Fighting to the Top

by SwordTune

Foiling the Feeble

Three more days until the foil event started. Three... more... sets...

Rainbow Dash put her through a wringer the past few weeks, pulling out every last scrap of strength the way Pinkie Pie could pull taffy into a perfect sugary confection. Fifteen plyo push-ups at the end of every hundred meter sprint. Going back and forth once was only a single set.

"You're doing better than last week, keep it up!"

Rainbow's encouraging voice was like a broken fire alarm that wouldn't turn off. Sunset could hear it ringing in her ears, but didn't really pay any attention to it. She couldn't focus on anything except finishing the warm-up exercises. With the spring heat subsiding the past week, that gave Rainbow Dash a reason to push her even harder.

And she appreciated every burning step.

"You looked good." Rainbow ran up to Sunset with a wet towel in her hand. "How're you feeling?"

Sunset grabbed the towel from Rainbow. "Exhausted. I feel it in my arms the most."

"That's exactly what we want." Rainbow Dash pulled a small popsicle from her icebox and gave it to Sunset. "Twilight said Crystal Prep use heavy ropes to train up their arms, but I think this fits your style better. The burst from the plyos is gonna give your attacks more speed."

Over the course of the month leading up to the tournament, both Twilight and Rainbow had been modifying the Preppers' workouts to suit how Sunset fenced. They were about balance, never fully committing to an attack so they could always defend.

But pulling punches wasn't really Sunset's style. In the heat of a bout, she preferred to take the offensive. The problem was her endurance. She wasn't unhealthy by any means, especially not after her intense training, but the fencers that were going to be at the tournament fenced beyond the club level. They'd be professional athletes, with energy to spare by the end of the day.

"I'll give you five minutes to cool off, then we'll hit the medicine balls in the weight room." Rainbow Dash pulled her icebox underneath the tree by the racetrack and they both took a seat.

"Did Twilight say she'll be able to make it to the tournament?"

Rainbow nodded. "She skipped today's training so she could finish some kind of facial recognition program. Said something about using it to apply for an internship at a tech company."

"Huh." Sunset hummed. She pondered that fact with wonder as she cooled off with her popsicle. "I always figured she'd go for a lab position instead. Pharmaceutical research or something like that."

Rainbow laughed. "I bet she's gonna end up interning at every place she thinks is interesting. She might be an egghead, but at least she's the best egghead there is."

"If that's not true, I don't know what is," Sunset replied. For the first time since the IFT was announced, Sunset took her mind off of fencing. Twilight, getting an internship at a real company. Knowing her, she could easily get hired on the spot, and probably find the start of her career.

A career. Sunset thought to herself. What am I going to do in the future?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight started to wish she had done some of the exercises Rainbow Dash put Sunset through. She was so focused on her program that she completely lost track of time. She hopped off the bus in front of CHS and sprinted for the gymnasium in the back of the campus. Right outside the door, she saw Fluttershy and Applejack waiting.

"Howdy, Twilight. Made it just in time!" AJ waved to her.

"Rainbow Dash said the eliminations are about to start," Fluttershy said.

Applejack ushered Twilight in energetically, wearing a huge grin on her face. "Sunset got placed in the middle, so she won't be put up against the top-seeded fencers right at the start."

Twilight awkwardly looked around the fencing strips as they searched for a place to sit. She didn't want to miss a moment, even if she needed to take her eyes off to avoid bumping into strangers. A dozen things seemed to happen at once, all so fast that Twilight couldn't keep track. Sixteen metal strips were placed around the gym, each set up with electronic scoring equipment, flashing red or green lights as the fencers scored.

The IFT matched fencers up based on how many points they gained in the round-robin before. Those expected to win were at the top and got matched against the lower placements. The expectation was for the top four fencers to make their way to the semi-finals.

Being placed in the middle gave Sunset a chance to feel out the direct eliminations without facing an opponent who was too strong. Still, she'd have to face them eventually to win the trophy.

But aside from the rules, Twilight had no idea what was happening. Everything she read online was organized, neatly structured with clear rules. But to a casual observer, the sight of fencers walking back and forth and passing by sixteen simultaneous bouts was just chaos.

"I see her!" Twilight turned to see Pinkie Pie shouting from a few seats above. She followed her pointing finger to the middle of the gym, where a red-haired fencer was peeling away from a blurred lunge. The score was even, ten to ten, in a fifteen point bout.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No way I'd be at this point without Rainbow Dash.

