Kill Or Be Killed

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The stallion gasped as he awoke with a start, his mind and body reeling as if he’d just had a bad dream. The pegasus began to take in deep breaths, but the air around him felt suffocating and dry. It took a moment for his lungs to adjust to the odd sensation, but once they did he began to observe his surroundings. What he saw though was nothing short of mind-boggling. There were no lights, but he couldn't rightly call it darkness for whatever reason. There was only emptiness. A… void

A shiver traveled down his spine, despite there being no cold to speak of. His senses were all out of whack, screaming at him to feel this, or react to that, but when even the air itself was nonexistent in this place, how could he even attempt to do so? There was an irritating pressure bearing down on him, and every breath felt hollow and empty despite his body insisting he continue to do so. He couldn’t have been dead, could he? The stallion placed a hoof to his chest in an attempt to find his heart. If he were alive, he would feel the pulse, and If not…

*thump*

The orange pegasus sighed with relief as he felt the comforting sensation of his heartbeat. He was alive, as far as he could tell, but who knew how long that would last? Wherever this place was, it certainly didn’t seem hospitable for a stay longer than a few minutes. Then again though, he couldn’t feel anything despite his body’s insistence. Maybe things like food and water were unnecessary in the void, and maybe something like aging would be a worry of the past? He’d almost say he’d be glad to become immortal, but hiding away in an endless abyss like a coward wasn’t his style. Besides, staying here would have likely driven anypony crazy, and that was a fate worse than death.

“No way am I letting that happen to me.” He muttered to himself before picking a direction and jogging towards it, determined to keep moving until he found a way out. As he continued walking, he began to notice something very strange. No matter how fast or slow he went, it felt like he hadn’t moved an inch from his previous spot. It was almost like he was on a treadmill or something. With a grunt, he tried to fly, but even after soaring upwards at his max speed, he touched down on the ground only an inch beneath him.

He tried for what felt like hours to move, but all that succeeded in doing was tiring him out. If he wasn’t sure about food or water existing in there before, then he was certainly hoping he’d find some soon.

The stallion thought back to the moments leading up to his awakening, but to his horror, he couldn’t recall a single thing. He pulled up anything and everything he could, but the only thing he could even latch onto was his name, Firestorm. The worry and fear he had so vehemently ignored before began to resurface the longer he thought. Was this void eating away at his memories? Would he truly go mad in here? He could only hope that it wasn’t the case, but even if he didn’t know much he knew he hated being this unsure for this long. He needed out, and he needed it now.

“Hello! Anypony!?” his voice carried an echo into the void, which would seem impossible, but to him that only proved that there had to be an exit. “Listen up, you wanna be black hole! I am done being here! Either you let me out, or you will feel my wrath!” The fiery pegasus shouted into the darkness, and carefully listened for any kind of response. He understood that the void itself might not have even been sentient, but if there was anypony else stuck in here, or preferably outside of here, that could hear him, then he hoped they got the message.

He waited...

...and waited…

...but nothing called back.

He glared at the darkness, clenching his teeth as the rage threatened to be released in the form of a whirlwind of anger filled expletives. He wanted to scream, to shout, to curse the void and all things that inhabited it, but in the end, he just couldn’t. He sighed in defeat and fell to the ground, ready to accept his fate. It had already been days, and not a single thing had come along to greet his cries for help.

He couldn’t move, he couldn’t shout, he couldn’t fly. He felt so helpless, but what more could he even do besides wait and hope somepony else could find him? Perhaps a nap would be enough to soothe his mind? With an annoyed sigh, and a lack of better options, Firestorm laid on his back and prepared to doze off, but not even that small peace of mind could continue without the void interrupting it.

The sound of a doorknob turning scratched at his ears, so he tried rolling over and ignoring it in favor of some sleep. He continued on that train of thought for roughly two seconds before springing to his hooves and facing the direction of the sound.

It couldn’t be real, could it? Was he losing his mind already? It seemed that the distinct sound of a door opening in the distance begged to differ. He couldn’t see where it was coming from, but he knew that it had to be somewhere. This was his ticket out, and he’d be damned if he lost it now. He ran towards the noise, ignoring the treadmill floor beneath his hooves, and instead only focusing on the prospect of freedom.

As he ran, he nearly missed the sound of a hushed voice echoing all around him. “Hmm, I think there’s somebody inside of here. We should… help them right?” The dainty female voice asked, her voice a mix between a whisper and a second pair of thoughts rattling in his head. He didn’t want to stop his sprint, for fear of this being some trick to keep him in the void, but he finally halted as a second voice responded to the first.

“Yes, we should help our guest. Even if he is just adorable trying to find his way out.” The second female said, her voice similar to the first but more commanding and haughty. Who were these two? Were they the ones responsible? Had they been watching him this entire time? They thought his meltdown was ‘cute’!? It must’ve been the case, since even though he couldn’t see them, he could feel their eyes gazing down onto him from every direction.

As soon as he got out, he wanted to have a few words with his ‘hosts’. If this were the way they treated their ‘guests’ then he’d gladly show them a thing or two.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door opening behind him, but unlike last time, this sounded like the real deal. He turned towards the sound and saw a strange portal of some kind with a white light emitting from it, illuminating him against the all-encompassing darkness. While he couldn’t see anything past the light, he could feel a comforting warmth emanating from the surface. Walking up to the doorway, he tentatively placed a hoof into the light and felt a mysterious energy starting to surround it. He gave a shiver as the foreign entity coalesced around him, and pulled his hoof back.

“Don’t you want to be free?” The first voice asked, sounding confused as to why he hadn’t passed into the door already.

“Yes, please come in. I assure you it’s much better over here!” The second voice said, her voice becoming clearer the closer he stood to the gate. As suspicious as he was about the two voices and the foreign world beyond, he couldn’t stand being in the void any longer. Placing both hooves into the entrance, the fiery-maned pegasus took a deep breath and dove into the door, his entire body becoming absorbed by the light.

The moment he entered the gateway he felt his center of gravity shift, flipping him around until he was falling face-first into a bright tunnel full of shifting colors. The orange pegasi immediately tried to open his wings, but as expected they remained glued to his body. He quickly fell towards whatever destination laid beyond, but with nothing else to do he merely stared at the wormhole surrounding him and waited for the end to approach.

After more wasted time waiting for the portal to finally spit him out, Firestorm suddenly heard a loud whoosh of air as the exit opened around him. He shouted aloud as a well-carpeted floor came to greet him until a muffled thump marked the end of his descent.

By some kind of luck, or cruel fate, he survived slamming face-first into the wooden floor, but surviving didn’t exactly translate to not feeling pain. He felt guttural nausea, aching on every piece of his body, and an indescribable need to just lie there and die. Unfortunately for him though, there was a familiar voice there to prolong his suffering.

“Hmmm~. This stallion looks very fine indeed. Wouldn’t you say?” The mare said, her unmistakably infuriating voice having no possible owner but the second girl he’d heard in the void. He attempted to look up at them, and through blurry vision, he could see two strange creatures standing before him. He wanted to guess what they were, to ask what was happening, but the effects of the void had already begun to take their toll, laying those thoughts to rest.

“Yes sister, very good indeed,” The first voice replied, her voice somehow even softer in the flesh. “He must be a guard of some sort with muscles like those. He could be a keeper.” The Stallion mumbled something to them, so the creature approached. “What was that?”

Firestorm lifted his dizzy head and tried to say something, anything, but his words only came out as gibberish. “Here, Drink this. It’ll help.” The voice said, lifting the orange pony’s head before bringing a glass vial to his lips. Even if he had wanted to refuse, he didn’t think he had the strength to anymore. The liquid traveled down his gullet, and at first, he quite literally felt nothing as his body became numb.

That didn’t last long, however, as he suddenly became overwhelmed by a flood of signals attacking him all at once. He fell into a state of shock and violently convulsed on the ground beneath them. His muscles spasmed as the horrid pain swept through his body, and for a moment the stallion feared that he’d been poisoned. It continued for what felt like several minutes until his synapses returned to normal. He was alive… but after that experience, he wasn’t even sure it was worth it anymore.

Now that he had regained control though, he felt that a certain ass-kicking was in order. He was no stranger to managing his anger, but when an issue like this presents itself it can be hard to hold back.

“What... the HELL did you do to me!?” He roared as he tried standing back up, only to fall onto his face. He looked down at his legs to see what was wrong, only to be greeted by what used to be his legs. His eyes widened as he gazed upon the strange gangly arms, the ends of which were bulbous appendages with five strange stumps on the end. He sat up and looked at his back legs, thankful to see that these had remained as hooves for whatever reason.

He looked himself over as best as he could, noting the stark differences of his new body except for his neon yellow eyes, fiery mane, his Flaming-X-Shaped Cutie Mark, and his orange fur. He was understandably confused by all of this, but that confusion only seemed to further fuel his rage.

He carefully balanced back up to his hooves, the experience being much easier for him than he expected, and glared at the two figures. They were bipedal pony creatures much like him, except they were crystal ponies if the glints in their identical bob cut manes was anything to go by. They were coral-colored ponies wearing matching maid outfits, and call him a betting stallion, but he was willing to guess that they were twins. They looked mostly identical, with one maybe being an inch taller than the other, but even then he wasn't too sure. He couldn’t see their cutie marks under the clothes, but he could see strange intertwined female symbols on their outfits. He figured that was as good a guess as any.

By the time he'd wrapped up his inspection, his anger had simmered down a bit. But even so, he still felt an overwhelming need to punch something. If these two didn’t explain how they were involved in this, and just what it was they gave him, he wouldn’t be liable for what happened next.

Sensing the tension that had filled the room, the twins softly smiled at him, as if to convey that they understood his situation. “We’re sorry for the inconvenience you had to pass.” The first one said, her soft voice coming off as mostly sincere.

“We hope that it didn’t feel too bad.” The second one added on with a grin, immediately after the first one finished, her voice sounding almost like a taunt.

“No, no, I’m fine,” He said through clenched teeth as he paced from side to side in front of them. “I just spent what felt like an eternity freaking the hell out in a void, thinking I was going to die, and then getting turned into a Godforsaken abomination of Tartarus! I’m fine!” The orange pegasus shouted while gesturing to himself.

The reserved girl flinched for a moment at his outburst, but the second taller one simply placed a hand on her wide hips sassily. “You want to run that by me again? Because it almost sounded like you were insulting us.” Firestorm opened his mouth for another tirade but stopped as he felt an ominous aura radiating off of them. He closed his mouth and swallowed his pride, holding his words in just long enough for the presence to fade.

The taller one let out a hmph of disappointment and placed a hand on her sister's shoulder, calming her down. “Let’s just start with names, yes?” She asked condescendingly. Firestorm growled under his breath, but ultimately remained silent and nodded his head. “My name is Foal-Bearer,” She said while placing a hand over her chest. “And this is my sister, Wet Nurse.”

“Uhh, nice to meet you.” Wet nurse said as she gave a short bow.

Firestorm raised a brow at this, and in the silence, he just couldn’t control it. “Is that… those can’t be your real names,” He said in disbelief. Wet Nurse tilted her head in confusion while Foal-Bearer crossed her arms. “I-I mean, not to be rude or anything, but it just seems a little too on the nose." He quickly amended, fearful that he might provoke the presence once again.

They gave each other a side glance as he asked this, and he could tell by the looks on their faces that it was a particularly sore subject. “Sorry… forget I said anything.”

“It’s alright,” Wet Nurse commented before her sister could provoke him any further. “We understand your curiosity, but for now why don’t we move on? I’m sure you have questions that you’re just dying to have answered.” Wet Nurse pointed towards the door where Foal Bearer was standing, and with a roll of her eyes, the mare opened it up. "Come with us, and we can take you to somepony who will help."

"Hold on, I'm not going anywhere until you explain to me what just happened." Firestorm retorted, understandably unnerved by her insistence that he follow them. The twin by the door glared at him as he asked this, but Wet Nurse merely smiled and nodded her head.

"Of course," she said politely while showing a small empty vial. "You were pulled through in a pretty bad state, but we have these potions to revitalize you upon entry. It's a common occurrence which is, unfortunately, pretty painful."

"Yeah," Foal Bearer added on. "But you're a big stallion. You took it like a champ, well, after all of that girly screaming of course." She said with a low chuckle. Firestorm shot a glare of his own at the twin, but surprisingly, Wet Nurse was the one to speak up.

"Foal!" She chastised with a hissing whisper. Her sister looked at her in surprise before raising her hands in surrender and looking out at the hallway beyond the door. "Sorry, We truly are. But if you come with us, we can take you to a pony who can answer all of your questions better than we can." Firestorm didn't want to trust them, but there was something about Wet Nurse's endearing smile that just got through to him. With a deep and calming breath, he agreed to follow.

They led him out of the room in silence and down an ornate wooden hall, the interior of which reminded him of a cozy log cabin or hunting lodge. Since his time in the void was over, he slowly started remembering more and more about his life, all except for how he had ended up here, which was arguably the most important fact. Thankfully though, he was able to rely on his training back home to move relatively unhindered by his new physique. It turned out that he was already well versed in walking on his hind hooves.

The maids led him to a door on the side of the hall that entered into a large study of some kind, with bookshelves, desks, and a lit fireplace at the far end of the massive room. As they entered into the center of the room he saw two creatures in simple leather cushioned study chairs facing each other.

One was a familiar-looking lavender pony with a two streaked pink and purple mane. While she certainly looked a lot like the Princess Twilight he knew, she was still bipedal and certainly lacked the wings associated with royalty. She was wearing some kind of bright white button-up shirt, as well as a pair of smooth pants. He was curious as to why she and the maids needed to wear clothes at all, but also began to wonder if he should be wearing any. In her hands was a large clipboard and pencil where she presumably took notes, and he could only guess that they were about the creature sitting across from her.

It was equine in stature, had what looked to be four hooves, and had what seemed to be red claw marks as his cutie mark. His skin was covered in scales of a sickly green color as opposed to fur, and similarly, he had no mane to speak of while his tail resembled that of a barren and slender reptile.

