//------------------------------// // 13 : The Tournament and The Rage // Story: Fighters Don't Have Friends // by BackroundVoice //------------------------------// "So, is the Princess coming to our celebration or something? Cause to me, this seems more like a Wonderbolts show than a tournament," Dash said as we looked on at the large congregation of Ponies that surrounded knuckle brick corner. The entire town must be here. "Doubtful," Rare stated, "the guard would be lining us up like a bunch of school ponies if that were the case. Besides, I believe her highness is visiting Cloudsdale, this year." "Oh well," I said, taking the lead as we walked into the crowd. At first, we struggled to get through them all, but as more began to notice who we were, the masses parted, allowing us to reach the bar counter easily. Abby and Pinkie pushed a few Ponies aside for us to sit on the stools. Soarin and the Cakes were all up and rushing in and out of the kitchen to satisfy the surplus of customers. "I can't express how happy I am to see you guys," Soarin spoke to us as he placed a heavy stack of dishes onto the countertop. "Now that we have every contestant here, we can finally start." Soarin was likely saying that for his and the Cake's sake. As this place had hardly ever this much business, even on their busiest nights. Since yesterday, Fiona had gone off on her own in search of a place to stay, so we arrived without her. But from the sound of it, she was around here somewhere. No doubt keeping to herself, hidden in the crowd. It was almost noon. Just before the official celebration began. And yet, this was the main attraction. A fighter's tournament, right in the middle of Ponyville. "Any idea why there are so many Ponies here?" I asked. "Because it's violence, and most are particularly addicted to it," answered a familiar deep voice, interrupting Soarin before he could speak. "Doc!" we all sounded off as we faced the lab coated Unicorn sitting at the bar. "Welcome back, Twilight," Dr. Sombra said warmly. He was drinking, and from the looks of the already empty bottle, it had already been a lot. "Good to be back, why are you here?" "To keep you misfits alive, Celestia knows you need somepony to put you back together," he downed one last glass, hitting it to the table surface with a bang. He looked done. "Is that all?" "Why else, I have no other patients, all of the work is here," he laughed, looking at me with a weak expression. "This is also where I enjoyed listening to all of the young people music. But now it's just stale." Dr. Sombra was right. The thumping beats didn't sound the same without her. This place, this world, was never going to be the way it used to be. I scanned the room, a few of the other combatants were studying their foes. I shared glances with a few, only locking eyes with one; Nightmare Moon. "But some things never change," I said out loud, " the brawls will sound just like they always do," "Aye," the good doctor agreed. "Just be sure to not do anything stupid, I'd hate to put you through surgery again." "Don't worry, Doc, this time I'm ready," I reassured him, just as the screech of a microphone overhead pierced our ear-drums. "Ladies and Gentlemen!" Soarin began, "Today we celebrate one-thousand years of light since the last great war!" Everyone was cheering and stomping hooves to the patriotism. "But our ruler's victory is not the only thing we are here to attend to. We are also here to settle, once and for all, who is the 'Everfree Region Champion'!" That, however, received a greater applause as all the lights in the bar dimmed except for three spotlights, illuminating a large chalk board against the back wall, sectioned into eight pairings of fights. Each with the contestant's names scribbled onto it. "So let's not delay the carnage anymore," Soarin suggested as if reading the crowd's mind. "Match one contestants, front, and center!" All of us glanced to the far left of the chalk board, where the first pairing was written. We already knew who they were, but it didn't hurt to hear the introductions. "She's a night owl through and through, and an actual descendant of our highness's own royal guard, the deadly, the 'Pale Shade Bat' herself, Percival Nightingale!" It was one of the Knightmare's. Armored as usual, but the reason Percival was best known as the 'Pale Shade Bat' was for the simple reason that she was an albino Bat Pony. Pure white coat mixed with a gray mane and sky blue eyes made her a real rare sight to behold. She had her helmet off for the appearances, but once she was introduced, the helmet went back on, business as usual. "And her opponent, the general of the Wonderbolts, and the very reason I quit the army in the first place, it's the infamous, the diligent, the 'Queen of the Skies', Samantha