The Memory Spill

A large line of prisoners were wrangled through a series of tunnels, with several guards leading us to our destination. The ponies in front paid no attention to my new partner and myself, but the ponies behind definitely took notice to the new residents. I could here several whispers behind Iron Will and myself. They had their sights on me, and I was ever so willing to show them what I've got. The whispers were silenced by a guard, informing them of the beat down they would recieve if they continued. I wonder how many guards will be stationed in the cafeteria, and how many would get mad if I made any threats.

We finally came to a doorway that lead to a balcony that over saw the cafeteria. The balcony was lined with a chain link fence which led to a humongous set of stairs. The cafeteria was quite large, the layout was remeniscient of an aircraft hanger. The room was unnaturally high, I imagine the height of this room is due to pegasi guards needing an advantage over the prisoners. The far end of the room was a cafeteria style food serving area. Metal bars for trays to slide along with lunch ladies scooping goop onto the trays. Reminded me of Casa Bonita back home, probably tasted the same too. After the food was recieved, the prisoners were to pick from from several hundred tables to dine on. I imagine I will be sitting alone with my friend.

I made my way down the stairs to the bottom level, where I was offered a tray from a guard handing them out. I refused, the guard responded with,"What, to good for pony food?" Lowering my voice into the brassiest noise I could possibly emit, I responded with,"I do not eat."

The guard rolled his eyes at me and gave my tray to Iron Will behind me. I followed the line as they continued onto the food portion of this adventure. Several inmates recieved green glop, others recieved brown gloop. Iron special requested green glop with a side of brown glop, didn't realize he was such a gourmet. The kitchen behind the metal bars and sneeze guards was brightly lit, and filled with different pots and pans. The people working them were, what I was to assume, trolls. Oh god, they were indeed as ugly as I thought they would be. Large noses, huge fang like canine teeth, gigantic chins, skinny skulls, lanky bodies, buggy eyes, and greyish brown skin. Their hands resembled my own, only a foot or so longer. Their hair was white, and especially greasy. Just when they could not get anymore repulsive, I found one of them standing over the green glop, drooling into it. It physically disgusted me to gaze upon these creatures for much longer. I brought my eyesight back towards the ground, and tried to get their awful creatures image out of my mind.

I finally came to the end of the line, and was allowed to pick my seat. I chose an empty table in the direct center of the room. Taking my seat, I found that the tables were still perfectly accustomed for humans. Perfect height for my forelegs, perfect position for me to rest on, and perfect position for ass to rest on. I wondered how many objects in this time period are also accustomed for humans. Now that I think of it, the beds were just perfect for my size as well. I looked around to see if the seats were comfortable for ponies. Staring at each colorful ponies ass, I noticed that each one was sitting like a dog, two front legs propping them up, and two hind legs dangeling off the seat. They weren't even touching the ground! I'm beginning to wonder if this world was annitially designed by humans, or at least human influence.

Glancing up from their hind quarters, I noticed that most of them were staring back at me. I met one of their gazes, and turned on thermal vision, mainly because thermal vision made my eyes glow red. They quickly brought their attention back to their tables and began whispering. They were planning something, I just couldn't tell what. My oxen friend sat himself across from me, grabbed a handful of glop, and forced it into his mouth. He then took his other hand and pointed at me.

"Mmph..You know... Mmnph.. You should watch out for them."

"Why? Are they dangerous?"

Iron Will choked down his glop and continued,"Kind of, everyone here is dangerous. That's the point of this cell block."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you see any guards?"

I did a quick survey of the room, and noticed that my blue friend was making a valid point. All of the guards had stepped behind the chain link fence, and locked it from the inside. Each regular pony had a spear equipped, ready to stab at the slightest aggression. The unicorns were charging their largest spells. From what I've seen so far, this amount of charging would only mean the spell would be meant for utter annihilation. And with the ratio of prisoners to guards, they'd need something to kill large groups if all the inmates revolted. But the guards weren't here for crowd control. They were merely observing, preparing themselves for something. I brought myself back to Iron, shoving his face into his meal, then swallowing most of it without chewing.

"Why are they on the staircase? Shouldn't they be out here?"

"No, they're here to clean up."

"Clean up what?"

"Any pony who dies."

"What!?"

"You see," Iron Will started as he grabbed and consumed the last glob of glop."Ahmmmnpff, the point of this block, mnff mmphfff, is to kill off as many dangerous prisoners as possible. They do it in the least dangerous way for them possible, they let us do the work!"

"So ponies have died here before?"

"Several. The ones behind you don't like the look of you, they might try something by the end of lunch."