Sunset leapt back, retreating barely enough to avoid her opponent's point. Her technique was average at best, but she had the speed to make up for it.

"Cloudsdale Stormers," said a small patch on her glove. Sunset noticed it when they shook hands during the preliminary bouts. Her opponent was on the Stormcrest High School fencing team and had driven three hours to take the trophy from CHS.

But Sunset was not going to lose on the first elimination bout. She turned her footwork around, pressing into the Stormer's own lunge. She thrust her guard against the blade, pushing it out of the way while simultaneously attacking. Defend while attacking, that was her style.

The Stormer was caught off guard by the move, recoiling as her whole body weight lunged into Sunset's point. Foils were made to bend to prevent serious injury, but Sunset knew she had left a bruise on the lower rib.

The director signalled the action with his hands. "Attack non, contre-temp touché."

Sunset's score climbed up to eleven.

"En garde, prêt, allez!"

The Stormer jumped at the director's command, flicking her foil in rapid beats. Sunset's blade was slammed aside left and right. Despite the wide swings of each beat, she was fast, and Sunset was helpless against the flurry of blows. There was no hesitation when her guard dropped. The Stormer shot forward, though her blade seemed to lag behind.

It jolted Sunset's mask so hard her ears rung for a second. Had she not flung her beats so wildly, her beat-thrust combination would have been flawless. Sunset counted herself fortunate that this was only foil, and that only the torso was the target area.

The director called the off-target. "Non valable!"

With the timer two minutes away from a break, neither of them wanted to draw out the bout. It was only the start of the day, and there were a lot of fencers to get through. Red light, Sunset's point.

The Stormer replied with a redoubled lunge, striking the hip even when Sunset thought she had retreated enough. It took another minute, but Sunset managed to win in the end with a fifteen to twelve score. The two girls shook hands as per the rules, but she clearly didn't want anything to do with Sunset after that loss. She grasped Sunset's hand in a rough handshake and stomped back to her fencing gear.

"Good job to you too," Sunset grumbled as she returned to her fencing bag to wet her mouth. She gargled a bit of water and then spat it out into another bottle. Water would weigh her down. All she needed was to forget about the thirst for a short while.

"That was amazing!" Rainbow Dash popped out from nowhere and slapped Sunset on the back. "Did you see her face after she lost? I don't think I've ever seen anyone that mad before."

Sunset simply shrugged. "It happens. Fencers can be really prideful."

"But you sure showed them not to underestimate us," Rainbow chuckled.

From the bleachers, Sunset could hear the footsteps of her other friends. Pinkie Pie bounded over other audience members, leaving a small wake of chaos as her calling card. The others, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Twilight, walked calmly through the crowd, passing by other fencers getting ready for their next bout.

"Sorry I wasn't here to see the earlier matches," Twilight apologized. "But Applejack said you did fine, and I have to agree after seeing that last one."

"Too bad Rarity's flight from Manehattan got delayed," Fluttershy added. "I sent her a video of the last few points and she texted that she loved it."

Sunset smiled as she wiped her face with a towel. "Tell her I hope the storm over there clears up so she can see me tomorrow. That's when I'll be at my best."

"That's epee right?" Pinkie Pie reached into Sunset's bag, rummaging around and eventually pulling out a sabre. "Oh, what's this one?"

"Sunday's event," Sunset said, snatching the sword away from Pinkie before something, or someone, got hit. "I probably won't do as well in that one though, sabre's not my strong suit."

"So, it's this or epee that you're hopin' to win?" Applejack picked up Sunset's epee with more care, inspecting the weapon's grip. "Reckon two chances is more than enough for our very own Sunset Shimmer to win a trophy."

"Thanks, AJ."

On the gym's speakers came a call for the next fencers who needed to make their way to their strip. Sunset heard her name for strip twelve, against a girl named Marionette Puppé.

"That's my queue," she said, grabbing her mask and water bottle. "Wish me luck!"

Sunset stepped over the dozens of bags next to hers, moving carefully past the other fencing strips, paying attention so she didn't get in a director's way. She passed the kiosks where people from big fencing equipment sellers were working on fixing blades or picking shoe sizes for fencers who needed a last-minute change. To the surprise of just about no one, the things they sold were upcharged, just slightly. Enough to be ignored by nervous fencers who needed a quick fix for their gear.

