Atlas Strongest Tournament

by Bico

Game of Death: Hoof of Fury

The dim lighting of the chamber did little to dampen Princess Aurelia's brilliant white coat or her sparkling, ice-blue eyes framed by a deep blue and pink-streaked mane. Unlike adult changelings, she was covered in fur like any pony, and her gossamer wings were whole. On either side of the stubby horn on her head, a pair of antennae sprouted from her skull, twitching nervously as Spike stared.

"Wh-what is it?" Aurelia asked as her face reddened.

Spike blinked rapidly as he processed what he was seeing. "I... I didn't think you'd be so... so..."

Aurelia hid her face with her foreleg, cringing away. "What? Hideous? Revolting? Disgusting?"

Spike looked down. "Tiny!" While her proportions suggested a pony in her adolescence, she was about half the height of a young foal. The effect, Spike decided, was far more adorable than any changeling had a right to be. "But you look cu... uh... good."

Aurelia bashfully peaked over her forelegs for a moment before hesitantly lowering them and simpering sweetly at Spike. "You... really think so?" Her dragonfly-like wings buzzed happily. Her expression then fell and she looked away. "But... Mom always told me that ponies hate us because we're so different. And... and the adults get kinda creeped out when they see us larvae in our natural forms."

Spike frowned uncomfortably. "Well... ponies are a bit scared of changelings. We think changeling adults are a bit creepy looking, I guess, but ponies don't... hate you. I think ponies are just scared because they don't know much about you, and what they do know hasn't exactly done much to reassure them. Maybe if everypony would just be a little more open..."

"What do you know about it?" Aurelia asked with a pout. "We have to hide. We have for a thousand years. When anypony ever saw any one of us, what do you think happened? Secrecy is our shield. It's our life."

Spike's sigh was full of sympathy as he gave her his most empathic gaze. "It sounds like you're even more afraid of ponies than they are of you. Do you think you'd be happy hiding from everypony the rest of your life?"

Aurelia stared at Spike for a long moment, her brows knit in distracted thought. Finally, she spoke. "I... Mom always told me that it was the only way for our subjects to survive. Still... being out there in the open like that... getting to show all those ponies who I really was, even just a little bit... I liked it a little. Maybe Mom was..."

"Your Majesty," Argent Javelin's voice interjected. He bowed to Aurelia at the chamber door before proceeding inside, his gaze lingering uncomfortably on the real Argent encased in a green cocoon before he cast his eyes back upon Aurelia. "It seems your attempts to provoke the dragon have proved fruitless." He raised a brow, though his expression remained neutral. "I must ask, however, why you are in... that form?"

Aurelia shot into the air, buzzing slightly above Argent's line of sight. "I... what is it to you? I am the princess of all changelings. I... I do what I want!"

Argent bowed again. "My apologies, Your Majesty. I meant no disrespect. However, your mother is... interested in your progress. Our timeline has been pushed to the left slightly."

Spike frowned. "Things not going according to your schedule, huh? What's your hurry?" He cocked his head and smirked as he hung suspended in his own cocoon.

The false Argent snarled at Spike. "No hurry. I just need to see the princess about a horse," he responded, sarcasm dripping from his words. He turned back to Aurelia, his face tight. "Come, Princess, we cannot tarry any longer. The queen has... other methods at her disposal for this one." He turned and trotted out the door. "And please put something decent on before we see your mother."

Aurelia lost some altitude as her wings slowed their beat, and she turned to look back at Spike. "Uh... well... I'll see you later, then." She frowned and puffed her chest out, and she shifted back into Scootaloo's body. "And when I do, you'll bend to our will whether you like it or not." She laughed maniacally as she flew out the door, slamming it behind her.

Spike let out a heavy sigh. "Hope somepony rescues me soon. I really need to use the bathroom."

Back on the first level, Garble and Ran Biao leaped above the canopy, exchanging blows as quick as lightning strikes. Garble belched fire in Ran Biao's face, which washed harmlessly over her scales. The distraction was sufficient, however, to allow him the opportunity to break her defense. His fist connected with her jaw, sending her tumbling back through the air.

