A nervous Boxing Glove peaked out from behind the black curtain, the boxing ring was in the middle and hundreds of seats were on three sides, the building itself was not as big as some others that Boxing had competed in before, but it still made him nervous. He spotted his exhausted and probably hungover big brother sitting next to Rarity, who had chosen to wear a silk scarf today. A hoof touched Boxing's shoulder, he turned and saw Applejack with a somewhat concerned look on her face.
"Somethin' wrong sugarcube?" Applejack asked.
'Yes! I am really scared!' he thought to himself.
"No," Boxing lied. "it's just been a really long time since I've fought in the ring and in front of an audience no less." he replied. He poked his head out of the curtain again and looked at Stryker, Stryker spotted him and waved. Boxing shrank away behind the fabric and rubbed his eyes.
'Come one! You got this!'
"Come on now, I think we are about to start." Applejack said. "Everypony is gathering."
"Alright." he replied. Applejack and Boxing walked over to join the other competitors standing around a tall dark shadow, he thought it looked shockingly familiar.
'Whoa! A real life Minotaur? I thought they were just an old pony tale.'
As the tall furred creature turned to face the competitors, fireworks shot out from behind him. The illustration on the flier Boxing found in Ponyville at the beginning of the week had become a reality, a Minotaur the size of three ponies tall was standing in front of the competitors.
"Welcome one and all! You are here to take your skills to the test!" The Minotaur pointed to a light blue coated pegasus. "Do you have the skill?"
"Me? uh... I g-g-guess." he stuttered.
"Wrong answer!" The Minotaur shouted and raised his arms again, more fireworks exploded behind him. "I am Iron Will! I am being paid a great deal of mon..." he cleared his throat. "I mean, I am honoured to be hosting this fighting tournament. It's not a fancy exhibition match, keep that in mind when you are fighting up there. Keep it clean and just try to entertain the crowd, being aggressive won't get the crowd cheering for more."
Applejack rolled her eyes. "Can you believe this guff?" she whispered to Boxing.
"Yeah, craz-"
"You there!" Iron Will pointed right at Boxing's face. "Do you have the skill?! What it takes to keep this crowd begging for more?!"
'Yes. I've won hundreds of tournaments.'
"I've done this rodeo a hundred times. I'm a professional boxer, let's get this show started!" Boxing said confidently.
Iron Will stared at him for a moment. "That's more like it!" he reached down and picked up a headset that a pony was holding, he stepped out beyond the dark curtain and spectators cheered loudly, filling the area with roars and the sound of hooves on wood.
"WELCOME ONE AND ALL TO THE MANEHATTAN PRO BOXING COMPETITION, I AM IRON WILL." once again the area filled with cheering. "I WILL NOT KEEP YOU WAITING! FOR THE FIRST MATCH, STOMP YOUR HOOVES FOR! MORNING SPRINT!" The loud cheering continued, Boxing saw next to him, the pegasus that Iron Will had pointed at just moments ago run out from behind the curtain. He was wearing the harness brace the winged fighters had to use, as he stood upright he strapped on his blue gloves and stood in one corner of the canvas, lazily leaning back on the ropes.
"AND IN THE BLUE CORNER! ALL THE WAY FROM PONYVILLE! BOXING GLOVE!" The crowd cheered again, much louder than before. Boxing lifted hoof and froze, something stopped him from taking a step forward, it was fear. His cocky attitude was cut short.
"Hon, his calling' your name." Applejack nudged him.
"Right." Boxing stepped forward out from behind the curtain, his eyes widened as the crowd continued to roar his name and slam their hooves. He had ran over to the small steps and stepped over the rope into the canvas, he slid his hooves into the gloves that hung around his neck, bright red, the same colour as the red streak in his mane. The referee on the other side of the ring's ropes flared his horn and the laces on Boxing's boxing gloves tightened.
"Alright!" Iron Will beckoned the two fighters over with a quick flick of his fingers. Both Boxing Glove and Morning Sprint approached him. "Clean simple fight, no ball breakers. You've got three minutes in each round, keep that crowd cheering." Iron Will said to the both of them. They both nodded and stepped back, each on one side of the scratch.
A horn blared loud and Iron Will stepped out of the ring, swapping places with the official referee for the match. There was three judges waving to the cheering crowd, unlike previous prize matches that Boxing had fought in, these judges were all sitting at the same table to judge the fight.
