Calamity awoke with a gasp. Instantly his head shot upward, eyes widening and mind gripped by panic as he realized that he had nodded off.

Feeling adrenaline rush through his veins, he jumped off his cot and to his hooves, then ran over to his cell's front, his eyes darting over to the cell where...

"No..."

She was gone.

Velvet Remedy was gone.

Luna's asscheeks, how long had he slept!?

His gaze shot over to the pit, dreading for the fight to have already begun or -even worse- already be over.

But the pit was empty, and showed no signs of any recent activity.

But where was...

"They picked her up a few minutes ago." the voice of a young mare made his ears perk up and turn his head to the side.

Fallen Leaf was looking at him again, sitting on the ground in her cell, almost next to him. "She's being prepared for the pit. Given a healing potion, being explained how things work, all that. Hell, they might even let her choose a weapon if they're feeling generous." she explained nonchalantly, "At least that's what they did with me last week."

Calamity cocked an eyebrow - how come him and Velvet hadn't received any of those services before entering the pit last time?

But he shook his head. These really weren't the sorts of things he should be worrying about right now!

Instead, he forced his mind back to the matters at hand, starting with the most important realization: Velvet was still alive.

He could feel himself wanting to breathe a sigh of relief at that, which was, however, silenced by the realization that he still wasn't any wiser or better off than before he had dozed off. Time was running out! He had to do something!

Feeling his breathing quicken, he arose to his hind hooves, frantically searching the lock of his cell door for any weak spots. Nothing he hadn't done a dozen times since being put in here yesterday, but ... but there had to be something!

The young mare in the neighboring cell said something to him, but he didn't have ears for her in this second. He needed to do something! He had to save her!

Biting his lip, fumbling around with the lock in a desperate attempt to get it open, he gave a grunt. He could hear steps coming closer -no doubt one of the guards making their rounds- but he ignored it entirely. So what if they saw him wanting to break out? Hell, even if they would shoot him, at least then he could say he had died trying to free his beloved!

The slow, heavy steps came closer, then slowed down before finally stopping in front of Calamity's cell. The pegasus could see a set of blue hooves in black leather armor standing in front of him, but he'll be damned if he cared! He wouldn't stop fighting! He would save her!

"Hey." the slaver said sharply, clearly trying to get Calamity's attention. "Hey, you." he was speaking in a somewhat muffled voice, yet his tone had a certain edge to it.

Calamity didn't react in the slightest, by now having resorted to trying to pry the door open with sheer muscle power.

"Hey, look at me!" the slaver repeated himself, reaching a hoof into Calamity's cell and forcing his head upwards.

Standing in front of him was a blue unicorn slaver. Calamity was pretty sure he had seen him walking around the premises before, maybe even thrown the one or other insult at him at times, but... he really didn't care in this second.

Shoving the stallion's hoof aside, Calamity focused his attention back on the lock. There had to be some sort of weak spot to these things!

"I'm talking to you!" the slaver hissed sharply, and Calamity could feel sickness crawl up his throat as an aura of magic formed around his head and forced it back up, making him look the slaver in the eyes.

"What!?" the pegasus snarled, "What the heck do you want!?"

"Just listen to me for a second, featherbrain." the slaver snapped at him, his face contorting in anger, "And quit looking at me like that, or I'll..." but he cut himself off, biting his lip and taking a deep breath. The magic aura around Calamity's head vanished as his face relaxed.

"You're that ... Calamity-guy, right? The friend of that mare the boss is gonna fight in the pit." the stallion started over, his voice calmer this time.

"Yeah." Calamity replied, visibly annoyed. He had had enough of those talks to know where this was leading. "If ya came to make fun of me, you can fuck right off. Ah've got enough problems without you making my life even harder."

"No you piece of-" the slaver wanted to snarl back at him, but once again cut himself off and took a deep breath. His face remaining grim, he focused back on the pegasus. "Look, I'm done. I've had enough. Fuck this place, fuck the boss, and fuck all the messed-up shit they've been doing here. I don't want anything to do with that anymore."

"...And?" Calamity asked, legitimately annoyed now. Really, he had his own matters to take care of, and had better things to do than listening to this slaver's life story.

"You took the bullet for your mare the other day while you were trying to escape." the stallion explained dryly, "You have a sense of honor. Ain't too common in the wasteland nowadays. ... I respect that."

"...And!?" Calamity repeated, getting increasingly annoyed. This guy was stealing his precious time! Any second he spent here blustering was a second Calamity couldn't use to save his mare! "Look, Ah don't care what yer thinkin', but-"

"When I came here, I wanted to make a difference. Make the world a better place. Be part of something bigger." The blue unicorn continued undeterred, trailing off, "And I never did. All I did was be a piece of shit, and make ponies' lives as hard as possible. ... But not anymore."

His horn lit up, his magic loosening something from his armor's belt that Calamity half-expected was a combat knife.

"I'm leaving tonight." The slaver explained bluntly, holding the object afloat in front of Calamity's face. "And I want the last thing I did in this place to be a good deed. After all the shit I've done, I wanna do something good for once."

Calamity just watched in awestruck silence, his wide eyes resting on the large keyring floating in front of him, filled with at least two dozen keys of all shapes and sizes.

