A Walk Among Spirits

by ChaosDragoon

Chapter 10

The red mare sat in the skybox and watched as a purple Pony stood in the middle of the Arena. Blood splattered all over the ground as chunks of her opponent lay scattered all over the dirt floor. The purple Pony suddenly fell to the floor as her body twitched. The wall across from the skybox opened and two stallions rushed over to the purple Pony and quickly placed her on the cart before wheeling it back to the open wall.

"As always Viper, you leave nothing left of your opponent," the red mare laughed before she pressed the button next to the speaker.

"Yes ma'am," Jukebox's voice asked through the speaker.

"I'd like to change the fourth match in tomorrow's lineup," The mare said with a smile.

---

The window on the steel door slid open and a pair of chrome eyes looked into the room before the stallion sang, "Dinner time!" and slid four trays into the room. He closed the window and wheeled the squeaky cart down the hall. Humming a melody as he did.

"Guess not all the Ponies here are gloomy," Scootaloo said as she took her tray.

"Yeah, but the ones that are happy seem more creepy than the gloomy ones," Skyline said as he began to eat the goop from his tray. It was still nasty tasting, but it seemed they were getting used to the taste. The only saving grace of the meal was the dinner roll. However, Sweetie Belle's was frozen solid.

"Why do my trays always have a deformed roll?! First, it was moldy, then it wasn't cooked all the way through, and now it's completely frozen. Who's the donkey that's in charge of the meals?" Sweetie Belle ranted.

"Be thankful we get meals," Skyline said

"I'd like to know what this stuff is made of," Apple Bloom said after she pulled a piece of mane from her mouth and added, "Or for that matter the sanitary procedures in the kitchen."

"Well according to the mare," Scootaloo said before she quoted, "we're not to question the standards of this facility." As she did air quotes.

"When she said, children. Do you think she meant the Ponies she keeps captive?" Sweetie Belle asked

"I believe so, but why would she consider us her children? She keeps us locked up like criminals. I don't understand her thought process," Apple Bloom said.

"All I know is she seems fond of this Viper Pony and gives Viper anypony she doesn't need. By the way, how the staff acts when her name is mentioned I really don't want to meet her," Skyline said. All four foals felt a chill through their bodies as each pictured what Viper looked like and what she did to those sent to her room.

The four finished their meal and set the trays in the front left corner of the room with the other trays. Awhile later the light clicked off with the happy stallion singing, "Lights out!" the three fillies took their place in the back corner while Skyline lay in the middle of the room. He knew what would come. He'd fall asleep and find himself amid the battle with the white fog creatures and the red mist creatures. The only question left unanswered: what creature would tonight bring. The darkness around him made his eyelids feel heavy and soon he was fast asleep as Sweetie Belle began to snore.

---

Skyline watched as the Scorpion lunged for him. He was about to move when the ground in front of him shot up like a trap door. When the ground fell back down, Skyline saw a Pony-sized trapdoor spider standing between him and the Pony-sized scorpion. The scorpion skidded to a stop. The spider's body was made of thick white fog while its eight legs were made of pitch-black smoke. The two seemed to size one another up for quite a while. When one stepped to the right, the other did the same. The dragon suddenly roared as the wolf howled and collided with one another and in that split second: the scorpion and spider charged one another.

The scorpion lunged its right pincer at the spider, but the spider jumped back to avoid its grasp. The spider's two front legs extended and shot towards the scorpion. They morphed into snakes, ready to sink their fangs into the scorpion. The scorpion jumped back and avoided them. The spider's legs retracted back before they changed into drills. The spider dug into the ground and disappeared. The scorpion looked around and waited for the spider to emerge. Its gaze landed on Skyline before it charged towards him. Before he could run, the earth shook and eight black vines erupted around him. Behind him, a ten-foot white rose erupted from the ground with its bud closed. The black vines shot towards the scorpion that dodged and weaved around the vines.

Its pincers morphed into cannons and shot globs of black mud at the vines. The vines wriggled around to avoid the globs of mud. Some even sank back into the ground to avoid being hit by the mud. As the mud hit the ground, it scorched the ground like acid. The scorpion continued to race around the vines shooting the black mud in hopes of making contact. The rose petals began to move as the bud started to open.

