Fighting is Magic: The Equestrian Grand Tournament

by Lance Skyes

6: Out for Revenge - Fire and Lightning

There was significant damage done to the arena thanks to Pinkamena's explosion in the previous battle, so the next round of the Equestria Battle Tournament was delayed by two hours while Changelings rebuilt the destroyed arena. Of course, this irritated King Sombra quite a bit since he still had three battles to hold that day and night was drawing near.

“If that Pinkie Pie character causes any more trouble like this, I'm going to have to find some way to disqualify her from the Tournament,” Sombra said to himself as he watched the Changelings that were lent to him work.

Meanwhile, at Canterlot Castle, Rainbow Dash was busy practicing her flying though the hallways of the castle, her reasoning for practicing in such a confined space likely being that she wanted to increase her ability to turn on a dime. And so far, this training seemed to be working for her. She had made her way through what was likely the equivalent of half a mile of hallways before she flew by Twilight.

“Rainbow!” Twilight called, but Rainbow Dash had already rounded a corner and was out of sight. “Ugh, what is she planning this time?” Twilight then started galloping in Rainbow Dash's direction, trying to track where she would be heading so that she could teleport somewhere where it would be easy to intercept Rainbow Dash.

In another room on the other side of Canterlot Castle, Rarity was busy taking measurements on Keldeo so that she could make him a “fabulous suit that reflects your powerful yet elegant charm” as she put it when she made the offer. Keldeo wasn't protesting against Rarity's actions, but he was starting to get a little anxious. It had been almost half an hour since he last moved, after all.

“Um, Rarity?” Keldeo asked. “I appreciate what you're doing, but I don't think something like this is really necessary.”

“Nonsense, darling,” Rarity replied while measuring one of his hind legs. “With the way I've seen you battle, there's no universe in which you don't deserve an outfit to compliment your power.”

“Well then... thank you,” Keldeo said.

“Oh, it's my pleasure,” Rarity said. “No need to thank me.” After a moment, Rarity stood up, having completed most of her measurements. “Um, can I get you to go into your Resolute Form so that I can get some more accurate measurements. I don't want this suit to tear if you need to power up for any reason.”

“If you insist,” Keldeo said. He then motioned for Rarity to stand back, which she did. Keldeo then took a deep breath before summoning the energy he needed to go into his Resolute Form. As per what happened earlier in the tournament, Keldeo began glowing with a bright light that Rarity had to shield her eyes from, but this light died quickly, leaving behind Keldeo in his Resolute Form. It took a moment before Rarity realized that she was staring at Keldeo and a moment longer to realize she was blushing. “Are you ok, Rarity?” Keldeo asked.

“I'm fine,” Rarity replied, turning away to hide her blush. “It's just that... well with all that extra... and the feathers in your mane... you just look...”

“Rarity,” Keldeo said in an effort to get Rarity to stop stammering. “Do you...?”

Rarity looked up to see that Keldeo was blushing a little bit as well. “Why don't we get these measurements done?” Rarity quickly asked.

“Right,” Keldeo replied with similar haste. “The sooner the better.”

Rarity stepped forward with her measuring tape was just about to start measuring Keldeo's horn when a loud crash from outside the room they were in stopped them. “Oh my,” Rarity said as she dropped the measuring tape and galloped over to the door.

“What happened?” Keldeo asked, following Rarity.

“Knowing one or two of my friends...” Rarity started as she opened the door. Sure enough, the crashing sound was what Rarity assumed to be Rainbow Dash having crashed into Twilight at a fairly high speed. Neither seemed hurt, but Twilight was on top of Rainbow Dash now scolding her.

“Rainbow, what do you think you're doing?” Twilight asked.

“I might ask you the same thing,” Rainbow Dash replied. “I was kind of flying there when you teleported right in my way.”

“Flying through the fragile and precious halls of Canterlot Castle, to be precise,” Twilight said. “What makes you think you have the right to put all these vases, columns, and stained glass windows in jeopardy?”

“What better way to hone my flying skills?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Not that they need any honing, but...”

“And what would be call for this behavior, might I ask?” Twilight asked.

“Spitfire's fighting in the next round of the tournament,” Rainbow Dash replied. “I've gotta be at my best if I want to impress her.”

“You're not even battling her!” Twilight shouted, her irritation starting to rise considerably.

