The Tears of Gaia

by Redback Spino

16. The Flyt

Truth be told, Maugoth had not had the best of weeks.

His platoon had been patrolling the countryside for nearly a month, with little to no success. A few captives had been turned to them, yes, but only a few. Other than that, they had been killed in the struggle or fled. And when opportunity finally came his way, when he spotted those six little ponies wandering across the plains, they had run him and his soldiers ragged. What they carried, that mysterious Tears of Gaia, would have been all he needed to carry out his dark plan. But it would never be that easy

Sure, he had captured them in the end, but lost four of them in the process. Three captives out of seven, and none of them had the Tears. Still, Maugoth liked to think that very little would truly get him down, so he made the best of it, and his troops brought the three little ponies to the outpost of Maudhul.

And then the Deer showed up.

Were he not frozen stiff with fear, he would have screamed to the heavens, cursing the name of the Deerfolk for an eternity. But that would have to wait. For while he had felt anger, triumph and frustration all the while since this whole ordeal had begun, this was the first time he had felt true terror.

He prostrated himself upon the floor of his quarters in Maudhul, as all around him flowed and flickered a miasma of darkness, swirling like ink dropped into a cup of water. It blocked out all windows and extinguished all lights in the room, until the only respite in the blackness was the two yellow eyes that glared down upon the Blightling's form.

"They are gone," It said.

Maugoth could only nod silently.

"Escaped."

Licking his lips nervously, he answered, "...Y-yes."

The furious glare of the yellow eyes dimmed slightly as the Voice sighed. "Maugoth, our dear son. We confess ourselves... disappointed."

"I know, m-my lord."

"We were easy on you when you lost those ponies, Maugoth. You lost their magical weapon, that would have ensured our absolute rule. But we were lenient, we gave you a second chance. And still you fail," The Voice continued. "You would propose a trade to their friends, you told us. Their life and wellbeing for the weapon. And now, their friends have slipped from your grip."

"Well, to be honest, sire," Maugoth stammered, "Th-they didn't exactly escape alone... The D-deerfolk helped..."

"I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR EXCUSES!!"

The Blightling whimpered and tried his best to cower even lower as the Voice rattled the timbers of the room.

"It is clear that you cannot be relied upon, Maugoth. This must be rectified."

"Please, Sire, j-just give me one more chance! I swear upon my life, I will get those ponies back, and I will get their weapon! A-and when I do, I will personally take it to Burzkala myself! I swear it!" Maugoth stuttered all in one breath.

The Voice replied, in an almost tender voice, "Maugoth, my son... Please, do not think so little of us. Do you think we would dispose of one of our own so easily? Foolish child.
"No, I will not dispose of you... However, since you cannot be relied upon to lead your soldiers yourself, I will send a new commander to help you. One that will reign you in, keep you on schedule."

"M-my lord?"

"You and yours are confined to Maudhul for the time being, Maugoth," the Voice went on. "I will send another of my officers from Burzkala. Dushtala is his name, he will do you good."

Maugoth did not let his face betray it, but within he was fuming. Another officer, to lord over me?! Unthinkable! Shameful! Maugoth does not bow to anybeast, Blight or otherwise! This 'Dushtala' would have to be dealt with as soon as possible.

"Are we making ourselves clear?"

He nodded. "Yes, very clear, Sire."

"Remember this," the Voice growled. "If you fail us, or in any other way hinder our plan, Dushtala and his soldiers die with you. So it will be in his best interests, that you do not. That is all."

And with that, the blackness vanished, leaving Maugoth alone. As he got up, legs shaking, there was a timid knock on the door.

"Enter!" he barked, and Laga pushed the door open.

He bowed low. "So, sir, how d-did it go?"

Not even turning to face him, Maugoth sighed again. "Not too well, Laga. The higher-ups got wind of our little escapees. They're sending one of their officers out here to take over control."

"A new guy from Burzkala?" Laga spat. "Pah! He won't last a week out here."

"Not quite," Maugoth replied. "They're sending over Dushtala and his boys."

Laga paused as he felt his chest clench. "Dushtala?! You sure that's what they said?"

