Twilight muttered bitter insults under her breath, the alicorn quickly untangling her limbs and standing on her own two hooves. The first thing to hit her was just how cold this place was, the woman’s wings and arms wrapping about her body as tight as possible. Shifting awkwardly on the spot, Twilight looked around to find that she was alone in the strange place.

Behind her, the cell she had fallen out of was resealing itself, and above her hummed a strange net of some kind. Glowing an angry red, dozens of lines criss crossed the sky, sealing off Twilight’s only other exit and limiting how high she could fly. Reaching down, Twilight quickly constructed a snowball before throwing it straight up, where it was cut into several pieces by the laser grid.

“Well It looks like I wont be getting out that way,” Twilight murmured to herself.

Turning back to her surroundings, Twilight noted that the area was a large triangle, the walls of which seemed to be made of three structures like the one she had fallen out of. Strange creatures and towering demons peered out from their cells, most eying Twilight with a mixture of hunger or lust. Shuffling nervously towards the center of the area, Twilight pumped her wings and ascende onto a small hill at the middle of the arena.

From here she could see that a simple triangle of raised walkways surrounded her, though there didn't seem to be a way for non winged beings to reach them as they were seven or so feet off the ground. They were suspended by simple metal supports and Twilight quickly felt her gaze drawn to the edge of the arena, where a ring of spikes surrounded the area. Bits of gore, and dried blood clung to the brutal metal points, though there were at least no bodies present.

Shivering quite profusely, Twilight hugged her feathered appendages tight about her body, trying to stave off the biting wind which nipped at her poorly clothed form. Her simple tshirt, and pair of blue jeans did little against the cold, but they were at least better than nothing anyway. A sudden squeal of metal grinding against metal drew her attention to her right, where several cells had opened.

Revealing a dozen or so of the strangest humans Twilight had ever seen, most of whom sported large visible wounds or bore splatters of blood on their stained cloaks. Some seemed to have at one point been cultists, while others were so warped that their origins could not be discerned. A select few seemed to have been altered by some cruel doctor, as they bore clear signs of surgical alteration.

Together they tumbled out of their cell like they were little more than manikins, most not even bracing themselves as they fell onto the arena below. Two tumbled into the spikes, impaling themselves on the long metal protrusions, one dying instantly while the other lay there moaning. The others landed in a heap, which slowly began to untangle themselves before standing on shaky limbs.

“Your task is simple,” spoke the metallic voice of the helmeted man. “Kill these wretches.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “I will not kill them just because you tell me too.”

“Then you will be torn apart by them, and I will be forced to rebuild you sooner rather than later,” replied the man, whose voice emanated from the collar about Twilight’s neck.

The alicorn grit her teeth as she watched the humans stand back up and began to advance on her position. One of whom had broken their leg in the fall, the bone sticking straight out of his skin, though he didn't seemed to notice this as he trudged forward, arms extended. Each one appeared pale, and disfigured in some manner, their eyes glowing with a baleful red light emanating from within.

Twilight got the distinct impression that these poor unfortunate souls had long since lost whatever humanity they may have had. Though that didn't mean Twilight was willing to simply murder them quite yet, as she was an adept healer, and above all, an optimist. Raising her hand, Twilight began to run through a general scanning spell, only to stop when she remembered her collar.

“Am I allowed to use magic?” Twilight asked somewhat bitterly.

“You are not,” replied the voice. “You exhibited considerable strength earlier and I have been told that you are far more resilient then you appear. You had best use those attributes if you wish to survive.”

Twilight lowered her hand, and frowned as the moaning horde of humanoid creatures stumbled towards her. Some lacked arms, legs or other parts of themselves, while a few were covered in bony growths of some kind. Altogether they looked weak, as if they had been part of larger experiments and had been tossed aside when they were no longer needed.

Perhaps I will be doing them a kindness by laying them to rest. Twilight thought, only to brush that idea aside. No. These people need help, and healing, not further injury.

Opening her wings, Twilight flapped twice, lurching out of the way of a one eyed cultist who had nearly reached the top of the hill. Landing gracefully on the catwalk, Twilight watched as the horde shifted their attention towards several strange runes the alicorn hadn't noticed earlier. Watching them curiously, the first human to stumble onto the rune found themselves flung into the air, landing hard on the catwalk and stumbling right off the other side.

“So that's how they get up here,” Twilight murmured. “Hopefully they’ll tire themselves out soon. It doesn't look like they are in their right state of mind for conversation.”

