Ponyville's First Warrior Meet

by Wise Cracker

Calm Before the Storm! Scootaloo's Painful Decision!

Sweetie Belle groaned, then whimpered. “W-what happened?”

“Mercurial Hoof, ma petite,” Fleur answered. “A very painful, very dangerous martial arts technique, based on one of the Iron Saddle techniques. A variant that is fed by cold hate, and if I had to guess, combined with a Demon Hunter attack designed to silence spellcasters. I’m Fleur de Lis, by the way, your sister’s friend. She’s gone over to the dojo to explain what happened.”

Sweetie Belle tried to wriggle under the sheets. She was in Carousel Boutique, she realised, in the room Rarity had set up for her for those nights their parents were away. “W-where’s-”

“We’re here,” Scootaloo said, hopping up on the bed with Apple Bloom in tow. “We’re fine. Silver Spoon didn’t beat us up.”

Apple Bloom huffed. “Why did she attack you? Did she say anything, was she mad at you?”

“I think she’s always been a little mad, Apple Bloom,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Well, we can’t let this slide. Silver Spoon attacked you, she hurt you. After we tried to apologise and everythin’. That just ain’t couth.”

“I’m afraid it is by the rules of your school, though,” Fleur de Lis said. “Ninja schools are meant to train their apprentices in the arts of ambush. As foul as it was, Silver Spoon’s attack against you fell within the rules of the Warrior Meet. There’s no glory in it for her, but she won’t be penalised for it.”

“My throat really hurts.” Sweetie sat up a bit.

The girls winced when they saw her body.

“What?”

Four blows, four marks, all clear bruises that showed under her coat, like stains of ink.

Fleur sighed. “It seems Silver Spoon wasn’t bluffing. You are fortunate she only struck you four times like that. Seven would have landed you in the hospital. Here, drink this, it’ll soothe the pain.”

Sweetie Belle carefully sipped the tea Fleur gave her. “Thank you, Miss Fleur.”

“De rien. I did notice a slight twitch in Silver’s left wrist, by the way. Did you sneak in a little retaliation there?”

Sweetie Belle blushed. “Just a little one. She’s too fast for me.”

“Faster than the naked eye?” Fleur asked.

“Yup.”

The mare pursed her lips as she thought aloud. “Hmm, wu ju speed. The Highlander technique, no doubt; letting the emotional state of an alpha boost your striking speed. It’s a more common skill in pegasi than it is in Earth ponies. Blazing Trail must really like her, if he taught her all that. Or her father did.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll square this out,” Apple Bloom said.

“What?” Scootaloo asked.

“Well, we gotta. Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara decided to attack Sweetie Belle. They’re gonna come after us next if we don’t do somethin’.”

Scootaloo shivered. “W-what do you want to do?”

“Same thing we were plannin’ to do: fight at the Warrior Meet. We gotta stand up to Silver Spoon, or she’ll be walkin’ all over us for the rest of our lives.”

“Are you implying you wish to exact vengeance for your friend?” Fleur asked.

“Not just us, Miss Fleur. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon have always been a little snooty, and they get up to trouble, but they’ve never been this bad. They’ve never been worse than, than…”

“Than us?” Scootaloo asked.

Apple Bloom sighed. “Yeah. They’ve never been any worse than us. And if we let’em keep acting like this, sooner or later they’re gonna start treatin’ the rest of our class the same way. And I ain’t taking that. I’m sorry, I’m all for turning the other cheek, but at some point your whole face just goes red and then you can’t sit by anymore. You gotta draw the line somewhere, and I say we draw it right here.”

Fleur nodded. “Well said.”

“Beg your pardon?”

“Well said, Apple Bloom. It’s one thing to want revenge for an injustice, but wanting to protect your classmates is another. And I did hear about that Gabby Gums story, too.”

“Yeah, not exactly our finest hour,” Scootaloo noted.

“But then what is your plan? Challenge the Feather Cloaks at the Warrior Meet?”

“Can we?”

Fleur nodded pensively. “You can. But a challenge for retribution stands from one school to the other. It’s always possible Silver Spoon’s master shifts the challenge to a different student. It’s always possible the Ashen Blizzard has you take a challenge from somepony else first.”

Apple Bloom felt a tremor go through her. The memory of Hammer’s strange contact magic was still fresh in her mind. “Somepony else, like that alicorn kid?”

