The Awesome Quest of My Little Ponies

by ThatOneYellowPony

4: Yokel Dokie

//-----------------------------
// Story: The Awesome Quest of My Little Ponies
// Chapter: Chapter 4: Yokel Dokie!
// Author: ThatOneYellowPony
//-----------------------------

“You can never be too careful nowadays, that’s why everything I’m selling is hereby on sale! Buy now! Beat the rush!” smiled Sweet Deal, a teal colt with a striped red and brown mane. His cutie mark was a cart full of junk resembling the cart full of junk strapped to him that very moment. His goods were protected by an adorable umbrella adding to the traveling merchant’s novelty charm.

“If you’re a salespony, isn’t everything you’re selling on sale anyways?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

Sky was busy rummaging through the goods in the back, evidently intending on making the party’s purchase for them. Applejack, Twilight, Fluttershy, and herself had just started towards the lakeside town of Griffron, and almost immediately stumbled across Sweet Deal. Now that her escort, Fluttershy, was no longer alone (the orange and purple one had literally hopped in out of nowhere), the tan earth pony was quickly changing her long term plan. Now that they’ve proven they’re not entirely hapless, she was going to part ways with the rest of the party in Griffron, so she could return to caring for Pip and Plop back home. But dang it she wasn’t going to leave them unprepared! Occasionally she would pull out some item or piece of armor and toss it into one of several small piles.

“You know, I’m a sponsor of the local Griff Games!” boasted Sweet Deal “I’ll be around this lake all festival long! Come to me at anytime this week to buy noisemakers and team colors!!”

“I don’t think we really need any of that” said Applejack as politely as she could.

Sweet Deal’s smile didn’t falter for a second. “That’s quite alright. Bit more a griffon thing I suppose. Shame, cause they don’t much like buying from pony kind”

“Kay’, I think we’ve squeezed this lemon for all her juice” said Sky, gesturing towards the piles. “It’s gonna cost 110 bits, but I’m gonna pay so don’t go concerning yourselves”

The three immediately objected.

“Oh you don’t need to do that, we’ll pay” murmured Fluttershy

“We’ve been fine without any weapons so far!” insisted Twilight

“Well too bad” said Sky, sticking out her tongue and fishing out 110 bits to give to Sweet Deal.

“Why thanks for the business! Remember now: There’s No Deal Like a Sweet Deal!” and with that, the merchant pony continued on down the cobblestone path, a spring in each hoofstep.

Begrudgingly, the three ponies accepted what had been bought for them. For Applejack, a leather crupper and a light steel set of horseshoes and chest guards. She tried to place the leather crupper in a very interesting place before Sky explained it was a fancy name for a flank-guard. Twilight received a pointy purple wizard’s hat and a magic crest which lightly boosted her speed somehow. Fluttershy received a small wooden staff and an amulet of sturdiness, which lessened her chances of becoming confused. Now if she were attacked by zubats, she would only be half as annoyed as you or I.

Together the three of them looked like they had the worst sense of dress imaginable, but they thanked Sky regardless, as she promised them that these and the boatload of revival muffins she purchased them would make their lives much, much easier.

######

When the party finally reached Griffron, it was a sight to behold. Previously the ponies had only ever seen griffons one at a time, but here they were pouring out over top of the walls. There were griffons running concession stands for gross things on sticks, others that crowded around magicians and entertainers hidden by a veil of feathered wings. They even set up a bouncy castle for the kiddies but it didn’t last long (claws, you see). Overtop the crowd Twilight could see vibrant circus tents with flags depicting their going-ons. The one that caught her eye had an illustration of a griffon eating some fish, them being one of those weird omnivorous species. She didn’t point this out because she knew animal loving Fluttershy might have a problem with this.

Between all the hustle and bustle, our heroes could glimpse at the town’s architectural design. Although hardly majestic, the place had a thought-out quality to it, even with its simple stone walls that curved with the hilly streets, and the simple green or blue bands splashing some color about, it felt like it was built with heart. It was small and cozy enough to feel like a home yet sprawling enough to host such an undertaking.

“Now before we get too distracted” said Twilight as the four of them idly wandered closer still to even more distractions, passing under a great stone gateway. “Remember why we’re stopping here; we’re looking for our friends. This is a big event and its certainly drawn in a lot of ponies, err, people. If they’re looking for us, they may well have already come here. I don’t think it’ll take long to search this place. Meet up here in an hour?” Everypony murmured in agreement before sauntering off, each one only half in on the ‘let’s find our friends’ plan. I can tell you right now that only Sky would remember to return back here in an hour, which aggravated her greatly.