He heard the two conversing from afar until Twilight nodded her head and pointed towards a door beside them. The creature nodded in return and walked off towards the door, stopping in front of it as it opened on its own. Before he entered, he looked back and stared Firestorm in his eyes, the creature’s black orbs and red pupils causing him to shiver. The lizard pony flared out his forked tongue in true reptile fashion, then trotted into the dark room without a word.

“Hey!” Firestorm snapped out of his trance and looked towards Twilight as she waved the trio over to her. “Come on you two, bring him over! We’re on a tight schedule.” She said with a hint of exhaustion in her voice as she tapped her clipboard impatiently. The twins looked back at him and smiled before gesturing to the empty chair. He looked at them with some slight trepidation, but he figured that this was likely his only option for the moment. Perhaps if he were left alone with Twilight, he’d be able to get some help.

He walked towards the chair confidently, but the sounds of the maids following him made him grit his teeth in frustration. “Tight schedule? You just finished with the last one the moment we got here.” Foal Bearer teased with a grin.

Twilight looked at her with tired eyes and groaned. “That last one was especially… chatty. This time I’ll keep the questions to a minimum. Now run along back to the portal and check on the void you two. We still have a few more prospects scheduled.” She said while referring to her notes, and Foal Bearer merely shrugged in response. Firestorm however was stuck looking between them in confusion, as all of their talk about prospects and schedules did little to ease his racing mind.

“Can’t be helped I guess, but the least you could do is smile, Twily,” Foal Bearer said as she turned to leave. “Come on sis.” She beckoned with a hand as she made her way to the door.

“Oh!” Wet Nurse said with a start as she watched her sister abruptly leave. She faced Firestorm and Twilight and bowed with both hands in front of her. “Hope to see you soon, and good luck!” She gave a cute wave to Firestorm and quickly rushed to her sister's side, before exiting in unison with her.

The door closed with a loud creak, drowning the room in silence. Firestorm turned towards Twilight and took note of her tired expression as she furiously flipped through her papers. “Are you okay, princess?” He asked instinctively.

She stopped for a moment and glanced up at him, her head unmoving. She gave a deep exhale through her nose and continued flipping through the pages on the clipboard until she finally stopped. “Princess… how many times am I going to hear that today?” She grumbled under her breath.

Firestorm sat up straight and tensed his muscles as she said this, her delivery and exasperation setting him on edge. “Let me just get this out of the way,” She started as she lowered her clipboard. “I understand that you may know me, but you don’t know me,” She pointed to her back and raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you see a pair of wings on my back?”

He slowly shook his head, his pride taking a massive hit as he avoided looking at her face. “No… I suppose not.”

“Then it’s safe to assume I’m not a princess,” She leaned back in the chair while crossing her legs and examining the sheet of paper in front of her. “You’re Firestorm, yes? Part of an elite strike team of guards in your dimension. Keeping the peace with maximum deniability? Saved Princess Twilight Sparkle, well that explains it.” Firestorm cocked his head back in surprise as she nonchalantly threw his business out into the open. His confusion could wait however as he focused on one phrase in particular.

“In… my dimension? What are you talking about?” He asked with an expected amount of skepticism.

She just gave him a droll stare and shook her head. “Yes, yes, there are different dimensions. Don’t act so surprised,” She said in such a condescending way that, for some odd reason, made him even angrier when it came from the mouth of Princess Twilight. “It says here that you’re a quadruped, but it seems like the portal has changed that little fact.” His mind raced as he put what little pieces he had together.

"The portal? Dimensions? Changing me? What the hell is going on!? Where am I?” She ignored all of his questions and continued to look through his file. “What about the others then,” He said in a quieter voice, holding back his frustration as the new memories came back to him. Her train of thought ended and she once again looked at the pegasus as he gripped the arms of the chair. “Where are Noble Blade and Freedom Fighter?”

Twilight let out another sigh and skimmed the file for a moment. “Partners of yours I assume?” She stopped at a certain point and nodded to him. “They’re both fine. Only the prospects chosen by our leader are sent to the void.” Firestorm let out a sigh of relief, but his elation was short-lived as his thoughts continued to race.

“You keep calling me that, prospect. What does that even mean? Who is this ‘leader’?” She lowered the clipboard and levitated a mug of coffee into her hands from across the room. She then took a drawn-out sip before answering him, eliciting a growl from the stallion as he dragged his hands across his face.

“Ah that’s good,” She commented as she placed the mug at the foot of the chair. “You are a prospect, a being chosen for our event, the details of which will be revealed to you after this identity check. Our leader… well he’s the one who will be personally briefing you once we’re done,” She took another sip of her coffee, letting out a satisfied groan as it’s revitalizing caffeine coursed through her. “If you have questions, ask them now, time’s almost up.”

He had so much he still didn’t understand, so much he couldn’t comprehend. It was difficult even finding a place to start. “Okay, well how did I get here? Where are we?” Twilight leaned her head back in thought.

“You were pulled into the void via our acquisition casters. You’ve arrived in a parallel universe that needs you.” A universe that needed him? He couldn’t fathom as to why that would be, but that question was certainly not the most important he had.

“Well, what happened when I left? How do you know so much about me?” He asked while leaning forward, even more eager to hear the explanation for his gap in memory.

“While I can’t divulge too much, I can say that you won’t have to worry about anypony missing you for now. The leader can tell you more.” Firestorm's eyes went wide as he heard this, a wrenching feeling twisting about in his gut. “As for how we know so much… well we do extensive screening of new prospects before choosing them. We’ve seen you quite a lot in the past few weeks,” He calmed down somewhat as he heard this, but he couldn’t help but feel like she was intentionally leaving things vague enough for him to freak out over it. “Any more questions?” She asked between more sips of coffee.

“Yeah, too many!" He replied angrily. "Why am I here!? Why am I like…. This!?” He said while gesturing to himself with a look of disgust.

“I take offense to that,” She replied nonchalantly. “We aren’t sure why, but sometimes the portal changes ponies who come through it. It changes them into a body type more… common in our dimension,” She explained with a wave of her hand. "As to why we need you here-” She was interrupted from the much-awaited explanation by the entrance door opening once again. “Ah, and it seems our time is up.”

“No, no you have to tell me!” Firestorm insisted, but Twilight almost immediately ignored him.

“Head to that door, your left, my right, and wait for it to open. Our leader will see you now.” She said in a dry and robotic tone, the sound of which giving the impression that she had rehearsed it many times over.

“No!” He shouted while taking a stand before her. It didn’t matter if she looked like Princess Twilight. No princess he ever knew acted so cold to others like this. “I am not leaving until I get some answers!”

Twilight looked up at him, dropping all semblance of politeness and tolerance of his presence. “Do you need to get your ears checked? I already told you that the host will tell you everything you need to know about your stay here. So either you go through that door,” She pointed to the ornate wooden door in question. “Or Foal Bearer over there will throw you through it.” She pointed to the mare in question who stood at the entranceway with a big smile. Beside her was Wet Nurse and a newcomer.

With them was what seemed to be a tall grey diamond dog with a white underbelly and a long-sleeved dark brown jacket. He glared on in silence, but his eyes seemed to shift every so often to the maids beside him. If he had to guess, it might have had something to do with the freshly made black eye he sported on the right side of his face.

Firestorm glared at Twilight once more and tsked at her angrily before making his way to the door. The unicorn didn’t even acknowledge him though, opting instead to just continue her work. “Odium I presume? Please, have a seat.” shortly after leaving the mare, the door began to open. Behind it was an all-encompassing darkness that started bringing back horrid memories of the void.

He quickly pushed those thoughts out of his mind and stepped through, preparing himself for anything that could have lied beyond. Once on the other side though, he was greeted by an innocuous-looking office room, with a simple mahogany desk, some potted plants, and a large sliding window door leading to a star-filled balcony beyond.

Firestorm stood there in silence, wondering why the door had led him to an empty office, when he suddenly heard a loud and sinister chuckle. In the chair behind the desk, a small swirl of shadows began to manifest into a new creature, one very similar to the ponies he’d seen so far. This one sounded very stallion-esque, but all of his features seemed to be draped in shadows aside from his glowing yellow eyes.

“Welcome Firestorm. I’ve been expecting you,” He said while gesturing to the seat on the other side of the desk. Before moving, Firestorm looked around the room for any exits or weapons, but the only things he could see was a decorative sword on the wall next to him, and the balcony. “No need to be afraid, just have a seat and I’ll start explaining why you’re here.”

He looked at the shadowy figure nervously, then looked back to the sword. He shook his head and took a seat in front of the stallion, eliciting a low chuckle from him. “Smart choice. You’d be surprised how many imbeciles reach for the thing, believing they can actually do me harm with that dull old piece.” A moment of silence followed them, the only noise being that of a ticking clock on the wall.

“So… you were going to be explaining?” Firestorm asked impatiently. The shadow stallion chuckled once again, his eyes closing in what looked to be amusement.

“So eager, but I suppose you have a right to be. My lovely assistants can certainly be very… cryptic to say the least.” Firestorm rolled his eyes and scoffed at the remark.

“Yeah, understatement of the century.” This elicited another chuckle from the creature, one much heartier than before.

“I like you Firestorm,” He said with a nod and a point. “Well let’s get down to business. You and your fellow prospects have been summoned here to take part in our wondrous sporting event, the Trial of Sustainment. In it, you will be tasked with fighting, and hopefully, killing the other contestants.” His eyes narrowed in what Firestorm could only deduce as a form of a smile, but he was not willing to share his enthusiasm.

“KIll the other contestants? Trial of Sustainment? You’re joking.” Firestorm’s gut reaction was to storm off, but he was far too flabbergasted to even attempt.

The host let out a sigh of longing and leaned back in his chair. “I rarely joke mister Firestorm, especially about something as important as this,” He leaned forward and summoned several newspapers from the shadows and pushed them forward. “I assume Twilight has already informed you of alternate dimensions? Well, I’ll spare you the details and simply tell you this. We need sacrifices to keep our timeline running, and we don’t have the luxury to just ask others politely.

“This competition is imperative to our survival, but at the same time, we try to keep an air of enjoyment about the process. It helps alleviate the guilt in my subjects.” Firestorm looked onto the papers in disbelief, the headings all advertising various annual Trials that had come before. All of them consisted of a battle royale between 24 contestants from parallel worlds, and in the end, there was only one survivor from each.

The news hailed the process as their worlds only hope for survival, while at the same time sensationalizing the murder of these contestants. It made him sick to his stomach. He pushed the papers away and looked at the host in disgust. “What the hell are you? What kind of… monster does something like this!?”

The host narrowed his eyes again, but his voice remained calm. “Everything that I have done here has been absolutely necessary. Trust me when I say that this was not my first choice. Look on the bright side though, if you win then all of this will just become a bad dream.” Firestorm clenched his teeth in anger and fear. He felt the need to rush for that sword on the wall, but even when angered he knew that it would likely be the death of him.

"Keep in mind, mister Firestorm, that nothing will happen to your home or your friends. To them, it will feel like an instant. And in the event of your demise, we will simply create a replacement, although your soul will unfortunately stay here." Firestorm stood out of his chair and slammed his hands on the desk.

"Who the hell do you think you are!?" He yelled. "You think you can just do this to ponies and glorify it like it's some kind of sport? 'Look at the blood and guts, fun for the whole family!'" He mocked. Suddenly the room grew dark as several black tendrils sprouted from the shadow pony's back.

The Tendrils reached out towards Firestorm, backing him up towards the door. "I'm the one who's giving you a chance at survival. Because at any point… I could simply kill you and get it over with." The tips of the Tendrils reached closer and closer, but just before they had they stopped.

The host shook his head as a small chime began to ring from the clock above him, then quickly retracted all of the shadows. “I understand that you’re upset, but I think some time to think will help you cool off,” He pointed to the door he had entered through, its interior still pitch black. “Enter through there and you will be taken to your quarters. More details about the trial will be revealed once all of the prospects have arrived.”

Firestorm bit his tongue and looked at the ground as a flurry of emotions bombarded him. This vile creature wanted them all to kill each other for his world's enjoyment? Whoever this villain was, WHATever this villain was, he vowed that he would not let him get away with it. For now, though, he had to bide his time.

Stowing his fear, Firestorm approached the desk and reached for the newspapers, much to the host's surprise. “You wouldn't mind if I take these, right? For some light reading?” He asked while doing his best to hide his rage.

The host gave another happy chuckle and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t see why not.” Firestorm stacked the papers on top of each other and headed for the exit. Once more stepping through into the unknown.

Author's Note

I want to take some time to say thanks to all the owners of the OCs that will be showcased in this Hunger Games OC. You guys have helped in providing the information necessary to help advance this story through the creation and sharing of your characters. A reminder is that some characters will be changed, like their physical appearance (Ex. Firestorm), but we will try to keep their personalities mostly intact.

For those of you who actually are reading this, spoilers ahead!

For those who actually took the time to go over and read the Authors Notes (I've experimented and realized nobody places any attention here lol), then spoilers, instead of accepting 24 OCs as competitors, we shut down the submission at 16 OCs. This is because we want to give everyone a chance to shine during the arena, and having them die within the opening hours is just lame and a waste of potential.

So if you're smart, you probably will guess what will happen.

Spoilers Over.

But just because the submission time for the Competitor OCs is done doesn't mean that we won't be accepting OCs. There is still a chance that we will need non-competitor OCs (Ex. Twin Maids) with a variety of roles. These OCs may or may not have less of a role compared to the competitor OCs, but it'll give you readers a nice opportunity to squeeze in more OCs. Of course, the chances of these OCs being accepted is a bit lower compared to the competitor OCs (which was basically first come first served, and it ran for about a year), but don't be surprised if you find your submitted OCs being showcased.

Potential roles include Game Master, Servants (The Avox Role Is Undecided), Guards (The PeaceKeeper Role Is Undecided), Audience, and other creative ideas that could be of use.

If you want to help this story grow, please, like, follow, and comment on this story, it's free and you can always change your mind and undo it. If you decide to comment, it would be helpful to see what your opinions are, where this story should improve/move, and any creative ideas you have. If you decide to dislike the story, please state why, it would be very helpful to see where the story could be improved, and perhaps you might find your opinion changing.

Criticism and guidance is welcomed.