Garble panted heavily, clutching a blackened wound on his chest while he winced. "She's tougher than I thought. That fire of hers is hotter than anything I've ever felt, too." He snorted and began to fly after her. "Can't stay long range going up against that."

Ran recovered quickly, spreading her wings to their full length and catching the wind. As she hovered below the treetops, she quickly scanned her surroundings for Garble. "Strong dragon," she muttered to herself. "Knows my style. Counters as well as Rarity A-yi. Fast like Rainbow and strong like Applejack." She grimaced as she spotted her foe diving at her from above at near sonic speed. "Need to keep distance."

Fireballs sizzled past the descending Garble, forcing him to do a barrel-roll. He veered away and overshot Ran's position, instead heading toward a nearby tree. He ricocheted off one of the branches, and rocketed back to strike his opponent from the rear before she could react. He whooped with delight when Ran hit the ground.

Ran rolled to her hooves and faced her attacker, eyes flashing red and lips curled back to reveal her sharp fangs. When Garble came to a halt several meters away and seemed to drop his guard, however, she cocked her head. "What are you waiting?"

Garble folded his arms and gave her a smirk. "It looks like this battle is over. Your old boyfriend seems to have woken up."

Ran Biao whirled around to see the green hulk of Razorwing looming over her, and she flew back, wings flapping furiously to put distance between them. She landed on the other side of Garble, who turned to her with a laugh.

"What's the matter? Not so confident you can take on two dragons alone, eh?" Garble said with a gigantic raised eyebrow.

Ran's copy simply watched in fascination as Razorwing rose behind Garble. She noticed that in spite of the fact that he was moving, every muscle in his body seemed to be completely slack. In fact, as Razorwing got up on his hind legs, seeming to be pulled up by an invisible force rather than standing on his own power, she could have sworn he was asleep. He stretched to his full height, and his shadow darkened the ground around Garble. He then dropped like a rock.

Reacting with almost clairvoyant speed, Garble rolled out from under the falling dragon, though he was pushed back by the air pressure alone of the impact and was stopped only when he collided with the trunk of a tree. As he lay on his back, he looked at his tail, wiggling it experimentally. "It... twitched..." he mumbled to himself.

"Soon your whole body will twitch," Lao Wu said as he flew triumphantly above the unconscious Razorwing. He opened his mouth and the sound of thunder accompanied a sizzling discharge.

Garble instantly grabbed hold of what seemed to be a root protruding from the ground beside him. He pulled and the singing of metal filled the air. His katana cut Lao Wu's bolt of lightning cleanly in twain, and the two branches of electricity struck on either side of him.

Ran Biao opened her mouth for a moment before closing it again and scratching her chin with her hoof ponderously. She then pointed accusingly at Garble, her jaw wide in preparation for a spiel, but unable to find any suitable words for the occasion. She looked at her great great grandfather and shrugged her wings helplessly.

Lao Wu grimaced and spoke carefully. "Putting aside... obvious breaking of laws of physics... where, exactly did katana come from?"

Garble snorted, lowering his sword into a ready position. "Simple. Before our fight began, I asked Twilight Sparkle to conjure various weapons in hidden locations around this level. I just so happened to have a katana here disguised as a tree root."

Ran Biao took a deep, calming breath. "Why?"

"Because that's just the kind of dragon I am!" Garble shouted as he raised his blade. "Now, if you're going to fight, come at me!"

Applejack's copy wobbled on her legs, but after a few experimental jumps she puffed her chest out confidently. "Alright! I'm rarin' to go. In fact, I may be even more ready to fight than I was before!"

"Huh," Pinkie said, glancing over at Fluttershy who was cringing away guiltily. "Well, at least it bought us some time, right?"

"Poor, naïve Pinkie," Rainbow Dash said with a smirk while she trotted bouncily to Applejack's side. "Don't worry about it. We know you're not a real fighter. Fluttershy definitely isn't. But you're a party animal, right?"

"Sure she is." Applejack chuckled as she put a foreleg around Rainbow's withers. "An' we can promise you that we're a real ball."

"Oh, yeah?" Pinkie narrowed her eyes and withdrew her shades from her mane, placing them on her muzzle defiantly. She then pulled Fluttershy to her side, who—to her credit—barely squeaked at all. "Well, I can promise you that Fluttershy and I..." She pulled her sunglasses off dramatically. "Are a real Libman."

