Memories

by HuskSummers

Heavyweight Challenge

Okay...I apologize for the long time it took to get this one done. I really had some trouble in writing it at first, and coupled with my hectic schedule, that made for a horrible time writing. However, I eventually hit my stride, and then I couldn't stop writing! haha

This chapter is a bit longer than usual, but it is chock full o' fun...at least I hope you see it that way. haha

As always, feel free to leave any comment you have for me in the comments! Cake, puppies, and any other animals are also accepted...Yay?

“Thank you, sir!” I snapped to attention and gave General Gale Force a crisp salute. He raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. I was surprised by my own actions. I had never been taught the correct way to salute, but it was clear that I had just performed a perfect one. He returned the salute, and then he spoke.

“Now, we need to get you outfitted for war.” He walked as he talked, so I followed him. We left his office, and went into the barracks. Once there, he quickly shouted, “Quicksilver! Fall in!” She immediately emerged from the forest of cots.

“Reporting Sir,” Quicksilver answered as she stood at attention in front of Gale Force. He looked her over for a moment, and then spoke.

“You and Cpl. Pathfinder know each other well after your position as his guard. I want you to get him ready. He needs armor, and a weapon. I don’t think training will be a problem, but I still want you to give him a rundown.” The orders were given, and she saluted as she gave an affirmative response. He then turned to me and ordered, “Come back to see me once you’re outfitted. Celestia wants you put to work right away, and you have a unique job that needs tending to.”

“Yessir!” With my response he nodded and we were dismissed. I followed Quicksilver out of the barracks, and she moved fast. We walked together in silence for a few moments before I spoke, “Is there something wrong? Why won’t you speak to me?” She stopped in her tracks and turned to glare at me.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing? The rumblings in the 1st Corps have already started. Your entrance has caused an even greater stir than my own! Most ponies fight for years before given the chance at 1st Corps. It took me only a month, but you. You just waltz right in and, in one day, no training, you are given the rank of Corporal and the title of ‘Iron Pony’.” Her rant made sense. I’d pissed off a whole lot of ponies today with this sudden offer of a spot within the 1st Corps.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t ask for the position. It was offered to me. I don’t know what the rumor mill is saying about it yet, but I was given a job by Princess Celestia herself.” None of what I said seemed to surprise her, so I continued, because it would all be common knowledge soon enough. “What she has requested of me is being an envoy between the Royal Equestrian Army, and a group of Lupine that have remained loyal to Equestria.” Once again she was unimpressed.

“I already know all of this. The entire outfit knows. The question they’re asking is, which Princess are you doing? Yes, it’s crude, but that’s the easiest way they can find to explain it. Until you prove yourself, you’ll be the target of a whole lot of scorn.” I couldn’t tell if she was mad as well that I had the position. If I remember correctly from what she told me, typically these types of jobs were reserved for Pegasi due to their ability to get around easier. After a moment or two, I had an idea of how to convince the group that I had earned my position.

“I have an idea, but you have to trust me on it, and let me go with it. Maybe I won’t even have to follow through with it, based on all you’ve said about the resentment in the 1st Corps. More than likely someone will approach me in the Barracks, and I’ll fix it right then and there.” She looked at me as I spoke, and there was a long pause after during which she stared at me. Then she shook her head and laughed.

“Go on then. Tell me your, Big Plan.” The nature of her comment stung a little, but I shook it off as I explained my idea to her.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few minutes later, as I neared the end of the plan’s explanation, she became progressively more stunned, and once again she shook her head.

“You’re a crazy pony, and your stubborn nature is going to get you killed, but that plan will definitely work. If you succeed, that is.” I rolled my eyes at her lack of confidence. She didn’t think I could do it. I’d just have to prove her wrong. We continued walking for only a couple more minutes and we arrived at the armory of the castle. An Earth pony, of typical blacksmith musculature, was inside. His coat was a dark grey, his mane was an aged silver, and he had a hammer crossed with a lightning bolt as his cutie mark. He seemed to be looking over a multitude of metal armor and weapons. He looked up from his work as we entered.

“Who’s this now?” The pony’s gruff voice only added to his intimidating build. I looked to Quicksilver to answer, because the question seemed as if it was addressed to her.

“This is Cpl. Pathfinder. He’s in need of armor and weaponry. We were sent by General Gale Force.” The armorer looked at us, studying, before he spoke again.

