Ribbon did her best to sneak through the shopping area.
More commonly known as The Commissary, it was really more of a shopping mall. Two levels, filled with small shops, and connected by lifts and moving ramps. Potted plants were placed wherever it was possible, and the central area was turned into a park. Grass covered a small courtyard of artificial hills, giving foals and children of several species room to romp and play, and an aluminum framed river wound from one end to the other, kept flowing by pumps and filters.
The area had a warm organic feel to it, a welcome escape from the stark metal and constant construction that filled most of the station. The environmental controls probably contributed to that the most. The ceiling was a large display panel, and was set to show an image of the sky from a given position on Canterlot. At night, it showed stars. During the day, a bright sun. Today though, it was kind of cloudy. Fans in the walls generated a soft breeze that made up for the temperature being a little higher than station standard. Every detail of the surface weather was replicated, right down to the humidity and air pressure that promised future rain.
Ribbon sighed. She would have to hurry. She had always been good at noticing weather patterns, and the way things were now, it was going to start storming in less than an hour. Of course, the lightning was always dialed back in volume and intensity, but the rain usually wasn't.
The colorful mare made her way to the nearest down ramp. As she stepped on, she noticed that everypony on the adjacent up ramp, including a Curaxxan family, was staring at her. They weren't the only ones.
She kept her head down, carefully avoiding eye contact. If she didn't focus on any one mind, her telepathy was pretty much reduced to empathy in a crowd. But that could still be a little overwhelming. Especially if, like now, the whole crowd was staring at her. She wasn't getting a negative impression though. That was almost as confusing as the fact that they were staring in the first place.
"Ribbon? What the hell are you wearing?"
"Lilybelle?" Ribbon started scanning the crowd. Every time she made eye contact with somepony, she got a little snippet of thought. That's nice, I'll have to remember that, I want one of those. Ribbon was utterly confused by the time she found Lilybelle. The other nurse had just passed her, heading up to the second level. Her cousin, Annabelle was next to her.
The blue and pink nurses hopped the separating rail between the to mobile ramps. Then, they made their way down to Ribbon, Lilybelle in the lead, ignoring the protests of the ramp's other passengers.
Lilybelle was still splotched with grey, but from up close, Ribbon could see that the edges of the stains were starting to soften. She should be back to normal inside of two weeks.
"Are you two shopping?" Ribbon asked, pointing to the empty saddlebags they carried.
Lilybelle tilted her head to the side. "You think?"
Annabelle nodded, keeping a bit of distance between her and Ribbon. "Um, where did you get that? If you don't mind me asking?" Ribbon heard the, "it looks nice," that the blue nurse left out.
The younger nurse looked back. "Butter-fried Biscuits! I knew this wouldn't work!" Ribbon spun in place. She was wearing a wide-brimmed hat and an impromptu skirt, taking the idea from when Mezzo had visited her earlier. She reached for the knot holding it in place.
"Hey!" Lilybelle slapped her hoof away. "Are you crazy? You can't just strip in the middle of the commissary. You wore it out, so you're stuck with it."
Annabelle nodded. "She's right. What are you all dressed up for anyway?"
They reached the end of the ramp, and Ribbon pulled her fellow nurses into the alcove behind it, out of sight of the other shoppers. "I'm not dressed up for anything. This is just a bedsheet I wrapped around myself. What do I do? I was trying to disguise myself, but ponies are staring worse than ever!"
Lilybelle and Annabelle both poked and prodded the white fabric. "But, why a bedsheet?" Lilybelle asked.
"Could it be, that you don't have any real clothes?" Annabelle asked.
Ribbon tried to shoo them away. "I don't go out much, so I don't need any. But that has nothing to do with it." Annabelle got behind Ribbon and started pushing her out into the open. "Hey! Wait! What are you doing?"
"Can't you tell?" Annabelle motioned for her cousin to help her push. "I am getting you into a clothing store."
Ribbon planted her hooves, stopping them all in their tracks. "What gives? I thought you hated me!"
Lily and Anna pushed as hard as they could, but couldn't budge the obstinate Ribbon. Annabelle abandoned pushing and jumped to the smaller unicorn's side. She then through all her weight into a shoulder check aimed at Ribbon's side.
For all the good it did, Annabelle may as well have thrown herself at a tree. She bounced off the smaller unicorn and fell to the floor, panting. "Honestly? You scare the shit out of me." She picked herself up and dusted off. "And this isn't doing much to help that. But, that's no reason to let a young mare to go without a single set of nice clothes."
