The Tale Of A Lost Wolf

by Solaris Night


Chapter 28: A Wolfpack of Idiots

Sounds of explosions and screams emerged from the arena and anyone who was close enough would’ve thought that they had some sort of demolition derby going on inside. But because of the little display from a few days ago, they knew they had nothing to worry about.

Meanwhile inside the building, Trider vigorously dodged a barrage of magical blasts that were locked onto him and followed his every movement. As they approached him, he quickly jumped into the air and flew out of harms way. A couple of blasts detonated upon impact with the ground, while the rest continued their merciless assault.

The Kanisar expertly manuevered through the air and once he was near the roof he bounded off of it, making several of the blasts leave a hole in it.

“Careful you nincompoop!” Blaze shouted, as he watched Trider’s training.

But the Kanisar paid him no mind, as he approached the ground and at the last minute he corrected his trajectory, so he was now flying parallel with it. The sound of a couple more explosions reached his ears and he smiled.

“Is this the best you’ve Lulu?” he mocked his mentor. The princess however didn’t react, prefering to keep her focus on the spheres that closing in on Trider.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your training your highness, but Trider needs to meet up with his teammates, so we can put them through team exercises.” Green exclaimed as he walked in.

“Very well.” Luna answered and dispersed the orbs.

“Partypooper.” Trider yelled as he flew over to the Princess.

“That may be so, but rules are rules Trider, so tidy up and come to the Training Room 3.” the stallion explained before he left, Blaze following close behind.

Once he was close enough Trider landed and Luna offered him a towel. He thanked her and began to wipe off the accumulated sweat.

“So, your team.” Luna began. “You have not talked about them at all since we started training. Who are the members of it and what do you think of them?”

Done with the wiping, Trider gave Luna back the towel and she made it disappear. “You sure have knack to ask the heavy questions don’t cha?” he said, as he gave her a bemused look.

“Is it not proper manners for a master to know more about their students or for friends to better understand each other? Only in this way can their bond strengthen.” the mare replied with a serious tone.

“Woah, I was just kidding there Lulu.” Trider quickly responded, waving his arms. “I guess they’re OK.”

“OK?” Luna inquired with a curious voice. “Care to tell me more?” she asked and the two began to head out.

“Well first up we have the Frost Fire, or as I like to call her Ice Queen, since she barely reacts to anything any of us does. If we screw something up she scolds us, but not in the same manner Twilight does. She just tells us ‘You did bad.’ and walks away. And if we by any chance do something right, she doesn’t utter a single word. It’s like she doesn’t give a fuck about anybody.”

“That sounds a lot like somepony I know.” Luna spoke up and gave Trider a mischevious grin.

“Har, har, har.” he laughed dryly. “Anyway, next up is Ace. He’s a pony diamond dog hybrid and honestly I don’t know what to tell you about him. He’s usually quiet and rarely speaks up. Don’t misunderstand though, he isn’t antisocial or anything, he has quite a few friends among other recruits, it’s just that he seems to prefer not to talk to others if he doesn’t have to. One thing I do know about him is that you don’t mess with his food or you’ll get the short end of his weapon.”

“And lastly is the bane of my existence. Whip Lash.” he said his name with a shiver.

“Ah yes, I do remember you talking about him a few times before.” Luna said, as she tried to recall more about the stallion. “Is he not the one that is trying to court you, despite your heterosexual orientation?”

“Yep, that’s him.” the Kanisar confirmed with a deadpanned tone. “That guy is getting on my nerves. Every morning he waits for me in front of my room, he sits beside me during every meal and when I tell him to back off he just pushes forward and I can’t beat him to a pulp since that would just make him go out of control. It’s driving me nuts!!! It’s like he is the perfect counter to myself.” he exclaimed, while grabbing his head.

Luna gave him a pitiful look. “I am sorry for your misfortune Trider.” she tried to console him. “But nonetheless they sound like a pleasant bunch, I am certain you will get along fine.”

“You know what, I too am certain we’ll kick ass.” he fist bumped the mare as they each began to head in different direction. “Thanks for the confidence boost Luna.”

“You are quite welcome Trider.”

***

“How in the name of sweet Celestia did this happen?” Blaze said as he rubed his eyes.

In the room everything was in disarray. Numerous pieces of furniture were either thrown into every corner or were blown up. In the middle of the room stood a training dummy, it’s head blown off.

“It beats me, but I’ve never seen a hostage situation turn out like this.” Green agreed, while writing down something in his notebook.

Just like the room, the memebers of Trider’s team were in no better condition. Ace was hanging from the ceiling, his entire body wrapped in Whip’s whip. Frost was nailed to the wall with arrows that somehow missed her body, but hit only her uniform. Trider wasn’t faring any better, his lower body sticking out of the room’s wall, while his upper half was on the other side of said wall. Whip however stood in the middle of the room, completely naked, his entire coat covered in soot, a part of his mane still on fire, as he looked around confused.

