//------------------------------// // Open Challenge Accepted // Story: The Mane Event // by BlakFyre //------------------------------// Pinkie and Rainbow trotted happily as they made their way to their next stop: Sweet Apple Acres; The home of their farmer friend Applejack. Rather than go right up to her house, they instead went out to the open fields since they figured Applejack was probably working at the moment as she usually was at this time of day. Their assumptions were proven correct when they saw the orange farm mare bucking apple trees as was her daily routine. Pinkie and Rainbow approached Applejack as she was preparing to buck another tree. "Yo AJ, how's it hangin?" Dash said aloud to her. "Huh?" Was her confused response. That momentary distraction caused Applejack to fall face first into the carton of apples she had already bucked. Rainbow and Pinkie quickly rushed over and helped her out of the carton. She had two apples over her eyes and several in her mouth that formed a smile. After getting the apples off her face, Applejack shot both Rainbow and Pinkie an iritatated look. Rainbow rubbed the back of her head and chuckled nervously. Pinkie simply shuffled her hooves with a nervous smile on her face. "Sorry about that Applejack." Rainbow apologized. "But now that we've got your undivided attention, we need to ask you something. Think you have time for a quick break?" "Well ah did have 30 more trees to buck fore ah was finished fer the day." Applejack stated. "But ah guess ah got time fer a break." "Good. Cause Rainbow and I wanted to know if you can make it to the big event tonight." Pinkie interjected. Applejack gave the pink pony a confused look. "What big event?" She asked curiously. "Ah ain't heard nothin bout an event tonight." "Only the biggest, most entertaining, high octane, action packed, superrific event of the summer! Pinkie exclaimed jubilantly as she tossed the flier in front of Applejack and let it unroll itself on the ground. Applejack looked over it for a moment and then smiled at Pinkie and Rainbow. "Ah may not be as huge a fan as ah use to be. But ah still love me some good ol' fashioned wrasslin." She announced with pride. "Good to hear." Rainbow spoke. "Meet us at Town Square at 4. That's when they're gonna start handing out tickets for the show." "Ah'll be there." Applejack responded. And with that, Rainbow and Pinkie were off on their merry way again, in search of who to tell next. Twilight had been spending her day reading books since it was her favorite pass time. Spike had been seated across from her in his basket, reading up on the latest issue of Power Ponies. Twilight had advised him not to buy those comics anymore considering that whole fiasco with him and the Mane 6 getting sucked into one of the them. But Spike promised her that he would be more careful this time. Twilight had gotten to a particularly good part when she heard a knock at the door. Mildly annoyed from being interrupted, she took her sweet time in getting up from her position on the floor to see who was at door. She opened it and was swiftly greeted by Pinkie and Rainbow. "Sup, bookworm." Rainbow joked. "Hey Twilght." Pinkie happily greeted. "Hey. What exactly are you two up to? Twilight asked suspiciously. "You're not going around pranking everypony again are you?" She added skeptically with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "Psh. Nah. Of course not." Pinkie assured her. "I think we learned our lesson from that rainbow cookie disaster." Rainbow knew that comment was directed towards her. "Geez I said I sorry." Rainbow piqued. "It's not my fault that nopony can take a joke." She said with an upset tone. "You made Mr. Cake lose a tooth and I'm pretty sure you gave Big Mac future back problems." Twilight reminded her. "Point taken." Rainbow admitted. "I don't mean to be impatient but could you girls go ahead and tell me why you wanted to see me?" Twilight rushed. "I'm kinda in the middle of a good book right and I'd like to get back to it as soon as possible." "Don't worry. This won't take long." Pinkie stated before she cleared her throat. "Myself and Miss Dash cordially invite you to accompany us to a lively get-together which features sparring matches between competitors of varying heights and physiques as they try best one another by either holding their opponent to the mat for a count of 3 or locking them in a submissive hold until they scream mercy." Pinkie said in a regal