Fallout Equestria: Blitz's Storyby Rainbowfan45Chapters1. The Truth2. The Choice3. And So it Begins4. Found5. No More Time for RestThe Backstory1. The TruthBeep beep beep beep "Ugh, stop it already!" A brown foreleg shot out, knocking the intruding alarm clock off its perch on the bedside table. It hit the floor with a clattering sound...landing in the growing pile of its predecessors that had also dared to intrude on their owner's sleep. One would have thought she would just not set an alarm at all. Groaning, and now unable to return to dreamland, Blitz Anomaly swung her body slowly out of bed. She would have prefered hours more sleep but, as usual, that wasn't happening. She slid into a clean suit and checked her pipbuck for today's list of tasks. "Damn it, another meeting with Scarlet Edge?!" She muttered, disgruntled. She hated that crimson coated, red eyed, cold hearted snob...especially since she was known to be one of the most mean and cruel of all the unicorns in the Stable. The knife cutie mark she bore on her flank, with the blade partially coated in blood, testified to her position as the Overmare's official "executioner". Blitz huffed. "Stupid unicorn." She growled. "Only thing she's ever done right was helping me earn my cutie mark." She snorted, then scowled at the memory. Scarlet had come to her, supposedly very upset, and told her a young earth pony slave had gotten out of thier cell and was loose somewhere trying to escape. All unicorns were busy except her and Blitz, and would Blitz please get her flank out of her room and help track him. Blitz growled again. She should have known it was a setup...Scarlet never asked her for help. But she had obliged, and had found the young slave cowering in a lower vault looking absolutely terrified. Her stomach knotted remembering the moment their eyes met, and his panicked pleas. "Don't send me back...please...just kill me...don't send me back." he'd begged, horror etched on his face "You have to go back." She had returned, trying not to sound as sympathetic as she felt. "You should have known you couldn't escape. How the hell did you get out anyway?" "I...she...let me out..." he mumbled. "Brought me here and said to not move or she'd kill me..." "Who did and why?" She demanded. "S-Scarlet...she said...it was a test. For you..." he cringed away from her. Enraged, she had to take several breaths. So that conniving bitch had decided to force her to accept the slavery of the Stable by sending her after one. "Its not your fault." She nudged him. "Let's go." "Please...no...just end me. Please!" She took him back, and turned him over to Scarlet, in spite of all her doubts. "Good, you found him. And now what happens to those who attempt escape, hmm?" Scarlet's eyes had glowed with glee, and Blitz had no time to react before she'd drawn the knife she carried and rammed it through the slave's throat. He sank down in a pool of his own blood, gurgling and thrashing briefly before he stilled. Blitz, outraged at being tricked, and with what she had just witnessed, unexpectedly attacked the other mare less than an hour later...cornering her in her room as she was getting ready to go to bed. "Blitz, what the hell are you doing in here?!" "You thought I'd walk away from earlier calmly and never address it? You stupid bitch. You used me. You used him. And then when it was over, and both of us were no longer needed for your damn purposes, you killed him in cold blood and you turned your back on me." "It was neccessary. The Overmare-" "-can go fuck herself with red hot iron." Blitz snarled. "And so can you. I will never fucking agree with the way things are, so leave me the hell alone!" "Blitz, everypony has to accept our ways sooner or later. Stop bucking against the system. It works. Live with it." "Oh fuck you! And by the way, this is for earlier!" She had attacked, and gotten in several blows before other unicorns arrived to pull her off. And when all was said and done, she noticed the glow on her flank, and there was her cutie mark. It hadn't taken much to figure out what it meant. It meant her talent was unexpected attacks, from any direction, that were against normal attack procedures. Meaning nopony would ever see her coming. Maybe not the mark she expected, or the mark she hoped for, but at least she knew her destiny now. She shook herself out of her thoughts and left her room, heading to the recreation room she knew Scarlet would be waiting for her in. To her surprise, the Overmare was also present this time. "Ah, Blitz." She smiled what could only be described as an unfriendly smile. "So good of you to finally join us." Meaning she was almost an hour late and they were angry. Blitz shrugged, not caring. "Overslept. Alarm malfuctioned." Partially true. "Yes, well, have a seat." The Overmare pointed to a chair. "I'll stand." "Blitz. My dear mare. This will be a long chat, and-" "It'll be longer unless you get to the damn point, Overmare. And don't call me dear." Blitz barely refrained from snarling. The Overmare blinked at being addressed that way. But then Blitz was well known for against the normal, expected behaviours, as well as for bucking against any authority she did not agree with. "Very well, suit yourself." The Overmare cleared her throat. "Your skills at detecting unexpected attacks and also carrying them out have not gone unnoticed." "And?" Blitz narrowed her eyes. "There has been unrest among the slaves, and we fear they may be planning something. We would like you to figure out what it is so we can stop it." "And I would agree to this why?" "If they plan to revolt or some such thing as that, your intervention would stop it and save valuable lives." The Overmare answered. "Valuable lives as in unicorn lives." Blitz returned. "Well yes, of course." "You know where I stand on this." Blitz growled. "We know, Blitz." Scarlet spoke up. "But damn it, can you not cooperate for once in your life?! This is serious." "How do I know its not some fucking trick like before?" Blitz's eyes locked into Scarlet's, animosity clear. Scarlet didn't flinch, nor did she look away. "I can assure you the threat is potentially real." The Overmare intervened coolly. "Can you blame them?" Blitz said hotly. "Would you like being forced to work against your will all the time? Or deprived of roaming freely through the Stable? Hmm?" "Blitz, I know your opinions on this. But believe me, this is neccessary. We as unicorns are-" "-'a far more superior and much more worthy race of ponies and as such deserve far more than the lower class known as the earth ponies'. I know, I've heard that more than enough times." Blitz scowled. "Fine, whatever. I don't want to, but you'll find a way to trick me into it and fuck that. What do you want from me?" The Overmare nodded at Scarlet, who left the room, then looked back at Blitz. "We have a slave who I believe you may be able to get info from that she refuses to give to us. I am giving you full control over her, do what you want with her, but get that information out of her." Before Blitz could answer, Scarlet re-entered, dragging a young earth pony mare behind her in her magic. The slave looked like she had been through multiple interrogations already. Blood, both dried and wet, was matted into her grey coat, and multiple bruises were also visible. She looked worn, beaten, and even a bit fearful as she was roughly dumped on the floor in front of Blitz. "She's all yours." Scarlet stated, almost gleefully. "And by the way, she is pretty decent at sexual interactions...with the right motivation. You should try her out." Blitz felt like throwing up on the spot. Using these slaves for hard labour was bad enough...using them for one's own sexual pleasure was something else entirely. She barely contained her disgust as she looked at the Overmare. "Am I dismissed?" "Oh, certainly." The Overmare strode out, and Scarlet followed with a snicker. "Enjoy your new toy, Blitz." Growling, Blitz looked down at the mare still cowering on the floor, her frightened emerald green eyes looking up in uncertainty and dread. Gritting her teeth, Blitz lit her horn and lifted her to her hooves, steadying her as she let her lean against her own body for support. "Come on." The mare did not protest or argue as she was taken along the corridor to Blitz's room. Blitz made sure the door was shut, then eased the mare onto her bed, not caring about the blood that got on her blankets. She then carefully prodded her with her magic, testing for injuries. "Ahh..." the mare whimpered as a particularly tender bruise was poked. "Sorry." Blitz stopped instantly. She got water and a cloth and started cleaning the blood out of the mare's fur, being as gentle as she could. "W-why are you being nice?" Blitz sighed. "I know I do nothing about how you're treated, but that doesn't mean I approve. I've seen how my kind treats yours, and...I'm sorry." The mare grimaced. "You...have not seen all of it, miss...um..." "Blitz. My name is Blitz." "Blitz." "Mhm. What's your name?" "S143." "Thats...not a name." "It's a number. Means Slave 143. We are not even considered worthy of names." "Damn unicorns..." Blitz muttered. "How about I call you...Sunshine?" It was the first S name she thought of. "Call me whatever. I'm your slave now." Blitz grimaced. "No. Maybe to them, but not to me." S143...Sunshine stared intensely at her. "You are unlike any other unicorn I've met in this Stable. You actually care." "Yeah...yet I do nothing. Why? Because even I am not stupid enough to buck against an entire group of unicorns. Besides, what is the worst you go through? I've seen the beatings...and they're bad. I've seen you worked nearly to death." "You have never seen the Sanctum." This quiet assertion made Blitz freeze, and she looked at Sunshine, arching an eyebrow. "The...Sanctum?" "You don't know it, do you?" "I have never heard of it." "Figures. Only the Overmare and that knife weilding butcher and a few others ever use it." "What is it?" Sunshine's eyes met hers, with a haunted look, and it took a few tries to answer. "The Sanctum is a torture chamber, Blitz. If you go in...you come out horribly disfigured or worse, dead. They use it to see what new and absolutely horrible things they can do to us. And sometimes, they drag one of us in to watch them do it. You can't begin to imagine the sights...the sounds. The screams." Blitz looked positively ill. "I...but..." "The mutilations are gruesome and bloody." Sunshine pressed on, off in another world now. That world. No doubt hearing and seeing all those things in her mind. "I have seen them, Blitz...slowly and painfully carving up my friends, my family, leaving nothing but bloody carcasses." Blitz nearly threw up at the description, and it took a few deep breaths before her stomach settled a little bit. "Fuck them." She managed weakly. "Fuck those stupid unicorns. I can't...how can they be so cruel...?" "The worst of them is the one you call Scarlet." Sunshine murmured. "To us, she is the Butcher. She smiles at our fear, she laughs at the screams. She makes everything as painful as possible." "I'll fucking kill her." Blitz growled in rage. "Blitz..." "Sunshine, where is this Sanctum?" "Located a vault below, but Blitz...no...the horrors..." "I am going to see for myself." Blitz stood. "You stay here. I'll return soon." Despite protests, she left her room and made her way to the vault below, determined to find this place of utter cruelty. It was easier than she thought. She rounded a corner and saw a wickedly chuckling Scarlet walking to a door, sharpening her already gleaming blade with magic as she walked. Blitz stayed out of sight, tagging along, and watched as Scarlet entered a pass code and entered the room. She ducked in hastily before the door closed and found herself in a dim little area, like a hallway. At the end were lights, and Scarlet was walking that way, cackling to herself. "Oh, what victim shall I use today?" Blitz started after her, then promptly froze as a blood curdling scream of agony sounded, seeming to echo all around her. A panicked, sobbing voice reached her ears. "No...no..no please...please don't...no! NO!" Another scream. Blitz pushed forward, in spite of her churning stomach. She had to know. Her slow steps carried her to the end of the corridor, and she peeked around the door. She immediately gagged. The room was filled with terrifying items one could only describe as torture items. Chains, knives, saw blades, branding irons. They lined the walls, their presence seemingly mocking any pony that entered. Tables with straps stood in the center of the room, a couple of them holding earth ponies strapped down and begging for mercy. Mutilated and blood soaked corpses hung from hooks like decorations. The walls and floor were speckled and splashed with blood and gore. A cackling sound drew her attention to Scarlet, who had stepped up to one of the two trembling ponies, a young stallion, her blade pressing against his throat. "Why don't I start with you?" She purred in an almost cheerful tone. "You want to play, right?" "No...no...please..." he begged in terror. Scars lined his body, a sign he'd been tortured before. Blitz was having trouble refraining from vomiting, wanting to leave yet somehow rooted to the spot. "What's that?" Scarlet grinned. "You DO want to play? Oh good!" Her knife slid down, along his chest and belly, and Blitz cringed at his frightened sobs. Scarlet stopped, just above his private parts, grinning evilly. He whimpered and tugged at his restraints in vain. She moved down to one hind leg, and applied pressure above his hoof, dragging the knife back up as he screamed. She repeated it with his other back leg, leaving flaps of skin that she took hold of with her magic. Blitz realised with horrifying clarity what was going on, and part of her screamed to stop it, while she remained glued to her current spot. Scarlet's magic pulled forcefully at the flaps of skin, tearing them upwards, ripping them from the flesh and bone as blood spurted out from torn vessels and veins. His screams grew louder with each pull as she effectively skinned him alive. Blitz had finally had more than she could take. She tried to stop herself, but she failed and ended up emptying what little contents her stomach held out onto the floor, drawing Scarlet's attention to herself. She saw the look of disbelief, then wicked amusement. "Well well." "Y-you sick bitch...I'll-" was all she got out, before collapsing in a heap as everything went black. 