//------------------------------//
// There can only be one victor. 
// Story: Battle Royale 
// by TheWindrunner 
//------------------------------//

“How did we get up here?”

They had been on the zeppelin for a while now, and only 30 minutes ago, they weren’t there, then suddenly, Windrunner, Golden Glow, and ninety-eight other ponies just appeared on the ship. There was a large island in sight, and it looked inhabited. Windrunner peered over the edge, looking at the approaching island.

“I don’t know, Wind,” said Golden Glow, “But we will find out soon..”

“Welcome to the challenge!” A shadow pony materialized at the front of the ship. The ponies gasped and recoiled away from her. “My name is Shade. You all may be wondering why you’re here. This is the reason. 

“This is a challenge I call a battle royale. All hundred of you will be jumping off this zeppelin and onto the island in a few minutes. You should all have those backpacks. Those are parachutes, you pull the cord and it will slow your descent. It will deploy automatically to stop ponies from killing themselves. Feel free to drop anywhere along the island!

“Once down, find weapons, which should be inside the many buildings and houses. You need to use these weapons to fight other ponies. Out of all of the groups here, only one pair of ponies can win.

“There will be a constantly closing barrier of magical energy that will suck the life out of you unless you avoid it. It will be clearly distinguishable, and a horn will sound when the barrier shrinks.

“You will be in pairs of two, find a partner before you drop or you may find yourself fighting double your weight.

“Lastly, these weapons will be new to you. Nopony should know how to use them. Good luck.” Shade laughed as she dissipated into shadowy mist, flowing off the ship.

Windrunner looked at Golden Glow with a hint of fear. “We are supposed to drop down and find weapons? This is… interesting. What weapons will they use?”

“I have no clue,” said Golden Glow, “But there is only one way to find out.”

The zeppelin now started flying over the island. “You may drop now!” said Shade, her voice blasting through the ship’s speaker system. 

Right off the bat, a few ponies jumped off, starting to skydive down towards the ground. Golden Glow and Windy watched as ponies vaulted the railings or simply threw themselves off the deck.

“Wind,” whispered Golden Glow in Windrunner’s ear, “We should dive for that little settlement. It won’t catch the eyes of other ponies, it’s far enough from the bigger towns, and it isn’t too small. Want to do it?”

Windrunner nodded. “Alright. Ready? On three. One.” She pulled the supplied goggles over her eyes and steeled her shaky breath, ready for the death game to come.

“Two.” She put her forelegs over the railing, and Golden Glow did too.

“Golden, before we go, we should hold onto each other. That way we won’t stray apart.” When Golden Glow nodded, Windrunner yelled, “Three!” and they both vaulted over the railing.

Wind grabbed onto Gold’s forehoof as they rapidly gained speed, angling downward so they went down faster. Wind felt the urge to spread her wings, but she couldn’t, as the parachute pack disabled her wings.

She looked over at the aerion mare, who was screaming loudly as they fell. Windrunner smiled and looked back at the small group of houses rapidly approaching, and remembering flight school, she angled both of them back to slow their descent as much as possible.

On cue, the parachutes auto-deployed, and now they were gliding towards the ground. Wind called to Golden Glow, now detached from her. “Go to the other house! I’ll look in this one.”

Windrunner landed in front of the porch, the jarring landing knocking the wind out of her. For some unknown reason, the parachute pack clicked open and detached from her body, falling on the ground heavily.

Now free to use her wings, Windrunner quickly flew into the house, pushing open the front door. She was greeted with a small living room, including a small fireplace. It was surprisingly bare. On the coffee table was something small, black, and L-shaped. Wind picked it up in her feathers. It had a hefty weight to it. She examined it closely.

There was text embossed into the metal, and it read, ‘Beretta M9 9mm’. The shorter end of the L was obviously meant to be held, taking the shape of light bite marks, and she placed it in her mouth, her teeth settling into the soft material easily. It started to slip out of her mouth after a second, and she wrapped her tongue around the handle and pulled to bring it back into her mouth.

The item made a loud click. Wind pulled her tongue again and it clicked again. She used her wing to hold it again, obviously not getting it. She noticed the bottom of the handle was hollow and open, an odd feature.

