My Little Pony Heart of Friendship: Tales of a New Beginning

by ShadowDurza

Slow Progress: Part 2

Applejack marveled at the massive trees in the oldest part of the forest. Twilight saw a few houses of dirt clustered around some of the trees, but not enough for all the humans that came up from underground for their great migration. “Um… are you guys sure that this is the right place?”

The Guses glanced at each other with a knowing look. Then used their free hands to point upward. The pair of ponies looked up and their mouths dropped open at the sight of it all. Countless humans walked across platforms and bridges in and out of buildings built into the tall, tall, trees. It all moved together like the city they’d left behind, with lanterns hanging hither and about obviously meant to illuminate the various ways after dark.

Augusus scratched his nose. “So… anyone in particular you fillies are looking for?”

Applejack cleared her throat. “We have a bit of a situation at my farm with a stubborn human, and we’re hoping our friends from the old Prancing Pony Guild would be willing to help us.”

Gustof led them over to a log platform on the ground with ropes extending upward. “We’re not sure where most of them are, but we know for sure that Kris and Wilda are training in the upper arena. We’ll take you there!” Once they were all aboard, he banged on the platform with the other end of his staff a few times before the ropes went taut and they were all lifted into the air.

Once they stepped off the deck, the Guses led the ponies across several other balconies and bridges until they came to a larger structure lashed between several surrounding trees with multiple bridges leading into it and what looked like a large net below an open bottom.

Twilight’s eyes grew wide at the sight of it. “That’s your upper arena? How many do you have around here?”

Augustus smiled and scratched his nose. “Just three for now, an upper, mid, and lower arena in the Everfree Forest, but we’re planning on building many across the outposts we’re setting up across the land that we’re hoping to organize into pro leagues!”

Twilight got an inquisitive look as they entered into the encircling stands of the arena. “Interesting! I’ll have to check all of them out one day for the research papers I’m planning to write to promote pony-human understanding!

“Human combat sports, on the surface, appear to be merely a commercialized celebration of a naturally violent species’s base instincts where competitors relentlessly hammer one another until they cannot go on. But going deeper, one finds an entire culture that places great value in the advancement of one’s unique abilities, putting great emphasis on honor and respect. In these clashes, warriors can exchange feelings on a level much deeper than words capable of forming friendships that last a lifetime.”

At this, Gustoff scrunched up his face and made a so-so gesture. “Nice abstract, but you might want to rethink how you open it.”

As the mixed party took their seats, the gongs sounded out as each competitor in the battle royal went on the move from the short log bridges hanging from their many levels and angles across the arena.

The long-ranged fighters quickly took their advantage, as a yellow-haired competitor with a cloth ball at his feet juggled it for a moment as it began to glow and spark with electricity. When it started making bird-like crackling noises, he kicked it into the air and sent it flying with a backflip kick, colliding with and sending flying a lightly-armored buckler-user into the net below with a blast of thunder.

An archer was letting loose cloud-like arrows that reappeared in his hand at will. However, in a silent puff of mist, a quarterstaff user appeared sneaking up behind them, and sent them down on their way with a hard jab. But the quarterstaff user’s eyes grew wide as they were entrapped by a multi-headed vine and drawn towards its user, who was emitting it from a short handle while holding a leaf-like shield in their off-hand.

A fighter wielding two short curved swords was spinning around all over the place riding around in a small whirlwind zipping around striking at anyone near them. However, they were brought to an abrupt halt as they were blasted by a glob of green slime coming from a slingshot user’s weapon and stuck to the top of a nearby bridge before being scooped up by a monk’s spade user and slung to the net below.

Along a row of bridges at descending heights, several pairs of melee warriors were clashing their weapons. At the end of the topmost bridge, a warrior with a distinctive cross-shaped scar below their right eye held out their hand, which began glowing with an amber aura. From this, an ethereal yet rigid sword erupted before they held it up and took it in both hands. The warrior took a deep breath and struck a low stance as their emanated weapon became wrapped in an intense flame-like aura. The warrior took off like a bolt of lightning, flinging each pair of combatants off their bridge into the net below with a slash of their sword that stuck like a meteor. This was repeated again and again in a zig-zag pattern, sending each pair of grapplers flying.

After the last one was batted aside, the warrior exhaled and relaxed, holding their weapon outward. However, a warrior with a crossbow loaded with a cloud-like bolt levitated a distance behind the ethereal sword-wielder and took aim down the sights. But right as they touched the trigger, the sword-wielder rapidly spun around and sent a crescent-shaped wave of magic at the crossbow-wielder in the same motion, sending them spinning back into the net below.