"I don't care what you do with 'em, but at least now ponies can't say Knucks hasn't done a single good thing in his life." his horn glowed a little brighter, his magic launching the keys into Calamity's direction, and making them land on the concrete behind him with an audible tink.

"I'll be outta here in an hour." Knucks announced, his eyes focused on Calamity, "I suggest you do the same. Boss won't be happy when she finds out that her second-in-command has pissed off."

With that, he turned away, muttering something about Celestia having mercy on his soul, and leaving a somewhat confused Calamity behind.

Did that ... did that just happen?

Slowly, he turned his head to look at where the slaver had thrown his keys, only for his eyes to widen drastically.

The keys were indeed real and not just a figment. However, real as they were, they were also being picked up and pulled into the neighboring cell by a pair of small, dark brown hooves.

"Hey!" Clamity gave a scream of outrage, dashing forward and making a dive for the keys. He missed them by a few inches, landing on the hard concrete as his hooves reached out into nothingness. Swiftly, he got back to his hooves, his head shooting aroound and focusing the young mare nextdoor with a blood-freezing glare. "What the hell!? Are you kidding me!?"

"Look, look!" Fallen Leaf said, holding her front hooves up in defense as she slid the key ring behind herself - way out of Calamity's reach. "Hear me out, okay?"

"Consarnit!" Calamity cussed, dashing over to the wall of bars that separated the two and banging his hooves against them, "You shittin'me, kid!? Ah swear you better give me those keys or Ah'll-"

"You want to save her, I know." the young mare clarified soothingly, "So do I, trust me. She sacrificed herself for me, remember? I owe her. Big time."

"Ah don't care!" Calamity snapped, reaching through the bars, trying to get a hold of her, but realizing with increasing frustration that his legs weren't nearly long enough. "Gimme those keys!"

"You wouldn't survive for a minute out there!" Fallen Leaf argued, seeming to get quite worked up as well, "Trust me, I want to get out of here just as badly as you, but the second somepony sees us set hoof out of our cells they'll gun us down!"

Calamity clenched his teeth, growling menacingly, but ended his struggle against the bars. That mare had a point, he couldn't deny it. It hurt all of his stubbornness, but maybe running out there like a headless chicken wasn't the best idea, even if every fiber of his body seemed to scream at him to do just that.

"An' what do you suggest?" he asked, his voice a low grumble, "An' Ah won't stay in here an' watch mah mare get slaughtered down there!"

"I know." his neighbor affirmed quickly, shaking her head, "And neither will I. But if we wait till the fight has started and then sneak out, all the guards will be focused on the pit, and we'll be out of here in no time."

She gave a quick nod as if to confirm it to herself, "We'll need guns though, or else they'll just overrun us." she pointed out without looking at Calamity, "There's an armory in the other building. Even if we can't break in there, there's always a single pony guarding it. If we do it right, we can overwhelm him and force him to open it for us. With the necessary firepower, we might just stand a chance."

She finished, letting her plan sink in and seeming quite lost in thought for a second, then looked back at her cell neighbor, "So what do you say?"

Calamity looked at her in silence for another second or two, then shook his head and looked down at her. "Ya know how ridiculous that sounds, right?"

"And what's your plan, huh?" Fallen Leaf snapped back defensively. "Go ahead, run out there, get yourself shot to bits." she teased, stretching out her hoof and offering him the keys. For a moment he really was tempted to shoot forward and snatch them from her - even though he could see from here that she was still holding them way out of his reach. "Go ahead and ruin the only chance to save your friend before you even had it." she continued bitterly, shaking the keys in her hooves as if to taunt him.

Again, he stood up to her look for a few moments, but then shook his head and looked away.

"God damnit." he muttered under his breath. He hated to admit it, but she did have a point. If he was going to run out there and -inevitably- be shot on the spot, there was absolutely nothing he could do for Velvet - dead ponies couldn't save others.

The pegasus gave a sound of discomfort, grinding his teeth together, but in the end couldn't help but to agree with the young mare. Stupid as it sounded, and as much as he hated the thought with every fiber of his body, perhaps waiting really was the right thing do to. But only until the guards' attention was focused on the pit, not a second longer!

"So ... you're in?" Fallen Leaf asked to confirm his support, as she slowly lowered the keys and placed them in front of herself.

Calamity gave an annoyed sigh, but then slowly nodded his head.

"Yeah." he replied curtly, then added, "Ain't like Ah got much of a choice, anyway."

This was it.

This ... was it.

No turning back now.

No going back to how things used to be.

No wandering the wasteland together, no overcoming hardships, no experiencing adventures anymore.

This was where it all ended.

Velvet Remedy was standing in the pit, waiting for what she had come to accept as her own execution.

A few minutes ago, two slavers had picked her up from her cell. She had followed them down to the pit without resisting.

They had given her a healing potion and, calling it a gift of the boss herself, a shot of Med-X, and had opened the wire mesh gates for her, pushing her inside where she was standing now. Countless layers of dried blood were caking the concrete floor beneath her, making it sticky and gross. Her body was aching in more spots than she could count, and as much as she tried to avoid it, the prospect of what was going to happen in this very spot in just a few minutes loomed over her like dark thunderclouds.

Amidst the cheering of slavers and slaves alike, the door behind her was pushed shut, and the cheers reached a new high as, she suspected, the leader of the pack stepped into the makeshift arena.