“Get them out of there and tell them to come to the conference room.” Blaze growled, as he stood out of his chair. Just as he grabbed the door knob he turned back to Green. “And bring Whip a pair of new pants.” he added and left the room.

“Understood.” Green replied.

About ten minutes later, Trider, Frost, Ace and Whip were all standing before Blaze’s desk. “Can any one of you tell me why I called you here?” the stallion asked from behind his desk.

“To congratulate us?” Trider asked with a nervous smile. He was suddenly hit on the back of his head. “What the-?” he shouted and turned around, only to see a wooden arm floating in mid-air.

“I’m beginning to grow tired of your attempts of being funny wolf.” Blaze threatened, as he narrowed his eyes into a glare. “But luckily for you, this time you’re not the only one at fault.”

“I’m not?” the Kanisar asked surprised.

“No.” the stallion confirmed. “In fact all of you are here for the same reason. And that reason is because you’re not working as a team.” Everyone looked at each other, before returning their gaze back to Blaze. “In all my years of training, not once have I ever seen such a bunch of incompetent morons like yourselves.”

As soon as he finished his sentence, the group began to argue over each other, trying to push the blame onto one another. Blaze’s right eye began to twitch and all of a sudden he burst. “SHUT UP ALL OF YOU!!!” he yelled, making the bickering stop. “This is exactly what I’m talking about. You guys are the worst team in the histor of Equestrian military.”

He then proceeded to pull out a sheet of papers and began to go through it. “Every other team has successfully completed every obstacle course with flying colors. But you on the other hand, haven’t finished not even one, furthermore in your recent exercise you killed the hostage, while getting yourselves into unbelieveable positions in the span of ten seconds.”

At that point Trider and the rest began to falter under Blaze’s barrage of insults and didn’t know how to respond. “But what really gets on my nerves even more than your failures, is the fact that you haven’t even decided on the team leader or a team name.”

“Permission to speak sir?” Trider asked.

“Granted.” the stallion sighed.

“I’ve been telling these guys that I should be the team leader all of this time, but they refuse to oblige.”

“With a good reason.” Frost suddenly spoke up. “You’re a reckless hothead, who thinks with his fists rather than his brains.”

“Still better than someone who doesn’t even put in a little effort to what they do, unless they’re ordered to do so or is a life-or-death situation.” Trider rebuted.

“At least I won’t get everyone killed.” Frost shot back.

“Yeah, because we would probably sitting down on our arses doing jackshit.”

“Quiet both of you!” Blaze suddenly interjected. The two stopped their arguement and listened to what the stallion had to say. “You both make compelling arguements, but you bot failed to notice that it’s a team of four not a team of two.” He then turned his gaze toward Ace and gave him a questioning look. “What do you have to say about this Ace?”

The dog-pony looked around nervously, not knowing what to say. “With all due respect sir, I don’t think I’m cut out for the job.” he replied.

“I understand. I won’t force you, but I suggest you reconsider, seeing as these two are probably the least suitable candidates for the role.” Frost and Trider shot him a dirty glare, at his remark, but he didn’t notice it, as his attention was now on Whip. “And you? Think you’re up to the challenge?”

“Nah.” the stallion answered, with a wave of his hand. “It seems too much work for me. Beside I strongly believe that Trider is the better chioce out of all of us.”

“Thank you.” Trider said.

“Oh please, he only said that so he could get his dick in your ass.” Frost immediatelly argued. Whip’s cheeks became slightly tainted with red and Trider shot him a cold glare. But Kanisar’s attention was soon directed back to the mare and they began to bicker once more.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!!!” Blaze finally snapped. “ALL OF YOU GET OUT OF MY OFFICE, BEFORE I DECIDE TO KICK YOU OUT OF IT!!!”

The group immediatelly vacated the room, leaving the red stallion slouched in his chair. “I’m getting too old for this shit.” he grumbled and opened his drawer, pulling out a glass and a bottle of whiskey. Suddenly a series of knocks came from the door and he glared at it. “Leave, I’m not in the mood.” he exclaimed, hoping they would heed his words.

“Now, now. Is that any way to speak to your fellow instructor.” the green stallion said as he entered the room.

“Sorry Greenie. I’m just really stressed out at the moment.” Blaze apologised as he took a sip of the alcoholic drink.

“Does it have anything to do with ‘that team’?” Green asked, as Blaze offered him a glass, but he refused.

“Yeah, I’m beginning to think they’re a lost cause.” the red stallion said as he put his glass down. “Despite their individual skills, they each lack teamwork. Trider is a loose cannon, that prefers to work alone, Frost is the type that prefers to exude the least amount of energy as possible, Ace is too timid to be in charge and don’t even get me started on Whip.” He sighed and took another large gulp of whiskey. “If this continues I’ll have no other choice, but to do the necessary.”

