//------------------------------// // Fight Drags On // Story: ....The More They Stay The Same // by The Crane //------------------------------// Why did this have to happen to me? To us? Everything was going so well. Everything was falling into place. I was finally starting to have a life!! I had work. I had a husband (somewhere). I had a child on the way. We were going to get a house (someday). And then it all turned to crap. Shiftalac was called away by Dorkus. I had no idea when he would be back. I couldn't count on his support during this critical time. Because HE wanted him to fight out in space somewhere. And of course, that means he's not working here and I won't get any help from that. Shifty gets money sent home, but it takes months before I would have seen any of it... ~~~ "AMANDA!! Watch out!!" Her eyes grew to the size of saucers as she saw her impending doom. Fear had gripped her and kept her from doing anything. A stream of green flame billowed out of the dragon's maw while a blue unicorn was unable to escape it. When the Tonya-dragon had exhausted her supply of firey death, she looked down on her target. She anticipated a blackened horned pony in front of her. The water using unicorn would be a singed memory. "You okay?" Instead, Amanda was not injured as was thought to be. Casie had leapt in front of the fiery blast and shielded her friend. She stood upright on her back hooves while keeping her forelegs stretched to either side. With her natural fireproofing, she had prevented the worst from happening. "Yeah. A little warm around the edges, but I'm fine. Did she really just try to kill me?" Casie drops to her four hooves and turns a bit towards her. "'Fraid so. I don't think that Tonya has any control." "So is she just some stupid beast, then?" While the two were conversing, Tonya raised a clawed foot to strike down the red pony that dared to defy her intentions. She looked at her and was about to bring down thorny fury. "C'mon and try it!!" Casie shouts at her. "Let's see how tough you are!" But, Tonya turned away and ran after Bobbi. Apparently, the mute-gold unicorn was more interesting. And at that, she held nothing back as she slashed at her comrade. She roared as the fight picked up steam again. "What just happened?" Amanda asks. "What can I say? I'm the shit?" Amanda's eyes slid nearly shut at that. "Really?" she asked flatly. But, something piques her interest. "Your gem is glowing!" Casie uses a hoof to flip up the stone to view. "Huh. Musta been charged from Tonya's barbeque." "Well! I guess they work!" She looks around to find that there are four waterfalls throughout the grounds. "I guess I'll have to get mine charged too!" Above, the princesses continue to watch alongside their friends. "Sister, it seems that our enchantments are working as planned." "Oh, Luna... Was there ever any doubt?" "Yes, actually. You admitted that you weren't sure they would work." "Luna..." she coos. "Don't you know anything about dramatic tension?" Luna's eyes widen for a moment, but narrow afterward. "Sister, thou art full of it." "I suppose I am. After all, Honesty chose you, remember?" "Now We can see why..." "Shouldn't we be helping or something?" Rainbow Dash asks her rulers. "This is their fight," Celestia tells her. "We have to let them handle it." A yellow pegasus pony with pink mane cowers under the desk that Celestia summoned. The poor thing has never been very brave around dragons, except for baby dragons like Spike. Their size and ferocity always sends shivers down her delicate spine. Tyranno-teeth don't help either. Or the loud roaring. Or the fact that they eat meat. "I-Is that r-really T-Tonya?" Fluttershy asks. "Wait," Rainbow spouts. "What?!" "Haven't you been listening?" Twilight reminds her. "Princess Celestia has already announced it twice!" "Yeah, well, I've kinda missed things after getting zapped in from wherever." She pops up into the air above the balcony. "I've gotta--" she tries to fly in, but is quickly pulled back by three different auras--gold, white, and magenta. "Stay put, little one," Celestia tells her. "Have a cider," Luna adds as she passes a frothy mug her way. Rainbow takes it and settles in with the mug between her hooves. "I suppose I can just watch..." Pinkie watches from the balcony while waving a big yellow foam finger with '#1' in black lettering. She wraps a foreleg around Dash, "c'mon Dashie! This is better than Paper View!" Amanda quicky runs towards one of the waterfalls in the arena. Unfortunately, most of them are blocked by a particularly large earth dragon with attitude issues. She runs towards one that seems out of the way. However, Tonya notes this and launches a green fireball at her and interupts her attempt to charge her gem. The blue water unicorn with water affinity skids to a stop just before impact. "Oh, come on!!" she shouts as she dodges the blast. While Bobbi had been fighting Tonya, the dragon takes off away from her and begins to chase Amanda once again. Bobbi just watches for a moment as her target seems to have become disinterested in her. Amanda continues to gallop through the training grounds with a dragon quickly chasing after her. "Not again!!" Kat had come around by this time and joined with Bobbi. "What'd I miss?" "Tonya being a bitch," Casie remarks