//------------------------------// // Fighting is Magic // Story: Princess Power Boot Camp // by Flapjaw //------------------------------// Sweetiedrops was beginning to worry that she was in over her head. Simply investigating the Everfree Forest without seeking help from the Thicket tribe of deer was dangerous enough on most days, but lately the wildlife was much more aggressive than usual. If secrecy wasn’t of paramount concern she would have requisitioned a guard escort, but it was not to be. She slid under the sweeping claws of a timberwolf and bucked up into its center, snapping the magical golem in half. It would have itself reassembled in seconds if she couldn’t get its pieces further apart, unless she resorted to deadlier methods, and with the rest of the pack circling them she was inclined to do just that. She reached into her left saddlebag and threw an Arrentok’s necrosis bomb against the wood as the green essence of the beast revealed itself. Infectious black tendrils spread through the ethereal soul of the timberwolf, its assemblage of plundered plants falling still as a piercing wail filled the forest, the beast’s soul gradually flaking away into shadow and settling over the ground. It died, and at the place of its death the ground was uniformly and nearly imperceptibly darker. Those bombs were expensive, the secrets of their creation closely guarded by the nobles of Zebrica, and Sweetiedrops had only three left to the pack’s five remaining wolves. On any other day the death of one would have scared off the others, since timberwolves were unaccustomed to death, but whatever was riling up the rest of the forest had them crazy enough to keep fighting her. Two of them growled and charged from opposite sides, Sweetiedrops balancing on her forehooves and performing a split-kick, both of them falling into crumpled heaps on the ground. Before she could fully reorient herself she felt a third timberwolf sink its wooden jaws into her right haunch, briers and thorns on its lips catching on her fur or stabbing into her flesh with its teeth. She yelped and grit her teeth, but she’d felt worse pain and felled stronger monsters. Sweetiedrops trapped the lower jaw of the timberwolf between her thighs and then twisted her entire body until she was on her back, its neck snapping and splintering until it was fully severed. The physical damage was enough to expose its vulnerable soul, but the two others beside them were recovering. Sweetiedrops smashed her forehooves into their heads with the strength of an earth pony, breaking them as much as she had their pack-mate. Moving as swiftly as she ever had, she dug into her saddlebag with her muzzle and gripped the three other necrosis bombs in her teeth. She could vaguely feel the power of the alchemical mixtures through the glass globes, the black mists threatening to dig into her soul and suppress her magic as only Umbral forces could, but it would have different victims soon. With a practiced flick of her neck the anti-monster agent killed three timberwolves at once. To her infinite dismay the final two timberwolves didn’t seem dissuaded from attacking in the least. They flung themselves at her as if all notions of self-preservation had left their simple minds, and the mare resolved to at least make them pay for that foolishness. The first to reach her missed her shoulder when she ducked below its jaws, and then she slammed her head up into the neck of the next timberwolf to disorient it. The first readjusted and bit down into her left shoulder, drawing a scream as well as blood from the mare. She dragged it to the ground with her by the grip it maintained with its teeth, smashing her right hoof into its wooden face desperately, forced to stop for seconds at a time to ward off the other timberwolf again and again. For her entire life she’d fought and bested monsters and demons in Celestia’s name, but it seemed she would die in a particularly aggressive timberwolf attack in the Everfree Forest like so many ponies before her. ‘Here lies Bon Bon,’ her headstone might say. ‘She was nopony special.’ As unknown as the agency that had dissolved in secret. Complete deniability. “I hope you’re happy, Celestia.” “By Celestia’s tits!” Sweetiedrops felt her blood run cold when she heard that voice. Had she really followed her all the way out here without Sweetiedrops noticing? “Get off her you worthless piles of twigs!” Lyra’s golden magic flung the few rocks she could find into the nearest timberwolf’s back along with a shakily cast blast of pure magical energy, which barely left a dent in its branch for a spine. She did manage to get its attention, though, and it ripped its teeth out of Sweetiedrops with a meaty squelch to face its new prey. “Lyra!” She couldn't lose her. Sweetiedrops reached out with the arm that wasn’t attached to a bloody mess of a shoulder, pushing most of her magic