2. The ChoiceWhen she finally regained her senses, she was laying in her bed, Scarlet and the Overmare standing by. Sunshine was cowering back from Scarlet as the psycho mare kept flashing evil grins at her. "Oh good, you're awake." The Overmare sounded only slightly thrilled. "Scarlet tells me you found your way into our, ahem, experiment lab." Blitz knew if she spoke right now she was going to unload all the fury and rage she could only have ever imagined feeling, so instead she gave a single nod. "Ah. Unfortunate." The Overmare shook her head. "If you were interested, you should have asked. We would have started you out in the less extreme lab." Blitz couldn't believe there were two of those torture chambers in the Stable. She swallowed the urge to throw up again...barely. "I want nothing to do with those." "Understandable. Not all ponies can stomach the tests we run there." The Overmare feigned sympathy. "You will not be expected to assist." Blitz clenched her teeth. "Leave us." She said, aiming it at the Overmare and Scarlet. "Blitz..." Scarlet began. "Fucking leave before I kill you." Blitz growled. The two withdrew and Blitz slammed the door shut with her magic. She shut her eyes and groaned, sensing Sunshine drawing close to her. "You saw?" The mare asked softly. "I saw." Blitz struggled not to gag. "You were right. Its a torture chamber. I can't..." She stopped and took a breath, her expression hardening. "This cannot go on. It must be stopped." Sunshine blinked. "H-how?" "Sunshine...I hate to ask this of you... but if I'm going to succeed I need your help." "What do you need?" "How good are you at acting?" Another blink. "What do I need to do?" "First of all, I need you to know I will never hurt you. Not like them. But...in order to pull this off, I need to uh, kinda rough you up a little. Or act like I am, anyway." Sunshine looked confused. Blitz sighed. "Its like this..." ==============*******============= After explaining her plan to Sunshine, which the slave mare eagerly agreed to help with, Blitz took a long nap. She awoke about midnight and quickly checked to be sure her suit had everything she needed. She strapped a knife belt to her waist, and nodded at Sunshine. "Go to your place, quietly!" Sunshine vanished noiselessly. Blitz tapped into her pipbuck, pulling up the info she needed. She made her way cautiously along the corridor, taking care to make no noise and making sure to note the positions of any dots. She made it to her destination without being spotted. Luckily, Sunshine had expertly gained the access code to the Overmare's office while she napped, and getting in was a breeze. With a bit of searching, she was able to locate the passcode to open the Stable door, and after loading it into her pipbuck, she pulled up the location of the slave cell block and headed there. Again no sign of any pony. The slaves were stunned to see her and at first cowered back. "Shhh." She whispered. "I'm here to help you get out. Sunshine...I mean S143 told me to tell you to trust me completely." Not exactly, but a little white lie was better than failing this mission. The slaves were very cooperative then. Apparently Sunshine was very well liked. It took some doing, but soon a group of approximately 50 slaves was being led quietly through the Stable to the door. Blitz had them hide, then looked to the door. The gaurds were right there, talking in low voices. A movement let her know that Sunshine was in place, and she drew a baton from a nearby stack of crates and gave a signaling wave to Sunshine's hideout. The slave mare reacted instantly, running out and right for the gaurds. Blitz waited, but not long. Timing was everything for this plan. She had to be sure she got ahold of Sunshine before the gaurds so she would not be injured, but they needed to be drawn away from the control panel. "Hey you! Stop!" One gaurd yelled. Both ran towards her, and she swerved to avoid them. Blitz immediately went into action, running forward at a slow pace, faking being totally out of breath. "St-stop her!" She called out, between gasps that any pony paying attention would have known were fake. "Don't let her get away...whew...gah...too fast..." The gaurds listening and continued to chase Sunshine, who kept going in circles, keeping them focused on her. Blitz waited a second to be sure they weren't watching, then motioned to the others' hiding place. The "get ready" signal. They would only have mere seconds to run out of there between the door opening and the arrival of the Overmare...as the door being opened was loud. She rapidly entered the passcode, took a breath, counted to three, and hit "enter". The door creaked and squealed as it slowly opened. "NOW!" she yelled. The slaves raced from hiding and straight for the Stable door, but halfway there a sickeningly familiar voice called out over a loudspeaker. "Not so fast! You are going nowhere!" The Overmare. Unicorns started pouring in at that moment, looking gleeful. This had not been expected. At least not this quick. "Oh fuck." Blitz muttered. These slaves were trusting her, and she'd be damned if she was going to let them down. She leaped away from the control panel, her magic catching up multiple batons and other items for weapons and putting them in the slaves' hooves. "This is your only chance!" She yelled. "Fight!" The unicorns attacked, and the slaves had the sense to put up their weapons and fight back. Blitz herself was right in the middle of it, despite not being a very skilled fighter, knocking her fellow unicorns left and right. She took particular pleasure in bashing her baton down onto Scarlet's skull, knocking her out cold. The slaves fought thier way to the door and out of it, with Blitz at thier rear beating back any unicorns that tried stopping them. "Fuck you!" She yelled with almost each one she struck, her rage boiling over. All the slaves were out the door now, and Blitz was backing up, warily watching the unicorns that stared back dazed and weakened. Then she heard a cry. Her gaze went the direction of the sound, and to her horror she saw Sunshine caught by two unicorns, fighting to get free. Blitz weighed her options, and then started forward. "Blitz! No! Go back!" Sunshine cried. "Save the rest! Leave me here!" "Fuck no." Blitz returned, knocking ponies out of her way as she approached. "You're getting out of here too, Sunshine." She beat the two unicorns back, catching Sunshine in her magic and turning. Unfortunately, there was now a mass of recovered unicorns in her way. She blinked, mind racing. She had only one option as the ponies converged on her and the Stable door began to close. Summoning all the magic power she had, she levitated Sunshine up high and flung her through the door. She landed in a heap, scrambling up and looking back. Their eyes locked for one second before the door slammed shut. Blitz heaved a sigh. At least in the wasteland the slaves had a better chance of living than here. She had intended to be right behind them but- "AHHH!" She yelled as something slammed painfully into the back of her head. She fell, and looked up to see a smirking Scarlet. "The Overmare wants a word with you." This before a second blow landed, knocking her almost senseless. With her head spinning, she had no power to even resist as she was dragged to whatever fate awaited her for her crime against the Stable. 3. And So it Begins"Here she is, Overmare!" Scarlet sang out as she roughly threw her prisoner to the floor. "Well well well, Blitz." The Overmare's voice dripped with venom as her dark eyes blazed. "What am I to do with you?" "You tell me." Blitz snarled. The Overmare tensed, her expression hardening, then her face relaxed into a slightly less threatening look, though her eyes remained cold. "Have a seat, Blitz." She pointed at a chair. "No thanks." "Sit in the fucking chair, damn it!" Scarlet snapped, yanking her up and throwing her into it. "It may be the last time you do!" Her grin was evil, and almost cheerful too. Blitz swallowed her fear and glared at the Overmare. "So what now?" She said. "You have no need of me now. Unless you are gonna make me an example to the other unicorns." "Blitz. Do you know what you have done?" The Overmare stared at her intensely. "Yeah, I freed all the slaves from you and your fucking torture chambers!" Blitz snapped. Scarlet snickered and the Overmare grinned unpleasantly, tapping her front hooves together. "You are partially correct, Blitz." "What do you mean, partially?" Blitz demanded. "There's no slaves left! I let them all go." "You let the grown ones go." Blitz suddenly had a sickening feeling in her gut. "What do you mean? There are no other slaves." "Oh but there are, Blitz." The Overmare's unpleasant grin remained. "You see, we kept the adult slaves in that cell block. Do you wonder why the slaves were seemingly so willing to obey our every command?" "What the fuck did you do?" Blitz growled. "We merely took thier children." The Overmare chuckled at Blitz's slackjawed expression. "Yes, Blitz. We took thier young, and we put them elsewhere to raise them and train them to be good slaves. And as they grow to be adults, we move them in with the others while removing older slaves and exterminating them. Or using them in our labs. This way we are never over-run with them." Blitz was stunned silent. So the Overmare continued almost gleefully. "Now we will have to start over, which means the children will now become full slaves. Oh they aren't adults as yet, but we have no choice. Plus we will have to use some of them in our labs." "Ohhhh yesssss." Scarlet licked her lips and grinned, eyes gleaming. "The screams of the young are so much better to my ears than the grown ones. Such new, raw, delicious terror. Such innocence and blood that lies untouched." She cackled joyfully, and Blitz shuddered. "You are not ponies." She said. "You're fucking psychotic monsters!" "Mmmm. Perhaps." The Overmare chuckled. "But then, you are as well. Because whether you know it or not, you have benefitted from our experiments." "What?" "You remember the butchered ponies, right, Blitz?" Scarlet purred in her ear. "Surely you do. What do you think we do with all that perfectly good meat?" Blitz gagged as the meaning sank in, and the Overmare lazily threw a trash can at her in time for her to throw up into it. Scarlet was laughing maniacally, clearly enjoying watching this. "You see, Blitz, you took away the only protection these children had. So now, its thier time to fill their parents' places." The Overmare stated calmly. "You're sick...they're foals, you fucking bitch! How could you!" "Ah. Well, they have been used before. On rare occasions, when the adults were not enough, I have given a foal to Scarlet." "Yes! It's so fun to hear them scream, and watch them fight." Scarlet giggled. Blitz grimaced. The adults were bad enough. But how anypony could love torturing children...she nearly threw up again. "Well! That's enough of that." The Overmare chuckled slightly. "Now about you, Blitz. Obviously I cannot allow such a thing to go unpunished, so the question is, what do I do with you?" Blitz was pretty sure killing her was not an option. From what she knew of these two monsters, that would be far too merciful. And they were anything but. "Ah! I know!" The Overmare looked at Scarlet. "Take her to the lab she snuck into. Do what you will to her, but make sure you do not kill her. When you're done, let me know, I will open the door and she can join her slave friends in the wasteland." "Oh gladly!" Scarlet cackled happily. The Overmare's magic caught Blitz, stripping off her Stable suit before also removing the pipbuck. "You leave with nothing." She said to Blitz. "And I assure you, death in the wasteland is worse than anything we could do to you here." "No." Blitz managed. "I thought the wasteland was just outside the Stable door...full of monsters and evil and horrors. But I have already experienced it, and so have the slaves." "Is that so?" The Overmare grinned. "The wasteland begins in here." Blitz said angrily. "Only worse. And someday, if I live through what you do to me here today, I promise you I will avenge the blood of the slaves you've killed, you psychotic bitch." The Overmare's hoof connected with her face, knocking her to the floor. Scarlet picked her up, giggling madly. "Make her suffer as much as possible." The Overmare said, with a dismissive wave of her hoof. "Her screams are going to rival any scream from any slave we ever had in the lab." Scarlet promised, grinning. Blitz struggled futilely as she was carried out in the crimson glow of Scarlet's magical aura. The mare cackled again as she headed along the corridors. "Oh, Blitz. Blitz, Blitz, Blitz. Heheheheh. Oh I have just the plans for you. You are going to beg for mercy, plead for your life, then beg to be killed. I hope you like pain, Blitz, because when I play with you...there will be alot of pain." Remembering the "play" with the stallion in the Sanctum, Blitz felt her stomach churn. She wanted to escape but wasn't sure she could. Scarlet's magic grip on her was tight, nearly suffocating. She honestly did not want to know what horrific plan this maniac had in mind. Whatever it was, she knew it did not include killing her. But she had no doubt there were forms of torture far worse than death. "You think you'll get away with this?" She demanded angrily...hoping that the rage boiling inside her would be enough to keep her sanity intact through whatever Scarlet put her through. "Oh but we do, Blitz." Scarlet grinned at her, levitating her along in front of her now. "We do. No pony but you has ever dared question the system." Blitz grimaced. "Or maybe they have and you killed them." "All that's needed if a pony shows signs of bucking the system is to take them to the Sanctum. Then tell them they could easily be next, even though they are Unicorn." Scarlet snickered. "It works every time." "Then why was I not taken there?" "Because you are special case, Blitz. The Overmare has watched you carefully. While you didn't approve of the slavery, you did not actively do anything about it except tell us to leave you alone." Blitz was starting to wish she hadn't been like that...she would have known of these things sooner and could have helped. Somehow. "Great...so there was no need to scare me." "No but I wish there had been." Scarlet smirked. "I personally would have shown you some of my finest work in the lab." "I saw it." "Oh the stallion? Blitz, you are so naive. Do you honestly believe that was my finest work? Hmmm?" She levitated the squirming unicorn close to her face. "I have cut ponies open and removed their organs piece by piece with them still alive. I know how carve them up so they remain alive to feel every last bit of pain until I either stop thier heart or remove their heads." She sounded so pleased with herself. Blitz gagged. If she made it out of this alive, she would return one day and end these insane ponies slowly and