Prelude 3 // Bending Reality
Rainbow Dash and Applejack were thrown backwards by the force of the explosion in the arena below. The glass floor shattered and fell into oblivion, the two more-than-frightened mares clinging onto the aluminum mullion for their lives. Applejack managed to get her foreleg up onto the anchored area on the back of the booth and pulled herself up, instantly turning around and offering a hoof to her frantic friend. The cyan pegasus took it gratefully and used her own strength to help Applejack pull her up, rolling away from the void.
“Come on, sugarcube,” Applejack said, adjusting her Stetson and glaring at the scene below, “we have to get out of here.”
“But what about Twilight!” Rainbow sputtered and clambered to her hooves, slipping and sliding on pieces of broken glass until she regained her footing. “She could be hurt by him!” A second explosion detonated on the arena floor, sending a cloud of dust into the dark spectator booth and two mares falling over in opposite directions. The ground shook and the light fixtures fluttered in and out of consciousness, some falling off completely and smashing onto the floor, sparks flying.
Applejack grimaced and crawled towards the exit door, glass cutting her barrel. Rainbow tried to stand again only to fall over and smash her head into the wall, causing her to see stars.
“Come ON, sugar!” Applejack cried, halfway to the exit, not caring about the glass in her belly or the pain in her forelegs. “We have to go, NOW!”
To accentuate her point, a purple alicorn princess carreened through the floor and through the ceiling right in front of the two mares, leaving gaping holes in her wake. A second later she fell back through, only to be caught mid-air by a fast moving orange blur, catching her in its hooves and slamming her back through the opposite wall. Rainbow was thrown backwards in her dazed state and slid towards the section of floor that used to be glass, stopping unconscious at the edge. Blood dripped from a wound in her head and a long gash in her side began to swell.
The spectator booth tipped slightly, gravity taking hold. The metal creaked and shook, sending Applejack head-over-heels down the glass covered incline. Her hoof instinctively reached out and grasped at anything, coming to rest on an anchored desk on the side of the room. Rainbow slid ever more towards the abyss, the wound on her side bleeding profusely. Applejack’s heart fluttered in her chest as she quickly ran through her available options. She could let go and grab Rainbow and possibly get a hold on the silver mullion to stop their inevitable descent. She could let go, snatch Rainbow and fall together, and hopefully land in the lake, but that would leave them open to the out of control stallion beating the everliving shit out of their friend. Or she could run, tail between her legs, never looking back.
No. She was the most dependable of ponies. Her friends could always count on her in a pinch.
And with that final thought, the orange mare smiled softly and let go over her grip on the table, sliding quickly down the gradual slope. Her hoof reached out for her friend.
* [] * [] *
An explosion rocked Canterlot Castle.
The Princess of the Sun looked up from the papers in front of her and tried to pinpoint the source of the disturbance. Noting the fact that no royal guards had intruded on her studies of the clutter on her desk, she rose to her hooves and pushed the chair out from behind her, stepping around the desk and walking towards the grand gold and quartz doors at the end of the room. A golden glow enveloped them and she pulled them open with her arcane prowess, the soft creak of the hinges filling the room.
As soon as she stepped into the hallway a second explosion sounded in the distance, followed by the quaking of the floors. The princess put a hoof on the doorframe for balance and looked up, down the hallway. A messenger came galloping down the hall towards Celestia’s doors, quickening his pace when his eyes met hers.
“Your majesty!” he called, the loud clicks of his hooves on the ground matching the melodies of his voice perfectly.
“Can somepony please tell me what is going on?” Celestia asked, looking over the messenger’s shoulder and over towards the area where a large plume of smoke had appeared. Danger close for an artillery strike, and word would have gotten to her much faster in the form of an instant teleportation into a bomb shelter. No, this was homeland.
“The training facility. An unscheduled fight is going on.”
“Details?”
“Nothing as of yet, but we’ve got squads Delta and Omnicron heading there now.”
