I hadn’t known who’s bright idea it had been to make the cafeteria tables bulletproof, but I wanted to kiss them shortly before I beat the hell out of him.

Round after round beat against the table I’d hastily flipped onto it’s side. My own bullets had been as ineffective against the table of the mare who’d surprised me from the kitchen. We’d become locked in a stalemate. I tried to be smart and float #1 around to flank her. The single report from her gun sent the derringer clattering along the floor. I’d already used #4 and #5 to try to get her, and #3 proved to be just an effective noise maker. What I really needed was one of Caltrop’s grenades.

I blinked with my realization and threw open the saddlebags I’d taken from him. I really hoped that he still had at least one in here. Another set of shots from the mare made me flinch. It would’ve been a simple search if I’d used my magic. That is, up until the point my magic primed it and I became the cafeteria’s mystery meat special of the day. My hoof fell against something with the vaguely round grenade shape. Wrapping it in my magic, I pulled it out and tossed it over the table. My reward was a metal clank followed by several seconds of silence.

There was an cringeworthy fizzle and pop as the lights in the cafeteria went out. The sudden change in ambiance roused new fire from the mare. Her shots sparked erratically off of the table next to mine. She was shooting blind.

It was my chance. Both #3 and #4 floated out from their holsters. I kept low and ducked out from around my own table corner. #3 raised up in my levitation toward the other end of the table. As I’d hoped, the mare saw it and fired. #4 was ready next to me when she did, firing a split second after she had.

#3 clattered to the floor from her shot. As the ringing in my ears dissipated, the room had filled with silence. I held #4 steady in my magic, ready to fire again. The doors to the cafeteria flew open. The light that poured through highlighted two guards. They didn’t seem prepared for the darkness, and didn’t line up their shots fast enough. Taking advantage of this, I was up and halfway across the cafeteria by the time they’d aimed. I fired again and again, my magic keeping the shots as steady as I could.

Diving, I made it behind the cover of the other mare. I had my gun pointed to where I thought she would be. In the low light, I could make out the fact that she was missing half of her head. Relieved, I pressed up against the table. I pulled the mag to #4. One in the chamber, and only one shot left. Not like there was time to reload the mag now. I needed another solution.

Looking around, I found the gun that the mare had been using. It looked like some old cut down military rifle. Hoofsteps interrupted my check over the weapon. Reacting quickly, I floated it up and took a few unaimed shots in that direction. In return I got a few shots back.

“Give it up, bitch!” One of the two guards yelled. “The only way you’re getting out that front door is in pieces!”

I’d seen this tactic before. One kept my focus, while the other stuck to the shadows. Pulling the gun down close to me, I kept my ears perked. One of the two had been trying to outflank me, but I could anticipate where he’d be. I kept low and leaned my head to where I could see where I thought he would be. Relying on the light from the hallway, I knew my eyes were better adjusted for this. The bars of light and dark that stretched across the floor made him easy to spot. Pulling the gun up, I fired.

“Fuck!” The asshole crumpled to the floor. His back dropped into a band of light, and his green coat stuck out. “Right in my fucking…”

I silenced him with another two shots. The bolt locked open on the rifle and there was a resounding ‘ping’ that carried through the air. As if I’d rung the dinner bell, he made his move. I dropped the rifle and weighed my options. I just needed more time.

My hooves connected with the body of the dead mare. I bucked hard, shoving her body into the open. Immediately, the other guard opened fire. I pulled #4 out and ducked around my cover. He’d realized his mistake too late. Giving my gun a tap, I shot him. The round opened a hole in his neck as he looked at me wide eyed.

His own horn was swinging his sub machine gun toward me. I focused and pulled #4’s trigger again. This time the round punched through his eye, finishing the fight. His horn dimmed and his gun clattered to the floor.

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. There wasn’t time for rest, not when I had a job to do. Pushing myself back up, I put #4 away. As I grabbed #3, I could see in the light that it was damaged. The hit it took punched through the grip and destroyed it. It annoyed me that I’d have to find a new replacement, but for now I grabbed the sub machine gun that lay next to the last asshole. Disappointed, I slipped #3 into my bag and headed for the door.

The prison had become a frenzy of gunshots and screams. The closer I got to the main block, the more I could hear the chaos that was going on. My legs hesitated more with each step I took, already fed up with how much I had pushed myself. At least they’d had the decency to take the shackles off when they threw me into that fucking oven. My throat had dried again, and my head pounded. It was just another reason I wanted to get this over with.

