An "Unreal" Day

Princess Luna paced back and forth in front of the six ponies as she spoke, "You girls have pleased your Princesses and we enjoyed watching your skills in the arena! The tournament is not limited to just Death Match! We also have other styles of play such as Capture the Flag, Domination, Team Death Match, Warfare, Greed, Betrayal, and also the most demanding and skillful match type a pony can possibly play, Duel! We also have fun options such as special arenas that I made on the moon so ponies can play with Zero Gravity, Instagib, and many other modifications!"

Rainbow Dash and Applejack's ears suddenly perked up at hearing of this ultimate skill type game called Duel. "What's a Duel?!" Both girls blurted out suddenly.

Princess Luna let out a deep laugh at their enthusiasm and explained to them. "A Duel is a special game type where only two ponies play against each other under a ten minute timer. Once the timer expires, whoever has the most kills is hailed as the better player. Duels can be played on any Death Match arena, but we have specially crafted arenas specifically designed for Duels that tend to be a bit on the smaller side compared to your typical Death Match arenas. To be fair, Princess Celestia and I each let a pony take a turn picking out their most favorite and best arenas to play on. We normally do a best of three to start out to see who is the better competitor, and if each pony ties up the score, Princess Celestia and I decide what arena the both of you will play on next. Sometimes if we really enjoy watching a favorite match up, we may decide next time to increase the game to a best out of five, or perhaps a best out of seven in rare cases. Princess Celestia and I are major fans of Dueling and we often spend much time together in the arena battling it out when we are not busy hosting other matches and being the announcers for other ponies."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash both looked at each other and then back at the Princesses.

Princess Celestia giggled a bit and said, "I think you and Applejack would like to try out a little Duel wouldn't you?"

Applejack and Rainbow Dash closed their eyes and nodded their heads yes in excitement.

Princess Luna chimed in, "Well, since this is your first time experiencing a Duel, why don't you two play a single match to see what you think? Your friends can spectate the match as Princess Celestia and I will be the announcers for your game. We both were impressed with your skills and we think it would be very entertaining for us and your friends if you were to Duel.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack turned to each other. Both of them put their hooves to their mouths and spit on them. They then banged their hooves together and brought their heads close to each other. Each of them had a rather sinister grin on their faces as they couldn't wait to tear each others bodies to pieces inside the arena. For if any pony had the balls to go hoof to hoof against Rainbow Dash in a Duel, it was Applejack. She had giant balls. Not balls of steel, but giant balls of flak.

Pinkie Pie giggled and said, "It looks like it will be Rainbow Rockets versus Appleflak!

Princess Celestia walked over and said, "Since you both only know one arena, Princess Luna and I have decided that we will pick a popular Dueling arena for you. Our first pick is the popular Dueling arena called Pure."

Princess Luna used her magic to open the door to the arena named Pure.

The two tom-boys quickly ran over to the door and went through the portal.

Princess Luna and Princess Celestia both used their magic and teleported all the other ponies into the Spectators Mode. The four mares found themselves above the arena on a cloud made of magic where they could see everything clearly. If there was any obstructions such as roofs in the way, The Princesses used their magic to deal with the issue, so ponies who are spectating can see through them, but the ponies playing in the arena can not, nor can they see the spectators because they would be distracting to the players. There were royal servants who brought the mares tea and snacks, like popcorn, apples, and other treats for them, as they were about to enjoy the epic gore fest that was about to happen between Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

"I think after this match up, the Princesses are going to need us to do another Winter wrap up, except cleaning up all the meat giblets instead of snow!" Pinkie Pie suggested

All of her friends began to laugh at the thought.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack both realized that their inventory slots were full with every weapon in the arena and they had unlimited ammo.

Princess Celestia spoke to them both, "You are now in warm up time. Feel free to roam around the arena to find where each weapon is and power up before readying up. You also may want to take a few practice shots at each other before you're ready to start the match."

Both ponies ventured across the arena while taking notes of where the Shield Belt is located along with the body armor and of course, their most favorite weapons. Rainbow Dash was the first to find where everything was located and readied up. "Why isn't the match starting? I accepted and I am ready to play!" she asked out loud.