“Any other day o’ the week I’d be turning the two of you away fer bein’ scoundrels and liars. I mean, whose ever heard of a Corporal that doesn’t ‘ave a proper set o’ armor, much less one that was just given a spot in the 1st Corps. But I’ve already been given orders, straight from Celestia herself no less, to see that you are outfitted properly. It seems you ‘ave a right tough job ahead of you, judging by these requisitions.” The way he put it did make it seem very unbelievable. How often had something like this ever happened in the history of the 1st Corps? My guess was never. “Okay then, follow me. We’ll get you sorted out and on your way.” He suddenly stood up from the piece of armor he was inspecting. He set it on the table in front of him, and then walked away. The pair of us followed him to the very back of the armory.

On the way, he told me his name, “I’m Steelhoof, the royal blacksmith and such. As you’ve probably realized by me accent, I’m not from Canterlot. I’m from the small village of Cromarety in the Northern Highlands. That’s all you need to know about that.” It was no surprise to me that he wasn’t from Canterlot. He was a small-town pony, and that was fine by me. We reached our destination within a few seconds of the end of his introduction.

“What yer about to see…you tell nopony.” He was deathly serious in his tone, and we both nodded. He reached into a rack of weapons, and at the back, he grabbed an old, chipped sword. This seemed out of place, especially considering the great condition of all the other weapons and armor in the place. He moved the sword, quickly turning it on the peg it was hung upon, and a large thunk accompanied his efforts. He looked to us with the smile of someone with a secret, and he grabbed the edge of the weapons rack. As he pulled it forward, an entire section of the wall came with it.

“Well, don’t jus’ stand there slack-jawed. Get walkin’!” On his orders we allowed our mouths to close and we headed down a long, torch-lit flight of stairs. At the end was a very old Oaken door. I turned around to the old blacksmith as he pulled a large key from a seemingly solid stone wall. “Ye can’t ‘ave too much security. Remember that.” He pulled open the door, and, just like before, our mouths hung wide open.

“This room doesn’t officially exist. It is the second armory. The one meant for special operations.” The pride in his voice was clear. I could tell he had a hoof in making many of the weapons and sets of armor in the room. As I glanced around, I noticed there was a stallion carefully studying a piece of armor. “That’s Stalker. His name is all I can tell ya.” I wasn’t sure if it was a joke, but he didn’t seem like the joking kind, so I took it seriously.

Stalker wasn’t the largest stallion, but he sure wasn’t small. He was completely black, except for his eyes. They were a startling green color that seemed to pierce everything their gaze fell upon. I couldn’t see a cutie mark at first, but then I realized his cutie mark was a slightly lighter black. It was the silhouette of a pony. His special talent was now very clear to me. I turned away from him and followed the now moving blacksmith to one of the many sets of shelves in this secret armory. He stopped in front of a couple dummies outfitted with sleek looking black armor.

“This is the armor you’ll be wearing. It’s made from dragon hide, as it is some o’ the toughest, yet most flexible materials in existence.” Both Quicksilver and I gave him odd looks upon being told it was dragon hide, but before we could speak, he answered our question. “No, don’t even think that. I didn’ kill a dragon for it. The only hides we get are given by dragons that volunteer to give it after they have passed. This actually works better, because as a dragon ages, it’s scales become tougher and tougher to penetrate, yet they maintain their flexibility.” Our relief was palpable, and he chuckled a low rumbling laugh. He took one of the body pieces off the dummies and said, “Let’s get you fitted.” He had undid a latch on either side of the body and it opened to let me put my head through the top. When he closed it around me and latched it again, it felt extremely loose.

I was about to say something about it when he spoke again, “Wait a second. You’ll see.” I waited, and suddenly I felt the armor fit itself to my body. It was a perfect fit, and it felt as light as air. It was hard to believe that something this light could be as strong as it was. “Magic…enchanted by none other than Princess Luna. She seems to enjoy visiting and using her magic.” With that he paused in thought for a moment. “Would you like a helm, or no?” I thought about the question. It would be nice to have the extra protection, but it would feel off at the same time. I weighed the pros and cons in my head before answering.

“I’ll take one, after all, I’d rather have more protection than I need, than need more protection than I have.” The decision seemed to please Steelhoof, who turned around and grabbed the helm off of the dummy.

“You’re a smart lad, you are.” When he handed the helm to me, I placed it on my head, and, after a moment, it fit to my head much like the body armor had. He then reached for the hoof-protection, but I spoke up.

“I’d rather go bare-hoof. It doesn’t feel right to have a barrier between the Earth and myself.” Once again, he smiled.

“A true Earth pony!” He boomed, obviously impressed with my choices thus far. Without saying another word, he trotted to another nearby section of shelves and motioned for us to follow. I noticed, with curiosity, that he had, to this point, never shown his left side to us. This struck me as odd, but I pushed the thought away as we walked to him. “These…these are of my own design.” He grabbed a metal contraption from the shelf. It was as long as my forearm, and it was pretty thin. “Right or left?” The question was simple, but I had to think. Which would feel right? Once I made my decision, I answered.

