//------------------------------// // Midnight vs. Sky // Story: Fight Club // by xTSGx //------------------------------// For copyright/disclaimer information, see the prologue. Chapter Two: Midnight vs Sky Midnight stared greedily at the four small pouches that sat on her kitchen table. Who would have thought she had it in her? She was never more thankful of her parents desire that she stay in shape for “guard training” than she was right now. Four fights. Four wins. Four pouches full of bits. It was finally happening. Her money problems were over. A couple more fights and she'd never have to worry about a pile of bills again.   She opened one of the pouches and gazed at its golden contents. These fights had certainly been strange. Echo had been squashed flat by the steam press. Night Watch had nearly gotten her. Good thing the mare hadn't seen the steamroller coming. She never imagined a rubber mallet could be so effective against a pony like Gloom Wing but the disked mare showed her wrong.   She shrugged as she counted the bits from the pouch for the fifth time. So long as they kept paying and she kept winning—Luna only knew she didn't want to end up like Speck and have to get peeled off the side of a building and flutter softly to the ground—she was content. These fights might be weird, but they paid much better than her spotty employment as a gardener did.   Midnight suddenly sat up. Speaking of gardening, she had an apple tree to attend to. It would fetch a pretty bit at the Gardening Garbonza at the end of the month and she had to make sure it was in tip-top condition. Just as she was getting up, she reached back and shoved the pile of bits back into their pouch, before tying its neck tightly with a piece of twine. Didn't want to lose any of her hard earned cash.   Bits now secure, she made her way outside. Her small cottage had an equally small front porch to match. She looked out at the quaint corner lot her cottage sat on. It might be a little small, but hey, that meant the taxes weren't as high. She looked into the dimming sky. The sun was slowly setting. Luna would be raising the moon within the hour. That gave her just enough time to check up on the apple tree.   She walked off her porch and over to the shed that sat next to the side of her house. Can't maintain a three month old apple tree if you don't have the right supplies, now can you? The shed door groaned open. She glanced up at the rusted track the sliding metal door slide on. Shed maintenance wasn't something she wanted to deal with right now—she didn't even want to entertain the thought of buying a new one.   The interior was packed full of stuff. There were rakes and shovels, hoes and hedge trimmers. There was even a heavy lawn roller she'd use to make her small lawn look just like the best hoofball fields in Equestria. Stacked in the back were enough bags of fertilizer to get put on a government watch list—she should know. In a town full of ponies working for Equestria's intelligence community, information tends to leak out like water leaks from a soaker hose.   Speaking of hoses, there was a whole rain barrel full of them tucked away in the corner. She should really get that rain barrel hooked up and collecting rain. It would save her a fortune on her water bill. It was the whole reason she bought the thing in the first place. She'd add it to the list of things to do. For now, she had a tree to attend to.   She picked up a spade and some shears from off the shed's wall and walked out. Her back yard was as small as the rest of her plot of land. For a cottage of that size, it fit fairly well. For a pony who's talent was gardening, however, it was rather lacking. The arborvitae took up most of the fence space, the peonies took up most of the space in front of them, and the large oak tree took up most of the interior space of the yard.   What little room she had left was devoted to her garden. There were several rows of tomatoes—both cherry and heirloom, a small patch of zucchini, peppers—both Minotaurian wax and bell—lined the edge around the tomatoes, and a few watermelon. She frowned when she looked at the lackluster watermelon vines. They tried their hardest, but Hollow Shades was a very poor watermelon growing location. Not even a gardening special talent could make large, juicy melons grow in such a temperate climate. She should really switch to pumpkins next season.   Sitting at the end of the garden was her target. The small apple seedling didn't seem like much. Just an inch thick stick with a few branches and some leaves, but it would fetch a beautiful bit. She bent down and dug into the soil just next to the tree's thin trunk. Over watering could be a serious issue. A few shovel fulls later and she could spy a few of the trees tiny roots. She felt around the hole for moisture. The dirt was damp, but not waterlogged. Considering she had watered the garden only a few hours earlier, that was good.   