• Published 19th Mar 2013
  • 6,881 Views, 797 Comments

Apple Scratch : Onward to the Equestria Games! - Mariacheat-Brony



(Humanized) Ponyville has been chosen to host the most important sporting events in the Country. It's up to the two sisters of the Apple family and their friends to represent their town in the games.

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After Everfree but before the Clash

Early fifteenth day of the Competitions, Ponyville’s Guard’s cells,

“You’re just a wannabe-girlfriend-stealer!” Octavia shouted through the bars that separated her cell and the one of the her interlocutor. “A wannabe-girlfriend-stealer who’s flat as a chessboard!”

“You want to know what I think?!” Minuette Romana Tardie, also called Colgate, asked back in a shout. “I think you’re just an insecure little musician who needs to lean on her cello to keep herself straight with the weight of her breasts and her insecurity combined!”

“Oh, yeah?! Well, you’re just a skinny little nerd!” Octavia snapped back at the university student in front of her, her accusatory finger pointed straight at Colgate’s nose. “And not the brilliant or talented nerd, just the socially awkward, friendless one!”

“Pffft, that argument is completely void after you qualified me of girlfriend-stealer and besides, I went to college unlike someone here!”

“And what’s wrong with those who didn’t go to college, huh?” One of the young guards in charge of the cells for the night asked with a frown after he had lowered the soundproof-barrier that covered the two occupied cells.

DO YOU MIND?!” Colgate shouted at the guard, startling him to the point he dropped his spear from the shock. “We’re in the middle of something!

WHAT’S THAT FOR AN ATTITUDE?!” Octavia snapped at him just after Colgate. “Do you always butt in conversations that are none of your concerns?!”

“THE NERVES OF SOME PEOPLE!!” Colgate shouted to the ceiling, oblivious to the fact the barrier had been put back in place.

“TELL ME ABOUT IT!!” Octavia commented with fury as the young guard sighed in relief after being saved from their shouts.

“THEY GET TO PUT ON A FANCY ARMOR AND SUDDENLY THEY THINK THEY CAN JUMP RIGHT UP IN PEOPLE’S BUS……” Colgate’s diatribe was cut short when she rubbed her throat with a wince.

“Running out of breath already?!” Octavia asked with a triumphing smirk as Colgate threw her a dark glare.

“...Dry throat,” she added in a low whisper.

“Understandable, you didn’t get your night’s mouthwash after all, Colgate.”

“YOU...GAAH!” Colgate tried to retort before holding her throat in pain. “....stupid bitch,” she managed to say in a dry, low tone.

“So, now that I can’t be interrupted, you’re going to listen to me carefully,” Octavia stated as she pressed her head against the bars to close the distance between her and the white-and-blue-haired girl. “You ever try to show a ‘secret experiment’ to my Vinyl ever again,” Octavia started as she remembered what Colgate had told her and that had lead to the fight that got them both arrested. “There won’t be any guards to put us both in jail...Got that?!”

Colgate blinked in stupor at the threatening growl in the Council member’s voice before she pinched her lips close to suppress a laugh. Her cheeks turned bright red as happy tears escaped from her eyes under Octavia’s confused ones. With her sore throat, Colgate couldn’t really laugh out loud, but it was obvious that she was somehow very amused. Octavia, on the other hand, totally wasn’t.

“Can I ask what’s making you laugh like that?” Octavia asked with a frown, earning a raised finger from Colgate. “What’s so funny?!” she snapped loudly. “I was serious, you know?”

Puffing quietly, Colgate wiped her tears away before waving her right hand in rapid and fluid motions, making strings of blue magic appear in air. As Octavia’s frown didn’t diminish at them, these oddly familiar strings formed a delicate, curvy handwriting.

Love really makes people stupid. Octavia read before the words changed in front of her. You’re about the stupidest girl I met.

“WHY YOU?!” Octavia growled, her arms passing through the bars to claw at the bluette without much success.

