I was jolted awake by a hard kick to the face. I opened my eyes just in time to be kicked again. I felt my lip split and a warm trickle run down my chin.

“Hey! Take it easy on that pony, he can’t race if he’s dead.” A stallion’s voice yelled out.

“Fuck you Axel. They deserve it for killing Bell and Bruiser.” A mare’s voice yelled back.

“I agree Bittersweet and they’ll get everything that’s comin’ to them in the race.” I looked around frantically searching for anything that could help me. Sunny and I had all of our legs tied together and were lying in the back of an old cart being pulled by somepony I couldn't see. I recognized the voice of the one standing over us as the one who identified us back at the clinic. She had a dark green coat, purple mane and was wearing my stable armor and Sunny’s hat leaving me with just my basic utility barding.

As best I could tell it was just the two of them, the one in the cart with us and the one pulling it. Binding our legs was only mere rope so I decided to try and fry them off with magic starting with Sunny, she’d do a better job at fighting them until I could free myself than the other way around. I focused my magic and prepared to fire a weakened bolt at the rope around Sunny’s legs but was instead greeted with a dim red glow from my horn. I tried again but to no effect, each try resulting in the same red glow. My efforts only got me a kick in the gut, knocking the wind out of me.

“Thought you’d try some sneaky magic shit so we slapped a magic nullifier on you. You’d better behave until we get to Monument stadium. Boss won’t like it if we lose anymore racers but I won’t shed a tear if you and your friend die.” I swallowed at the implication. This pony wanted revenge so bad that she was willing to disobey her leader to get it but something was holding her back. “I’d love to see you dead but I’d much rather see you suffer in the races first.” And with that I had my answer. She didn’t want to just gun us down in the back of the cart, no she wanted to see us broken first. I didn’t know what hell was awaiting us but for our captor to deny herself her own revenge in exchange was a thought that had me almost wishing she’d just shoot us.

The rest of the cart ride went by in an awful silence with nothing to see above us but the tops of destroyed buildings, the eternally grey skies, and the hateful glare of the one watching over us. Sunny had surprisingly not said a word or tried to escape since our capture, even the look in her eyes seemed distant somehow. I could see the looming husk of the stadium coming into view and with it the sound of ponies. As we crossed the entrance my PipBuck pinged and made a mark on my map labeling the place as Monument Stadium. We were immediately thrown out of the cart and had collars slapped around our necks. I grabbed at mine trying to get it to loosen. Any slight turn of my head made it cut into my neck painfully.

“I wouldn’t mess with that thing if I were you. You wouldn’t want it to go off and splatter all these nice ponies with your brains now would you?” I stopped my fumbling immediately as my eyes shrunk to the size of pinpricks. The pony whose name I learned to be Bittersweet smiled a devious grin. “Oh? Never seen a bomb collar before?” She mock pouted as she pulled out her gun and motioned me and Sunny down a side hallway. “Its real simple, try and escape and it’ll blow, piss us off and it’ll blow and even if you do manage to get outside the perimeter…haha you guessed it, it’ll blow and take your head with it.” She punctuated that last part by pushing her gun barrel into the back of my head.

A minute or so passed and we were led out onto the once green field of the stadium. In the center was a large sloppily constructed pen surrounded by a razor wire fence where I could see dozens of malnourished ponies. Bittersweet beckoned to some guards who joined her as she opened the gate to the fence as they in turn opened the door to the pen. We were violently thrown in with the rest of the slaves as the door slammed shut.

“I can’t wait to watch you die!” Bittersweet yelled through the door, her words dripping with venom. Before I could even take a look around a loud screech echoed across the stadium followed by static.

“Welcome once again friends to the red races!” A mare’s voiced yelled out over the stadium’s PA system. A roar of applause and cheering erupted from the stands that I had neglected to see were partially packed with ponies. “However I regret to inform you that our beloved leader, Red Asphalt, is not expected to make it in time for the races. So it is with great sorrow that I must tell you that today’s event will be put off until tomorrow.” A second roar came from the crowd, this time filled with boos and jeers.

“Now Now, I understand how you ponies feel, though I shouldn’t have to remind you that none of this would be possible without Red Asphalt. So doesn’t it make sense to wait just one more day so that he may witness the fruits of his labor?” The crowd started to talk amongst itself, seemingly agreeing with the announcer. “I knew you ponies would see it my way, return to your duties for now but be sure to be back in your seats tomorrow at noon for the greatest day in post-apocalyptic sport!” Several ponies in the pen sighed in relief, but the one outside yelled in frustration. She snatched Sunny’s hat off her head and threw it into the dirt.

“No! Goddess Damn it!” She stood just outside the door hyperventilating. She placed the hat back on her head and her eyes full of hate met with mine. She walked up to the fence that separated us and snarled. “I will see you suffer yet worm!” she whispered before turning tail and leaving out the way we came. I could still feel my heart thundering in my chest. We had one day to figure out an escape plan or something so I walked up to where Sunny had been siting since we had been thrown in.

“Sunny what the hell are we going to do now!?” I whispered harshly. She just stared. Not at me or anypony else, she just stared at the ground, her eyes looked empty like there wasn’t anypony behind them. I took her by her shoulders and started to shake. “Sunny! C’mon snap out of it! Sunny I need your help…” She didn’t react at all, she didn’t say anything, she didn’t move and I’m not even sure she blinked. She was completely out of it. I sighed in defeat and did the only thing I could and sat down next to her, a hopeless sigh escaping my mouth.

“Yeah I’ve seen that happen before.” I opened my eyes to see that another stallion had come and sat down beside me. “Don’t worry though she’ll come back eventually or…you know, die.” He was a younger stallion with a dirty brown coat and yellow mane and he had several long scars along his body.

“Name’s Ribbon Dancer, you best get comfy because the only way out of here is in the shackles of a new master. Or you could just die.” Ribbon Dancer’s expression stayed neutral as he spoke of our situation as he stared out into the stands of slavers. “Or if you’re very very lucky you could win the races and with it your freedom.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just like I said pal, did you think that they put on the races just to torture slaves for no reason?” After everything Bittersweet said about the race that’s exactly what I thought it was for. It was at that moment that I truly got a look around the slave pen. All around me were ponies with collars like mine and many of them had scars like Ribbon Dancer. Presumably from lashings they got from previous masters or the current ones. In the middle of the roof above the pen was a large opening that led down to a trough filled with a greenish-brown slop that was to serve as barely passable nourishment.

“Although most ponies who win generally decide to join up with these guys rather than face the wastes again. Then the cycle continues.” He continued.

“How…um how long have you been…you know…?”

“A slave? Three years now. They captured me when they attacked my previous masters. This might sound weird to you but I liked my old cage better.” It did sound weird to me, very weird. The fact that ponies out here could enslave each other and had been enslaving each other for years enough to allow a slave to have seen enough cages to have a preference was sickening.

“I overheard the mare that brought you in, you musta really fucked up to get that kind of reaction out of her.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way or anything Ribbon Dancer but I really don’t want to talk right now.” Ribbon Dancer nodded accepting what I had said.

“I hear ya, nopony likes to think about the day they were enslaved.” Ribbon Dancer seemed like a nice enough pony but that was the thing, he was a nice pony. He should have been angry or sad or something!

“How can you be so positive about this? Why are you talking to me?”

