//------------------------------// // Final Fight // Story: The Snowball Fight // by zaponator //------------------------------// Diamond Tiara's 'snow fort', to use the term loosely, was easy enough to spot. The massive skyscraper stretched towards the clouds, a veritable monstrosity of ice and snow. The entire surrounding area was covered in bunkers and fortifications, but not a single defending pony could be seen. Apple Bloom smirked in satisfaction. Clearly, outing the lieutenants had done something. Diamond Tiara was losing control of her forces, and she didn't even have enough left to occupy her defensive positions. Apple Bloom strolled through abandoned defenses until she reached the front door of the building. She paused outside, unsure of how exactly to proceed. She thought of how her friends would handle it, and the image of exploding doors was all that came to mind. Well, that blue pony had suggested it. Apple Bloom turned and wound up her hind legs. "Knock knock." Wham! She hit the door with all the force that years of junior applebucking could generate. Debris scattered across the room, and a couple bits of ice even flew fast enough to embed themselves in the far wall. Apple Bloom turned back around and trotted inside. Several colts and fillies in business suits were working at paper-covered desks, and all of them turned to stare wide-eyed at the intruder. None of them looked quite as utterly terrified as the filly behind the receptionist's desk. "Uh… h-hello!" The little unicorn raised a trembling hoof in greeting. "D-Do you h-have an… appointment?" Apple Bloom tilted her head. "Oh gosh, did I forget to call ahead? Well if you'll be so kind as to call Diamond Tiara and let her know that her three o'clock is here. It should be listed under 'ass-kicking'!" Before the filly could even blink, Apple Bloom had whipped out a pair of snowballs. One went straight into the receptionist's face, and she tumbled backwards in her chair with a startled scream. The other snowball was flung directly into the nearest suit-wearing colt. The colt crumpled onto his desk with a yelp while Apple Bloom was already jumping through the air towards her next target. She landed directly in front of a startled worker and took a swing. He managed to duck just in time, and retaliated with a wide punch. Apple Bloom caught the punch and used the momentum to swing the colt in a wide circle and smash him into his own desk. The ice desk shattered at the impact, and the colt collapsed in the rubble, groaning. By then, the rest of the workers had managed to form snowballs and took aim at their attacker. Apple Bloom yelped and dove behind a random desk just as the projectiles started to fly. She quickly began forming her own and returning fire. One pony went down, and then another fell to one of Apple Bloom's well placed throws. A pegasus colt tried to get a high angle with his barely developed wings, but Apple Bloom saw him flying up and took a shot. He didn't have the agility to dodge, and received a snowball directly to the side of the head. The colt went careening out of control and spiraled into a cluster of his allies. They all went down in a sprawling tangle of limbs and pain. "Dang!" Apple Bloom smirked. "That's gotta be some sorta combo!" A snowball narrowly missed her head, impacting a desk and causing a small explosion of paperwork. Apple Bloom ducked down again and resumed her careful return fire. The enemy forces dwindled as the fight continued, and soon Apple Bloom was down to a couple stubborn Conglomerites. They kept dodging everything she threw at them, and eventually Apple Bloom had enough. With a low growl in the back of her throat, she picked up two snowballs and dove from cover. Her opponents instantly opened fire on her, but Apple Bloom ducked and weaved between the desks as she sprinted towards the pair. They stood on the very far end of the room, a few feet behind a desk. Apple Bloom rolled and slid and miraculously avoided everything they launched her way. When she finally reached the other end of the room in a dead sprint, Apple Bloom didn't slow down. Instead she headed straight for the desk in front of her opponents and launched off it with a flying leap. "Dodge this!" With a defying shout, she flew through the air between the two suited ponies and swung one snowball-filled hoof directly into the face of each. They were dragged down to the ground by her strong forelegs, and slammed into the floor with enough force to rattle every desk in the room. Apple Bloom sat there, panting. After several deep breaths, she finally stood up and brushed herself off. "Sorry, y'all, but I gotta get going. I've got a meeting on the top floor." She trotted towards the elevator and pressed the wall button. Nothing happened. Apple Bloom growled