Pony Strikers Charged

by ZeroChill

Rating: teen
Tags: Discord, Princess Celestia, Crossover, Main 6, Princess Luna, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Other, Comedy
Length: 51839

Discord gets 15 ponies to play in Mario Strikers Charged-style hoofball

Ever since Discord was reformed, Princess Celestia disallowed him to leave his room outside of important business. Naturally, this causes him to grow bored very easily. One day, as he looked through his belongings, he found a strange hoofball with its own universe. Having an idea to spice his life, he invites Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, the Mane 6, and 7 other ponies for a series of hoofball games. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be fun had turned into a horrible situation, where the power of chaos drives everypony to care only about winning. Now, faced with this situation, each player is playing for more than just a simple victory.

Crossover with Mario Strikers Charged. My Little Pony is owned by Hasbro and Mario Strikers Charged is owned by Nintendo. Rated Teen for violence.

Published 2013-10-17 17:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-01-22 19:13:04 UTC

Prologue

Discord sat in an opulent armchair in his room. He looked around to see that everything was constantly rotating, including the room itself. The only thing that remained the same was the chair he was sitting in, which was floating comfortably above the rapidly moving room. With his elbow resting on a red, velvety arm rest, he dropped his face onto the palm of his hand and sighed. He stared at the spinning room.

“Is there anything at all to do around here? Ever since I was reformed, Celly just keeps me in here until I have an errand to do for her. It’s just so… BORING!” Discord threw his arms into the air in anguish and dropped his face onto the arm rest. “There has to be something I can do in this time. I can’t leave this room-“He erected his back to sit up and snapped his talon fingers, which created a head of Princess Celestia made completely out of raw, dripping cake batter and rainbow-colored frosting. “-or else you will be turned back into stone, be banished to the moon, or be banished to the moon as a stone statue!” Discord ventriloquized as he mockingly opened his talons along with the movement of the cake batter effigy. The head dropped down onto the spinning room, which caused the walls to change from a pristine white to a dry cream color with rainbow strips. He slowly smiled.

“Well, that was slightly amusing to see.” He admitted to himself. Discord then hunched himself on the chair and began to tap his chin with his claw. “I am probably missing something. I know I am. I’ve been around longer than five-thousand years, so I am bound to have something in my personal bag.” In that instant, a large, brown bag with a smiley face on the flap materialized in front of him. He unbuttoned the flap and lifted it away, and then he proceeded to rummage through his bag. “Let’s see what we have here.” He lifted and threw out many different objects including a rotting, disembodied monkey hand with a gas sack, a dark purple book with germaneic runes, a screeching green blob-like creature with a single blue eye and six tentacles, and a white t-shirt with “World’s Best Dracoequus” written in colorful letters. When he finished looking through his bag, he threw it across the room in frustration. In that moment, the room stopped spinning.

“I’ve already played with every one of these things. They bore me now. Why did I even think that a bag I checked through many times would have something new for me?” The brown bag that was thrown inflated a bit before burping out a gray, spherical object which collided with Discord’s face. He covered his face after the sphere rebounded and landed on the floor. He hovered over to the object that hit him and examined it. The ball had a metallic, industrial look to it with two large craters on opposite sides and two smaller craters on the horizontal opposite sides. All craters were linked together with deep lines that wrap around the ball. Discord slowly poked it with his lion’s paw and rapidly moved it back after the ball shook and the craters flashed a deep yellow color. The light leaked into the lines and poured back into the other craters. Suddenly, he realized just what the ball was.

“Why, this is the hoofball that I got when I was young! But, there was something very important about this ball that I am forgetting.” He pondered for a moment until a lightbulb literally flashed and exploded above his head. “Eureka! This hoofball contains its own universe for playing hoofball in! Best of all, this very hoofball is used to play in that universe. I wonder if Celly would be interested in a game of hoofball with me.” He dropped his feet onto the ground and walked around when an unsavory smile crept up on his face. “Why should I stop there? I should invite my friends and other ponies to partake in such joys! But, outside of the Elements of Harmony, Celly and Lulu, who else should I invite?” Discord walked over to an open space of the room and snapped his talons, which materialized a giant wheel in smoke. The wheel had various faces of ponies in their own sections and an arrow at the top. “I should always leave decision-making to luck!” He grabbed onto a prong on the wheel and spun it downward.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was three hours past noon and Princess Celestia walked down the hallways with a cheerful expression on her face. No guards were present with her. As she came across a midnight blue door with a crescent moon on it, she knocked the door. A bit of a sleepy whine was heard beyond the door. Princess Celestia took this opportunity to invite herself in by opening the door and allowing light into the room. The room was filled with dark blue décor and a round bed the radius of a carriage. In the bed was a dark blue alicorn with an ethereal mane made of stars. Her eyes were red from waking up.

“Tia! Thou art advised that our bedtime doth ebb at dusk!” She screamed in her Royal Canterlot Voice.

“Lulu, you’re screaming in old dialect again.” Princess Celestia stated in a deadpanned tone. Princess Luna covered herself with her sheet out of embarassment.

“Well, we-er, I was just a bit cranky from being woken up is all. So tell me sis, what brings you to my bed chambers today?” Princess Celestia walked over to her sister’s bed and sat down on it. Princess Luna’s head peered out from under the sheets to see the face of her sister.

“I can’t spend time with my dear sister? It’s been a while since we’ve hung out.”

“Tia, we both spent time together yesterday, and the day before at this hour.” Princess Celestia’s eyes moved left and right as she nervously looked around the room before she coughed.

“Uhm, goodness, would you look at the time? I guess I should head out now!” She got up from the bed and quickly trotted over to the door. However, Princess Luna cleared her throat, catching Princess Celestia off-guard.

“Let me guess: you are on break again, so you don’t know what to do to entertain yourself and you come into my room to tell me about how your busy day of dealing with nobles went.”

“Am I really that easy to read?” Princess Luna nodded. Princess Celestia sighed as she walked back towards her sister. “Lulu, what do you do to have fun outside of sleeping?” Princess Luna smiled.

“I’d thought you’d never ask Tia!” Her horn flashed a dark blue color which illuminated her entire room. More details of the room were revealed, including a couch made of dark blue velvet materials and a 16-inch high-definition plasma screen TV. Next to the system was a myriad of various different gaming consoles with a large shelf full of different titles. “In my free time, I tend to play these delightfully entertaining games. Who knew that I can have the fun of destroying my enemies without the consequences of it?” Princess Celestia looked at each different console curiously. Perhaps the one that caught her attention the most was a purple cube with four controller sockets and two memory card slots for its face. The back had an arched handle and the top had three different buttons.

“What is this one? It looks very unusual.” She asked as she looked around the system.

“That is the Neightendo GameCube. It plays these small discs which all have a game program in it. I love most of the games on it, but our subjects say that it is their least favorite console. Want me to set it up for us to play? And I do mean us.” Princess Luna giggled at her own joke.

“Ummm, sure, that would be lovely.” Princess Celestia stated with uncertainty. Princess Luna walked into a walk-in closet. It was filled with black regalia each imprinted with a crescent moon. As she walked down the closet, she smiled as she found a drawer on the wall which was labeled ‘GameCube accessories’. She opened it, which was filled with neatly coiled wired, controllers and other objects. Using her magic, she levitated two controls, a memory card and two adapters out of the drawer and ran out of the closet. Just as she came out, she saw that her sister was reading a scroll, which then erupted into colorful confetti.

“What was in that letter Tia?” Princess Celestia looked back at her sister, who was still levitating the wires needed to play. She scowled.

“It seems Discord wants me to come outside to the badlands for something. Apparently, he is including other ponies in his meeting, but I really don't know why.” Hearing what her sister said made Princess Luna squeal with joy.

“Oh, he probably wants to play again. The fun has been doubled!”

“Wait, you actually spend time with him? I thought I asked for no visitors in his room.”

“I have two things to say to you. One, I visit him when you are sleeping and we play together. I even bring him over to my room to play these video games. And two, you treat him too harshly. I say we should see what he wants us to play.” Princess Celestia sighed.

“Then this better be some game. If he ends up wasting my quality time with you for some stupid prank, then I’m going to put him in stone and banish him to the moon. No offense to you though Lulu.”

“None taken Tia.” Both of the royal princesses’ horns flashed a dark blue and a bright yellow. Afterwards, they disappeared from the room.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Discord was looking down at his wrist, looking down at a silver watch. His feet were planted on the rocky landscape. Immediately one second later, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna poofed in front of him, each one with a different expression. Princess Luna smiled as she went up to Discord and hugged him. He returned the hug back.

“How are today Discord? My sister didn’t treat you too horribly, now did she?”

“Oh, you know the usual. She keeps me locked up in my room and only takes me out to help ponies.” Princess Celestia cleared her throat, which caught Discord’s attention. She had an intense stare that was filled with agitation. It was directed towards him. His face turned from a joyous expression to a stoic one. “Hi Celly.” He said unamused.

“Discord. Now that we got introductions out of the way, you better have a good reason for going past the limits you were set.”

“I’ll explain when everypony else teleports here.” He stated flatly.

“Wait, what do you mean ‘teleport’ here?” Celestia stated. Suddenly, thirteen individual flashes appeared before them, each bringing in a pony of their own.

“Ah, here they are now!” Discord stated. Thirteen ponies each of them fell flat on their faces except for Twilight, who fell on her wing.

“Owwwww…” Twilight said while rubbing her wing. Rainbow Dash stood up first and looked around to see Discord, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

“Where are we? And why are all of these ponies here?” She stated. Rarity was less than pleased when she found that the dust had dirtied her pristine coat.

“Ewwww, why did I have to fall on a dust cloud? Don’t you know how easy it is for dust to ruin your coat?” She whined.

“Awww, come on sugarcube. It’s just a little dirt. It wouldn’t hurt ya.” Applejack stated. She looked around to see that Braeburn was right next to her.

“Hey cousin Applejack, what’re ya doing here in AAAAPPPALOOOSSA!?”

“Can it Braeburn. We ain’t in Appaloosa. We’re just outside of Ponyville, and some dastardly trick teleported me here while ah was bucking mah apple trees!” Applejack stated, annoyed about the situation. Pinkie Pie shrugged.

“It’s not like it’s the worst thing that happened to us. And look, the princesses are here. Hi!” She stated happily, allowing Princess Celestia to smile once in her trip. “See, if she can smile in this situation, then I say we are in good hooves.”

“Oh, I’m not sure if it is good to have left so suddenly. I still haven’t given my animals their dinner yet.” Fluttershy stated worriedly. She flew over to Discord and whispered in his ear. He looked back at her and nodded happily, snapping his claw. Fluttershy vanished in front of everyponies’ eyes before she came back a few seconds later. “Thank you for letting me feed my animals Discord. I really appreciate it, so now I can join without worrying about my animals starving.” She hovered over by her friends.

Lyra was curled up and fast asleep on the ground. Out of the safety for her friend, Bonbon shook Lyra with her hoof in order to get here awake. When Lyra’s eyes began to open, she was met with bright light.

“Oh Bonbon, you’re here! Are we both in the dream where we are abducted by humans?” Bonbon became angry and shook her friend slightly harder.

“No Lyra, you’re awake, no humans exist, and we’ve been teleported in the badlands by the creep that attacked Ponyville last year. I wonder what he wants.”

“Awww, don’t say anything bad about my chum Discord. All he did was just shake things up a bit in Ponyville. It was honestly starting to get a bit boring since nothing was happening during the time after the gala. So, I’m good.” Vinyl Scratch said with a grin. Octavia groaned and facehoofed.

“Vinyl, why do you even insist on defending our abductor? I was busy composing some new sheet music in my practice room when I was whisked away by magic.”

“Awwww, come on Tavi. Because of him, I got to try out my Bass Cannon remember?” Octavia winced at the name Vinyl Scratch calls her. Discord remembered the memories involving the Bass Cannon incident a few days ago and tapped the area around his ears with his claw.

“Nope, the Bass Cannon didn’t damage them.” Meanwhile, Doctor Whooves looked around, startled by what he was witnessing. Derpy flew near the doctor looking confused.

“Turner, what’s wrong?” Doctor Whooves looked towards Derpy with a twitchy eye.

“Derpy, what is right? Don’t you find it very peculiar that we have all been transported to the bloody badlands by a reality warping spirit? I was just working on some sensitive technology, and I’m afraid that it will blow up at any minute!”

“You don’t need to worry Turner ol’ chap. I kept it stabilized for you.” Discord motioned his hand across, ripping the space in front of Doctor and Derpy. Through the tear, the both of them saw that a blue telephone booth was not in any danger of blowing up. The two ponies sighed in relief. “You wouldn’t think I would be cruel enough to bring everypony here without making sure they would miss anything important, right? That was what the old Discord would’ve done, but I’m not the old Discord anymore.” He pleaded innocently. Princess Celestia was not amused by his antics. She took a deep breath before she spoke.

“Discord, I’ve read in my letter that you wanted us all to come here, and my sister thinks it’s a game. If she is right, then what is this game that you are so dying to play that you would risk being imprisoned?”

“Well I’m glad you asked Celly. You see, I-“

“WHAT! You mean that you woke me up from a nap just to play a game!?” Rainbow Dash vehemently interrupted.

“Oooooohhhh, I bet it will be tons of super-duper fun!” Pinkie screamed as she jumped into the air.

“Discord, there’s a time and place for everything, but why do you want us to play with you when most of us were busy?” Twilight stated in pain. “Because of you, I think I might’ve injured my wing from falling upside down on it.”

“And I have my candy store to tend to! Who knows what crazed children would break in and steal the chocolates I've made!?” Bonbon screamed.

“…wait, so we aren’t in AAAAAPPALOOOOSAAAA!?” Braeburn asked curiously. The clamors of all the ponies was started to bother Discord. So, closed his palm, which created twelve zippers to zip the newcomer ponies’ mouths save Fluttershy, who was patiently waiting to see what he would do.

“Now, if you would let me finish. You see, I’ve rummaged through my personal bag, and I found this.” Discord put his lion’s paw hand into a pocket in his skin and took it out, revealing the strange hoofball. “I was feeling bored, and I remember that this ball entertained me so much when I was younger. I don’t remember what it exactly used for, but I’m sure it wasn’t important. What’s important is that I was wondering if you wanted to play some hoofball.” The zippers on each of the ponies’ mouths disappeared. Doctor Whooves was the first to respond.

“Forget it. I don’t play such games with you.” He adamantly stated. He turned around and began to walk away. In a panic, Discord shouted.

“Wait! I won’t be playing the game. I’ll just be watching it. Besides, this hoofball is not just any ordinary hoofball. This is a dimensional hoofball that will transport all of the participants from our world into the universe inside here.” Saying this caused Doctor Whooves to turn around and examine the ball. He tapped it twice with his hoof, and jumped a good distance when the ball flashed. Every other pony moved back a bit out of surprise.

“Blimey! This ball must’ve been made with some highly-advanced technology from the pre-Equestrian era!” The doctor’s smile gradually, but quickly grew bigger. “Alright Discord, you got me. I’ll play this silly game of hoofball just to see what this mini-universe contains. Do you want to join me on this journey Derpy?” Derpy quizzically looked around with a bit of worry in her eyes.

“I’m not sure Turner. Another universe within a universe sounds like everypony can be hurt. But, if you’re going in, then I guess I’ll follow you too.” Vinyl Scratch had a large grin on her face.

“Hoofball is an awesome sport. If this universe is anything like I imagine it to be, then it’ll be kickass!” She stated enthusiastically, much to the dismay of Octavia. “Come on Tavi, it’ll be fun. We could probably even team up!” She sighed.

“Alright, you got me Vinyl. I’ll play a game with you in this hoofball universe.” Lyra looked at Bonbon with pleading eyes. She facehoofed softly before she responded.

“Fine, we’ll join in too.” Discord looked at his friends and Braeburn, who was still confused.

“As my friends, would you please join in a game to make me happy?” He said with a quivering lip. Fluttershy was the first to go near him.

“Of course I would play this game of hoofball. You must’ve been bored being cooped up in the castle.” Rainbow Dash was the next one to step up.

“Well, if Fluttershy wants to join, then I should just come along to make sure she doesn’t get hurt.” She said with uneasiness dripping in her voice. Applejack grinned as she heard her response.

“Well, ahm definitely goin’ to join this game. Ah want to rub it in Rainbow Dash’s face when ah wipe the floor with her on tha field.” She looked back at Braeburn, who looked unsure about the circumstances. “Ya want t’ join us Braeburn? Ahm sure ya had nothin’ else better t’ do right now.”

“Of course I’ll join my cousin in this game. After all, I can’t go back to AAAAPPALOOOOSSAA until the next train comes. I’m pretty sure no one would miss me for a game of hoofball.” Rarity then looked at Discord who looked a bit concerned.

“Well, are the uniforms at least fashionable?” Discord creeped up a smile.

“I’ll let you be the judge of that my fair Rarity. All I will say is that the uniforms will blow your mind.” The concept of his words sparked her curiosity.

“Well, what’s the harm in playing a game of hoofball?” She stated. Twilight, who saw that all of her friends were going to join in the game, sighed with a face of defeat.

“Well, I guess that if everypony else if playing, I should play as well.” Discord looked at the two princesses in front of him with a sly smile apparent on his face.

“If your subjects are playing, shouldn’t you play as well to ensure their safety?” Princess Luna rushed by him to join the group.

“We art more than privileged to partake in a game of hoofball Discord.” Princess Celestia’s eyes closed in defeat.

“Well, if my sister wants to play with her subjects, then what is preventing me from doing so?”

“Great! I’m so happy everypony wants to play!” Discord pressed his claw against one of the glowing craters, which caused the metallic parts of the ball to separate and surround everypony. “Hold on my little ponies. This will be a wild ride!” A single yellow ball of light remained, which then expanded and absorbed everypony in its vicinity. Afterwards, a charade of screaming occurred through the participants. Then, the screaming stopped and the ball retracted back into its form. Not one soul remained in the badlands after the transportation.

Author's Note

I'm currently writing up the first chapter. But, I hope everyone enjoys the prologue. Comments and Criticisms are always greatly appreciated.

The Gauntlet Has Been Set

The yellow flash felt like an eternity to everypony. It was an unusual feeling to be suspended in midair, as if the light was imbuing god-like energy throughout their bodies. It was a surreal feeling. Afterwards, the yellow flash became a white environment void of life. Then, the environment became a very dense fog, and each of them felt as if they were falling. As they passed through some of the thick fog, they were able to see crackles of lightning beneath them followed by a yellow landscape in the distance. Each and every pony realized that they actually were free falling quickly. Celestia, Luna, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Derpy tried moving their wings. Unfortunately, they found that their wings were unresponsive.

“Wait, what’s the deal with my wings!? They can’t move!” Rainbow Dash complained. Realizing what this meant, she screamed to the top of her lungs. Fluttershy had her forehooves covering her eyes with apparent fear from passing through the bank of lightning. In response to see that wings were not working, Celestia, Luna, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Lyra and Vinyl Scratch tried to use their magic. Much to their displeasure, their horns shorted out immediately.

“Well Lulu, it seems as if everypony’s unicorn magic is unable to work as well. Should we panic?” Celestia suggested. Seeing this as a thrill, Luna smirked and positioned her body to a nosedive. She fell down faster than anypony else. As everypony else was screaming in fear of losing their life, a giant, metallic and gray airship came from the horizon, which everypony fell in. Surprisingly, nopony was injured by the fall, but crashing against the hard metal floor knocked the wind out of them. The gap that they fell into was closed by a dark-blue metallic roof.

When everypony got up, their eyes were met with an interior that is similar to a metallic factory. The room was dimly lit by sprayed wires with crackling electricity and there were hovering Television sets throughout the room. Each one was filled with a blue static. The atmosphere of the area emitted a cold feeling, sending shivers down every individual pony’s spine. Out of nowhere, Discord warped into the room with an array of fireworks exploding behind him.

“Does everypony here like the Stormship? We shall use this to travel across this universe.” The Television Sets lined up and had the static replaced with various lands that appeared as if they were devastated by the apocalypse. They were charred, frozen, and filthy. The technology within the lands appeared to be frayed and the atmosphere was unstable with constant lightning clouds, sandstorms and eruptions. Strangely enough, there were crowds of unusual creatures sitting at the stands of each ‘stadium’. The reactions of everypony were mixed, but Celestia was the most unsettled out of the ponies present. Her jaw was left open as she was absolutely speechless about the conditions of the universe. Twilight Sparkle was the first one to speak up.

“Discord, what happened here? I expected that this universe would have been more suitable for playing hoofball in. Instead, it seems as if the universe is devastated.” In those moments, Celestia regained her composure.

“These lands were devastated by the power of chaos. There is no doubt about it.” Twilight Sparkle looked up to Celestia with a worried look on her face.

“What do you mean about ‘chaos’ Princess Celestia?”

“These natural disasters are out of control. If you pay attention to this wasteland on this screen, the ground is frozen solid. Yet, at the same time it is affected by severe lightning storms. The lightning strikes at just about every minute. Do you see what is wrong here my pupil?” Twilight Sparkle paid attention to the screen and looked for any unnatural occurrences. She stared at the screen for a minute before the truth revealed itself.

“If the area is constantly being struck by lightning, then how does the ground remain frozen? It makes absolutely no sense!” Discord smiled as he saw that she had finally understood what this universe is about.

“And that is the beauty of chaos. These stadiums may be devastated beyond safety, but at the same time they are constantly regenerating themselves from the constant destruction. Do you see this Lava Pit stadium here?” Each of the ponies’ attention in the room shifted towards the screen with a volcanic atmosphere. Fire balls were splashing upon the charcoal floor of the stadium and scorched the field in a fiery inferno. The area was set on fire for a few seconds, and then the flames subsided. Braeburn looked towards Discord.

“Pardon me sir, but is it really safe to play hoofball in these conditions? Some ponies can get really hurt like that.” He asked worriedly. Discord placed a supporting arm around Braeburn’s neck.

“You shouldn’t worry over a slight challenge in hoofball. I’ll make sure that none of you ponies get hurt.” He stated in an unnerving way. As Vinyl Scratch heard more of the stadium gimmicks and power of chaos infesting the land, she couldn’t keep her grin under control.

“Now this is just awesome! I knew that this universe would be awesome, but I didn’t think it’d be filled with such awesome stuff! I want to play now!” Discord looked towards the white unicorn with the electric blue mane and sunglasses. Seeing her enthusiasm caused him to smile.

“Well Scratch, since you are so eager to play this game, perhaps I should just cut to the chase and explain how I’ll set this up. Does everypony here agree?” Each pony in the room looked at each other with varying degrees of either excitement or uneasiness. Eventually, all of them nodded in agreement. “Good. Now first of all, each of you will be your own captain.” Each of the ponies in the room gasped. Luna stepped forward slightly to talk to Discord.

“If what you are saying is correct, then each one of us gets a team.” Discord nodded in confirmation. “Then, how does one pony become a team?”

“I’m glad you asked Luna.” Discord opened up his griffon talons, and a gray remote with a large red button appeared in his hand. As he pressed the button, electricity shot from the ceiling and into a gap in the ground. The gap lit up in a light blue color. Then, metallic particles came up from the glowing gap and began to attach to each other. As the materialization was completed, a round, metallic object appeared before everypony. It looked like Discord’s hoofball. Then, different plates on the ball began to split apart from each other. Eventually, the “ball” morphed into a torso with five gaps in the points of a star. Metallic, slender limbs shot out from four gaps from the ball. From the remaining gap at the top, a flat screen erupted out of the body. On the screen, a pixelated face with a yellow background appeared. It took its first steps forward. It spoke in an electronic voice.

“Greetings everypony. My name is M0-4N unit ‘Star’ model 3-6. You can feel free to call me Star.” Star moved the limbs on its side upwards, which ended in five smaller limbs. It clenched its sub limbs closed, as if it was testing their mobility. Seeing it do this, Lyra’s eyes opened wide-open before she squealed in delight. She ran up to Star quickly.

“FINGERS! YOU HAVE FINGERS! I want you to tell me everything about how they work and what their purpose is!” Lyra stated with so much energy that Pinkie Pie grew a bit jealous. Star backed up a bit before Bonbon grabbed Lyra’s mane with her mouth and pulled her back.

“I’m sorry about my friend. She has this obsession with these imaginary creatures known as humans. I hope she didn’t traumatize you.” Bonbon apologetically stated.

“No problem at all. In fact, humans do exist in this universe.” Star happily said as close to how happy a robot can be.

“…Whaaaaat?” Bonbon stated in disbelief.

“Aha! See? Humans do exist Bonbon!” Lyra said as proudly as possible. Bonbon gave an unamused expression.

“Yes, humans and human subspecies do exist in this universe. In fact, let me answer the princess’s question first.” Star walked over to Luna. Seeing how unnaturally the robot walked caused Fluttershy to whimper in fear. He slowly put his thumb and middle finger together and moved them in a way where they snapped. The metal floor near him opened up to form a rectangle in the ground, and a neon blue shelf with fifteen silver, metallic gauntlets with indented ridges and screens rose up from the hole. “I want you to wear one of these gauntlets please.” Luna complied and put her forehoof into one of the gauntlets. When she put it in deep enough, the black screen flashed a light blue color and snapped itself onto the forehoof, startling her. The gauntlet flashed a brilliant white, which caused all the ponies in the room to cover their eyes with their hooves.

As the flash dimmed down, Luna was equipped with a midnight blue uniform: her torso was covered with a thick, metallic armor. There were holes in the armor that allowed her wings full mobility. A larger form of her Cutie Mark was plastered on the breastplate of her armor. Her long legs were shielded with slim, dark blue shin guards. Her hooves were covered in metallic cleats that looked like the gauntlet on her hoof. The transformation startled her. As she looked around, she saw that each pony in the room stared in awe. Rarity excitedly went up to Princess Luna with a gleam in her eyes.

“Princess Luna, that armor looks positively gorgeous! It hugs your body so well, and it also makes you look just as dangerous as you are beautiful!” Luna blushed at the comment given to her by Rarity. “Do you feel any different?”

“Well we, er, I do feel like I can take on anything. But, this doesn’t explain how we are going to play with one pony per team.” Star looked towards the newly-armored Luna and approached her.

“You see that screen on your gauntlet?” Luna lifted the hoof with the gauntlet to her face, and she saw that it was active. On the top of the screen, there was a sprite of her head. Below it were three darkened squares and a brighter square that has the face crocodile with a midnight blue mask on it. “Try tapping one of those squares on the screen and see what happens.” A stylus shot out of a port on the gauntlet. She smiled before she grabbed it using her magic and tapped a vacant square. What appeared were several different sprites of creatures that were alien to her. She slid the stylus, which rotated through the different creatures within the selection. She smiled as she found a sprite of an unusual pink creature with a large-open snout and a red bow that read ‘Power’ underneath it in bright, blue letters.

“Thy strength appeases us Birdo! We shall choose thee!” She double tapped it twice, filling the vacant square with the creature. Instead of being pink, the creature’s sprite had a midnight blue skin with a dark purple bow. The gauntlet fired a beam out of a lens to the side of it and materialized the Birdo from her gauntlet. Like the sprite in Luna’s gauntlet, Birdo took the appearance of a bipedal, midnight blue dinosaur with a large space for a mouth. The Birdo was equipped with a thick torso and a set of armored shorts that contained an opening for the spiky tail of its wearer. The Birdo twirled and made strange noises, eliciting a few curious stares towards its direction. Celestia looked towards Star, who had a smile on his screen.

“So that creature my sister summoned will be used as a pony’s teammate?” She curiously asked.

“That is correct. With this technology, any pony can be their own team. It is the reason why it is possible to have large tourneys with a low amount of players. In addition, the gauntlet grants amazing soccer skills, but the skill distribution shall be based off of what the pony believes is most important. Luna, please tap the sprite representing you on the gauntlet.” Luna gingerly tapped her icon, revealing “Offensive” as her status. “As an Offensive player, your passing and shooting are your superior skills, but your movement and defensive skills are pathetic. The sidekick you picked, Birdo, is a Power player. That means that her shooting and defensive skills are amazing, but her movement and passing skills leave more to be desired.” Luna pondered on her current situation.

“Despite having great power on our side, we can’t move well throughout the field. This means that we need some fleet-footed characters to balance out our slow ones.” Luna browsed through the creatures in the gauntlet when a white skull sprite that looked like it belonged to a turtle caught her eye. It had “Defensive” as its status. She tapped the status, revealing the distribution of the points. She was pleased to see that the creature had movement and defense as its superior skills despite the lack of any shooting or passing points. She double tapped the Dry Bones icon, which filled the vacant square in the middle. The gauntlet fired another beam right next to the space near the Birdo, which materialized a bipedal skeleton of a turtle. Its head was painted with a midnight blue color, and it wore a heavily battered shirt with bright yellow shorts. It came equipped with cleats that were a mix of midnight blue and bright yellow colors. It seemed to look around before its eye sockets locked with Luna. It tried to go over to her, but its bones separated from each other. Celestia giggled at how clumsy the Dry Bones was.

“Oh Lulu, is a skeleton really the best idea you can come up with for a partner? This will be an easy win for me.” Luna became irritated with her sister’s words.

“Oh haha Tia, very funny. Just wait until we meet each other on the field. Then, you’ll see that we will beat you!” Celestia smiled her sister’s slight frustration. Star walked over to her.

“Princess, you should put on the next gauntlet. Let’s see if you have what it takes to out-do your sister.” Celestia complied with Star’s request as she walked over to the shelf and placed her forehoof inside a gauntlet. She closed her eyes so that she wouldn’t be surprised by the sudden transformation like Luna had been. As she opened her eyes, she found herself with a body-tight torso suit that extended down to her forelegs. She also found herself to be wearing a golden yellow breastplate. In addition, her golden shoes were traded off for silver cleats that are similar to her gauntlet and an image of her Cutie Mark was on her breastplate, just like with Luna’s armor. To complete her ensemble, she was wearing a golden helmet with a small opening that allowed her aurora mane to flow out freely and a large space at the front that fit her snout and horn.

“This gear feels like a bit much. I know that the gear is needed to survive these absurd conditions, but this power is amazing! Is it really necessary?” She stated in awe. Luna looked towards the direction of her sister once before she snorted.

“Tis a slight equip. I am sure that I can destroy you in the Hoofball Pitch even with that.” Celestia looked at Luna with burning eyes.

“Is that so Lulu? Let’s not forget who the older sister around here is. Let’s also not forget who defeated the other for control of Equestria one thousand years ago. Let’s also remember who mistook the salt order for sugar and ruined every bakery in Canterlot for three days!” Luna clenched her teeth as she was seething in anger.

“Thou promised that thee wouldn’t mention that situation again codpiece! Salt and sugar look very similar in bags nowadays!”

“Awww, are you angry that mother liked me more than she liked you Lulu?” Celestia teased. Luna stomped her right forehoof around on the ground before she approached Star with a murderous look.

“Bring us to the closest Hoofball field at once!!!” She screamed using the Canterlot voice. With a motion of its hand, Star brought up a light blue holographic screen that had a map of the universe. He clicked on a location simply known as ‘The Vice’. There was a sudden shift in movement as the stormship changed direction. Twilight looked towards Star with a worried expression.