“Because I have been here for months and seen plenty of races, do you get what I’m saying?” I shrugged hoping to speed along his answer. “That means that they have never picked me for the races. All I have to do is not stand out and I have it pretty good here all things considered. I don’t have to work for some asshole and I don’t have to die for the sake of ‘entertainment’.” I glared back at him, his answer was less than satisfying.

“That doesn’t explain why you’re trying to help me.”

Ribbon Dancer rolled his eyes. “Haven’t you been paying attention…?”

“Sparks.”

“Sparks. I’m trying to help you cause I know for a fact that you’re going to be out on that field tomorrow and somepony should try to comfort you because of that. And of all the ponies in here why not me?” I suppose I was thankful for that, even though he approached the subject with the tact of a freight train.

“But why me specifically? I’m sure there’s plenty of ponies in here that are going to be out there tomorrow.” Ribbon Dancer closed his eyes and sighed.

“Because of her.” He said pointing a hoof at Sunny. “When these raiders took me from my old master they also took my sister. Our parents sold us into slavery to pay off a debt for some fuckin' thing or another and we had been sold as a pair ever since. After we got here and watched our first race Ocean Crest, my sister, shut down just like your friend over there and then she was hoof picked to be in the following race. When she refused to participate she was given a choice, stand up and run, or die. I can still remember the look on her face. It was empty, like she had given up. So they executed her on the spot as an example to the rest of us.” I was at a loss for words. I wanted to say something, to try and console him but what could I really say? The only loss I had ever experienced was my father’s death and I was too young to remember it that well. I felt a hoof on my shoulder, Ribbon Dancer must have seen the concern in my eyes.

“Hey don’t worry about it. I just don’t want you to go through what I did.” Before I could say anything Ribbon Dancer got up and started trotting towards the center of the pen. “C’mon, let’s try to get some food before it’s all gone.”

I got up on my hooves and looked at Sunny. “I’ll bring you back something to eat.” I followed after Ribbon Dancer towards the food trough. As we got close I could see the mass of ponies standing around it. I jumped up to try and see over the crowd and noticed that there was nothing in the trough.

“We’re too late, it’s already all gone.” I said kicking at the dirt in frustration.

“Not quite Sparks, look up.” Ribbon Dancer motioned skywards with his head where I saw a couple raider guards pulling a container towards the hole in the roof. “Get ready, you gotta be quick.” I had a pretty good idea what he meant but regardless I wasn’t prepared.

As soon as the guard tipped the container over and the sludge that was to be our dinner spilled into the trough all hell broke loose. Ponies immediately dove forward greedily sucking down as much as they could. Others were less concerned about the food and were more interested in fighting away competitors.

Ribbon Dancer had jumped up and ran over the backs of the others making his own dive at the slop. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have it in me to fight my way to the trough, especially considering all these ponies were slaves and were considerably less fed than myself. I sat myself down a fair distance away from the commotion and resigned to waiting for the others to have a chance.

Ribbon Dancer ran back up to me holding the rags that he had been wearing as a crude bowl in his mouth.

“I fahht Id find joo vaack heer.” He said as he passed me the makeshift dish. “Next time you’ll have to get it yourself.” I nodded in thanks and almost dropped it all over the ground, forgetting that my magic was nullified by the ring around my horn. I grabbed it in my mouth and immediately ran back towards Sunny. As I drew near I was tackled to the ground by another slave. I dropped the rags and the slop spilled all over the dirt.

“No!” I screamed out. I had to bring something back for her, in her state I doubt she’d eat on her own. I got to my hooves to face the pony who knocked me down. He was a big burly dark blue earth pony with a black mane. He was shamelessly salvaging what he could from the spill. “Why!?” I yelled, stomping my hoof on the ground, anger swelling up from inside me.

He looked up at me and snarled.

“You wanna do sumthin’ about it scab?” He stood at his full height and despite the poor conditions in the slave pen he was still reasonably fit and about a head and a half taller than me. My ears fell against my head as I shrunk away from him. He approached just as fast as I could flee. “I think you need to learn your place in here.” He rose back on his hind legs ready to strike. I flinched and prepared for the worst when I remembered that I still had my PipBuck. I quickly slipped into SATS and queued up as many hits on the stallion as I could. It was a different feeling using SATS without a gun. An unseen force took control of my body as I executed several perfectly aimed hits on the stallions gut.

The spells effect had passed but with the undesired effect. The big stallion had recoiled a bit but the look of fury in his eyes dashed any hope that I’d get away without a beating.

“I’m gonna enjoy this.” He whispered through closed teeth. The first hit came hard and fast along the left side of my head followed by a second hit on my right. I managed to stay on my hooves and tried to dodge the next swing but two hits to the head and the fact that there were now three stallions attacking me made it impossible. As he closed the distance the three ponies fused back into one as he bucked me off my hooves and into the dirt. My vision stared to fade and I could hear a loud ringing in my ears. As I was down the stallion got a running start and kicked me in the gut sending me skidding across the ground. Through my heartbeat and the ringing in my ears I could hear the sound of a gun being fired.

“That’s enough Granite.” I opened my eyes to see one of the guards on the roof pointing a gun at my attacker. “Dead ponies can’t race, you kill another slave and it’ll be you that dies next.”

“I can’t believe this shit.” Granite huffed angrily and started to walk away whispering under his breath. I stood up and noticed that my left eye was starting to swell shut. I had no choice but to return to Sunny empty hoofed. As I sat down next to her Ribbon Dancer ran up and followed suit.

“What the hell was that Sparks? I didn’t tell you to pick a fight with Granite.” I glared back at him with my one good eye.

“He attacked me first.” I said indignantly.

“You’re lucky he didn’t just kill you.” Judging by what the guard said Granite had killed a slave already maybe more than one so I guess I was lucky.

“Yeah I guess. He was real eager to fight though, is he always that way?”

“Yeah kinda, he used to be one of them.” He said pointing to the raiders on the roof and around the perimeter. “Then he did something to piss of Red Asphalt and got thrown in here with us. He’ll be the one to watch out for during the race.” I swallowed at the thought. He was just waiting for a chance to be free again and wouldn’t hesitate to kill all of us slaves to get it. I really hoped Sunny would snap out of it soon. I wasn’t capable enough to help her like she had helped me, that thought alone made me feel pathetic. How I wished I could go back to the Stable before all this happened, return to my repair stall and live out the rest of my life without ever knowing the wasteland. I couldn’t change my position no matter how badly I wanted to but I could change the others' who were still in the Stable. I had to be strong for them, for Winter, for mother and for myself. And even if I wanted to, I couldn’t abandon Sunny, not now, not after what she did for me. I had a friend out here and I wasn’t about to let that go so easily.

“Sorry I couldn’t get you any food.” I whispered to Sunny. I felt that hoof on my shoulder again.

“You’ll get some next time Sparks. The ones who gorged themselves won’t be competition next time.” That thought brought me little comfort because after tomorrow there might not be a next time.

There was little to be done the following day as the gates to the pen were thrown open and a dozen armed guards trotted in and got all the slaves lined up around the fence. The sun was just about in the middle of the sky now as one well armored slate grey earth pony stallion with a scarlet mane flanked by two heavily armed guards walked through the masses and hoof picked ponies to compete. Sunny was still unresponsive and as soon as the grey pony got close an eerie smile formed on his face.

