//------------------------------//
// Freedom Requires Sacrifice 
// Story: Derealization 
// by Wingman Jones 
//------------------------------//

		It was hot, no scratch that, it was unbearably hot, so hot that two of the immigrants in our cart already died, 

“Water...please...water...” I slur on the verge of passing out. We've been in the cart for a good three days, during the day we cook in the blazing sun until my ass is covered in blisters and at night it gets so cold that I feel ice form on my seat. We would've escaped sooner but somehow Zecora can't use any shadows to pick the locks, 

“Callidus...where are...” slowly I turn to face where I thought Zecora would be, “Water...just gimme some water...” I say to her as dehydration took over. At some point I fell asleep and when I woke up I was freezing, “Around the corner then three blocks down...around the corner then three blocks down...around the corner then three blocks down...”the voice was aged and sounded feminine, “What?” my throat was too parched so it was barely audible, “The corner store, where the nice bull lives, he always gives me candy and walks me home every time I visit my friend.” it was that pegasus mare who nearly bashed her head in who finally spoke up, “Who lives where?” 

“My friend Mr. Blank, he would sit me down in front of him and do funny things to me like put sticks in my hooves or he would put a cold circle on my chest. I call him Mr. Blank because he always wears white, he so nice to me.” she said as her voice gets even raspier from lack of water, “They would always drop me off and at his home and I always had to walk my house. So when this funny looking carriage stops I will go around the corner and find my other friend.” she giggled like a school filly and I prayed the train would stop soon and I fell asleep.

One of the dark walls suddenly flew wide open letting the bright sun illuminate the cart startling me awake, two figures came in and the sprayed something cold at me and at everypony inside, 

“Cooled off?” my eyes adjusted to the light and I see three armored minotaurs, two of them were holding hoses and the middle one just stood there with a rifle, “Alright get them to the Farm.” more of them came and they picked each and every one of us up, “All of you, move.” we obliged and we were walking out. The poison I was injected with was wearing off and I was able to move my stiff muscles to some degree, I look around and see nothing but pure, dry desert that seems to stretch on for miles and miles, 

“Brother...I can't...” I heard dead weight drop behind me, “Zecora!” my throat burned when I screamed. When I shuffled to her one of the soldiers pushed me back, “Hey just stay there, we can probably help her.” 

“No you can't.” I turn and see Ferkith coming out of the train, “She's as good as dead, I mean look at the others just up and walking while she's just laying there. Pile her with the other two dead weights.” 

“No for God's sake help her!” they unshackle her and aim at her head, “No!” adrenaline was released into my system and with it I used it to break one of the minotaur's legs with a single kick and use my cuffs to choke him into submission.

The other one came at me with the stock of his gun but I move back and he accidentally hits his partner instead. He drops to the ground and I grab the other soldier's rifle, with full force I headbutt him and he stumbles to the ground and I aim the rifle at him, “Now he's getting fired up! I love it!” Ferkith said gleefully as more soldiers come out of the train, “Now what was your name again? Callidus? Did you like the poison I made? I designed it to specifically last three days because that is exactly how long it takes to get here. But the one thing I'm most proud of is it's ability to cut off any magic a criminal may have, thus eliminating any chance of escape.” he said as he walked closer to Zecora, 

“Ferkith! Either you help her or I blow this guy's head clean off!” I bluffed as my finger tensed, 

“Well that is certainly a complete change of tune. Here's what I can offer, I give her medical attention and in exchange you will have to be...” he rubbed his chin and smiled like a mental patient, “I know! How about you become my pet.” that set me off but before I could pull the trigger there was a gunshot but it wasn't from me, on top of the train cart I was in was a minotaur covered in a sand colored shroud.

He shot me right in the upper part of my arm and I was again defenseless, “New offer, either you agree to the terms of the first offer or I kill both you and her.” the cocking of many assault rifles confirmed that he wasn't fucking around. I was furious, I let myself get a bit too cocky and I ended up at the mercy of the MIS, I was ready to be defiant again until I looked at my sister, she was on the verge of death and if I didn't do something this will be the last place she ever saw so I swallow my pride and I calm down, “You win Ferkith.” he smiled in delight as I saw Zecora being taken away, every ounce of rebellion I had was now ground to dust, “Now what to call you?” I didn't notice Ferkith towering over me like a vulture scouting for food, 

“How about I call you...Footstool.” 

“Footstool?” a hoof connected with my face and I was knocked back, I felt something hard and round press against my face and above me was Ferkith, “Yeah because you can be too easy to step on. Now listen, if you ever try to escape I will not hesitate to get Zecora and slowly mutilate her with my bare hands in front of you and then kill you. Understand?” he applied more pressure to his hoof, “Yes.” 

“I'm sorry what was that? You have to call me “master” every time you talk to me. So do you understand?” I had the most strongest urge to rip out his throat, “Yes...master.” he took his hoof off and he unshackled me, “Take the others to the Farm!” 

“No! No no no no!” yelled the now manic pegasus mare, “This isn't the corner store! What did you do to it!? What did you do to my friend!?” she kept bucking every soldier who came close.

She bucked one hard enough to the ground and she pounced on him, she removed the helmet and used her hooves to grab hold of his mouth and pulled them apart, “AAAAAAAGGHHH!!!” he screamed, she kept pulling and slowly his cheeks were ripping apart, “Kill her.” a soldier took aim and shot her in the head, “She was a lot stronger than she looked.” Ferkith laughed as he looked down at the injured soldier who muffled his cries, “This goes for all of you! Anypony gets even the slightest thought of defiance will result in execution!” I kept staring at the dead mare, 

“You heard him, any sign defiance and Zecora and I will end up dead.” I felt cold metal clasp around my wrists and unknown hands hauled me away from the rest, “C'mon Footstool, time for you to see your new home!” Ferkith along with the two carrying me laughed at his joke. We stop right in front of a 50 ft wall of sandstone, “Open up! I got a new pet and I don't want to stuff him with the rest of the livestock!” the sound of large, mechanical gears grinding against each other invaded my ears and the wall formed into two doors. What was revealed was a large military base, it was crowded with soldiers and everywhere there were soldiers who came in and out of hand-made buildings painted brown with either files or guns. In the center of it all was a sturdy looking mansion with a coat of blue paint and yellow accents, the roof was dome shaped and on top were three flags; one was red and white with a intricate gold pyramid encased in a black circle at the center which can only be the flag of Minyochnaed, one was a pure yellow with a silver shield which was the MIS, and the last one was green with a purple trimming and it had a picture of a hand gripping a snake which I did not recognize.

I looked at the walls surrounding this small city and figure that they carved a mountain from the inside to make this, “Impressed Footstool?” he said as he noticed how I gaped at this base, 

“This is the greatest fort ever to be made in the history of the world. This fort was built nearly 500 years ago, it fought in over 286 battles and it has never once fallen. Welcome to Fort Schultz.” one of them nudged me to walk, “Alright enough sightseeing, get moving.” 

“Hey asshole, I'm bleeding.” I deadpanned when I mentioned the bullet wound, “Ah we'll fix it when we get there.” they led me to the mansion which was heavily guarded out front. The mansion was even bigger than I thought, we were walking on spiral stairs made of ivory that seemed to go on forever, when I tried to take another step dehydration took over again and the last thing I remember was falling down the stairs and blacking out. I don't know how long I was out but I woke up when something cold splashed over me, I sit up in a panic and gasp for air, 

“You okay Footstool?” across from me sitting in a chair with an empty bucket was Ferkith, “What the hell you-” I felt something around my neck, I looked down and see a collar with a six foot chain attached to the wall behind me, “The fuck is this!? *groan*” pain shot up my shoulder when I moved my arm. The bullet wound from earlier was still there, it healed a little faster but it was still fresh, “I thought you said you were going to fix this.” 

“Did I say that?” he pulled a bag of some sort from behind his seat and set it on his lap.

“You're a pet now, do what the other animals do when they're injured and tend to it yourself.” I look at him with the most serious face I could ever make, “You're kidding right?” 

“If you do it maybe I'll give you a little something for the pain.” he patted the bag on his lap, “Go to Hell.” I spat with hate. His face grew a scowl, he nearly leaps out of his seat and punched me to the ground, my nose went numb for a second then it became moist and painful, he broke my nose, “Huh? It seems that it already started to heal.” he plunged his finger straight into the wound and I wailed as the bullet was pushed in deeper, 

“Barely half an hour and you already broke two rules, you were again rebellious and you did not call me master.” he pushed even deeper until he was a knuckle in and he tore even more of my muscle making my arm feel like it's being electrocuted, 

“*groan* Sorry, but it's hard for me to obey somepony who framed me and threatened to kill my sisterAAAARGH!!!” the bullet was near bone and blood literally poured out like an open faucet, no doubt if he pushed any further I would lose the arm, “I will let that little stunt slide only once, but if you give me shit like that again I will cut out that tongue. Understood?” I stared at him hoping that he would burst into flames with my glare, “Yes, master.” I struggle to say through gritted teeth.

He quickly pulled out his finger along with the bullet and walked back to his seat, I hold my shoulder to try and stop the bleeding, “Well?” he said as he stared me down, “Lick your wound, pet.” my arm was shaking uncontrollably, dark red streaks covered the length of it and dripped onto the carpet, I remove my hand and see the now bigger bullet wound. An almond scent radiated from it and I gag, that's a clear sign of gangrene, I move closer to the wound and hesitantly stick out my tongue, 

“Just a few licks...” finally I taste the metallic blood, “Good boy.” he said clearly enjoying watching me, I accidentally dig into it and the muscles contracted, for a second my tongue was stuck in the wound and I tasted the tender and ragged tissue until I pull it out with a loud suction sound which almost made me lose whatever I had left in my stomach. Ferkith pulled out a medical box and a smaller black box and threw them next to me, 

“I'll be back, I have a meeting to attend to, oh before I forget.” he grips my nose and pulls it creating a sickening cracking sound, it still hurts but it was easier to breathe. As he walks out of the room the first thing I grab is the black box , I opened it and inside was a syringe and a bottle of penicillin.