Lilybelle walked around to Ribbon's other side and gave her a good shove. The younger mare didn't move, and there was no give to the muscles under her fur. "Come to think of it, Growl doesn't enforce your physical training routine. After that acrobatic display the other day, I have to wonder if you're really just some sort of telepathic android."
"What acrobatic display?" Annabelle asked.
"Remember Astral? The stallion we had to cut out of that armored spacesuit?" Lily poked ribbon in the small of the back. "Well, he was abducted by some shadowy government agent, and this girl chased after him." The pink nurse moved her hoof around in frantic swirling motions. "You should have seen her. I was following her, and she was flipping over stuff, jumping over ponies, and, get this, she did this crazy thing where she jumped off one wall, onto another, then off that one, and over this giant section of panels that was blocking the way."
Annabelle propped herself up on Ribbon, hanging her hooves over the smaller pony's back. "Then, how did you follow her? I have to kick your flank out of bed just to get you to take a morning jog."
Lilybelle propped herself up next to her cousin, treating Ribbon's back like a bar table. "For your information, I went through it. Melted a hole in that sucker big enough to fly an aircar through."
"Eh?" Annabelle shook her head. "You're too destructive Lilybelle. What's that handsome pinto going to think if you disintegrate something on your first date?"
Lilybelle blushed and jumped back. "What are you talking about? I wouldn't do something like that. Besides, he hasn't asked me out yet."
"Oh my." Annabelle brought a hoof to her mouth. "Did I forget to tell you about the flowers?"
"What flowers?" Lilybelle demanded.
Annabelle shrugged and lowered herself off her cyan perch. "The ones that were delivered with that love letter earlier."
Lilybelle pounced at her cousin, scrambling over Ribbon to get at her. "When were you planning on telling me this?!"
"Eventually." Annabelle giggled and ran around Ribbon, positioning herself opposite Lilybelle. "Hey, you pulled the same stunt with my Luna Academy acceptance letter." She blew a raspberry at the mottled nurse, then looked over at Ribbon. "And what are you smiling about over here?"
"Nothing." The rainbow unicorn laughed. "It's just that... today kind of got off to a rocky start, but it's really turned around. I got some good news from home, and now I get to go shopping with friends like I've always wanted to."
"Whoa. No." Annabelle shook her head. "Let's slow down there a little. We aren't exactly friends."
"Oh." Ribbon looked down and nodded. "Okay."
Annabelle scratched at her mane and tried not to think about how pathetic and pitiable Ribbon's expression looked. She looked like a orphaned prill, so sad and miserable that you just can't help but pick it up. "But, we can consider this, a, um..."
"Test run?" Ribbon finished.
Annabelle nodded. "Yeah."
"Orphaned prill?" Ribbon asked.
Annabelle kept nodding, exaggerating the motion. "Oh, yeah." She laughed a little more, then cleared her throat. "So, did you catch him?"
Ribbon stared at the blue nurse for a moment. "Oh! The chase. Yes, I caught up to them. But it was ok, the pony wasn't some sort of spy or anything. It was all just a big misunderstanding."
Lilybelle trotted over to her cousin. "But, miss mind reader here only found that out after bonking that pony on the head with a giant wrench." After a moment's pause, she whispered, "And I am going to get you back, just wait for it."
"A wrench?" Annabelle asked. "Did you knock him out?"
Lilybelle shook her head and answered, "No. Watch this." She punched her cousin in the leg.
Annabelle and Ribbon both rubbed at their legs. "Hey, that hurt," they said in unison.
Annabelle's eyes went wide as she looked over at Ribbon, then she broke out in snorting, raucous laughter. "You! Pfft! You mean, she- Hah, ha!" She couldn't finish her question because of how hard she was laughing.
Lilybelle already new what the question was though. "She sure did. The pony she hit was huge. Biggest earth pony I've ever seen, all red fur and muscle. Honestly, he was kind of hot, in that lovable muscle head sort of way. But she just smacked him in the head anyway. He didn't even flinch, but you should have seen her."
"Sorry, Ribbon." Annabelle kept laughing. "That is just funny. But it proves you aren't an android at least. No pony would program an android to do something that silly."
Lilybelle chuckled. Having been there to see it, it wasn't quite as funny to her. It had actually been quite serious at the time. And when Growl got involved, she had been expecting somepony to end up seriously hurt. "That still leaves the question of what she is, exactly."
