I used to live at Celestia's Academy for the Magically Gifted. Top of my class and my year. There wasn't really anything I couldn't do besides the restricted spells that only Alicorns could cast. I believe I corrected the teachers so much that I had to be taught by her Highness, personally. And those classes were always the most engaging. She gave me spells to practice that some Unicorns couldn't even dream of performing. I mean, I blew up things, like big things. And all for fun.
My life had gone exactly the way I wanted it to. I never had to worry about money. The Academy paid me to learn by the hour. Which brought about its own perks as the campus was piratically my own personal classroom for any pony to simply walk up to me and ask how a conjuring was done, or why certain spells had to be pronounced in Latin instead of English. I loved it all.
But like any tragic story, that was all taken away from me.
One night in the comfort of my apartment, I was staying up late again, studying for that month's exam. It was on pyromancy. I had books stacked up high next to my bed with old forms of fire-breathing to new age blue fire starting. I was planning to use a white flame for my main demonstration. I often studied like this to prepare for anything. A misfire, a correction that might've needed to be re-written and just about anything that could go wrong. But nothing I had ever studied before, could have prepared me for that night.
And it happened while I was glazing over my book in bed when I heard a faint whoosh of air pass by my window. I sat up to glance outside and saw nothing. So I quickly turned back to my book. Then it happened again, a gust of quick wind identical to the last one. But this time when I looked out the window, I saw something blurry and blue pass. My curiosity got the better of me and I stood up to check what it was. I scanned the corners of my vision without opening the window and then I heard the noise again, but no blur. Determined to see what it was, I swung open the window with my magic and leaned outside and saw a blue Pegasus to my right, trying to open a window to enter the apartment next to mine.
Is that a friend of Moon Dancer's? I thought, as that apartment next to mine belonged to her, a fellow scholar like me. But that wasn't the case. This Pegasus wasn't even a citizen of Canterlot. I would later learn that this Pegasus' name was Rainbow Hurricane Dash. But as of right now, she was just a stranger doing strange things. And that's when she spotted me. Flying faster in than I could follow. I turned to see her directly in front of me. Rainbow Dash was looking me over intently. She wore a white jacket with fur flaring out at the collar, and her rainbow-colored mane covered half of her face with a black baseball cap forcing her hair down into that style.
"Umm, Hi?" I said, waving a hoof at her. She didn't wave back. Instead, she grabbed my hoof, pulled me close to her face and said...
"You'll do."
"What?" I managed to say before being yanked out of the window. Dash was now flying West with a firm grip on my hoof while I panicked at the thought of falling dozens of miles to the ground. I screamed for help and tried to pull my hoof out of her grasp. But the struggle only resulted in my first dislocated hoof. Which to me back then, felt like it was broken. I would soon learn the difference between the two in time.
"See what you made me do?" Dash shouted over the rushing wind in our ears. I couldn't bring myself to move anymore, I just cried over my hoof, muttering that it was broken, despite the number of times Dash had said it wasn't. But at least it got me focused on something else other than the ground. I was subconsciously blaming Dash for my misfortune. But honestly, I was only making our descent into Ponyville a lot more difficult for us than it should have been.
I was being immature and prideful back then. Only thinking of myself, refusing to improve my character from others. How funny, that I now view Dash kidnapping me as one of the best things that could've happened to my life.
I'm getting off track. Sorry.
Flying into town at the time of night we did was something interesting. Never in my life had I seen such a lively population at one o'clock in the morning. Tons of ponies watched us as we made land and I started to crawl away from my kidnapper.
"Where are you going?" Dash asked, watching me pull against her as she tugged on my hoodie.
"M- My hoof, it- it's broken," I said, then Dash turned me around.
"Here," She said, grabbing my hoof forcibly and pushing the bones back into place. I felt a sharp pain in my wrist, and then a relief, it was bending normally again.