Twilight decided that, while she’s not so sure about Rarity or Pinkie, if Rainbow Dash were here, she wouldn’t hesitate to go to the epicenter of the action. That’s why when a helpful griffon at the information desk told her the professional level athletics take place in an actual stadium; she immediately made that her priority. The stadium in question was constructed out of cloud and marble, and was floating in the lake’s middle. Getting there would require an expensive ticket that even then would only be good for the day’s events. If she had her nose plug and water wings on her, she might have tried swimming but as it happens, she didn’t have the funds she needed to catch the four o’clock ferry over there.

“Are you sure it’s an entire 200 bits? Cause I’ve only got like, five.”

“Trust us, you’re short,” explained the griffon behind the ticket desk. She was dressed in a red vest and busy scooping up cotton candy for some bratty kid who annoyed her parents into submission. “Why’d you bother coming here if you don’t have any money? If you don’t come with at least a grand, you’re gonna have a bad time!”

“Ugh” groaned Twilight as she again stared out at the stadium that would surely draw Rainbow Dashes in like a magnet. “Look, I’m not interested in whatever sports they’re going to play, I’m just trying to find a friend. Is there any way I can get a seat on that boat?”

“I’m afraid not”

“Can you get some griffon to fly me over?” she asked with her best attempt at Fluttershy eyes.

“No can do. If anyone but the competitors enters that airspace, security’s going to deal with them accordingly. Why else would we have a boat? Ponies are a real rarity here.”

Twilight sighed. Until a claw tapped her on the flank.

“It’s not much but I hope it helps” said a bearded old griffon. Twilight accepted 10 bits from him graciously, not even caring that he eavesdropped. “It might not get you to the stadium but now you can go play games down on the wharf, which is at least something. Griffons forget about them what with all the excitement but the ring toss and the pinball have always been there to bring smiles to youngster’s faces.”

Although she doubted she would find any of her friends there, she followed the griffon’s advice and found the wharf. As she suspected, the prizes were things like giant stuffed bears, not bits. If they were bits she could at least conceivably work her way up to the ticket price of 200 bits. According to the sign, it was 5 bits for the ring toss, which she immediately decided against entering. For one thing everyone there was at least a quarter of her age, clearly the bearded pony saw her as some little juvenile. Pinkie would have been too old for this. The rings were large, rainbow doughnuts that were to ring around iridescent pegs with clown faces on their ends. But just as Twilight turned away from the wharf she heard a piercing screech.

“Want! Want! Want!” she recognized it as the bratty toddler from before, the one who had already tossed her uneaten cotton candy into the face of a poor custodial worker. The kid was pointing an obese talon at the fat purple bear on the top shelf.

“No dear I will not be getting that for you, it’s not for sale! It has to be won and by the shadows in my stockings I will not degrade myself to playing a child’s game!” said the brat’s father, who upset his daughter an awful lot with his words. But before the child’s excessive whining could change her father’s mind, Twilight leapt in with an idea in mind.

“I’ll get the bear for her!”

“You would offer us services as a games monkey?” asked the father, his moustache being tugged by his toddler.

“If by that you mean I’ll get you the bear for a small price then yeah. I’m looking to get a boat ticket and I’ve only got fifteen bits.” explained Twilight over the wails.

“50 bits for the bear. Now hurry up!”

Ecstatic at the prospect, the purple pony trotted over to the game and, after waiting for her turn, asked the game tender “How much for a ring?”

######

“So y’all get something like 3,000 griffons each year here?” Applejack asked one of her table partners, a beefy griffon named Geoffrey.

“Yes… three… thousand…” wheezed the griffon as he patted his belly and took in the room with his mousy eyes.

“How long ‘til this Mangerama gets going? I smell some good eating!” she sniffed the air, taking in pleasant blueberry.

Applejack had entered the Mangerama eating contest: one of the only free to enter contests actually taking place in Griffron. Normally they don’t let ponies in on the competition, but with AJ they made an exception. Though she suspected it was more as a joke, for not a single griffon believed the little pony could stomach the monstrous feast that would be coming her way. To juxtapose what they felt would be her crushing defeat they stuck her at the same table as Geoffrey, the intimidating eating machine that has been the champion five years running. He had two chins per year won and forever breathed with heaves of intensity.

She entered the contest because if Rarity, Rainbow, and Pinkie were really here to be found, they would have done so by now. How hard was it to spot brightly colored ponies amidst a sea of white feathers and grumpy beaks? Besides, she seldom had the opportunity to meet real griffons, and why shouldn’t she enjoy herself?

