Chapter 20
“Great,” I muttered as I stood by the junk pile, looking myself over in a large mirror.
The burns covered more of my body than I thought; spreading from my left eye all the way down my left side and legs. It even ruined my cutie mark!
Luckily, the flames missed my wings, since they’d been flared when I got hit. So just the base seemed to be burned on my left wing.
My mane, even though most of it was protected by the helmet, was singed. I lost some length on the left side.
Frowning, I lift up a pair of scissors and try to even out the length of both sides. But I failed. I’m not a hairdresser. I drop the scissors, shaking my head.
Taking a step, I hissed loudly in pain. How the hell will I fight like this? The burns were starting to slowly scab over, and that was making it harder to move. Soon, I wouldn’t be able to move without ripping the healing scabs.
“You need to be laying down,” Doc said from his work table, where he was building me a new leg to replace the now damaged and charred one I currently wore.
“I wish I could,” I replied as I painfully limped over to him and slid into the seat. “But I have a fight coming up tonight apparently.”
He frowned as he muttered something.
With a sharp gasp of breath I opened my wings, flapping them a few times, wincing as I did. “This is going to go great.”
“Doc can fix it,” Moxxi suddenly said from her seated position nearby, getting a glare from Doc.
I look between the two, confused by the reactions, “You can?”
“I can,” he said solemnly, “But I wouldn’t call it fixing it.”
Nodding my head back to the burns over my body, I shrug, “Can’t be worse than what I’m feeling right now.”
“Doc, just do it. She won’t survive the tournament if she’s unable to even move,” Moxxi protested, hopping up and walking up next to me.
Doc let out a sigh and turned to me, his eyes filled with sympathy.
“He has the power to speed up the healing process,” Moxxi says, getting a small head shake from Doc.
“I thought Ego wasn’t allowed here?” I raised my eyebrow, glancing between the two.
“It’s not Ego,” Doc answered, raising his hand as it began to glow a light pink. “It’s my own ability. This place shuts off everything, but I used the favor I’d earned in the past during bouts to request mine back.”
Closing his fist, the glow disappeared, “But I only use it on cuts and broken bones. Because it doesn’t ‘heal’ the wounds. All I can do is advance them along their own natural healing process. So if I use it on your burns, I won’t fix anything. The burns will just accelerate to the point that they’re fully healed scars.”
“Then let’s do it,” I say, a bit excited. But at his continued soft stare, I sink a bit, “What’s the draw back?”
“If I do this, you won’t be able to use any other form of magic or Ego to reverse the damage done to you,” he said as he leaned back, rubbing his face. “You’ll have to go through heavy surgery and facial reconstruction to fix it if I do this.”
I blink at him, weighing my options; I could either say screw it and deal with the pain, but I could die due to low mobility. Or, I let him use his ability on me and advance my burns to the point they're just scars, but at the cost of not being able to have them fixed the easy way.
“Ah fuck it,” I say, my mind made up. “Fix me up, Doc.”
He groaned, but nodded as his hands began to glow. Standing up, he walked towards me, “I’ll need you to lay down. You’ll want to be unconscious for this part.”
Frowning, I lay down on the hard floor, my burns facing up.
“Oh I can’t watch this again,” Moxxi exclaimed as she walked away quickly.
I did not want to think about what she could mean by that.
Doc crouched down next to me and held a hand above my face. “It’s going to be okay, Scamp.”
His hand flashed a bright pink, and my vision darkened.
ooo000<^>000ooo
Everything slowly came back to me, like I was falling back into my body. Groaning loudly, I sat up. My body no longer was filled with agony as I sat there, blinking. My skin felt a bit tight on my left side, but it wasn’t unpleasant. Unlike before.
“Your burns healed nicely,” Doc said from my left. I turned to him, seeing that he was helping Remi with a few of her wounds. “No infection developed, and your limbs still have full mobility.”
Looking to my left hoof, I saw he’d put a new prosthetic leg on me. This one actually looked a bit more sturdy than the previous one.
Hauling myself up, I stepped up to the mirror, looking myself over.
