//------------------------------//
// fun and games 
// Story: The best party ever 
// by ed2481 
//------------------------------//

Five 


Two months later


Twilight was excited; Pinkie had declared that things were going to get more interesting at the parties, something about contests. She walked out of the Ponyville library and headed for Everfree, along the way she was joined by Rarity and Fluttershy, AJ was busy on the farm and Dash hadn’t been seen all day. They arrived at the mansion to find it very different then it had before, instead of the stately whitewashed walls large steel plates rose up several hundred feet into the air. Windows looked out of the steel walls and from what Twilight could see the place was packed, Pinkie was waiting at the door talking with Luna and some man who was dressed in a tuxedo. 


“Twilight you made it, I was getting worried for a minute or two there.” Luna said as Twilight drew closer. “We should hurry; I don’t want anyone to take our seats.” Twilight nodded and followed her marefriend inside after nodding to Pinkie. 


“So Luna what’s going on I knew Pinkie said something about contests, but it looks more like a sports arena than anything else?” Twilight asked.


“She didn’t tell you? This is going to be a three part VS event, there are going to be several categories and the people who fit in those categories are either going to fight it out, or try and achieve the goal in less time than the others in the category.” Luna said while she wove her way through the crowded arena hallway.


“This doesn’t really seem like a party.” Twilight said sounding a bit disappointed.


“Don’t worry you can get drunk afterwards Twilight.” Luna said with a smile on her face. 


“Um, Princess, if they’re the best in their appropriate field and they’re fighting each other won’t that cause a large amount of death?” Fluttershy asked looking around nervously.


“Yes, but that’s the good thing about this place, the only people that stay dead are the ones who Pinkie wants to, like that vampire who tried to get into the third party.” Luna answered cheerfully. After another ten minutes of walking they arrived at their seats, Luna must have been joking about losing them because they were inside a very well appointed modern glass enclosed skybox. Celestia was already there nibbling at a small cake that she held in her hoof, she nodded regally to all of them before returning her view back to the arena floor. Twilight was wondering how anypony could see anything from up here until she tried focusing on a spot and the glass in front of her zoomed in to provide her with a perfect view of what she was looking at.


“This room is appointed marvelously, so posh and yet stylish, the perfect combination of modern and old fashioned!” Rarity exclaimed looking around the room and taking in the interior with glee. 


“Tia, do you know what event we’ll be watching first?” Luna asked her sister who nodded.


“Yes I talked to Pinkie and the first event scheduled is the Human Archery Competition.” Celestia answered easily as she scanned the crowd.


“Why it called the ‘Human Archery Competition’ instead of just the Archery Competition?” Fluttershy asked nervously.


“Because normal humans have no special abilities when it comes to archery this way they aren’t outclassed by people like elves, or centaurs who are natural archers.” Celestia answered.


“What’s after the archery?” Twilight asked Celestia .smiled.


“Then comes the Dragon Rider Fight, no magic allowed of course because that would devalue the whole thing but it should still be quite epic!” Celestia smiled with glee at the thought.


‘So that’s why this place is so tall” Twilight said looking up at the ceiling which was easily two thousand feet above where they’re box was located.


“Yes the box also slides up for better views of the action.” Luna said. Suddenly the lights of the arena went out and all talking ceased and anticipation began to gather, after several minutes of sitting in utter blackness a small spotlight circled the audience before coming to rest on the center of the arena. On a slowly raising dais sat Pinkie and Spike, Twilight did a spit take when she saw him. Spike was wearing a long black leather coat and his mustache had somehow come back, even Twilight had to admit he looked quite dashing.


“Ladies, Gentlemen, and Others, welcome to the first annual Pinkie Games. Tonight we will see feats of skill and strength sometimes beyond what anyone of you could have deemed imaginable. So without further ado let the games begin!” Spike yelled into the microphone causing the crowd to burst into insane applause.


“Wow, he’s gotten better at this.” Twilight said in wonder.


