"Velvet! Velvet, can ya hear me!?" Calamity gasped, grabbing Velvet Remedy's limp body by her shoulders and shaking her gently. He let out a sigh of relief as her eyes slowly fluttered open, and she awoke with a gasp, her head shooting up.
"What?" she panted breathlessly, her head shooting around, her wide eyes searching her environment, "Ca-Calamity?" she asked as her eyes settled on the rust-colored pegasus, "Where are we?
"In one of the prison-cells." Calamity replied sourly, offering his friend a hoof to help her up. "Ah woke up in here earlier, then some of them slavers came and threw you in here too." With a serious look, he asked, "Are you alright?"
Slowly, not completely over her anesthesia yet, Velvet nodded her head. "Yes. Yes, I'm okay." Her look went around their small cell, her eyes resting on the metal plank bed and the small jar that -based on its smell- served as a makeshift toilet for just a second before she spotted the wall of bars that offered her a good view of the very same hall in which she had passed out in earlier; she was indeed sitting in one of the correctional facility's prison cells on the upper level.
A shudder ran through her spine, and Velvet closed her eyes, her heart seeming to sink with every bit of memory she recalled. How they had been caught, trapped, and ultimately captured by none other than...
Feeling like she was about to choke, Velvet opened her eyes again, her glassy look staring at the spot where she had ... encountered one of her best friends not too long ago, and her mind going head over heels searching for ways to explain all this without having to accept the painful, but equally obvious truth.
Calamity could see his friend's eyes glaze over as she stared through the bars, drawing in a sharp breath as she seemed to recall what had happened earlier; her lips began to tremble.
"This ... this isn't happening." She murmured, her head slowly turning towards Calamity, her wide eyes tearing up, "This isn't happening, right? We're not ... Littlepip, she's ... she's not ... not..." Velvet swallowed, shuddering, "This is all just a bad dream, right?"
Calamity replied nothing, just giving his shivering friend a pitying look.
"Right?" Velvet Remedy asked again, her voice getting more desperate by the second, "That ... that mare..." she lifted a hoof, pointing into the courtyard-like ground level of the hall where the two had been ambushed earlier. "That wasn't Littlepip, right? That was ... a doppelganger, right? There's no way Littlepip could-" she cut herself off as Calamity remained silent. "None of this is actually happening, right?" she started another attempt, her voice clearer this time.
"Calamity!" Velvet said, stepping closer to the pegasus; her voice was weak; desperate, "Tell me." she said curtly, "Please, tell me!"
"Velvet..." Calamity said carefully, "Ah need you to stay-"
"It is real, isn't it?" Velvet said with quavering voice, looking at Calamity who bit his lip, giving her a helpless look, apparently not quite sure what to make of their situation either.
The charcoal unicorn took in a shaky breath, then turned around again, looking through the bars of their cell doors. She thought of the last time she had seen her friend before she had disappeared, then thought of what Littlepip had said earlier before paralyzing Velvet with the needle gun, and slowly but steadily, a painful realization entered her mind, and she could feel her heart sink.
For a long moment, the room was silent, Velvet's jagged breathing being the only thing that filled the room. Then, after a moment, she whispered, "It's my fault." she concluded curtly, "It's ... my ... fault."
"Hey, now that ain't true." Calamity said, walking up to her from behind and laying a comforting wing on her back, "Ah dunno what's happened to Pip that made her..." he cringed, "Like this, but it ain't your fault." he said determined.
"Don't you get it!?" Velvet's head shot around, her eyes, wet with tears were looking at him angrily, "I shot her! She said it herself! She thinks we've betrayed her, with me leading the way!" Her voice broke and she looked away, her tears running freely now. "It's my fault!" she shouted, ramming her head against the barred door.
"Careful Velvet!" Calamity shouted appalled, pulling her head back, "Ya might set it off!"
That made Velvet hesitate. "Set what off?" she asked, giving her friend a confused look. For the first time since she had woken up, she actually took a closer look at his body - and let out a gasp. She wasn't surprised to see that his battle saddle and saddlebag had been removed, but what had caught her eye was the collar around his neck: it was pitch black, about two inches thick, and had a small red button on one side - Velvet didn't need to look at it twice to figure out what would happen if that button were ever pressed.
Her friend was wearing a bomb collar.
Slowly, as if by instinct, she raised her hoof, leading it up to her neck where it touched the cold metal of a bomb collar of her own, and suddenly the once so distraught and panicking mare became very, very quiet. Swallowing, her hoof never leaving her collar, she sank to the ground, her back resting against the wall of bars, her glassy eyes casting an empty gaze at the opposite wall.
