“Ugh! Fine. I’ll try out these stupid beds,” she said, trotting over to a bed in the corner of the room. “It can’t be that--*snore*” Dash was out like a light the second she flopped into bed.
Twilight smiled and playfully rolled her eyes. She glanced at the bookshelf for a few seconds but soon thought better of it. Climbing into bed herself, she let the spell’s effects lull her own body to sleep. Soon, only the sound of snores and light breathing could be heard from the room’s occupants.
Until everypony immediately bolted upright in their beds, gasping in unison. Everypony began glancing around, nervous and confused. Sweetie Belle was the only one to act like this wasn't unusual.
Vinyl stared forward blankly, “Woah… I’ve closed my eyes and woke up before, but this was just… woah.”
“D-did we really sleep for six hours just now?” Octavia asked.
Sweetie got out of bed and trotted over to a window that Twilight swore wasn't there before, opened it, and answered Octavia’s question. The sudden barrage of daylight forced everypony to cover their eyes. Sweetie turned and smiled at the group, “See! We completely skipped over the night!”
Vinyl chuckled a bit, “Luna’s not gonna be happy with that one.”
Octavia’s face conveyed a myriad of emotions, “I am not sure how I feel about this…”
Pinkie hopped up and landed next to Sweetie, “Yeah! I like having dreams at night. Sweet sugary chocolate covered dreams,” Pinkie began drooling and licking her lips feverishly.
Dash stretched and scratched her back, “Actually, I think I’m fine. I never remember my dreams, anyway.”
Sweetie pointed around, “But look! You wake up completely rested. Just like I said.”
Twilight climbed out of bed and moved around as everypony else did the same. “Sweetie’s right. My body feels completely healthy.” Twilight moved her front and back legs in a circle. “None of it’s asleep, and I don’t feel any sort of fatigue at all,” she surmised.
“Still though,” Lyra began, “I think we can all agree that waking up this way is weird.”
There was a chorus of silent nods. Sweetie Belle lowered her head, disappointed that her idea didn't go over so well.
Vinyl reached over and tossed on her trademark shades. “So, when do we start today's challenge?”
Lyra hopped out of bed and began hoof punching the air. “Yeah! I’m ready to kick some flank and win me some bits!”
Rainbow joined them on the ground, "Puh-leaze. Nopony has a better chance at winning this thing than me."
"Sure," scoffed Octavia, "that's why you fell face first into a hole." She sent a wry smirk at her, "During the tutorial level, no less."
Rainbow sent a hate-filled glare at the earth mare, "You got something to say to me?"
Twilight stood between them, “Girls, please don’t fight. We need to be ready for whatever Luna throws at us.”
Vinyl raised her hoof, “Still wondering when that’s happening, by the way.”
“In time, ponies. In time….” Everypony turned to the source of the voice. Standing in the open door was none other than Discord himself, smiling his usual monofanged smile. Rainbow immediately flew over to his face.
“What are you doing here?” she said. Then she looked behind him and continued, “And how did you get that door open?”
“Please, Rainbow. Everyone knows you don’t mine at night. The doors are automatically locked during that time. Feel free to explore now, though.” Discord stepped out of the way and let the sunshine pass through.
“Thank Celestia!” yelled Rainbow as she flew out of the cabin and into the world. Twilight nearly ran out with her, only for Discord to block her way.
“Rainbow, wait! What about the challenge?”
Discord quickly shooed her back inside, “Calm down, Twily. Little Luna has an influx of fan-mail suggestions to go through so she sent me here to keep you all company until she can announce the next challenge.”
Lyra tilted her head, “Fan-mail?”
“Hmm? Oh…” Discord blanked, remembering that they weren't supposed to know that little detail. “Oh, you know, little colts and fillies who adore their pretty, pretty princesses. In fact, there’s a surprising amount from one called Pipsqueak.”
Everypony's curiosity seemed to be satisfied with the made-up answer.
Octavia stepped forward, “Alright, so we’ll have to wait a bit. Is that all you came here for?”
Discord opened his mouth to say something but closed it when he realized that he'd forgot what it was. Reaching behind him, he pulled out a long sheet of parchment. Putting on his reading glasses, he glanced over a few sentences before rolling it up and returning it to backspace. “No, I am also here to act as a ‘central information hub’,” he answered, air quoting the words.
Lyra tilted her head and scratched the side of it in the basic gesture of confuzzlement. “Infor-what?” Lyra asked.
“It means he’s supposed to answer our questions,” Twilight clarified.
“Correct, Twilight Sparkle. According to Luna, I’m here to provide you with information should you require it. Clarification on the rules of a particular challenge. Why you lost. What’s going on outside of here. How many points you currently have. So on and so forth.”
Vinyl smirked and sauntered up to the draconequus, “I don’t suppose you mind giving us a hint on who the game masters are?”
“Nope! But I can give you a hint as to what the next challenge will consist of.”
“Really?!" squealed Lyra "Is it GTA?”
Discord turned around and crossed his arms, “Nu-uh. I’m only allowed to tell you who is most likely to win, and whom to watch out for. Plus, I’ll only do it my way.”
“So tell us already! The suspense is driving me even more coco in the loco!” Pinkie cried.
Discord immediately drew them all into a tight huddle and began to whisper in everypony's ears simultaneously, “Listen closely. This isn't that important.”
“Beware the one with the two-legged stance.
Watch for the one who knows the bow’s dance.”
Discord released the group. “And that’s that. Short, sweet, and to the point. Shouldn't be too hard to figure out,” he said, sending a smirk to the ponies.
Twilight looked up at him curiously. “But the only pony that I know who knows how to use a bow is my brother. Who else could it be?”
