The Arena

Impatiently, Rippling Tides squirmed on the wooden bench. How long had it been? Five minutes since he had arrived at the White Shores train station? That was much too long. He looked back at forth along the tracks, looking between the trotting ponies that had passed him. Thoughts raced through his mind, exhilarated as he saw a glimmer off in the distance. An extremely bright, glimmering train was heading straight for the station. A sleek figure, obviously the train, was just a half a mile away. The train's screeches could be heard from here. Crystals never exactly were the best train building material. A blinding blue train sparked along the tracks, electricity almost flowing from the wheels as it stopped at the station. The sun was very bright here in White Shores, so it made the train a pain to look at.

He squinted his eyes, as he saw the doors of the crystal train open. He staggered over to the door, as the ticket taker was quicker to take a place by the door. Rippling pulled out his ticket, flashing it infront of the ticket taker's face. He could tell the ticker taker had gasped at the ticket. Though it was a tad bit hard to see, the ticket taker had directed Rippling into the train with his hoof. A line had formed behind the sandy Pegasus, as he stepped into the train. The inside of the train was no better than the outside, as it glimmered brightly from the setting orange sun. Though he was a bit disappointed her wouldn't be able to fully see the inside of the train at the time, he knew he would be able to later. The train ride was a day long to get all the way to the opposite hemisphere of Equestria. To the Crystal Empire. As he looked around the train, he noticed the few seats around, usually reserved for first class. This ticket, the one he had, was a first class ticket. Represented by it's colors and inscription.

Dragging his luggage with his wing, Rippling took a seat. The seat was surprisingly soft, made of Crystal Hue wool he had heard. It was nice and poofy. He rested his head on the seat, dragging his luggage close to him with his wing. He had packed a few things, like clothes and such. Also a scarf. Mostly, it was just clothes to keep warm. He knew there was a barrier around the Crystal Empire whenever it blizzards, but just in case. He sighed, thinking about all the things he would do at the Crystal Empire with a first class all expense paid trip. He was going to be relaxing like a King once he got there. A smile creeped upon his face as he thought of all the luxury he would have at the second richest capital of Equestria. He heard the place had the most glorious castle that Equestria has ever seen. It used to be ruled by somepony else, but that guy was dead now. So Cadence took over. Just the thought, he was called there by royalty.

Royalty.

This was going to be the most awesome experience of his life. Maybe even life changing. Without a second though, Rippling attempted to sleep, with nothing else better to do but sleep. He closed his eyes fully, though light tried to invade. He dug his face down into the cushion in order to block out all the light. The train whailed and screeched as it started up. He could feel the chugs and the choos already surging through the train as it started to move down the track. The train had rattled violently at the start, but after a few seconds, it had calmed itself to a steady pace.

This was going to be the best experience of his life, an experience he was not going to forget.

"Three hundred twenty-four.. Three hundred twenty-five.."

The train ride was not exactly the most entertaining thing to be on. With nothing else better to do, Rippling Tides found himself bashing his head up against the crystal wall. The other rich folk on the bus were busy minding their own business. Well, some of them were, atleast. Some gave Rippling Tides the evil eye because he wasn't dressed right or something. All the rich folk either wore fancy tuxedos or dresses everywhere. He hadn't seen rich folk from the Crystal Empire yet, but he hoped that they weren't wearing stupid dresses and fancy stuff everywhere. It really put a damper on his spirit. He couldn't afford fancy stuff like that. He could afford gigantic claw marks to be carved into his roof, but not tuxes. Tuxes were a bit too formal for him anyways. It's not like his job required any fancy suits in the first place.

Rippling Tides took a gander outside, stopping his head from banging up against the wall. A large, white savanna is what could be visualized from outside the curtain-adorned window. Snow. Snow as far as the eye could see. Luckily this train was warm. He wouldn't exactly like to be freezing half to death on his way to crystal topia or whatever it was called. His boredom had blocked the name from his memory only after a few seconds. Was the place even worth all this boredom? Probably.

