A Scuffle
Today, Swift Wing found himself doing the job he hated the most at the weather factory: snowflake inspection. See, in Equestria, before they were loaded into clouds, the snowflakes had to be crafted from ice crystals into at least mostly equal-sized pieces, in order to ensure that the snow distribution was balanced. Swift's current position required him to carefully examine each flake to make sure they were around the same size. On paper, this sounded easy.
In practice, however, it was a pain in the neck. Snowflakes, even ones temporarily enchanted to not melt, were obviously not made to be handled with hooves, or any kind of limbs without fingers. It was very easy for anyppony touching them to accidentally break one apart, or otherwise damage it. The broken ice pieces would then have to be sent back up the assembly line, where they'd be reused. The problem here was that Swift had to fill a certain number of clouds in the day, and the more flakes he broke, the longer the task would take. Swift Wing simply didn't not have the finesse required for this particular job. Even manipulating the snowflakes with his wingtips didn't make it any easier.
"SON OF A—" Swift yelled as he broke yet another snowflake. He bit his tongue to stop himself from cursing, not sure how the other ponies in the room would take it. Sighing, he swept the broken snowflakes into the chute and moved onto the next batch.
It was lucky for him that his superiors had already informed him that he wouldn't be doing this job again after today. Apparently, they'd realized his strengths didn't lie here. He smiled a bit at the thought, feeling that fortune was on his side, at least for now.
Now that he thought about it, he'd had a pretty long string of successes since he arrived in this city. He'd gotten this job without much hassle, he'd gotten regular appointments with Dr. Feather going, and the whole meeting with Sunset Shimmer had gone as well as it could've. Admittedly, the whole "getting brainwashed by Sombra thing" hadn't been a pleasant experience, but in the end, he hadn't gotten hurt. However, even if Swift wasn't the superstitious type, this line of good luck had to end sometime, and it made him slightly nervous that something bad could be around the corner.
He quickly shook his head, as though attempting to physically dislodge the thoughts. There was no point getting agitated over something that hadn't even happened yet, as he'd learned from therapy back on Earth. He picked up the magnifying glass he'd been using and went back to inspecting the snowflakes, hoping to get today over with as fast as possible.
Of course, life loves to throw wrenches into well-laid plans. In this case, that wrench took the form of another stallion's rear end backing into Swift's side, causing the red pegasus to jump in his seat and push the table up with him. Every snowflake was shattered upon impact, and Swift dropped the magnifying glass.
Naturally annoyed, Swift rounded on the pony who'd bumped him, discovering a grey pegasus with a black mane that grew over his eyes (leaving Swift wondering how he saw anything), and a Cutie Mark consisting of three footballs. Internally, Swift groaned, realizing this was yet another one of the stallions who'd bullied Rainbow Dash in the show. He thought the pony's name was Score.
"Wow, Swift Wimp!" jeered the stallion. "Looks like somepony's gonna be doin' some overtime work!"
Swift clenched his teeth, anger starting to course through his veins. The most tempting option was to punch the offending stallion in the head, preferably multiple times. But all that would do was get him into more trouble than the pony who was messing with him. He took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm himself.
"Whatever," he replied, turning away from his fellow pegasus and sweeping the broken snowflakes into the chute.
Score didn't seem to expect that reaction, though. He gritted his own teeth, reaching forward and grabbing Swift by the shoulder.
"Hey, punk!" he demanded, as he pulled Swift around to face him. "I know you ignored Dumb-bell before, but you don't get away with that twice! Here's what you're gonna—"
Swift spread his wing outward, smacking Score in the face with only a small amount of force. Then he turned back to the desk, opening the hatch to the assembly line and releasing some more snowflakes. Then he picked up the magnifying glass and started inspecting them again. Score, apparently baffled by the reaction, reached for him again. Swift tensed himself, ready to move in case things escalated.
However, at that moment, the supervising pony for the snowflake team, Blizzard, walked by. Score noticed, and immediately retracted his hoof, and went back to his own work, leaving Swift alone. Swift breathed a small sigh of relief, thankful this wouldn't devolve into a pointless fight.
