Ahuizotl, my mortal enemy. I wish I could have said I was surprised. He had a way of showing up at the worst possible times. That backstabber Puzzle was holding a dagger to my throat, Ephemera had us at her mercy with that vile new weapon of hers, and Alya, Stass, and Capital were being tied up by Ephemera’s goons, all while Ahuizotl laughed at my misery.

“Oh dear, looks like you're in quite the predicament,” Ahuizotl cawed as he approached me. His stupid cats flanked him, sauntering forward at a casual pace and making Ephemera’s goons back away as the cats eyed them as potential future meals.

Despite everything, I grinned. I wasn’t about to let this bastard see I was afraid of him. “Well yeah, now I have to put up with how bad you smell on top of everything else.”

Lightning quick, Ahuizotl’s hand shot out and his index finger and thumb squeezed my cheeks so tightly that I worried he was going to break my jaw. “Don't you mock me. You're my prisoner, as are your precious compatriots. I suggest you be very careful with your words.”

“Oh come on, Ahuizotl,” I said through pinched cheeks. “We've done this dance before. You shove me into some elaborate death trap, then I get out and foil your plans. Why don't you just save a lot of time by letting me go and running away with your tail tucked between your legs?”

Ahuizotl’s eyes narrowed and the pressure on my cheeks increased, causing pain to shoot through me. Ephemera smirked and stepped forward to speak. “Want me to teach her a lesson?” She lifted her gauntlet, its sigils faintly glowing.

Ahuizotl’s teeth flashed in a grin. “If you would, Ephemera. Show our dear Daring that new trick I taught you earlier.”

“Gladly.” Ephemera raised her gauntlet and Puzzle immediately let me go. Seems he didn’t trust his employer so much that he was willing to take a chance she might zap him to get at me. For the briefest moment I thought I might get a jump on Ephemera, but before I could introduce her face to my hoof a green beam shot out of her gauntlet and hit me in the chest.

The next moment was indescribable agony. The beam didn’t hit my body, but my very soul as it was slowly torn out of its mortal coil. Every part of me seared with pain as Ephemera threatened to subsume my very essence into that damned weapon of hers. But instead of pulling all the way and finishing me off in the worst way possible, she just held my soul in place, half in and out of my body in a moment that seemed to last forever. When she released me, there was only blackness.

Next thing I knew I was lying on the workshop floor. My throat was raw from a scream I didn’t remember making. It felt like I’d just finished a full marathon, gotten on the wrong end of a boxing match, and then ended the whole thing with the worst hangover ever. Every part of me ached and I nearly lost the contents of my stomach right there.

Ephemera stroked my mane, a condescending smirk on her face as she stared down at me. “Does that hurt? It looks like it hurts.”

I shuddered at her touch. “Buck you.” I groaned and tried to force myself up, but found that my wings and legs had been bound. How long had I been out? Ahuizotl leered as he watched my discomfort while Puzzle stood to the side with a profoundly neutral expression on his face. Alya was crying into Capital’s chest, whose lips were pressed together as he tried to keep a stiff upper lip.

“Puzzle, why didn’t you help the Do-mare?!” Kukri groused. “Why didn’t you blast the evil Ephemera-mare when you had the chance?”

Puzzle shook his head. “Because this one’s plan was ruined the second Ahuizotl showed up. Yes, this one could have zapped the Ephemera-mare with its gauntlet, but that still would have left Ahuizotl and all his minions outnumbering us badly. Ahuizotl is a couple thousand pounds of supernatural muscle and he had the drop on us.”

“You still could have fought them!” Kukri insisted. “The Do-mare beat Ahuizotl all the time.”

Puzzle shrugged. “This one didn’t like our odds. One of the few advantages we had was that the Ephemera-mare and Ahuizotl didn’t know this one fully intended on betraying them. It was a trump card this one could only play once, and it needed it to count. That meant that this one needed to bide its time until the moment to strike came.” He bared his fangs in a glower. “Unfortunately, that meant this one had to stand aside and let things proceed while hoping that the right moment would come.”

Ahuizotl grinned as he ran a finger over Ephemera’s gauntlet, admiring its evil craftmanship. “A wonderful tool, isn't it? Made of bloodsteel, with so much power in one little gauntlet to be able to deliver death so easily.” He slowly stepped his way to one of the tables and examined a half-constructed amulet. “And it's but one of the weapons made in the Empire back in their day. The Dromaed used to make such wonderful things.” He craned his head to give Stass a dismissive sneer. The hristak had been liberated of his weapons and tied up like Alya and Capital, and he glared back at Ahuizotl. “A pity they're such a pale shadow of what they once were. The Quinametzin were a people to respect, to fear. Their empire stretched across this whole continent once, their pyramids visible from every horizon and their magic mighty enough to break nations. Now look at them: nothing more than a bunch of savages sulking in the jungle.”

Stass growled as he fought his bonds. “You will be stopped, monster. We have done so in the past, and we will again.”