Discord, still smirking, glanced behind her. Following his gaze, Twilight gasped as she saw Vinyl and Lyra viciously staring down Octavia while slowly advancing on her.
“Hey, Tavi…” Vinyl began, advancing on the scarred earth pony, “mind doing us a favor?”
Octavia took a hesitant step backwards, “Wh-what? What are you two glaring at me for?”
“Throw the match, Octi,” Lyra ordered, calmly advancing closer.
Octavia cautiously eyed the open door. “What? Why me?”
Vinyl continued to move closer, “You know why…”
“Bow’s dance? Oh yeah, you know full well what we mean," Lyra added.
Pinkie joined them, the only difference was that she had a smile. Though, in this this situation, it was not at all comforting. All three began to chant in unison. "Throw. The. Match! Throw. The. Match! Throw. The. Match! Throw. The. Match!"
“Leave me alone!” Octavia burst away from the group and ran straight out the door. Vinyl quickly bolted after her, followed by a grinning Lyra and a giggling Pinkie.
“After her!” ordered Vinyl, running after her.
“Eliminate the threat!” yelled Lyra, following Vinyl.
“Wheeeeeeee!” cheered pinkie, hopping after them.
Twilight watched the entire scene with a confused look until, finally, realization slapped her upside the head. “Ohhhh! That’s right. Octavia stands on two legs when she maneuvers her bow to play her instrument! Wait… I don’t get how that’s going to help her in the next challenge.”
Discord shrugged, “It might, and It might not. Honestly, I have no idea what that rag tag group will choose.”
“Then why did you do that?!” Twilight asked, giving him a suspicious look.
“Practice, Twilight Sparkle. I need to flex my riddle muscles for something I need to do later. Hm. Perhaps I’ll visit your little zebra friend later for some assistance.”
“You stay away from her!” While Discord and Twilight made more small talk, Sweetie Belle silently exited the wooden home. Once outside, Sweetie’s eyes widened as she gazed at the landscape in awe. Everything about this world was just as it looked in the game.
Blocky. Everything was either a square, or a cube. The sun was just one big radiant square that sat high in the sky. The grass was smooth and as even as could be; with not a pebble out of place. Even the sky, if one looked closely, resembled one large gridscape. Sweetie slammed her hoof on the ground a few times experimentally. Lo and behold, the block popped and disappeared, a small cube floating in the hole in its place.
Sweetie picked up the block and stared at it in awe for a few seconds. She placed it back down and watched it instantly replace the block she broke and fill the hole completely. Sweetie took another long look around. She could see Rainbow flying in the distance, pulling off amazing feats just for exercise. Out on the fields, she saw Pinkie and Vinyl chasing Octavia around. Lyra teleported in front of Octavia trying to catch her by surprise, only for Octavia to jump clear over her and continue running. After observing the other ponies Sweetie came to a singular conclusion.
“I’m not the one who’s meant to be here…”
~~~
“Welcome back to the Velvet Room, everypony!” Princess Luna cheered, staring down at the row of ponies from her holo screen. Luna took a second to scan the contestants and curiously observed the fact that everypony present conveyed a different emotion.
Twilight sat indifferently, cautiously anticipating what would happen next. Octavia sat slightly annoyed, somewhat because of Discord’s trick, but mostly because of the two unicorns to her side. Vinyl sat comfortably, ignoring the lump on her head. One would think from looking at her that she was used to such things. Lyra, however, wasn't, and sat writhing on the floor in pain, sporting a similar bump and even a few bruises. Pinkie bounced in place, simply happy to be here. Rainbow stood at the ready, nearly jumping from hoof to hoof and eager to face anything. Although, Luna noticed that, every once in a while, she would shoot a dirty look Octavia’s way. Sweetie Belle also stood at the ready, though she looked slightly withdrawn.
Seeing her contestants lack of energy caused Luna's smile to fade until Twilight raised her hoof. “Princess Luna, I’ve been meaning to ask--”
Luna immediately perked up, “Yes, go ahead.”
“Why is this place called the Velvet Room?” Twilight asked.
Luna looked at her curiously, “Is it not obvious? The floor is velvet colored. Also, the ‘Velvet Room’ is a popular setting in the Ponysona series. I thought it was fitting.”
“Excuse me, Princess, but velvet is not a color,” Octavia explained. “Velvet is a closely woven fabric of silk cotton or nylon that is short and dense. Now it could be violet, depending on your preferences, but is usually a shade of purple or red.”
Rainbow Dash scoffed and rolled her eyes even as Luna seemed to be enraptured in the explanation. “I see.” Luna conjured up a quill and paper and began writing down what she was told.
Twilight gave Octavia and impressed look, “Wow, you know a lot about fabric.”
Octavia turned and nodded in appreciation. “Why thank you, Twilight. Fabric weaving was a hobby of my mother’s. Sometimes she would--”
“Come on! Let’s announce the challenge already!” screamed Rainbow.
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight scolded.
Luna held up a hoof to silence everypony, “No, she is right, Twilight Sparkle. I should move on. I’ll fix this error later.”
“Finally!” Lyra called out.
Luna continued, “Today’s challenge will be a survival match. You will have a health bar this time. If it empties completely, you lose. You won’t have a stamina gauge though.” Everypony looked up to see that, instead of their stamina bars, a green bar hovered over each of them. Unlike her stamina bar, however, Twilight’s health was the same size as everypony else’s.
“There can only be one winner this time. Cheat codes and combos are allowed. Let us relocate to the match site. More will be explained there.” Luna powered up her horn and, with a flash and a pop, everypony disappeared from sight.
