Chapter 10 (Revised)
Scar was pissed.
Covered in slobber, and pissed.
It had been a great day yesterday. Fluttershy had removed her cast, and Scar had finally gotten some real food in her stomach. She had gone hunting the second Fluttershy had taken the cast off and had caught a fat mouse on the edge of Everfree within ten minutes. She'd brought it back to the dojo and eaten it, and Brawler didn't complain or even look that uncomfortable. She'd gone to sleep on the arm of his couch, her belly full, and her mind content.
That is, until a certain brown and white bitch thought it'd be a good idea to wake her up by slobbering all over her before the damn sun had even risen.
"<Wake up! Wake up! Sleeping's boring and Master Applejack says it's time to wake up!>" barked the small bitch.
A small part of Scar's brain registered that there was an orange pony behind the dog, and that Brawler was stirring beside her, but she was more focused on tensing her muscles and unsheathing her claws.
"<You're DEAD!>" hissed Scar and she leapt from the couch. The dog yipped in surprise and jumped back, Scar's claws barely missing her nose, she turned and ran. Scar gave chase, hissing and spitting insults the whole time. She heard the ponies shouting and chasing after them, but she didn't care. She was gonna teach that dog a lesson.
At least, she was, but then she felt a hoof wrap itself beneath her stomach and lift her into the air. Brawler had grabbed her and flown up to the ceiling. He turned her body so she was looking straight into his eyes, then he growled something. Scar couldn't fully understand anypony other than Fluttershy, but she could get the basic of what they were trying to say. Brawler seemed to be saying:
"The dog, and any other pets, are off limits."
He had said a little more than that, reasoning or threats maybe, but Scar couldn't understand it. When he finished talking she nodded, (a gesture she had learned from Fluttershy) and he let her down. She glanced around and saw the dog being comforted by her master. Scar rolled her eyes and started for the door, she needed a good hunt, for food and stress relief.
Brawler walked over to Applejack as soon as Scar left.
"Sorry about that, Scar's not exactly tame," he said.
"Ah noticed," said Applejack, looking up to Brawler but still petting her dog's head. "Where'd ya get 'im?"
"Her. Fluttershy gave her to me. Something about how if she knew I could care about an animal she'd be able to trust me more," explained Brawler.
"Makes sense," said Applejack, she scratched her dog's ears, then stood up. "An' Ah'm guessin' Scar was the only animal that weren't afraid of you?"
"Fluttershy brought her directly to me, so I'm not sure, but probably," said Brawler, shrugging. "Sorry she scared your dog."
"No biggie, Winona's fine, but Ah think Ah won't be bringin' her over from now on," said Applejack.
"Good plan. Anyway, should we get goin'?" asked Brawler.
"Yep, we're burnin' daylight," said Applejack. She lead Brawler and Winona out the dojo and toward the farm. Brawler looked up at the gray sky.
"What daylight? The sun's not even up yet," he said with a yawn.
Applejack chuckled.
"City boys."
"Hey, you're the one who asked me for help," said Brawler.
"No, Ah offered ya a job outta the goodness of mah heart. We could manage without ya if ya wanted ta quit," said Applejack.
Brawler sighed.
"Fine, you got me, I'm not a morning pony. Anyway, about how long am I gonna be working?"
"We usually buck till round eight then go in ta have breakfast."
Brawler snickered. Applejack rolled her eyes.
"Ya KNOW what Ah mean," she said, unamused, "Anyway, Ah can offer ya ten bits an hour an' some breakfast if ya need it. Sound good?"
"I can get food on my own," said Brawler.
"Ah'm sure ya can, but Granny Smith's probably gonna insist on ya eating with us today. Welcoming ya ta the farm life an' such," said Applejack.
"Fine. But just this once," said Brawler. They trotted down the path in silence for a bit when a thought occurred to Brawler.
"What's Big Mac think of all this?" asked Brawler.
"Ya mean you workin' on the farm or the fact that yer gonna train Applebloom?" asked Applejack.
"Both."
Applejack sighed.
"Well, Ah already sorted out the fact that yer gonna work for us, but he ain't happy about you trainin' Applebloom. Granny Smith seemed fine with it though, so he was outvoted," said Applejack.
"Wait, your grandma is okay with me training her granddaughter to be a fighter?" asked Brawler.
"Yep. Apparently when she was a filly, fighters were a lot more common. So ta her a fighting Cutie Mark is just another Cutie Mark," said Applejack.
"Huh, how old is she?"
"She turns seventy-six this fall," said Applejack.
Brawler's eye's widened.
That's old enough to have seen Marehammed's career.
"Did she ever go to a boxing match?" asked Brawler.
Applejack shook her head.
"Ah doubt it. She spent most a her life working here in Ponyville, an' while she hasn't got a problem with fightin' Ah'm pretty sure it ain't her thing."
"Well, does she, I don't know, collect old newspapers?"
Applejack looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"Why would you wanna know somethin' like that?" she asked.
"Professional boxing was outlawed twenty years ago. The only records left of matches are old newspapers. I read a bunch of them about Spike Tyton back when I lived in Cloudsdale, but the library didn't have any about Marehammed Ali."
"An' ya think if mah Granny collected newspapers there'd be an article 'bout this Ali boxer," deduced Applejack. "Why do ya wanna know about her? She famous or somethin'?"
"She was Queen of the Ring," said Brawler. "Arguably the best boxer of all time and definitely the most famous. Won the Grand Championship five times and she won almost every one of her fights by knockout. The only boxer to come close to her record was Spike Tyton, and his career was cut short when boxing became illegal."
"She yer hero?"
Brawler shrugged.
"I guess you could say that."
"Well I don' know if Granny Smith ever collected newspaper like that, but you can ask once we're done with apple buckin'," said Applejack.
"Alright."
They walked the rest of the way in silence. As they approached Sweet Apple Acres, Brawler saw Big Mac waiting for them on the doorstep. He didn't say anything to them as they came closer, but he was glaring at Brawler the whole time.
