//------------------------------// // 21.- With a Little Help From...The Enemy? // Story: Canterlot High's Sports Challenge // by LiQuiD //------------------------------// - CHAPTER 21 - WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM...THE ENEMY? Two days later... You’re now Rainbow Dash and you have finally arrived to school after a long night’s rest, you find Anon finishing doing some push-ups which makes you let out an inspired sigh. “Yo! Anon!” You call out for the newbie, he immediately notices your presence and waves at you. ”Mornin’ Dashie!” Anon says as he grabs his stuff and wipes away the sweat with a small towel. “Training early today huh?” You ask, while taking a look at his body. ”Yep…and I got good news too, we’ll be able to train today after all.” Your eyes go wide. “Wait what? Really? But how?!” You ask. ”I’ll tell everyone the good news at lunch okay? I’m gonna take a shower.” "Can't you tell me about it right now?!" You ask, wishing to know his plan. "Nope, everyone has to listen. It's a big deal and I assure you that you'll love it." “Awwright…I can’t wait for the news then!” Guess Anon figured out a solution like he said he would, you gotta give credit to Rarity for trusting him in the first place. Hours later... (BGM) It's finally lunch time and you can't wait for Anon's announcement. Everyone is having a great time as usual at the cafeteria table you all use for your meetings. Pinkie Pie is practicing her skills as a cheerleader, she’s wearing a very short and pleated skirt which attracts so many looks from your teammates and other classmates. On her head, she's got a a wig with a rainbow pattern, just like your…hair. The resemblance is very uncanny, you can only hope that wig isn’t made of your actual hair. Pinkie then stacks a couple of wigs on Twilight and Fluttershy’s head, with some pony ears as well. ”Come on girls! Show some school spirit!” ”Pinkie! What are you doing?” Twilight asks, “can’t you see I’m busy?” ”Doing what? More boring nerdy stuff?” Pinkie replies with a giggle. ”No, well...it's not boring, at least for me. Uh, ANYWAY! I’m just checking everyone’s specs on my database,” she says with a smug grin as she types something on her laptop, “according to this baby right here you’ve all improved drastically over the time!” Everyone looks at Twilight’s charts. ”Friggin awesome!” Lyra says. ”No way! We’re amazing!” Sweetie Drops adds, “look at those times!” ”Where’s Anon?” Flash Sentry asks, “he has to see this! His performance is almost like yours Rainbow!” “Pffft! Please…he’s just good, but certainly not as good as me!” You humblebrag to your teammates, which makes them all groan, then you all search for Anon, looking around the cafeteria. “Huh, Anon said he had important news to tell us and that he’d meet us here at lunch time,” you mutter. ”There he is!” Rarity says. ”Hey guys!” He happily says, this time he’s not carrying a tray full of food on top of it, which is very unusual of him. “ ‘sup Anon? What took you so long? We were just talking about you!” You happily say. ”I was talking to Principal Celestia earlier and I finally got her permission to let us leave school early.” Everyone looks at each other in confusion. ”But why?” Bulk Biceps asks. ”Remember that I told you that I was gonna find out a solution to our Karate problem? Well then, we’re going to Pleasantview High to train with their team! They have all their equipment settled and are waiting for us to be there in an hour.” Everyone looks even more confused by Anon’s words, including you, you grab Anon by his cheek and lower him to your level. "What do you mean that we're going to freakin' Pleasantview High?!" You say in an annoyed tone of voice. ”OW OW CAPTAIN! Lemme explain!" Anon begs. "Tch! Fine!" You say as you stop pinching his cheek. "Principal Celestia talked to Principal High Noon on the phone to see if she was okay with this, apparently Nelly Prattle begged Principal High Noon to let us train with Sandy’s team so she told Celestia we could go and train with them.” Rarity frowns at the mention of Nelly. ”Nice! That Nelly girl sure is great,” Thunderbass says, “you’re very lucky Anon…” ”Please…” Anon brushes off Thunderbass’ out-of-place comment, “come on everyone! Let’s get going!” ”YEAH!” Everyone cheers for your teammate and promptly leave the cafeteria in a hurry, before you stand up you feel a hand on your shoulder. “Huh? What is it Rares?” ”Keep an eye on that Nelly girl okay?” Rarity says with a very big smile, however she breaks a plastic spoon in half with her right hand. “Don’t worry about her Rarity…" you let out a nervous chuckle," see ya!” Minutes