“Star, what is wrong with the princesses? They seem much more violent than what they should be.”

“Do not worry Twilight. That is an effect the gauntlet has. Because it gains its power through absorbing the chaos in this universe, it can cause the wearer to be significantly more aggressive in their personality. This makes matches much more exciting as a result, and the personality shift is only present while wearing the gauntlet.”

“Well, it’s a relief that the effect isn’t permanent. Though, I’d like to hold off on wearing my gauntlet until after the princesses have played each other.” Most of the other ponies mumbled in agreement. Discord looked towards the direction of Celestia and Luna with a grin present on his face.

“Alright then, you should pick your teammates now.” Luna quickly tapped on the final vacant box on the screen and found a spherical ghost creature with fangs known as Boo. She saw that it was a “Playmaker”-type character and saw that it has strong movement and passing, but poor shooting and defensive skills. She double tapped it, filling the vacant square with its sprite. As it did, her gauntlet shot one beam towards the direction of the Birdo and the Dry Bones. The Boo spawned from the beam while it was equipped with a midnight blue helmet and nothing else. The Boo floated casually above the surface.

Using her magic to hold the stylus from her gauntlet, Celestia tapped the first vacant square and found the sprite of a humanoid red and white mushroom known as Toad. She checked its status to see that it was a “Playmaker” character, which she double tapped to fill the first vacant square. Her gauntlet shot a beam out towards the opposite direction. From the beam came Toad, who was equipped with a golden helmet that fit the circumference of its head, a golden yellow shirt with the insignia of the sun on it and tight, yellow shorts. Wasting no time, she tapped another vacant box and she picked the first sprite shown. The sprite was an orange-brown bipedal mole creature with a “Power” status. Celestia’s gauntlet fired another beam near the Toad, which materialized the mole creature known only as Monty Mole. The Monty Mole wore a golden-yellow helmet and a metallic breastplate colored gold. It had claws so powerful that it was able to tear through the steel beneath it, leaving behind a dirt pile for a point of entrance. It jumped from the hole and landed on the floor in front of it. There were several noises of awe resonating from the ponies, but Celestia didn’t feel impressed.

Her eyes were locked on the screen, filled with determination. Finally, she tapped the last vacant square and saw the sprite of a yellow turtle head. She double tapped it after seeing that it was a “Balanced” character. As the blue beam fired from her gauntlet, a smile started to creep on Celestia’s face. The beam spawned a bipedal turtle with a golden-armored shell with the insignia of the sun on it. It was wearing bright yellow shorts and bright yellow cleats. Star walked up to the turtle creature and examined it.

“Interesting choice Princess. The Koopa has average Shooting, Passing, Movement and Defensive skills, but he should be a reliable character on your team.” Celestia browsed through the gauntlet’s screen one more time to check what status she was. She was pleased to find out that she was a “Balanced” player. She also saw that she had a crocodile sprite on her screen with a gold-yellow mask. As she did this, the airship began to shake. “Ah, we’re here!” Star looked towards the two princesses, both of whom had murderous expressions on their faces directed towards each other. Each of their teammates also looked at the other team with a similar ferocity.

“Just tell us the rules, and we’ll be ready to play. This is what you want after all, isn’t it Lulu?” Celestia said with a hint of scorn.

“Please do so Star. I want Tia to pay for thinking she is better than me. The both of us know which one of us is better!” Celestia brought her face closer to Luna’s face.

“Yes Lulu, the better pony is me. More ponies like me more than you for bringing out the sun each day.” She stated proudly. Luna gasped and then brought her face closer to Celestia’s face.

“Tia, the only thing you bring to those ponies is that fat ass for all the stallions to fantasize about!” Each of the ponies in the room gasped at how rude Luna’s words were. Both sisters put their faces towards each other and began snarling. Star appeared adamant about the situation.

“Very well, I shall explain the rules. In this universe, you can hit anyone on the field whenever you want, however you want. A team can have up to three items at a time, and items are obtained through charged shots to the other team’s goal or by having a teammate without the ball being tackled into. Your sidekicks are capable of skill shots, which are unique shots designed to make getting goals easier. As for the wearers of the gauntlets, they are capable of the almighty Mega Strike, which can score a maximum of six goals in one shot.” As Star said this, a giant screen descended from the ceiling, which revealed a green, cragged soccer field surrounded by stadium stands filled with roaring alien creatures. “Since we have arrived, the two of you can position yourselves at either the home or away teleporters over there.” It pointed towards two electric blue tiles at the center of the room, each of which were lit up with dim lights.

“I’ll take the away teleporter. Lulu knows that she needs all the support from the home audience “Celestia said haughtily.

“If that’s how you want to do this, then we’ll be sure to not show you mercy on the playing field Tia!” The two sisters turned away from each other as they approached the teleporters.

“Well then Celly, Lulu, I hope the two of you have fun!” Discord said while waving with his talon tips. Both princesses vanished through an electrical impulse shooting upward from the tile. “I’ll bring us down to the stands to watch our rulers of Equestria play a fun little game of hoofball!” Discord snapped his talons, warping all other thirteen ponies onboard down to the stands in The Vice.

Author's Note

Sorry to have kept some of you waiting, but here's the second chapter. So, Luna and Celestia are going to be playing the first game of hoofball in the next chapter. I'm going to need a proofreader for future chapters though.

Game 1: The Vice: Luna vs. Celestia

Game 1: The Vice: Luna vs. Celestia

The crowds of unusual creatures in the stands were roaring with excitement over the game that was about to fold. There were two metal goals. Each one had a large, bulky, bipedal crocodile wearing each team’s representative colors of a mask, a metallic torso, and hand guards. A fence made purely of electricity spawned around the sides of the field. Luna’s team, a Birdo, a Dry Bones and a Boo were on the home side of the green, cragged field. Luna was nowhere to be found. On the other side was Celestia and her team of a Toad, a Monty Mole, and a Koopa. At the center of the field was the metallic hoofball, which was flashing in a red color. Celestia looked towards Luna’s team with overpowering eyes and caused the members to cringe.

“You strange creatures are no match for the power of the Princess of the Sun. I’ll bring devastation to you all.” Meanwhile, Discord and the thirteen other ponies were sitting in VIP seats that were so close to the field that they can practically touch the electric fence. Discord and Pinkie Pie were both wearing red and pink soda hats respectively. They both had large foam fingers that said ‘# 1’ on them, and Pinkie Pie had a bag of popcorn with her. Twilight Sparkle looked at the both of them.

“Ummm… where did the both of you get that merchandise from?” Pinkie Pie looked towards Twilight with her full attention before she responded.

“There’s a Toad Vendor selling a lot of stuff waaaaay over there. You should probably get to him before he goes to other sections of the crowd.” Pinkie Pie excitedly stated. She looked back to the teams, where she developed an angry stare towards the players. “Yeah! Destroy those pathetic posers that call themselves hoofball players!” Twilight was confused by the explanation Pinkie Pie gave.

“But, we’ve only been here for a second. It’s-“Just as she was about to finish, Discord interrupted.

“I wouldn’t finish that sentence if I were you. You’ve known us long enough to know that we have our ways of doing stuff.” Twilight looked at Discord for a bit before she nodded in understanding. Discord then sat back and started sipping on two cans of cola and lemon-lime soda from his hat. Rainbow Dash and Applejack both looked at each other with competitive grins.

“So Rainbow Dash, after da princesses are done tussling here, ya wanna go rough it up with me on da field?”

“You know that I wouldn’t have it any other way Applejack. I’ll beat you twenty times over, whether you want me to or not.”

“Ya know dat Ah have t’ pay ya back fer dat Iron Pony Competition way back. Ah have some pride t’ uphold.” Rainbow Dash and Applejack both shook hooves as an agreement to the match.

The crowd was ravenous, but not at their maximum level. However, the noise level zenithed when a dark blue blur was spotted in the sky above. The blur was revealed to be Luna, who nosedived from the sky with a smirk present on her face. She landed flat on her hooves, which brought reassurance to her team. Both Celestia and Luna looked at the ball with ferocity, ready to make the first move.

Both alicorns jetted towards the ball. Unfortunately for Luna, she was an offensive-based player while her sister was a balanced-based player. Because of this, Celestia had the speed to reach the hoofball first. She wasted no time as she passed the ball in her possession to her teammate Monty Mole by kicking it with her forehoof. The pass was successful, and Monty Mole went to the home side of the field, ready to shoot at the goal. Unfortunately for him, the Dry Bones from Luna’s team saw this move and tackled him into the electric fence. Monty Mole was at the mercy of the electricity pulsing through his body as he was unable to move. Despite his immobility, it did not nullify the intense pain coursing through his body as his screaming mole voice pleaded for help. The crowd cheered over the exciting move, but Fluttershy gasped as she was clearly unnerved by the screams.

“Oh my! That’s horrible!” She whispered in a very low voice. She wimpered slightly. Rarity, who was sitting right next to Fluttershy, saw how she reacted.

“Fluttershy, are you alright?” She asked with the utmost care. Fluttershy turned her head to her left as she was distracted by Rarity’s voice.

“Oh Rarity, this is horrible! That mole is screeching in intense pain. Yet, instead of providing assistance, all of the creatures on the stands are applauding this act!” She stated with a mix of indignation and sadness. Rarity pulled Fluttershy closer to her.

“You know Fluttersy, that mole looks very hardy. Why, look at him now!” Both ponies looked at the Monty Mole against the electric fence. He fell onto the ground after being shocked, but got back up as if nothing happened. “If anything actually serious were to happen, I’m confident that they would stop the game immediately.” Rarity’s words calmed Fluttershy down slightly. She gained the composure to keep watching the game.

The Dry Bones that tackled the Monty Mole into the fence took the ball. Despite being on the away side of the field ready to kick, a Koopa from Celestia’s team was charging straight towards him. Dry Bones noticed that his teammate Boo was on the other side of the field and was completely open. Dry Bones kicked the ball into the air in Boo’s direction just before getting tackled by the Koopa into the electric fence. The rattling of bones echoed throughout the field. The Toad on Celestia’s team saw where the ball was being passed towards. Rather than just tackle the Boo, he intercepted the trajectory pass of the ball by jumping in the air and performing a kick pass to Celestia. Once again, she had the ball and she was ready to go close to the other team’s net and shoot. Unfortunately for her, Birdo came from seemingly out of nowhere and tackled her to the ground and took the ball. The strike knocked the wind out of Celestia, leaving her unable to move for a few brief milliseconds.

Birdo was being approached by a very angry Monty Mole. As he came into close distance towards her, Birdo spun while holding the ball in her mouth, which knocked Monty Mole out. She spat the ball over to Luna by the ground, who had already made it onto the central part of the other team’s side. The ball flashed a white color before everything moved in slow-motion. Luna kicked the passed ball. There was a curved, white streak that was leading to the goal. The crocodile being jumped in an attempt to block the goal, but he found that the ball was shot too fast for his reflexes to catch at the angle, resulting in the ball being kicked into the goal and scoring for Luna’s side. Luna smiled as she got the first goal and jumped around. Her eyes caught a disheartened Celestia, who was apparently very sour about the goal.

“In your face! Thy Kritter goalie was not quick enough to dodge my ball!” Luna screamed, irritating Celestia further. “How doth it feel to be proven false Tia!?” She stated in a pompous fashion. Through that time, however, a grin creeped on Celestia’s face.

“Lulu, you’ve only scored one goal in a game where it is possible to score large amounts of goals. I’ll guarantee you that you will not remain in first for long.” She stated unusually calmly. She walked over to the center of the field. Luna was skipping to the center of the field, moving to the shouts and cheers of the entire crowd. As the next round began, Celestia had the ball between her hooves. She smiled as she ran straight forward, startling Luna.

“Tia, what are you planning?” She asked somewhat angrily. Celestia smirked as she engaged into a fast trot with her teammate Toad following in. Luna and Dry Bones charged towards Celestia and her teammate in an attempt to intercept her and charge at her. Just as the two captains were about to collide, Celestia performed a sidestep which was helped out by her magic. She hopped a fair distance to the left, which surprised Luna and Dry Bones. Celestia took advantage of this small confusion and performed a charged shot at the goal. The Kritter saw this coming and blocked the ball, grabbing it in the process. At this time, Celestia’s team gained a large shell with an icy blue hue in their item hold. The Kritter saw that Luna was near the left electric wall on the opposite side of the field. He saw that Dry Bones was being blocked by Celestia’s Toad, and that Birdo was keeping Celestia’s Monty Mole and Koopa on bay. He kicked the ball into the air around the space where Luna was at. Luna’s eyes were focused only on the incoming ball, so she never saw Celestia as she tossed the giant blue shell in her inventory towards her direction. All what Luna felt was a surge of freezing chill rushing through all of her body. She was rendered immobile as her body was encased in the icy hue. Celestia smiled as she neared towards her sister. Instead of immediately going after the ball near her, a devilish grin sprung up on her face.

“So Lulu, you thought that you can one-up me with that goal, didn’t you? You thought you were better than your older sister? You thought you were hot, smoldering crap.” She said softly. Her eyes then glimmered into an aggressive stare. “Then allow me to show you why you’ll be hot, smoldering crap in a second!” She screamed as she tackled Luna out of the ice. Luna felt the blow of the tackle only to register the searing pain of electricity coursing through her body from hitting the electric fence. Her legs felt helpless and bound to the fence as she screamed out in tortured pain. Celestia delighted in seeing her sister writing in agony on electricity before she got possession of the ball. On the stands, most of the creatures were roaring with cheer at seeing such a vendetta. However, Twilight Sparkle covered her mouth with her forehooves, which failed to contain the horrified gasp in her throat.

“This can’t be real! Why would Celestia do such a wicked thing, and to sister no less!?” Discord casually floated over to her, resting his back above the ground.

“Are you honestly surprised that she would do this? Star already explained to you that the chaos energy being pumped through the gauntlets causes their wearers to be much more aggressive and adverse in personality. Just think of it like the time I turned you and your friends against your true natures, and you get something that is maybe close to that.” He said while scratching his chin. “Don’t worry, these effects only last until the gauntlets are taken off, so no pressure for you.” Twilight turned an angry eye to Discord.

“How can you take this situation so lightly Discord!? Princess Celestia would never attack Princess Luna in cold blood like that. She wouldn’t also especially take personal joy in making her sister suffer!” Discord yawned.

“You really don’t know how their relationship works yet, do you? You see Twilight, sometimes the sisters like to prank each other. They take personal joy in doing so ever since they were foal-aged. With the power of chaos within them, their thought processes and actions are more freely used. Instead of an exaggerated action for a relatively weak response, they would go through very crude actions to elicit a strong response.” The implications of Discord’s words brought horror to Twilight’s face.

“So what you are saying is that since both princesses enjoy pranking each other to no end, and the power of chaos makes their actions more primitive, that means they’ll keep on attacking each other until one of them is dead!?” Discord looked at Twilight with a pondering expression and tilted his hand back and forth.

“It could happen. But don’t worry, I won’t let the princesses kill each other. For now, sit back and enjoy the game.” Discord stated as he sat back in his seat. Twilight stood out of her seat, looking at the field with constant worry in her eyes.

Back on the field, after what felt like an eternity, Luna finally came off of the electric fence. She had charred spots on her coat along with some fragments of ice across her body. By this time, Celestia had already made it to her team side. As Luna’s Birdo was about to tackle into Celestia, Monty Mole followed up with Celestia and tackled the Birdo, which allowed her to shoot without worry. Her ball flashed different colors as she charged. Luna’s Boo and Dry Bones were quickly going to Celestia in order to stop her from charging. Unfortunately, Koopa came into the field and tackled the Dry Bones while Monty Mole tackled the Boo. Celestia felt a surge of power going through her armor as the ball reached full charge. She kicked the ball high into the air. Her wings opened largely as she soared into the sky. Her coat and armor flashed radiantly like the sun as she peered down towards the goal. Her aurora mane turned into a fire, representing a solar flare. Her eyes flashed a white before she kicked the ball, separating them into five separate balls. As Luna saw this, her jaw dropped in despair. She looked at her Kritter, who opened his arms wide across in a stance ready to block the balls.

“Do not disappoint your princess Kritter!” Luna screamed. The balls rained down onto the field like small, silver meteors. Kritter grabbed one ball, preventing it from going into the goal. However, he missed the second ball, which zipped by him. The third ball was expertly blocked and destroyed by a perfectly timed jump. He also managed to catch the next ball going towards him. Sadly, the fifth ball, the one that was kicked the hardest, knocked him off of his feet and shot into the net. Celestia had scored two goals with her megastrike. The entire crowd roared in excitement, but none other than Lyra, who was wearing two foam fingers over her forehooves. She approached Luna with a satisfied grin on her face. Luna was down on the ground, humiliated by how poorly she performed.

“So Lulu, how does it feel to be useless to stop my onslaught? It didn’t feel good, did it? It’s alright if you can just quit now. After all, older sisters can understand this sort of thing.” Celestia stated smugly. Luna stood back up with a nasty snarl on her face.

“You didn’t win anything Tia. You may be in the lead now, but in the next round, I’ll be sure to turn everything around!”

“Hmmm, bold words from somepony who finished being electrocuted. How will you be able to win now Lulu?” Luna’s anger quelled down, allowing her to see that she had obtained her head sprite in the item box.

“You’ll see Tia. This time around, you’ll be crying for mercy by my almighty power.” Both sisters walked back to the center of the field. Luna had the ball under her hoof. As soon as everyone on the field was ready to start. Luna ran a hard diagonal left towards Celestia’s side of the field. Celestia ran up to Luna, ready to tackle her.

“That trick won’t work you know.” Celestia stated. Instead Luna stopped in place and surged with electricity. Celestia made the mistake of tackling into Luna and received a painful, but weak shock that caused her to fall on the ground for a second.

“Tia, didn’t you know that Offensive and Power characters have a damaging dodge?” Luna stated happily. She laughed as she ran off to the goal. Celestia recovered from her shock with an unamused expression on her face. She charged after Luna like a buffalo during stampede season. Luna developed an evil grin on her face as she activated her Captain’s Item. The entire area around her was covered in a blanket of darkness. Celestia and her team were utterly confused by the pitch black surroundings they were enveloped in. Then, the moon shone from the very center of the darkness and unleashed a shockwave of lunar energy, knocking back every player out within its destructive reach. Now, all that remained was Luna and the Kritter standing between her and the goal. Her hoofball began to flash a brilliant white as she kicked the ball into the air. Luna jumped into the air and spread her wings far and wide. Her coat became pitch black and her midnight blue gear turned into a cream-white color. She kicked the ball, which spread into six different balls this time. The Kritter opened his arms, ready to intercept all the balls raining down on him all at flying speeds. The first two balls were effortlessly blocked by him. Unfortunately, the rest of the balls were unable to be blocked. With her megastrike, Luna scored four points, leaving the score at 5-2 in Luna’s favor.

Celestia recovered from the assault to see just how far the scores have shifted in her favor. She was seething in anger. The Koopa on her team approached her in an attempt to comfort her. Instead, Celestia fired a laser from her horn onto her teammate, which exploded upon contact on the ground the Koopa stood on. The Koopa flew high into the sky with chirp-like screaming. Celestia huffed in disappointment. She approached the center of the field with the ball, not even uttering a single word to her sister. Luna had the biggest, proudest expression on her face.

“So Tia, how did it feel to be duped by your younger sister?” Celestia simply glared into Luna’s eyes with an intense passion. She knew what she had to do. When the timer began, Celestia zigzagged past Luna and her team. Monty Mole and Toad followed by going onto the opposite side of their captain. Birdo aimed her sights at Celestia. She saw that she was trying to dupe the entire team with a surrounding strategy. She kicke the ball into the air and passed it to Monty Mole. However, she took the brunt of the hit by Birdo and was knocked into the electric fence. The electricity coursing through her body left her body numb. She screamed out in the pain equivalent to being stabbed one hundred-thousand times in each individual muscle in her body. In the stands, Twilight covered her eyes with her hooves and turned her head away. Meanwhile, Monty Mole and Toad passed the ball to each other twice, causing the ball to shine in lighter colors. When Toad passed the ball to Monty Mole, the light on the ball was a bright white. Time stood still for a moment before Monty Mole kicked it passed the Kritter, scoring a goal for Celestia’s team. Out of pure joy, Monty Mole dug into the ground and popped out of three different sections of the ground. Celestia’s lied down on the ground with visible char marks all over her body and gear. Seeing that her teammate was happy about the score despite the gap between points brought a ray of comfort to her in her hour of pain: happiness.

“Well Tia, it looks like your teammate was able to score a point for you. You’ll need three more points if you hope to win against me!” Luna stated semi-aggressively and semi-happily. She extended her hoof towards Celestia, who was down on the ground. This act of compassion confused Celestia to no end.

“Even after I froze you and tackled you out of spite, why would you help me?” Celestia’s question brought a large smile onto the face of Luna.

“I know you did not mean to do it Tia. These gauntlets have been affecting our attitude ever since we put them on. It was never your fault that we both like to act like typical sisters. Besides, I kind of laughed when my Birdo knocked you into the electrical fence.” Celestia smiled as she slowly extended her hoof with the gauntlet equipped towards her sister’s hoof. Luna reached in more quickly and grasped Celestia’s hoof with her gauntlet hoof. The gauntlets have both shined an orange color, transporting both princesses to the middle of the field standing up. The two of them looked around the stadium, feeling the energy of the entire crowd pouring out onto the field. Celestia and Luna flashed a smile at each other.

“You know Lulu, just because you helped me doesn’t mean I’ll let you win easy.”

“We doth hoped thou performed more seriously beloved sister.” Luna sarcastically stated. There was one minute on the clock left, and she had the ball. She kicked the ball over to Dry Bones, who was directly behind her. Luna ran towards the opposite goal. Celestia smiled as she ran after her sister. The Toad and the Koopa charged after the Dry Bones while the Boo joined with Luna. The Dry Bones kicked the ball into the air just before he was tackled by the Toad. The ball was going into the air above the Boo. He managed to get a hold of it and decided to use the Mushroom that Luna held in reserve from the Monty Mole’s defensive measures before Celestia’s megastrike. His high speed combined with the speed boost on the mushroom allowed him to zip past the competition and go near the goal.

Just as he was about to pass it, Celestia’s Kritter tackled the Boo, causing him to fly near the goalie box line. The Kritter retrieved the ball that was near the Boo and threw it over to Celestia. Just as she was about to get it, Luna tackled into her and got the ball instead. Celestia heard a familiar chime as she was hit, and found that she obtained a set of three black spheres with white eyes, orange feet, fuses, and wind-up keys on them. Wasting no time, she immediately activated her item, causing a line of Bob-Ombs to fall onto Luna and explode. Luna flew into the sky as she was bombarded, and Celestia jumped towards the ball. She passed it over to her Toad. Toad turned his body in a way to take the ball and then held his foot out for a while. A burning feeling overcame his foot as he kicked the ball, setting it on fire. The flaming projectile flew straight towards Luna’s Kritter. When the ball collided with him, the Kritter’s eyes jolted wide-open as his scale-ridden flesh around his claws were fusing together under the burning pressure. He ran around screaming in pain. Toad smiled and passed the ball over to the nearby Koopa. Koopa held his foot out for a bit before kicking it into the goal by the unguarded space around the goalie. The horn blew, confirming the score. The crowd went wild as Koopa walked down the field, taking in all of the cheers he received. After the roars of the crowd ceased, Luna and Celestia faced each other at the middle of the field. The score was five to four with Luna having the advantage. There were only thirty seconds left on the clock and Celestia had a concerned expression on her face.

“My younger sister is ahead of me by one point. I’ll have to play much more aggressively. I’ve played around with her for too long, so this time I’ll be serious.” Celestia thought. The two sisters looked at each other with fires burning in their eyes. The thick silence continued until Luna decided to break it.

“Tia, whatever happens in this game, I’m glad that I finally got to spend some actual quality time with you.” The nature of the statement broke Celestia’s concentration. “We’ve known that we’ve practically bullied each other in this game, and we couldn’t help but let do so or we risk getting seriously hurt. But, if I would be glad to be hurt by anypony in a game, I’m glad that you hurt me.” Behind the burns and freezes on Luna’s face, a heartfelt smile had emanated. Celestia wanted to cry, but the chaos surging through her body left her unable to do so.

“I am also glad to have been hurt by you. Whoever wins, I will always be proud with how well you performed Lulu.” As Celestia concluded with her words, the ball materialized under Luna’s hoof and the timer ran. “Still, I’ll try to win for everypony!” Celestia stated with a more serious attitude. Luna’s Dry Bones ran ahead of her and went near the goal at Celestia’s side of the field. Luna performed an aerial pass over to her Dry Bones. Then, he charged his kick with a bit of energy before the shot. A weak kick had sent the white, shining ball to the Kritter. He caught it with the utmost ease and passed it to the nearby Koopa. As he got the ball, a series of small, red turtle shells were shot from the Dry Bones and hit him along with Celestia and the Toad. The Dry Bones picked up the ball and charged his kick. Rather than a simple charged kick, the ball was surrounded by pulsing electricity and rammed itself into the Kritter. The goalie felt the electricity pulse throughout his entire body, being unable to move.

As the ball came close to the Dry Bones, Celestia’s Toad intercepted the ball’s path and past it over to Monty Mole. Monty Mole then performed a charged shot on Luna’s goalie, nabbing Celestia an item of her head as a sprite. She smiled as she knew just what to do with it. The kritter bounced the fierce ball back, unable to catch it. Monty Mole then jumped into the air and passed it over to Celestia. Luna growled fiercely as she and all her teammates attempted to surround Celestia. She closed her eyes and looked down for a moment before the ground underneath her began flashing a brilliant yellow-white color. The glow expanded over to Luna and her teammates, causing them to be immobile for the second. Celestia opened her eyes, revealing nothing but light. Luna struggled in the binding chains of light around her legs.

“What sorcery is this Tia!? I demand to know!” With a booming, powerful voice, Celestia spoke.

“This is the true power of the sun!” There were only ten seconds left on the clock. Celestia kicked the ball high into the air and jumped along with it, attempting her second megastrike. Luna gasped at how bold her sister floated into the air. Celestia kicked the ball with earth-shattering force, causing the ball to split into six of them at maximum speed. Despite his previous injury, the Kritter steeled himself and spread his arms out wide open. Kritter blocked blazing ball after ball, feeling every sense of pain tingling throughout his hands. When the last two balls shot down on him, he tried to block them. However, his reaction time slowed down, causing him to completely miss the two balls. The timer flashed to zero, and Celestia had scored two points.

Celestia won the game of hoofball with a score of five to six. Discord and all of the ponies cheered with an intense fervor at how fast-paced the game they watched was. Luna was in a sitting position, looking down at the ground in sadness. Celestia floated downwards to her sister with a smile on her face. The chaotic energy within the gauntlets dissipated through their bodies. The princesses’ teammates and uniforms have also degenerated back into electronic code form.

“It’s strange how this match played out. Although you had an upper hand and created a sizeable distance of points between me and you, I ended up winning the game. It reminds me of the time when you were finally freed from your inner negativity.” Luna looked up from the ground to see Celestia’s smiling face. Luna smiled and began to cry before she embraced her sister in a sisterly hug.

“I’m just glad that this ordeal was over. I never want to hurt you the same way again Tia…” Luna softly replied. Without anyone noticing, Celestia tried to pull off her gauntlet. It became apparent to her that it will not be removed despite the force given.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Didn’t you see how awesome that game was Tavi!? That game in particular was brutal!” Vinyl Scratch repeated excitedly. Octavia softly sighed.

“Well, it was very harsh for a hoofball game. Yet, for some reason, I find myself captivated by how explosive the plays were.” She faced Vinyl Scratch and gave her a soft smile. “I definitely know who I’ll be playing against though.” Vinyl Scratch returned the smile as the two of them walked down the halls of the Stormship. Doctor Whooves and Derpy both maintained a satisfied grin.

“That game was amazing. I can’t believe just how highly advanced the technology in this universe is! The gauntlets summon very capable teammates and provide very strong armor. Did you see just how hard some of those aliens were hit?” Doctor Whooves stated.

“I liked the part where they hit each other.” Derpy absent-mindedly stated, forgetting all of her previous worries about the universe.

“Wow, there were humans in the stands! I got to touch a human!!!” Lyra ecstatically said. Bonbon groaned.

“Look, I was wrong and you were right. You don’t need to keep saying it over and over again.” She stated rather annoyed. “Look, just be thankful that I liked what I saw out there. I also like the idea that we get to compete against each other. It’ll allow me to vent out certain human-related frustrations.” In a far-off room on the Stormship, Twilight Sparkle hugged Celestia with a tight grip.

“Please Princess, don’t behave like that again! It was too painful to watch.” Twilight said with tears in her eyes.

“Please Twilight, this is kind of embarrassing to do. But, I promise that I won’t behave like that again.” Celestia stated casually. She looked down at her gauntlet, which was inactive. “Twilight, these gauntlets are filled with such startling power. I know that you saw me behave like a monster out there, but that’s because the gauntlet had given me such euphoria. It was as if the energy made me feel two hundred percent more alive. It is a feeling everypony has to experience just once in their life.”

“But Princess, I saw what the gauntlet did to you. Why do you want me to wear such a monstrous contraption!?”

“I can’t reveal anything else to you yet. Let’s just say that sometimes, you’ll have to taint yourself with chaos in order to fight it.” Twilight stepped back a bit and saw the understanding expression on Celestia’s face. She nodded in agreement.

“Well, despite the horrible acts in the game, I’m glad you won.” Twilight said with an uneasy smile. She dashed off to unite with her friends. As no one looked around, a terrible pain surged through Celestia’s body followed by a feeling of choking. She covered her mouth with her hoof as she coughed as hard as she could. When she removed the hoof from her mouth, she saw that it was stained with red liquid that tasted of copper. It was her blood.

“You’ll have to do it, because I won’t be able to continue for long.”

Author's Note

Well, that was a fun chapter to write. This is a critical chapter for me in terms of writing the story, so I want everyone's imput on how I can improve the game scenes (Because most of the hoofball scenes would be something like this).

So, who would you like to see play against each other next?

Hidden Depths

It was difficult to say what constituted as night in this universe, considering that the volt yellow atmosphere curiously remains constant. Despite this dilemma, most ponies onboard the stormship have figured out to dim the lights in their room to simulate nighttime and allowed the environment to lull them into sleep. In the middle of the ‘night’, Celestia walked down a large corridor filled with dimmed lights and blue automatic doors that lifted open. She knocked on the door that was far down in the corridor.

“Come in!” The voice behind the door voiced out. The slab of metal lifted itself open, which revealed a restless Luna who laid her body on a twin-sized bed. Just as Celestia’s gauntlet was still on her hoof, Luna’s gauntlet was just as tightly equipped. Celestia walked into the room and nuzzled her sister, who nuzzled back.

“Lulu, I came in here to check on how you were doing.” Celestia said with concern emanating from her voice.

“You have felt the stringent pain as well, did you not Tia?” Luna replied somewhat weakly.