“You don’t mean...?” Green asked with wide eyes.

“Yup.” Blaze replied with a stoic expression. “That is what I mean.”

***

“Trider.” A distant voice called out. “Trider.” This time it was louder and closer and it seemed eerily familiar. “Trider!” Suddenly something slapped the Kanisar across the face and he was immediatelly awake.

“Wha? Where? Who?” Trider mumbled, as his senses went into overdrive.

“Glad to see you awake.” Frost said with a deadpanned expression. The Kanisar returned the glare, as he stood up.

“You better have a good goddamn reason to wake me up like that.” he growled and continued their staring contest.

“Take a look around yourself you idiot.” Only when she said that did Trider notice they were no longer in their beds in the barracks, but instead inside a large hole. The hole was wide and very deep, about a hundred feet approximately and it appeared to have no exit whatsoever, the only illumination was provided by the faint glow of a few bright green crystals. In the middle of the hole was also some kind of contraption.

“What the hell?” he muttered to himself. “Where are we?”

“That’s what we’ve been trying to find out while you were snoozing off.”

“We?”

“Heyo.” The greeting caught Trider’s attention and once he turned his head he saw both Ace and Whip as well.

“So the gang’s all here.” he said as he approached his other two friends. “Does any of you know what happened to us?”

“Like I said, we’ve been trying to figure that out, but we had no luck whatsoever.” Frost sighed.

“Why don’t you guys just use your magic to get out? It can’t be that hard right?” Trider wondered.

“We tried, but these things are preventing us from doing so.” Whip said and tapped a silver choker on his neck.

“And why does a tacky piece of jewelry stop oyu exactly?” Trider asked. “If you tell me your magic comes from your fashion sense, then I know a certain mare that might be an all powerful god if that’s the case.”

“It’s anti-mag.” Ace finally spoke up. “It’s a type of metal that prevents the flow of magic through our body. You have one as well.”

Only when he pointed that out, did Trider notice something clinging to his neck. “Seriously?” he chuckled. “Whoever did this, didn’t do their homework. I don’t d magic.” Saying that he charged his Ki and began to fly. “I’ll bust us out of here and then you can praise me as your-” He didn’t get to finish his sentence, as some mysterious force pulled him back to the ground, hitting the floor with great impact.

“Trider!” Whip yelped. “Are you alright?”

“What the fuck?” Trider exclaimed and quickly stood up. He tried to fly again, but like before, as soon as he left the ground he was brought down again. “What is going on?”

“Guys.” Ace called out, gaining their attention. “I think I found something.” They all approached him and when they were close enough they saw he had a piece of paper in his hands.

“What does it say?” asked Frost and the dog-pony began to read.

Greetings Ace, Frost, Trider and Whip

You might be wondering where and what you are doing here? I’ll gladly answer.

You have been brought here, because of your lack of teamwork. Here you’ll do your best to escape together, through the power of teamwork. If not you’ll be facing severe punishment.

Now for where here is.

This hole was created a long time ago during the Gryphon-Pony war and is the place where the ponies took shelter to hide from the gryphons when they invaded this part of the land. It’s walls are dug straight into pure granite, so don’t even think about digging your way out of here Ace. The only escape is on the top, but is currently closed.

Now you’re probably asking how to open it? It’s simple actually.

You see the lever in the middle of the hole? That there opens a hidden compartment somewhere in the room and behind it is a switch. When that switch is flipped it will open up the hole and you’ll be able to escape.

Simple, right?

“Pfft, screw this Imma just blow the thing up.” Trider said and charged a Ki blast.

“Trider wait!” Frost exclaimed. He however didn’t listen and was just about to launch it, when a jolt of elecrticity surged through him. He lost his concentration and the blast disappeared.

“The fuck?” he shouted. Suddenly Frost smacked on the head and glared at him.

“Are you retarded or something? Did you even think about what would happen if that thing collapsed on top of us? Did you?” she scolded the Kanisar.

“No I didn’t.” he grumbled. “But who cares about that. Something shocked me when I tried to use my Ki.”

“Guys, there’s more to the letter.” Ace called out again.

Now for the rules.

You are no allowed to use magic or your weapons, the anti-mag necklaces will make sure of that. As for Trider, since anti-mag won’t work on him, we’ve instead put on him an enchanted one. This prevents him from using his Ki, by sending electrical surges through him whenever he uses it. (Disclaimer: the more times you use your Ki, the stronger the shock becomes.) And to prevent him from flying, we’ve put on an enchantment, that whenever he is not in contact with the ground for more than 3 seconds will pull straight back down.

“You could’ve told me that before.” the Kanisar growled.

Your necklaces will lose their power once they’re exposed to sunlight, which will pour through the gap above you, once you open it. When that happens you should have no trouble escaping from here.

But be warned, you only have 24 hours to escape, as of now. If by then you are unsuccessful, you will face a severe punishment.