"It's fixed?" I said, amazed. Dash just rolled her eyes and grabbed me by the hoodie again, and dragged me along until we reached what seemed to me like a normal cake shop from afar. But under the cover of night, lit up with neon signs and flashing spotlights. It looked more like a casino, signaling anyone and everyone to come and see what was inside.
"Welcome to Ponyville, Dorky. And welcome to Knuckle Brick Corner." Dash said, praising this place with rustic ponies and shady strangers exiting and entering like a river of bad ideas just waiting to happen. I stepped back hesitantly before Dash started pulling me again, entering the building as I collided with every pony I stumbled past. Electric music and thumping beats blared over my thoughts and I barely managed to excuse myself half a dozen times amidst the masses. Then a misstep of my hooves led me to accidentally hit a stallion's drink onto himself, Dash and I stopped as he called out to me.
"Hey!" he said, standing before me with anger in his eyes.
"I- I am so sorry sir, let me buy you another drink-" but before I could say anything else, he lifted me up by my hoodie, and threw me halfway across the room filled with ponies that simply stepped aside as I flew by them. Almost like a routine, as if that happened often. I almost hit the ground hard, but I caught myself just in time before I did. Levitating myself in place for a moment before setting my hooves down.
"Man, starting a fight before the title bout? You're not half bad, Dorky." Dash said, offering a hoof to lift me up.
"I wasn't starting a fight, and stop calling me Dorky!" I said, declining her offer by smacking her hoof away.
"But that is what you are right? A dork, a dweeb, an egghead?" Dash continued, her laughable tone making me even angrier. "But I got to say, nice trick of the horn! Where did you learn that?"
"None of your business!" I shouted. Being called those things made me think of the bad parts of magic kindergarten. All of the other colts and fillies called me that because I skipped a few grades. Now, I wouldn't mind being called that, but a reminder of bad times was never welcome back then. So I took ahold of her hat with my magic and tossed it into the crowd. Dash's eyes went wide. Almost in denial that I just did that.
"Look, pal, I get it that your some kind of big shot from the city, but if you keep messing around like that, you'll have a lot more to worry about than a few harmless pet-names," Dash warned me, but I didn't listen. I refused to hear that kind of talk from someone who just dragged me to this town against my will. So I levitated a few chairs and pushed them at her, hitting ponies behind her as she jumped over them, which was my big mistake.
"Strike three, mother bucker!" Dash quipped as she charged me. I couldn't react in time before she grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back. I tried to pull loose, but that only made things worse when she pinned me up against the bar. I felt my stomach get plunged against the counter and all of the air in me came spewing out at once.
"Rainbow Hurricane Dash, good to see ya!" the bartender addressed my kidnapper casually. "New recruit?"
"Yeah," Dash answered, "just breaking her in a little, you know how that goes."
"Rainbow Dash, is that really your name?" I asked, tilting my head back toward her.
"Yeah, what about it?"
"That's a pretty girly name for such a hard flank," I said. Dash reared my head back, slamming me against the counter. The shock from my head bouncing from the hardwood stunned me for a little but I wasn't about to give up on escaping this place. I tried to get up by pushing my other hoof underneath me. I even went so far as to lift myself up with my own magic. But with Dash on top of me like that, twisting my hoof, I could barely lift my head to see the bartender. Let alone concentrate on breaking free. The bartender was fairly handsome for a being a Pegasus himself. Darker colored mane styled back like a flame and a light blue coat under his bartender outfit.
Dash wasn't letting up on me, so I did what any unicorn would do, and zapped her in the face with a magic beam. Her hooves went to her face and I made a break for it. Only to be tackled from behind by her a second later. That time I hit the ground hard. And after twisting my hoof behind me again, Dash pick me up and slammed me onto the counter one final time.
"You're just a glutton for punishment aren't ya?" He said.
"And a little more trouble than she's worth," Dash commented as I continued to struggle. "Hey, Dorky," Dash continued to say. "I'm not into pinning you any more than you enjoy being pinned."
