The Titans' Orb

by Mister Horncastle

Chapter Eighteen: I Predict a Riot

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“So, where shall we start, hm?” Inigo cackled to himself, browsing his selection of tools.

“Well uh, they say torture isn’t actually all that good for getting information.” I chipped in, “So yeah, maybe let’s not start with those tools? I mean, the best way to interrogate someone really is by setting up a bond with the subject. We need to get along, basically.”

Choosing not to respond, he picked a long screwdriver from the rack, along with a blowtorch.

“We… We need to get along…” I reiterated with a stutter, gulping.

Smirking, Inigo began to heat up the screwdriver, until it started to turn orange. Then without hesitation, he brought it down into my left leg, piercing my thigh. Wholly unprepared for the first bout of pain, I let out a guttural howl, more shocked than anything at just how badly it hurt. Inigo held it in there for a good moment, before yanking it back out and tossing it over to Twilight, who stared at it intensely.

“Oh! Oh fuck! We are really not getting along!” I spluttered, shaking in the chair.

Laughing, Inigo returned to the tool rack and picked out a hammer, along with a box of nails.

“Tell you what, let’s play Twenty Questions!”

“I have a feeling this isn’t going to be the regular version.” I groaned, still recovering from the shock.

Ignoring me, he sat down on the wooden stool in front of me. He then removed a nail from the box, and held the tip against my forearm.

“This part’s really fun, because you get to play along.” he began, “Now I’m going to ask you twenty questions, and if you don’t answer, or you lie to me, this nail becomes a part of your arm, okay? Let’s start simple, what is your name?”

“The Muffin Man.” I said dryly.

Without missing a beat, he brought down the hammer and drove the nail into me. I emitted a loud hiss, but otherwise remained composed. Tutting, Inigo acquired the next nail, and sat it beside the first one.

“What are you doing here in Brazil, hm?”

“I came for the climate.”

Inigo licked his bottom lip, before breaking into an enormous grin.

“Oh, this is going to be fun…”

All twenty nails found themselves lodged in my arm, and despite some uncontrollable whimpering, I had otherwise held myself together, and was prepared for whatever came next. Twilight had watched me intently the whole time, unblinking, and I found it hard to place her expression. I could only guess that she had volunteered to watch me be tortured out of spite, but behind those glossy eyes of hers, were hundreds of other emotions. As the last nail went into my arm, a single tear escaped and began rolling down her cheek, and it became clear that she no longer wished to be here.

“Man, your mama and papa raised you tough, huh?” Inigo hummed, tossing away the hammer.

“Something like that.” I uttered through my gritted teeth.

“You got a good family back home then?” he asked, picking out a pair of pliers.

I shook my head, causing him to laugh as he plonked himself down on the stool, and then seized my left ring finger, still chuckling.

“Hermano, whatever family issues you think you have, it ain’t nothing.”

Before continuing, he gripped my fingernail in the pliers, and began to lift.

“Shit-shit-shit! Ah, okay! OkaaAAAAAHHHH!”

The keratin began to rip away from the soft flesh underneath, and unable to contain myself any longer, I shrieked at the top of my lungs as he tore the entire fingernail off. Undeterred by my cries of agony, Inigo proceeded to tell me about his own family, as he moved on to my pinky finger…

“I was born a long, long way away from here, kiddo. Daddy Montenegro came to the Rook Islands on some little self-discovery soirée, where he knocked up some little Rakyat girl. Poor thing was far too young to handle twins, she died pushing me out into the world, papa had to cut my brother out.”

“Sounds like a real upstanding gentlemaaaAAAH-HAAANAHH!”

My little fingernail was removed, and Inigo continued, this time choosing the middle finger.

“Daddy-o tried to raise us all alone, did just fine for a couple of years, then poof, he was never seen again. We were found by the Rakyat, and being part native, they took us in. We were raised with a big sister, Citra, and we found ourselves in a big happy jungle family!”

I screamed out like never before as the third fingernail was removed. I threw my head from side to side and desperately tried to kick out, but with my ankles tethered to the armchair, all I could do was rattle intensely. Then, without warning, Inigo lunged forward and punched me in the mouth, violently shutting me up.

“I’m trying to tell a story here, you rude fuck!” he barked loudly, “Now where was I?”

“Big happy f-family…” I blubbered, hanging my head.

Tearing off my index finger’s nail, along with my thumb’s, Inigo continued to lament about his upbringing, and how his sister began to abuse him and his brother relentlessly, both physically and mentally. Inigo quickly saw her for the monster that she was, and learned to keep his distance. His brother meanwhile, became completely dependent on her, fixated to the point of obsession.

Moving on to my right hand, he continued through my screams, telling me about how they both became addicted to drugs after acquiring narcotics from the foreign pirates on their island. They then joined these pirates, abandoning their tribe, and eventually falling in with their now-boss, Hoyt Volker.

“We all worked together for a time, things were nice and cushy you know? But you see, you can never trust anyone kid, not even your own family… I said not even your own family!”

With tremendous force, he ripped off my right ring finger’s nail, snapping it at the halfway point. He waited patiently for me to stop crying out, and then told me what happened between him and his brother.