The Blightling nodded. "Positive. He'll probably be here in a day or so, depending on how fast he arrives."

"Hmm... That's not good. I've heard stories about that guy... Well, I guess we better start expanding the outpost, if we're gonna have another whole platoon movin' in."

Maugoth nodded. "Yes, very good..."

Laga bowed again and turned to leave. But as he was about to close the door, he paused. "We're not really gonna let Dushtala's crowd take us over, are we?"

His commander smiled a mysterious smile, revealing rows of pointed teeth. A plan was already forming in his mind. "Of course not. We'll see what he wants us to do, and work around it. That's the trick of being a good commander, Laga: Be like water. Ever adapting to meet change, ever in flux, never using the same plan twice."

"And that's why you're our commander, sir," Laga said, closing the door behind him.

---

"How does it look up there, Miss Pie?"

Pinkie thumped the stone and wooden barricade that surrounded Fjaereir with satisfaction as she called down, "Sturdy as a rock, Starswirl! Though, that might be because it is rock, mostly."

As the sun rose high above the mountains, the four ponies clambered down from the high walls around the town. True to their word, after a good night's sleep, they came to the towns defences, ready to help the dozen or so griffons who were assigned to maintaining the pitted and scarred walls. They hauled buckets of rubble to the top to fill in gaps, nailed down boards to repair the walkway along the top, and generally shored up the walls.

As Twilight walked along the base of the wall, inspecting it for any potential weakpoints, Galahad approached, a tray in his claws laden with drinks. "A fine day's work, ponies. I thought you could do with some refreshment."

"Thanks, Galahad," Twilight replied, eagerly taking a deep drink. "Anything to get the taste of that... ugh, soup out of my mouth."

"Chicken soup, unbelievable," Rarity muttered as she wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. "Imagine if Fluttershy had been here, the poor dear would have probably gone into convulsions!"

Galahad sheepishly scratched at the ground. "Heh, apologies. I'd have warned you if I knew you didn't eat meat."

"It's alright, Gally!" Pinkie replied as she bounced down from the scaffold. "New experiences are what adventures like these are all about!"

"Though if may be so blunt," Starswirl added, "For me this is one of those experiences that, now that I have experienced it firsthoof, I need never experience it again."

"I'll put word around town, make sure none of the vendors sell you anything with meat in it," Galahad said.

"Thanks," Twilight replied, before stretching her limbs. "Ooh, well I dunno about you guys, but I'm about ready for lunch. Shall we?

"Aye, my dear Twilight, we shall," Starswirl said. The four ponies bade Galahad good-day and took the path back to the fifth level of town. As they walked, they chatted about the day's work.

"I gotta say Rarity, I never expected to see you hauling rocks and working like that back there!" Pinkie noted aloud.
Rarity chuckled. "Well, one's food does tend to taste better when one has worked for it. Besides, it's not as if I was all that clean and tidy before."

"She does have a point though," Twilight added. "It's only been a few weeks since we started on this whole thing, but I have noticed we've all gotten a bit leaner."

"Leaner?" Rarity echoed, looking herself over. " Yes, I suppose so. More toned, more athletic... though I don't know if I'd want to be too muscular, it can lead to rather unsightly stretchmarks if not managed correctly, you know."

Pinkie playfully nudged her. "Don't worry Rarity! You might be a little leaner, but you're still as pretty as always!"

Their banter went back and forth as the ponies reached the fourth level of the town, and they sat down at a small table by a food stall. Dozens of griffons sat, lay or hovered all around them, seeing to their own lunches before heading back to their work.

Ordering their food, after assurance from the vendor that their food was meat-free, they dined in relative peace. At least, until a certain griffon sat down to join his friends at a nearby table.

"Afternoon, ponies," Gellert called, emphasising the second word. "Sleep well?"

Twilight nodded politely, if a little stiffly. "Yes we did, thank you."

The griffon nodded. "Didn't you say you lot were from Canterlot? Well, glad to hear our humble accommodation was satisfactory to your refined tastes."

The griffons at his table chuckled along with their friends little quip. Twilight, Rarity and Starswirl could do nothing but frown.

