The crowd spurred into a frenzy at the execution of their favorite gladiator. Howls of uproar and rejection at the sight filled the air, along with the jubilation of those betting on the underdog. I couldn't move now, that would be the end of us both, with every single dog watching. I needed to wait...

I stepped into the arena, sticking to the walls, hoping my camouflage worked properly. I needed to get to Phoenix and get us out of here. And any other humans here.

As the body of the dog dropped to the ground, another four dogs, some types of moderators or handlers, appeared from a doorway to the arena and moved towards her. When they reached the ring, one raised its hand, and the crowd grew silent. For a moment, an eerie silence reigned, but after a moment, he 'spoke'. A series of harsh barks tore through the silence; the dog appeared to be some sort of announcer. After a moment, he grabbed Phoenix's limp hand, and raised it into the air. The crowd roared, overlapping howls of disappointment and roars of approval. After a moment, he headed back to the doorway, Phoenix behind him and the other three flanking her. Now.

I followed them, sticking my back to the wall, a shadow, flitting around the arena, unnoticed by the dogs. It appeared as if there was more to come, I might actually be able to get out of here without heavy resistance. Within moments, I was entering the door they had used, and I found myself in a passage not unlike the previous ones. This one, however, was a sloping circular column with doors at regular intervals. I listened, assisted by my AR, for sounds, and I could hear footsteps above me. I hurried around the spiral, following the sounds. There were a distinct five pairs, give or take one, so it was probably Phoenix and her handlers. They were going somewhere, probably some sort of housing.

I reached a door at the top, and the footsteps on the other side stopped. I removed a small optical probe a pocket in my armor, and poked it under the door. I was mildly surprised to see Phoenix facing some sort of upper ranking dog; he was decked out in a white robe and sat on a plush chair, overlooking the arena. Maybe he's some sort of alpha? He was flanked by a set of honor guards, two with spears, and two with swords, all dressed in fancy armor. They were standing in a rectangular room, like the atrium of a large building, and the side of a red carpet leading up to the chair was lined with torches, each topped with a red crystal, letting out an eerie crimson light. It was as if the entire room had been infused with translucent blood.

I checked my AR's map to see what exactly this arena looked like, and to plan an escape route. Not much luck there. The only route I had for certain was the one I had used to get here. I needed a map.

I looked back through the probe, and the fancy dog was speaking, in English. Somewhat surprising, but it was the language of the ponies after all. Diverting my attention back to the room around them, I searched for a ventilation hole of some sort. They had to get air from somewhere. I got lucky this time, as there was one in the corner of the room. Now that I think of it, there are probably many more around the place, and I should have mapped them out, but I digress from the task at hand. I highlighted the darkened corner of the room and marked it with a waypoint.

Now, how to draw them out here? I could barge in with my shotgun and kill a few, but it could result in the death or injury of me or Phoenix. I needed a diversion. I had two smokescreens and two flash-bangs. Perhaps I could use my helmet speakers to draw them out, flash-bang them, and them take them out. Then I could lay down a smokescreen to escape. Now, how could I alert Phoenix to my plan...

I'm an idiot. She still has her distress signal, she used it. That means she probably has some sort of earpiece. It's worth a try.

I whispered into my comm unit, directing the message to her. "This is Agent Virus, tilt your head if you can hear me." Phoenix's body stiffened as I spoke, her back straightening and her body tensing. She tilted her head to the right, slightly, as if confused, but then moved it back to its original position. Good.

"I will draw them out here, and then hit them with a flash-bang, close your eyes. Then, our escape is that vent in the back-right corner of the room. I have a Roadrunner up top ready to get us to friendly territory. There's time for questions later, and yes, I have a gun for you." I spoke with a slight smile, adrenaline building in my veins. I reached behind me, and replaced the optical probe, and grabbed my shotgun off my back. Here's to humanity.

I chose a song, one that we humans used for so long to mess with people, and jacked the volume up to the highest I could on my speakers. I turned my vision to infrared, and turned off my external audio input. I tossed a flash-bang to the ground, the pin already pulled, and I readied my smokescreens. The first dogs burst through the door, attracted by the music, and I hurled one smokescreen down and the other forwards, into the room. Smoke began to fill the air, a breathable but obscure cloud, as the flash-bang went off, stunning the trio of guards in front of me. The shotgun came out, and I raised it up to my shoulder, leveling it with the nearest dog's chest.

