//------------------------------//
// Prize Fighting, Final 
// Story: Megas CMC 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

Kiva smiled thoughtfully as she looked around the 'food court' the group had found themselves in.  While she'd been somewhat leery about visiting the 'Planet of the Space Amazons' as it had been dubbed in the star charts Sweetie had gotten during their shopping trip - especially as it was marked as a world that had successfully - and frequently - repelled all attempts of invasion and conquest including the Glorft - she had decided to go there anyway once she was able to confirm that the world was called that due to the fact it was populated by a race of humanoid warriors that were almost entirely female.  As she'd expected, the three fillies received instant welcome...for a variety of reasons.
While Apple Bloom had received the expected 'adorable pony' welcome that had the Amazons discreetly cooing over her, Sweetie Belle was treated with something akin to religious awe as though a God - or the avatar thereof - had deigned to set foot among mortals.  Scootaloo, meanwhile, was greeted as a fellow warrior, eagerly welcomed by the youngsters who wanted to wrestle with her...and likely would have had the group not beelined for the food court.  Once they were in line, they were more or less left alone.
Kiva had a bit of trouble adjusting as she took in their surroundings.  On the one hand, between the stonework, the arching columns, the marble statues, and various sorts of plants encouraged to grow here and there, it looked somewhat ancient Greek or Roman in design, as though the ancient ruins had never fallen into disrepair.  On the other hand, the electric light displaying the elegant scrollwork restaurant name of 'Spacey's' in the recess of one wall made it feel more like the shopping mall-like area they'd visited at the fighting tournament they'd just left.  Kiva had some trouble adjusting to the dichotomy.  The fillies were perfectly at home, with Scootaloo commenting about 'Cloudsdale'.
As they sat down with their food, Kiva was surprised to see they weren't the only offworlders present.  At a table not far from them, five rather colorful men in matching uniforms were enjoying their food while attempting to 'pick up chicks' as the tiny green-skinned one put it.  He did not seem to be meeting with success, as he had several slap-marks on his face and a bruise in the shape of the butt of a spear between his central two eyes.  The red and blue skinned ones seemed only to be making a half-hearted attempt, while the purple skinned one seemed to be watching the others' attempts with tolerant amusement.
...the giant of a redhead appeared to misunderstand the metaphor in the activity, much to the rueful amusement of his compatriots and the glee of the youngsters he hefted into the air under their mothers' watchful gazes.  Then again, he was the one the adult females seemed to enjoy talking to...
As the trio of fillies enjoyed their salads and smoothies and Kiva attempted to identify the meat in her sandwich, she couldn't help but overhear the red-head boasting.  "...cause the name's Recoome!  And it rhymes...with boom!  And his foes are gonna be hurting...all!  Too!  SOON!!!"
Scootaloo's eyes lit up as she heard that.  "Sweet, a wrestler!" she cried out happily.  "Hey Racoon!" she called out, unwittingly butchering his name and making all five of them stiffen.  "Wanna try fighting my robot?"
The giant turned slowly with an air of menace towards the group...only for that air to instantly vanish as they caught sight of the fillies.  "No, Recoome doesn't fight brightly colored ponies anymore," the giant continued apologetically.  "Recoome learned that lesson when the last one booted Recoome and his companions out of his native panverse.  We're still trying to find the way home."
"Nice to see there was a Spacey's here, though," the blue-skinned one said in a raspy, nasal voice.
"You said it, mate," the red-skinned one commented in an Australian accent.
"Gentlemen," the purple-skinned one chided gently in a cultured, urbane tone.  The group immediately turned back to their own table and interrupted meal.
As Scootaloo pouted with a disdainful flutter of her wings, Kiva did her best to put that conversation out of her mind.  She had enough of a headache with these three without considering alternate dimensions and ponies with the ability to literally kick someone into another one.  Instead, she listened as best she could to the chatter of the Amazons regarding the fillies.  That would likely be more enlightening for herself.  As Scootaloo buzzed over as best she could to dump her trash, Kiva heard one sentence in the Amazons' native tongue that she'd likely spend a while decoding to understand.
"Why does the hummingbird falcon?"



Once the group was well fed and Megas refueled, they set course back for Equestria, ready to let themselves unwind from the hectic day.  Even as Megas fixed its last few repairs, Kiva could see that Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were starting to nod off.  Sweetie Belle was already curled up tight in her seat, much to Kiva's frustrations.  She had been hoping Sweetie would be up to helping her explore the Glorft database they'd found via her astral projection, and that Megas would be up to discreetly connecting to the networks.
To Kiva's surprise, Scootaloo suddenly pitched forward, her face smacking a button on the steering wheel as she slipped into blissful sleep.  Kiva quickly lifted her to the side, ready to try and take the controls and hope she could damage control whatever the button had done...only to see it was labeled "Auto-Pilot and Aesop".  As Megas continued flying itself towards home, a screen on the dashboard lit up and a message began to appear.


Dear Princess Twilight,
While the glitz and glamor of fame and fortune in a fighting circuit - or anywhere else - can be appealing, it can easily hide the dark underbelly of such industries.  One should never allow themselves to become so seduced by the glimmer that they lose sight of what really matters...or blind to the dangers inherent within.  If one doesn't stay true to oneself in a quest for fame and glory, one will never truly achieve either.
Also, out in space cute appears to sell better than sex.  Odd, that.
Yours truly, 
Space CMC.


Kiva looked over the letter for a time as she heard Apple Bloom begin to snore.  "Well...as after action field reports go, it's...different."


P.S. Tell Pinkie sorry about her flugglehorn collection.


"...very different..."