//------------------------------// // Be Prepared... // Story: Happy Adventuring, Twilight! // by Pennington Inkwell //------------------------------// When the bell in the corner of the room chimed loudly, the fight began. Or, at least, it was supposed to. Twilight, too frightened to try and make the first move, simply mirrored Pennington as he began to revolve around the circumference of the floor. Pennington made no attempt to look very interested at first, simply watching to see if Twilight would attack. Over time, though, he began to act more and more serious about the fight, sinking down to a lower center of gravity, narrowing his eyes, and taking his steps more carefully, like a cat about to spring. Okay, there has to be a way out of this... THINK, Twilight! The lavender unicorn thought to herself as she kept pace with him. You've seen Pennington fight before, what do you know? While keeping a steady eye on her opponent, Twilight let herself flash back to the first fight with Pick Pocket's gang. He never threw the first punch. He always waits for his opponent to make the first move. Any time he was actually fighting, he let them come to him, to fight on his terms. He usually focuses on disarmament, and inflicts as much damage as he can while doing so. She swallowed loudly as she remembered all of the non-lethal blows that he had inflicted to the gang members, and "non-lethal" had been one of the very few rules. Well, if I wait for him to come at me, we could be here all day. If I choose to attack, I can't let him get too close. The best option must be... Her eyes lit up as a solution came to mind. One that could be used from a distance, and would put her on the offensive. Oh, he's not going to like this... But a pony's gotta do what a pony's gotta do! It's just a few seconds, anyway... right? Twilight decided not to dwell on the matter any longer, instead rousing herself to life in the fight, reaching out with her magic towards her opponent. Once she was sure of her "grip" on him, she tightened her hold, stopping his strutting short and locking his body into the shape she desired: spread-eagle on the ground and pinned in place. "ONE! TWO!" Quick Strike started to count to the three second limit, but an explosion of light stopped her short. Twilight felt her hold on him shatter, and smoke from the explosion wafted forward, blocking any sight of the pony from view. Twilight squinted, trying to see into the mist for a sign of Pennington's next move. As the air cleared, though, she was astonished to see... nothing! "Look out behind you!" A pony in the audience shouted, far too late. Before she could turn around, Twilight felt strong hooves pounce on her shoulders, knocking her face-first into the ground. As her back hooves fell out from beneath her, Twilight found herself pinned, with one of Pennington's hooves standing on top of one of hers and forcing her to stay on the ground. It was- a distraction? "Twilight, you need to go back to Ponyville. I'm not going to let you place yourself in danger..." He whispered, leaning down by her ear. Though Twilight knew that it was the famous "Scorching Quill" standing on top of her, the voice was one of quiet desperation, not bossy bravado. As Quick Strike once again counted to two, Twilight summoned up a powerful burst of magic that welled up beneath her body, raising her from the floor and blowing Pennington backwards into the wall behind her. "I'm not going back without you!" She shouted in return. The roar of the electrified crowd drowned out her words to all but Scorching Quill, who was shaking his dazed head. When he looked up again, Twilight saw a grim efficiency behind his eyes: he was now serious about winning. Something tells me that wasn't a good idea... She thought to herself as she felt a light pressure building on her body. With alarming force, Pennington's magic dropped her to the ground in the same way that she had done so only moments before. Twilight struggled to lift herself up again, straining with body and horn to break the spell. Every time it seemed that Quick Strike paused to inhale before announcing the final third count, Twilight would muster enough energy to lift one leg off the floor, making the count start over again. While she struggled, Pennington walked to stand over her, grimly waiting for his victory and layering even more energy onto holding her down. Try as she could, Twilight couldn't create the spell-shattering explosion that he had, but she refused to give up. "I don't see why you care so much. Ever since we met, you've cared too much about me, Twilight." Pennington's voice had dropped to a low monotone. "You hardly knew me, but you followed me all of the way to Canterlot just to find out who I was. You keep trying to protect me from myself, and I just can't see why." I need to break his concentration! But, how? Twilight moaned loudly as the stress of lifting her back hoof from the ground felt as though it would break her bone. She knew that Pennington was extremely focused on a good day, but she also knew one weakness that she could use. That's low, Twilight. Even in a no-holds-barred fight... She thought for a moment as the countdown neared its end once again. With a screaming cry of effort, she brought her back hoof up with all of the force that she could muster... straight onto Pennington's cutie mark. It was his turn to cry out in pain as Twilight kicked his recent injury as hard as she could, breaking his hold on her and limping away. "Because I get you!" Twilight shouted as she struggled to her hooves, her body tired from trying to break his spell on her own. "I