//------------------------------// // Chapter Eighteen: I Predict a Riot // Story: The Titans' Orb // by Mister Horncastle //------------------------------// “Okay, where to begin…” Inigo cackled to himself, browsing his selection of tools. “Well uh, the key to interrogation is establishing a bond between the interrogator and the subject, right?” I chipped in, “So maybe let’s not start with all those tools? You need me to like you.” Choosing not to respond, he picked a long screwdriver from the rack, along with a blowtorch. “Y-You need me to like you…” I reiterated, gulping. Smirking, Inigo began to heat up the screwdriver, until it started to turn orange. Then, without hesitation, he brought it down into my left leg, piercing my quadriceps, bringing forth a guttural howl of agony from me. He held it there for a moment, before yanking it out and tossing it over to Twilight, who stared at it intensely, gulping. “Oh! Oh I really don’t like you!” I spluttered, recovering from the shock. “Not many people do.” Inigo chuckled. Returning to the tool rack, he picked out a hammer, and a box of nails. “Tell you what, let’s play Twenty Questions!” “I have a feeling this isn’t going to be the regular version.” I mewed, still recovering from the pain. Ignoring me, he sat down on the wooden stool in front of me, removed a nail, and held the tip against my forearm. “This part’s fun, because you get to join in.” he began, “Now I’m going to ask you twenty questions, and if you don’t answer, or you lie to me, this nail becomes a part of your arm, okay? Let’s start simple, what’s your name?” “Fuck you.” I said dryly. Without missing a beat, he brought down the hammer and drove the nail into me, I emitted a loud hiss, but otherwise remained composed. Tutting, Inigo acquired the next nail. “What are you doing here in Brazil, hm?” “Fuck you.” Inigo licked his bottom lip, before breaking into an enormous grin… All twenty nails found themselves lodged in my arm, and despite my uncontrollable whimpering from the pain, I held myself together and prepared for whatever came next. Twilight watched me intently, unblinking, and I found it hard to place her expression. It was obvious that she had volunteered to watch me be tortured out of spite, but behind those glossy eyes of hers, were hundreds of other emotions. A single tear escaped and began rolling down her cheek, and she refused to make eye contact. “Man, your mama and papa raised you tough, huh?” Inigo hummed, tossing away the hammer. “Something like that.” I uttered through my gritted teeth. “You got a good family back home then?” he asked, picking a new instrument. I shook my head, causing him to laugh as he picked out a pair of pliers. He plonked himself down on the stool and seized my left ring finger, still chuckling. “Hermano, whatever family issues you think you have, it ain’t nothing.” Before continuing, he gripped my fingernail in the pliers, and began to lift. “Shit-shit-shit! Ah, okay! OkaaAAAAAHHHH!” The nail began to rip away from the soft flesh underneath, and unable to contain myself any longer, I shrieked at the top of my lungs as he tore the entire nail off. Undeterred by my cries of agony, Inigo proceeded to tell me about his own family, while he moved on to my pinkie finger… “I was born a long way away from here, kid. Daddy Montenegro came to the Rook Islands on some little self-discovery soirée, where he knocked up some little Rakyat girl. Poor thing was far too young to handle twins, she died pushing me into the world, papa had to cut my brother out…” “Sounds like a real upstanding gentlemaaaAAAH-HAAAHH!” My next nail was removed, and Inigo continued, this time choosing the index finger. “Daddy-o’ tried to raise us alone, did just fine for a couple years, then poof, he was never seen again. We were found by the tribe and, being part native, they took us in. We were raised with a big sister, and we found ourselves in a big happy jungle family!” I screamed out like never before as the third fingernail was removed, I threw my head from side to side and desperately tried to kick out, but could not, for my feet were tethered to the armchair. Without warning, Inigo lunged forward and punched me in the mouth, violently shutting me up. “I’m trying to tell a story here, you rude fuck!” he barked loudly, “Now where was I?” “Big happy f-family…” I blubbered, hanging my head. Switching over to my right hand, Inigo continued to lament about his upbringing, and how his sister began to abuse him and his brother relentlessly, both physically and mentally. Inigo quickly saw her for the monster that she was, and learned to keep his distance. His brother meanwhile, became completely dependent on her, fixated to the point of obsession. Ripping away the nail from my other pinkie finger, he continued through my screams about how they both became addicted to drugs, after acquiring narcotics from the foreign pirates on their island. They then joined these pirates and abandoned their tribe, eventually falling in with