Fighting is Magic: The Equestrian Grand Tournament

by Lance Skyes

2: The Tournament Begins - A Dark Game-Changer

At about 7 in the evening, almost everypony in Canterlot had gathered in Canterlot Stadium to watch the opening ceremonies to the Equestria Battle Tournament. All of the combatants in the Tournament were there as well, but they got special seats in the front row right next to the arena. The crowd, meanwhile, was going wild even though nothing was going on yet. In every universe, there's one class of sports fanatics, and half of that class in Equestria was here tonight.

“Huh,” Twilight said as she looked around. “This is quite a turnout. I think the whole stadium's full tonight.”

“Wow,” Rarity chimed in. “I don't think it was even full during the last Wonderbolts Derby a few months ago.”

“You went to the Wonderbolts Derby without me?” Rainbow Dash asked Rarity with a glare.

“I, um...” Rarity dug for a reply, but she couldn't come up with any.

“Well I hope Princess Celestia starts the opening ceremonies soon,” Pinkie Pie said. “This crowd's getting restless. They could easily tear this stadium down if they have to wait much longer.”

Just then, Applejack looked up and an expression of horror came across her face. “Uh, guys,” she said, “Ah don't think Princess Celestia's comin' any time soon.”

“What makes you say that?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“That dark and scary cloud in the sky that seems to be descending upon Canterlot Stadium,” Applejack replied.

Right as the Mane 6 saw the cloud, many of the spectators also saw it and a chorus of panicked and fearful screams started erupting from the crowd. Most of the ponies, plus a few of the combatants, began trying to vacate the stadium as fast as possible. However, they were stopped by what appeared at first to be flashes of green light. It wasn't long, however, before Twilight recognized these flashes.

“Changelings!” Twilight shouted. “There’s Changelings in the stadium!”

“And that's not all!” Fluttershy shouted as she pointed up at the dark cloud from before, which had actually decreased in size and moved towards the center of the arena. The cloud quickly shrunk until it was just a small patch of fog, which quickly dissipated to reveal a mysterious but imposing figure.

“That... that can't be!” Twilight shouted as she recognized the figure standing in the center of the arena, which was none other than King Sombra, the tyrannical lord of shadow and former ruler of the Crystal Empire.

“Ah, it's good to be back,” Sombra said as he looked out upon the stadium full of panicked ponies. “Humph, some welcome I'm receiving here.” He then started charging his horn with dark magic. “I command you all to be still!” he shouted as he cast a spell upon the entire stadium, causing the sky to turn dark and sending a huge gust of ominous wind to blow throughout the stadium, striking all of the ponies and somehow silencing them, followed by them all paying attention to the center of the stadium.

“Much better,” Sombra said with a smile, his voice amplified to cover the whole stadium thanks to his spell. “Look at all of these ponies in this stadium. All clamoring to this one city to witness those of their own kind engage in sequential all-out brawls to determine who among them is the greatest fighter.” Suddenly, he used his magic to pull Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Derpy Hooves out from the crowd and levitated them around him as though displaying them to the crowd. “And these three... these are your best as determined by this tournament? One of them a coward, one mentally (the crowd erupted in a shocked and disgusted gasp at his next word), and this one, who's won twice, a show off.” Sombra then threw them back into the crowd with all his might before any of the ponies could protest what he said, creating a small crater in the stands where the three pegasi crashed. Several ponies, including the rest of the Mane 6, rushed to help them, but Sombra continued talking. “There's a reason I have returned, there's a reason I've gained the assistance of Queen Chrysalis, the Changeling Swarm, and a variety of other creatures in order to crash and take control of this... Equestria Battle Tournament, as you call it. That reason is not to conquer Equestria as I should have been allowed to years ago, though that might happen anyway. Fair warning. No, the reason I'm here... is to show you Equestrians what it means to battle, to fight with honor, for honor!” He paused for a moment to watch the confused faces of the ponies in the stadium. “I see not one of you ponies are understanding what I am saying. So, I suppose I shall give you an example of what a real battle is supposed to be.”

Just then, a large door opened on the other end of the stadium where a combatant would normally come out into the arena. Out of the door rolled Princess Celestia unconscious and bound to a rack, brought forward by two Changelings. The whole stadium gasped in horror as they saw their Princess of the Sun being carted around by such villainous creatures and brought forward in front of King Sombra.