tone as bowed on one knee and presented the flier to Twlight, who took it in her magical grasp. "Ummmm....thanks." Twilight accepted the flier and read it. After she finished reading it, she looked at Pinkie and Rainbow with a grimace. "I appreciate the offer. Really, but I don't think this something that I want to take part in." Twilight dejected. "Come on Twi." Rainbow entreated. "We've convinced all the others to go except for you and Fluttershy. It just wouldn't be the same without you two." "Wait a minute. You convinced Rarity to go with you?" Twilight asked with an eyebrow raised. "Yeah. After 3 minutes of nonstop begging." Rainbow divulged. "Well I guess if Rarity is willing to put her personal opinions aside and attend this show, then I guess I will too." Twilight considered. "Sweet. Now all we gotta do is get Fluttershy onboard." Rainbow reasoned. "Easier said than done, Dashie." Pinkie sighed. "Oh. Right." Dash said depressingly. Pinkie and Rainbow saved Fluttershy for last because they knew that convincing her to come along would prove to be the most challenging. Fluttershy is more or less afraid of everything (with the exception of the animals she takes care of for a living). They were sure that seeing the high impact action of wrestling would frighten Fluttershy greatly. But despite this fact, Rainbow and Pinkie would not be deterred without at least trying first. Rainbow knocked softy on the door to Fluttershy's cottage. A soft, almost faint, voice spoke up from behind the door. "Who is it?" The voice asked nervously. "Fluttershy. It's just me and Pinkie." Rainbow assured her. Slowly, the door opened with the timid yellow pegasus standing shyly in the doorway. "What brings you girls to my humble abode." She queried. Rainbow placed a hoof on Pinkie's back and slid her forward to face Fluttershy. "Actually, Pinkie wanted to tell you about it." "Oh. Ok. What did you want tell me Pinkie." Fluttershy asked confidently. "Normally I'd tell you personally but I'll let the flier speak for itself." Pinkie said as she handed the flier to Fluttershy. Fluttershy took the flier in her hooves and read it to herself. After a while, Rainbow and Pinkie became nervous themselves because Fluttershy's face started contorting into looks of surprise and utter shock. They were both mentally regretting their decision to even bring the event to Fluttershy's attention. There was no way that Fluttershy was gonna be willing to go to this show of her own volition. But to their surprise, they saw that Fluttershy was actually smiling at them after she finished reading the flier. "I'd be more than happy to go with you girls tonight." Fluttershy said with a proud smile. Pinkie's jaw literally hit the ground and Rainbow had to pick it up for her. "Hold on. You're serious!?" Rainbow asked in disbelief. "Yes." Fluttershy confirmed. "I know this may sound strange coming from me, but I've always had a little interest in wrestling. The problem is that I've never really gotten the chance to actively watch wrestling. So I want to go with you girls so I can finally witness a wrestling show live! She said excitedly before slumping back to her shy demeanor. "I mean, if you'll have me?" She finished while rubbing her left arm nervously. "Of course!" Pinkie replied excitedly. "Meet us at Town Square sometime around 4." "I'll be there." Fluttershy promised. Pinkie and Rainbow then ran off back into town. Once they were out of earshot, they high hoofed each other. "I can't believe that actually worked." Rainbow said. "I know." Pinkie happily replied. 4:00 eventually rolled around. Ponies were already gathered in Town Square much like earlier in the day. Some of them never left since this morning! They all visited and talked amongst each other while waiting for the EWA Chairman to arrive. After 10 minutes of waiting, several carriages came rolling into Town Square. Most of them were carrying ring equipment and cameras; others were carrying competitors who decided to make an early appearance in order to potentially boost tickets sales, as well as to reach out and connect with fans. The first carriage to come into view came to a screeching halt in front of the crowd. A short while later, a finely dressed grey earth pony stallion with a shaved head stepped out of the carriage followed by a large white earth pony stallion with a long brown mane who was wearing ring gear and had a championship belt slung over his shoulder. His wrestling gear