Friendship is Shining: Clash of The Iron Mares

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

The Big Day

The day for The Iron Mare competition finally arrived. The morning was cool and fresh, with dew still clinging to the grass. Most of the clouds had been cleared from the sky, with a few small ones left over the bleachers to provide some of the audience members with shade, or a place for pegasi to sit for a better view.

Ponies were already gathering, getting ready to watch the event. Although not all were there just to watch. Big Macintosh and several others were setting up a refreshment stand to sell snacks and drinks (made fresh and right on the farm in Macintosh's case) to the collected ponies. There were also booths being set up to sell collectibles to the crowd, and even one that was selling raffle tickets for a major prize to be given away at the end of the day's event.

Sitting in the bleachers at the front were six young ponies, five of which were fillies. On one side sat Scootaloo and Pound Cake, with Scootaloo holding up a home made "Go Rainbow Dash!" sign that had a crudely drawn picture of the mare and her rainbow contrail across the bottom. One the other was Apple Bloom and Pumpkin Cake, with Apple Bloom holding a poster of three red circles (they were supposed to be apples). Between the two groups sat Twilight Sparkle and Sweetie Belle, both being more neutral on the subject.

Nearby stood Shining Armor, dressed in a cap and a black and white striped shirt. His horn glowed as he carried a clipboard with him, doing a last minute check on everything.

"Shiny!" Pinkie called out. "There you are. Wait riiiiight..." she pushed him an inch to the left "...here. I'll be back in a jif."

Before Shining Armor could even ask, Pinkie Pie was gone, only to show up again a second later. This time she had a -- rather surprised looking -- earth pony mare with her. The new mare had a very pale blue coat with a light blue mane and tail with darker streaks (it was a lot of blue), pulled into a ponytail. Judging by the size of her eyes, she seemed just as confused about being there suddenly as Shining Armor was.

"Shining," Pinkie said, "this is Sonata Dusk. Sonny, this is Shining Armor." Pinkie moved between the pair, pulling them closer together.

"Now, I need to get to the announcer desk, so I'll just leave you two to get to know each other better." She gave Shining Armor a wink, grinning widely. "See you two later."

She then bounced off, leaving the two ponies. The pair separated, getting some space between them as they each looked at the other.

"I...uh..." Shining Armor held up a clipboard. "I have some things I need to take care of before the game actually starts."

"That's fine," Sonata said. "I need to get out and start singing anyways. But thanks for letting me do this." She gave him a peck on the cheek before heading toward the main staging area.

Shining Armor stood there, a little caught off guard by the sudden kiss. Even if it was just on the cheek. The spot felt strangely warm now. Actually, both of his cheeks felt kind of warm.

Stop it! he told himself, shaking his head. You don't know her. Just get back to work. Pushing the thoughts aside, he started to walk.

Then after realizing he was heading the wrong direction, turned around and went the right way.

Elsewhere, Pinkie Pie made her way to the announcer's table. There, Spike sat behind one of the microphones already. As Pinkie arrived, the young dragon turned to her, raising an eyebrow.

"Hi, Spike," Pinkie called out. "You ready?"

"I was born ready," Spike declares, sitting up and puffing out his chest.

"Really?" Pinkie tilted her head, looking at her. "How would you know that?" She let out a gasp. "Do you remember being born? What was it like? How did you know this would be the moment your whole life was culminating to?"

At the questions, Spike shifted. He turned toward Pinkie Pie further, narrowing his eyes.

"Are you serious?"

"Of course not, silly," Pinkie replied, giving Spike a gentle pat on the head. "I'm just teasing you, Spiky. Besides, I never got that idiom. I mean, I know our cutie mark is supposed to be representative of what we are invariably to do with our lives, but it is shaped by our personality, likes, interest, hobbies, and experiences. That's why we get them at a later point of our life when we finally figure out what it is that we want to do as opposed to being born with them. Thus, no pony is ever actual born ready for anything."

"Are you done?" Spike asked.

