//------------------------------// // Spectrum Splash // Story: The Strength of Friendship // by TigerFey //------------------------------// CHAPTER 9 "SPECTRUM SPLASH" "It's now down to only five ponies, two for The Elements of Harmony and three for the P.W.O, as Ice Cold and The Masked Rainbow duel it out right now in the centre of the ring," Michael Colt announced on his microphone. "The odds may be against The Elements, but tonight, they have shown a tremendous amount of teamwork and talent much to the surprise of some ponies. And The Masked Rainbow is putting up a well-planned defence against those martial arts kicks from Ice Cold," Fancypants observed. Pinkie Pie hadn't removed herself from the top of the commentary table since Rarity's victory and count-out. She punched and kicked the air around her, shouting and cheering Rainbow Dash. "That's it! Fight! Fight! Fight! Give her one for the kicker, Das--I mean, Rainbow Mas--ah--Masked Rainbow!" Pinkie screamed from the pure excitement she was witnessing in the ring. Ice Cold threw strikes with her two front hooves one after the other at her masked opponent. Dash held her front legs in front of her chest and face in a defensive position. The ice-colored pony shot at Dash with a swift back side-kick, having her fall back into the ring ropes. Ice Cold grabbed her by her leg and tossed Dash to the other side of the ring. The masked pony bounced back towards the enemy. Ice Cold attempted to perform a back body drop, but the quick-thinking pegasus leapt over. Keeping the quick momentum on a roll, Dash turned to face Ice's back and wrapped her front legs around her waist. "You may hit hard with those hooves of yours, but I've got the agility," the masked pony declared to her opponent. The Masked Rainbow pulled back with all her might, yanking Ice Cold over backwards into a German suplex. Dash retained her grip around Ice Cold's body as the referee pony rushed over to observe the P.W.O. pony's upper knees touching the ring canvas. One! Two! Three! The referee signalled for the ring of the bell to declare the elimination of Ice Cold. "Wahoo! Way a go, Masked Rainbow! You definitely put her on ice!" Pinkie Pie continued on with her constant cheering for her friend. Ice Cold fumed over her defeat, arguing with the referee. It was his sight and decision. The losing pony exited the ring, punching the blank air in frustration. Sky Chaser rushed into the ring and struck her hooves into the back of Dash as she welcomed the cheers from the adoring crowd. As she laid down on the canvas trying to catch her thoughts on what hit her, the ex-Wonderbolt stomped down with fierce blows from her front hooves. "If you really want to be a Wonderbolt, maybe you should learn the first lesson anypony should know. Don't turn your back on your enemy," Sky Chaser said as she struck Dash over and over. Sky Chaser bit into the masked pony's mane and dragged her onto all fours. A strong swing of her head smashed into the side of Dash's face, knocking her back into the corner of the ring. Sky Chaser didn't let the masked wrestler catch her breath. A series of punches from her hooves impacted Rainbow's face. The attack went on what seemed like forever. Three Count attempted to intervene with counting to five to end the constant assault. Sky Chaser could care less to what she was hearing out of the referee's mouth. "For two years, I was with those Wonderbolts. Two years that I wasted. Taking all that crud from that stupid captain, Spitfire," Chaser told as she pounded more hoof shots into the cornered pony. "She won't care about you. She only cares about herself. She'll treat you more like a pet than a member of the team. Spitfire is nothing but a self-absorbed, bossy, piece of work. If you ever meet her, you'll come to same conclusion as I did." Sky Chaser wrapped her leg around Dash and whipped her into the opposing ring corner. She followed up by charging and colliding with Dash in the corner with a powerful clothesline. The force of the impact knocked a chunk of energy out of the rainbow pony. Rainbow Dash shortly collapsed down onto the ring canvas as Twilight Sparkle watched on, unable to help. Sky Chaser brought down several kneeing attacks to the hurt pony's back. The pain rippled through Dash's body. Energy was sapped, exhaustion was taking form for Dash at the moment. Dash felt Chaser's hooves scoop underneath her body and flip her over onto her back. "I could go on for hours destroying your spirit and hopes of becoming a Wonderbolt. Break your bones, break your wings, all in front of them. They would then know that you aren't worth their time," Sky Chaser continued her belittling of Rainbow Dash as she also pointed up towards the Wonderbolts seated on top a high-hanging cloud. "But I'm going to end it here and now because you couldn't even last ten minutes with me and yet, you want to join them. What a joke." Sky