Once she arrived at strip twelve, her heart turned to lead and crumpled down into her stomach. Marionette Puppé sat in a chair by the strip, surrounded by her friends. They were all fencers, all from Crystal Prep's All Girls Fencing Team.

When they looked at her, Sunset immediately dropped her head low. She had been using their training to prepare for this tournament, but there was no way she could match someone who had lived and breathed that routine for years. Sunset knew that the foil was their strong suit, but she didn't expect to face one of them so early.

Perhaps it was better this way. She had improved a lot in her athleticism, but against a Crystal Prepper, she'd be exhausted if they were paired up in the semi-finals or finals.

Sunset sat down and tightened her shoelaces. She did her best to ignore the whispers from the other side. Were they judging her for taking their techniques? Or were they hoping that one of their own could put her in her place for thinking she could be as good as them? Sunset tried not to think about it.

Only winning mattered.

The director called them to the strip. They took the places on the lines that marked the starting distance. "En garde!"

"Prêt!"

Sunset twitched forward as the director delivered his commands.

"Halt!" cried the director. Sunset froze as he stepped toward her side of the strip. "Wait for my command, next time that's a yellow card."

She took a deep breath. Sunset swore she heard the director call "allez!" No, she was too impatient. The first two phrases were at the same pace as the last director, but this one put a pause between "prêt" and "allez." She had to listen for the gesture, not anticipate what he might do or say.

Suddenly Sunset felt her chest compress as Marionette's foil jammed into her. She realized too late that she was so caught up in the warning, missing the actual signal to start. The pain made her grunt, even if the shock did more damage than the actual hit. She balled her left hand into a fist and beat her thigh, taking her mind off the ache in her chest.

Focus, she ordered herself. Just focus like it's Celestia's magic tests.

"Allez!"

Sunset grabbed the rhythm this time, delivering one clean hit after the other. The first hit seemed like a fluke; Marionette was a great defender, but even she couldn't keep up with relentless pressure. In less than twenty seconds her red light had gone off three times. Three points.

But Marionette started fencing differently after the third point. Her movements started to match Sunset's, step by step. They moved as if a plank of wood was between them, keeping them apart at the exact same distance no matter how much the other tried to push.

Sunset beat Marionette's blade aside and lunged, but she retreated just in time and came back with the same action. Whatever attack Sunset threw out, an identical one always came back. She disengaged Marionnette, dropping her point so the parry would pass over it without stopping the attack, and thrust.

But Marionette recovered fast, disengaging into a counter-parry on her left side, the four position. They slowly traded points, climbing up to eight-seven in Marionette's favour. The timer ran out, signalling that three minutes had passed. The director pressed a button on the remote in his hand, putting up one minute on the clock for the break.

Sunset took off her mask and sipped some water, just enough to moisten her mouth. Through the crowd, she saw Twilight and Rainbow Dash coming to give her support.

"Hey, girls—"

Rainbow Dash cut her off. "You're gonna want to just listen to Twilight for this."

Twilight knelt by Sunset's seat and showed her notebook. "I know you don't like to hold back but you're going to have to. Sour Sweet mentioned Marionette in her notes. She always mimics her opponents so they never learn anything about her real style."

"What?" Sunset figured Marionette just fenced the same way she did. Copying another fencer's style on the spot, with no preparation, sounded impossible. There were thirty seconds on the clock.

"Just let her take the pace from now on, figure out her quirks," Rainbow advised.

Sunset nodded. That meant she'd have to bring out her parries. It wasn't that she was bad at them, but the past month she had been training her explosive power, doing everything to make her attacks better.

She put her mask on before the timer ended. What she had would have to be good enough. All she needed was some time to see what Marionette was really like, and then she'd press her attack again.

"Allez!"

Sunset retreated right off the bat, putting distance between her and Marionette's thrust. She attacked twice more, but both were deflected by parries and ripostes. The Prepper slowed down now, and despite their black masks, Sunset felt like a camera was on her, watching every motion, playing it all back in slow motion.

Marionette closed the distance with short but quick advances, careful not to lose her balance with an overcommitted attack. Her blade moved back and forth, beating left and right to keep the centre line clear. In a whipping motion, her foil glided down the length of Sunset's blade, slashing through her guard and striking.

"Touché!" The director signalled at Marionette as a green light flashed on the electric box.

The next time, Sunset gave a bit of pressure, thrusting with half-effort to gauge her opponent's response. Every time she did, Marionette turned her blade in a horizontal sweep that covered almost her entire body. But it was a wide swing.