"Why did I even agree to this-"

His sentence was cut as the screeches and wails of the wheels filled the train. Sparks flew by the window as the train slowed. Rippling held his ears in pain, clenching his teeth at the sound. He looked out the other side's window. Half of the view was blocked by yellow sparks coming from the crystal wheels. Though he did manage to see the not very snow covered train station. For some reason, all the snow was gone from the station. The crystal train halted, as the doors slid open. Rippling Tides looked at the open doors blankly. Oh yeah. He had to leave the train now. He grabbed the luggage handle once more. It felt like forever just to get to this place. Hopefully it was worth it. Gripping the handle with his wing, he dragged his luggage behind him as he exited the train, amongst the many others that did. He held the ticket still tightly in his other wing. He scanned along his new and strange surroundings.

For a crystal train station, it was lacking crystals. The place was made of light birch wood, with light oak columns that held a sun blocking roof. He looked around at the train station blankly, before spotting a few ponies holding signs. They stood against the wall of the train station, looking rather bored. He could relate. Then he noticed something strange. Among the five sign holding ponies, he noticed one sign that said his name. He looked both ways before approaching the pony that held the sign. The pony who held the white sign was a light gray stallion. Rather skinny in Rippling's opinion. He had a short black mane and tail with small blue spots all over it. He was a unicorn, his horn was longer then a usual unicorn's. Reminded him of Officer Emerald Splitter, back in White Shores. The stallion had a bit of a stubble on his face as well. Rippling was jealous, he could never grow a beard if he tried. His cutiemark seemed like a graduation cap. The pony was looking extremely bored and nonchalant. Especially with those weird, almost triangular glasses on. It enhanced the pony's bored looking stare. Standing infront of the pony, Rippling stared at the sign.

"Hey. I'm Rippling Tides."

He pointed out, smiling. The gray stallion did not change his expression. Instead, he teleported the sign away in a puff of gray smoke.

"You're late."

The stallion stated coldly as he flicked his tail at Rippling. An order to follow. Rippling did as he was told, though this pony wasn't exactly making the best introduction.

"It's Thursday."

Rippling reasoned, his smile disappearing as he followed the gray stallion down the train station platform. Walking onto grass that covered the ground of the Crystal Empire's outskirts. Rippling almost flinched at touching grass once more. It had been a day since he had been outside, much less touched grass.

"You were expected an hour ago. You made me wait there like an idiot for an hour."

The stallion hissed, showing Rippling the way. The two passed through a small, crystal gate. Two spiked pillars on either side of the gate, with three crystals that hovered from above. A small, black and circular mark was in the middle of the gate. Like something had been planted there.

"What's your name, bro?"

Rippling attempted to change the subject as he gazed over a large, crystal tower. In pure amazement, his smile appeared once more. The sun was hitting the empire's castle just right. The rays were sparkling off the top in a beautiful array. Whoever ruled this place last defiantly did a good job in keeping this place nice through those thousand years of being gone. It was enough to make a grown stallion cry. Scratch that, a not so grown stallion cry.

"Inkwell, Advisor to Princess Cadence. Looker and controller of the Arena. Do not call me bro. Your tongue shall be slit from your mouth personally if you call me that again."

Inkwell hissed, trotting down the path to the empire. Not even stopping to admire the view. Rippling really wanted to smack this guy up the head, but he was a bit busy admiring the castle off in the distance.

"Hurry up."

Inkwell commanded, as Rippling took his sight from the castle and back onto Inkwell, who was impatiently tapping is front hoof.

"You're even more impatient then me, Skinny."

Rippling grumbled, following after the unicorn with a snort. Inkwell was leading Rippling not to the castle, but to the newest building.

It only took about a minute to get into the streets. Rippling was distracted by literally almost everything he saw, and Inkwell was constantly hissing at him to pay attention and follow. He herded Rippling like he was some sort of criminal. Which he wasn't. Yet. He was shoved along the streets by his Unicorn guide. This guy was really rude. What was his deal? Did he get a broom stuck up his-

"We're here."

