Sweat rolled down my forehead as cheers echoed through the poorly lit building, the man in front of me breathing hard as a scowl crossed his face. I merely watched and waited, guard up as I tried to anticipate his next strike, the two of us locked on each other’s movements as we slowly circled each other in the steel cage. My face stung horribly as I felt the warmth of blood trickle down my forehead. I winced as my side protested for the fifth time in the past three seconds, noting that one of my lower ribs may be cracked. It mattered little to me, however. All that mattered was my opponent.

Almost as fast as you could blink, his fist shot out with lightning speed, a fast jab aimed at the left side of my head. I reacted with the same speed, bringing my arm up to block, noting the blur that indicated the next attack was already on the way, a three shot combo that I barely managed to deflect. I answered it with a swing of my own, aimed towards his lower left side. He brought his arm down to block, but wasn’t fast enough. I caught him hard in the side and followed up with a shot to his exposed right and then a shot to the gut. He doubled over in pain, and I delivered the final blow, a strong uppercut to the chin.

Cheers and boo’s alike rang out as the man stumbled back towards the ground, crashing into the iron cage as he fell to the floor. The referee started the count, the man stumbling and fumbling, trying to regain his senses, but it was pretty much over at this point. The count reached ten, and the match was called.

I released a breath that I didn’t realize I was holding, the cheers of those lucky enough to bid on my victory singing out. I shook my head as I exited the caged ring. Looking back, I watched as the man I just fought was helped up by his master, a snobbish looking bastard, as they looked over his wounds.

I had pulled the power of that strike back significantly, focusing instead on striking the tip of the chin and rattling his senses. He would be perfectly fine, if not a little sore. It was one of the few things I could take pride in these days. When I fought, I could drop someone without inflicting permanent harm. That was certainly more than most of these so-called fighters could do nowadays.

Shaking my head one final time, I returned to my quarters.

The room was small, just large enough to fit a small bed and a toilet. The walls were bare and grey, cracked concrete that only held one thing… tick marks. Sighing, I grabbed the piece of chalk sitting on the floor next to the wall and added a new one. Six hundred and seventy-three.

I’ve been trapped here in this hell for close to two years.

I stared off into space, the memories drifting into my mind. Four years ago, I had a future, a life. Then those fucking ponies and their precious Equestria showed up. At first, I thought nothing of it. A bunch of magical rainbow colored ponies didn’t seem like much of a threat. It wasn’t until they opened the conversion bureaus and started offering their paradise to our society when things started to go to hell.

Our people were seen as corrupt. Perhaps as a whole we were. We had done a doozy to the world, damage that was far beyond repair. To add insult to injury, we were always at each other’s throats, waging war somewhere while murder and all sorts of crazy shit was going on in every corner of the world. The ponies offered a way out. An easy way as most saw it. All you had to do was walk up to one of their conversion bureaus, sit through an orientation for a week, and then you were turned into one of them. Moreover, you would lose some of our species more….violent qualities. You could live in paradise, free from suffering for the rest of your life in a happy, colorful world. They called the whole process Ponification.

The thought of it was enough to make me sick.

I was born human. I would die human. Taking the easy way out was for chumps with no back bone, cowards who would roll over rather than face the world head on. My best friend, my sister, even my scumbag of a father sought that route. All of them were cowards, the whole lot of them. That was my thought process, and so when the world’s human population began to decline, I held fast, strong, and proud to my identity.

Unfortunately, now things were quite different. I was getting tired, my mind was wearing down. Pride can only take one so far when the entire world is pitted against you.

Our numbers fell down from billions to mere hundreds in a matter of two years. I was a rare sight nowadays, one that was scoffed at. The outside world hated us, saw us as filth. As we watched our homes get taken from us, some fought back. The HLF, the Human Liberation Foundation, was one of those groups.

I never saw eye to eye with those guys. Nothing but a bunch of terrorists. They struck at those who went to the bureaus. Much as I hated those guys for turning their back on their families, on their brothers and sisters, on their race as a whole, I never wished harm upon them. It was a choice we all struggled with. The HLF never saw it that way, however, and went to extreme measures to prevent people from converting.

