Atlas Strongest Tournament

by Bico

Sign Me Up: The Cutie Mark Warrior

“Rainbow Dash!”

“Ssnnxx—eh? Gimme five more minutes, Derp…”

“Rainbow Dash, wake up!”

“Mmm, yeah… right there… that’s the way I like it. Right down the home straight…”

Thunk.

Rainbow Dash awoke with a start as something hit her in the head. She flailed and rolled over, prepared for any follow up attack that might come her way. What she wasn’t prepared for was running out of cloud to roll on, and she fell right out of the sky and collided forcefully with the planet below. “Oof…”

An orange pegasus filly scooted to her side and leaned in close with a concerned look on her face. “Hey, Rainbow Dash. You aren’t hurt are you?”

“Wh-wha?” Rainbow Dash leapt to her hooves and puffed her chest out confidently, ignoring the sharp jolt that went through her body at the fast movement and doing her best to ignore the sudden tunnel vision she’d developed. “Me, hurt? Ha! Who do you think I am, Scoot?”

Scootaloo threw her front hooves into the air and cheered. “You’re Rainbow Dash! The fastest, bravest, strongest, and best flier in all of Equestria!”

Rainbow gave the filly a wide grin. Of course, Scootaloo wasn’t as much of a filly anymore. She was very nearly a young adult, now, and had only recently shot up like weed like the rest of her friends. She was almost Rainbow’s height. She was at the age when ponies had all earned their cutie marks and were preparing for their final year of basic schooling, which would focus on training them in whatever talent their cutie marks pointed them toward. It was a distinct advantage of ponykind that they had such a clear path toward success, and thus required very little general schooling. Only the big brains spent more than five years in school, like Twilight Sparkle.

For her part, Scootaloo’s cutie mark was a spiraling cyan colored triskelion, which represented the principle of movement. Rainbow Dash, despite not feeling herself to be the teaching sort, had nonetheless volunteered to take the filly on as an apprentice, since she herself was a master of a variety of moves as well. The orange filly was just happy to actually be the student of her greatest hero.

“So what brings you out here, Squirt?” Rainbow restrained herself from adding “and interrupting the nap I was enjoying so much.”

“Oh!” Scootaloo rummaged in her saddlebags for a moment before pulling out a flier. “Didja see this, Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow leaned in to check out the advertisement. It had images in the background of ponies and other races seeming to duke it out with each other, and in big, bold letters said “Atlas Strongest Tournament.” Her eyebrows slowly lifted in intrigue. “The Atlas? Here? That’s pretty sweet.”

“You should sign up, Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo insisted. “You’re the best fighter in Ponyville, after all. I mean, you’ve got a black belt in kara-hitsume(1), and everything!”

“You do, too, kiddo,” Rainbow responded. And earned it in only half a year no less. It took me practically my whole foalhood to earn mine, she thought to herself. Still… I haven’t shown her all my best moves, yet.

“Aw,” Scootaloo said. “I don’t know if I’d do any good.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Squirt,” Rainbow said. “You’ve got some real skill. Tell you what, how about if you enter, I will too. I’ll train you on some of my best moves and we can have a showdown in the semi-finals.”

Scootaloo gasped. She wasn’t entirely sure whether to be excited or frightened at the prospect of having a real match with her teacher. She was sure she would lose to the awesome pony, but to be able to tell her friends that she’d been worthy of going hoof-to-hoof with the Rainbow Dash… well… “Okay.”

“That’s the spirit,” the cyan mare said with a wink to her young student. She seemed to ponder something for a moment. “I wonder if AJ will be signing up.”

“Fer what?” a familiar voice asked. “The Atlas?”

The two pegasi turned to see the aforementioned orange earth pony trotting up with her yellow-green younger sister in tow. Apple Bloom had earned her cutie mark—a spiral leading out to a paint brush with three apple blossoms decorating the spiral—around the same time as Scootaloo.

“Hey, AJ!” Rainbow Dash said. “What are you doing here?”

“Uh, RD,” Applejack said. “You were nappin’ right above Sweet Apple Acres… as usual.”

