“H-How can you be sure the village story is true?” you ask. “You weren’t there.”

She nods. “True, true. It may be just a rumor started by Kiduttaa to make himself look... I don’t know, ‘cool’, I guess. But it might be true.”

You take a deep breath. “Jesus Christ.”

“Who?”

The door on the far end of the room slams open, and in walk two zebras, but not Kiduttaa.

They slowly approach the cells. They unlock the door to your cell and enter, much to Daring’s confusion.

“Hey. What are you doing?” she asks.

The zebra motions for you to stand. “You. Up,” he says, pointing to the ceiling. Judging by his thick accent, english is probably not is first language.

You glance at Daring, who is looking at you. She doesn’t say anything or motion for you to do anything, so you decide to be as stubborn as possible and not move. One of these guys might have broken your nose, so you’re going to take whatever revenge you can get, no matter how petty.

“What do you want with him?” Daring asks. “He doesn’t know anything.”

“Up. Now.” The zebra says, sounding impatient.

You just remain sitting.

The zebra and his friend both grab onto the metal chain with their teeth and pull, choking and causing you to fall forward.

They pull again, robbing you of oxygen and slowly dragging you across the dirt floor.

You scramble your way to your feet, wanting the intermittent choking to stop.

“I’m up, I’m up,” you say, moving forward in the hopes that they stop tugging on the chain.

The ceiling is only a foot or two above your head, much like it was in the temple.

“Follow,” the zebra says, turning towards the door, gentling tugging on the chain as to not choke you, but forcing you to follow.

“Wait!” Daring calls. “Don’t take him! Take-”

The door behind you slams shut, and Daring’s voice is no longer heard.

==========

You are strapped face down onto a simple, uncomfortable, small wooden table, with your head hanging off the edge. You have chains strapped to either of your ankles which connect to the table, and chains on both of your wrists, also connecting to the table.

You pull on them.

They don’t allow you to move. You’re stuck.

For whatever reason, your shirt has been removed by the zebras. What they could possibly want from a bloodstained shirt such as yours, you don’t know. But they wanted it, so they took it.

You doubt the shirt fits any of these zebras, so they’ll probably give it back soon enough.

The collar around you neck has also been removed. You suppose the chains on your arms and legs are sufficient.

“As I asked earlier, my good man, what is your name?” the deep voiced zebra asks. You can’t see him, but you hear him walking around the table. As far as you know, Kiduttaa and you are the only beings in the room.

“I don’t know.”

He laughs. “No worries. I didn’t really want to know anyway.”

You hear him stop his walking in front of you, causing you to look up. He has decided to sit on the floor right in front of the table, a couple feet away from your head.

“Before we begin, do you mind if I ask you a couple questions?” he asks.

You’re not in a position to refuse. “Sure.”

“Wonderful. I can tell this is going to be a good day.” He chuckles to himself.

This guy’s fucking crazy.

“Pardon me for asking, but what are you, exactly? I’ve never seen a creature quite like you before.”

You can feel the answer on the tip of your tongue, but you’re not exactly sure what it is. It’s something like, Hu-... no. It’s... Ho-... No wait!

“Human,” you say, proud of being able to remember something. “I’m a human.” A smile comes over your face.

“Human?” Kiduttaa slowly repeats. “Interesting. I’ve never heard of such a species. Fascinating. And where are you from, exactly?”

“I can’t remember,” you respond simply.

He laughs yet again. “Oh I’m sure you don’t.” He begins to pace. “If I had to venture a guess, you’re probably from one of the small islands northeast of here. Never know what you’re going to find up there... Ah! But what do I know, right?”

He laughs again, a noise that you’re probably going to be hearing for the rest of your life.

“But enough of this small talk,” he says, sitting in front of you once more. “What I really want to know is: Where is the idol?”

“...” You don’t respond. You just continue to gaze upon the floor.

He chuckles. “Perhaps you did not hear me. Where. Is. The. Idol?”

“I don’t know.”

“I beg to differ. You see, Ms. Do, the lovely mare sitting just down the hall, is a notorious graverobber in these parts. For years, she has been snooping and sticking her nose in places it really does not belong.

“A temple collapsed yesterday, as I’m sure you already know. A very important temple to me and my followers. Which can only mean that someone removed the idol from said temple. Let me tell you, just because you have the idol, does not make it yours. It belongs to my zebras, and we want it back.”

He makes a good point. The elephant was not yours not steal, but what Daring told you earlier is still sticking with you.

