Run and Gun
The quiet of a Saturday morning was shattered by a shrill scream from the bathroom.
"GOD DAMMIT, ARIA!!"
Aria's head snapped up from the violent Western she was watching in the living room. "Whoa. I didn't know she even knew words like that."
Mr. Whatever, who was reading the Saturday paper in his easy chair, frowned. "Aria, what did you do now?"
"How the hell should I know?"
Mrs. Whoever, wearing her jogging outfit, walked into the living room, one running shoe half-laced. "Was that Fluttershy?" she asked with a mild frown.
Fluttershy stomped down the hall, her bathrobe wrapped loosely around her otherwise nude body. An expression of pure disgust and rage twisted her normally kind, gentle face. "I am SICK of finding your PUBES ALL OVER THE BATHROOM!" she screeched at Aria.
Aria raised an eyebrow. "Hey, at least I'm not using your razor anymore."
"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!"
Mrs. Whoever coughed. "Fluttershy? Dear? Would you please calm down? You're not yourself this morning."
"It's not...it's not that time of the month, is it?" Mr. Whatever asked.
The girls ALL glared at him. He cringed. "Umm...I'll just be...upstairs." He folded his paper, stood up, and quickly left the living room.
As soon as they heard the upstairs bedroom door close, Mrs. Whoever turned to her daughter. "Is it?" she asked. "You're not usually this cranky, and you do look a little, umm...well..."
"Bloated," Aria said. "I just assumed it was all that ice cream."
Fluttershy shot her an evil stare, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Aria," she began in a calmer tone, "will you please clean up the bathroom after you shave your disgusting bikini area?"
Aria rolled her eyes. "Fine."
"There, now we're all calm and we have an understanding," Mrs. Whoever said with a placid smile. "Now—"
Fluttershy suddenly frowned and opened her robe, looking down at her bare body. "Do I really look that bad?" she asked.
Mrs. Whoever tilted her head. "Maybe just a little," she said. "Could just be a little water retention. Or gas, maybe?"
"No maybe about the gas," Aria snorted. "All that fake veggie meat shit you eat makes you fart up the place something fierce."
Fluttershy blushed furiously. "I do not fart up the place!"
"Actually," Mrs. Whoever said, laughing sheepishly, "sometimes it's...pretty bad."
Fluttershy stared at her mother, her jaw gaping. Her whole body sagged forward as her shoulders slumped dejectedly. "Everybody hates me today," she whined.
"Here's an idea!" Mrs. Whoever said brightly. "It's a nice day out and you girls could use some exercise. Why don't you get dressed and go jogging with me?"
"Pass," Aria said, rolling her eyes. "So not my idea of a good time."
Fluttershy looked down at her torso again. She pursed her lips. "I'll be right back," she said. As she turned for the stairs, she called back, "Aria, you're going jogging with us and that's final."
Aria groaned. "Ugh! Fine."
* * * * *
Unlike most people who went to the park to jog, or just ran around their own block, Mrs. Whoever had a rather aggressive and winding jogging trail. It started in their neighborhood, went three quarters of a mile up the road, took a right, then went another two miles to a convenience store, where she would stop to buy a bottle of water. After a moment to rest and rehydrate, the second leg began, covering the mile and a quarter from the convenience store to a small neighborhood park where young children liked to play on the swings, slides, and sandbox, with young mothers watching. After a circuit around this park, Mrs. Whoever's jogging path went up a gently inclined hilly street, then swung toward town. Just at the edge of the downtown area, before the bustling traffic and rows of shops, the three ladies stopped to rest on a bench beneath some shade trees set back from the road.
Mrs. Whoever popped out her earbuds and finished off her water, tossing the bottle into a recycling bin at the end of the bench. She smiled at the other girls. "Isn't this fun?" she asked.
"I...I guess so," Fluttershy panted. Sweat glued her light workout top to her body and plastered her bangs to her face. She was the only one who didn't think to bring her earbuds, but she'd heard plenty of nice, soothing animal noises from all around them—barking dogs, cats doing cat things, birds chirping—as well as the calm rustling of leaves and the voices of people going about their day.
Aria scowled at them. "I'm taking the bus home," she growled. "You're insane if you think I'm doing that much running again."