Many stitches later the pain on my shoulder was reduced to a dull throb, I grab the medical box and stared at the red cross on it until I threw it across the room and knocked over a globe. Never in my life did I ever feel so powerless, so abused, right now Zecora's life is in the palm of that psychopath and I can't do anything else at the moment except obey his every command proving that I am nothing but his pet and knowing that only pisses me off further. The door opened and at the frame I see the cow who tackled me, she was wearing regular clothing instead of her armor and her chestnut hair was tied into a ponytail,

“Umm...hi.” she says as she slowly walks in, “What the hell do you want?” she freezes when she makes eye contact, “Sorry, I came by to tell you that your zebra friend is making a full recovery.” I relaxed a little, 

“Thank you.” she walks even closer and she lowers herself a little, “You're an actual human. Do you know any other humans?” 

“If I did I probably wouldn't be in this country in the first place.” I snap, “Right, do you know you're the first human to be sighted in almost 20 years?” 

“No I didn't and I don't give a rat's ass.” she sat down in front of me, “You're pissed, it's normal to feel that way since you are a prisoner. How do you do that thing?” 

“What thing?” 

“That thing when you transform.” 

“I just think about it.” 

“Really? Can you change into other things?” 

“No, I tried.” 

“Well do you have any other powers? I read that humans can be as powerful as an alicorn!” 

“That is complete bullshit.” her smile faded and she looked disappointed, “Is it really?” 

“Yeah, in this form I'm as powerful as you are right now.” 

“Oh, I see. No wonder you didn't escape earlier.”

It went quiet and she looked uncomfortable by the silence, “Are you really an assassin?”  I was taken aback by that question since it was random and serious, “I was, but I'm trying to stay away from that sort of shit.” 

“How come? From what I heard you are really blood thirsty.” 

“Okay let me clear some things up. I was an assassin, but it wasn't my first option. I was actually goaded into being an assassin, some griffons saw my talent and they told me to work for them as their personal hit-pony, they said that it would be for justice, for the good of the world and the things that live in it. Being as young as I was I believed them and immediately went to work. After many jobs I grew suspicious of their motives so I looked into it, they were actually getting me to kill anypony they thought would be a threat to them or their fortune, so on my last job I let my target live. They soon caught up with me and reported me to the Griffon Empire, before we could be arrested we fled” 

“But why here? Couldn't you have gone to Equestria where it's more “immigrant friendly”?” 

“When you're on the run conventional means of travel are out of the question and when you do travel, it can get expensive. Since Minyochnaed was the farthest we could travel to until we ran out of money we stayed here.” 

“You know you're pretty open. I thought somepony like you would barley say anything.” 

“Yup.” 

“I'm Khiva by the way.” she held out her hand, “Callidus.” I reply as I shook her hand, “Nice to meet you Callidus.” 

“Khiva, tell me, what happens to the other prisoners here?” once again her smile vanished, “They get deported back to their country, but if they committed a major crime then by law they must serve time here.” my hands turned to fists, “Then tell me how many supposed murderers here are actually guilty!” I yell which caused her to fall on her back.

I scared her, I could tell from her watering eyes, “I-I...Callidus...” 

“Why did Ferkith want me as a prisoner!? It's sure as hell not because I'm an immigrant because he went through a lot of trouble to make sure I wouldn't leave the country!” I stood up and I loomed over her, “If I tell you I want you to promise something.” her tone went flat and she kept staring at the floor, “You don't mention any of this to General Jirrad.” I sat back down and she regained composure and looked at me, “I'm not sure if you know this but poverty is common in some of the country's provinces, more common near shorelines. Income is so low in those parts that minotaurs sometimes leave their homes to find jobs somewhere else.” 

“What does that have to do with anything?” 

“I'm telling you everything so you could understand better. I come from one of those provinces, both of my parents were unemployed and the soil in my hometown was poor for farming so we were reduced to scavenging and stealing food. Eventually I heard about positions available in the military, I told my parents about it and they got angry. I begged them to let me go because we needed the money and the military gave soldiers many benefits, but they forbade it and told me to forget about it. When the recruiters came I took the chance and signed up.” 

“How did you manage that? Don't you have to be 18?” 

“I just lied to them and when they asked for my parents I said that I was an orphan. A month later it was time for me to go to bootcamp, I lied to my parents telling them that somepony hired me to be their maid in the capital.” I look out the large, paneled window and I see the sun begin to set.

“Can you please get to the point?” 

“I'm getting to it. After training I joined the MIS since it was the only branch accepting rookies, when I got my first check I noticed that it was smaller than what they promised so a few of us asked the first officer we found for an explanation. Turns out that we were growing in numbers and they were running out of room meaning smaller and smaller paychecks for the rest of us excluding the higher ups. I was sad when I found out but then they announced an open position for the rank of captain, so I aimed for it. I knew that the others would go for captain too so I had to push myself harder than I ever did in my life. I broke my knuckles from constant punching of concrete, I passed out every time I went out for a jog, and I suffered a lot of migraines from studying battle tactics to weaponry nonstop just so I could be the best of the best. When I felt that I was ready they turned me down just because I was young and inexperienced in battle. I was about to quit until he spoke up.” I lean against the wall out of fatigue, 

“General Jirrad pleaded with the others to give me a chance until they finally did. I asked him why he did what he did and he said that he noticed how hard I trained and saw my potential. I accompanied him to take down a building full of criminals who intended to distribute weapons into the country illegally, he ordered me to handle the situation.” 

“And let me guess, you took them down?” 

“With no casualties. Thanks to that I was granted the rank and my paychecks tripled. I enjoyed it, I liked how I was above every other soldier in this base, I liked how I was able to train rookies myself, and how I would actually form battle strategies instead of listening to them, I was so focused on myself that I was too ignorant to notice what was happening in the background.” she shifted uncomfortably in her spot.

“You see one of my duties as captain is to watch over the Farm here and there.” 

“What is the “Farm”?” 

“It's the name of the prison where the immigrants are placed.” 

“Continue.” 

“When I do roll call sometimes I would find one or two inmates missing and I would figure that they were just deported. But one day when I did roll call I had an entire page of names that were marked as missing, when I confronted General Jirrad about it he said that most of them were deported and some died from beatings. I grew suspicious so I looked into it, I dug through some of the older files and I found hundreds of names listed as missing and when I look at the dates they indicated that it started when Jirrad became general. I brought the files to him and I demanded that he explain why so many inmates were vanishing, and he did.” she tensed up, 

“He told me that Fort Schultz was at risk of becoming one of the poor provinces so he and the other commanding officers got together to think of a solution to the problem, and that was when he showed his true colors.” her voice started to get a little shaky, “He took me to a secret section just recently built within the Farm. What I saw beyond that door was too unreal...” she brought her knees up to her chest and she hid her face, “Beyond that door was General Jirrad's “solution”, he and the rest of them agreed to turn criminal and use the inmates as a way to make profit.” 

“What do you mean profit?” 

“The secret section was actually an auction house, General Jirrad's “solution” was to sell the inmates to the highest bidder, but that was not the worst part.” she balled up a little more tighter.

“The inmates were sold off to be whatever the buyer wanted them to be. General Jirrad built sound proof rooms for those who wanted them for sex, he built a dungeon full of devices and mechanisms he called “toys” for whoever wanted to torture them for fun, and he built a small restaurant for those who bought them to be livestock.” 

“Livestock?” 

“Some of the buyers were actually eating the prisoners.” I felt my stomach bubble and something in it clawed at the walls of my throat, when I opened my mouth I puked, “Callidus!” I have seen some very very disturbing things in my life and it's rare that I puke, but cannibalism? That shit is just downright wrong, “Sorry...” 

“No I'm sorry, I'll just leave.” I grab hold of her wrist before she could leave, “I'm fine, remember that you said you were going to tell me everything? So please, continue.” she stared at the door but she sat back down into her original position, “When I first entered I saw many military officials and politicians that I know very well. General Jirrad told me to sit with him and his friends, I sat there listening to their stories, General Jirrad told me the times he broke hardened stallions by turning them into sex slaves, he told me how he loved to hear griffons scream as he slowly broke every individual bone in their body, he even admitted to preparing and eating a minotaur.” I sat there unmoving and silent, everything that she was saying was so horrifying and twisted that I couldn't believe it, it would be more believable if she said they were demons, 

“That's just sick!” I exclaim, “Doesn't anypony else know?” 

“Only the higher ups including myself and a few of the soldiers here.” “Why are you just letting them get away with this!? Don't you find any of this wrong!?” “Of course I find this wrong! I was auctioned off once!”

I cut myself off, there was an awkward silence which was broken by sobs coming from Khiva, “General Jirrad came to me and said that he was low on inventory and that he needed my help to fix the problem, he even convinced a few others to “help”. When we came I was the first one to be up for auction, nopony was placing any bids. When he saw some of them leaving he came on stage with me and he told me to strip in front of them, and they loved it. Almost everypony was cheering me on as I got naked, in the end I was sold off to a politician who eyed me the entire time I was there, before I could get away General Jirrad grabbed me and took me to one of the sound proof rooms. I begged him that I didn't want to do this, but he looked at me and said 'that's an order Khiva', I wanted to refuse...but I couldn't go against orders so I...I...” she broke down crying in front of me, I can't say that I know how she feels but what I can say is that I know what pain is so I scooted closer to her and hugged her. She was surprised at first but she then just accepted it and cried into my shoulder, after a few minutes all I was hearing were sniffles, 

“Why don't you just leave? Why let them keep doing this?” 