painfully. By now, Scarlet had arrived at her destination: the Sanctum door. She opened it with the passcode and walked in, going down the little corridor. Blitz steeled herself against the sights she knew to expect, but it didn't stop her stomach from growling painfully as she once more found herself face to face with the horrible blood splattered room. She really didn't want to be here. And suddenly, in that moment, she was struck by a sudden extreme sympathy and understanding towards the countless slaves who had seen this room. In this moment, as Scarlet roughly slammed her down on one of the tables and started strapping her in place, she was well aware of how the slaves felt. The rising panic was nearly suffocating, her chest tightening as raw fear unlike any she had ever felt surged through her body. "Well now, Blitz." Scarlet stood in front of her, her favourite knife in her magical grasp, the blade gleaming wickedly at her. "Now you get first-hoof experience on how I play. I warn you, I play rough. Very rough. You'll feel pain, alot of pain, and likely you'll scream and beg. That's perfectly normal and definitely encouraged. Don't worry." Blitz glared. "If you think you're gonna make me plead, you don't know me at all." "Everypony breaks at some point." Scarlet said cheerfully. "Sooner or later, they beg for their lives. Plead for me to stop. If they scream loud enough, i might actually give them a few minutes to get their breath before we keep playing." "You are the lowest of the low, Scarlet. A pyscho that deserves nothing less than to suffer exactly what you have made the slaves suffer. Someday...someday I will fucking make you pay for every drop of slave blood you've spilled with your own blood." "You won't survive long enough for that." Scarlet pressed the knife blade to her throat. "Oh you'll live through your playtime with me, Blitz, but you will be so bad off you won't last an hour in the wasteland." "I'll last." Blitz snarled. "I think not." Scarlet straightened. "But enough chat. We're here to play. You ready to play, Blitz?" "No." "Excellent. Then let's play." Blitz tensed as Scarlet drew the knife point lightly down along her chest to her belly, creating a tickle that under any other circumstance would have made her laugh. She gritted her teeth, waiting, trying to brace herself for the second that the blade would pierce the skin. It never came. Instead, Scarlet slid the knife into its sheath and turned to study the implements along the walls. Blitz tried not to look at them, not wanting to further increase her sense of panic. Scarlet's crimson aura took hold of a long object. "You know, this will do for the first thing." She floated it past Blitz's head, and Blitz suddenly wished she would just up and die right then. The object was a branding iron...long, black steel rod with a carefully crafted S on it. "Since you seem so taken with slaves, Blitz, how would you like sharing their brand?" It was then that Blitz recalled something she had seen but failed to mentally compute when looking over Sunshine. The mare had had S143 on her flank, looking like it had been drawn on with black paint...only Blitz now realised with sickening certainty that it had been branded on her. Her eyes locked into Scarlet's. "You really enjoy this, don't you? Watching them squirm, hearing them scream? What, do you get off on it? What sort of sick, twisted pleasure do you get out of it?" "Mmm. I'm afraid that's something you will never understand." Scarlet chuckled as she placed the iron into a ready furnace that blazed with a roaring fire. She redrew her knife and approached Blitz. "Let's do the first half of this brand eh? I have to mark exactly where to put it." Blitz couldn't stop the terrified shudder as she felt the blade trace over the cutie mark on her left flank. Scarlet giggled, and studied the mark for a moment before she straightened. "I think a perfect location is right HERE!" With the final word of that sentence, she sank her knife deeply into Blitz's flank, and it took every ounce of willpower she had for the trapped unicorn not to scream at the sudden pain. But then it got worse. Scarlet very slowly and with movements she had to know would be the most painful, she calmly cut the flesh until she had sucessfully removed the entire mark, leaving behind a gaping and bloody hole. Blitz's body was trembling from the pain and the effort it was taking to not scream her head off. Her vision was blurry from tears she could not hold back. Scarlet snickered, and her magic caught the ready iron as she brought it over. It glowed a brilliant red-orange, and Blitz could feel the heat as her torturer passed it in front of her face, letting her see it. "You're going to love this one, Blitz." Scarlet said cheerfully. Then she giggled. "No wait, I'M the one that will love it." Blitz opened her mouth to say something, but just at that moment was a loud sizzling noise, and the smell of burning flesh. A split second later a pain unlike any she could have ever imagined registered in her brain. It rushed through her entire body like a wave of water, and her mouth opened wider as her breathing momentarily stopped. Scarlet pushed the iron harder against her, burning that "S" deeply into her flank where her cutie mark had been. Blitz jerked and thrashed in agony as she drew enough of a breath to let out a long and very loud scream, and then her entire world went black. ---------------------------********-------------------- She didn't know how long she was out, but when she regained conciousness, she was still strapped to the table, and Scarlet was watching her with a smirk. "Good, you're awake. Now we can keep playing. Oh, I may have done a few more things before I realized you passed out." Blitz was dazed from the intense pain. She looked down and saw multiple deep cuts along her body, including one running from her chest halfway down her belly. Scarlet caught up an ugly looking whip off the wall, with long lashes that looked deadly. "I think I'll just punish you now and that should do it." She giggled. Blitz had no strength to resist or argue, she was barely staying concious. The handle of the whip struck her across the face and she barely had enough in her to even whimper. Scarlet rolled her eyes and laughed as she mercilessly beat her helpless and half dead victim with the whip. She added plenty of kicks and punches with it too, hitting areas she knew were most vulnerable and vital. Blitz whimpered a few times until another blow across the face knocked her out cold. She came to as Scarlet was releasing her. The mare caught her beaten and blood soaked body in her magic and carried her off to the Overmare's office. "Ah. Well done, Scarlet." The Overmare chortled, as she led the way to the stable door. "She will never survive the wasteland like that." The heavy door opened at the command, and Scarlet threw Blitz out into a world of death and destruction. "Have fun dying, Blitz!" She said cheerfully. Blitz groaned softly. She was aware of was that door slamming shut, and then once again she passed out cold into a void of nothing but silent blackness. 4. FoundPain. Horrible, burning, unbearable pain. This was all that registered in Blitz's fevered mind as she slowly regained consciousness. She felt as though her body had been kicked around under a mob of panicked ponies running for their lives, and then dragged through the fire filled parts of Tartarus. It was so intense it consumed every nerve ending, every brain cell. A sound something between a ragged gasp and a weakly pitiful moan escaped her lips as she tried to force her eyes open and failed. "Oh...oh she's awake. Blitz? Can you hear me?" The faint female voice was laced with worry, and sounded so familiar, yet Blitz couldn't make her agonized mind think of it right now. "Blitz?" The hooves shaking her were gentle, She whimpered in pain. "Maybe it's not a good idea to do that." Another voice, distinctly male, interjected. Blitz fought a hard battle against the stubborn force that refused to let her see, finally managing to get her resisting eyelids to part a small fraction. Through the small slit, and through very blurry vision, she could just make out ponies leaning over her. She tried to both move and speak simultaneously "Where-" She stopped, body spasming with the jolt of pain that shot through her system. Fuck, the pain was everywhere. There was no part of her that didn't feel like one hot, swollen, massive, horribly throbbing bruise. Hooves gently held her steady as she released a weak stream of expletives, then a few more choice words about how weak her first ones sounded. "Easy, Blitz. You...you're hurt really badly." "Where...am I?" She ground out, breathing hitching with just the effort. "You're somewhere safe for now." The mare responded soothingly. "Who-who are you? I feel like...I know you, but...aggghhh!!!" A weak scream left her throat as she tried to lift her head, only to be met with another lightning bolt of horrid agony. "It's me, Blitz. Sunshine." The voice was gentle. "It's ok you didn't remember. You really took a nasty beating in the Stable. I'm guessing Scarlet Edge." Her tone was was one of sorrow and guilt. "And...it's my fault." Blitz gasped out loud, and then gagged at the pain it produced in her chest. "No! Sunshine, no. I did what I had to. You, all of you, needed to escape that place." Her body went limp, and her eyes slid closed again. Sunshine's hooves were gentle as she started tugging at what Blitz figured were bandages, but even the most featherlight of touches was enough to make her actually whinny in weak, miserable protest, and tears spilled from her closed eyes. Finally it was over, and something was laid on top of her. Sunshine's voice was right next to her ear, to be sure she heard. "Rest, Blitz." As her body forced her into a fitful slumber, she was dimly aware of the male voice, worriedly asking Sunshine if she would be ok. The world slipped to blackness before she ever heard the reply. Sunshine sighed as she threw out the bloody remains of the water from the basin she had used to clean Blitz's numerous injuries. She had bandaged them all up as best she could, but she wasn't one hundred percent sure the unicorn was going to make it. Her expression hardened in angry sympathy. She didn't have to imagine what torture Scarlet had put Blitz through; she knew. "Will she be ok?" Her companion asked for the tenth time, brows creased in worry. "I don't know, Silver." Like her, the young stallion had a number branded on his flank that began with S. So, like Blitz had done for her, Sunshine had immediately called him Silver, and he was happy with that. The cerulean earth pony rubbed his muzzle and let out a jagged huff. "I hope Scarlet gets a taste of her own medicine some day!" He spat bitterly. Sunshine could understand the sentiment perfectly. "I know. But for now let's focus on trying to pull Blitz out of this." She touched his shoulder, not surprised when he instinctively flinched. "Ok." Silver looked at the still form laying on a pile of old sacks in the corner of the run down shack. "She's...going to have a lot of scars." "Just like us." Sunshine quietly replied. "And we'll help her through it, because we've been there where she was, and where she is." Silver shuddered at the memories, his amber eyes clouding over as he nodded. "How do you think she'll take it? I mean, when she sees...?" Sunshine heaved a sigh, looking at the one unicorn in this messed up world that had done nothing but show kindness to her, and had sacrificed so much to help her and her companions to safety. To see what had been the strong and sleek body of her friend now reduced to ragged, weak, and heavily marred with injuries was enough to make her want to cry. The wounds Scarlet had inflicted were deep and hideous, the worst of them being the one on her chest. It was that wound that worried Sunshine the most. Scarlet's blade had cut deep, and very dangerously close to Blitz's heart. The fact she had survived the blood loss just from that wound alone was nothing short of miraculous. In short, Blitz was going to carry a lot of the scars for the rest of her life...if she survived. It had been a full day since Sunshine and Silver had brought her to the shack. They had hidden near the Stable after making the rest of the slaves go to a safer location, and they waited. And waited. It had seemed to them to be a millenia before Blitz's broken and battered body had been flung from the Stable, exiled from the place that was once her home and left to die a cruel death in the wasteland. They had acted quickly, carrying Blitz to safety and getting to work on cleaning and bandaging her wounds. Their rescuer was then safely tucked under a heavy sack for a blanket, doctored as best as they could manage. Her wounds were not really showing signs of festering, but she had a high fever, likely due to all the horrific trauma her body had received. They were trying to keep her as clean as possible, because if she should get an infection, her chances of survival were going to decrease exponentially, and should the wound that had nearly exposed one of her most vital organs get infected, it was going to very likely mean the end for Blitz. But the worst of this, the absolute worst, was the one wound on her flank. The one that would cause the most mental and emotional trauma for poor Blitz. The raw, open wound surrounding seared flesh and dead muscle tissue, the fluid oozing from it soaking into the bandages to a degree that made Sunshine change the dressing multiple times, as well as pour healing potions directly on it, was what would likely push Blitz over the edge. The bloody butcher of Stable 18 had removed the cutie mark and burned the slave brand deeply into the hide in its place. Just the thought made Sunshine feel ill, especially since she was well aware of just how horrid and painful such a thing was. "I'm not sure how she will react." She said quietly. "But if anything, it's going to likely make her angrier and if I know Blitz, based on her reactions to the...Sanctum...she is going to make somepony pay for their sins with their own blood." Silver gritted his teeth. "Scarlet and the Overmare will be first if her hatred is anything like mine. And I hope I get a front row seat when they are." Sunshine gingerly laid her foreleg around him, noting he was trembling with rage. "You're not the only one." Blitz whimpered and cried out weakly in her sleep, and Sunshine let go of Silver to hurry to her side. "N-no, don't...Scarlet..." Blitz pleaded in agony. "No!" She screamed faintly, and Sunshine teared up as she softly shushed her with soothing words. "Blitz, it's ok. Shh. You're safe now. It's ok." Somehow her voice reached