//------------------------------// // Chapter fifty three, Fiery Fights: Pom Vs. Ruff. // Story: Airship Mauled // by Darkonshadows //------------------------------// -The Volcano, Upper Tier, Coliseum, Jacky- I climbed my way back up into the stands and sat down all alone, I didn’t want to subject my friends to the still present smell. “Okay, while Savannah is kind of critical and has a lot of broken bones, after taking an entire brick wall to the body without having Arizona’s insane level of durability, she’s at least stable.” That and it was just a little reminder that my curse tends to not just affect me, but the people around me by proximity. “Sweetcakes is too tired to heal her and she is going to be in a lot of pain when she wakes up, I feel kind of responsible for it…” Sweetcakes expended a lot of her energy on my many numerous pervasive injuries. I hugged my legs up against myself feeling bad about Savannah not immediately getting the help she needed. “Don’t be sad Jacky, even if you’re luck may have led up to it somehow.” Gene leaned against me and wrapped his left wing around me in a gentle hug, while his left claw took up my right hand. “It’ll be okay Jacky, Abyssinians like her are rather sturdy from what I know.” Gene is the one griffon I can count on to try and cheer me up, even if he is courting my kind of danger by being right next to me like this. I noted that the breathing holes in his beak were plugged with tissues. Even the stench of durian couldn’t keep him away, then again… he did have Fortitude for a brother and arguably smelled far worse than I currently did. The difference here is that my smell can’t be contained or ordered around by pure willpower. “So who’s in this match and why is one of Pom’s puppies down there?” I had some idle thoughts about Pom, she reminded me of Fluttershy only far more skittish, scrawnier and looked like a large dog toy. The kind of dog toy that gets chewed on or shaken about wildly in a playful manner until it is torn apart and spilling stuffing everywhere. “That little guy is liable to get himself hurt.” Before Gene could answer me, I sat up and watched as Pom walked out into the arena, possibly to retrieve the wayward puppy. Gene cuddled up to me and didn’t say anything, probably because the question was going to answer itself soon enough. I haven’t known Pom for long, then again I haven’t known any of our many new friends for long. Kind of a bit curious about Oleander, what kind of crazy pony forever gives up their chance earn a cutie mark? Apparently Ollie did in the name of the strange friendship she had going with a demon book she curiously calls Fred. Oleander was surprisingly perky, despite the whole I have a book of darkness and it possibly has a corruptive influence that I will use frequently without any regret. “Go on, you can do it!” Ollie was cheering for Pom to do what? She was propped up on the railing and waving a hoof at the lambkin as she cheered, said lambkin looked unsure of the situation she was in as she approached the referee. “You show that highly adorable little puppy who the queen of your pack is Pom!” “Yes, go do show that puppy that he’s in trouble, BECAUSE THE OTHER COMPETITORS WON’T GO AS EASILY ON HIM AS YOU WILL!” Okay Fred just surprised me there, it even surprised Ollie. “What? I really like puppies too, DON’T YOU DARE JUDGE ME OLLIE! “Oh my poor demon, he’s such a huge softy.” The unicorn just shook her head sadly while making disapproving noises to the glowing book hovering next to her head. So apparently Pom signed up for the competition… likely against her will because I didn’t see her doing this on a whim or even of her own volition at all. It appeared one of her familiars also signed up for the competition and likely did so on purpose. I wondered how Pom could stand to feed so many familiars like that all the time… it had to be expensive unless she has them foraging for their own meals constantly. -Pom- Looking up into the stands, I can see my beasties watching me and snacking on food that an Earth Pony gave to them. Big Mama was thankfully keeping my slightly rowdy pack in line with a few loud growls when they started making a nuisance of themselves. I rely on and trust that Canis Major more than anything, but I sadly can’t rely on her for this. Ruff, one of my own familiars and beasties, was my first opponent. My first opponent was a puppy, one of the beloved puppies that I happen to be the godmother of and even helped raise. I really didn’t like where this was all going. If I lost to Ruff, then