“So there we were, getting high together. We talked about life, and death, and people, and that was when I told him the definition… of insanity. He listened to me, and then, without saying so much as a word, he took out his gun, and shot me.”

Standing up and tossing away the pliers, he pulled out his own gun and stuck the barrel into my belly. For a second, I thought he was going to shoot, and that after all this, he really was going to kill me. Holding my breath, I waited for the bang, and for the searing pain to pierce my body. And then, to my relief, he pulled it away.

“You really thought I was going to do it, huh?” he chuckled, “No man, I like you too much.”

Tossing the gun to one side, he picked the pliers back up and finished removing the last of my fingernails. I sobbed loudly as he did it, quaking in the armchair like jelly on a plate. Unable to watch any more, Twilight bowed her head in shame, silently crying along with me. Inigo noticed, and frowned at her.

“Hey, who said you could look away, huh?”

Going over to her, he grabbed Twilight by the mane and dragged her closer to me. She began to cry even louder, and upon reaching me, she was forced to look into my eyes. Grinning, Inigo decided to include her further, reaching for the box of nails again and taking one out. He then placed the sharp tip against the raw flesh where a fingernail had once been. And then, to mine and Twilight’s shared horror, he ordered her to knock it in with her hoof. With her lips trembling, she shook her head.

“I… I can’t… I can’t do that…” she wept, “Please… don’t make me…”

With blithe disregard to her mewling plea, Inigo grabbed her mane for a second time and yanked her even closer to me. He then hissed into her ear that if she didn’t do it, he would kill Pinkie Pie in her cage, and then leave her body there to rot. At that, Twilight’s eyes widened and her pupils shrank, and I knew that this was something neither of us could avoid, but I could make it easier for her at least.

“Twilight, it’s okay…” I croaked through my gritted teeth, “Do it.”

With her mouth slowly ajar, crying harder than I was, the unicorn did as she was told. Clenching her jaw, she lifted a foreleg, and then with an apologetic whimper, she pounded the top of the nail as hard as she could with her hoof. It went most of the way though and I emitted a nauseating wail. Inigo roared with laughter, while Twilight backed away and began to hyperventilate, disgraced and horrified by what she had been made to do. After that, she didn’t dare look away.

“So where was I in my story?” Inigo sighed, his laughter coming to an end, “Oh yes, my brother shot me… Well, Hoyt didn’t want his two best men killing each other, so he separated us and sent me here to run things. Since then, my dear brother refuses to even say my name, scared that he’ll summon me, that I’ll come back for revenge. Well, none of that matters now. Why would I need my brother’s love, now I’m the king of Brazil, huh?”

Spreading out his arms with arrogance, Inigo concluded his story, and then tilted his head towards me with a smile.

“Now, as per your suggestion, I would like to think you… and moi… have set up that little bond between interrogator and subject. So unless you want this to get any worse for you, how about you tell me more about these horse girls, hm?”

Shivering intensely, I met Inigo’s gaze, and then spat into his face. Enraged, the animal within him took hold, and Inigo lunged forward to strike me in the face, again, and again, and again… For nearly a solid thirty seconds, my head was assaulted by a flurry of fists. By the time he calmed down and backed away, I couldn’t see out of one eye and blood was streaming from my nose.

Inigo then backed away and went over to where Rainbow Dash’s feathers were piled up. Snapping his fingers, he instructed Vladimir to assist him. Grabbing the armchair, the Russian tilted me back while Inigo grabbed the paddling pool and slipped it under the chair’s wooden legs. Vladimir then lowered me back down, and my feet were submerged into the murky water that had been there for goodness-knows how long. That’s when Inigo retrieved the truck battery, and placed it on the table next to me.

{This can’t be happening… This isn’t real… This can’t be real…} I thought to myself, waning in strength.

“Okay kid, I’ve given you enough chances.” Inigo growled, “Tell me about the horse girls. What are they? Where do they come from? Tell me, or I’m going to fry your brain out of your head, okay?”

Terrified as I was, I refused to part with the one thing keeping me alive. Condemning myself to more torture, I shook my head from side to side, flicking saliva and blood in all directions. To this, he tutted and let out a heavy, disappointed sigh.

“You know, this might be a little cliché hermano, but you’re in for a bit of a shock.”

Vladimir hoisted a bucket of water beside me and removed a large dripping rag from it, and before I could process what was going on, he had draped it over my face. I hadn’t the energy to shake the rag off, and simply awaited my fate. Inigo said nothing, as he grabbed the crocodile clips attached to the battery, and then slammed them into either side of my head. The current struck instantly, and vehement cascades of electricity shot through me. My muscles went into uncontrollable spasming, and it was like getting extreme cramp from head to toe, but amplified by a hundred-fold. This was worse than anything I could have possibly imagined, and as I lost all control of mind and body, I let out the loudest and most agonising scream so far.

“That’s it! Sing for me, birdy! Sing for me!” Inigo squealed with excitement.

