*Thud* *Thud* *Thud*
A trio of bullets slam into the wood of the door frame as Fluid Moves dives through the door to the rundown store. More shots are heard—accompanied by hoots and hollers—as he scrambles to his hooves again and races further into the building. Things hadn’t been going well since he parted ways with Dub Step and Disc Jockey in the subway system. He had intended to find an exit and come back to retrieve them. He’d found one, but he’d also found a gang of raiders who’d set up in the bathrooms right next to it. They’d chased him up into the open, and then into a department store.
“He’s all alone in there, boys!” a voice shouts, drawing Fluid’s attention as he slides to a stop at the bottom of a staircase.
“Yeahhh, let’s go claim our new fucktoy!” another voice shouts, kicking Fluid into action. He steps up into the staircase and pulls out a couple of throwing knives before peeking back into the room.
As soon as the first raider steps into the shop, Fluid throws two knives. One strikes home in the raider’s eye, while the other is embedded into their shoulder. The disheveled and blood-caked green earth pony drops to the ground, unmoving as another raider pushes up to the doorway, taking cover before firing off three shots towards Fluid.
The raider’s aim is piss poor; all three shots miss by a wide margin, allowing the pink-maned earth pony to duck back behind the wall of the stairway. He pulls two more throwing knives from the belt attached to his blue armor as two more shots ring out and the bullets impact the wall he’s hiding behind. There’s a frustrated shout as the raider has to reload his revolver, cueing Fluid to make his move.
Rolling out from the stairs, he throws the two knives. One digs into this new raider’s shoulder, while the other strikes the gun they’re reloading, sending it flying. The raider shouts maniacally and charges with wild abandon as Fluid slides behind a shelf across the aisle from the stairs. As the raider rounds the corner and steps into the back aisle he’s hit squarely on the snoot by Fluid’s displacer hoof. “Party Bash!” shouts Fluid on impact. The raider slams into the staircase, sent flying from the thrum of magic and sound that emanates from the displacer hoof.
More raiders rush into the building as Fluid Moves scrambles away from the raider he just ko’d. He spins as he rushes down the aisle, snagging a heavy toaster oven and lobbing it at the raider blindly running around the corner of the shelf, clocking him right in the face.
“Give up!” Fluid shouts as he keeps running, even as the raider crumples from the impact of the toaster.
“Fuck you!” another raider shouts, charging down an aisle as they see Fluid run past. “I’m gonna rip you to shreds when I catch you!”
“Go around, boys! Cut him off! We eat little shits like him for breakfast!!” A larger and louder raider earth pony with a dark gray coat and a russet mane shouts as they step into the building. “And take him alive!! We’re going to have fun with this one!”
There’s a chorus of “Yes, Boss!” from four of the raiders.
“Fuck that, this bastard’s dead!” shouted the last. These words were followed by the sound of a gunshot.
“Anyone else?!”
Fluid winces as he slams his way through a door and into the back room of the store. His hope of escape is dashed, though, as the loading doors out to the back are rusted shut, and the normal pony-sized door had no handle on this side. Try as he might, the doors simply won’t budge, and the normal door only opens in. Stepping back from the veritable wall of oxidized steel, Fluid pulls out his last two throwing knives, ready to fight.
The first raider to step into the back room is nailed in the eye with one of Fluid’s throwing knives and slumps to the ground, dead. The next raider into the room is nailed in the shoulder by the last of Fluid’s throwing knives, but keeps coming. As the two engage in hoof to hoof combat, the rest of the raiders, including their boss, enter the room. Gulping, Fluid drops, rolls and slams his hoof into the raider her’s fighting, sending them flying into the wall while shouting “Party Bash!”
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t The Disco Do-Gooder,” the leader, a blood-caked earth pony with a formerly dark grey coat, says as he steps to the front of the gaggle of raiders. The rest of them fan out in a semicircle around their boss, blocking any avenue of escape. “You have quite the bounty on you; twelve hundred caps for your severed head. I intend to collect, but first we’re gonna have some fun with you. Grab ‘im, boys!”