Rainbow Dash leaped into the air, her hoof drawn back as she hurtled toward Pinkie. "Awwwwwwww...!"

Pinkie mirrored the motion in kind, and they both extended their hooves toward each other. "Yyyeeeeeaaaaahhhh!"

Rainbow and Pinkie's hooves met. A bright flash blinded their respective partners, and a moment later Rainbow, coat blackened and smoking, was rolling past a bewildered Applejack. Pinkie stood giggling where she had been, waving at them with a hoof strapped with a very obvious joy-buzzer.

"Wow, you really don't have anything on the real Dashie," she said with a barely suppressed laugh. "She would have seen that one coming."

The changeling Rainbow spat as she sprang back onto her hooves. "Why you...!" She grinned. "Maybe you're not as good as you think you are."

"Huh?" Pinkie said with a blink of her eyes.

"P-P-Pinkie," Fluttershy shouted in the quietest voice she could muster. "Y-y-your back!"

Pinkie Pie twisted her head around at what for anypony else would have been an impossible degree and looked down to see a small piece of paper stuck to her. She squinted as she attempted to decipher the upside-down text scrawled across it. "B... blow... me—" The note exploded. Moments later the smoke cleared, revealing Pinkie laying with her legs splayed in all directions and her face planted firmly in the dirt. The fur on her back was sooty from the explosion. After a moment, she raised her head and opened her mouth, and a clump of earth fell out. "... up?"

"P-Pinkie, are you okay?" Fluttershy asked, her body quaking.

Pinkie began to giggle. "Exploding paper! That is genius. I guess you're more Dashie than I gave you credit for." She hopped to her hooves and shook the soot clean from her body, seemingly none the worse for wear. "Alright, I guess I can get serious with you."

Not-Dashie raised a brow with a sardonic grin on her face. "Serious? I didn't think you knew the meaning of the word."

"Of course I do," Pinkie said, rolling her eyes. "I just avoid it whenever possible."

"This ought to be interesting," Rainbow's copy concluded, giving her partner a wry grin. "Let's see what you've go--"

Pinkie was already behind Not-Dashie, and before she could react she had saddled her and stuffed a bit in her mouth. With a crack of the reins, she put the changeling Rainbow in motion. "Yeehaw!" she cried with the same thick accent as Applejack as she rode the violently bucking Rainbow. "Ride 'em, cowpony!"

"Aw, no you don't," Applejack snarled as she moved to attack Pinkie. She was brought up short, however, when Fluttershy put herself between her and the two other mares. "Wh-wha?"

Fluttershy spread her forelegs wide in a protective stance. "I-I'm sorry, Applejack. Well... M-miss changeling who's pretending to be Applejack. I can't let you interfere."

Applejack's copy guffawed uproariously, nearly collapsing under the absurdity. "What do you think you're gonna do? Are you gonna stare at me?"

Fluttershy hid beneath her hair, but stood her ground. "N-no... I c-couldn't do that. But I can stand in your way."

"That'll do y'all a lot of good," the changeling Applejack said with a sneer. "How about I just knock you out and I can do what I want?" She raised a hoof threateningly.

Closing her eyes tight, Fluttershy waited for the blow to come. After a moment, however, she opened one eye and saw Applejack glaring at her with her hoof still cocked, shaking with exertion.

"Dagnabbit," Applejack said with obvious strain in her voice. Her hoof fell back to the ground. "I can't..."

What do you think you're doing? the changeling queen's voice echoed in her subject's mind. Or should I say "what do you think you're not doing?

"I... I don't know, Your Majesty," Applejack said aloud, causing Fluttershy to give her a curious look. "I wanna... believe me, I do. But it's like somethin' inside me is holdin' me back. Like I'm... paralyzed with fear. It ain't fear of her, though. It's like... it's like I'm afraid... for her?"

Fluttershy gave Applejack a small smile as she relaxed. "I guess Pinkie Pie was right. You really are more like our friends than we gave you credit for."

