Las Pegasus was often referred to as the city that never slept. There were just as many ponies roaming the streets by night as by day, and half the shops were still open, or only open after dark. The western part of the city, near the seaport, was where most of the immigrants and other races lived. In the shops there, you’d find griffons, zebras, even a couple of minotaurs running various shops, restaurants and places to sleep. And then there were the two humans.
It had been an entire year, and Rainbow Dash still felt strange referring to herself as a human. She felt like she should be a Pegasus, a feeling which Scootaloo shared, and certainly being a Pegasus would be a lot easier in a city almost entirely populated by ponies. Fate had dealt her a cruel hand, but there was still plenty she could do with it.
Most of the time, she worked at a dockside shop owned by a griffon. She liked griffons, and Thor liked her as well. Having hands made carrying the plates around the restaurant much easier, and her natural agility helped her to deal with the cramped tables and customers who thought it would be funny to try and trip her up while she was carrying two bowls of piping-hot soup. Nopony ever tried it twice.
Rainbow also found pretty quickly that her black belt in karate translated surprisingly easily to a form that normally stood on two legs. Though she was slightly taller than the average pony, she could still fight well enough to stop any mugging attempts. The rumour had clearly spread around the underworld, since she never got attacked anymore.
What she couldn’t explain was the strange bladed weapon she’d woken up with. It seemed weighted to be thrown, but whenever she did try to throw it, it flew straight back to her hand without fail. The blades were also sharp enough to cut nearly anything they touched, and she’d hardly practiced with it because of that. She didn’t want to actually break anything important, or kill anypony.
Still, she was willing to fight if she had to, and with the money getting tighter, she was getting pretty desperate to keep Scootaloo from knowing. She’d do anything for her surrogate little sister, and she’d heard about an opportunity while serving a few nights ago.
Apparently some mob boss wanted to test a few new recruits, and he was willing to pay ordinary ponies off the street to go a few rounds with them. Supposedly they were a pretty tough bunch, and not much would have to be paid since it was only those who won their bouts, but Rainbow was confident she could take on anything with four legs. She hadn’t told Thor or Scootaloo about it, but the former had been willing to accept her taking the night off. All he’d said was not to get in trouble, and there was no kind of trouble that could keep Rainbow ‘Danger’ Dash down.
A pair of Earth Ponies stood outside the door to the gym, both large and dark-coated. One had a scar running from his nose to his cheek, the other was slightly smaller and wore a slouch hat. Hat cleared his throat as she walked up. “Hey, I don’t know who you are,” he said with a strong Manehattan brogue, “but you’re in the wrong place. Beat it.”
“Really?” Rainbow replied. “I’ve heard that if a gal’s looking to get her fists dirty for a few bits, then this is the right place. Or aren’t you gonna let your guys get hazed by a human?”
Hat tried to say something, but he was stopped by his larger partner. They whispered for a bit, and Rainbow definitely caught the phrase ‘she knows’, but not much else. Eventually, they stepped aside, and Scar turned back to her. “You heard correctly,” he said. “You win, we pay. But a girl like you, there’s still time to back out, because you’re not gonna last one round.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it. I’ve come too far for anything else.” Scar nodded again and stepped aside, and Hat mumbled something about ‘right this way’. He led her through the darkened gym; it was different to see without any light. Finally, he took her down into the basement, where only a single light was lit, a gas lantern hanging from the ceiling.
A group of ponies were standing in a circle and cheering. All of them were larger Earth Ponies and Pegasi, without a single Unicorn in sight except the one in the middle. He seemed to be worried about the opponent he was fighting, as though he was regretting his decision. His face screamed ‘I needed the money’, but Rainbow figured that if he got any at all, it would all go to hospital bills.
The Earth Pony facing him down charged, and the Unicorn teleported suddenly, landing on top of his opponent. Before he was bucked off, he managed to stick his horn into the Earth Pony’s back, charging some kind of spell. When he was finally thrown off, he took a while to get back up, but his opponent was shaking badly. A charged magic bolt knocked the Earth Pony back through the crowd, and he disappeared into the darkness.
The Unicorn, for his part, took the bag of bits he was offered and immediately beat it, despite the jeers of the crowd. Maybe these were all the newbies she’d heard about, and if they were new enough or simply stupid that they couldn’t deal with a Unicorn half their size, she’d have no trouble cleaning them out.
Smirking, she tightened her left hand-wrap as she stepped under the light, into the middle of the ring of ponies. “Who’s first?” she asked, and they all laughed. “What, don’t think I can cut it? Well, bring it on, if you’re so sure.”