The whir of an electromagnetic circuit sounded as slivers of metal were shred from a block and propelled out of it at mach 3, disemboweling the dog in front of me. A cloud of misted blood mingled with the smoke, the leftovers of his digestive system left hanging out of the gaping hole in his body. My second shot blew open a hole in the chest of a dog, one of his arms falling to the ground, separated from his body, and his heart disappearing in a flash of red. It too was blasted backwards by the shot. My third and final shot liquefied the head of the third dog, bits of white and grey bone and brain spraying the air behind him as his head was turned into a streak on the wall.

My fingers were already replacing the metal block, the ammunition, of the shotgun as I stepped forwards, heat signatures popping up on my AR. I flipped my pistol out of its holster and fired once at a dog, and using the recoil, I flipped it back over my hand to catch it by the barrel. I stepped past Phoenix, jamming my shotgun into the chest of one of the dogs next to her, and freeing him of his chest cavity. I placed the pistol into her open hand, and as her grip firmed around its handle, I stepped forwards again, shotgun leveled at the honor guards, now advancing towards me. The smoke still hung in the air, but it was rapidly fading, being dispersed by something. I heard the crack of a pistol shot behind me, and the responding howl of a dog. Good.

I fired my next round, aiming for the center mass of the leftmost dog, the shot skating along his plate armor, punching through it in some places and deflecting off of others. Figures, I didn't pack my flechettes. Other pieces of the metal slivers tore through exposed skin, and I saw blood fly from some weaker points in the armor. My AR, always-adapting, instantly updated on the location of these weaker points, and areas of the dog's armor began to flash across my HUD, both potential from the previous set or armor and theoretical from the normal weaknesses of armor in general, namely, the joints.

I worked my way towards the right side, my second shot finding it's mark, this time far more accurately. As I pulled the trigger for the third time, a trio of cracks split the air behind me, three high-velocity pistol rounds eviscerating the right-most dog just as my third shot turned the third dog into a sack of meat riddled with holes. Time for us to move.

"Nice shooting. I spoke over the comm, making my way to the marked corner. The last dog was no threat, no need to kill him.

"Thanks... Nice... music... by the way..." Her voice wavered, as if she was somewhat in shock, and she seemed quite young. That may have just been the nerves, though, and besides, I almost burst out laughing at her comment on the music. It would be, after all, quite memorable. We had reached the hole, and surprisingly enough, the current directly underneath was actually quite strong. It must have been sucking the smoke out of the room, it would explain the lack of thick smoke after not one, but two smokescreens.

"Let's get out of here before their reinforcements arrive, I'm fairly certain they'll be here in a moment." I turned around, under the hole, and faced Phoenix. I knelt then, my hands flattened on top of each other. Phoenix took the hint, and after stepping backwards, ran towards my open hands. She used me as a springboard to hop up into the hope, catching onto the sides with her arms and legs braced against the sides. I backed up and waited for her to clear the bottom of the hole, and then I took a running jump onto the wall and pushed backwards off of it, placing myself in the hole. I had to show off somehow, it's human nature. After a few feet of a climb, scrambling up the sides of the shaft, we reached a flat connecting shaft, extending off, perpendicular to the vent, which ended with a metal door.

We followed the shafts, with only a general direction where to go. On the bright side, it might actually throw off any pursuers. But I'm not counting on it.

It was a while, a while full of backtracking and trying to determine elevation before we finally reached a surface access point. The sky was visible through a hole in the ceiling, yellowish sky looking down upon us. After a few moments of climbing straight up the shaft, we finally reached the surface. The Roadrunner wasn't even a click away, and we managed to get to it before the ground started shaking.

Speaking of which, it did, as we were just mounting the roadrunner. Dogs started popping up out of holes everywhere, trying to stop our escape. Needless to say, not many, after the first two, were willing to stand in front of a speeding motorized vehicle, and most cleared out of our path.

We were left riding into the sunset on a Roadrunner, leaving the caves of the diamond dogs behind for the opulence of the ponies. But we still had work to do...

Author's Note

I'm so sorry about updating. I have no excuse, other than Warframe, Smite, and Fallout:New Vegas.
But I promise I'll get working on this asap and give you guys more.
Sadisticnerd is back with a vengeance.