//------------------------------// // Chapter 18, Keeping my Promise // Story: Friendship is Life // by alejin //------------------------------// Both competitors entered the Arena along with their coaches. Alex was a little worried about her friend Rainbow Dash because of her wounds, but there was no time for that; he had to focus all of his attention on his opponent, the Horse who had insulted his friends. Maximus Heart was standing there, wearing his Sarabian Armor with pride. Contrary to every other competitor, he didn’t bring any swords or spears with him; the only thing Alex could notice was the spiked horseshoes and a saddle bag. “Maybe he is good at close combat…” Alex said to himself. Princess Celestia casted the Faker Barrier Spell which surrounded the Arena. The Spell scanned them both for their respective Faker weapons. When the Spell was completed, the referee got in the middle of the Arena and looked at them both. “Are you ready to lose maggot?” The horse asked. Alex drew his Katana pointing at Maximus Heart. His opponent got ready to attack. “Competitors, you know the rules! FIGHT!” The human was the first one to move, he jumped towards his opponent and tried to land a hit but Maximus Heart dodged it with ease. Maximus started his counter attack using his spiked horseshoes but Alex wasn’t a beginner, he dodged every kick that was thrown at him. However, Maximus Heart had a lot of experience fighting his adversaries; he turned around faster than the blink of an eye and kicked Alex with both hind legs. All Alex was able to do was to barely block the attack by covering his body with his arms but the force of the impact was so strong he was sent flying at least two meters away, “Damn! That really hurt!” He said. The pain in his arms made him remember the one time he was hit by a Manticore. Maximus Heart smiled and searched for something inside his bag. Alex stood up and saw him taking out a double-edged sword. Maximus looked at the human and charged. The Horse was really fast, even faster than Applejack. Alex was barely able to dodge the attack by jumping to his left but it wasn’t enough, Maximus was still able to make a deep scratch on his chest armor piece; luckily for him, the blade didn’t penetrate his armor so he didn’t lose any points. The Horse turned around without stopping and charged again. This time, he ran faster, Alex tried to move quicker but the tip of his opponent’s sword made another deep scratch in his armor, damaging it even more. “What do you think about my speed? I bet you thought I would be like those Ponies you have faced. You see, there are clear differences between them and us. Horse legs are thinner but that’s one of our main advantages, they make us run faster!” Maximus Heart charged once again but this time Alex was ready. He jumped to his right, making sure he landed as far as possible from the tip of his sword. “Fool! You won’t escape from me!” Maximus shouted as he stopped right before Alex landed and used his hind legs to kick him on the chest again, shattering Alex’s armor to pieces. Alex was sent flying and landed on his back, he tried to stand up immediately but the pain was unbearable. He coughed and instinctively covered his mouth with his hand, the smell was unmistakable; he looked down and saw his hand all covered in blood, he turned his head and spit some more on the ground. “Don’t even think I will stop now just because you have blood coming out of your lungs.” Maximus Heart said, “In fact, I’ll punish you a little longer.” “We’ll see about that!” Alex replied as he stood up and grabbed his Katanas. Alex charged; he attacked Maximus Heart with every single iaido technique he knew but it didn’t work. The Horse blocked every single one of Alex’s attacks. Maximus Heart was not only dodging and blocking, he was also waiting for the perfect moment to strike back, and it came; Alex extended his right arm trying to reach for his opponent’s head leaving his chest unprotected. Maybe he had forgotten his armor was broken but Maximus Heart didn’t forget that, he saw this opportunity and turned around immediately, throwing another powerful kick. Alex noticed the big mistake he made and dropped his Katanas in an effort to cover his chest with both arms. The sky was blue, there were no clouds and the sun was shining on the east. It could be a very relaxing view for any other but not for Alex who was once again sent flying against his will. He landed on his back, he closed his eyes and the pain started. His arms were numb; he couldn’t move a finger because of the pain in his forearms. “I hope they’re not broken…” He said to himself. Maximus looked down and saw Alex’s Katanas on the ground, “You couldn’t even touch me with these useless things.” He stomped on both blades breaking them into pieces, “You won’t need this shit