their now-boss, Hoyt. “We all worked together for a while, things were nice and cushy you know? But you see, you can never trust anyone kid, not even your loved ones… I said not even your loved ones!” With tremendous force, he tore off the ring finger’s nail, snapping it at the halfway point. He waited for me to stop crying out, before telling me what happened between him and his brother. “So there we were, getting high together, talking about life, and death, and people, when I decided to tell him the definition, of insanity. Then, without saying so much as a word, he pulled out his gun, and he shot me…” Standing up and tossing away the pliers, he pulled out his gun and aimed at me, before shooting me in the arm at point-blank range. “Just like that, except he did it right in my fucking sternum!” he shouted, bursting into laughter. The searing agony had me completely and utterly sobbing, quaking in the chair like a leaf in a hurricane; Twilight couldn’t handle to watch anymore, bowing her head in shame and crying along with me. Vladimir went over to her and grabbed a fistful of her mane, pulling upwards and forcing her to continue looking at me. “After that, Hoyt separated us and sent me here to run things, and I’ve been the king of Brazil ever since.” Inigo continued spreading out his arms with arrogance, “Now then, per your suggestion, I’d like to think we’ve established a little bond between the interrogator and the subject, so how about you tell me more about these horse girls?” Shivering intensely, I met Inigo’s gaze and spat into his face. Enraged, the animal within the man took hold, and he lunched forward to strike me in the face, again, and again, and again… For nearly a solid minute, my head was assaulted by a flurry of fists, and by the time he calmed down and backed away, I couldn’t see out of one eye and my lips were twice their normal size. Inigo then went to the tool rack and picked up a drill, already housing a thin bloodstained bit. As the tool came into focus, I shook my head from side to side in terror, flicking saliva and blood in all directions as I did so. “You don’t want the drill?” “N-no, no, no…” I stuttered pathetically, my head swaying. To this, he tutted and shook his head in disappointment, before grabbing my outer shoulder and firmly pushing me back in the chair. “Then tell me about the horse girls. What are they, really? Where do they come from?” {This can’t be happening… This isn’t real… This can’t be real…} I thought to myself, waning in strength. Inigo slapped me in the face and repeated the question. If I told him the truth, he would kill me, and then the girls would be trapped here, forever at his mercy. The only chance I had at staying alive was to retain all and any information about the ponies. And so, I held my tongue. “Okay, I gave you a chance.” I couldn’t break, I just couldn’t… With tears streaming down my cheeks, I watched as Inigo performed a ridiculous slow dance with the tool, occasionally revving it up as he edged it towards me, grinning merrily. “Where to start… Where to start…” He brought the drill to my left eye and pulled the trigger; I kept my eyes wide open, frozen in sheer terror as I stared at the spinning drill bit, just millimetres from burying itself into my cornea. Eventually he pulled the tool away, before lowering it to my left hand, where he let it dwell for a moment. Then without warning, Inigo pulled the trigger and pressed down. I immediately felt the excruciating pain as the twisting cylinder went further and further into my hand, before finally passing through and into the arm of the chair. The pain was on-par with the bullet in my arm, possibly even worse. The agony was truly unbearable, and I cried out at the top of my lungs in anguish, raising my head and sobbing into the heavens. “Scream for me boy! Go on! Scream for me!” Inigo squealed with amusement. And scream I did… Eventually Inigo pulled back out and released the trigger, my screams died down and I returned to my querulously puling state. Gritting my teeth and looking at the drill, I became transfixed on my own dark glistening blood as it dripped from the bit. I then looked down to my hand to see the small hole near the centre, just between my ring finger and middle finger, expelling blood with each pulse of my racing heart. “The horse girls, what are they, hm?” I barely heard him, everything was going foggy, I couldn’t focus; even the pain was beginning to die away as my overstimulated brain tried to turn off. Realising that I was losing consciousness, Inigo zipped over to me and started to lovingly stroke my face. “Uh oh, is someone getting sleepy? You poor thing, you must be so tired… Don’t worry, I’ve got you hermano, I’ve got just the thing!” Picking up the blowtorch again, Inigo began to heat the end of a ball-peen hammer from the rack, and then proceeded to jam it into my arm, cauterising the bullet wound and reigniting my senses. The method worked a treat and I howled in pain, before breaking out into