//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: The Match, Part 1 // Story: What the Sun is Cooking // by Anonymous Writer //------------------------------// Upon those words a song similar to the one Celestia heard upon her entrance began to play. Its beat many times louder than before; the lights above rotating around in various circles around the crowd, showering the audience with an array of colours. The overhead screen’s speakers springing to life, their robotic-like voice repeating what Flare said, over and over, to the beat of the music, asking the same question every time. ARE YOU READY? The two mares in the ring seemed unfazed by it. Midnight was still seemingly lost in her own world, her face never once showing even the slightest movement. The Terminator, however, was a different story. Upon hearing the voice asking its question, she began pumping her arms, pointing towards the sky. Thrusting her arms in sync with the voice she began to chant, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” With every yes she followed with another arm thrust, her head flowing back and forth as she moved her gaze across the crowd, a massive smile across her face as she did so. Her voice being blasted from the many speakers hanging overhead, Celestia was intrigued as to how the accomplished that, sensing no magic emanating from the mares mask. The crowd seemed to enjoy the little show The Terminator was giving, as one by one they all eventually began following her example. The crowd becoming a unified chant in time with the overhead voice. “YES! YES! YES!” they cried over and over, timing themselves with the mare down below. The Terminator, seemingly pleased by this, began jumping up and down across the area of the ring, coming to each side of the ropes and shouting along with them, her smile growing larger every time the crowd repeated her. Celestia’s ears instinctively flattened themselves out at the sudden volume, trying in vain to save her eardrums from the might of the loud chant all around. Celestia was tempted to use magic to aid in her ear’s losing battle. “Yes!” Through Celestia’s suffering her ears unwittingly picked out Luna’s voice, chanting along with the crowd. Turning her head to face her she could see a giddy Luna pumping her fist in the air along with the crowd’s chant. Her face was one of pure glee as she did so. Luna’s positivity rubbed off a little on Celestia, who couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her sister, happy that she was enjoying herself. More and more of the Luna that Celestia remembered as a child was showing this night. A sight she was most grateful for, it was a huge improvement over the immensely shy Luna she had seen coming here. Turning her attention back towards the ring, Celestia saw Flare begin to follow in the chant with the crowd, the key difference being that Flare also had a microphone. Her loud and proud cheering equaling the Terminator’s voice in volume and passion, much to her partner's dismay. Flare was getting deep into the moment, when she stood up suddenly, her voice growing ever more passionate as she cried into the microphone she held up to her face, her other hand pumping in sync with the crowd-wide cry. Even starting to add a slight jump to her stance, much to the enjoyment of the more hot-blooded fans near her, her uniform not leaving much to the imagination. This continued for some time, around a minute by Celestia's guess, before the overhead screen abruptly changed from its rhythm of chatting. The words ceasing to be spoken by the screen’s many speakers, the crowd and the wrestlers following suit with their chanting, all fixed on the jumbo screen, the removed word was quickly replaced by another. THEN LET'S GET STARTED! Upon finishing its message, several small arcane-like beams began to glow from the underside of the screen. each cascading down towards the arena in a manner more suited to water then light, all gradually hovering downwards until they reached the ring’s center. The barrier surrounding the ring temporarily opened slightly to let them through before resealing itself with a faint ‘crack’. The two wrestlers eyed the ball with a familiar glow in their eyes, Midnight only briefly acknowledging it while the Terminator had a huge grin accompanying hers. It would seem this spectacle was nothing new to them. The balls of watery light stopped their descent just before reaching the arena’s floor, before they all began to combine with one another. The centermost ball gradually getting bigger quicker and quicker with each one. Before long, the glowing ball reached a size similar to that of the average stallion, dwarfing the two wrestlers by a good foot. Another magical ‘crack’ was made, this time from the ball of light. The ball began to shimmer and wave slightly, like rippling water that had a rock thrown into it. Gradually the ball began to take on a new shape through its shuffling. Celestia could begin to see the traces of what seemed to be bipedal features beginning to take form. The ball of light gradually forming into what appeared to be similar to a grown mare’s body, but is devoid of any and all features. No eyes, mane, no anything. Just a pure white mass. It took Celestia a while to notice, but her ears eventually picked up an unusual sound. In an uncharacteristic twist, the crowd seemed to be nearly silent, only a faint echo reverberating across the arena. Each and every one seemingly enthralled by the being before them. As if