Inkwell stopped Rippling in his tracks, as the two entered the shadow of a large, circular crystal building. It reached high into the sky, as a reinforced glass roofing was made to keep something within the building. Noises came from inside the circular building. Cheers. Was there some sport being played in there? Rippling raised an eyebrow at Inkwell, as the two crossed the street to the entire block that this circular building took up. This building was larger then the aquarium back home. It towered over Rippling and Inkwell. If this thing could come alive, it would be terrorizing the entirety of Equestria. Luckily, it was just a building and not a colossal being.

"What is this place, exactly?"

Rippling questioned as the two approached one of the many double doors that lined the entrance of the building.

"This is the Arena. From this point forth, you shall be playing within it."

Inkwell said simply. Hey, he wasn't insulting Rippling for once. In the short time the two knew eachother, their conversations usually consisted of insults being directed to the Pegasus. The monotone unicorn pushed open the entrance doors of the 'Arena', going in first, allowing Rippling follow. Rippling gazed around the small lobby. It looked like a waiting room for a hospital. Just as stale and unsettling. Rippling didn't like hospitals. Whenever he was there.. Well.. He usually lost someone or something. Last time he was in a hospital, he had almost lost the ability to fly. He glanced around the room, noticing the lack of ponies.

Inkwell directed the Pegasus to one of the many doors of the lobby. In particular, the one right next to the reception desk. Rippling followed the ash unicorn through the door, entering a decently dark hallway. Inkwell had used his magic to light it up, showing how giant the hallway was. It was about twelve feet wide. Props like swords and shields laid against the walls, as well as some stray crates that appeared to be empty.

"You will be starting in the minor league. You will have two hours to settle into your room, then you will be going into your first battle."

The unicorn suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway, turning to face the Pegasus. His aura suddenly grabbed ahold of a shadow covered door's handle, swinging the door open, it revealed a light filled room.

"Wait a second, what do you mean by battle!?"

Rippling knew what a battle was. It meant beating somepony up. Inkwell sighed, his facial emotion still not changing as his aura grabbed ahold of the blue tail of Rippling Tides. The unicorn dragged the Pegasus into the room before slamming the door behind him. The Pegasus banged on the steel door, not paying attention to his surroundings. Angrily, he turned around and bucked the door with his back hooves. Which he instantly regretted. Pain shot through him as he collapsed onto the floor, groaning. This gave him time to look at his room. A small, one pony bed was pushed into the corner of the room, unkept and a bit dirty. The walls themselves were lazily cleaned,  as a sink hung on the white wall. A small screen covered what probably was the toilet and shower. There was also a small locker next to the bed. How nice of them. Maybe he could hide in it. Dragging himself and his luggage, Rippling found himself by his bed, staring up at the ceiling. A small, circular lamp stuck to the ceiling. There wasn't even a light switch to turn it out. Rippling still had his ticket in his wing, and after he felt well enough, he got up and put the ticket on the top shelf of the locker. He shoved his luggage into the locker as well. Not even bothering to unpack. What did he do to deserve this? He could only think of one thing.

"C'mon! You ain't scared of a whirlpool are ya?"

Jagged Leaf teased as she paced around the hideout. Rippling sat on a small log that he usually sat on whenever he was in the hideout. It used to be Golden Glider's, but he allowed the foal to have it whenever he was over.

"Well.. Yeah."

Rippling admitted to his fear, as Jagged burst out into laughter. Like a whirlpool wasn't a life ending disaster.

"You have gotta be kiddin me."

She laughed while she paced. The two were waiting for the others to return. They were busy doing the 'dealings'. Rippling wasn't exactly involved in the dealings. He knew it brought his friends bits though. Bits that they really liked.

"Aren't you afraid of them?"

Rippling asked innocently with a shrug. Jagged continued to laugh, her chuckle grown in volume.

"Me?! Scared?! Kid! You're killin me!"