hopeless laughter, as my psyche slowly fell apart… “Thanks buddy…” I cackled between the whimpers, “That was just what I needed!” “Wait, you thought that was the thing?” Inigo replied, putting a hand to his lips, “Oh no-no brother, that was just to stop you bleeding out! Now this, is the thing…” He snapped his fingers, to which Vladimir came over and grabbed the chair, pulling me back to lift the front legs, while Inigo slipped the paddling pool underneath. The Russian lowered me back down, and my feet became submerged in the murky water, which had been there for goodness-knows how long. That’s when Inigo retrieved the truck battery, and smiled warmly. “I wonder, will you be a screamer, or will you be a buzzer? You can never tell, everyone’s different you know?” Vladimir hoisted a bucket of water beside me and removed a large dripping rag from it, and before I could process what was going on, he had draped it over my face, obscuring my vision. I hadn’t the energy to shake the rag off, and simply awaited my fate. Inigo said nothing, as he grabbed the crocodile clips attached to the battery, and slammed them into either side of my head. The current struck instantly, and vehement cascades of electricity shot through me. My muscles went into uncontrollable spasm, it was like getting extreme cramp from head to toe, but amplified a hundred-fold. This was worse than anything I could have possibly imagined, and as I lost all control of mind and body, I let out the loudest and most agonising scream so far. “He’s a buzzer and a screamer!” Inigo howled with laughter. My scream was freakish and rippled, as though it had come from some kind of alien beast. I jolted uncontrollably and thrashed savagely in all possible directions, with every muscle in my body spasming to the point of ripping themselves asunder. Inigo finally pulled away and my body stopped moving. I slumped back into the chair and went completely limp, but the pain didn’t stop, it continued to burn through every nerve I had. Silently sobbing, I sat there, shakily panting with fatigue, totally on the brink of death; but nevertheless, I had survived. This bastard was not going to kill me, I hadn’t given up my entire life just to die at the hands of this madman. There was too much at stake to give in, the girls needed me, Equestria needed me, all of Equus needed me! This fact alone pushed me forward, and kept me within the realm of the living. Vladimir pulled the rag away from my face, and with my last microscopic levels of energy, I wheezed three words. “I… ain’t… bovvered…” Inigo’s face dropped, his victory stolen from him. A disgruntled sneer broke out upon his face as he gestured for Vladimir to take me back to the Stock Heap, knowing any further torture could kill me. I had won. My brain began to fully shut down, to the point where I could barely comprehend Vladimir’s presence as he unbound me from the chair, allowing me to tumble forward onto the concrete floor. I was grabbed by an ankle and dragged out of the room, and the only thing I could vaguely perceive, was the soul crushing wails from the girls as they witnessed me at last, having been forced to listen to my torture through the open door. Rarity let out a shriek of utter despair, which echoed all throughout the chamber; it would be the last thing I heard that day… “Well, shit the bed and blame the dog, you aren’t dead.” I recognised the voice of Nicole and slowly opened my eyes, she was sitting cross-legged by my side, and William was also sat close by, eager to greet me. “The boy lives!” he exclaimed, clapping. Beyond him, were dozens of other captives, staring at me with disbelief. Noting my confusion, Nicole explained that when Vladimir had returned me here, everybody thought that I was dead, and that my body had been brought here as a message or something. “Mmnnn, not just yet…” I croaked. “I did my best to patch you up, but I’m afraid you’re a little bit, well, yeah…” I tensed my muscles to find they were stiff as oak, there was no doubt that I’d been unconscious for at least a day or two. With William’s assistance, I was able to sit up, growling in pain as I did so. My body felt shot to pieces, which made sense even from a literal standpoint. As I tried to clench my left hand, I found that my ring and pinkie fingers barely responded at all. At least, on the bright side, I still had full operation over my stronger, more dextrous fingers, granting me enough usage of my left hand for it not be considered totally crippled. “You’re lucky I was able to sneak in some alcohol from my last, uh, client…” Nicole chuckled awkwardly, “I was able to disinfect that hand of yours, along with all the other additional holes you’ve acquired.” “Cheers.” I grumbled, “How long have I been out?” “A good four days.” she told me, “You’ve drifted in and out mind you, but this is the first time you’ve actually been with it. Just yesterday you were mumbling something about talking ponies!” “Four days?” I murmured, “No, that’s too long…” “Too