Twilight ran her eyes slowly over the wall of text before her, trying to discern if any of it could be any help to her. Finding nothing that could even be remotely considered helpful, she closed the large tome with a ‘snap’ and placed it on top of the ever-growing pile of rejects. When that was done, she leaned back in her chair and rubbed at her eyes with a hoof, groaning softly.

She had already looked through everything in the library that was relevant to magical transportation, and so far she had come up with next to nothing. With no other resources left at Ponyville’s library, the only place left that would have anything related to what she need would be the Canterlot Archives.

“...and I really don’t want to go to Canterlot,” she whined, her eyes still closed. Without looking, she pushed a small amount of magic through her horn, years of training helping her focus. With practiced ease, she lifted a nearby glass of water over and took a sip of the cool liquid. Sighing happily as the refreshing drink soothed her parched throat, she placed the glass back on the coffee table where she had gotten it from before leaning forward and grabbing the next book in her hooves.

Pulling it forward, she flipped the cover open and began to read.

It was in my darkest dreams that he did appear; almost like a knight in shining armor. I was lost, alone and afraid, and yet even now I do not know why the mere sight of him was enough to calm my fragile nerves.

It all started several months ago this last Tuesday, during the Autumn Festival of the Harvest Moon. I was but a young mare, just out of her adolescence, and had no idea yet what horrors the world doth hold. Although, had I know of all the troubles that would be caused on that fateful day, I would not have ventured forth from my home.

My troubles began shortly after I had spied Summer Blossom and Appleseed hiding behind one of the tents at the fair. They appeared to be…

Blinking, Twilight frowned as she continued to read. After another page of nonsense, she started to flip through the pages, confused.

“What the buck is this?” she muttered, skimming through one of the latter pages quickly. “‘White Herald leaned in close, breathing softly in my ear as he’...?” Confused and slightly flustered, Twilight closed the book and glanced at the cover.

Upon seeing the title, her eye twitched and she groaned.

“Love Lost Among Worlds, by Covert Love?” she growled, slamming her head on the desk. “This won’t help me at all!” Keeping her forehead pressed into the wood, Twilight lit up her horn and, in a flash of magic, she levitated the book across the room and—gently—placed it back in its proper place in the romance section.

Lifting her head up, she pulled the next book over and glanced at the cover as well. Upon seeing the words, ‘Two Words, One Heart, by Timid Pleasure’ in loopy pink writing, her horn flashed again and it joined its friend back on the shelf.

“I don’t even know why we have those here,” she grumbled, pulling herself out of her chair and stretching. She winced as the joints in her back and wings popped loudly. I will never understand why Max likes doing that, she mused, flexing her flight muscles.

Turning back to her desk, she cast a critical eye over the mountain of books before sighing.

“Right, let’s get you all back where you belong,” she murmured as she began to push magic down her horn. Picking up the books in her magic, she proceeded to trot around the library, sliding books back onto the shelves whenever she passed their proper place.

As she worked, she hummed softly to herself. Nothing much; just an old song that her mother used to sing to her and her brother whenever they were sick.

Oh, tell me a tale of mystery
Of a poet, old and gray,
And the magic book, that brought to life
The tales the poet lay.
His muse, she was his happiness
Which let his daydreams roam,
He wrote stories of her beauty deep
In the pages of his tome.
‘Til in the darkness of one dawn,
Still in slumber’s hold,
The muse, she opened up the book,
Consumed by the rhymes it told.
And now to free his love from her plight
He needs the Sun-forged key,
Find the spirit of dark within the light
To awaken Harmony—

Placing another book upon a shelf, Twilight was lost in her own thoughts when the front door suddenly burst open. The loud noise startled her, causing her to lose control over her magic. Books that had previously been suspended in midair fell to the floor with resounding ‘thud’s.

Letting out a shriek, Twilight’s wings flared wide and she spun around.

Sunny Breeze stood in the doorway, her eyes wide and breathing heavily.

“Oh, it’s you,” Twilight said, placing a hoof over her chest. Her heart felt like it was trying to break out of her ribs and run away. “Don’t scare me like that!” she scolded the disheveled pegasus, shooting her a dark look before picking up the books again. Holding them gingerly in her magic, she checked to make sure that none of them had been damaged in the fall.

Oblivious to Twilight’s hostility, Sunny danced in place, the whites of her eyes showing.

“Twilight, have you seen Max? Did he come back here? I can’t find him anywhere!” she asked, clear panic in her voice.

Twilight gave her an unamused look.

“I believe he was with you,” she said as she returned to reshelving the books. “In fact, last I checked, both of you left this house together. Looking rather happy,” she added under her breath. She placed another book in its place before moving to another section.

Sunny flew over and hovered next to her, wringing her hooves in agitation. “We were together, yes, but then we went to Sugarcube Corner for lunch. He didn’t want to go inside for whatever reason, so I left him outside while I went in to get something to eat.”

Twilight growled slightly at that. She knew the reason Max didn’t want to go in, and, quite frankly, it was through sheer force of will that she didn’t chew Mrs. Cake out for what she had attempted to do.

He is not some sex toy for her to use! She fumed silently. In her anger, she slammed a book into the bookshelf a little too forcefully, and she winced as she heard the cover cracked slightly.

“Anyways,” Sunny continued, still oblivious to Twilight’s currently emotional state. She flew in front of her, blocking the alicorn’s path with a wing. “When I came back out, he wasn’t anywhere to be seen! I flew around town looking for him, but I couldn’t find him!”

“I don’t see what the problem is. He’s fully capable of making his own decisions,” Twilight said haughtily, pushing past Sunny and moving across the library to another section. “If he wants to wander around town by himself for a while, far be it from me to stop him. He’s an intelligent creature, after all.”

“You’re not at all worried?” Sunny asked in disbelief.

“Not in the slightest,” Twilight scoffed, not bothering to turn around. She refused to look at Sunny. This is all her fault anyways, she thought, trying to control her anger. Everything had been fine until she showed up. Life had been relatively peaceful lately. It had been a good couple of months; Max and her had been happy just living day to day. He was content to just be with her, and live with her in her library. And it had been wonderful. Ever since Max had showed up, Twilight had had somepony to talk to, somepony who would listen to what she had to say without becoming bored. Somepony who, when they asked her a question, didn’t interrupt her explanation because they wanted the quick, dumbed-down version. Max actually listened intently to what she had to say! He cared about her opinion, and Twilight was more than happy to give it to him.

Everything had been just perfect until Sunny showed up.

Max had been happy living with her, and then Sunny found him again, just waltzing right back into his life like nothing had happened. She hadn’t kept him in a cage for two weeks with very little food. Then she had started asking questions, and Max had found out that there was a way to get back to his own world. Now, here she was, trying to figure out how to get rid of one of the only individuals in her life that actually made her feel whole.