Feint, feint, feint, lunge. Sunset moved forward three steps at a time, giving light jabs with her foil after every step. Marionette responded by pressing her attack, and they shifted forward and back along the strip until they met in the middle. Her instinct was to explode out, switch her retreat into an attack for her opponent could react and change directions, but it was clear that the distance between them wasn't shortening enough to land a solid hit.

Feint, feint, feint, lunge. Marionette reacted to the rhythm, not giving a parry until the fourth committed attack. She riposted, but Sunset pushed it aside with a parry to the outside, in the six position. Once more, she pressed. Feint, lunge, feint. Her red light flared on the electric box. Marionette looked at the light, then the director as he awarded a point to Sunset.

Beat, press, thrust.

Stay in motion, never letting the blade get caught. Disengage, coupé, retreat, lunge. Red light.

Advance, advance, pause, and then go.

Over and over, Sunset faked one behaviour and changed it up unexpectedly. Sometimes, she'd even change when she would change it. Marionette's weakness quickly became apparent: she focused so much on mimicking her opponent that she couldn't establish her own rhythm. Without the ability to dictate where the fight goes, being sloppy and aggressive could eventually pull ahead.

Red light: fifteen to thirteen, Sunset's favour.

They saluted each other and shook hands. But where Sunset expected to see a frustrated face she saw only a face lost in thought. Panting from exhaustion, the two of them parted and returned to their bags.

"Keep it up and that trophy's in the bag," Rainbow squealed excitedly. The three girls left the strip behind and walked together to rejoin their other friends, but in the sea of strict trainers and meddling parents shifting throughout the gym, Sunset wasn't surprised the others got a little lost. But there was one person standing by her gear who looked like she knew exactly where she was going.

"I see my tips haven't gone to waste." Sour Sweet stood by Sunset's fencing bag, watching the two bouts nearby. "I'm actually glad you beat Marionette. She's always so full of herself."

Sunset smirked. "You're one to talk."

"Hey! I'm not—" Sour Sweet hesitated and then dropped it. "Fair enough. But to be honest, you did really well. Marionette's one of the best foilists on the girls' team."

"Thanks. Hey, you wouldn't happen to know anything about the other schools here, do you? My first DE was with a Stormcrest student."

Sour Sweet swivelled her head around and then pointed to a girl with pigtails who was just about to fence. "Aurora High mostly fences sabre, but that's one of their foilists over there."

Sunset noted the mascot painted on the front of her mask, a yak's head wearing a steel helmet.

"Then there's the Gryphons of Griffith's All-Girls Private School." Sour Sweet pointed to a fencer in the middle of the gym, leading in her bout, ten to two. Friends cheered her on from the sidelines, all of them wearing black t-shirts sporting vicious-looking gryphons on the back.

"Never heard of their school," Sunset commented. "Where are they from?"

"Small town called Gryphonstone," Sour Sweet chuckled. "But that's not really why we call them 'Gryphonstoners' at Crystal Prep."

"We do?" Twilight asked. "I didn't know that."

"Well, you probably didn't go to the Summer Solstice Music Festival when the incident happened," she replied.

"What incident?" Rainbow asked.

"Long story." Sour Sweet waved the topic aside. "Right now, Sunset should be focusing on her next bout."

"Sure you're comfortable helping the enemy?" Sunset joked. "Our school is still kind of rivals."

She shrugged. "CHS and Crystal Prep are pretty close. These other students, they're from completely different places. Compared to them, our schools are like sisters."

"Wow, didn't think I'd hear that from you," Sunset said.

"You thought I helped you just to see you fail?" Sour asked. "Just go and make sure I didn't waste my time."

Again, Sunset heard her name called to strip eight for her next bout. This time, Twilight and Rainbow Dash stuck with her and kept a close eye on what her opponent's coach was saying. Her opponent was an independent fencer, and it looked like her father was the one training her.

"Gotta watch out," Rainbow whispered as Sunset pushed her hand into her sweaty glove. "I've seen athletes push themselves too far for their parents."

Sunset looked over and nodded silently. She understood the pressure. When you lost, it was difficult to even look at the ones you fought for. And seeing them every day didn't make it any better. The girl was at least three years Sunset's junior. It was a lot to handle at her age But she only had the pressure of one parent. Sunset had her entire human life weighing on her.