with a certain sass. "You okay?" "Nothin' a couple Advil won't fix. And now we're up against the beast of the century." "Hey, how hard can this be?" Casie asks. "Tonya didn't sleep last night. She must be exhausted. She'll run out of steam soon, won't she?" "Kat," Bobbi notes as she watches Tonya run after Amanda. "Our gems are powered by our elements. If you can get up there--WAY up there, you should be able to charge yours." "Okay. Then what?" "See if you can get some telepathy going. Find out what's making her so pissy." "Oh, I could give you a list right now! Wait!! Maybe Pinkie Pie can whip up some hashbrownies for her! That should calm her down!" "Hashbrownie the size of a pony," Casie mumbles. "Kat..." Bobbi says a little sternly, attempting to keep her comrades on track. But, the white pegasus sighs in defeat of her notion. "Yeah, yeah!! I'm on it!!" She quickly flies up into the air towards the top of the facility. It doesn't take long to pass the balcony and notice the others watching. She gives a friendly wave as she flaps her wings up higher and higher. Pinkie waves back with her yellow foamy. "Where's she goin'?" Rainbow asks as she looks up her flight path. Eventually she has to turn her head around to see her flying. "Ain't she helping them?" "Patience, Rainbow," Applejack tells her. "They have a plan. I think. By the way, I happen ta' notice she's throwin' off GREEN fireballs? Twi, does that look familiar ta' you?" The purple princess has a hoof over her face as she comes to the realization. "Yes. Yes, it does." ~~~ I couldn't believe it was happening. Everything was wrong. It shouldn't have ended this way. It was supposed to be the happiest day of my life! There had to be a mistake. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. I must have stumbled into an alternate universe or something. It couldn't have been my fault. I did everything I was supposed to. Sure, those others were a problem and causing stress, but I didn't have too much of a problem. It wasn't my fault. I didn't do anything wrong. This wasn't supposed to happen. ~~~ "WHY do you keep chasing ME?!" Amanda shouts as Tonya continues her pursuit. Casie has since started to chase Tonya on her own accord. Bobbi isn't far behind and occassionally shoots off a blast or two at the dragon. The shots don't do much, but at least get her attention. For better of for worse. Tonya stops pursuing Amanda and turns towards the other two. Her bulky form turns around to face her two pursuers. She of course roars at them while noting that Amanda has been able to escape in the process. She looks at the two. Casie on the left and Bobbi on the right. "C'mon, Tonya!!" Casie shouts. "Hit me with your best shot!" She hops around in a 180 and waves her ruby red ass in her face. "Toro!! Toro!!" Instead, Tonya swats at Bobbi and tosses her aside. She then chases after Bobbi's bouncing body and ignores Casie altogether. By the time that she catches up with Bobbi, the unicorn has managed to get to her hooves and prepared a defensive position. Tonya tries to swat her again, but Bobbi is ready for her this time. Other physical attacks are attempted, but Bobbi seems too quick for a lumbering dragon. "What is wrong with this picture?" Casie wonders as she once again has been ignored by Tonya for someone else. "Oh, well! Let's see if this thing works!" She raises her chin and focuses her attention on the jewel around her neck. With the merest of thoughts, it starts to glow. "Ah, yeah!" she says with a grin as she feels a wave of energy spread over her body. "That's more like it!" She charges the dragon again, newly inspired to whoop some ass. Up above, Kat sits on a high wall that overlooks the battle below. She can feel the wind flow over her. She can feel it brush through her mane. She can feel it tickle her coat. She can feel it play with the feathers in her wings. "Feels so good!" She looks down on her gem and finds only a mild sparkle. Much less of a reaction than Casie's own gem had. "Really?" she deadpans. ~~~ It wasn't fair!! Everything was supposed to go according to plan! Why did this happen to me?! My friends had no problem with it. Two of them went through it without a problem. One of them was even involved in some evil plot--and nothing bad happened!! Me?! I did everything I was supposed to do and still ended up a failure!! It was supposed to be the start of a whole new life for me, and Fate pissed on me again!! First my parents. Then my happiness. And now this!! What else is that bitch gonna take from me?! Why doesn't she just take my life and get it over with?! ~~~ Casie uses her front hooves to punch Tonya's rock-hard hide over and over. Her hooves have hardened with her powers which give her that much of an edge. "Yeah!!" she shouts as she delivers a hard blow. With her newly hardened hooves, she manages to chip away at the dragon's natural armor and knock a few pieces off. During all this, Amanda has snuck away and found a waterfall to hide/charge under. She smiles a bit as the energy builds within the gem. Her powers revolve around energy, so she can actually feel the charge growing within the gem. "Feels good..." "How's your gem doing?" Casie asks Bobbi. "Ergh. I need more direct light. It's charging, but slowly." She dodges another attack from Tonya