//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Beauty and the Beasts // Story: The Harmony Games // by Antares //------------------------------// Rover was seething by the sideline as the last applause for Fluttershy died out. How could that idiot have been so stupid. How?! Couldn't he just take the surrender like a normal person? But no, he had to try and prove himself, and his stupid clan. Now he looked like a weak fool. And if he looked weak, the whole gang looked weak.  Rover's sensitive ears picked up the nervous rustling of the rest of his gang behind him. Two in particular were moving towards him. One big, one small. He knew which ones. "What do we do now boss?" the smaller one, Spot, squeaked. Spot was tiny, especially compared to Fido, the big brute behind him, who was simply nodding in agreement. "What do you two idiotssss think we're going to do?" Rover hissed without turning. He could imagine his two lieutenant's dumb looks as they tried to figure out his simple question. "Well...umm." Rover tapped his foot impatiently, his lip slowly curling. "we...Uhh." Losing patience, the gang leader turned and, lifting Spot well off the ground, crashed his head together with Fido's.  "We're going to do exactly what we already planned. No changessss!"  "But Garble..." "Garble issss an idiot who doesn't know how to do anything but swing hisss fists! We are sssmart. We are Diamond Dogsss." His rant had grown louder till he was addressing the whole gang. "Are we going to let some silly Equestrianssss intimidate usss?"  There was a small muttering from his followers, provoking his displeasure. "What wasss that? We think a prissy Transsscendent may have sneezed." The mutterings ceased, but his speech did not. The leader of the Diamond Dog pushed his advantage over the brutes before him. "That's pathetic. Now remind us, what are we?" "Diamond Dogs!" "What are we?" "Strongest of the Plains and Mountains!" "And what are we going to do?" "Win, by any means." "Yesss." The sneer on Rover's face was unchallengeably evil. The gang members were a sorry lot, but they were his sorry lot and they were obedient. That was all that mattered to him. "Rarity vs Rover." The commanding call cut through his thoughts and he turned to the screen, displaying a less than flattering portrait of himself opposite what looked like a glamor model. Rover sneered in preemptive triumphant. Against someone like that, this was going to be easy. As he turned to leave, he hissed to both his lieutenants, "Get ready." "Come on Twilight. We're going to miss the start of the next match." Twilight groaned, clutching her head the same way she had been since she woke up. She wasn't sure whether it was due to the after effects of whatever strange magic Trixie had used on her, Celestia knows it had scrambled her memories, or due to the number of times Spike and Pinkie had described it to her. If she heard one more overstated sound effect she feared she might... "You were totally like WHOOSH, ZAPPO and then she was pleading and you were just like 'Too late'." The pink creature zipped across Twilight's view, making both ridiculous faces and noises, except when she imitated Twilight. For these parts Pinkie dropped into a stock still monotone. Twilight wished Applejack was with them, just so she wouldn't have to suffer this indignity alone. But the doctor had insisted that the farmer needed to be checked over again, and had promptly thrown Twilight out when she had suggested a few more efficient methods of treatment. "Twilight, hurry!" The small drake was practically jumping out of his skin with impatience. "Ok, ok Spike, I'm coming. Even if we are late, we can still see it from here." Her thumb jerked up at one of the many screens littering the arena. "But it's miss Rarity!" Spike exclaimed, and his face quickly changed from urgent to dreamy. "Rarity..." Twilight was not used to that particular expression on her charge's face, and became hopelessly confused. One minute he was insane urgent, and the next he was off with the fairies. Was he developing some strange brain disease? What did it mean?  Pinkie looked between the two: Twilight staring at Spike who was staring off into neverland. She didn't get it. However, she did see an opportunity to have some fun. From somewhere on her person she pulled a balloon and pin. The aftermath was as hilarious as she expected. Ten minutes after the first call and Rover was still standing in the centre of the arena, growing steadily more impatient. Celestia seemed as calm as always, although the crowd did not share her serenity. "What isss taking so long?" The diamond dog hissed. "I'm sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this." "Reasonable my ass," Rover snapped, earning him a gasp from the crowd and a raised eyebrow from the princess. "This issss an insult! I demand that thissss Rarity person forfeit unless she..." "Apologies!" came the charming voice of Rarity as she came waltzing in. She looked as glamorous as ever, possibly more so as every pore and piece of her outfit looked fresh and pristine. "I had a little unexpected family trouble, which took up a great deal of time and effort to...subdue. And after that my outfit was just completely ruined, so I just had to get changed. For the good of the audience. I'm sure you understand." Rover was momentarily stunned, not by her beauty or completely ridiculous reasoning, but by the number of glittering objects plastered over her outfit. He even began