Atlas Strongest Tournament

by Bico

The Big Boss: Hooves of Fury

What looked like embossings of hooves dotted the metal container. The two mares who kept watch over it sat silently side by side. Finally, Princess Luna broke the silence that had fallen like a pall over the clearing. "It seems she has... lost consciousness."

"Not...?" Amber began hesitantly, glancing worriedly toward her companion. Her face visibly slackened as she sighed with relief. "I had to restart Dusty's heart when she tried to absorb the Jupiter Wave Orb for herself." She scowled, her eyes shimmering as her voice dropped to a near whisper. "Idiot. Always pushing herself, never worried about her safety or anypony else's... ended up pushing too far in the end."

Luna grimaced. "Scootaloo isn't out of the woods, yet... so to speak. Her body should be adjusting to it now, but it still may fail. Your granddaughter's flight aura was damaged beyond repair, wasn't it?"

Master Spark looked away, her eyes dark with anger and regret. "Can barely walk on clouds, now. Scootaloo's flight aura is barely strong enough to allow for flight as it is... wouldn't be able to at all were she a normal pegasus. Dusty's was probably larger than even Rainbow Dash's. Maybe I was wrong..."

"No," Luna said firmly, putting her hoof on the withers of the younger mare. "I have watched Scootaloo's growth for a long time. If any mortal pony can handle it, she can. Even though she was born with weak magic, she eventually overcame her disability. I would not advise betting against a filly like her."

Amber smirked, and leaned heavily against the princess, who held her added weight with grace and sympathy. "I wouldn't dream of it, Princess."

"Dream you should," Luna said, draping a wing around Amber. "You are weakened greatly by your separation from the Jupiter Wave Orb, and your vigilance is no longer necessary at this point. Whatever happens to Scootaloo from this point forward... is all up to her."

The power of Darkness does not so easily enter the mortal world, the voice of Erebos boomed throughout the throne room as Chrysalis stood in the center of the glowing magic circle, her daughter sitting studiously at her side. Had your tower not burrowed so deep, it would be nigh impossible. As it is, manifesting even this close to the underworld will require... sacrifice.

Chrysalis bowed deeply, though her lips were twisted in a sour expression. "Of course, Lord Erebos. Naturally. What do you require?"

A creature of Darkness, Erebos said, dropping the temperature in the room considerably. My purer essence shall replace the impure flesh.

Placing a holey hoof to her chin, Chrysalis pondered the request. "I see... as a matter of fact, I can think of one 'creature of Darkness' I could stand to rid myself of." She rubbed her hooves together and her face broke into a wide grin. "I'll get one last use out of that scaly hide, yet."

Garble's blade sparked off of Lao Wu's hoof as he simultaneously blocked a tail-strike from Ran Biao with his wing. He quickly sidestepped a stream of bright flame and leaped into the air, stabbing at Master Wu. He wasn't quite fast enough, however, as Lao Wu parried the strike and hit him with a small arc of electricity.

Ran huffed as she took her place by her great great grandfather's side. "This one... is very strong, yes?"

Lao Wu's lip curled. "You are right, Gau tzeng suen niu. Still I think he is not quite strong enough."

"Should we finish him?" Ran asked with a curious cock of her ears.

"Mmm..." Lao Wu scrutinized Garble, who was even now recovered and charging for them. "Would like to say 'yes,' but still not satisfied that I understand him well enough. Not sure if he understands him well enough..."

The forest darkened even more than it had been, and a loud roar shook the trees. Razorwing burst from the canopy, fire pouring from his gullet furiously. "Ran Biao!" he bellowed. "Master Wu! What sorcery is this? I will destroy you!"

All three scaled fighters turned to witness Razorwing as he convulsed and began to trudge toward them. A series of markings began to burn themselves into his scales as he approached. When he had come within firing distance, he stopped and snarled at them.

"My friend," Garble entreated Razorwing. "I am the enemy of these dragon-ponies just as you are. Shall we not fight together?"

