“How did this happen? What have I done?
I was only trying to help, but I caused so much pain.
I wish I could hide. Wish I could run.
I wish I could find a way to do it all over again...”

The song played in her head, over and over again. It occured to her only now just how terribly, awfully fitting the song lyrics seemed to describe her current situation. It had all begun with her trying to help one of her closest friends cure her addiction. She had acted with a pure heart and with only the best intentions, but now...

She cringed, suppressing the urge to scratch a spot on her neck where her bomb collar had chafed her fur and skin.

Now she was a slave. A prisoner, held captive by her own friend.

While she must have heard it at least a dozen times on occasion, she felt like she was only now starting to fully feel with the singer.

But more importantly, aside from the surprisingly fitting lyrics, hearing the song play in her mind gave her a chance to mentally escape this misery she was in. It reminded her of past times; of travelling through the wasteland, along with Calamity, SteelHooves and...

The thought caused her to cringe again and stop for a moment, her hooves sinking into the soft, muddy soil underneath them. Slowly, wary of what she expected to see, she raised her head, looking up.

It was raining. Temperatures were low, and the icy rain didn't make her feel any warmer. The water pouring into her face blurred her vision, but despite that she could see her all too clearly.

The small, second building she had spotted the day before had a small balcony on one side, overlooking the backyard with the fields she had seen the slaves working on - and where she, now, was working as well. Standing on that balcony was Littlepip.

She had come out the building about ten minutes ago, and since then hadn't moved by an inch. Seeming unaffected by the chilly temperatures and the drizzling rain, she stood there, looking down at the mass of slaves. Unlike the night before, she seemed completely calm. Her face was almost expressionless; Velvet couldn't tell exactly from the distance, but it almsot seemed like she was ... Velvet leaned forward, narrowing her eyes ... was that a frown on her face? She took a step forward, blinking from the rain flooding her eyes. That look on her face ... was she sad? Downcast? Maybe even regretful?

Velvet could feel her heart beat just a little faster as a thought crossed her mind: could it be that -despite the overwhelming odds- her old friend was having regrets? Had she maybe thought about what Velvet had told her the night before and now was beginning to feel like she had made a horrible mistake?

Lost in her thoughts, Velvet Remedy hadn't noticed how Littlepip's eyes, having rested on the crowd of slaves before, had wandered and were now resting on the charcoal unicorn herself. It took Velvet a few seconds to notice the eye-contact, but when she did, she flinched noticeably. Upon spotting her in the crowd, Littlepip's eyes had narrowed, and the expression on her face had turned from regret to disdain in less than a second.

"Hey, you!" the rough voice of a mare hit Velvet and made her look around. A dark yellow mare in black slaver barding standing beside the field she was on pointed a threatening hoof at Velvet, "I didn't tell you to stop! Get on with it!"

Velvet stayed where she was. All her life she had never been in the position to receive commands or orders, so listening to these, let alone obeying them, was something she was far from used to. Her look went back up to the balcony, and she couldn't deny that she felt a pang of disappointment as she saw Littlepip slowly shake her head and turn away, walking back into the building.

"Do I look like I'm joking!?" The slaver mare shouted again, reaching for a pouch tied to her foreleg and pulling out a long, black whip. The sight of the 'motivation'-tool made her heart sink, reminding her of the times she had spent alongside the group of slavers, way before she had met Littlepip, and she swore she could hear the screams of those poor souls being whipped into an almost unconscious state every now and then.

More out of instinct than anything else, Velvet hastily nodded, turned her head back, and got back to work. She herself had been lucky to never get in contact with a whip, and she would like to avoid it in the future as well.

Her task was -as the same misgruntled slaver mare who had just threatened her had explained this morning- to pick the carrots that were grown on the field she was on. The big plastic box strapped onto her back was where she was supposed to store the carrots, and -as she had been told- at the end of the day, the box would be weighed and she would be told how she had performed compared to her fellow slaves, which would ultimately decide about whether or not she would have an appointment in the pit by the end of the week.

Coming to think of it, Velvet was surprised she could still remember her instructions this clearly.

Truth be told, ever since she and Calamity had entered the correctional facility yesterday, her feelings and emotions had been on a constant roller coaster ride - happines, because she finally knew where Littlepip was; that she was alive and safe. Shock, horror and disbelief because of everything Littlepip had told her. And above all, self-loathing because, even without her friend reminding her of it, Velvet knew that, ultimately, it all came down to being her fault.

