“So, you sure that nothing happened to me while I was…er…knocked out?”
“Yup.”
“Nothing at all.”
“aha’”
“And you just carried me up here.”
“Well, dragged and pushed mostly, but yeah, pretty much.”
Spike scratched his chin, suspicion live in his veins. He’d awoken, rather unwillingly, in the care of these three little girls, which wouldn’t have been too bad except that they all had strange, creepy smiles, and every time he looked away he could hear them giggling. It was making him severely paranoid, and considering he already had to deal with Twilight’s erratic behaviour, he really didn’t want to develop any if his own. Deciding it would be easier no to try and decipher their inconsistencies, he instead chose to examine his surroundings. They were actually half decent seats; he could see the entire arena without being blocked by any unwanted columns or tall, ridiculous hats. He’d seen the arena before, but there was something different. All around floated what appeared to be glass panes, a faint glow of golden light betraying the presence of Princess Celestia’s personal magic.
“What are those?” he asked the closest person, Sweetie Belle. The little girl blushed slightly.
“Umm…no idea beardy.” The last comment got her two quick glares from her new friends. “Sorry.” Spike failed to notice, suddenly excited. Was it finally happening? Did he finally have some proper facial hair?! He scratched at his chin, confused to not only find nothing particularly prickly, but also that his nails came away black. Before he could investigate further, Scootaloo became excited.
“Look, look! It’s starting!” Princess Celestia clapped once, and there was instant silence. Calmly she stepped off the balcony, drifting rather than falling to the ground. As her feet touched the ground a carpet came into being, weaving itself from imaginary threads to predict her movements as she walked. Twilight smiled to herself. She may be magnificent and all powerful, but even her mentor could be a show off sometimes. Once everyone could see her clearly, she cleared her throat, allowing her royal voice to ring out.
“The next round will be single combat.” An approving roar went up from the stadium. The games always focused heavily on these tests of what Twilight considered brutality. But the people seemed to love it. And she had to admit, it was exciting on a primal level. “Contestants will be picked at random. The last person left able to fight will move on. So without further delay, let’s begin the first match.” Celestia waved her arms, and the glass panes around the stadium suddenly lit up with live face shots of the twelve remaining contestants. A complex light projection spell achieved with seemingly no effort. The shots spun and danced, earning oohs and aahs from the crowd. Then the shorts drifted offscreen till only two were left.
“Applejack vs Rainbow Dash.”
The identical smiles on their faces could have marked them as twins. Applejack calmly stood up and began to make her way to the centre of the arena. Rainbow Dash was far less subtle.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” she called from the top of the stadium, no one questioning when or how she had managed to get up there. “Prepare to be amazed by the awesome, the brilliant, the most unstoppable master of the skies. Rainbow Dash!” The spectrum coloured girl jumped high, flipping and spinning till she came to land effortless in the central field.. She took a confident step forward and promptly tripped, planting her face in the mud.
The rounds of applause she’d been hoping for stayed silent; instead there were traces of laughter. Her angry glares, obscured by the mud only fuelled this laughter. “Yay,” one voice sounded, magnified by the silence.
“Not now Fluttershy!” Rainbow walked forward to face Applejack, a smug smile on the cowgirl’s face.
“Aww, you alright hon?”
“Shut up, mud girl!”
“Well ain’t that just the pot callin’ the kettle black.”
“Why you…!”
“Hold!” Princess Celestia stepped between them before it could escalate. “The match has not yet started.” Reluctantly, both girls stood down, and waited.
…
…
…
“So…are we…?”
“Begin!” Magic enveloped them, and both contestants were teleported away.
The forest was quiet, bound in a serenity that spoke volumes of the lack of human interference. Sundown had come prematurely but the creatures had grown accustomed abnormalities in the weather here, even in time itself. Some of the plants here had existed since before the age of Choas, and had not been disturbed in centuries.
Enter disturbances.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack spawned in a clearing, just far enough apart so they couldn’t go directly for each other’s throats. They settled on vicious glares, circling warily.
“Looks like you drew the short straw, cowgirl,” Rainbow Dash taunted. “You probably could have lasted a few more rounds. Maybe But now you have to face me, the greatest flyer in Equestria and…hey!” Her second monologue for the day was cut short as Applejack, who hadn’t been listening anyway, wandered over to inspect one of the trees. “Hey, I wasn’t done yet!”
“Yeah, yeah, keep talking,” Applejack called out without turning. “Ya sure like the sound of ya own voice, even if no one else does.” Ignoring her opponent’s incredulous looks, Applejack carefully inspected one specific tree. Finding what she’d been searching for, Applejack took a relaxed stance against the tree, picking one of the low hanging fruit.
