//------------------------------// // Chapter 21: Battle! // Story: The Tournament Of Friendship // by FourShadow //------------------------------// "ATTACK!!!" Trixie shouted. "Ninja... GO!!!" Lyra yelled, jumping up into the air and performing a ninja jump. But as the dragon turned itself around, it's tail came swinging around and slammed against Lyra, tossing her into the pits of mud set out on the field. Octavia stared at the beast with a courageous look. If now was the time to finally get a grip on her magnetisim, now would have to be the time. But would it work? It had to. She was done being a magnet, she needed control, now! But what to manipulate, there had to be something! She looked just up ahead, and saw a few of the metal beams that had held the track up were loose. Maybe one of those could do the trick? But would she be strong enough to levitate it? Well it would be now or never. "Okay Octavia... now's your time. Focus... concentrate... Do not attract anything else..." She raised both of her hands up, with her hands open in grabbing motions. She locked onto the beam, and was ready to yank it. She kept her focus on the beam, waiting for it to move. Nothing. But just then, she saw it jiggle. It began to shake and rattle. She was getting it to move! Just needed it to get out of it's socket, just a little more... She got it loose just enough, but then it suddenly dropped to the ground, freed from it's spot. It may not have been going straight to her, but she at least got it freed. Octavia grunted as she saw it fell. "Come on... come to me... please..." She pleaded quietly. "They need me, and I can't fail now..." She focused on the beam once more. She watched it shake and rattle on the ground. But something was happening! It slowly began to slide across the ground. It was moving towards her! And it moved another few inches, and then a few ft, until it slowly flew up into the air and flew right towards her. "Scrap." She braced for the beam to come and shoot her like a baseball. Octavia felt some hard metal clutch into her hands, but nothing else happened. When she opened her eyes, she found she was now holding the massive support beam in her phalanges. "Yes... YES! Thank you, Equestrian Gods!" The dragon roar finally got her attention, and now she had to take her chance. She lifted up the beam, but to her surprise, it felt more like a paperweight material! She still felt it's hard, sturdy steel, but at least it wasn't going to crush her. She levitated it up into the air, and focused it on the dragon. She wanted to try and pound it like a wooden mallet, but now was not the time to test out cartoon logic. Besides, that beam wasn't going to last long, she was sure of it. But maybe she could still give him a little pain? "For Queen and Country and all beams who sacrificed themselves to be slammed against giant fairytale creatures!" The beam flew right out of her grip and right towards the dragon's skull. And when he turned around, the beam slammed him right in the side of the head, delivering the first blow. He groaned and felt the hard slam against his head, but quickly turned his attention to the little rocker girl who tossed it at her. "You want me? Come and get me you lizard freak!" The dragon spit fire out of it's mouth, which Octavia managed to avoid. Now she just had to keep it on her and not on the students. "Hey!" Vinyl shouted, trying to get the dragon's attention. Her scream didn't work. But maybe her newfound lightning would do the trick! But wait, how was she gonna shoot any? "Shock it!" Vinyl shouted, trying to snap her fingers. Nothing happened. "Electrofy!" She swatted her arm around like trying to splash all water off of her. Still nothing. "Oh come on! What do I gotta do!? I can make the power in a house short out, but I can't create a simple bolt!?" Vinyl whined. She stretched her arms as far as she could into the air, hoping that would work while screaming like a banshee. "UNLIMITED POWER!!!" Once again, she created nothing. In frustration, she extended her hand out without knowing it, and a bolt of lightning was sent shooting the ground, sending a few sparks into the air. And just like that, an idea formed in her head, accompanied by a slowly building grin. She extended a single palm of her hand out again, hoping something would happen. And as she focused on the dragon and thought long and hard, a small bolt of lightning flashed out of her hand and just lightly tapped the side of the dragon, barely making a mark on the beast. The violinist growled with anger, and this time without even realizing it, both of her hands raised up to fight, and two massive streams of lightning surged into the air and zapped the dragon's head, making it hurl and moan out in pain. "YES!" Vinyl cheered. "Whoo-hoo!" But she stopped cheering when the dragon's movements halted. It's head slowly swiveled around with a sharp scowl. Vinyl's arms dropped to her sides she looked at the dragon with an embarrassed look on her face. "Um... it wasn't me?" But the dragon's body spun itself around, followed by it's tail taking out several support beams underneath ledges holding pieces of the motocross track. He growled as he stomped towards her, and lowered his head down to get up right in her face. Vinyl was now shaking in her dress shoes. "I'm... s-s-sorry?" Vinyl quaked. The dragon puffed black smoke through his nostrils, blowing it in Vinyl's face and making her hair fly back and stick up. Only one thing was on his mind now. But before he made his next move, something else hit the dragon, something pounding against his side. His head turned to look at someone else, now facing Amethyst who had a steel grip on her keytar. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size, firebreath?" Amethyst shouted. The dragon let out a grumble as it stared at Amethyst. "Oh yeah, well guess what?" She flipped her keytar around and pointed it at the dragon. "Your mother was a salamander, and your father was a pig!" She played a powerful chord on her instrument, sending a powerful blast of sound waves towards the dragon. Unfortunately, it also sent her flying off her feet and shooting into the air and right through a piece of bale. "I'm okay! I'll walk it off!" Students were all gasping in shock and horror from the sight of the giant monster, some of them were now in hysterics. Bon Bon, heart racing at a mile a minute, looked at the frightened students. And back to the dragon. There was no way they could survive being out here. Now there was only one choice. Get them out of danger, fast. But wait; how? What was she going to do to get them to escape? She had to do something to cover them... wait a minute. Cover! Something to hide their escape! Clouds. Mist. Fog. Smog. Smoke... Smoke... Smoke! That was her ticket! She extended her hands out, and all her mind focused on creating smoke. Fire that created the smoke. And soon, clouds of black smoke began to blow from her hands. She raised them into the air and started flailing her hands all around, trying to create a big enough cloud to hide all of the students. "Everyone, go! I'll cover your escape!" With the smoke all up in the air, everyone took their chance without a second thought. People ran down the bleachers and out through an opening to where Principal Cinch and Luna were calling for them. They all ran out of the field, as fast as they could like a pack of wild horses. Even Sunny Flare and a few other competitors were already fleeing for their lives. The bikers, still on the race track all quickly took notice of the monster. "Okay, getting off the road!" Rainbow shouted. She swerved her bike to the right, busting through an already destroyed fence and with Flash and Indigo right behind her. "Where are we going!?" Indigo shouted. "Anywhere but here!" Sugarcoat didn't follow the group. Actually, she was going to, that is until some fire breath blocked off that path, preventing her move. Instead she kept running along the track and consistently thrashed her motorbike all around, trying to avoid everything that was being thrown at her. But her swerving came to an end when her bike started to drive right down into a pit created by one of the monsters. The dip threw her right off her bike, and she was tossed onto some dirt. Thankfully, she wasn't hurt. But when she looked up, she saw a large 3-ton beam being tossed in the air and hurling right towards her like a caber. She screamed at the top of her lungs and tried to get up to run, but the sound of a large metal clank made her eyes shut tight. She had expected the beam to have hit her right there on the spot, lights going black just like that. But when she opened up her eye, she saw the beam was being held in place, still sticking up in the air as if someone was holding it. And she could see who was holding it right up. A girl in metal gray skin with a black mohawk in punk clothing. She looked back at the biker with a small but friendly smile. "Hello luv," Octavia flashed a grin. "You alright?" Sugarcoat nodded, but still showed a little bit of unease. "Y-Yeah... who are you?" "Name's Octavia, luv! Now I hate to put you on edge some more, but could you please get off the track so you're out of the danger zone?" "Don't have to tell me twice," Sugarcoat said, rushing to get up on her feet and running out of the pit, trying to get herself as far away from danger as she could. And when she was out, Octavia carefully with all the attraction she could, set the beam on the ground nice and easy. She would have loved to fling it against the dragon, but if another incident like a flying beam occurred again? Oh, it wouldn't be good. But in all the midst of the chaos, Sugarcoat had completely missed one vital thing. "Wait. Where's the other three?" Elsewhere "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!" Flash screamed as another wooden plank of a fence smashed into his face. And a few of those fencing pieces flew back and smacked Indigo and Rainbow Dash in the faces as well. And then the three smashed through another yard, scaring the living daylights out of a few people who were barbecuing. "Sorry!" Rainbow yelled. And they smashed through another yard, this time of a birthday party and right past a couple of kids in a bouncy house. "My fault!" Indigo bellowed. And then through another yard where a few adults were drinking, enjoying a few laughs, etc. "Hi Fancypants, bye Fancypants!" Flash shouted as they sped on by. The well dressed man who nearly had a heart attack from the sudden bikers just