long? Dude, you need to thank your lucky stars that you’re not dead!” Her voice drifted by, her statement, wholly unimportant to me. Four days, that was the only thing I could focus on; the girls had been left alone at the mercy of that madman, for another four days since my torture. Shaking my head, I tried to stand, only for my weak legs to give way, forcing me back down. “Whoa, easy tiger, you need to get your strength back!” Nicole laughed. “No, you don’t understand, I need to get out of here.” “I’ve told you already, it’s impossible.” “Impossible, is not, an option for me!” I barked, smacking the stone floor with my good hand. “Okay-okay!” Nicole yapped back, raising her hands, “Look, even if there’s a way, you can’t do a damn thing right now. You can’t even stand for Christ’s sake!” Gritting my teeth, I knew she was right. “You need to rest up, and if you really want to get out of here, start thinking up a plan. Now, I’m off to get some food for you miserable lot.” “Wait, you can just go and ‘get' food for us?” Giving me a dull expression, Nicole bluntly elaborated to me that the guards would let us dine on three-course meals, permitting she satisfied them well enough. My eyes widened, as I realised that all the additional food she brought to us, was payment, for her enslaved service. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think-” “It’s fine.” she interrupted, “I’ll be back in a bit, I’m sure you’re starving.” “Magnum?” asked William in his childish voice. “No Magnum.” Nicole replied. “Magnum?” “No.” “Magnum!” “William, I swear…” Looking at her with a dejected expression, William quietly mewled “Magnum…” one last time, before waddling off to entertain the other captives. Nicole rolled her eyes and headed to the gate, where she flirted with the guards until they excitedly let her out, and it was during this crude exchange that I noticed something… As the guards left their post to indulge their primal urges, I couldn’t help but observe that nobody had taken their place, leaving just a small handful of armed men behind, few enough to overwhelm in, say, a riot? “Lightbulb…” I uttered, squinting my eyes and tensing my muscles. Beckoning William and some of the other English-speaking captives over to me, I started to ruminate with them over a plot to escape… A few more days had passed, and my scheme was ready. I had recovered a decent enough portion of my capability, and what strength hadn’t returned, I most certainly made up for in spirit and determination. My wounds were still in the process of closing, but I was well enough to push forward; the girls weren’t to be left a day longer in this cesspool. “Right, you two remember the plan?” I asked, turning to the captives beside me. The individuals in question went by the names of Conor Nelson and Lewis Carter, a pair of bodybuilders, of whom had unfortunately wound up in Inigo’s possession during their travelling workout tour. Conor was originally from Indonesia, but had moved to England at a young age. Lewis was another British lad, like William and myself. He had gone to school with Conor, they grew up together and had been one another’s motivation for staying fit and toning their bodies; ‘The Bulking Bromance’ they had called it. Their relationship had gained a fair amount of popularity online, making them something of an internet sensation. But it wasn't their reputation I needed; it was their physical strength, which would prove them invaluable for my plot. “Yeah, we’ve got it.” Conor said, “Go apeshit at each other, WWE style?” “Pretty much, yeah.” I affirmed. I signalled to William that it was time, and he spread the word from captive to captive, via a coded message, befittingly attributed to telling everybody that he didn’t want a Magnum today. Nicole got to her feet, and took a heavy sigh, preparing herself for the next step, the worst step. “This is the last time they’ll ever use you.” I said to her, clenching my fists. “Well yeah, but only because I’ll be dead, when this doesn’t work.” she muttered back. “It’s going to work.” I assured her, “Trust me, too much is at stake for it not to.” Dipping her head, Nicole inhaled deeply through her nose and went off to the gate, where with great bitterness, she sold herself to our cause, luring away three guards to do as they pleased to her. As soon as they were gone, I went over to one of the other captives I’d befriended, an unpredictable yet reliable fellow named Jayce, of whom had somehow procured a blade for me. “How did you even get this?” I inquired, taking the filleting knife from him. “I went on a journey.” he replied, grinning. “Right then, and I presume you’re not going to elaborate further?” Shaking his head, Jayce slithered away amongst the crowd, and I hid the knife in my waistband. After that, I slowly made my way close to the gate, and our plan was finally set into motion. Every captive was aware of what was about to happen, and we had agreed that when this all kicked off, we were going to do our part in getting out