salivating slightly before catching herself. "Well, I..." "It's perfectly fine dear." Celestia cut in. "Hey, wa..." "So we can begin then?" "Sssto..." "Of course. Let the match begin!" With a blinding flash, man and model were gone. The mountain winds swept around Rover as he landed in a shallow snowdrift, sending shivers through his flesh. Around him, the view was almost pure white, with the snow only broken irregularly by outcrops of grey stone. It was truly good fortune to have been brought here,Rover thought, to a land so like his home. His cunning tactics would work even better here than he had intended, provided the others had gone into position. It wasn't a particularly difficult task; surely they could manage it. Now all they needed to do was find her. Growling under his breath, Rover stamped his foot as subtly as he could. It seemed strange to be trying to be stealthy in a deserted, frozen field, but he took the precaution anyway. The world was watching after all. A subtle scratching at the underside of his boots confirmed his plan's success. Hopefully that silly girl was making enough of a fool of herself to attract the crowds attention while they bean searching for her. "eeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEH!"  An ear splitting screech echoed around the mountain, assaulting Rover's tender ears like nails. At least finding her wouldn't be a challenge. Not far away, a particular young maiden, the obvious source of the awful sound, was wailing at the storm. The winds attacked her hair and dress, making a complete mess of them. Rarity was waving her horn around frantically, small spells trying in vain to correct the damage the weather was doing.  "No, no, stop! Stop it you stupid wind! I'm warning you!" Just out of sight, Rover wondered exactly what this foolish creature planned to do to punish the wind and weather. Looking over the snow ridge, he was greeted with the sight of Rarity trying her best to jinx the storm while holding her attire in place. It was almost pitiable. But more importantly to him she was an easy target. Feeling confident, Rover stepped out from his hiding place, walking casually towards Rarity. The latter was too distracted to notice him until her was barely five meters away. When she did, she almost leapt out of her skin in fright, shakily pointing her horn at him. "You stay back!" she yelled, slightly panicky. Rover stopped his advance, his feet crunching in the snow, and leered over at her. "Sssilly Equestrian. What happened to all the confidence you had before? Thisss is a fight. So we fight!" Without warning, Rover leapt at his target. He expected to catch her with that one move; she should have been slowed by fear and the snow around her feet. But as his raking fingers reached her she disappeared entirely. No flash of magic, no burst of speed, not even a disturbance in the snow. No expecting this Rover completely overbalanced, windmilling his arms to try vainly to counteract his momentum before coming crashing down into the snow. "No, no I told you to stay away from me!" Rarity's voice came again. Pulling his head from the snow, Rover snapped his head around searching for the source of the noise, finding the girl standing atop one of the rocky protrusions. Once again she was waving her horn madly between him and the weather. "Don't come any closer or I'll blast you!" Rover snarled, using his powerful legs to pounce at her again. Just like before the instant he touched her she disappeared, reappearing a few meters away. "I'm telling you to leave me be, you brute! Don't you ever listen?" Rover felt a blood vessel pulsing in his temple. Rarity was acting erratically, borderlining on being outright stupid, yet somehow he couldn't touch her. And yet, there was something about the Transcendent that was bugging him, something he couldn't quite place. Growling, he decided it was time to start using his own tricks. "You aren't the only one with magic, Equestrian!" Pointing at the girl, apparently still preoccupied with her outfit, Rover snapped his fingers. From the ground below Rarity popped four dirt covered hands, grasping at her legs. This time Rarity didn't disappear, yet still the hands failed to grab her. Instead they passed directly through her, like she wasn't even there. As Rover stared on in confusion, the hands groped around trying to find their prey. Rarity appeared not to have noticed the intrusions into her body, still flitting around trying to save her hair from the wind. And then Rover saw it. Her hair was blowing the wrong way. "She's an illusion!" he yelled out, although Rarity was the only other person in sight. Said woman, along with the two groping hands below her, stopped and stared, or as close as hands can, at him in shock. "N...no I'm not!" Rarity said incredulously. Her hair and dress had stopped moving entirely, ignoring the wind. Then her body flickered. That was all Rover needed. "Find the real one!" he yelled at the hands, which promptly disappeared back below the snow. "Find her! Find her!" Not too far away, hidden from the weather in a natural cave, the real Rarity sighed. She had hoped her little mirror image would distract them long enough to carry out her plan. She usually created the image when she needed to make adjustments to her outfit without access to a mirror; this was her first time using it for anything else. She'd just instructed it to act exactly like her and keep Rover distracted. Apparently her magic had an annoying sense