The Descendants

by Gherkin

Chapter 3: Boys Will Be Boys

Cole MacGrath trotted up and down the length of his luxury suite in Canterlot Castle, undeniably bored out of his mind. After enjoying the small breakfast of toast and oats (the latter of which he had suspiciously gained a sudden affinity for) that was waiting for him after he woke up, he had slipped on his white t-shirt and sat in his room, watching the world go by.

He stopped pacing and looked out the window into the courtyard below, thinking of something to do. He saw the pegasus stallion, Drake, hovering a few feet above the ground talking to Rainbow Dash. Obviously he was trying to get the hang of flying.

The air in his room was starting to get a bit stuffy, so he opened the window and cantered over to a bookshelf on the other side of his bed, looking for something informative. Picking out a rather large hardback (Equestrian History: From Starswirl to Celestia), he awkwardly took it between his teeth and went back over to the bed, turning on a radio along the way. As he sat down to read, an upbeat and cheerful tune, reminiscent of Earth's music style circa 1950, started to play.

"Oo-ah, oo-ah, why do colts fall in love?" The young stallion on the radio sang cheerfully. The song was catchy, and Cole found himself humming along as he read about the background of the strange new land he had found himself in. He started from the beginning. The first page was titled: The Dawn of Equestria: Hearth’s Warming Eve. Intrigued, he read through the story of how Equestria had been founded, hanging on every word. It wasn’t until there was a light knock on his door did he pull himself away from the tale.

“Yeah, come in,” he called out. The door burst open, accompanied with the sudden sound of party horns as a certain pink pony bounded into the room through a sea of confetti and streamers.

“Hi Coley Woley!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing up to the surprised conduit. “How’s my favourite ex-human today?”

“Um, I’m fine, thanks, Pinkie,” he said awkwardly, not able to match the party pony’s infallible enthusiasm. “What brings you up here?”

“Well I came to see if anything was wrong, because everyone else is outside talking and having fun,” Pinkie said, her innocent smile never once wavering, “But you were up here all on your lonesome, and everypony knows it’s not fun to be alone, so I came up here to keep you company!” She beamed.

MacGrath chuckled. “Thanks, Pinks. Glad to know someone’s looking out for me.” He hopped to his hooves and put the book back in its place. “I guess we should go and see what everyb-” he stopped himself, “everypony is up to, shall we?” He smiled. Huh. Can’t remember the last time I did that. It felt good. Surprisingly good.

The mare grinned and nodded. “Okie dokie lokie!” She bounced after Cole, who had slipped on his backpack and slotted the Amp into its place. "Ooh..." she whispered, gazing at the metal rod, "What's this thing?"

"It's called the Amp. It was made for me a while back by... a friend."

"What do you use it for?"

"I, uh, use it to smack people across the face," he admitted simply. The pink mare frowned. "Hey, it came with the territory." He flicked off the radio just as the song came to a close, and trotted out of the room.

"So," Pinkie said, her voice slightly less excited and more intrigued, "What's it really like, where you're from? Like, how does everyhuman act?"

Cole shrugged, which was surprisingly difficult in his new body. "To be honest, Pinks, most people are only ever out for themselves. Friendship is still a prominent aspect of our world, but nothing really seems to revolve around it like it does here."

"What about you, Coley? What were you like?"

He shrugged again. "I suppose I was just trying to do the right thing. After I got my powers, I decided it was no good using them for my own personal gain, when something so powerful could benefit so many people in need." He let a jolt of electricity flow through one of his front hooves, to emphasize his point.

The party pony tapped him on the shoulder playfully. “Well, that’s good to hear! No one likes a big old meanie-pants, especially if they can make electricity shoot out of their hooves!” Cole smiled warmly, thankful for the mare’s company. She giggled and gave him a quick hug, which elicited an awkward but nonetheless positive reaction from the surprised conduit.

“Um, thanks for that, Pinkie,” he said awkwardly as she hopped off of him. By now they had reached the courtyard, and he could see his fellow ‘ex-humans’ scattered around, talking to various ponies. He spotted Ezio speaking with Twilight over by a large marble fountain. His hood did not cover his face, so Cole could finally properly see the sixteenth century assassin. His snout was covered in a well-groomed beard, and his jet black mane tied back in a short ponytail. Ha, how ironic.

Marston and Applejack were chatting nearby. As he and Pinkie trotted past, Cole started to eavesdrop on their conversation.

“So, y’all reckon you can beat me in a hoof wrestle, Mr. Marston?” Applejack asked, challenging the unicorn stallion.

“Well now, I don’t mean to brag,” John began, smirking, “But I ain’t never met someone I can’t beat.”

Applejack chuckled. “Well then, it looks like you just met your match, partner.” She stared him down, a confident smile on her face.

“Hold on,” Cole whispered to Pinkie as they began their duel, “I wanna watch this.”

