The stage was packed with ponies of different colors, type, and gender. Some of the eliminated fighters were mixed in as well, and there was not one seat in the audience that was not filled. This newly constructed stadium, in the heart of Canterlot, served as the final stage of the tournament.
The loud cheering and thunderous applause was deafening. But it seemed like nothing to Princess Celestia as she addressed the crowd.
"Mares and gentlecolts. Children of all ages. After seven rounds of intense fighting and pulse pounding action, it gives me great pleasure to present our two finalists." Princess Celestia said "In one corner we have Pinkamina Diane Pie. Party planner and thrower extraordinaire."
The spotlights moved to the far left side of the stage and shined on Pinkie Pie. She was as excited as ever as she waved to the audience. She had never exepcted to make it this far.
"And in the other corner we have Rainbow Spectrum Dash. The fastest pegasus in all of Cloudsdale." Princess Celestia said.
The spotlights moved to the far right side of the stage and shined on Rainbow Dash. She soaked up the auidence's attention like a sponge. "I can't hear you!" she said over the roar of the crowd, prompting them to cheer her name even louder then before.
"Only one of these ponies will emerge victorious and earn the right to face me for the prize." Princess Celestia said "So without further ado, let's get this show on the road!" The audience erupted into applause that was so loud it could be heard for miles.
"So you're my next opponent?" Rainbow Dash asked "Is this a joke?"
"Oh it's not a joke Dashie." Pinkie Pie said "I made it here fair and square."
"Are you saying I cheated?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Don't be silly." Pinkie Pie said "I doubt you'd ever stoop that low."
"Very funny Pinkie Pie." Rainbow Dash said "I just hope you realize you don't stand a chance. You'll never beat me!"
"Ooh, I'm shaking in my horseshoes!" Pinkie Pie said jokingly.
"Joke all you want Pinkie." Rainbow Dash said "But I will defeat you."
"Bring it on Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie said.
"A fool and her money are soon parted." Rainbow Dash said.
"I'm no fool." Pinkie Pie said.
"You are if you think you can beat me." Rainbow Dash said "Not that I think you won't try."
"Now then, a simple coin toss shall determine which stage the fighters will battle on." Princess Celestia said. Using her magic she launched a coin into the air. She let it come back down, and then picked it up and looked at it. "It's tails!" she said "So that means, with the help of tournament officials Rainbow Dash's stage will be recreated!" She then instructed the unicorns to light up their horns and channel the magic into a special machine.
Within seconds, the background changed from a state of the art stadium with thousands of screaming fans, to the floating city known as Cloudsdale. And the magic used to power the change of scenery also ensured that Pinkie Pie wouldn't fall through the clouds.
"Fighters are you ready?" Princess Celestia asked as both Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash took up their positions. Both fighters nodded. "Round 1, Fight!" Princess Celestia said.
"This is the beginning of the end for you Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow Dash said, using her wings to propel herself and delivered a lighting fast punch. Pinkie Pie took the hit head on.
"Nice one Dashie." Pinkie Pie said, groaning a little "Now it's my turn!". She raced forward and delivered a high level kick. Rainbow Dash dodged it by flying upward.
"Did you forget about my wings Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Nope." Pinkie Pie said.
"Well it doesn't matter, because you've got your work cut out for yo!." Rainbow Dash said, flying forward and delivering another punch. Once again Pinkie Pie took the hit. This time however she shrugged it off.
"Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on, well you know the rest." Pinkie Pie said, racing forward. This time instead of a kick she delivered a strong high level punch. Rainbow Dash thought she had managed to dodge it but somehow the attack connected.
"How did you do that?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"If I told you it wouldn't be much of a secret. Besides, even I'm not sure how I pulled that off." Pinkie Pie said. Rainbow Dash apparently didn't listen. She allowed the lingering questions about Pinkie Pie to distract her, and before long she was no longer fighting at peak performance, though from the way she was fighting it was a little hard to tell. And even then her attacks still packed quite a punch. In fact you almost wouldn't have noticed her less then impressive skills.
At first Pinkie Pie didn't mind. She was happy to be able to tie things up and take the lead. But eventually she started to grow bored. This was not how she wanted to win. "Come on Dashie, get your head in the game." she said "I'm winning too easily and it's all because you're distracted."
"What are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked. By this point she was covered in bruise marks.
"See? That's the problem." Pinkie Pie said "You're not concentrating."
"I'm not?" Rainbow Dash askedd.
"Yup." Pinkie Pie said "You can ask me all the questions you want later, but for right now I need you to focus on our fight. I want to beat you Rainbow Dash, but I want to beat you fair and square. It wouldn't be very fun if I won while knowing you didn't try your best."
"You mean it?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Would I ever lie to you?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"No." Rainbow Dash said.
"So then what the hay are you waiting for?!" Pinkie Pie asked "Pony up and fight like a mare!"
For a moment Rainbow Dash didn't reply. She was too deep in thought. But when the moment passed she said "Sure thing Pinkie Pie. No more distractions! Just remember, when I beat you, you asked for it!"
"Now that's the Rainbow Dash I know and love. As a friend of course." Pinkie Pie said.
"Okay, enough with the jokes." Rainbow Dash said "Play time is over!"
"Then come at me!" Pinkie Pie said "And don't hold back!"
"I don't intend to!" Rainbow Dash said, racing forward and trying to grab Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie dodged and countered with a punch. Before Rainbow Dash had a chance to react she felt herself being assaulted by punches, uppercuts, and even a few kicks.
"How do you like this new combo I just came up with?" Pinkie Pie asked "Really packs a punch doesn't it?"
"It packs more then that Pinkie." Rainbow Dash said "Trust me I know." She then fell to the ground.