Razorwing began to chuckle at this, but it was choked as the markings on his scales began to smoke. "I... I do not fight on anyone's side but my own. Anyway... how do I know you are not the one who has cursed me with this... this pain spell? Any dragon who can change from a common dragon to a noble one must have some kind of unnatural sorcery."

"Oh, I don't know," Ran Biao said venomously. "You went from noble to common pretty fast."

"The power of the Darkness that lies within all dragons," Razorwing said even as he winced and fell to his knees. "Is... is like falling into a bottomless pit without wings. Y-you don't crawl your way back out." He groaned as the pain became too great, and he caught himself on his elbows to keep from landing flat on his face. "Ahh... that's what this is. It feels just like that night..."

Razorwing's body exploded into smoke and shadow which swirled up into the clouds. The three other warriors attempted to shield themselves from the icy wind, but it still chilled them right to their bones. After the last of the Darkness had disappeared into the sky, the forest brightened.

"That was..." Garble began to say.

Lao Wu cocked a brow. "Interesting."

Not-Dashie drove her hoof into Pinkie's face deeply as they clashed in midair. Pinkie tumbled toward the ground, but she rebounded off of the trampoline she had left there earlier for trampolining emergencies. She curled herself into a ball and struck the changeling copy of her best friend like a cannonball.

"This is ridiculous," Rainbow's clone groused as she recovered from the blow. "I feel like I'm fighting Steamboat Filly."

"Well," Pinkie responded as she popped out from behind Rainbow and balanced on her prismatic mane. "I did play Turkey in the Straw with a goat, once. That billy could play a mean banjo."

"Get off me," Not-Dashie protested, waving her hooves frantically over her head. Pinkie pronked off of her head and landed neatly on the ground.

"I gotcha, now, ya li'l varmint," Applejack crowed as she galloped up behind Pinkie, who turned to smile broadly at her attacker. The changeling AJ poised to deliver a brutal hay-maker, but Fluttershy landed between the two, her forelegs and wings spread wide to protect her friend. "Dagnabbit!" she said, her hoof shaking as she gritted her teeth. "Y'all can't be this fast."

"I'm fast enough," Fluttershy said. "When I need to be."

"That's pretty much how mine works, too," Pinkie interjected, her head poking out from behind Fluttershy. An orange hoof jabbed her in the snout immediately, and she ducked back behind Fluttershy.

"If y'all keep gettin' in my way," Applejack warned. "I may just up an' lose my temper. I can't be held responsible for what happens then."

Fluttershy nodded. "I know. But I also know that Applejack could never hurt me, even if she were angry with me. Even if she wanted to more than anything. Even if you're an evil changeling, if you have any part of Applejack inside you... I know I can trust you."

The fake Applejack's ears flopped and her brows knitted. She ignored her partner's loud urgings from above to knock her out, already. "Th-this ain't fair. You're cheatin'. Ain't nothin' I hate more than a cheater."

Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak, but she cringed when the world turned black around them as a column of oily smoke rose from the ground and into the sky. Her teeth began to chatter; whether it was from an actual drop in temperature or simply bone-chilling fear, she couldn't be sure. After a long moment, the darkness disappeared and the sun shone warmly once more upon the four Elements of Harmony, both genuine and counterfeit.

"Th-that was..." Applejack said with a gulp.

"Scary," Fluttershy concluded.

Hooves flew furiously between Derpy and Berry as the latter juggled flasks of fermented punch, guzzling them down between strikes. "Zhe drunkerer Berry get, zhe strongerererer...er... Berry... get," she declared in a voice that bespoke great inebriation. Belying appearances, however, she dodged nearly every attack against her with ease as her punches betrayed frightening accuracy in spite of the seemingly careless manner in which they were thrown. Despite that...

"Berry? You're on fire," Derpy's copy informed her opponent helpfully.

Indeed, flames danced upon Berry's coat, the result of an unfortunate meeting between liquor soaked fur and lit candle. She regarded the bright flames thoughtfully for a long moment before a goofy grin spread across her face. "Yesh... this is my ultimate technique." She threw herself at Derpy, all four legs spread wide. "Flaming Zombie!"

