Canterlot, 11:00 PM
A royal guard had led the group of ponies to the palace hospital. This place was designed for the royal guards, but they were allowed to have Applebloom taken care of. Room number 231 was checked in for her, and she was currently being handled by the doctors. The group of ponies was sitting outside her room, and many of the ponies were twiddling their hooves, especially Scootaloo and Sweetibelle.
"Still can't believe what happened over the past two days..." Rainbow Dash states, everyone could only sigh in agreement. So much happened in such a short time, unlike Big Mac, who remains quiet as usual. "Besides, Celestia knows what we're gonna do with that merc we're keeping in that room."
"Yup." Big Mac replies.
"Hey, where's Shining Armor? He should be here." Twilight tells Cadence.
"Well, I'm not really sure where he is, last time I saw him he was headed for 'his' room." The princess replied, making Twilight widen her eyes.
"Well I'm not going near that brute if it's the last thing I do!" Rarity exclaims loudly. This doesn't help the current situation.
"Rarity, Ah know ya don't appreciate 'im but please." Rarity looks at her with concerned eyes, and simmers down guiltily.
"You know, we did get chance to see him while we were there. While he was at Ponyville he did seem to be stopping that jar brain thing..." Sweetiebelle claims in a shy tone.
"Oh please. He's not a hero!" Rainbow Dash shouts, still using her wheelchair. "Besides, the only hero in Ponyville is me!" The overconfident mare raises her hoof in triumph, but everyone else is just too depressed to deal with her.
"Why was Shining even talking to him anyway?" Twilight points out right after she realizes so.
"I'm not sure. I should look into that later." Cadence replies. Silence invaded them once again. It became so quiet, that the loudest thing they heard was the twiddling of their hooves. There wasn't even a clock around to break the silence.
"Miss." Although it was annoying, the silence allowed them to hear the nurse loud and clear.
"Is she alright?" a slightly panicked Applejack asks.
"She's turned up okay." At the sound of this, everyone shows looks of relief and happiness, especially Applejack. "You can go check on her if you want."
"Gladly!" Applejack exclaims with a smile. They all pile up in the room, which was thankfully rather spacey. A bed was lying in the corner of the room, and lying on the bed was Applebloom, who was injured, but alive and well.
"Applebloom!" The overexcited pony rushes to her with Granny Smith and Big Mac. Applejack embraces her little sister in a hug.
"Applebloom. Ya don't know how much I've missed ya." The filly smiles back at her.
"Ah do big sis'. Ah do." With that, the rest of the family joins in and makes a group hug.The others watched and smiled.
"You know what this means!?" Pinkie shouts to everyone, but Twilight stops her from answering her own question.
"Pinkie, I know you want to throw another one of your ridiculous parties, but we still have a bunch of issues we have to deal with." Pinkie slightly frowns.
"Like what?"
"Gee, I dunno, maybe the masked assassin we're harboring in one of our guest rooms?" Twilight sarcastically speaks. "Or maybe we should ask him about his 'colleagues.' And you know, there's still a bunch of questions I have to ask. He owes me." The seemingly annoyed Twilight points to her bandaged horn.
"You can go ahead Twi. But I gotta stay here with Applebloom."
"We're staying too." Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo say in unison, regardless of the current situation. No objection is made against this, as they understand their feelings for the past events.
"Well I'm headed to find Shining Armor, I'll see you later Twilight!" she properly leaves the group of ponies, with Twilight waving back.
"Alright, I'm headed for his room with you four." she gestures to Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. "Bye Applejack." She waves back without turning, as she was focusing more on Applebloom. Without her magic, Fluttershy has to push Rainbow Dash's wheelchair.
"When these babies get better, I'll teach that bozo a lesson!"
"Um, Twilight, maybe we should save the questions for tomorrow, if that's okay with you. I mean, it is getting late." Twilight tapped her chin a few times before deciding.
"Well, I am rather tired..." This is expressed as she yawns loudly. "Yeah I guess we should head to sleep. It is late. I guess I'm heading to my bed. Goodnight Fluttershy."
"Goodnight Twilight." she replies as she hears Rainbow Dash grunt.
"Alright then, let's head to our guest room." They started to head off, but were quickly interrupted.
"Excuse me, Rainbow Dash I presume?" A different nurse approached them.
