Chapter 4:
“You know the worst part of being sick,” Scootaloo said, looking out the door, “When your big sister decides to take a small break for a bit.” She sighed softly to herself, boredom coming in as she waited for the blue pegasus to come back. Looking around her room from her position on the bed, she began to look for something to grab, to throw, or anything to stave off the boredom. The scan of her room soon located the pictures of her and Rainbow Dash that she had placed on her desk. A smile came across her face as she looked at the newest photo of her, Rainbow, Soarin’, and Spitfire standing in a victory pose in front of the coliseum; she took the time to read the autographs from the wonderbolts that Dash had gotten her. For her, that was the second best day of her life. The first being when Rainbow agreed to be her big sister; although, in her mind, there was never any question about it.
Looking at some other pictures, she saw one of her friends all standing together with the Manehatten branch of the Crusaders. Each one standing with their big siblings and all with big smiles on their faces, and seeing this image made her remember some old feelings. She wasn’t afraid to admit it, she was a little jealous of Sweetie and Apple Bloom for having big sisters for a while. After all, they had somepony to teach them the ropes, to be there when they got into small fights or, “To do things that parents can't. That’s why big sibs come first isn’t it? To protect the little guys,” grabbing the picture with an orange hoof, she smiled when she looked at her and Dash, “Especially when… ” She stopped when she looked up at the photo of a white Pegasus holding her above his head, flying to the camera. Sighing, she quickly put the photo back. While it was true that she loved her dad deeply and would cherish each moment with him. She still felt some anger over how many times he would just leave the family for long times and the worry he would cause her mother considering his job as a royal guard.
She shook her head a little, “Stop, I don’t want to think about that,” Scoots said as she continued to look around her room for something to do and soon she caught sight of the book that Dash had been reading. An evil smirk came to her face as she picked it up and turned to the page that Dash left off and began to read:
Dear Squirt,
I knew you would try to spoil the story before I was done and try to be sneaky about it. This is why I wrote this letter, and placed it in front of the page. Because, in the words of a time traveler, ‘shh, spoilers’. I am not about to let you spoil the story before I am done, and I don’t want you to ruin any surprises that this baby has coming. So by the time you have finished reading this line, I should be back upstairs, looking down at you, your supper on hoof, and looking awesome as usual…
Scootaloo arched an eyebrow at this letter and looked up to see her sister, holding her supper on one hoof, and looking as awesome as usual, “Now see, no good can come reading spoilers huh, Squirt?”
Timidly handing the book over to Dash, the young filly let out a chuckle, “Guess not, sorry Dash.”
Rainbow looked down at her sister,” That’s okay, I’ll pay you back later when you get better. Now, while you eat, I’ll continue.”
______________________________________________________________________
The emperor was displeased, most displeased indeed. Not only has he received reports that his personal search and destroy squadron had failed in their mission, but they have also received a curse that his sorcerers say will take them at least a day to cure, “How can this be so,” Iron asked as he put a hand through the bars of a bird cage and fed his Falcon, “ How can my personal Squadron fail in their attempt to find a small group of ponies. PONIES! To make matters worse, two of them were lowly pathetic earth pony morons”
“Well, maybe it was a communication error, sir,” Said Sparkle Glide as he shined some of the cages in the aviary.
“I, CHOSE,” Iron pulled his hand way from the cage, fist clenched in rage, “ MY SQUADRON LIKE A GOD WOULD CHOSE HIS DISCIPLES.” He turned his head slowly to the unicorn cleaning the cage and walked to the unicorn, “and you, a lowly unicorn that denies his heritage by choosing not to be a mage, tell me that they lost their quarry because of a communication error?”
The unicorn braced himself for the retribution as he meekly responded with a, “Yes.”
Iron hand then promptly backhanded the poor unicorn across the room, “Under Staffed.”
A meek unicorn mare with a clipboard cutie mark walked in and looked at the beaten blue unicorn on her right, “Yes sir?”
“Who was on communication duty last night at 8:00,” Iron asked as he walked to a stand next to a large painting of him standing above the four legged creatures.
The young mare looked down at her husband, frowning and feeling down about his pain, “A communications officer by the name of Glimmering Shield sir.”
The black furred satyr’s eyes opened in surprise, “Glimmering Shield? There is no one by that name in the regiment.” He turned to the door, “ We have been infiltrated! From now on, every shift change must be monitored and I want some unicorn mages on standby with detection spells at the ready, am I clear?”
“Yes sir,” Under said, still sad as she looked back at her husband getting up slowly. She lowered her purple head in a bow and left.
“Who would be so bold as to infiltrate my men and try to deceive me?”
If Iron were to look outside of the room at that moment, he would find his answer. A white unicorn, with a blue mane and a golden helmet listened into the conversation intently. A smirk appeared on his face as he heard the false king come to the realization that there was a mole in his precious guard. Turning around, he walked slowly down the hall until he came to an old photo of the three queens. Underneath the photo was the caption that read, “death to the four legged false god-devils.” This message made the stallion growl a little in anger as he reached a hoof to a secret button on the picture. Clicking it caused a secret door to open slowly, revealing a long staircase leading downwards. He headed down as the door slowly closed behind him, the stallion took off his helmet and looked at it with a smile. He had to remind himself to thank the Striped Enchantress for coating his armor with a special magic that made everyone who lived in the castle see him as a blue unicorn instead of his pristine white. A chuckle came to him as he reached the bottom of the stairs and into a hidden apothecary, “Welcome home, Shining. And how goes your scouting,” A zebra said as she began to stir a pot of a blue liquid.
“Perfectly, Zecora,” Shining said as he sat down in his little lair. He was glad that his sister introduced him to the so-called dark enchantress of the under-dark and revealed her to be just a Zebra who wanted to be left alone, “They had no idea that I was spying on them. Not a clue.”
“And of Twilight? What did you discover of her plight,” the zebra said as she walked to a wall and grabbed a few bottles from the wall with her mouth.