Velvet didn't even look up.

This ... was it. This was where her life would end. She had since done her best to accept this as a fact, after spending way too long struggling against it.

In the end, this was just one of many cruelties commited in the Wasteland every day. Death was omnipresent, and cruel and painful to think about as it was, she was probably just one of many hundred ponies that would lose their lives on this day. Perhaps... perhaps this thought made it all a little easier to bear. Perhaps she had just grown numb to the pain.

Either way...

Slowly, warily, she lifted her head, looking at the pony that would end her life - and feeling her throat get tighter as she saw Littlepip. The hall's main lights had been turned off, leaving the cells and the pit's surroundings in twilight with only the big spotlights on the ceilings enlightening the battleground, their glaring light shining right onto...

Velvet Remedy could feel her heart shrink as she took in the sight of the former heroine.

That short, little mare that had always looked up to her; idolized her, crushed on her for so many years. The pony she had come to see as a true wasteland heroine - a paragon of hope in these dark times. The pony she had watched fall to the addiction of Party Time Mint-Als; the pony she had tried to help - and failed, ultimately sealing her own fate.

Looking at the scarred, battle-born slaver standing in front of her; a mare dressed in spiked armor and armed to the teeth with all sorts of weapons that promised to bring a slow, painful death to whoever they were used against, it was almost impossible for Velvet to picture the little mare in the stable suit she had come to know her friend as.

The mare that used to be the legendary Stable Dweller looked around as the door behind her was closed, taking a moment to take in the atmosphere, before her green eyes came to rest on Velvet Remedy, and her eyes narrowed as her mouth broke into a toothy grin, full of blood-thirsty anticipation. The hustle-bustle of voices filling the hall died away abruptly, giving way for almost total silence.

So ... this was it? No announcement? No last words? She would just ... start fighting?

Taking in a deep breath, and keeping her eyes locked on Velvet, Littlepip lowered her head, that grin of hers widening ever so slightly.

"It's been a long time coming." she said emphatically, seeming to savor every word she spoke, "But look how the tables have turned now." Slowly, step by step, she came walking into Velvet's direction, her horn lighting up as her magic pulled a combat knife from a holster on her flank, "And I can promise you, one of us..." she paused, floating the knife over to Velvet who slowly let her head sink, "is going to die tonight."

With that, the tip of the knife turned towards Velvet, threateningly floating in front of her chest. She knew what would come now. She knew it all too well.

But she wouldn't resist. She wouldn't try to fight back. This is exactly what Littlepip; what all the slavers around her wanted. She knew that she was going to die either way; she'd be damned if she'll give them the pleasure of watching her struggle.

So she merely closed her eyes as the knife came flying towards her, clenching her teeth and hoping for it all to be over quickly.

She bit her lip, hard enough to draw blood, as the knife cut through her flesh. Though, not in the way she had expected it to.

Probably on purpose, the knife had missed her chest by a long shot, instead flying past her and merely swiping her left foreleg. While it only caused a small bleeding wound, and certainly wasn't fatal, it still hurt quite badly, and Velvet flinched noticeably, fighting to hold back tears.

"Oh come on." her tormentress complained slightly annoyed, "You didn't even try to dodge! Don't you have any decency?"

Velvet just shook her head. So this was how it was going to be? Pip was going to play her sick games with her? Couldn't she just-

However, before she could finish that thought, she was alerted by a voice coming from somewhere way above her head. A voice that sounded ... awfully familiar.

"Velvet!" she could hear a stallion shout her name, "Velvet, come on! Fight back!" her look darted upwards, her eyes searching the holding cells for the origin of the voice. "You can do it! Ah believe in ya!"

"Calamity!" Velvet shouted, her eyes widening as she spotted the rust-colored pegasus in a cell on the lower ranks, pressed against the bars, his eyes focused on her.

"Ah have a plan!" he yelled at her with wide eyes, "Just ... hang in there for a little longer! Ah'll get us outta here! Ah promise!"

"Calamity..." Velvet repeated herself, her eyes tearing up. He was still here! And he was watching her! Supporting her! If that was actually happening, and not just her imagination, then...

Feeling her poise return, Velvet tensed up, the look of surprise on her face making way for one of determination. She couldn't explain it, but ... if Calamity was here ... she couldn't just get herself killed! She wouldn't!

As her determination returned more and more, Velvet straightened herself up, her grim eyes staring right at Littlepip, fear now replaced by defiance, and determination.

The slaver mare looked up for just a second, acknowledging the pegasus' existence, then cracked a thin smile. "Cute..." she admitted, then her horn lit up again, "Now let's try this again!"

Watching her opponent use her magic, Velvet spun around on the spot, knowing what was going to happen. The black combat knife that had already been picked up off the ground came flying into her direction, but was thankfully slow enough to allow Velvet to dodge it with a dive to the side. Landing right on her injured foreleg and rolling to her side, she gave a pained groan, but scrambled, trying to get back to her hooves as quickly as possible, groaning from the pain in her injured leg as blood ran down its side, and dripped onto the concrete floor.

"There we go!" Littlepip announced with a pleased shout, "That's the Velvet I know! That's what I wanna see!" Her horn lit up again, pulling a second knife from a holster on the other side of her flank, "Let's do it again!"

