//------------------------------// // Amethyst Star and the Tournament II // Story: Amethyst Star Isn't Prepared For This // by MagicS //------------------------------// Amethyst Star thought she could overcome her insecurities by fighting in, and even winning, this tournament. But everyone in Hacksaw seemed to think she was either joking or deluded. Well she’d prove them wrong. She was an adventurer, making it all the way out here already proved that. Now she just had to make them, and herself, see that she could handle herself in a fight just fine. If she couldn’t take care of a pony or two how was she gonna deal with some big monsters or villains that the likes of Twilight Sparkle and her friends always faced on their adventures? She and Cornflower had left that little grove so Cornflower could show her a good inn to stay the night at. Cornflower’s daughter was practically attached to her mom right now, shyly looking at the ground. It seemed the little filly wasn’t the best with strangers. Hacksaw itself, as Amethyst saw now, was a pretty quaint little town, since they were on the opposite side from where all the fighters had gathered it was relatively empty and what few ponies she saw were mostly shopkeeps sweeping clean the front of their stores. The layout of Hacksaw was even more random than Ponyville’s though and most buildings were pretty small, aside from maybe the registrar that had been pointed out to her earlier she didn’t think anything was bigger than Ponyville’s town hall. “Are there normally so few ponies out right now?” She asked Cornflower. “This time of year most actually help with the tournament. So the rest of the town gets pretty barren, but it’s because we have to make things like rings for the matches, stands, get a lot of food together, and take care of other things,” Cornflower answered. “So pretty much everyone’s over on the other side of town,” that explained why there was such a feeling of malaise over here. “Not for much longer, when it’s time to turn in for the night everyone’s going to swarm over to the inns here,” Cornflower said. “Best to make sure you can get a room first. And no need to worry about food either, the inn I’m taking you to serves a complementary brunch.” The three of them didn’t say much else after that, Amethyst Star let Cornflower lead the way since it was her town. They ended up down what one could call a “street” but was more like two rows of buildings facing each other haphazardly thrown into the middle of Hacksaw. Amethyst looked side to side to see what was in these buildings, more than one was already an inn but obviously not the one they were going to, another looked like it was some kind of hardware store, and another had a bunch of glassware in it. Must be what passes for a market in Hacksaw. This town might live and die by how much money comes through here during the tournament each year. Considering where it was Amethyst couldn’t imagine it saw much traffic otherwise. “I’d love to show you around some more but I guess we don’t have the most time, and you’re probably going to want to get a lot of rest before tomorrow,” Cornflower said. “You really love Hacksaw, huh?” Amethyst asked her. “Of course!” Cornflower smiled widely at her. “It’s just about the best place in the whole world I can think of!” That brought a smile to Amethyst Star’s face. She knew a lot of friends back home that would say the same thing about Ponyville. Small towns tended to produce a lot of ponies that were absurdly prideful of their homes. It was nice though to meet someone like this who was so enthusiastic about things and wanted to make sure Amethyst Star got a good impression of Hacksaw. “Oh, here we are!” Cornflower said chipperly and walked up to a squat one-story building. It was pretty wide though and seemed to cover a decent amount of ground, they must’ve needed the space for all the rooms. The building sat on a raised concrete foundation so the three of them walked up the steps leading to the front door, Cornflower happily pushing the door open and making the bell ring. Amethyst Star looked ahead to see an older stallion behind the front desk, a wall with mail slots and a board with a bunch of keys hanging on it behind him. An earth pony, she had come to expect every pony here being an earth pony, with a few wrinkles on his face. He had a cream colored coat and a pink mane, a little unusual for stallions. When he heard the bell he looked up from his desk and seemed to be about to go into an automatic greeting, but then he saw Cornflower and her daughter and paused, smiling. “Welcome back, hon. Thought you and my little sweetheart were going to be staying out longer?” He looked down at the filly and winked. The little filly ran from her mom to him, hopping up on the desk and hugging him. “Hi daddy.” Amethyst Star raised an eyebrow and looked at Cornflower. “Best inn in town, huh?” Cornflower grinned back at her. “It aint a lie.” The unicorn actually blushed a little in embarrassment, she rubbed the back of her neck and bit her lip, thinking of the way she had been acting earlier. “Geez, look, I’m sorry for being kind