Ahuizotl tilted his head back and laughed. “Oh, I’ll admit, up till now you’ve managed to keep me out of Zhilius, but it was only a matter of time until I claimed this city’s treasures for myself.” He scooped up a fistful of the bloodsteel bars and let them trickle out of his fingers. “And now that I have them, your silly little Greenseers and hristak are all going to be crushed for daring to keep me out of Zhilius for all these centuries. The only reason the Greenseers managed to topple the Quinametzin was because they had turned on each other and didn’t see the threat you posed until it was too late. That isn’t a mistake I’ll be making. I’m going to crush the Dromaed and return them to how they were, only with me as their emperor!”

I struggled against the ropes that held me, but to no success. Ahuizotl’s cats circled close to me, probably determining whether they wanted to rip me apart for dinner or play with me first. “What're you trying to do, talk me to death?”

Ephemera kicked me in the solar plexus and I curled up on myself as I gasped for a breath that wouldn’t come. “Not such a smart-mouth now, are you?”

“So anxious to die, Daring?” Ahuizotl flicked me on the forehead hard enough to send stars through my vision as I was sent rolling. “That's simple enough to arrange.”

I grunted against the pain, trying to clear my head. It probably wasn’t the smartest idea to keep provoking these monsters, but I wasn’t going to let them see my fear. But I needed time to think and find a way out of this situation. I knew Ahuizotl well enough to get him talking, especially when he probably shouldn’t. He was a spirit, and bound by his nature. A demon would try and get you to sell your soul with a bad deal, a muse would seek to promote the arts—Ahuizotl couldn’t help but be an oversized villain.

“Well ... before you kill me,” I said, forcing myself into a sitting position, “why not tell me what this is all about?”

Ahuizotl snorted. “Not smart enough to figure it out?” He pointed to the pyramid artifice behind me. “Isn't it obvious what you could do with this, this Blood Forge? The gauntlet Ephemera has is but a shadow of what the Quinametzin could do at the height of their power. With what I will find here I will have power—enough to create an empire that will rule from sea to sea. First I will conquer the Dromaed, then I will break the Zebrican Empire and add it to my rule.” He leaned his head in so that I could smell his putrid breath. “Then one day I’ll crush even Equestria under my fist and defeat that pretty pony princess of yours. Oooh, how I will enjoy getting payback on her for all the times she’s foiled me over the centuries.”

“I'm more interested in some of the lore we can dig up.” Ephemera’s emerald eyes flashed. “Like how to pull off some of their blood magic. Imagine what I could do with the power to kill anyone I wanted with just a drop of blood.”

“Sounds like something you'd like,” I said. This was not the type of power I wanted in either of their hands. It wasn’t hard to imagine the type of damage those two could do if they had all of Zhilius’ secrets to themselves.

Still, there might be a way to turn this around.

I smirked Ephemera’s way. “So do you have any of Ahuizotl's blood yet? Never knew you as the type who'd be happy as a lapdog.” Maybe if I could turn them on one another I could get out of this. Ephemera would betray her own grandmother for a bit, and Ahuizotl was pretty much evil incarnate. It wasn’t a matter of if they’d turn on one another, just when. Especially with such a big prize to fight over.

A deep growl rolled from Ahuizotl’s throat. “She'll more than benefit from working for me. Instead of running around raiding tombs for trinkets, she’ll be at my side as a pony of near unimaginable power and wealth.”

Ephemera’s smile was as insincere as her conscience. “Exactly. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement.” The tiger of Ahuizotl’s feline entourage growled at Ephemera.

“Yeah? And how long before you decide it's more fun to be in charge?” I asked. “You’ll stab him in the back; it’s what you do to everyone eventually. And it’s usually sooner rather than later.”

Ahuizotl had finally had enough of my provocations and scooped me up with a big meaty fist. Corded muscle squeezed my barrel, and I gasped as I thought he was going to pop my head off. I wondered if I’d finally pushed him too hard, but then he grinned and whispered into my ear so that only I could hear him. “I know. She's so wonderfully predictable like that. She’s an equine scorpion: she can’t help but sting anyone around her, but for now she’s useful to me. And when the time comes, I have every intention of out-betraying her, and I have the advantage of knowing the stinger is coming. Soon enough I’ll have other tools at my disposal, and Ephemera will be utterly disposable.” His eyes trailed to Puzzle. “Maybe I'll use him to do the deed. He looks like he knows where to stick a dagger, and he certainly fooled you.”

I struggled against Ahuizotl’s crushing grip, but it was futile. “And maybe it'll be you he sticks it into. Unlike Ephemera, he can play the long game. He’s not going to betray you until he knows it’s the right moment. Just like he did to me.”

A deep chuckle rolled out of Ahuizotl. “It does help keep life interesting, doesn't it? But by the time I have to worry about any of that you’ll be long, long gone.”

“We’ll see.” I raised my voice to shout out. “Hey Ephemera, never thought you'd be so weak you'd have to become someone else's lackey!”