“Oh, yeah,” she said. “I do always get sleepy after a good apple.”

“Which ya picked on yer own, I imagine,” Applejack said. “Without payin’?”

Rainbow Dash laughed boisterously. “Oh, AJ, that’s ridiculous. Of course I paid. Don’t I come down and give you buckets of extra rain every summer?”

The Stetson-wearing mare gave her friend a bemused smirk. “Well, I guess when you put it that way…”

“So, are ya gonna sign up, Sis?” Apple Bloom interjected.

“Shewt…” Applejack said dismissively. “I did last week.”

Rainbow's fur stood on end with anticipation as Applejack said it. If there were one thing she enjoyed more than flying, it would be competing with her closest athletic rival. “Well, well. I guess we’ll be meeting each other in the ring.”

“Eyyup,” Applejack said. “And y’all got plenty of time to get up to speed. It’s still a month away, after all.”

“A month!” Rarity moaned. “Oh, Twilight, I don’t think I can handle them for another month!”

Twilight smiled nervously. “Oh, come now, Rarity. They don’t seem that bad.”

“Oh, they are,” Rarity said. “They are! My life with them was pure torture!”

“Why would your parents leave you with them, anyway?” Twilight wondered.

Rarity scoffed. “They’re family.”

“What?”

“Listen, my great-great-great-great granddam’s sister is a bit… well… she has a bit of an unconventional streak. She met some young dragon and fell head over hooves, got married, the works. Oh, it was such a scandal at the time.”

“I imagine so,” Twilight said. “Wait… you said she ‘has a bit of an unconventional streak’?”

Rarity grumbled. “Well, as you might imagine, we wouldn’t even have bothered keeping track of that branch of the family. I mean, who besides Applejack and her family keeps track of their cousin… that many times removed? But, you know, Great-great-great-great-great Aunt Precious keeps in touch.”

“She’s still alive?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, I know,” Rarity said. “My great-great-great-great granddam didn’t last nearly as long, and Aunt Precious by all accounts looks almost as good as when she first married. She told me her secret was ‘exercise and healthy diet,’ but I can’t imagine how that alone has kept her alive and active for a century.”

Twilight burned with curiosity, but before she could press any further, two piercing voices echoed through the boutique.

“Sweeetie Belle! Hey, Sweetie Belle, where are you?”

“Oh, that’s little Scootaloo,” Rarity said. “Well, not so ‘little’ anymore, I suppose.” She tried not to think about how old her younger sister and her friends were getting. It reminded her far too much that she was now already in her teen years. She could hardly be considered a ‘young’ adult anymore. Well, at least she could still be mistaken for one. “And I imagine young Apple Bloom is with her.”

After a moment, that hypothesis was confirmed as the two fillies entered the room. “Hey, Miss Rarity. Miss Twilight,” Apple Bloom said happily. “Is Sweetie here?”

“Sweetie Belle?” Rarity said. “Oh, yes. She’s out in the back. With them!”

The two fillies cocked their heads to the side, unsure of what to make of Rarity’s tone, which chilled them to their bones. Nonetheless, they headed for the back door of their friend’s home and exited the building, only to find a shocking sight.

A pony whose hide glistened like precious stones was swirling about the yard around Ponyville’s resident purple dragon. Spike, for his part, was doing his best to avoid being struck by the Ran Biao’s various deadly appendages, but was for the most part failing miserably. Finally, she turned her haunches to him, curling up her lizard-like tail, and knocked him straight into the air. He landed on the ground with a thud, not moving.

Scootaloo’s wings flared with panic. Who was this strange pony who had just attacked one of her good friends? Was he hurt? Was he dead? “Sweet Celestia!” she exclaimed. “Spike!” She was distracted from her panic when she noticed the sound of hooves clopping together. She turned and saw a young white unicorn with a heart and a curving music measure—G-clef and 3/4 time signature—on her flank. It was Sweetie Belle, who was cheering the brutal attack.

“Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo said. “What are you doing? Spike might be hurt!”

