Fallout: Equestria - Most Dangerous Game

Chapter Three:

From the moment she set hoof in the decrepit town, Jade could hardly tell whether the growing darkness was due to the coming night or the swelling storm clouds overhead. A harsh wind filled with salty scents blew in from the rolling ocean, waves crashing against the crumbling concrete bulkwalk to her right. The decaying mass of cracked rock and rusting metal bars seemed to be the only defense against the endless march of the churning water. Each wave trailed a mane of white foam, while odd, seagull-like bats flitted above them.

Beyond the wall, to her left, the once bustling seafront of stores and cafes was now no more than a rotting heap of sagging timber and broken glass. Cracked orange bricks, woven with intricate patterns of fish and sea shells were worn and mottled by grime. While foundations jutted up between the broken structures like the broken ribs of a decayed cadaver. The odd hay-fry stand, or candyfloss machine lingered amidst countless tattered umbrellas, succumbing to corrosion as much as the many towering hotels and casinos above.

Bones littered the place like a dark parody of those who’d once come here for fun and games. All stripped of flesh, some still bore flowery blue t-shirts, or luggage containers, while odd, shrimp-like creatures scurried away from them at Jade’s approach. They didn’t register as hostile in her E.F.S, but from the number of dots, she assumed there were thousands of the things. Even so, she was on edge, a stark contrast to the steady beat of her mechanical heart as it thrummed like an engine in her chest. X-23 hummed her timid tune all the while, as Early Retirement scanned the area around the synthetic mare within its bubble of telekinesis.

I swear, for a stealth suit, she makes so much noise! She thought, feeling a sting of discomfort at the idea as she passed the rusty skeleton of an old tram car, windows weeping bones. Seriously, if anypony is here, they’ll hear us coming a mile off!

She was starting to have second thoughts about this whole plan. Surely anypony who called a place like this home wasn’t so friendly. After the tunnels, it had her utterly on edge. Every crack of glass under her hooves made her wince, seconds before the head of a monstrous pink pony had her almost jumping out of her synthetic skin. Like some horrid practical joke, the thing was staring at her with a pair of huge blue eyes the second she rounded the corner, earning several pistol shots in return. The soft flash of the silenced weapon flared as combat diagnostics blossomed in her vision. X-23 let out a startled squeak, invisibility flickering on and off. Only then did Jade realize she’d shot the decayed face of a large clown.

It took her a second to recognize the bubbly pink ministry mare. Pinkie Pie’s face had been plastered on every poster, billboard, and leaflet before the war, and as Jade looked down she saw the cracked glass entrance of the arcade. Seabirds scattered from the maw of shattered glass, forcing her to reign in another flurry of terrifying thoughts as she did her best to slow her breath, regardless of whether it had truly elevated or not.

Come on, Jade, keep it together, it’s just a prop. She told herself, looking down at her hooves, before finally glancing up at the thing again. Seen better days though.

Marred by rust and corrosion, the huge face appeared more like that of a zombie. Inner frame exposed behind rusted cheeks, extending the creepy smile. While nests of seaweed clogged the nostrils and ears. It hardly took away from the eyes, both still relatively intact and feeling as if they peered right into her soul.

If I still even have a soul. She thought, yet that kind of existential dread was shoved right back to the rear of her memory banks. No, no, I’m still me… A real soldier would hardly be this jumpy!

True to that, she spun, pistol rapidly aimed at a scuttling sound behind her, seeing a red crab about the size of an equine’s head scurry away. Its potted chitin was pitted by weeping barnacles, as was one of its larger claws. Coated in seaweed, the rest of it was nestled into a pony’s skull, like some twisted mockery of a hermit crab.

What in Celestia’s name have I gotten myself into? She thought, creeping under the cover of the arcade’s foyer as rain began to patter down upon the ruins. I swore I saw civilization down here!

“The temperature is dropping, maybe we should find shelter?” It was the first break in X-23’s constant humming, but not a suggestion Jade disagreed with as she huddled in the foyer, collecting herself.