Alright, critical thinking time. I have the opportunity to show dominance here. I could end them quickly with a couple of rounds to the head. Or I could show off the true brutality that humans are capable of, and carve him like a Christmas goose. However, I don't need to kill them. If anyone tries anything, I could pin them down, or beat them into submission. My conscious was doing its best to get me to spare these ponies. After the whole friend scenario with Iron, I finally allowed my good natured side to come out of the cage I locked in. For it was right at least every so often.

However, my conscious would be wrong in this scenario, so I'll ignore him for now. The thought of fear ran through my mind. Fear is how North Korea kept its people from revolting, fear is how Blackbeard kept his crew in line. Fear is how the Great Monarchy conquered the entire eastern hemisphere. If I make them afraid of me, then maybe they'd be easier to manipulate in the long run. But if they're in a place like this, then I assume they don't fear death the same way as others would.

I'd have to carve him, a silent death would be merciful. They show no mercy in prison. But I don't want to reveal all of my cards before I fight in the arena. Hmm. If I were to use a flashbang, and a smoke grenade, I can make sure that they don't see what's going on, keeping a sense of mystery about what's going on. Then, I could use my suits QuickDraw time perception modifier to slow everything down and make sure that I get in and out effectively.

"Good to know. Excuse me for one second." I moved myself from my seat and began moving towards the ponies behind me. I spawned a flash bang in my left hand, and a machete in the right. The three of the ponies turned around to greet me. I stopped and stared at them while switching to thermal vision.

"What the hell do you want?!" The middle inmate asked. They couldn't see, but I had a smug smirk resting on my ugly mug. I replied by releasing the pin from my flash bang and rolling it towards their table. My suits HUD dimmed to welding goggles level, and my audio enhancers muffled any noise. A smoke grenade spawned in hand to replace its previous blinding brethren. The flash bang exploded. The ponies around me had their eyes forced shut and had their hoofs covering their ears, however, it only created only a slight flash of light on my end. My index finger wrapped around the pin on the smoke grenade, which my left hand threw next to the husk of the flashbang. A slight bang was audible, shortly after, a cloud of smoke covered the three ponies. It wasn't likely that they would need to be blinded from what was happening, I just needed to make sure that the ponies on the other side of the room weren't aware of what was happening.

My HUD returned to thermal, allowing me to view my prey throw the smoke. The QuickDraw system had slowed time to .5 speed, giving me time to properly create my art. I brought my machete straight through the side of the middle ponies chest, with a rush of excitement pumping through my veins. I brought my boot to his body, and pulled my weapon free. Pick continued to slash through his neck, spraying blood over his still blinded comrades. Pivoting my blade to face the bottom of my hand, I plunged my weapon directly into his heart. My weapon wormholes back into the armory, allowing more blood to fall from his body. He was dead, but not dead enough to be truly frightening. With the ponies still distracted from the flash bang, I summoned a hatchet to my hand. My hatchet rose proudly into the air, and jammed itself into his skull.

My hand released the handle, and I made my way back to my table. The ponies in the area were just regaining their eyesight and hearing. My hind quarters plopped onto the bench below me, followed by a wave of gasps. I didn't get to view my work properly, but I was guessing that it was a masterpiece. The ponies that were previously staring at me had moved on to the corpse that I had carved up. The inmates next to him began to cry. One of the shouted," You bastard! That was my brother!" Both of them rose from their seats and began to charge towards me.

I could feel my revolvers handle form around my grip, as I turned my body to aim it properly. The last cloud of blackness had disappeared from my weapon, and I aimed it towards the first inmate. *Bang! Straight through the cranium. I moved the revolver left, and fired again. *Bang! Through the neck this time. He fell to the ground and began to make gargling noises. I wanted to put him out of his misery, but it would look more intimidating if I let him choke on his own blood. All thoughts of keeping my humanity had not only been removed, but buried several meters underground. It appeared that they still weren't getting the message. I climbed on top of my tabled, carefully avoiding Iron Wills trembling hands, and shouted," If any one of you fucks would like to meet the same fate as these three, then keep staring!"

Immediately, most of the inmates turned back to their meals. A good chunk of them continued gazing at myself, but I would allow them. It showed that their was still some that needed to be taken out before I built my army. Now was a good opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. While I'm at it, I might as well take out Irons old cell mates. I bent over and whispered to Iron Will,"Who are the ponies who beat you? Let's end 'em here."

"Silver Hammer, Crimson Rage, and Dark Moon." He whispered back. I straightened back up, and called out,"Will the following scumbags please come over here! Silver Hammer, Crimson Rage, and Dark Moon! If you don't my friend will point you out and I'll come to you."