One by one, each pony appeared by themselves in separate locations. Lyra appeared in a jungle. Octavia appeared in a blank white room. Rainbow appeared in a Chineighs town-like area. Vinyl appeared in a metropolis. Soon, all the ponies were relocated to different areas.
“Welcome! To Super Street Fighter IV!” Luna announced from the sky.
“Buck yeah! Vinyl cheered.
Lyra began to panic slightly, “Damn… I haven't played this one yet!” she muttered.
“Another 2D side-scroller?” Twilight observed, seeing that she couldn't move side to side once more.
“Alright!” Dash hoof-pumped.
Sweetie’s expression brightened instantly when she heard the title, “Oh, I’ve played this one once!”
Octavia simply smirked. A thought quickly passed through her head, however, causing her to look up curiously.
Pinkie continued to bounce energetically.
Luna continued, “Indeed! Today we will--”
“Ultra or regular?” Octavia asked.
“...Does it matter?” Lyra asked in return.
Octavia looked at the sky as though a bird dunked on her, “Ai--wah--Does it matter? Of course it matters! Ultra is the--”
“Fine! Let’s say it’s Ultra,” Luna declared, not wanting to waste time. “Moving on. Like any good fighting game, you will face an opponent one on one. There will be no time limit, only one match, and you must continue to fight until you lose. If you defeat an enemy, some HP will be restored but your new opponent will have a full bar, and in addition, will be stronger than the previous enemy. Last pony standing wins!”
Sweetie Belle raised a hoof, “I don’t know how to fight in real life.”
“A valid concern, young one. Luckily, through the use of memory magic, I have imparted to you all, the knowledge of every combo in the game. Thereby making this a match of stamina, above anything else. Be conservative, but also forceful. Use your moves wisely, as you have many to choose from and the wrong moves could be your downfall. Are there any questions?”
“What happens if we lose?" asked Twilight. "Do we go into stasis? Because, after having some time to think about it, I’m not too fond of that.”
“Good question, Twilight Sparkle. After some debate, we’ve decided that it was too harsh of a penalty. Instead we opted to use spectator mode. While defeated, you will be able to watch others progress as punishment, as well as the standard point deduction. Now, if that is all, you may begin!”
“FIGHT!”
Everypony took a defensive stance as the first opponent teleported onto the field. It was none other than Street Fighter classic character, Ryu. Being one of only four pony characters to be able to fight while standing on his hind legs, he was a formidable foe to begin with. The earth pony wore a red head band under his brown mane. His cream coated forehooves were covered in red gauntlets. He made small hops back and forth to keep his balance.
Twilight instantly came up with what she believed to be a winning strategy. Pointing her horn forward, she began letting out a constant stream of horn blasts. “This will keep the enemy from coming closer and damaging me,” she reasoned. Her assumption proved to be accurate, as the the AI couldn't manage to come anywhere near her. Soon, he was defeated and the next pony appeared, only to instantly take a blast to the face.
Oppositely, Rainbow Dash choose to meet Ryu half way. Both engaged in a brutal fist fight, with Dash spending bursts of stamina to keep herself aloft in the air. It wasn't more than 20 seconds before Rainbow’s incredibly fast strikes depleted Ryu’s health bar. Ken stepped up to take the next barrage soon after.
Sweetie Belle used her small stature to avoid most of Ryu’s attacks. However, being the pacifist she was, she couldn't think of a way to defeat him. Eventually, a thought popped into her head. She quickly dodged a kick from Ryu and jumped up to his neck. Before he could throw her off, Sweetie Belle puffed out her bottom lip, opened her eyes wide, and gave him the biggest puppy dog eyes she could. “Mister… could you please just let me win? Pwease?” she whispered.
A few seconds passed before Ryu’s health bar began dropping considerably. Eventually, Sweetie fell to the ground, rubbing her eyes and breathing hard.
"Good to know I can still do that,” she muttered. Ryu disappeared, defeated. Soon, the next enemy appeared and Sweetie resumed dodging, simply buying time to use her move again.
Vinyl took a curious approach. First she called her magic, then she used that magic to pick up a knife from somewhere. She fought by constantly swapping between slashing from the knife, and her own physical attacks. A few times she had dropped her knife and had to rely on her own skills. To her surprise, it seemed that her magic worked on other things. She defeated Ken pretty easily just by hurling a volley of rocks she picked up off the ground.
Lyra, having never played this game, simply went with the most logical strategy for beginners. In her mind, this translated to 'go buck wild crazy'. She did anything and everything she could think of, then even intentionally stopped thinking just to add a new set of attacks. She punched, she jumped around randomly, she spun with two legs stuck out, she flung random objects, she sent out horn blasts, and kicked like crazy. She did all of it while screaming like a maniac.
The worst part was that it seemed to be working. She was already fighting a dark coated earth pony with red tribal markings and a flame wisp cutie mark. Despite his annoying habit of spitting fire and stretching his limbs, Lyra had gotten him down to nearly nothing while she still had slightly less than 75% health. It wasn't long before he fell and the next fighter took his place.
Pinkie spent her time hopping around and distracting her enemy. Only, due to her excessive nature, she accidentally hopped out of bounds in the first round. Pinkie materialized in a dark room. A large screen had been placed in front of her so that she could see everypony’s battles simultaneously. Luna appeared in the flesh and deadpanned, “I would very much enjoy it if you’d stop breaking game physics, Pinkie Pie. There isn't even an out-of-bounds in Street Fighter!”
Pinkie blushed and rubbed the back of her head, “Sorry, Princess Luna. I’m just so superly-duperly excited to be here!”
Luna nodded in understanding, “Be that as it may, I hope that you will restrain yourself after this, just a little. This is the second time you glitched.”