Celestia gave a grunt of impatience and brushed the messenger aside with her hoof, trotting past him down the corridor. She kept an eye on the smoke in the distance, noticing a small orange blur fly around the periphery, only to be lost again in the dense, dusty fog. She quickened her pace and her horn fired, teleporting her away from her quarters.
* [] * [] *
[Canterlot Newsroom Records]
[Date: Wednesday, April 29th, the Year of Reprise 5]
[Timestamp: 1:13-1:56 PM /Developing Story/]
[NEWSTITLE: Explosions Reported at Canterlot Royal Training Facility]
TRANSCRIPTION PROVIDED BY CANTERLOT TELEVISION ENTERTAINMENT
[DATA UNAVAILABLE DATA UNAVAI]--__-..s you can see, the smoke billowing from Arena 2 of the Canterlot Royal Training Facility, where an unscheduled competition between two unidentifiable ponies is taking place. No eyewitnesses are on the scene to report, however our flight crew was able to take this footage of the smoke, where you can clearly see, highlighted in that red circle, a fast-moving orange blur, probably a pegasi, as they are flying. No other sighting of another party as surfaced, however the probability of two ponies fighting and causing this is high, however an explosion this severe would have to be ca-
/
I’m going to cut you off there, Billboard, because we just got another report stating at a second explosion has occurred at the same location, meaning that this is probably not a freak occurrence and the outcome of a pretty interesting fight.
/
A second explosion?
/
That is correct. Many on the scene have also backed up the claims.
/
I hope nopony is hurt.
/
You and me both, Billboard. Now, we are going live on the scene where our field reporter is speaking with the fight coordinator at the Royal Training Facili--...__--[VAILABLE DATA UNAVAILABLE]
[TRANSCRIPTION DATA ERROR FATAL ERROR 1003]
[CLOSING]
* [] * [] *
“Delta Squad Leader, report?”
A crackling voice broke the sound of the rushing wind in Soarin’s ears, giving him time to look down at his waist from his target. The microphone was instantly hoisted from its hold on his flight uniform and was brought to his ear. He pressed the talk button on the side.
“Roger that, flight control, this is Delta Squad Leader, channel clearance Yankee Alpha Charlee Three Two, reporting in.”
“Copy that, S.L. You have eyes on the target location?”
“Got eyes but no hooves yet.”
“Pick up the pace, Delta. There could be some seriously injured ponies that need your team’s assistance.”
“Copy that, flight control. Soarin’ out.”
The resounding crackle of the microphone gave him confirmation that closing was a success. He tapped a couple buttons on the device to link it to Omnicron Squad’s channel in hopes that he could communicate his new tactic.
“Omnicron Squad, do you copy?”
No response.
“Omnicorn Squad, this is Squad Leader Soarin’, do you copy?”
When only the resounding sound of static greeted his ears, Soarin’ replaced the mic in the holster and adjusted his flight goggles lower on his muzzle. Licking his lips, he increased the beating of his wings and dropped down below the cloud barrier, meeting up with the rest of his flight squad on the way. He fell back into formation at the head of the “Flying V” and connected with his fellow squad members.
“Rush!”
“Yeah!?”
“I need you to break formation! Coms are down and I need to get a message out! Get to Omnicorn Squad and tell them to come in at a Southbound approach! We’ll handle Northbound and we’ll all meet up on the other side, got it!?”
“But captain-”
“That’s an order, Rush!” Soarin’ called back, not bothering to look behind him. Rush sighed and rose out of the formation, floating above the cloud barrier. His wing beat changed direction and he shot off, away from the smoking training facility and towards the other flying squad.
* [] * [] *
And so two mares were left dangling off a precarious ledge with only one hoof for an anchor. Applejack gripped the aluminum mullion, a determined look on her face. Her eyes were narrowed and a bead of sweat dripped down her muzzle, breaking adhesion and falling to the ground a hundred feet below. Her other foreleg held onto a comatose Rainbow Dash, the blow to her head taking out more than her balance. The gash on her side had stained her usually azure coat a shade of sickly red, and showed no signs of stopping.
