//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - Trial by Fire // Story: The Equestrian Odyssey - A Tale of Two Worlds // by Kamahido //------------------------------// Arriving at Arc’s cell, the smallest stallion (subjectively, as he’s still quite large) looks him up and down. “You again?” Arc folds his arms over his chest. “You want another thrashing?” He turns to the others and walks away. “This punk already beat me. Next.” Fortunate Ire chuckles. “Nice. You’ve proven yourself worthy.” “Of what?” The next stallion steps forward. “Being ‘C’ Rank.” Arc sighs. “Wonderful. Are we done here then?” “Not a chance. You gotta take me on next.” “But why?” Fortunate Ire rolls his eyes. “To go for the next rank.” Arc turns around and heads back inside his room. “Not interested.” The stalling charges into the room and slams Arc against a wall. Pressing his quarry with all his might, he whispers something in Arc’s ear. “Give up yet, snowflake?” Arc grits his teeth and elbows the stallion in the side. He drops to the floor gasping. Turning around, Arc puts a foot on the stallion’s head. “Surrender.” The stallion nods. Fortunate Ire and the first stallion enter the room and drag him out as Arc returns to the corridor. Grinning, Fortunate Ire turns to him. “Nice one! You’re a ‘B’ rank now!” “I’m assuming that doesn’t mean we can stop now.” Shaking his head, the largest stallion approaches him. The floor literally shakes as he walks toward his quarry. Even in the dimly lit corridor Arc can see the chiseled features of the walking mountain before him. “You stop when we done! Not earlier!” “So now we’re gonna fight?” “It gonna be more of a massacre than anything else.” Arc gestures to the other stallions. “You so sure about that?” “Ya! Me strongest there is!” He turns and bucks Arc. Hitting the young man directly in the chest, Arc is thrown down the corridor to land in a heap at the end in an empty laundry cart. Getting up, he spies the stallion running toward him. Jumping out of the cart and back onto his feet, Arc nimbly dodges every blow that comes his way. “Stand still!” “Why?!” “So I can hit you!” Arc frowns. “But then I’d get hurt.” The stallion stops and scratches his head. “Gee… never thought of that.” Taking the opportunity, Arc lunges at the stallion. His fist catches him in the face, but does no damage. Arc drops back and rubs his hand. “What are you MADE of?! Steel?!” The stallion laughs. “That’s why they call me Boulder! My body’s hard as a rock!” Arc groans “Wonderful.” Going back on the defensive, Arc looks around for inspiration. Spying the laundry cart from earlier, he runs over to it. “Hiding won’t save you!” “Just might!” Playing literal ring around the rosy with the cart, Arc eventually gets into position. Shoving the cart as hard as he is able toward his opponent, the stallion falls into it face first. Continuing to push the cart, it comes to a laundry chute at the end of the corridor. Without slowing down it slams into the wall, dumping the stallion down the chute. Arc turns back to the other stallions defiantly. “Now are we done?” “Guess so. Congratulations.” “For what?” Fortunate Ire hurries over to him. “You’re ‘A’ rank now! That’s a big step up!” The first stallion nods and motions with a hoof. “Yeah. Grab your stuff and follow us.” Arc points back toward the laundry chute. “Uh… should we help him first?” “He’ll find his way back upstairs eventually.” Fortunate Ire grins as Arc picks up his package and follow the stallions. They come to a slightly nicer corridor, inasmuch as they’re properly lit and painted. Opening a door, they gesture inside. “This’ll be your room from now on.” Flicking a light switch Arc looks around. A properly furnished suite lies before him. While not perfect, it resembles the quality of living accommodations he was used to from living with Derpy. “Our local fixer here can hook you up with whatever else you need.” Fortunate Ire nods. “That I can!” “Uh… I still don’t have much to barter with.” The stallion points to a package on the table. “You’ll find some stuff to get you going in that care package.” “Thanks. I guess.” “Don’t thank us. We’re just doing our jobs, after all.” Fortunate Ire looks to Arc. “Now you should probably go see the King.” “Oh?” “Yeah. He insists on personally meeting all new ‘A’ ranks and looking them over. Fortunate Ire grimaces. “It’s a rule.” Arc sighs. “Fine. Anything I should know first?” “Just be respectful and don’t touch anything in his room.” Fortunate Ire shudders. “He hates that.” “We’ll take you there on our way to the showers.” Closing and locking his door, Arc follows the stallions a down the corridor. They stop in front of a very posh looking door. “Here we are. The King’s quarters.” Fortunate Ire grins. “Mind your manners and just do whatever he tells you to.” “We’ll see.” He walks up to the door and looks back to the others. “So… do I knock, or what?” The