“Don’t worry, I will!” she saluted. “Ohh, look at Twilight! She just letting those balls go at him.”
Luna looked at Twilight, now on her fourth enemy, and chuckled, “Indeed. Twilight believes that if she keeps her distance and keeps the enemy from attacking, she will prevail.”
Pinkie tilted her head, “Is that bad? Sounds like a neat idea. Oh, hey! What's that number?” Pinkie pointed to a small green number that sat next to each pony’s names.
“That is the win count. While it does not matter who has the most kills, I thought it would be nice just to know.”
“Neat! Who has what?” Pinkie asked, leaning closer.
Luna scanned the numbers. “Let’s see. Twilight has five and is currently doing battle with number six. Rainbow is already on her eighth. Vinyl just took down her eighth and is on her ninth. Sweetie is still regaining her stamina after beating her fourth. Lyra is doing well as she is also on number nine… Oh my… Amazing! It seems that Ms. Octavia is already on her 12-- no 13th enemy. She’s defeating them all with such skill.”
“Woah, nelly! How did she do that! She just flipped that big fat guy like he was a pancake!”
“I see. She has her own two legged stance that allows for greater maneuvering. It also seems that she knows this game’s combos inside and out. She’s a natural, if I do say so myself.”
~~~
Octavia knew she had an advantage from the second Luna uttered the game’s title. The first thing she noticed was that she had absolutely no problem standing tall and moving around on her hind legs. Whereas before, she needed her instrument to balance herself.
Before she met Vinyl, Octavia was always stressed due to the uptight and proper attitude that Canterlot jobs usually required. Instrumentalists were paid not to talk, but to make soft background music for the idiotic nobles who irritated her to no end. Always, they offered useless criticisms on her playing even though they most likely had no experience even touching a piece. Octavia couldn't even remember the number of times some stupid pony complained about her playing, and she was forced to simply accept it.
Then she met Vinyl, and the video games that came with her. All of her stress vanished immediately upon beating up her first enemy. It would be a lie to say that she didn't deliberately imagine a few faces during her fights to give her that extra push.
Octavia fell back onto the ground with her opponent’s head in her grip. The blue mare with the unnaturally wide hips struggled desperately, but with the last of her HP depleted, she disappeared and the K.O. voice yelled out. With her gone, Octavia’s own health was restored to full… Well, it would be if it wasn't already full. Since the beginning of the game Octavia had only lost a sum total of half her health, most of it during the first few matches when she tried out a few combos. By match number five, she the entire game down pat and had decided to fight seriously. She hadn't received a hit since.
“It seems that Princess Luna was telling the truth when she said that our natural abilities are enhanced here,” Octavia muttered as she hopped back into her stance. She watched as the next enemy appeared and got ready to strike.
Twilight on the other hoof was also nearly untouched. Her only screw-ups were the few enemies who were able to bypass her volley and land a hit on her. Currently, she was on match number nine, against a unicorn mare with a long dark mane and crimson coat. She wore a golden scarf that also doubled as her cutie mark.
“Ugh!” Twilight groaned mentally. She quickly jumped into the air to dodge a strike from the mare. Her health bar said her name is ‘Rose’. “That stupid scarf of hers! She keeps reflecting my attacks back at me. It took me by surprise earlier, and now I’m down to half my HP. I have to end this fast. Let’s see.” Twilight began to mentally scroll through her list of moves. She saw the one that allowed the other mare to reflect her attack, but Twilight figured that it wouldn’t be enough. Finally she found what she was looking for. “Looks like there's a higher tier form of this attack. Let’s try it out.”
Twilight landed on the other side of the screen. She lifted her hooves and stomped down, hard. She quickly gathered a large amount of power in her horn all at once before stopping abruptly. Thrusting her head forward, she sent all the energy in one large blast, “HORNRUKEN!!” she called out instinctively. The large attack found it’s mark, hitting Rose and knocking out the rest of her health.
“Whew,” Twilight sighed. Taking some time between fights she caught her breath and watched as her health returned some. “Looks like the health return is getting smaller. The time between fights is growing, though. I wonder how the others are doing.” Unfortunately, she didn't have much time to wonder before the next opponent appeared. She was a young looking, blue pegasus mare with her hair tied up in twin Chineighs buns. On her flank rested the image of a whirlwind. “Her flanks are huge!” Twilight noted. They were both large and muscular, as if they were sculpted for fighting.
“Ni hao,” she greeted. “Let’s have a good fight, shall we?”
“FIGHT!”
Twilight only stopped staring at the mare’s flanks when the proverbial bell rang. She immediately resorted to shooting out horn blasts like usual. Only this time, the blue mare, apparently named Li Wind, hopped into the air and cleared the distance between them easily. Twilight didn't falter and continued shooting. The mare crouched and glowed yellow for a second, absorbing Twilight’s attack and charging her own. Li shot her front hooves forward and caught Twilight in her chest with brutal force, stunning her and forcing her to fall forward. However, before she could hit the ground, the mare reared back on her back legs and began kicking Twilight furiously while standing on one leg.
Kick after kick struck Twilight, rapidly depleting her health until one kick tossed her into the air. Twilight, surprised by this turn of events, hesitated while trying to think of her next move. She quickly opened her wings and jumped to the other edge of the stage. She struggled to think of a new strategy. Unfortunately, this allowed Li to run up and meet her with another volley of kicks, ending with a special move where Li opened her wings, flipped upside down, and began spinning her legs in a whirlwind, repeatedly roundhousing Twilight in the face.
“K.O!!”
Twilight fell to the ground, defeated. Soon, she was forcibly teleported to meet up with the other fallen players. Twilight held her head in anguish.