“You’ve met my apprentice.” Fleur smiled brightly. “He speaks quite highly of you, you know. He’s from around these parts, too.”

Apple Bloom let her head rest on her front hooves. “Right, I forgot about Hammer. He’s gonna want to fight me too, ain’t he?”

“I suspect he would. It will depend, though. He may change his mind if he hears about this little incident. But I can’t force him; I don’t have that kind of control over him. I can’t guarantee he won’t challenge you.”

“Okay, then. If I can’t do it, you’re gonna have to, Scootaloo.”

Scootaloo’s wings and mane almost jumped up at the very thought. “What? Me? Why me?”

“Silver Spoon uses the same style you do: it’s Water style.”

“Yeah, it did kinda feel the same,” Sweetie Belle said, still occasionally sipping the tea. “You might have a better chance than me.”

Scootaloo shook her head. “No.”

“No, what?”

“No, I can’t. I can’t fight Silver Spoon, not when she’s like this.”

“Why not? Don’t you wanna fix this?”

“I…”

---

Whimper smiled peacefully as he lay with his friends, watching the other kids skate around. His breath was slow now, but deep.

“So what happened?” Scootaloo asked.

Whimper gulped. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“But I thought things were going better now?”

“Scootaloo, leave him alone.” Rumble nudged her. “You know you shouldn’t push things.”

“But come on, I thought you wanted to get better at fighting? Haven’t you been practising?”

“Yes,” Whimper replied. “I have. I’ve been doing my special exercises for a few weeks now, too.” He winced and rubbed his belly. “You know, on the side. Master Blazing doesn’t know about that. I don’t think he’d approve.”

“So why wouldn’t you join the Feather Cloaks?”

Whimper bit his lip. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to talk about that, either.”

“But, did they call you names or something?”

“It’s nothing, Scootaloo. Hey, look, that kid can do a triple spin on one hoof, on a skateboard!” Peachy Pie nodded towards one of the teens.

Scootaloo didn’t notice. “Well?”

Whimper snorted. “I just didn’t like the lessons, that’s all. And I don’t want to go back there. Feather Cloaks are scary.”

“Sure. You want ponies to keep picking on you, then? You want to be the runt again?”

“No. But I don’t want to be a Feather Cloak, either.”

“Why not? Why are you so scared? Did you just forget all about Flight Camp?”

“Scootaloo, will you give him a break already?” Rumble asked. “He’s obviously shaken up. Don’t push him when he’s down.”

“No. You know what? No. Maybe somepony should push you. You’re too soft, and you know it. And now you finally find a teacher who’s showing you how to toughen up, and you don’t want it. I thought you learned to stand up for yourself at Flight Camp.”

“I did,” Whimper argued, as much as he could with a voice that seemed stuck on whisper mode. “But I didn’t forget everything that happened before Flight Camp, before I met you. It’s not that easy. Besides, I’m still trying out different fighting styles. I just don’t want to get tied down.”

Scootaloo grumbled. “I’m bored. Isn’t there something else we can do?”

“What’s gotten into you lately, Scootaloo?” Rumble asked. “You’re so antsy all of a sudden.”

“I am not antsy, I just don’t like sitting around all the time. Can’t we go and do something?”

“I could go get my frisbee. We can throw that around,” Peachy Pie said. “What do you think, Whimper?”

Whimper took in a deep breath through his nose and breathed it out slowly through his mouth, almost sighing. “Sure.” His ears twitched like something in his head was bouncing around out of control. One of the veins on his right shoulder, just below the fur coat, throbbed with frustration.

His face looked so calm, though.

Scootaloo took that as a win. They could have fun and not let Whimper be such an emu downer. If she could just get him to open up again, like he did at Flight Camp, it’d be fine again. It’d be fun again.

Not like the way he was at the start of Flight Camp.

That got her an idea. She’d first gotten Whimper to come out of his shell by tricking him into joining a cloudwrestling competition on day one. He’d gotten pretty far, and made enough of an impression to make sure everyone there knew his name. That was when Scootaloo had realised that maybe he had some backbone to him, maybe he wasn’t such a pushover.

She could still gently nudge him towards things, but at least he spoke up when he didn’t like something. At least he talked. Now, it was like none of it had even happened, like he’d lost what little backbone he’d developed.