I haven’t heard much about those jokers nowadays, however. Probably beating the shit out of each other like caged dogs in a ring somewhere else now.

That was probably the most ironic part of it all. The few that are left, the few humans that have yet to be converted, are now treated as beasts. My current situation revolves around me being captured and forced to fight in a ring every day. Somewhere around twenty of us humans were unlucky enough to land ourselves in this hole, though I wouldn’t go so far as to say that some of them were the most…respectable specimens of our species. It was an underground arena, completely illegal by pony standards, their high and mighty attitude forbidding them from falling to such a “despicably human” level, and yet here they were, betting on which one of us would tear the other’s head off first.

For something that was not human, these ponies certainly acted quite like us.

A knock on the door shook me from my thoughts. I grunted in response and a cream-colored unicorn pony came walking in, his ridiculous red handle-bar mustache and striped hat instantly filling me with the urge to beat the living shit out of something.

“Marcus my boy!” he said, his voice dramatic and cheery, containing all the pleasantness of a door to door salesman trying to force his way into your door with the intent to scam you out of every last bit you had, “That was a most magnificent fight you put up there! That poor creature never stood a chance!”

“Cut to the chase Flam.” I growled, cutting off his praise.

“Such rude behavior!” came a second voice as another unicorn pony entered, his appearance much the same as the other minus the mustache. “That’s the trouble with maintaining humans. Always acting like the brutish beasts that they are.”

It was the Flim Flam Brothers. My so-called owners.

“Cut the crap Flim.” I muttered. “I’m tired from that last fight and the last thing I want to see is your weasely faces right after a match. Make it quick so I can get to tending my injuries.”

“Tsk. You will never become a great performer with that sort of attitude.” said Flam, putting a hoof over my shoulder. I swatted it aside immediately. “My brother and I pulled you off those miserable streets and saved you from certain death! The least you can do for us is to show some respect! It wounds us so to see you spurning our generosity!”

Generosity? These bastards tossed a sack over my head while I was asleep, beat me with a bat, and turned me into a cage fighting dog.

“Just get to the point. I’m tired.” I said in a weary voice, biting back the urge to voice my thoughts. The Flim Flam brothers rarely resorted to using physical violence to keep me in line, but when they were pushed far enough they would use it with a vengeance. Despite my fighting abilities, it was hard to fend off an iron crowbar when one’s hands were magically bound to one’s side. It was a lesson I learned long ago.

“Very well.” said Flim. “That last fight of yours went quite well. We made a very nice profit off the winnings. Unfortunately, the ponies are wising up and starting to place bids on you. Therefore, we’ve decided to up the ante, so to speak.”

Crap. This doesn’t sound good.

“Indeed my dear brother.” said Flam, continuing where he left off. “We have scheduled a marathon fight for you tomorrow. You will be pitted against the top three fighters in the ring, in succession, followed by a fight against the reigning champion, Lockeye.”

My blood ran cold. Lockeye? That lunatic murdered his last challenger in cold blood. The man was an unstoppable monster. Fighting him on a good day was suicide. Taking on three of the ring’s best before him was a death sentence within a death sentence.

They must have noticed my alarm, because they grinned at each other.

“Now I know what you’re thinking my dear boy. Why even bother winning the first match if you’re going to have to face him in the end? Why risk your life at all?” said Flim, a maniacal glint in his eye.

“Well, just think of all the money you’ll earn us!” said Flam, stroking his mustache. “The earnings we would rake in would be beyond astronomical! We could buy many things with it, so much that we would be set for life!”

Wait.

“With that kind of money,” continued Flim, “we wouldn’t need to bid on fights any longer!”

“Are you saying…” I started, but was quickly cut off.

“On the other hand, to lose such a wager would be a horrible disaster, wouldn’t it Flim?”

“Indeed it would be Flam, we would take a severe loss in profits!”

“With such a loss, we would not be able to continue to do much business here Flim!”

“Which is why…”

They both turned to me, a serious look on their faces. Inwardly, I gulped.

“We would not be able to afford medical expenses if you lose this fight.” They both said in unison.