“The day I became captain I returned home to see my parents, I thought that they would be proud of how I became captain at such an early age. The first thing they said to me was that I was a fool!” she cried even harder, “They told me that I was a fool for joining the military, they said that it would've been better if I said I was a whore! They threw all of the money I sent them in my face and said I was dead to them!” she cried out as her grip on me tightens.

“When my parents disowned me this was all I had left. That's why I let that politician take me, that's why I never said a word about any of this. If I did then I would lose everything, I would no longer exist.” she calmed down and sat upright, “Sorry...I got too emotional.” 

“No I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up.” 

“You didn't know, so it's fine. Stories about you traveled here and when General Jirrad heard about you he became obsessed, he thought that you would be worth more than all of the inmates here combined.” 

“So he framed me to make sure I wouldn't leave the country.” she nodded her head. What she told me made me hate Ferkith even more, this bastard is selling off living beings to corrupted minotaurs, forcing his own soldiers to be sold off, and he killed an innocent bystander just to get to me and make some profit, this is the first time in months that I felt the urge to kill, “Wait Khiva, how come you're telling me all of this?” 

“Because you're going to disappear.” my eyes automatically went wide and I felt a cold chill run up and down my spine, “When General Jirrad finally caught you I knew that you would be sold off to be a sex slave, or maybe a living pin cushion, or maybe just to be somepony's dinner, and you would never be heard from again. You must understand that keeping all of this in is too much to handle and I had nopony to talk to about it because they could report this. So I thought that you would be perfect, once you disappear Fort Schultz's secret will disappear with you.” she said with an innocent smile.

Instinctively I lunge at her but she jumped back far enough for the chain to hold me, “You bitch.” 

“Like I said, this is all I have left so your life has no importance to me.” she walked towards the door, “I'll tell your zebra friend that you tried to escape and you ended up getting shot. Goodbye Callidus.” she said as she closed the door. My entire body was shaking from pure anger, she didn't see me as a pony but as some kind of toss away diary she could use to clear her conscience and continue living in her delusion, “So you're a captain?” but all that anger turned into self-satisfaction, “They were right, you are inexperienced.” in my hand was a key that I spotted in Khiva's pocket when I hugged her, at first I felt bad for doing it but after what she said I felt good. The first thing I tried was the lock on my collar, “Shit.” didn't work. I look back outside and I see the sun just barely setting on the horizon, “I'm running out of time.” I paced around my little area, I took a closer look at the key, 

“Pretty thin key...” I walk to the end of my chain and I inspect all four of the screws that were drilled in the wall, I place the bottom of the key into the slit of the screw, “Perfect fit.” slowly I undo each screw until I was finally free. The sun set completely, “Just in time.” everything outside turned darker and opaque making things harder to see. A weak light was rising from the horizon and slowly it was getting brighter and brighter, after a few seconds the moon was halfway up and shone down on everything beneath it, “Three...two...one...” on cue I heard a very loud crashing sound coming from the the south side of this place along with soldiers babbling in confusion then an alarmed went off and the entire base went wild.


*******(Two Days Earlier)*******


“So guy.” I call out to the griffon next to me, “How many times were you caught and sent back here?” 

“How did you know I was an escapee?” 

“I overheard some of the soldiers saying you were back and I noticed that they placed your cuffs on tighter along with the pre-clipped wings.” I cock my head to his wings, “About four times.” he was hesitant, “Then you should know how the prison system works and the prison's layout right?.” 

“Sure do.” 

“Good, so how does the prison look like?” 

“That's a little hard to explain, right now we're headed to a military base and the prison only takes up ¼ of it.” 

“Military base?” 

“Yeah, the entire base is separated into four quadrants: The housing area, the training facility, the command center, and finally the prison. The prison is smack dab in the middle of the other quadrants.” as he talked I tried to form a plan, “If the prison is the center then through which quadrant do you enter in?” 

“Usually we have to go through the housing area.” 

“Hmm...does the housing area have some kind of medical unit?” 

“Almost all of them do.” 

“Perfect. Zecora, as soon as we get out of this cart I want you to pretend that you're ill so they can take you to the medical unit. When you think it's safe I want you to find a detailed map of the base with evacuation routes, they should have some. Whatever you do, don't come looking for me I'll come to you.” 

“A simple task I can do, but what will you do?” I turn back to the griffon who was even more suspicious of me than before, “What are you thinking?” 

“What's your name?” 

“Rithro.” 

“You want to make your fifth attempt your last?” his face softened a bit but immediately turned into a scowl.

“Hold on are you seriously telling me that you plan to escape?” 

“Huh, I thought I made that clear.” 

“No not ugh! Are you listening to yourself? Barely an hour on this train and you already think of escaping? And besides, you look young so why should I listen to a kid when even I couldn't escape?” I rolled my eyes in annoyance and Zecora spoke up, “He may seem naive, but we've escaped from far worse you must believe.” suddenly he gave us an incredibly hard stare, after a few seconds we got creeped out, 

“Umm...Rithro?” he blinked a few times, “Okay I'll trust you.” 

“What were you doing?” 

“I was cold reading, I wanted to see how sure you were about escaping. But if this fails in any way I will tear out your ribcage.” my heart sank when his eyes glowed making his threat all the more terrifying, you never hear good things about ponies getting attacked by an enraged griffon, “Fair enough. When do they begin roll call?” 

“Right when night falls.” 

“And how many inmates inside the prison hate you?” 

“Too many to count.” 

“Even better, while they call out prisoners you and I will instigate a riot.” 

“A riot? Are you sure that's a good idea because things can get real ugly and fast.” 

“It's the only way to direct their attention away from us. As it's happening we will escape the prison somehow and meet up with Zecora and use the quickest route possible, once we're free we can go our separate ways, everypony got that?” 

“Yes.” 

“Since we're doing this are you gonna tell me why you're here?” I looked straight at him with anger, “I was framed alright.” 

“Framed huh? Sucks to be you.” 

“Shut up!”


*******(Now)*******


I dug through one of of the drawers on the antique oak table, “Shit nothing here.” two drawers later I find one, “Yes!” I yell victoriously. I knock everything off of the table and unroll the map on top of it, unfortunately though the language was written in Minyochnaen but it had symbols to help me, “Rithro said the prison was at the center.” the map showed a large circle in the middle of it and three other half circles surrounding it. I look at the moon and back at the map, “If the moon is east then I should be...” I trace my finger along the parchment, “Here.” I stopped at a quadrant with a picture of a star, I compared it to the other two which was a house and a sword, “I must be in the command center. That means Zecora should be in the housing area.” I looked at the house picture, 

“If I'm right it's just north from here.” with that in mind I wrap the chain around me and made my way outside. Carefully I opened the front door, I take a peek and see nopony outside not even the guards I saw earlier, I heard a crowd screaming out in the distance, “Damn Rithro, he must have made a huge one if the guards aren't here.” I whisper as I change into a pony. 

A few feet away I look into a window from one of the many buildings here and see minotaurs writing letters, carrying large stacks of scrolls, and I see angry military officers yelling out orders and obscenities, suddenly the door flew open and out came a lanky minotaur and an armed soldier and I jump into a bush, “Don't make me do this! Please! I-I'm just a new recruit!” 

“We know you are but the others are too busy trying to contain this. Just get this message to Riot Control and leave asap. We even promised a good deal for that cow you've been eyeing yesterday.” my ears perked up, “A good deal?” 

I move a branch in order to see them, “B-but what if she doesn't like me? Or worse!” 

“Hey buddy it doesn't matter if she likes you or not.” he wrapped an arm around him, “Because as soon as you buy her she's yours and yours alone.” they began walking north so I followed them as discreetly as I could. What these two were saying made me grow leery, 

“Were you nervous when it was your first time?” 

“Are you telling me that you're a virgin?” 

“No! Well yeah but No! I mean...you know...buying a whole minotaur?” 

“Oh that? Don't worry about it, almost half of the bulls here were nervous too. What you do have to worry about is the competition, especially with somepony as savory as that.” he gave the scrawny one a wry smile, “No doubt everypony inside would clean out their savings for her.” they stopped in front of another wall, “Gihoc! Trafo! How's the situation!?” 

“So far we're able to contain it!” somepony from the top of the wall yelled, “Great! Now open the door we got a message for Riot Control!” gears inside the mountain came to life and the wall in front of them was being lifted up from the ground, when it was fully opened I walked even closer, “Keep this gate secure!” as they walked in the gate slowly closed and I ran inside. When it sealed I was greeted by shocked expressions, “Who the fuck?” on instinct I unwrap the chain and hit the bigger bull on the head, he fell and that's when I bucked him right in the nose and he knocked out, the other guy had his gun out but he was shaking uncontrollably and the barrel wasn't even pointed at me, for extra fun I change to my human form and he screamed at the top of his lungs. 

He ran for it and I chased him, it didn't take long because he was already out of breath, “Dude c'mon, I'm literally walking.” I said as I walked next to him as he “ran”, “Please...don't...hur*wheeze*” he stopped moving and put his hands on his knees. I pushed him and he toppled over, “Is this the way to the housing area?” he stuttered and mumbled so I knelt down to his level, “Want me to slow down? Is. This. The. Way. To. The. Housing. Area?” he started shaking his head rapidly, “Good, now get up and walk.” 

“What!? Why!? I already told you this was the way!” 

“Yeah well now you're my hostage. Now start walking before he wakes up.” I hold out a hand to him and lift him up. I was now inside a tunnel and it seemed to stretch on for miles, “How far till we get there?” I asked annoyed, “Just another three miles.” 

“Ugh!” I let my arms droop and my head hang, “So far!” I stopped walking when I felt a slight rumble on the ground, then it shook violently and there was a large explosion followed by something heavy falling, I focused my hearing and I was hearing a soft buzzing noise. It grew louder until I realized those were screams, “Run!” 

“What!” at the end of the tunnel emerged hundreds and hundreds of prisoners running after us, “Run!” I gunned it and he struggled to keep up, I grab him by the collar of his uniform and literally drag him on his ass, the mob was catching up and dragging this guy wasn't helping, “At this rate we're gonna die.” up ahead I see a set of bars in the ground.