Jane Spitfire!" It seemed a little strange to have the military involved in all this. But I guess even the more combat ready of us liked to fight professionally. Dash for one was ecstatic to see her idol in the ring. Cheering her on early as half the crowd took Percival's side and the other supported Spitfire. Soarin asked the two fighters to bow to each other, the bars fell around them, and the crowd joined Soarin in saying that one word. "Fight!" Percival guarded early as Spitfire launched like a bullet at her. Ramming Percival against the bars. The bat pony was shocked at how much that hurt and the crowd winced in pain for her as they jumped away from the bars. Spitfire wasn't showing a bit of mercy as she flew on top of Percival's shoulders and yanked the helmet off with one hard beat of her wings. Spitfire landed and tossed the helmet aside as Percival punched quickly at Spitfire's head. She just barely missed her by a hair as Spitfire gripped Percival's hoof, lifting her back legs up to scissor grab Percival's neck and flip her to the ground with her weight alone. Pinning Percival in a choke until she tapped out. "Shit," I said under my breath, "that's the army for you." The crowd went wild as Soarin pronounced Spitfire the winner. Dash cried tears of joy, speaking rapidly in a repetition of how awesome Spitfire was. Even I have to admit, watching someone as fearsome as Spitfire fight was breathtaking. I had almost convinced myself that Dash was the fastest fighter alive. But there was far more talent out there to challenge. The next fight would be between another one of the wonderbolts, Thunderlane. And a pony I never thought I'd see here. "Mare Do Well? The Mare Do Well?" I asked. "Sounds like an imposter if you ask me," Abby commented. We both sat up on the counter to look over the crowd, spotting this legend of a crime fighter heading for the ring, as Thunderlane waited for him. Mare Do Well was an Earth Pony. Average sized for an adult, Mare Do Well stood up straight, intimidating. Wearing a long dark purple cape over his blue costume, while the only other defining characteristic was his gray circles for pupils that slipped through the mask. Whether Abby was right or not, he looked the part, all we needed to do was see how he fought. He was interesting, but then again, so was Thunderlane. A well built Pegasus for his age, Tom Thunderlane excelled at aerial combat, same as the rest of the Wonderbolts. Dash clued me in on facts I didn't know about them. Since she always wanted to be one but never had the money to attend their flight Academy. It was a bitter-sweet feeling for her to be fighting against her heroes today. "Introducing," Soarin began again, "the calm before the storm, the third in command of the wonderbolts, and a decent dancer, Thomas Thunderlane!" The way Soarin spoke about the Wonderbolts always made me laugh. He apparently knew them well enough to commentate them with such degrading humor, yet none of them reacted the way he wanted them to. They simply ignored him and remained keen and alert, like any army officer. "And his opponent, the 'Dark Knight' of Manehatten, the crime fighting hero of justice, give it up for, Mare Do Well!" After the bars fell, Soarin shouted for the fight to begin, and the ringing bell ignited the brawl. Tom made the first offensive strike as Mare Do Well dodged it with ease. Ducking and side stepping as if dancing to the music. "What's wrong?" Mare Do Well spoke up, "I thought you were in the army," Tom was baring his teeth, attacking faster as Mare Do Well led his punches into the bars. The clang of his hoof hitting the metal made us all mutter in pain as he cursed, but kept attacking. What an idiot. He was taking the bait Mare Do Well was setting out for him, making him angry so that he'd screw up. I glanced at Spitfire and Fleetfoot, who were shaking their heads as they watched him flail his hooves like an ape. Mare Do Well stepped behind him and caught him in a head lock. Tom started to fly and knock Mare Do Well against the bars back and forth. They're both idiots. Mare Do Well was clearly taking a beating now that he was on Tom's back. And with each collision on the bars, Tom picked up the speed. That was until Mare Do Well shifted his weight and smashed Tom's head against the bars. Tom fell limp. And Mare Do Well was the only one standing, minus the back pain. "Mare Do Well wins!" Soarin announced. Tom's comrades picked him up from off the floor, and we quickly moved on to the next match. Fiona's first match. She and a big stallion entered the ring. Her opponent was Bulk Biceps. I couldn't really tell if that was his actual name or not. As it seemed that he had plenty to go around. Fiona was so tiny compared to him. But if I knew her like I think I do, she'd have no problem