Chapter two: The Thunder Rolls

Chapter two: Let the Thunder Roll

“Pain, among other things, is in the mind. It’s when they reach the body, that's when the real fun begins.”

I sighed while I looked at the field, where I saw the view of Baltimare was clear and true. The light breeze hitting my face brought the smell of radioactive rain along with it. I looked up to see the cloud cover that loomed over me, day in and day out. It made me feel small and helpless; knowing that I’d never see the things beyond those clouds. The sound of dead earth being moved around in a small trotting pattern reached my ears. I turned around to see something that was completely obscured by a cloak. It stopped just a few feet from me; I heard the breathing that came from underneath the cloak. It was heavy and ragged as if he had been running for a long time. After a few moments he lifted his hood from his face; what I saw next sent a flood of memories into my mind. His face was patchy and leathery, with some pieces of striped skin that were falling off. Both of his eyes were clouded and shined; one of which had a trio of scars that seemed to have taken out his right eye. The same scars went through his eyes to the place where his right ear should have been. It was a scarred ghoul; one that I knew.

With a cough into his hoof he spoke. “Jack.” he paused for a moment, before he spoke again as if thinking about what to say next. “Sometimes, the monsters that are the most dangerous are the ones that lie inside you.”

I cocked an eyebrow, “What do you mean, Dröm? What monsters?”

Dröm flicked his hood up to hide his face once more, before he turned around and began trotting away. “All words of wisdom will come to light, even in the darkest of pits” With that he disappeared over the hill. When I lost sight of him the world suddenly became dark and dim, I felt a water drop hit me on the forehead. I blinked for a moment and I looked around; it took me a moment to realize where I was. Tracer sat silently next to the small fire from last night, like he hadn‘t even gone to sleep. With a yawn I slowly sat up; supporting myself with a single hoof and rubbing my head, still sore and hurting from whatever hit me during the ambush. I pushed the blanket away and continued to sit down; my movement caught the of Bright and Tracer. Bright, who I guess had laid down in the corner, was barely with his black coat blending in with the darkness. Though from where I sat I could see the multiple injuries that surrounded his body and head.

With a cough, I steadily rose to my hooves walking to the fire that resided in the center of the cell. The heat of the fire brought some relief from the cold cell that surrounded us. I looked at the flames as they danced around ,before I moved my gaze to Bright. His injuries were still bad but, not as bad as they seemed from afar. He sat silently for a moment, before he met my gaze smiling a bit, which was obviously forced from the way he tried to keep from frowning. “Jack…” He spoke, his voice was grainy and rough, unlike the smooth and comforting one he had before the ambush. “I’m glad to see that you’re awake.”

I smiled a bit, before I coughed. “Yeah, woke up last night and talked to Tracer a bit.”

Bright sighed a bit and looked down at the fire for a moment. “He told me you were going to fight in the arena in a bit.” I nodded in response without making a single sound; remembering last night. “Yeah…I haven’t been in there yet, for some odd reason. They wanted you to be the first of our group to go in, even if they wanted to put a bullet in you.” he paused a moment and looked at Tracer, who nodded.

I cocked an eyebrow and looked at Tracer, before I looked back at Bright. “What are y’all doin?” I asked, a throbbing pain was beginning to make itself known where the blunt object hit me.

Tracer sighed, before he spoke. “From the time we have been here, we could hear that some of the prisoners are going to start a ri-” Just before he could finish his sentence, a large racket came from outside our cell.

I turned my head to see what was going on. I saw four guards, all of them look similar to the ones from the night before. I looked at the one nearest to our cell door to see that even under his mask, he was smirking. It was the same one that had an odd sense of decor. “Well, looks like it’s time to see if you can even fight like a real stallion.” With a sinister chuckle he flared his horn, which made a sickly green aura, and took out a rust covered set of keys. He inserted the keys and turned them inside the lock. The two pieces of rusted metal screeched as the tumblers were moved inside the sockets, unlocking the door. One of the other guards stepped to the side and in one fluid motion opened the cell for the head guard. The head guard trotted in his 10mm pistol almost bouncing out of his holster as he came to me. He looked down and huffed. “Get your ass up now, or I’m going to make the fight a whole lot harder for you.”

With a soft sigh I brought myself up onto my hooves and trotted to him, before I turned my head to Tracer and Bright. “Wish me luck…” I said with a hollow chuckle.

Tracer and Bright nodded, but did nothing. I knew they didn’t want me to go out there, but if they fought back the guards would have shot them down like they were just common Brahmin. The head guard chuckled before he moved behind me and gave me a big shove, knocking me out of the cell, off my hooves, and onto the rust covered grating that was the floor. It was cold to the touch and scraped my leg a little during the fall, which stung like a motherfucker. I got up on my hooves, yet again, to find myself surrounded by all four guards, each of them blank faced thanks to the masks that they wore. One of them spoke, and from the way he spoke, he wasn‘t the head guard. His voice was monotone and practiced, but it was cold as well. “Prisoner, you are to proceed to the door at the end of the walkway. From there you will remain in the middle of the group. Any attempt of escape or resistance will be met with deadly force. Do you understand?” I nodded, quickly understanding every single word. “Good, now move.”

As one, the guards boxed me in and began moving towards the door at the end of the walkway. In order not to be smashed like a bug, I scrambled onto my hooves and tried to keep up with their fast pace. From their heads and structures, they were definitely all earth except for the one that seemed to lead the group. While I limped to the end of walkway, my attention was caught by the hopeless looks of others who were unfortunate to be captured like me. Their eyes said it all. Dread, hopelessness, and despair. What scared me the most weren’t the ones who were dreading every second they had left in this hell hole. There were some who…who were just down right feral. Deciding not to dwell on it too much, I faced forward to the door way which I almost walked right into. After a moment the head guard flared his horn, he took out a small key card and swiped it on the terminal.

The metal door fell in its little slot making a gaping hole of darkness. There was no light on the inside of this room, making me fear what’s inside. The guards began moving in unison inside the room making me have to keep up to stay in the middle, I’d rather not have my balls shot off when I’m just nineteen. We walked for a minute or so in total darkness; the only light came from my Pip-Buck’s screen with its eerie blue glow. From the way we walked and never took any turns we must have been in another cell block. The constant red indicators that filled my EFS confirmed that theory. We walked for a few more moments before the soft glow of another terminal was visible. Due to the darkness though I felt the coldness of the steel door with a bit of a walking face plant. That resulted in the guards chuckling along with an icy chuckle that echoed in the back of my head. ‘Smooth move.’

The sound of an icy voice shocked me for a moment while the guard repeated the key swipe from earlier. “What the fuck was that?” I softly muttered to myself, confused about where the voice came from. The door slid down making light flood into my eyes which caused me to go blind…again. “Celestia’s fat ass that fucking hurts!” I cursed, rubbing my eyes. A second later, after a kick to my ass, I was in the well lit room. I stood there letting my eyes adjust to the brightness of the room. It took me a second to realize that there were two sets of flood lights pointed at the door. Why were there flood lights pointed at the door? Weird. Gonna take a mental note of those. I looked away from the lights to see that I’m in some kind of locker room. Old showers and toilets were on my left and the smell alone told me not to go in there. I was pushed along once more going towards a table with another guard sitting there with a set of weapons on a table in front of him. The guards escorted me to the table where an empty chair sat in front of the desk.

The guard at the table look up from a book called ‘Twilight and you! The miracles of science await!’ read on the cover. “This is the next fighter?” The guards voice was definitely female rather than male. Whoopsy. The mask definitely hides features, doesn’t it? ‘You really are an idiot, aren’t you?’ Once again, the icy voice commented out of nowhere. It nearly made me jump out of my coat.

The head guard nodded. “Yes, ma’am. From his friends, his name is Jack Rabbit.”

She smiled from the way the masked moved. “Ah, this must be the caravan guard from Silver Valley.” She looked from the head guard to me. “He doesn’t look too bad.” She said turning her attention to the head guard. ”You and the rest of your team are dismissed. I’ll call you when I need you.” She said waving her hoof at them.

The guards looked at each other, confused for a moment, before the head guard spoke up. “Ma’am, are you sure? We do-”

She raised her hoof in the air cutting him off. “You don’t, what? You don’t think that I can handle an unarmed unicorn? He has the inhibitor ring on so he can’t do shit.” I raised an eyebrow. “Now, I’m ordering you to leave me with him so we can discuss his match.” He didn’t say a word. And from the way he stood, he was scared. He stood there for a moment before doing a swift one-eighty and marched out of the room, followed closely by the guards. Once the door closed she cleared her throat before she spoke. “Mr. Rabbit please take a seat. We got some things to discuss before your first match.” She gestured with a hoof towards the seat. I sat down and faced her. She took off her mask revealing a soft pair of yellow eyes. She had a soft lime green mane and light blue coat. Kinda cute. She took a sip of what looks like a Sparkle-Cola that sat on her desk, before she took a duffle bag from underneath the table. Again with a practiced hoof that still eluded me how earth ponies did that. She opened the bag to show that there were three sets of armor and three weapons. All of which were different.

She drug each one out and sat them side by side with a weapon beside each one. She gave me a sadistic smile. “Ok, Jack, the rule of this arena is survive by any means necessary. Since you aren’t a slave you’ll have a better chance at surviving this.” She pushed a set of ragged leather armor (which seemed to be more reinforced than my old set) with a combat knife. “You get to choose your set of armor. Once that is decided you get the matching weapon.” I arched an eyebrow at her without saying a word. Her smile went down a bit. “The system of armor and weapons in the arena is. Heavy armor means weak weapon. Medium armor means slightly stronger weapon than the strong armor‘s weapon. And light armor means the strongest weapon that you don’t find in the arena. Say heavy armor and you get a blunt machete. Note that your opponents have this same opportunity and have chosen already.” She said with a practiced finesse. Damn, she got some lungs on her.

I looked at the three sets of weapons. Metal armor being the heavy armor and not really all my style. The second set seemed to be reinforced leather armor with a combat knife underneath it. Then, the last set was basically my old set of leather armor. Wait, by Luna’s perky nipples, it is my old set. Still has the shitty stitching and everything. I looked up at the mare in front of me. “I’ll pick the reinforced leather armor and combat knife.” I said while putting on a straight face; while my mind wanted to run and hide.

The mare smiled. “Good, the first fight will be a one on one with a fellow prisoner. Survive at any cost. At the end of the fight any loot you find on your opponent is yours along with a care package.”

The care package caught my attention. “A care package?” I asked, a bit of confusion and curiosity

She smirked at this. “Yes, a care package. It’s a small assortment of items you get so you can fight the next time you’re in the arena. It has everything you need. Some ammo, maybe some food and water and, if you’re lucky, some healing potions.” With her hoof she slid the armor and knife towards me. “Get your ass in this and head into that elevator behind me.”

I did as I was told and placed the armor on me piece by piece. Once I was done I picked up the knife and placed it in a sheath on my right shoulder, I flinched from the wound that has been festering. The mare looked at me when I flinched. “Oh yeah. I heard you got wounded during the hunt. Well...” She paused for a moment seeing the pain I was in which was quite a lot for a matter of fact. “The rules state that both opponents have to be both fit to fight. ” With that she took out a small syringe of Med-X from one of the drawers in the desk and slid it across the table. “Just to take the edge off the pain. Don’t want that cute face getting shot now.” The mare smiled before getting up from her chair and walking to the elevator door.