And sing for him, I did…

At last, he pulled the clips away, killing the current. The rag was pulled away from my face and I coughed and spluttered, puling pathetically and repeating the word ‘no’, over and over again. Inigo then repeated the question, glaring at me.

“The horse girls, huh? Where do they come from?”

I barely heard him, everything was going foggy and I couldn’t focus. Even the pain was beginning to die down to some extent, as my overstimulated brain tried to turn itself off. Slapping me in the face to regain my focus, Inigo repeated himself for a third time, demanding to know who the ponies were.

I couldn’t break, I just couldn’t… If I told him the truth, he would kill me, and then the girls would be trapped here, forever at his mercy. The only chance I had at staying alive was to tell him nothing, and endure the torture until he relented. And so, I held my tongue.

With tears streaming down my cheeks, I watched as Inigo performed a ridiculous slow dance with the crocodile clips, occasionally knocking them together a few times to send sparks spraying across the room. Vladimir placed the cloth over my head and Inigo descended upon me once more, jamming the clips against the sides of my head. My body went into spasm again and I felt the excruciating pain ripple through every fibre of my body. This time it was quicker, and Inigo pulled away before too long.

“Where-do-they-come-from!?” Inigo shouted at me, touching the clips together with each syllable.

As the sparks flew across the room, my psyche fell apart. Breaking into a maddened, hopeless bout of laughter, I glared at Inigo and grinned at him, with tears streaming down my face. Enraged, Inigo looked at Vladimir and nodded.

“Again.”

The cloth was slammed into my face, followed by the third bout of electricity. This time, Inigo held it down for longer, and as my muscles convulsed, I raised my head up and let out an ear-splitting scream, bellowing at the very top of my lungs. It was freakish and rippled, as though it had come from some alien beast. I jolted uncontrollably and thrashed savagely in all possible directions, with every muscle in my body spasming to the point of ripping themselves asunder.

At last, just as I was about to black out, Inigo finally pulled away. My body stopped shaking and I slumped back into the chair, going completely limp. But the pain didn’t stop, it continued to burn through every nerve I had. Wheezing and sobbing through my teeth, I sat there slumped, shakily panting with fatigue, and totally on the brink of death. Nevertheless, I had survived.

This bastard was not going to kill me. I hadn’t given up my entire life just to die like this, not at the hands of this madman. There was too much at stake to give in, the girls needed me, Equestria needed me, all of Equus needed me! This fact alone kept me clinging on desperately to the realm of the living, and as Vladimir pulled the rag away from my face, I looked at Inigo and loosed three words with my last microscopic ounce of energy.

“I… ain’t… bovvered…”

Inigo’s face dropped, his victory stolen from him. A disgruntled sneer broke out upon his face as he gestured for Vladimir to take me back to the Stock Heap, knowing that any further torture could kill me.

I had won this battle.

Shutting my eyes, my brain began to fully shut down, to the point where I didn’t even comprehend Vladimir’s presence as he unbound me from the chair, allowing me to tumble forward into the paddling pool. I was grabbed by an ankle, and then dragged out of the room. Sliding along on my back, the only thing I could vaguely perceive, was the soul crushing wails of the girls as they witnessed me at last, having been forced to listen to my torture through the open door. Rarity was the loudest, emitting a shriek of utter despair, which echoed all throughout the chamber.

It would be the last thing I heard that day…

---

“Well shit the bed and blame the dog, you aren’t dead.”

I recognised the voice of Nicole and slowly opened my eyes. She was sitting cross-legged by my side, and William was also sat close by, eager to greet me.

“The boy lives!” he exclaimed, clapping.

Beyond him, were dozens of other captives, staring at me with disbelief. Noting my confusion, Nicole explained that when Vladimir had returned me here, everybody had thought that I was dead, and that my body had been brought here as a message or something. Since learning that I was still alive, they had all waited to see if I pulled through or not, expecting my body to give out in my sleep.

“Mmnnn, not yet…” I rasped.

“I did my best to patch you up, but I’m afraid you’re a little bit, well… yeah.”

I tensed my muscles to find they were stiff as oak. There was no doubt that I had been unconscious for at least a day or two. With William and Nicole’s assistance, I was able to sit up, growling in pain as I did so. My whole body felt like it had been dismantled, run through a wood chipper, and then put back together again with Blu Tack.

“You’re lucky I was able to sneak in some alcohol from my last uh, client…” Nicole chuckled awkwardly, “I was able to disinfect that arm of yours. Well, after I got all the nails out.”

“Cheers.” I grumbled, “How long have I been out?”

“Four days.” she told me, “You’ve drifted in and out, but this is the first time you’ve actually been with it. Just yesterday you were mumbling something about ponies!”

“Four days?” I murmured, “No… no, that’s too long…”

“Too long? Callum, you should be thankful you’re not dead!”

Her words drifted by like a fart in the wind, fleeting and barely noticed. Four days… That was the only thing I could focus on. The girls had been left alone at Inigo’s mercy for another four days since my torture. Shaking my head, I tried to stand, only for my weak legs to give way, forcing me back down.

“Whoa, easy tiger! You need to get your strength back.” Nicole laughed.

