//------------------------------//
// Contest 
// Story: Brony in Equestria: The Tacoing 
// by Omega Dracomancer 
//------------------------------//

"That was some great sleepage." I said. I got up and tried to stand, but was pulled into the air by a rope around my feet.

The world slowed around me, I'm going to call this reaction time from now on, and I bent my knees. When the rope picked me up, I reached up and grabbed it, climbing the rope and going over the branch above me. I jumped off of the branch.

"Whoa, that was cool!" said Scootaloo.

"I know that it was cool, I did it after all." I said.

"How did you know I did that?"

"I didn't, I just reacted quickly." I said, taking off the rope.

"Reacted?"

"Don't bother, I don't even know." I said, "Now, why exactly was I tied up?"

"I thought it would be funny to prank you. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, be cunning. You're right, it would've been funny. Gotta do better next time. Now, Ima go get some cupcakes. Want some? Follow me."

"Cupcakes!" she said happily.

We walked to Sugarcube Corner and ate some cupcakes. "Still great cupcakes." I said.

"Thanks Phil!" she said.

"Yup!" I said. I looked at my bag o' bits, "Getting a little light."

"You should sign up for the competition if you want some bits." she said.

"Where would I do that?" I asked

"Follow me!" she said, walking out of the shop.

"Aight."

I followed her to Town hall and she showed me a sign-up list.

"Competition, a measure of physical power, hosted by the Mayor. Sweet Apple Acres at 3:00. Cash prize." I read off. There were seven names on the list, but two stood out, Applejack and Big Mac.

"Looks like I have some sizable competition."

"What was that?"

"Big Mac's competing as well."

She looked at the list, "What about Applejack?"

"She's not nearly as strong as Big Mac." I said, "Better get ready." I signed my name on the list and walked away. "Thanks for telling me, Scootaloo."

"Thanks for the cupcakes!" she said happily.

She walked to some random place and I walked to another random place. "Now, how to prepare?" I asked myself. "It's a physical competition, so I should rest, it's 12, so I got three hours."

"Hi Phil." said Applejack.

"Hey, how's it going?" I asked.

"Feeling pretty good."

"Oh? Why so?"

"The competition coming up has a cash prize, and Big Mac's gonna fix up the farm with that money." she said happily.

"I wanna see how I do against him." I said.

"You joined as well?" she asked, looking down.

"Don't worry Applejack, if I win, I'll give most of the winnings to the farm. That is a very certain if." I said.

"Really?" she asked, looking up again with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, but you still gotta try your best, I don't like hollow victories." I said.

"You bet your cupcakes ah will."

"See ya then!" I said.

"Bye!"

She walked away and I flew up into the air. I looked up, then it occurred to me, "I haven't been to Cloudsdale yet! Tomorrow I'll ask Rainbow if she can show me around. Or not, whatever."

Then I landed and walked around for a place to rest, maybe under a tree. Then I heard some music.

"This isn't where Vinyl lives, so who is it this time?" I followed it to the source. "Classical music."

It wasn't coming from a house, it was coming from a small stage at the end of the road. It was Octavia and she was playing her cello.

"Neat." I said, snapping a picture like Bender. "Oh wait, I don't have a camera." Then it disappeared.

She had a small crowd watching her and I joined them. Octavia played her tune for a few more minutes, then opened her eyes and bowed. The ponies clapped by tapping the ground with their hooves. Not me, I clapped like a human, although not as violently as I would've liked to, I really like clapping violently. This drew attention to me, and I ignored their stares. I stopped after a minute and smiled.

Octavia smiled, and closed her eyes, playing another song. This one was a bit different, not much, but a little. I didn't know what was different until I spotted another cello on the stage. 'This song requires two players.' I thought.

None of the other ponies have noticed, they thought that it was a normal song, all of their eyes are closed. Octavia had a disappointed look on her face, but kept playing. 'She expects someone to play.'

I could, but not as beautifully as she is. "Ah, what the hell." I said to myself.