“I’m afraid so. I think that you can see that this universe is incredibly dangerous. Every pony’s internal and external magic is greatly weakened, and the terrain is a death trap. The voltage coming from the electric fence is enough to kill even the most electric-retardant pony. In addition, the items and brutality within these gauntlets are more than enough to make the bodies of even the toughest of creatures fail on them.” Celestia hoisted her gauntlet upwards, which was still attached to her hoof. Luna looked down onto her hoof where the gauntlet was equipped. “These gauntlets are practically the only reason that we are still alive. Even then, it’s still a double-edged sword where the physical attributes of the wearer are raised beyond comprehension, but the knockback of such power destroys our bodies.”

“You don’t think that Discord brought everypony into this universe as a way to exterminate us all, do you Tia?” Luna said with a breaking voice.

“While it might seem likely, I highly doubt that is the case Lulu. He is more annoying than he is harmful, and he seemed excited to bring us all into this universe, like a child that discovered something new. Either way, he still would want to keep us in the universe for the sake of his sick entertainment. I’m afraid that many ponies that watched us play today have also accepted this sport as entertainment as well. The only way we can get out is if we keep playing until our last breath.” Celestia started shaking in place, aware of the entire situation. “If any of my little ponies’ lives expire under these conditions…” She began to say in a breaking voice. Luna got up from her bed and hugged her sister with her wing.

“Please do not worry Tia. It would only worsen the shape of your body. Besides, you have sent Twilight with the mission to play, did you not? Hopefully, the power of harmony she attained is enough to break through the chaos of this universe and bring us all safely home. I know you are worried about death being a real possibility, but you convinced her otherwise because it is the best thing for everypony else. You did it because you trust her as much as you trust yourself, and I trust you as well.” Celestia’s voice and air intake evened out as she was comforted by her sister’s words.

“I understand that you mean well, and you’re right. Now, we just got to hope for the best. When we do get out of here, Discord will have to answer for what he has done, even if it wasn’t his intention to hurt us.”

________________________________________________________________________________________

As everypony aboard the ship was trying to get rest, a darkened blur moved swiftly through the rest halls of the ship and into the command room. The room was filled with noises from machines and the crackling electricity. The dark blur took the silhouette of a unicorn with a messy mane and sunglasses. The light revealed the pony to be Vinyl Scratch, who had a large grin on her face. She approached the roundhouse shelf containing thirteen gauntlets. She slowly moved her hoof over to the metallic gauntlet. Just as she was about to touch it, she saw a gray hoof reach for the gauntlet as well. She looked to her right and saw that the hoof belonged to Octavia.

“Hey Tavi!” Vinyl Scratch screamed. Octavia jumped into the ceiling and fell on the ground. She stood back up on her legs and wiped off some of the dust in her coat in a prim and proper fashion.

“Vinyl Scratch! What was that scream for!?” She whispered angrily.

“Geez Tavi, don’t get riled up. Aren’t you happy to see me? What are you doing here so late you naughty mare?” Vinyl Scratch snickered under her breath.

“Well, for your information, I wanted a closer look at these gauntlets. The princesses used them to transform into hoofball warriors, and that intrigues me. What are you doing down here? Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

“I don’t sleep at night. Attending raves all the time made me a complete insomniac. Plus, I wanted to go down here to see if I can sneak in a game of hoofball. I’m glad to see we both have the same idea!” Octavia blushed slightly out of embarrassment.

“N-no! Not at all! I definitely didn’t come over here just to try on one of these gauntlets and challenge you to a game of hoofball!” Octavia made a sheepish smile along with her suspiciously specific denial. Vinyl Scratch stared stoically into Octavia’s face.

“Really Tavi? You’re going to go there? I wasn’t born yesterday, so you should try making a better excuse than that.” Vinyl Scratch grabbed a gauntlet on the top shelf and tossed it over to Octavia, who responded by holding out her hooves. She then took a gauntlet and lifted it above her left forehoof.

“Vinyl Scratch, what are you doing!?” She shouted in fear. Vinyl Scratch snickered.

“I’m just trying it on Tavi. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?” She then put on the gauntlet. After a few seconds, the screen on the gauntlet lit up and flashed. After the light dissipated, Vinyl Scratch was in a white uniform: her hooves were covered with white, reinforced plastic. The hoof guards were topped off with metal spike bracelets. She wore a tight, white t-shirt made entirely of Kelvar. On her head was a pair of blue headphones. “So Tavi, how do I look?” She stated with a grin. Octavia’s jaw dropped. However, she managed to regain her composure and straightened out her tie.

“Not bad Vinyl, but you could do better than just simplistic uniform like that. Now, let me try my hoof at morphing.” Octavia then put the gauntlet over her forehoof an closed her eyes. The gauntlet locked itself over her ankle and the screen flashed. When the flash ended, her signature bow was replaced with a gray scarf. She wore a gray long-sleeved shirt and her cleats were fashioned as black top-end boots. She wore thick shoulder pads and shin guards on her hind legs. When she opened her eyes, she was treated to a sight of Vinyl Scratch having an open jaw. “Am I really that visually appealing?”

“Tavi… you just gave up your bow for that scarf. No one removes your bow. Not even you yourself!” Vinyl Scratch stated, astonished by the change.

“I don’t really mind. All that I care about is just thrashing you in a game of hoofball now.” Octavia checked her screen, which revealed a sprite of her head on the top. She tapped the head with a stylus that she got from her gauntlet. “Hmm, it says here that I am a Playmaker-based player.” A smile became visible on her face. “A Playmaker must be able to perform the best plays on their team. I’m very sure that this will lead to your downfall, Vanilla Scratchington.” Behind her shades, Vinyl Scratch’s eyes perked up in shock. She was suddenly awash with anger.

“What did you just call me!? Nopony ever calls me by that name!” Vinyl Scratch screamed with a hate-ridden voice.

“What’s the matter Vanilla? Are you so insecure about your real name?” Octavia fanned her eyelashes with her eyelids. The normally cool Vinyl Scratch grinded her teeth. “Don’t think that I didn’t know what your real name was. After all, the both of us are good friends, so it is natural that we share secrets with each other. Because of that, I know everything there is to know about you. I know about what you like and what you fear. I have been clever with not telling you the secrets that would lead to my ruin, yet you have been very trusting of me to keep all of your dirty little secrets. Little did you know that I had you played like my cello, where those little secrets shall be the downfall to the great Vinyl Scratch.” Vinyl Scratch felt overwhelmed by a sudden surge of emotions that befell her. Hearing what Octavia said about her felt as if a knife was taken to her back and was twisted in there. She took a deep breath before a meltdown hit her. She chuckled.

“You know Tavi, or should I say Octavia, I’ve known you for a while now. I’ve seen how you accomplished your goals and became a high-society player. Though you kept contact with me since our Elementary School years, it just hasn't been the same ever since you got accepted into that snooty music institute in Canterlot. I’ve kept cool about your decision, hoping that you would one day realize the errors of favoring classical music over electronic music. I’ve waited for that one day where you would repent your entire career as a classical musician and join me as my partner.” Vinyl Scratch brought her hoof over to her face and held her sunglasses. She slid them off, revealing a set of red eyes. She chuckled more maniacally. “I have finally seen the light. You love your career more than you love the roots that founded it. You’ll never go back to them. I just found out that you are just a diseased branch on the tree of my life. I’ll be sure to forcefully rip that branch from that tree and tear it apart in the hoofball stadium!” Vinyl Scratch lifted her gauntlet over to her face and saw the sprite of her head. She tapped on it with her horn, not caring about the stylus within the gauntlet. She smiled when she saw that she was a Defensive-based player. “You may be fast with that fiddle Octavia, but there is no way you would be able to stand against a hard-hitting pony. This game… shall be your last performance.” With a sleight of a blue aura surrounding her horn, the three vacant squares in her gauntlet were replaced with one Dry Bones and two helmeted turtles that were read as Offensive-based players. The blue beams from the gauntlet shot behind her. What materialized from the beam were a Dry Bones and two tall, bipedal turtles wearing helmets, armored shells and cleats. Each of them had a large hammer in their hands. The team’s uniforms were a brilliant white.

“You’ll have to do better than send two Hammer Bros after me Vanilla.” Octavia tapped her three vacant squares on the gauntlet and filled each one with a Toad, a Birdo, and a red-robed creature that only showed a mask with black holes for its eyes and mouth. The three beams shot towards Octavia’s front, which materialized the creatures from her gauntlet. Each of her teammates wore the team’s color, which was gray. The masked creature was uniformed in a reinforced plastic torso, a T-Shirt and cleats. Its robes were gray in color. “I want you to meet Shy Guy, a Balanced-oriented player. He will be sure to blow up any chances of victory for you.” The Shy Guy’s eye holes in its mask formed into an angry stare, and the small, bipedal creature grunted in an intimidating way.

“Enough talk Octavia. We should go to the teleporters now. We are directly over The Vice, so now it is time for the action.” Vinyl Scratch walked over to teleporting tile in the center of the room. Octavia turned her head in haughtiness away from Vinyl Scratch and walked over to her tile. A surge of electricity overcame the tiles before Vinyl Scratch and Octavia disappeared from the ship. In the background, a sinister, electronic laughter was heard.

“Those two ponies are emitting such a chaotic vibe from each other. Discord has done well attracting a feasibly foolish crowd. At this rate, my prison of metal shall be shattered, allowing me freedom once more.” The laugher ceased along with the voice.

Author's Note

For some reason, this chapter feels a bit rushed. I originally planned to do the game for this chapter, but I wanted to give some more background and a bit of development before going into that. So what is this fearsome character in the background?? That, my friends, will not be answered until a long time passes.

Game 2: The Vice: Vinyl Scratch vs. Octavia

Since this universe had no perception of nighttime, the crowd stayed at the stands with loud roars. The teams gathered at their respective sides of the field. Octavia, Toad and Birdo all looked at the other team, their enemy, in pure confidence. Octavia’s Shy Guy stared down the other team with aggressive eyesockets. The Dry Bones and two Hammer Bros on Vinyl Scratch’s team stared just as viciously towards Octavia. The crowd screamed to the top of their lungs as they saw Vinyl Scratch fall down from the sky in a nosedive. As she neared the ground, she readied her legs so that she can fall on them. She collided with the ground with her hind legs split and her foreleg poised to distribute the force of the impact. She looked towards Octavia with her piercing red eyes and had a grin on her face.

“I would like to say that I would enjoy engaging you in Madden Kombat, but that’s an entirely different form of hoofball, and I’m pretty sure that the “K” in Kombat is already trademarked.” Octavia huffed before she threw her hair to the side with a flick of her head.

“I know that you wouldn’t be above stealing possessions, so why start being above it? It won’t change anything now that we are at the end.” Octavia stated coldly. “Anyways, talk is cheap. Action shows proficiency.” As she said this, the hoofball spawned at the center of the field. Both Vinyl Scratch and Octavia rushed at the ball at the same speeds. Just as Octavia got the ball under her possession, Vinyl Scratch tackled her behind her team’s line. She was in control of the ball and ran below the line on the field. Octavia’s Shy Guy tried running after Vinyl Scratch, but he was too slow to catch up to the speedy unicorn. Birdo charged into her direction. Seeing as there was no way she would evade the crazed dinosaur creature, she looked towards a nearby Hammer Bro.

“Hey Bro, get ready!” Vinyl Scratch jumped into the air and kicked the ball towards Hammer Bro. As the Hammer Bro was ready to receive the ball, he noticed that Octavia’s Toad was speeding towards the ball and was ready to intercept it. He ran after the Toad and tackled him, which allowed the ball to stop towards him. This aggressive act gave Octavia’s team five red shells topped with spikes. Birdo tackled Vinyl Scratch into the electric fence. The rush of violent energy rushed through her body, but she kept her teeth clenched and tried to tough out the situation. Even though the uniform absorbed most of the damage, she eventually gave into the sensation of pain as she screamed to the top of her lungs. She fell off of the fence, as if the force of gravity pried her off a wall. Despite suffering from some burns, she stood back up to support her teammate. The Hammer Bro with the ball ran near the goalie box. He readied his foot until the angry Birdo was running towards him. In the midst of the charge, he kicked the ball to the goalie, while gaining Vinyl Scratch’s team a mushroom power-up. The Birdo tackled The Hammer Bro, which lead to Octavia’s Kritter smacking the Hammer Bro across the face into the ground near it.

The Kritter then kicked the ball all the way towards Vinyl Scratch’s side of the arena. Octavia jumped towards the ball and knocked it down to her using her forelegs. The other Hammer Bro ran towards her. She winked before she jumped over the Hammer Bro with a vertical flip. The Dry Bones saw this maneuver coming and charged into Octavia and grabbed the ball. He passed it over to the Hammer Bro, giving the ball a red glow. He then passed it to the other Hammer Bro across the field. The ball flashed a yellow. Octavia’s Birdo ran after the Hammer Bro. However, The Hammer Bro jumped into the air and slammed his hammer into the ground, smashing Birdo into the ground nearby. Hammer Bro passed it over to Vinyl Scratch, who recuperated from the sudden shock she received. She ran towards the center of Octavia’s side of the field. As Octavia’s Shy Guy was going to charge into her, Vinyl Scratch smirked. Her horn flashed a blue color, which allowed her to disappear on the spot. The Shy Guy stopped in his path, confused at the sudden disappearance. Vinyl Scratch suddenly appeared behind the goalie, right inside the proximity of the goal net. The horn blared, which signified that Vinyl Scratch had scored a goal. Vinyl Scratch’s horn flashed a blue, which caused a white and blue turntable set and two black, large stereos to appear. She put her headphones over her ears and started to scratch the vinyl records. Upbeat music started to blast from the stereos around the turntables. Octavia looked back at Vinyl Scratch with vengeance burning in her eyes. As Vinyl Scratch saw Octavia approaching her, she took off her headphones, satisfied with her opponent’s reaction.

“What was that!? That was an incredibly cheap move you did there!” Octavia screamed. Vinyl Scratch smirked and jumped over the turntables.

“Are you mad that your plan didn’t include Defensive-based players having a ridiculously gamebreaking dodging ability?” Vinyl Scratch stated happily. “I’m not as dumb as you take me for Octavia.” Octavia seethed for a bit, but regained her composure and straightened out her black scarf.

“There’s no use in getting angry with you. After all, you are just another filthy unicorn that relies on cheap tactics just to get by in life. That’s why you are just a lowly DJ and I’m an affluent cellist.” Octavia walked away from Vinyl Scratch and approached the center of the field. Vinyl Scratch shrugged her shoulders and followed her to the center of the field. As the hoofball reappeared under Octavia’s hoof, the time, which had four minutes and twenty seconds on it started to count down. Octavia made haste and went past Vinyl Scratch. Her Toad tried to cross over to Vinyl Scratch’s side of the field, but a line of five spiny red shells shot out from Vinyl Scratch’s Dry Bones, which collided with the Toad and stopped him. Octavia’s eyes scrunched with displeasure as she saw her lancing character taken down by the shells. The Dry Bones sped towards her with intentions of inflicting bodily harm. She closed her eyes and passed the ball back to her side of the field, where her Birdo caught it. The Dry Bones tackled Octavia into the electric fence. All what she saw were flashes of blue before her body was caught in the agonizing burning sensation of electricity searing her.

The Birdo traveled towards the line and charged the ball for a bit. Vinyl Scratch saw what the Birdo was trying to do, and ran towards her in an effort to tackle her. The Birdo saw that the Shy Guy was wide open, so she passed it over to him just before Vinyl Scratch tackled her. The charge gave the ball a yellow glow as it was passed to Shy Guy. The two Hammer Bros ran up to the Shy Guy. However, he used the Mushroom power-up to double his speed, which allowed him to out-speed the two slow Hammer Bros. As he traveled towards Octavia, the Dry Bones reared his body in order to tackle him. However, Octavia’s Toad ran up to Dry Bones and slid into him. He was not happy with being attacked by the shells from before. The Shy Guy charged up his kick until a blue aura surrounded him. What resulted from the energy released was not a kick. Instead, a giant bullet with a menacing face materialized from an invisible pocket on him. He jumped on the bullet and had it set towards Vinyl Scratch’s Kritter. The two Hammer Bros, Dry Bones and Vinyl Scratch tried to reach the bullet and stop it, but it was too late. The bullet moved to the point where only the goalie could stop it. As it reached the Kritter, a huge explosion enveloped all of Vinyl Scratch’s team and the Shy Guy. Octavia, who recovered from her attack, saw that no one was guarding the goal. Using her superior speed, she reached the ball before anyone can get up and kicked it into the goal. The horn blared and the game was tied. Octavia had a smile of relief on her face as she saw the score change in her favor. She looked back at Vinyl Scratch, who was angry beyond belief. She had char marks all over her body and uniform. Parts of her mane were filled with smoke that came from the resulted explosion.

“What was that!? Couldn’t score yourself, so you had to step on one of your teammates to do so, didn’t you?” Vinyl Scratch angrily stated. Octavia huffed.

“I don’t need your approval to justify my actions. Besides, he did it out of his own free will for the team. I just happened to be at the right place and the right time for the score. You wouldn’t know about time and place, considering that you have just sent your entire team after that one shot in order to stop it.” The Shy Guy ran up to Octavia and shook his arms in the air. Octavia nodded. “Besides, it makes up for that dirty trick you pulled earlier.” Vinyl Scratched growled before she looked down on her item screen and saw a sprite of her head. She smiled in delight.

As the two ponies approached the center of the field again, the hoofball spawned underneath Vinyl Scratch’s hoof. The timer was set to three minutes and fifty seconds. Vinyl Scratch blasted towards Octavia’s side of the field. Octavia was accompanied by her Toad and Birdo as she went towards her enemy’s direction. Vinyl Scratch saw this formation and ran towards the leftmost electric fence. She grew a smile when she saw that her Shy Guy also joined in the formation. Vinyl Scratch immediately activated her captain’s ability, which spawned an impossibly large speaker and two smaller speakers, all of which had the user’s color scheme. All of Octavia’s team tackled into the speaker system. Each member rebounded off of them. Then, the large speaker had its screen split vertically. The screens moved apart from each other and the speaker behind them extended outwards, revealing a large cannon. Octavia’s eyes became as large as dinner plates.

“Say hello to my bass cannon!” Vinyl Scratch screamed. There was a white button on the dashboard of the large stereo with blue lettering that read “Drop the bass.” She smashed the button. Octavia closed her eyes and covered her ears as much as she possibly could.

“This is going to suck.” This was all she could mutter before the entire stadium was drowned in a sonic wave of Wubstep. The large stereo fired a sound wave so powerful that it was visible as a beam. The two slightly smaller stereos fired sound waves to accompany the alpha one. The powered beam shot Octavia’s entire team and sent them flying to different parts of the field. Neither of them can move because each member was stunned by the noise emitted from the bass cannon. The crowd in the stands had to cover their ears in preparation for avoiding the noise. The bass cannon disappeared and Vinyl Scratch was free from the other team. She charged to the point in where she kicked the ball into the air. She jumped into the air along with the ball. As she was higher than the ball, she took out a small stereo and set it to the maximum volume. A sound wave slammed against the ball, which split it into six different hoofballs going at sonic speed. Octavia’s Kritter readied his body and spread his arms wide open, ready to intercept the balls. As they came one after one, the Kritter proved that he had the reflexes to knock away the first three balls. However, as the other three balls came down, he missed the next ball. His reflexes were thrown off by this, which caused the other balls to move by him without any difficulty. The horn blared and Vinyl Scratch scored three goals for her team with her megastrike. Octavia got up from the ground and shook her head. She was surprised to be able to hear everything around her. She looked at the scoreboard and grew a sense of despair when she saw the 4-1 score. She felt a sense of helplessness grip her, but was able to shake it off.

“Just remember Octavia, you’ve faced worse when you were younger.” Her team got back up from the dirt and went into their positions on the field. Vinyl Scratch came to the center of the field with a smirk on her face followed by the rest of her team, which remained in their positions last round. The hoofball materialized under Octavia’s hoof, and the clock counted down from three minutes and forty seconds. Octavia had a scowl on her face. She passed the ball over to her Toad and ran into Vinyl Scratch’s side of the field. One of Vinyl Scratch’s Hammer Bros detected her and made chase. The Toad maneuvered around Vinyl Scratch’s Dry Bones with ease, as he jumped right before he performed a tackle. Toad performed a midway charged shot, which Vinyl Scratch’s Kritter caught without much of a problem. However, Octavia’s team obtained the fabled Captain’s Item, represented by a sprite of Octavia’s head.

As Vinyl Scratch’s Kritter tossed the ball over to Vinyl Scratch, Octavia tackled Vinyl Scratch and took possession of the ball. As she ran past the nearby Dry Bones, she activated her captain’s ability. A giant, brown cello appeared from the sky. A bow descended upon it and crossed over the strings. The instrument began to play wondrously soft music that hit all the notes in perfect harmony. All of Octavia’s team felt at peace, enraptured in a soft yellow glow. Suddenly, Octavia’s Toad, Birdo and Shy Guy moved faster than what the eye can see and began to tackle away Vinyl Scratch’s team. The fierce punches and tackles caused audible blows to the Dry Bones, the two Hammer Bros and Vinyl Scratch herself. After the power within Octavia’s teammates vanished, Vinyl Scratch’s team members were left with bruises beaten onto various parts of their bodies. Octavia charged her ball to the limit, which allowed her to kick the ball into the sky. She jumped after the ball and her flowing scarf extended in length. Her coat grew a slightly darker color before she grabbed her scarf by her teeth. With a powerful slash of her whip, the ball split into six different balls that aimed towards the goal for Vinyl Scratch’s team. The Kritter attempted to prepare himself, but felt fazed by the power of Octavia’s music. Because he was unable to concentrate, the balls flew right by him. He tried to catch each individual ball, but aimed the wrong way. Soon, the final ball shot right into his face and into the goal. The horn blared, and Octavia scored six points for her team with her megastrike. Vinyl Scratch looked at Octavia with cold eyes. She went up to her Dry Bones on the ground. As she helped him up, he gave a happy cheer. She threw a powerful punch with her hoof across his skeletal face. The Dry Bones separated into individual bones.

“We got to do better team! We can’t let this filthy wench take away what rightfully belongs to us!” Vinyl Scratch screamed. The score difference caused her to lose her cool. The hammer bros looked at their captain with fear in their eyes. Yet, despite their fear and bruises, they stood tall. “This time, we can’t let Octavia win. Her abilities and cunning have proven to be a powerful disturbance in terms of our performance. Her other teammates are small fries. Hammer Bros, you take the offense. I and Dry Bones will take the defense. Agreed?” Each of her teammates nodded in agreement. “Alright then, let’s go kick some ass!” The morale of her team boosted to the point where everyone cheered in excitement.

As they went towards the center, they saw Octavia. She had the largest grin on her face. Vinyl Scratch’s eyes met her eyes, but no words were spoken. The ball spawned underneath Vinyl Scratch’s hoof, and the timer began counting down from three minutes. Vinyl Scratch passed the ball over to one of her Hammer Bros and waited at the line along with her Dry Bones. Octavia and her Birdo moved towards the Hammer Bro with the ball. Her Birdo moved in first. The Dry Bones grabbed a giant hammer from hammerspace and slammed it on the ground. Seeing this window of opportunity, Octavia moved in to seize control of the ball by sliding into the Hammer Bro. However, the other Hammer Bro smashed his hammer into Octavia and tackled her into the electric fence. Her eyes were filled with dread as her body collided with the electric fence. For some reason, her body felt more in pain than what it should be as if the voltage was increased. The Hammer Bro that knocked Octavia into the electric fence lifted a thumb up to the other Hammer Bro, which greenlit movement. The Shy Guy saw the Hammer Bro charging towards him. Normally, the Shy Guy had such bravado. Yet, seeing as how the Toad was on the other side of his team’s field, he shook nervously. In fear, he ran right into the electric fence, giving him a horrible shock. For a moment, one could’ve seen his skeletal features present, but no skull. The Toad tried to run after the Hammer Bro, only to be slammed by the other Hammer Bro. The Hammer Bro with the ball charged his ball and was surrounded by a blue energy. He jumped into the air slightly and started throwing hammers at Octavia’s Kritter. The hammers collided with the Kritter, which knocked him out. He then shot the ball right into the goal, scoring a goal for Vinyl Scratch’s team. The game was now at 5-7.

As Octavia finally fell of the fence, she looked around her body. She noticed that a particular area on the side of her body was so badly burned that blood started to rise from it. As she touched the area lightly, a sharp pain caused her legs to drop her. She ignored the pain and dealt with it. She walked over to the center of the field. She tried to not show any pain. As the hoofball spawned underneath her hoof, she immediately passed it over to her Toad. Octavia ran as fast away from Vinyl Scratch’s team as possible. Vinyl Scratch saw what her enemy did. She followed Octavia, leaving her Dry Bones and Hammer Bros to play against Octavia’s team. As the Toad crossed into Vinyl Scratch’s team’s side of the field, he passed the ball over to the Birdo. She tried to shoot it into the goal, but one of the Hammer Bros tackled into her and took possession of the ball. The Hammer Bros passed the ball to each other until it flashed a white color. The Shy Guy appeared before the same Hammer Bro that scared it off before. However, rather than run away, the Shy Guy stood his place. When the Hammer Bro approached him, the Shy Guy tackled him. The Hammer Bro, who did not expect the hit, was unable to dodge the blow. The Shy Guy took the ball and passed it over to the Birdo. When the Dry Bones got near the Birdo, she winked once before engaging in a spin. Finally, she passed it over to the Toad, who charged his shot. As he was enshrouded in the energy, his kick became filled with burning energy and shot a fireball at Vinyl Scratch’s Kritter. The Kritter knocked it back, but started running around as he screamed from the infernal fires that scorched him. The Toad had a smirk on his face, but the smile turned into shock as the Dry Bones jumped into the air and kicked the ball over to the Hammer Bro. When the Hammer Bro received the ball, he ran towards Octavia’s side of the field. Seeing as she was the only one on her team’s side, Octavia reluctantly chased after the Hammer Bro. Unfortunately, a passively angry Vinyl Scratch appeared in her way.

“Hey Octavia, where do you think you’re going? You want to stop my chum from scoring, don’t you? Unfortunately, it won’t be that easy. In fact, the both of us have a date of destiny to settle here now.” Vinyl Scratch noticed Octavia’s injury on her side near her flank. She smiled. “That’s a nice bruise you got there. It would be a shame if somepony were to exacerbate it.” Vinyl Scratch’s direct words prompted Octavia to hide her injury away from Vinyl Scratch’s sight.

“You’d like to hurt me more, wouldn’t you Vanilla? You were always a rough pony from the start. You fought to where you are now. In a way, I can appreciate it. Unfortunately, you’ll just have to settle for being hurt.” Octavia stated with a pained smile. Vinyl Scratch’s mouth moved as she didn’t understand the situation. Octavia jumped towards Vinyl Scratch’s side. She was confused until she realized one important detail: she was a very small distance away from the electric fence.

“You’re going to knock me into there, aren’t you? You’ll step all over me just because you never liked me!? Just know that I wo-“but it was too late. Octavia smashed her head into Vinyl Scratch’s side just before she finished. The impact pushed her into the electric fence. The burning sensation of flesh being fused permeated throughout Vinyl Scratch’s body. Every fiber of her body screamed for the pain to stop. Octavia chased after the Hammer Bro with the ball and left Vinyl Scratch alone to suffer her torment. The Hammer Bro saw Octavia coming a fair distance away. Just as Octavia was nearing the Hammer Bro, the Hammer Bro performed his hammer dodge. He jumped into the air and smashed the ground underneath with the giant hammer. Octavia barely dodged with a well-timed jump. Unfortunately for her, the Hammer Bro got into a position on the field that made scoring a very possible situation. The Hammer Bro smashed his hammer against the ball. The only thing that Octavia’s Kritter saw was a white beam fly past him before he registered the horn blare of a score. Vinyl Scratch was released from the oppressive shackles of electricity. For her, the horn blare was a sign of hope. This moment was short-lived when a wet, sticky feeling came up from her throat. As she spit out the material, she saw that it was blood. She felt a bit dizzy, but shrugged off the sensation. “I can’t let Octavia win. I have to keep doing it for my team.”

Vinyl Scratch stood up from her place and slowly walked over to the center of the field. Both ponies’ bodies have been abused to the point of death, but neither pony wanted to give up. They both looked at each other with hate-filled stares. When the hoofball spawned underneath Octavia’s hoof and the time began to count down with one minute left, both mares bolted from their positions. Vinyl Scratch attempted to tackle Octavia, but she jumped into the air to her left. She passed the ball to her Toad, who then passed the ball to her Birdo. The Dry Bones waited patiently near the Birdo. As the Birdo began to charge her skill shot, Dry Bones dashed towards the effeminate dinosaur. From her mouth launched a giant egg which contained the ball. The egg traveled towards the goalie. However, the Dry Bones’ s body acted as a shield that fractured the fragile egg. Birdo got near the ball only to register the chilling sensation of a blue shell heading her way. She froze in place, which allowed the Hammer Bro who threw the shell to be in possession of the ball. The Hammer Bro passed it over to Vinyl Scratch. As Vinyl Scratch got near the possession of the ball, Octavia took this time to catch it through a sliding kick. She succeeded in retaking possession of the ball, but failed to register Vinyl Scratch’s disappearance from the path. Then, she felt a full-force tackle striker her on her injured side. Her body became paralyzed through the pain of the injury. The Hammer Bro traveled a good distance into Octavia’s territory. Vinyl Scratch passed the ball to the Hammer Bro, who then shot the ball past the goalie with his hammer. The horn blared, which signified the score. Now, both Vinyl Scratch and Octavia are tied 7-7.

Vinyl Scratch’s body was in terrible condition. She had severe burns across her body and suffered horrible internal injuries. She still coughed up a bit of blood here and now. The only thing that kept her alive is the protective uniform, which took on a brunt amount of the blows. Octavia did not fare any better. From when she saw the horrifying injury, it had only worsened. It reached the point where the blood flowing through the open wound stained her long-sleeve shirt. The two of them stood at the center of the field. They both were writhed in pain, but their facial expressions did not show any of it. The ball spawned underneath Octavia’s hoof. There were only twenty-five seconds left on the clock. As soon as the timer began, Octavia ran over to the other side of the field. She had a noticeable limp in her gait. Vinyl Scratch dashed towards Octavia’s direction. However, her speed suffered a significant decrease, and her vision blurred rapidly. Her confidence pushed through the ailments as she caught up with Octavia. Vinyl Scratch shoved Octavia into the direction of the electric fence. Octavia tried to maintain control of the ball, but repeated jabs from Vinyl Scratch’s body proved too much for her body to handle. The ball spun out of control and was grabbed by a Hammer Bro. As the two captains approached the Electric Fence, Vinyl Scratch lifted Octavia by her forehooves. Vinyl Scratch then came to the conclusion of what she wanted to do: she would force Octavia to remain on the electric fence by holding her on there to prevent her from winning.

She threw Octavia at the fence and pinned her there with her hooves. The powerful voltage surged through both of their bodies, with Octavia taking most of the unfiltered electricity. Vinyl Scratch’s cleats were taking a good portion of the electricity, but she still felt the horrible sting of electricity shooting into her hooves. Yet, she still stood strongly against the flow. It had only past ten seconds, but it felt as if a day of pain passed through them. Neither of them screamed from the pain, but Octavia’s breathing became more erratic. She could see all of the hatred burning in Vinyl Scratch’s eyes and recalled her words on the airship before they teleported out.