a child awaiting a favorite part of a movie. Even Luna seemed to be stunned at the figures formation, her wide eyes filled with curiosity, her mouth open, gaping with enthrallment. The white figure’s head seemed to trail along the crowd, and even though it had no eyes, it still seemed to look at each and every one pony there; staring at them with a mystifying intensity. The creature seemed to stare a fair bit longer at Celestia once her head turned to face her. Celista could feel some sort of unusual energy flowing through her as it did. While not uncomfortable, it felt… unusual in a way. The two stared at one another for a second. Intrigued, Celestia raised an eyebrow at the form. As if on cue the figure turned its head away. Odd The figure below returned its attention to the wrestlers before it, its head scanning their form. Each wrestler gave the figure a respectful nod. Seemingly satisfied with that, the figure turned its attention towards the announcers, walking towards them with a slow stride. Stopping just before reaching the ropes along the side of the ring, the figure seemed to give a silent addressing to the two mares at the table. A series of small beeps and whistles emanated from the form. Not even with her centuries of experience could Celestia decipher what the creation had said. No language she had heard before that could sound anywhere near the oddity the creature had just spoken. It was a different story for Flare and Jaycee, once the creation had finished its message, the two each gave the creature a nod, Flare adding a thumbs up and smirk to hers. Somehow , the creature seemed happy to see these reactions, returning the silent nod before returning towards the center of the ring. The figure raised one arm in the air, similar to how the crowd was doing while chanting. Another bright flash emanated from the figure. Celestia’s eyes immediately raised their complaints by tearing up at the sudden discomfort. When the light faded, replacing the figure was another white ball, this one orbiting around the logo painted on the floor before shooting upwards, heading back towards the massive screen above it. The white orb vanished once it reached the screens, its form exploding into a cascade of white ethereal-like sparks. The screen booted up once more. “There you have it folks! The ref has given us the go ahead!” Shattering the silence, Flare spoke through the overhead speakers, breaking the crowd out of their stupor; the cheering started up once again, this one seemingly the most frivolous of all the ones before it. It would seem that they had been waiting for this the entire night. Smirking at the crowd’s returning excitement, Flare returned her gaze to the overhead screens above her. “I'll leave it to you ref!” At this the screens ceasing their mechanical lightshow. Replacing them was the face of the ethereal figure. Its blank face covering all four of the massive screens, almost as if it was staring at the very soul of every attender there. “WELCOME MARES AND GENTLECOLTS TO THE E.M.W.L. ANNUAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH!” A soft but archaic voice echoed across the stadium, the figure in the box announcing to the entire crowd. “THE FOLLOWING MATCH WILL BE A SINGLE DOWN PINFALL MATCH-UP, STANDARD RULES APPLIED.” “You heard it folks, couldn't have said it better myself.” Flare spoke up once again, her eyes scanning across the stadium once more. Her smile once again growing ever larger with each person she passed. “We're going to be doing this the old fashion way~” Once Flare finished speaking, two beams of blue light shot out of the overhead jumbotron. Each one aimed towards one of the two wrestlers down below. The one aimed towards Midnight struck her in her horn, though seemingly unaffected, as if she didn't feel it, her grey horn took on a bright blue glow around it. Almost like another being was using it. The other struck the Terminator in the wings, once again, a bright blue glow enveloped them. Almost seeming like it was pinning the wings to her back. The Terminator only smirked a little at this however. Unusual for a pegasus, most are very protective of their wings Once the beams of light ceased to emanate from the jumbotron, satisfied with what she saw, Flare picked up her microphone once again. “Now that we’ve got that taken care of, Ref, would you do the honors?” Flare asked to the jumbotron. Once again another blue light shot out of the screens, this one however, instead of being a beam was more like a bright searchlight, each one passing over the wrestlers like a scanner. Traveling down slowly across the two mare’s bodies, before reaching their feet and shutting off with a quick ‘zap’. “NO ILLEGAL ITEMS FOUND, WRESTLERS TAKE YOUR POSITIONS.” The overhead voice spoke up once again, its order being heeded with haste from the two wrestlers, the Terminator practically skipped over towards the center of the ring, stopping just left of the logo plastered on its surface, Midnight however, upon being addressed looked up slowly, her eyes being the only sign of compliance two the voice, before striding slowly towards the right of the rings logo, opposite of her opponent. The two wrestlers give each other a brief nod to one another before both got into a fighting stance, the Terminator raising her fists into a makeshift boxing stance, smirking while shuffling to and fro on the balls of her feet. Midnight crouched down low, bending her knees with one foot in front and one foot