She stopped and turned to match his gaze. “Ooh, a hoof wrestle!” She pulled out a bag of popcorn from seemingly nowhere. “This is gonna be great!”

Cole chuckled, watching the two duelists try to best each other, neither of them getting the upper hoof. “So, who’s your money on?”

“Hmm, good question,” Pinkie said between mouthfuls of popcorn, “I’m not sure. I mean, Johnny looks like a strong stallion, but Applejack has never been defeated in a hoof wrestle, not even by Rainbow Dash! And Rainbow Dash is one of the fastest and strongest ponies I know!”

They returned their attention to Marston and Applejack, who were still putting all of their effort trying to best the other.

“Heh, you’re pretty good, I’ll give ya that!” The country mare grunted, still desperately trying to overpower the stallion, who still wore a smug smile despite putting all of his strength into the fight.

“So, I've “met my match”, huh?” he replied, slowly overpowering the tired farmpony.

“Yeah, well...” Applejack tried to say something in return, but found herself putting all of her effort into vainly trying to balance out the wrestle, which had quickly turned in John’s favour. She grunted, trying to force her hoof away from the table, but to no avail. Her muscles gave out, and John’s hoof slammed hers into the table.

“Woah...” Pinkie stared, amazed. She pulled her jaw off the floor (quite literally, much to Cole’s confusion) and trotted over to John. “Oh my gosh Johnny that was a-maz-ing! Did you know that you’re the first ever pony to beat Applejack in a hoof wrestle?” she exclaimed at what seemed like the speed of light. “You were incredible!”

Cole grinned slightly and approached Applejack, who was holding her forehoof in slight pain. “Hey, you okay?”

She shook her head and looked up at him. She smiled with humility. “Nah, I’m fine. Just a little bruise is all.” She looked over at Marston, who was still being hounded by Pinkie Pie. “We really had it goin’ there, didn’t we?”

“You can say that again,” Cole agreed, “That guy’s stronger than he looks.”

"I'll say," she muttered, before turning back to him, "So how are y'all this morning, Mister..."

"MacGrath," he said, finishing her sentence, "But please, call me Cole. And I'm good, thanks for asking. Better than I thought I'd be doing when I woke up as a damn pony, anyway. Um, no offense."

"None taken." She dusted herself off and sat down on a nearby bench. He joined her. "I can understand how difficult it must be getting used to a new body, if the way you described your old one is anything to go by."

"To be honest, it's not too bad," he admitted, "It was like all the basics, like walking and eating, were already pre-programmed into my head. Probably the doing of your princesses, but it's not like I'm complaining."

A light brown blur shot past them just as Pinkie and Marston trotted over, followed closely by a ecstatic Rainbow Dash.

"Did you see that?" she exclaimed, "I taught Nathan how to fly! Heh, looks like he's a natural!"

The cocky pegasus glided over towards them. "Mornin' fellas!" he called out, nodding towards John and Cole, "Beautiful weather we're having, huh?"

"Yeah," Cole called back, "But I wouldn't bet on it staying that way, knowing that you have the power to change it."

Drake paused. “Wait, I can do what?”

“Guess you forgot to mention that part, huh?” the conduit asked Rainbow Dash.

She sighed. “Yeah, I thought it would be for the best. The weather teams are on a tight schedule, we can’t have some random pegasus go screwing it up.”

“I would never do such a thing!” Nate scoffed, “At least, not more than once...” he added quietly.

By that point, Ezio and Twilight had trotted over to join them. “Good morning everypony,” Twilight greeted them, yawning. They all said hello in return. “Has anypony seen Fluttershy or Rarity?”

“Princess Celestia let Fluttershy feed the animals in the royal garden,” Rainbow Dash told her, “But Rarity? I have no idea.”

“You know how that girl loves her beauty sleep,” Applejack said, arching her back to stretch her bones, “She’ll be down soon. Like, in a couple of hours.” They all chuckled.

“‘TIS A FINE MORNING, MY LITTLE PONIES!” came a sudden booming voice from above them. Looking above, they saw the outline of Princess Luna as she came gliding down towards them, a mischievous smile upon her face.

“Well,” Ezio muttered, uncovering his ears, “That’s one way to make an entrance.”

"You can say that again," Drake agreed as the princess of the night touched down in from of them.

"Good morning, Princess Luna," Twilight spoke gracefully, bowing with her friends.

Luna giggled. "Please, Twilight Sparkle, there is no need for such formalities. I mean, do I look like my sister?"

"Ha ha, that was a good one, princess..." the purple unicorn murmured, visibly embarrassed. Rainbow Dash failed to suppress a snigger.

Princess Luna turned her attention to the four stallions before her. "Good morning, gentlecolts," she said happily, "I trust you are all well?"

"Yes, ma'am," John told her as the rest nodded their heads, "I think we're all just about used to all of this by now."