“Well well well, what have we here?” His voice was rough yet charismatic. “If it isn’t miss Sunny Smiles.” Sunny didn’t respond, move or even look at the pony. “No response eh? That's a shame, I have no use for a broken toy.” He said, leaning over towards me. I glared back at him, leaning in between him and Sunny. “Is this a friend of yours dear Sunny? I suppose he'll go in your stead. Oh…A stable dweller, now that should make you an interesting participant.” As he spoke the guards following him escorted me out of the pen and onto the crude track around the field. I sighed a breath of relief, it was a small victory but Sunny’s pseudo-coma definitely saved her from the race. It did little to help my situation though as the area around me was filled with more racers.

Among them I spotted the stallion from yesterday, Granite and felt a chill run up my spine. Soon after the guards slowly filed out of the pen with one last competitor, kicking and screaming as he was forced to the track. It was Ribbon Dancer, the look of pure terror on his face made me shiver.

It was at the moment that I finally realized that it was here that I would die. Why me? Why did the goddesses forsake me? It shouldn’t have been me. It wasn’t even me that killed those raiders and here I was facing a punishment that wasn’t mine. Sunny wasn’t picked because of her state so I had to pay the price through association. Sunny would have been able to do something about this, perhaps even win.

A crackle of static echoed across the stadiums speaker system and the same energetic mare’s voice from yesterday began to speak.

“Welcome back all you ponies to the greatest, fastest, blood spillingist event this side of the mountains!” A roar of applause erupted from the maybe one hundred or so spectators in the stands. “And without further ado, here he is the stallion we hate to love, Red Asphalt!” The applause continued for a brief moment before subsiding. The voice of a stallion radiated out for all to hear.

“Welcome once again to the event that’s looked forward to by everpony in post-apocalyptia! Fillies and gentlecolts, before we get to the pleasantries I have a couple special announcements to make. First and foremost, you all out there have had run-ins with the Regulators right?” A round of boos and jeers flowed throughout the crowd.

“I thought so, so it is with great pride that I inform you that down in that pen we have captured the one and only Sunny Smiles, leader of the regulators!” The reaction from the crowd sounded like an even mix of cheers and boos with some calling for her immediate execution while other wanted to see her race. “Now now, calm down. We can’t risk such a valuable slave to something as petty as death. Also what if she were to win? Or opted to join us? Would you ponies like that?” The crowd turned into itself. Each group of ponies talking amongst themselves seemingly agreeing that the pen is where she should stay.

“And that brings us to my second point. Cast your eyes down to the racers. See that one there in the middle? The one with the PipBuck on his leg. That’s right fillies and gentle-colts we have an honest to goddess stable dweller. Let’s all hope he wins, or cheer when he dies. Either way we could use that PipBuck.” Did that mean Red Asphalt had encountered a stable dweller before? Or did he have some knowledge about PipBucks? Either way now everyponies attention would be on me, for better or for worse.

“Now as always, we will run the first two laps to thin out the weak. Then whoever is left will compete in a series of death battles until we have only four left standing. As a reminder to our brave racers, first place comes with full freedom and an invitation to join the Red Runners. Now let the Red Races…Begin!” The chorus of cheers and applause exploded out into the sky once again as all of us on the field were herded into starting positions on the track.

“Alright racers.” The mare from before took her place on the mic. “The rules are simple, two laps around the track and if you survive you advance. On your mark…get set…”

“NOOOooo!” My head jerked around to look behind me as an extremely shaken looking mare had bolted off the track and was making a mad dash towards the exit.

“You can’t do this! You’re not going to kill me!” She screamed as she ran.

“Haha! Look at her go. Hold your fire all, I thinks she’s earned it.” What? They were just going to let her go? That didn’t make any- I was interrupted out of my thoughts as a distant beeping started to sound. I looked at the runaway mare and saw the light on her collar was flashing. The beeping sped up until the collar around her neck exploded and took her head with it, leaving nothing behind but bone fragments and blood.

“There’s one in every race folks. Now on your mark…get set…GO!” A loud horn blared from the loudspeaker and immediately the mass of ponies broke down into chaos. We all stuck together in a herd as we started galloping around the track. Ponies all around were falling prey to various traps set into the track. A pony just directly to my right had had stepped onto a brown tarp covering a pitfall. She screamed as she fell before she was silenced by spikes at the bottom, piercing her lungs and ending her life. Suddenly all my limbs became heavy. If I had been just another foot to the right I would have fallen in as well. I couldn’t follow anypony to closely otherwise I could share in their fate.

“Alright snipers you may fire at will!” The voice of the announcer ordered. From a myriad of vantage points, ponies started to open fire on the track, indiscriminately killing whomever they could. This was insanity. At any moment my life could be ended in an instant. In that moment I made some of the more regretful acts of my first days in the wasteland. I saw a sniper off near the stands take aim at me and in my state of terror I ducked behind a taller stallion. The bullet meant for me pierced his throat spraying blood all around in a disgusting geyser. He fell to the ground wheezing and coughing up a fine mist of blood before he was trampled to death by other terrified racers. I could feel the bile rising in my throat.

I was somewhere roughly in the middle of the pack as we finished the first lap. I looked around to see that about half of the racers had succumbed to death. The second lap was much of the same made even more difficult by having to dodge or jump the corpses of fallen racers. The second round of sniper fire was much harder to avoid now that there were less ponies to hide behind. That very thought made me sick to my stomach. There were roughly ten racers left when a young mare slipped on the remains of a dead racer and fell head over tail hard onto the ground where she was easily picked off by a sniper popping her head like an overinflated balloon.

“And there you have it fillies and gentlecolts, these are the ponies who will advance to the next round!” The crowd let us all know how pleased they were with the mindless slaughter of approximately twenty ponies. I looked around the track to see the many bodies strewn about in pools of blood. Some had died quickly from a bullet to the brain while others had the unfortunate fate to spring a trap set on the track. Some like the mare who fell into the spiked pitfall had died instantly while others faced the torture of bleeding out from a gash in their side or being trampled due to crippling injuries.

A new feeling was brewing in my heart. Hatred. It was something I didn’t feel often as it was my pride to prevent such feelings back in the Stable. But I wasn’t in the Stable anymore. Seeing such pointless slaughter awoke a new hatred for these raiders, a desire to see them suffer like us. A desire to see them die. A desire to have them die by my hooves. A group of raiders approached us survivors and gave us a look over. One of them made some motions towards the announcer’s booth.

“It looks like we have one too many competitors.” The mare declared over the speakers. “Which means it’s time for a little game.” One of the raiders down with us walked toward our group with a hoofful of sticks. “Choose wisely everypony, you don’t wanna get caught with the short stick.” We were all lined up and one by one we were allowed to choose a stick. As I looked down the line I saw that both Granite and Ribbon Dancer had made it this far. When it came to my turn to draw, time slowed to a crawl. If I chose wrong it could mean immediate death. My heartbeat was pounding in my ears and I was sweating bullets. I slowly reached out then closed my eyes and quickly snatched a stick out of the raiders hoof. I was shivering waiting for it all to go dark when I heard the raider walk further down the line to pass out more. Was I safe? Did I make the right choice?

“Alright racers, hold up your sticks!” We all did as we were told and held them out in our hoofs. I heard a gasp from two ponies to my right followed by the sound of a bullet being loaded into its chamber. A lanky cream colored mare held in her hoof a stick with a black ring around the middle. Her eyes were wide as she began to violently shake. Tears were silently falling from her cheeks.

“No…” She whispered. “I’m not ready to di-” *BLAM* A shot from the raider behind her separated the top half of her head from the bottom as it spun through the air vertically. Her corpse collapsed limply to the ground, the top half of her skull was gone leaving only her limp tongue hanging out of what remained to bleed into the dust.