“You say that because you can get too cold, or I can?” she asked, looking at her sleeve and frowning at the patchy flurry of invisibility. “Because I’m pretty sure neither of us can get the chills anymore.”

“Ah right, yes…” She trailed off, a flicker of pink correlating with the nagging hint of bashfulness Jade felt tugging at her mind. “Sorry, I’m just not used to this. I feel… Well, I don’t know, it hardly feels right to be this way.”

“You don’t have to remind me,” Jade responded, levitating the gun up to peer inside the arcade, spying broken slot machines, claw-grabbers, and pool tables.

Plushies and chips still spilled out of many, and the carpet under hoof was soaked to the point of feeling more like a bog. Wires hung down like sparking entrails from the cracked ceiling, while more of the sea birds had made nests among the cartoon pirate ships and desert islands that hung from the higher rafters. Even so, the second the gloom took hold she blinked her night vision on, seeing all the way through to a second entrance opposite, by a counter complete with broken terminals, cash registers, and long-dead neon lights.

“Don’t think I’ll ever get used to this,” she muttered, accidentally crushing a skull under a metallic forehoof, wincing. “Gah, sorry.”

“It’s all just a blur for me. One second I’m feeling warm and cozy, then this,” X-23 muttered, and Jade had to wonder just how much of their surroundings the suit could truly perceive.

“You’re not missing much, trust me,” Jade responded, nudging aside bones as she crept her way up a set of squat steps to the second entrance. “Maybe these guys really were the lucky ones.”

Maybe I really was better off dead, at least then I’d be with Data. She shook off that thought, sure she’d no right to think of the mare she’d betrayed like that. If she were here she’d figure this out, she’s smart.

She swore she caught glimpses of the nerdy mare’s scowling face in the shadows, unable to shake the idea the long-dead pegasus was a better mare than her. It should have been Data here in this body, it was practically her child! Yet what was she to do, there was no way for her to redeem herself, there was nothing but bones, death, and monsters. Right there, as she peered out into the rainy street beyond the shattered glass, she had to wonder just how far she’d have to roam to find anything out here. All the while X-23 hummed, at least for a few moments.

“Oh no… Hiding now!” Jade’s ears perked, unsure whether the voice had been in her head, or outwardly audible.

Regardless, the stealth suit finally came through, and with a flicker, she faded from sight, right as she heard a voice.

“Hey, I think it came from over here!” It was surely a pony, a stallion from the sounds of it, shouting to be heard over the rain. “I’m sure I heard a shot!”

“Hey, what are you doing!?” Jade hissed under her breath as she ducked down in the foyer, glaring at her masked foreleg. “We don’t want to hide, we want to be saved!”

“But just look, they don’t seem too friendly,” X-23 muttered, and seconds before Jade demanded how the suit knew that, she saw the set of red bars on her E.F.S.

“You’re just hearing thunder,” snapped the voice of a mare outside, Jade’s ears folding as she realized maybe firing off random shots wasn’t the best idea.

“I’m telling you, Crimson, I heard a shot, three-o-eight, silenced. Trust me, I know it!” responded the stallion, putting a name to the mare.

“Gunpowder, to you, everything’s three-o-eight,” added the dry tone of a third mare, naming the stallion too.

There were three red dots on her E.F.S, but more than that, there were at least four blue dots too, each bundled along in the midst of the hostiles like cattle.

What in Luna’s name is going on here? She thought to herself, finally daring to peek up over the counter.

Invisibility or not, she was sure the trio couldn’t see her in the gloom, not to mention the lashing flurry of heavy rain as it thundered down around them. But with her enhanced vision, she could see them clearly enough. Dressed as if they’d crawled out of a shipwreck, each had gnarled planks of wood strapped to their sides, forming a kind of boxy armor. The wiry mesh of fishing nets and hooks hanging from ear piercings added to the crude, nautical vibe. She guessed the front two were Crimson and Gunpowder, while the lattermost mare had a whole lobster cage on her head like some kind of makeshift helmet. Jade quickly dubbed her Cage, noting each of them seemed armed while noticing the small group of ponies huddled between the three.