After packing the dirt back into the hole, she walked around the tree, examining the branches. It was a small thing, so it was unlikely to need any pruning, but one can never be too careful. A few dead leaves were carefully snipped off, but otherwise things looked good. Next, she needed to check and make sure the tree was healthy.   “Hello, Mr. Tree—” It was best to not grow too attached. She'd have to part ways with him soon, “How are you doing today?” she started checking the branches and leaves for signs of mildew or blight. This year's apple blight had been more vicious than usual so far, “I hope you've been treating the watermelons well. You know how they feel about their 'performance' so far,” she glanced over at the small vines, “It's not their fault.”   Passersby would shrug at the bat pony's antics. Some said she had been driven insane by the debt she had racked up by not living with her parents longer, but her neighbors knew it was caused by the runoff from the military base. There was probably a huge leak in the basement. How else could a twenty year old buy a house in Hollow Shades? They had to be practically giving the thing away.   Midnight snorted. They were just jealous. She was, after all, the only pony in the whole town that grew apple trees. She had a monopoly on the source of the plump red orbs that bat ponies loved and they couldn't stand it. Besides, that leaky basement allowed her to get the house dirt cheap. Sure, she might eventually grow a horn because of it—if those letters from the city council were anything to go by—but that just meant she'd become a baticorn. Maybe they'd grow her a tree castle to live in and she'd become the princess of plants.   “Don't you worry about nosy ponies, Mr. Tree. You just worry about growing big and strong.” There didn't appear to be any diseased leaves. That was good, “One day, you'll tower over your competition and be the best there could be!”   “I like that confidence, Miss Dream.”   Oh, Luna. The Health Institute of Equestria was right. That runoff did cause mental health issues. Now, her beloved Mr. Tree was talking to her. She figured it would have had a much sweeter voice, to mimic the sweet fruits it would one day grow. Not the gruff voice of—wait a minute. She knew that voice. She turned around and let out an exasperated sigh. She really needed to stop taking after mom and letting her mind wander wildly.   “Don't do that, Bill,” Standing at the gate to her yard was the brown stallion, “What are you doing here, anyway?”   Bill smiled as he stepped into her yard, “I must say, you have a very nice looking house. That special talent of yours must do wonders.”   “It does wonders for my creditors. Now, you didn't walk all the over from Luna only knows where the fighting league's headquartered just to creepily stare at my house.” Midnight stuck the shears into the dirt next to Mr. Tree and walked over to him.   “You can do small talk with a tree, but not with your employer?” he shook his head, “I'd expect someone self employed such as yourself would be more pony friendly.”   Midnight sighed to herself. It was too late for this, “Is there another fight or something?”   “For the league's number one fighter? Of course,” he somehow produced a manila folder and handed it to her, “You've become quite the asset, Miss Dream. Very few of the other fighters are still undefeated four matches in. Your fights always seem to have that special something to them that keeps ponies interested. They are some of the best selling. We can hardly keep up with the demand.”   “How are you guys recording them, again?” There were never any cameras or microphones—at least that she could see. So how in the world could the fighting league record, let alone sell, them? It had gnawed away at her since she first saw that blue crystal.   “Unicorn magic is a truly wonderful thing, Miss Dream.” Midnight snorted. Why did she feel as though that didn't actually answer her question? If Bill didn't want to tell her he could have just said so. No reason to dump the “it's magic” excuse on her. Everypony had some kind of magic and the pegasi never used “weather magic” as a blanket excuse. Why were unicorns the only ones that did it?   “Care to be more specific?” It never hurt to ask.   Bill shrugged, “I'd love to give you the breakdown of the runetic matrices or whatever those chalk things are they use, but I'm a pegasus sports manager—not a Professor of Thaumology. I know just as much about the beams they shoot from their foreheads as you do.”   That would be a “no.” It seemed she wasn't going to be getting a straight answer, “Alright, then. What's this next fight about?” she opened the folder and looked at the papers inside. Neatly paper clipped to the instructions was a picture of a white pegasus mare.   