Brawler chuckled. Big Mac's eye's narrowed even further.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"You're trying to be intimidating," chuckled Brawler, "What could be funnier?"
Big Mac stomped toward Brawler but Applejack stepped between them.
"That's enough, both a you," she said. "Brawler, if yer gonna work here then ya can't pick fights with mah brother. An' Mac, we already talked about this. Brawler's gonna be workin' here, an' he's gonna train Applebloom. She, Granny Smith, an' me are all okay with it, an' if Bloom don't like it she can quit anytime. Right Brawler?"
From the look in her eye, it wasn't a question.
"She can walk away anytime she wants, I won't stop her," said Brawler. "But if she's a fighter, you wouldn't be able to drag her away."
Applejack gave a small gulp, then nodded.
"Uh, right. Anyway, we'll work on the north end of the orchard today. Mac an' Ah'll start on one end, you an' Applebloom'll start on the other, sound good?"
"Now wait just a minute," said Big Mac.
"If Applebloom's gonna be spendin' more time with Brawler from now on she might as well git to know 'im now," said Applejack. "Plus, apparently Ah still need ta talk ta ya."
Big Mac frowned, but nodded.
"Alright, where is Applebloom?" asked Brawler.
"Over here!"
Brawler looked past Big Mac and saw the little filly running up to them.
"I was jus' helpin' Granny Smith down the stairs, she needs it now an' then," Applebloom explained. "We gonna start bucking soon?"
Brawler tried not to chuckle, he failed miserably. Applebloom cocked her head at him.
"What's so funny?" she asked.
"Uhh-, Nothing Applebloom, jus' a grown up joke!" said Applejack quickly, "Anyway yeah, we're gonna start APPLEbucking right about now. Yer with Brawler on one end a the north field an' Ah'm with Mac on the other, sound good?"
"Okay! Come on Brawler!" said Applebloom as she raced toward the orchard.
Brawler smiled, shook his head, then took off and flew after her. They reached the orchard in just a minute. Brawler saw that some baskets were already in stacks at the end of a row of trees. Applebloom went over to the base of one of the stacks and tried to get the top one down, but it was out of her reach. Brawler flew over and took the top basket, then Applebloom was able to reach the next one.
"Thankth," said Applebloom, the basket in her mouth, she trotted over to a tree and placed it at the base. Brawler placed his next to hers.
"How many baskets per tree?" he asked.
"Two should be fine," said Applebloom, she turned so her hind legs were facing the tree, "HIYAH!" Her hind legs lashed out and she kicked the tree with all her might.
About a third of the apples tumbled down.
"Aww," said Applebloom when she saw how ineffective her kick had been.
"Don't sweat it kid, I'm just as bad," said Brawler. He took a breath, then lunged forward and slammed a right hook into the tree. The rest of the apples tumbled down.
"At kicking at least," he started gathering up the apples that hadn't fallen into the baskets.
"Yeah, I saw ya when Applejack was teachin' ya how ta buck. How'd ya get so strong anyway?" asked Applebloom, trotting beside him to help.
"Daily push-ups and eating meat," said Brawler.
Applebloom paused and sighed.
"Do I really gotta start eatin' meat?" she asked.
"You need the extra protein to build some real muscle. Tofu just doesn't cut it and magically modified food's too expensive," explained Brawler. "But again, I'm not forcing you to be a fighter."
"I wanna try!" said Applebloom, "When I saw ya fight Rainbow Dash an' Pinkie I just... I jus' had ta learn how ta do that, ya know?"
Brawler nodded.
"Yeah, I know. When I was ten my parents brought me to this play where the main character was a martial artist. After watching him beat up a few goons I just, I had to learn," he said.
Applebloom nodded
"Yeah," she rubbed the back of her head. "It's just, with the meat eating thing. Well, we've gotta herd a cattle here on the farm, an' I'm friends with a lot of 'em."
"Oh that's why you're worried. Heh, don't worry kid, as long as you eat some kind of meat I won't force you to eat beef. Hell, if you feel that strong about it I'll never even order some."
"Really!"
"You'll still have to eat some kind of meat. Like chicken or pork, think you can handle that?" asked Brawler.
Applebloom hesitated for a second, then nodded.
"Yeah, I think I can."
"Good, now let's get back to work, I'm pretty sure AJ's not paying me to talk," said Brawler.
They started placing apples in the basket again. When they were done they picked them up and started walking back to the pile of baskets.
"Hey Brawler?" asked Applebloom
"Yeah?"
"Jus' a quick question: Why do ya keep gigglin' every time a pony says buck?"
Brawler chuckled.
This is gonna be a good day.
Luna sipped her coffee as she read over Twilight Sparkle's letter a second time.
Dear Celestia,
I have recently come across some disturbing information and I must discuss it with you immediately. I insist that you clear your schedule as this is a matter I feel must be discussed in private, and I am unsure how long it will take to handle it. I will arrive at 9:30 sharp, and I do not care what I interrupt, this must be dealt with immediately.
Sincerely,
Twilight Sparkle
Princess of Friendship
Luna glanced at the clock, 9:26, the young Alicorn would be arriving soon. Luna looked at the letter again. Celestia had shown it to her during breakfast and was apparently slightly disturbed by it. Luna didn't blame her. Until recently Twilight had continued to treat Celestia as her mentor, despite now being equals. Now she had written this letter, DEMANDING that Celestia clear her schedule in order to hear her out. Celestia also told Luna that Twilight had also demanded that the Royal Guard not be stationed in Ponyville. A decision that Luna wholeheartedly agreed with, but Twilight had never made these sort of demands before.
Mayhaps the presence of Brawler forced her to 'grow a backbone' as they say.
Before she had turned into Nightmare Moon, Luna had dealt with Fighter Ponies in court. Not enough to judge them as a whole, but occasionally. They were always aggressive and almost never respected her for her title alone. Some had even used it as an insult. In order to deal with them, one had to be aggressive and forceful right back.