“And then there were eight!” The spokesmare cried. “Now we pick combatants for the Death Battles!” I was immediately caught off guard as one of the nearby raiders wrapped a blindfold around my eyes. I was shoved around here and there until my blindfold was ripped off leaving me staring Ribbon Dancer in the face. Both of our eyes went wide yet not a single word was spoken between us. Now that the fighters were set we were led to what must have once been a swimming pool, now empty and filled with odds and ends from the wasteland. As we got closer I could hear a ticking sound from my PipBuck telling me that the pit was very irradiated. Down in the pit was a puddle of viscous goo near the deep end next to an overturned barrel. Along the bottom and sides were old black blood stains that were slowly flaking off in the wind. I wondered how many ponies had died in this pit. This pit was used for fun once, now it was the graveyard of Luna knows how many.

I found it easier and easier to hate my captors, hoping with all my power that a similar fate would befall them all. Granite and the mare he was to fight to the death were pushed into the pit.

“Remember ponies, crowd participation is allowed during the Deathmatch’s, just don’t kill either of the fighters unless you want your ass to go in the hole next.” The spokesmare warned. “Now once the fight begins do not stop until one of you is dead…Begin!” It was one of the most unsettling things that I had ever watched. Granite was ready and willing to do whatever he had to do to be accepted back into the Red Runners. He was easily twice the size of his opponent who he easily threw across the pit, snapping bones and drawing blood with ease. The mare’s pleas fell on deaf ears as Granite stomped on her face again and again with an honest to goddess smile on his face until her head was reduced to a thick paste of blood and brains. I was so revolted that somepony could take such glee in such an act that I refused to watch the second fight.

In hindsight that was a poor decision. Deep down I think it would have been better to see what was happening with my own eyes rather than the carnage that I imagined from the sounds of screaming, bludgeoning and tearing flesh. When I saw the aftermath later it was apparent that some ponies from the crowd had thrown in weapons which had ended the fight decisively. Now was the moment I was dreading. My fight with Ribbon Dancer. It was easy to fight for your life when you were cornered or in danger, facing Ribbon Dancer in the pit gave me none of those feelings. How I wish I had gotten Granite as my opponent. I would rather chance the vicious beating or even death and fight a pony I hated rather than him.

Neither of us made a move. I think we were both having the same thought. What a fucked up situation we were in. I doubt they would have let us both go without executing one of us.

“Listen Ribbon Dancer, we don’t have to do this.” I whispered. “Maybe if one of us fakes dying we could-”

“No.” He said. “There’s no getting away from this Sparks. One of us is going to die in this hole. And the way I see it, it might as well be you!” With that he dropped his neutral stance and lunged at me hitting me quick in the face. I staggered a bit but dodged his next kick. For the next few minutes our fight became a dance where I did as best I could to keep dodging but every so often a hit would connect.

“Alright this is getting boring. You guards down there, get in that hole and restrain them.” The spokesmare ordered. Before I could react both myself and Ribbon Dancer were pinned up against the wall of the pit. “No more of this weak dodging shit.” That was the first time that I detected any emotion other than joy in the spokesmare’s voice. “Yes? Oh? Yeah that’s good.” She must have been talking to somepony else in the booth.

“Guards! Hold them up.” We both had our front legs lifted over our heads, exposing our bellies. What was their game? We waited a minute or so before I saw the head of Bittersweet poke over the edge of the pit.

“You two.” She said pointing at two unicorn raiders. “Pick a slave and ram them with your horn.” She was grinning evilly, looking at me as she did. “I secretly hoped you’d survive this far, have fun bitch.” I watched her disappear out of sight but my eyes were now transfixed on the unicorn mare in front of me on the other side of the pit. I looked to my left to see that Ribbon Dancer was in the same situation.

The two unicorns reared their heads and started galloping towards us, their horns leveled at our bellies. They wouldn’t. They couldn’t make us fight while bleeding to death. I had desperately wanted to close my eyes but I couldn’t. I watched in horror as the unicorn rammed into my gut. A searing hot pain lanced through my insides, leaving me with a gaping hole from which my blood flowed profusely. The unicorns had aimed low to not hit our lungs which let us yell out in agony. I fell to the ground clutching my stomach, gritting my teeth as I tried to hold my blood inside. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Ribbon Dancer struggling to get to his hooves.

“I had never *Ngh!* been picked for the races *Aahh!* until now. Freedom is so *Ack!* close now. I won’t let you stand in my way!” By the time he finished talking, he had limped over to my prone body. He punctuated his last word by kicking me in the stomach. I screamed bloody murder as a fresh round of pain radiated across my body, threatening to rob me of my sight.

He was right in his own way. He had never been given the chance to free himself. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing was no longer important. What was important was just accepting my fate. If it took me sacrificing my life to give Ribbon Dancer a chance for a normal one, then that was a price I was OK to pay. I closed my eyes and tried to think of home before the end came.

“SPARKS!” A voice called out. A voice that I recognized. It was Sunnny! “Sparks you have to fight back! Do you understand!? Is this how you are going to save your Stable?! By throwing your life away?! Get up and FIGHT!”

She was right. I still had to save them. I still had to save her. I couldn’t abandon her to whatever fate Red Asphalt had for her and I needed her help to get back in Stable 63. I couldn't believe I almost gave up. I couldn’t waste the chance Summer had given me three days ago. I gathered what strength I had left and rose to my hooves.

Every bit of movement made me wince and with every step came the danger of passing out. Ribbon Dancer wasn’t in any better shape than I and that was my advantage. He was desperate to win and that made him clumsy. He threw one last wide punch which I was able to duck and get in close, wrapping my forelegs around his neck. I looked deep inside to Winter, Mother and even Sunny for strength to tighten my grip. He was thrashing with whatever energy he had left trying to throw me off.

The sounds of his choking and the strength of his struggling were starting to weaken as I squeezed even harder. I closed my eyes as he started foaming at the mouth and his eyes started bulging out of his head. I didn’t want this. I wished there was another way but sadly the truth was I had more to lose and a stronger reason to stay alive. I still had my family to save and his…his was gone. It didn’t take long for his body to fall limp in my hooves and as I dropped his now lifeless corpse my own strength failed me and darkness filled my vision.

When I awoke I found that my stomach wound had been healed while I was unconscious. I guess it wouldn’t have been fun to have the both of us die. That was it. It was over. There were four of us left. Granite, myself and two other slave ponies, both mares.

“Now that the stable dweller is awake let’s move on to deciding first place.” The spokesmare’s voice had once again been replaced by Red Asphalt’s. “Personally I think it goes to the stable dweller.” I was surprised to hear that but was even more surprised to hear cheering from the crowd supporting his claim. But why? I hadn’t done anything exceptional the whole event. I was convinced that Red Asphalt was picking me so he could get to my PipBuck. Which in itself meant that he didn’t know how to get it off my leg so I was just the tag along for his prize.

“WHAT!?” Granite screamed up towards the announcer’s box. “You’d pick this fucking scab over me!?” Red Asphalt sighed through the speakers.

“Fine. Who thinks Granite should get first place?” There were some cheers here and there but not nearly as many as I had got.

“That’s bullshit! Do you know how many ponies I killed today!? I’ve paid my price! Here I’ll show just how much stronger I am!” He yelled as he directed his gaze at me. Before he could even get close a loud bang rang out and a bullet hit Granite’s left hind leg. He fell straight on his face and slid for a foot or two. In his fall he must have bit through his tongue as an uncommonly large amount of blood was running down his chin. While I was gawking at Granite’s wounds Red Asphalt had decided the last two places, settling on second for Granite.