Maybe this guy is lying? You’re not sure, and there really isn’t anyway to be completely sure. But this guy is completely insane, and if that rumor you heard is true, he cannot be trusted.

“We searched your camp,” the zebra continues. “We did not find the elephant, which can only mean you hid it somewhere. Tell me where it is, and I’ll let you both go, no harm done.”

You don’t know if he’s telling the truth. If he’s lying, then he is really good at it. Did Daring lie to you?

You’d like to think she didn’t, but you can’t be sure. You’ve only known her for a day, and she’s not exactly your best friend. But she has helped you out so far, despite that not really getting you anywhere, so you’ll remain loyal to her.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” you respond. “You’re asking the wrong guy.”

He laughs condescendingly. “Oh, am I?” He begins to pace in front of you as evidence by his shadow moving across the floor. He moves from one end of the room to the other as he talks. “Then riddle me this, friend: What is a strange, foreign creature, such as yourself, doing in the heart of a tropical forest with the world’s most infamous graverobber?”

That’s a very good question, and you cannot come up with any plausible response to said question. Nothing you say will ever be believed by this guy.

You would shrug if you could, but you can’t, so you respond with a typical “I don’t know.”

The zebra identified as Kiduttaa is growing impatient, as evidence by his pacing and breathing.

“You don’t know?” he asks.

“I don’t know.”

He takes a deep breath and stops walking in front of you. “I will ask this question once, and only once, and I strongly believe that it is in your best interest to answer my question the first time. If I have to ask this question a second time, it will not be politely. Now...

“Where is the Elephant of Norsu?”

==========

Do finishes eating, rubs her hooves together to get any remnants of berry and leaves off her, and gets up. She trots over to a tree before taking out the blue elephant.

“What are you doing?” you ask, taking a bite from another dry, disgusting leaf.

“Hiding the elephant,” she responds, placing the relic in a snake hole underneath the tree.

You tilt your head to the side. “Why?”

“Just in case.”

==========

You know exactly where the elephant is, but you can’t tell him. Daring said that she’s taking these relics so they don’t fall into the wrongs hands... or hooves. So she’s doing good.

Kiduttaa, on the other hand, does not appear to have good intentions for the elephant. If he did, he probably would not have captured and imprisoned you and Daring, and you would not be bound to a table.

You’re not going to tell him anything.

“Perhaps a visual demonstration may jog your memory? Hmm?” he asks, walking away from you. Curious, you look up to see him pulling an object out of a bag in the corner of the room.

The thing he takes out of the bag is red. And it looks like some animal. A small horse, or mule, or...

Oh! It’s that donkey!

“This,” he gestures to the object that he holds in a hoof, “is the Donkey of Tissit. It’s a very rare, very magical artifact that can only be found in this part of the world. And the elephant you stole, well, it’s a lot like this in some ways. This donkey and the elephant go together, you see, and when combined- Wait. Why am I even telling you this?” He laughs. “You must already know this!”

You do already know this, but you’re not going to tell him that.

He turns to put the red donkey back into the bag in the corner of the room.

Before turning your gaze back to the ground, you look around at the walls for the first time. They are mostly barren and brown, save for a few medieval weapons. You see a spear, a couple of swords, a bunch of machetes, and a crossbow hanging on the wall, as though they are decorations.

He takes a deep breath. “I have been very nice to you. Do you realize that? How nice I’ve been?”

You don’t. He locked you and Daring in a prison cell with no toilet.

He continues. “And you repay my hospitality with ignorance and lies? No. No, I don’t think so.”

This guy’s fucking insane.

He puts a hoof under your chin, and forces you to look up at him and away from the brown, dirt floor.

He holds up his other hoof and places it directly in your field of vision. A hook, a very large hook, is strapped to his hoof.

“My patience has reached its’ end. Do you see this?” he asks, nodding to the hook.

You nod. “Yep.”

“I’d prefer to keep it clean.”

...Wait, what?

“Because I’m such a kind, loving, fair zebra, I will ask you one final time, as politely as I can: Where is the elephant?!”

He walks out of your field of vision and to the side of the table.

You’re not going to give up. “I already told you. I don’t know.”

The sharp object digs into your back, causing an uncomfortable pain to wash over you. You reflexively straighten your back and pull on your chain, but they keep you from moving or turning. All muscles in your body tighten.

Your mouth opens as if to scream, but you can’t. The pain and shock is too intense to allow you to make a sound.