of rude and stuff earlier. You’ve been really helpful and now you’re letting me stay at your inn for free and everything...” “Think nothing of it dear,” Cornflower playfully batted a hoof. “That’s just called hospitality.” It still made Amethyst Star feel bad. Here she was being disrespectful to them and getting a bit angrier and more confrontational than she really had any right to be while the whole time Cornflower was planning on letting her stay at her own inn. “Who’s this?” Cornflower’s husband asked. Cornflower and Amethyst walked up to the desk and Cornflower threw a hoof over the unicorn’s shoulders. “This here is Amethyst Star, she’s gonna be fighting in the tournament.” “Really?” His face lit up. “Wow, good on you. Fighting in that tournament is something I’d never think of doing.” He looked at his wife. “I figure you brought her here for a room?” “That’s right,” Cornflower nodded. “Yeah, I really have to thank the both of you for this,” Amethyst Star gave an embarrassed smile. “It’s what we do,” Cornflower’s husband shrugged and pulled a key hanging off one of the hooks on the board behind him. “Let me show you to your room.” Amethyst Star made sure to sleep well that night. After all the walking she had done in the past few days it was nice to sleep in a real bed and rest her tired joints. The thought of the physical exam she’d have to take before the tournament didn’t exactly worry her (she had far too much faith in herself for that) but she was still aware of it. The others fighting in the tournament had probably kept themselves well-rested days or weeks in advance, she doubted any of them had gone over hills and through mountains on their own recently. Either way she was very tired and pretty much the moment she lied down in that soft bed and rested her head on the feathery pillow she was out. The next morning came quickly. Amethyst Star vaguely recalled dreaming of hills as she got out of bed. She stretched and did a couple of push ups to make sure she was feeling limber before leaving her room, she was gonna pass the physical with flying colors and then the preliminary round too! After that she went out and down the hallway to where Cornflower showed her the brunch was held. Opening up the door she got quite a sight. It seems that in the time she had gone to her room and fallen asleep quite a few competitors in the tournament had come to this inn for a place to stay. And now they were all eating brunch too. She saw that group of white-cloaked ponies from before but no others that looked like they were part of a big group. She had to figure any rival schools or gangs didn’t want to share an inn with each other. A few of the fighters gave her glances when she came in, some lingered while others immediately went back to their own business, they probably didn’t even think she was entering the tournament either. She frowned at that, well just like the locals she would be glad to prove these ponies wrong and—ooh, waffles! Amethyst Star went to the back table of the room where a few towers of waffles and plates were assembled, they smelled delicious. She grabbed a few and looked to see where she could sit. Hm, most of the tables were full… she spied an open seat next to a very large pony but he looked kind of intimidating. Hold on, I can’t get intimidated! I’m gonna be beating these guys up tomorrow. She thought and carried herself to the seat next to the big stallion. When she put her plate on the table she got his attention and he looked down at her, way down since he was so much taller. This guy wasn’t just big he was a massive barn of muscle. She could see veins bulging under a brick colored coat, his mane was a short cropped black and his tail was cut short too but as if to make up for it he had a massive mustache on his face. Seriously, the mustache was practically a tail’s worth of hair on a normal pony! “Hello!” He pleasantly said in a robust and heavy bass voice. “Another boarder? I haven’t seen you before today.” “Uh, yeah, I just got in yesterday. I’m actually planning to go register for the tournament too after I finish eating,” she told him. He raised an eyebrow. “Really? Pardon me for saying so but you don’t exactly look the type to partake in our tournament.” She scowled at him, she was getting pretty tired of hearing that. “Yeah well it’s true, I’m going to be fighting too.” “Haha!” He laughed heartily. “Well best of luck to you then, we all had our start somewhere. I wasn’t near such a specimen at my first competition.” He flexed his biceps for emphasis. Amethyst grimaced at the size of them. “Riiight.” “My name is Martel by the way, what’s yours?” He reached a hoof to her. “Amethyst Star,” she shook it. “A true pleasure to meet you, I love making the acquaintance of anyone who has a passion for fighting! Sometimes you get frauds out here who just want to make a name for themselves or completely inexperienced ponies who think they’ll have a fun little fight without realizing this is a serious event. But besides them this tournament can be a great place to meet new friends and sparring partners for when there’s no other fighting to be