Fluid has just enough time to realize that there are only four raiders still standing, as they immediately charge at him. As the first raider reaches him, he spins and sweeps his legs out from under him, bringing him down directly into his swinging displacer hoof. The displacer hoof thrums with magic and sound again as it sends the raider sliding across the ground and into the legs of one of the other raiders, tripping him. The third raider engages Fluid in a wild and fierce hoof to hoof melee as the other two raiders that had charged work to untangle themselves from each other. Out of nowhere, a buck sends Fluid flying across the room and into a wall, plunging him into darkness on impact.
Light, sound and pain flood into Fluid’s world as he returns to consciousness. With a groan, he tries to move, but finds himself tied face-down on some kind of low to the ground metal table. The sting of the cold metal makes him shiver and prompts him to look around.
He’s no longer in the back room of the store, but in an entirely separate building; a run-down bar by the looks of it. As he looks around, he notices that his armor and displacer hoof are stacked with the rest of the raider’s pillaged loot.
As his senses return to normal, the voices of the raiders drift into the room, driving him to struggle harder against the ropes holding him down. Despite the fact that his struggling does nothing, he keeps trying even as the raiders come into view.
“Look who’s awake,” the raider leader says as he trots over to Fluid. He hadn’t caught on before, but as he now had more time and a better look, Fluid recognized him from the wanted posters. His dark grey pelt had been wiped to a somewhat cleaner state than it had been in the back of the shop, though it was still smeared with little streaks of whatever he’d been covered with in the past. The russet mane and the scar running across his muzzle and up over his right eye in a single line were unmistakable.
“Soul Crusher,” affirmed Fluid.
Soul Crusher chuckled. “Still some fight left in ya. That’s good.”
“Can we carve him up yet, boss?” One of the raiders, a stallion with a light grey coat, asks as he brandishes a bone saw. His spiky red mane with white streaks sways wildly as he waves the tool around.
“Not yet, Bonesplitter,” Soul replies as he looks down at Fluid. “We’re gonna make him suffer first.”
“Can we rape him too, Boss?” asks a light tan coated raider as he shakes his curly black mane out of his eyes.
“After we beat him, Bottom Bitch, and after Bonesplitter takes one of his legs off.”
Fluid takes a deep breath and grits his teeth as Soul Crusher brings his hoof down hard on Fuild’s left hind leg. Thanks to his training, and preparing for this pain, Fluid is able to keep himself from screaming when the raider boss delivers the blow. He doesn’t stop however, and keeps striking Fluid’s leg, hitting him harder and harder each time. Finally, he breaks the bone, eliciting a scream.
“You’re one tough cookie, Disco Do-Gooder,” Soul says with a vicious smile. “Come over here boys! We’re going to see just how much he can take.”
The rest of the raiders, all three of them, make their way over to the low-sitting table Fluid is tied to. Each pulls out a knife and, with wicked grins, they start cutting him. Slash after slash, his once white coat is marred with shallow wounds and streaks of blood. Despite his training, the repeated slashing wears down his resistance, and he begins to cry as the pain overwhelms him. He keeps crying even when the raider boss pours a portion of a healing potion into each of his wounds.
“Go ahead, Bonesplitter,” Soul urges. “Take off his right front leg.” Fluid cries louder and struggles against the ropes holding him down. “Hold him still,” he commands to the others. “We don’t want to damage him too much; not yet, anyway.”
“Finally! Ehehehe!” Bonesplitter shouts gleefully as drops the knife and picks up his bone saw. “Hold down his leg so I can make a clean cut.”
