The Challenge
"You want to what?!" shouted Sunset Shimmer.
Her outburst immediately attracted the attention of the entire Canterlot High cafeteria. Everybody had been previously absorbed in their own little conversations, talking about how their day was, what they were up to currently, all those things, but Sunset put a halt to all of them. All eyes were now focused on the Rainboom table, where the familiar seven friends sat, now joined by three guests who were easily recognized by any who'd participated in the Battle of the Bands: The Dazzlings.
Once she'd realized exactly what kind of attention she was attracting, Sunset turned a bright shade of scarlet, nervously pulling at her collar. This was not what she wanted, and she realized she should've thought before yelling like that. This was, after all, a private conversation, they didn't want the entire school to know about it. Adagio sighed to herself, quietly painting her nails. Sonata couldn't help but wave at everybody staring.
Eventually, Rainbow Dash took charge. "Okay everybody, nothing to see here, just go about your business," she insisted, standing up. "No freaky magic crap going on, I swear."
Everyone watching breathed a small sigh of relief at that. As long as Equestrian magic wasn't going to cause yet another disaster, there was no reason to be poking around in the Rainbooms' business. All the observers went back to whatever they were doing, slowly but surely, finding things more interesting than the Rainbooms.
"Thank you, Rainbow. Okay," said Twilight Sparkle, turning back to Aria Blaze, who hadn't reacted at all to the staring, "let's rewind a couple of seconds. You want to what?"
"I said, I want one of you to fight me," said Aria, raising both fists as if to demonstrate. "Look, you've been spending time with our group for a while, but if you really want to hang with us, you gotta prove yourselves to me. So, a fight." At the still-stunned looks the Rainbooms were giving her, she rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, it's not that big a deal! I'm not talking about a knife fight or anything, just good old-fashioned fists. Nothing serious, just me and one of you go at it for a little while, and I see if you've got any guts worth talking about."
Nobody spoke for about ten seconds. Then, the silence was finally broken by Sunset beginning to chuckle to herself.
"Good one, Aria," she laughed, slapping her knee and rolling her head backwards. "You really had me going for a minute there." She laughed for another minute or so, until she realized the siren wasn't joining her. "Oh my Celestia, you're actually serious."
"Absolutely," replied Aria with a smirk."Believe me, this isn't some poorly-conceived attempt to get back at you guys for...well, y'know." She held out her arm. "You can read my mind if you don't believe me."
"Darling, are you mad?!" exclaimed Rarity, holding her hands close to her chest. "Demanding that we engage in some kind of uncivilized, roughhousing, violence? What possessed you to think we'd agree to that?!"
"To be honest, you weren't really a factor in my decision, Rares," Aria answered, with a roll of her eyes, as if to say 'duh.' "I knew you'd be against it from the beginning, but I couldn't really say for the others."
"I don't know," Pinkie chimed in. "Fighting doesn't really sound like very much fun. Then again, I have thought of throwing parties after Rainbow's martial arts matches, so..."
"Don't tell me you're actually considering this!" Sunset cut her off with an exasperated groan. She turned to the remaining Dazzlings. "You're hearing this, right? Don't you think this is insane?"
"Meh," replied Adagio, more interested in her nail polish than the conversation.
"Meh? What do you mean meh?!"
"I mean, Sunset, that this is nothing new to us," replied Adagio. "Whenever we made a new group of friends, Aria always challenged them to a fistfight. Sometimes she won, sometimes she lost, but those that agreed found our friendship deepened by the experience."
"Yeah, even when she kicked their butts!" said Sonata. "If you say no, you can still hang out with us, but Ari will never let you hear the end of it!"
Sunset paled. "Oh for the love of..." She facepalmed, sighing quietly to herself and rubbing her eyes. "This is either a magically induced hallucination, or a really bad dream. I'm not sure which one would be worse."
"So, hypothetically speaking," Rainbow started, "how would this go? Fistfights generally don't have rules, or a referee, or anything like that, so how would you know when it's over?"
"There can be rules," Aria shrugged. "No crotch shots, no hair pulling, no biting and you get to tap out. It's over when somebody does just that. That sort of thing?"
Rainbow nodded.
"I usually make Adagio be the referee," Aria added, "but I wouldn't say no if one of you wanted to take a shot."
Sunset turned to Adagio. "Why would you encourage her?"
"Terrible, isn't it? Burdening myself with the role of Roman Emperor, deciding the fate of the combatants with a thumb up or down," Adagio tsked, but still didn't look up from her nails. "That doesn't sound like me at all, does it?"
