• Published 19th Nov 2013
  • 5,935 Views, 470 Comments

Other Wanderings - ed2481



A group of short stories about Ethan the Lone Wanderer and Twilight Sparkle continuing the adventure after the events of Light Wanderings. Needless to say those who haven’t read either Dark or Light Wanderings will be flying blind. Expect silli

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Drekzone Part 9

Ethan rose up out of the arena floor on the lift and looked out around the arena, finding it to be the same as last time, though without the lava pits. He waved to the crowd and blew a kiss or two at the nearest women, meanwhile the announcer was babbling in the background though Ethn had decided to simply tune him out.

The man let out an internal sigh at the sheer monotony of it. He’d killed four opponents solo and two others with Glen since his fight against the fire robot guy, but none of them had been worth talking about. Now, it was his second fight of the day and he hopped to to hell that it would be over with quickly. Mostly because he’d heard his next match would be an off world challenge and he would be able to use his hoverbike. It would be a welcomed relief from the boring stadium rounds.

“AND NOW INTRODUCING OUR NEWEST CHALLENGER, PLUCKED OUT OF HIS HOME AND BROUGHT HERE FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF OUR ENTERTAINMENT. HE FLEW PAST HIS ENTRY ROUNDS, AND ADVANCEMENT MATCHES. LADIES, GENTLEMEN, OTHERS, PUT YOUR APPENDAGES TOGETHER FOR THE ONE, THE ONLY, MASTER KAWAZOE!’

Ethan looked over to the other side to see the lift bring up his opponent. It was a male human being, wearing long flowing white cloak that cover black metal looking armor. Hanging from a red belt was a long sword that look it could be wielded with one hand or two. Kawazoe look at Ethan with his ageing brown eyes, they were eyes that had seen the world in all its glory and all of its ugly truth. The man stared into Ethan’s hard glaciers and the Wanderer suddenly felt a great wave of... sympathy extend from the man.

“GLADIATORS, FIGHT!” the announcer roared.

Ethan put away his pistol, he was honorable about certain things and if the man was like someone he was thinking of, he would appreciate the gesture. The Wanderer drew his blade and walked a bit closer to Kawazoe. He then gave the man a bow, learned many years ago.

Kawazoe raised an eyebrow at the gesture, but smiled and returned the bow. “It’s nice to see someone with some form of honor here,” he stated, his wisened voice spoke out softly to Ethan.

Ethan smiled a little. “I’m glad you appreciate it, I learned a bit of your system from an old friend of mine,” he said before he returned to his normal fighting stance.

The old man closed his eyes and nodded his head while he bent back up and let his right hand wrap over his lower chest to grab the hilt of his sword. “Well, I hope he taught you more than just the honor system of a samurai,” he asked as his fingers lightly wrap around his sword’s hilt. He opened his eyes and glanced up at the man. “Else this might a short fight.”

“Oh, he did,” Ethan replied. “Though I don’t use your style very often.”

Kawazoe chuckled softly. “Then I guess this fight won’t be as quick as either of us thought it would be,” he stated.

“GLADIATORS, FIGHT OR BOTH OF YOU FORFEIT YOUR LIVES!”

“Fuck off, we’re talking,” Ethan grumbled before he took a step forwards and sent a light blow at the old man. Kawazoe’s blade snaked out and knock Ethan’s swing to the side with on fluid stroke. “Sorry about this in advance by the way. Would you like me to take your blade with me after this? Better than leaving it here for these people to pawn it.”

The samurai gave his own light swing at Ethan, who deflected it in a fluid parry of his own. “To my son, if you can; so that I might still be with him in spirit to help,” he replied as he and Ethan began to exchange easy to counter blows. “And your blade?” he asked.

“My wife so that she’ll know that even though I’m dead she’ll still have something of me,” Ethan replied. “Cassandra Smith, Mojave Wasteland. If you can’t find that, then look for a Divine named Faust, she can help from there,” the man added, blocking another strike.

“I will remember the names,” the old man said, paring a swing. “Sadly I can’t say how you can find my son...my knowledge on what lay outside my world is bare to none.”

“I just need a name and a location, Faust can work it from there,” Ethan replied.