fighting this clown. "It's round three, and it looks like another quick one!" Soarin said over the mic. I looked to Dash. She knew Fiona better than I did, and it felt like for the first time, Dash and I were thinking the exact same thing. If only Soarin knew, we both thought. "In the left corner, we've got the wrestling champion himself, he bench presses houses for fun, it's Bulk Biceps! And in the right corner, she's a cutie from Cloudsdale, and a bashful one at that, please give an encouraging welcome to, Fiona Fluttershy!" Fiona was red faced with her eyes staring directly at the floor. For such a tough fighter, she really didn't like the attention. But when the bell rang, she focused on Bulk, and the crowd lowered their volume as she tried to talk to Bulk civilly. "Umm... Would you mind, forfeiting?" she politely asked. "Yeah! In another lifetime!" Bulk obviously felt insulted by that, and the crowd laughed as Fiona tried again. "Please forfeit, you seem like a really nice guy. I don't want to hurt you," Flutters, would it kill you to be mean for once? "NO! I want to fight!" Bulk belted. Fiona sighed, her eyes looking to the side, thinking. She felt reluctant to fight. "Okay, you asked for it," Fiona said, taking a running stance as Bulk charged. And with a few strong flaps from her wings, Fiona had grabbed Bulk by his head with one hoof and drove him into the ground. The crowd went silent as Bulk laid motionless on the floor. "Sorry, but the kindest thing to do in a fight is to end it quickly. The longer you fight, the more hurt you get," then, Fiona left, lifting the bars, walking over to us. "W- We have a winner..." Soarin didn't really know what to say after that. And everypony around us stepped away as she took a seat next to me. "Good morning," she said. "Sup," I returned the greeting. It hadn't even been an hour, and we were already completed three of the fifteen scheduled fights for today. And with Abby up next against Fleetfoot, it looked to be another quick one. "So, where'd you go after yesterday?" I asked Fiona as Soarin started the next match. "I found a place to rent at the edge of the forest," she answered. "It's a nice little hut with utilities and all. Did you get your library apartment back?" "Yeah, actually. The owner hadn't found a replacement for me since I left, so I could get the job back, that is, if I stay." To be honest, the looming fact that I might be kicked out of Ponyville by Nightmare Moon had me worried. Cause even if one of the Knightmares was champion by the end of the day, we'd ultimately be out of a home. And we'd have to leave Vinyl's dream to die here as well. Our conversation died as we both looked to the ring. Abby and Fleetfoot were already underway when we did. "She's really good," Fiona said about Abigail. "If she keeps this up, she could surpass Tiberius," "You think so?" "Oh yes," Fiona stated. "But if she didn't retire from fighting when she did, I don't think anyone could stand against her," "Wait, retired?" I questioned. As far as I knew, Vinyl had always fought. Fighting was her thing. And I really couldn't imagine her as someone who wouldn't fight. But Fiona just kept watching the match, as if she hadn't heard me. Abby was blocking a fast attack pattern from Fleetfoot in the very center of the ring. At different times she'd strike, only to miss Fleetfoot by an inch or collide with one of her punches. Abby wasn't going to be ending this fight anytime soon, but Fleetfoot couldn't get the upper hoof either. It seemed like an even match, but I could somehow tell that to Fiona, it wasn't even close. "Tiberius quit fighting some years ago," she finally spoke up. "And that's why Regal and I went our separate ways. I left the country in search of peace, and Regal, to my knowledge, hasn't left the Crystal Empire since we disbanded the EUP Guard." "What made you look for peace?" I asked. And that seemed to have struck a nerve. Fiona looked at me judgingly, trying to decide whether to answer that question or not. After a few moments, her expression relaxed and she answered me with tired eyes. "To escape the 'Rage'," I tilted my head to that, "Rage?" I asked again. "You've felt it before, you just didn't know it at the time." Fiona started to explain by gesturing over to Abby. "Have you ever wondered why a greater population of Equestrian ponies have a redder eye color?" "It's a common hereditary gene from the first Alicorn's right?" I said, "I have it, you have it, and even AJ does. Technically we're all related because of them," "But look closely at Abigail," she pointed. I squinted at the subtle glow coming off of her now dark orange iris. There was a visible anger escaping her eyes like a faint flickering candle flame. I never noticed it before. "That, is the 'Rage'," Fiona continued. "There