stallion shakes his head. “You just walk in and wait to be announced.” “Alright.” Entering, Arc finds himself in a very nice looking apartment-like room. Looking around he sees furniture that appears to be something that would have been found inside Canterlot Castle. The lights are warmly lit and everything present appears to be without dirt or grime. Arc frowns. “Okay, I can’t imagine the powers that be being anywhere near this generous.” The sound of hoofsteps from an adjoining room ring out. Two mares in tight-fitting maid’s outfits enter and look to him quizzically. Not really knowing what else to do, Arc raises a hand and waves slightly. “Um… hi.” Screaming, they run back the way they came. Arc sighs. “That went well. Wonder what I…” A few moments later the sound of hooves running toward him can be heard as a familiar stallion’s face comes into view. Growling, he glares at Arc. “YOU?!” Arc nods as he grits his teeth. “Hello again, Buffalo Bull.” Buffalo Bull seethes as Arc steps forward. “How’d you get in here?!” Arc points. “The door, idiot.” “I mean in prison!” “A colossal misunderstanding, I assure you.” Buffalo Bull scoffs. “That’s everypony here if you ask them!” “I suppose so. But in my case it’s true.” “You got a death wish, fella?!” Arc rolls his eyes. “I was told I needed to come here and say ‘hello’ by your… enforcers, I suppose.” “They give you your Baptism?” “Yeah.” “And…?” “Rank ‘A’, for whatever that’s worth.” “That’s to be expected.” Arc shrugs. “Well, I did beat you back then.” Buffalo Bull laughs heartily. “True! But as you can see, I’ve bulked up since then!” Arc looks the stallion over. “Yeah, I can see that.” “I’ve been training every day since I got thrown down here.” “What for?” “To stay on top of the food chain mostly. After all, somepony needs to keep the masses in line. Truthfully I never dreamed I’d be able to thank you for what you did to me back in Dodge Junction.” “Wait, what?!” “I normally try not to sully my own hooves with other’s blood. Usually I send somepony else to do that.” “How efficient of you.” “But in your case I think I’ll make an exception!” Charging forward, Buffalo Bull lowers his head and prepares to splatter Arc. Rolling his eyes, Arc holds out a hand. As the stallion’s head comes into range Arc shoves him violently to the side. He crashes over the couch and smashes into a wall. “What the…?” Arc grins. “Not as easy as you thought it’d be, huh?” “But… but I trained so HARD! I HAVE to be better than this!” Storming over to Arc, Buffalo Bull swings a massive hoof as he just stands there and waits. Raising a hand, Arc effortlessly catches the hoof in his palm and looks the stallion dead in the eye. “Now look… we can do this one of two ways. Either you give up your idea of revenge and try to get along, or we can duke it out. Just bear in mind that I haven’t actually thrown a single punch yet.” “Fine!” He whistles loudly. The mares from earlier run in and bow respectfully. “Spread the word that we have a new ‘A’ rank prisoner.” “Yes sir!” “Right away!” They hurry to comply as Buffalo Bull eyes them. Arc frowns. “I have a question.” “What do I look like? A tour guide?!” “How the heck did you get mares in here?!” Buffalo Bull grins slyly. “What’s the problem? After all, they’re prisoners too.” “In a ward for stallions?!” “There’s a mare’s wing on the other side of the prison. All of us take our meals together though so it’s just a matter of them agreeing to follow us back here.” “Why aren’t there foals running all over the place down here?!” Buffalo Bull rolls his eyes. “It’s called ‘birth control’, you idiot!” “So all the mares just…?” “In the water! Works for both mares and stallions! Everyone in here with us is shooting blanks! Any more stupid questions?!” “Not at the moment, no.” “Then get out of here!” Arc turns on his heels and walks toward the door. “Fine. See you later.” Buffalo Bull seethes as he watches Arc leave. Returning to the corridor, he spies Fortunate Ire waiting for him. “Sounds like it didn’t go so well in there.” “Not really.” “Well, you’re still alive.” Arc shrugs. “He couldn’t take me.” Fortunate Ire laughs. “Yeah, right! Nopony takes on the King and gets out alive!” “I did.” “Just now?!” Arc nods. “And a year or so ago.” “We should probably keep this between us. After all, if word got out that you had some kind of past with the King, things might get ugly.” “Yeah. I’ll sit on it for now.” “Watch your back though.” “Think he’ll want to put a knife in it, eh?” “Wouldn’t you in his position?” “Touché. So what now? Do I have some kind of job to do around here?” Fortunate Ire shakes his head. “You’re ‘A’ rank, so not really.” “What do the others do?” “All of the ‘B’ ranks are the unofficial police down here. They keep the peace, more or less. ‘C’ rank do all the hard jobs that require some muscle. And lastly, ‘D’ rank have the dirtiest, nastiest, most mind-numbing jobs