“Kondou, he and the rest of my family live in the outer fields of Daerazu,” the samurai replied as he easily blocked a swing from the man. “Now, I think we need to drop our act before neither of us will be able to complete the other’s wish.”

“Fight well and good luck,” Ethan replied before he brought his bastard sword sweeping down at angle, looking to decapitate the old man.

However, Kawazoe’s blade easily deflect the red edge of the sword away and the old man sidestep away. Kawazoe then glided forward and his katana swung fluidly in a series of strikes in an attempt to pierce into Ethan’s chest. Ethan blocked each swing with his blade and the two fell into a rhythm of blows and counter-blows, each testing the other for weakness.

The ring of the two swords clashing echoed through the stadium, the audience had fallen into a quiet hush as the two bladesmen fought.

I hate killing good men, Ethan thought to himself in a low tone as he parried another slash and spun around a second. It always makes me think of dad and what he’d say.

The two continued their dance of death, the rhythm of their swings increasing faster and faster, and their swords become a blur of red and grey. Then, with a sudden change of motion, Kawazoe paired a swing from Ethan and retaliated with a quick slash cutting deeply through the man’s leg and arm.

Ethan winced, but continued fighting regardless as the slashes began to heal. “First blood goes to you then,” he stated.

“I don’t take any pride in it,” the samurai stated back as he readied his blade for a counter attack.

“Nor do I in this,” Ethan replied as he brought his sword up from below and avoided the older man’s blade to slash him across the chest, his blade coming away dripping red.

Kawazoe winced slightly at the wound in his chest, but he continued to stand and held his blade firm in his hands. He took in and let out a deep breath before his blade lash out several times at Ethan. The man blocked some of the samurai’s blows, but four still made their marks. Two pierced into the man’s gut, one in the shoulder and another slicing behind the left thigh of leg.

Ethan frowned in pain, but continued to fight on, the wounds beginning to heal the moment the blade left the skin. The man pivoted and brought his blade slashing hard at Kawazoe’s side. The samurai's katan swooped down to parry the blade away, but Ethan’s blade met with the katan’s edge, bending it dangerously causing it to snap in half. Ethan’s blade continued forward and chopped into the samurai's side. Kawazoe grunted as his arm carrying the hilt half his broken blade swung wildly upward, causing blood to pour out and over Ethan’s bastard sword.

Ethan pulled his sword out of the samurai and Kawazoe fell to his knees, a loud strained sigh left his lips, his eyes gazed outwards in a daze. The old man’s let go of the hilt, letting the broken blade to drop and bounce lightly on the arena floor. Blood continued to seep out of his side at a fast rate and Ethan stooped down beside him.

“You fought well,” Ethan murmured as he began to gather up the pieces of the other man’s blade. “I should have died three times.”

Kawazoe chuckled painfully. “And I only one,” he told him with a broken voice and smile. “Give me an honorable death,” he told Ethan.

“As you wish,” Ethan said, rising back to his feet. The man raised his bastard sword high, and then brought it down, stabbing through Kawazoe’s gut before withdrawing it in a clean motion.

The old man emitted a soundless grunt before life left his eyes and his body limp forwards. Ethan finished gathering up the pieces of the samurai's katana as the crowd went wild. However, Ethan didn’t hear any of it. He didn’t hear the women swooning, the men cheering, or the announcer roaring, instead all he heard were the words “Kondou, he and the rest of my family live in the outer fields of Daerazu,” endlessly repeating in his head.


“You sure Vex got the right coordinates?” an anthropomorphic male arctic fox, wearing a white leather long coat, dark grey pants, and white steel cover boots, asked a tanned caucasian man with a small black scaled dragon wrapped around his shoulders.

“She’d stake her asura genius on it, so yeah, I’m sure she got it right,” the man replied as he and the dragon glanced around at the fancy neon lighten two floored promenade filled with booths for food, souvenirs, betting booths, and a screens showing people duking it out to the death.

The fox glanced around, a small frowned forming on his face as he watch one of the screens. “Well...I think this became a bit more complicated than a search and rescue for one man,” he stated.

“Yeah,” the man agreed with a small frown. “Not only do we have to find this man, Ethan, but we’ve also got to free everyone else.” He rubbed his chin and tilted his head sidewise. “That is, if we can do it without causing a massive riot and innocent loss,” he muttered.