She and her fellow Mangerama competitors sat in the center of a large circus tent that flapped around a fair bit, barely managing to keep the wind at bay. The stands were filling up with griffons and, surprise-surprise, not a single pony. Then the event staff brought in the first few platters of food. In a showing of consideration usually beyond griffon kind, all meat items had been removed for the vegetarian Applejack.

“Griffons and pony” bellowed the announcer with great bravado, a griffon with a top hat, sunglasses, and a microphone. He earned himself a few laughs with his joke and a polite clapping of talons from the audience and competitors. Except for Applejack. She doesn’t have talons to clap with, and thank Celestia for that.

“But before we dive right into the feast our volunteer chefs have produced, a quick preview is in order!” continued the announcer “Following tradition, we will start with dessert, including pies, tarts, and dumplings!” some female griffons holding samples of the desserts held them up, flouncing and flirting with their bodies. I suppose they were considered good looking or something. “Then, we got aaaaaall this!” suddenly a small army of pretty girl griffons burst in with platters and platters of the widest variety of food imaginable. Spaghetti, fancy breads, squash, chocolates, sandwiches, and sweet, sweet cider.

The beautifully presented food certainly stirred energy in the contestants and audience. The announcer had to yell quite a few times before anyone could hear him officially start the 32nd annual Mangerama.

Applejack was presented with a small blueberry pie as her level 1 snack. She would have to eat the full thing before she could advance to the next level. An adorable smile cut across her lips as she firmly splattered it across her face and got her om-nom-nom on.

In triumph she slammed her hoof on a small bell, which ‘dinged’ to signal her completion.

“Hit me with another!” she said in victory quip, before one of the lady griffons presented her with a plate of gingersnap cookies.

The cursor moved to Applejack. Preemptive strike. She decided to open with Om, which would open a window for several consecutive Nom attacks, which were most effective as a chain combo anyways. Soon the gingersnaps were gingersnapped.

Few paid attention to the orange pony as she continued to fell the dishes presented to her. Most focused on fan favorites or were too busy cheering with a disturbing strength of passion to notice she was about five plates ahead of everyone else.

Before long our pony had slain dessert, and she broke into the pastas. She decided to equip a fork-the natural weakness of pastas-and focus on piercing attacks. And yes, the pony was quite capable of using a fork thanks to that strange enigma that lets earth ponies manipulate things as though they had human hands. Apparently they’re just so opposed to the concept of evolving fingers they can bend the universe to their will, much to Lyra’s dismay.

By the time our underdog competitor reached the English muffins with jam her fellow mouth-stuffing machines were thinning out. Some, clearly amateurs, were dropping out before they were done with desserts. Ha! Let’s see how fun their ‘winning isn’t everything’ attitude is now that they’ve LOST!

AJ was busy getting critical munches on an oven baked pretzel when the first big name beak-buster collapsed after only getting halfway through his lasagna. Most of the crowd’s outrage (or wet-your-seat exuberance) came from how a small female pony had managed to pass him by metaphorical miles. Big Mac would be proud of his little soldier.

While the other food-eating titans began to slow their pace, getting into the meat of the competition, Applejack’s snack sojourn slowed not. About the only thing that happened were dribbles of sweat on her brow and her stomach descending until it resembled a pumpkin resting in her lap. It started to gurgle angrily, upset with its mistreatment.

At first there were ten contestants, and then there were seven, and finally there were three. At least until the second remaining griffon fell beak first into boiling hot tomato soup. That fact that he didn’t scream in fiery pain led the event staff to conclude that he was suffering a food coma. It took six griffons to carry him by stretcher to the nearest medical tent.

The final two competitors were lucky enough to be seated together. Even luckier for the audience, the two of them were less than three dishes apart. Although neither of them looked their best, they also looked like they’d last long enough to make things interesting. The cooks were sweating in their chef hats, knowing that they were almost out of food to serve. The final two competitors, eyeing each other with the intensity of battle and the pain of digestive cramps, were Ponyville’s very own Applejack, and the Mangerama monstrosity; Geoffrey.

Applejack was one dish ahead, cautiously tunneling through her plate of mashed potatoes: a level 40 dish with no known elemental weaknesses. Geoffrey was doing the same with a sub sandwich. In the background the announcer yammered on about the players’ every move, but neither Geoffry nor AJ heard anything. They were too busy searching each other for weakness, each tensing their muscles, ready to lunge at any moment.