Colgate stood calmly one step away from the cellist’s clawing motions, waving her fingers to form new sentences with her magic to rile up the trapped Eponian, who tried her best to reach for her. As sentences similar to “Stupid Lovesick Cellist” were written in the air with Colgate’s magic, the fury of the raven-haired cellist only grew while promises of multiples violences and tortures escaped her usually delicate mouth. Both girls in their cells were so focused on each other that they hadn’t noticed the young guard and his colleague suddenly standing at attention and saluting the newcomers that had rushed in the jails.

“...Huuuuh,” Vinyl let out in confusion at the two arguing women behind the bars. “Why is Octavia in jail?” she asked a shocked Cloud.

“I’d like to know that as well,” Cloud replied before facing the two guards on duty while Blossomforth raised an inquisitorial eyebrow at Gale. “What are the charges of these two?”

“Trouble of the public order, assault on a civilian, namely each other, and they both sort of resisted arrest, Ma’am,” one of the guards summed up instantly.

“Sort of?” Cloud asked in disbelief.

“What does that even mean, Soldier?” Blossomforth asked in a snapping tone.

“Well, those who brought them in got a few bruises when they separated them,” the other guard explained sheepishly.

“Did they explain why they started fighting?” Vinyl asked slowly as her eyes couldn’t do other but to stare at her lover trying to claw her University best friend’s face off while said friend kept writing insults with her magic before giving the cellist the finger.

“From what we know, the one with the black hair claimed that the blue-haired one was trying to steal her girlfriend,” the first guard explained casually, as Vinyl pressed her palm against her face with a groan. “It just escalated from that.”

“....And did you at least check their names before you put them in the cells?” Blossomforth asked with a frown while Applejack sympathetically patted her sister’s back.

“We didn’t, but the one who arrested them told us that one of them try to pretend to be in the Princesses’ entourage,” the other guard replied after a few seconds of remembering. "He supposed it was to avoid arrestation."

Blossomforth and Cloud’s reactions to that comment were similar to Vinyl’s, besides the fact their groans were louder and their facepalms more violent. Both extremely confused, the two young guards turned toward Gale who was wincing while scratching her cheek.

“.... So, should we all start looking through the classified ads now or we wait for the medias to get wind of this?” Gale asked her two superiors in casual, yet somehow frightened tone. The only reply she got from them was a longer, more tired groan. "The usual?" A shorter synchronized groan. "Okay, good! Should I get a shovel then?"

"...A shovel? What fer?!" Applejack asked in confusion after Blossomforth nodded slowly in response. "An' what in tarnation is the usual?"

"It's something we did back in Las Pegasus we tried to hide something from our drill-sergeant." Gale replied, pointing her thumb over her shoulder to the two young guards. "We're going to bury this whole mess as well as those two and the one who arrested Lady Philharmonica somewhere no one would find them!" she explained casually, earning terrified squeaks from the two recruits.

*********************************************************************************************************

A couple of hours later, in Sweet Apple Acres, ...

“I still don’t understand why she has to stay in Sweet Apple Acres,” Octavia muttered in her proverbial beard as Colgate’s suitcases were carried upstairs by Braeburn.

“Octavia, Cloud told us that with the Games going on she couldn’t spare the men to watch over her,” Vinyl explained her lover with an exasperate sigh.

“But why here?!” Octavia argued back with a low growl.

“....Because there’s currently about one-hundred-fifty Apples and a dozen of guards dogs to watch this property,” Vinyl repeated for the tenth time since Cloud had accepted to bail Octavia and Colgate out of jail.

“Yes, what you say is correct, but why in your guest room?” Octavia asked with narrowed eyes. “You know, the guest room that’s just across yours?”

“For the last time, Tavi, I’m not interested in Colgate that way!” Vinyl stated firmly. “And she’s not interested me that way as well! Is that clear?”

“I don’t know!” Colgate intervened from the other side of the room. “The more I stay in this room, the more I’m feeling myself craving for a blue-haired girl,” she let out casually as she calmly looked around the rustic living room.

“SEE?! I told you she had ulterior motives!” Octavia shouted at Vinyl who was pulling her hair in response to Colgate’s comment.