“I just found out that you are just a diseased branch on the tree of my life. I’ll be sure to forcefully rip that branch from that tree and tear it apart in the hoofball stadium!” She realized just how badly she hurt Vinyl Scratch, the only pony who she can fully consider to be her friend. She realized just how her pride had put a tremendous strain on their relationship and how this match had destroyed her friendship. Her eyes began to water from the realization. Vinyl Scratch picked up on her tears, so she tightened her grip on her fore ankles.

“Octavia… are there any last… words you have for me?” She said in pained breath. Octavia closed her eyes, which welled up the tears in her eyes.

“Vinyl Scratch, I’m sorry.” The anger in Vinyl Scratch’s eyes lightened up, and her grip lightened up. “I’m sorry for ignoring you. I’ve been a terrible friend. I have never taken your feelings into account for decisions involving the two of us. I have always focused more on my career than our friendship. Friendship is a sacred treasure for anypony. I have neglected our friendship just to feel accepted by the wrong crowd. You were truly my best friend. Vinyl Scratch, please know that I am sorry for destroying it just for the sake of moving on. My only regret is that it took me this long to realize how one friend can make all the difference in the world.” Octavia stated, with each sentence having a significant amount of pauses in between them. She finally opened her eyes and let a stream of tears pour down her body.

“…Tavi?” Vinyl Scratch’s grip finally released from Octavia’s fore ankles. She pried her off of the fence. The chaotic energy was released from both of their bodies, which caused the uniforms to slowly disintegrate. The coding on their teammates began to vanish, which caused their teammates to disappear. Octavia’s body was charred to the point where her gray coat was all black. Her severe wound was cauterized by the sheer voltage passing through her body. She could not move without feeling any sort of pain. Blood leaked through her eyes, mouth and nose from how badly her internal organs were damaged. She could not even breathe without Vinyl Scratch smelling a hint of copper in there. Vinyl Scratch’s red eyes became coated from a sudden surge of tears that overcame her. “Tavi, you’ll make it! Please, you gotta hang on! You got to live! Please, don’t die!” She closed her eyes in order to block the tears from flowing. However, they still formed a stream that dripped downwards. Octavia slowly, but shakily moved her hoof towards Vinyl Scratch’s face to wipe away the stray tears. She looked up to her with nearly glazed-over eyes. All she could see was the face of her friend.

“Vinyl… I forgive you…” Octavia stated softly and weakly. “I just… want you… to forgive me. Please… live on… for the both of us……” Everything blurred to an indistinguishable white as Octavia breathed her last breath. Her hoof fell limp along with the rest of her body.

“Tavi…Tavi!!!” Vinyl Scratch shook her body hard in order to elicit a response. Octavia didn’t move. The realization hit her harder than a rave of drug-crazed ponies. She was dead. Vinyl Scratch embraced the corpse of her best friend. She dug her face into the corpse’s chest and bawled. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry I killed you! I’m sorry that I let my anger the better of me! Why did you have to die!?!? You were my best friend! Nopony could’ve been as unique as you were. I should’ve been more supportive of you and your career!” She blubbered out. Octavia’s chest was filled with the tears and blood from Vinyl Scratch. She heard a wave of gasps come from behind her. She turned around and saw Discord and all the ponies with shocked expressions on their faces. Twilight’s eyes watered rapidly. She walked up to Vinyl Scratch, whose body was badly beaten.

“Vinyl… did you do this?” Twilight asked, scared about what just happened. Vinyl Scratch didn’t dare to look into the eyes of her princess. She turned her body with Octavia still in her forehooves towards everypony. She stared downward and saw her friend’s body, which is what her focus was on.

“I’m a killer. I shed blood for the sake of a sport. I’m… I’m a horrible pony! I should’ve died in her place! She had such promise as a cellist, and I robbed Canterlot of one of its finest musicians! I’m just a lowly DJ going down a path of self-destruction.” Guilt was riddled in her voice. Vinyl Scratch felt a spell of wooziness overcome her with a blur of vision veiling her eyes. This time, she made no attempt to fight it back and entered into the darkness of unconsciousness. The last thing she heard was a horrified scream from Twilight.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Vinyl Scratch’s vision started to come around. She lied down on a very soft bed with a plush pillow. As she regained her vision, she saw that she was in a dully-lit room that was blue in nature. She tried to move, but felt bound to various different tubes and bandages on her. She lifted her head and took a good look around. She saw that there were various empty beds topped with white sheets, but there was only one bed that looked full. There was a white sheet covering the contents of the bed. She noticed that there was a bipedal robot with long, slender arms and legs. It had fingers similar to Star’s fingers. It was black in nature and had a single red eye as its face. It was currently mopping up the floors of the room. Out of curiosity, she spoke in order to get its attention.

“Excuse me sir, but where am I?” The robot turned towards Vinyl Scratch. It spoke in a very electronic voice.

“You are in the infirmary aboard the Stormship. You suffered horrible injuries and you are lucky to be alive. You were tended to after being brought up here. However, I couldn’t say the same thing about your friend over in that bed over there.” Vinyl Scratch’s heart began to palpitate at hearing the robots words.

“You mean that it wasn’t a dream? Octavia is actually dead!?” Vinyl Scratch began to feel sick about what happened. Just knowing that Octavia’s corpse was rotting away near her made her panic. The robot walked over to her.

“Do not dread Vinyl Scratch. Just watch.” The robot then walked over to the sheets and pulled them away. The body under the sheets was burned black with an even darker burn on its side. Its eyes were milky white. The robot held out its arms above the body. The hands of the robot were enveloped in a yellow glow. The hands of the robot touched the body, which allowed it to be coated in the same energy. Octavia began to develop her gray coat again. Her eyes were changing from milky white to her rosy pink eyes. Her bleeding regressed back into her body and her wounds were patched up. She regained the ability to breath and her strength and movement were restored. Vinyl Scratch’s eyes watered with tears of joy. Octavia looked to her right to see an injured Vinyl Scratch.

“Vinyl Scratch? Where am I? What happened?” Octavia said as she was confused. Vinyl Scratch yanked out all of the IVs in her legs and ran over to her. She embraced her.

“Tavi! You’re alive! I thought I would’ve had to live with the fact that you were gone from my life! I wouldn’t have been able to live on without you.” Octavia saw the genuine tears in Vinyl Scratch’s eyes. She returned the hug back.

“Listen Vinyl Scratch, I wanted to apologize to you about what happened. This was my entire fault. I thought I was better than you because of how I was trained. What it led to was one of the bloodiest things I have ever been a part of. I’m sorry for putting you through so much.”

“I’m sorry too Tavi. I’m sorry too. I should have never overreacted the way I did, even if it was the gauntlet talking.” Vinyl Scratch said. Octavia looked around to see that only she, Vinyl Scratch and a robot were around.

“You know Vinyl, when everything is all said and done, do you mind if I sometimes became your partner when playing music? It’s the least I could do for, well, everything.” Vinyl Scratch had a large smile on her face with what Octavia said. “You are the best friend that a DJ can ever have!” She turned her face to the robot. “What can I do to ever repay you?” The robot looked down on her.

“I am just a robot, not a miracle worker. When the time comes, you shall be able to repay me.” The robot walked away. Vinyl Scratch kept her embrace on Octavia.

“Ooookay Vinyl, you can let go of me now. This is starting to get somewhat creepy.” Vinyl Scratch blushed out of embarrassment and distanced herself away from Octavia.

“Hehe, sorry.” Vinyl Scrach limped back to her bed as she felt the effects of exhaustion overcome her body. She relaxed herself on the bed. In the hallway, the robot that mopped the floors in the infirmary chuckled.

“You shall be able to repay me sooner than you think.”

Author's Note

So, that just happened. What do you think the robot meant by what it said? Why did I kill off Octavia only to bring her back? Who else do you want to face-off against each other next? Find out next time. Comments and Criticisms welcome.

The Journey to Thunder Island

Celestia sat on her bed by her lonesome with a room that only had a weak light above her head. Freshly dried salts were present in a line over her face. Her breaths were deeper than normal and her body quivered a bit. She shook her head and closed her eyes.

“No, I don’t need to worry. Ponies die all the time, even if I don’t like it. I understand this well, but why did this particular pony’s death hit me?” Her eyes opened up in realization. “…Because it only shows to prove my worthlessness here. I had the capability to stop the match before it was too late. Unfortunately, my powers have been weakened significantly. I’m just as mortal as anypony here.” As she wallowed a bit in her sorrow, she heard several hoofknocks on her door.

“Princess… it’s me.” The voice sounded familiar to Celestia, but she knew that it wasn’t her sister’s voice.

“Please, don’t trouble me with your presence. I already have too many problems to deal with right now.” Despite her rejection, the door opened, which revealed a disheveled Twilight Sparkle. Celestia attempted to smile, but the onslaught of sadness within weighed her mouth down.

“Princess, I see that you are also in disarray with Octavia’s passing.” Twilight tilted her head downwards as if she wanted to cry. “I’ve… I’ve never seen a pony die before my eyes like that before. It was more horrible than I thought it would be.” Twilight’s eyes began to water. She ran over to Celestia and cried on her shoulder. Celestia lifted her wing over Twilight’s neck and pulled her in. She hugged her.

“Twilight, nopony can ever escape death. Even with my seemingly limitless lifespan, I know that one day I’ll have to pass away.” Celestia solemnly stated with a heavy heart.

“Please Princess! Don’t say that! You’ll be able to live forever! I don’t want to lose you!” Twilight cried out. Celestia nuzzled Twilight to comfort her.

“Twilight, when you first became an alicorn, I told you that you would have new challenges. You were blessed with a significantly increased longevity. You’ll eventually have to watch loved ones die. But I know that you will be able to handle it. One day, you will be able to move the sun and the moon in the place of me and my sister. I know that you are capable of doing great things, because you have already been doing great things. One day, when I would pass away, I want you to rule all of Equestria. It’s because I trust you.” Celestia said with a smile on her face.

“But… I don’t even know the first thing about being a princess. What if I mess up? What if I accidently offend another nation and cause Equestria to fall into a horrible war?” Twilight stated with bated breath. Celestia shook her head before she spoke.

“I don’t intend for you to make all of the decisions by yourself now. It is true that you are inexperienced in the ways of being a princess. Yet, with time comes experience. When you become the prominent monarch of Equestria, you would have already learned how to rule justly.” Twilight wiped a stray tear away from her eye and smiled.

“Thank you princess. Those words helped me a bit.” She said.

“Please Twilight, you can just call me Celestia. We both are now equals and children of mother Faust.” As Celestia said this, there was a knock on the door.

“Tia! We have pleasing news to share!” Celestia knew who the voice belonged to. She stood up from her bed and walked over to the door. The door slid open, revealing Luna with a joyous expression on her face.

“Lulu, isn’t it a bit too early to be happy?” Celestia stated confusingly. “I mean, one of the ponies who came with us just died.”

“But Tia, she isn’t dead anymore!” Celestia and Twilight both opened their eyes widely.

“What!?” The both of them shouted in unison. Twilight got up from the bed and ran towards Luna.

“But princess, er, Luna, how is that even possible!? There’s just no way that a pony can be revived from the dead… can they?”

“We just came back from the infirmary. The one called Vinyl Scratch is resting in her bed, and we saw the one called Octavia walking towards her friend and re-inserting the IVs where they belonged!” Luna stated with excitement. Celestia was entirely puzzled by this event.

“So, you have seen Octavia walking around without any problems. If she truly is alive, then what allowed her to be alive in the first place?”

“I believe I can answer that.” A mysterious electronic voice echoed. Star walked into the room with an electronically-made smile present on the screen.

“Ah Star, where have you been since everything happened?” Celestia stated suspiciously.

“I have been in stasis since everypony teleported to your game. I heard about the news, but fear not. You wouldn’t believe how often accidents like this would happen.” Celestia, Luna and Twilight looked at Star with very unamused expressions that screamed ‘you think!?’ “This is why all robots onboard are capable of restoring life. I, myself, have a more potent form of this ability.”

“So any robot aboard the stormship can resurrect any pony?” Twilight stated curiously. Star nodded. “But, isn’t that against the rules of nature!?” She shouted.

“Screw the rules of nature! I have high-functioning processors!” Celestia, Luna and Twilight opened their eyes widely. Celestia coughed into her hoof without the gauntlet. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist saying that. But anyways, this universe is always filled with chaotic energy. Chaos is the most potent form of determination. Since we robots are formed through chaos energy, we can utilize this determination to revive anyone from the dead who did not die through natural causes.” Star kept walking down the hallway nonchalantly. The trio of princesses looked at each other.

“Celestia, I would like to see Octavia myself. Do you want to come with me?” Twilight stated happily. Celestia shook her head.

“I have some things to continue thinking about Twilight. You go on ahead with your friends to see Octavia.” Twilight smiled and sprinted into the hallway. Luna walked near Celestia with a curious eye.

“Would you mind telling me what is on your mind Tia? You don’t seem too happy with the recent resurrection of one of our allies.” Luna asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.

“Lulu, it isn’t that I’m not happy about it. It’s just the fact that she was resurrected by strange means. Normally, necromancy puts too much strain on the caster and it usually doesn’t end the desired way. We put a ban on necromancy a very long time ago due to ethical reasons and how disastrous it becomes. Yet, Star discussed bringing back a pony from the dead as if it were commonplace. No sane pony would just casually talk about reviving the dead. It makes me very suspicious about what this place really is.” Celestia answered in a serious tone. Luna looked around for a bit before she responded.

“I see what you mean Tia. I was happy because we do not need to worry about ponies dying on us. Yet, the way how they stated resurrection being commonplace is very unnerving. I will keep more of an eye on this universe because something does not add up right here.” Luna mused. She walked out of the room and the door shut behind her. Celestia was left alone as she pondered through the information she learned.

____________________________________________________________________________

Elsewhere, Lyra and Bonbon were on the bridge engaged in a conversation. Lyra looked desperate as she spoke, but Bonbon looked somewhat irritated.

“But Bonbon, I’ve shown you that humans exist. Why won’t you join me in researching humans? We have all the possible technology here to do so!” Bonbon growled in response to Lyra’s words.

“Because Lyra, I didn’t think that there would be any humans here at all! I didn’t even know what to expect when the day came that you would prove me wrong because I believed that you were just crazy!” Lyra’s lip quivered and tears fell from her eyes.

“But Bonbon, you promised me that you would help me research humans.” Bonbon facehoofed before she settled down with a sigh.

“Look Lyra, let me set something up with you. I will be your assistant in researching humans if you can beat me at a game of hoofball here.” Lyra gasped and covered her mouth.

“But Octavia died playing hoofball here. What makes you think that I would want to die against my best friend!?” Lyra said with a shocked expression. Bonbon laughed in response. She smiled sincerely as she looked at Lyra straight in the face.

“Didn’t you hear? Octavia is alive and well. It turns out that this kind of thing happens from time to time. You don’t need to be afraid of dying because you can just come back to life again.” Lyra looked around nervously as if she tried to find some way to make an excuse. Nothing popped into her mind.

“You know Bonbon, you’re right. I did want to play hoofball from the very beginning. No notion of death will make this explorer of anthropology fear the game!” Lyra stated with an absolution in her voice.

“It’s great to hear that Lyra. Now come join me as we go to the command terminal of this ship and collect our gauntlets!” Lyra eagerly, but hesitantly followed Bonbon into the mangled hallways of the Stormship. They passed through several rooms for sleeping quarters. As they walked down the hall, the two of them literally bumped into Doctor Whooves and Derpy, who came from a different portion of the hallway intersection. All four ponies fell to the ground.

“Owww, what was that?” Doctor Whooves stated. His eyes met Bonbon, who sat on the ground as she rubbed her head. “Ah Bonbon, what a pleasant surprise this is.”

“Doctor! Oh, this is a bit embarrassing. I didn’t mean to bump into you. I just wanted to go down to the command terminal to play a game of hoofball with Lyra here. So, what were you doing down this hall?” Doctor Whooves looked back at Derpy, who rubbed her head with a ditzy expression.

“I and Derpy were just examining the gauntlets. Those pieces of technology are phenomenal! The motherboard was overloaded with such alien data, and the gauntlet was made with spacial breaker circuits. I’m just taking this gauntlet over to my room to do some research on what makes these devices so fascinating!” The Doctor stated happily.

“I went to see Star too. I wanted to wear the gauntlet, but Turner didn’t want me to wear mine yet.” Derpy stated while crossing her forelegs in anger.

“Well, good luck with that Doctor. I’ll be going down to the bridge with Lyra now.” Bonbon stated. As she was walking, Doctor Whooves screamed.

“Wait! The ship is travelling to a new destination. I suggest you hold off on that game temporarily until we get there.” He said. Bonbon nodded and walked down the corridor with Lyra. As soon as the duo of ponies got into the terminal, their eyes met with the spraying electricity coming from the broken wires of the place. Lyra shuddered as she saw how cold and poorly-kept the area was. Bonbon ran over to the shelf, which contained ten gauntlets. She reached her hoof into the shelf and grabbed a gauntlet. She had an almost devilish smirk as she moved the gauntlet over her hoof. The screen flashed a light blue color before the light of transformation shined brightly. As the light dimmed, Bonbon was covered with a bulky, cream uniform: She wore a thick helmet that covered a good portion of her head and had a chinstrap. Her breastplate armor had several layers of metal and plastic. To complete her look, she wore thick shin guards and had cream and purple-styled metal cleats. Her breastplate had a design of three blue bonbons on it. Lyra stood in awe of the transformation that enveloped her friend.

“Wow Bonbon, you look fierce. Do you feel a bit different?” Lyra meekly said. Bonbon looked around a bit.

“Well, now that you mention, I do feel a certain form of bloodlust emanating from this gauntlet. Hurry up and put on your gauntlet Lyra!” Bonbon screamed. Lyra bolted back and winced.

“Okay!” Lyra went to the shelf and picked the gauntlet near her. When she put it on, her screen flashed a light blue color. Then, she became enveloped in a bright flash. The sensation for her felt unusual. After the flash ended, she was equipped in a teal uniform: She wore a t-shirt with slight frills on the sleeves. She had a pair of shorts that rounded well with her posterior with a small opening for her tail. There was a golden harp design sewn in onto the front of her shirt. The most significant change was that she didn’t wear the standard cleats like every other pony had during transformation. Each cleat had five different metallic appendages at their ends. When she lifted them up, she tried to move each appendage. Much to her surprise, the appendages responded the way she did. “I have fingers! I have hands for hooves!” Lyra jumped around in cheerfulness. She performed a cartwheel to test the abilities of her newfound joy. Her cartwheel was perfect. Bonbon appeared to be unnerved about what she saw.

“Okay, so you have hands now. When we get to this Thunder Island, then we can rough it up. So in the meantime, choose your partners!” Lyra smirked as she took out the stylus out of her gauntlet with one of her metallic hands. She grasped the reed and poked each of her squares. Her tongue was out in a silly fashion as she pondered about which sidekicks to choose from. As she finished, she put the stylus into the gauntlet. The gauntlet fired several beams. From these beams manifested a Koopa Troopa in a teal uniform, a Hammer Bro in a teal uniform, and a Toad in a teal uniform. Bonbon stared at Lyra’s teammates in an unamused fashion. “Really Lyra? You’re going to go with two turtles with hands and a human? Please.”

“Hey, I don’t see you coming up with anything for your team. At least I love who I chose.” Bonbon stared at Lyra with an unamused expression. She breathed before she grabbed the stylus with her mouth. She didn’t grab it the right way and ended up poking the internal part of her cheek with the butt of the stylus. She looked enviously at Lyra for a moment, but then continued with the team selection process. She clicked on the screen for each box and scrolled through the menus. Eventually, she smirked, happy with her selection. As the blue beams fired from her gauntlet, Lyra stared at the impact zones. What materialized were a Boo with a cream-colored helmet, a Koopa Troopa in a cream-colored uniform, and a Monty Mole in a cream-colored uniform. Bonbon stood in a prideful position. It felt as if she had the spotlight all to herself. Truthfully, it was a busted overhead light that trickled on before shutting off.

“Do you like my team Lyra? This is the team that will be ready to take you down at the arena when we get there.” Bonbon stated in a prideful fashion.

“Heh, you won’t be smiling for long when I, my four hands, and my team and their two hands all win against you.” Save for the few whirring electronics and occasional crackles of electricity, the room remained silent after Lyra said this. Both Lyra and Bonbon sat on their haunches as they looked around nervously. Bonbon coughed in an attempt to break the silence.

“Geez Lyra, Thunder Island is still a bit of a time away. What can we do to fill in the time? For me, I suggest that we work on our game faces. What about you?” When Bonbon said this, Lyra was already wearing a green clown mask with black pupils and red circles for cheeks painted in. “I mean our internal game faces.”

“Ohhhhh.” Lyra mused. She took off her game face and started riling herself up in an attempt to look threatening. Bonbon looked at Lyra with an even larger intensity and growled. Lyra responded by doing what Bonbon did but with her legs held out like a bear. Bonbon got in close to Lyra with an intimidating stare and growl combo. In the midst of the game face competition, Discord happened to wander into the terminal. He did a few exaggerated coughs. Lyra and Bonbon both looked at him, embarrassed by the spirit of chaos watching them.

“Oh don’t mind me. I just wandered into this place to tell you that we are at Thunder Island. Don’t let me distract you from your current ‘game’ you are doing here.” Discord said with both his griffin talon and lion paw doing air quotations at the word game. “You know, you almost touched each other’s faces. It looked as if you were about to kiss.” Bonbon stared at Discord hatefully. For a moment, her pupils looked as if they were literally on fire.

“OUT!!!” She screamed. Discord moved back a bit.

“Okay, okay! Geez! It’s not like I would’ve shipped that. Then again, that does seem like a tempting and funny idea to put into action.” As he said this, he saw a television screen that flew towards his direction. He dodged right before the collision. “Well, it seems as if my presence here is no longer required. I’ll have to go check up on Celly and then gather everypony here for your game.” Discord snapped his griffon talons and disappeared. Bonbon looked back at Lyra.

“The nerve of some spirits of chaos. Does he truly think that we would be together like that!?” Lyra blushed a bit and backed up.

“Uhhhh, no not really. I definitely don’t think we’ll be perfect for each other.” Lyra said through her teeth.

“Whatever. He said we’re here now. So, you want to take the home position and I’ll take the away position?” Bonbon questioned.

“Ummm, I think you should take home territory Bonbon. It would feel weird for two unicorns to take home side in a row.” Lyra admitted. Bonbon shrugged her shoulders.

“If it’s fine with you, then it’s fine with me.” Bonbon walked over to the leftmost teleport tile while Lyra headed jumped over to the rightmost teleport tile. The light shone atop of them before electrical impulses started to phase through their body. Eventually, the two competitors became a spark of energy that vanished.

Author's Note

Rather than playing at The Vice like in the two previous matches, I'm having Lyra and Bonbon play at an entirely new arena. Oh the fun I'll have with that chapter.

Anyways, I will always appreciate comments and criticisms. Like it, favorite it, do whatever you want.

Game 3: Thunder Island: Bonbon vs. Lyra

Lyra stood on the cliff arena of a brown mountain at the sea. The clouds were black and stormy rather than the standard hazy yellow atmosphere. She saw tornadoes off at the distance at the sea. She can practically feel the razor winds coming from the storm. She stood in awe on how wild the location was. There wasn’t any form of an electric fence around the arena, which would lead towards a long drop down to the ocean.

Off at the distance, a set of blue stand-style seats materialized in smoke. It was suspended in the air. Discord and all of the other ponies save for Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, Lyra and Bonbon were warped onto the stands. The howling winds whispered in each individual’s ears. Twilight looked to her right and saw that a large tornado hurdling towards the seats. Twilight dropped to the seats and moved back in desperation of getting away from the dreaded natural disaster. Rainbow Dash looked in awe of the magnificent force of nature and didn’t bother moving away. Just as it neared, the tornado moved to the right, which caused it to miss the floating bleachers. Discord looked to his left with a smug face on him. He saw that Twilight’s heart raced. She tried to catch her breath, but ultimately failed.

“Twilight, is this how you would approach a natural disaster? You would be absolutely terrible in the disaster recovery department.” Discord guffawed at the fearful reaction of Twilight. He pounded on the bleachers with his lion’s paw in the middle of his laughter. Nopony on the stands were amused. Discord wiped a stray tear of laughter from his eyes. He snapped his griffon talons and spawned a bag of popcorn in front of him. He laid back on the bleacher behind him and put his hands behind his head and started eating at the popcorn. “Anyways everypony, I welcome you all to Thunder Island. Thunder Island is a location far off into the ocean. This island is famous in the universe for always being surrounded by dangerous natural disasters and winds. The arena here is on the cliff of the mountain as you can see, and weird objects are brought hurdling into the wind here for some reason.” Fluttershy was almost too quiet since she witnessed the violence level of the game. However, she felt the need to speak out.

“Is there a good chance that ponies here can die?” Fluttershy whispered. Discord turned his head towards Fluttershy and smiled.

“I would like to say no, but this arena has been proven many times to be more dangerous than the previous arena we visited. If a pony falls down there, there really isn’t any guarantee that they will be alive. But, if for some reason that a pony’s body isn’t dashed against the stalagmites of the roaring ocean below, they somehow float back up onto the platform.” He stated honestly, but with a goofy grin. Fluttershy slowly looked back to the stadium and slightly whimpered.

Lyra and her team of a Toad, a Koopa Troopa, and a Hammer Bro looked towards Bonbon’s Koopa Troopa, Boo and Monty Mole. Bonbon’s team backed up slightly in fear. Yet, as soon as they looked up in the sky, they became excited and pointed towards the sky. Bonbon was in a nosedive as she fell from the black horizon. As she came near the ground, she positioned her body into a five-point position. Afterwards, she fell down onto the ground in a three-point position. She looked at Lyra with an intense stare. Lyra’s face scrunched into a scowl and intensified. No words were spoken.

At the beginning of the five-minute mark, the two ponies pushed towards the ball. However, Bonbon’s bulky status as a Power player slowed her down. On the contrary, Lyra’s status as a Playmaker player only allowed her to speed towards the ball. Predictably, Lyra grabbed the ball first. Lyra stood up on her hind legs and allowed her hind cleats to form into durable movement hands. Bonbon, with her face shocked in surprise, went directly towards Lyra. As Bonbon was ready to tackle her, Lyra performed a cartwheel with the hoofball surprisingly maintained between her legs. She jumped above Bonbon and, while in the air, kicked the ball towards her Hammer Bro, who was being chased by a Boo. When the Boo neared towards the Hammer Bro, the Hammer Bro jumped into the air and pulled out a giant hammer. He smashed the ground and sent the Boo flying out of the arena. He screamed through his fangs for his afterlife as he plummeted downwards towards the choppy ocean.

The Hammer Bro charged the ball up for a bit. Just as he was ready to perform his skill shot, a Monty Mole rammed himself into the Hammer Bro and sent him flying near the edge. The Hammer Bro’s heart beat uneasily as he saw the steep drop from the cliff. He swallowed the air in his throat and looked back to see that the Monty Mole has the ball. He became livid with anger and started chasing him with an annoying chatter. The Monty Mole moved down towards Lyra’s side of the field. When Lyra’s Koopa Troopa got near him, the Monty Mole dug into the hard earth. The Koopa Troopa looked down into the hole before his eyes met with the increasing brightness of a mole rocketing through the hole. The Koopa Troopa flew upwards from the collision of the Monty Mole. He saw that a Toad approached him. He laughed before he dug into the ground again. The Toad did not fall for this trick and instead moved past the hole. When Monty Mole popped out of the ground, he was surprised to feel nothing brushed against his bulk. When he turned to his left, he saw a Toad that moved more quickly than the time limit he had to react. The Toad performed a slide and charged into the Monty Mole and grabbed the ball in the process.

As he had the ball, he ran towards Bonbon’s Kritter, who wore a teal mask and uniform. The Toad performed a flip jump. When the Kritter smashed his claw into the Toad, the ball flew across the goalie box and near Lyra’s Koopa Troopa. Seeing that he had no distractions around him, he held out his foot as it charged with a blue aura. When he finished charging his kick, he unleashed all of the energy in his foot into the ball, transforming it into a shiny white shell with black lines separating the tiles. The tank-sized shell smashed into the Kritter. The impact left the Kritter dazed. The ball flew from the storm of fragments and into the front of Lyra. She went down on all fours and kicked the ball with her forehoof. Because the Kritter was paralyzed, the ball went into the goal unhindered. A lower-pitched horn, different from the one at The Vice, blared, which confirmed the point. Lyra smiled and stood on her hind legs. She looked at her forehooves and moved her ‘fingers’. Looking back at Bonbon, she made an obscene gesture involving her middle finger. Bonbon looked confused at the display before she shrugged it off angrily. At the stands, all of the ponies save for Celestia, Luna and Discord, all looked at each other confused. Celestia and Luna gasped at the barbaric behavior while Discord fell onto the stand laughing.

“Discord, that isn’t funny. That gesture is unbelievably rude!” Celestia stated in disgust.

“Aww come on Celly, it’s hilarious! There’s nothing funnier than offending a person without the target knowing that they are offended!”

Bonbon and Lyra both approached the field. Lyra had a devious smirk on her face, but the fierce fire of competition burned brightly within Bonbon’s eyes. As the ball spawned underneath the hoof of Bonbon, she charged forward immediately. Lyra ran towards Bonbon in an attempt to slide into her. However, Bonbon jumped into the air and landed on the ground using her abdomen. The impact from the splash left a sizeable crater and squashed Lyra. Bonbon kicked the ball over to her Boo. The ball passed over slowly, but it was capable of out speeding Lyra’s Hammer Bro. The pass was successful. The Boo then passed it backwards towards Bonbon’s Koopa Troopa. Lyra’s Koopa Troopa ran towards Bonbon’s Koopa Troopa. The two turtles stood at a face-off. Lyra’s Koopa closed the distance between them, but Bonbon’s Koopa fled into his shell and maneuvered it out of the collision path. The Koopa then kicked the ball into the air and passed it over to Bonbon. She jumped into the air and grabbed it. Lyra just recovered from her injury and saw Bonbon near the goalie’s box. Lyra ran towards her with the intent to take the ball back from her by force. However, the vicious winds stirred and a series of flying debris flooded the field. Lyra heard a very distinct moo and turned to her right. What she saw was something that she had not prepared for: a giant cow that was eating grass was carried over by the wind and heading straight towards her. Her eyes opened as wide as possible, and then some more. She screamed in a high-pitch as the cow smashed into her and took her along into the wind. Lyra then fell out of the course and down the cliff. Bonbon smirked and performed a charge shot. Since the distance was close to the box, she was able to kick the ball into the goal without much interference. The ball zipped past the Kritter before he could have registered the ball’s movement. The horn blared and confirmed the score.