into her hoof and digging that energy into the timberwolf’s very soul to secure a firm grip on its thigh. The rest of her magic rooted her rear hooves into the mana of the earth, and with a mighty heave she lifted the timberwolf and smashed its head into a nearby tree, shattering it into splinters. She took a step forward and pulled it back into the tree again, breaking apart its shoulder, then the other, then its chest. On she went until the soul of the beast abandoned the ruined wood. It would take days for it to reassemble its physical form. She collapsed when the last wolf tackled her to the ground and bit her neck, her energy spent. At least she had bought Lyra the time she would need to escape. She felt the piercing pressure leave her neck and heard a pounding noise above her head, looking up to see the timberwolf being slammed into the tree repeatedly by golden magic. Lyra’s eyes were glowing with mana burn, her body trembling as she pushed herself and her magic beyond anything she’d ever needed it to do before, and with one final push she sent the timberwolf flying in the opposite direction. It built up speed before smashing to pieces against another tree further away, Lyra panting with exertion as she checked her marefriend’s injuries. “Oh Bon Bon, what are you even doing out here?” “Oh, you know, just monster hunting. Standard stuff.” She grunted as she forced herself to her hooves, but before she could collapse back down in an exhausted heap she found that she could lean on Lyra for support. If Lyra was bothered by the blood soaking into her fur then she didn’t show it, helping her marefriend to stumble away from the slowly reassembling timberwolves and toward Ponyville. “How did you,” she had to pause to take a breath, “find me?” “You’re a lot easier to follow when I know you’re trying to sneak around.” Sweetiedrops laid her ears back over her head in shame. She had justified telling Lyra all about her past and present responsibilities to fight monsters with the notion that keeping that from her marefriend forever would slow down her work too much to be acceptable. It was a breach of protocol after the structure for it had already broken down for the sake of efficiency, but that wasn’t true in the least. She had really told Lyra about her secret job because keeping it to herself and having no contact with her old squad was driving her mad and she needed somepony to talk to. “I never wanted to put you in danger.” “Putting yourself in danger is just as much of a problem to me!” Lyra huffed, trying to stay focused on the task at hoof. She would get Bon Bon back to Ponyville and give her a stern talking-to later. Still, she couldn't shake her curiosity. “Why were you out here, anyway?” “Celestia said that if the Umbral Plane returned that there would be traces of it’s materialization months or even years in advance.” “Umbral Plane?” “Tambelon.” Lyra gasped when she heard that name, but Sweetiedrops caught another noise in the brush. “Be quiet and close your eyes.” Lyra trusted Sweetiedrops completely and did as asked, both mares keeping their eyes shut tight. Their ears flicked to follow the sound as it drew closer, until Sweetiedrops felt sharp teeth sink into her shoulder wound. With a swift motion of her hoof she buried the creature’s head into the ground, holding it there as it struggled. Lyra heard muffled screeching noises that grew weaker with time, and soon there was quiet once more. “Okay, you can open your eyes again.” The corpse was recognizable as a cockatrice right away, but Sweetiedrops hadn’t gotten a look at it before it showed up. “How did you know?” “They have a very distinct set of sounds, with their claws and long tails. Anypony who doesn’t learn to hear them coming ends up petrified.” Lyra stared hard at her marefriend and the blood coating her fur, and made up her mind. “I’m not letting you come out here alone again.” “Lyra--” “I don’t want to hear it! I’m either stopping you or I’m coming with you. Those are your only options so take your pick.” Sweetiedrops sighed, but after a few seconds she was smiling. “Thank you.” Twilight could not be lost in her own castle. It was simply impossible. She had memorized the layout long ago, her keen mind aware of the precise placement of every book, every piece of furniture, and the locations of every window, door, or mirror. Yet she found herself trotting down ever more unfamiliar halls, shimmering crystals gradually giving way to dark stones. Oddly enough she found her thoughts turning to her sister and the Crystal Empire as she walked further into the unknown, something familiar in the new environment. She felt her stomach churning uncomfortably and a sudden sense of vertigo overtook her for a solid minute as the entire hall before her seemed to twist obscenely. Twilight turned back, but the crystal halls she’d come from were gone. Her gaze turned