One of the raiders moves around the table to do just that as Soul Crusher presses down on Fluid’s back and hind legs, making sure he can’t thrash. Fluid screams as Bonespitter begins to work. The sharp teeth of the bone saw draw back and forth across his leg, digging deeper with each pass. Blood hemorrhages from the wound, flowing down onto the table, pooling under him before dripping off the side and hitting the floor. Fluid’s screams reach a crescendo as Bonesplitter reaches the humerus.
“Yes! Scream for me!” Bonesplitter shouts as he works the saw deeper and deeper into the bone. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, until the bone saw finishes cutting though the bone, digging back into pure flesh.
At this point Fluid’s lungs can’t keep screaming; he’s simply breathing heavily and crying from the pain, his voice completely shot. He can’t even muster a shout as Bonesplitter takes his leg completely off. His world rapidly darkens as his eyelids slam shut; he’s sure that he’s dead.
Fluid slowly returns to consciousness, his body still in immense pain as he looks around the room he’s in. The smell of a meaty stew wafts to his nose, making his muzzle crinkle in disgust. He quickly spots the raiders sitting around a fire. One of them tends to the logs under the pot that is emanating the disgusting smelling steam. As he tries to shift a bit for a better look, the raider boss notices and breaks out into a big grin.
“Welcome back to the land of the living, Disco Do-Gooder,” Soul Crusher says as he makes his way over. “Hope you’re hungry; dinner will be ready soon.”
“Ugh, fuck… you,” Fluid grunts out as he looks up at the raider boss. “If you’re gonna-”
“Haha!” The raider boss laughs heartily. “I’m going to kill you on my own time table, rape toy.”
Fluid spits as he glares up at the raider. “Again, fuck you.”
“Now you’re catching on!” Soul cheers. “Except you’re the one who’ll be fucked. But first, dinner. Is it ready, Chainlink?”
“Almost, boss,” Chainlink calls back as he pokes the fire. His silver coat seems to glow in the firelight, though his navy mane and tail seem to be nothing more than shadows leaping from his body. “It’s close, though.”
“It’s good enough! Grab a bowl and bring it over here,” the boss replies as he looks down at Fluid. “When you’ve finished your stew, we’re going to stuff you like a griffin.”
Bonesplitter and Bottom Bitch bring over a bowl of soup, presenting it to Soul Crusher, who scoops up a spoonful of the mix that is heaping with meat, potatoes and celery. The spoon is pressed to Fluid’s lips, but he doesn’t open his mouth, scrunching his muzzle at the smell of cooked meat. The raider boss shakes his head and nods to the others. They shuffle around so that they’re on either side of Fluid and force him to open his mouth so Soul can shove the spoonful of stew into it. Fluid tries to spit it out, but the raiders close his lips around the spoon, giving him no choice but to taste the stew. The unpleasant taste of meat floods Fluid’s mouth alongside the taste of potato, celery and spices.
“There’s no point in fighting it, Disco colt,” Soul says flatly. “We’re not going to let you spit it out. Now swallow what your master gives you like a good little fuck toy.”
Fluid struggles against them, desperately trying to spit it out, but to no avail. After a couple of minutes, the raider boss orders his lackeys to pinch Fluid’s noise, forcing him to swallow the stew or suffocate. With hope still thrumming in his chest that Dub and Disc will find him, he swallows down the spoonful of disgusting stew. As soon as he swallows, the raiders let up and Soul serves him up another spoonful. They do the same song and dance again, as the raider boss feeds him yet another spoonful of the stew. As soon as he pulls the spoon back out of Fluid’s mouth, he makes a disgusted face and glares up at his captor.
“What, don’t like how you taste?” Soul Crusher asks, chuckling darkly.
Fluid Moves looks up at him, horrified, then looks at the pot of soup, and finally to the tied-off stump where his leg used to be, shaking his head in disbelief. “No. No! NO!!”
“That’s right, little hero.” Soul pauses to take a bite of the stew. “We put your leg in the stew. It’s quite tasty.”
