//------------------------------// // Fighting Pits // Story: Rarity Gets Enslaved // by MagicS //------------------------------// I was in part of the castle I had neither seen nor heard about before now. Led by the troll that had initially taken me to the quarry we had been walking together for the last half hour, away from the quarry, back into the castle, and through a labyrinth of corridors and down flights of stairs until we now were walking through a cold stone hallway only barely lit up by weak torches overhead. I was worried, scared, and apprehensive, but curious at the same time. I knew well from my experience with the trolls who captured me that any one of them could easily overpower me and that they weren’t afraid to get physical either, but this one decided to show me something instead that would apparently change my mind about refusing to do their slave labor anymore. My mind was imagining all sorts of scary situations, and I couldn’t help but think that deep down in the castle was a likely place to hold the dungeons or whatever other nefarious things these trolls could come up with. He must think that whatever is down here would convince me that it’s better to just work than try to rebel. We’ll see. “Um, excuse me, but is it going to be much longer?” I was still quite tired and my hooves were aching with each step. “Not much further now.” He said without turning to look at me. “We’re almost at the stadiums.” “Stadiums?” I questioned but he didn’t respond. As always the trolls were exceptionally good at ignoring whatever they wanted. This corridor we were going down was cramped by troll standards, two of them could never stand side by side in it, and I can’t imagine that this was the sole path to anything super important. Looking around I noticed quite a few cobwebs in the corners. Ew. I wasn’t absolutely certain but as my troll guide led me on I believe the corridor was slightly sloping downwards. It seemed odd to me if that was the case, we had already gone down plenty of normal stairs so why not just add some more? Whatever the reason I hoped we got to these “stadiums” soon, if only so I could stop walking and rest my tired hooves. Dim light after dim light kept passing me by overhead, casting shadows through the corridor and adding to the already eerie nature of this area of the castle. I have to think we were most assuredly underground at this point, despite the castle being built on such uneven ground and over and around mountain peaks we had already started at almost ground level and had gone down enough stairs. If we were underground now though then the castle was even larger than I thought, it could have a whole set of underground tunnels and rooms spread throughout it, possibly even doubling its size. That was a worrying thought as well honestly, how many trolls and slaves lived and worked here? The slave quarters I now resided in couldn’t possibly be the only ones now could they? Before I knew it the corridor had opened up, getting wider and wider until it deposited us into a large oval room. The lighting was much better here, a ring of torches lined the ceiling giving us a steady and even light, my troll friend didn’t slow down in the slightest so I had to keep pace with him but I still took the time to look around the room while I walked. It seemed there were eight other passages out of the room, all placed at even intervals, some of them immediately became stairways going down or up while others were corridors just like the one the two of us had come out of. And directly in front of the one we had came out of was the largest opening of all. I couldn’t see far inside it due to the lack of lighting on the inside but it seemed to go fairly far. And of course this is where we were going. Looking at the top of this new tunnel I saw a spiked gate that was currently receded into the ceiling and I assumed could be lowered at a moments notice to block the tunnel off completely. I gulped but continued on with the troll. There were only a few sporadic torches on the walls of this tunnel, Celestia only knows why, it seemed to make no sense to me other than to scare people. Did trolls see well in the dark? Maybe they didn’t need any more light than this. It wasn’t long that I started hearing noises coming from the end of the tunnel, peering down it I saw a bright light far in the distance, the tunnel’s end. As we got closer the noises became clearer, it sounded like yelling… no, not just yelling but cheering. And a lot of it. We were still far away from the tunnel’s end but the noise was starting to become overwhelming. It was cacophonous. Yes, that’s a good word for it. “I’m assuming that cheering up ahead has to do with the stadiums you mentioned?” I had to raise my voice to make sure he heard me. “Yes, you’ll