If she had been a little more patient with her friend, she might have convinced her to get her addiction treated herself; if she had been a little more assertive with the Tenpony Tower guards, she might have talked them into letting her go, allowing her to bring Littlepip to Doctor Helpinghoof in time; and if she had been a little more persistent with searching for Littlepip shortly after she had disappeared, she might have found her sooner, and stopped her from turning into ... this.

At least since their encounter last night, she had realized that she had to face the truth; that the mare holding her and Calamity captive was indeed Littlepip and not some evil twin; that Littlepip was indeed fully conscious, and had not fallen victim to some sort of brainwash. And of course, that her fully conscious and sane friend seemed to hate her more than anything else in this world.

However, that look she had seen on her friend's face earlier gave her something; a last bit of hope to cling on to. As unlikely as it sounded, she still hadn't given up on the thought that, maybe, this might have all been a misunderstanding; that maybe Littlepip would realize that all this time Velvet and Calamity had wanted nothing but the best for her, and maybe, just maybe come to her senses and end all this.

It were these thoughts running through her mind that helped her keep her head up high ... and it were these thoughts that distracted her enough to not look ahead of herself and bump right into somepony else.

"Oh!" she gasped, taking a step back, then losing her balance as her hooves sunk into the soaked ground, and falling back onto her haunches with a soft shriek; the plastic box and the carrots in it joined her on the ground shortly after.

"S-sorry." The apology was on her lips - again, it were the manners she had taken to back in Stable Two giving her this unconditional politeness. However, her apology died on her tongue as she saw who she had bumped into. Sitting on the field opposite to her was a light brown mare. No, not a mare, more an adolescent filly; a young mare at best. She already had her cutie mark -a dead tree; whatever that meant for her destiny- and looked about half Velvet's age. Just like Velvet, she was wearing a slave collar, and looking at her malnourished body and white mane that was falling out in several spots, it became clear that she had been a slave for a long time - all her life, possibly.

Velvet started another attempt to apologize, but was cut short as the filly looked up to her, then snarled, "Hey! Why don't you watch where you're going?"

"I ... I'm sorry." Velvet stuttered an excuse, the realization that her friend wouldn't even back off from using foals as slaves hitting her hard.

The filly looked at her for a moment, before her look shot over to the slaver overseeing the field. Noticing that she wasn't looking, the slave then jumped to her hooves, rushed to pick up the box she had been carrying before bumping into Velvet. Moving swiftly, she then proceeded to pick up its spilled content -a few bushels of meager raddishes- as well, then ran over to Velvet, picking up the half dozen carrots she had harvested so far and throwing them into her own box as well.

It wasn't until the filly was almost done that Velvet realized just what she was doing: she was stealing her carrots!

"Hey!" she shouted in dismay, quickly reaching out a hoof which the filly dodged with practiced ease. Instinctively, the charcoal unicorn wanted to reach out with her magic to hold the filly in place, but quickly received a harsh reminder that casting spells was now no longer within her range of possibilities.

Feeling a sharp sting of pain shoot through her horn, she quickly led a hoof up to it, caressing the aching spot, and feeling the dooming touch of the small black ring around it. It was something she hadn't noticed until earlier this day, but apparently, like most slaver-gangs, those at Misty Hills also had access to those wicked horn-clamps that would cause any sort of attempt at casting a spell to end in a painful backfire, essentially turning unicorns into less-powerful earth ponies.

She had heard about these before; had even seen them in use during her time with the slavers before she had met Littlepip, but thankfully never had the displeasure of wearing one herself.

Now, however, being robbed of her magic, she felt all the more enslaved and helpless - a realization that was now all too clearly on her mind, as she watched the filly steal the products of her labor.

Done with her wicked deed, she turned around and took flight - a flight that -fortunately for Velvet- didn't last long.

Even before the charcoal unicorn had gotten up to give chase and confront the thief -she had no intentions of harming the filly or getting her in trouble to begin with, but justice had to be done in some way- the culprit slipped on the wet, muddy ground, losing her balance and landing face-first in the same pile of mud that had ended her escape so mercilessly seconds ago.

"What was that?" Velvet asked reproachfully as she approached the filly who was picking herself up from the mud, muttering colorful curses.

"Hey..." Velvet added as she stopped next to her, "Why did you do that?"

Muttering another curse, the filly shook her head, rubbing the mud from her face with a hoof and spitting out a mouthful of dirt.

"Hey, I am talking to you." Velvet said admonishingly, leaning forward to look her in the eyes, "Stop ignoring me."

"Fuck off." The reply that came from the filly was as short as it was surprising for Velvet, "Just leave me alone."

"Excuse me?" she said, raising an eyebrow at the filly who was already in the process of picking up her box again.