She chuckled, her laugh echoing around the cave. The hideout was a large beach cave perched on the cliff side. Around White shores, there was a large cliff on either side of the place. Making it a natural defense against others, and kind of like a secret paradise. Though White Shores wasn't a secret paradise anymore. It was populated by hundreds.

"Anyway, kid, you in for the next plan?"

Jagged asked, her innocent smile appearing on her face. Rippling nodded quietly. As long as he was winning tourneys, he was in on any plan Jagged had.

While stuck in his prison cell, Rippling had lots of time to think. To think about his past and friends. Also to think about how much he was going to Sue this place, and how much he was going to beat the sauce out of Inkwell for trapping him here. The door was locked, and it was metal. There was no breaking it. Also, he swore that the door was now electrified, because he could see a couple blue beams shoot through the door every now and again. Suddenly, his room buzzed with the sound of an intercom.

"Battle Two thousand five hundred fifty-seven has ended. Winner is Sharp. Battle Two thousand five hundred fifty-eight will start in five minutes. Newcomer Rippling Tides versus Newcomer Derpy Hooves."

The rough, robotic voice chimed through the fuzzy, low quality speakers. Wait, that was him. Him versus somepony named Derpy. When they opened his door, he was going to make a run for it. He was going to bolt. He was going to fly, kick, fling, and punch his way through whoever was escorting him. Even if it was a dragon that was escorting him. He was not going to beat up another pony. Never. Never again. Especially somepony named Derpy. His door was opened by..

Nopony. Nopony stood outside the door. Rippling dashed out the door madly, only to be caught in place by an invisible force. His hooves suddenly glued to the ground. He flapped his wings, attempting to move as his eyes swooshed around the dark hallway. He started moving involuntarily down the other way of the hallway. Down to a light source. He was pushed to the light, as the light came from the wall on his right. He was turned to face the right before being pushed out. Pushed out onto the field. The field was blood stained along the walls, as the grass stood tall and untainted.

The field had one large circular door on the northern side. This door was gigantic, and took up the majority of the northern wall. It had multiple large locks and mental barricades on it, holding something very powerful inside of it, obviously. Maybe a dragon or something. A crystal heart emblem was placed in the middle of the door, shining brightly. Maybe it was to give fighters a boost of confidence. A wave of unease and a god like presence came from that behind door. So confidence obviously wasn't what the designers of the door were aiming for. The wall closed behind him, as he regained control of his hooves.

Flying around the circular field madly. He smashed against the glass skybox of the arena, in a desperate attempt to escape. He noticed the crowds. The crowds sitting on the stands. They were ponies of all colors and ages, all shapes and genders. They waited for the festivities to begin near silently. A couple tiny cheers echoed from the crowd. They waited. The crowds that were going to watch him bludgeon another pony to possible death waited. He couldn't reach the crowd. A forcefield prevented him from getting to them. A very, very strong magenta forcefield was shown every time Rippling hit it. It was a circular wall. His punches rippled through the entirety of the forcefield, showing it off. He suddenly spotted something on the other side of the field. A gray blob. His eyes narrowed as he snarled, speeding down to the blob, thinking it was Inkwell. The image came clearer the more he approached. It was not Inkwell. It was a gray Pegasus mare with a yellow mane and tail. Her eyes lazily going in any direction they pleased. She looked rather distressed as he approached. He stopped his dive by beating his wings, stopping in mid air as he looked at the crowd. Sticking up from the crowd was a platform. This platform had a crystal throne upon it, where there sat the pink princess herself. Princess Cadance. A twisted smile laid upon her features as she stared at Derpy's distressed face. Her legs crossed as she leaned back in her throne. On either side of her were two purple pillows. One was in use, by the familiar face, Inkwell.

He was focused on a small notepad, as he idly held a pencil in his mouth. Another pony stood upon the platform, a white robust unicorn stallion with a blue mane and tail. This stallion was Shining Armor. He was not standing at attention, rather, he was staring at Inkwell with a strange look in his eye. Not anger, but not exactly happiness either. Not sadness or despair either. It was a rather flirty look. Rippling could care less. He pounded against the forcefield, which made Shining Armor snap back to attention. His horn glowing as Cadence scowled at this disruption.