I gripped him tighter and ran even faster, “Help me open this!” the door was heavy and I was barely lifting it, he came and we opened it together, “Get in!” I yell when I saw the mob just 14 ft away. I hop in and I drop 20 ft into water, I emerged and gasped for air while I hear the inmates run over us, “What the hell?” I sniffed the air and I gag, “Ah what the fuck!?” I swim to the other side of this place and get out of the water, “Guy?” 

“I'm right here.” I look down and see him camouflaged in the wall, “What is this place?” 

“I-it's the sewers.” 

“Eww ah shit! Literally! What the fuck!” I said as I flailed everywhere and shook off excess shit, “The housing area is that way, please just let me go I'm tired and injured. I just wanna go home.” 

“Hey fuck you! You think swimming in shit is bad? Try riding a fucking train with no ventilation of any kind and without a single drop of water for three days straight! And all because some psycho motherfucker decided to make even more than what he's already getting! So no you don't get to go home, as of matter of fact you are indebted to me and until I don't need you anymore you aren't going anywhere!” there was a trickling sound coming from his pants, “Are you fucking kidding me!? Did you just really piss yourself!?” 

“I-Im sorry it's just that I-I'm very s-scared a-and-” 

“What's your name?” 

“Binko.” 

“Get your ass moving Binko!” he scrambled to his hooves, “Okay! Okay, geez, you were so much calmer earlier.” 

“That was when I wasn't covered in shit and dealing with you!” we headed north, this is going to be my longest walk ever.

Twenty minutes of smelling shit later we arrived at a ladder, “This should lead us outside.” 

“Get up there and check it out.” 

“Why me!?” 

“Because I said so.” 

“But what if there are still prisoners?” 

“Right now it's me you have to worry about now get up there!” he flinched and he climbed the ladder, how did this guy get into the military? He came back down unscathed, “It's pretty clear but I can still hear gunshots.” 

“Move aside.” he did and I climbed up. I open the lid slightly and looked around to make sure he didn't make a mistake, when I was sure I opened the lid and the first things I see are the deceased both military and inmate, “Where's the medical unit Binko?” 

“It's on the west wing.” 

“Take me there.” shots were fired and they sounded extremely close, “Get in one of the cabins.” we ran to the closest one and peered outside the window. Three prisoners, one griffon and two ponies, were running from five soldiers, without hesitation they took aim and shot all of them down, “What!?” two of them died instantly but the mare was crawling away, 

“We got a live one.” 

“Ooh she looks pricey.” one of them walked towards her and pressed a hoof on her back, “Number?” 

“55678.” she managed to say, “What's your sentence?” 

“Six years, armed robbery.” all of them laughed, “Then it looks like we don't need to pay for this one.” he struck her with the butt of his gun and she fell, “Fix her up, no good if she's dead.” they laughed, “Alright enough we need to get this situation back under our control, if they manage to escape the base then we might as well kill ourselves now.” as they walked I kept staring at the now dead inmates, 

“What the hell was that!? I thought Riot Control only used rubber bullets!?” 

“You don't understand this is the first riot that has happened in over fifty years.” 

“So because of that they kill them! It's standard rule that Riot Control keep situations like this under control without killing ponies!”

“I didn't know! We're a bit unprepared, nopony thought we'd have a riot!” 

“And I didn't think anypony would die!” I lean against the wall and slide to the floor. I place a hand on my forehead and try to rub the headache away, “Auction houses, insane generals, and killer soldiers. Just how messed up is this place? Thank God I told Zecora to stay in the medical unit. But what about Rithro? Is he even out here?” I heard a gun cock and when I looked up I see Binko unsteadily aiming at me, “You and I both know this will not end well.” 

“Look all I wanna do is go home, okay? That's all I want to do.” 

“If I have to take that gun away from you I will break one of your legs.” fear struck him and he walked backwards. I stood up and walked closer, “I'll shoot.” I grabbed his wrist and rammed my elbow into his face, he dropped the gun and he fell on his ass while holding his nose, 

“And finally.” I step on his left knee and violently pull up his leg completely snapping it in half. He screamed very loudly, “That's what you get. Before I leave I want to ask you a question, what did that guy mean by a “good deal”?” 

“I-I don't know what you're talking about.” 

“I already know about the auction house.” he stared at me wide eyed and terrified, “Were you planning on buying a living being?” he started whimpering, “Yes.” 

“You sick fuck.”  behind me were rows of bunk beds, I break off two large pieces of wood and rip up a few blankets and tossed them to him, “What's this?” 

“You can make a splint for your leg. The medical unit is in the west wing right?” he nodded, “Thanks, try not to die.” I walk outside and change back to a pony.

The riot did a lot more damage than I thought it would, everywhere cabins are set on fire with bodies burning inside, bodies of prisoners and soldiers littered the entire area, and the air was beginning to smell like blood, “Focus damn it.” I kept going from cabin to cabin making sure I was out of sight. It took me a while but I managed to reach the medical ward, or at least what used to be a medical ward, I cautiously open the door and find it empty, “Maybe I can find out where she is at the front desk.” I run to the it and picked up the first clipboard I found, 

“Wrong list.” I rummaged through almost every file cabinet and drawer until I found it on the floor, “*face-hoof*” according to the list Zecora should be in the ICU. Being inside an empty hospital was creepy to say the least, “Which room was it?” something fell in one of the rooms and instinctively I change into a human, I silently walk to the room while wrapping the chain around my hand, I was now near the door frame and I accidentally break a pen causing whoever was inside to start shooting at me. I duck down without being shot, I heard footsteps coming my way and when I saw the gun I grab his arm and slam him into the wall, before I could land a punch I realized that it was Rithro, “It's me! It's me!” he exclaimed while putting his claws up, 

“Jesus Rithro! You scared the shit out of me.” 

“Yeah well you slammed the shit out of me.” he said while rubbing his now bruised back, “Callidus?” that was Zecora's voice, I looked around but I couldn't find her until she popped out of the ceiling, “Oh thank God.” I change back and when she jumped down we hugged, “By a bullet were you hit? *gag* And why do you smell of shit?” 

“Long story, are you okay?” 

“Prisoners dragged out every soul and killed them all, luckily I chose to hide within these walls.” 

“Did you manage to find a map?”

She had a shadow reach up into the ceiling and pulled out a map, “Fire routes we can take, to make things easier for escape.” I looked at it and it was covered in highlighter marks, “We'll take this route, it's the closest one to us and the quickest way outside.” I heard the hospital's front doors open and laughter, 

“Hide.” Zecora said and all of us scattered, I run to the nearest room and I am given two options: the bed or the locker, I picked the bed since the locker was a bit small. Out in the hallway I hear stuff being thrown and rooms being raided, “You saw him run in here?” somepony asked, “No but I know he came here, he asked me where it was.” that voice belonged to Binko, “Did you ever get his name?” 

“No but I-no wait!” a gunshot sounded and somepony fell to the floor followed by a shriek, “You hear that mister monster? If you don't want that to be you then give yourself up, like a good little pet of the general.” he had a very strange accent, I wondered how he knew who I was, “If it's the hard way you want then we'll be happy to oblige.” 

“Hey what about her?” 

“Pick a room.” a feminine voice screamed out in horror and I heard ponies struggling, “Just keep it down so that we can find this bastard. Everypony else check the rooms, he's our ticket out of here.” I see three pairs of legs walk in the room, two ponies and one minotaur, the minotaur was screaming and wriggling in the the stallion's firm hold, “Toss her on the bed.” after he said that I felt the weight hit me on the head. They closed the door and climbed on top of the bed, 

“Stop! Get away no!” the bed shook furiously and I heard a loud smack, “Shut up! I don't think you remember me but I certainly remember you. You were one of the new recruits who got the tour, when you locked eyes with me I almost came. After you left I jacked off to you so many times to you my dick got sore. Now that you're here I can finally get to taste the real thing.” her screams got muffled and the bed rhythmically shook up and down followed by gruff grunts.

Across from me was an empty glass bottle, I grab it and I slowly crawl out from underneath, “God she's tight.” I look over the bed and see things that should not be seen, in one quick motion I slam the head of the closest stallion into the wall as hard as I can and throw the bottle directly at the other one's face, the first stallion was still conscious so I rammed him into the wall a few times until half of his face was swollen and bruised. His partner held his face while screaming silently and I rainbow kick his head into the medical cabinet, I stood up and face the broken and whimpering cow and I put a hoof to my mouth telling her to be quiet, then somepony knocked on the door, 

“Hey I said shut the fuck up!” he walked away and I loosened up. I climb up the medical cabinet and crawl inside the ceiling, “And yet that is not the most awkward thing I've seen.” even in my pony form it was still difficult to move around, “Psst, Callidus.” it was a little dark but I found Zecora in front of me, 

“Where's Rithro?” 

“Escape he has managed, now we must escape this carnage.” Zecora gestured me to follow her. It didn't take long for us to get outside and we met up with Rithro, “I got bad news, General Jirrad is here and he's looking for you.” 

“He's here!?” the hospital behind us then exploded, “What the fuck is it with these explosions!?” I go around and in front of the hospital stood Ferkith and behind him was an entire squadron, 

“Search every inch of the entire area! His zebra partner was in this quadrant so he must be somewhere around here! I want all of you to turn every cabin upside down until you find him! Eliminate any livestock working with him!” 

“Yes sir!” all of them said.

All three of us hid in a nearby cabin and turned out any lights inside, “How is Ferkith here? He couldn't have already dealt with the riot.” 

“Callidus what now?” 

“I'm thinking.” something them tackled me and used it's limbs to start pounding me, I raise my hooves to defend myself until he suddenly just stopped, when I opened my eyes I see three vertical slashes on the green coated stallion's throat. I push him off and behind me was Rithro cleaning his claws on the now dead stallion, “Holy shit, you killed him.” 

