//------------------------------//
// Chapter 36: Royal Guard Tournament, Part 6 
// Story: Balance of the Mind and Body 
// by Swift Blaze 
//------------------------------//

Once Shining Armor has teleported Al and Cancer out of the arena, Princess Celestia stood to address the crowd. 

"What another great display of skill and technique. Although, how Al decided to end the battle even surprised me. Let's cheer for them once more!" she said. 

The guards in the stadium cheered and shouted Al and Cancer's names. The white Alicorn raised her hoof to get the crowd to quiet down. 

"Give us a few minutes to reset the arena and get ready for our next match. For now, let me introduce the recruits in the next match. First, we have a Unicorn pony that showed us in his last match how diverse his illusions are. Now we’ll be able to see how he is with a blade while not invisible. Put your hooves together for Colorful Sparks!"

The blue stallion stood up and waved a hoof to the crowd as they cheered. Down below, there were several Unicorn Guards in the arena. They were cleaning up the destruction and even moving several buildings around.

"This next Unicorn pony displayed how he is stealthy at night. He also showed a wide range of abilities. How will he fare with not being able to use them? Let me hear you cheer for Swift Blaze!"

The red stallion stood up next to Colorful Sparks and joined in waving to the crowd.

"You ready to have your flank handed to you on a silver platter?" Colorful Sparks asked.

"Don't get too cocky just yet," replied Swift Blaze.

"You won't be able to use your powers to help you with this match. I saw how you controlled that sword. I’ve got this match in the bag."

"If I was in my human body, my sword skills are even better. I’ve only had a few weeks of practice wielding weapons in this body."

"I’ll believe it when I see it. Looks like they are ready down there. Time for your flank to get kicked."

Princess Celestia activated her horn and teleported them to different parts of the arena. Swift Blaze was the first to move around where he arrived. After getting a sense of his location, he began to search for gear to help him. He looked into each window as he walked, looking for anything different.

Colorful Sparks was doing a similar thing in his area. Through his searching, he came across a building with a chest. He entered and opened it. "Sweet! I found weapons first!" he shouted. 

Inside was a pair of folding hoof blades. They were similar to the ones he trained with back at the training grounds. The blue stallion quickly slipped them on and left. He still continued looking through the others, just in case he finds something else that can help him.

The red Unicorn kept on finding empty houses after empty houses. He was getting frustrated as he heard the shout from his opponent. He needed to find something soon if he wanted to stand a chance. Without warning, Colorful Sparks walked out of a path twenty feet ahead of him. Blaze quickly hid behind a crate before he looked down his direction. The stallion thought this could not get any worse.

Murphy's law was in effect as Blaze's body suddenly jolted from pain all over. He screamed out from it. The Unicorn quickly realized he was changing back into a human. Of all times to happen, it had to happen during a match. Blaze quickly bolted away from Colorful Sparks as he heard him scream and was heading toward him. It was now a chase through the paths between the buildings.

Blaze knocked several crates and other items to block the path. Colorful Sparks was able to either jump over or plow through them. The red stallion couldn't run at full speed as his body was in pain and it was increasing. In a desperate ploy, he jumped through a window and quickly started to run through the walls. This caused the flimsy buildings to become unstable and fall down. Colorful Sparks backed off so he wouldn’t get caught in the rubble. He stuck to the path and followed the falling buildings.

As Blaze was doing this, he sent a message from his mind to the white Alicorn. Princess Celestia, sorry for the destruction I’m causing. I’m changing back to my human form. Ugh, I’m saying sorry right now for any cursing I’m going to say.

Blaze, are you . . .  she started to send back when a loud shout came from the arena.
"AHHHHHHHH! MOTHERFUCKING TROUT-FACED SPERM BOGLE BASHER SPELL! YOU JUST HAD TO END NOW! WELL FUCK YOU AND FUCK EVERYTHING RELATED TO YOU! AHHHHHHH JESIS CRIST TROLLING BITCH! . . ." The cursing continued as everyone in the stadium could hear it. 

Princess Luna appeared next to her sister. "Tia, what in Equestria is going on? That shouting woke me up," she said.

"Blaze is changing back to his human form right now. The last time it was painful and he was in a soundproof room when it happened. As you can see, it just started," she replied while trying to talk over Blaze's voice."

They both suddenly got another message in their minds, QUICKLY! PUT UP A SIX LAYER BARRIER AROUND ME OF YOUR STRONGEST ONE! DON'T ASK WHY, JUST DO IT! Blaze said.

Without waiting, both Alicorns activated their magic and placed the layered barriers around the house the stallion last crashed into. It stopped all the shouting. Just a minute later, the house exploded in an instant. The blast also destroyed four of the barriers and cracked the fifth one severely. Inside was a big cloud of smoke that wasn’t dissipating.