anymore!” he said while laughing. Alex was trying to stand up. Every muscle in his body hurt. The Horse kept walking towards him “I’m insulted, I made this trip expecting someone worthy of my time. How disappointing! You fight no different than Griffins or Minotaurs; I was actually expecting something new but… this. Well, at least I’ll be the one to defeat the so-called Hero of Canterlot.” “Don’t listen to him Alex, I know you can do it!” Alex looked up; Fluttershy was crying, she was screaming as loud as she could. “Please Alex get up!” “That… that thing screaming up there is your marefriend? Hahahahahahaha! Well, I guess that’s the best you could do. Out of all the Elements of harmony, it was obvious you would get the weakest one. Please tell me at least you tried with the other ones first!” Maximus Heart said. “. . . take that back!” Alex replied. “What?” “Take that back! NOW!” “And what if I don’t?” “You really don’t want to know!” Maximus laughed and turned around; he trotted at least twenty meters away from Alex and looked at the crowd, “This thing lying defeated on the ground is the famous Hero of Canterlot. I guess Canterlot’s standards are really low. Since this match was over even before it began, I have no interest in showing my remaining opponents any of my abilities so I’ll finish him right now!” he turned around and faced Alex, who was already on his feet “Well, that was surprising! Prepare yourself human. This will end quickly!” He said before running towards Alex at full speed. Surprisingly, he wasn’t the only one running; Alex started running too. “Maybe he lost it; I must have kicked him really hard!” Maximus said. Right before hitting each other, Alex jumped forward extending his arms. He was aiming for Maximus’ neck “Not that fast human!” the Horse shouted as he jumped up to avoid him. But Alex’s plan had worked, he wasn’t aiming for the neck, he wanted to grab one of Maximus’ hind legs but made it look the other way. Even though the pain in his arms was immense, the anger he had because of the things Maximus had said about his friends and his loved one was bigger than anything at that moment. He grabbed Heart’s leg and pulled him down with all of his strength making him fall on his muzzle. “How dare you?!”Maximus screamed. “You said you wanted to see something new. Well, I guess no one had done this before.” Alex started twisting Maximus’ pastern with all of his strength. “Let go of me you fool!” Maximus tried to hit Alex with his other leg but the pain was killing him. “I promised you once that I would make you pay for the things you said to my friends. I was going to forgive you, but you didn’t take your words back. I can’t forgive you now!” “What?! All this because of your stupid maref….?!” Maximus couldn’t finish his sentence. He looked at Alex directly into his eyes. Those weren’t human eyes anymore; all he could see was anger. Alex tightened his grip; for a moment, everything wrong that had happened to him, losing his family, being hated and feared by Equestrian inhabitants, seeing his loved ones suffer, everything that had tortured his mind took over his entire body; anger and frustration. He tightened the grip some more, more and more! He didn’t stop until a cracking sound and a painful scream made him come to his senses. He let go of Maximus’ leg. The crowd was speechless. Some of them started cheering for him, but his friends were silent. Alex had mixed feelings on his mind. He looked at his opponent, who was lying on the ground trying to stand up; the broken bone could easily be seen. “You deserved this, you arrogant asshole!” Alex started walking back gaining some distance between them. Maximus didn’t noticed what Alex was doing, he was about to say something but then he heard the human running at full speed towards him, he turned his head only to be hit by Alex’s knee right on his muzzle, making him spit some blood and teeth. Maximus went unconscious. Alex grabbed him by the mane; he picked up his head and clenched his fist. Many creatures cheered and waited to see some more action, but Proud Hammer and his friends started screaming, telling him to stop. “This bastard deserves it!” Alex said. He looked up and saw Fluttershy on her seat. She was silent, looking at him like she was scared. Like he was the monster some ponies said he was. He let go of the Horse, who fell to the ground still unconscious. Alex popped his Faker Hidden Blade and stabbed his opponent in the head in order to finish his life counter points. When the number reached zero, the Faker Barrier disappeared. Horse medics and some of Maximus Heart friends got into the Arena and picked him up. Proud Hammer walked towards his friend. “Wow Kiddo, I really thought you were going to beat him to a pulp. Thank you for listening to us boy.” “I’m not a monster Proud; at