• Published 15th Jan 2012
  • 5,814 Views, 261 Comments

Upon Wings of Sacrifice - Rated Ponystar



Rainbow Dash journeys to find a way to bring back Applejack from the dead...but at what price?

  • ...
35
 261
 5,814

The Tournament Begins

Upon Wings of Sacrifice (Rewrite)

Chapter 11: The Tournament Begins

An MLP: FIM fic by The Rated PonyStar

Edited by Mr. Minimii and Apple Cinnamon

Formerly edited by: Fernin, Halcyon and Clavier

Artwork done by: alfa995

***

Rainbow Dash looked at the Silva’s grim expression before looking back at the dead griffin that she thought, at first, was just a mafia thug. Only now it looked like he was also a member of Blood and Liberty as well. “Are you sure this is one of the guys?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah, the letter that I mentioned earlier? The one that said the statement that Colonel Volken’s assassination was done by them? It was found not to far away from where we fought these two. The reason I was fighting them in the first place was because they were acting suspicious and I had questions, they then struck me first and, well you know the rest,” said Silva, looking closely at the needles that were stuck in the dead griffin’s neck. “Not to mention this is the same kill style, and I bet the needles are laced with poison. An autopsy will be able to tell if that’s true or not.”

“Look, there’s something I need to tell you. These guys, I’ve seen them before, after the riots,” said Rainbow Dash, quickly telling Silvia the backstory that Tender Point had told her. It only made Silva’s eyes narrow as Dash could tell she was getting the same suspicions Rainbow was.

Rubbing her beak, Silva closed her eyes and said, “This doesn’t add up. Either I’m wrong or Tender is lying. The fact that both of these guys are dead, with one of them being done in the same way Colonel Volken was, means that it’s the latter. Daring, I think your little friend is lying to you.”

Rainbow didn’t want to admit it, but she couldn’t help but agree. Clenching her teeth, she knew she shouldn’t have jumped the gun on Tender just yet. Perhaps she has a good reason for lying? After all, I’m doing the same thing, aren’t I?

“I guess I should confront her about it, shouldn’t I?” asked Rainbow, wondering if she was going to have to get rough or not with the gentle unicorn.

Silva shook her head. “No, don’t let her know just yet. Let me find time to meet with you both and we’ll confront her together. We don’t know what her relation is to them and, after all this, I don’t want to take any chances.” Silva looked up towards the burning building to see fireworkers already dosing water onto the flames. “Looks like backup’s here. I’ll stay here and let the authorities know what’s going on, without them knowing you were here of course.”

“What about Lucion? He saw me and managed to stop me from taking his guy out alive,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Leave that idiot to me, just get out of here and head home. Don’t let Tender know anything, I’ll come to you when it’s safe to talk,” said Silva.

Rainbow Dash nodded and took off for the sky. Keeping herself in midair she looked at the burning building there dozens of lives had been lost, both from the explosion and from the fires that came from it. She knew that the members of Blood and Liberty were dangerous, but she wasn’t expecting them to go into such an overkill to eliminate two of their own as loose ends. She thought back to the cloaked figure she saw disappear into the smoke, obviously the assassin behind all this, and realized that now they knew who she was, too. I have the guards, a crime lord, and now a terrorist organization all on my flank. All I need left is the princesses to know what I’m doing, and I’m screwed in all directions.

There was also Tender Point to consider in all this madness as well. Why had she lied to Dash, or had she? Maybe she had a good reason, or maybe she wasn’t letting more on than there was. Rainbow Dash was reluctant to distrust Tender, especially after everything the two had went through. It was obvious that the unicorn was in trouble, but what kind of trouble was the question. With no other choice, Rainbow Dash flew in the direction of home, hoping that her roommate was still trustworthy enough for her to sleep in the same room with.