“ She is doing fantastic,” Shining said, smiling at the thought of his sister out there, being ok, “ I believe that she may have finally found some friends can you believe it? I thought she was going to be a recluse for the rest of her life and become-,” he stopped himself when he realized that he was about to say,
“Having great friends in this world is a must, especially if they are ones that she can trust. I trust from your mood, that they are ponies who can only do good,” The zebra said, adjusting her cloak and walking to a table to begin mashing up some small roots.
“Well, there are three of whom I haven’t met, but I know of Comm. Dash and Pvt. Fluttershy, as well as Pinkie Pie and they’re great ponies,” With a smile the white unicorn looked at his helm, “ My little Twily is growing up.”
Zecora glanced over her shoulder at the blue maned stallion, “And you are not worried for her? Even if protected, the world is full of great danger.”
A small chuckle came from his throat, “My sister is the greatest mage I had ever known, she’ll be fine. I am sure she’ll find this castle and save the queens,,” looking down at his helm with a sad look, “I know she’ll do a better job than I have in saving them.”
Zecora walked over to Armor and put a hoof to his shoulder, rubbing it in comfort, “Do not feel down Armor. You have done great as an infiltrator. And with your protection, you have helped many of the downtrotten. Those with less power, now don’t feel so dour. This is thanks to their knight, who will stand for their right.”
Shining sighed, “Yeah, but I was a royal guard. I should be out there, facing Iron Hand on my own and taking him down so no one else has to!”
Zecora let out a deep breath as she looked at the young stallion, “ Are you so willing for a sacrifice, that you will not heed good advice? Are the queens’ honor worth it, Oh Shining Armor?”
“They are,” Shining nodded, “On the day that Twilight became the sun queen’s personal apprentice, I vowed to lay down everything for them, even my life.”
“Ah, but there is more, are you not fighting for amore? From what I have seen, you are more than a knight to one queen. One to whom in part, you have given your heart.”
A soft smile came across Shining’s face, “The queen of heart, Cadence. We were going to announce our engagement when the coup happened. I guess I’ll still have to wait.”
“Yes, wait for now Shining Armor, now it is time for supper. Come you doup, I have made some soup,” Zecora said as she went to her cauldron and poured the contents into some bowls.
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Miasma was a small city, not one that you would call extremely bustling but a well to do city nonetheless. Surrounding the large city was the poor district where the Earth ponies live and in the center of the city was what the locals called, “the rich district” where Pegasi and Unicorns lived. It was here that the city held it’s mayoral mansion and its shining golden library, where there have been said to be many magical tomes and tracking spells for the consumption of young mages from all over. From all over the country, many unicorn mages would come to see its bright white doors and golden columns; however, as one purple unicorn has discovered, the problem is… getting in, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT I CAN'T COME IN? THIS IS A PUBLIC LIBRARY,” Twilight screamed in disbelief at the yellow unicorn stallion.
“I said,” he gave a quick comb over of his red mane to fix it after it got mussed thanks to Twilight yelling, “That this library is public only to the pegasi and the unicorn mages of the emperor. Unless you can prove to me that you are a member of the royal mage guild and are in league with the emperor, you aren’t getting in.”
“Well, why all the security,” AJ asked, “It’s not any unicorn not in cahoots with the emperor is going to try and use a tracking spell to hunt him down.”
Perfect Teeth turned away from AJ and looked at Twilight, “ Because, there is still a chance that a rebel unicorn who had escaped his notice might just try and trick me to get to the spell and launch a rebel assault on the castle,” He said, walking across the doorstep, “So, I am going to make sure that everypony who passes through these gates have an official pass that was given to them by the emperor himself. That pass has a spell placed on it that opens the shield that protects the door. Now if you were a Pegasus, I would let you in without problem, but they are not allowed to take out books or scrolls.”
“Seems, rather too complicated if you ask me,” Twilight said, a look of disgust on her face.
“It helps to keep our lord safe and keeps out the Earth ponies from wanting to read,” He said with a grin that showed off his pearly whites.
“What’s yer problem with Earth ponies,” AJ asked, looking a bit angry.
“ Well, miss unicorn,” he said, completely ignoring AJ, “ Much like that heathen that you are lowering yourself to hang around with. They are uncouth, horrible, four legged, beasts of burden that are most likely inbreds that don’t deserve to read or walk on the same land as us.”
A few minutes later found our two girls walking away from the library and heading to the bar that they agreed to meet up in, “Did you have to punch that guy so hard, AJ? I think you knocked out at least 4 of his teeth.”
“They’ll grow back one day Twi,” AJ said as she wiped some of the blood off of her right hoof, “Ah wonder how Rainbow and Pinkie are doing in getting us some cash for a room?”
In the poor district, there are various sections dedicated to entertainment of all kinds, such as stunt shows, “Come one and all! Watch and be amazed by the near suicidal stunts done by the ever fantastic Pegasus, RAINBOW DASH,” Pinkie Pie yelled at the top of her lungs with a flash as small fireworks erupted behind her. Looking upwards to the blue sky, the cyan Pegasus began to do aerial stunts and fly bys through fire rings and fireballs, “ Watch as she tries to kill herself in unbelievable ways. See her dodge death at every turn and give it a kiss goodnight. Hear her yell out catch phrases as she makes spectacular move after spectacular move that your foals will repeat again and again.”
“Rainbow Awesome,” Dash said as she did a triple somersault ,”Really Pinkie? That was the best you could come up with?”
“All the while I will craft jokes that will make the piggies squeal with delight, jokes that will have you rolling, and of course an excellent time for all. Now don’t start throwing bits at us all at once,” The pink mare pulled out a black top hat and held it with her mouth, “Well, aren’t you going to start throwing the coins at us all at once?”
The earth ponies just watched the show with faces of boredom, contempt, and sorrow. Throughout the crowd, there was no sign of any enjoyment to be found. All of the ponies looked as if they were waiting for the executioner to cut somepony’s head off while they away from the sight, “What is wrong with you ponies,” Rainbow yelled as she landed next to Pinkie, “ Can't you guy appreciate any good entertainment around here?”
