The lights came sharply on as the door to the pit opened. Fluttershy got her first good look at the room. It was circular, and roughly the size of Ponyville Square. The walls were all of dark metal, and there were two benches on a raised platform overlooking the pit. To these benches two misshapen creatures now entered and sat. One was carrying a small cage, but they were too far away for her to see what was in it.
All was silent as they watched them. Then, there was a click as Fluttershy’s cage came open. She backed away from the door. There was another click, and the door to one of the cages on the far side swung away. Out crept a distorted shape, covered in black fur and heaving itself along on several legs. It opened a mouth filled with rows upon rows of jagged teeth and flicked out a snake-like tongue. Raising its head and sniffing, it then slowly started making its way over to Fluttershy’s open cage.
“Fluttershy! Fly and stay out of its reach!” Manx urgently whispered.
But she was frozen in terror.
“Please!” begged Manx. “It has no eyes, but if it smells and catches you in that cage, you’re done for!”
Her eyes never leaving the slowly approaching thing, she backed up as far as she could and whispered, “I can’t! I can’t go out there!”
The creature was now less than a few yards away. It seemed to be in no hurry, but it gave no indication of having homed in on her scent yet, as it stopped periodically and sniffed. But it still came closer.
The gryphon had had enough.
“Stupid, useless little pony! Move or die!!”
She then attacked the bars of her cage, shaking them and yelling at the creature, “Hey you! Come here, you freak!! Come taste my claws!!”
The creature snapped its head in her direction, and then shifted its approach.
“That’s it, you stupid freak! Come closer!”
She poised herself to quickly reach through the bars and embed her claws in it as deeply as she could. If she could somehow reach its belly, she’d spill its entrails all over the front of her cage.
But she never got the chance.
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The captors had been watching this scene play out with growing dissatisfaction. The pony wouldn’t come out on her own; in fact, she seemed too terrified to move. To make matters worse, the gryphon was drawing the Blinn to herself. This wouldn’t do at all. There was no way to accurately measure her fighting ability if she wouldn’t fight. First things first. Time to see if the pony would positively respond to motivation.
One of them pressed a button on the control panel before it, and the room filled with the shriek of the gryphon as she held her collar and thrashed upon the floor. The Blinn was still drawn to the noise she was making and pressed its noses against the gryphon’s enclosure.
Activating the repulsors on the tiny cage, they directed it to float down to the pit’s floor, and then open. Immediately the Blinn caught the scent of fresh meat and whirled away from the meat it couldn’t reach, and ran to the meat it could. The rabbit saw his death approaching, and tried to run, but one of his legs was suddenly secured to the floor of the cage. He shut his eyes tight, covered his head with his front paws and waited.
But he’d been spotted and recognized by one other creature.
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“Angel!!”
Fluttershy launched herself out of the cage. Like a bullet she flew straight at the monstrosity, and at the last second she flipped over and drove both back hooves into its head. There was a sickening crunch as she connected, and knocked the creature on its side. It hissed in pain and tried to rise, but she gave it no time to recover. Flying up as quickly as she could, she then fell like a stone. With a cry of rage, she again drove her back hooves down into it, using her weight, momentum, and desperate strength to smash its head into the metal floor. The boom echoed through the chamber. It convulsed once, twice and then lay still. Her panting was the only sound as she stepped away and pulled her now ichor covered hooves out of it. The gryphon, minotaur, captors and even the manticore had finally sat up and was staring at her in shock.
Then the silence was broken by the minotaur’s loud cheers. The gryphon had pulled herself up to a sitting position, but even she gave a weak cheer and said, “Well done, pony!”
But Fluttershy paid them no heed. Going swiftly over to Angel, she at first tried to remove his bonds, but then addressed herself to the captors.
“Let him go, please!”
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The captors each exchanged a satisfied grin. This was even better than they hoped! The pony had dispatched the Blinn in record time, all to protect that tiny animal. Time to see what the pony could really do.
They held a quick conference with each other, while the pony kept pleading with them. Coming to a decision, one activated the switch that released the rabbit. The pony picked the rabbit up and started back to her cage. They let her get halfway there before they hit another button on the panel.
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Fluttershy stopped as the sound of a cage being opened came from behind her. She slowly turned around and watched as the insectoid lumbered out. Setting the bunny down, she said, “Angel. Run.”
Before Angel could move the insectoid roared, and rushed towards them. Fluttershy flew at him, but the insectoid was too fast. With its one remaining arm, it quickly swiped at her and connected with its claws. Fluttershy screamed and was thrown bodily to the side. She crashed to the floor and rolled a few times, but quickly regained her feet. Just in time. She leaped up and away as the insectoid’s claws slammed down and dug furrows into the metal floor, right where she’d been a moment ago. It spun around and tried to orient itself at her again, but she gave a desperate kick with one of her back legs and connected with a compound eye. It howled as the eye was blinded. But now she’d made it angry.
