> The Mane Event
>  by BlakFyre
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> EWA Live comes to Ponyville
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

         It was just another average day in Ponyville. The sun was shining. The lively sound of ponies carrying on with their daily tasks could be heard. Everypony in town had a bright smile on their face. But nopony more so than a certain pink mare who was bolting towards Town Square. She had heard from the grapevine that there was going to be a special event coming to Ponyville and she couldn't resist going to see what it was. Upon her arrival at Town Square, she had noticed that there was a fairly big crowd gathered around the water fountain. Determined to see what the fuss was about, she gingerishly squeezed her way through the crowd of ponies, much to the annoyance of some them. When she reached the center, she noticed a light green stallion with a black mane handing out fliers. She grabbed one of the fliers from him and looked at it intently. After reading it she could barely contain her excitement as she leaped into the air and did a backflip. 

"WOOOOOHOOOOOO!" She cheered. "I can't believe this! I gotta tell my friends about this." She gasped.

And with that, she took off like a rocket to go and bring her friends the good news. 



She decided to tell Rainbow Dash first since she figured that Rainbow would be the most willing to attend the event with her once she found out what it was. Rainbow, for her part, was laying face up on a cloud with her hooves behind her head; she had been catching up on her daily chill session. She had already finished her day's work and the Wonderbolts didn't need her at the moment. So she chose to just kick back and relax for the rest of the day without a care in the world. She had just begun to slip into a quick nap before she was rudely awoken by her pink friend calling out to her. Although she hated it when Pinkie would interrupt her in the middle of a nap, she knew whatever it was had to be fun if Pinkie felt the need to wake her up because of it. 

"Oh Dahsie." Pinkie called out to her.

"Hey Pinkie." Dash greeted as she leaned over the cloud she had been lounging on.

"I've got something really cool to show you." Pinkie stated. "It may even be cooler than you!" 

Rainbow gave Pinkie an arrogant look as she laughed at that statement. "Pinkie, please. What could possibly be cooler than me?"

"Come down here and I'll show you." Pinkie persuaded.

"Alright." Rainbow responded. She then jumped off the cloud and floated gently as she landed in front of Pinkie.

"Feast your eyes on THIS!" Pinkie said as she unraveled the paper in front of Rainbow's face. 

Rainbow took a minute to read the paper and (much like Pinkie did earlier) she too leaped in the air, leaving a rainbow streak behind her as she did a backflip. 

"That was my exact reaction too!" Pinkie said excitedly. 

"How come you never told me you were a wrestling fan too, Pinkie!?" Dash asked. "I LOVE wrestling! The atheleticism, the adrenaline rush, the excitement. Just the sheer awesomeness of pro wrestling. Not to mention the millions of adoring fans cheering and chanting your name as you trot down the ramp with championship gold wrapped around your waist." Dash said as she made a gesture for fastening a belt around her waist. 

Pinkie simply shrugged her shoulders. "Well you never asked." She remarked. "There are a lot of things you didn't know that I'm into." Pinkie cooed as she stared at Rainbow with half-lidded eyes, which caused Rainbow to blush slightly. 

"I wasn't asking about THAT kind of stuff." Rainbow flusteredly replied. "I just didn't take you for somepony who'd be into wrestling."

"Oh, I'm into all kinds of WRESTLING." Pinkie hinted suggestively while moving her eyebrows up and down with a seductive look on her face.

"Pinkie!" Rainbow shouted, her face even redder than before.

"I'm just messin with ya." Pinkie quipped as she playfully punched Rainbow in the arm. "Now how bout we go tell the others about this." She suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Dash answered.

The pair then proceeded to go to their friends respective homes and inform them of the event.



They knocked on the door to Rarity's Boutique. This seemed like a fruitless effort since they already knew that Rarity might refuse. She was a pony of very refined taste. Even though she can be pretty down to earth, she was no stranger to brushing off things that she deemed "uncouth". And there's no doubt that she would find something like watching ponies slam each other on a mat uncivilized. But Pinkie and Rainbow were willing to give it the old college try. 

"Just a moment." She called from inside the boutique.

After a few minutes, the door to the boutique swung open, revealing the fashionista pony herself.

"Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie. It's so good to see you both." Rarity greeted.

"Hey Rarity. Ya got a minute?" Rainbow asked.

"Oh of course darling. Come in, come in!" Rarity affirmed as she ushered them inside.

They were surprised when they walked in to see that the boutique was a bit of a mess. Rolls of fabric had been strewn everywhere; Sewing needles and all kinds of others tools and materials Rarity used for making dresses were scattered all over the place. Even Rarity herself looked a little disheveled when she answered the door, despite putting on a smile. Pinkie and Rainbow looked at each other with concern on their faces, fearing that they may have caught Rarity at a bad time. 

"Are you busy right now Rarity? Cause if you are, we can come back later." Dash spoke.

"No. Now is a good time. You'll have to excuse the mess. Today's been pretty slow so I've just been tinkering with some designs." Rarity explained.

"Anyway, we came here to see if you wanted to join me and Pinkie at this event" Rainbow said as she held out the flier for Rarity to see. 

Rarity looked at it curiously as this is what it read: 


      Come one, come all. And witness one of the greatest wrestling pay-per-views in Equestrian history

Equestrian Wrestling Association presents: No Rehorse!!!!!!!!


Watch as some of the best competitors in sports entertainment toady go head-to-head:


Lighting Quick vs Bobwire 


El Semental vs Cactus Colt vs Dashing Daniel vs The Flightless Wonder in a Falls Count Anywhere Match


The Alpha Mares vs The Baltimare Beauties


And in the main event, Our reigning EWA Champion Stud Muffin will issue an open challenge to anypony from the audience!


And it's all happening TONIGHT! LIVE! in Ponyville


Our chairman Grapplin Gordan will be handing out tickets in person alongside our champion Stud Muffin


Better buy fast cause you won't wanna miss a second of this night of pulse-pounding action!


Don't be a foal! Be the pony who witnessed this event with their own eyes!!!!!!!



"A wrestling event!? She scoffed. "Ugh! How appalling! I can't believe you two actually ENJOY that rubbish! The thought of a bunch of bulky, sweaty stallions rubbing against each other in tights and underwear is enough to make me sick to my stomach. That may sound appealing to some mares but I am not some mares. I'm terribly sorry girls but I can't even consider going to one of those smutfest." 

"Did you just say wrestling!?" came a voice from upstairs.

The source of the voice came trotting down the stairs at top speed. It turned out to be Sweetie Belle; Rarity's little sister. 

"Ooo. Can I come too? Please big sis. Please. Please. Please." Sweetie pestered while jumping up and down excitedly.

"Sorry Sweetie but if I'm not going, then you definitely aren't going. Besides, it's a school night. You need your 8 hours if you want to wake up bright and early in the morning." Rarity reminded her.

"Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssseeeeeeeeee." Sweetie begged with puppy dog eyes.

"Out of the question. I'm sorry but that's just the way it has to be." Rarity remarked.

"Awwwww." Sweetie pouted as she kicked the roll of fabric that was laying next to her and went back upstairs.

"Come on Rarity. It'll be super fun!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Maybe for you two but not for me. I've already explained why that kind of event isn't my cup of tea." Rarity stated.

"Then what is your cup of tea? Chamomile. Sweet tea. Oooo. How bout lemon berry iced tea!? Pinkie questioned.

"While that all sounds ravishing, my answer is still no."  Rarity deadpanned.

"Come on Rarity. It's the entertainment spectacle of a lifetime. Sure, me and Pinkie could go by ourselves, but we wanna share this experience with our friends. Please Rarity. If you don't do it for me, do it for Pinkie. She's the one who got this flier in the first place. Please Rarity. For me. And if not for me, for Pinkie." Rainbow pleaded as she got on her knees and put on the best begging face she could muster.

"Yeah Rarity. You wouldn't want to disappoint lil ol' me now would you? Pinkie said in a baby talk tone as she (just like Rainbow) got on her knees and begged Rarity alongside Dash. 

"Oh come now you two. Sweetie's begging didn't break me and she's a filly. So what makes you think you two could fair any better seeing as you're both adults?" Rarity asked as she folded her hooves in front of her chest.

Rainbow and Pinkie continued to beg as Rarity stood there with an eyebrow raised, internally questioning how long they would both keep this up. But the longer the mares stared at Rarity, the more Rairty felt her resolve slowing dissipating. There was just something about their frowns and the way the light seemed to glisten off their wide eyes that caused Rarity to feel bad about refusing them. After about a good three minutes of nothing but solid eye contact, Rarity finally relented. They had broken her.

"Alright! Alright! I'll go with you to this event. Just stop begging me with those faces! Rairty shouted.

Both Pinkie and Rainbow smiled in victory. "Thanks Rarity." They both said in unison.

They turned tail and sprinted out of the boutique. Rarity let out a heavy sigh and trotted over to close the door. But right as she had a hoof on the door, Pinkie's head popped back thorough the door way to say "You won't regret this decision Rarity", afterwards turning around to catch up to Rainbow Dash. 

Rarity let out another sigh. "I'm sure I will. It'll be a cold day in Tatarus if I actually enjoy it." She said to herself sourly.



	                                       
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
> Open Challenge Accepted 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pinkie and Rainbow trotted happily as they made their way to their next stop: Sweet Apple Acres; The home of their farmer friend Applejack. Rather than go right up to her house, they instead went out to the open fields since they figured Applejack was probably working at the moment as she usually was at this time of day. Their assumptions were proven correct when they saw the orange farm mare bucking apple trees as was her daily routine. Pinkie and Rainbow approached Applejack as she was preparing to buck another tree.

"Yo AJ, how's it hangin?" Dash said aloud to her. 

"Huh?" Was her confused response. That momentary distraction caused Applejack to fall face first into the carton of apples she had already bucked.

Rainbow and Pinkie quickly rushed over and helped her out of the carton. She had two apples over her eyes and several in her mouth that formed a smile. After getting the apples off her face, Applejack shot both Rainbow and Pinkie an iritatated look. Rainbow rubbed the back of her head and chuckled nervously. Pinkie simply shuffled her hooves with a nervous smile on her face.

"Sorry about that Applejack." Rainbow apologized. "But now that we've got your undivided attention, we need to ask you something. Think you have time for a quick break?" 

"Well ah did have 30 more trees to buck fore ah was finished fer the day." Applejack stated. "But ah guess ah got time fer a break."

"Good. Cause Rainbow and I wanted to know if you can make it to the big event tonight." Pinkie interjected.

Applejack gave the pink pony a confused look. "What big event?" She asked curiously. "Ah ain't heard nothin bout an event tonight." 

"Only the biggest, most entertaining, high octane, action packed, superrific event of the summer! Pinkie exclaimed jubilantly as she tossed the flier in front of Applejack and let it unroll itself on the ground.

Applejack looked over it for a moment and then smiled at Pinkie and Rainbow.

"Ah may not be as huge a fan as ah use to be. But ah still love me some good ol' fashioned wrasslin." She announced with pride.

"Good to hear." Rainbow spoke. "Meet us at Town Square at 4. That's when they're gonna start handing out tickets for the show."

"Ah'll be there." Applejack responded.

And with that, Rainbow and Pinkie were off on their merry way again, in search of who to tell next.



Twilight had been spending her day reading books since it was her favorite pass time. Spike had been seated across from her in his basket, reading up on the latest issue of Power Ponies. Twilight had advised him not to buy those comics anymore considering that whole fiasco with him and the Mane 6 getting sucked into one of the them. But Spike promised her that he would be more careful this time. Twilight had gotten to a particularly good part when she heard a knock at the door. Mildly annoyed from being interrupted, she took her sweet time in getting up from her position on the floor to see who was at door. She opened it and was swiftly greeted by Pinkie and Rainbow. 

"Sup, bookworm." Rainbow joked.

"Hey Twilght." Pinkie happily greeted.

"Hey. What exactly are you two up to? Twilight asked suspiciously. "You're not going around pranking everypony again are you?" She added skeptically with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Psh. Nah. Of course not." Pinkie assured her. "I think we learned our lesson from that rainbow cookie disaster." 

Rainbow knew that comment was directed towards her. "Geez I said I sorry." Rainbow piqued. "It's not my fault that nopony can take a joke." She said with an upset tone.

"You made Mr. Cake lose a tooth and I'm pretty sure you gave Big Mac future back problems." Twilight reminded her.

"Point taken." Rainbow admitted.

"I don't mean to be impatient but could you girls go ahead and tell me why you wanted to see me?" Twilight rushed. "I'm kinda in the middle of a good book right and I'd like to get back to it as soon as possible." 

"Don't worry. This won't take long." Pinkie stated before she cleared her throat. "Myself and Miss Dash cordially invite you to accompany us to a lively get-together which features sparring matches between competitors of varying heights and physiques as they try best one another by either holding their opponent to the mat for a count of 3 or locking them in a submissive hold until they scream mercy." Pinkie said in a regal tone as bowed on one knee and presented the flier to Twlight, who took it in her magical grasp.

"Ummmm....thanks." Twilight accepted the flier and read it.

After she finished reading it, she looked at Pinkie and Rainbow with a grimace.

"I appreciate the offer. Really, but I don't think this something that I want to take part in." Twilight dejected.

"Come on Twi." Rainbow entreated. "We've convinced all the others to go except for you and Fluttershy. It just wouldn't be the same without you two." 

"Wait a minute. You convinced Rarity to go with you?" Twilight asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah. After 3 minutes of nonstop begging." Rainbow divulged.

"Well I guess if Rarity is willing to put her personal opinions aside and attend this show, then I guess I will too." Twilight considered.

"Sweet. Now all we gotta do is get Fluttershy onboard." Rainbow reasoned.

"Easier said than done, Dashie." Pinkie sighed.

"Oh. Right." Dash said depressingly.



Pinkie and Rainbow saved Fluttershy for last because they knew that convincing her to come along would prove to be the most challenging. Fluttershy is more or less afraid of everything (with the exception of the animals she takes care of for a living). They were sure that seeing the high impact action of wrestling would frighten Fluttershy greatly. But despite this fact, Rainbow and Pinkie would not be deterred without at least trying first. Rainbow knocked softy on the door to Fluttershy's cottage. 

A soft, almost faint, voice spoke up from behind the door. "Who is it?" The voice asked nervously. 

"Fluttershy. It's just me and Pinkie." Rainbow assured her.

Slowly, the door opened with the timid yellow pegasus standing shyly in the doorway.

"What brings you girls to my humble abode." She queried.

Rainbow placed a hoof on Pinkie's back and slid her forward to face Fluttershy. "Actually, Pinkie wanted to tell you about it."

"Oh. Ok. What did you want tell me Pinkie." Fluttershy asked confidently.

"Normally I'd tell you personally but I'll let the flier speak for itself." Pinkie said as she handed the flier to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy took the flier in her hooves and read it to herself. After a while, Rainbow and Pinkie became nervous themselves because Fluttershy's face started contorting into looks of surprise and utter shock. They were both mentally regretting their decision to even bring the event to Fluttershy's attention. There was no way that Fluttershy was gonna be willing to go to this show of her own volition. But to their surprise, they saw that Fluttershy was actually smiling at them after she finished reading the flier. 

"I'd be more than happy to go with you girls tonight." Fluttershy said with a proud smile.

Pinkie's jaw literally hit the ground and Rainbow had to pick it up for her. "Hold on. You're serious!?" Rainbow asked in disbelief. 

"Yes." Fluttershy confirmed. "I know this may sound strange coming from me, but I've always had a little interest in wrestling. The problem is that I've never really gotten the chance to actively watch wrestling. So I want to go with you girls so I can finally witness a wrestling show live! She said excitedly before slumping back to her shy demeanor. "I mean, if you'll have me?" She finished while rubbing her left arm nervously. 

"Of course!" Pinkie replied excitedly. "Meet us at Town Square sometime around 4."

"I'll be there." Fluttershy promised.

Pinkie and Rainbow then ran off back into town. Once they were out of earshot, they high hoofed each other. "I can't believe that actually worked." Rainbow said.

"I know." Pinkie happily replied.



4:00 eventually rolled around. Ponies were already gathered in Town Square much like earlier in the day. Some of them never left since this morning! They all visited and talked amongst each other while waiting for the EWA Chairman to arrive. After 10 minutes of waiting, several carriages came rolling into Town Square. Most of them were carrying ring equipment and cameras; others were carrying competitors who decided to make an early appearance in order to potentially boost tickets sales, as well as to reach out and connect with fans. The first carriage to come into view came to a screeching halt in front of the crowd. A short while later, a finely dressed grey earth pony stallion with a shaved head stepped out of the carriage followed by a large white earth pony stallion with a long brown mane who was wearing ring gear and had a championship belt slung over his shoulder. His wrestling gear consisted of black wristbands, black elbow pads, grey underwear, black knees pads, and grey boots. He was also wearing a black T-shirt that had white letters on it that read: "Not everypony can be a STUD". A picture of his cutiemark, which was a muffin with muscular arms, was displayed just below the white letters. There were apparently some ponies who recognized these two as more than half of the crowd cheered for them no sooner they got out of their carriage. The grey stallion was holding a microphone and cleared his throat as he prepared to address the crowd.