“No, but I'll be fighting in the round after this one,” Rainbow Dash replied. “I've gotta be ready to show my stuff for her and be at the top of my game if I face her later in the tournament.”

“But why would you need to show her anything?” Twilight asked. “You've worked alongside her as a Wonderbolt for about two years now!”

“I know that,” Rainbow Dash said. “But she's barely seen any of my combat skills.”

“What's going on?” Keldeo asked Rarity as he joined her at the door.

“It seems we aren't the only ones having relationship issues,” Rarity replied flatly.

“Wait, did you just say we were-?” Keldeo started.

“Uh, havens no,” Rarity quickly replied. “I was just making you a suit, that's all. Come on, I've still gotta take some measurements.” Rarity then retreated back into the room, quickly dragging Keldeo back with her.

“And might I be the first to acknowledge that you managed to create quite the scene for Rarity and Keldeo to watch,” Twilight continued to Rainbow Dash.

“Hey, don't blame me for that one,” Rainbow replied. “You're the one who tried to make yourself an equine roadblock.”

“Fillies and gentlecolts,” King Sombra's voice boomed across Canterlot all of a sudden. “I am happy to inform you that the issue causing the delay to the next round of the tournament has been resolved and the tournament will move forward shortly. Please make your way to the arena.”

It was then that Rainbow Dash kicked Twilight off of her. “No sense in arguing about it right now. We've gotta get to the arena.”

“Good point,” Twilight replied. “But I seriously don't want you doing any more flying in the castle. If you need to fly, do it outside.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Rainbow said before flying off towards the exit of the castle and towards the arena.

“Hey!” Twilight shouted as she took off after Rainbow. “What did I just tell you?”

Right as those two left, Keldeo and Rarity walked out of the room they were in. “I suppose I could get those measurements later,” Rarity sighed as the two made their way out of the castle.

“Well I don't have any plans for after this round, so I'll be able to help you with that,” Keldeo joked.

It wasn't very long before the stadium was full of spectators who were more than ready to watch a battle they had to wait an extra hour for.

“Finally this battle's going to start,” Rainbow Dash said as she and her friends took their seats. “Still can't believe we had to wait this long, though.”

“It's not like it's entirely my fault the fight got delayed,” Pinkie said. “How was I supposed to know Pinkamena was actually going to explode, anyway? I thought she would just fade from existence.”

“Don't worry about it, Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said. “It was either a delayed battle or another loss for us. And with a foe like King Sombra, we need all the wins we can get.”

It was right then that King Sombra appeared to address the crowd. “Fillies and gentlecolts, before we begin, let me extend my apologies for the delay,” he announced. “Now that that's over with, let's begin the next fight. In the western corner, one of the fastest fliers in Equestria, the captain of the Wonderbolts, and, according to unconfirmed rumors, soon to be a retired mare, it's Spitfire!”

The crowd went crazy with cheers as a spotlight focused on the western entrance. However, nopony entered. Instead, the spectators heard what sounded like several jet fighters barreling towards the stadium. Everypony looked up to see a group of five Wonderbolts fly in in a pyramid pattern with two Wonderbolts on the far left and right, two more on the inner left and right flying just slightly ahead of the previous two, and at the top a single Wonderbolt who Rainbow Dash and a few other spectators guessed was Spitfire. The five flew in some complicated flight patterns that could probably be expressed in words if the one writing was a competent author in any way, shape, or form, (which he wasn't) followed by the five flying close together in a tight circle before breaking apart in a beautiful firework motion that actually set off sparks of light even against the afternoon sky.

“I thought I told her she wasn't allowed to do that,” King Sombra muttered to himself as Spitfire descended towards the arena while the other four Wonderbolts flew off.

“Where did those other four Wonderbolts come from?” Pinkie Pie asked. “I thought King Sombra had blocked Canterlot off from the rest of Equestria.”

“Since Spitfire and I were combatants in the tournament, she brought along a small group of Wonderbolts to preform during breaks,” Rainbow Dash replied. “Well, that was the plan before King Sombra took over the tournament, at least.”

“Still, way to have Adaptability,” Keldeo commented.

Pinkie Pie giggled at Keldeo's comment. “Oh, if only you guys could understand the puns Keldeo's coming up with,” she said to her friends.

