The Arena

Time passed. There was no showing of how much time passed; there was no clock or window in his cell. He spent the day sitting in the shower. Grime rimmed the old shower as he ran the water against his body. He rocked back and forth slowly in the shower. He killed a mare today. Killed. Dead. Removed. Deceased. She was an adult mare. Probably had a kid. A kid that wouldn't have a mother. A kid that he made have no mother. A kid he changed the life of, for the worse. A kid that he changed the destiny of. He ran his hoof through his mane as he sat in the shower. Listening to the occasional buzzer that managed to pierce through the sound of warm running water. He stared at the drain of the shower silently.

His tear stained face not changing from his deepened frown. How could he live with innocent blood on his hooves? The mare gave him a good beating before he had killed her. Deceased her. He put his head into his hooves. He should have thought before coming here. He should have read the letter properly. No. It didn't matter. The letter said they would come and force him into the Arena anyways. For that Princess's entertainment. That sick, disgusting pink princess that loved the sight of death and brutal beatings. The mental scars left upon others. That asinine advisor that brought him here was one of her toys. He felt rage broil inside of him as he punched the wall of the shower relentlessly. Which he stopped doing after a whopping ten punches. His hoof ached from punching a tiled shower wall. It was a small box shower that pushed up against the wall. The screen had covered it when he first got here, but he had wandered into it after he had been teleported into his cell after his first match. He had been in the shower for what he had estimated would be about three hours. Staring at the drain, thinking about the sins that Inkwell made him do.

Forced him.

That Skinny shithead was going to get what was coming to him. Same with that Princess. Rippling didn't care if he had to release the Devil from hell, he was going to get those plotholes. He was going to avenge that mare. Derpy. Her name shall not be in vain. She will be remembered as the spark that started his revolution against Cadence. Against the Tyrant of the Crystal Empire. She had done over two thousand matches. Two thousand. That was other a thousand lives deceased by her hoof. Her hoof, horn, and wing. Rippling would slit her throat ever so slowly that her blood would get into her lungs and she would drown in her own foul existence. For Derpy. Rippling stood from the floor of the shower. Eyes narrowed in determination. He was going to get out of here. He turned off the running water and headed out of the shower. He whipped his mane backwards, flinging some water onto the wall.

Luckily there was a small bar that held one towel. After thoroughly drying himself, he hung the towel over the blank white screen to dry. He passed the dirty toilet. He had never seen something more foul in his life, other than the pink princess who brought him here. It was best not to go into detail on the toilet, but it was very rusted and had multiple brown stains on the inside. Rippling trotted over to the opposite side of the small room, taking a seat on his bed. Waiting. Thinking. How was he going to break that forcefield? Maybe something or somepony powerful enough could help him. Then again, if there has already been over two thousand matches and the forcefield was still standing strong, maybe there really was no way out. Rippling had tried busting down the steel door that kept him in here, and to say the least, it was a very shocking experience. His mane was still charred and frizzy from it. He wasn't exactly fond of trying to break that door down. He looked at the door, thinking of how to deactivate the electricity that surged through it. Nothing came to mind. At time like this, he wished he was a unicorn. Or an Alicorn. It would be really cool to be an Alicorn. He sighed, thinking about Derpy once more. He felt guilty, extremely guilty. How did they expect him to sleep with this on his shoulders?

"Battle Two thousand six hundred and thirty-two had ended. Winner is Soft Wing."

Rippling snorted at the robotic buzzing voice that interrupted his reminiscing. This voice was the only kind one he was probably going to be hearing. Though it showed almost no emotion, it was probably the nicest thing here. Everything and Everypony else here was against him. Heck, even his door disliked him. It refused to let him leave.

"Battle Two thousand six hundred and thirty-three starts in five minutes. Rippling Tides versus Pendulum."