in frustration and punched the button rapidly, but to no avail. She glanced up at the dial above the elevator doors and noted that the needle pointed to the three. "Alright, so the elevator's on the third floor." She shrugged and trotted over to the stairs. She hopped up the staircase to the second floor. Unfortunately, they didn't continue up to the third floor directly. Due to some grossly contrived construction work, she would have to enter the second floor first to find the stairs to the third floor. "It's never easy…" Apple Bloom grumbled as she turned and prepared to buck the door down. She smirked, her eyes glinting in the dimness of the stairwell. "'Course, few things worth doing ever are." The door exploded inwards as easily as the last one had. A few suited ponies sitting at desks nearby had to shield their faces as they were showered in flying debris. Apple Bloom leapt through the door and landed in a fighting stance. Apple Bloom glanced around the room. It appeared much the same as the last one had. Rows upon rows of ice-made desks with colts and fillies dressed in business suits sitting over stacks of paperwork. "Howdy!" Apple Bloom smirked. "Y'all wouldn't happen to know where El Presidente's office is, would ya? I've got a snowball I'm s'posed to deliver and I'd like to get that done as soon as possible." Every pony in the room slowly and deliberately stood from their desks. As Apple Bloom watched through narrowed eyes, each and every one of them reached under their desk and withdrew a long, curved katana made of ice. Apple Bloom blinked. "That's new." "Haaaugh!" The nearest colt ran towards Apple Bloom and swung wildly. Apple Bloom dodged to the side and kicked him in the side of the head. As he went sprawling, his sword clattered to the ground noisily. Apple Bloom swiftly snatched it up and stood at the ready. "Right then." She smirked. "Guess that evens things out a little. Let's get started." Rather than wait for an attack, Apple Bloom leapt at the nearest suited pony. He moved to block, but Apple Bloom swept his legs in a low kick. As he fell to the ground, she grabbed a hoofful of snow out of the floor and smashed it into his face. Two colts lunged at her with battlecries. Apple Bloom hopped backwards just in time to feel the disturbed air as one sword passed within millimeters of her face. She juked to the side, parried another swing, and then struck fast and quick at one of the colts. He went down, writhing and clutching his bruised stomach, while the remaining colt pressed the assault. Apple Bloom parried, blocked, and deflected strike after strike. Her katana was a blur of movement intercepting every attack that the colt made. The colt began to growl in frustration, making wilder and wilder swings. Finally, he took two steps backwards and leapt towards her in a massive flying kick. Apple Bloom slid forward on the ground, passing under the attack and winding up behind the colt when he landed. Not even giving him a chance to catch his bearings, Apple Bloom swung her weapon and smacked him in the back of the head. The colt sprawled out on the floor, twitching. Finally, the rest of the room began to attack en masse. A colt tried to running-tackle Apple Bloom, but she jumped into the air and he passed beneath her ineffectually. As that colt inadvertently barrelled into an approaching group of his comrades, still more were moving in for the attack. Apple Bloom spun in place, parrying blows from all directions. She struck out at any opportunity, managing to out a suited pony with almost every strike she made. A colt swung in a vicious vertical arc towards her, but Apple Bloom sidestepped and the attack ended up smashing a desk in two and sending a storm of looseleaf paper into the air. One filly back away from the carnage and quickly fashioned a snowball. She waited patiently until an opening appeared, and then flung the snowball desperately at Apple Bloom's swiftly moving form. Time seemed to slow as Apple Bloom saw the attack coming. She quickly deflected a swinging sword, and then set her rear hooves firmly. Her eyes locked on the incoming snowy projectile, and she swung in a lightning fast vertical line. Her strike was timed perfectly, and managed to bisect the snowball into equal halves. The two halves passed by on either side of her head —so close she could feel the cold air touch her ears— and struck a pair of Conglomerate ponies out of the crowd standing around her. Everypony froze. The suited ponies stared in awestruck silence at the pony in their midst. Apple Bloom merely smirked and shifted the grip on her katana. "Y'all never really had a chance, did'ja?" Then she spun. Apple Bloom swung her newly acquired sword in a wide arc as she spun a full 360 degrees on her hind hooves. The suited ponies