Derpy squeaked and fell backward, spilling a bowl of perfectly ordinary water. With a seemingly random flap of her wings to keep herself balanced and a chance exertion of her flight aura, the water that flew in front of her was turned to a stream of bubbles which flowed over the flaming mare descending toward her, dousing the fire.

Berry landed limply on Derpy, sopping wet. Lifting her head weakly she muttered. "I... I think I may have had too much to drink."

The candles dimmed as a dark aura flowed up through the floor and into the ceiling. The water droplets in Berry's fur crystallized into a light coat of rime. A second later, the candle flames brightened once more and the room returned to normal.

"Wow," Derpy said. "That was..."

"Definitely way too much to drink," Berry finished.

Twilight surveyed her surroundings. The shield that had contained her was gone now that her friends had been convinced to leave. She couldn't teleport away from this level due to the time and relative dimensions in space spell that kept it effectively on a dimensionally adjacent plane to the other levels, which ruled out her best avenue of escape. She was familiar with the layout of Canterlot, but her brother and Argent were probably even more so, which meant that wouldn't give her much advantage. Of course, she thought, eyeing the shadows. There's still the advantage of surprise. I don't think they've noticed it, yet. She gave a nearly imperceptible nod.

"Like usual," Argent grumbled to his battle buddy. "Your cute little sis is overthinking again. You think she's ever gonna..."

A fiery explosion rocked both stallions as a fireball spell struck Shining's passive shield. Prince Armor looked wryly at Captain Javelin. "You had to open your big muzzle, didn't you?"

"Let me handle the offensive, bro," Argent said with a smirk. "Cover me while I move."

"I've got you covered," Shining declared as his horn began to glow with rose-colored magic.

Before the battle could be joined, however, a dark aura ascended from the streets and blackened the sun. The eclipse lasted for an instant, but the chill lingered in the blood of the ones who had witnessed it. Twilight, with a sinking feeling in her stomach, recognized it for what it was. "That was..."

"Radical," Shining's copy commented.

Gray Fang sat in the lotus position, water cascading down his muscular shoulders as his eyes, half lidded, stared unfocused into the jungle outside the cave. A loud crash caused his ear to twitch, but he remained focused on nothingness. A primal yell caused him to wince, his calm breaking as his eyes flashed with irritation. He turned to regard the source of the disturbance. "Sorry, Doc, I appreciate your self-improvement attempts, as misguided as they may be, but my vibes are being thrown, eh?"

Snowflake Benchpress looked up with a contemptuous glare from the shattered stone at his hooves. "Ha! Your mystical meditative mumbo will get you nowhere. Evidence shows that it is little more than an illusory state brought on by the shutting down of select areas of the brain. How is that going to help you in a fight?"

Gray's eyes narrowed and his lips curled back, flashing his sharp canines. "I am a simple dog, but I know that it has helped me far more than having overdeveloped muscles ever would, eh?"

"I would wager that the body produced by my scientifically balanced diet and workout regime can outperform your woo-woo intuitive 'training' any day," Snowflake asserted, thrusting his chest out like a peacock.

A growl escaped Fang's throat. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yyyyyeaaahhhhhh!"

"Uh, are we interruptin' somethin'?" came a voice from deeper within the cave. When the two fighters turned to regard her, they saw that it had come from a young earth mare with a deep orange coat and a pink mane who had two unicorns, another earth pony, a hippocampus, and a small dragon flanking her.

"I'm sorry," Gray said. "It seems we were too busy to notice our guests had arrived, eh?" He stepped down from the rock under the waterfall and put on his red coat and his hat. "I really must apologize. I'm not even decent."

"Don't worry about it," Lyra piped in. "We hardly ever wear clothes."

Gray Fang looked away for a moment, his snout wrinkling at the comment. "Y-yes... I had noticed."

"I have a proposition," Dr. Benchpress interjected, a broad smile lighting up his face as he stared meaningfully at the two mares who had first spoken.

"Uh..." Babs hesitated, her face going pale. "I... appreciate it, but... I ain't really lookin' for... I mean... I ain't ready for a..."

"There's somepony else in my life," Lyra said simply.

