The next morning our six heroes were woken up by Pinkie poking her head through the window and yelling. " RISE AND SHINE SLEEPYHEADS IT'S TIME TO GET YOUR BREAKFAST!" With that yell, all of them fell out of bed. After some time on the floor, the Doctor said.
"Okay Pinkie thank you for the wake-up call. We will be down as soon as we are ready." He said while still laying on the floor.
"Okie Doki Loki then. See you in a couple of minutes." With that said she hopped off to where ever she goes at that time in the morning.
"Um wasn't our room on the fourth floor?" Asked Vinyl. Then the Doctor got up and said.
"Just don't question it. Now let's get ready before she drags us off to breakfast." He said while getting to the bathroom.
"And how do you know that she is going to do that?" Asked Derpy.
"Do you remember my welcome to Ponywille party?" She nodded and then realisation dawned on her.
"Oh. Yeah, we wouldn't want a repeat of that." With that said he closed the door and they were left alone. After that Bon Bon walked up to Derpy and asked.
"What happened at his party? I think I was in Canterlot during that time so I missed it."
"Okay then sit down and let me tell you." Said Derpy. When everyone was ready she started her story.
***
After about five minutes the Doctor came out of the shower and saw that Derpy was telling the story about that party. At first, he was a little mad at her for telling it, but then he sat down and listened as well, answering questions and adding a couple of things from his perspective. After they finished the story everybody else also took a quick shower and then they started to walk towards the bakery. When they arrived at the bakery they noticed that it looked allot like the original Sugar cube corner with the only difference being that instead of the yellow walls of the original it had black ones instead. With that observation made they entered the building and when they were inside they heard Pinkie say. "Welcome to Sugar cube corner. How may I help you?" She said and with that, they all stepped forward.
"Hello there Pinkie. How are you doing today?" Asked Derpy.
"Never Better. Thanks for asking. So what can I get you?" She asked with a huge smile. Then everyone looked at the menu and named their breakfast item. When everybody finished their orders she said. "Okay then sit down and chat for a bit while I go and prepare your orders. See you in five minutes." After that, she stepped into the kitchen and started on their order. our six heroes then took a booth and waited. In that time they were talking about their new friends and how they are going to get to Cloudsdale.
"So Doc, do you know the cloud walking spell?" Asked Vinyl.
"Sadly I do not, but I think I can learn it if I get the book in which it is located." After that, he placed a hoof on his chin and continued. "I think there was a library in this town, but I don't know if they have spell books inside." After that Pinkie threw something from the kitchen followed by her saying.
"Twilight let me borrow that book a long time ago. I think she won't mind if I let you borrow it for a bit. Just make sure that you return it to her when you see her." After that, she went back to her work and when she was doing that the Doctor started on looking through the book for the spell that he needed.
"Well, that's offly convenient." Said Lyra.
"Yeah it is, but when it comes to Pinkie you just don't question it." And after that, he found the right page and started on learning and memorising the spell.
"So what are we going to do once we get there?" Asked Bon Bon.
"Probably what we did in every town. We are going to snoop around, evade the guard until we find the artefact and after that something goes wrong and we are forced to flee the scene and go to the next town." Said Derpy. "I'm surprised you didn't figure this formula out sooner." After that Pinkie entered the room carrying a platter with their order.
"Here you go that is going to be twenty bits." She said while placing the platter on the table. Then the Doctor paid her the bits and she said. "Thank you and please do come again." Then she went back behind the counter and began serving other customers.
***
When they all finished their respective breakfasts they said goodbye to Pinkie and flew off towards Cloudsdale on one of Wubs records. While they were flying the Doctor said. "Okay then let me try the spell now." He then concentrated and after that everyone started to glow and then it stopped.
"So did it work?" Asked Lyra.
"Well, there is only one way to find out and that is to test it Once we get to Cloudsdale." Then he turned to Octavia, Lyra and Vinyl and said. "Just be ready to catch me if I didn't cast it right." With that said they continued the rest of the ride in relative piece. After about ten minutes of them flying they finally arrived at Cloudsdale, which looked allot different than usual. For one there was a huge castle in the centre of it and what looked like a colosseum right next to it which was packed full with pegasi watching what looked like a gladiator battle going on.