“No, you don’t understand. I need to get out of here.”

“I’ve told you already, it’s impossible.”

“Impossible is not an option for me!” I barked, smacking the stone floor.

Pain shot into the hole in my finger, where Twilight had been forced to drive that nail into me. Clenching my jaw, all it did was fuel my anger.

“Okay-okay!” Nicole yapped back, raising her hands, “Look, even if there’s a way, you can’t do a damn thing right now. You can’t even stand for Christ’s sake!”

Gritting my teeth, I knew she was right.

“You need to rest up, and if you really want to get out of here, start thinking up a plan. Now, I’m off to get some food for you miserable lot.”

“Wait, you can just go and get food for us whenever you want to?”

Giving me a dull expression, Nicole elaborated that the guards would let her bring us anything she wanted from the kitchens, permitting she satisfied them well enough. My eyes widened and my face sank, as I realised that all the additional food that Nicole brought to the Stock Heap had been bought for us, and her body was the currency.

“I’m so sorry…” I murmured, “I didn’t think-”

“It’s fine.” she said bluntly, cutting me off, “I’ll be back later, I’m sure you’re starving.”

“Magnum?” asked William in his nasally voice.

“No Magnum.” Nicole replied.

“Magnum?”

“No.”

“Magnum!”

“William Reed, I swear…”

Looking around at me with a dejected expression, William quietly mewled ‘magnum…’ one last time, before waddling off to entertain the other captives. Nicole rolled her eyes and headed to the gate, where she flirted with the guards until they excitedly let her out, and it was during this crude exchange that I noticed something. As the guards left their post to indulge their primal urges, I couldn’t help but observe that nobody had taken their place, leaving just a small handful of armed men behind, few enough to overwhelm in, say… a riot?

“Lightbulb.” I uttered slowly, squinting my eyes and tensing my muscles.

Beckoning William and the other English-speaking captives over to me, I started to ruminate with them over a plot to escape…

---

A few days went by, and my scheme was ready. I had recovered a fair amount of my energy, and what strength hadn’t returned, I most certainly made up for in spirit and determination. My wounds were still in the process of closing, but I was well enough to push forward; the girls weren’t to be left a day longer in this cesspool.

“Right, you two remember the plan?” I asked, turning to the captives beside me.

The individuals in question went by the names of Conor Nelson and Lewis Carter. They were a pair of bodybuilders, of whom had unfortunately wound up in Inigo’s possession during their travelling workout tour. Conor was originally from Indonesia, but had moved to England at a young age. Lewis was another British lad, like William and myself. He had gone to school with Conor, and the two of them had grown up as one another’s motivation for staying fit, and maintaining a toned body; the ‘Bulking Bromance’ they had called it. Their relationship had gained a fair amount of popularity online, making them something of an internet sensation. But it wasn’t their reputation I required, it was their physical strength, as it would prove to be invaluable for my plot.

“Yeah, we’ve got it.” Conor said, “Go apeshit at each other, WWE style?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” I affirmed.

I signalled to William that it was time, and he spread the word from captive to captive, via a coded message, befittingly attributed to telling everybody that he didn’t want a Magnum today. Nicole got to her feet, and took a heavy sigh, preparing herself for the next step, the worst step.

“This is the last time they’ll ever use you.” I said to her, clenching my fists.

“Well yeah, but only because I’ll be dead, when this doesn’t work.” she muttered back.

“It’s going to work.” I assured her, “Trust me, too much is at stake for it not to.”

Dipping her head, Nicole inhaled deeply through her nose and went off to the gate, where with great bitterness, she sold herself to our cause, luring away three guards to do as they pleased with her. As soon as they were gone, I went over to one of the other captives I had befriended, an unpredictable yet reliable fellow named Jayce, of whom had somehow procured a blade for me.

“How did you even get this?” I inquired, taking the filleting knife from him.

“I went on a journey.” he replied, grinning.

“Right, and I presume you’re not going to elaborate further?”

Shaking his head, Jayce slithered away amongst the crowd, and I hid the knife in my waistband. After that, I slowly shuffled my way to the gate, and our plan was finally set into motion. Every captive was aware of what was about to happen, and we had agreed that when this kicked off, we were all going to do our part in getting out of here together, or die trying. Undoubtedly, a lot of us were scared, but all it took for me was one flicker of the girls in my mind to purge such fears; one flash of Rainbow’s mutilated wings, and Applejack’s bruised face, to start a fire in my belly.

No, I wasn’t afraid.
I was angry…

“You slept with my girlfriend!?” Conor boomed loudly, getting to his feet.

“What’s it to you?” Lewis barked back, also standing up, “You neglected her for months! So yeah, you’re damn right I slept with her, it was about time someone actually gave her the love she deserves!”

“You curly-headed fuck!”

The brawl that ensued was so convincing that I genuinely couldn’t tell if the Bulking Bromance had actually been shattered or not. The men slammed into each other like silverbacks, muscle met muscle and everyone crowded around them, chanting and cheering.

“Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!”