encircling her shrieked in surprise and pain as every last one of them was batted away. They all collapsed onto the ground, groaning in pain and nursing bruises where the ice had hit them. Apple Bloom's sword was cracked and chipping, and at one little tap from her hooves, the thing fell to icy pieces. She shrugged, scooped up a snowball, and slowly approached the terrified, snowball-throwing filly who'd been standing off to the side. "Wh-Who are you!?" the filly stammered. Apple Bloom grinned wickedly. "You can call me Miss Snowball, and this is my friend," she hefted her weapon, "who is also a snowball." The filly blinked. "That… doesn't make any—" Paff! Apple Bloom stood outside the door to the third floor, breathing deeply. She held a snowball in each hoof, and an ice katana in her mouth. "Alright," she muttered around the hilt of the sword. "Once more, with feeling." She smashed through the door with her shoulder, coming into a skidding stop amid a cloud of wreckage. Apple Bloom grinned. "Here's Bloomy!" She didn't give them a chance to prepare this time. Both snowballs flew from her hooves and instantly dispatched two suited colts. She lunged forward and smacked a filly upside the head with her sword, sending the filly flipping through the air until she landed with a crash right through somepony's desk. A line of ponies at one end of the room started throwing snowballs, and Apple Bloom frantically dodged and jumped behind a desk. The incoming fire didn't let up, and Apple Bloom could see goons sneaking around on either side. She couldn't afford to just sit there. Finally, an idea struck her. Apple Bloom reached up with a grunt of effort and flipped the desk she was hiding behind so it formed a proper wall. Then she reared up on her forehooves and cocked her hind legs. "Y'all ever go bowling?" She grunted and bucked the desk with all her might. The kick sent it sliding across the ice floor straight towards the line of snow-flinging ponies. They yelped and tried to jump out of the way, but most of them were sent flying by the heavy furniture. Between the ones that had been taken out, and the ones too busy desperately leaping out of the way, the assault of snowballs completely stopped. "Strike!" Apple Bloom sprinted towards the nearest group of suited foals. She ducked a high swing and uppercutted a colt with her katana. One lucky Conglomerite managed to catch her in the back of the leg with his own sword, and Apple Bloom stumbled with a yelp of pain. Before they could press their momentary advantage, Apple Bloom spun around with a snarl and struck down at least three goons in one swing. She hopped backwards to gain some breathing room and held off their advance with hastily formed snowballs. As soon as the pain in her leg had become manageable, Apple Bloom leapt back into the fight. She flipped over a Conglomerite, smacking him in the back of the head as she did so, and landed in a low crouch between two more. Faster than they could blink, she lashed out with her sword in one direction and her hind hoof in the other. Both goons went flying and landing on the floor, groaning. Three more goons moved in to attack. Apple Bloom parried one strike, jumped over another, but took a glancing blow in the shoulder. She gritted her teeth through the pain and struck right back. In three swift movements, all three goons were laid out on the floor. One last suited pony remained. Apple Bloom glared at him for several seconds, then took a single step in his direction. That was all it took for the colt to scream and sprint out the door and down the stairs. Apple Bloom grinned a predatory grin and walked over to a large ice window overlooking the front of the building. She struck the window with her katana, shattering it and causing the high winds to buffet her mane and tail like flags. Squinting against the wind, Apple Bloom scooped up some snow and carefully formed a perfect snowball. Then she waited. She didn't have to wait long. Moments later, a hyperventilating figure came bursting out the front doors to the building and began running down the road away from the place. Apple Bloom smirked, cocked her foreleg back, breathed two deep breaths, and threw. The colt didn't see it coming. The perfectly aimed shot hit him squarely between the ears and sent him sliding face first down the road in a heap of confusion and pain. "Hah!" Apple Bloom beamed and pumped a hoof. "That one's for Scoots!" She turned and hobbled tiredly towards the elevator. Her knee and shoulder ached, and she was dead tired, but she only had one fight left. Not that she expected Diamond Tiara to put up much of a fight. Apple Bloom shakily reached a hoof up and pressed the elevator button. Ding. "Oh." Wham! Apple Bloom was sent flying across the room with the force of a