A few hours later, Swift had finally managed to process enough snowflakes to finish the day. With his work completed, he strolled out of the weather factory, planning to make his way to the Cloudsdale Library to continue his research on Cutie Marks. After all, he still didn't have one, and even though he had no idea what he would or could get, he still desired one. Ponies themselves didn't have all the answers as to how Cutie Marks worked, but maybe he could gain enough understanding to slightly control the process.
As he trotted past an alleyway, a foreleg shot outward and grabbed him by the wing. Swift yelped out as he was pulled into the alley and had his body swung around and smacked against a wall. He grunted as his jaws clapped together and he fell forward to land on his stomach.
Swift groaned, trying to shrug off the pain and climb back onto his hooves. He opened his eyes again to see his assailant, only to discover there were three stallions facing him. And, to his annoyance, they were the three bullies who coined the name "Rainbow Crash." Dumb-bell, Score, and the tan-colored pony with the three basketballs Cutie Mark (Swift remembered his name was Hoops).
"Uh, can I help you?" he asked, pushing himself back into a standing position once more.
But as soon as his legs were fully extended, Dumb-bell stomped forward and shoved him into the wall once again, knocking him down.
"No, Swift Wimp," he replied, "but we're gonna help you understand the facts of life."
"Really? You're still going with 'Swift Wimp?'" quipped the red pegasus. "That's not even a clever insult. You couldn't have come up with anything better?"
Evidently, his snark was not appreciated, as Score reached back with one hoof and punched him in the face. Swift was forced to spit, and once he opened his eyes, he saw that he'd spat out a bit of blood as well. Clearly, he wasn't going to talk his way out of this one.
"See, here's what's going on, Swift Wimp," said Hoops. "The ponies who run the weather factory are nothing compared to us and the power we got. We're the ones who are really in charge. You don't seem to realize that, brushin' us off like we ain't nothing. So we're gonna have to pound some sense into you."
Swift held up his front hooves, trying to replicate the human placating gesture. "Hey, come on, guys," he insisted, "we don't have to beat each other up over something so small. I'm sure we can come to a better arrangement."
"Not gonna happen, punk," said Score, as the three pegasi advanced on Swift. "You've already earned this beating, so you might as well take it—"
Swift Wing suddenly snapped into action, diving his top half to the side and bringing up his rear end. His back legs swung in an arc, clocking the three stallions in the faces and knocking them sideways. Swift kept up his momentum, using all four legs to push off the cloud alley and launch himself into the air. He hadn't been a great fighter as a human, and he'd never fought in his pony body before, so he figured his best option was to get back into the public space, where these idiots couldn't beat him up without attracting unwanted attention.
Unfortunately, his plan ran into a road bump as Dumb-bell managed to recover and lunged at him just as he was taking off. The stallion seized Swift's tail in between his teeth, stopping his ascent. With a powerful yank, Dumb-bell pulled Swift back down, giving Hoops enough time to tackle him out of the air. The two pegasi slammed into the cloud alley, and while some of Swift's impact was cushioned (since the ground was clouds), he still had a heavy, muscular pegasus land on him.
Hoops recovered soon enough, standing up and pressing all four hooves into Swift's back. He lifted one foreleg, only to stomp down on Swift's head, eliciting a pained grunt. Hoops evidently found this amusing, as he repeated the action several more times, laughing as he did so.
"Let's break his wings!" chuckled Score. "We'll see how Mr. Goody Four-Shoes shows up to work then!"
"No. Remember, we said nothing permanent," replied Dumb-bell. "We just wanna teach the dirtbag a lesson, not kill him."
Swift ground his teeth some more, trying to think of a way to get out of this mess. Not only was he outnumbered, these three were all stronger than him. The only thing he had in his corner was the fact that they weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer. His brain began racing, trying to outthink them. An idea occurred to him, and he began to put it into action.
He spread his wings, managing to stick them out between Hoops' legs. Then he began frantically beating his wings, pushing his body upwards and lifting Hoops in turn. With a heavy heave of his back, he sent the other stallion forward, falling face-first into the cloud ground.
"Oh, a tough guy, are you?!" yelled Score, taking off with a flap of his own wings and charging towards Swift.
Swift, having climbed to his hooves once more, ducked under the other pony's first punch, before responding with an uppercut directly to Score's jaw. Judging by the stallion's reaction, he didn't have a glass jaw, but the blow landed with some force. Unfortunately for Swift, he was unable to see Hoops' follow-up from behind him, receiving a punch to the back of his head for his trouble.