She then noticed more items on the table - small, straight boxes with an open end, Small cylindrical objects were visible out of the top. Windrunner took only a second before she understood what it was. She put the metal object on the table and slid one of the boxes over. It easily slid in, and it clicked once it was fully inserted.

Wind picked up the object in her mouth and pulled her tongue against it again. This time, there was a loud BANG accompanied with a bright flash, and Windrunner felt her head jerk back from the item bucking backwards. She dropped the object, the metal clattering against the ground.

She stared in shock at the small hole in the wall opposite her. She knew that wasn’t there before. The plaster cracked around the small hole.

“Windrunner!” Golden Glow came running in. She had saddlebags over her back. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” said Windrunner, “I think I can see what they meant by weapons.” She looked at the weapon. “It’s called a ‘Beretta M9 9-M-M.’” She picked it up in her wing. “Can you put this in your saddlebag?”

Golden Glow nodded. “Go ahead.” She opened the right flap with her wing and Windrunner placed the weapon inside, as well as the two other small boxes. 

“Did you look through the entirety of your house?” Wind asked.

“No, I only found the saddlebags on the porch when the Beretta fired,” Golden Glow said, “I’m going to see if we can find more of these weapons.”

“Agreed.” Wind waved at Gold as the bat pony left the house, and she turned back to the house, going into the kitchen, picking up a pair of saddlebags that were sitting in the understairs closet on the way.

Inside she began opening cupboards and drawers, most of them empty, except for one under the sink which contained a first aid kit. That went into her saddlebags. She continued the search, then found something interesting.

In one of the wide drawers was another weapon. This time, it was a longer one, and it was made mostly of wood. Embossed on a metal tag was the words ‘KARABINER 98 KURZ’. There was a loop made of soft leather, and a tag on it read ‘Attach to shoulder’. Another loop was larger and further down the wooden end, and it read, ‘Attach around barrel.” Windrunner took the loop and fastened it onto her right shoulder, and securing the second strap around her stomach. Thankfully, her wings were free.

She picked up one of the odd boxes. It was more wider but shorter than the ones for the Beretta M9. She looked at the gun and saw a hole in the top. She inserted the box and it clicked into place.

How was she to activate it? She saw a lever hanging in the corner of the vision, sticking out the back of the gun. She pushed it with her right wing and it slid in. There was a click and the lever fell down as Wind let go of it.

She decided she will deal with it later. She put the other boxes, five in all, in her right saddlebag. Looking through the rest of the kitchen only revealed a small roll of bandages, which she took anyway.

She made her way up the stairs and walked into one of the three doors. It was a bathroom. There was a box sitting in the center. Looking at it, the box read ‘9mm ammunition’. It had a photo of what looked like the Beretta on it, so she put it in her bag.

The next room was a bedroom. She found a pair of binoculars, which worked fine. Inside the drawers was a small wrapped bundle of camouflage fabric. She touched it and it disappeared with a flash, blinding her for a moment. She opened her eyes and found that her body was covered in that fabric, her head, wings, and hooves still uncovered.

She was surprised for a moment before she opened the next drawer, drawing out a knife in a sheath. This was something she was used to. The sheath secured around her left foreleg and she could draw it with either her wing or her mouth. The blade was straight, long, and single-edged, with some serrations near the base. She sheathed the knife and walked out of the room.

Windrunner went straight into the next room, another bedroom. She found another weapon inside. It was about the same size as the Beretta M9, but it was silver metal instead, the handle made out of soft leather. A cylinder protruded from both ends on it. She saw a small switch and she pushed it, the cylinder popping out. There were six slots carved into the cylinder.

Windrunner took out the other item in the drawer, a box of ‘ammunition’ again. Wind opened it and took out one of the small cylinders in her mouth. She found that it slotted into the holes perfectly, and she filled it up before pushing the cylinder back in. She put the ‘.44 MAGNUM’ weapon and the ammunition into her bags.

She was now done taking all the items from inside the house. Happy with what she got, she walked down the stairs and walked out the front door. “Goldy!” she called, “I’m done with the house!”

Golden walked out of the house. She had a similar weapon on her shoulder, but the wood ended sooner and it had two barrels. She spotted Wind and trotted over. She was wearing a similar camouflage. “I have finished too!” she said, opening her saddlebags and digging into them. “Here, take the M9 back.” she held it out.