“Ughh. What the hay was that!” she groaned, holding her head.
Luna trotted up to her, laughing jovially and leaning down to meet her gaze, “That, my dear Princess Twilight, is how we deal with ponies who spam the same move over and over.” Luna trotted away with a mischievous smirk, leaving Twilight to lean her head down in shame.
“Well, we were supposed to survive, right?” she argued.
Luna continued to trot away, a chipper tone evident in her voice, “Yes, but you were so used to that one move, that when it didn't work, you failed to have a back-up combo set if said move failed. It’s fine. Come, sit with us.”
Twilight got up and found Sweetie Belle, and Pinkie watching the five remaining players.
Pinkie tore her attention from the game and finally noticed her friend, “Hi Twilight!” she yelled, waving a hoof. Sweetie noticed her too, and waved her over.
“Come check this out! It’s awesome!”
“Pinkie, Sweetie? How did you two lose?”
“I broke the game!” Pinkie cheered.
Sweetie giggled sheepishly, “I tried my special move on this big green pony…. It didn't work and he got me.”
Luna reached down and petted her. “I’m sorry. Charm moves don’t always work, young one,” she comforted. Sweetie gave a small smile in response before turning back to Twilight.
“Come look! I think Vinyl’s about to lose.”
“Seriously? Scoot over!” Twilight sat now in between her two friends and stared up at Vinyl’s screen.
The DJ in question currently landed some distance away from her opponent. She was breathing heavily while also hissing in pain from her multiple wounds. Her opponent was in a similar situation. He was a large gray unicorn with a blonde mane. On his forelegs, he wore chained iron hoofcuffs, and in his magic he held a sharp knife. His cutie mark was a symbol that depicted the former wrapped around the latter. The stallion, apparently named Cody Trotters, seemed to use the same method of fighting as Vinyl, except for one major difference.
He used it better.
Instead of relying solely on his knife and occasional hooves like she did, Cody also used a few techniques that Vinyl didn't think of using, such as the act of using his magic to fling massive amounts of dirt at her as a distraction. Every so often, he would also drop his knife on purpose and attack full on just to throw her off.
Vinyl hastily threw up her guard when the mad pony called on his special attack. He came at her fiercely with a pipe wrench and and iron pipe, but Vinyl held fast with her guard, waiting out the move. She retaliated with her own version of the move, only for Cody to dodge by jumping clear over her. While her back was turned, Cody came at her with a few more attacks that cut her HP down to only a fifth of her full gauge. Once Vinyl broke free, she glanced up at both bars. Cody’s was around a little more than half.
“Damn,” she cursed, “Heh. Maybe I’m the only one left and I’ve already won,” Vinyl chucked. “As if!”
Vinyl picked her knife back up and charged back in.
~~~
“Yeah, Tavi’s probably gonna win. I bet… 50 bits.”
“Hold on, Vinyl. I don’t want to count Rainbow out yet, either. She’s taken martial arts before and knows a thing or two about fighting. I’ll bet 25 on her.”
Pinkie randomly produced a bit sack from her mane and sat it down on the pile. “However many bits for Lyra!” she cheered.
Sweetie looked up at Pinkie curiously, “Why?”
Pinkie threw her face close to Sweetie's, “Don’t underestimate the power of CRAZY, Sweetie Belle. It’s Super Effective!”
Sweetie Belle scooted away from the pink mare, “Well, Scootaloo always talks about Rainbow Dash… But Ms. Octavia hasn't even taken any real damage yet. So, I’ll put my 10 bits in for Ms. Octavia.”
Luna trotted over to them curiously, “What are you ponies doing?”
Vinyl raised her shades to look at her, “Illegal gambling with a minor!” she said with a smirk.
“Vinyl!” yelled Twilight, “No, Princess. we’re just placing friendly wagers and discussing who we think is going to win and why.”
“Where did you get those bits?” she said, pointing to the golden colored pile.
“Oh, these aren't bits. They’re gold pieces of wrapping paper that I transmuted to look like bits. See, look” Twilight lifted one and flipped it over, showing off the blank backside, “No gambling.”
Pinkie carefully slid her bag behind her, grinning sheepishly.
Luna continued to give them strange looks, “But why? You all lost, shouldn't you be upset?”
Pinkie tilted her head curiously, “Why would we be upset? We still have plenty of chances to win the game, right? Plus, I had so much fun!”
“Well don’t speak for everypony, Pinks. I’m pretty sure if Dash loses she’ll be pretty pissed off,” Vinyl smirked.
“Well, we’ll deal with her later,” said Twilight before she turned back to Luna, “Whom do you think is going to win?”
Luna put a hoof to her chin and thought deeply. After a few moments, she came up with a response. “In light of Octavia’s considerable skills, I feel as though Lyra’s unpredictable nature will take her further in the long run. In fact, look at her now!” Luna pointed at Lyra’s screen.
Lyra currently had her opponent, a large minotaur wearing a mexicolt wrestling mask, in a tight hold before slamming the guy to the ground. She then got up and began taunting her frazzled opponent.
“Come on! Get up!" she screamed, "Use your super move! Fight me! HIT me! GIVE ME YOUR HANDS!” Lyra nearly foamed at the mouth as she jumped on her fallen prey to continue her crazed rampage.
Luna chucked while the others reeled back in shock, “Oh, this is fun! I’ve never thought about another player’s abilities in this way before.”
~~~
Rainbow Dash got up and stretched. “About time,” she said, referring to the apparent fact that there was a long break period between fights. Currently, she was on her 28th match and going strong. Dash flapped her wings a little to make sure that they were alert and checked her life bar. Currently, it sat around 40% full.
