I had no reason to wait for her to attack first, I tackled her and attempted to do as much damage to as I could, but she knew what she was doing, I didn't. One shift of her weight threw me off of her and onto my face. She had used the momentum of my grapple to slip out of my grasp and stand like I was a bug flicked off her shoulder. She didn't care enough to fight me.
"Like I said, forget about it," Sunset told me as I stood again. She meant me being a fighter. I didn't listen.
Charging again, I decided to just punch her face, quick and to the point. She saw it coming from a mile away and grabbed the bottle of cider next to her and broke it against my face. I fell, bracing myself for impact so my horn didn't touch the ground. That side of my head had been pierced with glass, and I was now bleeding slightly from it.
"That chunk of your horn must've left with half your brain cells too if you really thought you could-" I kicked her hooves out from under her as she gloated. She hit the ground hard and searched for me with a glare. Finding me rolling to my hooves in front of her.
"Two can play dirty, ginger!" I taunted. Sunset took the bait with fire in her eyes. Now she wanted to fight.
The crowd of ponies around us moved away quickly as I stepped around tables, leading Sunset to where I wanted her. I pushed chairs into her path to which she kicked back at me. I angled the tables to stop them from hitting back and grabbed a glass close to me and chucked it at her. She side-stepped and the glass nearly hit Soarin.
"The loser pays for damages!" Soarin shouted at me. Then commotion with the crowd ignited as they began to place bets as we neared the center of the room.
Sunset was determined to break my nose as she swung wildly at me. I had no more chattel to move in between us, but the fighting ring bars overhead were going to do the trick. I hopped up and pulled the wall of bars down as Sunset was an inch from connecting a punch with my face, catching her hoof and knocking it onto the ground. Sunset winced from the shock of her wrist joint colliding with metal and stone. Next, I punched her through the bars and pulled her back by her jacket into them. She grabbed my hoof through the bars, but I made sure she didn't pull the same trick on me, bringing my elbow down onto her grip. She let go in a cry and threw the bars back into the ceiling, catching me in a barrage of attacks.
I tried to block the best I could. Dodging was no longer an option as she punched and kicked me into a wall. She wasn't thinking right, which left me with some room to jab at her as I defended myself, poorly. She was too strong and quick for me to properly combat her, leaving me at her mercy as she overpowered me into a dazed state of hurt. Finally, she stopped and threw me over her shoulder and onto the closest table. My body rolled across it with the dishes and I landed on the ground, unable to move.
Sunset was rasping with fatigue. Not because I had pushed her limits, but because she was angry. Angry that I had tried to take her on. I imagine it was as infuriating as it had been for me to hear her tell me to give up on everything.
Sunset started to walk away past me but stopped. Only to look down at me as I tried to move again. My whole body was aching, I knew I couldn't stand, but maybe I could've reached the edge of a table and brought myself up and continue the fight for just a little bit longer. But I didn't need to, Sunset brought me up to her eye level by my clothes, sneering with narrowed eyes. I wanted to punch her one more time so badly, but my body wasn't listening to me.
"I want you to know that you did this to yourself," Sunset said, "it wasn't anyone else's fault but your own, you chose to be here. You kindled the fire and you got burnt! Next time I won't let you off so easily, next time you'll be in a hospital, so go back to your peaceful pacifistic lifestyle, and stay there!" Sunset dropped me back onto the glass covered ground after saying that. I started to fall out of consciousness as I watched her leave knuckle brick corner. I had my flank kicked properly, and I knew it wasn't a fight I could win. But I laughed as the others stood over me.
"Did I win?" I asked, giving them a reason to grin as I closed my eyes. I now had a taste of true strength. And if I knew anything for sure after that, it was that I should pick my fights better. Otherwise, I might actually end up dead.