“OUCH!” Colgate let out in pain while her hands shot up to the back of her head.

“Yer really not helpin’, Sugarcube,” Applejack muttered as she pulled her right hand away from Colgate who shot her a dark glare.

“Tavi, this is getting a bit annoying,” Vinyl replied firmly. “You don’t have faith in Colgate? Fine, but have at least faith in ME! You think I’m going to accept her advances, should she ever make them in the first place?”

“No! Of course, no!” Octavia immediately assured in a scared shout. “I… I didn’t mean to imply… Oh my gosh! How could I…”

“Tavi,” Vinyl called as she interrupted Octavia’s self-depreciating babbling with a small caress on the cheek. “...Please, shut up,” she playfully said before gently pressing her lips against Octavia’s.

“....I don’t deserve you,” Octavia whispered after Vinyl broke the kiss, prompting the blue-hair into delivering another, longer one. “...You’re so understanding…” And another one. “....So forgiving…” And a deeper one. “.... So amazing....” Tongues started to gently fight with one another. “.... So sexy…” She purred sensually, entwining her fingers in Vinyl’s blue hair.

“You should see you, Tavi,” Vinyl purred back, gently pushing the cellist on a nearby couch. “You’re way sexier,” she added as she joined her lover on the couch.

“That’s about halfway between sweet and disgusting,” Colgate commented at the sight of her college roommate and her lover’s intense making-out session. “Are they always like that?”

“They have their moments. They’re probably gonna calm down if ya don’t put oil on the fire,” Applejack replied with a shrug, turning her back to the passionate exchange of saliva before noticing that Colgate still had a small suitcase in her left hand. “Wan’ me to put that upstairs as well?”

“Oh, that… Well, I wanted to show it to Vinyl,” Colgate replied, glancing at the small piece of luggage. “...Though, now that I think about it, it’s not a good time for that,” she explained with a brief nod at the kissing pair on the couch.

“What is it?” Applejack asked out of genuine curiosity.

“Just a prototype of my final project for the University,” Colgate explained with a proud smile as she opened to the case before Applejack. “What do you think?”

Applejack looked inside the open case, blinking at the sight of what it held inside. The blonde farmer glanced up from it to see Colgate’s enthusiastic smile beam right back at her. Internally sighing, Applejack returned her eyes to her sister’s friend’s creation. It was made of many pieces of brass or copper, somehow built together around a blue gemstone -a shade that Rarity had once called dark cerulean- into a one-foot-long and eight-inches-wide rectangle that stood in the middle of a black-foamed case, most likely to protect whatever that rectangle was from possible travelling damage.

“It’s a nice-looking rectangle thingy,” Applejack commented awkwardly. “That’s what Ah think at least.” Colgate’s reply to that was to bash her free hand against her forehead with a loud, embarrassed groan. “Ah ain’t really the best judge for that sort of stuff, Sugarcube,“ Applejack admitted in an apologizing tone.

“It’s okay,” Colgate assured softly. “It’s my fault for not explaining. Hum-hum. This is a prototype Vinyl inspired me to create. It’s called a ...”

“OH MY GOSH! YOU MADE A PROTOTYPE FOR THE WTF ALREADY?!” Vinyl’s voice boomed through the house as she almost shoved herself on the ground after trying to push Applejack out of the way to see Colgate’s invention.

“I’ve never agreed to that name!” Colgate almost shouted, snapping back at her excited friend and thus spotting a disheveled Octavia left in shock on the couch. “It’s stupid!”

“I maintain that the Wub-Tuning-Fork is a better name than the Audio-Resonator-Kinetic you had first thought off!” Vinyl assured with fervor, oblivious to the dark glare her lover was casting at her. “Did you test it yet?!”

“No, I haven’t tested it yet,” Colgate replied slowly. “Besides, ARK sounds better than your WTF.

“Colgate, we’ve been through that already during College! You should trust my judgement over yours!” Vinyl assured playfully. “Do you want to go test it now?”