of here together, or die trying. Undoubtedly, a lot of us were scared, but all it took for me was one flicker of the girls in my mind to purge such fears; one flash of Rainbow’s mutilated wings, and Applejack’s bruised face, to start a fire in my belly. No, I wasn’t afraid, I was angry… “You slept with my girlfriend!?” Conor boomed loudly, getting to his feet. “What’s it to you?” Lewis barked back, also standing up, “You neglected her for months! So yeah, you’re damn right I slept with her, it was about time someone actually gave her the love she deserves!” “You curly-headed fuck!” The brawl that ensued was so convincing that I genuinely couldn’t tell if The Bulking Bromance had actually been shattered or not. The men slammed into each other like silverbacks, muscle met muscle and everyone crowded around them, chanting and cheering. “Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!” The few remaining guards shouted for them to stop, but as per the plan, the fight continued, forcing our captors to intervene. One man unlocked the gate and withdrew a baton, rushing into the crowd to beat down whoever was responsible for the brawl. Almost immediately, Conor and Lewis, along with the rest of the Stock Heap, turned on the man and enveloped him, bringing him to the ground and pummelling him to death. Another guard, armed with a submachine gun, rushed in and prepared to mow down the developing mob, to which I sprang into action. Without so much as a second to comprehend what I was doing, I jammed the filleting knife into the side of the man’s neck and tackled him to the ground. I kept his arms restrained by wrapping my legs around his body, while I twisted at the knife viciously, until he at last stopped moving. Amidst this brutal attack, he had dropped his gun, which clattered away from the both of us. Picking it up and taking a deep breath, William looked at the other guards, of whom were rapidly approaching. “I just… wanted… a MAGNUM!” he shrieked, opening fire. Surprisingly being able to land a few hits, William brought down one of our captors, sending the last few scrambling into cover. I yanked my knife free from the dead man’s neck and got to my feet, where I found the rest of the Stock Heap staring at me, their eyes glistening with hope. “Well come on then you sorry lot, claim your bloody freedom!” I roared, holding my blade in the air. Vigorously hooting, howling, and hollering in unison, everyone rushed out of the gate while William provided covering fire, keeping the remaining guards pinned down, until it was too late for them. They tried to shoot back at the last second, but were very quickly devoured by the rampant horde of their own making, ravenous for vengeance. With the room now clear, everyone approached me and started to chant my name, and although my mind was very much focused on saving the girls, I couldn’t help but bask in the glory for a moment. “What now Callum?” asked William. With my brain firing on all cylinders, I instructed the most competent captives to retrieve the other guards’ firearms and take point. As for everyone else, I told them to grab whatever they could; pipes, sticks, bricks, anything in the room that could be used for combat. Suddenly, the warehouse doors were opened, and about a dozen more cartel men emerged, drawn to the gunfire. Before they had the chance to raise their weapons, I gave the order. “Give ‘em hell, boys.” The building exploded into a raucous carnage, and although we lost a few of our own, we swiftly emerged victorious. Their guns were recovered and added to our arsenal, and with a pistol now in hand, I led the charge alongside William, Conor, and Lewis. We flooded into the connecting building, where the cartel appeared in full force as it rushed to contain us. An adrenaline-fuelled fray of blood and lead ensued, but for as many of them there were, there were more of us. Like a colony of frenzied ants, all unified under the single hive-minded pursuit of freedom and revenge, we fought on. Captives were killed by the dozen, but for each foe we brought down, we acquired another gun, adding tremendously to our offensive capabilities. Despite our losses, the odds soon began to even out, and Inigo’s cartel soon found itself up against a full-scale siege. I personally had been able to pick off a smattering of men, and had even killed one with my blade, gashing his throat open with merciless ferocity. Was it justified? Was it immoral? I did not know. And in this rush, this utter bedlam, I did not care. The anarchy reached a new height, as we broke from the main building and into the rest of the compound. Fanning out like the angry swarm of insects we were, we spread out to consume the enemy, and to rescue other captives from their pens and shipping containers, gathering more fighters as we did so. Amidst the chaos, I was able to slip away from the massacre and reach Inigo’s headquarters. The door had been locked from within, but I was able to locate a side window and clamber inside. Choosing