If Brawler hath taught Twilight that being forceful in domestic disputes is sometimes necessary then that is the second service he hath done for the good of Equestria.
She, like everypony else in the castle, had heard about Brawler's battle with Tirek. Sergeant Steel Feathers had mentioned it in his report, then the whole of the Royal Guard, Solar and Lunar, had dragged the details out of him. Some, like Celestia, didn't believe it, but after gazing into Brawler's mind, Luna wasn't too surprised at the news.
I believe I shall ask Brawler to train a few of my guards, Gods know, they need it.
Luna placed the letter down and glanced at her sister. They were both sitting in the throne room, Celestia sipping tea, and Luna drinking coffee. To anypony else, Celestia would appear perfectly calm, but Luna could see the slightest tenses in her muscles as she moved.
"Are you alright Sister?" asked Luna.
"I'm fine Lulu, just a little anxious to find out what information Twilight has uncovered. We only just finished dealing with Tirek, a brief break would've been nice," said Celestia.
"True, but what can one do? Tell the world's villains that you need a week off?" asked Luna.
Celestia smiled.
"That would be nice," she glanced at the clock, "She should be arriving any second now."
Sure enough, a bright flash of light erupted the center of the throne room and Twilight appeared a moment later. Wearing saddlebags for some reason.
"Ah, Twilight, it's good to see you," said Celestia, smiling warmly.
Twilight glared at her.
"Celestia, Luna," she said, giving a curt nod to each of them.
Celestia's smile faded.
"I see you believe that there's no time for pleasantries. Very well then, what have you discovered?" she asked.
"Cackling Lightning," said Twilight.
It was as if somepony had punched Celestia in the stomach. Her eyes bulged and her breathing staggered for a moment.
Luna raised an eyebrow.
What sort of adversary could provoke such a reaction in our sister at the mere mention of their name? And why hast Celestia not told me of them?
"H-how do you know that name?" asked Celestia, trembling slightly.
Twilight levitated a book from her saddlebags, covered it in a pink bubble shield, then levitated it closer for them to see.
"War on Changelings: a Memoir," read Luna. "Odd. I've never heard of this book, and I've been researching the events that occurred in Equestria during my banishment."
"That's because Celestia BANNED this book," said Twilight, levitating the book back to herself.
"WHAT!" exclaimed Luna. "Sister, is this true?"
Celestia nodded grimly.
"That book glorifies violence and war. We cannot allow ponies to be exposed to such things," she said.
"Glorifies!?!" cried Twilight. "On the very first page Honey Blossom says that joining the military was, and I quote: 'The biggest motherbucking mistake of her life.' She also describes war and violence as HELL on Equis. How is that glorification?"
"And when has it been our duty to dictate what our subjects can and cannot read?" demanded Luna.
"It is our responsibility to ensure peace and harmony among everypony. Stories like Honey Blossom's can inspire others to act in a similar fashion," said Celestia.
"Honey Blossom spent every moment of that war PRAYING it would end so she could go back to having an ordinary life. She said so several times," said Twilight.
"Some ponies would gloss over that and simply fantasize about the battle scenes," said Celestia.
"You mean the ones where she watched her squadmates' throats get torn out?"
"They would imagine themselves to be better than Honey Blossom. To be able to save everypony by killing every Changeling," said Celestia. "And I will not allow anypony to have the notion that KILLING is a legitimate way to solve a problem."
"It was a WAR! Ponies fight, kill, and die in wars, that's simply how they work!" shouted Luna, jumping to her hooves. "If this book depicts war as hell then I say everypony should read it to solidify that lesson."
"I will not allow anypony to be exposed to that sort of violence in any form!" shouted Celestia, standing up as well. "We need to forget that ponykind is capable of that sort of violence to ensure we never resort to it again!"
"So you rewrite history to fit your delusional perfect world!?" demanded Twilight.
Luna's jaw dropped.
"What?" she gasped.
"Cackling Lightning, the mare I mentioned earlier, was the true hero of that war. Celestia replaced her with Laughing Light, a glowing happy facade to cover up the real truth," said Twilight.
"Cackling Lightning was a drunk, psychopathic MONSTER, who enjoyed slaughtering thousands of lives at a time. Ponies like your brother look up to Laughing Light and are inspired to work for peaceful means to resolve conflict. If Ponies knew about Cackling Lightning they would be inspired to be murderers!" shouted Celestia.
"Cackling Lightning sacrificed EVERYTHING for this kingdom. Including her soul. And you want to pretend she never existed?!" shouted Twilight.
"If that's what it takes to maintain harmony in Equestria, then yes," said Celestia.
Luna's eye twitched.
"Thou truly believes thou art upholding the virtues of harmony?" she asked, calmly. She closed her eyes, her mane flickered, then darkened.
Celestia and Twilight looked at her, and gulped.
"Thou truly believes thou hast been Honest with our subjects? Not even allowing the memory of a hero you disliked to survive? Perhaps even BURNING books that so much as mention them? What of Kindness? Denying a subject ever existed, that is Kindness? And this is Loyalty? A pony giving their life, their SOUL, to the protect our precious subjects, and thou betrays them in favor of a delusional lie? And thou hast been spreading Laughter by imprisoning anypony that didn't fit into thy perfect society? We doubt Brawler was the only one. And is stealing the hard earned history away from our subjects thy concept of Generosity?" Luna opened her eyes and glared at Celestia.
"We must congratulate you sister, thou hast achieved thy vision for a perfect world. BY BETRAYING EVERYTHING WE EVER STOOD FOR!" Luna's Royal Canterlot Voice boomed through the throne room, but the force of it was directed toward Celestia.
The force of the wind blew her mane back, but Celestia herself didn’t move. She glared at Luna.
“I stand for the happiness and safety of our subjects. Fighters like Brawler are a direct threat to them and I will do whatever is necessary to protect my little ponies,” she turned her glare to Twilight. “How dare you come in here and tell me how to rule my kingdom. I have lived for thousands of years and made countless sacrifices for the good of everypony in it. You come in here, waving around FILTH, and call me unfit to rule?”