"No, no, no," Snowflake said, waving his forelegs in front of himself. "Not that sort of propositions. You see, my colleague and I were just having a debate as to the merits of our individual forms of physical readiness training. It seems to me that this is the perfect solution: we shall each fight one of these lovely mares, and whomever defeats his opponent first shall have proven his method's superiority!"

"Well, now," Gray Fang said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "That does sound like a fine idea. Of course, we should make sure our opponents are comparable, eh? Perhaps the two earth ponies?"

"Hold it," Wavedancer interrupted, slithering between the two changeling warriors. "There's something else to consider when conducting an experiment of this type. You're testing the efficacy of your respective regimes, but consider that your natural body types are quite different as well, which means you need to control for that variable."

"Sorry, different body types?" Gray asked, cocking his head to the side in confusion.

"I believe she's referring to your bipedalism," Snowflake said. "As well as, perhaps, your naturally lighter and less powerful frame. It's true, the average Diamond Dog tends to be lighter even than the average pegasus. If we're truly to test our training methods alone, then we must take that into account."

"So... I should fight the dragon, eh?" Gray asked. He reminiscently stroked his blade, a new one that had been created with changeling magic.

"Dragons are about as tough as earth ponies," Wavedancer countered. "Plus her scales will protect her in a way that would give you an unfair disadvantage. Lyra, on the other hoof, is double-jointed and has been trained to fight as a biped. As a unicorn, she also has the ability to grasp objects as you do and has a weaker constitution than even a pegasus, which should cover the confounding variables."

"Why you gotta throw me under the caravan?" Lyra protested, the corners of her mouth positioned firmly downward.

"It's a valid point," Snowflake agreed, attempting to fold his forelegs across his chest and failing miserably. He simply nodded, instead.

"So you'll do it?" Wavedancer prodded with a grin.

"Yy—" The shrill song of Gray's sword positioning itself across Snowflake's neck stayed his exclamation.

"Sorry," Gray said with a sneer. "You're too loud. However, I believe this arrangement will work for me."

"Great," Wavedancer said with a satisfied nod. "Well, we'll just be on our way and you can get to it." She turned to Babs and gave her a wave of her hoof. "See ya, Babs. Don't worry, Scales and I will be with you in spirit."

"That's right, cuz'," Apple Bloom said, patting her relative on the withers. "Sweetie Belle 'n' me are rootin' for you, too."

Babs blew her mane out of her eyes as she watched both sets of friends gallop into the forest. "Gee, t'anks."

"Don't worry about it," Lyra said, rising onto her hind legs as her horn flared. "When Twilight arrives, she'll see how strong we really..."

A sharp chill washed over them as the already dark jungle seemed to turn even more so, and the background sounds of life ceased. After a moment of eerie silence, warmth returned and the chatter began again. Gray Fang's ear twitched as he looked toward the source. "That was..."

"Yyyyeaaaaahhhhh!" Snowflake cheered as he shot toward Babs, his wings buzzing like a fly's.

Gray Fang sighed and readied his sword.

"Owowow," Sweetie complained as Scales helped her up the stairs. "I really don't like the dark. I think I broke my leg or something."

"Y'all didn't break anythin'," Apple Bloom said with an eye roll. "Doubt you even got a strain. You only tripped over a root."

Scales smirked and patted Sweetie's leg. "It really isn't that bad. Looks like it's bruised, but you won't even notice it in a minute."

"Even so," Wavedancer said, looking back toward the two. "We need to get up these stairs as quickly as possible. It was just dumb luck that we found this passage, and we're making good time, but Spike and the others' lives are on the line here. Who knows what delays we'll come across, next?"

Apple Bloom's brows lowered in determination as she fixed her eyes up ahead. "Whatever happens, we'll deal with it 'til Scootaloo gets here."

"You really think she's going to be able to help?" Wavedancer asked. "I mean, I'll admit I was impressed by her fighting skills, but..."

"Y'all don't get it," Apple Bloom said with a fond smile. "We're the ones helpin', here. When Scootaloo gets finished, she's the one who's gonna win this. That's what I believe."

