Flying South

by Skylight77

Chapter 8: Strength of a Pegasus

As they traveled past the door Spark led everypony to, the atmosphere around them became so dark and ominous to the point it felt like Nightmare Moon had made herself present. They swore they could hear some sort of applause on the other side of the hall. It was hard to see, but the presence of armors, chains, and spears could be seen decorating the walls they traveled. It looked like an armory, but it might've been something else.

Unknown to the two pegasi traveling close together, a filly pegasus followed close behind them, using the darkness to stay concealed. She could see light on the other side of the hall, and it didn't take them long to reach it. When they passed through it, the bigger pegasus that she was admiring sighed in awe.

"Whoa..." While Rainbow Dash was admiring the sight, Fluttershy felt like her stomach was falling. To keep her nerves in check, she kept herself as close to Rainbow Dash as possible.

The room they were in looked like an arena. There weren't any seats around except for a pedestal on the other side that stood high like a princess’s throne. A couple doors could be seen side by side from the pedestal, one larger than the other. Instead of seats, plenty of boxes holding other sorts of weapons and supplies filled the room.

But the center of the room was completely empty except for a large square painted on the floor, indicating the arena. Many ponies were gathered outside the square and applauding. Spark Fry, who had led all of them to this arena, was now walking towards them with a smirk. Fluttershy's heart pounded harder the closer she got.

"So you've decided to accept my offer," she made a slight twist with her head as she said that. "A wise decision."

Rainbow Dash brought a stern face and watched Spark carefully. "Enough chit chat. What do you want me to do? We've got places to be."

Spark returned the fierce glare, but was nowhere near as tense as Rainbow Dash's. Her eyes wandered until her sights was caught on Fluttershy again, who tensed up. Noticing the extra tense on her side, Rainbow extended a wing in front of Fluttershy to block her from view.

“Pay no attention to her. I’m the one who’s talking to you.” Spark’s face turned to unamusement at the comment. She kept her gaze on where Fluttershy was, despite being covered by a wing, for a few seconds before switching her attention.

“Why would you bring her here?” The question made Rainbow Dash’s blood boil and she released a low growl.

“What I do with her is none of your business,” Rainbow Dash replied. “And if you’re worried about her cramping your styles, then ignore her. You won’t know she’s here.” She quickly darted her head back a bit. “No offense,” she whispered.

Of course, Fluttershy was instead grateful that Rainbow Dash was saying this. The less attention she drew in here the better. But even after those comments, Spark still seemed displeased.

“One day, your presence with her will bite your tail.” Spark just simply walked away after that comment, heading towards the pedestal on the other side of the arena.

Fluttershy took a peek from under Rainbow Dash’s wing, her heart feeling like it would fall out of her chest. "Just ignore her," Rainbow Dash said to her. "She's no different than those bullies back at Cloudsdale."

It almost sounded like that was the case, but something felt off. The way Spark spoke, it almost sounded like something she experienced. Fluttershy couldn't make it out though. And she was too scared to say anything on it.

"Here," Rainbow Dash gestured to Fluttershy and pointed somewhere. "You see that lonely spot just between those two barrels?" Beyond the crowd of ponies, a section barely laid where one pony could schooch in, being the farthest from sight. Fluttershy nodded after confirming the sight. "Just sit tightly over there and watch me, okay?"

Fluttershy gave another nod. After receiving an encouraging pat, she started walking slowly and carefully to her destination.

The grey filly found her position exposed when the yellow pegasus in front of her started moving. Looking left and right, she hastily moved away from her position, heading to the nearest crate she could find and hid behind it. Poking her head out, she noticed the cyan pegasus she was admiring was flying towards the arena while Spark moved to the top of the pedestal.

"Enough delaying, Spark," Rainbow Dash started. "We don't have all day ya know. Just tell us what you want so we can get this over with."

Spark smirked. "Well, aren't you a hasty one. And here I thought a pegasus like you wouldn't be in a hurry for anything."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Spark waved her hoof towards the crowd before beginning her speech. "Gatherers of the Saddle! Today, I bring you together for a momentous occasion. An example of our arena has finally presented itself."

The crowd suddenly went wild with stomping and hollering. Rainbow Dash's eyes searched among the crowd. Not a single one seemed bored. They were all excited. But in the far back of the crowd, she saw Fluttershy, holding her place in the lonely spot Rainbow told her to be. The only one not cheering.