"GOOD EVENING PONYVILLE!!!!!!" He spoke loudly. "How y'all doin tonight?"

His question was answered by a massive pop from the audience. Ponies cheering and stamping their hooves with delight.

"Good to hear." He responded. "Now I know all of you good ponies want me to get straight to selling tickets. But first I just wanna say that you all are the beard and butter of professional wrestling. None of this would be possible without each and everyone of you. If you folks weren't here, then we would have nopony to entertain with a show. And I'm sure some of y'all are aware of my saying: A show without an audience is no show at all. So I wanna personally thank each and everyone of you for making it out here tonight. Now I'm gonna hand it over to my associate, the EWA Champion himself: Stud Muffin! Gordan announced as he handed the mic to Stud Muffin, but not before whispering some advice into the champ's ear. "Try not to have too much fun with the mares. You remember what happend last time, right?" Gordan reminded him. 

Stud Muffin merely laughed. "I'll try to keep that in mind." He said sarcastically.

Grabbing the mic he spoke in a loud, deep voice. "Hey ladies." He said slyly. "You already know me. So let's not waste time with my introduction. No, I wanna get to know all of you." He said as he stared devilishly at all the mares in attendance. Every mare in the crowd began to swoon over the suave stallion. Well, every mare except for Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Rainbow whistled at the stallion while Pinkie just stared at him as drool slowly began to leak from her muzzle. The others shot them quizzical looks. 

Rainbow immediately straighten up and nudged Pinkie to get her attention. "Pinkie, you're drooling." She whispered as she gestured to the small puddle of slobber that had accumulated in front of the pink pony. 

"Whoopsie. Sorry." Pinkie said sheepishly. 

"Don't look at us like that." Rainbow spoke. "The guy's got confidence. And personally, that gets me going. Besides, he's as awesome as they come." Rainbow finished. 

"Plus he's a major HUNK!" Pinkie added enthusiastically.

Applejack rolled her eyes at that remark. "Ah don't know bout all that. But if ya ask me, the only thing bigger than that guy's muscles is his ego." Applejack said as she stared at the stallion distastefully. 

He had been trotting thorough the crowd, hitting on the various mares that were present in the audience. He approached Daisy, Lily Valley, and Rose. "You look like a group of fine mares. Would you girls be interested in a: "Fatal 4-Way." He said sensually. This caused all three mares to faint collectively. He continued trotting through the sea of fans when he came across Lyra Heartstrings as he shot her a passing wink. She blushed furiously at that gesture, much to the displeasure of her marefriend Bon Bon. Lyra noticed the disapproving look Bon Bon was giving her and smiled sheepishly. "Aw, come on Bon Bon. You know you're the only pony for me. I just thought that you'd be willing to have an "open" relationship." Lyra joked.

"Don't even think about it Lyra." Bon Bon said with a threatening tone in her voice. 

He never broke his stride as he continued trotting. But he came to a sudden halt when he noticed a beautiful young earth pony mare with a magenta coat and a light pink mane. She had noticed his gaze and began to blush slightly. He made his way over to her and smirked. 

"What's your name? Gorgeous, I'm sure." He said.

"No. Actually my...my name is Ch-Cheerilee." She stuttered. She was smitten the moment he spoke to her. 

Big Macintosh, who had been present in the audience as well, rolled his eyes and silently scoffed at this stallion. He knew this guy was incredibly full of himself. But he couldn't help but feel a little contempt towards him. Deep down, he liked Cheerilee. He just never gathered up the confidence to tell her outright. Now this guy comes waltzing in to take his opportunity away from him. But Big Mac knew better. This guy only saw Cheerilee as nothing more than another notch in his belt. He wouldn't treat her right. But Big Mac didn't want to confront him until he knew for sure that this stallion was hoping to do more than just hit on her. 

"I've seen a lot of beautiful mares in my day. But none of them were as beautiful as you." He stated as he planted a kiss on her hoof. Cheerilee giggled to herself childishly. 

"Word has it that you're a teacher. Maybe after my match, you and I can go back to your classroom and I can teach YOU some of my favorite wrestling moves." He said seductively. 

That was the last straw for Big Mac as he stamped his hoof, which silenced the entire crowd. "That's enough!" He bellowed. 

Stud Muffin gave Big Mac a cocky grin. "What's the matter? Does the sight of my confidence make you jealous?" He insinuated. 

"Nope." Big Mac replied. "Ah just can't stand it when stallions like you treat mares like some kinda trophy. Or in yer case: a championship" He joked. 

"And who are YOU to tell me who I can and can't speak to." He asked.

"The name's Big Macintosh. But most ponies call me Big Mac." He introduced himself. 

"I've heard of you Big Mac. Your family runs Sweet Apple Acres, don't they?" He questioned.

"Yup." was Big Mac's response.

"And your sister Applejack spearheads the whole operation, right?" He persisted.

"Yup." Big Mac replied.

"So that would make you, your younger sister Applebloom, and your grandmother Granny Smith her FARMHOOVES." He said, putting emphasis on the word "farmhooves". 

Big Mac took offense to that statement. "Now that's where yer wrong." He stated. "It ain't like that. What we do at Sweet Apple Acres is a family collaboration." 

"Yet, SHE'S the one who sells the delicacies to the ponies. SHE'S the one who manages the money. And I'm going to guess that the farm is listed under HER name." He said poshly. 

Big Mac merely smiled. "Ah know what yer tryin to do. Yer tryin to rile me up to the point where I'll accept yer open challenge." He figured. "Well guess what? It ain't happenin. Ah'm just gonna be the bigger stallion and walk away from this." Big Mac said as he turned to leave. 

But no sooner he begun to trot away, Stud Muffin called to him. "Before you go I wanna ask you something."

Big Mac turned to face the white stallion.

"Cheerilee is you marefriend, is she not?" He asked.

When Big Mac didn't respond, Stud Muffin took his silence as a yes. "I consider you lucky. Not every stallion can have a mare that pretty."

Big Mac glared at Stud Muffin suspiciously as he took a few steps towards him. "What are ya'll gettin at?"

Stud Muffin shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just saying that a mare like that is quite a rarity. Be a real shame if somepony, or some STALLION, were to take her from you." He suggested. 

Big Mac took a few more aggressive steps towards Stud Muffin.

"I mean, why would she get with a loser like you; When she could get with a REAL stallion like myself." He reasoned.

Big Mac advanced towards him until he was only a few feet away from him. "Ah'm given ya a chance to drop this. So ya best take it and quit runnin yer mouth fore ya say something that yer gonna regret." He warned him.

Stud Muffin simply smiled at him. "Trust me when my match is over, I doubt that neither me, nor Cheerilee will be using our mouths for TALKING." He said suggestively.

Big Mac stomped his hoof agressively as he got face-to-face with Stud Muffin. "Buddy, you done poked the bear." He said venemously. "Ah've got half a mind to buck you straight to the moon right now!" 

"Is that a threat or a promise." He asked confidently. 

Big Mac then grabbed him by his shirt collar pulled him in until they nose-to-nose. "It's whatever you wanna make it!" He shouted. 

Gordan, sensing that an altercation was inevitable, stepped in and separated the two of them. "Well folks, looks like our main event has already been decided. Tonight, the EWA champ will take on Big Machintosh!" 

The crowd once again erupted into cheers and clapping. 

"Ah can't wait til ah get the chance to knock that smirk clean off yer face." Big Mac remarked.

"I'm gonna make applesauce out of you, farmer." Stud Muffin shot back. 

It took all of Big Mac's self-control to not whack this guy upside the head before their match even started. But he maintained his cool. Besides, he would get his chance to put this stallion in his place later on tonight. 













 




> Apples or Muffins?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The last ribbons of sunlight disappeared, giving way to bright moonlight. It truly was a good night for a live wrestling show. The fans were still buzzing about the confrontation between Big Mac and Stud Muffin. They had been anticipating their match ever since it was established. Although most ponies already knew what the outcome would be; They felt that there was no way Big Mac was gonna be able to go hoof-to-hoof against a veteran like Stud Muffin. But there were some ponies who had faith in Big Mac. He was a pretty big stallion himself. Surely he could hold his own. There were also some ponies who placed bets on whether or not Big Mac will win. The suspense was palpable, to say the least. But the ponies who were sitting on pins and needles more so than the fans were the Mane 6. They all held concern for Big Mac's well being, especially Applejack (even if she didn't sound like it). 

"Ah can't believe Big Mac went and opened up a can of worms like that." Applejack said outrageously.

"Applejack!" Rarity exclaimed. "Surely you of all of ponies hold concern for your own flesh and blood."

"Ah am worried about em." Applejack reassured her. "But ah'm still mad at him fer lettin his pride get the best of em." 

"Rarity has point Applejack." Twilight spoke as she placed a hoof on Applejack's shoulder. "Your brother isn't going up against a rookie like himself. He's going in there against a seasoned veteran. Don't you think that's clause for concern?" Twilght asked her gently. 

Applejack thought about it for a moment, and sighed as she gave Twilght her response. "Ah suppose it is. Just hope he'll okay out there by himself." 

"But he's not alone. He's gonna have all of our support behind him." Twilght stated. "Right, girls?" 

"Absolutely." Rarity remarked. 

"Definitely." Fluttershy added.

Pinkie and Rainbow didn't give their answer since they talking to each other. "Oh, man. Big Mac's gonna take on Stud Muffin. He's gonna DESTROYED." Rainbow said putting emphasis on the end of her statement. 

"Yeah, I know. Stud Muffin's got LOADS more experience than Big Mac." Pinkie state informatively. "The only way I could see Big Mac actually beating Stud Muffin is if Stud Muffin were blindfolded, had one hoof behind his back, and was wrestling on his knees. There's no doubt in my mind that Stud Muffin will twist Big Mac into a pretzel. Mmmmm, pretzels." Pinkie licked her lips as she got sidetracked from her point. 

"Ahem" Twilight coughed as she gave Rainbow and Pinkie a disappointed look. Applejack, Rarity, and Flutteshy shot them disapproving glares. 

Pinkie and Rainbow just smiled sheepishly. "I mean, Big Mac's totally gonna kick that guy's flank." Rainbow said nervously.

"Yeah." Pinkie chimed in. "Go Big Mac. We've got complete faith in you." Pinkie said unconvincingly. 

"Well he has MOST of our support behind him." Twilght said as she shot Pinike and Rainbow another disappointed glare. They both cowered under her glare. 

"Thanks, ya'll. It really means a lot to me." Applejack thanked them. 

"Anytime." Twilight replied. 



The show opened with a dazzling display of fireworks, causing an uproar from the audience. A generic rock theme:https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=doUNZn9a9xc&vidve=5727&autoplay=1 came blasting from a set of speakers that were set up on either sides of the ramp that was connected to the stage. The place was incredibly lively. Metal barricades had been set to separate the fans from the competitors. An announce table had been set up on the side opposite from the stage and ramp. Two stallions, one with a yellow coat and a black mane and one with an orange coat and brown mane, were seated behind the table. They were both dressed in finely pressed suits. Apparently these were the commentators for the event: Michael Colt and Byron Stallion. They could be heard talking, giving the show an introduction. 

"Good evening mares and gentlecolts, my name is Michael Colt." Colt introduced himself. "Joining me is my broadcast partner: Byron Stallion." 

"Thank you Colt. Let me start by saying that tonight promises to spectacular." Byron commented. "We've got an amazing show lined up for you fans tonight, so don't go anywhere." 

"I hear ya partner. I definitely can't wait for the main event tonight. I've got goosebumps just thinking about it!" Colt said excitedly.

"That's right Colt. In our main event tonight, local apple farmer Big Macintosh will take on our very own EWA Champion: Stud Muffin in one-on-one action. I hope Big Mac understands that he's got a tall order in front of him tonight." Byron stated.

"Yeah, Stud Muffin is definitely no slouch." Colt added. "He's a 5-time EWA Champion, a 3-time Equestrian Continental Champion, a 2-time EWA Tag Team Champion, and a former winner of the Baltimare Brawl." 

"He's certainly quite decorated." Byron spoke. "But the question we present the fans with is this: Will Stud Muffin make short work of his challenger tonight or will Big Mac pull off an upset victory over the champ? Find out later tonight on EWA: No Rehorse!" He finished. 



After the ppv theme finished playing, the first match of the night was set to begin. The first competitor to make his entrance was Lightning Quick. His entrance theme was Ride The Lightning by Metallica [youtube=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uebInqG1pJI]. He was a small, skinny pegasus stallion with a blue coat and a short black mane with white streaks in it. His ring gear was composed of black elbow pads, white wrist bands, a red bodysuit singlet with white lightning bolts on the sides of it and the word lightning in lightning letters on the front; the word quick was displayed on the back in the same font. And he wore sleek black boots. As he made his way down the ramp, he high hoofed the foals in the audience while either shaking hooves with or hugging the stallions and mares. He got on the apron and hopped over the top rope before he jumped onto the middle rope in the corner and flexed one arm while pointing at the sky with the other. The fans responded with cheering and thunderous clapping. His opponent made his way to the ring shortly afterward. His entrance theme was Hot Iron by PremiumTrax http://tidido.com/a35184374584555/al55f1ed32a5f3907573b764a3/t55f1ed34a5f3907573b76533.
He was a portly earth pony stallion with a messy dirty blonde mane and a peach-colored coat; He also had a scraggly brown beard. His ring gear consisted of blue overalls with a yellow shirt underneath, white wrap that covered both of his hooves entirely except for a portion of it exposed, and black boots. He was tugging a wooden tub that was filled with barbed wire behind him. This made Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy uncomfortable since they weren't use to seeing something like that involved in wrestling before. 

"What exactly is he going to do with that tub?" Twilght asked Rainbow with uncertainty. 

"Well that's his gimmick." Rainbow explained. "He comes out with a tub full of barb wire and if he wins the match, he'll throw his opponent into it. But sometimes he'll throw his opponent into it even if he loses." Rainbow finished with a smile and wink. 

Bob set the tub at ringside and got into the ring in between the top and middle rope. He stared aggressively at Lightning Quick. You could easily tell that he had cruel intentions in mind. Shortly after this the referee cued the timekeeper to ring the bell, signifying the beginning of the match. 

"Here we go folks this match is finally under way." Colt began.

"This match may have some potential behind it." Stallion added. 

Bob and Lighting Quick locked up in a collar and elbow tie-up. They began moving back and forth, trying to fight for control. Bob (being the stronger individual) was able to force Quick into the corner. The ref started to count to 5 while telling Bob to let him out of the corner. Bob let go at a count of 4 and then delivered a gut kick. Quick hunched over from the pain while holding his midsection. Bob locked him in a front facelock and walked into the middle of the ring. He then grabbed Quick's right arm, slung it over his shoulder, and lifted him into the air vertically. After holding him for a second, Bob dropped him back first onto the canvas. 

"Bob drops Lightning Quick with the vertical suplex!" Colt exclaimed. 

Bob then got Quick into a seated position and pressed his hooves hard against the sides of Quick's head. Quick began writhing in agony as his skull was being squeezed so viciously. The ref asked him if he wanted to submit but Quick refused. 

"Now Bob is controlling Quick with that submissive hold." Stallion commented. "I can only imagine the amount of pain he's feeling right now." 

After a minute, Bob looked down to stare at Quick so he could see that anguish on his face. This proved to be a mistake as Quick wrapped his hooves around Bob wrists to gain leverage, and kicked him on the top of his head. Bob released the hold and staggered back from the sudden impact. Quick used this opportunity to rebound off the ropes and hit Bob with a running dropkick. Unfortunately, this attack didn't knock the big stallion off his hooves. So Qucik hit him with another running dropkick but once again, the stallion remained standing. He gave the move a third try but this time Bob countered him with clothesline. 

"Ooooo. Bob folded him up like a lawn chair with that lariat." Colt stated. "I'm surprised that he didn't take his head off with that move."

Bob got on top of Quick and wrapped both his hooves around Quick's neck. The ref once again began to give Bob until the count of 5 to release the hold. Bob let go at 4 1/2 this time and got off of Quick. Quick sat up while holding his neck and began coughing. Bob then took time to taunt Quick by raising both hooves in the air. This was met with a loud reaction from the fans. But Bob took too much time  reveling in the fact that he had control of the match and Quick got him rolled up in a school boy pin. The ref got a count of 1 1/2 before Bob kicked out. Bob slowly got to one knee while staring at Quick venomously for trying to get a quick victory over him. Quick responded by making a tsk tsk gesture at him, which angered Bob more. He quickly got to his hooves and charged at Quick. Quick backed up towards the ropes and pulled the top rope down, causing Bob to go over the top rope and tumble out of of the ring. As Bob tried to get back to his hooves again, Quick took full advantage of this opportunity. He rebounded off the opposite ropes and performed a cartwheel moonsault to the outside of ring, landing onto of Bob as he was getting up. 