Turning left, I approached the doors that required somepony to buzz me through. The door was open and unguarded, with nopony anywhere in sight. Slowly pushing my way down the hall, I was waiting for some asshole to pop out. In an uncharacteristic show of luck, nopony did. I’d made it all the way to the corner by the double doors before I found a problem.

“Fucking bullshit!” One of a trio of guards shouted. They all were pressed up against the double doors, franticly trying to keep it shut. “I didn’t sign up for this shit!”

“Only one made it through, we’ll be fine.” Another of the assholes spoke up. “We just need…”

The door shook as it took a hit, interrupting and throwing the talking stallion to the floor. The riot armor he wore clattered loudly against the concrete floor, and the others groaned and did their best to keep the door barred. As the one recovered, he shook it off and looked up the hallway towards me. For a moment, he sat motionless as I held the sub machine gun out.

I fired. A burst of rounds obliterated his face, dropping him down to the floor again. A quick second burst caught the other unarmed pony off guard. He slumped against the door as it pressed open. The final guard scrambled to draw his weapon on me, but didn’t have the time. What looked like a wave of convicts burst through the door. In an instant, it swallowed him. A single gunshot rang out before his screams were silenced.

One particularly blood coated mare turned her gaze to me, smiling around a sharp piece of metal in her muzzle. I realized that it was the mare from the yard fight the other day. She burst towards me, faster than I had expected. Even though she was still shackled, she moved like a blur. I was slow on the draw, and the burst I let out struck the crowd of inmates. The bolt on the gun locked open as it emptied, and I knew I was screwed. She lunged and plunged her makeshift knife into my side.

Oh it hurt so damn much. I threw the gun at her, making her pull the knife out and jump back. I whined and focused, pulling out #6. If she was too fast, this was my only option. As she moved to strike again, I spun the gun and fired. The knife and half of her muzzle scattered down the floor. I let out a scream as some of the hot shot found it’s way into my flank. The fact that I would still have a flank was more than worth the pain. She let out a gurgling cry and dropped to the floor.

I reloaded and reholstered #6. The rest of the inmates backed off as I limped forward. They cleared a path for me, slipping by and galloping off towards the cafeteria as I made it into the main block. I could feel the blood as it dripped down over my gear. The wound in my side made it incredibly hard to walk, but I had to get to Caltrop and Brightshine. I had a job, and I intended to complete it.

I looked to the cell I had first been placed in. My deadmare cellmate was nowhere to be seen, but the iron bars had been knocked down flat. Through the dark, a pair of pink eyes stared at me from the back of the small room. Sandy was slow to emerge, staring wide eyed at my bleeding wound.

“Are… are you dying?” She whimpered.

“No, it’s just a flesh wound.” I lied. I didn’t need Sandy unfocused and slowing me down. Wound’s like the one in my side needed immediate attention. Even more so, I shouldn't be walking with it. “Now come on, we’ve got work.”

The cell block was empty, and it sounded like a full scale war was going on in the yard. Edging open the doors to the outside, I couldn’t see much. What little I could, was a whole mess of bodies. The smell of burning flesh hit me and I gagged. Sandy whimpered and did her best to cover her nose as well.

I switched doors, cracking the other door open just enough to see out of it. I could see the door to the other building sat shut. A whole new problem came to mind as I realized that this place was four floors high. We were already short on time, and had to act fast. There was a group fighting just outside the path, but it was more or less a straight shot across.

“When I open this door, we run for the other building.” I spoke down to Sandy, getting a small nod from her. “Do not stop for anything. Cut your way in if you have to, but don’t stop.”

“I… I understand!” She whimpered but gave me a determined look. I knew she was scared, but I couldn’t do anything about it. Of all my skills, companionship or comforting wasn’t one of them. Caltrop had been the only one I know who’s comforted me, and it’s all the more reason to get to him.

Pushing the door open, we burst from the main cellblock. My peek into the yard hadn’t done it justice. It was a whirlwind of activity out here. Even through my tunnel vision, groups fought in bloody piles. Gunshots rang out from the guard posts above. I didn’t care. Focused on the door and galloped for it. A blue blur pulled ahead of me. For as small as she was, she had been a lot faster than I thought.

The door to the slave cells flew open. A mare in riot gear stood in shock as we barreled towards her. In a flash, Sandy ducked inside. The mare let out a scream and crumpled to the ground, propping the door open for me. I jumped over her to the inside and stopped. Her hooves still stood at the door, but they were no longer attached to her legs.

