//------------------------------// // Pause and Effect part 3 // Story: Paradoxes, Timelines, and Consequences // by Frost Bear //------------------------------// “Wonder why no one’s sitting here?” Spike asked as the group sat in an empty seat. “It’s assigned seating,” Starlight stated, “They probably didn’t sell the rest of the seats to anyone yet. I mean, look at the rest of the arena.” Starlight waved her hoof to show the arena. Ponies littered the small rows and walkways. Each searched for their seats as salesponies offered souvenirs and confections. Nightlight sat a few seats from the aisle seat with Spike and Starlight to his right. Down near the arena floor was a group of unicorns in black uniforms labeled ‘security.’ “Do you think we’re safe here?” Starlight asked. “Maybe,” Nightlight shrugged, “I went to Twilight’s junior duelist shows and the worst that happened then was turning into a cactus… again.” “I should’ve practiced my shield spell.” “Thank goodness dragons have magic immunity,” Spike muttered. A few moments later, after everyone settled in their seats, the show began. On center stage was the announcer. “Fillies and gentle colts! Tonight, we are proud to present our top prize winning duelist from all over Equestria!” Spotlights shined onto the far left entrance of the ring, “In the blue corner. Canterlot’s pride and joy, the mage of mad power, Sir Sparkplug!” Fireworks went off as a green unicorn with a blonde mane pranced out. He wore a glittering gold cape with his mark etched into it, a pair of lighting bolts crossing each other. He smugly turned his head up with a smile. The crowd cheered loudly at his presence. “And in the red corner,” spotlights moved to the far right of the ring, “Hailing from the far northern region of the Crystal Empire. A stallion said to hold the power of the sun itself, acquaintance of the Hero of the Empire…” “I barely know anyone there!” Spike exclaimed. “Introducing, Crystal Shard!” Another unicorn, this one cyan, droopily dragged himself in. A strong oder of various drinks and salt enveloped him. He gave off the appearance of a pony who spent all night at a party. Sparkplug took one look at him and laughed. “This is the best the Crystal Empire has to offer? Ha! This will be over before it even starts!” Shard woozily lifted his head with a hiccup, “Ya don’t can’t yer chickies for they hap hehehe, I’ma kick ye cross this here barn n kick ye n kick ye till I can’t kick no moe zzzz…” Crystal Shard then collapsed and passed out with a goofy grin on his face. “I didn’t actually mean that!” Sparkplug yelled. “Wow, 23 seconds… I think that’s an academy record,” Spike rolled his eyes. “I expected at least someone Shining Armor trained,” Nightlight huffed. “Is it too late to get a refund?” Starlight asked. The arena was filled with disappointment and boos. The announcer quickly tried to pull attention away from Crystal Shard and introduce the next contestant. “On to the next round! We have the beacon of Manehattan, the mare of miracles, Miss Sunny Days!” Spotlights shined onto the red corner once again, waiting for Sunny to come out. A white unicorn mare with a pink mane ran out with a pair of plastic wings falling off her back. “You promised he’d put up a bigger fight!” she barked at the announcer. “Not my fault he decided to have a few too many last night,” he whispered back. Sunny fixed her costume piece as fast as she could and cleared her throat, “Where I’m from they call me the princess of hot summer! Are you ready to bow before royalty?” Sparkplug chuckled, “Only one in this room that resembles royalty is yours truly.” Sunny blasted Sparkplug with an arcane blast. The force of the blow hurled him upward. Sparkplug pulled tightly on his cape and used it as a glider to safely land. He then surprised Sunny with a lightning bolt spell. Sunny diverted it away from her, the arc would’ve hit the audience if it wasn’t for the shield security put up. Sunny gracefully jumped with a fire spell ready. Sparkplug dug his rear hooves into the ground and braced for the attack. Sunny unleashed a barrage of fire balls on Sparkplug. He only laughed as he absorbed the attacks. His horn shivered with energy. As she fell down, Sunny knew what was about to happen and cursed the stallion she was fighting. Sparkplug released the energy in his horn on Sunny. An intense beam of electric force pierced through Sunny like a hot knife through butter. Sunny fell with scorch mark on her side. The plastic wing had melted and the strap was burnt off. She frowned as her favorite ascetic was ruined. “Those wings cost 15 bits,” she whined. “You realize you could’ve bought cheaper at any costume store,” Sparkplug stated. “True, but these had my name stitched in the strap,” a red aura crept around Sunny, “But now that the princess lost her wings…” Sunny’s body was quickly engulfed in flames, “It’s time to show you a real Nightmare!” she tackled Sparkplug and giggled. Sparkplug patted embers off his coat and threw away his cape as the flames started eating away the fabric. A glare in his eyes, he set to bring Sunny down. The fires were intense. Everyone in the arena felt the overwhelming heat. Panting and sweating as the fire of Sunny Day grew out of control. The smart thing for Sparkplug to do was to douse the flame with a water spell. Instead he added to the flame. Sparkplug sent out a torrent of flames, making Sunny’s fire much more intense. “Ha! You could just give up,” Sunny taunted, “If you add any more fire to me, I might end up blowing up the entire arena!” Sparkplug smiled, “Then I hope security has a good shield up!” he threw one final fireball at Sunny. Sunny’s eyes widened as the fireball hit her. There was a huge explosion that shook the entire arena and almost shattered security’s shield. The flames dissipated and Sunny fell over in defeat. The announcer popped his head out of his hiding spot and ran over to Sparkplug. “And the winner is… Sir Sparkplug!” The crowd cheered wildly for the victor. Nightlight was hugging Spike with a terrified look on his face. Starlight cheered along with the crowd while