"What an amazing move by Lighting Quick!" Stallion exclaimed. "The amount of agility and athleticism this kid has is impressive."

The crowd went wild after he did this move. The Mane 6 were lucky because they had been seated in the front row where Quick had hit the move and got to witness it right in front of them. Quick leaned against the barricade and allowed them to pat him on the back. Pinkie, Rainbow, and Applejack did it without even thinking about. The rest of their friends (on the other hand) thought about it for a moment, looked at each other, and then gingerishly patted him on the back as well. Quick then got right back to the action. He tried to pick Bob up, but Bob retaliated with a sharp elbow to the stomach. While Quick was hunched over Bob grabbed him by the back of his head and slammed his face into the ring apron. The ref was at a count of 3 as he started gesturing the wrestlers to get back into the ring. Bob picked Quick up and got him into the powerbomb position. Quick maneuvered out of it and crawled out between Bob's legs. Bob looked underneath himself to see where Quick went, but Quick had already gotten to his hooves. He grabbed Bob's sides to steady himself, and then jumped while turning himself mid-air. He got his legs behind Bob arms and hit him with a sunset flip powerbomb. 

"And Quick nails Bob with a sunset flip powerbomb." Colt spoke. "Bob's back isn't going to be the same after this match.

The ref was at 6 so Quick thought now might be a good time to get into the ring. He picked Bob up and rolled him back into the ring. He then ascended the turnbuckle and waited for Bob get up. Bob slowly got to his hooves as he was feeling the effects of the beating he was taking. After he got to a vertical base, Quick took to the air with a flying crossbody, but Bob caught him as came down. He performed a front backbreaker but kept a hold of Quick. He then hit Quick with the swinging side slam. 

"What a nice combination." Stallion commented. "Bob got him with the front backbreaker and then transitioned into the swinging side slam." 

Bob then pinned Quick with a lateral press. The referee got down to deliver the count, but Quick got his shoulder up before the ref could even get his hoof down for the one count. Bob just sat there in astonishment at Quick's sudden resilience. The crowd went wild at this turn of events

"Lighting Quick kicked out before the ref even got a chance to count!" Colt exclaimed. "The resiliency of the kid is awe-inspiring." 



The match went on for 10 minutes. Both Bob and Quick continued to wear each other down with attacks, submissions, and counters. Bob sandwiched Quick in the corner with a jumping corner splash, Quick nailed Bob with the shining wizard, Bob countered Quick's hurricanrana with a sit out powerbomb, and Quick countered Bob's electric chair drop into a victory roll; Needless to say, it was a back and forth contest. Both competitors were pushing each other to their limits and the fans was praising them for it. Even Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy found themselves cheering and chanting every so often. Even they had to admit that this match was pretty compelling and entertaining. 

Bob and Quick were both down on the mat, trying to catch their breath and regroup. The referee started counting to 10, signifying that they both had to get up before then or the match would be ruled a no contest. The ref knew it would be a shame for a match this great to end like this; Plus the fact that the fans would be incredibly disappointed if the match ended that way. So he intentionally counted as slowly as he could to ten, trying desperately to give Bobwire and Lighting Quick enough time to get to their hooves. 

"Lightning Quick and Bobwire are still down." Stallion stated. "They've thrown everything at each other and are still going in this match. This is definitely a candidate for Match Of The Night." 

Bob and Quick slowly started to stir from their grounded position. They both began to make it to their hooves at the same rate. The crowd began to help Lightning Quick and Bobwire rally themselves. Half the crowd was chanting: Let's go Lighting! While the other half was chanting: Bob-wire! The referee was at a count of 7 now and both stallions were still picking themselves up off the mat. They both used the ropes to pull themselves to their hooves. The ref got to a count of 9 1/2 before both of them were standing. The fans showed their appreciation by cheering since the match was still going. Bob and Quick shuffled to meet each in the center of the ring. There they began to exchange punches. Bob hit Quick with a wobbly right hook. Quick returned the favor with a right hook of his own. They continued to deliver right hooks for about a minute until Bob caught Quick with 5 right hooks in a row. He then rebounded off the opposite ropes and tried to hit Quick with a clothesline, but Quick ducked under it and wrapped his hooves around Bob's midsection. He then used all the strength he could muster and dropped Bob on his head with a german suplex. 

"Oh my Celestia! Colt shouted. "How the hell was Quick able to lift Bob off the mat and drop him the german suplex?" 

"Quick is just full of surprises." Stallion answered.

By this point Quick had already gotten to his feet. He looked to the crowd and did his signature taunt (the one he did when he entered the ring). He picked Bob up until Bob was standing and caught him with a bell clap, slamming his hooves into both sides of Bob's head. This momentarily stunned Bob and allowed Quick an opportunity to hit his finisher. He rebounded off the opposite ropes, did a cartwheel, and performed a perfect enziguri. But Bob caught him wedding-style and slammed him to the mat with a back suplex. After getting to his hooves, he looked to the fans, deciding it was time to end this match once and for all. He picked Quick up and got him on his shoulders with an overhead gutwrench backbreaker rack. He then delivered an inverted front powerslam to Quick. 

"And Bob hits Quick with his finisher. Surely this has to be the end of the match." Colt reasoned.

Bob hooked Quick's inside leg for the pin. The ref got down and counted to 3, bringing the match to an end. The audience exploded into cheers and clapping for Bobwire and Lightning Quick for putting on a good show. The Mane 6 clapped and cheered as well, giving their respect to both competitors. Bob stood proudly over Quick with his hooves raised high in the air as his entrance theme played in the background. He then grabbed Quick by his mane and picked him up. He lifted Quick onto his shoulders again with a overhead gutwrench backbreaker rack. He carried Quick to the ringside area that had the tub of barbwire. Bob then powerbombed Quick outside the ring, and into the tub of barbwire. The crowd then began to chant: Barb wire bath! Even The Mane 6 joined in (with the exception of Rarity, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Applejack). They just stared at this display with a mixture of shock and disgust. Bob then got out of ring and stood over Quick as he sqiurmed from the pain shooting through out his whole body. Bob then proceeded to rub the barb wire all over Quick's body. He scrubbed Quick's arms, legs, torso, back, and neck. He even scrubbed Quick's armpits and behind his ears. All the while Quick was howling with pain as Bob laughed at his misery. The only ones in the audience who weren't encouraging this act were Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy. They were still staring at this with a look of horror plastered on their faces.  

Twilight leaned over and nudged Rainbow to get her attention. "Rainbow, you never told me he was gonna do this!" She exclaimed.

"Well like I told you earlier: This is his gimmick." Rainbow reminded her. 

"But you never told me he was gonna do that!" Twilight stated as she pointed a hoof at Bobwire and Lightning Quick.

"Oh." Rainbow said as she blushed slightly. "I guess I forgot to mention that." She added as she rubbed the back her head sheepishly.

"No kiddin." Applejack spoke. "I agree with Twi on this one. I like wrestlin as much as the next pony but this here ain't wrestlin." She said as she gestured to Bob and Quick. 

"Well everypony has something different that they like about wrestling." Pinkie interjected. "Someponies like the matches, and someponies like what happens before and after the matches." 

"Ah suppose ya got a point there Pinkie." Applejack sighed. "Ah just hope the rest of the event isn't gonna be like that." She said as she once again gestured to Bob and Quick. 

"Don't worry A.J. I'm sure the rest of the night is gonna be totally tame compared to this." Dash reassured her.

"Ah hope yer right." Applejack dejected as she watched Bob drag the tub (with Lightning Quick still in it) backstage.





> The Big Apple in Ponyville
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rest of the event was full of entertaining moments and matches. After the opening contest, there were several more matches that took place. Horseshoe Henry defeated Phoenix Flower in a Submission Match after Phoenix tapped out to the inverted sharpshooter. Cactus Colt defeated El Semental, Dashing Daniel, and The Flightless Wonder in a Fatal 4-Way Falls Count Anywhere Match when he pinned Dashing Daniel after he hit him with his finisher: Colt 45 (which was a double arm DDT) on the ring apron. The match itself had a lot of other spectacular moments: El Semental did a phoenix splash to all three opponents while they were standing outside the ring, Dashing Daniel dropkicked The Flightless Wonder over the barricade and then performed a running swanton bomb over the barricade and onto The Flightless Wonder, and The Flightless Wonder tried to superplex El Semental but Dashing Daniel got on the middle rope and put him on his shoulders in an electric chair drop position, so Cactus Colt got Dashing Daniel on his shoulders in a powerbomb position and powerbombed Daniel while he still had The Flightless Wonder on his shoulders, causing all four stallions to hit the mat with monsterous force. The tag match between The Alpha Mares and The Baltimare Beauties was good (even though it was very one sided). The Beauties stopped every so often to do things like check to make sure they didn't chip a horseshoe and fix their mane. They even stopped when the match first started to re-apply their makeup. The Alpha Mares, on the other hand, were all business once they stepped into the ring. They dominated The Beauties the entire time practically. There were some moments when The Beauties got in some offense, but it was short-lived. The Alpha Mares decimated The Baltimare Beauties for 8 minutes. One could tell that they had a habit of dragging out matches for the fun it when they knew they were gonna win. They were easily the best female tag team that EWA had to offer. But with all those matches over with it was time for the mane event. The one match that the fans had been anticipating, and the Mane 6 were dreading, was almost upon them. Even though they had faith in Big Mac's abilities, they couldn't shake the feeling that they already knew how this was gonna end: Badly. Applejack decided to go and talk to Big Mac before his match and try to give him some kind of encouragement. Granted she was still gonna chew him out, she couldn't help but feel that there was a deeper meaning behind Big Mac's actions. And she was determined to get to the bottom of it. She trotted over to his dressing room and knocked on the door. She heard his gruft voice tell her to come in so she entered the room. Big Mac was still putting on his wrestling gear when she came in.

"What the hell were ya'll thinkin, lettin yer mouth get yer flank in trouble!" Applejack yelled at him. 

Deep down, Big Mac knew that Applejack was worried about him (even though she had a funny way of showing it).

"While Ah appreciate yer concern Applejack, ah can handle this." Big Mac responded. "Ah know exactly what ah've gotten mahself into."

"Do ya?" She asked angrily. "Cuz ah'm wondering since ya went and did this without properly thinking it over first."

"Applejack, ya don't understand." Big Mac spoke as he got up and placed his hooves on Applejack's shoulders gently. "Ah have to do this. He didn't just insult me. He insulted you. He insulted our family. And worst of all, he insulted Cheerilie. Ah'll be damned if ah let em get away with disrespecting mah family or the mare ah care about. Ah figured you of all of ponies would understand that." He finished.

"Disrespectin the family? What're ya talkin about?" Applejack asked out of confusion.

"Ya seriously didn't hear him say all that stuff about us being yer farmhooves and you ownin everything in Sweet Apple Acres?" Big Mac asked incredulously. 

"Oh. Ya meant that stuff." Applejack finally caught on. "Why'd ya get so mad at what he said if ya know it ain't true? Ah mean, just cuz ah do the more financial stuff that helps keep Sweet Apple Acres afloat, don't mean that ah own the place and everything in it. The whole family owns the farm. Only reason it's under my name is cuz due to legal business, the farm can only be listed under one pony. So don't think that ah'm the only one runnin the farm. You, Applebloom, and Granny Smith play just as big a part as ah do. Hell, yer the one who taught me how to buck apple trees in the first place. Ah won't know half the stuff ah know now about apple buckin if it wasn't fer you." 

Big Mac looked at the floor and sighed heavily. "Yer right Applejack. Yer right about everything." 

"Now ah want'cha to tell me the truth. What's the real reason ya want to fight Stud Muffin?" Applejack asked him softly. 

Big Mac looked at the floor again for a few minutes before closing his eyes and answering Applejack's question. "Ah'm doin it......" He paused for a while.

"Ah'm listenin." Applejack spoke.

"Ah'm doin it........." He paused again, mentally questioning if he should just tell her or not. After a long sigh, he continued. "Ah'm doin it........... fer Cheerilie." He finally said. 

"Why are ya doin it fer her." Applejack pryed. 

"Cuz ah care about her. And ah don't wanna see her fall into the arms of that arrogant jackass. He'll never love her truly. He'll just add her to the list of mares he's made love to. But ah can't let that happen! Ah won't let her become just another notch in his belt! Ah'd never forgive mahself if ah did." He answered boldly.  

"But yer not just doin this to protect Cheerilie are ya?" Applejack questioned.

"Nope." Big Mac dejected.

"Yer doin this in hopes that she'll love ya back, aren't ya?" Applejack persisted. 

"Yup." Big Mac confirmed glumly. "Ah figured if ah can work up the confidence to accept Stud Muffin's challenge and beat em, then ah'd have that same confidence to tell Cheerilie how ah feel about her."

The two stood in silence for a little bit and stared at each other awkwardly until Applejack finally broke the silence. 

"Well, ah guess it's not mah place to tell ya how to go about tellin somepony how ya feel about em." Applejack reasoned. "But ah do want ya to keep in mind that this may not work out as ya planned. There's no guarantee that Cheerilie will open up to ya if ya beat Stud Muffin. But there's also no guarantee that she'll reject yer feelins. The point is that it's yer decision. Do ya really want to go through with this knowing that Cheerilie may or may not love ya back afterwards or would ya rather just walk away from this and tell her how ya feel outright? Cuz like ah said: This is YOUR decision. Ah can't make it for ya." Applejack elucidated.

Big Mac looked at himself for minute, contemplating his answer. He didn't have to go through with it. But part of him wanted to so that he could truly prove his love for Cheerilie by fighting for her. Plus he still wanted to put Stud Muffin in his place for trying to toy with Cheerilie's emotions, as well as the emotions of the other mares in attendance. Somepony had to teach this stallion a lesson. And Big Mac felt that he was the only one who could do it.

"If anypony has the ability to shut that stallion up, its me." Big Mac replied with an air of confidence.

"Alright, if that's what'cha want." Applejack accepted his answer. "Just do one thing fer me."

"What?" Big Mac asked. 

Applejack then pulled him into a tight hug unexpectedly. "Try not get hurt. Don't know what ah'd do if ya got injured." 

Big Mac, though caught off guard by this sentiment, smiled and returned the hug nonetheless. "Ya know ya worry too much. Ah'll be fine." 



The stage was set. The fans were still hanging onto the edge of their seats. They could no longer bear the tension of having to wait for Big Mac and Stud Muffin's match. And they let it be known by chanting "Mane Event" loudly. The Mane 6 were still very anxious by this point. It was only a matter of time before the moment of truth. After 10 minutes of waiting, the lights went out, plunging the area into complete darkness. The crowd started clamoring, confused as to why the lights suddenly went out. But their confusion didn't last for long. The sound of a trumpet being played softly could be heard. It then played into a loud note, which caused a random spotlight to shine on the center of the stage. Stud Muffin could be seen standing there, flexing his muscles for the fans. The trumpet was accompanied by a deep-sounding drum. The theme was none other thanhttps://youtu.be/I3Pbj5ah3uY. Some of the fans began bowing for Stud Muffin as he made his way down the ramp. Others cheered and whistled as he made his entrance. Pinkie and Rainbow, in particular, were louder than any of the other fans. Rainbow shouted to him: "You can have me any time you want. I'm free whenever." Pinkie added: "Drop by Sugarcube Corner. We can have a PRIVATE party together." The others just rolled their eyes at Rainbow and Pinkie's outbursts. He trotted over to a random mare in the audience and allowed her to feel his muscles. She cooed and giggled while Stud Muffin gave her a sly smile. He then went over to where the Mane 6 were seated and stopped in front of them. He blew a kiss at Pinkie and Rainbow. Pinkie fainted into Rainbow's arms while Rainbow stared at him, blushing with a goofy smile on her face. He turned his attention to Applejack and spoke to her. 

"You must be Big Mac's sister Applejack." He figured. 

"And what if ah am?" Was her response. She narrowed her eyes at him while folding her hooves in front of her chest. 

"I want you to give this to him after our match." He said while reaching behind himself to retrieve something. He pulled out a brown paper bag with a sad, crying face drawn on it. "Think of it as a gift from me." 

"And why in the name of Celestia would I need to give this to em fer?" She asked suspiciously. 

"I just figured that he'd need it for when he takes the walk of shame after our match when I'm done making an example of him." He replied arrogantly. He then turned towards the ring and slide under the bottom rope into the ring. 

"Ah know ah told Big Mac that ah wouldn't get involved. But ah don't think that he'd object if ah roughed this stallion up some before his match." She said as she attempted to climb over the barricade. 

Before she got halfway over it though, Twilight put a hoof on her arm which caused her stop.

"If you do that, then you'd be no better than he is." Twilight said.

Applejack slowly got off the barricade and sat back down in her seat. "Yer right Twilight. Ah'll just let Big Mac handle em." She grumbled.

Pinkie and Rainbow began arguing over which of them Stud Muffin blew the kiss to. 

"That kiss was for me." Rainbow stated.

"Don't be such a silly pants. It was aimed in my direction!" Pinkie shot back.