"LET ME OUT YOU.. PONY INCARNATE OF SATAN!"

He screeched as loud as he could, which even made Inkwell look up from his notepad for half a second.

"Inkwell, King. Now. I want this insolent foal slaughtered."

Cadence demanded, looking at her advisor sourly. This had happened before, and incompentent foals like this were slaughtered by the King or Queen. It was always such a delight to have them abuse their power against the lesser fighters. Watching the tiny and frail get disemboweled by the strong was such an entertaining delight to Cadance.

"I'm sorry my princess, but he now refuses to come out other than when it's a title match."

Inkwell said in his regular monotone voice. Not bothering to look at his upper in the eye.

"Fine. What about the Queen."

Cadence kept her scowl. Who was he to deny her commands? She owned him now, same with the Queen. They were HERS to command and to use for her entertainment. They were the King and Queen of the arena. The champions.

"She refuses all the same."

Inkwell told his princess. She groaned loudly and smacked the back of her head against her throne. This was boring.

"I'll give them a bit of encouragement."

Inkwell promised, his horn flickering as gray magic channeled through the forcefield, and to the foreheads of the competitors. Giving the two a boost in some fake and temporary anger and testosterone.

The gray mare screamed a battle cry from across the field. Her wings clashing against the air as she sped to the Pegasus stallion. Cadence felt her grin return. This was going to be entertaining.

The two spent about fifteen seconds flying around the arena at their top speeds. Which wasn't very fast. Derpy eventually started slowing, as did Rippling. He swiftly looped backwards, getting behind the mare. She turned quickly, as the two busily exchanged punches. She blocked so swiftly, he felt like she had a personal barrier of her own. She punched the Pegasus in the jaw, making him shoot down to the ground. He slid along the ground. Getting back onto his hooves, he looked up to see the dive bombing mare. He leapt backwards as she dove into the ground. Being dazed for a couple seconds, the sandy Pegasus tackled the mare. The two tumbled and turned, until she was on her back. He was above her, as he rose his hoof up high. Slamming it down onto the mare's throat as she coughed and sputtered. Multiple more punches landed onto the mare's oxygen supply.

She desperately tried flailing her hooves in an attempt to get him off. He found himself about to deal one last blow to the mare's throat when she dealt a deadly uppercut. Launching him off. He was flung upwards. A mistake she would regret. His jaw snapped back into place as he caught himself in the air. She staggered to her hooves weakly, attempting to get back up and get away. He spiraled down like a missile, landing directly onto the mare's head. Smashing her into the ground once more. He jumped off her head, and onto the back of her neck. He hopped up and down like a small playful rabbit on the back of her neck, smashing and closing the oxygen supply. The snap of the top of her spine could be heard as his front hooves continued to thump down on her neck. He eventually just decided to end his jumping and close up the oxygen supply completely.

"Battle Two thousand five hundred fifty-eight has finished."

The buzzer rang out through the field. Rippling suddenly felt himself snap back to reality. His sudden anger was replaced by sadness. Tears poured from his eyes as he rapidly shook his competitor. He felt for a pulse. Nothing. He shook her madly, in hopes that the mare would somehow come back to life.

"Winner is Rippling Tides."

Rippling gripped the corpse into a hug. He was so sorry. He had just ended a confused mare's life. An innocent. She was gone. He had done it for no reason. He had killed a mare who had a family. Friends. A fandom. He killed her. He was a murderer. He sobbed. He was guilty.

He had bludgeoned this innocent Pegasus to death with his own hooves.

"Battle Two thousand five hundred fifty-nine will be starting in five minutes. Sharp versus the Queen of the Arena."

With a blink, Rippling was back inside his holding cell. Tears still pouring from his eyes. He wasn't going to fight again. He was going to die. By his own hooves. No. He was going to escape and then kill himself back home. Where he could be appreciated. Where he could be buried. He didn't want to die here. He wasn't.

He couldn't.