After a quiet moment of Sunset standing with her eyes closed, reminding herself who she was talking to and questioning what exactly she'd been expecting, she instead focused on Rainbow.
"Please tell me you're not taking this seriously."
But Rainbow merely stared into the distance, deep in thought, or whatever passed for her version of it.
"I don't like the sound of this," said Fluttershy. "I know, nobody would expect me to be the one to fight, but if I have to watch others get hurt..."
"Oh, no need to worry, Flutters," said Sonata. "Nobody ever really gets injured in these fights. Just a couple of bumps and bruises. Even Ari isn't that hardcore."
"Okay, it sounds to me like you're on the fence," said Aria, getting up from her chair. "Why don't I just leave you to debate, and we'll talk about it after school?" The siren turned on her heel and strolled off, Adagio and Sonata following close behind.
Left to their own devices, the Rainbooms all looked at each other, expressions ranging from bewildered to horror-struck.
"Well, uh," said Applejack, "that was...somethin', alright?"
"Tell me you're not actually considering...?" Rarity started, but couldn't finish. "Imagine if you break your nose Your profile view could be changed for life!"
"Hey! I've gotten my hands dirty plenty of times, and my nose is still here," retorted Applejack.
While the two were arguing, Sunset groaned again and buried her face in her hands. "I can't believe any of us are actually having this conversation," she grumbled, turning to face Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow, please tell me your thoughts on this so I can start banging my head against the wall."
"Aw, come on, Sunset," Rainbow protested, "it's not that crazy. Just a simple little smack down to show Aria that we've got guts, and we're willing to get out hands dirty, like Applejack said. Nothing wrong with that, right?" Sunset's only response was to sink deeper into her chair, head face-down on the table.
"I still don't like this, girls," said Fluttershy. "I mean, even without magic powers, there's a chance somebody could seriously get hurt. N-not that I think Aria would actually try to hurt us, but...accidents happen."
"Maybe not," said Applejack. "I've been in fights before, and nobody got hurt super badly. And those fights were just spur of the moment things."
"I'm not actually hearing this, am I?" Rarity whined. "We cannot go through with this!"
"Hey, a little workout never hurt anybody," said Rainbow. "Sunset, you got into fights when you were in your mean girl phase, back me up here!"
"You're seriously asking for that, after I've spent this entire conversation railing against it?" asked Sunset, as though she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "And I think that fact you stated gives me at least a little bit of sway in this debate!"
"No more than the rest of us," said Applejack. "We're all equal here, so let's put her to a vote."
"Well, I think Sunset and I have made our positions perfectly clear," huffed Rarity, "as have you and Rainbow. That leaves Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Twilight."
"Well, um," Fluttershy mumbled, mulling over her thoughts, "I guess I would vote no. I don't want to see anybody get injured, even a little."
"Three for us," Sunset said with a smirk.
"Shove it," Rainbow snapped. "Pinkie, what do you think?"
"Well, like I said, fighting doesn't sound like very much fun," said Pinkie, her finger placed thoughtfully on her chin, "but Rainbow also does those karate matches, and those didn't sound like very much fun to me, yet she seems to enjoy them, so maybe I'm wrong. And Aria said she only wants to do this so she can see how tough we are and deepen our friendship so...what's wrong with that?"
"Three for us," said Applejack, grinning from ear to ear. "What are you gonna do now?"
Sunset gave her a glare, before she turned her head, the others following her example, as they turned towards the only member of their group who hadn't yet cast a vote.
Twilight Sparkle.
The girl in question began to turn a little red at the stares she was receiving, prompting the remaining six to apologize and turn away while Twilight collected her thoughts. Taking out a notebook and pen, Twilight scribbled down a couple of things, flipping through a couple more pages she'd filled over the past few weeks. Setting them down, she tapped her pen against her chin, trying to come to some kind of resolution.
"Okay, look," she started, bringing the others' attention back to her, "Sunset's right about one thing. On the surface, it sounds completely insane. I mean, a fistfight as a bonding experience? Who would ever think of such a ridiculous concept?
"On the other hand," she continued, raising a finger to prevent Rainbow Dash from interrupting her, "Aria and her sisters are supernatural creatures from another dimension. Not only that, they're over one-thousand years old. Perhaps their norms regarding making friends differs from our own. And before you start, Sunset, yes, I know that ponies don't do that, but the three of them aren't ponies, and they're from a period of Equestria long before you showed up. You wouldn't know much about their habits.
"And we must also look at this logically. The Dazzlings are intelligent enough to know that this would never work as some kind of revenge scheme, considering Aria is only challenging one of us, and if she seriously tried to hurt her opponent, the rest would jump in and stop her. She also volunteered to undergo Sunset's empathy powers, meaning she has nothing to hide. Therefore, we can conclude that Aria is being sincere."