are very few who don't have it. Your friend Alexandra Rarity is one of them," I looked over at Rare down the counter and noted the distinct azure color in her eyes. Not a hint of red at all. "So, what does that mean?" "It means, that she's destined to lose as a fighter." My gut twisted with guilt as I looked over at the chalk board, and at the last match for the preliminary rounds. Rare was up against Nightmare. "I'm sorry," Fiona called my attention to her, "but it's the truth," "You said it 'means' that?" I quoted her. "Yes, I did," Fiona began. "That's because I've only known one other Pony who's succeeded in fighting, and has bested even me without the Rage," "And who's that?" "Regal." Fiona finished. Both of us looked ahead and saw Abby laying in the final winning punches to Fleetfoot. They had both gotten so tired from their hit and run fight, that Fleetfoot could no longer stay air born. Which led to a ground fight, Abby's home turf. Fleetfoot was struggling, and with every punch that Abby landed, Fleet stumbled back until finally, she fell. The crowd roared as Abby raised a hoof up, Soarin officially declaring her the winner. "If you don't believe me, wait till you fight, and tell me you don't feel a boiling in your blood," Fiona said, sounding all too convincing for my liking. "Blah, blah, blah," Dash interrupted as she flipped her tongue in her mouth, sitting on the opposite side of me from Fiona. "What a bunch of egg-head talk." "Be careful who you said to, Rainbow Dash," Fiona used Dash's first name freely, a feat I wish I could get away with. "Bite me, Cinderella," Dash retorted. "Is that your middle name?" I turned to Fiona. "Don't say it," she threatened me. Fiona Cinderella Fluttershy, huh? I snorted to that as Dash dodged Fiona's glare with me in between them. "Ha, I knew she was cute!" Soarin said in passing, Fiona froze, instantly. Pulling her jacket over her head to hide her embarrassment. "Whelp, I'm up next," Dash said, hopping off the counter. "So don't get too butt hurt, Flutters, and don't think I'm scared of you anymore, I'll see you in the semi-finals!" Fiona just watched Dash leave in silence. She had a grudge that wasn't going to leave, and Fiona no doubt channeled that into her fighting. And when Dash made it to the ring, Fiona jabbed me hard and quick in the side. "What was that for!?" I almost cursed, forcing myself to deal with the pain instead of worrying about it. "Sometimes the Rage is hard to control," Fiona muttered as an excuse. "Yeah, well," I scooted away from Fiona a bit, picking up a cold cider bottle to ease the pain in my side. "Should I be worried about this 'Rage'?" My question made her smile for some reason, pulling her jacket back down around her shoulders. "It's not like rabies, so it won't turn you into a blood thirsty beast. As long as you don't let it." "So, I should be worried," I assumed. "We've all gone too far before, Phoenix. I've come to terms with it a long time ago, and you should too. But that doesn't mean I want to keep fighting," Fiona voiced, honestly. "I'm still looking for that peace, and maybe..." Fiona got quiet all of a sudden as she continued to talk, but my ears couldn't hear her with all the noise around us. "What'd you say?" "Nothing," Fiona said, both of us turned to Dash's fight with another one of the Knightmares. I missed the introductions, but I didn't care so much about that. Every fighter that was still in the running was studying Dash and the Knightmare. It was a flight battle between a Pegasus and a Bat Pony. Exciting, fast paced, and strange. Dash, unlike most Pegasi fighters, performed different stunts to dodge attacks that led into surprisingly well-timed counters. All of that training with Rare must've paid off for her. And although the other's were cheering her on, I just couldn't. Fiona's explanation of this 'Rage' that everypony supposedly had scared me. Did Vinyl have it too? Dash certainly did. Her naturally pink eyes took on a darker, far deeper hue as she fought. They looked somewhat like glaring neon lights. If Fiona hadn't pointed this out, I think I would've noticed no difference. I looked back to Fiona, and I noticed that she'd up and left. "Mother bucker," That mare was a weird one. Before I knew it, Dash had crushed the Knightmare, and we were moving onto Pinkie's match, against another Knightmare no less. This Rage stuff had me thinking more than I ever have since I first came to Ponyville. Were there limits to it? Was there a dangerous amount that would drive a pony to kill? Maybe that's how Vinyl's last fight ended. Was it the Rage's fault? Answers escaped me as Pinkie's fight came to close. Soarin declared her the winner and called for the next pairing of fighters to the ring. A pony called the 'Stinger', and me, Phoenix.