Blaze, you alright in there? Princess Celestia asked from her mind.

*Cough* Yeah, he replied. My ki was building up from all the pain I was in and had to release it. Um, can I get some clothes, please?

There is a set in the chest next to you, Princess Luna said from her mind.

He quickly felt around for the chest and found it. The white Alicorn took down the barriers that were remaining and allowed the debris smoke to spread out and dissipate. This time, Blaze had to change out of his torn clothes quickly and into the set that was in there. He didn’t want anyone to see him in torn clothes after causing so much destruction.

Colorful Sparks was circling the house that was inside a barrier a few minutes ago. He knew his opponent was there from all that shouting. The Unicorn wondered if he was ok because he’d never heard such foul language. The blue stallion tried to look through the smoke for any signs of movement. He then heard a voice come from it.

“I know you are out there, Colorful Sparks. I’ll meet you in the center of the arena in five minutes so we can finish this match properly,” Blaze said from within the smoke.

“You ok in there?” Colorful Sparks asked.

“I’m much better now. I’ll explain everything shortly. See you there.”

“I’ll hold you to it. It is five till noon anyway.”

“Perfect.”

Colorful Sparks left the smoke debris and headed to the center. Blaze left the area under the cover of the smoke to an undamaged house nearby. He wanted to make sure the clothing looked good before the actual fight. Once inside, he could look himself over. He was wearing something similar to what Al had, except his outfit was black. The human also saw that he did put it on correctly. That made him feel much better. 

He then felt something brush the back of his legs. Looking behind him, he saw something that was not there before. The human had a tail, a black, pony tail. He quickly felt around his head for anything else that wasn’t supposed to be there. Swift Blaze breathed a sigh of relief as he still has a human head with no pony like features. He only noticed also now that his hair was also black. He wrapped his tail around his waist to hide it, for now. 

With Blaze’s appearance taken care of, he looked around the house. He saw he came to one that had another chest. Blaze opened and revealed he found a weapon stash. Better yet, it was his sword. Guess the universe was actually sorry for the pain he was put through changing back. All he knows now is he doesn’t want to be a pony for quite a while. He grabbed his weapon and headed to the center.

Colorful Sparks waited at the base of the statue in the center. He wanted to get this match over with after all. He heard a clock in Canterlot striking twelve’ o’clock. 

“Alright Blaze. It is noon. Where are you?” he shouted.



“I’m right here,” Blaze said from behind a building. “The spell on me decided to end.” 

“Wait. You’re back to a human now?”

Blaze stepped out from behind the building so Colorful Sparks could see him. “I’M BAAACCKK!”

“Well, this match just got interesting. Now I can see how skillful you are with a blade.”

“Enough talking! Let’s finish this match.”

Colorful Sparks folded out his blades and stood on his hind hooves. Blaze kept his sword in his sheath. The human had one hand on it and the other hand on the sword itself. Being back in human form got him all excited. He can now use the skills of the move he learned from Earth. Both of them were standing still in their battle stance, waiting for the other to strike. The tension was very high in the air.

The Unicorn moved first and charged toward his opponent. He did a double slash at him. Blaze reacted with lightning speed and drew his sword to block. The speed blocked the hit and also caused Colorful Sparks to slide back a bit.

“What the buck was that? You just drew your sword and it pushed me back!”

“The speed I can draw my sword sometimes will create a shockwave and knock the opponent either down or back. Care to continue?”

“You know it!” 

The blue stallion charged again. This time swinging one blade after another. Blaze was able to block each one with no issue. They continued to fight around the center, swinging their blades at each other. Neither of them was able to land a blow. Soon, they pushed either away and stood ten feet away from each other. Both were breathing a little harder to catch their breath.

“That was a nice warm-up. Care to pick it up?”

“I was hoping you were holding back. So was I. Let’s really test each other's skills.”



They both charged at each other, this time at a faster speed. Their movements were starting to become blurry to that of a normal eye. You can hear the clanging of their blades in rapid style, like rain hitting a sheet of metal. This went on for several minutes as neither of them was letting up.

All of a sudden, Colorful Sparks was able to get the blades in the right position and sent Swift Blaze’s sword flying into the air. Before the blade fell back down, the stallion quickly went to continue the onslaught with a double downward slash onto the human's shoulders. Blaze raised both of his arms to block the hits.

*CLANK*

Blaze looked at his arms. They were now covered in black armor. His body was the same way. An identical suit of armor to what Al wore. As the Unicorn was recovering from hitting the metal, Blaze grabbed his falling sword. In a quick motion, he swung it with full force into his opponent’s blades. They shattered upon contact. 