The punishment? Death. You see this hole can only be opened up from the inside and it has an intricate system, that closes it for the next decade, if not open in a given time.

Have fun.

The letter then burst into flames and it reformed into an hourglass. The group stared at the it with varying emotions.

“What?”

“The?”

“Fuck?

“Is this?” they said.

“This has to be some kind of joke. I mean they would never kill us right?” Ace asked in disbelief.

“The better question is who did all of this?” Whip wondered.

“I’ll tell you who.” Trider spoke up. “It’s that bastard geezer Blaze. He was so mad at us that he decided to take matters into his own hands and play with us.”

“Whatever.” Frost said and laid down onto the ground. “I’ll just wait here until they come to pick us up.”

At her statement the others looked at her with confusion. “What do you mean?” one of them asked.

“It’s like Ace said, there is no way they would kill us. So instead of worrying, we should just relax.” she said and closed her eyes.

“Even so, we should at least try.” Ace begged, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. He then looked at the Kanisar. “Can you please persuade her?”

“Sorry man, but there is no reasoning with her.” he stated. He then went over to the lever and grabbed it. “Just have to crank it, right?” he said and began to push. The lever however fought back. “Damn this thing is putting up a fight.” he said as all he had into it.

Soon it began to move and once it was pushed to it’s limit they heard a clanking noise. Their gaze turned towards the sound and saw part of the wall near the top open up.

“There, part one is done. All we have to do now is get up there and bam. We’re free.” he said as he released the lever. However as soon as he did that the wall closed back up. Trider stared at the wall. “Well damn.”

“Now what?” asked Whip.

“Now you two push the lever and I’ll climb up there.” Trider said and headed towards the wall. Whip and Ace nodded in agreement and they both grasped the lever. They then pushed it with all of their might, but it didn’t even budge.

“What’s the matter?” Trider called out from the other side.

“We can’t move it!” Ace shouted. The two then released the lever and headed over to the Kanisar.

“Now what?” Whip asked.

“Nothing. You guys just sit back and let me get us out of here.” Trider proclaimed.

“How exactly are going to do that?” Ace asked.

“Simple.” he grinned and pointed at the wall. “I already know where the hole is, all I have to do is climb up there and bust it open with my fists.”

Whip and Ace looked at each other skeptically. “Are you sure that’s going to work?” one of them asked unsure.

“Trust me. I know what I’m doing.” He then placed his hand onto the smooth wall and dug his fingers directly into the stone. Gripping the wall tightly, he slowly began to ascend. Ace, Whip and even Frost watched the slow climb.

“Well, we might as well sit back and watch I guess.” Whip said and sat next to Frost and watched Trider with a dreamy smile.

Ace was still unsure about the whole situation, but eventually he sighed and joined up with the other two.

***

Several hours later

Trider fell to the ground and hit the floor pretty hard. Grumbling he stood back up and went for his 14th attempt. So far he had barely reached the halfway point and exhaustion began to catch up to him.

“Stop it already Trider!” Ace begged the Kanisar. “Why don’t you take a break and we can figure this out together.”

“No way, I almost have this fucker figured out.” Trider protested and began to climb again. His inital ascend was faster everytime and soon he was about 10 feet off the ground. However his began to turn blury and his arms and legs began to shiver.

He closed his eyes and tried to focus his strength into his limbs, but it was for naught and he again plummeted to the ground. This time however he reamined lying, as he had no strength to even move.

“That resting idea sounds good, right now.” he said. Ace and Whip approached him, hoisting him up and carrying him over to where they sat before.

“How’s the climb?” Frost asked with a grin.

“Fuck you.” was Trider’s only reply, as he didn’t want to argue with the mare at the moment.

“Trider you’re bleeding.” Whip exclaimed. The Kanisar looked at his fingers and saw that they were cut all over and bloody. “Here, let me take care of it.” the stallion said and began to rip up his shirt, making a maeshift bandage for his friend.

Trider thanked him and Whip smiled. Silence then fell over the group as none of them had any idea what they should talk about.

“Maybe we should come up with a plan to escape from here.” Ace suggested.

“I told you already, I’ll get us out of here as soon as I rest up.” Trider argued.

“Ha, by the time you even reach it, we’ll probably already be rescued from here.” Frost shot back

“I don’t want to hear anything from you bitch. All of this time you just sat on your ass and did nothing.” Trider growled and glared at her.

“Neither did they.” Frost countered and pointed to Ace and Whip.

“That’s because I told them to leave it to me. At least they tried to help, unlike someone.”

“Oh what would be the difference if I helped or not, since you’d just push me aside as well?”

“Don’t give me that shit. You always try to get out of any unnecessary work with your excuses. Did you even think about the fact that you might be wrong?”

“Wrong? There is no way in Tartarus that they would kill us like this.”

“Even so, what if this is another test and if we don’t complete it we get thrown out of the Guards?”

“And your point is?”