Then Applejack flinched after her special potato spoon scraped squeakily across her plate. She lightly dinged her bell with smug satisfaction as the final dish was brought out. She was presented with a platter containing more doughnuts than could possibly fit inside her and Geoffrey together, all doused in syrup for extra measure. She was instructed not to start until Geoffrey had caught up. Realizing the whole hall was waiting on him, the griffon practically inhaled his way to the doughnuts.

The rules were simple: they would take turns eating a single doughnut until one popped like a balloon and the other emerged the victor. The crowd was stamping their feet impatiently. Some were shouting for the griffon to pound AJ into the dirt whereas the other half had jumped the boat to Team Applejack.

Applejack did the honors and slid one of the most disgusting treats she’d ever tasted down her throat. She could handle the butter-flavored syrup but the super-sugar frosting, rainbow sprinkles, and liquidly glaze made for the most unpleasant sensation imaginable. The griffon followed her example, and seemed to think the same thing of the sugary sweet. It didn’t take long before they were both on the knife’s edge, teetering on sudden death. The food had gone from gross to nauseating and every bite pained them physically. Then, out of nowhere, beak just pecking into the slimy good, Geoffrey keeled over sideways and passed out.

Caught by surprise the crowd exploded with cheer. Never before had a pony, let alone a little mare like her, won the Mangerama before. The earth pony was lifted by twenty sets of talons and given the cheering of her life.

“I did it for you Granny Smith!” she yelled to nobody “I did it for all ah y’all”

######

There’s one advantage nopony brings up about growing up without many friends. You get a knack for trivial skills like tossing disks, or constructing paperclip guns that shoot elastic bands. Skills that may one day come to your advantage. For example, if you are one day on an adventure that involves mini-games with clunky controls, developing proficient hoof-eye coordination will put you far ahead of your popular peers.

Such was the case for Twilight Sparkle, who was having a blast in mini-game central down on the wharf. She had mastered the ring toss after two throws, survived so long on pinball that she was asked to lose on purpose so other guests could play, and pulverized the card matching game by using non magical memory enhancing techniques. She had won so many stuffed animals and crystal hearts that she had surpassed her goal of 200 bits and accumulated a staggering 450 bits. The parents of the bratty kid were most grateful; whereas the bratty kid was just as bratty as ever before.

Twilight smiled to herself. Everything was working out. She could even hear birds singing. With a hop and skip in her step, she trotted back to the ferry to catch the four o’clock. If she saw one of her fellow party members on the way, she could pay for two whole tickets. But as she rounded the street corner and came upon the ticket booth she saw Applejack, Fluttershy, and a host of head-banging griffons.

“Hey Twilight!” shouted a very plump Applejack over the roar of her entourage “I won myself an eatin’ contest! I got us free boat tickets and I getta be the Grand Marshal in the opening parade! Come on now! Ferry’s leaving soon.”

There are no words to describe your pain, young Twilight.

######

“Test one, Test one, Test one,” Said the announcer into her microphone.

“I really wish she could count to two” mused Twilight.

“Test one, Test one, Test one” said the announcer again.

She was hovering above the water in the center of the stadium. The building itself featured rows of marble bleachers that curved around like a baseball dome constructed of cloud and white rocks. The difference was instead of a green field in the center, there was only the surface of the lake. Applejack, along with her two special guests Twilight and Fluttershy, led the opening parade where the floats did just that: float on the water. After a few circles about, an internal magic raised their golden chariot of awesome into the air. It then clicked into place along the stadium wall and served as the ponies’ seating. A storm was brewing on the surrounding waters, but they were assured that the stadium would keep the waves at bay. Though the lack of a roof meant the conditions would be wet and miserable the instant any rain started and they were an awful long ways from shore. But the Griff Games had to continue! It was traditional! They wouldn’t stop it if the clouds were on fire.

“LLLLLadies and gentle griffons! Get ready for the first event! Revealing to you now the dreaded Beak-Cracker Obstacle Course!!” bellowed the announcer unexpectedly, once Test one had finally ended.

The parts of the BCOC or ‘bock-bock-ba-cock!’ as the fans called it rose out from the churning waters with a great rumbling. There were jets of fire, great swinging pendulums built of spongy foam, rubber birds that flew about the air with little speed, great black tubes that swirled and looped with cruel unpredictability, nets, enchanted cubes with ‘Butter Blasters’ written on the sides, and spotlights that seemed to be searching for something. Finally they found that something: a griffon dressed in red and sporting a number one on his chest. He flared his wings and roared at the light. The crowd loved it, barking like mad. No sooner did the animal roar before the stadium seemed to roar back: the jets of fire spewed out a loud inferno that warmed the faces of the party even from so far away.