“Right.” He nodded at my answer and quickly strapped it to my forearm, showing me the process as he went. He then took a step back and looked at me before speaking.

“Now, to use it, just rotate your forearm out with force, and rotate in to retract.” I followed his directions and three blades slid from the device. My face lit up at this surprise. It was an unbelievable weapon. After a few moments of admiring the blades, a thought formed in my head.

“Is it modeled after…” I started to ask in awe, when suddenly I was interrupted by Steelhoof.

“the Lupine’s claws? Aye, that it is. You can say that I’ve had first hoof experience in finding out just how sharp those claws are.” The reason why he had only shown his right side to us before was revealed as he turned to show us his left. Running from just under his jaw, and ending mid-Cutie mark, were the unmistakable scars that were left by a Lupine’s claws. It was a stunning injury, and a wonder that he had lived through it. The claws had obviously shredded the body tissue, and there must have been an unimaginable amount of bleeding. His gruff voice pulled me from my thoughts, “I love the irony of it. You’ll be killing them with weapons designed off their own claws.” This was a pony that had clear hatred for the Lupine, for what they had done to him. I couldn’t blame him either, not after his experience.

“Thank you for this. I will use them wisely, and justly.” I only added the last part for my own conscience. Before he could reply, a cool voice came from behind me.

“If you were wise, you would use them without reservation. That’ll keep your flank alive.” I turned to see Stalker standing behind me, dressed in a full armor. It was tough to see where the armor ended and where his fur began due to the similarity of their hues of black. It felt like he was staring right through me as he looked me up and down. Then, he brushed me aside and walked out a concealed door in another part of the wall.

“Don’ mind his manner. He’s always been a like that. I tell you to heed his words though, for they’re truer than any you’ll hear. Now, you are done. You may leave, but Quicksilver needs to stay. He must get fitted for is armor.” Quicksilver and I looked at him dumbfounded.

“What do you mean? I have my armor!” Quicksilver surprised me with the forcefulness of her response. Steelhoof just smiled as he explained.

“When I got requisitions to fit Pathfinder, I was also asked to fit you as well. Don’t ask me why, because I wasn’t told. If I were to guess though, I’d say you two are the start of a new team. One that they’ll piece together fairly quickly. Now, go to the training rooms. Once you leave the armory, just take the first left and continue down the hall till you hit the doors.” With that I was clearly dismissed. I gave Quicksilver a look, and she was still so surprised that she didn’t seem to notice.

So, with Quicksilver occupied, I took off to the training grounds to implement my plan. It was only a short walk, and when I pushed open the doors the giant space in front of me made my face light up. There were so many different areas to this training room that it was hard to believe. All sorts of ponies worked on a multitude of skills. I noticed off to the side was a doorway, and I surmised that it must lead to a storage area. Sure enough, when I went through the doors, I found a gear storage area, and there was already a locker with my name on it. I wondered how to work the locker at first, but it quickly became apparent as other ponies walked in and opened them. All I had to do was press my hoof to a large pad set into the locker door.

I later found out that the pads were magic, and by placing my hoof on it the first time, I registered it as mine, and only my hoof would open it from that point on. Once I had taken off and stored all my gear, I made my way back out onto the training room floor. There was a large square ring in the middle of the room, and many ponies were around it cheering on the two fighters inside the ropes. After watching for a few moments, I knew that this would be my stage. The next job would be finding a pony to fight.

I scanned the multitude of ponies for the right opponent. I had to pick just the right one, and I quickly found the stallion I needed for my plan. He was a large Earth pony, with stone-grey fur and a moss-green mane. He was by far the largest pony I had seen. I figured that I could take him with my speed, and I decided he would be the one to help me to prove myself. I sauntered over to him, and, he looked down on me. He was a head taller than me, and much more muscular.

“How would you like to go a round in the ring?” The proposition clearly surprised the two Pegasi he was talking to, judging by their wide-eyed looks. My opponent merely seemed amused.

“Well, if’n you’re willing to have a go, I’m always up fer a fight. Jus’ don’ be mad when ya lose.” His drawl made it clear he had grown up in a small town, most likely on a farm. It made sense why he would be this big. The two Pegasi with him now laughed. They probably figured I’d be dropped in seconds.

The pair of us walked over to the ring, and we waited as the current pair of fighters finished. Finally, one of them took a shot to the padded helmet, and even the padding wasn’t enough to save him from that blow.