through to Blitz in her nightmarish slumber, and the wounded mare quieted considerably. Her head turned slightly so her muzzle was pressed against Sunshine's neck, her breaths hot and slightly uneven against her coat. Sunshine didn't move away, instead gently rubbing her muzzle against Blitz's neck. If this kept her calm and her nightmares at bay, she would stay right here and cuddle close to her as long as was necessary. Silver laid next to her, gazing in pained sympathy at Blitz as she continued to sleep. He glanced at Sunshine, then back at Blitz, and then reached out and rubbed his hoof gently through the mussed up red and maroon mane, helping to keep her quieted. Blitz whimpered softly, feeling pain even as she slept. The room was quiet as her two friends kept watch over her still form, Sunshine never ceasing to keep close contact with her, as they both silently sent up broken prayers to Luna and Celestia for favour, that maybe, just maybe, Blitz might somehow manage to live. 5. No More Time for RestBlitz forced her eyes open and yawned. She struggled up from her pallet on the floor with slow and painful success, then stood on slightly unsteady legs, breathing heavily. It had been just about a week since her unlucky encounter at the Stable, and since then she had mostly been on the floor asleep...or more like straight up unconscious for most of the first couple days. She had enough energy to at least get up and move around, but Sunshine and Silver refused to allow her to do anything too strenuous, citing the fact she was still healing and still somewhat weak. At their best guess, it was decided she had suffered a few cracked ribs, a concussion, and multiple lacerations and bruises during her time in the Sanctum. Her "nurses" had refused to let her have a mirror to check the damages, not wanting her emotional and mental state to become completely undone by what she would see. "Blitz, you're up!" Sunshine fairly beamed in satisfaction and joy. "Just in time for breakfast. Silver managed to scrounge up a treat this morning." From the smell that assaulted her nostrils, Blitz immediately guessed it was pancakes, and Sunshine grinned in approval that she'd gotten it correct. "He managed to get some supplies from a wagon not far from here." She said, flipping a pancake with ease. "The packaging was all undamaged so I think we should be safe. Besides, by now we've surely adapted to the low amounts of radiation." "Oh wonderful." Blitz said. "So we'll just die more slowly instead of all at once." Her harsh words made Sunshine flinch, and she sighed. "Sorry, Sunny. I'm cranky when I first wake up." Sunshine snickered. "Well, the fact you're still in pain doesn't help that any either." Blitz stiffly moved over to sit at the small table, grimacing as she did so. "Wish I could get my hooves on a Pipbuck, but they are gonna be so hard to come by out here." She said. "I could check my health status and even the levels of radiation in each of us. Damn Overmare. Taking mine away. Although if she wanted me to die, it was a smart move." Silver chose that moment to saunter in, and tossed something on the table in front of her. "Can you use that?" Blitz blinked in astonishment. "How the hell did you get a Pipbuck?!" Silver coughed lightly. "Well...I ran into a pony and uh...don't question the stains on my coat, but yeah, there's you a Pipbuck." Blitz took note of the dark reddish splotches decorating his coat and arched an eyebrow. "You killed a pony just for this?" Silver shrugged. "No, I just simply killed him. In all fairness, he attacked me first. I had no choice. Afterwards, I saw the Pipbuck and took it off him, it's not like he needs it anymore." Blitz couldn't argue with his point, and fiddled with the piece of equipment while Sliver washed up and Sunshine was busy dishing up the food. The nicks and scratches on the lock indicated Silver had used something to pick it and thus remove it...which wasn't an easy task and she was amazed he had accomplished it. She was so preoccupied she didn't notice that the food was in front of her. "Equestria to Blitz, come in please." Blitz jumped. "Oh. Right, sorry." She let the Pipbuck slide gently from her hooves to the table and gazed at the pancakes in front of her with a lick of her lips. Her horn glowed as she wrapped the rusty fork in her magic grasp and attempted to levitate it. Unfortunately, there was a good bit of wincing involved, as her body being in such bad shape had prevented her magic from actually replenishing itself decently yet. The fork made it halfway to her mouth before her grip released, sending it clattering back down as she rubbed her head. "Ok, well, guess I'm eating this way." She said, using her hoof to lift the food instead. "This is really good!" Silver announced, slurping a bite down rather noisily, earning a disapproving stare from Sunshine. "What?" "Don't slurp, it's rude." She said firmly, then grinned before flipping a bite into her own mouth and noisily chewing. "So is chewing so loud!" Silver protested indignantly. Blitz rolled her eyes, took a bite, and slurped and chewed with a level of noise that beat out both of theirs. They stared at her in astonishment. "What?" She asked innocently. They all laughed and continued to polish off their breakfast, careful not to miss even a drop of the sweet syrup mix Sunshine had somehow put together. "So, where do we go from here?" Silver asked. "I don't know." Blitz rubbed her muzzle thoughtfully. "I want to at least see that the rest of the slaves made it to safety someplace. Then I want rest up, build our weapon arsenal, and return to Stable 18 to save their children from being as abused as you were." Silver choked. "What?" Sunshine looked down, suddenly sad. "You didn't know?" Blitz asked, confused. "I knew they took the foals away, but..." Silver sighed heavily, slumping in defeat. "I shouldn't be surprised those unicorn bitches would use them like they used us. Torture them." Tears were pooling in Sunshine's eyes. Blitz reached her hoof out to touch her foreleg. "Sunny, we'll get them out. I promise. But I have to build up our arsenal first, we don't stand a chance trying to get in and get them now." Sunshine met her gaze, emerald eyes swimming with watery emotions. "I hope so. I really do. Had I realized that they would do this, I would never have left without..." She broke off, looking away. Silver and Blitz looked at each other, then back at Sunshine. The mare took a shuddering breath. "Anyway...I really hope we can get them out." "We will." Blitz said firmly. "There's no way in hell I'm letting those psycho bitches take anymore lives. As long as we're gone, they won't kill them, because their slave supply has been badly diminished." Looking slightly relieved, Sunshine got up and removed the dishes. Blitz fiddled with the Pipbuck, finally managing to reset some functions and fix a few others to make it register her as the new owner. Within minutes after that, she was able to scan all their radiation levels, relieved they were relatively low, as well as asses her body's damage. She froze with the last one, diagram of her wounds visible on the Pipbuck screen. "Sunshine. I need a mirror of some kind." Her companions exchanged worried looks. "Please." She said urgently. Sunshine dug around in a pile of rubbish, coming up with a cracked mirror that she wordlessly held out. Blitz stared at her reflection and her jaw clenched. Alot of the darker bruising still had yet to fade away, and minorly visible lines from lesser cuts were not really a shock. But what stunned her was the deeper wounds that had mainly healed, though they had left obnoxious scarring. Her gaze landed on the worst of the lot. A long, wide, and jagged line ran from her neck down along her chest, disappearing between her forelegs. A gentle hoof tracing it revealed that it actually ran beyond that, almost to the center of her belly. She did not need an expert to tell her that she was going to carry this ugly scar for the remains of her life. Along with several others...including a short but particularly nasty gash on her left jawline. She inhaled deeply, the effort drawing a wince due to her still healing ribs. "Well. I have looked much better. But on the bright side, at least Scarlet didn't do anything to mess with my mane. Because that would have really pissed me off." "That's...the one on your chest is one of two extremely bad ones..." Sunshine murmured. Blitz clenched her teeth. She had seen the other one as well on the Pipbuck. "I know. But I don't know if I want to see it. Not yet." Sunshine and Silver gazed at her in sympathy, knowing the feeling. Silence reigned for several minutes, and then Blitz inhaled. Slowly she craned her head around to gaze at her left flank, still covered with a bandage. "Sunny..." Sunshine stepped closer. "Take that off." "Are you sure...?" "No. I'm really not. But I better see it now rather than later." Sunshine inhaled and slowly removed the bandage, Blitz shutting her eyes while she did so. After a moment, there was a quiet sigh. "Ok. It's off." It took every ounce of willpower Blitz had to open her eyes. She stared in wordless horror at her flank. Her cutie mark was gone, replaced with a large "S" branded deeply into the blackened hide. Sure, she still had the cutie mark on the other flank, but, she may as well not have. She felt like a piece of her very soul had been ripped away as she gazed at the spot. While it had been healing nicely, and any actual wounds scabbed and scarred over, it still was a painfully tender place. Scarlet had done worse than just rip her body apart in places. She had ripped part of her very essence from her. Taking away part of who she was. It felt like she was only half a pony. In this moment, Blitz felt so horribly and utterly violated, and deep pain washed over her as a cry of anguish left her mouth. Sunshine stepped up, wrapping her forelegs around Blitz as the unicorn slumped into her, clinging to her like she was a lifeline, crying as though she would never stop, her broken wails coming from the deepest pit of her very core. Silver swiped at his eyes, trying not to cry at Blitz's pain, while Sunshine just held her and rocked her as she wept bitter and burning tears into her chest. The emotional drain on top of her limited physical abilities had worn Blitz out, and she ended up falling asleep in Sunshine's embrace, occasionally whimpering and sniffling in her sleep. Sunshine eased her into her pallet and covered her with the ragged blanket. "Fuck." Silver muttered, rubbing his damp eyes. "That really hurt me to watch. For a minute I was back at the Stable, in pain, screaming from having just suffered that same treatment." Sunshine hugged him. "I know. Me too. But we're out of there now, and luckily the worst of her trauma is over. She knows what injuries she was left with. Now the healing begins. Just like it does for us. We'll all get through this together." They maintained a long silence, then Silver rose. "I better try to scrounge up some more provisions." "I'll go too." "What about Blitz?" "I'll leave a note in case she wakes." Sunshine penned a quick note, leaving it where Blitz would easily find it if she woke up while they were gone, and then followed Silver from the shack, quietly closing the door behind them. Blitz awoke a short time later and found the shack empty. She also found the note, preventing her from massive panic. She dug into the pile of rubbish and came up with a battered up old book, noting to her luck it contained short stories of pre-war Equestria. She settled into her pallet and opened it to the first page. Once upon time, in the magical land of Equestria... She had just finished the tale of the two sisters when the door thudded open and a gasping Silver fell through it. "Blitz!" He rasped in panic. "Silver!" She dropped the book, hurrying to him in spite of her body protesting the rapid movements. From his stained coat, he'd been in a fight, but luckily he didn't appear seriously hurt. He waved his forelegs. "Sunny..." He gasped, and her heart clenched. "What about her? Silver, where is she?!" "Raiders...attack...fight...I couldn't hold them off. I got away but she...they took her!" He was breathing so hard his words were coming out in painfully ragged gasps. Blitz felt her blood run cold. "Oh fuck. Silver, grab whatever you can get we might need. We're going after them." She looked around, spotting no weapons save for a couple of bent and slightly dull kitchen knives. She dug into the trash pile, yanking out a ragged green vest with holes through it. Silver had a pair of saddlebags he was viciously stuffing their remaining supplies in, and Blitz levitated the knives into a side sheath. She donned the ragged vest, and scrounged more until she came up with some things to quickly fashion a makeshift sheath for the vest, before taking back one knife and shoving it into it. "Blitz, are you sure? I mean, you're still somewhat weak and I don't think you-" "We're going to get Sunny. I may not be full capacity yet, but fuck that. She needs us. Now let's go." Blitz charged out the door, and the doubtful Silver ran after her as they headed out into the unforgiving wasteland. The BackstoryThere was a time many years ago that the unicorn and earth pony inhabitants of Stable 18 lived together in peace and harmony. They ran the Stable together, taking turns providing overmares or overstallions...it mattered not which gender ruled so long as they were fair and just. Thus they lived...all things seeming to work perfectly and beautifully. That is until the unicorns became polluted by some self decided doctrine that they, as possessors of magic, were a far better race. More important, more worthy to be all powerful. They despised the non magic earth ponies and believed them to be an inferior race, one to be overtaken and dominated into the very dust if possible. And this they did. Oh, they did it cleverly and sneakily...slipping slowly and casually into leadership places until not a single position of power was held by an earth pony. And then the slaughter began. The unicorns brutally annihilated their non magic stablemates. Mare, stallion, foal...all were fair game. A few cleverly diguised themselves as unicorns, but this, alas, did not last for long. They were discovered, and rather than a death sentence, were made into slaves. And for them, it was a fate worse than death. Brutal and cruel conditions were what awaited them...and none dared to fight back for fear of what horrors would be handed to them. Instead they waited, and they prayed to Celestia and Luna that someday, somehow, somepony would end thier misery. Into the world of Stable 18 was born a unicorn. One who would in fact be a pony to help right the wrongs inflicted on these helpless slaves. This is her story.