"As if." Rainbow scoffed. "Besides, Stud Muffin probably wants to get with a mare who has EXPERIENCE. Like me. When was the last time YOU got laid by a stallion? Mine was last week with Thunder Lane. When was yours?"

Pinkie didn't answer the question. She just looked away from Rainbow while blushing furiously. 

"That's what I thought. You've never popped your cherry have you?" Rainbow asked slyly.

"So. Just cause I know how to keep MY tail down doesn't make me inferior to you!" Pinkie spat.

Now it was Rainbow's turn to blush. She would never admit that Pinkie had a point. But that still didn't stop her from trying to one-up Pinkie.

"You're just jealous cause I've gotten lucky before." Rainbow heatedly responded. 

Rarity had grown tired of their bickering and decided to put an end to it. "Honestly you two!" She exasperated. "Do you really have to act so childish? Falling for an ego-driven ruffian like a couple of love-sick puppies. You two should really be ashamed of yourselves for the way you're acting; You and all the other mares in attendance. You don't see myself, Twilight, Fluttershy, or Applejack swooning over him. You all should really compose yourselves."

Rainbow and Pinkie looked at each other sorrowfully and lowered their heads. "We're sorry." They said in unison. 

Fluttershy (who had been quiet up this point) spoke up. "Gosh. I never knew wrestling events could be so intense." 

"You and me both Fluttershy." Twilight added. 



After 5 minutes of wait time, Big Mac nervously stepped onto the ramp. Even though he wanted to do this, he still felt very nervous appearing before everypony he knew in an odd choice of wardrobe. He came out sporting white wrist tape, green trunks with his  cutiemark displayed on the back, green knee pads, and white boots. For the first time tonight, the crowd was completely silent (save for a few whispered comments and the occasional cough). At one point, a random pony yelled out: "Looking good Big Mac." Big Mac blushed slightly at that comment. He couldn't tell if it was a compliment or an insult. As he slowly dragged himself to the ring, his sister Applejack and her friends started cheering and encouraging him. 

"Go Big Mac! Show em what we apples are all about!" Applejack shouted. 

"You can do it darling!" Rairty chimed in. 

"Yay. Take him down." Fluttershy quietly cheered.

"Just believe in youself." Twilight encouraged.

"Try not to get too mangled out there." Rainbow said, which was met with disapproving glares from the others.

"Yeah. And don't let him twist you into a pretzel. Even though pretzels are really, really good." Pinkie added. The others continued to glare at Rainbow and Pinkie. They both just smiled at them nervously. 

Big Mac entered the ring and got into his corner. The referee patted him down to make sure he wasn't concealing any weapons. He did the same to Stud Muffin shortly after. He then motioned for both competitors to join him in the center of the ring. There he explained the rules: It was a one-fall match, meaning the first one to score a pin or submission would be the victor. There was no time limit. Disqualifications and count-outs were in play in this match. 

The ref then asked if both competitors wanted to shake hooves. Stud Muffin extended his hoof to Big Mac graciously. Big Mac just stared at Stud Muffin's hoof with suspicion. He wasn't sure if Stud Muffin was doing this in earnest or as a trick. And the smile on Stud Muffin's face made it even harder for Big Mac to tell. So Big Mac slowly extended his own hoof to Stud Muffin's, not sure if he should trust him or not. They shook hooves and separated from each other. The timekeeper rang the bell to begin the match. Stud Muffin and Big Mac circled around each other, trying to find the perfect chance to lock-up and take control. Big Mac moved nervously while Stud Muffin moved rigorously, as if he knew that he could strike at any moment but chose to wait for a little bit. 

"Looks like Stud Muffin and Big Mac are trying to size each other up." Stallion said. "That's some smart strategy on both the champion and the challenger's part." 

In an instant, Stud Muffin slipped past Big Mac and got in him a waistlock. He then began wrenching Big Mac's midsection. But surprisingly, Big Mac got out of it sooner than expected by prying apart Stud Muffin's hooves and twisting his left arm in an wristlock. 

"Big Mac broke out of that waistlock easily and applied a wristlock." Colt stated. "That's pretty impressive for a first-timer."

Big Mac then held Stud Muffin's arm in place under his armpit, and placed his right hoof at the base of Stud Muffin's shoulder. Stud Muffin dropped to one knee and waved his free hoof helplessly. The ref asked him if he wanted to quit and Stud Muffin sharply declined. Big Mac held Stud Muffin in this position for about 2 minutes before Stud Muffin got back to a standing position and fought out of the wristlock, countering with a wristlock of his own. He then transitioned into a hammerlock and got Big Mac's left hoof behind his back. Big Mac whined from the pain for a while before he got his right hoof behind Stud Muffin's head and performed a side headlock takedown. Stud Muffin sat up and turned to face Big Mac after hitting the mat with a stunned look on his face. 

"A nicely executed side headlock takedown." Stallion said. 

Stud Muffin got back to his hooves and he and Big Mac locked-up again. This time Big Mac got control after putting Stud Muffin in a front facelock. He squeezed down on Stud Muffin's head to soften him up a bit. But Stud Muffin swiftly countered with a northern lights suplex, performing a bridge pin afterwards. The referee started counting the pin: 1...2...

"Could this be it?" Colt questioned. "Could Stud Muffin make short work of this opponent tonight?" 

Big Mac got his shoulder up at 2 1/2. Stud Muffin then got up and started flexing and blowing kisses to the audience. In that moment, Big Mac was able to recover from the suplex. He got up and noticed Stud Muffin had his back turned. "Big mistake" he thought as he ran up behind Stud Muffin, wrapped his hooves around Stud Muffin's stomach, and german suplexed him. He then performed a bridge pin of his own. The ref counted again: 1...2...

"Is Big Mac really about to pull off an upset victory over our champion!?" Stallion exclaimed.

But Stud Muffin got his shoulders off the mat at 2 1/2. The fans were really surprised at this turn of events as they chanted: This is awesome!" Stud Muffin took some time to recover from the impact so Big Mac took advantage. He picked Stud Muffin up in a gutwrench position and did a gutwrench suplex. Stud Muffin rolled around on the mat from the pain. Big Mac picked him up and then sent him crashing back down on the mat with a body slam. He then followed the move up with a running elbow drop. 

"Are you seeing this Stallion!? Big Mac is mounting some major offense against the champ." Colt flabbergasted. 

"Let's hope he can keep it up." Stallion responded.

Big Mac looked to the audience as they showered him with support. All his friends were cheering him on to victory. He then noticed Cheerilie seated in the front row on the right side of the ring. She smiled at him warmly and waved. Big Mac smiled back at her. She couldn't see it, but Big Mac was celebrating on the inside. The mare of his dreams was out here supporting him right alongside his friends and family. Suddenly, he felt like he could take on both Celestia and Luna by himself. With this new found strength, he continued to dominate Stud Muffin. He picked Stud Muffin up, threw him into the ropes, and delivered a stiff clothesline which caused Stud Muffin do a flip and land on his stomach. 

"Oooo. Big Mac turned Stud Muffin inside out with that lariat." Colt cringed. 

Big Mac then grabbed Stud Muffin his mane and put his head under his armpit. He then gripped by his underwear for leverage, lifted him into the air, and dropped him with a reverse suplex. 

"Stud Muffin's not looking too good out there. Could he have gotten hurt at some point in this match?" Stallion asked his partner.

"I don't know. But I know one thing's for sure: he is taking an ass whoppin." Colt responded.

Big Mac had Stud Muffin locked in a sleeper hold now. Stud Muffin's eyes were slowly rolling into the back of his head. 

"Oh my Celestia." Colt spoke. "The dreaded sleeper hold. The simplest yet most effective sumbission hold in history. The champ could be finished."

The referee grabbed Stud Muffin's hoof and dropped it, letting it fall limply to his side. He was checking to see if Stud Muffin was still conscious. If he didn't flex his hoof after the ref does this 2 more times, then he'll lose the match via knockout. The ref grabbed his hoof again and dropped it, but it still feel limp. He grabbed his hoof for the last time and dropped it, but this time Stud Muffin flexed it. The match was still going. Seeing that Stud Muffin didn't tap out as he expected, Big Mac decided to do something that Stud Muffin wouldn't expect. He got Stud Muffin in a standing position while still holding the sleeper hold in. He then began to lift Stud Muffin slightly off the ground by spinning him around. The crowd began counting every time he did a full 360 degree rotation. After 10 rotations, he hit Stud Muffin with a sleeper suplex. 

"Holy Luna!" Stallion exclaimed. "What an incredible display of offense by Big Mac. He's taking it to Stud Muffin easily." 

The crowd exploded into cheers at what Big Mac just did. To see somepony as inexperienced as Big Mac ragdolling a professional was nothing short of amazing. The Mane 6 gave the loudest reaction as they chanted, cheered, and clapped for Big Mac. Big Mac felt like he was on top of the world. Whatever self-doubt he had early was dispelled now. He had full confidence that he could beat Stud Muffin now. He figured that since he had the match in the bag, he may as well rub it in Stud Muffin's face. It was only fitting. He posed, flexed, waved, and danced for the crowd. This caused an even bigger uproar than before. Everypony in the audience believed in Big Mac now as they chanted his name loudly. This celebration didn't last long though as Stud Muffin was standing and raised his hoof to silence the crowd. The crowd fell silent as Stud Muffin preceded to speak. 

"I'll admit." He started. "You weren't AS horrible as I thought you'd be. But you're still INCREDIBLY sloppy and weak with your ring work. Your slams and suplexes were subpar, your wrestling holds were poorly executed, and colts and fillies have hit me with a stronger clothesline than you. I mean, you didn't even lock in the sleeper hold properly!" He laughed. 

"Liar!" Big Mac accused. "Cuz if what ya said were true, then how come you were rollin around in pain and almost passed out?" 

"It's called selling, my dear boy." Stud Muffin reponded regally. "It's what we wrestlers do when we want a certain move to look convincing, like it actually hurts. Granted, nowadays wrestling is real and selling was a thing that wrestlers did back in wrestling's infancy days, I decided that since you were a newcomer, I'd go easy on you by letting you hit me with some moves and pretend like they hurt. Just like they did back in the old days. See, I was scouting you. I wanted see if you were really capable of beating me when I go all out. I figured that you learned enough wrestling techiniques to give me a run for my money. But sadly, I was mistaken. I'd have a better match if I blindfolded myself, tied one hoof behind my back, got on my knees, and wrestled a broomstick!" He mocked. 

"See, I told you." Pinkie said to her friends, much to their annoyance. 

"I think I've let you get in enough offense for one match. Now it's my turn." He said sadistically. 

Without warning, Stud Muffin wrapped his arms around Big Mac and threw him over his head in a belly-to-belly suplex. 

"And Stud Muffin nails Big Mac with a bone-shattering belly-to-belly suplex." Colt commented. 

Stud Muffin then picked Big Mac up, got his hooves behind his back, and slammed him with a tiger suplex. 

"And a devastating tiger suplex to follow it up." Stallion stated.

Stud Muffin stood over Big Mac, sat down forcefully on his back, and applied the camel clutch. He wrenched the hold back as far as he could go without potentially snapping Big Mac's spine. Tears began pouring down the sides of Big Mac's face.

"Oh. That camel clutch not only looks painfully but it feels even worse." Colt said with a pained expression. "Definitely not the kind of position you wanna find yourself in.

Stud Muffin released the hold after a while but held onto Big Mac's arms. He then flipped over, landing on his feet with his back arched while still holding Big Mac's arms, and applied the cattle mutilation submission hold.

"Oh Celestia. Not the Cattle Mutilation." Stallion strained. 

Stud Muffin held the hold in for a minute and then released it. He grabbed Big Mac's right arm and performed the Fujiwara armbar. After a minute, he rolled over Big Mac's back and applied the crossface. He held it for a minute and let go, transitioning into a bridging arm triangle choke.

"The champ showing off his amazing in-ring prowess." Colt complimented. "He's taking Big Mac to the school of hard knocks for a lesson in pain!" 

The ref went over to ask Big Mac if he wanted to submit but Stud Muffin released the hold before he could get over there. Stud Muffin then grabbed Big Mac's legs and put him in the elevated Boston crab. Big Mac screamed louder than ever when Stud Muffin wrenched the hold back until Big Mac was doing a perfect scorpion. 

"I'm no chiropractor, but even I know that your back isn't suppose to bend that way." Stallion lamented. 

Stud Muffin craned his head back to look at Big Mac and spoke to him. "I could break your spine so easily right now if I wanted to." He gloated. "But I'm not going to. No, I wanna prolong your suffering. I want you to learn your lesson." 

"And what lesson would that be?" Big Mac strained. 

"You'll find out soon enough." Stud Muffin responded vaguely. He turned Big Mac on his back and wrapped his arms around the outside of Big Mac's legs. He then picked Big Mac up in a powerbomb position. 

"Uh oh. I know exactly what Stud Muffin's going for here." Colt said. 

"You don't mean?" Stallion asked.

"Yeah, THAT move." Colt stressed.

Stud Muffin ran towards one of the turnbuckles and powerbombed Big Mac into it. While still holding onto Big Mac, he ran and powerbombed him into the opposite turnbuckle. 

"There it is: The 4 corners of doom." Colt stated. 

After Stud Muffin had powerbombed Big Mac into all of the turnbuckles, he carried Big Mac to the center of the ring and sitout powerbombed him. He stood up and trotted to the other side of the ring. He then did a handstand and trotted over to Big Mac until he hovering towards his head and performed a leg drop. 

"The momentum has shifted drastically in Stud Muffin's favor." Stallion commented. "He's certainly doing what he said he was gonna do: make an example out of Big Mac." 

"This isn't even a match anymore. This is a SLAUGHTER." Colt deadpanned. 

Stud Muffin picked Big Mac up and lifted him high above his head with a milatary press. He pumped him up and down a couple of times before dropping him unceremoniously on the mat and following it up with a standing moonsault. He then put his knees on Big Mac's back and locked him in the bow and arrow hold. 

"If there's one thing that Stud Muffin is best at, it's stringing together moves and submission holds in succession." Stallion said informatively. 

Stud Muffin held the bow and arrow in for 2 minutes before letting go. He picked Big Mac up in a front facelock and then hit him with a bridging cobra clutch underhook suplex. The ref began to count but when he got to 2, Stud Muffin floated over and picked Big Mac up in a vertical suplex. Only instead of just dropping him, he just held Big Mac in the air. The crowd started counting each second Big Mac was airborne. After a count of 20, Stud Muffin slammed Big Mac with a suplex slam. He then started gloating again, flexing and posing for the fans. Half the fans were cheering while the other half were booing Stud Muffin, but he didn't care. He was use to getting mixed reactions from ponies. In his taunting, he didn't even notice Big Mac grab his right boot and slowly begin to pick himself up. He had a fierce look in his eyes. Stud Muffin merely laughed and said "How cute, he's still trying to stay alive in this match no matter how pointless it is. I'm touched." Without warning, he grabbed Big Mac's face and pushed him into the nearest turnbuckle, causing Big Mac to sit down in the corner. As he began to pick himself back up, Stud Muffin mocked him some more by laughing at him. Once Big Mac got back to his hooves, he didn't have time to react as Stud Muffin pancaked him the corner with a running corner splash and followed it up with a clothesline, which put Big Mac back into a seated position in the corner. Stud Muffin then grabbed Big Mac's back hooves, heaved him high into the air above the turnbuckle, and brought him down hard onto the mat with a corner alley oop. 

"How is Big Mac's back not broken after that move!?" Colt shouted.

"I don't know. But it's a miracle none the less." Stallion replied.

Stud Muffin stood over Big Mac until he was face to face with him. "Ya know, it's been fun. It really has. You've been a really good sport." He remarked sarcastically. "But I'd say now is a perfect time to end it, don't you think?" 

Big Mac responded with gibberish as he was in a lot pain and on the verge of passing out.

"I couldn't agree more." Stud Muffin responded giddily. He grabbed Big Mac's front hooves and pulled him up until he was standing again. He then hit Big Mac with a lifting sitout spinebuster. 

"Stud Muffin hits it big. For the love of Celestia and all things holy, please let this be the end of this poor souls torture." Colt pleaded. 

The referee counted to 3 and called for bell. This match was finally over. The fans gave more mixed reactions, cheers from the ponies who bet that Stud Muffin would win and boos from the ponies who bet against Stud Muffin. But nopony was disappointed more than the Mane 6. They each had remained silent ever since Stud Muffin first started dominating Big Mac. Even Rainbow and Pinkie didn't say anything. The ref went over to raise Stud Muffin's arm in victory but Stud Muffin told the ref to get him a microphone. The referee obliged and handed Stud Muffin a mic. Stud Muffin swiped it from the ref and began to speak candidly.