"Yeah that's me. What is it?"
"There's someone who would like to see you, if you don't mind following me." Despite the current time, Fluttershy willingly pushed the wheelchair and followed the nurse. They passed guards in wheelchairs, an common sight, since this hospital area was designed for the royal guard. After a minute of walking, the nurse walked up to a door and opened it with her magic.
"Please enter." she requests in a calm tone. Rainbow Dash could only wonder who could be expecting her at a time like this.
*GASP* What she saw shocked her immensely. Three beds were arranged in a row, and in each bed was a pony that she recognized: Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Soarin from the Wonderbolts. Soarin was the only one that seemed to be awake.
"SOARIN!!!" she shouted loudly, with her movement very limited. She had completely forgot Deathstroke's story about how he took on three of the Wonderbolts, but she didn't expect Spitfire to be one of them. "Are you guys alright!?"
"We couldn't... stop him... Too... fast..." his messed up voice trailed off as he continued to stare at nothing in particular. Rainbow Dash managed to turn around despite her current condition.
"Nurse, what's wrong with them!?" The nurse walked over nonchalantly.
"Spitfire and Fleetfoot are unconscious, and we haven't diagnosed Soarin's medical conditions. They're alive, but very injured." The worried pegasus was even more worried, but if you looked closely you could see a hint of anger as well.
"Well, thanks for letting me know."
"No problem." Once again the nurse replies in a calm voice. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash once again try to head to their rooms. While they are on the move, Fluttershy asks a question.
"Um, are you okay Rainbow Dash?"
"It's one thing to mess with me, but when you mess with the Wonderbolts!?" Out of nowhere came the steaming anger of the rainbow colored pegasus.
"He's in for it now!!!"
"But... your wing didn't heal yet..." Fluttershy states in a shy tone.
"That won't stop me. I'll get him... tomorrow." And with that they continued to look for their room. In another place, a purple pony is having just as much trouble as Rainbow is.
"Man, not only is that monkey an assassin, he's really a pain in the flank!" Twilight was still angry about having to put up with him. "And now I don't remember what my room number is. Great. Just great." The frustrated unicorn, her magic still disabled due to the past incident.
"Alright, I guess I should find somepony who can help me." she thinks out loud. Though many frustrations were surrounding her, that didn't stop her inner geek to rise. "If I remember correctly, my room key should be in my satchel, except I don't have magic. Ugggggghhhh!!! Ever since that jerk arrived, nothing's been going right!" Now she was really irritated.
"Okay... I can do this... I just have to-OOF!!!" She ran into something, or someone at the hallway intersection. Recovering, she sees a slightly hurt Cadence standing right in front of her. "Oh I'm so sorry Cadence! I wasn't looking where I was going!"
"Oh it's fine Twilight!" Cadence heartily replies as she recovers.
"So... what are you doing here anyway?" Twilight asks.
"Well, I'm still looking for Shining Armor. Haven't seen him anywhere, did you?"
"No, sorry. Didn't you say he was headed for the mercenary's room?"
"Well I expected he'd be gone by then. I should probably check there." Quickly, she heads in the direction of Deathstroke's room. Twilight follows her and before she gets to say anything, Twilight speaks first.
"I'm going to look for him too. There must be something going on with him." Cadence stares awkwardly for a few moments, then smiles.
"I understand Twilight, but maybe you should get some sleep."
"Oh it's fine, I forgot my room number anyway." They both laugh at this a little too hysterically. With no more argument, they stroll down the fancy palace hallways.
"By the way, I might stay here for a bit."
"Oh? Why's that?"
"Celestia thinks she might need me to handle this guy should anything go wrong."
"I see."
After a bit a talking, they reach Deathstroke's room.
"Uhhhh, could you help me out? I'm not exactly prepared for this." Twilight states.
"Hm? Oh right..." Cadence nervously chuckles. She glows her horn and takes down the force field barricading Deathstroke inside. "Alright, let's head in." And so they entered the darkened room. All they found was their captive sleeping on the couch.
"Well, nothing to find here." Twilight tells Cadence in a disappointed tone. "Still no Shining Armor."
"Where could he be?" Cadence was now more worried. "Hold on, let me turn on the lights." Glowing her horn again, she flicks the light switch, illuminating the room. With more visibility, they see another pony sitting on the couch.