Sorry kid. Sunset stared through her mask as the director told them to go on guard. But I've found a new family, and they're here too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fluttershy gripped the bottom of her seat while Pinkie Pie couldn't stop tapping her foot. All the fencers had been eliminated and it was down to the semi-finals now. Leading thirteen points to eleven was a good sign for Sunset, but her friends could already see a difference in her movements.

"I thought the point of all that training was so she wouldn't get tired," Applejack asked Rainbow Dash.

"It's not like magic that can make you stronger all of a sudden." Rainbow pointed to Sunset's opponent, one of the fencers from Griffith's. "She's slower too. Sunset just has to push past the exhaustion."

"It shouldn't be a problem," Twilight said. "The time since the last bout should have been enough for her lactic acid concentration to go back down. She shouldn't be feeling the muscle burn yet."

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "No, that's worse for her."

"How do you mean?"

"Come on, we all know what Sunset's like," she replied. "I've seen her, she can push past lactic acid. But right now she's fighting against fatigue, not pain. Her legs can't give a strong enough burst to shoot into the other fencer."

A green light blinked on the box. Instinctively, the Gryphon screamed with delight, tightening her ungloved fist and yelling to her friends to release her built-up stress.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Still so fast? Sunset felt the hit on her shoulder. It was a simple thrust, the very first attack every fencer in the world learned to do, but it moved with such speed and precision it was like a machine had hit her, not a person. Whatever the jokes said about Griffith's Private School clearly didn't hinder their fencers. Their scores, Sunset realized, were too close for comfort: thirteen to twelve.

She returned to the middle ground of the strip and waited for the director to give the signal. "Allez!"

Sunset retreated a step, stopping as the Gryphon closed the distance, who extended her arm and advanced so flawlessly that Sunset knew she'd be hit in the exact same place if she didn't act.

She thrust, pushing out with her guard in an opposition while leaning forward instead of stepping. Her hip muscles weren't as exhausted, and the shorter attack didn't matter as she blasted into the Gryphon's attack. The opposition pushed the attack away, clearing a direct line into the diaphragm.

Sunset's red light beeped. This time the Gryphon made no sound, only bending over to recover her breath from the attack. Fourteen to twelve.

The temptation of the last point was too great. When the director allowed them to fence, Sunset whipped her opponent's blade aside, rapidly thrusting and flicking at the nearest target, the Gryphon's shoulder. But her burst lasted only for a second.

Desperately, she parried as the other fencer returned a lunge. They exchanged thrusts a few times, but her opponent already realized Sunset was too tired. Her last hit was powerful, but sloppy, and gave away her hand. The Gryphon's attacks came more frequently, as she was confident she could dodge every thrust Sunset tried to make.

But Sunset knew she needed just one more point. Their bout had been quick, leaving one more break before the last three-minute interval. She just had to get through the last twenty seconds of this interval to catch her breath. She kept her arm moving, delivering quick but short jabs. Even if she couldn't move, the right-of-way rule still applied. Her opponent would have to respect the threat of her point, even if they both knew it'd never be able to chase down a moving target.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow Dash weaved through the crowds of fencers watching the semi-finals. They were wondering if the fencer they lost to would win; the only consolation to losing was knowing that you were beaten by the champion.

"Come on Twilight, the timer's about to run out."

Twilight trailed behind Rainbow Dash, subtly opening a path through the people and fencing bags with her telekinetic magic. They made it to Sunset just as the director halted the bout and set the clock to one minute for the break. Sunset collapsed onto a chair by the fencing strip faster than Rainbow Dash could pre-order a Daring Do novel.

"You're so close, I know you can do this," Twilight said. But all Sunset could focus on as she took a small mouthful of water was how desperate her body was crying out to quit. One sip felt like a drop from a leaky faucet, but the tiny amount of water trickled down from her mouth to her stomach, cooling the burning dryness she felt in her throat.

"Don't think about the trophy or the bout, Sunset." Rainbow noticed she couldn't keep her eyes off the clock. "Think about the racetrack outside, and imagine you're on the last hundred-metre dash."

Sunset nodded. She couldn't stop thinking about how hard she had worked to get to this point. She practised until her limbs were stiff and numb every single day. Which of these fencers could say the same? To her, the only way to tell was by who won the finals. If she lost now, it would mean she didn't work hard enough. And that, she refused to believe.

The director gestured the two fencers to return to the strip as the timer beeped at zero seconds. Sunset breathed, feeling the air pumping her chest with energy, just enough to grab that last point.

"Allez!"

She took it slow, not wanting to risk throwing herself on her opponent's sword. They measured their distance, tapping each other's foils to gauge a response.