Rainbow Dash’s astonishment quickly turned to fury. Make no mistake, she was used to being severely underestimated, forced to prove herself. But she did not enjoy it. However she did enjoy showing these imbeciles the error of their way. In fact, there was only one thing she loved more.
Speed
Speed came naturally to the sky. They were born with it, they excelled at it and were rightly proud of it. But to Rainbow Dash it was something more. She lived for the adrenaline rush that came with travelling faster than any other living thing; to see the world become a mere blur around her as, even just for a split second, she broke all laws of nature. To be anything less to her was like being bound and caged.
It didn’t hurt that she also excelled at it.
The sky began tightening her muscles, forcing her body to its highest gear. Then, with lightening speed, she began to fake left and right, quickly becoming little more than a rainbow blur around Applejack. It was a manoeuvre meant to disguise a flanking strike, but Dash was never one for subtleties. Executing a perfect turn, she went for a straight punch for Applejack’s temple.
Applejack grinned triumphantly, swaying right just enough so her opponent’s first hammered into the tree rather than her face. Rainbow Dash was about to follow through, when a tingling in her fist stopped her. The tree was alive with sparks, racing down the branches towards her. By the time this was processed, the rainbow tomboy was being repelled from the plant by a massive discharge, landing solidly on her back. Applejack ambled over, completely relaxed and still smiling.
“That there’s a zap apple tree. Real rare, real temperamental.” Taking the last bite of her fruit, she belched loudly before throwing away the core. “Also real useful, dontcha think?” She glanced back at what she thought had been a completely incapacitated opponent, but found nothing. A vicious knee quickly solved her query, knocking her back into a tree.
The zap apple tree.
The curse on her lips was silenced as the spray of sparks was repeated, throwing the farmer into Rainbow Dash’s waiting uppercut.
Dash couldn’t contain a mocking laugh, as Applejack crumpled to the ground, groaning. “You’re right, they are useful!” Applejack wasted no breath on further banter, instead charging Rainbow Dash with a barrage of punches. Forced to retreat, the sky could do little but dodge. This did not discourage her. Used to sparring with Gilda, even Fluttershy, Applejack movements seemed slow and straightforward. She had nothing to worry about.
As is so very common, arrogance bred neglect, and while once again mentally complimenting her own greatness Rainbow Dash missed one of her opponent’s quick jabs. A slower player would have taken the hits to the jaw, ending the fight there and then. As it was the punch still grazed her ear. The force was astounding, sending her spinning. Applejack pursued, aiming another crushing punch for her core. Unable to dodge, Rainbow Dash was forced to try and block. Her left hand caught Applejack’s fist. It didn’t feel right. Dash felt the force of the punch move through her arm, but catching at her elbow. Something cracked. Acting quickly, Rainbow Dash pulled Applejack backwards, throwing her off balance and allowing Rainbow a chance to make some well needed distance.
The tomboy was panting slightly. She quickly checked the condition of her left arm, wincing at the lance of pain that responded. By contrast her opponent was still carefully controlled her breathing, but beads of sweat gave away a far less composed interior.
“Not bad,” Rainbow Dash grinned. The malice that had fuelled her earlier attacks had cooled down, replaced by some semblence of respect.
“Thank y’all,” Applejack accepted. “Ain’t too shabby ya’self.” She smiled back, and waited for the inevitable ‘but’ she didn’t have to wait long.
“Guess I better stop holding back.” The earth warrior rolled her eyes to the heavens, shaking her head.
“Let’s get it over with then,” she muttered. Rainbow Dash ignored, or rather failed to pick up on it at all. She rolled her shoulders in what Applejack could only assume was another terrible attempt a showmanship, and concentrated.
Then they came.
They tore through her jacket. Each was as large Dash herself, sky blue like her clothes and covered in feathers. A single beat showed off their immense power.
Wings.
As Applejack gawped, Dash flexed her newly released appendages, testing their strength and flexibility. Finding all in order, she sneered at the still shocked opponent.
“Game all, girl!”
“Was the clothes tearing really necessary?”
“What?! Oh flyfeathers, not again!”
“Rainbow Dash has it in the bag,” Scootaloo proclaimed. Inside the arena, every moment of the fight was being broadcasted onto the screens, allowing the crowd to view the fight without interfering, or being endangered.
“You’re jokin’,” Applebloom replied indignantly. “Applejack ain’t even trying yet!”
“Doesn’t matter, once Rainbow Dash gets serious, nothing can stop her.”
“Mah sister’s stronger than anyone.”
“Yeah, well…”
“Why are they different,” Sweetie Belle cut in. The others stopped arguing, staring at her dubiously.
“Whadaya mean?”
“I mean, why does some people have wings, while others have magic or just nothing.