They looked in even worse a state, unarmed and dressed in mere rags, there were three mares, a stallion, and finally, a colt. She’d failed to even notice the young pony’s bar given how closely he was pressed to one of the mares. The only thing they all had in common aside from their withered state, were the thick metal collars around their necks, each blinking a dull red.

Those can’t be? She had to blink to make sure she was seeing things right, but her synthetic eyes told no lies. Those are restraining collars!

She’d seen them a few times, prisoners often wore them, and the MoA had dealt with more than a few of those in its back-hoof operations. But to see them on ponies like this, most of all the one awkwardly modified to fit a colt!

They don’t look like prisoners to me… She thought, sure she’d feel sick if she could. Then again, what’s the definition of prisoner out here?

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Gunpowder was quick to snap back at his two companions, earning sly chuckles from the two mares. “I swear, I don’t lie!”

“Pretty sure she was talking about another kind of gun,” Crimson muttered as she pranced past him, flicking her tail at the tip of his snout.

From under the red and white swirl that was her mane, Jade caught sight of her horn. Pale yellow glow wrapped around a spear that was no more than a pool cue with a knife taped to the end.

“You’d know all about that, wouldn’t you?” he retorted, seeming to forget all about Jade’s shot as he slapped the coy mare’s ass with the blunt end of his own harpoon-spear, forcing her to bite her lip as she shot him a devious look.

“Alright, save it for the bunks, you two,” snapped the mare Jade had designated as Cage, before adding. “We gotta get this meat back before the storm really kicks in.”

What, like it’s not kicked in already? Jade thought, hearing rain bounce off every surface like the hammer of a hundred drums. How much more torrential can things get?

She dreaded to think, imagining the whole place washed into the sea by a muddy slurry. All the while, Crimson rolled her eyes, swaying her rump by the stallion once more as she called.

“You heard her, get a move on or those collars go off!” There was naught but a series of whimpers from the meek ponies as they were jabbed along by the tip of her spear.

The whole sight made Jade feel all the more thankful X-23 had cloaked her when she did, from where she was sitting, this all looked like slavery.

“You sure you don’t fancy taking a look in there?” Crimson snickered as she marched past Gunpowder for the third time, Cage doing the same as she too passed.

“Food for the ghouls if nothing else,” the yellowish mare added, twirling a hammer in her magic.

“You’re so dead later, you know that right?” the earth pony shot back, chasing her rump in a playfully creepy way as Cage rolled her eyes.

“Well, they seemed positively dreamy,” X-23 muttered as Jade crept out from hiding, glancing about for anything that could be considered a ghoul.

“I’ll withhold my enthusiasm,” she responded, glancing both ways down the street, seeing little more than ruined silhouettes in the mist and rain. “But I am pretty interested in where they’re going.”

‘Mareterey Aquarium.’ The stark blue letters were arrayed in a wide arc over the domed entrance of the vast, gray building.

Despite having heard of the place before the war, it wasn’t somewhere she’d ever thought about visiting. Safe to say, those ambitions hadn’t changed. The place was in as derelict a state as the rotting seafront around it, most of which appeared to be slowly sagging into the water. The rolling of the ocean still sounded in her ears, waves marching to their frothing oblivion against the bulwark. Not just that, but the pearly-white hulk of a great cruise ship loomed up from the sea, its ruptured bow embedded in the flank of the aquarium.

‘The Alicornia’ Was its name, the faded text carved up by lines of rust as it lingered high above.

Like a skyscraper, the whole front of the vessel was wedged upwards, as if it had been rammed into the shore like a foal’s toy. Jade could almost imagine this was how fish saw the mighty feats of equestrian engineering from far below in their watery homes, but set the belittling idea aside. She was just as much an icon of that magical dominance now, and her enhanced senses all fixed on the set of slavers as they entered the place. Creeping down a small bank of boulders bearing the tattered steel cut-out of a sea pony, she was within earshot before pausing.

“Alright, meat to the left. Trappers to the right,” called out a bored-looking stallion behind the fortified counter.