"No it doesn't." Ribbon touched a hoof to her chest. She couldn't believe she was about to share this, but after exchanging messages with her dad, she knew that it was no longer classified. Besides, these two were her coworkers, and the closest thing she had to friends right now. "I'm a genetically-engineered super soldier."
Lilybelle nodded. "Ok, so you must have held back so he wouldn't be too badly injured."
Ribbon nodded. "A little. But that red pony was pretty sturdy. I don't know if I would have been able to knock him out at full strength even. I bet my dad could take him though. He's first generation, and at least a dozen times stronger than I am."
Lilybelle broke out in full laughter, enough to match her cousin's snorting fit in volume, if not quite intensity. "Wow, Ribbon, when you tell a joke, you commit. I never knew you had a sense of humor."
"Definitely," Annabelle agreed. She stopped laughing and sighed. "It's a shame we didn't talk to you sooner. You don't seem at all like we thought."
Lilybelle nodded somberly. "Yeah. I guess that's our fault." She looked around and pointed out a shop across the way. "Let's not waste time then. We have catching up and shopping to do!" She ran off, cutting through the grassy park with Annabelle hot on her tail.
Ribbon reluctantly chased after them, using her magic to mind the hem of her clothing. "Hey," she called out, "why don't you believe me?"
The two cousins slowed down enough for the smaller nurse to catch up. "Ribbon, Ribbon," Lilybelle sighed, "you have to know when to let go of the joke."
Annabelle nodded. "Besides, there's no way a supersoldier would be so short. You're only a year or two younger than us, so you really should be taller."
"What?!" Ribbon stopped and scoffed. "Well, I can't help it if my height doesn't match expectations. Maybe it's a side effect of the gene therapy?"
Lilybelle looked back. "There's a fine line between funny and sad."
Ribbon pursed her lips. Then, she started scanning the commissary like an eagle searching for fish in the water. There had to be something that would let her prove her story. Something heavy to lift? Some sort of obstacle she could climb? Wait, what is that? "There!"
She pointed at a small crowd gathered near the visitor's center, the small office that served as the lifeblood of Canter Delta's limited tourist trade. Nestled between two unassuming shops, it served as a welcome center most of the time, but was often rented out for events. Today seemed to be one of those events. Ribbon wasn't entirely sure what that event was, but she could hear the lure of treasure, the sting of loss, and several distinct thoughts of, "No way, I was stronger than that guy!"
Ribbon started walking over, forcing her reluctant friends to follow her. As they got closer, Ribbon started getting clearer thoughts from the crowds. "How could I lose? All that money, gone! At least I did better than he did. My score wasn't too bad. How could my right hook lose to a jab like that?" That last thought caused Ribbon some confusion. Was there a prizefight going on? There was no way. She definitely would have known about it if there was.
By the time they reached the fringes of the gathering, the jumbled thoughts had overlapped and jumbled themselves into an unpleasant grinding. For Ribbon, it was like walking around with a running chainsaw strapped to her head. Aside from the volume and incomprehensible nature of the noise, there was an insistent pressure to it, like trying to hold a door shut against a flow of water or sand.
From here though, Ribbon could see bright yellow posters advertising the event. "Prove your strength, win a 500 bit shopping spree." She tilted her head to one side. She had guessed there was some sort of contest of strength going on, but the sign didn't really clear anything up. Though, it did seem to imply that this event was open to the public, which she could guess based on stray thoughts. It probably wasn't a prizefight then.
"Yo, tiny? You in line?"
Ribbon looked to her left and right, looking for the thought that was making it through garbage disposal of insanity surrounding her.
"Back here, filly."
It was a voice, Ribbon realized, not a thought. She looked back. Behind her, stood three tall creatures. The one closest to her was a human, lean and mahogany-toned. He had shiny black hair that was short except for two long, thin braids in the back, and his muscle structure was so well defined, that it looked like it was pulled straight from an anatomical diagram. He was the shortest of the group, but still stood three times Ribbon's height. He also seemed to be the one who spoke, and was waiting for answer.
Ribbon blinked. "I'm sorry," she yelled, "I tend to space out in crowds. What did you need?"
The human chuckled. "You're standing in the line. I was wondering if you meant to be here, or if you're just enjoying the show." He ran a hand through his hair. "Girls from all over the station are here today. There's almost more of them here than there are guys. I guess there's a lot here to enjoy. Aside from the chance at the prize, every strong man, pony, and dragon on the station is here today, each testing themselves, pushing themselves to the limit."