“Our first event is the Human Archery Competition, in this competition five of the best and most well known human archers in all of existence will fight it out for the title of top archer! Here are the rules each archer gets one quiver of ten arrows and a five minute time limit, they must hit as many of the rapidly moving bullseyes as possible within that time frame. Because this is a competition of pure skill only arrows who have hit the bullseye will be counted as point bearing targets. Now to introduce our contestants!” Five more spotlights lit the arena floor and five more daises rose each one carrying a contestant. “Our first challenger is known as Robin of Loxley, otherwise known as Robin Hood, and he would also like it to be known that unlike other Robin Hoods he can actually speak in a British accent!” A man in green tights bowed to the thunderous applause and laughter, Twilight was bewildered she didn’t get the joke but Luna was laughing along with the rest as was Celestia.


Robin stepped off the dais and the rest of the arena lights snapped back into existence temporally blinding the crowd, when they regained their vision they found Robin facing a large line of targets that ducked and weaved in and out of each other with minds of their own sometimes even spiraling into different directions or doing figure-eights. Robin turned away from the targets and gave the crowd a small smile before he pulled three arrows out of his quiver and let fly, two landed with soft thuds into their intended targets, unfortunately one went wide of its target. Robin shrugged and strung anther arrow and with careful precision let sent it flying dead center into another target.


“Four arrows down six to go folks.” Spike whispered into the mic so that only the people in the stands and the boxes could here. Robin hit five successful targets in quick succession, before pausing with the last one on his string; with a quick smile to the crowd he launched his arrow directly into the back of his first arrow where it plunged through and into the target. The crowd was in an uproar; Robin inclined his head to the crowd and jumped back onto his platform. “Well that was impressive folks, although he does get an extra half point for pure style he also missed a target which means that we are forced to award Robin only a 9.5.” Spike said apologetically. The crowd booed but Robin held up his hands to silence them and in a striking English accent he said.


“I accept the terms, after all I did miss one, and that is far from perfect.” There was some residual grumbling from the crowd but it eventually died away. 


“Where this man comes from there is an old saying, ‘one riot one Ranger’ this man is the embodiment of that motto. During his young life this man has fought his way through several large scale wars, stopped the assassinations of kings, and even killed an evil overlord or two along the way. Ladies and Gentlemen I present Will Treaty!” Spike roared as a short man in a long camouflaged cloak carrying a massive longbow stepped off of his platform, there was a sense of enigma flowing around the man as he stepped up to the line. Twilight had the oddest feeling that she knew him from somewhere, and then it hit her.


“He’s Tug’s master, I met them at the first party that I attended!” She exclaimed, she was shushed by several of her friends but Luna nodded before turning back to the spectacle before them. Will drew his bow back before sending an arrow dead center into a spiraling target, his arrow head punched all the way through the target causing the crowd to gasp. He fired off another four with equal results, then with a slight smile on his face he turned his back to the targets before spinning around and sending an arrow into the center of another target which was completing a figure-eight, the crowd was deafening. He shot the rest of his arrows into their targets with ease except for the last one which he held onto just long enough to build tension. Then he launched it into the air in an incredibly high arc it looked like it would miss, but as it fell the target rushed to meet it, and the arrow sank deep into the bullseye.


“I can’t believe it folks; that was the most incredible feat of archery that I’ve ever seen that wasn’t done by a god of the hunt, 10.5 points for Will Treaty” Spike said into the microphone somehow managing to be heard over the roars of the crowd.


“How did he manage that?” Twilight asked no one in particular. From behind her a man in a similar cloak answered.


“He just watched for the repeating pattern and then timed the speed of the arrow’s fall, simple.” His voice was slightly scraggly but it was filled with warm pride.


“Halt, I was wondering if you would be joining us tonight.” Celestia said to the cloaked man.


“I wouldn’t miss it Princess, but let’s get back to the action, I want to see how the rest of them measure up to my former apprentice.” The next two archers who were called Green Arrow, and Edain the Aylward Archer, both achieved 9s much to their disappointment. The last one to go was a woman.