“I say we break her jaw to shut her up.” Ephemera ran a hoof through her mane. “I’m getting tired of her going on and on. In fact, let’s get rid of her entirely. I've been trying to come up with something special for her. I mean, we could just let Puzzle eat her or let the guards have a little fun, but that's normal torture. You deserve something a bit more special than that, don't you DD?”

“I’m way ahead of you.” Ahuizotl smirked. “I’ve come up with something that’s going to make her positively scream.”

I groaned, knowing all too well where this was going. “Yay, another deathtrap.”

Ahuizotl’s trap of choice this time was an old coliseum. Stone stands that could have seated thousands circled a fighting pit. The sight of a few dozen of Ephemera’s minions taking seats seemed almost comical for how little space they actually filled up in the place. As was the case with much of Zhilius, plantlife had overgrown much of the coliseum, grasses and lichen covering much of the interior, and vines having overgrown the statues that dotted the structure. The fighting pit itself was filled with black sand, though several bushes and small trees dotted its interior. At its center sat a black obelisk with more of the sharp-lined sigils that covered Ephemera’s gauntlet. It was about the only thing the jungle hadn’t yet claimed as its own within the coliseum.

My captors dragged me and the others to a box that overlooked the fighting pit. If I had to guess, it was the personal box of someone important in Zhilius, possibly the Quinametzin Emperor himself way back when. Ahuizotl approached what appeared to be some sort of antiquated control panel. He ran his hand over it to wipe off the centuries’ worth of grime and revealed sigils carved into its surface. “Ah yes, good, it's all still here.” He pressed a couple of runes as his cats took positions about the box to lounge around while Puzzle took a spot in a corner, watching as his new master did his work.

Ahuizotl’s fingers moved back and forth deliberately over the controls. “Back when I was summoned by the Quinametzin to ... assist them, I learned a great deal about them. I got to see many of their toys in action, among them this very arena. And I really enjoyed the gladiatorial fights here. Possibly some of the best bloodsports I’ve ever seen as gladiators from across the Empire and beyond were made to fight to the death to the roar of the crowd.”

I rolled my eyes. I’d seen Ahuizotl play up whatever deathtrap he was about to throw me in enough times to have gotten tired of that old hat. “Gee, can't imagine why all their neighbors hated them. It’s like they were bloodthirsty monsters or something.”

Ephemera scoffed. “The weak always like to think they're better than the ones who're stronger than them.”

“More like the weak are jealous of the strong,” Ahuizotl said.

“I like to think of it as a mix of jealousy and trying to make their own weakness into some sort of virtue.” Ephemera sneered and pushed me towards an open hole in the railing leading down to the fighting pit. “But that’s enough philosophy. Time to die.”

I balanced precariously on the edge as I said quickly, “Well, what sort of horror is this gonna be? Snakes? Alligators? Snake-alligator hybrids that spit acid?”

“Something even better.” Ahuizotl continued to play with the controls, and I felt a buildup of magic in the air, something that made the air become frigid despite the humid jungle air. “You see, this coliseum is quite special. The Quinamentez didn’t like to see their favorite fighters merely die, so they found a way around that.”

He pressed a final sigil, and the obelisk started humming with magic. All around the circumference of the fighting pit the block stones started showing lines of pale green magic glow through them. Warding stones, I realized, though how exactly they worked was way beyond my relatively rudimentary knowledge of magic. Next the same lines of magic started glowing within the crevices of the obelisk itself. The black sand shifted and moved, taking to the air and swirling up to form shapes. Skeletal figures coalesced together, covered in armor, wielding a variety of weapons, and representing a range of species ranging from Dromaed, equines, gryphons, to others from more distant lands. I realized the sand was in fact grains of bloodsteel, and from within each metal skeleton’s depths glowed a pale green fire.

Little surprise, I did not like where this was going.

I frowned as I considered what I was hearing. “Based on what you’re telling me, I think this bloodsteel has some kind of property that lets it harness soul and life energy. That would align with the fact it was made of blood, however the Quinamentiz managed to do that. Blood is a natural conduit for life and as a result it can pack a nasty punch, which is why warlocks like to use blood magic.”

“That is what this one theorized as well,” Puzzle said. “Granted, this one doesn’t have a firm grasp on a lot of the technical aspects for how all of that is done.”

“It’s not exactly the type of knowledge you want getting around.” The Magi Order took a rather dim view on blood magic, or at least the type that required the sacrifice of others. There were a number of legal spells and rituals magi could use that required some blood to use, but that was when it was the user's own blood. Not to mention you needed to have some knowledge about the topic to use a proper death curse since that required you to use up your life essence. The line was drawn when it was other people’s blood being used, but there were always black magic users who were perfectly content to make others sacrifice so they could prosper. There was a whole chapter in the Black Codex that just covered blood magic and its potential uses, emphasizing just how important this type of magic was to those who wanted to use forbidden forms of magic.

