//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: For The One You Love // by bahatumay //------------------------------// Cloudsdale is a large city. It's full of pegasi flying everywhere, walking everywhere, and just hanging out and showing off. Unfortunately, their path took them right through town square, where ponies were playing sports and having cloud fights. Rainbow flew over, scouting out the path, but she was too winded to carry Macintosh further. Mac couldn't get through without plowing ponies over, and he had no intention of getting arrested for that. Rainbow landed and shrugged helplessly. “I've got nothing,” she said. But Mac did not come this far to just turn around. He reared up and slammed his hooves on the ground. “Everypony move!” he roared. The crowd as one slid to one side or the other, forming a perfect part in the middle. Rainbow made a 'hmh' sound. “That works.” It wasn't long before they arrived at the Clouduseum. Mac cracked his neck before marching up to the entranceway and- Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and darted in front of him, blocking his path. “You can’t just go in there! You need an escort! You need somepony to announce you! You need to wait until the right time!” “How do you know that?” Big Mac asked suspiciously. Rainbow’s eyes darted from side to side. “‘Cause these things are open to the public, and there may or may not be foals sitting on the lower clouds where admission is free, and they may or may not throw hailstones at you if they don’t like you, and I may or may not have been one of them as a filly." Big Mac snorted and rolled his eyes, but he shut his mouth and followed Rainbow around what seemed like an access tunnel through the clouds. They soon arrived at their destination, standing among the steps near the lower bowl of clouds. Mac followed Rainbow to an open spot, ignoring the stares and pokes from curious pegasus foals. Apparently, a large earth pony was much more interesting than the speech of Skyblaze Carnage Wingsteel of the House Thunderhead, a title bestowed by Commander Hurricane herself on his great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather. Mac knew. He kept repeating his name. And while Mac was a patient pony, his patience was not everlasting. He searched for Fluttershy, and soon saw her there up on the stands behind him. Her head was down, and even from way across the arena Mac could see that she was not happy. He felt a surge of anger for what was happening to her, and he turned to Rainbow. “Is it time yet?” he demanded. “We gotta wait until Fluttershy's dad says, ‘if anypony has an objection, let them speak now or forever hold their peace’,” Rainbow whispered in explanation. “Ah intended on speakin’ now,” Big Mac grumbled, but he grudgingly complied. He regretted this somewhat as the pegasus droned on. Even the foals were getting sick of the speech. Mac’s ears pricked up as one of the fillies next to him said, loud enough that her neighbors could hear, “Thunderhead? More like Dunderhead,” and there was much snickering. The speech continued longer, and Mac could feel himself literally dying of boredom. He looked over to see that Rainbow had begun entertaining herself by playing hooves and wings on the cloud with the foal next to her. Mac lowered his hoof, but he couldn’t draw on the cloud—apparently, the cloudwalking spell could only do so much—and he sighed. “He already said it, didn't he?” Mac said. “We missed it.” Rainbow turned and gave a sympathetic grimace. “Not even close. Why do you think I usually bring a book?” Mac looked over, and the filly on his left nodded to confirm it. He exhaled. Rainbow was right; there was another speech after his that they had to sit through. Fluttershy's mother got up and began to speak. Mac wondered if they knew the same pony as he heard her describe her daughter. She made her sound strong and fierce, nothing like the sweet Fluttershy he loved. And then, Fluttershy’s father stood up. After another long speech which detailed many accomplishments that Mac would have bet bushels to bits were a bit exaggerated, Mac heard the magical words. “And if anypony has any objections…” “Me!” Mac shouted, shooting to his hooves. He then grimaced and shook them out one by one; he had pins and needles from sitting for so long. Fluttershy's eyes widened. She knew that voice. She looked up and saw Macintosh, there, standing and protesting, and she couldn't keep a wide smile off her face. Her mother leaned in. "Do you know that stallion?" she asked. "Oh, yes," Fluttershy breathed, a spark of hope springing to life in her chest. Mac had come for her. "Yes, I do." Rainbow completed her row of three and crossed them out with a chuckle, and then suddenly remembered the rules. She stood up, reared up on her hind legs, then spread her wings and forelegs in a symbolic gesture and shouted, “Fillies and gentlecolts, I present ‘Mac’ Macintosh, called Big, of the House Apple of Ponyville, a title bestowed upon his grandmother by Princess Celestia herself!” The crowd murmured slightly. Rainbow sat and grinned at Mac. 