“I think Twilight told me about this once,” Spike piped in. He quickly tried to remember one of Twilight’s long speeches about Equestria history. “Each tribe has a different telling, but most of the core values are the same. The legend goes that in the ancient times, all the people were ruled by Destiny. All the people had magic in them, but it only appeared in a way that Destiny determined. And Destiny often worked in mysterious ways. The legend says that the people were divided. Many loved Destiny, and were happy with its chosen order. Other distrusted it, believing they could better use this great power on their own, without Destiny’s interference. And a few simply felt caged by the entire system, wishing for nothing more than to be free in the world.
Knowing that time would not quell the dispute, Destiny chose to give to each what they desired. It gave those who wanted to shape their own lives pure magic, and showed them how to harness it. But to them it tasked the passing of time, forcing them to raise the Sun and Moon to continue the world’s existent. Their descendants became known as the Transcendent, those who tried to become their own gods. To those who wished for freedom, she gave all wings to travel as they wished, and great speed with which to find their goals quickly and the power to manipulate weather so as to always clear their path. These instantly soared to the heavens, and became known as the Sky. Those that remained became physically strong, but also incredibly unpredictable in their talents, wrapped in the whims of Destiny. They worshipped Destiny, seeing its hand in nature and the wilds. This obsession with the land lead to them being known as the Earth tribe. Each tribe resented the other, but became dependent upon them, as only the Earth could still grow the ever necessary food but needed favourable seasons and weather. And so began millennia of symbiotic relationships. Err,” suddenly realizing he’d been rambling further off topic, Spike blushed and went silent, muttering something about “picking up bad habits.”
"Cute and smart,"Sweetie Belle thought, gazing at the green haired drake. "Especially with that beard. Why does sis have to take all the good ones?" Meanwhile, Applebloom and Scootaloo had completely forgotten about their argument and had gone back to watching the fight intently grinning together like fools. “Oh well, one mission accomplished at least.”
Back in the forest, the battle had taken on a new level. Applejack was helplessly at the mercy of Rainbow Dash’s swoop. The wings, despite their massive size, appeared to have increased her speed rather than hinder it. She would dive in, delivering her damage and be safe in the sky before Applejack could respond. On the few occasions Applejack did manage to keep the aerial ace on her level the wings just continued to complicate things. They would cut in from the sides, forcing Applejack to defend and allowing Rainbow Dash to escape again.And it was beginning to take its toll on both her body and patience. Dash’s quickly expanding ego wasn’t helping.
“You’re kidding!” she goaded from a safe height. “Is this the best you can do?”
“Don’t push me!” she growled, promoting another fit of laughter from the rainbow haired girl.
“Brovado won’t do you much good down there! Come on up, the weather’s fine. Ahhahah!” She swooped down, delivering two dive kicks in quick succession. Applejack, against all her better judgement, attempted to block the kicks with her arms, but the unusual angle threw her usual senses off. One kick made it through, striking her crown. Her hat went flying off, coming to rest in an undesirable mudhole.
Applejack went livid. “My hat! No varmint touches my HAT!”
“Come and get me then cowgirl!” Applejack smiled humourlessly.
“If y’all insist.” And for the first time that fight, she engaged her legs. Rainbow Dash was hovering ten meters from the ground. Applejack jumped straight up 15, her leg raised for an axe kick. Rainbow barely managed to dodge, and as Applejack hit the ground the hard packed earth shattered like glass. Before the flying contestant could even register the spectacular landing, her position was once again under assault. This time Applejack’s side kick caught her full force. If Dash thought her punches were powerful, they seemed like insects compared to this. All her breath left her lungs in protest, and she went cart wheeling through the air, losing altitude rapidly before managing to right herself. A third time Applejack jumped high, but this time she was expecting it. As the heel came down she nimbly flicked herself over it, delivering a quick punch with her left hand before making sure she was high enough to escape further retribution.
Finally safe, Rainbow Dash assessed the damage. The kick had definitely done something unpleasant to her ribs, although so far the stress of her flying hadn’t disturbed anything so she suspected no breaks. Her left hand was another matter. Using it during her last manoeuvre had been a bad idea. Whatever damage had been done by blocking before had compounded now. She tried moving her fingers, wincing as they protested. She needed to end this, fast.
“Time for the show stopper!” Despite the pain, Rainbow Dash grinned at the thought of it.
Down on the ground, Applejack conducted a similar self check, coming to a similar conclusion. Her forearms were battered from her constant blocking, and every exposed part of her skin was cut or scraped in some way. Then there were her legs. Using so much power, so quickly, was not recommended. If she kept this up, they’d probably just decide to boycott her brain and walk out. Thankfully, Dash had given her a second to catch her breath and try to think of something. She kept a watchful eye on the offending party, and a curiosity drew her attention. The multicoloured haired girl was flying higher, much higher than she needed to be to escape Applejack’s jumps. Something was up, that was for sure.