Ahuizotl smiled with obvious eager anticipation as the undead started moving. “Excellent, it all still works.”

Ephemera grinned as she watched the skeletons slowly come to life, or whatever you called what it was those things had. “Ooooh, spirits. Nasty.” She pulled out one of her daggers and waved it in front of my face. “I'm almost tempted to let you borrow one of my corpsebane daggers, just to keep it interesting.”

I scoffed. “I don't need any favors from you.”

Ephemera tsked as she shook her head. “Sweetie, you're not in a position to turn down any help. Even if it's just me wanting you to last long enough to give me a good show.”

Ahuizotl laughed. “Indeed. Cling to life for as long as you can, for you won’t enjoy what comes after.” He pointed a finger at the obelisk. “You see that? When you perish that obelisk will collect your soul so you can fight for our amusement again, and again, and again. Just like all your playmates down there. Isn’t it wonderful?”

Wonderful was about the opposite of what I was thinking. As far as fates go, living on in perpetual undeath to be Ahuizotl and Ephemera’s plaything had to be up there as the worst. Not that I saw a way out of this predicament.

Ephemera smirked as her dagger waggled in front of my face. “Sure you don't want to beg for this knife?”

“Keep dreaming,” I told her. “I'd rather die than give you the satisfaction.”

“Well, that part's happening regardless,” she mocked. “And I will find it very satisfying. Still, I suppose you deserve something before your inevitable doom.”

Before I could react her lips met mine in a mocking final kiss.

“Eeew!” Kukri stuck out her tongue. “This one still finds the idea of kissing the Ephemera-mare gross.”

Daring grinned and ruffled her headcreast. “You and me both, kiddo.”

Before I could pull away from that nauseating kiss, she gave me a swift push that sent me falling. Her dagger caught on the ropes binding my arms, and gravity caused the blade to slice through my binds as I plummeted. I hit the ground and the air blasted out of my lungs.

“Consider that a good luck kiss, DD!” Ephemera mockingly waved at me as I tried to catch my breath and get up again. “I just regret that you can only die once.”

Ahuizotl leaned out the box to grin down at me. “I can always turn her into your servant later.” He pointed to the obelisk. “We’ll have her soul soon enough, and it will be simple enough to shove her soul into a body to be your slave forever and ever.”

Ephemera rubbed her chin. “That's true. But soulless minions aren't so fun to torture.”

Ahuizotl’s head tilted to the side. “No, the construct would have a soul, that’s rather the point: to shove her soul into some golem that’s forced to follow your commands.”

Ephemera scoffed and waved him off. “Whatever, it’s not the same.” Once again she tauntingly flashed her dagger for me. “Tell you what, I'll hover this dagger down to you if you beg for it.”

I snorted and turned my back to her to face the undead, several of whom had turned to face me. I wasn’t about to beg Ephemera for help, and instead searched around for some sort of option to defend myself. I was completely unarmed, whereas all my opponents were decked out in arms and armor. It was hard not to think of myself as some sort of sacrifice right at that moment, but I steeled myself and concentrated on surviving—however bad the odds looked.

This one stood off in the corner of the box, watching and waiting. This whole situation had truly and wholly spiraled out of control. All this one could do was stand by and watch as the Do-mare and the others were abused by their captors, hoping all the while an opportunity to strike would come.

This one had to keep itself from grimacing when the Do-mare had refused the offer of a dagger. If she had taken up the Ephemera-mare’s offer, she might have been able to cut the binds on her wings and escape. That would have made the overall situation much better. The others would still be held captive, but a whole range of options would have opened up to us. Pride was such an inconvenient emotion.

Ahuizotl narrowed his eyes at Ephemera and he hissed. “Stop trying to give her a dagger! She'll just use it to cut the binds to her wings and then fly out of here.”

The Ephemera-mare’s head snapped in Ahuizotl’s direction, and her face contorted into a vicious, homical visage that she quickly clamped down on. As this one had come to learn, the Ephemera-mare hated it when she was told she couldn’t do something, especially when it was called out for being foolish. She was the type to step off a cliff just to spite someone telling her it was a bad idea.

Daring blew a strand of her mane out of her face. “I’d be so lucky if she had.”

As if to prove this one’s point, the Ephemera-mare snatched a club from one of her goons and tossed it down into the pit next to the Do-mare. “You were such a good kisser I figured I should give you fighting chance, DD! Besides, it's more fun this way!”

Ahuizotl growled from deep within his throat. “You didn’t need to give her a weapon, she’ll do just fine on her own.”

The Ephemera-mare puffed her mane with a hoof, not deigning to look at Ahuizotl. “She'll fight harder if she thinks there's a chance. There's no point in killing her if we can't enjoy it.”

