Chapters Entering the Deathmatch Arena
Twilight Sparkle and her friends stood outside the Princess's castle. There was something new about the entrance through the main doors where the guards stood. In front of the door, on the ground, were bricks that were carefully laid in a circle. There were lots of different colors of bricks, and the colors made a shape of what appeared to be a circle with jagged edges and in the middle of the circle were bricks in the shape of the letter "U" that had sharp ends like that of a knife or sword.
The guards welcomed Twilight and her friends inside and they guided them to the tea room where both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were patiently waiting for them. The Princesses welcomed their guests and they all sat down as the royal servants poured tea for everypony.
Twilight stared awkwardly at her cup thinking about that strange symbol she saw at the gates. Her curiosity got the better of her and she asked, "Princess Celestia, what was that strange symbol I saw outside the castle doors? What does it mean?"
Princess Celestia bowed her head in slight embarrassment and blushed a bit. "Oh, it's just something my sister and I are quite fanatical about and it represents a special game that we can't stop playing," she said.
Pinkie Pie knocked over her cup and spilled her tea in excitement. "Oh, Oh, Oh! What kind of game? I just love games! Can we play a game now?"
Princess Luna grinned at Pinkie Pie's enthusiasm and replied, "That is why we have called you here. To do an experiment with you all! To see if you'll enjoy something that we hold close to our hearts. We have a special set up in another room for all of you today."
Everypony looked at the Princesses with curiosity. They were very curious to see what the Princesses had in store for them and gulped down their teas quickly.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna looked into each others eyes and smiled with delight.
The guards led everypony over to a door. When the door opened, there was a spiraling stair case that ventured deep down into the ground. There were torches on the walls infused with a special kind of magic to keep them eternally lit. As they reached the bottom, there were multiple doors with names on them. The door that they happened to be standing in front of had the name "Bone Scraper" on it.
Twilight looked up at the Princesses with an unsure look on her face. "Where do these doors lead to and why do these doors have names on them?" she asked.
Princess Luna clapped her front hooves together with delight and said, "These doors are special portals to the arenas you will be playing in. Allow us to use our magic to show you around each arena."
Both Princesses lit their horns up and a magical vision was shown to all the rest of the girls about the arena layout, the weapons, and power-ups. The Princesses took them through a variety of different arenas that had all different kinds of environments and layouts that were all quite unique.
"What arena does everypony wish to play in?" Princess Celestia asked.
All the girls looked at each other with confusion. Twilight eventually spoke up. "I don't know Princesses. We don't know anything about the game, so why don't you pick out an arena for us to play in."
The Princesses giggled with delight as they used their magic to open the door to the arena of Bone Scraper. It was one of their most favorite arenas in the game.
Princess Celestia's tone of voice changed to a more serious tone. "Now before you all walk through the portal, I need you to put on these necklaces. They are powered with the most potent magic we could find in all of Equestria and you need to keep them around your necks or on your bodies at all times or the effects can be disastrous! These necklaces also contain a magic that will void Pegasus ponies their ability to use their wings while playing. It would be too much of an unfair advantage. Unicorns are also not allowed to use their magic in anyway to gain a mobility advantage such as teleporting."
Princess Luna used her magic to levitate herself over a box and then she opened up the box using her magic. Inside the box were golden necklaces. Each one had sparkling gems that were crafted perfectly into what represented each players cutie marks. These weren't the elements of harmony, but they looked similar. The gems seemed to glow with a very powerful magic that was inside of them. Discord was the one to help the Princesses create these special necklaces because they had the power to do one thing that was very unique and out of the ordinary. Princess Luna levitated each necklace out and gracefully placed one necklace around each pony's neck. She took a step back and looked at each player. "This is going to be so much fun! I have been practicing my traditional royal Canterlot voice for this occasion! Don't just stand there girls! Go in and have some fun!"
Twilight and her friends looked at each other with a look of uncertainty on their faces and cautiously stepped through the portal. Within an instant they were all standing in a very new environment.
Applejack took off her hat and scratched her head with her hoof. "What in tarnations is this place? How do we exactly play?"
Suddenly, a booming voice spoke to them. It was Princess Celestia. "The necklaces you are wearing contain your inventory of weapons that you will see at all times while playing the game. Each weapon also shows how much ammo it has. As you venture through the arena and find more weapons, it will be added to your inventory. Simply use your minds to go through your inventory and select what weapon you would like to use at the moment. Everypony starts out with a weapon called the Enforcer. It is possible to pick up another Enforcer and wield two at one time if you are able to defeat another opponent who also happens to be using the Enforcer or the Impact Hammer. Speaking of the Impact Hammer, you are also each given a special tool called the Impact Hammer that can be used as a weapon or as an ability to leap over certain obstacles or reach areas of the arena that cannot be normally reached. Do keep in mind that it comes at a small sacrifice of your current health, armor, or shield points. Every weapon has at least two different firing modes. Some even have alternative firing modes and can be used in creative ways. There is even a weapon that can form a third kind of effect if you connect the secondary fire with the first. You all have the ability to jump into the air, and then jump a second time while in mid air if you choose to do so."
Pinkie Pie jumped into the air and then jumped a second time as if she were jumping off of an invisible ledge that was in mid air. Pinkie Pie giggled madly at that neat ability and then consciously went through her inventory as the magic from the necklace glowed. Suddenly she pulled out her Impact Hammer and began to charge it in its primary mode. She pointed it to the ground and jumped. As soon as she jumped, she let go of the trigger and the force of the Impact Hammer sent her flying high into the sky and she landed on a ledge above her friends. "Wow! That was so much fun! You all should try it too!" Pinkie Pie said as she managed to contain her giggling.
None of the other girls seemed too excited to try it.
Rainbow Dash went through her inventory and took out her Enforcer. She pointed it around a bit.
Twilight Sparkle looked nervously at Rainbow Dash and asked, "What is the goal of this game again, Princess?"
"It's really simple, Twilight Sparkle," the voice replied. "The goal of the game is to frag each other and whoever has the most kills when the timer runs out, that pony is the winner."
All the girls looked at each other with horror on their faces.
Twilight Sparkle shot back at the voice speaking to them, "You mean you want me to murder my own friends? I can't do that Princess! That would destroy the power of our love and friendships! Is that what you dragged us here for? To give you and Princess Luna some kind of sick viewing pleasure as you both watch us blow each other's bodies into tiny pieces!?"
Princess Celestia replied, "This is just a game, Twilight. Just imagine you're killing them all with the love of friendship! Prepare yourselves! As Princess Celstia began the countdown, each player had a vision and could see the colored words that were being spoken by the Princess. "The match is now going to start in... Three.....Two.....One.... PLAY!"
Each pony vanished from where they were standing and suddenly each player found themselves alone in a different part of the arena.
Finding a Favorite Weapon
Rainbow Dash was the first pony to move. She seemed to have spawned at the top of a platform. She tried to use her wings to fly off, but she suddenly remembered that the necklace she was wearing had magic powers that forbid her from flying. She jumped down to the very bottom and began to search for weapons. She came across an odd looking metal floor and stepped on it. There was a loud noise and the metal floor raised her up quickly. Rainbow Dash felt her stomach do flip flops and the force of the lift almost sent her air borne. There in front of her face was a new weapon! She stood there and stared at it for a moment. As she was about to walk over to get it the metal platform lowered and she found herself on the lower ground again. "Hey! That's not fair! I was just about to grab a weapon when the platform decided to lower again! How come it won't go up again?!"
Princess Celestia spoke to her. "These platforms are called lift jumps. Once stepped on, they will raise into the air and stay erect for a short time. They are all timed as to how long they stay up and you will get the feel for how long they stay in the air before they fall back down. On this version of the arena, you can reactivate the lift jump simply by walking off the platform and stepping back on it, or by simply jumping up and down in place. In some arenas, or different versions of arenas, lift jumps will actually continue to lower up and down without you having to reactivate them. It all depends on the preference of an arena creator. Princess Luna and I spent much of our time creating these arenas and we have saved all of the older versions of our works, because it would be a shame to just forget about them after all of the hard work we put into them. Most of the newer versions of the arena's lift jumps will continue to rise and fall without a player having to reactivate them."
"But why are there different versions of the same arena? Why don't we just play on the most updated versions of an arena?" Rainbow asked.
"Because some players, such as I, prefer many of the older versions of some of the arenas and the environments were often changed during the redesigning process. I have a feeling that your friend, Rarity could perhaps help us with creating and decorating new arenas in the future. Other players may like the idea of having to manually reactivate a lift jump too. It's best to have more options available when choosing to play on an arena. Some of the older versions of arenas give off great nostalgia as well, even if they are not designed as well as the newer versions when it comes to top tier play level and competition. Go on, Rainbow Dash. Reactivate the lift jump."
