Rise Of The Empress

by Mystic Sunrise

Here Comes the Pain

Cozy gulped as the wing blades were fitted over her wings. Not that they were uncomfortable or painful. But any self-respecting Pegasus hated having their wings hindered like this, though her newfound strength made it easier for her to move them.

Appoloyon grinned as she flexed the claws of the gauntlet on her right hoof. "Do try and make this fun, squirt. I don't care who you think you are, or what the big mare sees in you. All I see is somepony who wouldn't last a day in the wastelands."

Before Cozy could respond, the bell announcing the commencement of the bout rang. With a speed that surprised the Pegasus, Appoloyon sprang across the cage with claws raised. It was all Cozy could do to brink her wings up in time, and even then she was sent flying.

Groaning, Cozy didn't see the punch that sent her crashing against the steel of the cage. She barely managed to not black out, her wings rising on pure instinct to block a blow aimed at her head.

This went on for several minutes, with Cozy unable to mount any sort of sustained offense. Appoloyon was just too fast and strong. 'Damn her earth pony strength' Cozy grumbled internally. How the buck was this supposed to be fair? She was a thinker, not a fighter.

"Guess I was wrong about you," Appoloyon sneered, as Cozy was just able to deflect a number of blows aimed at her head. "You're nothing but a bag of hot air. You talk a big game, and then can't back it up. You're nothing!"

Cozy whimpered as she dodged another attack. She was right. What was she doing here? She'd never had to fight in her entire life. Her genius and ability to manipulate ponies had been her greatest strength, but that meant nothing here.

This is how I die, she whispered to herself.

---

"She can't keep this up," Midnight winced, as she and Twilight watched from a balcony.

Twilight shook her head. "No, Cozy can't. But that has always been her biggest weakness. Her entire plan relied on her winning before we could escape Tartarus. By the time the girls and I had returned to Equestria, she would be in a position of power even we could not go against."

"By stealing all of the magic and sending it someplace else?" Midnight rolled her eyes.

Twilight nodded. "The multiverse is real, Midnight. There are an infinite number of universes where she could have sent it. We never discovered which universe she had in mind, or even why she thought stealing the magic was a good idea in the first place. None of the universes that sent students to the Multiversal School of Friendship ever reported anything like this."

"Fat lot of good that's doing her here," Midnight shook her head.

Twilight did not reply, as she watched the Pegasus slowly get beat down. Come on, Cozy Glow, she thought, You are smarter than this. I know it. Use that brain I know you have. What would Rainbow Dash say if she could see this?

---

Cozy was wondering the same, as she finally got time to breathe as Appoloyon circled her. Golly. Professor Rainbow would tan my hide if she could see me now.

And then it hit her, as she eyed the earth pony filly. Appoloyon was breathing harder and harder with each passing minute, her coat was soaked with sweat, and her legs were beginning to wobble from exertion.

That was all Cozy needed to know, as she smirked. "So. Ready to call it quits, Appy?"

The filly laughed. "Don't you dare call me that, you little brat! I'm just getting warmed up. Besides, you've been losing this whole time. Time to end this charade," she sneered.

Cozy only smiled wider. "Bring it on then, you pea-brained dolt!"

That seemed to enrage Appoloyon as she launched herself at Cozy with a roar of fury. At the last second, Cozy danced out of the way, while tripping Appoloyon up with a wing. That only seemed to make her madder though, as she came up with a look of bloodlust in her eyes.

Cozy, meanwhile, just danced around Appoloyon's blows, ones that were becoming slower and slower with each hit Cozy landed on the earth pony. Each blow was aimed directly at certain points on the filly's body. Ones that Cozy knew quite well.

---

Twilight's eyes widened, before breaking into a huge smile.

Midnight, though, was shocked. "How? Where the buck did Cozy learn all that? Where the hell did she get all this stamina? What the hell is she even doing?!"

Twilight giggled. "Winning, Middy. She is winning. Appoloyon is already dead if Cozy wanted her to be."

I hope you can see this, Autumn, she whispered.

---

At last, Appoloyon left an opening, and Cozy went for the kill. With a perfectly timed hoof strike, she struck at the base of Appoloyn's neck. At once, the filly went limp and crashed to the ground.

She tried to turn around, but to her horror, her body didn't respond. No matter how hard she tried. Appoloyon could not get her legs to move at all. She could still feel them, but nothing she did could get them to move. To her horror, she felt the blade of Cozy's wing blades at her throat, ready to end her life if she moved at all.

Cozy's smile only continued to grow as she allowed Appoloyon to breathe. "So. Ready to give up yet? Or would you like me to go the distance and cut your throat as well?"

Appoloyon could only glare at her. "What the hell did you do to me?"

Cozy giggled. "Temporary paralysis. It will wear off in a few hours. A very good friend of mine taught me all of the pressure points in a pony's body. I could have done so much worse if I wanted to. I still can. So. Do you yield or not?"

Appoloyon gulped as the blade came near to her throat once more. She could see that Cozy Glow was deadly serious about this. She finally sighed in annoyance. "I yield, Cozy."

Immediately, Cozy's mood brightened as she withdrew the claw as the cage around them retracted into the ceiling. She helped Appoloyon onto her back. "And I'm a Pegasus. We naturally have a lot of stamina. It's why I could go for as long as I did, while you were on your last legs."

Appoloyon couldn't argue with her. She had known she was nearing the end of her strength, but she had thought she could have beaten the filly before hers gave out. "Where the hell did you learn all of that? I've never seen it before."

Cozy smiled as she looked down several cages to a fiery-haired Pegasus in the middle of her own bout. "A very good friend named Autumn Rose taught me. You likely won't meet her though."

Appoloyon wondered what she meant by that, but right now, she hurt too much to ask.

---

"Wait. Rose? As in..." Midnight asked, as she watched Cozy take Appoloyon over to a waiting doctor.

Twilight nodded, as she looked at a certain Pegasus as well. "Yes. Autumn was Pearl's daughter from another universe. A kitsune-pony hybrid in fact. Sadly, kitsunes have never existed in this universe, so you will never meet one."

Midnight groaned. Typical. Oh, why did she have to get stuck with a crazy mare as she had?

Twilight, meanwhile, watched Pearl's bout with interest. She vividly remembered the universes where the two of them were so much more than they would ever be here. Teacher and student, best friends.

A family.

But those would never come to pass here. Pearl barely knew her, and Twilight was okay with that. Maybe in another time...

She shook her head. It was no use in wondering now.

Author's Note:

So I based most of what Cozy Glow was doing at the end on this video here by 춤추는샤나DancingShana. Among a few other videos of theirs.

Comments

[Mystic Sunrise]

11273843
Nope.
11166483
Well, the Aeldari do exist in this universe. So...
10292601
.

[midnight arrow]

great chapter worth the wait

[SuperSaiyanDiclonius]

Heh, I thought this story was dead.

A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.

[Warrior of Virtue]

Appoloyon was breathing harder and harder with each passing minute, her coat was soaked with sweat, and her legs were beginning to wobble from exertion.

This is surprising. If they're supposed to be comparable to Astartes, then they should have virtually limitless stamina.

[Mystic Sunrise]

11583555
They're still early in the gene-seed implantation process though. Astartes' level of stamina hasn't kicked in yet. Pegasi just have a natural stamina advantage at the moment.