Meanwhile, Spitfire had removed her Wonderbolts uniform and tossed it to the side. No sense in getting it dirty from the battle, after all. Oddly enough, Rainbow Dash was the first one to swoop in and grab Spitfire’s uniform for her before it hit the ground, despite the fact that Spitfire threw her uniform in the opposite direction of where Rainbow Dash was sitting. Once Rainbow rejoined her friends, she explained, “Spitfire actually asked me to catch this for her whenever she entered the arena. I'm serious.”

Meanwhile, King Sombra took this as a cue to move forward. “And in the eastern corner, a pony who once tried to become a Wonderbolt, but was denied her chance. After nearly 6 years of training herself and waiting for her chance at revenge, she's finally returned to prove she has what it takes to join her foe as a Wonderbolt, give it up for Lightning Dust!”

“Lightning Dust?” Rainbow Dash shouted as she watched the very pony enter from the eastern entrance. Rainbow was actually there the day Lightning's dreams were crushed by Spitfire. It was Rainbow Dash who ratted Lightning Dust out for being reckless and nearly sending her friends plummeting to their doom using a tornado at the Wonderbolts Training Camp six years ago, and neither Rainbow nor Spitfire had seen Lightning Dust since. But here she was today, and judging by the expression on her face every time she looked at Spitfire from across the arena or noticed Rainbow Dash in the stands, she never quite got over what happened that day. Saying she was madder than Cerberus when he got fleas was putting how angry she seemed politely.

“Hey, I remember her,” Pinkie Pie said. “It was her fault Rainbow never got to open her care package that day! By the way, Rainbow, you still haven't opened it.”

“Pinkie Pie, is there any limit to your randomness?” Rainbow Dash asked her friend.

Meanwhile in the arena, Spitfire and Lightning Dust had come face to face.

“Surprised to see me, Spitfire?” Lightning asked.

“Can't really say I am,” Spitfire replied. “Somehow I knew you'd be back someday. I would ask if you've learned from your mistakes... but somehow I think I know the answer to that question.”

“Actually, I have learned something from that day,” Lightning Dust replied. “That something is that you should never look up to heroes, because when you're looking up to them, they're always looking down on you. You can't rise if you put somepony else above you, and that's why I've never forgiven you for what you did that day.”

“Well that's a shame, Lightning Dust,” Spitfire said. “I saw you on the combatant roster and hoped I could face you when you were a changed pony. I just hope you know I expelled you from the training camp for a particular reason.”

“Oh, I know that reason, all right,” Lightning replied while casting an angry side glance towards Rainbow Dash.

“Alright, that's enough chit-chat,” King Sombra said. “I'd like to get this round started. Are the combatants ready?”

“Born ready,” Lightning Dust said.

“Let's do it,” Spitfire said.

“Then let's begin,” Sombra said. “Round 1, FIGHT!”

Lightning Dust was the first to charge forward and try to give Spitfire a hook kick. (I meant to type hook, comment section.) Spitfire was able to pivot and block the attack coming at her right, but that left her open to a powerful punch right to her midsection, which knocked the Wonderbolt off balance. This left her open to another kick from Lightning Dust, this one a single applebuck right to Spitfire’s jaw, sending her flying. Spitfire was able to recover from this quickly, however, and was able to do an aerial backflip and return to an upright position in the air using her wings.

“Don't tell me that's all you've got,” Spitfire said as she rubbed her jaw with her hoof.

“Now what gave you that idea?” Lightning Dust asked as she took off after Spitfire. Spitfire quickly took off in the opposite direction to give Lightning a little chase. Perhaps her intention was to get some distance between the two ponies and to get Lightning Dust moving so that she would have too much momentum to avoid an attack. Either way, her attempt didn't work out too well as Lightning Dust quickly overtook Spitfire, proceeding to give her a powerful jab to her side that knocked her straight to the ground. Spitfire recovered from this attack easily enough, and was just in time to avoid another attack from Lightning Dust. The latter flew straight down and tried to smash Spitfire further into the ground, but the Wonderbolt rolled out of the way, got up, and gave Lightning Dust a powerful buck that sent her flying into the barrier around the arena. Lightning fell to the ground, but she got up from that easily.

“I'll admit it, you're pretty good, Spitfire,” Lightning Dust said. “Maybe I should start actually trying to beat you.” She then charged forward at a near blinding speed and gave Spitfire a powerful uppercut before the Wonderbolt could even react. Spitfire was able to backflip in the air to recover and managed to block another blow from Lightning Dust. She then tried to counter with a roundhouse kick, but Lightning was able to block this attack and grab Spitfire's hing leg. Spitfire tried to break free from Lightning's grasp, but was ultimately unsuccessful as Lightning Dust proceeded to hammer throw Spitfire straight into the ground. Spitfire would have been okay if she was just left with that hit, but Lightning Dust quickly came back down and rocketed herself right into Spitfire's midsection with her forelegs. Lightning then bounced off of Spitfire and landed on all-fours to her right.