Rainbow Dash jumped up and down and the platform raised up once more. She quickly stepped off of it and walked over to the new weapon. As she traveled over it, the weapon disappeared. Rainbow Dash was suddenly confused.
The voice spoke to her again, "The weapon is now gone because the magic of your necklace picked it up and it's now in your inventory. Use your mind to go through the item slots and pick out the weapon!"
Rainbow Dash did so and suddenly the Enforcer she was holding disappeared and she brought out the new weapon.
The voice continued. "That weapon is called the Link Gun. It's primary fire is very powerful and if aimed properly, it can take down an opponent within seconds. The secondary fire is much less damaging, but has a unique effect that will slow your opponents down if you are able to continually keep the beam on your opponent."
Rainbow Dash ventured across the arena looking for her first victim. She came across Rarity who happened to be staring at her Enforcer. Rainbow Dash aimed her gun and fired. The bolts that came out of the gun began to cut away at Rarity's health points rapidly. Rarity's vision began to turn red and she noticed her health dropping faster and faster.
Suddenly the voice spoke to Rarity. "Rarity, it would be a good idea to run and fire your Enforcer at Rainbow Dash until you can find another weapon."
Rarity began to run in a zig-zag like pattern to avoid the powerful blasts of the Link Gun. Suddenly Rainbow Dash couldn't aim very well and remembered that there was a secondary fire mode that had the power to slow her opponent down. She quickly switched over to it and a laser like beam shot out of the gun and she was able to keep it on Rarity for a long enough time to slow her down. Rarity turned around and fired her Enforcer back at Rainbow Dash in a desperate attempt to get away, but it was too late. Rarity's health points dropped down to zero and she died. Her body turned into a skeleton upon death.
Suddenly, Princess Luna shouted out, "FIRST BLOOD!"
Rainbow could see the bold red letters that spelled out first blood in her vision, and her eyes grew wide with horror. "Did I just murder my own friend? Is she dead for good now?" she asked aloud.
The voice spoke back to her, "No. I am speaking with Rarity right now. She can use her mind at any time to respawn again. The necklaces you are wearing have the power to reanimate your bodies again and I will select a new place for you to respawn. I am explaining this to every player right now."
Rainbow Dash sighed to herself a breath of relief. Just as she turned around, she was met with a grinning Applejack. She appeared to be holding a large weapon that represented something of a cannon. "Howdy partner!" Applejack said as she pulled the trigger and a blast of shrapnel spewed out of her weapon and tore into Rainbow Dash's body. The blast was so powerful, that it turned her body into a bunch of little meat giblets that seemed to bounce around the floor. "Yee-haw! That was fun!" Suddenly Applejack heard a strange noise that seemed to be getting louder and louder. "What in tarnations is that ruckus all about?"
Princess Celestia answered her. "Be careful, Applejack. Somepony is charging their Impact Hammer and is getting closer and closer to you. The Impact Hammer will do at least one hundred hit points worth of damage. You should collect some health vials or body armor to be safe."
"Aw heck! I'm a tough gal and I don't need no extra protection! I'm as rough and tough as they come and ain't no lil' Impact Hammer is gonna scare this farm girl when I got myself a Flak Cannon! Why I'm sure you can go..." Before Applejack could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by a "SURPRISE!" Suddenly, Pinkie Pie had blasted through her body with her Impact Hammer. Applejack's body was split into pieces and the parts of her body were scattered all around the floor. Pinkie Pie was covered in blood and gore. She put down the Impact Hammer and ran her front hooves down her face. She looked at her hooves and they were now covered in blood and the bits from Applejack's body. Pinkie Pie started giggling madly at the bloody mess that she made of her friend.
"Well done, Pinkie Pie!" the voice said. "The Impact Hammer has many uses including a power E.M.P. blast that can knock even the most mightiest power-ups off an opponent and you can grab them for yourself. Do keep in mind that it's not very logical to only use the Impact Hammer as a primary weapon. As the players adapt and get used to what the weapons do and how things work, you will be at a disadvantage in the long run because this weapon is strictly melee based and all the other players can hear you from a distance. I recommend using it more for arena mobility. Thankfully there are no real uses for the Impact Hammer when it comes to mobility for this arena, but there are many other areas of different arenas that you can gain easier access to thanks to the Impact Hammer."
Pinkie Pie frowned and replied, "But I love this weapon! I want a weapon that fires fast, at blistering speeds! What other weapon do you think I would like, Princess?"
"Look near where Applejack's corpse is. This weapon is called the Stinger. It fires bullets almost at the same speeds as when you talk. When you fire it, at first it may not seem as fast, but it will pick up speed shortly as you hold the trigger down. It also has a powerful secondary fire that can be very disruptive to your friends when they are attempting to line up shots against you. It fires out these powerful nail-like shards that knocks your opponents back with force. You can practically crucify your opponents to the walls with a few well placed shots!"
Pinkie Pie giggled at the idea and walked over to the Stinger. She quickly took it out and grinned. It was time to have some more fun!
Rarity respawned and she found her hoof was stuck inside the corpse of one of her dear friends. She couldn't even tell who it was because the body was so damaged and burned beyond recognition. She puffed her cheeks out as if she were trying to hold back the temptation to vomit at the sight she saw. She hoped the foul smell of the burnt corpse would not enter and offend her nostrils. "Ew! Ew! Ew!" Rarity shrieked, as she took her hoof out from the gory mess. "Why would you have me spawn here where I'm standing on top of a corpse?!"
As the corpse began to magically disappear, Princess Celestia spoke to her, "Sorry about that. I felt this place was the most appropriate spot right now because there are too many other battles going on around the arena and you have a better chance here to find a weapon and defend yourself."
Suddenly a loud explosion was heard from above. Rarity suddenly felt what seemed like a rain storm of body parts and a blood shower upon her body. "Ew! This is disgusting! I cannot go into battle with a messy mane or coat that is covered in blood! I need to feel pretty! Please let me at least find a comb in this arena!"
Princess Celestia spoke again, "You don't have to get too messy if you don't want to. If you're also worried about appearance, there are health vials, health packs, body armor, and the most important power up of all, the Shield Belt. These will greatly increase your hit points be it health, body armor, or shield. You will practically shine once you pick these items up. I think I have the perfect weapon in mind for you since you are the pony who has the 'eye' for things and pays attention to even the smallest of details going on. Hurry on over to the nearest jump pad. It will take you up to a spot that has a special weapon that will fit your needs exactly."
Rarity saw in the distance a ramp that led up to the jump pad. She hurried on over and walked over the pad. The pad activated and sent her flying on top of the platform. There she saw the Sniper Rifle. She walked over to it and brought it out from her inventory list. Rarity held the gun in one hoof and flicked at her mane with her other hoof in an attempt to flick the blood and gore out of her mane and to feel pretty once again. She put her eye to the scope and began to take aim. She saw Twilight Sparkle in the distance trotting over to find a weapon. BANG! Rarity had fired a shot but missed. This time she decided not to use the scope and tried her best. BANG! She fired another shot and it took her friend's head off instantly.
"HEAD SHOT!" Princess Luna called out.
Rarity saw the kill award in bold red letters in her vision.
Princess Celstia began to speak to Rarity, "A clean and honorable kill, Rarity! Well done! It looks like this will be your main weapon of choice! You now have the option to get kills without having to worry too much about getting covered in a gore fest."
Twilight Sparkle respawned. She was getting frustrated that Applejack seemed to be dominating this game ever since she found the Flak Cannon. Twilight Sparkle consciously went through the scoreboard. "Applejack is a head by fifteen kills right now and I don't even have one! I can't keep up with Rainbow Dash and Applejack's competitiveness. I just wish there was some kind of weapon that could give me an advantage and use some kind of strategy to out smart my opponents! I am a thinking and planning kind of pony! I'm not as fast as Rainbow Dash or Applejack when it comes to their reflexes! Oh, please help me, Princess!"
"I understand your troubles and I have spawned you next to a weapon that I feel will suit your needs," the voice said.