Unacceptable! Chrysalis shouted into Applejack's head. I order you to stop feeling compassion this instant, or so help me I will exile you, then I'll throw you in a dungeon in the place I exiled you to, and then I'll punch your mother in the face.

Applejack blinked in confusion. "Uhh... but... you're my momma."

Which explains the massive headache I have right now from my hoof colliding repeatedly with my head, Chrysalis replied.

The replica of Applejack frowned, her face a churning storm of conflict. "I... I ain't the most dependable an' reliable changeling in the hive for nothin'." She looked back up at Fluttershy, determination cementing itself in her eyes. "Sorry, but I can't let the queen down."

Fluttershy puffed out her barrel confidently. "I know you won't hurt me."

"You're right," Applejack said with a sigh. Then she leaped over Fluttershy's head and hit the ground galloping. "But I don't gotta if I can just run circles around you."

"H-hey, wait!" Fluttershy cried as she flew off in hot pursuit.

Derpy Hooves glanced up from her seat at the long table in the grand dining hall as a mass of mares burst through the ornate double doors. After staring at the group for a long moment, she shrugged and returned to the muffins she had currently piled on her plate.

"Derpy?" Berry said carefully, walking to the front of the herd.

"Mmhm," Derpy confirmed with a nod as she stuffed her mouth with a whole muffin. After chewing noisily, she swallowed it in one go. "Well, kinda. I mean, I'm really a changeling, but don't tell anypony. It's supposed to be a secret."

"Uhh..." Berry glanced incredulously at the others. "Yeah, I don't think it's a secret, anymore."

Derpy sighed, relief washing over her. "Oh, that's good. I'm terrible at keeping secrets."

"I... couldn't tell," Berry said with a smirk. "Listen, old buddy. Would you... help an old training partner out and point us the way to the fourth floor?"

"Oh, sure!" Derpy said. She pulled a nearby candlestick and a section of the wall to the left of Derpy and on the other side of the table from the group opened up. She gestured dramatically to the secret door. "Here it is. Just go up the stairs. Oh, and keep your hooves at the level of your eyes, 'cause there's these invisible nooses hanging around and it'll really hurt if you get caught in one if you don't have wings."

The other mares in the group looked at each other, murmuring in disbelief that they had just been let through to the next level so easily. However, Twilight still led them, albeit cautiously, through the secret door, Berry hanging behind at the rear.

"Hey, thanks a lot," Berry said to Derpy with a small salute as she walked backward toward the door. "You're a real pal, you know that? I almost feel bad that I beat you vicariously through Scootaloo in the tourna—" A loud thud behind Berry made her jump, and she whirled around to see that instead of a secret passage, she was now looking right at a large rock. She and Derpy were now the only two ponies in the room.

"Hey, Tom," Derpy said with a pout. "You shouldn't be so mean. Let Berry go through. We still have to wait for those ponies we're supposed to stop, you know, and I'd hate for her to get mixed up in that."

Tom stood stone-faced at the door.

Derpy's doppelgänger gasped in realization. "Ohhhh... so they were the ponies I was supposed to be stopping." She snortled and put her hooves to her reddened cheeks. "My bad."

"Wow," Berry said breathily as she crossed her legs. "You changelings really go all out with your impersonations. Or is there really somepony as spacey as she is?"

Derpy's eyes rolled in opposite directions as she crinkled her muzzle in thought. "Umm... I dunno. I guess we're supposed to keep you occupied here, though. At least, that's what the queen keeps yelling in my head." She rubbed her scalp and winced. "It's kind of uncomfortable."

Berry grinned and walked casually over to the table. "Well, it looks like I have a truly unique opportunity here," she said as she grabbed a bowl of punch and slid it closer to her. She looked fondly into the dark red liquid and breathed deeply of its sweet yet tangy fragrance. "I wasn't really that satisfied with letting some other mare that I only beat with the element of surprise alone defeat you. After all, you've always been my greatest rival." She gave Derpy a coy smile. "And because you're not really my friend, Derpy, I won't feel like I have to hold back. You were always too sweet for me to really go all out, I think." She plunged her head into the bowl, and she drained it within three seconds.

"Whoa," Derpy said. "You know, that was the hard stuff. You probably shouldn't have..."