I hope everyone a happy 2021, and that this year starts off with a blast with this story. I'll see you in the next chapter.

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Author's Note

As of right now, me and my co-writer Emo (plz follow them as well!) are planning to post a chapter every other week on Friday, unless notified otherwise. We're trying our best to create the best story for you guys using all of these characters, and I hope this chapter will be nice for you all. Props to them for their heavy edits and spins.

If you have any questions, please refer to me or my co-writer who'll be here as well replying to you guys.

If you like this chapter, please like and subscribe, it's free, and you can always change your mind afterward. Now sit back, grab a water bottle, and enjoy this chapter.

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Faced yet again with the sight of perpetual darkness, the young stallion hesitated, but only for a moment. Having already gone through a similar door before, Firestorm felt a bit more comfortable, if barely, as he ventured through this new abyss. Already he had considered it a step up from the last, as he could actually feel himself moving across its expanse this time. In the distance, he saw another door, but unlike the portal from before it seemed to be an out of place brown mahogany door with a simple black metal handle. He would have considered himself lucky to not be forced into another exitless void, but given his circumstances, he couldn’t rightly call anything about his situation lucky.

He stopped just in front of the door, hesitating to reach for its handle as the memory from only several minutes prior began to plague him. The sheer absurdity of it all, the gravity of what laid in store for him, and the one title that seemed to make it all end in blood-boiling rage. That title was ‘The Trial of Sustainment.’

Just the mere thought of that name infuriated him beyond belief, and seeing as how he was finally alone for once, he decided that now was as good a time as any to finally let it all out. By it, he meant a deluge of profanities and curses upon anything and everything in this new world he had landed in. It felt cathartic, venting it all out against the darkness with no supernatural beings, or shadow monsters, or annoying maids to chastise him for showing a basic pony emotion. Soon his enraged babbling had been reduced to a single echoing scream into the abyss, as he forced out as much of his anger and frustration as he could.

There was still a great deal left, some so deep that he feared he may never truly rid himself of it, but regardless, he felt content with the relative calm that followed. Something about this void felt oddly comforting to him, and that was thanks to the fact that he finally had some time to himself. With a tired sigh, he grabbed a seat on the shadowy ground and decided to enjoy his isolation while it lasted. As far as he knew, there was no time here anyway.

As he sat in silence, his thoughts of course shifted to the trial. Calling it cruel would have been a gross understatement. It was barbaric, inhumane, it was… pure diabolical evil! The thought of these creatures pulling ponies from other dimensions, each with their own family, friends, and lives, only to have them murder each other in front of the whole world was just sickening. The host and the papers both claimed it was for the survival of their dimension, but Firestorm wasn’t having any of that. What kind of world sacrificed innocent lives like that, just to go on and consider itself worth saving in the end?

Nightmare Moon, Sombra, Discord, Tirek, Chrysalis, hell even the Noxxa Clan seemed more tame in comparison. He knew that his old friend Freedom Fighter would have been inclined to disagree, especially after what they did to their family, but in the heat of the moment, he just wanted to feel right in this. When pulling something this depraved, on a scale this large, he wanted to believe that all of his friends would consider this as big of an affront to nature as he did.

After burning a sizable chunk of his frustration away, Firestorm sighed and stood up once again. He didn’t want to go back into that world, but even so, it’s horrors managed to beat out the void. Even if it was by some minuscule margin. Whatever his fate entailed, he wouldn’t figure it out by wasting away in the darkness. If there was any chance that he could find a way out of this later, he’d take it, and make sure that everyone else got that very same chance. He vowed it.

Exiting the door, Firestorm stepped into a similar brown and redwood hallway to the last. He turned and was unsurprised to see the door he had just come through nowhere to be found, instead replaced by a smooth wooden wall. Scanning from left to right, he saw no signs of life waiting to take him anywhere as the host had promised. Feeling confident, he took a step forward and began looking around for any kind of path or exit nearby, but his sense of defiant searching was quickly interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Oh! You're here!” Called the sweet as honey voice of Wet Nurse. Firestorm turned and found himself face to face with the twin maids once again after they had seemingly appeared out of thin air. Wet Nurse stood politely with her hands in front of her while rendering a noticeably tired smile, while Foal Bearer sat on the carpeted floor with her head hanging beside her knee, snoring like a bear halfway through winter.

Wet Nurse gave an embarrassed chuckle and shimmied closer to her sister before giving her a light kick in the side. Foal Bearer woke up with a snort and began looking all around in groggy confusion. "Wha? Huh?" The older twin looked around, eventually getting used to where they now were, and rested her eyes on Firestorm. "Finally! Took you long enough." She said with annoyance as she stood up and dusted off her uniform.

Firestorm opened his mouth, prepared to voice his confusion, but before he could Wet Nurse interrupted. “You may have only felt like you were gone for a few moments, but you were actually gone for a couple of hours. The rest of the prospects have already been registered, so we were simply waiting to be warped here upon your arrival." Firestorm mouthed the word 'warped' in confusion as she'd explained, but he quickly dropped the thought altogether after considering how fluid their use of time and dimensions had been so far.

"Well, sorry for keeping you waiting," He offered after some slight hesitation. "But given the circumstances… I hope you understand why I took my time." Wet Nurse nodded, and Foal Bearer gave a short yawn followed by the shake of her head.

"Well technically it was our time you were taking, but whatever," She replied candidly while looking off to the side and stretching her arms. “Honestly, I wish you would’ve stayed in there until you were trapped, I finally had a good nap going.”

Firestorm glared at the annoying mare, his deep reserve of frustration quickly shortening his temper. "Oh, poor baby! Did I get in the way of your beauty sleep?” He said with feigned sympathy until he looked at her from top to bottom and changed his tone to one of disgust. “Or in your case… just sleep?”

Foal Bearer shot him a glare in response, before returning to her signature smug smile. “You know, being a maid isn’t my only job. I specialize in castration too,” She then lifted her hand, summoning a giant battle-ax that seemed far too heavy for her to wield with her thin arms, but somehow she managed to catch it without even flinching. “I could demonstrate if you’d like.” Firestorm suddenly found himself at a loss for words and gulped down the emotion that was most definitely not fear.

“That’s what I thought,” she said while desummoning her weapon and walking down the hall. "Now come on you idiot," Foal Bearer said with a bit of a chuckle. "We'll take you to your quarters. You'll be able to take all the time you want when you’re there." Firestorm growled under his breath as he followed the maids down the hall, keeping his distance from Foal, but allowing Wet to walk beside him.

The hallway fell into silence as they walked, but it wasn't long until Wet Nurse lightly nudged his arm to get his attention. “You certainly like poking the bear, huh?” She asked with a smile. Firestorm gave her a smile of his own and nodded his head towards Foal Bearer.

“Now, do you call her a bear because she’s strong, easily provoked, or because of the way she snores?” He asked with a chuckle.

Wet Nurse tapped her chin for a moment and pursed her lips as she thought. “Yes.” They both shared a decent laugh at her answer until it naturally died down. After it did, she looked up at Firestorm with a contemplative smile on her face. “In all seriousness though, my sister's a really sweet pony. Underneath her rough attitude is a pony that cares a lot about the contestants that come through that portal.”

Firestorm raised an eyebrow at her, skeptically. “Eh, I’ll believe it when I see it.” He said with a dismissive wave.

“Well actually, you already have,” Wet Nurse said, piquing Firestorms interest once again. “You know that potion we gave you when you first came here? It was actually a potion made to help you deal with the pain of your body transforming. Trust me when I say that you wouldn't be walking around right now without it.” Firestorm looked down at his hands and gave them an experimental flex as she talked, and took notice of the small bit of soreness he felt in his joints. “Originally, we weren’t supposed to give that to everypony that changed.

“At first, the host denied the consumption of pain killer potions for the contestants until they were registered, but Foal Bearer was the only one brave enough to butt heads with him on it. The host got... pretty mad when she did…” Wet Nurse gave a slight shiver as she remembered the event, painting a horrifying picture without needing to say a word. “But after a lot of pushback, she somehow managed to change his mind. Thus, for the past couple of years, the new potion has been put into place for the ponies who transformed.” She finished her brief recap with a smile and continued walking in silence, seemingly happy with not receiving a response from him.

Firestorm nodded along as he mulled over her story, and looked off towards Foal Bearer who was still quite a ways ahead of them. He certainly didn’t want to take her story at face value, since it was normal for siblings to try and make their family sound nice, but even so, he understood what she meant by telling him that. Foal Bearer was just a pony doing her job, like almost every pony else who could be easily seen as evil. Holding the sins of this world against her personally wasn’t fair.

He would be lying if he said he hadn’t specifically named her when cursing into the void, but now that he’d had a moment to cool off, he understood that Foal Bearer and Wet Nurse were not the ones to focus on. The shadow creature responsible for bringing them here was the true face of evil, despite his literal lack of one. If anypony deserved some slack to be cut their way, then it might have been the maids who, in all honesty, were the only ones so far to treat him with an ounce of respect.

The walking continued for another minute or two with the similar-looking halls blending together the further they went, until they'd finally arrived at their destination. There against the wall, feeling completely out of place compared to the rustic decor and warm-colored wood surrounding it, was a dark solid metal door. It honestly looked more like a large safe than a room in the wall.

"This right here's your room, you’ll be staying here until somepony says otherwise," as Firestorm and Wet Nurse approached, Foal opened up the door to reveal the well-furnished quarters inside. The entire area looked as big as an upscale Canterlot apartment, and the decor was so exceedingly lavish that he felt like he'd just wandered into a royal suite meant for a princess.

"Yeah, yeah, drink it all in," Foal Bearer said while rolling her wrist impatiently. "Now, we have to go to a meeting with Twilight and we are already behind schedule. Little miss OCD will have our heads on plates if we don't hightail it over. We would stay and show you how things work, but thanks to your little break we'll have to just take a rain check." She said with a grin.

Firestorm looked towards her, and this time he decided to take a deep breath and meet her halfway. "Thank you… very much Foal Bearer." He gave a slight nod, garnering a raised brow of confusion from the mare.

"Well, make yourself comfortable," Wet Nurse said with a wave as Foal Bearer began to close the door. "Your partner should be here, but if he's not then he'll be over soon. You will become a team during the phases that are to come. Good Luck!"

Firestorm's face immediately dropped as he heard this bombshell of sudden news. "Wait, what?! Partner!?" But by then the door had already closed. He attempted to open it up and continue his line of questioning, but unsurprisingly the handle refused to move. "Of course,” He growled as he slammed his head and fist into the door. “Just drop that bomb on me as you're leaving, that’s totally fine. And yet they wonder why I didn't feel sympathy for them."

With a sigh, Firestorm let go of the door and walked further into the room, deciding to take this time to inspect all it had to offer. As stated before, it was a pristinely decorated marble white room that seemed completely out of place compared to the humble and warm wooden interior of the palace they had been traversing so far. He figured that this place was yet another pocket area that they used portal magic to hold. It seemed like so far nothing about the rooms he’d seen had any cohesion, aside from the lingering air of menace.

To his left, he saw a walk-in kitchen with an assortment of common appliances and storage areas. There was a fridge, a sink, a rack filled with an assortment of utensils, and a wooden marble top island in the middle of the kitchen. He saw a few other items that he couldn’t quite put his hoof… or finger on, such as a metallic box with a window on it, but he figured that the kitchen was the least of his worries for now.

He stepped further inside and looked at the modestly sized lounging area on his right. There was a large alabaster couch with golden accented stitching on its sides, big enough to fit three ponies of his size, and two smaller lounge chairs with identical fabric color and stitching. All of them sat on a pristine and fluffy white carpet below facing a wooden stand against the wall with a large flat black object in the middle of it. He gazed into its glassy screen for a moment, pondering its purpose, but eventually left a pin in that conundrum as well.

He looked further off towards the back of the suite and noticed a hallway leading into what he presumed to be the bedrooms, but he decided to leave that for when he actually got tired. He shifted his gaze back down to the mass of newspapers under his arm and squinted at them, determined to delve even further into what knowledge they held. He had only skimmed them when in the office, but now was as good a time as any to educate himself further on the world's perception of the trial.

He walked around to the front side of the large couch while flipping up the top newspaper from an agency called ‘The Citadel Times’. He grabbed a seat after reading the title out loud, but his train of thought was interrupted by a sharp pain in his rear end. He reached for the source of the disturbance, eventually pulling out a small black tool covered in buttons. As he gripped it, he noticed that his thumb had been pressing down on a large button near the top, and as he released pressure the strange device against the wall flicked to life

He jumped back in surprise as the pitch-black screen suddenly became filled with colors, images, and sounds of all kinds. They flashed around for a moment before landing on a strange stage where four well-dressed ponies behind pedestals stood facing a massive wheel in the floor. “Alright, Lemon Meringue, are you ready to try your luck… and give it another spin?” A different pony who was not in frame asked the scrawny light brown stallion with glasses.

The pony in question took in a deep breath and nodded. “I’m ready!” He exclaimed before the wheel beneath him began to spin around in circles. Firestorm watched on in complete bewilderment as the strange device played the events before his very eyes. It was much like going to the movie theater, but instead of a projector and massive canvas, it was all localized in something no bigger than a common dresser mirror. He had no idea what he was even watching, but something about the crisp images and sounds it made was enough to completely entrance him.

The screen zoomed in on the stallion's face as he watched the wheel spin until everything abruptly changed to static. Once the interruption had dispersed, the previous broadcast had been replaced by a singular shot of two ponies, a pure white mare, and a beige stallion both wearing suits, sitting at a desk while looking into the camera.

“We interrupt this program to bring you a breaking news update on the trial of sustainment,” The stallion said in a voice reminiscent of a politician. The only difference was that he didn’t seem to have the tell-tale condescending voice one would expect. “We have just received confirming reports that all 24 Prospects have been received!” He said with a smile as the camera panned over to his face and displayed a picture of several silhouetted ponies beside him. The ponies had no distinct features and were covered in shadows, leading Firestorm to believe that it was just an example image.