She turned and waved Scootaloo off with a hoof. “Nah! This was just a sparring match. Spike’s fine, Ran Biao promised.”

“Rainbow?” Scootaloo said. “Where?”

“No, Ran Biao,” Sweetie corrected her. “She’s that longma over there. That means she’s half dragon and half pony. She was teaching Spike some kung ma.”

“Oh…” Scootaloo said hesitantly. “Dragons and ponies can…?” She perked up and shouted, “Cool!” She and her friends galloped over to the two combatants excitedly.

Ran Biao was just rousing the young dragon from his “nap,” and said, “Spike, it was an honor to knock you unconscious. We may have to work on your blocking techniques, however.”

“Hey, Spike, that was so cool,” Scootaloo said. “I didn’t know you were learning kung ma. I mean… after what happened when Rainbow Dash was teaching us…”

“Feh,” Lao Wu said belligerently. “No wonder. A contaminated student.”

Spike shook his head. “Contaminated?”

“By inferior Neighponese training,” Lao Wu said.

That got Scootaloo’s pinions to stand on end. “Hey, Rainbow Dash is a great martial artist!”

Lao Wu laughed patronizingly. “Oh, little filly, I never said your… Dash was bad. Just that my training is most certainly better.”

“There are few who could possibly match Gau tzeng tzu fu’s training techniques,” the Ran Biao conceded, though she didn’t necessarily look happy about admitting anything generous about her great-great grandfather.

“Yeah, well, Rainbow Dash is one of those few ponies,” Scootaloo said. “I was trained by her personally.”

Lao Wu laughed. “I see. Well, I have trained hundreds of students, personally. I assure you, even the worst of them would prove your superior, young filly. If you want real training, you should get it from the best.”

Scootaloo seethed with rage at the not-so-subtle dissing of her hero. “Listen, you. I’ll bet I could beat even your best student!”

“S-Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom said, warning in her voice. “I really don’t think you should…”

Master Wu gave her a sharp grin. “Well, young filly, let’s put that to the test. Tell me, are you entering the Atlas Strongest Tournament?”

“You bet I am, old stallion!” Scootaloo said brusquely.

“Well then,” Lao Wu said amicably. “It seems simple. Defeat my best student during the tournament, or—in the unlikely event it happens—the one who defeats my best student, and you will prove your master’s training to be superior.”

“I’ll look forward to it,” Scootaloo said, eying Ran Biao fiercely.

“No, no,” Lao Wu said. “She isn’t my best student. Third best, maybe.”

Ran Biao gritted her teeth at the assessment of her skills.

“What?” Scootaloo said. “Then… who do I have to…?”

“Her,” Lao Wu said, pointing a hoof toward the boutique, where an alicorn and a unicorn mare had stepped out to view the confrontation unfolding.

Scootaloo squinted for a moment, assessing her competition. She looked dubious. “So… Twilight’s Celestia’s student and your student?”

“No, foalish filly,” Ran Biao said, slapping her hoof against her face in dismay. “You will have to fight Rarity A-yi in the tournament!”

The aforementioned white unicorn froze at the statement, as did the other gathered ponies. Then, in unison, the entirety of the group exclaimed, “What?!”

“No,” Rarity insisted. “Noooonononononono. I got out of the kung ma game ages ago. I… I haven’t even practiced!”

“Um…” Fluttershy pitched in. “What… what about when you use your fabric swatches to break posts? You come out to my place to do that at least once a week.”

“That…” Rarity said nervously. “That’s just to relieve a little stress, Darling. That’s hardly real practice.”

“She seriously does that?” Applejack whispered to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy nodded. “Oh, yes. It was really very impressive, I don’t mind saying… if you don’t mind.”

“Well, Sugarcube,” Applejack said. “I can surely attest that you got one heckuva flyin’ kick.” She rubbed her jaw reminiscently. “Sometimes I still feel that one you gave me over the whole Tom incident.”

“Oh, yes,” Rarity said apprehensively. “Him. Well, in any case, it’s just not Lady-like fighting like that. I try not to do so except in the direst situations. So you see I just can’t, Darlings, I just can’t!”