"Absolutely," Pinkie Pie said as she plopped down at her own microphone.

Turning on the microphone, Spike took a deep breath.

"Good morning mares and stallions," Spike said, his voice coming out through the speakers for all to hear. "And welcome to the first ever Ponyville Iron Mare Competition."

There was a pause as some of the ponies in the audience cheered.

"We're your announcers. I'm Spike."

"And I'm Pinkie Pie," Pinkie picked up. "We'll be telling you about what happens during the game, as well as provide some background information on the ponies and who knows what else."

"Before the actual games start however," Spike added, "we are to have a musical performance by one Sonata Dusk."

"Sonata just moved to Ponyville from the coast," Pinkie said. "Her favorite activity is singing, and her favorite food is crunchy tacos. Plus, she's single, and said she likes the smart bookish types. In a way, this is like her singing debut. Just think, if she ever makes it big, we'll be able to say that we knew her when she was just starting out." She gave a wide grin.

"Well she's taking the stage now," Spike said. "So let's give her a chance and see how she does."

There was a gentle murmur from the crowd as the two announcers went quiet, waiting for Sonata Dusk. The young blue mare walked out toward the center of the area, eyes wide and looking around. As she got closer, the murmuring grew softer, the crowd going silent as they focused on Sonata. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she started to sing.

Her voice was high and clear, carrying all the way across the farm. As she sang, a red glow began to emanate from a small gem around her neck. As she continued to sing, her voice grew stronger. Not exactly louder, but clearer. The tones and variations became easier to hear, although not seeming to become greater in volume. The ponies listened, ears perking up and eyes glassing over.

Not far from the staging area stood Shining Armor. As he listened to the music, something about it called to him, drew him toward it. He did not have much to compare it to, but he thought it was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. He wanted to know the mare with that voice better. He needed--

A flash of pain split through his skull, causing him to grunt out. He lost focus, and with it, his magic. The clipboard he held fell to the ground as he pressed a hoof against one eye.

Once the strange pain passed, Shining Armor's horn lit up again. Picking up his clipboard, he tried to remember what he was doing. He also made a mental note to go see a doctor after this was all over. From what he understood, that pain was on the level of a migraine, and he had never suffered one before. More so one that so suddenly appeared and vanished. He should probably get it checked in case it was a symptom of something dangerous.

For now, he had a competition to judge.

As Sonata Dusk's song moved toward ending, the glow from the gem faded and disappeared. The ponies that had been listening blinked and shook their heads, coming back to their senses. Once she was finished, the audience stomped their hooves, applauding the mare's performance.

"Wow," Spike said. "That was pretty good."

"Yeah," Pinkie replied. "It was mesmerizing." Her face scrunched up as she watched Sonata Dusk walk away from where she had been standing. One of Pinkie's ears twitched. She could not quite place her hoof on it, but something about this whole thing was bothering her. Not even her Pinkie sense was able to help her with it.

"Well, since that's over," Spike said, breaking Pinkie's train of thought, "it's time for Ponyville's first ever Iron Pony Competition to begin!"

Comments

[Comickook]

Hey there. Excellent job on this latest chapter. The exchanges, emotional content, humor and future chapter set-up in all the right places. Good use of Sonata too. I wonder what she's up to, but I'll definitely be looking forward to more of this as soon as time and inspiration will allow.

[SuperPinkBrony12]

That gem definitely has some sort of "mysterious" power to it. I wonder what sort of goal Sonata has for using such a thing.

[Alticron]

Nice chapter, but there's a minor thing you may want to edit.

Plus, she singles, and said she likes the smart bookish types.

I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be, "she's single".

[Hopeful_Ink_Hoof]

6917515 Well he did mess with all their heads, playing on their fears and doubts to drive them apart and change their personalities. And in the case of Shining Armor, he did not even need to use his powers directly to do it.

[keaton-furman-prower]

6917525 Yup. That just about sums it up

Anyway, I'm looking forwards to seeing how this goes, especially with the two new mystery mares