The camera suddenly panned outwards to keep the mare beside him in frame as she began to speak as well. “With us is the host of the trial. You know her well, the premier party pony herself, Pinkie Pie!” Firestorm gasped as the shot panned over to reveal the pink party pony in question. She wore a sparkling black dress, as well as perfectly straightened hair that seemed almost unreal when mentally compared to the frazzled mess he’d known the Element of Laughter to have. “Tell us Pinkie Pie, what can we expect on this, the 50th annual trial of sustainment?”

Pinkie tossed her hair aside and scoffed at the question. “Oh! You know I can’t go revealing the big surprise right now, we’re so close to the main event!” She said with an almost unsettlingly big smile.

“Really?” The mare asked in what looked to be feigned surprise. “It’s not like you to keep secrets from the adoring fans at home, Pinkie.” As they continued talking back and forth about sharing ‘the big secret’ Firestorm started wracking his brain together to do the math. They said this was an annual tournament, the 50th annual tournament to be exact. If there were 23 contestants dead, times forty-nine tournaments, that would mean there were just over eleven hundred different ponies already sacrificed to this world.

His stomach churned for a moment as the voices on the screen faded into the background. Hearing them speak about this with smiles and laughter through a strange magical mirror made it feel like a bad dream for a moment, but once the moment had passed it somehow felt even more real than before. He started taking deep breaths, calming himself back down and forcing his brain to relax for a moment and think. If over a thousand other ponies had been here, then some of them must have tried to escape, right? He knew it was a long shot to believe that any of them had succeeded, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t something they left behind to lead him in the right direction. If he were in their horseshoes, and he knew that more ponies would come, he’d have left a trail of some kind exactly where nopony but a contestant would find it.

As Firestorm mulled over his options and rapidly changing survival plans, he heard the ponies on the screen saying something mid-sentence that caught his attention. “... really true that the previous winner, Beatrix Belladonna, will be joining us this year?”

Pinkie gave a knowing smile and leaned back in her chair. “Oh well, I guess there’s no reason to try and keep that one a secret,” They all shared a good laugh like friends at a picnic, but Firestorm merely groaned and rolled his eyes at their fake joy. “The rumors are true,” She said while looking at the screen. “The previous winner who’d had a surprise victory in last year's trial is returning not as a competitor, but as the newest trainer for the newest of prospects.” A picture appeared beside her depicting a new purple-skinned, platinum maned, unicorn mare. She was wearing a cone-shaped, wide-brimmed, hat and a high cut legless leotard ending in a thong.

Firestorm couldn’t deny how stunning she looked from just the image alone, but there was also a hint of intimidation that came with it. He could tell that she was very powerful just by appearances, her confident face giving off the impression that she was more than well prepared for anything the world could throw at her.

“Never before has a pony stayed with us after claiming the champion status,” Pinkie continued. “but that just means she must love the games as much as I do!” She said while turning to the newscasters.

“I don’t think anypony loves these games as much as you do Pinkie Pie,” The stallion said with a chuckle. “As we wait on the prospects to be finalized and brought to the stage, we’ll take you on a little trip down memory lane. Here are the highlights of the 49th trial of sustainment.” Firestorm leaned forward in anticipation as the screen suddenly changed from the newsroom to a bird's eye view of a jungle of some kind.

There were several flashy cuts as it showed many different ponies, some normal, and some who had changed just like him. Their pictures went by far too fast for him to soak in, but the final picture it had lingered on was the supposed winner named Beatrix casting a form of magic from her opened palm. What followed was a series of gruesome scenes recounting the conflict of the previous years’ trial.

A couple of ponies wearing survival gear and backpacks ran down a hill as a band of tigers chased after them. Then it showed a group of ponies all fighting each other in a massive clearing, with some firing magic at others, and some being impaled on spears and arrows. What followed was a slow scene of the winner Beatrix, and a shorter blue-coated bipedal pony standing together by a waterfall.

“We’ll make it through this,” The mare said, her voice filled with determination and hope as she faced him. “I know we will!” Then, directly following that scene, it switched to an angle looking up into Beatrix’s angered face as she pointed her hand down and lit an unseen object on fire. The recording ended on her image as the force of the spell blew her hair backward in a terrifyingly elegant display, then slowly faded back into the newsroom filled with the laughter of the news ponies.

“Oh man, what a wild ride those 12 days were.” The stallion said as he wiped a tear from his eye and turned towards the mare. “Who were you rooting for?”

The mare waved her hand and gave a slight chuckle. “You know me, I was a fan of that brave young stallion who was paired with Beatrix. He was the youngest competitor so far, at only fourteen, and yet he was still scrappy enough to make it into the final hour.”

The screen finally panned out, showing that Pinkie had disappeared all of a sudden, and lingered on the newscasters. “Well, that’s all we have so far. We return you to your regularly scheduled program, but stay tuned for more updates that are sure to come!” With that, the screen changed back to the program it had shown before, but by then Firestorm couldn’t care less. All he was interested in now was getting as much information as possible.

After what he’d just witnessed, he was left with far more questions than answers. It seemed like the deaths of almost everypony was becoming more of an inevitability the longer he thought about it, but there was still hope that the contestants before him had made progress. He also caught glimpses of the arena from last year and wondered if it’d be the same for the 50th. He couldn’t remember off the top of his head if he’d have an advantage, but at least being a pegasus would have it’s uses in a hard to see environment like that.

He thought back deeper into the broadcast, cursing Pinkie Pie for not having looser lips on what to expect, but then remembered a crushing possibility. The youngest competitor to date had been fourteen years old, and that was last year. Would that mean that another child could become a contestant? He prayed that it wouldn’t be the case, but he couldn’t say that he wouldn’t expect it from these savages.

And just like that, his thoughts gravitated back to the big surprise for this trial, the previous winner returning to have a hand in the games. Just who was this ‘Beatrix Belladonna’? Why in the world would she stay here after her victory? It could've been that she was just being kept here against her will, but as far as he knew, it was just as likely that she was a monster who only enjoyed the stardom. He just hoped that the thing she’d set on fire in the recap hadn’t been the literal child she was paired with.

Firestorm pulled up the rest of the newspapers that he had yet to read, eventually sorting them into the most interesting headlines, and was about to commence until he was interrupted once again. “Woah! Hey there!” He snapped his head towards the long hallway he had neglected to search and saw another bipedal pony leaning against the wall. He was a Cyan pegasus with a crimson mane and a white fedora on his head. He wore a simple pair of black jeans, as well as an undone dark blue button-up over a white t-shirt. “Was wondering when you’d show up!”

The stallion took a step forward, prompting Firestorm to tense his muscles and stand in defense. As soon as he did though, the stallion's eyes widened in shock before he tripped over his own hooves. Firestorm relaxed for a moment as he watched the clumsy stallion pick himself up while silently cursing at himself, and even cracked a faint smile. “Sorry, just not used to walking like this yet. You should have seen how long it took for me to get these clothes on.” He said with a chuckle as he shakily stood back up.

“Speaking of clothes… have you tried any on yet? I know I was asleep for a while.” He said while awkwardly trying to keep his eyes glued to Firestorm's face.

“Uh, clothes? Why would I need that?” He asked in confusion.

The stallion coughed into his hand and rubbed the back of his neck for a moment. “Well, let’s just say we aren’t as ‘covered up’ as we normally are on four hooves.” He said while motioning his head downwards. Firestorm followed his gaze and realized what he meant, but unlike him, he was pretty unfazed.

“Uh… I guess?” He said with a bit of uncertainty. “Is it for protecting yourself? Like armor or something?” He asked, still unsure as to what the use of clothes would be to him, and to an extent, the other ponies of this world. In his experience, if the clothes weren’t meant for the express purpose of protecting you, or part of some formal event, then all they really succeeded in doing was slowing you down.

The stallion looked from side to side, then back to Firestorm like he was crazy. “You’re joking, right?” Firestorm merely shrugged in response. “Well, it’s because the ponies in this world have specific rules about… decency, and…” The look on his face was growing increasingly more uncomfortable, until he’d finally reached a point of acceptance.

“You know what? Whatever dude, you do you,” He said with a wave of his hand, effectively shirking any kind of responsibility on future events relating to this. “Just trying to give you the heads up so Foal Bearer doesn’t get on your case like she did with me,” The stallion then walked closer and took a seat on the couch, before looking up to Firestorm and extending his hand. “Name’s Silver Chance by the way.”

He nodded at the stallion, now known by the name Silver Chance, and accepted the handshake. “Firestorm,” He replied as he took a seat beside him. “And thanks for the advice, but I think I’ll take my chances with Foal Bearer, try as she might, she doesn’t scare me.”

Silver Chance let out a laugh at the proclamation as he picked up the remote and started pressing buttons. “I guess that makes one of us. You ask me though, Foal Bearer is nothing compared to that terrifying sister of hers.”

Firestorm raised his eyebrow at Silver, unable to tell whether or not the stallion was joking. “Who? Wet Nurse? The timid girl? She’s a total sweetheart.” He reasoned, unable to see the logic in being afraid of her of all ponies.

“Oh come one, don’t you know the first rule of being somewhere this crazy?” He asked while gesturing to him with the remote in his hand. “Never trust anypony, especially sweethearts, because those are the ones who are really messed up in the head.”

Firestorm mulled it over for a second, and couldn’t help but agree that it was sound advice. “Well, I guess you have a point. Something about those two just rubbed me the wrong way the moment I laid eyes on them.”

“It’s too convenient, right? The way they act? Classic good cop bad cop routine!” Silver Chance added in as he flipped through the images on the screen. Firestorm thought back to the moments he’d been in their presence and suddenly kicked himself in the head for not realizing it sooner. They were of course running the good cop, bad cop, shtick on him, and he fell for it every time! He needed to remember to keep his guard up when around anypony from this dimension.

He gave Silver Chance a side glance as he continued fiddling with the remote, admiring his quick and calm thinking when under the pressure of the situation. It reminded him a lot of his friends back home and gave him a prime reason to make him an ally for the days to come.

“You seem to be taking this situation in stride, eh Silver?” He asked nonchalantly, trying to get some insight into how he ticked before springing any of his own information out.

Silver Chance shrugged and let out a tired sigh. “Hey, when you’ve seen your whole family die in front of you, you learn to take the world-shattering revelations as they come. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to deal with the world kicking me in the balls.” Firestorm looked at him with wide eyes, but then smiled along with him and even gave a chuckle. He’d layered what seemed to be a tragic backstory full of death into a concise dark-humored joke while explaining some of his own coping mechanisms at the same time. It was practically like he’d found a fedora toting replica of his friend Freedom Fighter.

“I’ve seen a bit of the news from this world, and I sort of know what’s going on. All I can say is, I’ve come too far to die here. I ain’t letting any of these schmucks kill me,” He said with a confident bit of swagger before looking off to Firestorm. “Uh, no offense.”

Firestorm shook his head and smirked at him. “None taken, because I don’t plan on killing you,” This time, it was Silver Chance’s turn to raise an eyebrow at him. Firestorm leaned closer, just for the added effect, and whispered to him. “I plan on getting out of here, and I think that together we might just be able to do it.”

Silver Chance hummed in thought as he brought a hand to his chin, then looked at Firestorm intensely. “Really? You look pretty strong. You might even have a good chance at winning. Why even bother?” He asked.

Firestorm leaned back, his mind drawing a blank when it came to answering that question, but soon his heart took over and told him exactly why he couldn’t leave things as they were. “Because what’s happening here is nothing short of barbaric. I won’t let them turn me into a puppet for their entertainment, and I’d be no better if I didn't try to offer that chance to everypony who came here with me. If I’m going home in a body bag, then I’m going on my terms. Are you with me?” Firestorm knew that on the ‘rousing speech’ scale that it was a C at best, but he could see the gears turning in Silver's head. Right now, a C might have been all he needed to turn the tide.

Silver hummed in thought some more. “That sounds like a very stupid plan, one that will not only fail and get us caught, but surely get us killed before we even have a chance to be in the tournament.” He said while still rubbing his chin.

“So in short, the best kind of plan?” Firestorm said with a quickly widening grin as Silver Chance also started to smile.

“I like the cut of your jib.” Silver said as he leaned back. “Welp, I’ve certainly gotten away with stupider shit. I’m in!” With that, they shook hands once again, finalizing their alliance. As soon as they parted, however, a loud twisting noise was heard near the metal door. From the entrance stood a bored-looking Foal Bearer, sans her sister, with the very same intimidating oversized purple battle-ax against her shoulder.

Quickly, both Firestorm and Silver Chance stood up and prepared for a fight, fearing that she’d heard their plan to escape and arrived to deal with them. Foal Bearer raised an eyebrow at them questioningly, before breaking the silence with a scoff and a roll of her eyes. “Come on you two, ceremony’s about to start. We need you to get medically evaluated, then it’s off to parade you on stage for the world to see.”

Silver Chance and Firestorm shared a look, then nodded in unison. They were good to go for now and just needed to bide their time until they had a moment to strategize on their own. “Alright, I guess there’s no getting around it.” Firestorm said as he made his way to the door.

“Uh, dude?” Silver Chance interrupted, gaining the pegasi’s attention. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” He then gestured to himself with both hands and an ‘are you serious?’ look on his face. Firestorm looked down and gasped in realization, although he still didn’t feel that it was as urgent as Silver Chance made it seem.

“Oh, right, clothes. I guess it is a big event they’d expect us to dress up for.” Suddenly, Foal Bearer groaned in disappointment from behind him.

“Aw, come on! You made me lose a bet, you candy-colored idiot! We were trying to see how long he’d go like that!” She yelled to Silver Chance who flinched for a moment, before quickly recovering and coming to a sudden realization.

“Oh, so that’s the reason you never told him? Some stupid bet?” He asked in disbelief.

Suddenly, Foal Bearer gave a coy smile and started looking at Firestorm from top to bottom. “Well… one of the reasons.” Firestorm cringed for a moment as she said this, and suddenly the thought of being anywhere near her while undressed made him feel very uncomfortable.

“Eugh, I’m gonna go and change.” He said while shooting her a look of disgust as he made his way towards the hall.

Silver Chance just shook his head and sighed as he followed his new partner into the back rooms. “You’re going to need some help.”