"Yeah," Ribbon yelled again. "I'm in line." She pointed at Lilybelle and Annabelle, who were standing behind the three. "They are too!"
The tall creature closest to the two nurses looked back and laughed. He was a bulky, wingless dragon, standing upright, like a tree with bold blue scales. His claws were sharp and curled, like the bucket on an excavator, and a stripe of yellow ran down his center like the line on a groundcar road. "That's cute." He knelt down on one knee to bring himself closer to their height and pantomimed tipping a hat. "Best of luck gals. But, cargo team three will be taking the prize."
"It's true, ladies." The human rapped his knuckles against the scales of the dragon's chest, making a sound like he was drumming on wood. "The three of us are the fastest, strongest, most experienced cargo handling team in this system. We'd have to try not to win." He whispered to the dragon, “Don’t ever do that again, that hat thing looks so stupid, I don’t know to describe it.”
"Is that so?" Lilybelle chuckled nervously. She edged her way over to Ribbon. "Why are you yelling like that?" She asked her.
"Yelling like what?" Ribbon shouted in her ear.
The pink mare's face contorted in pain. "Like that."
The third creature, a bony, grey being with four arms, whose species Ribbon didn't recognize, made a chuffing sound that she assumed was laughter. He was the tallest of the three, as well as the thinnest. He leaned towards the human and spoke with a series of clicks and pops.
The human listened carefully, nodding to himself. When the grey creature finished, he looked down at Ribbon. "Clak here says that you hear what the rest of us don't, whatever that means. He also suggested that, in our current situation, it would be appropriate to make a little wager. If we win, we will treat you to one round of drinks at any refreshment stall in the commissary, provided you do the same if you win." The grey being made another series of clicks, much shorter this time, which the human didn't translate. "So, do we have a bet?"
Annabelle made her way over to the other mares. "Um, I'm not even sure why we're-"
"Yes!" Ribbon inadvertently shouted in the blue cousin's ear. "We'll take the bet! Thank you!" The rainbow nurse looked up at Clak and sounded off with some clicking sounds of her own.
He excitedly tapped the human on the shoulder and started clicking away like a tap dancing skit.
"Yeah, yeah." The human brushed the three-fingered hand away. "I heard her, she said it perfectly." The human kneeled down to look Ribbon in the eye. "But, where in the galaxy did you learn to speak Talkan?"
Ribbon shook her head. "I can't speak it! Never heard it before today!" She nodded towards Clak. " I just repeated what he said when he thanked you for translating."
The human snorted. "And here I thought my job was in danger." He stood up slowly. "Anyway, my name's Drayk." He gestured to his two companions. " You already know Clak, and the other guy is Softy."
The dragon waved, at Annabelle in particular.
She reluctantly returned the wave. "So, why do they call you Softy?"
"Because it's my name," the dragon replied. "But also because of this." He stretched out like was going to yawn, and took a deep breath. He curled up in a flash of sparkles, and was replaced by a puff of blue smoke.When it cleared, sitting in his place was a creature that was not so much a dragon, but a scaled teddy bear. Fat and round, with plump cheeks and an infectious grin, the stubby little lizard pointed up at Annabelle. "Never underestimate dragon magic."
The blue nurse scooped the baby dragon up and squeezed him. "Oh, that's just so cute!" She squealed like a filly with a new toy, then held the dragon out at hooves length. "So, that's what you normally look like? I like it!"
"No," the dragon choked out. "Did you have to squeeze me so hard? This is just one out of the five forms I can take."
"Oh." Annabelle dropped him. He bounced. "Then what do you really look like?"
"Like this!" He stretched out again.
Drayk stomped on him before he could transform, squishing him like a rubber toy. "Focus! You need to save your energy for the contest. As the strongest dragon on the station, you're our ace in the hole."
Clak started clicking again.
The human looked at the rest of the crowd. "Yeah, you're right. The line's moving again." He gestured to the trio of nurses. "After you, ladies."
Clak kept clicking as they followed the line deeper into the crowd.
When they came to a stop, Drayk waved a hand in front of Ribbon to get her attention. " Excuse me, rainbow mane?"
Ribbon shook her head and looked up. "Yeah!?"
The human pointed at his grey friend. "He's still going on about how you said, 'thank you,' in Talkan. He's saying that it is an honor to meet one with both the ability to hear, and the wisdom to understand. Also, whatever the outcome of this contest, it was worthwhile to know there are beings like you among the citizens of this station." Drayk looked back. "Is that everything?"