"Then stopping hurting me!" I retorted.
"Please," Dash said with another twist of my hoof, causing me to tense up in pain. "That's hurting you. I was just holding you down, but you're the one who's making this difficult." I stopped resisting, and Dash let me go. Allowing me to comfort my stomach.
"Don't comfort your wounds, they'll hold onto you as long as you hold onto them," said another mare's voice. I turned to see a pale coated mare with a crazy blue and gray highlighted mane. Wearing a red jacket and sporting a pair of blue tinted sunglasses. "Name's Vinyl, newbie." The mare extended a hoof out to me. I think that was the first nice thing that happened to me that night, meeting Vinyl Tiberius Scratch. The very pinnacle of mastery if I ever met one. She was the arena DJ for Knuckle Brick Corner and the leader of Rainbow Dash's little group of fighters.
"Twilight Sparkle," I introduced myself.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Twilight. And welcome to the team!" Vinyl announced. I gave her a quizzical look.
"Team?" I asked.
"Well you see," Vinyl began, "My student Dash here went out to find another member to join our ranks since the last one kinda got hospitalized."
"Hospitalized!? Why?"
"Fighting, of course," Vinyl said, casually. "Dash did tell you that's why we needed someone right?"
"No, actually. She failed to mention any of that!" I said loud and clear, arms crossed. Vinyl's eyes shifted to Dash with her head still facing me, looking quite disappointed.
"Hey, you said to get someone quick, so I did, Scratch. If you don't like my recruits, you can find someone yourself next time," Dash explained.
Vinyl pinched the bridge between her eyes. "Whatever," she said, looking back to me, "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but how about you stick this out for us this one night and when we win, we'll get you on a train back to Canterlot, sound fair?"
"Ha ha, Funny," I told Vinyl, giving her a friendly hit on the shoulder. "But I'm just going to leave without any more pain, thank you!" I then saw the cringe on Dash's face out of the corner of my eye, just before I found myself yet again in another arm lock, this time a lot tighter.
"First of all, don't touch me!" Vinyl hissed in my ear. "And second of all, that wasn't a suggestion. We went through the trouble of bringing you here and you're going to fight with us!"
"Come on, I thought you were nice-" Vinyl slammed me into the counter. Giving me another reason to yell, 'ow'.
"Soarin," Vinyl addressed the bartender, he nodded. Pulling down a microphone from above the bar, he began to speak into it with skill and vigor.
"Ladies and gentleman! Welcome, to knuckle brick corner!" His voice amplified throughout the entire building, and tons of ponies cheered at his voice. "Tonight is the semi-annual Team Fighters Tournament! The rules are simple, get about six friends together, and sign up to win exclusive rights to the bar and proclaim yourselves as the number one fighters of the Everfree!" Soarin was being very enthusiastic and excited, drawing everyone's attention to him. "The first fight will be between the Knightmares and the Elements of HARMony! Play nice everyone, and remember, drinks are on the house for all participating fighters!" Soarin finished with a smile, spotlights shining on every pony in the match. We were all quickly grabbed and brought to the center of the room, where four sets of bars boxed us in, with another set separating us from the other team.
I looked up and down my side of the cage. Besides Dash and Vinyl, I saw the other three members I would become well acquainted with. Pinkamina Diana Pie, the drunken fist of our party. Abigail Apple Jack, the kickboxer. Alexandra Rarity, nicknamed the Swan for more reasons than one. Dash was the quick hitter, attacking her opponents with incredible speed. And Vinyl, the leader, known best for being one of the top fighters in Ponyville.
I was the only one that had zero combat experience. I never even had a single fight with my own brother before this. And now, I was expected to head into an all out brawl.