Foal Bearer let out a hearty laugh as she watched them leave, one that actually held a hint of joy as opposed to cynicism. “Don’t spend too long touching tips in there, we’re on Pinkie’s time now. She’s got a short fuse, and that psycho’s bad side is the last place we want to be!” She yelled after them.

Once Firestorm and Silver Chance entered the room, they closed the door behind them and let out a sigh of relief. They were out of Foal Bearer’s earshot, and despite not having much time, they were still able to agree on one simple rule. Together they’d keep an eye out for anything that could aid them, including possible exits, clues, and other ponies they could rely on. After all of that, they would reconvene in the room and share their findings when away from prying eyes. The ceremony would be their first chance to meet the other contestants, and as many wise ponies said, first impressions were everything.

They needed to play their cards right if they were going to get any of the others on their side.

Showcased

Author's Note

Random Blooper:

Me: Oh boy. How many months it has been since uploading the last chapter?
*Checks*
Me: TWO MONTHS!?

Side note: The next chapter might end up being delayed a bit due to me working on both a new story that's coming out tomorrow and The Equestrian Manhunt, which updates every Wednesday, so if you find yourself bored, why not check those two out.

The following chapter and overall story couldn't have been done without Emo Rainbow. Now, understand that various characters were submitted into the contest, and we tried our best in keeping them close to their personality as well as making them as interesting as they can be. WIthout Emo Rainbow, while the production speed might've been sped up, this story wouldn't be as good if it weren't for him.

So please, give Emo a round of applause, follow him and show him some appreciation. Cause we're aiming for quality over quantity here.

As you've probably noticed, we weren't able to showcase all of the characters due to how fricking large the chapter was getting. However, we're determined to give every character a chance to be showcased properly, and if we tried to cramp them all in here it'd not only be a huge disservice but pretty boring as well.

Each character needs their spotlight, and if we introduced them all at once, a lot of potential to slowly release others and give each one their time would be lost.

So I apologize for the long wait, but I hope that you guys understand it and find it worth the pause. Because here is the third chapter of KOBK, the Hunger Games OC.

Showcased

Firestorm sat on the leaned-back medical seat with his arm facing upwards, and his sleeve rolled up. They had taken as long as they possibly could getting ready, but by the time Foal Bearer started yelling he just decided to wear something similar to what Silver Chance had on. He’d probably find something that looked better on him later, but right now his newfound clothes were the last things on his mind.

After Foal Bearer had fetched them from their room, she’d led them through a series of black portals as per usual. They had arrived in a sterile medical examination room where several nurses proceeded to sit them down and run every test imaginable on them as they waited. From blood tests, to blood pressure, to their senses, and finally about a gallon of different immunizations and vaccines for their stay.

Firestorm almost felt like he had to remind them that he wasn’t a pincushion, what with how many needles they jabbed into him at once. Silver Chance didn’t seem to be faring much better, although that was admittedly due to his lack of patience.

“Ow, ow, ow! Hey! Watch where you’re poking!” Firestorm looked to the chair directly to his right where Silver Chance sat and watched on as he snapped at the stoic nurse, prompting her to simply shift her tired eyes up at him and reveal the many bags beneath them. He froze for a second as he was roped into an impromptu staring contest, then yelped as the nurse jabbed the needle into him again without even looking.

With no hint of emotion, the nurse slapped another band-aid onto his arm, adding it to the literal sleeve of bandages that had now accumulated there. “It’ll be a few minutes for them to settle, then you’ll be good to go.” She said with a bored tone of voice as she and the other nurses went off to the other sides of the large room and continued their work.

“Nurses? Brunch of hacks if you ask me.” Silver whispered as he rubbed his aching arm for a moment. There were a few seconds of silence as they both kept an eye out for any prying nurses nearby, but once they realized that they were all too busy to pay any attention to them, they began their hushed conversation. “Well, when you’re right, you’re right. They weren’t stupid enough to let us see the others here.” Silver started.

Firestorm looked over the large room, taking note of the many other empty chairs that were either covered in tarps or topped by haphazard medical supplies. Seeing as how they had another chance to breathe, he decided to follow up on Silver's knowledge. “Yeah, but that was more of a given,” He whispered. “What do you know about this place so far?”

Silver looked up as he wracked his brain. “Well, I know about the same as you. Stupid tournament, alternate dimensions, 23 ponies dead. Above all else though, I know that their leader is textbook evil. Nopony who sets this thing up like a sporting event could ever have a shred of decency in them. Not to mention how creepy he makes himself look at all times."

Firestorm nodded along with him, though he made sure not to look his way to avoid drawing any unwanted attention. “Yeah. I remember him telling me about ‘making copies’ if we were to lose our souls here. I don’t know about you, but that sounds just like what a user of soul magic would say.

“It could explain why everypony around here is so… empty all the time. The nurses, Twilight, and even the twins from time to time. They all act so aloof and look like they’re running on a half-hour of sleep. Wouldn’t surprise me to find out that they’ve been walking, talking, husks this whole time.”

“No kidding?” Silver mused as he heard Firestorms theory. “Well, we’re definitely going to need a plan to deal with him. In my time here I’ve seen very little in the way of defenses unless we count that ax Foal Bearer likes toting. That means that he’s probably really confident that he and his lackeys can mop up anypony who makes a break for it.”

Firestorm considered his words. It was more than likely that their leader knew front and back how to deal with dissenting contestants. He wouldn’t just roll over and let them escape, meaning they’d need to find a way to deal with him as soon as possible if they were going to get anywhere. He was pretty confident in his physical abilities and was sure that many others would be too, but they were going to need more than muscle to carve their way home.

“You’re right. We’re going to need powerful unicorns on our side if we want to stand a chance against his magic. Not only that, but I’m pretty sure that the only way out of here is through a spell.” Silver Chance nodded along silently, not having much else to add aside from his agreement to the plan.

There was another moment of silence between them until Silver Chance glanced slightly towards Firestorm and asked a question that had been on his mind ever since he’d come to this world. “Why do you think they’re doing this?” Firestorm looked at him in surprise, before quickly shifting his gaze elsewhere and remaining silent.

His lack of an answer stood out to Silver, but he just decided to continue regardless. “If what he says is even slightly true, which I highly doubt, then why do any of this?” Silver clenched his fist for a moment. “It’d be easy. Take a pony’s soul, erase their memories, plop them back in their world. What they won’t know won’t hurt them, right? So why make a big spectacle out of this? Why have us all try to kill each other?”

Firestorm thought on his words for a moment but had trouble coming up with a definitive answer for such an impossibly ludicrous idea. “Well… hell if I know,” His answer caused Silver to look up in confusion. He figured that his partner was expecting a much more profound answer, but Firestorm really couldn’t help but give it to him straight. “Maybe there’s some magic mumbo jumbo that prevents that, maybe he’s a sadistic bastard, whatever it is I doubt we’ll know for sure.

“Besides, I’m a guard. I’m not paid to understand the crazies, I’m just paid to take ‘em down when they threaten others. If we get the chance, maybe you can ask him yourself.” That explanation seemed to do the trick, as Silver nodded with more determination and passion than before.

Before their conversation could gradually return, the door to their left flew open as Foal Bearer barged inside and looked around. As she spotted the two of them sitting side by side, she motioned her head towards the door behind her in a nonverbal order for them to follow. The stallions rolled down their sleeves and followed after the maid, only this time it wasn’t through some dark abyss or portal leading them to the next room.

They followed her down a hallway made of concrete and metal, the only sounds being the echo of their steps. Silver and Firestorm shared a nervous glance as the usually intimidating and chatty maid remained as silent as a ghost while leading them further down the hall. Silver was about to inquire why her sister wasn’t accompanying her like before, but one quick look at her emotionless face made him second guess that action.

“It’s almost time.” Foal Bearer said cryptically as they came to a stop at the end of the dark hall. She turned to face them, then stepped aside to reveal a dark platform behind her covered in red lights and embedded into the wall.

“Please step up you two.” She said as more of a request than a command while gesturing a hand towards the platform. Firestorm and Silver Chance didn’t even need to look at each other to share their feelings on this situation. Something was very wrong here, as her cold, more delicate, annunciation sent tingles down their spine. Needless to say, they were hesitant to move any further.

“Foal… what’s going on?” Firestorm asked as he bent his knees ever so slightly in preparation for a fight.

Silver noticed Firestorm’s subtle battle stance and decided to follow suit. He wasn’t too sure how much of a help he’d be with just his fists, but he was confident that Firestorm knew what he was doing well enough to get them both through any possible trouble. What he wouldn’t have given to have his katana with him.

Foal Bearer let out a sigh, then slowly nodded her head. “You two are about to be revealed to the entire world. So if you are ever going to listen to a piece of advice anypony gives you, listen now.” They both stepped back in confusion, as her usual abrasive tone came back in full force.

Foal Bearer stepped up to the platform, then faced them completely as she explained. “When you step on here, you will fall unconscious as you are transported to the stage. It will feel like moments to you, so don’t panic. When you wake up, the show will commence.”

Firestorm and Silver Chance gulped in unison as she explained, dreading what this show could entail. Foal Bearer must’ve noticed the uncertainty on their faces, as she stepped forward and aggressively continued.

“Listen, those ponies out there are more than an audience, they are your lifeline. Which means that impressing them should be, and is, your number one priority,” She said while pointing to the ceiling behind her for emphasis. “It could, quite literally, be the difference between life and death.”

They looked at her expression as she spoke, and for a moment they thought they could see a flash of pain behind her eyes. Perhaps it was remorse? Whatever it was, it disappeared almost as soon as it came. Foal Bearer sighed once again and gestured to the platform silently. Firestorm and Silver looked to each other, then shared a nod, both understanding what needed to happen next. It wasn’t like they had much of an option but to accept and play along for now.

They stepped onto the platform with a metal clang, and as soon as they did, the floor beneath them burst to life with an even deeper red light. They looked to Foal Bearer nervously, but the maid just calmly stood before them. If she hadn't been colored differently, they would’ve been convinced that she was just Wet Nurse in disguise.

“You don’t have to stand out… yet… you just have to avoid making complete asses of yourselves on stage,” She continued before the spell could take place, then flashed them a familiar smirk. “I know that can be especially hard for you two, but there’s at least a 30 percent chance that you’ll surprise me. So just smile, wave, and for the love of God...” suddenly her face darkened as she leaned forward, the red light of the platform illuminating her in a beautifully haunting display. "Do not, under any circumstances, piss Pinkie off. There's no quicker way to end up in a grave." And suddenly, everything went black.

What followed was, as Foal Bearer described, a fleeting moment of unconsciousness followed by immediate lucidity. It was disorienting for Firestorm, as his sudden shift in position made him nauseous beyond belief. It felt like mere seconds prior he was looking down at Foal Bearers face, but now he could see that he was in a large, dark, and empty area of some kind.

He could tell that it wasn’t a void, the air pressure alone was enough to set it apart, but that did little to quell his anxiety. He felt a soft breeze running past him, the sensation of the same metal platform beneath his hooves, but all of his other senses were reduced to faint hums as he waited for whatever came next. Finally, it commenced. There was thunderous noise, roaring voices, and applause all gelling together into an incomprehensible tsunami of sound that threatened to leave him deaf.

His eyes quickly opened as blinding lights shined down onto him, but still, he could not see himself or move. It seemed that despite the newfound lighting illuminating his surroundings, he was still shrouded in darkness. He pushed past that bit of confusion and looked at all of the other things that had been revealed. He found himself on a massive stage, once again as Foal Bearer had said, surrounded by towering bleachers at least two stories high, all of them full to bursting with ponies.

He could see the flashes of cameras in the distance, and even when far away he could barely hear the sound of his own breaths over their roars and cheering. He found slight comfort in the fact that they could not yet see him, giving him a much-needed respite to gather his emotions together for the fast-approaching runway show. It was a moment he sorely needed, since the sheer magnitude of the stadium he now found himself in was nothing short of breathtaking.

Firestorm tried to lift his hands to cover his eyes from the light but failed to do more than twitch as he remained as still as a statue. He then tried to move his head around for a better view of his surroundings, and while he found slight success there, he still couldn’t move more than an inch or two.

Even with the shadows surrounding him, he could still make out several other cones of darkness conspicuously cutting through the bright lights all over the massive stage. Call him a betting pony, but he was sure that those were the other contestants, all of them also waiting in the shadows. It was the moment of truth, the moment where they were revealed to not only the world but their co-competitors as well. All they had to do was wait.

The screams and cheering gradually died down over time, as a pair of massive screens along the ceiling across from the stage flashed on. Some generic inspirational orchestral music played, as images of ponies flashed by in time with the beat, each one with a weapon in their hands. Finally, an animated bleeding heart appeared, its blood falling to the ground and sprouting into a rose. From the blooming rose came a title card that said 'Trial of Sustainment L' and another burst of applause came from the crowd.

As the screens faded into black once more, several bright lights flashed on and aimed towards a suspended white platform floating above the stage. On it was Pinkie Pie, in the same black dress she had worn in the interview, holding a microphone in her hands and smiling. The screens turned back on, all of them showing a close-up shot of the pink party pony.

"Welcome everypony! You know what time it is!" The mare yelled, her bubbly voice being projected throughout the stadium. "It's time for T.O.S 50!" She pumped her fist into the air as she screamed, her proclamation accentuated by fireworks and pyrotechnics sprouting out of the stage and bursting in the air dangerously close to where she was. Pinkie however didn't seem the slightest bit fazed by it, and just tossed her straightened hair aside once the explosions and roaring crowd had stopped.

"As always, I'm your host, Pinkamena Diane Pie," The screens zoomed in on her face as she winked at the camera. "But you can call me Pinkie." Firestorm looked up as her platform began to levitate closer to the stage and swivel from edge to edge as she addressed the crowd.

"Are you excited? Cause I'm excited. I've never been more excited!" Once again, the crowd roared in agreement with her. "Because tonight we unveil the first of the 24 brave heroes who have gathered here to save our world from destruction," The cheers continued, but steadily grew quiet as she dipped her head downwards. "It's no secret, these past few years have been some of the longest, and hardest, times we've ever gone through. But in the midst of it all, we've never given up. Because we are strong! Give yourselves a round of applause!"