imaginable.” “Like what?” “You saw the hole in your previous cell, right?” “Where a toilet probably should have been?” “Who do you think cleans that out?” Arc makes a face. “The ‘D’ ranks?” “You got it. They do a lot of nasty stuff you’re better off not thinking about.” “Do they at least get paid?” Fortunate Ire shakes his head. “Nope. All they get is a place to sleep and crumbs to eat.” “Literally?” “Yeah. But you’ll see come mealtime.” “How about the others?” “An allowance of goods from the prison. You can barter for other stuff with me or anypony else though. As an ‘A’ you get the best weekly payouts too.” “I guess that’s good. Uh… so do I just go back to my room and settle in now?” Fortunate Ire shrugs. “You can pretty much do anything you want down here now. Well, other than leave, that is.” “Thanks for the info. I’ll be seeing you around, I guess.” Fortunate Ire chuckles as Arc walks away. “That you will.” Arriving back at his room, Arc unlocks it and walks in. Flopping down on the bed, he frowns. “Not the worst spot to be. Well, compared to that first room, I guess.” Taking a deep breath, he concentrates and calls out telepathically. “Scootaloo?” “Big Brother?! Where are you?!” “Prison.” “What?!” “Yeah, I don’t get it either.” “I thought you were above the law!” “Apparently not.” “So what happened?!” “Celestia doesn’t accept that I’m the legitimate Hero of Light. In her mind I manipulated Luna and Cadance to get here.” “Did you?!” “Of course not! It was their idea! Well, technically it was the former Heroes of Light, but that’s beside the point.” “I’ll see what I can do to figure out which prison you’re in.” “No need. It’s called ‘Luna Bay’.” “Like the body of water far to the west of Canterlot?” Arc chuckles. “You’ve been studying maps?” Scootaloo nods. “With Decimus. We’re trying to prepare a number of contingency plans.” “For…?” “Invasion by the yaks, invasion by the Abyssinians, invasion by the Crystal Empire, invasion by the Griffon Kingdom, invasion by Earth, etc.” “Is he really that paranoid?” “It’s not actually a bad idea. Preparedness makes life easier after all.” “Yeah, well… did he come up with an counter for an invasion by me?!” “Actually, yes.” “You can’t be serious.” “Fifteen of them to be exact.” “Nice to know I’m viewed as more of a threat than all the surrounding nations combined in his mind.” “Yeah, he’s petrified you’re gonna find a way out of there!” “And I will.” “Want some help with that?” “Nah. It’ll give me some time to come up with a proper plan.” “For escaping or for getting to Decimus?” “Neither. Right now I want to come up with a way to get to Sunset Shimmer, Kane, and Celestia.” “Why them?” “Because they’re the biggest threats. Can I assume they’re back at the castle?” “Yup. Decimus’ promoted Sunset Shimmer to the position of Captain of the Royal Guard with Celestia’s blessing.” “Wow. I was sure she’d have to prove herself someway first.” “Something wrong, Big Brother?” “Uh… I’m in prison, for starters.” “No, no. I mean that this whole conversation you’ve been really sarcastic.” Arc sighs. “Sorry about that. I think it’s just my brain trying to cope with everything that’s going on. Me breaking out of prison is just another item on my ‘to do’ list right now.” “Anything you want me to do?” “Stay there and keep monitoring the situation along with Decimus. That and send word to Captain Soarin aboard The Equinox. Have him inform Derpy and Dinky along with my friends what happened.” “Anything else?” “That and I don’t want them to do anything at all to break me out or retaliate against Equestria in the meantime. We don’t need to give Celestia and her ilk more reason to go after the Abyssinians.” “Good idea, Big Brother. Is that all?” “Tell them to remember that the safety of the citizens must come first. I’ll meet back with them as soon as I can.” “How long do you think it’ll take for you to get out of there?” “No idea. But I’m wearing a collar that prevents me from using my magic.” “What about your Crimson form?” “I’m down in what they call ‘the pit’. Can’t see the sky or moon from down here.” “Sounds like they have your number, Big Brother.” “Yeah. As for what exactly they have planned for me, I’d rather not find out.” “Decimus told me that Princess Celestia is working on getting all the information together for a trial.” Arc frowns. “Somehow I doubt it’ll be a fair one.” “Probably not. But it would be a good way to escape.” “What do you mean?” “The trial is going to be a public one here in Canterlot. We could organize something to act as a diversion or even a frontal attack.” “Truth be told, I’d rather have my court date.” “Big Brother?” “It would give me a chance to prove once and for all that I’m not guilty of anything other than doing the job I swore to do.” “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” “Better than letting everyone think I’m guilty forever.” Scootaloo sighs. “Good point.”