I smiled before, grabbing it with my mouth. “Thank you.” I replied, before my mind clicked on that last part. ‘Cute?’

She nodded. “Don’t mention it.” With a click of a button the door opened revealing the cart up. I walked to into the elevator alone. I turned around facing the mare, she hit the button and looked at my horn. “Wait, we need to get that thing off.” She said using her hoof to take something off my horn which clattered on the floor in front of me. It was like she said. An inhibitor ring. If you’re a unicorn and don’t know what a inhibitor ring is, then you’re mentally retarded. She looked up and pressed the button again. As the doors slowly closed a thought hit me. “What’s your name?” I asked.

“Survive and I’ll tell you.” The door closed, enveloping me in darkness with a nice bit of music. It was nice. Comforting yet ominous. The elevator jostled and strained as it went up. It seemed like hours and hours went by as it went up, but according to my Pip-Buck it was only thirty seconds. The doors fell open revealing a huge stadium. The light shined bright, but, instead of being blinded for once, I felt the cool spray of drizzle against my face. the edge of the arena itself was lined with old advertisements for Sparkle-Cola, Sunset Sarsaparilla and several of the Ministrie, the supports on some of them were hanging on for dear life. Then, the noise of a humongous crowd reached my ears. I looked at the stands that have weathered the elements and radiation. They screamed for blood, some were even foaming at the mouth. Their screams even drowned out the dull thunder in the distance. Then, a single voice came over them all. “HELLOOOOOO, GLADIATORS! WELCOME TO THE MANEHATTAN STADIUM; WHERE THE TOUGH SURVIVE AND THE WEAK… DON’T! IT’S ME YOUR FRIENDLY ANNOUNCER, VOCAL STRUMMER! Ok, that’s enough of the yelling, that was really hurting my throat.” He coughed away from the mic. “Anyways, we got a new one for you ungrateful sons of bitches! We got a one on one fight between a new comer…shit what was his name? uh…” It’s Jack Rabbit. “Fuck it. He was in the caravan heading towards Friendship City. We’ll just call him the Caravan Guard! Now, he managed to kill about seven of our best collectors during the ambush of his caravan; all just with two pistols along with one shot from a varmint rifle. One of three to survive it. It wasn’t until last night that he woke up from his coma with his cell mates, who will also be fighting later today! He appears to be able to endure more than most, so this will be a good fight! He has chosen the reinforced leather armor and combat knife. For all that don’t know, this is the medium category and will face another class.”

Strummer sighed. “Unfortunately for him, somepony picked the light category.” I gulped at that moment seeing the door about a hundred yards away from me open up. Even though all the concrete slabs and fallen weapons that scattered the dirt floor arena. I could see a young mare with what looks like a 10mm pistol. She was prepping her pistol from what I could tell. I injected the needle of the Med-X into my shoulder; the cool rush of relief washed away most of the pain. I rotated my shoulder a bit, the pain was more dull than sharp now. “This is Liquid Rose! An ex-Tenpony security guard! She has the training to take on most raiders and is skilled in all things guns! We found her around the outskirts of the Manehatten ruins by herself. She still took out four of our collectors and it took five to restrain her. Ever since then, she has racked up ten kills in the arena and has only suffered two bullet wounds and four stabbings. She is a force to be reckoned with!” She looked at me with a wicked grin. Just as she gave me that a bell rang out across the entire arena. With that Rose fired two shots, both going wide, hitting a couple of the concrete pillars. I made a dash through the mud hearing a few bullets whiz by my head. The rain began to come down steadily harder almost making it impossible to see ten feet in front of me. I bobbed and weaved between the debris like well...a rabbit. I shook off the thought and kept dodging the shots that came.

I was getting closer and closer to Rose. She fired when she had a clear view of me; a few times the bullets got closer to me than I liked. My luck ran out for a moment as I tripped on a stray metal rod. Fuck you metal rod. It sent me tumbling into the mud and skidding to a stop. Rose definitely took advantage of that tumble. I felt the impact of several bullets me in the side. They didn’t penetrate, but by Celestia’s steaming flanks it hurt! I mean, damn! I would have rather have been kicked in the balls…well…maybe. I got up with seemingly no strength left in me while I got behind cover.

My heart was pounding in my chest, making the pain in my side hurt worse with each thump. I felt like dying right there, but there was a nagging in the back of my head. Get your ass up! NOW! I did just that, before Rose came around the corner. I did a tuck and roll, just hearing the shots behind me. ‘How is she so fast!?’ I climbed onto my hooves and began running as quick as my legs would allow. I bobbed and weaved between several slabs of concrete; after a moment I thought I might of lost her. I pressed my back against a column of concrete and rebar. I looked down at my EFS to see that her hostile indicator was going back and forth. I couldn’t tell how far she was away from me, but she was in front of me. With my magic still wrapped around the combat knife; I peaked around to see that she was about ten yards away from me; she was soaking wet from the rain and was getting more pissed by the second.

“Come out you coward! You are really starting to piss me the fuck off!” She shouted over the roaring thunder. I looked down at my knife and back up at her. I had the element of surprise but, I couldn’t do it…Then, the voice in the back of my head nagged once more. Do it! It’s either her or us! Now do it! I took a deep breath, before I dove from my cover and charged her. I was on her just as she turned around. “Fuck!”

She brought the pistol to bear, but I knocked the barrel away just before she could get off a shot. The tackle sent us tumbling on the ground covering us in mud. The pistol went flying with a kick of my hoof; when I did that though, Rose brought a hoof and jabbed me several times in the ribs and stomach; the blows took all the air out of me and made my lungs burn. I couldn’t move for a moment which she took full advantage kicking me off of her with her strong legs; sending me flying across the mud. She jumped on top of me and tried to plunge the knife into my skull. I kept the point of the knife from entering my eye with my magic on the handle. I looked into Rose’s eyes while she tried to stab me. They were small and her smile seemed like a raiders. All rage and no brains.

Clenching my teeth I slowly brought the knife from above my eye, and with a swift force of magic I got the knife to side and let it fall. The tip of the blade scraped across my cheek, drawing some blood. I immediately headbutted Rose in the face making her back peddle. I scrambling to my hooves feeling something underneath it. Instead of looking down to see what it was; something made me flare my horn picking it up from the mud. An indicator on my EFS said I had something with two rounds in it. Hell yeah, a fucking gun! I raised it up to see it was some kind of shotgun. It was too covered in mud to tell what it was at first. I hoped that the barrels weren’t filled with mud, but I didn’t hesitate in pulling the trigger. A stream of buckshot left the barrel at high speeds impacting the recovering Rose. She fell with a loud scream. I limped my way to Rose aiming my shotgun. “Don’t fucking get up!” I shouted. “Give up so I don’t have to kill you!” The moment I said that the voice nagged once more. Fucking idiot! Kill her now! I growled at that. ‘Shut the fuck up whoever the fuck you are! I fucking got this!’ that’s when it started laughing. We can talk about this later. Kill the bitch now or I’ll do it! Well Rose made that decision easy for me as I got a bit too close to her. Her back was to me, before she rolled revealing the mud covered 10mm pistol in her mouth. She got a shot off hitting my left shoulder, the pauldron taking the brunt of the hit. I jammed the end of the gun to Rose’s muzzle and fired.

From the top of her muzzle up was just gore that was mixing into the watery mud. I panted, trying to catch my breath. That’s when I noticed that the crowd wasn’t cheering it was just silence. They just looked at me. Surprised that a small ass unicorn took on an ex-Tenpony Security guard. One of the best fighters in Manehatten and hadn’t been killed in several fights, some two on one, Rose being the latter. I panted hard as the gun shook in my magic. My legs felt weak. I could barely stand where I was. I looked at Rose’s body seeing two magazines of 10mm ammo on her leather armor. I took those along with the holster for the 10mm pistol. There wasn’t anything else on her, but another combat knife and bottle of Buck. I holstered the pistol and slung the empty shotgun on my back. I limped to the middle of the cluster of concrete columns and turned to my gate. I felt the ground move a bit and looked down to see that there was a metal grate, big enough even for Tracer to fit down; it felt loose enough that if somepony wanted to, and had the time, they could get it off. I made a mental note of that while I made my way to the gate. I stopped just short of it and saw the silent crowd. Even Strummer was silent.

I cleared my throat and spoke up. “Are you not entertained!? This is what you wanted! Why not cheer for two ponies fighting to death for your entertainment!?” Without another word I entered the elevator and pressed the button. The doors closed once again enveloping me in darkness and catchy music. That’s when the adrenaline began to wind down and the pain of the fight started to set in. I nearly keeled over and began vomiting right there, but all I did was dry heave. I had just killed a pony, and for once, it wasn’t a raider…it was a sane pony who got captured just like me. It wasn’t a monster. It was a pony. It was a pony, it was a pony. I kept repeating it over and over in my head. I felt horrible. Nothing else, just…horrible. The door opened again to reveal the mare with the same four guards from earlier. She smiled to see that I was alive. “That was a good show, Caravan guard.” She joked a bit, but I was in no mood.

I forced a smile and nodded. “Thanks, she was tough.”

She giggled. “Yeah, ten kills in the ring and four during capture. She was very tough.” She tossed me a small bag that that was filled with an assortment of items. “These are your winnings. Your next fight is in a couple hours. Rest up. You’re going to need it.” She said with a soft smile.

I walked up to her to get four guards in my way. One of them spoke up. “Its time to go back to your cell, prisoner.” The voice was different from the head guard from earlier.

I nodded, before letting them box me in. Then, a thought hit me like a raider in heat. I looked back at the mare. “What’s your name?” I asked while I was at the door.

She sat at her desk and smiled while I walked through it. “It’s Lemon Pepper.”

That was the last thing I heard, before the door closed and we made our way through the dark room. We went through the same couple rooms as before until we got to my cell. From Bright and Tracer’s faces I could tell they didn’t expect me to survive. Way to have faith y’all. The head guard silently opened the door and I walked in for them to close it behind me. Bright and Tracer looked at me with awe at the me wearing my gear and with the weapons that I got.

Tracer is the first one to come to me followed by Bright. “You are one lucky son of a bitch.” His voice seem shocked a bit. I chuckled at that because it was true. If I didn’t find that caravan shotgun I would be probably dead right now.

I smiled a bit. “Yeah, I know I’m a lucky son of a bitch. That‘s how I survived the ambush, remember?” That got a chuckle out of Tracer. Don’t see many of those.

Bright smiled and limped to me. “It’s good to see you alive. Let’s hope we have the same luck as you do.” he chuckled a bit. His eyes seemed filled with fear and despair but…determined a bit maybe? I don’t know.

I cleared my throat a bit and took a breath. “Thanks. I’m gonna see what I got in my goodie bag.” I said as I sat next to my little bed and opened the small bag. Bright and Tracer nodded going back to their little fire whispering to each other. Whatever they were planning they didn’t want anypony to listen in.