Something was different about him now, and it had been since they’d gotten back home from camp. His eyes were all wrong, his ears didn’t move the same way anymore, and his skin twitched in odd places, more like an animal’s than a pony’s. It was like someone else was wearing his skin now.

Like he wasn’t the same boy she’d made friends with.

She had to fix that, and fast.

---

“I can’t,” Scootaloo said.

“You can’t what?”

“I can’t fight Silver Spoon. I’d only end up making things worse.”

“Scootaloo, you don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do. This whole mess is my fault. I started this. And I don’t know how to fix it.” She sobbed. “I’m sorry, Apple Bloom, but I can’t, I just can’t.”

With that, Scootaloo walked away.

Fleur sighed. “I need to be going, as well. Keep your throat warm, Sweetie Belle. Drink enough tea, eat some honey, it’ll soothe the pain. Keep your voice down, and don’t try to use any magic for at least five days; you’ll short circuit yourself. I’ll be sure to let my apprentice know about what happened.”

---

Hammer plopped his rump down on the floor when he got back. “I’m home!”

Fleur looked up from the newspaper she’d barely started reading. His timing, as always, was impeccable. “How was your run, petit?”

“Exhausting,” Hammer replied, taking off the arm guards of his armour. He still had cloth on underneath, but it was one step in the right direction of cooling him.

“Well, it is quite warm outside, even for an autumn day. Still, do you feel better now, at least? Did anypony stare at you?”

“Not at me, just at my armour.”

Fleur’s nose curled. “You are sweaty, mon garçon.”

“I know, my ventilation spell isn’t perfect yet. I’ll go wash up later.”

Fleur got up, before marching over to him. “Non, you are going to wash up now. Take off your armour, please, and I’ll put the fabrics in the washer.”

Hammer winced. “A-are you sure?”

“You’re going to have to get used to it sooner or later, Hammer. Take it off, please.”

“O-okay.” He reached in with his magic and tugged at the cord that tied everything together. He only had to undo a few knots, but they were fiddly, nevertheless. The red thread that ran through the dark cloth covering his body withdrew like a snake, and dropped the hard plates that had been attached through it. Arm guards, leg guards, wing guards, chest plate, helmet, mask. It was a ritual for him now, a source of comfort. That is, it was a source of comfort putting it on, not taking it off.

Finally, the thread withdrew from the central seam around his chest, allowing him to step out of the bodysuit and shed the padding underneath. Just a regular little pony underneath all that, that’s what everyone kept telling him.

That’s the lie that refused to take hold in his mind.

“All of it, Hammer.”

He gritted his teeth. He had one piece of armour left, the most important one. It always came down to that: the one piece he couldn’t shed. Just that one little thing. “Can’t I keep this on until I’m in the bath, please? Just the last piece?”

Fleur rolled her eyes. “I suppose just one shan’t hurt. ‘Ave you considered your challenge for tomorrow?”

“Yes. I’m gonna challenge the Nine Dragons, definitely. Maybe I’ll get to fight Apple Bloom again. She’s fun, and pretty nice.”

The white mare smiled. “Still going through with your plan, then, very well. Yes, Apple Bloom would be a fine opponent, I suppose. She does appear to have taken the Blizzard’s lessons to heart. But she’s not an experienced warrior, as you know.”

“Does that make a difference?”

“It depends. If you display your skills properly, it might be enough. But, if you wish to measure your skills against a more worthy opponent…”

Hammer stopped. His ears twitched. “I thought you said there weren’t any more sparring partners for me? Not for real. Not here.”

“It appears I was wrong. The Feather Cloaks have a new rookie. Silver Spoon, her name is, the daughter of Silver Bullet.”

“Family ties don’t make a warrior,” Hammer joked. “Look at me.”

“Non, but they do make for easy access to high-level techniques. Techniques such as the Seven Deadly Blows.”

He froze. “Whoa. That grey girl knows the Mercurial Hoof already?”

“She does. And she attacked one of the Blizzard’s students today. Not your Apple Bloom, mind you, but one of her classmates. If you really wanted to, you could challenge Silver Spoon, see how you fare against the Feather Cloak top rookie. ‘Twould certainly bolster your reputation. What do you think?”

Hammer bit his lip and forced himself to breathe slowly.

