Splinter trudged his way towards the arena, the chains on his legs slowing his progress. He had made this journey countless times, but that didn't make it any easier. The first few times, the chestnut earth pony stallion simply refused to budge. Until he was provided with motivation in the form of an electric prod. Splinter quickly learned to make things easier on himself and just keep putting one hoof in front of the other, knowing that the owners would follow him around with it.
The wood beneath Splinter's hooves felt damp, and he had been here long enough to know that it probably wasn't just water. The naked bulbs on the walls were too dim to serve as illumination, barely lighting up anything except the walls themselves. All that could be heard was the incessant drip of water and a slow, rhythmic "tap, tap, tap" as the young earth pony and his escort made their way along the dark, dank passageway.
Splinter soon found himself in front of the familiar wooden double gates separating the stables from the arena. Through the crack between the doors and their frame, he caught the familiar glare of artificial lighting. Splinter felt the chains around his hooves fall to the ground with a clack as they were removed, and heard the metallic clank of a second set of gates closing behind him. He took a deep breath to calm himself, letting it out as slowly as he could.
"Here goes nothing..."
There was no going back now.
Not with a clean conscience.
***
"Without further ado, I present..."
Yeah, yeah, Splinter thought, drowning out the voice of the over-enthusiastic announcer. I already know about my own damn achievements and my thirty-something wins and whatnot, you don't need to remind me. He was about to go into the arena. To come out alive, he needed to gather his mind, and the irritating voice of the announcer sure as hay wasn't helping. Splinter closed his eyes and bowed his head, steeling himself for what was about to happen, what he was about to do.
There would be two ponies in the arena, but only one would come out alive and conscious.
"... Trottingham Arena's very own prizefighter... Give it up for Splinter!"
At that moment, the wooden gates opened and the cheers of the crowd reached Splinter's ears. He opened his amber eyes, being careful to look slightly to the right so that he wouldn't be blinded by the brilliant array of lights facing him as he raised his head. He cantered onto the dirt ground of the arena, his hooves kicking dust into the air as he did a lap around the ring edge to warm up. The arena was easily the size of a human house, so he would be able to warm up nicely. Splinter looked up at the crowd as he ran. They were cheering enthusiastically and seemed genuinely happy to see him, if only for the brutal entertainment that he would provide them. It was a shame that Splinter did not share these sentiments.
By the time Splinter finished his lap, he was grinding his teeth and inwardly seething, as he did every time he saw these... creatures. They always stood on two legs (how they could stand for so long in such an inconvenient way was beyond him), and they always wore clothes to cover their hideous lack of fur. The only fur they had was a small tuft of mane on top of their heads, and some of them didn't even have that. Their front hooves - which they called "hands" - ended in five long, thin claws that they called "fingers" (as Splinter found out when he bit one off one of the creatures and promptly had a reunion with his old friend, the cattle prod), and their rear ones were long and flat, and apparently called "feet." They had skinny limbs, tiny eyes, a small nose, and ears that stuck out the sides of their heads at a weird angle.
To Splinter, they resembled nothing more than hairless monkeys, and that was exactly how he thought of them. Hairless monkeys that were evil enough to invade a foreign land, deprive him of their freedom, and force him to murder and maim his own kind for their entertainment just so he himself would live another day. Splinter didn't have many memories that didn't involve this hellhole, but he remembered blue skies, green leaves, grassy fields, and the scent of flowers - not at all like the world he lived in today, where skies were permanently gray, the air reeked of chemicals, and the colour green was nowhere to be found, no thanks to these creatures.
They called themselves "humans."
***
"And now the challenger to the champion's crown... Leiney Arc!"
As the gates across from him opened, Splinter mentally facehoofed. Only the humans could come up with a name so ridiculous. Then, he caught the first glance of his opponent. It was a pale turquoise mare with a pair of wings growing from her sides, which had been chained down behind her back. On the sides, her mane was white and the centre had highlights of six different colours. She seemed to be about Splinter's age, maybe even a bit younger. Her arrival was met by deafening boos from the audience. Splinter was their prizefighter, and they came to see him win. They couldn't care less about some random mare who was clearly about to get her flank handed to her.
So, I'm facing one of those winged ponies, what were they called again...? Pegasus? Yeah, a pegasus... Splinter thought. Splinter hadn't faced many mares before (although the last one he fought looked like she could eat him for breakfast) and had faced even less pegasi, so this fight wouldn't be like his usual ones.
His keen eyesight caught the pegasus rolling her eyes all the way from across the arena. Apparently, she didn't approve of the name any more than he did. And speaking of eyes, Leiney's certainly were unlike anything Splinter had ever seen. Her left eye was a bright heliotrope colour, but the right eye shone a brilliant jade green. Her mismatched eyes caught the gaze of his amber ones, and she swallowed nervously.
Splinter was an intimidating presence, and he knew it. With a body toughened from years of mortal combat, he was larger and more muscular than most earth ponies his age. His dark-red mane was unkempt and stuck up in parts, making him seem slightly taller, and there was a steely glint in his eyes.
"Combatants, get ready." said the voice of a different announcer, sounding more serious and less energetic than the previous one.