Looking around at her group of friends, Twilight posed one final question. "All we have to do now is ask ourselves: Are we willing to endure Aria mocking us if we turn her down on this?"
"No," Rainbow chimed in immediately, causing the others to direct their gaze to her instead. Sunset glared at her for a minute, but eventually, her expression turned introspective, as she looked down at her own hands, contemplating her answer. The others followed her example.
"W-well, darling, I admit that it would get old fairly quickly," Rarity finally broke the silence. "But I believe it wouldn't kill me to go through it."
"I agree," replied Sunset. "I probably had worse stuff painted on my locker back before the school realized I'd actually given up being the biggest jerk in the universe."
"I could probably take it," said Fluttershy. "I mean, she's talking more about annoying us than straight up bullying, right?"
"I don't know, girls," said Applejack. "I know I've got a bit of a temper on me, and with Aria needlin' me with little comments all the time, I'm liable to snap, and then we'd just get into a fight anyway."
"I could probably deal with it," Pinkie replied, "but that doesn't mean I want to. Aria would be such a party pooper if we didn't go through with it. And you know how I feel about party poopers!"
Everybody waited quietly, as Twilight still hadn't answered her own question. The girl scratched her head, adjusted her glasses, and thought about it. Finally, she shook her own head.
"Look, I know we get...certain stuff from Adagio, but that's just playful. She could probably really get under our skin if she wanted to, and I'm betting Aria is capable of the same thing. So I'm gonna vote yes."
Sunset's jaw dropped, Rarity's eyelids stretched open to their maximum width, and Fluttershy squeaked with surprise. On the other hand, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Applejack all had grins that were far too smug gracing their faces. Sunset pointed directly at the trio opposite them.
"Not. A. Word," she demanded, before turning back to the purple girl. "Twilight, please tell me this is just your attempt to get in on Rainbow and Pinkie's prank war." Twilight shook her head. Sunset froze for a couple of seconds, before her head dropped straight onto the table again. "We're doomed."
"Now we need to pick who's going to actually fight," Twilight continued, ignoring Sunset's drama. "Rainbow, Applejack, I'd say you two are the best candidates. But how do we choose between you?"
"I know!" Rainbow Dash suddenly spoke up. "Arm wrestling! No powers! The ultimate test of strength!"
"Oh, you're on, Dashie!" Applejack replied, taking off her geode. Rainbow removed hers as well, and the two got into position.
"Oh, dear," Rarity whimpered. "This is going to be the death of me."
"Tell me about it," grumbled Sunset, her face still planted on the table.
After classes had ended, the Dazzlings moved from the school to a nearby park, waiting for the Rainbooms to respond to Aria's offer. Aria was pacing around quietly, while Adagio read a magazine and Sonata played on a handheld game system.
"So, if I'm being completely honest, Aria, I'm somewhat surprised you decided to extend your offer to the Rainbooms," Adagio noted. "Do you honestly think they'll accept it?"
"They act as a group," Aria said. "Sure, some of them won't be keen on the idea, Rarity in particular is never gonna come around, but some of them will. And I'm betting that they'll be enough to sway the vote."
"I suppose so," replied Adagio, turning a page. "I doubt any of them have ever truly been in a fight before, so it'd be interesting to see how they handle themselves."
"Yeah. But we'll still be rooting for you, Ari!" cheered Sonata. "Cause we know you kick butt!"
Aria smiled, making a mock bow at her sister's antics. Despite how obnoxious Sonata had the tendency to be, she’d still made a good cheerleader on all of Aria's previous fights, and would no doubt be on the sidelines shouting encouragement while Aria tussled this time as well.
On that thought, Aria found herself growing curious. Exactly which one of the Rainbooms would she be pitted against? Rarity and Fluttershy were out, for obvious reasons, as was Twilight Sparkle. There were only two real possibilities, and either would be fun to take on.
Suddenly, the blaring of Aria's phone jolted her out of her thoughts. She pulled it out of her pocket, holding the speaker up to her ear.
"Yeah?" she asked, then waited as the person on the other end spoke at length, her smile growing wider as they did. "Sounds great. We're meeting at the park. You know, in the middle of town? See ya there." With a press of a button, she hung up. She turned towards her fellow sirens, smiling more than she had over the past few months.
"We're in business."
"I wish to have it on record that I'm still against this," Rarity stated, for what had to be the fifth time since they'd begun walking towards the park.