Twilight gulped
“I-I never-” she stammered.
“You have never known the weight of responsibility that comes with ruling a nation. You have not seen the world unfold and grow around you. You do not have the RIGHT to accuse me of anything!” yelled Celestia.
“WE do. And what thou hast done is wrong!” shouted Luna, “Fighters have every right to live in Equestria.”
“SAVAGES have no place in a land of peace.”
“What the devil happened to ‘love and tolerate’ while we were gone? Did thou just decide to do away with it?”
“How can one love and tolerate someone who ENJOYS hurting others? You haven’t seen the Fighters I’ve been forced to witness over the centuries, you haven’t seen their joy in brutality! You haven’t seen them convince Equestria that two ponies beating each other senseless is ENTERTAINMENT! I did, and it was horrible and disgusting. Ponies were so invested in their savage tournaments that every time I tried to outlaw them, practically the whole of Equestria demand I bring them back. So they could be entertained by senseless violence!”
“So thou manipulates thy subjects to thy whims?”
“Is it manipulation if I TELL them what I want to do? All I ever did was speak out against Martial Arts tournaments and over the centuries ponies saw that they were nothing but pointless savagery. Then when almost nopony cared for a tournament, I would ban it, and nopony would complain.”
“But BANNING books? Pray tell dear Sister, how is that not manipulation?”
“After the Changeling war, soldiers ASKED me to ban books that glorified violence. A number of authors had started glorifying the war in disrespectful novels and soldiers were outraged. THEY, came to ME, and told me to ban the books.”
“We DOUBT, they demanded for thou to erase their hard earned history. Honey Blossom’s memoir sounds like an attempt to tell the true story of that terrible war and thou bans it as well? Along with the very memory of Cackling Lightning?”
“MONSTERS, do not deserve to be heroes. They cannot be allowed to inspire more monsters who’ll create more bloodshed.”
“Cackling Lightning EARNED her place in history when she gave her soul to Equestria. And what if the Changelings hadn’t attacked? Would thou hath locked Cackling Lightning away simply for her Cutie Mark?”
“I NEVER locked a pony away for their Cutie Mark alone.” said Celestia.
“But thou handed down life sentences for crimes barely warranting five years!”
“The Fighters I locked away were a danger to Equestria. Take Fire Cracker as an example: She started a bar fight because she didn’t want to pay for her drinks, then she said that she couldn’t wait to get out of jail so she could start another fight! She had to be locked away. Or maybe Rorschach will convince you. He was a stallion who thought he could take the law into his own hooves, how you ask? By TORTURING random ponies on the street for information, then beating the criminal he was looking for until they couldn’t move. He was a public menace who deserved his life sentence.”
“Thou cannot judge an entire type of pony with just two examples! Even if thou adds Brawler’s crime and Cackling Lightning’s insanity, that isn’t enough to judge Fighters as a whole. And it certainly isn’t enough to warrant attempting to wipe Fighters out from the face of Equis!”
“I have witnessed a Fighter’s brutality first hoof, you haven’t,” said Celestia.
“We know the brutality of combat, and we know it’s thrill. If thou art truly committed to the extermination of Fighters, then we shall be committed to their survival and prosperity.”
“Luna,” snarled Celestia.
Luna ignored her and turned to Twilight.
“Is there anything Brawler is currently struggling with?” she asked.
Twilight jumped, surprised that she was part of the conversation again.
“W-well, um, r-right now he believes that three fillies have the potential to be Fighters and he wants permission to train them,” she said.
“Denied. I will not allow him to-” Celestia began.
“Granted,” said Luna, “Tell him to begin as soon as he can.”
“Luna, you know when we’re divided on something that it goes to Parliament,” said Celestia.
“Not if it’s over an issue you have no control over,” said Luna.
“WHAT!?!”
“As of this moment, I declare Brawler to be a Specialist Trainer for the Lunar Royal Guard. He will train both members of the Royal Guard, and anypony he thinks has the potential to become one.”
“He can’t just train whoever he wants! The minimum age for entering the Royal Guard is twenty one!” protested Celestia.
“For the SOLAR Royal Guard. Many Thestrals have difficulty finding employment outside of guard duty so I never placed an age minimum for the start of their training. They have to pass a test to become a true member of the guard but that is not Brawler’s concern. He will train anypony he sees fit, and since he is doing it under my authority there is NOTHING you can do about it!”
Celestia stared hard at Luna.
“Are you sure you want to do this Luna? I don’t want to become enemies again,” she said.
Luna glared right back.
“There isn’t a single doubt in my mind.” She turned to Twilight. “Come Twilight, I need to inform Brawler of his new position.”
“Uh, yes, of course.”
As they prepared to teleport away, Luna looked at Celestia one more time.
Something tells us things are going to get worse before they get better.
And with that, she and Twilight vanished in a flash of light.
Bonus: Fire Cracker and Rorschach
Fire Cracker pounded the bar table. The bartender slid her another shot of whiskey. She gulped it down with a smirk. She had no intention of paying for it, or the other two she'd already had. It was a Friday evening and the place was packed, she could sneak off without paying. She'd done it plenty of times before.
She looked at her reflection in the mirror behind the bar. Her messy yellow mane was cut shorter than it usually was, and her tan coat was cleaner. For reason being, until six hours ago she had been employed as a janitor for North Manehattan Highschool. She had been fired when she had set fire to a colt's backpack. The son of a bitch thought it was a good idea to dump her bucket of used mop water all over the lunchroom floor. While he had been laughing his stupid little laugh, Fire Cracker set his backpack on fire, then guffawed as he screamed like a filly and rolled around in the filthy water. She'd been fired ten minutes after that. The colt's parents had threatened to sue, but a practiced evil grin scared them off.
Ah, who cares? I was probably going to quit soon anyway.