The spectator booth groaned again, the supports straining under the added pressure of not having an extra two limbs to hold it up. It tilted forwards even more, sending small bits of broken glass over the heads of the two ponies and down onto the arena below. Applejack closed her eyes to shield them from the glass and tightened her grip on the cyan pegasus.
“Come on, sugar. Wake up.” She swung Rainbow slightly in a desperate attempt at rejuvenation, but none came. Her muscles released their tension and her head dropped forward. The sound of a massive impact behind her made her ears prick up in anticipation of hits that would never come. A shower of water droplets notified the mare that the two battling in the arena below had slammed into the lake.
She shook Rainbow again, harder. No result.
A tear fell dripped down her cheek.
A piece of falling glass clipped her foreleg, opening a new cut upon many. She didn’t even flinch.
The booth shuddered again under the load and dipped forwards another foot and a half. The two hanging occupants of the unintentional open-air space swung in the air.
A stray garbage can bounced down the incline, flying out of the gaping maw of the booth and smashing to bits on the wreckage below. Applejack’s grip loosened.
Another explosion rocked the arena, shaking the two mares to the bone. Applejack’s hoof slipped forward a nanometer. Her lips quivered and another tear ran down her cheek. She gripped Rainbow harder and stared into her closed eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she croaked.
And the sickening crunch of multiple tons of metal and glass losing grip on its hold filled their ears as they plummeted towards the arena floor below, an impossibly heavy chunk of material hot on their heels.
* [] * [] *
“Flight control, this is Delta, do you copy?” Soarin’ asked through the microphone at his waist. The plume of smoke and debris over the Royal Training Facility had begun to dissipate until a third explosion rocked the earth below and the resounding confirmation reverberated inside the Wonderbolt Commander’s skull.
“Read you loud and clear, Delta,” the crackling voice from the other side spoke. “Making headway?”
“Eyup. Nearly there. Hopefully Omnicron will already be assisting.”
“Negative, Delta. No contact from Omni. You get any?” Soarin’ remained silent, teeth clenched. Thoughts ran through his mind, firstly if Rush, the pegasus he sent on the recon mission, was alright. Secondly was worrying about Omni, and third was worrying about Spitfire.
“Uh… negative, control. Radio silence area?”
“Not likely. We’ll keep you posted. Control out.” And the crackling resumed again.
Soarin’ replaced the microphone into its holster and pushed the button on the side to cut out the white noise. For some reason, his goggles would never fit right on his face, and he pushed them up again so they were snug against the base of his muzzle.
“Alright, squad!” he shouted against the roaring of the wind. “Form up!” Immediately eight pegasi reformed the V shape flying behind their capitan.
“We’re two klicks out from A.O. We’ll go for a quick flyover first and check it out, and then either hightail it out of there until Omni gets their act together, or intervene. Got it!?”
Eight voices behind him shouted “Sir yes sir!”
“And let’s hope that Spitfire and her pompous MW can catch up!”
“Hoorah!”
But as Soarin’ began the flyover, something caught his eye. A small orange and blue blip against a static field of gray, holding onto some sort of mangled chunk of metal, swinging over a veritable minefield of shrapnel.
Ponies.
“Rhino! We have civs in the area!” Soarin’ adjusted his goggles again, cursing under his breath. He couldn’t leave those ponies there. That was a Wonderbolt stipulation, you do everything you have to do for the good of the people.
“Shit!” the experienced flyer behind him yelled back. “What’s the plan?!”
“Whiskey Charlie?! Get on my six, we’re flathatting it!”
“Well this’ll be interesting!”
* [] * [] *
Applejack let go of Rainbow. It was an accident. She wanted to hold her. It was almost as if she was taken right out of her hoof, swept away by the wind.