Bonbon cheered loudly and approached Lyra’s Koopa Troopa. The Koopa looked a bit suspicious of this action. Unfortunately for him, Bonbon punched him across the face with her forehoof so hard that he was sent flying. Bonbon cheered loudly once again as she savored in the earned score. Lyra was picked up by the wind currents. She gently floated down onto the cliff. She suffered no damage from the fall, but was still shaken by it. She saw that Bonbon managed to score against her, which caused some slight frustration with her. She shrugged it off and walked towards the center of the field. Bonbon had a dreamy expression on her face. Lyra stared into Bonbon’s eyes and wanted to rip that smirk look off of her face. As the ball materialized underneath Lyra’s hoof, the clock began to countdown from three minutes and twenty seconds. Lyra made her first move with a hard kick on the ball, which was passed to her Hammer Bro. She then ran towards the center of Bonbon’s side of the field and became bipedal. As the Hammer Bro kicked the ball to her, Lyra suddenly heard a high-pitched whistling noise, which was proceeded by a giant bob-omb, which fell from the sky and landed on her. The bomb exploded which scorched Lyra over several areas on her body and sent her flying. She landed right inside of Bonbon’s Kritter’s box. As she stood up, she was face to face with the huge goalie. She nervously giggled and sheepishly smiled.

“So… you knew what that finger expression was I did earlier, don’t you?” The Kritter threateningly nodded before smacking Lyra across the face. Bonbon’s Boo grabbed the ball and disappeared for a moment. He then reappeared several feet from where he last stood. He passed the ball over to Bonbon, who ran towards Lyra’s side of the field. Lyra’s Koopa Troopa ran towards her. Bonbon made the educated guess of kicking the ball over to her Monty Mole. The Monty Mole shot the ball towards the goal, but the Kritter goalie bounced the ball off of his claws. The ball went straight towards Bonbon. She jumped into the air and kicked it in the attempt to score. Unfortunately for her, the Kritter blocked the ball again and grabbed it. Meanwhile, Lyra’s Toad tackled into Bonbon after she kicked the ball. Bonbon was thrown down to the ground, angry at the Toad who tackled her. She looked to see that she had her Captain’s ability in the item slot. She smiled in an intimidating way.

“Well, I don’t know what it is, but fun things happen when these are in play.” After the Kritter kicked the ball into the air to pass it over to Lyra’s Hammer Bro, Bonbon immediately activated her Captain’s ability. Suddenly, a giant, chocolate, luscious Bonbon with the perfect coating of crushed almonds started rolling down the path of the ball. The Hammer Bro couldn’t help but have his mouth water at how sweet the candy looked. Unfortunately for him, it was rolling down his way. He wanted to move, but found that the desire for the delicious sweet only dragged him in closer to the chocolate. He jumped into the slow-moving candy and screamed in delight. He found himself in a sticky situation as the candy was adhesive, but he didn’t care. He was nibbling at the tasty sweet as if it was the first thing in a long time he had to eat. Soon enough, Lyra’s Koopa Troopa and Toad started chasing after the ball of sweet goodness. Lyra saw that her teammates were being distracted and went after them to stop them. When the ball hit the edge of the arena, it exploded into brown goo that was sticky, but tasty. All of Lyra’s team was all caught in the explosion and couldn’t move out. “Well, that takes care of that!” Bonbon stated with a grin. She charged up her kick to the point where she kicked the ball into the air and jumped into the air along with it. Bonbon’s double-hued hair became a straight purple, and her cream coat illuminated. Her uniformed bulked up considerably. She performed a spin kick on the ball, which turned it into five different balls wrapped in baby blue wrappings. The candy-wrapped balls fired down onto the field. The Kritter opened his arms wide. The balls came raining down, but with less speed than maximum. The Kritter punched ball after ball. When the last one came down towards him, he miscalculated his punch and let the ball score. Bonbon’s team scored one goal from the megastrike. The chocolate mess dissipated, and Lyra’s team was covered in a coat of dripping chocolate. Lyra wanted to be mad, but she fell into a more positive mood after she licked the chocolate.

“This tastes like Bonbon’s chocolates back home. That chocolate is good!” Lyra skipped over to the center of the field as she dripped in chocolate. Each of her teammates shrugged their shoulders and followed her. Bonbon fell down towards the center of the field and landed in a three-point star pose. The ground shook under her power. Bonbon began to look more feral: her snarl is more beastly and her stare raged with primitive power. Lyra backed up a bit, but held her ground. She returned the snarl. When the hoofball spawned underneath Lyra’s hoof and the clock began the countdown from two minutes and forty seconds, she immediately charged her hoof for a kick. Bonbon stared at Lyra in anger and rushed towards Lyra. Lyra kicked the ball, but it knocked into Bonbon. The force of the strike knocked Bonbon back a good distance. The ball rebounded back to Lyra. She now gained her captain’s ability. Thinking rationally, she zigzagged her way over near the goalie box, where Bonbon’s Kritter resided within. As the Kritter came close, Lyra stood in a bipedal form and cartwheeled over the Kritter. While she was in the air, she kicked the ball over to her Hammer Bro, who fired the ball into the goal with his hammer. The horn blared and both teams are tied with 2-2. Lyra managed to score in five seconds.

“That was some strategy that Lyra used to score.” Discord remarked. Celestia looked towards him with a look of curiosity on her face.

“It doesn’t look as impressive as anything else I have seen in this game.” She admitted. Discord guffawed a bit before he spoke.

“Oh Celly, don’t you know anything? In all of the games so far, each of you ponies were practically killing each other and not caring about the game. But, I understand that it is an after-effect of the chaos. You have the freedom to do whatever you want after all.” Discord said with a grin.

“Please cut to the chase Discord. What makes Lyra’s move more impressive?” Celestia stated impatiently.

“Oh right. Anyways, despite the fact that chaos is running inside of her veins, she is actually managing to keep her thoughts in check. This is in contrast to her opponent, who is already letting chaos affect her better judgment. Don’t you find it weird at all? I’m a master of weird things, and that is weird by my standards.” Discord sincerely stated. Celestia looked carefully at Lyra and saw that her demeanor is retained. She isn’t exerting unhealthy levels of aggression, and she honestly seems to be enjoying every moment.

“I see what you mean now. What do you think is causing this?”

“Well Celly, it’s time for the ironic injection of theorizing provided by your friendly neighborhood spirit of chaos. I’ve noticed that Lyra seems much happier after her uniform gave her ‘hands’ so to speak. She keeps going on and on about hands and humans as if it was her life dream. To be working alongside a humanoid alien and hands have probably fulfilled Lyra’s wish.” Celestia curiously looked back at Discord after he said this.

“What do you mean by her wish?” Celestia said investigatively.

“Well Celly, now it is time to reveal to you the one true bane of chaos that anypony can use: hope. Chaotic energy has no effect on a pony that has strong enough hope. After a pony gains wish fulfillment, then they are filled to the brim with hope. Honestly, it was the biggest reason that I targeted the Elements of Harmony, because they are the ultimate bringers of hope for harmony. It’s why I’m the Dracoequus that sits before you today. All of your hope and faith overpowered my chaotic evil, and I feel like I can use this hope as well.” Discord said almost too seriously. The information added up in Celestia’s head before previous information gathered from this universe hit her hard.

“I’m starting to see what you mean now Discord. The reason why me and Luna were fighting so ferverously was because we felt helpless by the laws of this universe. We were all stripped of our power and could do nothing more than to play your game. It felt horrible, and I took my frustration out on my sister. That, in turn, caused her to attack me in retribution. It was just like a mean-spirited prank war. Then, when we came down to see that… other horrible incident that happened recently, each pony practically invited despair into their lives. They played as if they knew they would die. The worst part is that they only regained their hope just as one of them died. The more I think about all this information, the more I’m sure that this place was created to remove any form of hope from ponies.” Celestia stated as she exposed her thoughts. She remained silent for the rest of the game.

Meanwhile, the ball spawned underneath Bonbon’s hoof. Lyra had a slight smile on her face as Bonbon charged straight for her. Lyra moved to her right as she let Bonbon go to her Kritter. Her teammates followed in the strategy and let her move unhindered. Bonbon has a large smile on her face as she was going to score. However, a sudden powerful gust picked up on the field. Bonbon was slowly moving to the side. Then, out of nowhere, a dark red tractor was taken by the wind and was plowed into Bonbon. The hard metal smashed against her armor. She screamed in despair as she was taken off of the edge by the foreign object. Lyra shamelessly trotted up to the ball and passed it over to the Hammer Bro. The Hammer Bro took the ball greedily and walked over to the other side of the field. Bonbon’s Koopa Troopa got near the Hammer Bro. At that moment, Lyra activated her captain’s ability. A thousand golden bright notes swarmed the field from Lyra’s horn and locked onto all of the other team around the vicinity of the ball. Each note formed into large hands and gripped the Koopa Troopa. The Koopa Troopa struggled and grunted in order to get out of the hand. The Hammer Bro laughed at the Koopa Troopa and made his way over to the Kritter. He charged his shot and jumped into the air. He threw a barrage of hammers at the Kritter and shot the ball. Bonbon’s Kritter was assaulted by the storm of hammers and couldn’t do anything to stop the ball from going in. The Kritter made an unintelligent grunt due to his frustration. The horn blared and confirmed the score. Lyra was ahead by a point. As Bonbon came back onto the arena by the wind, her anger only intensified as she saw that Lyra had outperformed her so far.

“Lyra! I won’t let you win!” Bonbon stated in a harshening voice. Lyra looked towards her with a smile on her face.

“You know Bonbon, I’m afraid I won’t let you win. You will lose, and you shall be my aide in studying humans!” Lyra’s reasoning for winning caused the audience to deadpan their facial expressions. Nevertheless, the ball spawned underneath Bonbon’s hoof. Her eyes were filled with murderous rage. As the clock counted down from three minutes, Bonbon jetted towards Lyra with the intent to maim. Lyra stood up on her hind legs and ran towards Bonbon. Bonbon jumped into the air so that she can land on Lyra. Unfortunately for her, Lyra patiently waited for a few seconds. After Bonbon fell down to the ground, Lyra unceremoniously slid into Bonbon and grabbed the ball. Bonbon stared daggers at Lyra as she ran away towards the goal. She could run, but she knew it was hopeless. She was too slow to reach Lyra now. Her Boo ran after Lyra in her place. Even though he wasn’t a hitter like Bonbon or even Koopa Troopa was, he is the fastest character on the team. Lyra looked back and looked displeased at seeing the undead creature tail her. Then, her Toad came out of nowhere and tackled into the Boo. Lyra smiled as she felt unhindered by pressure. Just as she was about to kick the ball, she heard a thunderous roar shaking up the field. She looked back, only to come across a familiar boulder of chocolate that headed towards her. She earnestly wanted to resist it, but she felt radiant warmth emanating from the succulent candy. She jumped into it and took a bite of the candy. Instead of the sweet taste of nostalgia, Lyra’s taste buds were met with the bitter flavor of misery. She wanted to vomit. Then, she realized that she was stuck onto the ball. She couldn’t do anything to move out of it. Ultimately, she ended up stuck in a gooey explosion of the bitter chocolate. The ball flew all the way over towards Bonbon, who had a large evil smirk on her face.

“Better luck next time Lyra.” She stated snarkily. She was nearby Lyra’s Kritter. Rather than just shoot, she passed the ball over to her Monty Mole, who then passed it over to the Boo. The Boo charged his shot by keeping the ball in his mouth. He was a fair distance from the goalie. When he shot, he turned invisible and was launched alongside the ball. The goalie tried to grasp the ball, but the ball was ethereal. He couldn’t touch it, and the Boo scored for Bonbon’s team. Lyra began to taste the bitter chocolate that seeped into her mouth. It tasted of a root of a rough, foul herb. Just the flavor made Lyra begin to cry.

“How could something that was so sweet now taste so bitter? It’s foul, it’s nasty. This isn’t the same Bonbon I know…” In the midst of her tears, her teammates flocked towards her and hugged her as they sensed her distress. Lyra was surprised by the actions of her teammates. Computer-coded programs that had the capacity for empathy struck Lyra in her heart. They weren’t just comrades, but they were a part of her. She was comforted by the care of her teammates and stood back up on her hooves/feet/hands. She now knew what she must do. She had a serious look on her face as she walked towards the center of the stadium. Bonbon still had the face that most ponies would consider abominable: her eyes were opened in a way that an obviously evil stereotypical anime villain would look. She had the most frightening smile on her face. Worst of all was that her mane was frizzled with strands of hair out of place. This didn’t intimidate Lyra. Lyra’s eyes were filled with a certain magical index of determination that most ponies wish they can have. Bonbon laughed.

“Did you enjoy the chocolate I gave you? It was made from my emotions. Taste the bitterness of them as you wallow in the same despair as I did!” Bonbon yelled out. Lyra was unfazed by her voice.

“You aren’t the Bonbon I know. The real Bonbon would laugh at me when I am down. The real Bonbon would still tolerate me and my passion for anthropology even if she gets angry. But most importantly, the real Bonbon would craft the tastiest chocolates unimaginable.” Lyra pointed to Bonbon with a powerful energy and a resolved glint in her eyes. “The real Bonbon would never mix her work with her feelings. I will save you from what you have become, even if I have to beat you down to a pulp just to do it.” Bonbon broke down in crazed laughter.

“You really think that you can stop me so easily Lyra? You’ll be beaten down to a pulp when I am through with you!” Bonbon hysterically said. The ball spawned underneath Lyra’s hoof. The clock ticked down from the one minute mark. As she moved into position, Bon Bon charged at her like a rampaging rabies-infested dog. Lyra knew that she couldn’t dodge it this time because she would’ve expected that. So, she waited. She waited until the front force of the impact would collide with her. “Come on Lyra, I thought you wanted to win! I thought you wanted to save me! You can’t do either of those if you let me hit you like the way you are doing now!” Bonbon mocked. Lyra stood on her hind legs again and kicked the ball towards her Toad. The Toad caught the ball successfully. Bonbon still charged forward and tackled Lyra with everything. A few cracks were audible and Lyra fell into a surge of pain. She was sent flying back a bit and landed on the ground face-first. She would have to sit the next few seconds out, but she trusted her Toad with performing what she couldn’t. The Toad ran towards the corner of Bonbon’s side of the field and charged his foot with blue energy. Bonbon and Monty Mole chased after the Toad. They were too late when the Toad fired a fireball in the form of the hoofball, which collided with the Kritter. When the Kritter blocked it, his hands were caught on fire. He bounced the ball back from his burning hands. Bonbon’s Boo got a hold of the ball and ran straight towards Lyra’s side of the field.

Lyra struggled to get up and successfully stood on all fours. She ran towards the Boo as she knew that he would prove to be confounding variable in saving Bonbon. She got near the Boo and tackled right into him and knocked him off of the stadium for extra measure. She spit out a tooth and a small amount of blood from her mouth. She ran forwards as Bonbon tackled into her again. The impact caused the crack from before to become more audible. After Bonbon took the ball from Lyra’s possession, she was suddenly tripped over by a red shell. Lyra exerted all of her force and moved towards the ball. She successfully got ahold of the ball and passed it over to her Hammer Bro. Everything became bullet time as the ball got near the Hammer Bro. When he shot it with his hammer, the ball looked like it would have gone in. Unfortunately, Bonbon’s Kritter blocked the ball in his fiery frenzy. The ball was bounced off from his hands and was thrown towards Lyra’s Koopa Troopa. The Koopa Troopa charged the ball a bit with his energy before he kicked towards the Kritter. The Kritter’s episode of intense heat was over and he caught it without much of a problem. He threw it over to Bonbon’s Koopa Troopa. Just as the ball was in his possession, he found himself suddenly surrounded by an ensemble of musical notes that came from Lyra’s horn. The Koopa panic as he knew what would happen. He was grabbed by the hand of music and had the life squeezed out of him. Lyra grabbed the ball and began to charge it. Bonbon, her Monty Mole and her Boo all ran towards Lyra. Unfortunately for them, Lyra’s Koopa Troopa, Toad and Hammer Bro came in time and knocked them off of the cliff. Lyra smiled and kicked the ball into the air. She jumped into the air and rocketed towards the ball. As she made her zenith over the ball, she was filled with a radiant energy that changed her appearance slightly. She looked like a shining humanoid and was dressed in her uniform. Her eyes gave off a divine glow. She kicked the ball to its side using her long leg. The ball was split into six balls firing at rapid speed. The balls took the form of golden musical notes. The Kritter was distressed by this. As a result, he was unprepared for how strange they moved. He caught one ball, but the five other balls made it passed him. The horn blared and confirmed the megastrike kick for Lyra. There were only twenty seconds left in the game.

As Lyra looked around for Bonbon, she heard a series of screams coming from outside the cliff. She limped over to the edge and found that Bonbon had completely missed the wind current that would have kept her alive. Bonbon was in free fall as she screamed out of fear. Lyra panicked. She knew that there were only jagged rocks down this island. She wanted to jump down and be with Bonbon. She was her best friend, and the only one that had the tolerance to stay around her, even with her obsession with humans. Lyra shrugged off the despair of death and ran over the cliff. She jumped down the cliff. She saw that her uniform and Bonbon’s uniform began to dissipate. She could see the yellow energy from each of their bodies leave in a wisp. Lyra performed a nosedive and skipped the safety current. All the ponies in the audience gasped in fear.

“What is Lyra doing!?” Doctor Whooves screamed. “She knows that she couldn’t survive that fall! Discord, do something!!!” Discord was busy using a wooden pick to remove any stray grains of popcorn from his teeth. Lyra made it down to Bonbon, who wasn’t able to do anything. Lyra wrapped her hooves around her body. Bonbon was surprised by this seemingly suicidal act. She stopped screaming.

“Lyra… why did you jump off? I was a terrible friend to you. I practically insulted you! You should’ve just let me die and be revived again!” Bonbon reasoned. Lyra closed her eyes and shook her head.

“I said that I would save you from yourself, even if I have to plummet through the maws of death just to do so.” Bonbon sighed in a strange combination of comfort and fear. “Please Bonbon, close your eyes. If we die together, then I should be the one to see how we die. I don’t want to give you the burden of seeing yourself die.” Lyra humbly stated. Bonbon cried as she realized just how much Lyra cared for her.

“No Lyra. I don’t want you to take it all for yourself. I’ll open my eyes. If we die, then we die as equals and best friends.” Lyra knew that Bonbon would stay with her decision, so she let her open her eyes. She saw that the stormy seas and stalagmites were breathtakingly beautiful. The howling winds sounded like beautiful music. They accepted their fates. Just as they fell down towards the stalagmites, they disappeared.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Within the infirmary, Octavia spoon fed a disgruntled Vinyl Scratch a bowl of orange soup. Vinyl Scratch laid on the bed with tubes inside of her body.

“Tavi, I’m fine. Stop treating me like a baby!” Vinyl Scratch stated. Octavia gently continued feeding her.

“Vinyl Scratch, you had difficulty moving your forehooves. You don’t have your magic to levitate whatever you want to eat towards your mouth. To top it all off, you still are seriously injured from our match. Now, I don’t want you to do anything you would regret doing to yourself. Trust me, I’ve seen ponies who have accidently ended their lives just because they did a basic action horribly.” Vinyl Scratch huffed and opened her mouth. She didn’t want to disagree with her best friend about this. Just as she was being fed, two separate flashes appeared in the air. One flash dropped Lyra onto a bed and the other flash dropped Bonbon into a seat. Vinyl Scratch spit out her soup in surprise and covered Octavia in foodstuff. “Charming Vinyl, just charming.” Octavia took out a napkin and wiped the soup off of her face. As she looked around, she was surprised to see that Lyra and Bonbon were there.

“Hey Lyra, Bonbon, I saw the match!” Vinyl Scratch happily stated. When Lyra stirred a bit, she looked towards Vinyl Scratch and Octavia. “That was some sick stuff you did back there. I can’t believe that you jumped off!” Lyra and Bonbon were confused. Neither of them saw Vinyl Scratch or Octavia in the floating stands.

“How did you see our match?” Lyra stated curiously. Octavia grabbed a remote from nowhere and pressed the red button on it. It revealed a hologram of Thunder Island. It was so vividly detailed that one could possibly feel the rain on the hologram.

“I and Vinyl watched your game through this service in the infirmary. It was the next best thing, considering the fact that Vinyl Scratch can’t move much.” Octavia stated.

“I would’ve gone out there and enjoyed the sights. Man, those wind storms looked awesome!” Vinyl Scratch stated. She moaned in disappointment and threw her hooves into the air. A pain reflex triggered in her forelegs and caused Vinyl Scratch to wince. It was visible to all the ponies because she didn’t have her sunglasses on. Octavia smiled and went over to where she was previously bedded in. She pulled out a pair of sunglasses with purple frames and put them over Vinyl’s eyes. “You held onto these glasses?” Octavia nodded.

“I wouldn’t want you to leave your favorite pair of sunglasses out in the open. As we went to the teleporting tiles, I looked back and grabbed them. It would’ve been a shame to have them thrown away like that.” Vinyl Scratch hugged Octavia with a sheer amount of force.

“Thank you Tavi! Thanks for holding onto them! I wouldn’t know what I would’ve done without my favorite set of shades!” Vinyl Scratch said.

“Umm, Vinyl, you’re crushing me again!” Octavia said in bated breath. Vinyl Scratch’s grip lightened up before she sheepishly smiled. Bonbon looked around the infirmary and looked confused.

“Wait, nopony told us how we even got in here! We were plummeting to our deaths and now we are here in the infirmary. Why!?” She screamed.

“Why, it’s because I moved you here out of harm’s way!” A disembodied voice stated. Discord teleported into the room with smoke effects.

“Oh great, him again.” Bonbon said with no enthusiasm. Discord slithered near her and stood up.

“Why Bonbon, is that what you say to the spirit that saved your life?” He said. “If it were up to me, I would’ve let the two of you fall down those stalagmites. Unfortunately, that really wouldn’t look good on my part. So, I brought you here instead.” He said with an unnerving honestly.

“Wait, you were just going to let us fall!?” Bonbon screamed in anger. Discord turned to Lyra and ignored Bonbon.

“What you did was completely random and could’ve gotten you killed!” He scolded as he pointed his finger towards Lyra. She looked at him with fearful eyes. “I like that in a pony. Nice job!” Discord gave two thumbs up while fireworks that had a thumb flashed in yellow powder. Lyra smiled at Discord’s approval. “Now, did your hands lead to the fact that you weren’t corrupted by chaotic power?” Lyra had a confused expression.

“Huh?”

“I mean, when compared to Bonbon’s monstrous change in attitude, you still retained your thoughts. Why?” Discord seriously stated.

“Well, it was because I finally got to play with Bonbon. We finally got to do something we both enjoyed. It didn’t take long before everything went horribly. But, would I give up? No, I felt that there was a chance to save Bonbon, and I won’t leave her to suffer a terrible fate.” Discord nodded as he understood what Lyra said to him. He warped out of the room without anything being said. Bonbon was still somewhat angry with him.

“Geez, he first tells us that he saves us, and then tells us that he would rather let us die, then he gets information out of you and he just leaves? What kind of monster would do that!? What can possibly go wrong now!” She stated. Lyra smirked.

“You know Bonbon, I technically got five points with a megastrike before the game ended. I remember that you told me you would be my aide in researching humans.” Bonbon’s eye twitched. She hoped that Lyra wouldn’t remember. Lyra laughed before she felt a sharp pain in her ribs and coughed.

“Easy there Lyra. I hit you really hard, remember? You should take it easy now.” Bonbon said as she rushed over to Lyra’s side. She pulled the sheet from underneath the bed and draped it over Lyra’s body. Then, she smiled. “You got to get your rest if want to continue being Equestria’s best anthropologist. And what good is the best anthropologist if she doesn’t have her own aide to help her?” She stated almost enthusiastically. Lyra grinned and gave Bonbon a tight hug. “I have a feeling that I will sooner or later regret saying this.” Bonbon deadpanned. Octavia and Vinyl Scratch giggled at the rather adorable hug.

The engine room of the ship was as dark as it can be. The only light to be seen was from the electricity the occasionally crackled. From this engine room, a dark electronic voice was heard.

“I cannot believe that Discord would dare save those two. If I ever want to be restored, then I have to make sure that the next time ponies play, it ends up in a death.”

Author's Note

Remember when I said it would be funny? Yeah, it turned out that it took some dark turns, but there is definitely some comedic elements. So anyways, who would you want to see play next?

Also, CnCs are appreciated, and I would like it if someone looked over this chapter for errors.

The Race Card

Discord lazily lounged on a hammock in his room as he sipped a yellow beverage from a martini glass. He wore a white and red flower print short-sleeved shirt that can be buttoned. He had a remote in his hand as he watched a television screen in front of him. He pressed the ‘back’ button to rewind back to the scene where Celestia tackled Luna into an electric fence. He laughed happily as he repeatedly rewinded back to that scene over and over again. He also enjoyed the look on Luna’s face after she came off the electric fence. However, he heard knocking coming from his door and a familiar regal voice that echoed behind it.

“Discord!” Discord’s fingers tensed up and dropped the remote. He tried grabbing it, but the remote kept slipping out of his hands. “Discord, open up! I need to speak to you!” The voice demanded. Discord panicked, but he grabbed the remote and pressed the ‘off’ button on the remote, which deactivated the television screen and caused it to go back into the ceiling. The door opened, which revealed a smiling Celestia. She walked in and looked at Discord.

“Look who’s awfully happy today. Did someone manage to score with a pony here?” Discord slyly stated.

“I’ve had none of that. However, I truly am grateful that you saved the lives of Lyra and Bonbon. It shows to me that you have some good in you within this chaotic world.” She stated. “It also saved me the distress of watching a gruesome fate. A fall from that height onto those stalagmites would have done some… damage to those two.”

“Yes, nopony would really want to watch ponies being speared against stalagmites. Geez Celly, when you aren’t playing, you are a total pansy. Don’t you like the chance to see more edgy situations?” Celestia dully stared at Discord with balefire burning in her eyes.

“You know my answer to that, and it goes back to the match before we left towards Thunder Island. If memory serves, you were startled by the situation as well.” She stated seriously.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to look like an unpleasant ass in front of everyone, right? Besides, she’s alright now isn’t she?” Discord asked innocently.

“The situation may have ended, but for the ponies that were not used to seeing death it was quite a traumatic experience. But, that has already been resolved as you said, and I’m glad that the robots here can revive anypony.”

“Even if ponies get hurt, this place can treat ponies 250% of the time in 4-D on a lateral scale. Wasn’t this one of my best ideas for entertainment yet Celly?” Celestia groaned.

“You never cease to amaze me Discord. I don’t even get why I even came here in the first place.” She stated sourly as she walked out of the door. The door shut. After he looked around, Discord pressed the button on the remote, which caused the television screen to come down from the ceiling again. This time, he fast forwarded towards the scene where Luna’s Monty Mole smashed Celestia against the electric fence. He guffawed.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Vinyl Scratch got up from her bed and stretched her limbs. She smiled. Octavia, who was in a chair by Vinyl’s side, got up.

“Well, it seems like you have recovered completely.” Octavia said with a smile.

“Oh, you know, nothing like a power nap to heal up those wounds. So, how are Lyra and Bonbon doing?” Vinyl asked. Octavia motioned her hoof towards the two ponies in their beds, both of who were snoring gently.

“Well, they seem to be resting easily after their match. To look at death into its eyes and then make it out of there really tuckers somepony out.”

“Hey Tavi, mind if I ask you a question?”

“Ummmm, sure Vinyl. What question do you have in mind for me?” Octavia curiously asked.

“How does dying feel like? I know that it might be a bit too soon to ask, but…” Vinyl Scratch wondered. However, Octavia could see the small movements with her hooves and face to tell that her friend is under distress.

“I’m not sure if it is the universe that distorts it, but being dead is surprisingly pleasant. I mean, yes, it feels horrible when my entire body shut down on me before I lost consciousness. Yet, there was a certain consciousness level I had where I was actually able to re-experience all of my memories. I could only choose one memory at a time, but I was surprised by how I was able to change the experiences of the past to alter how it turned out.”

“So… death is just one big déjà vu?” Vinyl Scratch curiously responded.

“That’s right. Though, a ponies’ previous memories do influence how they would perceive death. Still, it kind of makes me wonder what the memories of stillborn foals are…” Octavia pondered. Vinyl Scratch visibly shook.

“Ummm, let’s not go there. I’m already happy enough with the information you gave me. I don’t need a reason to go deeper into the topic.” Vinyl Scratch stated quickly, but coherently.

“Fair enough. I believe that I sated your curiosity for now.” Octavia finished. Bonbon stirred from her bed and woke up to the sight of Vinyl Scratch standing perfectly healthy.

“Good morning sleepyhead! Did you enjoy your sleep?” Vinyl Scratch enthusiastically asked. Bonbon grunted.

“I had better sleep in the past. Those memories of my actions didn’t let me enjoy any dreams. Somehow, it felt like I became a monster on that field. It scared me too badly to know that it was reality.” She stated. She shook her head as she looked towards Lyra, who was curled up in her bed and enjoying her restful sleep. Bonbon smiled. “If it wasn’t for Lyra, then I would have remained as that hideous monster.”

“I also noticed that when you were about to fall to your death, she jumped down with you. She didn’t want you to feel alone, even after death. Bonbon, only the best of friends would do that for each other.” Octavia exposed.

“Well, I only hung around her because I kind of felt sorry for her. Most ponies consider her to be even more insane than Pinkie Pie, which is saying something. But, from seeing how she reacted back at the stadium, she genuinely does care for me.” Bonbon realized.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Rainbow Dash eagerly smiled as she stood in the command room in front of the shelves of gauntlets. She couldn’t help but hold a squeal as her hoof touched one of the metal gauntlets. As she was about to insert her hoof into the gauntlet, Applejack shouted.

“Rainbow Dash! What do ya think yer doin’ here by yourself?”

“Ummmm, nothing!” Rainbow quickly took the gauntlet and hid it behind her. She smiled nervously. Applejack face-hoofed and groaned.

“Rainbow, do ya think that ahm daft enough to not see you move that gauntlet behind ya?” Rainbow Dash’s eyes shifted back and forth before she sighed in defeat.

“Alright, I kinda wanted to get my hooves on a gauntlet here so I can sneak in a game. These things are awesome, but I’m not sure if it is exactly a good idea after the previous matches we’ve watched.” Rainbow Dash closed her eyes in fear of repercussion. As she slowly opened her eyes, she was surprised when she saw that Applejack grinned.

“Well, why didn’t ya say so?” She stated as she walked over to the shelf and grabbed a gauntlet by its side with her hoof. “The both of us agreed to play against each other in a game of hoofball, and ah won’t let any previous experiences get in the way of our fated match.”

“Wait, seriously?! I thought you wouldn’t want to have played after seeing how extreme these matches were!”

“Rainbow Dash, ah don’t care if some incredibly powerful deity came down from the sky and blasted us both in the middle of our actions. We need a permanent way t’ see who is the most daring pony.” Applejack stated with resolve.