"All right, the judges have called that thirty points is the winning number. If you're tied after five rounds, then the judges will decide on the fighter that will advance to the next bracket." The referee paused for a moment, "Ready to begin?" both Boxing Glove and Morning Sprint nodded. "Touch gloves, let's get this started."
The two fighters hoof-bumped and each took a step back.
!!DING!!
Morning Sprint quickly dashed forward, hooves ready and prepared to strike. Boxing could sense from his technique and stance that he had lots of experience, Boxing stepped to the right, successfully dodging Morning's first blow. Boxing stepped forward, landing a blow right to Morning's exposed chest. Morning lurched forward in pain.
'Gee, this is going to be a really easy match if he continues to fight like this.'
Boxing stepped back and raised his hooves to block, waiting for Morning Sprint to make his next move. The pegasus wasted no time in striking again, he pressed forward with a left hook, making a hard thud as Boxing blocked. Morning swung his other hoof, hoping to land a hit, Boxing saw it coming and dodged in the other direction. Both of the ponie's defences were now open and exposed to any incoming attack.
Naturally Boxing acted upon this opportunity first, in a quick swift move he stepped forward and darted his left hoof straight into his opponent's chest. Morning Sprint coughed hard, spitting up specks of blood that sprayed the canvas. Ignoring it, he wiped his muzzle with a hoof and pushed through the pain. Boxing swung another hoof right to Morning's face, landing the punch. Morning stepped back and raised his hooves.
!!DING DING DING DING!!
Both fighters lowered their gloves and retreated to their corner of the ring. Boxing stretched his forelegs, it felt great to him to be back in a real ring and breaking a sweat.
'If I can knock him out this next round or the one after, I'll have that win under my belt.'
"GO BOXY!" Stryker yelled from the crowd, shocking Rarity who jumped and almost spilled her small paper bag of popcorn. Boxing took another deep breath and exhaled.
"Fighters. Round two, approach." the referee said, Boxing and Morning had walked back over to the scratch in the middle of the canvas. "Ready to begin?" The referee asked. Both nodded.
!!DING!!
Morning pulled the same move as the start of the last round, rushing in with one punch hoping to get the first hit of the round. Boxing raised his hooves to block and Morning's punch thudded against him. As Morning stepped back, Boxing danced sideways and threw his own punch high, aiming for the pegasus' shoulder. Morning saw the movement and blocked, Boxing's hoof connected with the block.
"Not bad." Boxing said.
"Thanks, no so bad yourself." Morning replied. Boxing jabbed with his right and left one after the other, Morning ducked and avoided the assault. As Boxing was attacking, Morning had forgotten to hold his position. It was too late to push back before he realised he had been almost cornered.
'Not what I was planning, but it's too late to back away now.' Boxing thought to himself and pressed forward.
Boxing paused and lowered his aim, trying to hit under the chest and closer to the stomach, Morning dodged to the right and lowered his guard to block, Boxing's glove was stopped inches from its target. Morning jabbed forward for his left hoof and connected with Boxing's face.
'Son of a bitch. That really hurt.' Boxing pushed forward and wrapped his left foreleg around Morning's right shoulder in an effort to stop him from throwing another punch, Morning brought back his left hoof and uppercut Boxing right in the muzzle.
!!DING DING DING DING!!
'Holy shit, I got a but too cocky for a second there.' Boxing thought to himself as he retreated to his corner.
"Need some assistance there fella?" a voice asked from behind him. Boxing turned around and saw a physician.
"Thanks, but I'm okay, just a bit numb is all." Boxing replied.
"Don't push yourself too hard, keep in mind that we are always here for if you need us." the physician said.
"Fighters. Round two, approach." the referee announced.
"haha, wish me luck." Boxing said the the physician.
Boxing and Morning walked up to the middle for the third time and touched gloves.
!!DING!!
Morning struck the first blow, reaching in with his left hoof and punching Boxing's head, quickly Boxing blocked and ducked. Morning backed away and guarded, Boxing threw a quick jab with his right hook. Morning stepped back and was almost up against the ropes, Boxing punched forcefully with his left and connected with Morning's block.
The last punch Boxing had thrown had forced Morning up against the ropes with his guard still raised, he stepped to the left in an effort to circle around. Morning lowered his guard and punched with his left but missed completely. Boxing had cornered him now, he launched an assault of punches. Left, left, left, right, left, right.