"Shining Armor!?" Both Cadence and Twilight shout in unison and confusion.
"What?" he perks up from his sitting position.
"Shiny where were you!?" Cadence was worried sick.
"I... I was... I should head to sleep." Groggily, he gets up and leaves the room. He didn't even say anything to Cadence. The two mares give each other worried and confused looks.
"I better go after him. Will you be alright Twilight?"
"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Cadence then leaves the room and after Shining Armor. Twilight starts to exit the room as well. Before leaving, she gives Deathstroke one last look of content. She then walks out the door.
6:00 AM
Deathstroke woke up and was ready to face another day in this strange colorful world. His departure was uncertain, but that did not matter at the moment. He had a debt to settle, and he would not leave until it was paid.
"Alright... what did I accomplish so far since I got here? Injure Rainbow pony, injure Royal Guard captain, injure a bunch of guards, injure geeklord, huh. Didn't realize how many people I sent to the hospital." he quietly chuckles to himself. He gets up rather quickly and tries to leave, only to be stopped by a force field.
"Don't trust me eh? Too bad, you're just gonna have to stick with it." Instead of trying to cut it loose with nth metal, he instead would use his fists to try and break it open. He decided he would need a morning workout.
*crack* One punch made a small crack in the force field. Since there was nth metal on his hands, it made the punch more effective. However, the force field slowly fixed the crack, which faded away within a few seconds.
"Time to get real here." he rotates his neck and flexes his muscles.
"CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK!!!" Four consecutive blows break open the force field.
"Dunno what I should do now. Guess I should go find Shiny. He might have something for me to do." Exiting the room, he heads down one of the hallways. "Wonder if he really meant what he said about him being me. But whatever." Deathstroke continues strolling, but has no idea where Shining's room would be.
"Where is that bastard."
"...Deathstroke?" He turns and sees the captain of the royal guard in his bathrobes. Awkward silence engulfs the vicinity. "How'd you get out?"
"Well I got bored. So I escaped and went looking for you." he explains. "Speaking of which, shouldn't you be in your room? With your wife?"
"Uhhhh, well..."
"Nevermind. I don't wanna know." he interrupts quickly.
"Well, there's something I want to show you." Shining Armor states. This gets the attention of Deathstroke. "Follow me."
"If you say so." And so he followed him to wherever he was taking him.
Twenty minutes later
The two of them approached a large door with silver linings and a unique design carved on the front. A shield with two swords crossing symbolized the front of it. Shining Armor glowed his horn and the door opened. They entered, and below them they could see a multitude of guards practicing their skills with various weapons and tactics.
"So this is where the guards get trained." Deathstroke determines just by looking.
"That's correct. Our fighting force is fairly strong, but our real strength are the princesses, and the Elements of Harmony. However, we still need this fighting force for various reasons."
"Don't bother listing them. I can think of a bunch of reasons by myself." They could hear the clanging of swords and the jabbing of spears.
"Tell me Deathstroke, what do you think of this?"
"Not really impressed. But why would you want to know?"
"Well you are an expert in combat. And you did work as a soldier once, like a royal guard."
"True. True."
"CLANG CLANG!!! BONK!!! BIFF!!!" More ruckus could be heard from the constant battle training.
"So what makes this not impressive?"
"Bunch of reasons. Not going to bore you to death with them." They continued to sternly stare at the scene.
"Hey! That's my knife! Give me my knife back!" They turned to see a guard ranting at another.
"I didn't take your knife!"
"I SAID GIVE ME MY KNIFE BACK!!!" The angry guard threw a punch at the other, and soon the other guards rush in and try to stop them. In a few seconds, the angry pony is being dragged by two others into another room unwillingly, as he tries to struggle free.
"There's one reason right there for ya." Deathstroke states jokingly. They both walk to another part of the upper balcony, revealing more of the large training room.
"FIFTY BITS ON THE TALL ONE!!!" Both of them look down and see a large pit. Two guards were facing off in it, while other guards who were standing on the edge were cheering for their desired player. A large barricade prevented them from interfering, and they could see four gates which could be opened for entrance.
"POW!!! SLAM!!!" Each fighter was desperately trying to take out the other.
"Interesting arena you have there." Deathstroke compliments. "Apparently this is where the gambling takes place."