Twilight Sparkle walked over to the weapon and then took it out of her inventory. "The Shock Rifle?" she asked. "I might as well give it a shot." Twilight began to roam the arena looking for somepony to shoot. She stumbled upon Pinkie Pie who was bouncing off the walls that were now splattered with blood like a mad filly. Twilight took aim and fired a few shots with the primary fire. She couldn't even land one. Pinkie Pie turned around and began firing a spew of bullets that came out of her weapon. Upon being hit a few times, Twilight began to panic and switched to the alternative fire. She wasn't even trying to aim carefully, she just held down the trigger and a blast of powerful pulse-like balls began to shoot out. She connected a few hits with Pinkie Pie, but Pinkie Pie's mobility was next to flawless. No pony in the game had the same speed and mobility as Pinkie Pie did, and she had already mastered the wall dodge in the game. Twilight Sparkle began to back her flank up to the wall in an attempt to get away. Pinkie Pie switched her Stinger to the alternative fire and she connected a fatal shot to Twilight. The shot pierced through her throat and the force of the shot sent her flying back against the wall. She was pinned against the wall and her body was swaying slightly in the air.
Frustrated at another failed attempt to get a frag, Twilight consciously wished to respawn and she did again. The Princess spawned her at the exact same spot as before.
Twilight Sparkle became even more frustrated and cried out, "I have tried every weapon in this arena and I can't get one single kill! I was even doing better with other weapons. Why would you respawn me here again!?"
The voice answered her, "Twilight, you are not thinking. You have not learned that you can use the primary fire to connect a shot to the secondary fire and thus resulting in a huge area of effect explosion that does incredible amounts of damge!"
Twilight Sparkle picked the weapon back up and fired the alternative fire. She then shot the primary fire at the alternative fire and the result was a colorfully huge explosion. "That was awesome! That explosion reminds me of a sonic rainboom!" she said. "If I can properly predict where my opponent is moving before they actually do move, then I'm sure I can be successful with this weapon!" Twilight Sparkle hopped off of the ledge and ventured down to where the Flak Cannon spawn point is. She was hoping that she could find Applejack lurking somewhere around the Flak Cannon. Sure enough, Applejack eventually came back looking to pick up some more ammo for her Flak Cannon. Twilight Sparkle made some mental notes in her head and fired the alternative fire. She licked her lips in anticipation as the giant pulsing ball headed towards her friend. Once the ball reached a certain proximity she blasted it with the primary fire and the result was epic. Applejack was instantly killed and the bits and pieces of her body flew across the arena. Twilight Sparkle put down her gun and clapped her hooves with excitement. She went through the score board and saw that Princess Celestia added a kill point to her score board. "Oh! This is so wonderful I got my first frag and now I'm officially on my way to catching up to my friends. I bet if I practice with this weapon more, then I might have a chance of winning too! I should also practice connecting my shock combo shots as I'm moving to avoid being hit by other players."
BANG! a loud shot rang out from Rarity's rifle.
Rainbow Dash had lost her head again.....literally. Rainbow Dash respawned and checked the scoreboard. Applejack was still miles ahead of everypony else and now that egg head Twilight was starting to pick up some kills too. Rainbow Dash began to complain out loud. "This game is lame, Princess Celestia! You know I can't stand losing and none of these weapons are getting me anywhere. I need the absolute best of the best!"
"I have been watching you carefully," the voice said. "I have spawned you at what is considered the tier one weapon in the game. I'd like to introduce you to the Rocket Launcher. Even though all of the weapons are as best balanced as they can be in the game, the Rocket Launcher is an incredibly powerful weapon and a fan favorite amongst many other competitors in the tournament leagues. It has multiple modes of firing and you can custom fire the way you want your rockets or rocket grenades to come out. You can fire up to three rockets or rocket grenades, at once. You have a certain timing window, when you can fire the rockets or the rockets will fire by themselves, even if you don't take your hoof off of the trigger when loading up to three rockets to fire. When loading multiple rockets to fire, opponents will hear you in the distance just like any other weapon that has a charge-like ability. If you hover your reticules over an opponent for a long enough time, it's also possible to lock on an opponents body with missiles that will track and hone in on your opponent. They can often be easily dodged though in most cases. With enough skill, you can also air juggle your opponents and connect rockets mid air. It's one of the most rewarding and satisfying feelings in the game."
Rainbow Dash quickly walked over to the Rocket Launcher. She had only one thing in mind. To give Applejack some pay back for her abusive Flak Cannon skills. Rainbow Dash saw Applejack running along the edge of a platform fighting against Rarity. Rarity was on the lower ground doing her best to avoid the barrage of Flak Cannon balls while trying to take Applejack down with the Sniper Rifle. Applejack eventually landed a flak ball that connected with Rarity's face resulting in an instant and glorifying kill for Applejack. "How's that for a facial makeover, or more like an entire body makeover, Rarity?" Applejack said to herself with a grin as she looked at Rarity's scattered body parts.
Rainbow Dash began to hold the secondary fire down as she charged up three rockets to fire at once. She peeked her head out from the corner and called out, "Hey A.J., I heard you don't even need to aim with that thing. You are nothing but a spammer! Why don't you come off that ledge and do some battle with me?"
Applejack, being a little bit too confident, stepped down off the platform.
Rainbow Dash quickly leapt out from behind the corner with grace and agility. She fired all three rockets at the hooves of Applejack.
Applejack was sent flying into the air. The blast didn't kill her because she had collected enough health power ups and body armor to stay alive. Applejack tried to rain down some flak with the primary fire from the air. Some of the flak bounced off of the ground and hit Rainbow Dash. Other pieces of the hot glowing shrapnel scattered across the floor and then ricocheted off of a nearby wall.
Rainbow Dash patiently waited for the right moment and fired a single rocket into the air. She refused to even blink as the rocket came closer and closer to Applejack. The anticipation was killing her. BAM! The rocket connected mid air with Applejack's body before she was even able to hit the ground. Rainbow Dash squealed with delight as the body parts and blood of her friend rained down from the sky and covered her body. Applejack's scattered body parts were smoking and parts of her body were on fire. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! BEST WEAPON EVER!" Rainbow Dash squealed.
A great deal of time had gone by and Fluttershy had been cowering in the corner with her hooves covering her ears and her eyes were shut tightly. Everypony who ran by Fluttershy had refused to frag her because they knew that she was extra sensitive and that it might hurt her feelings if she died in the game.
The voice spoke to Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, you need to play."
Fluttershy's eye's suddenly opened wide and she replied, "Oh, but I just can't hurt my friends! I love them all and I just don't like the violence that I am hearing. It would scare my animal critter friends if they ever heard it. I don't want to play and you can't make me."
The voice spoke up again, "Fluttershy, what if I told you that Princess Luna and I are the administrators of this game and that it would displease us greatly if you refused to participate in this tournament. We also have the power to permanently ban you to the Everfree forest. Not that we would, but we're just reminding you that we could. There is a weapon near by called the Bio Rifle. We both agree that you would enjoy it because you like nature and well, the ammo has a rather unique effect on living organisms."
Fluttershy gulped at the thought of being banished to the Everfree forest and slowly stood on her hooves again. She bowed her head shamefully as she walked cautiously over to where the weapon was and walked over to it. She wanted to please the Princesses and make them happy. She went through her item slots and brought it out.
"Now this weapon is most useful in its secondary fire mode upon firing the first shot," the voice said. All you have to do is hold down the trigger of the alternative fire and charge up your rifle. Once it reaches full charge, you are free to hold it as long as you want, until you are ready to let go of the trigger and fire away. It will send a large blob of toxic goo that will land on the ground and smaller areas of the goo will break off and land around the area. Do be careful not to step in the goo after you fire it; it will kill you. We can't even recall the exact number of times Derpy Hooves had walked into her own land mine of goo and killed herself. The neat thing about this weapon is that it will deal at least two hundred five points of damage if you connect a fully charged shot. It's a great weapon to have when you need to make a comeback against somepony who is in control of the arena and has collected too many health points, or armor power ups. It's also an effective weapon for getting rid of somepony who has collected the Shield Belt or the Big Keg O' Health. Do keep in mind that while this weapon may not be nearly as loud as the Impact Hammer in its charging mode, ponies will still be able to hear you from a distance when you have your Bio Rifle charged up in its secondary firing mode. You also might want to take a few steps back after connecting a shot to somepony that is close by. They'll usually want to try hug you shortly afterwards, and not just Pinkie Pie."
"Hug me?" Fluttershy nervously asked. "What kind of game is this again?"
"Well, by hug I mean get close enough to touch or land on you if they know their hit points are low enough and they are fairly close to you. They explode upon death and can sometimes take you out as a last resort if you're not careful. I'm sure Pinkie Pie will attempt gooey hugs every time she gets hit by a large glob of goo because that would probably seem fun to her anyway."
"Oh, I see," Fluttershy said sounding disappointed.
"Go on, enough talk. Charge up your weapon and frag somepony!"