consisted of black wristbands, black elbow pads, grey underwear, black knees pads, and grey boots. He was also wearing a black T-shirt that had white letters on it that read: "Not everypony can be a STUD". A picture of his cutiemark, which was a muffin with muscular arms, was displayed just below the white letters. There were apparently some ponies who recognized these two as more than half of the crowd cheered for them no sooner they got out of their carriage. The grey stallion was holding a microphone and cleared his throat as he prepared to address the crowd. "GOOD EVENING PONYVILLE!!!!!!" He spoke loudly. "How y'all doin tonight?" His question was answered by a massive pop from the audience. Ponies cheering and stamping their hooves with delight. "Good to hear." He responded. "Now I know all of you good ponies want me to get straight to selling tickets. But first I just wanna say that you all are the beard and butter of professional wrestling. None of this would be possible without each and everyone of you. If you folks weren't here, then we would have nopony to entertain with a show. And I'm sure some of y'all are aware of my saying: A show without an audience is no show at all. So I wanna personally thank each and everyone of you for making it out here tonight. Now I'm gonna hand it over to my associate, the EWA Champion himself: Stud Muffin! Gordan announced as he handed the mic to Stud Muffin, but not before whispering some advice into the champ's ear. "Try not to have too much fun with the mares. You remember what happend last time, right?" Gordan reminded him. Stud Muffin merely laughed. "I'll try to keep that in mind." He said sarcastically. Grabbing the mic he spoke in a loud, deep voice. "Hey ladies." He said slyly. "You already know me. So let's not waste time with my introduction. No, I wanna get to know all of you." He said as he stared devilishly at all the mares in attendance. Every mare in the crowd began to swoon over the suave stallion. Well, every mare except for Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Rainbow whistled at the stallion while Pinkie just stared at him as drool slowly began to leak from her muzzle. The others shot them quizzical looks. Rainbow immediately straighten up and nudged Pinkie to get her attention. "Pinkie, you're drooling." She whispered as she gestured to the small puddle of slobber that had accumulated in front of the pink pony. "Whoopsie. Sorry." Pinkie said sheepishly. "Don't look at us like that." Rainbow spoke. "The guy's got confidence. And personally, that gets me going. Besides, he's as awesome as they come." Rainbow finished. "Plus he's a major HUNK!" Pinkie added enthusiastically. Applejack rolled her eyes at that remark. "Ah don't know bout all that. But if ya ask me, the only thing bigger than that guy's muscles is his ego." Applejack said as she stared at the stallion distastefully. He had been trotting thorough the crowd, hitting on the various mares that were present in the audience. He approached Daisy, Lily Valley, and Rose. "You look like a group of fine mares. Would you girls be interested in a: "Fatal 4-Way." He said sensually. This caused all three mares to faint collectively. He continued trotting through the sea of fans when he came across Lyra Heartstrings as he shot her a passing wink. She blushed furiously at that gesture, much to the displeasure of her marefriend Bon Bon. Lyra noticed the disapproving look Bon Bon was giving her and smiled sheepishly. "Aw, come on Bon Bon. You know you're the only pony for me. I just thought that you'd be willing to have an "open" relationship." Lyra joked. "Don't even think about it Lyra." Bon Bon said with a threatening tone in her voice. He never broke his stride as he continued trotting. But he came to a sudden halt when he noticed a beautiful young earth pony mare with a magenta coat and a light pink mane. She had noticed his gaze and began to blush slightly. He made his way over to her and smirked. "What's your name? Gorgeous, I'm sure." He said. "No. Actually my...my name is Ch-Cheerilee." She stuttered. She was smitten the moment he spoke to her. Big Macintosh, who had been present in the audience as well, rolled his eyes and silently scoffed at this stallion. He knew this guy was incredibly full of himself. But he couldn't help but feel a little contempt towards him. Deep down, he liked Cheerilee. He just never gathered up the confidence to tell her outright. Now this guy