"What?" finally, the filly looked up, giving Velvet an annoyed glare, "What do you want!?"

"Look." Velvet said, doing her best to put on a conciliatory smile, "I'm sorry for bumping into you, but that's no reason to steal from me! You see-"

"I need it, alright?" the filly snapped back, "More than you! More than anyone!" she explained with a grim look, "I'm in big fucking trouble right now, and-" she cut herself off, shaking her head, "Forget it. Just ... just leave me alone."

And with that, she turned around and walked past Velvet Remedy, heading for a different spot on the acre where the carrots had't been picked yet.

"Wait!" Velvet said, holding her back with a hoof and gaining an annoyed sigh from the filly, "What trouble are you in? I can help you!"

"None of your business." the filly replied coldly, shaking Velvet's hoof off her back, "Now fuck off." she hissed and walked away.

Velvet wanted to walk after her, but was stopped dead in her tracks as she heard the still all too familiar crack of a whip cutting through the air, followed by a stinging pain burning on her flank.

"Are you fucking deaf!?" the slaver mare shouted again, the whip still in her mouth, "I said get going!"

It took Velvet's mind a few seconds to process what had just happened. This mare had whipped her. The pain in her flank sent tears into her eyes, but it was replaced by a more severe realization shortly after: this mare had whipped her. Her! While the encounter with the filly was still fresh on her mind and seemed to beg for her attention, her shock was quickly drowned out by another, more energetic emotion: anger.

"Oh. Heck. No." She whispered as she locked eyes with the mare who had whipped her, and started walking into her direction with big, threatening steps. "You did not..." she said, slowly, threateningly, "just hit me with that whip."

She stopped in front of the mare who gave her an unimpressed glance, drawing herself up to her full height. "Who do you think you are, huh?" she snarled at the slaver, "You do not, I repat, not have the right to-"

Her outburst was cut short as she felt a hoof collide with the side of her head - the strike was so powerful it blew her clean off her hooves, causing her to stumble to the side before falling to the muddy floor with a thud.

"Shut it, slave." the slaver's voice sounded distant to Velvet as she lay on the ground with a look of utter disbelief on her face. The attack had caught her so off-guard it took her mind a few moments to catch up with everything.

"Pick yourself up, cunt, then get back to work." the slaver mare commanded her coldly, "Looks like you haven't collected anything yet. Better get going if you don't wanna land in the pit."

Slowly, absentmindedly, Velvet arose from the mud, and her look went back to her box which was still laying where she had dropped it earlier.

It occurred to her only now that the brown filly had never given her her carrots back.

"Fillies and Gentlecolts! Slavers, slaves, and all you other scum. I welcome you all to this week's pit-fight!" the rough voice of a stallion tore through the hall, amplified by the prison's former PA system.

Velvet Remedy was laying on the cot in her and Calamity's prison cell where she had spent the past half our trying to get the dried chunks of mud out of her fur. She had contemplated washing herself with the water provided in their bucket-toilet, but had changed her mind after walking over to and -inevitably- smelling it.

After her confrontation with the slaver-mare the rest of the day had passed unexpectedly quickly. Despite her initial -and still ongoing- protest and discomfort with the realization of being forced to work, she had performed surprisingly well - at least, that was what she had concluded from the curt "Really outdone yourself today, cunt." she had received from her slaver-nemesis after being told to hand in her box and being accompanied back to her cell along with a horde of fellow slaves.

Upon her arrival, she had noticed with relief that Calamity was back again as well -the slavers had come to pick him up before Velvet this morning and she hadn't seen him on the field all day- and didn't seem nearly as exhausted as her. After asking why he looked like he had just come back from a walk in the park while she was covered in mud from head to toe and walking on her last legs, he had explained her that the slavers had assigned him to 'housekeeping' today, which essentially wasn't more than a few simple chores and preparing food for the dozens of ponies accomodated at Misty Hills.

While she couldn't deny that she had felt a pang of jealousy when thinking about how easy her friend's day was -at least compared to hers- she had to admit that the food they received a few minutes later -some pre-war food cans and, ironically for her, freshly picked carrots - was surprisingly generous and unexpectedly tasty.

The voice of the stallion tore her from her thoughts and caused her to look up. She shot Calamity -who was sitting on the floor next to her- a look, then arose from the makeshift bed and walked over to the bars of her cell, looking outside to see what was going on in the main hall.