Fluttershy gulped again and took a deep breath. She squeezed the trigger with her hoof gently and held it down. A strange sound came out of the weapon as the Bio Rifle began to charge up. Fluttershy watched as a glob of goo formed at the tip of her gun and continued to expand until the gun was fully charged. She waited patiently for somepony to come by as she nervously hid behind a veil of her own pink mane. Fluttershy heard hoof steps coming and she braced herself. The tension was building up inside of her and she puffed her cheeks out as she held her breath. Could she do it? Could the sweetest, most caring, and loving pony in all of Equestria really kill one of her best friends? As the pony made her way around the corner, Fluttershy closed her eyes tightly and let go of the trigger. The blast of green goo shot out of her rifle. The goo connected and clung to the body of the victim. Within seconds the victim was dead.
Fluttershy, refusing to open her eyes asked aloud, "Did I do it? Did I murder my friend?"
The voice replied to her, "If you don't want to open your eyes and see for yourself you can consciously open the scoreboard with your mind and see if you were rewarded with a frag point or not."
Fluttershy gulped again and opened the score board. There she saw that she now had her first official frag. Fluttershy opened her eyes and saw the carnage that lay before her. She bowed her head down with guilt. Suddenly, she felt a hoof tap her on the back of her shoulder. She slowly turned around to see Pinkie Pie grinning from ear to ear. She was also covered in blood and gore. "Oh, I guess you're going to kill me now because I'm a bad pony and murdered one of our friends. Go ahead and just get it over with please," Fluttershy said in a depressing tone as she turned her head away.
Pinkie Pie put down her weapon and embraced her friend with a great big hug. "No way, Fluttershy! At least not at this moment, I just came over to congratulate you on such an awesome frag! I saw the whole thing happen! You blasted Twilight Sparkle and killed her before she even knew what happened! Great shot!"
"Oh," Fluttershy replied. "So you don't hate me? You're really not going to kill me for that?"
Suddenly out of no where, Rainbow Dash had used the lift jump tactic and she propelled herself high into the air. She had three rockets charged up. Right before she fired them, she called down to the two ponies who were huddled in the corner, "Pinkie Pie may not want to kill you now, but I don't mind doing it for her!" The rockets landed on top of the ponies and they were both instantly killed.
Within an instant, a deep booming voice that could only have been Princess Luna, glorified Rainbow Dash and cried out "DOUBLE KILL!"
Rainbow Dash began to roll around on the floor giggling to herself.
Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy had both respawned fairly close to each other. They both saw Rainbow Dash rolling around on the floor while cracking up with laughter.
Pinkie Pie called out over to Rainbow Dash from across the arena, "Hey! That wasn't fair! We were talking and you know that Fluttershy is a sensitive pony. You should say your sorry to Fluttershy!"
Rainbow Dash ignored her friend's request and continued to laugh.
Fluttershy looked over to Pinkie Pie and said, "Oh, that's ok. I don't mind."
Pinkie Pie scratched her head with her hoof and asked, "So you're not upset that Rainbow Dash was being cheap and mean?"
Fluttershy straightened up a bit and gathered some confidence. She looked back over to Pinkie Pie and said, "No, but I'm not going to let her push me around like that. I'm going to find my Bio Rifle and I'll show her who is boss!"
Pinkie Pie bounced over and connected her hoof with hers. "That's the spirit, Fluttershy!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "Don't let some silly filly boss you around like that! Kill her with kindness!"
Fluttershy giggled to herself as Pinkie Pie leapt off the ledge to find a new weapon. Fluttershy ventured back to the same spot where she first picked up the Bio Rifle. She had a smirk on her face as she charged up her weapon. "Come out, come out my little pretties," she whispered to herself.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash seemed to be butting heads together often and found themselves locked in intense and epic battles. They were both competing to see who could hold first place the longest on the score board.
Even though Rainbow Dash was competing for first place on the scoreboard, she had the most deaths out of all of the players because she was very reckless and aggressive with her play style. Rainbow Dash would often get so excited and full of adrenaline, that she would sometimes make careless mistakes and fire her rockets too close to her own body which resulted in a suicide, and the loss of a frag point. She did love the idea of taking down an opponent or even opponents before they could finish her off by firing a rocket near her own body, but she needed to practice and understand more when that time was appropriate for her to suicide in order to take an opponent down with her because sometimes she would fire her rocket near her body too soon and her opponent would survive the blast from her last resort kamikaze attacks.
Rarity was freelancing and picking off her friends one by one with the Sniper Rifle.
Fluttershy had a very low death count because she was a very conservative player, and she gathered up enough confidence to rack up an impressive amount of kills considering how long she was idle from being too scared to play at first.
Twilight Sparkle was starting to rank up with kills by playing intelligently and connecting epic shock combos with her Shock Rifle, and Pinkie Pie seemed to have the least deaths out of all her friends. Nopony could seem to keep up with her random wall dodges and unpredictable movements. Pinkie Pie was a target that was incredibly hard to hit.
Pinkie Pie Gets Amplified
Pinkie Pie found a jump pad and it propelled her into the air near the armor thigh pads and health vials. She closed her eyes with delight as she cried out loud, "Weeeeee!" When she landed at the top, there was some kind of small ledge where a glowing purple "U" symbol rotated slowly around in circles. Pinkie Pie went into a trance as she watched the beautiful bright purple "U" spin.
The voice spoke to Pinkie Pie, "Hop onto that ledge and pick it up. That power up is called the Damage Amplifier. It takes a long time for it to respawn once somepony takes it. Once you walk over it, your weapons will glow purple and that means the effect is working. You will notice at the bottom left corner of your vision that the "U" symbol will appear with a timer. Once the timer runs out the effect wears off. While under this effect of the power-up, your weapons deal twice as much damage than they normally do and other's can hear that the sound of your weapon will sound differently too. In certain arenas there is also a power up called the Berserk which doubles the fire rate of your weapons. It is possible on certain arenas to combine both the Damage Amplifier and the Berserk and you will be given the award, Juggernaut! Princess Luna and I wouldn't even be able to imagine the destruction you would be capable of with that possibility. We also can't imagine the destruction you'd be capable of with the Redeemer. In more competitive games, we sometimes have it banned though. There's also other pick ups we want to see you use like the invulnerability power-up, in an arena called Fearless or the Jump Boots that can be found on arenas like Deck Seventeen or Shangri La, and so on. Anyway, Hurry up and grab the Damage Amplifier before somepony else takes it!"
Pinkie Pie joyfully bounced on top of the ledge and walked over it. The weapon she was holding was now glowing purple and a buzzing-like sound filled her ears. Pinkie Pie noticed that the timer was starting to tick, so she quickly headed over to where she heard battles going on. Near the Flak Cannon, she found all of her friends fighting. Pinkie Pie began to grin like a mad filly and held down the primary fire of her weapon. The sound of the Damage Amplifier resonated throughout the arena. She quickly turned her focus to Rainbow Dash and easily took her out first before Applejack had the chance to finish her off. Applejack turned around and pointed her Flak Cannon at Pinkie Pie, but a hail of bullets under the effect of the Damage Amplifier was able to take her out before she was able to fire a single shot.
"DOUBLE KILL!" Princess Luna announced.
Twilight Sparkle had used the secondary fire of her Shock Rifle to try to stop Pinkie Pie from racking up any more kills. The moment before Twilight shot the giant pulse ball with her primary fire, Pinkie Pie had dodged away and took little damage from the blast. Twilight Sparkle went down quickly.
"MULTI KILL!" Princess Luna announced in a slightly more excited tone.
Rarity also turned away from her focus on killing Fluttershy and began to set her sights on the biggest threat right now, Pinkie Pie. Even though Pinkie Pie was dodging around like mad, Rarity gave it her best shot and fired away. She managed to connect a shot to Pinkie Pie's body which did a lot of damage, but it wasn't a head shot, so she was still alive. The shot from the Sniper Rifle happened to hit the left side of Pinkie Pie's flank, directly on her cutie mark.
Rarity almost hoped that there would be some kind of an award for hitting the cutie mark of a player since that would be a difficult shot to connect, but there was none. There was no award for hitting the wrong end of a pony with a shot from the Sniper Rifle.
Pinkie Pie blasted her away with a hail storm of bullets and Rarity went down in a rather dramatic manner.
"MEGA KILL!" Princess Luna cried out in excitement.