he could seriously get hurt like that Abyssinian. If I won, then I would be the one that could get myself seriously hurt in the next fight. Now I have to choose who I am more scared for, him or myself. My mind didn’t even take a second to process the thought after asking the question, as I was more scared for Ruff than my own wellbeing. I loved all my familiars way too much, even if they were the cause of most of my problems in life. “Aren’t there any rules about me fighting my own familiar? I mean isn’t this cheating, can we both be disqualified for that please?” The referee just gave me a flat look. “You know I could just command him to give up, that has to count as cheating right?” “No, you are both signed up separately. Even if that puppy is your familiar, you still have to fight him.” The referee nodded to Ruff who barked out twice and started growling at me, he sounded a little too eager to me. I’m like a second mother to him, how could he do this to me? “If you can convince him to give up then that would be fair, but you really can’t force a familiar to do what you want if it doesn’t want to. Given your title, he more than likely wants to prove himself to you.” Like I could have ever controlled my pack of beasties at all before this… they get extended life spans and I got what from all this? Well a family of highly protective and toothy beasties sure, but they weren’t exactly the brightest of creatures to deal with and Ollie was strange enough to draw attention off of me. “That’s exactly what I was afraid of hearing.” I cowered as my little pup, Ruff, started spinning his tail rapidly until he was hovering at eye level with me. He glared slightly while releasing a growl and some short barks. “No, I don’t think I will be forfeiting Ruff, not when it would be putting you in danger.” Ruff dropped to the ground and barked happily before growling at me. “Can we not and say we did Ruff?” This was the puppy I raised from when it was so tiny? Ruff growled at me in several different tones. “Okay, we’ll fight, but I can’t promise it’ll be a good one.” “Just remember that familiar bonds are two way streets.” The refereed told me. “You get just as much as your partner does from you.” “Oh very funny… tell that to all my beasties in the stands.” I pointed to my menagerie of familiars sitting there about to watch me get my backside handed to me by one of the pups. “What am I getting from all of them exactly?” “Wait… all of them are your familiars?” The referee stated in disbelief looking at my beasties. “That’s… rather impressive. That you have so many of them I mean. I can see why you’re called The Canine Queen now, you must be quite lucky.” “I’m not the one who wrote the ‘The Canine Queen’ on my form, but it kind of fits I guess.” No, that could be blamed on Oleander and Tianhuo, couldn’t they have just let me watch the competition in peace? I’m not a fighter, I’m a scrawny and cowardly lambkin with a small body and gangly legs! If anything my beasties are the real fighters here. “Also, I don't feel lucky.” “I think you might actually need this fight.” The referee stated as he took a few steps back. “Ready…” “Um… no, I’m not. Can we just wait a few more days on this?” I didn’t think the referee was listening to me and Ruff was giving me a look that spoke volumes. Ruff barked twice and lowered himself in a manner that stated he was going to pounce at me as soon as the referee told us to start. “Fight!” I dove to the side immediately. I barely avoided the rocket that was Ruff as he used his tail to propel himself forward at an incredible speed. He tried to stop himself and did so by reversing the spin of his tail to start hovering. Dropping onto the ground, he turned toward me while growling. I sometimes wondered why the puppies learned to fly with their tails, their mother certainly didn’t have that ability or was too old and large to do that anymore. I really didn’t bother thinking about the how of it, it’s obvious that they could and that was all that mattered. Ruff launched himself for my left leg and snapped at it with his jaws. I backed up out of his bite range, turned around and bolted with him barking on the heels of my hooves. Running for one of the pillars that lined the large circle of the arena, I turned my head to see him starting his tail up again. Jumping for the stone pillar, I kicked off of it and didn’t care which way I was going. Once I did launch myself away, Ruff rammed into it bodily and yelped. Said yelp was drowned out by the crash of something breaking against the ground. After