And just like that, Velvet Remedy found herself in harm's way again. Only that she still hadn't gotten back to her hooves yet! Feeling her body tense up in an instant, she tried to roll to the side to dodge the knife - a split second too late. The knife had hit her on her ear - not much, but she could feel a stinging pain come from the tip, and the telltale trickle of blood running down onto her head.

Holding back a yelp from the second injury, she quickly led a hoof up to her ear, pressing a hoof against it in an attempt to drown out the pain and stop the bleeding, struggling to get back to her hooves.

"Come on Velvet, really?" Littlepip asked teasingly as she came walking towards her, "I've been only using knives, for fuck's sake!" she shook her head as she stopped a few steps away from the charcoal unicorn, "You said you were going to fight me, but so far all you've been doing is dodge!"

Velvet shook her head, slowly pulling her hoof from her ear and inspecting the amount of blood on it. Nothing too major. Not good by all means, but not fatal. However, an all new train of thought popped up in her head as her eyes went a little upward and spotted the combat knife still lying on the ground mere feet from where she was sitting.

Feeling her body tense up, and without thinking further, the charcoal unicorn jumped to her hooves, ignoring the pain flaring up in her left foreleg, and made a run for the blade - much to the excitement of her audience, it seemed, who approved of her attempt with roaring cheers and thunderous laughter.

Stopping in front of it and picking up the knife in her mouth -the slavers had not removed the magic-suppressing ring around her horn, so she was still limited to her mouth and hooves- she span around on the spot, facing the slaver mare who looked back at her like with a sly grin.

"There we go, now you're learning." the short mare said, nodding her head in approval. Velvet Remedy just frowned.

"But it won't use you anything. You know why?" and with that the grin slipped from Pip's face, making way for a dead serious expression, "Because you can't kill me. I could be lying in front of you right now, all vulnerable and defenseless, and you still couldn't get yourself to kill me."

Velvet bit her lip at that. As much as she hated to admit it, that ... might actually be true. Sure, with the prospect of getting out of here, she would do almost anything to survive, but ... she really didn't know if she could get herself to take that ultimate step if push came to shove.

Nevertheless, she knew that saying that out loud would only cause more slavers to shout for her death. She had to show toughness, even if she wasn't feeling the slightest bit tough!

Still, she couldn't just draw in her horns and surrender now. She had to look strong!

So, straightening herself up, making an effort to make her face look as tough as possible, she tried to put on a grin, and forced out a challenging, "Try me ... bitch."

The entire audience; all dozen slavers and three dozen slaves, broke out in thunderous laughter. Velvet found herself wanting to pull her head in, but made an effort to stand tall - these ponies wanted a fighter? She was going to give them a fighter!

The laughter went on for a few moments until Littlepip, who had joined in herself, stopped abruptly, causing the entire hall to fall back into dead silence in an instant. She opened her mouth, and Velvet expected to be met with teasing, bashing, or plain and simple insults. What she had not expected, however, was for the slaver mare to give a light shrug and a brief, "Alright."

"Wait, what?" Velvet wanted to ask, but fell silent abruptly as Littlepip's horn lit up again, pulling yet another weapon from her utility belt. The unicorn could feel her survival instincts kick in, making her want to spin around on the spot and run as she watched the needle gun being floated into her direction yet again.

However, she was surprised as she saw it spin mid-air, and float in front of her face with the trigger and handle right in front of her mouth.

"There you go." Littlepip said complacently, her eyes resting on Velvet, "Come on, take it. It's yours! I made it for you, remember?" she added, her grin widening in a strange way.

Velvet hesitated, watching the weapon float in front of her face. Was this a trap? It certainly seemed like one. Why should Pip give up such an effective weapon this easily?

"It's slightly modified though." the mare in raider armor added, "Instead of shooting lightly poisonous darts that will knock out targets for a period of time, I loaded it with actual poison this time." she explained, her eyes narrowing with delight, "One shot... and it's over."

Her face lit up noticeably as the weapon shook ever so slightly in her magical grip, urging Velvet to take it already. "Come on, you can have it."

Slowly, carefully, Velvet reached out with her mouth, her teeth closing around the weapon's handle, expecting it to be yanked back any second.

However, the weapon stayed in place, and Littlepip's magic aura only vanished after Velvet had securely grabbed the weapon in her mouth. It sure felt strange holding a weapon like this, but it seemed easy enough to operate. Carefully putting her tongue around the trigger, she locked eyes with Littlepip, raising an eyebrow.

"Come on, shoot me!" Littlepip invited her happily, arising to her hind legs and spreading both her front legs out into opposite directions, "You don't have the guts, do you? Come on, just pull the trigger!"

Velvet Remedy's eyes narrowed threateningly, her grip around the weapon tightening. Was this ... was this real? Could she really ... end it all, right here? Just one shot, and ...?

"Velvet, please!" Velvet flinched as a whine suddenly came from her friend, Pip's face tearing up all of a sudden as she dropped back to all fours, "D-don't do it! Please! Please!" she gave a sob, tears running down her face. "Please don't ... don't kill me!"

The charcoal unicorn frowned deeply, feeling her heart pound in her chest, and biting down on the needle gun hard enough to leave tooth marks in its handle. Pip was ... she was playing with her! This was ... this was all just show, right? The same little game she had played with Homage, right? ... Right?