"Patience Rainbow Dash," the voice said, "We are both waiting for Applejack to accept and ready up. Applejack has not yet discovered where all the spawn points are for the weapons and power-ups. Be fair to her."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and began to fire Rockets across the arena. She saw Applejack coming near her and decided to blast her with a volley of rockets.

Applejack took some hard hits and yelled out, "Cut it out R.D.! I haven't found out where everythin' is yet and ya ain't helpin' me start this game any faster by ya messin' 'round like that! Ya hear?!"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes around and muttered, "Slow poke."

Applejack became confident and memorized where everything was in the arena. She consciously accepted that she was ready to play and the countdown began.

The voice chimed in for both ponies, "The match is going to start in three, two, one, PLAY!"

Applejack had spawned near the Rocket Launcher. She happened to pick it up for now even though it was not her forte. She quickly made her way over to where the lift jump was so she could get to the Flak Cannon as soon as possible.

Rainbow Dash had spawned near the Flak Cannon. She grinded her teeth in frustration that she would have to travel a bit for the Rocket Launcher, but she picked up the Flak Cannon for now.

As both ponies were making their way to their favorite weapons, they both met face to face.

Rainbow Dash sloppily fired a few rounds of flak balls at Applejack.

Applejack dodged the shots and returned fire with the Rocket Launcher.

Rainbow Dash was also able to easily avoid the blast from the rockets.

Both ponies were very sloppy with their precision because neither of them really enjoyed the weapon they currently were using.

After enough volleying, both ponies got closer to each other in desperation, as an attempt to finish off the other. Rainbow Dash fired a flak ball at the hooves of Applejack, and Applejack fired three spiraled rockets at Rainbow Dash's hooves. Both shots were fatal for each player and the effects left a heaping pile of burnt body parts from each player.

Pinkie Pie began to giggle madly and many of her friends were cheering at what they had just saw.

Upon respawning, both girls made their way to where their favorite weapons were supposed to be and were shocked to find that they were both gone. They both stood there in utter confusion until the voice spoke to them.

"You must have forgotten that this is a Duel and all the weapons have the same effect as other power ups in the game. Once a weapon is taken by a pony, it will not respawn until about twenty eight seconds. The same goes with other power ups such as health packs, and armor pick ups. The only item that takes longer to respawn is the Shield Belt, which is roughly fifty seconds. You can also check where there was the last death to see if you can still pick up weapons your opponent has dropped."

Rainbow Dash and Applejack raced at full speed to where their bodies were recently blown to smithereens. They both saw the weapons they wanted and began to fire their Enforcers at each other as they made their way over to them. Before either pony could pick up the weapon they desired, the weapons disappeared.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack both retreated as they continued to fire shots at each other while backing away. A few rounds from each Enforcer being fired just so happened to penetrate through both competitors bodies and chunks of their flesh flew into the air. Neither pony was very accurate with shooting their enforcers because they were firing them too fast and the faster a pony who fires bullets out of an enforcer, the more inaccurate the shots would be. This was especially true in secondary firing mode where the weapon would fire a triple round burst rapidly. There was a certain timing window that one would have to learn and get a feel for when it came to firing the bullets with pin point accuracy. Even though each bullet fired from the Enforcer only did twenty hit points worth of damage when it hit an opponent, every point of damage was worth it in this desperate struggle for dominance in the Dueling arenas.

The voice spoke to them again. Weapons that are dropped from opponents will only stay there for a certain amount of time. You need to collect them quickly before they disappear."

