[WP] Tired of all the Hitler and Batman prompts on reddit, you decide to write something original about banjo playing unicorns on the run from the "man".

I am a humble unicorn working at the Winged Inn. I am employed to play the bango, the customers seem to like it.

It is another typical, cosy evening. The fire crackles merrily in the corner, emitting light and warmth. The hum of customers' conversation washes over me; occasionally a loud neigh or mirthful whinny rings out from a particularly inebriated unicorn. Glasses and plates clink; chomping noises fill the air.

As I twang my banjo in the opening lines of a favourite song, several of the patrons turn to me in obvious cheer. They begin to stomp their hooves in time, nodding their heads enthusiastically. Their wings flutter up and down to the rhythm of my strings. A few of the more inebriated ones begin to sing the lyrics:

"Einhörner von Deutschland ab März zusammen..."

Suddenly the doors burst open. The singing stops immediately. My bango twangs a rotten note and then is still. For in the doorway stands an enormous stallion. He is all black. His mane is darker than the darkest night, and his wings flank him proudly like great thunderclouds. His length is covered with sinuous, rippling muscle that speaks of terrible strength. Through the eyeslits of the ebony mask on his muzzle, his eyes are cold. I huff in a breath through my nostrils.

His voice is hoarse, devoid of emotion. It sends a chill up my spine. "Where is the owner of this establishment?"

Everyone is still. Eyes swivel rapidly to the barkeep, who is standing behind the bar. His flanks heaving and falling, he does not move. Only his eyes betray his fear- they dart to the back door, and to the window. But he cannot escape, and he knows it.

No one speaks. The tension is so palpable you could easily cut it with a knife.

Then one of the customers sitting at the bar moves. I glimpse his saddle. It is adorned with the great red insignia of the Glorious Army, so he must be a high-ranking officer. Frenziedly, he cries out: "Ihn verhaften!" He lifts up his hoof weapon, but there is a metallic clang as a small dark object with sharp edges embeds itself sharply into his hoof. Havoc ensues. Soldiers are rising from their places, young colts and elderly alicorns are falling out of their seats to get out of the way.

Strangely, despite the chaos, the dark figure in the doorway has not yet shifted. Only his wings move- they sweep, just once. It is a regal movement. And impossibly, out go the lights. Someone screams, because the darkness is frighteningly total.

Furniture crashes, loudly- scuffling noises of fighting are heard. I shrink into my corner, but someone pushes me from behind. My banjo falls to the ground, and a string lets out a dissonant wail as it breaks. I lie cowering with my eyes closed.

After a period of indeterminate length, there is no more noise. I open my eyes. Fallen soldiers are everywhere and the bar is smashed to pieces. Silhouetted against the moonlight the dark figure stands over Anton. His voice is quiet:

"Where are they?"

Anton's reply is too soft for me to hear, but the great shadow rears up on his hind legs, and in a voice of thunder neighs,

"WHERE ARE THEY?"

At this Anton breaks. Weeping, he cries out in a strangled voice the location of the Army, the camps-- even the secret movements of the Fuhrer himself. I cringe in fear. Anton is now a dead horse. They will hunt him down. He lies panting, spent, and his next words are sobbed with a furious venom:

"I hope you die, all you and your kind! Under that mask you're just another one of them, another filthy Je-!"

Anton stops speaking abruptly. I hold my breath. The massive black shadow has moved, and now the terrible mask is right up against Anton's face.

"It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me."

And in the next moment he is gone, galloping off into the distance. Anton is weeping, soft tears falling down his face. I close my eyes and reach out my hooves to touch my bango where it lies, broken, upon the ground.

/r/WritingPrompts Thread