//------------------------------// // Prize Fighting, part 4 // Story: Megas CMC // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// It wasn't long before Sweetie had finished her shopping trip, and in the process had conscripted three trolley drones to carry all her purchases back to Megas when it was time to go. Her 'souvenirs' included gemstones, new fabrics, fruit and vegetables from other planets confirmed by Kiva's scanner to be Equestria viable without destabilizing the ecosystem, books, videos of battles both in space and on obscure worlds (along with a player for the videos and a portable power generator to run it), musical instruments unlike anything ever seen in Equestria, and an adorable critter of unknown origin that she just had to get for Fluttershy...along with a care instruction packet with the oddest restrictions she'd ever heard of. Still, Fluttershy could figure out how to dry clean an animal...though she had to get clarification on how 'midnight' was measured as far as the creature was concerned when it came to a planet where time was determined by the magic of the rulers moving the celestial bodies rather than natural motions. With all the shopping done, Kiva spoke up. "So, now that you've gotten all the souvenirs you wanted, don't you think it's time we started looking for information?" she asked Sweetie Belle as calmly as she could manage. She tried to tell herself that Sweetie was just a child - not even a teenager by her world's standards, if she understood the significance of 'Cutie Marks' properly - so she could be excused for being easily distracted. Still, she was beginning to lose her patience with this...meaningless activity. Even if there was no rush in terms of years to get ready to defeat the Glorft, they still needed to be home by sunset to avoid getting in trouble with the fillies' respective guardians, and that left only so much time to access the galactic networks while they were here. "The jeweler was complaining about his normal mining areas falling under Glorft control, and was able to give me a list of the star systems they had taken as of this time," Sweetie pointed out without blinking. "The fabric merchant mentioned the change of prices as far as military grade fabrics as opposed to civilian with parts of the galaxy gearing up to combat the Glorft, though inefficiently. The tech merchant who offered the videos told me they were salvage from a Glorft destroyed world, and even showed me on a starmap where that was. The critter and produce merchants had similar complaints, while also pointing which worlds had managed to avoid Glorft attention so far despite being in their path of conquest. And the book merchant was so pleased to hear about Princess Twilight's passion for the written medium as opposed to electronic storage that he offered to let us use his data access terminal for more information, since being an information merchant he has higher security clearance on his personal terminal than what's available on public access terminals." Kiva stared at her, completely stunned. "...how...?" "You didn't think I was chatting everyone up just to get good deals, did you?" Sweetie asked archly. "With how many credits I'm winning on Scoot and Megas, that's hardly a concern. Besides, my sister is passionate about gossip. It might not matter so much to me in a general sense, but I have noticed how making a merchant feel good during negotiations - and a bit of friendly flattery - can get their mouths running, whatever the shape." Kiva shook her head in amazement. "Remind me to stop underestimating you girls just because you're young..." Letting out a more relaxed sigh, she managed a smile. "So when are we meeting him?" "Just as soon as Scoot's done with her next bout," Sweetie answered readily. "Since she's going to win again, that'll change her odds and the following bout will be delayed to give everyone time to change their bets. That's when he'll be free." At that moment, Sweetie's receipt dinged again, registering her new winnings. "Looks like that's right now!" she said happily. "Come on!" Chuckling to herself, Kiva chased after the young unicorn. She couldn't help but feel like she was being spoiled with these three, and hoped she wasn't losing her soldier's edge. Still, she had to admit that as far as those who might have ended up with Megas, she could have gotten much worse. She should really count herself lucky. Though somehow I doubt it would be as much of a headache, she thought to herself. In another reality in a distant and alien place known as Jersey City, a different Kiva sneezed for no apparent reason. She made a mental note to give herself a physical health check, just in case her immune system wasn't as up to dealing with older Earth germs as she thought. Then again, given where she had to live, she was honestly surprised it had taken this long to show signs of sickness... Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief as Megas' second opponent - a green squid-based mech of all things - went down for the count. It had been a bit of a rough battle, as it hadn't underestimated Megas the way Supernova had, nor had it posed or postured during the battle. Still, Megas had emerged victorious, and Apple Bloom was already managing the auto-repair systems for quick fixes in the most significant areas, since they both seriously doubted they'd be given the five minutes they needed to let Megas fully repair. She blinked in surprise as Magnanimous floated down towards her. "Looks like I was right about you, filly," he purred happily. "You're going to make me rich." He then chuckled. "Well, you and some sucker that actually bet on you in the first round-" "Oh, that'd be Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo pointed out with a smirk. "She said she was going to bet her allowance on me." "Well what are friends for?" Magnanimous asked, not even blinking as he shifted gears. Glancing over the records, he blinked in shock. "Though if that's what kids get as an allowance where you live, I might just want to retire there." "And this is the part where you say I can wait until after the next round to take a break, since you're going to tell me to take a fall so you can make a killing off everyone who's going to bet on me now that I'm on a winning streak, right?" Scootaloo asked incisively. When Magnanimous blinked in shock, Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Please. That would be obvious to anyone who'd read a book, and Rainbow's been reading lots of sports-drama novels to me as bedtime stories lately since it's been a while since A.K. Yearling came out with a new novel. It's kinda cliche." Magnanimous managed a chuckle. "Well, it's nice to see you know how things work." He frowned. "And if we're going by the cliches...I assume this is the part where you refuse to do so, probably in some sort of insulting manner that highlights what I see as your naivete as far as how the world really works and your determination to make it big despite my attempts to stop you?" Scootaloo blinked for a time. "...does 'piss off' count? I...kinda got lost halfway through that sentence." "Yes, yes it does," Magnanimous allowed. "Though I warn you, I have ways of getting what I want, and it's wise not to cross me." "If you don't like me shooting for the championship belt, feel free to get in the ring yourself and try and stop me!" Scootaloo countered playfully. "Though I should warn you, don't try and leverage me with my friends." "Oh?" Magnanimous asked in amusement. "And why shouldn't I? It sounds like it would work." "Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn't," Scootaloo allowed. "But I know one thing. If you do, then I will not rest until I've hunted you down personally, shoved that belt so far up your plot I have to rip your jaw open to pull it out the rest of the way, and then torn that hover thingy off you to see what you look like under it before determining what to do next. But it won't be pleasant for you." Magnanimous blinked for a time. "That would probably be a bit more intimidating if I knew what 'plot' was slang for," he admitted calmly. "The end that does your thinking for you if you actually thought an idealistic prepubescent would actually go along with throwing a match in her giant battle robot just because you said so," Scootaloo pointed out flatly. "...delicately yet blatantly put," Magnanimous allowed. "Though I have to wonder how 'plot' became slang for that on your world-" "Because everyone agrees that plotholes stink," Scootaloo replied easily. Magnanimous stared at her for a time. "I'm honestly not sure how to feel about that," he admitted before floating away.