skyward, the roof having disappeared, and suddenly the hall was a street, and the sky was black. She remembered Hope, Sombra, and the great prison beneath the Empire. Shadow beings contained in a magical field, and nearly destroying the nation when they were set free. But this sky wasn’t just black: it was moving. Those same moving shadows with eyes, minds, and dark magic were the sky. Hundreds of them. Perhaps thousands. She glimpsed beyond them, and what she saw made her flinch back and hide behind her wings. “Not yet.” The voice was soft and understanding, somewhere behind her. “You still have time. Wake up.” Twilight bolted upright in her bed, her sheets wrapped tightly around her from the tossing and turning she’d been doing in her sleep. She heard Cadance snore and Moondancer groan as the light of the Sun began to shine through thin, decorative curtains. “No.” Twilight’s horn sparked and thicker curtains fell into place over the pretty but useless ones, bathing them all in darkness again before she let her head slam back down into her pillows. If this keeps happening between training exercises then the strain is going to kill me, she thought bitterly, the exact events of her dream already fading into obscurity. I’ll ask Zecora if she can make something to help me sleep today, she resolved, staring at the ceiling. She had a slim chance of getting back to sleep by then, and Pinkie would be pouting all day if she was late to the party. With a mischievous smile Twilight formed reflective planes with her magic throughout the room with strategic placements and then threw open all the curtains. By the time Cadance and Moondancer had finished flailing their limbs and squealing in discomfort the magic had been dispelled and they had no idea that Twilight was the cause of their rude awakening. That remained true until Twilight’s fake yawn and chipper grin gave her away. “Come on, girls! We’ve got a party to get ready for!” As Twilight left the room the remaining two mares gave each other a meaningful look. “We’re getting her back for this, right?” Cadance asked. Moondancer nodded grimly, trotting out after Twilight with the Princess of Love. “I hate big parties. I get the feeling this is going to be a long day.” “Oh come on. This’ll be fun!” Cadance replied, her mood already rapidly improving. “Pinkie knows what she’s doing.” “With this many headstrong ponies in one place I predict there’s a 70% chance that at least one fight will break out in the first three hours, with a 15% chance that such a fight will devolve into a full-on brawl.” Cadance just rolled her eyes at the dry analysis of the studious unicorn, certain she’d be less cranky after a cup of coffee. “Rainbow Dash!” Applejack’s irate and very sober voice carried across the entire field in which the party had been set up. Pinkie had very conspicuously left a rather large, circular area devoid of tables or chairs, calling it ‘The Pit’ and remaining tight-lipped about its purpose. It wasn’t a mosh pit, because the designated dancing area was its own circular area further from the castle, and Rainbow Dash had been pondering its purpose while standing in the center when Applejack made her approach. “Ya sneaky varmint! Ya took mah moonshine!” The pegasus swayed on her hooves as she turned around, holding a rather large bottle of the strong alcohol in her right wing. It looked as though she might trip and spill it upon the ground at any moment and her voice carried a drunken giggle through every word. “Hey hey, AJ. Sorry about the snatching. Hehe… Couldn’t let you hoard all the best booze for yourself, now could I?” Daring Do had followed Applejack to The Pit and stood just outside of it with a thoughtful expression while the farmpony continued her advance, drawing the attention of dozens of ponies, each one still shaking off the effects of recent sleep. Applejack lunged for the bottle, Rainbow deftly sidestepping the effort in spite of her drunkenness, making Applejack growl angrily. “Ya could let me hoard it because it’s buckin’ mine! Now give it here!” When Applejack went for the bottle again, Rainbow dropped it from her wing to her hooves and leaped into the air, flapping lazily above the earth pony with a cocky grin on her face. “Sorry, AJ, but finders keep stuff or whatever.” Rainbow started to gulp the drink down again, her eyes shut in blissful indulgence, and then Applejack jumped up and bit her tail, dragging her back down to the ground and trying to kick the moonshine out of Rainbow's hooves as soon as they landed. Rainbow's grip held firm, and Applejack shattered the bottle instead. “Hey!” Applejack gripped Rainbow's neck with her hooves, shaking the pegasus violently. “Damn it, RD! If’n Ah didn’t love ya so much then Ah’d beat ya intah next week fer this!” “I’d love to see you try, Applebottom.” “Actually,” Moondancer cut in from the sidelines, a steaming mug of