“Okay, maybe I tried a little too hard,” Lightning commented as she glanced back at the downed Spitfire with an evil smile.

“KO!” King Sombra announced. “The winner of round 1 is Lightning Dust!” The crowd offered partially cheers, partially boos, and partially pained groans from the quick and painful beating Spitfire had taken.

“There's no way a single one of the moves Lightning Dust just used was legal!” Rainbow Dash shouted from her place in the stands.

“Actually, I think the hammer throw followed by the 'missile to the midsection' bit were the only illegal things in her technique,” Twilight replied. “I have a hunch King Sombra will let those slide, though.”

“And that from the pony who wanted this tournament to be all about honor at the beginning,” Keldeo commented. “Not the worst thing I've ever seen a villain do by a long shot, but what Sombra's done is still up there.” Then, after sparring a quick thought to what he said prior, Keldeo added “I'm assuming he's a pony, at least. His powers and appearance kind of throw me off.”

“No, I think he's a pony,” Pinkie said. “A kind of odd pony, but what authority do I have in the field of oddness?”

“Quite a bit, if you'd ask me,” Rainbow Dash muttered mostly to herself.

Meanwhile in the arena, King Sombra had used his magic to heal Spitfire's wounds, which likely consisted of several cracked ribs and broken vertebrae and maybe some torn muscle tissue. But thanks to powerful magic, all that disappeared instantly and Spitfire was back in fighting form.

“Ready for a second beating?” Lightning Dust asked as she walked up to where Spitfire was just then getting up.

“I honestly thought there was hope for you, Lightning Dust,” Spitfire said. “It took me this long to realize how foolish of a thought that was.”

“I'll tell you what's a foolish thought,” Lightning replied. “Thinking you'll even have a chance against me this time around.”

“Well, I do understand now that you're a lost cause,” Spitfire said. “So that'll keep me from holding back.”

“Good,” Lightning Dust said. “I was almost hoping you were holding back in the last round.”

“Are the combatants ready?” King Sombra announced. Neither pegasus said anything, rather opting to nod in the affirmative while holding each other's glare. “Then let's begin. Round 2, FIGHT!”

Spitfire wasted no time getting the battle started. She rushed forward and tried to catch Lightning Dust off guard with a preemptive low sweep. Lightning Dust wasn't caught off guard by this, but rather used her wings to elevate the upper half of her body so that Spitfire would miss her attack. Unfortunately for Lightning Dust, Spitfire anticipated this attack and, rather than going for Lightning's forelegs, Spitfire went in closer and swept her hind legs, catching her completely off guard and knocking her off-balance and straight into an outstretched hoof that caught the vengeful pegasus right in her midsection between her stomach and ribcage.

“Alright!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Spitfire's back in full force! Lightning Dust doesn't stand a chance this time around.”

Lightning Dust quickly readjusted herself with her wings and flew up off of Spitfire. ''Looks like I was still underestimating you,” she said as she rubbed where Spitfire's hoof caught her.

“And if history serves me correctly, you're not quite done,” Spitfire replied. She then flew up after Lightning Dust. She then proceeded to try to give Lightning Dust an aerial roundhouse, which caught the latter pegasus right in the side of the face. Spitfire tried to follow her attack up with another punch, but Lightning recovered quickly and was able to catch the punch, following up with a counter punch right to Spitfire's stomach. Spitfire recoiled back slightly from the blow, but never lost any altitude. She did, however, try to stay back for a moment to try to recover, which gave Lightning Dust the opening she needed to fly in and deliver another blow, this one a flip kick right to Spitfire's jaw. Spitfire was flipped backwards a little, but she took advantage of the position Lightning's blow left her in and gave her a powerful two-legged thrust kick that caught Lightning Dust off guard and sent her spiraling backwards.

“I'll admit, you're a little better than I thought you'd be when you're fighting at full steam,” Lightning Dust complimented as she recovered from the hit she took.