A Dark green mare with a braces cutie mark walked before the stage that the two stood, “ What entertainment, I’m seeing none!”
“What do you mean,” Dash asked, glaring her magenta eyes down at the mare.
Perfect Fang looked with an uncaring stare, “ All I’m seeing is another arrogant and brash Pegasus showing off to all of us lesser ponies what she can do better than the rest of us. We get it! You are able to fly and we can't. STOP RUBBING OUR NOSES IN IT! Our lives are hard enough under the emperor without you stupid showmares reminding us of what we can't do around here,” By now, her teeth was clenched in rage and she was yelling as she pointed a hoof at the two, “We know we can't control the weather, and we KNOW we lack the magic, but at least let us run our horrible and unfulfilled lives without being reminded of it. AND AS FOR YOU, PINK ONE! How dare you insult your race by hanging around a brash creature like that. You should abandon her right now.”
A few minutes later and the two ponies began to walk away from the poor district, heads hanging in defeat, “Did you really have to punch her so hard, Pinkie? And what happened to your mane and tail?”
“She made me mad. She wanted me to leave a good friend of mine, and I don’t know what you mean by mane and tail.” Pinkamena said, rubbing her pink hoof clean of blood, “Think I may have knocked some of her teeth out.”
“They’ll grow back one day…I think,” The cyan mare said with a chuckle as she tried to ignore the sudden change from the long-haired Pinkie to the ‘normal’, cheerful, poofy-haired Pinkie. she looked down a little, “ Too bad about us not getting the bits. I wonder if Rarity and Fluttershy are having any luck.”
At Barbarian’s Bar and Grill, which was exactly as neat and tidy as its counterpart, three mares sat a round table drinking their milkshakes, “I can't believe how horrid it is around this city,” Rarity said as she drank her blueberry milkshake from a straw.
“Its been like this since the emperor took over,” Fluttershy said, a tinge of sadness in her voice, “ The Earth ponies are treated like dirt while the other two races are treated like demi-gods,” she looked down at her banana drink and stirred it a little, “It's all part of his “two feet good, four feet bad,” policy. He claims that all Earth ponies are dirty and unclean because they have to use their feet and mouths to handle things. You mean that you never encountered it?”
Rarity sighed as she looked down at Sweetie Belle drinking her shake while sitting on a stool, “No. Me and Sweetie kept to the back roads ever since we went on the run and the town we lived in before treated all the races with the same amount of respect and love,” In agreement, Sweetie nodded her head with the straw still in her mouth.
“Yeah, and mister emperor mush-for-brains wants everypony to think different,” Dash said, walking in with a mug of cider in her hoof.
Alongside Rainbow Dash, a pink mare was bouncing happily with her mug in hoof, “ So why is he such a meanie racist-pants,” Pinkie ask as she sat down with Rainbow Dash, who began to chug her cider as fast as she could.
“Rainbow, darling, show some respect at the table and don’t chug down your drink,” Rarity said, trying to teach Dash some etiquette. She gave up on Pinkie when she first met the crazy mare.
“Look, you don’t have a cup of cider for three years and see how you fare,” Dash said, wiping some cider residue from her lips.
AJ saw the five mares sitting at their table and walked over to them as Twilight got their orders, “So, Ah guess you girls failed too? And had to deal with some racism from the town,” she watched as the mares nodded their heads, “DANG IT! What is up with that guy. Why does he want earth ponies to be treated like this?”
“It’s something that he came up with when he was a kid, or so I heard,” Twilight said, bringing in her and AJ’s drinks, “ For some reason, he got it into his head that he and his kind are superior because they stand on two feet and we don’t. He feel like Earth Ponies represent the worst qualities of any of the three races.”
“Well, if he hates four legged guys so much,” Pinkie asked, drinking from her mug, “Then why does he treat the other guys so nicely?”
Fluttershy looked a little down as she moved her drink a little, seeing it empty, “That’s the worst part. I’ve heard some rumors and they are a little scary.”
“What sort of rumors darling,” Rarity asked, getting her and Sweetie a free refill.
“According to this one stallion that’s been spying in the castle, Gleaming Shield, all of this is just a ruse. Once he masters weather magic, he’ll subjugate all of the pegasi like he does the Earth ponies,” Twilight said, drinking her tea slowly.
“Then, once he has a better grasp of magic, he’ll turn unicorns into his slaves and make all creatures that aren’t two legged also into slaves,” Fluttershy said, shrinking a little at the thought.
“All the more reason we need to find a way to get into that library, but how,” AJ asked as she chugged her cider along with Dash, “It’s not like any of us know of any of the emperor’s unicorn mages.”
Sweetie Belle looked over her shoulder as the ponies talked and noticed a mare putting up a flyer. Walking a little closer, she began to read it and saw something that piqued her interest. Eyes raised in happiness, she turned around and blew into her flute in order to get their attention.
“Let us not forget, our money problem as well. We still need to buy new supplies for my bag to work and we need a room to stay,” Hearing Sweetie Belle’s flute got Rarity’s attention and made her turn around to where it came from, “Sweetie, what is it?” Walking closer to the picture she read it to herself and took it to her friends, “Girls check what Sweetie found out.”
Murder in Miasma
(Twilight rolled her eyes, “Oh nice, alliteration. Nice to see them be real clever in their names”)
Come to the city’s premier fighting tournament, prove the worth of your race by smashing the others in the face.
(Twilight then face-hoofed, “Oh, clever wordplay. Who the buck wrote this?”
“Says, ‘flyer written by I. Will’,” Pinkie Pie said, looking at the bottom of the cover)
Compete to prove your strength and raw power. First place winners get 5,000 gold coins, 2nd placers get 2,500 coins, 3rd place gets kicked out of the place.
(Twilight rubbed her temples in pain, “This poster hurts me.”)
Come and face off against the great champion, Mirrored Frame, the unbeaten unicorn.
Twilight looked at the name of the champion with an arched eyebrow, “Wait, Mirrored Frame? Why does name sound familiar.”