A Pegasus about her height stepped forward, and she turned to face him. He was pretty big as ponies and especially Pegasi went, but Rainbow just kept smirking. “They call me Khan,” he boomed. “I’m a direct male-line descendant of THE Khan. And you will know pain without end when you stand against any Khan.”
“Really?” Rainbow asked. “Well, guess what? I’m descended from Commander Hurricane.” It was true, but she didn’t expect him to believe it. “So the two great generals meet once again. I forget, how did it go last time?”
“Silence, KHAN!” Khan shouted as he charged forward, a single thrust of his wings closing the gap. Rainbow rolled under him, pushing her fist forward to punch his stomach. It probably hurt her hand more than him, but now she knew she’d need something a little more extreme to beat him. Khan landed and turned around again, snorting once before charging.
This time, Rainbow stepped forward into his charge, leaning backwards and grabbing him around the neck. She kept leaning and eventually rolled him onto his back, pinning his wings with her knees and punching his face. He bucked her off eventually, but she was faster back onto her feet, and she was ready with an axe kick as he stood up. He hadn’t expected her to be able to reach above his head, and the falling foot knocked him out for the count.
“Who’s next?” Rainbow asked, but there weren’t any takers. Everypony was simply staring at how quickly she’d taken down the massive Khan. They all mumbled to each other and looked away, and she sighed. “Well, if that’s all, I’ll take the money.”
“Not so fast,” a voice called from near the back, in the darkness. Everyone there froze, staring at the voice’s owner as he stepped into the light. “You want a fight? I can give you a fight you’ll never forget. All of you.”
The ponies making up the ring stepped aside to allow the newcomer entry. He was another Pegasus, only of average size, with a stark white coat, golden mane and ice-blue eyes. Rainbow locked eyes with the newcomer, and she didn’t like what she saw. Most criminal ponies were self-assured and overconfident, and it showed in their eyes. This one was different. He was more reserved, but it was clear that that didn’t make him any weaker for not talking strongly.
“So you’re that human who’s been making waves around here. Rainbow Dash, if I recall. My name’s Cloud Skipper. You might want to remember it, when you describe to the local police who gave you all those nasty bruises. Then again, considering that you picked them up in a place like this, it might be better not to say anything.”
“What bruises?” Rainbow asked, and for the first time that night, her smirk wavered. The way he’d delivered the threat matched his reserved demeanour. It was clear that he wasn’t just a barking dog. This one intended to bite. Still, that was what she’d signed up for.
“One step closer, and you’ll find out.” He raised himself into a karate stance, flapping his wings slightly to keep himself steady. Rainbow dropped into a similar pose, waving her fingers towards her. The gesture wasn’t one that a pony could make, but its meaning was clear: attack if you dare.
Without any warning, he struck, faster than Rainbow had thought a pony could move. He reached out with his right forehoof, striking her in the stomach, right where her Cutie Mark was. She tried to counter with a straight kick, but already he was out of range. His face hadn’t changed a bit, but she’d completely lost her smile. He raised his left forehoof in a gesture similar to Rainbow’s.
Snarling slightly, she raised her right foot forward in a roundhouse kick. He blocked her with one hoof and tried to spin her around, but she landed on her spare foot, shaking free. The movement knocked her off balance for just a moment, but it was long enough for Skipper to charge again, striking in the same place as before and knocking her to the ground. “Had enough yet?” he asked.
“Not on your life!” She pushed herself up on her hands, launching feet-first at her opponent. This caught him off-guard, and she felt his chest being pushed back. He stepped back a bit, returning to all fours for just a moment before he reared up again. The two of them entered a standoff, circling around one another as the crowd slowly stepped back.
Rainbow raised her right leg in another axe-kick, hoping that the momentary view of her crotch would slow Skipper down for a moment. Skipper wasn’t distracted at all; he wasn’t attracted to humans in the first place, and he wasn’t about to let her break his focus. He stepped back out of the kick’s arc, but Rainbow pressed the attack, raising her left foot as the right came down. He leaned back, slightly off-balance, but she didn’t press any further. That was a mistake; in the time it took her to return both feet to the ground, he was already steady and counterattacking.
Two quick jabs forced Rainbow to back off and catch her breath again, but Skipper didn’t let up. She brought her arms up to try and hold him off, but couldn’t last very long before taking a punch to the face, knocking her back again. Desperate for anything to push off his assault, she reached for her weapon, drawing it with an audible slash. He dodged out of the way, but that was enough for Rainbow to stand up and breathe.