At beat and thrust flew out from nowhere and struck Sunset in the sternum. The force made her cough, but the sudden burst was what really shocked her. If she had been able to rest during that break, then so did her opponent.

Sunset lunged in the next action but was forced back with the Gryphon's opposition. They traded blows until a light touch, one that Sunset didn't even feel, set off her opponent's green light. Her lead was gone, and they had reached la belle.

Sunset gave a small salute to her opponent as she went on guard. La belle was the term for bouts that ran to the very end, where both fencers could win with one point. It was meant to describe the bout as "beautiful," and Sunset hoped it'd be her final action that was the beauty.

Her opponent had pushed hard to catch up. But the one-minute break wasn't that long. The fencer from Griffith's was resilient, but even in how she went on guard she had slowed down.

"Allez!"

Sunset put all her effort into her legs and plunged deep into her opponent, shooting past her guard. She felt her chest contract, exhaling air to relax her muscles and reach further.

A green light. Sunset looked down to find her opponent's tip sticking to her chest when the director called, "Halt!"

"Hargh! Yes!" The Gryphon tore off her mask and screamed, pumping her fist inward as if she just won the lottery. In patientless haste, the girl saluted Sunset, who responded reflexively even though she was still stunned by the defeat. They shook hands, and the girl hopped off to give high-fives to her friends.

Sunset knew she had the right-of-way, but her attack fell short. Her opponent cleared the space between them and put in a thrust that slowed Sunset just enough to widen the delay. There was a split second where the two of them could have hit and it would have been Sunset's point by the rules, but it was only a fraction of a second.

Sunset hung her head walking back to her friends. She listened as they all spoke words of comfort and reassurance. But those were not the words she needed to hear. Everything wasn't alright, because that meant she had lost the first chance to win for CHS.

"Tomorrow." The statement sounded like it was meant for herself rather than her friends.

"Tomorrow I'll get that trophy."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The speakers called the next fencers to the strip. Sunset sat in the back of the bleachers, a wet towel over her shoulders. Eight to four in one moment, then eleven to four less than fifteen seconds later. The winner from the other semi-final, some student from Stormcrest, was on a completely different level from anyone else.

Even before two minutes had passed, it was obvious she would be the winner. Holding a lead of thirteen to six, it was extremely unlikely that the Gryphon would have a chance at a comeback. The fencer from Griffith's was excellent at the technical level, maybe even a little bit more than the Stormer, but that didn't close the intellectual gap between them.

It looked like the Stormer could read her opponent before they acted. She took the right-of-way with a fleche, barely milliseconds before her opponent launched a lunge.

Had she won the semi-finals, Sunset didn't think she'd have a chance against this fencer. She remembered the mask: even though the Stormcrest mascot was a dark cloud spewing a lightning bolt, her mask was the one with a viper's fangs spray-painted onto it.

"Scary, isn't it?" Sour Sweet slid into the seat next to Sunset. "I was talking to a couple of Stormcrest students. That's their top fencer on the girls' team, Rena Serp"

"She's amazing at setting up attacks," Sunset commented. As if the universe wanted to prove her right, Rena took another point as she said it. "I don't think I've seen her miss unless it's a feint."

"They said she's planning to be an Olympian after college," Sour explained.

Sunset nodded. "With that talent, it'd be a waste if she didn't."

"Yeah? And what about you?" Sour Sweet nudged Sunset with her elbow.

"What about me?"

"You honestly think someone with a month could get to where you are now with hard work alone?"

A scream echoed from the fencing strip. Rena Serp's green light lit up, and she was shouting to the ceiling as if she was a monkey, screeching at a threat.

"I know I could never have reached that." Sunset pointed at Rena.

"Psh." Sour Sweet waved Sunset's doubts away. "I helped because I actually felt bad after hearing the reputation CHS fencers have. But in a month you went from having literally no chance to nearly taking the title as the best young foilist between all the regions."

Literally no chance? Sunset felt like she still would have had no chance after seeing Rena. But most fencers didn't compete outside of their main weapon, or at least not at the same level. Knowing she was this close already, even though the foil wasn't her strong suit, gave her back some confidence.

"Hey!" Sunset and Sour's eyes both followed the call to the other side of the bleachers. It was Cloud Kicker pushing aside a couple of disgruntled parents as she clamoured to meet them. "You really did it out there today. Can't wait to see how you do tomorrow!"