“I should hope so,” Spitfire replied as she charged forward to deliver what she was sure would be a finishing blow to Lightning. However, Lightning stopped Spitfire's attack in her tracks with a solid counter punch that met Spitfire's hoof perfectly.

“That doesn't necessarily mean you're even close to able to beat me, though,” Lightning Dust finished. She then broke her hoof away from Spitfire's before rushing forward and striking the Wonderbolt with a powerful elbow thrust that caught Spitfire off guard. This was quickly followed by a downwards windmill kick that sent Spitfire hurdling towards the ground. She was able to recover from this attack just before impacting, though, and landed generally softly on all fours, allowing her to prepare herself for another attack that came from directly above. Spitfire managed to duck out of the way just before Lightning Dust crashed herself into the ground. Lightning was caught off guard by not hitting Spitfire, though, and was open to a charged punch from Spitfire that knocked Lightning backwards. Lightning was able to rebound from this attack quickly, and used the momentum from Spitfire's attack to plant her hind hooves firmly on the ground before propelling herself forward right into Spitfire, ramming the Wonderbolt with enough strength to send her flying halfway across the arena into the barrier. Spitfire tried to get up from this attack, but between the force of the attack she just took combined with all the punishment she'd taken prior, her legs just couldn't hold her up any longer and she fell to the ground.

“KO!” King Sombra announced. “The winner of round 2 is Lightning Dust!”

“Oh my Celestia, nooooo!” Rainbow Dash screamed. “I can't believe that just happened!”

”I probably can,” Twilight thought to herself as she watched two Changeling drones carry Spitfire out of the arena. ”Lightning Dust shouldn't have had that much power or anger, even for the past she's had with Spitfire. Between this and Sunset Shimmer, I'm starting to sense a pattern.”

“Whichever of Sombra's lackeys I've gotta face next, they're gonna pay,” Rainbow Dash continued.

“It might not be such a good idea to punish somepony for something somepony else has done,” Fluttershy said. “I mean, even if the next pony you have to face might be a villain or something.”

“I know,” Rainbow Dash said. “But that doesn't mean I can't fight my way to Sombra so that I can get some revenge.”

“Talk about obsessive fangirls,” Applejack said aside to Keldeo.

“Yeah, I've got experience with that,” Keldeo replied.

Later, in the caves beneath Canterlot, two Changelings dragged the beaten Spitfire into what looked like a cell.

“Yeah, don't bother healing me back up,” Spitfire said as she tried to stand after being thrown into the cell. “I've flown off worse than this.”

”Ah, but you won't be flying again anytime soon, little pony,” a mysterious voice said from behind Spitfire. Spitfire turned around to see a cloaked figure only just as tall as she was.

“Lemme guess,” Spitfire said, “another of King Sombra's minions, only your job is to torture anypony who happens to lose a battle?”

”Mmmmm, you have much more fight in you than Lyra Heartstrings did,” the voice said. ”I assure you, I'm not associated with King Sombra, but rather... I have my own agenda.”

“Oh yeah?” Spitfire asked. “And what's-?”

Spitfire wasn't able to finish her question. She suddenly felt herself become a thousand pounds heavier and instantly fell right to the floor, only able to look up helplessly as a stream of what looked like yellow energy flowed away from her and towards the source of the voice. All Spitfire could see afterward was a sinister smile before she felt sleep take hold of her.

Author's Note:

I'm going to admit it right now, I had a real hard time not making a reference to Pokemon Black and White in this chapter. I'm sure you could guess why.

I'm sure you can also guess who that guy who Lyra and Spitfire faced is by now...

Anyway, this was just another filler chapter, only this one had literally no secondary purpose story-wise as opposed to the last filler chapter. (The Lyra vs Sunset one, I mean.) Anyway, after this chapter is one I actually want to write, so it should be up with at least slightly less delay. (Not gonna make any promises, though. )

Comments

[VampDash]

Face it I can see your Mystery Character's theme being this.

[Green Akers]

“Spitfire actually asked me to catch this for her whenever she entered the arena. I'm serious.”

Sure, Rainbow. We believe you.

(Of course, now that Spitfire's out, her uniform might mysteriously end up in Rainbow's closet, right next to her collection of Soarin's tail hairs.)

[Lance Skyes]

4939830 You know what? You might not be too far off...

4932417 Huh... I might be able to use that.

[Crashiepp]

You know... I might use this story as a reference for something

[Lance Skyes]

4994405 Be my guest. But, if I may ask, what are you going to use my story for?