To put it lightly, Twilight was not happy.

She sighed, closing her eyes. She knew she shouldn’t feel the way she did. She should feel happy that there was a way for Max to get back home again, that she should feel elated that he could return to his own world. He probably had friends and family there that missed him and were worried sick, not knowing where he was. She should feel great, knowing that she was the one that was going to make his return possible.

...then why did she feel so depressed?

“Seriously, how can you not be worried?” Sunny asked, her voice snapping Twilight out of her thoughts. “He could be in trouble! Lost! Hurt!”

“I highly doubt that he’s in any kind of trouble,” Twilight said, rolling her eyes. Pulling a small ladder over with her magic, she climbed up several rungs before glancing across the row of books, looking for the proper place to put one of the books floating around her. “We’re in Ponyville, not Canterlot. I seriously doubt that anything bad is going to happen to him—”

Severe, blinding pain exploded through Twilight’s head, causing her to cry out in shock. It felt like somepony was shoving a railroad spike through her skull and into her brain. Slipping off of the ladder, she dropped to the ground, clutching at her horn. Sparks leapt from it as she bit her bottom lip, blinking back tears. The books fell to the floor around her, no longer supported by her sputtering magic. She writhed around, whimpered pitifully as another burst of pain flared within her head.

And just as quickly as it had started, the pain ceased.

Twilight was on her hooves in an instant, looking around the library, completely alert. Her ears were perked and her wings were flared widely.

Sunny just stared at her, mouth agape. “W-what was that!?”

“That,” Twilight growled, her eyes narrowing, “was a spell I placed on Max’s collar the first week I had him. It was designed to let me know if he ever got it off. I had completely forgotten about it.”

“Wait, you designed a spell to horribly shock you?” Sunny asked, looking at Twilight like she thought she was insane.

Twilight shook her head. “No, I designed it to give me a light zap if the collar were ever removed.” Ignoring Sunny’s look, she began to search around for her saddlebags. As she did so, she brought up a mental checklist and began to run through it quickly. Spike’s currently at Rarity’s, helping her with her orders, so I don’t have to worry about him. Library’s closed, so nopony’s going to come in.

“The large shock can only mean one thing,” she continued. “A unicorn has forcibly removed the collar with magic, causing the spell to overload. I highly doubt that Max would reveal himself to another pony just to get the collar off, so that can only mean one thing.”

“And that is…?” Sunny asked, hovering over beside her.

Finding her bags, Twilight lifted them onto her back and clipped them into place. She quickly tightened the straps, before flapping her wings once and folding them at her sides. Hurrying to the door, she shot a glance back her shoulder at Sunny.

“That means,” she said, forcing the library’s door open with a burst of magic, “that you were right, and Max is in serious trouble.”

Sunny’s eyes widened and she let out a small whimpering squeak.

Turning back around, Twilight exited the library. The sun was just beginning to set, casting a fiery-orange glow across the entire town. All around town, ponies were heading back home, happily chatting with one another as the day came to a close. Foals rested on their parents’ backs, tired after playing outside all day in the warm weather. Everypony seemed happy and oblivious.

And somewhere out there, Max is in trouble, Twilight growled, eyes darting around the scene before her.

“What’s the plan?” Sunny asked, moving to stand beside her. Her tone was serious, her usual carefree nature absent.

Twilight glanced sideways at her, her previous discontent for the mare forgotten.

“First, we need to get a hold of the Guard,” she said, turning and quickly heading towards the center of town. With a flap of her wings, Sunny followed behind her.

“Are you sure they’ll help us?” she asked.

“They should,” Twilight replied, keeping her gaze forward. “They are technically my royal guards, after all.”

Where the hell did he get a shiv!? I thought as I stumbled backwards, clutching at my arm. Above me, the crowd roared with delight as I fought back tears of pain. Scrambling, I dodged to the side as my opponent lunged at me, waving his weapon about wildly. I tried to put as much distance as I could between us, rushing to the other end of the pit. Once I was at a safe distance, I glanced down at my arm. I winced in pain and alarm when I saw blood slowly oozing through my fingers; the cut wasn’t deep, but it was bleeding a lot.

The crowd of ponies roared again, and I glanced up just in time to dodge another lunge from the shiv-wielding human. Damn it! He’s too fast!

Grunting, I swung my good arm around and punched him in the chest. The air left his lungs with a ‘whoosh’ and he stumbled backwards, clutching his chest. Glaring at me, he shrieked loudly and came at me again.

My eyes widened and I just barely managed to duck under his strike. Looking around, I desperately searched for an escape route. The edges of the pit were easily twelve feet in height, and with nothing in the pit that could be used as leverage, there was no way I was getting out of the hole without outside help.

While I was looking for an exit, my opponent took another swing at me. Being momentarily distracted, I failed to move out of the way in time, and I caught his fist with the side of my head. Stars exploded in front of my eyes as I staggered backwards, falling to the ground.

As I lay there, trying to get my head to stop ringing, my opponent leapt on top of me, thrusting his shiv towards my stomach. With a yelp, I brought my hand up and shoved the blade away at the last second. However, I wasn’t fast enough to avoid injury completely. I gasped in shock as I felt the blade slice through my side, immediately drawing blood.

“Come on, boy! That’s it! Carve him a new one!” a voice cried out, barely discernible in the noise of the crowd. Quickly glancing up, I felt my anger grow as I identified the speaker.

Golden Ingot leaned over the edge of the pit, sneering down at us. He happily puffed away on a fat cigar as he watched the spectacle below.

Great, all of my favorite ponies are together under one roof. Snarling, I brought my knees up and slammed them into the back of the human on top of me. He cried out as I forced him off. As he rolled away, the shiv dug into my shoulder. I yelped in pain, but still managed to push myself to my feet.

Ignoring my throbbing shoulder and side, I turned to face my opponent, readying myself for another attack. Instead, I saw him struggling to get to his feet. Seeing him distracted, I ran forward and jumped, slamming both my feet into his chest with as much force as I could muster. I was rewarded with a loud ‘crack’ as several of his ribs gave out.

He fell back, clutching at his chest and wheezing in pain. As the sound echoed around the pit, the ponies above cheered and stamped their hooves, reveling in his suffering.

Unable to return my feet to the ground fast enough, I landed heavily on my back. Blinking back tears as pain flared in my shoulder, I rolled over with a groan. That works so much better in the movies.

Getting to my feet, I glanced down at my opponent. He was still on the ground, coughing up blood as he clawed at his bruised chest. I swallowed hard, trying to ignore the taste of bile rising in my throat. I wasn’t a fighter by any means. The worst fight I have ever been in before coming to Equestria had been a small scuffle with another boy back in the second grade. The worst injury received had been a scraped knee. My nearly daily wrestling matches with Dash, while helpful, didn’t really count either, as neither of us were truly out for blood.