Clak nodded once.
"Good." The human looked back at Ribbon. "Ok, if you have, 'the wisdom to understand,' maybe you can tell me what the heck he's talking about."
Ribbon shrugged. "Sorry! I don't have a clue! I just want to get away from this noise!"
"Ribbon!" Lilybelle shouted at her. "It's not that loud! Stop yelling!"
Ribbon pointed in front of them. There was space opening up. "Look! The line's moving much faster now!"
Lilybelle groaned quietly and moved forward.
Ribbon looked back at Drayk. "Tell him thank you for me! I don't think I'd get it right a second time!"
Clak chuffed, and Drayk smiled. "Don't worry, he heard you."
After that, the line started moving at a rapid pace. Dejected crowd members were walking away while muttering things like, "there's no way," or, "forget it, I'm not going to embarrass myself." Ribbon didn't notice any of it though, she was trying to focus on forming a mental barrier to ward off the ocean of bees that were the stray thoughts of nearly a hundred beings. Annabelle and the still baby Softy weren't paying much attention either, being locked in an animated discussion about the differences between dragon and unicorn magic. That left Lilybelle, Drayk, and Clak to realize that they were walking into a place that others were leaving in despair.
Sunken, sullen faces ambled past them, leaving the area. Some of them clutched tiny, brightly-colored packets in their hands, claws, and other limbs. Not a single one seemed satisfied with the outcome of whatever was going on up ahead.
After a few minutes of wading through others' despair, they made it to the front of the line, and the true nature of the contest was revealed. A rather official-looking unicorn stallion with a salesman's beard, and a suit and tie, was standing by a large, thoroughly chromed, metal contraption secured to a wall. The device had lights all over, and a large numerical display at the top. In the middle of it, apparently adjustable in height, was a padded red button, forty centimeters across. Off to the side, was a screen displaying a list of names, times, and what appeared to be scores. At the top of the screen, "KaliKokuu," appeared next to the highest score in letters twice as large as any other name. The marked time was only a minute or two ago, roughly the time when the line started moving.
"Oh my gosh! That's him over there!" Ribbon pointed at a surly, barrel-chested Curaxxan leaning against the wall in an empty corner. He glared at the crowd with one eye. The other was long lost to some unknown injury, leaving a horrid scar in it's place. The muscles under his green skin rippled with every movement, no matter how slight, giving the appearance of a coiled predator, waiting for the right moment to strike. "That's him! It's really him! KaliKokuu! He's the current Middleweight Mixed Martial Arts champion of Canterlot! He lost his eye when a competitor had him ambushed before a match. He fought off half a dozen goons armed with pipes and knives, and still won his bout an hour later! He was still bleeding when he delivered the final blow! I'm going to go get an autograph!"
"Whoa! Wait a minute!" Lilybelle yanked Ribbon back. "Where do you think you're going? You haven't even told us why we're here."
"Isn't it obvious?" Drayk pointed at the giant red circle. "You hit that as hard as you can, and try to beat his score."
"That's absolutely right!" exclaimed the suited pony, pointing at the small group. "If any pony, person, or thing, can beat mister Kokuu's score by eighteen hundred, station time, they will be put in the lead for five, I said, five hundred bits worth of credit, spendable at any shop on this station! But, be careful, some upstart may come after your score next!"
Drayk cracked his knuckles. "Looks like this just got interesting."
Clak answered with a single click.
The suited pony laughed. "You boys seem confident! Let me explain the rules. You have fifteen, that's all, fifteen seconds, to display your power! Hit the target as hard as you can, as fast as you can, or as many times as you can! Those of you with poky bits, unicorns, dragons, and whatnot, keep 'em to yourself. Today is all about blunt force trauma!"
"He's louder than Ribbon is," Lilybelle muttered.
"That's my job, sweetheart." The suited pony clicked his tongue. "Ain't nopony louder than me. So! Would you boys care to give it a go? All you have to lose is a bit of pride, and that's only if you fail."
"Don't worry." Drayk smirked. "We won't lose." He swept his hand to indicate Lilybelle. "These mares were ahead of us though." He looked down at the pink nurse. "Wait, where are the other two?"
Lilybelle looked around with a sigh. Annabelle was behind them, still talking with Softy. But, where was Ribbon? "Annabelle," she called, "get up here! It's our turn."