She could never hold a job for more than a few months at a time. Either she got fired for some form of arson or she just got bored and left. She'd held that janitorial job for a good four months, a new record for her. The reason she stayed so long likely had something to do with the fact that scaring the shit out of highschool students was the most fun she had had in a long time.
Fire Cracker chuckled.
The look on that Freshmare's face when I snarled at her. Hah HAH! I think she was a second away from pissing herself.
Fire Cracker lifted her hoof to pound the table again, but stopped when she noticed her hoof shaking a little.
Already? Sheesh, guess I've been gone for longer than I thought.
She lowered her hoof and waited. After about five minutes, a large group of noisy college mares walked up to the bar and Fire Cracker was able to slip away while the bartender was distracted. She trotted for the exit but when she reached the door she felt a hoof grab her shoulder. She turned around and saw the bouncer, a large green earth pony stallion, glaring at her.
"You forgot to pay for your drinks," he growled.
Fire Cracker smirked.
"I didn't forget, I just decided not to."
The stallion snarled.
"You're PAYING for those drinks, one way or another. Don't make me get rough."
Fire Cracker chuckled.
"Oh yeah, a dumbass EARTH PONY is going to stop me."
The stallion threw a right hook at her head. She ducked beneath it and her horn glowed orange. The ground around the bouncer's feet grew hotter and hotter until it was if a circle of coals had sprung into existence under his hooves. The stallion howled in pain and started hopping from hoof to hoof, trying to minimize contact with the ground.
Fire Cracker laughed.
"Dance, bucker, dance!" she shouted. The stallion, sill howling in pain, sprinted back into the bar, shouting for ice between his screams. Fire Cracker ceased the enchantment and the floor returned to normal. By now the bar had gone completely silent. Most ponies were either hiding beneath tables, or frozen in fear. A few though, were glancing at each other.
I guess the mud pony had friends.
"Who's next?" she called. A blue Pegasus mare with a purple mane charged forward.
Fire Cracker grinned.
When the pegasus was three feet away from her she created a five foot wall of fire in front of herself. The pegasus reared up and flapped her wings to slow down. Fire Cracker jumped through the fire and punched the pegasus in the stomach. When she had doubled over Fire Cracker stood on her hind legs, grabbed the pegasus' head, then slammed it into her back knee. There was a loud "CRUNCH' as the Pegasus' nose broke and she fell to the ground, moaning.
The bar was now in a full on panic. Ponies were screaming, running into each other, and jumping out windows. If she had had the time, Fire Cracker would've laughed, but now was not the time.
Two stallions charged next. A black earth pony stallion coming from the left and a white unicorn stallion with a brown mane coming from the right. Fire Cracker held her right foreleg in the wall of fire, condensed it into a basketball sized fireball, then launched it at the earth pony. He dropped to the ground but his Unicorn friend was still coming. Fire Cracker twisted around and slammed the side of her foreleg into the unicorn's face. He fell onto his side and groaned.
"That all you got? That's bucking path- GAK!!" A levitated whiskey bottle smashed itself against Fire Cracker's head and broke into a thousand tiny pieces. And it felt like a couple hundred had buried themselves into her skin. Her vision went blurry and blood and whiskey trickled down her face. In the haze of her vision she could just make out a black blur charging towards her.
No, no NO! I need time, I need time!
Then an idea struck Fire Cracker and she grinned.
She lit the whiskey on fire. The right side of her face went up in flames and so did a lot of her left foreleg. She knew a spell that prevented the fire from burning her and focused on maintaining it while she recovered.
The black stallion had jumped back when he saw her face go up in flames, but from the look in his eye he was building his courage back up fairly quickly.
Fire Cracker couldn't let that happen, so with practiced ease, she tilted her head back and cackled with far more glee than she actually felt.
The bar had been panicking before but now it was full on pandemonium. Anypony that hadn't hid behind the bar was now fighting for their turn to jump out a window. And from the look on the black stallion's face, he wanted to join them.
When her vision returned to normal, Fire Cracker lowered her head and charged the black stallion. He was so shaken up that he didn't even try to dodge her left hook. And before he could stumble out of range Fire Cracker kicked him in the chest. He was thrown backward onto a table, then collapsed onto the floor.
Before Fire Cracker could celebrate a load of water was dumped onto her head, putting the fire out. She looked up and saw that the Pegasus had recovered and was holding an upturned bucket in her hooves. With blood from her broken broken nose splattered across her snarling face, she looked quite intimidating to the average pony.
Fire Cracker just rolled her eyes, grabbed the bucket with her telekinesis, and smashed it into the pegasus' face. She fell to the floor with a thud, unconscious.
"Those are my friends you bitch!" yelled the unicorn as he charged her from behind. He swung a right hook at the back of her head but she teleported behind him, and slammed her elbow into the back of his head. He dropped like a rock.
Fire Cracker looked down at him and smirked.
"You've got some pretty shitty friends," she said. She trotted over to the bar, ignored the cowering ponies behind it, and grabbed another bottle of whiskey with her telekinesis. She opened the bottle, turned for the exit, and took a drink while she walked.
When she got outside, she saw the place was surrounded by the Royal Guard. Fire Cracker sighed.
And tonight was going so well.
She took another swig of the bottle. A large unicorn guard stepped forward.
"Place down the bottle and come with us quietly," he commanded.
Fire Cracker waved her hoof dismissively.
"Yeah, yeah. One sec." She began chugging the bottle. The guard was perplexed for a moment but recovered quickly.
"Ma'am, I insist you put the bottle down and come with us," he said.
Fire Cracker ignored him.
"Ma'am, if you don't put the bottle down -" The guard was cut off when a pony-sized dragon head made of fire burst into existence above Fire Cracker's head. It looked down on the guard and snarled. The guard tripped backward and scrambled back to his fellow guards. All of which were now shaking in their armor.
Fire Cracker finished the bottle and belched. The dragon head disappeared with a puff of smoke.
"Right," said Fire Cracker, shaking herself. "I surrender."