"I never wanted it to be like this!" Littlepip shouted whiningly, her high-pitched voice reaching its breaking point, "I ... I know you wanted to help me! I should've never let it come this far! I should've just ... just ... come back to you guys and..." she cut herself off, falling to her knees and letting her head hang low, tears dripping onto the concrete.

In spite of her common sense wildly protesting, yelling at her to just pull the trigger and end it all right here, Velvet found herself hesitating. Yes, she knew that this was all just acting, but ... mother of Celestia, she couldn't shoot her! Not like this!

"I'm sorry!" the slaver mare shouted again, looking up at Velvet with tearstained eyes, and slowly getting back to her hooves, "You ... you were my idol all my life! I loved you! I ... I should have never treated you like this! Can we..." she paused, wiping her face with a hoof before looking back at Velvet, and sobbing, "Can we maybe ... just go back to Tenpony Tower and act like ... like none of this ... ever happened?"

"Pip, I..." Velvet muttered under her breath, keeping the needle gun at the ready, but nevertheless feeling her resistance crumble.

"Please..." Littlepip begged again, "Please just..." her voice faltered, and she let her head sink. Velvet Remedy watched her with attentive eyes, waiting for her to make some sort of move, but... but there was nothing. Just a little mare, crying, helpless, begging for forgiveness.

Velvet frowned again, giving a deep sigh, then shook her head. Slowly, she lowered her head to put down the needle gun and-

Littlepip's horn lit up.

Thwap!

Before she could register what was happening, Velvet's tongue had already slid over the trigger, pulling it backwards just enough for it to release a shot of its deadly load - right at the pony opposite to her.

Absolute, total, all-encompassing silence filled the following moments. Silence that was so intense that it seemed to take an eternity to be broken, and was only interrupted by a surprised gasp coming from the mare in raider armor.

Standing still like thunderstruck, her wide-open eyes staring right through Velvet Remedy, Littlepip stood there. Slowly, one of her trembling hooves came reaching upward, and touched the poisoned dart stuck in her flesh, right below her throat.

Feeling her heart pound in her chest, faster and faster, Velvet stared right back at her, the dart gun still tucked firmly in her mouth. She felt a very, very strange sense of déjà-vu in that second.

"I... I didn't..." through the dead silence in the hall, Littlepip's weak, raspy voice could be heard as she stared at her idol, "I didn't think you'd actually..."

But she was cut off mid-sentence as she gave a muffled choking-sound, then took a slow step back, before her legs gave out underneath her, and her lifeless body fell to the concrete floor with a thud.

The silence prevailed for another second, then the crowd broke out in thunderous cheers and shouts - and Velvet Remedy could feel herself sink to the floor.

"Alright, they're all focused on the pit now!" Calamity declared impatiently, looking at the hole in the ground where Littlepip had just entered the cage. Quickly, his eyes shifted over to the young mare in the neighboring cell, "Let's do this already!"

Fallen Leaf leaned forward, pushing her head through the iron bars as far as she could and looking towards both sides, then pulling her head back in and giving a confirming nod.

"Give me the keys!" Calamity demanded, stretching out a hoof, but his neighbor just silently shook her head as she turned around and picked the keyring up.

"Sorry." she apologized briefly as she walked over to the door, "But I don't trust you that much yet." She stopped in front of the door, reaching her muzzle holding the keys through the gap between the bars and picking the ring up with her forehooves, fumbling with them as she tried to insert them into the lock. "I don't think you'd leave me behind, but I'd rather get out of this cell before you throw the whole place into turmoil."

"God dangit!" Calamity hissed, impatiently tapping his hooves against the bars. His look went down to the pit every so often. The two competitors were facing each other off, but it didn't seem like any fighting had begun just yet. All the same, he could see the mare he loved, looking all helpless and alone ... it broke his heart.

However, the pain in his heart was quickly transformed into anger: he could have been down there with her half an hour ago! If it hadn't been for this impudent little brat stealing his keys!

"Get a move on, will ya!?" he asked her sternly, watching as she continued to fumble with the keys, holding them pressed between her front hooves and trying to get them into the lock. Which was harder than it sounded, seeing how the bars forced her to keep her head inside the cell and thus gave her no chance to actually see what she was doing.

"I'm trying my best, okay?" Fallen Leaf hissed back, baring her teeth, "This is harder than it looks!"

"Just give me the keys!" Calamit urged her, getting more impatient with every passing second, "I'll have us outta here in no time!"

"Just ... just give me a second, alright?" she retorted, growling as she still failed to insert the key into the hole.

From the corner of his eye, Calamity could see movement in the pit. Turning his head for just a second, he saw Littlepip holding up a knife, pointed right at Velvet Remedy. This could only mean ... !

"Gimme those fucking keys ya brat!" Calamity didn't exactly know what had come over him as he, in an adrenaline-induced rush, stepped towards the bars of his cell, reaching out to snatch the keyring from her and free himself to aid Velvet.

However, his hooves missed the keys by half an inch, instead colliding with those of Fallen Leaf and causing her drop the keyring, causing it to fall to the floor, a good two feet away from the still locked cell door.

The pegasus could feel his heart sink as he watched them fly, then fall, and land way out of his reach, and with it watched his only realistic chance to save Velvet go down in flames.