"Witness before you the answer to our example, a pegasus has dared themselves to stumble upon our kind."

There was a mix between cheering, murmuring, and anger that filled the crowd. Some of the words could be made out, ranging from; "Who does she think she is?!" "Kick her out of this club!" "Teach that pegasus a lesson!".

"SILENCE!!!" Spark's horn sparked with a blaze that lit up the entire area with a fiery heat that could be felt from a distance. The entire crowd became quiet in an instant while Rainbow Dash's eyes grew wide in both amazement and shock.

"This is no ordinary pegasus my good followers," Spark continued. "This pegasus has the strength to kick each and every one of your flanks, one by one." A few members in the audience gasped while others murmured with questions.

"Hah! She's gotta be joking!" one of the ponies in the audience spoke up. "I mean, we all know that the pegasi here are the weakest clan of the bunch! How could she think a pegasus could outstrength me, you, you, or even-" just before he pointed towards Spark, she fired a magical blast from her horn at him. A quick flash of light left his body in charcoals, all plummeting to the ground in a pile like trash.

Rainbow Dash wasn't sure what she was more surprised about, the pony's words or what Spark did to him. To say she felt like she was in a completely different world, didn't quite fit considering they were outside of Equestria.

Spark blew the smoke coming out of her horn. "As I was saying... many pegasi have come to our chambers, daring to show us their strength. We have all grown to believe that they are all foals. But maybe we are mistaken. Maybe they dare to challenge us because they believe a foalish dream. A dream that has presented itself here today.”

Spark paused her speech as murmurs started from the crowd. It was hard to make out, but some of the words ranged from, “She can’t be serious.” “Is she bringing that up again?” “Could it possibly be true?”.

Spark let the murmurs sink in for a while till she was satisfied. “That’s right! The legendary pegasus that saved our town from a dragon, has returned!” The spark from Spark’s horn lit a light from above that shined below, bringing all attention to Rainbow Dash.

Another collection of gasps sounded along with more murmurs. Rainbow Dash’s nerves were hooked. Their expectations of her were insane.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash shouted towards Spark. “Didn’t we just talk about this? I am not the pegasus that you are looking for!”

Spark just smiled. “We shall be the judge of that!” Her horn started flaring once again. The smaller door to the left of the pedestal started opening. Before they could see what was coming out, a large thumps from the ground presented itself. “Whether you’re the pegasus or not, your strength shall be tested, with the duel of the titan!”

Rainbow Dash hovered in the air as the tramples became more rough. Some of the ponies from the crowd stomped their hooves in sync with the thumps. Being in the crowd, Fluttershy’s heart skipped each time the ground thumped. Soon, the source of the thumping became present. Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide.

A large pony had appeared from those doors, emitting cheers from the massive crowd as the lights shone on him. His entrance to the arena caused a rumble that shook the crowd, making Fluttershy the only one to lose balance.

Rainbow Dash took a good look at his features. He was a green earth pony with two different shades of brown mane and tail. His cutie mark looked like an actual mountain, and based on this pony’s size, she could see why. He was about the size of Princess Celestia, but his legs were much more bulky.

Fluttershy covered her mouth as the hulking giant growled at Rainbow Dash. She wasn’t sure if she could bare to witness this.

The spying filly could barely contain her breaths as her mouth held excitingly wide. If she wasn’t trying to stay hidden, she would cheer as loud as the audience were cheering.

Rainbow Dash kept her altitude as she stared at this, as Spark put it, titan. The way he stared her down looked as if his mind was lost. All he wanted to do was hurt somepony for the sake of entertainment. And that pony was her.

“Let the match begin!”

Spark’s words immediately sprung the titan into action. Rainbow Dash cringed, but flew out of the way as soon as the titan struck, hitting only ground that kicked up dust.

Rainbow Dash turned around and struck him from behind. She thought that would do some damage, but the titan didn’t even flinch. All it did was make the titan spin around while striking with his large hoof. Rainbow Dash barely managed to avoid contact. She looped around him and tried to go for another strike with a dive kick. But this time, the titan blocked with his hoof.