Falling took forever. Time slowed down to a near stop. Her subconscious took over, making her body flail in the air.
No, she wanted to be limp. She wanted to go quietly. She wanted to be peaceful.
All these thoughts were interrupted by a sudden blossoming pain in her right side, causing her to change trajectory in a split second, deciding instead to be thrown sideways, the constant pressure in her side pushing her faster. Her eyes decided to open to see the concrete wall of the arena coming towards her.
However, the pressure in her side changed to a lower area, hoisting her up and flinging her out of a broken window. The pressure remained constant and Applejack decided to look down at her side. The gray hooves of a pegasus in a trademark Wonderbolts uniform were pressed into her side, which stopped her from being crushed under the falling spectator booth.
“Don’t worry,” the pegasus said in a deep voice, accompanied by a quick chuckle. “I gotcha.” Applejack’s eyes widened and a happy grin broke out across her face.
“Oh, thank Celestia you got here in time!” she exclaimed, wrapping her front hooves around her rescuer and squeezing tightly. The stallion wheezed and his wings faltered slightly, causing a small jolt in elevation. Applejack noticed and loosened her grip, blushing slightly. “S-sorry…”
“It’s alright, I don’t blame ya,” came the quick reply. The orange mare turned her head to notice another flying team flying close to them, with a comatose Rainbow Dash being carried by a pegasus stallion she remembered from somewhere. She didn’t have time to reminisce on her memories for long, as an explosion in the distance reminded her where they were.
“You gotta help mah friends!” Applejack pleaded, turning her gaze back to the pegasus who held her in his arms.
“Your friends?”
“You didn’t see the fight?”
“Was kinda busy trying to save you and your friend’s flank.”
“But Twilight and-” Applejack was interrupted as the Wonderbolt turned back to her, wide eyed.
“Twilight? PRINCESS Twilight?”
“Well, yeah, who else?” The stallion lowered a hoof to his belt, causing Applejack to shift slightly, letting out a small squeak. He plucked a small radio from his waist and brought it to his ear.
“Commander Soarin’?”
“Read you loud and clear, Rhino. What’s the sitch?”
“Commander, with all due respect, you’re not Ki-”
“I know. What do you need?”
“We’ve got royalty down there.”
“Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, I’m not getting paid enough for this…”
* [] * [] *
Twilight was, needless to say, in a lot of pain.
The blazing fast orange hooves connecting with her body and pushing her into the ground for what felt like the hundredth time came back again as she was picking herself back up, smashing into the ground beside her with an incredible force. Dirt and dust flew into the air, and another mushroom cloud joined the remnants of its brothers in the sky. The princess was thrown to the side and rolled slightly along the ground, coming back to her hooves. The black, crawling substance on her face had spread to her neck and upper back, festering and controlling. Dust settled back on the ground to reveal a motionless Adrian, breathing heavily. His eyes were open wide and were fully white, and his orange mane, normally unruly, was elongated and bristling with magical power, throwing it into an ethereal breeze, just as Celestia, Luna, or even Twilight’s mane was kept.
Adrian raised his hoof and an orange blade made of pure magic sprouted from the tip. He moved his hoof until it was flush with his side, the blade tip facing behind him. The princess of magic mirrored his moves, producing a smaller violet blade and moving it to her side. No words were spoken between the two, merely mutual interpretation of the heated energy in the arena.
Two explosions were heard as both Twilight’s and Adrian’s body rocketed forwards towards each other, leaving two rings of dust in their wake. Their hooves extended and pointed towards the other, and they swung.
The two alternating energy wavelengths bounced off each other, repelled by the negative attraction. Their bodies spun out of control and Twilight crashed into the ground again while Adrian took to the air, circling around and coming at the princess again. She raised her hoof and swung again, knocking Adrian back up into the air just as he had done before. She smirked and launched herself into the air after him, her senses more acute, her movements more accurate.