“Now it is my pleasure to introduce the woman who won the Hunger Games, led a rebellion, and still managed to have a better love story then Twilight, Katniss Everdeen the woman on fire!” Off of the last platform stepped a woman in a leather hunting outfit, which immediately burst into flames, the crowd ate it up once she was standing at the line the flames dissipated in a puff of smoke. Katniss drew back the bow and in a very professional way skewered her arrow into one of the targets. She repeated it for each target, not bothering with fancy tricks. When she was done Spike awarded her with 10 points, as Katniss stepped off the stage she, Will, and Robin were elevated above the arena floor where Spike awarded them with the appropriate colored medals. Will got gold, Katniss got silver, and Robin got bronze, they all waved to the crowd before vanishing in a puff of light. Will repapered inside Twilight’s box and embraced his former master who returned the embrace before saying.


“Your form was still sloppy, and you bet far too much on your ability to time the decent of the arrow.” Will just smiled and went to get a drink. Pinkie now approached the mic for the first time all evening.


“We have an announcement, unfortunately the Dragon Rider fight has been postponed till the end of tonight’s games.” The crowd booed “Instead we are hosting an arena match between two of the greatest soldiers in the galaxy…” the crowd quieted withholding judgment for the moment. “…Ladies and Gentlemen tonight I have the great present Master Chief VS Samus Aran!” the crowd went ballistic as A green armored man and a red armored woman stepped onto the arena floor which was quickly rearranging itself to provide a proper fighting place. Neither one was wearing a helmet; the red armored woman’s blonde hair was in a tight ponytail and she had a mature hardened face while the green armored man had short brown hair and a scarred battle worn face.


“Hello there John, are you ready to be taken down?” The woman asked with a smile on her face, her voice was being projected into the boxes through some unknown technology.


“What makes you think that you can take me?” the man asked her shrugging while he returned the smile.


“I’ve taken down a Spartan before.” The woman said, before Twilight had time to wonder who was who little names appeared above them that only she could see.


“I heard about that, I seem to remember something about her destroying an entire platoon of Covenant before she was ambushed by an unknown attacker, she then went on to help said attacker decimate the remaining Covenant in the area. Let’s see how well you do in a straight fight.” Chief’s smile got bigger and Samus growled something unintelligible in return.


“Now now save it for the fight you two.” Pinkie said hovering between them “Samus has all of her standard abilities unlocked; she managed to not lose them in some ridiculously coincidental accident on her way in. So Chief has full access to any of his weapons besides the Spartan Laser and may call upon them at any time during the match. The match will end when one of you is either dead or completely unconscious, remember if you do die then you will immediately be brought back so don’t worry too much. Ready begin!” 


Both contestants but their helmets on and sprung at each other, a shotgun materialized into Chiefs hands and he opened up on Samus who managed to doge most of the shots and the ones she couldn’t were deflected off of her armor. Samus responded in kind peppering Chief with tiny shots from her arm cannon the few shots that made contact with Chief dissipated off of his shields in little flashes of light. Samus punched at Chief who dodged under the blow and punched her in the stomach sending her backwards into one of the concrete cover ledges. Thinking quickly Samus rolled into a ball and sped at Chief who rolled to the side barely avoiding the explosions of the mines that she’d placed as she sped past. As Chief was regaining his feet Samus jumped forwards towards the air heading Chief’s direction and landed a painful looking two footed kick which sent him spiraling across the arena and into the far wall. With the initial moves complete Chief shook off the concrete dust and saluted Samus who returned his salute, before a rocket launcher appeared in his other hand and he sent out a salvo of rockets all of which were aimed at Samus. 


Samus ran forwards dodging the first two rockets as they detonated behind her and punched the other two rockets back at Chief who dodged first to the right and then to the let as they detonated behind him. Twilight had no idea that people could any of this but she sat in rapt attention as the fight continued to unfold. From under one hand Samus sent a whip-like beam of light at Chief who avoided it by effortlessly sidestepping, he inclined his head to Samus before several blue balls appeared in his hand. Samus sensing something was up charged Chief who jumped backwards while throwing the blue orbs at Samus as he went. She twisted to avoid several before one caught her on the arm and another one caught her in the chest, time seemed to stand still, then the spheres exploded in a blinding blue light.