"That's good to hear," the alicorn said, taking on a less formal voice than before, "However, if any of you are a little bored, I may have a proposition for you."

Nathan checked over his shoulders and saw that his fellow stallions all bore the intrigued expressions he did. "We're listening."

"As you may or may not be aware, I have a personal legion of Royal Guards," Luna explained, "Naturally, they must be capable of the highest forms of physical performance in the line of duty, so frequent training and exercise is crucial."

The four of them nodded, listening intently.

"To do this," Luna continued, "We hold regular fights down in the barracks. Simple brawls, to keep the soldiers in shape. Of course, when they heard there were some new warriors in the castle..."

"They want to fight us, I'm assuming." Ezio finished the goddess' sentence for her. She nodded.

"All in the name of sport, of course."

They mulled this over for a moment, before Nate shrugged. “Sure, why not?” he said, “It’s not like there’s much else to do, until tomorrow at least.” The rest spoke in agreement.

“Very well.” Luna turned to Twilight and her friends. “Feel free to come along if you would like, my little ponies, but it you’d rather not, you are free to spend time in the city.”

Twilight nodded. “Thank you princess, but I think we’ll leave the boys to their, uh, ‘fun’.”

“As you wish.” The princess turned around a walked back towards the main door leading out of the courtyard, motioning for the four stallions to follow. She lead them through the double doors and down a few flights of stairs. The lower they descended, the more they could make out the cheers and shouts of the princess’ guards, who obviously had a fight going on already.

Soon enough, they reached a lone metal door, with a sign reading “Barracks” nailed above it. The ruckus caused by the cheering audience was at almost a deafening level by now, but, of course, they were all used to much worse. Luna pushed open the door, which gave a slightly audible creak, and led them through.

Beyond the door was a large, dimly lit room, with only a single light in the middle. The sole light source hung above a large ring, where two winged guards were busy brawling. As they trotted closer to the circle of ponies around the two contestants, the four of them were able to make out more of their features. Instead of regular pegasus wings, Luna’s guards seemed to have wings that resembled those of bats. Their eyes were distinctly more reptilian in nature as well.

The fight between the two guards was quickly drawing to a close. The smaller of the two was quickly becoming tired, having taken a few hard punches. The larger one noticed this and suddenly lunged, throwing his opponent off guard. He was swiftly picked up in the burly stallions front hooves and thrown back onto the ground with an audible crack. The small guard laid there, panting for breath, before the sound of a bell ringing signaled the end of the match. A cheer went up from one side of the audience as bags of money were passed between guards.

Luna smirked. “Well, that wasn’t too entertaining, why don’t we give them a real challenge?” She stepped forward, inhaling deeply. “ATTEN-TION!”

All of the guards suddenly stopped talking and stood up straight, waiting for orders.

“At ease,” Luna ordered. The guards relaxed a little. “Now, I understand a few of you have heard about some newcomers in the castle. Four stallions. I have also heard that some of you wish to have a friendly match with these stallions.”

A murmur of excitement rippled through the crowd.

“Well,” Luna continued, “I have good news! The four stallions you wish to compete against are with me right now, and have agreed to your challenge!” As she said this, she stepped aside to reveal Nate, John, Ezio and Cole to the guards.

One of the night guards stepped forward. He wore a slightly different set of armour to the others, to distinguish his superior rank. He bowed before Luna. “Thank you, princess.”

Luna nodded. “You may take it from here, Captain.”

The Captain stood up again. “Good morning, gentlecolts,” he said, taking one of each of their front hooves and shaking it firmly. “My name is Captain Shadow. I understand you wish to participate in a little, uh, friendly fight?”

Cole nodded. “Yes sir.”

“Well, that’s just great, ‘cause my men have been real excited to meet you.” He looked over each of the ‘ex-humans’, sizing them up. “Now the princess tells me that you four are ‘extraordinary’. Now I don’t know exactly what she meant by that, but I guess it means you all can take a little more punishment than most stallions are used to.”

“Yeah, sure,” Nate said, suspicious of where the Captain was going.

“So here’s my proposal. The four of you get in that arena, and I throw a couple of squads of mine at you. You beat ‘em, I throw in some more. Sound good?”

“Wait a minute, a couple of squads? How many ponies is that?” Drake asked.

“About eight,” Shadow answered simply.

“Eight versus four?” Ezio spoke up. “You could have at least made it fair.”

Shadow chuckled. “What’s the matter, too much for you to handle?”

Ezio smirked. “I meant fair for them.”

Captain Shadow’s eyes widened a little, before he chuckled and smiled. “Confident, eh? Okay then, get in there.” The four of them trotted past into the arena, except for Cole, who was stopped by that Captain. “One condition, pal. That little doohickey of yours.” He pointed at Cole’s Amp. “That stays outside the arena. Hoof to hoof only.”

