//------------------------------// // Duel 11-Laser Battle // Story: It's Time to Duel! // by thisissparta789789 //------------------------------// Several security guards led the gang of 8 to the door to the first level, opposite of the entrance to the first duel arena. When they got to the door, Twilight said, "Everyone, get ready." When the door opened, it led to an elevator. The 8 of them entered the elevator and found there was only 1 button. Pinkie Pie said, "Huh... This button says Moon-T 1." She then pressed it. As the elevator went to the next floor, just above the duel arena, Rainbow Dash said to Twilight, "I wonder what this will be." "Same," the horned girl replied. "Hopefully it isn't too challenging." When the door opened, they looked around and saw 8 lockers filled with electronic vests and laser guns. Applejack said, "Laser tag? Really?" Then, a TV in the equipment room flashed on, and Nightmare Moon appeared, saying, "This is no ordinary Laser Tag game." Fluttershy, startled by the TV, jumped and said, "Woah!" Twilight said to Nightmare Moon, "What do you mean?" "You will be facing 4 mercenaries I hired. They all have a lot of experience in wars across the world." The first mercenary's picture then appeared on screen. "This is Blue. He is a 15-year-veteran of Equestria's army special forces." The second mercenary's picture then appeared on screen. "This is Red. She was originally in a gang for 20 years as a hitman. She has no living victims." The third mercenary's picture then appeared on screen. "This is White. He has 23 years under his belt in intelligence." Finally, the fourth mercenary's picture then appeared on screen. "This is Green. He has 14 years of experience in the marines." Then, Nightmare Moon appeared again on screen. "Good luck." The TV then shut off. The door to the laser tag battlefield opened. Inside, it was dark, and the level appeared to be sci-fi, with long corridors containing prop computers and electronics, as well as stereotypical test tubes containing what seemed to be aliens. However, Twilight decided to step in and take a closer look at one of the test tubes. She said, "These aliens seem a bit sketchy..." When she peered inside, she got the shock of her life and screamed. "That's a real dead body!" Inside all of the tubes were the bodies of executed criminals, all killed by a shot to the back of the head. Fluttershy turned around and threw up before crying. Rainbow Dash comforted her. Rarity screamed, "What?! No way!" Applejack ran over and took a look at the body for herself. She stared at it for several seconds before shaking her head in disbelief. "No way... Nightmare Moon is a psychopath..." Then, one of the mercenaries spotted them from a platform above and fired on them. All 8 of them quickly dispersed as Applejack attempted to fire back, seemingly hitting the mercenary once but not doing anything to him. Spike clung onto the nearest person to him, which happened to be Rarity. Once the shooting stopped, he looked up and saw an annoyed Rarity pointing to his hands, "Ummm... Your hands..." Spike took a look at where he had clung onto Rarity and immediately jumped off in embarrassment, his face almost completely red. His right hand had grabbed her chest in the fray. "Oh my God! I'm so sorry I did that!" He then looked away. "It's fine, darling. No need to be so upset about it, though it did hurt when you latched on." She then quickly ducked down behind the corner of a wall as the mercenary returned fire. "I swear to God I hit 'em," Applejack said to Twilight and Flash Sentry in frustration. "But my laser had no effect on 'em!" Then, Pinkie Pie came running back from the other side of the arena, an unconscious mercenary, Blue, in her hand. "Look what I found, guys!" "Wait, how did you... Nevermind," Twilight said, deciding to not try and find an explanation for Pinkie Pie's actions. "Anyways, give me that mercenary's gun. I have an idea." Suddenly, Fluttershy screamed in pain as she was hit by a laser, her vest seemingly electrocuting her. She then fell to the ground, whimpering and crying, unable to move. Rainbow Dash ran over and picked her up, dragging her to safety with Twilight and Flash Sentry. When she laid her down, she shook her and said, "Fluttershy, wake up!" All she could say was, "It... It... Hu-... It hurts..." Twilight then realized why Applejack's gun had no effect. She yelled out, "Our guns are useless!" Rarity and Spike both said, "What do you mean useless?" They then looked at each other, wondering why they both spoke at the same time. "The guns we have are basically toys! They don't do anything!" She then picked up the unconscious mercenary's gun. "This gun, on the other hand, can and will shock you, as it just did to Fluttershy." She then handed the gun to Applejack. "You're the best shot in this team, AJ. Go kick some ass." "I'd be happy to," Applejack replied as she took the gun and walked out calmly to face the mercenaries. On the other side of the arena, Red, White, and Green were arguing. "I can't believe that pink-haired bitch surprised us and took out Blue by landing on top of him like that," Red said. "At least they won't have any more tricks up their sleeves. What are the odds of them doing a stunt like that again anyways?" "Don't say that," White replied. "It's bad luck." "Shut your trap with your superstitions, White," Green said. "Let's just focus on getting our pay." "I'm afraid y'all ain't gettin' paid today." The 3 of them turned around just in time for Applejack to shoot Green, causing her vest to shock her. White yelled, "Holy shit!" He returned fire, gun Applejack quickly got out of the way and ducked behind a corner. Then, Rainbow Dash yelled from the top of a prop platform, "Up here, you big horse's ass!" As Red looked above, Rainbow Dash jumped and landed right on top of her, knocking her out instantly. When White aimed at her, she grabbed the gun from his hands and deflected it as he fired off a shot before punching him in the gut and once again in the jaw, knocking him out as well. As the rest of the gang caught up, Applejack said, "Alright! We got 'em all without gettin' a scratch!" Fluttershy, helped up by Twilight and Flash Sentry, said, "Yay..." Rainbow Dash then ran over to her and took her from Twilight and Flash Sentry, saying, "You'll be okay, Fluttershy. You'll be okay." Twilight then took her vest off and said, "Alright, gang. Let's go to the next level." Rarity and Spike, bewildered by how they spoke together, continued talking about each other as they walked to the rest of the gang. "Well, I've been surrounded by people in the fashion industry for most of my life. My mother worked in it for a long time, and she and my dad actually met through it. So, for the most part, fashion and clothing is my path. How about you?" "Well, I'm like 3 grades below you, so I really have no clue what I'm gonna do after high school. I gotta get through middle school first, after all." Spike then nervously laughed. He was thinking to himself, "Don't screw this up, don't screw this up, don't screw this up... Flash Sentry looked behind him and saw Spike. He simply smiled and gave him a thumbs up before quietly mouthing, "You got this." Spike gave him a thumbs up in reply. Rarity then said, "You seem like a good kid, darling." "And you... You seem like a good girl, Rarity," Spike replied. "Er... Good person..." Rarity giggled in response. Then, the door to the next level opened. Twilight said, "Let's roll, everyone."