“Of course I did, he was attacking you. I didn't want to use the gun or else we would be found.” 

“But he...was a living being...” 

“Does it even matter?” I looked at him shocked while he had no expression at all, “Of course it does! Just because he was attacking me doesn't mean you should kill him!” 

“Oh for the love of God grow up! He tried to kill you and that should be more than enough motivation to try and kill him. Sorry Callidus but this is what has to be done sometimes in order to live and see tomorrow morning. If you don't like it then you can just walk out there and let them do God knows what to you like the coward you are.” I was about to deck him when something broke into one of the windows and released tear gas, 

“They found us!” I remain a pony and did my best to guide my way out of the gas, “Brother!” the gas stung my eyes but I could see Zecora struggling out of the living room so I grab her hoof and we exit out the back. We ran a good seven miles and we hid behind yet another cabin, “Where did he go?” she just shrugged.

I stood on my hooves and stretched a bit, “You still got the map?” she nodded, “Alright then let's get moving.” the wall behind her suddenly had a hoof break through it and hit Zecora behind the head. I turn human and see her unconscious, a familiar green ax then cut through the wall and out came Ferkith, 

“You're a slick one, but you weren't slick enough.” behind him were six soldiers ready to shoot, “I sent the rest of them after your other friend. Shouldn't be too long, I brought my top soldiers just for you and your little gang.” Zecora moaned and Ferkith pressed his hoof directly on her head, 

“Remember what I said Footstool? Defiance will result in execution. It doesn't take a genius to know that you planned this whole thing, which is very impressive for a colt your age. Using a riot to keep us busy was a smart move I'll admit, but unfortunately for you my soldiers managed to contain it. It's too bad we had to kill a majority of them but some of them were smart enough to surrender. For your act of rebellion I hereby sentence all of you to death.” he pulled out his pistol and took aim at her. When I saw the pistol my body reacted on it's own, one of the soldiers fired his rifle but I somehow dodged those bullets and drove my heel to his jaw which made him stumble, I took the chance to grab Zecora and ran as fast as I could, 

“She's a lot heavier than I remember.” I looked back and see the soldiers chasing me and I forced my legs to run even faster. A shot was fired and the bullet whizzed past me, “That bullet was too close.” I make a sharp left turn and they followed without difficulty, all of them fired and I swerved left and right doing my best to not get either of us shot, “C-Callidus?” 

“Keep your head down!” I jerk right and a bullet almost hit us. Suddenly Zecora hopped off my back, “Zecora!” her eyes turned ink black and three very thick shadows emerged and dug into the ground.

With brute force she ripped the ground off from the earth and all of the soldiers were launched a good distance away from us, “Good to know you're at full strength.” I felt something climb up my shirt but when I look down I see her shadows unlocking the collar around my neck, “Thanks.” her ears perked up and she tackled me down and built a wall behind her, the wall then disintegrated and the two of us were sent flying. I was dazed, everything kept changing from blurry to clear, there was a beeping noise in my head, and when I looked down I saw something embedded into my hand, I looked at it very confused because I didn't feel anything so I grip the object and pull it out. I look back at it and see bone, when I moved my fingers the tendons on it would move as well and the flesh around it was caked in dirt, I started to feel my hand again but the pain made it worse so I rip a piece of my shirt and bandage my hand, 

“Zecora!” my voice sounded low and muffled. There was too much debris around so I couldn't find her, when I tried to stand I got a massive head rush and I felt as though I was floating underwater, “Zecora!” I yelled out again with no results. The debris cleared and my vision was restored, “Damn, you survived.” I turn my head and see Ferkith alone, “Let me change that.” he aimed his ax and I drop back to the ground right when he pulled the trigger, “It's a shame that I have to kill you Footstool. You have to understand if I let the mastermind of this whole ordeal live then they would dishonorably discharge me and I'd be out of a job.” 

“You're deranged. You deserve worse than being discharged! I know about the auctions Ferkith. What you are doing to them is inexcusable! These prisoners had lives beyond these walls. Families, friends, everything that used to mean the world to them was taken away by you as soon as they entered that building. Hell most of these prisoners might not even be guilty of the crime they're charged with! You even used your own soldiers when you were “running low” and you think I'm just gonna stand by and let you do the same thing to others?” I regained my senses because of the massive amounts of adrenaline I got.

“I swear on my life I will make sure you will pay for what you have done.” Ferkith stared at me, then his lips slowly curled into the most shit-eating grin I've ever seen and he laughed, “Me deranged? Compared to you I seem normal! Sure I did those things but did you forget the lives you took back in the Griffon Empire? I sure as hell didn't. If I remember right the first one you killed was a wealthy and elderly gentlecolt, he had a wife who was literally next to him when he died and had two successful sons who were devastated at their loss, you killed him by cutting one of his arteries using a serrated knife.” I held my breath, I remember them saying he killed his cousins for money, 

“And what about that one mare you mutilated? She was supposedly an aspiring actress who had jobs lined up for her, and everypony knew her because of the unique color of her eyes that you ripped out.” they told me about her rich connections, they said she used them to get what she wanted no matter how they did it, they wanted me to retrieve her eyes as proof, “Oh and what about that teenage filly?” 

“Shut up!!!” I screamed at the top of my voice, “You see how I find it funny? Here you are pointing out my crimes with a sense of misplaced self-righteousness and anger when you yourself aren't a saint. It's like a blade of grass telling a tree it's a plant. Look around you.” he motioned his arm around the area, “All of this is your doing and in the process you allowed almost all of the inmates to die. You took a lot more lives than I did and you did it mercilessly, you are just as deranged as I am. So don't you think you deserve punishment?” I was silent, he was right, I killed a lot of griffons and the worse part was that I didn't question it. At the time I was so focused on my job that I forget the faces of my victims, I would always just kill and move on, but because of him I can now remember all of them, 

“Callidus!” I snap out of it and I see Zecora, “Don't fall for his silver tongue, you were easy to manipulate because you were young!” she walked towards us with a fierce look.

“You were only ten, used your innocence and skill to benefit them. All they have done was tell you lies, using us to take lives.” she stopped in front of me, “But only one pony deserves the blame, I am the one who deserves pain.” she made me confused with what she said, “Guided you right I should have done from the start, but I failed as a sister for I did not go with my heart. Suspicious I was when they were around me, but I chose to not see. You suffer guilt now because of my decision, so Ferkith, I ask that my brother is set free while I stay in prison.” she flat out asked, “Zecora what are you saying!?” in the corner of my eye I saw the edge of an ax, on time I tilt back and the green ax missed my cheek and hit the ground. 

Ferkith tried to hit me with his right arm but I was quicker and I dropped to the ground and kicked him on the chin using both of my legs and jumped up from the ground, he recovered rather quickly, “Take that as a no Zecora. I can't let either of you live, both of you are now liabilities and Fort Schultz can't afford that, especially since inventory is at an all time low.” Zecora readied her shadows and I took a stance, 

“I hereby sentence you to death.” he took aim and shot between us. The two of us jumped away from the blast and I ran head on to Ferkith, while he was reloading I grab a handful of dirt and when he aimed I threw it at his eyes, he grunted in pain and I kick him on the side of the ribcage forcing him to stand on a knee. I grab his horns and repeatedly kept kneeing him in the face, after the fourth time he grabbed my leg and he threw me to the side and I bounced on my back a few times after he threw me. When I stopped I tried to stand but then I got a hoof to the face knocking me back down, he stomped on my chest and he grabbed me by the throat and he threw me over his shoulder and he slammed me straight into the ground, before I could finally breathe he grabbed my throat and my leg and he lifted me up and he threw me into a window of a cabin.

I slowly stood up and brushed away the glass, “Fuck me.” my entire back was burning and probably bleeding, my throat felt like it was stretched and my lungs still felt empty even when I breathed in, I looked out the window and I dip my head when I saw the ax come at me. The ax got stuck in the wall and when I turned around I saw Ferkith climbing in, I was gonna kick him out but then shadows wrapped around his body and he was flung out the window and into a burning cabin, 

“Are you okay?” Zecora asked, “I feel like a punching bag but other than that I'm fine.” I said as I climbed out. We looked at where Ferkith was and he busted through the door with sheer strength and he ran to us with his legs literally on fire, Zecora summoned three shadows and they charged at Ferkith who weaved past them and he raised a fist at her, I see him and using my entire weight I run to him and tackle him down. When he was down I headbutt him and roll off of him, Zecora grabbed him by the legs and she smashed him in the ground, 

“That was for trying to kill us.” she pick him up and used a shadow with a very thick body and a round head to hit him right in the stomach, he chocked out his scream and he flew almost 20 ft, “And that was for guilt-tripping Callidus.” Ferkith was stubborn, he got up on all fours and took his time to stand on a knee, 

“That really hurt...my insides...feel like...they are rearranging...*coughs* you...little bitches...will be served on a silver platter.” that was the first time I was genuinely scared of him. He stood on his legs and ran to us with blood red eyes, “Number 43.” he said as he closed the gap between us in a matter of seconds, “Cannon Fire!” he started throwing punches in an unbelievable speed and every time he hit the ground he'd leave a hole, “I can't keep up.” I thought as I felt my body begin to reach my limit. 

I tried to look for an opening but with the way he's attacking I couldn't, I made a mistake and I was in the path of one of his punches, “Shit!” suddenly shadows grabbed his fist and he was an inch away from punching me. Ferkith stared at the shadows and he forcefully pulled while I ran away from him, “Number 72” he knelt down and he sprang up high into the air with the shadows still attached to him, “High board!” he launched himself down and used the shadows to guide him to Zecora, she looked at him in shock and when he landed they disappeared in the debris. I fanned away the visible dirt and ran to Zecora, on my way there I saw moving lights and heard hoofsteps, “Damn it.” I sneak past them and found Zecora limping away, “You okay? Anything broken?” 

