The Glitz Pit

by Dunsparce

The Thundering Thrasher

Rainbow Dash peered out the window of the blimp in anxiousness as she awaited her soon arrival to the famous Glitzville; a small, action-packed town that keeps its height in the air because of rockets on its underside. Glitzville was known for The Glitz Pit; an always-crowded fighting ring where ponies go to fight for money and fame. Rainbow had recently become a fan of bare-hoof fighting, and she decided to take a break as Ponyville’s weather controller to get a good start on her new hobby. Her friend Fluttershy begged her not to go in fear she would get hurt for about one hour, but Rainbow convinced her that she would be okay and set off on a special blimp for Glitzville. The city was surrounded by guards, just in case somepony that it was okay to just fly in when not on the blimp, which was the only legal way of transportation into the town. The ride there was about half a day long, so Rainbow left in the morning to get a clear image of it. As she was staring out of the window, a voice jumped her from behind.

“Excuse me, Miss Dash?” the voice asked. Flinching harshly, Rainbow jumped around to see a maid standing before her.

“Oh, jeez! You scared me! Sorry, is there something you need?” Rainbow asked as her heart began to settle down.

“Terribly sorry, but I was about to say that if you look out the window…” Before the maid could finish the sentence, Rainbow smacked her face against the window with a huge gleam on her face. “…You can see the famous Glitzville guards patrolling the skies with precision, pretty much indicating we are within two minutes of landing.”

Suddenly, a pair of armored pegasi appeared before the blimp’s window and began to fly alongside it. The armor they wore was a beautiful silver in which the sun reflected off of, making it look like jittery sparkles were all over them. Rainbow was so fascinated by the guards that she began to mildly laugh. This was going to be one hell of a trip, Rainbow was sure of it. A ding-dong came out of the blimp’s speaker.

“This is your blimp driver here, and I, and all of our wonderful staff, would like to welcome you to Glitzville, the most thrilling little town in Equestria. If you head directly north after landing, you’ll find the famous Glitz Pit; the fighting ring where the greatest of legends are made! Just enter the door to watch a gruesome and exhilarating fight for free! Other attractions of Glitzville include a fantastic bar, great shops, and some of the best hot dogs you’ve ever tasted in your life! The blimp is coming up to a stop currently, so please remain seated until told otherwise. Have a fantastic time in Glitzville!”

Suddenly, Rainbow began to see land right above the blimp, along with many lights. Her hooves started to shake just thinking about the radical time she would have. It’s like a dream come true!

A few moments later, the blimp completely stopped and the driver announced it was safe to unbuckle and step towards the lift at the end of the walkway. When all of the ponies on the blimp where stationary on the lift, one of the maids switched a lever and the lift suddenly and roughly began to head down to the ground. Rainbow was almost too anxious to see her vacation spot, and when she got full view of the city heading down, she couldn’t believe her eyes.

Glitzville was truly as they all described; an insane adventure right from the get-go. There were spotlights, colors, posters, fighters, and truly badass looking ponies all over the place. It was so dreamy that she nearly shed a tear.

“Wow…” she muttered to herself. She was so busy looking at every light and every poster that when the lift hit the ground, it knocked her off of her hooves.

“Alright, everypony,” one of the maids said, “have fun in Glitzville!”

Everypony rushed off of the lift and spread out so fast it was hard to keep track of any of them. Rainbow took it rather slower and decided not to waste any energy she needed for the exciting part, which was directly north from her: The Glitz Pit. It was bigger than she imagined and not too far ahead, either. Maybe twenty yards It looked rather stunning with a big, black head with rabid teeth and a death-giving smile nailed to the top of the place. The rest was painted red and yellow in a pretty fashion. It was time for Rainbow to begin her hobby as a fighter, and she wasted no time to look at any other attractions.

When she got inside, it was cooler than she imagined. It was gold and scarlet all over with posters of various high ranked fighters, and every kind of pony from sport-jock stallion to fancy-shmancy mare were there, and reporters were everywhere. Rainbow REALLY wanted to see a fight, so she glanced to the nearest pony: a mare with some of the fanciest wear Rainbow had ever seen. Her face was hidden behind her enormous hat, as if trying to hide from Rainbow, but she had to ask.

“Excuse me, ma’am?” Rainbow asked as she walked toward the mare, who excerpted a gasp Rainbow could barely hear and turned around. “Do… do you know where to see a fight? I’m new to this place.”

“Uh… yeah. Over there.” She said as she pointed to a big door to her left. Her voice sounded familiar… almost like…

“Rarity!?” Rainbow yelled as she flipped Rarity’s hat.

“Shhh! Quiet!” Rarity backlashed as she swiped her hat back. “Don’t yell my name! I don’t want ponies to know I’m here!”