The few remaining guards shouted for them to stop, but as per the plan, the fight continued, forcing our captors to intervene. One man unlocked the gate and withdrew a baton, rushing into the crowd to beat down whoever was responsible for the brawl. Almost immediately, Conor and Lewis, along with the rest of the Stock Heap, turned on the man and enveloped him, bringing him to the ground and pummelling him to death.

Another guard, armed with a submachine gun, rushed in and prepared to mow down the developing mob, which was when I sprang into action. Without so much as a second to comprehend what I was doing, I jammed the filleting knife into the side of the man’s neck and tackled him to the ground. I kept his arms restrained by wrapping my legs around his body, while I twisted at the knife viciously, until he at last stopped moving. Amidst this brutal attack, he had dropped his gun, which clattered away from the both of us. Picking it up and taking a deep breath, William looked at the other guards, of whom were rapidly approaching.

“I just… wanted… a MAGNUM!” he shrieked, opening fire.

Surprisingly being able to land a few hits, William brought down one of our captors, sending the last few scrambling into cover. I yanked my knife free from the dead man’s neck and got to my feet, where I found the rest of the Stock Heap staring at me, their eyes glistening with hope.

“Well come on then you sorry lot, claim your bloody freedom!” I roared, holding my blade in the air.

Vigorously hooting, howling, and hollering in unison, everyone rushed out of the gate while William provided covering fire, keeping the remaining guards pinned down until it was too late for them. They tried to shoot back at the last second, but were very quickly devoured by the rampant horde of their own making, ravenous for vengeance.

With the room now clear, everyone approached me and started to chant my name, and although my mind was very much focused on saving the girls, I couldn’t help but bask in the glory for a moment. William then brought me back to Earth, asking what happened now. With my brain firing on all cylinders, I instructed the most competent captives to retrieve the other guards’ firearms and take point. As for everyone else, I told them to grab whatever they could; pipes, bricks, anything in the room that could be used for combat.

Suddenly, the warehouse doors were opened, and about a dozen more cartel members emerged, drawn to the gunfire. Before they had the chance to raise their weapons, I gave the order.

“Give ‘em hell, boys.”

The building exploded into a raucous carnage, and although we lost a few of our own, we swiftly emerged victorious. Their guns were recovered and added to our arsenal, and with a pistol now in hand, I led the charge alongside William, Conor, and Lewis. We flooded into the connecting building, where the cartel appeared in full force as it rushed to contain us. An adrenaline-fuelled fray of blood and lead ensued, but for as many of them there were, there were more of us. Like a colony of frenzied ants, all unified under the single hive-minded pursuit of freedom and revenge, we fought on. Captives were killed by the dozen, but for each foe we brought down, we acquired another gun, adding tremendously to our offensive capabilities. Despite our losses, the odds soon began to even out, and Inigo’s cartel soon found itself up against a full-scale siege. I personally had been able to pick off a smattering of men, both with gun and blade. As my pistol ran out of bullets, one of the bastards tried to charge me with his machete, but I was quicker. Rushing forward and gripping his wrist, I thrust the filleting knife into his throat, gashing it open with merciless ferocity.

Was it justified? Was it immoral? I did not know.
And in this rush, this utter bedlam, I did not care.

The anarchy reached a new height, as we broke from the main building and into the rest of the compound. Fanning out like the angry swarm of insects we were, we spread out to consume the enemy, and to rescue other captives from their pens and shipping containers, gathering more fighters as we did so.

Amidst all the chaos, I was able to slip away from the massacre and reach Inigo’s headquarters. The door had been locked from within, but I was able to locate a side window and clamber inside. Choosing the stealthy approach, I crept past most of the guards, all of whom were in position near the front door. It seemed that Inigo would be holding his ground. One guard stood watch at the door that led to the girls, and I was able to get close enough to dispatch him silently. Pouncing on him, I stuck him with the knife, which snapped off inside him after a few well-placed stabs to the upper chest. Still alive, I was forced to finish the job with my bare hands, holding him down by the throat until his struggling came to a stop. I didn’t feel a shred of remorse, I was in too deep, with rescuing the girls being the only thing on my mind.

Taking his gun, I slowly opened the door, where my nose was immediately assailed by a most unpleasant scent, and I began to fear the worst. Cautiously entering the room, I spotted their cages, to which I was almost immediately brought to tears. Bedraggled and broken, huddled beside their own messes, and notably thinner even from a distance, were six ponies.

They had been trapped in those cages, the whole time…

“Oh my god…” I murmured.

Rushing forward, I made my presence known, hoping to pry their cages open and get them out of here as quickly as possible.

“Girls, girls it’s me!”

One by one, their lifeless expressions slowly rejuvenated as they recognised me. The poor things didn’t even know whether to cry or to smile, although both at the same time appeared to be working for now. Suddenly, Rarity’s eyes widened with shock.

“Callum behind y-”

BANG!