“My leg split in two, but our concern should be him for he is not through.” 

“He's not the only one we should worry about, his soldiers came here.” 

“The soldiers are manageable, are you willing to fight the general?” 

“I can try.” she said nothing and went after the soldiers. I looked around for Ferkith but he found me instead, “AAAAARRGGHH!!!” he yelled as he swung his ax, I dodged it by arching my back but he elbowed me in the gut and I fell, “Stay still!” I roll off my back and narrowly dodge his ax, he saw me standing and immediately started swinging his ax around in hopes of hitting me, 

“32 years I kept this fort standing! 32 years!” he accidentally got his ax stuck and I punched him twice making him let go and I punched him again in his gut but he grabbed my arm and he punched me this time making me dazed. I heard a ringing and when I looked at him my vision went black for a second and the ringing intensified, my vision started getting blurry and I felt myself get lower, “This place never once fell to the enemy!” my vision went black again and I found myself back on the ground, “This place once had an entire nation attack it and we won without a scratch!” he kicked me in the face and I rolled on my back.

My vision got better but only enough to see Ferkith standing over me, he grabs me by the throat, picks me up and he wraps his arm around my neck, “And then an orphaned pony freak and a rhyming zebra bitch comes along and in a single night you two made us look like idiots!” he squeezed my neck and my airway closes. I claw at his arm but he only squeezed tighter, “Stay still and I'll break your neck after wards.” all the blood went to my eyes and my face felt hot, I clawed at his arm even more but he jerk left and I felt weaker, “Keep fighting.” he lifted me up and my feet dangled, I tried to hit him with my elbow but he just kept squeezing. I was on the verge of unconsciousness so in desperation I reach a hand between his legs and I squeezed as hard as I could, 

“AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” he threw me to the ground and he held his groin, I took in giant gulps of air and coughed whenever I breathed out, “You dirty bastard!” he charged again but I roll out of the way and I make him trip, “This is a fight Ferkith.” I jump on top of him and use his horns to bash his head in, “Rules don't apply in a fight!” on the last one I pick his head up a bit and bring it down hard enough to make blood splatter, 

“Calm yet?” he was unresponsive, “Okay then.” suddenly he uses his elbow to knock me off and he ran straight for his ax. I stood my ground and I waited for an opening, “I'll cut you in two!” he held the ax over his head and he swung it down, I lunge to his side and his ax got stuck again so I grab it and pulled the trigger on it and the ground beneath us exploded sending the both of us flying. 

I recovered fast but Ferkith was already standing, he looked at his weapon to find it half it's original size, “I had this custom made, it was really expensive.” he said as he tossed it aside, “I'll just tear you apart and bring you to your sister in pieces!” he jumped into the air and aimed at me, “Number 13, Meteor Shower!” as he descended he threw multiple punches, he fell quickly and I had no choice but to absorb his punches. 

I kept my arms up and my muscles tensed as he attacked but he was already wearing me down, “So heavy.” his punches hurt like hell and he didn't look like he was slowing down, “Don't think you'll survive this one.” he said menacingly, when I looked up he reared his right arm back and drove his fist deep into my chest. His punch wash the most strongest punch I ever took, I felt six of my ribs break, all of the air in my lungs escaped with some blood, my limbs went dead, and I was knocked back another 20 ft,“Crap, I can't stand.” I looked up into the night sky and tried to move but only managed to make my fingers twitch, “Just my fingers, fantastic.” Ferkith then stomped on my chest but I didn't make a sound since I was already in this agonizing state, “Wow, after taking that punch you still have the will to fight? I am impressed Footstool.” he said as his eyes became normal, 

“They were half right about your kind. You don't have any magical attributes but you are a very dangerous species. What's even better is that what you lack in strength, you make up for with ingenuity. I mean it was humans that gave us the guns that we have today, they even helped give us a fighting chance against demons!” I kept staring at him with malice, “Ooh I like the look you're giving me, would've been perfect for all the soldiers here.” his hoof was near me and I grab it with whatever strength I had left. He simply pulled his hoof away and kicked me, 

“I haven't felt like that in years!” he loomed over me and he pulled out a knife from his back, “Thank you for that, here's your reward.” he grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and pointed the knife at my neck. I had absolutely nothing left and the kick he gave me was enough for drowsiness to win, “I can't go to sleep! I can't!” the more I fought, the more my vision darkened, “Zecora...I'm sorry...” I went limp, my body decided to quit and I allow the darkness to take over, I thought nothing else mattered and I was more relaxed in that moment than I ever was. 

Then I felt a powerful surge of energy, powerful enough to wake me up, I saw Ferkith about to stab me and my hands grabbed his wrist and broke it, he screamed in pain and I grabbed his knife and in one swift motion I bring him to his knees and slash his throat. I felt a warm shower of blood, I had an odd but familiar feeling in my left hand, and I still felt the adrenaline being pumped into my system, I just killed somepony, “What?” I saw Ferkith's neck being ripped off by gravity until finally his neck was exposed, his head was hanging by a single piece of flesh. He fell over and blood poured on the ground, 

“I...I just killed him...but how?” I stared at my bloody hands, all of the excess blood dripped onto the ground and they were shaking uncontrollably, I was shocked, not just because I killed Ferkith but because I didn't do it on my own accord, my body just reacted, “I killed him...I killed him...” I repeated over and over, I promised to never shed the blood of another living being years ago when I was in the Griffon Empire, and here I am covered in it. I felt something nudging me and when I looked down I saw Zecora also covered in blood, “Callidus!” 

“Huh?” my knees felt weak and I fall to the ground, “Callidus!” I was unresponsive so she kept shaking me, “I killed him.” I pointed to Ferkith's corpse, “That does not matter, besides I killed too brother.” I stared at her, I processed what she said and I didn't believe it, “Why?” 

“I was outnumbered so I tried to escape, but they captured me and they tried to perform rape. Ripping and tearing my clothes as they were on me, then it took control and went on a killing spree.” she explained as she wiped some blood away from her guilt-filled eyes.

“Zecora, I killed him...I killed him without thinking about it...” I said, she hugged me and she rubbed my head, “It's okay brother.” soon I was calming down and when I was calm enough I was able to think clearly,  “Would've been perfect for all the soldiers here!” I remember what Ferkith said when I was down, “All? What did he mean all?” then I remembered that he said that he managed to kill all the prisoners, 

“Zecora, how many other prisoners did you see out here?” I snapped out of my shock and focused on my curiosity, “Aside from Rithro none.” 

“Ferkith is using them as a way to make money, and he said that he managed to kill almost all of them. Why would Ferkith destroy his large source of income for this base? And why would he risk getting caught?” 

“Maybe because it wasn't Ferkith's idea to begin with.” before I could turn around something kicked me in the face. I looked up from the ground and standing in front of me I see, “Khiva!?” 

“In the flesh!” she cheerily said, Zecora summoned more of her shadows and all of them attacked her but Khiva was dodging and leaping out of their way, it was almost as if she was dancing, “C'mon you can catch me!” she ran straight towards Zecora and she grabbed her by the neck and at an incredible speed she ran to the nearest cabin and she slammed Zecora into the wall and she was knocked out, “Aww I took her out in one blow.” she said as she let Zecora slide to the ground, 

“Maybe you'll be more of a challenge!” she came sprinting at me and held me up with one arm, “Khiva! What the hell!?” 

“You must be really confused aren't you? But I am surprised that you already figured out half of it so that means I can just tell you the rest!” 

“The rest?” she used both of her arms to slam me into the ground, hard, “Remember when I said I was from the poor provinces? Well I lied! I'm actually the fourth oldest daughter from the most wealthiest families of Minyochnaed! See this patch?” on her left shoulder was a green patch with purple trimmings and a fist holding a snake, it's the flag I saw earlier, “This is the family crest. My family actually gave the funding to build this fort and we've owned it ever since.” she gave me the most sadistic grin I ever saw.

“Let me tell you a little about my real self. I was born and raised into a rich home with an absent father and a bitch of a mother along with six different brats. father would always be away working here while my mother remained at the home and forced me to kneel in raw rice for hours as part of my training to “become a true member”. Which really confused me since my other siblings would never get this training. The only one I actually cared about was our maid, at least she would take some time out of her day to sneak into my room and touch me in places I knew shouldn't be touched. When I was bored I would always run outside to our luxurious garden and hunt down animals, birds, rabbits, dogs, it didn't matter. Then I would take them upstairs to my room and hug them, hard, with my hands around their neck.” she sat down on my stomach, 

“All of them fought so hard to breathe and it would only excite me and I would squeeze harder. One time I sneaked out to the neighbor's yard to grab the dog of this one girl I didn't like and I brought him upstairs, I had so much fun with him! I wanted to take my time so I tie a belt around his neck and I hang him in my closet, then I grab one of my father's golf clubs and I would beat him senseless! Hahaha he yelled and whimpered and kicked and clawed and I would stand there just hitting him like a pinata!” she moved her hips back and forth on my stomach, “When I was done I brought him down and I laid him on the floor. I sneak into the kitchen and grab the largest cleaver I could find and when I locked my door I drag him into the bathroom and I started chopping away at his neck! Hahaha!” she continued to laugh, it was scarier than Ferkith's.