All the hits landed squarely on Morning's stomach. Boxing back away slightly as he threw his left hoof forward once more but missed, Morning took the opportunity in Boxing's broken defense and punch with his right hoof, hitting Boxing right in the muzzle. Boxing retaliated and threw more punches. Left, right, left. Morning had no time to block any of them.
Another of Boxing's two left hooks connected with Morning's hip and also his shoulder, Morning grunted in pain. He felt like Boxing was a train and he had just been hit by it. Morning punched back with a right hook, Boxing dodged and struck with his left. Morning realised he had been cornered again and it wasn't looking good. He punched twice swiftly with his left hoof, the first hit missed entirely and the second hit was blocked by Boxing.
Boxing punched with his left and Morning ducked, but it was delayed and the hit still connected with his face. Boxing reached over and punched again in Morning's left side, the target was easy and open. The pegasus stood straight and punched weakly with his left, Boxing punched again, left hook, right uppercut.
Morning Sprint lost his stance and fell forwards onto his opponent limply, Boxing stepped out of the way letting him fall, landing on the canvas with a loud thud. The referee rushed to the side of the fallen pegasus and started a count.
"ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!" the referee started.
'Phew, after this I need a drink. This has been exhausting.'
"FIVE! SIX! SEVEN! EIGHT! NINE! TEN! OUT!" The referee shouted.
"DING! DING! DING! DING!"
The crowd roared and pounded their hooves as the bell rung loudly. Iron Will jumped over the rope and grabbed Boxing's hoof, raising it into the air and lifting him off the ground at the same time. "YOU HEARD IT HERE FOLKS, BOXING GLOVE IS THE WINNER FOR THIS MATCH!" The crowd roared again.
~⚡~
A short time later Boxing found himself lying belly-down in an infirmary bed, his hooves out in front of him with a bag of crushed ice on the both of them.
'Far out, that hurts. I almost forgot how hard I hit.' he flexed his shoulders.
"Boxing you frigging champ!" Stryker announced as he swept into the room with Rarity by his side, they stood by Boxing's bed and Stryker reached out and bonked Boxing on the head playfully.
"Hey, thanks Stryker. Where's Applejack?" he asked.
"Her fight is about to begin shortly dear, Stryker and I are about to head back to our seats." Rarity informed him.
"Alright I guess I'll catch you guys later. If I can, I'll sit with you." Boxing said.
"Ta-ta." Rarity said as she left the room.
Stryker rubbed Boxing on the shoulder with a hoof, "Don't worry little bro, I believe in you and I know you will win this whole shindig." and with that said Stryker left the room, joining Rarity once more. Boxing gripped the bag of crushed ice in his teeth and removed it from his hooves, placing it to the side, he rolled over out of the bed falling onto his hooves and they connected with the stone floor.
Boxing could hardly feel his own hooves, the combination of the cold from the ice and the cold from the stone brought a chill to his whole body. He ignored the frosty feeling in his hooves and walked back to the area where the other fighters waited for their match, he had seen Applejack near the entrance curtain, her green gloves hung over her back.
"Applejack." Boxing said as Applejack turneds to see him cantering up to her.
"There you are Boxing. I'm sorry, I'll have to postpone your chit chat til later, they're about to call my name any second now." she said.
"APPLEJACK!" The voice of the Minotaur roared, the noise of cheering ponies followed the announcement of the fighter's name.
"Speak of the devil." Applejack leaned into boxing a kissed him on the cheek, Boxing blushed. "You did really well." she said as she galloped out from behind the curtain and towards the ring, the crowd roared and cheered her name as she jumped over the rope and into the ring. She eyed the audience, looking for her friends. After spotting Stryker and Rarity she waved her hoof excitingly and Rarity waved back, Applejack fitted her gloves to her hooves and readied her stance.
"AND, ALL THE WAY FROM HOOFINGTON! SHOOTING STAR!" Iron Will yelled.
A unicorn with a midnight blue coat and aqua mane galloped out from behind the curtain, his cutie mark showed a sparkles and a jagged boxing glove in the shape of a star placed directly in the middle shooting past just like his name. It slightly reminded Applejack of Boxing's cutie mark, the only difference being that Boxing's was not jagged.