“No biggie, I’ll gain more after I win,” she smirked. “Come on!” she yelled, “Bring in the next victim!”
The next pony to come out wasn't even a pony, not that she cared. He was, in fact, a large red minotaur with odd turquoise hair that had been styled in circles. He also had a matching mustache and golden lion’s head belt buckle. He quickly grabbed a large tub and dumped its contents all over himself, throwing it away afterwards.
Dash smirked, “Don’t celebrate yet, ugly!”
“Do not underestimate me, little mare!” he yelled, his voice a deep foreign accent.
“What’d you call me?!” Dash yelled.
“FIGHT!”
Dash rushed forward and delivered the first punch, the minotaur took the punch head-on and grabbed the pegasus, causing both of them to lose a bit of HP.
“Ehhh, what the hay is this gunk?” Rainbow yelled, feeling the slimy substance that covered the red beast’s body. Try as she might, she couldn't get the stuff off of her hoof.
Instead of answering, Hakan simply used her confusion to grab her and hold her in a tight bear hug, smothering her in the gunk.
“I-is this…” she sniffed, “oil?!”
“Olive! The best kind!” Hakan yelled as he jumped into the air, still holding on the the pegasus. Twirling, he fell to the ground and began sliding back and forth around the arena, causing loads of damage to his passenger. By the time he released her, Rainbow had only 10 percent of her HP left.
After finally getting a hold of her frazzled senses, Dash glared at the minotaur fiercely. “Oh, that’s it buddy! You’re done!” Rainbow stomped down hard, activating her ultimate combo. She jumped and flew high into the air, and with rainboom-like speed, she rocketed down like a bullet, straight toward Hakan.
Smirking, Hakan activated his own ultimate move. He held out one arm completely straight toward Rainbow. As she came down on him he used her momentum and his oily texture to redirect her attack toward the invisible wall. This alone was enough to KO her, but Hakan wasn't finished yet. He immediately lept forward and caught her from the air, squeezed her as tight as he could until the oil caused her to squirt her back into the air.
As she came down Hakan used her momentum once more to spin her around his body relentlessly. Finally, he slammed her into the wall one final time.
“ULTIMATE COMBO K.O!!!”
“Now you see! Iz good. Come see me and I sell you some oil and oil accessories.” Hakan began laughing while Dash grumbled and picked herself up. She was now completely drenched in the monster’s vile ooze. Before she could curse out the beast, she was teleported out of the area and back with her friends. Luckily, oil-free.
Dash sulked as she sat with the others, watching the final two ponies fight their hearts out. Lyra was already reaching her 29th fight, while Octavia was still stuck on the 33rd. Both were reaching the end.
“How many fights are there in total?” asked Twilight.
“If I remember correctly, Super Street Fighter IV has 35 characters,” Luna explained, “I’m guessing that they would begin fighting repeat characters.”
“Can’t we just end it if it gets that far?” Vinyl asked, “Nopony likes reruns.”
“Well, won’t they still get stronger?” Sweetie asked curiously.
Luna nodded, “Sweetie Belle is right. With each match, the opponent chosen is designed to fight with more strength than the one before it. Eventually, one just has to lose. So the game will continue. Are you not having fun anymore?”
“I am!” Pinkie cheered.
“No, we are,” Twilight assured. “I just think that we could just have them fight each other to end it. Or just have both win.”
Luna shook her head sadly, “While the thought was discussed with my companions, the one who chose this game specifically wanted only one pony to win. They were quite insistent upon it.”
“So it wasn't you then?” Twilight asked with a wry smile.
Luna flinched, “I never said that! It could very well be me! You never know.”
“Going by the tone of your voice, I can assume that you were disappointed that you were not able to overrule their decision, which means that it had to be somepony besides you.”
“Ohhhhhhh!” Vinyl cheered, “She’s got you there, Lulu.”
Twilight and the others giggled at the Princess’s accidental hint. Luna wisely looked away and kept quiet. Secretly hoping that some ponies would still waste their vote on her.
~~~
“Whoa,” Lyra said, arching her back. A few ribs popped and she let out a contented groan. “That last guy was a doozy. Seriously, it’s gotta be a cheat code to have that much fat.”
Lyra began prancing back and forth in anticipation. Through what was probably a string of dumb luck matches, she somehow made it to match number 29 with a little more than 75 percent of her health still intact.
Finally, break-time ended, and the next character appeared on screen. He looked to be an elderly, grey earth pony stallion, but even so he was fit and clearly strong. He had a rather long white mustache, and whatever mane he had was tied up under a black Chineighs bun. On his flank sat a foreign letter of some sort. The stallion took one look at Lyra and scoffed, “Who are you? Where is my opponent?”
Lyra looked at him, offended, but soon cracked a smile instead. “Hello, good sir," she bowed, "I’m here with your fresh serving of flank-kicking. Please don’t be a prick and just come take it.”
“Point proven," said the stallion, "A real fighter as no need for such trash-talking. I will wait until they decide to end this joke and arrive.”
“It’s cool. I’m pretty sure if I won, you’d just lie down and die anyway. Go ahead, real fighter, take the loss so I can move on.” Lyra sat and leaned up against the invisible wall.
One of the stallion’s ears flicked in annoyance. “Do not test me. You are not too young to know the truth about the inevitable end to all things.”
“Noooooo,” she breathed, “Really? Alright then, tell me about it-- in fact, show me. You’re what, 120? Hah, AJ’s grannie is younger than you.”
The stallion let out a small growl but otherwise remained calm, “Is your friend’s grandmother a trained assassin?”
Lyra picked a booger and flicked it in boredom, “No, are you?”