Both competitors made their way through the arena picking up as many power ups and weapons as they could, so that they didn't fall into the wrong hooves. Applejack picked up the Chest Armor with a few health vials as well as the Shock Rifle and the Stinger Gun. Rainbow Dash collected the Bio Rifle, some health vials and the Sniper Rifle. Both ponies were desperately trying to keep mental notes and get that feel for when their most favorite weapons would respawn. Even though Rainbow Dash's timing was excellent, Applejack was by far the best at timing things since timing and collecting the weapons and items reminded her of reaping during the harvest on the farm. Applejack was always on time when it came to waking up in the morning and laboring in the fields and she did just as well in the death match arenas when it came to grabbing the goods. It was almost like she had an internal clock within her that told her exactly what time the items would be respawning. There were many times where she would step hoof over an empty repsawn point for an item or weapon, and just as her hoof crossed over the empty spawn point, the item or weapon would spawn at that exact moment in time. Being late for anything was not of the Apple family way and Applejack proved that in the arenas as well as out of them. She was even timing the Health Vials.

Health Vials were scattered around many arenas and made an interesting sound when a player picked one up. Taking this health item could be dangerous because it often gave away the position of a player who was collecting them since opponents could hear the loud sound as well. Even though collecting a single Health Vial only added five health points to a player's hit point count, this health item, as well as the Big Keg O' Health, could actually grant the player's health points to go over one hundred, unlike collecting your typical health pack that gave twenty five health points. Health Packs would not grant any more health points once a player reached one hundred health points and they could not be collected by a player who has one hundred health points or more. Health Vials in a Duel could not be taken by a player that has reached the maximum amount of health points. In a Death Match game or other game type, Health Vials could be collected as a means of not allowing your opponents to collect them even if the player collecting them had already maxed out on health points.

The ponies sensed that the most important power up in the game was about to spawn. The Shield Belt.

Rainbow Dash made her way back towards the Shield Belt upon learning that Applejack had already grabbed the Chest Armor for herself, and Applejack came down from above when she realized the Bio Rifle was taken. They both met at a fairly close distance and began to fire shots at each other as they both danced around and moved closer to the Shield Belt spawning point. Applejack fired a few pulse balls from the Shock Rifle and shot one of the balls with the primary fire mode. She missed. "How in tar-nations does Twilight Sparkle get kills with this doo-hickey?" Applejack muttered to herself. Applejack was still standing still and tried to connect another shock combo without moving. This was now the perfect time for Rainbow Dash to unleash a nearly fully charged Bio Rifle shot. Applejack tried to move out of the way, but it was too late. The giant glob of goo landed on her body and stuck to her, dealing damage over time.

Applejack watched her health drop dangerously low to where she only had five health points. Thankfully, having collected a few Health Vials and the Chest Armor, it was just enough to keep her alive.

Applejack realized that she wasn't exactly the master of using the Shock Rifle, so she switched to the Stinger Gun and began to blast away at Rainbow Dash. The rounds fired away at blistering speeds as Applejack performed a double jump towards a nearby wall and then dodged off of the wall with hopes to avoid any other nasty surprises that Rainbow Dash may have in store for her.

Rainbow Dash took out her Sniper Rifle. She had no idea how much health or armor Applejack had left, but she wanted to be safe and instead of using the Enforcer or the primary fire of the Bio Rifle, she decided to go with the Sniper Rifle to make sure that she would land the killing blow. Rainbow's health began to drop rapidly. She was shocked that Applejack adapted so well to the Stinger. Rainbow Dash took a few shots at her friend. "Miss! Miss, and missed again!" she muttered to herself. "I wonder how Rarity is so darn good with this weapon when it comes to head shots and I can't even get a single body shot off of Applejack! Rarity makes this weapon look so easy to use." Rainbow Dash had to seriously step up her game because her health was being chipped away rapidly. She fired another shot and it just barely missed Applejack's body.