the stealthy approach, I crept past most of the guards, all of whom were in position near the front door. It seemed that Inigo would be holding his ground. One guard stood watch at the door that led to the girls, and I was able to get close enough to dispatch him silently; the knife blade snapped after a few well-placed stabs to the upper chest, and I was forced to finish the job with my bare hands, holding him down by the throat until his struggling came to a stop. I didn’t feel a shred of remorse, I was in too deep, rescuing the girls was the only thing on my mind. I withdrew my pistol and slowly opened the door, where I was immediately met with an unpleasant scent, and began to fear the worst. Cautiously entering the room, I spotted their cages, to which I was almost immediately brought to tears. Bedraggled and broken in spirit, huddled beside their own messes, and notably thinner even from a distance, were six ponies. They had been trapped in those same cages, this entire time… “Oh gods above…” I murmured. Rushing forward, I made my presence known, hoping to pry their cages open and get them out of here as quickly as possible. “Girls, girls it’s me!” One by one, their lifeless expressions slowly rejuvenated as they recognised me. The poor things didn’t even know whether to cry or to smile, although both at the same time appeared to be working for now. Suddenly, Rarity’s eyes widened with shock. “Callum behind y-” BANG! The bullet may have only skimmed me, but the sudden pain in my left thigh was enough to cause me to release my pistol and drop to the ground in an instinctive panic. I scrambled to grab the gun, only for Vladimir Kikashkov’s boot to fly into my gut, knocking the wind out of me and sending me cascading across the floor. The Russian bent down and grabbed me by the hair, pulling me up to my knees. I tried to wrestle free, only for him to wrap his arm around my neck and squeeze tightly, very nearly crushing my windpipe. Holding me steady, Vladimir forced me to look at Inigo as he approached me from the shadows, his own smoking pistol in hand. Storming up to me and placing the barrel of the gun directly against my forehead, he emitted a psychotic scream, pushing the gun harder and harder into my face until it broke the skin. “You… you started this, didn’t you? Didn’t you!? Oh, of course it was you… Quirked up little white boy, with a hard-on for the horse girls, ready to destroy everything I have built, just to get them back…” Without warning, Inigo lashed out at me with his gun, splitting open my upper lip. He then backed away and took and almighty sniff, wiping at his powdery nose. Sighing heavily, he started to pace in circles, with his index fingers tapping frantically. He erratically meandered back and forth between snarling fits of primal rage, and quietly chuckling to himself, truly lost in his madness. “Okay, I’m going to chill, I’m going to chill… We can fix this, yeah, we’re going to fix this, alright?” Turning to face me once more, he strode up to me and ordered Vladimir to loosen his grip. Placing a hand on my face, he patted my cheek and planted a kiss on my forehead. “My product right now, is jacked up on a big dose of hope, that you’re leading them to freedom. Now if I were to get Vladimir here to pop your head off, and show it to the crowd, they’ll scatter, like roaches. But you know what? I’ve said it already, you’ve got heart, and I like it. So here’s what we’re going to do…” Pressing his nose and forehead up against my own, he began breathing heavily, before whispering to me, clicking his tongue lightly every so often. “You’re going to put an end to your little revolution outside. You’re going to go out the front door, and you’re going to tell the people to stop, and you’re going to shoot anyone who doesn’t put down their weapons, okay? And if you do this, if you do this, I’m going to let you live, and as a bonus, I’ll let you join me. We could be like brothers, huh? You can care for your little pony friends, and we can all get along.” It was then, that a phone began to ring loudly in Inigo’s back pocket; he retrieved the device and grimaced intensely upon seeing who the caller was. Vladimir tightened his grip once more, while the Bogeyman of Brazil apprehensively answered to his boss. “Hey, Hoyt! To what do I owe the-” Inigo fell silent, as torrents of angry shouting came through the device. I faintly picked up a South African accent, along with a violent stream of less-than-friendly words. “Okay, okay!” Inigo interjected, pacing around again, “I can handle this, chill out okay? They were being led by some little white kid, I’ve already got him right here in front of me, I can sort this out.” More harsh words came in through the phone, and Inigo walked away from me, clearly agitated. “No, I don’t need your damn Privateers, okay? I just had a visit from Paulo this morning, and he’s going to post some of his militia here! Listen, just-just give me a few hours to get everything under control!” Losing all