least I think I’m not” “I am not saying that kid. You are not a monster Alex…” “Thanks Proud. Do you think I went too far by breaking his leg?” “Well . . . It’s not illegal. He was a total asshole. Just… be ready to get some hateful looks.” “Ok…” Alex heard his friends running towards him and turned around to see them. “Are you okay?” Rarity asked. “Yeah I’m ok thank you. I’m just feeling a little bad for Maximus Heart. I think I went a little too far.” “I must admit your method was a little . . . brutal” Rarity said “But he saw it coming. It was actually a good thing that you stopped at the end, I was afraid you weren’t going to.” “Being honest Rarity, I didn’t want to stop. He insulted Fluttershy and all of my friends. The only thing that stopped me was all of you. I didn’t want you to watch me doing that, I’m sorry…” “Don’t be sorry! You are not an animal, and I know how much you love us!” “Thank you!” Fluttershy was next. She hugged Alex with all of her strength. “Alex you won! Congratulations.” “Thanks beautiful, but, tell me, are you mad at me? Are you scared of me? I saw you when you were on your seat.” Fluttershy looked down “I must admit it was a little shocked but I know you did it because of the horrible things he said and I love you for that!” Alex kissed her “Thanks Shy, I was actually scared that you would think different.” Fluttershy hugged him again “Never! I know your heart Alex and I trust you. You confirmed it when you decided not to punish him further, I knew you wouldn’t!” They hugged each other again. Nopony dared to say anything; they turned around and went back to their seats. Alex and Fluttershy were still hugging each other there until a referee asked her to leave the Arena “Yeah, I’ll be leaving now. Alex, I love you!” She gave one last kiss and flew back to her seat. “I’ll make you the proudest marefriend in the world!” Alex shouted. “I already am Alex, I love you!” “Love you too!” Proud Hammer got close to him “So you really managed to get that magnificent mare? It’s official kiddo; you are the luckiest creature in the entire world!” “I definitely am!” A couple of minutes later the next fight started, Zaxel and Iron Horn entered the Arena; both of them focused on their opponent. Alex wanted to make sure he was carefully paying attention; one of them would be his next opponent. The Faker Barrier spell was casted and it resonated with their Faker weapons. Completing the spell and sealing the combatants inside it. Iron Horn drew his two axes while Zaxel crouched like a tiger getting ready to catch its prey. He then stood on his hind legs and clashed his hooves together, activating a mechanism that made blades come out of the bracelets on his front legs. “I’d say it’s a decent copy” Alex said. “I think the same” Iron Hammer replied. Zaxel and Iron Horn started to fight, clashing their weapons and showing a high display of skill. Iron Horn was strong but Zaxel was so much agile and fast, crouching, jumping, making somersaults and rolling. It was unbelievable, in less than thirty seconds of sparring; he had already gotten sixty point off from the Minotaur by hitting him in the areas that weren’t protected by Armor. Alex was impressed, the Zebra was amazing; he wasn’t as fast as Maximus Heart, but his agility and flexibility were at human level, the Minotaur was defenseless against his speed, but even though he was that fast, he was nothing compared to Bright Courage. In a last attempt to win, the Minotaur used a smoke bomb to try to blind his opponent. While the area was covered in smoke, the Minotaur laughed “I trained to combat in the darkest places of our kingdom, where sight is very limited. You are in my territory now little zebra!” Alex noticed how Zaxel closed his eyes and began to smile. Once the smoke had covered the entire Arena, the crowd went silent; looking for any of the competitors inside it, but all they could hear was a terrible scream. Once the smoke had dissipated, the crowd stood up from their seats, they were looking at a Zebra who was the only one standing up, while his opponent was lying on the floor, gasping and spiting some blood. Iron Horn stood up; he walked a few steps away from Zaxel before falling unconscious. Finally the Zebra used his blade to take the remaining points off from him. He looked at the Minotaur who was still lying defenseless on the ground. “You know, Monster Hunters do some of our jobs in the deepest forests and caves, being unable see our surroundings is not a problem for us!” Everycreature cheered, including the Mane 6, the CMC and Spike. Alex was standing on his seat. “Kiddo… he is, well you know…” Proud Hammer said. “Yeah, I don’t know if I can defeat him. Just look at what he did! He took out that big guy with just one blow.” Alex replied. “I know he is strong and agile, but so you are