Smash stood in a long stone hallway. It was tall and thin. There was only darkness behind him but in the front stood a barrage of flashing lights.

"Our bout today is defending champion of the EFL, Rock Hooves and otherwise known as Rocky!" Said the voice of the announcer pony. "His opponent is a rookie who's lost once in his career. He has fought up every pony to get to this point. Here comes...Smash!" Smash walked through the hallway towards the lights. Waves upon waves of flashing lights from cameras hit his eyes. He didn't blink and just kept moving towards the arena. Smash stepped onto the stairs that led into the large octagon shaped ring. There waits his opponent. A big brown earth pony with the cutie mark of a boulder. His mane was short and flat upon his head. His tail was sharply cut short. He had a piercing stare with his hazel eyes. Upon entering, Smash removed his braces from all his hooves and handed them to the referee. The ref went over to the door of the octagon and shut it.

"All right, shake hooves." The ref said standing beside the both of us but not directly in-between. Rocky and Smash shook each other's hooves. Then the ref blew his whistle to start the match. Smash tensed up and quickly punched Rocky in the face as hard as he could before he had time to react. Rocky took the full force of the hit and flew against the wall of the octagon and fell onto the ground. After ten seconds, the ref went over to Smash and raised his right foreleg into the air.

"With a win by knockout, here is our new champion! Smash!" The ref shouted. Smash had the biggest smile on his face as he screamed in victory.

"Now that your champion its time to wake up!" The ref shouted.

"Yeah! Yea-Wait. What?" Smash asked.

"Wake up. Wake up-"

"Wake up." Ace said shoving Smash. He moved from the push slightly enough to awake.

"No...I'm a champ...I don't need to be awake." Smash groaned rolling to the opposite side of the bed.

"We have to hurry Smash. The commissioner is expecting us to be there in five minutes." Ace replied levitating one of Smash's steel braces from the bedside table and hitting him in the head.

"Ow! That thing hurts you know!" Smash yelled jumping up and holding his head with one hoof.

"Well hurry up then or I'll hit you with it again!" Ace shouted running out of his room. Smash fumbled around the room trying to put all four of his braces on and ended up knocking down all the dressers. He ran out of the room and saw Ace waiting by the door for him. They both hurried out and went to the wagon. The suitcases that were left in there held all the trophies and prizes. Ace hopped into the wagon while Smash went under the latch and hooked himself up. He ran as fast as he could while pulling the wagon which, even with all the weight, was fast. The sun was starting to set and as it was all the adult ponies tucked their fillies in bed and started crowding the town, heading for the stadium.

Luckily, Smash and Ace rushed past before it got too crowded. They managed to get to the stadium entrance in almost four minutes. At the entrance was Mr. Smith, the commissioner, and his guards waiting for both of them. These guards always wore a black tuxedo and carried a hidden blade inside their inner tuxedo pocket for emergencies. Smitty, as Smash calls him, is very peculiar about his guards. He also chooses one unicorn and one pegasus for any trip. Smitty himself is an earth pony. Smitty has tan colored fur and a brown mane that's always slicked back. His eyes are a deep magenta and his cutie mark is a octagon arena. Panting a little, Smash unlatched himself from the wagon and went over to Smitty and shook his hoof.

"Ah Smash, almost had me worried there." Mr. Smith said in his usual city accent.

"No worries, I'm here." Smash said catching his breath. Ace jumped out of the wagon and stood tall beside Smash.

"And Ace. How ya doing sweety?" Mr. Smith said rubbing Ace's mane into a mess.

"I'm doing fine Uncle Smitty." Ace said giggly pushing his hoof away and pulling out a brush from the wagon to fix her mane.

"If ya say so." Mr. Smith said. He opened up the door and whistled in. Three ponies in suits came out.

"What do you need boss?" One of them asked.

"Get the trophies outta the wagon and put em away." Mr. Smith replied. "You two follow me." Mr. Smith gestured to Ace and Smash. They all walked inside and went down the hallway that leads to the arena.