The main lights were turned off, and the three spotlights were directed at the hollow Velvet had learned was 'the pit'. A big cluster of ponies in slaver armor had formed around it, looking inside, shouting, and cheering. A buff, white stallion with a microphone in his hoof was standing in the middle of the round pit, making the announcements with an exaggerated smile on his face.

"Let's have a look at this weeks underachievers!" he proclaimed cheerfully, gaining applause and shouts of cheer from the slavers. "In this corner," he said, pointing a hoof to his left, "we have Sunbeam!"

Slowly, reluctantly, a pony stepped out of the shadows on the side of the arena. Velvet Remedy's eyes widened as she recognized her as the pony they had almost mistaken for Littlepip the night before. The young unicorn mare with light yellow fur and a mane of light orange -really, in broad light she looked nothing like Littlepip- came walking into the pit on shaky legs. Her eyes were wide, fearful, as she looked up, first at the slavers, then past them and up to the holding cells where most of the slaves were watching with anticipation.

Just like all other slaves she, too, was wearing a bomb collar around her neck. In addition to that, however, she still had her PipBuck on her right foreleg - a not too common sight among slaves, and presumably the reason why ponies had mistaken her for Littlepip and sent Velvet Remedy and Calamity here in the first place.

"She was born in a stable all the way over in Hoofington, and left it only about half a year ago. Says she's never fought anypony in her life." The announcer explained, then, with a knowing grin directed at the crowd, shouted, "So who's excited to see her fight for the very first time tonight!?"

The crowd erupted in cheers and thunderous applause - much to the mare's dismay, it seemed. With slow, shaky steps she walked through the small arena, then stopped next to the announcer who casually flung a hoof around her neck, chuckled and cooed, "Welcome to the pit, filly. Tell me, how excited are you?" he asked with a grin.

Trembling, shivering, the young mare looked at the stallion, then shook her head, but didn't bring out a word.

"Hehe, don't worry," the announcer chuckled, patting her back, "The best is yet to come, as you know."

His look went up to the cheering crowd, and with wide eyes he announced, "Let's have a look at your challenger for tonight!"

One of the spotlights' light cones went over to the opposite end of the circular arena, hulling the second fighter in broad light. Velvet Remedy's jaw dropped.

"She was born as the daughter of a caravan guard, and grew up travelling the wastes before she came here. Ponies, let's hear it for Fallen Leaf!"

"No..." Velvet whsipered as she watched the filly she had encountered earlier walk into the arena - unwilling, obviously, but with her head held up high. "No, this can't be."

"Alright you two." the announcer continued as Fallen Leaf stopped next to him, throwing hateful looks at him and the slavers outside the pit, "Before you go at each other's throats, any last courtesies you'd like to exchange?"

Both ponies remained silent. Fallen Leaf because she looked like she wanted to tear the announcer's head clean off, Sunbeam because she looked like she wanted to wet herself right there.

"Well now." the announcer said with a chuckle, "if there's nothing you want to say, let's get-"

"No! Please!" he was cut off by Sunbeam who, in a sudden fit of tears , had clung to the stallion's foreleg and shouted, "I-I don't want to die! P-please, I'm sorry for not meeting the quota! Please!"

Slowy, with an indulgent grin, the announcer reached under himself, pulling the distressed mare back to her hooves and tapping her shoulder. "Don't you worry," he said with an almost ironic sweetness, locking eyes with her. "Of course you don't have to die." he explained calmly, a wicked grin forming on his face, "You'll just have to kill your opponent before she kills you. ... Let's go!" and with that he pulled himself free from Sunbeam's grip and stepped back from the two, walking toward one of the arena's two exists, passing through the chainlink barrier and closing the door behind himself as the crowd broke out in thunderous cheers.

The fight was on.

For just a moment, nothing happened. The two ponies stood still, staring at each other in silence. The slavers outside the pit cheered them on, telling them to get going, shouting for a bloodbath.

With trembling legs, Sunbeam looked around - her look wandered over the cheering slavers, up to the slaves in the holding cells, until it rested on her opponent for the night.

She shook her head. "No." she gasped, shaking her head in horror as her mind seemed to catch up with what was happening. "No, we can't." she spun around, smashing her hooves against the wire mesh that held the two trapped, "You can't do this! You can't-"

She silenced abruptly as she looked over her shoulder and her eyes caught sight of Fallen Leaf. Slowly, but with cold determination, she had started moving, coming for her opponent. She was reluctant - no doubt about that. Her face was uncomfortable, but straight, and cold. It seemed the filly really was intent on doing what had to be done to save her own life.

Sunbeam, who couldn't have missed the change in her opponent's behavior, let out a scream of dismay. "No!" she yelled, "No, please! You don't have to do this! We don't have to fight!"