powerful buck. She careened through the air and smashed right though an ice desk before finally skidding to a stop amid the rubble. She stared dazedly up at the ceiling for several seconds. "…ow." The sound of a heavy hoofstep knocked her back to her senses. Apple Bloom struggled back to her hooves with a groan of pain and looked across the room. Her attacker was just stepping out of the elevator that he'd been waiting in. He was big, at least a whole year older than Apple Bloom, and he was clad from head to hoof in a set of heavy black armour plates. Even his face was hidden behind a helmet with a reflective grey visor. "Okay now," Apple Bloom shook her head incredulously, "this is just getting silly!" The armoured brute let out a warcry, distorted by his helmet, and thundered across the room towards Apple Bloom. He smashed straight through desk after desk on his warpath like they were nothing, and Apple Bloom had no desire to find out what would happen if he did the same to her. She yelped and jumped to the side, barely avoiding the barreling charge. The brute's momentum kept him going for several more meters before he could manage to stop, and Apple Bloom used the breathing space to quickly snatch up a fresh katana from one of the downed henchponies. The brute turned around slowly and prepared to charge again, but Apple Bloom didn't give him the chance. Fast as her injuries would allow, she sprinted across the room and leapt towards him. She swung the katana with all her might in one powerful blow, striking the brute squarely in the side of the head. The katana shattered into a million pieces. The brute didn't even flinch. "Oh…" Apple Bloom muttered. The two stared at each other in silence for several moments. Apple Bloom glanced down at the pathetically short thing her sword had been reduced to. "Uh, I swear, this has never happened before!" She grinned sheepishly. The brute swung an armoured forehoof at her face. "Wuh oh!" Apple Bloom ducked frantically. The heavy hoof whistled past her head, causing her mane to ruffle in the wind of its passing. Apple Bloom jumped back and turned to deliver a swift buck with both hind hooves. The kick that would send any normal foal flying ricocheted off the thick armour like nothing. Apple Bloom very nearly fell flat on her face before she managed to catch herself. Something that sounded almost like laughter emanated from the walking tank, though it was muffled and distorted by the heavy helmet. Apple Bloom scrambled away desperately. The brute stood his ground contentedly, continuing to chuckle at Apple Bloom's frantic flailing. Apple Bloom glanced around furtively for anything that could save her. Just when all hope seemed lost, she caught sight of the window she'd smashed earlier. A desperately stupid idea struck her. It was dangerous, irresponsible, and had no guarantee of success. It was perfect. She stopped retreating. Apple Bloom set her features into a look of fiery determination and bent her legs into a fighting stance. The armour-encased colt tilted his head in apparent surprise at Apple Bloom's sudden bout of bravery. It was considerably more surprised when she charged. The brute hesitated, most likely out of sheer incredulity, as Apple Bloom leapt toward him with a warcry. She used the split-second hesitation to her advantage. By the time her opponent managed a half-hearted swing, she easily slid under it and popped up behind him. Apple Bloom quickly snatched up another ice katana from the floor and wound up like she was about to swing at a softball. Clang! She smashed the sword right across the colt's ears with enough force to make him stagger even in his armoured suit. The brute shook his head rapidly and emitted a frustrated growl. He spun around to face Apple Bloom, swinging wide and hard with a heavy metal forehoof at the same time. Apple Bloom danced backwards, narrowly avoiding the attack. "Too slow!" she chirped cheerily through a mocking grin. The brute growled again and lunged towards her. Apple Bloom was quickly put on the defensive. Still, her grin remained in place and she laughed and cheered as she ducked and dodged swipe after swipe. "Come on!" she shouted as she leaped easily over a leg sweep. "You can do better than that!" Another strike lashed towards her, only to whistle harmlessly overhead as she ducked. "What, that suit cut off bloodflow to your brain or somthin'? That one wasn't even close!" She rolled to the side while at the same time grabbing another fresh sword from the floor. As she sprung back to her hooves next to her opponent, Apple Bloom again shattered the blade against his brain bucket with headache inducing force. "No, wait, don't tell me. It ain't the suit." She hopped back to a safe distance and shot a mischievous smirk once the brute