The Do-mare had the right idea to try and create a break within the tenuous alliance between the Ephemera-mare and Ahuizotl. It was only a matter of time until they turned on one another. The problem was that the time hadn’t quite come for them to become enemies. The Ephemera-mare still had much to gain from their alliance: magical artifacts, arcane lore, and a host of other resources and powers Ahuizotl could shower upon her over time. Ahuizotl in turn was constrained by a fact no would-be ruler could get around: no ruler could rule alone. Every king needs people to collect their taxes, enforce their laws, and fight their wars. So they needed each other—for now. Unfortunately we didn’t have the time to wait for those natural fissures to rip open.

“Foolish,” Ahuizotl declared and turned his back to the Ephemera-mare. “I'm going back to the Blood Forge.” He smiled widely at the Alya-mare, the Idea-stallion, and Stass, their gags keeping them from speaking. “I want to try out my new toy, and I have plenty of ... building materials to work with.”

The Ephemera-mare quirked an eyebrow. “What's the point of even putting our nemesis into a deathtrap if you don't get to watch her die?”

Ahuizotl eyes narrowed. “Are you questioning me, Ephemera?”

The Ephemera-mare shrugged. “Nah, just thinking out loud.”

This one had trouble believing it was saying this, but it actually agreed with the Ephemera-mare. Just up and leaving before the Do-mare was dead seemed like a terrible idea. For them, that was. This one was quite pleased by their terrible decision making, even if it grated against this one’s sense of practicality.

“That’s Ahuizotl for you,” Daring said. “He can’t help but shove me into some sort of deathtrap and then leave me alone to escape. It’s part of his nature.” She frowned slightly. “If he were a pony I’d accuse him of having a very weird fetish.”

A sassy grin found its way to Kukri’s face. “Well you know how some ponies are into manacles, whips, and—“

“And you are forbidden from finishing that sentence,” I interrupted. “Unless you want to clean the lab from top to bottom.”

Judging from her silence, Kukri did not in fact want to clean the lab from top to bottom.

Ahuizotl picked up on her sarcastic tone and his teeth showed in a snarl. “Daring is dead by my design, that is good enough for me.”

The Ephemera-mare shrugged and sat down on the central stone chair overlooking the pit. “Suit yourself. I want to watch her die.”

“And so she shall.” Ahuizotl pressed a pair of glyphs on the controls and an arc of green magic ran along the obelisk.

Within the pit there was a whir of activity as traps started forming out of the black sand. Pinwheels started spinning their blades, pillars blasted flames, and pit traps all moved about the stage seemingly at random and irrespective of who or what they damaged. Green lights flashed briefly under one of the undead warriors before a pit trap opened up. The undead gladiator fell for but a moment before spikes shot up to impale it. On another section of the battlefield another gladiator was melted by the pale green flame of one of the flamethrowers. It was havoc on the floor, and the gathered audience cheered and whooped at the devastation below.

Ahuizotl hit a final sigil and the skeletal gladiators all went into motion, bearing their weapons and turning on one another with great, unrestrained violence—and against the Do-mare. Ahuizotl tilted his head back for one final laugh. “Best of luck, Daring Do!” He turned and depared while the Ephemera-mare smiled with eager anticipation, leaning forward as she watched.

All this one could do was wait and watch, waiting for the moment to strike.

I didn’t have time for Ahuizotl or Ephemera’s taunts as the undead gladiators went into motion. Not having any other weapons available, I snatched up the club Ephemera had thrown my way. It seemed a poor offering next to what I was up against. All the gladiators were heavily armed and armored while all the protection I had was my cloth vest and a cheap stick of wood.

One of the gladiators, a Dromaed skeleton with green flames burning from within its eye sockets, approached me as it brought its greataxe to bear. It swung its axe in a couple lazy arcs before the weapon suddenly flashed for my head. I only narrowly dodged to the side, but the undead thing used the momentum of his axe to keep his blade moving in fast circles, striking again and again forcing me to move back and to the side to keep my head from getting cleaved in two. I had briefly hoped that these skeletons would be dumb and slow, but these things had kept all their agility, strength, and skill in undeath.

I gave ground until for a split-second the undead changed its momentum and went for a horizontal slash to take off my head. I rolled forward and under the axeblade, using my momentum to roll to my feet, pirouette in place and then brought my club swinging into the back of the undead’s knee. The blow was enough to knock it down to one knee, and before it could recover I slammed my club down onto its wrists. The hit caused it to drop its axe, and I saw a valuable opportunity present itself. If I could snatch up the axe and use its blade to cut my binds I’d be flying out of here in no time.

I reached out for the axe, but with quicksilver speed the undead spun and whipped its tail. It swept my legs out from under me and sent me face first into the sand. Adding to my misery, the blinking lights of one of the pit traps moved under me and my opponent. Desperately, I pushed against the ground and rolled as fast as I could to get beyond the blinking lights. Not a moment later the trap doors opened and my opponent fell in—along with the axe I’d been trying to grab. Spikes shot up and skewered the skeleton, the green fire within its ribs extinguishing as the whole thing started falling apart in streams of black sand.

“Awww! Gimme some blood!” Ephemera called out from the emperor’s box.