Bill looked over at the open folder, “That would be your next opponent, Sky Fighter. We've decided to mix things up and try to play up that species rivalry. Nothing like a little Royal Guard vs Night Guard action to sell some extra crystal recordings.”   There was one flaw in Bill's marketing strategy, “But I'm not in the Night Guard, Bill.”   “And? You're a bat pony. Sorry for the typecasting, but if you have fangs and leathery wings, everyone will make the Night Guard connection. Might as well take advantage of it.” Midnight huffed in response. Of course they would. Nothing like some species stereotyping. Did everyone think unicorns were archmages? No. If unicorns could have regular jobs, why couldn't bat ponies? “Besides, Sky Fighter is in the Royal Guard, so you can soothe your bit obsessed conscience with the knowledge that we're fifty percent right.”   “What?!” Not another highly trained opponent, “No way. You promised after the Gloom Wing fight that there wouldn't be any more members of the military.” She could already feel her muscles starting to hurt, “You keep this up and you're going to have to scrape me off the asphalt. I'm not doing it. You can find another fight to organize.”   Bill raised a hoof defensively, “I get it. I really do, but I didn't think things would line up this perfectly. It's just too good of a fight to pass up, Miss Dream.” he smirked. There was always one way to get Midnight Dream on board with something, “And, if you win, the Benefactors have assured me there will be a bonus in it for you. You've made them so much money, they feel that such a profitable employee should be rewarded in kind. Provided you win, of course.”   Midnight growled. Bill knew right where to hit her, “Fine. I'll do it.” she said through gritted teeth. That damned stallion knew her weak spot and he knew it well. She was just glad that once she had her cottage paid off she'd never be lured in by money again. Probably. Unless it was a lot of money. Okay, unless it was a good amount of money. Alright, alright, she'd probably do it for a little money. It was never too early to think about retirement, after all. You had to plan those kind of things ahead of time.   Bill chuckled, “I figured you'd see it our way. The fight's tonight at the regularly scheduled time. Instructions and directions are enclosed. Remember to stay safe and do try to win,” he turned and walked back to her backyard gate, “You've practically become our mascot at this point. It would be a shame if we had to start relying on the ponies with star power to sell the recordings.”   Midnight furrowed her brow. Star power? What in Equestria does that mean? Before she could inquire, the stallion was gone. She could swear that pegasus was secretly a unicorn. It made sense. Being able to suddenly disappear. Having all those manila folders hidden away in a pocket dimension. Showing no consideration for others.   She looked back down at the folder, “Sky Fighter, huh? You seem like a pretty normal pony,” Judging from the picture, she had all the standard features that a Royal Guard would. A sleek body, good muscle tone, a white fur coat—why were all Royal Guard white, anyway? Her trimmed golden mane and tail were a little unusual, as were her blue eyes, but everything else fit pretty well.   She flipped through some of the notes, “Let's see. 23 years old, low ranking officer,” she squinted her eyes, “Tactical weapons specialist. I wonder what that means?”   -----   “Come here!” Midnight desperately dove underneath a crate. She heard the sound of sharpened metal slicing the air behind her. This was nuts. She didn't know who was more insane—Bill, for thinking this was in any way a good idea, or her, for being lured in with the promise of bits.   “One of these days, money's going to be your undoing, Midnight.” she mumbled to herself.   What happened to that “no deadly violence” rule, huh? This was supposed to be a hoof-to-hoof fight. No one told her you could use weapons. You weren't supposed to use weapons. If she knew you could, she'd have brought her hedge clippers. She peeked out from under the crate and up at the pegasus who was zipping around. Her eyes narrowed in on the razor sharp metal claws affixed to the mare's forehooves.   Wingblades were so last year. Now, everyone had to be using those freakish hoof claws. She had to admit they did look pretty cool. Not to mention menacing, with their slick, sharpened points. The Royal Guard didn't exactly have the best morale these days—it wasn't so bad when they lost against ancient alicorns or eldrich creatures from Tartarus, but letting vines kidnap the princesses was probably their lowest point—so every little bit to boost the guardsponies morale helped.   