and fires a shot in retalliation. But, she stops and notices that the wind has picked up in the arena. While there was a crisp wind flowing through before, it has started to become something much stronger. Both Casie and Bobbi look up at the top of the structure. Sitting up there as before is the newly appeared white pegasus. "Kat," Casie offers. Up above, Kat smiles as the wind is stronger than ever. It's not too weak to be classified as a tornado, but it is wicked enough to toss things around. She's well aware of its strength as she uses all four legs to hold onto the wall. On the bright side, the gem is charging rather quickly! "Now!" she gasps as the wind starts to return to what it was before. "Let's see if it works. Let's see if I can still hack that tiny brain of yours, Tonya." She looks down and finds that the dragon is looking up at her. The little windstorm probably attracted more attention than she wanted, but it got the results she desired. Tonya fires a ball of fire up at Kat in hopes of hitting her. It is a quickly moving green fireball, but it has a fair distance to travel. Kat is quick enough to use her wind element to magnify the beats of her wings and blow out the fiery projectile with ease. "Yeah, I'm up here," Kat says as she looks down. She waves at her as she is comfortably safe up here. "Try and do something about it!!" She closes her eyes, confident that she'll be safe at this height. She puts her hooves together, two by two. Her wings relax and droop across her back. ~~~ I died a little after that. All my plans.... ruined. All my dreams... shattered. All my hopes.... gone. All my desires.... worthless. I had become.... nothing. I didn't want to live in that world anymore. There was too much to remind me of what happened. I had failed. One of the simplest things that I could do. One of the things that I couldn't actually screw up. And I couldn't even do that. I'm such an idiot. Why do they put up with me? They had all mocked my intelligence, but I knew that they were just joking around. But, it seems I really was too stupid to get this one thing done right.... I really AM a joke... ~~~ "Try and do something about it?" Casie echoes. "Is she TRYING to piss her off?" She watches as Tonya continues to look up at Kat's visage above and tries to accept the challenge. "I think 'pissed off' is beyond the point right now," Bobbi replies. "Tonya didn't really want too many challenges," Amanda adds. "She liked things that weren't too hard for her." "Okay," Bobbi notes. "While the Big Bad is distracted, why don't we try to figure out what the hell is going on?" "Big Bad?" Amanda asks. "More like a mid-boss." "If SHE'S a mid-boss," Casie shouts. "I don't wanna see the final one!!" "Focus!!" Bobbi tells them. "What do we know?" "Tonya turned into a dragon," Casie replies. "Trying to kill us." "Well," Amanda adds, "not ALL of us." With that comment, both Bobbi and Amanda give Casie a peculiar gaze as they wonder why Tonya is seemingly avoiding her. She can only return with a confused look and shrugged shoulders as she doesn't have any kind of answer, either. Tonya meanwhile has tried to climb the wall upon which Kat has planted her white tuckus. Her hooves dangle over the edge which Tonya can faintly make out. Her large form stands on her back legs while the front press against the wall. She roars in frustration as she can't seem to get any further. "Yeah, yeah," Kat remarks with her eyes closed. "Roar all you want. Not gonna help you." "Seems Kat's on her list," Amanda remarks. "The way those two are?" Casie adds, "I don't see why not!" "But why not you, Casie? What do the other three of us have in common?!" Up above, the other ponies watch with increased amusement. "Is she not an earth dragon?" Luna asks. "Looks that way," Twilight replies. "They reside in the mountains and in ravines. I've heard they also live out in the desert underneath all that sand. Their shells form in relation to their environment. They offer protection and can conceal themselves within their dens as perfect camoflauge." "Yes, yes," Luna continues. "But, aren't earth dragons adept at... climbing?" "Pfft!!" Rainbow spits. "That wall's straight up!! She'll never climb that!" "Rainbow," Applejack says calmly. "Don't poke the bear." Still, several muzzles hang over the edge to look at the once ponified Tonya and wonder if by chance she can. She remains grounded, but her front feet are still up against the wall. Tonya raises a claw up on the wall higher than before. She roars again. She may attempt to fireball her friend, but she may also believe that she's too far up to hit. Kat could easily dodge, or the flame could peter out before it reaches high enough. Or it could just be snuffed out again. "She can't..." Rainbow asks. "Right?" "Aw c'mon, Dashie! Nothing's impossible!!" "PINKIE!!" a chorus of ponies growl. Tonya reels back and then quickly flops forward to smack the wall with her weight. Under her front feet, the stone wall has begun to crack. She watches above as Kat is jostled a little on her perch. She falls, but quickly spreads her wings to return to her position, albeit off-center from her previous. Kind of like if you shake a bird's cherished tree. ~~~ Everything was over. No negotiation. No deals. No extensions. I couldn't beg for more