Rippling shook his head. He was not going back out. He was not. He crossed his front hooves and did not move from his bed as his door swung open. Tempting him out. Rippling, almost childishly, swung his head in the opposite direction from the door. His back hooves were suddenly sealed to the floor. He was unable to move them. Like he cared in the first place. His hooves dragged along the floor. Sudden realization hit him as he grabbed onto the metal bed frame. His back hooves dragged like they were being pulled by a magical aura. He looked back at his hooves. A certain gray aura took ahold of his back hooves, dragging him to the door. The aura then grabbed ahold of his front hooves. They were ripped off the bedpost and forcefully placed onto the floor. Taking control of them as Rippling flapped his wings in protest. He was dragged out of his room, and back into the dark hallway. The door to his room slammed behind him as he sped down the hallway involuntarily. He yelled out scrambled words that meant nothing, in hopes the aura of Inkwell would halt. He did not. The wall that lead to the arena slid open, as he was forced back into the field. The door slammed behind him once more, as the cruel sound of cheers erupted from the audience. He took control of his hooves once more as he felt the grass on his hooves. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the platform once more. Seeing the Pink princess made rage of untold proportions flow. Another pony stood on the other side of the field.

The other pony was quick to start the battle. He was a brown earth pony with a golden-rustic brown mane. He was ungodly fast, rushing to the middle of the field and up to Rippling in seconds. He landed the first blow, straight to Rippling's nose. Rippling cringed at the feeling, as he staggered back. The other stallion took advantage of this, landing another punch directly to side of Rippling's face. He could feel a bruise already starting to form as Rippling took the beating. Pendulum did not hesitate, so neither would Rippling. When Pendulum was about to land another punch to the side of Rippling's face, Rippling stuck out his front hoof to block it. Pendulum's hoof reflected off Rippling's block unnaturally. Pendulum growled as he posed another punch, trying for an uppercut. He was blocked once more by Rippling's hoof. Another growl was emitted as Pendulum was not being allowed to successfully land hits. He was slowly starting to tire of punching the blockades, as his punches slowed to almost a halt. When Rippling saw his opportunity, he took it as fast as he could. He aimed a straight slam to Pendulum. The two rolled around onto the grass. Pendulum, exhausted, was unable to get up. He had probably thought that this battle would be over by now. Rippling found himself rushing over to Pendulum, skidding over to the stallion and strangling him. This was Rippling's main tactic. Pendulum aimed multiple punches into Rippling's jaw, but it was not enough to get him off. Pendulum's face turned to a deathly shade of blue as he was starting to slowly fade. Rippling could no longer feel something. Something called regret.

"Battle Two thousand six hundred and thirty-three has ended. Winner is Rippling Tides."

Rippling halted his attack as he expected to get teary eyed. He didn't. A magical gray laser shot into Rippling's head from the platform. It didn't hurt. Though, it prevented something. It prevented his guilt. His sadness. It blocked it. It did not block his rage. He roared out at Inkwell, the obvious source of the emotion blocking laser. He was no longer able to feel bad for the dead. Rippling looked down at the stallion, Pendulum. His hooves still on the stallion's throat. He ripped off the hooves from the throat, and instead, brought the corpse up for a hug. Much like he had done in his first battle.

"I'm sorry that I drowned you."

He whispered to the dead stallion's ear. Bringing up as much sadness as he could muster. He couldn't bring tears because of Inkwell. He couldn't feel sadness anymore, regret, or the feeling of guilt. He was going to be formed into a blood thirsty monster, with no sympathy. All for cadence's entertainment. With a blink, he was back within his abode. Sitting on his bed quietly.

"Battle Two thousand six hundred and thirty-four will be starting in five minutes. Newcomer Sapphire Bolt versus Newcomer Star Dazzle."

The speaker buzzed. Rippling snorted at the speaker, acknowledging what it was talking about. Some new ponies. May Celestia have mercy on them.