Fleur smiled at that. He’d come so far in such a short time, and with so few opponents that matched his age and level.

“I think maybe it’s best if I decide once I’m cleaned up.”

“Very well. I’ll be down here, I’ll leave the metal plating for you to clean, the rest I shall take care of.” She almost patted him on the back, but she withdrew her hoof halfway. “Ah, sorry. You go wash up, then.”

---

It happened so fast.

Scootaloo grumbled and looked away, because Whimper was moping so much. Then those three kids showed up.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” A white unicorn colt with a blue mane and tail, done up to look like Shining Armour, had approached her.

“What?”

“Are you a Feather Cloak?”

Opportunity knocked on her door at last. What else was there to do? “No, but my friend is.”

Whimper came up behind her. “What’s going on?”

The unicorn kid cocked his head towards Whimper. “You’re the new Feather Cloak rookie?”

Whimper’s ears fell back against his head. “No. Master Blazing asked, but I turned him down.”

“Why?” a second kid asked, a green pegasus with a dark green mane, white highlights running through both.

“I didn’t feel like joining. I didn’t want to take the classes in the first place.”

“So it’s true what they say. You only look strong.” The third one was an Earth pony, mostly burgundy, but blonde on his head and tail.

All three had the same short and neat manecut, mostly the same style of tail, but the Earth pony’s tail was thicker and tied up in a bunch, like Applejack’s was.

These kids were in a club. The same club.

Rumble and Peachy Pie came right behind the boy, Peachy’s errand for her frisbee forgotten.

“If that’s what you want to believe, fine.” Whimper turned to leave.

“Hey, you don’t have to take that from them!” Scootaloo called out.

“Let it go, Scootaloo,” Whimper said. “It’s not worth it.” He looked at the three boys who’d approached him. “I do not want to be a Feather Cloak. Why, that’s personal. If you three want to join, that’s fine. It’s just not the right school for me.”

“I don’t think you understand what we’re saying,” the pegasus started. “We want to see how strong you are. There’s been some rumours going around town about a kid on steroids.”

Whimper’s ears went straight up. His jaw clenched. “I… never… took steroids.”

The unicorn scoffed. “That’s not what we heard. We heard you took pills to look tough, but you only got the looks. You can’t fight, not for real. All you can do is show off. You’re a disgrace to sports ponies everywhere.”

Whimper let his head hang. “Then I guess I’ll just have to wait for the Royal Guard to arrest me, right? Since steroids are illegal and all. My mom will be pretty sad, but I guess that’s what happens.”

Scootaloo growled. “Come on, Whimper, don’t let them get away with that. Show them what you’re made of.”

The Earth pony chuckled. “Yeah, show us, Wimpy. Or do you want your girlfriend to do the fighting for you?”

Whimper kept his back to them. His arms and legs quivered, his breath came in deeper, like he was bracing himself. “I don’t want to fight you.”

Scootaloo’s chest ached at the sound of his voice. He sounded so broken, and there was nothing she could do to cheer him up. He was beating himself up, sabotaging himself, for no reason. That Master Blazing guy was right. “But, Whimper, you’re good at it. Your cutie mark-”

“Please don’t. I don’t care if I’m good at it. This isn’t Flight Camp. I can’t fight. All I’d do is get in trouble.”

The Earth pony kid on the left snorted. “Looks like it’s not just a rumour, then. Okay, chickenwing, we’ll leave you and Wimpy alone. Wouldn’t want to hurt anypony.”

Scootaloo snorted. If you want something done right…

She shoved the first kid. The unicorn stumbled back, then punched her right in the nose.

She fell on her back, on the soft grass. She hardly felt it. It wasn’t even a real punch, more like a slap.

He wasn’t trying to hurt me. He didn’t even make me bleed.

What followed was chaos. A blue, growling blur swished over her and spread its wings to guard her. She could swear she saw a bit of foam trailing from his mouth.

The unicorn tried to punch again, but Whimper sidestepped it and snap-kicked him in the knee, before driving the tip of one front hoof into the kid’s gut and delivering a hammer blow to the head with his other one.

The Earth pony kicked at his head, and connected, but with the hard end of a hoof. Whimper jabbed at the colt’s inner thigh once, twice, thrice, wrecking that leg before tossing him into the third kid.