“This is impossible...” Twilight said to herself as she helped Rainbow Dash up. “How can this be happening?”

“I should have done something sooner,” a mysterious voice said from Twilight's left. She turned around to see Keldeo also looking on at the scene in the arena with an intense expression on his face. Twilight hadn't been acquainted with Keldeo before then, though, so of course she had no idea what he was talking about.

Back in the arena, King Sombra cast a spell on the unconscious princess before him, causing her to regain consciousness and fall to the ground. As she got back up, King Sombra stood over her with a sinister smile on his face. “Get up, Princess. I need you for this demonstration.”

“Do what you wish to me, Sombra,” Celestia said, refusing to get up. “But you will leave these ponies alone!”

“You want me to leave them be?” Sombra shouted. He then used his magic to bring Celestia up in the air and held her in front of him. “I am here to teach them what honor is. I honestly have no use for you. I could just as easily throw you into the depths of Tartarus right here in front of them all. But I'm not. I'm using you as an example.” Sombra then threw Celestia to the ground and turned away from her. “You're so concerned about the well being of your subjects... Perhaps you should have waited for me to inform you of what I expect of you before you make any sort of demands.” As Princess Celestia slowly got up behind Sombra, the tyrant continued speaking. “A single one-round battle between you and me. That is what I ask of you as my demonstration. I understand that at the beginning of your Equestria Battle Tournament, you need an inaugural battle to kick everything off, so this will satisfy both of our goals at this moment.”

“If it is a battle you want, it's a battle you shall receive,” Celestia said.

“Good,” Sombra said with a smile as he turned back to face Celestia. “And since I made such a grand entrance, why don't I make a rather grand proposal? If you are victorious in this battle, then I as well as everypony I have brought with me will leave and you may resume your Equestria Battle Tournament as planned. But if I am to succeed...” Sombra paused a moment to chuckle a little. “If I defeat you, then you forfeit the Tournament over to me and my Alliance of Shadow. And with us in control of the Tournament, if any of the Alliance becomes the champion of the Tournament, then all of Equestria becomes ours!”

“When did Fighting is Magic become Mortal Kombat?” Pinkie Pie asked nopony in particular. “Next thing you know, we're going to have fatalities and fire-based demon monsters for combatants and one of the semi-bosses being a shape shifter... Sweet Celestia, Sombra's asking for a lawsuit!”

“Well, Princess?” Sombra asked. “Do you accept this challenge?”

After a long pause, Princess Celestia finally said “I agree to these terms. But when I defeat you, I expect you and your Alliance of Shadow to leave Equestria and never return!”

With a smile and a lick of his teeth, Sombra said “So be it.”

Twilight, seeing her opportunity, flew up to the stand above the arena where Celestia usually stand as the referee of any battles that went on. “I hope I can do this right,” Twilight said to herself. With a deep breath, she used her magic to amplify her voice and began the introduction of the battle as Celestia normally did in the last four Tournaments. “The battle between combatants Princess Celestia and King Sombra is about to begin. The following will be a one-round battle with a timer of 60 seconds. The combatants will have the range of the arena to move, as well as an airspace of 15 feet.”

“Just start the battle already!” King Sombra shouted.

“It's not like I've had time to practice this,” Twilight shouted back in reply. “Now then, are both combatants ready?”

“I'm ready to protect my subjects,” Princess Celestia said.

“And I'm ready to rule them,” Sombra said.

“Then let this battle begin!” Twilight shouted as she fired a flare into the air with her magic.

Princess Celestia was the first to attempt an attack, more than willing to finish this battle as quickly as possible. She charged forward, using her wings to increase her speed, while charging her horn with energy. As she moved to punch Sombra in order to fake him out so he'd sidestep or teleport away so she could easily strike him with a blast of magic, however, Sombra did something that Celestia couldn't have possibly expected. Sombra stood still and took the punch head-on.

“Please don't tell me that's all you've got,” Sombra said with a smile. He then raised his hoof and pushed Celestia away with a magic-infused punch, followed by a blast of dark magic that hit Celestia square in the chest. Then, seizing his opportunity, he cast another spell, this one aimed at Celestia's still charged horn, which caused Celestia's original attack to backfire and explode right on top of her.