Inkwell looked over his notepad once more. The battles were all listed on here. From the newcomers to the champions. All the champion battles had already passed. Only two more battles until the Arena closed for the day. Inkwell took a quick glance at the glass roof, just to see where the sun was. It was around that time that the champions bothered the lessors. Inkwell's horn flurried as he brought the two newest competitors out onto the field. Both reacted accordingly. Panic, rage, fear. Something that all Newcomers emitted on their first battle. It was Inkwell's job to temporarily suppress the panic and fear, and enhance the anger. On the competitor's second battle, it was  his job to remove the battler's sympathy, sadness, guilt, and regret. His magic was enhanced by Cadence, so that's why he was able to do all these magics in the first place. Inkwell directed his magic onto the field, a snake like aura worming through the forcefield and into the field. The aura transmitted into the pony's heads. Temporally enhancing their anger. The two newcomers immediately showed eachother their hooves, mauling eachother without relent. Like animals.

"What pitiful ponies."

He spat, his magic halting for the time. He gazed back over at Cadence, who was busy grinning like a filly. At least he was doing his job to please her.

"We have two more battles left until the Arena shuts down for the day."

Inkwell told her. Cadence's smile slowly twitched. Though she did her best to keep her smile up for her subjects.

"Check the door before we leave. As per usual. We don't want our favorite champions escaping."

Cadence commanded. Inkwell nodded obediently. He knew which door she talked about. He usually had Shining Armor accompany him to the door in the ring. It was the large, solid metal door that held back the champions. It had multiple large locks and barriers that had to be rechecked every day. Just so that the champions wouldn't escape and reign terror upon the Empire and Equestria as a whole. Inkwell knew first hoof how powerful the champions were. Cadence was a ballsy Princess, using them as entertainment.

Inkwell could feel the magic of one of the champions surge through the building. The one they regularly used to talk to others.

Rippling Tides was busy trying to force Inkwell's magic out of him. He had no idea how magic worked, so he was trying to meditate it out. Though, Rippling found this boring. He couldn't meditate it out. He then tried smacking it out. Which to his surprise, smacking his head up against the white wall did not get the magic out of him. He sighed. When he got out of here, he would be a cold blooded criminal. A murderer. If he was going to have any blood on his hooves, it was going to be Cadence's and Inkwells. He swore that he was going to get out of this place. He was going to do it for all the ponies he had killed. Rippling flung open his locker door and unpacked his luggage, looking for one of the things he had packed. He found it. A long, sharpened pencil. He gripped it with his wing and approached the blank wall that had no furniture against it. The Pegasus scrawled two names onto the wall.

Derpy.

Pendulum.

He then wrote a one next to Derpy's name, and a two next to Pendulum's name. It was so he could remember who he had faced, and what number that match was. Looking at the two pony's names should have made him bawled. It didn't. He wished it did, somewhere inside his mind. He didn't want to be a sadistic killer like Cadence.

"You are a strange one. You feel love for your foes."

A feminine voice rang through the room. This voice made Rippling jump. It sounded like as if a female snake had a voice. His eyes shot around as he turned his head in panic. Who was that? Oh yeah. Probably just the intercom. He would strike up a conversation anyways. It's not like he had anything else better to do.

"I feel bad for them, really. I try to, at least. The gray bastard next to the pink Plothole I think might have removed my sad emotions."

Rippling sighed. He didn't expect a reply back from what he thought was just the intercom.

"She uses you for entertainment."

The female voice stated. Slowly getting louder. Rippling now speculated that this voice was just all in his head. Which it was.

"Tell me something I don't already know."

He snorted, looking back at the names he had written on the wall with his pencil. The female voice took a while before talking once more.

"Do you really think you can escape?"

She asked. Rippling raised an eyebrow at the question. How did she know that he wanted to escape? No matter. All newcomers want to escape.

"I have to. I'm going to escape, and slit the Princess's throat for making me end two pony's lives."

Rippling stated, determined. His word truthful. The voice took a few more seconds.

"To escape, you're going to have to kill the King and Queen of the Arena, you know. That's the only chance you'll have to leave."

The voice continued. Rippling nodded, confirming this. He would do anything to kill the ruler of the Arena, and the advisor.

"If that's what I have to do to end that bitch's life, that's what I'm going to do."

Rippling continued. He no longer had any reason to hold back his swears. Because his regret was gone, he no longer regretted saying swears. Normally, he refrained from swears, even in the worst situations possible.