I slowly took out what was inside to be relieved to see some food and water. Aside from that I got a box of 20 gauge shotgun shells; which was good for the shotgun I got. I shrugged a bit putting the box next to the shotgun. I know I was just gonna give it to Tracer. What came next surprised me a bit. It was another box of ammo but, I didn’t have any weapons that fired it. I read the box to see that it was .45 Auto. I placed it back inside the bag as I simultaneously took out a full magazine of, 24 rounds, 5.56 ammo. I smiled a bit taking out a roll of what looked like regular bandages then, I found a single healing potion. So, basically I couldn’t use half of this. “Damn it. Half this stuff I can’t use.” I muttered. I sighed a bit, before I stuck my hoof in the bag blindly, feeling a piece of paper. Slightly confused I took it out to see that it was folded. I unfolded it to see it was a hoof written letter. It read:

Congratulations, You have survived your first match in the arena. This is a care package that is filled with random supplies. Some helpful, some not, all worth something. Here are the rules while under the protection of the gladiators.

1. You are allowed to have any weapons and ammo you have acquired through the arena and care packages.

2. If you attempt to use any weapons and ammo you have on any guards or fellow gladiators, without cause outside the arena, all turrets will target you and eliminate you. The guards will be put on high alert and will kill you, if the turrets haven’t already.

3. First attempt to escape will be met with a severe beating. Second attempt will be met with execution via fighting against extreme odds. Third attempt, if you survive the fight, will be met with execution on the spot.

4.You are allowed to let any fellow gladiators use any supplies you have acquired in the arena.

1. You must listen to any guard as long as the order is reasonable. Examples of reasonable orders: Directions to and from an area or to get something. Non acceptable orders: ordered to kill another gladiator or to have any sexual favors.

2. If you try to steal, mug, or kill a fellow gladiator outside the arena. The pony that is being attacked has the right to kill you without consequence.

I shrugged as I read the rules until I saw the signature at the bottom.

Thank you for understanding the rules and regulations, signed Fancy Pants.

I arched an eyebrow once more at the name. “Fancy Pants? Why does that name sound so familiar?” I asked myself. The name sounded so familiar, but I just shrugged it off. I got up onto my hooves, the pain of the fight was becoming more and more apparent. My sides hurt and it was hard to breath. Even more so with the musty air. I groaned a bit as I made my way to Bright and Tracer with the shotgun and bag close behind me. I sat down next to Bright and brought up the shotgun which caught Tracer’s attention.

“Where did you get the shotty?” he asked with general curiosity.

I chuckled a bit. “Yeah, it’s reason that I even survived the arena.” I said before handing it to him.

He looked confused a bit at the still mud covered shotgun. “If you want me to clean this then you’re shit out of luck kid.”

I chuckled, before I tossed him the box of 20 gauge rounds. “It’s called a gift, ya son of a bitch.”

“What?” he asked baffled, his face matched that description quite well.

Bright chuckled too. “Yeah, that’s what friends do. So take it or I will.” Bright interjected.

Tracer smiled as he wiped away some of the mud. “Thanks, Jack. I didn’t expect this.”

I smiled. “Don’t mention it. Like Bright said that’s what friends do.”

Bright looked at me and smiled. “So what now?”

I sighed and looked at both of them. “We wait for the next fight.”

***OoooOoooOoooO***

After the next several hours both Bright and Tracer did their first fights. Both of them won theirs and got their care packages. We agreed that we all split our supplies equally depending on the weapons and wounds we have. So far Bright picked a set of regular leather armor and a .357 revolver as his weapon. Guess Bright wanted mobility over protection. Tracer picked the same set I did and got some better armor than I did. Well, fuck then. Ain’t that just a kick to the balls. The supplies that we have gathered wasn’t bad for us. A total of three healing potions, one of which we used for my infected shoulder. Got one more magazine for my pistol, Tracer found a break action rifle that took the 5.56 ammo that I already had. Hey, at least it was accurate at longer ranges. I don’t like being up close, more likely to get stabbed with somepony’s stinkin’ knife. The rest was either additional useless ammo and shit or some food that we needed.

It was nerve racking knowing that my next fight was close. But, from what I heard from other prisoners is that the second fight is a two on two or a two on one depending on behavior. I waited for about thirty minutes until the guards walked up to my cell door. They looked at all of us, before speaking up. “Caravan guard and Bright Night. You two are going to be fighting in the next match.” He said as he opened the door. “Better make it good. Mister Fancy Pants is going to be watching.”

That name again, sounds so familiar. I know I’ve heard it before. Never mind that damn name. We got a fight to do. Get up and out of the cell before those guards do it for you. That voice again nagged at me, but this time it was right. I had to get up. I stood up on my hooves and got out of the cell along side Bright. We were surrounded by six guards this time instead of the usual four. The healing potion that I drank down about an hour ago has done wonders. The pain in my shoulder was almost gone, but like with the Med-X it was more dull. Bright and I were silent the entire walk through the cell blocks and dark room. We got to the locker room and entered the elevator all without a word. I looked at Bright, who looked a bit nervous.

He wasn’t the only one that had his heart beating out his chest. I took a deep breath trying to keep myself calm, not knowing what we’ll fight in the arena. More likely since the pony named Fancy Pants was gonna be there it was gonna be a fight for life. Just as the doors fell open I spoke up to Bright. “Bright…we’re going to be alright. You hear?” I said forcing a smile on my face as I looked at him.

That seemed to calm Bright a bit as he placed a smile on his face. He loaded his revolver. “Alright, Jack.” he took a deep breath as we walked into the little gate.

Both of us looked up to see a single…ghoul standing on a small platform surrounded by at least fifteen different guards. The ghoul look down at us; I couldn’t tell who he was looking at, but I felt his eyes on me. I don’t know why, but I felt it. The cold eyes of madness. A moment later the sounds of Strummer’s voice echoed through the arena. “HELLLOOOO, GLADIATORS! It’s me, your announcer Vocal Strummer once again announcing for your bloody fight in the arena. Today, we got a special guest! The one that has managed to keep this joint running and our pockets filled with caps for fifty years has decided to watch this spectacular two on two fight! As always I’ll read you ponies the stats. Once again we got The Caravan Guard, whose name I learned to be Jack Rabbit. I’ll stick with The Caravan Guard. More catchy. One kill in the arena and seven kills of collectors. His teammate and fellow ambush survivor, Bright Night, has one kill in the arena and five kills of collectors. They both seem to fight with distance, but aren’t afraid to get up close and personal! Now for their opponents! From the rumors they are the sisters to Liquid Rose! She may have been by herself when we captured her, but these two got captured looking for her! Both Solid Rose and Golden Rose killed fifteen collectors during their capture! Along with twenty more kills in this very arena! Looks like it’s Friends vs. Family! Also, those sisters want revenge for their sister! Watch out Guard! That is all for now! Fancy Pants, start the fight when ready!”

Without another word the bell rang out opening the gates. The two sisters both began firing with what sounded like SMGs. Both Bright and I dove for cover behind the columns; bullets chipping away at our cover. Most of the bullets, though, were aimed at me, which Bright commented on. “They are so pissed at you!”

I drew my pistol and fired blindly around the corner. “No shit!” I shouted back. Then, a moment of silence as I could hear the click of magazines dropping. “GO!” I yelled, running to another column. But before Bright could move the bullets began raining on my old position and some on his current. Guess they couldn’t see where I was. I got down on my stomach and began crawling to my right, away from the center of the cluster. I could hear Bright returning fire when he could, but he was pinned. They made the mistake of just concentrating on him.

The rain had lessened since I was last here a few hours ago. I crawled for what seemed like hours my single shot rifle in my hoofs as I made my way from a fallen column. From there I could get a clear shot at one of the other sisters. Both of whom were still firing their guns without mercy; both of their eyes were filled with rage from this angle. I got to a kneeling position and rested the fore end of the rifle on the concrete slab; water collecting on the now mud covered rifle. It’s kinda amazing that even in the dying light I could tell that one of the sisters, I guess to be Solid Rose, was getting a bit tired. I pressed the butt of the rifle to my shoulder and made a snug fit.

Breath, stay calm and breath. When you are ready to fire, release half of the air in your lungs and fire in-between heartbeats.

The voice didn’t yell this time. I was starting to think I was going crazy, but I couldn’t think of that now. I took a deep breath and let loose all the air in my lungs. Everything went quiet and slow, but I didn’t go into SATS. I could see the individual droplets of rain running off my mane. I closed my left eye aiming down the iron sights. I felt my heart beating and during an interval I pulled the trigger. With the bark that roared above the others and the thunder, I could see a white trail left behind by the bullet through the rain, straight into Solid’s head. The bullet went clean through, painting the concrete slab behind her with blood and brain.

I could hear the screaming of the last Rose sister. “You motherfuckers!” As she grabbed her fallen sister’s SMG with her magic, I ejected the casing and placed in a new round. The last sister couldn’t tell where I was, but I didn’t have a good shot on her either. Grabbing my rifle I made a dead on sprint jumping through concrete slabs and columns. The bullets from one of the SMGs smacked against concrete and a few actually hit my barding, but I still kept going. I had no idea where this energy was coming from and I wasn’t going to stop to see. I stopped and turned towards the center of the cluster. When I went around a blind corner I felt a sudden force hit me; it sent me flying into a slab. I was being crushed by whatever hit me. I looked down to see a chunk of concrete about my size pinning me to the slab.

Golden Rose was aiming both her SMGs at me, her eyes filled with tears and anger. She limped towards me; one of her legs looks like they took a few rounds, but she kept coming. My rifle and pistol were both pinned underneath the slab with me. I struggled to get out, but the slab wouldn’t budge at all. I was utterly defenseless as Golden got to me. “You are going to pay for what you did!” She tried to pull the trigger of an SMG, but it just went click. It was empty. Thank Celestia. She ditched the empty SMG and pressed the last one to my forehead; anger is definitely in her eyes. “You are going to die for killing my sisters!” She yelled, but before she could pull the trigger; a click of a hammer was heard behind her.

“You wish, bitch.” Bright muttered before he pulled the trigger spraying her blood across me and the concrete slab that pinned me. I am going to really need a good long soak after this, just to even begin getting this shit out of my coat.

I tried to chuckle, but the slab was slowly crushing the life out of me. “Little help here.” I said, flaring my horn. I moved the slab a bit and along with my hoof I could breath, but wasn’t enough to get me out.

Bright used his hind hoofs to help me move the slab just enough for me to wiggle out. I got out just before Bright lost his strength and it fell. I coughed a bit once I was out. I tasted copper in my mouth and spat it out. Oh, it was definitely blood.

“You gonna be okay?” Bright asked, concern riddled his voice.

I looked back at him seeing a few bullet grazes and one direct hit on his side. “Me? You got a fuckin’ bullet in your ass!”

“I’ll be fine. I‘ve had worse.” He said, chuckling to hide the pain that he was in. I sighed as I made my way to the corpse that was once Golden Rose. She had emptied all her pockets of any ammo or anything of value. Solid had a magazine of 10mm ammo for her SMG. So, to replace the rifle I lost I took her SMG; had to get closer than I could with the rifle. Oh well, that‘s just the wasteland. One fuck over after another. Bright took the empty SMG and studied it for a second. This one was in 9mm, which we had some ammo for back in the cell.