"Before you ponies leave tonight, I have something important to say." He began. "What you all witnessed tonight was not a wrestling match. It was not a fight, a confrontation, or a spar. No, what you all just watched was a lesson. Now I know that's sounds funny to some of you. The fact that wrestling actually tuaght you something is quite laughable. But I can assure you that this, in fact, was a lesson. This was a lesson to teach you all what happens when you jump headlong into something that you know nothing about. You don't just wake up one morning and say: "Gee, I wanna become a pro wrestler" without taking the time to learn everything about wrestling first. I mean, you wouldn't try to bake a specific kind of cake without first finding out what ingredients you need to make that specific cake, would you? He asked the audience earnestly.

Pinkie looked around at everypony while laughing nervously before she answered: No. 

"Exactly. So why would you try pro wrestling without attempting to understand the sport first. That's the fatal mistake a lot of first-timers make. They walk into the performance center, thinking that it's going to be a cake walk. But let me tell you all something: ITS NOT! There is more to wrestling than just knowing how to apply a headlock! It's more than just "a bunch of bulky stallions rubbing against each other in tights and underwear." 

Rainbow and Pinkie looked directly at Rarity. Rairty simply giggled while blushing nervously. 

"Wrestling is more than just a sport. ITS A PASSION!  We take pride in what we do. We show love and respect for everypony. We show it towards the refs. We show towards our boss. We show it towards ourselves. We show it towards the commentators. We show towards each other. And most importantly, we show it towards each and everyone of you. And all we want is for you to show it back. But it just DISGUSTS me when ponies like Big Mac work in wrestling but don't respect it or the ponies who make it possible. They're the ones who think just because they dawn a pair of trunks or tights, they atomatically know all there is to know about wrestling. "Who cares about actual training and dedication when you can just wear wrestling gear and pretend to know how to wrestle." He mocked. "Well let me tell you truth: That doesn't fly here! Not in MY ring or in any other promotion! For you see, that kind of attitude will get you MAIMED around here! I can't tell you how many young upstarts I've seen that came into this business with that mentality and ended up leaving bloody and broken. Their careers ended before they even had a chance to start. Like for instance, This one stallion came here in hopes of making a name for himself. Problem was, the poor colt didn't know how to wrestle or take moves properly and wouldn't even try to learn how. All of his matches were nothing but him throwing punches and kicks, pulling off badly excuted moves and holds, then attempting to pin his opponent before doing any real damage. He lost all his matches. But in one instance, he ended up losing more than just the match. He kept throwing stiff punches and kicks at his opponent's head, which pissed off his opponent to no avail. But his big mistake was when he botched an arm drag and dropped the stallion on his head, almost giving him a concussion. So the stallion retaliated, throwing even stiffer punches and kicks at him. And for good measure, he powerbombed him on one of those steel barriers, paralyzing him for the rest of his life. So I'm telling you all this to warn you. I'm not trying to scare you away from wrestling. I'm telling you that if you're thinking about becoming a wrestler, you should learn to love and respect the ponies you work for and with, as well as loving and respecting the wrestling profession itself. Because if you don't, bad things like this are sure to happen to you. I wouldn't be where I'm at today if I didn't show everypony some respect. That's the only way you get anywhere in the business. Respect you co-workers, the refs, your boss, the commentators, and most importantly, yourself because wrestling can be a fun experience. But if you don't respect wrestling or the ponies who do, you're gonna have a bad time. I GUARANTEE it. So let this serve as a reminder of what could possibly happen to you if don't show respect. When you become a wrestler without learning how to wrestle or show no remorse for injuring or potentially injuring your fellow co-workers with your poorly performed moves, then you clearly have no respect for wrestling at all. So in short: Respect wrestling and it will respect you back." He finished before dropping the microphone. He then reached under the ring and pulled out another brown bag like the one he gave to Applejack earlier and placed it over Big Mac's head. "And thus, the walk of shame awaits you my friend." He said loudly while gesturing down the ramp to the backstage area. He rolled out of the ring and made his way backstage. 

"Strong words from our champion." Stallion spoke.

"You said it partner. Well anyway that's it for tonight's ppv event. Hopefully we'll see you all again next Thursday. Goodnight everypony." Colt finished. 

Without a moment to lose, Applejack leaped over the barricade and got into the ring. She ran over to Big Mac's side. "Alright, let me know what hurts." She said to him. 

Big Mac sat up and looked her in the eyes before responding. "Ah'm alright, just really sore. The one thing that hurts the most though is my pride." He dejected.

"Well alright then. Ya gonna need help gettin backstage and out of this costume?" She asked.

"Nah. Ah think ah can manage." Big Mac answered as he picked himself up and off the canvas. He then slowly got out of the ring and went backstage. Applejack sat there and watched him leave, feeling bad for what had happened to him. Twilight and the others joined Applejack in the ring and sat beside her as they all stayed there in silence. 



Big Mac began unraveling the tape around his wrists. He had crumpled up the bag over his head and thrown it away, but he felt that the expression on the bag was a perfect representation of how he was feeling right now. He not only let himself down, but he felt he also let everypony in the crowd down. He didn't want to show his face in town for while in fear that everypony would either mock or shun him. It was then that he heard a knock on his dressing room door. He glumly told the stranger to come in and to his surprise: It was Cheerilie! She trotted into room with a bright smile adorning her face. 

"Hello Big Mac." She greeted.

"Howdy Cheerilie." Big Mac replied depressingly as he turned his face away from her.

"You looked pretty good out there." Cheerilie said in an attempt to lift his spirits. 

"Yeah, fer bout 8 minutes." Big Mac dejected with a sigh.

"I didn't just mean during the match." Cheerilie hinted with a slight blush on her face.

Hearing this, Big Mac also blushed and laughed nervously.

"So, are you still upset about the loss?" Cheerilie asked.

"Eeyup." He responded. "Ah feel like ah let everypony down." 

"And why is that?" Cheerilie questioned.

"Cuz ah didn't beat Stud Muffin." He replied. "Ah made a big fuss bout how ah was gonna make em eat his words, but ah didn't deliver on my promise. He may have made a plum fool outta me out in that match, but ah made a bigger fool outta myself when he goated me into accepting his challenge. And fer that, ah'm sorry. Sorry fer lettin my pride get the best of me. Sorry fer lettin everypony down. And most importantly, ah'm sorry fer lettin you down Cheerilie. Ah should've told ya this after ah accepted his challenge, but ah guess now is as good a time as any. Ah did this match fer you. It burned me up somethin fierce when he gave ya all those compliments just so you would sleep with em. And ah couldn't just stand by and let em get away with that. Ah care bout ya too much to let ya do it. So ah accepted his challenge cuz I didn't just wanna fight fer myself or every mare in crowd, ah wanted to fight fer you. Ah figured it would show ya how much ya really mean to me. But who ah kindin. You probably think ah got apples fer brains fer thinkin that." He sighed.

"So you were willing to battle that stallion, no caring if you won or lost, just for me?" Cheerilie asked him with a look of surprise on her face.

"Eeyup. Ah'd do anything fer ya" Big Mac said as he took Cheerilie's left hoof into both of his hooves.

"Well I'd say that's quite noble of you." Cheerlie remarked as she took both of his hooves into hers. "No other stallion has do anything like that for me before. So I'd say you're pretty brave in my book. Besides, I had a feeling that Stud Muffin only wanted my flank. I saw him leave the arena with 5 other mares in his arms. I didn't want to be an "awkward 7th wheel." She said while she rolled her eyes in disgust. But you're not like him at all. You're caring, respectful, and strong-willed. You went out there and faced him rather than just admit defeat and walk away like most other stallions would have done. You stood up to him and defended my honor. And you persevered to the very end. So on behalf of myself and every mare that was present, I would like to personally thank you for what you did. Here's your reward." And without missing a beat, she leaned forward and kissed Big Mac on the lips. After 3 seconds, she broke the kiss. Even though it was brief, Big Mac felt that it lasted for a lifetime. As Cheerilie made her exit, she turned back to Big Mac and said: "By the way, I always knew that you had feelings for me" before leaving the room. Big Mac stood there in shock for a full minute before he plopped down on his chair and ran his hooves through his mane. 

"Well ah'll be. Stud Muffin was right about one thing: Ah am one lucky stallion!" He said to himself with a big smile on his face.
> Welcome to the Training Center
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following day in Ponyville was as mundane as you'd expect. All the citizens had returned to their daily lives and tended to their usual duties. Some of the townsponies were still talking about the wrestling event that had occurred just yesterday; Bur for the most part, everypony had accepted it as the past and moved on. Business at Sugarcube Corner had been slow today so the Cakes were just sitting around with nothing to do while they waited for customers to arrive. Pinkie was upstairs telling her pet alligator, Gummy, about the EWA event that she and her friends had attended the other day. 

"And then he slammed Big Mac hard into the mat with his signature lifting sitout spinebuster. Then he pinned him and got the win!" Pinkie shouted excitedly. "It was super amazing! You really should've been there Gummy." 

Gummy gave his silent response of licking his eye with his tongue. 

"I hope Applejack is okay though. She seemed really upset after the match." Pinkie stated. "I wonder if she's still a frowny filly." She thought to herself. 

But before she had a chance to linger on that some more, she heard a knock at her window. She opened the window to find Derpy floating there with a letter in her mouth. 

"It that letter for me?" Pinkie asked.

Derpy replied by nodding and spit the letter out, letting it fall into Pinkie's hooves. Pinkie thanked her for it and closed her window. She then opened the letter to read it and this is what it said: 

Dear Ms Pinkie Pie

We heard about what happened at the ppv event and would like to apologize on the behalf of our champion for his behavior during the event. We hope his actions had not effected you or your friends too harshly. So as a token of our apology, we would like to invite you and your friends to participate in our Grapplers In Training program. In this program, young mares and stallions will be training to become EWA wrestlers. You and your friends will be able to participate, but may not be eligible for wrestling contracts. You and your group will only be there as interim participants. The program starts tomorrow. You and your friends will be given a GIT t-shirt. We hope you will accept our invitation. 

Sincerely,

EWA Board of Directors

Pinkie stared at the letter for a bit and allowed her brain to process what she just read. After that, she jumped into air and squealed gleefully. 

"First we got see wrestlers, now we have a chance to be wrestlers?" She asked herself with disbelief. "This is the bestest week ever!" She shouted with delight. "Pinch me Gummy, I must be dreaming." She said as she fainted playfully.

Gummy just blinked and stared blankly at her.

But her exuberance soon turned to dread as she realized something. The only two of her friends that may actually want to do this were Rainbow Dash and (maybe) Applejack. But she knew for a fact that Rarity, Twilight, and Fluttershy might not be so quick to go along too. So she slumped back down and thought of how she was going to convince them. After a moment of thought, she decided: "Meh. I'll just wing it". And with that, she rolled up into a ball, bounced out of her window, and rolled off so that she could put her plan into action.


Pinkie sat patiently in her throne inside Twilight's castle as she played with her tail, waiting for her friends to arrive. She had sent invitations to all of them saying that she had something of the utmost importance to tell them. As far as Pinkie knew, they believed her and were on their way.  A little while later, the doors to the throne room opened and her friends filed inside one after the other.

"This had better be important Ms Pie." Rarity chided. "I was in the middle of completing an order before you interrupted me." 

"Fer once, Ah agree with Rarity." Applejack chimed in. "Ah still have chores to finish." 

"Don't worry. This shouldn't take too long." Pinkie assured them. "You can go back to doing your dresses and chores afterwards." 

Pinkie waited as the rest of her friends to enter the room and sat down. After they were all seated, she cleared her throat and spoke to them. 

"I've asked you all here for an important anmoucnment. I got an invitation from the EWA Board of Directors this morning! We've all been invited to a training program they're having! Which means that we may have the opportunity to become actual EWA wrestlers!!! She exclaimed cheerfully. 

"Say WHAT?!" Applejack asked in disbelief.

"I beg your pardon?" Rarity asked. 

"Awwwwwwwwwww yeah!" Dash shouted. "Now I get show off my awesomeness to like a million screaming fans." She said as she squealed. 

"Oh....my...." Fluttershy stuttered. 

"Please tell me you're joking?" Twilight questioned.

"Sorry Twilight, but this cake is not a lie." Pinkie answered as she handed the letter to Twilight for her to read. "It's all here in black and white. Except for those pink spots. I had a few cupcakes while I was waiting for you girls." She said with a toothy grin.

"A few?" Rainbow asked with a smug grin.

"Okay several." Pinkie corrected herself.

Rainbow's smile widen further. After a few moments, Pinkie broke.

"Alright, I had 15." She replied truthfully. "I can't help if I'm a little piggy." She said with a hint of regret.

"She's right." Twilight confirmed. "We are invited to attend this program." 

"Sweet. So when are we gettin started?" Rainbow asked as she rubbed her hooves together.

"Tomorrow." Pinkie replied.

"Tomorrow!" Rarity shouted. "Oh no no no. I simply can't, darling. I have to get that order finished by tomorrow afternoon."

"Tomorrow's no good fer me either, sugarcube." Applejack mentioned. "Ah'm suppose to help my family build a new chicken coop tomorrow. 

"And besides." Rarity added. "While I'll admit that the event we saw yesterday was somewhat enjoyable, I would never even CONSIDER giving it a try! You all saw what that brut did to Big Macintosh. Do you honestly think we'll fair any better than him in that ring?" 

"Rarity has a point Pinkie." Twilight spoke. "I know that the program will train us on how to wrestle, but I don't think we're cut out for wrestling." 

Pinkie let out a sigh. "Fine. Since everypony has mixed opinions, we'll take a vote." Pinkie proposed. "Everypony who wants to reject the invitation, raise your hoof." 

Rarity, Twilight, and Applejack all raised their hooves at the same time. 

"Duly noted." Pinkie said. "All in favor of accepting the invitation, raise your hoof." 

Both Pinkie and Rainbow shot their hooves up instantly. They looked around to see if anypony else had their hoof raised and were surprised to see that Fluttershy had her hoof raised halfway in the air. Everypony looked at Fluttershy with extreme shock. After a moment of silence, Fluttershy decided to explain herself. 

"I know everypony is surprised with my vote." She attested. "But the reason I want to accept the invitation is because a small part of me wants to do this. I think that this could be a very thrilling experience for us all to take part in. Seeing how fun and exciting wrestling can be has made me curious to give it a try. So I think we should all give it chance. I mean, if everypony is okay with it." She finished nervously.

"I don't know, darling." Rarity spoke. "Physical sports aren't exactly my forte. Neither are sports in general really." 

"How about this Rarity." Rainbow proposed. "You can try it for the first day and if you don't like it, we'll just tell the Board of Directors that you weren't really interested. How's that sound?" 

"That does sound pretty fair I suppose. Plus, I can always hold that order off for another day or 2." Rarity reasoned.

"And ah guess we can wait to build that chicken coop another day." Applejack stated. 

"So it's settled then." Pinkie remarked. "Due to the majority vote, the decision is unanimous. We're going to the program tomorrow!" 

All 5 of them began cheering and expressing their joy. But Twilight was still unsure about this. She felt like she was probably going to regret going along with it. Pinkie had noticed the sad expression on Twilight's face and trotted over to talk to her. 

"Come on Twilight. It'll be fun, I promise." Pinkie assured her.

"I'm not worried about it not being fun." Twilight explained. "I'm worried that I'm not gonna be very good at it. I'm not really what you would call a "physical" pony. I just don't wanna go out there and make a fool out of myself." 

"Twilight, I'm sure nopony is gonna laugh at you." Pinkie reassured her. "I mean we're all gonna be on an equal playing field. None of us know what we're doing yet either. But with time and practice, we'll become just as good as the actual wrestlers." Pinkie said enthusiastically. 

Twilight gave Pinkie's words some thought before closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath. "Alright Pinkie. I'll take your word for it." 

"Good to hear. Well that wraps up this little matter. Meeting adjourned!" Pinkie shouted as she pulled a gavel out of her mane and banged it hard against the cutie map. This caused a huge crack to form in the center of the map. 

The others stared with shocked expression on their faces while Rainbow snorted as she giggled.

"Nice one, Pinkie." Rainbow laughed. 

Twilight frowned at Pinkie angrily while Pinkie simply smiled and laughed nervously. 

"I'll pay for that later." She said as she used her tail as a propellor and proceeded to fly out of the nearest window. 

Twilight placed a hoof over the bridge of her snout and sighed heavily. 


The following day, the Mane 6 boarded the Friendship Express and headed to Manehattan where the training center was located. Pinkie and Rainbow were buzzing with excitement as they talked amongst each other. 

"Oh. My. Luna!" Rainbow fangirled. "I still can't believe this is actually happening." 

"Yeah." Pinkie replied. "I wonder what kind of cool wrestling things we're gonna do?" 

"I could honestly care less." Rainbow said. "Just as long as we get to actually do stuff in the ring." 

"I hope they keep that mat clean." Rarity said as she butted into their conversation. "Cause I refuse to set hoof on something where sweaty ponies having been rubbing against." She finished, crinkling her nose in disgust. 

"I'm sure they scrub the mat afterwards." Rainbow assured. 

"I hope so." Rairty said with uncertainty. 

The train came to a screeching halt as it reached its destination. The Mane 6 all filed out of the train collectively. Soon afterward it left the station. They asked a passing unicorn mare for directions to the Taining Center and she pointed them in the right direction. They soon left the station and headed straight for the Training Center. 