“Princess Celestia's getting her flank handed to her!” Pinkie Pie shouted to her friends with her in the stands. “Somepony has to do something!”

“Nothing can be done,” Keldeo said from behind Pinkie Pie. “This is a one-one-one battle. If anyone interferes in any way, Princess Celestia will be forced to forfeit the battle.”

“Excuse me, whoever you are,” Pinkie said to Keldeo, “but saying weird things pertaining to rules or facts that nopony else knows, or weird things in general for that matter, is my job.”

“I was just trying to keep you and your friends from doing something reckless,” Keldeo said in reply, backing up a little from Pinkie.

Meanwhile in the arena, Princess Celestia had just recovered from King Sombra's spell combo and was getting up and shaking herself off. “Are you finished already?” Sombra asked with an evil smile.

“Hardly,” Celestia replied as she got up. She then charged forward again, but this time, she teleported behind Sombra and struck him with a powerful kick. This managed to knock Sombra off balance a little, but it didn't seem to deal any significant damage. “This... this is impossible,” Celestia said to herself.

Sombra simply looked over and glanced at Celestia, his smile gone. “That hurt,” he said in an unamused tone. He then turned to shadow and moved behind Celestia before reforming and striking Celestia in the back, causing her to fall to the ground. “Get up, Celestia,” Sombra said angrily. “I will not stand for a KO this soon into the battle.”

After a few seconds, Celestia got back up and turned back to Sombra. “I will not admit defeat to the likes of you,” Celestia said with a determined expression. “Never.”

“That's the Celestia I remember from all those centuries ago,” Sombra said with a smile. He then charged forward and tried to strike Celestia with a powerful punch right to her midsection. However, Celestia managed to dodge this attack, leaving Sombra open to an arc kick from Celestia, followed by a windmill kick, two quick punches, and finally, a powerful blast of magic that knocked Sombra into the magic barrier that surrounded the arena.

“As I've said,” Celestia said as Sombra recovered from her combo, “I'll never allow myself to be defeated by the likes of you.”

“We'll see about that,” Sombra said as he got back up on all fours. “Perhaps it's time I showed you what power I've obtained since I was last destroyed.” He then began charging his horn with an incalculable amount of dark magic.

“You fool!” Celestia shouted. “What do you think you're doing? With the power you're storing, if you release it now, you're going to blow Canterlot off this mountain!”

“What makes you so sure that wasn't my intention from the get-go?” Sombra said with a wicked smile. He then raised his horn into the air before bringing it back down and firing a huge blast of dark magic right at Princess Celestia.

“I won't let you destroy Canterlot!” Celestia shouted as she fired her own beam of light magic at Sombra's attack. The two attacks connected and there were many explosions around the meeting point, but it didn't last long before it became evident that Sombra was the one gaining ground.

“PRINCESS CELESTIA!” Twilight shouted just before Celestia became engulfed in Sombra's attack, resulting in a large explosion right where Celestia was standing.

The smoke from the explosion lingered in the arena for a few moments, a few agonizing moments in which almost all of the spectators and combatants in the stands could only helplessly watch in painful anticipation as they tried to figure out the result of the battle. (Closer to whether or not Celestia survived Sombra's attack, actually. To most of them, the battle had already been decided.) The smoke was so thick, even Twilight couldn't see anything so that she could call the battle for the rest of the spectators. After a while, though, the smoke began to clear. Much to everypony's relief, they saw Princess Celestia still standing right where she was before Sombra's attack. The crowd was about to rejoice, but it was at that moment that what remained of Princess Celestia's strength left her and she collapsed to the ground, defeated.

“Well, Twilight?” Sombra said to the younger alicorn after a minute of stunned silence from the entirety of the stadium. “You wanted to be referee. That means you have to call the battle.”

“Oh... right,” Twilight said before clearing her throat. “T-the winner of the inaugural battle of the Equestria Battle Tournament is... King Sombra.”

Upon this announcement, the whole stadium erupted in boos and hisses aimed towards Sombra, but he easily disregarded all of these as he walked over to the downed Princess Celestia. However, he was stopped when Twilight flew down to put distance between him and Celestia.

