Chapter IX: Self Defense
Twilight walked slowly around the stations, trying to decide which one to try. Lyra was at the archery range, stood still in wonder as a Peacekeeper desperately tried to put out one of the targets that Pyro had somehow managed to set fire to from 50 paces away. Berry Punch was at Shelter Building with Big Mac as her partner, but every time any progress was made, his bulk would lead to him clumsily knocking it down, leading them constantly back to square one. Blue Streak and Featherweight were at camouflage painting, with mixed results. Blue Streak seemed to be fairly decent at it, successfully decorating Featherweight with a fairly convincing jungle camo. On the other hand, Featherweight had taken to painting cats whiskers on Blue Streak in bright pink, something she seemed currently unaware of. Limerick had wandered away from the Fire Building, now joining Scootaloo and Clockwork Dawn on the obstacle course.
Twilight soon reached the sword fighting area, where Nighteye and Rarity were sparring with fake swords, as Blueblood and Rainbow Dash cheered from the sides.
“Well look who it is,” Blueblood said cheerfully, as they all turned to face her.
“How’s the muzzle?” Nighteye asked mockingly, as him and Rarity lowered their swords.
Twilight backed away, not wanting to risk getting in trouble with the Peacekeepers. Her retreat was rapidly halted as a pair of hooves pushed her from behind. She turned around to find herself face to face with Pinkie Pie, Fire Work and Pyro.
“What’s the matter?” asked Pinkie. “Not scared of a plastic sword, are you?”
Twilight turned towards the arena again to see Rainbow Dash stepping forward forward, pushing past Rarity and Nighteye. It was clear from her body language that she was the ‘leader’ of this clique.
“I’ll make you a deal. If you can last two minutes sparring with me, we won’t kill you straight away in the arena. If you can beat me, we might even consider letting you team up with us.”
Twilight thought this over briefly. “What if I refuse?”
This caused Rainbow Dash to grin, as Pyro stepped up from behind Twilight and whispered assertively in her ear. “Then you’ll be the first pony we kill in that arena.”
This caused Twilight to think briefly. Maybe the adrenaline of a battle with an actual pony, not just a dummy, could give her some real practice. Rainbow Dash had been fierce with the dummies earlier, reducing them to small piles of polystyrene in ten seconds flat. She’d even earned a small applause from the Gamemakers for her performance. There was no way she could beat her. Her thoughts turned to Shining Armor, and home in District 12. It was nothing special, the house was rickety, the pipes leaked, the radiators were useless, and day-to-day survival was a struggle. But nothing ever felt more like home then when she was there with Shining. Anything, any meager opportunity that could lead to her going home to him was worth fighting for. There was no point in accepting defeat without trying. She had to try.
“You’ve got a deal, Rainbow Dash.”
The pegasus grinned at this as the other ponies cleared the arena. Rarity handed Twilight her plastic sword, as did Nighteye to Rainbow Dash, as Blueblood explained the rules.
“If you last two minutes, it’s a draw. If you make her submit, you win, and vice versa.”
Twilight nodded, it seemed simple enough. By now, the other tributes around the room had noticed the commotion, and gathered around the small ring to watch. The confrontation had even gained the attention of Spitfire and Soarin’, who flew up to the Gamemakers balcony to get a good view. It was fair to say that Twilight and Rainbow Dash now had the attention of the entire room.
Twilight gulped as she faced her opponent, sword poised and ready, as Rarity began to count down to start the fight.
“3, 2, 1, Go!”
Rainbow Dash roared loudly as she charged forward, swinging the sword aggressively. Twilight instinctively backed off, holding the sword up to deflect the blow. Rainbow seemed to anticipate this, as she swept her hind legs under Twilight, knocking her off balance, before slamming her in the gut with the hilt of her sword. Though the weapon was plastic, she had put an immense amount of force into the attack. Twilight had been reduced to a pile on the floor, guts burning relentlessly from the blow, after about five seconds.
Rarity started counting to ten, after which time Twilight would be forced to submit by default. Thunderlane tried to step in to help her, but Nighteye held him back.
“If you step in, she automatically forfeits,” he explained.
Twilight’s vision blurred as she opened her eyes, her world now appearing as a multicolored jumble of splodges. Visions of home flashed through her mind as she began to make out Rainbow Dash standing above her, offering a hoof.
“If you let me help you up, I can kick your flank all over again,” she sneered.
As Rarity reached eight, Twilight pushed away her opponent, and shakily pulled herself onto all fours, earning herself a few cheers of encouragement from the crowd around her.
Rainbow cracked her neck, gleefully anticipating the humiliation she was preparing to dish out, before moving forward, rapidly charging in for a simple stabbing move. Twilight quickly deflected, using Rainbow’s forward motion to get in close, before aggressively kicking her in the thigh. The pegasus yelped in surprise and backed away quickly, much to the amusement of the fellow ponies in her clique. The laughter fueled her furor, and she charged with a roar again. Twilight blocked her clumsy swing as Rainbow attempted another foot sweep, only to be taken aback as her foe anticipated it, jumping above the motion. In mid air, Twilight had a split second opportunity, as Rainbow had put all effort to waste in the foot sweep, leaving her entire upper half vulnerable. Moments of the pain and suffering she had endured in her life flashed through Twilight’s mind, and she put all her anger at the Capitol behind her to fuel her motion, as she delivered a brutally powerful roundhouse kick to the back of Rainbow Dash’s head.
The pegasus collapsed, dead to the world as Twilight landed on all fours. The crowd around them just looked on in utter disbelief. Peacekeepers pushed through to check on Rainbow Dash, and once they had determined she was alive, carried her off to take her to the first aid room. Spitfire flew over, landing next to Twilight, who was still too stunned to talk.
“I saw the whole thing, start to finish,” Spitfire announced. “I know it was her who instigated it, and from what I could see, they didn’t give you a whole lot of choice. I think you can narrowly avoid isolation today.”
Twilight nodded gratefully as she flew away.
“Everypony, continue as you were,” Soarin’ called out from the balcony. “You can save the rest of your fighting for the actual arena. If you want to spar, you spar with the instructors.”
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief as everypony went back to their assorted stations. As she was about to go and find a station that was a bit less orientated around fighting, Nighteye stepped in front of her. He didn’t speak, but he gestured to Pyro, who walked over slowly, and leaned in, once again whispering in Twilight’s ear.
“You were meant to try and beat her, not knock the daylights out of her. The Peacekeepers interrupted, so it’s a tie. But you'd best watch your back in that arena, because although you didn’t lose, you can guarantee you’ll be that somepony we focus all our attention on.”
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Holy crap, spot on. Good job.
I noticed Blue Streak was at archery and camo... CHANGELING!
Lol, but I enjoyed this chapter and I'm drawing some pencil fanart for you.
2214917
*Quickly fixes it before anyone notices*
Also, thank you kindly. I look forward to seeing it.
o3o I'm beginning to like this...
Like, REALLY like this. It's getting good! I honestly can't wait for the interviews! Now those are going to be interesting. A good way to introduce the personalities and strategies of all the ponies in the Games.
Like I said, feel free to Email me if you need any more information on Fire Work
Keep on keeping on bro!
Who would have thought.
2215146 No she waited analyzed her opponent and figured out the easiest way to bear her and Rainbow Dash is brute force and anger