Just as we were about to go to our gate a voice came over the intercom. “Guard! Bright Night! Stay where you are! You aren’t done yet! You still got another fight to win!” The voice wasn’t Strummer‘s; it was more raspy, as if he was chewing on sand. I looked up to see what I guessed was Fancy Pants with a microphone floating in front of him. “If you and your friend survive. I want both of you to be escorted with your friend Tracer to my office! Now, fight!” he exclaimed through the microphone. Another bell rang out, and Bright and I turned to face our next opponents. What I saw scared me. There were four other ponies. Couple of them were carrying assault rifles, while the other two were carrying an SMG and a lever action rifle. The moment the gate opened a hail of bullets rained down on us.

I pulled Bright with me behind cover, bullets making quick work of the concrete that protected us. I shoved the 10mm SMG into Bright’s grasp. “Take this!” I shouted before, I pulled out a combat knife and my pistol in my magical aurora.

He looked at me bewildered. “This is yours!” he shouted.

I glared at him. “It’s yours now, damnit!” I barked back before, I dashed across the clearing and fired a few shots one seemed to hit a gladiator in the eye; dropping him. Hopefully my luck will keep going, it hasn’t failed me yet. You aren’t going to survive this you idiot! You are going to get you and your friend slaughtered! the voice exclaimed out of nowhere. “Shut up!” I yelled, loud enough to be heard over the gunfire. “I got this.” I said as I left my cover, firing my pistol a few times hitting a pony with the heavy armor only for the bullets to ricochet off towards somewhere else. “Fuck!”

The gladiators who are left are still firing. They are skilled, but they just charged. I fired once again along with the fire from Bright we managed to break through one of the heavy armored ponies. Then, a sudden burst of fire came from an assault rifle hitting Bright. I saw him fall, everything slowing to a crawl; I could even seen the blood droplets that came from his body. He hit the ground, breathing hard. A sudden anger built up before I jumped from my cover, taking the SMG and firing both them. This sudden charge surprised the gladiators. The SMG and pistol fire ripped apart the last non heavy. I ditched both the SMG and the pistol charging the last heavy with the combat knife.

My lungs were burning from the yelling I did as I tackled the pony heavy armor and began stabbing him over, and over, and over, and over until there was a hoof size hole in his chest plate. When I finally stopped I was covered in the gladiators blood; I panted harder than I ever have before. My heart was pounding so fast I felt like it was going to explode. It took me a moment to actually feel the pain of the gunshots that riddled the left side of my body. My breathing became labored and hard just standing there; it became worse as I moved closer to Bright. The strength was leaving my body with each step; I was just barely able to hold onto my single healing potion. When I got to Bright, he was still breathing, but blood was still pooling. Taking the cork out of the potion with my mouth; I force fed it into Bright’s mouth. It didn’t do much, but it stopped the bleeding. I chuckled as I saw Bright open his eyes. “I’m alive…”

I laughed more as I hugged him trying to keep from blacking out. “Yes, you’re alive. You son of a bitch.” I broke the hug and looked at him. “I told you we were going to be alright.” I said patting him on the cheek.

Just then, two groups of five guards in top of the line combat armor came running out with assault rifles. They pointed their weapons at us, but didn’t fire. It was as if they were waiting on us to make the first move. It wasn’t like we could fight right now anyway. I flared my horn so I could levitate my pistol; they aimed all their weapons on me; a few were relieved to see that all I did was holster it. They didn’t see the assault rifle that I dragged with me, but I wasn’t going to use it since I knew that I would be cut down. They still had their rifles trained on us as the blackness enveloped me. “Fuuuuuuuu…” Luna damn it, this isn’t my week.

***OoooOoooOoooO***

I slowly opened my eyes to reveal that i was in some kind of med bay. I looked around before I sat up in my bed. It was clean compared to my cell, but still not as sanitary as it should be. I had some kind of machine that beeped every so often, hooked up to my leg. My barding was gone and the faint scars of bullet holes made their way up my left side. I pressed my hoof against it and I winced a bit. Guess it was still tender from the healing potions. I looked to my left and saw a few more beds and a wall. To my right was a different story; Bright…he’s sleeping, I think. His breathing wasn’t shallow enough to be in a coma. I rolled myself off the bed; I had to kneel a bit just trying to keep myself from falling. My weapons were no where to be seen so I decided to look on Bright. Four bullet wounds went up the length body from his stomach to his shoulder.

“Bastards, making a surprise fight like that…”I muttered to myself. I rested my hoof on his shoulder. “I’ll be back, bro. Count on it.” I said before I limped my way past the four other beds to a door. I clicked the button and it opened to reveal two guards and what appears to be a medic.

The medic was talking to the guards with the word ‘pissed’ all over her face. “Let me in! I’ve got orders from Fancy Pants himself to make sure they survive their injuries!”

One of the guards snorted. “Fancy Pants caring about these worthless pieces of shit? That’s a good joke. How about you come with me to my room and we can ‘talk’ about letting you in.” He said with a chuckle.

The mare looked at him with a glare, with light purple eyes, that could turn a hellhound into stone; hell might even make Tracer less of a douche, both unlikely. “You sick son of a bitch!” She got right up to him. Once again I’m invisible to everypony around me, great. “I’d rather get fucked by a hellhound with a chainsaw cock than sleep with a so called guard with a microdick.” She poked his chest with her hoof; a bit of crème yellow showed from her doctors coat. “So listen to me and let me in.”

The guard growled. “You bitch. I’ll show ya who to listen to.” He said as drew his hoof back for a slap.

He looked surprised by the fact that he couldn’t move his hoof to slap the medic. “The fuck?” he muttered before, he noticed the yellow magic around his hoof. “Who the hell.”

Than, the raspy voice that I assumed belonged to Fancy Pants came out of the darkness of the hallway. “Tsk, tsk, tsk Iron Ear. I thought you were better than to hit a mare unprovoked.”

Iron looked surprised…no scared at the fact that Fancy Pants was here. “S-Sir…I-I” he tried to speak, but Fancy raised his hoof in the air, silencing him.

“You know the rules Iron. I’m sorry, but I have to let you go.” He said as he drew a slick black pistol and fired into Iron’s forehead. The wall behind him was rained with gore and brain matter. Talk about ending a contract.

I nearly ran for my bed, but the medic noticed me standing there. “How long have you been standing there!?” she exclaimed pushing me back into the room followed by Fancy Pants. Even with the medic pushing me I couldn’t keep my eyes off the ghoul…who had a mane that consisted of a few strands of hair and his coat, which I would think was once a white coat, was just a few patches among a sea of flaking skin. The medic pushed me, with a sense of urgency, back to my bed and began to examine me. She moved her mane out of her face which brought my attention away from Fancy Pants. Her mane had a single line of black running down a sea of white that shifted back and forth with each move of her head.

“You’re an idiot you know that?” She scolded me.

I looked at her with a confused look. “What did I do?” I asked.

She looked at me like I was stupid; which half the time was true, but oh well. “You were moving around when you should be resting, numbnuts.” she replied with an annoyed tone as she checked me. After a moment of silence I looked up at Fancy Pants as he just…stared at me.

Another moment went by before he spoke up. “Canvas, I need to talk with Mr. Rabbit, or Caravan Guard which ever he prefers.”

“It’s Jack Rabbit.” I interjected.

He looked at me and chuckled. “Yes, Jack Rabbit. I need to talk to you in my office.”

Canvas glared at him. “Sir, I highly suggest he doesn’t move from his bed. That little stroll he did just to the door nearly broke the stitching I did.”

Fancy Pants studied me for a moment, before replying. “Alright, then I need you to leave the room for now. When I’m done you’ll be allowed back in. You understand me?” He said in a commanding, yet soft tone. Behind the raspy voice I could tell that there was some finesse in his voice. Where is he from?

Canvas sighed a bit out of annoyance before she nodded. “Alright, but if you move him at all. I’m going to kick your ghoul ass back to Baltimare.”

Fancy Pants looked at her like her threat was all bark. “You and me both know that you’re nothing without me. Now get, before I send you in the arena against Thunder Brawl.” Her eyes widen in fear of whoever that was, before she moved away from the bed and walked out closing the door, all without a word.

Fancy Pants smiled. “Good.” he looked at me, before he walked to a chair next to my bed and sat down. Damn, when was the last time this guy took a bath? “So, Mr. Rabbit. I’m sorry you had to see what you did from earlier. As you know the rules state you can’t assault anypony here unless attacked first. He was about to hit defenseless Canvas, poor dear.” He said looking at the door. “Found her wandering out of a stable. Nearly got raped and killed by raiders who got to her before me. They didn’t do any of that thank goodness. She has had enough trouble living out here for the ten years she has. But, anyways back to you Mr. Rabbit.” He said with a calm voice, but something felt off. The edges of his mouth were twitching a bit almost into a smile, but he was fighting it a bit.

I began to wonder what’s going through his mind. “Yes?”

He smiled, before he cleared his throat. “You were part of the caravan going to Friendship City weren’t you?” He asked.

I nodded. “Yes, I was. Then, we got ambushed by your collectors.” I said.

“Exactly, my collectors. You know how I pick them?” he asked. The continuing smile made me more nervous than it should have.

“How?”

“Thought you would never ask. Well, all of my collectors as you know go out into the wasteland to find more gladiators for the fights. What you don’t know though, is that all of our collectors were gladiators themselves.” He said with a smile.

I raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Yes, all of my collectors were gladiators themselves who fought for their freedom and now work for me. They are free to leave as well, but, being in this part of Manehatten, it would be suicide to go out by yourself. With the Bloodwings and all.” He chuckled a bit. “Sorry, that was off subject. All the gladiators who have come out of the ring automatically become collectors. If they wish to choose otherwise we send them on their merry way. But…but the only way to do this is by surviving five fights without any behavioral problems. One means ten. A second one is one fight with unlikely odds. Like ten on one or a berserker with explosives against you and a 10mm pistol.” he paused as he looked at my expression which said, ‘get on with it’.

“Sorry, I’m here with a proposal for you and your friends. Not many ponies kill more than two collectors during capture let alone seven, six and five. So, if you and your friends survive an impossible odds fight next time you three are able to fight again, which should be soon, you'll become fellow collectors and maybe even my personal guards, if you survive that is. We got a deal?” He said with a chuckle.

"I'll think about it." I said. I felt something more to this deal. I kept my eyebrow up. “What do you mean by ‘if you survive’?” I asked, dreading the answer.

He chuckled once more. “You will be fed five healing potions then sent straight into the arena. If you aren’t feeling well enough to fight then you’ll die in the arena.” he said patting my back. I sat there gawking dumbstruck as he continued. “You and your friends will be fighting fifteen of our best gladiators all of whom have one more fight for freedom. So it will be a fierce fight.” The entire time he was talking I was starting to notice the twitch in his eye…wait not the twitch itself, but his eyes…they were filled with nothing but pure madness. It sent fear into me. He isn’t going to let me go…I know it…he is just going to keep me fighting until I fall down dead. I looked at Bright as he kept talking not noticing my attention change. Bright looked better than he did in the arena but…he was in rough condition.

I turned my head back to Fancy Pants as he was mumbling something under his breath. I touched his shoulder and something must have snapped because he immediately drew his pistol. He pressed the cold muzzle against my forehead, but he didn’t pull the trigger. “What do you want?!” he barked pressing the gun harder against my head.

“Nothing!” I said putting my hoofs in the air. “You were mumbling something and I was wondering if you were alright!” I exclaimed.