Once the rosebud was fully opened, blue aura started to form in the middle of the flower. It suddenly shot a straight stream of blue energy at the scorpion. It dodged as the stream hit the ground and exploded. Skyline stumbled as he felt the ground shake from the explosion. After that, the flower bud started to wilt. The flower and vines retracted back into the ground. Before long the spider re-emerged from the ground. The scorpion tried to shoot out more of the black mud, but nothing came out. Its canons morphed back into pincers. The two creatures once again charged for one another. This time, however, the spider's front two legs morphed into pincers like the scorpions. The two collided as their pincers locked and they began to push one another. The scorpion's stinger reared back and lunged for the spider. However, a ninth leg shot from the spider's body and morphed into another pincer. It latched onto the tail with the stinger and kept it from hitting the spider. The two creatures continued their battle as they tried to overpower the other.

Skyline watched them before he heard something grunt behind him and turned to see a bull made of red mist digging its hoof into the ground. It charged towards him, but before he could move something shot past him. The white sphere slammed into the bull's head creating a shock wave. It sent Skyline flying into the air before his body slammed to the ground.

---

Skyline jolted awake and looked around at the darkness that enveloped the white padded room. He sighed and lay back down. He would have gone back to sleep, but the light hanging from the ceiling clicked on. It burned through his eyelids which made him sigh again. His joints popped as he stretched his legs. He got up and walked over to the sink. Skyline turned the knob and the faucet clicked several times before water poured out. He drank the cold water for several seconds before turning the knob off.

Skyline walked back to the middle of the room, sat down, and stared at the steel door. It was the only thing he could do. It was the only thing he felt anypony there could do. Just sit in the white padded room and wait for the Ponies on the other side to open the door and take them to The Arena, or The Clinic or some other twisted place he hadn't seen or heard of yet.
A familiar sound came from the other side of the door: the sound of hooves and the squeaky cart. Skyline tensed up as he waited for the sounds to stop, the clicks from the door, the door to open, and finally the Ponies on the other side to come in and take him.

"Why do I have to push her?" a stallion asked

"You know how Viper is. If there's a mare nearby she wants to keep an eye on them. Must be a jealousy thing," a mare said. Skyline recognized the two voices.

"I know that, but why not just turn her around so while you push her, she'll keep an eye on you," the chubby tan stallion suggested.

"I don't want to be that close to her face," the milk-white mare protested.

"Good point," the tan stallion agreed. The sound of their hooves and squeaky cart faded away only to return a few minutes later.

"Seriously, why am I the opening match? I should be in the main event. This is bull shit!" a mare complained. After the earlier conversation, Skyline figured this was Viper. Her voice was sweet and heartwarming that Skyline couldn't understand why all the staff feared her.

"Don't blame us Viper. The Professor seems to have found a new favorite," the white mare said. There was a low hissing sound that sent shivers through Skyline's body.

"What did you say?" Viper hissed. Her sweet voice was replaced with a vindictive voice. Skyline could almost feel the poison in it.

"You heard me. You're no longer her favorite," the white mare antagonized. The hissing seemed to grow louder with every word the white mare spoke. It continued down the hall until it disappeared.

The faucet clicked causing Skyline to jump and turn around. Apple Bloom was drinking water from the faucet. She turned the knob to shut it off and walked over to Skyline and sat down next to him and joked, "Anything interesting happen?"

"Seems they've already started The Arena fights. Viper's in the first round which seemed to piss her off. She's more pissed with the white mare now. I'd hate to be her right now," Skyline said. He could still hear the hissing in his mind and a shiver went down his spine.

"Well, at least we're not her opponent," Apple Bloom said.

"Not this time. I just feel bad for who she's facing," Skyline said.

The day went on as usual. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo woke up a few hours later. The sound of hooves and the squeaky cart came twice causing the four to tense up and wait. Each time it passed by them, they went back to trying to figure out ways to escape. The next time the sound of hooves and squeaky cart came from the other side of the door. They seemed to pay it no mind. However, they all tensed up when they heard five clicks come from the steel door.