"That shouldn’t be too hard,” a female voice spoke out from the dragon perched on the man’s shoulder. “We just have to hack into their systems and cause the right amount of chaos to shut this place down.”

“Easy for you to say, Wistala,” the man told the dragon with a small flat look. “You’re not doing most of the work,” he added with a small chuckle.

“Give her a break David,” the fox said. “At least it’s should be easy for us with the skill set we got. for a thief and a technician that is,” he stated with a small shrug.

“True,” David agreed with a small nod. “Well, I guess we better make sure Ethan is still alive and start planning a break out.”

“Right,” the fox muttered as he glanced around the room. “I guess you’ll need some time to hack into their network huh?” he asked.

“That would be very helpful,” the man replied with a small smile as he glance towards the fox. “I’m sure a Chaos Knight such as yourself could easily do that, right Omega?.”

Omega smiled proudly as he reached down to pull out a small deck of sliver white cards from a deck holder hanging off his belt. “Please, I’ll have them paying attention to me more than to the screens in a matter of minutes,” he stated as he shuffled the deck in his furry hands.

“I know you will,” David replied with a small grin as he held out both of hands out, interweave together and crake his fingers. “Now, let’s go bring down this illegal fighting ring to an end, eh?”


Ethan sat in his chair, at his table, his food untouched. He didn’t feel like eating. Instead, he scowled at the plate and the tasty looking meal that had been prepared for him in celebration of his latest ‘victory’.

God fucking damnit I’m killing Drek for this, the man mentally growled to himself. That god damn mother fucker.

He saw Kawazoe lying on the ground, his lifeblood pooling out around him, his blade shattered. His son would never see his father again, and Ethan was the one who had made it that way. Ethan knew it was either himself or the samurai and that if he’d died then Ash and Shade would grow up without thier father... but that was never a good justification in his mind. Never had been, never would be.

Not again, Ethan murmured in his mind. I am never doing Drek’s dirty work for him again... his thoughts trailed off and he pushed the tray away from himself so that he had room to rest his elbows and chin against the table. The question is... how?

The man ponder this thought for quite some time. His mind wander through idea after idea, rethinking everything he learned during his time here, especially his short conversations with Drek. The man pursed his lips, and nodded to himself, a slight glimmer appearing in his eyes as the solution materialized.

Oh, that, that’s good, Ethan thought to himself. Perfect.

Are you Ethan Smith? an unfamiliar female voice suddenly echo in his mind.

Who wants to know? Ethan inquired. And be quick about it, I’m not in the best of moods at the moment so if you’re another one of those telepathic multi-gendered sex fiends you can fuck off.

My name is Wistala, I’m part of a group here to help get you out of here and bring this tournament to an end, the voice replied. And I am not a multi-gendered sex fiend, I’ll have you know...technically I don’t even have a gender.

Oh thank God, yesterday I almost got mentally gangbanged by a group of those ‘guys’ it was truly one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever experienced, Ethan said, letting out a mental sigh of relief.

I can’t share the feeling, Wistala replied.

Well then you’re lucky, Ethan stated. Now, did Fausty send you or are you one of her friends’ people?

Wistala remained silent for a second or two. Simon...was the one who sent us, she replied with in a bit of distracted tone.

Huh, don’t know him. Must be one of Faust’s friends, you don’t happen to know Lulu or Tia do you? the man asked her.

Again, the voice remained quite. No...I do not, she answered in the same tone as before. We are part of a multiversal order who was task in finding you. Our search led us here and now we need to break you free while doing the same for everyone else, she explained, her distracted tone quickly leaving.

Well good, it’s about fucking time you got your lazy asses here, Ethan grunted before he let out a mental sigh. Sorry...I’ve had a tough week.

It’s okay, we’ve heard more verbal complaints, Wistala replied. Besides, the person in charge of running this tournament knew how to erase his dimensional trails well...it took our main scientist some time to piece it all back together.

Yeah, Drek’s a piece of work alright, Ethan told her. Can’t wait to run my sword through his chest, the bastard... Also, I’m not your only priority here right?

You were till we found what this dark nebula held, Wistala replied. Now it’s freeing everyone and bringing this tournament to an end without too much chaotic bloodshed, she informed him.