Sunset realized that in the excitement of her own bouts, she completely forgot to check on how Cloud Kicker performed.

"Lost in my second elimination bout," Cloud answered after Sunset asked how her day went. "But it's no big deal. Fencing's like a hobby because of soccer right now. I'm just glad I could have fun with so many different faces."

"At least someone's taking their loss better than you," Sour mocked Sunset.

Sunset gave her a nasty look, but let it go. It was pointless to dwell on her first try. Everyone except the champion suffered a loss, she just had to commit everything to her epee bouts and trust that it would work out.

The finalists danced tentatively back and forth. The fencer from Griffith's was on the defensive, using her footwork to widen the distance between her and Stormcrest's best foilist. There were five seconds left on the clock. Sunset couldn't believe that in just the first three minutes Rena had gotten to fourteen points. With two seconds left on the clock, both fencers relaxed their muscles, making an unspoken agreement to continue after a minute of rest. One second.

Crack.

"Halt!" The director stopped the clock with a quarter of a second to spare. Sunset had blinked when it happened and missed half of the action. In less than one second the Stormer flew across the strip in three lunges and landed an unimaginable hit on her opponent. The gym echoed with the sound of Rena's shoe slamming onto the metal fencing strip.

"What happened?" Cloud Kicker rubbed her eyes. "I blinked and then she got the point."

Sunset shook her head. "I've never seen anything move so fast, at least not without magic."

Even Sour Sweet was expressionless. "Nothing left but the award and a picture with it," she said after the two finalists shook hands.

Sunset stood up. "I should probably go. Semi-finalists normally stand next to the winner as well in the pictures."

Sour Sweet grabbed Sunset's arm before she walked down the bleachers. "I know I'm not one to talk about controlling emotions, but at least try to smile when they take your photo, okay?"

With a deep breath, Sunset reclaimed her arm and put on a grin. "See? I'm already ready for tomorrow's bouts."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunset waved to Applejack as she drove off with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy in her brother's truck. They had invited Sunset to go out and eat with them, but all things considered, she wasn't in the mood for it. Twilight had left the tournament early; since neither Sunset nor a Crystal Prep student was in the finals, she didn't have much interest anymore.

The bookworm retired to the school's library to work on one of her projects, along with Rainbow Dash who needed help with calculus.

Sunset sat on a bench in the main hall of CHS, where the few trophies the school did have was displayed in a glass case. There were technically two more chances to get her trophy, but despite those odds, she couldn't stop today's loss from sowing doubt in her mind.

There was a huge difference between a regular fencer and winners, that much was plain today. That girl, the one from Stormcrest, was so young, but she was already working toward the Olympics. Sunset never watched the humans' sporting event, but from what she could tell, it was bigger than anything Equestria had ever accomplished.

"Wooh," a voice whistled from behind. "I can see why Sour Sweet did such a big favour for you."

Sunset turned to see Marionette walking out of the dimmed hallway leading from the gym. For whatever reason, CHS always seemed to have lightbulbs that needed replacing.

"You're still around?" Sunset asked her.

She shrugged. "The buses out here suck. I missed the last one so I'm stuck for another half-hour." She pointed to the glass case with CHS's trophies. Few boasted first place.

"That, however, sucks even more than the buses."

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Oh shut up. If you're here to gloat about how great CP is, at least bring another student. You girls are better in a crowd."

"Ouch, good thing I brought sunscreen for that sunburn."

"Sunburn?" The moment she repeated it Sunset realized what Marionette meant. "Oh, name puns." Even though she got the joke, it didn't pull a smile out of her face.

"Well aren't you a stick in the mud? Must be your first time losing."

Sunset simply shook her head and chuckled wistfully. "Nope, my life has pretty much been a string of failures until recently. And now I'm not even sure if that statement's true."

"Oh...kay?" Marionette seemed caught off guard by her truthfulness. "Still, I was only talking about fencing. I know you're new to this, Isa told me."

"Isa? I don't know an Isa."

"Oh. Isa Bellegarde is Sour Sweet's friend," Marionette's expression changed slightly, her lips curling almost into a scowl. "She's been telling her all the stuff we do at practice."

"So that's her name?" Sunset recorded it in her mind. She'd have to thank her for all the help she had offered in the past month.

"Yeah, but don't ask me to find her," Marionette said. "She's dating my brother. We're not on speaking terms."