“.....Vinyl, if your judgement was better than mine like you seem to imply, you’d not have asked me that question now.” Colgate slowly commented as Applejack tsked with a smirk at her sister.

“...What?!”

“Yep! If it was better, you probably wouldn’t have moved from that couch as well,” Colgate stated as she saw Octavia getting up from the couch, her amethyst-colored eyes burning with the fire of righteous retribution.

**********************************************************************************************************

Meanwhile, in the Princesses’ booth,

“So, Pinkie and Spike told me you didn’t answer to your door this morning,” Cadence stated casually as she looked in her sister-in-law and her guest’s direction.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Twilight snapped sorely as she looked apathetically at the fields of the Coliseum.

“Everything’s alright, Twilight?” Celestia asked with concern after Cadence shot the Sun Princess a worried glance.

“She’s just mad because she had her first fight with Cloud yesterday,” Alula, who had been invited by Twilight to seat with the Council and the Princesses, -she would have been on her own otherwise- commented matter-of-factly.

“Haaaa,” Celestia let out in realization as Alula seemed to remember who was sitting right next to her. “I see,” she added as Twilight glared at the teenager who whistled innocently in response.

“About what did you two fight, if I may ask?” Rarity asked diplomatically as Princess Celestia returned her attention on the fields and on the ongoing trials, just like Luna who hadn’t even paid attention to what they were talking about.

“Nothing of importance!” Twilight sorely replied. “At least according to someone,” she added with a another glare at the teenager in the booth.

“.... I get the feeling that I must remind you that you’re mad at my sister, not me,” Alula pointed out casually.

“And I must remind you that I paid you twenty bits for not talking about it to anyone,” Twilight reminded with a dark eye.

“If Princess Celestia asks a question which I know the answer, I feel that it is my civic duty to answer it!” Alula retorted casually, prompting a small giggle from the Princess in question.

“Then it must feel that it’s your civic duty to pay me back,” Twilight remarked as the purple-haired teen blushed profusely because of Celestia’s reaction.

“I can’t, I already spend it for this flag,” Alula replied, grabbing at the triangular red and golden PONYVILLE flag that stood between hers and Twilight’s seat.

“...Twenty bits for a little flag like that?!” Twilight asked in shock. “That’s scandalous!”

“It’s part of the games, Twilight,” Alula commented with a shrug. “Ponyville’s got to get back the money they invested for all of this,” she added, waving her flag at the Coliseum as whole.

“That’s still way too much for a flag this size!” Twilight assured as she grabbed the handle to get a closer look. “The quality is even so poor! You’re going to show me who sold you this. We’re getting you paid back!” she added after a quick inspection of the offending flag.

“.... Can I still wave it whenever Cloud’s in the air?” Alula asked with big puppy eyes and a small pout.

“I’ve been living with Pinkie Pie for more than three years now, those won’t work on me.” Twilight replied with narrowed eyes. “Besides, your sister doesn’t deserve our encouragement! Not after what she said to me yesterday.”

“.....What did she say?” Cadence asked with worry. “She didn’t insult you, did she?!” the pink-clad princess asked as her hand went to Twilight’s shoulder in a gesture of comfort as all eyes in the booth turned to Celestia’s prized student. Even Luna looked away from the aerial ballet of a fight between the Jupitarians of Baltimare and Las Pegasus. “Because if she did, she better fly faster than Rainbow Dash!”

“Twilight, just because you’re in love with her, doesn’t mean you have to accept everything she tells you!” Celestia added in a motherly, caring tone.

“As our sweet Pinkie would stay: We’ll break her legs!” Luna stated with a threatening finger.

“.... Huh,” Twilight let out in confusion as the three Princesses’ had scooted closer to her.

“That sounds a tad excessive for what Cloud said to her,..... Your highnesses,” Alula sheepishly retorted as all the inquisitorial looks of the three Princesses went from Twilight to her. “She just told Twilight to not interfere with her work.”

“She was supposed to be off duty!” Twilight added in a snappy tone.