Pinkie Pie leaped up and down in her seat, “Oh, I know! He was that perfectionist grump that used to bully you during your first year. I remember how I used to prank him so hard sometimes. If I remember right, he’s currently one of the best illusionists that the emperor has.”
The girls eyes sprung up in the realization of the news as Pinkie said it, “So, if we beat him, not only do we get the money…but we can catch him outside and take his card.”
“As much as Ah don’t cotton to stealin, this might be the only way to do it. We’ll have to make sure he’s too weak to stop us from taking the card,” AJ said, “And then we’ll have to find a way to get these ponies over their racism.”
“Why, if we take down the emperor and then his mind wipe spell and any other spells he has will be wiped,” Dash looked at AJ, curious to what she was getting at, “Won't it?”
“It might not, what if some of these ponies still harbor grudges after we’re done with this adventure?”
Fluttershy looked up from her drink, “Then, they might get angrier and angrier with each other. To where they won't want to work together any more, to the point where they might even want a civil war for all of the crimes that the other did.”
“Right, if we’re not careful, then we could end up in a worse situation than we are now,” Twilight said, drinking her tea, “Magic can't wipe away old hate and it can’t just wipe away whatever wrong somepony did to another. It has be worked on through forgiveness and cooperation. To get over all of this, the ponies need to get over their differences and work together. What they need, is something to unify them and make them forget whatever superiority complexes that they might have. We need a symbol, something to unify them.
“That’s why its going to be me entering that tournament,” AJ said, finishing her cider.
“Why not me,” Dash asked, looking hurt.
“Look, Rainbow, Ah sparred with ya so I know you can be a good fighter. You’re still a Pegasus though and if you win, all they’ll see is a Pegasus winning and showing off how good they are. If Ah win…”
Twilight’s eyes opened up in happiness, “Then they can see how Earth ponies can be just as good as any other ponies. While me and the girls can do some propaganda from behind the scenes as you fight. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, do you two think you could walk around and talk to the crowd, maybe show that none of them are superior. Dash, you could help to work the crowd into AJ’s favor.”
“What about us,” Fluttershy asked, hoping not to get into a fight.
“She might need assistance, so we’ll keep an eye on her from the stands. That way, if she needs any healing supplies, Fluttershy can help. Sweetie, you’ll be with me and Fluttershy,” In a happy agreement, Sweetie nodded quickly.
“We better hurry,” Pinkie said, looking down at the flyer, “It says that the sign ups end in an hour.”
Nodding quickly, the ponies all paid for their drinks and ran off to the coliseum where they got AJ signed up, “Well, if the Earth pony slime wants to die that easily, then let her.” Said the guy at the sign up as he wrote AJ down and showed her where to wait for her turn.
The others, meanwhile, walked into the main stage of the coliseum to find and take their seats, “WOW! This is awesome,” Dash said as she flew up high above the ring that stood in the middle of circular arena. Surrounding the rather large ring were rows upon rows of seats that were capable to sit the entire city plus more if needed. Dash continued to fly up higher along the three story high coliseum, admiring the height, she brought forth a confident smirk as she flew back down. This place was obviously designed so flies could use their natural abilities to their full extent and it made her wish that she was the one competing instead. As she flew by and watched some of the ponies walk in, she thought she caught a glimpse of somepony she thought was familiar, “... No, it can’t be her. She wouldn’t be watching this.”
As Twilight took her seat, she watched as her friends took their positions to begin their little propaganda campaign. Beside her, two unicorn stallions took their seats and watched, “I heard that an earth pony mare has entered, can you believe it,” he asked, a voice of disbelief coming from him, “She is either very cocky, or stupid.”
Twilight smirked as Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle sat next to her, “ I don’t know, maybe she just knows that she is going to win. The skill of a pony can surprise you.”
Inside, AJ was led to her own individual locker room. It was a small cell-like place with a small bathroom on one side and a small med-kit on the other, “The bathroom is for washing and to get the blood off,” Said the large stallion, “The med-kit is for your small injuries. If your limbs get broken, then that is your problem.”
AJ looked up and around her small room, noticing that there were no windows, “Why can’t Ah see out there,” she asked looking up at the intercom meant to announce her next round.
“It’s to prevent the combatants from figuring out a strategy for taking on their next opponent. The fight managers say it makes it more exciting for all,” the unicorn stallion smirked sinisterly as the voice boomed over the intercom.
“Will AJ and Deathlord, please come to their respective rings please.”
The stallion moved aside to let AJ out, “Oh, first round. Guess you won't have to figure out how to beat the other opponents after all. Such a shame that a worthless inbred earth pony hick loses in the first round,”
A few minutes later found the unicorn on the floor screaming in pain, “my baby teeth, I think I lost my baby teeth!!!!!”
_________________
Outside in the arena, the lights dimmed magically as a skinny and sickly looking unicorn came to the center of the ring. Looking around the arena, his tiny legs began to shake as he looked at the audience. On his flank was a megaphone that rocked as his legs shook and he coughed a bit before taking a deep breath, “FILLIES AND GENTLECOLTS WELCOME TO MURDER IN MISMA,” Soft Spoken bellowed with a voice that shook the arena, “ LETS GET READY TO RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMBBBBBBBBBLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEE!!!!! NOW TO INTRODUCE THE COMBATANTS AND THE RULES, THE MASTER OF CEREMONIES- IRON WILL!” With that, Soft turned to the side and let a large blue Minotaur step to the ring.
“ALL RIGHT EVERYONE! ARE YOU READY TO WATCH THE GRAND SPECTACLE OF MURDER IN MISAMA,” this question was met with an overwhelming round of applause while Twilight groaned in pain, “ IN CASE THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME IN EXPERIENCING AWESOME CREATURES FIGHTING ALL OUT WAR, HERE ARE THE RULES:
1.) IF THE PONY ISN'T DOWN, THEN IT ISN'T THE END OF THE ROUND. THEY’LL FIGHT UNTIL THE OTHER IS NOT MOVING ANYMORE, AND IF THAT MEANS DEATH… THEN WE’LL APOLOGIZE LATER.”