'Your turn,' her expression read. Mac looked back. ‘My turn for what?’ he wordlessly asked. “You dare,” Skyblaze breathed as he rose, his wings flaring with anger. “You bring your filthy mud pony self into this hallowed ceremony, besmirching our tradition? I will make you rue the day you ever set eyes on my Warbringer! You will water your plants with your own blood, mud pony!” Mac looked desperately for some hint as for what to do, but Rainbow merely made the 'go on!' gesture. Big Mac cleared his throat, stepped forward, and looked around awkwardly. One of the foals reached into his cloud and pointedly began forming a hailstone. Rainbow facehoofed and then stage whispered, “Challenge him back, you idiot! Tell him you’ll fight him for Fluttershy!” Still looking around, Big Mac finally spoke. “Ah’m a simple earth pony. Ah still don’t know how this whole thing works, and Ah wouldn’t know House Thunderhead if’n it fell on me out of a tree. But this Ah do know: Ah love Fluttershy, and Ah...” “Full name!” Rainbow Dash hissed. Big Mac glared at her, but dutifully repeated, “Warbringer 'Fluttershy' Bloodbath Hurricane of the Great House Cloudhammer, and Ah am willin’ t’ fight for—and win—th' honor of bein' her husband.” He turned to Skyblaze, and a tiny smile played at one side of his lips. "And ya know that Ah always guarantee anythin' Ah say." The crowd began to murmur, and Mac could see pegasi grinning and nudging each other. Mac got the distinct impression that Skyblaze wasn't well-liked. Of course, Mac wasn't necessarily well-liked, either. “This is most irregular!” one of the pegasi up front proclaimed. He was similarly colored; he must have been father or uncle to Skyblaze. “He's an earth pony! Only pegasi can challenge the union!” a mare protested. Rainbow shot to her hooves. “Well, then don't say 'anypony' if you don't mean 'anypony'!” she protested. “What kind of horseapples are you chewing?” “Pegasi nobles only wed pegasi nobles!” came the reply in unison. “Oh, give me a break!” Rainbow groaned. “You nobles and all your dumbflank rules. Look, you think you're so much better than us? If you're so secure in your 'superiority', just take the stupid challenge!” The group huddled for discussion as the crowd began to murmur their approval, and then Skyblaze’s father returned to the stand. “There is no challenge,” the verdict came. “He is not nobility, he is not a pegasus, he is not worthy to even set a hoof in this place!” The foals booed especially loudly. They wanted to see a fight. Rainbow snarled, and then turned to leave. "You know what? Fine. Come on, Mac," she said, placing her hooves on his barrel and pushing him away. Well, she attempted to, anyway. She might as well have tried to move the whole stadium for all she succeeded, and she quickly gave up on that idea. That didn't stop her from continuing to run her mouth, though. "If Captain Fraidy-feather here is too scared to take on a groundpounder, then there's nothing more we can do." This prompted some giggles from the foals on the lower clouds. Still walking away, Rainbow tossed out another challenge. "Bet you didn't think you'd ever see a flying chicken, did you, Fluttershy? And now you're marrying one! Bawk baaawk!” Fluttershy giggled behind her hoof before turning to apologize, but at Skyblaze’s enraged expression, she changed her course of action to a simple cower instead. He looked as though he were about to yell or even strike at her, but Fluttershy was spared his wrath by a small hailstone that hit him right on the helmet. He spun angrily, but the three foals in the direction it came from were sitting innocently on their cloud, all looking anywhere but at him. Another hailstone bounced off his chestplate. A third flew right by his face, missing by an inch. But Rainbow wasn't done. Even as armored guards arrived and started herding her out of the ring, she threw out one more parting shot. "Come on, Mac. If it makes you feel any better, you're a bigger stallion than he'll ever be. And I'm not talking about the height of your shoulder, either." It took Big Mac a few seconds to realize that that had been a sexual innuendo, and it took even longer for him to reconcile the fact that it was and that it had come from Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be