“What ARE you doing here?” Rainbow said in a lower voice. “…No way. You’re a fan of fighting?”

Rarity laughed nervously. “Uhhh… heh heh… I’m actually a diehard fan.” She got up close to Rainbow’s face with anger. “Don’t. You. Tell. ANYPONY. Or I’ll have your head, you hear?”

“Uh huh.” Rainbow said nervously.

“Good. Glad we understand each-other. What are YOU doing here, Rainbow?”

“I want to enter in fights. It’s gonna be my new hobby.” Rainbow answered proudly. Rarity smacked her forehead.

“Do you even KNOW what the fights are like here?” she asked.

“Ummm… no.”

“Augh. Come with me.” Rarity said as they began to head through the door she pointed at a tad earlier. When they entered into the audience, Rarity gave Rainbow her fancy, golden binoculars.

“Here,” She said, “Look out there.”

When she looked out into the ring, she saw a pony that was barely able to stand up and had bruises all over him. The stallion’s eyes had fear installed in them like a computer disk. When Rainbow glanced to the right with the binoculars, she couldn’t believe who she saw charging toward the beat up stallion. Of all the beings in the world, it just had to be her ex-best friend, Gilda the gryphon. Gilda slammed the poor, defenseless pony so hard that he flew off the ring and onto the floor. Shocked as all hell, Rainbow flinched the binoculars down to her hooves.

“What the heck is Gilda doing here!?” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Oh, sweetie, she’s the champion of the Glitz Pit and has been for half a year!” Rarity informed loudly, above the excited crowd.

“WHAT!?”

“Now that’s what I call fighting!” The announcer said enthusiastically into the microphone. “Great Champion Gilda, how would you describe your victory just now?”

“Wait, what? There was a fight? I was just doing some practice, Mr. Iron Will! Nothing more.” Gilda said as she scooped the microphone out of Iron Will’s hand and pointed to the audience. “You think you can beat me? Any of you? You’re all sadly mistaken, then! I am the Champion of Glitzville, and I will be until the day my body lies under the dirt! Don’t even try, meatbags!”

Gilda held up her champion’s belt in the air with a gigantic grin on her face as she kicked the microphone back to Iron Will’s hand.

“Yeah!” Gilda yelled. “Suck on this, lame-o’s!”

“Well, there you have it, folks! It doesn’t seem like anypony can even put a scratch on Gilda! See you all top of the hour for the next fight!” Iron Will yelled into the microphone.

Rainbow grinded her teeth as she began to pound her way out to the lobby, with Rarity following close behind. When she slammed open the door and looked to her right, a poster of Gilda was stapled to the wall. Rainbow stormed over to it, grabbed the unstapled part, and ripped it in two. Nopony really noticed but Rarity because they were too occupied with talking about Gilda.

“Sweetie?” Rarity asked as she put her hoof around Rainbow. “Are you alright?”

“NO I’m not alright! Did you see who the champ was? That bitch doesn’t deserve it! Do you remember what she did back in Ponyville!?” Rainbow steamed as she flung Rarity’s arm off of her. “Take me to the registration office.”

Rarity was shocked. “Take you where now?”

“You heard me! To the registration office! I wanna rip that stupid gryphon apart! She doesn’t deserve her fame!”

“Umm… you do know how dangerous this sport is, correct? Every day—“

“I don’t give a SHIT of what happens everyday! I’m just ready to smash Gilda’s fame off the wall!” Rainbow said as she slammed the ground.

Rarity sighed. “Alright. If this is what you want, follow me. I know where the office is.”

Rarity lead Rainbow around the corner and to a door that was guarded by a bouncer of sorts. He was a huge stallion with epic sunglasses and a dirty suit, probably from beating so many stupid ponies up.

“Let me through. I have a friend that wants to fight. Now.” Rarity ordered.

“Oh, right away, Miss Serenity!” He said as he jumped out of the way. Once they hit the hallway, Rainbow turned to Rarity.

“What did he just call you?” She asked.

“Pay no mind to it. Just follow me.” Rarity responded adamantly.

They stopped at a fancy looking door, which was completely standing out from the rest of the beat up, sweaty hallway. Opening the door, Rainbow saw the announcer from the fight that she just saw: Iron Will. He was sitting at a desk filling out a paper.

“Ah! Miss Serenity! We knock around here, missy! And who’s the young one you have with you?” He asked with an intimidating voice.

“Sorry, Will, but my friend here wants to become a fighter, like, NOW.” Rarity said.

“Is that so?” Iron Will said as he stood up. “Well, hot damn! Why didn’t you say that before I said something’? What’s your name and goal, lass? Iron Will demands to know!”