"You just need the right motivation," Fluttershy said. She tilted her head, feigning a show of deep contemplation. "I'm sure I can find a nice big friendly bear to keep you company."
Mrs. Whoever laughed. "You're a bad influence on her, Aria!" she said lightly. She shook her head. "I think we'll rest about ten minutes, then start heading back."
"You do that," Aria said. "I'm not moving from this spot."
As they sat resting from their run, a young cream-skinned man with thick glasses, messy hair, and bad acne walked up to them, holding a stack of fliers. "Good morning, ladies!" he said. "You look like you're in good shape—"
"Ugh, what a creep," Aria grumbled. "Buzz off, nerdlinger. We're all out of your league and this one's married."
The geeky guy blanched. "S-sorry, that's not what I meant!" he said hastily, waving his free hand. He produced three fliers and handed them to the ladies. "We're looking for local contestants to appear in a pilot taping of Laser Paint Ninja."
"Laser Paint Ninja?" Mrs. Whoever asked, tilting her head curiously.
"It's a physical challenge show we're producing at Crystal City Studio," the man explained. "Teams of contestants compete in athletic challenges that combine team combat games and obstacle courses. We're looking for teams of three to compete in the pilot. There's a three thousand dollar cash prize for the winning team." He frowned. "I know it's not much, but it's the pilot, we only have two sponsors right now."
"Oh my," Fluttershy said, looking over the flier. "This looks...a little dangerous."
"It looks rather...complicated," Mrs. Whoever added, brow furrowed.
"It looks kinda fun," Aria said, a faintly deranged grin crossing her face.
"We're signing up eight teams of three for the taping," the geek said. "We'll be shooting tomorrow afternoon." He paused. "Oh, I forgot to mention! Let me..." He rummaged around in his pocket and dug out a notepad. "The producer's offering special prizes to all participants, I don't know exactly what they are, but our sponsors Blue Box Electronics and Sports Locker are co-producing, so it'll be some good stuff. My boss said he wants to see some beautiful, sexy, athletic women compete because that's good for ratings, so I imagine there'll be something good in it for you ladies if you decide to show up."
Mrs. Whoever blushed faintly. "W-well," she said, twirling a lock of hair around her finger.
Aria grimaced. "Typical."
"Why is this the first I'm hearing about this?" Fluttershy wondered. "Sorry, but this sounds like the kind of thing my friend Rainbow Dash would've been talking about for weeks now."
The geek laughed shakily. "Aheh...well...the truth is, if the show gets the green light, it'll be promoted all over town and all over social media, but right now, we don't have the budget to do more than rent the equipment and offer small prizes for the pilot contestants. As for rounding up contestants, the only two PAs working this weekend are me and a new girl that just joined last week, so I'll be..." He sighed. "Running all over town all day, trying to get people to show up for this."
"Wow dude. That sucks." Aria looked at the flier. "Tomorrow, you say?"
"Tomorrow at two at Crystal City Studio," the PA confirmed. "If you're interested, just show up. If by some miracle we manage to get more than eight interested teams, we'll vet you at the door." He adjusted his glasses. "I can pretty much guarantee you'll get a spot on the show. I think you're exactly what the boss wants. Especially, umm..." He blushed. "Especially you," he said, looking at Fluttershy.
"M-me?" Fluttershy asked, recoiling slightly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mrs. Whoever asked, a faint scowl forming on her face.
"Ah—nothing bad, honest!" The PA waved his hands placatingly, sending several fliers scattering on the ground. "W-well...anyway, just think about it, please? I need to go, I need to find more...more contestants...yeah..." He scooped up his dropped fliers and scurried off.
The girls watched him go.
"What a strange young man," Mrs. Whoever said.
"He's an idiot," Aria snorted. She shook her head and looked at the flier. "Well, I know I'm doing this," she said. "I guess I should call up Adagio and...ugh...Sonata." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Although I'm sure putting Adagio in a game like this will end up with all of us back in front of that judge, and if there's any possible way to screw this thing up, Sonata'll find it."
"Hmm." Mrs. Whoever looked at the flier again. "Three thousand dollars would certainly come in handy around the house," she said. "We do need a new sofa, and we could afford to buy you a new tablet..." She looked at Fluttershy, then at Aria. "Besides, this could be the perfect bonding activity. Don't you think?" She smiled hopefully.
