//------------------------------// // When Two Fillies Play a Game // Story: This Is What Happens // by enigmaMystere //------------------------------// “...and that’s how it works!” Broadway smiled. “Awesome!” She punched the air in front of her. Pinch raised a hoof, curious. “Do we have to wear the harnesses, though? I don’t think I want to be paralyzed, even temporarily, if I lose.” “Frankly, I’d prefer you to not get too harmed while playing.” Vinyl shrugged, smiling a bit. “Besides, the harnesses heal the loser while they’re paralyzed.” “Can we start this already? It’s gonna be so cool fighting with ya Berry!” The pegasus filly smiled. “Especially in this Sci-fi get-up!” “Alright, you two asked for it.” The mare poked the backs of each of the fillies, causing a display to show up in their shades. Broadway Bound: 7 Berry Pinch: 7 “Why can’t we have nine lives? A cat has nine lives!” Vinyl stared at her blankly for a moment. “That is the most curious reason I’ve heard for wanting nine lives in this game.” “Well it’s true,” she scoffed. “Do we just start by, like, hitting each other like you said? Or do we have to wait until you leave? Will we be watched?” “Oh, you’ll get the start signal. After that, you’ll start the fight.” She glanced over to the side. “It seems your opponent is ready.” She gestured to where Berry was, which was now empty space. “Crud, I better get ready!” Broadway pulled out her Rewind blaster and looked around. “Come out, come out wherever you are.” Vinyl kicks the sphere right next to her, causing it to activate. It began to rise, a white light scanning over the field and generating a grid over the ground. “Parameters set. Size of area, nine square miles. Uploading simulation number zero-five-one.” Several spires swiftly sprung up out of the ground, smaller spikes forming from each one. Almost as soon as it started, it stopped, the newly-made canopy at least a mile above the Everfree’s.         “Sweet!” she whispered to herself. Deciding that she need the upper-hoof of the battle, she flew up into a tree. “I see you.~” The fuchsia filly popped up right above Broadway, her hooves connected firmly to the branch as she hung upside down. She brought down a hoof on top of the pegasus’s head, just hard enough for it to count against her. Broadway: 6 “Ahh!” Broadway looked at her life count and growled. “SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!”  she aimed her Rewind gun at her friend’s torso and shot. Berry was sent flying right into the trunk of the tree. She fell down, groaning softly. Berry: 6 “Sorry!” Broadway smiled innocently as she took off into another tree. “...you will be.” The unicorn leaped up, bouncing from branch to branch, pursuing her opponent. She pulled out a kunai, flinging it blunt side first at her opponent. Broadway ducked slightly, it still hit her but didn’t count as a life lost. She continued to leap from the tree onto the next one, hoping to lose her enemy. “Come at me, bro!” Berry stopped, smirking slyly. “I already have.” With those words, she vanished. “What?” hissed Broadway. Hoping it wasn’t another aerial attack, she began to run away from the area. “Behind you.” The unicorn slammed her hoof straight into the other filly’s back, sending her flying. Broadway: 5 “So you want to play it that way? Bring it!” Broadway zoomed into the trees, now unseen. “You cannot escape me!” Berry placed her forehooves together, concentrating. Her horn glowed brightly, marking the beginning stages of a spell. Once the actress reached the highest point of the sky, she dive-bombed straight down. “Maybe I can’t escape you, or maybe you just don’t realize what’s about to happen.” At that moment, she looked up, smirking as her body was enveloped in a magical field. “Maybe you should’ve planned ahead.” At that moment, she started to spin. “Gentle Art: Hoof Rotation!” “What the-” When she hit the shield, she was sent flying to the other side of the simulated forest. Broadway: 4 She eventually slowed down, her eyes swirling a bit in their sockets. “...urgh...still not used to spinning like that...” She shook her head quickly, getting her bearings. “Where did she go?” She leaped off the branch, trying to find where her opponent went. When Berry eventually made it to the other side of the simulated forest, she expected Broadway to attack her. But no, her opponent was limp on the ground. She stayed her distance, though