Pinkie Pie turned her focus on the last remaining pony in the arena. Fluttershy tried to do a hop, skip, and a jump to avoid the barrage of bullets, but she already took too much damage from being hit by Rarity's Sniper Rifle earlier. Fluttershy aimed her weapon at Pinkie Pie and fired a large glob of goo at her, but Pinkie Pie was just too much of a master at dodging around and the shot missed her. Could Pinkie Pie really finish off Fluttershy? Pinkie Pie felt a drop of sweat fall off of her nose. She felt bad, but she just had to see what the next kill announcement was. She fired a few shots and Fluttershy was killed almost instantly.
"ULTRA KILL!" Princess Luna screamed at the top of her lungs with praise. The entire arena seemed to shake at the booming voice of the Princess of the night. Suddenly Princess Luna made another major announcement for Pinkie Pie. "KILLING SPREE!"
Pinkie Pie noticed the Damage Amplifier getting low on time. Was there time for another kill? Could there possibly be another award for getting a kill after an Ultra Kill? Pinkie Pie quickly left the area where the Flak Cannon was and used the lift jump nearest the Link Gun. She soared through the air and realized that Rainbow Dash must have respawned somewhere fairly close to the Rocket Launcher. She figured that she probably respawned near where the Stinger was because she came from down the stairs on the left side to grab the Rocket Launcher.
They both may have been far off in the distance, but now was her chance. Pinkie Pie unleashed another hail storm of bullets that tore through Rainbow Dash's body. Even though she was quite far away, Pinkie Pie could see the large chunks of flesh being torn off of her friend's body from the powerful rounds of the Stinger that penetrated through Rainbow Dash's body. Pinkie Pie had the intuition that she had to have been getting these kill awards based on a certain timing window of how fast you can kill somepony.
Rainbow Dash had two options right now. She could either turn and go back up the stairs since there was a large wall that would guarantee her protection from the hailstorm of bullets and she could grab the Rocket Launcher later, or she could be risky and try to attempt to dodge toward the Rocket Launcher in order to pick it up and defend herself better. Rainbow Dash was not a pony who enjoyed the idea of retreating in battle and found that it would be cowardice on her part for her to make a tactical retreat. She was also a big risk taker and loved the thrill of trying dangerous and risky things. However, Rainbow Dash could not seem to figure out where to draw the line between the risk and reward satisfaction, and just plain old stupidity. This behavior was very similar and could be tied in together with how she sometimes can't figure out where to draw the line between arrogance and confidence. Rainbow Dash made up her mind and decided to go with the careless mistake of attempting to dodge near the Rocket Launcher to pick it up.
Pinkie Pie figured out that she would try to do that and kept her focus on her, finishing her off quickly. She made it just in time before it was too late to get another killing award.
"MONSTER KILL!" Princess Luna cried out.
Pinkie Pie suddenly heard a strange blaring sound that was ringing in her ears. She noticed that the time on the Damage Amplifier was running out. Suddenly the timer hit zero and the glow of her weapon died off. Pinkie Pie checked the scoreboard and giggled with delight at all the praise Princess Luna was giving her for her kill achievements. She hadn't seen so many red bold letters in her vision before. She was now officially in first place for the moment. She was thrilled that she was the first pony in the arena to not only get the first Monster Kill, but also the first to get at least five kills without dying which resulted in getting the Killing Spree award. Pinkie Pie wondered how many more killing awards she could possibly get before somepony would end it. Pinkie Pie looked to her left and noticed that Fluttershy grabbed the Bio Rifle again. The pink pony cried out to her friend, "Fluttershy! I'm so sorry I killed you like that. I hope you're not mad at me!"
Fluttershy noticed her friend and warmly smiled back and said, "Nope. I'm not mad, but congratulations on getting your first Killing Spree. Way to go! You rock! Whoo-Hoo!"
Pinkie Pie grinned with delight that Fluttershy's feelings were not hurt and joyfully bounced away.
The time continued to tick away and the match was about to end soon. Princess Celestia announced to everypony, "Five minuets remaining!" Everypony suddenly checked the scoreboard and all the players were neck and neck when it came to grabbing first place.
Fluttershy happened to have the lowest score considering that she didn't play for awhile, but even she made a steady comeback. The ponies went into panic mode and began to really strive for first place. The battles became more frantic than ever and body parts continued to fly throughout the entire arena.
Rainbow Dash sped through the arena looking for kills. She found Rarity crouched low to the floor while trying to connect head shots from a distance with her Sniper Rifle. Rainbow Dash smiled a sinister grin at the easy kill. "Camping in this game gets you nowhere, Rarity," Rainbow Dash muttered to herself. She hopped down from a nearby ledge, like a tiger springing into action to capture its prey. She unleashed a rocket that landed at the hooves of Rarity.
Rarity went flying into the air. She set her focus on Rainbow Dash and fired a shot at her from mid air, but she missed because Rainbow Dash had dodged away and it was rather awkward for her to fire down from mid air.
Rainbow Dash fired another rocket and waited as she watched. The rocket was going to be a sure winner for her and an epic kill. Rainbow Dash licked her lips as the rocket got closer and closer.
Bam! Right before the rocket connected to Rarity's body, Applejack had lobbed a flak ball into the air and stole her kill.
Rainbow Dash blinked several times in disbelief. "What!?" she cried out. "That kill was clearly mine! Why you no good dirty kill stealer, you!"
Applejack laughed and said, "She was fair game, Rainbow. I was just pickin' off the left overs just like I do at dinner time when Granny Smith leaves a bunch of goodies in the fridge. That Flak ball was an epic shot, wasn't it?"
Rainbow Dash grinded her teeth together and then let out a battle cry in rage as she fired a rocket at Applejack.
Applejack tried to dodge away as she fired a shot back at Rainbow Dash. The proximity of the rocket sent her close to the wall in the corner, which gave Rainbow Dash more options to place her rockets against the wall near Applejack so that she could kill her with the splash damage from the explosion.
Rainbow Dash dodged Applejack's shot and fired another rocket at her friend.
Applejack was trapped. There wasn't much she could do because she was in an odd position to be able to dodge the splash damage. Being backed up into a corner like this, she only had one option to be able to escape.
A glowing light had distracted Rainbow Dash's focus that she had on her rocket. It would land the killing blow.
"Oh no!" Rainbow Dash cried out as she noticed a giant pulsing ball was also headed towards Applejack. Rainbow Dash watched her rocket and the pulsing ball from the Shock Rifle get closer to Applejack.
Applejack looked up at the pulsing ball of energy and then she looked back to the rocket. Her only chance to dodge away from the rocket was being blocked by the giant pulsing ball. "I guess I'm damned if I do, and damned if I don't," Applejack said with a smile.
Bang! Right before the rocket was able to finish off Applejack, somepony had connected their Shock Rifle combo shot and finished off Applejack.
Applejack's parts were sent flying and one of her front legs ended up whacking Rainbow Dash upside her forehead.
Rainbow Dash looked up and saw Twilight Sparkle giggling.
Twilight Sparkle waved at Rainbow Dash and then saluted her. Sure enough, she was holding the Shock Rifle.
This was getting ridiculous for Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash fired a rocket at Twilight Sparkle, but Twilight jumped off the ledge. As she was in mid air, a giant glob of goo flew across the arena and connected with Twilight's body. Twilight landed near the wall, where Applejack had recently been blown away as she watched her health points drop rapidly in her vision.
Rainbow Dash fired a rocket out of desperation and said a prayer that the rocket would connect before the glob of goo clinging to Twilight's body, had the chance to finish her off. The rocket hit Twilight and she was killed.
Rainbow Dash waited to see the kill confirmation, but there was none. "What!?" she cried out. Why didn't I get that kill?"
"I guess you didn't get it in time, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said. "As they say, the early bird gets the worm!" Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash and noticed the very angry expression on her face. Fluttershy put her hoof to her mouth in shock. "Rainbow Dash! You're not angry are you?"
"I'm not angry," Rainbow said. "I am furious! This is the third time somepony stole my kill!"
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, you can kill me and I won't fight back. I don't want your feelings to get hurt, even if my shot would have killed Twilight Sparkle without you having to fire that rocket," the yellow meek mare said.
"I think I'll gladly take that offer, thanks!" Rainbow said as she fired a rocket at Fluttershy
The rocket directly hit her body, but Fluttershy was still alive because she was a conservative player and enjoyed collecting and timing the respawns of the power-ups and health packs. Taking care of boo-boo's and healing battle wounds was something Fluttershy enjoyed doing.
Rainbow Dash sent another rocket, but right before it hit her, a blue shard had come out of no where and went through Fluttershy's left ear and came out of her right ear.
Fluttershy was killed and her head was pinned against a nearby wall from the powerful force of the secondary fire from the Stinger.
"Wow, Dashie! Did you see that shot? Right between the ears!" Pinkie Pie said in between her insane sounding giggles.