***

Arriving at the almost abandoned inn, Rainbow Dash entered her room only to hear the shower inside the bathroom on. She closed the door, causing Tender Point from inside to suddenly ‘eep’ and shut the water off. Tender Point cautiously opened the door, but soon smiled upon seeing Rainbow Dash alone. “Oh, thank goodness. I’m glad it’s you.”

“H-hey,” whispered Rainbow Dash, forcing herself to look away. She didn’t want to Tender Point to get suspicious of her behavior, so she quickly made for the bed. “I’m tired, so I’ll be hitting the hay. Night.”

“Wait,” said Tender Point, coming out while drying herself with a towel in her telekinesis. “How did that lead with Silva go? Alright?”

“N-no, the guys were dead when we found them: fire accident,” lied Rainbow Dash, getting under the covers.

“That’s too bad,” said Tender Point who finished drying herself off and gasped. “Your back!”

“Huh?” asked Rainbow Dash, getting up and looking behind her. She saw that there were a few minor burns and cuts she had gotten from the explosion that she didn’t notice ‘till now. “Oh, it’s nothing.”

Tender Point shook her head. Rushing to her bag, she took out a few potions and started mixing them in a bowl. Rainbow Dash watched in curiosity as the unicorn then dipped a cloth in it and walked forward. “Sit up and don’t move, I’m going to wash this on your back.”

“O-okay,” said Rainbow Dash, sitting up still, yet she couldn’t help but feel her heart beat increase. She had no idea what was in those potions, and at the same time she didn’t know if she could trust Tender Point. For all I know, she might be the assassin...

With a quick prayer to the goddess above, Rainbow Dash closed her eyes as she felt the damp cloth press against her wounds. It stung at first, but then Dash felt an immediate cooling feeling, like she had just came out of a hot bath. A sigh of relaxation escaped Rainbow Dash as she felt like she was getting pressed with the oil the Spa Twins used back home. “Oh, man. That’s the stuff.”

Tender Point giggled. “My mother used to run an apothecary before we fled. She taught me a bunch of potions and lotions that could be used to help the body.”

“And how! This stuff feels pretty awesome!” said Rainbow Dash as she felt Tender Point wipe a bit more of the medicine before she put it away. “Hey, thanks.”

“What are friends for. Now get some sleep, you’ve had a rough day,” suggested Tender as she tossed the cloth away and went into her own bed.

The two said goodnight to one another before shutting the lights off. Before sleep began to overtake her, Rainbow Dash hoped that Tender Point wasn’t really a danger to anypony. It would just suck if a good friend of hers turned out to be an enemy.

***

The sound of knocking awoke both ponies from their sleep as Rainbow Dash took a look at Tender Point and quickly pointed to the ground. Getting the message, Tender ducked under her bed and laid low as Rainbow Dash got up and slowly made her way to the door, ready for anything. Opening it, she somewhat relaxed when she saw Toma tipping his hat. “Morning, ladies. Had a nice night?”

“It was... exhilarating,” answered Rainbow Dash, who quickly told Tender she could come out.

Toma nodded to the unicorn before turning towards Rainbow Dash with a serious expression. “There has been a change of plans. The tournament has been rushed to an earlier date.”

“What? Why?!” asked Rainbow Dash.

Toma shrugged. “Well, you’ll find out that there are more guards on the streets now as well as less civilians due to the explosion that happened; apparently a terrorist bombed a hotel. Because of this the heads of the tournament agreed to have it as soon as possible.”

“In other words, they’re scared,” said Rainbow Dash. She rolled her eyes and felt her earlier weariness return. It was one fight after another ever since she got into this city. But I’m not gonna let that stop me.

“So when is it? Two days from now? Three?” asked Rainbow Dash as she took a glass of water and started to drink it.

“Five hours from now,” said Toma before using his hat to block the spray of water from Rainbow Dash’s mouth. “Meaning you had better get all your daily hygiene requirements down as quick as possible and meet me down below.”

