The Price of Freedom

"You mean..." Twilight incredulously stared at Fluttershy.

Fluttershy nodded.

"But...That's impossible."

"How else would you explain me being in such good shape after a night with him?" Fluttershy asked rhetorically. "He barely even touched me. He just gently placed me on my bed and caressed my mane a few times before smiling at me and telling me to have a rest," Fluttershy retold yesterday's events.

"It's hard to deny, that does sound like something he would do..." Twilight pondered while rubbing her chin. "But this is Hellbridge we're talking about! Hellbridge!" she shouted and threw her forelegs up in the air.

"Hey! Keep it down!" the guard scolded.

Twilight immediately calmed her voice and spoke more softly. "Are we to believe that the same living killing machine they call Hellbridge is our only hope of salvation? That every single life he took, he took in hopes that the fighting would one day end?" Twilight paused for a moment and looked deeply into Fluttershy's eyes. "Are you certain it's him?"

The link between their eyes remained unbroken for some time. After giving Twilight's words enough consideration, she gave a firm nod. "The rumors about him have been going on for some time, and it's no secret that Hellbridge is the oldest warrior in the tribe."

"It would make sense for him to be the one..." Twilight taped her hoof against her chin a few times. "It's just that..." She turned her sights away from her timid friend. "All the lives he's taken...He's been around for much longer than any other kholanari, and he slays no less than twice the amount any other warrior does in every arena match...I don't even want to attempt to do the math..." Twilight shuddered from just the thought of it.

"Fluttershy," Twilight reestablished eye contact. "At this point, to Hellbridge, taking a life is like breathing...If you're not careful with the questions you ask him..." Twilight's sad frown made it quite clear what would happen in such a situation. "I wish there was another way..." Twilight placed her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. "I can't ask you to do this, Fluttershy...but I hope you realize that there's much more than just our lives at stake here."

"I understand, Twilight," Fluttershy replied with a convincing smile on her face. "I'll do my best to ensure his cooperation."

Twilight closed her eyes from joy and hugged her friend. "Thank you, Fluttershy."

All of a sudden, a loud yawn was heard from the back of the cell block. The ponies turned their attention towards the sound, only to see Pinkie Pie stretching her limbs from an upside-down position.

"What'd I miss?"

                                                                                                        ***

Many hours later, the second match of the tournament took place in the Ponyville arena. Thus, the wicked screams and sounds of battle ensued, just as expected. This match seemed slightly shorter than yesterday's one. It was only natural, seeings how the amount of warriors participating in it was lessened since the last day.

Before long, six of the day's strongest warriors were on their way to claim their prize...The six ponies could only hope that Hellbridge would be among them.

Unsurprisingly, he was there, just as everyone had expected. Even though three of the warriors he arrived with yesterday had been replaced with ones that had proven themselves to be more capable fighter...Well, either that or merely more lucky than they were.

"As always, da first pick be yours, Hellbridge." The shaman stepped aside and presented the six ponies to the six warriors.

Hellbridge immediately set his sights on Fluttershy.

"It is not every day that a warrior as feral as Hellbridge takes a liking to someone...perhaps there is more to the shy bird than the eye can see." The shaman seemed rather amused.

Without much regard for the shaman's words, Hellbridge walked up to his favorite pony and urged her to follow him with a swift motion of his head. Just like that, the couple walked off.

"Oooh! Ha ha! And it looks like she likes ya too, mon!" The shaman laughed like a wild ape. "Only you could manage to please a vicious god of blood and war, as well as a frightened goddess of kindness and timidity, both on da same day! You're a good one, Hellbridge. That ya are." The shaman kept smiling at the amusing sight all the way up until the moment they disappeared into the shadows.

Good luck, Fluttershy... Twilight wished fortune upon her friend through her thoughts.

"Well, what are the rest of ya bunch waitin' for!?" the shaman addressed the other warriors. "Grab your whores and be out of my sight!"

"Aah!" Rarity gasped. "I am no Wh-whaaa!" As she raised her hoof to make a stand, one of the warriors grabbed her by that hoof and dragged her away.

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but snicker at the sight.

"Really, Rainbow?" Applejack stared at her rainbow-maned friend with a reproachful expression and a raised eyebrow, all the way up until the moment she also got dragged away.

"Really," Rainbow Dash admitted with more amusement than remorse in her tone. Before she could look back, she got picked up by another warrior who carried her away while holding her in his armpit. "Hey!" she protested against being carried in such an embarrassing position and crossed her forelegs.

"You were fun enough, yesterday...Hope you haven't gotten rusty." The warrior laughed quietly.

"Oh, I'll give you rusty, alright..." Rainbow Dash whispered to herself through gritted teeth.

"Gee, were you expecting a red carpet, Rainbow?" Twilight said in a slightly mocking tone. She then looked behind her and saw the next warrior staring at her as if expecting something. She let out an annoyed sigh and started walking forward. "Yeah, yeah. I get the picture."

The last warrior followed them without so much as glancing at the last pony.