I ignored her, concentrating on the simple act of survival. I was still in this thing, and if I could just get one of those bladed weapons I could get out of here. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it, another undead warrior presented itself, its late opponent little more than a half-formed pile of sand in its wake. It wielded a pair of the Dromaed-style bladed clubs and it wasted no time putting them to work in a whirling dance of death.

I tried to get a read on my opponent, but he was fast, his clubs striking in an alternating blur, and soon it was all I could do to dodge and use my club to deflect what I could. Each time the serrated edge of its club hit my own, splinters of wood were shaved off, and I misjudged the angle one of his attacks was coming in and there was a flash of pain as an obsidian blade cut across my cheek.

Ephemera whistled. “That's the spirit! Bit of blood, bit of danger, just what I want! Gimme a death worth remembering, DD!”

Seeing I was about to get myself killed if I just stayed on the defensive, I struck out my club with a downward strike. The undead easily swept it to the side, but its momentum had been interrupted. I threw in a couple more feints and the undead struggled to keep up as it was wrongfooted. It seemed that while this thing was amazing on the offense, its defense could use a little work. Its clubs and arms got tied up with one another, and I seized the opening. I rammed my shoulder into it to throw it off balance and rammed my club through its ribcage. Before the undead could recover I levered the club to break the thing’s back and sent it falling to the floor.

I was about to try and pick up one of the bladed clubs, both as a better weapon and to finally cut these damned bonds that were keeping me in this deathmatch. But before I could do so, one of the flamethrower pillars turned my direction and flames built up in one of its muzzles. I threw myself to the side in a roll, narrowly avoiding the gout of flame that consumed my opponent and his weapons.

Okay, I was really starting to wonder if this place was actively trying to kill me. I didn’t mean in all the obvious ways—it felt like this arena was being intentionally malicious, trying to keep me here to make sure I died. It wouldn’t have surprised me in the least if the Quinamentiz had somehow bound some poor sod’s soul to this fighting pit, and programmed him to make things hard on everyone forced to fight here.

Having no other choice, I turned to face my next opponent, my breath already starting to become labored from the effort of fighting such a gauntlet of battles. If something didn’t change soon, I was going to be in real trouble.

Time was running out. It was only a matter of minutes before the Do-mare was killed. Briefly this one had thought she might succeed in grabbing one of her opponents’ weapons, but fate seemed to be conspiring against her. Basic facts flew through this one’s mind: the Do-mare was trapped in the arena, and there was a small army’s worth of thugs in the audience. Even as this one watched, the fighting pit was creating more gladiators to fight one another and the Do-mare. This one was stuck in the emperor’s box with the Ephemera-mare and her two bodyguards. Ahuizotl was on his way to sacrifice the others to the Blood Forge. On average, a warrior could fight for five minutes before becoming winded from the sheer exertion from the high activity that came with fighting for your life. The Do-mare had that long before she became exhausted and overwhelmed by her opponents or the traps.

The seconds were ticking.

But what could this one do? Another cold hard fact was that this one was fading; it was well and truly starving by now and its growing weakness made the prospect of trying to fight the Ephemera-mare and her guards unappealing. Half the reason this one was leaning up against the box’s wall was to preserve what remained of its strength, and it was all it could do to keep its legs from shaking. This one didn’t even have enough magic to transform. It’d been a mistake not to tell everyone what this one was earlier. This one should have done so back in the jungle. It would have been a risk, but then we might not be in this current predicament. Now there wasn’t even time for this one to try and feed on one of the Ephemera-mare’s lackies.

This one had to figure out what to do. This one considered its paltry options, coming up with scenarios before dismissing them as unworkable. Attacking the Ephemera-mare would likely just get this one killed and do little to help the Do-mare. Diving down into the fighting pit would probably be an equally swift and brutal death. That left a particularly unpleasant option: let the Do-mare die. This one could let events proceed as they would and play the long game, working to undermine Ahuizotl and the Ephemera-mare from the inside. It was only a matter of time until the two of them turned on one another, and this one could encourage that. There were just two rather major problems with that. First was that this one would be writing off the Do-mare and the others. Second was that this one might end up working under Ahuizotl and the Ephemera-mare for an unpalatably long period of time. This one had worked for the Ephemera-mare long enough to know it did not want to go back to doing that again. In that specific case, practicality and logic be damned, this one wasn’t going to live like that, it still had a soul.

That left one final option, an extremely risky one, but unfortunately the best one available.

It was as the Do-mare was approached by an undead gladiator wielding a flail and shield that it turned a smile the Ephemera-mare’s way. “Enjoying the show?”

“Immensely. You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this.” Her gaze was fixed on the combat below. The undead monster swung his ball and chain until it was all but a blur. It struck out at the Do-mare and she was forced to give ground or risk having some part of her body caved in.

“Years, this one imagines,” this one said.

“Oh yes.” The Ephemera-mare’s lips spread in a smile. “It's been a fun little dance. I'm almost sad to see it end, but nothing lasts forever.”