However, I was now being forced to fight for my life. I had to kill this human before he killed me, and I wasn’t one hundred percent sure if I could actually do it.

Still coughing, my opponent finally managed to get back to his feet, gripping that goddamn shiv tighter in his hand.

“Attaboy! Earn me some bits!” Golden Ingot cheered.

I ground my teeth together, wishing that bastard would lean too far over and fall into the pit himself; I could use him as a club. Cracking my neck, I hunched down and waited for the incoming attack.

I didn’t have to wait long. With a scream, my opponent rushed me, the shiv held high. Clenching my teeth in preparation for the incoming pain, I reached up and grabbed the jagged blade in my left hand. Blood immediately dripped from my clenched fist as the jagged blade sliced into my hand, but I managed to hold on despite the pain. Bringing my other arm up, I slammed my fist into his stomach once, twice, three times before releasing the blade and backing off. A roar sounded from the crowd, signaling their approval.

As the human stood bent over, choking on blood while attempting to gasp for air, I took the time to look at my hand. A deep gash ran across the palm, and an alarming amount of blood was flowing from it. I clenched my fingers, wincing as the torn flesh flared with pain. Okay, so that wasn’t my brightest idea ever.

Something flashed in the corner of my vision and I tore my gaze away from my hand to look. Lying on the ground between us, covered in my blood, was the shiv. The human must have dropped it shortly after I had released it.

Not waiting for my opponent to recover, I dashed forward and scooped the weapon up. In a split-second decision, I knew what I had to do in order to ensure my own survival. Holding the shiv in my right, uninjured hand, I tackled the human to the ground. We struggled for several seconds before I managed to get around behind him. Wrapping my arm around his neck, I tightened my grip as he fought to get free.

Struggling frantically, the human grabbed at my arms with both his hands, scratching me as he pulled on my limb with all his strength. When he finally pulled my arm far enough away from his neck, he then opened his mouth and bit down.

I screamed as I felt his teeth sink into my flesh, cutting through skin and muscle before reaching the bone. Blinking back tears, I growled. That does it! With a grunt, I pushed the arm he was biting up, forcing his head up and exposing his throat. Spinning the shiv around in my hand, I raised it high into the air.

The human’s eyes widened, and he began to thrash about with renewed vigor.

Although it might be just a measly shiv, I thought as blood dripped down my arm, it is quite effective when applied to the jugular! Bringing the blade down, I plunged it into the struggling man’s neck. Instantly, a torrent of blood erupted from the room, his fighting only causing the gash to open wider.

He thrashed about, panic clear in his eyes. Fighting back tears, I just closed my eyes and dug the shiv in deeper wishing for it to end soon. I tried to ignore the feeling of flesh tearing, as well as the wet ‘schlink’ of the blade sinking deeper and deeper into his neck.

Soon enough, his struggles slowly began to weaken. His jaws began to slacken and I wrenched my arm from his mouth before pushing him off of me and scrambling away, breathing heavily. He just laid there, clutching weakly at his throat. A low gurgling noise came from his mouth as the life slowly left his body.

While he died, I just sat there, staring at my hand. My entire arm was now soaked in a mixture of my blood and his, although I suspected that most of it was his. I felt numb all over, and I had to fight the urge to vomit. I had just killed someone. I had actually just killed someone. Sure, it had been in self-defense, for the twisted amusement of a gang of sick, demented ponies, but still… I had killed another human being.

At least it’s over, I thought, trying to calm my nerves. My entire body was shaking due to all the adrenaline coursing through my system. My senses were on high alert, and I was dimly aware of Golden Ingot looking down at me in disgust, chewing angrily on the end of his cigar, which had gone out. I didn’t care, though. I was just happy it was all finally over.

“There you have it, mares and stallions! A rather spectacular display, wouldn’t you say?” Mr. Red roared, his magically-amplified voice cutting through the noise. All around the rim of the pit, ponies cheered and stomped. Some were grumbling about losing a few bits to a bet, sour looks on their faces, but most were just happy to have seen some blood.

I dry heaved at the sight, never having seen such pure, unadulterated joy in someone else’s suffering.

“And it’s not over yet!” Mr. Red cried, a wicked grin on his muzzle. “Oh no, we’re just getting started. Let’s bring out the next competitor!”

At his words, my heart sunk into my stomach. N-no… no, no, no, no!

As they levitated the lifeless body out of the pit, another cage was placed along the lip. Ponies began to stomp their hooves in time with one another, chanting, “Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight!” With a ‘click’, the cage door swung open. It was tipped forward, the human inside spilling out into the pit.

As my new opponent, fresh and rested, staggered to their feet, I closed my eyes, tears beginning to roll down my face. My injuries from the previous fight took that moment to flare to life, causing me to groan in pain.

Please, is anybody out there? Twilight... where are you?

Glancing around, Twilight stomped her hoof in frustration. She was surrounded by at least fifteen unicorn guards, all of them clad in golden armor. Each one was working on a different spell meant to locate Max. Overhead, armored pegasi flew by, their armor glinting softly in the moonlight. Down the road, Earth pony guards were going house to house, knocking on doors and asking those inside if they had seen anything.

Beside her, Sunny danced on her hooves nervously, looking around at all the guards.

“How hard is it,” Twilight growled, her voice growing louder as she ground her teeth together, “to find one, singling, mother-bucking human!?” The guards around her flinched as she practically screamed at them in the Royal Canterlot Voice.

One of them, a white unicorn stallion with a red mane, approached her tentatively.

“I’m sorry, Princess Sparkle,” he said, saluting even as sweat dripped down his brow. “We are searching as quickly as we can, but no leads have come up yet.”

“Not good enough,” Twilight snarled, causing him to shrink back. “I want him found, and I want it done an hour ago!” The guard saluted quickly before returning to his squad.

Growling, Twilight ground her hoof into the dirt. This is unacceptable! The had been searching for several hours now, and yet they were unable to find neither hide nor hair of Max anywhere! She and Sunny had headed towards Sugarcube Corner first thing, hoping that they would be able to pick up Max’s trail from the last place he had been seen; somepony had to have seen what had happened.

Unfortunately, upon arriving at the bakery, Twilight had discovered the remaining residue of a powerful “Ignore-Me-Now” spell. With it in place, nopony would have noticed Max getting abducted. With eyewitnesses out of the question, she had decided to try and use her magic to track Max down. Her mood had only gotten worse upon discovering that none of her tracking spells were working. After several minutes of trying a variety of different spell and charm combinations, she had give up and decided to actually get her guards involved.

Her mood hadn’t improved when they had arrived at town hall. All of the guards had laughed when she had told them they were going to start hunting for a human. That was, until Twilight had finally lost it and screamed at them in her variation of the Royal Canterlot Voice and busted several windows. After that, the guards had gotten their heads out of their flanks and started to actually listen.