I walked onto the stage quietly and levitated the second cello to me, nopony noticed. I waited until the right moment, then started to play. This added music surprised everypony around, and they all looked at me, even Octavia.

"You have a good taste in music." she said.

I smiled and closed my eyes and she did the same, continuing the song. She played the main part and I played what I thought it was missing.

When she stopped, I stopped, and we bowed. The ponies all clapped like I did earlier, and I smiled like an idiot.

"I didn't think anypony would've noticed." she said.

"Like you said, I have a good taste in music. That was pretty fun."

"I'm glad you think so." she said.

I took out my iPod and checked the time. "One, two hours left." I said.

"Until what?" she asked.

"Gotta be at Sweet Apple Acres for the competition."

"That's barbaric."

"I know, but it pays for my cupcakes." I looked in my bag o' bits, enough. "Speaking of which, want a cupcake?"

"That would be nice, but I need to put my cello away at home." she said, putting away the stringed instrument.

"What about the other one?"

"It's not mine."

"Really?"

"It was there when I started."

"Cool." I said, walking over to it. It was engraved. It had my name. "The hell? What's with this thing? My name's on this."

"Really? Guess that means that it's yours." she said.

"I'm ok with that." I said, picking it up. When I picked it up, it disappeared. "Yup, mine. Only my stuff would disappear randomly." I thought about playing it, and it reappeared. "That's useful." Then it disappeared.

"That's odd." she said.

"I know. I'm odd, so it's a great match. I don't even know where it came from, someone must be looking out for me." I said, "Enough about that cool instrument, let's go get some cupcakes."

"Cello first." she said.

"Lead the way."

She brought me to her house and went inside to put her cello away. I got out my cello and examined it. I thought about a violin, and it changed shape. "Sa-weet!" I yelled.

"What happened to you, and where did that violin come from?"

"Magic instrument!" I said, changing it into a saxophone. "This is gonna be fun."

"What?" she asked.

I started to play the instrument, I think everybody here should know what I played. About 30 seconds of Epic Sax Guy.

"That was fun. Alright then." I said, tossing the saxophone into the air, making it disappear, "Onwards to Sugarcube Corner. Let's go get some cupcakes!"

We walked to Sugarcube Corner and ate some awesome cupcakes. I looked at my bag. "Empty. No more cupcakes for a while." I said. I looked at the clock, "Two, one hour."

"Hope you do well." she said.

"Me too." I said, "Hope I don't meet another pony nice like you in that time."

"Why not?"

"I would wanna buy them a cupcake, that's how I am." I said.

"Thank you, you're nice." she said.

I smiled and got up, "See ya Octavia!"

"How did you know my name?"

"You didn't tell me?"

"I don't think so."

"Twilight told me." I lied, "My name's Phil."

"You're Phil?" she asked, surprised.

"Yeah, did I do something wrong?" I asked.

"No, never mind." she said.

"What did you hear?" I asked.

"You're famous here in Ponyville. You saved the town from a dragon, you befriended the Princesses, and most of the town already respects you." she said.

"Don't forget being friends with a beautiful pony with a lot of musical talent." I said.

She blushed. "Yeah."

"I gotta go, see ya." I said, walking out.

"Bye Phil." she said.

I waved goodbye and took off towards Sweet Apple Acres. "To be honest, tacos." I said to myself. I looked at my iPod, "Thirty minutes left."

When I got there, the competition was already prepared. The mayor was overseeing production and some ponies that I didn't recognize were setting up the contest.

"Cool." I said. I flew up to the barn and saw Applejack talking to Big Mac. I decided to listen in.

"You still need to try your best Big Mac." said Applejack.

"Eeyup." he said.

I walked in and said, "How ya doing?"

"Pretty good." said Applejack.

"How 'bout you Big Mac? Feeling pretty good?"

"Eeyup."

"That's good, hope you do well in the contest." I said.

"Thank you, Phil." said Big Mac.

"Anything that'll help." I said, walking out. I found a nice shady tree to rest under, and closed my eyes.

"Looks like we had the same idea." said another pony, resting next to me.

"You in the contest too?"