watched as they raced on by without another word, sound of motorcycle engines revving loud and ringing in his ears. And a few seconds later, the three motocross riders burst through yet another fence. "SORRY!!!" The three girls yelled simultaneously. The neighbor who watched them race on by just stayed laid back in a beach chair with a tanning screen, looking peaceful, acting as if nothing was wrong. "Heidi-ho, speedy neighbor." Sugarcoat slowly stepped back, trying to get as much distance from the battle as she could. But as she watched the ensuing struggle unfolded before her. Her entire life she always believed in pure science fact, but now the most incomprehensible and illogical picture was in front of her. Dragons. Superpowers. What was happening!? The dragon’s roar was deafening, and the quake of its footsteps as it emerges fully from the portal sent Twilight to the ground. The poor girl scraped her hands as she struggled to get back to her feet, and despite the chaos, the screaming, everything, she couldn't move. She can only stare in stunned horror at the thing before her. A dragon. A real, honest to God dragon. From the pages of fairy tales to vivid, roaring, earthshaking life. Twilight’s brain whirred with this realization, this discovery. All of this – the portals that her device opened, the fact that dragons exist, that there’s one right here and— The earth shook again, and a massive tail covered in red scales came whipping by her, with such force that it knocked her down again. Twilight, sprawled on her back, dazed, suddenly came to a newfound realization… I’m going to die here. “Hold on! I’ve got you!” Someone grabbed her arms, and hauled her to her feet. Another earthshaking footstep from the dragon nearly caused them to stumble, but Twilight’s rescuer manages to find their feet and keep them from falling again. It’s Sour Sweet. Stunned, kind of dazed, Twilight can only kind of gape. “You – saved me…” “What, did you think I’d just leave you? Come on, Twilight, there’s no way I’d let someone get squashed like that!” Sour half-led, half-dragged Twilight with her, away from the dragon, towards the other students and faculty, who are trying to evacuate the scene. Twilight, still dazed, let herself be led along. Her hands were clutching the pendant, holding on in a death grip, and the same set of thoughts keep running through her head. Dragons exist. They’re real. Does that mean – magic is real too? “Twilight, come on, we gotta get out of here!!” Sour’s voice, fierce with anger and worry, pierced Twilight’s understanding. They’re further away from the dragon, and something seemed to be distracting the giant red beast from them… what it is Twilight didn't know, nor can she care. From the side-lines, Lemon Zest skid over to them, still on her skates. “You’ve got Twilight! Great, let’s get out of here!” “Wait a minute, where’s Sunny?” "With Principal Cinch and Rarity! Which is where WE should be too, before—” The green-haired girl’s words were drowned out by a loud, rattling growl; a noise that sent shivers down Twilight’s spine. There is a noise like a great puffing of breath, and a burst of foul greenish air hit the three girls – and it STINKS, like swamp matter mixed with rotten eggs. Coughing, against her better judgment, Twilight turned around… And, so close she could reach out and touch it, was a gigantic wolf. Not just that, but a wolf made of dark green and black wood, like part of a forest had come to awful life in the shape of an animal. The giant wolf’s glowing green eyes burn into Twilight’s, as it slowly opens its jaws to snarl. Its teeth are like thick wooden stakes. "T-that’s a... T-that’s a…” “Monster…” Sour quaked in a small voice. Twilight, paralyzed with fright, couldn't move, even though every instinct screamed at her to move, to run, to do something. As the wolf opens wide and made to lunge, Lemon and Sour’s words register in her mind, and Twilight cannot help but amend her earlier thought: Monsters exist. But, just before the wooden wolf’s teeth, there’s another deafening sound – and one that hit the wolf, knocking it away from Twilight! “Are you okay?” It takes a minute for Twilight’s ears to stop ringing long enough to hear the question. But she can see the speaker, a girl she doesn’t recognize, carrying a keytar and dressed in retro 80s clothes for some bizarre reason. Parachute pants, shoulder pads, hair spiked up into a bad mullet. “WHAT?” Sour yelled. Apparently, Twilight wasn't the only one deafened by the sonic blast. “I said, are you okay?” Amethyst repeated, a little louder. Lemon grinned. “Yeah, thanks for the save!” “TANKS ARE ON THE GRAVE? WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN!?” Sour yelled. Her ears were ringing with Twilight's as well. Amethyst hissed, realizing how close they were to her music. "Ooh. Sorry... just get clear, I'll try to stop this thing! Go, now! I'll cover you!" Lemon grimaced, and started to lead Sour and Twilight away as the giant wolf starts to get back to its feet. "Hey wolfie? You wanna take on someone? Well how about you take. On. Me!" Twilight glanced back in time to see Amethyst hit a power chord on her keytar – and blow the timber-wolf into matchwood, with a surge of noise so forceful that Twilight