The burns were no longer bloody, black, charred flesh. Now it was a more tamed color, but still looked rough.
“How unfortunate,” Drake said from atop a box, laying in a ‘sexy’ pose. “You were actually kind of cute before those burns.”
I rolled my eyes up at him, but he was right. I no longer looked attractive, in my opinion. No big deal, not like I was interested in looking good.
“You honestly look a lot better,” Reinhardt chuckled as she stepped up to us. “Scars improve attractiveness.”
Remi held her chalkboard up to me with her tail, and a little picture of me standing on a mound of corpses greeted me. ‘Looking good while stacking bodies’ was written around it.
Letting out a chuckle, I wiggled my only eyebrow at her. “Why thank you, Miss Remi.”
She made a laughing like sound as she pulled the board to herself and drew a laughing face on it.
Looking back to the mirror, I flexed a few times, pleased to see that I had the majority of my movement back. There was a slight tightness around me, but I’d get used to it.
ooo000<^>000ooo
“This shit is abysmally easy!” Vinetion laughed as she threw another creature over the ledge of the high rise. “You guys were having trouble with these guys?”
“Not these pushovers,” Lance sighed as he flashed a card, causing four creatures to stop fighting Calypso and start making out with each other. “The guys that gave us trouble were like that demon guy. These guys are just sad.”
Greg took a hit of a blunt as he lifted two goons and slapped them together, “Yeah, I don’t even know why these guys are trying at this point.”
As Lance knocked the last goon out, they heard cries for help coming from across the roof. Two sets of heavy doors burst open and a large serpent-like man stumbled out, bloody and bruised.
Lance looked back at everyone, then back to the wounded creature. “Where’s our friend?”
“You gotta help me!” the creature yelled as it stumbled towards the group.
“Freeze!” Calypso yelled, leveling her rifle on the advancing serpent.
He didn’t listen, but before anyone could attempt to stop him, a bang came from behind him. His eyes widened, “PLEASE!”
With a whoosh, he was pulled backwards roughly and swung sideways, slamming into the wall. Followed by him being thrown to the right, over the ledge of the high-rise.
As the group looked back to the open doors, a smile appeared on their faces.
“Grace!” Lance yelled as he ran forward and the two grabbed hooves, pulling each other into a hug.
“What the fuck are you assholes doing here?” She asked, looking both happy and shocked at the appearance of the others.
“Looking for our friends!” Lance answered excitedly. “We found out Zane was supposed to be here.”
“Oh he is,” she chuckled as she waved her hoof, followed by three others walking through the doors as well. “I’ve also been looking for our friends, I just didn’t realize you fucks were out here too.”
Greg blew smoke straight into the air as he walked up, “I was wondering if you’d ever show up.”
“Yeah, the guys who were trying to hold me were idiots. A little seduction and boom, a bunch of bodies were left,” She replied, flipping her hair. “Are you getting high again? Fuck yes.”
Cody stepped up to them, eye twitching, “She’s been bragging about that since she saved us.”
“Lance!” Dana screamed as she took him up in a hug, squeezing him hard.
“Hey, mom,” Lance chuckled as he returned the hug.
She lifted a leg, looking him over, “Have you been eating enough? You seem thinner than the last time I saw you.”
“I'm eating fine,” he said with a roll of his eyes.
“It’s so good to finally see you guys again!” Zane said with an excited tone as he moved to hug Greg. “I haven’t seen you in a while!”
As he reached him, legs out for a hug, Greg lifted a leg and let Zane run into what he was holding. A pokeball.
“Huh?” Zane asked as he was suddenly pulled into the ball and disappeared.
“Not a fan of that guy,” Greg said as he hit the blunt again.
Cody blinked in confusion at what just happened. “Is Zane okay?”
“He’s good,” Greg chuckled and raised a pokeball. “These things are awesome, bro!”
“Is that a pokeball?!” Cody asked, smiling. “Let me see it!”
“You got it!” Greg said as he tossed it to Cody.
The ball landed in Cody’s hand, then opened as it sucked him into it.