Rainbow Dash let out a nervous little laugh and said, "Everything's working against me right now. This must be punishment for when I killed both you and Fluttershy when you were trying to comfort her in the corner, isn't it?" She was starting to get really fed up. "I can't take it anymore. Pinkie Pie, you're going to die, NOW! Pinkie Pie, die!" Rainbow Dash fired a rocket at her pink friend.
Pinkie Pie easily dodged the shot. "Or more like Pinkie Die, but that is only if you can kill me first. You've got to work hard for your kills in the arena," Pinkie Pie said in a cheerful tone of voice. "What's the matter Dashie? Are you mad because you just got burned from that epic kill steal? Maybe they should call this game, Unreal Burnament for you!"
"This is so not cool!" Rainbow Dash yelled out as she fired another rocket at her. Pinkie Pie dodged the rocket returned fire with the primary fire of the Stinger.
They both danced around and made some amazing dodges and movements.
Rainbow Dash couldn't aim very well because Pinkie Pie was just incredible at being unpredictable. Rainbow Dash figured that instead of trying to hit her, why not try something illogical and aim away from her, since this was Pinkie Pie that she was dealing with? Rainbow Dash fired a rocket away from the pink pony, and Pinkie Pie accidently dodged directly into the rocket because she wasn't expecting Rainbow Dash to fire such a random shot.
Pinkie Pie went flying into the air and the armor that she was wearing absorbed most of the damage.
"Now is my chance!" Rainbow Dash said as she fired another rocket at Pinkie Pie. "What goes up, must come down, and hopefully it comes down in the form of cooked meat giblets."
Ponies still had some kind of air control where they could move around slightly in mid air, but when being launched in mid air from the blast of a weapon, there wasn't really too many movement options for a pony to do.
Pinkie Pie continued to blast away at Rainbow Dash from the air.
Rainbow Dash tried to dodge around the shots, but Pinkie Pie's hit scan accuracy was disturbingly high. Perhaps she was so pumped full of adrenaline from this epic battle that they were having.
The rocket hit Pinkie Pie, but Rainbow Dash had died from the many bullets that tore through her body.
Rainbow Dash respawned and waited for a kill confirmation. She waited for a while, but didn't see one. She cried out, "That rocket shot didn't kill Pinkie Pie? Is this some kind of sick joke?"
Some giggling could be heard near by.
Rainbow Dash turned to see Pinkie Pie standing on the ledge that spawned two health packs. "Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow Dash cried out. "How many health points do you have?"
"Fifty one!" Pinkie Pie replied in a cheerful voice.
Rainbow Dash realized that she was standing where two health packs spawned and said, "No, no, no! I mean how many health points did you have when I hit you with that rocket earlier? You couldn't have had that many left! I know that you had armor, but I still can't believe that you survived."
Pinkie Pie giggled madly and said, "Oh, but what's the fun in knowing now? I was going to tell you later after the match, so that it could be more of a surprise."
"I need to know now!" Rainbow Dash yelled.
"I had one health point left," Pinkie Pie said with a sly smile
"Unreal!" Rainbow Dash cried out.
"Unreal Tournament!" Pinkie Pie replied and then happily bounced away.
Rainbow Dash grinded her teeth in sheer anger and then banged her head several times against the wall in an act of pure frustration. "This is worse and more cruel than the time when I waited hours for Applejack's home made apple cider only to find out that they ran out of cider when it was my turn to be served," she said. The head banging was short lived when Rainbow Dash and all the other players heard a familiar voice and saw the message.
"One minute remaining," Princess Celestia announced.
The Winner of the Deathmatch
The players were now starting to do very risky things at this point. Anything out of desperation to rack up a few more frags.
"Thirty seconds left," Princess Celestia announced.
Twilight Sparkle bit her lower lip when she realized that Applejack and Rainbow Dash were still ahead of her with the kill count. She was currently tied with Rarity and Pinkie Pie. She shook her head quickly and charged back into battle.
Princess Celestia began counting down the final seconds of the match and the players noticed the count down that they saw in their vision. "Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three Two. One..."
At the last second, Applejack connected a mid-air flak ball with an airborne Rainbow Dash. Rainbow's body parts came down bouncing all around her.
"I did it! I won the tournament!" Applejack cried out.
Princess Celestia suddenly announced, "OVER TIME!"
Applejack's heart sank deep within her chest. She thought she had it won, but she realized that she was now tied with Rainbow Dash and it all came down to who would get the final kill and win the tournament.
Twilight Sparkle checked the score board. She was only one kill away from tying it all up. It would take two kills for her to win the game. As she moved through the arena, she noticed in one corner that Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity were all duking it out trying to rack up just a few more kills before Rainbow Dash or Applejack took the game. Twilight Sparkle felt conflicted. She knew she shouldn't be spending any time trying to kill her other friends. She had to find Rainbow Dash and Applejack before one of them would take the final kill. It was her only hope. Twilight Sparkle knew that Applejack and Rainbow Dash would be desperate to find each other, so she waited by where the Shield Belt was. She noticed in one corner of the arena, Applejack came bounding out of the right side of where the Flak Cannon spawns. She was charging at full speed towards the jump pad closest to where the two health packs spawned. She also noticed Rainbow Dash coming from around the corner from where the Rocket Launcher and armor thigh pads were. She made a mental note to herself about what was about to happen. She predicted that both ponies were going to meet face to face in mid air. Both ponies would be on a suicide mission and whoever's weapon would be able to kill first, would end up as the winner. Twilight Sparkle moved around slightly hoping not to be noticed by the other ponies.
Sure enough, Rainbow Dash used the lift jump on the left side closest to the two health packs, and Applejack used the jump pad on the right side that was also right by the two health packs. Rainbow Dash had her three spiraled rockets charged and ready to blast Applejack away, once she reached a certain proximity, and Applejack had her Flak Cannon ready to fire in primary mode when she got close enough to Rainbow Dash.
Twilight Sparkle used the alternative fire of her Shock Rifle and waited. The tension was so extreme that she could feel the sweat dripping from her head. The second before Rainbow Dash or Applejack fired either of their weapons, the giant pulsing ball came within a certain proximity of the two while they were both mid air and Twilight Sparkle fired a primary shot at the ball that connected. The blast resulted in an epic explosion and the area of effect damage killed Rainbow Dash and Applejack instantly. Their body parts fell to the floor in heaping clumps.
"DOUBLE KILL!" Princess Luna cried out with praise.
Suddenly, all the other ponies weapons disappeared and the rest of the ponies found themselves standing in a circle around Twilight Sparkle.
Princess Celestia announced, "Congratulations! Twilight Sparkle is the winner!"
Twilight Sparkle stood there in shock and awe. She eventually spoke up, "You mean I did it? I won the tournament? I was able to beat Rainbow Dash and Applejack?" Twilight Sparkle began to hop up and down in place in sheer joy and giggled to herself.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash both turned their attention away from Twilight and stared fiercely into each other's eyes.
"If this egg head didn't interrupt my final kill, there's no way you would have gotten that kill first A.J.!" Rainbow Dash said in a rather mocking tone.
"Nuh-uh!" the farm pony replied. "I had everythin' perfectly timed and my shot would have torn yer body to pieces before ya even had the chance to fire back! I reckon yer full of it, and not just full of my flak too!"
Both ponies banged their heads together and stared aggressively into each other's eyes.
Rarity suddenly popped up between the two of them and said, "Now, now, ladies. Let's not forget that Twilight Sparkle worked just as hard as you both did and it would be a generous thing to go over and congratulate her for her outstanding efforts!"
Rainbow Dash and Applejack sighed at the same time. They both walked over and hugged Twilight Sparkle.
All the other ponies joined in for a great big group hug.
Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes and smiled a great big grin from ear to ear at the love and affection her friends were now showing her after they were all trying to violently kill her in unspeakable ways. It was all kind of crazy how her friends could go from utter carnage back to the sweet loving ponies. Even during the battles, she remembered her friends were often calling out "Nice shot, or nice dodging!" So at least there was some sportsmanship going on throughout the arena. Twilight shrugged a bit and realized that it's just a game and they still had each other, and they were all still the best of friends.
All the other ponies let go of Twilight and they were all soon teleported back through the door.
Princess Luna and Princess Celestia stood before them.
All the girls bowed down to the Princesses.
"Congratulations my most faithful student! You have done well and have pleased us! Please accept this trophy in honor of your very first tournament win!"
Princess Luna levitated a giant golden trophy that had the circle "U" symbol on top of it over to Twilight Sparkle and set it down before her.