However, that loss of hope was quickly reflected in a sudden rage, directed at none other than...

"God! Fucking! Damnit! he shouted on top of his lungs, turning towards his cell neighbor who was looking at the now lost keys with a somewhat helpless look on her face. "Are you fucking kidding me!? You gosh darned piece of-"

But he was cut short as a pained yelp tore through the hall - a voice he recognized all too easily.

"Velvet!" he shouted, letting off the filly in an instant and spinning around to look down into the pit. Velvet Remedy was bleeding!

While it was no serious injury, the mere fact that she was suffering, and he was watching, unable to do anything for her was enough to send him over the edge.

"You!" he snapped, looking to the side at Fallen Leaf who was already trying her best to reach through the bars and retrieve the keys. "Get me those keys! Or Celestia help me Ah'll..." but he cut himself off, shaking his head and instead focusing his attention back on the pit to support his friend.

"Velvet!" he shouted, desperate to get the unicorn's attention. "Velvet, come on! Fight back!" Relieved, he watched her look upwards, and spot him. "You can do it! Ah believe in ya!"

He could hear her shout back at him, though the ambient voices drowned out a fair bit of what she was saying. Still, she had seen him, and that's what mattered to him.

"Ah have a plan!" he yelled at her with wide eyes, "Just ... hang in there for a little longer! Ah'll get us outta here! Ah promise!"

With that, he moved back from the bars, looking to the side to check the status of the key-retrieval.

"Way to go, idiot." Fallen Leaf hissed, crouching on the ground and trying to reach the keys with her hooves, lacking about six inches. "We're trying to break out, remember? Getting them all to focus on us won't help."

"She needs me." Calamity replied bluntly, "Ah won't leave her hangin' like that."

"Hrmpf." the young mare grunted back, rolling her eyes, trying again to reach out for the keys that were clearly out of her arm's reach.

"Gosh dangit. That's not gonna work." Calamity muttered, closing his eyes and turning away to think. They just needed something to reach those keys! It was so simple, yet impossible! Their cells were empty, safe for buckets that were too large to fit through the bars, and the plank beds that were attached to the wall with thick iron chains!

He gave a growl, feeling his mind block up as his wings wanted to stretch out, but were hindered by the leather strap still tightly around his midsection.

He hissed another curse. This ... this wasn't how things were supposed to go! He had to come up with something! But ... but he couldn't think straight with this ... this stupid thing restraining him and...

His thoughts came to a screeching halt as his mind finally put one and one together, and he dashed over to the bars connecting their two cells, holding the buckle that sealed the leather strap through the gap. It was right against his belly, thus out of his mouth's reach, but with a second pony...

"Hey!" he hissed, causing Fallen Leaf to look up with an annoyed glance. "I'm doing as fast as I can, so-"

She fell silent as the pegasus tilted his head towards the leather straps around his body.

It took the adolescent earth pony a few moment to understand what he was up to, but when she did, she ran over to him as well, closed her mouth around the belt and started pulling without so much as a comment.

It took a fair bit of struggling, pulling and pushing, as well as several curses coming from the pegasus, but eventually the belt came loose, and Fallen Leaf pulled it into her cell with a quick tug of her head.

Calamity, gave a heavy sigh and stretched out his wings out of sheer relief, then turned around to check back on the situation in the pit as his cell neighbor went to work, pulling the keys towards her with the help of the leather belt.

What he saw was ... well, surprising, to say the least. Velvet Remedy, bleeding from a few minor wounds, was holding a needle gun, pointing it right at Littlepip who was ... crying and ... begging for ... mercy.

What!?

"Hey, featherbrain!" being so captured by what was going on in the pit, Calamity didn't even notice how his cell neighbor shouted for him, and didn't manage to dodge the keyring that was thrown his way.

Flinching and rubbing the spot at the side of his head where the keys had hit him, Calamity looked at Fallen Leaf, then at the keys in front of his hooves, before his mind finally caught up. He leaned forward, picked up the keys in an instant and shot forward.

With his longer legs and his wings which he could use for balance, Calamity had no trouble getting the keys into the lock. It required a few seconds of fumbling, but only shortly after he could head that satisfying click as the door sprung open, and he wasted no time in stepping outside of his concrete confines.

Though it wasn't like he was really focused on that in this moment. All of his mind was focused on what was going on right in front of him. Pip was ... asking to go back to how things were. Was she ... Had Velvet actually managed to reform her after all?

"Hey!" it was the impatient shout of Fallen Leaf that broke Calamity out of his trance and caused him to turn around. Without paying much mind to it, he pulled the keys from his cell door and opened that of his neighbor.

Just as the second door sprung open, a resounding thwap cut through the air, shortly followed by an avalanche of voices breaking into shouts, cheers, curses, and everything inbetween.

"What the ... ?" Calamity asked, and instinctively spread his wings to get a better view of what was going on in the pit, but was interrupted by a brown hoof placed firmly on his back and a sharp, "Hold still." coming from next to him.

Turning his look to the side, he saw Fallen Leaf coming closer, holding the key ring in her muzzle and closing in on him. "What are you-" he wanted to ask, but even before he could finish his question, he could already feel her inserting the key into the bomb collar around his neck, and gave an understanding "Oh."