Sky Fighter hovered near the warehouse's rafters, scanning for signs of the frightened bat pony. She had to tread carefully. Midnight was her toughest challenger yet. That pony defeated her opponents in the weirdest ways possible and she was determined not to get a first hoof taste of it. Hence the claws. Aerial strafing was a tried and true tactic. She looked around at the many shelves and crates to try and spot the gray mare. It was a little risky in such a confined space, but the greater the risk, the greater the reward.   Sky smirked when she spotted the faint glow of the bat pony's eyes in a dark spot underneath a crate. Bat ponies and their supposedly superior night vision. Wasn't doing her much good now, was it? The white mare dove down and aimed for the crate. She had to be careful. No point in crashing into the thing only to find out it was a solid lead brick or something. Who knew what kind of things the Night Guard stored in these warehouses. She wasn't about to find out.   “Aw, horseapples,” Sky had aimed right for her. She decided to remain underneath the crate for as long as possible. Better to wait for the pegasus to slow down before making her escape than do it while she was still barreling down at full speed. She couldn't keep doing this. Sky would eventually corner her or catch her and she'd either have to yield or face getting sliced up.   Just as she had hoped, Sky slowed to a stop before diving underneath the crate. Just as she did, Midnight leapt out from under it and made a break for it, being sure to weave between as many of the warehouse's shelves and crates as possible. The more time she could buy, the better. She still lacked an adequate plan for dealing with the Royal Guardspony, but one thing was certain—she had to stop Sky from strafing. Taking this fight to the ground was her only chance of winning.   Her tufted eyes perked at a noise. She jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the claws of the white pegasus as she swooped by. She did an entirely unnecessary roll upon landing before righting herself. If she actually had time to think, she could think up a way to stop Sky Fighter, but the pegasus was ensuring that any thoughts were centered on avoiding those claws than on tactics.   It took a moment for Midnight to realize she was in a very bad position. Crates lined each side of the makeshift aisle she was standing in. There was no cover and the crates ensured that any pony in the air had a very clear opening to attack. She and Sky exchanged stares. It appeared there was a little bit of a standoff.   After a few moments, Sky moved first and lunged, straining her feathery wings to fly at Midnight as fast as she could. The mare would be on her in seconds. What was she going to do? Midnight looked around for something she could use to defend herself with. She was in a warehouse for Luna's sake. There had to be something in all these damn crates.   She dove to one side, narrowly missing the claws attached to the white mare's hooves. Sky swooped back up into the metal rafters, ready to make another strafe on the hapless gardener. Midnight's dive caused her to collide with one of the crates. She dizzily looked up and read the shipping manifest that was taped to the side of the wooden container. She shook her head to clear it of the oncoming headache and smiled. Just what the doctor ordered. She reached into the crate and grabbed one of its contents.   Sky smirked. For whatever reason, that mare still hadn't used her leathery wings. She figured after the first ten strafes, the bat pony would try to even the odds a little by joining her in the air. Whatever, it made her job a heck of alot easier. She certainly wasn't going to tell her opponent. Flapping her wings to build up a little momentum, she had to abruptly check her height. Damn rafters nearly clipped her. That would have sucked. Nothing like gifting your opponent a win. She dove down at top speed for another pass.   Midnight glanced over from the crate to see Sky barreling down at her. She pulled again. The thing was stuck. Panic slowly started to swell up inside her, like seeing a swarm of aphids near a tomato patch. Whoever was packaging these had done a very poor job. Did nopony care for quality these days? They just chuck them into a box and send it off to the Guard? Was that how all government contractors worked?   Finally, with one more desperate yank, Midnight was dislodged from the crate and fell back onto the cold concrete floor. With no time to lose, she quickly held the shield up and braced it against her shoulder. Sky had enough time to widen her eyes. She couldn't dodge out of the way or would slam into the sharp metal frames of the shelves and the crates, so she instead tried desperately to slam on the brakes by hastily flapping her wings in reverse and shifting her weight to slow her momentum. Maybe she'd be able to slow down enough. Unfortunately for her, inertia was a very cruel mistress.   “Eeeerckkk!” Midnight skidded back several yards from the impact. She hadn't thought Sky would actually hit the shield. It was a bluff—well, deterrent—to get Sky to stop with the silly strafe tactics. One her shoulder was now paying the price for. She really hoped that pain was just some basic muscle soreness and not a dislocated joint. She couldn't afford a doctor's bill. That can bankrupt even those with a steady job and income.   Midnight adjusted the shield to her other hoof and rotated the sore leg. Her shoulder was killing her, but it didn't seem like it was dislocated. That was good. She peeked over the top of the metal shield and at its front. Plastered flat on its surface was the white pegasus. She had suspected something like that had occurred given the force of impact and the noise Sky had made when she struck. Midnight sighed in relief. Another victory and another pouch of bits. All she had to do was get Sky off the shield and turn her in.   She spun the shield around and leaned it against a nearby crate to get a good look at it and better leverage. Sky had really been hammered. Her whole body had been compressed down into a disk that was now firmly pressed to the shield's surface. Her flattened wings were sprawled out on either side of her disk shaped body. Occasionally one would twitch. Midnight winced. Wings could be pretty sensitive. That probably hurt.   Sky's hind legs and small sections of her sword cutie mark and flank were the only visible parts of her body. Her hind legs and hooves had been compacted flat against the rest of her body. It seemed the athletic mare had been thoroughly squashed down. The base of her golden tail had been flattened down against her body, while the rest of it was pressed tightly against the shield below her squashed body.   Midnight looked at the flattened pegasus. As much as she'd like to just carry Sky Fighter to the league office, shield and all, she was worried. What if somepony arrested her for stealing a shield? What if it was some kind of new top secret shield and she was charged with espionage? What if the fighting league docked her pay because she took the shield? No, it would be much easier and hassle free to just peel Sky off of the shield.   Sky was very nicely pancaked to its front, though. It would take more than hooves to dislodge her. Midnight looked around the warehouse for something she could use to scrape the flattened mare off. Maybe there was a putty knife or something lying around she could use? After a few seconds of searching, Midnight's eyes finally settled on a small strip of scrap metal sitting underneath a nearby shelf.   “There we go,” she walked over and picked it up before returning to the shield and the crushed mare stuck to it. “Don't worry, Sky. I'll have you off that and ready to get out of here in no time,” Midnight gently wiggled the metal strip in between the disked mare and the shield. Once it was in place, she pushed and prodded the metal, working to free Sky from off the shield. She grit her teeth, “Criminy, what did you do? Soak yourself in superglue when you woke up this morning?” It sure seemed that way with how little progress she was making.   Finally, after a couple of minutes of frustrating work and the occasional cursing out of an alicorn princess, Midnight felt Sky slowly peel away from the shield before she suddenly popped off. The flattened mare fell a foot or two away and clattered onto the ground like a piece of piping, landing face up. Midnight tossed the scrap metal away and looked down at the white mare.   Sky's blue eyes were squeezed shut. The mare's mouth was wide open, and her pearly white teeth were tightly gritted. Her golden mane was pressed flat at the top of her disked body, while several of her bangs hung down over her face. Her wings and tail were still in the same position and still just as flat. Her forehooves were flattened out at the bottom, splayed outward in a desperate bid to absorb some of the impact, and still attached to the claws that were now equally as compressed as the rest of her body.   Midnight picked the flattened out mare up and smiled, “Whelp, Sky, I do believe this fight's over,” she flopped the mare onto her back and started walking over to her duffle bag, “How bout we get out of her so I can get paid?”   “Uurk.”   Midnight stopped briefly and shifted her weight from off her aching front legs. She'd have to get an ice bag when she got home. Maybe a hot bath, too. She rubbed her sore shoulder before continuing toward her bag, “You know, I was just thinking the same thing.”   End of Chapter Two Author's Notes: I wanted to do an “accordioning” with Sky, but felt it would just be too awkward to convey in written form (how on Earth would you write out the sound effects without it sounding really bad?) so I just went with a straight forward disking. Not my personal favorite subsection of the flattening fetish, but it's still stimulating enough.   Sky had originally been a bat pony like Midnight but I changed her to a “royal guard” pegasus because the story already has enough bat pony flattenings in it.