"Actually, we're from Ponyville," Pinkie called back with a wave. "Well, most of us anyway. Twilight Sparkle here lived in Canterlot for a while before moving to Ponyville, but Starswirl's from Canterlot."

"Ah, I see." Gellert nodded. "I heard you four were helping down at the walls today, good to hear."

Rarity, somewhat taken aback, replied. "Oh, well thank you sir-"

"Though I hope they didn't have you doing all the heavy lifting for them, earth pony. I know how unicorns tend to avoid manual labour and hard work and all that."

Twilight made to rise, her mane bristling with anger, but Starswirl was quick to pull her back down. "Now now, my dear Twilight, pay him no heed."

Gellert grinned as he saw the frowns on the ponies' faces. "Listen to your mentor, unicorn. Sit yourself back down."

His cronies laughed and sneered loudly as the four ponies returned to their seats. The rest of their meal was eaten in frosty silence, as each tried their hardest to not listen to Gellert's biting remarks. Ranging from unicorn snobbery and aristocracy to earth-pony dim-wittedness, the griffon commander left no stereotype unspoken. But the ponies remained silent and unflinching, refusing to give into his remarks.

A well-aimed farl of bread, on the other hand, was not quite so easy to ignore.

"Oops, my bad!"

The griffons all around could no longer contain themselves and fell about in laughter, while Twilight, Starswirl and Pinkie looked nervously at Rarity, who was sitting still as a statue, the farl of bread firmly stuck on the tip of her horn.

"Rarity... Uh, are you gonna eat that?" Pinkie timidly asked, desperate for something to lighten the mood. But to no avail.
Rarity stood up from the table, her body quivering, except for her ears which stood up ramrod straight. Her horn began to glow silvery blue, and the bread roll slid off her horn to hover in mid air.

Gellert and his cronies were too busy laughing to themselves to notice as the farl of bread whizzed through the air like a bullet, finally coming to a stop impaled on Gellert's sharp beak.

The laughter stopped, and the street fell silent, punctuated only by the sounds of Rarity's hoofsteps as she angrily stomped over to Gellert and glared squarely into his eyes.

"I have had just about enough of you, sir!" she shouted in his face.

Twilight rose to her hooves "Rarity! What in Equestria are you doing?!"

The noise seemed to break some griffons out of their stunned stupor, as two armed guards swooped over to grab Rarity by her forelegs.

"Get your claws off of me!" she shrieked, struggling in their grip. "I have something to say to you, Gellert!"

The griffon blinked, coming back to reality. With a waving motion, he dismissed the two guards, who released the unicorn. "You may speak, hross."

"Oh, may I, sir?" Rarity sneered. "Well thank you very much, how kind of you. Now you listen to me, Commander Gellert, my friends and I have been nothing short of courteous and kind to you and your people since we arrived in your town. And most of the griffons here have been nothing short of kind to us, except for you. You have insulted us, abused us, and to top it all off, implied that I lack ambition! Now, the noble and strong griffons of this town may have grown used to your brutish ways, but I say no more!"

"Rarity..." Twilight tried to pull her fellow unicorn back, but to no avail. She had been correct in her observation that Rarity had grown leaner since the beginning of their journey. Considerably stronger and sturdier, too.

"Calm down dear, what on earth are you getting so worked up about?" Gellert asked, not batting an eyelid at Rarity's tirade.

"Don't you call me dear, you... you... you blowhard!" Rarity shouted. "I'm taking you up on the Three F's Challenge!"

Her words echoed through the street, drawing nothing but rapt attention from every griffon and pony present. There was tense silence again for a moment, until it was broken by Gellert's derisive guffawing.

"Hah! A pony wants to challenge me to the Three F's? Me?! Commander Gellert of Fjaereir, and a mare no less!" He laughed, and a few of his cohorts laughed along with him.

But Rarity remained staring, unflinchingly, at the griffon commander. "Tell me, commander, does it say anywhere in the rules that a mare cannot compete in the Challenge?"