His now deactivated collar hit the ground with a soft clank -which was easily drowned out by the noise around them- and he picked up the keys to deactivate the collar of his former cell neighbor. The suspense of what was going on in the pit was killing him, but he knew that he had to stick up to his word.

A few seconds later the second bomb collar hit the ground, and the two ponies were free at last.

In an instant, Calamity flapped his wings, arising by a couple of feet to look into the pit. His eyes widened.

Littlepip's lifeless body was lying on the ground, opposite to Velvet Remedy who was still holding the needle gun in her muzzle, trembling ever so slightly.

So ... Velvet had won?

He shook his head, doing a double take.

Velvet had won!

"Hey!" he could head Fallen Leaf silently call for him from the ground. Hesitantly, he landed again, looking at her with wide eyes.

"She's ... she's dead!" Calamity explained, hardly believing it himself, emotions clashing in his head, "Pip is dead!"

"What!?" Fallen Leaf asked, her eyes widening as well, "Are you ... are you serious?"

Eagerly, Calamity nodded.

"Damn..." she muttered, but then shook her head, "But... still, I'm afraid trying to get to your friend now would be suicide."

"What!?" Calamity blurted out, "You're kidding, right?"

Again, the young mare shook her head. "Look, there's still a dozen armed slavers around here. The armory isn't far away. I say we go there and get properly equipped first, then come back and get her."

"No way!" Calamity said decisively, shaking his head.

"Come on." Fallen Leaf said briefly. Calamity wanted to protest again, but before he could open his mouth, she had already turned around and trotted towards the stairs, heading upwards.

Looking at the pit where Velvet was slowly starting to get back up, then at the stairs, he slowly shook his head, then gave a cuss.

He hated to admit it, but she did have a point. Their chances to survive would be better if they had something to defend themselves.

Besides...

Calamity turned his head again, looking at the pit.

It ... didn't really seem like Velvet was in too urgent need of help in that second. The worst danger was banned, and as much as he just wanted to hug her in this second, he probably could help her out better if he had his trusty battle saddle back.

He hesitated for another second, then shook his head, hissed a curse, and headed for the stairs as well, catching up with Fallen Leaf a few moments later, just as the noise from the slavers was starting to die down.

A few minutes, and a hasty dash through the dark and empty halls of the Misty Hills Correctional Facility later, Calamity and Fallen Leaf passed through the door leading to the facility's secondary building. True to the young mare's suspicion, all the slavers were watching the spectacle in the pit, none of them wanting to miss the show, and it had been unexpectedly easy for the two to make their way through the abandoned facility.

Calamity didn't exactly know where they were headed and what they were supposed to look for -and even if he did, his thoughts were too focused on Velvet Remedy to allow any reasonable thinking- but thankfully, his earth pony companion seemed well aware of what their target looked like.

Leading the two, she dashed through the deserted first floor, dodging crates, boxes and random junk lying about, past a set of stairs that Calamity knew would take them to the upper floors - he remembered this much from his last time here.

Decidedly, the young pony stopped as she had passed the stairs and spun around, tilting her head into the direction of what Calamity now recognized as a second flight of stairs leading downstairs. Without waiting for confirmation from him she dashed forward, running down the stairs in no time, Calamity hot on her heels.

Again, the slavers that would normally guard the place were nowhere to be found, and all that greeted the two as they arrived at the lower end of the stairs was a big, but equally empty room. The walls and floor were lined with filthy light brown tiles, and a couple of flickering lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling provided at least basic lighting.

"This way!" the earth pony shouted, pointing to a corner of the room. Based on the remains of a broken-down concrete wall cornering this part of the room, it might have once been a separate room, but had then been integrated into the bigger room - wasteland-style.

What was more interesting than the remains of wall, though, was a thick steel door in that very same corner, accompanied by a lone terminal mounted to the wall right next to it.

This had to be the armory, Calamity thought to himself, relieved that Fallen Leaf had apparently really known the way.

What surprised him, however, was the fact that the door was standing wide open, instead of being locked as he would have expected.

Gradually, the two ponies slowed down as they approached the door, their dash turning into a canter, then a walk, until they finally stopped a good twenty feet away.

"Why's it open?" Calamity asked the question that seemed to be preying on their both minds, only to receive a clueless shrug from his companion in return.

However, their questions were quickly answered as, a mere second later, a rugged-looking stallion in slaver armor peeked through the door, his look turning grim as he spotted the two escaped slaves.

"Hey!" he yelled at the two, reaching for his pistol, "Who are you, and what are you doing here!?"

Calamity could feel his eyes widen, clenching his teeth as he muttered a curse.

Crap. He had jinxed it by wondering about the absence of guards, hadn't he?

Narrowing his eyes and looking the slaver over, he tried to wager his chances. While Fallen Leaf wasn't a full grown pony, she did seem like she could stand her ground more or less, and if nothing else, she could distract the slaver while he would-

"What's going on here?"

Calamity could feel his body tense up as a second voice filled the empty room, and accompanied by an assault rifle being floated from behind the first slaver, a second pony stepped into the room.

And he could feel his heart sink as he saw just who that second pony was.

"...Homage?" he asked weakly, his mind reeling.

Shit.

He had heard from the slavers that apparently the bosses 'little pet' had changed sides, and had prevented Velvet Remedy's escape, but... he had never actually believed it. But now... now...