After this, the ethereal sword-wielding warrior looked around warily, as the arena proper had grown quiet with most of the competitors having already been taken out of the game. However, his eyes grew wide as he heard a heavy thump coming from behind him.

He quickly turned around and saw that the only standing warrior left was a very large cestus-wielder whose hands were covered in dark blue auras in the shape of large claws carrying the limp, unconscious bodies of a spiked-club wielder and a flail-wielder in their grips. The cestus-user sneered, exposing their extra-large canine teeth, and unceremoniously tossed the unconscious contenders down into the net.

The ethereal sword-wielder and the cestus-wielder quickly struck stances, then suddenly charged and began clashing their weapons. At first, the ethereal sword-wielder pressed the cestus-wielder, who backtracked as he deflected his opponent’s slashes and sidestepped his thrusts. But as the clash went on, the tide turned as the ethereal sword-wielder backtracked while blocking the cestus-wielder’s mighty jabs and hooks and had to weave out of his opponent’s reach when he attempted to grapple.

After locking their weapons for a moment, the ethereal sword-user broke it off and hopped to an above bridge before wrapping their weapon in an aura and striking a stance. However, before he could do anything, the cestus-user hopped right to him after wrapping his legs in an aura resembling the legs of a cat and forced the ethereal sword-user to dispel his aura and adjust his stance to block a hard uppercut followed by a jab.

After this, they both jumped back to opposite sides of the bridge. After staring into each other’s eyes for a moment, they held their weapons low and charged. In flashes of amber and blue light, the both of them were knocked senseless and sent flying down into the net below. The moment they both hit, the gong rang, signaling the end of the competition.

At this, the crowd started grumbling. On the podium at the side of the arena, the official and several commissioners deliberated for a moment. Then the official walked to the edge of the podium and held their glowing finger to their throat. “WE HAVE COME TO A DECISION. OUR SENSORY MAGIC FINDS THAT COMPETITOR WILDA URSON MADE CONTACT WITH THE SAFETY NET HALF A SECOND EARLIER. SO THE CHAMPION OF THE BATTLE ROYAL IS… KRIS DUELIS!”

At that, the crowd gathered in the stands of the arena erupted into roaring cheers. The bridges soon started moving and rearranging themselves into a podium that all of the competitors appeared on, with the ones that were first to go down lined up in the back and Kris standing in front. At first, he just gave a light smile and awkwardly waved, but Wilda soon came up from right behind him and placed his hand on his shoulder. Wilda gave him a big, toothy grin and turned it to the crowd while raising his fist in the air. Kris did so in turn and added his own twist by pointing his ethereal sword in the air, getting a big rise out of the crowd.

Later, at the arena’s competitor’s entrance, many of the fighters had grouped together, laughing and singing. The buckler-user, Jordan, gestured at the champion and the runner-up. “We’re all heading out to party! You guys want to join in?”

The duo smiled at them, but then they noticed the alicorn and a waving hat-wearing earth pony smiling at them from the end of the path. Kris gestured at the other competitors. “Um… Something’s come up. We’re going to have to take a raincheck.”

After saying their last goodbyes to the other competitors, Kris and Wilda walked up to the two of their pony friends. Wilda gestured to them while wrapping his other arm around Kris’s shoulder. “So how did you ladies enjoy the brawl? I think we can all agree that even though Kris won, I was the better showman, right?”

Applejack smirked and rolled her eyes back. “I fancy a good game a’ buckball myself, but I can’t deny all the grandeur of what y’all do here!”

Twilight trotted up to Kris. “So, where are the others? I thought you were trying to reconnect.”

Kris scratched his nose and looked away. “Well, we did a ton of connecting when we had our first adventure up here! Climbed some mountains, swam the seas, and beat back a bunch of monsters that only existed in our legends!

“But in the end, we all have our own lives, so at the moment, we’re each on our own journeys of self-betterment. Wilda and I stayed here to tackle the dueling circuit for a while, Trace obviously won’t be content until he’s covered every corner of Equestria at least once, Percival’s staying with the changelings to see if he can work on his difficulty with transforming into animals and monsters, Sloop’s supervising the construction of a special boat in Silver Shoals from some blueprints he purchased in an estate sale a while back, as for Alphonse… well… you’ve got me there.

“Anyway, was there any particular reason why you two stopped by this neck of the woods?”

At this, Twilight stopped smiling. “Well… we’re having some problems down on the Apple family farm with a stubborn human, and we were hoping you could help us negotiate.”

At that, Wilda made a low laugh and cracked his knuckles. “Oh, that won’t be a problem. We know how to deal with stubborn humans!”