Rock and roll was being blasted through the speakers several decibels too high.

“Let’s get ready to rumble! Guinea Pig Number One: Mixed Lightning!” bellowed the announcer over the noise of it all.

Several people laughed at the guinea pig joke, but far more were busy yelling their heads off. The excitement was elevating Twilight’s heart rate. Fluttershy was practically knocked back by the suddenness of it all, and Applejack’s stomach didn’t appreciate the vibrations.

Unfortunately the stadium had clearly been designed for winged creatures, as there were no stairs or ramps connecting different seating areas. The idea of finding a single cyan pegasus amidst the crowds with all these pyrotechnics in the way was laughable. Undeterred, Twilight and her friends kept an eye out, a difficult task with the distracting entertainment before them.

Mixed Lightning, clearly a stage name, swerved and ducked through the complex challenges of the BCOC with aerial finesse, while the announcer prattled on about the griffon’s back story. Because it’s one thing to watch a griffon narrowly escape a padded hammer, but an entirely different thing to know about how that griffon grew up on a farm.

The rubber birds that dotted the airspace came to life on approach and honed in on Mixed Lightning in an attempt to knock him out of the sky. The birds were notoriously brutal, but demanding fans led them to becoming a staple after their introduction decades earlier, from back in a primitive time when you weren’t having fun until you had broken some bones.

Mixed Lightning soared through the final hoop with an impressive time of six minutes twenty two seconds. Mixed Lightning himself, while proudly thanking his friends and family when briefly given the microphone, seemed well aware that this time would never do. He would be beaten and probably by the next competitor.

The brutality of the BCOC was quickly forgotten as flyer after flyer braved it. Some flyers seemed to be in it for the joy of wiping out, as they clearly didn’t expect to cross the finish. Sure there were pulled feathers and twisted ankles, but everyone-injured included-laughed it off. The jets of fire, which seemed unnecessarily deadly at first, were really more for show. They were being directly controlled by magic, though griffon magic has been stereotyped as crude and unreliable, and only fired when it was absolutely certain nobody would get scorched.

“This next flyer requires some explanation” said the announcer as Feather Foot was walked off to be fitted for an eye patch. She gave the crowd a moment to calm down before continuing. It was easy to tell how bad the storm had gotten when things quieted down a little. A heavy rain accompanied with lightning had started two flyers ago, but somehow it had gone ignored. “Since the very beginning we have let anybody brave enough to compete in the Beak-Cracker Obstacle Course. When an unusual…’person’ decided to join us, we had to consult the rule book for the first time since I got my job presenting this very event! As it turns out, we don’t discriminate on race or species so long as they’ve got wings! So please welcome our first non-griffon competitor since ever! She claims to have won a completely unheard of competition called ‘The Best Young Flyers Competition’ in her also unheard of home of ‘Cloudsdale’. So let’s cheer on the slightly loopy, peculiarly maned, Rainbow Dash!!”

Grand Parade Marshall Applejack spewed out her pineapple refreshment.

“I found her” whispered Fluttershy to Twilight, who was equally as astonished.

Sure enough, there was a flash of lightning accompanied by the sudden appearance of a sky blue pegasus descending from the heavens. Her rainbow mane was being whipped by the winds, doing little to conceal her smug I’m-gonna-rock-this-joint expression. Her rose colored eyes were fixed on the starting ring. The instant she passed through it, the timer would start and the music would burst into intense electric guitar. She continued to flutter towards it, lulling the crowd, which was exactly what she wanted.

Unlike the rest of the mane 6, Rainbow Dash had zero memory of how she got there. That’s not to say she’d forgotten Equestria and her pony friends, but it seemed that she went from zipping around Ponyville’s sky to being yelled at by security for trespassing in stadium airspace. She had been asked by two burly griffons what she was doing and she honestly couldn’t answer them. This response landed her in a temporary detainment cell before a gruff griffon named Manny had heard her out. Manny was Head Coordinator of both the Griff Games and security. After explaining the games as an intense week of events for aerial enthusiasts, Dashie practically demanded to enter and the very kind Manny decided to give her a fair shot.

Just as the crowd became convinced that this would be the worst run-through of the BCOC ever, Rainbow Dash burst foreword, leaving a perfect spectrum of color in her wake. She drove through the starting ring, droplets of rain appearing to fall the wrong way. She pulled up sharply and banked to the very first labyrinth of tubes. Already familiar with their layout she was out before she was in.