interest in me for the time being, Inigo passed his pistol to Vladimir and slinked back into the shadows and into another room, still pleading to his boss as he did so. “Look, stop bitching at me when you’ve got your own problems with Snow White! By the time you get him, this will all be under control! Besides, if my brother finds out, you know he’ll back out too! If you lose me, you lose Vaas!” Choosing to have a little fun, Vladimir tightened his vice-like hold, to the point where it felt as though my head was about to pop off like a champagne cork. Choking and gasping, I desperately tried to use my left elbow to hit the Russian in the ribs. He dropped Inigo’s pistol and seized my wrist, locking me in place. “Ssshhh… Ssssghhh…” I hissed urgently, feeling my consciousness start to wane. Then, without warning, Vladimir emitted a loud grunt and released me. I lurched forward and twisted around, ready to defend myself. But no defence was required, as The Red Boulder stumbled down to one knee and clutched at his own neck, where his large sawtooth knife was now firmly embedded, encased in a light blue aura. Looking at the cages beyond him, I met Rarity’s gaze, her face plastered with determination, and her horn glowing brightly with the same coloured aura. Bringing my focus back to Vladimir, I could only bare witness as the blade shot forward, splicing open his neck and bringing him to the concrete floor with a hard smack. The knife then floated towards me, and I took it into my hands, still wheezing, and full of awe. I heard the footsteps and whipped around, but I was too late, Inigo brought down his machete and sliced into my chest. My left pectoral area practically burst open, and blood immediately came pissing from my body. Emitting a deep feral growl and jumping back, I regained my bearings and locked eyes with the monster before me, tutting and shaking his head. “Excuse me, do you have any, fucking idea, how rude that was? I actually liked that guy!” “Should’ve told him not to choke me so hard then.” I retorted, coughing. Charging at me, he made a downward chop at my head, which I was easily able to avoid with a hop to the left. I briefly lost my footing, and realised that this needed to be a quick fight; if I allowed Inigo to draw this out, the blood loss would ebb at my focus, and this could end up being all for nothing. “Funny, I was actually going to take you up on your offer!” I lied, “Shame Vladimir didn’t give me the chance to accept, now your whole world’s going to fall apart…” “Oh, I am going to spill you, kid.” he growled, “Right in front of your little horsey friends!” “Not from over there you’re not.” Allured by my taunt, Inigo made a bold lunge for me, to which I steered his machete away and sliced his forearm in the process. He hissed angrily and made a horizontal swipe, to which I ducked under and slipped back. “Why, why did you have to make this so hard for me? Why couldn’t you just answer my questions and let me kill you! You’ve ruined, everything! Why can’t you just die!?” he cried out, fiercely slashing at me. “Because my life isn’t yours to take!” I spat, making a swipe of my own. He dodged and jabbed at me, the blade slid along my shoulder and left a shallow gash. I remained focused and immediately countered, nicking him in the belly. He closed the distance and grabbed my wrist, preventing me from landing a blow. I raised my leg and kicked him firmly in the chest, causing him to lurch backwards and nearly fall over. “You know, I’m really starting not to like you anymore, kid…” “My name is not kid.” I rumbled. “Then who the fuck are you!?” He charged at me full pelt, wildly swinging his machete with great force and unpredictability. I dodged his first strike and ducked beneath the second, but his third I could not avoid; the machete glided downward in a diagonal motion, directly towards my neck. I clamped my eyes shut and waited for the mortal sting, and yet, no such sting came. Opening my eyes, I found that the blade had not made contact, it had stopped, no more than an inch away from most assuredly delivering a mortal blow. That’s when I noticed the glow surrounding the blade, and realised that Inigo’s machete had been seized by magic, just like Vladimir’s knife, but it wasn’t Rarity’s blue aura this time, it was magenta… It was Twilight. Refusing to give Inigo another opportunity, I thrust Vladimir’s blade deep into his belly and gave it a firm twist, causing him to emit a deep and unnatural gasp of mixed agony and confusion. Spotting the hot pink lambency around his weapon, it dawned on him what had happened, and he turned his head to look at Twilight, knowing that she was the one truly responsible for his downfall. Gripping his shoulder and bringing his focus back to me, I quoted his own words back to him. “Seeing as you asked, I guess it’s only polite.” I brought my face closer towards his, and raised my lips into a snarl. “My name is Callum Horncastle, sworn protector to those ponies, and I’m the last face you’re