“And with that we extend an invitation to you stable dweller. Will you join my Runners or face the wasteland alone?” The idea of joining these scumbag raiders made me want to violently puke up my own internal organs. But given my other option it was the best opportunity I was going to get. I had to keep an eye on Sunny and ideally find us a way out. I only hoped that I didn’t have to do anything I would regret before I could find a way.

“I accept.” I said with as much confidence as I could muster.

“Very good. Now…show me your commitment and kill Granite."

“What!?” Granite and I cried at the same time. One of the raiders next to me handed me a pistol with one bullet.

“Prove your worth and do as I say. Kill him!” It wasn’t a request anymore. It was an order. One I had no choice but to obey for my and Sunny’s sake. I looked towards the pen and met her look. Her expression was still neutral with an air of expectancy. I think she knew what I was trying to do. I thought back to what she been telling me the last day and a half. I pressed the barrel of the pistol to Granite’s forehead.

“You won’t hurt anypony ever again.” I spit the words out my mouth like poison. Granite just scowled at me, spiting a mouthful of blood at me in defiance. *BLAM!* one shot through the head put the big pony down the same as anypony else. For the first time since the race started I was no longer facing slaves. Killing Granite was the first step to earning Red Asphalt’s trust and the worst part was…that killing him felt good. I could hear a pleased snicker over the loudspeakers.

“Good…Bring the stable dweller to my office but first the rewards for third and fourth place. Third now gets second places’ reward. A pass to never be picked for a race again.” Two of the raiders down on the field quickly picked up sledgehammers in their mouth and proceeded to break the now second place pony’s hind legs. I had seen and heard many disturbing things in the wasteland so far but nothing made me want to puke as much as the sound of breaking bones.

It wasn’t the prize I expected it to be but in a cruel sort of way it made sense as a crippled slave couldn’t race. Second place wailed in agony as she was drug back to the slave pen.

“Third place is rewarded with the status quo. Back to the pen with her.” She was also escorted back to the pen with a look of hopelessness on her face. One of the other raiders approached me and took the pistol I was given away.

“Follow me.” He ordered. I did as I was told. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a number of slaves begin to remove the corpses from the track under armed supervision.

Monument stadium had more to it than I gave it credit for. From my limited understanding I had assumed that the Red Runner’s home was just the stadium. Outside on the opposite side from where I was brought in was a sort of shanty town were many ponies who weren’t raiders or slavers made their homes. I supposed it was easier for them to accept the evils of Red Asphalt and his raiders for protection rather than endure the wasteland on their own.

Red Asphalt’s office was the most intact room I’ve seen since I left the stable. There was a relatively undamaged red rug across the middle of the room and a few well preserved paintings on the walls. The paint on the walls was peeling off in places but still maintained some color. Red Asphalt himself was sitting behind a large wooden desk facing away from me and looking out the window over the field where the cleanup was still going on.

“It’s not my greatest idea but we can only care for so many slaves at once and admission to watch the races is worth more than transporting them and selling them to the operation at the shipyard.” Red Asphalt spun in his chair to face me. It was the stallion who had been hoof picking the racers from before.

“Truthfully I don’t really care for the whole slaving thing. Some of my men just started capturing them on their own accord and I just haven’t put a stop to it. Does that really make me such a bad pony stable dweller?”

“My name is Sparks and yes, yes it does.” Red Asphalt smiled maliciously as he stood up and removed my magic nullifier.

“Well you’d best get used to it now Sparks, cause as of now you are one of the bad ponies. Unless… you’d like to go back to the pen that is?” I really hated this pony. Nothing would have made me happier than to just leap over his desk and try to take him out, even if it meant I would die doing it. What was it Watcher had said? A noble sacrifice only works if it solves the problem at hoof. As much as I wanted to throw myself at him it wouldn’t change anything, even if I could kill him then what? The rest of them would kill me in retribution and somepony else would take his place.

“Going back on your word now? I won my freedom and I can do whatever I want with it.”

“I never go back on my word. Don’t forget that you gave your freedom to me when you accepted my offer. Of course you may leave if you so desire but my ponies don’t much care for traitors.” It didn’t take much to see the threat behind his words. Like it or not I had accepted this role and now I’d have to play it. I just hoped I wasn’t making a terrible mistake.

The door to the office was loudly kicked open by Bittersweet as she stormed in, pushing me aside and marching straight up to Red Asphalt.

“You’ve got to be fuckin' kidding me! You recruited the pony that killed my friends!?” Red Asphalt didn’t show any kind of reaction to her outburst.

“Yes I did. As you might have heard he took first place.” Bittersweet was shaking with barely contained rage. I was oddly enjoying watch Bittersweet get told off by her boss.

“Oh and I’d like my things back now.” I said pointing at my security barding that she was wearing.

“Ah of course. Bittersweet return his belongings.”

“No!” Bittersweet slammed her front hooves on the desk. “This wasn’t supposed to happen! He was supposed to die! I won’t give back what is mine!”

“Bittersweet, I know how you must feel about this but he won the race. You did not. Now return what you took from him.”

“No. I demand that you kill him right now or I’ll take my supporters and leave.”

Red Asphalt had a sad look in his eyes. “Is this really how you feel Bittersweet?”

Bittersweet took a big breath and poised herself. “Yes, yes it is.”

Red Asphalt closed his eyes and sighed. “I’m very sorry to hear that.” Red Asphalt pulled out a pistol faster than I thought an earth pony capable of and shot Bittersweet in the forehead before she could even react. She fell to the floor, her body limp and leaving a rapidly growing pool of blood.

“Good thing the rug is red eh? I’d recover your things fast if I were you, before too much blood gets on them.” I was speechless to see him execute her so casually. I wasn’t going to complain though, I got my stuff back and the only pony with a vendetta against me was now a barely noticeable stain on the floor. She had taken everything from both mine and Sunny’s saddlebags. The only thing that was unaccounted for were any caps we may have had and the medical supplies. I silently cursed that fact. Making our venture out here now completely worthless.

I had my gun, bags and armor back along with Sunny’s hat and battle saddle. It was an interesting weapon with a shotgun mounted on either side with a mouth trigger device just below and in front of my face. The pony who had escorted me here was now dragging Bittersweet’s corpse out of the room, leaving a smeared blood trail behind.

“String her up somewhere her followers can see and make sure they understand what happened.” He called to the guard then returned his attention to me. “You may go now, look around, explore if you must. Try to get some rest though. Tomorrow I’m going to send you out with a group to find something for me. Chestnut will tell you more when the time comes. Until then, congratulations on your victory.” I could see that sinister smirk return to his face as I left him alone in the office. While I was walking around I couldn’t deny that a curiosity to look around almost took hold of me but instead I found myself back at the slave pen. The guards were now eyeing me disdainfully as I walked the inside perimeter fence looking for a certain orange mare. I found her sitting alone in one of the corners.

“Psst! Sunny! Come here.” I whispered. She stood up and came over to the fence. “Sunny what should I do!? What if they ask me to kill somepony innocent? What if-”

“Sparks you need to calm down. Try not to think about stuff like that. Just focus on these things for now. Find the armory and a way to get in. Then see what you can do about getting us out of here.” I nodded and made a quick exit as the guards on the roof were starting to take notice. I aimlessly wandered around until I found a place to lie down and rest. With my new goals given by Sunny I closed my eyes and let sleep take me.