“Whip can you back me up here?”

“Sure ask your boyfriend to watch your back, while he stretches your asshole wide open.”

“Actually I agree with Frost in some regard.” Whip said, earning a glare from Trider.

“Seriously? How can you agree with her?”

“I didn’t say I agreed with her, I said I agreed with her in some regards, as I agree with some of your concerns.”

“That’s bullshit.”

From that point on their arguement grew in intensity and volume. So much so that Ace decided to intervene. “Guys, can I say some-?”

“SHUT IT!!!” Trider, Frost and Whip all yelled at the same time, before returning to their squabble.

Ace’s eye began to twitch and he decided, enough was enough. “WILL ALL OF YOU SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTHS!?” At that moment everyone stopped their dispute and stared at the dog-pony with wide eyes. “I’VE HAD IT WITH YOUR FUCKING PETTY COMPLAINTS AND NOW YOU’RE ALL GOING TO BE QUIET WHILE I SET A FEW THINGS STRAIGHT!”

“Trider!” he turned to the Kanisar. “You’re a selfish, uncooperative, loosecannon jerk. You always try to do things by yourself, despite knowing you can’t. It won’t kill you to work with others from time to time.”

He then turned his gaze towards Frost next. “I don’t know why you think everything will be solved by itself, but let me tell you one thing. it won’t work out, cause while you’ll sit around doing nothing, the others will improve themselves and they’ll become better, while you’ll be stuck in place. And I frankly don’t want to see that happen.”

“And you.” he pointed a finger at Whip. “Are just plain weird.”

The group was silent, everyone still in shock from Ace’s outburst.

“Wow.” Trider finally spoke up. “You’ve finally grown a backbone, huh?”

Ace’s ears drooped and he blushed. “S-sorry I didn’t mean to.”

“Don’t be sorry.” Frost said, stood up and looked at Ace with an apologetic smile. “Everything you said was true. And I’m sorry if I’ve been a burden on you.”

“And I’m sorry for not relying on you guys more.” Trider followed up.

“And I’m sor... Wait why am I apologizing? You just insulted me.” Whip said with a scowl.

“Hey, he was just speaking the truth.” Trider jabbed.

“Touche.” The group then began to laugh and after a few seconds their laughter died down.

“I can’t believe you can actually laugh.” Trider said and gave Frost a playful smirk.

“Only when it’s something funny, unlike what you try to make yourself out to be.” Frost quickly shot back.

“Ouch.”

“So what should we do now?” asked Ace. “I mean, we kind of made up, but I still feel we’re not exactly a team.”

The group realised that he was right and began to ponder how to proceed further. Suddenly Whip snapped his fingers, as an idea came to his head.

“How about we tell each other more about us. That way we get to know each other better.” he suggested. The rest mulled over his idea and in the end they agreed it was a good notion.

***

“So then the guy comes up to me and says ‘ Baby I’m like a firefighter I find them hot and leave them wet. ‘” Frost told her story and the others busted out laughing.

“Did he honestly say something like that?” Trider asked, tears falling down his face.

“Yeah. But what made it worse was that he thought the line had actually worked and I wanted some fuck. So I just looked at him and said ‘That line was just like your dick, dirty and unsatisfying.’” The guys roared in laughter. “The face he made when I said that was simply priceless.”

“So then he left you alone?” Ace wondered how the story ended.

“If only. He tried to overpower me for saying that to him, but I just pulled out a knife and sliced his dick off.” At that statement the guys each winced, grabbed their crotches and gave Frost wary stares. “Don’t worry guys, I actually tolerate you, so you don’t have to be afraid of a little poor me.” Frost chuckled and replied in an innocent tone. The others gave her nervous laughs, before letting go of their junks.

“Trider.” Ace called ou the Kanisar. “There’s something I’ve been wondering.”

“What?”

“Why do you hate sleeves?” the dog-pony asked. “And don’t try to sell me the ‘it’s not my style’ bullcrap, cause from what I’ve seen you actually seem to be afraid of them.”

At that remark Frost and Whip turned to Trider with curious looks on their faces. The Kanisar just sighed and his face turned grim.

“It’s a bit of a long story, but I’ll try to shorten it.” he said and scratched his head. “My planet is currently in the middle of a civil war between my race and another race that came from another planet. When this war began many Kanisars were either enslaved or killed. The same happened to my parents.”

The others gave him surprised looks, before they turned into sad ones. “Oh, uhm, I’m sorry I didn’t... If you don’t want to...” Ace tried to apologize, but Trider waved him off.

“It’s OK. I’ve much or less come to terms with it.” he calmed his friend. “Anyway, me and my parents just finished watching a movie, when we were approached by a group of soldiers. My father risked his life to allow me and mom to escape. But they quickly found us.”