Aria glanced at Fluttershy. "I don't know," she said. "I don't think Butterslice here even knows how to kick butt."
Fluttershy narrowed her eyes. "My friends and I certainly kicked your butt," she pointed out.
"Girls, I'm sure all three of us are capable of kicking whatever butt is expected of us," Mrs. Whoever said with the patient tone of a saint trying to calm down a room of hissing cats.
Aria studied the two of them, biting the inside of her cheek. "Well," she said at length, "I hate to admit it, but...seeing as how that little run we took this morning didn't kill you two, we might just have a shot at this thing."
"Says the girl who wanted to take the bus home," Fluttershy muttered.
Mrs. Whoever clapped her hands. "It's settled then!" she said. "You, me, and Fluttershy have a date at Crystal City Studio tomorrow!" She tilted her head and pressed a finger against her bottom lip. "Oh...! I think we should head to Sport Locker this afternoon and pick out some nice, coordinated athletic wear..."
* * * * *
Against the pessimistic production assistant's expectations, word had gotten out quickly about the pilot taping for Laser Paint Ninja. When the three ladies arrived at Crystal City Studio the following afternoon, there was a huge crowd outside. A familiar young girl with seafoam hair and a frantic look on her face stood on a wooden box in front of the doors, a megaphone in one hand. "Everybody, umm...attention please! Your attention, please!"
Aria raised an eyebrow. "Hey, isn't that that girl from the restaurant? Caca?"
"Coco," Fluttershy corrected.
"Well, I'm glad to see the poor thing found a new job," Mrs. Whoever said.
"I'm glad to see she got out of there alive," Fluttershy said.
Aria shot her a hurt look. "Hey," she said. "Whaddya think I am, a monster?"
Fluttershy cut her eyes toward Aria. "Do you want an honest answer to that?" she asked lightly.
Aria grimaced. "Fair enough," she said with a sigh. "Anyway, chill. I shooed her out the back before I lit up that pizza bitch. She was nothing but nice to us, she deserved to get out of there in one piece."
Coco blasted a squeal of feedback through the megaphone, which quieted down the crowd. She coughed politely, then said, "Alright. Welcome, everybody. I think we had a bit of a mix-up on the fliers about where to go if you're a contestant signup and where to go if you want to be in the studio audience, so, umm...if I could just get anybody who's here to actually go on the show to follow me, please? The rest of you just wait here, another staffer will be out to take care of you shortly. Thank you!"
The three joined a group that had peeled away from the main crowd, following Coco. Fluttershy did a quick head count and came up with thirty-three people milling around outside a side entrance, some of which were unexpectedly familiar.
"There sure are a lot of familiar faces here," Aria muttered as if echoing her thoughts.
"Yeah," Fluttershy agreed, her eyes wide and her heart beating wildly. With the exception of three girls she didn't recognize, nearly everyone here was from CHS—including almost all of her friends!
"Huh. Sonata showed up for this thing," Aria noted. Indeed, Sonata Dusk was sticking close to Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer. "I don't see Adagio anywhere though..."
"My goodness," Mrs. Whoever said. "I think I see just about all of your friends here, Fluttershy!"
Fluttershy nodded, looking over the small crowd. "Everyone except Rarity," she said. "But Rarity and Sweetie Belle are out of town this weekend. I don't think Rarity would do this kind of thing anyway, though."
Aria snorted. "No shit."
Coco looked out over the group, clutching her clipboard tightly. Her eyes filled with worry and panic.
"Oh-okay. Umm. So...alright." She looked over the crowd. "Anybody here with any serious medical problems? Asthma, heart problems, anything that keeps you from doing strenuous activity?" Four hands shot up. "Okay, umm...I'm sorry, but for legal reasons, we can't let you be on the show. I'm really sorry!"
Two teams peeled away from the group and left, shoulders slumped. "Man, I coulda used that prize money," a guy in his late twenties whined.