"Alright, you two know the rules. First to thirty wins it. Good luck." Iron Will said and jumped over the rope.
"Thirty what?" Applejack asked.
"Thirty points." the referee answered. "Now, are both fighters, ready?" he asked, both fighters nodded.
DING!
Shooting dived forward first, left hoof ready to strike. Applejack lifted her hooves to guard and succeeded, Shooting's glove thudded harshly against her block. Applejack darted forward with her right hoof in front of her, she already knew where she was going to strike, the only thing that remained unknown was whether or not Shooting was going to block or not. Shooting saw it coming and quickly he lifted his hoof to deflect her attack, but he was too late. Applejack landed a very hard hit to his open shoulder blade and followed through with a left uppercut. Boxing watched in awe from behind the curtain as he saw Applejack landed a second punch right into the unicorn's muzzle.
'Luna's mane! She's good.'
Shooting Star was now seeing stars, the continuous blows from Applejack had caused him to lose his stance. He shifted his hooves up in front of his face to defend her next blow, but it never came. Suddenly Applejack's left hoof connected with his stomach, sending the unicorn falling backwards.
The referee rushed in and started his count. "ONE... TWO... THREE... FOUR... FIVE... SIX... SEVEN... EIGHT... NINE... TEN... OUT!"
DING! DING! DING! DING!
'I'm in love. That was incredible, she knocked him out in ten seconds flat.' Boxing thought.
"Hot damn, that was the quickest round I've ever witnessed." the referee said to Applejack.
"I like to get things done quick and done right." she replied. Applejack looked up at Stryker and Rarity and saw Rarity wave back at her, Applejack smiled. "Say how long is this gonna take? I'm starving."
"Well, you're in the lead, so if you can go the next two rounds without getting knocked out then you win and you'll go to the next bracket." the referee said. "You should get ready though, only a few seconds until the next round begins.
Applejack backed away from her corner and approached the scratch, the referee stood in the middle checking the watch on his ergot, Shooting Star walked up to the scratch also.
The referee kept a close eye on his watch and then said, "Alright, round two, both fighters ready?" he asked. Applejack and Shooting Star both nodded to the referee and touched gloves.
!!DING!!
Applejack wanted the upper hoof this time around and decided to strike first, she readied her hooves and stepped forward. She pulled back her right hoof, preparing for a strong hook. Shooting raised his hooves, Applejack's hit was blocked. She pressed forward with two more strikes, left, right. Shooting blocked every time.
Applejack noticed that Shooting's reflex's had increased since the last round, after the humiliating knockout in the first round, he decided to be more attentive to his blocks and wait for an opening. Applejack jabbed his block with a right and then quickly struck the side of Shooting's ribs with her other hoof.
Applejack bobbed to her left and swung, Shooting ducked under and uppercut with his right, it missed and hit Applejack in the shoulder. She bobbed again and swung with left, only to fail and miss, Shooting ducked and avoided the hit. He swung forward with a right hook and punched Applejack square in her face with a loud thud. She pushed through the pain and retaliated with a left hook, she missed and her hit went over his shoulder. Shooting punched with his right and pushed hard, forcing Applejack to step back.
Shooting brought his hood back and swung again, Applejack ducked under and rose back up. She threw her left hoof out, missing him by an inch. Shooting punched again, forcing Applejack to step back, the corner was fast approaching and Applejack needed to act fast or risk losing the round. She felt the ropes brush up against her back and tried to punch back, with no luck. As luck would have it, the referee stepped in and forced them apart, Shooting backed away from Applejack and returned to the center. Applejack followed.
The referee gave the motion to continue. Shooting darted forward with a left hook, missing Applejack completely. She saw another strike coming and tried to dodge to the left, but Shooting faked it and switched direction. His hoof struck Applejack in the side of her head, she grunted and punched back. She had missed again, Shooting had dodged right and avoided to hit. Applejack quickly turned and pushed forward with her right hook. There was a loud harsh thud and her hoof connected with Shooting muzzle, sending him backwards and to the floor.
"ONE!" Shouted the referee. "TWO!"
'Holy shit, two for two!? If she doesn't get knocked out next round she wins.' Boxing thought to himself.
Shooting grunted and wiped away a trickle of blood from his snout. "THREE! FOUR! FIVE!" Shooting rolled over and tried to push himself up but collapsed. "SIX! SEVEN! EIGHT!" The volume in the crowd grew louder as more ponies started cheering. "NINE! TEN!" The referee waved his front hooves signaling the knockout. The crowd went wild.
