In the Footsteps of a Giant

Twilight shifted uncomfortably as the collar rubbed her neck, causing it to itch. She was being led by two guards, apparently to some place called 'The Arena'. A chain led from her collar to the nearest guard; it seemed unnecessary, she didn't have anywhere to run. Not that she had the will to run, anyway. The realization that she was no longer in control had finally set in. She wasn't some political pawn, like she thought at first; and this certainly was no longer a simple misunderstanding. She was their prisoner, and they were going to offer her up as some prize. She could hear a dull roar as they came to a stop in a small room with a thick oaken door at the far side.

With some unspoken signal, the guards stepped forward and opened the door. Twilight began to step through, but froze. The blinding light and tumultuous noise overwhelmed her senses. Daylight? When was the last time she had seen the sun? Oh... yesterday, duh. One of the guards pushed her through the doorway, and the crowd erupted in a tremendous cheer. Twilight found herself in the center of the volcano's caldera. The naturally sloping walls had been carved into a stadium of seats rising thousands of hooves! There had to be tens of thousands of Diamond Dogs watching the events unfold. They talked excitedly and pointed at her as the guards chained her to an anchor point in the ground near one side of the massive arena. One voice rose above the rest, magically augmented.

"Dams and Gentlesires! The Emperor is proud to present his first surprise of the day... a magical unicorn pony! Rarest of the rare, their powerful magic has many uses! Who will claim this slave as their own?"

Slave? The word struck Twilight like a blow to the chest. She wasn't a prisoner, she was a slave! The unicorn began to hyperventilate, she couldn't spend the rest of her life as a slave, there was no way!

"To honor the theme of today's prize, our Gladiators will be fighting in the traditional pony style!" Whistles and cat-calls erupted from the audience. "That's right, completely nude! How uncivilized!"

The purple mare balked. Uncivilized? Nude? But that's how ponies normally went about their business. Looking around, Twilight noticed that all of the dogs visible were wearing some variation of a cloth robe fastened at the shoulder with a broach. The guards were wearing armor, but she hadn't given that a second thought, pony guards wore armor, too. Thinking back, she hadn't seen one naked Diamond Dog... That was about to change.

"First we have... Bonecrusher!" The crowd cheered as a Pit Bull Diamond Dog stepped out of a doorway on the opposite side of the arena. He smiled and waved to the crowd with one hand, in the other was a padded club. He appeared to be unperturbed by his nudity, which seemed like a normal reaction to Twilight. She flinched a bit as he turned his gaze to her, looking at her thoughtfully, like one would appraise the value of livestock.

"Next up is... Flesh Ripper!" A black furred dog with a brown chest stepped out of the next door, ignoring the crowd, he stared at the pony, his eyes boring holes into her skull. Drool dripped from his mouth as a wicked grin spread across his face, he shifted his club from one paw to the next. The look in his eye had one meaning, he was going to keep her for himself... for his own pleasure, and Twilight didn't like it at all.

"Third is Granite Claw!" A charcoal grey Husky trotted out of the third door. She seemed a bit more taken aback by the lack of armor, but she quickly settled down. Rather than size up the prize, she kept her attention on her opponents, intelligent eyes taking in details. She carried a short rod with a hard leather flail on the end.

"And finally, Diamond Eyes!" The crowd erupted as a lean Dam with shining golden fur stepped out into the sunlight. Almost blinded, Twilight though it to be her most striking feature, until their eyes met. Diamond Eyes lived up to her name, piercing crystal blue eyes locked with Twilight's lavender ones, peering into her very soul. Slowly, the dog's gaze moved to her opponents, her weapon was a quarterstaff wrapped in soft leather.

"Now remember everydoggy, if you get too close to the prize before you claim victory, our archers will be more than happy to encourage you to keep your distance! Let the game begin!" At this proclamation, a gong sounded and all four dogs leapt into action at once.

The black furred dog instantly went for the husky, against all logic, since he was now surrounded. This tactic worked, however, as Granite Claw had turned to face the golden dog. Twilight heard a sickening crack as Flesh Ripper brought his club down hard onto the grey dog's head. She fell limply to the ground, blood soaking her fur.

Not one to waste an opportunity, Bonecrusher charged in and whipped his club in a vicious arc at waist level. Anticipating an attack to the head, Flesh Ripper ducked and turned into the path of the club. The pit bull smiled as he lived up to his name, the black dog's arm going limp as his shoulder was crushed into uselessness. Not going down without a fight, Ripper swung his club up into the crotch of the other dog, who fell to his knees. Grinning with murderous glee, Flesh Ripper raised his club above his head for the final blow.

Bonecrusher stared in shock when he heard a sharp crack and Ripper's eyes rolled into the back of his head and the dog slumped to the ground. Diamond Eyes stood behind him, a grim look on her face. Twilight had witnessed her drive her staff with stunning strength into the base of Flesh Ripper's skull. Bonecrusher managed to gasp, "I concede." before curling up into a ball. Now that the fear of death was gone, he could feel pain again, lots of pain.

Medical Dogs rushed into the stadium, casting healing spells to stop the bleeding and reverse the trauma. The announcer spoke up once more.