Number three, the pegasus, was the smart one, waiting to go into a combat pose before making any sudden moves. He feinted left, Whimper punched straight ahead into the kid’s nose. With a flap of the wings, the kid backed up, but Whimper wouldn’t relent. Another blow to the face, this time just below the left eye, and finally the kid thought to raise his hooves for defense. Whimper didn’t bother trying to bypass it. He raised both his arms and thrust straight ahead. Those guarding hooves, that pitiful defence, connected with the kid’s face, and that was it.

Three down, just like that.

“What is going on here?” A stallion called out as he came running towards them. “Whimper? What did you do this time? You are in big trouble, Mister.”

“Whimper?” Scootaloo got up and walked up to him. His head was down, his eyes were closed. When he opened them to look at her, all she saw was pain, anguish, but most of all, betrayal.

She’d started the fight. She wanted this to happen.

“Look what you made me do. Why, Scootaloo?”

“I-I… I thought you’d...”

“You thought I’d what? Be better off? Be more confident? Be more violent? You wanted me to beat up anypony who talks down to me? You thought it’d be better if I was a Feather Cloak? Well, you got your wish.” He shook his head as more ponies came towards them. “Are you happy now?”

They all flocked around the three felled boys and around Whimper. They didn’t even see Scootaloo, or hear Rumble’s protests. Peachy Pie didn’t bother objecting, no doubt she’d seen this sort of thing happen once too often.

“Go,” Whimper said. “Leave. I need time to think.”

“Whimper, I-”

“I said: leave. Please leave? I really need you to not be here for a little while, okay? I need to think,” he said in between sobs. “I… I need to think. I thought the Feather Cloaks were wrong. I thought I knew who my friends were. But you keep proving them right, and I can’t decide on what to do if ponies keep trying to fill my head with ideas I don’t want. I can’t…” He reached up to his forehead and clenched his jaw in agony, like something was trying to burst out. “I don’t know what’s in my head anymore. I don’t know what’s mine and what’s been put there. There’s too much talking, and I can’t hear...”

“I didn’t mean to.”

That remark got him some clarity. He bared his teeth at her. “Yes, you did. You did this on purpose, I’m the one who didn’t mean to. So please… just go? I don’t want to see you in Bogsdown ever again.”

“I’m sorry.”

---

She’d been replaying that scene in her head for months since. It haunted her every time her friends brought up his name, every time she almost hurt a friend in martial arts practice, and now it haunted her in her sleep.

That’s not really how it happened. Rumble and Peachy Pie tried to explain it, some of the grownups listened. Nopony knew who those kids were, that was suspicious enough. He didn’t hit them that hard; they made a lot of noise about it.

And Whimper never said he never wanted to see me again. He just needed time to think. He didn’t get angry at me. He was too tired for that.

He wanted to know if they were right about him.

Because they were right about me.

I did this.

I wanted him to fight, to be confident, to be a bully.

I took my friend’s life and ruined it.

I just wanted him to feel better.

Scootaloo got out of bed with a groan. Her eyes burned, but they were dry. She hadn’t cried in the night.

She hugged her legs and clenched her whole body tight.

“I can’t do this. I’ve ruined everything.”

She gulped and looked at her alarm clock. Five thirty in the morning, too early to start the day.

She tried to get back to sleep, but found herself tossing and turning.

Her tail twitched, her wings bunched up.

“I can’t be here today. I just can’t.”

Author's Note:

One more preparatory chapter, then the Meet begins in earnest. There is a line of dialogue I've been looking forward to using for years, and it's finally going to arrive. I'd say I hope you're as hyped as I am, but that would be impossible. You'll know it when you read it.

So... yeah, another mostly obvious chapter. Scootaloo's been guilt-tripping over starting a fight Whimper finished. It gets spelled out what the big drama is with her versus Silver Spoon and Diamond, but it's already heavily implied here.

The actual dialogue in that scene is stuff that was actually said mixed with stuff Scootaloo imagined. So how bad things really are, you can't judge quite yet, but it should convey the weight of the guilt she's been dealing with, at least.

If this were a manga or an anime, this would be a good place to end a volume. This ends the subplot of what happened to Scootaloo's friend, ties it into the present danger, and sets up the Meet. It's also the end of the lessons, sort of. Okay, so it's not a perfect match.