Without much thinking, Pinkie Pie just started happily skipping alongside him and humming.

As the warrior directed his attention to the pink party pony, there was only a single thought coursing through his mind.

Something definitely wrong with that horse...

                                                                                                  ***

Before long, the first warrior and pony couple were already back at Fluttershy's cottage. Both of them had a feeling that there would be a lot of talking that night, so both of them made themselves comfortable. Fluttershy decided to sit in her bed, while Hellbridge placed his chosen chair closer to the bed and leaned on it's back while sitting on it in a reverse position.

"You had questions...and I promised answers." Hellbridge took off his helmet before finishing his statement. "Ask away."

"There's so much that I wanted to ask, I don't even know where to begin..."

"We have all night in store...Just start with the most interesting question, first," Hellbridge suggested.

Fluttershy gave a nod of approval and asked her first question right away. "Why are you treating me so nicely?...I thought you were supposed to..." Fluttershy turned her face away from her conversation partner and shifted her eyes towards something else for a moment. "You know..." She blushed.

Helbridge responded with a cordial laugh. "The act of love is meaningless if your partner is not the one you love."

"But I thought you do it for pleasure."

"What is pleasure for one, can be torture for the other." Hellbridge's expression suddenly turned dead serious. "Torture is not something that I'm fond of."

"But what about when you're out there? Fighting with a horde of your own kin!"

"I never torture." Hellbridge shook his head. "Those who oppose me rarely even get the chance to realize that their life is about to end."

"But...you seem so nice and kind to me, and yet..." Fluttershy paused for a moment. The question she was about to ask would no doubt clear all doubts about the man.

"Hellbridge...why do you fight?"

The two of them gazed in the eyes of each other for some time before Hellbridge finally spoke up in a solemn tone.

"I fight for those I've lost, I fight for those still alive. I fight because I must, I fight to stay alive." Hellbridge stood up as his voice got louder "I fight so that all the fighting I've done til this day would not be in vain!...I fight because I hope to see all the fighting end one day!...Not for myself, not even for my people..." Hellbridge sat back down and hung his head. "I fight for freedom."

For a short moment, total silence claimed the room. Fluttershy could only cover her mouth in awe.

"It...it really is you...You're the redeemer!"

Hellbridge immediately snapped out of his downed state and rose up from his chair. "How do you know you know that legend!?" he yelled furiously while pointing his finger at Fluttershy, leaving her a bit dazed. "Answer me!"

"I...I" Fluttershy gulped loudly. "I only know what I heard the guards whispering! I swear!" She began shaking her head "No one else but you and my friends know that I know this! I wasn't even sure if it was you, it was just a hunch! I..." She paused to take a breath.

"Forgive me," Hellbridge apologized and sat back down. He turned the chair away to not face Fluttershy face-to-face, but more like face-to-side. "I let my emotions get the best of me...that hasn't happened to me in a very long time..." he spoke softly.

Fluttershy moved a bit closer and placed her hoof on his shoulder to console him.

Hellbridge turned his head towards her. "I don't know how that rumor appeared, but it started spreading like wildfire once it did...A lot of the kholanari pointed their finger at me, since I had more motive than any of them, and to tell the truth, for a moment I actually believed that they would root me out and murder me in my sleep..."

"You said you had more motive than any of them..." Fluttershy repeated the words that she found most puzzling among Hellbridge's last statement.

The man did not answer right away. He turned his head away again before replying. "I'd really rather not talk about it," he unwillingly admitted. "All I can say is that it had something to do with my past, before my tribe became nothing more than just a band of savage killers," he gave an alternate answer.

"I understand," Fluttershy said and decided not to ask that question again.

After another short pause, Hellbridge continued from where he left off, "After I started hearing the rumors going around about me, I became ever more determined to hide my emotions...I became ruthless, brutal and merciless. I always wore a helmet to hide my emotions, and I only ever spoke when spoken to...Before long, my brothers recognized me as a soulless machine of mass murder, and the rumors died soon afterwards...I never thought I'd hear that name again, especially from someone other than my own brothers."

Silence engulfed the room. Fluttershy gave the man some time to dwell in his thoughts before asking another question.

"How do you plan to make the fighting stop?"

"The only way possible," Hellbridge quickly replied. "I once had hopes that our race could be severed from their bond with the blood god, but I'm no longer as naive as I once was...The only way to end this endless cycle of slaughtering innocents is to kill every single kholanari tribesman there is."

As Hellbridge spoke, Fluttershy sensed a lot of anger in his voice, as well as a lot of pain and sorrow.

"You would go up against your own people?"

With his fists clenched tightly, Hellbridge spoke without facing his conversation partner, "The last of my people died decades ago...The men that fight alongside me now are just spiritless bodies born from hatred. Corrupted souls that are being manipulated by a twisted god. Living weapons - tools created to kill innocents...Whatever once made them human no longer exists."

Fluttershy watched his anger grow as the conversation went on. She had to give him time to calm himself after each question.