The suited pony chuckled. "This competition is open to all! Try your luck, test your strength! Tell us where you want the target, then let loose!" He waved Lilybelle forward. "The timer starts automatically after the first hit!"
She walked up and stood next to the contraption. She didn't like being put on the spot and abandonned, but she wasn't about to back down. Professor Evening Shine would never forgive a combat arts student that shied away from a challenge. Especially not one at the top of her class. "Um, a little lower, please?"
The suited unicorn made the necessary adjustments, and Lilybelle stood in front of it, looking back over her shoulder at the target.
The unicorn stepped away. "Whenever you're ready."
Lilybelle took a deep breath. She felt like a fool, standing in front of this huge crowd, especially given the competition she was facing. It didn't help that the reason why she was there in the first place had just up and disappeared on her.
She changed her breathing pattern to a meditative one she had learned in combative magic class. She closed her eyes. Everything around her was pushed away, each breath pushed out not only air, but distraction. She imagined her surroundings bathed in total darknes. Light that was only permitted to shine on what was important, herself, and her target.
With a determined scream, Lilybelle kicked her hooves back, bucking the target with everything she had. On impact, the target shook, and the contraption sprung to life. Colorful lights blinked and flashed, and the numerical display lit up with her score.
Lilybelle heard a gasp from the crowd. She opened her eyes and looked back. Her score was high. Nowhere near the high score, but much higher than she was expecting.
It took a shout from Annabelle to break her out of her shock. "Don't just stand there! Go! Hit it!"
Right! She still had time! Lilybelle planted her hooves with a determined snort, and bucked for all she was worth. After a few more hits, a red light appeared above the target.
The suited pony pointed at the light. "Five seconds left!"
Another light appeared.
"Four!"
Lilybelle put it all into these last few kicks, shouting as another light appeared.
"Three!"
"Go! Go! Go!" Annabelle shouted as another light came on.
"Two!"
The whole crowd started cheering her on as the last light came on.
"One second!"
Lilybelle closed her eyes and screamed as she kicked one last time. A loud buzzer went off, but not before her score bumped up by more than the score of her first hit. She stared at the scoreboard, sweating and trying to control her breathing. "How'd I do?" she asked breathlessly. She wobbled over to the screen that displayed the leaderboard. She compared her score to those on the list, starting with the one on the bottom, tenth place. "Five points short," she groaned. "One more hit would have gotten me on the list."
The suited pony walked over to Lilybelle and spun her around to face the crowd. "Dip me in feathers and call me a Pegasus! Folks! This pretty little lady was five, I'll say it again, five measly points from making the leaderboard. Let's give her a hearty round of applause!"
To her surprise, members of the crowd actually started clapping.
"See, folks?" The suited pony continued. "Pure brawn isn't everything! Speed, determination, and good, old-fashioned guts still count!" He pulled several brightly colored, foil pouches from his suit pocket. "And we can't let such determination go unrewarded, can we?" He offered the pouches to Lilybelle. "Five, count 'em, five, free samples of Protein-Pro Energy Shakes." When Lilybelle didn't immediately take the offered samples, he stuffed them in her saddlebag and shoved her away. "Poor gal's speechless. Protein-Pro Energy Shakes! The perfect complement to any workout. Or maybe, you're running late? Don't skip breakfast, folks! Try out any one of our twelve amazing flavors! Ready in seconds, and available for a limited time in a bulk pack! One hundred pouches, with our special refrigerated Shake-Shaker, a fifty bit value, absolutely free! Available wherever processed foods and supplements are sold."
Annabelle raised a hoof. "Can I take my turn now?"
"Anytime you want, Sugar!" He pointed at her. "Look at this, folks! This little filly's ready and raring to go! Do you need the target moved?"
"No. It's ok where it is." Annabelle dashed for the target, getting a running start. At the last moment, she spun on her front hooves, launching herself airborne. She smacked into the the target with a flying buck, dropped to the ground, and started firing off rapid kicks, one after the other.
The crowd watched in stunned silence as her score steadily climbed for fifteen seconds. When the buzzer sounded, her score was thirty points higher than Lilybelle's, putting Annabelle twenty-five points above the current tenth place score and putting her on the leaderboard.
Unsurprisingly, the suited event manager was the first to recover. "Astounding!" He walked over and pat Annabelle on the shoulder. "That was some fancy hoofwork miss, and it put you on the leaderboard! Now, how about a name to go with that wonderful score?"
"Annabelle," she replied.