later. You’re on your way to Pleasantview town, riding the school bus with your teammates. “So how did you manage to strike this deal Anon?” You ask. ”Well…I told Nelly that we had a problem and she offered to help! Turns out her school's P.E. program includes Karate and ours should too! Celestia probably had to cut the program entirely..." "Yeah, we even had a Karate club back in the day but it only had a couple of members enrolled, they decided to shut down the club because they couldn't practice at all without the proper gear and equipment." "So, as soon as I told her what was going on she offered to help us! Pretty neat of her don’t you think?” “Uh huh…” you reply in a not so content tone of voice. ”What’s wrong? Aren’t you happy we’ll be able to train after all?” Anon asks. “It’s not that…forget it! You just wouldn’t understand,” you say before crossing your arms and looking through the window. ”O…kay?” Anon says before taking his phone, earbuds and a book out of this backpack, he says nothing and puts on his earbuds first to listen to some music, then he opens his book on a page and continues his reading. “Heh…that was the same book you were reading when you kicked that ball on Fluttershy’s face.” ”Yeah…” Anon says as he takes off his earbuds, “I haven’t been able to make any progress on this book since we all started training for this mess.” ”What is it about?” You ask. “It’s a mystery novel. One of A.K. Yearling’s early works before she started working on that mess called Daring Do…eugh!” Anon says as he makes a disgusted face. “WHAT?! You don’t like Daring Do?! WHY?!” You yell at Anon, he looks a bit shocked from your overreaction. ”Well, it’s simply not my cup of tea; one dimentional characters and tons of flaws. 2/10 would not read again, it’s got an annoying fandom as well…” You snatch his book away from his hands. “Hey!” “Lemme borrow this and I’ll get back to you on that statement then okay? Meanwhile…” You grab the second book of the Daring Do series from your backpack and hand it to Anon. “Here, read this one…it’s way better than the first one, give it a shot and you’ll love it as much as I do.” ”You really want me to read this thing don’t you?” Anon says, letting out a defeated sigh. “Nnnno?” You say trying to fake an innocent smile, so Anon just lets out a chuckle and starts reading your book, so you do the same, it’s gonna be a short ride to Pleasantview Town anyways, might as well take a break to read and to not stress yourself out. You’re glad Anon is pouring his heart and soul for the team and yourself, Seacrest County’s High will meet a completely different Anon when you face them in the final, and they'll be sorry. A comfortable bus ride later, you all get out of the bus and walk towards the soccer pitch where you initially spied on Sandy’s team. You find Sandy, accompanied by her sister Mirage and the rest of their team who look like they were about to begin their training, there’s that Nelly girl Anon talks to. (BGM) ”ANON!” Nelly warmly greets him by running towards him and then giving him a not so friendly hug. ”Hey Nelly! Good to see you again!” “Wow Anon, you didn’t drag us all the way here so you could just visit your girlfriend did you?” You say using an annoyed tone of voice. ”G-girlfriend?!” Anon freaks out for a bit. Nelly quickly releases her grip on him, feeling quite embarrassed. ”You got it all wrong Rainbow Dash!” Nelly tries to explain, “I was just…h-happy to see Anon again!” No one is buying it, not your team nor Pleasantview’s. ”Rainbow Dash!” Sandy calls, “you made it…” You turn around and find Sandy Prattle walking towards you. “Heya Sandy…how have you been?” ”Doing fine…how about you?” Sandy crosses her arms. Yeah...both you and Sandy just can’t get along, this is why you were agains the idea of being here in the first place. “Can’t complain, well…are we gonna train or what?” ”In a bit, I’m kinda surprised you all made it to the round of sixteen,” she says with a smug smile, “to be honest I thought you would be placed fourth in the repechage event.” “What’s that supposed to mean? You know dang well we almost left you out of the competition if Zeph hadn’t done what he did,” you use a louder tone of voice. ”I just remembered!” Anon interrupts both of you, probably to prevent you from fighting against Sandy, “how’s your knee Nelly?” ”It’s fine Anon, no need to worry anymore about it-“ Both Anon and Nelly engage in a nice and lighthearted talk about recent events, Anon also mentions how your team feels at a certain disadvantage because of their lack of fighting experience, which Nelly reassures him that her team will be