Once again the crowd cheered as Pinkie Pie gave a coy smile. Firestorm couldn't help but scoff as he watched them cheer for such a blatant bit of pandering. He had to admit though, she wasn't exactly wrong. After all, it did take a strong will to pretend that everything was fine while getting others to die for you. He had to hand it to Pinkie, it seemed that no matter what dimension or mindset she was in, she still knew how to work a crowd.

"We have a booked-up crowd tonight, and millions watching from home!" She spun around her platform while pointing to the stands surrounding her for emphasis. "So let's not waste any more time and get started shall we?" There was another short round of applause as some more generic orchestral music was played.

Pinkie Pie reached into her mane, and despite it not being the poofy mess he'd come to recognize, she was still able to procure a stack of cards from within. As her platform descended further, she twirled the microphone in her hands and giggled. "Up first we have… Firestorm of ARLA!" The shadows immediately lifted from Firestorm as he was introduced, and with it the restrictions on his body.

He raised a hand to finally cover his eyes from the light and looked all around in awe as the crowd applauded his reveal. "Firestorm, a happy-go Lucky stallion, enlisted in the military at 16. He rose through the ranks, proved his grit, and finally joined an elite task force called the Guardians of the Sun at only age 22!" Firestorm looked up at Pinkie in disbelief, as she continued to read off his bio to the crowd of thousands. "He likes defending his friends, protecting the weak, and cracking jokes, a stallion after my own heart. Above all else though is his dream to finally get laid!"

Firestorm looked up at Pinkie Pie in confusion as she wiggled her eyebrows at his apparent 'dream'. He had no idea what she was even talking about until a certain mishap with princess Twilight came back to the forefront of his memory. The cameras zoomed in on his look of shock, eliciting roars of laughter from the crowd and making his cheeks burn a bright red. "H-hey! C'mon now. You do know that I was… joking right? It was just a harmless joke I’m not..." He trailed off into a nervous chuckle, and the crowd gave another, much louder, laugh with Pinkie joining in this time around.

"Oh Stormy, I'm suuure you were." She said with a condescending shake of her head while Firestorm cringed in embarrassment. Just how much of his life had these maniacs been watching? If he had known sooner he would have done the unthinkable and actually thought about what he'd say before saying it. Even the idea of it made him shiver.

Pinkie leaned forward against the railing of her platform while lightly swinging her head from left to right. "Well hey, don't look so glum, chum. If you come out on top at the end of this, then I guarantee that your wish will come true," She gave him a wink, and a small bit of 'ooos' came from the crowd in response. "Before we move on, do you have anything you'd like to say? A fun fact? Maybe a question for little ol' me?" She said as her platform hovered closer to him.

"Oh," he was caught off guard by her proposition, but quickly recovered and tried his best to come up with something to say. Even if the spotlights were directly on him, he was still desperate for answers to his mounting questions. What kind of tragedy did their world face for them to resort to such a horrific game? Just how much of his life had they watched before capturing him? He thought on this for a moment but knew that now wasn't the time or place for those questions. Eventually, he settled on a question that was the most likely to be answered.

"Well… I'm curious. What does ARLA stand for? Why did you introduce me as ‘being from ARLA’?" He asked while adding in the appropriate air quotes. There were a few moments of silence before she answered, and in those moments Firestorm struggled to get a good look at her face. Suddenly, her platform hovered just in front of the light, casting a shadow over her grinning face as she stared at him with murderous intent.

He stumbled back as she focused her psychotic expression solely on him, then quickly looked around to see if anypony else shared in his reaction. His eyes drifted over the massive stadium screens, and his heart sank. On the screens, Pinkie Pie's face was as cheerful as ever, but in person, she was still staring him down with an ever-growing smile, and eyes the sizes of pinpricks.

Foal Bearers warning echoed in his head, a warning that he now realized was not nearly specific enough to help him. "What a great question Stormy!" She said in a chipper tone as she floated higher into the air and quickly reverted to her cheery smile. "ARLA is your home dimension’s name. Every Dimension has one, like LOOT, or TLM. For example, ours is called…" She pointed the microphone into the air as the roaring crowd finished her sentence for her.

"K.O.B.K!"

Pinkie nodded her head and looked back down at Firestorm. "Does that answer your question?" She asked while sticking her tongue out and winking cutely. Firestorm stood in shock at what he'd witnessed, but once again soldiered past the confusion. In actuality, the answer was helpful, but it also made him question whether or not the letters stood for anything. He decided however that one poke at the bear was enough for now. If one simple question was enough to set her off like that, he didn’t want to imagine what another would do.

"Heh, sure did Pinkie." He said with a forced smile. He watched as she gave a giggle and floated towards another cone of shadows on stage, shaking his head slightly as she passed him. There was obviously some spell in place to hide her deranged looks from the masses, but not the contestants. No doubt that it was the real hosts doing, setting her up as a kind of maniacal guard dog to keep everypony in line until the trial. Yet another obstacle added to the list.

Just like with Foal and Twilight before her, he felt an ominous and overwhelming power behind her eyes. Only this time it seemed far more unhinged and unstable, a perfect complement to her demeanor.

"Here we are everypony. He's a fighter, he's a survivor, fillies and Gentlecolts, put your hands together for Silver Chance!" She pointed to the shadows as they lifted, revealing Silver Chance to the crowd. The sudden control over his body must have come as a surprise since he stumbled forward and fell onto his face with his fedora slowly floating onto his head.

Pinkie let out a giggle as he quickly stood back up, and shuffled the cards in her hand a bit more. "Silver Chance, a scrappy pegasus from 'WRPG' who has a worrying track record of having… hmmm," she flipped through the cards while humming to herself for a moment, before letting out a small 'aha's as she pulled up a specific note. "Having all of the friends and family in his clan die! Oof, talk about a genocide." She leaned towards the crowd and spoke from the side of her mouth as if she were trying to keep it a secret, but the damage was already done.

The crowd let out a wave of laughter as her pitiful attempt at a joke landed without a hitch, and while Firestorm was certainly taken off guard by the remark, nopony was more furious than Silver Chance. His mouth was agape as he looked up at the pink devil, still reeling from shock after what she'd just said. The ludicrous smile on her face, accompanied by the crowd's applause, served to feed the growing fire in his chest.

Pinkie let out a gasp and covered her mouth as she looked down at Silver Chance. "Oh my gosh! I am so, so, sorry!" She looked at the notes once again, then back to him. "You're 28? That means you only have two good years left. My condolences."

"How dare…" Silver muttered under his breath, doing his best to heed Foal Bearer's warning about the Pink menace. He could see the look in her eyes, the slight change in her wicked grin as she stared down at him. She was waiting for a reaction, doing her best to push his buttons so that he'd lose control, and she knew that it was working.

After another moment of prodding, Pinkie eventually moved on to the final bit of information she needed to put out. "Silver Chance vows to avenge the Silver clan, his family, so I guess that means you better win huh?" Silver continued to look down and avoid her gaze while doing his best to ignore her words as well.

"His interests include playing children's card games," he tensed his muscles as she disrespected his favorite pastime. "His *snrrk* fashionable fedora," he growled as she snickered at his favorite piece of headwear, handed down to him by his grandfather. He was so very close to losing it, but he knew that he had to persevere. "And his signature trade, the art of 'the blade'. Watch out everypony, we have a bad flank over here."

He was an inch away from snapping as the crowd's renewed laughter continued to cut at him, but against all odds, he barely held it together. "What about you, hmm?" Pinkie asked playfully. "Anything you'd… like to say?" It took every ounce of his power to remain still and quiet long enough for her to lose interest. "Hmph, so edgy." She said with a roll of her eyes.

Her platform continued towards the next cone of shadows, leaving Silver to catch his breath. He and Firestorm shared a subtle thumbs up before looking towards the next contestant. "You all know that reptiles are an endangered species here, but none are as rare as our next contestant. Green Scale!" There was a loud chorus of gasps and 'oos' as the veil lifted, revealing the same lizard pony from before.

The cameras zoomed in on him, and the flashes grew more frequent as they gawked at his scaly green skin, his claw cutie mark, and his blood-red eyes. "He may not be a looker, but he sure is a fighter even when he's on four hooves! Green Scale of RRGS was tossed aside like garbage by his noble family in Canterlot all because of his looks, but thankfully, he was scooped up and raised by the fearsome Ahuizotl. Ever since then he's been protecting the artifacts of the jungle with extreme prejudice.

"Even when a single one had gone missing, he made it his mission to hunt down the raiders responsible and return it to its rightful place. You want to mess with this 17-year-old killer, then you have your work cut out for you," Pinkie wrapped up the explanation and floated closer to Green Scale, as was custom. "Anything to add?" If one listened closely, they could almost hear everypony lean on the edges of their seats at once, curious to finally hear him speak.

He raised his head and looked around, lingering on the unrevealed contestants for a moment. "This battle is inevitable," he eventually said, his voice lacking any strange inflection or warble, somewhat killing the built-up anticipation. "In the end, all but one of us will face our demise. So keep your purpose close at hoof, use it to drive you forward into the fight, and only then will you claim victory. If you lose your will to live, then the outcome will be the same as facing me on the battlegrounds," he glanced towards Firestorm, his slitted pupil growing smaller for emphasis. "You will surely perish."

There was a small round of applause as he finished his speech, but Firestorm only responded with a glare. This weirdo didn't seem like the kind of ally they were looking for, but there were still other options on the table.

"Boy, starting early with those threats, huh?"

"They are not threats," Green Scale quickly responded while batting his hoof at the accusation. "They are facts."

Pinkie smirked for a moment before responding. “Well, can’t say you’ll make many friends with that attitude,” She turned to the side and gave him a knowing glance. “But I suppose at the end of the day, there is only room for one.” Green Scale gave a silent nod, before sitting down and closing his eyes dramatically.

Pinkie continued along the path laid out and stopped at the next cone of shadows while fanning herself off. “Wow everypony, so much heat and we’ve only finished number 3! I don’t think we’ll have time to catch our breaths though, not with our next contender Tarantula ‘Inkwell’ Brush!” The shadows lifted to reveal an anxious-looking changeling, also a quadruped like Green Scale, who lifted his hoof to cover his eyes from the sudden lights in his face.

At first glance, he seemed changeling enough, but on closer inspection, it was clear that he was no ordinary changeling. While his carapace was the same black color that most changelings sported, it seemed to have little to none of the holes one would expect to see. Instead of membrane or fins, he had a pronounced light blue mane atop his head, and while his eye shape was certainly changeling, he instead sported pupils and irises as opposed to blank and soulless turquoise orbs.

“Uh, Ink is just fine, or maybe Brush if you’d like. No need to… say the whole thing,” He said in a voice that sounded quite young for one his size.

“Hey, no problem Inky,” She suddenly gasped as a realization hit her. “Inky,” She pointed to him. “Pinkie!” She pointed to herself enthusiastically. She leaned over the railing on her platform and put her hand over her eyes as she scanned the arena. “Where’s Blinky and Clyde? You guys hiding in the shadows over there? I’ll find you!” Many of the ponies who watched her tangent shook their heads in confusion, including Ink.

“Okay first, weak reference, and second, how do you even know that? They have Pac-Man here or something?” He asked.

Pinkie looked over to him and tilted her head in genuine confusion. “What’s a Pac-man?” Ink cocked his head forward, desperately trying to tell whether or not she was serious. The results were inconclusive.

“Whatever,” He said with a sigh. “Just... introduce me or something.” Pinkie Pie nodded and referred back to her notes.

“Inky Brush here is what people in his world call an arctic changeling, one built to withstand all kinds of cold temperatures, but you could probably tell that that’s not the whole story,” She looked into the camera for a moment and rolled her eyes. “When it comes to the trial, it’s never the whole story,” Looking back at her notes, she continued. “He’s a hybrid, born to a pegasus mother, and has strived to make himself more than what the world sees him as. How noble!

“Our 15-year-old competitor comes from dimension VIL and has used his strength and skills to survive in a world reeling from war. If you know changelings, then I’m pretty sure you’ll know what he’s capable of. Say Hi Inky!” She gestured to the boy, and it didn’t even take a second for him to respond.

“Thanks Pinkie Pie, for that stunning introduction that explains next to nothing about me,” He replied in a droll tone that managed to make the audience giggle. “While what she said is mostly true, I am not like every other changeling. If you think you know what to expect from me… well, that’s your funeral,” He said with a veritable heel turn.

“Short and sweet!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I like i-”

“I didn’t say I was done,” He suddenly interrupted, and just like that Pinkie stopped. “I have no interest in being a part of your off-brand, grimdark, hunger games rip-off. So mark my words, you psychos, I will get out of here.” He shot Pinkie a glare, and with it came the held breaths of his fellow contestants.

Firestorm and Silver Chance looked between the two, curious about the reaction she’d have to his impromptu proclamation. Either the young changeling was exceedingly confident in his resilience, or his juvenile lack of impulse control was taking control of his judgment. Regardless, both of them could hear the determination in his voice, the determination bred from a lifetime of adversity. Even if they hadn’t realized that he was the youngest competitor so far, they would still have kept him in mind from his guts alone.

Green Scale in the meantime decided to glance in his direction, his curiosity managing to be piqued by the strange hybrid pony. As he looked upon Inkwell he noticed a very familiar aura around him, the aura of a child forced to be something brutal to survive in a harsh world, then growing into something much more deadly. It reminded him so much of himself, and thus a plan began to form.

Ink narrowed his eyes at Pinkie, uncaring for whatever she’d have to say next. He could see it while hidden in the shadows, how hard she forced her intimidating presence over the others. If she wanted him to fear her then she’d have to try harder than creepy smiles and dark magic, because to him that was just another Tuesday.

“Hmm…” She hummed while tapping her chin for a moment. “I see what you’re saying. I hear ya looooud and clear,” She said while pointing to him and giving a side smirk. Before Ink could get in another word, she gave her fingers a snap and called down the dark shadow cone above him once again.

“Ah, there’s one every year,” She said with a shrug as her platform floated away from his cone. “It’s just like what granny pie used to say though, nothing a good time out can’t fix.” As the others looked to Pinkie’s coy smile, they could tell that something much more sinister was happening to Ink. They couldn’t hear or see him, but whatever was happening under that cone was certainly making Pinkie one happy host.