Chaser climbed to the top of the ring corner turnbuckle, standing high above the ring. Rainbow Dash remained laying motionless on the canvas. Calls from Twilight and Spike went unanswered to their fallen tag team partner. Dash's eyes barely could stay open; not even looking in the direction of the towering pony in the corner. Sky Chaser smiled evilly. Victory was seen below her. She was ready and wanted to end the bout with the costumed rainbow pony. "If I ever come across that captain again, I will gladly do to her as what I going to do to you," Sky Chaser declared before leaping off the turnbuckle, falling towards the body of Rainbow Dash with all four of her hooves extended out in front of her. "Fallen Pegasus Crush!" The continued calls to move from Rainbow's partner, Twilight, and dragon friend, Spike, remained unregistered to the her ears. No effort to avoid the impending defeat was made. In Dash's mind, everything was going in slow-motion. All hope seemed lost to her. "Wonderbolts---," a soft voice echoed into Dash's eardrum, "---never give in, never give up." What was that voice? Where was it coming from? Was it all in Dash's mind due to her exhaustion? "Any pegasus can become a Wonderbolt," the voice spoke again. "Even a masked rainbow one." Seconds ticked past by like it was an eternity. Dash looked around where that voice was originating. Every thing she saw looked like a blur. The voice became louder to her ears and she continued her scan. She looked high above the ring towards the clouds eclipsing overhead. Her eyes fixated on the cloud with the three Wonderbolts seated on. She could see two of them were waving their hooves at her; Soarin' and Fleetfoot. The blur she was seeing slowly began to adjust and correct in her irises. The Wonderbolt seated between the others was calling out. The voice was hers; Spitfire. The yells from the Wonderbolt captain reached further inside Dash's collective mind. They were words of motivation, calls of continuing on. Knowing where the voice was coming from, Dash's eyes finally opened fully, awareness of her surroundings shot out like a pistol. With the bearing of her name, the masked pony dashed out of the way of the falling attack from the air. Sky Chaser crashed down onto the canvas, unable to save herself and falling onto the side of her own body. Dash rushed over to the ropes and got back on all fours. "What the hay?! No pony escapes from the Fallen Pegasus Crush that quickly," said Sky Chaser as she returned up on her hooves. "You're finished!" The ex-Wonderbolt galloped towards Dash at full speed, coming in for a swift and brutal strike. A swing of her leg at the masked pony was stopped by Dash's own hoof. Not to be ceased, Sky Chaser swung her other front leg in Dash's direction and like the other, it was met with a block from Rainbow Dash's other hoof. Both ponies were now stuck in a struggle of might and perseverance. Their eyes were locked onto each other as opposing forces. Neither wanted to be pushed back or beaten down by the other. "You really think this will be your victory?" Sky Chaser asked. "You really think you'll be able to impress them? The only impression they're getting from you is you can barely hold your own against one who use to be a Wonderbolt." "That's not true!" Dash shot back. "Those Wonderbolts are cheering for me to continue fighting you. And I have already impressed them, especially Spitfire. I have met her and she is nothing like what you said. She's a great leader and knows when she sees potential in a future Wonderbolt, like me. I have the guts and strength to make it to the Wonderbolts one day. It's my dream to be one and no matter what you say, I will continue towards my dream so that I can be just like them!" A flash of adrenaline poured through Dash's body. She broke away from one of the locked hooves and struck Sky Chaser with a swift uppercut to the jaw. The masked Dash didn't waste any breath and forwarded further attacks against Sky Chaser, bringing an assortment of martial arts and fast-action aerial moves into play. Everypony within the oval stadium rocked with excitement at the sight of The Masked Rainbow's revival in the match-up against the ex-Wonderbolt. Cheers from the three Wonderbolts continued to reverberate from the upper rims of the stadium roof. "Go Masked Rainbow! You're awesome! You're the best pony!" the orange filly pegasus, Scootaloo, shouted from the front row alongside her friends. Dash wasn't going to let her guard down again. Her strikes whipped all around her opponent without receiving a single blow in return. "Keep it up, Rainbow!" Dash's partner, Twilight Sparkle, called out. "What are you doing, Sky Chaser?! Fight back against that pegasus!" Violet Velvet screamed at the losing sight unfolding in front of her. Dash gripped Sky Chaser around her head and hoisted her up in the air, coming back down into a back suplex. Sky