doing. Do you have a particular fighting style? How often do you train? How much weight can you lift? I would be eager to know the training regimen of a fairly lithe unicorn mare such as yourself,” Martel went on. He seemed like he was being totally honest and upfront to Amethyst Star, at least she didn’t think there was any sort of ulterior motive. But it’s not like she could answer anyways. Since she didn’t have a training regimen. “Uh, well…” she tried to think of some kind of excuse. “Sorry but since we may be opponents soon I don’t think I should be sharing all my secrets just like that.” Decent enough for being put on the spot. “Haha! True, very true!” He smacked the table, causing it and even the ground around them to rumble. “A good point you bring up! Well then, I don’t wish to keep you from registering, you’ll want to have that taken care of as soon as possible, then we can meet again at the exams.” “Yeah, thanks,” Amethyst said and then started wolfing down her waffles. He was right, she should get over to the registrar quickly. Amethyst Star said goodbye to Cornflower’s husband as she made her way out of the inn and to the registrar on the other side of town. When she got to the middle of Hacksaw she saw some stands had sprung up and a number of roped off rings had been stuck together with ponies looking over and inspecting them all to make sure things were up to snuff. Amethyst Star trotted past all of that and walked to the one big building around. There were a lot of ponies going in and out of it, fighters and locals from what she could tell. When she entered into the front door she saw a long line of ponies in front of a desk marked “reception”. “Oh well,” she sighed. “Wasn’t doing anything else today.” It took a while and she impatiently bounced up and down on her hooves while she waited but eventually she got to the desk and could now talk to the receptionist. She had an odd purple bee-hive mane and a mint green coat with very thick glasses that made her eyes look like little dots behind them. “And how can I help you?” The receptionist asked. “Hi. I’m, uh, here to register for the tournament,” Amethyst Star told her. Her eyebrows raised slightly. “Oh, you’re cutting it a little close, dear.” But then she smiled. “Well that’s all fine though, still got time. Hold on one second.” She reached under her desk and pulled a drawer open, searching around inside it for a second before pulling out two pieces of paper and a pen. One was a thin strip and the other looked like some sort of card with lines and boxes on it for you to write information down in. “Name?” “Amethyst Star.” “Alrighty...” The receptionist wrote her name on the thin strip of paper and the card. “Hoof, please.” She beckoned for Amethyst to raise one of her forelegs. Amethyst Star tilted her head but raised her right foreleg up over the desk, the receptionist then grabbed the strip of paper and tied it around her hoof, tearing off a piece at the end that revealed a sticky spot underneath so it would stay together. “That there’s your temporary identification,” she said and then grasped her pen and the card. “Now then, are you associated with any school or other group?” The pink and purple unicorn shook her head. “Nope, it’s just me.” The receptionist seemed to write that down. “Okay. Is this your first time competing?” “Yep,” Amethyst Star nodded with a grin. She was still excited every time she thought about it. Whether she should be or not. A few other general questions were asked and that’s all the receptionist needed to know. She smiled up at Amethyst Star and filed the card away in a folder on her desk. “All set! I suggest going out to the grounds and just staying with the other fighters for now until the physical exams start. Then if you pass those you’ll be given your official ID badge. Good luck out there!” It was nice to not get laughed at or anything when she said she was gonna fight. Amethyst Star looked down at the piece of paper tied around her hoof as she walked out of the registrar. She saw it as proof of her ability, even if it didn’t mean anything yet. Now she could mull about with the other fighters and act tough before the tournament organizers had them gather for the exams. The grounds were already filling up with ponies as she walked into them. “Ah, Miss Amethyst Star, great to see you again!” She turned at the voice to see Martel walking towards her, with his size it was a wonder how she didn’t see him first. “Oh, hey.” “Seems you have been registered, now we just need to wait for the boring physicals,” he made a disgruntled face. “Every year, so tiresome. Should just get to the fighting!” “Does it take a while to do the physicals or something?” She asked him. “Look around you,” Martel gestured out to the crowd. There were well over a hundred ponies who looked like they’d be competing, maybe even closer to two hundred. “There are only so many physicians and workers, it takes time to get through it all. Bah, and I won’t even be fighting in the preliminaries. Have to wait until tomorrow to have some fun, unlike you!” He gently patted her on the back. Gently for him, which