"Well, no, not exactly, but-"

"Well then I challenge you, Gellert!" Rarity interrupted. She reared up and prodded him in his barrel-chest. "Do you accept, or are you too cowardly to take on a dear little mare like myself?"

Ding. Cowardly. That's the secret word of the day.

Gellert frowned, batting her hoof aside. "Don't you dare call me a coward, hross! I accept your challenge."

A hushed murmur went through the crowd. Gellert raised a clawed hand into the air and shouted in a booming voice,

"Ladies and gentlebirds of Fjaereir, hear me! This... mare, has challenged me to the contest of the Three F's! Let it be known that I have accepted her challenge."

A cheer went up from the griffons around, as the three ponies could only watch in horror as the scene unfolded.

Gellert gave an evil grin towards Rarity as he continued, "And let it be known that the first contest, the Flyt, shall be taking place in the main square on the third level, at sunset today!"

Rarity's eyes went wide. "Today?! But you can't-!"

"My Competition, my rules," Gellert replied with a wink. "I'll see you there."

Rarity nodded and headed back to the stall as the crowds of griffons swamped around her and Gellert, eager to get a look at the competitors. She was quick to wave them off and return to her table, where the other ponies stared at her with slack jaws.

"Rarity..." Twilight said in a faint voice. "What were you thinking?!"

Rarity daintily took a sip of her drink, calmly replying, "I was thinking that I had had quite enough of his bullying. He is a braggart and a brute, and I wish to take him down a proverbial peg or two."

Pinkie clapped her on the back. "That's awesome, Rarity! Standing up for yourself like that, it's great!"

"I would not celebrate too soon, Pinkie Pie," Starswirl countered. "Think about what Miss Rarity has gotten herself into. She is now going to have to out-brag, out-eat and out-fight a full grown griffon."

"That's easier said than done, yes," Rarity replied. "But if that is what it takes to make him respect us while we are here, then I will do what I must."

Twilight groaned and put her head on the table. "This is ridiculous! Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Fluttershy are out there somewhere, waiting for us to find them. I'm sorry, but we can't put that aside just so you can uphold your pride, Rarity!"

Starswirl lowered his head to her level. "I would not be so quick to judge, my dear Twilight. I think I can see how we can work this to our advantage."

"How?"

"Well, if you will recall, the other reward for defeating Gellert in the Challenges is not only his respect, but also the command of his soldiers. An small army of griffons on our side could do wonders for our search, yes?"

"Hmm... Well, I guess so," Twilight muttered. "But how can we win this?! You heard Starswirl, you have to beat Gellert, of all griffons! And the first contest is later today!!"

Rarity stood up and brushed herself down. "Then it's probably a good idea to get to work. How about we find somewhere a little quieter to talk?"

The four ponies agreed, and as they walked through the streets to one of the lower levels of the town, discussed the upcoming Flyt. It was obvious that news travelled fast in Fjaereir, as all along the trip Griffons called out to Rarity, some giving words of support, some mocking the very idea of her competing with her. And as she listened, Rarity learned a vital, if rather obvious, weakness of Gellert's: His pride. And so, when they found a small courtyard that was practically empty, the four ponies sat down and discussed Rarity's strategy.

"It's obvious that you can't take Gellert of head-to-head, Rarity. No offense, but even as you are now, he'd still beat you every time if you did that," Twilight said.

Rarity shook her head. "None taken, Twilight, I quite agree. I do have an image to maintain. No, instead of throwing insults at him willy-nilly, I shall instead remain calm and collected, turn his own insults back at him."

Pinkie was warming up to the idea. "Yeah, like in a karate match! If you can't beat the other pony down, then let him come at you. And then, when he's about to lay into you, hiii-yah! Use his own weight against him!"

"Well put, Pinkie Pie," Starswirl said with a nod, "Though I am unsure as to what exactly 'karate' is. But her point still stands, use Gellert's insults and turn them against him. These griffons might pride strength and power, but a sharp wit is praised by all creatures."

"It sounds like it could actually work. If nothing else, we can at least win the first contest. But Rarity, do you actually know any particularly strong... Oh, what's the word, 'zingers'?" Twilight asked.