Spike modestly clapped his claws. “Woah, hope all the fights are not as intense as that one,” Nightlight gasped. The remainder of the show consisted of Sparkplug fighting numerous opponents from all over Equestria. All of them were unicorns except for the dullest from Cloudsdale. Not surprisingly, the pegasus used clouds in the duel. Whether that counts as magic or not was speculated. The crowd enjoyed it all regardless. Starlight was just as into the show as the rest of the ponies. Spike and Nightlight were mildly amused and often said Starlight or Twilight could do better. After a long while the final match was about to begin. “Now! For the moment you’ve all been waiting for!” the announcer proclaimed, “She is our mysterious competitor from a far and forbidden land. No horn, no wings!” Spike perked up with interest. “From the Badlands… the Blind Bandit!” The spotlights shifted to the right side of the ring. A rather tiny earth pony mare trotted to the center ring. Laughter echoed through the arena. Sparkplug gave the small mare an odd look. “I find it rather distasteful to harm a filly,” Sparkplug claimed. “Sounds like you’re scared Sparky,” the Blind Bandit taunted. Sparkplug frowned, “I suppose I am required to teach you respect.” Sparkplug rushed towards the Bandit with electric energy enveloping him. It appeared that he tackled the small mare in a fraction of a second. The crowd expected the poor thing to be obliterated by the force of his attack. Instead, Sparkplug was sent flying out of the arena. Everyone looked up to the Sparkplug shaped hole in the ceiling of the arena in shock and aw. As the dust settled, the Blind Bandit was revealed to be sitting in the same spot she was in. She yawned and beckoned the announcer to her. “So how much do I get?” she asked. The announcer shifted his eyes, “Well it seems we have a winner! Our prize is 500,000 bits! All for the Blind Bandit… Unless someone challenges her.” The audience mumbled and pushed themselves away from the ring. “Is no one brave enough to challenge this mare?” “I’ll give it a shot,” Starlight chirped. “Another unicorn? Yawn, let me know when she does the smart thing and run away.” “Oh, she’s not running away,” Spike chuckled. “HEY! Only one opponent allowed! Those are the rules, Draco.” “Nah, I’m spectating. Starlight’s the one who’s going to beat you senseless.” The Blind Bandit laughed, “Alright, Brightlight, show me what you got.” Starlight began the fight with a levitation spell on herself. The Bandit dug her hooves into the ground and kicked a large rock at her. “You’re going to have to land at some point, Brightlight,” Bandit taunted as she blindly kicked rocks in random directions, “I’ve fought pegasi who put up more challenge than you!” “Is that a compliment?” Starlight pondered. A pillar of stone erupted from the ground beneath Starlight. Her concentration faltered, Starlight fell to the floor. “Should’ve kept your mouth shut,” Bandit grinned. Starlight rubbed her head, “Ok… let’s try this one more time,” she concentrated her energy into her time spell. The Bandit concentrated her magic to levitate an impressively sized rock over Starlight, “Sorry to cut this short but I got better stuff to do.” Before the rock could fall on Starlight, her spell activated. She quickly crawled away from the falling stone. Time slowed down in her eyes. Spectators were gasping, covering their eyes, and roaring over the match. Starlight thought of a few ways to finish this fight. She decided to run behind the Bandit and kick the back of her head. Once that was done, she focused to stop the spell. Time returned to normal. The Bandit let out a loud yelp as the rock slammed against the floor. “What the- How did you do that?” the Bandit quickly turned around. Starlight instantly let loose an arcane bolt that pushed the Bandit out of the arena. Due to the rules, that meant Starlight won the match. “And the winner is Starlight!” the announcer popped out of nowhere and raised Starlight’s hoof. “Yeah yeah, enjoy it while it lasts, Brightlight,” the Bandit sneered. “Ah don’t take it so hard,” Spike reassured the Bandit, “her mom’s the princess of magic. Strong magic just runs in the family.” “I don’t know much about your princesses nor do I care.” Spike shrugged, “Oh well. I didn’t know earth ponies could do magic.” “Yeah…” the Bandit spat on the ground and left, “Lot of unicorn types think that way.” Starlight ran up to Spike with a hug, “Did you see that! I actually got the time spell right!” “That’s great, Star, but can you let me go? I can’t breathe!” Starlight lightened her grip, “Sorry,” she glanced over the Bandit’s exit, “What were you two talking about?” “Not much, she just left.” “I hope to see her again. I have questions about how an earth pony can do magic.” “Me too, maybe Twilight knows something.” “Maybe,” Nightlight assured, “What time is it?” “It’s um,” Spike looked at a nearby clock, “Oh! It’s almost time for the party! We better go before we’re late!” The three of them rushed out of the arena. After a long run to their home. They all stopped to catch their breath. Starlight got up and knocked on the door. A loud bang opened the front door along with a frying pan that landed directly on Nightlight’s face. Spike and Starlight gave each other worried looks before checking inside. In the house was the most awkward scene Starlight has found her family in yet. Celestia was bound in a ribbon tied in a bow. Luna put out Celestia’s flaming mane. Twilight and Moon Dancer were blushing with books over covering their faces. Moon Dancer’s book was titled “How to Get a Mare for Dummies,” while Twilight’s was titled “Explaining Sexual Preferences by Princess Cadence.” It should go on record that the book Twilight had is in the top five best sellers and was awarded novel of the year twice. The last peculiar scene was Velvet having a firm grip on Nightlight’s family jewels as she hunched under the couch that had the charred remains of plastic reindeer stuck to it. The sum of the odd scene was best described by Starlight’s following statement. “Um… What in the world did we miss?!”