The bullet may have only skimmed me, but the sudden shock, paired with the searing pain in my hip, was enough for me to drop to the ground in an instinctive panic, dropping my gun in the process. I scrambled to retrieve it, only for Vladimir Kikashkov’s boot to fly into my gut, knocking the wind out of me and sending me cascading across the floor. The Russian then bent down and grabbed me by the hair, pulling me up to my knees. I tried to wrestle free, only for him to wrap his arm around my neck and squeeze tightly, nearly crushing my neck. Holding me steady, Vladimir forced me to look at Inigo as he approached me from the shadows, his own smoking pistol in hand. Storming up to me and placing the barrel of the gun directly against my forehead, he emitted a psychotic scream, pushing the gun harder and harder into my face.

“You… you started this, didn’t you? Didn’t you!? Oh, of course it was you… Quirked up little white boy, with a hard-on for the horse girls, ready to destroy everything I have built, just to get them back…”

Without warning, Inigo lashed out at me with his gun, splitting open the skin at the cheekbone. He then backed away and took an almighty sniff, wiping at his powdery nose. Clearly high as a kite, he sighed heavily and began to pace in circles, frantically tapping at his own head with his fingers. He meandered erratically back and forth between snarling fits of primal rage, and quiet chuckles to himself, truly lost in his own madness.

“Okay, I’m going to chill, I’m going to chill… We can fix this, yeah? Yeah, we’re going to fix this, alright?”

Turning to face me once more, he strode up to me and ordered Vladimir to loosen his grip. Placing a hand on my face, he patted my cheek and planted a kiss on my forehead.

“My product right now is jacked up on a big dose of hope, that you’re leading them to freedom. Now if I were to get Vladimir to pull off your head and show it to the crowd, they’ll scatter like roaches. But you know what? I’ve said it already, you’ve got heart, and I like it. So here’s what we’re going to do…”

Pressing his nose and forehead up against my own, he began breathing heavily, before whispering to me, clicking his tongue lightly.

“You’re going to put an end to your little revolution outside. You’re going to go out that front door, and you’re going to tell the people to stop. You’re going to help me round them up, and you’re going to shoot anyone who doesn’t put down their weapons, okay? And if you do this, if you do this, I’m going to let you live, and as a bonus, I’ll let you join me. We could be like brothers, huh? You can care for your little horse girl friends, and we can all get along like a big family.”

It was then that a phone began to ring loudly in Inigo’s back pocket. Stepping away from me, he retrieved the device and grimaced intensely upon seeing who the caller was. Vladimir tightened his grip once more, while the Bogeyman of Brazil apprehensively answered to his boss.

“Hoyt, my man! What a surprise! To what do I owe the-”

Inigo fell silent, as torrents of angry shouting came through the device. I faintly picked up a South African accent, along with a violent stream of less-than-friendly words.

“Okay, okay!” Inigo interjected, pacing around again, “I can handle this, chill out okay? They were being led by some white kid, I’ve already got him right here in front of me, I can sort this out.”

More harsh words came in through the phone, and Inigo walked away from me, clearly agitated.

“No, I don’t need the damn Privateers, okay? I just had a visit from Paulo this morning, and he’s going to post some of his militia here! Listen, just-just give me a few hours to get everything under control!”

Losing all interest in me for the time being, Inigo passed his pistol to Vladimir and slinked back into the shadows, stepping off into the torture room, pleading to his boss as he did so.

“Look, just let me sort this out okay? Stop bitching at me when you’ve got your own problems with Snow White! By the time you deal with him, this will all be under control! At least I’m the fucker who’s happy to work underneath you, huh? You know as well as I do that Vaas wants to be king of the castle!”

The door to the torture room closed, and I could hear no more of the conversation. Choosing to have a little fun, Vladimir tightened his already-vice-like grip, to the point where it felt as though my head was about to pop off like a champagne cork. Choking and gasping, I desperately tried to use my right elbow to hit the Russian in the ribs. Discarding Inigo’s pistol, he used his other arm to seize my wrist, locking me in place.

“Ssshhh… Ssssghhh…” I hissed urgently, feeling my consciousness start to wane.

Then, without warning, Vladimir emitted a loud grunt and released me. I lurched forward and twisted around, ready to defend myself. But no defence was required, as the Red Boulder stumbled down to one knee and clutched at his own neck, where his own sawtooth knife was now firmly embedded, encased in a shimmering blue aura. Looking at the cages beyond him, I met Rarity’s gaze, her face plastered with determination, and her horn glowing brightly with the same blue glow. With my focus returning to Vladimir, I could only bear witness as the blade shot forward, splicing open his neck and bringing him to the concrete floor with a hard smack. The knife then floated towards me, and I took it into my hands, still wheezing, and full of awe.

Rarity had just killed Vladimir.

I heard rapidly approaching footsteps and whipped around, but I was too late; Inigo brought down the machete he was now carrying and sliced into my chest. My left pectoral area practically burst open, and blood immediately came pissing from my body. Emitting a deep feral growl and jumping back, I regained my bearings and locked eyes with the monster before me, tutting and shaking his head.

“Excuse me, do you have any… fucking idea… how rude that was? I was on the phone!”

“Should’ve told him not to choke me so hard then.” I retorted, coughing.