“T-Twilight?” Sunny’s voice beside her brought Twilight back to earth, her timid and scared tone causing Twilight’s ears to splay back. She glanced over at Sunny, relaxing slightly and trying to give the nervous pegasus a small smile.

It came out more like a grimace.

“It’s okay,” Twilight said, more to herself than anypony else. “Everything’s going to be okay. Everything’s going to be fine. We’ll find him.” Turning, she gazed up at the stars, twinkling merrily in the sky, cruelly taunting her with their happiness.

“We’ll find him…” she whispered, a tear slowly rolling down her cheek.

There was a ‘thud’ behind the pair as one of the pegasus guards touched down. Glaring over her shoulder at him, Twilight motioned for him to report in.

“Your highness,” he panted, saluting with a wing. His disheveled man hung out of his helmet in sweaty strands. “Commander Steelwing reporting in, ma’am! Still no sign of the human!”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed as her temper slowly began to rise again. The ends of her mane and tail began to smoke.

“Anything else to report?” she asked, trying hard to not let her anger control her voice.

“Yes, ma’am,” Steelwing cried, still saluting. “Although there is no sign of the human, upon questioning the local residents, it appears that several other humans have gone missing as well.” Sunny suddenly stiffened, her eyes widening slightly.

“So, whoever took Max might have also taken those humans as well?” Twilight asked. Steelwing nodded, his face still expressionless. He could give Max a run for his bits, Twilight thought, remembering the way Max looked whenever he was in public. It was always weird for her to see, especially with how expressive he was in the privacy of the library.

And you may never see that again if you don’t find him soon, whispered a small voice in the back of her head.

Pushing that morbid thought aside, she returned her attention to Steelwing.

"Commander, I want you to tear this town apart until you find him!” she ordered, her tone indicating that there was no room for argument. “I don’t care what it takes; I want him back safe and sound!"

Steelwing saluted before flying off. As he returned to those under his command, Twilight took another look around at the surrounding buildings. Her gaze fell upon the Ponyville spa and tears began to well up again as she thought back to the day she and Max had spent there. How relaxing it had been, and how thankful she was that Max had agreed to go with her. How afterwards he had scared away Golden Ingot for her.

Clenching her teeth, she glared at the ground, tears falling from her face and dampening the ground.

“I'll find him. No matter what, I'll find him. Even if I have to overturn all of Ponyville to do it,” she growled.

The sound of thundering hoofbeats from behind heralded another approaching guard. Turning, Twilight watched as an armored Earth pony ground to a stop right in front of her, saluting quickly. He was built similarly to Big Macintosh, and she had to tilt her head back to look up at him.

He had a small smile on his face.

“Ma’am,” he said, his deep voice causing the ground beneath her hooves to shake slightly.

“Yes?” Twilight asked, a small flicker of hope slowly spreading through her chest. She squashed it immediately, at least until she heard what he had to say.

“We’ve received word from one of the local residents,” he continued, dropping the salute. “He claims that earlier today he saw a group of ponies down by the old warehouses on the north edge of town. They were carrying crates and boxes into one of the buildings, trying hard not to be seen.”

“And this information helps us how?” Sunny huffed, her wings flapping slightly in irritation. Twilight remained silent. He had more to say she was sure of it.

The stallion’s grin grew as he glanced down at Sunny.

“Ma’am,” he said, tilting his helmet back, his golden eyes twinkling in amusement. “They were also carrying cages. Cages designed specifically for humans.” Silence fell as both Sunny and Twilight gaped up at him, their brains not registering what he had said. Then, all of a sudden, everything clicked.

“GUARDS! ON ME!!” Twilight roared, her Canterlot Voice piercing the night air. Heads swiveled around as every guard within earshot became alert. The earth shook as each one answered her summons.

“THE NORTH END OF TOWN, THE OLD MARKET DISTRICT! SEARCH EVERY WAREHOUSE YOU CAN FIND!” she roared, wings flaring wide. Turning, she nodded to Sunny.

Instantly the pegasus was in the air, speeding off into the night, heading north.

Snorting, Twilight turned quickly and—flexing her wings—galloped off after her. She was still getting used to her wings, but she was quick on her hooves.

Behind her, the thunder of hooves indicated her guards following behind.

“We’ll find him,” she growled, wind tossing her mane back and forth as she headed towards the warehouses. Behind her, an entire company of Royal Guards followed, the pounding of their hooves causing the very earth to tremble. Ponies peeked out of their windows, their eyes wide with wonder and alarm as the sea of golden armor raced past.

“We’ll find him...and Celestia help whoever may have hurt him!”

Three rounds. I had managed to survive for three rounds. Three soul-crushing rounds of hellish torture. I groaned loudly as I leaned against the wall of the pit. Closing my eyes, I tried to shut out the sound of the ponies cheering and screaming above me. Clenching my fist, I winced as my broken finger burned.

I was exhausted, my body covered in dozens of gashes. Blood slowly oozed from them, dripping to the dirt below. My entire body hurt, and my muscles screamed at me, not used to being pushed so hard for so long.

Sighing, I ran a shaky hand through my hair, staining the brown strands red with blood. Seeing another cage being placed on the lip of the pit, I pushed myself off of the wall and tried to steel myself for another fight.

“Mares and stallions,” cried Mr. Red, causing me to roll my eyes and snarl; I was getting really tired of that asshole’s voice. “Let’s hear it for our tenacious little friend down there!” There was the sound of stamping hooves from above as the crowd began working themselves back up into a frenzy, getting pumped up for another match. “Now then, let’s get round four underway!” With that, the door of the cage opened and it tipped sideways. Out dropped another human. Unlike the three before, this human managed to flip in midair, landing on all fours like a cat.

My eyes widened and I swallowed the lump in my throat.

Slowly, the naked human stood. Brushing her short, fiery red hair out of her face, the girl gazed at me with deep, emerald green eyes. I realized with a start that it was the girl from the marketplace.

Tightening my grip on the shiv I still had from the first fight, I slowly begin to circle around her. She just watched my movements with a curious gaze, relaxed and calm.

Inching closer, I kept my eyes locked on hers. When I was close enough, I mustered all my strength and lunged forward, thrusting the shiv towards her exposed abdomen. In a flash, she dodged my thrust, causing me to stumble. As I tried to regain my footing, I caught a glimpse of her sides. I dimly noted that she had three carrots branded on her hips. Pushing that information aside, I slammed my foot into the ground, trying to steady myself. Flipping my shiv, I twisted around and swung at her neck, trying for a quick kill.

Before the shiv made contact, though, she deftly reached up and grasped my wrist. As her fingers locked around my arm, I saw that her nails had been sharpened; they now resembled something more akin to claws than human nails.