Jade assumed it was once where moderately exorbitant tickets had been sold to vast cues of tourists, but now it looked as if it could withstand several shots from a grenade launcher. Wood and rusty metal were welded together into a wall bustling with spines and spikes, while a flickering neon sign overhead proclaimed the place as the ‘Aqua Dome.’

“That all you got for today, Moray?” asked the stallion behind the wall, finally adding a name to the lobster trap mare as she responded.

“More than the last two weeks, so don’t sound so disappointed.” She and her two companions were in the process of shrugging off their waterlogged gear, while the slaves were bundled away by what appeared to be a grimy griffin.

So it’s not all ponies then? She thought, seeing his gray plumage and scarred rump as it disappeared behind the slaves. Good to know.

“I’d be less disappointed if half the quota didn’t have to be traded off to Fillydelphia,” muttered the older stallion, tossing a small sack of what sounded like bits to the mare. “Three quarter’s the going rate.”

“You can’t be serious,” Moray grumbled, face flat as her two companions moaned and bickered. “Not my fault if there’s less and less tribals about, raiders to the east drive more off every day.”

“Not mine either, I just make sure it all runs smoothly. If you’ve got an issue, take it up with the boss,” responded the stallion, and that seemed to shut Moray right up.

“You’re a right moldy piece of shit, you know that, Brine?” she hissed, yet she’d have been better off talking to the faceless wall itself as he lowered metal bars over his window and shrugged.

“You going in or not?” he asked dryly, nodding to his left. “Show’s on all night, at least.”

She snarled like a dog as she nodded, earning little more than another shrug as he called for the door to be opened and another set of brutish-looking mares let her pass, while Crimson and Gunpowder chased each other after her.

The second they were gone he pulled another corrugated shutter over his window, leaving Jade with nothing but the rain and the shattered foyer. Even so, regardless of the deluge, she could hear what she could only describe as a party inside, as if the place were more nightclub than an aquarium. That coupled with the slaves, left her baffled.

I should just move on, there’s no getting in there. She thought, only to imagine the scowling face of the mare she’d betrayed once more. But I can… Like this…

For all of its computing power, her brain hardly felt like it worked. She pressed a forehoof to her head, ducking down as she looked herself over. All the while she could not stop thinking about what her savior would think.

Data made this, she made it to help ponies, and I… She stopped herself before she could admit she stole it, taking a deep breath. It’s the most advanced tech for a hundred miles, I have to do something.

Even so, there was hardly any way she was getting in through the front door, invisibility or not, she couldn’t walk through walls. She imagined breaking the fortifications would have a whole hive of Luna only knows how many angry creatures coming down on her. No, there had to be another way in, and at the thought, her analytical mind set to work.

“What are you doing?” X-23 asked as Jade marched up a set of steps to the left of the entrance dome. “I’m detecting a very, very reckless idea.”

“Okay look, between you and me, we’re the literal end goal of a whole ministry, so you want to just sit here and let bad stuff happen or not?” she asked, earning an uneasy flicker from the suit. “X-23, I need you focused, that means no jittering.”

“Sorry, sorry, and no, I don’t just want to do nothing but… We hardly know what we’re doing,” the suit muttered.

“Then we figure it out, it’s what Data would…” She cut herself off, pausing mid-way up a set of rusty fire escape steps. “It’s just the right thing to do.”

“I hope you’re right about this,” the stealth suit added, as the two of them came upon a crooked, old fire exit.

Buckled, and bent, anypony would need a crowbar to pry it open. Yet it was no match for Jade’s synthetic strength.

As a filly, Jade had often imagined what went on behind the scenes at public attractions, from wondering where they took the dragon bones at night to where zoo animals slept. Yet right now the endless tunnels of cold concrete and hissing pipes had her on edge. The only other constant aside from the distant roar of the storm, was the deep rumble of music, as she drew closer to wherever the slavers had gathered. X-23 kept her hidden all the while, only jumping with the occasional flicker when rats or some kind of giant cockroach scurried by.

“Gah, sorry!” she exclaimed for the fifth time, only for Jade to hiss for her to be quiet as she squashed another of the bugs under a forehoof.