"'Ey!" Berry shouted as her head popped out of the bowl and she glared irately in Derpy's general direction, though her bobbing head made it hard to tell. "I know hard punch when I smells it. I... I..." She sneezed. "I probably shouldn'a drunk it through my nose."

Derpy grimaced and flapped her wings uncomfortably. "I don't know if I should fight you in that condition. At least, not two-on-one."

Berry swiveled her head, though the motion made her eyes bug out as a sudden bout of queasiness overtook her. "Erp. Wh-what d'ya mean 'two-on-one'? We're the... the only two ponies here."

Derpy put her hoof over her mouth sheepishly. "Well... yeah, but Tom's here. He's pretty tough, y'know."

Berry glared at the offending rock that sat in front of the secret passage. "Oh, yeah? Oh, yeah?" Berry began to rummage around in her saddle bags, mumbling to herself. She pulled out a stack of three rocks in a party hat and beamed triumphantly. "Ah, ha! How's this, then?" She threw the rocks at Tom, and they landed neatly at his base. "Take that... you rock."

Derpy pursed her lips as she stared at Rocky. "Oh... um... I guess that works."

Smashing the punch bowl on the table with her hoof, Berry cheered. "Yeah! Time to... to rock, I guess." She lunged across the table at Derpy, but stumbled over a tower of celery and rolled across the table.

With squeal, Derpy fell backward in her chair while Berry rolled over her, missing her completely and hitting the wall. "Oops. Sorry, I lost my balance."

"Y-yeah," Berry said with a groan. "You... you always were better at that than me. But, but, but! I... can really take a punch!" She guffawed and fell back, prompting Derpy to instinctually lunge forward to catch her. Berry wobbled back toward Derpy, however, and her flailing arms struck with an efficiency that belied her inebriated state.

"Whoa," Derpy said as her hocks gave way the moment Berry's hooves found her, and she fell under the punch, knocking Berry's front legs out from under her. She raised her head just before hitting the ground, and her skull slammed jarringly into Berry's jaw.

Berry rolled to the side, coming up on her haunches. "Ooh, I thing I bid my dthounge." She shook her head and rose woozily to her hooves.

The two mares stared at each other, the tension between them as thick as Sweet Apple Acres' cider. Berry swayed to her right, seeming to lose her balance, and they both exploded into motion, coming at each other with hooves extended menacingly. With a resounding "crack," their heads collided and, in an almost exact mirror of one another, they froze shock straight on their hind legs before woodenly falling onto their backs.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm in some kind of story meant to amuse little fillies," Chrysalis grumbled as she tossed her viewing globe behind her. A sardonic smirk broke out on her face. "Or maybe particularly immature adults." She turned to her daughter, her expression becoming more genuine. "Aurelia, my darling, how are you faring with that little dragon?"

Aurelia shook her head sadly, shamed to meet her mother's gaze. "He hasn't been corrupted... yet, I mean. I'm sure that if I keep working on him..."

Chrysalis sighed, though she gave her daughter's cheek a gentle caress. "I'm afraid that little dragon has already been quite corrupted. By those goody-four-shoes ponies, that is." Her face fell as she considered her options. "I really had hoped to be able to bring out the power of the Rainbow of Darkness simply by appealing to the covetousness of his dragon nature, but I suppose a little more provocation is in order."

"What else could we do to provoke the Darkness inside of him?" Aurelia wondered aloud.

"Ah, my dear," Chrysalis said, licking her chitinous lips with anticipation. "I know all too well that one of the most powerful motivators of our darker emotions is revenge."

Aurelia nodded, beaming at the prospect of some hooves-on learning. "So... perhaps I can disguise myself as Rarity and fake being hurt by one of his friends. Oh, I'm sure he would be livid."

Chrysalis gave her daughter a respectful nod. "You're on the right track, Aurelia. Let's think a little larger, however." She rubbed her hooves together as a plan began to form in her mind. "Yes, romantic love is powerful, and can be as strong a motivator for Darkness as it is for Light. There is a stronger love, however..."

Gasping, Aurelia beamed as the answer came to her. "The love for the pony who raised you!"