The crowd roared in sudden appreciation of the spectacle. The blurred blue bullet cut past the crowd, shooting past obstacles with ease, though hardly dodging them by the tip of her tail. The jets of fire were spewing light and heat into the dark cold, trying to match the energy of the stadium.

Twilight, Fluttershy, and Applejack where overwhelmed by the volume of it all which seemed to shake the universe all about with vibrations and flashing lights. Two of them were yelling several things though nopony heard them, and certainly no griffon.

Dash had only one obstacle before the great finish: The Tumbler of Fire: a hexagonal barrel that rotated with several spinning blades (which were actually padded planks because they’re not sadists here in Griffron) and other claustrophobic challenges. The constant rotation and strobe lights made for a very disorientating experience. But Dash jetted inside without a second thought.

The crowd and music cut out as she entered and only the sound of rushing wind remained. She weaved through pendulums, hammers, foam cannons, and pillars with moderate difficulty. Suddenly her world banked to the right, leading her to slam into one of the walls. Something had stopped the tumbling. Black shapes burst into the barrel, destroying vital BCOC equipment. Dash rolled to the bottom before realizing the shapes were tentacles. The change in gravity told her whatever the black extremities belonged to were lifting the tumbler with her inside. She heard a mighty roar and bolted towards the entrance, which was closer than the exit, dodging the groping tentacles all the while. When she emerged, she was caught in a sea of flying griffons, all fleeing the shadow monster that had emerged from the sea. The rock and roll was still playing and whatever sorcerer had been in charge of the fire jets left them irresponsibly turned on in the panic of it all.

With the surrounding stadium alight with fire, a hot composition which doesn’t agree with pony hide too well, Twilight knew she had to act fast. Without an easy way out of the stadium-or even off their platform- she quickly solved the problem in her own way. She pointed her horn at the water below and froze part of it into a buoyant bowl large enough for them to stand on comfortably.

“Jump down!” Twilight shouted to her companions.

The three of them made it to icy safety before the surprisingly flammable clouds shriveled to ash. Magical fire can be a jerk like that. Their small victory was short lived as the monstrous squid latched onto their vessel and pulled itself onto the rim. It roared at the three ponies as it proudly showed off the torn parts of the BCOC it could now use as makeshift weaponry. Magic fire jets included.

“He’s a level 5. He’s a boss fight. Called ‘Leviathan’” said Twilight. As though a light switch had gone off, she could now scan enemies for basic snippets of knowledge.

Rainbow Dash, who was idly flying above the Leviathan, was speechless. She had never seen or even heard of the shadow monsters which recently had been attacking these lands with alarming regularity. But she did see who the beast was attacking: her friends. That alone helped remove her from a terrified trance.

With a screech Dash landed with four hooves and flared wings. The ice was not as slippery as she thought, though the stormy weather was worse now than ever.

“Dash! Are Pinkie and Rarity with you?!” yelled AJ over the wind.
She shook her head. Then Fluttershy tried to say something, but could never be heard over the rock and roll, biting winds, booming thunder, and the roars of the Leviathan.

Only three ponies could be on the battlefield at any given moment, so Twilight was automatically switched out when the encounter started a second later. Twilight would now have to switch in during somepony else’s turn, but only if they consented. Then that pony would be warming the bench while Twilight stood in their old square meter. The rules were a benched pony couldn’t switch with a knocked out pony, couldn’t be damaged or healed in any way, and would fade with the party if the three on-field ponies decided to take an impromptu dirt-nap. These rules came as instinctual, and nopony questioned them.

Confused with why she was confined to a square meter of ice platform, Rainbow Dash looked down to see a dark blue cursor blinking from beneath her light blue hooves.

Author's Note:

Well now that the holidays and inevitable end of the year flu have passed, it was fun to get back to writing! I finally got into the habit of writing ‘nopony’ and ‘anypony’ just in time to bring in a boatload of griffons and have to revert to ‘nobody’ and ‘anyone’. No doubt I’ll be loused up when we return to pony occupied land. Yippee!

Sincerely; ThatOneYellowPony

And thank you to ClosetBron-oh, wait, never mind. I’m sorry: special thanks to Gage McGage, your friendly username changing editor. Not that there’s anything wrong with change. I’m flexible :D Seriously though: awesome editor!

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[Poets Dream]

I'll always keep the avatar at least a little the same.