Windrunner shook her head. “I found another one, you can keep it. Here, I think this is ammunition for that.” She took out the box of 9mm ammunition and handed it to Golden Glow who put it in her saddlebags, along with the weapon.

“I have something too,” she said, handing Windy a necklace with a red gem in it. “I don’t know what this does, but there were two of them, so I have one as well.” She indeed had one of the necklaces.

Wind slipped it on and immediately her vision went dark, but she could see again after a split second. Golden Glow was now wrapped in an outline of white, making her stand out from the background.

“Huh. This is interesting.” Golden Glow smiled. “What do we do now?”

The sound of a horn echoed through the air, and a sheen of blue appeared in the air, in a cylinder. After that, a smaller, white barrier formed, also still around them. “The magical barrier has formed!” Shade’s voice reverberated around the terrain. “It will shrink in regular intervals. The area where the barrier will stop shrinking is marked by the white barrier, which you can pass through. If you’re inside the white barrier, you are fine!”

Windrunner nudged Golden Glow. “Hear that? We are safe for now. Where should we go?” Wind took flight and looked around, pointing at another small group of houses. “Let’s go there!”

Golden Glow took flight next to her and they both flew off, low to the ground, towards the settlement. It only took about a minute to fly there. When they landed, Goldy whispered to Windrunner, “The doors are open, be on a lookout.” They both snuck around the surrounding fences. They could hear a pair of ponies having a conversation. Suddenly, yelling broke out and then there were a few loud bangs. Windrunner peeked through a hole in one of the fence boards.

There were two ponies, an earth pony and a unicorn. They were both in cover. Small objects flew at insane speeds at them, striking the ground near them.

The unicorn peeked over and fired a few shots. His head suddenly jerked back, blood spraying out the back of his head as he fell over, dropping his weapon.

The earth pony mare screamed, and she tried to run into one of the houses. She jerked and fell on her side, screaming, blood pouring from a wound in her side.

“Holy shit,” whispered Golden Glow, placing a hoof over her mouth, “That’s what the weapons do…”

Windrunner hefted the Karabiner 98 on her shoulder. “Which makes all the difference that we don’t get hit by them.” She crept along the fence, working her way to the house. She could hear rustling, and she peeked out for a second.

The ponies were at the dead bodies of the other duo, and they were taking things out of their saddlebags. Windrunner took her weapon out and pointed it at one of them, then she realized that she didn’t know how to fire. She looked at it for a second before finding a switch underneath it and she pointed it at one of the two, the one with the meanest looking weapon attached to his shoulder. She depressed the plate and it kicked back. BANG! The stallion dropped to the ground, dead from the single shot.

Golden Glow fired her weapon, and it killed the other pony quickly. She let go of it, shaking. “That was… intense for some reason.”

“I agree.” Windrunner went up and looked at the stuff they were looting. She was quick to take ammunition, medical supplies, and other miscellaneous items. She detached the long weapon and looked at it. It looked similar to the Karabiner 98, but it was slightly longer and had a cylinder on it. Looking at it, Windrunner discerned it as a telescope.

“I’m going to take this,” said Golden Glow, looking at another weapon. It had the words SCAR-L printed on the side. The bat pony attached the rifle to her shoulder, giving it a test shot. It fired two rounds in quick succession. “Woah! This thing fires automatically!” she said, hitting a pad on the side. The curved box fell out and she looked at it. “This must be the ammunition. Do they have any more of these?” she asked, slotting it back in.

“Yes, they do.” Windrunner drew out two more from the stallion’s saddlebags, and Golden Glow put them in hers. They stood and looked at each other. A horn sounded, and the next white circle appeared, but they weren’t in the center of it. 

“We gotta go,” said Golden Glow, beginning to trot off. “We have to get to the circle.”

They trotted off and up the hill. Windrunner looked at the rifle and tried to figure out how to make it shoot again, as it had clicked but hadn’t fired. She played with everything and eventually found out the secret. She lifted up the lever and pulled it back, a bronze cylinder flying out. She pushed it back and clicked it in. It fired, kicking back in her grasp. 

She smiled and did the action again of repriming it, and she ran into Golden’s hood as she looked up. Golden glow pushed her to lie down. 

“In the valley there,” she said, pointing her hoof at a pair of unarmed ponies making their way through a group of trees. 