Fallen Leaf replied nothing. From the look on her face, she clearly didn't want to fight either, but was determined to save her own hide - by all means possible.

She stopped a few yards away from the terrified mare who was pressing her back against the fence, knowing that there was nowhere she could go, and lowered herself into a battle stance, ready to pounce at her terrified opponent.

Suddenly, something fell to the floor next to Fallen Leaf with a loud clank, causing her to wince and look to the side for just a second.

However, the filly quickly re-gained her composure as she took a closer look at the object that had hit the floor next to her: it was a pipe; a steel pipe, with a set of rusty nails driven through one end of it. A 'donation', thrown into the pit to make the fight more brutal and 'interesting', presumably. Another wave of cheers came from the audience as they watched the filly pick up the makeshift-weapon with a sigh - much to her opponent's dismay.

"No! No, please! Please, I'm begging you!" Sunbeam squealed on top of her voice as she saw her opponent raise the weapon with a deadly calmness, getting ready to strike.

"Look," She started another attempt and raised both her front hooves as if to calm Fallen Leaf, "Listen to me, please - just for one second."

Fallen Leaf didn't look like she was too keen on talking in that moment, but she didn't move any further towards Sunbeam, thus allowing her to speak up.

"Everypony!" she shouted, turning around to face her audience. Surprisingly enough, most of the roaring shouts and cheers faded, though probably more out of morbid curiosity than out of respect. "Please, listen to me!" her voice was trembling, about to break from terror, but she pressed on, despite the clearly disapproving slavers throwing insults -among other, less pleasant things- at her.

"We don't have to do this! None of this!" she said with a determination that seemed to surprise even the slavers, "Ponies aren't meant to fight! Ponies aren't meant to kill each other! We have existed together in harmony for centuries before the great war, and it can be like this again!" She stomped her hoof to strengthen her point, "I've seen it in my stable! If we just work together, we can achieve something like the old times again! Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow..." her eyes began to shine as she started to lose herself in her speech.

While the slavers seemed rather displeased with this sudden motivational speech, Fallen Leaf had stopped walking towards her, and had even lowered the pipe in her muzzle. "But someday!" she concluded with determination, "All we need to do is work together. You may see each other as slaves and slavers, but we're all ponies! We all just want to live our lives, so why not do it side by side?" she lifted a hoof, holding it up as if to reach out to her audience, "Trust me, if we all work together, we can make this prison a better place! We can make this whole wasteland a better place if only we-"

Her head exploded.

Something or somepony had triggered her bomb collar.

Velvet had to cover her mouth with a hoof to keep herself from vomiting, both out of sickness and pure horror. The crowd of slavers broke into shouts of cheer, exchanging bits, praises and curses as the dead body hit the floor.

Fallen Leaf, whose fur was covered in bits and sprinkles of what used to be in and on Sunbeam's head, looked at the decapitated body with disbelief and shock, before letting out a long, relieved sigh, and letting the steel pipe drop to the floor.

"I hate it when they do that." another, awfully familiar voice came from somewhere in the hall's upper ranks, making the crowd of slavers silence in an instant. Velvet Remedy's head shot up, searching for its origin, and spotted it just a few seconds later. There, up on the mezzanine, hovering something that looked distinctly like a remote-controlled trigger in her magic, she stood: Littlepip.

"Fight is over." she declared coldly, lowering the remote, then turned around and walked out of the room up the set of stairs without another word.

"Well..." the announcer spoke up again after a long moment of uncomfortable silence. It took Velvet Remedy a second to spot him as he walked back towards the pit, unlocked the door, stepped inside and walked over to where Fallen Leaf was sitting on the ground. She had sunken back to her haunches after Sunbeam's death and now was sitting there like a statue, her look directed at the ground in front of her hooves. "Looks like we have a winner!" The stallion announced with delight, grabbing one of the filly's legs and holding it up into the air, gaining a roaring cheer from the slaver-audience.

"Tell me, little one," he said, putting a hoof around Fallen Leaf's neck, "How do you feel about this short, but spectacular fight? Seems like luck was on your side, right?"

The brown filly turned her head to look at him; she looked disgusted, uncomfortable, but not neccessarily distressed. It was clear that she didn't want to think, let alone talk about what had happened and what she would have done if it hadn't been for the unexpected turn of events, but the announcer didn't give up on her. "Come on, not so shy!" he said encouragingly, nudging her with a hoof, "Go ahead and share your thoughts with us!"