On the other side of the bars inside the cage were the Knightmares. They were a bunch that wore spiked dark purple armor, covered head to horseshoe. They stood in line like a six pony army. One mare at the end stood a little taller than the rest, their leader, 'Nightmare Moon'. A Unicorn accurately characterized after the fabled name itself, tall, evil looking, and proud of what her name meant. They were the first opposing team in the tournament. And sadly, they were also going to be our last.
"Fighters! Are you ready to rumble?" Soarin announced over the speakers, both Vinyl and Nightmare nodded. The crowd building in anticipation, the bars separating us began to raise, and Soarin shouted the one word that I now love to hear.
"Fight!"
And so it began.
Both sides charged with aggression. I, however, just stayed back against the cage. I first saw Pinkie and Abigail grapple two of the Knightmares to the ground, driving their heads against the concrete. The one Abby took down didn't get up. The other, however, caught hold of Pinkie's neck as she stood and spun around. Throwing the pink pony towards their leader who was watching the fight but positioned a punch to close-line Pinkie in mid-air. Already, two fighters were down in the fight.
Next, I saw Dash make quick jabs at her opponent. Each hit she landed made the other pony enraged, priming her to make a mistake, which Dash took as an opportunity. Spinning in the air with her wings. Dash kicked away an attack and redirected the other pony's head so hard that it got stuck between the bars, leaving the Knightmare too immobilized to fight. Dash and Abby made a look at each other and charged the Knightmare's leader. But they forgot about the other Knightmare. The one that had thrown Pinkie, rammed into Abby's backside, leading Nightmare Moon into a tackle and a throw. Abby's hard head met Dash's, and Dash stepped back a little dazed, providing Nightmare with the time to punch her lights out.
Knightmares, 3.
Elements of HARMony, 2.
Rare and Vinyl had their own battles to win. Rarity was dodging her opponent's attacks gracefully, attacking at only the most opportune of moments. But her pretty fighting style was her downfall as she made one miss-step. Resulting in a buck to the stomach that left her limp on the floor. She was always so fragile, that's why she needed to be perfect whenever she fought.
And then there was Vinyl Scratch. She held her own against two just fine, blocking and attacking as if she was dancing to the rhythm of the thumping music. Knocking out the two Knightmares within seconds. But when she looked at the rest of her team, beaten and defeated, Vinyl made a disappointed sigh and charged for Nightmare. It was a risky move to take but if she was going to have any hope of winning, Vinyl would have to take down the leader in order to secure a victory.
But even she couldn't challenge such a force.
I have no doubt in my mind that she could take Nightmare Moon down one on one. But the other two Knightmares made it difficult.
Vinyl and Nightmare Moon became locked in combat, their hooves bounced off one another, they both knew the ins and outs of battle. But given that it was a team battle, the others attacked without mercy, hitting Vinyl back and forth punch after punch, in a triangle formation. Eventually, Vinyl could hardly hold up, she was bleeding from her forehead down, but still stood. So in a last ditch effort to leave an impression, Vinyl reared back and struck at Nightmare in the face, knocking her head back, exerting all of her strength, causing her to fall onto the floor. Defeated.
And now all that was left was me.
Nightmare's eyes lit up with rage that she'd been hurt and raised a hoof to attack Vinyl. Who laid defenseless on the ground. I could just tell that it would do more than just hurt her, and I couldn't bring myself to just sit back and watch anymore.
I charged at Nightmare Moon. Grabbing her armored hoof with all my strength, halting her attack. Nightmare felt annoyed and threw me off of her arm and against the bars. I hit the metal hard enough that I couldn't raise my voice to vocally describe how badly it hurt. I couldn't move. But one look up at Nightmare Moon and I felt that if I didn't fight back, this would be the end of me. I swung at her and she blocked it in her approach, twisting my right hoof until it snapped. Now that, was a broken bone. Before I could scream in pain, Nightmare gut punched me and grabbed me by the collar of my hoodie. Lifting me up in the air with both hooves, forcing me to make eye contact with her.