The girls’ eyes shot up at this rule and looked at the ring with a tinge of nervousness.
“RULE 2) IF IT COMES FROM THE OUTSIDE, THEN BRUSH IT ASIDE!!! THIS IS A BARE HOOVES, HORN, CLAWS, HANDS, AND TENTACLE FIGHTING MATCH, AND FURTHERMORE… NO MAGIC! WINGS ARE FINE THOUGH.”
“Aw, yeah!,” Dash said, flapping her wings a little.
“ BEYOND THAT…ANYTHING GOES FOR THIS AWESOME BATTLE. NOW, LETS MEET OUR FIRST CONTESTANTS,” With an extravagant pose, the bull-thing pointed his massive arms to the right side of the arena, “ FROM THE WORLD UNKNOWN, THE EARTH PONY WHOSE NO PHONY. THE MEAN TREE CRUSHER, THE SMASHER OF DISASTERS, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ,” with a bob of his head and a snap kick of his legs, the lights shown onto AJ as she came out from the side of the arena, only to hear a few claps and cheers followed by some small coughing, “AAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNND TO MY LEFT, HER OPPONENT. THE CREATURE OF MASS DEVESTATION, THE BRINGER OF THE MANE PAIN, THE SMASHER OF THE CLOSED GATE, THE CRUSHER OF FATE, THE HALF BREED FROM THE SEA, THE DEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATH,” clapping his hands and then thrusting his left arm behind him while holding his head to his fist, “LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDDDDD.”
From the left side of the arena came the strangest beast that AJ had ever seen in her life. Though most of his body was the size of a normal stallion and little bigger than her, it was his top part that made her do a double take. It was like he had the body of a monkey stitched to where the neck and head of the horse should have been. Slowly did the unusual creature walk towards the center of the arena to meet AJ. Only a little intimidated by the monsters size, AJ looked up at the creature and straight into his eyes, “Tell me, is Deathlord your real name?”
“No,” the beast said as he looked down at AJ, “actually my real name is Steve Bustanoggin, but its kinda hard to be awesome with a name like Steve.”
AJ shrugged and nodded in agreement as she went back to her corner as the Minotaur shouted, “ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNDDDDDDDD BEGIN!” With that call, the large beast (which Twilight later would describe as a Centaur) charged at AJ and reared up to kick her. Moving quickly, AJ leaped back to dodge the front kick and then thrusted the elbows of her forelegs into Deathlord’s stomach. Wincing from the pain of the two hits, the brown centaur uppercutted the orange mare in the chin and then bucked her in the barrel to send her flying across the arena. Sliding along the floor, AJ winced from the sharp pain in her chest and slowly got back to her feet as the centaur walked to her. Raising his right fist, he thrusted it hard into AJ’s side.
The ponies in the crowd all winced at the action, and then turned their heads to look to see if the mare had been broken from the hit. They were all surprised to see AJ not only taking the full brunt of the attack, but was standing there with a cocky smirk on her face. While Deathlord was surprised to see her taking his best punch, AJ used her left forehoof to swat the creature’s arm away and deliver multiple blows to the centaur’s chest and stomach with her elbows and hooves. Deathlord took a step back to try and get away from the combination. Reaching out with his right arm, he grabbed one of AJ’s legs and pulled her closer to him so he could punch her in the face twice and drop her to the ground. Dazed, AJ watched as he reared up to kick her with his forehooves. Moving quickly, she rolled out of the way to avoid getting smashed. A sneer came to the centaur as he slammed his elbow into AJ’s back twice, picked her up by her ponytail and then bucked her across the arena.
Hitting the side of the arena with a loud grunt of pain, AJ weakly got back up and coughed a little to clear her lungs. As she looked up for her opponent, she watched as he reared up and began to slam his fore legs into AJ’s body again and again. Each painful blow laying an obvious welt into AJ’s shoulders and chest; and as the centaur pulled back from delivering so much pain, he reared up to slam both forelegs into AJ. As he thrusted his legs down, he watched in shock as the blonde pony caught both forehooves with her own and began to push him back a few feet with a loud grunt and pushed him to the side. The side of his stallion body vulnerable, AJ bucked her hind legs into his body several times and then kicked his right foreleg enough to break it.
Enraged, the Centaur grabbed AJ’s head by her mane and slammed it into the ground several times and then bucked her into the side, causing her to slide across the ground. As she slowly got back to her feet, she watched as the black haired behemoth walked closer to her, “Thank you for the battle, young mare. You were a fantastic opponent,” He said as he reared up to finish the fight.
“So were you,” AJ said, a smirk on her face, “Shame about the balls though.”
“Balls? What do you,” his answer came to him as the orange mare turned on her forehooves and bucked him in the manhood as hard as she would a tree. The centaur’s eyes open wide in sudden pain as he let out an unstallionly scream of pain. As he got to his knees in pain, AJ turned and bucked him hard in the stomach and chest before uppercutting him with her forehoof and knocking him out.
“AND THE WINNER OF THIS ROUND, THE BLONDE FARMER OF PAIN- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ,” Iron Will shouted as he held AJ’s hoof up in victory.
“What a vulgar way of attacking,” said one of the unicorns setting next to Twilight.
A smile came across Twilight’s face, “Well, it wouldn’t be anything that I would come up with,” she said as Fluttershy flew off from her seat and to AJ’s side, “ But it was ingenious in its attack. I guess that is something that Earth ponies are just good at, being inventive. After all, they need something to make up for their lack of wings and horns.”
The stallion smiled back in response, “Well, I knew about that. I used to have a close friend who was an earth pony. He was smart as a wick and probably one of the strongest ponies you would ever see,” as the memory of a long lost friend came to him, he seemed to forget his previous dismissal of the race, “ I wonder why I haven’t talked to him in a while…we used to be such great friends. How did I forget-“
“Because, about 5 years ago, you got into your head that because you had that horn, you were better than I was,” the yellow earth pony stallion said right behind the blue stallion.
“Oh, I see,” the blue stallion looked up at the yellow earth pony with apologetic
eyes, “Why did I think that again, it was so stupid! Can you forgive me?”