“Yes, I know but it must have been serious business if Cloud told Blossomforth and Gale to go with her,” Alula argued in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Still, she could have just told me what was going on!” Twilight countered sorely. “I’m her girlfriend! She should tell me what happens ….”

“No, she shouldn’t!” Alula snapped loudly, startling Twilight and the rest of the booth. “If there’s one person here to whom Cloud should tell stuff, that would be me!” she added with starting tears. “You’ve been her girlfriend for what? 3, 4 weeks?! Granted, that’s a huge time considering it’s Cloud we’re talking about but I’m her little sister and I just spent the last four years apart from her. I think I have more rights than you to be upset that she had to ditch us yesterday but you don’t hear me complain about it. She said it was important and that she couldn’t or shouldn’t talk about it with us. You should just accept it like I did!”

Twilight kept staring blankly at Alula who glared at her through the small tears that gather in the corners of her blue eyes. The other ladies in the booth quickly looked away from the pair after Rarity commented that the match between Baltimare and Las Pegasus had ended with a victory for the former. Twilight let out a brief sigh as Alula quickly wiped her tears away, her cheeks slightly red from having just yelled at a VIP of her country in the presence of the most VIP’S of Equestria.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have shouted like that,” Alula whispered before Twilight rested a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay. If anything, I’m the one who should do the apologies, Alula,” Twilight whispered back with a soft smile. “You’re right, I should have just accepted it and shouldn’t have acted so selfish.“

“Meh, you’re in love and, from what you can read about it, it makes you irrational. So, I suppose I can understand,” Alula whispered before Twilight pulled her into a soft but tight hug. “... Just, try to avoid playing the extreme authority card with Cloud in the future. It didn’t work for my parents. It barely works with your brother who’s her boss, at least that’s what I heard. It most likely won’t work for you,” she added with a slow, half-hearted chuckle.

“I guess you’re right,” Twilight cracked a smile as she pulled away from the teen. “I suppose I’ll have to apologize to Cloud when I see her later.”

“Maybe you can start by cheering for her, Darling,” Rarity commented as observed the Ponyville’s pit with her opera binoculars. “She seems to get ready to compete.”

As soon as Rarity’s words left her mouth, both Twilight and Cloud’s sister had leaned over the balcony with their own pairs of binoculars. While a bit surprised by Twilight’s sudden change of heart about cheering her lover, Cadence rolled her eyes while letting out brief, gentle chuckle at her sister-in-law.

“Ah, young love,” Cadence whispered with amusement at the sight of Twilight trying to find Cloud with her binoculars.

“So, did you change your mind about the Lieutenant Kicker, Cadence?” Celestia asked her niece in a discreet whisper.

“I still think Twilight’s too good for her but as long as she treats her well, I don’t have much reason to be spiteful,” Cadence replied softly, earning an approving nod from the Sun princess. “Though at the slightest misstep, I’ll sic Shining on her!”

“Dear niece, don’t take this the wrong way but I think your husband is not suited to ‘’sic’’ someone like Miss Kicker,” Luna commented as Pinkie gave the signal for the Aerial combat between Ponyville and Fillydelphia to begin from her makeshift zeppelin. “He’s not mischievous enough. Were it necessary, I’d suggest sending Pinkie Pie in his stead.”

“... Auntie, you can be quite scary when you want to,” Cadence let out after blinking in shock at Luna’s suggestion.

“I know,” Luna retorted with a chuckle before returned her full attention on the Match.

All the attention from the women in the booth went back on today’s competition. Alula shouted in concert with Twilight, frantically waving her twenty-bits flag at the red and purple blur that dashed toward a shocked Fillydelphian. She had tried to stop her with strong gusts of wind but Cloud had flown through it like it was nothing. Cloud’s left wing was surrounded a thick, white fog before it stroke her opponent in the stomach.

The Fillydelphian was catapulted to the ground by the strength of Cloud’s wing-bash as the white fog circled her barrel. As the crowd held its breath at the sight of the wounded athlete, Cloud snapped her left hand up, prompting her fog to become denser and bigger to the point it englobed her opponent in a cottony snow-white ball. Said ball bounced on the ground a couple of times before it came to a stop at the edge of the field, close from the teams’ pits.

