The Storm is Here!

by UnKnownSalvation

Ch. 2: Cold Fate

Ch. 2: Cold Fate

I followed the guard to the stands and took my seat with the other combatants to watch the next fight. A few were clapping and saying a couple complements which was kinda nice. The rest just stared me down which I couldn't tell if it was a show of respect or maybe them trying to act tough and intimidating. It was kinda funny that I just beat the biggest pony at the tryouts and they think they're going to make me nervous? Ha I say!

Anyway, I sat down and not a minute later did the ref come out to announce the next fight.

He stopped at the middle of the ring in the sand and was followed by a unicorn. He was wearing a black hood that covered most of his face so I couldn't make out any features and very conservative clothing that matched. I couldn't tell what he looked like under the hood but I could just barely make out a pale yellow of his fur on his face.

The unicorn was then followed a little while after by an earth pony. He was an earth pony like Brutus only a bit smaller and slightly less buff. His attire was pretty bland compared to the unicorn he was fighting. Just a normal white t-shirt, loose black sweat pants and some white shoes was all he was wearing. He seemed confident with the grin on his face that just screamed "I got this in the bag!"

As they both took positions on opposite sides of the field, the ref started his announcement.

"This next match will be between Hidden Fate," the ref said pointing to the unicorn. "And Earthshaker!" He then pointed at the earth pony that cracked his knuckles and neck as if it made him look any tougher. "Both participants appear ready to fight! Do either of you have anything to say before we begin?"

"Just a few words, ref. I'm going to pound and thrash this puny weakling on the spot and this match will end before it even began! What do you think of that, you scrawny excuse of a fighter?!" Earthshaker exclaimed at Fate.

"I think we're going to need a shrink for the delusions of winning you have," Fate responded in a cold tone.

"You dare to insult me, you little runt?! You're going to regret that!" Fate got him right on the ego. Obviously this guy wasn't watching my fight or he would've figured out that letting his opponent egg him on isn't exactly the smartest thing he could do. He was just glaring at Fate but from what I could see, Fate remained indifferent. He took a few steps towards Fate and just stared down at him. Fate didn't even bother looking up to meet his gaze.

"Ok you two, break it up! Wait till I start the match first!" The ref pushed Earthshaker back to his position before Earthshaker pushed the ref out of the way and ran at Fate.

Shaker was adamant that the battle is his, immediately ran towards the unicorn, intending to smash his victim with one blow. He threw a punch at Fate's face that was dodged before he swept Shaker's leg out from under him, sending him crashing down. He scrambled to get up, flustered and enraged by how quickly he just got taken down. Around the same time the ref managed to pick himself up and dust himself off but didn't seem to have any plans of ending the fight after seeing Shaker get put on his ass.

"Don't get satisfied with yourself… that was just luck, you runt!"

"Luck has nothing to do with it. Fighting just isn't your thing. You seemed to enjoy laying in the dirt. Have you considered landscaping?" Oh that did it. That line may have been in Fate's normal monotone voice but the effect didn't change one bit. Shaker was now as pissed as Brutus was when I fought him. He ran at Fate and started throwing punches as fast as he could, though Fate would counter at every opening he could see. Shaker fought like a brawler; punch till you hit something.

"I've had enough of this!" Shaker's rage broke as he leapt at Fate with the intent of hitting with a powerful slam. Fate dodged the attack and instead of just a quick counter…

*WHOCK!*

…it was more like Fate taking his foot and doing a flying kick straight into the side of Shaker's head. The sound of the kick was so loud, every pony in the room made in audible "ssssss ohhhh" as Shaker plummeted to the ground face first. Even the royals looked astonished by how hard that kick was. I swear you could have heard the kick on the other side of the building.

After ten long seconds of silence, the ref came back to the ring, decided to end the match on the spot,

"Earthshaker is unable to continue! The winner thankfully is Hidden Fate!" Fate began to walk off the field and take a seat.

"Is he alright?" I looked to see that it was Luna who was expressing her concern. A doctor ran into the arena and knelt next to Shaker. The doctor took his pulse to see if he was still with us.

"He's alright… barely," We all watched as a few guards came in and carried Shaker away. While I watched Shaker's limp body get taken away, Fate arrived and sat next to me.

"Way to go out there! I almost thought you killed him with that kick!" I congratulated him genuinely as I was impressed with Fate's fighting.

"I'm not here to be your friend. Do me a favor and keep your pleasantries to yourself," He was still colder than the arctic towards any pony that talked to him. I shrugged it off and looked to watch the next two fights. The ref was back in the middle of the field.

"We will continue the tryouts! May the next two competitors please take their places?" The next two fights went by in no time at all. The first fight was by far the longest of the night as a unicorn and an earth pony were matching each other blow-for-blow. The battle became intense, as the combatants exchanged one punch after another. I was actually enjoying myself watching this fight go back and forth as the fight had me on the edge of my seat because I wanted to see how it would end. Finally after twenty minutes of switching strategies, trading blows, and just all out carnage between two ponies with only their fists and feet to fight with, the earth pony won by grabbing the unicorn from behind and slamming him down hard. The unicorn was unable to continue as he was too exhausted from the nonstop fighting.