They arrived in front of a large tan building with glass double doors. There was a large sign on top of the building that read "EWA Training Facilities" in bold red letters. Inside the building were sets of workout and training equipment. There were also six other ponies already inside that were standing in there idly. Twilight pushed open the doors and went inside, followed by the others. Some the ponies looked over at them while the others didn't even acknowledge their presence. The Mane 6 then stood, in a horizontal line, beside the 6 others. Twilight decided to be the one to adrress these strangers. 

"Do either of you have any idea where our instructor is?" She asked sincerely. 

"He hasn't shown up yet." One of them called out. "We've just been standing here for the past 20 minutes." 

"Well you're not gonna have to wait any longer cause here I am!" Came a mysterious voice. The owner of the voice entered the room shortly afterward with a box in their hooves. It was a chubby periwinkle colored earth pony with a light brown, long mane. He was wearing a plain black sweatshirt with blue pants and black shoes. He set the box down and stood before them. 

"Welcome to the Training Center!" He greeted enthusiastically. "I'll be your instructor, Buckaneer." 

"Buckaneer......THE Buckaneer?" One of them spoke. "The same one that holds the record for most EWA World Championship wins?" 

"In the flesh." He responded proudly. 

"Wait a minute." Rainbow said. "We're gonna be trained by the legendary Buckaneer!?" She exclaimed before she fainted into Twilight's arms. 

"Is she gonna be alright?" Buckaneer asked Twilight. 

"Oh yeah." Twilight confirmed. "She always does this when she meets somepony famous." She smiled.

"Well I don't blame her." Buckaneer spoke. "I'm one of the best technical wrestlers to step into an EWA ring." He affirmed. 

"My friends are gonna be SO jealous when I tell them about this." The random pony from earlier interjected. 

"Anyway, now that we've gotten that out of the way, lets go down to business. Since you all know me now, I wanna get to know all of you. Starting with........you." He said as he pointed to Fluttershy. She perked up as soon as he pointed to her. She looked around the room and noticed everypony staring at her. Her crippling stage fright soon overtook her. Her heart rate started to increase, she began feeling light-headed, and she began sweating profusely. Her friends were giving her looks of concern but they didn't want to answer for her. The other six ponies stared at her intently, making her even more nervous. "Geez, spit it out already. It's not rocket science." One of them said impatiently. She tried holding her breath to try and slow down her heart a bit to no avail. The instructor gave her a puzzled, yet concerned look. 

"Do you have a name, sweetie?" He asked her. 

She nodded in response.

"Do you wanna share it with the rest of us?" He persisted. 

She nodded again. After taking a deep breath, she said her name in a soft, undecipherable tone. "Fluttershy." She mumbled.

"What was that?" Buckaneer asked.

"Fluttershy." She mumbled again.

"Come again?" Buckaneer said confused.

"Fluttershy." She mumbled once more.

"You're gonna have to speak up honey. My hearing isn't as good as it use to be." He said.

"Fluttershy." She mumbled one more time.

"For the love of Luna! Just say it already!" The random pony shouted. 

"Slutterfhy." Fluttershy blurted out. 

The room went completely silent for a minute before the 6 ponies all laughed at Fluttershy's response. Fluttershy's entire face turned bright red. She had never been more embarrassed in her entire life. It was flight camp all over again. She curled up into a ball and hid behind her mane. 

"With a name like that, I think I know what HER special talent is." One of the random six ponies hinted.

"Is that really your name?" Buckaneer asked. "Not that I'm judging." 

"No." Twilight answered for her. "It's Fluttershy."

Buckaneer went over to Fluttershy and placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "Don't worry, hun." He said to her. "First time jitters. It happens to the best of us. Myself included." He comforted her. 

"By the way, my name is Twilight." Twilight introduced herself. "You looked like you were going to ask for my name next anyway."

"I'm fully aware of who you are Miss Sparkle." He affirmed. "Princess Celestia's former student. And now you're a princess yourself. The pleasure is mine." He said as he bowed and kissed Twilight's right forehoof, causing her blush slightly from the gesture. 

"Why don't you kiss her ass while you're at it?" A random mare from the other group said silently.

Buckaneer overheard her and turned his attention in her direction. "I'll have you know I was just giving the princess a proper greeting." He said. "It's called being courteous. Maybe I teach you that along with your wrestling training." 

The mare crossed her arms and pouted as she blushed due to being insulted like that. It didn't help that some of the other ponies snickered at her.

"How bout you with the rainbow mane?" He asked Rainbow.

"The name's Rainbow Dash. Fastest flier in Equestria." She bragged. 

"Aren't you the mare that pulled off the sonic rainboom at the young fliers competition?" He asked.

"Yeah." She answered. "I was amazing even at that age. I was practically BORN awesome." She said arrogantly. 

"I don't doubt it for a minute." He said honestly. "Now you." He said as he pointed to Applejack.

"I'm Applejack." She greeted.

"Nice to meet you." He replied.

He then pointed to Rarity.

"Some ponies call me Miss Rarity. But you can just call me Rarity." She greeted.

"Can do, Rarity." He said. 

"And I'm Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie chimed in with a smile.

"Didn't even have to address you." He spoke. 

He then turned to the other six ponies and asked them for their names: Textbook was a small, scrawny earth pony stallion with a short, straight red mane and a beige coat. Roughneck was a large earth pony stallion with a long blue mane and an orange coat. Mic Check was a unicorn stallion with a short black mane and a white coat. Gold Streak was a pegasus mare with a golden brown mane and a golden yellow coat that somehow seemed to shimmer in the light. Fudge Sundae was a pegasus mare with a long neon green mane and a hot pink coat. Brick House was a large, bulky unicorn mare with a short white mane and a red coat. 

"Alright now that introductions are out of the way, let's begin." Buckaneer spoke. "But first, I want each of you to come up here and get a t-shirt." He said, gesturing to the box of shirts behind him.

The shirts all had the same Grapplers in Training slogan on them, but each shirt had a different color scheme. There were three different versions of the shirt: a grey one with white letters, a white one with black letters, and a black one with grey letters.

All 12 of them went up and got a shirt. Once they all had one, Buckaneer slid into the ring and addressed them again.

"Now then, let's start with a few demonstrations." He started. Without warning, he ripped off his shirt and pants, revealing a red amateur wrestling singlet with white horseshoes on it underneath. He also had white wrist tape, red elbow pads with black patches on the back of them, black knee pads, and white boots. 

"Whoa." Both Rainbow and Textbook said in unison. 

"I may not be as in shape as I use to be." He said as he jiggled his own fat. "But I'm still in my prime. Now I'm gonna need a volunteer." He said as he scanned the room. "Roughneck. Since you're one of the bigger ponies in class, I figure I'm least likely to hurt you. Get in the ring." He said. 

Roughneck slowly made his way into the ring and stood before Buckaneer. 

"Now I want all of you to pay close attention." He stated. "Cause you're gonna have to learn the basics before you can get in the ring." 

He then turned his attention to Roughneck.

"Now I want you to grab the back of my head with your left hoof and grab the inside of my left elbow with your right." He instructed.

Roughneck did as he was told and performed the action. Buckaneer did the move as well.

"This is called the collar and elbow tie-up. It's one of the most important wrestling holds. It's more commonly used at the beginning of a match, but there have been instances of wrestlers using it in the midst of one." He spoke. "See the point of this hold is to try and find a better position to work your opponent. And the thing about this hold is that you can transition into all the other wrestling holds from this position alone." 

Buckaneer then got Roughneck's head under his arm in a front facelock.

"This is the front facelock." He began. "With this hold, you have the most control over your opponent. You can drag them, attack them with a forearm to the back or a knee to the stomach, go for a move such as a DDT or suplex, or you can lock them in a guillotine choke. The possibilities are endless with this hold, but it does have some downsides. Your opponent can counter this hold by hitting you in the gut, ramming you into one of the corners, grabbing your wrists and freeing themselves, or catching you a northern lights suplex or a Gannosuke Clutch. So keep that in mind if you decide to use this hold." 

He then locked Roughneck with a side headlock.

"This is the side headlock. Another basic wrestling hold. It's typically used to work on the head and neck of your opponent. There's not a whole lot you can do from this position except punch the top of the head and and perform a side headlock takedown." He finished.

He then grabbed Roughneck's right wrist and twisted it slightly. 

"This is the wristlock. It's one of the more complex wrestling holds." He informed. "You really have to know what you're doing in order to execute this hold successfully. The key is to apply pressure and twist the arm at just the right angle. Now you have to be precise. If you don't twist it enough, then it'll be easier for your to opponent to counter it. But if you twist it too much, you're gonna break your opponent's wrist and you don't want that to happen. So once you have your opponent where you want them, you can do a number of things from this position. You can get them in a side armlock, a kneeling armbar, a hammer and chin lock, a plain hammerlock, an arm-wrench inside cradle pin, a spinning armbar, and lots of other maneuvers. Just make sure you have the skill and know-how to pull off those moves." 

He then put Roughneck in the waistlock. 

"And lastly we have the waistlock." He said. "Now I know this may look inappropriate to some of you, but I can assure you that this a legitimate wrestling hold. Most wrestlers hardly ever use this hold, but it's still pretty useful and effective. You can go for all kinds of moves like a german suplex or full nelson slam, but you can also go for submissions like the cobra clutch or full nelson. But there's only so much you can do with this hold." He finished. 

He released Roughneck and thanked him for his cooperation. 

"I want you all to come in here and apply some of these wrestling holds on me. I wanna see if you can execute them without my guidance. So let's see what ya got!" He said enthusiastically. 

One by one, they got in the ring and tried some of the wrestling holds. Rainbow, Pinkie, Fudge Sundae, and Golden Light all applied the holds perfectly. Twilight, Applejack, Roughneck, and Brick House applied the holds subparly. Rarity, Fluttershy, Mic Check, and Textbox didn't know how to apply the holds and had to instructed by Buckaneer. They all did their best. 


The next exercise they did was learning how to cut a promo. Buckaneer left the room and came back minutes later with a microphone.

"Now we're gonna cover the second most important aspect of being a wrestler: knowing how to cut a promo." He stated.

"What's a promo?" Twilight asked. 

"It's when a wrestler talks directly to the fans." Rainbow answered. "They brag about themselves, thank the fans for attending the show, promote an upcoming pay-per-view or match, and a whole bunch of other stuff. What Stud Muffin did after his match with Big Mac, that was a promo." 

"An excellent definition, Rainbow." Buckaneer complimented. "You hit the nail on the head." 

"I know my wrestling terminology." She bragged.

"Teacher's pet." Fudge Sundae coughed but Rainbow didn't hear her.

"In this exercise, I want you to pretend that I'm the audience." He started. "You have to take the mic and tell me why you think you deserve to be a wrestler. Now I don't want you to come up here and say something like "I saw it on t.v and thought it looked pretty easy." But I also don't want you to give some long-winded speech about the prestige of pro wrestling. Keep it brief and meaningful. So who wants to go first?" He asked. 

There was a short silence as nopony wanted to be first. The silence was eventually broken as Rainbow raised her hoof.

"I'll go first." She replied. "I was gonna let somepony else go first but since nopony wants to go, I'll do it."

"Alright then. Step right up." He said as he handed her the microphone. 

"The wrestling industry has always intrigued me." She began. "Mares and stallions alike putting on fantastic performances for adoring fans. That's the kind of stuff I live for. I've always had a passion for entertaining the masses with my awesomeness. As a WonderBolt, there are always ponies cheering for me in Ponyville. But what about ponies in Baltimare, Las Pegasus, or Fillydelphia? They probably don't even know that I exist. But if I became a wrestler, I could put on shows for ponies in every country. In short, I want all of Equestria to know the name: Rainbow Dash!" She finished proudly as she handed the mic back to Buckaneer. 

"Well done." He complemented. "A little narcissistic, but you still did a good job." 

"I wanna go next! I wanna go next!" Pinkie said as she jumped up and down happily. 

"I like your eagerness." He said. "I'd be a fool to say no." 

"Yay!" Pinkie shouted as she leaped clear over the top rope from ringside.

"Whoa." He said a bit taken aback. "I've never seen a normal mare jump over the top rope from ringside. I'm impressed."

"Pinkie is.....special." Rairty stated.

"I bet." He remarked. "But I'm more interested in what her mic skills are like." He said, getting back on topic.

"Okie doki loki." Pinkie said as she grabbed the microphone from Buckaneer and cleared her throat.

"Hi, everypony! I just wanted to say what an honor it is to be standing here talking to you folks. You are the ponies that make all of this possible. So give yourselves a pat on the back. Now I want all of you to know that I enjoy each and everypony here. And I will try my best to keep you all in-tune and enthralled. You will get the absolute best out of me. I will give you all my blood, sweat, and tears because I care about you all. You all paid good money to see a show and I'll be sure to give you one. Every. Single. Night. I live for this company and the ponies in it, as well as for you fine ponies. This. Is. Wrestling." She finished as she dropped the mic and raised her hooves high above her head. 

The room went dead silent even after Pinkie finished. Everypony held a look of bewilderment on their faces. They couldn't believe what they just heard. Her friends were more shocked than anypony else. For as long as they knew her, they didn't know that she had such a way with words. The silence was broken as Buckaneer slowly clapped for Pinkie's performance. 

"In all my years of being an instructor, that. Was one of the best promos I've ever heard. And I'm being 100% truthful. Nopony who's ever been apart of my program has cut a promo that passionate. That compelling. Or that meaningful. It almost brings a tear to my eye. Pinkie, you're one of best talkers I've ever had the fortune of tutoring." He finished. 

"I just pretended that there was an audience in front of me and just spoke from the heart." She said truthfully. 

"Well if you do become a wrestler, I look forward to hearing your promos." He complemented. 

Pinkie gave the mic back to Buckaneer and rejoined her friends. 

Buckaneer then began to say something: "Ya know what? I've decided that since Pinkie's promo was so good, it's going to be the standard for this program. From now on when you cut a promo, I want you to keep Pinkie's in mind. Just say what's on your mind, whether it be good or bad. The fans will acccpet you for being who you are. That about does it for this exercise, unless somepony else wants to come up and say something. 

Nopony responded to Buckaneer's offer. 

"Then that settles it. Let's move on to the next exercise." 
> Main Event Mares
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next exercise on their agenda was learning to run the ropes and fall properly on the mat, just so they could get use to it. Each of them took turns running from rope to rope and then fall in the center of the ring. Though Pinkie and Rainbow had excelled at all the other exercises, this one was tough even for them. Pinkie landed a little too hard on her back and was nursing it as she got out of the ring. Rainbow slipped and landed on her neck but when her friends tried to help her, she claimed that she was fine.The sensation of hitting the mat was akin to falling back first onto a wooden board that was on top of a trampoline. They each hit the mat 5 times, but they doubted they would get use to it quickly. Applejack faired the best out of the 6 since she was use to stuff like this. She did the exercise but slightly hobbled on her way out of the ring. Twilight hit the mat 4 times before she had to be helped up due to not being able to get back to her hooves by herself. Rarity did it, but fell on her face on the last one when her back suddenly gave out. Fluttershy got it the worst. She hit the mat 3 times before she muttered that she couldn't move. Her friends helped her out of the ring. The other six did just as well as the Mane 6. Roughneck completed the exercise but dropped to one knee on his way out the ring since he was in pain. Gold Streak had to stop on the 3 one because she landed awkwardly on her left wing. Fudge Sundae hit the back of her head on the mat during her last one. Mic Check did it 4 times before he decided to exit the ring. Textbook did it twice, but then said something about breaking his scapula and rolled out of the ring. Brick House did it perfectly and stood up afterwards, like it didn't even hurt her. She proudly strutted out of the ring. 

"Alright." Buckaneer began. "That was pretty good for a first time. But now comes the final test. You're gonna take everything you learned today and apply it in the ring later on as you go one-on-one with each other. I'm gonna pair up and see what you got. But for now you guys can take a break and relax your sore muscles. I'll be back in 15 minutes." He said as he left the room. 

As soon as he left, Fudge Sundae spoke out loud: "That cheap bastard. We didn't even learn how to do any moves or anything."

Buckaneer once again overheard her and stuck his head back through the doorway.

"You must understand. The point of this course it to show you the BASICS." He reminded her. "If you wanna learn how to do certain wrestling moves and holds, you can always ask me for a private training session. But don't worry. When you have your matches, I'll be telling you if you're doing a move right or not." He finished and left the room afterwards.

"Sweet Celestia!" Rainbow whined. "I've never been more sore in my entire life." She said as she rubbed her back.

"Ah hear ya." Applejack spoke. "I've been buckin apples for the longest time, but that's nothing compared to this."

"I know." Pinkie added. "I landed on my back so hard I thought my kidneys were gonna explode."

"Ohhhh." Twilight groaned. "It hurts to stand up." She said as she sat down on her haunches. 

"If I had to rate my pain on a scale of 1 to 10, it would be an 11." Rarity stated. 