Luckily, it seemed no pony expected her to be back here, aside from more bones, she was alone. It was like that for an unnervingly long time, before she finally crept up a set of service steps and out onto a long hall flanked by shattered fish tanks. The water had long since become naught but muddy grime weeping from between the glassy fangs, while info-tabs told her of long-dead species. The walls were painted a chipped blue, while the skeleton of some kind of whale was strung between the vast arches overhead.

There were more equine bones too, and doing her best to ignore them, she levitated up her weapon as she crept towards the sound of music. Eventually seeing the flash of red and blue lights in tandem with the beat just around the corner. Any hopes of just stumbling upon the slaves died at that. She swallowed her trepidation and shifted forward, utterly unprepared for what she saw next.

The corridor led out onto a sparsely-decorated balcony, as if the floor had been undergoing maintenance the day the bombs fell. The multitude of hazard warning and hard-hat signs were a testament to that, as well as the scaffolding draped in dusty tarps. The carpets were rolled up in neat cylinders, while a squat rail ran around the edge of the platform. Like some dusty, old attic, it loomed above the room below, running the circumference of the vast chamber. Hung in the center of the space, by a set of taut wires, was a huge, glowing-blue orb, rippling as if it contained a kind of luminous liquid. Swimming through the air around it, plastic replicas of many sea creatures also hung from similar tethers, ranging from purple sea serpents to fearsome sharks.

Yet it was what sat below the cerulean orb that caught Jade’s attention. Like a huge bowl reaching out under her, the room was huge. There was at least one more level of balconies beneath her, and under that, a floor that seemed to have once been a kind of stage. Sloping seats staggered down like the stands of a stadium to a vast plaza, behind which was a sheer wall of glass. A whole myriad of sea creatures swam in the water beyond the sleek barrier, almost as if the bombs had never fallen. There were colorful eels, pufferfish, and even a manta ray.

More spotlights illuminated the aquascape from above, where there were yet more gantries and walkways. From her elevated post, Jade could hear the hum of the tank’s filtration, while watching the long strands of kelp sway in the slow current. It was almost mesmerizing, yet the natural sight was severely ruined by what littered the stands below.

Several quick fixes behind a tower of scaffold appeared to be the only thing stopping one of the windows from completely collapsing, inevitably flooding the slew of bar-stalls, cages, and gambling tables. There was not a pony in the vast crowd of undesirables that didn’t look intoxicated by something. Worst still, the majority were dressed just like the slavers she’d seen outside. From mottled hide, torn manes, and yellowed teeth, they looked hardly a step above zombies. From playing games that seemed to involve betting on what mice a small, possum-like beast would eat when shoved into a maze. To watching collard slaves fight in round cages, it looked about as chaotic as the day the bombs fell.

Here I thought it was bad under San Prance. She thought, seeing stallions drool over pole-dancing mares, while others simply made love on bar tops. What in Celestia’s name am I supposed to do here?

The few slaves she could see that were not stuck in cages, were forced to serve as waiters, collars blinking amidst the crowd. Mares carrying platters of drinks were shoved to the floor, while colts and fillies were treated as little more than meat. There were just as many griffins and even some dogs in the mix, but thankfully none of her own kind.

If I can even consider myself a Kirin anymore. She shoved that thought to the back of her mind, magnifying her gaze into the crowd.

One pony she did spot was Moray, the ragged mare’s yellow hide hidden by a fresh layer of rags, only a cut above that of the slaves. She and her two horny companions made their way through the crowd toward the stage, where there was a break in the chaos.

Between the stands and the wall of glass, the plaza was fenced off by a squat wall of spiked barrels and barbed wire, while a mesh net, like some kind of trap door, sat just behind. A mosque depicting a rearing hippocampus was etched into the floor under the foundations of a driftwood throne. Crafted from broken twigs, barrels, and a ship’s anchor, the seat bore a large stallion, coat a steel gray, mane, and beard a pale white.