As she tried to gain altitude, it suddenly gathered itself and leaped straight up, and caught one of her wings. There was a crunch as it tightened its grip and fell, then it slammed her into the floor and threw her across the room.
Fluttershy spit out blood as she tried again to stand. Her wing hung uselessly at her side, throbbing with pain, but Angel needed her. The insectoid rushed her again. She gritted her teeth and ran forward to meet it. Turning, she again used her momentum to buck it as hard as she could in its midsection. It staggered backwards, but then lunged forward and grabbed her other wing. She screamed as she was slammed into the floor again, and then her vision doubled as her head spun. She tried to scramble away, but the insectoid picked her up and drove its fangs into her side. It then threw her down and began savaging her with its claws. It was too much to bear. Just as the darkness was about to claim her, she heard a roar.
But it wasn’t the insectoid.
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Bellowing, Manx backed up and slammed into the door of his cage again. His collar came alive and searing hot pain shot through him. It only made him angrier. The door bent forward and out. With one more mighty heave, the door fell open and he was free!
Climbing over the wreckage, he began running and cried out, “Fluttershy! Hold on, Manx is coming!”
The insectoid heard the sound but turned too late to face its enemy. It was its last mistake. With his collar smoking and teeth clenched, Manx hit it at full speed and buried his horns in its torso. His momentum carried them both forward as he then lifted it fully off the floor and slammed it down. There was a squelch as it was thrown off his horns and lay there kicking, but Manx gave it no chance to regain its feet.
For days Manx had suffered. He had fought this creature and been damaged by it. He had watched that brave pony take on two of them. All for those monsters' amusement. This was it! No more suffering! No more torture! He roared as lost himself in a berserker rage and smashed his fists down into the creature again and again. Only when it was a quivering pile of flesh did he stop. His collar had stopped humming, and he could no longer feel any pain. His chest heaved as he stared down at his defeated foe for a few moments. Then he turned and went back to Fluttershy to pick her up, but weakness came over him. Another shudder ran through him as he looked back at the monster he had just slain. Something was wrong. A wave of dizziness hit him as he stared at the remains of the beast. Its fangs. They must have had...oh, no.
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The captors stared down at the tableau. This wasn’t supposed to have happened! The last time they'd made these two fight, they'd stopped it before either had killed the other. The Garlax had cost them a year of bribes, and now it was dead, slain by that horned creature. And this time, it had been able to ignore the pain from the collar, until the collar had shorted out. At least they’d be able to study the horned creature's body after it succumbed to the poison, which should be any moment now. Even though these beings seemed to have an unusual resistance to the Garlax' poison, they couldn't withstand it more than a few days. Fascinating! They’d have to capture another one.
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Fluttershy fought to remain conscious, as Angel came forward and hugged one leg. She turned her gaze and could register the shape of Manx standing over her.
“Th…thank you,” she whispered. She could never afterwards be sure, but she thought she saw him smile. Then he fell over, sighed, and did not move again. She heard somepony calling to her. She could just make out the gryphon gesturing and calling out. Just before darkness took her, she said to Angel, “Go to her.”
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The gryphon had been watching with growing awe. She had never, ever seen a pony do such things. It was like she was a full-fledged warrior, something she’d never considered a pony could actually be.
She looked and saw her captors floating down to the pit. She felt anger rise inside her. There was nothing she could do for the pony, or for Manx, but she could help that rabbit. As the captors drew nearer to the bodies, she cried out, “Fluttershy! I'll protect him! Send him here!” She then addressed Angel. "Come here, little guy. I'll keep you safe."
The rabbit turned and looked at her, but shook his head. But then the pony whispered something to him. He looked at the pony, then at the approaching captors. He made up his mind and then ran to her.
“Don’t worry, rabbit. I won’t eat you.”
One of the captors approached the cage, but before it could get close the gryphon brandished her talons and screamed, “You stay away from him!”
The captor stared at her for a few moments, then turned away.
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One bent down to examine the pony. She was still alive, but barely. If she didn’t die of her wounds, the poison would soon take care of her. Time for the alternate plan. They knew where the earther was staying. With the right threats and this pony as the proper motivation, Phase Three would soon be complete. Then they could leave this planet, before the Stellar authorities showed up. They’d pressed their luck staying as long as they had. It was time to finish this business.
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Present day
Pain. That was her first sensation as she woke. She looked around using only her eyes, as it hurt to move her head. Where was she?
She blinked to clear her vision. Now things came into focus: she was in a hospital bed. How did she get here?
Then everything came rushing back. The cages. Manx. Angel!
The machines went off as a nurse ran in. Fluttershy tried to rise, but the nurse held her gently but firmly to the bed.
“It’s alright, Fluttershy. You’re safe now. Shhh.”
“An…Angel?” she whispered.
The nurse looked troubled, but she said, “Don’t worry about him right now. You just get better.”
She settled down, but her mind was a turmoil. What could she do? She had to get him back and warn the others about those creatures. Then a tremor seized her, and she coughed.