Fancy Pants looked confused for a moment before he slowly withdrew the pistol from my head and into his holster. He got up and shook his head. “Sorry, I must return to my quarters and rest. You have two days to get ready for your fight.” with that he left the room to be replaced by Canvas.

She looked tired. I guess she heard what we said. “He is going to kill you know.”

I chuckled which made me wince. “Yeah, I figured that he would. Something tells me the becoming a collector thing is a lie to keep us fighting?”

She nodded. “Yeah, he just tells the gladiators that to give you all false hope. Like a placebo pill for some patients.”

I sighed before I fell onto my pillow staring up on the ceiling. “So, I got two days before my fight. What do I do till then?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. We got some books that are just laying around. You could do some reading…” She looked at me for a moment. “You do know how to read right?” She asked.

I nodded. “Yes, I know how to read. What do you got?”

She trotted over to a small shelf across my bed. How in the hell did I not notice that? Damn, I’m a fucking idiot. You’re telling me. ‘Shut up you.’ I replied to the voice. Ok, what the hell just happened? Well, one you are in a damn medical bed in a gladiatorial arena ran by a psychotic mad pony- ghoul…. whatever the fuck Fancy Pants is. Two, you’re talking to a voice in your head that has a fucking name by the way thank you. Three, we need to figure out a way out of here. ‘Thank you, captain obvious.’ You’re welcome. Also, the name is Cheddar.

I felt a touch on my shoulder which snapped me out of my thought. I looked up to see Canvas who gave me an odd look. “Oh, sorry. I was thinking.” I said out of habit.

She just shrugged as he dropped three books on my lap. I flared my horn to levitate all three books into the air. “Guns and Bullets, Tumblers today, and The Wasteland Survival Guide: Manehattan/ Baltimare edition?” I said a bit skeptical.

“Yeah, that’s all we got unless you want to read old hoofball playbooks.” Canvas replied with a tired yawn.

I smiled and nodded. “Thanks Canvas.” I said opening up the Guns and Bullets.

She smiled a bit too. “Anything else before I go back to my room and pass out?”

Knowing where the hell our shit is would be helpful thank you. ‘Shut it, I was just about to ask that.’ Sure, you were. Says the pony who took a caravan job without knowing the route and only started asking questions halfway down the road. ‘Fine, you made your point, but still, shut up.’

“Yeah, there is something that I need to know.” I asked closing the book. She perked up her ears a bit. “Do you know where my weapons and armor is? Along with my friend Bright’s too.” Pleasssse, please please please know where they are.

She nodded. “Of course. They are in the footlockers at the foot of both your beds. Also, that reminds me. Both of you have several care packages to open.” She answered which took off a large amount of stress that were on my shoulders.

“Alright, thanks. I’ll open them tomorrow. Hopefully Bright will be up by then.” I said putting a smile on my face.

Canvas nodded. “Alright, just press the button if you need me.” With that she left me alone with an unconscious Bright.

***OoooOoooOoooO***

The rest of the night I read both Guns and Bullets and Tumblers Today. I learned a great deal about both guns and locks. I never knew you could pick locks with just a screwdriver and a bobby pin, that would have came in handy several times over the years. There was a nice segment on long range shooting in the Guns and Bullets. I memorized most of what I could since I would like to keep the scary creepy things away while I kill them. From what I learned from it, 5.56 is mostly an urban sniping round, but can be use in longer ranges. Out of all the calibers, even the .50 BMG round (which was a beast), I liked the .308 the best. Had nice knockdown power and range, not too expensive either. There were several rifles that are listed in this book that used the round; the only problem was, that they were hard to find.

Once I was done with the books for the night I went to bed and had a dreamless sleep. With a yawn I woke up to find Tracer, who sat between a still sleeping Bright and me. Tracer was reading a book, the cover said ‘Twilight Sparkle and You’, that read egghead all over.

“It’s nice to see that one of you is awake.” he said as he kept his eyes on the book in front of him.

I chuckled a bit, sitting up a tad; the pain wasn’t as bad, but was still there. “It’s good to see you too, Tracer.”

He sighed, before he closed his book. “Well, from what I hear we are going to be in for a big fight tomorrow.” I nodded. “Shit, good thing I still got my shotty and from what I can tell. You got an assault rifle with two magazines. Bright has an SMG. I say we are well rounded.” He looked at me. “Can I trust you, Jack?”

I froze. “W-What d-”

He looked me straight in the eye. “Can. I. Trust. You?” He said, the entire sentence sounded like…he never trusted me at all. How could he not trust me!? I stayed with them during the ambush! I protected Bright from the gladiators during the surprise fight! How could he not fucking trust me that fucking douchebag!

I kept a clam face as I replied. “Yes, you can trust me.”

He looked me straight in the eyes as if he was trying to see if I was lying. “Alright. From what I hear there is a way to escape the arena.” Now, that caught my attention. “You remember the grate in the middle of the arena some kind of drain tunnel?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I remember it. It was pretty loose and with some force it could probably be freed.”

He smiled. “Good, you are good at doing something other than being a bullet magnet.” Well, that was just cold. “Well, I got a plan.”

Over the next hour or so, in a hush whisper, Tracer told me about a plan to escape. I guess this is what he and Bright tried to tell me before my first fight. He said that during our next fight with the 15-3 odds there is another chance of heavy rains. How he knew that, I don’t know and I don’t wanna know. From what I could tell he has been planning this ever since he got here. He filled me in about how that something is gonna happen soon. He truly didn’t know what, but it was gonna be big. After a while, Tracer had to go back to his cell.

I sighed as I slumped down on my mattress; staring up into the ceiling. I looked at Bright who was still comatose. I stared at him for a moment before I shook my head. We are in a world of shit and we had to take a bite; Bright took the biggest. I turned my head to Canvas who was checking Bright’s monitoring equipment.

I cleared my throat to get her attention; She looked up with a look that said ‘what the hell do you want?’ Well, that was putting it lightly. “Canvas, can you place my care package on my lap so I can see what I got?” I asked kindly.

She sighed and looked down at Bright. “Alright. I’m just gonna hope that Fancy Pants put something good in there.” She said as she walked over to the foot of my bed and opened the foot locker. She took out two care packages; one I was guessing to be Bright’s. She placed them in my lap and I looked at her. She looked back for a moment; her eyes seemed tired and worn. Her mane seemed be frizzing in a few places and by the way the bags under her eyes drooped she hasn’t slept since Bright and I got in here. “There ya go.” She yawned a bit. “Just push the button if ya need me. I’m going to take a nap.” With that she left me alone with my packages and Bright.

With a soft sigh, I used my magic to open the first of the two packages; revealing a bit more than I expected. There were four healing potions and several rolls of bandages; two syringes of med-x and a small bottle of something that looks like it has to be inhaled. It was a bottle with some stuff inside with what appears to be a small hose or something. My Pip-Buck said it was something called steady; I placed it back in the bag to search the rest of the bag. A few more rounds for my assault rifle if I still have it, some 10mm ammo for my pistol and Bright’s SMG. I got a box of 12 gauge for a weapon that I don’t have, but I’ll keep for later. After finding a few more boxes of ammo for weapons I just don’t have I felt something at the bottom. With my magic I took it out to see that it was a crowbar. The metal was rusted and dented from years of neglect. I almost threw it away thinking it was useless, but cheddar popped off.

“Don’t throw that away you dumbass. How else are we going to pry off the fucking grete.”

“No need for the language.”i muttered in reply as I placed it back into bag and began opening the second one. It was almost the same thing as the first. A few more rounds and medical supplies that would be vital for the fight; what surprised me the most was the last thing I pulled out. I looked at it; the small cylindrical item had a green band around it with some spikes at the ends. I looked at my Pip-Buck to see that it was called a ‘Magic Grenade’ “Not all that original of a name, but oh well.” I said to myself putting it up along with the rest of the supplies.

I sighed as I looked up at the ceiling; bored and have already read the books that Canvas gave me last night. I had nothing to do, but think. I looked back at the attack of the caravan, how so many ponies died, but not me and now I’m in this hell. The merchant mare was always screaming, but she cared, at least I think so. Never found out her true name and that’ll stay with me. The buck at Resort who was killed over stealing a few caps which were probably less valuable than the bullet that killed him. They both died without a name; both their deaths would stay with me.

I yawned a bit as I laid there; I slept just a bit last night so might as well take a snooze. “I yawned once more before, I closed my eyes.

***0ooo0ooo0***

I didn’t know how long I slept but, apparently long enough to have Canvas wake me up with major concern. “Jack! Wake up!” I shot up and nearly hit her in the head, but she backed up just in time.

I looked back and forth before my vision stopped on Canvas. “What?” I asked in a somewhat concerned tone.

She sighed a bit relieved before, she answered. “I thought you were dying, because your heart monitor was saying you were under 50 BPM and dropping.”

I was a bit confused since I’m not a doctor or anything, but that still sounded bad. “Well, I’m glad I’m not dead.” I said with a relieved smile scratched onto my face.

I looked over past her to see that Bright’s bed was empty; I looked at Canvas, who had a big smile on her face. “He has been up for about an hour. He seemed to have made a full recovery and was taken back to his cell. Just in time too; the fight is in a half hour. So, you might want to get ready.” When she uttered those words my blood went cold.

I nodded, before I rolled out of the bed onto my hooves; which felt good to be on them. I stretched getting a few pops. I turned around and walked to the foot locker to see that all my items were in check; the assault rifle, my 10mm pistol, the crowbar and my barding. The ammo was in check, as was the medical supplies.

I threw it all on and placed the weapons in their proper places; I turned my head to Canvas and nodded. She went to the door and knocked. The steel door fell to reveal four heavily armored guards. I walked to the door and stopped just short of exiting. I looked at Canvas and smiled. “Thanks for patching me up. I owe ya.” I said and I left before giving her a chance to reply.

The guards escorted me down to the holding cell that Bright and Tracer were held in; it was a cleaner one compared to the one we were held in before. Bright seemed to be healthy, but the wetness around his mouth says that he was force fed healing potions just like Fancy Pants said he would.

Just as I walked into the cell the door slammed shut behind me. Bright and Tracer, both clad in their armor of choice, sat next to a small fire with their stuff ready to go. They looked at me as I sat down and nodded. “We good to go?” I asked.

Tracer nodded slightly. “Yes we are. I just filled Bright in on what we are going to do.” he responded. “The only problem though is getting the grate off during the fight. We need something that can pry them off.” Tracer looked at me and noticed something that made him smile a bit. “Your crowbar is just what we need. Give it to me.” He said holding out his hoof.

I shook my head. “I’ll give it to you during the fight.”

He seemed to be annoyed by this. “I said give it to me. I can work on the grate while you and Bright keep those bastards off of me.” I thought about it for a moment and nodded. I had thought of that, but it seemed like a stupid idea. I flared my horn giving him the crowbar.

I looked at Bright who was fidgeting with his SMG a bit. I put my hoof on his shoulder. “You alright?” I asked.

He looked at me. “I’m fine. I’m just scared that we aren’t gonna get out of here.”

I smiled and patted him on the back. “We are going to get out of here.” I chuckled a bit. “Hey, I tell you what. When we get to the nearest bar, how about I buy you a drink.”