Adrian attempted to right himself before a lavender leg slammed into his side, knocking him back into the ground. The force from the impact sent him spiraling into what was left of the lake, skidding through the murky water and coming to a stop on the other side. Shaking his head, he stood back up to face his attacker, only to be knocked back into the arena wall, cracking it further and causing a small ledge to be created inside the thick masonry.
Twilight hovered across from the transformed unicorn, gazing at the magic swimming around his body. Her eyes were emotionless, blackened by the figures crawling on her skin. Adrian slowly pushed himself up into a standing position on the ledge, his hoof moving towards his right side. The same ball of energy as before started materializing on the tip of his hoof, being formed by a cascading flow of the aura that surrounded him. Twilight once again mimicked his action, forming a singularity in her hoof, formed by the black substance on her body. And then they waited.
* [] * [] *
Rhino hovered above the arena. Soarin’ had gone, flying back to Canterlot Castle with the two mares in tow. He had said something about getting them to the medical wing, but it had just been a rush of air through the gray pegasus’s ears.
He watched intently, not sure to intervene. With the amount of damage caused to the arena’s integrity already, and witnessing the action firsthand, his safety and the safety of both of the ponies down their would be in jeopardy.
He didn’t have much time to think on this topic, however, as the two ponies below suddenly charged at each other, a purple ring coming from around the princess’s hooves and an orange ring exploding outwards from the wall where the other pony had been. They gained speed, Twilight flapping her wings and outstretching her hoof in front of her, the other pony doing the same.
And they collided in the middle with a frighteningly large boom, a mixture of orange and purple energy enveloping their bodies, transferring the air around them into an aura of pure, white magic, floating suspended in the air. Rhino was blown backwards by the blast and could feel the energy emanating from the combined forces of the two below, but managed to right himself. Squinting, he peered back into the sphere, able to slightly make out the silhouettes of the two ponies, their hooves touching.
And the aura exploded outwards, the only thing Rhino saw before his vision went black.
* [] * [] *
I’m numb.
What happened?
I’m… falling.
Can’t… can’t think… straight…
Is that… Twilight?
What’s below her?
Spikes? Metal? That looks, painful.
Still falling.
Why isn’t anyone helping us?
And why is everything in shambles?
…
She’s going to die if she falls.
Urrghhh…. auwhwhhh….
Come on, horn… work, dammit.
A flash of light illuminated the arena walls. I wrapped my hooves around the princess’s body, feeling some of the bones shift with a gruesome crunch. I hugged her close.
I have to do this.
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I think i got a idea for the arina thing
3489048
Do tell :D
3489112 Well I got three but still not to sure. Lol.
3489347
Whatever works.
3489466The only one at the moment is the Hunger games but I know thats wrong.
3489530
... uh... if you're SURE it's wrong...
3490827 Sarcasum or not its confusing considering all of the cartoon fighting shows I have seen in my life looks like that, but thats the only one that kind of comes close.
3490959
Well, you are correct, my good sir. :D
3491030 I'm proud of my self.
3491047
Haha, congratulations. So you have an OC?
3491050 Sure do. Want me to send ya some info over PM?
3491077
That would probably be best. :)
mmmm
3492128
You commented on this like 8 times...
3492625 it was once each chapter and on one hoof is my auto rating system i use for that chapter after i read it fully.
3493953
mmmm, I like. XD I was just looking at the overall comments and I was just wat
3494018 mmmm cool
I KNOW ITS BASED IN THE FIGHT CLUB
Ugh, I hate you. But I must read.
I WILL END TWILIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3597984
OH MY GOD LET'S TAKE A STEP BACK AND CALM DOWN
What they did was cruel. I don't care if it looks like a monster. IT HAS RIGHTS! Sorry you just got to me. My adrenaline was through the roof when you had that fight with Twilight and I got upset becuase I know what he's going through.
Finish her