“Then the next morning I ordered the maid to deliver it to the neighbor's and they had the biggest surprise of their lives! Let me fast forward, I'm 16 now, a fully developed woman to the eyes of my country. A lot has changed, father comes home a little more frequently now and mother came up for new lessons plans for my training, the maid stopped her nightly visits so I had to go to other sources for what I needed. Do you know how easy it is to convince a guy to sleep with you? Very, so easy in fact I had four different guys on me. I got bored and thought I should have fun with them even more, I told one of them that one of my other guys had tried to rape me and so he called him out to a fight and in a fit of pure hormones and rage he savagely beat him to death. When they arrested him he tried to tell them what I had said and guess who believed him? Nopony! The look he had when he realized he had killed not only my guys but one of his closest friends, it was so irresistible.” she moved her hips a little more roughly and I kept staring at her, 

“Then comes my little sister, ever since she was born the entire estate would praise her and compare her to the rest of us. I still remember how small I felt when somepony told me to stand down to make a path for her. Anyway, while I had to walk on broken glass to fix my posture, mother kept running her mouth about her and how pathetic I was, she did this for hours on end until I snapped. She did not like that, as punishment she forced me to eat small pieces of glass off from the floor. I went to my room and destroy nearly everything, photos, toys, clothing, etc. When I had nothing else left to destroy I thought I should take it out on her. I sneak into her room and I see her playing with a doll similar to mine's when I was her age, she asks me if I wanted to play so I said we could play in my room. She was so excited she rushed past me and headed straight for my room, I tried not to laugh because of how easy it was. As soon as I come in she finds it a mess and before she could say a word I break a jewelery box over her head. I tie a belt around her neck, hang  her in the closet, I take out my secret toys and I slowly cut strips of flesh from her body.” she smiled even more wickedly and the spot between her legs got moist.

“She kept screaming and screaming, begging me to stop and asking why would I do this, red blood and blue fur went everywhere, it was complete bliss, until my father barged in. Oh what a sad day it was for mother and father, sister died from blood loss that day and I was locked in my room for two days without food or water. When I was out they had came up with a “proper punishment”, I would be sent to the military to be disciplined and that way we won't tarnish our good name. What I said about the whole training like I never did thing was actually true, but it was as punishment not for captain. Then I got tired of father, he was such a weak bull that he wouldn't even kill a child molester that threatened to kill him, so I grab the secret ingredient to my very special coffee and serve it to him, half an hour later he's swimming in a pool of his own vomit hahahahahaha! Nopony in the military ever suspected me so I got away with it, the only ones who knew I did it was my entire family. One day mother, while drunk, started beating me with a baseball bat yelling cuss words and insults as she struck me. But thanks to father I was able to take it away from her and give her a good whack, then another, and another, and another. This went on for an entire night, I knew because I saw the sunrise. Eventually one of my brothers came in and found mother missing her head, he had a lot of leverage over me but I guess I scared him so much he didn't say a word. Investigators came in and found nothing, no weapon, no signs of a break in, nothing but a cold trail. All of us had to go to the hearing of their will, fortunately I had the hindsight to destroy their original will and rewriting it to benefit me, the will stated that I alone will inherit the military base along with the family fortune while the others get nothing.” she leaned in a little closer while I tried to move back as far as possible, 

“You see how well that worked out?” she then arched back and cackled into the air.

“Thanks to my inability to manage things here I was forced to let others do the ground work while I had to come up with a solution to our financial troubles. That was how the auction house came into light, I knew sure as shit they weren't gonna approve so I had my soldiers and General Ferkith “vote”. Throw a bit of cash, say a few nice sounding words and any idiot would follow you into Hell. Thanks to the revolt I was able to build the auction house and because everypony here participates our debt just vanished like that! A year later, stories about you traveled in my base and I ordered the soldiers to look for you specifically but since we had no actual description of you besides the rumors we had trouble. Then while we were vacationing in Kyod a boy came to us scared out of his mind telling us of a monster who just killed a demon, we interrogate him to make sure he wasn't making shit up and we headed out. Before we started the hunt I told Ferkith to pretend he was the one looking for you while I played the part of innocent child, when I first spotted you I immediately fell in love.” her legs squeezed tighter and she leaned even closer, 

“Your steel eyes, the tiny well-sculpted muzzle, your little white hooves, even that chip on your ear, I tried so hard not to fuck you when I tackled you down. At first I wanted to sell you for a good price but then I figured that you were too valuable to be sold off to some perverted soldier so I claimed you as my new toy, on the way here I thought about the many things I wanted to do to you. It was hard to choose, I wanted to open you up but at the same time I wanted to violate you in every way possible or even cut off a piece of you and see how you would taste.” she leaned into my face and licked my cheek making my body tense, I was scared of what she was gonna do next, “Mmm that was only a trial run, I can't wait to try it well-done.” alright that did it, I did my best to move from under her but she forced my arms down.

“Save the desperation for later.” I stared at her wide-eyed and she started blushing, “Don't look at me like that! I'll lose control if you keep looking at me like that! You're just the little tease aren't you Callidus?” she positioned her hips to mine, “You want to know why I lied to you? Simple really, I absolutely love to see ponies in pain, either physically or emotionally. I wanted you to feel sympathy towards me and then I wanted to turn it into fear, I did it with all of my personal toys and all of them had the same look of shock. You on the other hand gave me just a glimpse until it turned to anger, but this new look that you have on now is just irresistible beyond belief!” she pulled out a gun and aimed at my neck, 

“Months of cutting ponies up gives you more knowledge about anatomy, if I shoot you here you will be paralyzed from the neck down.” she then pulled out a knife and traced the tip along my chest, “Don't worry, it's just a big prick!” she reared back and I prepared for it. Just then shadows consumed her hand, “Look who's back!” Zecora looked like she was pushing herself, Khiva pointed the gun at her and fired. Zecora leaped right  to avoid the bullets and pulled Khiva towards her, “Bad move!” she sprinted towards her and Zecora anticipated it, when she was close enough Zecora summoned hundreds of black spikes from the ground. Khiva was quick and jumped over the spikes, 

“I take it back.” she aimed the gun at her and Zecora ran from her spot. I got up and tried to move, “Damn, I won't last much longer.” Khiva ran out of ammo and attacked her head on, Zecora used her shadows to defend the powerful blows, “Is this really all you have!?” Khiva was fighting them off and Zecora was losing focus, “Surprise!” Zecora left an opening and got kicked, Khiva then took the chance and started pummeling her.

“But I need to last long enough to back her up.” I took a deep breath and ran towards them, she was oblivious and I give her a roundhouse kick to the head, “What?” she said as she toppled over. I pick up Zecora and place her behind me, Khiva popped up and gave me a toothy grin, “That really hurt, and that was only a kick. I want more!” she sprinted fast enough to leave a dust trail and I raise my arms up to block her devastating kick, it was strong enough to push me back five ft. When I lowered them she was already above me, she brought down her hoof and I barely blocked it, the force of it made my knee hit the ground, 

“Can I win?” Khiva then landed and drove her shin into my side, I ignored the pain and I grab hold of her leg and I swing her into a lamp post headfirst. She held her head but she turned around and attacked, I was able to dodge the punch but her other hand grabbed my head and she threw me to the ground, then she grabbed my shirt and started to run, dragging me behind her. I felt rocks and other sharp things cut into my back , I hold her arm and jumped up to wrap my legs around her neck and bring her down. I had her in a choking position and I squeezed, “Choking, how kinky.” she said creeping me out, she held my legs in place and she carried me on her shoulders, “But enough foreplay.” she gripped my torso and she pulled me off of her and threw me on the ground, “Let's start the main coarse!” I saw her hoof coming and I roll away from her stomp, I jumped up from the ground before she could kick me and then a black whip strikes her across the face, 

“What the fuck!?” she yelled as she held her face. Zecora had six more ready to attack, “Burns doesn't it?” she said smugly, Khiva removed her hands and she had a visible black slash on her cheek, “Sorry but I'm not into threesomes!” she immediately charged at her and Zecora sent her shadows after her, Khiva only got hit about once or twice until she reached Zecora, “You're done for!” when she punched Zecora tilted her head to the side, grabbed her by the arm and stomach and flipped her over.

While she was down Zecora stomped on her throat, Khiva coughed hard and Zecora used her shadows to grip her neck and throw her to where I was, Khiva was recovering so I run to her and grab her by the head and flip her on her back and punch her repeatedly. I got tired and walked away from her sleeping form, “Let's get the hell out of here.” just then she jumps on my back and starts gnawing on my neck, she bit hard enough to draw blood and I spun around frantically trying to get her off. I tried to elbow her off but she was clinging on to me tightly, 

“Get off you crazy bitch!” I ram her onto the side of a cabin but she was still hanging on, “Hang on.” Zecora sent a shadow to help me but Khiva jumped off and her shadow whipped my back, “Ah fuck!” I fell on my knees and rolled over on my burning back, “What the hell!?” 

“Sorry.” she sheepishly said. Khiva jumped up and landed right on my stomach, “Stay here please.” my body sunk deeper into the ground and I choked on my vomit, “I hate my life.” I sit up which felt as if my stomach was torn in two, right when I was about to stand upright my stomach convulsed and I threw up on all fours, “Damn it.” my injuries got the better of me, I was beginning to feel my broken ribs, I had the most hugest headache, blood clogged my nose and throat, every muscle I have screamed at me to lie down and I think my lungs are failing, I hear hooves clashing and I see Zecora struggling to fight off Khiva, “Get up.” I tried again but ended up with the same results. I kept trying and trying but I still couldn't stand, Zecora was now down an eye and was taking more hits than Khiva.

Seeing her losing forced me to start crawling to them, every time I saw Zecora take a punch I would get even more angry and I'd crawl faster, “C'mon!” Zecora was so stunned she couldn't even summon a proper shadow, it annoyed me to watch her like that. Wait, did I say that it annoyed me? Then I felt another surge of energy, I hopped onto my feet and ran faster than I ever could before, Khiva only had time to turn around and see me kick her in the face. She rolled a bit until she stopped herself and I got closer to kick her again, she got wise and blocked my kick, “Second wind?” 

“Something like that.” I pivot on my right foot and kick her behind the head, she was down so I kicked her in the gut three times before I helped her on her hooves and attacked her with a flurry of rapid punches. She stumbles back and I leap up and knee her hard enough to make her gush blood, she falls on her back and she holds her face, “Weird.” just a second ago I was having a hard time trying to crawl and now I am beating down Khiva, I noticed that after the surge my agility improved along with my speed and strength not to mention that the pain from my injuries just vanished, this was not regular adrenaline, this was something...better. 