willing to teach yours what they know. “Ugh, those two…” Mirage blows some air from her mouth. ”Tell me about it, at first I was against the idea…but my sis somehow managed to convince me and the principal to let you guys train with us,” Sandy rolls her eyes. “Ain’t she the nicest person around…" you let out a chuckle, "I guess this is all possible thanks to her.” "Besides, your friend there has been so cute with my sister so far. He doesn’t have a girlfriend does he?” Mirage asks, eyeing Anon in quite a lewd way. “No…not yet but one of my friends has taken interest in him; so no funny business okay?!” ”So he's fair game huh? Lemme warn you though, Nelly isn't someone you want to make mad..." Mirage says with a fake smile on her face, "SO! Let’s get started shall we?” (BGM) Minutes later, you’ve all changed into your sports clothes and done some warm up exercises. ”Alright everyone…we’re gonna teach Canterlot High some karate. It’s up to them to learn it and win the next event against Kindiak Park,” Sandy says, however Artic Thunder laughs. ”What’s so funny Artic?” Sandy asks, arching an eyebrow. ”Sorry Sandy but, are you sure these losers will be able to learn karate in just a few days?” Artic replies, while the rest of the team laughs. ”Hey…you’ve seen how great their team is, despite the conditions they have to train under,” Mirage says, “and Rainbow Dash is right…they almost kick us out of the competition.” Artic Thunder rolls his eyes. ”So!” Sandy says as she lifts a couple of punching pads with her hands, “Anon! I want you to punch these pads as hard as you can.” “Uhh…okay!” Anon replies. ”Don’t be too rough on him sis!” Nelly yells from the bleachers, Anon comes closer to Sandy and then he raises his fists before he throws quite a punch, Sandy moves the pads away from his reach, making him miss the punch. “Sandy?” Anon asks. ”What? You thought I’d stay still? In this event you have to evade your attacker’s punches,” she says with a smug smile, “besides…I could tell that was one weak punch.” Anon looks ticked off, it seems that she triggered a bad memory of his past, he aims for the punching pad again. Sandy manages to evade Anon’s punch again quite easily, she then manages to invade Anon’s personal space and blows a couple of punches to his stomach and a last punch to his face, Anon falls on his back and struggles to get up. ”ANON!” Nelly yells, before standing up and running towards Anon to make sure he’s okay while Sandy just laughs. "See Rainbow Dash…? This is what you and your teammates have to learn, dodging and punching, it ain’t hard…but it ain’t easy either.” ”You okay Anon?” You ask, Anon can’t even utter a word. ”What is wrong with you Sandy?!” Nelly yells at her own sister, holding Anon’s head on her delicate hands, “how dare you hit him like that in his first lesson? You psycho!” ”Relax…he’s a tough cookie, he’s gonna be okay." Sandy brushes her sister off, "however I thought he’d end up putting more of a fight, how disappointing...” (BGM) ”Nnnngh…did someone g-get the license plate of that truck…?” Anon struggles to say, barely conscious. ”Shhh…don’t talk Anon,” Nelly says, “you need some rest.” ”You’re enjoying this quite a bit aren’t you sis?” Sandy laughs. ”Shhh…don’t ruin the moment sis,” Nelly says as she caresses Anon’s hair, your teammates look at each other, then at Anon, Thunderbass and the rest of the guys look jealous. One thing is for sure, Rarity ain't gonna like how well Nelly and Anon are getting along. ”I wish that were me…” Sandalwood says. ”Alright people, time to learn the basics…sis? Can you help me out?” Sandy asks to her sister Mirage. Mirage nods and asks everyone to assume the typical fighting stance by using her body as an example, everyone on your team awkwardly poses like Mirage, Trixie even falls on her rump which makes Sandy place her palm on her face. ”This is gonna be tough…” Mirage says under her breath. You’re now Anon. ”Shh! I think he’s waking up,” a voice says. You manage to open your eyes, only to see Nelly’s beautiful smile next to Sunset’s trademark smug grin. ”Ohh…dang, what happened?” You ask. ”My sister knocked you out Anon…I warned you about her,” Nelly says. ”Yeah, don’t worry though…you were out just for like a couple of minutes or so,” Sunset adds, “you okay?” “I think I am…darn! What a strong blow.. Argh, my jaw...” you grab your jaw and move it to make sure nothing's broken. “Are you sure you want to participate in this particular event Anon?” Sunset laughs. “I’m not so sure anymore…” you say as you touch the areas Sandy hit, only to feel more pain, “ow; I think basketball doesn’t sound bad right now.” ”I