Bright looked at me with a soft smile. “Alright.” he looked at Tracer. “You got everything ready?”

Tracer looked at Bright. “Ready as I’m going to get. This is going to some heavy fighting; we need to make a small circle making sure to keep tabs on everypony that enters that ring while we are in there.”

I kept silent, knowing that I’m ready and I don’t need to say it. I looked at my assault rifle and took a deep breath. It was beaten all to hell, but seemed to work for now. I loaded the magazines that came with it until I ran out of ammo and only got my last mag half full. All together I had only 135 rounds total; going to have to conserve as much as possible.

It may have seemed like just a while, but the walk down here was kind of a long one so I didn’t expect to stay in here for long.

The guards came as they always do and escorted us and made us start the long walk to the locker room elevator. Once again, Lemon Pepper was gone; they probably found out about the Med-X. I hope that she is alright. The guards pushed us into the elevator and pressed the button with a grunt.

The three of us were alone in the dimly lit elevator; I look at Bright and he nodded. I turned my head to Tracer and he nodded. I looked at the door as it slowly opened and nodded. They could smell the same thing I can. Freedom.

We just had one more obstacle in front of us and it might be the fight of our lives. The doors slowly opened all the way and we walked into the gated area.

It was still raining but, not as hard as it was; just a faint drizzle. I took a deep breath as the speakers went off. “HELLOOOOOOOOOOO GLADIATORS! WELCOME TO THE FIGHT OF THE MONTH! A FIGHT BETWEEN THE RISING STARS. BRIGHT NIGHT! TRACER! AND THE MOST IMPRESSIVE OF ALL! THE CARAVAN GUARD! EACH HAS STACKED UP AN IMPRESSIVE NUMBER OF KILLS DURING THEIR TIME IN THE ARENA! NOW THEY ARE FACING THE FIGHT OF THEIR LIVES! A FIFTEEN AGAINST THREE MATCH UP! RUMORS HAVE SPREAD OF THIS FIGHT AND NOW ITS FACT!” Strummer exclaimed from his booth. “Now that is enough yelling. We got a special guest too! The pony that has made this all possible and set this match up himself! Fancy Pants! He says if all three of the newcomers survive the fight then they can become collectors or the best of all become free!”

You could smell the bullshit that was coming out of that. I made me sick; making ponies believe they have a chance at freedom, but its just a ruse. “Lets get this show on the road!” Strummer exclaimed using the horn. The gate opened and all three of us made a dash for the center.

The rounds were already flying when we left the gate. Surprisingly, I didn’t get hit; Bright and Tracer got a few rounds, but their armor seemed to protect them. I slide behind a concrete slab before I popped up and fired my assault rifle in short bursts; the bursts managed to drop two ponies with a fire axe and a machine pistol. Tracer was charging each pony that was in his way with the shotgun; blasting each one away seemingly to shrug off any shots that managed to penetrate his heavy armor.

I ran behind him and fired on a pony that was about to chop his head off with an rusty zebra sword; the pony just went limp in mid air and just flew into one of his buddies. I could hear Bright’s SMG work its magic and cut down anypony that was in its way.

By then we got into the center of the arena where the grate was. My EFS said that all around us were other enemies; smarter than the ones that just charged in at us. I saw a flash of lime green and I fired; after the second round it went click. My ammo indicator was 00. “Cover me!” I exclaimed dropping the old magazine and grabbing a new one. I looked up just in time to see a large lime green pony in front of me with a sawed off shotgun. Just before he could press the trigger; a burst of SMG fire made his head non-existent.

I looked back at the source to see Bright reloading his SMG. “I hope me having to save your ass doesn’t become a habit.” He said with a chuckle.

I smiled as I got the fresh magazine into the rifle. My ears perked at the squeal of metal against metal. I turned around to see that Tracer had already pried off one of the bars which was causing a panic in the stands. “Keep them off my back!” he shouted.

“Behind you!”

I took that sudden inner shout as a warning and turned around before, firing. It was a pony with another shotgun. My bullets ripped through him and sent him to the ground. I heard shouting at the stand as the audience was scrambling for their weapons and making their way down to the arena. The snipers taking shots at us but, their weapons weren’t all that accurate. The amount of fire was starting to get overwhelming; shots were coming from all sides and I almost didn’t know where to fire.

I took a deep breath and everything slowed down to crawl; SATS was activated and I could see bullets slowly inching their way through the air. I looked around and counted as many enemies as I could; at least ten on my side and more are flooding in. I couldn’t fire on all of them plus from what I experienced before in SATS; you stand still for the shots no matter how fast they are.

I couldn’t do that or I’ll be ripped to shreds. Letting go of SATS I dove down before a missile struck the concrete slab I was using as cover. The blast shattered the slab sending me flying into the air; I landed and slid through the mud. I was kneeling trying to recover from the blast. My ears were ringing to no end and my vision was blurred.

I looked to my side where my former cover was and saw laying in the mud my disfigured rifle. The barrel was bent and dented and the receiver was caved in making it useless. I could still hear Bright’s SMG and Tracer’s shotgun firing without remorse. I steadily got to my hooves as I drew my pistol; getting behind Tracer. I fired on any pony that came near him as he worked. Bullets were either grazing me or bouncing off my armor. A few managed to penetrate, but I couldn’t give less fucks at that moment as I focused on protecting Tracer.

I turned my head to see that he was almost there. Seven rust covered bars laid in the mud with four more to go. “Tracer you need to hurry!” I exclaimed firing off the rest of my magazine of 10mm rounds into a gladiator with a sharpened shovel.

Tracer managed to get a eighth bar off with a metallic snap. “Yeah! Just give me thirty seconds!” he shouted back in response. He then dropped the crowbar and brought up the shotgun; blowing away a collector that was about to jump up on Bright’s back while he was reloading.

I looked at Bright; his face was filled with determination. He wasn’t going to give up easily, but his body seem to have taken a beating. Blood was running down through holes in armor while there were several glass bottles of empty healing potions surrounded by 10mm casings. I brought out a fresh magazine of 10mm ammo and slammed it home. I shot at anything that moved with such a fire that I didn’t know I had.

Just as I was about to fire on a pony that was charging me a missile flew just a few inches above my head; the exhaust burning a few hairs. The missile hit the ground in front of the pony that was charging me. I whipped my head following the exhaust trail to see a large pony with a missile launcher battle saddle on his back. He was surrounded by several other ponies who were firing with their weapons; sending hot lead bullets of death.

I heard a shout behind me before I could do anything. I turned my head to see that Tracer had all the bars off and was shouting for us. “COME ON!” he shouted letting Bright back up towards the grate.

Tracer jumped up into the air and disappeared into the pipe. Bright was about to do the same before a string of bullets strafed his side sending him onto the ground. “Bright!” I shouted as I turned around and ran to him. I stopped and slid in the mud; picking up any dropped weapons that I could. I just fired in random directions hoping to cover us enough for Bright to get up. I could feel more and more rain coming down just like the casings from the guns.

“Bright get up!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. Before I could move a muscle; I heard the sound of a missile leaving a launcher.

I felt my horn flare involuntarily and a small blue shield formed between us and the missile. I could feel the pressure that the missile created on my horn nearly sending me straight into the ground; the concussion of the blast send any loose debris flying in random directions. Once the missile exploded; my shield shattered like breaking glass. I could hear nothing but the pitter patter of rain. The soft smell of water filled my nostrils as I stood there in silence and shaking; my magic spent. Unable to even pick up my pistol and fight. I panted hard as I looked around to see that everywhere there were weapons aimed at Bright and me.

I couldn’t fight anymore…I was tired…I was hurting…I was bleeding in every which way…I was smiling… I looked back up at the ponies who surrounded us with heavy weapons while some were dragging off their dead friends. I chuckled a bit before, I looked down at a Bright who was looking at me with amazement. “At least one of us got out…That’s all that counts.” I muttered, the last of my available energy spent with that last sentence, I collapsed onto my side; the moment I hit the mud I saw the ponies coming at us, just before they did the world went into black.

***0ooo0ooo0***

I don’t know how long I was out, but it was long enough for me to have all of my gear taken and me getting shackled onto a wall. I looked down to see that I was at least a good foot off the ground and my forelegs stinging from the biting metal that held me up. I looked up at my fore hooves to see that dried blood was staining my grey coat.

“Celestia damn it.” I muttered as I looked toward the entrance of the cell. My EFS said that there were a few non-hostile indicators just outside the view I had from my cell; most likely guards with orders to kill me the moment I tried to escape. I took a deep breath and looked around one more time trying to figure out what can I do from here.

It took me a moment to realize that I couldn’t do anything; I tried to levitate a small bobby pin that was laying on the ground, but my magic wouldn’t pick it up. I could feel the inhibitor ring around my horn, making me curse Fancy Pants for that. I waited for what seemed like hours, but according to my Pip-Buck for which I had to strain my neck just to see the screen; it’d had only been four minutes.

The cell door opened to reveal a very familiar ghoul; he didn’t seem all to happy about Tracer escaping. Without a word he walked all the way to me, before he stopped. The word ‘Pissed’ came off of him and I knew that I was going to be hurting in a bit.

He then began chuckling. “You think you got the better of ol’ Fancy Pants!? HA! Nopony can outsmart this old ghoul! I knew you’d go after the drainage pipe so that’s why I have guards posted at the exit at all times!” he said getting a wide smile going from pissed to bat shit crazy in ten seconds flat.

His eyes were twitching with pinprick pupils as if he was jacked up on chems, but he didn’t seem to show any other sign of chem abuse. The old suit of barding his was wearing was almost falling apart; it looked like more for show than use. I chuckled for some odd reason; for which I didn’t know. “Oh yeah? Something tells me you still haven’t heard back from them since the fight?” I asked with a bit of a smirk.

“Well I…uh…” he stuttered looking for the words. He hasn’t heard from them; which meant one thing. Tracer, you bastard you did it.

I chuckled a bit more. “What’s the matter? I may not be a genius, but I can tell that you didn’t expect any of this to happen.”

That seemed to get to him as he drew his pistol and fired. The pain that shot through my side flooded my senses; the bullet going all the way through my unarmored hide. That made him laugh. “You didn’t expect that you little fuck, did ya?!” he said, the sanity was starting to leave his voice.

“This is all a set back. That’s all! This is all a set back. All I have to do is get your little friend Tracer back and everything will be back to normal! Hehehe!” he said with a crazed giggle. Yes, I said giggle. He trotted back and forth in front of me with a huge grin on his face. “Yes! I’ve got perfect idea! Oh, how I love it when I get a good idea like this!” He looked at me once again. “You’re gonna have one last fight! But, this time there isn’t gonna be any chance of you surviving this!”

The next few things were kinda hard to recall since I was losing more blood than a ghoul lost skin. He turned to me and looked at the wound. “Oh you won’t be able to fight if you’re already dead.” he turned his head and whistled. “Canvas get your fucking ass in here. He’s bleeding again!”

I heard a tired sigh. “Alright!” I saw one of the non-hostile indicators on the left side of the cell door move and made her way to the door. I saw a tired Canvas who is covered in surgical blood around her hooves; most likely from the amount of ponies that were injured during the break.