know what it's like to be so wrapped up in your work, you don't leave your home! I know the feeling of struggling to be adequate in your own eyes!" Twilight finally steadied herself on her hooves as Pennington lowered his hurt leg, which he had raised off of the ground. "I know what you feel Pennington, and I want to help you, just like my friends helped me!" "And I don't want you to DIE!" Pennington screamed in return, stopping Twilight short. Gone was any sense of trying to keep up a facade or a premise. "I couldn't protect you before from one lousy dune worm! How can I protect you now, with a whole army of changelings as the punishment for my failure?" "Now, you're underestimating me!" Twilight replied, taking a tentative step towards him, trying to spot any kind of movement that would indicate Pennington falling in one direction or the other. Twilight could tell that he was opening up, the he was also bordering between anger and panic. "I can handle myself, Pennington. If the dune worm proved anything, it's that we need each other, right? We make good partners." "Twilight, I'm not going to let you do this. I don't want to lose you!" He stepped forward, stomping his injured leg behind him. He grimaced, but stayed firm in his stance. "So I'm not going to lose this fight." "Why don't you want to lose me? What makes you think you'll be 'losing' me?" Twilight shuddered when she saw him in pain, knowing that she was partially, if not completely, to blame. She could tell now that Pennington had fallen into instability, to the point where the only clear thought in his mind was to win the battle and get her home and out of harm's way. Pennington began to advance on her with growing speed, seeming to have put off magic in favor of physical combat, where he obviously outclassed her. Instinctively, Twilight began moving backwards in time with him, trying to keep her distance until she had formed a plan. I think that I might have to win this fight. He's not giving up, but then again, when does he ever give up? But how can I win? If I try to stop him with magic, he breaks free. I can't overpower him physically, not even with the remains of his injury. I can't attack the body, but... She nearly slapped herself as another "brilliant" idea came to mind. You have to be kidding me. That only works in the movies, right? That only happens in cheesy stories by bad authors! Still... She groaned inwardly. This could be my only chance to stop him from going alone. As her rear slammed into the wall behind her, Twilight came to a sudden stop. With "Scorching Quill" bearing down on her at a now-alarming rate, her mind froze on the ridiculous idea, leaving her with no other options to think of. When Pennington was only a single yard away from her, Twilight finally put aside thought and moved to the one action that she thought could help: using the element of surprise. She leaped forward and kissed him on the cheek. Or, to be more precise, she tried to kiss him on the cheek. As Twilight jumped forward, Pennington turned his head, trying to keep track of where she was going. In the confusion, the lips of the two ponies met and held. The roaring audience had filled the room with sound until this point, but the sound of a pin dropping could have been heard in the massive room. Even Quick Strike, who had been narrating the fight over the microphone the entire time, fell silent. Twilight couldn't define what made her freeze up, hold the kiss longer than she had intended, but it seemed as if, for a few seconds, her body, rather than Pennington's, was the victim of paralysis. As she finally came to the realization of what exactly she was doing, Twilight pulled herself away from the stallion again, feeling her face flush harder than it ever had before in her life and panting for breath. Pennington was a blank slate. Where once before he had been a coiled spring, a tiger on the prowl, he was now completely limp, held standing only by the fact that his hooves were underneath his body. His jaw dropped as Twilight pulled away, and he stared at her blankly. Twilight was shocked at what had happened, but Pennington was utterly dumbfounded. Twilight tried not to think about it for a moment. In his shock, Pennington fell with ease as Twilight tackled him to the ground. He didn't resist as she pinned each of his hooves with one of her own, standing over him in victory. "Umm... Three?" Quick Strike whispered into the microphone, breaking the silence that had settled over the entire gymnasium. It was the equivalent of opening a flood gate. The crowd erupted into a cacophony of cheering and shouting. Some ponies jumped from their seats in excitement, others in protest. Twilight could hear everything from light-hearted nursery rhymes about love, marriage, and something to do with a "maybe carriage" to claims that she had cheated and demands for a rematch. A little worried, Twilight stepped off of Pennington, allowing him to rise to his hooves. She knew that her face was still burning with embarrassment, and that she was probably more red than lavender. Well, I wasn't prepared for this... "That was AMAZING!" Quick Strike laughed as Twilight walked out from the locker room, immediately giving her a friendly pat on the back. "I can't believe that you actually did that! You two are the talk of the whole base!" She laughed even harder, leaning on Twilight for support, nearly knocking her over. "The look on his face: PRICELESS! I've seen Pennington pinned by a spell, knocked unconscious, even beaten into submission! But I have never seen him that shell-shocked! Twilight.... Are you okay?" "Yeah... Just