coffee held in one hoof. “The presence of the illusion matrix means that you could, in fact, try to ‘beat her into next week’ with no negative consequences. The pain from the fight will be very real, but you can’t seriously injure each other.” Rainbow Dash and Applejack stared at Moondancer, then at each other for over a minute. Suddenly Applejack dropped her hooves from Rainbow's neck, gripping her belly with a grunt. Rainbow had kicked her. “Haha! The first hit is mine!” “Rainbow!” Twilight yelled, stomping a hoof. “Just because you have a black-belt in Karate doesn’t mean you can spar safely while inebriated!” “Well yeah, but Moondancer is right, isn’t she!? We don’t have to spar safely! We can just wail on each other and we’ll be totally fine after.” As if to punctuate Rainbow's statement, Applejack bucked her as hard as she could. The illusion matrix interpreted what would have happened whilst restraining Applejack’s real strike beneath it, and retranslated those effects into Rainbow’s body, automatically readjusting the force down to something non-fatal and slotting the appropriate amount of pain into Rainbow's brain. In short, she felt as if her chest had exploded into pieces, but instead she was simply flung across the entire Pit, tumbling into a mess of limbs and feathers at Daring Do’s hooves. She made a disoriented choking noise, every on-looker covering their mouths in shock, save for one pink pony with a very different reaction. “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!” “You planned this!” Rainbow croaked out at Pinkie as she struggled to stand, swaying from the alcohol surging through her blood. “That’s the only reason you helped me last night!” Pinkie rolled her eyes, giggling. “Oh Dashie, I didn’t help you so you could get thrashed. I wanted to see a FIGHT! Afterall, you did say we could start placing bets on fights after the training had been going on for awhile, and why should the Princesses have all the fun, huh?” “I… Uh…” Rainbow couldn't form a retort to that, turning around to see Applejack quietly raging, waiting for the pegasus to gather herself. “Okay then. Place your bets, A-holes! We’re about to christen this Fight Pit!” Rainbow marched back to the center with a confident smirk, hiding her pain admirably and stretching a hoof out for the earth pony to shake, which she did with an agitated huff. Twilight shook her head, but stepped forward to help anyway. “I appoint Moondancer as our permanent referee. If you are off your hooves and are either restrained or stunned in such a state for ten consecutive seconds then you lose. I will create a magical matrix to detect such things in the ground of the Fight Pit, so Moondancer will only have to step in for serious infringements. The rules will depend on the fight and its participants. Are there any rules either of you would like to impose?” “Nope!” Rainbow shouted confidently, staring down her opponent. “Ah don’t want this varmint flyin’ away.” “Aaww~ Want me to tie up my wings for ya, AJ?” Rainbow mocked, but Applejack just narrowed her eyes. “Nah, y’all can use ‘em to fight. Twilight? Give us a height limit, darlin’.” “Uh, sure. How does ten meters from the ground sound?” “That’d be fine.” A shimmering cylinder of translucent lavender magic surrounded the two ponies, and the onlookers finally started to place bets, mostly the many stallion Wonderbolt trainees. They all seemed rather excited to watch two Elements fight. “Too bad auntie Celly and Lulu can’t be here for this.” Twilight rolled her eyes at Cadance's comment, not bothering to look in her direction. “If they don’t check on Blueblood every weekend then the good Prince is liable to burn down Canterlot.” “That would be the Best Night Ever, though, wouldn’t it?” Twilight looked at Cadance incredulously, Pinkie mumbling about ‘Cadance encroaching on her territory’ or something like it. Before Twilight could ask what Cadance must have been smoking, Moondancer signaled the beginning of the bout. Rainbow took up a fighting stance on her rear hooves and started striking with the other two, flapping her wings in time with her steps to exert a brutally quick advance, but Applejack defended herself admirably. The farmpony wasn’t quite fast enough to block every strike, but she was a tremendously tough pony and took each successful blow without flinching. Applejack was biding her time, looking for momentary weaknesses, relying on the moonshine in Rainbow's bloodstream. Soon enough, Rainbow’s flow of strikes became a bit sloppy, the openings between hits gradually getting larger until Applejack saw an opportunity worth taking. The crowd of stallions ‘ooo’d when Applejack made her move, ducking under another punch and slamming her chest into Rainbow's withers, rushing forward on just her legs and gripping an ankle and shoulder on her opponent, forcing the pegasus to the ground and pressing