was looking her way. "You're just naturally this stupid, ain't ya?" The colt was well and truly fuming now. Even through the heavy suit of armour, Apple Bloom could visibly see him shaking with unfettered rage. Everything was going wonderfully. Just a little bit further. Apple Bloom moved back in and dodged another hit. The attacks were getting a bit more sloppy, but also a lot more powerful. She faked to the left, instead hopping right and lunging in close before her opponent could correct. Taking a bit more of a risk, she reared up and bang-bang-banged on the metal helmet with her forehooves. The brute swatted at her like she was a fly, finally managing to catch a grazing blow and send Apple Bloom stumbling backwards. As her opponent stood there clasping his head between his forehooves, he angrily screamed something that sounded very much like a word Applejack had specifically instructed never to say, though it was too distorted to say with any certainty. When his visor'd gaze snapped back up to Apple Bloom, she could swear that steam was shooting from his nostrils. She smirked. "Perfect." The brute charged with a scream of blind rage directly at Apple Bloom. She grinned and jumped aside just in time… only she didn't. Her bruised leg folded suddenly, and Apple Bloom found herself flopping to the ground directly in the path of a rampaging suit of solid metal armour. She barely had time to whimper and cover her face with her forelegs before she was sent flying across the room in a screaming, spinning ball of yellow fur and pain. Apple Bloom smashed through several desks without slowing down much, then skipped several times across the hard floor before finally slamming against the wall on the far end of the room. She laid there at the base of the wall in a crumpled, groaning heap until a heavy rumbling noise that shook the floor caused her to raise her head. Apple Bloom's blurred vision managed to make out the massive grey figure barrelling down rapidly on her position, and she let out a terrified yelp. Despite every inch of her body protesting in agonizing pain, Apple Bloom braced all four legs against the wall and kicked off at an angle as hard as she could. The force of the kick sent her sliding across the floor just barely in time to avoid being trampled once and for all. The brute, completely lost to berserk rage by that point, slammed head-first into the wall hard enough to get his helmet stuck in the hard packed snow. As her opponent growled and struggled to free himself, Apple Bloom used the brief reprieve to shakily stand up. One inch at a time, with terrible slowness, she eventually managed to balance precariously on all four hooves. She felt like she could collapse at any moment, but Apple Bloom nevertheless staggered over towards one of the large ice windows that lined the exterior walls of the office floor. She stumbled right into the window and had to steady herself against it with a forehoof. After taking several seconds to catch her breath, she slowly turned around just in time to see the armoured pony tear his head free from with wall with a loud crunch. "Hey, tall dark and clumsy!" Apple Bloom called out. The enraged colt quickly snapped his attention towards her. "Wanna give up?" He didn't. His cry of pure, unbridled anger shook the room nearly as much as his thundering hooves as the brute charged like a bull towards Apple Bloom. "Yeah, didn't think so," she muttered, then licked her lips. Apple Bloom shifted her weight from hoof to hoof, feeling the agonizing pain burn in every part of her. She desperately hoped that she had enough energy left for this one last thing. The monster approached, but Apple Bloom grinned. "Well, you know what they say. The bigger they are…" It was upon her. Apple Bloom utilized every remaining ounce of strength in her and flung herself to the side moments before impact. Her legs obeyed this time, and she flopped onto the floor mere inches away from becoming a pony pancake. Smash! The sound of shattering ice preceded that of a garbled scream that grew distant before ending in a muffled whump. "…the harder they fall." Apple Bloom let out a prolonged sigh, allowing herself a few moments to simply lay there on the floor in pain. Eventually, she managed the strength to roll onto her belly and rise up on four shuddering hooves. She didn't bother to glance out the window, instead staggering directly over to the elevator that she had fought so hard to reach. The doors still sat open from the final guard's emergence. Apple Bloom walked in and leaned heavily against the wall. She raised one shaking hoof and carefully tapped the button for the top floor. Ding. The doors whirred closed and the elevator set into motion. Apple Bloom breathed in and out deeply, desperately trying to still her