"O-okay," Coco said. "Umm...I'm still counting one team too many, so I'm going to have to cut three of you. Or, umm...we can have you stand by as alternates, just in case. Yes. I think that might be better. Yes." She made a note on her clipboard, then unlocked the side door. "Alright, if you'll all follow me please, there are some forms to sign. Medical waivers, consent forms, participation agreements, things like that. I promise it's all on the up and up. Um. So they tell me. A-anyway, just follow me, please..."
"Ugh, she's too cute for her own good," Aria grumbled. "I might just throw up or die or something." She shook her head. "Come on, let's follow the Herald of Diabeetus."
"HEY Fluttershy!" Pinkie Pie's voice cried over the general din. Pinkie shot up in front of Fluttershy, making her squeak in surprise and stumble back. "Hey Aria! So you guys are here too? Oooh, and Mrs. Fluttershy's Mom! Hi, Mrs. Fluttershy's Mom! Remember me?"
"Who could forget you, Pinkie Pie?" Mrs. Whoever laughed lightly. "So, you're competing in this too?"
"Yep!" Pinkie beamed. "Me and two of my sisters!"
"Oh? Which two?" Fluttershy asked with interest. "I'm guessing one of them is Maud?"
Pinkie nodded. "Yeppers! Maud and Limestone." She looked around conspiratorially, then leaned in and whispered, "This kind of thing isn't really Marble's scene, you know?"
Fluttershy barely knew Marble Pie. All she knew about her was that the girl was even more timid than herself. "I can imagine."
Pinkie leaned waaaaay back, raising her hands to the sky and cracking her knuckles. "Welp! Better get over to my sisters to get signed in. Good luck!"
It took almost half an hour for them to get to the sign-in table and sign all the forms. After that, they were directed to a dressing room, where they changed and waited for Coco.
Fluttershy and her mother had opted for matching outfits: snug-fitting forest green, bare-midriff crop tops, black bicycle shorts, green socks, and white running shoes. They'd tied their hair up into high ponytails, with their bangs held out of their faces by green headbands. Aria refused to match them, preferring to go with a simple black sports bra and black gym shorts, a loose lime green tank top, black socks, and black shoes. Her hair remained in the same style as always. She studied Fluttershy and Mrs. Whoever. The bloating Fluttershy had suffered the previous day had passed quickly, leaving her looking sleek and sexy, while the crop top accentuated her bustline. Her mother's trim, toned physique and impressive bust belonged on a woman fifteen years her junior.
Aria looked down at her own unimpressive body, narrow hips, and small bust. "You suck," she complained.
"Only on my husband's birthday," Mrs. Whoever said cheerfully.
Fluttershy turned a vivid shade of tomato red. "MOM!"
"Seriously!" Aria ranted. "You two with your...your bodies..." She sulked. "Not that I care or anything, I mean I'm not even really human, but it's just not fair..."
They'd been waiting for almost thirty minutes when Coco knocked on the door. "Five minutes!" she called.
Mrs. Whoever took a deep breath. "I guess...we're really doing this."
* * * * *
Generic techno pop with heavy, ground-shaking bass pumped through speakers set around a harshly lit studio as the audience cheered wildly. The sound stage was filled with a massive, sprawling obstacle course consisting of rock climbing walls, cargo nets, rotating beams, ziplines, hanging rings, overhead platforms, large rolls of chicken wire, climbing ropes, and other bizarre obstacles, all painted in a haphazard melange of clashing colors that looked like a kindergartener's crayon box had melted all over it.
A pale-skinned emcee in a black suit and sunglasses with blond hair in a huge pompadour held a microphone in one hand. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to LASER! PAINT! NIIIIIIIIIIINJA!"
Fluttershy was silently grateful for the somewhat bulky and unflattering equipment every contestant had been outfitted with, as Aria's earlier tirade in the dressing room made her uncomfortably aware of how revealing her attire was and just how prominently it displayed her curves. Every contestant had been given gloves, elbow and knee pads, safety helmets with visors, and a peculiar translucent sleeveless vinyl vest. Every piece of equipment had a glossy red-black strip and a series of tiny embedded lights.
They also each had a sturdy, net-weave belt with a pair of blunt plastic knives with squeeze triggers on the grips and the same glossy black strips on the edges, as well as a holstered toy pistol. Aria already had one of her knives out and was playing with it.