all of her weight over her. “Hehe~ Easy as p-AAAAH!!” Rainbow bucked straight up with her free rear hoof, connecting with a very sensitive place, the farm mare’s butt rising and the skirt of her tail lowering protectively. “Ya sucker kickin’ lil --” She was cut off by a punch to the face, backing up a few steps and letting Rainbow get back on her hooves. “Now who’s easy!? Rraaagh!!” Rainbow charged again, but this time from the air, striking with all four hooves in a vicious pattern, focused on beating Applejack into submission. This time Applejack was less patient with her defense, roughly batting aside Rainbow's limbs to make her own openings and swinging back frequently, forcing Rainbow to flitter back constantly to avoid being hit. Neither of them managed to coral the other away from the center of the Fight Pit, and so their struggle continued in the tiring deadlock for several minutes, until Applejack lost all patience and restraint, going on the offensive. Rainbow simply flew a meter higher, out of Applejack’s reach, and started to snicker and cackle like a drunken school filly. “Can’t touch me up here! Nah nah nah! Hahaha!” During a laugh the pegasus threw her head back in mirth, shutting her eyes for just a short moment, and it was all the time Applejack needed. Showing tremendous strength, the earth pony jumped straight into the air with her powerful muscles, gaining just enough height over Rainbow to buck down into her chest, sending her crashing into the ground and tumbling toward the edge of the Fight Pit again. “Ooo… Ponyfeathers.” “Earth ponies are excellent jumpers,” Twilight commented, paying very close attention to the fight. “Your friends are kicking the snot out of each other and that’s all you have to say?” Cadance replied. “It’s fascinating, isn’t it? My friends either hugely outclass any creature we face, or they rely on my sorcery to overcome a particularly magical foe. I haven’t seen them fight like this since your wedding.” Cadance jumped in surprise when she heard Fizzlepop burst into laughter on her other side, not having noticed her approach. Still, she was too captivated by the scene before her to complain, turning her attention back to the fight. Rainbow came shakily to her hooves and she saw Applejack barreling toward her, sweat matting down her fur from the exertion of their dual and anger burning in her eyes. There was something else, too. She could detect the excitement in Applejack’s eyes, mirroring her own feelings. They were having an unreasonable amount of fun. Rainbow focused on her years of martial arts training and competition, waiting until the last possible moment to make the perfect move. She sprung up on one hoof and kicked the left side of Applejack’s head with lightning speed and precision, sending her opponent tumbling to the ground. Applejack’s weight crashed into Rainbow’s leg in the next instant, sending the pegasus face-first into the dirt, but the ploy paid off when Applejack’s mane inched past the magical perimeter of the Pit. It flashed red three times, accompanied by a sound of finality, and Moondancer nodded when she saw it. “Rainbow Dash is the winner.” “Aw yeah!” “...Of the first round.” “What!?” “Three rounds is the standard, so there aren’t any flukes.” Everypony else nodded along with Moondancer’s reasoning while Rainbow's feathers ruffled in agitation. “Of course, we didn’t agree to that before you started fighting, so if you don’t think you can beat Applejack again then feel free to walk away the victor.” Rainbow's feathers ruffled a tad more. “Fine! We’ll do best of three, but no more surprise rules!” “Okay.” Moondancer replied, not bothered in the least. “Return to the center and I’ll count you in. From three down and begin when I say ‘go.’” “For what it’s worth, Dash, I forgive ya fer takin’ mah moonshine. We’re just havin’ too much fun tah stop right now, ain’t we?” The two smirked at each other, the surrounding ponies stamping their hooves in excitement as Moondancer counted them down to the next round. The party was just getting started. “Don’t wander too far, Little Sunshine.” Her mother had said. “Beneath us is the border of the Dragon Lands and Dream Valley, where the mortal ponies live. Ponies aren’t always friendly, and dragons don’t like having their sleep interrupted. Stay at the border, where it’s safe.”Not all alicorns were content to stay in the clouds for all their lives, some feeling a stronger pull to the Earth and visiting it often. Celestia didn’t feel that way, but she did love the sky and the Earth equally, so she still visited often. One day, before her sister was born, the little filly was prancing happily through a calm forest, following butterflies, until she heard sobbing. Celestia followed the voice, finding a small creature that could bend and twist like a snake, barely as long as she was tall, a mismatched set of limbs sprouting