Bite the Apple

by daOtterGuy

Golden Victory

Soarin squinted through the dim lighting of an overhead streetlight. He was discerning the writing of a metal plaque hammered into the stone wall of what appeared to be a large warehouse. In a bold, no-frills font was the address of the building.

He looked down at the ticket in his wing.

Yep, this was the place.

Baltimare had an expansive system of back alleys and canals underneath the main streets. Stone bridges crossed overhead and the entire area was lit up by a series of dim streetlights.

The area wasn’t dangerous per se, it was heavily patrolled by the local law enforcement to ensure nothing bad ever happened, but the alleys gave a feeling of being trapped with how narrow they were.

Unpleasant for Pegasi with an aversion to being grounded.

Soarin scowled to himself. He would have to have a word with Spitfire later about sending him through dark, cramped alleyways late at night, especially with no warning as to having to travel through said alleyways.

Soarin looked to the right of the plaque. There was a nondescript, metal door set into the wall. This served to amplify the sketchy vibe Soarin was getting from the place.

He looked at the ticket again and paid close attention to the smaller font on the bottom. It said “No Holds Barred”, which some would assume is a marketing ploy.

Soarin knew it referred to the highly illegal practice of an unregulated sport. “No Holds Barred” in a wrestling ring usually meant somepony was getting slammed into the ground hard and might not get back up again.

This brought up the question of how Spitfire got the tickets since she was rather uptight about not breaking rules.

It also explained the nondescript warehouse since the owners would not want to advertise this place too much.

Soarin was now about 60% sure this place was probably legit. The other 40% assumed he was about to get scared out of his mind by a prank set up by Spitfire as revenge for not staying for the show earlier in the day.

Well, 30%. Spitfire wasn’t much for pranks. The last 10% percent was actually betting on him getting ganked.

Soarin gulped and trotted up to the door. He opened the door with a quick twist of the handle and was met by a wall made of very large Stallion.

“Ticket,” the wall stated gruffly.

Soarin paused then passed over the ticket wordlessly.

The stallion took the ticket and looked it over. Soarin took notice that the Stallion was an Earth pony with stone-grey fur, dark grey mane, and a cutie mark of a brick wall.

Very appropriate considering the situation.

“You Soarin?” The Stallion asked as he continued to look over the ticket.

“Yeah,” Soarin put on his winning grin.

“The Wonderbolt?”

“The one and only.”

“Right then.”

Soarin’s grin faltered momentarily, “Do you want an autograph or something?”

“No, don’t care,” the Stallion tore the ticket stub off and hooved it back to Soarin whilst stepping to the side, “Head on in.”

Soarin grabbed the ticket from the Stallion with a strained grin on his face and trotted through the door.

That hadn’t hurt his ego at all.

Not. At. All.

After some walking, the corridor abruptly exited into an extravagant lounge area. The walls were draped with velvet curtains and the floor was lined with plush rugs. On the other side of the room were several open arches leading to the show or at least that’s what Soarin assumed.

On Soarin’s right was a long wooden bar with an extensive collection of liquor in a glass cabinet behind it. In front of the bar was a stiff earth pony with a dusty mauve coat dressed in a standard waiter’s uniform.

“Can I get you anything, Sir?” The waiter asked.

“A Grape Gin if you have it,” Soarin replied automatically, “Mister …?”

“Step In Time,” The pony replied, “Your drink will be ready for you soon. Please make your way past one of the arches to your seat.”

Step In Time gestured with one hoof towards the open arches.

Soarin nodded and made his way through the nearest arch.

The first thing he noticed was the roar of the crowd. It was deafening. A chorus of hundreds of ponies cheering and screaming. He felt the familiar tingle of excitement from when he would start his routine during the Wonderbolt’’s show.

Once he could properly see the full arena, Soarin was astounded by the size of it. For a shady “underground” wrestling ring, it was massive.

The arena was easily the size of, if not bigger, than the Wonderbolt’s stadium. Spectators crowded the stands in a circle around the central ring, a square platform surrounded by thick, black cables. A single bright spotlight overhead lit up the area.

Magic displays hung in each corner of the stadium displaying the words Golden Victory VS. Mason Crusher.