Sunset gave her a funny look. "Why would that—"

"That's not the point." Marionette cut her off. She took a seat next to her, giving a sympathetic look that almost made Sunset feel small from all the pity. "I wanted to give you some tips before tomorrow. I know it's a little short notice, but it's going to help you in the long run."

"Alright, lay it on me."

Marionette signalled Sunset to stand up and join her in a standard "en garde" position. Then, she stepped in front of Sunset and pressed on her lower back, forcing her upright.

"You're leaning forward a little," Marionette explained. "That's been putting extra weight on your front leg, tiring it out quicker and making your recovery slower." She continued to hold Sunset in place until her whole body had adjusted to even distribution of weight.

"You need to make your thrusts more compact too." Marionette pushed her elbow inward. "You're fast, but you could stand to do a lot more with a lot less. Now lunge."

Sunset did so, with Marionette's hands guiding her. "Keep your arm in line," she said. "Don't worry about trying to twist around your opponent's blade, just keep it all tight and compact."

"Why are you helping me?" Sunset said as she repeated the lunge with cleaner technique.

Marionette smiled. "You beat me. I'm not admitting to anyone that I lost unless it was to someone who's actually good."

"You really are from Crystal Prep, aren't you?" Sunset stood normally to talk. "Competitive to the end."

"Of course I am. Colleges take a long look at you if you're a good fencer."

"So that's what it's all about?" Sunset rolled her eyes just a little. "That kind of stress can drive you mad, trust me. You ever take time off?"

Sunset's remark suddenly changed Marionette's tune. She furrowed her brows and frowned at her. "My family can't afford to put two kids through college. If I go without a scholarship, my brother won't get a chance to go at all. He might be an idiot for dating Belleguard, but I have to support him in that at least."

"Well, that's nobler than most." Her honestly struck Sunset as a surprise. "I didn't know you put that kind of pressure on yourself."

Marionette sighed in return, shifting her feet a little awkwardly. "Don't make a big deal out of it, okay? You're actually the only one I've told. No one at Crystal Prep cares about each other."

"I know what that's like," Sunset said, laughing a little. "Before I, er, moved here, I was in a rough spot. I didn't feel like people let me live to my full potential. And once I came to CHS, I isolated myself from everyone else."

Marionette raised a brow. "Weren't you the most feared bully at this school? At least that's what I heard."

"Well yes," Sunset admitted, her voice quickly wanting to drop out of the conversation. "But infamy's not the same as having friends. I felt alone and insecure every single day."

"Well, this conversation went to a place I didn't want to go." Marionette took a deep breath and looked away. Even her body leaned back slightly as if saying she wanted to escape from sharing such intimate feelings. "How about we go back to fencing?"

"Good idea." Sunset returned to her guard. "So, what else can I fix?"

Comments

[Scholarly-Cimmerian]

I really liked the scene at the end with Sunset and Marionette. Offered some good character material.

And of course, the fencing stuff before this was amazing. ^_^

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

A career. Sunset thought to herself. What am I going to do in the future?

Only you can find out the answer Sunset.

The Stormer replied with a redoubled lunge, striking the hip even when Sunset thought she had retreated enough. It took another minute, but Sunset managed to win in the end with a fifteen to twelve score. The two girls shook hands as per the rules, but she clearly didn't want anything to do with Sunset after that loss. She grasped Sunset's hand in a rough handshake and stomped back to her fencing gear.

Good for you sunset

"Too bad Rarity's flight from Manehattan got delayed," Fluttershy added. "I sent her a video of the last few points and she texted that she loved it."

Huh, that explains why she isn't here.

Sunset sat down and tightened her shoelaces. She did her best to ignore the whispers from the other side. Were they judging her for taking their techniques? Or were they hoping that one of their own could put her in her place for thinking she could be as good as them? Sunset tried not to think about it.

Hopefully no one knew sour sweet was the one who told them this info.

"Keep it up and that trophy's in the bag," Rainbow squealed excitedly. The three girls left the strip behind and walked together to rejoin their other friends, but in the sea of strict trainers and meddling parents shifting throughout the gym, Sunset wasn't surprised the others got a little lost. But there was one person standing by her gear who looked like she knew exactly where she was going.

Couldn't agree more with you Rainbow.

"That's not the point." Marionette cut her off. She took a seat next to her, giving a sympathetic look that almost made Sunset feel small from all the pity. "I wanted to give you some tips before tomorrow. I know it's a little short notice, but it's going to help you in the long run."

Well that sure caught me by surprise.