In addition to all of this gear, each contestant had also been given a brightly colored armband that matched their teammates, identifying them by team color. Fluttershy, her mother, and Aria wore bright sky blue bands.
As the announcer spoke, spotlights swam around the studio, lighting up each team standing on the sidelines. "These eight teams are competing for cash and prizes in the most EXTREME test of skill, speed, strength, and sheer daring!" The crowd roared in approval. "Let's introduce today's contestants!"
The spotlights all coalesced on Fluttershy, her mother, and Aria.
"Give it up for Cherry Rose, Fluttershy, and Aria Blaze! They are...TEAM BLAZE!"
Fluttershy hid nervously behind her mother, who simply waved at the crowd, all smiles.
"Next we have three rock-hard sisters who are ready to roll! Say hello to Pinkie! Maud! And Liiiiiiimestone! They are...TEAM! PIE!"
Pinkie jumped up and down, waving and smiling and giggling as the spotlights moved on to her and her sisters. Maud simply stood still, blinking. Limestone scowled. The three of them wore purple armbands and matching blue-grey track suits.
Fluttershy watched with interest as the rest of the teams were introduced: "Team Sunset" consisted of Sunset Shimmer, Rainbow Dash, and Sonata Dusk. Sunset and Sonata had opted to wear ordinary gym shorts, shirts, and sneakers, while Rainbow was wearing her soccer uniform. They wore scarlet armbands. "Team Shadowbolt" was made up of three girls Fluttershy had never seen before, though judging by their team name and the matching purple gym uniforms they wore, they probably went to Crystal Prep. The announcer had given their names as Sugarcoat, Indigo Zap, and Lemon Zest, and they wore yellow armbands. "Team Apple" consisted of Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Apple Bloom, all wearing old, faded jeans and white T-shirts with open western shirts over them, with well-worn shoes; each of them wore a lime green armband. "Team Flash Drive" was Flash Sentry and his bandmates, wearing cargo shorts, T-shirts, and sneakers, with royal blue armbands. "Team Sweet Music" consisted of Lyra Heartstrings, Octavia Melody, and Vinyl Scratch, wearing royal purple crop tops and black cargo shorts, black socks and sneakers, and pink armbands. The last team, "Team Diamond Dogs", was three burly boys with unhealthy grey skin and jaundiced eyes, wearing clothing that was far too heavy and bulky to allow for easy movement. They had been given orange armbands.
"And now, I'll explain our first event of the evening, the Search And Destroy! Eight teams go in; at the end, four will be eliminated from the competition!"
The lights focused harshly on the obstacle course.
"In this deadly NINJA MAZE, our eight teams will compete against not only one another, but against the terrain itself! Hidden throughout this NINJA MAZE are score sensors. When a competitor tags a score sensor, they earn points for their team. Successful hits on other teams will also score points. Eliminations will score huge points! Being eliminated and taking hits loses points, of course, and if you take out one of your own teammates, you lose lots of points.
"Each competitor has a laser paint gun and two laser paint knives. You might be asking yourself, what exactly is laser paint? Well, let me show you!"
Coco rushed out onto the stage, wearing the same safety gear the competitors were wearing, as well as a nervous, miserable expression. The emcee pulled a laser paint gun from behind his back, aimed it right at her chest, and fired. Coco let out a shrill squeak of fright and cringed reflexively. The light strip on her vest blinked, and half the vest lit up with a bright red splotch.
An electronic voice boomed from the stage's speaker system:
COCO POMMEL, DIRECT SHOT TO THE HEART! COCO POMMEL, KILLED IN ACTION!
Cherry Rose frowned. "So it's a combination of laser tag and paintball?" she muttered.
Aria snorted. "Who came up with that?"
"Poor Coco...give her a hand, everybody!" The crowd cheered and laughed. Coco blushed furiously and hurried off to the booth. The emcee turned to address the crowd. "Our first round will continue until either fifteen minutes have elapsed or only one team remains standing, whichever comes first! After the Search and Destroy round, the scores will be counted, and the top four teams will move on to the Semifinal Showdown! Teams, TO YOUR START STATIONS!"
A production assistant rushed up and guided Team Blaze to their starting mark. The other teams were moved into positions out of sight along the edges of the obstacle course.
ARE YOU READY?