more than a little bit ignorant of sensual matters. However, judging by the mocking laughter ringing throughout the arena (and the furious blush on Fluttershy's face), the spectators had picked it up instantly—and had found it greatly amusing. "Enough!" All eyes turned to Skyblaze, who was flushing red and seething with rage. "Fine, mud pony!” he spat. “I accept your challenge! It will be entertainment to reduce you to a sniveling wreck!" Rainbow grinned and gave Mac a slap on his shoulder (which, to be honest, was indeed larger than most). "You're on, big guy," she said before turning and flying over to the lower clouds, shoving herself between two young spectators. "What do Ah do now?" he asked. "Survive," Rainbow said around a mouthful of popcorn she had swiped from a neighboring foal. "It's to the death?" Big Mac's jaw dropped. "Nah. It's ‘til one pony can't or won't get up." Her expression shifted. "Watch out!" Big Mac spun around just in time to see a very angry pegasus fill his vision. He didn't have time to brace himself before taking the impact. He slammed against the wall and got the wind knocked out of him. He forced himself up, only to take another blow across his face. It quickly became painfully obvious that the armor Skyblaze wore was not just ceremonial. He paused just long enough to make a rude gesture with his wings before zooming up out of sight. Macintosh got the distinct feeling he was about to be dive bombed, and scrambled to keep moving in an attempt to be harder to hit. Apparently, though, he was too large a target to miss. Skyblaze rocketed into his side, sending him flying. He landed and skidded against the ground and managed to remain standing, but only barely. Skyblaze zoomed up again, and Mac knew he needed a new strategy soon or he’d be a bruised, purple apple. Earth pony fighting styles weren't going to help him here. “On your six!” Rainbow's unmistakable voice came. Mac swung… and hit nothing but air. Skyblaze's hooves, however, found their target, and Mac found himself unable to breathe for a brief moment. “Eleven o’clock!” Rainbow called again. Big Mac spun around, only to feel a pegasus slam into his right flank. “Stop helpin' me!” he yelled. “Sor-ry,” Rainbow muttered, shoving another hoofful of popcorn in her mouth. Skyblaze tired of this game. He performed one more loop, wings spread widely as if to soak up the praise only he could hear, and then dropped nearly to the ground and turned to charge at Macintosh, hoof outstretched, intending to cave Mac's head in with his greaves. Macintosh grinned. This he could work with. At the last possible second, he sidestepped, reared up, and brought his enormous hooves down on Skyblaze's back. He slammed into the earth pony and stopped instantly, as if he'd run into a brick wall instead of a pony, and he dropped like a sack of flour. He quickly stumbled to his hooves, but by then it was too late. As soon as his head raised Macintosh reared back and delivered a powerful haymaker to the side of his head with his right hoof, snapping his neck to one side. Before his eyes could stop rolling in his head, Big Mac drove his left hoof into the side of his chin, impacting it with such force that his helmet straps snapped, sending his helmet bouncing along the cloud floor. Before Skyblaze could even register that something had gone wrong, Mac slammed his forehead into Skyblaze's head in a punishing headbutt. Mac couldn't suppress a little chuckle as Skyblaze dropped to his knees. That had felt good. Skyblaze recovered quickly and spread his wings to get back into his element. Needless to say, Mac was not about to let that happen. He had flapped once before Mac spread his long forelegs and clotheslined him. Time seemed to slow down as his momentum and effort fought with Mac's strength. Had Macintosh tried to stop him completely, Skyblaze might have escaped; but that wasn't Mac's plan. Instead, he redirected him down, slamming him into the cloud floor with an audible crunch of metal. A collective gasp came from the crowd, quickly followed by numerous "pomf" sounds. Macintosh leaned down and grabbed his tail in his mouth. He physically lifted Skyblaze up and slammed him against the ground three times, paused to think, slammed him twice more for good measure, and then turned and threw him just as if he were chucking a haybale. Unlike a haybale, though, the pegasus didn't go flying through the air until gently landing and rolling, but instead slammed into the cloud wall on the other end of the arena with an awful crunch. Skyblaze didn’t even have time to slide down the wall completely before a large red hoof lifted him back up and planted him firmly against the wall. A