“Ah, shit, probably shouldn’t have thrown it to him,” Greg said with a sheepish smile as he took a heavy hit from the blunt.
“We need to wash these clothes,” Dana said as she looked at the stains on Lance’s clothes.
“We don’t have time for that, Mom,” Lance replied, a bit annoyed that she was acting like, well, a mom.
She glared at him as she stepped back. “We need to find Barehoof.”
“Mom, I don’t know if he’s here. I’m pretty sure it’s just humans, I don’t think any ponies were brought here,” Lance replied, rubbing his eyes.
“There are, we have one of the girls with us,” she replied, looking back, seeming confused to not see who she was talking about. “I mean, she was behind us.”
“There’s someone else with you guys?” Vinetion asked, getting a nod from Grace.
“Oh yeah, I thought she was right behind us.”
“Who is it?” Lance asked, but he was answered as confetti blew through the door and coated them all in colored shredded paper.
“Pie Babe!” Greg yelled as he blew through everyone and slammed into the pink pony.
“Hi, Melly!” Pinkie laughed as the two embraced tightly, spinning around in a circle.
She then sniffed the air, and frowned, “Are you… on the plant again?”
He stopped their spinning, smiling sheepishly at her. “I am, actually. But its for a good cause!”
A glare slowly fell on her face, his forced smile getting wider in response.
“He’s high because we need him to be. He’s actually saved us a few times,” Lance admitted, sighing. “I promise he’s not doing it for pleasure this time around.”
Greg smiled at him thankfully, then lifted her chin, “I promise, babe, I’m only like this for the others sake.”
“Sounds convenient,” Pinkie said in a low voice, eyes still narrowed. Then suddenly she sprang back to her happy self, “But I trust you, Melly!”
“I think he shouldn’t be touching that stuff again,” Dana said with a displeased look on her face.
A pokeball bounced off the back of her head, causing her to disappear.
Everyone turned around to see Calypso standing there.
She shrugged, “I didn’t like her negativity at the current situation.”
Lance stared at her for a moment, then started laughing. The others slowly followed till they were all in an uproar.
ooo000<^>000ooo
“What’s the plan?” Calypso asked as they stepped out of the single high-rise and back into the carnival around them.
“Well now that we know ponies were sent here too,” Lance said, looking at Greg and Pinkie as they made out as they walked. “I think that ups the stakes.”
“Definitely,” Grace said, holding up her locket and looking at the picture within. “My wife and kid are here somewhere.”
“We all have loved ones trapped in this hell hole,” Vinetion grumbled.
“Is there any way to speed this up?” Calypso asked.
“Ooo! We can use their version of the internet!” Pinkie said loudly before going back to making out with Greg.
“Actually, that’s a good idea,” Lance said. “We can find a computer and see what we can do with it.”
“Sweet, where the fuck can we find one?” Grace asked, looking around at the booths.
“Four booths down to the left, bro,” Greg said suddenly, lifting Pinkie up and the two falling to the ground together.
“Gross,” Calypso said as she took a step away from the pair.
“How does he know… screw it, lead the way!” Vinetion said, pointing ahead.
Lance led the group past a few booths, heading for the aforementioned one.
“Let me talk to the booth owner, I’ll convince him to let us use his computer, if he even has one,” he said, glancing back at the pink and green pile that was rolling after them.
As they stepped into the tent, they were greeted by a skinny furry creature. It was messing with a device that looked like a laptop.
“Welcome, welcome, the name of the game is darts. Hit the targets, win a prize,” he said, not even looking up at them as he gestured to the game he was running.
“Actually, my good, sir,” Lance began, leaning next to the creature. “We need to use your computer there.”
“No,” was his only answer. “Buy a round of darts, or leave.”
As Lance started to say something else, a vine shot up and wrapped around his neck. As he screamed, he was wrapped in a viney cocoon.
“Vinetion!” Lance whined as he turned to face her smirking face.
“What?” She asked innocently. “You heard him, he said no. Well now we have a computer, and he gets to take a nap. It’s a win win!”
He facehoofed as he picked up the laptop and turned it to face them. “So, what are we doing here? Looking something up? Posting something?”