Splinter walked forwards three paces, and assumed his fighting stance: left legs forward and right legs back, with all four legs slightly bent and his weight evenly distributed on all four hooves, ready to spring into action at any moment.
On the other hand, the pegasus wasn't doing so well. This was obviously her first fight, and he could see her quivering in her coat from where he was standing. Leiney attempted to put on a brave face, but failed miserably. Splinter knew exactly how she felt. He still remembered his first fight in the arena. He was also a quivering wreck back then, and hadn't expected to make it out of the arena alive. Yet somehow, by sheer beginner's luck, he did.
He just hoped that it wouldn't turn against him. He just couldn't afford to lose to a rookie that didn’t have a single kill under her belt.
A buzzer went off, signaling the start of the fight.
All right, let’s make this quick, thought Splinter. The petrified pegasus was still backed against the arena wall, so he lowered his head and charged at her. Leiney stood still for a second, paralyzed with fear, but then a flicker of determination appeared in her green and red eyes. She quickly turned to the left and ran forward to dodge Splinter’s head-on attack, then tried to turn around for a counter-attack.
It was just what Splinter had been expecting.
The earth pony always thought ahead in combat. As he approached, he slowed himself down to a manageable speed. Leiney, perhaps out of nervousness, dodged too early, and Splinter was able to follow her movement by turning slightly to the right. He pivoted around on his right forehoof using his momentum, planted his left forehoof on the ground, and bucked out hard. Feeling his hooves contact her flesh, Splinter was rewarded with a cry of pain and a crash as his opponent was slammed into the arena wall as the audience cheered. He then turned around so that he was again facing his opponent.
Leiney was already in bad shape. She winced as she struggled to stand back up (Splinter suspected cracked ribs) and was obviously dazed from the blow. Splinter could have gone in and finished the fight then and there, but he decided to be a gentlecolt and at least let her get back onto her hooves. Secretly, he was impressed that she had attempted to fight back. He was half-expecting her to freeze up and get trampled.
It took a few seconds for Leiney to stand back up. Disregarding the burning pain in her right side, she lunged for Splinter and swiped at him with her left forehoof. Splinter leaned to the right to avoid the blow and countered by turning and using his right forehoof to lash out at Leiney’s head. However, Leiney’s instincts then took over. She dropped to the ground, rolled to the side and got back up. She then threw herself at Splinter, attempting to tackle him to the ground.
Unfortunately for her, the strength of a pegasus was already no match for that of an earth pony, and Splinter was further toughened by his years of combat experience. However, Leiney could still have made him budge if she had caught him by surprise, but Splinter had been expecting a counterattack. As a result, Splinter had dug his hooves into the ground, and the only thing that Leiney’s attack accomplished was to bring her within range of Splinter’s strikes.
Splinter did not waste the opportunity. He lashed upwards with his forehoof, hitting Leiney in the stomach and sending her flying backwards. She landed on her back and all the breath was knocked out of her by the impact. His hoof had scratched a decently-sized wound into her abdomen, but that was the least of the pegasus’s concerns. Rolling over, she quickly got back up and turned around – only to be met with the sight of Splinter charging at her again.
This time, Leiney didn’t have time to react, and Splinter slammed into her. She stumbled backwards a few steps, and Splinter quickly swung with his right forehoof. A small cloud of blood sprayed into the air as the blow came into contact with Leiney’s face. She reeled backwards again, blood flowing openly from her nose. Splinter lashed out with another pivoting kick, sending his opponent sprawling. Cheers erupted from the audience once more.
Leiney began to panic. Splinter had her well and truly beat, both in strength and in skill, and he always seemed to see her coming. She got up one more time and tried desperately to take flight, before remembering that her wings were chained down. She glanced fearfully around, to see that Splinter had closed the gap between them. Leiney was out of breath and her body was on fire in half a dozen places. It wouldn’t be long now.
As Splinter raised his hoof for the final blow, he looked into the purple eye, and saw it shedding a single tear. He felt a twinge of pity that quickly evaporated like dew under the sun. He didn’t want to, but it had to be done.
With all his might, he swung at the pegasus mare’s head, slamming into her temple. Leiney’s eyes rolled upwards into her head and her lids closed. She collapsed onto her right side and lay there, completely still.
A few humans rushed into the arena to examine the fallen pegasus. They obviously found her to be incapacitated, because Splinter noticed one of them putting a hand to his ear and saying something, followed by the booming voice of the announcer. Splinter couldn’t quite tell what they were saying, nor did he care. The adrenaline still pumping through his veins made the world around him seemed blurred and had his heart racing a mile a minute.
He cast one last look at his fallen opponent before turning around and heading towards his gate, unaware of the amethyst eyes watching him from the clouds.
***
Splinter sighed and lay down on his stomach in the soft, dry straw covering the ground inside his stable. Granted, there were the occasional biting insects, but it was still better than sleeping on dirt ground. The chains had been reattached to his hooves, and they dug into his chest and stomach. It was more or less uncomfortable, even though he had done this countless times before, but Splinter knew through experience that if he lay on his side he wouldn’t be able to get back up. However, within the minute, he decided to sleep standing up tonight, and got back onto his hooves.