from its serpentine body, and then ‘it’ was ‘he’ because he looked at her. He was the one sobbing, and there were lash-marks all over his body. He shrunk back. “Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you.” He gradually inched closer again, and she smiled. “What’s your name? Mine’s ‘Celestia.’” “I’m ‘Discord.’” He said, shivering as he did. It was as if he’d been named something bad, because of what he was or where he came from. “If you’re hurt I could get Mommy to--” “No!” His eyes flashed bright yellow, and Celestia suddenly had a headache, leaning against a tree nearby. “I’m sorry! Did I hurt you?” “No, I’m fine.” Celestia fibbed, waving a hoof while she was sliding toward the ground. Discord held that hoof, and helped her stand properly again. He’d stopped crying, even though his lash-marks didn’t look any better. A few of them were fresh enough to be bleeding. “Well, how about I just take care of you myself instead? Would that be alright?” He rushed forward and hugged her, and she felt tears at the edges of her own eyes. “Yes. Thank you.” “Daydreaming again?” Celestia was jarred from her memory mid-flight by the sound of Discord’s voice, the draconequus leisurely flapping backwards and upside down beside her as she and Luna approached Canterlot. “Come to check on your little stand-in?” He asked, smirking. “You’d best not be making too much trouble for Our nephew.” Luna said curtly. “He’s not had much experience with this level of responsibility.” “Exactly what I was thinking, Lulu!” He called back excitedly, twisting into a proper flight position in his excitement. “Why not let me take over for awhile? I do have prior experience ruling Equestria, afterall.” “Aye, and torturing the ponies under your rule for your petty amusement when you did.” Celestia cleared her throat just loud enough to preempt further bickering and spoke. “Luna, we are putting that behind us. He served his sentence for that crime.” Luna grumbled, but didn’t argue, turning away from them in annoyance. She was glad that Celestia didn’t mention that she’d served a similar sentence for just as terrible a crime, blushing at the unwelcome thought. “Discord, I understand that you’re excited by all this, and I do trust you, but you’re no good at paperwork. Keep a protective eye on Blueblood for Us, would you? We have political rivals who might see him as an easy target for manipulation.” “Aha! Spy stuff! Now that sounds like fun. I’ll get started right away, Celestia! So many cameras and microphones to plant.” As Discord disappeared and Luna gaped, Celestia merely smiled. “You know, Sister, you handle him so easily that it’s a little scary.” “I know him well enough to.” Celestia spoke with a distant sadness, one that had plagued her for enough centuries that she’d learned to hide it almost entirely. She could tell that Luna noticed, but thankfully she didn’t press the issue. Being knocked from the center to the exterior of the Fight Pit at the very start of the second round had ruffled Rainbow's feathers quite a bit, but she wouldn’t make the same mistake twice, wisely avoiding a direct charge in the third round. Their third round took much longer, shifting from exchanges of hoof-strikes to grappling and wrestling and back several times, until Rainbow finally managed to pin Applejack down for just long enough to win, the two of them panting from the effort in the dirt. In spite of the fact that they were supposed to be taking a break from the training, Rainbow explained the hold she’d used, Applejack nodding along and pointing out the mistakes she’d made to give Rainbow the necessary openings. The comment that Rainbow had done it while heavily buzzed encouraged the other ponies to drink more aggressively, and loudly thumping dance music filled the area in the next instant, several ponies exchanging bits after seeing the result they’d been betting on. “No no, hold on a minute!” Rainbow called out. “Stop the music, pinks! I need to challenge somepony!” Pinkie cut the music with a record-scratch sound effect from her control-board, tilting her head at the pegasus. “Who’s that, Dashie?” “You, for getting me into that mess in the first place!” Pinkie was as surprised as anyone else to hear that, stumbling out from behind her console and looking around as if there was a prank afoot that she hadn’t figured out yet. It was a usually unspoken rule that Pinkie shouldn’t get involved in physical contests, leaving that mostly to Rainbow, Applejack, and sometimes Rarity. When it was spoken, they’d say that Pinkie just didn’t make sense and it wouldn’t be fair, but Rainbow was smiling at her as she approached. “You heard what Moondancer said. You don’t have to hold yourself back anymore.” “I...” Pinkie didn’t know what to say. “I saw your time on that obstacle course. Applejack said you didn’t even look like you were trying too hard, like the whole thing