The yellow earth pony smiled, “Hey, you just had some stupid ideas put into your head, sure I could. Maybe later we could get some drinks and we could talk about what we’ve been up to lately?”
A soft smile came to the blue unicorn’s face, “I…I would love to.”
Down below in the ring, Fluttershy was standing next to AJ, “Are you sure you’re ok? Those hits looked fierce and I think one of your bones maybe cracked.”
AJ just shook her head and put a hoof onto her shoulder, “I’ll be fine Fluttershy, you just get back up into the stands and watch out for me.”
Up in the higher stands, Rainbow had been looking at the ponies, “What is wrong with you? She just took down a huge opponent like it was nothing, now let me hear you! AJ AJ AJ, “ as she cheered, some of the crowd mildly began to join in with the cheering.
__________________________________________________
As the tournament went on, AJ fought harder and stronger opponents. Throughout her battles, there were some easily won victories while there some hard fought wins. However, each time she won her respective battles, she gained more and more fans. At what was once a small smattering of ponies were now becoming a large crowd of supporters and fans; some were so into her appearance that one fan would eagerly make jerky movements and grunts before foaming at the mouth and collapsing in a faint. While the battles waged on, it seemed that some of the unicorns and pegasi were beginning to change their outlooks on the Earth ponies. In the stands, the respect was causing their previous prejudices to fade away, as if a spell was being dispelled from their minds. Friendships were being forged within the stands as bets were made and jokes were had at the losing opponent’s expense. Even inside the locker room, it seemed that the moods were lightening up to her as the unicorn stallion that had his teeth knocked out, now offered AJ some medical help in the form of healing potions.
In time, the tournament rounded down until the last two opponents were at the ready to fight. Iron Will strode onto the arena floor with his usual flair while sparklers went off behind him, “FILLIES AND GENTLECOLTS, ARE YOU READY FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP BOUT,” At this question there was a resounding large collections of cheers and hollers while ponies held up signs to cheer on the last two combatants, “IN THIS CORNER, WE HAVE THE STEELY EARTH PONY HERSELF, THE RAD NAD CRUSHER, THE SNAKE BATTLER, THE CRUSHER OF MIGHT, THE SPAMMER OF KICKS, AAAAAAAAAAAJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ,” As the large Minotaur did a two finger pointing pose to AJ as she came out, a resounding wave of cheers came across the entire coliseum, “AAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNDDDDDD HER OPPONENT, THE UNDEFEATED CHAMPION. THE STALLION WITHOUT A BRUISE, THE MIRROR OF DEVESTATION, THE FRAME WITH THE BEST FAME, MIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRREEEEEDDDDDDD FRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEE,” At this, the smoke cleared away as the unicorn stallion walked into the arena. Shaking his long and flowing red mane, he smiled a pair of pearly whites at AJ. As he strode closer to the center to meet with her, his muscles seemed to ripple underneath his shining white coat.
“I must say, I had never seen an Earth pony get this far in the fight,” He said, with an arrogant tone in his voice, “ If you can still move those lower legs of yours after this fight… maybe I could give them the proper workout that somepony of your stature deserves.”
A frown came to AJ’s face, “ Do you remember what happened to the first guy? Yeah, make a hit on me like that again and you’ll lose any reason to call yourself a stallion.”
Mirrored stepped back a little at that comment, as if his pride had just been insulted. He then smiled maliciously as he readied himself to put this mare into her place. As the announcer began the round, AJ ran to her opponent and began to deliver a flurry of blows to the unicorn stallion. Her orange elbows, hooves, and head were a blur of action as she hit the stallion. Stepping back, she opened her eyes in shock as she saw that she had barely hurt him. Before she had a chance to figure out the situation, the stallion hit her in the face hard with his right hoof and then kicked her right leg with his left. Taking a few steps back, she moved to his side and bucked him with her hind legs as hard as she could. The white stallion only smiled as he took the hit, not even flinching. AJ’s eyes opened in shock as she saw that she didn’t even hurt him and then watched as he brought his right hind leg into AJ’s side, knocking her back hard. Still recovering from that hit, she tried to stand up but the white unicorn stabbed her right foreleg with his horn and sliced her chest.
Panting, she jumped back a little and tried to keep standing despite the pain. The snowy white unicorn had an evil smile as he watched the orange mare get to her feet and charge at him. Dodging a few of her blows, he soon swiped her left foreleg with his right and then slammed his leg onto hers, breaking her leg. AJ let out a painful scream as she felt her leg snap and then felt the unicorn grab her pony tail with his teeth and then slam his foreleg onto her back several times. He then turned and bucked her across the arena, “This is bad, really bad,” Twilight said as she watched the fight ensue, “There has to be something that we can do to help her.”
“How…how can he be doing this Twilight,” Fluttershy asked, tears coming to her blue eyes as she feared for her dear friend, “How can he take so many hits.”
As Twilight watched the fight ensue, she began to think, “He shouldn’t be able to though. He should at least be showing some signs of fatigue right now, or something to show that he’s hurting. The only way that he could be…that’s it! Magic! He’s using magic in someway without the others knowing, but how can I prove it without using magic,” her purple eyes looked around and saw some of the guards watching the stands, “If I use magic to dispel the illusion, then it would look bad on AJ’s part. I have to figure out how to prove it without them knowing…A distraction!”
“COME ON AJ! Don’t let this jerk beat you so easily,” Said Rainbow Dash as she was flying out of her seat.
“Rainbow, come here! I need to talk to you,” Twilight yelled to the cyan Pegasus.
“What is it Twi, can't you see that AJ is in trouble,” Dash asked as she flew down to Twilight’s level.
“Yes I know,” Twilight said, trying not to watch the beatdown that AJ was receiving, “Dash, I need you to tell Pinkie to cause a large distraction in order to keep the guards occupied.”
“Righto,” Dash said as she flew up to where Pinkie was in the stands, “Pinkie, we need a distraction.”
“Ok, but what kind? Big and Flashy, or loud and obnoxious,” Pinkie asked, eyes open in excitement.