He mulled over the last fight against Leiney Arc in his mind. There was something different about the pegasus compared to most of his adversaries, though Splinter couldn’t quite put his hoof on what it was exactly. It was almost as though she was somepony he knew, even though he didn’t recall ever seeing her before...
He then remembered the final blow that ended the fight. Normally, he would have turned around and bucked her in the face, which would have left her comatose or worse. However, he had instead opted for a blow with his forehoof, which he was almost sure had left her unconscious instead...
In other words, he had spared an opponent.
He then recalled something else. He hadn’t paid much attention to it in the fight, but now he remembered that the mare had something on her flank. It was an image of a prism, flanked by two rainbow-coloured wings. At first Splinter thought it was painted on, but it didn’t come off at all during the fight, and tattoos didn’t show through fur. It had to be some sort of marking. Splinter looked at his own flank. He certainly didn’t have markings like those. Nor did most of the ponies he had encountered in the arena or in the stables. In the end, he dismissed the mystery mark as some sort of random oddity.
There were so many questions that Splinter wanted answers to. He wanted to know more about this “Leiney Arc.” However, being too tired to think straight, he decided to leash his curiosity until morning.
***
“All righ’, Splinter, lights out in 2 minutes!” came the voice of a human.
Sonuvabitch! Splinter mentally cursed as the voice jolted him wide awake. He had been this close to getting some shuteye. How did the humans always know when he was about to fall asleep? Splinter opened his eyes and glowered at the smirking human standing in front of him.
“Oh boy did ah disturb yer beauty sleep?” the human said in a voice dripping with sarcasm. “Sorry ‘bout that, ah’ll let y’all get yer fourty winks now. Y’all are gonna need it come the morrow.”
The human patted one of the wooden posts supporting the stable roof and trod off towards a wooden chair outdoors.
Just wait until I get out of these chains, you little... The thought that had kept Splinter going all these years went through his head once more as he glared at the human’s retreating figure. He had always harbored a splinter of hope that he would be able to get out of these chains one day, and when he did, all Tartarus would break loose with him; otherwise, he would have let himself die in the ring a long time ago.
But now, looking at the post the human had just touched, he realized that that day had come.
Sticking out was a large, thick sliver of wood. Splinter examined the locks on his shackles and the wooden splinter, and allowed himself the rare pleasure of a smile as he figured out what to do. A splinter of hope, indeed...
As the lights went out, Splinter put his plan into action. He had taken advantage of the two remaining minutes of light to yank out the splinter of wood with his teeth, being careful not to jab himself in the tongue. Then, he lay down and waited a minute or so for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, and then he went to work. Taking a few seconds to locate the keyhole, he poked his makeshift lock-pick into the manacle binding his left forehoof. Twisting it a couple of times, he was rewarded with a click and a soft rattling of chains as the foreleg came free.
He glanced at the two humans guarding the gate that led outdoors. They hadn’t heard anything. So far, so good.
Splinter pulled the sliver out. Part of it broke off in the lock, but he still had more than enough to work with. He quickly repeated the process for his other foreleg. Two down, two to go.
His rear hooves would prove a bit more problematic since his head couldn’t reach that far. But what if I don’t use my mouth? Splinter wondered. He reached for the wood sliver with a forehoof and tried gripping it, using the hoof like a hand. He gave up after a few failed attempts. Gritting his teeth, he instead jabbed the splinter into his forehoof. Ignoring the pain, he inserted it into the locks binding his two hind limbs. One by one, they came free and the chains fell with a muffled thud.
Splinter plucked the wood sliver out of his hoof using his teeth, inhaling sharply in pain as he did so, and spit it onto the ground. If he had a choice, he would never do that again. He turned around and bucked the gate of the stable with a loud thud, but the lock held. He heard distant voices and knew that the humans had heard this time. The two humans at the end of the hall had picked up tube-shaped devices that emitted a bright light (Splinter believed that they were called “flashlights” but he couldn’t be sure), and were coming in Splinter’s direction to investigate the noise. That was good; they were his next targets anyway.
All his life, the humans had trained Splinter as a killer. Now that he was unshackled, it was about to backfire. Big time. Splinter stepped back from the wooden stable gate and crouched down, like a timberwolf about to pounce, as the voices and lights approached.
“What in tarnation... Where’s Splinter?”
The lock clicked, and the gate swung open. At that moment, Splinter lunged at the two humans. He managed to hit one in the chest with both forehooves, slamming him backwards against the wall and crushing its ribcage like an eggshell. The human’s flashlight dropped to the ground, and its light danced around the walls. The other human reached for something around his waist, but before he could reach it, Splinter bucked him in the head with all his strength. The human dropped like a sack of potatoes.
As he stood there, with bloody hooves and slightly quivering from adrenaline, he silently mused about how Equestria could have been taken over by such frail creatures. No pony he faced had gone down that easily; for all the energy it took, he might as well have broken two twigs. Looking down at the bodies, he recognized one of them as the human who was always called in to shock him with an electric prod. Splinter felt a wave of grim satisfaction inside. The human got what he deserved; it was just too bad that Splinter didn’t manage to pay him back in kind.