“Well… You’re right. Only through a grueling, extreme, hardcore match is the way we can see who the better pony is once and for all!” As Rainbow Dash stated this, she put her hoof into the gauntlet. The screen flashed a bright blue, and she was enveloped in a bright flash. As the light dissipated, Rainbow Dash wore an azure spandex top with sleeves that ended a quarter-way towards her forelegs. The azure shorts she wore were also made of spandex. She wore light shoulder pads and shin guards, as if their purpose was to allow for the best mobility in any sport. She wore cleats that resembled the gauntlet on her hoof. Her mane and tail appeared to be slightly more brilliant than before, as if they verged on ethereal properties. Applejack’s jaw dropped.

“Rainbow, ya look… powerful!” She stated in astonishment.

“Eh, just put on your gauntlet so that you can become powerful like me.” Rainbow Dash replied hastily. Applejack took her gauntlet and put it over her hoof. As she did, the screen flashed a light blue. She felt a powerful surge of energy rush within her as she was surrounded by the bright light. As the light disappeared, Applejack was in a set of bulky, orange plating held together with red fabric. Her hooves were covered in the strange, metallic substance as the gauntlet she wore. Her mane and tail were slightly shorter, but still retained their signature appearance. Applejack smiled.

“Any words before we begin our next bout?” She asked. Rainbow Dash cockily smiled.

“Yeah, there’s no way that a pegasus pony like me is going to lose to an earth pony like you in a game of speed. Speed is everything in hoofball!”

“Is that what ya believe? Look Rainbow, just because you have amazing speed doesn’t mean that yer guaranteed to win. In fact, ah believe that my bulk and stamina will get me through this game faster than ya can clear the clouds in the sky.” Applejack vehemently replied.

“Is that a challenge I hear Applejack? Let’s not forget who won the Iron Pony Competition last time.” Rainbow Dash responded with wit. The words made Applejack’s right foreleg stomp in anger.

“You cheated because ya used yer gypsy wings t’ win those events.” Rainbow Dash gasped in horror at the racist term used against her.

“It’s your fault for being just a stupid dirtwalker. I mean, you are so simple with how you do everything that you need a pegasus to kick your flank you filthy dirt pony!” The anger in Applejack’s eyes reached their boiling point.

“Ya think that I would be happy being a simple-minded, featherbrained horsefly?! At least I honor the conditions of each event we were in. You just used yer featherdusters in every way possible because yer just weak and pathetic.”

“Featherduster?! Did you just call my wings that?! Wow! You are soooooo going down you unpleasant mare!” Rainbow Dash erupted.

“Ya think Ah’m going down? Well allow me to personally tear off ‘dem wings of yers and make you into an earth pony the hard way!” Applejack threatened.

“You want to touch my wings? You’re going to have to beat me in a game of hoofball first!” Rainbow Dash stated.

“Fine by me. And that isn’t a threat, it’s a promise. You filthy pegasi always think yer all better than everypony else just because y’all can fly. Ah’ll be glad to personally take care of the deed in the name of earth ponies everywhere!”

“If you think that you’ll tear off my wings, then I’ll rip apart your legs with my lightning-fast speed. I’ll be sure to make sure that you’ll never walk again! You earth ponies put too much value on what you can accomplish that you don’t realize how out powered you are!”

“Well fine, then allow me to pick the location where a pegasus like you will have to be forced to taste dirt!” As Applejack said this, she walked over to the large screen that shows a screenshot of Thunder Island. She browsed through the possible selections and saw a filthy, rainy stadium that caught her eye. There was sludge continuously pouring out through broken pipes onto the field and into a metallic drain in the middle. A devious smile found its way onto her lips. “Ah have the location now! We’ll be playing in a place that a pegasus can never truly appreciate. It’s a place where the refuse of rain and filth combine to give hardworking ponies like me an opportunity at life.” As she said this, she pulled a gray lever on the dashboard that said ‘Lightspeed.’ As she did, the entire Stormship began to de-materialize. The ship shot into the distance of the horizon, and everything within the ship rumbled. Rainbow Dash held her stance as strong as possible, but Applejack still smiled. She was seemingly unaffected. As the ship stopped above the brown skies above absolutely filthy wastelands, various ponies began to pour into the terminal. Most of them were confused, and some of them felt motion sick.

“What happened? I was looking over some of what I learned in this world, and then the entire ship’s interior moved quickly than what my eye can see. It was disorienting.” Twilight complained.

“Relax Twilight, I’m very sure that it was just lightspeed travel. Poor Derpy’s eyes even fell into proper alignment.” Doctor Whooves said as he pointed towards Derpy, whose eyes actually became normal.

“That’s not the point. I’m just wondering why we were all going so fast. Wasn’t this ship supposed to stay around Thunder Island?” Twilight asked.

“That’s because I pulled the lever.” Applejack stated. Twilight faced Applejack and nervously smiled.

“Oh Applejack! I see that you are… wearing the gauntlet.” Twilight slowly replied.

“So am I. I’m going to show every pony here how a pegasus like me can be take down a mudblood like Applejack.” Rainbow Dash stated. All the ponies around, especially the Earth Ponies, gasped in horror.

“Ummm, Rainbow Dash, don’t you think that was a little bit, oh I don’t know, uncalled for?!” Twilight irritatingly asked.

“Maybe so, but some pegasus has to put an earth pony in their place.” Rainbow Dash said proudly.

“Argh! So. Much. Racism! Just shut the Tartarus up you wingass!” Bonbon screamed. Rainbow Dash slanted her eyes towards her.

“You know that your words are hardly backed by your strength since you can’t do anything else.” Rainbow Dash said with spite. Bonbon growled at Rainbow Dash. She wanted to jump towards Rainbow Dash and rip her apart, but Lyra and Fluttershy held her back.

“Girls! Let’s not try to start another Unification War over here!” Twilight said. She faced Applejack. “So, where did you bring the ship towards Applejack?” She asked.

“Well, since Ah wanted to show how to get a winger dirty, I brought this ship to the dirtiest stadium imaginable: The Dump.” Applejack stated with a smile. A shiver went down Rarity’s spine.

“You mean that we’ll have to watch the each of you play at a stadium that is absolutely covered in filth?” Rarity asked. Every pony nodded. Rarity gasped in anguish. “Absolutely not! You will NOT be bringing me into that filthy location! You can’t make me.” She said with a huff. Applejack threateningly walked over to Rarity. She put her hoof onto her horn and applied a bit of pressure onto it. Rarity squealed in a slight amount of pain.

“Yer going to have to go out there ya stickhead. Otherwise, I’ll snap that little horn ya have on there and show you how it is like to be bucked in da face by an earth pony.” Applejack stated angrily. Rarity whimpered under the threat. “Now then, will you go out there with every other pony?” She slowly and uneasily nodded. “That’s what Ah’d like to hear.”

“But wait, you don’t have your sidekicks yet. Aren’t you going to summon them all in bright flashes?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“We’ll do it when we go onto the stadium.” Applejack stated. She faced Rainbow Dash. The two ponies glared in each other’s eyes with intense glares before the both of them huffed and faced each other. The both of them stepped onto the two tiles and were warped away from the ship. Twilight facehoofed and shook her head in defeat.

“Why do those two have to be such ignorant… muggles?!” She asked. All of the Earth Ponies and the Pegasi left on the ship looked at Twilight angrily.

“That’s racist!” They all shouted.

Author's Note

Relax, I'm not dead. I just had a bit of a hiatus, thinking about what to write for the prelude to AJ vs. RD. I had to say, it was fun pulling the race card in this chapter. Anyways, comments and criticisms are always appreciated. I would also like some imput as to what you'd like to see in the next chapter.

Revelations

Author's Note

Alright, I'm going to have to take a huge risk with this chapter. Though I have a slight feeling that it might be a bit OoC, I have a stronger feeling that the events that led up to this chapter perfectly foreshadowed the events that unfolded. If anyone spots any inconsistencies or things that need to be touched upon, then let me know in the comments. So, without any further hesitation, here is the new chapter of Pony Strikers Charged.

Revelations

White sheets were draped over the bodies of Rainbow Dash and Applejack as they laid down on cold, metal gurneys separate from the rest of the beds in the infirmary. All the ponies looked over the two draped bodies. Some ponies had tears spill out from the event, some ponies were hopeful about resurrection, but Twilight Sparkle had the most bizarre reaction out of everypony: she stood there silently, emotionlessly. Her eyes were void of life. Celestia moved her head towards Twilight with an uncomforted frown present on her face.

“Twilight, I understand that everypony here is grieving, but you look absolutely lifeless.” She stated. Twilight did not respond. She stood there, frozen in place. As Celestia saw that her torso inflated and deflated slightly with passing air, she sighed a breath of relief, but was still felt her stomach twist in concern. In concern, Celestia nudged the mentally-disturbed twilight with her snout out of the infirmary. Twilight still did not move. She sighed as the both of them went off into the hallway. Meanwhile, Fluttershy timidly walked over to one of the robots with tears fresh in her eyes.

“E-e-excuse me, um Mr. Robot?” As Fluttershy said this, the robot coldly turned over to Fluttershy. Fluttershy tucked herself in and shuddered in intimidation.

“I understand what you are going to ask, but I’m afraid I cannot resurrect your companions at the moment.” The robot coldly said. Fluttershy’s eyes opened widely and stepped back in shock.

“W-w-what?! But why?!” Fluttershy shouted at a very low decibel.

“It is true that I can resurrect your friends. However, I can only resurrect your friends if there is a strong enough desire to do so.”

“S-s-strong enough… desire?” Fluttershy said with uncertainty dripping in her voice. “I really want my friends to be alive really badly though. What are you saying that there isn’t a strong enough desire?” Fluttershy murmured.

“Every character in this room is in mourning. They are focused too much on the event rather than wanting their friends to be back. Chaos energy is formed out of desire, and desire is the fuel that we run on. In order to perform this task, I have to ask you if you truly do desire, with the bottom of your beating heart, to see your friends alive and well again.” The robot said. Fluttershy stood her place and stared at the robot.

“I do want to see my friend alive, and I am willing to do anything to get them back from the cold hooves of death!” Fluttershy stated with resolution. The robot stared down towards Fluttershy with its big red optic receptor.

“Very well. You have a lot of will power for one that is timid as yourself.” As the robot said this, its hands flashed in an orange aura, which surrounded Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The automatic doors before Twilight and Celestia opened as Celestia forcibly nudged Twilight away into her room. As the two alicorns entered the room, Celestia moved her hoof over the blue light switch, where the electricity contained within the lamp became brilliant. Twilight did not move at all. Even after the confirmation, Celestia twinged from Twilight’s inactions. She sighed.

“Twilight, I want to know if you are okay. Ever since that match, you haven’t exactly been yourself. When I talked to you, you didn’t respond in any way. Care to tell me what is on your mind?” She asked as carefully and sympathetically as possible. In all of a sudden, Twilight’s eyes sparked with life and her mouth slowly moved.

“Princess, why are ponies filled with such vice?” She said in a deadpanned, monotone voice. Celestia took in air as she was about to gasp, but she stopped herself before the action was done.

“Ponies aren’t filled with vice Twilight. The gauntlets and this world only give us those impressions.” She reassured.

“Until the last match, I used to believe that it was just this world, and I genuinely believed that it was only the actions of the gauntlets. But, I realized two things: first, the gauntlets amplify the subconscious desires of our hearts and minds. Second, nopony can truly claim that their hearts and minds are free from unconscious desires. Not even Lyra was able to fight it. She seemingly was unaffected because she desired to rescue her friend more than anything else. Rainbow Dash and Applejack may claim to have not been right in the head, and I would believe it. Yet, I’ve seen what is in their hearts today. They both harbor jealousy and hatred for each other. They just only wanted to cover it up so as to make it seem that they did forgive each other.” Twilight uttered in pain. Celestia visibly winced. “I have seen enough of this place to know that all ponies are equally rotten down to the core. We all have facades that we use in the day, but unveil our subconscious desires at night. We ponies are no more of savages than Griffons or Dragons are, we just keep a double-faced expression from everypony else and pretend that we are holier than thou. In reality, we are all nothing but just a bunch of sinners.”

“Twilight… those words… you said them with such scorn, such vile intent. Why?!” Celestia asked. Twilight stood angrily and stared towards Celestia’s general direction.

“Because you were the pony that introduced me to the concept of friendship. You told me that if I believed in myself and believed in the magic of friendship, then we can get through anything together. I believed every single lie that you uttered towards me. I always believed in the best of things, even if the worst reared their ugly heads. Even when Discord turned me against my true self, I genuinely believed that there was a way to change back. However, this world made me believe otherwise. This world reveals the truth that I was robbed of. I… I hate this truth. I genuinely hate it, but nopony can ever argue against the solid truth. We ponies are just vile creatures that deserve to be cleansed from Equestria. I feel that I am the pony for that particular job.” Twilight spat every word with the vilest of venom.

“Twilight, are you even listening to yourself?! You cannot just decide that you will purge the entire pony race just because we are imperfect! Every pony is naturally flawed, and learning to overcome those flaws is what makes us better than what we previously were!” Celestia shouted. Her eyes were wide open, and her snout was stunned open in distress.

“Lies, all lies! If we go past one flaw, then there will always be another fatal flaw lurking nearby. Ponies can never conquer all their flaws, so why should I give two thoughts on why the pony race should be preserved?! Rainbow Dash admitted that her spirit let her become as abusive as she was, and I was a fool to try to comfort a sinner such as her.” Twilight angrily shouted.

“Twilight… you were never like this. You weren’t this vicious five minutes ago. In fact, you hoped and believed the best in your friends.” Celestia stated with mouth ajar, understanding the gravity of the situation.

“Celestia, I witnessed two ponies die from their vices and desires! Do you earnestly expect me to just sit by, pretend nothing happened and be your goody-goody princess?! I know that this might seem very different to you, but in those moments that we were over in the infirmary, I had the time to piece together the pieces in the puzzle. Originally, I thought that this puzzle would have been very complex. In reality, it only needed a few pieces before I knew what the picture was about. The puzzle was very different than what I expected, and now I understand everything.” Twilight continued. Celestia sighed painfully with closed eyes. She slowly opened them to form a stern stare focused towards Twilight.

“I see… then you have been lost, and never want to return. I can’t say that I am happy to hear your opinion. In fact, I am very perturbed by what you had to say. Normally, I would not think carefully about these words and let you go your way, but you are so adamant about where you stand. You also speak of genocide for our kind and stand resolutely with it. You know under any circumstance, I will not let harm befall my ponies, even if the one that threatens to harm them is close to me. I will have to deal with you personally.” She said as straight-forward as possible. Her gauntlet flashed from the intense desires that emanated through her mind. The flash did not go unnoticed by Twilight, as she looked down upon the leg with a stern expression.

“It seems that you wish to keep me quiet. Under normal circumstances, you would have just banished me to an area where I can never do any harm. However, we aren’t under normal circumstances, aren’t we? We are in a universe where our abilities are surpressed. I’m afraid you’ll just have to kill me if you don’t want me to do what I have to do.” She said with an uncomfortably dark tone. These words caused the gauntlet on Celestia’s hoof to fill instantly with the chaotic energy, which caused the same transformation flash to occur when a pony puts on a gauntlet for the first time. She was in her captain’s uniform and blazed with a radiating heat.

“If that is what it will take to keep my ponies safe, then I will have to perform regicide. Twilight, your life is mine!” Celestia shouted as she jumped towards Twilight. Twilight fearfully jumped out of the way as Celestia’s hoof smashed down against the metallic floor, causing a severe, noticeable dent in it. She ran outside of the room through the automatic door and ran down the halls as quick as she possibly could. Celestia jumped through the door with such ferocity and determination in her eyes. Her keen eyes detected Twilight running down the corner of the hallway. Celestia held her gauntlet out and tapped it several times. When this happened, two Dry Bones and a Monty Mole, all in white uniforms, spawned from the beams shot from the gauntlet. “The three of you, I want you to hunt down my former student and traitorous princess Twilight Sparkle in cold blood, and I want you to exterminate her.” Celestia said strongly. “And make sure that she does not hurt any ponies onboard this ship.” Her three comrades visibly shook, but nodded in understanding. They all stared angrily and sprinted down each hallway.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Twilight Sparkle had never felt so alive in her life. She grinned from the adrenaline coursing through her veins. Her eyes were filled with lawlessness. She panted from slight exhaustion, but kept running.

“I guess I’ll have to even out the score with a gauntlet of my own. From there, I can bring about true purification.” As she said this, a Monty Mole popped out from behind a passage in the corridor. The Monty Mole ran towards Twilight with rampaging claws extended. “You want a piece of me motherbucker? You’ll just have to catch me then!” Twilight screamed as she sprinted. She took full advantage of her natural speed when compared to the slow sprinting speed of her pursuer. Even then, the Monty Mole still had a bloodthirsty expression on his face as he jumped from hallway to hallway. Soon, the Monty Mole eventually jumped in front of her through an open corridor. Twilight skidded on the floor until she stopped. Her eyes and mouth opened widely in fear. The Monty Mole grinded his extended claws together for intimidation factor. Twilight noticed a hallway to the side of her and smirked. Just as the Monty Mole was about to slash her, Twilight ran down the corridor and laughed at the face of death. The Monty Mole sighed at his failure and tried running after Twilight. Twilight was far ahead of the Monty Mole.

She smiled viciously as she saw the very familiar halls that led to the navigation room. As she ran down the corridors, she turned around to the sound of rattling bones. Her eyes opened widely as she saw two Dry Bones run down the hall. The sight of the two skeletal creatures caused her heart to beat faster than what it should be like under sprinting circumstances. The two Dry Bones were slowly, but steadily catching up to her. One of the Dry Bones grabbed its head and tossed it to the other Dry Bones. The Dry Bones’ foot charged with electricity as it kicked its companion’s skull towards Twilight. Twilight dodged the electrified skull by hopping to the left. The skull kept flying until it hit a wall at the end of the corridor. Twilight took a right and panted in relief. The Dry Bones without the skull stopped at the end of the corridor and grabbed its skull. The other Dry Bones mercilessly chased after Twilight. Twilight ran as fast as she could, but the Dry Bones was closing in on her very quickly.

“If this keeps up, then I’m done for! However, it isn’t whether or not if I can run away from the Dry Bones. It is if I can reach the gauntlet before this Dry Bones catches up to me.” Twilight thought to herself. She smiled as the sight of a room with frayed wires greeted her. The Dry Bones was an inch away from her tail. In an attempt of desperation, Twilight jumped and tilted towards her side and went into a roll. The pounding gravity allowed her to skip along the floor. She made it towards the central shelf in the room. As quick as she possibly could, she grabbed a gauntlet and moved it over her right forehoof. The gauntlet flashed a blue before Twilight was taken into the brilliant light. As the light dissipated, she was covered in metallic regalia-esque armor: her helmet shone a brilliant purple as it was topped with six twisted spires. She had a metal plate on her chest that had the emblem of her cutie mark on it. She had several purple, metal plates covering her shoulders and hips, which extended downward to her legs. Her gauntlet became a shiny purple color, which fit the purple, spiky cleats that were now on her hooves. Finally, her mane became fully ethereal. It has a wispy appearance of purple with a pink wisp down the center. Twilight pulled out her forehoof dramatically and used the energy she gained from the transformation to levitate a stylus from the glove. She looked at her screen and saw a sprite of her head along with three empty boxes. She tapped each of them at a speed quicker than light. As she did, three blue beams shot from her gauntlet in a line pattern in front of her. A Birdo clad in purple, a Shy Guy in purple robes, and a Dry Bones smeared in purple paint spawned in front of her. As Celestia and her sidekicks reached the navigation room, the four of them stopped in their tracks and saw Twilight with a crazed expression on her face.

“Give up Twilight! I’ll be merciful and allow you to rethink your decisions, but you only have a moment to think about them before I tear you apart with my hooves.” Celestia said in a threatening voice. Twilight only laughed hysterically.

“You no longer have any power over me Celestia. I found what my true purpose as a bringer of harmony is. As long as there is life, harmony can never exist! You may be able to maintain the illusion of harmony, but I know that there will always be a difference in opinions. Differences in opinions will always lead to chaos, and everypony suffers because of it!” Twilight shouted. Luna ran down into the room with eyes widened in worry.

“Sister! What happened?!” Luna shouted fearfully. “We heard a large commotion erupt from your room and in the halls. When I saw that you were in your uniform chasing Twilight, I just had to follow!” Celestia looked back towards her sister.

“Lulu, Twilight has gone mad from the revelation! She has to be stopped immediately. Otherwise, the lives of ponies are going to be in danger!” Celestia shouted. Luna looked towards the eyes of Twilight. She stood back with shaky legs.

“Those eyes… it cannot be!” She shouted. “Twilight! Cease your actions now. Otherwise, you’ll let evil enter into your body!” Luna demanded with the Royal Canterlot Voice. Twilight was unfazed.

“Don’t you see Luna? Everypony is full of dark desires and hidden motives! These gauntlets have shown that to me! Everypony is evil, so everypony must be exterminated!” Twilight shouted. Luna took a deep breath in before the light on her gauntlet flashed. As she was enveloped in a flash of light, she became fleshed out in her uniform.

“Sister, allow us to assist you in literally beating sense into your student.” Luna fiercely said. She held out her gauntlet and hit a yellow, upside-down triangle on the screen that said “Previous Settings.” The gauntlet shot three beams that spawned a Dry Bones, a Boo and a Birdo, all fleshed out in their midnight blue uniforms. Her three sidekicks chattered in confusion. “My companions, though we have fought our sister in the name of competitive vengeance, we’ll be teaming up with her team in order to take down a common foe. That purple captain and team in front of you, she is the enemy. She wants to exterminate ponykind. I want the each of you to neutralize the threat!” Luna commanded. Her sidekicks nodded in agreement as they faced the team in front of them.

“Celestia, Luna… I see the two of you have allied with each other to take me down. This isn’t necessarily fair you know.” Twilight said in a sarcastic tone.

“I’m through entertaining your thoughts Twilight! The last thing I would ever want to sound like is a fascist ruler, but I’m afraid that I’m going to have to turn you into a good pony and beat you down into a bloody pulp if it means preserving the peace and freedom that Equestria has long strived towards!” Celestia shouted in her Royal Canterlot Voice.

“I know you feel this way Celestia, and I know that you’ll do everything to protect your ponies. But for that reason, that is why I’m going to have to end your life first. Then, I’ll end Luna’s life next.” Twilight said. She looked downwards upon the two royal sisters that threatened to stop her. The adrenaline pumped into her bloodstream again. She knew that she would enjoy every single moment of this large battle.

Clash of the Princesses: Celestia and Luna vs. Twilight Sparkle

Celestia and Luna both looked onto Twilight Sparkle, who had one of the most devious grins on their faces. Twilight and her squad of sidekicks suddenly charged towards Celestia and Luna, who responded with a charge of their own. Luna’s Birdo and Celestia’s Monty Mole tagged with each other and performed a dual tackle against Twilight’s Birdo. Meanwhile, Celestia’s two Dry Bones have teamed up with Luna’s Dry Bones and Boo to face off against Twilight’s Dry Bones and Shy Guy. The Dry Bones and Shy Guy backed away from the onslaught of dead foes before them. Celestia smiled towards Twilight.

“Don’t you see Twilight? Though me and my sister fight, we will always unite as the royal sisters to prevent harm from falling under anypony. There is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. By the power of the Equestrian Higher Authority, you will meet your end!” Celestia said in a proud, loud tone. Twilight smiled as she looked at her gauntlet, which revealed a single bob-omb in her item slot.

“That’s nice and all, but your words are meaningless if you cannot catch me.” As she said this, a large bob-omb fell down onto Celestia and Luna and exploded. Both alicorns were sent flying away from each other. Twilight grinned as she ran past Celestia and Luna. As the two of them got up from the floor, Celestia looked back and saw Twilight going into the hallway. She stared towards the direction in anger.

“Sister, you have to follow Twilight. She may be going after all the ponies in the infirmary!” She shouted.

“Point taken Tia.” Luna said. She looked back to her Dry Bones and Boo, who were beating on Twilight’s Dry Bones and Shy Guy alongside Celestia’s two Dry Bones. “Dry Bones! Boo! I want you to reach the infirmary as quickly as you possibly can! Lives are in danger.” Luna shouted. Her Dry Bones and Boo responded with a salute and ran down the same hallway. “Tia, I’m going to go after your student. Try to hold off her forces over here.” Celestia nodded.

“I’ll do just that. Just make sure nopony gets hurt under any circumstance.” She said as she turned her head back to the action. When she did, however, Twilight’s Birdo tackled into her foreleg and knocked her over. Luna ran as fast as she possibly could, but her Boo and Dry Bones ran three times faster than she did. She grunted her face as she looked towards all the possible routes to take. Then, her eyes opened in epiphany.

“I know for a fact that I myself can’t reach the infirmary before Twilight Sparkle does with running, but I know of a way to reach there before she can.” Luna thought to herself. She took a left towards a nearby corridor and stopped before a blue door.

Discord weakly limped over his hammock as he sighed towards the wall.

“Oh Discord, you managed to do it again. Only this time, I happened to develop some close… relations with each pony.” Discord pushed himself upwards from his hammock and angrily stared at his hands. “In the past, I would have just laughed out on situations like this. Now, each pony is actually starting to look miserable, and it’s making me feel weird inside.” He said as he put his lion’s paw over his chest. “I hate this feeling. It feels like everything is my fault.” He moaned sadly. Just then, he heard an aggressive knock on his door. He jumped up and became twisted within his net. He rolled out of the net. “I’m coming!” Discord walked over to the door with a sulking gait. As he pressed the button to the right of the door, the door lifted and revealed a uniform-clad Luna.

“Discord.” Luna strongly said.

“Oh, Luna… Why are you in your uniform right now? Shouldn’t you be in the infirmary watching over everypony and helping them like you should usually do?” Discord remarked.

“There’s a problem. Twilight’s gone insane from understanding what this place is and now she’s become murderous! She’s heading over to the infirmary to kill as many ponies as she can!” Luna shouted. Discord walked back in shock.

“Um, er, well, she can’t be that dangerous now can she? The energies of the world neuters her abilities.” Discord reasoned.

“Normally, it would. To those that have a gauntlet and can access it however, they can easily diminish other ponies that cannot access the gauntlet.” Luna said. Discord frowned and looked away from her eyes.

“Oh… no. Please Luna, I didn’t mean for any of these situations to happen. I was just bored and wanted to spend time with everypony. Please don’t put me into stone for my actions!” Discord begged as he went onto his knees and put his hands together.

“I don’t blame you Discord. You didn’t know that what would happen here would have scorned everypony’s minds. I hold nothing against you for your actions. However, I need you to warp me over to the infirmary. My sister is holding off Twilight’s sidekicks, and I’m supposed to stop Twilight from harming anypony.” Luna requested.

“I suppose that is a predicament you are in. Very well, but just make sure Twilight doesn’t hurt any other pony.” Discord said in a fearful voice. He snapped his griffon’s talons and Luna vanished in a puff of smoke. He sighed as he snapped his talons again. This time, a plastic bucket of vanilla ice cream appeared on his hand. “I need some comfort food to get me through this feeling of depression.” Discord said as he turned his lion’s paw into a metal spoon and started to scoop at the ice cream.

“Errrhhh, what a weird feeling that was.” Rainbow Dash said as she rose out of the gurney and rubbed her head.

“Ah feel ya pardner. If that’s what being brought back from the dead felt like, remind me not to go to extreme lengths to get some apple family members back from the grave.” Applejack said. As she stepped out from the gurney, Braeburn rushed towards her and embraced her.

“Applejack! You’re alive! You shouldn’t have scared me like that!” Braeburn shouted as tears fell down his eyes.

“Aww shucks Braeburn, you knew that I wouldn’t have been gone for long.” Applejack said. “Besides, being dead felt a bit like sleeping. It was kind of weird.”

“Ah know what you were thinking there, but I really don’t want to lose ya. Yer like my favorite cousin.” Braeburn said.

“Awww, you really mean that?” Applejack asked with a flattered voice. In the midst of the reunion, Luna appeared in the center of the infirmary. Everypony in the room shrieked in surprise.

“My ponies, you have to leave here now! Princess Twilight Sparkle is going to come in here, and she will not leave any survivors!” Luna said in a panicked voice. Everypony in the room laughed while Rainbow Dash walked over to Luna with a grin on her face.

“Oh Princess, please! I mean, this is Twilight we’re talking about. She’s like the least harmful pony that isn’t Fluttershy when she isn’t crazy. Even when she’s insane, she’s just only creepy at most. There’s absolutely nothing harmful about that.” She said. “I mean, come on, you think she’s going to burst through the front door of the infirmary in a hoofball uniform and say something along the lines of ‘All of you sinners shall pay for your actions with your lives!’ and chuck a red shell at us?” She then began to laugh, followed by Pinkie Pie’s laughter as she walked by Rainbow Dash and put her foreleg around her neck.

“Yeah, and she’s probably going to go after Lyra first for her irrational like of hands!” The two mares laughed harder until they heard a knock that came from the door on the infirmary. The door was opened, and a uniformed Twilight Sparkle jumped into the room with crazed, bloodthirsty eyes.

“All of you sinners shall pay for your actions with your lives!” Twilight shouted as a giant red shell spawned on her hoof. Twilight had her face set towards Lyra’s direction, who responded with a look of confusion and fear. Luna’s eye twitched severely before she facehoofed hard. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie sheepishly grinned towards Luna.

“Thou just had to remark that, didn’t thou?! Dear mother!” She shouted. Twilight chucked the red shell towards Lyra’s direction. Luna ran up towards Lyra and pushed her out of the way. The red shell turned slightly towards the left, but it was very much out of the direction of any pony. The red shell hit the wall and bounced back and forth between the walls. In anger, Luna tackled Twilight and knocked her over. “Run, now!” As the red shell shattered, all the ponies stampeded out of the room and screamed. Dust was kicked up, which left Luna and Twilight alone in the infirmary.

“Gone, they’re all gone.” As Twilight said this, Luna’s Dry Bones and Boo appeared from the doorway and blocked it off with their bodies. Twilight looked back at Luna and smiled. “It seems that it is just you, me and your sidekicks Luna. How very disappointing.” Twilight said. She ran towards Luna and tackled into her. Luna barely dodged the blow. Twilight chased after Luna, tackle after tackle. Luna dodged each tackle, but Twilight’s speed and defensive capability is causing Luna to breathe more heavily with each dodge. Soon, Luna stopped dodging. Twilight ran towards Luna and tackled into her with her head. Luna was thrown off into the wall, and a large dust cloud came out. As Twilight smiled from her strike, her eyes opened in shock as a blue shell was launched out of it. In those few moments, the shell hit Twilight hard, which caused her to freeze over. Luna dashed out of the cloud and kicked Twilight’s chin as if it were a hoofball itself. Twilight was launched through the wall and into another room on the ship. Luna jumped into the destroyed wall followed by her Dry Bones and Boo. Luna stared angrily across the dark room and into the other room where Twilight landed in.

Doctor Whooves and Derpy were in a very dark and narrow room. They heard the commotion appear from the other side of the wall. Derpy gasped in surprise, but Doctor Whooves held his hoof against her mouth and shushed her.