"Well, Annabelle." He pointed at the leaderboard. "Unfortunately, you fell quite a ways short of the grand prize. But, you won't leave empty-hooved!" He checked his pockets, then pulled out some more sample pouches. "What a turnout, folks! These are the last of the samples! But can you think of anypony else more deserving than the young mare that valiantly challenged the odds? Not only challenged, but broke the odds, and came out on top!" He gave her the samples and walked over to the leaderboard. "Name input, Annabelle."
The leaderboard lineup changed, swapping Annabelle's name and score into the tenth slot. The mare happily planted herself in front of the screen and read through the list of scores above her. She stopped at the second place slot. "Lilybelle? Come look who's in second."
The other nurse looked over. "Growl? Seriously? And look at the time difference between her score and that Curaxxan's. She was in first place for hours before he came along."
Annabelle shook her head. "She's gonna be so pissed when she finds out she lost."
Lilybelle pointed to a name further down the list. "Look at this, James is only in fifth. And he went right before growl did."
Annabelle shrugged. "I guess gryphons are at a disadvantage for something like this."
"Well, isn't this a surprise, folks!" The announcer's voice drew Lily and Anna's attention back to the contraption, and to the rainbow-colored unicorn bouncing in place in front of it. "We have a third, I said, third, young mare rising to the occasion! This one is barely more than a filly, but she's not backing down! What a shame that I'm out of samples, I'd give her a few just for the incredible spirit she's showing!" He walked up to the target. "Let me lower this for you, and we can get started."
Ribbon shook her head. "No! Higher!"
The suited pony blinked. "You sure?"
Ribbon nodded. "Yes! Higher!" She tore her makeshift skirt off and bundled it up while he made the adjustment. Her hat was already gone. "Higher!" she shouted, prompting him to lift it a little more. She tossed the baled up sheet on the ground and kicked it away from her. She then carefully set down a small, red plastic case on top of it. "That'll do!"
The suited pony jumped back. "Well! Isn't she fired up, folks!"
The crowd started murmuring. Several crowd members started laughing outright. Ribbon ignored the crows and their cackling, and focused on the target. She bounced back and forth, left and right, shifting and dancing like a fighter testing her opponent.
KaliKokuu made his way closer to the action, intently watching Ribbon's motions from beneath the brim of a frilly hat as she hopped back from the target. Drayk pointed this out to his two companions. "He sure got interested all of a sudden." He shook his head. "I've got a weird feeling about this."
Clak clicked his concurrence.
Softy shrugged it off though. "So? Maybe he just never saw a pony fight before."
"She isn't fighting," the human pointed out. "She's just going to be railing on a target."
"You can't tell that by looking at her. She looks like she's psyching herself up for a full-contact match." Softy scratched his marshmallow chin. "Do you think she's a pro fighter?"
Drayk scoffed. "No. She might have some training, but I doubt she's at the same level as that Curaxxan, or even us."
Ribbon advanced. She planted her weight on one front hoof and swung her weight around. She repeated that for her back hoof, swinging her front back around to face the target, and building up rotational speed. Two more steps of that, and she reared up. Using her rotation to balance like a top, she walked the last few steps to the target on her hind hooves.
Softy tugged at the cuff of Drayk's pants. "Hey, that style, it looks like yours."
She hit the target with a double-hoofed slap using the full force of her spin. The first hit scored her twice as much as Lilybelle's initial strike. She planted both hooves, but kept her front legs swirling about, twisting and contorting her upper body as struck at the target with a combination of strength and momentum.
"It is," Drayk breathed. "A pony using Wushu, now I've seen everything."
Ribbon started losing her balance. Instead of letting herself just fall, she threw herself into a back flip, using the opportunity to kick the target before landing on all fours.
In just under five seconds, she had already reached Annabelle's score. But she didn't stop there, not for a second. She launched herself forward and slammed her left shoulder into the target, rattling the contraption's frame.
She hooked her right hoof behind the target like she was putting it a headlock. Then, she freed her left hoof and gave it three powerful uppercuts, bringing her score up past ninth place.
She switched her right hoof for her left, and rained a lightning series of triplet jabs on the target. Three, six, nine, a dozen, fifteen, more. By the time she stopped with the jabs, she was just a few points under James' score.
She then spun around and gave the target two swift bucks. The first one shot her score past fifth, and the second put her past fourth, but still under third.
The first red light came on. There were five seconds left.
Ribbon reared up again. This time, she was in a completely different stance than before. A wide, stable pose, with her head slightly tucked, and her forehooves in a tight guard protecting her chin and front.