Rainbow Dash coughed up some of the remaining water before slamming the glass down in fury. “Are you kidding me?! Five hours?! You expect me to go fighting a bunch of trained fighters after the manure I’ve had to go through the past few days?!”

Toma smirked and put his hat back on. “You’ll be fine, trust me. You’ll only need to win two fights, and then you can come back and rest for the next two tomorrow. Just two simple knockouts, and you can return to your bed.” He walked over and lifted Rainbow Dash’s chin so that they saw eye to eye. Dash squirmed as the glare Toma gave seemed to intensify. “Of course, you're free to drop our deal now and get nowhere into Grydon or Equestria, not to mention it would piss off my boss if he faced such an embarrassment.”

Rainbow Dash snarled, knowing that she had no choice but to obey Toma, or else everything she did to get this far would be worth nothing. “Fine, just let me wash up first.”

“Excellent, I’ll be down stairs looking for a quick breakfast for you two to munch on the way,” said Toma, exiting the room and heading down the stairs.

Tender Point and Rainbow Dash stood in the room under a brief silence before the former walked over and put her hoof on the pegasus’ shoulder. Biting her lip, Tender Point opened her mouth, trying to find the right words to say, but couldn’t. Rainbow Dash just looked at her and smiled. “I know what you’re trying to say, but don’t bother. I made up my mind to get us both out of here, and that’s what I’m going to do. Even if it kills me.”

Teary-eyed, Tender embraced Rainbow Dash and held her tight. “Just promise me that no matter what happens you’ll be alright.”

“I will,” said Rainbow Dash, squirming under the hug. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” The words of the Pinkie Promise made Tender look at her in confusion which made Rainbow Dash laugh. “Don’t ask, it’s a special promise a friend of mine made. Where you have to keep your promise no matter what if you do it.”

Smiling, Tender nodded and made way for Rainbow Dash to enter the bathroom. Turning on the warm water for the shower, Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and relaxed, trying to keep her mind focus on the fights ahead. There was a lot riding on this, and if she failed, it wouldn’t be only herself that paid the price, but Tender as well. The nagging voice in her head tried to remind her that Tender might not have been telling the truth about herself. And yet that was Dash was doing as well. She wasn’t here to see Gilda or sight see. I’m on a quest to revive the one I love.

She rarely ever prayed, but as she held a hoof to her heart she asked not the goddess to watch over her, but Applejack. Be with me, AJ. I’m gonna need you rooting for me in paradise if I’m gonna win this.

When she finished her shower, Rainbow Dash stepped out of the bathroom with her usual cocky grin and her wings flared out. “Let’s do this.”

***

Munching on the remains of her muffin, Rainbow Dash did her best to listen in on what Toma was saying about the tournament itself. Tender was silent as they walked down the near abandoned streets which was only filled with guards or beggars at this point. The terrorist group seemed to have really shaken things up for everypony, and now it seemed like a ghost town; an ironic change of pace considering not to long ago the streets were filled with rioters.

To Dash’s surprise, they weren’t heading for the hideout bar like she expected, nor were they going to the sewers. Apparently, it wasn’t allowed anymore since ambushes had happened in the past that killed fighters on the way to the ring, so now all the fights were held above ground. Soon they found themselves in a more isolated area of the district where the prison houses were larger, but no sound could be heard from them except for the wind and occasional scared mouse.

“Now, Rainbow Daring,” said Toma, eyeing her. “Quickly re-explain the rules to me.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and, in a monotone voice, replied, “Two fighters enter, nopony else. They keep fighting until one is knocked out, gives up, or is dead-which I’m not doing by the way.” The last thing Dash wanted was blood on her hooves. “No weapons or cheap shots like below the belt. You’re allowed one five minute time-out per fight. And you must fight the next match or else you’ll be disqualified.”

“That sums it up well,” said Toma, before stopping and holding his wings out, preventing the ponies from walking forward. “Hold up, look.”