1. The TruthBeep beep beep beep "Ugh, stop it already!" A brown foreleg shot out, knocking the intruding alarm clock off its perch on the bedside table. It hit the floor with a clattering sound...landing in the growing pile of its predecessors that had also dared to intrude on their owner's sleep. One would have thought she would just not set an alarm at all. Groaning, and now unable to return to dreamland, Blitz Anomaly swung her body slowly out of bed. She would have prefered hours more sleep but, as usual, that wasn't happening. She slid into a clean suit and checked her pipbuck for today's list of tasks. "Damn it, another meeting with Scarlet Edge?!" She muttered, disgruntled. She hated that crimson coated, red eyed, cold hearted snob...especially since she was known to be one of the most mean and cruel of all the unicorns in the Stable. The knife cutie mark she bore on her flank, with the blade partially coated in blood, testified to her position as the Overmare's official "executioner". Blitz huffed. "Stupid unicorn." She growled. "Only thing she's ever done right was helping me earn my cutie mark." She snorted, then scowled at the memory. Scarlet had come to her, supposedly very upset, and told her a young earth pony slave had gotten out of thier cell and was loose somewhere trying to escape. All unicorns were busy except her and Blitz, and would Blitz please get her flank out of her room and help track him. Blitz growled again. She should have known it was a setup...Scarlet never asked her for help. But she had obliged, and had found the young slave cowering in a lower vault looking absolutely terrified. Her stomach knotted remembering the moment their eyes met, and his panicked pleas. "Don't send me back...please...just kill me...don't send me back." he'd begged, horror etched on his face "You have to go back." She had returned, trying not to sound as sympathetic as she felt. "You should have known you couldn't escape. How the hell did you get out anyway?" "I...she...let me out..." he mumbled. "Brought me here and said to not move or she'd kill me..." "Who did and why?" She demanded. "S-Scarlet...she said...it was a test. For you..." he cringed away from her. Enraged, she had to take several breaths. So that conniving bitch had decided to force her to accept the slavery of the Stable by sending her after one. "Its not your fault." She nudged him. "Let's go." "Please...no...just end me. Please!" She took him back, and turned him over to Scarlet, in spite of all her doubts. "Good, you found him. And now what happens to those who attempt escape, hmm?" Scarlet's eyes had glowed with glee, and Blitz had no time to react before she'd drawn the knife she carried and rammed it through the slave's throat. He sank down in a pool of his own blood, gurgling and thrashing briefly before he stilled. Blitz, outraged at being tricked, and with what she had just witnessed, unexpectedly attacked the other mare less than an hour later...cornering her in her room as she was getting ready to go to bed. "Blitz, what the hell are you doing in here?!" "You thought I'd walk away from earlier calmly and never address it? You stupid bitch. You used me. You used him. And then when it was over, and both of us were no longer needed for your damn purposes, you killed him in cold blood and you turned your back on me." "It was neccessary. The Overmare-" "-can go fuck herself with red hot iron." Blitz snarled. "And so can you. I will never fucking agree with the way things are, so leave me the hell alone!" "Blitz, everypony has to accept our ways sooner or later. Stop bucking against the system. It works. Live with it." "Oh fuck you! And by the way, this is for earlier!" She had attacked, and gotten in several blows before other unicorns arrived to pull her off. And when all was said and done, she noticed the glow on her flank, and there was her cutie mark. It hadn't taken much to figure out what it meant. It meant her talent was unexpected attacks, from any direction, that were against normal attack procedures. Meaning nopony would ever see her coming. Maybe not the mark she expected, or the mark she hoped for, but at least she knew her destiny now. She shook herself out of her thoughts and left her room, heading to the recreation room she knew Scarlet would be waiting for her in. To her surprise, the Overmare was also present this time. "Ah, Blitz." She smiled what could only be described as an unfriendly smile. "So good of you to finally join us." Meaning she was almost an hour late and they were angry. Blitz shrugged, not caring. "Overslept. Alarm malfuctioned." Partially true. "Yes, well, have a seat." The Overmare pointed to a chair. "I'll stand." "Blitz. My dear mare. This will be a long chat, and-" "It'll be longer unless you get to the damn point, Overmare. And don't call me dear." Blitz barely refrained from snarling. The Overmare blinked at being addressed that way. But then Blitz was well known for against the normal, expected behaviours, as well as for bucking against any authority she did not agree with. "Very well, suit yourself." The Overmare cleared her throat. "Your skills at detecting unexpected attacks and also carrying them out have not gone unnoticed." "And?" Blitz narrowed her eyes. "There has been unrest among the slaves, and we fear they may be planning something. We would like you to figure out what it is so we can stop it." "And I would agree to this why?" "If they plan to revolt or some such thing as that, your intervention would stop it and save valuable lives." The Overmare answered. "Valuable lives as in unicorn lives." Blitz returned. "Well yes, of course." "You know where I stand on this." Blitz growled. "We know, Blitz." Scarlet spoke up. "But damn it, can you not cooperate for once in your life?! This is serious." "How do I know its not some fucking trick like before?" Blitz's eyes locked into Scarlet's, animosity clear. Scarlet didn't flinch, nor did she look away. "I can assure you the threat is potentially real." The Overmare intervened coolly. "Can you blame them?" Blitz said hotly. "Would you like being forced to work against your will all the time? Or deprived of roaming freely through the Stable? Hmm?" "Blitz, I know your opinions on this. But believe me, this is neccessary. We as unicorns are-" "-'a far more superior and much more worthy race of ponies and as such deserve far more than the lower class known as the earth ponies'. I know, I've heard that more than enough times." Blitz scowled. "Fine, whatever. I don't want to, but you'll find a way to trick me into it and fuck that. What do you want from me?" The Overmare nodded at Scarlet, who left the room, then looked back at Blitz. "We have a slave who I believe you may be able to get info from that she refuses to give to us. I am giving you full control over her, do what you want with her, but get that information out of her." Before Blitz could answer, Scarlet re-entered, dragging a young earth pony mare behind her in her magic. The slave looked like she had been through multiple interrogations already. Blood, both dried and wet, was matted into her grey coat, and multiple bruises were also visible. She looked worn, beaten, and even a bit fearful as she was roughly dumped on the floor in front of Blitz. "She's all yours." Scarlet stated, almost gleefully. "And by the way, she is pretty decent at sexual interactions...with the right motivation. You should try her out." Blitz felt like throwing up on the spot. Using these slaves for hard labour was bad enough...using them for one's own sexual pleasure was something else entirely. She barely contained her disgust as she looked at the Overmare. "Am I dismissed?" "Oh, certainly." The Overmare strode out, and Scarlet followed with a snicker. "Enjoy your new toy, Blitz." Growling, Blitz looked down at the mare still cowering on the floor, her frightened emerald green eyes looking up in uncertainty and dread. Gritting her teeth, Blitz lit her horn and lifted her to her hooves, steadying her as she let her lean against her own body for support. "Come on." The mare did not protest or argue as she was taken along the corridor to Blitz's room. Blitz made sure the door was shut, then eased the mare onto her bed, not caring about the blood that got on her blankets. She then carefully prodded her with her magic, testing for injuries. "Ahh..." the mare whimpered as a particularly tender bruise was poked. "Sorry." Blitz stopped instantly. She got water and a cloth and started cleaning the blood out of the mare's fur, being as gentle as she could. "W-why are you being nice?" Blitz sighed. "I know I do nothing about how you're treated, but that doesn't mean I approve. I've seen how my kind treats yours, and...I'm sorry." The mare grimaced. "You...have not seen all of it, miss...um..." "Blitz. My name is Blitz." "Blitz." "Mhm. What's your name?" "S143." "Thats...not a name." "It's a number. Means Slave 143. We are not even considered worthy of names." "Damn unicorns..." Blitz muttered. "How about I call you...Sunshine?" It was the first S name she thought of. "Call me whatever. I'm your slave now." Blitz grimaced. "No. Maybe to them, but not to me." S143...Sunshine stared intensely at her. "You are unlike any other unicorn I've met in this Stable. You actually care." "Yeah...yet I do nothing. Why? Because even I am not stupid enough to buck against an entire group of unicorns. Besides, what is the worst you go through? I've seen the beatings...and they're bad. I've seen you worked nearly to death." "You have never seen the Sanctum." This quiet assertion made Blitz freeze, and she looked at Sunshine, arching an eyebrow. "The...Sanctum?" "You don't know it, do you?" "I have never heard of it." "Figures. Only the Overmare and that knife weilding butcher and a few others ever use it." "What is it?" Sunshine's eyes met hers, with a haunted look, and it took a few tries to answer. "The Sanctum is a torture chamber, Blitz. If you go in...you come out horribly disfigured or worse, dead. They use it to see what new and absolutely horrible things they can do to us. And sometimes, they drag one of us in to watch them do it. You can't begin to imagine the sights...the sounds. The screams." Blitz looked positively ill. "I...but..." "The mutilations are gruesome and bloody." Sunshine pressed on, off in another world now. That world. No doubt hearing and seeing all those things in her mind. "I have seen them, Blitz...slowly and painfully carving up my friends, my family, leaving nothing but bloody carcasses." Blitz nearly threw up at the description, and it took a few deep breaths before her stomach settled a little bit. "Fuck them." She managed weakly. "Fuck those stupid unicorns. I can't...how can they be so cruel...?" "The worst of them is the one you call Scarlet." Sunshine murmured. "To us, she is the Butcher. She smiles at our fear, she laughs at the screams. She makes everything as painful as possible." "I'll fucking kill her." Blitz growled in rage. "Blitz..." "Sunshine, where is this Sanctum?" "Located a vault below, but Blitz...no...the horrors..." "I am going to see for myself." Blitz stood. "You stay here. I'll return soon." Despite protests, she left her room and made her way to the vault below, determined to find this place of utter cruelty. It was easier than she thought. She rounded a corner and saw a wickedly chuckling Scarlet walking to a door, sharpening her already gleaming blade with magic as she walked. Blitz stayed out of sight, tagging along, and watched as Scarlet entered a pass code and entered the room. She ducked in hastily before the door closed and found herself in a dim little area, like a hallway. At the end were lights, and Scarlet was walking that way, cackling to herself. "Oh, what victim shall I use today?" Blitz started after her, then promptly froze as a blood curdling scream of agony sounded, seeming to echo all around her. A panicked, sobbing voice reached her ears. "No...no..no please...please don't...no! NO!" Another scream. Blitz pushed forward, in spite of her churning stomach. She had to know. Her slow steps carried her to the end of the corridor, and she peeked around the door. She immediately gagged. The room was filled with terrifying items one could only describe as torture items. Chains, knives, saw blades, branding irons. They lined the walls, their presence seemingly mocking any pony that entered. Tables with straps stood in the center of the room, a couple of them holding earth ponies strapped down and begging for mercy. Mutilated and blood soaked corpses hung from hooks like decorations. The walls and floor were speckled and splashed with blood and gore. A cackling sound drew her attention to Scarlet, who had stepped up to one of the two trembling ponies, a young stallion, her blade pressing against his throat. "Why don't I start with you?" She purred in an almost cheerful tone. "You want to play, right?" "No...no...please..." he begged in terror. Scars lined his body, a sign he'd been tortured before. Blitz was having trouble refraining from vomiting, wanting to leave yet somehow rooted to the spot. "What's that?" Scarlet grinned. "You DO want to play? Oh good!" Her knife slid down, along his chest and belly, and Blitz cringed at his frightened sobs. Scarlet stopped, just above his private parts, grinning evilly. He whimpered and tugged at his restraints in vain. She moved down to one hind leg, and applied pressure above his hoof, dragging the knife back up as he screamed. She repeated it with his other back leg, leaving flaps of skin that she took hold of with her magic. Blitz realised with horrifying clarity what was going on, and part of her screamed to stop it, while she remained glued to her current spot. Scarlet's magic pulled forcefully at the flaps of skin, tearing them upwards, ripping them from the flesh and bone as blood spurted out from torn vessels and veins. His screams grew louder with each pull as she effectively skinned him alive. Blitz had finally had more than she could take. She tried to stop herself, but she failed and ended up emptying what little contents her stomach held out onto the floor, drawing Scarlet's attention to herself. She saw the look of disbelief, then wicked amusement. "Well well." "Y-you sick bitch...I'll-" was all she got out, before collapsing in a heap as everything went black.