Fallen Leaf locked eyes with the stallion for a second, but seeming to realize that he wouldn't let her go without a statement, she let out a long sigh and lowered her head. Then, her voice weak and barely audible, she said, "I'm glad I didn't have to kill her."

That gained a wave of roaring laughter from both the announcer and the audience - the filly bore it without any major reactions.

"Isn't that cute?" the announcer asked as the laughter began to fade, "No need to deny it, girl..." he said with a grin, "We all saw that look in your eyes when you picked up that pipe. Deep down you're a killer, and you know it." he declared with a knowing grin. Fallen Leaf, whose eyes were wide with disbelief that quickly turned into anger, wanted to protest, but was cut off as the announcer added, "But don't you worry, filly..." he said calmingly, putting a comforting hoof on her shoulder, "There'll be other opportunities for you to play out your murderous phantasies. ... The pit's always open for volunters."

Again, the filly wanted to protest, but the stallion didn't leave her a chance to do so as he once again looked up to the audience and shouted, "But I'm afraid that's all for tonight, folks! Get ready for more action next week!"

And with that, the big spotlights, as well as the hall's main lightning was turned off, leaving the hall back in its nightly twilight. Fallen Leaf, accompanied by the announcer, was led out of the pit and back to a cell in the hall's lower ranks, and two ponies, armed with an old shopping cart, a snow shovel and two mops, came walking into the arena from the other side and stopped next to the dead body of Sunbeam to clean up the mess.

The crowd of slavers gathered around the arena began to dissolve, most of them heading up the stairs where Littlepip had disappeared to earlier. Most of the other prisoners who had watched the bloody spectacle now also started to step back into their cells and into their beds.

The battle was fought; the show was over.

The day was at its end.

"Velvet! Hey, Velvet! ... Velvet Remedy!" with a weak groan, Velvet awoke from a dark, dreamless sleep; her eyes shot open and she lifted her head, looking around her sparsely lightened cell. Instinctively, her gaze went over to Calamity who was stil snoring lightly on the floor next to her - she had offered him to share the small bed earlier, but he had insisted that she would take it all for herself, while he would settle with the floor.

"Over here!" the voice that had awoken Velvet whispered agian, directing her gaze to the front of their cell where somepony was standing in the twilight and clearly trying to get her attention. Velvet sat up, leaning her head forward to see who it was that had woken her up. She took a closer look at the mare, then rubbed her eyes.

"What?" she asked, still half-asleep, sat up and arose from her bed, walking over to the front of the cell. "Am I ... dreaming?"

The unicorn mare at the other side of the iron bars lifted a hoof to her mouth and gave a muffled, "Sssshhh." before her horn lit up, enlightening her steel gray coat, her dark blue mane, and her light brown eyes. "Keep calm." she said with a straight face, "We'll have you out of here in no time."

"Ho- Homage?" Velvet asked as she stopped in front of the bars, "What ... what are you doing ... how did you...?"

The gray unicorn focussed on the lock sealing up their cell, levitating a screwdriver and bobby pin in her magic, but then looked up at Velvet for a moment. With a sly grin on her face, she explained, "We were getting worried since we didn't hear back from you. Couldn't spot you on the MASEBS either. So we came to look after you." She cracked a smile, looking back down where her magic was working the screwdriver in the rusty padlock, "Seems like we came just in time."

Velvet stared at her perplexed for a second, a million questions running through her mind, her thoughts torn between praising Homage to Celestia for coming to rescue them, or cursing her to tartarus for endangering herself like this.

However, unsure which of these emotions to give priority, she decided to bring up the first question that came to her mind. Tilting her head to the side, she asked, "We?"

"I told her to let me go ahead, alone, but she wouldn't listen." The deep, mechanic voice made Velvet Remedy wince for a second as a second figure stepped from the twilight; a stallion, clad in heavy, metal armor from head to tail. "She's more stubborn than I thought."

"SteelHooves?" Velvet asked, but was cut short as Homage let out a muffled curse, dropping a broken bobby pin to the floor and pulling a new one from a small pouch on her side.

"How ... how did you get in here?" Velvet inquired, "This place is well-guarded, even at night."

Not looking up from the lock she was working on, Homage let out a short chuckle and smirked, "Yeah, well-guarded my flank." she cackled, "Can you believe it, these idiots even forgot to lock their front door!" she explained, doing her best to not laugh, "How did you manage to get yourselves caught by those knuckleheads, anyway?"