Swift stumbled forward from the hit, only to get another one in the stomach from Dumb-bell. With one stallion in front and one in back, and Dumb-bell rearing back for another punch, Swift quickly ducked, causing Dumb-bell to stumble forward and hit Hoops in the neck.
"Oops! Sorry, bro!" said Dumb-bell.
"You idiot!" shouted Hoops, clutching the area that would soon have a bruise. "How'd you let him dodge that?! All you had to do was punch down a little!"
"Well how did you let me hit you?! You could've dodged, too!"
"Uh, guys?!" yelled Score. "A little help here?!"
Hoops and Dumb-bell turned at their friends yelling, discovering that, while they had been arguing, Swift had been trying to get away again. Fortunately for them, Score had tackled the crimson pegasus, and was in the midst of grappling with him. Swift was standing on his back legs, with Score standing behind him. Score's forelegs were hooked under Swift's, trying to wrestle Swift into submission.
Swift grunted as he tried to wiggle his way out of the hold, lifting his back legs and trying to kick Score in the shins. His efforts yielded little to no reward, and Swift had a brief moment to lament the fact that ponies didn't have any toes he could stomp on. He tried snapping his head backwards to headbutt Score in the face, and though he landed a hit, the other stallion didn't loosen his grip.
The red pegasus was left with no time left before Hoops and Dumb-bell advanced on him, with each pony punching him in the stomach once, knocking the wind out of him. Then Dumb-bell went for his face, sending more spittle flying from his mouth, and Hoops followed with an overhead smash. Swift could only whimper in pain, as he felt the drops of blood from his nose and mouth drip down onto the ground.
"Stupid loser," laughed Hoops. "I'd give you credit for trying, but honestly, you were doomed from the start. Any last words before we put you in a body cast?"
Swift tried, he genuinely tried to say something defiant, so he'd at least retain his dignity before he went out, but one too many blows to the head made it hard to talk. All he managed to get out was a weak cough.
"Yeah, that sounds about right," said Score. "Let him have it, boys—!"
"Let that pony go!"
The four ponies all turned towards the entrance to the alleyway. Swift's vision was blurred from the blows and he couldn't see very well, but he could just about make out the silhouette of another stallion standing there. There were no discernible features, except for a blue coat, but the pony looked just as big as the three currently wailing on him. His voice sounded a little familiar, too.
"Oh, you got a problem with how we go about our business, old man?!" demanded Hoops. "Back off, or we'll include you in the beating!"
"You won't be beating anypony, you dolts!" sneered the mystery stallion. "You know who I am! What's to stop me from going to your bosses and informing them exactly the kind of illicit things you get up to outside of work?"
Dumb-bell snarled angrily. "I can think of a few things, you scumbag. Score, keep Swift Wimp here while we deal with this idiot."
Score nodded, maintaining his grip on Swift while the other two charged the newcomer. If Swift had been a little more conscious at this point, he would've made another attempt to flee with the intent of calling more ponies to help out this stranger. Unfortunately, things being what they were, he didn't think he could've stood up if Score weren't keeping him in that position. He didn't even have the strength to call out a warning to the newcomer.
However, within the next few seconds, it became apparent that the other pony didn't really need his help.
Hoops was the first to reach his target, throwing a clumsy roundhouse punch that was easily dodged. Then the pony responded with a haymaker that sent the other stallion flying backwards to crash into the wall. Dumb-bell tried to take advantage of his opponent's distracted state, aiming a buck at the back of his head, but the stallion anticipated this. He flapped his wings and flew upwards, dodging the attack, before dropping back down and bringing his hoof down on Dumb-bell's head.
The stallion then came to a stop in the middle of the alley, with the other two lying on their backs, clutching their heads.
"Had enough?" he asked. "I'd advise you to say yes."
"Shove it," Dumb-bell growled from the ground, trying to climb to his hooves.
The other stallion sighed, but made no move to attack. Hoops and Dumb-bell managed to rise once more, both looking furious. With a quick flap of his wings, Hoops took off and soared over his enemy, landing behind him. Now they had the stallion surrounded on both sides, where he shouldn't have been able to defend against both attacks. Swift swallowed nervously.