DING! DING! DING! DING!
"APPLEJACK IS THE SECOND ROUND WINNER!" Iron Will jumped in over the ropes and announced to the crowd. "Good job lady, this crowd is loving this" he said quietly to Applejack. "Take a quick rest you've earned it."
Applejack returned to her corner and leaned back on the ropes, meanwhile a physician trotted up to Shooting Star who was still lying on the floor. Shooting tried to push him away and stand up. "I'm fine!" he shouted, "I just need a minute."
Applejack turned around and hung her forelegs off the ropes, she saw Boxing over by the entrance. And he had the biggest, goofiest smile Applejack had seen any stallion have. Boxing waved at her, she waved back.
Shooting walked back to his corner and the physician followed him, dabbing off the blood that had collected on Shooting's muzzle, "If you take another wallop like that, you're going to break something." Shooting pushed him away again.
"I've got this." he snarled. The referee walked over to Shooting and asked if he was okay to continue, he nodded. The referee returned to the middle of the ring and waved both of the fighters over.
"This is it, round three. Are both fighters ready?" he asked as he looked over to Shooting, Shooting nodded. The referee panned over to Applejack, she inserted her mouthpiece and nodded. He waved his hooves up signaling the start of the round.
!!DING!!
Applejack aced quickly, she faked with a left hook and followed with a right jab. Shooting took the hit and stepped back, throwing his left hoof forward, missing Applejack. She ducked under and punched back with her left, her glove was only inches from his face. With Shooting's vision blocked by her glove he turned to the left and tried to circle around, before he could, Applejack threw a hard right hook into his shoulder.
Shooting Star stepped back and took a deep breath, he readied his hooves and punched back. Applejack was hit hard in her head twice, Shooting's left hooks came out of nowhere. As he punched again and again, Applejack trapped his left foreleg under hers and pulled him close. She thrusted forward with two forceful jabs straight to his stomach, Shooting grunted and coughed. Applejack let go and punched his in the head with her right hook.
Shooting Star stepped back and regained his balance, Applejack advanced and punched his exposed chest. Shooting retaliated with a right hook to her head, she punched back with her left and pulled back her right hoof for a blow. She pushed forward with force and knocked Shooting backwards, her right hoof landed on its target. Shooting lurched and fell back on his butt.
"ONE!" The referee started his count and Applejack stepped away, returning to her corner. "TWO! THR-"
"Blargh!" Shooting's lunch was on the floor before him as he continued to convulse and spew out the contents of him stomach.
DING! DING! DING! DING!
"Ew gross." Iron Will huffed and grabbed her hoof, Applejack pulled her hoof away. The crowd roared and cheered, Iron Will eyes darted over to the fallen fighter. "Hey dude? you okay?" The unicorn raised his hoof for a moment, only to have it fall back down on himself.
"GIVE IT UP FOR YOUR WINNER! APPLEJACK!" Iron Will shouted, the crowd cheered and clopped their hooves. "MAKE SURE TO BUY YOUR TICKETS FOR THE NEXT EVENT IN ONLY JUST TWO! DAYS! TIME!" Iron Will paused and basked in the noise of the cheering crowd "FOR! THE! SEMI-FINAL ROUNDS!" he boomed.
~⚡~
Applejack, satisfied with her victory returned to the curtain room where Boxing was waiting for her. "That was incredible, you were fantastic." he said.
"Aww, thanks sug-oof." Applejack was cut short as Boxing wrapped his hooves around her and hugged her tightly. Applejack felt a tingle inside her as she hugged him back just as tight.
"Listen. Applejack?" Boxing pulled away from the hug. "Are you secretly a professional boxer? Because you kicked ass out there."
"Nope, I just really need that money." she replied.
"Well, If we both win our semi-final matches, we will have to fight each other in the final and I don't think I can put myself through that." Boxing said.
"Boxy, I want you to know that I do care for you, but if push comes to shove, I want you to do your best. I don't want you going easy on me just cause you have feelings for me." she brushed his cheek with a hoof.
"Thank you Applejack," he placed his hood over hers. "Hey, how about we get some food? I'm starving."
"Absolutely." Applejack answered.
'I love her so much.'