A voice in his mind hissed a curse. This wasn't going to be easy.

Not only that it was two on two now, he knew that fighting yet another one of his former friends wouldn't be easy. Not to mention that the unicorn mare was a former wastelander as well and probably not entirely unexperienced in combat either.

But he couldn't let thoughts like this distract him! He needed to help Velvet, and if those ponies were standing in his way... he would do what needed to be done!

"Wait ... Calamity!?"

However, his world was once again turned upside down as the look of surprise on Homage's face turned into one of pleasant relief, and she dropped the assault rifle.

"What are you doing here?" she asked with wide eyes as the slaver mare in front of her also let her pistol sink, stepping back through the door with an indifferent expression on her face.

Calamity was about to open his mouth and give her a brief explanation, but it seemed Homage had already changed her mind, as she shook her head and instead pointed a hoof towards the door. "You know what, nevermind. Just get inside. We don't have any time to waste."

Still baffled at that unexpected turn of events, but also knowing that time was indeed scarce, Calamity nodded in approval and got under way as well, making a run for the armored door with Fallen Leaf following closely behind him.

Located right behind the steel door that was easily six inches thick was a set of metal stairs leading into the lower basement. Calamity's eyes widened as he arrived at the lower end, and his gaze wandered over the room's contents.

Wooden crates, some of them stacked as high as the room's ceiling, filled most of the secured chamber. Some of them had been opened, revealing their contents: guns, ammo, grenades, mines, caps, and the one or other chem.

This room was a goldmine.

Three more guards were standing around the room, their eyes fixated on the three ponies that came walking down the stairs, their stances relaxing noticeably as they saw Homage.

"Didn't think you'd still be alive, to be honest." the unicorn mentioned briefly as she trotted past Calamity and towards a terminal situated on one of the crates at the far end of the room. Cables coming from its backside ran through the entire room, all the way back up the stairs and to Celestia-knows-where. "I'm glad you're here, though."

Calamity let his gaze wander throughout the room for a few seconds, his mind flooded with questions: how had Homage gained access to this place? How had she managed to not only get past the guards, but actually get them to help her?

However, all these questions were silenced abruptly as his gaze spotted something lying in a far corner of the room, and he could feel his heart rate speed up abruptly.

Wasting no time, the pegasus ran over to the device, past the guards who still kept a strict eye on him, and came to a halt right in front of it.

Feeling a broad grin form on his face, he crouched down, wiggling himself into the weapon's harness, tightening the holding-mechanism, and making sure the reloading-mechanism was still working properly.

Satisified with the result, he gave a pleased nod.

He was back in his battle-saddle at last.

And that meant ...!

This was it. Nothing holding him back. He was armed, locked, and loaded.

Ready to go.

"This is the central control terminal of this place." Homage explained, having already positioned herself in front of the computer again, her hooves flying over the keyboard. "I managed to hack into it just as you two arrived. The password was Velvet Remedy." She explained, unable to contain a shudder, "I should be able to use it to disable the defense mechanism and the bomb collars. Grab a gun, I'll be with you in a..."

She turned around, but fell silent as the only thing she saw of her friend was an orange tail disappearing at the top end of the stairs, along with the familiar sound of a battle saddle being readied.

"... oh boy."

Homage frowned, looking after the disappearing pegasus for a few moments, before she shook her head and turned away, but stopped as her look came to rest on the young mare going through one of the crates containing guns.

"Hey, you!"

Fallen Leaf raised her head, looking back at Homage with a small caliber pistol in her muzzle.

"Stay with me for now, will you?" she asked, then added in an undertone, "Can't have two of you run berserk."

The young mare looked at her strangely for a second, then her eyes briefly went over to the stairs where Calamity had disappeared, before she looked back at the unicorn, and rolled her eyes. "Fine." she said curtly, "Doesn't seem like he needs any help with the way he stormed out of here."

"Yeah." Homage muttered a bit absentmindedly, already focusing her attention back on the terminal as her hooves resumed entering commands into the device. Moments later she gave a sound of joy, "I found the turret controls!" she proclaimed, more to herself than to the other ponies present. Again, her hooves flew over the keyboard, a pleased grin appearing on her face as the terminal gave a confirming beep. "Alright, they're disabled now." she announced happily, "Now, what else can this baby do?"

She leaned forward, focusing on the text appearing on the screen in front of her, and the grin on her face widened ever so slightly as she hit the enter-button. "Collars are deactivated." she read out the terminal's reports, "Holding cells have been unlocked." she clapped her hooves together, pleased. "Sweet!"

Not wanting to waste any more time, the mare arose from the terminal, her horn lighting up and picking up an assault rifle lying on the ground next to her, then turned back towards Fallen Leaf who had joined the guards standing ready.

"Alright, let's go!" she spoke, and was already on her way to the exit, but hesitated as she saw the PipBuck strapped to the young mare's foreleg, and a new thought popped into her head.

"Actually..." she hesitated, thinking for a second, then turned towards the guards. "You guys go ahead and help Calamity. I'll need you," she turned towards the earth pony, "To come with me for another moment." The mare gave a brief nod, and Homage's smile widened with pleasant anticipation as she felt her plan unfold, "There's another friend of mine upstairs who needs our help."

Author's Notes:

Brace yourselves for the finale, lads!