“Derpy, it is very important that you do not make a sound as we hide in this closet. All the ponies in the room scattered across the ship. I just picked this area closest to the infirmary because the best place to hide is right under our aggressor’s nose. It’s what our previous adventures taught us.” Derpy nodded until a large thump was heard towards the left of the wall. From the wall, a sudden burst of light alongside a dust cloud was seen. Twilight was flung across the crack and was blasted through the other wall. Luna and her sidekicks hopped over the room and jumped into the other crack. The Boo looked down the edge of darkness and saw a frightened earth pony stallion and pegasus mare holding each other, shivering in fear. It shrugged before it left towards the other room.

“I think we should stay in here Turner.” Derpy said.

“What? Stay in a compromised area and be sitting ducks waiting for a crazed madmare to come in here and kill us? I’m going to pass thank you very much.” Doctor Whooves said in a huff and exited the door. Derpy followed nearby.

A group of robots sat around in a metal room filled with blue pods, microwaves, sofas and television. As the robots were watching the events of the television unfold, Twilight burst through the wall behind the television and destroyed it. Twilight landed in the sofa between two robots. The robots looked at Twilight angrily.

“We were watching that!” One of the robots near her said. Twilight stared incandescently towards the robot. She thrust her forehooves towards the closest robot’s head and gripped it. She twisted her hooves and snapped the robot’s neck. Sprays of electricity flew from the robots neck as it erratically moved its arms in the air before falling onto the ground lifelessly. Twilight stared towards the other robot, which backed away with its arms up in surrender.

“Well you didn’t have to do that you know…” The other robot said. Luna jumped from across the gap in the wall along with her two sidekicks. The three of them stared Twilight down.

“It’s over Twilight! You have no other place to run. You will not hurt a single pony onboard this ship.” Luna screamed. Twilight looked back towards the other robots in the room and a sinister smile crept up her face.

“What would harming ponies be if they would only be able to be restored back to normal? If I kill all the robots onboard, then nothing will be able to revive them.” Twilight said darkly. She looked towards her gauntlet and saw that a sprite of her head was in her item slot. “And I know just the way to do it.” Twilight’s horn became enshrouded in a pink aura. A field of pink energy spread across the floor and enveloped all the robots. All the robots in the room were caught in the field along with Luna, her Dry Bones and Boo. The beings were levitated into air. The robots made a strange whirring noise, almost as if in pain. Their cords and circuits began to stretch and unwind and each robot screamed in horrible pain. Oil began to leak from underneath their circuitry before they exploded in oily explosions. Luna gasped in horror at the sight.

“Twilight… how could you?” Luna said. Twilight focused back onto Luna and her team and forced the same magical pressure onto her sidekicks. Luna’s Dry Bones rattled in pain before exploding in bones, and Luna’s Boo closed its eyes in severe uncomfort before becoming a puff of smoke. Twilight grinned sadistically before she began to apply that same pressure onto Luna. Luna grunted as she felt the magical energies inside of her bloodstream and expands outward towards her muscles. She groaned in pain as she felt her muscles compress against her skin. Her groans became full screams as the magic slowly tortured her to death. In the process of the spell, Celestia bucked down the door and ran over to Twilight. Twilight looked back in surprise and the spell was released, which dropped Luna onto the ground. Celestia bucked Twilight in the face, which launched her into the ceiling.

“Lulu, are you okay?! Your screams sounded absolutely horrible!” Celestia shouted in worry. Luna coughed loudly as she choked on air.

“We will be fine Tia. We just *cough* need to catch a breather.” Luna said. Gravity allowed Twilight to be pried off of the ceiling. Celestia reared her hind legs before she bucked Twilight as hard as she possibly can. Twilight was launched towards the north wall, but wasn’t launched through it. Celestia indignantly looked towards Twilight, who began to stir from the strike against her. When Twilight looked into Celestia’s eyes, her jaw dropped in absolute horror. Celestia scooped Twilight out of the wall with her hooves. She then prepped her forelegs and stomped on Twilight with violent anger.

“HOW-DARE-YOU-HURT-MY-BABY-SISTER-WITH-SUCH-A-HORRIBLE-SPELL!!!????” Celestia said as she beat her hooves into Twilight between words. “IT-WASN’T-ENOUGH-THAT-YOU-TRIED-TO-HURT-OUR-SISTER-BUT-YOU-HAD-TO-TORTURE-HER-IN-THE-PROCESS!!!” Celestia continued. Twilight’s entire body was being brutally pounded through the onslaught of her mentor. She cried out loudly between stomps to where Luna had an appearance of shock on her face. She ran up to Celestia and shook her.

“Tia, please stop! This isn’t who you are!” Luna shouted. Celestia looked back towards her sister with an indignant expression and then faced the beaten Twilight, whose mouth began to pour out a slight amount of blood.

“Luna, I just cannot act mercifully on Twilight just because you told me too. She has put made too many ponies in danger and shown a thirst for blood. She cannot be allowed to live, and I will end her life as painfully as I can in retribution!” She shouted. She raised her forehooves again and began to continue stomping on Twilight. Twilight cried out in pain as the torment of a thousand hooves continued. Luna grabbed Celestia and attempted to pull her away. “Let me go Lulu! Can’t you see that this foal before me who thinks of herself as an avenger for ponykind deserves to be killed?! I need her to die!” Celestia shouted. Luna looked at Celestia’s gauntlet, where the blue light flashed brightly. Her pupils constricted in horror.

“Please Celestia, stop the punishment! It hurts!” Twilight pleaded in pain. She coughed violently and a single drop of saline dropped from her eye. “I’m begging you princess, I’m sorry! I didn’t know it would be like this!” Twilight’s teardrop became two streams that enveloped her face. Celestia looked angrily towards Twilight until she noticed her tears. The tears triggered a flashback in her mind.

A filly-sized Twilight Sparkle energetically ran around a red carpet that Celestia was laying on as she looked through her letters. The fireplace blazed brightly. As Twilight laughed and ran, she tripped over herself and fell, dragging her hoof along in the process. Celestia moved her head up and ran towards Twilight in a panic.

“Twilight are you okay!?” Celestia shouted. Twilight looked upwards towards Celestia and began to cry as she held up a scraped forehoof.

“Princess, it hurts! Please make the pain go away!” Twilight pleaded with wide eyes. Celestia smiled warmly as she grasped Twilight’s hoof.

“Now Twilight, I’m going to use a spell on your hoof to make the pain go away. However, it’s going to feel a bit uncomfortable.” She said.

“B-but I don’t want you to hurt me. You say that when it’s going to hurt!” Twilight screamed.

“Now Twilight, I know that you are afraid, and I can understand it. However, that scrape on your hoof isn’t going to get any better if I don’t help it now. Just don’t worry about it.” Celestia reasoned happily.

“But… my body can form clots along the wounds and create scabs to prevent further bleeding and open wounds.” Twilight said.

“Twilight, let me just restore your hoof.” Celestia said unamused. “As I said, I understand you are afraid. However, I want you to be a brave filly and hold ward off the feeling as long as you possibly can. Understood?” Celestia said in a calm voice. Twilight sadly nodded as she turned her head away and held her hoof out.

“Not too hard please princess.” She said. Celestia’s horn and Twilight’s wound were enshrouded in yellow auras. Twilight closed her eyes as much as she could.

“Alright Twilight, the pain is gone. You can open your eyes again.” Twilight opened her eyes and turned back to Celestia. She saw that her hoof was completely healed. She smiled.

“Hey look! That didn’t hurt!” Twilight said.

“Didn’t I tell to not worry about a thing?” Celestia said.

“I should have listened to you before princess. Am I a brave filly?” Twilight asked as she made puppy eyes. Celestia could not hold back a grin as she nuzzled Twilight.

“You are a very brave filly, the bravest in all of Equestria.” Celestia said. Twilight smiled as she nuzzled Celestia’s chin. Celestia closed her eyes and smiled warmly, inviting the affectionate nuzzle.

Celestia looked towards Twilight Sparkle. Her eyes that were clouded with rage dissolved into a full clarity. She looked down towards her hooves and found the metal on them stained with the blood of her student. She slowly looked towards the downed Twilight, who wept loudly.

“It hurts! Please… help me p-p-princess.” Twilight pleaded. She tried to stand up, but the burning sensation of open wounds caused her to drop to the ground with her teeth clenched. The drop caused her to cry further. She looked up to Celestia, who looked shocked beyond her eyes. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry I wanted to do what I did! Ponies may have flaws, but I over exaggerated them to a strong degree.” Twilight shouted. Her head dropped to the floor as she miserably looked towards the floor. “I thought that I could handle any situation. I thought that I was prepared for the worst of any situation. Instead, I couldn’t handle the truth. I acted selfishly and abhorrently, and I’m sorry. I hurt your sister, and I hurt my friends. I’m sorry.” She quietly said. Luna let Celestia go, and Celestia slowly walked over to Twilight. Her eyes became filled with tears.

“No… I’m sorry. When I heard that you saw the worst in ponies and wanted to punish everypony for it, I kind of lost it. I didn’t reason with you well enough because I was in too much shock. I understand that, despite being a royal figure, you still are young and have much to learn. When I saw my dear sister hurt badly, my senses became drowned in anger. I should have never taken your challenge, and I shouldn’t have beaten you within an inch of your life.” Celestia poignantly said. She brought her head down and gently nuzzled Twilight. She moved her ear over to Twilight’s chest and heard a faint heartbeat and weak breathing. “Good, she’s still alive.” Celestia thought to herself. “Luna, please get some robot that wasn’t destroyed by Twilight to come over here and help her, please!” She shouted. As Luna ran towards the door, Star stood outside the door. Star was visibly shocked as it saw the debris from the television, sofa and destroyed robots.

“Goodness, what happened here?!” It shouted.

“Please Star, help Twilight out now! She’s seriously hurt, and she needs immediate medical attention!” Luna pleaded. Star looked towards Celestia and Twilight and then looked at Luna. Its electronic eyes opened widely.

“You caused this entire mess?! Great, just great! I hoped to come into here so that I can recharge, but now I can’t do that! Oh, and you want me to restore the purple one? Forget it! she deserved everything that came her way. I’m not helping.” Star said selfishly as it turned its back towards Luna. Luna glared furiously towards star and grabbed its chest.

“Thou dost help my sister’s student or so help us… We shall all scrap you as the machinery thou dost be, understood?!” Luna shouted towards Star. Star turned back, and a fearful expression was painted over its face screen. It sighed.

“Fine. Just don’t scrap me.” As it said this, it walked over to the downed Twilight. It held out its hands and a golden aura surrounded them. Twilight became enshrouded in the golden. Her eyes perked up as she felt a warm sensation envelop her founds. Her bruises returned to their normal color, and her blood receded back into her body. As Star finished, Twilight stood up. She moved her hooves around and grinned happily.

“Hey, it doesn’t hurt anymore!” Twilight exclaimed. “Thank you very much Star. You are a good machine.” Twilight said as she pats Star on the head. Star had an unamused expression on its face.

“Like I had a choice.” It said annoyed. Star walked out of the room. Twilight looked onto Celestia’s eyes. The illumination within them, Twilight saw them. She frowned immensely.

“Please don’t feel bad about what you did. If you didn’t do it, I would have killed Princess Luna.” Twilight said sadly.

“Listen Twilight, I know that you feel bad about what happened. Though you made the conscious decision to do what you did, I don’t blame you anymore for the interpretation of what you have learned. Sometimes, knowledge can be a very dangerous thing due to interpretations. I’m just glad that you have come to your senses.” Celestia happily said. She looked back to her cleats and saw that they were still stained with blood. She frowned. “This will be a permanent reminder that even I get lost in rage. Nopony is perfect, but living is learning. With learning, we become better than what we previously were. Through this, I was conditioned as the leader before your eyes today.” She said. Twilight smiled and brought her snout over to Celestia’s neck. Celestia brought her head down and nuzzled the back of Twilight’s neck. Each pony’s uniform disappeared and the each gauntlet’s screens turned dark. Luna smiled.

“May I partake in this group hug Tia and Twi?” She asked. Celestia and Twilight looked towards Luna awkwardly before they smiled.

“Of course you can join us Lulu.” Twilight said. At that moment, Twilight’s face became filled with uncertainty at the epiphany of her words. She blushed slightly. “Well, er, I heard Princess Celestia call you ‘Lulu’ all the time, and I thought it might’ve been applicable to me.” She sheepishly said. Luna responded with a wide smile.

“It’s no problem at all Twi. Because you are a princess, you are family now. You can call me Lulu whenever you desire.” She responded. In that moment, Discord warped into the room through a series of strange, falling blocks. Luna turned around and smiled. “Ah Discord, just the draconequus we wanted to see. I feel that we are ready to go back home now.” Discord looked to the left and right and twiddled with his thumbs.

“Ummm, about that… I tried to warp myself out of here. However, that particular power isn’t responsive in the slightest. I’ve tried several different times with several vantage points, but nothing happened. I guess we are stuck here.” Discord said in disappointment. Celestia, Luna and Twilight all looked at Discord with various expressions of shock and disbelief.

Author's Note

So sorry to have taken so long with this. But, when waiting happens, results are delivered. When the results are delivered, the honey is much more sweeter.

Into the Fire

“What do you mean ‘you can’t teleport us out?!’ Why can’t you get us out here?” Twilight screamed. “You were able to do it a few days ago, or was it a week? Gah, it felt like forever since we were last in here!”

“Please try to remain calm Twilight.” Celestia gently said. She looked into Discord’s eyes. “So this warp of yours… do you know what could be causing it?" She asked. Discord put one of his talons onto his chin and started pondering.

“Weeeeelllll, I know of three explanations how this can be happening. First off, there could be a temporary build-up of an anti-magical substance in the atmosphere. We just have to wait it out until it goes down to a more suitable level. The second one is that there is a large disturbance coming from a certain location in this world that prevents chaotic power from escaping the world. Aaand the third one is…” Discord said as he held his ponderance stance.

“Ummm, if you don’t mind Discord, I think we would all like to hear what you would say.” Celestia said with a forced smile.

“Well, I know this method well, but I don’t think you would like to hear it. But, since you insisted, an omnipotent foe from this world does not want us to leave.” Discord said flatly.

“Did we even make any deities of this world angry?” Luna said in confusion. “I’m very sure that we haven’t traveled much to enrage anypony here.”

“Again, I only said that it is a possibility. It’s the least likely possibility, but a possibility nonetheless.” Discord clarified.

“Hmmm, how do we tell the others who have been brought along this?” Celestia said.

“Now we move into our second problem: we can’t tell them that I cannot teleport us out of here. Could you imagine the uproars of angry ponies after they hear that? Be cautious that some of them are wearing the gauntlets, and there will be nothing but pure, utter destruction onboard the Stormship. We’ll lose all of our lives before we get out of this world.” Discord said. Celestia opened her mouth to say something, but closed it and put her hoof onto her chin. She opened her mouth again, but closed it before saying anything.

“It’s a weird thing to say, but Discord’s logic has reasoning to it. Many ponies here seem very irate over the events that have happened recently, and all they want to do is just go home. If we tell them that we can’t send them home, then who knows how volatile their actions will be.” Celestia turned back to Twilight Sparkle, whose eyes and mouth were widely opened in worry. “I know just how painful it is to know that you have to hide the truth from your friends Twilight. But for the sake of the safety of everypony else, you mustn’t drop even a hint of truth.”

“I know. It’s just that… it’s going to be painful to hold onto.” Twilight said.

“Just remember Twilight, timing and place is everything. If you say something at the wrong place at the wrong time, then the worst possible thing will happen. It’s a part of being a princess, and I know you can handle it.” Celestia said. “Otherwise, I’ll have to regrettably beat some sense into you. I hated doing it, but it worked.” Twilight bit her bottom lip in surprise, but she nodded regardless.

“I’ll hold onto it Celestia. If I can stand being crazy, then I can stand being a vessel of truth that nopony can access.” Twilight said. As she did, a nearby speaker blared from the top corner of the room.

“Everypony onboard, please come out of hiding and report to the navigation room please.” The voice said.

“Huh, I wonder why we are needed there.” Luna said.

“Well, the sooner we get there, the sooner we will know.” Celestia said as she walked out of the door.

“Well, I gotta leave like the rest of you. Maybe from there I can understand what is blocking my universal manipulation abilities.” Discord said as disappeared in smoke. Luna and Twilight awkwardly looked at each other. They both looked away, and silence followed for a few seconds.

“This is a bit awkward. I mean… I just…” Twilight hesitantly said. Luna held up her right forehoof and closed her eyes.

“Save your breath Twilight. I have already forgiven you, so you don’t need to say anything.” Luna quickly said. “Besides, if I have any further transgressions with you, then I would be able to take it out on the field against you.”

“Well, alright Luna. I trust you.” Twilight said. The two of them walked out of the door.

Everypony gathered in the navigation room. All of them chatted among themselves, but Lyra, Bonbon, Rarity and Fluttershy gathered around Doctor Whooves and Derpy, who were in the middle of telling a tale.

“So there we were, hidden in the nearby closet. We thought we were safe since nopony would ever look in the room closest to them first. Then, we saw Twilight break through the wall as well as Luna and a slew of her teammates going through the debris damage. From that point on, I knew that I had to move into another room, especially since there was a whole lot of horrific screaming going on near us.” Doctor Whooves said.

“Yeah, and a Boo watched us.” Derpy finished.

“My… that sounds like the… delightful story.” Rarity hesitantly said. “Fluttershy, where were you when everything happened?”

“Ummm… I was wandering in the hallways. Most of these rooms looked very scary, but thankfully nopony got hurt.” Fluttershy said.

“You know what Doctor? You are insane for thinking you can hide near the action.” Bonbon flatly stated. “I mean, you nearly put poor Derpy here in harm’s way.” She said as she pointed towards Derpy, whose eyes ignorantly pointed towards different direction.

“Relax Bonbon, Derpy is fine. I’m more concerned with how Luna or Twilight ended up. Those two really got at it!” Lyra said with an irrationally exuberant expression. “You should have seen how Twilight looked at me! They were filled with such vice, such beauty! It was something to die for, and I would have died as well!” Fluttershy, Rarity and Fluttershy each took a step back away from Lyra. Bonbon tapped Lyra’s shoulder.

“Ummm, Lyra, you’re scaring everypony again.” Bonbon stated. Lyra lowered her eye lids and smiled sheepishly.

“Heh, sorry everypony.” As she said this, Discord warped into the room with a smoky entrance, followed by Celestia walking through the front door. Luna and Twilight horizontally adjacently walked into the room as well. Everypony went silent for a moment as the most powerful beings entered. Vinyl Scratch and Rainbow uncomfortably rubbed their hooves when their eyes saw Twilight.

“Umm, Princess…” Vinyl Scratch said with a sheepish grin. She rubbed her neck with her hoof and began to sweat. “So… I suppose you aren’t going to kill me… are you?”

“Look Vinyl, I wish to apologize to everypony here. I wasn’t really right in the head after I saw two of my best friends die. In fact, I took it horribly. Can you ever forgive me?” Twilight said as she craned her neck downward. Lyra ran over to Twilight and hugged her by her neck, which caused everypony in the room to gasp. “Ummm, Lyra, remember that teeny discussion we had a while back on personal space?” Twilight said with a forced smile.

“It’s wrong to run up to ponies and touch them when they least expect it.” Lyra said with a sigh. “But, I accept your apology Princess. Thanks again for bailing me out of jail after I did that.” Lyra said happily. As she finished, Star rose up from the bottom platform.

“Everypony? Is everypony here? Yes, well I have some very surprising news.” The ponies each turned towards Star, who spoke from a monitor. “A once in a lifetime event happened within the Fire Pit. A spike of omnipotent energy happened and whoever claims the prize through a hoofball tournament gets a free wish.” Star said.

“A free wish? Well, while I would question the ethics of a free wish, this entire hoofball world is messed up. Therefore, I shall join in on the sadistic game and have my wishes of an upgraded TARDIS come true.” Doctor Whooves said happily.

“Oh my, a free wish… I could probably have the world’s biggest menagerie in my own backyard filled with animals that I can only wish to see.” Fluttershy said as she closed her eyes and smiled widely. She mentally screamed in joy.

“The biggest party ever with cake and a bunch of frosting…” Pinkie Pie said as she began to drool in her frosting fantasies.

“I see everypony likes the concept of a free wish. Well then, those that haven’t put on their gauntlets should put them on now! Star out.” As star said this, the screen that he was on turned off. Everypony that didn’t have a gauntlet ran over to the shelves and grabbed one. Twilight, Luna and Celestia looked at Discord curiously.

“Ummm Discord, what exactly are the Fire Pits?” Celestia asked.

“I’m glad you asked Celestia. The Fire Pits is the summit of an active volcano. You’re all going to need burn heals after a game though.” Discord happily said. The three princesses looked at each other cautiously before facing Discord again. “Though, I never remembered a free wish being a part of this world before. Something just isn’t adding up… on the other hand, this could probably be where the magical disturbance can be coming from. If we solve this problem, then we can get out of here.” Discord said. “Oh well, I’m going to make sure that nopony gets hurt from their actions.” Discord nonchalantly walked over to the gauntlet shelves, where ponies began to fight over the gauntlets.

Doctor Whooves retreated back into his room with a morbid curiousity. He opened a drawer inside of his desk and took out a gauntlet. He smiled greatly.

“With this gauntlet, the free wish will be mine. I’m sure of it!” He said with a higher-pitched voice. He put the gauntlet over his hoof. The gauntlet’s screen flashed a light blue before he was enshrouded in a virulent flash. As the light disappeared, a black silhouette was in place in the darkened room. The silhouette smiled before it laughed loudly.

Author's Note

This chapter is a bit short, but that's not important. What is important is that there's going to be a round robin swiss tourney, and I need your help to decide the match-ups. Also, Discord is right. Something is very fishy about a free wish in something that represents a chaotic hole of infernal desires...

Tournament Set-up

Everypony that did not put on a gauntlet had already placed their hooves into one. Everypony had also changed into their hoofball uniform. Derpy wore thick, metal plating around her torso that was surprisingly light. It was a platinum color. Her cleats and gauntlet were colored to fit into the platinum color scheme. Braeburn and Fluttershy’s uniform colors were a butter-yellow color. Braeburn retained his signature hat, but gained a breathable nylon shirt that stopped at his knees. His knees and hooves were covered in titanium alloys. Fluttershy also gained a nylon shirt just like Braeburn. However, her shirt extended down towards her hooves. Her knees were guarded with a flexible, shiny metal that protects from even the greatest of strikes. Rarity was bedazzled in an aqua-blue uniform that sparkles with life. Her expertly-crafted uniform was sewn together with precious hard metals and diamonds, making the beauty of her uniform very effective in guarding against rough-housing. Pinkie Pie’s attire was pink and armored, yet looked very contradictory. Her legs were completely coated in hot pink guards, which would restrict the movement of her legs. She only wore a pink shirt. In addition, her mane deflated along with her vibrant colors. Derpy looked around the navigation center with a look of honest confusion on her face.

“Where’s Turner?” Derpy asked. Rarity saw that the good Doctor was not among them.

“Hmmm, maybe he could have gone back into his room. I noticed that there is a gauntlet missing here. Otherwise, everypony has their gauntlet.” She responded. In a sudden moment, the door that leads into the hallways opened. Behind the door was a gray uniform-claded Doctor Whooves. His uniform was metallic in nature, yet it appeared as flexible as cloth. Looking into the uniform revealed a transparency effect. The most different feature on him was that his gentle eyes appeared to be clouded in a form of madness. Doctor Whooves strut towards the room with a confident smile on his face. Derpy floated over to Doctor Whooves and smiled.

“Turner! You’re back! The announcement is going to start at any moment now!” Derpy said.

“I’m very excited for that wish. Just imagine the moment when I win… the secrets of the universe will be all mine!” Doctor Whooves stated excitedly.

“Ummm… are you okay Turner?” Derpy asked.

“I am more than okay Derpy! This gauntlet made me feel amazing! Plus, free wish!” Doctor Whooves stated with the grin of a maniac. “I will take down everypony that dare goes in my way! Make no question of that.” He said through a mix of screaming and calm composure. He turned back to the monitor. In that time, Fluttershy slowly walked up to Derpy.

“Ummm, I don’t think he’s okay at all.” Fluttershy whispered. Derpy looked towards what was in front of her and tilted her head with a puzzled expression. Everypony turned towards the monitor. Various head sprites of ponies shuffled along the screen. It passed ten seconds before the images stopped shuffling around. The pairings were displayed:

Round 1

Doctor Whooves vs. Braeburn

Derpy Hooves vs. Rainbow Dash

Rarity vs. Lyra Heartstrings

Fluttershy vs. Vinyl Scratch

Luna vs. Applejack

Bonbon vs. Twilight Sparkle

Pinkie Pie vs. Octavia

Celestia looked at the screen as she tried to find her icon.

“Do not worry about not being able to find your icon Celestia.” She turned back and saw that Star was behind her. “There are fifteen contestants here, and you still would be able to get a point for the Round Robin by betting on who would win. If a minor majority of your guesses are correct, then you shall earn a point for round 1.” It stated.

“Wait… you want me to bet on my own ponies for a point?!” Celestia stated in surprise. “I’m sorry Star, but I’m going to have to not take the point. I have to be impartial to everypony.” She said.

“But… what about your wish?” Star questioned.

“As tempting as removing suffering from the entire world would be, I would have to decline if it meant showing favoritism towards ponies. That’s just not how I work Star. I don’t want to force this situation upon anypony either, so I’m going to be dropping out of this tourney.” Celestia responded. Star sighed.

“Very well then Princess. You sure can be complicated.” It said somewhat irately. It walked away as the rest of the ponies in the room looked towards the monitor. Braeburn smiled as he his pairing. He looked towards Doctor Whooves and walked in his direction.

“Well, it seems like the only two stallions in this group get to rough it up in the fire pit. Good luck to you Doctor.” Braeburn held his hoof out only to have it slapped away by Doctor Whooves.

“Luck is for those who do not have the skill to win.” Doctor Whooves said viciously. Braeburn turned back towards Derpy with a confused expression.

“What’s wrong with him?” He asked. Derpy shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. Applejack turned towards Luna with a serious stare in her eyes.

“Ah know she’s gonna be the contender t’ win. Ah won’t hold back against her.” She said to herself. Rarity turned to Lyra Heartstrings with a warm smile.

“Well Lyra, it seems fate has pitted the two of us together. I wish the best of luck towards your endeavors for an enjoyable game.” She said happily.

“Thanks Rarity. You too!” Lyra responded. Rainbow Dash tapped Derpy by her shoulder.

“Look Derpy, I’m going to be winning that wish, and there’s nothing you can do that will say otherwise!” Rainbow Dash said very cockily.

“Okay.” Derpy said nonchalantly. Rainbow Dash’s face deadpanned.

“You’re boring.” She responded. Octavia looked Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie has a very sinister look in her eyes that froze Octavia’s blood. Regardless, Octavia shook off the feeling and walked towards Pinkie Pie.

“I really hope you will enjoy this match like I will enjoy it.”

“This world is depressing…” Pinkie Pie responded. Octavia became silent.

“Now, may I have Braeburn and Doctor Whooves arrive before the monitor?” Star asked. The two stallions walked over to Star, curious about what it has to say. “Since the first match is between the two of you, I want you to summon your sidekicks.” Star said. Braeburn turned over to his gauntlet and took out the stylus from the side. He tapped each box on the screen and scrolled through the characters. As he finished, three blue beams shot from the gauntlet. The sidekicks that spawned were a yellow Birdo, a yellow-clad Monty Mole and a Toad with a yellow uniform. Braeburn looked up to see that Doctor Whooves had already summoned a gray-painted Dry Bones, a Boo in a gray helmet and a gray-uniformed Hammer Bro.

“You’re too slow Braeburn. I hope this doesn’t show your performance down on the field below.” Doctor Whooves replied in a playfully vicious tone.

“Whoa pardner! That was an uncalled for statement!” Braeburn screamed back.

“How was it uncalled for? I didn’t insult you. I just merely stated the truth.” Doctor Whooves replied with stride. Braeburn stared angrily towards Doctor Whooves and then back towards Star.

“How long would it take before we are teleported down there?”

“You can go down there whenever you want Braeburn.” Star replied.

“I’m going to beat you so bad Doctor for the honor of all of AAAAAPPALOOOOSAAAA!” Braeburn whinnied out.

“Great, now I get to take down an entire town of hicks rather than just one hick.” Doctor Whooves replied.

“That’s it! I’ve had enough of your smart-alecky talk!” As Braeburn said this, both he and Doctor Whooves were transported out of the hull. Rainbow Dash looked towards the smoking areas and noticed that they were not over any platforms.

“Ummm, how did they warp out of here?” She asked.

“I’ll be honest; I warped them out of here. I don’t want them to fight here.” Star replied as its hands steamed with power. “Now, we get to see them kill each other on the field below!” It said enthusiastically.

“….yeah…” Rainbow Dash said uncertainly. All the ponies onboard remained silent.

Author's Note

So now the Round Robin has been started, we can expect some more action to happen. Also, I'm going to have to make a request for cover art soon.

Game 4: The Dump: Rainbow Dash vs. Applejack

Applejack fell down onto the stadium’s field. The playing ground was completely covered in grime, and there was absolutely no ground showing. Applejack inhaled the scent of the sludge continuously being washed away with the rain. She sighed in content.

“There’s nothing like the scent of earthly sludge to perk a pony up.” She stated euphorically. She lifted her wet, sludge-covered gauntlet over to her face and pulled out a stylus with her mouth. The screen flashed onto a dashboard of characters. She saw that her team’s color was orange. She saw a sprite of her head along with the sprite of the Kritter goalie. She tapped the screen several times. As she filled each square with a character, her gauntlet shot out three beams near her. As the beams exploded upon collision, an orange Birdo, a Monty Mole in an orange uniform and a Hammer Bro in an orange uniform spawned in front of her. The three sidekicks all looked puzzled by the location of their spawn. When they faced Applejack, the Hammer Bro started screaming gibberish towards her direction. “Look here, I don’t care whether or not I summoned you over here or not. What I care about is if ya use yer strength to overwhelm yer opponents.” She stated seriously. The Hammer Bro shut itself up and zipped its beak mouth. She faced her two other teammates, who have perked up instantaneously. “That goes for the both of you as well!” Both the Birdo and Monty Mole saluted their captain Applejack. As Applejack checked her screen, she saw that she was in the Power category. She smiled.

In the stands, Everypony besides Rainbow Dash and Applejack watched on. They were in a sea of a roaring crowd. Rarity looked very unhappy.

“Bleugh! Disgusting, grimy filth. I mean, I know that this was supposed to be a dump, but I didn’t know that it would be this much of a filthy dump. There is absolutely no compliances to sanitation here!” She complained. Discord smirked towards Rarity’s direction.

“Drama queen.” He whispered to the invisible audience in front of him. Meanwhile, Twilight watched the stadium in anticipation of the game. Luna noticed just how uncomfortable Twilight is at the moment, so she walked over to her.

“Twilight, I noticed that you aren’t looking too well. Would you care to enlighten me about your feelings?” She stated. Twilight looked over her shoulder and saw Luna.