He crushed the flashlights under his hoof, lest someone else notice the light and come to investigate, and galloped off into the night.
***
Splinter reveled in his newfound freedom. Drawing in deep breaths of the wonderfully cool night air, he let the wind blow through his mane. He half-expected a few armed humans to put a premature end to his escapade – especially since he didn’t really think about how he was going to get past the electric fence surrounding the place - but he really didn’t care too much at the moment. He would gladly trade an entire life in chains for just one minute of freedom.
However, Splinter was brought back to reality by the sound of hoofsteps that did not belong to him. Whirling around, he saw a pegasus mare standing behind him. In the moonlight, he could make out an unkempt coat and spiky mane, but not the actual colours.
“So, you’re the one they call Splinter?” asked the pegasus in a casual tone of voice.
“In the fur and flesh.” Splinter replied. The mare was now slowly approaching him, and Splinter backed away at an equal pace, feeling slightly uneasy.
“You defeated Leiney Arc in the ring tonight.” It was not a question, but rather a statement. The mare’s tone had barely changed, but Splinter noticed a dangerous edge creeping into her voice. By now, she had maneuvered him behind a small shed.
“You saw the fight?” Splinter was now fully on guard, ready to attack if necessary.
“What gave that away?” the mare asked sarcastically. She was quite calm, but there was a fair bit of hostility behind her casual façade.
Splinter didn’t intend to just stand there all night. “All right, just cut to the chase; I don’t have time for this. Who the hay are you, and what do you want from me?” he demanded. It came out harsher than he intended, but Splinter’s patience was wearing thin. It would be bad news for both of them if a human came along and discovered the two of them standing there.
The mare’s tone of voice became extremely serious, almost worried. “Just tell me one thing. What did you do to her, and where is she now?”
“I...” Splinter paused, thinking about how to word his thoughts. “Well, I was fighting to kill just to get it over with, but... It’s kind of hard to explain, but somehow, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. She’s probably unconscious right now.”
The mare suddenly put a hoof on Splinter’s shoulder. “Fighting to kill?” she hissed into his face in a venomous voice.
“I didn’t exactly have a choice!” Splinter growled. “Outside the ring, they keep my hooves chained. I can show you the marks, if you don’t believe me. So if I don’t fight like they expect me to, they can do anything they want to me. I don’t even want to think about what might happen. Besides, I was going easy on her. If I wanted to, I could have ended the fight a lot sooner.”
He reached up with a forehoof and pushed the mare’s hoof off his shoulder. “That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.”
The mare looked into Splinter’s eyes. She saw no deceit in them, nor did she hear any in his voice. Suddenly, she had a strange feeling of déjà vu. She didn’t quite recognize him, but inexplicably, she felt as though she was supposed to.
“You don’t believe me, do you?”
The pegasus mare shook her head and sighed. “No, of course I believe you. I’m sorry about how I acted. It’s just that... I guess you could say that Leiney and I are fairly close. We’ve been watching out for each other for a while now. Do you know where she is being kept?”
“No problem, I understand,” replied Splinter. It would be nice if somepony cared this much about me, he thought. “As for where she is, I overheard a few humans talking about that. In fact, I was going to bust her out anyway. I spared her life after all, so I might as well.”
“Thanks so much, Splinter. I can’t tell you how much it means to me.”
“Thank me after we’re out of this dump,” Splinter replied, turning around and starting to head off towards the stables. “For now, find someplace to hide and wait for my return. I don’t want to rescue you as well.”
The mare cracked a smile. “Don’t worry about me, worry about what you have to do. Meet me back here when you’re done.” She turned away to look for a hiding spot.
Splinter stopped and turned around. “By the way, I didn’t catch your name.”
The pegasus didn’t turn to face him.
“Call me Scootaloo.”
***
It took only a few minutes for Splinter to break in and out of the stables where Leiney was kept, leaving a couple more bodies in his wake. Carrying the unconscious Leiney on his back, carefully avoiding contact with her injuries (particularly the ribs on her right side), he returned to the shed where he was supposed to rendezvous with Scootaloo. As expected, she wasn’t there.
“Scootaloo?” he called into the darkness. The name sounded quite eccentric to him, but it rolled off his tongue nonetheless.
“Up here!” came the reply from above.
Splinter looked up as well as he could without making Leiney slide off his back and saw Scootaloo’s face staring back at him over the edge of a small cloud.
“How in the name of...?”
“Tell you about it later,” replied Scootaloo. “I’ll take her from here.”
She jumped off the cloud and spread her wings, hovering in mid-air. Splinter was impressed; he had seen his share of pegasi before, but this was the first time that he had seen one fly. As he watched, Scootaloo placed her forehooves on top of the cloud and lowered herself to the ground, pulling the cloud down with her. As she did, Splinter noticed some sort of mark on her flank in the exact same spot as Leiney’s, but he couldn’t make out what it looked like. Half of him believed that it was coincidence, while the other half thought that it was significant. He made a mental note to ask about it in the morning.
“Put her on here,” said Scootaloo.