Pinkie frantically waved her hoof in the air. "Ooh! Ooh, I do I do!"

"You do?!" Rarity was taken aback.

"Sure! I went to a comedy festival in Baltimare a few years ago, and standup comedians needs to know some good zingers to deal with hecklers and tough crowds. I picked up a few good ones, I'll teach them to ya!"

And so the four ponies spend the entire afternoon in the courtyard, working out the unicorn's plan for attack. Pinkie Pie did indeed teach Rarity an assortment of comebacks and zingers for a variety of situations that may be thrown her way. And all the while, Rarity practised her image, maintaining her composure as the dignified and calm unicorn she liked to present herself as, even as Pinkie threw one cruel jibe after another at her, and dished out as strongly as she received.

---

By the time the sun started to hover just above the horizon, crowds had already gathered at the Third Level. In the middle of the square was a large ring marked by a white rope, split down the middle by another rope.

As the four ponies approached, they saw the crowds of griffons cheering on Gellert, who stood at one end of the ring, casually inspecting his wingfeathers, occasionally giving a confident nod or wink to an admiring onlooker. But among the crowd of cheering admirers, there were a few silent faces, who frowned at the enormous griffon.

All the griffons turned to face the four ponies as they approached. Twilight, Starswirl and Pinkie halted a moment, slightly cowed by the sudden attention, but Rarity kept walking, her eyes never leaving Gellert for a second. The others followed her example and pushed their way through the crowd until they stood by the edge of the ring.

A rather small, stocky old griffon took to the air, flying in a circle above the ring. Clearing his throat, he shouted in a booming voice that shook the foundations of every house on the level, "LADIIIIEES AND GENTLEBIIIIIRRDS! WELCOME, ONE AND ALL, TO THE THREE F'S CHAAALLEEEEENGE!!!"

The griffons cheered and whooped as he continued, in a slightly calmer voice. "For any newcomers, this is a series of three competitions between Commander Gellert of Fjaereir, and anybird who wishes to challenge him. The contests are the Flyt, the Feast and the Fight, and the best of three wins the grand prize of command over the town's army!"

Gellert locked eyes with Rarity from across the ring, giving a cocky wink. Rarity gave an emotionless nod in return.

"The rules of the Flyt are simple. The contestants must stand in their individual sectors of the ring, no physical contact allowed. They must exchange insults, one after the other, until one is so insulted that they cannot insult back. AAAARE BOTH CONTESTANTS REEEAADYYYYYYY?!"

Gellert confidently strode into the ring and stood in his sector. "Ready!"

Rarity turned to her three friends. They nodded encouragingly back, Pinkie even attempting to give a thumbs-up, despite the lack of thumbs. "Just stick to the strategy, Rarity. Good luck!" Twilight whispered.

The white unicorn took a deep, calming breath, and entered the ring. Her nerve was bolstered as she heard a few confident cheers from not only her friends, but a few voices around the ring. "Ready, sir."

"Then let's begin!"

The portly griffon flew back down to stand by the side of the ring at the halfway point. Gellert was the first to step forwards, cracking his knuckles and launching into his first insult.

"Well well, my friends, we have before us a rather unusual challenger. A simple little unicorn, and a mare no less. Tell me, Miss Rarity, were your parents so low-born that they never taught you to show respect to your elders and betters?"

The crowd laughed as all eyes turned to Rarity, eagerly awaiting her response. The unicorn calmly stepped forward and replied, "Ahem, indeed they did teach me that. They also taught me to not waste by respect on rude little children."

There was a sharp intake of breath from all around, as well as a few 'ooh's. Gellert frowned a moment, but laughed it off. "I think somepony needs to get their eyes checked, otherwise this deluded little mare would realise that a grown adult stands before her, and an adult demands respect!"

"Well, maybe if you acted like one, you'd get the respect you claim to deserve." Rarity countered. The 'ooh' count grew as Gellert frowned again.

"Hah! You might think you have a chance, but things will be different at the Fight. Just looking at you now, I can see you're no fighter. More of a dairy farmer, perhaps."