“Princess… it’s just that it is two of my best friends out there that are about to play a literal death match. I’m feeling so anxious that I feel like I’m going to be sick. You heard what the both of them said back there! Their stubborn pride and competitiveness is going to get themselves killed!” She panicked.

“Listen Twilight, while I don’t understand the bonds of friendship as well as my sister does, I can say this: you and your friends have saved me from myself, defeated and redeemed Discord, saved the Crystal Empire from the evil clutches of King Sombra, and even saved the Tree of Harmony. There is nothing that you cannot find impossible when you work as a team. Just have as me and my sister have faith in you and your friends; you should have faith in your friends as well.” Luna stated.

“You’re right. Hopefully, this is just a petty situation that is caused by gauntlets. I mean, they would never act so vile towards each other like that, right?” Twilight hopefully asked. As she did, the entire crowd roared and pointed upward when four objects in the air fell from great heights. On closer inspection, Rainbow Dash flew down from the air alongside a Boo in a cyan helmet, a Toad in a cyan uniform, and a Koopa in a cyan shell and uniform. All four of them perfectly landed on the grimy terrain, while Rainbow Dash landed in a three-point position.

“Your Playmaker Champion is here!!!” Rainbow Dash screamed. Applejack blew steam from her nose. As Rainbow Dash walked towards the center of the field, she felt that the ground was very slippery. “Geez Applejack, did you really have to pick a stadium like this? I could hardly move!”

“Well, ya seemed so confident that ya can beat an earth pony in her environment, so I just happened to pick an environment that would suit me.” Applejack stated confidently.

“Whatever, this slippery environment is just only a slight setback.” As Rainbow Dash said this, she got a good look at Applejack’s team. She smiled. “Seriously? That’s your team? You are all slower than Tank having a bad day!” She stated.

“Yeah, well yer team is so weak that ya can’t even hurt a bunny with it!” Applejack stated. In that time, the hoofball spawned in the middle of the field. Both Rainbow Dash and Applejack had their sights set on the ball. As the timer began, the both of them rushed towards the ball. Despite being visibly hindered by the sludge, Rainbow Dash’s speed was able to get her towards the ball first. She passed the ball over to her Boo. While it would make sense for the Boo’s speed to be unhindered by the sludge because it floats, this universe had other plans. The Boo strangely struggled with moving through the grime, which confused Rainbow Dash. In the midst of this confusion, Applejack’s Monty Mole took the opportunity to charge into the struggling Boo. The Boo was tackled and faceplanted onto the grime. The Monty Mole ran sluggishly through the sludge-filled stadium and garnered the attention of Rainbow Dash, her Toad and her Koopa Troopa. The Koopa Troopa charged towards the Monty Mole first. Just as it was about to tackle into the Monty Mole, the Monty Mole dug into the grime and through the metal, which caught the Koopa Troopa by surprise. However, Monty Mole jumped out of the metal and dove into the Koopa Troopa, which knocked him into the electric fence. The Koopa screeched in pain as it was being electrocuted. However, there was not enough time for the Monty Mole to avoid being tackled by the Boo. The Boo grabbed a hold of the ball and then passed it to Rainbow Dash. She smirked.

“Even with this sludge, I’m still faster than you!” She stated cockily. Just as she said this, Applejack ran after Rainbow Dash with the incessant urge to smash her. Rainbow Dash’s face became smug as she jumped into the air to avoid the tackle by Applejack. Though her wings did not work properly in this world, she was still able to gain some hang time with the jump because of them. She glided gently down onto the field and saw Applejack’s Birdo approach her. Just as the Birdo was about to do a full-fledged tackle, Rainbow Dash swiftly evaded the strike with a well-timed dodge. What she didn’t count on was Applejack rushing towards her side. When she saw her, her eyes opened largely in reaction to not being able to dodge within another second. Applejack tackled into Rainbow Dash by her side and both ponies slid into the sludge. As she did this, an evil idea entered into Applejack’s mind. She grabbed Rainbow Dash by her mane and dunked her face into the sludge hard. She rubbed her head into the grimy metal. Rainbow Dash struggled for escape from Applejack’s hold on her. The sludge around her face bubbled with her restrained breaths. All the ponies sitting in the stands were absolutely shocked by this display of dirty play, while Discord laughed loudly and happily. All of the other members of the audience loudly cheered, as if they all enjoyed it.

“That is absolutely disgusting and horrible! I know that Applejack and Rainbow Dash would resort to dirty tactics, but this is taking that way too far!” Twilight Sparkle shouted in disgust.

“Ah, but without actions like this, the sport would be absolutely boring. Why else do you think all these creatures gather into these stadiums?” Discord happily interjected. Twilight was not amused.

“Go home Discord, just go home.” She said as Discord brought out a filming camera and recorded all the action happening.

Back onto the field, the slippery hoof of Applejack allowed Rainbow Dash to escape from the hold. Her face was caked in sludge, and she even spit out some of the brown liquid. It tasted like liquid garbage. The worst part was that, during her deep breaths, she actually swallowed some of the nasty fluids.

“Gaaaah! Why did you do that Applejack?!” Rainbow Dash screamed in an upset manner.

“I just wanted to give you a taste of the life that y’all have once I beat you in this game.” Applejack responded. “You wingers are all the same. Ya can’t even stomach a little dirt. If ya can’t do that, then you’ll just have to accept that earth ponies are better than pegasi.”

“Hah! In your dreams dirtwalker! I’ll never admit that! I’d rather eat all the sludge here!” Rainbow Dash fiercely responded.

“That can be accommodated then.” Applejack said as she launched her forehoof down towards the back of Rainbow Dash’s head in another attempt to drown her in sludge. Rainbow Dash deftly avoided the hoof and jumped above Applejack. She pressed both of her forehooves onto the back of Applejack’s head and caused her to faceplant into the sludge. Applejack began to struggle from a lack of air as sludge entered into her air passageways. Rainbow Dash rubbed Applejack’s face into the sludge.

“Doesn’t taste so good does it Applejack? Maybe you should admit that pegasi are better than earth ponies in every way!” She said. Applejack stopped squirming for a moment, which caused the ponies in the audience to gasp in horror. As Rainbow Dash smiled, she felt a rise coming from Applejack’s hind legs. Applejack bucked Rainbow Dash off of her head. She spit the sludge out from her throat. She saw that her Birdo had the ball. She waved over to the Birdo to pass it over to her.

“Sorry Rainbow Dash. Ah’d love to stay and play with ya, but I got a game to win.” She stated. Birdo passed the ball over to Applejack. Applejack reared her hind legs before she unleashed a powerful kick that shot the ball. The ball zipped along a curved path, but the Kritter grabbed the ball before it could have gone in. The Kritter kicked the ball towards the center of the field. Koopa, who recovered from the shock, saw the ball going towards the center. No other competitor was around, so he ran up to the ball and came into possession of it. He noticed that a Hammer Bro ran after him and tucked away into his shell and rolled out of the path. He then kicked the ball towards the Toad, who then proceeded to pass it towards the Boo. The Boo passed it back to the Toad, which confused some of the members of Applejack’s team. In the heat of the distraction, Rainbow Dash took this opportunity to run towards the away goalie’s side. The Toad then passed it over to Rainbow Dash, who caught it by jumping into the air. Her ball was flashed a bright white as she locked her sights onto Applejack’s Kritter. With a semi-aerial flip, she kicked the ball as hard as she possibly could. However, the ball didn’t kick fast enough to be a clean shot. However, the ball hit hard enough so that, rather than be caught by the Kritter, it bounced off of his hands. Rainbow Dash jumped towards the direction of the ball and passed it over to the Boo that was nearby. The Boo moved slowly over the stadium and charged its ball. Applejack’s Kritter saw what the Boo tried to do, so he went near the Boo in order to kick it. What he did not expect was for the Boo to phase through his body, which left the net completely unprotected. The Boo moved into the goal with the ball, and the horn blared as a point for Rainbow Dash’s team. Applejack’s jaw dropped.

“Did yer sidekick just do what ah think it did?!” Applejack screamed in disbelieving anger. Rainbow Dash looked incredibly smug.

“Why yes, yes it did Applejack. Now tell me, does it make you feel… salty?” Rainbow Dash said with a twinge of pride. Applejack wanted to scream, but she did not want to let Rainbow Dash get the satisfaction of a small victory. Instead, she smiled.

“Why, not at all! In fact, your score let me learn something, and I shall use what I learned so that I will win this.” Applejack said in an unsettlingly calm tone. As both captains converged towards the center of the field, the hoofball spawned in front of Applejack’s hoof. As the timer ticked down from the four minute and thirty second mark, Rainbow Dash dashed as quickly towards Applejack as possible. Applejack stayed in the same exact location as the ball garnered energy towards it. As Rainbow Dash neared the ball, Applejack kicked the ball with her forehoof, which shot into Rainbow Dash’s chest. The impact knocked her out and dazed her, and Applejack gained a giant green shell in her item slot. She went into the direction of the ball and passed it over to her Monty Mole. The Monty Mole caught it with his legs and ran towards Rainbow Dash’s Kritter. Rainbow Dash ran as fast as she possibly could towards the Monty Mole. Yet, as she approached, the Monty Mole dug himself through the metal and avoided the tackle. Rainbow Dash then felt a large, blunt impact on her chest from the emergence of Monty Mole and was flung into the air. As Monty Mole crossed into home field territory, he passed the ball over to Birdo. The Boo, Toad and Koopa all chased after the Birdo. Birdo looked at them, winked once and threw a large, green shell towards their direction. All of Rainbow Dash’s sidekicks opened their eyes widely in fear and tried to escape. Unfortunately, the slickness of the sludge prevented them from making hard turns. As a result, all of them were hit by the shell. Birdo pulled her head back as she was enveloped in a blue aura. As Rainbow Dash got up from the sludge, she realized that her field was very vulnerable. She tried to rush after Birdo, but a giant, white egg was released from Birdo’s mouth, which went directly towards her Kritter. She silently cursed the sludge underneath her as the egg shot through the Kritter and went into the goal alongside the ball. The horn blared, which confirmed the point for Applejack’s team. Rainbow Dash slid into the sludge in frustration.

“Seriously?! An egg breached my Kritter? What kind of logic is that?!” She shouted in anger.

“That’s because you never wish to discover things for yerself.” Applejack said behind Rainbow Dash. “Ya always have to buck first and ask questions later. Face it Rainbow Dash, ya couldn’t even use yer team’s one true strength of fancy footwork to get through this field. You and yer entire race of pegasi are just sore losers that can’t do anything without their wings.” She taunted.

“What makes you think I am useless without my wings?! I’m still faster than anypony without my wings! You just had to pick a stadium that would render my speed useless!” Rainbow Dash said angrily.

“There ya go again, making excuses for yer shortcomings. Just accept the fact that I happened to have better thinking skills than you do.” As Applejack said this, the anger concentrated in Rainbow Dash’s eyes and heart ignited.

“Go to Tartarus mudblood! I hope that you are hung by your neck from a high distance, burn from a fiery noose and suffer for all eternity!” When she said this, something inside of Twilight Sparkle died. She was absolutely appalled by the absolutely hate-filled words that dripped with venom. The combination of filth and Rainbow Dash’s words caused Rarity to dramatically faint onto a plush sofa that appeared out of nowhere. Pinkie Pie’s main deflated alongside some of her vibrancy. Fluttershy did absolutely nothing at all. Yet, tears flowed through her eyelids in disbelief.

“So it’s gonna be like that, isn’t it? Y’know Rainbow Dash, Ah used t’ like ya. Ah thought you were different from other pegasi. I’ve waited and waited to see if you can prove me wrong. Instead, ya had to resort to name-calling after failing to accept what happened.” She said in a calm, sour expression. She closed the distance between Rainbow Dash and herself and stared into her face. “Ah’m done playing mercifully with ya.” She whispered. To solidify her point, Applejack reared her right forehoof and smashed it against Rainbow Dash’s face. Rainbow Dash covered her face and jolted back in reaction to the blow. She screamed, which horrified every single member of the audience. Even Discord, who laughed through everything that happened so far, felt severely uncomfortable by the act. When Rainbow Dash lifted her hooves from her face, she saw that they had a splash of blood on them. She stood up from the ground and faced Applejack with a bloodied face.

“Is that all you can do Applejack? Because I’m going to do even worse to you when we play.” Rainbow Dash said with a tort of anger. She walked over to the center of the field and took a deep breath. Applejack followed in suit towards her side of the field. As both ponies and their sidekicks were in their respective positions, the hoofball spawned underneath Rainbow Dash’s hoof. As the Timer went down from the four minute and ten second mark. Rainbow Dash ran towards Applejack and jumped over her. She passed the ball over to her Toad. The Toad then passed the ball over to the Koopa. Applejack’s Hammer Bro rushed in with hammers ablaze and attempted to slide into the Koopa. The Koopa performed a shell roll dodge and avoided the strike. The Koopa then passed it over to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash was in range of a good shot for the goal. She didn’t see Applejack nearing towards her back however. Taking advantage of this blind spot, Applejack tackled Rainbow Dash into her flank. The ball was released from Rainbow Dash and was knocked into the air. Applejack’s Hammer Bro came into possession of the ball by catching it with his feet in midair. He passed the ball quickly towards the Monty Mole. Yet, the pass was interrupted when Rainbow Dash’s Toad slid into the ball and took possession of it. As he got the ball, he was stared down by an angry Monty Mole. The Monty Mole then tackled into the Toad and took possession of the ball. With sheer power, Monty Mole kicked the ball from halfway across the field and kicked it directly into the goal. The horn blared, and Applejack’s team was ahead 2-1. Monty Mole ran up to Applejack and extended his arm out. Applejack smiled and, with her right forehoof, she clapped his claws with her hoof.

“Nice job Monty. Ah knew ya had it in ya.” She said. The Monty Mole made excited noises, which confirmed the compliment. The Boo floated over to Rainbow Dash and offered a helping hand. Rainbow Dash looked up to her Boo. She desperately wanted to accept the hand, but knocked it away instead.

“Look Boo, I know that I’m down, but we got to beat Applejack first. Don’t you want to knock away the opposition for mocking your speed?” She said. The Boo shook its body in a negative response. “Then I want you, me, and our teammates to do better out there. We can’t let them win! They are nowhere near as awesome as us!” The Boo clamored in agreement. “So, let’s go kick some plot!” She said. Both Rainbow Dash and Applejack walked towards the center. They both faced each other with anger present in their eyes. Rainbow Dash spit between Applejack’s eyes. Applejack disdainfully wiped the saliva off of the bridge of her snout.

“Yer not doing mah view on pegasi any favors with that.” She said.

“Who cares? Why do I need a filthy earth pony’s acceptance when I know that pegasi will always be better? Just accept that you and your entire race of ponies are just leeches on the world and die!” Rainbow Dash said bitterly. In the stands, Fluttershy finally broke from her silence. She looked livid.

“Rainbow Dash! Don’t you dare say any more about our friend! Please, can’t you see you are tearing us all apart??” She screamed out onto the field. Everyone who knew Fluttershy personally looked particularly startled. They knew that she would not explode the way she does unless if something hurt any creature or pony she cared about. She grew so bold that she literally jumped from the stands and onto the sludge-filled field. She approached Rainbow Dash with the stare, who looked unimpressed by what her friend had to offer. “The both of you said such disgusting words to each other. I’ve held it in and held it in, but I just cannot take anymore foul talk. The both of you are best friends, so start acting like it!” She shouted angrily. In response to Fluttershy’s angry words, Rainbow Dash launched her hoof into Fluttershy’s jaw and knocked her out in cold blood. The blow shattered Fluttershy’s will and ability to stand up correctly. She whimpered as Rainbow Dash came into her vision.

“I can’t believe this treachery. You, my best friend who is a pegasus, side with a filthy earth pony? Now I see why you can barely fly. You spend more time hanging out with earth ponies and doing earth pony stuff than you do practicing being a pegasus. Because of that, you are worse than earth ponies, and you deserved that strike that you deserved for a long time. But I know that you’ll just come back up from the ground and still try to convince me that earth ponies are better. I guess I’ll just have to eliminate you once and for all.” When Rainbow Dash said this, Fluttershy’s eyes closed from horrible anxiety, and she stopped moving.

“Hey Rainbow Dash! It’s me that’s yer opponent. Don’t bring anypony else into this match, because nopony else matters!” Applejack said. Rainbow ash huffed.

“You are right. Nopony else matters in our rivalry. You are still a filthy earth pony, and it is obvious that your spirit corrupted a fellow pegasus.” Rainbow Dash stated. Fluttershy vanished from her spot and into her seat, where a very worried Discord examined the area of impact. His worries were confirmed when he saw that Fluttershy was not breathing.

“I’ve got to help Fluttershy quickly!” He said as he and Fluttershy vanished with a teleport. The hoofball spawned underneath Rainbow Dash’s hoof. The timer ticked down from the three minute and forty second mark. Rainbow Dash passed the ball all the way back to her Koopa. In turn, the Koopa passed the ball over to the Boo. The Boo moved towards the field line and passed the ball over to the Toad. The Toad passed the ball into the air over to Rainbow Dash, who had already made it halfway into Applejack’s side of the field. She caught it and reared her hind leg. As she charged the ball, Applejack rushed towards Rainbow Dash’s side. Rainbow Dash kicked the charged ball towards the goalie, and five shells with an icy-blue hue appeared in her item slot. Applejack tackled Rainbow Dash into the electric fence, where a surge of immense pain shot down her spine.

“I thought this was deactivated!!!” Rainbow Dash screamed as she was electrocuted.

“The fence doesn’t shock non-players Rainbow Dash. However, yer a player, so ya needed a bit of a reminder why earth ponies are the top ponies.” Applejack said as she grabbed the ball under Rainbow Dash. She passed the ball towards her Birdo, but Rainbow Dash’s Toad managed to slip into a slide and provide interference for the pass by taking it into his possession. Applejack did not like this at all. She ran after the Toad, who then proceeded to shoot a row of five blue shells towards her direction. Applejack was frozen in place. In that time frame, Rainbow Dash fell off the fence and landed on the ground with her hooves. Toad passed the ball over to Rainbow Dash, who moved closer to the goal box. Rainbow Dash shot the ball immediately with her right foreleg. The shot distance allowed for the ball to move into its intended path without much resistance from the Kritter. The horn blew and confirmed Rainbow Dash’s shot, and now her team is tied with Applejack’s team. Despite having burn marks on her coat and a bloodied face by Applejack, Rainbow still smiled from her act. She approached a frozen Applejack and launched her hoof across her face, which shattered the ice surrounding her while knocking her towards the ground.

“That’s for earlier mudblood.” Rainbow Dash said haughtily. Applejack wiped off some blood from her lips caused by the blow. She stared down Rainbow Dash because the strike to both her body and pride, and she knew that one thing was very clear to her.

“Yer gonna die today Rainbow Dash. Ah don’t know how ah’ll do it, but it will be the last thing ah do.” She said to herself. Both Rainbow Dash and Applejack approached the center of the stadium. Most of the entire crowd roared more loudly than usual, but the Equestrian portion of the audience looked increasingly worried. Twilight tried to remain strong, but occasional whimpers escaped from her throat. Celestia noticed this and brought Twilight in with her wing and stroked her with it. The hoofball spawned underneath Applejack’s hoof. As the timer ticked down from three minutes and twenty seconds, Applejack reared her hind legs in a charging fashion. Rainbow Dash charged ahead to become a meatshield for Applejack’s shot. As Applejack kicked the ball, the ball impacted against Rainbow Dash, and a sprite of her head appeared in her item slot. She smiled wickedly. Rainbow Dash was only knocked back a fair distance this time around. However, she never expected the meteor-sized apple that hung above her head. She wanted to move out of the way, but the apple closed down on her and smashed her into the ground. Her teammates stared anxiously at the collision in fear of losing their captain. It only grew worse when the apple flashed for a few moments before it exploded in a truly frightening, fiery fashion. “Yeehaw! Now that’s what ah call one bad apple!” Applejack cheered. She ran towards the Rainbow Dash’s side of the field. While her path was blocked by the Koopa, Applejack simply bucked the Koopa into the electric fence. It screamed out in pain, almost wondering why it was bucked into there again. Applejack passed the ball over to the nearby Hammer Bro, who passed it back to her in turn. The two passed it back several times until the ball exuded a bright white color. When the Hammer Bro passed it back to Applejack, a horribly burned Rainbow Dash tackled into Applejack in vengeance before she got the ball and took possession of the ball.

“Out of my way!” Rainbow Dash said. The Hammer Bro grinned and approached Rainbow Dash. As Rainbow Dash was about to jump into the air, she felt something squash her. Said object was a giant red shell, which was added into Applejack’s item slot after the tackle. It knocked her Hammer Bro out as well, so Applejack had to get the ball quickly. As soon as she did, she charged her buck momentarily before releasing it in a full-force kick. The Kritter managed to rebound it, but the Hammer Bro, who recovered from the shell smack, appeared in front of the ball and kicked the ball into the goal and scored a point for Applejack’s team. Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped as she realized that she was behind again. She stomped the ground in frustration.

“Why? Why why why why why why?! How does Applejack keep one-upping me?!” She screamed to the top of her lungs. She stared at her opponent, and her anger peaked beyond what was necessary. She approached the center of the field, with Applejack having a smug look on her face.

“So, do ya want to admit that earth ponies are and will always be better than pegasi yet Rainbow Dash?” Applejack stated smugly.

“No, and you’ll never catch me saying that!” Rainbow Dash erupted. Applejack slightly frowned.

“Well, I’m sorry ya feel that way. At the very least, it’ll make me not feel bad about doing what ah’ll do to ya next.” The hoofball spawned underneath Rainbow Dash’s forehoof. As she was about to mobilize, Applejack charged after her. Rainbow Dash passed the ball back to her Boo, but took the brunt force of Applejack’s tackle. After Rainbow Dash got up, she was tackled down by Applejack again. While she gained a sprite of her head in her item slot, she was still stared down by Applejack. “Come on Rainbow, hit me!” Applejack screamed. Rainbow Dash got up once more, livid by the second strike.

“Try that again, and I will make you pay!” She said. Applejack slowly approached Rainbow Dash and launched her hoof across her face. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you!” Rainbow Dash screamed. She immediately used her captain’s item. She took flight and beat her wings in a circle until a tornado formed. Applejack held her ground, but found it very hard to stay in place. Her Stetson flew off of her head until she too flew up into the air. While she swirled in the air, Rainbow Dash performed an air kick and smashed Applejac against her back, which caused her to wince in pain. The tornado petered out, and Rainbow Dash landed on her hooves. Applejack had faceplanted against the metal and sludge. As Rainbow Dash approached her, she struggled to get up. When Rainbow Dash knelt down to her level, Applejack delivered a cross jab against Rainbow Dash’s face, which knocked her away.

“So yer finally ready to play for real, aren’t ya?” Applejack threateningly said. Each team captain’s sidekicks looked at each other nervously in anticipation. Monty Mole shrugged his shoulders after the Boo questioningly looked at him. Rainbow Dash used an uppercut towards Applejack, but Applejack dodged and delivered a brutal buck towards Rainbow Dash’s abdomen. Rainbow Dash fell onto the metal and grime, where Applejack was able to move on top of her and started beating her face in with her hooves. The crowd gasped, but cheered on, which promoted the out of context violence. Pinkie Pie looked very worried, but incredibly puzzled at the same time.

“Ummm, I don’t think they’re playing hoofball anymore.” She said. True to her words, Rainbow Dash and Applejack each deactivated the sidekick function on their gauntlets, reverting each of their teammates into digital code.

“It seems like we had the same idea there. Now, it’s finally time that we roughed it up, one-on-one. I can also score some points while I’m at it.” Rainbow Dash admitted.

“Ya think it’d be that easy? Ah’ll make sure that yer gonna go down hard.” Applejack said. Rainbow Dash kicked Applejack off of her and dashed towards her. Applejack barely dodged and kicked Rainbow Dash into the electric fence. As Rainbow Dash screamed in pain from the electricity passing through her, Applejack grabbed the ball and ran towards the net guarded by the Kritter. She kicked the ball towards the goal, but the Kritter skillfully blocked it and threw the ball back at her with amazing force. Applejack slid back a bit, but held her position. It was only until she turned around when she saw that an electrically charged Rainbow Dash dashed towards her and gave an electrically charged jab towards her face. Applejack was tossed towards the ground and rolled along it. Her cheek tingled with electrical residue. Rainbow Dash began to glow in rainbow colors.

“It’s time to end this.” She said. Applejack smiled and looked over to her gauntlet. A red switch that stated ‘Overdrive’ became active.

“Ya know, I couldn’t agree more.” She said as she hit the overdrive button. Her body flashed for a moment before her body began to glow a pure amber-orange color. Her mane flashed a brilliant blond. “It’s time for me to eliminate ya!” She shouted loudly. She rushed up to Rainbow Dash with a strong hoof. She struck Rainbow Dash on her cheek and caused her head to move to the side. Rainbow Dash did not flinch and turned her head back. She growled and thrusted her hoof across Applejack’s face. Applejack responded with a strong blow of her own towards Rainbow Dash’s chest. She responded in pain, but Rainbow Dash kicked Applejack back. The two locked together in combat and looked for the opportunity of striking vital areas. After the hooficus, Rainbow Dash jumped towards the other side of the field and kicked the ball, which exploded into six different balls shot as fast as meteors. Applejack jumped into the air and kicked back two of the balls towards Rainbow Dash’s direction. Applejack’s Kritter managed to block the rest of the balls. Rainbow Dash jumped in the air and kicked both balls towards the electric fences, which temporarily shorted them out. As the two of them looked at each other, the screens on their gauntlets began flashing a virulent red that said ‘Danger!’ Neither pony cared as they both ran towards each other and attempted to strike each other on their vulnerable areas. They struck each other’s hooves, which released a white, violent shockwave that caused the stadium to collapse. The audience ran out and screamed while the Equestrian portion of the audience stared in horror. Just as a steel beam was about to drop on them, they vanished.

Discord looked increasingly worried by the second as he looked upon Fluttershy, who was comatose on the bed in the infirmary. She was strapped to various machines, which included an oxygen mask to do her breathing for her.. He flinched each time her heart rate dropped. Behind him, all of the ponies that were in The Dump materialized in a flash. Both Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked visibly weakened and did not have their uniforms on. Discord looked back with tears in his eyes. Celestia looked somberly towards him.

“How is Fluttershy doing?” She asked slowly and gently.

“She’s not doing so well. That strike she suffered knocked her breathing out of proportions. Not only that, but she’s in a coma. I tried to wake her up, but she just couldn’t be woken up.” Rainbow Dash and Applejack both looked at each other nervously and each single pony in the room fearfully. “Are you happy now?! Your gross actions have caused a casualty with a sweet, innocent pony! The both of you should be ashamed of yourselves!” Discord said with a mix of sorrow and anger.

“…Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash said as she approached the limp body of Fluttershy. “Are you… okay?” She asked, hoping to get a response from her. There was no response, and tears flew down from her eyes. “I’m sorry Fluttershy! I lost control of my emotions and struck you!” She tearfully admitted. “Please, don’t be like this! I don’t want you to end up in a coma forever!” She said. Applejack walked up to Rainbow Dash and pat her back.

“Rainbow, ah don’t think apologizing to her now will bring her back to us. She looks like she’s deep in that coma.” She said. Rainbow Dash knocked Applejack’s hoof back in anger.

“Don’t say that! She has to come back to us! She always finds a way to come back!” She said angrily.

“Look Rainbow, if it is of any consolation, I let a part of me get out of hand with my emotions. Those ugly words that I spat towards ya, they were deep thoughts of jealously. I mean, though ah like being an earth pony, sometimes I see ya doing that fancy flying and… and ah wish ah could’ve been born a pegasus like ya. It definitely would’ve made apple bucking easier. For my very, very ugly words and actions towards ya, ah wish to say that ah’m sorry.” Applejack painfully admitted. Rainbow Dash nervously shuffled her forelegs.

“You know Applejack, some of those words did hurt, and I know that I’ve also said some very nasty things. I kind of wish that I had the stamina you do. If it isn’t too late, I want to say that I’m sorry.” Rainbow Dash said. She faced everypony in the room. “I know that I have a lot to make up for, but I also want to apologize to each of you for letting my emotions get the better of me.”

“Rainbow Dash… you shouldn’t worry too much about it. It was the gauntlet that was speaking, not you or Applejack.” Twilight comforted.

“No, it wasn’t the gauntlet. I let my competitive spirit blind me to what’s really important. I’ve hurt everyone in this room, and Fluttershy is going to die because I was a selfish pony who cared only about herself.” Rainbow Dash tearfully said.

“You and I both pardner.” Applejack agreed. The heart monitor strapped to Fluttershy’s hoof detected a heightening of heartbeats and she slowly opened her eyes. Everypony in the room ran up to Fluttershy’s bed and saw that she was awake.

“Fluttershy, are you truly okay? This isn’t my mind pulling tricks on all of us, is it?” Discord said.

“Don’t worry Discord, I’m fine.” Fluttershy slowly said. She looked towards Rainbow Dash and Applejack. “Rainbow Dash, Applejack, I’m so glad that the both of you forgave each other. Even though I was like this, my biggest regret is if you wouldn’t be able to love each other again. But, now that my regret is lifted, I was able to find the will to finally wake.” She said. Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash smiled tearfully, but their legs began to convulse.

“Uhhh, Discord, what’s happening to us?” Rainbow Dash said. Discord looked back towards both Applejack and Rainbow Dash and gasped in horror of the familiar symptom.

“You didn’t hit the overdrive button, did you?!” He screamed. Both Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked at each other with fear present in their eyes.

“…Is that bad?” Applejack questioned. Discord looked helpless.

“I’m afraid that I can’t help you out here now that you’ve doomed yourselves to die.” He said.

“What?!” Every single pony in the room screamed.

“You see, the overdrive feature on the gauntlet brings the wearers potential out beyond their maximum, making them outright physical gods on the field. The condition was that they had to deactivate their sidekicks. It comes at a very hefty cost though: when the wearer is in the overdrive state for a good period of time and overloads on power, then the gauntlet would eat away at the biological energy of the wearer until they fall dead on the ground.” Everypony in the room gasped, and Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked at each other with a facial expression saying that this experience will suck.

“Please! Do something Discord! Anything!” Twilight tearfully screamed. Discord looked back and twiddled his thumbs.

“I do want to help, really. But, there’s just no way that I can help now. They hit the overdrive feature on their gauntlet and let it go towards the danger level. I can’t do anything at this point!” Discord exploded.

“Don’t yell at my Twilight Discord! All she did was come at a plea for your abilities!” Celestia screamed.

“I know what she wants Celly, but it’s impossible! It’s impossible to save them now even by my standards!” Discord said. “I’m sorry… I’m a failure… I thought this would’ve been fun, but I ended up giving everypony a horrible experience. I’m a complete loser…” As Discord said this, both Rainbow Dash and Applejack collapsed onto the ground. The color on their bodies became faded, and their pupils became milky white. Twilight screamed loudly.

Author's Note

I'll be honest, I went for something different with this game. It probably was because people would have already known how this game would've been like, so I made some things different. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. If not, I could always edit the undesirable parts to make them desirable. So anyways, enjoy my early Christmas Gift from me to you.