“Nothing does.” That one let that idea hang in the air before saying, “We could make this a bit more entertaining before she dies.” This one pointed at the controls. “This one watched Ahuizotl as he turned everything on, and it thinks it could make things more ... interesting before the inevitable happens.”

The Ephemera-mare gave this one an indulgent wave. “By all means, make it good. Just don't kill her too quick.”

“Hardly, no sense ending this too quickly.” This one turned to the controls and desperately prayed that it knew what it was doing. It had indeed carefully watched Ahuizotl at work, and if there is one thing changelings are good at, it is copying others. This one very carefully mimicked pressing a very specific set of control gems and sigils.

The warding stones that surrounded the fighting pit spluttered and then died, the light in them going out with a pained wheeze. The only barrier keeping the undead from the audience had just been turned off.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the audience, the Ephemera-mare included. “What'd you do?”

“Oops.” This one dropped a potion onto the floor and smoke exploded into the box. Not wasting a moment, this one lept over the rail and out of the box. This one let itself fall for several feet before taking wing. Above this one a great burst of green fire shot out of the box.

“Puzzle, you backstabber!” Ephemera shrieked as this one flew away to aid the Do-mare.

The spiked ball of the flail came screaming for my head. I jerked my head back just in time to keep it from being knocked off my shoulders. I jabbed with my club to try and force my opponent back, but the undead gladiator easily blocked with his shield and brought his flail up and over for another attack. I brought up my club to block, only for the flail to smash the weapon in half, and spray my face with splinters. I threw myself back to keep the flail from hitting me and landed on my back.

I silently cursed Ephemera for going cheap on the weapons for her thugs, just like everything else.

Not wanting to lie there where the undead thing could pummel me, I tried rolling to my hooves, only for one of the pinwheels, its blades spinning fast, to block my exit and trapping me between it and my opponent. The gladiator spun his flail, ready to put an end to me once and for all—but then it suddenly stopped.

All around the arena the wardstones flickered and then died, the power keeping the undead inside the fighting pit now gone. As one, the undead gladiators turned their heads to the gathered audience, who went deathly silent as they fell under the baleful green stares of the monsters they had just moments before cheered on. Then they started moving to the walls. Many centuries of neglect had caused much of the stone to crumble, and there were plenty of purchases the undead could use to climb with.

My eyes widened in hope. A lack of maintenance over the millenia must have caused the wardstones to break down. I thought my opportunity to get out of this situation had come, but then my undead opponent turned back to me and his flail was sent spinning. The flail came down, and I rolled to the side to keep from getting pulped. I got back to my hooves, but the undead moved to keep me pinned between it and the pinwheel. Darn it, could I just get one break already?

Puzzle Piece kicked the undead in the back of the head and sent it stumbling forward, past me, and right into the pinwheel. The undead was sliced clean in half and its top half bounced several times off the rapidly spinning blades before falling limply to the ground. Puzzle landed in front of me and pulled out his dagger. “Let this—”

I slugged him right in the face and sent him staggering back. He dropped his dagger as he tried to regain his balance and I snatched it up. I knew what was happening here. Puzzle had seen that the wardstones had broken down and that I was about to break out of this mess. Now he’d come to make sure that wasn’t going to happen. Unlike Ahuizotl and the Ephemera-mare, the big horsebug was a cold-hearted mercenary who’d kill me quick and be done with it. This wasn’t pleasure to him, just business.

Well this business was just about to go bust.

Puzzle held up a hoof. “Wait! Just—”

I slammed into him with my shoulder and sent him flying to the ground. I was on him in a moment, straddling him with his own dagger at the ready. The backstabbing bug wasn’t going to tie this loose end up for his employers. I brought the dagger down, but he got a leg up to keep me from driving the weapon home. The two of us struggled, but it was clear from the start who was going to win this one. I had gravity on my side and it was both my arms against his one, and so the dagger slowly inched its way towards Puzzle’s neck, right between the plates of his chitin.

He grunted as he fought a losing battle. “Stop! This one’s trying to help you!”

“You backstabbing bastard!” I pressed on with renewed strength, my blood up as I finally got my shot to strike back. “I trusted you!”

“This one was trying to save you!” Puzzle screamed. “Ephemera was about to kill you! The only way this one could save you was by taking you prisoner!”

“So you let her play her sick games with me?!” I continued pressing, I wasn’t going to fall for his tricks. I knew he was a con and couldn’t be trusted. Everything he said was just to try and save his own skin. “Thanks but no thanks!”

“This one didn't have a choice!” the backstabber pleaded, still trying to play his games right up to the last moments of his life. “It was either play along with her or let her blast you with that weapon of hers! She was going to rip your soul right out of your body!”

A creeping moment of doubt worked its way into me. “I could've taken her.”

Puzzle’s face contorted with effort as he continued to speak. “With a weapon like the Ephemera-mare had? When you had to close the distance, and her bodyguards could have blocked you?”