She got to me and sighed. “This’ll take a moment.” She took off her saddlebags and dug out a few items. Some healing bandages, med-x and one purple healing potion. She took the med-x into her mouth and injected it into my flank. She wrapped the bandages around my side with her mouth and hooves before putting the lip of the potion against my mouth. “Drink. It’s a regeneration potion. It’ll heal a majority of any internal injuries.” I nodded before I began drinking. I began feeling a lot better; the relief flooded through my body as fast as the pain from the bullet did.

The bleeding stopped and was being absorbed by the bandages. I looked over at Fancy Pants to see his wide grin which seemed to be the only expression that he was able to wear. “Good, now you’re able to fight! This’ll teach you better than to try to escape! You’re friend Bright took quite the beating when he woke up. I was planning on doing the same to you, but then a thought came to my head. No…more of a shout. ’Make him an example!’ Yes, you are going to be made an example! You’re gonna fight the gladiator that has refused to leave because he enjoys the fighting so much!”

He turned to Canvas with crazed glee. “He is gonna be facing the one that makes you tremble.”

Canvas’ eyes widen with fear and shock. “You mean…”

Fancy Pants turned me with the same crazed grin. “He going to be fighting Thunder Brawl!”

***0ooo0ooo0***

Fuck fuck fuck fuck. Fuck this, fuck that, fuck everything and everyone with a fucking rusty spoon! Celestia fucking damn it! I’m going to be fighting the most dangerous pony in this fucking arena other than Fancy himself! Thunder Brawl…

I’ve heard bits and pieces about him in my time here from guards and other captives. He hasn’t ever lost a fight; he may have been wounded, but never lost. A total of over a hundred fucking kills in the arena! I was left alone in a solitary cell deep down in the bottom the arena where even the rats didn’t want to come down to. It was complete silence other than the occasional dripping water and the heavy breathing I suspected to belong to Bright. Using SATS, I saw I was correct; he was bandaged severely and looked like some of the wounds were left to fester and looked several days old. I could smell him from here and it wasn’t BO.

I sighed as I sat there. My forehooves still hurt from the biting that the shackles did; Canvas some how managed to talk Fancy from his crazy lane and let me down from the shackles plus giving me the freedom to take off the inhibitor ring; blasted things, even more annoying than molerats. “What the fuck am I going to do?” I muttered to myself not actually intending to get a response.

“well, you could always shut up, be calm and think?” the voice that had named himself ‘Cheddar’ from the med bay echoed through my head making me nearly jump out of my own skin.

“What the hell?” I asked.

I heard the voice chuckle a bit. “Scared you didn’t I? I thought you knew I was still here.”

I scratched my head. “um…no. I completely forgot.” I said a bit ashamed to forget the voice that was in my head.

I could imagine a shrug. “oh well, anyways. We need to get ourselves and Bright out of this mess.”

“No shit.” I replied.

“Well, what do we know?” He asked with a tone that seemed like he knew the answer.

I shrugged. “Well, most likely the grate is welded shut with a heavy steel plate that would take hours to get off, where there aren’t guards posted there are turrets scanning for anypony without a guard escort or isn’t Fancy or Canvas. There are terminals at every doorway leading up to the arena and I think there is a staircase in the locker room incase of fires.”

“What would make you say there is a working staircase?”

“Well, in all common sense most likely the elevator didn’t work when they first got here so they had to come down here some how.”

“So turrets, Guards and need to find another way of escaping that isn’t the grate which is most likely been sealed.”

“Basically.”

“We’re fucked.”

I sighed as I nodded. “Yes…yes we are. let’s just hope that we don’t get a oiled up shotgun barrel in the ass”

I heard Cheddar chuckle a bit. “That wouldn’t be very pleasant now would it?”

I chuckled a bit as I looked out in the other cell. Bright still not moving…he already got the beating and I was going to get the execution, but I couldn’t shake the feeling to smile. “Well, we do know one thing.”

“What would that be?”

“We know that there is a way to escape this hell. If my dumbass knows this then others know that.”

“Which makes a spark of hope.”

“With a spark of hope…”

“Comes a will to fight.”

I smile as I lay on the ground in a small ball. I smiled more as I closed my eyes. “We are getting out of here; just how injured is the question.”

It felt like I just slept for a few moments before my cell door slide open with a rusted screech. I opened my eyes to see not a guard, but Canvas. I raised an eyebrow before she threw a ragged duster at me which landed on my face. “Put this on.” She said with a firm tone. I did as she said and when I did, I noticed a small leather holster on the inside that was sewn into the seem. I looked at the holster before I turned to her to see her kick a single action .357 magnum across the floor towards me. “There’s six bullets in there. That’s all you have so make them count. They won’t do much to the monster that is Thunder Brawl; so aim for the bandoleer of grenades that he wears on his chest. Be careful, though. He may just stick one up your ass.”

She turned around as I picked it up and made her way to the door. She stopped just as she exited before, turning her head towards me. “Good luck, Jack. What ever you do…just don’t stand still.” With that she closed the door.

I sat there speechless as I looked at her as she left. ‘Why did she just do this?’ I thought to myself as I checked each chamber. She wasn’t lying (What reason does she have to?) as every chamber had an unfired .357 round. I placed it into the holster where it fit nice and snug. I let the duster fall and it completely concealed the pistol. I looked down at the tattered old duster. It was old and faded brown as if it was taken off from a drifter; I looked at my Pip-Buck to see that it was called ‘Sheriff’s duster’. While I was looking at the Pip-Buck I glanced at the time before... I sighed. I had a few minutes before the fight.

“Celestia damn it, what’s with all the waiting?” I said outloud.

“Hell if I know.” Cheddar popped off.

“Shush you.” I muttered.

I was about to say something else, but the opening of the door stopped me. I looked up to see that it wasn’t Luna coming to give me a suit of impenetrable armor, but a guard that looked like she woke up on the wrong side of bed. “Get your ass up. It’s time for you to die.” I didn’t say a word as we walked up the steps to the mains cell blocks.

The whoops and hollers of the captives weren’t out of lost sanity, they were cheering. Though there are a few in there who have no mind left inside them just went with what the others were doing. I made note of the turrets that were homed in on me.

Fancy was definitely afraid of me…the spark. That’s what he is afraid of. We made our way through the cell blocks including the dark one which had fewer hostile indicators, but still a ton. We made it to the locker room and I glanced to my left. I was right on my hunch about the stairwell. It was kinda blocked off, but I noticed a small opening that I could probably fit through, maybe even Bright if he had some help.

Lemon Pepper was still gone; I feared I was correct on that… that gave me another reason to fight this one. The female guard looked at me through her mask before nodding. “Good luck, hope your death is quick.” She pressed the button closing the door; sending me up.

The long ride up in the dim elevator gave me a chance just to sit in silence; Cheddar seemed to be gone for the moment, most likely picking through my brain if a voice could do that. As I crept closer and closer to the surface I could hear the cheers of the audience.

I closed my eyes as I took a deep breath, getting a bit more relaxed. I repeated several times, managing to keep my heart rate down. The elevator stopped and I heard the doors open, flooding my ears with cries for my blood. I opened my eyes to see that a good half of the seats were filled with spectators; most of which were captives held within large cages with armed guards.

I looked straight ahead towards the other end of the arena and my eyes went wide with what I saw. He was a monster, at least a good head taller than me; his jet black mane spiked up that went across his head like a Mohawk with white lines going through each. His body was covered in what appeared to be cobbled up armor that had spikes poking out in every which way; a row of grenades inside a bandoleer was strapped across his chest.

“We’re fucked.”

“No shit.”

I stepped into the caged area where the door behind me closed. As before the speakers turned on, but this time Vocal Strummer wasn’t the announcer. “Hello, my gladiators!” Of course, he had to be the one that hosted the execution of the pony that made him look like a fool. “This is Fancy Pants taking the place of Vocal Strummer who had a sore throat from the last fight and during the ruckus that transpired which happened soon after. Speaking of which, that is the reason for today’s surprise fight between Jack Rabbit and the Amazing Thuuuunder Brawl!”

I gulped as he began reading the stats; the .357 was itching inside my duster. “Everypony knows what Jack did three days ago! The incredible fights! The number of kills racked up and if he didn’t try to fuck me over; he would’ve gotten set free!” I could smell the bullshit off that sentence. He cleared his throat as he continued. “Now, for Thunder Brawl! A monster in size, he has racked up about one hundred twenty seven kills in the arena and it took twenty two of my best collectors just to get him here alive! Now! Let’s get this show on the road!” I could hear him smashing the buzzer which unlocked the gate.

‘Don’t stand still’ Canvas’ words went through my head and I galloped as fast as my legs could carry me towards the cluster of concrete columns. I could hear the loud thud of heavy hooves against mud as he ran to me.

“Come on! Let’s get this over with!” he hollered at me as he charged me. I kept running until I got to the edge of the arena.

I looked up at the wall and stopped then, my ears perked up at the sounds of something metallic landing next to me. “Move your fucking ass!” I heard Cheddar scream in my head, making me dive. When I was in mid-air the grenade went off peppering everything within its radius; which included me! I felt some hot pieces of shrapnel dot themselves in the left side of my ass; which stung like a son of a bitch.

When I hit the ground I kept running, hearing the laughter of Thunder Brawl bellow out. “Oh, now this is getting fun!”

I began jumping between columns and slabs of concrete getting nicked by shrapnel from the grenades and getting bruised from the flying concrete! I didn’t know how long I could keep dodging the fucking grenades!

“One right under your ass!” Cheddar shouted making me jump up deploying the shield between me and the grenade before it exploded. The shrapnel was blocked by the shield, but the blast shattered my only means of protection; no matter how weak it was. The blast sent me sprawling onto the ground, but before I could get up a giant ass pony named Thunder Brawl was standing above me. “Oh nice trick squirt, but its time for you to go bye bye.”

Just as he raised his hoof to stomp on my head; I flared my horn putting my magic on all of the pins of his exposed grenades. I counted to be at least seven; that should be enough to catch his attention. “Stop! I got seven of your fucking grenade pins ready to be popped out and blow us both straight to hell!” I sounded desperate and in fact I fucking. “I know that you don’t want to be here either so I got an idea that’ll benefit both of us!”

He didn’t seem to be phased by the grenades, but he stopped his hoof and looked me in the eyes. “Go on.”

I got a smile that must have seemed crazy. “Let’s start a riot.” He raised an eyebrow. “One grenade in the right place could release the captives in the pens.”

He chuckled. “Some may get hurt because of that ya know.”

I froze thinking about that for a moment before, sighing. “The guards may be disciplined, but they are idiots. Throw a grenade at them and they’ll scatter; some will run into the pen using the captives as shields. That’ll leave the doors open. Sound like a good plan?” I said as fast as my mouth could let me.

He thought about it for a moment. “If this doesn’t work I’m gonna make sure you’re just a smear on the pavement.” He said before letting me get up. I nodded understanding that it wasn’t a threat, but a promise. Without a word from Thunder he took off his entire bandoleer and pulled a single cord. A last resort. “Throw it!” he shouted at me.

I quickly flared my horn, helping the bandoleer go over the fence and into the crowd of panicked guards. As I predicted the cell doors opened just before the grenades exploded sending a shockwave through the stands. That was definitely more than seven grenades. The first couple captives that ran out of the cages were either wounded by the shrapnel or killed. The rest began flooding out of the cages and into the stands.