get what you’re saying, I’m gonna participate in the basketball event myself. I’m pretty good at it,” Sunset Shimmer brags. “You sure? You look like you've got one hell of a kick if I say so myself Sunset,” you say as you check out Sunset Shimmer's well toned and strong legs. ”Oh quit it you,” Sunset says, “I just don’t feel like being a part of the karate team, however because of that big mouth of yours now I’ll have to learn karate as well.” ”Uhh…” Nelly doesn’t know what to say from all the things Sunset is blabbing about, however you just stand up and dust off the gym clothes Rarity tailored for you. ”Anon? What are you doing?!” Nelly asks. “I’m okay now…I can’t miss your sisters’ instructions now can I?” ”B-but you were out like a light! I can’t allow you to go back in such condition!” Nelly advises. “Relax, I’m gonna be okay,” you say with a warm smile which makes both Sunset and Nelly blush before you reunite with the group once again. ”Don’t worry about him,” Sunset says to Nelly, “he’s just getting started.” ”Ohhh…I just hope he doesn’t get hurt,” Nelly replies. ”Oh, back already Anon?” Sandy asks with a smug grin plastered on her face. “Yeah…you were just lucky Sandy, it won’t happen again,” you happily say which makes her arch an eyebrow. ”Well then, I guess I got you by surprise…” she mockingly says, “go back to your team and do exactly what I say okay?” “Alrighty then.” Sandy takes her time explaining the rules of the event and how the scoring system works. Mirage aids her sister by showing the movements, firstly the legal ones and lastly the illegal ones, such as kicking the kneecaps and other joints, they look quite painful. ”Don’t worry folks, if the Kindiak Park team really wants to break your arms or legs then they’d be disqualified.” With Superintendent Discord around? That’s not very likely… ”That still doesn’t sound very…reassuring you know,” Trixie says. ”Well now, my sister and I are gonna show you how to attack and defend. Mirage will defend against my attacks…ready to learn?” ”Everybody pay attention, it’ll come in handy in the future!” Mirage says. ”You ready big sis?” Sandy asks as she cracks her fingers, Mirage puts on a defensive pose and asks Sandy to come close to her with her fingers, almost taunting her. Sandy puts on a smug grin and yells. ”HERE I COME!” ”Yes, give it all you’ve got lil’ sis,” Mirage says. (BGM) Sandy runs up to her sister and starts attacking her with fast punches, which Mirage quickly manages to block. ”Is that all you’ve got sis?” Mirage mocks Sandy. ”Grrr! I’m not done yet!” Sandy angrily replies. The next punch Sandy tries to land is blocked by Mirage, who swats her fist away from her and takes a chance to kick Sandy’s left side with her right knee. ”Guh-“ Sandy barely manages to say before Mirage kicks her sister in the stomach with her left sole, making Sandy fall on her back. ”That was at least worth 2 points,” Mirage says with a giggle, “…you’re still too slow sis.” ”Grr…I swear Mirage, one of these days-” ”Yeah yeah, I’m still better than you at this…so! Did any of you guys get that?” Your team is shocked. ”What just…happened?” Lyra says. Mirage helps her sister up. ”Well Canterlot High, now you’ll have to do the same as my sis, you’ll have to attack our teammates.” Your teammates look quite insecure, and very, VERY afraid. ”They’ll ONLY have to defend against your attacks, so try your best to hit them okay? Go on, find a couple and start fighting.” ”Oh this is gonna be good,” Aria cracks her fingers, then she looks at Pleasantview High’s boys, “which one of you babies am I gonna fight?” The guys look afraid of Aria, and to be honest, you don’t blame them. Aria’s quite intimidating, Sonata however, looks quite scared of the possible harm she might end up doing or receiving. ”Um, Anon…if I get a small bump on my pretty face you’re gonna be like, so sorry, understood?” Sonata waves her index finger at you. “Me?! Why me?!” You ask. ”WELL DUH! Who’s big idea was to train for ALL the events huh?! Yours! Isn’t that right?!” “Of course it was mine…otherwise we would’ve gotten points deducted if we stuck to our respective events last Saturday isn’t that right?” You sigh. ”Umm…” “Yep, that’s what I thought…now don’t tell me Sonata that your dives weren’t amazing just because I suggested you could do much more than only swim.” ”Alright alright I get it, gimme a break already!” She says as her face goes red. Oh that Sonata, she’s a big klutz, and you love her haughty attitude. Same with Aria, the girls from both Canterlot High and Pleasantview High find sparring partners, so do the boys. And to your dismay, Artic Thunder