“My mom shielded me from the soldiers and once we lost them she finally let go of me.” His voice got caught in his throat and he coughed to clear it. “And when she did I saw how badly wounded she was. She had no chance to survive and she died. When that happened I couldn’t believe it, but I did what my mother wanted me to do. I ran and didn’t turn around.”

“Once I had stopped did the reality of what happened hit me like a truck and I began to cry. Once the tears ran dry I noticed that my shirt’s sleeves were tainted with her blood. Unable to look at it, I tore them off. And ever since then anytime I wear any sort of sleeve I see her blood on them and it terrifies me.”

The group intently listened to his story and once he was done, most of them tried to hold back their tears, while Whip was outright wailing.

“You poor thing.” the pink maned stallion said and hugged Trider.

“Let go of me!” he protested and pushed the clingy stallion away from him.

“I didn’t know you went through such ordeal.” Ace said, his voice filled with pity. “If it makes you fell any better my parents were also killed when I was a kid.”

Trider looked at him incredulously. “Really?” he asked.

Ace nodded his head. “Yeah.” he began his tale. “You might not believe this, but I was once part of a travelling circus. My mother was a professional manticore tamer, while my father was a daredevil.”

“One day, after a successful show we headed towards the next town, but we were ambushed by a group of Gryphons. The older memebers of the circus tried to fight them off, but they were better equipped and eventually all of the members were killed. I managed to escape along with a younger filly, a daughter of the circus’s magician. I still have the slash marks from that day.” he said and turned around, dropping his shirt and showing his back riddled with scars. “We were the only survivors.” he finished in a heartbroken voice.

“What happened to the filly?” Frost asked.

“Don’t know. But I am certain she is running her own magic show.” Ace replied hesitantly.

Again Whip was crying his eyes out and he hugged the dog-pony as well. “How tragic!” he bellowed.

“Thanks for your concern Whip, but I’m fine.” he assured the stallion, making him eventually let go of him.

“Talk about coincidence.” Frost mused, as Ace put his clothes back on.

“Don’t tell me...” Trider said with a deadpanned expression.

“Yep, I’m an orphan as well.” she confirmed Trider’s unfinished question.

“Wanna talk about it?” Ace asked, unsure how she might react.

Frost pondered for a while, but eventually she sighed and closed her eyes. “Eh, what the heck.” she said and made herself more comfortable on the ground. “Like with you I too lost my parents when I was little. Me and my family were living happily in a small cabin in the White Tail Woods. Then one day my father returned home badly wounded. He was attacked by a bunch of bandits and they were on their way to plunder our home.”

“My parents hid me, my twin brother and my little sister inside the basement, just when the bandits busted inside. they tried to fight them off, but were eventually overpowered. My father was killed instantly, while my mother was raped before she was put out of her misery.”

At that the rest grimaced at the horrible experience she had to witness. “Bandits almost found us out, but a magical letter from my uncle scared them off. Afterwards we left our hiding spot and we were picked up by our uncle who took us in.” Frost’s face then switched from mournful, to angry as she glared holes in the ground. “After that day I trained myself everyday, so I could find the bastards who took my family away from me and make them pay.”

“Did you ever find them?” Ace asked curiously.

“I did.” the mare answered immediatelly, a sadistic smirk stretching across her face. “And when I did I killed every single one of them. Slaughtered them until you could no longer tell who or what they were.”

Other’s faces quickly turned from saddened, to a more fearful expression. “Remind me not to piss her off.” Trider said to the other two and they nodded in agreement.

“So what happened after you took your revenge.” Whip asked, wanting to hear more.

“Well afterward I was attacked by a few bug-ponies, which I now know are called changelings, and fought them off. I wandered for a bit after that and eventually I somehow ended up at the door-step of a Royal Guard outpost. They took me in, asked me what I was doing in the Badlands and after I told them the same story I told you, they wanted to lock me up for ponyslaughter. However thanks to one of the Guards I was offered a deal. Either face jail time or become part of the Royal Guard. And now I’m here.” she finished her story and everyone looked at her with admiration.

“You can be pretty badass when you want to be, ya know.” Trider complimented.

“Thank you.” she replied with a curt nod.

“But it’s funny actually, how all of us are orphans, I mean.” Ace cut in.

“Yeah, almost like we are written in some cliche story or something.” Trider chuckled, the others laughing as well. “What about you Whip? What is your tragic backstory?”

“Oh, I don’t have one.” Whip replied. “Both of my parents are still alive and all six of my sisters are fine as well.”

The others looked at him with wide eyes. “You have six sisters?” they asked simutaneously.

“Yeah. Four older and two younger.” he answered, slightly confused at their reaction.

“Isn’t it, like, overwhelming to have that many girls in your household.”

“Not really. I had a lot of fun when I was little and I still do.” Whip retorted merrily. “Although there were times when I couldn’t quite tolerate them. Like when I was forced to play dress-up or all of those tea parties.”

At that moment both Trider and Ace placed their hands onto his shoulders and gave him potiful looks. “You have suffered the most out of all of us.” they said.