Like a breaking wave, he appeared gnarled and bitter, scars like shark bites marring his skin while an eye patch spanned the left side of his face. The opposite eye bore the merciless look of a shark, pale iris almost utterly overcome by an obsidian-black pupil. He almost made the flesh monster in the tunnels look decent, yet none of the heavily armored guards that sat about him looked as if they’d say such a thing, nor the erotic slave dancers tethered to his seat.

Those guards are the only ones who are armed. Jade noticed, seeing spears and what looked like rifles strapped to the flanks of some of them. So that’s how non-unicorns do it out here, huh?

The only other thing to catch her attention was what sat at the peak of his throne. Suspended between two whale ribs, fitted with a heap of wires and chords. It looked like a miniature version of the blue sphere above, shimmering with a swirling, rainbow hue and tiny glowing motes. At its core, a shard of some kind of pale substance glowed, wrapped in a coil like some kind of necklace. Peering into it, Jade could almost hear the waves again, as if the ocean called to her from that magic mass. Then her attention was stolen as the stallion stood, the whole throne creaking as it was relieved of his bulk.

“B–but, Mako, I swear, that’s all we could find,” Moray muttered, shaking away from the towering buck like a timid filly, notably doing all she could to stay off the trap door.

“Four slaves?” The voice of the stallion she’d identified as Mako was as cold and unforgiving as his shark-like eye. “You have the gal to come back here and ask for more when you bring me what… A quarter the quota?”

“I bring you everything, every damn colt, mare, and filly!” Moray countered, looking around as if for support, only to wilt at the lack of it. “There’s hardly anypony left with half a brain between here and Sacramareto.”

“So look elsewhere,” Mako stated flatly, and it was only then that Jade noticed the whole room had fallen silent, leaving only Moray’s stuttering.

“You mean out into the Badlands? But that’s suicide…” He didn’t need to do more than glare down his scarred muzzle at her to shut her up.

“If not, perhaps you’d rather look downstairs?” he asked, nodding to the trap door, turning the mare paler than his beard as she profusely told him that wasn’t necessary.

Not as tough as when you’re out with your buddies, huh? Jade thought, magnifying the trap door to see it seemed to be electrified, not to mention fitted with some kind of aquatic enchantments.

Not only that, but the moment Mako even hinted at the thing, whatever lurked below thrashed and pounded on the grate in a watery frenzy. The crowd appeared half horrified, half eager, starting to chant about some kind of aquatic god. Mako silenced them all with a hoof stomp, as did the lurking monster seem to sink away. He stepped forward, while Moray slinked back into the crowd, disappearing as the hulking stallion declared.

“I am glad we can accommodate you all here tonight, it’s a stormy time, one would hate to be left out in the rain.” For as much as they all seemed to fear him, everypony cheered, tossing up drinks and apparently bottle caps, before he went on. “Yes, yes. But for those of you who may have assumed otherwise, this does not come cheap.”

That killed the mood quicker than a bad joke, quiet falling over the crowd, while Mako flashed his teeth like a shark smelling blood in the water.

“That cost is paid in hard work and hardworking ponies. You provide me with hard workers, you get to enjoy the benefits.” He sat back on his throne. “You fail to do that, and you find out what it’s like to have your own collar. You still fail to work hard and well…”

He tugged one of the bones from his throne and tossed it down between the grate, prompting a flurry from the water below as well as a series of animalistic shrieks. Once again the crowd half cheered, half looked terrified, while Jade made sure not to find out what was hidden under the throne.

“Give our star attraction a buzz,” Mako muttered, nodding back to the wall of water behind him, prompting one of the guards to tap on a small set of terminals by the glass.

Jade could hear the buzz, feel its static in her core. The whole thing was electrified. She had to wonder just what was in there to prompt that kind of security, yet she was not prepared for what came swimming from the kelp. The curtains of seaweed parted like vast wings, while radiant lights of all colors shone upon the lone figure that appeared between them. The crowd broke out as if cheering for some kind of pop star as Jade strived to get a good view. She’d never seen a sea pony, she’d often thought they were no more than a myth, or at least more like seahorses.