Both ponies did so, only to have their eyes widen at what they saw. Rainbow Dash rubbed her eyes to see if she was actually seeing what she thought she was seeing, but it was real. “Is... that a fox?”

“No, a kitsune,” growled Toma.

The person they were staring at was a fox about the size of a griffin, with tattoos all over his body that looked to be eastern in origin. Although he had bright red fur, the top of his head had been shaved and a wheel-shaped burn mark could been seen in the middle. He wore a what appeared to be the lower half of a karate uniform, but held by a chain belt instead of a normal, colored one. Rainbow Dash remembered from her learning days of the art of karate that such a belt was only given to those of true masters of the art, ones who could kill with single blows. But the most frightening thing was the fact that this fox had five tails, each one long and beautiful with its tail ends on fire with blue flames. His stance was solid like a rock, yet he looked ready to attack like a raging tsunami.

“What... is he?” asked Tender Point in awe as he and his small band of griffins, who looked to be gangsters themselves, guided the large fox down the street.

“A kitsune. They’re a mysterious race far beyond in the east, rarely interacting with anyone outside of their island nation of Janari. All the males train as warriors and the females as mages, ruled by a powerful emperor who is said to be a descendant of their god. They rarely ever leave the shore of their home, but if one of the other bosses managed to convince one to fight for him... This will be very difficult,” muttered Toma, eyeing the new foe with calculating eyes.

Rainbow Dash didn’t know why he was so worried, he wasn’t the one who was gonna fight him. “Just how good are these kitsunes in combat?”

“You know karate right?”

“Yeah, I’m a black belt myself,” said Rainbow Dash proudly.

“Have you ever wondered where it originally came from?” asked Toma, eyebrow raised.

“Not really, history wasn’t my thing,” answered Rainbow Dash.

Toma pointed to the kitsune and muttered, “His race created it. And at age eighteen almost everyone there masters it.”

Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure of it, but she felt a few of her colors in her male slowly fade into white. “They’re... really good at fighting I take it?”

Toma snorted. “Good? They live for it. Dying in battle is seen as honorable and they willingly kill themselves sometimes rather than shame themselves by being captured or defeated.” This earned a horrified look from both ponies. “Trust me, not even the Princesses would want to go to war with the kitsune.”

“Oh great, I feel so much better now,” muttered Rainbow Dash as they pressed on, following the other gang while keeping their distance.

The two groups soon reached dome shaped building made out of decaying stone, armed griffins keeping watch over the place. Rainbow Dash could feel their eyes upon them as they entered the premise, a few of the guards already aiming their fireblasters at them. While she was doing her best to remain calm, Tender looked like she was ready to faint at the sight of such dangerous and armed criminals, obviously dealing with her own haunted memories of the gangsters that had killed her parents.

If... that’s true, a voice in Rainbow Dash’s head exposited, but she ignored it.

The two of them followed Toma until they reached the large double gate entrance of the building where they waited for the kitsune’s group to enter before approaching themselves. A bald griffin in a black vest, a mini-fireshooter on his belt, raised his claw for them to hault. With a warning glare, he walked up to Toma and said, “Identification?”

Toma smiled and took of his hat, pulling out a set of papers from underneath it. The guard snatched them away and began to look at them, occasionally eyeing the three as he read. Rainbow Dash took another moment to look at the building, trying to figure out its purpose. Most of the prison buildings in the area were square or connected to each other in packed spaces, but this building was mostly spherical and lacked the red bricks that made up nearly the whole port city. Unlike the red bricks which most of the city seemed to have, these were grey and showing signs of decay over the years, but there was very little else that she could learn from the building. That was when she looked up above and saw a symbol, barely hidden by the vines of the nearby wall.

It was a triangle with an eagle’s eye in the middle while three sword blades came out from the edges of the shape. By its sides were talons that held what looked to be each half of the planet. Some sort of secret society must have lived here. Wonder if it’s anything like the rumored Equinminati back home?