Skipper just stared at her, breathing slowly. “So that’s how it is,” he said. He dropped to all fours and spread his wings out, clearly about to take off. Predicting the move, Rainbow threw the blade where she thought he’d be rising to, but he didn’t move at all. The crowd on that side flinched away, but Skipper stayed where he was. The blade kept spinning loudly in the dark, and Rainbow knew it was returning when the sound started getting louder.
Skipper heard it as well, launching himself into the air as the blade flew through a gap in the crowd. As soon as Rainbow caught it, he dived down, hindlegs first. She was off-balance from catching it, still a nerve-wracking ability, and he took full advantage to knock her on her back. Pinning her arms and legs with all of his, he quickly reared up and grabbed her ears with his forelegs, slamming her head down against the wooden floor in a knockout blow.
She groaned slightly as he picked her up across his back, but didn’t wake up. Her weapon seemed glued to her hand, so he gave up trying to remove it after a couple of attempts. “Since I beat her, I’d better take her prize money,” he said. “Unless all of you want a round.”
They gave him the money without a word.
~
When Rainbow Dash woke up, she wasn’t in her apartment where she’d expected to be. It was already mid-morning, and she started freaking out, wondering where she was and where Scootaloo was. She jumped out of bed, but immediately fell flat on her face. “You’re awake,” a voice said. “I didn’t think I’d hit you that hard. You might have a concussion.”
Rainbow looked around for the voice’s owner, and recognised the white Pegasus from the night before. “It was your own fault,” she replied. “Where are we?”
“I took you to an inn. Didn’t know where you live, but I couldn’t just leave you.”
“You beat me up,” Rainbow accused.
“Guilty as charged.”
“And then you decide you’re responsible for me?”
“You’re young. And you’re stupid. I realise the two aren’t necessarily related, but it’s a dangerous combination to have.” Rainbow tried to say something, but Skipper held up a hoof. “I knew about the meeting too. Saw you going in. Why would you willingly enter a fight club run by the mob?”
“I needed the money. There’s this girl I live with, and the money’s getting tighter, so I thought...”
“No, you didn’t think. In a city like this, there’s plenty of ways to scrape a bit or two up. But if you start fighting for money, then eventually you’ll start fights with ponies who don’t want to, or can’t fight back. And down that road lies only ruin, whether you realise it or not.” Rainbow opened her mouth again, but this time she had nothing to say. “I don’t know who you live with, but I’m sure they’d be disappointed in you if they knew that you were fighting, even if it was to help them.”
“Where do you get off lecturing me like I’m a foal?” Rainbow asked, more venomously than she’d intended to.
“I was a soldier once. A captain. Lecturing ponies who step out of line comes easily to me. Though, you’re not really a pony, are you?”
Rainbow had to think for a moment about the statement. She wasn’t a pony anymore; she was a human, though how she knew that, she had no idea. But she felt like she should be a pony, and spoke like they did. She explained what she knew to Skipper, and told him about Scootaloo, who had been transformed similarly. He simply listened, only speaking to correct her when her words came out slightly jumbled.
He was about to suggest going back together when Rainbow’s eyes suddenly glowed a bright purple for almost a minute. She sat completely still, not even breathing, and when he tried to touch her, he was thrown back by a wave of magic. The strength of the spell, and the hold it had over the human, reminded him of only a single being in all of Equestria.
Rainbow closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, they were her usual magenta colour. “I need to go,” she said. “There’s a castle on a mountain, and there’s something there that I have to find. Excuse me.”
“Wait,” Skipper said. “What about Scootaloo? You can’t just leave her behind.”
Rainbow wanted to ignore him, but a feeling welled up in her heart and overcame her. “You’re right,” she finally said. “I’ll get Scootaloo, tell her I’m going for a while...”
“If she doesn’t have a Cutie Mark yet, you’d better just take her with you. You’re not a bad fighter; I’m sure you can take care of her.”
“You really mean it?”
“You’re pretty skilled, but you haven’t been at it as long as I have. Get Scootaloo and go to Canterlot. I’ve got something else I need to do first, but I’ll meet you there.” He dropped the bag of bits he’d taken last night on the table, and poured a few out. “This should get you an overnight train ticket to Canterlot.”
As they walked out of the apartment together, Rainbow tilted her head, looking at his flank. “That doesn’t look like a fighting Cutie Mark,” she said.
“It’s not.”
“Then what is it?”
“I don’t remember. That’s how long I’ve been fighting. Anyway, haven’t you got somewhere to be?” With that, he took off, disappearing above the steam clouds in only a few seconds. Sighing at the nostalgia for flight, and that she couldn’t even float as a human, Rainbow walked off as well.
From a nearby alley, a pony with a maroon coat nodded to himself, vanishing into the shadows.