"Tell me about it. One time a guard had all his limbs broken in one match."
"Well, that's probably why your fighting force is weak."
"Huh?"
"Your guards injure themselves before the real battle even starts." This makes them both laugh. Suddenly, they hear the lower door open. Turning, they see none other than the two rulers of Equestria. Everyone turns and immediately bow before their presence.
"Please continue." says Celestia, and with that, the training proceeded. They walked over to the pit arena, and the guards make room for her.
"I BET ON THE WINNING ONE!!!" The princesses watched in awe as the two guards battled it out, blow by blow, until one of them succumbed.
"BAM!!!" With a mighty punch, the guard was taken out. The crowd went wild.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!" Everyone was cheering like they just won a grand prize. Meanwhile, the princesses looked and watched in interest.
"Ehhh, probably could be more interesting." Deathstroke criticizes. "Time to liven up the joint." He motions to jump down, with Shining panicking when he realizes.
"Don't!" Deathstroke stops right before he drops down. "Are you crazy!?"
"Maybe. But these people need a show."
"SWOOOOSH!!!" The air rushed past him as he flew toward the ground.
"THUMP!!!" He lands in the center of the pit perfectly and instantly grabs the attention of everyone, specifically the princesses. Celestia is about to interfere, until Luna raises a hoof in front of her.
"Hold on Tia, I would like to see how this goes."
"Are you sure?"
"A hundred bits on the mercenary."
"What!?"
The two guards in the arena turn their attention to Deathstroke.
"So you're what's causin' a fuss in the training room."
"No. Not yet at least." Deathstroke motions his hands in a taunting position. The two guards quickly react by charging him.
"THWACK!!!" The guard only gets his face pummeled by his fist. He then picks him up and throws him directly at the other guard.
"CRASH!!!" They both fly face first into the wall, and the crowd goes wild once again.
"His combat is impressive, don't you think?" Luna states. Celestia stares back.
"Let's see how good he is." says Celestia, tapping her hoof on a guard and gesturing for him and three others to enter. Four guards are now in the arena and surround Deathstroke in a circle. "If this how you want to play sister, then three-hundred bits on the guards." Luna smiled back in rivalry.
"Depends on how many guards he can take at once. Five-hundred on him." The betting gets stronger between them, and in the meantime, the masked assassin faces off against four guards at once. One of them charges him from behind, and he quickly reacts by pulling his staff out.
"WHACK!!!" He swings it around and hits him on face, and he slides on the ground with pain. Right before another guard hits him, he front flips and slams his feet into his skull, which smashed the hard floor. He then runs over to another guard and leaps into the air, impressing the audience at how high he could jump. Positioning both of his feet, he plants them directly onto a guard's forehead, and the impact made him slide back a few feet.
Unfortunately, the last guard managed to grab him by the head, but he wouldn't lose that easily. Bringing his hands over his head, he grabs the guard and smashes him onto the ground. The crowd cheers violently.
"You must admit Tia, he is very talented in fighting."
"Let's tip the scales then shall we?" Celestia says with a smirk. She calls over six guards, all of which are pegasi, and she gestures for them to enter. Shining Armor watched from above, and was interested in the scene as well.
"I probably should get down there." he tells himself, and he heads down the balcony stairs.
All of the pegasi guards rush at once, as if they were homing missiles. Deathstroke jumped before he was struck by one, and landed his feet on top of him and using him to jump further. Time slowed as he was in midair, he strikes down another guard with his staff, and lands on another, making another jump. While airborne, he sees a pegasus flying straight toward him, but his fast processing allowed him to spin kick him out of the way. Some of the audience saw blood fly out of the guard's mouth as he sped toward the floor.
Deathstroke landed on a pegasus again, grabbing his head and dropping down. The combined force of his momentum and his weight quickly jolted him down. The guard struggled to stay airborne, but had little time to think about it as the skilled mercenary pulled himself upward and smashed his face with his feet. Unconscious, the pegasus dropped down along with Deathstroke, who landed safely on the floor, while the other slammed into it. Three pegasi remained.
"Princess!" In the distance, Celestia and Luna turn, finding the six elements, along with the Apple family and Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle, approaching her. Applebloom's surgery was finished, and she managed to walk afterwards. "We can't find our captive! We-"
"Do not worry my little ponies." She points at the arena, and they gasp at the sight.