The guards blinked.
"What?" asked the large unicorn guard.
"I'm tired, injured, and drunk," said Fire Cracker, her voice slurring just a bit. "A fight's fun, even if you lose. But a one-sided beatdown is never fun. So I surrender." She tossed the bottle away and held up her forelegs.
The guards hesitated, then quickly moved forward, put her in chains and started leading her away.
Well, on the bright side, at least the food in prison is free.
The next day was Fire Cracker's trial. A lawyer had been offered to defend her but she brushed him off. She was going to jail, dragging out the trial wouldn't do anything so why bother?
She had a magic inhibitor placed on her horn and her forelegs were shackled. She also had two guards escort her to the courtroom. When she was brought to the courtroom she was surprised to see Princess Celestia herself sitting in the judge's chair.
"Heh, heh heh! Am I THAT important Princess, or were you just bored of sitting your fat ass on the throne?" asked Fire Cracker.
"You will speak to the Princess with respect!" shouted the guard on her left.
"Yeah? Make me you pussy."
Celestia banged her gavel on the bench* with her telekinesis.
"Enough, Fire Cracker, take your seat."
The guards brought Fire Cracker to the defense side of the room and she sat down.
"You have no lawyer?" asked Celestia.
"I'm going to jail, why bother dragging this out?" asked Fire Cracker.
"Then you wish to plead guilty?" asked the prosecutor. A maroon red Unicorn with a short, well trimmed mane.
"Yep," said Fire Cracker. "Spend three, five, years in jail, then get out and wait for this to happen again."
"You expect this to happen again?" asked Celestia.
Fire Cracker chuckled and stood up. She turned and showed her Cutie Mark to Celestia.
"Look at my Cutie Mark," she said.
Celestia examined it for a moment.
"You are a fireworks operator?" she asked. A reasonable guess, Fire Cracker's Cutie Mark did look like a red and yellow firework.
"Errnnt, wrong! I'm a Fighter, specifically, a Pyrokineticist. Or a battle mage who specializes in fire. You feel good when you raise the sun, I feel good when I launch a fireball at a pony," Fire Cracker sat down. "So I plead guilty, spend a few years in jail getting free food, then back on the streets where it's only a matter of time before I get into another fight. And I'm gonna bucking love it."
Celestia's eyes narrowed.
"You plead guilty on the charges of arson, property damage, and four charges of assault?" she asked.
"Yep," said Fire Cracker with a shrug.
"I sentence you to life in the Canterlot maximum security prison," said Celestia, she banged the gavel to signal the end of the trial.
The courtroom was dead silent. Fire Cracker heard her heart beat, once. Twice.
"WHAT!?!? YOU CAN"T DO THAT!" she yelled.
"Yes I can," said Celestia, coldly. "Anypony who admits to have a love for violence and plans on committing future attacks on my subjects has no place in Equestria. Guards, take her away."
"YOU CAN'T BUCKING DO THIS YOU BITCH!" Fire Cracker continued to yell even as the guards dragged her away. "I'M NOT A KILLER, YOU CAN'T GIVE A LIFE SENTENCE TO A PONY WHO ISN'T A KILLER!"
Celestia didn't even look at her as the guards dragged her out of the courtroom and toward the prison.
For three months, she hoped. For three months, she thought there most have been some mistake. For three months, she thought a pony would come and inform her of her true sentence.
For three months, her cellmate laughed at her.
In the fourth month, she gave up. She was going to spend the rest of her life in this cold, gray prison.
And nopony would care.
Nopony would ever know just how much she'd been wronged.
Fire Cracker knew she deserved jail time, but a life surrounded by cold stone, slowly going insane from talent withdrawal? She didn't deserve that, NOpony deserved that.
Nopony will remember what happened to me, but everypony who stays in this cell, will know my name.
Fire Cracker placed her front right hoof on the wall, and focused. Soon, it felt like the inhibitor on her horn was drilling a six inch hole in her skull, but she didn't care. Her hoof glowed bright red, and she burned her name into the concrete wall. It was a special kind of burn, the kind that could never be washed or chipped away. It would be on that stone until the end of time.
Fire Cracker smiled at her handiwork. Then passed out from the pain.
Rorschach touched the mark on the wall. He always touched it when he went back to his cell, and he always read it aloud.
"Fire Cracker."
The name was burned into the concrete, enchanted with some spell that prevented it from ever being removed. According to the rumors it had been there for over a hundred years.
Rorschach let his hoof drop and he walked back to his bunk. He sat down, and stared at the name. It was strange, despite six months of living in this cell, he could not shake the feeling that he was connected to the name somehow.
A small part of him was irritated by this. The name was a distraction. It pushed itself to the front of his mind when he least wanted it to. He had a war against evil to fight, and there was plenty of evil all around him. He had to break them, it was his duty. The name distracted him from planning his move against the evil festering in these ponies' souls.
But the larger part of him was glad. He had always been disconnected from the ponies around him. He was too disillusioned to join the innocents in their blissful ignorance. But he'd sworn an oath to defend them against the darkness of the world. He belonged to neither light nor darkness, and therefore connected with nopony. Yet here was a name. The name of a pony, long dead, that he felt connected to. He somehow KNEW, that if this pony was alive, they'd be able to truly understand him.
This knowledge came from the fact that making this mark on the cell would've been unbelievably difficult, and painful. He'd seen Unicorns try to cast magic with inhibitors on. Simply holding a small object in telekinesis for too long could leave them groaning on the floor. Making a mark like this on the wall would've been beyond agony. Yet they did it anyway. Whoever they were, they had been determined to leave their mark on the world, even if nopony appreciated it. Rorschach had the same determination.
The fool of a Princess thought throwing a criminal in jail was enough to 'fix' them. Rorschach knew better. Criminals couldn't be fixed, they could only be broken. And they only stayed in line if they feared being broken again. He had learned this when he earned his Cutie Mark.