“Gah!” Rainbow Dash couldn’t pull her altitude back up in time. His hoof made contact with the back of her head, knocking her down and bouncing her off the ground. Then he struck again with his back legs.

Fluttershy squeaked as if she was in pain when Rainbow Dash got kicked. She could see Rainbow’s squeezed eyes from being knocked back like that. It was too painful to watch. She could barely keep herself from screaming.

Rainbow’s body turned before she hit the ground, sliding on her stomach before stopping. Her head was ringing like she had crashed face first against a sign. She could practically see stars, except there weren’t any here. But she could still hear the crowd.

The words were hard to make out, but it sounded like it ranged from, ‘You call that the legendary pegasus?’ ‘Boo!’ ‘Yeah! Teach that pegasus a lesson!’.

Rainbow Dash slowly picked her head up and shook it. She looked towards the crowd to see how restless they were. All those horrible things they were saying about pegasi was hurting her pride now. She noticed Spark, slowly shaking her head in disappointment.

And then she noticed Fluttershy, cowering where she stood, hidden. If they had noticed her presence, their points about the pegasi would only prove further.

It all made sense now. This wasn’t just some silly competition for entertainment. This was to prove that other ponies could have just as much strength as earth ponies. If there was one thing all the ponies in the Saddle Plateau had in common, is that they were all earth ponies.

But Spark wasn’t an earth pony. She was a unicorn. And that was the key. Everypony here was always talking about strength. But strength isn’t everything. And that’s where the unicorns and pegasi shine.

Rainbow Dash slowly picked herself up with a new resolve. This was no longer about winning. This was about defending the pegasi’s honor. She turned to see the titan staring her down in a fierce glare.

“You will regret getting back up when I’m through with you!” The titan spoke. Rainbow Dash could smell his breath from here. It was like all this pony thought about was just hurting others to prove his strength.

And then, Rainbow Dash smiled. It was time that she proved something to everypony here.

“Are you kidding?” she said with a laugh. “That didn’t hurt one bit!”

The little filly in the audience was just about to leave, until she heard that. Her ears perked up and she looked back at the arena.

“You call that strength? My little sister could hit harder than you!”

Fluttershy’s attention was caught. She wondered if she was being referred to as a little sister, even though she was older. But what she noticed was Rainbow Dash’s fearless attitude sparking again. Even staring down the face of this snorting titan of a pony, she didn’t back down her threats.

Rainbow Dash motion a hoof at the titan and motioned towards herself. “Come on! Show me what you can really do!”

As the titan roared, one of the ponies in the audience shouted, “You’re dead pegasus!”

The titan launched himself up high in Rainbow’s direction. Intending to crush the pegasus with his weight, he let himself fall bottom first. Rainbow Dash waited until the last second before stepping away quickly. A rough quake came upon the titan’s landing, but Rainbow was unfazed.

“Hah! is that the best you’ve got?” Rainbow taunted in his face. The enraged titan growled and threw his hoof at her. But Rainbow moved away and… seemingly stopped it with her own hoof.

Large gasps dispersed from the crowd. Before the titan could react, his face was met with Rainbow’s other hoof. Learning from her earlier mistake, Rainbow dodged away from the titan’s retaliation, leaving her untouched.

“Weak,” Rainbow spoke in his ear. The titan spun around and pounded with his hooves, only hitting ground. With Rainbow Dash behind him, the titan bucked with his hind legs, only for Rainbow Dash to slap one of them back down as soon as it lost momentum.

Fluttershy’s worries were fading away the more Rainbow spinned circles around this titan. The crowd continued to cheer as this fight went on. Some of them cheered for Rainbow Dash. Others cheered for the titan.

One voice in the crowd however, stood out. “You can’t be serious! Come on! Kill that pegasus! She can’t be stronger than you! Stop fooling around!”

The hiding little filly’s wide open smile had returned. Her little wings were practically fluttering on their own. Her heart beat refused to slow down. This was better than any of those old comics of heroes beating up the bad ponies. She almost wanted to bite herself to see if she was dreaming. This was…

“The legend…” the filly whispered to herself.

With fierce grunts, the titan looked to his left. He then looked to his right. Back to the left. He did not see the pegasus anywhere. But when he noticed his head felt heavy, his eyes looked up.