Twilight watched as the horde landed on either side of her, waiting patiently until they neared her before stepping forward and flapping her wings again. Landing back onto the hill, Twilight noticed that the zombies turned towards her and simply walked off the ledge. The sound of bones breaking, and blood splattering made Twilight wince, the alicorn looking away when the man with the broken leg shattered his other leg.

“Making them slowly kill themselves by falling off the structure, how cruel,” remarked the voice. “I didn't take you for a sadist, princess.”

Twilight grit her teeth, trying her best to put the man’s words out of her mind. “I am no such thing and will heal these men the second I figure out how to get around this collar,” she muttered angrily.

Flying backwards to the other side of the walkway, Twilight wondered how she was going to get out of this when she heard the dull fwump noise that came whenever a rune was activated. Spinning around in place, Twilight was startled to see one of the formerly impaled victims had someone pulled himself free and was flying towards her. Arms outstretched and mouth open wide, the zombie slammed into Twilight, grappling her before knocking the both of them off the walkway.

Twilight hit the ground hard, immediately getting the wind knocked out of her while the human clawed at her face and neck. While struggling to breathe, the alicorn tried to push the human away, only to get her one of her fingers nearly bitten off by the strange man. A short punch to the head made him release his hold on her injured digit, and Twilight followed that up by pushing him as hard as she could.

The man flew a few feet before landing awkwardly and falling onto his back, blood continuing to pour out of his gaping wounds. Now covered in blood, and more then a few bruises, Twilight felt the urge to panic rising within her, and the woman tried to stand, only to feel something heavy settle against her wing. Looking over, Twilight saw a mostly metal foot standing atop her feathered appendage, the biomechanical man it belonged to lurching forwards.

His one arm ended with what had likely been a gun at one point, though now it was only a sparking mess of exposed wires and broken machinery. His other hand was made of metal, and when it clawed at Twilight’s face she felt several cuts open on her forehead. Shoving this one back, Twilight wrenched her wing out from under his foot, wincing when several feathers came out.

Looking around, Twilight realized that the strange humans had her almost completely surrounded, leaving her with few options. Flying was out, as they were too close for that to be a good idea, meaning the only thing she could do was fumble backwards through a gap. Narrowly escaping their grasping hands, Twilight was about to take another step before she felt the ground shift beneath her.

Glancing back over her shoulder, Twilight gulped as she saw just how close she had gotten to falling into the spikes. “Let's talk about this okay?” Twilight began, raising her hands. “Clearly you have suffered at the hands of these people. If we work together we might- ack don't hit me, I’m trying to help you!”

Twilight shoved away a man who had punched her in the gut, causing the human to stumble back into his fellows, exposed ribs cracked from the force of Twilight’s shove. The rest of the horde quickly enveloped the woman, fists striking her from all directions as the mass attempted to kill the alicorn. Though their attacks did little to the immortal, Twilight was slowly being pushed back, edging closer and closer to the spike pit.

Knowing full well what was about to happen to her if she didn't act, Twilight struggled internally with the rage she felt welling inside of her. For a moment Twilight’s pacifist side seemed like it was about to win, right before the ground beneath her rumbled ominously. Feeling the earth about to give way, the anger burned hotter than ever, charging her limbs with a terrible power.

Which was unleashed into the chest of a tall cybernetically enhanced human who had just slugged her across the chin. Twilight’s fist crackled with an orange energy a second before it slammed into the top right of the man’s head. Carrying enough force to snap his neck and leaving his head to hang loosely against his shoulder, Twilight’s fist opened, and she shoved the now limp man aside.

Surging through the gap in her enemies, she escaped just before the ground collapsed, carrying several of the zombie-like humans into the spikes. Most however, survived, having followed Twilight and avoided the collapse, though one received a hoof to the chest. Sending him flying against the wall where he slowly slid down the ice and snow covered exterior and into the pit.

Put them down quickly and efficiently. They might be trapped in their bodies after all. Twilight thought to herself, the alicorn only just barely holding the reins over her own body.

Balling her fists, Twilight tried to remember what little personal defence training she had received from her brother. Hopping to the left, Twilight let the strange humans bump into one another as they tried to reach her, leaving Twilight to fight one enemy at a time. The first of which had likely been a scientist at one time, as his torn outfit resembled the white smock of a researcher.