2. The ChoiceWhen she finally regained her senses, she was laying in her bed, Scarlet and the Overmare standing by. Sunshine was cowering back from Scarlet as the psycho mare kept flashing evil grins at her. "Oh good, you're awake." The Overmare sounded only slightly thrilled. "Scarlet tells me you found your way into our, ahem, experiment lab." Blitz knew if she spoke right now she was going to unload all the fury and rage she could only have ever imagined feeling, so instead she gave a single nod. "Ah. Unfortunate." The Overmare shook her head. "If you were interested, you should have asked. We would have started you out in the less extreme lab." Blitz couldn't believe there were two of those torture chambers in the Stable. She swallowed the urge to throw up again...barely. "I want nothing to do with those." "Understandable. Not all ponies can stomach the tests we run there." The Overmare feigned sympathy. "You will not be expected to assist." Blitz clenched her teeth. "Leave us." She said, aiming it at the Overmare and Scarlet. "Blitz..." Scarlet began. "Fucking leave before I kill you." Blitz growled. The two withdrew and Blitz slammed the door shut with her magic. She shut her eyes and groaned, sensing Sunshine drawing close to her. "You saw?" The mare asked softly. "I saw." Blitz struggled not to gag. "You were right. Its a torture chamber. I can't..." She stopped and took a breath, her expression hardening. "This cannot go on. It must be stopped." Sunshine blinked. "H-how?" "Sunshine...I hate to ask this of you... but if I'm going to succeed I need your help." "What do you need?" "How good are you at acting?" Another blink. "What do I need to do?" "First of all, I need you to know I will never hurt you. Not like them. But...in order to pull this off, I need to uh, kinda rough you up a little. Or act like I am, anyway." Sunshine looked confused. Blitz sighed. "Its like this..." ==============*******============= After explaining her plan to Sunshine, which the slave mare eagerly agreed to help with, Blitz took a long nap. She awoke about midnight and quickly checked to be sure her suit had everything she needed. She strapped a knife belt to her waist, and nodded at Sunshine. "Go to your place, quietly!" Sunshine vanished noiselessly. Blitz tapped into her pipbuck, pulling up the info she needed. She made her way cautiously along the corridor, taking care to make no noise and making sure to note the positions of any dots. She made it to her destination without being spotted. Luckily, Sunshine had expertly gained the access code to the Overmare's office while she napped, and getting in was a breeze. With a bit of searching, she was able to locate the passcode to open the Stable door, and after loading it into her pipbuck, she pulled up the location of the slave cell block and headed there. Again no sign of any pony. The slaves were stunned to see her and at first cowered back. "Shhh." She whispered. "I'm here to help you get out. Sunshine...I mean S143 told me to tell you to trust me completely." Not exactly, but a little white lie was better than failing this mission. The slaves were very cooperative then. Apparently Sunshine was very well liked. It took some doing, but soon a group of approximately 50 slaves was being led quietly through the Stable to the door. Blitz had them hide, then looked to the door. The gaurds were right there, talking in low voices. A movement let her know that Sunshine was in place, and she drew a baton from a nearby stack of crates and gave a signaling wave to Sunshine's hideout. The slave mare reacted instantly, running out and right for the gaurds. Blitz waited, but not long. Timing was everything for this plan. She had to be sure she got ahold of Sunshine before the gaurds so she would not be injured, but they needed to be drawn away from the control panel. "Hey you! Stop!" One gaurd yelled. Both ran towards her, and she swerved to avoid them. Blitz immediately went into action, running forward at a slow pace, faking being totally out of breath. "St-stop her!" She called out, between gasps that any pony paying attention would have known were fake. "Don't let her get away...whew...gah...too fast..." The gaurds listening and continued to chase Sunshine, who kept going in circles, keeping them focused on her. Blitz waited a second to be sure they weren't watching, then motioned to the others' hiding place. The "get ready" signal. They would only have mere seconds to run out of there between the door opening and the arrival of the Overmare...as the door being opened was loud. She rapidly entered the passcode, took a breath, counted to three, and hit "enter". The door creaked and squealed as it slowly opened. "NOW!" she yelled. The slaves raced from hiding and straight for the Stable door, but halfway there a sickeningly familiar voice called out over a loudspeaker. "Not so fast! You are going nowhere!" The Overmare. Unicorns started pouring in at that moment, looking gleeful. This had not been expected. At least not this quick. "Oh fuck." Blitz muttered. These slaves were trusting her, and she'd be damned if she was going to let them down. She leaped away from the control panel, her magic catching up multiple batons and other items for weapons and putting them in the slaves' hooves. "This is your only chance!" She yelled. "Fight!" The unicorns attacked, and the slaves had the sense to put up their weapons and fight back. Blitz herself was right in the middle of it, despite not being a very skilled fighter, knocking her fellow unicorns left and right. She took particular pleasure in bashing her baton down onto Scarlet's skull, knocking her out cold. The slaves fought thier way to the door and out of it, with Blitz at thier rear beating back any unicorns that tried stopping them. "Fuck you!" She yelled with almost each one she struck, her rage boiling over. All the slaves were out the door now, and Blitz was backing up, warily watching the unicorns that stared back dazed and weakened. Then she heard a cry. Her gaze went the direction of the sound, and to her horror she saw Sunshine caught by two unicorns, fighting to get free. Blitz weighed her options, and then started forward. "Blitz! No! Go back!" Sunshine cried. "Save the rest! Leave me here!" "Fuck no." Blitz returned, knocking ponies out of her way as she approached. "You're getting out of here too, Sunshine." She beat the two unicorns back, catching Sunshine in her magic and turning. Unfortunately, there was now a mass of recovered unicorns in her way. She blinked, mind racing. She had only one option as the ponies converged on her and the Stable door began to close. Summoning all the magic power she had, she levitated Sunshine up high and flung her through the door. She landed in a heap, scrambling up and looking back. Their eyes locked for one second before the door slammed shut. Blitz heaved a sigh. At least in the wasteland the slaves had a better chance of living than here. She had intended to be right behind them but- "AHHH!" She yelled as something slammed painfully into the back of her head. She fell, and looked up to see a smirking Scarlet. "The Overmare wants a word with you." This before a second blow landed, knocking her almost senseless. With her head spinning, she had no power to even resist as she was dragged to whatever fate awaited her for her crime against the Stable.
3. And So it Begins"Here she is, Overmare!" Scarlet sang out as she roughly threw her prisoner to the floor. "Well well well, Blitz." The Overmare's voice dripped with venom as her dark eyes blazed. "What am I to do with you?" "You tell me." Blitz snarled. The Overmare tensed, her expression hardening, then her face relaxed into a slightly less threatening look, though her eyes remained cold. "Have a seat, Blitz." She pointed at a chair. "No thanks." "Sit in the fucking chair, damn it!" Scarlet snapped, yanking her up and throwing her into it. "It may be the last time you do!" Her grin was evil, and almost cheerful too. Blitz swallowed her fear and glared at the Overmare. "So what now?" She said. "You have no need of me now. Unless you are gonna make me an example to the other unicorns." "Blitz. Do you know what you have done?" The Overmare stared at her intensely. "Yeah, I freed all the slaves from you and your fucking torture chambers!" Blitz snapped. Scarlet snickered and the Overmare grinned unpleasantly, tapping her front hooves together. "You are partially correct, Blitz." "What do you mean, partially?" Blitz demanded. "There's no slaves left! I let them all go." "You let the grown ones go." Blitz suddenly had a sickening feeling in her gut. "What do you mean? There are no other slaves." "Oh but there are, Blitz." The Overmare's unpleasant grin remained. "You see, we kept the adult slaves in that cell block. Do you wonder why the slaves were seemingly so willing to obey our every command?" "What the fuck did you do?" Blitz growled. "We merely took thier children." The Overmare chuckled at Blitz's slackjawed expression. "Yes, Blitz. We took thier young, and we put them elsewhere to raise them and train them to be good slaves. And as they grow to be adults, we move them in with the others while removing older slaves and exterminating them. Or using them in our labs. This way we are never over-run with them." Blitz was stunned silent. So the Overmare continued almost gleefully. "Now we will have to start over, which means the children will now become full slaves. Oh they aren't adults as yet, but we have no choice. Plus we will have to use some of them in our labs." "Ohhhh yesssss." Scarlet licked her lips and grinned, eyes gleaming. "The screams of the young are so much better to my ears than the grown ones. Such new, raw, delicious terror. Such innocence and blood that lies untouched." She cackled joyfully, and Blitz shuddered. "You are not ponies." She said. "You're fucking psychotic monsters!" "Mmmm. Perhaps." The Overmare chuckled. "But then, you are as well. Because whether you know it or not, you have benefitted from our experiments." "What?" "You remember the butchered ponies, right, Blitz?" Scarlet purred in her ear. "Surely you do. What do you think we do with all that perfectly good meat?" Blitz gagged as the meaning sank in, and the Overmare lazily threw a trash can at her in time for her to throw up into it. Scarlet was laughing maniacally, clearly enjoying watching this. "You see, Blitz, you took away the only protection these children had. So now, its thier time to fill their parents' places." The Overmare stated calmly. "You're sick...they're foals, you fucking bitch! How could you!" "Ah. Well, they have been used before. On rare occasions, when the adults were not enough, I have given a foal to Scarlet." "Yes! It's so fun to hear them scream, and watch them fight." Scarlet giggled. Blitz grimaced. The adults were bad enough. But how anypony could love torturing children...she nearly threw up again. "Well! That's enough of that." The Overmare chuckled slightly. "Now about you, Blitz. Obviously I cannot allow such a thing to go unpunished, so the question is, what do I do with you?" Blitz was pretty sure killing her was not an option. From what she knew of these two monsters, that would be far too merciful. And they were anything but. "Ah! I know!" The Overmare looked at Scarlet. "Take her to the lab she snuck into. Do what you will to her, but make sure you do not kill her. When you're done, let me know, I will open the door and she can join her slave friends in the wasteland." "Oh gladly!" Scarlet cackled happily. The Overmare's magic caught Blitz, stripping off her Stable suit before also removing the pipbuck. "You leave with nothing." She said to Blitz. "And I assure you, death in the wasteland is worse than anything we could do to you here." "No." Blitz managed. "I thought the wasteland was just outside the Stable door...full of monsters and evil and horrors. But I have already experienced it, and so have the slaves." "Is that so?" The Overmare grinned. "The wasteland begins in here." Blitz said angrily. "Only worse. And someday, if I live through what you do to me here today, I promise you I will avenge the blood of the slaves you've killed, you psychotic bitch." The Overmare's hoof connected with her face, knocking her to the floor. Scarlet picked her up, giggling madly. "Make her suffer as much as possible." The Overmare said, with a dismissive wave of her hoof. "Her screams are going to rival any scream from any slave we ever had in the lab." Scarlet promised, grinning. Blitz struggled futilely as she was carried out in the crimson glow of Scarlet's magical aura. The mare cackled again as she headed along the corridors. "Oh, Blitz. Blitz, Blitz, Blitz. Heheheheh. Oh I have just the plans for you. You are going to beg for mercy, plead for your life, then beg to be killed. I hope you like pain, Blitz, because when I play with you...there will be alot of pain." Remembering the "play" with the stallion in the Sanctum, Blitz felt her stomach churn. She wanted to escape but wasn't sure she could. Scarlet's magic grip on her was tight, nearly suffocating. She honestly did not want to know what horrific plan this maniac had in mind. Whatever it was, she knew it did not include killing her. But she had no doubt there were forms of torture far worse than death. "You think you'll get away with this?" She demanded angrily...hoping that the rage boiling inside her would be enough to keep her sanity intact through whatever Scarlet put her through. "Oh but we do, Blitz." Scarlet grinned at her, levitating her along in front of her now. "We do. No pony but you has ever dared question the system." Blitz grimaced. "Or maybe they have and you killed them." "All that's needed if a pony shows signs of bucking the system is to take them to the Sanctum. Then tell them they could easily be next, even though they are Unicorn." Scarlet snickered. "It works every time." "Then why was I not taken there?" "Because you are special case, Blitz. The Overmare has watched you carefully. While you didn't approve of the slavery, you did not actively do anything about it except tell us to leave you alone." Blitz was starting to wish she hadn't been like that...she would have known of these things sooner and could have helped. Somehow. "Great...so there was no need to scare me." "No but I wish there had been." Scarlet smirked. "I personally would have shown you some of my finest work in the lab." "I saw it." "Oh the stallion? Blitz, you are so naive. Do you honestly believe that was my finest work? Hmmm?" She levitated the squirming unicorn close to her face. "I have cut ponies open and removed their organs piece by piece with them still alive. I know how carve them up so they remain alive to feel every last bit of pain until I either stop thier heart or remove their heads." She sounded so pleased with herself. Blitz gagged. If she made it out of this alive, she would return one day and end these insane ponies slowly and painfully. By now, Scarlet had arrived at her destination: the Sanctum door. She