"Holy Canis, Dams and Gentlesires! That was quite the match! Let's see what the aftermath report says, shall we? Looks like Granite Claw needed a granite skull! She's got a concussion and minor blood loss, no surprise there! Poor Bonecrusher lives up to his name in more ways than one, receiving worse than he gave! A crushed pelvis and testicles, that's gonna take a while to heal, folks, ouch! And here's a surprise! The medical staff were unable to revive old Flesh Ripper, seems like he didn't suffer, though. A crushed spinal column and severed spinal cord don't let you feel much! Looks like the prize goes to Diamond Eyes! And what a sport the prize has been, this one didn't even cry. Give it up for the Mare of Diamond Eyes!"

Twilight's hearing went dead despite the roar of the crowd. She had just watched this dog kill someone, and now she belonged to this murderous canine? She began to shake in fear as the golden dog slowly approached. Without a hint of emotion or regard for the pony, Diamond Eyes took the chain and led Twilight out of the Arena. As they were leaving, the unicorn thought she heard her name being shouted from deep within the Arena walls. "Tim?" Had he seen what happened? Was he even still alive?

Lyra stood at the edge of the lake. The calm water showing her slightly distorted reflection. Twilight was dead, drowned, and it was all her fault. Some stupid conspiracy theory... she just wanted to be right... but not like this. The green mare sighed, the water looked inviting, but in a way that sent a chill down her spine. She took a hesitant step, she wasn't going to do anything crazy, she just wanted to see how the water felt... Cold, it was cold, but her hoof quickly grew accustomed to the feeling. Another step... yep, still cold.

"Lyra... Lyra stop!"

Lyra whipped her head around to see Bon-Bon racing toward her. No... she couldn't face her, not right now. She wasn't ready! The unicorn made to run but was cut off by the earth pony's voice.

"Don't you dare move an inch you stupid foal or I'll have your hide!"

Oh, great. She must have heard what happened and was coming to rub it in... not that Lyra blamed her. She deserved whatever punishment Bon-Bon had in store.

Tears streaked the cream mare's fur as she reared back and slapped Lyra hard across the face. "How dare you? Did you even stop to think about your friends? About me?"

Lyra stared at her hooves, now soaking in the shallow water.

"This isn't the answer, Lyra, killing yourself won't bring Twilight back!"

Killing herself? Suicide? Looking around, Lyra realized the situation did seem a bit morbid. "Oh, Bon-Bon, I wasn't-"

"Oh don't give me that. You know what this looks like! Don't lie to me, too."

"I... I'm sorry Bon-Bon... for everything! I just... I just wanted..."

Bon-Bon pulled Lyra close for a warm embrace. "Hush, I know. It's okay... shhhh." Tears flowed hot and fast for the pair as they sat in the chilly water at the edge of the lake. Neither moved for a long time.

Meanwhile, back in Lyra's bedroom, Celestia stood alone, having dismissed the others. The living room was more suitable for mourning, as it had more seating and didn't contain the scene of the incident. A look of confusion mixed with visceral fear as the princess stared at the hand-shaped object laying on the dresser. Were they what Lyra was calling 'human'? Was she actually searching for them? Her face darkened as she began to rummage through the contents of the room. Charts, essays, even semi-accurate drawings! This... this foal was actually trying to find the Titans! Celestia's ears perked up as she heard the front door open.

Bon-Bon and Lyra entered the crowded living room, all eyes turned as one to the pair. The green unicorn was clearly filled with regret and sorrow. Slowly, she looked up to face the others. "I... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I never would have- if I had..."

"Look. Apologizn' ain't gonna bring Twilight back." Applejack interjected. "We understand you regret what ya' did, but it don't change the fact what ya' did was wrong. That bein' said, Twilight knew better than to give ya' that book. This is just a bad situation for all involved. So b'fore anypony does or says somethin' they'll regret, ah think we should all go home and get some sleep. We can deal with the particulars in th' mornin'."

Before anypony else could speak up, Celestia walked in. "I agree, Applejack. Why don't you all go home for now, we can figure out how to proceed tomorrow."

Everypony quietly filed out, giving Lyra sad and uncomfortable looks. Spike, though, had a different look to him, he gave Lyra a cold hard stare as he walked by. Clearly the dragon wasn't ready to forgive the unicorn so easily.

Soon enough, all that was left was Lyra, Bon-Bon and the princess. Sighing, Celestia spoke. "What of this research of yours, Lyra? What was so important?"

Cringing, Lyra looked up to the princess. "Looking back... it wasn't. I just wanted to prove that humans once existed in our world! So little information on them exists, it was exciting trying to hunt down any kind of hint. I got such a rush when I made a breakthrough!"

"I see. Will you continue this research?"

Normally, Lyra would have been in ecstasy at the princess taking an interest in her obscure passion, now things were different. "No. I'm done. I don't ever want to hear the word 'human' again. It was a stupid hobby anyway... just a waste of time."

"You won't mind if I take your research materials, then? They'll be stored at the royal archives, I'm sure eventually somepony will want to look at them."

Her research, stored at the royal archives? Lyra should be giddy at the privilege! Instead all she could manage was a weak smile. "Of course, Princess, I'd be honored."

Celestia returned the smile, with that problem neatly taken care of, all that remained was the matter of what to do about Spike. He clearly held Lyra accountable for Twilight's death, and while that was partially true, it was not a healthy attitude to have in this situation.