was just a game to you.” Pinkie Pie gulped, looking mildly uncomfortable as everypony looked her way, Rainbow flying over to her side. The pegasus placed a hoof on her shoulder, smiling with understanding. “I get it, Pinkie. When Gilda was in flight school with me she tried to avoid saying certain things around other ponies, trying not to make them uncomfortable because she eats meat. She didn’t want them to treat her like an outsider, and I was the only one who didn’t anyway, and eventually she stopped caring what they thought. She may have gone in the wrong direction with that for awhile, but if you keep hiding you might become just as bitter one day. You’re a lot stronger than her, so I doubt it, but I’d rather not take the chance with another one of my friends. You don’t have to be afraid of your strength and speed anymore, and we could really use your help in a fight later, if you let me train you up.” “This wasn’t for me, Dashie.” Pinkie looked conflicted, biting her lip. “This Fight Pit thing was for you and AJ, and maybe some of those Wonderbolt trainees.” “I’m proud to have such an exceptional earth pony as my friend, Pinkie. If anyone calls you a freak, I’ll kick their ass. So come on; I want to see what you’ve got.” “Okay!” Pinkie held back tears, nodding her head enthusiastically. For the longest time, even her closest friends had feared her, but it finally seemed they’d started to see what harm their words had caused. That Rainbow would try to fix that made her immensely happy, but there was definitely something primal to it as well. Rainbow loved a challenge, and now she was sure to get one. For the first time in years, Pinkie decided she would throw all she had into a fight. She trusted Twilight’s spell-work to keep them both safe. “Oh! Get rid of the height limit, Twilight! Wouldn’t be fair.” That surprised Rainbow for a moment, but then she shook her head in self-admonishment. Of course Pinkie wouldn’t want to hold her friend back either. “Alright then.” Moondancer fought to hold back her indignant thoughts, hiding her emotions behind a blank face. So what if a Wonderbolt with black-belts wanted to beat up a baker at a party? No one could really get hurt so it really didn’t matter if that’s how they wanted to spend their time. Not expecting much, she counted them in. Pinkie slammed her skull up into Rainbow's chest before anypony else knew what was happening, then jumped up to follow the pegasus into the air and bopped her with her plump butt, the amount of force in the ludicrously playful strike enough to send Rainbow tumbling toward the edge of the Pit right away. Moondancer blinked in shock, dropping the notepad she’d been writing in as her magic cut out and her jaw dropped open. By the time her eye-lids had parted again the two ponies were viciously punching at one another with blinding speed. Rainbow had perfect technique, making rapid and precise strikes with tiny movements that could barely be tracked by the eye, while Pinkie’s swings were clumsy and highly telegraphed, but accompanied by such unnatural raw speed as to be just as difficult to follow. Then Pinkie casually performed a back-flip double-kick, flipping all the way around and breaking Rainbow's stance before she lunged forward again, the pegasus flapping roughly to the side while kicking at the dirt to sidestep Pinkie’s charge. Pinkie followed the near miss with a jumping spin-kick that Rainbow barely blocked in time, the force of the impact against her arms sending her spinning end over end. Rainbow stabilized herself with her wings and then kicked into the air, flying straight up so she could get some space, reassess her approach, and counter-attack from the air. Pinkie materialized her party cannon seemingly from nowhere and then blasted herself at Rainbow just as the pegasus was twisting around in the air to watch the ground. They slammed into each other, Pinkie holding onto Rainbow and squeezing while she spun them around, and after several rotations she bucked Rainbow’s gut. The pegasus fell like a thrown rock, passing the edge of the Pit and eventually landing with a thud on a table, scattering drinks everywhere. “Woo-hoo! Lets do it again!” Cadance sidled over to Rainbow Dash, trying to look nonchalant. “So, what was that, exactly?” “That was Pinkie Pie.” Rainbow answered, a massive grin on her face. “Uncoordinated, sloppy, and untrained.” Rainbow turned an intense gaze to Cadance, and already she began to understand. “Imagine what she’ll be like at the end of these six months.” Exceptional ponies had been gathered to make the Princesses stronger, but they could strengthen each other as well. It seemed the lot of them were destined to become an unstoppable force, as Cadance couldn't imagine anything that could stand against them as a unit. Of course, she had been wrong before, and she couldn’t shake a sliver of irrational worry.