behind, crouching down into something like a football player's stance. Her stoic expression never changing, her eyes piercing deep into her opponent's carefree face. “I believe the fun is about to start, your majesties.” Busy Body muttered towards the two princesses. His calm expression contrasting quite heavily to the surrounding chaos that surrounded him, his face softening slightly at the sight of Luna. “You can breathe now your Highness.” Luna’s face had been puffed up throughout the new development, her cheeks turning a bright red from the strain. Upon hearing Busy Body, her cheeks took on a brighter shade and let out her lungful of air with a quiet sigh. Before offering what seems to Celestia to be a mixture of an embarrassed child and a passive adult… it was a look only Luna could seem to achieve. “And now, for the moment you have all been waiting for…” Flare’s voice took over the arena, grabbing Celestia's attention away from Luna’s childlike antics once more, her voice taking on a somber tone and her face filled with barely-contained excitement, “Let the countdown begin!” The crowd went completely silent, faster than any crowd should have any right to do so, and Celestia would be lying if it didn't creep her out a bit. The chaotic masses of the audience seemingly freezing in place, all noise stopped, all movement ceased, all eyes were turned towards the overhead screens that came to life once again. “TEN” The voice of the jumbotron overtook the arena again, reverberating the stadium with its power, displaying the word on its screen for all to see. Almost immediately after, a few members of the crowd near instinctively repeated the same thing, their cry only just piercing the silence of the crowd. “NINE” This time, the crowd was more in sync, matching up almost perfectly with the jumbotron’s countdown. This time, most of the stadium was joining in on it as well. “EIGHT” The entirety of the crowd was in on the countdown, matching up perfectly with the voice in a way that seemed almost rehearsed, and it was all but confirmed to Celestia that her subjects came to these quite often. It's a wonder she had not heard about it at all... “SEVEN” Another number, another chant. The ease with which the crowd could match the jumbotron was almost uncanny to Celestia, there not being any stragglers to the chant at this point; every spectator as far as Celestia could see was chanting in perfect unity, the sound morphed into a single solitary roaring-like voice, powering through the bodies of all who heard it. “SIX” Celestia almost involuntarily began to smile. It would seem that the energy flowing from the crowd was starting to rub off on her, and never before had she heard such enthusiasm from her subjects in such a manner. Indeed, even at places when it was her giving a speech before an audience, this arena was rivaling some of the loudest cheers she had ever received every passing second. “FIVE” The two wrestlers down below in the ring seemed to be affected by the growing excitement of the crowd, the two began shuffling in anticipation. Midnight Rose and the Terminator’s stare down growing ever more filled with ire and focus, Midnight’s glare only sharpening with each passing number, and the Terminator’s smirk growing ever larger. Celestia had to admit, she was impressed by the twos’ determination. “FOUR” “Four~!” resembling more a squeak than a voice, Celestia could hear Luna and her meek little cheer alongside the roar of the jumbotron and the crowd just barely being heard by Celestia's ears. Celestia’s heart fluttered slightly at Luna being so happy about this, as it had been so long since Luna had been so happy. She couldn’t help but let some of her sister's excitement get to her, her smile growing ever wider, this time almost completely voluntary. “THREE” The beginning of the final stretch of the countdown began, the crowd’s roar sounding almost like a crazed war cry of a massive army rather than an audience. It was joined by Luna’s voice, almost indistinguishable from the masses by this point. Celestia couldn't explain what she was really feeling; it was the sort of tingling one gets from awaiting something incredibly important, the kind a child gets when watching the school clock, awaiting it to strike the end of the final period and rush out into freedom. Combined this with the internal vibrations caused by the loud sounds, creating an unfamiliar, yet almost enjoyable feeling. “TWO” This feeling grew ever stronger with the following cry of the crowd (and one happy princess). It was almost overwhelming to Celestia, she had not felt like this for a long time, her empty husk of a mind seemingly filled with the warmth of a fire. Her heart beat beginning to race, and her growing smile being completely genuine. The feelings of curiosity and contagious excitement finally seems to have an effect on her. Celestia couldn't help but join in for the final chant. “ONE” With a cry to dwarf all others, the final number was proudly proclaimed by all of the audience, the energy reaching to new heights, powerful enough to even rattle the arena. The final shout gave way to the absolute biggest grin that the announcer Flare had given for the entirety of the night. Standing up and pointing towards the sky, she yelled, “Let the match, Begin!” On cue, an image of a bell appeared on the jumbotron, followed immediately by the sound of bashing metal reverberating across the stadium with its power. Celestia's heart began to beat in curious fervor. “DING”