Just like calling a dog after he had gotten into the trash, the three inmates had risen and began walking over to me. Steel walked stubbornly, with a challenging grimace struck on his face. Crimson Rage didn't appear to care that much to begin with. And Dark Moon walked with his tail between his legs, regretting everything that he did to whined up here. They all approached that far end of our table, and waited for further instruction. Oh this was perfect. I never knew how powerful I truly was! I'm not invincible, but I'm one scary motherfucker. My HUD gave me the option for QuickDraw perception, which I accepted gratefully. Time began to slow around me, my revolver came back to my hand, and fired rounds of into each individual ponies kneecap. The delayed reaction of QuickDraw allowed me to savor the moment better. The pain on their faces appeared slowly, but then quickly turned into faces of anguish and pain. QuickDraw deactivated itself, and I returned to normal time.

I opened up the chambers of my revolver, and pushed out the empty casings. A black cloud formed in hand, and left behind six magnum slugs. I pushed each individual slug into its respective chamber, then pushed the chamber back into place. Each one of my victims were grabbing their legs, trying to sloth the pain. Dark Moon began to beg,"Please! Whatever I did, I'm sorry! Take them! Not me!"

"Shut up!" I replied. It's at times like this that I'm glad they crammed badass weapons into the armory. I had a perfectly good battle ax, ready for slaughter. I felt its weight form in my right hand as two black clouds made their way up the soon to be shaft of the ax, leaving behind wood and grips, until making its way to the ax itself. The blades of the axe soon formed to a sharpened, double sided, chunk of iron. I couldn't hog all the fear to myself though. Iron Will needs his street cred too. I really hope that he's truly over his emotions. I looked over to my compadre, who had eyes widened and jaw dropped, and asked,"Iron, you want the honors?"
His head shook from side to side and glanced up to me. "No!...no you have this one."

"Iron, a proud dwarf must have his first kill sometime in his life. You might as well make it someone who has wronged you." Iron looked over at the other ponies, who now had horrified expressions on their faces, and back at me, who could only give the blank expression formed on his mask. Iron brought a hand to his chin, and began to ponder. I know that it isn't easy to take a life for most. There's only a small minority of people that don't feel anything after ending a life. Those people are known as seriel killers. It may appear that I killed those ponies without a care in the world, but I'd being lying if I say that I didn't feel remorse for my fallen foes. But, unfortunately, not everything is rainbows and butterflies, even though the world of magical cartoon ponies seems like it'd be the perfect place for rainbows and butterflies. I guess harsh reality will be present in the presence of sentience. And the harsh reality here is that lives must be sacrificed for the greater good.

Iron Will sighed, and looked down. I guess he finally made his choice. He brought himself from the table to my side, extending his hand out grab the ax. I proudly gave it to him, knowing that he will be just as feared as me after this. His face turned from pressured to angered. Air was bellowing out of his nostrils. The anger in his heart was similar to his ancestors at the rodeos. He brought the ax over his head, and shouted,"If somepony thinks you're jive...take their pathetic lives!"

The ax was brought down in a swooping motion, decapitating all three of the ponies at the same time. The heads jumped into the air, and fell a couple feet away from its former residence. The bodies of the ponies stayed perfectly still for a couple seconds before all of them crumbled to the floor. I bent over slightly to examine the stump of Crimson Rage. The the anatomy of a ponies neck was exactly how I expected it to be, all dark red with a circular bone in the center. No specific arteries could be located. I couldn't even spot his windpipe! How do these ponies even exist if their throats don't even have an esophagus?

Iron Will stood with the ax in air. He was panting, and covered in blood. The angered frown on his face formed into a smile. I know he couldn't see it, but I was smiling for him. It took less than two hours for him to go from wimp to champ. He was going to go farther in this world than he would've without me, and that made me feel like I had purpose. Blood began gushing from the stumps of the former convicts. I turned from the bodies back to the observing crowd, and I announced,"If anyone fucks with either me or my friend, you'll end up like this!"

Several more inmates turned back to their meals. My plan was unfolding faster than I thought it would. I have already gotten a right hand man, eliminated his enemies, and established a reputation for myself, and breakfast isn't even over yet! I sat back down in my respective seat. The ax disappeared from my friends hand, he proudly strutted his way back to the table. There were several blood splotches on his body. A quick glance over of myself revealed the same. Blood splotches, on my chest, arms, and(I assume) mask. I leaped from the desk and sat down on the bench bellow. My oxen leaned in to say something quietly.

"That was incredible!" He said in a whispered tone. "I've never felt more alive!"

"It's the adrenaline rush, you're gonna feel like that for a while."