"So Smash. There's a young pegasus who claims that you agreed to be his coach. Is that true?" Mr. Smith asked.

"Yes sir. I'll be his coach for his fights." Smash replied.

"Well he wasn't lyin' then. You'll coach him through two fights at least. We're changing it up to a double elimination tournament. The winner from the loser and top brackets will win the tournament and are qualified to enter the EFL." Smitty replied.

"That's a sudden change. I don't have any reason to oppose it so I guess it'll go." Smash said shrugging his shoulders.

"Well. Ponies are gonna be here in 'bout five minutes and the matches won't start until ten minutes after that. Go in the back and work with your fighter." Smitty said waving his hoof toward the hall leading to one of the entry ways. In each entry way there's a training room. Smash walked over on his own while Ace stayed behind and helped organize the tournament. Smash opened the door to the training room and saw all five of the ponies he had met today in the room together. The room was pretty simple. A couple of bags on the ceiling, a bench press bar, a hind leg press, an octagon arena, and plenty of dumbbells. Speedy was punching a bag attached to the ceiling taking turns with each hoof at a low pace of one hit per three seconds.

"Just keep hitting it Speedy G" Metal Mouth said standing a couple feet away from him along with the others.

"Actually, put a little more force and a little more speed into it." Smash said walking closer to Speedy.

"Why, I think I have a decent pace." Speedy replied still hitting the bag.

"Ponies you fight will not respond like a punching bag. Hit harder and faster." Smash said. Speedy seemed to get a little irritated but listened and started going to a pace of one hit every one and a half second. The force was seen as the bag went a little further back than it did before. "Keep it up for a minute then stop"

"Hello there Smash." Lightning said happily. "How are you right now?"

"Fine." Smash replied turning his attention to the others.

"Jerry show Smash the bracket for the tournament." Crilos said. Jerry pulled a clipboard out of a satchel he was wearing and turned it to Smash. "Speedy will be fighting first out of everypony.

"Good. Alright Speedy, mix it up with some kicks now. You can use your wings to maneuver in a fight as long as you're not off the ground for at least five seconds." Smash said turning back to Speedy. Speedy nodded and did as what he was told. "Who's he facing?"

"An earth pony named Sedalin. Blue coat, green mane and tail. No cutie mark. Should be a decent match." Metal Mouth said turning his head from Speedy to Smash. Ace walked into the room.

"Hey you three must be Metal Mouth, Jerry, and Speedy. My uncle told me about you three. You really should not scare him like that." Ace said saying the last part in a lecturing tone.

"We didn't mean to. I thought he might think it'd be funny." Metal Mouth said.

"Yeah, let's not get into detail here. We're starting the competition early. Fighters are on the other side waiting and ponies are getting impatient." Ace said gesturing them to follow her. Smash didn't notice it until she mentioned it. He could hear the fans, cheering for it to start. Speedy went to the other training room with the rest of the fighters and the other four went outside to the concession stands and other various stands. Smash and Ace stood by the arena. The arena didn't have its cage walls up. Mr. Smith walked into the arena as a microphone dropped from the ceiling and into Mr. Smith's hoof.

"Mares and gentle-stallions, welcome to the fiftieth annual Tough Pony Contest!" Mr. Smith spoke into the mic. The crowd roared and roared before soon quieting down. "Tonight, we have sixty-four ponies who qualified to fight. So this year we're changing it up. It'll be a double elimination tournament. Losers go to the bottom bracket. The winners from each bracket will face each other in the final fight. So get ready for some fighting!" The crowd roared even louder than before. Lightning sat at the front table and turned his mic on as Smitty walked off the arena. The cage of the octagon was put back up.