I was nudged awake by a light brown unicorn stallion with a dark brown mane.

“Get up new blood, we got work to do.” He stated gruffly. I had to keep up the act so I did as I was told and followed him. As luck would have it I was taken to the armory to stock up on ammo so now I knew where it was and how to get in. It was just an old locker room repurposed for storage and only guarded by two ponies. Not long after, we had met with another pony and left the stadium heading south. The stallion who had roused me out of my slumber was named Salted Chestnut, the one Red Asphalt had told me about. The other mare who joined us was named Lilac. She was pink with a light green mane that was cut very short. Our expedition only included the three of us. Them for support and me for my PipBuck’s map.

“So what are we looking for?” I asked. Lilac hadn’t said a word since we collected her for the trip but at least Chestnut was willing to talk.

“We’re looking for an old pre-war stockpile of magical energy weapons. We’ve scavenged the area several times but can’t find a way into the lower levels. That’s where your PipBuck comes in.” I lifted my leg and just looked at the device on my leg. I wondered just how valuable one of these were out here. “Once we have them we will take out those regulators over in their aquarium then we’ll have free reign over this area.”

Shit! I couldn’t let them find those weapons. I sent a prayer out to the goddesses that this trip would be a bust. We walked for a good three hours with only the occasional mutated creature blocking our path. Soon we made it to a large pile of rubble that used to be a research facility. Or at least that’s what I assumed it was when my PipBuck named the site the ‘Tomorrow-Tec South Ruins’.

“Alright new blood, put that tech to use and find us a way down.” A more daunting task than I think he realized. Chestnut and Lilac were wandering around the rubble keeping watch while I combed the piles of warped metal framework and concrete trying to find a staircase or something.

After forty-five minutes of no results I switched to the zoomed in map function. Twenty feet away from me, according to my map, was a way down into the lower levels.

“I think I found something!” I called. The sound of approaching hooves became the sound of exertion as we started clearing the debris in the area. Almost an hour later we had dug out a staircase leading down blocked by a door.

“Nice work new blood.” Lilac finally spoke.

“Locked. Get that door open Lilac and let’s get a look around.” Chestnut ordered. Lilac pulled a screwdriver and a couple bobby pins out of her saddlebags and got to work opening the door. I steeled myself for what was about to transpire. If we found what was allegedly down here I wouldn’t have a lot of options. I couldn’t just let them take the weapons back or report where they are. Maybe once we were in I could catch them unaware and kill them and try to pass it off as wasteland casualty. Goddesses was this really how I thought now?

Every second of watching her fumble with the lock was another second closer to the inevitable murder I was about to commit. I tried to control my breathing and banish the butterflies from my stomach.

“Almost…got it…aaaannnd.” I suddenly got a very bad feeling as I brought up my EFS. Behind the door was a giant mass of red.

“Don’t open the door!” I cried just as the lock clicked into place and Lilac was crushed by a mountain of bodies. They were all without their coats and manes. Most, if not all of them, had some sort of open lesions on their bodies, that combined with the lack of fur or manes made them look like moving corpses.

“Ghouls!” Chestnut yelled as he started firing his rifle in the mass of bodies that had crushed Lilac.

“The fuck you doing new blood!? Back me up!” I reflexively levitated out my pistol and indiscriminately shot at the ghouls. Many of or shots did not faze them as they shambled to their hooves and started making their way up the stairs snarling at us. Chestnut and I had retreated to the top of the stairs firing as we went. I figured now was a good a time as any to use Sunny’s battle saddle so I entered SATS and bit down on the trigger sending bursts of pellets into the oncoming horde. But they wouldn’t stop coming! We had to leave or we would be overwhelmed.

From behind I heard the sound of something metal clinking together as Chestnut lobbed what looked like a metal apple down the stairs.

“Run! We gotta get out of here!” He yelled as he started galloping back the way we came. I turned tail to follow as an explosion shook the ground around me. I turned back to see bits and pieces of many ghouls fly into the air leaking a greenish ichor as they went. I galloped as fast as I could away from the horde.

We made it safely away from the ghouls but were still about an hour’s travel from the stadium. Chestnut must not have been too bothered by Lilac’s death if his stony expression and steadfast silence were any indications. Or perhaps he cared too much.

Before I could think of anything to say or ask I saw the silvery form of one of those floating balls vomiting out an ugly tune out of the corner of my eye. Yes! That was just what I needed. I didn’t know if Watcher could help me but it was a chance I had to take.

“Hey I’ll uh… catch up to you, I need to go check something.” I kinda lied.

“Fine, but if you’re gonna go play with that spritebot be sure to salvage its spark battery.” Chestnut kept walking and I trotted over to the spritebot as he called it. I grabbed the bot as best as I could with my magic, turning to make sure that Chestnut was out of ear shot.

“Watcher? Watcher are you in there?” The aggravating polka music continued to play. “Goddess dammit Watcher you better answer me!” the music disappeared in a crackle of static.

“I can’t be everywhere at once you know.” The neutral voice spoke with and undertone of annoyance. “Oh hey it’s you, the one from stable 63. Good to see that you’re still alive. So, did you make a friend in Black Town?” the question had an air of expectation, like he knew something I didn’t.

“Umm yeah I did…Listen Watcher I need you-”

“So where is he? I wanted to tell him that his family is okay.”

“Huh? How do you know Dusty Trail?” The bot was silent for a moment before answering in the most unfeeling tone yet.

“…Who? You mean you didn’t meet Grim in the sky lounge? Dang it, I thought for sure that you two would hit it off, maybe I shouldn't try to play matchmaker. Friendship can't be forced. ” I had no idea what Watcher was going on about but I had bigger problems.

“Watcher, that’s not important right now. Can you help me?”

“I can't promise anything, I try to stay out of wasteland affairs. However I will listen. What do you need?”

“I need you to get a message to the Regulators in the Baltimare Aquarium. Tell them that Sunny Smiles has been captured by the Red Runners and that they have an ally inside. Tell them to attack the stadium and when they do I can arm the slaves and we can hit them on both sides.”

“...” Watcher's silence lingered for so long that I'd though he lost connection.

"Watcher please..." I whispered. "My friend is in there, as well as dozens of slaves. You can’t float there and turn a blind eye to their suffering."

"I don't think you ever told me your name." Watcher's mechanical tone betrayed none of his intentions.

“Sparks. My name is Sparks.”

“Sparks... I’ll be sure to remember it.” With that last statement the floating bot made a popping, staticy sound and began playing that intolerable music from before, floating away aimlessly.

I felt my blood begin to boil. By the way the conversation had gone I figured it was pretty likely Watcher was going to help me but the way he said it, like his precious neutrality was worth the lives of others really got to me. I knew that the single robot wasn't Watcher himself but I sure pretended it was as I took aim. The spritebot exploded into bits as I blasted it with the battle saddle. I sifted through the scrap and grabbed the luckily still intact spark battery and chased after Chestnut.

We made it back to the stadium by dusk. Both Chestnut and I went to Red Asphalts office and told him of our experience. He didn’t seem too bothered that we lost Lilac to the ghouls and promised to send a larger force to the site the next day to exterminate the ghouls and get the weapons inside, if they were still there.

