//------------------------------//
// Melee Mares and Skirmish Stallions 
// Story: Beat It 
// by Spirit Guide 
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As she and her friends marched down the street, Twilight began to think about what has happened. Equestria had been getting so much hate that Celestia and the other Princesses, herself included, had to cast powerful wards to protect their serene world. The bronies had been the only ones capable of passing through the wards, with their dedication and loyalty towards the peaceful ways of the ponies of Equestria. They had been great companions, always ready to help a friend in need, but as of late, they had begun to execute odd and occasionally dangerous acts, such as letting a hydra loose in Baltimare, plugging the Saddle Arabian desert full of craters and damming the Neighagra Falls to the point were it spilled out over the walkways. Not to mention the time their musicians had shattered every window in the Manehatten plaza and the surrounding buildings with their Base Cannons. They had gone from loving and tolerating friends to destructive malevolent creatures, such as the ones that already existed in the bronies' own world. Like Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, Sombra and Tirek, they had to go, lest Equestria fall into a state of chaos and devastation.

But wait, Twilight thought. My role as the Princess of Friendship is to spread the magic of friendship across Equestria, and even the worlds beyond. We gave Discord a second chance, he took it and is now a powerful ally. But then, an unruly wind drifted through her mind, darkening her thoughts. No. They damaged my homeland and scared the other ponies. My little ponies. That is unforgivable. They will soon feel the true power of friendship

Applejack, who was walking beside Twilight, noticed her thoughtful face and asked, "What's up, sugarcube?"

"It's nothing, Applejack. Just a bit of thinking about, you know, the usual." Twilight turned away so as not to show her expression.

The farm pony was not convinced. "You look a bit uncertain 'bout something. Twi. Are ye havin' second thoughts about this whole mess?"

"No," Twilight answered. "The bronies have acted unjustifiably and have damaged our peaceful existence. We have no choice but to avenge ourselves and our friends by striking against them." This is what she said but, once again, feelings of regret welled up inside of her.

Applejack listened and shrugged. "Oh well, you're right. They shouldn't have done all those nasty things."

"Right, right," Twilight muttered.

"Come on, slowpokes!" Rainbow Dash called. While they had been talking, Twilight and Applejack had fallen behind. The others had let them lag because they respected Twilight's need for thinking, especially at difficult times like this. But when she heard, or rather didn't hear, the lull in the conversation she jumped in, hoping to speed them up. "We've got a fight waiting for us and I for one don't want to be late!"

"We're coming, Rainbow!" Twilight called, she and Applejack galloping up the street to where their friends were waiting. "Sorry. I just had a thought."

Pinkie Pie jumped in front of her. "You mean like how you're the Princess of Friendship and how your job is to spread magic and harmony everywhere and how we, as your friends, help you spread it, sorta like chocolate icing, and that maybe the bronies, like Discord, deserve a second chance although they too did all kinds of mean horrible things and that MAYBE we should have brought some Royal Guard armor and swords and may-"

Rarity put a hoof into Pinkie's mouth, pulling it out almost immediately. "Eww, Pinkie. Why did you make me try to shush you?" she whined, waving her hoof to dislodge the saliva attached to it.

"Oh, Rarity, that's not how you shush somepony." Pinkie reached out, grabbed a corner of Rarity's mouth and drew it across her pie-hole, effectively silencing the white unicorn. "I learned that trick from Discord. All you have to do is know what you're looking for!"

"Mmph mmmph, umf!" Rarity managed to say through her sealed lips. Her words were meaningless, but her eyes were shooting daggers.

Fluttershy sidled up beside her. "Don't worry, Rarity. I know how to fix this. Discord's taught me how." She grabbed the other corner of Rarity's mouth and dragged the non-existent zipper back across her friend's face.

Rarity exercised her freed lips before wrapping the butter-yellow pegasus in a hug. "Oh, thank you Fluttershy! It's times like this one that make me thankful for your amazing work in reforming Discord."

"It was nothing really," Fluttershy replied shyly.

Twilight smiled. Seeing her friends get along so well always made her happy. But then thought of the task ahead rematerialized in her mind and ended her moment of euphoria. "Alright, that's enough foaling around. Every minute we waste is more time for the bronies to plan another act."

Applejack knocked her hoof against a lamppost, causing a low resounding ring to echo across the empty street. "Back in the saddle again."

"Moving On!" shouted Rainbow, setting of down the road at a quick trot. The other followed after her and were about to set a new pace when-

"CHEESE!" Pinkie dashed off towards the entrance to a dark alley, where a light brown stallion in a yellow shirt was leaning against a telephone pole. That is, until Pinkie collided with him, sending the two Earth ponies tumbling onto the pavement. "How ya doin', Cheese?"

"Pinkie!" Cheese Sandwich grinned wildly. The other mares approached the scene as the two party ponies helped each other up. "I'm so glad to see you all again. I was beginning to worry those bronies may have captured you."

"That would be an impossible task," came a voice from the alley. Everypony turned to see a unicorn mare with an azure-blue coat step out of the darkness. Her cutie mark was a wand and a moon. "Twilight Sparkle and her friends are far too skilled to be captured by those goons."

"Trixie." Twilight remembered the traveling magician from many encounters, but they had last parted ways as friends, or at least not enemies, and Trixie's head was still in need of a little deflating. "What are you doing here?"

"I was traveling Equestria when I bumped into Cheese Sandwich here." Cheese waved at the sound of his name. "He told me he was on his way to see Pinkie Pie, so I decided to join him. Knowing that the bronies were out and about, we both agreed that having somepony to watch your back is definitely a good thing."

"Yeah, but what's the real reason your here?" Rainbow Dash inquired, hovering in front of Trixie's face. "To try to show up Twilight? Take over the city maybe?"