He had been eight when he earned it. He was walking back to his whore of a Mother's apartment with a load of groceries when two street thugs stopped him. It hadn't been the first time, they always hounded him, no matter what route he took, and they always destroyed his groceries. Never eating them, just stomping them into the sidewalk, then pushing his face into the mush. They were occasionally caught, some adults would drag the punks away, and if he was lucky, re-buy the groceries for him. But the punks always came back the next week. They didn't care about detentions, or having possessions taken away, they just wanted to hurt him. One day, Rorschach just snapped.
He didn't care that they were a head taller than him. He didn't care that one was a Unicorn. He didn't care that the other one was always bragging about his Father's money. He just wanted to break them.
So he did.
He snapped off the Unicorn's horn and buried it into the other's shoulder. They ran away, screaming.
And for the first time since he was a baby, Rorschach had grinned.
He saw a light coming from his flank and he dashed over to a window to see his newfound Cutie Mark. In the foggy glass of a store window, he could just barely make out his white coat with black splotches and his brown mane. He turned sideways to the mirror, trying to see his Cutie Mark.
It was more black splotches. Two upside down L's and a dot of the far side of each.
At first, he was disappointed. As time went on though, he understood it.
In this world, there is good, and there is evil. Evil will always be present, always be on the move. Shifting like black splotches through the white innocence of society.
It had to be punished. There was no compromise in this. Those punks, who he'd broken, never bothered him again. Out of fear of being broken once more. It was the same for all criminal trash. Break them, and they'll be too scared to ever hurt an innocent again.
Rorschach was going to leave his own mark on the world, by breaking as much of the darkness as he could.
The Princess did not understand his mission, and had thrown him in here. But in truth, a small part of Rorschach was glad. There was so much darkness in here for him to break. So many criminals to scare into behaving. All he had to do, was wait for the right moment.
The second he finished that thought his cellmate burst into the cell and hid beneath his bunk. Rorschach quirked an eyebrow, then got off the bunk and squatted down.
"Dusk. What happened?" he grunted.
The brown Unicorn just babbled nonsense. Rorschach sighed irritably, dragged him out and slapped him.
"What. Happened?" Rorschach asked again.
"O-oh Gods, Rorschach. They started a riot! It's total chaos out there and the guards can't do anything about it! O-oh they're going to reach here soon and we're locked in! We're locked in with them," said Dusk, trembling.
"No," Rorschach walked toward the cell door and opened it. Now was the moment he had been waiting for. He was going to break every single criminal in this building and there was nothing anypony could do about it.
Wish me luck Fire Cracker, I'm about to make my own mark.
"I'm not locked in with them," he stepped out of the cell. "They're locked in here with ME."
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congratulations. you made me hate celestia even MORE THAN I DID BEFORE!
6634749 Just revised chapter 10. Celestia no longer does a 180 flip after one conversation.
While a 180 within a couple thousand words was a bit much, the other extreme felt initially far more out of character, given that Celestia is typically written as calm and collected. But write more faster.
Well done on getting this out so fast. Def. better than the original, though I wonder what it'll mean for the story as a whole, since Celestia is no longer backing down from her stance.
As if i needed more reasons to hate celestia.
Wow nice revision, I find the dialogue not even forced once unlike last version. And TAKE THAT CELESTIA!
By the way, since she is stil against Fighters means more plot and I can't wait to see AppleBloom become a counter-forgetthewholename. And Scoots something like Brawler ( I guess )
Now I really want to see Brawler put Celestia in intensive care.
I have to give you credit for coming up with a version of Celestia I dislike, but building a story around her that I want to keep reading. Good job!
I am invested in Brawler's well-being and the future training of the CMC.
Oh how I love it when Tia gets put in her place like this.
No offence to you Tia fans out there.
This revision.....
Arright. I like.
Luna got left by the wayside last time, but now... She's all in it.
Heh. In this Brawler is a better representative of Harmony than Celestia right now. He at least has Honesty because he told the truth on the incident that got him thrown in jail. Maybe Kindness because even though he didn't have to help the mare, he chose to anyway.
Speaking of, how soon until something is done about that one guard? Something tells me it becoming known to others that Celestia locked a pony away for life based on a LIE by a member of the Royal Guard it can only help Brawler, Luna and Twilight's position on this matter.
This revision is good. Celestia shouldn't have just been, "oh, that was bad, wasn't it, oopsie?", gotten a pounding, and then the matter dropped. And now, when Brawler breaks her face, the epicness shall reach 11, especially if he has to use counter-magic.
And how exactly is being a Fighter bad? As long as they weren't a murderer, if their 'destiny' was to be a Martial Artist, that just means that they would be able to be defenders of the country if they needed to be called on.
Whoah whoah whoah man.
I expected you to respond to my comment, sure. Perhaps get defensive, perhaps think on it a little. I didn't expect you to re-write the chapter overnight.
I've never seen someone respond like that before. I've seen people get defensive (which would be understandable, I did swear a tad), I've seen people get stubborn about their idea, I've seen people think on it and say that they're thinking of re-working it someday but don't have the time.
I've never seen (until now) someone actually take my though and just re-write an integral chapter that quickly.
I'm partially flattered, but I'm also concerned. I'm not perfect. I'm just a reader. All of my ideas aren't going to be great, and all of my suggestions aren't going to be the right choice. Same goes for any other commenters.
I think you might want to take a little more time rather than making a change that drastic so quickly. Talk with other authors, talk with other readers, figure it out. I'm not sure how new you are to writing, but if you're relatively new there are tons of lovely people who would be cool with editing/discussing the finer details.
I feel kind of bad about my comment now. I might have been in the right about it, I might have been in the wrong, I don't really know because it's been deleted along with the old version of the chapter. If you wanted to take my idea so seriously that's fine, but perhaps we could've bounced some ideas off of each other? Perhaps talked to some other people?
Have some confidence man, I think you can really make a great story. You don't need to bend so easily to comments like mine, even if they were intended to be helpful. You'll get plenty of other people who will throw suggestions like mine but not have the best ideas, even if they think they do. Sometimes I do that too.