see what’s going on soon.” He said. Well at least he decided to be polite enough to respond. The light at the end of the tunnel was growing brighter. I wasn’t sure what awaited me but I steadied myself and made sure to not let my discomfort and exhaustion show. Or at least I tried my best to. I didn’t want to appear weak and I certainly didn’t want whatever was coming to scare me. I would never give them the satisfaction of knowing that this “scare” that I’m sure he’s going for worked. I won’t let it get to me. I was still Rarity after all and I had an image to protect! Not like these trolls knew anything about that. But even so I must always look as good as possible and not show any unseemly behavior! Such as letting these trolls make me their obedient slave. We were almost there, I decided to speed up a little so I was side by side with the troll as we left the tunnel, the cheering drowning out the sound of my hooves clacking along the stone floor. Thanks to the sudden change in brightness as we exited I had to squint my eyes for a second. As I opened them back up I saw that we had entered into a large underground cavern, the roof and walls was smooth dark blue rock while the ground was simply dirt, but that was hardly the most eye-drawing part. The troll and I stood on a raised pyramid overlooking it all, multiple ramps and stairways led down from it into the rest of the cavern and the various stadiums filling it up. Yes, the stadiums, I was reminded of how we conducted the Equestria Games (although none of the multiple stadiums in here were quite as large as that single one), I saw six different circular arenas with hundreds and perhaps even thousands of trolls filling up the various stands and watching whatever took place in them. We were too far away for me to tell exactly what was going on in them but I could see some small figures in the center of the arenas doing who knows what. “Welcome to the stadiums.” My troll said, lazily gesturing to it all. “You seem smart enough to have realized that I brought you here to change your mind about not working, here’s what is done with the slaves who refuse to work.” He started walking down the central ramp, one of the stadiums was directly ahead and I had to assume that’s where we were going. “Yes, I did.” I replied as I started walking after him. “I must admit I’m surprised you’re bothering with trying to change my mind at all though.” He looked back at me with an unreadable expression, or perhaps his emotions were written plainly on his face and I just didn’t know how to tell what trolls were thinking. “Not all of us like the way things are done around here. I didn’t bring you here to scare you, I did it out of kindness. It’s better if you just keep working like a normal slave.” He went back to looking forward at the approaching stadium. “Come on, it’s not uncommon for personal slaves to be brought to watch by trolls of a higher stature, and I’d prefer if you changed your mind quickly. I don’t particularly enjoy being down here myself.” My brow knitted in consternation as I looked up at him. “You are… much kinder than I’ve come to expect from you trolls.” “There are plenty like me. But we can’t do anything about it either, the King and High Priest decide all.” He shrugged. “I just want you to know that things could be worse, the slave quarters up in the castle for you are a nice enough place to live.” Now at that I frowned. “Yes, but I’d still be a slave.” The troll looked down at me and this time I could see a bit of sadness in his eyes. “We’re all slaves to some degree here.” I was about to respond when he spoke up again. “Here we are.” Indeed we were. The stadium was made of stone and had many entrances throughout its perimeter, there was no guard or anyone to take admission so I assumed any troll was able to freely enter. And since whatever was going on inside was well underway the two of us walked in alone. This entrance did not go directly to the arena where the event was being held but instead turned and twisted around the whole stadium, with branching paths going up stairs to the stands or to private viewing boxes. My troll guide took us up several flights of stairs to the very top of the stadium, obviously the closer seats were all taken, and he probably didn’t want to get many questions from other trolls about what I was doing here with him. He said it wasn’t uncommon for those with “higher stature” to bring slaves, he must be too low of station for it to be normal for him. As we went out into the stands I noticed that there weren’t even individual seats in this part, merely planks of wood pushed together. Rather crude if I must say. And of course I must. Anyways the two of us sat down by the stairs and I finally got my first good look at what was going on in the