She twisted sharply, causing me to scream in pain as I felt something in my wrist snap. Dropping the shiv, I clutched my wrist with my other hand, stumbling backwards.

She didn’t give me any time to recover. Dashing forward, she brought her hand down across my back. I screamed again as her sharpened nails dug into my flesh, leaving long, jagged scratches down my back. She brought her other hand up and slashed at my side.

Trying to hold back my cries of pain, I aimed a kick at her stomach. She attempted to dodge it, but I was quicker and my foot clipped her hip. The force of my blow caused her to spin around and collapse upon the ground.

I backed away from her, trying to catch my breath. Raising my right hand, I flexed my fingers experimentally. I winced as pain flared up in my wrist. Doesn’t matter, doesn’t matter, I thought, fighting through the pain. All that matters right now is survival. Pain can come later.

Turning my attention back to my opponent, I barely had enough time to duck underneath her swing as she aimed at my head with her claws. Unfortunately, I didn’t see her attack coming up from below until it was too late.

Stars exploded in front of my eyes as her knee connected with my face. I heard a sickening ‘crunch’ followed by a loud ‘pop’. Falling backwards, I grasped at my nose, a stream of blood flowing from both nostrils. I landed on my back, gagging as the flow of blood changed and it started to flood down my throat.

Coughing and sputtering, I attempted to spit out as much blood as possible as I scrambled away. The girl’s foot came down upon my leg, and a loud crack echoed through the arena. I cried out as I felt my shin bone break.

Blinking back tears, I clawed my way across the ground. The girl chased after me, teeth bared as she scratched at me. I gurgled out screams as she clawed at my body, her fingers digging shallow furrows through my flesh. Trapping my legs beneath her weight, she held me in place as she scratched at every exposed inch of flesh she could reach.

I held up my arms, trying to protect my face from her attacks. That only caused her to tear at my forearms, causing the old bite wound to start bleeding again. Wincing as she delivered blow after blow, I cracked an eye open, trying to find a way out of my situation.

I stared at the first thing I saw.

Now, there comes a time, in sheer desperation when you have nothing left to lose, that you will give anything a chance. Anything. This was one of those moments, and working on pure instinct alone, I did what I had to.

Throwing out my arms, I pushed her arms aside, causing her attacks to cease. Taking advantage of the momentary lull, I reached up with both hands and grasped at her exposed breasts. I dug my fingers into the soft flesh, snarling in both pain from my wrist and my finger, and in discomfort of what I was about to do. Tightening my grip on her bosom, I pulled hard in different directions.

A guttural scream tore itself from her throat as I pulled at her breasts. Throwing back her head, she shrieked in pain as I pulled harder. Working my good leg out from underneath her, I kicked her off of me, releasing my grip on her chest as I did so. I was dimly aware of the fact that I had left a bloody handprint on her right breast.

As she collapsed on the ground, I quickly stumbled to my feet, trying to ignore my broken leg as it shook beneath me. I pushed my advantage, staggering slightly as I hurried towards her.

Swinging my foot, I aimed a kick right at her head. She saw the attack coming and rolled quickly to the side, still clutching her breasts. Unfortunately, I had put too much force behind the kick, and as my foot connected with thin air I felt my other foot twist beneath me. Crying out in pain as I twisted my ankle, I completely lost my balance. The air was forced from my lungs as I landed on my back.

Instantly my opponent was on me, straddling my chest. Before I had a chance to even breathe, she had her hands around my throat. Reaching up, I tried to pry her hands off my neck, fighting for air. However, the lack of oxygen was beginning to affect me and my feeble attempts did nothing to release my throat from her viselike grip.

My vision narrowed as my mouth opened and closed, desperately trying to bring some air—any air—into my lungs. I felt her steely grip tighten around my neck, her fingers digging into my skin. Above us, the ponies cheered louder and louder as they realized the fight was almost over.

As I struggled weakly in her grasp, I slowly became aware of something wet dripping on my cheeks. Trying to focus my eyes, I looked up at the girl above me. My eyes widened as I saw her face.

Tears streamed down her cheeks from her brilliant, emerald eyes. Her lips trembled as she looked down at me, tears dripping off her chin to land on my blood-soaked face. They weren’t tears of pain or anger though: they were tears of regret. I heard her make that faint chirping noise that was completely alien to me, and yet sounded so familiar. Dimly, I realized that she was repeating the same sound over and over again. The same three chirps, each a different tone and length. It sounded almost like ‘I’m sorry...I’m sorry...I’m sorry…”

At least, that’s what I would have liked it to have been, although in all likelihood, it was probably just my brain slowly shutting down. Darkness slowly crept around the edges of my vision. The roar of the crowd above us grew fainter and fainter as all sound around me ceased. As I slowly felt myself beginning to slip away, I gazed up into the tearful face above me, my dark brown eyes meeting her stunning green ones.

As I lay there, dying, I watched as my life flashed before my eyes.

The first day of kindergarten, and how scared I had been when my mom had dropped me off. How quickly I had made a friend shortly afterwards, and the reluctance to leave that friend when my mom came back to pick me up.

The operation I had on my eye in the second grade. I had been extremely nervous with all those doctors in white masks standing around me as they prepared. How special I felt when everyone at school could not stop looking at my bloody eye for several weeks afterwards.

My trip to South America in the fifth grade, visiting relatives in Chile. How amazing it had been to stand on top of an active volcano as it spewed ash into the air, or the how cool it had felt to be several miles underneath the ocean in one of the many coal mines located there.

My first kiss. I had gotten it from my crush, who would later go on to become my girlfriend after I had spent several years trapped in the friendzone. How soft and warm her lips had been as they pressed gently against mine.

My trip to New York City with the high school orchestra. Standing in Times Square at night, staring in awe at all the lights around me. Having grown up in a small country town, the feeling of being in the massive city with all its skyscrapers was indescribable.

Finally graduating from high school. The thrill of having my name called and walking up onto that stage to get my diploma. I didn’t finished at the top of my class, but neither had I finished at the bottom. I was comfortably in the middle.

More memories flashed by: losing my grandma suddenly and unexpectedly three days before Christmas. The look of joy on my parents’ faces when I got accepted to one of the universities I had applied to. Laughing with my co-workers at McDonald's during a slow period due to a massive snowstorm. Playing video games with my friends, laughing and joking as we enjoyed each other’s company.

Then I had arrived in Equestria. Wandering around in the desert, trying desperately to survive. Being found by a group of talking, multicolored ponies. Watching as those same ponies savagely neutered and branded a human. Being kept for two weeks in hellish conditions, and with barely anything to eat. Being sold to the princess of this strange land, and then magically transported to another location.

Meeting Twilight Sparkle.