Windrunner looked through her telescope to aim. There was a simple cross in the middle to point at the target. She lined up a shot as one of the two stopped to open a crate. 

BANG! The gun kicked in Wind’s hooves. She watched as the pony fell over from a shot to the elbow. 

Weird. She was aiming for the head. She aimed and fired again, this time the bullet hitting her chest and killing her. 

The other pony frantically looked around. Windrunner pressed the trigger but the rifle clicked. Windrunner pulled the bolt but no cylinder was ejected. “It’s out of shots,” she said to Golden Glow.

“Put another one of those boxes in,” she said. Windrunner opened her saddlebags and took out one of the ammunition boxes, and slid it in, pushing the lever back. This time she aimed and fired again, the bullet firing. She missed the pony.

“Oh shit,” she said, the pony spotting her. Wind crawled backwards as he pulled out a weapon and started firing at them, shots whizzing around her. 

Golden Glow opened fire, shooting the automatic weapon. A few shots hit the pony and he fell over, bleeding out as the bat pony’s gun started clicking repeatedly. 

“I think it’s out too,” said Golden Glow.  She dug out another one of the boxes and replaced it, the magazine clicking into place.

“Shit, Golden, run!” Wind grabbed her and they made haste to the edge of the white circle. There was a hum behind them of the magic barrier shrinking. 

They dived in just as the blue barrier met the white and stopped moving. 

“I don’t want to know what the barrier does,” said Golden Glow, “Let's try to stay in the white.” The duo stood and carefully picked their way down a slope. The barrier was really small now, and if they ran they could cross the blue barrier in about two minutes. The white circle was close that they walked, making their way inside it safety.

Wind sat down in the cover of bushes, hearing a fight break out. “We’re doing good, Gold.” She hoisted her Karabiner and peered through the scope at the firefight.

It was a three way. Three groups of ponies were fighting each other, flashes coming from their weapons. The fight wasn’t quick, with one group in the cover of a house. 

The horn sounded as the barrier shrunk again, and Windrunner watched as a pony got caught in it. The pony ran towards the white, but she was slowing down. It was like she was rapidly aging, her mane and tail paling, her skin sagging. She silently screamed for help before collapsing, closing her eyes and dying. She was just meters from the white barrier. 

Wind gasped. “Holy shit.” She distracted herself by watching the firefight again. It was a one on one now, the two ponies trading shots. One tossed something. It was small and green, and it left a trail of smoke as it flew through the air. 

The ground shook as it exploded. It blew up as soon as it hit the ground, obliterating the other pony. He was not even distinguishable anymore. 

There was the noise of violent retching as Golden Glow threw up next to her. She was holding a pair of binoculars, obviously watching the spectacle as well.

After she finished vomiting she looked at Windrunner. “Fuck... I’m scared...” she sidled close to Windrunner and shook. “They… these sick ponies who have taken us here have made devices capable of killing a pony in a single shot... they’re sick monsters...”

“I know, Gold. We need to keep moving.” They were in the white circle, but Windrunner could use getting a better lookout spot. 

“Alright.” They stood and began to trek around, eventually finding a well covered area on a slope. Golden Glow kept watch with her SCAR-L while Windrunner spotted ponies for them. They took no shots, letting the ponies in fight. 

Windrunner was observing a fight when Golden Glow said, “Shit, somepony!” She hoisted her SCAR-L and started firing. 

Not equipped for the current situation, Windrunner reached in and grabbed her .44 Magnum. She aimed it and saw the ponies emerge and spot them. She fired it. 

Sweet Celestia, this had a kick! Her head nearly flew back from the strength of the weapon. She rolled to the side as a shot dug itself into the ground near her. She fired a second shot, assuming the first one missed. She got a hit, one of the ponies dropping, clutching their upper stomach. She saw that the other pony was dead as well.

“Fuck, Windrunner, help!” Golden Glow called out. Wind turned and gasped. 

Golden Glow had a wound in her hind leg. Windrunner examined it then drew out her first aid kit, opening it and pulling out multiple items. 

“Wind, stop, let me do this.” Gold took the medical items before Wind could immediately do wrong. “I know a lot about this.” She went to work at cleaning the wound. She had to pull out the offending item: a dome of steel. She tossed it, grimacing and grunting as she bandaged the wound. 

Windrunner packed up the medical box. “You done?” she asked. 