“You sure that thing is safe?” Splinter asked.
“Yes, I’m sure. Just do it.”
Splinter reared up onto his hind hooves, letting Leiney slide onto the cloud. He was still surprised that the cloud could actually hold a pony’s weight, but then again, he knew next to nothing about pegasi anyway. He turned back around and was about to step onto the cloud, but Scootaloo barred his way with a foreleg.
“That’s probably not a good idea. We pegasi can stand on these things, but that doesn’t go for earth ponies like you.”
Splinter gently put his hoof down on a small corner of the cloud, which dissolved at his touch.
“Point taken.”
“Let’s get this show on the road,” said Scootaloo. She used her forehooves to lift the cloud off the ground as she took flight.
The ponies both knew which way to go. They ran and flew for the electric fence that separated the arena complex from the forest beyond. Trottingham Arena had a security system, which served to keep ponies from getting out. However, nopony ever tried to escape, so the most of the system was turned off part of the time to cut down electricity bills. Tonight just happened to be one of those times; however, the electric fence was always active in order to keep unpleasant fauna out.
The was virtually invisible from a distance in the darkness, but the buzzing of electricity warned Splinter of its location and he was able to stop himself before he ran into it. Scootaloo, on the other hand, simply flew over and set the cloud down on the other side. She then came back over the fence, landed in front of Splinter, and lowered herself to the ground.
“Want a lift?”
Feeling slightly awkward, Splinter pulled himself onto her back and wrapped his forelegs around Scootaloo’s lower chest, just above the wing joint.
“Are you sure about this?” Splinter asked, concerned that his weight might be a bit too much for her.
“Positive. Hang on!”
With a powerful push from all four legs and a flap of the wings, Scootaloo was airborne. She rose in the air until she was flying above the electric fence, feeling Splinter’s grip tighten substantially. Wincing, she edged forwards a few metres and slowly landed beside the cloud carrying the unconscious Leiney. Her movements were slightly more clumsy than usual; she wasn’t used to flying with a passenger on her back, especially one that seemed to be trying to squeeze the air out of her lungs.
As soon as they landed, Splinter let go, rolled off of Scootaloo’s back, and lay on the ground. He had barely been airborne for a minute, but he was already feeling slightly queasy. Like most earth ponies, he was definitely not meant to fly.
The two quickly regained their composure. Splinter got up onto his hooves, and Scootaloo stopped massaging her chest and took to the air, carrying the makeshift cloud stretcher. They shared a wordless nod, and headed into the forest, leaving the arena behind them.
“What is it?” “There has been an escape at Trottingham Arena.” “Impossible... Are you sure?” “Positive. The spell cannot be mistaken. A pony has managed to get out.” “Is it who I think it is? All compounds like these have the spell on them, and there are a lot of ponies in each one...” “Yes. It’s him, all right.” “Where is he now?” “I cannot be certain. The spell can detect breakouts, but it cannot track them down.” “Them?” “He brought a friend with him. He also had help from the outside. You should know the ponies in question.” “Very well... then you’ll have to track them down yourself. Find them and bring them here.” “That shouldn’t take long. Right away.”
***
Splinter groggily opened his amber eyes. His biological clock had long set itself to wake his body at the exact same time each morning, but even so, it had been overwhelmed by the exhaustion of last night. The sun could not be seen in the gray sky, but by the amount of light he saw, Splinter knew that he had slept in far later than he usually did. Gazing up into the gloomy, oppressive-looking sky, he wondered whether it had always been like this, or whether it was the work of those damnable humans...
“The sky wasn’t always like that, you know.”
It took a second for Scootaloo’s voice to register in Splinter’s mind. She seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. Rolling over onto his hooves, he got up and got his first proper look at Scootaloo. Her coat was a bright orange and the spiky mane was coloured magenta. Both were somewhat darkened by dirt and small debris. She had amethyst eyes that radiated both kindness and strength, and Splinter managed to see the mark on her flank clearly: it was a wheel of some sort, with a pair of white wings coming out of the sides. A streak of fire, and the fact that the wings were swept back, gave the impression that it was supposed to be moving at high speed. She didn’t seem to be much older than him. There were probably about only ten years separating them, give or take one or two. She was lying on her back, leaning against a log beside the cloud that held the still-unconscious Leiney Arc.
“So, you’re finally awake,” she said with a grin, taking a bite out of the apple she held. “If you weren’t snoring like an Ursa Minor I’d have thought that you died in your sleep or something.”
Splinter cocked an eyebrow. “I do not snore.”
“Do so. I heard you last night, you were going like...” Scootaloo tried to do an imitation of Splinter’s snoring, which wound up sounding like a choking pig with laryngitis. Splinter couldn’t help letting out a small snort of laughter.
“You know, I could swear that I heard those exact same noises coming from you last night. What kind of creature did you use as a pillow?”
Scootaloo laughed. “Never expected you to have a sense of humour. I think we’ll get along quite well.” She took another bite of apple.
“I suppose I do have my moments.” Splinter shrugged. “Anyway, what were you saying about the sky again?”