Cole shrugged. “Sure.” He unclipped his courier bag and let it fall to the floor.

The four of them congregated in the middle of the ring as Captain Shadow picked out his fighters. “So, a plan of action?” Ezio suggested.

“Yeah,” Nate told him, “Try not to get beat up too bad.”

“An excellent idea,” the assassin deadpanned.

“Look,” John butted in, “Here’s the plan. Just hold your own, and don’t get yourself into something you can’t get out of. Play it safe, and we should be fine.”

“Yeah,” Cole agreed, “And one last thing. Don’t mess them up too much.” He gave a confident smile.

“Very well,” Ezio agreed, “Insieme per la vittoria.”

By then the eight challengers had entered the arena and were warming themselves up. The pseudo-leader, a muscular guard with an over-confident smirk on his face, approached the four allies. He didn’t look particularly smart, and it amazed Nate that someone so dimwitted could have made it into the Night Guard. “So,” he started, trying to sound as intimidating as possible, “You four are the ‘extraordinary’ stallions Princess Luna was telling us about?” He laughed. “I’ve dealt with tougher tougher Diamond Dogs than I have the likes of you! And Diamond Dogs are, like, really bad fighters!” he added unnecessarily.

“Yeah, kinda got the gist of that, thanks pal,” Nate called out.

“That’s a shame,” Cole muttered to himself, “I liked that album.”

“Enough chit-chat,” shouted a female guard next to the leader, “Let’s do this!” She nodded to a stallion on the edge of the arena, who nodded back and yanked on a length of rope. The bell rung and the fight was on.

While the rest of his allies leapt into the fray, Ezio hanged back, waiting for the cocky stallion who had more teeth than brain cells to come to him. As the assassin expected, the leader charged towards him clumsily. He parried the stallion’s wild swing before grasping his right front hoof in a tight lock and repeatedly punching the stallion in the gut. After a chain of about four strikes, the assassin released his grip on the stallion’s hoof and delivered a powerful right hook that sent him sprawling across the floor.

Undeterred, the burly guard stood back up and swung again. Ezio ducked under his wide hoof and sent another powerful punch into his opponent's chest, before slamming his hoof into the guard’s windpipe. The stallion, gasping for breath, attempted one last clumsy swing, but was thwarted as Ezio delivered a skull-cracking headbutt followed by a knee to the forehead. The leader of the eight guards went down for the count. The mare that was beside him suddenly lunged at the assassin, only to be stopped as Ezio slammed his hoof into her face, snapped her front hoof backwards with a bone-shattering crack, and tripped her over, sending her flying to the ground. She didn’t get back up.

Meanwhile, Cole MacGrath was trying his best not to unleash the full potential of his powers on his would-be assailants, and was instead content to easily outclass them in simple fisticuffs. Two rather average looking guards kept coming at him, but every time he dodged their calculated swings and returned with his own powerful hooks. After a particularly nasty punch, one of the guards went flying into John, who was just finished with a troublesome stallion who continuously parried the gunslinger’s attacks. Marston threw the guard to the ground and, before he could get back up, drove his his back right hoof onto the stallion’s face, knocking him out cold.

Satisfied, John turned his attention to the guard that had just been flung his way. He looked injured, and was struggling to get to his hooves. Better put him out of his misery. He slammed his hoof into the side of the stallion’s jaw, sending him to the ground unconscious.

Nate, on the other hand (or more appropriately, hoof) was not having quite such an easy time with his attackers. He was barely managing to dodge their frequent attacks, as there were about four coming at him at once. Luckily, he was soon joined by the rest of his allies, evening out the score.

One of the guards spun on his hooves and sent an immensely powerful buck in Drake’s direction. When he didn’t feel it connect, he turned his head in confusion and was welcomed by the sight of the fortune hunter, who had one leg wrapped around his, sending a knockout punch. He flinched and tried to dodge, but to no avail. He was sent to the floor in a bloody mess.

The final three guards, all of which were stallions, looked up at the four of them fearfully. Their morale had dropped to an all-time low at the sight of their teammates being brutally knocked out (quite literally) of the competition. Mustering up some courage, they tried to attack, only to be easily blocked or dodged and sent sprawling to the floor. Deciding enough was enough, they stayed down, and the bell was rung. A large cheer went up from the crowd as more bets were passed around.

“COME ON!” Captain Shadow screamed, quite visibly upset and angry that his best fighters had been so easily defeated. “I NEED MORE FIGHTERS! WHO VOLUNTEERS?”

Drake looked to the fuming Captain, then to the crowd. They were all looking around nervously, glancing first to each other, then the Captain, then to the four stallions that stood proudly in the middle of the arena.

“Raise your hoof if you wish to fight against our challengers,” Captain Shadow announced, calming down slightly.

All hooves remained planted firmly on the ground.