“Do you remember the look on Bonecrusher’s face when Marcus knocked him to the ground last week? Human rage is a horrible thing, isn’t it Flam?”

“Indeed it is Flim, and I remember Ripper’s comments after his first loss in over fifty matches. What was it? I’ll rip his head off, shove it up his ass, and beat him down until the floor is permanently stained red with his blood?”

“That was quite frightening indeed Flam, sent shivers down my spine. You also remember the glint in Reaper’s…”

“That’s enough!” I shouted, getting their attention. “I get what you’re saying damn it, win or die trying.”

“No, Marcus.” Said Flam, once again putting his hoof on my shoulder. This time I dared not swat it away. “You will win. There will be no losses in this scenario. You will win if you know what is good for you.”

Their faces were nose to nose with me. Dully, I nodded.

“Very well my boy!” exclaimed Flim. “We look forward to your fight tomorrow!”

With that, the two tipped their hats and left the room, closing the door behind them.

Shit just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it?

**************************

The announcer was starting his introduction speech as I stood at the entryway. Across from me, I could see my first opponent trying to glare a hole in my face, a look of murderous intent on his face. It would figure that they would put Ripper first.

My thoughts were running well over a hundred miles per hour at this point. This situation was a death trap, pure and simple. I highly doubted the Flim Flam bastards were even betting on my survival. They were weasels in pony form. Their likely course of action was to hype me up, get everyone thinking that I would somehow be able to pull this off, and bet against me. They would rake in the cash, and I would be turned into a stain on the ground.

They were planning to off me.

Well, I wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

Immediately I emptied my head of my thoughts as the announcer called me to stage. Right now, I would focus on one opponent at a time. As I walked down the path to the stage, I noticed something out of place. An odd looking pony, whispering into its hoof with a cloak covering its face. I’ve walked down these steps every day and learned the faces of most of the patrons here. This was a new one.

I cursed as I bumped into the cage, realizing that I was getting too distracted. The crowd roared in laughter, some ponies groaning nervously as they watched me enter the cage. I sized up my opponent, getting into my fighting stance.

“I’m going to murder you.” growled Ripper, face contorting in rage.

“We’ll see about that.” I said, calming myself. The bell rang and he came right out swinging.

**************

“This is disgusting.” said the cloaked figure, watching as the two humans faced each other off. She had heard stories about this place from a few of the most recent converts at the bureau, but was at first hesitant to believe that ponies could run something so cruel and vile. The scary looking man known as “Ripper” took another swing at the smaller, calm looking one known as “Marcus” and caught him in the face by surprise. The crowd cheered and stomped their hooves, bringing a cold feeling to the pit of her stomach.

Twilight Sparkle did not like this. Not one bit.

“What do you see there sugar cube?” came a southern accent from the device in her ear. A headset and microphone, according to the human who had given it to her. She would’ve marveled at the fact that she was communicating over such long distances, but the situation at present was just to gruesome for her to do so.

“This is far worse than I thought, Applejack.” she whispered. “One of the humans in the ring is barely fending off the other one. He looks like he’s going to be killed. And everypony is cheering it on!”

There was silence at the other end for a second before Applejack answered back.

“That’s just horrible.”

“It is.”

“Princess Celestia came down here just a few minutes ago. She’s looking fer yah. Do yah want me to tell her ‘bout it?”

Twilight paused for a moment to consider her options. If she told the princess that she had been so reckless to come down here alone, she would be in deep trouble. An angry Celestia was a scary sight to behold, but far worse was the look of disappointment that she would likely receive. On the other hoof, the human looked like he was in real danger of losing his life. There was only one way to stop this blatant disregard for life.

“Yes, please. Tell her to hurry too. I’m not sure how long this human can last.”

“Alright sugar cube, we’ll be down there as soon as we can. Just don’t do anything reckless until we get there.”

********************

Ripper went down for the fifth time, and this time he stayed down. I cringed as I felt the damage from his blows on my face and gut. He had given me a much rougher time of things today. I still had three more fights to go. Wearily, I watched as my next opponent walked down the path to the ring. Bonecrusher. The man was a tank, all muscle and power. He was slow though compared to most opponents that I’ve fought. The trick here was to make sure I didn’t wear myself out too much. More importantly, I could not afford to take any heavy blows.