she was definitely concerned. “...you okay?” The filly was silent. “I suppose I should knock down your lives, then.” She pulled out a kunai, targeting her chest. “After all, you’ll heal when you lose.” “Not so fast.” Broadway quickly pulled out her Rewind gun and shot Berry. The unicorn was flung back once more, slamming into the trunk nearby. Broadway ran over. “Tell me something.” She stood up, smirking slyly. “Why hasn’t my life count gone down? The answer is simple, really.” She vanished. “Because it’s an illusion.” “How about you come and fight! or are you going to send an illusion down to fight, coward?!” She slammed a hoof into her back, sending her into the same trunk her clone had hit. “I use clones to keep myself safe, friend.” Broadway: 3 Broadway got up shakily, spitting out a tooth, two teeth, okay maybe three. Berry blinked, staring in shock. “Are you alright?” “Just a flesh wound!” Broadway smirked. “I’m a lot tougher than you would expect!” “Are you kidding?! You just spat teeth out!” “I...” she stumbled over. “...already know that!” She sent a string a furious punches at Berry, three of them landing hard on her harness and sending her flying off the branch and into the ground where she landed with a hard thud. Berry: 2 “...she’s tenacious, I’ll give her that...” She carefully stood up, watching as the landscape shifted around them. The trees thickened, shrank and turned white, the forest floor turning into concrete. “...what’s going on here? What is this place?” Broadway looked around, then decided to fly up. “I-I think it’s Canterlot!” “Huh.” The pink pony ran, almost literally gliding over the streets. “Bet you can’t find me!” The filly narrowed her eyes, deciding to stay in a pegasus-safe area above the buildings. “Wait...” she said to herself, hatching a plan. “I bet I will!” she yelled, flying higher. “You’re a terrible hider! I can so obviously see you!” she continued, smirking as she flew around. “Really! You’re a disgrace to Octavia! And why didn’t I see your sister when you got here? Or anypony with you really? I bet they hate you!” As soon as that last word was said, kunai appeared to fly at her from every direction. Broadway flew up, avoiding the majority of them. Although some scratched her flank and harness, they didn’t drop any lives. “Now what are you going to do? Throw your pitiful... what are those? Oh yeah, They don’t have a name because NOPONY CARES!” “Really.” The voice seemed to come from multiple locations. “At least I’m not an orphan.” Broadway laughed. “It’s not my fault they’re dead!” She pulled out her Rewind gun. “And what did you do after that?” The voices continued to taunt her. “You lived on the streets. Tricked honest ponies into letting you into their homes. Betraying them by stealing from them.” “So what?” she yelled, shooting at the voices. “At least you now have a home. Oh, wait, you stole that, too.” “And how did I do that?” she asked, her stomach churning. I really shouldn’t have said all those things... I just need to keep my priorities in mind. “You don’t remember? Funny, you gave Enigma a hard time about it at the engagement party.” “How!?” she yelled flying down, at least they could verbally bash each other face-to-face. “Gotcha.” A kunai sailed through the air, beaning her right between the eyes with the blunt end. Broadway: 2 “Ah!” She hissed, shooting in the direction of the kunai. Okay, maybe flying down wasn’t such a good idea! she thought, hovering a few feet over the sidewalk. “Gotta love genjutsu, eh?” Berry leaned against a wall, idly tossing a kunai into the air. “Lets you beat yourself up without any effort from me.” She chuckled, throwing it at her friend, blunt end-first. Broadway shot her harness without any second thought, ducking before the weapon hit her. The unicorn slammed into the wall, sliding down it. She stood up on shaky legs, a small trail of crimson forming from the corner of her mouth. Berry: 1 “I’m so sorry!” yelled Broadway a tear running down her cheek. “For everything I said!” She ran up. “I only have 2 lives left, go ahead.” “...no...” She stared into her friend’s eyes, smiling softly. “...I’m gonna win...fair and square...believe it.” Broadway smiled as another tear grew in her eye. “I better get going then!” she flew up again, waiting for berry’s next move. “Yeah, you better.” She giggled, waiting for her friend to get far enough away to not see her. She placed