“Alright, that was a good fight! Who’s next?” The pony in the ring acting as referee asked the crowd, clearly wanting volunteers. The behemoth next to me and I both stepped forward. Everyone around the ring grew quiet. They obviously thought I was biting off more than I could chew. They were probably right, but I had to do something to prove I could hang with the best of them. When the pair of us got into the ring, we went off to opposite corners and a crew of ponies fitted us with padded helmets and gloves. The gloves weren’t overly big, and they had nice enough grip that I could dance around on all four hooves if necessary. They also fitted a mouthpiece, fresh out of the box, to my teeth.

“Okay then! We’ve got Stonewall, defending Royal Army Heavyweight Champ, in the blue corner, and the newest Iron Pony, Pathfinder, in the red corner!” The ref was clearly faking his enthusiasm for this fight. The fact that he was the heavyweight champ surprised me at first, but then it made a lot of sense. That was why those two Pegasi had seemed so stunned when I challenged him.

The ref then turned to me, and he quietly asked, “Are you sure about this?” I just gave him a grin and nodded. He shook his head in disbelief and then returned to the center as Stonewall and I came out. “Stallions, I want a clean fight. So, in other words, everything but biting is accepted.” That got a chuckle from the crowd, and he proceeded. “I want you to touch gloves, your right then your left.” We did as he ordered, and he backed up. “Ready!” A bell rung, and the fight began.

I quickly danced back, out of his reach. There was no way I’d let him land a solid blow. I moved around, and then darted in for a quick jab to his head. He let it hit, and I jumped back, away from his large hooves. When I went in for a second attack, he timed it perfectly. I saw stars as his right hoof landed hard against the side of my head. The ropes stopped my flight, and I fell hard to the canvas. As I stood up, I had to shake the cobwebs from my head. That was one hell of a hit.

I noticed that the ponies gathered around all cheered upon Stonewall’s successful strike. I was clearly the underdog, and they definitely had little love for me. Quicksilver had been right. When I stood up though, they seemed a bit surprised. Stonewall must have had a reputation of finishing his opponents quickly. Before coming back to my opponent I took a glance around the room. Every single soldier had stopped to watch the fight unfolding.

“You’re strong,” I managed to say through my mouthpiece. My matter-of-fact tone amused him, as he chuckled. His reply was a bemused one.

“And you can take a hit.” I just gave a toothless grin, and moved forward to meet him again. This time, I darted in and I was ready for his hoof. I sidestepped his attack and then propelled myself into his now unstable body. If you took one of the four legs out of a table, just a little push could make it fall, and this is what I did to Stonewall.

He crashed to the canvas and I got a few good shots in to his head before backing away and letting him up. The crowd booed my success, and I let it fuel me. I didn’t want to be the bad guy, but if that was what they felt. I danced around a bit, just at the edge of his reach. Finally, we closed and I dodged another of his powerful hits. I peppered his side with a few blows, and then I bounced away. This would be my game plan. Wear him down bit by bit.

Before I could go in for another strike, the bell rang, signaling the end of the round. The crowd seemed stunned at the sound of the bell. Good, I hoped I could shock them at least once more, hopefully with a win. Stonewall and I nodded to each other before we headed to our respective corners of the ring.

“I’ve never seen anypony last a full round with Stonewall, you have guts son,” said the unicorn who attended to me. He gave me a quick squirt of water from a bottle and then put a very warm iron to my hide. I hadn’t even realized I had been bleeding. “Now, just a tip. If you want to beat him, you’ll definitely need to land a few solid blows. Those quick little jabs aren’t going to do anything for you.” The bell rang again and my attending trainer climbed out of the ring. A second ring of the bell and the next round began.

This time, I started just as I had previously. Stonewall had expected it, but he didn’t react the same way as before. This time, he turned around and bucked. I was lucky enough to instinctively jump. In midair, I pushed off his fully-extended hind-legs, and propelled myself to over his head. As I did so, I landed two hard jabs to the base of his neck and the top of his head. This aerial maneuver seemed to surprise the group of ponies watching. It was either a rare method of attack for an Earth pony, or they had never before seen it. A couple of them broke from their stunned silence and stomped their hooves. That surprised me. I now had at least a few on my side.

I didn’t have time to admire this fact though, because Stonewall had suddenly charged me like a freight train. I spun to the right, but he had been expecting it. He rotated and kicked his legs out, landing a shot that threatened to break my ribs. I flew into the ropes for the second time, but I didn’t let myself fall to the floor this time. Instead, I ignored the pain in my side to launch a rapid counter-attack. The large Earth pony stumbled back a couple steps in the face of my onslaught. More ponies started to stomp and cheer for me. I was slowly winning the crowd over. I saw his left hoof move to strike me, and I was barely able to get away. The blow skimmed my helmet, but didn’t connect cleanly.