of humor. "I am not that much of a drama queen," she muttered to herself, if only to convince herself of the fact. Sighing, she activated her magic again. Along the walls of the caves, dozens of precious gemstones lit up, glowing through the rock walls. Rubies, sapphires and diamonds, all trapped just below the surface. As magic flowed out from her horn, the gems began to move, forming intricate patterns both beautiful and, Rarity hoped, effective. Hopefully she could still get her plan complete before they found her. It took Rover less than a minute to find the hole his prey was held up in. His 'magic' told him where the entrance was, and what was inside. It was like he already had a map and key to the place. He would have found it quicker too, if it wasn't for one particular interference. "Oh you don't want to go down there dearie. It's all dank and cold. You'll get your...er...jacket all dirty." The illusionary Rarity grabbed at his arm, trying to pull him back. Her fingers passed right through him, her insubstantiality working against her now. Jumping through the Diamond Dog, she spread her arms wide to try and block him. Rover waked through her without a second glance. The reflection pouted, trying to stamp her foot without having any effect. "It's rude to ignore a lady you know!" "You can't be a lady if you aren't real," Rover called back, moving further into the cave. The Rarity clone sighed, then allowed itself a small grin. She knew the tunnels twisted and turned in an endless labyrinth. The chances of this fool finding the real Rarity in time were infinitely slim. But as Rover approached the first fork in the path, he moved down neither path. Instead he approached one of the seemingly blank walls and, after muttering something under his breath, snapped his fingers. There was a scuffling sound, and the wall began to collapse into a tunnel, dug out by an unseen force. The Rarity clone stared after him for a few seconds, aghast. Finally she found her voice. "That's cheating!" Rover continued to ignore her, casually walking forward as the tunnel formed in front of him. The Rarity clone almost groaned audibly; she was going o have to use 'that'! Putting on her most sultry expression, and adjusting her outfit ever so slightly to fit, she swaggered up in front of Rover, swaying her hips provocatively. Batting her eyelashes to maximize her charm, a charm no one could resist, she swallowed her pride to stop this intruder. "Now now handsome boy," she said, her voice almost ringing with charm. "Do you really want to go down this icky cave. Wouldn't you rather stay up here with me and..." Once again Rover walked straight through the illusion, cutting he off. "Oh come on you stupid brute! Act like a man for goodness sake!" Although he had many witty comebacks, Rover was distracted by the tunnel ending, revealing a small cavern. Excitedly, he rushed out into the room to find it... Empty. Rover twitched slightly, his impatience slowly boiling up. His face slowly grew redder, sinking closer towards violet. Then, with a massive gasp, he exploded. "What by Celesssstia do you lead me here?! There'ssss no one here! Why can't you do anything right, ever?! You ssstupid idiots!" There was a couple of seconds where the gang leader's words echoed around the chamber, then a small head popped out of the ground with an infuriated look on it's face. "Hey, quit going off at me idiot!" Spot snipped, glaring up at his boss. "Fido said she was standing right there!" He pointed to an obviously blank area of the stone wall. "What do you want me to do, magic?" "That'ssss the idea of this whole...wait, what are you doing up, you idiot! You're meant to sssstay hidden for this plan to work!" "Oh who cares you stupid git! You honestly think no one noticed you talking to 'yourself'?" "Git?! Don't talk to me like that you midget!" Unnoticed by either of the Diamond Dogs, a figure melted out of the solid wall where Spot had pointed just moments before. Noticing the two arguing, the newcomer simply waited. "Midget?! How dare you, you over biting mongrel." "That'sss the best you've got? I could do better than that in my sssleep!" "Well that hiss is just plain creepy!" "Is not!" "Is too!" "Is not!" "Is too!" "Boys!" "WHAT!" They both snapped around, admittedly much more slowly for Spot still wedged halfway in the ground. Finally they noticed Rarity, standing with the arms crossed and a bored expression on her face. "Are you two just going to beat each other for me, or will I have to interfere?" Unamused by this new appearance, Spot gave Rover an angry glare. "What did I tell you?! She was here!" Rover rolled his eyes at his second in command. "It'sss obviously just another one of her badly made clones." That comment earned him a raised eyebrow from Rarity, who began walking towards him. "You see, in a few seconds she'll just passsss thr..." For a fairly slender figure, Rarity's backhand was quite strong. The impact upon his jaw sent Rover reeling before landing squarely on his rump. "How vulgar, to insult a lady's hard work like that!" Rover recovered slowly, while Spot was stuck between being shocked and laughing himself silly, but when he did he leapt like lightning at his assailant. Unfortunately, Rarity was prepared for this. She waved her horn, almost dismissively, and out of the roof and floor erupted a cage of precious stones. The many different coloured stones were melded together into a beautiful spectrum of crystals which, Rarity