Charging at me, he made a downward chop at my head, which I was easily able to avoid with a hop to the left. Briefly losing my footing, and realised that this needed to be a quick fight; if I allowed Inigo to draw this out, the blood loss would ebb at my focus, and this could end up being all for nothing.

“Funny, I was actually going to take you up on your offer!” I lied, “Shame Vladimir didn’t give me the chance to accept, now your whole world’s going to fall apart…”

“Oh, I am going to spill you, kid.” he growled, “Right in front of your little horsey friends!”

“Not from over there you’re not.”

Allured by my taunt, Inigo made a bold lunge for me, to which I steered his machete away and sliced his forearm in the process. He hissed angrily and made a horizontal swipe, to which I ducked under and slipped back.

“Why did you have to make this so hard for me? Why couldn’t you just answer my questions and let me kill you! You’ve ruined… everything! Why can’t you just die!?” he cried out, fiercely slashing at me.

“Because my life isn’t yours to take!” I spat, making a swipe of my own.

He dodged and jabbed at me, with his blade sliding along my shoulder and leaving a shallow gash. I remained focused and immediately countered, nicking him in the belly. He closed the distance and grabbed my wrist, preventing me from landing another blow. In response, I raised my leg and kicked him firmly in the chest, causing him to lurch backwards and nearly fall over.

“You know, I’m really starting not to like you any more, kid…”

“My name is not kid.” I rumbled.

“Then who the fuck are you!?”

He charged at me full pelt, wildly swinging his machete with great force and unpredictability. I dodged his first strike and ducked beneath the second, but his third I could not avoid. The machete glided downward in a diagonal motion, directly towards my neck. I clamped my eyes shut and waited for the mortal sting, and yet, no such sting came.

Opening my eyes, I found that the blade had not made contact. It had stopped, no more than an inch away from delivering the killing blow. That’s when I noticed the blade was surrounded by a colourful glow, and realised that Inigo’s machete had been seized by telekinesis, just like Vladimir’s knife had been. But it wasn’t Rarity’s blue aura this time, it was magenta…

It was Twilight.

At last, and with unfathomably good timing, she had recovered from her blueout. Refusing to give Inigo another opportunity, I thrust Vladimir’s knife deep into his belly and gave it a firm twist, evoking a deep and unnatural gasp from him, mixed with agony and confusion. Spotting the hot pink lambency around his weapon, it dawned on him what had happened. Turning his head, he saw Twilight and her glowing horn, and realised that she was the one truly responsible for his downfall. Gripping his shoulder and bringing his focus back to me, I quoted his own words, hoping to rub salt into this final, mortal wound.

“Seeing as you asked, I guess it’s only polite.”

Lowering my head, I brought my face closer towards his, and raised my lips into a snarl.

“I am Callum Tobias Horncastle, and I am the last face you are ever going to see in this life.”

Tugging Vladimir’s knife out of him and casting it aside, I gave Inigo a firm push. He staggered a few paces before falling onto his back, looking up at me with an expression of desperation and woe. He tried to mumble something to me, only for foamy blood to escape his lips. Soon thereafter, I realised that he had stopped looking at me, and was quite simply looking beyond into nihility.

For a short time, I remained emotionless, thoughtless in fact. I just stood there and stared at his lifeless body for what felt like hours. Blood continued to billow out from his belly and pool around him. The sight was overwhelming, and the thick metallic smell, intoxicating. I had done this; all this blood had been spilled because of me. Every captive and cartel member that had been killed today, had been killed because of me, because of what I had started. What was I becoming?

“Callum! Snap out of it!” Applejack cried out.

Her words fell on deaf ears, but then there was a bright flash, and Twilight appeared in front of me. Breaking free from the trance, I looked at the unicorn, where I found a face riddled with bitterness, and eyes clouded with untold horrors.

“We’re getting out of here.” she ordered.

Gulping and nodding my head, I asked her what the plan was.

“Get the others out, I’ll go get our bags, I know where they are.”

She took no time at all in trotting off to a different room, and I rushed to Inigo’s limp body in search of the keys to the ponies’ cages. As I bent down, I could have sworn that his eyes had moved to look at me, sending a shudder of fright through my body. Blocking out the ever-worsening emotional distress, I rolled him over and reached into his pocket, where I found the keys. Pulling them out, I stumbled over to the cages and opened them one by one. As the girls emerged from their confinement, they rushed towards me and hugged me tightly, completely unfazed by all the blood.

“Oh, my sweet darling…” Rarity whimpered, bursting into tears, “You’ve saved us…”

Looking down at her, I tried to reply, but no words could escape my trembling lips. Moving on to Rainbow Dash’s cage, I unlocked it and yanked the door open, and yet, she didn’t move a muscle. The mare lay there, completely motionless. She was so still that my heart skipped a beat, as I weighed the sudden possibility that she might have died. Getting onto my hands and knees, I crawled into the putrid space with her, and gently uttered her name.

“Rainbow Dash?”

At last, she moved. The poor thing, thinner than all the others, looked up at me with a hollowed out expression, and with the faintest croak, let her resignation be known.