A round of guffawing and hooting went around the circle, but Rarity did not waver. "I fight like a dairy farmer? Well, that seems appropriate. By the way you throw your weight around and chew your food, not to mention your odour, you probably fight like a cow."

The hooting and hollering only grew louder at her smart comeback. Even Twilight and Starswirl could not help but grin.

"Nicely done, Rarity!" Pinkie called.

"Indeed," Starswirl replied. "It seems she learned well."

Gellert was swift on the rebound. "But your build is nothing compared to your brain! It's so small, it could fit in a nutshell, along with three raisins and a list of your greatest achievements!"

Another cheer from the crowd. Rarity's eye twitched ever-so-slightly, but she took another deep breath and recalled a particular comeback Pinkie taught her. "Well, now, that insult does rather cover quite a bit of ground. You know, you cover quite a bit of ground too, you big brute. You should be careful, I've heard rumour that they plan to tear you down and build a shopping centre."

The griffon growled in response, waiting for the whooping and cheering to die down. "Tell me, with a face like yours, have you ever been mistaken for a male?"

There was a long 'oooh' from the crowd as they waited with bated breath on Rarity's comeback. The comeback they all knew was coming. The comeback that was so cliched, and yet, so perfect.

"I don't know. Have you?"

And she did not disappoint. The griffons went wild with laughter and cheering, some even swooping into the sky with glee. Pinkie cheered loudest of all.

Gellert paced up and down his half of the ring, glaring daggers at the unicorn. As he waited for the crowd to die down, he breathed deep to regain his composure, deciding to take a similar, aloof and distant approach. "Honestly, I don't know why I even bothered taking you up on your challenge. Nobird has ever beat me, so why would some inbred, snooty, little filly have any chance? A pathetic little crook-pated piglet like you isn't worth the skin off my knuckles!"

"Well maybe if you didn't drag your knuckles so much, you'd have some skin to spare," she replied.

The griffons cheered and laughed, as Rarity politely bowed her head to the crowd, ever maintaining her calm facade. As her confidence rose, she added, "You know, you should really just retire from commanding and find yourself a nice girl. Or at least someone who can teach you the meaning of respect and courtesy. Because you, sir, have the manners of a homeless beggar!"

"Well I just wanted to make you feel a little more at home, is all."

Rarity could almost feel herself reeling back from the insult. The crowd jeered and laughed as Gellert regained some of his confidence.

Pinkie covered her face with her hooves. "Oh no! They've switched places! Now he's giving the comebacks! This is bad, this is really really bad!"

"Have courage, Pinkie Pie," Starswirl muttered. "You taught her well, surely she has some jibes to spare."

Rarity hesitated a moment, but for every second she was silent, the crowd cheered more in Gellert's favour. The referee at the side watched her expectantly, and Rarity started to panic. Her calm image was beginning to crack.

And then she remembered another classic Pinkie taught her. It wasn't exactly a killer, but it could buy her time. Calmly walking along the dividing line in the ring, she chuckled aloud to herself. "You know, it must be fascinating in that little mind of yours. So determined in your firm deluded belief that you are likeable. I daresay, I would love to see things from your perspective..."

She stopped her pacing, turning on her back hooves to face Gellert with a confident smile.

"... But I'm not flexible enough to stick my head quite that far up my own rump."

The griffons and the ponies burst into laughter and cheering again, with plenty of 'Ooooooh!'s, a handful of 'Zing!'s and even a 'Booyah!' or two. Rarity breathed a sigh of relief. She was back in this.

"Better be careful..." Gellert growled, stomping right up to the line, puffing out his chest and glowering down at Rarity. "I'll admit you got quite a foul mouth on you. But if you keep it that foul, you'll either get executed for insulting the wrong person at the wrong time, or die from some sort of horrible infection."

Rarity paused a moment, as she let the enthusiastic crowd reactions die down. She had the perfect comeback. It resorted to the lowest of the low, but it was also absolutely crippling. However, it needed the perfect delivery. She turned her back on Gellert, facing Twilight, Starswirl and Pinkie, who all looked back at her with bated breath. She smiled at them, turning back to Gellert with a nonchalant smile on her face. "Yes, well, that depends on one small thing, my dear Gellert."