“Well,” Scootaloo said wistfully, her smile quickly fading, “there was once a time where the sky was blue and the clouds were white and puffy. The only time you would see skies like this was when the pegasi brought a rainstorm. The trees were healthy and green, too, and you could hear the birds chirping wherever you went. I don’t know whether you were around then, I was just a filly myself. Anyway, those were the good days. Everything was peaceful, and everypony was happy. I would get up, go to school (and get bored out of my mind, but don’t tell Cheerilee that if she’s still around), hang out with my friends... Practice flying with Rainbow Dash...”
Scootaloo’s voice trailed off, and she sighed nostalgically.
“Good times...”
Splinter closed his eyes tried to envision the Equestria that Scootaloo had described, finding it quite difficult at first. It was quite hard for him to imagine the trees being bright green, since the trees all had an unhealthy-looking grayish-green colour. As well, the arrival of the humans had probably decimated the bird population, as the sound of birds chirping was rare. But then, some hazy memory stirred awake inside him. He remembered the blue skies and white clouds that Scootaloo had described, as well as a colourful town that seemed to be bustling with ponies. It must have been from the long-lost past and clouded by age, since Splinter couldn’t make out anything more. He opened his eyes.
“Were you from a town?” Something inside Splinter, triggered by the memory, made the question slip out.
Scootaloo blinked, slightly surprised by the question. As she swallowed another mouthful of apple and opened her mouth to answer, a faint moan could be heard from beside her.
Splinter hurried forwards, and Scootaloo got up off the ground, sticking the rest of the apple into her mouth. The turquoise pegasus with the prismatic mane was stirring. She opened her heterochromatic eyes drearily, as though awaking from a long nap, and saw an orange shape in her blurred vision.
“Uhhh... Auntie Scoots?... And... Ohhhh...”
As the world came into focus, Leiney noticed the pony beside Scootaloo... and sank right back into a dead faint.
Splinter pawed the ground awkwardly. “Was it something I said?”
***
A few hours passed before Leiney came to (again). This time, most of her field of vision was taken up by Scootaloo’s face, as the older mare leaned over her.
“You’re not about to pass out again, are you, squirt? You really had me scared.”
The pale turquoise pegasus shook her head. There was an infernal throbbing pain in her head and a dull pain in her right side and bandaged stomach. She then remembered the earth pony that had been standing right beside Scootaloo.
“Wh... Where... Is he?” she asked weakly.
Scootaloo took a deep breath. It was better to get the awkward business over with sooner, rather than later.
“Will you please promise me not to faint again?”
Leiney nodded, swallowing. Somehow, she didn’t like that statement one bit.
Scootaloo drew back, and stepped aside. Standing right behind her, previously invisible to the wounded pegasus, was Splinter.
“Um... Hi?”
Once again, Splinter saw the rose and green eyes fill with panic. She inched away from him to the edge of the cloud, obviously wanting to roll over the side and fly away but prevented from doing so by her injuries.
“No... Get away from me... Don’t hurt me, please...” she pleaded in a feeble voice. Splinter felt a twinge of regret inside him. Even though he didn’t have a choice in the ring, he knew that he would never get a second chance at a first impression. And he had obviously made a bad one. He stepped forward and raised a forehoof. Leiney curled up into a fetal position. Raising her own hooves protectively over her head, she squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the blow to come.
But it never did.
Instead, Leiney felt somepony running a hoof through her mane, gently stroking her head and the back of her neck. She opened her eyes and lowered her hooves, and she saw that the “somepony” was Splinter.
“Look... I’m sorry. I really am.”
The whisper was somewhat gruff, but it sounded sincere. Leiney was slightly taken aback, both by the tone of voice and the soothing gesture, but still wary. This stallion had tried to kill her before. What’s to say that he isn’t just softening her up so that he could finish the job?
“I don’t believe you...” she replied, in a slightly stronger voice.
Splinter sighed. “In the ring... I didn’t have a choice. Just look.”
He held up his other forehoof, and Leiney could clearly see a mark that circled his hoof that could only have been made over numerous years by the same type of chains that had been put on her hooves at the arena. She looked into his amber eyes, and saw genuine sorrow and regret, but no deception. She felt her heart contorted by sympathy as she realized that he was as much a victim as she was.
Splinter continued, removing his forehoof from Leiney’s mane. “I know I made a bad first impression, and nothing I do can change that. But if you give me a second chance, I’ll make it up to you, and I won’t hurt you again. I promise.”
“Do you Pinkie Promise?” asked Scootaloo.
“Uh... sure, I Pinkie Promise.” Splinter had no clue what he had just agreed to, but he might as well go with it.
“Okay, then repeat after me: cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Scootaloo recited, drawing a cross over her heart and putting a hoof to her eye.
“Do I have to?”
“Of course you do! You agreed to the Pinkie Promise!”
Splinter sighed again, this time in exasperation. “F-Fine. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye... OW!” he said, imitating Scootaloo none-too-enthusiastically (but forgetting to close his eye). “For the record, I am NOT doing that again.”
The turquoise pegasus lying on the cloud tried her very best to stifle a giggle, but still failed miserably. “Well, since you Pinkie Promised, I guess we can start over.”