Samus was sent flying backwards by the force of the blast as was Chief, once the dust cleared Chief regained his feet and turned to find Samus rising slowly to her feet; she shrugged her shoulders once and started to charge her arm cannon. Chief knew he was too far away to stop her from gaining a full charge so he pulled out a sniper rifle and began o shoot her in the head, unfortunately the shots bounced off causing minimal damage. Then Samus’s arm stopped glowing and she had a full charge, Chief threw the empty rifle and ran forward doing his best to offer as small of a target as possible. Samus waited until chief was with easy aiming distance before she started to line up her shot, she tracked the Spartan gauging his movements with her eyes until he walked right where she wanted him. With one last adjustment she shot the large ball of energy directly at where Chief would be, he saw it coming towards him growing larger as it came before finally activating his Armor Lock ability. Samus watched in disbelief as her shot dissipated off of Chief’s crouching form, she ran at him her light whip in hand hoping to kill him once he became vulnerable.


“That was a mistake.” Said Chief as he released the Armor Lock sending out the EMP discharge that accompanied it, it hit Samus in the air as she fell towards Chief her light extended for the kill. Her armor’s power supply drained before she knew what had happened and Chief cut into it with one easy cut of the energy sword that had appeared in his hand. The crowd held its breath, was Samus down? Slowly Samus staggered to her feet, her armor falling off in pieces as she regained her footing. She was dressed in a blue spandex suit and her blonde hair had come out of her ponytail, in her hand she held her light whip. A grim smile played across her face and she whipped a bead of sweat off her forehead.


“I’m not dead yet John.” Samus said mockingly, Twilight was astonished, how could she have survived that?


“Yet being the keyword.” Chief said before drawing a pistol and firing it at her head, Samus cocked her head so that the bullet passed right by her. Then Samus charged Chief her light whip taking the form of a short sword Chief jumped backwards to avoid the first swing, ducked under the second and parried the third with his energy sword. The dramatic crackle and burst of light that the meeting of the two energy weapons could have been heard in the booths without the aid of the speakers, the two spun and whirled their blades clashing together again and again resulting in flash after flash. Samus started to hover around Chief using her boots adding to the already impressive display of swordsmanship, Samus finally landed a glancing blow to Chief sending him crashing into a concrete pillar that rose up from the arena floor. The blow also sent his helmet flying off to another part of the arena; he spit out a tiny bit of blood and looked at Samus with a smile, to Twilight’s surprise he seemed to be enjoying himself.


They charged each other again both swinging their respective weapons with renewed fury, Chief gained a large cut to his left arm but shrugged it off as the piece of his armor fell to the ground. Sensing an opportunity Samus sped forward but was rewarded with a deep slash along her right leg for her effort. They smiled at each other again before Samus lashed out with her good leg catching Chief in the kneecap with enough force to shatter it and send him to his knees. Samus approached but kept her distance she hand and extended her light whip to an appropriate length and prepared to behead Chief.


“Any last words Chief?” She asked him kindly, Chief nodded and said.


“Yeah, you may want to look down.” Samus looked down incredulously; at her feet was an innocent little round object.


“SHI…” her curse was cut short by the following explosion. 


“There you have it folks Master Chief is victorious!” Spike cried, to the thunderous roar of the crowd.


“That’s great now can somebody please heal me and bring her back to life now.” Chief asked, Pinkie nodded and immediately his wounds healed and Samus appeared in front of him completely fine.


“Ok folks we’re going to be taking a short intermission while we repair the damage that these two caused, but make sure you get back to your seats in time to catch the next round!” Spike said into the microphone.


“Luna, that was the most amazing, and terrifying, and mostly amazing thing that I’ve ever seen!” Twilight said as she walked back to get a snack from their buffet table.


“From what the program says we haven’t seen anything yet Twilight.” Luna said with a smile.

An 
No hard feelings guys I made them both fairly bad ass but I favor Chief