"We ... we were ... Littlepip, she's..." Velvet stuttered, trying hard to bring some order into the chaotic state her mind was in, as another of Homage's bobby pins broke, "Wait!" she snapped, pinching her eyes shut to clear her mind, "They left the front door open?" she stood still for a moment as her mind put one and one together, then she could feel herself going rigid, "But that means-"

"What's goin' on here?" she could hear Calamity's still somewhat sleepy voice coming from behind her as he walked up to her with fast steps. "Homage, is that you?"

The gray unicorn looked up from the lock, but before she could reply, Velvet Remedy chimed in again. "Wait!" she exclaimed loudly, now not caring about stealth any longer, "You said the front door was unlocked!"

"Yeah." Homage confirmed with a chuckle, "Can you believe that? I mean, who in their right mind would do that?"

"No!" Velvet said, nearing tears as she shook her head, "That means they've just been waiting for you! You need to get out of here as fast as-"

The charcoal unicorn could feel a terrible sense of deja-vu as, suddenly, the spotlights in the ceiling came to life again and were pointed at her - or, to be exact, at the pony opposite to her.

Instinctively, without hesitation, Homage spun around on the spot, her body dropping into a battle stance, even though -as Vevlet could see only now in the bright light- she didn't seem to have a single weapon with her.

However, the steel ranger accompanying her made up for her lack of arms in an instant as he too span around and readied his grenade rifle with a threatening click. Back to back, the two ponies stood, ready to face the entire staff of Misty Hills.

Only that facing them was but one pony.

Dead silence hung over the hall in the following moments. Even though she could only see their backsides, Velvet could easily imagine the looks on her friends' faces as they stared at the pony who had interrupted them. She was standing in the middle of the hall, just a few yards away from Homage and SteelHooves, eyeing the two with a cold, calculating glance.

In the end, it was Homage who broke the silence. "L-Littlepip?" she gasped, with disbelief at first, but then again with disbelief quickly turning into a cold clarity.

Littlepip gave the two a cold glare, then furrowed her eyebrow. "What. Are you doing here?" she asked slowly, menacingly, "Why did you come here? Can't you just leave me the fuck alone?"

"Li ... Littlepip?" Homage repeated herself; her voice began to tremble and tears were forming in the corners of her eyes. "This ... isn't you, is it?" she asked cautiously, shaking her head, "Please," she had to cut herself off as her voice broke, and she swallowed, "tell me it's not you." Hesitantly, she started walking into her direction, but was stopped by SteelHooves.

"Stay back." he commanded her soberly, pointing his weapons at the mare in raider armor, "We don't know if she's dangerous."

Homage stopped, looking over her shoulder, back at SteelHooves. Her eyes betrayed how much she disliked this thought, but she seemed to realize that her companion did have a point.

"Right..." Littlepip sighed, fixing the two ponies with a cold grin. "I might ... stab you in the back." she spat, baring her teeth, "Or shoot you with a needle gun." she took a few threatening steps towards Homage, "Or ally with your so-called friends and have them stab you in the back." she stopped, only a few feet away from her unicorn-friend, and brought her face close to that of Homage, unrestrained anger in her eyes, "How would you like that?"

"Step back from her." SteelHooves commanded her threatenigly, the tips of his weapons never leaving Littlepip.

That made the slaver mistress hesiate for a moment, then let up on Homage and turn towards the steel ranger with wide eyes. "Make me." she said, her voice calm, but tense. She looked up for a second, her horn lit up and Velvet Remedy half-expected her to attack her former friend right there, but nothing seemed to happen.

"Make me, fucker." the unicorn hissed, taking a step towards the ranger and giving him a treatening glare - a glare that SteelHooves stood up to without any difficulties. "Do you think I'm afraid of you?" she turned around, her look wandering over Velvet Remedy, Calamity and Homage, "Of any of you? You're all just scum! You can consider yourselves lucky I didn't have you killed yet!" she paused, drawing in a long, deep breath. Her look fell onto SteelHooves who still had his rifle pointed at her, and she glowered at him again. "Now put your guns away." she told him coldly, "They won't use you anything, trust me."

The steel ranger didn't react in the slightest, seeming not impressed at all by her warning.

"Oh well..." Littlepip said with an indulgent shrug and a smile crossed her face for just a second. "We can do it that way."

The aura around her horn glowed a little brighter for just a second, then a zapping sound, similiar to that of a magical energy weapon filled the room. The armor-clad steel ranger seemed to go rigid for a second, then collapsed with a weak groan, his heavy armor hitting the floor with a loud thud.

"Earth ponies..." the mare in raider armor said, smirking as her magic levitated something that looked like a small magical pistol from where it had floated a good ten feet above the steel ranger's head back to a holster on her raider barding, "they never see that levitating-something-up-behind-you trick coming."