means he almost broke her spine. Amethyst Star wheezed as her knees buckled underneath her and she grit her teeth feeling his hammer like hoof smack her back. “Are you alright?” Martel looked down at her with concern and surprise written on her face, he knows he didn’t pat her that hard. “Y-Yeah, just fine,” she winced, a drop of sweat rolling down her forehead. “Haha… I just wasn’t expecting that. You’re really strong you know?” “Well, yes, I am,” he frowned. “But are you-” He didn’t have any time to finish as someone blew a whistle to grab the attention of all of the fighters. They looked to see a fat pony wearing a top hat standing on a stage that was in the middle of all the rings. He was surrounded by a few ponies in referee uniforms and doctor’s coats. The top hat wearing pony was smiling as he spoke up. “As the head commissioner of this year’s tournament I hereby declare the proceedings have formally begun! Let us begin with the physical exams to make sure yer all okay so we can get to the real meat of things as soon as possible. The doctors and event organizers will be around to gather you into groups now.” “Well I guess we can’t talk anymore right now, see you later Martel!” Amethyst Star quickly said and scampered away before he could respond. As she noticed when she walked though her back was aching something fierce. How can anyone be so strong?! He was just giving me a friendly pat on the back! For the first time here Amethyst Star was thinking she might have made a mistake. Her misplaced confidence was being replaced by the familiar sense of insecurity and inferiority she felt back in Ponyville and back when she was having trouble climbing up that hill. No! I’m not letting this stop me… I’m still here to prove I’m tough and can handle a real adventure. That’s what I’m doing. She shook her head to try and banish the negative thoughts. “Miss? Could you come this way please?” One of the organizers was speaking to her. “Huh? Oh, yeah, sure,” she nodded and followed him to begin her tests. What’s your name? Have you had any water to drink within the last twelve hours? Open your mouth and stick out your tongue, close one eye please, now the next, sorry if the stethoscope feels a little cold, can you please step onto the scale? Do you have any prior injuries or illnesses we should be aware of? Hold on for a second as I check your ears. You’re well aware using magic is against the rules, correct? Sit down, we’re going to test your blood pressure and heart rate now. Amethyst Star listened and did as instructed the whole way through while he jotted down notes on a clipboard, what a hassle. Her annual trips to the doctor in Ponyville weren’t half as annoying as this. And once she was done she would have to sit around and wait for everyone else who was after her until the preliminary rounds started. Only then would she get to fight. But it was maybe an hour or more until that happened. Maybe she shouldn’t complain about the physical then, at least it gave her something to do. She just hoped they didn’t find any reason to fail her. Looking around she saw that she was a bit out of place compared to most of the rest of the fighters. Even the ones that weren’t excessively muscular had a certain “strong” or “dangerous” look about them. And she kept count of the other mares she saw and didn’t even reach ten. Would the physicians or anyone be suspicious of her and say she wasn’t fit to compete? She really hoped not. “How much more of this do we have to do?” She asked the doctor examining her. It looked like he grinned under his mask to her. “Not much longer. Sorry, I know this can be a little tiresome.” “It’s alright...” “Well you’ll be happy to know that you seem fine so far. Barring anything else, once your physical is done I can send you over to the file clerk with your forms and you can pick up your badge,” he told her and got back to the various tests. That made her feel good at least. “There will be some water and crackers for you too if you want anything before the preliminaries start,” he continued. “Also, you’re not pregnant or anything are you?” She glared at him. “No.” He threw up his hooves in appeasement. “Just making sure. It’s a standard question for the few mares who take part in the tournament.” “Well I’m definitely not pregnant,” she didn’t stop glaring at him. “Okay, okay...” the physician quickly checked the “no” box on his form. That was about it for the exam and any questions, Amethyst Star couldn’t wait to be officially approved. She stood there for a few moments longer as he finished up whatever he was doing on his form, finally he stopped and pulled the form off his clipboard, giving it to her. “Alright, there you go. Clean bill of health. You’ll be able to fight in the preliminaries later today, good luck,” he told her. Amethyst Star couldn’t help the huge grin that broke out on her face, she went to grab the form from him. “Thank you-” “Excuse me one moment.” Both Amethyst and the doctor looked to see Martel striding towards them. The huge pony regarded Amethyst Star with a blank expression past his huge mustache. His eyes held on her