"Velvet..." Calamity said softly, walking over to the softly breathing mare and putting his hoof on her shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll find a way out." But the charcoal unicorn still didn't react in the slightest, "And Ah promise we'll find out what's wrong with Li'lpip an' find a way to..." he paused, searching for the right term, but couldn't find one. "Cure her, Ah guess."
Velvet Remedy, who had lowered her hoof by now, letting it loosely hang from her side instead, took a long moment to breathe in, then breathed out again. "Just..." she breathed softly, her head slowly turning towards her companion, "How stupid are you!?" she snarled, getting back to her hooves in an instant, "Can't you see it?" she asked angrily, "It's me!" she almost shouted, tapping her hoof against her chest, "She's mad at me, not you! Because I shot her! Not you!"
Calamity said nothing for a second, wanting to argue that it was him who had shot -and almost killed- Littlepip way before Velvet, but thought better of it and instead said, "Y'know, she brought me here, too. Didn't seem like she's any more fond of me than of you."
"You didn't see her the way I did, Calamity." Velvet explained, slowly calming again, "When you were..." she cringed at the memory, "gone, she kept me with her for a while." A shudder ran through her body, "She threatened me, pretended to shoot me - and she did it with passion. I could see her enjoy it!" she explained with horror in her voice. "From the way she acted, she must hate me! Something must have-"
"For fuck's sake it's three in the morning, just shut it already!" the angry voice of a stallion made her silence abruptly, and their heads turned almost simultaneously. A short but sturdy earth pony stallion in the adjacent prison cell whose coat was either a bright gray or a dark white was giving them an annoyed look through the bars that separated their domiciles, "There are ponies here who are trying to get some rest!"
Like petrified, Calamity and Velvet Remedy stared back through the bars, looking at the stallion with wide eyes, neither of them having expected this sudden interruption.
"S-sorry." Velvet Remedy breathed after a moment - more out of good manners than anything else, "We ... didn't mean to disturb you."
With a grunt, the stallion rolled his eyes and was already turning away again, but then stopped in his movement, turned back and looked at Velvet again with a curious glance. "Wait a second," he said, lifting an eyebrow, "aren't cha that ... Velvet Remedy-gal?"
Slightly confused, Velvet nodded and opened her mouth, but before she could bring out a word, Calamity took an assertive step forward and asked, "What do you care, huh?"
The buck glowered at the pegasus, then snorted and asked, "No-one's asked you, featherbrain."
Ignoring the angry glare Calamity shot him, he then focused on Velvet again, and a malicious grin grew on his face as he looked her over. "It really is you..." he muttered; his look went back to her face and he began to chuckle softly.
Lifting an eyebrow, Velvet shot Calamity a confused glance, but his attention was still focused on the stallion, staring daggers at the gray earth pony.
"Oh boy..." their cell neighbor said, shaking his head, his eyes never leaving Velvet, though the maliciousness in them had given way to something that looked like pity. "I wouldn't wanna be in your horseshoes, girl."
"What?" Velvet Remedy asked with growing confusion, "What do you mean?"
"Yeah, yer just as much a prisoner as us." Calamity pointed out, pointing a hoof at the slave collar around their neighbor's neck, "We're in the same boat, y'know."
That gained another chuckle from the buck. "Oh no." he said, shaking his head, "You see, I'm trapped here, yes, but unlike you..." he paused for effect, casting a meaningful look at Velvet, "My name ain't on the death list of the mare running this place."
That made Velvet flinch. She still had some hopes left that, somehow, this had all been a big misunderstanding and Littlepip wasn't ... like she had been after all, but she couldn't deny that the stallion's words had stung in her heart.
Seeming to notice her reaction, the stallion gave a dry laugh. "Hurts, doesn't it?" He asked with a partly sympathetic, partly bemused grin, "From what she's told me you two must have been close friends at some point. She's been chasing after you for the better half of her life, always looked up to you as the voice of reason and peace. Hell, she would've caught a bullet for you without hestiating." With a knowing grin, he added, "And then you stabbed her in the back."
Again, Velvet flinched, more intense this time. She tried to not think about the things this random, unimportant slave was throwing at her, but at the same time couldn't deny that it all sounded so painfully true.
"Hey, now that just ain't right!" Calamity stepped in, stomping his hoof in anger.
"Yes it is." a fourth voice chimed in. Contrary to the heated argument going on between the three inmates, this voice was completely calm, and disturbingly sober.
Almost simultaneously, the three ponies' heads turned around to look at the new dialog partner: standing at the other side of the bars, still dressed in her black raider armor, was the leader of the slavers - Littlepip.
"You betrayed me." she said calmly, casting an icecold glare at Velvet Remedy, "I turn my back to you for one second," she lifted a single hoof as if to underline her statement, "And you shoot me in the fucking back!" she hissed.