"Whoa! Look at him! Take THAT!!!" Scootaloo roars in excitement at the epic battle taking place.
"Celestia, are you sure about this?" Twilight asks nervously.
"I assure you Twilight, it will remain under control." And so they watched the three pegasi battle the mercenary menace.
"Yeah, and besides! I can't wait to see his butt get kicked!" Rainbow Dash shouts enthusiastically.
Two guards continuously throw punches at him, all of which are either blocked, parried, or dodged.
"SOCK!!!" A hook takes out one guard.
"WHAM!!!" A fist dropping from above took out the other. For every guard Deathstroke defeated, the crowd roared in excitement. The last guard anxiously prepared to fight, you could even see sweat dropping from his face. In a fatal attempt, he threw as many punches as he could, with his eyes closed.
"BIFF!!!" He is immediately countered by a blow to the face, and already he's exhausted. Gasping for air, he runs toward Deathstroke, and throws one last punch.
*punt* It hits his chest like a gust of air. The blow was so weak no one even heard it.
"BOO!!! YOU'RE THE WORST!!! DON'T EVEN!!!" Even Rainbow Dash was protesting, who really wanted Deathstroke to get beaten.
He grabbed his hoof and made sure he would go nowhere, and he slowly brought up his fist. His deadly, deadly fist.
"CRACK!!!" With a mighty blow, he sends the guard flying backwards, and he crashes into the pit wall. The impact was so hard, he dented the wall and got stuck in it. The crowd went crazy after that.
"Looks like I win Tia." Luna told Celestia with a look of victory.
"Did you SEE that!? That was awesome!!! When I grow up I wanna be just like him..." Most of the other ponies give her a glare of disapproval, especially Rainbow Dash.
"He is stronger than I have imagined. Perhaps it is time to makes things a slight more interesting." She finishes her sentence with a smirk. She opens her wings, and the most of the others realize what she's doing.
"Luna! Are you-"
"Don't worry Tia, I'll be fine. Also, five hundred bits if I win." Shining Armor had just arrived, with not a hint of what was happening. Was this really a good idea? To battle what would seemingly be the best assassin you would find? But Luna wanted to have a battle with a fair opponent, and finding one was very difficult, until he came along. She was sure that no fatal injury would result in this duel. Everyone was awestruck at what would happen: Luna vs Deathstroke, the possibilities were mind-boggling. She came to a thump as she landed in the pit.
"Thou have proven thyself a worthy opponent. Would thou like to battle against the princess of the night? Watcher of Dreams and Deliverer of Darkness?" She asked in the royal Canterlot accent.
"Look at that. Someone finally worthy of this blade." The blade sheathed on his back was pulled out, shining as he rotated it. Some of the guards beamed at his sword, wanting to know the craftiness behind its work. Deathstroke knew he was in for something big. The sharp end of the blade was pointed toward Luna. "This should be interesting, don't you think?"
"I agree. But before we begin, would thou tell thy name?" Now this was different. But then again, he had held it in for long enough, it was time to put on a show.
"One eyed mercenary. The perfect soldier, and also known, as the Terminator. Many have fallen through my weapon. Call me Deathstroke." The emphasis in his tone was strong. Very strong, in fact, and the show only got better.
"Very well then, Deathstroke! Prepare to face me in a duel no pony will forget!" Her wings sprung open, and she hovered in the air. The audience watched with much awe.
"I'm not counting on losing to you." Luna wore a frown, but inside her was much confidence in herself. The unconscious bodies of the other guards were levitated away by her. Now the true duel would begin. They waited for each other to make their first move.
"ZAP ZAP ZAP!!!" Three consecutive beams were fired from Luna's horn, but Deathstroke simply sidestepped the attack. The barrage of magical beams were being constantly fired at him, and that's when he started running. He sprinted on the side of the pit, ducking and dodging the blasts that hit the wall after they missed him. Many broken spots could be seen on the wall. It was quite a battle, with the intense fighting taking place. Deathstroke couldn't keep circling around, so with his current momentum, he started to run up the wall.
Seeing this, Luna believed that this would be her chance to strike. Running on the wall should make him easy to hit, since there was no way he could react in that kind of position. She charged up her horn and darted straight toward him. There was absolutely no way he could react, right?