Fluid’s face rapidly pales as the words sink in. They’d fed him his own leg. He retches at the thought. Bits of his undigested leg, potatoes, and celery splatter onto the floor as he vomits up the vile stew. The raider boss just laughs before taking another bite.
“Can we rape him now, boss?” Bottom Bitch asks eagerly.
“Oh, alright, but flip him over first.”
As the raiders undo the ropes tying Fluid down, he begins thrashing and trying to fight back against them. This wild flailing only succeeds in making his severed leg bleed again, as the tourniquet catches on a nick in the metal of the table and is ripped off as he thrashes. With all four raiders working together, they manage to flip Fluid over and tie him down again.
Instead of tying a new tourniquet, Bonesplitter brings over a burning hot piece of metal and begins cauterizing Fluid’s stump of a leg. Fluid grits his teeth and whimpers, fighting the pain valiantly, though it’s a losing battle. Halfway through the process, Fluid’s resolve breaks and he screams. He doesn’t stop until Bonesplitter finishes his job.
“He’s good to go, boss,” Bonesplitter says as he tosses the piece of metal he used for cauterizing the wound back into the fire, in case he would need to use it again. “I don’t see why we can’t just fuck his corpse, though.“
“Shut up, Bonesplitter. I said we keep him alive and that’s what we’re going to do. Now hold his mouth open.”
Fluid’s eyes spring open maybe an hour later at the sound of loud laughter. The raiders are gathered around the pot with a good fire going underneath it, eating the stew made from his leg and drinking beer. Sitting there, reeking of piss and sex, Fluid can’t help but to cry. Tears roll down his cheeks as he looks at the floor. If only he had listened to Dub Step and not gone off on his own, he’d have avoided these raiders. He feared that he’d never see her again, or any of his friends.
The burning pain in the stump that was once his foreleg and the broken bits of bone in his hind leg simply remind him of what else they’ve taken from him. Fluid can’t contain it any more. He cries and sobs, giving into despair as tears roll down his face. The raiders turn their attention to him, their laughing becoming louder as they realize just how broken he is.
It is at that moment that the door leading into the room goes flying off its hinges and embeds into the wall opposite it. The raiders are quick to grab their firearms, and start shooting towards the entrance, only for the door that was just embedded in the wall to be ripped back out. It quickly flies across the room, completely bisecting Bonesplitter as it passes through him.
A pink unicorn with a blue mane steps through the door frame as the raiders weapons fire comes to a stop. She’s wreathed in magical flames and her eyes burn a brilliant white. The sight of Dub Step reignites the embers of hope in Fluid’s heart as she stares down the raiders. “How DARE you hurt my little Flu-Flu!” she screams.
Her horn glows and a barrage of magical bolts obliterates Bottom Bitch, leaving a bloody smear across the floor. The raiders start firing their guns again. Most of the shots miss, and the ones that actually hit seem to do nothing to the mare. Her own rifles spring to life, firing round after round into Chainlink, not stopping until their clips are empty.
“And YOU!” she exclaims, rounding on the raider boss. The magical aura around her flares and grows until it cannot be contained. In a single, super powerful burst, her magic flashes across the room like a beam of pure sunlight. Soul Crusher’s body crumbles away into dust. A hole forms in the wall behind where he had been, and the beam continues on for several blocks, completely obliterating everything in its path.
As the light and magic fade from her form, she rushes over to Fluid and quickly frees him from the cage. She wraps her hooves around him and holds him close as he cries. “I have you; you’re safe now,” she whispers as she strokes his mane, not caring how dirty he is. Fluid’s crying slows to a stop as the warm embrace of her hooves calms him down. “Let’s bring you to Jet so we can have your leg fixed and head home.”
She lifts him in her magic and sets him on her back, carefully picking her way across the bar to collect Fluid’s weapons and armor before making her way out of the run down building. Fluid’s world becomes blue as he buries his head in her mane, slowly fading into black as he falls asleep on her back, finally feeling safe again.