I hesitated and slacked off the pressure on the dagger. Okay, so the odds hadn’t been in my favor back in that bloody workshop, but Puzzle still had a lot of explaining to do. “So why betray me?”

“This one didn't!” The mercenary took a couple deep breaths so that he could speak. “The only way it could see to save you was to pretend to betray you. Everything this one told the Ephemera-mare was a big lie! There was no way this one could have planned for everything to have gone the way it said it had. What this one was really trying to do was buy time to turn things around on the Ephemera-mare. All this one needed to do was get close enough to her to zap her with this one’s shock gauntlet. With her dead, her minions would have broken.”

I saw an obvious flaw in that lie. “Then why didn’t you do it! You had the shot! Why didn’t you take it!”

Puzzle frowned. “Unfortunately, Ahuizotl showing up threw this one’s plan out the window. This one didn’t know how to take both him and the Ephemera-mare down at the same time, so it just kept up the deception.”

“How convenient for you,” I snarled and held the dagger in place. “Even if all that’s true, I bet you backstabbed me just to save your own hide! You saw that things had turned against us after it was revealed what you really were, so you switched sides when it was convenient! Now you’re just trying to clean up after Ephemera’s screwups!”

The dagger slid down until it was almost puncturing Puzzle’s hide, and he grunted with effort. “If this one wanted you dead it would have killed you in the workshop! One slash of the dagger and it would have been done! Leaving everything to the Ephemera-mare’s stupid whims would have been idiotic. That would just be asking for her to drop the ball.”

“You might just have kept me alive to make your employer happy,” I countered. “Earned some brownie points with her by letting her do whatever she wanted with me.”

“Then what about this right here?” Puzzle nodded to the stands where the undead had swamped the thugs. “What possible reason would this one have had to come down to this fighting pit and risk its own life to try and take you down? Especially after this one turned off the warding stones in the first place?”

My ear flicked. Could he actually be telling the truth? Every instinct in me told me he must be lying, but his words were nagging me. “You might be keeping one of Ephemera’s stupid whims from screwing everything up. The wardstones probably broke on their own accord, and now you’re here to try and keep me from escaping.”

Puzzle stared me right in the eyes. “If this one wanted you dead, then why didn’t this one shock you to death the second you pinned it down?” I blinked and looked down. Puzzle had his shock gauntlet pushed right into my stomach, and he grinned when I finally noticed. “It would be a rather poor performance on this one's part if it killed you trying to save you, don't you think?”

Feathers, he was making way too much sense now. I should have noticed that one of his hooves hadn’t been occupied with keeping him from getting ran through by his own dagger. He’d had me dead to rights this whole time and I hadn’t even noticed. Puzzle was a steely bastard if he had the nerves to not zap me while I was actively trying to kill him. Maybe he was lying, but I had too many doubts now to do him in.

“Fine.” I withdrew the dagger and got off of him. Using the dagger, I cut the ropes holding my wings in place.

“Thanks for not killing your rescuer.” Puzzle stood up and his gaze swept over the area. Thankfully, none of the undead had come for us during our scuffle. As for the thugs, the quick and smart ones had seen how things had gone to Tartarus and had fled for the nearest exits. Those that weren’t so quick and smart became object lessons in evolutionary biology. A burst of green fire shot out of the emperor’s box—Ephemera, no doubt. One of the undead was blasted out of the box, its body lifeless after it hit the ground, but a dozen more of the things were climbing up after it. “We should probably get going.”

“Ready to take on Ephemera?” After a moment’s trepidation, I gave Puzzle his dagger back and turned my back to him. It was dumb, all things considered, but I needed to know. I could feel it coming, the moment Puzzle would take that brief moment of weakness to stab me in the back, regardless of the fact I’d just spared him. I’d been there a dozen times before. Any second he’d say something like, ‘Gotcha!’ or ‘You’re far too trusting, Do-mare.’ Then he’d strike with the dagger. But I was ready. He now stood between me and the pinwheel, its blades still whirling. One good buck and he’d get what he deserved.

I waited for the inevitable.

Puzzle sheathed his dagger. “Actually, this one thinks it’d be better to go after Ahuizotl. He’s heading back to the workshop, and he said he was planning on sacrificing everyone to that Blood Forge we found. Time’s ticking to save them, and while this one is loath to leave an enemy behind its back, those undead should hold the Ephemera-mare down for a while, and with any luck deal with her for us.”

I blinked and turned my head to stare at him. This was not how things normally went. Was Puzzle really on my side? Truly?

Puzzle noticed my hesitation. “Is there a problem with that plan? This one figured saving our companions would be the highest priority.”

“No! I mean, that sounds good to me!” I found a grin forming on my lips. “Let’s get going.”

Author's Notes:

Thanks to my editors Chengar Qordath and Comma-Kazie for all their help, and to my pre-readers Brony Writer, wolfstorm56, Trinary, 621Chopsuey, Rodinga, PoisonClaw, and Swiftest for their hard work editing.