I grinned at the thought that I would beat the muscular stallion, but then I quickly reprimanded myself. It was too early to think about winning. I had a lot more fight left to go. When he next attacked, I deflected his first hoof and lashed out. I made contact, but it barely fazed him, and he landed a shot to my chest that drove me back a couple feet. I regained the breath he had forced from my body by circling around him. I started to go in for another attack when the bell rang again. The entire crowd of pony warriors was going crazy by this point. They were being treated to a special fight, and now they were cheering both of us on. Stonewall just shook his head in amusement and I grinned right back at him.

Back in my corner of the ring, the trainer attended to me, giving me some water and advice, “Another good round, you went out and gave as good as you got. Honestly, I don’t think anypony expected to see Stonewall matched like this. One more round. Knock him out or get knocked out. Otherwise you have to settle for a stalemate, and nopony want’s that.” He grinned and gave me another swig of water before leaving the ring at the first bell. I stood and slowly made my way to the middle of the ring. Stonewall did the same, and the third round started.

He wasted no time in attacking this time, as he charged me right out of the gate. I couldn’t dodge in time as he swung his right hoof around. Bright flashes of color filled my vision as I hit one of the turnbuckles. This acted as another hit to my body, and I, once again, hit the canvas hard. I tried to stand as I shook my head to clear it, but I only managed to stumble to the ground. I wouldn’t go out like that, so I stood a second time, and succeeded in staying on my hooves. My thoughts were a little sluggish, as were my moves, but I made my way to the middle of the ring. I thought back to earlier that day, and the eventful meeting with the Lupine. It was in these thoughts that I found my strategy.

I waited for Stonewall to charge again, and when he did, I calmly fell backwards. As he reached me, I used his momentum to catapult him into the ropes behind me. He hit them hard and bounced off, back onto the canvas. I rolled up to my hooves, and went to where Stonewall was already starting to stand. I ripped off two vicious hooks to his head, and I thought I saw him falter. Unfortunately for me, that was the next to last thing I saw.

The last thing I heard was the roar of the assembled ponies, but that wasn’t the important part. The final image I saw was the important part. It was his right hoof, and it took up all of my vision before everything went black and stayed that way.

Comments

[shirotora]

Ouch, that had to hurt. It's funny, I was just looking up some pics when I noticed the update. guess what the last pic i was looking at was...
image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/101936/101936,1251926225,1/stock-photo-cranky-siberian-tiger-hitting-another-tiger-while-passing-by-36383392.jpg
look familiar?

P.S. can you guess my favorite animal?

[HuskSummers]

1076362
haha That's awesome!

Wolves...has to be wolves...oh...wait that's mine...uh(Just going to take a shot in the dark here)....Tigers?
haha

So, what did you think...aside from the fact that poor Waya once again became a punching bag haha

[shirotora]

1076393 How did you know Are you a spy
It's a good chapter. I loved the way you gave him claws for a weapon (can't believe I didn't think of that). I might have to do something similar for him in mine. Except, you know me, It'll have to be ultra bad ass.

[HuskSummers]

1076447
verydemotivational.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/demotivational-posters-deception.jpg
No...

haha it was one of those things that developed. I was trying to figure out a way to let an earth pony wield a sword, and still be able to walk on all fours. Then I realized a blade attached to the arm would be cool, and functional. Finally it developed into three blades, because I love irony :D

And over-the-top badassery fits your fic well haha

[shirotora]

1076531 Things like Gundams do fit nicely don't they?

[HuskSummers]

1076549

Gundams, swords that morph into armor, dogs that have awesome demon-killing ninja skills, Elder dragons, the Titan Kronos/Chronos/Cronos(God in your story), Werewolves, magic powered tech(I may have borrowed this idea for the armor and locks :D), Yep, I think they all fit well together haha

It sounds like such a misfit list, but they really do mesh well in your story...it's like being thrown knuckleball after knuckleball in baseball....you know a knuckleball is coming, but there is no way to know exactly where it will be haha

[shirotora]

1076576 And once you see it coming another hits you in the back of the head.

[HuskSummers]

1076600

So that's why I have this large lump there...I was wondering what happened...

[Blue Streak]

Busy for a week and I find this at the top of my fav. Waya showed up the underdog, but came out with a concussion... wait... no that's right

[HuskSummers]

1099900
haha yeah...couldn't go with the cliche, wouldn't have felt right. I mean, who wants to read about a character that always wins?

[Hekate Sketch]

1101053

DBZ fans?