She sauntered across the ring, slowly, leisurely, until she was face to face with the enormous griffon. "That would all depend on whether I were to embrace your way of life..."

She leaned in closely, until her face was so close to Gellerts, that the referee had to get up and join them to make sure they were not touching.

"... Or your mother."

You could hear a pin drop. For a second that felt like an eternity, the entire square was silent as the grave. The eyes of every griffon and pony spectating went wide as dinnerplates, and a few jaws fell agape.

Then the audience exploded.

Griffons flew all about the air, crashing into eachother, hooting and shrieking with laughter. And down on the ground, the entire audience was in absolute pandemonium. Audience members were wiping dears of laughter from their eyes. Even Twilight, Starswirl and Pinkie Pie could not help but cheer at the absolute bite of Rarity's comeback. Cries of 'Burn!', 'Zing!', 'Booyah!' and 'Hiyoooo!' flew thick and fast.

The only one who were silent were Rarity, who stepped back to admire her work, smiling deviously at her opponent, and Gellert. The griffon was shaking all over, his clawed forelegs balled into fists, his eyes wide and glaring murderously at the unicorn. With a snarl, he stepped over the white line and started straight for Rarity, who's confident grin slipped several notches as she saw him approach.

"Hold up!" Lucky for her, the referee swooped in to stand between the two. with his claws held wide, he glared up at Gellert. "You have crossed the line, and violated the rules! For this, you are immediately, and without room for debate, disqualified!"

Gellert tried to sputter out a response, turning his furious gaze from Rarity to the referee and back, even looking imploringly about the audience, but no such response came. With one final snarl, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the ring.

"THE WINNEEEEERRRR, BY DEFAULT, IS RAAAAARITY THE UNICOOOOOOOOOOOORRRN!"

The referee's announcement was met by cheering, applause and whistling from all sides as griffons rushed into the ring, crowding around rarity and hoisting her up on their shoulders.

That night, there was little sleep for any of the ponies, nor any griffons, as they threw Rarity and the ponies an impromptu victory party. There was plenty of food and drink to go around, and griffons and ponies danced together to bouncy, upbeat music played on fiddles, guitars, drums, accordions, flutes and even a set of highland bagpipes!
After thanking her dancing partner (A blushing, bright-eyed little griffon lad) and taking her leave as a song ended, Rarity took a seat at an unoccupied table, grabbing a glass of cool water. As much as she enjoyed a party being thrown in her honour, it was a tad overwhelming. As she drank, she spotted some griffons who were not celebrating her victory. A small group of griffons, Gellert's entourage from earlier today, were skulking around a far table, muttering amongst themselves and throwing her the occasional hate-filled glance. She put on a winning smile and waved a hoof to them, at which point they quickly pretended to not be glaring at her, and returned to skulking.

Her mind returned to the contest, and her final crippling blow to Gellert's ego. It had felt incredibly satisfying and exhilarating to take that blowhard down a peg or two, but she could not help but feel slightly bad for him. Not only because she had humiliated him in front of all his people, but because of his face when she had spoken her final insult. There was indignant anger, no different from the other insults, but there was something else. It was the only time he looked like she had genuinely hurt his feelings. That thought alone made the victory feel somewhat hollow. She had wanted to bring him down to earth, but not upset him.

Getting up from her table, she eased her way through the partying throng until she found Galahad, twirling and dancing with her pony friends. "Ah, there you are Rarity! Congratulations on your victory today!"

"Thank you, Galahad," Rarity replied, as she watched Twilight dancing, rather badly, with an equally awkwardly-dancing Starswirl. "Have you seen Gellert around? I haven't seen him since the contest ended."

"Oh, that big baby's probably just found some quiet corner in the castle to sulk. Don't worry about him," Galahad said, jumping out of the way of Pinkie Pie, who was bouncing and kicking away to the music, leaving even the most experienced griffon dancer in the dust.

Rarity sighed. "That's a shame. I did want to find him, at least commend him for a good contest. Not to mention, I do feel kind of bad for humiliating him like this, I at least want to see if he's alright."