Good, now pay attention, there are three people who I want you to make positively sure make it out of here alive, Ethan informed her, his ‘voice’ growing serious. One is a brown earth pony with a hazel mane named Glen, she’s been my friend through all of this and I can’t wait to rub it in her face that I was right about Faust sending help, he explained. You know what an earth pony is right?

Of course I do, the voice replied.

Nice, the other two are a female orc named Veira, she’s something called the ‘Dragonborn’ and she was nice, Ethan told her. The last one is a bit of an odd choice, but I feel for the guy so I might as well include him. His name’s Kharon, he’s a mercenary working for Drek because the bastard’s got something over him... I think he’s human but he’s got a regeneration rate right up there with me, so it’s hard to tell. Got all that, Wisty?

I do...and don’t call me that, only my bonded has the right to use that nickname, Wistala said flatly at the man.

And here I thought you were genderless, Ethan said with a mental chuckle. And now I’m hearing about bondage.

It’s a different form of bond than you think it is, Wistala stated pointedly. Now, keep this conversation to yourself, that last thing we need is this station go to red alert and have escape for everyone near impossible.

Please, I’m not an idiot, I’m just crazy, Ethan replied with a mental chuckle. Now get me the fuck out of this pit.

We’re working on it; my bond is still trying to hack into the central mainframe, and it’s proving to more of a challenge than he thought, Wistala replied. I will come back when we make any major progress.

Thanks, hurry, Ethan replied, his spirits lifting a bit. Wistala didn’t reply leaving Ethan to be alone with his thoughts once more.


“Well?” David asked as Wistala phase through a wall and landed onto his shoulders, though the man took little notice as he was messing with a small holographic screen being emitted in front of him.

“He’s alive and well,” she replied. “Sharing what we discussed,” she informed him.

David tilted his head up a bit and nodded his head. “Sounds reasonable enough, I’ll go look for these people in the betting restoray. That should give us a good picture on what they look like,” he said as he went back to work on the screen.

“Any success in hacking deeper into Drek’s mainframe?” the dragon inquired.

The man frowned. “Yes...and no,” he replied. “I have full access to the public domain of the network, and that’s pretty much this whole promenade area and every assess the spectators have access to. Problem is, I some, if not very much control of anything here. Drek has his network split up into three separate domains servers, and each port linking them is heavily protected by firewalls.”

The man lifted up a hand and rubbed it on his chin. “Another problem I see is that only two of the servers are located here...running the station. The last one...is somewhere else, not far, outside the nebula, but what it does...I got no clue for now.”

Wistala glance at David with her emerald eyes. “So...I’m guessing we’re going to check this mysterious location?”

“Pretty much,” the man replied with a short nod. “Something’s telling me we need to deal with that first before bringing this house of cards down.”

The dragon nodded her head. “Very well,” she stated before glancing over at Omega.

The fox was standing behind a counter with a large crowd gathered around him. “Find the lucky red lady and win big!” he told the crowd as his hands shuffled three cards around on a table in rapid motion.

Omega, we’re going out to check something. Be ready for anything, especially the breakout, she mentally told the fox.

Right-o, he replied as he continued to play his rused. Already got some of my cards mix into the playing field, so I should be ready when things start crashing down.

Good, the dragon said with nodded. Also be on the look out of our target, the last thing we need is to lose him, she informed him while sending a mental picture of Ethan’s face.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Omega drone out. Not my first time you know? Lucy got my back, this should go down easy peasy.

Should is the word, David mentally commented.

Omega rolled his eyes. Well when you put it like that, he said with a small smile. Now, don’t you two have somewhere to be?

Right, the man stated as he dismissed his holographic screen. I’m leaving a virus behind in hopes I can use it to break into the main server to this station once I gain control to the other one out there, David told Omega while he crack his neck slightly. Be back in a jiffy, he said before leaning against the wall behind him and quickly phased through it and vanished from sight.

Omega glanced behind him at the empty spot the man was currently standing before looking back at the crowd. “And here, we, go,” he muttered to himself as he continued running his game.

Author's Note:

As you might have guessed, I took your suggestions. Also, we're close to the end of this min-story in case you couldn't tell.