The next fight went by like a lightning strike. It was between a pegasus and the only unicorn left to compete. The pegasus won by abusing a common trait we have: Speed. He wasted no time getting on the offensive and completely overwhelmed the poor unicorn. I could tell that I was in for some fun if I got to face that guy!

"All the ponies in the tryouts had gone once," Shining announced. "And now the participants that have lost will fight in a loser's bracket so they can show a bit more than they got to before.

It started with the ref announcing that because Shaker's ears were still ringing that Brutus immediately advances onto the finals of the loser's bracket.

"Well that was easy…" I turned around to see Brutus sitting right behind me and Fate.

"How long have you been there?" I asked him. I wasn't put on edge as he could have easily punched my lights out without me looking. Funny thing was; he didn't.

"About thirty seconds after you sat down," His tone seemed a bit friendlier than before. My guess is he just needed to cool down. I turned to Fate who hadn't moved very much in the past half-hour.

"I have an idea!" I looked to see Shining Armor yelling to the ref. "The next fight will be a three way! Last stallion standing wins!" The royals and Discord all nodded at the agreement and the ref began to announce.

"Brutus Maximus versus Star Sleight verses Great Mane! The last one standing will be the winner of the loser's bracket! Will the three combatants please take the field?"

"So much for easy win, eh Brutus?"

"Just wait. I'll be right back…" I watched Brutus get up and walk down to the field. The two unicorns had already taken their places and were ready to go. I could see them scheming from where I was sitting but I knew Brutus could handle it.

"BEGIN!" The two unicorns both ran at Brutus to double team him and take him out first. Brutus responded by grabbing them by the throats and smacking their heads together, knocking them out in five seconds flat.

Every pony in the room kinda leaned forward a bit in amazement… I just chuckled to myself.

"Well that was anti-climactic as all hell!" I joked as I looked at the bodies of the unluckiest unicorns ever… Brutus walked back up into the stands and took his seat. "You were not kidding when you said you'd be right back!" This seemed to make him smile a little. Brutus smile disappeared quickly as he noticed one of the guards talking to Celestia.

"Look over there," Brutus said pointing. We all turned to Celestia who stood up from her seat.

"That will conclude the tryouts for today! We must be off to something important right now! I expect to see all of you back here tomorrow to finish up and see who gets to join the Royal Guard! It may be all of you… it may be none of you! I hope you all have a good evening!" With that, all the royals, Discord, and Shining Armor stood up and left the arena.

Fate wasted no time getting up to leave along with every pony else as they grabbed all their stuff (minus Shaker and the two unconscious unicorns still lying in the arena of course) and head out for home.

I didn't leave my seat as I was wondering what the royals had to do that was so pressing. I finally let it go and grabbed my things and headed for home. I remembered the exact path I came in and followed it out till I made it outside. It was around twilight which was weird to me as we started around three o'clock and sundown didn't happen till around eight.

I blamed my inability to tell time without a clock and spread my wings to fly and took off for home to tell Mom about the tryouts.

I landed on the busy sidewalk outside my house and walked in.

"Mom, I'm home!" I yelled while shutting the door.

"How did it go?!" She asked excited as she turned the corner from the living room. "Please do not spare me any details!" She was extremely eager to know if I got in or not.

I told Mom everything about my day from the battle with Brutus to the competition and Hidden Fate to the abrupt end.

"Sounds like you had an exciting day! Reminds me when your father tried out for the Royal Guard," Mom told me this story before but it was one I always loved to hear. "Back when the tryouts were more like public events. I went to the tryouts with my dad as they were always fun to watch. When your father, Star Storm was up next, he wasn't as confident as you would have been as your father didn't have any pony to teach him how to fight so he taught himself. He put himself through rigorous training to prepare him for the tryouts and wowed every pony there, winning the respect of his peers,"

"I wish I could've seen him in action…" I felt a little sad as I hadn't really gotten over him leaving… "I'm gonna go rest up for tomorrow, Mom."

"Ok, honey!" My mom said with a smile which I could tell was forced to make me feel better. She gave me a hug and walked into the other room while I went upstairs to my room. It was a blue room as I had a sick obsession with the color when I was five. I grew out of it but never bothered to change the color.

I put all my gear on the ground, took a shower, changed into some sleep clothes that were just sweat pants and a t-shirt and ate the dinner mom brought up for me. After eating two delicious grill cheese sandwiches, I walked over and collapsed on my bed to go to sleep. It didn't work out at first, all I could do was staring at my ceiling for two hours thinking about everything; almost joining the Royal Guard and probably the worst part of tomorrow… My inevitable fight with Hidden Fate, the mysterious fighter.

At around midnight I finally managed to fall asleep, hoping tomorrow would at least go my way… Though life isn't as kind as we'd like it to be…

Author's Note:

Finally done! This is the fourth version I've made as I've had to scrap the last three tries at this... The first two came off as too cliche or too unneeded while the last one was too predictable.