“Not another step, Sombra,” Twilight said as the rest of her friends made their way into the arena to join her. “You've had your battle.”

“Out of my way, ponies,” Sombra said. “I do not intend to harm Celestia further. I still need her to transfer control of the Tournament to me.” Sombra then used his magic to throw the Mane 6 to the side before proceeding to stand over the battered and beaten Celestia. “Now, Celestia, I expect you to hold fair to your end of the deal.”

Celestia struggled to look up at Sombra, but any resistance she had before had been utterly demolished. “Very well,” she said coldly. “You've defeated me in battle... so now control of the Equestria Battle Tournament is in the hooves of you and the Alliance of Shadow.”

The stadium once again erupted into angry boos and hisses, but Sombra laughed evilly nonetheless. “I appreciate you seeing things my way, Princess,” Sombra said with a smile. He then turned to the Mane 6, who only looked on in horror as Celestia surrendered so easily. “You six, take your Princess out of here. Take her back to her castle or wherever you want, but as per the Equestria Battle Tournament rules, she's now disqualified from the Tournament.” He then turned to address the crowd once again. “And as for the rest of you. If any combatants wish to remain in this Tournament, know that you're going hoof-to-hoof with the most powerful beings in Equestria and beyond, all hoof-picked by me. You may leave if you want, but remember that the winner of this tournament shall decide the fate of Equestria. Any spectators who don't want to see their heroes be humiliated in combat may also leave, but to all of you, know that in half an hour, I am sealing Canterlot off from the outside world to ensure no outside help can be received.” After a short pause, Sombra then said, “But if you still wish to stay, I promise to give you the most exciting Equestria Battle Tournament any of you have ever seen!” The crowd remained silent, opting now to simply give Sombra silent glares, but Sombra disregarded this just as easily. He then turned back to the Mane 6 and Celestia. “You all are still here. I thought I told you to leave.”

“We're going to stay in this tournament, Sombra,” Twilight said. “All six of us. And we're going to defeat your Alliance of Shadow and whoever else we have to to save Equestria.”

“You have fun with that, little fillies,” Sombra said. “Now leave.”

Within the half hour Sombra specified, Canterlot was cleared of about half its original population. In order to clear the city efficiently, Sombra (forcibly) arranged for several trains to run within that half hour to get ponies out of the city and to other towns and cities, but no trains ever came back in. And after half an hour, the remaining population of Canterlot found themselves trapped in the city by a huge orb of dark energy.

Meanwhile, the Mane 6 had brought the still injured Princess Celestia back to Canterlot Castle and rested her on her bed.

“I can't believe Sombra didn't even bother to heal you after the beating he gave you,” Rainbow Dash said to Celestia.

“Oh, I've taken worse beatings in the past,” Celestia said. “But you cannot worry about me right now. King Sombra obviously has far more power than he's ever had before, plus this Alliance of Shadow to back him up further.”

“Don't worry, Princess,” Twilight said. “We'll stop Sombra by winning this Tournament no matter what it takes.”

“Sombra won't stand a chance with somepony like me against him,” Rainbow Dash said. “With two championships under my belt, Sombra will think twice before going up against me.”

“Angel and I will fight with everything we've got,” Fluttershy said.

“For Equestria, I'll do anything,” Rarity said.

“Bring it on!” Applejack shouted.

“Those Alliance of Shadow guy's won't know what hit 'em!” Pinkie shouted before throwing her hooves into the air and spawning a cloud of confetti and streamers.

“Thank you, all of you,” Celestia said. “Equestria couldn't be in better hooves. Now go. With Canterlot cut off from the rest of Equestria, you may all stay in Canterlot Castle, and if you find any other fighters for our side, allow them to stay here as well.”

“Will do, Princess,” Twilight said. The six then cantered out of the room to find their own rooms in the castle, somehow not noticing the eavesdropping Pokemon hidden behind the door.

Author's Note:

Sunbutt getting her flank handed to her in the first battle of the tournament? All we need now is for Flash Sentry to suffer the same fate in the next round and I'll have pleased about half the fandom already. ^_^

Sadly, though, that comedic plot device has been cut in favor of a different fan-favorite being a combatant. Sorry.