"But why haven't you tried to do that before?...How many more have to die before you make a stand?" Fluttershy asked without giving her words much thought.

"Do you really think it would be that easy?" Hellbridge retorted. "There are five clans full of warriors that would tear the limbs off their own mothers just to please their god, and there's just one of me."

"I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to sound rude. I just..."

"It's alright," Hellbridge consoled her. "I didn't mean to yell like that." He apologized and smiled at the pony that gladly returned the smile. "Sadly, I am in a situation where I cannot afford to try anything. If I go for it, I have to go all in...Either they die or I do, and if it's me, then the hopes of every other race that they'll ever come across dies with me."

"You're not alone anymore, Hellbridge." The pink-maned pegasus smiled at him.

The kholanari gladiator smiled right back at her. "I was mainly waiting for two things before the beginning of my uprising," he explained. "First of all, I had to wait until the rumors had cleared so that the element of surprise would be on my side...I suppose this is as good as it's going to get...If I keep on waiting for them to completely fade from everyone's memory, then I fear that I'd no longer have any race left to liberate."

Hellbridge looked upon Fluttershy, and through the look in her eyes, he already knew her next question.

"Second - I needed allies...Powerful allies, allies that I could trust." He looked into the eyes of his companion. "And it seems like I have that now." Hellbridge stood up and then knelt on one knee in front of the bed Fluttershy was lying on. "Would Equestria be that ally?" he formally asked. "Would you fight by my side, til death do us part?"

Fluttershy couldn't help but blush a little because of the scene that reminded her of a marriage proposal. "I...uhh...I mean - we would!"

"Then it's settled!" Hellbridge stood up and raised one of his swords up high. "For too long have the kholanari been delivering death upon unsuspecting civilizations...It's high time someone turned the tables on them." He sheathed his weapon before continuing. "Warn your friends as soon as you get the chance. We've no time to lose! This has to happen tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow!?" Fluttershy cried out.

"Of course!" Hellbridge immediately replied. "If we delay this for so much as another day, all of your friends will be impregnated..."

Fluttershy gasped loudly.

"I thought you knew..." Hellbridge quietly added.

"I knew the tournament lasted three days, but no one ever told me why..." she admitted with a touch of sadness in her tone.

"Our tribe needs time to recover after every tournament. ninety four out of a hundred warriors fall during every tournament, and the victors - the strongest among the one hundred live on to create a new generation of even stronger kholanari."

"But then..." A single tear slid down Fluttershy's cheek as she realized something incredibly dreadful. "How many of your own sons have you had to kill?..." she asked in a shaky voice.

"They were never really my sons," Hellbridge replied with little emotion in his tone. "They are the sons of Nor'Kholan."

Even though there was truth in the man's words, it still felt unsettling to hear him speak of his own children as nothing more than just more meat for the arenas.

"But how come there are no women in your tribe? And doesn't it take years for just the six of you to bring your clan back to full strength?"

Hellbridge didn't mind the double question. He found it easy to answer both at once. "The blood of Nor'Kholan comes with it's own benefits...as well as a wicked curse." He switched to a more dramatic tone. "Because of the strength of our blood, the kholanari warriors can only produce more warriors...Apparently Nor'kholan didn't care as much for the race's survival as he did about it always being strong," he explained and switched back to a more casual tone.

"As for the growing process, our god has also seen to that. Because of how restless and tenacious our blood is, it can't stand still without jumping into a fight. Thus, the time it takes for a pregnant female to produce offsprings is usually no more than five days, and even after leaving their mother's stomach, the young kholanari don't cry, they grow so fast that they're already running on their own on the next day. Another day after that, most of them can already swing swords with ease. Give or take three more days and they're already itching to test their resolve in a real fight," he explained as though he was in a hurry.

"Oh my..." Fluttershy covered her mouth. "This Nor'Kholan sounds powerful...What if he interferes?"

Hellbridge paused for a moment and then sighed with a touch of desperation in his tone. "Sadly, all we can do is hope that doesn't happen."

Both of them hung their heads and didn't say a word for some time.

"There is, however, something that could help us ensure that Nor'Kholan can't intervene."

"There is?" Fluttershy asked in disbelief.

Hellbridge nodded. "The shamans. They are the spiritual leaders of the clans. Only they can speak to the god directly...If they should fall, then not only will that ensure that the blood god can't support them, it will also release your magic users from their grip. An advantage we must secure, if we are to win."

There were no more questions to be asked now. With a confident and courageous smile on her face, Fluttershy jumped off her bed and got into position for a fight. "Then lets not waste anymore time!"

"Easy there, young fighter." Hellbridge laughed warmly. "We still need to wait for your friends.

"Oh..." Fluttershy smiled sheepishly and jumped back into her bed. "Right."

Hellbridge walked closer to her and squatted down to match her eye level. "Before we go in, I need to fill you in on all the details of my plan."

Fluttershy answered with a firm nod. "I'm all ears."

"All right..." He clapped his hands against one another before continuing. "This is what you need to tell all your friends, once you see them..."