Alex!” “You think so?” “I know it!” “Thanks Proud. I’ll do my best!” “I wouldn’t expect less from you kiddo.” Zaxel came trotting to where Alex was standing. He looked happy and excited “Well, it’s you and me, Alex. I hope you are ready, let’s have fun!” “Yeah, we will!” Before starting the next match, Princess Celestia decided to give a two hour break so Zaxel could have some rest because Rainbow and Bright Courage wouldn’t fight due to her having forfeited the Tournament. Alex and Proud Hammer used this time to have a little chat with their friends. “Brother! You were so cool! I can’t wait to see you win your next fight!” “Thanks Sweetie Bell, but I must say Zaxel is really strong. I will not underestimate him, and we can’t forget about Mr. Bright Courage either.” “Ah must agree with yah sugarcube. That Zebra is really powerful, even more than Big Mac’s and that says a lot!” “No need to tell me that twice Applejack!” Alex replied as they shared a laugh. “And don’t forget to keep moving, he is really fast and agile.” Rainbow said. “Yes, he is really dangerous!” He nodded. Sweetie Bell jumped on top of Alex’s head, “That doesn’t matter, I know you can beat him big brother!” she said. The group was having a nice time laughing and making some jokes about the fights they had seen until today. Pinkie Pie asked the others to be quiet for a moment. He had an important question to ask to the human. “So Ali, what kind of cake would you like for your party?” “… Pinkie, we are not sure if I’m going to win this. You know that right?” “I know, I’ll make a party for you anyway! Win or lose, it doesn’t matter to us, you will have a big party just for being here with us.” “Ok then… chocolate cake would be awesome! He replied. “Okey dokey” Pinkie Pie said before disappearing inside a cloud of confetti. The announcement for the next match was made; the two competitors were given 15 additional minutes to get ready. Alex and the others said goodbye and went to their respective places. Once they were a little away from him, Fluttershy made sure he wasn’t looking and let out a tear, Twilight noticed and asked “are you ok Shy?” “You know I’m not ok Twilight. I still have the feeling something bad will happen…” “Fluttershy, you are worrying for nothing. I made sure there were enough guards on the city and around the Coliseum; there is no way something goes wrong!” “Thanks Twilight. It’s just that I’m really worried about him; I never wanted him to compete in this event. I don’t want to lose him, I can’t think of a future without him anymore. Just thinking about him leaving Equestria makes me sad. I lost him once; I don’t want to lose him again!” Rarity was shocked after hearing these words from her friend “When I said that you two would get married, I actually was kidding. I never thought you’d take it that so serious.” Fluttershy didn’t seem to understand “What do you mean?” she asked. “Darling please, haven’t you noticed it yet? The way you talk and how you feel, the way you act, or how you seem to suffer just by thinking about losing him is beyond having a simple crush on someone!” “I still don’t get it!” Rarity smiled. She wanted to make herself clear. “Fluttershy, do you want to always be by his side?” “. . . yes.” “Can you stop missing him when he is not around?” Rarity asked. “No, I can’t!” Lyra started jumping around “Fluttershy, do you want him to stay in Equestria forever?!” Fluttershy was crying and smiling, she couldn’t help it. Love had taken over her heart “Yes, I want him here FOREVER!” Rarity got closer to her “I believe you want to spend the rest of your life with him. Do you want to start a family with Alex?” Fluttershy was speechless. She didn’t know how to answer this question. She loved Alex, she was sure about it; however, she had just realized how much she truly loved him and how bad she wanted to be with him. “Yes I do!” Fluttershy stopped crying, she began to fly “I, I have to tell him this right now!” Rarity realized what her friend was about to do “Wait darling! You need to wait” “But why?” “Look, we all know he loves you, but I’m not sure if he is ready to hear this confession of yours. All I know is that right now he needs to focus in his match, I think is the best if you wait after all of this is over.” Fluttershy started thinking about the things Rarity said “I guess you are right. I’ll talk to him at Pinkie’s party.” Rarity and the rest of the group smiled. “Ok, now let’s hurry up! His match is about to star!” The Coliseum was about to explode. The two fighters entered Arena followed by their coaches. The Faker Barrier Spell was casted, resonating with their weapons. The referee called the both. But Zaxel asked him for a little time to say something before the match. “I’m happy Alex. I really wanted to face you! Even if I win or lose, my wish as been