"K.O.!" Princess Celestia said "Pinkie Pie wins round 1."
"Sorry I got distracted." Rainbow Dash apologized, rising to her hooves. "I promise it won't happen again."
"It had better not." Pinkie Pie said "I want a real challenge. I want action."
"Well you haven't won yet." Rainbow Dash said "Round 2 is going to be a completely different story."
"I sure hope so." Pinkie Pie said.
"Hey, would I ever lie to you?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Didn't I just ask you the same question not that long ago?" Pinkie Pie said.
"Yeah, but the horeshoe's on the other hoof now." Rainbow Dash said.
"Well anyway, I know you wouldn't lie to me." Pinkie Pie said.
"Then you have nothing to worry about." Rainbow Dash said "I'll make sure of that." As soon as she finished saying this Princess Celestia healed both fighters and restored their stamina, even if it hadn't dropped very much.
"That's the spirit Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie said "Now let's give these ponies a show they'll never forget!"
"I'm ready when you are Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Then let's do it!" Pinkie Pie said.
"Fighters are you ready?" Princess Celestia asked as both fighters took up their positions. Both fighters nodded."Round 2, Fight!" Princess Celestia said.
"I'm going all out! Your winning streak ends here!" Rainbow Dash said. She then raced forward, grabbed Pinkie Pie, carried her up a bit, and then dropped her. Surprisingly the impact didn't seem to hurt Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash quickly dismissed the questions from her head.
"That was fun! Let's do it again!" Pinkie Pie said.
"Pinkie Pie, you are so random." Rainbow Dash said, trying not to laugh.
"I know." Pinkie Pie said "Now see if you remember this." She proceeded to pull her party cannon out of nowhere.
"Nice try Pinkie but you'll never hit me with that thing!" Rainbow Dash said "I'm just too fast!"
Pinkie Pie seemed to ignore her and fired the party cannon anyway. Rainbow Dash dodged it with ease.
"Hate to say I told so but I told you so!" Rainbow Dash said. Then without warning she got a strong punch to the face. "Ouch, that smarts!" she groaned.
"Gotcha!" Pinkie Pie said "The party cannon was just a diversion, and you fell for it, hook, line, and sinker."
"Oh you clever little filly!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Why thank you!" Pinkie Pie said, giggling slightly.
The fight soon became an intense seesaw of a match. Both sides seemed to be evenly match. Punch after punch, kick after kick, uppercut after uppercut. Neither side seemed willing to give up. The whole time the auidence was glued to their seats. No one even seemed willing to blink. The one attribute that everyone thought Rainbow Dash had all locked up, speed, was actually on the same level for both fighters.
"I've got to break out of this unofficial tie." Rainbow Dash thought to herself "And I know just the move for the job. The 'Sonic Rainboom'!" Without saying a word Rainbow Dash took off. Flying as high and as fast as her wings could carry her. She was trying to build up enough speed and altitude to pull off her signature move. Then with the speed boost provided, she would turn things around and tie things up. The plan was fool proof.
Or so she thought. At first Pinkie Pie wasn't sure just what Rainbow Dash was trying to do. Then suddenly her 'Pinkie Sense' started going crazy. It was predicting a doozy, and at this point nothing was more unexpected then a "Sonic Rainboom". "That must be it." she thought to herself "Dashie's trying to pull off a 'Sonic Rainboom'. Well she's going to have a little surprise waiting for her when she does."
"Okay this should be high enough." Rainbow Dash said "Pinkie Pie's never going to see this coming." She jumped off of a cloud and began diving down. Within seconds a familar mach cone formed around her. And despite the protests of her body to stop Rainbow Dash pressed on. Not long afterward she broke through the sound barrier, and produced a rainbow colored shockwave with a loud bang. She had pulled off another "Sonic Rainboom".
But to her surprise she was greeted not with the site of a shocked and surprised Pinkie Pie, but with a fully charged Party Cannon. "You have got to be kidding me." she said to herself. She knew she was finished.
"Say goodbye Dashie!" Pinkie Pie said, pressing the trigger button. A second later Rainbow Dash was hit by the streamers and party supplies head on, and she crashed to the ground.
"K.O.!" Princess Celestia said "The winner of this match is Pinkie Pie, who has earned the right to face me."
"I don't believe it! You beat me!" Rainbow Dash said as the background changed back to the Canterlot Stadium.
"Well the best mare won right?" Pinkie Pie said "No hard feelings?"
Rainbow Dash sighed and reluctantly swallowed her pride. "No hard feelings." she said.
"Good." Pinkie Pie said.
"Well now that you've beat me you'd better not lose to Princess Celestia!" Rainbow Dash said "If you do I'll kick your losing behind from here to Cloudsdale! I mean it!"
"I'll keep that in mind." Pinkie Pie said as she and Rainbow Dash had their wounds healed, and their stamina restored. They then shook hooves.
"Remember Pinkie Pie, don't you dare think of losing!" Rainbow Dash said "I'll be watching you."
"I know you will." Pinkie Pie said "Now go join our friends and cheer me to victory. And when it's all over I'll throw an awesome party to celebrate."
"I'll look forward to it." Rainbow Dash said.
"Glad to hear it." Pinkie Pie said.
"I never thought you'd make it so far." Twilight said "Believe me I was shocked when you made it past the first round."
"I'm just glad I didn't have to fight you." Applejack said "After a battle like that you're certainly a force to be reckoned with."
"Promise me you'll be careful." Fluttershy said "I'm rooting for you."
"Best of luck darling." Rarity said "I'm sure you'll do great.
Pinkie Pie didn't show it, but on the inside she felt a little nervous. Celestia was certain to be her greatest challenge yet.