“Oh…oh my!” Fluttershy was horrified by the scene on screen, but found herself unable to look away. A rather undesirable predicament, considering that looking away generally solved all her problems. “But…she can’t. Oh my.”
“Hey, keep it down!” Gilda hissed next to her. Fluttershy instinctively flinched down, but still couldn’t keep down a couple more exclamations.
“If she tries…it could…oh my.”
“Relax,” the larger girl snarled, a contradiction to the term. “Rainbow Dash will be fine. She’s a champion. Have a bit more faith in her.” Still flinching back, Fluttershy nodded quickly. Gilda was right; Rainbow Dash could do this. She could do anything.
Gilda crossed her arms, hiding her tightly bunched fists. Her harsh mutterings of “Come on Dash,” gave away far more stress than she’d like.
The air was growing thin, severely cold as Rainbow passed through the last level of cloud. Her teeth chattered, and her wings felt strained. She tried to take deep breaths, finding the air frigid and thin. She really wished she hadn’t torn her jacket now. "You can do this," she coached herself. "One big bang for a finale. Or a massive crash for everyone to laugh at...no!" She pictured all the jeering faces in the audience, imagining their looks of amazement at what she was about to achieve. "One sonic rainboom, coming up!" And she dived.
Applejack's keen eye spotted her as she broke the first cloud layer. At first she thought the silly girl had knocked herself out, but she was moving too fast. Much too fast. And she was getting faster. Her brain told her to try and dodge, but her instinct disagreed. Somehow, she knew she had to stand her ground. And to be fair, her instinct steered her wrong far less than her mind.
"Come an' get me, girlie!"
Every muscle in her body was strained to breaking point. Wind whipped past her, ripping at her clothes and skin and turning her hair and scarf into a rainbow tail. With every beat her wings protested. Her vision blurred in and out as blood was deprived from her brain. And in front of her was the Barrier. The wall that stopped her, and all others of the sky, from surpassing such impossible speeds.
Through the haze, Rainbow saw Applejack ready and waiting for her. A worthy opponent. Just before they collided, Rainbow Dash tucked and somersaulted, bringing her heel over and down with all her remaining strength to meet Applejack's own powerful kick.
The barrier shattered.
The explosion of light and sound drowned out the war cries from both sides. A wave of rainbow light shot out in all directions, bending ancient trees like saplings in a display of destructive beauty. The crowd was mesmerized, and it was a good twenty seconds before anyone thought to look for the two competitors.
As the dust settled, still two remained standing, so to speak. Both were hunched over, gasping raggedly. Both were sporting a new covering of cuts and bruises. Both were definitely favoring their off leg.
"Fall, darn it!"
"You first." Applejack took a hesitant step forward, wincing as her weight shifted and instantly shuffling to the other leg. Rainbow Dash did likewise, her wings flapping meekly in an attempt to aid her balance. They too were worse for wear, all her guiding feather terribly askew. Slowly but surely, they came together again, wincing and gasping.
One punch.
The fists met in the air, locking together. Applejack bit her lip and Rainbow cringed. Rainbow Dash glanced down at her injured left hand, whimpering at the though. But there was no backing down now.
Two punch
Again, their knuckles cracked together. Barely able to stand, both warriors leant on the joints, refusing to back down.
"Stubborn," Applejack muttered.
"I know you are, but..." It hurt too much for her to finish, so she settled for a cocky glare, which Applejack matched with her own. There was a moment of stillness as both competitors tried to move, finding their muscles on strike. Only one option remained open, and both came to it at the same time.
Headbutt
The crack as their foreheads collided rang through the forest like a gunshot. For a final instant, the remained frozen, a statue of determination. Then, in perfect sync, their knees gave way and they blacked out onto one another's shoulder, becoming a statue of exhaustion.
There was a flash of light, and the now thoroughly disturbed forest was left in silence once more.
Still thoroughly unconscious, the earth and sky competitors appeared once again in the centre of the arena. There was complete silence, as the astounding and unexpected match continued to sink in. Princess Celestia gave an approving nod. "The match is over!" The crowd erupted into deafening cheers. Not in many years had such an epic match, ending so spectacularly with a mythical Sonic Rainboom that in turn was withstood, been seen, especially not in the first round. A match that would be remembered for decades. Chants of "Applejack" and "Rainbow Dash" rang around the arena as doctors streamed from the wings, stretchers in hand. Even with their personal hordes of injuries, these experts were astounded to find smiles