Rainbow Dash chuckled a bit, slowly waving a wing down at him. “You’re probably the weakest pony I’ve ever met.” The titan’s face grew red with fury. Rainbow Dash could practically feel the steam coming out of his ears. While the titan lifted his fore hooves, She extended her wings in a simultaneous motion.

As soon as the titan brought his hooves down, Rainbow Dash flapped. The titan struck only his forehead. Stars of multiple colors were practically flung out of his head and floating by. Rainbow Dash had lifted her altitude as high as this building would let her before descending back down.

Now was the time to show what her strength could do when she combined it with her speed. With all of her strength, she struck down in the center of his head with both of her hooves, causing the stars floating about to vaporize in rainbow sparkles as his body practically squished. Bouncing off of his body, Rainbow Dash flipped herself and landed on her hooves, facing the crowd. The titan behind her slowly collapsed forwards. His fall made the arena shake a bit.

The battle was over. Rainbow Dash released a pleasant sigh and looked back at the titan. The titan groaned painfully.

“No… How could I die? By a weak... little pegasus?” Rainbow Dash gave him a strange look. His hoof lifted shakily up in the air like he was pleading. “Mother… forgive me…” And then his hoof dropped. Silence reigned for a few seconds, with Rainbow Dash just staring at his body.

“Dramatic much?” she said. “I didn’t hit him that hard…” The thought of brain damage came up. “Or, did I?”

Suddenly the crowd went wild with cheers. The filly was bouncing up and down to release her thrills. Fluttershy released a breath of relief at the sight of Rainbow Dash being okay. The crowd was full of hollering and hooves waving out. One pony in the crowd however was enraged.

“This can’t be happening! Get up! You can’t lose to a pegasus! This is not-” Another pony in the crowd silenced him.

“Wow… what’s with this crowd?” Rainbow Dash chuckled under her breath. “They’re more wild than the ponies at Ponyville attending one of Pinkie Pie’s parties.” She took a look towards the pedestal, noticing Spark giving off a proud smile.

“Gatherers of the Saddle!” Spark started. The crowd didn’t calm down, but she continued while pointing towards Rainbow Dash. “Rejoice and behold! For our legend has returned!”

The crowd went on to cheer louder, too loud for Fluttershy’s ears to handle. She had to plug her ears while Rainbow Dash groaned.

“Darn it, I’m not the pegasus they’re talking about,” she said under her breath. “What will it take to get this through to their heads?”

“Now legend,” Spark continued. “Let us put this tournament to a close.” There was a pause as the audience went silent. “Finish off your opponent.”

Rainbow Dash gave Spark an odd look. Her eyes shifted slowly to the downed titan, and then back to her. “Uh… he’s kinda down already?”

Spark’s expression shifted to a stern look. “You know what I mean. The battle is not won until your opponent is finished for good.”

Rainbow Dash’s attention returned to the titan. A few murmurs could be heard from the crowd. But they were so silent that not even Fluttershy could make them out.

“But… he’s not even getting up. In fact, it looks like he’s already given up fighting, almost like he just…” Rainbow stopped. Something had clicked in her mind. The last words that the titan had said, those words that sounded way too dramatic for a time like this.

Both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy’s ears dropped. Fluttershy covered her mouth in shock while Rainbow Dash looked to Spark in disbelief. Two words came from Spark’s mouth that confirmed what they feared.

“Kill him.”

Author's Note:

Hiatus is a jerk. Once you get into one, it's very hard to come out of it. But hopefully that Hiatus improves the quality of this story.

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Find any errors? Please notify.

Feed back and criticism are appreciated.

Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoy.

Comments

[Mares-a-Mares]

I agree. And this is intense.

[Starlight Nova]

So... how did Rainbow Dash knock out that big pony so quickly? I know she's strong and a good fighter, but she isn't a completely unstoppable badass. ...Not this story has become bad, it's just that this isn't Austraeoh.

[Skylight77]

6625462 I plan to go more in depth on this in the next chapter, but basically, when Rainbow Dash catches enough speed, she can cause this destructive force with her own power: i.imgur.com/VVH4H2r.png

Even without the open air, her speed within forest altitudes is capable of breaking through the trunks of 4 trees in a row, with precision. The only thing protecting that titan pony, was his head, to which, like mentioned in this story, Rainbow Dash wondered if that caused brain damage.