Twilight dipped to the left, avoiding a lumbering swing of the man’s arms and following it up with an uppercut to the man’s gut. Twilight could hear the wind rush out of the man’s mouth, and Twilight quickly brought her hands above her head, interlacing her fingers. Swinging her arms down hard, Twilight pounded the man in the back with enough force to snap his spine, and knock him to the ground.

A skeletal human with bony growths covering the majority of his face was quick to fill the gap, his clawed fingers scratching against Twilight’s arm. The alicorn was made of sterner stuff then that however, and his attack did nothing but mar Twilight’s already ruined shirt. The woman swiftly grabbed his arm and pulled him forward while at the same time kicking his legs out from under him.

The second he hit the ground Twilight brought her hoof down hard against the back of the man’s head, crushing it flat. The feeling of warm blood and what was probably brains startling Twilight out of her rage induced state. Stumbling aside, Twilight felt a brief surge of horror course through her before something heavy slammed into her shoulder.

In an instant the anger returned, and Twilight’s regret vanished, the alicorn spinning around to face her newest opponent. Who happened to be an emaciated human with a strange symbol carved into his head. Wearing only a pair of ruined orange pants, the man raised his arms above his head, and was about to slam his fists against Twilight’s chest when the woman caught him around the wrists.

With a growl of rage, Twilight pulled his arms out of their sockets before kneeing him in the gut, sending the human to the ground. She didn't have time to finish her opponent however, as two more of the shambling humans moved to replace him. Both appeared to be cultists at one point, though one had suffered horribly burns while the other seemed to have a second head sprouting half formed his shoulder.

Both moved with the same shambling sluggishness that the others did, and the slightly larger partially headed one was first to attack. Throwing his weight forward, he tried to tackle Twilight, but the alicorn was taller, and much heavier than even he. Meaning that she only skidded back a few inches before going onto the offence, reaching down and gripping his larger head in both hands.

A short squeeze was all it took to make his brains erupt from the top of his shattered skull like a jet of pinkish red marshmallow fluff. The body tumbled to the side, but before he even hit the ground Twilight had grabbed his former companion by the wrists. The human had tried to grab her but the alicorn was much too fast for him, and the zombie quickly felt his arms torn right off his body.

The human didn't even seem to notice this however, and merely lurched forward, trying to bite the woman. Bringing her fists down against the man’s shoulders, Twilight drove the stranger into the ground like a peg, his legs snapping after the second time she did this. So distracted was the alicorn that she didn't even notice another emaciated cyborg sneak up on her.

Jamming his sparking weapon arm against her side, Twilight saw stars as electricity poured through her body. Though compared to a pegasus’ lightning bolt this was nothing, and Twilight quickly spun around, backhanding the human across the head. Sending the man to land face first against the ground Twilight quickly leapt onto him and grabbed the top of his jaw, ignoring his attempts to bite her.

With a grunt, she tore the top half of the man’s head from his shoulders before slamming it against the walkway support hard enough to turn it to paste. Spinning around, the alicorn readied herself for her next enemy only to find that there was only one rather sad individual left. Leaping into the air, Twilight pumped her wings twice before snapping the feathered appendages against her sides.

A split second later and the alicorn slammed into the crawling human she had nearly pulled the arms off a few seconds earlier. Bones shattered, organs were pulped and blood exploded all over the woman’s legs, painting her from knee to hoof in crimson. With that done, the alicorn felt her rage begin to flicker and die, the quiet arena stifling her rage, allowing reason to reign once again.

“Oh stars above what have I done?” Twilight muttered in horror, her gaze drawn down to the men she had slaughtered. “And why do I feel so… angry?”

A flickering light drew Twilight’s attention to the center of the arena, where a hologram version of the strange helmeted man appeared, a smile already on his cruel face.

“You have a bit of the slayer’s rage within you, how curious,” he stated. “Your body also seems quite resilient to damage, on par with kevlar by the looks of it.”

“You have to send help, these men need medical attention, I-” Twilight began.

“Silence!” boomed the hologram. “Their lives mean nothing to me. As do the lives of your next opponents.”

“Next opponents?” Twilight muttered in horror.

“Yes. I have chosen to up the ante as it were and test how far your resilience goes,” the man smirked. “Prepare yourself.”

The hologram vanished, and for a moment Twilight stood there awkwardly, scanning her surroundings for any sign of movement. Then all at once a half dozen flashes of crimson light came from all around her and the alicorn found herself faced with far more dangerous foes.

Author's Notes:

This is a request fic, which receives updates whenever someone submits a request for me to do so on a request thread on my patreon.