arena below. The first thing I noticed was that the arena floor was sand, not dirt like the rest of this massive underground chamber, the next thing I noticed were the two ponies facing off against each other. Despite the distance my eyes were able to make out quite a bit. Both were clearly earth pony stallions and one of them was an orange colored pony with a sandy mane and tail and a black scarf wrapped around his neck, the other was a larger grey pony with a deep brown mane and tail. By larger I don’t mean fat you know, he was just a bit bigger than the average stallion, reminiscent of Shining Armor I would say. The grey stallion’s face… I wouldn’t ever say it was handsome but he had bright eyes and a cheerful look about him despite the situation he was in. Quite the opposite of the orange stallion who had a hard, almost mean, look on his face. Both of them were carrying round wooden shields and holding sticks. “Pardon me for asking, but what exactly is going on in here?” I asked my troll friend with a raised eyebrow and a fair bit of worry. “It’s a fight. What else?” He replied simply. My jaw dropped. “You’re forcing them to fight?! That’s barbaric!” He raised a finger to his mouth and shushed me, looking around with slight nervousness. “I don’t mind you voicing your opinion but you should be quieter.” Well I couldn’t exactly argue about that, luckily the other trolls were all far more occupied with the fight. “And yes.” He continued. “I told you I don’t like all of this either, but I wanted you to see what awaits slaves who refuse to work for us. They become entertainment.” “This is horrible!” I spat out. “So you just make them fight each other for fun?” “Or wild beasts that have been captured. Or troll warriors. Whatever people want to see.” He at least had the decency to look ashamed as he simply shrugged again at his society’s way of life. I was simply aghast at such barbarism. Sure ponies like to compete and some of it can be a little rough but this was just madness to me. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, but I had to watch. I had to see what these poor slaves were forced to do. I feel like I owed it to them. And if we’re being honest I wanted to see what I might be in for. At least they didn’t seem to be using lethal weapons or anything, but that was hardly a consolation. I watched as the two ponies down below paced around each other while the crowd of trolls hooted and hollered at them, wanting to get to the action as quickly as possible. Well they didn’t have to wait long. The orange stallion lunged at the grey one, making several quick thrusts with his stick that the grey stallion either deftly dodged or turned aside with his shield. But the orange pony was relentless, he kept jabbing at any open spot of his opponent, forcing the grey stallion to constantly move or block and not get in an attack himself. The orange pony still couldn’t actually land a real hit though, I really had no clue what a skilled fighter looked like but the grey one seemed to be having an easy time dealing with his opponent’s attacks. Still the orange pony was clearly used to this kind of rough work, he didn’t look tired at all and he seemed to realize he wasn’t getting anywhere, his attacks broke off and he started warily pacing around the grey stallion, eyeing him and trying to find a new way to attack. But this time he didn’t have the opportunity as the grey stallion suddenly swung into action. He brought his stick in a wide arc at the orange stallion’s hooves, causing him to jump back to avoid the attack. As he jumped he also jabbed out with his own stick, trying to pin the grey stallion’s weapon to the ground. But the grey stallion was too quick, pulling his weapon back and lunging forward at the orange one again, this time the two of them traded blows with each other. Sticks bashing against stick or shield. It had turned into a simple brawl and I started to grimace at the ferocity of it. If they were using something like swords or spears… No, no, I didn’t even want to think about that. Horrible. Just horrible. With a loud thump the grey stallion’s stick landed in the middle of the orange one’s chest, I could practically hear the air knocked out of his lungs from up here. He stumbled backwards wheezing and wildly waving his stick to fend off the grey stallion. The grey stallion for his part didn’t press the attack, merely stood back and waited for the orange pony to collect himself while all the trolls watching cheered. Well, it was fairly plain to me at this point who was winning and who was losing. I just hoped that things wouldn’t go too far. I mean… it couldn’t possibly be to the death could it? That’s just unthinkable, even for these trolls. The orange stallion stopped his wheezing and hacking but still looked