I could feel tears in my eyes as they slowly lost focus.

Treating Twilight horribly for the first week of my stay with her. Revealing my true self to her and apologizing. Her going out of her way to keep my secret safe, even if she didn’t know my reasons as to why. Living with that amazing mare, answering her thousands of questions. Reassuring her that she wasn’t bothering me with all the questions.

Twilight standing on the beach, the sun shining down on her beautiful mane. Her face when she thought that I was drowning; the care and tenderness that she showed for me. Our trip to the spa and how relaxing it had been. Her cute display of jealousy after that disturbing time at Sugarcube Corner.

That day when we had gone to Canterlot to have dinner with her family. The argument we had before we boarded the train, and the conversation we had had after Twilight had talked with Winter Cold. The fear and pain in her eyes when she thought that I was going to die of old age soon. The look of joy on her face when she learned that I wasn’t going to die anytime soon…

ba-dum

No...that wasn’t right. The look of joy on her face when I promised that I wasn’t going to die anytime soon.

ba-dum

I promised her that I wasn’t going to die…

ba-dum

ba-dum

ba-dum

Slowly the world came back into focus. I could feel my heart begin to beat louder in my chest, attempting to supply my dying limbs with much needed oxygen. My lungs were on fire, my limbs felt like dead weight, and my brain felt like it was about to burst, but I was still there. I was still alive!

Glancing up, I could see the face above me slowly coming into focus, her confused expression as she gazed down at me.

I made a promise to Twilight, I snarled soundlessly, my hands flying to my neck. I grasped her hands in mine, fingers digging into her flesh. I ignored the pain in my wrist as I tightened my grip.

I promised her that I wasn’t going anywhere! A burst of energy erupted from an unknown place deep within me. Using that last reserve of strength, I pulled at her hands with all my might. Tearing her hands from my throat, I sucked in great lungfuls of air, praising each breath.

I made a promise to Twilight, and I intend to keep it! Rearing back, I slammed my forehead into her face, causing her to cry out. She tumbled off of me, clutching at her bleeding nose. Pushing myself up, I ignored my screaming muscles and my throbbing head. Only one thing mattered to me anymore, and that was survival.

Pushing aside my weariness, I crawled on top of my opponent, trapping her beneath me. Wrapping my hands around her neck, I squeezed for all I was worth. Her eyes widened as she flailed beneath me, terror on her face as she became the one struggling to breathe. Ignoring her terrified expression, I closed my eyes and stubbornly held on for all I was worth.

She scratched at me in a blind panic, her nails raking my flesh as she fought against my death grip. I grunted, ignoring the pain as I focused solely on my hands, trying to keep my grip as tight as possible. Her fist came up and connected with my mouth, yet still I held on.

Eventually her struggling ceased, and I tentatively opened my eyes. I looked down and saw her green, lifeless eyes staring up at me, tears still present even in death. Unable to look away, I attempted to hold back the growing feeling in my stomach, but it was too much.

Crawling off of her still body, I heaved, emptying the contents of my stomach onto the dirt-covered ground. I wiped the bloody bile from my chin before crawling over to the discarded shiv. Picking it up gingerly in my trembling hand, I shakily got to my feet. It was only then that I noticed the sound of the crowd above me.

“Amazing!” Mr. Red yelled above the cheers. “Simply amazing! I don’t think any of us saw that ending coming! Somehow, someway, our current champion still remains undefeated!”

Spitting out a glob of blood, I ignored the sound of cheers and stomping coming from the crowd. Running my tongue over my teeth, I frowned slightly. Looking down at the pool of blood, I saw that I had just spat out two teeth as well.

“Already he has managed to defeat four opponents, and he still stands tall, despite the wounds he has sustained!”

Trying not to watch as they levitated the girl’s lifeless body out of the pit, I instead focus on my injuries. I gingerly placed weight on my leg, only to wince as I felt bone grind against bone. Flinching, I grunt as pain flared in my twisted ankle as well. Fuck, this isn’t good at all.

“But can he survive what we have in store for him next?”

I heard a cage door open above me, and seconds later a large thud echoed around the pit. The ground beneath my feet vibrated slightly at the impact, causing me to grunt in pain as my broken bones shifted slightly.

“Now then, let’s sit back and watch the bloodshed!”

I froze as a deep, primal growl came from behind me. With a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, I slowly turned around to face my next opponent.

I looked over at the human, and my pupils shrank to tiny pinpricks.

Now, despite what most ponies here believed, I did not consider myself muscular. Sure, the wrestling matches with Rainbow Dash had added more muscle mass to my frame than I had had back on Earth. That, coupled with the fact that my diet in Equestria had stripped me of almost all my excess fat, I looked pretty athletic. I had the body of a runner, or maybe a swimmer.

This guy, on the other hand, was a different story entirely. It was like some steroids and testosterone had gotten together and spawned some perverse offspring. This guy had to have muscles on his muscles!

And he was huge! I had to crane my neck back just to look into his face. As he towered over me, one part of my consciousness wanted me to shit myself in fear, while another part of me, one that did not understand the severity of the situation, was waiting for him to say something about his technique having been passed down for generations.

I felt my stomach drop as I stared up at the muscle-bound juggernaut before me. My eyes drifted to his hip, and I noticed that he had an apple branded there. Inside the core of the apple, the letters ‘SAA’ could be seen. This bastard, this… brute, belonged to the Apple family! How the hell did these ponies kidnap THAT thing?!?!

As I gaped up at him, he stared down at me with cold, gray eyes. Slowly, he brought up one of his hands. My eyes flickered to his fist, and I felt more despair grip me. Gripped tightly in his large, meaty hand was a massive knife. Nearly thirteen inches long, it gleamed wickedly in the dim light provided by the flickering lanterns hanging from the ceiling above us.

My shiv would be next to useless against that thing.

Trembling, I stumbled backwards until my back was pressed against the wall of the pit. I could do nothing but stare at the behemoth before me. Unlike my previous opponents, he bore no signs of combat on his body. That either meant he was a new addition, or that no human before me had been able to severely hurt him.

He was alert and well rested, a fire burning behind his eyes as he glared at me. My entire body was in a tremendous amount of pain, every inch of me screaming out for sweet relief. My muscles burned, pushed past their limits multiple times tonight, and I didn’t think that they would be able to do it again. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that there was no way I was getting out of this fight alive.

The creature roared, the force of his voice shaking the very earth beneath me. Above us, ponies cheered and howled with delight; this was going to be a massive bloodbath, and they knew it. Lifting his arm, the muscular freak reared back before flinging his knife at me. The blade soared through the air like a bullet.

Reacting purely on instinct, I dove to the side, nearly avoiding the lethal projectile. The knife missed me by a hair’s breadth, instead lodging itself into the wall behind me by at least five inches. I looked up, staring at it as it quivered ominously.