“Hey, girls!” Rainbow Dash greeted as she wafted lazily into the open air café where her five friends were seated. “Sorry I’m late. I was napping.”

“Hey, Dashie!” Pinkie Pie said, waving a hoof excitedly at her. “It’s okay, we just got here a few minutes ago, too, and Twilight told us that Rarity was going to join a fighting tournament, but Rarity was like ‘no, noooonononononono,’ and said it was unladylike even though she breaks posts with her clothes!”

“Uhhh,” Rainbow said as she took a seat beside the pink mare. “Oh… kay. Wait, Rarity joining a tournament? Are we talking the Atlas Strongest?”

“That’s right,” Twilight said. “It seems she’s a student of a kung ma master named Lao Wu.”

It was fortunate that Rainbow had yet to order her drink, for it would have at that moment found itself covering her friends. As it was, she sputtered quite dramatically for a moment before composing herself. “Master Lao Wu of the Rising Dragon Hoof school? Are you serious?”

“You… know of him?” Twilight asked.

“Know of him?” Rainbow said incredulously. “He’s only, like, the preeminent expert in all things kung ma! I mean, he was training world class athletes when my master was a filly. And Rarity was trained by him?”

“He claims she’s his best student,” Twilight said, ignoring the cyan pegasus’ jaw that had just hit the table.

“So… after all this time,” Rainbow said, turning to Rarity. “Why are you joining a tournament, now?”

Rarity frowned. “It’s entirely your little student’s fault. Scootaloo provoked Master Lao Wu.”

“Scoot?” Rainbow arched her brow in confusion.

“It may have been more the other way around,” Twilight said.

“What happened?” She inquired dubiously.

“Mister Lao claimed that the training you provided Spike earlier this year had… ‘tainted’ him,” Twilight explained.

Rainbow grimaced. “Well… I guess I can see that. I mean, when you’re trying to teach someone kung ma, if the student is approaching it from the standpoint of a kara-hitsume practitioner, it can make things difficult.”

“Well, that’s not all of it,” Twilight said. “He may have implied that your abilities as a teacher were… well… less than stellar, and Scootaloo took offense.”

“Huh?” Rainbow said.

Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes. “Well, basically, Scootaloo claimed that she could beat his best student in the tournament, and Lao Wu claimed that Rarity was it. So now, he’s insisting that Rarity sign up. Of course, I don’t think she has any obligation to…”

“Do it,” Rainbow said, affixing Rarity with her most serious stare.

“Pardon, Darling?” Rarity said.

Rainbow slammed her hooves on the table. “You heard me. You’re going to do it. You’re going to show Scoots your best out there, and she’s going to buck your flank right back to Spina.”

Rarity gave her flying friend a flat look. “Rainbow, you can’t be serious.”

“Oh I am, Rarity,” she said. “This is a matter of the honor of my style against yours. Not only that, Master Lao Wu claimed that Scootaloo’s skills weren’t as good as yours. That…” she leaned over the table until her muzzle was almost touching Rarity’s. “Isn’t going to fly. Scootaloo’s going to win that tournament, and prove she’s the best there is at what she does, and what she does…” she held up a three pronged fork between her and her friend’s face. “Isn’t very nice.”

“Oh, not you too, Rainbow,” Rarity said. Then she sighed. “But alright. I can see this is important to you as much as it is to Master Lao Wu. It’s certainly important to young Scootaloo. I’ll enter, I’ll make sure I’m in tip top shape, and I won’t hold back.”

Rainbow Dash gave Rarity a fond look as her rose eyes glistened with emotion. “Rarity…”

“Rainbow…” the white unicorn responded, voice full of feeling.

“Twilight…” Applejack said. “Can you please pass the sugar cubes?”

To be continued…

1 kara-hitsume: Kara-te is "empty hand," so kara-hitsume is "empty hoof." Ha, get it? It's a pun! Again, I know kara-te was mentioned in the show and, again, don't care I do what I want.