“Where is the idol?!” he shouts angrily.

You feel the metal object dig further into your back. A force causes the hook to pull to one side of the table, and you reflexively move your body in that direction as well, hoping to keep the pain to a relative minimum.

“Where is the idol?” he shouts again, even louder.

The hook snakes its’ way out of your back, but the pain remains. You feel a liquid seeping over your back, down your sides, and onto the table. You allow your head to hang off the end of the table, and hope that gravity will somehow allow you to fall forward and out of the chains.

“Wait...” you say weakly, probably not even loud enough for him to hear. “W-Wait...”

The hook enters your back again.

“Where is the idol?!” his voice grows in volume, but to you, he sounds miles away.

The hook moves again while still inside of you, but the restraints no longer allow you to move along with it. The chains stop your body, and the only thing that is left to stop the hook is your flesh.

Your skin easily rips as the hook trails along your back, going side to side and up and down.

Thick liquid is felt all over your backside, and you want nothing more than to wipe it off, but the chains keep your hands next to your head.

Your breathing becomes shaky and labored and you feel lightheaded.

“Please... stop...” you say too quietly again.

The hook exits and re-enters your back again, and your captor pulls upwards, lifting you off the table a little.

At this, you finally cry out in pain.

“Where is the idol?!”

Oh God! Stop! Please! Just stop it now!

Your prayers are ignored as the hook continues to pull until your flesh finally tears, freeing the hook, but only increasing the pain and concentration of thick liquid oozing out of your back.

You’re going to throw up.

“WHERE IS THE IDOL?”

The hook enters your back again.

==========

You feel an uneven movement from underneath you. Whatever you’re lying on is soft but firm and seems to be bouncing up and down ever so slightly.

You squint open your eyes and see the dirt ground moving beneath you, though you are not moving at all. You’re head is spinning and your eyelids are heavy and your back is in tremendous pain.

You try to move, but the moment you begin to extend an arm your body cries out in protest and freezes your muscles where they are.

Without an argument, you decide to move as little as possible.

After only bouncing for a few long, painful seconds, a door is opened, and you are walked through it.

The rustling of metal can be heard from down the hall, but only barely.

“What did you do to him?!” a female voice cries out.

There is no response from anyone in the room. The only sounds are the rattling of chains and the sounds of hooves clopping across the floor.

You close your eyes and try to relax as best as you can. The gently swaying you feel is kind of like being on a boat on a calm sea or on a hammock. A really small, firm hammock.

“What did you do to him?!” the female voice demands again.

A noise like the jangling of keys is heard, and you can only assume that a door is being unlocked. The gently swaying motion you feel is suddenly stopped as a key is inserted into the lock of your cell.

The creaking of the cell’s rusty door is heard, and the swaying motion resumes for a brief moment.

You are suddenly flying, but only for a fraction of a second, before landing roughly on your stomach in your dirty, cramped cell.

“Oh Celestia,” the female voice from next to you is heard, much quieter now than it was before. “Oh... no. No.”

The door is swung closed and swiftly locked. The sound of hooves begin before slowly fading away as your captor leaves the room.

“How dare you!” Daring calls after the retreating zebra. “Buck you, Kiduttaa! When I get out of here, you are done! Hear me?! DONE!”

You keep your eyes closed and gently shift your body into a more comfortable position. Quickly realizing that there is no such thing as a ‘comfortable position’ anymore, you elect to just remain completely still.

“Oh Celestia, can you hear me?” Daring asks from the cell next to you. “C’mon now. Can you hear me?! Answer me!”

Your eyelids feel heavier and heavier, but you manage to open them.

You nod your head in response to Daring’s question, but don’t have the energy to offer any verbal response.

“Are you OK?” she asks. “What did they do to you?!”

There is no energy left to answer either of those questions, so you don’t. You just lie there and breathe, which is getting harder and harder.

“Hey,” she cries, poking your shoulder by putting a foreleg through the bars. “Hey. Look at me. C’mon, look at me.” She pokes you again. “Look at me right now!”

You move your head ever so slightly towards the yellow pony in the next cell, and see her hoof extended towards you.

As painful and as difficult as it is, you slowly reach a hand towards a hoof and grab onto it. The hoof is soft and furry and warm. She places her other forehoof on top of your hand.

Daring smiles sadly down at you.

“I’m fine,” you whisper.

Author's Notes:

Next chapter should be out in a few days.
Special thanks to the Finnish language and to all of you for viewing.
Remember to leave feedback!