Khiva hopped on her hooves, “You just keep on surprising me.” she threw a punch and I countered it swiftly, she tried to sweep my legs but I jumped up and kicked her in the face. She runs to me and jumps up on my shoulders using her hands and balances on me, then she drops down and knees me in my stomach and flips me over, she raises her leg and I stand up to avoid her kick, “So are you a screamer or a muffler?” 

“What?” she nearly punched me but I didn't see her other hand. She grabs hold of one of my unbroken ribs and yanks it out of place, “AARGH!!!” 

“You're a bit of both. I usually prefer screamers but maybe I can change that.” she pulls even harder but I only moaned.

She stares at me with so much malevolence I found myself standing still, “Since you're making me work for it I'll cut you a deal. You stay here and I let your zebra friend go, that sound fair? Say yes.” she pulled again and I stifle a yelp, “I think being sold sounds better than another three minutes with you!” I headbutt her and she let's go. She sprints again but this time a shadow wraps itself around her leg and she fell face first, 

“You again!” Zecora then shot black spikes at her and Khiva dodged them with perfect ease, I slowly pop back my rib in place and I attack her. Fighting was hard on both ends, Zecora is trying her best to not hit me while I have to dodge both her and Khiva's attacks, “See this is why I don't like threesomes. No coordination of any kind, movement is so erratic and rugged it forces us to do our own work.” she said as she dodged my punches and Zecora's shadows, “One-on-one on the other hand,” she digs a hoof into the dirt and throws it at Zecora blinding her, the shadows disappeared and Khiva focused her attacks on me, “it allows each partner to read and connect with the other's movement, both rhythmically dancing to each others tune without thought.” she drives her fist forward and I block it but she grabs my waist and pulls me closer, 

“And thus makes things a lot more intimate.” I get kneed in the stomach again and again in the face. It only took a second for her to break one of my arms, “Sorry if you're left-handed.” she kicks one of my legs forcing me to stand on a knee and she pulls my arm further behind my back breaking it even more, “Ahh stop!” she pulled again and shoved me to the ground, “That's right, I finally got you to squeal. Do it again.” my arm was completely broken now and I groaned through gritted teeth, “Callidus please just give up. Even if you somehow beat me you would only face my soldiers and they won't hesitate to kill the two of you. Please? For me?” she said as she petted my hair.

When I moved she grabbed my hair and smashed my head onto the ground, “I'm going to break your legs now.” she let my arm go and grabbed my legs, she almost broke one of my legs but Zecora knocked her off using a large wooden plank. I immediately get up and used the good arm to come up to her and knock her back down, I was gonna punch her again but she caught it and punched me in the throat, “As much as I love you, I despise that thing.” she pulls out another knife, “I'm going to kill the zebra first.” she dashes to Zecora but I pull her arm away right when she was about to stab her, she swings the knife and makes a diagonal cut on my torso, 

“Any deeper and you would've bled to death.” she lunges at me but I ram my elbow into her face, she swings again but Zecora managed to summon a shadow to stop the knife and I upper-cut her forcing her to discard the knife. Zecora drops it and I pick it up, “What are you gonna do sweetie? Stab me?” Khiva mocked as she cracks her neck loudly, “That's the point.” 

“Hahahaha! Don't lie to me, I remember you saying that you're trying not to kill.” 

“Who said I was lying?” I hold the knife by the blade and throw it at her. She was so stunned that she didn't scream when the knife pierced her collarbone, Zecora summoned another black spike and it shot into Khiva's lung, “Wow, you weren't bluffing...” she was still standing so we take the chance and attack her with everything we have. Even in her current state she was still able to fight back, I punch her and her head jerks to the right, Zecora whips her across the face and she jerks left, I kick her in the ribs but she doesn't let go and tries to break it.

With the other leg I kick her and she let's go, Zecora gets another plank and breaks it over her head, “This is nothing! I want more!” she yells as blood covered half of her head. She backs up into a cabin which was being consumed by fire, I felt something next to my feet and I see a ten inch piece of sharp glass, I heard Khiva grunt in pain and I see her pull out the knife, “See, nothing!” I pick up the piece of glass and point it at her, “I'm a little tired, so I'll take you down in less than three moves.” 

“Hahaha! I would love to see that!” I sprint head on and she swings her knife and I duck and jab the shard under her arm and she screams, “One.” when I pulled out I sprayed blood everywhere, she lunges at me but I counter it and stab her deep in the stomach, “Two.” she drops the knife and walks backwards, looking at the shard now embedded into her body. She gets close to a window and I forcefully kick her into the fire, “Three.” the fire consumed her and she starts screaming her lungs out, but when I walked next to my sister I heard laughing coming from the cabin, 

“Amazing Callidus! Absolutely amazing! I haven't felt like this since childhood! Who would've thought a kid like you would be this ruthless!? Hahahaha I love you Callidus!” the ceiling collapsed and she continued to laugh. Second time I killed somepony, but this time I chose to do it, I kept staring at the fire until Zecora spoke up, “We have guns pointed at us, what do we do now Callidus?” I turned around and sure enough I see soldiers ready to shoot, “They won't let us leave alive and we don't want to die. Guess that only leaves us with one option.” she would've protested  but when she looked at me she stayed silent.

The moon set hours ago and the sun was still rising, we went back to the medical unit and fixed our wounds and to rest since we've been fighting for hours and we were extremely exhausted, in front of me were two things: barrels and barrels of flammable liquid and a mountain of dead soldiers, “Anypony left Zecora?” Zecora had bandages over her eye, she was almost consumed by the thing, 

“None left brother, we should start the fire.” she hands me a box of matches and I light one and drop it into the pile of soldiers, “Brother, can I ask you something?” I change to a pony and sit on my haunches, “What?” 

“Now you decide to kill, why and of your own will?” I took a deep breath because I knew it was going to be hard to explain, “Before I killed Ferkith I was about to die. I was unconscious and he had a knife to my neck so I should have died, but something strange happened. I was somehow able to break free and take his knife and kill him, all without thinking about it. Who does that? How is that even possible? I asked myself these questions all night and came up with only one logical answer, I was born to kill. No matter what I do and no matter how much I deny it it's the truth. Even if I keep suppressing it there's no guarantee if my body would stay under my control, it has happened before and now it's happened again, the only difference is that now I know why. Don't get me wrong of course I feel guilty about it, but what's the point in hiding it if I can't contain it? So I just accepted it and decided that if we wanted to leave, we have to shed blood.” Zecora scooted a bit closer and places an arm around me, 

“We've been through hell tonight, all we did was put up a fight. But if you feel like a monster, then so should your sister. My decisions were hard to make, give or take life and I chose take.” oddly what she said made sense, we were in a hopeless situation where we faced numerous murderers, it was vacuous and childish of me to think I could escape without killing.

“Zecora, were you serious about what you asked Ferkith?” 

“I was already ready to see it through, I did it because I love you.” 

“Can you not say that? I'm still a little creeped out by you know who.” 

“Sorry. As I said before, you're like this because my choices were poor.” 

“Zecora I was able to kill a guy in my sleep, I'm pretty sure you have nothing to do with it.” she chuckled, “Good to know you can still make me smile, oh and I have something for you while we travel.” she reaches into her brand new saddlebags and pulls out, “A cloak?” 

“It's a little big but on you it will hold, the fabric is thick so you won't be cold.” I recognized this cloak, this was the same one that sniper had on when he shot me, “Thanks Zecora.” I look back at the burning bodies, “From now on, we only kill if it means our lives.” 

“Like what Rithro said?” 

“Yeah, speaking of which did you ever find him?” she nodded no, “Damn it, probably dead.” I said as I put on the cloak, “How does it look?” 

“Big like I said, it would look nice if it didn't have red.” I was confused until I saw hoofprints of blood on it, “God damn it! Oh well, where to now? Bylvdir?” 

“Here we cannot stay, maybe this time we should go Equestria's way.” 

“Equestria? That's gonna be expensive.” 

“Loot around here we probably can, how to travel will be a different plan.” 

“Okay then, let's play treasure hunt.” when I took my first step my entire body just shut down and I fall, my injuries have gotten worse, “Callidus!?” 

“I can't move.”


*******(Present)*******


“After wards Zecora and I used the train to leave the base.” when I first started talking the entire room was silent, after I was done the ponies in here kept whispering to each other, “Pardon me but did you say that you burned the bodies only?” Luna asked, “Yes that's all we did, it's in our religion to burn the deceased.” 

“But how did you manage to destroy the entire base?” 

“When I heard that I assumed the fire spread out to the other quadrants.” 

“Callidus the base wasn't destroyed by the fire, it was demolished with incendiary explosives.” Celestia explained and everypony including me was shocked at this, I never touched the armory. When I look at the chancellor he was being questioned by his peers, “Thank you Callidus. We will have a recess and when we start again we will hear the testimony of Zecora.” Celestia said, the guards unlocked the cuffs and guided me out of the throne room, “Is there anything you need?” one of them asked, “Now that you mention it can you have somepony remove my cutiemark from my bedroom door?” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes.” I snap and they bowed and walked away, “So Khiva huh?” I turn around and I see a stoic Violet and a snickering Nero, “It's sad that your first girlfriend was a total psycho.” I growled at Nero as he laughed until Violet jabbed him in his ribs, “How did it go?” Violet asked, 

“Fine I suppose. What's gonna happen now?” 

“I don't know, they have to hear Zecora's side of the story. If they check out you have a good chance.” I nodded my head and walked past them, “Where are you going?” 

“To sleep, I'm exhausted.” I climb up the long flight of stairs, pass a couple of hallways until finally I reach my room. As soon as I got inside I take my new clothes off and I flop onto bed, “I really hate my life.”