“I got this shit,” Grace said as she bumped him aside and started messing with the computer with her wing tips. “I’ve already tried this earlier, but I only found something about Zorrow. But he was already gone when I went after him.”
“Yeah, we got his ass,” Lance chuckled, watching her work.
“So I have another idea. This whole park has its own website, so it must also have a forum or something.” She smirks as she opens a tab, “Look at me, the smartest bitch in this whole group. Our buddy here,” she slapped the wiggling cocoon, “has an employee log in.”
“Well fuck yeah, something is finally looking up for us,” Lance said with a sigh of relief.
The group watched her work her way through the employee only forums, clicking on threads one at a time.
“Try using the search feature,” Greg asked as he and Pinkie stopped attacking each other's faces and joined the group.
“There isn’t one,” Grace said in annoyance, then scrolled to the top. “Ah, nevermind, there is one.”
She typed in a few different search terms; pony, brony, Lance, Watcher, etc., but nothing of interest came up. That is till she typed in Lorenzo.
Among all the threads that popped up, one stood out; ‘We’re a fun park, not a wannabe prison!’.
Clicking on it revealed a lot of disgruntled park employee’s, complaining about the extra work they were having to do now that Lorenzo was making them watch equine prisoners.
“These guys are really pissed off,” she chuckled as they all read each reply, looking for something that could help them. But they got nothing, as they were all just complaining, but not talking about specifics.
“Ask about the prisoners,” Greg offered.
She nodded as she typed away at the computer, adding a comment asking if anyone actually knows where any of the prisoners were.
It didn’t take long before a few responded, voicing their displeasure at the situation. Then one replied that caused Grace to smirk.
“Got em,” she said as she clicked a picture which had a few tram stations on them and directions to different places.
“Holy fucking shit, did we just finesse the locations of all our friends?” Lance asked in amazement.
“Fuck yeah we did!” Grace laughed as she pumped her hoof in the air.
“This guy is saying they’re not even being held by any of Lorenzo’s men yet!” Lance announced, a wide smile on his face.
Calypso nodded, adjusting her helmet, “Well, this all came together quite nicely.”
Lance took out a little camera and took a picture of the screen, a little picture coming out of the camera. He took it and looked at it, smiling. “Now the easy part.”
He printed a few more pictures, handing them out to everyone.
“Bro, let me use the computer,” Greg said as he slid up, taking over the laptop.
“Why?” Grace asked with a smirk. “Gonna look at weird porn?”
Greg just laughed, taking a hit of his blunt. “Probably later, but I want to look up some shit.”
“Oooo! Let me help!” Pinkie said as she jumped on his back, looking past his head at the screen.
“You got it!” he laughed as he began to type away with his magic.
The others stepped outside the tent.
“So are we splitting up?” Vinetion asked.
“No,” Lance responded. “We can’t afford to lose each other. We’ll just have to go down the list one at a time. They’re not labeled, so there’s no idea how to know who’s who.”
The group looked at the list, examining each one.
As they stood there, something started beeping in Lance’s pocket. With a look of confusion, he pulled out the beacon Ominus had given him.
“EMERGENCY TELEPORTATION REQUEST! EMERGENCY TELEPORTATION REQUEST!” It screamed as it flashed red and blue aggressively.
“What does that mean?” Grace asked, staring at the device in confusion.
“I don’t know,” Lance admitted. “Ominus must be sending something to us.”
He tapped the button and threw the device to the ground.
It screamed a few more times, then stopped. In a flash, Jero appeared standing over the device, blood on his face. He was breathing heavily, looking to be in shock.
“Jero?!” Lance yelled as he jumped to his side, grabbing him. “What the hell happened to you?”
Jero blinked a few times, then looked at Lance, then grabbed his shoulders in a panic, “Lance it’s bad! So fucking bad!”
“What happened?!” Lance yelled back, shaking him slightly.
“Ominus,” he began, suddenly going pale as his adrenaline crashed. “Some guy named Lorenzo… it was bad… Lance…”
He slumped back, unconscious.