I pulled out #2 and silenced the mare’s screams for good. As I turned the corner, I heard the muffled crying Sandy gave off. She was huddled against the wall, her muzzle buried in her hooves.

“I didn’t mean to…” She sniffled and lifted her head. She held her claws out in front of her and stared at them in disgust. “I never mean to.”

“You did good, Sandy.” I reached a hoof out and pat her on the head. Something inside me felt like it tore, and I tried to muffle a scream. With no idea who was inside here, or where anything was, I didn’t want to risk alerting them.

“How is hurting good?” She whimpered and curled herself against the wall. “I wish I had never been born with these stupid claws.”

“The mare who stabbed me is dead, and I’m here. Isn’t that good?” I could feel as blood trickled out in a thicker string from the wound. “You aren’t in the caves anymore. Killing is survival up here.” My vision blurred and I got lightheaded.

“I don’t want to hurt anyone… I just want to help.” Her voice was muffled into herself as she curled tighter. I was going to have to do something to get her moving again.

“Sandy, we’ve got to find Caltrop.” I sighed. We had taken long enough already, and we were risking the fights outside spilling into this building. “I promise we can talk about what happened later, but I need to find him.”

“Is he your friend?” She wiped her eyes, staring at my blood draining to the floor.

“Yeah, you’ll like him.” I gave her a smile through the pain. As she stood back up, I turned down the hallway and pushed on. Hushed cries and pained moans came from the cells in the next room. Emaciated and frightened ponies sat huddled by the dozen in the corners of their cells.

I’d always seen slave traders and caravans in my travels, but this was different. There had to be almost fifty cells on this floor alone, and they were all filled to the brim with ponies. Mares, foals, and beat up stallions all looked to us as we strolled down the line. Finding two ponies was going to be a needle in a haystack. That is, up until Sandy sniffed at my bags and gave a soft snort.

“He’s on one of the higher floors.” She looked about and gave a few more sniffs.

“How?” I wasn’t quite sure if she knew these were his saddlebags, but I was going to take all the help I could get. Keeping her head up, she started off across the block. I tried to keep my focus on anything but my side, but staring at the faces of the slaves here wasn’t any better. Following closely, Sandy picked up the pace. She turned down a hallway that wrapped around the last cell, and followed it to a set of stairs.

We both stopped as a form lay sprawled out on the top of the flight. It was the remains of one of the guards, staring at us with a horrified expression. Somepony had twisted his neck so hard his head was facing the wrong way. Skirting past him, Sandy kept following her nose. With the thought of somepony else dangerous roaming the halls, I pulled out #2 again and checked it.

Three rounds left. Good enough to deal with anypony so long as we got the drop on them. We traveled up another flight of stairs before Sandy stopped and sniffled.

“Yuck! It smells like month old burnt roachguts!” She scrunched up her face and smacked her tongue in her mouth. “I can’t get it out of my mouth!”

I sniffed. “I don’t smell it.” I said as I took a deep breath. I winced as pain from my wound flared again. Another warm line of blood flowed out and I was beginning to worry about how much longer I could last. “Go find somewhere to hide downstairs. Wait for us there.”

“But-” She practically shouted.

“Sandy, go.” I growled back, pushing myself to walk forward down the hallway. She gave a harumph as she walked back down the stairs, but had done as I asked. She cleared two floors of him, which had been helpful. Problem is there was still two floors left to search. A piercing scream resounded through the concrete ceiling, and it got my legs to move.

Rounding the corner from the stairway hall, I nearly tripped over yet another corpse. This one had been burnt to a crisp through their riot armor. Funny thing was, the riot armor was completely untouched by flame. With the weird deaths, I swapped #2 for #6 and threw a shell into it. Continueing, I walked along the line of slave cells until I saw something familiar.

A creme colored unicorn with a nearly all yellow mane sat huddled next to the bars of one of the cells. A single strip of blond cut through her mane. It was Brightshine, and she looked as if she’d been beaten quite badly. On top of that, one of those anti-magic rings was secured around her horn. Now I regretted telling Sandy to wait somewhere else. I swung #6 around in my magic, pointing it at the cell door. One of the slaves inside cried out in fear, and got the others attention.