“Let’s speed this along shall we? We aren’t getting any younger! Well, not all of you at least.” She mumbled one more phrase under her breath, but nopony else was able to make it out over all of the noise. “Time for rapid-fire!” As she shouted, several cones lifted to reveal the next few contestants. First, there was the grey wolf diamond dog that Firestorm had seen come in after him, this time with a less noticeable black eye, followed by a fairly large blue dragon standing on two legs. Last was a dark brown anthro pony with wings and a horn, by far the most intriguing one revealed.

“Up first, Odium,” The cameras focused on the dog. “This 27-year-old grey wolf from DOR is a very talented fighter, trained by a seer named Cozbi to one day punish the Mane 6 for their actions. What did they do? How does he plan to do it? What even is a Seer? All these questions and more will be answered…” She turned towards the dog who remained unamused by her bubbly and overblown way of announcing. “Right Odium?”

Odium rolled his eyes at the mare and crossed his surprisingly thin arms. “Information that is as useless as this farce of a ceremony. Take our souls for whatever cause you delude yourselves into believing is right, but I can see the truth,” He looked all around the stadium coldly. “This is a sadistic venture into the psyche of this populace, and as a pillar of justice, I cannot stand idly by and watch it unfold. I am, however, no fool.

“Escape is an impossibility, so if ending the others is the only way to ensure justice’s longevity then so be it,” Pinkie nodded her head in moderate respect for the wolf. “Besides, I can already sense the evil brewing from this stage alone. Playing this game won’t be a total loss.” He looked back and eyed Greenscale, then looked over to the winged unicorn as well, both however seemed unaffected by his words as well as his gaze.

She continued to give Odium a favorable nod before randomly shifting gears and speeding towards the dragon on her platform. “Rapid-fire!” She shouted while flipping through her notes. ”Numero sixo is his Highness Kirouac! A dragon with a whole heap of DNA coming down to 50% Dragon, 25% Unicorn, and 25% Pegasi! From universe NLK, King Kirouac was born after a prophecy predicted that one day a creature would rise and become the most noble ruler in existence. Whether or not he's the one, however…”

She looked over to him, her eyes traveling up and down his body curiously. “25% Unicorn, 25% pegasi huh? I can, uhh, see the resemblance?” She said warily.

Kirouac lifted his hand calmly and shook his head. “It’s fine really. I know it’s not plain to see, but I assure you I have proud equine blood coursing through my veins!” He said with a triumphant fist against his chest.

“Neat,” Pinkie replied simply. Before she could move on, however, Kirouac let out a loud cough.

“So… I don’t suppose there’s any way to veto my participation in the trial? Not for any personal gripes against your beautiful dimension of course, but because my kingdom would be in dire trouble should I perish,” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I… don’t exactly have an heir at the moment, so our line of succession is a tad muddy.”

Pinkie smiled at him and leaned against the railing of her platform. “Well then, guess you’ll just have to win!” She leaned even further ahead, nearly falling off entirely, while laughing like she’d told the funniest joke in existence. Kirouac forced out a nervous laugh alongside her as she floated away, then silently cursed under his breath. It seemed that a different plan would have to be concocted.

Perhaps an escape was in order? He’d certainly have the skills to survive in the tournament, but there were just too many unknowns to guarantee his victory. He had always been a skilled diplomat, so if he could just get a few of the more powerful contestants on his side, there could be a chance. The only question was who.

“Rapid-fire!” Pinkie exclaimed yet again as she zoomed in front of the next contestant. “Here lies Silent Talon of HGST everypony! A day walking Unicorn-Pegasus-vampire hybrid, oof what a mouthful. It’d be easier to tell you what species isn’t rolling around in there. Somepony’s mother had a good time,” The crowd gave another laugh, and, surprisingly enough, Silent Talon joined in. Pinkie gave a slight scowl for half a second as she watched him before returning to her smile.

“This stallion comes with way more battle experience under his belt than any other vampire we’ve had before, and that’s saying something. He’s fought in the army of his homeworld for years, was captured by ravenous vampires and converted, fought back the darkness to earn his freedom, and participated in five different trials… oddly similar to the one we hold now.” She said with exaggerated surprise that got the crowd more invested.

“Fair to say that you’re pretty good at what you do, huh?” She asked him cheerfully.

“What? Surviving despite the odds, or killing people who mess with me? Honestly, I’d say I’ve become kind of an expert at both so far,” He gave a cocky shrug and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his cargo pants. “But you won’t have to worry about either, you know? For you to end up on my bad side you’d have to, oh I don’t know, kidnap me from my world just after I found a way to be free,” He started to walk around his section of the stage as he spoke, keeping his hands in his pockets to hide their movement. “But you wouldn’t do that, right Pinkie?” He asked sarcastically.

As Pinkie started prattling on about useless information and technicalities, Talon continued his hail mary plan. He had never attempted this before, but he knew that it was possible. Pinkie had not yet mentioned his electrokinesis, the power to control the flow of electricity, so he knew that there was a chance they had missed that fact altogether. It was seriously unlikely though, considering how much they knew about the others, but if there was even a small chance he could gain an upper hand, he needed to take it.

With a wave of his fingers, he discreetly looked up into her eyes and attempted to alter the electricity in her brain, that way her decision-making would take a slight hit. If all went well, she’d be more willing to listen to him down the line. He just had to make sure he kept it subtle so that it’d be no more than a faint tickle.

Pinkie suddenly let out a hearty laugh, even snorting a couple of times by accident, that sent a wave of confusion coursing through Talon. “Oh, something tickles, hee hee! S-stop it!” She exclaimed while laughing like she’d never laughed before. Talon stopped the shock out of sheer confusion and watched on in horror as she stood up and smiled like nothing was wrong. Only this time, he could see the glee in her eyes, one reminiscent of a hungry lion messing with its prey. “Haven’t you been paying attention? We know everything about you.” Silent Talon flinched at the sound of her words, then chuckled at his foolishness.

It was so obvious now that he thought about it, it made him sick. Just like with that idiot pegasus from earlier, she was baiting him into action. She knew exactly what he wanted to do, and let him try just to demonstrate how pointless it was. Either she had some kind of hyper-advanced spell protecting her at all times, or her brain was so scrambled that nothing short of the electric chair would faze her. Still, though, he couldn’t say he regretted it. It was always better to try than to assume everything was hopeless. He’d just have to keep waiting for his opportune moment.

“Can we get an instant replay?” Pinkie asked a faceless pony in the crowd, garnering some confused looks from everyone else on stage. Suddenly, the large stadium screens showed a recording of Silent Talons eyes as they flashed with a silver light for a few seconds before returning to normal. The crowd gasped, and Pinkie turned to him while clicking her tongue and shaking her head. “I didn’t think we’d have to tell you that magic was a no-no during the ceremony, but I guess you just really liked waiting in the dark.”

She reached out a hand and snapped her fingers at him. “Wait, hold on!” Silent Talon’s face was contorted in fear as he tried to reason with her, but it was too late as the dark cone fell onto him once again, muting him for the rest of the night.

Without so much as a second look, Pinkie continued with the ceremony as if there hadn’t just been an attempted assault on her. “We’re almost finished with the first twelve, but we’re not slowing down, no siree! Tell them what’s behind door number eight Pinkie!” She said while holding out her palm to the next contestant. “Well don’t mind if I do Pinkie. It’s…”

The cone was lifted, and an echo of gasps traveled around the stadium. Everypony fell into a bout of pin-drop silence after the reveal, and even the flashes of the cameras slowed to an eventual stop. Not even the rabid journalists could continue to function in earnest after what they now saw on stage.

Pinkie, either uncaring for the mood shift or just plain unaware of it, floated gently above the newly revealed fillies on stage, both of them shivering and holding onto each other like their lives depended on it. “Color me surprised when I saw these two popping out of the portal at the same time! It all worked out though since they were so small they were able to share a space! Saved a truckload on shipping too. Give a warm welcome to Fighter Swan and Golden Gild!” Pinkie’s voice echoed into the night air with absolutely nopony joining in her cheer or out of place clapping.

On stage, all of the previously revealed contestants looked to the young fillies with mixes of shock and disbelief. Kirouac trembled as he watched the innocent youths shiver beneath the gazes of the crowd. Both the stoic Green Scale and Odium had dropped their jaws upon the reveal, but in Odium's case, his look of shock was quickly replaced with one of frustration. Firestorm and Silver Chance once again shared silent looks of affirmation, neither needing words to express their intent to protect the children. Beneath their masks of calm determination though, they were frozen with shock and fear.

The silence continued for a full minute as the crowd gawked at the new contestants, but before anypony could consider it a product of disgust or horror at their inclusion, a single echoing clap erupted from the stands. The singular pair of hands was soon joined by another, then another, then hundreds more as the crowd went wild with cheers.

To them, this wasn’t a tragedy. No, it had just become the most interesting trial of all time, and they couldn’t wait for more.

Faces

Author's Note

Hey guys! It's been a long time, hasn't it? Finally after months of waiting, I and Emo now present you the latest chapter of KOBK.

So before we go onto the main chapters, I just want to emphasize that the personalities Emo end up creating (since he's the one who gives adds his own spin after sending him the draft for him to edit) are based on the OC submission you guys gave us. Sometimes the submissions had little in regards to how the characters actually act, and thus we try our best on the little we have.

As of now, I am reading over A Rather Large Adventure, which hosts one of the OCs, and well let's say that the version portrayed here is vastly different to the one in ARLA. Heck, I think one of the competitors might've ended up having the personality that the OC from ARLA was supposed to have here. It'll be helpful then that if you're the owner of one of the OCs that is featured, that you go to Emo to show them how they act and such. Because without him the story wouldn't be as fun as it is.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and we'll see you guys in the future!

Faces

“Give a warm welcome to Fighter Swan and Golden Gild!~ BRRRZT Give a warm welcome to Fighter Swan and Golden Gild!~ BRRRZT Give a warm welcome to Fighter Swan and Golden Gild!~ BRRRZT”

“Stop replaying that,” Silver Chance said as he sat at the kitchen table on the other side of the room, fixing himself a bowl of cereal. “Doesn’t matter how much you rewind, it’ll still be the same.”

Firestorm hit pause on the T.V, freezing the broadcast when it had zoomed in on the scared fillies’ faces. He'd spent a few hours since they'd got back just analyzing them, taking note of everything he could. There was Fighter Swan, a small Pink filly with her dark blonde mane done in pigtail braids with her tail following suit, who looked around the stage with fierce skepticism. She desperately looked like she wanted to be brave, but her shivering body from the night prior gave away just how terrified she was. What caught his attention most though was the strange green gem strapped to her hoof, one that apparently held some strange significance that Pinkie failed to elaborate on.

Then there was Golden Gild, a light yellow filly with a frizzy mane and tail, dual colored in black and yellow, whose emotions were far easier to read than Fighters. Her paused face was scrunched up in fear as she refused to look at the crowds head-on, instead deciding to bury her eyes into Fighter Swan's shoulder. In the little time they had to see the fillies last night, she hadn't once looked up from her friend’s embrace. He could only imagine what brand of terror she must have been feeling.

“I don’t get it. I just… don’t get it.” He said with a somber voice as he dropped further into the sofa and let go of the controller.

“What’s there not to get?” Silver responded while stuffing his face. “They’re a brunch a crayshies who wamt to shee krids die.”

“Dammnit Silver, shut up and swallow your food!” Firestorm shouted as he spun around and leaned over the back of the sofa. The pegasus just swung his head back and forth while mocking Firestorm’s outburst with his hand opening and closing. “You know what I mean Silver. I know why they did it, I just…” He froze as he struggled to find the right words to express his swirling emotions.

Silver gulped down his food and laid the spoon down as he thought. “I know Firestorm. It’s… it’s fucked, but there ain’t much we can do now. The best we can do is wait until we have the chance to get them on our side.”

Firestorm nodded his head and breathed a heavy sigh. He hopped over the back of the sofa and made his way over to the table, grabbing a seat across from Silver Chance. “We don’t know how much longer we have until that training phase Pinkie was talking about, so let’s go over the list one more time.” Silver nodded his head in agreement before slurping down the last of the milk from his bowl.

“Right now we have Green Scale, Inkwell Brush, Odium, Kirouac, Silent Talon, Fighter Swan, Golden Gild, et cetera, et cetera. Any new considerations you’ve thought of?”

“Mmm, Mmm!” Silver hummed with urgency as he tapped on the table, his cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk as he continued to take his sweet time eating. Firestorm just gave him an unamused glare as he finally gulped down his food and breathed a sigh of relief. “That guy, Odium, you said you saw him come in after you?”

Firestorm nodded, recalling the events of the day prior. “He came in looking pissed as all hell and sporting a black eye that looked more black than eye. I was honestly surprised to see it function during the ceremony,” He rubbed his chin in thought as he scrutinized every detail he could muster from his short sightings of the wolf. “But he was still smart enough to know when to stop pushing buttons, or at least push the buttons that were meant to be pushed. I can see what you’re getting at.”

“Yeah, but my main concern is whether or not we can even convince him to help us. I mean, he seemed just as dead set on killing everyone else as we are in trying to escape.”

“Well then we’ll have to make it worth his while. There’s bound to be a few contestants who don’t want out, only to maim whoever’s in front of them. I don’t like it, but at least we can put their stupidity to use when bargaining for Odium’s help.” Silver Chance nodded, understanding the roots of the plan they had begun to form.

He pushed his now empty bowl to the side and leaned forward in his chair. “Alright, so our plan is to subtly prod Kirouac, Silent Talon, and Green Scale to see if they’re having second thoughts about this. Then, we work our way to Ink and let him know that we’re planning an escape ourselves and that we need him and his magic. We sort of do the same with Odium, offering the crazies up to him like sacrificial lambs, all while trying to keep under the staff’s noses.”

“That’s the gist of it,” Firestorm agreed with a tired sigh. “We may as well call our game plan ‘easier said than done’ but broad strokes are all we have time for really. Especially when we have no real idea of how these guys think. All we have to go on is their half-assed introductions at the Ceremony.”