"Yeah, we know, Rarity," Rainbow cut her off, as she nursed her sore arm. "Honestly, I don't get why you're making such a big deal out of it. It's not like you have to actually participate."
"That doesn't mean I have to enjoy watching my friends get into this kind of roughhousing nonsense," Rarity replied. "You do realize we could still get into trouble if we get caught doing this, even outside of school, right?"
"We're not gonna cause any serious damage, Rares," Applejack insisted. "Look, I'm just gonna get in, get it over with, and get cleaned up. Nobody will be the wiser. And Aria won't be riding our backs over this."
"I still don't like it," Sunset interrupted. "There's still the potential for disaster if somebody loses it, and considering how strong Applejack is, even without her geode—"
"I'm not gonna hurt anyone, Sunset," Applejack reminded her, removing the pendant from around her neck. "I know how to control my own strength."
"Well, if you're sure," Fluttershy mumbled, "I'll support you."
They made their way up the path, finding the Dazzlings sitting around on a park bench. Aria was eagerly cracking her knuckles in preparation, while Sonata and Adagio looked on, both smiling eagerly. It was enough to make the pit in Sunset's stomach somehow drop even deeper.
"Are you absolutely sure about this?" she asked Applejack one more time, desperately looking for a way out.
"I'm sure, Sunset," replied Applejack. "Don't worry. Ain't nothin' gonna go wrong."
"So, you're my opponent, huh?" asked Aria, rolling up her sleeves. "Let's get this show on the road, everybody!"'
Sunset and Rarity groaned quietly, but made no move to stop what was about to happen. They, along with Fluttershy, had been outvoted. Several annoyed glares were sent Twilight's way, who just shrugged in response.
Applejack handed her geode over to Rainbow Dash, just to be one hundred percent certain she wouldn't accidentally use it during the fight. Cracking her own knuckles, mirroring Aria, Applejack walked up to Aria, the two facing each other with their hands at their sides.
"Alright, I'll referee," said Adagio.
"Right," grunted Sunset, "no risk of biased decisions there, between your companion for centuries and one of the girls you've previously fought against."
For a moment, Adagio turned to Sunset and studied her. "It's sweet you think Aria and I care about each other enough that I'd show her favoritism. Misguided, though." Then Adagio addressed the fighters. "Once again, no crotch shots, no hair pulling, no biting, and the fight is over when one of you taps out. Other than that, anything goes. Any questions?" Nobody had any questions. "Very well. Three...two...one...go!"
Aria immediately leaped into the fight, throwing the first punch, but Applejack had expected this, and ducked under the blow. She responded with a quick punch of her own, aimed at Aria's stomach, in order to test just how the siren would respond to her strength. Aria grunted as she felt the attack ram into her body, but recovered quickly and backhanded Applejack across the face, knocking the farm girl back.
"You got a pretty good arm, I'll give you that," Aria chuckled, advancing on Applejack.
Aria reached for Applejack's arms, aiming to immobilize her, but she managed to somersault away, jumping back to her feet.
"Wasn't expecting any compliments in the middle of a fight," she grunted, raising both fists again, "but thanks, I guess."
Rarity winced as Applejack nailed Aria with another light punch, this one right between the eyes. The siren staggered, long enough for Applejack to dash around and place her opponent in a full nelson hold.
"You know," Applejack quipped, keeping a smile on her face even as Aria struggled in her grip, "this would be an excellent time to tap out. Save us both some energy."
"Are you—urk—kidding?!" Aria exclaimed. Applejack's smile faded as she saw the look of pure ecstasy on her opponent's face. "This is when it really gets good."
Aria suddenly planted both feet firmly on the ground, bending her knees as much as she could in her current position. With a sudden movement, she sprang into the air, leaning backwards and letting Applejack take the full brunt of her weight. The farm girl had no time to prepare herself for the sudden shift, and slammed into the grass, Aria landing on top of her. Applejack lost her grip on Aria almost immediately.
"Oooh, she's gonna feel that one in the morning!" laughed Rainbow Dash, only to be silenced by another angry glare from Sunset.
"Whooo! Go Aria!" cheered Sonata, throwing her fists into the air.
Free from Applejack's restraint, Aria rolled over, before planting one knee on Applejack's stomach, using one hand to grab both of her arms and hold them above her head. The other hand formed a fist, and struck Applejack across the nose, causing everybody to flinch as though struck themselves.
"Yield," Aria said. It wasn't a request, or a suggestion. It was a command.
Defiant to the end, Applejack managed to shake her head. "Never," she growled, her competitive spirit showing itself once again.