"Littlepip..." Velvet forced out; she was shivering, tears in her eyes as her look rested on her former friend, and she started blaming herself again, "I ... We ... we wanted to help you! You were-"
"Help me!?" the short unicorn exclaimed, her eyes wide in legitimate indignation, "What, by shooting me in the back!?"
"Your addiction was getting the better of you!" Velvet defended herself, stomping her hoof. "I stunned you with the needle gun so that we could bring you to Doctor Helpinghoof - to get you cured."
Littlepip's eyes narrowed as she stared at Velvet for a second, seeming to contemplate the story. Then she shook her head, and clenched her teeth. "No!" she shouted, her head shooting forward to rest mere inches from the bars that were separating the two, ponies, "You're not talking yourself out of this! You betrayed me! All of you!" her look shot over to Calamity. Realizing that he had Littlepip's attention, he opened his mouth to protest, but was cut short. "Don't try to play it down!" she growled, pointing a threatening hoof at the pegasus, "I know you were involved in this! All of you! All of you conspired against me!"
She took in a quick breath, her eyes widening. Her body tensed up, seeming unable to express the emotions boiling up inside her. "I trusted you! I trusted you blindly!" she shouted, her voice constantly increasing in volume and pitch, "For fuck's sake, you were the closest thing to a family I've ever had, and then you all just ... turned your back on me! I believed in you, and you just..." Her voice broke, and she hastily turned away, as if to hide the tears in her eyes.
A few moments of silence passed, the muffled sounds of Littlepip catching her breath being the only thing audible over the nightly ambience.
"Pip..." Calamity carefully spoke up, stepping next to Velvet and putting a comforting wing on her shivering body, "Ah think we should-"
"No." Littlepip replied curtly. Her voice was calm again now; hoarse, and so faint it was barely audible, but calm. "Enough of that."
She sighed deeply, then shook her head and turned around again. "Look..." she started over, looking the two over with a sober glance, "I don't know why you came here, but I don't want you - neither here, nor anywhere else. By all means, I'm through with you."
For a moment, Velvet felt tempted to ask if that meant that her and Calamity would be released without further ado, but quickly dropped that thought - one way or another, they wouldn't leave without Littlepip.
"So yer jus' throwin' us out?" Calamity asked, seeming to have thought of the same thing.
A smirk crossed Littlepip's face for a second, but she shook her head, "No." she said, seeming slightly amused about the question, "You'll stay right here - for now, at least." she added with an ominous grin, "As little as I care about you as ponies, you still had the audacity to sneak in here, and the stupidity to get yourself caught in the process, so you're effectively prisoners now - slaves, if you will."
Before Velvet Remedy or Calamity could reply something, her face lightened up and she continued, "But I'll tell you what." she announced with a treacherous smile, "There's a way to gain your freedom - instantly. One little thing, and you'll both be free ponies again."
She paused, leaving her prisoners no other choice but to inquire further.
"What?" Velvet Remedy asked reluctantly after a moment of silence.
The smile on Littlepip's face broadened into a toothy grin. Her horn lit up, her magic pulling something from a pouch on her right flank.
"You and me..." Velvet couldn't contain a sound of discomfort as the combat knife floated over to her, hovering right in front of her face, its cold tip touching the tip of her muzzle ever so gently. "Down in the pit. In direct combat. One on one - no magic, no guns." Littlepip explained with anticipation, letting the knife move in circles in front of Velvet's face, "You win, and you'll both be free to go wherever you want." she paused, a sly grin appearing on her face, "I win and..." the knife floated away from Velvet Remedy and back to Littlepip who gave the jagged blade a passionate, slow lick before lowering it and saying, "Well, you'll see."
"So?" she then asked, lowering the knife and letting its sharpened tip scratch the concrete ground, "What do you say?"
Neither of the two replied. Staring at her former friend with wide eyes, partly in shock, partly in disbelief, Velvet Remedy was dumbfounded for a moment, before she could bring up the power to slowly shake her head. "You ... you can't be serious!" she whispered unbelievingly.
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Littlepip asked dryly, and suddenly the expression on her face turned dead-serious, "You want to get out of here? Come and fight for it, bitch."
Another moment of silence followed.
"No." Velvet Remedy finally declared. Her voice was determined - neither angry, nor desperate, but filled with a resolute clarity. "I don't know what has gotten into you that made you believe we would have betrayed you, but you still are my friend." she said emphatically, stomping a hoof to drive home her point, "And I do not fight against my friends."