“Mhm.” Golden Glow stood. “Ouch, that fucking hurt! Still does!” She looked up as the horn sounded once more. 

“I wonder how many are left?” Windrunner ventured, supporting Golden Glow as they made their way to a house inside the next white circle. 

“I hope not many. I want this to be over. Why are we still alive?”

Windrunner pushed open the door, holding her Magnum in case of any intruders. She shut and locked the door. “It’s because I think we decided to land in that small group of houses,” she said, “Because we didn’t have to fight anypony over resources, we were fine in looting the place.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Heh.” Golden Glow ambled up the stairs and Windrunner followed. The upstairs had plenty of windows and Windrunner began to patrol them, keeping an eye on the surrounding terrain. 

Eventually a pony caught their eye. They were carrying an interesting weapon. It was a large cylinder with a cone on the end. They aimed it at the house. 

Wind was quick to aim and fire, hitting the pony, surprising her with the accuracy, but not after they fired it. The projectile moved slow, making a sound of rushing air as it went. Windrunner looked at Golden. “GET BACK-”

KER-BLAFF!

Windrunner flew back as the wall imploded, plaster flying everywhere from the explosion. She looked up groggily after a second and looked around. Golden was lying, but she was starting to get up. She was fully exposed.

Windrunner slowly stood, her ears ringing. The sun now flooded the room, the huge hole in the wall letting her see outside easily. 

Wind quickly pressed against a wall. “Golden! Come here, quick!”

“Ugh... what happened?” Golden Glow looked up and started to crawl over to Windrunner. 

There was a distant shot, and Golden Glow jerked suddenly. Blood sprayed against the wall she was against, a hole in her head as she slumped over, her eyes taking a blank look. 

“SHIT!” yelled Windrunner. She grabbed the dead body of her teammate and dragged it over, making a quick decision. She swapped out her Karabiner for the SCAR-L, and she hoisted it just as she heard hooves running outside. The spare box went into her saddlebags.

The sound of splintering wood followed after a second. Windrunner heard them talking as they invaded the house. She had to do something. 

She vaulted over the blast hole and hid behind the fence, making sure she took cover from the hidden killer of Golden Glow. She indeed heard a gunshot from the location and heard it snap and break a plank of wood to her left.

She moved right, silently padding along the grass as she made sure not to go above cover. Her SCAR-L remained ready to fire. 

She glanced back and through a gap in the fence she saw a pony running down the slope. He had a long weapon attached to his shoulder. It must be the pony who killed Goldy!

She peeked over as he drew close and aimed her weapon, shooting it at him. He took a few shots before falling over. 

“They’re outside!” called one of the ponies from inside the house. Windrunner spun around as one of the ponies exited. She opened fire, the pony only getting one missed shot before falling over. 

The SCAR-L clicked as she ran out of ammunition. She slid out the box and reached in to grab a new one. 

She quickly moved into cover as the other pony exited suddenly, breaking her chance to reload. He had two guns over both shoulders, both of them hoisted in his magic. He spotted Windrunner and began to gallop over to her. 

Windrunner didn’t have time to reload. Only a few seconds and he’d be around to open fire on her. She drew her knife, holding it in her wing. With a flap she took flight quietly, moving to the roof of the house. 

The unicorn rounded the bend, confused as to where Wind had gone. He held his weapons at ready. 

Windrunner smiled and said, “Up here.” As the stallion looked up she leaped down, and drove the knife into the back of his neck. 

He grasped at his neck for a moment before gasping and falling to his knees, then onto his side, dead. Windrunner quickly took the time to reload her weapon. 

Where was the next enemy? She scanned the landscape for a moment. 

“Winner winner chicken dinner… you know, that analogy makes no sense.” 

Windrunner jumped and turned around, reflexively firing the SCAR-L. Shade’s face amusingly stared back at her. 

“W-what?!” Windrunner said.

“It’s simple,” said Shade, smiling, “You won!”

Windrunner gasped. She won? “I... I won?”

“Yes, you win, pony. Now, follow me. We must leave this island. Make sure to remove all your weapons and stuff.” She turned and started to walk away. 

Windrunner unstrapped the SCAR-L, dropping it to the ground. Then off came the saddlebags, then the camouflage clothing. She took flight and slowly followed Shade, stupefied. 

Out of ninety-nine other ponies... she won.