smile might have played on the earth pony's lips. “How's that entertainin' goin'?” he asked. Skyblaze didn't have time to even think of a sarcastic response before powerful forehooves began slamming him repeatedly against the wall. Mac wasn't even holding him up; the forces of his punches held him in place against the cloud wall. Mac's hooves fell fast and strong, denting and scratching and otherwise destroying his armor. Like lightning, his strikes were quick and varied in their location, and Skyblaze found himself unable to block even one no matter how hard he tried. His barrel, his face, his shoulders, his stomach; anything and everything that wasn't being covered by his forelegs was a target on this stallion. The cheering of the crowd slowly fell silent in awe as bare-hooved Macintosh rapidly and methodically and unceasingly pummeled the armored Skyblaze. After what seemed like an eternity, Mac stepped back and let him fall, and Skyblaze collapsed to the cloud floor. His ruined armor slid off his body a few seconds later, revealing bleeding gashes and scratches that had gone through the armor and wide, splotchy bruises visible even through his coat. He coughed and spat out blood. Mac was mildly impressed when the stallion began to push himself up. "Warbringer is mine," Skyblaze panted, "and you will not take my property!" The tiny shred of respect that Big Mac felt for this pony vanished. He turned and began to climb the wall. Lifting himself, he stood on the top of the barrier and looked down as Skyblaze looked up with confusion on his face. "Nope." And with that simple declaration, Big Mac jumped off the wall and twisted his body, all of his muscular weight landing in a punishing body slam. Although pegasi can walk on clouds, and they are more or less solid for a pegasus, with enough force, a pegasus can be pulled through a cloud. Or, in this case, pushed. Skyblaze lay there, half-buried in the cloud, dazed, as cheers and catcalls resounded through the stadium. Big Mac grinned as he got up. "Ah win," he grinned. "Never," Skyblaze groaned, shifting to try and free himself. Big Mac nodded somberly... and then turned around and sat on his face. The crowd erupted into laughter and jeering calls. Rainbow and the foals started up a chant of “Fart on him! Fart on him!”, and even Fluttershy tittered behind a hoof at that. Skyblaze struggled desperately, but Mac was a big pony, and even his stubbornness had a limit. Skyblaze tapped out. Amidst the crowd cheering, Macintosh stood and bowed to his opponent. This was standard procedure for an earth pony fight, as earth ponies respected the fight and fought to improve rather than to kill (this probably had something to do with their history and how less ponies meaning more work for the survivors, and thus it was in everypony's best interest that every participant survive). For the pegasi, though, it merely looked as though Mac were mocking him, and the crowd howled with laughter yet again. Confused, he turned to Rainbow for an explanation. Rainbow laughed… and then her eyes widened. Now blind with rage at having been defeated and insulted, Skyblaze drew a hidden blade from his battered armor and charged right at Mac's hindquarters. In hindsight, this might not have been the smartest idea. “Behind you!” Rainbow shrieked, pointing a hoof urgently. Instinctively, Mac bucked. If the crowd thought his forehooves were strong, they had seen nothing yet. The force from the impact sent out a little shockwave that ruffled the clouds, and Skyblaze literally went flying in a straight line—no parabolic arc or anything—flank over teakettle through the air and then through the cloud wall and right out of the stadium in a tangled mess of feathers. A slow smile spread across Rainbow's face as she realized that Mac using his relatively weaker forehooves for the fight had been intentional. He'd wanted revenge. He'd wanted to make Skyblaze suffer like Fluttershy had suffered. And while that may have been somewhat cruel from some points of view, she found it hard to blame him. She met Mac's gaze and gave him an approving gesture. If Mac thought the cheers had been loud before, they were now deafening. He smiled sheepishly and bowed to the various cardinal directions (even while in the air, earth ponies had an excellent sense of direction and could always find east). Then he looked up at the pegasi up on the cloud thrones. Their expressions ranged from amused to angry to confused to infuriated. He swallowed nervously, and found himself wishing that Skyblaze could come back for another round. But hey, meeting the parents and getting them to like you was the most difficult part of any relationship, right?