THREE! TWO! ONE!
An airhorn went off.
LASER PAINT NINJAS, SEARCH AND DESTROY!
"Fluttershy, you go left to the hurdle maze," Cherry Rose said. "Aria, you go right through the chicken wire tunnel. I'll go up." She grabbed onto the cargo net ladder in front of her and started her ascent. "Go, team, go!"
Aria stared as Cherry Rose effortlessly hauled herself up the ladder. "Whoa. Your mom can move."
"She, umm...she has military training," Fluttershy said. She glanced at the hurdle maze on her left. "Oh..." She grimaced. "I...I guess we'd better get moving too."
Aria grunted and sprinted off to the right, crouching low and disappearing into a five-foot wide roll of chicken wire that ran half the length of the obstacle course. Fluttershy swallowed nervously and trotted over to a brightly painted purple hurdle, then grabbed onto the neon yellow pull ropes attached to it and hauled herself up and over. When she touched down on the other side, she found herself staring at a confusing mess of six-foot-tall fiberglass hurdles, positioned at angles to each other ranging from thirty to ninety degrees, all with pull ropes fastened securely at the top. Some of the hurdles had big, round yellow discs, reminiscent of highway reflectors, attached to the sides, with blinking lights at the top. Curiously, she walked up to one, then took the laser gun from her belt, pointed at it, and pulled the trigger.
TEAM BLAZE, FIRST SCORE! BONUS POINTS AWARDED!
"And it looks like Team Blaze found the first score sensor, folks!" the announcer's voice called over the crowd noise. "Tagging the first sensor earns double points!"
Fluttershy blinked. "Huh." She looked around.
Without even moving, she could see five more score sensors. With a small smile, she pointed and shot at each.
TEAM BLAZE, TOTAL SWEEP IN MAZE SECTOR B!
A head popped up over one of the hurdles. Someone—Fluttershy couldn't tell who because of the lights reflecting off their visor—pointed their gun at her and fired. "Eep!" She cringed protectively. Her vest beeped, and a spray of red lights lit up along her side, just under her left breast. She looked down at it, frowned, and skipped two steps to the right, pressing herself against a hurdle.
A bulky mass tried to clamber over the hurdle the shot had come from, getting stuck halfway. It was one of the Diamond Dogs. Fluttershy chewed the inside of her cheek thoughtfully, looking down at the glowing red streak on her side, then back up at the struggling boy atop the hurdle. "Okay," she said, taking a deep breath. "It's just a game, and Mom really wants that new couch...and I guess I do too, the one we have is too saggy, so..." She aimed at the helmet of the Diamond Dog, who had almost succeeded in half-falling off the hurdle, and fired.
His entire helmet lit up red.
ROVER, HEADSHOT! SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR BRAINS! ROVER, KILLED IN ACTION!
Rover paused stupidly, then fell to the ground with a loud grunt. He glared at Fluttershy and tried to shoot her.
Nothing happened.
"And we have our first kill!" the announcer called. "Incredibly, it's by the same member of Team Blaze who cleared out an entire sector of the hurdle maze in the first thirty seconds! By the way, I forgot to mention this, but once you're registered as KIA, your laser paint weapons are deactivated! All you can do is leave the NINJA MAZE and wait for the results!"
Rover grumbled, but slouched sullenly away. Fluttershy waved sheepishly at him and called, "Sorry!" She then crept deeper into the maze, her heart racing.
*I'm doing...okay?*
She allowed herself a tiny smile.
*This could actually be fun! I guess...*
* * * * *
Aria grumbled as her right glove lit up, a tiny spray of red nicking the back of her thumb. She risked a glance to her right and saw Sonata hanging from a cargo net, a cheerful, almost manic grin on her face as she waved her pistol around and fired at random. "Ugh! It's just like when we play Crapsack City," she grumbled. Squirming around in the narrow confines of the chicken wire and taking aim through the overlapping mesh, she fired several shots at Sonata. Her vest lit up with a number of small red splotches, and one larger one near her right kidney. Sonata looked down at herself, flailed around comically, and threw herself off the cargo net, laughing like a little kid as she landed hard on the gym mats below.
Aria facepalmed, shook her head, and continued her crawl.