“I am, and I will continue to be one until my passing. Do not add yourself to my already long list.”
Lyra scoffed, “You carry a list around with you of the people you killed? What are you? A necrophiliac? I thought about trying it this one time, but just going to the morgue set me straight for years.”
“What are you prattering on about?”
Lyra smirked, “I’m saying you have a thing for dead people, pops.”
The stallion took an angered step forward, “I do this to honor the dead!”
“I bet you keep their corpses in your house.”
“I do not!”
“Pfft, some ‘true fighter’ you are," Lyra teased, "Can’t take on a single mare, can’t let go of the dead. I bet you can’t even throw a punch. I don’t know, maybe I already won this challenge. I think I’ll leave.” Lyra got up and prepared to call for Luna.
“No, you will stay,” the stallion ordered, “You wish to fight me, then you shall have your wish.” Rearing up on his hind legs, the stallion took on a strange stance that revealed himself to be one of the four bipedal standing ponies of the game. Lyra smirked, happy that her taunting worked.
“Just know that you may not survive this match. I am Gen!”
Finally the stallion’s health bar appeared and the voice rang out.
“FIGHT!”
“I am Lyraaaaaa!” she screamed, rushing forward and jumping into the air. Gen watched her and prepared a guard for a mid-air strike. Instead, Lyra landed just in front of him and crouched, and sent a strike at his back-legs. Gen was fast though, quickly switching guards to block her. Lyra continued to attack in weird ways, sometimes attacking from above, only to combo from below. Sometimes, she would even fake a fake-out, and not attack at all. During one particularly random combo, Gen caught her off guard and began thrusting his hoof at her with blinding speed. Lyra blocked what she could but the old stallion caught her off guard once more when he kicked her into the air.
Lyra fell to the ground and immediately activated one of her special moves. She twisted the front of her body back before flinging herself forward in a series of flaming spin kicks. With assassin like reflexes, Gen jumped high into the air to avoid the attack. Not finished yet, Lyra activated another special move. She backflipped into the air and began hurling a bunch of ninja kunai knives at the spot where Gen landed, only for him to block each and every one.
Now, beginning to get frustrated, Lyra reached off screen and grabbed two bottles with her magic. Dumping the oil on herself, she lept for for opponent. Gen recognized what was about to happen and swiftly countered, jumping into the air and drop-kicking Lyra back to the ground.
Lyra growled and launched herself at him headfirst, hoping to bum-rush him at the very least. Gen easilly blocked her attack, but was caught by surprise when the crafty mare revealed a knife that she had picked up while she rushed towards him. She began slicing and slashing him. Unfortunately, Gen ended the combo before it could do very much damage by countering and sending Lyra hurdling back halfway across the stage.
As soon as she stood up, Gen rushed forward, activating his own ultimate attack. He pierced through the mint unicorn with one hoof; the other held behind his back. From Lyra’s view point, he had simply dashed right past her. She stood motionless, waiting for the attack to hit. She examined herself and began to laugh. However, before she could get out so much as a giggle, she felt herself being stuck in dozens of different directions. She fell to the ground, defeated.
“ULTIMATE COMBO K.O!!”
“I see you are still alive. You are fortunate,” Gen noted.
Lyra groaned, “Buck you, old man. I’ll wreck your… ugh.” Lyra fell limp, finally unconscious. her body quickly disappeared and reappeared in Luna’s penalty box, fully healed and awake.
She was quickly brought into a half-hug by Vinyl. “Dude that was epic!” she cried.
“Yeah, but I didn't win.”
“So what, we got another chance tomorrow. Plus, you beat all of us at least.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, man. Look,” Vinyl pointed a hoof to every pony who saw her match. they all wore comforting smiles.
Luna stepped forward, “Excellent performance for one who has never played before. Though I would pull back on the foul language.”
“Sorry," said Lyra, "So I guess if we’re all here, Octi wins?”
“Indeed, I will go announce it to her.” Lina activated her magic and disappeared in a flash of blue light.
~~~
“K.O!”
Octavia wiped her sweat away, gasping for air. All over her body sat various injuries from where opponents landed hits. Her mane was matted and her bow tie was discarded. She couldn't have had a wider smile on her face.
Octavia watched as the green beast of a stallion disappeared after being defeated. “Just what I expected from Bolt Blanka. That lightning shield of his is really annoying.” Octavia looked up and watched her HP slowly recover, stopping at the 90% mark. She decided to use this break between matches to catch her breath. Lowering back down to four hooves, she sat and leaned against this invisible wall.
Soon a Luna hologram appeared before her, a wide smile covering her face. “Having fun?”
“Most certainly!" she answered, "This is the most fun I’ve had in years, Princess.”
“Excellent! Well then, you will be joyous to know that you have won today’s challenge. Congratulations, Octavia, you have outlasted everypony else.
Octavia stared at her blankly for a few seconds before reacting, “Oh! That’s right,” she giggled, “Sorry, I guess at some point I forgot this was a challenge. Not that it wasn't hard or anything,” she quickly added.
Luna smiled wider, “No need to explain. I too know the feeling of forgetting one's purpose during the excitement of a tough match. Just know that you are free to stop now should you so choose.”
Without any prior thought Octavia shook her head, “No, thank you. I plan on playing this at least until I’ve defeated everyone on the character roster. By my count I should at least be getting close.”
“Correct, with the defeat of Bolt Blanka, you are at 34 wins. I trust you know who’s last?”
Octavia grinned and nodded.
“Very well, then. As a reward for making it this far, would you like me to restore your health? This will be the toughest match.”
Octavia stood back up and stretched, “That’s alright. It wouldn't be survival mode if you did that.”