Applejack frowned and shook her head. “Now, I don’t want any more trouble on my family’s farm than what we’ve already got!”

Kris waved her off. “Don’t worry, Applejack. The best course of action when dealing with a stubborn human is often the simplest. Most of us don’t want trouble either, it shouldn’t be too hard to deal with.”

Twilight sighed and unfurled her wings. “I hope you’re right…”

***

Big Mac gave the tree a sour look as Sugar Bell changed out the bandages on his head and tried to apply an ice pack with her magic. “I’ve heard that some humans came out as far as Our Town just to travel, and they even helped drive back some monsters that came down from the mountains. But it is a big change, and I want to believe Applejack and the others made the right decision.”

Big Mac snorted as the group approached the tree from the forest. “Yep. I want to believe in them too, they haven’t steered Equestria wrong yet…”

Applejack and Twilight led Wilda and Kris directly to the tree Sullivan was occupying. Twilight gestured with her hoof. “So how do you want to go about this? Do you want to declare your identities or intentions first, or-” However, Twilight abruptly lost her train of thought as Wilda just marched directly up to the tree trunk, grabbed it in both hands, and started violently shaking the whole thing.

After a few moments, Sullivan was sent tumbling to the ground. He soon got up with an angry look. “Alright, who’s the wiseguy that-” However, upon seeing the perpetrators of his eviction, his eyes grew wide and he recoiled. “Leapin’ leaves! Kris Duelis and Wilda Urson, the vanguard assault squad of the Prancing Pony Brave Six! What are the two of you doing out here in the sticks?”

Twilight leaned in to whisper to Applejack. “Vanguard assault squad? Brave six?”

Applejack shrugged. “I hear talk some have been calling you, me, and the girls the mane six”

Wilda cracked the joints in his neck. “We just happened to be in the neighborhood when we heard that you were making trouble for our friends. So we’d like you to quit it and skedaddle.”

Kris stepped in front of Wilda and crossed his arms. “Unless of course, you think you can drive us away instead.”

At this, Sullivan backed away, waving their arms. “No way, jose! I ain’t the brightest guy, but even I can pick my fights!”

After this, Sullivan held their head low and started walking away, but Wilda got a look of concern and blocked his way. “Look man, what were you thinking when you did what you did? Living in a tree? That’s just nuts!”

Sullivan tilted their head and looked away, frowning. “Okay, so when I got up here, I did try to find work. But I shouldn’t be surprised that these pony folk who’ve lived here all along aren’t too keen on letting two-legged freaks take all their jobs, especially when they have the ability to do the work of a dozen individually! I know I probably would’ve found something if I’d just kept looking, but the first few rejections just made me think weird thoughts.”

At this, Wilda took a look at Kris and nodded his head at him. Kris nodded in turn and walked up to Sullivan. “Telling you this would probably be a bit premature, but I happen to know that Madame von Wrinkle saw this coming, and is working on applying the infrastructure and her connections to the old guilds up here. It’s probably going to take a bit more wheeling and dealing, but there should be more jobs coming soon.”

Sullivan’s eyes grew wide. “Really? You’re not just pullin’ my leg, right?”

Kris nodded his head and smiled. “It’s the truth, friend. But in the meantime, there’s a big demand for tree elemental laborers in our Everfree settlement. There’s still a lot of work to do before we can properly call it our capital!”

Sullivan was silent for a moment, then he walked a ways, scoffed and shook his head. “Living in a tree? What in Ultima’s name was I thinking? All this new bright and beautiful scenery must have been scrambling my brain! Making me think I was living in some kind of fairytale! I’ve got to find some place back in Everfree and get my resume ready!” At that, he took off running back to the woods.

Wilda turned and pointed his thumb at him. “I should follow him and make sure he finds his way there okay!” And he started following Sullivan’s path.

Applejack smiled and gave a satisfied whinny. “Glad that’s over and done with!”

Twilight smiled at her and nodded. “It went very well, considering!”

Kris walked up to them and crossed his arms. “Yeah. Imagine if he were a competent warrior. We probably would have ended up wrecking the whole place.”

Applejack grunted and looked away. “I don’t even wanna think about that!”

Kris just shrugged with an open expression. “You’re probably going to have to, eventually. With humans involved, things are almost never going to resolve themselves this well. It’s a little late for second thoughts now, do you think you can handle what’s to come?”

Twilight smiled and gave him a determined look. “I’ve never backed down from a challenge yet. None of us have, none of us will!”

At that, Kris smiled at her and gave her a thumbs-up.