"No! It's not that. Minotaurs have a natural knack for fighting. Whenever a Minotaur slays a foe, his body rewards him with the feeling of euphoria! Ever since I came to Equestria, I haven't been able to fight anyone, and it's been killing me!" I guess it was an evolutionary trait for the Minotaur body to release dopamine whenever it kills something. Does that make minotaurs better hunters? Food for thought.

"If minotaurs have a natural urge to fight, why did you let those three beat you?"

"I was a broken bull. The system broke me. I didn't want to fight because that would mean I would be a bigger monster in their eyes."

"I know that feeling, friend."

"But so what? Iron Will was born a fighter. If I can't fight with my clan, I'll find somewhere to fight, and call that home."

I leaned in and placed my hand on Iron's shoulder. He may not have seen it, but I had a proud smile on my face.

"Welcome home, Iron Will."

Iron Will reminded me of myself. Both of us wanted to be accepted at one point, both allowed the system to work them, and both were physically threatened. I thought that if I just did what I was told, I'd eventually get out of here. I bet he felt the same. But sometimes, stereotypes are meant to be true. The Minotaur labelled monster actually has an itch in his mind that tells him he needs to fight. That man in the armor just murdered three ponies to make a name for himself. Even if we didn't try to be monsters and eventually got out on good behavior, we'd never fit in. These ponies are probably like the ponies my parents used to watch when they were kids, all girly and sparkly, no sign of ugliness or reality anywhere. If I wanted to fit in, I'd have to force them.

I still didn't like killing, for the conscious voice in my head still bangs on the mental prison wall that I locked him in. But if I'm going to live here, I need to do what's necessary to survive. And if I have to kill to survive, than I better stop whining about morality every time I end a life. It's going to happen often.

*****

Lunch was close to ending. It went by faster than expected. Several other prisoners gave Iron Will their lunches as a sign of respect. I was offered some as well, but declined. Even if I had the ability to consume anything, I'd pass on that offer just because of the disgusting trolls working kitchen duties. Instead, I spaced out, listening to on of my fathers favorite singers. The sound of Iron Will destroying another meal while talking was mixed with the lyrics of both anger and hopelessness.

"Mmmfph! And another thing about dragons!..."

'Wearing me out...'

"Armph! To this day, he still owes me money!..."

'Hangin around...'

"I guess he never found his testicle after that!..."

'Getting me down...'

"And that is the tale of Hue Heffer!..."

Using the retinal scan, I dismissed my music and focused in on my friend. He had managed to clear twelve plats of green glop. My proud oxen friend lifted his hooves onto table in stride of his victory over his meal. He must be so proud of his new found power.

"Iron, Im just curious, but what's the schedule for the rest of the day? I mean, do we just shoot the breeze in our cell?" As bad ass as I wanted to be, I still have never been to prison.

"What, you don't know? What, is this your first time here?"

"In this part of the prison. They, err, locked me in solitary confinement."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Didn't know what I was, so they kept me in a cold dark room until they decided it was safe enough for me to be here." They'll eventually find out that I bent over backwards for the guards at first. And when that day comes, it will be embarrassing. But it'll buy me some time to think of a better response to the accusation.

"Well, next, we go to the courtyard. It's not the outside courtyard that you think. It's more of a hole in a giant cavarn where we can work out and, at least, see the sun. Then, lunch. Then, we get to wander around our cell block freely until five when we go to dinner. Then we get placed in our cells, minus the people who fight that night. Then, around eight, twenty ponies go in and fight in the arena. Only ten come back out."

"Really, how many new inmates do you get?"

"Well, your the newest one in months!"

"Why?"

"With the stories of this prison spreading around Symponia, crime rates have dropped to an all time low. No pony wants to risk getting sent off to here to die! If somepony has no other option but to resort to crime, they move to Equestria, where they are more forgiving on their prisoners. We initially had five thousand fighters, but now only the best remain."

"What about the other parts of the prison? The non fighting parts?"

"They haven't dwindled in numbers, but neither have they gained any pony in years!"

"Has anyone ever been set free?"

"Nope. That's the point of this place. You're here until you die."

"Iron, this place will not be our final resting place. I guarantee that. I have a plan."

"Oh really? What's-" he was cut short by a series of guards entering the room.

"BREAKFAST HOURS ARE OVER!"

"I'll tell you later, Iron. Too many ears." I told my compadre as we were forced to rise. The guard ahead stepped around the decaying bodies of Irons enemies and placed iron cuffs around me. It was going to be significantly harder to impress these ponies if they were experience hardened fighters. But, if I must, I must. It's time for the next step of my plan to come to fruition.