ever going to see in this life.” Tugging Vladimir’s knife out of him and casting it aside, I gave Inigo a firm push. He staggered a few paces before falling onto his back, looking up at me with an expression of desperation and woe, and he tried to mumble something to me, only for foamy blood to escape his lips. Soon thereafter, I realised that he had stopped looking at me, and was quite simply looking beyond into nothingness. He was dead. For a short time, I remained emotionless, thoughtless in fact. I just stood there and stared at his body for what felt like hours. His blood continued to spill out and pool around him; the sight was overwhelming, the metallic smell, intoxicating. Nausea slowly crept up on me as I realised that I had done this, I had spilled all this blood. What was I becoming? “Callum, snap out of it!” Applejack wailed over to me. There was a bright flash, and Twilight appeared in front of me, breaking me free from the trance. Her face was riddled with bitterness, and her eyes, clouded with untold horrors. “We’re getting out of here.” she ordered. Gulping and nodding my head, I asked her what the plan was. “Get the others out, I’ll get our things back, I saw where they took it all.” She took no time at all in trotting off to the adjacent room, and I rushed to Inigo’s limp body in search of the keys to their cages. As I bent down, I could have sworn that his eyes had moved to look at me, sending a shudder of fright through me. Blocking out the ever-worsening emotional distress, I rolled him over and reached into his pocket, where I found the keys. I pulled them out and stumbled over to the cages, opening them one by one. Each one of them burst forward to hug me, completely unfazed by the blood. “You did it Sugarcube, you did it…” Applejack sighed. “We did it, together.” I replied hoarsely. I got to Rainbow’s cage last and yanked the door open, and yet, she didn’t move a muscle. The mare lay there, completely motionless; she was so still that my heart skipped a beat, as I weighed the sudden possibility that she could have been dead. Getting onto my hands and knees, I crawled into the putrid space with her, and gently uttered her name. “Rainbow Dash?” At last, she moved. The poor thing, thinner than all the others, looked up at me with a hollowed out expression, and with the faintest croak, let her resignation be known. “I’ll… never… fly… again…” Dipping my head and sighing heavily, I did what I could to reason with the broken mare. “Look, I know there’s nothing I can say or do to fix this, but we need to get out of here Rainbow. There’s fighting outside, people are dying, I’m dying!” She focused on me, and saw the deep gash in my chest, still weeping blood. I put a hand on her foreleg and gripped it tightly, giving her the most heartfelt expression possible. “Please come with us. I know you want to give up, but that’s not you. You’re going to get up, get out of this cage, and we’re going to keep moving, together, okay?” After a brief pause, Dashie at last began to shakily get to her hooves, and we crawled out of her cage together. She waddled over to Applejack and leaned on her for balance, while I grabbed Inigo’s pistol and Vladimir’s knife for good measure. Twilight teleported back into the room with all their saddlebags, along with my jacket and rucksack. After checking that all our possessions were still there, which thankfully included my phone, we made our way through the headquarters until we reached a back door; I kicked it open and we left the building. With the fighting now taking place at the main entrance to the stronghold, it was easy for us to hug the back wall and remain undetected, until we found a metal gate which took us out into the jungle. I briefly thought about trying to find Nicole and the others. I wanted to bid them farewell and thank them for their aid and brief companionship, but one hard look at the girls told me that such an idea was out of the question. Every one of us was broken, and it was imperative that we made haste into the wilderness where we wouldn’t be followed, so that we could safely break down and begin to process what we had all been through together. With a big breath, I instructed the girls to follow me into the brush, where we walked aimlessly for nearly an hour. The distant gunfire soon came to an end, indicating that the carnage was finally over. It was highly unlikely that the cartel had come out on top, we had them outnumbered, and by the time I had entered Inigo’s headquarters, we were outgunning them too. Either way, none of that mattered now, what mattered was that I had done it. At last, after countless days in a place that could only be described as true hell, I had freed the girls from Inigo Montenegro, toppled his entire cartel, and killed the man himself, forever liberating Brazil from his monstrous grasp. I had saved countless lives today, but as we walked deeper into the jungle, I couldn’t help but focus on one fact alone. Twilight Sparkle, had chosen to save mine…