He saw two big display entrances on either side of the ring. One was all gold and designed to look like a Las Pegasus light display: gaudy and impossible to ignore. The other was a large brick wall with a smashed through hole in the bottom.

Soarin stood on a balcony overlooking the entire area. Several lounge chairs were set up nearby. He was alone on the overhang. Surprising considering the crowds.

“Your drink, Sir.”

Soarin turned to see Step In Time carrying a tray with a glass filled with a light purple concoction. Soarin offered his thanks and grabbed the proffered drink with his left wing.

Step In Time blinked at him. He opened his mouth as if to say something before closing it when Soarin gave him a single quirked eyebrow.

“If you need anything, Sir, I will be at the bar.”

Step In Time left and Soarin went to lay down on a lounge chair. It was comfy.

“Ponies!” An announcer screamed, “Are you ready?”

There was a loud collective cheer from the audience.

Soarin noted that the announcer sounded like a Minotaur. They all had this guttural undertone that made everything they say sound serious and over the top. A rare voice to hear in a pony dominated Equestria.

A nice change of pace.

“I said,” The announcer paused, “PONIES, ARE YOU READY?”

Soarin grinned and joined in the near-deafening cheer of the crowd.

“Then let me introduce the crusher of stone, smasher of bricks, breaker of pony bones; MASON CRUSHER!”

From the display with the brick wall, an earth pony ran out into the ring to a fanfare of cheering and fireworks. She had a reddish-brown coat with a blonde mane braided into a long ponytail and a cutie mark of a smashed in brick wall. She was built like a brick house with bulging muscles all over her body.

That kind of build took real dedication. Soarin was impressed.

Mason did a lap around the audience as she called out to them in a deep, raspy voice. She took her time riling them up and talking smack about how she was going to smash her opponent.

The crowd cheered her on as she trotted to the centre of the ring and reared up on her back legs with a triumphant whinny.

She was an egotistical showboater. Just like himself.

He gave her a 7 out of 10 on the bangability scale because a showboater doesn’t like to share with another showboater.

“In the other corner,” The announcer began, “The flying pony of victory, the reigning champ of the Equestrian Underground Wrestling Circuit, the one, the only,” The announcer paused, “GOLDEN VICTORY.”

The crowd went delirious. He hadn’t even entered the ring.

Who is this guy?

Fireworks exploded as Golden Victory trotted into the ring from the other display entrance. He was an Earth pony with a golden blonde mane and matching tail. He wore a gold and yellow jumpsuit that hugged every heavy curve of muscle on his body.

The spandex left nothing to the imagination and Soarin was enjoying the show.

He gave him an 8 out of 10.

Golden stomped on the floor of the ring with his front right hoof. The entire stadium went quiet.

Soarin re-adjusted his figure to 9 out of 10. Anypony able to quiet an entire stadium with a single floor stomp deserved a bump.

“Before we get this match started, Golden Victory has an undefeated 20 win streak,” The announcer called out, “You know what that means everypony.”

“Time for this match’s streak killer!” The audience cheered, “Turn towards the screens and we’ll see what we got tonight.”

Soarin looked up at the screens as the announcer directed. They now showed a simple animation of a spinning roulette wheel. After a few seconds, the wheel began to slow until it finally stopped on an image of an hourglass with a 2 inscribed on the front.

“And tonight’s streak killer is to end the match in under 2 minutes!” The announcer cried out, “This one is going to be a hard one for Golden Victory.”

The audience roared its approval. Soarin looked to Golden Victory who seemed impassive to the decision. Mason Killer looked disappointed. An odd feeling for a competitor who was just given an enormous benefit.

“Now, we just need to know if Golden Victory agrees with the streak killer. Well, Golden? Are you taking the constraint?” The announcer’s voice dropped in pitch, “Or are you taking a penalty?”

Golden Victory was silent as the audience waited with rapt attention. As the tension neared its peak, Golden shook his head. The crowd roared. Mason Crusher’s face split into a wide grin.

“Oh, what a twist, ponies!” The announcer yelled, “Golden has chosen to take the penalty. Let’s see what he’s got!”

The screen did a simple flip animation and showed a stylized depiction of a wooden chair. The crowd was losing it.