"Okay I know that pegasi architecture is based of the Greeks, but did we have to bring back the gladiators as well?" Asked Lyra.
"As much as I want to hate it, it does give us free range to check around without being spotted by anypony." Said Octavia. "Meaning we can get in and out of this place without Rainbow even knowing." The Doctor then simply nodded and said.
"Yes, you are right about that." When he finished he turned to Vinyl and said while pointing to an open space at the edge of Cloudsdale. "How about you land us right over there and we can get started with the search." He said while pointing to a town square. When Vinyl found the place he was pointing at she steered the record to it and landed. "Okay, then time to see if the spell's working." Said the Doctor while slowly taking a step on the cloud. When he noticed that he was met with resistance he put his whole weight on it and started to walk on the cloud. When all of his friends noticed this they soon followed after him. The last one to get off was Vinyl and when she did she asked Wub to make the record disappear.
"So where do we begin?" Asked Octavia.
"Well let's start with the main streets and then we will go from there." Said the Doctor while pulling out the map and when he did they started to search for the relic.
***
After about five hours of combing the city, our six friends were left with nothing to show for it. It is for that reason that everyone was now extremely frustrated. "Man we have searched through the entire city and we still haven't found anything. Are you sure that the relic is here?" Asked Vinyl in a frustrated tone of voice.
"Yes Vinyl I am sure and we haven't searched through the entire city yet. We still have the stadium and I have this weird feeling that it is going to be the trophy that is going to be given to the winner." Said the Doctor while putting away the map.
"And how are we planning on getting in and winning it?" Asked Derpy.
"Well, we are going to go there and apply for the fight as one of the contestants." He answered while pointing to a table with a bored looking pegasus sitting behind it. Above her was a huge sign which said that it was the application both. With that done they all nodded and started to walk towards the aforementioned both. Once they were within sight of the pegasus she immediately put on a fake smile and said.
"Hello, there are you perhaps interested in applying for the gladiator fight."
"As a matter of fact, we are. So can we apply?" Asked the Doctor.
"Of course you can I just need you to fill out these and you are good to go." She said while handing them some forms for them to fill out. It wasn't anything too weird just basic information regarding the pony that is participating and the rules of the game. Which were interesting, to say the least. Everyone was fighting like earth ponies meaning that none in the arena could use their wings or horns and if they do they are going to be immediately disqualified. The other interesting rule was the no-kill rule, which was a big relief to our six friends. When they finally finished they handed the applications back to the mare and after she took a quick look through she pressed a button and then two stallions appeared to usher them into the colosseum.
"Please follow us." They said in unison and then they all entered the colosseum. Once inside they were all quickly led to an armoury and when they were there they were all pushed inside and the door closed behind them looking like it was locked from the outside. After that, a grey earth pony appeared with a short black mane. When he saw them he said.
"Ah hello there. You must be the new fighters. My name is Hammer Strike and I am going to be the guy who is going to create your armours. So if you could stand over there and wait for me to quickly take your measurements." He said while pointing to a podium. Then he disappeared for a moment and returned with a measuring tape. "So what brings you to the Cloudsdale colosseum?" He asked while taking Lyra's measurements.
"Well, we are trying to win the trophy so that we can cure the elements and save Equestria." Said Derpy and after she did Vinyl punched her in the shoulder while giving her an angry look. "What?" She asked while nursing her shoulder.
"Oh, so you want to save Equestria. Well, I wish you good luck with that." He said while equipping Lyra with some iron armour which then turned the same colour as her coat. "So how does it fell?" He asked. After she checked herself over and when she made sure to check all the joints she answered.
"Everything's fine. Nothing is too tight and nothing's loose." He then smiled and turned to her other friends.
"Okay, then who's next?" With that, he repeated the process for the rest of them and while he was doing that he was also telling them about some loopholes in the rules about the fight. Basically, he told them that magical artefacts are actually allowed as long as you don't use your own magic to power it. He also told them about some previous battles that he saw and to say that they were interesting would be an understatement. They were usually ended by Rainbow stepping in and stopping a fight because the other opponent was too broken to continue and there were many other stories that he told them. When he finally finished getting them all set with their own armours the two pegasi again returned and led them to a holding cell with weapons hanging from the walls where they were now waiting to be called for the fight. In that time they told them that they should pick their weapons and then they again left them alone.