"Come on, Applejack, show her what you're made of!" cheered Pinkie Pie, jumping up and down.
Aria smirked once again, before reeling back and punching Applejack's face once again. However, what she failed to account for was that Applejack had anticipated this move. Using Aria's momentum against her, Applejack rolled to the side, dragging the siren with her. Aria lost her balance and fell, slamming sideways into the grass. Getting to her feet, Applejack yanked her arms upwards, yanking them out of Aria's grip.
Grabbing the siren by the shoulders, Applejack shoved her face-first into the ground, causing Aria to slam her eyelids shut as dirt clouded her vision. Some of it managed to get into her mouth, causing her to cough. Applejack then seized both of her wrists, restraining her arms behind her back, and pinning them down. The farm girl then planted herself on Aria's legs, right above her knees, preventing her from getting to her feet.
"Your turn, partner," Applejack chuckled, even as Aria writhed and struggled beneath her grip. "Yield."
"No...way..." Aria managed to get out, through a mouthful of dirt. She snapped her legs backwards, desperately trying to kick Applejack in an attempt to loosen her grip, but the farm girl held on strong, even as Aria's heels collided with her back. And the more Aria fought beneath Applejack's weight, the more she felt her face rubbing against the Earth beneath her, sending more dirt into her mouth. As much as she hated to admit it, Aria didn't think she could get out of this hold.
Reluctantly, Aria raised on of her pinned feet, tapping the tip twice against the ground.
Adagio pulled out a whistle from around her neck, blowing into it once. "KO, everybody!" she shouted. "That's a wrap!"
Applejack immediately got off of Aria's back. Before anybody could do anything else, Rainbow Dash charged over to them, got on her knees, and slapped her palm on the ground three times. "Uno! Dos! Tres!" she shouted, before grabbing Applejack by the wrist and thrusting her arm skyward. "WINNER!"
"Very funny, Rainbow," Applejack deadpanned. She turned her attention back to Aria, who'd managed to roll over onto her back. Applejack offered her a hand. "Need some help?"
Aria accepted the offer, letting Applejack pull her back to her feet. "Thanks," she grunted, spitting out a few more particles of dirt.
"Okay, let's get everybody cleaned up," said Rarity. "We Can't show up for school tomorrow covered in grime, it simply won't do!"
A few minutes later, the group had gathered together at Rarity's house, where the various small cuts and bruises the two combatants had suffered where being cleaned up. Rarity, being Rarity, had insisted the two shower before doing anything to them, and had practically forced everybody else to clean up the dirt they'd tracked in. Aria and Applejack were currently left alone in one of the spare bedrooms, waiting while the others got the medical supplies together.
"Ow..." Aria grumbled a bit, rubbing her stomach where Applejack's first blow had found its mark. The skin was already starting to darken around the affected area. "You got a heck of a punch, cowgirl. Where'd you learn to hit like that on a farm?"
Applejack shrugged. "I got into a bit of roughhousing when I was young and stupid. You just sorta pick these things up." Then a question occurred to her. "Aria, why were you so eager to do this whole fight? Did you really not trust us, or what?"
"Well," Aria mulled over her words, leaning back in her chair, "I suppose, if you wanted me to be one-hundred percent honest, I didn't. Not completely. Don't take it personally, I have the same feelings about everybody we befriend. I mean, how can you really know somebody by just talking to them? When you're in a fight, with your fists doing the talking, that's when you see who people really are. So that's how I get to know people."
"I guess," Applejack replied. "Still not sure I'm ever gonna fully understand it, though. I can handle myself in a fight, as you're well aware by now, but I always saw it as something you do when you're standin' up for what you believe in. Sure, you could make the argument I was just defending us as a group when I agreed to this, but still. Punching somebody in the face...it ain't fun. It ain't something I like to do. I just don't see why you'd wanna get to know somebody that way."
"You didn't seem to mind when you were cleaning my clock," Aria quipped, then laughed at Applejack's shocked expression. "I'm kidding. I guess...it's not really that I find beating the crap out of people fun. Why I enjoy it though...it just sorta makes me feel alive. Don't get me wrong, I don't go looking for fights all the time. I box, which I use to get out the tension, and it works. I feel stronger when I'm in the middle of a smack down."
"Hm," Applejack responded, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "I don't really understand, but I ain't gonna judge you."
"Good," said Aria. "I guess you guys are cool enough to hang out with. After all, you were willing to put aside yourself to take me on. That speaks a lot to me about your character. And even if the others weren't too keen on it, they at least let you do it. I trust you guys now."
"I'm glad," replied Applejack with a smile. The two girls shared a warm, trusting handshake.