“Stand on either side of the cell.” I shouted, giving them enough time to scramble to each side. I fired at the door. I flinched as more than one of the pellets ricochet off and struck me, but I didn’t have time to care. Hooking a hoof around the door, I let out a cry as I yanked at it. As I’d hoped, the lock had been broken by the shot, and it swung open. The slaves inside let out a gasp and scrambled for the opening.

I was knocked back by a couple of them as they bolted from their cell and ran down the hallway. Getting up as the cell emptied, I found myself alone with Brightshine. She hadn’t even moved since I arrived, and it took a prod from me to get her to at least give a groan. Slowly, she looked up.

She gave a weak laugh. “Here ta kill meh?” She smiled up through lips as cracked as mine, and eyes filled with more pain than I can imagine. “Y’all’d be doin meh a favor. Ah’ve been used enough fer one lifetime.”

“Your brother sent me. I'm here to get you out.” My headache flared as I pulled Brightshine’s rifle off of me. It took me a moment, but I remember she couldn’t grab it. I set it down in front of her and watched as she just looked at it.

“Yah’ve ruined mah life enough. Just kill meh an git it over with.” She snarled, pushing her rifle away.

“I came for Caltrop. We could have fucking left you here on the ass end of the prison, but I told your brother that I'd help bring you back. Believe me, were it my own decision I’d let you rot in here forever.” I kicked at her rifle in anger, but missed as I felt lightheaded again. Stumbling, I barely caught myself, but it felt like my side was on fire. “Stay here if you want. I opened the door, so my job is done.”

Turning, I left her there. She was the pony who put me in this mess, and I really couldn’t care if she made it out from here or not. I had to find Caltrop, and fast. As nice as the feeling was, knife wounds weren’t supposed to start to feel numb. Each cell I passed had slaves that looked in worse shape than the last. The final cell in the row actually housed more dead ponies than alive. Thankfully, I didn’t find him here.

I turned the corner past the last cell and continued to the last flight of stairs. The scream that came from up here was in the forefront of my mind. Drawing #2 again, I pressed up the steps slowly. Once at the last step, I peeked my head around the corner. The immolated corpse of a pony lay in the center of the hall, the sunglasses they wore the only thing that made it through the fire.

Perking my ear, I just barely made out a soft humming. Immediately, I’d recognized the familiar cadence. I pulled myself into the hallway and walked toward the cell it came from. Every cell on this floor had only one occupant each. All of them were dead. I continued until I found Caltrop pressed back against the bars with his eyes closed. Still, it was good to see him for once.

“You really are a Dolt.” I grunted, rousing a startled look from him. “But then again, the maiden got kidnapped, didn't she?”

“Is… is dat really you?” He asked, spinning and pressing against the bars. Now that he faced my way, I could see that they’d done a number on him. Still, beaten and bloody, he hadn’t given up. “You came for me.”

“What? No. I just saw this place and had a strong feeling that it wasn’t nearly bloody enough.” I rolled my eyes, nearly falling over as I became light headed. That hadn’t been the best of ideas with as much blood as I’d lost. “Of course I came for you. Can’t let my sidekick rot in a place like this, can I?”

“I guess dat kinda does make you Fin then.” Caltrop sighed and shrugged. “I'm always the maiden.”

“You’re damn right you are.” I snickered, focusing my magic on pulling out #6 again. “Hey, being the maiden isn’t bad. It always seems to work out for them in the end, doesn’t it?” Slipping the last shell I had for it in, I pointed #6 at the cell lock. “You might want to stand back a bit.”

“Yeah, ya right! Ok Boss, carry me to our happily ever after!” He remarked with a smile, stepping to the side and raising his chained legs up. “Oh yeah, right.”

This time, I stepped to the side before firing. I pulled the trigger, and the gun blasted the old lock out of the barred frame all together. After a quick check over myself for new holes, I reholstered my guns. Caltrop pushed the door open and immediately jumped at me. I let out a yelp and fought off his hug as my wounds burned again.

“Fucking stop that.” I growled out as I stumbled back. My legs gave out and I slumped to the floor, my head was spinning out of control. The pressure I put on my side however, felt good. “Just… I need some time.”

Caltrop seemed to comply for once as I laid there and got my bearings back. My vision cleared just in time for me to look past him down the hall. A piss yellow earth pony walked around the corner wearing an enormous grin across his face. The two guns on his battle saddle swung around to line up with us.

Then he disappeared. With a roar, blue flames erupted from the hallway he had emerged from. They enveloped and swallowed him whole. His scream pierced the air, and in the time it took Caltrop to spin around, it was over. The charred remains clattered to the floor with the crackles and snaps of emberous firewood. Then, all was quiet.