Galahad chuckled and took another swig from his goblet. "I wouldn't worry too much. He's just not used to getting such a beatdown as you gave him. He'll have bounced back to his usual bragging self by tomorrow morning. Now come, Miss Rarity, may I have this dance?"

The griffon offered his arm to Rarity. Though she hesitated at first, wanting to go out and find Gellert, Rarity could not resist the atmosphere of the party. She relented and took his arm. "Why, Mr. Galahad, it would be my pleasure."

Author's Note:

Hoo boy, this was a fun one to write. Just finding as many awesome comebacks and quips as I could, loads of fun! Anyways, sorry again for the long wait between chapters. Once again, blame writer's block and college.

By the way, if I might do a bit of shameless self-promotion, if you like this story, might I direct you to my other ongoing fic project, 'Kingdom Come'? It's a rather darker story, and not quite as whimsical and adventurous. But still, it is dire need of readers and feedback, so if you have the time, please go and give it a read for me.

Comments

[Scipio Smith]

It was fun to read as well. It was nice to see Gellert get put in his place.

[Black Hoof]

Good chapter there. Looks like Gellert crossed the line.

[Scipio Smith]

3657768

[Madd the Sane]

Do I see a Monkey Island shout-out in those insults?

[TheBBofC]

Have you ever read a particularly awesome chapter in a public place, laugh and then proceed to get weird looks from those surrounding you? I know I have as of very recently.

On another note, it seems as though each time I think back on this story and wonder when an update will come, a new chapter appears within twenty-four hours. Perhaps I should think about it more often

[Redback Spino]

3703004 Nope, just one.

[Redback Spino]

3706465 Yep.

[MariusIoannesP]

"Hah! A pony wants to challenge me to the Three F's? Me?! Commander Gellert of Fjaereir, and a mare no less!"

He's a braggart. He doesn't like ponies. And he's a chauvinist. That's like the Jerk Trifecta.

I knew as soon as they mentioned the 3 F's that somepony was going to challenge him. I'm looking forward to seeing Rarity beat him.

Anyway, now that I'm caught up, I must say that I'm really enjoying this story. It's just an old fashioned adventure like "It's a Dangerous Business, Going Out Your Door" complete with the Tolkien-esque atmosphere and clear inspirations from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I like how their adventure has shifted between the two "Books". The first focusing on retrieving the Tears of Gaia; the second focusing on finding each other. I eagerly await the next update to see if they will ever come back together or if they'll get the Tears back to Equestria. Keep up the good work.

[Redback Spino]

3709335 Heheh, glad to hear you're enjoying it so much!

Yeah, 'Dangerous Business' was a pretty big inspiration for me. And I've always loved quest-related high-fantasy stories like Lord of the Rings, the Tales of Redwall, The Hobbit and so forth. An I saw that ever since 'Dangerous Business', nobody seemed to be writing high-fantasy ponyfics all that often (And when they were, they were usually a bit dark for my tastes), so why not write my own!

And yeah, I do take ALOT of cues from the MLP comics as well. Might as well tie them into continuity as well while I'm at it! I like to think I'm kinda like Geoff Johns in that way; always trying to tie story arcs and continuities together.

Anyways, glad to hear you've been enjoying my work so much, and hope you enjoy the next chapter when it's out!

[Alchemystudent]

rarity

Uggh, a mispelling? That's it, worst fic ever 0/10, too much water...

Now for the serious part o it all. I loved this chapter, and of course, Rarity is one of the reasons. I find myself surprised by this fact a lot, theat while Twilight is the pony I relate to the most and Rainbow Dash is best pony...I find that when Rarity is well written, she has the best moments of some fanfics. This is one of those times where we see the fashion pony at her best, listening to what others have to say, observing, and hitting a guy where it hurts. Does she result to swaers? No! Does she esult to low brow humor? NO! She keeps her pride and dignity all the way through and that is why I love my little lady.

Now, how is she going to handle the feast?

[Trihors]

I didn't know that Rarity could also be pronounced Absolutely Savage.