"Alright. The first match will be Sedalin from Dodge Junction versus Speedy Gonzales from Cloudsdale." Lightning said into the mic. The crowd cheered for the two fighters. Out of the hall came Sedalin and his coach followed by Speedy. Sedalin and his coach went to the far corner from the entrance near one of the exits of the octagon. Speedy went to one of the corners nearby followed by Smash. Smash took a good long look at Sedalin. He could tell that Sedalin was shaking a bit and looked nervous.

"Hey get the job done fast out there alright. He's spooked by the crowd's cheers for you. Go hard and fast and you'll win in no time." Smash said to Speedy who kept a death stare into Sedalin.

"Alright. Hard and fast." Speedy said back as Smash walked out of the octagon. Sedalin's coach walked out as well. The fighters got to the center with at least five feet apart. The unicorn referee came in the octagon.

"We want a good clean fight ya hear?" Ref asked. The fighters acknowledged it. The ref levitated the whistle into his mouth and blew. Before Sedalin could react, Speedy kicked off the ground, and using his wings for more push, headbutted the earth pony hard. Speedy stopped himself from moving forwards with his wings in a sharp motion and shook off the sharp pain that arose in his head as Sedalin hit the chain wall of the octagon, making a loud noise, and making a thud as he fell to the ground. He laid there for a second to catch his breath as the crowd roared almost ear deafeningly cheering "Speedy Speedy". Being from around Ponyville gave Speedy a home field advantage. Sedalin quickly rushed up off the ground and tried to punch Speedy. Speedy was a little too fast however. He dodged all of the punches the earth pony attempted. On the last punch, Speedy dodged and sent a hard one back to Sedalin in the face. Sedalin, not ready to be hit back, stumbled backwards and fell onto his left foreleg's knee. while still standing on the others. His head tilted to the bottom of the arena. He tilted his head back up when Speedy had turned around and bucked him in his skull. This made the earth pony move from kneeling to flying towards the chain wall of the arena facing the ceiling.

He hit the ground before hitting the wall making a small thud. His eyes were moving in a disorienting fashion as he seemed to have fallen limp. The ref went over to him and starting giving the count.

"One!...Two!...Three!" The ref shouted for all to hear. Speedy then flew into the air just a little above the height of the arena's wall.

"Yeah!" He shouted throwing his hooves in the air. The crowd followed his excitement with even louder cheers. The ref blew his whistle which grabbed Speedy's attention. Speedy flew down to the floor as the ref signaled them to stand beside him.

"The winner, by a disqualification, Sedalin from Dodge Junction!" Lightning said into the mic as a small portion of the crowd cheered. Smash, outside of the arena, rested his forehead into his hoof and let out a sigh that sounded dreadful.

"Wait! What!?" Speedy yelled turning to the ref.

"It's the rules kid now get ready for the loser bracket." The ref replied. Speedy angry and confused left the arena and approached Smash.

"What did I do wrong?" Speedy asked.

"You remember what I said earlier? You can use your wings to maneuver in a fight-" Smash said getting interrupted.

"And I did. So what did I do wrong?" Speedy asked in an irritable tone.

"You didn't let me finish. You can use your wings to maneuver in a fight...as long as you're not off the ground for at least five seconds!" Smash yelled.

"Oh...Whoopsie." Speedy said quietly with a giggle. Smash groaned and motioned Speedy to follow him. They both left through the empty hall and entered that training room in it followed by Ace.

"So...I thought you were doing pretty good." Ace said trying to put the situation in a cheerful aspect.

"Thank you. She thought I was doing good." Speedy said to Smash.

"Well. Not letting you're opponent react is usually a great strategy so I can give you that. "Smash said in a somewhat optimistic manner.

"I guess I'll get ready for the loser bracket then." Speedy said moving to some of the bags and hitting them.

"Hey Smash." Ace said.

"Yes?" Smash asked.

"Why don't you go out there and talk to your other friends?" Ace asked.

"I don't have other friends, remember?" Smash asked.

"Well then make friends with the ponies you met today." Ace added.

