Fighters Don't Have Friends

by BackroundVoice

6 : Laughing at your Losses

Pinkie, Rare and I got a table to ourselves that night. We each ordered our own food, and to finish, Pinkie bought our drinks. It was a nice thing to do. But I still felt a little isolated. Like I was set apart from them. They chatted it up and had a lot to talk about. I on the other hoof, sat there in silence, sipping my drink through a straw. Whenever I was left to my own thoughts I found it exciting to think of what I'd do when I finally got my horn fixed. Of all the spells I would cast, the convenience of opening a door without hooves made me the most envious of unicorns who could. I watched Rarity as she levitated her glass, bringing it to her lips, smiling as she tipped it back, reveling in the flavor of her drink.

Lucky, I thought. Turning to my apple cider, forced to raise it both my hooves. It didn't feel right that I couldn't lift it the same way I was born to. Stupid; this is so stupid, I thought. My expression saddened with a glare as I grit my teeth. I was making my own situation worse by choosing to have a bad attitude about it. Needless to say, the others noticed, calling for my attention with my new name.

"Phoenix," Pinkie said, "You all right? If it's the drink I can get you something else." Both of them looked at me like they were concerned. But I had already figured that they were only acting like this because of Vinyl. Put up to it to protect me.

"No, the drink's fine, I'm just thinking," I said. Because that was the truth, and I was sticking to it.

"Then what is bothering you, darling?" Rare asked, "You can talk to us, we are your friends, are we not?."

"Maybe," I said, I made a blank stare at the table. I often thought like this if I didn't know the answer to something. Or if I didn't want to answer.

"Well, I think we're friends!" Pinkie chimed in. I looked up at her and saw Rare smiling at what Pinkie was beginning to say. "I'm sorry that this hasn't been the best time you've had in your life,"

"Pretty much," I said, tilting my head up to lift my drink, only to close my eyes in frustration. Remembering that I couldn't do that anymore. Pinkie could see this was hurting me, so she reached over and lifted my drink to my lips. I was surprised and pulled my head back as she smiled awkwardly at me.

"Look, I read your mind and lifted your drink!" she was trying to get me to smile like it was her life mission to do so. Pinkamina Diana Pie, a free soul that had traveled the world. She came from a rock farm that crushed dreams and demanded hard work in return. So when she saw her first rainbow come over her farm home, she rushed to throw a party in an attempt to recreate that same feeling for her family. At first, nopony changed. But soon her sisters started to think of fun ways to mine rocks, her mom picked up knitting and liked to create colorful patterns for her children. Pinkie always wanted pink. And then her father, the grumpiest pony of them all, became happy that the rest of his family began to enjoy themselves. And that's what started her mission to make everyone smile.

She had told me that the reason she took up fighting was so that she could learn how to find something to laugh about when you got beat up and left to hurt.

That idea seemed pointless to me.

How could you find joy out of getting hurt? Idiotic. I thought, still I don't really understand her to this day. But did I need to? Rarity and the others didn't think so.

"What she's trying to say," Rare began, "is that we appreciate that you're here, training with us. You did us a great favor by putting that magician in her place," she mentioned Trixie, which reminded me of the beating I got from Abby.

"Even if it was a means to an end?" I asked, glancing over at Abby from across the room.

"I can not say Abigail didn't have her reasons for taking back the title, but I agree with you, it wasn't very nice." Rare met my eyes, smiling. For some reason talking about it like this made it sound a lot less bad, and what Abby did to me felt natural. I started to relax a little as the two seemed content that I was calming down about it.

"And she's really sorry about it!" Pinkie defended her, "so what you got to do is get better and kick her butt back!"

"Exactly!" Rare agreed. They were so casual about plotting to beat up Abigail. Of course, they had their own plans to take the title too, and it left me in awe that some ponies thought like this. It was funny to me.

"Y'all are crazy," I said, the country speaking you hear all the time in Ponyville was starting to affect my speech, and now, I see it as a welcome change. Even if I got made fun of for it by the others.

"She reminds me a lot of her," Rare said to Pinkie.

"Oh my gosh, you're so right!" Pinkie sounded excited about it when this mare was mentioned. And naturally, I ended up asking.

"Who?"

"Sunset Shimmer!" Pinkie cheered over Rare's voice, answering. I shrugged at the name.

"She's just one of the other ponies that used to be in your place," Rare explained. "She actually came from Canterlot to here to fight with us. Wasn't she from a magic academy as well?" she asked Pinkie, who didn't know, shaking her head.

"What a mad mare," I said aloud.

"She was a strange one for sure," Rare continued, "Sunset trained with us for a while and suddenly up and left. Then we got that humanist mare Lyra, and then that rather derpy pony, but she got hospitalized. And now we have you!"

"Do you think she'd return and join your team again?" I asked as the gears in my head began to turn. I felt a little bit bad that my thoughts were leaking out into my words too much. But I needed to know something just in case.

"Maybe, but we already have you! No need to find a seventh member for our team," Pinkie said, insisting that she preferred that I was here instead of this Sunset Shimmer. But I could tell that this Sunset was the better fighter, and I was convinced that if I could find this mare and ask her to take my place on the team, I'd finally be free to leave this life of fighting and return to a life where I could heal and be the Princess's student again. But of course, the chances of me running into her were a thousand to one. Or so I thought.