"Rainbow!" Twilight scolded, but Trixie waved her down. "Do not worry, Twilight Sparkle. Trixie was expecting that. Fear not, I have merely come to offer my power in the battle ahead. You are going to strike back at the bronies tonight, aren't you?"

"That's where we were going just now!" Pinkie cried, then asked "is that why you came too, Cheese?"

The male party pony put a hoof around his friend's shoulder. "Like Trixie said, all I really wanted to do was visit, but if you're going to fight, I think it would help if I was there too."

Pinkie squeed audibly. "Fine with me!"

"Well, let me just say welcome to the team, Trixie." Twilight held out a hoof, which Trixie took without hesitation.

"I guess this means I'll have to put up with Trixie now," Rainbow Dash whined to Applejack and Rarity.

"Oh, she's not so bad," Rarity said defensively. "She's gotten a lot better."

"Her ego sure seems a whole lot smaller too," added Applejack.

"Okay okay, I get it, sheesh." The cyan pegasus dropped down beside Twilight. "Shouldn't we be getting a move on?"

"Yes yes, right." Twilight turned to the rest of their team, including their two new additions. "Is everypony ready?"

Cheese blew on his party blower. "I'm ready!"

Trixie magicked her magician's hat out of nowhere and onto her head. "Trixie is prepared for combat!"

"Then let's go!" The ponies set off again, their new recruits already adapting to the situation. Standing shoulder to shoulder, they left the dark alley behind and advanced towards Town square.


*


Is this right? Is revenge the solution? Are we looking at this the wrong way? It was these questions that stirred something up inside Rina's head as she and the other bronies trotted down the road. She looked back on all the times her friends had been shot down, like when Glaze and Marina got kicked out of the concert hall when Vinyl and Octavia were preforming, or when Rarity scolded Feather and Galaxyart before burning their work. Possibly the worst of all was when Twilight destroyed the convention center. Nopony had been hurt but their pride was wounded horribly. The ponies have crossed the line, Rina concluded, rage building up inside of her. We put our faith in them, reconstructed our lives and schedules because of them, and then they torment us in every way possible. There's no going back now. We must end this tonight or our lives will be ruined forever. Rina grunted contentedly.

The noise went unnoticed by the other bronies walking beside her, but Fluffle Puff picked up on it. The fluffy pony drifted to the left so that her extra-poofy fur was touching Rina. The VA brony shivered at the sudden contact but returned Fluffle's gaze. "What is it, Fluffle?" she asked.

"Thhhhhhhhhhhbbt?" Fluffle inquired.

"Yes, I am trying to figure out how this happened. It just doesn't make any sense, kind ponies and loving bronies fighting one another. You know, sometimes I wonder if-"

"Race! Mic!" Saberspark shouted suddenly.

Rina and Fluffle stumbled forward. By the time they had gotten their balance back, the other four bronies were already rushing towards a large lamppost, where two stallion were reclining against the tall metal pole. One was a light orange with a blonde mane, and a cutie mark consisting of a black Mickey Mouse head surrounded by confetti. The other pony's coat was a reddish grey, his mane dark grey and red and his cutie mark made up of a microphone and a set of headphones. Attached to the lamppost above their heads was a notice which said 'Breaking News! Pinkie Pie conquers Season 4!'.

"Hey everypony," Race greeted. "Nice night for a stroll, isn't it."

"Or rather, it would be," Mic put in, "if we weren't in such terrible times, am I right."

"Spot on," Digibrony confirmed. "They've been drinking our tears for too long now. We're on our way to go put a stop to it."

"Will you guys be joining us?" Feather asked.

Race rubbed the back of his head with his hoof. "I don't know. It just seems really unnecessary and-"

"Unnecessary?" Saber spluttered. "Nothing we do could possibly rival what they've done. Did you forget what they did at your last relay race?"

The motorhead pony shuddered at the memory. All the cars had gone up in smoke and the scent of burning rubber filled the air. The grandstand was in pieces and the spectators running in fear. Race still had a hard time believing that the ponies had executed that awful operation. "Don't remind me."

"And you, Mic. Remember what they did at your last performance?"

The musician frowned as he recalled the events of that night. The stage was on fire and light bulbs exploded without warning. The rows of seats had been either smashed, burned or overturned, trash and belongings scattered all over the floor. Not the fondest of Mic's MLP memories. "Do you really think they're the ones who did it?"

"It had to have been," Digibrony said . "Firebrand himself headed the investigation. They found locks of hair that could only have belonged to certain ponies, including Pinkie, Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Nopony else has mane colors like them, or anypony for that matter."

"Why do I feel so bad about myself?!" Feather wailed.

"It's a feeling of conflict," Rina explained somberly. "We're so in tune with the ponies of Equestria and are so appreciative of their normal, usual behavior that declaring war on them seems against our better judgement. But looking at the evidence leaves us with no other option."

Solrac nodded, then said in a normal voice, "Are you two joining us or not?"

Mic took a deep breath, then exhaled. "You've got me. What they did was completely wrong. We weren't deserving of that kind of treatment."

"I'm coming too," Race added. "That race they ruined had nothing to do with anything and we weren't the only ones wounded by it."

Rina smiled gently. "It looks like we've just gained some new recruits."

Fluffle gasped, ran over to the two stallion joining their team and nuzzled them, her thick poofy fur comforting them. "Alright, that's enough," Mic said, carefully pushing the fluffy pony off him.

Race shook his mane loose. "We're ready when you guys are."

"LET'S GO!" screamed Solrac, returning his volume to its original level.

Rina jumped to the front of the group and resumed the march. The other bronies followed behind her, taking their places on either side of the dark-pink mare, their minds made up, their mission: to get revenge on the ones they thought were their friends.