“And here comes the chair!”

Before Soarin could figure out what the announcer meant by that, a unicorn wearing a white and black striped shirt ran into the ring with a wooden chair in their magic.

They pulled back.

Swing.

Soarin was pinned to the edge of the balcony. The chair shattered into wood pieces against Golden’s head, which were quickly swept up by the unicorn’s magic.

Golden Victory through the entire ordeal stood stock still without so much as a twitch. Mason Crusher was grinning wildly with a crazed spark in her eyes.

“And that’s our Golden, ponies,” The announcer called out, “Now, Let’s. Get. Ready. To. RUMBLE!”

Mason leaped forward into a tackle against Golden. Golden did a quick side step and countered with a punch to her stomach. Mason stumbled back. She looked up at Golden with a feral grin.

Golden tensed readying for Mason’s next assault.

She rushed forward and swung. Golden ducked, but Mason was ready to bring her swung punch down on his back. Golden went down, but quickly got up and moved back.

Mason took the opportunity to go in and pelt him with a flurry of blows to his head. Golden went on the defensive. He was pushed back to the cable.

Mason reared back to give a heavy blow to Golden. Golden took the opportunity to duck under, flip around, and back kick Mason under her chin.

Mason growled and readied to slam him into the ground with her hooves, but Golden was ready. He sidestepped from the blow and tackled her in the side. Mason stumbled and smashed into the cables.

Mason roared at him.

Soarin couldn’t remove his eyes. For what seemed like hours, but was only mere minutes, both fighters ducked, weaved, and traded blows. There were moments of true violence. Mason took a blow to the head that had her spit blood, Golden took a blow that made him hit the ground. Hard.

It was exciting. It was incredible. Soarin’s heart was racing. He felt the exhilaration of the fight. The excitement of the crowd.

This was how you put on the show.

This was how Soarin was supposed to put on a show.

His wings were flapping at a rapid pace. He fought the urge to drop down from the balcony and join in the brawl. He could feel the primal urge to get into the fight. The need to feel alive in the heat of the moment.

His mark ached.

Golden hit Mason with a heavy blow that made her stumble back dazed. Golden stopped and moved towards the outer ring cables.

“It’s time ponies!” The announcer roared.

The crowd cheered. Soarin leaned forward. Golden pulled back on the ropes with his body.

“Golden Victory’s signature move!”

Soarin was enraptured, he couldn’t look away if he wanted to. Golden released his body’s hold against the cables. He was flung forward, high in the air.

“FLYING-”

Golden twisted in the air and angled his body with shi front hindleg in an angled position.

“-VICTORY!”

Golden slammed into Mason. She crumbled to the ground. Golden rolled away and back onto his feet.

The unicorn from before rushed into the ring and began a countdown of 10. Through all of it, Mason stayed down.

As the ref called out 1, there was an audible pause.

Golden sat back on his back legs and raised his hooves in the air.

The crowd cheered.

“Ladies and Gentle Ponies, that is Golden Victory’s 21st consecutive win!”

It was amazing, exhilarating, thrilling-

“Sir,” Soarin heard a polite cough from behind himself, “I would ask that you do not fly whilst inside the confines of the stadium.”

Soarin looked behind himself at Step In Time. He was looking at him from the balcony. Soarin looked down and noticed he was hovering just outside of the confines of said balcony.

“Ah, sorry about that Step,” Soarin landed back on the landing, “Got a little, uh, excited there.”

Step In Time nodded and left promptly.

Soarin turned back towards the ring just in time to see Golden Victory exit to a send-off of fireworks.

Soarin collapsed on a nearby lounge chair exhausted.

He hadn’t felt so alive in months.

He made a decision.

He was going to meet Golden Victory, pony to pony.

Or die trying.

Author's Note:

Hi, I'm back sort of. I got the motivation to write again and I'm starting with this chapter as I was already halfway done it.

We'll see if I continue! I am currently not promising anything, but I am working on Side B as well as this story at a minimum.

Comments

[jxj]

It's good to see you back

[Vivid Syntax]

I loved this! You have a knack for action scenes, and this is one of the most interesting setups I've seen for a romance. I hope you continue it someday.