winded and a bit weak. He held up his stick and shield and waited for the grey stallion to attack again. I could tell even from up here that the grey stallion was smiling as he went in to attack, I found that I was at the edge of my seat, hoping nothing too serious would happen. Just as the grey stallion got within striking range however he tripped. My jaw nearly dropped in surprise and the trolls watching seemed flabbergasted as well. He slid over the sand to right beneath the orange stallion, who quickly got over his own surprise and brought his stick down in a quick strike to the head of the grey stallion. I winced, shutting my eyes, the blow was surely strong enough to knock the poor grey stallion unconscious. At the sudden eruption of more cheering I opened my eyes to see the orange pony standing in the middle of the arena, waving his stick sword high in the air in victory while his downed opponent lied behind him. A gate opened up at the arena floor and a group of trolls came out, some of them guided the orange pony back with them while the others put the grey one on a stretcher and carried him back as well. At least he would be getting medical attention. I was very grateful to see that. “That was… awful.” I said to my troll friend. “It’s every day down here.” He replied. Again I could only grimace. “Well, thank you for showing this to me. But I still don’t wish to simply roll over for your leaders. I have a bit too much pride for that.” Normally I would’ve put on a more haughty tone but I was feeling a little drained from everything. “We’re not done yet.” He said as he simply stared at me. “Pardon?” “That’s not all I wanted to show you. Now you can see how they live when they aren’t fighting. It’s a far cry from the slave quarters you’re used to.” It certainly was. These were not living quarters. This was a dungeon. It was dark and cold in here, even less lighting than those corridors we had walked through on the way here. I saw cells full of unruly slaves forced to fight because they refused to work. Some allowed to roam freely behind their bars while others were chained to the wall. Honestly I wanted to cry but even more than that I didn’t want to let the trolls guarding these slaves see that. At least they seemed to pay me no mind as I walked with my guide. There were many slaves down here, ponies, griffons, lots of those fish and lizard looking creatures I remember seeing in Klugetown, and to my surprise even a few yaks. I wished so hard that I could just free them all, grab the keys from who knows where and lead them running out of here. But that was just a pipe dream. We walked by the cells for a bit longer before I saw something even more surprising than the yaks. The two ponies who had been fighting just now were sharing a cell and seemingly chatting amicably with one another. Raising an eyebrow I went over to speak to them, heedless of what my guide or the trolls guarding the cells might think. The grey one had some gauze wrapped around his head but otherwise looked fine while the orange one was accusingly pointing his hoof at him and muttering something I couldn’t quite hear. “Excuse me?” I spoke up as soon as I got to the cell. “But are the two of you alright? I’m sorry to just come out of the blue like this but I happened to see your fight and...” I trailed off. They looked over at me; the orange one had a suspicious look on his face but the grey pony was smiling warmly at me. “First time seeing a fight?” The orange one asked me. “Did some noble bring you down here to show you how kind he is for keeping you in some posh room upstairs?” I frowned. Now partially it was at his rudeness since I just came over to see if they were alright but the other part of me frowned at how he was halfway correct. Still I wasn’t about to let my slight annoyance get to me, these ponies were forced into these horrible fights so it was only natural if they had a bit of a bad attitude. “Just ignore my friend here.” The grey stallion said as he threw a hoof over the orange one’s shoulders. “He’s always grumpy. He could use a bit of sympathy for new slaves now couldn’t he?” The stallion winked at me. I giggled in response. At least he was polite. “I’m grumpy because I’m sick of you throwing fights on purpose.” The orange one said as he shrugged off his friends hoof. “Oh please, that could’ve happened to anyone.” The grey one avoided looking directly at both of us. “Liar! You always do that! I can take a hit you know.” “And I can take them even better so why not?” The grey one condescendingly patted his friend on the head as he winked at me again. My amusement at their back and forth was starting to wear thin though. I was glad they were okay but I wanted to talk to them some more about what it was like down here. “Apologies for