opened it with the passcode and walked in, going down the little corridor. Blitz steeled herself against the sights she knew to expect, but it didn't stop her stomach from growling painfully as she once more found herself face to face with the horrible blood splattered room. She really didn't want to be here. And suddenly, in that moment, she was struck by a sudden extreme sympathy and understanding towards the countless slaves who had seen this room. In this moment, as Scarlet roughly slammed her down on one of the tables and started strapping her in place, she was well aware of how the slaves felt. The rising panic was nearly suffocating, her chest tightening as raw fear unlike any she had ever felt surged through her body. "Well now, Blitz." Scarlet stood in front of her, her favourite knife in her magical grasp, the blade gleaming wickedly at her. "Now you get first-hoof experience on how I play. I warn you, I play rough. Very rough. You'll feel pain, alot of pain, and likely you'll scream and beg. That's perfectly normal and definitely encouraged. Don't worry." Blitz glared. "If you think you're gonna make me plead, you don't know me at all." "Everypony breaks at some point." Scarlet said cheerfully. "Sooner or later, they beg for their lives. Plead for me to stop. If they scream loud enough, i might actually give them a few minutes to get their breath before we keep playing." "You are the lowest of the low, Scarlet. A pyscho that deserves nothing less than to suffer exactly what you have made the slaves suffer. Someday...someday I will fucking make you pay for every drop of slave blood you've spilled with your own blood." "You won't survive long enough for that." Scarlet pressed the knife blade to her throat. "Oh you'll live through your playtime with me, Blitz, but you will be so bad off you won't last an hour in the wasteland." "I'll last." Blitz snarled. "I think not." Scarlet straightened. "But enough chat. We're here to play. You ready to play, Blitz?" "No." "Excellent. Then let's play." Blitz tensed as Scarlet drew the knife point lightly down along her chest to her belly, creating a tickle that under any other circumstance would have made her laugh. She gritted her teeth, waiting, trying to brace herself for the second that the blade would pierce the skin. It never came. Instead, Scarlet slid the knife into its sheath and turned to study the implements along the walls. Blitz tried not to look at them, not wanting to further increase her sense of panic. Scarlet's crimson aura took hold of a long object. "You know, this will do for the first thing." She floated it past Blitz's head, and Blitz suddenly wished she would just up and die right then. The object was a branding iron...long, black steel rod with a carefully crafted S on it. "Since you seem so taken with slaves, Blitz, how would you like sharing their brand?" It was then that Blitz recalled something she had seen but failed to mentally compute when looking over Sunshine. The mare had had S143 on her flank, looking like it had been drawn on with black paint...only Blitz now realised with sickening certainty that it had been branded on her. Her eyes locked into Scarlet's. "You really enjoy this, don't you? Watching them squirm, hearing them scream? What, do you get off on it? What sort of sick, twisted pleasure do you get out of it?" "Mmm. I'm afraid that's something you will never understand." Scarlet chuckled as she placed the iron into a ready furnace that blazed with a roaring fire. She redrew her knife and approached Blitz. "Let's do the first half of this brand eh? I have to mark exactly where to put it." Blitz couldn't stop the terrified shudder as she felt the blade trace over the cutie mark on her left flank. Scarlet giggled, and studied the mark for a moment before she straightened. "I think a perfect location is right HERE!" With the final word of that sentence, she sank her knife deeply into Blitz's flank, and it took every ounce of willpower she had for the trapped unicorn not to scream at the sudden pain. But then it got worse. Scarlet very slowly and with movements she had to know would be the most painful, she calmly cut the flesh until she had sucessfully removed the entire mark, leaving behind a gaping and bloody hole. Blitz's body was trembling from the pain and the effort it was taking to not scream her head off. Her vision was blurry from tears she could not hold back. Scarlet snickered, and her magic caught the ready iron as she brought it over. It glowed a brilliant red-orange, and Blitz could feel the heat as her torturer passed it in front of her face, letting her see it. "You're going to love this one, Blitz." Scarlet said cheerfully. Then she giggled. "No wait, I'M the one that will love it." Blitz opened her mouth to say something, but just at that moment was a loud sizzling noise, and the smell of burning flesh. A split second later a pain unlike any she could have ever imagined registered in her brain. It rushed through her entire body like a wave of water, and her mouth opened wider as her breathing momentarily stopped. Scarlet pushed the iron harder against her, burning that "S" deeply into her flank where her cutie mark had been. Blitz jerked and thrashed in agony as she drew enough of a breath to let out a long and very loud scream, and then her entire world went black. ---------------------------********-------------------- She didn't know how long she was out, but when she regained conciousness, she was still strapped to the table, and Scarlet was watching her with a smirk. "Good, you're awake. Now we can keep playing. Oh, I may have done a few more things before I realized you passed out." Blitz was dazed from the intense pain. She looked down and saw multiple deep cuts along her body, including one running from her chest halfway down her belly. Scarlet caught up an ugly looking whip off the wall, with long lashes that looked deadly. "I think I'll just punish you now and that should do it." She giggled. Blitz had no strength to resist or argue, she was barely staying concious. The handle of the whip struck her across the face and she barely had enough in her to even whimper. Scarlet rolled her eyes and laughed as she mercilessly beat her helpless and half dead victim with the whip. She added plenty of kicks and punches with it too, hitting areas she knew were most vulnerable and vital. Blitz whimpered a few times until another blow across the face knocked her out cold. She came to as Scarlet was releasing her. The mare caught her beaten and blood soaked body in her magic and carried her off to the Overmare's office. "Ah. Well done, Scarlet." The Overmare chortled, as she led the way to the stable door. "She will never survive the wasteland like that." The heavy door opened at the command, and Scarlet threw Blitz out into a world of death and destruction. "Have fun dying, Blitz!" She said cheerfully. Blitz groaned softly. She was aware of was that door slamming shut, and then once again she passed out cold into a void of nothing but silent blackness.
4. FoundPain. Horrible, burning, unbearable pain. This was all that registered in Blitz's fevered mind as she slowly regained consciousness. She felt as though her body had been kicked around under a mob of panicked ponies running for their lives, and then dragged through the fire filled parts of Tartarus. It was so intense it consumed every nerve ending, every brain cell. A sound something between a ragged gasp and a weakly pitiful moan escaped her lips as she tried to force her eyes open and failed. "Oh...oh she's awake. Blitz? Can you hear me?" The faint female voice was laced with worry, and sounded so familiar, yet Blitz couldn't make her agonized mind think of it right now. "Blitz?" The hooves shaking her were gentle, She whimpered in pain. "Maybe it's not a good idea to do that." Another voice, distinctly male, interjected. Blitz fought a hard battle against the stubborn force that refused to let her see, finally managing to get her resisting eyelids to part a small fraction. Through the small slit, and through very blurry vision, she could just make out ponies leaning over her. She tried to both move and speak simultaneously "Where-" She stopped, body spasming with the jolt of pain that shot through her system. Fuck, the pain was everywhere. There was no part of her that didn't feel like one hot, swollen, massive, horribly throbbing bruise. Hooves gently held her steady as she released a weak stream of expletives, then a few more choice words about how weak her first ones sounded. "Easy, Blitz. You...you're hurt really badly." "Where...am I?" She ground out, breathing hitching with just the effort. "You're somewhere safe for now." The mare responded soothingly. "Who-who are you? I feel like...I know you, but...aggghhh!!!" A weak scream left her throat as she tried to lift her head, only to be met with another lightning bolt of horrid agony. "It's me, Blitz. Sunshine." The voice was gentle. "It's ok you didn't remember. You really took a nasty beating in the Stable. I'm guessing Scarlet Edge." Her tone was was one of sorrow and guilt. "And...it's my fault." Blitz gasped out loud, and then gagged at the pain it produced in her chest. "No! Sunshine, no. I did what I had to. You, all of you, needed to escape that place." Her body went limp, and her eyes slid closed again. Sunshine's hooves were gentle as she started tugging at what Blitz figured were bandages, but even the most featherlight of touches was enough to make her actually whinny in weak, miserable protest, and tears spilled from her closed eyes. Finally it was over, and something was laid on top of her. Sunshine's voice was right next to her ear, to be sure she heard. "Rest, Blitz." As her body forced her into a fitful slumber, she was dimly aware of the male voice, worriedly asking Sunshine if she would be ok. The world slipped to blackness before she ever heard the reply. Sunshine sighed as she threw out the bloody remains of the water from the basin she had used to clean Blitz's numerous injuries. She had bandaged them all up as best she could, but she wasn't one hundred percent sure the unicorn was going to make it. Her expression hardened in angry sympathy. She didn't have to imagine what torture Scarlet had put Blitz through; she knew. "Will she be ok?" Her companion asked for the tenth time, brows creased in worry. "I don't know, Silver." Like her, the young stallion had a number branded on his flank that began with S. So, like Blitz had done for her, Sunshine had immediately called him Silver, and he was happy with that. The cerulean earth pony rubbed his muzzle and let out a jagged huff. "I hope Scarlet gets a taste of her own medicine some day!" He spat bitterly. Sunshine could understand the sentiment perfectly. "I know. But for now let's focus on trying to pull Blitz out of this." She touched his shoulder, not surprised when he instinctively flinched. "Ok." Silver looked at the still form laying on a pile of old sacks in the corner of the run down shack. "She's...going to have a lot of scars." "Just like us." Sunshine quietly replied. "And we'll help her through it, because we've been there where she was, and where she is." Silver shuddered at the memories, his amber eyes clouding over as he nodded. "How do you think she'll take it? I mean, when she sees...?" Sunshine heaved a sigh, looking at the one unicorn in this messed up world that had done nothing but show kindness to her, and had sacrificed so much to help her and her companions to safety. To see what had been the strong and sleek body of her friend now reduced to ragged, weak, and heavily marred with injuries was enough to make her want to cry. The wounds Scarlet had inflicted were deep and hideous, the worst of them being the one on her chest. It was that wound that worried Sunshine the most. Scarlet's blade had cut deep, and very dangerously close to Blitz's heart. The fact she had survived the blood loss just from that wound alone was nothing short of miraculous. In short, Blitz was going to carry a lot of the scars for the rest of her life...if she survived. It had been a full day since Sunshine and Silver had brought her to the shack. They had hidden near the Stable after making the rest of the slaves go to a safer location, and they waited. And waited. It had seemed to them to be a millenia before Blitz's broken and battered body had been flung from the Stable, exiled from the place that was once her home and left to die a cruel death in the wasteland. They had acted quickly, carrying Blitz to safety and getting to work on cleaning and bandaging her wounds. Their rescuer was then safely tucked under a heavy sack for a blanket, doctored as best as they could manage. Her wounds were not really showing signs of festering, but she had a high fever, likely due to all the horrific trauma her body had received. They were trying to keep her as clean as possible, because if she should get an infection, her chances of survival were going to decrease exponentially, and should the wound that had nearly exposed one of her most vital organs get infected, it was going to very likely mean the end for Blitz. But the worst of this, the absolute worst, was the one wound on her flank. The one that would cause the most mental and emotional trauma for poor Blitz. The raw, open wound surrounding seared flesh and dead muscle tissue, the fluid oozing from it soaking into the bandages to a degree that made Sunshine change the dressing multiple times, as well as pour healing potions directly on it, was what would likely push Blitz over the edge. The bloody butcher of Stable 18 had removed the cutie mark and burned the slave brand deeply into the hide in its place. Just the thought made Sunshine feel ill, especially since she was well aware of just how horrid and painful such a thing was. "I'm not sure how she will react." She said quietly. "But if anything, it's going to likely make her angrier and if I know Blitz, based on her reactions to the...Sanctum...she is going to make somepony pay for their sins with their own blood." Silver gritted his teeth. "Scarlet and the Overmare will be first if her hatred is anything like mine. And I hope I get a front row seat when they are." Sunshine gingerly laid her foreleg around him, noting he was trembling with rage. "You're not the only one." Blitz whimpered and cried out weakly in her sleep, and Sunshine let go of Silver to hurry to her side. "N-no, don't...Scarlet..." Blitz pleaded in agony. "No!" She screamed faintly, and Sunshine teared up as she softly shushed her with soothing words. "Blitz, it's ok. Shh. You're safe now. It's ok." Somehow her voice reached through to Blitz in her nightmarish slumber, and the wounded mare quieted considerably. Her head turned slightly so her muzzle was pressed against Sunshine's neck, her breaths hot and slightly uneven against her coat. Sunshine didn't move away, instead gently rubbing her muzzle against Blitz's neck. If this kept her calm and her nightmares at bay, she would stay right here and cuddle close to her as long as was necessary. Silver laid next to her, gazing in pained sympathy at Blitz as she continued to sleep. He glanced at Sunshine, then back at Blitz, and then reached out and rubbed his hoof gently through the mussed up red and maroon mane, helping to keep her quieted. Blitz whimpered softly, feeling pain even as she slept. The room was quiet as her two friends kept watch over her still form, Sunshine never ceasing to keep close contact with her, as they both silently sent up broken prayers to Luna and Celestia for favour, that maybe, just maybe, Blitz might somehow manage to live.