"Yes I am."

"Cool."

We rested until we heard the Mayor. Then I got up and saw that the other pony was sleeping. I tapped him and woke him up. "Come on dude, it's starting." I said.

"Thanks man, didn't think you'd wake me."

"Gotta go, she's calling off the names." I said.

We walked over to the stage that the other contestants were on.

The Mayor called off the names one by one, and the crowd cheered after each one.

"Big Macintosh!" she called.

Applebloom and Granny Smith were cheering very loudly.

The Mayor called the name of the pony that rested with me, Omega.

The crowd didn't cheer as loud as they had previously, they looked confused.

"That's a cool name." I told him.

"I know." he replied.

"Phil!" the Mayor called off.

The entire crowd cheered, more than any other pony on stage. I stood up proudly and thought, 'Octavia was right, I am famous here.'

The Mayor finished calling off the names and said, "Thank you for participating in this event."

Omega turned to me and said, "Did we miss something?"

"Seems like it, we missed introductions, doesn't really matter."

"Probably not."

Applejack walked over to me and said, "It's a tournament style competition, now it's time to go do some work."

"You heard her Omega, tournament." I said, "Let's get going."

An hour later, it was me, Big Mac, Omega, and another unnamed pony left out of the eight. Applejack was beaten when she faced Omega. I was amazed by his power.

"This round is a bucking competition, furthest two barrel buck go in a head to head competition of their choice." said the Mayor.

"Ready?" I asked them.

They all nodded. Four barrels were set down for us. We all took our respective stances, then kicked them. Mine and Omega's went out of sight. Big Macs went past the edge of Sweet Apple Acres. The other's went a few hundred feet.

"Omega, where did our go?" I asked.

"I have no idea."

"Does this mean we won?"

"I think so."

"Mayor, who won?" I asked.

"I think it would be you two." she said.

"Huh. Y'hear that, Omega? We won!"

"That's great!" he said.

"Wow." the Mayor said, "That was amazing!"

"I know, I'm the one who did it after all." we both said at the same time.

"So you two, what will you choose as your next event?" she asked.

"Omega?"

"I don't know. You?"

"I can think of one."

"Lemme hear it."

"Hoof fight?"

"That sounds great."

"We're decided on a hoof fight." I said.

"The next event will be... A hoof fight!"

A medium sized group of ponies started to make a ring in an open area. They worked quickly, they must've been ready for anything.

"Step into the ring." she said, walking over to the fighting ring. We both stepped in and she said, "This will end when one party gives up, is deemed unconscious, or is removed from the ring. No eye gouging or hitting between the legs. Got all that?"

We nodded and moved to our respective corners. It was getting late and some lights were put up. Then the bell sounded and we moved to the center. We were circling each other, trying to find an opening.

"Come on Phil!" he taunted, "Come at me bro, unless you're chicken."

"I am not Scootaloo." I said, moving in closer. I dropped my guard and derped up my face.

"Wha?" he started, then I punched him in the face, sending him back. He flipped over in the air and ran at me. He swiped at my legs and I jumped up, avoiding the attack.

"What was that?" I asked, trying to anger him.

He ran at me again and hit me in the gut, then I grabbed his arm and tossed him into the air. I jumped up, about to hit him, but he spun around and hit me in the face, sending me into the ground. "That was pretty good." I said, getting up.

He landed and said, "Thanks, you're not too bad yourself."

"This isn't gonna be easy on either of us."

"Then let's keep going." he said, running at me.

The fight had been going for three hours now, and the moon was coming up. I felt that the tide of the battle had shifted a little and I was pushing him back. 'I'm the same amount of tired that he is, we were perfectly matched when it started, and we should be perfectly matched now. Am I stronger during the night?' I thought.

I decided to roll with my new-found strength and pushed forward even harder than before. I pushed him up against the ropes and kept going, connecting more punches than earlier.

I slipped on a rock and tripped a little. He took this chance to get a punch in, a big one. The world slowed around me once again as my reaction time was activated. I grabbed his hoof and pulled on it, pulling him off of the ground. I spun around and tossed him up into the air, then jumped after him. I pulled my fist back and released, connecting with his chin.