She leaned forward and wailed on the target with a flurry of assorted punches. Jabs, hooks, crosses, and straights, all blurred from sheer speed.
"F-four seconds!" Mister suit announced.
Her score rapidly ascended past third, and approached Growl's.
"Three!"
Second place came and went. First was on it's way.
"Two!"
The gap between second and first was substantial, and took time to traverse.
"One!"
There! Her score jumped past KaliKokuu's, putting Ribbon in the lead. But, there was still time, time for one more hit. She shifted her stance, lining herself up for one last punch. Throwing all her weight, strength, and flexibility behind it, Ribbon executed a perfect corkscrew straight. She twisted it into the target from the hooves, up to the hips, and through the torso. She added one last twist to her hoof as she drilled it into, and through, the target.
There was no buzzer. Something inside the machine broke, shorting out the lights, and showering Ribbon in sparks. Smoke followed the sharp bits of light, joined by pops of shattering plastic as the numerical display self destructed, digit by digit. Even the leaderboard went black.
Silence descended on the area. Even in thought, there was a temporary respite for the telepath as the crowd processed what it just saw.
"She won," somepony in the crowd said quietly. "The filly won."
Those words caught the announcer's attention. As more and more crowd members echoed that statement, he waved them down. "Now, now, folks, we seem to be experiencing some technical difficulty here. The scoreboard is down, and we have no way to confirm that her score was-"
"She won," a gruff voice stated. It wasn't loud, but it drew all eyes to its owner. KaliKokuu stood behind the announcer, arms crossed and glaring. Even the pink bow on the fighter's hat couldn't mask the menacing intent in his stare "She passed my score, before dealing the final blow." He pointed at the smoke-obscured fighting filly. "Try and deny that much raw power, and I might forget about that silly contract for a few moments."
Ribbon was still standing on her rear hooves. Of her front hooves, one was still tight to her chest in a guard. The other was embedded in the metal rail that once held the target. The target itself was in tatters, its red covering was torn, and its base and circuitry were broken into several pieces, dangling from wires around Ribbon's hoof.
Ribbon stared at her hoof and tugged back. "Um, I think I'm stuck." She twisted and wiggled against the bent framework. "No, I know I'm stuck. Can somepony-"
Her hoof popped free and she tumbled back with a short cry of alarm, flailing like a flipped turtle.
The announcer groaned. "There's no way out of this," he muttered. "All my equipment's dead, I can't record the award ceremony. There goes the advertising material, the prize, and the repair budget." He walked over to Ribbon and did his best to smile. "Folks! It seems like we have an unusual winner! Due to technical issues, this contest will be coming to an early end, but Protein-Pro representatives will be here all day to answer questions about our products. We may even get more samples later. So give a warm round of applause to the strongest being on this station!" He leaned over to Ribbon and whispered, "Hey, what's your name?"
She told him, and he straightened up. "All right, folks! Let's hear it for Ribbon Dancer, winner of the Delta portion of the first annual Protein-Pro station tour."
Silence descended upon the crowd a second time. Furtive whispers passed from pony to pony, person to pony, and every other combination.
"Ribbon, I recognize that name."
"They don't mean that pony from medical, do they?"
"That colorful filly? It can't be the same one, can it?"
"I've never seen her. Have you?"
"No. After what I've heard, I don't want to."
"Look what she did to that machine. Is she even a pony?"
"She's gotta be some sort of freak, or an alien."
The announcer stared at the crowd. What's going on? Why weren't they cheering? "Um, folks?"
"Don't bother." Ribbon picked herself up and gathered her things. She could feel the animosity, the fear building in the crowd. Her name alone was enough to stir up the hornet's nest. What had been aimless buzz earlier was now an angry swarm of wasps directed at her. "I'll be going now. Tell them I had to go back to medical, and they should be happier."
The confused stallion stopped her before she could leave. "Wait, don't you want your prize?" He held out a stack of three bitcards and waited for her to take it and add it to her wad of belongings. "I don't know what's going on, but I have to go try to salvage this. Well, congratulations, and be sure to tell all your friends about Protein-Pro."
Ribbon forced a smile and nodded. "Yeah, friends," her voice cracked, "I'll do that."
She ran off before he could say another word. She made her way through the crowd without having to push anypony out of the way. They all made sure they stayed clear of her. Behind her, she heard the enthusiastic proclamation of her exit.
A tangible wave of relief spread out as a result.