The guard soon returned the papers back to Toma who nodded and pointed towards the doors that were now being opened to them. Feeling a bit more relaxed, Dash and her companions entered the building where it was even more ruined. The entrance hallway was filled with rotten wood with the occasional pile of maggots being seen, much to Dash’s disgust. There was no furniture or other commendations; whatever there once was in the building it didn’t exist any longer.

“What is this place?” asked Tender Point as they continued downward.

“An old building that was around even before the city was built. It was a headquarters for the Scions of Arcane,” said Toma.

“The who of the what?” asked Rainbow Dash, raising an eyebrow.

“Scions of Arcane,” repeated Toma. “According to myth they were an ancient order that has existed since old times, consisting of members of every race whose sworn duty was to hide and protect the locations of ancient artifacts that were deemed too dangerous for anyone to use, lest they could destroy themselves and those around them.”

This made Rainbow Dash stare at the Toma with such a shocked expression that she nearly tripped over a loose piece of floor board. She jumped right in front of him, much to his surprise, and shouted, “Really?! Any ancient artifact?! Like they had research about that stuff around here?!”

“Yes, they were formed after some magical war that’s records were lost, and it was said they formed the organization to make sure that such a thing never happens again. Objects of great magical power that were too dangerous to be held were captured by them and hidden away, at least that’s what the rumors say. They had places like these all over the world, even in your country of Equestria, but all of them are ruins now. The order most likely died out at some point.”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but feel like her luck had finally changed for the better. If this order thing really did exist, they had to have had a library or some place where they kept notes. If she found them, she could find more information about the Eye of Exchange.

Tender tilted her head. “Why are you so excited? I never pegged you for an interest in such things.”

“O-oh, well,” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her neck and looked downward, “a friend of mine studies magic, so this is something she would be really interested in.” Taking a gamble, she said, “By the way, do you guys know anything about an object called the Eye of Exchange? It’s something she’s really interested in learning more about, but she doesn’t know much about it.”

Tender blinked and rubbed her hoof. “I... heard the name before, but sorry, it doesn’t ring a bell.”

“Isn’t that some wish granting fairy tale?” asked Toma, snorting. “Tell your friend to not bother, that rumor has been around for ages. Even used in some fictional stories, too. Nothing but a myth.”

“R-right,” said Rainbow Dash as they continued on, “But, would there be any books about it here? Or other objects?”

“No, we've cleaned this place out a long time ago. Whatever of value is already long gone,” said Toma, causing Dash to lower her head and sigh in disappointment. The other two eyed each other with suspicion, but didn’t press it any further.

The hallway soon made way to a large room that looked to be some grand atrium. Staircases could be seen leading to various other rooms on the sides while the ceiling above held the symbol again. A large steel dome cage, obviously recently made for the occasion, was in the middle of the building while seats were being placed around it by workers. A lot of griffins and a few other races, though in the minority, could be seen either setting the self-made arena or talking with others. Everyone was armed, and a few were giving looks that made it seem like they were ready to use their weapons. Only the guard flying around or perched on some of the higher balconies made them think twice.

But what really stood out was the huge dome like structure that had been placed in the middle of the room. Toma muttered a curse when he saw it and gave Dash a grim look. “Things have just gotten a lot more unexpected.”

The dome had four fenced walls of steel surrounding the ring apron with spiked chains covering every entrance way. There was barbed wire on top and the outer edge of the square and the fight mat was covered in steel that was at least six hoofs in length. Four glass like pods stood at the corner edges of the ring, big enough to seal Princess Celestia. Its size alone was enormous, unlike any fighting ring that Rainbow Dash had seen in MMA fights or wrestling matches.

“What is it?” asked Tender as she eyed the monstrous object with fear and awe.

“The Elimination Chamber,” muttered Toma. “Sometimes, in the past, there have been special matches such as battle royals, tag team matches, and others. This is one of the most brutal of them all. The elimination chamber is rarely used, and it’s crippled and killed many fighters that have been in it, even those who win are forever changed. The structure itself is sixteen feet high, thirty-six feet in diameter, weighs over ten tons with six of those being made out of chains.”