Wrong.
Time seemed to slow as Deathstroke leaped off the wall and twirled above her. Disbelief quickly washed her mind, but she didn't even have time to think about it. As he twirled, he brought his staff out and spun it into Luna and whacked her hard.
"CRASH!!!" She crashed into the floor, while Deathstroke broke his fall by ground rolling. The audience gawked, no one had ever gotten a hit on Luna before! Few had challenged Luna one on one, none of which had even gotten a hit. But him, he was better.
"Impressive!" Luna shouts with pride. "No other challenger has ever made a strike on me before!"
"Save the compliments for when I win." Her opponent mocked her without guilt. Needless to say, he was very simple-minded.
"C'mon!!! Get 'im princess!?" Rainbow cheers from the crowd.
"Rainbow, who do ya think'll win?" Applejack asks nervously, with the heat of battle taking place with two of the most unexpected people.
"Well duh! No pony can defeat Luna! I bet a hundred bits if she wins!"
"Ah wouldn't be so sure about that Rainbow. Tell ya what: You get t'paint mah barn if he wins." Rainbow glared at her with the feeling of competition.
"You wanna take that bet AJ!?"
"Sure am!"
"Well if I win the bet, you get to wear make-up for a whole week!"
"Yer on Rainbow!!!" They clapped their hooves in determination, while Luna battled without caution against her formidable foe.
A multitude of darkish orbs formed from her horn, and they launched into the air. They slowly decelerated, and started to fall on Deathstroke. Unsheathing his sword, he prepared to defend himself. Two sidesteps help him avoid the first two, while three quickly slices with his sword took care of the rest.
"BUMP!!!" He suddenly felt something hit his side. It was a distraction, and Luna got a cheap shot on him. He flew into the wall, but with his superior processing, he positioned his feet correctly and bounced off the wall, slamming his fist into Luna's face. She had never seen it coming, every time she attacked she never expected him to retaliate with a counter-attack. In other words, she kept underestimating him. Why was she losing so badly? Her thoughts washed away at the sudden realization that he wasn't finished attacking quite yet.
It turns out he leaped behind her right after he landed. She was able to protect herself with a force field just in time. Looking up she saw him smashing the shield.
"Fool. My shield can withstand the might of a-"
*crack* *crack* *crack* Her eyes shrank to the size of peas. Her shield slowly cracked open. It was impossible! Even at this level, her shield could withstand at least one ton of force! How could it break because of a monkey who doesn't even seem that strong?
The shield shattered into pieces, which faded after a few seconds. She was immediately sent back with the force of both of Deathstroke's feet. The spectators were boggled with this logic just as much as Luna.
"Impossible!" she exclaimed as she recovered. "You couldn't have broken my force field! You're too weak! How!?"
"That's for me to know and for you to find out." In his head, he snickered how he broke it with a nth metal on his hands. In fact, this battle wouldn't be as easy to win without them, and he was very grateful for that. The mercenary brought out his sword. "I'll enjoy hurting you."
She would not let him do that. He may be strong, but she was the princess of the night, there was no denying that. Her rep was at stake here, and so was her bet.
"C'mon princess!!! You can do it!!!" Rainbow cheered, with a bet looming over her head as well.
"GOOOOO LUNA GOOOOO LUNA!!!" Pinkie had somehow gotten a cheer leader costume on, and attracted some puzzled eyes.
"Luna! You can do it!" Even Twilight was in the mood to cheer. Earlier the crowd was fairly large, but now EVERYONE in the training facility was watching the epic fight. Guards were shoving their way in, desperate to get a piece of the action.
"I must say, this is quite entertainin' even for my age!" Granny Smith pointed out.
"Yup." With one word, Big Mac agreed with her.
"WOOOT!!! GO LUNA!!!"
"TAKE DOWN THAT RUFFIAN FOR ME!!!"
"YEAHHHH!!!" Even the fillies cheered at the violent battle.
"GOOOOOO DEATHSTROKE GOOOOOO!!!"
Did Shining Armor just... cheer for Luna? While everyone else was watching the epic battle, The Apples, the elements, the fillies, and Celestia stared at Shining Armor.
"Uhhh, I was... I mean..." And so the awkwardness begins. You know you're gonna have a bad time when you cheer for the team everyone hates.