"So who wants to pick first?" Asked the Doctor. After he did Vinyl raised her hoof and said.
"Can I get the twin blades?" Then the Doc levitated the blades to Vinyl who started to put them on her hooves. Then the spear levitated towards Octavia who then took it. Then Bon Bon stepped up to the wall and took the shield. Lyra took the claymore, Derpy took the hammer and the Doctor took the flail.
"Okay, then we are ready. Let's just hope that we win." With that said and done they started to train with their weapons for a bit so that they were at least slightly ready for the fight that was about to commence and after about fifteen minutes of them doing that one of the pegasi returned and said.
"Okay then Elements of harmony, follow me it's time to battle. Since you were late entries you are going to be battling in the final round against the Shadowbolts. Now please follow me." And then they all followed him to the gladiator ring. Once there they entered the arena and waited for the Shadowbolts to arrive. After a while, six ponies entered the arena. They were the Shadowbolt. They also had their own weapons, which were all blade based. When they reached a certain point they stopped and after that, a booming voice started to talk and sure enough, it belonged to Rainbow Dash.
"ALRIGHT THEN EVERYPONY WELCOME BACK TO THE BATTLE. WE ARE NOW GOING TO COMMENCE WITH THE FINAL ROUND WHERE THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY ARE GOING TO BE FIGHTING AGAINST MY SHADOWBOLTS. WITH THAT ARE THE CONTESTANTS READY." She said and when she did the Shadowbolts immediately cheered and after that our six friends followed suit even though they were allot more reserved. "OKAY THEN LET THE BATTLE BEGIN." After that, they all charged at each other and started to fight. The battle was pretty gruelling and lasted about an hour, but after that, both teams were left with one team member left.
"Well looks like it's just you and me." Said the Shadowbolt while playing with his blades.
"Are you sure it's just you and me because I clearly see ponies sitting in the stadium." Said Derpy in a confused tone. The Shadowbolt then stopped playing with his blades and charged at her. Derpy managed to block the blades and even managed to get a hit on him when he tried to strike again. After that he said.
"Well I must say lady you may be slow in the head, but you sure know what you are doing with that hammer. Now come at me sweet cheeks." Then he charged at her again. Derpy quickly followed suit and then they were stuck in a power struggle after a minute the Shadowbolt grinned and headbutted her making her stumble back he used this chance to turn around and buck her straight into the wall where she promptly slumped down to the ground. After that, the entire colosseum erupted into cheers, but Derpy didn't hear any of that, because she slowly switching between her conscious unconscious mind, but right before she completely blacked out she heard the Doctors voice say.
"Derpy don't give up you are stronger than this come on show him and everyone here why you are the stronger than him. Just get him and we can get a muffin later." After that, her eyes snapped open and focused on the Shadowbolt who was currently sucking up all the praise. Then she yelled.
"You are going down!" Then she kicked off the wall and was on him before he even got the chance to guard himself. When the attack connected he was launched across the entire colosseum, but just before he would have stricken the ground he was again hit with Derpy's hammer and was therefore embedded into the wall. After that, the crowd again started to cheer and after a full minute of that Rainbow flew down from her podium while carrying the medal when she landed she said.
"Okay, then ponies we have our winner. Let's give her a round of applause." She said while placing the medal around her neck and then raising her front hoof. "DERPY!" When she did that the entire stadium again started to cheer this time even louder than before and after that, she dropped her hoof and flew back to the podium and again adopted her booming voice. "OKAY THEN EVERYPONY THIS CONCLUDES THIS GLADIATOR BATTLE. I HOPE THAT YOU ENJOYED YOURSELVES AND PLEASE DO COME AGAIN." With that everyone started to leave. After that Derpy returned back to her friends now wearing the artefact, which transformed after everyone left.
"Well looks like we are done here. How about we get something quick to eat in the city and then we go to the Everfree to get the next one." Asked the Doctor. His suggestion was met with positive results and with that, they all left the colosseum with a couple of bruises, but with big smiles knowing that their adventure is almost complete.