comes waltzing in to take his opportunity away from him. But Big Mac knew better. This guy only saw Cheerilee as nothing more than another notch in his belt. He wouldn't treat her right. But Big Mac didn't want to confront him until he knew for sure that this stallion was hoping to do more than just hit on her. "I've seen a lot of beautiful mares in my day. But none of them were as beautiful as you." He stated as he planted a kiss on her hoof. Cheerilee giggled to herself childishly. "Word has it that you're a teacher. Maybe after my match, you and I can go back to your classroom and I can teach YOU some of my favorite wrestling moves." He said seductively. That was the last straw for Big Mac as he stamped his hoof, which silenced the entire crowd. "That's enough!" He bellowed. Stud Muffin gave Big Mac a cocky grin. "What's the matter? Does the sight of my confidence make you jealous?" He insinuated. "Nope." Big Mac replied. "Ah just can't stand it when stallions like you treat mares like some kinda trophy. Or in yer case: a championship" He joked. "And who are YOU to tell me who I can and can't speak to." He asked. "The name's Big Macintosh. But most ponies call me Big Mac." He introduced himself. "I've heard of you Big Mac. Your family runs Sweet Apple Acres, don't they?" He questioned. "Yup." was Big Mac's response. "And your sister Applejack spearheads the whole operation, right?" He persisted. "Yup." Big Mac replied. "So that would make you, your younger sister Applebloom, and your grandmother Granny Smith her FARMHOOVES." He said, putting emphasis on the word "farmhooves". Big Mac took offense to that statement. "Now that's where yer wrong." He stated. "It ain't like that. What we do at Sweet Apple Acres is a family collaboration." "Yet, SHE'S the one who sells the delicacies to the ponies. SHE'S the one who manages the money. And I'm going to guess that the farm is listed under HER name." He said poshly. Big Mac merely smiled. "Ah know what yer tryin to do. Yer tryin to rile me up to the point where I'll accept yer open challenge." He figured. "Well guess what? It ain't happenin. Ah'm just gonna be the bigger stallion and walk away from this." Big Mac said as he turned to leave. But no sooner he begun to trot away, Stud Muffin called to him. "Before you go I wanna ask you something." Big Mac turned to face the white stallion. "Cheerilee is you marefriend, is she not?" He asked. When Big Mac didn't respond, Stud Muffin took his silence as a yes. "I consider you lucky. Not every stallion can have a mare that pretty." Big Mac glared at Stud Muffin suspiciously as he took a few steps towards him. "What are ya'll gettin at?" Stud Muffin shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just saying that a mare like that is quite a rarity. Be a real shame if somepony, or some STALLION, were to take her from you." He suggested. Big Mac took a few more aggressive steps towards Stud Muffin. "I mean, why would she get with a loser like you; When she could get with a REAL stallion like myself." He reasoned. Big Mac advanced towards him until he was only a few feet away from him. "Ah'm given ya a chance to drop this. So ya best take it and quit runnin yer mouth fore ya say something that yer gonna regret." He warned him. Stud Muffin simply smiled at him. "Trust me when my match is over, I doubt that neither me, nor Cheerilee will be using our mouths for TALKING." He said suggestively. Big Mac stomped his hoof agressively as he got face-to-face with Stud Muffin. "Buddy, you done poked the bear." He said venemously. "Ah've got half a mind to buck you straight to the moon right now!" "Is that a threat or a promise." He asked confidently. Big Mac then grabbed him by his shirt collar pulled him in until they nose-to-nose. "It's whatever you wanna make it!" He shouted. Gordan, sensing that an altercation was inevitable, stepped in and separated the two of them. "Well folks, looks like our main event has already been decided. Tonight, the EWA champ will take on Big Machintosh!" The crowd once again erupted into cheers and clapping. "Ah can't wait til ah get the chance to knock that smirk clean off yer face." Big Mac remarked. "I'm gonna make applesauce out of you, farmer." Stud Muffin shot back. It took all of Big Mac's self-control to not whack this guy upside the head before their match even started. But he maintained his cool. Besides, he would get his chance to put this stallion in his place later on tonight.