could feel her teeth rattle. Twilight, shaken in more ways than one, kept staring as she’s led away, feeling just as frightened by that display of sheer power just as much by the monster that had nearly eaten her… How did that girl do that? Where on earth did that power come from? The dragon roars again, and suddenly Twilight realizes that there are other monsters still out there. And as she, Lemon and Sour join the rest of the students evacuating from the battle zone, she looks back again at the dragon. The dragon is looming over the school, long neck stretching high up, like a construction crane, as he towers above the people… And then, out of nowhere, Twilight sees two bolts of lightning slam into the back of the dragon’s head, making the monster roar in pain. Following the trajectory of the bolts, realizing that they had come from somewhere close to the ground, Twilight is flabbergasted to see another girl, with blue hair and a nice dress, shooting electricity out of her fists. How is this possible!? Twilight’s brain practically screams. Dragons and monsters made of wood and now teenagers with superpowers! None of this was possible. It violated every law of science and logic. It was – it was-- And, just like that, the answer comes to her. “Magic…” “Twilight!! We gotta get out of here!” Lemon shouted, trying to get her mind back and focus. As the other girl takes her hand and tugs her along, Twilight again let herself be led. Once more her brain is afire with this realization. Magic exists. Monsters exist. Twilight felt lightheaded at the thought. And then, she realized something else… Magic exists… and it is a very dangerous thing. Too dangerous. I have to do something about this… But her thought ended fast, and she joined the others to take refuge from danger. As the battle continued, Trixie stood off to the side of the bleachers, watching the action. She wanted to create an illusion to help, but she needed something big enough to scare them away. If those beasts found out her tricks were fake, they would be dead! But what to scare them with? "Okay Trixie... come on, think. Something big, something bigger than that dragon. What could..." A light-bulb flickered in her head. "Ohhhh... Maybe this could work. Oh, but what if it doesn't?" The sound of the dragon roar made her skin crawl some more. "Well. Nothing else is working, might as well give it a shot..." Trixie gulped. "Amethyst! Shoot some sound waves into the ground!" "What!?" Amethyst shouted over the noise. "Point your sound waves at the ground!" "I hope you know what you're doing!" Amethyst yelled. She spun herself around and strummed a powerful slam of keys on her keytar, sending some tremors into the ground which shook everything around them. "Okay, do it again!" Amethyst repeated her action again. "Okay, just do it five more times, I'll have something whipped up for this!" As Amethyst kept up the same pace and beat, Trixie slammed her eyes shut, trying to picture the illusion in her head. It had to be something big, something truly big and powerful. Something that these creatures would be scared of. As Trixie thought long and hard, a single picture flew into her brain. And before she knew, a projection of what she was desiring was starting to take it's shape onto the grounds. "WHAT IS THAT!?" Sunny Flare shrieked. A new form towered over the school, bigger than the dragon. But this new form was one that was recognized as a close friend to the school. How it returned, no one knew except for Trixie. Standing on two massive legs with a ton of fish scales over it's skin. A red gem blazed in the middle of it's heart. Giant fingers strong enough to grab anything with a tight grip. Three massive heads. Three massive long necks. And all three of these heads were horse-like, with fish-like features; fins and scales mostly. One head was purple, the other one was blue, but the one in the middle was radiating with bright yellow and orange. A giant tail with fish fins swayed behind, and the three heads were snarling and growling. "She's back!" Amethyst gasped. "The Queen has returned!" Octavia cheered. A loud screeching roar pierced the skies, forcing all the girls to cover their ears from the loud sounds. The three heads looked down at the dragon, with a dominant eyes and narrow grins. One by one their eyes began to light up, and the dorsal fins on the backs of their necks, reaching all the way down the back and tail began to light up. The dragon quickly realized what was about to happen. And worse, the giant was far bigger than him, no way he could last against it! Not taking a second moment, the dragon scurried right back through the portal which vanished out of existence just before a visual display of laser breath blasted onto the spot. Octavia and Amethyst looked at each other with shared grins. "Now that's what I'm talkin' about," Bon Bon smiled. The dragon scurried as it's feet trampled on the ground, but without another thought, he jumped right through the open portal, escaping back to the cave that he emerged from. When it's tail made it through, the portal vanished into thin air. As for the Timberwolves? Well just seeing the beast alone gave them the signal to run as far as possible. The wolf leader let out a howl into the