a case of the jitters..." Twilight looked down at her shaking legs, then back up at Quick Strike. "Speaking of your boyfriend, where is he?" The earth pony looked back at the doors that Twilight had come through, expecting to see the blue unicorn at any second. "He's not my..." Twilight started to argue, but quickly saw it as pointless. I just kissed him, I don't have a leg to stand on in this argument... "Close and Constant are checking over him to make sure that I didn't reopen any part of his injury. He should be out soon." "Probably treating him for shock, too!" The combat instructor chuckled, gave her a final pat on the back, and turned to leave. "That took guts, Twilight Sparkle! You're welcome in my dojo any time!" "Twilight... What happened out there?" Pennington's scolding tone when he finally saw Twilight again in the infirmary showed that he indeed knew what had happened, but wanted to make sure Twilight did. He had been returned to his normal blue-and-lavender hue, but Twilight was still half-expecting him to burst into flames judging from his tone. "Well, I think that I won my chance to come with you to the changeling hive..." Twilight was a tad bit confused when she saw Pennington packing his bags to leave. They weren't supposed to be leaving for another day or two. "Twilight, tell me that kiss was a dream." Pennington turned around, his tone sounding exhausted and exasperated. "Please tell me that it was just another one of those stupid dreams I keep having!" Just as Twilight was about to reply, a relevation hit her with the force of a freight train. "Wait, that's what you dream about?" "Well, I- Just shut up!" Pennington's face flushed as he turned back to his bags. "I'm moving to some personal quarters until it's time to go. I've told Sure Shot that you'll be needing your own room." "But, we've been staying together in the sick bay, why couldn't we just share a room for a couple days?" Twilight walked up next to him, watching him pack. "Well, you completely obliterated first base in the arena... Ponies are going to start wondering about second, third, and home if we share a room. If you get my meaning..." Pennington didn't seem angry anymore, but moreso resigned to what he knew he couldn't stop. "What? I- Oh. Pennington, you should know, I didn't mean to kiss you... on the lips. I was just trying to surprise you enough to win." "An effective strategy, Twilight. I'm not exactly happpy that you won, but at least you're learning." Pennington's face had finally returned to its normal color. "I hope you're not planning on kissing the changelings, though." Twilight laughed a little at the joke, hoping that Pennington's dismal mood would lift. "No, only you!" After the words had left her mouth, she realized the second meaning that made itself obvious. Somehow, though, she didn't feel as if she needed to take it back. "Twilight, did you mean anything by that kiss?" The question was sudden and blunt, taking Twilight off-guard. Pennington wanted a straight answer from her. Twilight thought back to the fight. At the time, it had simply been out of desperation that she kissed him, right? But, I could have thrown up a magical shield, or pushed him away. There were a hundred other things that I could have done, but all I could think of was to kiss him... Was that because, deep down, I wanted to? As she remembered the moment she had realized her mistake and the electric thrill that had travelled straight through her body, she realized that she had enjoyed kissing him. There was some kind of deep satisfaction that had come from it, even if she was too busy to notice it in the arena, even the memory of the action felt as if it were making the hair on her neck stand on end and her chest fill with a crackling burst of energy. "Penny, I think... I think that there's something very special between us, because I- I enjoyed that. I don't know why I can't quite put my hoof on it, but... I think that, whether I wanted it to or not, that kiss meant more that even an author like you could say with words." Twilight moved closer to the unicorn, placing a hoof on his shoulder. When she did, she felt an intense amount of tension in the muscles quickly scatter away, as if he were surrendering at a simple touch. "I would like to... investigate this further. But, I need to know, too. What do you think?" "I think that, within and without Equestria, on the tallest mountain peaks and in the lowest trenches of the planet, in barren deserts and lush rain forests... I have never felt anything like what I felt with that kiss. It felt like the doors to my deepest core, some of which even I couldn't open by myself, were all flung open at once, and you just rushed inside like an untamed whirlwind." Pennington finally looked up at her, looking straight into her eyes. This time, Twilight wasn't sure if those eternally searching eyes were searching for her soul or his own. "And that both fascinates and frightens me in a way I've never known before. I think... I'd like to take a closer look at that, as well." Twilight smiled brightly, beaming as she took a final step forward and wrapped her arms around Pennington in a tight hug. "Well, then we'll investigate it together. As partners, okay? No more secrets, no more hiding, we'll be completely open with one another, just like we are right now. Agreed?" Twilight couldn't help but jump a little as Pennington's head turned, pressing his lips against her cheek in a gentle kiss that sent thrills of excitement running down her spine and throughout her chest, even making her slightly light-headed with a strange type of joy. "Agreed."