Silver Chance just shrugged and leaned back in his chair with a smug grin. “Eh, I’ve worked with less in the past.” He said while slightly tilting his fedora over his face.

“Ha! Glad to see we’re on the same page," Firestorm agreed with a coy smile. "My friends back home don’t really get it, but winging it is the only way I get things done.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a great idea,” Silver Chance and Firestorm both snapped their heads to the metal door in fear as a very familiar voice butted into their conversation. Standing at the doorway with a devious smile and an active void portal behind her was Foal Bearer. They had no idea how she’d managed to open the door without a sound, but that didn’t matter in comparison to the most important question of all. How much had she heard?

They both silently stared at her for what felt like an hour before her face suddenly contorted into a look of pure joy. “Pffft, hahahahaha!” She leaned forward while clutching her stomach and laughing almost as hard as Pinkie Pie had last evening. Firestorm and Silver Chance shared looks of bewilderment, as her sudden change in attitude completely threw their preconceived notions of the mare for a loop. “Oh boy, too good! Too good!” She said while wiping a tear of laughter from her eye.

Suddenly, a large circle of green fire enveloped her, revealing a young changeling who was standing in her place. “I thought for sure that I wouldn’t get her down on the first try, especially without a mirror, but judging by how hard you two shit a brick I’d say I nailed it!” Ink said with a shit-eating grin as he walked further into the room.

“Okay, first: What!?” Silver exclaimed as he stood up from his chair. “And second: The fuck!?” His frustration only seemed to make Ink laugh harder, forcing him to hop on his hind legs and plant his hooves against the wall.

“Oh! You guys are killing me!”

Firestorm stood from his chair, trying his best to collect himself after realizing that they hadn’t been discovered, and stepped between Silver and Ink. “Alright, you got us with that one, Little bastard,” He said while trying to hide a scowl. Firestorm put his hands in his pockets as he waited for Ink to calm down and catch his breath. Once he had, he started off with the most pressing matter. “So… what the hell are you doing here kid?”

Ink hopped off of the wall and shook his head. “I came here to fetch you guys, at the behest of her craziness Pinkie Pie. I figured if she’s gonna make me do the grunt work I may as well have some fun.”

Firestorm nodded along and looked at Ink curiously. He wasn’t sure why she’d send him as opposed to the maids or another staff member, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. It might have been just because the maids were occupied helping another group, but there was no way to know if that assumption was true. “Well, that’s certainly one way to have fun,” He said as he looked back to Silver and motioned for him to get ready. “How much did you hear?”

Ink swayed his head back and forth as he tapped at his chin. “Eh, only the last bit. I just heard you bragging about winging it, so I decided to take the ball and run,” Ink slowly walked along the edge of the wall and into the kitchen portion of the area, all while gawking at the decor. "Man, this place is way nicer than my room."

"Hey," Silver Chance suddenly spoke up as he continued to watch the changeling. There was a brief pause as Ink looked towards him curiously. "Are you alright kid? Did Pinkie… hurt you?" He asked while taking a slight step closer.

Ink's face twitched for a split second, showing pain, disgust, and regret all at once in his expression. It instantly faded however, instead being replaced by another smirk as he blew a raspberry at Silver. "Yeah right! Try as she might, she doesn't scare me. I'm just doing this to make sure she doesn't suspect me when I…" He paused his sentence and gave them another fearful look, then turned back towards the door.

“Nevermind. We should probably get going. I only had enough time for the one joke.” He said with a nervous laugh. Firestorm and Silver Chance quickly followed after him, until all three faced the swirling void at the doorway.

None of them took that next step forward, as they all had vastly different, yet equally terrifying, memories of the time they’d spent there. Deciding to capitalize on the moment of silence, Firestorm lightly nudged Ink. “Well whatever you’re planning kid, I doubt it’s as well thought out as what we’ve got. All we’re missing is a little magic.”

Ink looked up at him in surprise, but Firestorm just gave him a knowing smirk. Ink nodded his head while slowly returning his smile with one of his own. “Really now? Well… I guess that’s something for me to think about.” With that, the young changeling stepped through the portal, with the stallions not far behind.

As they exited the void, they found themselves in a large box room filled with ponies and other contestants. Unlike the clean metal halls they’d seen at the stadium, the rustic wood they’d seen at the palace, or the royal marble of their room, this area had an archaic stone architecture to it. At first glance, it almost looked like they were standing in the old castle of the two sisters, but upon closer inspection Firestorm realized that the walls were just well constructed coverings layered over something much more modern.

The wide open room was filled end to end with training equipment like weight sets, athletic courses, ropes that hung from the ceiling, and different kinds of training weapons. The floor was made out of a firm, yet malleable, matting that was likely placed there to prevent falling injuries, and the room was lit up with green magic torches instead of the bright UV lights they’d grown used to. Finally, above one of the walls, was an opened observing balcony that was currently unoccupied.

As they scanned the room, they took note of the other contestants currently waiting there. They could see Green Scale sitting by himself near the far corner behind the sandpit with his eyes closed, Kirouac talking with Silent Talon near the wooden swords and spears, which was a frightening sight, and Odium climbing up one of the ropes with minimal effort.

What caught their attention now though was a new group of contestants. There were two strong looking ponies, both anthrofied, who were lifting weights at one of the bench presses, and a pegasus mare floating by one of the walls and inspecting it closely.

“Come on, come on, come on. It’s all you Jade, all you, all you!” The spotter, a light green pegasus with a two toned green and blue mane, said in a motivating tone. The stallion benching, a green unicorn with a dark brown mane and tail, was breathing heavily as he shakily lifted the bar with his partner's help. “Come on Jade, don’t let this- oh hey!” Suddenly the pegasus let go of the bar and waved at Firestorm and Silver Chance with a big smile on his face.

His wings unfurled as he fluttered his way over and prepared both of his hands for a shake. “Silver Chance? Firestorm? Well hello, I’m Luminous Sky, and I am pleased as punch to meet you!” He said as he leaned forward and vigorously shook their hands.

“Sky, sky, sky, SKY SKY SK-” The stallion at the bench press was suddenly cut off as he lost his grip on the bar, sending straight into his neck and gagging him. Wasting no time, both Silver and Firestorm ran over to help lift the massive weight. As soon as he was free, Jade Dawn immediately ran over to Luminous and grabbed him by the neck. “You son of a bitch!” He shouted while shaking the pegasus back and forth.

“Hey Jade, looks like those weights are paying off…” Luminous said between laughs and gags as his partner shook him around, clearly unafraid of what was going to happen.

Eventually, Jade came to a stop and released him with a sigh of defeat. “It’s not worth it.” He sulked as he let Luminous fall to the ground.

“Glad you see it that way, Pard,” He replied while rubbing his neck and flashing a smile that made them question whether or not he was related to a certain pink menace. While Luminous picked himself up, he glanced back at Firestorm and Silver who had maintained a confused and appraising gaze on them. “Ah, don’t mind him, he’s just a little weird.”

“Right, only him?” Firestorm asked almost instinctively, but all that did was get a soft laugh out of the stallion.

“You’re pretty funny,” He complimented. “But honestly, it is nice to meet some more ponies who are… like this.” He said while gesturing to himself.

“Yeah,” Jade finally chimed in. “They made sure everypony knew how to walk at the least, but other than that it's been pretty tough."

Silver reached over and shook his hand with a nod. “Don’t I know it.”

"Oh, you were human too? Man, I thought walking on two legs would be a cinch, considering that's how I've done it my whole life, but these things are way trickier than human legs. Am I right?" Jade chuckled as he moved his legs around with a bit of apprehension.

Silver blinked for a moment, then rubbed the back of his head in confusion. "Uhh… yeah, you lost me on that one."

Just as their introductions had finally gotten underway, the loud sound of an opening door caught the attention of everypony in the room. They all looked up to the previously empty observation area and watched as several ponies walked in, headed by the very mare who had introduced them last night.

“Aww, isn’t that sweet? We already have somepony trying to make friends.” She said with a devilish smile as she focused her attention on the four ponies by the weights. Firestorm and Silver quickly backed away, with Jade and Luminous mirroring their actions. Pinkie Pie let out a giggle and continued to walk along the edge of the observation deck as she appraised the contestants.

Behind Pinkie were several newcomers, most likely staff members, who piled in and stood behind her calmly. They were all run of the mill bipedal ponies, with only two outliers in question. One was a disgruntled and old looking griffon with a permanent scowl on his faded brown beak, a scowl so deep that he probably would have looked like a melted candle without all of his grey feathers.

The second was none other than the winner of the previous trial, the violet scantily clad mare known as Beatrix Belladonna. Firestorm looked around to his fellow contestants to see their reactions to these newcomers, Beatrix specifically, but none seemed to be fazed by their presence. Either every creature here was a master at acting, or they hadn’t seen the report on her before the ceremony. He knew that steering clear of her was probably for the best.

“Welcome, welcome, welcome everypony!” Pinkie Pie shouted, the sudden noise catching a few of them off guard. “Today is the first day of your training. Isn’t that exciting?”

Silver Chance leaned over to Firestorm and whispered in his ear. “What a nutcase. There’s no pony else here and she’s still talking like she’s on stage.”

Firestorm looked up at the conspicuously high ceilings and their black coverings. Considering how much strange technology and magic they had there, he was beginning to doubt that idea. “As far as we know, she still could be.” He whispered back, causing Silver to freeze in realization.

“The entire process will be fun on the bun, but I won’t lie. The first week or two will be… significantly less fun,” She leaned forward against the railing on the observation deck and pointed to a few of the contestants. “A few of you are probably just a tad confuzzled on how your new bodies work. So that’s why a majority of you will start off with our lovely physical trainers.”

Two stallions, one a bright orange pegasus and another a bright red unicorn who wore matching skin tight gymnastics uniforms, stood forward with smug smiles as she gestured to them. Their builds and faces seemed eerily similar, with the only differences being their color and race. "These two hunks, Storm Bind and North Star, are the best of the best when it comes to whipping pudgy, uncoordinated, bodies into shape!” The brothers gave a slight wave, their smug smiles deepening as they looked down on their trainees.

“What? Do they only hire twins here?” Firestorm whispered to the others as he crossed his arms and watched the strange stallions above.

“Eh, probably some weird kink,” Inkwell responded with a shrug.

Pinkie waved the stallions back, then continued with her performance. “For those of you on the more ‘magical’ side, we have the most talented magic users this side of the multiverse. Our lovely champion Beatrix Belladonna, and her slightly less lovely 'assistant'-”

“Beg your pardon, you infuriating wretch!?” The griffon suddenly blasted against Pinkie. The mare simply laughed it off and rolled her eyes playfully.

“Oh calm down grumpy, I was just checking to see if you were paying attention,” She said while pinching his sagging cheek in a demeaning fashion. The griffon grumbled in defiance but gave no further objections to her games. “Her lovely co-instructor, Waxbeak. Together they will be able to learn you a thing or two about this world's magic. It’s a tad different from what you might be used to, so it helps to cover the basics.”

Pinkie took a step back as both Beatrix and her partner took center stage. They looked down at them, not smugly like the others, but with what had to be disgust. The griffon looked down angrily, his scowl deepening with every face he scanned over, and Beatrix merely looked down in cold indifference to all of them. As expected, she must have felt like none of them was worth her time, but there was obviously somepony forcing her to do this, whether she liked it or not.

Without so much as another word, both Beatrix and… Waxbeak, apparently, made their way down. Firestorm had to admit, the name was fitting for the griffon. He looked like he was being held together by two pieces of gum, and hatred. While the griffon flew down on his large beating wings, the mare simply held her hands out below her and floated gently onto the ground. Once they touched down in the center of the room, they were joined by the gymnastic duo who saw fit to just jump down despite one of them being a pegasus.

“Well, I’ll leave you all to it. Make sure to listen, you’ll never know what you might need to know later.” Pinkie turned and headed through the door in the observation deck, her maniacal laughter echoing throughout the room for a few more seconds after she’d departed.

Everyone fell into silence as they gathered around the instructors, curious as to what would come next. Suddenly, the red physical instructor North Star clapped his hands together and began issuing orders in a booming voice. “Welcome, welcome! Time to get this show on the road!” He said while waving his arms in a very animated fashion, reminiscent of a circus performer.

“You, you, you… hmmmm, you, you and you.” His brother, Storm Bind, pointed out all of the anthro ponies, including the pegasus mare he had yet to acquaint himself with, and corralled them to the side while his brother clapped his hands impatiently.

"Yes yes, follow us. We will get you in tip top shape!" As they were being ushered out, Silver Chance quickly tapped Firestorm’s shoulder and pointed at the corner of the rook opposite to them. It was there that another portal had formed, and out of it stepped the previously absent twin maids, alongside the small fillies from last night.

Golden Gild was still sticking to Fighter Swan like glue but seemed to be shyly talking with Foal Bearer who had a gentle smile on her face. "See, all fine." She reassuringly said to the golden filly, most likely telling her that the voids were safe, unlike their arrival.

"Isn't this exciting?" Wet Nurse asked softly as she looked down to the pink filly Fighter Swan, but instead of a fearful nod like her friend, she just glared at the maid angrily. "R-right," Wet nurse said with a weak chuckle before looking away from the girl.

Firestorm subconsciously stepped closer, but before he could even move he felt a hand grasping his shoulder and clamping down in an unnaturally powerful grip. He slowly looked back to see the pegasus trainer glaring at him, his smug grin now replaced by a cold frown. "We don't have much time sir. Come along."

Firestorm grunted in frustration and tried pulling his shoulder away, but the stallion’s grip was unbreakable. He looked back to the crowd around the magic trainers and could already tell that he hadn't been the only one to notice their new arrivals, but it didn't seem like he had any other options. So with a reluctant sigh, he nodded to Storm Bind and turned to follow.

Once again, however, his actions were interrupted, this time by a loud hiss. He turned to look at the source of the noise and smiled when he saw Inkwell staring at him, nodding his head with determination. Firestorm returned it with a nod of his own and continued to the next step of his journey. Confident that his newest ally would do his best to get the job done.