"Ugh, Rarity." Twilight said. "The pain scale only goes to 10." She pointed out. 

"Well mine goes to an 11!" She exasperated. 

"I still can't move because it hurts so bad." Fluttershy said.

"Are you 6 gonna bitch and moan for the rest of this time?" Brick House asked bluntly. 

"Excuse me!?" Rarity said, clearly flabbergasted by that comment.

"Hey if you got a problem, we can solve it. Right here, right now." Rainbow challenged her. 

"Oh please." Brick House rolled her eyes. "I'd squish all 6 of you into a pancake and eat you breakfast." She bragged.

"I'd expect an insult like that from a fatass like you." Rainbow smirked.

"Well this fatass is about to come over there and break you in half!" Brick House threatened. 

"I may be in pain. But I'm not in too much pain to kick your flank!" Rainbow shot back. 

"Bring it on, Skittles!" Brick House instigated.

"SKITTLES!" Dash shouted. "That's it! You won't be talkin all that smack when I kick your teeth in!" Rainbow said as she prepared to lunge at Brick House. 

But before Rainbow could take off towards her, Applejack bit down on her tail and pulled her back to the ground.

"Yer already hurtin, Rainbow." Applejack told her. "The last thing you need is goin and gettin even more injured." 

"I don't care!" Rainbow said loudly. "Just as long as I get to shut her up." 

"You couldn't handle me little filly!" Brick House teased her.

"You better be lucky AJ is holding me back." Dash warned her. "Cuz if she weren't, I would have kicked the shit out of you by now!"

"Miss Dash!" Rarity gasped. "Must you be so vulgar." 

"She started it." Rainbow complained. "And I'm trying to end it." 

"By beating her up?" Twilight questioned. "Rainbow, you of all ponies should know that violence is almost never the answer. Princess Celestia taught us better than that." 

Rainbow realized that Twilight made a good point and took several deep breaths to calm herself.

"You're right Twilight." Rainbow relented. "I'm sorry I lost my cool." 

"Oh isn't that adorable. Da power of fwiendship conquers all." Brick House mocked. "Well let me tell ya somethin, sweetie: That friendship crap isn't gonna get you anywhere in the wrestling profession. The wrestling industry is pretty cutthroat. Only the ponies who look out for themselves make it to the top. Making friends won't win you a world championship. You have to accomplish that goal solo. There may be 6 of you, but there's only 1 world title. And you can't all hold the belt at the same time. So go ahead, believe in all that friendship is magic bullshit and see where it gets ya." 

Rainbow growled as she prepared to pounce again, but Twilight placed a hoof on her shoulder and shook her head. Rainbow crossed her arms as she sat back down and seethed with anger.  It was at this moment that Buckaneer came trotting back into the room with a clipboard in hoof. 

"Alright everypony." He addressed them. "The matches are all set up. So when I call your name, I want you to go stand by your opponent." He instructed. "Twilight, you're gonna go up against Textbook." 

"Okay" Twilight obliged as she went over and stood next to Textbook. 

When she did, Textbook thought to himself:"Oh my Luna. I'm partnered up with a princess. Not only that, but she's the prettiest mare in this class. This is the best day of my life!" 

It was then that Twilight looked at Textbook and smiled at him warmly.

"Luna, if I'm asleep, please don't wake me up!" He thought. "Also, since you can manipulate dreams, do you think you could give me big muscles? I'd really appreciate it."

"Applejack, you're gonna partner up with Roughneck." Buckaneer continued.

Applejack went over and stood next to Roughneck.

"Rainbow, you're gonna take on..." Buckaneer started. 

"I wanna wrestle Brick House!" She interrupted him.

"Well it's funny you said that." Buckaneer stated. "Cause she's who I wrote down as your opponent." 

"Good. Cuz we've got some unfinished business to take care of." Rainbow thought to herself as she trotted over and stood next to Brick House. They stared daggers at each other.

"Rarity, you'll be facing Mic Check." Buckaneer said.

Rarity graciously trotted over to Mic Check. He slicked his mane back and moved his eyebrows up and down as he moved closer to her. Rarity crinkled her nose as she took a step away from him. 

"Pinkie, you'll face Gold Streak." Buckaneer went on.

"Yes, sir." Pinkie saluted and hopped over to Gold Streak.

"And Fluttershy, you're gonna take on Fudge Sundae." Buckaneer finished.

"If you say so." Fluttershy responded and slowly made her way over to Fudge Sundae. Fudge Sundae merely rolled her eyes and groaned.

"Figures. I get stuck with the wimp." She thought.

"Alright. You all have your opponents, now let's see some action!" Buckaneer said enthusiastically. "The first ones I wanna see go at it are Fluttershy and Fudge Sundae." 

"And just when I thought my luck couldn't get any better." Fudge Sundae said sarcastically as she slid into the ring.

"Um. Okay." Fluttershy obliged and got into the ring as well.

"Now I want you to treat this like an actual match." Buckaneer informed them. "And that goes for all of you as well. Now with that out of the way, let's see some wrestling!" 

"Finally, let's get this over with." Fudge Sundae said impatiently. 

She trotted to the center of ring and held her hooves up, ready to lock-up with Fluttershy. Fluttershy slowly trotted over to her and held her hooves up meekly, clearly expressing that she didn't want to do this. As Fudge Sundae tried to grapple her, she curled up into a ball. Fudge Sundae stood patiently with her hooves on her hips as she waited for Fluttershy to stand back up. Fluttershy stood up and put her hooves up again, but cowered back into a ball when Fudge Sundae tried to grapple her again. Fudge Sundae was clearly getting tired of this as she voiced her irritation. 

"If this is how you're gonna act in an actual match, I feel very sorry for you." She sympathetized. 

"Fluttershy." Buckaneer spoke to her. "You can't shy away from your opponent. You have to stand tall and be aggressive, because your opponent will take advantage of your weaknesses. But if you have no weaknesses to capitalize on, then you can zero in on your opponent." 

Even though Buckaneer's words had some meaning behind them, Fluttershy still remained motionless in the center of the ring. 

"Screw this. If you're not gonna come after me, then I'll come after you." Fudge Sundae said. 

She then wrapped her hooves around Fluttershy's stomach and lifted her into the air. She got Fluttershy on her shoulders and hit her with a kneeling powerbomb. Without letting go, she wrapped her arms around Fluttershy's ankles and drug her toward the closest turnbuckle. She then catapulted Fluttershy into it. Fluttershy coughed as she went chest first into the top turnbuckle. She turned around so that she could get her bearings straight, but was meet with a running dropkick from Fudge Sundae. Fluttershy flopped first face into the mat. Fudge Sundae picked Fluttershy up by her mane and hooked both her arms. She then lifted Fluttershy up and brought her down on her knee with a butterfly backbreaker. 

"Oh I'm sorry, Slutterfhy." She mocked. "Did I hurt your back even more? Here, let me make it all better." She said before slamming both her hooves into Fluttershy's back. 

Fluttershy howled in pain as tears flowed from her eyes. Her back hadn't fully recovered from the mat exercise. And Fudge Sundae's methodical abuse was making it hurt even worse. 

She didn't have time to think as Fudge Sundae got on her back and applied a dragon sleeper hold. Fluttershy's back was bent at an almost 90 degree angle as Fudge Sundae wrenched the hold back.

"Excellent targeting of the back, Fudge Sundae." Buckaneer complemented. "Like a wild animal, you smelled blood and took advantage."

Fudge Sundae released the hold and picked Fluttershy up. She then nailed Fluttershy with a Michinoku driver, bringing her down hard on the mat. She then got to her hooves and had something special in mind. She grabbed the top rope, jumped on it, and performed a springboard moonsault. But unexpectedly, Fluttershy got her hind hooves up at the last second and drove them into Fudge Sundae's midsection. This action knocked the wind out of Fudge Sundae as rolled on the canvas in sheer agony. 

"This is your chance Fluttershy." Buckaneer said. "Your opponent is vulnerable. Take advantage of this opportunity. Strike while the iron is hot." 

Fluttershy gave him a subtle nod as she jumped and drove her elbow into Fudge Sundae's stomach. Fudge Sundae gasped as the air had been briefly knocked out of her again. Without a moment to lose, Fluttershy picked Fudge Sundae up by her mane. She then draped Fudge Sundae's left arm over her left shoulder and hit her with an exploder suplex. Her friends began cheering and chanting for her as she started to mount a comeback. This caused her to replace her fear with determination. She believed in herself now. With this newfound confidence, she began to pick Fudge Sundae apart. She locked Fudge Sundae in a double arm camel clutch, and eventually transitioned into a regular camel clutch. She released the hold and barked at Fudge Sundae to get up. Once Fudge Sundae had gotten on her hooves and knees, Fluttershy ran towards the opposite ropes and came charging at her full speed. But this turned out to be a trap as Fudge Sundae countered with a drop toe hold, sending Fluttershy face first into the mat. Fudge Sundae then put Fluttershy in a surfboard hold before stamping her face into the mat. She then grabbed Fluttershy's legs, draped them around her waist, and lifted Fluttershy slightly off the mat before slamming her back down with a wheelbarrow facebuster. Fudge Sundae turned this into a pin, but Fluttershy kicked out at 2. Suprised by Fluttershy's sudden resilience, she decides to up the ante. She picked Fluttershy up and got her on shoulders with a fireman carry. She then started spinning around in a circle. After 10 spins, she dropped Fluttershy on her kneee with a single knee fireman carry gutbuster. But what Fudge Sundae did next was nothing short of insulting. She preceded to spank Fluttershy's rump repeatedly. Her friends, as well as Buckaneer and Gold Streak, couldn't help but blush and turn their heads away at this display. Brick Horse laughed uncontrollably. Roughneck, Mic Check, and Textbook all stared at this intently. One could easily tell what was going through their minds while watching this. Fudge Sundae spanked Fluttershy's butt until it turned red and then pushed Fluttershy on her knee. Fluttershy rolled out the ring and began rubbing her sore rump.

"What was that all about?!" Buckaneer demanded. 

"I wanted her to learn her place." Fudge Sundae answered. "She'll never be in the same league as me. And the fact that she thought that she could beat me just because she got some offense in is just pathetic." 

She then turned her attention to Fluttershy. "You're WAY in over your head, filly. Why don't you go back to Ponyville and cuddle those mangy mongrels of yours?" 

That insult caused Fluttershy to stop nursing her injury and stare at Fudge Sundae venomously. "What...did you call my animals?" She asked intensely. 

"What? Was mongrels not good enough for you?" Fudge Sundae joked. "Then how about flea-bitten, disease carrying, ill-mannered, furry FREAKS!" 

That last comment set Fluttershy off. She darted through the bottom and middle rope and took Fudge Sundae to the mat with a Lou Thez press. She then started pounding away on her with a flurry of lefts and rights. After that, she rebounded off the opposite ropes and brought her right forearm down on Fudge Sundae's cranium. Fluttershy picked Fudge Sundae up and hit her with consecutive right punches until she had been backed into one of the corners. Fluttershy then forced her into a seated position and began stomping on her chest. After 20 stomps, Fudge Sundae weakly crawled her way to the center of the ring where Fluttershy had been waiting for her. Fluttershy grabbed Fudge Sundae by her mane and got her on her hooves. She then nailed Fudge Sundae with a stunner, driving her shoulder into Fudge Sundae's face. As Fudge Sundae lay on the mat, teetering between consciousness and unconsciousness, Fluttershy pinned her and got the 3 count. She then sat beside Fudge Sundae, huffing and puffing as she tried to catch her breath. For the third time today, the room went quiet. Everypony was shocked at Fluttershy's instant aggression upon speaking badly about her animal friends. Her friends knew Fluttershy could turn aggressive in a heart beat, but even they were stunned by her initial rampage. After a few moments of silence, Buckaneer asked somepony to help Fudge Sundae out of the ring so that they could move onto the next match. 


The next two to wrestle were Twilight and Textbook. They shared a hoofshake before they started the match. The match was mostly in Twilight's favor due to the fact that Textbook was barely fighting back. He would unintentionally pause during moves, allowing Twilight to counter. He almost got Twilight with a back suplex, but once he place his hoof on the back of her thigh, he just stood their in a daze while blushing furiously. He had Twilight in a gutwrench position, but after he got his hooves wrapped around her waist, he paused again, blushing heavily. He tried to hit Twilight with a german suplex. He had his arms around her waist, but once again, he just stood there while blushing with a goofy look on his face. Twilight, on the other hoof, was all business. She slammed and suplexed him multiple times, and even got him with a headscissors. Though he didn't seem to mind as he didn't even try to fight out of the hold. Once he was standing upright, Twilight decided to finish him with a running high knee. Textbook put his hooves up to try and block the attack, but once he caught a glimpse of Twilight's marehood as she leaped into the air, his defense faltered. She caught him flush in the forehead with her knee, effectively putting him down for the count. She helped him up after their match and told him he did pretty good. He couldn't help but let his heart soar after hearing that from her. 


After they had finished their match, Rarity and Mic Check were next. They both entered the ring simultaneously and stood a fair distance away from each other. Rarity couldn't help but feel slightly unnerved around him. She could clearly tell that he had a thing for her by the way he was staring at her, as well as how he acted around her. He had been giving her seductive looks and gestures ever since Buckaneer paired them together. Granted, she was flattered that he had seen her as pretty enough to hit upon, she didn't exactly find him to be very charming. He had ripped the sleeves of his shirt and turned it into a tank top. He was wearing all kinds of hoof rings, watches, bracelets, and necklaces. He wore a baseball cap, but had it turned all the way around. And he had a tattoo on both of his arms. His left arm had a tattoo of a mare in a very provocative pose. And his right arm had a tattoo that simply said "East Manehattan". 

"Why do you have a tattoo that says East Manehattan?" Rarity inquired 

"I gotta represent my home town so I don't forget where I came from." He answered. 

"I guess that answers my question." She responded.

"Alright. Enough small talk." Buckaneer spoke. "You can save it for after your match."

"Speaking of after our match, how's about you and me go get some dinner together afterwards. And maybe after that we can go back to your place and get to know each other intimately?" He asked slyly. 

"As charming as that sounds, I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline your little offer." Rarity replied. 

"Well, can't blame a stallion for tryin." He shrugged. 

They then got their hooves up and were ready to get started. Rarity started by getting him into a headlock when he wasn't paying attention. But instead of trying to break out of them hold, he began rubbing Rarity's hind legs. Rarity blushed and released the hold immediately. 

"I don't believe I gave you permission to touch me like that! She barked. 

"It's a wrestling match, baby." He informed her. "We can be as touchy as we want. I won't front if you wanna touch me like that." He suggested.

"You're SO not my type." Rarity said bluntly.

Just as she had finished her sentence, Mic Check slipped past her and got her in full nelson. He then put his left hind hoof in front of her right hind hoof and fell forward, hitting Rarity with a full nelson facebuster. 

"Great offense, Mic Check." Buckaneer complemented. "But try to keep this professional. Remember what I said about taking this as an actual match." 

"I'll try to keep that in mind." Mic Check said as he got Rarity in a seated position on the mat and applied a chin lock.

He had the submission held in tight as he squeezed down on Rarity's head and neck. Rarity tried to get her hooves underneath his arm to try and break the hold but no luck. It was then that she had an idea. She got her hooves behind his head and slowly pulled his face down to meet hers. She then locked lips with him, catching him completely off guard. Everypony was....suprised by this unorthodox method of breaking out of a submission hold, but since it worked they couldn't really argue it. After a long, passionate kiss, Rarity broke it and smashed her knee into his forehead. Mic Check broke the hold and clutched his forehead. This gave Rarity the perfect chance to hit him with a single leg dropkick. She then attempted a pin afterwards, but Mic Check kicked out 1 1/2. Rarity picked him up and planted him with a reverse STO. This time instead of going for a pin, she rebounded off the ropes and hit him with a running knee drop. She then picked him up again, but this time he countered with a European uppercut. Once Rarity was staggering, Mic Check followed up with a forearm smash. This caused Rarity to back towards the ropes. Mic Check tried to follow up with a clothesline, but Rarity countered with a back body drop. But Mic Check had a counter of his own as he grabbed the top rope to prevent himself from crashing onto padding outside the ring. He landed on the apron behind Rarity. He then hit with a reverse hotshot, causing her to slam her face hard into the mat. He slid back into the ring and stood over Rarity before grabbing by her waist. He looked like he was going for a deadlift german suplex, but he just stayed there in that position. He then leaned down to Rarity's ear and whispered to her.

"It ain't too late to accept my offer, baby girl." He whispered. "All you gotta do is say the word. Oh, and don't worry. I promise I'll be gentle." He cooed. 

