“What are ya sayin’?” JR asked in utter surprise.
“Yona wants to quit wrestling.”
JR still was in disbelief, “Sorry, I must have some crazy in my ear. Yer sayin’ you want to quit wrestling?”
Yona, alongside Ocellus, nodded at the statement.
“Ya can’t be serious, Yona, yer a natural! And on top of it all, we had some really good news for ya.”
This caught both Yona and Ocellus’ attention. “What was that?” the changeling asked.
“As of your next match, we’re promoting you to the A-show!”
“A-show?” Ocellus asked, “What’s an A-show?”
Yona was stunned in silence as she heard JR. As much as she wanted to speak, the shock prevented her.
“The A-show is where we have the best of the best duke it out. The best part of it is there’s all sorts of neat storylines going on along for each of the wrestlers. And as Mastodon, our lovable Yona would be a huge hit!” JR explained.
“Y-Yona has always wanted A-show….” she was able to mutter.
Ocellus looked at Yona’s expression and then back to JR, “It’s a big deal, then?”
“A big deal?” JR had a chuckle at the changeling’s question, “Many of the wrestlers could only dream of bein’ invited to the A-show after such a short time!” JR motioned to the other patrons of the wrestling gym. “Even Queen didn’t rise in the ranks that fast! And it doesn’t just stop at the A-show! Yona here could even start wrestlin’ in the interkingdom circuit, facin’ off against creatures from all over!”
Yona was still unable to form or fully speak coherent sentences in her state of shock. Instead, she mumbled statements that seemed to sound like ones of disbelief and asking if she was dreaming.
“She’s that good?” Ocellus asked before answering her own question, “Well, of course she. She clearly knows how to handle herself in the ring.”
“I ain’t lyin’ when I say she’s got talent.”
Finally, the yak came around, “Yona want to!” she said loudly. She then took a moment and remembered what she had said only moments before, “But Yona still want to step down.”
“It is starting to affect your schoolwork, and the rest of your daily life at that. And if you do go to the A-show, I don’t know if you can keep attending the school. Wrestling will become almost like a full-time occupation for you.”
Yona nervously bit her bottom lip as she started to think hard about all of the decisions on her mind.
JR interjected into Yona’s thinking, “I do get it; education is an important part of any creature’s life. You ain’t at that school just because you were asked, you got a good noggin underneath that mask you wear.”
“But….Yona want to do all that Yona do, because Yona enjoys it all,” she admitted.
JR gave a warm, but sad smile to both Yona and Ocellus, “I understand what I say might not change yer minds, but no matter what ya’ll choose, it was an honor to watch ya wrestle and ya’ll got a spot here if ya ever want it.” The pony then tipped his hat as he walked off to another part of the gym.
Yona and Ocellus exited the gym and started walking back to the school. Ocellus gave a concerned look to Yona, as her face was twisted with confusion.
“Yona know not what to do.”
“Do you want to try to continue wrestling?”
“Of course, Yona wants to. But Yona is already so exhausted,” Yona’s voice was just was uncertain as her face was showing, “And if Yona does wrestling in A-show, Yona might have to quit school, and then Yona would lose friends.”
Ocellus couldn’t help but give a chuckle at her friend, “Yona, I can assure you that none of us would stop being your friend if you leave the school. It just means we would have to be a little more creative with how we spend time together.” The changeling’s words didn’t change the worry that was already setting in the yak.
“Yona needs to think long and hard about this….”
“Take as much time as you need.”
--------------
“I don’t believe it! Did you see that JR?!”
“Kerry, I think we all saw that. Mastodon took down Anthrax with a backbreaker that might have put them out of commission for a long time!”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if she won’t be able to trot away from that without some help!” Kerry added, “I’m sure no creature here will forget that any time soon!”
In the ring, Mastodon stood over her earth pony opponent. The yak’s hoof was in the air in victory as Anthrax was on the mat, writhing in pain (or at least selling it well enough for the audience to believe it). The crowd was cheering for Mastodon, and the sound fueled her. The referee appeared and raised up Mastodon’s other hoof, calling the match for her.
“And with that, Mastodon continues her perfect streak!” Kerry said.
“This beast can’t be stopped, and won’t be stopped!” JR agreed.
In the audience, Yona’s friends were cheering with the rest of the crowd.
“Oh, this is so cool! I can’t believe that Mastodon has done so well!” Silverstream squeed.
Smolder nodded, “She’s unstoppable!”
“And did you see that backbreaker? Incredible!” Gallus shouted.
Sandbar agreed, “She certainly knows her way around the ring.”
Ocellus, still worried for her friend, simply agreed, “Yeah, she sure does.”
Mastodon continued to trot around the ring to the cheers and chanting of her fans. However, her celebration was cut short by music over the loudspeaker and a loud statement: “Your win streak ends here!”
“Wait a minute, I know that music anywhere: it’s Sonic Youth!” JR shouted.
The lights of the arena focused as one of the entrances as a light green unicorn mare in a mask started to make their way towards the ring. Her white and gold outfit seemed to hug her torso, and her mask matched the clothing.
“What’s Sonic Youth doing here?!” Kerry asked.
“I don’t know but she looks angry!”
As she got into the ring, Sonic Youth pointed directly at Mastodon, “I don’t know who you think you are, but you are not going to defeat my apprentice without facing off against me!”
Mastodon pointed back, “Mastodon will defeat Sonic Youth just like all other wrestlers! Mastodon is unstoppable!”
“Ha! Big talk from a big yak, I like to see that. But let’s see if you’ll trot the trot as well as talk the talk,” Sonic Youth gave a smirk as she pushed her seafoam mane out of her face, “I hereby call you out, right here, right now, for a luchas de apuestas!”
The entire arena had a collective gasp.
One of the biggest gasps was from Silverstream, “Oh my goodness! A luchas de apuestas! Not a luchas de apuestas!” She then turned to Smolder, who was next to her, and whispered, “What’s a luchas de apuestas?”
“A luchas de apuestas? Sonic Youth is not playing around with Mastodon!” JR exclaimed.
“It’s been a long time since we had a luchas de apuestas here at P.E.W.!” Kerry commented, “As a refresher, a luchas de apuestas is a wagering match between wrestlers. Here we have two masked wrestlers going at it, and in the match, we will have the two place a bet on their upcoming match!”
“Mastodon accepts!” she shouted. This got a big reaction from the audience. “Will match be normal máscara contra máscara?”
Sonic Youth smirked, “Bold. I really do like that about ya, but let’s up the ante a little! Instead of just betting who gets to unmask the other, how about if you win, you get to wrestle in the A-show with the big dogs.”
“And if Mastodon loses?”
“I get to unmask you and you retire from wrestling!”
Another surprising gasp went across the audience. Every single creature was caught off guard, even Mastodon who knew exactly what Sonic Youth was going to say.
“Mastodon accepts!”
Once again, the crowd broke into cheers and chants for both wrestlers.
“Astounding! We have a new match on our hooves next time! One that every single creature will be tuning into watch!” Kerry spoke.
JR agreed with his co-host, “Ya’ll can bet I’m excited for next week! The big bruiser Mastodon of the B-show will be having a high stakes match against the roughest técnico in the A-show, Snoic Youth! Next Saturday at the Ponyville Arena! Be there!”