Thankfully I was not going to be a part of the second trip, my part was done. I figured that I wouldn’t be needed until Red Asphalt needed my PipBuck again for something. I just hoped that he didn’t get any ideas and try to take it from me as that would leave me without a leg and possibly my life.

I went to see Sunny again just after nightfall. She was back in her coma-like trance and I couldn’t get anything out of her and I wouldn’t dare talk about the Regulators attack this close to the guards. I wondered if the ponies in the shanty town outside the stadium would survive the attack. Maybe, if everything goes as planned, I could evacuate them?

In hindsight I wish I hadn’t thought of that. Now instead of priority one, getting out with Sunny was down to two. I couldn’t let innocents get caught in the crossfire even if they were allied with Red Asphalt. They only did so to save themselves, they were victims of their environment. Perhaps once the attack starts they would fight too. Regardless of what went through my mind I decided to walk through the shanty town just to be sure. The town itself was nothing more than a collection of crudely constructed shacks up against the edge of the stadium. Many of the ponies there avoided me, gave me dirty looks, one even started throwing insults at me before he was pulled away by his terrified friend and one mare was trying to usher her colt away from me. I guess even the ponies out here knew who I was now.

Given their reactions though I guessed that they had no love for the Red Runners. Hopefully when the time came they would run away or fight back. I was just about to return to the stadium when I noticed an older stallion watching me from a nearby shack, the look on his face marginally more accepting than the others. He waved me to him and curiosity got the better of me. As I approached him I saw his light grey coat and short greying auburn mane. He seemed to perk up at my approach but his expression remained empty.

“Come to see the rabble have you? Survey the little ponies for your lord?” He mocked, yet he never shied away. He didn’t seem to hate me or fear me as the others did.

“No.” I said plainly. “I came because I wanted to. To see you for myself.”

“And? Did you find what you were looking for?”

“I think so.”

“Is there something you’d like to tell me?” I suppose one didn’t get old in the wasteland without acquiring some level of wisdom.

“The stadium is going to be attacked soon. I don’t want innocents in the crossfire. Gather yourselves and flee.” I didn’t wait to see his reaction or hear his decision. I quickly retreated inside the stadium, back to where I had slept the day prior before realizing that I couldn’t fall asleep. I had to stay awake in case the regulators attacked. I roamed around for hours, making sure to keep the direction they would came from in my sight. I was staring out over the fractured streets of Baltimare when I felt a hoof on my shoulder.

“Can’t sleep? Or are you trying to show me initiative?” I turned to see that Red Asphalt was standing beside me.

“I can’t sleep.” I said which was the honest truth.

“Worked up about Lilac? I understand nopony wants to see a comrade die on their watch. Don’t let it get to you though, can’t make an omelet without letting an egg or two get torn apart by zombies.” I was appalled by that, the fact that his followers were just tools to be thrown away so long as he got what he wanted.

“By tomorrow evening we’ll make sure that as many ponies as possible get a warm laser in their hooves.”

“Forgive me if I don’t leap for joy.” Red Asphalt chuckled and slapped me on the back.

“Don’t worry pal, you’ll get one too. Rest easy now!” He called out as he made his way back the way he came. It wouldn’t be long now, he was going to get what was coming to him. I decided to move to a different spot. After several more minutes of wandering I found myself outside the door to the announcer’s booth. It was maybe an hour before dawn with light just barely lighting the wasteland. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a gently illuminated line of ponies heading the opposite direction away from the stadium. They heeded my warning after all. Once that weight had been lifted I pushed my way inside the announcer’s booth.

The spokesmare, or at least that’s who I assumed this mare was, was actually quite attractive. She was a bright pink mare with a lavender mane and a heart with an arrow through it as a cutie mark. From the ground it didn’t look like the booth was as high as it was and it had a great view of everything around with wide windows on every wall. That must have been why she was still here, to keep an eye out for trouble and alert everypony if she needed to.

“Notice anything unusual?” I asked nonchalantly. She jumped slightly in her seat as she spun to face me.

“Oh it’s just you new guy. You scared the shit outta me.”

“Sorry, can’t sleep.”

“And got curious eh? I get it.”

“So…anything unusual?”

“The townies have packed up and left. Don’t know where they think they’re going but we’ll send a party out to get them in the morning. They won’t get far.”

I was just about to continue the conversation with her when I saw several dozens of ponies advancing up a street in the distance. The spokesmare must have also noticed them as she tensed up and started to reach for the microphone. I couldn’t let her raise the alarm! I raced up behind her and with the aid of SATS closed the gap between us and knocked her unconscious with a sneak attack. There was no going back now. I took the spokesmares body, tied all her legs together and stuffed her under the bedframe in the corner. Then I ripped the microphone off its cord. Nopony would be raising an alarm this morning.

It was still going to be a few minutes before the Regulators got here so I wasted no time as I zipped through the halls and down the stairs to the field. They picked the perfect time to attack. Most of the raiders were still asleep while a fair amount kept watch. It would take some time for the Runners to rally a defense giving me time to do what I needed.

I stayed out of sight and watched the pen waiting for the moment to come. Gunfire rang out from the north gate along with the screams of ponies. Just as I had hoped, all the guard ponies around the pen left their post, leaving only one to watch the door. The sound of battle hid my approach but stealth wasn’t going to make what I was going to do any easier. I left my cover and galloped at the raider mare at the door. I lowered my head and fired as strong a lightning bolt as I could at her. She barely managed to duck the bolt and it hit the fence behind her charring the metal and showering her with sparks.

She had lost her balance avoiding my blast just enough to allow an easy shot to her chest from my battle saddle. Her body was flung into the fence where it fell, unmoving, to the ground. I ignored her corpse and quickly threw open the outer and inner gates. Before I could say anything Sunny immediately blew past me and disappeared into the stadium. She must have been eager for a fight but I was worried as she had no weapons. Which brought me back to the slaves in front of me, all of which looked at me with wide eyes.

“Quick follow me to the armory! I’m getting you ponies out of here!” I didn’t wait to see how many takers I had and turned and galloped off towards the armory. I thanked Celestia and Luna that almost all the raiders carried their weapons with them, making the area around the armory very devoid of ponies. I could hear the thundering of hoof steps behind me as we turned the corner to the armory. The two guards saw me running and raised their weapons suspiciously. When the rest of the slaves came around they started firing. I put one of them down with the aid of SATS while the other fell beneath the onslaught of many furious hooves. As they threw open the doors of the armory I left them to take their revenge however they pleased. I had to find Sunny before something happened to her. The Battle for Monument Stadium had begun.

The Red Runners were now caught in the middle of a two front battle as the slaves ran onto the field and began firing up at the raiders running through the bleachers. One of the slaves had found a battle saddle with a mounted missile launcher and fired one into the sky boxes where the raiders were hunkering down. It exploded into fire and splinters of wood, raining bits of pony and ash onto the field below. Fire started to spread through the upper rows of seats and other sky boxes, forcing the raiders to fall back.

Somepony must have noticed me near the mass of angry slaves as several bullets kicked up dirt near where I was standing. I galloped forward through the way I had been brought in originally where I encountered the back line of the raiders fighting the Regulators. Somepony had brought and set up a mounted machine gun in the middle of the entrance keeping the Regulators suppressed. I tried to go into SATS again only to be greeted by a recharging message.

I swore under my breath and eased myself out for a look. Several regulators had taken up positions behind old skywagons and other vehicles strewn about in the stadium’s parking lot. That gun was going to keep them pinned until they could pull out some other nasty trick. If I didn’t take it out soon then this battle would be over and the Regulators would be wiped out. I took a deep breath and looked down my sights at my target, the large box of ammunition next to the mounted gun.