fulfilled.” Alex was surprised, Zaxel had a lot of respect for him “Thanks Zaxel, I mean it and truly honored. It is a real honor to be here with you!” “Enough talk!” the referee said “Competitors, you know the rules!” “FIGHT!” Alex drew both Katanas and Zaxel drew his blades. Both of them charged at full speed, the clash of their weapons echoed all over the stadium, making the crow go wild. The display of abilities from both competitors was magnificent. Their speed and agility was incredible. Alex was trying his best in order to take some points from Zaxel but it was almost impossible. The Zebra was trying to do the same, but Alex was a worthy opponent “So that’s why they call you the Hero of Canterlot!” Zaxel thought “I’m truly honored!” After an intense swordfight, Alex and Zaxel jumped away from each other. Both of them were panting. “You are good Alex!” “You too Zaxel, your agility is amazing. I haven’t seen in any other pony or zebra, who trained you?” “My grandpa, he wanted me to be the best. So I always fight to honor him!” “That’s awesome. I respect you for that!” Without saying anything else, Alex charged again. Zaxel threw a smoke bomb; the crowd knew what was coming, it would be over for Alex. The smoke began covering the Arena, Alex stopped and took out a headband, covering his mouth and nose with it in order to avoid breathing the smoke (the headband he used had a strange logo, a filly inside some kind of shield) Zaxel noticed this, but he had to stick to his plan, he closed his eyes as he did while fighting against Iron Horn and charged. The smoke had fully covered the human, Zaxel pointed his weapon forward; he could feel the human standing in front of him so he attacked. But his attack failed, it was blocked by Alex. “…How?” The Zebra was really surprised. “Do you think you are the only one who can use his ears? I may not be as good as you but I can do it too!” Now it was Alex’s turn, he attacked using what was left of the smoke to try to cover his moves, but Zaxel was pretty good at blocking and evading all of them. It seemed as if this battle could last forever. “Well, I know he is good. But I have to finish this!” Alex said to himself. He charged one again; Zaxel did the same. Less than two meters before colliding, Alex threw both of his Katanas towards Zaxel who had to use both of his front legs on order to block them. But his was Alex’s plan; he slid under Zaxel and grabbed one of his hind legs making lose his balance. The Zebra had to quickly put his front legs on the ground to avoid being taken down, this happened so fast he couldn’t retrieve one of his blades so it broke into pieces after impacting the ground. Knowing how fast and flexible Zaxel was, Alex started twisting his pastern the same way he did to Maximus Heart. Zaxel felt great pain but he knew exactly what to do, using both his front legs he pushed himself and rolled forward, pulling Alex and lifting him from the ground. Alex was taken by surprised, it was the exact way to counter his attack “Did he just come up with this idea after watching me fight Maximus Heart? He said to himself. The inertia sent Alex flying forward, but just before letting go off Zaxel’s leg, he managed to twist it a little, not breaking it, but damaging his tendons. Alex fell on the ground but thanks to the power of karma, he landed on his left leg, twisting his knee. He let go a painful scream that made Fluttershy stand from her seat. Both competitors stood up from the ground as fast as they could. Both of them were hurt. “You know this has to come to an end Zaxel!” Alex shouted. “I know!” he replied “Let’s do this!” Alex popped his Hidden Blade, Zaxel did the same. They smiled and charged. This would be their last move. The crowd stood up as the fighters clashed against each other. Both of them pierced each other’s chest in an last effort to finish their match. Alex and Zaxel looked at each other. They were silent, listening to their life counter points decreasing. Zaxel was the first to talk, “You were an incredible opponent Alex, I’m glad you were the one who defeated me.” Alex smiled and closed his eyes. He moved his head from side to side. “I missed.” Zaxel didn’t understand “what did you say?” he looked down and saw Alex’s Hidden Blade buried in his chest. “I don’t know that much about Zebras physiology” Alex answered “but I’m sure I missed your heart. You my friend, on other hand, didn’t miss mine. I believe Minotaurs and humans have their hearts located in the same spot.” “But why are you saying that?” Zaxel seemed not to understand. “Please look above you” Alex said while smiling. Zaxel looked up. His pupils dilated. He had fifteen points floating over his head. Alex life counter points were at ZERO! He looked down, and saw Alex straight to his eyes. Alex looked calmed, he was smiling. “I lost.”