"You really have a lot of faith in your friend," Scales said, laughing nervously.

Sweetie Belle's face became pensive, and she spoke softly. "Of course she does. Because Scootaloo is..."

A blast of cold wind struck the four as they reached the top of this flight of stairs. Apple Bloom pushed out first, followed by Wavedancer and then Scales with Sweetie pressed tightly against her. The level into which they had emerged was covered in the same darkness they had just escaped. A scream pierced the deafening silence just before the evil aura lifted.

It was evening at Sweet Apple Acres. If the apple trees weren't enough of a tip-off, the flattened barn was a familiar enough sight even to Sweetie Belle. She glanced around at her friends, who were all lifting themselves off the ground as well as they trembled. Her ears swiveled toward the demolished barn, however, when she heard a weak mewling. Her legs straightened beneath her and she shot toward the wreckage. She would recognize that swooning sound anywhere. "Sister!"

Among the demolished red slats of wood Rarity was half buried and seemingly unconscious. Sweetie Belle immediately went to work magicking the wood off of her as her friends rushed to her side. Rarity's eyes fluttered open as the weight on her barrel disappeared. "O-oh... Sweetie Belle? Thank goodness you're here. I thought I could make it out on my own, but..."

Sweetie's eyes brimmed with tears. "I didn't know if I'd ever see you again, Sis. I mean, after Scootaloo... and I don't even know how you got out of your cocoon. Is Spike nearby?"

"Uh... Sweetie Belle," Apple Bloom said as she stopped beside her friend and adjusted her hat. "I... uh... I hate to be a spoil sport, but we're only on the sixth floor."

"Yeah, so?" Sweetie asked, her smiling eyes not leaving her sister.

"Well," Apple Bloom continued, clearing her throat nervously. "Remember how all the prisoners were bein' kept on the top... and there are nine levels in this tower? Well, I may be wrong, but it seems to me that this might be some kinda trap."

"Eeyup," a deep voice said lazily from behind Apple Bloom.

Chrysalis tapped her hoof idly on the floor of her throne room. The magic circle surrounding her and her daughter continued to thrum around her as it had for the past several minutes, and she could tell that the rhythmic pulsing had lulled her daughter into a stupor given how heavily she was leaning on her. Finally, a dark cloud billowed from the floor, prompting Chrysalis to poke Aurelia sharply. She cleared her throat and spoke with the authority befitting her station. "O, Lord Erebos, the sacrifice has arrived."

Good, the voice rumbled. You know what must now be done.

"Yes, Lord Erebos," Chrysalis responded, and her horn lit up a sickly green. The dark energies swirled into the magic circle, turning the edges a purplish-black color which spread slowly inward until it reached Chrysalis' hooves. With a mighty grunt, Chrysalis focused the power through her gnarled horn and a dark beam spewed upward.

"Forty-two buckets of oats on the wall, forty-two buckets of oats," Spike sang in a decidedly unenthusiastic manner. "Take one down, pass it around..." He sighed and mumbled irately, "Forty-one buckets of oats on the wall." He shook his head violently, growling incoherently. "Gah! This isn't helping. Couldn't they have at least left me some comic books or some..." he trailed off as he heard a strange wooshing sound fill the dark room in which he hung among countless other cocoons.

"Oh, well, that's nifty, isn't it?" a chipper male voice cut through the darkness. "I honestly never thought I'd see the day she could do that, but... well, here we are, aren't we?"

"Believe me, being trapped in this fleshy... thing... isn't as nifty as you might like to believe," a mare's voice responded.

"It really isn't," a second stallion, though no less eccentric sounding than the first, cut in. "Believe me, the novelty wears off after a few hours."

"Oh, hush my little Doctor," the mare said. "I do miss this version of you. Always so happy and clever. Ooh, and the one with the celery!"

A second mare's voice, dark and refined, floated gracefully as an undercurrent in the darkness. "You really are an odd bunch."

Spike's forehead wrinkled in concentration as he tried to move his head around. "I really... wish I could... see what's going on."