I could hear Fancy over the speakers. “What! How in the hell!?!? Guards kill every single last one of them! All turrets are active so keep your keys on you!” With that the shooting began. The guards began cutting down pony after pony; blood flying everywhere, but the problem was the same as in most prisons. The prisoners outnumbered the guards. The captives overwhelmed the guards rather quickly taking their weapons and barding. I turned to Thunder who was calmly walking to his side of the arena; which ponies were beginning to flood also, like my last fight.

I looked at Thunder Brawl as ponies began trying to take him down for his barding or just to kill him for him killing their friends. I don’t know, but they weren’t getting far. He was crushing each of them with calmness, but I could tell that he was enjoying the chaos. I got free from the cluster before an Earth mare tackled me and tried to stab me with a rusty knife with a psychotic glee. “I’m gonna wear your face as a mask!”

“How about, no!” I shouted drawing the pistol from its hidden holster and firing twice.

The mare looked shocked and looked down at the two holes in her chest. “you…you weren’t supposed to have a gun…” She said before collapsing into a heap on top of me.

“Fuck!” I exclaimed as I shoved the mare off of me just before another insane captive charged me with a rusty piece of rebar in his magic. Then, like a wagon running over a dog; a slab of concrete rammed into him with such force I could hear the bones breaking. I looked at the blood covered slab with shock before I turned to a smiling Thunder. “Watch out for speeding debris!” he shouted at the now crushed and very dead captive. He looked at me with a crazed smile. “You owe me now, Jack! I know you’ll pay it so get the fuck out of here before I rip you from the inside out!” he said before he began tearing ponies apart like they were nothing, not so much tearing as smashing.

I took that as a sign and I ran for my end of the arena. I got to the elevator and opened it; thank Celestia it was empty! I went inside and pressed the button; I went down. The sounds of pure chaos were erupting on every floor. The constant gunfire and screaming seemed like the great war was happening all over again! Then, a enormous explosion rocked the elevator shaft making the cart rock back and forth.

The doors opened and I dove out just before another explosion erupted at the top of the elevator shaft sending the elevator down in the unknown depths. “Damn!” I shouted as I darted straight for the pile of junk. The explosions that have began all around the arena shook some of it loose allowing me to get past it. I ran up the stairs; the rusted struts seeming to just barely holding my own weight as I ran.

Another close explosion that basically destroyed the floor below me which took out the supports of the stairs. “Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!” I shouted as I ran as fast as my legs would carry me up the falling stairs. I was near the top level when they finally gave out from under me!

“Jump!”

I jumped as hard as I could feeling like I was going to make it. I leapt through the air with an outstretched hoof going for the door’s edge. Shock went across my face when I realized that…I wasn’t going to make it. Everything when slow as I began to fall but, before gravity could fuck me in the ass with a world of hurt a hoof grabbed mine. I swung down and hit the wall hard. I flinched a bit as I looked up to see that Bright was there pulling me up with all his strength. “Oh hell no!”

He pulled me up over the edge. I couldn’t say a word before he began spraying a 9mm SMG at a pair of armed guards who were coming around the corner. They both dropped; with that Bright spat out his SMG and looked at me. “What took you so long?” Bright asked with a chuckle; his sides still bandaged, but he was fighting and straining himself like he wasn’t hurt at all.

I was speechless as I looked at the dead guards. “Where’s Fancy Pants?!” I exclaimed as an explosion rocked the floor again nearly sending me tumbling into the abyss below.

Bright pointed to the corner where the guards came from. “I was just going after the bastard myself!” He said with a smirk before, he dashed the corner scooping up another SMG from a dead guard and checking the magazine.

I followed getting an assault rifle from the other dead guard. I managed to find a spare magazine which I stuffed in the side pocket of my duster. I peered around the corner to see that there was one large double office door with the glass still intact. The other doors along the hallway were either boarded up or burnt from ancient flames.

I looked at Bright and he nodded before taking point and I followed him, taking up the rear. We got to the door and saw that the other rooms were pretty much untouched since the bombs, all except for the double door.

Then, as Bright opened the door eight shots barked from within; all of them striking Bright in the chest, legs and neck. I saw his indicator flicker in and out for a moment then, I turned my attention to see Fancy Pants reloading his pistol. “You thought you could fuck with Fancy Pants! One of the best known ponies of Canterlot! Friends with the ministry mare Twilight Sparkle!” I didn’t hear much else as everything went to red and I charged him.

He aimed his pistol at me and fired; the bullet just grazed my cheek making blood ooze down my cheek. He couldn’t get another shot off as I tackled him to the ground knocking the pistol out of his magical grasp; I swung my rifle butt against his jaw almost tearing it off. I kept my rifle butt against his skull as I smashed the butt against it again and again and again…again. Tears were streaming off my cheeks cutting a channel through all the grim as I keep pounding his now mush head; just splattering the blood (if you’d call it blood) and gore everywhere, but I couldn’t stop. I kept going until I made sure there was nothing left of a head.

I finally stopped as I drew my .357 revolver and fired the remaining four shots into his heart; which I doubt he had…anymore. I trembled and dropped the pistol in the gore that had begun soaking into the carpeting. I looked at the pistol that laid next to Bright’s corpse. I slowly walked over to him to see that his indicator was still there. I went over to him tears still flowing as I held him in my hooves. Blood pooling all around him and staining his coat and mouth.

He looked at me with a soft smile; the life in his eyes slowly fading in and out. “Jack…I told you not to make a habit out me saving your ass…” He chuckled before he went into a coughing fit, blood spilling out the side of his mouth.

“Bright! Hold on! I’ll get you out of here!” I exclaimed trying to pick him but, he shook his head.

“No…” He said softly pushing me away a bit. “You know that’ll just get us both killed…” Bright placed his hoof on my shoulder; it was growing cold. “Th…” he struggled to breath other the blood in his lungs. “Thank you…”

I looked at him baffled. “What are you thanking me for!?” I said nearly wanting to scream; I couldn’t control the tears that were flowing, but I couldn’t care less.

“You…” he went into a coughing fit, a large amount of blood spewed out. “You gave me someone I could count on…a brother in arms…” I sat there with him speechless. “But, I want you to have something…” With a trembling hoof he pull out a set of holotags from the inside of his left ear. How he fit that in there I don’t know. “I was always deaf in this ear and I knew it would be the perfect place to hide it…” He looked at the tags in his hoof with a soft smile. “I wish I got to know my dad better than I did. Even if he was Enclave… That’s all I knew and that’s my regret…Never knowing…” he turned to me and pushed the tags to my chest. “They’re yours now…” He kept smiling, blood flowing out of his neck even more steadily.

“W-wh…I-” I stumbled for words; confused, baffled and shocked. I couldn’t speak….

“Take them…My honor… My Dreams…they’re yours now…” I flared my horn taking them from his grasp and laid his head down on the ground softly with the same smile. “Thank you…” his chest rose once more in silence and fell…fell to never rise again.

I sat there for what seemed to be hours…my eyes burned from the tears as I began screaming till my lungs were in an inferno. The explosions drowning them out so only I could hear them. I looked down at the tags and placed them against my chest. Taking the bead necklace I placed the tags around my neck.

I sat there for a moment, just silently letting the explosions get louder and louder to the point my ears began ringing. I took a deep breath as I got up and looked around the office. My eyes scanning until they landed on the pistol.

I picked it up and got a closer look at it than I did before. I studied the slide to see that it was refinished recently, but the area around two diamond shaped cuts on each side of slide right after an engraving that read ‘Shattered Harmony’ I chuckled at the name a bit. “How fitting…” I said as I looked at the rest of the .45. On the grip were four of the same diamond shaped cuts like the ones on the slide; two on each side. When I finished studying it; I placed it in my holster with a sniffle. I went to the desk to find a single key in a small drawer with a small note that read ‘For the one who bested me, Fancy Pants’ Right under the desk was a floor safe which the key did the job.

Inside was a number of moldy papers, two healing potions, bandages, a bottle of purified water and a pair of saddle bags. I grabbed the supplies, but during the grabbing the moldy papers moved to reveal five pristine holotapes and a glowing orb. I raised an eyebrow at the orb having read about memory orbs and used my hoof to place it in the bag along with the holotapes.

I went to Fancy’s corpse getting any ammo I could off of him only getting two more magazines for Shattered Harmony. I looked at a logged in terminal seeing that there was one option. ‘Open Escape hatch’ I was hesitant to press it, but I looked at Bright’s corpse. Even with the arena exploding around me I still went to another room and grabbed a curtain. I draped it across Bright’s body, as a last sign of thanks and respect.

I went back to the terminal and pressed the button. A soft hiss sounded as a hatch popped up from underneath the carpeting and opened to reveal a ladder going to down. I went over to it and began climbing down until only my head was out of the hatch as I stared at Bright‘s body. “Bright…I’ll never forget ya…” I said closing the hatch and began sliding down the rails just as an explosion sounded from what I think was the office itself. I just slide down in the darkness for a while going who knows how fast, I didn’t care. One of my only friends was dead and I basically left him…when I hit the ground I bounced off my hooves and landed hard on my ass. There were murky puddles pooling around the ladder itself, but that was most likely from the ‘Storm drain’ that was the exit. I slowly walked to it and opened it to reveal a Manehattan in dying light.

I didn’t take the time to enjoy the calm lighting as I climbed down next to the river; the statue of friendship just a speck in the fading light. When I got down I heard one more major explosion and I looked up to see a giant plume of smoke rose above; the arena with one more heavy breath finally gave way sending dust, debris, and fire into the sky. I could hear the arena burning and even a few screams of agony. My attention was drawn at the sound of hovering behind me; my indicator said it was friendly so I didn’t bother drawing Shattered Harmony or using my rifle.

The indicator belonged to a spritebot. One of those annoying propaganda bots that flew around belching out two hundred year old marching music, you know what they’re like, but this one was just staring at me as if it was studying.

Without warning I heard a soft sigh. “Your friend went to Friendship City. Your original destination. Follow the river and you’ll find it; can’t miss it.” the bot turned to the setting light. “I’d hurry if I were you, Jack. Bloodwings are coming out.” without even letting me respond it began playing the music and flew off around the corner.

“Bloodwings…” I couldn’t fathom why the bot was saying these things or how it knew my name. But, I knew one thing…It was right...I had to get to Friendship City and fast...

_________________________________
Chapter end.
Jack Rabbit: Level UP!
Tracer: unavailable
Bright Night: K.I.A.

New Perk!
Quick Shield: Level 6, A6, P6 (Rank 1 of 2) This perk allows the use of a quick response shield that can be used to dampen the effects of bullets and explosives by 40%, but can only be used when health is below 40%

Quest Perk!
Cheddar: The voice inside your head may be the result of that knot on the back of your head, but he can be useful! He acts like a second pair of eyes and ears when you aren’t paying attention which adds +1 Perception, but due to the fact that you could be seen talking to yourself results in a -1 Charisma.

Skill Note: Small Guns 50

Author's Note

Author’s Note: Finally I got this finished! I mean damn. It took me way too long and resulted me in pulling late hours to get it done. But, anyways. Thanks to my proofreaders and editors (adanger2all) who help push me all the way to get this done and Thanks to Kkat for letting us play with the world that she has so kindly created for all of us to enjoy