The human continued with a round kick to his gut, sending the blue stallion flying into the statue. The impact knocked it over backwards. Blaze walked up to Colorful Sparks as he had his back against the base of the statue, holding his gut.

“*Couch* Ok, you win. You’re better with a blade than me,” Colorful Sparks said.

“Only in my human form, replied Blaze. “If I had to fight with my pony body, I think you might have beaten me.”

“How do you think I would have done against Al?”

“Hard to say. You are good with short swords. He is good with daggers and throwing blades. I would say whoever was more determined, would probably win.”

“Well, good luck going against him. Who knows what kind of battle Princess Celestia will plan for you two. Now then, how about you come and take care of my injuries. I think you might have broken some of my ribs with that kick of yours.”

Blaze smiled and kneeled down next to Colorful Sparks. He placed his hands above him and began to channel his chakra to begin the healing process.

“Say, how come that part of clothing did not change to armor also?” Colorful Sparks said as he pointed with a hoof to where Blaze had his tail wrapped around him.

“No clue. I did not choose the style of armor. Now hold still, you do have some broken ribs. I don’t want you to make it worse by having them puncture a lung.”

The Unicorn remained still as the human worked on healing him. He continued to look at Blaze’s waist, trying to figure it out. Blaze knew he would have to explain it soon as he can’t hide this forever. He heard someone teleport behind him. He turned his head and saw the rest of the recruits were there with Captain Shining Armor and the Princesses.

The human thought, Oh great. Guess now is a good time as any to explain my new look. He finished healing and stood up to greet the group. The armor finally reverted back to normal clothing so his tail was blended back in again. 

“Hello, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and everyone else. I got my human body back,” Blaze said.

“Nice to see another human here now. I no longer feel like an alien by myself in this world,” Al said.

“Dude, we are aliens here.”

“I know, but not like the ones from the movies back home. I would never do some of the things those directors thought of if an alien showed up there.”

“I’m glad you have your body back, Swift Blaze. Although, the language shouldn't have been necessary,” Princess Celestia said.

“Again, I’m sorry, your highness,” he replied. “Having my bones stretched, shrunk, grown, and my skin on fire is one thing I never want to experience again. If I’m severely injured again, please don’t have Twilight Sparkle change me to a pony again.”

The human bowed to her as a reaction. He soon felt his tail unwrap itself from around his waist.

“Blaze, did something else get changed to your body when you changed back?” Princess Luna asked. “I noticed your mane is black, like your pony form, but I thought I saw something behind you I didn't see before.”

“I think I know what you are talking about and no, I didn't have it before.” He turned sideways so they could see. “ I have a tail.”

They all gasped at Blaze's new addition, except for one. Al was laughing and fell onto his back as he continued to. “YOU HAVE A TAIL! OH MAN, THAT IS RICH!” He said between laughter.

“I think I prefer a pony’s tail instead of a monkey one.”

“Monkey tail?” Star Dust asked.

“The human DNA is very similar to that of an ape. Also, it is an inside joke of a show we watched back on Earth.”

“Do you think this might have to do with what happened in the EverFree Forest?” Dragon asked.

“More than likely. I’m just glad I didn't get a horn on top of my head.”

“That is because you've already had a horn. Between your legs!” Al said while he continued to laugh.

Blaze weaved some hand signs for a jutsu. The ground underneath the other human launched him up into the air. He screamed as he flew up and began to fall. Blaze followed up with an air style jutsu and caught him before he hit the ground. He could tell Al didn't like that. He just smiled as the human picked himself up and stomped towards him.

“You want our match to start now? I’m ready to go!” Al said in my face.

Before Blaze could say anything back, both of us were pulled away from each other by a magical force. He looked and saw Princess Celestia had her horn glowing. She held us in her hold as she spoke, “Your match is going to be tomorrow so both of you can recover and get ready for it. You'll find out the style at the start of the match.”

“Of course, Princess Celestia,” they both said at the same time.

She released them and the humans landed on their feet. Before the Princesses left, Blaze asked, “Um, would it be alright if we dined with you tonight? A certain food source will make sure we will be at our top performance for tomorrow.”

They looked at each other for a few minutes. Princess Luna then said, “I think we can allow that. We certainly want the recruits to be at their best for everyone to see tomorrow.”

Shining Armor took the rest of the recruits back to the training grounds. Al and Blaze followed the Princesses out of the arena. Al whispered into my ear, “What food source did you get us to have?”

“What is one thing that ponies will never eat?” Blaze replied.

Al thought for a few seconds before shouting, “MEAT!”