Maybe when Celestia confronts Brawler and tries to arrest him for training the CMC and after she gets her face beaten up, along with being reprimanded by not just her sister, mane 6 and the CMC... will she realize how far she has fallen...
Cause really, what Celestia is doing is not for the sake of Harmony... it's Fascism.
6635984 You weren't the only one who thought Celestia's first reaction was bullshit. Several people thought that it was way too fast and was unrealistic. Plus, I'm pretty sure I knew it too, but I wanted to get the chapter done quickly so I could move on and at the time I hadn't thought of having Luna taking such a stand against her sister.
I am confident in my ability as a writer, but I know I can make mistakes when I try to rush through something, I need people like you to tell me I can do better than bullshit 180's and Mary Sues (the original chapter one was atrocious, someone named koorabiter called me out on it and I'm very glad they did). If the story goes in a direction you disagree with, I'll defend it, if I make a fatal mistake in writing I'll fix it. But again, I need people like you to let me know when I make that kind of mistake.
6636061 Well..thank you.
That takes a lot more maturity than many new authors have. I'm impressed.
I wish you the best of luck on all your upcoming work, and will be following closely when I can.
6636061
Let's just hope Celestia learns her lesson not just from Brawler but from those she loves too...
Why do I get the feeling the guard who arrested Brawler (along with molesting the mare) is going to make a reappearance again and Celestia is going to take his side (until the shit hits the fan)?
Luna should have let it go to the Parliament, honestly.
Then present decisive evidence in public that Brawler was locked away for nearly a decade on a lie by a guard that was perpetrated by his fellow guards.
6635827 Hell even Canon-Celestia doesn't represent Harmony.
6636256
There's a huge problem with that...
Parliament have formed their rules around Celestia's rule... so, if Luna went to them, they would take Celestia's way cause it's 'the Harmony way'
6636061
For me at least it wasn't so much that her reaction was unbelievable so much as that its speed was unbelievable. People don't just give up long-held prejudices over the course of a single conversation. If you want to go the route of her realizing her error (and I still think that's a good route to go) then you need have her be confronted far more directly with the suffering she's caused to others, and delve into her thought as she gradually accepts that what she did was wrong.
Man you update and change a lot. It's better though! I just thought it was a clean up.
One of the "the" is too much.
On an other note: At the beginning of the chapter I thought you just changed a couple of mistakes, but when I came to the part you actually changed I was pleasantly surprised. I like the newer version more.
To quote Teal Deer
"Welcome to 1984, please enjoy your stay"
Celestia does not embody the elements of harmony, oh no, but instead the elements of distopia
Manipulation
Power
Injustice
Correction
Division
And finally, Thought
"And with all your powers combined, I am Captain Distopimare!"
I'm really disliking this Celestia...
Her view is so flawed it isn't funny, those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it after all.
Ah, so this must be where Doctor Manhattan must've sent Walter Kovacs.
Man, now I REALLY want to see Brawler knock Celestia's teeth out
Not-Celestia's droppings stink. I liked this so far, except for this one chapter. But this chapter may set the tone for the rest of the fic. I don't like that. I've been getting bad impressions of your Celestia all along, but this...
I'll be honest with you. The bit with your version of Celestia was rotten and foul, but it wasn't enough to kill my liking of the rest of the story. The conflict to come between your Celestia and Luna will probably be enough to make me dislike it. Maybe I should get while the getting's good.
*a purple aura mixed in with orange flashes around me*
I love stories were everyone(even Twilight) is against Celestia for hating a violent character or someone opposing her.
Luna, once more... you make me smil because you have brains in that beautiful fucking head of yours.
And damn... I feel bad for what happened tp the first two, Fire Cracker and Rorschach.
FIre Cracker just loved fighting! That's no reason to give her life
damn Celestia... that's harsh.
And Rorschach, he seems like a genuine good pony, a protector, a vigilante of the night...
like Batman...
Nice work!
Brawler's crime sounds like he truly did something wrong. He defended a mare from corrupted guards and should be rewarded for this, not being talked about like a criminal!
And Fire Cracker! I mourn this character! Celestia KILLED her! Just like that! At least no one can say otherwise considering she let her rot in a lonely cell for the rest of her life!
Truth be told, if Celestia is still sitting on that throne of hers by the end of the story I will be thoroughly disappointed. I mean, who knows how many ponies beside Fire Cracker and Rohrschach she killed! She is a serial killer in the name or harmony! 
7549896
I agree with your every word, I feel so bad for Fire Cracker.
7749460 I'm honestly a bit surprised people seem to like Fire Cracker so much. I know I didn't really get the chance to fully showcase her but I imagined her as a foul mouthed racist who didn't give a fuck that her lifestyle hurt other ponies. The sort of character that might be fun to read about, but not meet in real life.
... That's not how one deals with fighters. Locking them up and throwing away the key just makes them fester and hate. What you want to do is give them something to do. Oh, here's an idea. Make them your damned elite guard. That would not only give them something to do it would actually give you some competent help. By having them work and fight together they would even get better so that when you have an actual threat that your precious harmony can't handle you can throw something legitimately scary at it instead of watching the problem burn everything.
I know the episode I'm going to bring up hadn't aired yet when you wrote this (I don't think it did anyway) but the cow thing Applebloom mentioned got me thinking. We know that cows are occasionally intelligent and things like chickens provide eggs and feathers. But what do the pigs bring to ponies that make them worth wasting resources on seeing as the vast majority of them don't eat meat? They aren't as intelligent as their actual pets and they don't provide anything while they are alive that make them worth keeping around. Surely they aren't stupid enough to keep that many un-useful animals around? Animal caretakers like Fluttershy being the rare exception of course. So what do they do with them I wonder? The only can only conclusion that I could think of was that they either use or sell the meat to other species like the griffins, pet owners and their hides to tanneries. All which would indicate that pony farm owners aren't as innocent as we would like to believe...