“A perfectionist, indeed. Well then, your break is nearly over. Good luck.”
Luna disappeared, and soon after, her final opponent stepped onto the stage. He was a tall, black earth pony with a deep red mane. He strutted out on two legs like he didn't even consider the option of using four, and held a posture that radiated an evil aura around him. He had completely pitch black eyes with deep crimson pupils, and wore a large set of prayer beads around his neck. On his flank sat what Octavia knew was the Japoniese symbol for heaven: 天; made entirely of flames.
Opening his mouth to reveal several pointed teeth, he addressed Octavia, “Welcome… to the end!” He turned his back on her and swung one leg back around. Stomping his hoof down, he let out a surge of murderous energy that produced cracks all around Octavia’s stage. The demon’s voice boomed out once more, “Turn back now unless you have made peace with your gods.”
Octavia brought herself up and took her own stance, “I am not afraid of you, Akuma! I’ve come this far, and I will not back down!” she stated.
“Then you deem yourself worthy? Alright, then. I will fight you. Prepare to feel a pain worse than death!”
“FIGHT!!”
Akuma zoomed forward and immediately threw the first punch. Luckily, Octavia expected this and set up a charge strike, countering Akuma’s blow and forcing him back some. Using this chance, she came at him with a series of expertly woven combos.
Akuma blocked a few then somehow phased right past her. Before Octavia could react, Akuma delivered a painfully devastating uppercut to her back, tossing her high into the air and knocking off a good chunk of her health. Regaining her balance in the air, she rocketed back down at him with a dropkick that tore off some of his health, as well.
Nearly completely unfazed, Akuma unleashed a devastating spin kick that, if Octavia hadn't blocked, would have probably knocked out the majority of her HP. She tried to counter the rapid spinning strike, but found that she couldn't, forcing her to wait the move out and pray that her block held.
Unfortunately, the worst came to pass and Octavia’s guard broke, causing her vision to swim and her head to feel light. “Damn!”
Akuma seized this opportunity and activated his special move. He began charging a devastatingly powerful roundhouse kick. Octavia merely watched in horror, too stunned to do anything. When it connected, it sent her soaring into the air. Not wasting any time, Akuma prepared the second half of his move. Sticking his leg out he began to spin so fast that a small whirlwind formed around his body. Hovering just above the ground, Akuma flung his spinning self directly at Octavia's falling form.
His leg caught her right across the gut as he let all the force of his spinning kick on her. His physics-breaking attack dug itself into her body, forcing her to release any breath she had in her and then some. Octavia swore felt something break when, instead of her being flung away, Akuma’s leg passed right through her, seemingly ripping her body in half.
She landed with a crash and, if the pain was any indication, still whole. Akuma landed behind her. Ready to continue the match. Octavia struggled to pick herself off of the ground. Just as she expected, her health was on it’s last legs thanks to that combo. It was now or never for her.
"In exchange for his massive strength, Akuma has a very fragile health bar," she thought. "If I can just use my ultimate combo I can still win. Heh.... I just realized that I haven't even used that this whole challenge yet."
Octavia took deep breath and retook her stance. Rushing forward, she jumped into the air and came down hard with another dropkick that Akuma blocked easily. However, Octavia expected this and lowered herself to attack his legs.
"Weak!" he yelled, using a charge counter to absorb her attack.
"Now" Octavia instantly threw up her guard and the very second his attack connected she activated her Ultimate Combo. Crouching low she focused energy into her hoof and delivered three fierce uppercuts in rapid succession, followed by a complex series of punches and kicks, all ending with another, stronger, flaming uppercut that launched Akuma high into the air. Joining him in the air, Octavia unleashed a skull shattering drop kick that caused her opponent to bounce off of the hard ground.
Not finished, she stomped down on him and flipped back to the other half of the stage. Back there, she focused all of her remaining energy into her hoof. Once charged, she zoomed across the stage in a gray blur and instantly, dug her other arm's elbow deep into Akuma's chest. Using her charged hoof she slammed it together with her other one, digging her elbow even deeper and releasing all of her pent up energy into one piercing strike that sent her opponent rocketing towards the stage wall. As soon as he crashed against the wall, the energy that Octavia spiked into him expanded and exploded, ending the attack and winning her the fight.
Or so she thought…
Octavia gave a stunned look to the empty health meter. "How is he getting up? He has no--" her eyes widened wide in horrible realization. "He's got one point left. I've got to get him before he--"
It was too late. Akuma stood tall on one hind leg with the other one lifted slightly above the ground. Octavia's blood ran cold when she recognized that stance. Frantically, she dashed across the stage to stop him.
"Nonononono!" she screamed.
It was no use, Akuma's body became shrouded in a deadly red aura. Like a demon from the pits of Hell, he surged forward, passing right through Octavia's guard like it wasn't even there.
“Damn..." was the only thing she could say before her vision went dark. Octavia long since guessed that the only reason everything went dark, was that the character’s mind was protecting them from the horrible scenes that happened during the move's execution. Right now, however, every other sense was currently on the process of being overloaded with the worst pain imaginable. By the time her vision returned, she felt like every bone in her body had been broken one by one. All she saw before she passed out was Akuma's back, and the flaming heaven symbol that blazed on it.
“K.O!!”
Octavia opened her eyes back up to find that she was no longer in the fighting stage, but rather in a dark blue space. Aside from a small soreness covering her entire body, she was no worse for wear. Just as she began wondering where she was, the entire space lit up with the sound of energetic applause filled her ears. Simultaneously, the world turned from bleak to bright causing her to rub her eyes some. When she opened them, she found the entire group standing in front of her cheering her name.