Applejack continued to blast at Rainbow Dash and Rainbow eventually died from the gun fire. Applejack whipped the sweat off of her brow and said to herself, "Golly! That was a close one!" Suddenly she heard a loud charging like noise and she looked down, she happened to be standing directly on top of where the Shield Belt spawned and she was now covered in this amazing glowing shield. She took special note that the shield gave her an extra one hundred hit points that had to be fully absorbed first before effecting her health points. Applejack suddenly realized that it must have been way past time to pick up her Flak Cannon, so she ventured up the stairs and hurried over to grab her precious Flak Cannon. Upon picking it up, she realized that even with the Shield Belt, she only had one hundred and five hit points all together. This was a unique kind of protection she was wearing because wearing body armor like the Thigh Pads, the Chest Armor, or the Helmet, divided the damage taken to a player, meaning that part of the full damage given to a player would be partially absorbed into the body armor and the rest of the damage would effect the player's health points. The only bonus feature of the body armor was from the Helmet. While it only gave twenty extra hit points in armor, it greatly absorbed the bonus damage taken from a head shot from a shot from the Sniper Rifle. The Chest Armor gave fifty extra hit points, and the thigh pads gave thirty extra hit points. Many times, if a player was very low on health and had lots of armor, then that player would still die from being hit even if he or she still had plenty of armor points left. It was possible on certain arenas to max out on hit points which was one hundred ninety nine health points and two hundred shield and armor points put together. A pony could have a massive total of three hundred ninety nine hit points all together.

Applejack had a choice to make right now. Should she venture out and collect some health packs? Or should she attempt to steal Rainbow Dash's beloved Rocket Launcher so that she can dominate and control the arena? Applejack got greedy and decided to try to see if she can attempt to take the Rocket Launcher before Rainbow Dash could. This was a huge mistake because by the time Applejack ran over and grabbed the Flak Cannon, Rainbow Dash was already able to grab the Rocket Launcher for herself. As Applejack made her way back downstairs towards the Rocket Launcher, Rainbow Dash had used the lift jump and there was a large hole in the wall at the top in which she landed on a ledge. She had two rockets charged and rained them down upon Applejack. Applejack's body went air borne. She had no idea where the rockets came from as she frantically looked around the arena while she was in mid air. Rainbow Dash leapt down from the ledge and fired another rocket. The rocket didn't hit Applejack mid air, but Rainbow made a strategic shot that hit the wall behind her right above her head. The splash damage sure enough was able to kill Applejack. Rainbow Dash's confidence soared after that kill and she was filled with so much adrenaline right now. She stood over Applejack's corpse and did a pelvic thrust to show off that she was the dominant one in the arena. "Oh, yeah!" she said out loud.

Twilight Sparkle slapped the side of her face with her front hoof and said, "I can only imagine the taunting and other little victory dances and poses that she'll come up with. It's unreal how..."

Pinkie Pie interrupted Twilight Sparkle and said, "It's Unreal Tournament!"

Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes at all the puns and jokes that would come about the name of this tournament. Twilight continued but used a different word instead. "It's amazing how quickly she forgot about her lesson in humility when we made up that super hero, Mare-Do-Well. I am rooting for Applejack this game in hopes that Rainbow Dash might be humbled by a loss in a Duel."

"But this is Rainbow Dash we're dealing with," Rarity said. "It would take a miracle for her to learn and practice humility, especially when it comes to dealing with sports and games."

Twilight Sparkle sighed and said, "I'm not disagreeing with you on that. Let's just wait and see what happens." Even though the players could not see or hear the spectators, Twilight Sparkle leaned over and put her two front hooves to her mouth. "Go Applejack!" she shouted in hopes that somehow her cheering would encourage her to play better.

Applejack respawned and felt like she wanted to buck herself for not playing more conservative and picking up those health packs. She now had to start over and find new weapons to collect before Rainbow Dash took full control over the arena.

The battle raged on in what both the Princesses agreed was one of if not the most entertaining Duel matches they had ever hosted. The other four mares were constantly cheering and yelling in excitement, especially when Rainbow Dash or Applejack used their own personal favorite weapons.

Both competitors were shocked when Princess Celestia announced the five minute warning. They forgot that Duels were in fact much shorter than any other kind of game type. They both went into a frenzy battling for first place.

The body parts continued to fly throughout the arena as each pony was getting more desperate to do anything for a few more kills.

After the one minute warning, Princess Celestia would soon begin counting down the last few seconds of the game.

Rainbow Dash was currently ahead by two points. She was playing it safe by avoiding Applejack and forcing her to come find her as she did her best to collect as many health vials and armor as she possibly could.