air, and led his pack right back through the portal. Trixie, realizing that they were gone, let her arms drop. And so the illusion began to fade away into the light, vanishing just like the portals. Any damage that the Siren monster made vanished as well, as those were illusions as well. But everything else was still there from before. But the girls were happy that the beasts were finally gone and out, no longer inflicting any more harm or possible damage to the game grounds. "Alright, Trixie, way to go!" Vinyl cheered. "How did you even think of that, Trixie? Trixie?" Vinyl looked to where Trixie stood, and only saw her start to flail and wobble "Trixie?" "Oh, I don't feel so good..." Trixie moaned. "Honey... where are my pants?" And just like that, she fainted and collapsed onto the concrete. "Oh my gosh, Trixie!" Vinyl panicked. "Come on, come on, get her into the shade!" Bon Bon ordered. Both Bon Bon and Amethyst helped carry Trixie over to some shade underneath a tree. "Is she even alive?" Octavia asked, shaking with fear. Bon Bon leaned her head over to her chest, listening carefully. She sighed in relief. "She's fine. Heart's still beating, and she's still breathing. We better get her water though." "Already on top of you," Lyra said, reappearing from out of thin air with a water bottle in hand. "Wait, how did you... never mind. Look, just help her up, try and get her some water without drowning her," Bon Bon said. Lyra carefully lifted Trixie just enough to hold her up straight. And with the water available, Bon Bon slowly raised the cup up to Trixie's lips, hoping she would slowly sip some. "Dah, I'm awake!" Trixie shot up. But that high energy only lasted for a second when she slowly went back down like she was tired. Her eyes were sleepy, and she could barely keep them awake. "Are the monsters gone?" Trixie yawned. "Yes, they're gone. Thanks to your trick," Vinyl smiled. "Way to go, Trixie," Lyra complimented. "Thanks." Trixie yawned again before laying her head back. "Where are my pants?" The five girls all drew a blank. "Trixie, you still have your pants, why are you asking--she's not realizing what she's saying, isn't she?" Octavia said halfway before realizing the truth. "I think Trixie may need some rest after pulling a stunt like that," Lyra commented, tucking her swords away. "You feel alright Trix?" Amethyst asked. Her reply was once again, another yawn. "I guess trying to create an illusion that's bigger than anything she could imagine took a lot of juice outta her," the keytar player stated. "Girls, I don't feel so good, I think I need to lie down," Trixie pleaded. "But you're already lying down, silly!" Pinkie chirped from the background. "Don't worry, look, we'll get you home. You should get some rest," Bon Bon said, moving to help her friend up. Lyra moved over and helped her as well, and the two friends carefully moved Trixie out, on their way to the principal's office to sign her out. The Rainbooms and gathered Shadowbolts all felt their hearts pounding against their chests. They knew the commotion had died down now, but all of that? No one was ready for anything that just came out of left field there. Luckily none of them or anyone else was hurt, but they were frightened nonetheless. "Girls... I've always believe in pure science fact, followed by logic, and creating conclusions through the scientific method. PLEASE tell me you all saw that," Sugarcoat said, trying her hardest not to hyperventilate. "We all did!" Sour cried. "What even was that!?" "You mean the dragon, or the pack of wolves that were definitely not cute?" Lemon asked, trying to ease the tension with a joke. "Girls... Those were all real. It's no joke," Fluttershy nodded. "B-But... HOW!?" Sour exclaimed. "Even if we tried to explain, I don't think you'd believe us," Applejack shook her head. The Shadowbolts looked at Applejack. "You think... we wouldn't?" Lemon asked. "Dude, I got my butt saved by a chick in 1980s clothes swinging a sonic keytar, who blew up a giant wolf made of TIMBER! If you told me you an ALIEN, I'd believe you!" She exclaimed, constantly gesturing her hands at her with some derision. "Well it's gonna be a doozy of an explanation," Pinkie said, admittedly. "We've got all the time in the world right now. Wait a minute... where did our motocross riders go?" Sunny Flare asked, the realization finally kicking in. Off in the distance they could hear the sounds of the motocross bikes racing down the streets. And it wasn't for long until they saw the three bikes racing towards their way, busting right through the already destroyed fence, until-- CRASH! Principal Luna and the few bystanders winced, hearing the crashes. From what they saw, the three riders had jumped off the bikes, resulting the bikes all crashing right into the pothole created by the dragon. Luckily no one was hurt. "Oh my gosh, are you guys okay?" Lemon Zest asked, worried out of her mind. Flash moaned from the fall. "I don't know how many fences I destroyed... but yet I have a sudden urge to do it again," Indigo said, laying on her back, limbs spread like an eagle. "What!?" Rainbow shouted. All the loud noises made her ears start ringing. "This is why I just stay with cars and not bikes," Flash moaned into the ground.