"What mockery is this?" Nightmare Moon growled, "I arrived to fight the best this puny settlement had to offer and I am gifted with amateurs and a child!" I was scared for my life, tears fell my face as I looked into her dark eyes. "I don't know who you are, little pony. But this is not only an insult to me, but to all warriors!" For some reason that made me feel worse than it should've. It made me angry a little too, so I headbutted her after gripping her helmet with my only good hoof in an attempt to make her drop me. The sting from hitting her armor against my forehead felt worse than I thought it would and Nightmare Moon chuckled that I even tried.
"Humor, little pony. This is a headbutt!" Nightmare Moon corrected me, leaning her head back slightly, and like a bullet, she collided her armored horn with mine. I couldn't comprehend just how hard she had hit me as I fell unconscious, the snap and crack of my horn being the last thing I heard.
"So, that's what happened to your...?"
"My horn, yes," I answered Fluttershy, looking up at that bandaged piece of my skull. I honestly still felt a little useless without it working properly. But one look at my hooves, and I feel the strength that's been built in them since then. It's almost ironic that I value my body still functioning over the possibility of my horn working again. I now trusted my fists over my advanced skill in magic.
I shouldn't have been so surprised at how brutal that night was. Considering I had always known that our country wasn't the most peaceful. Once a war-torn kingdom, now a flourishing, 'colorful' society. Equestria still housed its concept of dominance and power. Most ponies are converting however to a less violent path with Princess Celestia the 4th on the throne. But I'd say just as many appreciate the laws still in place that allow our medieval ideals to shine, just like in Ponyville.
"Funny," I said quietly, glancing up at the rising sun. I really did miss that tiny excuse of a town.
"So, what happened when you woke up?" Fluttershy asked, raising a hoof to block the blinding sun.
"Oh, right, I woke up to my right hoof, healing, and my horn was broken, a crack split right down the middle," I said as I unwrapped the cloth around my horn, revealing it's gaping tear and a fracture breaking out to the right. Courtesy of my last fight.
Fluttershy gasped at the sight of it. "Does it hurt?"
"A little," I answered, "I can't use magic anymore because of its condition."
"That's terrible!" She cried.
"Ha! That's not even the worst of it."
"Oh dear..."
On what I assumed was the following morning, I woke up to the smell of burnt daisies. I sat up holding my head with one hoof, my other in a sling. A stinging pain on top of my skull wouldn't stop.
"W- What happened?" I asked, dazed.
"You've taken quite a hit that's what!" A deep voice answered. I looked around and saw a stallion colored dark for his palate, a unicorn sitting next to me in a doctor's coat, wearing glasses.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Dr. Sombra Slovic, but my patients call me Doc. It's a pleasure to finally speak with you Miss Sparkle," Dr. Slovic introduced himself while I sat up in a hospital bed. "All things considered, I'd count you lucky that I got you here when I did. With a concussion like that, most unicorns would have had more damage done to them mentally. But just from a quick glance," Dr. Slovic pulled down one of my eyelids and leaned in closely, "you'll be just fine!" he declared with a smile.
"Is she awake?!" asked a raspy voice come from outside the room. It was Dash's voice.
"Yes, Miss Dash, she is, do you need a check up at all?"
"No Doc, I heal just fine, thanks,"
"Rainbow Dash?" I said to the blurry blue figure.
"No! Don't do that, calling me Hurricane or just Dash is fine, only my dad calls me Rainbow." She placed a plate of sunny-side up daisies on my lap and gestured at me to eat. I eat slowly, a few burnt flower peddles got stuck in my teeth, which I then dug out with my tongue. It wasn't the best meal, but it was better than nothing.
"How long have I been asleep?" I asked, my head still thumping with pain.
"Yes, well," Dr. Slovic began again, but Dash cut in before he could finish.
"You've been out for three, maybe four days?" she said.
"Five days, Miss Dash," Dr. Slovic stated.