shaking hooves. She let out a shuddering laugh that sounded halfway like a sob, and wiped sweat and melted shards of ice from her face. Just before the elevator reached the top floor, Apple Bloom scooped up some snow from its floor and fashioned a perfect snowball. When it ding'd one last time, she was ready. The doors slid open to reveal an empty little reception room. A desk and a couple potted plants were the only features within the small enclosure of blank white walls. Nopony was manning the reception desk, so Apple Bloom decided to let herself in. She crossed the room to a pair of beautifully ornate double doors. They were made of ice, but so carved and decorated that one couldn't see a thing through them. Apple Bloom paused momentarily with her hoof lifted to open them. "If she isn't in, this will have been such a waste of my time…" With that, she gently pushed through the double doors. The room on the other side was just as ornate as the doors themselves. A large, lush rug covered almost the whole floor of the exceedingly long room. Large pillars of ice were placed evenly along either side, and several beautiful light fixtures hung along the length of the room. It all seemed designed to draw attention to the far end of the almost hallway-like place. Or, rather, it was designed to draw attention to the pony who was currently occupying a simply massive throne there. Diamond Tiara grinned a grin as wide as it was malicious as she reclined lazily on her throne of ice. Her trademark tiara was polished to a brilliant shine, and she wore a designer jacket and scarf to go along with it. "Well well well," Diamond Tiara spoke loud enough to be heard across the massive room. "Looks like somepony managed to make it past my subordinates." She tsk'd. "I really must have hired some idiots if you managed to sneak by all of them." "I ain't one for sneakin', actually. I outed 'em." Diamond Tiara's plastic smile cracked slightly, but she hid it well. "Which ones?" "All of 'em." Apple Bloom pointed a forehoof. "Guess that puts you next in line." "Ah ah ah," Diamond Tiara made a chastising motion with her forehoof. "Now now, I think you're forgetting somepony. It wouldn't do to deny my right hand mare her turn after all." With a far-too-wide smile, Diamond Tiara clapped her hooves twice. A dark grey earth filly with a lighter grey mane stepped out from behind one of the pillars about halfway across the room. She was dressed in a black bodysuit and had an actual katana sheathed across her back. "Only…" Diamond Tiara went on in a deliberately slow tone. "I think you're mistaken about how this is going to go. See, it would seem it's actually your turn to go out." At the unsaid signal, Silver Spoon smirked and unsheathed her katana. The blade was made of wood, a practice model, but it was beautifully and intricately carved. Designs of dragons curled around the blade from hilt to tip, and the wood was burnished until it practically glowed with a warm sheen. It was clearly a weapon made by a master, and probably one made for a master. Silver Spoon chose that moment to turn that 'probably' into a 'most definitely' as she demonstrated her terrifying prowess. She backflipped into the air with impossible grace, landing perfectly silently with one forehoof outstretched. She swung the sword faster than Apple Bloom could even track, making four, five, six slashes through the air in the time it would take to blink. Silver Spoon spun on the tip of one hoof, dividing the air around her with countless lightning fast strikes. Finally, she rolled across the ground, came out in a leap, and landed back on her hooves with the sword somehow right back in its sheath. Apple Bloom took a moment to pick her jaw up off the floor while Diamond Tiara laughed like an evil ninny. "Any last words?" the spoiled Presidente asked. Apple Bloom considered for a moment. "Yeah," she finally said, nodding. "Catch!" Piff! Silver Spoon collapsed onto the floor, Apple Bloom's elevator snowball splattered directly on her face. Diamond Tiara stared, mouth and eyes wide. Apple Bloom stared back, grinning. Apple Bloom began slowly trotting across the room, while Diamond leapt out of her throne and desperately scrambled to get away. She backed away from Apple Bloom's advance until her flank pressed against the cold rear wall of the room. Diamond Tiara glanced around desperately for any avenue of escape, but found none. Mere feet away, Apple Bloom stopped. She quickly formed a snowball and held it ready, but didn't throw it just yet. "Diamond Tiara," Apple Bloom said, prompting the terrified filly to meet her gaze. "You've been El Presidente for a long time now, but I'm afraid there's been some… restructuring in the company." Apple Bloom couldn't help it. She winked. "You're fired." Poff!