"I understand your plea. I have the same intentions. Rather, I shall drain her of all her emotions and leave her as a rotting and empty shell instead. Sparing her life, but torturing her for eternity."

The voice explained. Rippling felt a smile stretch across his face. He had never wished such a horrible fate upon a pony before, but Cadence deserved it. She deserved it for putting ponies against eachother in this cruel game for her subjects and self.

"What's your name, voice?"

Rippling couldn't come up with a name for the voice, rather, it would be a better if the voice made a name for itself that he could use. The voice hesitated, obviously thinking of what to respond with.

"Chrysalis."

Chrysalis told him. He smiled at the name. Chrysalis. What a strange name. He looked up at the wall, thinking of nickname for Chrysalis. If only he knew what she looked like.

"Do you mind if I call you.. Sally? No, that's a stupid nickname. Uh.. How about Chrysi?"

Rippling suggested. He swore he could feel Chrysalis smile. Or some positive facial expression.

"I'd really prefer if you'd call me by my full name, but yes, that is fine."

Chrysi confirmed. She was a nice mare, despite her somewhat intimidating voice. She gave off this feeling of hope, really. It was nice to have someone to talk to. Rippling couldn't stand being alone. Being isolated for only a couple hours had already made him slightly depressed. Well, as depressed as one could be with no sadness to fuel the depression.

"So, Chrysi, what's up?"

He asked. He hoped to talk to this mare a bit more so he could have a friend to talk to while he was staying in the Arena.

"I finished a battle today with Sharp. As well as one with Opus."

Chrysi told him. He could still feel her positive emotions. It was good to feel some positivity in this place. Wait a second. She said Sharp. Where had he heard that name before?

"Battle Two thousand five hundred fifty-nine will be starting in five minutes. Sharp versus the Queen of the Arena."

He recalled. Sharp versus the Queen. The Queen. Wait, was Chrysi the queen?!

"Chrysi, are you the Queen of the Arena?!"

He exclaimed, his smile growing. He could make a powerful ally. Wait. If she was the queen, then he would have to fight her at one point. If she had the power of entering other's minds, then he would be in deep trouble. Plus, he didn't want to fight his only possible friend here!

"I am indeed, the Queen."

She confirmed, her positive feeling disappearing. Rippling frowned. He would have to fight her to get out of here. He wasn't going to survive that. Even if he did, he would have to kill probably the only nice mare here.

"Though, I'd prefer it if we do not talk about my ranking. It puts a damper on things."

She told him. He nodded silently. He thought of how to change the topic. He thought of what the Queen of a bloody Arena would like to talk about.

"So.. Uh.. How are you talking to me?"

That was the only thought that came to his mind. He couldn't think of anything else, really. She probably wasn't from White Shores, and probably wasn't into surfing by her name.

"Telepathy. It took a while to perfect, but I can talk to anything and anyone in the arena through their mind. Plus, I had nothing else better to do while I sit in my cell."

She informed. Well, no dur. That was an obvious answer. She must be a unicorn or something if she could do telepathy. Rippling thought of what to talk about next. One thing came to mind. He might as well ask before he started a story.

"Do you want to hear a story?"

He asked. He could hear her almost Squee at the sound of a story. Almost like an innocent filly. This Squee confirmed Rippling allowance to brag about his awesome shark-prevention skills, and other acts of heroics. Maybe this wasn't going to be all bad. As long as he didn't go into many battles, and didn't have to fight her.

"The Arena is closing for the night. Lights will be out in ten minutes."

The intercom interrupted the story, much like it had already done three or four times before. He was almost at the end of his story too. He shook his hoof at the ceiling, where the intercom was located.

"Continue."

Chrysi asked, as Rippling got back onto topic. Clearing his throat.

"So, I picked her up, and with my amazing strength, I flew her over the water and past the shark with ease. I returned the purple filly to her mother, and I was rewarded with a sack of bits. The End."

Rippling finished his story. He had taken a lay down on his bed, because he had gotten tired of sitting on the hard, uncomfortable floor. Rippling could hear Chrysi clap her hooves when he ended his story, which made him smile with pride.