"Five days!?" I screamed, choking. Instantly, I started to think of all the days of school I had missed, the thought of being that far behind in my studies made me panic.
"I- I need to get back to Canterlot!" I said standing up, but Dash and Dr. Slovic pulled me back onto the bed.
"Hold it there, Miss," Dr. Slovic said, "I cannot recommend that you travel in your condition, you need time to heal before I'm sure you're in good health,"
"And about that, we also cleared your schedule for you, so you really don't need to go back to Canterlot," Dash said.
"What do you mean you 'cleared' my schedule?" I said as my tone dropped.
"Well, after you got your horn smashed in by Nightmare Moon-"
"My horn!?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm getting to that," Dash said, taking back the conversation as I tried spell after spell, not a single aura of magic lighting my horn. "At first we took you outside of the bar because we lost our apartment in a bet, and this clinic was a little too far. So we called Doc to come and meet in the park nearby."
"Yes, I would've worked on you here instead, but because of your condition, I needed to work fast while I could," Dr. Slovic interjected.
"And that's when we heard your phone ringing," Dash added and I looked for my phone, finding it on the desk next to me. The battery was almost dead but I had just enough time still to see that my name had been taken off of the school listings, meaning I was no longer enrolled.
"What did you do?" I turned to Dash, who leaned away from me as I glared bitterly at her.
"Promise you won't be angry?" she told me, I only waited for her to answer, my face become more distasteful by the second. "We didn't know when you were going to wake up, so we picked up the phone after the third day of you being out and we, not just me, we, accidentally got you expelled?"
My hoof reacted to that with an instant search for Princess Celestia's phone number. I let it ring a few moments before I started to bite my lip out of a nervous habit, mumbling for her to pick up. And after an eternity of waiting, there was an answer.
"Twilight," Princess Celestia addressed me over the phone.
"Princess! I swear this is a huge misunderstanding-"
"No, I think I understand perfectly well what is going on," she cut me off, my throat went dry, and I couldn't bring myself to speak up. "You were excited that graduation was coming up next year and you thought it would be fine to go party for once. Of course, it is very unlike you to do such a thing, especially before an exam. But you, 'friends', made it quite clear that after three or four wild nights of fun that you wouldn't want to take your education any further than you already have..." My mind couldn't comprehend what was happening, I was being scolded by my teacher for nothing. None of what had happened was my idea or my fault. I was knocked unconscious in Ponyville and there was nothing I could do to stop my expulsion. "And all this drama still hasn't stopped your parents from supporting you, I hope you know that." Princess Celestia continued, "so be very mindful of your choices from now on. I wish you the best of what's left of your future and I hope that your friends were worth it, good day!"
Those last words hurt me more than my horn did for a moment, as I heard the loud bang from her hanging up on me, while the dead tone of the phone line left me shocked. I was praying that this wasn't happening.
"There is another matter, Miss Sparkle," Dr. Sombra Slovic said. "Because of the injury to your skull, in particular, your horn. There may be a possibility that your horn will never use magic again. It is terrible, but there is hope in waiting for it to heal." And that too was another blow to my psyche. My ability to use magic was lost. And everything I had worked for since I was little had been taken apart in one night. All thanks to a certain Pegasus.
"You alright, Twi?" Dash asked out of concern, and that's when I assaulted her. Tears falling from my face like rain, my voice reached new heights that had never been attempted. I strangled Rainbow Hurricane Dash, shaking her uncontrollably in my heartbroken rage. And if Sombra wasn't there to pull me off of her, I very well might've killed her.
And what was worse, is that I had been wrongfully labeled as friends with those jerks. My pride had been shattered by that very idea. Never again would I return to my old life of studies, no matter how hard I tried. I could only go downhill as far as I was concerned back then. But little did I know, that I would soon gain new knowledge. Not by reading a book but by fighting for every second I spent there in Ponyville.
I would learn how to become, a fighter.