I sighed in frustration as he glared at me.

“I’m gonna murder yah.” he said, sneer on his face.

“At least be a little more original. That’s what the last guy said.” I groaned.

The bell rang, and I dropped into my stance again. He charged forward, killing intent plain as day.
I braced myself for a long grueling fight.

****************

Twilight watched the match in bewilderment. The smaller human was actually holding his own ground. He looked bruised and battered, but every time he took a blow he would shake it off and keep going.

Applejack had contacted her several minutes ago saying she had finally managed to get close enough to the Princess to get her attention. Apparently the Bureau security had made things difficult, but now that the Princess was aware (and in a complete panic from what she heard in the background as she hastily instructed her royal guards) it wouldn’t take too long to get there and break things up.

Twilight looked on as she watched the smaller human fight off the muscled tank. She really hoped he could hang in there long enough.

**********************

Bonecrusher finally went down, and I breathed a ragged sigh of relief. I was a ball of agony at this point. Breathing hurt, moving hurt, my face hurt, my legs hurt, everything just screamed out to me in protest. The audience was cheering me on, their hooves stamping hard in approval as the referee dragged Bonecrusher’s unconscious body out of the ring. My eyes scanned the audience before locking on to the familiar hooded pony. The light was right, and I caught my first glimpse of her face.

Was that… worry?

She looked worried to me. And not the look worry over whether a bet would be won or lost, not the type of nervous stare that the Flim Flam Brothers were currently giving each other. She seemed worried about my well-being.

Huh. Fancy that?

I don’t know why, but it gave my strength. I pulled myself together, took a calming breath, and gave her a look of confidence. She started in surprise, her face becoming confused. I ignored it and turned my attention to the next opponent.

Reaper. Seriously, what is up with these retarded names?

“I’m gonna..”

“Murder me, yes I know. Seriously, where the hell do they get you rejects from anyways?”

Dropping back into my stance, I waited for the bell to ring. The fight resumed, and I went to work.

*****************************

Twilight stood dumbfounded as she watched the match begin. The human had looked right at her. He had given her a confident nod. It was as if he could tell she was concerned. He must have been hurting real bad, the way he looked. Injuries and bruises covered his body, he was bleeding profusely, and yet when he looked her in the eyes, he had given her the strong sense of comfort. HE was reassuring HER. Not the other way around. She could only stare in shock.

“Applejack, where are those guards?” she whispered fiercely.

“We’re almost there sugar cube!”

“Hurry up!”

Twilight looked back and watched as the fight continued on, her stomach churning as she watched another blow land on Marcus’ face.

**************************

Reaper was finally down, and I was running on empty. This was it. Lockeye. I was about to face the most feared fighter in the history of this ring.

I glanced at Flim and Flam. I knew for sure now that they had set me up, the atmosphere around them was so thick with anxiety that I could cut it with a knife. Glancing back in the crowd, I saw the cloaked figure again, whispering furiously into her hoof. She caught my eye and looked back up at me.

She really is honest to god worried about me, isn’t she?

I felt the corners of my mouth inch up slightly, and for the first time in two years, I smiled.

It caught her by surprise, and I saw the tears well up in her eyes. I gave one last nod to her before turning back to the man entering the cage. I would fight to live as I always had. That was no different from now.

For the first time ever, though, I felt like I had someone there with me in my corner of the ring. Sure, she was a pony. I hated ponies. But at the moment, she was the only one in this god-forsaken hole that was cheering me on with no regard to earnings. I stood tall and proud as I faced my last opponent.

*************************

Twilight couldn’t stop the tears. They just kept flowing uncontrollably as the fight raged on, the smaller human putting up a valiant fight, despite his worsening condition. He was getting slaughtered out there, receiving blow after blow, but he continued to stand again and again.

Suddenly he looked back at her, a piercing gaze that seemed to stare into her soul. Time stopped, and Twilight held her breath as she saw him nod one final time.

Looking back at his opponent, he swung hard and fast, catching the man in the jaw. His arms swung fast and strong, landing blow after blow, and Twilight felt her heart pounding as Marcus started to push his opponent back.