Rarity responded by elbowing him in the face. He got off of her and it allowed her to kick him straight in the gut. She then rebounded off the ropes and slammed his face into the mat with a leg drop bulldog. Rarity then rolled him onto his back and attempted to pin him, but he got his shoulder up at 2 1/2. Rarity was starting to get frustrated with his persistence. The more this match lingered on, the more she had a feeling that she was in danger of being felt up by this stallion. She wanted badly for this match to end soon. Once she had him in a standing up again, she got him in an Alabama slam position. But he ended up countering with a sunset flip pin. Rarity, though caught off guard by this, was able to kick out at 2. She could tell that Mic Check was getting desperate too. He wanted to win this match almost as much as she did. He picked Rarity up and locked her in an abdominal stretch. Rarity let out cries of pain as her body was being contorted at an odd angle. Seeing that Rarity was vulnerable, Mic Check took this opportunity to run his hoof over Rarity's chest. 

"Damn, girl." He said. "Your north side in on fleek. Let's check out your south side." He said as he slid his hand down her body. 

Buckaneer was about to charge into the ring and separate the two, but the instant Mic Check put his hoof over Rarity's mound, she screamed bloody murder. She then broke the abdominal stretch with a hip toss, causing Mic Check to land on the top of his head. The impact let him feeling groggy and disoriented. He tried to to get back to a vertical base, but was meet with Rarity hopping onto his back. 

"You wanted me to be all over you! Well, be careful what you wish for!" She shouted. 

She then began legitimately choking him with a rear naked choke. Mic Check started coughing and gasping for air. Rarity had her right arm wrapped tightly around Mic Check's throat. After about a minute, his eyes began to glaze over. Rarity released the hold and allowed him to get some air back in his lungs, but she didn't let up her attack in the slightest. She rebounded of the ropes and hit him a basement dropkick. She then rolled him onto his back and ascended the turnbuckle. After she steadied herself on the top turnbuckle, she performed a diving moonsault and landed on Mic Check's midsection. Rarity sat down on the mat, clutching her own midsection. Once she felt that she was ready, she got back to her hooves. Mic Check was on one knee beside her, trying to recover from the onslaught of Rairty's offense, but the beating he was receiving was starting to take its toll. Once he was standing again, he began to slowly regain his composure. But Rarity wasn't about to let him take control of the match again. She jumped on the second rope and hit Mic Check with a springboard roundhouse kick. Even though she caught him perfectly in the side of his head, he was still standing. Seeing this, Rarity connected with a another springboard roundhouse, but he still remained upright. Rarity hit the move a third time, finally knocking him to the mat. Rarity decided enough was enough and decided to end this match. She picked him up and got him in a reverse DDT position. She then spun counterclockwise and slammed his face into the canvas. This proved very effective as she was able to keep him down for a 3 count this time. Rarity stood up and began to revel in her victory, but before exiting the ring, she made a kicking dirt gesture towards him. 

After she got out of the ring, Buckaneer entered the ring. He picked up a nearly unconscious Mic Check and threw him out the ring. Mic Check landed on the proctective padding outside of the ring, but it did little to cushion the impact as he landed sickeningly on his back with a loud thud. 

"I told you to keep this match professional and what do you do: You damn near rape the girl!" Buckaneer exploded. "That kind of behavior won't be tolerated in my ring, or a professional ring. GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY BUILDING RIGHT NOW!!!!!" 


Mic Check slowly picked himself up and limped out of the room. He had a look of pure regret on his face. Nopony said a word, as they were still shaken by Buckaneer's sudden outburst. Things were getting too real, too quickly. The Mane 6 started having second thoughts about joining this program. But they decided to let Pinkie and Rainbow have their match before they leave. It was only fair since they were the ones who encouraged all of them to do this in the first place. 


Pinkie and Gold Streak were the next ponies to wrestle. They actually had one the best matches of the program. They both displayed excellent ring awareness and outstanding techinical ability. Pinkie went for a suplex, but Gold Streak countered with a neckbreaker. Gold Streak performed an hip toss, but Pinkie landed on her feet and hit her with a clothesline. But the most impressive moment was when Pinkie tried to ascend the turnbuckle, but Gold Streak got Pinkie on her shoulders. Pinkie attempted an inverted frankensteiner, but Gold Streak prevented it. Gold Streak then tried to hit Pinkie with a standing inverted Alabama slam, but shocking, Pinkie countered with a victory roll and got the three count. Pinkie helped Gold Streak up after the match and even raised Gold Streak's hoof. Buckaneer complemented them both for putting on the match of the day and proceeded with introducting the next match.


Applejack and Roughneck were up next. They both did their best, but they knew their match wasn't gonna top Pinkie and Gold Streak's. Roughneck tried to powerbomb Applejack but she countered with a back body drop. Applejack went for a springboard 450 splash, but Roughneck moved out of the way. Roughneck tried to catch Applejack with a clothesline, but she countered with a tilt-a-whirl DDT. Needless to say, they were evenly matched. They both seemed to know what the other was going for before they even attempted it. But Applejack managed to prevail after she hit Roughneck with a pele kick and put him down with a spiral tap. 


The last match of the day was Rainbow vs Brick Horse. They both had a war of words earlier today, but it was quickly resolved. Not that it mattered because the time for talk was over. Now it was time to fight. They stared each other down for a solid 2 minutes. Everypony could tell by the way they were staring at each other that this match was gonna be intense. Rather than lock-up, they started throwing punches at each other with reckless abandon. To them, it didn't matter where the punches connected, just as long as they connected. This exchange lasted for a minute before they separated. Both mare came out with some kind of injury. Rainbow ended up with a black eye and busted lip, while Brick Horse was sporting a broken snout and a bruise on her left cheek. This didn't matter to either of them as they shrugged their injuries off. Rainbow spit out some blood and Brick Horse wiped the blood off her snout. 

"You hit like an old mare." Rainbow insulted with a smug grin. 

"Takes one to know one, Skittles." Brick Horse responded.

That comment pissed Rainbow off as she lunged at Brick Horse and tackled her to the canvas. She then unleashed a barrage of right punches. Eventually Brick Horse rolled Dash over and unleashed a flurry of her own. Rainbow punched Brick Horse in the side of her right knee and then punched her in the face, causing Brick Horse to stagger backwards. Rainbow saw this opportunity and hit Brick Horse with a spinning sole kick. Once Brick Horse was hunched over, she followed up uppercut. To finish the combo, Rainbow floored Brick Horse with a rolling savate. Without losing a step, she rebounded off the ropes and landed on Brick Horse's stomach with rolling thunder. She tried to pin Brick Horse but she kicked out at 1. Dash proceeded to stomp on Brick Horse 10 times. After that, she got on the second turnbuckle and gestured for Brick Horse to get up. Brick Horse slowly got back to her hooves. Once she did, Rainbow went for a crossbody, but Brick Horse caught her in her arms. Brick Horse hit Rainbow with 5 backbreakers and a front slam. She followed this up with a running body splash. She did this 2 more times, but Rainbow moved out of the way on the last one. Rainbow took back control of the match by locking Brick Horse in a camel clutch. Brick Horse struggled for a little bit before she used her strength to lift Rainbow up piggyback style. She then rammed Rainbow back-first into the corner, but Rainbow hung on. She did this move again, but Rainbow still persisted. She did it one more time before Rainbow finally let go.  After Rainbow had recovered, Brick Horse came charging at her full sprint. Rainbow managed to move to get her left hindhoof up at the last second and caught Brick Horse in the jaw. She then jumped off the second turnbuckle and nailed Brick Horse with a missile dropkick. This did nothing more than cause her to stagger for a bit. Dash rebounded off the ropes and tried to hit her full force, but she used her sheer size and overbearing strength to send Rainbow flying through the air with a shoulder charge. Rainbow hit the mat with such sickening force that her friends couldn't help but cringe at the sight of it. Brick Horse grinned at Dash manically as she was over her. She then wrapped her hooves around Rainbow's throat. With an insane amount of power, she lifted Rainbow off the mat and threw her across the ring with an overhead choke toss. Once again, Rainbow hit the mat painfully. It was plainly evident that Brick Horse was taking pleasure in flinging Rainbow around the ring like she weightless. Brick Horse grabbed Rainbow by her temples and headbutted her on the top of her head. She then picked Rainbow up and sent her hard into canvas with a reverse chokeslam. Buckaneer actually considered stopping the match, but didn't want it to end prematurely if things weren't gonna spiral out of control. Brick Horse put her left hindhoof on Rainbow's back and grabbed her by mane, pulling back ever so slightly. Rainbow cried out in pain as Brick Horse pulled back more and more. Brick Horse then began to speak to her.

"Now do you see the difference between you and me?" She asked. "I talk a big game, but I've got the size and strength to back it up. You've got a big mouth, but lack the skills to back up what you say. Where's all that hostility you showed me earlier? How you said you were gonna kick my teeth in. Now look at you. Your mouth got your ass in trouble, and there's nothing you can do about it. I'm holding true to my promise of kicking you flank. But here you are, crying and squealing like a pig on its way to the slaughterhouse, and have nothing to show for it. I guess the so called "fastest flier in Equestria" is all bark and no bite. 

It was at this point that Rainbow mouthed something to Brick Horse. 

"What was that?" She asked. "If you've got something to say, then say it loud enough for all of us to hear."

"I said that you forgot one of the most important rules of wrestling: Don't give your opponent an opening." Rainbow strained.

"Huh?" Brick Horse replied with a look of confusion on her face.

Rainbow sweeped Brick Horse's right hindhoof from under her, causing to fall onto the mat. Rainbow grabbed her back legs and turned her onto her stomach. She then applied the Billy goat's curse submission hold. Brick Horse screamed in anguish as she was rendered helpless to this hold. Rainbow wrenched the hold forward as much as she could, but due to Brick Horse's size, she wasn't able to wrench the hold very far. 

"You may be big and powerful, but you sure as hell aren't flexible." Rainbow joked as released the hold. 

Rainbow then applied a dragon sleeper hold. She wrenched back the hold, but once again wasn't able to get the full effect out of it. After a while, she released the hold and stood on Brick Horse's back with her hindhooves. She showed off her impressive agility by jumping on Brick Horse's back and delivering a standing moonsault. Rainbow was now starting to feel the momentum shift to her favor. She felt so confident she began mocking and taunting Brick Horse, making faces at her and posing for the audience. This proved to be a grave mistake as Brick Horse had recovered in that time. She didn't take too kindly to Rainbow's trash talk as she clotheslined her from behind, knocking Rainbow hard to the mat. She wasted no time and picking Rainbow back up and putting her in the bear hug submission. Dash gasped as the air was squeezed out of her. Brick Horse smiled at Rainbow wickedly as she kicked and struggled feebly. 

"How are you gonna fight back now?" She mocked. "I've got your arms pinned to your sides. Let's see you try to get yourself outta this one."

Rainbow merely laughed at her comment, which caused Brick Horse to inquire her curiously. 

"I don't remember telling a joke. So what's so damn funny?" She asked smugly. 

"What's funny in that you think I'm helpless." Rainbow laughed. "A true fighter knows how to use every part of their body as a weapon. But of course a beefed-up moron like you wouldn't know that. That's the problem with you meatheads. You're nothing but physical strength. Ya don't know how to use your HEAD." Rainbow said, putting emphasis on her last word, as she headbutted Brick Horse as hard as she could. This left a small gash on Rainbow's forehead, but she didn't mind because it gave her the chance she needed. After Brick Horse let her go, she caught her squarely in the face with a rolling savate. With the big mare down, Rainbow had the opportunity to put this match to rest. She ascended the turnbuckle and performed a perfect five star frog splash, landing on Brick Horse's midsection. Rainbow went for the cover and got the win, rolling off Brick Horse's massive body afterwards. Her friends couldn't contain their joy as they all stormed the ring and crowded around Rainbow.

"Rainbow, that was magnificent! You did incredible out there." Twilight cheered.

"I must admit, that was quite the finish, darling." Rarity complemented. 

"Ya sure taught her lesson she won't be forgettin: Don't count out the iron pony." Applejack stated.

"That was truly outstanding, Rainbow. You accomplished what you set out to do." Fluttershy spoke.

"Rainbow, that was AWESOME! Your match was WAY cooler than mine!" Pinkie chimed in.

"But mom, I don't wanna feed my dog to the homework." Rainbow said dizzily. 

Her friends all gave her quizzical looks due to her comment.

"Ugh, are you alright there, sugarcube?" Applejack asked. "Ya seem like yer a few apples short of a pie." 

"What happened?" Rainbow asked while nursing the cut on her forehead.

"You seriously don't remember flying through the air like a graceful swan and winning the match." Pinkie questioned her.

"No." Rainbow replied honestly. "I blacked out after that headbutt. I guess my body just moved of its accord at that point." 

"Well, we're glad you're okay." Fluttershy said.

They were then interrupted by a slow clapping sound coming from outside the ring. It turned out to be Buckaneer. 

"In all my years of running this program, I have never met such a promising group of participants." Buckaneer started. "You're caring, loyalty, abilities, and all around good nature are awe-inspiring. You've shown me that even the most unlikely bunch can produce some potential. I'm going to be completely honest with all 6 of you. When I first laid eyes on you, I didn't really expect much from you. The only 3 of you who I knew without a hint of doubt would impress were Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack. They all possessed qualities that would make them great in-ring performers. But Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy: You surprised me. You defied my expectations of you and went above and beyond to prove me wrong. See, I assumed that due to your...nature, none of you would be well-suited for the wrestling scene. Boy, was I dumb for thinking that. You 3 showed me exactly what you were capable of, and now I'm convinced. You girls are gonna make for incredible wrestlers. So, on behalf of EWA, let me be the first to say: Welcome to the main roster!" He finished enthusiastically. 

The Mane 6 stood there in stunned silence. They couldn't believe the words that Buckaneer just spoke. Based on what he said, they were now officially EWA employees. 

"Woah, woah, woah. I thought the letter that Pinkie got said that we were just TEMPORARY participants." Rainbow said skeptically. 

"Yes. But it also said you MAY or MAY NOT be eligible for a contract." Buckaneer reiterated. "It never said you COULD become EWA wrestlers, but it also didn't say that you couldn't. I'm sure were to put in a good word for you and pull some strings, the Board of Directors just might overturn their decision." He said with a happy grin. 

The Mane 6 then exploded into cheers and talked excitedly amongst themselves; While on the other hoof, the others 6 participants were less than pleased by this decision. 

"What the hell!" Fudge Sundae blurted out. "Why do they get spots on the main roster? We pushed ourselves just as hard as they did."

"Yeah." Brick Horse added. "Why's you spout all that horse shit about trying our best and applying ourselves if you were just gonna give the contracts to those bimbos!?" 

Buckaneer paused for a moment before he gave them their answer. "Personally, I felt that they worked the hardest and impressed me the most. Besides, they won their matches, which was a bonus. But to be fair, even if they hadn't won their matches, I still would have given them the contracts. You know why? Because they showed passion and true dedication to become wrestlers, even though they were told that they might not get the chance to become one. All you've shown is whining, self-entitlement, and that....INCIDENT with Mic Check. And none of those are qualities that a pro wrestler should possess. Now, I'm not referring to all of you. The ones I mentioned know I'm talking about them. But the rest of you gave me a good impression of yourselves and what you were about. I'm actually considering those ponies for contracts if they take my program again in 6 months. But this applies to all 6 of you. So if you all wanna come back with a better attitude and push yourselves a little harder, I'd be more than happy to have you all again. But if you'd rather not be willing to change or decide that you don't want this as badly as you thought, there's the door." He said gesturing to the door. "Don't let it hit you on the way out." He said before he turned his attention back to the Mane 6. 

The other 6 all collectively filed out of the building. Just before exiting, Fudge Sundae turned to stare at Buckaneer and the Mane 6 before she spoke. 

"This isn't over, not by a long shot." She said loud enough for them to hear. "You may have gotten your hooves in the door, but don't get too comfortable! I'll be back, I'll make it to the main roster, and then I'll make ALL your lives MISERABLE!" She shouted before leaving the room in a huff. 

"Not without a better attitude you won't." He laughed. The Mane 6 joined him in his laughter.

"Alright, so here's the deal: I'll get in contact with the Board of Directors and see if I can get you in." Buckaneer started. "But I can't guarantee anything though. I'll see what I can do to get you all contracts, but it won't be easy. I'm gonna have to really persuade them to change their minds. If they do, I send a letter to you 6 and you can come back here and receive them. But if they don't, it was an honor having you all as my students." He said as outstretched his arms, expecting them to embrace him. 

"Ohhh, come here you." Pinkie said as they all trotted over and hugged him collectively. 

After they broke their embrace, they all exited the building and headed straight for the train station. 

Once they were there, Pinkie turned to them and addressed them.

"Soooooooo. Who else is excited that we might become wrestlers!" She said exuberantly. 

"You know I am." Dash replied. "I can't wait to stand before all those fans and strut my stuff." She added proudly. 

"If you had asked me a couple of days ago, I would have said heavens no." Rarity spoke. "Be now, I say that I would rather enjoy this sport." 

"I would be ever so grateful if we were allowed to compete in this company." Fluttershy added in.

"Sounds like a darn good time to meh." Applejack said.

"Whatever happens, I'll be fine with the outcome." Twilight spoke. 

The train came to a screeching halt in front of them and opened it doors, allowing them to board it and ride it back to their hometown.