I landed on the ground and looked up at him, he was out, and he couldn't stop. "Omega!" I yelled, jumping out of the ring to catch him. I made it just in time and caught him before he hit the ground. He woke up and grabbed my neck. "What are you doing?" I struggled to get out.

"How did you like the fight?" he asked.

I grabbed his arm and some other ponies came to help me. A magical surge was released from his body and the ponies were thrown back. Then he said, "Don't worry Phil, you still have a friend in Omega. I am controlling him."

"Discord." I said angrily.

"Ding! Now I want you to answer me, how is it that you were able to best him in a fair fight?"

"I think that I drew power from the moon." I said.

"Really? That actually makes sense. I hate making sense."

"Are you going to let me go now?"

"Oh sure, I got what I wanted to know." he said, releasing me, "87 more days left." Then Discord left Omega's body and he fell over again.

"Omega! Are you ok? Wake up!" I yelled.

"Hey, how's it going?" he asked.

"You ok?"

"I think you knocked out a few of my teeth." he said.

"So you'll be fine?"

"I'm good."

The Mayor came up to me and asked, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, now about that prize, was it me or Omega who won?"

"I think that you won that."

"Sweet." I said, getting up. I looked around, There were ponies all around me. "That was fun."

"Sure was."

"Let's go get some prize money." I said.

"Sounds like a plan to me." he said.

Just then, Pinkie Pie came out of the crowd and hopped around me. "That was great, Phil!" she said.

Rainbow Dash was next, and my other friends followed her. "That was so awesome." she said, raising her hoof. I raised mine and tapped hers, brohoof.

"You alright Phil?" asked Twilight.

"I'm great! Thanks for asking." I said.

"Don't crowd the winner just yet." said the Mayor, "Phil, Omega, follow me."

We followed he to the stage and showed us where to stand. Big Mac was already there, standing on the one with the three on it, and the other pony was standing next to him.

"Go stand in second place, Omega." she said, "Phil, in first."

We walked to our respective positions and the Mayor started the ending ceremony.

"Ladies and gentlecolts, I give you our winners. In third place, Big Mac! In second place, Omega! Last but not least, the champion, Phil!"

Big Mac looked normal, and Omega jumped for joy. I just stood there, smiling like an idiot.

The Mayor gave us some trophies and gave each of us a bag of bits. I pocketed my trophy, it wasn't that big. I got 3000, Omega got 1000, and Big Mac got 500. I grabbed around 2000 of mine and gave them to Big Mac. He smiled wide and said, "Thank you Phil."

"You did your best, that's what I wanted to see. All I buy is cupcakes, I don't need that much. Have fun!" I said.

"Eeyup."

"What are you going to do now Omega?"

"Fix my teeth."

"Good luck with that." I said.

Then I started to walk away, and a pony grabbed my tail. I looked back and saw some ponies lineup behind the one that grabbed my tail. "Autographs?" I asked. She nodded and let go of my tail. I bent down and grabbed the pen I keep in my shoe. "Who's first?"

Three hours later, my hand was cramping up and I was really tired. I looked at the line, four left.

After I was done, I walked away. "Where are you going?" asked Pinkie.

"Cupcakes." I said, "Meet you there."

Pinkie Pie dashed to Sugarcube Corner and I followed her. I fell down on my way there. "I'm tired."

I got there and crashed into the door. I opened it and went to the counter. "Hey Pinkie, can I get a cupcake?" I asked.

"Coming up!" she said, handing me a cupcake.

"Sweet." I said. Then I ate it and tried to pay her, but she said winners discount. I wasn't going to argue with her, I did win after all. "See ya Pinkie." I said, walking out.

"You gonna be ok?" she asked.

"Probably." I said.

I walked out of the store and fell down again. I started to use my less tired wings and flew myself up to a nearby cloud. It was so soft, I fell asleep instantly, not noticing that Rainbow Dash was sleeping on the same cloud, a few feet away.