Splinter was glad that at least his ego had not been sacrificed in vain. “So, no hard feelings, right Leiney?”
Leiney propped herself up with an elbow and rolled her eyes. “Please don’t call me that. I hate that name,” she replied, feeling much more comfortable around Splinter. He didn’t seem to be as heartless as she expected him to be.
“Well sorry for only knowing you by that one name,” replied Splinter. “What do you prefer to go by?”
“The name’s Dash. Prisma Dash.”
Splinter held out his hoof to Prisma. She took it, and they shook. She then turned to Scootaloo.
“Hey Auntie, where are we?”
“In the forest, about ten miles from Trottingham city.” Scootaloo replied.
“Did we really go that far last night?” asked Splinter, surprised at how much distance they had covered.
“I flew up and checked out the surrounding area this morning, and it turns out we have.”
“We should still get moving,” said Splinter. “The humans must have noticed the breakout by now. They’ll catch up sooner or later, even on just two hooves.”
“I agree, but do you think it’s a good idea to move Prisma while she’s in this condition?” asked Scootaloo.
“I’ll be fine,” Prisma replied. “Being in the open air is a lot better than being chained up by those humans.”
Splinter nodded. “Well, I guess that’s settled. Shall we get moving?”
He turned to leave in a random direction, when he was stopped by Scootaloo’s wing.
“Let me lead from here, Splint. I know exactly where we can go.”
Though Splinter was slightly annoyed by the way Scootaloo addressed him, his interest was piqued. “You do? Where?”
Scootaloo smiled. “The last town standing: Ponyville.”
Trottingham Arena had been in chaos all morning. After the escape was discovered, the humans began scouring the arena and the city, in hopes of finding the fugitive ponies or at least finding a lead. However, the humans were reluctant to search the wilderness.
And for good reason.
Those were the observations of the cloaked and hooded unicorn mare who watched the humans from afar, concealed by the trees. Instead of blindly searching the surrounding area, she opted for observing the humans and eavesdropping on their conversations by magically enhancing her hearing. In doing so, she was rewarded with information to piece together the situation and figure out where she should search. After all, anything was possible through knowledge – or “omnia per scientiam,” as the saying went.
She was glad that she decided to stick around for espionage. From what she gathered, it was abundantly clear that her target had ventured into the wilderness. Even at the best of times, wandering the wilderness was dangerous for those who didn’t know how to survive out there. She counted herself among the few that did, but even so, she didn’t want to risk trekking through them at night. From poisonous plants to vicious predators, there were a hundred terrible ways to die out in the middle of nowhere.
So she needed to move, lest her objective befall any one of them.
One of the humans glanced at the trees, directly at where the mare was standing. However, there was nothing there.
***
“So tell me, what’s with those marks on your flanks?”
Prisma smiled in acknowledgment of the latest in Splinter’s seemingly never-ending stream of questions.
“Oh, those? Those are our cutie marks.”
“What’s a cutie mark?”
For the past hour, they had been hiking through the wilderness towards what Scootaloo promised was a safe refuge, and in that time, Prisma came to realize exactly how little Splinter knew. Granted, he could pack quite a wallop (as the ache in her ribs and what she believed was her pancreas constantly reminded her) and he could speak Equestrian, but that was about it. The fact that the chestnut stallion didn’t even know what a cutie mark was made it quite clear that he had spent much of his life in captivity - as if there was any doubt in the turquoise pegasus’s mind in the first place. Splinter may have been through more than her, but he was just a foal when it came to the world around him. Quite frankly, Prisma was surprised that he wasn’t completely mind-blown by the hour-long question-and-answer period.
“Well,” Prisma began, in the slow and deliberate tone of voice as a teacher introducing foals to long division, “a cutie mark is different for everypony, but it’s basically a small image on your flank that indicates your special talent.”
Splinter couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed as he looked at his own blank flank. “So, if I don’t have a cutie mark, does that mean that I don’t have any special talents?”
Prisma giggled. “Nopony is born with a cutie mark. You have to find your special talent, and then you get your cutie mark.”
Splinter was still curious. “But how do I find my special talent if I don’t even know where to start? My cutie mark could be anything!”
“My advice?” quipped Scootaloo. She had left Prisma with the task of sating Splinter’s curiosity, telling her that it was a good way to build character. However, she found the discussion on cutie marks quite interesting. “Just do what you love to do.”
“But I don’t even know what I like to do,” replied Splinter.
Scootaloo smiled kindly. “You know, when I was a little filly, I had the cutie mark problem too, and so did two of my friends. So, we would try loads of random crazy stuff all the time to try and earn them. We called ourselves the ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders,’ and every time we went ‘crusading’ for our marks we would shout something like, oh I don’t know...” She filed through the many memories she had forged with her fellow Crusaders, and finally settled on the one where they had witnessed a staring contest between their part-time foalsitter Fluttershy and a cockatrice. “‘CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS CHICKEN HERDERS!’ Or something like that. We change the last bit depending on what the hay we were doing.”
She sighed nostalgically, reveling in the fond memories of her foalhood. “Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and I, we were practically a three-filly hurricane. It’s a wonder the town’s still standing with the three of us around.”