"I have not heard many stories from the outside world. I have been in the Arena for many a month. I have already forgotten what it's like out there. Outside. Outside the walls of this place."

Chrysi stated. Rippling looked directly forward. Only a couple months here, and you forget the outside world? That's pretty harsh. Maybe Inkwell casts a memory removal spell or something on you after a month. It seemed likely.

"That sucks. You gonna visit my head again tomorrow?"

Rippling quizzed. Chrysi thought about it for a second. He could hear her hoof colliding with her chin softly.

"Yes, I shall if I get the chance."

Chrysi promised. Rippling felt hope start to flow through him. Something he wished to get a lot of. Hope. Hope could help him win battles. Hope was always a good thing to have. As long as Chrysi visited him, he was going to get a good helping of hope to power him through the next day.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Chrysi bid farewell to the Pegasus, as he could feel a weight being lifted off of his shoulders as she left. He let out a sigh as he listened to the next announcement.

"Lights out in one minute."

The intercom buzzed annoyingly. Rippling looked down upon his bed. It was just a mattress, no sheets. Rippling wasn't going to sacrifice his clean clothes just to make a makeshift blanket. So simply, he curled up into a small ball, making his spiky and still well combed tail push up against his face. It gave him some comfort, to have a protective barrier against his face. To protect him from the dark. Rippling wasn't very well aquatinted with the dark. He was still somewhat scared of the pitch black darkness that would soon surround him.

"Get some rest."

The intercom buzzed for the final time today, as the lights shot off harshly. A thump could be heard as each one shot off. It sent chills down his spine, as he was now in silence. A silent and eerie darkness set in, as chills continued to resonate down his back. It felt like he wasn't alone in the blackness. Like something was in here with him. It wasn't Chrysi. She didn't give off this feeling when she was in his mind. Then again, she was never here in the first place. She was probably in her room, meditating or channeling spirits or something. Something that allowed her to go into other's minds and talk to them. A sudden chilliness washed over his entirety, making him shiver. A tsunami of uneasiness added to the cold feeling. This uneasiness was familiar. Rippling shut his eyes tighter, and dug his face into his tail. Attempting to escape the feeling. He squeezed his eyes tightly as he attempted to sleep. The cold feeling disappeared as soon as it had appeared. A new feeling, the warmth of a good dream, welcomed him. The uneasiness was defeated by this feeling of warmth. He relaxed, calming his nerves as he entered the soft dream. The comfort was fake, but it was still comfort. He could use all the relaxing feelings he could get.

The buzzers screeched wildly, screaming the morning wake up call, which also happened to be the sounds of torturous screams. When Rippling heard the wake up call, he had nearly pissed himself. He jumped out of bed, falling onto the floor, screaming himself. He found that he was a little hoarse after all that sleeping, and was unable to scream for very long. The morning screaming had stopped, and Rippling was more than awake.

"What the buck was that?!"

He yelled, looking up at the ceiling, expecting an answer from the intercom.

"Get up. Battle Two thousand six hundred and thirty-seven will start in twenty minutes."

The intercom demanded. Rippling sighed as he listened to the orders that were going to be read.

"It will be Juniper versus Eternity Island first."

Rippling was glad he wasn't up first. He didn't want to fight anypony this early. Or late. Depending on what time it was. He didn't know how late it was. He estimated it to be probably four AM or something of that sort. Seeing as it was still high noon when he had arrived to the Crystal Empire in the first place.

Rippling decided he would do his regular morning routine. That would be, take a wash, get some grub, then take a nap or something. He was only prevented from doing one of those things. Which is food. His

stomach roared, demanding food. He groaned, holding onto his belly. He first was to take a shower first, then hopefully he could get some before another battle of his commenced.

"Showtime in fifteen minutes."

The intercom reminded. Rippling snorted at the intercom. He felt like he was going to be doing that a lot now. It was now only a matter of time before he had to go back onto that battle field. Hopefully the battles would be quick, and his opponent's death would be painless. He didn't want to torture them. He didn't want to kill in the first place. He had to though. He was given no other choice.