Storm strolled casually out from around the corner, walking towards Caltrop and I. How’d she get in here? Why hadn’t she come for me first? Where did she store the flamer she’d been using? I had more questions than answers, but I was just glad she was here.

“Can ya do anythin ta help her?” Caltrop pleaded. I would have smacked him for thinking I couldn’t handle myself, but this time he was right. Hell, I’m amazed I’d made it this far with a botched plan.

“Give her these, and stuff this in her wound.” She pulled out a small white bottle and a small wad of bandages. Storm’s voice was different now, colder than usual. “Then go downstairs and wait. I’m not done here.” Then she walked past us, heading down stairs on her own.

I choked back a scream as Caltrop hoofed the wad of bandages into my stab wound. Sitting up far too fast, I sent my head spinning again. I flinched as I felt Caltrop’s hoof against my muzzle. He held me up as the pill bottle he had rattled.

He spit the cap aside. “Here boss, take dis.” He waited for me to open my mouth before he dropped in a couple of pills. I bit down on them, feeling the chalky tabs dissolve on my tongue. It took a minute, but my head stopped spinning, and my headache dulled down to a minor annoyance. I felt the strength return to my legs, and I pushed myself back up. My vision was sharp, my muscles felt primed, and my mind was refocused. Thank the goddesses for whoever made Buck tabs before the war.

“Alright Caltrop, what do you say we get the hell out of here.” I grinned widely as I pulled out #4. I floated a stream of rounds out from the saddlebags, ejecting the mag from #4 to refill it.

“Sure thing boss, but…” He looked at me uneasily. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Never felt better.” I said, shoving the bullets into the mag. “I just really feel like killing something right now, you know?” Shoving the mag back in, I chambered a round and turned to the stairs. “Let’s go. I too have unfinished business.”

I was flying. Down the stairs and through the halls, I didn’t care that it hurt. Everything was awesome, and I was going to murder the warden! We just had to pick up Sandy, cross the yard of death, and fight off any remaining guards before I could serve justice. Easy as pie, or however that phrase goes.

Caltrop struggled to keep up with his bound legs, so I turned around and levitated him onto my back. He was lighter than I’d remembered him being the first time we met. It wasn’t really something to note, but I found it interesting. Not having to worry about my wounds gave me lots of time to think about useless things it seemed. Lost in my own thoughts, I’d made it down to the first floor a lot faster than I’d realized. Before me stood Sandy, bright eyed and smiling at the new pony before her.

“Sandy, this is Caltrop.” I set him down next to me, pointing at his shackles. “I’d love it if you could help him out of those.”

She gasped and nodded. Zipping around him in a circle, Sandy giggled as the noise of shearing metal made Caltrop wince. With flawless precision, all four of the chained shackles split in half and dropped from his legs. The look of fear across Caltrop’s face would have been priceless had it been any other time, but I still needed to murder somepony.

“My name’s Sandy, and we’re going to be best friends!” Sandy smiled and waved at him.

“I… um… alright?” Caltrop gave a weak wave back. He took a step towards me and lowered his voice to a whisper. “A hellhound, really?”

“Hey, she’s the reason I’m free to come save your sorry flank.” I shot back, nudging him aside. I gave Sandy a pat on the head before walking past her. Across the cell block, opposite the hallway from the stairwell, was a door. I’d missed it on the way in here, but it had been smashed open. Inside was what looked like a small office full of terminals and controls. Storm stood in front of them, slowly looking over it before hitting a couple switches.

An annoying buzzing sound rang out through the block for a half second. It was quickly followed by one loud, metallic bang. Each and every cell on this floor popped open slightly, the clang then came from the floor above. All the cells had been unlocked, and slowly the occupants pushed them open. The jingle of metal came through the air as Storm exited the office, a ring of silver keys clamped tightly in her muzzle.

“Go, clear the way. I’ll unlock them all.” She growled to me as she headed for the cell closest to me. Even though I’d never cared about it before, there was something about seeing these ponies get their freedom. I’d spent my life tracking down and killing them without a second thought. Now, I could truly see what freedom meant. Maybe that was something I’d reflect on later.

Right now, I had ponies to kill.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to Kkat for creating this wonderful world for us all to blow to smithereens. Also, thanks to all of the Authors and friends who have supported me in the last year. You are all such fantastic ponies, and I'm eternally thankful for you all.