My opponent quickly approached me with thundering footsteps, teeth bared. I tried to get to my feet, but my broken leg gave out and I collapsed back to the ground. Reaching the wall, he grasped the handle of the knife and in one, swift movement, effortlessly pulled the blade free. Turning, he brought the blade swing down at me. I rolled, trying desperately to dodge the strike. My anguished screams filled the warehouse as I failed.

The blade carved into me, slicing my chest open. Crimson blood flowed from the wound as I tried in vain to cover the horrific gash with my hand. As I lay there, writhing in pain, he knelt down beside me. My breath caught in my throat as one of his massive hands closed around my throat. Instantly my vision started to fade as I was strangled again.

I have not...come this far...to die now! Feeling around with my hand, I felt my fingers wrap around the handle of the shiv. Bringing it up, I plunged it into the beast’s hand. Roaring in pain, he released my throat and withdrew his hand. Gasping for breath, I attempt to crawl away from him while he was distracted, but as I tried to roll over onto my stomach, my chest exploded in pain. Crying out, I collapsed back onto the ground, unable to move.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw activity around the edge of the pit. I could hear shouts and screams, but couldn’t make out what was being said. None of that mattered, however, as my attention returned to my opponent.

Above me, the brute grabbed the hilt of the shiv with his teeth, dealing with it the same way one would take care of a sliver. Spitting the shiv out, he glowered down at me. Without hesitating, he raised his blade into the air and brought it down on my face.

Reacting with pure fear, I brought my arms up. I grabbed his fist in my hands, wincing as the last inch of the blade cut into the skin of my thumbs. Locking my arms, I struggled to keep his hand elevated, the blade trembling as it dangled over my face.

It was a losing fight, however. I was exhausted, both mentally and physically, after struggling through four fights, each one leaving their toll. He didn’t have that problem; he was well-rested and fresh out of the cage. Not to mention that all of his muscle probably weighed more than me just by itself.

Slowly, the blade inched closer to my face. The muscles in my arm screamed as I pushed back, my chest heaving. Leaning in, the creature put his weight into his hand. Instantly, my right arm felt like it was in a vise, being burned by a branding iron. I screamed in pain as I suddenly felt the muscle in my arm tear. The blade instantly descended upon my face.

With my inner beast roaring in my ear, I let loose a primal, animalistic scream from deep within my soul. Ignoring my injures and my body’s protests, I pushed against him with all my might. The knife stopped centimeters from my face, the blade trembling as my arms shook from the strain of holding back the brute’s strength. Above us, I heard a shriek echo around the warehouse as someone shouted something unintelligible.

And that’s when my arms failed me. Slowly, painfully, the blade fell that last centimeter and sunk into my cheek. No! This can’t be happening! I could feel the blade enter my skin, slicing the flesh as it sunk deeper and deeper. I fought so hard, did so many horrible things, but… in the end…

I opened my mouth in a soundless scream as I felt the steel blade hit bone. In the end, I’m just going to die here… alone…

Blood ran into my eyes as it poured out of the wound on my cheek. I felt it drip down my face, running down my cheek and through my hair. The beast above me growled, and I clenched my teeth together, waiting for the end.

A blinding flash of white light filled my vision and an immense heat enveloped me. Something slammed into the side of the behemoth, launching him off of me. I screamed in pain as the knife cut through my skin, leaving a deep slash across my face. Covering my face with my hands, I screamed into the blooded and destroyed flesh. As I screamed, I felt my last reserves of energy fail me.

This is how I die, I thought, my entire body finally shutting down for the last time. As darkness claimed me, I glanced out from between my fingers. Something bright was descending into the pit, like an angel from heaven. The last thing I saw before I slipped into the void, was a flash of color.

A flash of lavender.

“Alright, this is it,” Twilight said in a hushed voice. Her guards surrounded her as the group stood outside the doors of the farthest warehouse. An unconscious unicorn lay at Twilight’s hooves: a lookout that hadn’t been doing a very good job.

From inside, they could just barely make out the muffled voice of a stallion, saying something along the lines of ‘sitting back and watching the bloodshed!’

“Once we breach, use any force necessary to subdue anypony inside,” Twilight hissed to the guards. As one, they nodded silently.

Turning her attention up, she locked eyes with Sunny who was hovering above the group.

“I need you to fly in there and look for Max,” Twilight instructed. “Once you’ve found him, alert me immediately.”

Sunny didn’t say anything. She just nodded, a determined look in her eyes.

Turning, Twilight pushed magic down her horn and grasped the door in her magic. Not the door handle; the door itself.

“Alright, let’s do this!” With a snarl, she ripped the door off of the warehouse, tossing it over the heads of the guards and into the night. Sunny was through the opening in an instant, the guards not a second behind her.

As the group stormed into the warehouse, Twilight’s eyes took in the inside of the building. In the center of the room sat dozens of crates, arranged in a circular pattern, covered with cheering ponies. A large pit had been dug in the middle of the crates, sandbags lining the edge. Cages littered the outside of the ring. Six of them were empty, but the rest of them were filled with humans. Four dead humans lay off to the side of the makeshift arena. Twilight’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of the mangled corpses, but she quickly saw—to her relief—that Max was not one of them.

A roar suddenly filled the warehouse, followed by a cry of pain. Snapping her attention back to the arena, Twilight watched as the guards descended upon the ponies grouped there. Stun spells were fired into the crowd, taking the cheering ponies by surprise. Twilight watched as their eyes widened in fear at the sight of an entire company of Royal Guards. Screams could be heard as the ponies began to flee.

There were unicorns in the crowd that tried to fight back, but were immediately cut down by the trained guards. Pegasi took to the air in an attempt to escape, but were grounded quickly by wave after wave of armored pegasi. Sunny hovered near the ceiling, amongst dozens of flicker lanterns. Her eyes roamed the room as she searched for any sign of Max.

As Twilight looked around the warehouse, trying desperately to find her human, she heard a shout come from her left. Turning, she saw a sight that caused her blood to boil: Golden Ingot, weighed down by bags of bits, was trying to slink off into the darkness. Smoke began to rise from the ends of her mane as Twilight snarled at him.

Looking back, his eyes widened in terror as he saw the enraged alicorn.

Pushing a large amount of magic into her horn, Twilight ripped apart the very fabric of space. She stepped quickly through the gap, closing it behind her before ripping another hole into it again. Emerging from the void, she found herself face-to-face with the terrified stallion.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she asked, her voice cold enough to freeze water.

Golden looked up at her, his pupils mere dots in his brown eyes. Trembling, he took several steps back. “W-w-well, y-you see...I-I-I…”

Twilight didn’t even give him time to finish. Channeling her magic, she blasted him, point blank, in the face. His limp body went flying backwards through the air, before crashing to the ground. He rolled several times before coming to a rest several meters away, unconscious.