A holey hoof tenderly set itself across Aurelia's withers, and Chrysalis smiled down at her daughter. "Yes, as well as the love for the pony you've raised."

"But... was it not Princess Celestia who cared for Spike as a baby dragon?" Aurelia asked with confusion. "At least, that's what I learned from his file."

Chrysalis nodded. "Legally, Princess Celestia is his guardian, and she did indeed have a hoof in raising him as a hatchling, but he has spent far more of his life as Twilight's assistant. It is clear from his behavior that he thinks of her as more a maternal figure than that stuffy old nag." She lowered her head to her daughter's level and spoke in a measured tone. "Remember, my sweet, that relationships are more than legal documents. It is beings' love for one another that determines their true relationship."

Aurelia nodded respectfully. "Thank you, Mother, for teaching me this lesson."

"So," Chrysalis said, straightening and grinning with a gleam in her eye. "We simply subdue Twilight Sparkle, bring her before our scaly friend, and destroy her."

Silence hung over the throne room like a funeral pall until Aurelia spoke. "But... how?"

Chrysalis smirked and her horn began to glow with a sickly green aura. Around her throne, a magic circle inscribed with ancient Fleek letters began to glow darkly. "There are advantages to being allied with one of the Protogenoi. We shall simply need to borrow a little extra power."

Twilight and her friends emerged from the stairwell in what looked very much like Canterlot, though she knew that it was merely a very convincing replica. For one thing, it was unlikely that there would be nopony at all on the streets in the middle of the shopping district at this time of day. For another, when she looked toward Canterlot Castle, she noted that it was now as black as if it was made out of Stygian Iron.

"We've been waiting for you, Twiley."

That would be the final reason Twilight knew that this was a fake. Her brother stood on the roof of a nearby building, a malicious glimmer in his eyes. Argent Javelin was perched atop the shop across the street, his own suave expression giving his sneer a more mischievous air. Both military stallions were no longer garbed in their formal uniforms, and instead wore the armor of their respective Guard services.

"Why don't you show your true forms, changelings?" Twilight demanded, widening her stance while brandishing her horn.

Argent snickered and leaped down to the street, landing effortlessly. He swaggered toward the group. "Oh, Twiley, you don't understand. We aren't just wearing these ponies' images, you know."

"Oh, I know," Twilight said. "You may have their memories and skills and can even act like them, but you're still not them." She stamped a hoof into the ground. "What you're doing, the Argent and Shining I know would never do."

Shining hopped off the roof, forming his shield a fraction of a second before he hit the ground, forming a crater into which he landed. His laughter was relaxed. "Twiley, you'd be surprised what your big brother would do. After all, just because we... you and your brother never had a single fight before the wedding..."

Twilight snorted. "I'm not going to listen to this, anymore. I'm saving Spike and I'm saving all the other ponies you foalnapped."

"You think?" Argent asked with his usual smirk as he scratched his throat distractedly and looked to the side distractedly. "No, no, I don't think you'll be going any farther, Twiley."

Twilight's eyes widened and she reared up on her hind legs with wings spread. Shining's shield sprang up around her and the two changelings, cutting them off from the rest of the group. Amid the shouts from her companions outside the bubble, she calmed her racing heart and leveled her gaze at the one wearing her brother's face. "You really think you can hold me? Shining may have the strongest shield spell of any unicorn, but it won't take me long to crack this shield. Or you, if I have to."

"No doubt," Shining's copy said, grinning at his partner. "But the two of us together should be enough to take you on."

Looking the two over, Twilight's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Still, she thought, while taking on a high level defensive magic user and a high level offensive magic user would be a challenge, she was confident that her level of power and spell versatility would make her more than a match for them. She turned to her group. "Everypony, go ahead and find the way to the next level. The faster you clear out the changelings ahead of us, the faster we can save the others."

"No way," Lyra protested, approaching the edge of the shield with a determined look on her face. "We can help you!"

"No need," Twilight responded, her eyes locking on to her opponents. "I'll join you again way before you reach the top. I wouldn't advise the two of you to interfere, by the way. Believe me, you don't want to be distracted for this next part."

The two changelings exchanged knowing looks. "Believe me," Argent said. "We wouldn't miss it for the world."

To be continued...