landing, I turned back to see Ruff had a bump on his head and was whining. That and half the pillar was destroyed in the impact. I think I’ve really underestimated how strong the Canis Minor puppies are, then again I’ve always fussed over them and likely overlooked the fact that the puppies were this strong with all my coddling. “Are you okay Ruff?” Despite whining from hurting himself, I received a sharp look from Ruff. Ruff got up and launched himself for me, I squeaked and ducked. After he flew straight over my head, I looked behind me to watch Ruff hit the ground roughly on his face and flip onto his back. He quickly rolled to his paws and shook his head, Ruff barked at me in challenge and wagged his tail while smiling. At least Ruff was having fun, even if it was at my expense and he was accidentally hurting himself trying to attack me. -Arizona- “That’s one strong puppy.” I kind of felt sorry for Pom having to deal with her familiars on a regular basis if the puppies alone were that powerful. “Also the arena is going to need some repairs by the time we’re all done with it. We both know what will happen if you and me are paired up for a fight fluff butt.” “I have little doubt that the arena will be totaled by someone, so it may very well be us.” Velvet stated dryly. -Pom- I jumped over Ruff as he went for my legs and as he turned around, I quickly placed my right hoof on top of his head and pressed down on him. He tried to turn his head to bite my leg, but he was running into a problem. He could turn his head well enough to bite my hoof or get out from under it. I blinked as he tried, but any movement other than pulling back would keep him from actually harming me. My legs being long and awkward actually helped in this situation. “Who’s a good puppy?” I tried innocently, but Ruff barked at me about how I wasn’t being fair by pinning him down like this. A smirk graced my lips. “This is not me pinning you down, 'this' is me pinning you down.” I put my other hoof on his back and pressed down on him, he squeaked and tried to get out from under my hooves. He was making it hard for me to keep him safe if he was going to keep struggling like this. Eventually, he figured things out and backed away from me getting his head out from under my right hoof and then he lunged forward out from under my left hoof. I smiled and stepped to the side, then playfully scratched Ruff behind the ear after he flopped onto his belly. He let off a happy sounding groan, it was only seconds later that he growled out for me to fight him and pulled away from my tender touch. He was still one of the little puppies I took care of, he was just being cranky because I wouldn’t play with him in the way he wanted me to. “I am fighting you, I’m just doing it in my own way.” I’m going to take a page from Paprika’s book, love and cuddles will win this day! I couldn’t attack a puppy without feeling bad about it and I was already feeling pretty bad about Ruff hurting himself. Ruff leapt for me with his little mouth wide open and his tail spinning wildly. This time, instead of dodging him, I actively tackled his midsection and was bowled over. He had the better momentum. I’m thankful my fluff took most of the impact for me. I quickly wrapped my left hoof around Ruff’s neck and forced him against the ground on his side beneath me. I then poked him in the belly, Ruff squirmed and whined, he really liked it when I prodded his belly like that. “What do you mean Ruff, I’m not doing anything illegal. This is a fight after all and I’m just doing what you want me to.” I poked Ruff again as I snuggled him. He tried to throw me off of him and he growled grumpily. “I love you too much to let you keep hurting yourself Ruff. Now let your Baa Baa check your head my little beastie, you took some painful blows there.” I slowly put my right hoof to his head where the two bumps were to check them, he flinched and whimpered something to me. “There, there, it’ll be okay Ruff.” I started to rub his belly and he whined and tried to struggle out of my grip, but I was slowly putting him to sleep. The little puppy needed his nap. “Hush now, quiet now, it’s time to rest your sleep head~. hush now, quiet now, let's get you in a bed~. Upon waking my sweet little puppy will be... fed~.” Ruff let out a sad growl and then turned his head to lick me in the face before he fell asleep in my hooves. He just called me a dirty cheater and declared me the winner. “Winner by knockout, Pom!” The referee called out as I stood up holding a sleeping pup in my hooves.