The Phenomenal One

by TheAnimerican

Chapter 4

There it was, the door to the office of Rich McColt himself. Applejack has fought monsters and many of Equestria's wrestlers, but even she was frightened of this stallion. He was considered to be one of the richest and most powerful beings in all of Equestria.

Although Applejack considered herself to be humble, she knew that she made McColt money. If there is anything the EWE industry knows about McColt, is that he hates to lose money.

"Alright AJ," Applejack thought to herself, "You can do this." She took rapid deep breaths. On the final exhale, she knocked on the door.

"Come in," a rough voice replied.

Applejack opened the door to see the EWE owner himself. He sat behind his desk with what she could assume was made of gold. The room was much larger and ritzier than she thought. On one side of the room, you see a wall covered by portraits of EWE Hall of Famers. On the other, behind glass cases, were championship belts no longer being used within the company. Many stories and great matches are held within those titles.

"Well well well," said McColt, "If it isn't my newest and number one star! Hahaha! Come on in Styles!" Despite his warm welcome, Applejack could only give a nervous smile. As she slowly made her way to the desk, McColt had a smile and motioned her to come closer. For some reason, his smile made what to come all the more terrifying for her. What seemed like forever, she was finally only a few feet away from him.

"You made one hell of a debut there kid. I gotta tell ya, you really bucked up Ambrose real good. I must admit, I was slightly nervous when you stared him down and didn't leave the ring. I thought you were hungry for more. In the end, you pick him up out of sportsmanship! Brilliant! Hahaha! If that doesn't boost our ratings, I don't know what would," McColt praised Applejack.

"Well uh... I'm glad to see you are in a good mood sir," she said nervously.

"Are you kidding? I'm in one hell of a good mood thanks to you." Despite being in a good mood, it did little to ease Applejack. "Now what can I do for you? I'm a busy stallion and you need to be in shape kid."

"Well you see... Uh... The Thing is... well..."

Not able to say what she wanted to say, McColt grew impatient, "Come on now Styles what is it?"

Applejack continued to struggle, "I uh..."

"You want more money?"

"No I-."

"You want a title match?"

"No if you ju-."

"You want your own chariot escort?"

"I- Wait, I can get a chariot escort?"

"Yes! Done! Deal! Now get outta here I got more appointments."

"No wait, I don't want the chariot."

"Then what is it girl! SPEAK UP!" McColt pounded on his desk.

"I WANT TO GET OUT OF MY CONTRACT!"

She finally did it. She said what she wanted to say. McColt's reaction was to be expected. He stared straight into her eyes, jaw dropped, and face slowly turned red. The shocked expression changed to a look of rage. He got out of his seat, ran straight to his door, opened it, and shouted down the hall, "CANCEL MY NEXT APPOINTMENT! NO ONE DISTURB US!" In his rage, he slammed the door hard enough to knock down a couple of the portraits. He then marched up to AJ and stopped mere inches away from her muzzle. He whispered loudly, "What do you mean you want out of your contract?"

Applejack struggled to regain composure after what she just witnessed. Just a while ago, he was one of the happiest stallions she had ever seen. Now she was up against a real life volcano. "Sir, please understand," she pleaded, "When I'm not wrestlin', I work on an apple farm and I have to do lot of the chores. I can't do this anymore and I want to get out."

"You are out of your buckin' mind if you think I'm going to just let you go like THAT!" he shouted as he made his way back to his chair. "When you signed that contract you knew what you were getting into. You are stuck with me now Styles! You owe me a lot of bits and I expect you to pay up!"

"Mr. McColt please! I have a granny and a little sister that need me! Please reconsider. There must be somethin' I can do that is worth my contract," Applejack cried as tears began to build up.

"What could you possibly offer that-." McColt immediately stopped himself in mid-sentence. He gave a big smile, but not a very comforting one, "Okay Styles. I'll make you a deal. Our next big event is the Royal Rumble. I was originally going to have you be a participant. However, out of the goodness of my heart, I understand your situation and want to offer you the opportunity out of here."

Applejack has dealt with greedy stallions and knew that he had something sickening in mind, "What is it?"

"Instead of being in the rumble, you are going to main event the Royal Rumble. You will be fighting, one-on-one, with a wrestler of MY choosing."

"Who will that be?"

McColt chuckled and gave an evil grin, "That's for me to know and you to find out. Unfortunately for you, you won't know until the night of the Royal Rumble. In the meantime, you better get ready for the match of your life. Now get the hell out of my office!"

***

Meanwhile, Applejack agreed to meet with Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash just outside of Ponyville after her meeting with McColt.

"He said all that!?!" Rainbow Dash shouted in anger.

"Yeah. He made Filthy Rich look like a saint."

"Applejack, why don't we go to the Princess?" asked Scootaloo, "Maybe she can do something to help you get out of this."

"I can't do that Scootaloo. Although McColt is a niblet, he was right about me signing that contract. I knew what I was getting into and a deal is a deal. This might not be the best way out, but it is fair."

"So you have NO idea who your opponent is going to be?" asked Rainbow.

"No idea whatsoever."

"Well then, I guess the most you can do is get ready for it," said Scootaloo.

"That's just it," said Applejack, "I don't know how I'm going to prepare for this. Usually, they would tell me who I am fighting and I would study my opponent. I would watch their movements and look at how they fight. This mystery opponent already has an advantage."

"Aww come on AJ," said Rainbow, "You are an awesome wrestler and you knocked Ambrose down flat. There is nopony they got that can beat you."

"Consarn it Rainbow!" Applejack thought loudly to herself, "Why do I feel like what you said is just goin' to make things worse?"

"When is the Royal Rumble?" asked Scootaloo.

"In two weeks. I have to be ready for whatever they have in store for me."

"Well we are with you AJ!" Rainbow shouted.

"Yeah!" Scootaloo agreed.

Author's Note:

Hello everyone! I'm sorry this took forever to get released. I'm hoping the next chapters to come won't be as short and it would be better quality. In the meantime, enjoy! It is going to get interesting!