time. Or another chance. I couldn't redo this. It was all said and done. I couldn't change what happened. No money was going to fix this. My incredible powers weren't any help. There was nothing I could do to change this. This was fate. Cruel and simple. Instead of a chance to right my mistakes, I was cut off from even being able to try. ~~~ "So where did she get the dragon form?" Bobbi asks. "I know she can change into other things, but something this stable must have had help." "She's using green flames," Casie adds. "I've seen ONE dragon do that. Matter of fact, I've only seen one dragon since we came here." "Tonya can copy other people's forms in a more complete form," Amanda offers. "But, she needs to touch her Crystal to it." "Which is back on Earth," Bobbi replies. "Well," Casie wonders, "if she couldn't touch her Crystal to it, maybe she got more... personal?" "Casie?" "Well, what if she ate one? Or at least... a part of one?" "She was quite antsy to get back to Ponyville," Amanda remembers. "She must've wanted to go see Spike. What would it take? Just a scale or two?" Casie shakes her head a little. "How did she get Spike to give her scales?" Amanda grins a little. "Oh, I wouldn't put anything past Tonya when she's on a quest for something. While she was staying with me, she got it into her head one day that she needed a new TV. Nice shiny big one. I was going to help her out a little. Hers was kind of old and not working well. One day, I come home and she has a brand new TV! Just like she wanted. She figured out how to do it on her own. She blew up her budget to get it, but she got it." "Sounds like her alright," Bobbi says with a small smile. "And this?" "Rarity?" Amanda wonders. "Probably," Bobbi notes. "But," Casie interjects, "wouldn't she just change into Spike? What's with this, then?" "Earth element in Tonya must've caught the dragon powers' fancy. The two mixed it up, and now we have a whole new problem." During Tonya's attempt on the wall, she manages to grab hold of the wall and attempt to pull herself up. In fact, she succeeds in pulling her weight off the ground. Then again with another pull-up from her other front foot. Her rear feet come up and flatten against the wall one by one. "And she's climbing..." Cadance sighs as she watches. "Well, ain't that fun!" Applejack grumbles as she watches Tonya's approach. Celestia steps back and uses her horn's magic to flip the desk up. The gathered spectators quickly huddle behind it to prevent themselves from being seen. It doesn't take long before Tonya's larger form will reach the balcony's height. The various ponies watching the spectacle drop down from view behind the desk. However, a white horn, a black horn, and the tip of a pink horn can be seen sticking out a little. Meanwhile, behind everypony else, Rarity sits quietly in her spa regalia. "Oh, dear! Is there a train going by?" There's a moment or so as Tonya's overgrown abdomen stretches over the balcony's viewing and creates a scene of total darkness within. But, as the reptillian ruffian continues on, the light returns from behind her. "Hey, Bobbi!" Casie notes. She doesn't say much, but points up at the brilliant ball of light that is coming into view. "Will that help?" Bobbi smiles and aims her jewel upwards towards the sun. "I think so!!" "Okay," Kat groans from above the scene. "That. Is. CHEATING!! Bad Dragon!!" As Tonya reaches the top of the structure, it dawns on Kat that the building may not have been designed to withstand someone of Tonya's current weight hanging off of it so freely. But, the thought is delayed due to said dragon taking swipes at her. Despite the fact that Tonya managed to get up this high, Kat can still fly. "Tonya... You gotta calm down!! We're on YOUR side, remember?" In response to Kat's remarks, Tonya starts hurling green fireballs at the flying nuisance. Unfortunately, Kat is quite nimble in the air and is able to dodge the fiery problems. "Hey, Egghead," Rainbow wonders. "What's gonna happen if that thing falls off?" "Well," Twilight wonders, "I'd have to approximate her weight... factor in gravity of 9.80665 m/s squared... Assuming there's no wind resistance...." "Twilight, dear..." Celestia remarks. "I think Tonya's about to make a big splash." "If she hits the ground," Twilight says with a gasp, "the shockwave would critcally damage this facility!! She might even level it!! If we're near any city, the earthquake would be catastrophic!!!" "If she comes down," Bobbi gulps. "We're all screwed." "What?" Amanda wonders. "Hiroshima?" "No... But it'll be a helluva bang with three flattened ponies. I think that even if she misses us, we'd still be in a lot of hurt!" "How's about I just boot you off there?" Kat smirks as she flaps around in the air. "AWAY from all our friends?" Tonya continues to launch fiery wrath at Kat, but looks down at the ground. In her purview are three ponies on the ground. One red. One mute-gold. And one blue one. She roars loudly again and crouches down onto the highwall. "Oh... shit!" Amanda mumbles as she realizes what's about to happen. Before she can even warn her friends, Tonya lunges off the wall and collapses a large part of it in the process. Tons of bricks and pieces come tumbling down as the earth dragon jumps off and towards her 'friends.'