Twilight grabbed a hold of the shiny trophy with both her front hooves and said, "Thank you so much for this trophy. I had a great time competing in the arena. What about the rest of you girls?" Twilight looked behind her and all of her friends lit up with smiles and they nodded their heads yes.
It was weird when the ponies thought about this. Somehow, killing and murder was magical and fun, and not one pony could deny it.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash Duel
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.
We All Still Love Eachother
Applejack and Rainbow Dash found themselves back to the lobby in front of their friends and the Princesses. Both ponies bowed down to the Princesses.
"Congratulations to both players!" Princess Luna said as she praised them. "Applejack! Your skills in the arena are commendable! You have proven yourself worthy of our praise and we have a special trophy for you!"
Princess Celestia levitated a giant golden trophy for her victory in the arena and gently placed it down next to Applejack.
Applejack bucked her back legs in excitement and wrapped her front leg around the sparkling trophy. She was grinning from ear to ear. Suddenly, she remembered that she should show her competitor some sportsmanship and shake hooves with her. She looked over to Rainbow Dash who was still prone on the floor from bowing. Her head was hanging low and a single tear drop formed from her eye and hit the ground. Applejack put her front leg around her neck. "There, there sugar cube. I'm sorry ya lost, but it was a good clean match and we had lots of competition and fun in the arena!" Applejack stuck her hoof out for Rainbow Dash to shake, but Rainbow Dash didn't move.
"I just hate losing A.J.," the cyan Pegasus confessed. "We did the ultimate skill type match up and you proved that you're the best, and I have no excuses for losing. I just don't want to play with you anymore."
Applejack looked at her gleaming trophy for a moment. She then turned to her friends as if hoping they would tell her what to do.
Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle had a rather unsure look on their faces.
Fluttershy was smiling warmly at Applejack and said, "Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves."
Rarity gave Applejack a wink as if to support the words that Fluttershy had just spoken.
Applejack represented the element of honesty, not kindness or generosity, and normally, Applejack would tell Rainbow Dash to just suck it up and accept a loss, but the presence of Fluttershy and Rarity next to her was far too powerful and she got inspired by them. Applejack had an awkward smile on her face that spoke of uncertainty and she let out a rather unusual laugh. She turned back to Rainbow Dash and said, "Well, I tell ya what sugar cube, if winnin' is so darn important to ya, then I don't wana see my good friend suffer like this." Applejack suddenly nuzzled the trophy over to her friend and continued, "I want ya to have it fer yerself. Yer a special friend of mine and I don't wanna see ya quit somethin' that ya have such a natural talent fer. Just because I won the first Duel we ever played together doesn't mean I'm necessarily better than ya."
Rainbow Dash looked at the trophy. She noticed that at the bottom of it Applejack's name was inscribed.
"No A.J. This trophy is yours. Your name is already on this trophy. You need to keep it," Rainbow said.
Applejack sighed aloud and looked over at the Princesses. She then spoke to them, "Tell ya what Pincess Luna and Princess Celestia, can ya'll use yer magic to inscribe Rainbow's name on it too? How about instead of one of us walkin' home with this here trophy, that ya'll can keep it and put it on display for other's to see. That way we can both be winners and no one would have to know that I won the first Duel match between us."
Princess Luna and Princess Celestia looked at each other with a rather serious look on their faces, and then looked back at Applejack.
Princess Luna spoke to Applejack, "That is a wonderful and commendable thing to do for your friend! We would be honored to do such a thing and put it on display! Especially since that very well could have been the most entertaining match up we have ever seen!"
Rainbow Dash suddenly got up and hugged her friend. "Thank you for doing this for me A.J. It means the world to me. It really does," she confessed
Applejack patted her on the back, "It's okay sugar cube, anythin' fer a special friend of mine. It pains mah heart to see ya sad."
Rainbow Dash suddenly let go of Applejack and she perked up a bit. "So do you think we can have a rematch? I think I got a rocket with your name on it," she squealed in delight.
There was this filly-like excitement that Applejack could see in her friend's eyes. Applejack just grinned madly at her enthusiasm. "That a girl Rainbow. I'm glad to see yer motivation is back, but I'm awfully tired from all the fun we had today. Let's call it a day and perhaps we can enter the arenas another time. I think at home I got an apple pie with yer name on it. Let's have a celebration together, not just over the wonderful Duel match we had, but more importantly, our friendship."
"Apple pie?" Pinkie Pie asked. "I think Dashie needs to eat a humble pie! Hey Applejack! If we ever become a team in a two on two Team Death Match game type, can we combine our names together and call our team name, Apple Pie? Do you get the joke? Did you see what I did there?"
Twilight Sparkle elbowed Pinkie Pie hard in the side in hopes that she would be quiet for once.
The other mares let out an "Awwww," and began stomping their hooves on the floor in approval.
When the cheering died down. Applejack and Rainbow Dash's friends all rushed in for a big group hug with them in the middle of it.
Princess Celestia spoke to them, "We are thrilled that you all enjoyed today's competition! Princess Luna and I both agree that we would be interested in hosting more match ups for you all. Especially where you can work together as a team such as playing Team Death Match games, Capture the Flag, and one of our most favorite game types, Domination. We have so many more game types and we have many groups of ponies who enter the tournament seeking to be the best of the best. Our current dominating team in both Capture the Flag and Team Death Match is no other than the Wonderbolts themselves!"
Rainbow Dash instantly perked up and blurted out, "THE WONDERBOLTS PLAY THIS GAME!? IS SOARIN' ON THE TEAM TOO?" Rainbow Dash instantly changed the tone of her voice hoping that she didn't give away her true feelings for Soarin'. She repeated her question in a less caring voice. "Uh, I mean, is Soarin' on the team too?"
Both Princesses giggled.
"Oh, Rainbow Dash," Princess Luna said, "We already know you have quite the affinity for Soarin', but to answer your question, the answer is yes. Soarin' is one of the top elites of this game and he often enjoys to Duel in his spare time when not competing with his team." Princess Luna suddenly leaned over and put her head next to Rainbow's ear. "Who knows.......maybe he'd be interested in spending a little special time with you and you both can do a little one on one action in the arena. I have a few beautifully crafted arenas set under my shining moon light and that can be a bit romantic for such a special occasion."
Rainbow's cheeks turned bright red as she let out a nervous little laugh. She eyed her friends suspiciously, hoping that they weren't going to tease her.
Most of her friends were already giggling at her.
Princess Celestia broke the laughter of her friends. "Okay girls, we are scheduled to be hosting some other events right now in the tournament, and we must go. Please feel free to sign up at any time for special tournament events, as well as hosting other different kinds of matches and game types!"
Princess Luna used her magic and levitated a box that opened up. Princess Luna then gently lifted off each of the girl's necklaces with her magic and placed them back inside the box.
Princess Celestia looked over to Rarity and said, "Rarity, I know you have the eye for things and love to create. It can be stressful creating these new arenas or updating versions of an older arena. Would you possibly be interested in helping us out by creating and decorating them? It would please Princess Luna and I very much. Of course, we will credit you for your work and it could very well help promote your business since many ponies already know you for your designing and dress making abilities."
Rarity's eyes opened wide. "You want me to help out with something as huge and important as arena creations and revisions?" Rarity put her front leg to her forehead and then used her magic to bring out that red fainting couch and fell onto it in a dramatic manner. Rarity opened one eye and noticed that one of the handsome guards was close to her. "Oh, wait!" she said as she got up from the couch. "This would be much better to faint into." Rarity put her front leg to her forehead and fell into the guard.
The guard dropped his spear and caught her.
Princess Luna and Princess Celestia looked at each other and then looked back at Rarity with confusion.
"So does that mean the answer is yes, Rarity?" Princess Luna asked.
Twilight Sparkle sighed and said, "I think the answer to your question is yes, my Princesses. Rarity can be just a tad bit over dramatic sometimes. Especially when it comes to handsome stallions."
Rarity opened her eyes and then winked at the Princesses. She tried to contain her giggling.
The guardspony holding her, rolled his eyes.
"A simple yes or no can do next time, Rarity, but we are thrilled that you will lend us a helping hoof," Princess Luna said.
Princess Celestia levitated Twilight's trophy and placed it by her. "Please don't forget to take your trophy home with you, Twilight Sparkle. Guards! Please escort our friends outside. Thank you."
The guards helped guide the ponies back up the stairs and back outside through the main castle doors.
The ponies waved goodbye to the guards.
Rarity winked and pointed at the guard that she fainted into. "And I'll be back for you later, handsome," she said as she batted her eye lashes quickly at him. "This mare knows how to scope out ponies inside of the arenas and outside of them too."