for a moment before he turned to the doctor. “My apologies for interrupting, but I don’t believe this pony should be allowed to participate in the tournament.” Amethyst Star’s jaw dropped and the doctor was pretty surprised too. “W-What are you talking about?!” Amethyst asked him. “You are not a fighter, it would be improper to allow you into this competition for a number of reasons,” Martel told her. “Wait, hold on. I’m confused,” the doctor said. “Martel, what do you mean?” Martel pointed at Amethyst. “This pony may be healthy but they are not in any condition to fight in matches here. I’m certain of it after watching her for a few minutes now.” Amethyst’s surprise and worry turned to anger and she pointed right back at him. “You’re just trying to get me eliminated before the tournament even begins!” “I am,” he nodded. “But not for any selfish reasons like you think. It is out of concern for you and the honor of the tournament itself.” “Martel, I know you may not think she should participate but she passed her physical just fine. Maybe she’s not up to your level but-” he was cut off. “She is not up to any level, Miss Amethyst Star has never fought a day in her life,” Martel looked hard at her. “Have you?” The doctor glanced over to her now too, she could vaguely see a concerned expression behind his mask. “Wait, is he telling the truth? Do you not have any fighting experience?” She gulped and began to sweat, nervously averting her gaze and shuffling around, all signs that made her look more guilty. “Um, well… the truth is, uh… no. B-But who cares! I’m in good enough shape, you just said so yourself!” “Being in decent shape and being in a condition to fight in this tournament are completely different things. Punch me as hard as you can,” Martel told her. “Excuse me?” Amethyst Star balked. “Do it, please,” he insisted. Amethyst Star frowned at his massive physique, but she wasn’t just going to take getting thrown out of this tournament by some muscle-head so easily. She walked up to his big chest and braced herself, pulling up a hoof and winding back before throwing all of her weight and all the strength she could muster into her punch. Her hoof bounced off his chest like a rubber ball hitting a brick wall. “Ow!” She winced, pretty sure she had just hurt herself. Martel sighed. “See? It would be dangerous to allow you to compete. If you faced someone with a disposition less kind than my own you could be seriously injured. And it wouldn’t be proper to everyone who pours their heart into this tournament and seriously prepares for it if an inexperienced newcomer like yourself was allowed to join.” “B-But-” Amethyst tried to reason with him but a raised hoof silenced her. “This is for your own good. You seem a good mare and I’m sure you didn’t mean anything bad or disrespectful by enrolling in the tournament, but you should go. It isn’t right for you to fight here,” he told her. The doctor nodded too. “I am inclined to agree with Martel. This is not a place for ponies who just wandered in and don’t have any fighting ability like yourself.” She looked between the two of them, a growing desperation building in her. “B-But I’m tough! I’m here to prove what I can do to myself! You can’t just make me leave before I’ve even had a chance to fight!” Martel sighed again… and lightly pushed her. His huge hoof and the massive strength behind it sent her sprawling to the ground. The wind was nearly knocked out of her and she coughed before she unsteadily tried rising to her hooves. “W-What the hay was that for?!” She yelled at Martel. “Miss Amethyst… I wasn’t even trying and I was able to do that to you. I’ve never even won this tournament either. It isn’t safe for you to compete and it would be pointless anyways,” he sadly told her, shaking his head. “I’m sorry but he’s right,” the doctor said, folding up the form he was about to give Amethyst. “There’s no way I can allow you entrance into the tournament.” Amethyst Star was about to protest some more when she noticed that this little spat had gotten the attention of quite a few others around her. A number of physicians and fighters were all staring at her, whispering to each other, some even smirking or chuckling. She was making quite the scene. She wanted to tell them all to shut up, or say she’d show them not to laugh at her once the tournament began… but that would probably just make them laugh harder. Instead, with tears threatening to spill out of her eyes, Amethyst Star glared at Martel and the doctor and raised her hoof with the temporary ID to her mouth. “Fine,” she angrily spat out and tore the paper strip with her mouth, throwing it to the ground. “I don’t need this stupid tournament!” She started to run through the crowd of fighters, Martel sadly watching her go. She ran as hard as she could. Ran to leave the town of Hacksaw. As she made it through the fighters she glanced over at the stands for some reason unknown to her and saw Cornflower with her husband and daughter sitting in them, watching her. Ashamed, she squinted her eyes shut and kept running. For Amethyst Star the tournament ended before it had even begun.