Chaser was tired, a lot had been taken out of her since The Masked Rainbow regained some juice to fight back. "It's time for this future Wonderbolt to finish the job," Dash proclaimed. Dash galloped at full throttle the other side of the ring and leapt to the top of the turnbuckle. In a quick pounce, Dash back-flipped twice in the midst of the open air and began to fall down towards the barely moving opponent. "Spectrum Splash!" Dash called out the name of her move. With precession, Dash landed perfectly on top of Sky Chaser. Three Count rushed over and banged his hoof three times against the canvas. The defeat of the ex-Wonderbolt, Sky Chaser, was done. The crowd roared with joy at The Masked Rainbow's victory. "She's good," Soarin spoke over to his captain, Spitfire, as they watched from above. "Yeah, she is. Very good," Spitfire agreed with her second-in-command. "Way a go, Rainbow! That's another win for us," Twilight cheered from her corner outside the ropes. "This is it. Just defeat Violet Velvet and we win the match," the little dragon, Spike, mentioned from the side of the ring. Violet Velvet entered the ring. She was the last member of the P.W.O. left. Her odds were not in her favour, but didn't matter to her at all. Her focus was defeating The Elements of Harmony team, even though there were still two of them left. "I may be the only one left, but I'm not going to go down easily. You were only lucky with Sky Chaser. I'm a whole different pony," Violet snapped at The Masked Rainbow. "Let's see what you can finally do," Dash said as she took a battle-ready stance. "Rainbow, tag me in. You're exhausted," Twilight reached out with her hoof to her tag team partner. "Not yet, Twilight," Dash responded back. "I still have some energy running through. I can soften her up for you." "Soften me up? Then come at me, future Wonderbolt," Violet spoke while giving a forward gesture with her hoof. Dash darted towards her new challenger. She leapt into the air and targeted Violet with a flying side kick. The attack was blocked. Violet attempted a swift counter-attack. Dash dodged it and grabbed Violet into a headlock. Violet wasn't falling for a typical trap and lifted Dash with her front legs and dropped her on her back. Violet went for another strike on the masked pony, but Dash rolled out of the way and regained her stance. The fight between the pegasus and the unicorn carried on like a fast-paced race. Neither Rainbow Dash and Violet Velvet let up or let down their guard. Rainbow finally caught Violet in another headlock and took her down with a back suplex like she did before with Sky Chaser. Thinking of bringing another and final victory, Rainbow signalled to the crowd that she was going to perform her Spectrum Splash finisher. She ran to the corner and leapt up to the turnbuckle. She executed her two back-flips and descended towards to the fallen Violet Velvet. Everything seemed in play. Was victory in place for The Elements of Harmony? All of a sudden, Violet returned to her hooves and extended her back legs high above herself. Bam! Her hooves crashed into Dash's stomach. A direct hit. Dash landed hard onto the canvas, rolling around in pain. Everypony watched in shock. The pegasus was in trouble. "Come on, Dash! Roll over and tag me in!" Twilight reached out with her hoof. Dash started to crawl over to her corner. Her movements were put to a sudden stop by Violet Velvet standing in front of her. "I told you, I won't go down easily," Violet spoke coldly. "Now, I'll show you why I'm not to be taken lightly." By grabbing on her mane, Violet yanked Dash onto her hooves. She then scooped the weakened Dash over her back and grabbed a hold of her neck with her front legs. Dash's neck was lined up against Violet's shoulder. This was not a good position for Dash to be in. "I call this The Killswitch," Violet spoke with a sinister tone in her voice. Not even waiting a second, Violet sudden dropped down to the canvas into a sitting position. Dash's neck collided hard with Violet's shoulder. A abrupt silence showered over the crowd. Dash collapsed onto her stomach. Barely any movement appeared on the pegasus. Violet rolled Dash over and covered her for a pinfall. Three Count counted and gave the victory to Violet. The Masked Rainbow was eliminated. Twilight rushed into the ring. Her immediate concern was her partner. Dash was awake, but in pain. Twilight helped Dash roll out of the ring where she was met by ringside medics. Dash was able to stand up on all four of her legs and walk down the aisle on her own towards the exit knowing her friends will be waiting for her on the other side. An awkward quiet set over the audience. Only two ponies remained in the ring; Twilight Sparkle and Violet Velvet. One loses, the other team wins. The stakes were high. Both ponies stared deep towards each other. "Now," Violet broke the silence, "it's just you and me."