Rare tapped Pinkie's shoulder and tilted her head to the front doors. When I looked back, I saw her. Sunset Shimmer. She was a mare about my height, her amber coat popped out with the black leather jacket she wore, and her mane was colored like a flame. Golden streaks mixed with vivid crimson hair. She looked bored as she walked in. Going straight to the bar for a drink like she was a regular. Soarin must've known her too because as she asked for her beverage, Soarin attempted to make small talk, only to be ignored. Soarin glared and left her to a glass and the bottle as she requested. Ignoring her in kind, tending to another customer.

Is this my chance? I almost said out loud as I stood up and watched her. I felt like luck had finally turned my way. I was going to get her to take my place on the team. But a hoof on my shoulder stopped me from leaving the table.

"Twilight, don't go over there, it's not worth it," Rare advised me.

"What are you talking about?" I said, acting like I didn't know what she meant.

"I know you might not think you're good enough to be called a member of our team, but we want you, not her."

"No, y- you got it all wrong, this will be better, trust me!" I tried to sound upbeat, but I could feel the lies coming out of my mouth like a slug I had to first swallow in order to speak. We both saw Pinkie's mane straighten and drop long, holding back tears. Rare looked back to me, glaring. I pulled away from her grasp and made quick work of reaching Sunset, leaving Rare to comfort Pinkie, telling jokes to make her smile again. But there was nothing as sad as the idea that you had failed to win someone over while being as sincere as she had been. Pinkie meant it that she wanted me to be her friend. And I meant it when I walked away from her, fetching someone else to be her friend.

"Hey!" I started enthusiastically, "Are you the Sunset Shimmer by chance?" Sunset eyed me and went back to drinking her cider.

"Who wants to know?" she said.

"Well, I've heard a lot about you," I said, this time she turned to me, continuing to look me over. "Your an amazing fighter, and there's a group that I think you should join. They call themselves the 'Elements of HARMony'. Weird name I know but they have the infamous Vinyl Scratch on their team, not to mention several other knuckleheads like the champ of knuckle brink corner, Abigail Apple Jack!"

"Aren't you the newbie who got lucky and took the title for a mere ten seconds before AJ cleaned your clock?" Sunset asked specifically. I fell silent to that, I wasn't expecting her to know about me.

"How did you-"

"Know?" Sunset continued, "word travels fast amongst the 'Ring', there really isn't too many ponies who don't know what went down here. So why don't you get to the point and tell me why you're actually talking to me." I bit my lip nervously and made a quick glance around the room and saw that the others were at Pinkie and Rarity's table, shooting me looks as to what I was doing. But I turned back to Sunset, discounting them all together.

"Listen, I shouldn't be here," I began, "I had my horn broken and now I can't use magic," Sunset made a hurt expression to me as I said that. "You're a unicorn too, you have to know how I feel, I heard you used to go to a magic academy back in Canterlot,"

"Yeah, what's your point?"

"My name is Twilight Sparkle, I used to go to Princess Celestia's school for the magically gifted," I told her, and at first she turned to me in surprise.

"No bucking way, me too!" she said, excited. I sighed in relief, finally somepony who understood me.

"Yes! I- I was even taken on as Celestia's apprentice!"

"Wow! Buck off..." Sunset's expression suddenly went dark as she said that. I felt attacked by those words. I had thought we were finding common ground, becoming 'friends'. Only now I was beginning to understand that we were doing the exact opposite. "I don't want to hear about your degrees in magic or your fancy lessons with Celestia. As far as I'm concerned, you can both go die in a hole."

"You talk as if you know her," I said.

"Yeah, I was her 'faithful student' before you were, Twilight. Oh! Did you think you were the only one? Please, if you honestly believe you're that special just because of that, getting your horn working again is pointless. She's probably already got some other sorry kindergartener under her wing now." Everything that she was telling me collided with that pride again. That hope that I'd return and everything would go back to normal. And the more I mulled it over, the more I started to believe her. "And one more thing," she said, sitting up and facing me, cracking her hooves. "If you had any thoughts of making it as a decent fighter, forget it." And like a flash of light, she hit my head back and forth, kicked me in the stomach, tugged me back toward her by grabbing the collar of my hoodie, punched my head upward, and with one last kick to the chest to knock me back. I slid across the floor, motionless.

In my mind for some reason, I could only think of what Pinkie had told me about finding a reason to laugh and find joy in getting hurt. I wondered if any of this had ever mattered. Studying hard to be the best at magic Training to defend myself.

Has everything been pointless? I laid there, thinking. I hadn't only lost sight of my goal to return to Canterlot, horn healed and my education restored. I had also traded my place with Vinyl and the others for a filthy spot on the ground, self-centered and defeated. I felt, useless. I hated that.

Still, while I remained there, I saw out of the corner of my eye, the bar rules for fighting. I could only see half of them as I eyed up over the ponies backing away from me. But one rule stuck out above the others.

Rule # 3 - If you can still stand, you can still fight.

How could I forget? I thought, smiling as I stood up again. Forcing myself onto a stool to balance.

"Just accept your losses, Sparkle, you can't beat me," Sunset stated.

"No, I laugh at my losses and stand up again to lose some more. A personal hobby of mine. And the name's Phoenix, egg-head..."

Author's Note:

I just want to say that despite what you guys may think about Dash and Vinyl as to, "What they did to Twilight", I personally, as I wrote this, didn't like Twilight all that much.
She's a bit more of a jerk. I think.

Comments

[SSPeanutButter]

"Y'all are crazy,"

Calm down Guzma.

[BackroundVoice]

8433914
What's Guzma?

[LegionCenturionMaster]

"No, I laugh at my losses and stand up again to lose some more. A personal hobby of mine. And the name's Phoenix, egg-head..."

Now that’s the kind of attitude I like to see in a fighter!

[brisa_mlp]

8717085
agreed