“Uhhhh, Big and Flashy,” Dash said, confused a little.
“GOT IT,” the excited pink mare said as she pulled out a large cannon and fired a large and flashy firework into the air and blinding most of the crowd.
As Twilight kept her eyes onto the combatants and away from the flash, “ Perfect! Now lets see what secrets that this guys is hiding,” Twilight thought to herself as she used her magic to detect any illusions on Mirrored Frame. As she subtly wrapped him in some magic, she saw the truth that he was hiding from crowd. That underneath his perfect exterior, was a very beaten and hurt stallion who was keeping an illusion that he was fine, “That jerk! He’s cheating.”
“Oh, my. How?” The yellow Pegasus said as she looked on.
“Hes using an illusion spell to trick his opponents into thinking that they aren’t doing anything and then, when they are discouraged and too weak to fight anymore, he goes in and finishes them off.”
“Does AJ know,” Fluttershy asked, looking on in fear.
“I think she already does, that’s why she still going. She knows that he’s lying and she knows that she is doing something. Its just that right now, hes been able to get too many lucky hits on her for it to make a difference,” a worried expression came to Twilight as she watched, “What we need is something to heal her and to get her strength back. We need something that can turn the odd…I got it,” She then turned her head to Sweetie Belle, “Sweetie.”
The little white filly looked up at the purple unicorn next to her and whistled in acknowledgement.
“Your flute, it can heal and restore with magic right,” a smile came to her as she watched the filly whistle an energetic yes, “Good I need you to play some music. Don’t worry about the guards, they’ll be too busy looking for the pony who shot that firework to see you. Fluttershy, I need you to sing.”
“I…i…in front of all of these ponies?” Fluttershy asked.
“Fluttershy, if you don’t then AJ could die!”
A look of determination came to her eyes as she turned to the fight, “Right, for AJ!”
Putting her flute to her mouth, a smile came to Sweetie’s face as she began to play.
Fluttershy
Takes a deep breath and egins to sing at the top of her lungs, causing some of the ponies around her to notice the small singing voice coming from the stands; and while she sung, Sweetie Belle’s horn glowed a soft pink glow which matched the glow coming from the flute. As she continued to play, waves of soft magical energy began to encircle AJ as she laid there, bleeding and broken.
[
Pinkie Pie
Begins to listen to the song Fluttershy was singing and began to bob her head along with the music. Getting the idea from the way that AJ had started to glow from the spell, smiled as she began to join in with the next verse.
Iron Will watched this take place, and began to figure out what was going on. A smirk came to him as he decided to let it happen, after all he hated Mirrored Frame. His continuous cheating and wins took away from the fun and excitement of watching the new victors trying to win and better themselves. Underneath his breath, he muttered, “Go get him, girls.”
Rarity, watching AJ glow and begin to slowly get up, the wounds on her body slowly dissipating, began to realize what was happening to her friend and began to get into the spirit of the fight.
As Rainbow Dash watched her friend get back up, her wounds fading away. She decided to add her own brand of excitement to the crowd. As she prepared herself to sing, she noticed out of the corner of her eye a pink blue maned Pegasus, “No, it can’t be. Not here, she wouldn’t be here,” Shaking her head free of the thought, she turned to the crowd and pumped her hooves in the air
Rainbow Dash Begins to fly around the stage, getting the other to join in with her.
[i
Mane 4 (feeling pumped)
AJ began to stand up straight and tall, her wounds all but forgotten as she charged at the white unicorn. Mirrored’s eyes opened in utter shock as AJ delivered several blows into the stallion’s chest and face. She then turned to buck his head, but the unicorn ducked under the kick and uppercut her into the stomach causing her to flip onto her back. Walking over to her, the red mane fighter raised his forehooves to bring them down upon AJ. Rolling to her side, she quickly got back up and bucked the stallion to the side.As he reeled from the hit, AJ bucked him again and then backed hoofed him in the face. Stepping back, Frame felt something dribble down the side of his mouth. Wiping his hoof across his mouth, he saw the blood coming out.
Smiling, Twilight couldn’t help but join in with the song as she got up and hoofbumped the air.
Enraged at bleeding for the first time in his fighting career, he began to get mad at AJ and charged at her, flailing his arms and horn uncontrollably and without any form to his style. AJ just began to dodge each blow that came at her, getting him a little more tired from his overexertion.
Dash watched from above and then turned to the crowd, flying around in a circle, “Come on you ponies. Lets give AJ a good show for how much we want her to lay this cheating stallion down. Now, lets hear it for her!”
The crowd looked towards the cyan Pegasus and then back down to the arena. Their eyes glared at Mirrored Frame as he began to lose control of the illusion and the fight. Turning their eyes towards the tried and true orange mare, they too began to join in with the song, causing her to glow even more.
Iron will leapt onto the stands and joined with Sweetie Belle, guitar in hand as he began to join in with the filly in playing a solo.
AJ blocked a few more blows coming in from the stallion as his wound became more and more obvious as the illusion began to dissipate. As he saw his injuries come to light for the first time, he realized what he was doing wrong and began to calm himself. Breathing in deeply, he swerved to the side and used his horn to cut into the back of AJ’s right hind leg. Collapsing to her knees, the unicorn then kicked her with his forelegs twice and then bucked her flank into the side of the arena. Growling fiercely, he began to walk slowly towards the kneeling mare.
As Mirrored raised his hooved to slam them down on AJ’s skull in order to break it, he did not notice the glow surrounding AJ. Swiftly did the two hooves came down on her, and just as swiftly did AJ jump out of the way and bucked him hard in the skull with her rear hooves. This caused the red maned stallion to step back dazed while AJ kicked him hard with her front hooves a few more times
As Mirrored Frame took a few steps back from the blows that his skull got, causing small cracks to form on his horn; his opponent uppercut his chin up and then stroke his neck with her elbow before knocking his head down and headbutted him twice before punching him hard with her forehoof.
AJ
Can never bring ME down
Turning around, AJ bucked the stallion hard and sent him flying across the arena, unconscious.