“I’ll… never… fly… again…”

Dipping my head and sighing heavily, I did what I could to reason with the broken mare.

“Rainbow, I’m so sorry… I know there’s nothing I can say or do that’ll make things better, but we need to get out of here. There’s fighting outside, people are dying, I’m dying!”

She focused on me and saw the deep gash in my chest, still weeping blood. I put a hand on her foreleg and gripped it tightly, giving her the most heartfelt expression possible.

“Please come with us. I know you want to give up, but that’s not you. You’re going to get up, get out of this cage, and we’re going to keep moving… together, okay?”

After a slight pause, Dashie at last began to shakily get to her hooves, and we crawled out of her cage together. She waddled over to Applejack and leaned on her for balance, while I grabbed Inigo’s pistol and Vladimir’s knife for good measure. Twilight then teleported back into the room with all their saddlebags, along with my rucksack. After checking that all our possessions were still there, which thankfully included my phone, we made our way through the headquarters until we reached a back door. I kicked it open and we left the building.

With the fighting now taking place at the main entrance to the stronghold, it was easy for us to hug the back wall and remain undetected, until we found a metal gate which took us out into the jungle. I briefly thought about trying to find Nicole and the others. I wanted to bid them farewell and thank them for their aid and brief companionship, but one hard look at the girls told me that such an idea was out of the question. Every single one of us was broken beyond measure, and I was still losing blood. It was imperative that we made haste into the wilderness where we wouldn’t be followed, so that we could safely break down and begin to process what we had all been through together.

With a big breath, I instructed the girls to follow me into the brush, where we walked aimlessly for nearly an hour. The distant gunfire soon came to an end, indicating that the carnage was finally over. It was highly unlikely that the cartel had come out on top, we had them outnumbered, and by the time I had entered Inigo’s headquarters, we were outgunning them too. Either way, none of that mattered now, what mattered was that I had done it.

After countless days in a place that could only be described as true hell, I had freed the girls from Inigo Montenegro, killing the man himself for good measure, and toppling his entire cartel. As such, I had liberated Brazil from his monstrous hold, and although many people had died in the process, there was no doubt that I had saved countless lives today. However, as we walked deeper into the jungle, I couldn’t help but focus on one fact alone.

Twilight had chosen to save mine…

---

Comments

[MikiStenbeck]

“Lightbulb.” I uttered slowly, squinting my eyes and tensing my muscles.

at this moment, Callum Horncastle got an idea, he got a terribly despicable idea.

Gru is awesome. XD

[Mister Horncastle]

11907205
Not gonna lie, I completely forgot that was something Gru said.
I wrote that line and thought "This seems really familiar... "

I also love how that one line of text was the part you chose to focus on, despite of the sheer intensity of everything else that goes on in this very climactic chapter.

[Twanklight Borkle]

Inadequate workplace security is not friend.

[Mister Horncastle]

11907270
This is the best one so far.

[MikiStenbeck]

11907265
i had to tho, it was a perfect setup for that joke, :P

[RDgamer321]

Blocking out the ever-worsening emotional distress, I rolled him over and reached into his pocket, where I found the keys. Pulling them out, I stumbled over to the cages and opened them one by one.

I apologize for this overused reference, but...

"This...IS STEP ONE!

"SECURE THE KEYS!

"Now, we take...Brazil!"

"Ura!"

[Mister Horncastle]

11907336
That's almost fitting if you consider the fact that Step Two is 'Ascend from Darkness'.

[PonyJoe1]

Damn, now THIS was a fucking chapter!
There's so much to unpack...

Firstly, that torture scene.
Though I'm glad the drill scene was removed, Twilight being forced to partake genuinely made me feel like crying, that part actually broke me, especially knowing what I know from the 2nd and 3rd books.

The Stock Heap riot was awesome, it straight up felt like the escape from Vorkuta, which is funny because RDgamer321 literally quoted the Vorkuta escape. Fuck an animated series, I wanna play TTO as a video game and go through this damn chapter, killing cartel members and then killing Inigo. I'm picturing the fight as a cutscene with quicktime-events, like the villain fights in Far Cry 3.

Also, SPEAKING OF FAR CRY FUCKING 3...

Fleshing out Inigo's backstory and connecting him even MORE to Vaas was fucking amazing, to the point where I want to reinstall the game just so I can kill Inigo's brother too, along with that absolute fucking bastard Hoyt.
I love how Inigo's existence feels like a genuine part of the Far Cry universe, with Vaas straight up saying he SHOT the guy who told him the definition of insanity (i.e, his brother Inigo).
Now when I inevitably play FC3 again, I'm gonna be imagining Inigo running this damn cartel in Brazil the whole time.

Damn, this chapter had me more hyped than ever, even with the godawful torture...
GIVE ME MORE CHAPTERS DAMMIT!!!

[ghostcyclone02]

“Daddy-o tried to raise us all alone, did just fine for a couple of years, then poof, he was never seen again. We were found by the Rakyat, and being part native, they took us in. We were raised with a big sister, Citra, and we found ourselves in a big happy jungle family!”

THIS MOTHERFUCKER IS VOSS' BROTHER?