Returning her gaze to the scene around her, Twilight blinked when she saw three unicorns—a red stallion and two identical gray mares—holding off several guards by themselves. Immediately teleporting over, she joined in the battle.

“Shit,” the stallion growled as Twilight appeared, “It’s the princess’s pet bitch!” His horn lit up, and he shot a burst of magic fire at her.

Twilight started to bring up a shield to protect herself, but one of the nearby guards beat her to it. The fire washed across the shimmering blue dome as Twilight fired up her own spell. As the protective shield dropped, she launched her own round of magic at the trio.

It caught one of the mares in the chest and she crumbled to the ground instantly as the spell took hold, causing the gravity around her to increase. Her twin shrieked at this, launching a salvo of magic bullets back at Twilight.

Blinking out of existence, Twilight reappeared safely several feet away as the magic bullets slammed harmlessly into the ground. Pushing more magic out of her horn, she hit the mare squarely in the horn with a massive stun spell. Her eyes rolled up into her skull and she collapsed on top of her sister.

As the rest of the guard slowly approached the remaining stallion, a scream rose above the din of combat, causing several of the guards to pause. Using this to his advantage, the red stallion blasted one of them. The guard’s armor protected him from the worst of the spell, but it was still enough to lift him up off of his hooves. The return fire was enough to send the stallion flying across the room. He slammed into the wall of the warehouse before sliding to the floor, unconscious.

Satisfied that none of them would be getting up soon, Twilight turned her attention to another fight nearby. She had only taken two steps when she froze, the blood in her veins turning to ice. A loud, beastly scream rent the air, filled with pain and despair. The guttural sound caused her very soul to shiver in fear.

As she looked around for the source, Sunny’ voice shout at her from the high above.

“Twilight!” she shrieked, the panic and terror clear in her voice. Whipping her head around, Twilight looked up at her. Their eyes met and she was immediately filled with fear. The look on Sunny’s face was filled with so much distress that Twilight felt her heart plummet.

“Inside the pit!” Sunny shrieked, pointing down with a hoof.

In an instant, Twilight was at the edge of the pit, staring down into its depths. What she saw caused her heart to stop.

Her human—her Max—was at the bottom of the pit. He was trapped beneath another human, one that looked to be made more of muscle than flesh. They were both struggling with a knife, the blade of which was a hair's breadth away from Max’s face. As she watched in horror, Max’s strength left him and the blade sunk into his flesh.

Letting out a wordless howl, Twilight poured a massive amount of magic into her horn. The energy coursed through her entire body as she rose into the air. Focusing all that energy, all her pain, into a single, massive point, she released a monstrous burst of magic.

It flew into the pit like a lightning bolt. Connecting with the muscled freak of a human, the magic didn’t even slow down. It lifted the human up, the burst of magic enveloped his body. With a flash of light, it slammed him into the wall of the arena, instantly searing his body.

As the smoking creature slumped to the ground, Max let loose a scream of pain. Clasping his face in his hands, he howled as he writhed on the ground.

“No, no, no,” Twilight cried, tears streaming down her face. Snapping open her wings, she jumped down into the pit. The magic around her horn ceased as she glided down to her human.

Landing several feet from Max, she slowly approached him. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the state of his body.

“By the Maker,” she breathed, her entire body numb. His body was covered in dirt and blood, countless cuts and scratches adorning his limbs. Blood oozed out of a huge gash in his chest, his ribs clearly visible from the wound. One of his legs was twisted the wrong way, clear indication of a broken bone. There was a huge bite mark on his arm. The palm of his hand on the same arm was torn to pieces. His face was smashed in, blood dripping from his mouth and broken nose. A long, deep cut ran across his face from one cheek to the other. His long hair was matted to his forehead by blood, streaks of it running through the brown strands. Bloody tears flowed from his closed eyes. His entire body was lying in a pool of crimson.

Tears fell from her face as Twilight gazed down at the body of her human, lying broken at her hooves. She heard Sunny land behind her, her breath coming in broken sobs. Walking slowly up to Max, Twilight collapsed to her knees, not caring about the blood. His chest barely rose and fell, his breath heavy and ragged. Each one sounded like a death rattle.

“M-Max?” she choked out, placing a hoof tentatively on his chest. There was no response. Pushing her hoof into his chest with slightly more force, she realized that she could barely feel his heartbeat.

Panicking, Twilight lifted her head, looking to the top of the pit. The guards stood by the rim, all around the edge of the pit.

“M-Medic,” she croaked, tears flowing from her face. Her chest felt tight, and she was having trouble breathing.

None of the guards moved; they just stood there, staring into the pit with looks of horror on their faces. Some of them even looked like they were going to be sick.

Sunny collapsed to the ground beside her, her body racked with sorrow as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“This is my fault,” she muttered, gazing down at Max’s body in shock. “This is my fault. This is all my fault.” Running a hoof gently over the wound in his chest, she stared at it numbly, not really seeing it. Her wings hung limply by her side, feathers dipping into the pool of blood the pair sat in.

Turning her attention back to Max, Twilight nuzzled his face, mewling softly.

“Please… don’t leave me,” she whimpered, her fur becoming matted with tears and blood. “Please, you promised me you wouldn’t leave me.” Silence fell as she continued to rub her cheek against his. His breaths were coming in shorter bursts.

“Medic!” she cried out again, her wings fluttering. Still, none of the guards moved. They appeared to be in shock. Given the current state of things, she told herself she shouldn’t blame them, but Max was dying and they weren’t doing anything!

“Medic!” Twilight placed her hoof back on Max’s chest. She couldn’t even feel his heartbeat anymore. Fear growing, she removed her hoof and placed her ear on his bloody chest, listening intently.

ba-dum ba-dum

There it was, so faint that she could barely hear it. His heart was still beating, still pumping whatever amount of precious blood he had left through his broken body. As long as it was still beating, he was still alive.

As long as it kept beating, he was still with her.

“MEDIC!”

ba-dum ba-dum

It was growing fainter, the time between beats increasing steadily. No, no, no!

Tearing her ear from his chest, Twilight looked down at him in horror. After he had told her the tale of what had happened on the train as well as his fears, she had promised him that nothing bad was going to happen to him anymore. She had promised him that he was safe. She had promised him that she wouldn’t let anything horrible like that happen to him again.

Yet, here he was, dying in her hooves.

Fresh tears welled up in her eyes. There was nothing she could do. She had used too much magic already; she had no more left to perform even the simplest of healing spells. There was nothing she could do to help her dying human.

Clenching her eyes shut, Twilight slammed her hooves into the blood-soaked ground. Scrunching up her face, she threw her head back and screamed into the night, giving voice to her despair.

“MEDIC!”