As AJ stood over her opponent, the other girls jumped over the stands and raced to AJ to wash her over in a group of hugs and congrats from all sides, so much so that they did not notice Mirrored Frame slowly get up and walk away with a bad limp. It was not until after Iron Will had given the mare her prize money and her trophy that the mares saw that the stallion had escaped. After thanking Iron Will, the mares went out of the gate to search for him. As Dash flew up into the sky to see if she could find him, she saw the pink Pegasus that she spotted from before fly into a nearby bar, “Oh, it is her,” deciding to hold off on searching for her quarry, the rainbow maned Pegasus flew after her prey.
Luckily for her, she did not have to worry too much about missing Mirrored, who was hiding out in an alley just a few feet away from her. Panting, he began to look for where he would go next; however, that thought was cut short as he was tied up by a golden lasso. Pulling him closer to her, AJ stood in front of him with the other girls at her side, “Ok, lets get a few questions done here. First do you have a card that lets you into the libarary?”
Mirrored growled and was about to make a rude comment, but found himself unable to as he said, “Yes.”
“Where is it,” AJ asked, tightening her lasso a little bit.
“Front right pocket of my uniform,” he said as he moved his suit to show where it was.
“Thank ya kindly,” AJ said as she took the card.
“But, where’s Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy asked, looking around to see any trace of her friend.
“She went off to the bar just a few blocks down. Apparently she spied a cutie Pegasus flying down that way. If I had any self confidence in my stallionhood, I would ask her out; however, I have to compensate for my smallness by being misogynistic.”
Pinkie Pie giggled at the way he was talking, “Oh, this is great. Tell me, do you still sleep with a teddy bear?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think that Iron Will is hot?”
“Yes, but I liked Shining Armor more. He is such a hottie.”
Twilight’s face contorted in sickness, “Oh he’s my brother! Just no.”
“Have you ever written fanfiction?”
“Yes”
Rarity shrugged, “Well, that certifies it…he is a complete nerd.”
“Were you a geek in high school?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever…”
“Ok sugarcube I think he’s had enough,” AJ said, untying him from her lasso. Chuckling from getting his secrets out, AJ looked to the street ahead, “We need to see what Rainbow’s doing in that there bar.”
Rarity looked at the bar and then back at Sweetie, “You girls go on ahead, I will take some of our winnings and find us a room to stay in for tonight before we hit the library.”
Twilight looked back at Rarity and then back to AJ, “I’ll go with Rarity and then let you guys know when we find something.”
The other girls gave a quick nod as they went down the street to the bar where the stallion pointed out where he saw Rainbow.
-----------------------------------
Meanwhile, inside ‘Nyx, Zilch, and Nada Booze and Dooze’ Rainbow Dash walked into the bar slowly. Looking over the many patrons and drinkers sitting around the bar and the various tables, her eyes caught sight of the pink Pegasus that she was tracking earlier. Trotting over to the bar table, she ordered a round of cider and sat next to the blue mane Pegasus with a lightning bolt cutie mark, ““ Gen. Firefly, leader of the emperor’s flight team and scouts. Trainer of the elite and one of the best dang fliers around,” slowly did Dash take a drink of her cider, “ So what brings you here… Mother.”
A chuckle came from the Pegasus, “like I need a reason to check up on my daughter now that she’s done being stoned.”
“So that’s all this is, a family visit,” Dash asked, taking another drink from her cider.
“Yes, and I figured I needed to give my traitorous daughter a warning,” Firefly said, looking at the now empty mug of cider, “That once she manages to get that tracking spell, the emperor is going to find out and will send out some attack dogs on you. I should know, I’m one of them.”
Rainbow Dash let out an exasperated sigh, “Should’ve known that my traitor of a mother would be the one who got the job of hunting us down.”
“ I’M NOT A TRAITOR,” Firefly yelled, “I am just too old to try and save the queens by going off onto some foolhardy rebellion idea. Let’s not forget, I am the one who’s been telling the emperor that your little marefriend is nothing to worry about and been keeping what she is a secret,” she said as she pointed a hoof to Rainbow, “How long do you think she would’ve lived without you once mr. “I detest four legged beasts and nature lovers like druids’ found out that she is actually pretty good when she wants to? Answer: DEAD!”
Rainbow Dash was about to say something in defense, but then shrank back down, “First, she is not my marefriend. She is just somepony that I need to protect with my life, just like you used to protect Posey. Second,” Dash let out a sigh, “ I suppose I should thank you for protecting her when I couldn’t. But you are still a traitor to the queens.”
Firefly hung her head low, “Still don’t get it, I serve them better as a mole. Still,” a smirk came to her face as she looked to Rainbow Dash, “I do hope that I do get another chance to hunt you down.” She said, ruffling Dash’s mane with a pink hoof, “Then I get to see if I can out race you this time.”
Rainbow Dash moved away from the affectionate rub, “Like that would ever happen. You know I can beat you ANYDAY.”
“Well see, my little rainbow,” She then kissed Rainbow on the forehead before walking out the bar, “You know, you have your dad’s mane, it looks so cute. OH by the way,” She said, winking to the bar keep, “She’s footing the bill, it seems that her best friend just came into a lot of money.”
“I’M NOT PAYING FOR ANYTHING YOU CHEAPSKATE,” Rainbow yelled to the Pegasus as AJ and the other walked in.
“Who was that,” AJ asked.
“Just a pegasus who wanted the awesome Dash’s autograph,” Rainbow grumbled.
AJ arched an eyebrow as she saw the little white speck in Dash’s eye, “Sure she was. Now, let me pay your drink, Dash. Twilight and Rarity are trying to find us a place to stay.”
Rainbow Dash happily nodded and began to drink as the group of mares waited for Twilight to come back and tell them of the inn that she Rarity located. It did not take them too long to wait as Twilight came in and told them of the ‘Carrot Top Hop and Stop Inn’ just a few blocks down. Paying for their meal, the girls followed the purple mare into the inn and went into their rooms where they slept in preparation for the next day.