A brown-coated stallion stepped into Spike's view wearing a collar and a tie. He was followed by a blue unicorn mare with a darker blue and white striped mane and a gray stallion with a well groomed mane, a bowtie, and a fez. All three ponies had very similar if not identical cutie marks on their flanks. The fourth pony of their group thankfully broke the trend by having a purple treble clef cutie mark. Strangely, Spike recognized them all. "Mr. Turner, Minuette, Timey... and... Octavia Melody?"

"Hello, Spike," Time Turner greeted with a wave of his hoof. "Looking a bit indisposed at the moment, I see. No worries, we'll have you fixed in no time."

"Right," Timey Wimey interjected. "Just got to finish a little business first if you'll recall, do try to keep up."

"Yes, Derpy," Turner said, fixing his attention on the cocoons. "You know, that mare always did strike me as... special. Don't suppose you'd happen to know the circumstances around this whole 'marriage' thing she keeps going on about?"

Octavia's muzzle scrunched uncomfortably. "'Marriage'? I... didn't realize you were..."

Timey waved her off. "Don't worry, experiencing our lives together in reverse, turned out to be Amy's mother, Amy turned out to be my daughter, imagine that: meeting your daughter before she's been conceived, but I suppose you could say her marriage is something like my divorce, so it's all in the past now. Or the future, as the case may be." He gave a hard look to Turner then and spoke tersely. "That being said: 'spoilers.'"

"You guys are making me dizzy," Spike complained. "So could you hurry up? I don't really care who does the rescuing, but we could really use it now."

"Found her," Minuette declared, gesturing with a hoof toward the cocoon in which Derpy floated upside down and unconscious. She folded her forelegs and considered her find. "I must say, out of all the floozies who you've had inside me, I think I actually approve of this one."

The four ponies turned their heads to regard Spike. "I don't suppose," Octavia said with a twitch of her eyebrow. "That he's too young to realize how wrong that sounded."

Spike grimaced, his face blanched. "I really wish I was," he said. "That... that really doesn't matter, though. You found Derpy and that's great, but I could really use a hoof."

At that moment, a miasma of Darkness began to blow through the chamber, and the cocoons that contained the captured tournament contestants began to turn black. The four ponies eyes widened and they reared up in a panic, converging on Derpy's cocoon. With a frenzied effort as the blackness began to creep down her cocoon, they ripped the membrane open and let Derpy spill out, still unconscious.

"Oh, this is bad," Time Turner said as he looked around to see the poisonous tendrils reaching for them. "If there's one pony in Equestria who cannot be corrupted by this stuff, it's Derpy."

"Might not want to let yourselves get infected, either, my little Doctors," Minuette said.

"Spike!" Octavia exclaimed, drawing the other three's attention. "What about him?"

Time Turner looked toward Spike and his ears flopped. "Oh... I... Spike, I'm..."

"What?" Spike said with no small amount of irritation. "What is it, you crazy pony?"

"I am... so, so sorry," Mr. Turner responded with a weak smile. "I really am. I promise... it will get better." He nodded to Minuette and her horn and eyes began to glow, and that wooshing sound filled the air again.

"Wh-what do you mean 'sorry'?" Spike asked in desperate confusion. He looked down as best he could, and he saw that his cocoon was pitch black. The membrane was also beginning to creep up his head. "Oh... oh, this is not righ—" The cocoon completely engulfed him before he could finish.

The remaining tendrils of Darkness lashed out at the four ponies just as their forms faded from view, the faint outline of a blue box forming around them just beforehoof.

"Well, there goes my favorite eleven ponies," Discord said as his form melted out of the shadows. He leaned casually against Spike's cocoon. "When it comes to not making sense, that guy really takes the cake." A chocolate cake appeared in his lion's paw and he sniffed it before throwing it behind him, whereupon it exploded into sharks. He smiled as he floated over to Derpy's abandoned cocoon. "Ooh, I may not be able to act directly against that stuffy old Protogenos, but I might be able to throw a few wrenches in the works." He giggled with delight as he snapped his talons and a bright light flashed within the punctured cocoon. He then pulled up a folding chair, declaring, "This gon' be good."

To be continued...