“I knew your Lieutenant was good with a sword, Twilight,” Luna calmly stated as Alula cheered loudly with their fists raised in the air. “Looks like she’s good with her Shapes too,” she added with a nod of approval, while watching Cloud dissipate her ball-shaped namesake to free her opponent.

“It was really admirable of her to rescue her adversary,” Rarity commented as the now-free Jupitarian signaled that she gave up with her left hand, her right one still pressed against her stomach. “Great show of sportsmanship,” the baroness stated as Cloud landed to help her adversary stand back up.

“Hmmm, maybe our dear Renée will have more trouble to reach the finals than she planned,” Celestia let out with a brief chuckle. “She was quite excited to finally face Spitfire in the airs.”

“We’ve noticed, Auntie,” Cadence retorted with a sigh, remembering Rainbow’s detailed explanation from the day before on how the Canterlot team had been placed in a different pool than Cloudsdale and Ponyville and that she could only have a chance to confront her mentor in the finals. “We’ve noticed.”

“Now, Now, Princess,” Twilight waved sheepishly. “As much as I’d like her to win, I don’t think Cloud will make it against Rainbow.”

“... It’s not nice to hold a grudge, Twilight,” Alula muttered after glaring her sister’s girlfriend in shock.

“..Wait? What?! I’m not holding any grudge!” Twilight stated in an offended tone, turning her back to her mentor. “Where does that come from?”

“You’re rooting for her enemy!” Alula argued with an accusatory finger waved fiercely between the scholar’s eyes. “Even though you admitted you were wrong about being mad at her!”

“I’m not rooting for her “enemy”!” Twilight replied after pulling Alula’s finger away from her. “I’m just saying that I don’t think she can win against Rainbow but that won’t stop me from hoping and cheering for Cloud to win.”

“You can’t cheer for someone’s victory if you don’t think that someone can win!” Alula retorted slowly. “You’re too smart and pragmatic for that…. Even if you’re prone to irrational behavior when Cloud’s concerned,” she added in a whisper.

“I’m not prone to irrational behavior!!!” Twilight argued loudly, flames dancing in her eyes.

“.... Are we sure they’ve met only yesterday?” Rarity asked Cadence and the two other Princesses in a giggled whisper. “She already figured Twilight inside out,” she said, eliciting a discreet fit of laughter from the three royals.

“There’s no reason to think that Rainbow will beat Cloud!” Alula argued with fervor.

“I’m not exactly happy about it too but there actually are a couple,” Twilight countered softly. “Rainbow is one of the best flyers in Equestria, second only to Spitfire in terms of speed, and that will probably change in a year or two. She’s also the founder of the Junior Wonderbolts and, as such, she has been trained by Spitfire, the strongest Jupitarian in the active forces of the Royal Guard, for a bit more than two years now.” Twilight ended her explanation with a sigh. “I’m sorry, Alula, but the odds aren’t really in Cloud’s favor.”

“Why? Because Rainbow is renowned to be faster?” Alula asked back in defiance. “Because that’s about the only difference between her and Cloud…. That and the title of Junior Wonderbolt.”

“.......Huh?!” Twilight let out in confusion as the Princesses Luna and Celestia cocked an eyebrow at the light-purple-haired teenager.

“What? Cloud was also trained by Spitfire. For an even longer period than Rainbow Dash!” Alula claimed proudly.

“........Huh?!” Twilight let out again at the same time as the other women in the booth, much to Alula’s displeasure.

Author's Note:

BOY, it has been a while, hasn't it?

Sorry for such long hiatus, but starting the GTVS Comic, the Patreon took a bit of my free time. (And looking for jobs while doing so kinda buzzed my motivation lately to be honest."

Anyway, I hope that short update it's gonna be satisfying. As the title says, a clash is to come (not saying anything more for now)

Huge thanks to Royal Rainbow for pre-reading this thing.

Love from Belgium,

Mariacheat-Brony