He’s… he’s pushing back… thought Twilight, a new wave of tears practically bringing her to near hysterics. This is… horrible. It’s like watching a cornered animal put up its last stand.

The crowd was roaring in approval now the stomping so load that it felt like a stampede. Marcus swung again, but missed his mark. Twilight’s breath caught again as she saw the other man swing hard enough to give Applejack a run for her money. Marcus took another blow, falling harshly to the floor, and Twilight stared on in horror. The giant man pounced on Marcus, pounding away at his head with his fists as Marcus tried to fend the blows off from his position.

Twilight had seen enough. She prepared to cast a spell, outraged by the barbaric display in front of her, but before she could release the spell, there was a blinding flash of brilliant white light.

“ENOUGH!”

Twilight jumped, startled as she heard the familiar tone. The Royal Canterlot Voice. She had heard it from Princess Luna several times in the past, but never had she heard her beloved mentor use it. Princess Celestia was standing in the ring, all eyes on her as everyone in the room fell silent and still. Even the brutal human was locked in fear, fist frozen in midair as his eyes bulged in pure terror. Not that Twilight blamed him. She had never seen the princess in such an outraged state.

It was the most frightening thing she’d ever seen.

Celestia looked harshly at the crowd, pausing momentarily as she glanced over the Flim Flam Brothers. She had everypony’s undivided attention.

“I have never seen such a shameful display in my entire lifetime.” She said, voice cold as steel. “My guards are surrounding the building as we speak. You will all turn yourselves in, no objections, no questions. Any who resist will face my full wrath. Do I make myself absolutely clear?”

The entire building seemed to nod.

“Guards, clean up this mess.”

Twilight shook herself out of her stupor as everyone started scrambling. She noticed Princess Celestia’s stern look was focused on her, and she shrank visibly as she slowly trotted towards her, eyes downcast in shame.

“Twilight Sparkle.”

“Y-yes Princess?”

“I am highly disappointed in you. I expected you to have far better judgment than this. To put yourself in such a dangerous position is something I would never expect you to do.”

“I-I’m sorry, but…”

“No buts.” Celestia’s face broke into a look of concern and worry. “I love you like a daughter Twilight. I don’t want you doing this ever again. You are my faithful student and I would never want to see harm come to you through reckless actions such as this. Promise me that in the future you will consult me before…”

Suddenly, a groan came from behind them and the two of them looked back.

“Get off that human, beast, before I send you to the moon.”

Lockeye nodded fiercely, eyes still bulging as he backed away as fast as he could.

Twilight rushed up towards Marcus, tears stinging in her eyes, as Princess Celestia followed closely behind.
“The poor man is in terrible shape.” murmured Celestia as she looked over his wounds. Twilight sniffed slightly as she looked down upon the broken man.

“Is there anything we can do for him?” said Twilight, her voice shaking slightly.

Celestia frowned.

“Unfortunately, his wounds are severe. At this point, there is little that magic can do for him… unless…”

Twilight looked back, desperation clear on her face.

“……I suppose we could try. I usually would be against this, but given that he’s got no other chance, it’s worth a shot. Stand back.”

Twilight nodded as she stumbled out of the way.

***********************

I was barely conscious of what was going on, clinging desperately to life. One moment Lockeye was rearranging my face with his fists, and the next everyone was frozen in place staring at something behind me. Looking at Lockeye’s terrified expression, I could only imagine what horror was holding everyone in place.

Suddenly, he dropped me and ran off. I could hear something rushing up towards me. A purple unicorn suddenly filled my vision, tears falling freely as she looked over my crippled body. I stared at her, eyes slightly unfocused as she cried.

I couldn’t bring myself to hate this creature.

For the second time in two years, I found myself smiling.

Another face appeared above her, a brilliant white pony with flowing hair and a golden crown. Her face was soft, filled with concern. She said something, and the purple unicorn backed away. The white pony leaned towards me, horn glowing softly as it whispered something that I couldn’t make out. A warm feeling spread throughout my body, and I felt myself drifting off, the pain melting away like snow on a summer day.

Then everything went black.