"Shining Armor, is there a reasonable explanation why-"
"Uhhhhh-"
"Deathstroke? That's his name?" Rainbow asks. "Wow, that's actually pretty scary. I-I mean um, nothing scares me!"
"Deathstroke..." Now Twilight was in the mood for questioning. That is, if he wasn't battling one of their rulers at the moment.
Luna was throwing everything she got. A barrage of lunar blasts were being fired, each one not doing much damage. She tried to trap him with a magical cage, but he merely sliced through the bars. Sweat was dropping from her face as Deathstroke ran closer to her. She decided to form four swords with her magic. As he approached, the swords swung at him.
"SHINK SHINK SLICE SLASH!!!" Each sword dissipated as they were countered by Deathstroke's blade, which was sheathed as he was now practically in front of Luna. Before she was hit, she glided into the air and tried to stomp on him. He quickly jumps back, avoiding the impact that could have hit him, seeing small cracks from where Luna is standing. The princess brings up both her hooves and tries to shove him, but he ducks and grabs them. With Luna temporarily immobile, Deathstroke lies on his back and repetitively kicks her gut. He does this quite a few times, before she breaks free of his hold and throws him back. A reverse ground roll is used to recover.
Luna pants for breath, while Deathstroke, needless to say, seems very unharmed. The audience watched patiently to see what happens next.
"Are we done here?" he asks both jokingly and nonchalantly.
*flap flap* Her wings quickly unfold, and determination spreads across her face. She was not going to surrender. Not now, not ever. The source of this creature's strength was unknown, but she was confident to overpower it with one last trick up her sleeve, the Lunar Omega. It was easily one of her most powerful attacks. She has used it before, and those who were its target have all perished. Deathstroke readied himself for whatever would come, with his sword out since magic was being used.
"THOU DARE INSULT ME!? FOOL!!! I AM THE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT!!! AN IMMORTAL WHO HAS LIVED COUNTLESS AGES!!! YOU, KNOW, NOTHING."
Her voice echoed throughout the entire room, frightening some guards. The ponies watched as her horn glowed immensely bright.
"THOOOOOOOOOOM!!!" The rest of the magic she contained was drained as she erupted a dark colored beam from her horn and into Deathstroke, who quickly held his sword up.
"SIZZLE SIZZLE!!!" The ponies could not believe what they saw. The beam split in two! To pull that off would be, well, impossible! For most ponies at least, but this was just extraordinary. However, the force of the beam was slowly pushing him back, he needed to fight back. Since he still had a lot of energy, he slowly but surely pushed back against the force of the beam. Slow at first, but he became more confident. Luna couldn't believe it. No one could. Desperately, she forced out the Lunar Omega more violently, having to stay on the floor to concentrate, but he still fights back strongly.
"You think of me as a fool Luna." Deathstroke manages to get a message out. "Well I think of myself as a messenger. And I bring you the gift of pain!" With an epic leap, he jumps over the beam, which left a hole in the wall afterward. Luna barely had any time to look up, revealing him and his staff. Something shot out of it that flattened Luna against the ground. The beam was immediately ceased, and a large bruise is left on top of her.
He had done it. He had won against one of the most powerful beings. It was so unbelievable, that the audience screamed at their loudest. However, thirteen certain ponies dropped their jaws, Shining Armor's the least dropped.
"What... That's... impossible..." Rainbow muttered loud enough for Applejack to hear.
"Guess ya get to paint mah barn, eh Rainbow?" Rainbow Dash could probably just cry right now. After all, no one had expected it. Even Celestia. All they heard was the crowd of guards squealing in disbelief and excitement. Deathstroke walked over to Luna, who recovered, but was obviously defeated.
"How?" She asked confused and disappointed. "How could you have won? It's not possible." Her pride was severely injured, and it hurt more than the physical injuries she had. Deathstroke replied by staying silent. He climbed the ladder and left the arena, leaving Luna there lying disappointed. The ponies stared at him with a variety of emotions.
"Hey Celestia. You now owe me five hundred. Of whatever currency you use." Everyone stared at him and didn't even bother to follow as he left the room. Turns out he hadn't lied about being the greatest assassin. This was just too much for them to process. It was not possible. Not at all. But he had done it, there was no denying it. Deathstroke had done the impossible.