“OK?” the stallion replied with confusion.

“Uhh guys hate to break up the tender moment, but we don’t have much time left.” Frost spoke up and showed them the hourglass. Most of the sand inside it was already at the bottom, only a small amount of it still in the upper half.

The guys looked at each other and nodded. “Alright then, I guess you’re with us then?” the Kanisar asked the mare.

“Fo’ sure.”

“Good.” They all stood up and they circled the lever. “Anyone have any idea how we’re supposed to do this?”

“I might have one.” Ace spoke up and the rest listened to him intently.

***

“Why can’t someone else do it, like Frost?” Trider whined.

“Because you’re the only one strong enough to cause some damage, now stop complaining and suck it up.” Frost argued back and pushed the Kanisar toward Whip.

“I know, but you’ve seen how he gets when a guy beats him up.” he continued his protest.

“Don’t worry Tri, for the sake of our escape I promise on my life that I’ll hold myself back.” Whip said, raising his right arm like he was making an official pledge.

“I dunno.” Trider continued to be skeptical. “Is me beating him up, really necessary?”

“Yes.” Ace answered. “Out of all of us you’re the only one strong enough to move the lever, however Whip can increase his strength thanks to his ability to convert damage into power. Therefore he shall be the one to pull and hold the lever, while us three try to reach the room.”

Trider wanted to argue more, anything to prevent him from interacting with Whip, but he ahd nothing on his side, so he only sighed and raised his arms. “Please try not to make this strange.”

“I’ll try.” the stallion assured him. Begrudgingly Trider lifted his arm and punched him in the gut. Whip moaned in bliss as his body twisted in pleasure.

Trider usually felt relief when he beat someone up, but in Whip’s case he could only think that he should wash his hands once all of this was over.

“You said you won’t amke this weird.” he exclaimed, glaring at the blushing stallion.

“S-sorry, that one escaped me.” the stallion apologized and braced himself for further beating. “My body is ready Trider.”

“God if you exist, kill me right now.” Trider thought and punched him again, this time so hard air escpaed from the stallion’s lungs. While Whip’s body shook, his face expressed pure pleasure.

“That’s not good enough Tri. Give me more.” Whip said and spread his arms.

“SCREW THIS SHIT!” the Kanisar yelled, closing his eyes and wailing on the stallion. After he was done he looked at Whip and saw how badly he was bruised. “Whip, buddy. You OK?” he asked tentatively.

“I feel spectacular.” Whip shouted grinning, a tooth missing. “I could feel your love with every strike. It made me feel warm inside.” he continued as he began to hug himself.

Trider however was now sitting next to a wall, hugging his knees and mumbling to himself. Frost and Ace looked between each other before the dog-pony headed toward the Kanisar, while Frost went to Whip.

“Hey Trider. You feeling OK?” he asked the downtrodden Kanisar.

“Do you ever feel like you’re the scum of the world Ace?” Trider asked him with emotionless eyes. “I’m feeling a lot worse right now.”

Ace didn’t know what to say. Suddenly Frost walked over to the two and slapped Trider. “That’s quite enough you crybaby, we’ve got a job to do. Whip’s already waiting for us.”

The Kanisar shook his head, bringing himself back to reality. “You’re right. I’ll sulk later in my bed, after a large meal.”

Happy to see he wasn’t traumatised by the experience, the three headed to the wall under the room.

“You guys ready?” Ace asked and they all nodded. “Alright then. Whenever you’re ready Trider.”

The Kanisar positioned himself so his back was touching the wall. He then crouched down and clasped his hands together. “Ready!” Hearing his conformation, Ace took a few steps back, before he ran full speed at Trider. Once he got close enough he jumped and landed on the Kanisars clamped hands. As soon as he felt Ace land on his palms, Trider used all of his strength to throw the dog-pony high into the air.

Ace flew with high speed, but somewhere around three quarters of the way he stopped. Before he could begin falling he dug his right arm into the wall, his Diamond Dog physique allowing it to easily grasp it. He held on with all of his might and Trider knew he had to hurry.

“Pull the lever Whip.” he shouted to his friend. Heeding his words, the stallion pulled the lever with all of his might, until it stopped and the room was opened. “Your turn Frost.”

The mare ran at the Kanisar as well and just like Ace, she too landed on Trider’s hands, and was propelled towards the dog-pony. When she reached him they grabbed each others hand and then Ace hurled her the rest of the way up, letting himself fall to the ground. Before he could hit it however, Trider caught him.

“Did she make it?” he asked the Kanisar. Trider looked up and saw the mare’s tail disappear into the room.

“She did.” he replied and put Ace down. Right at that moment they heard a loud click, followed by the sound of gears shifting and turning. A loud grumble drew their attention and they watched as the ceiling of the hole began to move out of the way, letting sun’s rays shine in.