I squeezed the trigger and was rewarded with an explosion that blew the gun off its mounting with the many bullet casings acting as shrapnel and shredding the pony who had been using it. In that quick moment one of the ponies outside had broken cover and thrown a bottle in through the entrance where it exploded into flames that consumed at least three ponies. Their screams pierced the sound of gunfire as their clothes ignited, fusing skin and armor together. It was a sight I would never forget, the smell of burning flesh would forever haunt me. I had done enough there and given the Regulators the advantage they needed.

I tried my best to ignore the battle around me as I searched for Sunny. The fire from the sky boxes was raging out of control and had consumed most of that side of the stadium. With nopony to fight it, it would surely consume the whole structure. Across the field I could see Sunny impaling a raider with a piece of rebar before she turned and ran up the stairs. I jumped the railing and landed hard on the field, the battle saddles additional weight almost proving too much for me.

I shuffled on my hooves and gave chase after Sunny. It was unsettlingly easy to follow her path. Littered around the hallway were raider corpses in various states of mutilation. One had had her intestines spilled out onto the floor where they steamed in the cool morning air and another who had his head torn from his body and pinned to the wall with the piece of rebar. Regardless of how steeled my resolve was it was still a fight in its own right to swallow back the vomit in my throat. I continued following the trail, trying not to linger on any particular corpse when I found something I couldn’t ignore. Red Asphalts office.

I kicked open the door to see him casually standing in front of his window, watching the shanty town below be consumed in a separate fire as his men died for him.

“I hadn’t thought the Regulators were capable of such an attack.” He said as a distant explosion shook the office. The fire must have made its way to the armory. He turned around to face me.

“I’m almost a little proud to see you responsible for this.” He smiled cruelly. “I bet you fancy yourself a hero but really you are no different from me.”

“That’s not true!” I yelled back. “I don’t massacre ponies for no reason!”

“Oh but don’t you? How is this, what you have done here not a massacre? You might call it by another name but when it comes down to it, you have killed these ponies simply because they chose to survive differently than you. So you can destroy them and call it justice. You’re a murderer Sparks…just like me.”

…No, that couldn’t be true. These ponies here were monsters they deserved their fate…Didn’t they? Before, I thought that the townsponies were victims of their environment. Could the same be said for Red Asphalt and his group? Were they only trying to survive? Even if that was the case they could have done so without the need for slaves but he was still right in a way. I was a murderer.

“You see you and I are very similar.” He continued. “I never imagined myself where I am now and I bet you could say the same thing. What separates you and me is that I adapted to what was happening around me and you stand in defiance of it.”

“How can you not!?” I screamed, flames of anger rising in my chest. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to be!”

“Equestria is dead.” He said, his eyes hardening. “We who remain must survive in whatever way we deem necessary. There is no right, there is no wrong, there is only the Wasteland. Adapt to it and it cannot hurt you. I can show you if you like.” He held out his hoof his cruel smirk softening.

“I…I’m not…” I hesitated a moment. Could even a pony like Red Asphalt be nothing more than victim of circumstance? No, this had to be a trick of some kind, he was trying to get in my head. I quickly drew my pistol with my magic and managed to squeeze off one round before an orange blur interrupted and flew past me, leaping over Red Asphalts desk yelling like a mad mare. Sunny tackled Red Asphalt to the floor and began hitting him in the face over and over again. The sound of struggle soon became the sound of splattering as Sunny just kept hitting, long after his face had become unrecognizable.

“Sunny… That’s enough…Sunny!” Sunny dropped one more hit, breaking open the skull and wetting the floor with brains and blood. Sunny looked up at me with a look of fury and disgust.

“My name’s Downpour and don’t you forget it stable colt.”

The battle died down less than thirty minutes after Red Asphalts death. The leftover raiders who hadn’t fled were gathered up executed by the Regulators. About two thirds of the stadium had burned to the ground, effectively taking it off the map. I was just glad that old stallion led the townsponies away before the fighting started. Sunn… er... Downpour gathered what was left of the Regulator force, loaded them up with what could be salvaged and sent them on their way back to Requari.

“You, stable colt.” She jabbed me sharply in the chest. “My sister seems to have a fondness for you. I can’t imagine why.” Without explanation she pried the battle saddle from my body and reequipped it on her.

“I personally think you’re a weak little bitch. You almost let that grey dick in the office waste you.” She scolded, swiping the hat from my head and returning it to hers. “Now don’t you have to go back to Black Town or some shit?” I was afraid to say anything. Whoever this ‘pony’ was she was very callous and hostile. I simply nodded and we started the long walk back to Black Town.

Downpour was not one for small talk unless it was to berate me on something or another which made the trip go by very slowly. For most of the way we traveled with the remaining Regulators and any dangers we faced were dealt with before I even knew there was danger. We stayed the night in Requari and I was still too afraid to approach Downpour and when morning came I couldn’t find any willing Regulators to answer my questions about whatever had happened to her.

She pushed me back outside like it was her who needed to go to Black Town. It was about two in the afternoon when we approached the gates to Black town. The eyepatch mare from before recognized me.

“Well look who it is, I didn’t think you had it in you pal. C’mon inside, I’m sure there’s plenty of ponies who want to meet you.” What the hell was she on about? Downpour and I were quickly ushered in past the walls where a surprising number of ponies had gathered. In the center of the market area was a crudely constructed stage where an overweight grey stallion with white mane stood behind a dirty podium.

Downpour had a genuine smile on her face as I was pushed up the stairs by a guard to the podium. The crowd had its collective eyes on me. Then the stallion spoke.

“Fillies and gentlecolts. It is my great pleasure to introduce you to the hero who took down Red Asphalt and his army of raiders!” The crowd started cheering. How the hell did the news get here before I did? I smiled nervously and waved to the crowd. The stallion left the podium and approached me.

“My name is Mayor Slate.”

“Umm hi? I’m Sparks.”

“Good to meet you Sparks. In thanks for ending the terror of Red Asphalt it is my great honor to grant you with this key to a home here in Black Town.” I took the keys from his hoof but I still had to know.

“Mr. Mayor I don’t meant to sound ungrateful but how do you know any of this?”

“DJ Pon3 of course. He reports on all events in the wasteland!” DJ Pon3? I had no clue that there was somepony reporting ponies’ actions. But that only raised another question; how did this DJ know? I supposed that those were questions for later as I realized what the Mayor had called me. A hero. It made me feel uneasy. To have expectations suddenly thrust on me. Especially since I hardly did anything in the battle. I wasn’t even the one who killed Red Asphalt. Yet I was the one who was receiving the credit. It was exactly what I wanted and I hated it.

I couldn’t bring myself to tell them that. I had a real opportunity to help ponies behind the guise of a hero. It still made me a little sick inside to take credit for somepony else’s actions. I resigned myself to play the role of the hero for now until I could meet those expectations or until death took me. And when that moment came the wasteland wouldn’t have lost anything of value. Then it hit me, the reason I was out here in the first place. “Mr. Mayor, do you know anypony who could help me get through a Stable door?”

Footnote: Level Up!
New Perk: Tough Hide (rank one) – The brutality of the Equestrian Wasteland has hardened you. You gain +3 to your Damage Threshold per rank of this perk.

Next Chapter: Chapter Five: The Way Forward Estimated time remaining: 29 Hours, 57 Minutes