"Its a good idea. The other four would want to be your friends and I'd be your friend. It's good to have ponies to look out for you like you did with me." Speedy added still hitting the bag. Smash sighed admitting defeat.

"All right I will." Smash said leaving the training room and going into the main hall that loops around the arena. Usually where concessions are. He looked around and first spotted Crilos to the right against a wall treating Sedalin's wounds. Smash walked over noticing how much damage Speedy actually did.

"Hello there Smash nice to see you." Crilos said in his unusual pace.

"You too. How's Sedalin doing?" Smash asked looking towards Crilos.

"He'll be all right in an hour, I'm surprised at the force Speedy applied but yet still lost." Crilos said turning his attention to Smash.

"What happens happens I guess." Smash said shrugging his shoulders.

"No. It is the outcome of who can outlast not what happens happens. Force and brutality does not always matter in a fight. Think instead of merely assuming about what happens and why it just happens." Crilos said expanding upon Smash's sentence.

"Huh. I guess you're right. I'll remember that." Smash said pondering about those words.

"If you wish to talk to Metal Mouth he's over to the right." Crilos said examining a new pony who had gotten beat up. Smash left Crilos to attend his business as he walked past crowds of ponies over to a stand where he spotted Metal Mouth. He was standing behind a table with an orange cloth over it and covering the floor. It seemed he had a bunch of antiques he was selling behind him in a large cart. As he held a small mirror in his hand. A group of ponies stood in front of the table waiting for Metal Mouth to speak.

"Ah Smash glad you're here. Hold on a second." Metal Mouth said as he then seemed to clear his throat. For my next magical item from my journeys across Equestria, I present this mirror. This is no ordinary mirror, it has a powerful enchantment on it! For as long as you look into the mirror, you will be the most beautiful or handsome pony in Equestria! But! It's magic will only work if you are in complete darkness. No light whatsoever. It can be yours for the price of one hundred-fifty bits!" Metal Mouth said in a loud booming voice to the crowd of ponies. The ponies frantically said "I'll take it" and "I need it" in a pile of each other then a blue unicorn with an orange mane walked up.

"Pff. Yeah right. I've heard more realistic stories about the Slenderpony than this mirror." The pony seemed to brag. The others quit fighting each other and quietly watched the conversation.

"I don't know why you would try and blast something you desperately need." Metal Mouth said in a confident tone. The crowd of ponies gave silent giggles as the blue unicorn blushed in an embarrassing way. "But hey, tell you what. I'll give you the mirror and a specialty food I make called the Hurtz Donut for only five bits more."

"Um...Deal...But I'm only doing it for the food you lousy salespony. I'll give the mirror to somepony else." The unicorn said handing Metal Mouth the bits. Metal Mouth handed him the mirror as he quickly packed the bits into a bag into the wagon. He then pulled out a small box. With a hoof holding it from the side and one under it, he presented it to the unicorn. The unicorn levitated the lid off as suddenly Metal Mouth's hoof flew threw a hole in the bottom and punched him in the face.

"Hurts don't it!?" Metal Mouth said loudly as he started laughing.

"Ow! You jerk! I'm never buying anything here again." The unicorn said covering his nose, which is what got most of the hit. The crowd laughed and went somewhere different as to not have the same happen to them.

"Oh come on. Those are both the oldest tricks in the book." Smash said rolling his eyes.

"Well sometimes ponies like to live in the now and try to be cool by acting like a jerk. So simply act oblivious. It works all the time." Metal Mouth said still giggling.

"That wasn't very nice you know." Smash replied.

"Well. Sometimes that's the quickest solution. More times it's better to do something like that than fight it." Metal Mouth said grinning again.

"When you put it like that I guess you're right." Smash said. "Anyways, where's Jerry?"

"He's in the bleachers selling raffle tickets." Metal Mouth said.

"See you later than." Smash said walking off towards the stairs to one of the bleachers.:

"Bye."

Author's Note

Well there's a part 2. I hope you enjoyed.