Anyway, one more chapter after this, then I'll post a pretty spoilerish list of the combatants used in this fic as well as their matchups (if you're interested in that sort of thing), followed by me getting back to work on My Little Pony Rangers.

Also, do you think I made Sombra a little OOC? I kinda feel like he's OOC in this chapter.

Comments

[Lance Skyes]

4590598 Thanks for the feedback. I'll try to improve in the later chapters.

[Bronydragon]

4590607
Definitely improved in depth but still has a bit to go.
Sorry about me being a bit nit picky by the way. I was reading high standards as of late.
But I'm already awaiting the next chapter.
Until then hope your feather glides lightly over the pages.

Dragon

[Lance Skyes]

4590953 Yeah, I understand that feeling and forgive you.

Don't worry, the next chapter is probably coming in a couple of days. Probably.

[Bronydragon]

4590963
Thank you for your forgiveness my friend. Diaries of a Madman made me a spoiled reader.
And you're such a damn tease, you know that right?

Dragon

[Lance Skyes]

4590976 Gotta keep my readers interested somehow.

[Darth Gonzo]

4591010 Flash Sentry should do the Johnny Cage splits move! Oh and did Pinkie forget the shape shifting Changelings that were everywhere! And Celestia got her sunbutt kicked man that's gotta hurt!

[Green Akers]

The story flows well, the scenes are well-detailed, and the battles are intense and exciting. I like where this is going!

I'm curious to see how far you push the crossover tag. Keldeo's already there, but I had a Super Smash Bros. Brawl flashback when Sombra's cloud appeared. Who else could emerge from the shadows?

Also, do you think I made Sombra a little OOC?

I don't think it's possible to make Sombra act OOC - we haven't seen enough of him to really know how he acts. All we know is that he's an evil tyrant, and your Sombra fits that description.

[Lance Skyes]

4596090 Well, as you'll see in the next chapter, (which I'm posting in a few minutes) Keldeo isn't going to be the only one holding up the crossover tag. You can read it for yourself once I post the chapter. (And the spoilerific roster I'll post afterwards. )
4592890 I guess she did.

[Darth Gonzo]

4599067 Have you seen my new blogs yet?

[Darth Gonzo]

4599067 I've also updated super sentai cast.

[Arch22]

YOU ASS CELESTIA COULD BEAT SOMBRA I KNOW THE STORY WOULD BE OVER IMEDIATLY BUT CELESTIA BEST PRINCES YOU LOST A FAVORITE AND A LIKE FUCK YOU

[Arch22]

jk jk you still get fav still best princess best pon

[Chrome Masquerade]

John Hammond

The stadium once again erupted into angry boos and hisses, but Sombra laughed evilly nonetheless. “I appreciate you seeing things my way, Princess,” Sombra said with a smile. He then turned to the Mane 6, who only looked on in horror as Celestia surrendered so easily. “You six, take your Princess out of here. Take her back to her castle or wherever you want, but as per the Equestria Battle Tournament rules, she's now disqualified from the Tournament.” He then turned to address the crowd once again. “And as for the rest of you. If any combatants wish to remain in this Tournament, know that you're going hoof-to-hoof with the most powerful beings in Equestria and beyond, all hoof-picked by me. You may leave if you want, but remember that the winner of this tournament shall decide the fate of Equestria. Any spectators who don't want to see their heroes be humiliated in combat may also leave, but to all of you, know that in half an hour, I am sealing Canterlot off from the outside world to ensure no outside help can be received.” After a short pause, Sombra then said, “But if you still wish to stay, I promise to give you the most exciting Equestria Battle Tournament any of you have ever seen!” The crowd remained silent, opting now to simply give Sombra silent glares, but Sombra disregarded this just as easily. He then turned back to the Mane 6 and Celestia. “You all are still here. I thought I told you to leave.” “We're going to stay in this tournament, Sombra,” Twilight said. “All six of us. And we're going to defeat your Alliance of Shadow and whoever else we have to to save Equestria.” “You have fun with that, little fillies,” Sombra said. “Now leave.”

"I REALLY hate that man!" :twilightangry2