They all grouped up once Frost retrned and Whip let go of the lever. “You guys ready to leave.” Trider asked and the others hummed in agreement. “Then all aboard the Whoopass Airlines. Next destination, Blaze’s funeral.”

***

In his office, Blaze was reading a newspaper, when all of a sudden his doors were busted down and in walked four angry figures.

“What in the name of Celestia?” he exclaimed, as he nearly fell out of his chair. “What do you think you’re doing?” he asked and looked who had the balls to barge in like that.

“That’s our line.” Trider growled. “I don’t care if you’re a General, a prince or even Celestia herself. What you did is inexcusible.”

“What are you going on about?” Blaze asked in confusion.

“Don’t play dumb with us Blaze, sir.” Frost stepped up next. “You’re the one who put us in that goddessdamn hole, last night, with the purpose of teaching us how to work together.”

“Which worked excelently.” Ace chimed in.

“What?” Blaze didn’t know how to feel. Should he be mad, surprised or what. “What are you sputtering on about?”

At that moment they heard a knock and when they looked towards the door they saw Green standing beneath the door frame smiling. “I’m sorry, am I interrupting something?” he asked.

“Nah, you’re just about to witness how we beat the living crap out of this geezer here.” Trider said, cracking his knuckles and the others nodding in agreement.

“And why would you do so?” Green continued his interrogation.

“Because he locked us inside a hole that was created during the Gryphon-Pony war.” Whip explained.

“Wait you were locked inside the Abyss?” Blaze exclaimed, his eyes wide in surprise.

“If that’s how you wanna call, then yes.” Trider replied.

“Alright, I see what you guys have been through, but I’m telling you I didn’t do this.” he continued to claim his innocence. “I would never use such an outdated method of training, not to mention how dangerous it is.”

“If it wasn’t you the who was it?” Ace asked.

“That would be my doing.” All heads turned towards Green, who still continued to smile.

“YOU?!” everyone in the room shouted.

“Yes, me.” the stallion replied proudly.

“Green I know you like to bend the rules and use unorthodox means, but this one is by far the craziest. They could’ve died.” Blaze berated the stallion.

“Wait, we really would’ve died?” Ace yelled and looked at the two incredulously.

“No, no. I made necessary reprecautions that something like that wouldn’t happen.” the green stallion assured him.

“Even so, why did you go through all that trouble when I had the perfect way to fix the problem.” Blaze stated.

“What was your idea?” Whip inquired.

“I would’ve simply switched you with members of other teams.” he explained.

“While that does seem much simpler, you wouldn’t be sure they would get along with others.” Green elaborated. “Plus, do you have any idea how much paperwork I would have to do if that were to happen.”

“So you put us through all that, just so you wouldn’t have to do your job?” Ace asked dumbfounded.

“That’s part of the reason, yes.”

They continued to stare at him, mesmerized at the reason.

“Imma kill ‘im.” Trider stated and charged his Ki.

“Now, now. Before you do something reckless, you have to admit that, despite all the danger, my method did it’s job right?” Green said, sweat starting to form on his forehead.

The group looked at each other and the Kanisar stopped his attack. “We guess.”

Green sighed, glad to be out of danger. Then they heard Blaze clear his throat and they turned towards him. “If that is the case, have you already decided on your teamleader and name then?” he asked, raising his eyebrow.

“Well, we’re still working on the name, but we do know who the perfect leader is.” Trider said. He then looked at his teammates and they all nodded their heads. “It’s unanimous. We all think Ace would be the perfect team leader.”

Blaze looked at the blushing dog-pony. “Are you sure about this?” he asked him, to confirm their statement.

“Yes sir. I’ll be honored to lead this team.” he said proudly.

“Very well.” the stallion said with a smile. But that smile quickly turned into a scowl and he glared at them. “NOW LEAVE MY OFFICE AND GO RUN 40 LAPS AROUND THE PREMISE IMMEDIATELLY!”

They all groaned. “But why?” Trider asked.

“Forget about my door?” the red stallion replied. The group smiled sheepishly, before running out of the room.

***

“So you think they’ve improved?” Green asked, as the two watched Trider’s team go through the obstacle course, to reach their target.

“They’re still rusty and could improve.” Blaze criticized and wrote down in his notebook. “But at least I won’t have to switch them.”

“All thanks to my method.” Green boasted.

“About that.” Blaze said with a malicious smirk. “Don’t think you’re off the hook, just because it worked. Me and Luna have decided that for your punishment you’ll have to rewrite and file every report sent to us until these guys graduate.”

Green’s heart sak and he seemed like he would cry any moment. “You truly are a monster Blaze.” he moaned.

“You reap what you sow.” the red stallion chuckled. He then looked back at the group and asked Green. “Do these guys have a name yet?”

“They do.” Green repleid and handed over a small slip of paper. Blaze looked at it and grinned.

“It suits them.” he stated.

THE EXTRAORDINARIES