Applejack was getting frustrated at this tactic and kept trying to chase Rainbow Dash down. She was able to score a few shots off her as she saw her running by, but none of the damage was really significant. As Applejack saw Rainbow Dash use the jump pad near the Rocket Launcher to grab the Stinger, she made a mental note that her path would include going to where the Chest Armor was. Applejack was near where the Rocket Launcher spawned and above her, there was a hole in the wall just big enough for a pony to run through. She knew that just beyond that hole, the Chest Armor had recently spawned because she heard the sound that it made when it had spawned. She made a prediction and fired a flak ball blindly though the hole in the wall and waited with great anticipation. Her ears were perked up and her eyes were locked onto the round projectile that went soaring through the air.

Applejack knew that listening to the sounds in this game was very important and gave vital information away, be it listening to the sounds of hoof steps, item respawns, or even hearing a pony charging up their weapons. Some sounds were way louder than others, but even the faintest sounds were just as important to listen to. She often heard the mechanical sounds of Rainbow Dash's most favorite weapon, when she was loading up multiple rockets or rocket grenades to fire around the corners, in hopes to catch Applejack out of position. Applejack often waited for the sound of her Rocket Launcher to fire first before charging into battle so that she wouldn't have to face dodging up to three rockets being fired at once as soon as they met during her encounters with Rainbow Dash. Even though Twilight Sparkle was the most sagacious and tactical player of the group, strategies like this and many others ran through Applejack's mind as well.

Just as Rainbow Dash zipped by, the ball of flak directly hit her body just before she was able to grab the Chest Armor and she was turned into a pile of bouncing meat giblets.

"That a girl A.J.," the farm pony said as she praised herself. "Just gotta get one more frag to tie it all up!"

By now, the final ten seconds were soon to be counted down by Princess Celestia.

Rainbow Dash giggled to herself with delight. She refused to consciously respawn and figured that she'd just wait out the final ten seconds without having to risk failing and letting Applejack go into over time. Little did she know that every time she thought she chose to consciously repsawn, that the Princesses were controlling that the entire time. Rainbow Dash respawned even though she did not wish to.

"WHAT!? HOW COME I RESPAWNED! I WON THE GAME! IT'S OVER!" the cyan mare shouted out to the Princesses.

The voice spoke back to her, "Now, now, Rainbow Dash, we have auto respawn enabled so that ponies can't do the exact same thing you're trying to get away with. Respawns are automatic in this match type so that each pony has the chance to make a comeback in the late stages of the game. Nice try though, but you have to play it out."

Rainbow Dash angrily shook her front hoof to the sky in protest at this rule.

As the timer went down to the final three seconds, Applejack had snuck up behind Rainbow Dash and shredded through her body with the primary fire of the Flak Cannon.

"OVER TIME!" the voice shouted out to both players.

Rainbow Dash respawned and raced over to grab the nearest weapon next to her. She picked up the Shock Rifle.

Applejack came around the corner from where the Shield Belt spawns and was now glowing with the effects of the power up.

They both saw each other in the distance and fired away.

Rainbow Dash fired the alternative fire hoping to connect a shock combo with the primary fire.

Applejack instantly reacted by firing a ball of flak.

The beautiful thing about firing the flak ball was that the firing mode gave the projectile an arching effect, and she was able to send the ball hurling over Rainbow Dash's own projectile.

Rainbow Dash suddenly looked up towards the sky, as the incoming ball of flak drew nearer and nearer to her face. She stood still waiting for the giant pulsing ball of energy to get close enough to Applejack, but it was too late. As the ball came closer to her face, she let out her final words before she died, "Aw, horse apples!" Before the ball landed against her face, she saw the smiling happy face that was drawn on each flak ball.

BAM! The flak ball tore through her and her body parts and insides went flying across the arena. Rainbow's liver ended up falling next to the hooves of Applejack. Applejack scooped up her friend's liver with her hoof and held it to the sky as she held her Flak Cannon in her other hoof. "Yee-Haw! This here is in honor of y'all, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia."

"Congratulations, Applejack is the winner!" Princess Celestia announced.