* * * * *
Cherry Rose watched the blue Siren fall to the ground with a wince, then continued her climb. Her shoulders ached; she grimaced as she slowed her ascent. *I go jogging all the time but I've been neglecting my upper body...that or I'm just getting too old for this kind of thing...*
Her elbow pad lit up red. She frowned and glanced around; a Crystal Prep girl with dusky pink skin and long neon green hair waved cheekily at her from one of the other cargo nets, her laser pistol gleaming in the studio lights. She returned fire, catching the girl in the knee. The girl yelped and shimmied up the net, disappearing into the network of rotating beams high above. Shaking her head, Cherry continued her ascent, her upper body burning from the workout as she climbed up and over onto the upper platform...
An arm wrapped around her waist, and a plastic knife pressed against her throat. "It's nothing personal," a voice said softly into her ear. "But we're playing to win."
Well! It's certainly been a while since I touched this one, hasn't it? 
Back when I first started working on this story (hell, back when I first started working on this chapter), Fluttershy's family had not yet been shown in canon. I went back to chapter two and adjusted her parents' appearances to match their pony counterparts, but I don't really have any particular inclination to add Zephyr Breeze to this story at this time.
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Damn, she's livid. Can't blame her though.
Wise decision.
You have an interesting idea of fun.
Thing is, she's probably not wrong.
*opens mouth*
*closes mouth* Never mind, she said it for me.
Yep.
Boom, headshot.
If you did add Zephyr, Aria would just make him her bitch.
Good! I prefer to pretend that piece of shit doesn't exist.
8067994 You and me both.
8067994 Doubt the idiot would survive.
It was definitely a surprise to see this story again.
I'm guessing Sour Sweet wasn't on the Shadowbolt team in this because she'd give them too much of an advantage?
I gotta say I'm glad to see this story back.
Fluttershy is being corrupted. Also, Zepyher vs Aria. Do it
8068547 ditto!
Also if Zephr was in this story, I'd imagine him as a shameless flirt bordering on pervert. Which could be hilarious or horrible.
Or horriblarious
8068657 Imagine if he tried flirting with Aria like he does with Rainbow Dash.
8068601
8068657
8068690 Aria already set fire to Suri Polomare and left her chained to a gas oven just for being a psycho hose beast. Do you really want to think about what she'd do to Zephyr Breeze and how much of the city she'd take down with him?
8068698 Good point.
8068698
Yes.
Huh. It only just occurred to me that this could've been the prototype for your human Fluttershy's reaction to her brother.
It seemed like a rather niche tone, but she'd been using it a lot lately.
If this show does get off the ground, I fear that abusing Coco to demonstrate game mechanics could become a running gag.
In any case, it's always nice to see people dust off old stories. I could probably follow suit with a few.
Definitely looking forward to more, especially given one of the most aggressive iterations of Fluttershy's mother that I've ever seen.
Wow, Fluttershy's mom is tougher than I thought. This game looks like fun. I have a feeling that with an angry siren, a women who used to do military training, and someone like Fluttershy who can be unpredictably dangerous, they got this in the bag.
8068698
Too late, already thought about it
8069438 It...actually wasn't a reference, sorry to burst your bubble. ^^;; Purely accidental.
Well, I didn't realize that you'd updated this yesterday. Anyway, in your updated description of Fluttershy's father, you describe his hair as silvery-white. I thought that was odd, because it's more of a pale pink. I don't really have anything else to say that hasn't already been said.
I'm strangely reminded of Assassination Classroom.
Yay! This is back! And hopefully the next chapter won't be next year!
I honestly didn't think we'd ever see another chapter from this.
Oh god no!!! Ugh!!
I think I'd watch Laser Paint Ninja. I'll definitely read the story...
Maybe Fluttershy's mom is actually part of whatever secret special forces squad is the CHS-verse equivalent of Bon-Bon's monster-hunting agency. ('shy doesn't know this, of course.)
I was expecting the announcer to either skip her or just call her "whoever" again.
My favorite part
Cool, the announcer reminds me of a mix between the World Tournament Announcer from Dragon Ball and Present Mic from My Hero Academia.
Somehow I'm sensing this just about being the moment where Fluttershy switches into competitive mode.
Nice:-)
I really wished this story would continue.