volunteered to be yours. He waves at Nelly, who just refuses to acknowledge him, why did Sandy let this jerk in the team? You’ll never now...Sandy blows her whistle and everyone starts training, Pleasantview High’s team members are just defending against Canterlot’s Hits, some are doing it with a relative ease. ”Let…the Great and Powerful Trixie…HIT YOU!” Trixie yells at her opponent, who just lets out a yawn. ”Why are we even wasting our time with you losers?” Artic Thunder confidently says, “might as well hand over the prize to Kindiak Park High.” “Hey dude, this is literally our first lesson. We’re trying to figure out who’s the strongest fighter among us to get our team ready..." you begrudgingly say (BGM) You throw Artic Thunder a punch, however he grabs your fist in midair. ”Well, it’s certainly not you…sheesh, you hit like a girl,” he taunts, this guy is really getting on your nerves. “YOU CAN DO IT ANON!” Nelly cheers for you from the gym’s bleachers, “I BELIEVE IN YOU!” For some reason, Artic just becomes angrier from Nelly’s cheers, instead of just defending himself from your attacks he swats your fist away and lands a quite hard blow at your stomach. “Urk…guh-“ you barely manage to say as you fall on your knees. ”ANON!” Nelly yells in shock. ”ARTIC!” Sandy yells, “I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO DEFEND AGAINST ANON’S ATTACKS ONLY!” ”Whoops…sorry captain,” he lies to Sandy with a blatant smug grin, then he just closes his eyes and shrugs, “you got him first so I thought he’d be more prepared to defend himself; I’m guessing he’s just a lost cause.” You get back on your feet, which pleases Sandy, Mirage, Rainbow, Nelly and the other members of your team. ”You sure?” Sandy says as she points at you, “I think this is far from over.” ”Pssh, we’ll see about that…” Artic Thunder says under his breath. This time you do your best to attack Artic Thunder, however he keeps dodging your attacks. “GO ANON! GO!” Nelly cheers once again. Artic Thunder punches you again, but this time you manage to dodge his attack and then you land a hit to his left side using your right hand, Artic Thunder winces in pain, falling on his left shin while holding the area you punched. ”NGH! Son of a-“ ”Hah! That was a point for Anon! What was that all about Anon being a lost cause Artic?” Mirage says with a smug grin, joined by Sandy’s giggle. “YAAAY! GOOD JOB ANON!” Nelly yells from the bleachers, jumping on the same spot over and over. ”This ain’t over yet…” Artic Thunder says as he stands up and turns around to face you once again, all the other couples stop training and start watching how Artic Thunder lunges at you, you do your best to block and evade all his hits. You decide to counterattack him, by trying to hit him immediately after he misses his punch. However you also miss yours. ”What is that guy doing to my number one fan?!” Trixie asks, feeling somewhat worried for you. “Don’t worry Trix! We’re just training!” You say with a smile to one of your best friends. ”Training?! Are you making fun of me?!” Artic Thunder angrily says. ”D-don’t let him hit you Anon!” Derpy says in worried tone of voice. You manage to land yet another hit, this time with your shin, at his right side. Making him wince in pain once again. ”Good one Anon!” Rainbow Dash and Sandy yell at the same time, your teammates cheer, while the others just watch in awe as how you’re standing up to the third best player of their team. ”Darn! He’s pretty good, for a dork…” Aria says. ”Heck yeah he is!” Flash Sentry says, “man, what a display of courage! I wonder what’s in his mind right now.” You manage to land another punch right at Artic Thunder’s face. If only you had been stronger back in Jr. High…Sunset looks quite proud of you, while Nelly just can’t stop giving you that weird look Rarity does whenever she watches you practice. Artic notices her as well and, feeling frustrated that he just can’t land a hit on you, he does an illegal movement and kicks your right leg’s knee. “NGGAAAAHHH!” You yell, wincing in pain, everyone gasps from the dirty move he pulled off. ”HEY!” Rainbow Dash angrily yells, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Nelly stands up and runs towards you two, so do Sandy, Mirage, Aria, Bulk and plenty of others, but just before they arrive, Artic Thunder grabs you by your shirt and doesn’t allow you to fall on the gym mat. ”This is what you get for stealing my dear Nelly from me you bastard…” he whispers, and the last thing you hear is Nelly yelling and begging Artic to stop, however everything goes dark as soon as Artic Thunder’s head hits you right in the face.