knew, were both stylish and would be almost impossible to break. The walls were mighty thick pillars, close enough to block any escape without blocking view. Rarity had even going to the detain of carving a mosaic over the features, unsurprisingly one of her standing over Rover's prostrate form. With a crack, the cage shut into a cube, catching Rover square in the jaw for a second time. The rising floor also trapped Spot as well, forcing him out of the ground. Rebounding quicker from this failing, Rover jumped up to try and break the bars, managing only to strain his biceps pulling. "This is truly a work of art, don't you agree?" Rarity said, smiling sweetly through the bars. "Both stunningly beautiful and deceptively powerful. I must say, I'm surprised you managed to get help out here, but it doesn't really matter now. Now that I've caught both you and you little 'magic trick', you might as well give up." Rover glowered at her from within his prison, then his frown turned into a sneer. "Both of ussss, you sssay?' There was a confident, almost mocking tone to it. "Oh well done, we're definitely beaten now. Oh woe is usss!" Rarity failed to pick up on the sarcasm at first, and by the time she did it was too late. Rover snapped his fingers, and out of the ground popped a third Diamond Dog, standing a head taller than Rover. Before Rarity could even squeak Fido grabbed her in a crushing bear hug. Rarity squirmed and squeaked, but the bigger man's grip was too strong. "Good job Fido. At least sssomeone here has the ability to follow orderssss!" Spot glowered at him, shacking his head dismissively at the jibe. "It looksss like we have a sssstandoff girlie. Fido, take her horn!" Fido nodded, and began clumsily trying to get the implement out of Rarity's hand without letting her squirm free. "Let go of my you...stop it right now or I'll...be careful, that's hand stitched...do that again and I'll EEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!" Unexpectedly Fido reeled slightly as Rarity made an ear piercing shriek, releasing her and clutching at his ears. Inside the cage, Rover and Spot howled and fell to the ground as well, howling in pain. Rarity, rather surprised by this turn of events, didn't move for a good few seconds, allowing the three to recover. "Don't let her do that..." Rover started, but was cut off as Rarity let out another scream. All three Diamond Dogs fell to their knees, unable to stand the noise. She paused only to take a breath, but she didn't let up. Inside the cage, Rover writhed around, tears coming to his eyes. "Stop, STOP. We'll do anything! ANYTHING!" Rarity stopped making noise for a second, smiling evilly. "...and we also proclaim that Miss Rarity is the most talented and beautiful maiden in all the lands, and we are all the fools for even trying to challenge her." The Diamond Dogs muttered in a unanimous monotone. "Wonderful, wonderful," Rarity congratulated, clapping her hands together. "See, now that wasn't so hard, was it?" "Can we surrender now? Please?" Rover begged. "We've been doing this for almost twenty minutes." "Why are we doing this?!" Spot growled. "Becasue this way the terrible noises will stop." Fido told him, contentedly smiling at the thought of his sensitive ears not being torn to shreds. "No, I mean why don't you just attack her again and..." "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!" "OK, OK, no noise, no screaming! We won't do anything, we promise. Now can you just end it." Rarity pondered this for a second. "Fine." "The match is over. Rarity wins." "Yeah, woohoo, go Rarity!" Spike's energetic cheering added to the masses. Beside him, Twilight groaned groggily, clutching an ice pack to her temple. Pinkie's balloon trick had shocked her so badly she'd hit the roof. Literally. One simple prank had given her a worse concussion than her own duel. She was beginning to think that girl might be her own personal devil, sent to punish her for neglecting her studies. Although slightly befuddled by her injury, Twilight had seen enough of Rarity's actions to be suitably impressed. She had to admit, the lady's frivolous personality had given her doubts. But the way she had adapted so quickly was skillful to say the least. "She certainly is talented." "You bet she is!" Spike exclaimed loudly, making Twilight cringe and clutch her ice pack closer to her wounded cranium. "And she'd interesting, and kind, smart, and beautiful..." Once again the young drake trailed off as his face stretched into a goofy smirk and his mind pranced off into a Rarity filled wonderland. Twilight glared at him, this time keeping an eye on the pink menace sitting on the other side of him. Then it struck her: Spike was infatuated with Rarity.  "You can't be serious Spike. She's at least as old as I am. That's like dating me!"  The last statement wormed itself inside Spike's brain, taking root in his fantasy and instantly corrupting it. Now trapped with new images in his head he couldn't dismiss, Spike's complexion went a sickly shade of green that clashed with his emerald hair. Without another word he rushed from the stands in search of a bathroom and something to cleanse his mind. Twilight was left unsure whether to be pleased or insulted. "It's not that bad..." she said to no one in particular. Pinkie, who had barely been listening, reached across and tasted some of Twilight's popcorn experimentally. "Tastes fine to me. By the way, why does he have a drawn on mustache?" "I have no idea."