//------------------------------// // Into The Abyss: Arena // Story: Imbalanced // by Nameless Narrator //------------------------------// [Blazing's Entry] To my surprise I actually woke up after the encounter with Applejack. The wound she caused me isn't healing though as I have no way to gain energy for my changeling side and the purplish glow from the few runes on my legs has almost faded meaning the magic powering me was spent to keep me alive. On the other hoof, the stew they feed us here is pretty tasty. [End Entry] The underground of the arena, which is where I guess I am from the occasional cheering coming from upstairs, is filled with cages serving as cells, each one hosting two prisoners. From what I was able to gather since yesterday they are used as gladiators here to amuse the population meaning they get fed fairly well not to make a weak showing. My cellmate is a huge red stallion who doesn't seem to talk much. I wouldn't have imagined how chatty gladiators can be but the tales they tell to one another after each fight serve as a good way to pass time. I also wouldn't have guessed that the inhabitants of Ponyville would enjoy arena fights that much but the fighters range from volunteers to convicted criminals so while they die from time to time there wasn't a single one yesterday who failed to return. There isn't much to do aside from waiting and I don't intend to waste what little energy I have left. The brown mud serving as food is more than enough to keep me going as a unicorn but to feed my changeling side I'd have to bite my cellmate which I'm saving as a last resort. My resurrection gave me another thing to worry about which is replenishing the magic in my body. I miss the good old days when eating few sandwiches during the day was enough to keep me healthy. Well... there are things to do around here. While the interior of the large room itself is dim, lit only by scarce bulbs and torches, every cage does have a small lamp hanging from the low ceiling in the middle and even now there are ponies around who are reading books or even writing letters. The other thing which is fairly difficult to ignore is what's going on in the cages where the main lamp is usually off. I haven't seen any mares around but the slapping of flesh on flesh and soft moaning gives me a good idea how long some of the guys have been here. There is one last thing I don't understand - my swords are still here. Whoever dragged me here didn't feel the need to disarm me and my cellmate doesn't seem to be bothered by the fact of me being armed, not a pony and possibly dangerous meaning he's either really sure of himself, incredibly stupid or doesn't care what happens to him. With the screech of an unoiled double door leading to the underground prison all sound fades and two things enter. I haven't seen beings like them before but something seems familiar. The things or beings are pony shaped and both have mechanical griffon arms instead of their front legs but unlike Applejack's enhancement that's not where the machine ends. Machine... yeah that's fitting. Said mechanical griffon arms instead of front legs, some form of steel legs resembling pony ones as their hind legs and plates of metal covering their entire body with what looks like electric cables and wires underneath. Steel whips instead of tails and helmet-like heads with glowing red crystals where unicorn horns would be explain full well why my appearance here wasn't even close to causing a comment. Where have I seen something like that before? Nightmare Night. The airborne attacker. True but that one was only partially mechanical or at least the griffon arm was the only thing I noticed at the time. The inscribed red horn-crystal was exactly the same though. "What are those?" I whisper to a pony in the cell adjoining mine through the bars. He shakes his head. "You may have noticed that not all of us are prisoners here. Some of us just signed a contract and get paid while fighting and gain some recognition among ponies. I guess some youngsters think their scars will be enough to impress the ladies," he chuckles and continues. "That's not true for the machines. You see... when there are ponies who committed really bad crimes or just something that really shouldn't be done the crowd doesn't decide their fate like in normal fights but they get to fight the reigning champion for their life. If they fail they get punished by losing parts of their body which are replaced by the biomachinery you see. Some of them see it as an opportunity to get stronger and eventually win against the champion to gain freedom but none of them has ever succeeded. Eventually they end up like broken husks without free will and serve the state." Just like long-serving royal guards heh. My brief amusement is cut short when the two Husks stop in front of my cell and unlock it. "Your turn," says one of the identical machines in raspy voice sounding like poorly-tuned radio and looks at me. "I wouldn't keep them waiting. Nice knowing you," says the informative gladiator with a sad smile. They've made a huge mistake. My main target is willingly going to face me one on one while I'm armed and her Element won't help so even while I'm in a really poor state I might be able to surprise her. The Husks wait patiently, not that they seem to have a choice, while I gather my swords and then we ascend the stairs leading to one of the arena entrances. After the time spent in the dim underground I'm blinded by the daylight when I enter a huge sandy circle surrounded by high walls separating the seats of spectators from the battleground itself. The place looks much like a hoofball stadium but on smaller scale. I don't really care about the details though and just focus on my main objective. Whether Scream was lying or not about the danger to my Equestria, I promised her I'd do this and I saw first-hoof the threat posed by Twilight Sparkle from this place. What I've done until now may have bought my Equestria some time and even if I die here and take Applejack with me I should give my Elements the time advantage. I hope that's the case. Not even a minute later I'm also deafened by the roar of the crowd when a brown earthpony wearing a cowboy hat steps into the arena from the other side. I've seen Applejack more than enough times on my side of Equestria while standing guard on big occasions and the difference between the two is notable. This AJ is more muscular and mottled patches of fur in some places on her coat prove the presence of really deep scars. The two mechanical arms ending in griffon claws instead of her forelegs help as well to tell this AJ and our one apart. She ignores the crowd and walks straight to me. "Ah'll take away everything you have just as ya took mine," she growls at me and finally turns to show off to the audience. I don't care about rules of this place. I don't care if the crowd stones me afterwards and so I swing both swords at the enemy who so foolishly turned her back to me. The gasp from the crowd as she snatches both swords from the air with her arms, spins on one leg and kicks me with the other are lost on me as her kick sends waves of searing pain through my entire body when she hits the spot on my chest where my armor is broken with pinpoint precision. I don't even manage to get up before she lazily trots to me and the claws tighten around my neck as she lifts me up. The memory of hanging from tree in Canterlot gardens becomes unpleasantly vivid when I look down at her standing on her hind legs and making my neck armor crack without any effort. Kick her! Kick her! I muster my strength and kick hard with both dangling hind legs straight at her chest. She just snorts and takes the blow without flinching while lowering me down and eventually we are face-to face and my legs touch the ground again. Then her other arm clenches my left foreleg. A sharp stab of pain and then the grip on my neck is released completely. Calm down. I feel fine. No more pain and while the arena seems to be swaying slightly everything feels alright. AJ is just standing there on all four and grinning so I take a step forward to surprise her... ... and fall down on the ground. I said calm down. What's going on? I try to get up but for some reason I keep falling to the side over and over. STOP! I freeze. Turn your head. My head turns to the left where the problem seems to be. The four pillars supporting my body from the time I was born have been reduced to only three. Wide-eyed, I look around and see a length of bronze chitin some distance from me lying between splatters of green. She ripped off my leg and I didn't even knock off her stupid cowboy hat. I slip on the rapidly growing pool of green under me and then bloodloss sends me once again into the darkness.