5. No More Time for RestBlitz forced her eyes open and yawned. She struggled up from her pallet on the floor with slow and painful success, then stood on slightly unsteady legs, breathing heavily. It had been just about a week since her unlucky encounter at the Stable, and since then she had mostly been on the floor asleep...or more like straight up unconscious for most of the first couple days. She had enough energy to at least get up and move around, but Sunshine and Silver refused to allow her to do anything too strenuous, citing the fact she was still healing and still somewhat weak. At their best guess, it was decided she had suffered a few cracked ribs, a concussion, and multiple lacerations and bruises during her time in the Sanctum. Her "nurses" had refused to let her have a mirror to check the damages, not wanting her emotional and mental state to become completely undone by what she would see. "Blitz, you're up!" Sunshine fairly beamed in satisfaction and joy. "Just in time for breakfast. Silver managed to scrounge up a treat this morning." From the smell that assaulted her nostrils, Blitz immediately guessed it was pancakes, and Sunshine grinned in approval that she'd gotten it correct. "He managed to get some supplies from a wagon not far from here." She said, flipping a pancake with ease. "The packaging was all undamaged so I think we should be safe. Besides, by now we've surely adapted to the low amounts of radiation." "Oh wonderful." Blitz said. "So we'll just die more slowly instead of all at once." Her harsh words made Sunshine flinch, and she sighed. "Sorry, Sunny. I'm cranky when I first wake up." Sunshine snickered. "Well, the fact you're still in pain doesn't help that any either." Blitz stiffly moved over to sit at the small table, grimacing as she did so. "Wish I could get my hooves on a Pipbuck, but they are gonna be so hard to come by out here." She said. "I could check my health status and even the levels of radiation in each of us. Damn Overmare. Taking mine away. Although if she wanted me to die, it was a smart move." Silver chose that moment to saunter in, and tossed something on the table in front of her. "Can you use that?" Blitz blinked in astonishment. "How the hell did you get a Pipbuck?!" Silver coughed lightly. "Well...I ran into a pony and uh...don't question the stains on my coat, but yeah, there's you a Pipbuck." Blitz took note of the dark reddish splotches decorating his coat and arched an eyebrow. "You killed a pony just for this?" Silver shrugged. "No, I just simply killed him. In all fairness, he attacked me first. I had no choice. Afterwards, I saw the Pipbuck and took it off him, it's not like he needs it anymore." Blitz couldn't argue with his point, and fiddled with the piece of equipment while Sliver washed up and Sunshine was busy dishing up the food. The nicks and scratches on the lock indicated Silver had used something to pick it and thus remove it...which wasn't an easy task and she was amazed he had accomplished it. She was so preoccupied she didn't notice that the food was in front of her. "Equestria to Blitz, come in please." Blitz jumped. "Oh. Right, sorry." She let the Pipbuck slide gently from her hooves to the table and gazed at the pancakes in front of her with a lick of her lips. Her horn glowed as she wrapped the rusty fork in her magic grasp and attempted to levitate it. Unfortunately, there was a good bit of wincing involved, as her body being in such bad shape had prevented her magic from actually replenishing itself decently yet. The fork made it halfway to her mouth before her grip released, sending it clattering back down as she rubbed her head. "Ok, well, guess I'm eating this way." She said, using her hoof to lift the food instead. "This is really good!" Silver announced, slurping a bite down rather noisily, earning a disapproving stare from Sunshine. "What?" "Don't slurp, it's rude." She said firmly, then grinned before flipping a bite into her own mouth and noisily chewing. "So is chewing so loud!" Silver protested indignantly. Blitz rolled her eyes, took a bite, and slurped and chewed with a level of noise that beat out both of theirs. They stared at her in astonishment. "What?" She asked innocently. They all laughed and continued to polish off their breakfast, careful not to miss even a drop of the sweet syrup mix Sunshine had somehow put together. "So, where do we go from here?" Silver asked. "I don't know." Blitz rubbed her muzzle thoughtfully. "I want to at least see that the rest of the slaves made it to safety someplace. Then I want rest up, build our weapon arsenal, and return to Stable 18 to save their children from being as abused as you were." Silver choked. "What?" Sunshine looked down, suddenly sad. "You didn't know?" Blitz asked, confused. "I knew they took the foals away, but..." Silver sighed heavily, slumping in defeat. "I shouldn't be surprised those unicorn bitches would use them like they used us. Torture them." Tears were pooling in Sunshine's eyes. Blitz reached her hoof out to touch her foreleg. "Sunny, we'll get them out. I promise. But I have to build up our arsenal first, we don't stand a chance trying to get in and get them now." Sunshine met her gaze, emerald eyes swimming with watery emotions. "I hope so. I really do. Had I realized that they would do this, I would never have left without..." She broke off, looking away. Silver and Blitz looked at each other, then back at Sunshine. The mare took a shuddering breath. "Anyway...I really hope we can get them out." "We will." Blitz said firmly. "There's no way in hell I'm letting those psycho bitches take anymore lives. As long as we're gone, they won't kill them, because their slave supply has been badly diminished." Looking slightly relieved, Sunshine got up and removed the dishes. Blitz fiddled with the Pipbuck, finally managing to reset some functions and fix a few others to make it register her as the new owner. Within minutes after that, she was able to scan all their radiation levels, relieved they were relatively low, as well as asses her body's damage. She froze with the last one, diagram of her wounds visible on the Pipbuck screen. "Sunshine. I need a mirror of some kind." Her companions exchanged worried looks. "Please." She said urgently. Sunshine dug around in a pile of rubbish, coming up with a cracked mirror that she wordlessly held out. Blitz stared at her reflection and her jaw clenched. Alot of the darker bruising still had yet to fade away, and minorly visible lines from lesser cuts were not really a shock. But what stunned her was the deeper wounds that had mainly healed, though they had left obnoxious scarring. Her gaze landed on the worst of the lot. A long, wide, and jagged line ran from her neck down along her chest, disappearing between her forelegs. A gentle hoof tracing it revealed that it actually ran beyond that, almost to the center of her belly. She did not need an expert to tell her that she was going to carry this ugly scar for the remains of her life. Along with several others...including a short but particularly nasty gash on her left jawline. She inhaled deeply, the effort drawing a wince due to her still healing ribs. "Well. I have looked much better. But on the bright side, at least Scarlet didn't do anything to mess with my mane. Because that would have really pissed me off." "That's...the one on your chest is one of two extremely bad ones..." Sunshine murmured. Blitz clenched her teeth. She had seen the other one as well on the Pipbuck. "I know. But I don't know if I want to see it. Not yet." Sunshine and Silver gazed at her in sympathy, knowing the feeling. Silence reigned for several minutes, and then Blitz inhaled. Slowly she craned her head around to gaze at her left flank, still covered with a bandage. "Sunny..." Sunshine stepped closer. "Take that off." "Are you sure...?" "No. I'm really not. But I better see it now rather than later." Sunshine inhaled and slowly removed the bandage, Blitz shutting her eyes while she did so. After a moment, there was a quiet sigh. "Ok. It's off." It took every ounce of willpower Blitz had to open her eyes. She stared in wordless horror at her flank. Her cutie mark was gone, replaced with a large "S" branded deeply into the blackened hide. Sure, she still had the cutie mark on the other flank, but, she may as well not have. She felt like a piece of her very soul had been ripped away as she gazed at the spot. While it had been healing nicely, and any actual wounds scabbed and scarred over, it still was a painfully tender place. Scarlet had done worse than just rip her body apart in places. She had ripped part of her very essence from her. Taking away part of who she was. It felt like she was only half a pony. In this moment, Blitz felt so horribly and utterly violated, and deep pain washed over her as a cry of anguish left her mouth. Sunshine stepped up, wrapping her forelegs around Blitz as the unicorn slumped into her, clinging to her like she was a lifeline, crying as though she would never stop, her broken wails coming from the deepest pit of her very core. Silver swiped at his eyes, trying not to cry at Blitz's pain, while Sunshine just held her and rocked her as she wept bitter and burning tears into her chest. The emotional drain on top of her limited physical abilities had worn Blitz out, and she ended up falling asleep in Sunshine's embrace, occasionally whimpering and sniffling in her sleep. Sunshine eased her into her pallet and covered her with the ragged blanket. "Fuck." Silver muttered, rubbing his damp eyes. "That really hurt me to watch. For a minute I was back at the Stable, in pain, screaming from having just suffered that same treatment." Sunshine hugged him. "I know. Me too. But we're out of there now, and luckily the worst of her trauma is over. She knows what injuries she was left with. Now the healing begins. Just like it does for us. We'll all get through this together." They maintained a long silence, then Silver rose. "I better try to scrounge up some more provisions." "I'll go too." "What about Blitz?" "I'll leave a note in case she wakes." Sunshine penned a quick note, leaving it where Blitz would easily find it if she woke up while they were gone, and then followed Silver from the shack, quietly closing the door behind them. Blitz awoke a short time later and found the shack empty. She also found the note, preventing her from massive panic. She dug into the pile of rubbish and came up with a battered up old book, noting to her luck it contained short stories of pre-war Equestria. She settled into her pallet and opened it to the first page. Once upon time, in the magical land of Equestria... She had just finished the tale of the two sisters when the door thudded open and a gasping Silver fell through it. "Blitz!" He rasped in panic. "Silver!" She dropped the book, hurrying to him in spite of her body protesting the rapid movements. From his stained coat, he'd been in a fight, but luckily he didn't appear seriously hurt. He waved his forelegs. "Sunny..." He gasped, and her heart clenched. "What about her? Silver, where is she?!" "Raiders...attack...fight...I couldn't hold them off. I got away but she...they took her!" He was breathing so hard his words were coming out in painfully ragged gasps. Blitz felt her blood run cold. "Oh fuck. Silver, grab whatever you can get we might need. We're going after them." She looked around, spotting no weapons save for a couple of bent and slightly dull kitchen knives. She dug into the trash pile, yanking out a ragged green vest with holes through it. Silver had a pair of saddlebags he was viciously stuffing their remaining supplies in, and Blitz levitated the knives into a side sheath. She donned the ragged vest, and scrounged more until she came up with some things to quickly fashion a makeshift sheath for the vest, before taking back one knife and shoving it into it. "Blitz, are you sure? I mean, you're still somewhat weak and I don't think you-" "We're going to get Sunny. I may not be full capacity yet, but fuck that. She needs us. Now let's go." Blitz charged out the door, and the doubtful Silver ran after her as they headed out into the unforgiving wasteland.
The BackstoryThere was a time many years ago that the unicorn and earth pony inhabitants of Stable 18 lived together in peace and harmony. They ran the Stable together, taking turns providing overmares or overstallions...it mattered not which gender ruled so long as they were fair and just. Thus they lived...all things seeming to work perfectly and beautifully. That is until the unicorns became polluted by some self decided doctrine that they, as possessors of magic, were a far better race. More important, more worthy to be all powerful. They despised the non magic earth ponies and believed them to be an inferior race, one to be overtaken and dominated into the very dust if possible. And this they did. Oh, they did it cleverly and sneakily...slipping slowly and casually into leadership places until not a single position of power was held by an earth pony. And then the slaughter began. The unicorns brutally annihilated their non magic stablemates. Mare, stallion, foal...all were fair game. A few cleverly diguised themselves as unicorns, but this, alas, did not last for long. They were discovered, and rather than a death sentence, were made into slaves. And for them, it was a fate worse than death. Brutal and cruel conditions were what awaited them...and none dared to fight back for fear of what horrors would be handed to them. Instead they waited, and they prayed to Celestia and Luna that someday, somehow, somepony would end thier misery. Into the world of Stable 18 was born a unicorn. One who would in fact be a pony to help right the wrongs inflicted on these helpless slaves. This is her story.