“Rainbow Dash is the name, and crunching up that stupid gryphon is my game.” Rainbow said confidently.

“Oh, really? You really think you can just storm into Iron Will’s office and claim to lay the smack down on the champ? You got nerve.” Iron Will said.

“But I can! That goal SHALL be achieved, Mr. Will.”

“You know, Dashie, somepony once told me: you talk a big game, you play a small game. That phrase has held up greatly here in this pit of pain, but if you think you can, Iron Will ain’t stoppin’ you.”

“I’ll show you! You won’t believe what these hooves can pack!” Rainbow said, boxing the air with her hooves.

"Hmmm…” Iron Will noised as he rubbed his chin, “you may have more potential than I initially thought! If you can really pack that punch, I’ll get so many bits off of you! Wahaha! Tell you what. I’ll sign you up, and you can either go kick some flank, or you can go home. How ‘bout it?”

“It’s a deal!”

“Alrighty then, now that you’ve agreed to my conditions, let’s get a fighter name for you.”

“Fighter… name?” Rainbow asked.

“Yeah! Y’all don’t wanna go out there named ‘Rainbow Dash’. That’s boring! Now let me see…” Iron Will squinted and looked at Rainbow for about twenty seconds before speaking again. “Aha! I got it. You’ll be ‘The Thundering Thrasher’! How about that!?”

“Hmm. It isn’t too bad.” Rainbow admitted.

“Good! Now all you gotta do to complete registration is sign this paper saying that I’m not responsible for your massive injuries!” Iron Will said cheerfully, giving a thumbs up.

“Pfft.” Rainbow spit as she signed the paper. “What injuries? This’ll be a cakewalk.”

“I dunno about that, but now that you’re all signed up, I’ll get my assistant to take you to the locker room.” Iron Will said as he pressed a button with a microphone on it. “Miss Octavia! Come in here a second.”

Not but a few moments later, a mare entered the room with a fancy mane-style and a posh look on her face. “Yes, Mr. Will?” She asked.

“Be a peach and show our new fighter to her room, please.”

“Yes, Mr. Will. Follow me, miss, if you will.” She said as she lead the two ponies out of the office and down the hallway.

“Some things you should know about this ring before you begin fighting, Miss Dash. Everything that Mr. Will says goes. No questions asked. And if I find you breaking ANY rules, you will be discarded from the competition and banned from ever joining again.” Octavia stopped before entering a room. “If you have any questions, just come find me and ask. Oh, and miss Serenity, I’m afraid only minor-league fighters are allowed in here and I’m going to ask you to stand outside.”

“Not a problem. I’ll be around front, Rainbow.” Rarity said as she headed off. Rainbow followed Octavia into the Minor-League room, and boy oh boy was it dirty, messy, smelly, and beat up. Some of the lockers were even bent somehow!

“Augh! It REEKS in here!” Rainbow complained.

“Well, such is the life of a Minor-Leaguer. If you get to the Major-Leagues, you’ll be able to abandon this smelly hole for a better room. Now…” Octavia trailed off as she headed left toward a machine that was hanging from the wall. “This is the fight organizer. Just contact Mr. Will from this and he’ll set you up for a fight almost instantly. Go ahead and try it.”

Rainbow nodded and pressed the button on the top of the machine and soon, Iron Will’s face popped up on the monitor.

“All set for your first fight, Double T?” He asked.

“You bet I am.” Rainbow assured.

“All RIGHT, then! Your first match will be against the Dirty Diggers. These rowdy bunch of teenage diamond dogs are just plain annoying. Nothing special, just kick the hell out of them, got it?”

“Eye eye, captain!” Rainbow replied.

“Then get out there and kick some sorry flank!”

Comments

[MoldyShishkabob]

*post-fixed errors

“Yes, Mr. Grubba. Follow me, miss, if you will.” She said as she lead the two ponies out of the office and down the hallway.

Grubba?

The Thundering Thrasher?
Mo' like the Sundering Trasher!

[Skunkiss]

“Did you see who the champ was? That bitch doesn’t deserve it! Do you remember what she did back in Ponyville!?”
Woah, Nelly! You might wanne' hold your horses there, Dash. This seems a little drastic.
Is that the motivation for becoming the new champ?
My my... what would Fluttershy think of you right now....

[Jake8765]

I'm hooked on this now.

[Sky Blazer]

All set for her first fight... no visit to a doctor to get a thorough once-over beforehand (beforehoof?).

It wasn't like that in Thousand Year Door either, but at the very least it's what you'd do in real life.

[InarJollyhound]

"“Eye eye, captain!” Rainbow replied."

*Aye Aye*

Also, This story is rather interesting so far, does it have any ties into the main Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door storyline? With the Crystal stars and all that Jazz?