Noticing the three pairs of eyes giving her horrified looks, she grinned and pulled the weapon out again, holding it up for the others to admire. "Amazing, isn't it?" she said with a grin, "It's called Electromagnetic Pulse; one of the gimmicks that were being tested out on the prisoners here before the war. Perfect for knocking out steel rangers, robobrains, and all those other pesky piles of junk."

She paused for effect, then, seeing how the horrified looks she was given didn't change, added, "Don't worry, he's fine. Just unable to move. But he can be revived with a PipBuck and a bit of skill at any time."

"Now..." She continuted, focusing her attention back on Homage, "How should we handle-"

"Littlepip, No!" Homage gasped at the verge of tears, her voice nearing its breaking point again, "No. No! This isn't you! This can't be you!" she let out a sob, rubbing a hoof over her face.

"Oh boo-fuckin-hoo." Littlepip replied in a mocking tone, "Don't act like you care about me. You sided with them," she spat, tilting her head into the direction of Velvet Remedy and Calamity, "when I needed you most. You're a traitor, just like them."

"No!" Homage once again shouted. Tears were running down her face freely now. "Pip, please!" she shouted, begging, "I ... I believed in you! I knew all heroes fall eventually, but..." she had to pause, gasping for air, "but I thought you were different!"

To Velvet's very surprise, the hateful look on her friend's face had started to vanish, and now she was looking at Homage with a mereley deadpan expression - yes, she looked almost hurt in that moment.

"You were my hero, Pip!" Homage continued, seeming unaffected by the change on her friend's face, "You were my light in the darkness! Every day it was getting harder to find good ponies out there in the wasteland, but you were the living proof that there still is good in this world. You were the light in my life!"

Silence filled the room as Homage's words faded away, broken only by her occasional sobs. For the first time ever since Velvet Remedy and Calamity had been captured, she saw regret in Littlepip's face. Yes, the fallen heroine looked sick at heart in this moment.

"So please..." Homage started another attempt, her voice weak from crying, "Please, I'm begging you, tell me that this isn't what you've become! Tell me that there's still something left of the heroic stable dweller I fell in love with!" Again, she sobbed, "And that it can all be like it used to be."

That pushed the former heroine over the edge. Her face turning red, her eyes tearing up, she looked at the unicorn, then gave a muffled groan. "Homage..." she sobbed as well, turning her head away, "Homage, I ... I can't..."

"Shh, it's okay." Homage said, stepping forward and giving her friend a soft, comforting hug, "It's over now. We can go home, and forget about all this. We'll act like it never happened, okay?"

"B-but I..." Littlepip said over her sobs, tears running down her face and onto Homage's shoulders as she seemed to melt into her friend's arms, "I ... I can't believe..."

"It's okay..." Homage said again, patting Littlepip's shoulder.

"I can't believe..." Littlepip whispered softly, shutting her eyes and letting her tears run freely, giving in to her friend's loving touch for all she was worth. "I can't believe you..."

"Don't worry." Homage cooed softly, caressing her friend's back. "It'll all be good."

"B-but I can't believe..." Littlepip stuttered whiningly, slowly breaking the hug, pulling back and looking her friend in the eyes.

Her horn lit up.

"I can't believe you fell for this shit."

Her needle gun came flying from its holster on her flank, lining up with Homage's neck.

"What!?" Homage's eyes shot open and her body tensed up, but it was too late.

Thwap!

"No!" Velvet Remedy screamed in horror, but could only stand by and watch helplessly as the poison did its job. Homage, and with her their only realistic chance to escape this living nightmare, went limp, slipped from Littlepip's grasp, and landed on the concrete ground with a thud.

"Too easy." Littlepip said with a grin, then raised a hoof to wipe the tears from her face. Her look went over to Velvet and Calamity looking at her with eyes wide in horror, and she gave a short chuckle.

"Really?" she asked, sounding legitimately amused, "You did not see that coming?"

She snorted. Her horn lit up, her levitation magic picking up the limp bodies of Homage and SteelHooves with ease.

"You really don't know the first thing about me, do you?" she said bitterly, but then shook her head, shrugged, and brought a smile back to her face. "Oh well, none of my concern, now is it?"

And with that, she turned around to walk away, taking the bodies of her former friends with her.

"You two better hit the pillow now." she said over her shoulder as she disappeared from their sight, "Wouldn't want to end up in the pit, right?"

She gave a short laugh, then disappeared.

Moments later, the ceiling lights in the hall were switched off, and it was back to the ever-present darkness of the night.