The guardspony sighed and rolled his eyes once more.
Rarity turned her back on him and went along with her friends.
The mares were on their way to Twilight's house, but before they reached her house, they took a detour and went with Applejack to Sweet Apple Acres. The ponies waited outside of the farm for Applejack. Applejack wanted to make a pit stop and pick up an apple pie for her friends to share. She was a very food oriented pony and loved to eat, especially after working or playing hard. Once they made it through Twilight's library, Spike had greeted them with a fancy tea party that he set up for their return. Spike rushed over to Twilight's side and asked, "How was your special day, Twilight? What was it that the Princess had you all do today? What's up with the trophy!? What did you win!?"
Twilight began to giggle. "Oh Spike, take a note!"
Spike got out a scroll and quill and was ready to write.
Twilight Sparkle cleared her throat, "Ah-hem.....Dear Princess Celestia, MURDER IS MAGIC!"
Spike began to repeat what she said out loud and wrote the words down. Suddenly, Spike stopped and said, "Huh? Wait? What? Murder is magic? What kind of heresy has the Princess been teaching you?"
Twilight giggled again and said, "Murder, violence, and killing is magical and it brought our friendships even closer together than you could have ever imagined!" Twilight suddenly reached her front legs out and drew all of her friends in for a warm hug. "You'll have to come visit us when we're in the Unreal Tournament Death Match arenas and see us in action!"
Spike had the most dumb founded look on his face. Eventually he replied, "What!? That is insane! You girls participated in a tournament that is called a Death Match? That almost sounds as ludicrous and evil as when the time King Sombra used to put Fluoride inside the crystal ponies toothpaste and drinking water in order to dumb them down and make them so sick and cancerous that they couldn't rebel. Princess Celestia has been putting Fluoride in our drinking wells hasn't she? Is that how your mind is coming up with such nonsense!?"
Twilight Sparkle couldn't stop smiling. "Nope!" she said. "Our Princesses love us and care for our health as well as our well being. She would never do such a thing! You'll just have to come and spectate us in our sport sometime!"
"Ha! I guess I'll have to!" the purple dragon said. "I can only imagine Fluttershy having the urge to hurt somepony."
Fluttershy warmly smiled and said, "Oh, Spike, if you only knew. If you only knew."
The rest of the girls began to laugh with Fluttershy and then they headed over to where that apple pie was on the table.
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The Greatest Team is Formed and the Competition Continues to Grow
As time went on, the ponies found themselves competing more and more in the Unreal Tournament. Twilight Sparkle was voted as captain of their team. They called themselves the Mane Six. They dominated throughout the leagues and many other game types. They often faced the most elite teams including the Wonderbolts.
Rainbow Dash got her wish and was able to score a few Duels with Soarin'. After their matches they instantly bonded together and became more than just friends. Rainbow Dash and Soarin' found that they truly were meant for each other and they often spent time bonding inside and outside of the arenas.
The other girls entered many dueling tournaments when not competing in team based games and had to face against some tough competition.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna decided what Dueling match ups they would like to see most.
Twilight Sparkle often found herself fighting against Trixie. Trixie entered the Unreal Tournament because ponies were not respecting her skills with magic, and she felt that she needed to try something else in order to gain the fame and adoration that she so desperately craved from others. Both mares were masters of the Shock Rifle. Trixie enjoyed taunting Twilight Sparkle when they played against each other.
When Rarity was not volunteering to help the Princesses decorate and create new arenas, she found herself faced up against none other than Prince Blueblood. Even though Prince Blueblood couldn't stand getting his coat dirty, he was inspired to join the Unreal Tournament because he was among the upper class, and seeing that both Princesses were so fanatical about this game made him believe that he could gain respect and possibly have his chance at becoming closer to royalty since the Princesses enjoyed this game so much. He often found himself having battles against Rarity with the Sniper Rifle. Rarity was more than happy to show him a thing or two about head shots.
Rainbow Dash often fought against Lightning Dust. Lightning Dust joined the Unreal Tournament because the Wonderbolts refused to give her a second chance at trying out to become a Wonderbolt. The battles were super fast paced and frantic. They both had quite the affinity for blowing each other to pieces with the Rocket Launcher and strived to be the very best in the arenas. Both of them loved to taunt each other during their battles.
Applejack gladly went hoof to hoof with either Flim or Flam. The Flim and Flam brothers figured that they would try their luck making it big time in the Unreal Tournament since they weren't having much luck selling apple cider anymore thanks to the Apple family's home made apple cider being vastly superior to their own.
Lastly, both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie would take turns dueling against Gilda. Gilda entered the tournament in order to try to impress Rainbow Dash so she could win her back as a friend and to give Pinkie Pie some revenge for exposing her bitterness and making her look like an angry fool in the past.
There were many other Duel matches that the Princesses arranged, but these match ups seemed to be their most favorite when it came to the Dueling tournaments.
Pinkie Pie was the first pony to ever get the ultimate killing spree award, Massacre by racking up thirty kills without dying in the process. When Pinkie Pie found her most favorite power-up, the Berserk in Death Match games, bodies would drop like flies. On certain arenas like Carbon-Fire, she was able to combine the Berserk with the Damage Amplifier which resulted in the Juggernaut award. No pony could seem to stop her until the effects of the power-ups wore off. Many times, the game became hide and seek for Pinkie Pie because ponies would play keep away from her when Pinkie Pie collected these power-ups and Pinkie Pie just loved to play hide and seek. It was almost as if she was playing a game inside of another game which meant double the fun to her. This was even more terrifying than when she would pick up the invulnerability power-up on arenas like Fearless because at least ponies had the chance to gang up on her with their Impact Hammers and try to blast the power-up off of her with its secondary firing mode and grab it for themselves even if she was still hard to catch. She was like the ultimate killing machine when playing the Death Match game type and she got so manic and high under the effects of these power-ups. They were really the only power-ups that she timed and she was never late to try to collect them the second they respawned.
Princess Luna and Princess Celestia crowned her as the queen of the Death Match game type and she was feared by all. The more ponies participating in a Death Match arena, the happier she became because that meant more frags and more fun. She loved to throw a party afterwards for everypony participating in the Death Match arena with her because she had fun killing them all over and over again and who wouldn't want to throw a party after a good game? Pinkie Pie was the most exciting pony to watch with her random movements and wall dodges. She was able to reach places in arenas that many other ponies thought were not possible to get to. Not even Twilight Sparkle understood all of Pinkie Pie's tricks and arena mobility tactics. The arenas were like her playgrounds and she knew all of the tricks and the quickest ways to get around them.
She also helped invent the option to play games with the multi-wall dodge mechanic so that a pony has the option to dodge off a wall once in mid air and then keep dodging against another nearby wall or object until gravity eventually brought the pony down. Most of the time, a pony could dodge off the walls about two to three times without hitting the ground depending on how close the walls or objects were to each other. She was like a pin ball bouncing off the walls and many of her other friends really didn't like to play with this ability on with her because it just made Pinkie Pie that much crazier and harder to frag. They only played with this ability once in a while to keep Pinkie Pie happy even though the idea was awesome and fun to play games with that kind of unique ability.
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo desperately wanted to play in the Unreal Tournament when they heard about the stories and saw the trophies being brought back. Scootaloo really wanted to play this game with her hero, Rainbow Dash, but the fillies were too small to play this game and the Princesses ruled that only stallions and mares could play. This game was not intended for fillies and colts.
The Mane Six was a dominating force that gained fame all across Equestria. They were feared by all and they would become legends in the Unreal Tournament arenas.
The end.
Author's Note
I am a dedicated Unreal Tournament player and am an admin for the server [ToJ.cc] Christian Carnage in Unreal Tournament 3. I play with a group of people who play this game every Monday nights on this server at 9pm USA eastern time. My Unreal Tournament 3 name is [ToJ.cc]Mostly_Harmless. I love to Duel as well and I will often put down what I'm doing and play a Duel if someone else asks me. Please feel free to join our server at any time to play. I am also their Co-chapter leader and moderator for their Unreal Tournament 3 forums and my name is Mostly_Harmless on the ToJ.cc website.
I would also like to point out that at the end of the story, I speak about Pinkie Pie inventing an ability called the multi-wall dodge. This was actually my original idea for a special mutator in the game and my friend [ToJ.cc]Danny_Miester was able to take my idea and make it a realty thanks to his coding and modding skills. This option is only available to play on our server and it's very fun to play with.
I do play a few other PC games and you can easily get in touch with me through steam. My steam name is Brian_Jacko. Please check out our website and feel free to sign up an post on the forums. Our website can be found here...
http://tojudah.com/