With a roar of fury, Hoops and Dumb-bell both dived forward, intending to tackle the stallion. However, he was ready for their assault, shifting so he was standing on his back legs, and flapping his wings a bit to get off the ground. His back legs lifted up, catching Dumb-bell in the face, stopping the pony in his tracks, while his forelegs reached behind him to grab Hoops by the head. Then he heaved forward, swinging Hoops over in an arc, and smashing the two stallions together. Through the ringing in his ears, Swift thought he heard something crack.
Hoops and Dumb-bell both yelled in pain, their bodies going completely limp. They collapsed in a heap, legs and wings all splayed outwards, and manes ruffled and uneven. This time, they did not get up.
With that settled, the stallion marched past them, staring directly at Score.
"I trust you've realized the futility of trying to take me on at this point," he said. "How about you let that pony go and we can end this the easy way?"
Swift could feel Score trembling in his position, but he maintained his grip on the crimson pegasus. Clearly, he wasn't going to take the other stallion's advice, and Swift guessed his good luck was about to come to an end.
"Sorry, pal," Score snorted back, "but you don't get to mess with us and then just walk away! You wanna take me out, too?" He maneuvered his body so that Swift eclipsed him completely. "Try and get past this loser you're so desperate to save!"
The other pony groaned, but it seemed to be a more annoyed groan than a frustrated one. He spread his wings outward, dived forward, and grabbed Swift around the stomach. Swift managed a quick surprised yelp before the stallion yanked him out of Score's grip, then tossed him backwards, landing on his stomach on the cloudy alley. The clouds cushioned the impact again, but now Swift couldn't see what was going on behind him. He didn't have the strength to lift his head and turn around, either.
His ears worked just fine, though. Swift turned them around so they were pointed behind him, listening to the sounds of the battle going on. Score released a terrified squeak as (presumably) the other pony descended on him. There was the sound of a hoof connecting with skin, and another slamming noise, before total silence reigned over the alley.
The silence was interrupted when the stallion said, in between pants, "Don't think that you can just corner this pony again, punks. I'll have a word with the weather factory staff, and if I have any say in it, you three will be out of a job for this!" Hoops, Score, and Dumb-bell could only manage some pained groans in response.
Then, Swift felt a gentle pair of legs slip under his stomach, lifting him off the ground. The unknown stallion heaved Swift over his head, placing the pegasus onto his back.
"It's okay, I gotcha," said the mystery pony. He then began walking slowly, so as to keep Swift from falling off. "I'll get you to the hospital, buddy."
Swift didn't think he'd be able to stay conscious for much longer, but he'd regained just enough strength to ask one question.
"Who...are you?" he wheezed.
"Name's Bow Hothoof," replied the stallion. "Nice to meet ya."
Swift barely managed to register the surprise before he passed out. He'd been rescued by Rainbow Dash's dad.
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oof, that last one is a shocker!
keep up the great story!
Excellent story keep up the good work.
And I score this story 10 out of 200 wich is a good score
Well huh. This'll throw a wrench in things if they learn Swift has no Cutie Mark. I'm just glad you aren't one of those silly people who think ponies don't know what pants are. Hopefully Swift manages to keep his on at the hospital.
Finally an update to this story! And what an unexpected turn of events it was. I gotta say, I'm not quite too fond of the super generic "bullies picking on Swift for literally no reason other than he's smaller than them" but it was fun to see them get their asses kicked for it. I'm glad you had Swift lose. If he had beat them there it would have just been plain bad writing tbh. Also, Bow's threat about getting them fired seems to pail in comparison to the aggravated assault charges those three should definitely be brought up on. But I'm super glad to see this story continuing. I do hope you'll release another update soon. I always really loved the premise of this story and the original.
10790200
To be fair, in the show, those idiots had no reason for picking on Rainbow Dash. And yeah, I was never gonna have Swift win that fight. He's not a fighter character.
Awesome chapter!
Bow Hothoof gets to pus a smack down on 3 plot holes.
This episode reminds me of being bullied by class bullies in elementary school.
No, I know I can't beat them, but I have to fight back instead of making them think I'm a wimp, or they will always come and bully me.
Great chapter, I love it, keep it up.
I guessed it'd be Bow when you said they were blue. :3
10794693
Would you mind hiding that behind a spoiler tag? Just in case.
10804942
There ya go, apologies.
10805080
Thanks.
I was predicting that.