“So, auntie... you made Twilight incredibly miffed by almost setting the library on fire just to find your cutie mark?” asked Prisma, raising an imaginary eyebrow.
“What? I thought our special talents might have something to do with fireworks!” Scootaloo retaliated. “And I also kinda forgot that trees could catch fire, but that’s not important. Then again, most of the stuff we did was pretty stupid in retrospect... Where the hay am I going with this? Point is, you should try as many things as you can. Even if it takes forever to find your talent, you’ll probably have a lot of fun in the process. I know I did.”
Splinter had been listening with rapt attention the whole time. It wasn’t hard for him to imagine the mare in front of him as a filly running amok in town... the same one he had suddenly visualized before.
“What other kind of weird stuff did the CMC do?” Prisma was curious as to what foalhood secrets Scootaloo had kept from her.
“All kinds of stuff，” replied the mare. “For starters: pig farming, taffy making, hairdressing, mind-reading, mountain climbing, underwater exploring... we even argued about whether our talent was arguing, which it wasn’t. Of course, none of that earned us our marks.”
“So, how did you finally earn your mark?” queried Splinter.
“Yeah, good question,” Prisma agreed.
Scootaloo took a deep, calming breath before continuing. “My family was often out of town, so I didn’t really see much of them. I could take care of myself well enough, and in Ponyville, everyone watched out for each other, so I felt safe. What I really wanted was company. True, I did have the CMC, but I wanted somepony to call family while mine was out. Somepony I could look up to. Somepony who was always there for me.
“And I found that pony. A local weather pegasus called Rainbow Dash. She considered herself the fastest flyer in all of Equestria, and I didn’t doubt that claim one bit – especially after witnessing her Sonic Rainboom at the Young Fliers competition. I enjoyed riding really fast on my scooter and aspired to become an ace flyer myself, so I looked up to her as a role model like nopony before. She always radiated confidence and a touch of arrogance as well, holding herself just a bit aloof from everypony else in town. But, beneath that exterior, Rainbow was just like me. She had quite the home, courtesy of her parents, but she lived alone. She had quite the friends, but she did confide in me that she felt somewhat lonely, but never told anypony because, according to her, she was ‘too cool for that.’
“Anyway, Rainbow and I became as close as sisters. She was always there whenever I needed help, and she lent me her shoulder to cry into when I was holding back tears. Most of all, when I was old enough to fly, she would always be there to watch me practice, and whenever I fell, she would help me up, dust me off, and remind me each time to never, ever, give up. With Rainbow’s support, I learned that I could fly much better, faster, and higher than I ever imagined I would be able to. That was when I finally earned my mark. My talent... was flying.”
Scootaloo cast a fond look at her flank and smiled. However, Splinter and Prisma both noticed tears starting to well up in the corners of her eyes.
“Of course,” Scootaloo continued, in a voice starting to become choked with emotion, “Rainbow Dash did have her own aspirations. All her life, from the first time she saw them perform, she wanted more than anything to become a member of the pegasus aerobatics team, the Wonderbolts. If ever there was a devoted fanfilly, it was Rainbow Dash. She attended every single one of their flight shows that were held anywhere near Ponyville. When she got older, she began to show off a little around them, hoping to get their attention.
“Eventually, of course, she did. After Dash helped save Canterlot from a bunch of wedding-crashing bugs, a Wonderbolt called Soarin took a particular liking to Rainbow. He was fairly young when they met – all the Wonderbolts were – and he was a fairly nice colt. Charismatic. Great sense of humour. Big eater. Lousy tipper too, for some reason. Well, one thing lead to another, and they tied the knot. Soon, Rainbow Dash named me the proud aunt of their newborn daughter.”
“Me.”
“Yes, Prisma. You.”
Now both Splinter and Prisma were listening in stunned silence. A tear ran down Scootaloo’s cheek, and Prisma felt moisture starting to gather in her own eyes as she took in what she had just heard about the parents she never knew.
“So... What happened to them? I want to know.” Prisma somehow dreaded the answer, even as the question left her lips.
“Humans happened. We’ve never even heard of them before then, but one day, they somehow just showed up on our shores, in some of the biggest ships I’ve ever laid eyes on. I tell you, they seemed just as surprised to see us as we were to see them. They managed to make a good impression on the Princesses, and we actually lived with the humans in harmony... for a time.
“Then... everything changed. They captured the Princesses and began to enslave us to work for them. Of course, not everypony took that lying down. Some rose up against them, and leading this resistance was the Wonderbolts. Those who were willing to fight attempted to drive the humans out, and as a Wonderbolt, Soarin was one of those who lead them. He wanted Rainbow to stay home and take care of you, but she would have none of it. She wanted to get back at them, no matter what, and nothing could make her change her mind.
“So, she left for the fight. I can’t say I agreed completely with her decision, but I did admire her spirit and devotion to Equestria. Because of that, she was named an honorary Wonderbolt and helped command the attack. I was happy for her, because after all these years, her dream had finally come true. As for you, Rainbow and I agreed that I would take care of you until she and Soarin came back.”