butting in again but is this how things normally are down here? How long have you been slaves, too?” The grey one gave me an appraising look before responding. “Sorry for the lack of seriousness, Miss Rarity, but allow us to introduce ourselves first.” He nodded towards the orange stallion. “This is my recent friend Birdseed, who has been stuck here for a little over a month.” The orange pony, Birdseed as I now know him, grunted in acknowledgment. “And I-” The grey stallion said as he gave a slight bow to me. How gentlemanly. “Am Harlequin Black, pleased to meet you.” “Well it’s a pleasure to meet both of you as well.” I gave my best smile to the both of them. Birdseed was an appropriate name, as I glanced at his Cutie Mark and saw that it was a bag of overflowing seeds. Oh wait, I still didn’t have any make-up on. And my mane was still down. This is a terrible first impression by my standards. “You shouldn’t be taking this so lightly though.” Harlequin Black said to me, his smile no longer on his face. “You’re down here because you said you would refuse to work, correct?” I shuffled about nervously. I wasn’t entirely sure how to respond, the situation did seem a bit serious. “You don’t want to be down here.” He continued. “It’s better for you to be up there, you can do a lot more good.” “What do you mean?” I asked, arching an eyebrow. Did he just suddenly decide to get mysterious? “You’re quite the special pony you know. And there are always new opportunities up there. I know you may not want to work because of your pride and all but believe me it’s better than being stuck down here with us and forced to fight.” “So I’ve heard.” I said. His smile returned. “You make friends fast though. You’ve already made a few I’m willing to bet and now you’ve got two more down here. And you’re strong. Keep being yourself and tugging along, it’ll all be alright.” He winked again. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that not all the trolls are so bad?” I glanced back at the troll who had brought me here. He was politely staying a ways away and not listening in on our conversation. I turned back to look at Harlequin Black. “Yes. Yes, I have.” “Good, keep that in mind. It’s the first step.” His smile grew wider. “Now you should get along back up to the main part of the castle. It’s far too dark and dreary for someone as regal as you to be down here.” I laughed and tossed my hair back. “Yes, well...” Birdseed rolled his eyes at our conversation. “Weirdos. You’re always saying weird stuff...” I scowled at him. “Now you could be a little more appreciative of others. I did come down over here to see how you were doing after all.” He grumbled and scratched the top of his head. “Fine, I’m sorry. There?” “Apology accepted.” I ever so graciously accepted his not totally sincere apology. “I do hope I can help you out of your situation soon. Then we can all get back to our normal lives.” “My normal life is what brought me here.” Birdseed flatly said. “Oh. Well whatever is it that you do?” I asked him. His eyes started shifting about and he fiddled around with the scarf around his neck. “I’m a… freelance worker. I suppose you can consider me hired help. I just do whatever odd jobs people need done.” “Oh yes, that’s quite accurate.” Harlequin Black said, snickering at some joke I was not privy to. “Well either way it was nice meeting you both.” I said as I started to walk away from them. And it was the truth despite their eccentricity. I felt better now. More assured of myself. I was still upset at the conditions down here and what other slaves had to go through but I felt invigorated too. I’m not exactly sure what good I can do up in the castle but if anything helps me getting out of here and saving the rest of the slaves you can bet that I, Rarity, will work towards it with all my heart. “Farewell.” Harlequin Black said, waving to me as I turned from him and went back to speak with my troll friend. “I’m ready to head back up now.” I told him. He looked down at me with a somewhat hopeful expression. At least I think it was. I still couldn’t exactly tell what trolls were thinking or anything. “Have you decided to work? Do you understand how much worse it is down here?” “Yes. But more than that I want to show my appreciation to you for doing all this, thank you.” He seemed surprised and was at a loss for words. Standing stock still with wide open eyes. “By the way what would your name be, my good friend? I am Rarity. And it is simply proper for friends to know one another’s name I must say.” The troll stood still for a bit longer, perhaps not sure if he should accept that offer of friendship with a pony slave. But eventually his mouth opened up. “Tyluck. My name is Tyluck, Rarity.” I smiled. “I hope we see each other again up there, Tyluck.”