a hoof on her chest, wincing slightly. “...easier said than done...” Broadway fluttered her wings as she reached the top of the sky. Looking down at Ruby, she sighed. “I guess I can finally put my plan into action....” she dive-bombed straight towards Berry. The wounded filly looked up, shocked by the strange tactic. “No time to lose. Gentle Art: Hoof Ro-” She stopped in the middle of her spin, her body seizing up on her. “No!” Broadway looked at the filly, “Let me make a change to the plan...” Instead of heading straight towards her and heading in a different direction last minute, she headed down towards berry only to knock a life off and fly away. Soon her body seized up too. “Berry! Roll over or something!” Falling like this... I’ll fall on top of her! I’ll break every bone in her body! I mean, I know she’ll heal up with the harness and all, but... Berry looked up at her, smiling sadly. “...I...I can’t...” She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. Broadway tried to jerk herself over. “I’m so sorry, Berry!” And then she hit the ground. The ground?! Broadway: 1 Broadway laughed in joy, seeing Berry next to her, with her eyes still closed. “Berry! I didn’t crush you!” The unicorn blinked, turning towards her friend. She sighed softly, slowly making her way over on stiff limbs. “...I’m glad...though...” She coughed, a painful sound to everyone who heard it. “...I...can’t...” She fell down on top of her friend, knocking both of their lives down to zero. Broadway: 0 Berry: 0 “Berry?!” Broadway tried to move, but she couldn’t feel her back legs. “Hold on! The harnesses will take care of all of this!” The little filly didn’t respond, completely unconscious from the pain. The buildings sank into the ground, the concrete slowly being replaced by grass. “Just hold on...” cried Broadway. “My stupid mouth just had to go and start all of this! Berry’s not the one who deserved this... I am! berry, your sister loves you, your whole family does. Octavia should be proud of you. Those kanais or whatever they’re called are super cool! I am a terrible pony!” Broadway continued to sob, telling Berry to hold on every minute or two. “Pinchy? Bebe!” “V-Vinyl?! Is that you?” “There you are!” She strode over to them, huffing softly. “Vinyl! We need to help Berry Pinch now!” Broadway sobbed. “Frankly, it’s already happening. Don’t you remember?” She pointed to the harnesses. “They heal you rapidly if you lose, as well as paralyzing your body to keep you from agitating your injuries as it does so. Blood goes back into your vessels and everything.” “I do...but what if-?” Broadway sighed. “...I need a hot bath.” The mare reached down and moved the little unicorn off of the pegasus, tapping a certain spot on the white filly’s back. “What did you press?” “A manual release on the paralytic. You should be able to move, now.” Broadway shakily stood up. “I-I can feel my hindlegs again! Thank you so much!” “Yep.” She smiled, patting her on the back. “You’re welcome.” “Vinyl, if I learned anything today, it’s that you should never say anything negative. Even if it's all apart of the plan that would backfire in the end anyway.” She stared blankly at her for a moment, unsure what to say. “...I suppose that’s a good lesson?” She smiled brightly. “Thanks!” she looked back down at her opponent. “What exactly happened to her? I think she couldn’t breath when she fainted.” “She, uh...” Vinyl cleared her throat, a little sheepish. “...she has a bit of a condition. Fragile bones, compared to the rest of us.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “...that was the real reason nopony wanted to play this with her...” Broadway stared at Vinyl for a moment. “I shot her with her with my gun... I hit her against a bunch of trees...” she looked down, then up at Vinyl, then back at Berry. “You didn’t know. She...she didn’t want to be treated differently.” The white mare placed a hoof on the unicorn’s head, gently trailing a hoof over her head. “...Why do I have a feeling I’m going to Tartarus?” “She’ll live, and you aren’t gonna go to Tartarus.” She shook her head, smiling reassuringly. “And one more thing I’ve gained from all of this!” She took a deep breath. “Acting Skills!” Vinyl chuckled, rolling her eyes playfully. “Of course.” “Thank you for having me Vinyl! I need to catch the next train to Canterlot!” The disk jockey smiled, waving to the little filly as she left them.