The figure before her was long and slender, scales a golden yellow, while her orange mane wafted like a goddess’s in the current. It was broken by a dash of red and blue, while her stark red irises shone like rubies. Every light fixed on her seemed to be purposely aimed to cause her scales to shimmer. The only brake in her radiance was her frail smile, and despite bearing no collar, Jade knew that she was just as much a slave.

I’ve never seen anything like her! She thought, rumors about underwater operations during the war suddenly seeming far truer. She’s gorgeous!

“Put on a good show,” she caught Mako mutter, not even sparing the aquatic mare a glance as an announcer declared.

“You know her, you love her, the seventh wonder of the wasteland!” The cheering grew. “The magnificent Goldfish!”

The name sounded like just as cruel a joke as the applause, as if the whole room were mocking the poor mare. Yet at the announcement, there was a buzz and from the gantries above her tank ponies began to drop fish. Snickering and bickering they tossed them to her like she were no more than a dog, while she jumped, leaped, spun, and floundered to catch them. Like a show mare, she seemed to make it all as flashy as she could, despite obviously begging for the meal. She leaped up, catching one fish like a seal, before the slavers prompted her to poke her head free and clap her fins, dangling food just out of reach.

The whole show made Jade sick to her stomach. Seeing such a magnificent creature for the first time only to watch her toyed with like little more than a starving pet. The feeling didn’t seem mutual, however, the crowd appeared to adore the display. In her enhanced ears, she could hear many of them mutter about how they should throw in sharks for her to fight, starve her for longer, or some twisted stallion’s ambition to drown fucking her. Creeping right up to the edge of the balcony, closest to the tank, she almost wished she could shatter the thing as the mare swam down, seeming to do her best to get out of the spotlight.

How can I? Without the water, she’d die, right? She thought, pretty sure the slavers had her well and truly trapped. There’s nothing I can do.

“Praise be the mare of the sea!” Jade’s ears perked, while X-23 tightened at the sudden scream.

Peering back towards the stage, she watched as one of the dancers chained to Mako’s throne darted away from her post, dashing right up to the glass, almost electrifying herself. The aquatic mare within perked up at the attention, swimming to the opposite side of the transparent wall.

“Mare of the sea, please, you watched over my tribe, save us!” called the slave, yet the sea pony didn’t seem to fully hear her, her look merely turned to one of solemn sadness as the slave was yanked back.

“Look here, another desperate soul,” Mako declared, dragging the mare into his grip. “What have I told you, foal? My pet ain’t no goddess.”

“Mare of the sea, I beg of you, please!” The slave reached out desperately from the stallion’s grip, but the sea pony simply drifted back down to the floor of her tank, averting her eyes.

“Come here, you,” Mako growled, cutting loose the chain, and tossing the mare forward. “You tribals are all the same, all superstition.”

“I pass the test of my mare of the sea, the goddess will set me free of your bonds!” the slave called, while the scarred stallion smirked.

“That dancing fish whore ain’t a goddess,” he responded, nodding back. “But I’ll gladly introduce you to a demon!”

He shoved a leaver at the throne’s side, and only then did everypony seem to realize where the slave mare had landed. The trapdoor fell from under her with a reverberating clang and a flurry of splashes. She screamed, while the sea pony shot back to the glass, seemingly trying to get a better view, as Jade peered far over the railing to do the same. For a few long moments, it was as if the slave mare would never come up, yet with a deep gasp, her head appeared. Jade could just about hear her pleading above the chanting, while more of the guards moved in to prod her down with spears.

The water rippled as she thrashed, seconds before the deep, chattering shriek of whatever lurked below echoed through the room. The slave mare lurched down once, water-logged scream mixed with gargled coughs as she was dragged across the water’s surface like a mere toy. Seconds later, she was gone, no more than a fountain of bubbling crimson spewing upward as the trap door closed. Jade felt like throwing up again, yet in her reflexive recoil, she failed to judge just how precariously she was positioned. She lurched forward, the rail giving a deep creek before it fell away. X-23 screamed, while only one thing echoed through the synthetic mare’s brain.

Oh, fuck…

Footnote: 50% to next level.