“And... I have to fight in that?” asked Dash nervously, realizing that everything had just changed into a bad deal. One on one fights she could handle, but cage matches? “You never said I would be fighting in something like this?!”

“I didn’t know it was happening either,” muttered Toma before noticing that Lightfeather and a few of his goons were waiting for them near the cage.

Toma, on the warpath, made his way to his boss and hissed, “What the peck is going on, Boss?! You never mentioned this was an elimination chamber tournament!”

Mr. Lightfeather lit up a cigar and puffed smoke into Toma’s face. “Look, the other bosses and I agreed that with everything being so dangerous these days, with the Blood and Liberty group and the guards spilling blood everywhere, we needed to make this tournament get done faster. And the elimination chamber works great. Six enter and one leaves. We do that twice then have a normal cage match for the two remaining survivors. Everyone wins.”

“Why not a battle royal then?” inquired Toma. “That could have been done in a day and Ms. Daring could have had a better chance.”

“It was thought about, but show down by one vote. What can I say? Boss Piono can be very stubborn,” muttered Lightfeather. “Relax, as long Rainbow gets a pod, she’s got a better chance than the first two in the ring.”

That didn’t make Rainbow Dash feel more comfortable. She was about to voice her own thoughts when they heard somepony shouting for everyone to arrive at the ring. A griffin in a referee uniform stood on the top of the chamber with a microphone in his hands; he had a red burn mark over his eye and his head was bald like a real eagle. His flared wings had seen better days, each scar telling a deathly tale of fights passed. Toma leaned over and whispered, “That’s Hunter Saylo, a once well-known fighter in tournaments like this before. Every referee is a veteran chosen by the twelve.” Dash and everyone else she was associated with made their way closer to the chamber as did eleven other groups that composed of griffins, ponies, minotaurs, and that one kitsune who stood in silence.

“Alright, if everyone is here, we will get this underway. I’m referee Hunter Saylo, and the twelve men in charge have voted me to oversee this tournament. So my word is law, got it?” said the referee, glaring at them. “If none of you pipsqueaks know what the peck I am standing on, this is the elimination chamber. One of the most deadly cages ever constructed on this planet. It’s ten tons of bone crushing, flesh ripping, blood spilling steel that can cause permanent injury or even death if you're too weak or stupid to survive.”

Some of the fighters and non-fighters were shaking, yet Dash couldn’t blame them. However, she buried her fear and looked at the steel cage with determination in her eyes. It could have been a cell from Tartarus, and she would still fight and win.

“Each of you will get a number between one and twelve. Numbers one to four will be put in a pod for the first chamber match,” said Hunter, pointing to one of the locked pods at the upper left end corner of the ring. “If you are in a pod you will be locked up and remain there until five minutes have passed. One of the pods will then be randomly opened and that fighter will join in the ring. This will continue until all the pods have been opened. The only two not in a pod will be the ones who draw five and six.”

Rainbow Dash gulped, her best chances were to get one of those pod numbers and let those free already duke it out so she could attack with a fresh mind and body. Of course, with the way my luck has been these past few days...

“Numbers seven through ten will in the pods for tomorrow’s chamber match while eleven and twelve will start things off. You can only be eliminated from the match if you are knocked out or give up. Now we will draw the numbers for the first fight...”

A hat was passed around as one by one, each of the eleven groups took one before it came to Rainbow Dash, the last one. She looked at Tender and Toma who nodded, and she reached out and pulled out her number.

Author's Note:

Yeah, how long has it been since I updated this? I apologize for such a long wait, I'll do my best when January comes around to come out with a new chapter. And that one I promise is gonna be at least 10,000 words by the time the first cage match goes.

Hope you don't have me enough to stop reading this story.

Later