Velvet didn't know what sort of reply she was expecting from Littlepip. Disappointment, maybe. Anger, because Velvet refused to play along in whatever game Littlepip appeared to be playing with them. She couldn't deny that she was a little disappointed, not to say disillusioned, when all that came from their captor in return was a light shrug and a light-hearted, "Okay."
She turned away, giving the two a grin over her shoulder, "Your choice, right?"
And with that, she started walking away from their cell, but then stopped as her look fell into the neighboring cell, and her face darkened. "What are you looking at, huh?" she snarled at Velvet and Calamity's cell neighbor who apparently had watched the whole scene.
The stallion stood up to his mistresses look and said nothing, just grinning back at her like if he knew something Littlepip didn't.
"Don't try to fuck with me, Cinderblock." she hissed menacingly, "The pit isn't far away."
The stallion -apparently named Cinderblock- seemed completely unaffected by her threats. Smirking, he returned Littlepip's stare and said, "You think I wouldn't survive a third time?" he grinned, baring his yellowed teeth, "I thought after all those years you'd know me well enough to know that - Pipsqueak."
Even in the dim light of the hall's emergency lightning, Velvet could see Littlepip's face assume a light shade of red at the mention of her full name, and she could hear the short unicorn grind her teeth as she stared at Cinderblock with narrowed eyes. Her horn lit up, and with the speed of a startled radroach, her combat knife was torn from her flank and launched into the direction of the stallion. Though, as if he had seen the attack coming, Cinderblock swung his head to the side in the nick of time, causing the knife to fly past his temple, missing it by a mere inch, and fall to the floor of his cell with a clatter. "Old trick." he said with a grin, took a step towards the knife lying on the floor and kicked it back to Littlepip who picked it up with her magic and stored it back in the sheath on her back with a grunt.
She remained in front of the cell for another moment, looking at Cinderblock. Then, with a quick look back at Velvet and Calamity's cell, she said, "Get your ass into bed; you're gonna be on early shift tomorrow. And Celestia help me if you don't meet the quota because you're tired."
And with that, she turned around again, and walked away, disappearing in the hall's nightly twilight moments later.
Cinderblock, calm as ever despite the assault on his life mere moments ago, looked after her for a moment, before turning around and walking back to his cot.
However, he stopped halfway as he noticed two sets of eyes looking at him and giving him questioning looks from the cell nextdoor.
"What in tarnation was that?" Calamity asked the question both he and Velvet were wondering about, "Ya know Pip?" after a second of contemplation, he added, "Like this, anyway."
Cinderblock looked at the Pegasus with a glare that made it clear just how little he wanted to answer questions like this in the middle of the night, but then made a face and curtly replied, "I've known her for a while now. Probably even longer than you, pegasus."
Calamity opened his mouth to argue, but was cut short by Cinderblock who, having expected this reaction, gave him a dismissive look and said, "Don't waste your breath; I'm not your nanny. You want explanations, go and bother someone else."
With that he stopped next to his bed, slumped into it, and closed his eyes with a satisfied grunt.
"One more thing, if you please..." Velvet Remedy asked softly, making an effort to make her voice sound as meek and dear as possible so as not to upset their new neighbor.
Cinderblock let out an annoyed growl, but to Velvet's surprise opened one of his eyes, focussing the charcoal unicorn with an angry glare, but allowed her to continue.
"What is that ... pit Littlepip mentioned earlier?" Velvet asked carefully, "Is it ... some sort of..."
The gray buck sighed deeply, rolling his eyes, but then said, "That hole in the middle of the hall - with the barbwire around it." he didn't lift his head while speaking, making his voice sound muffled and hard to understand, "That's the pit. Ponies are put in there to fight - to the death. Breakaways, rebels, the underachievers - all that scum is sent in there once a week to beat the shit out of each other til only one of 'em remains."
"Underachievers?" Velvet inquired hesitantly, feeling a sensation of sickness in the back of her throat.
Finally, albeit reluctantly, Cinderblock sat up on his bed, allowing him to speak a lot easier. "Everypony in here is a slave." he soberly explained the obvious, "We're forced to work, either tilling the fields or scavenging the area around for food. Every slave is working for themselves, and the yield they're bringing home at the end of the day decides about what they're worth." Velvet swore she saw a ting of pain in his look as he added, "And at the end of every week those two with the least revenue are thrown into the pit..." he paused, swallowing, "And have to fight until only one of them is left."
"That's just horrible!" Velvet exclaimed, placing a hoof in front of her mouth.
"It's a horrible world we're living in." Cinderblock countered dryly, "Does a great job at keeping the morale up, though." he added, but then, as if he regretted saying that last part, closed his eyes, shook his head, and laid back down on his bed with a sigh, turning around so that his face was pointing away from his neighbors.
"Sleep now." he grumbled deeply, "You'll need it tomorrow."