Part 3

Smash walked towards the nearest door to the bleachers. As soon as he had opened it, a blast of loud cheering hit him. It was to be expected with the way the arena was built though. Jerry was standing right beside the first row of the bleachers. He was holding a roll of raffle tickets in one hoof and a collection bucket in the other also wearing his satchel on his right side. A mare was in the seat beside Jerry and paid no attention to him, instead she just kept cheering. Jerry kept shaking the roll near the mare hoping to get her attention without saying a word. His efforts were futile but Jerry wouldn't say anything. Smash walked up to Jerry and tapped him on the back. He looked back and rearranged his hold on his items to signal Smash to wait a second.

They waited a whole minute before the current fight ended and the mare stopped cheering. She collected herself and quickly realized that Jerry was trying to sell her a ticket.

"Oh I'm terribly sorry! I must not have seen you there. Here I'll take ten and keep the change." The mare said pulling twenty bits from her purse that was on the floor. Jerry collected the bits and gave the kind mare ten raffle tickets. He then pulled out a card from his satchel that said "Have a Nice Day" and handed it to her before he brought Smash through the doors to the halls.

"Why didn't you just grab her attention instead of waiting?" Smash asked as soon as they stepped out.

"Oh not even a hello? Well patience and silence can pay off as you see." Jerry wrote down on a piece of paper and showed Smash and then showing off his extra earned bits.

"I guess. I'm not too patient so I wouldn't know." Smash said.

"You're right about that. I've seen you fight." Jerry wrote on another piece of paper and showed Smash throwing a chuckle. Smash looked at him a bit disapprovingly after reading the paper.

"Do you even talk at all?" Smash asked. Jerry took a deep breath.

"Yes but I really don't like to. My solution are these notes. Anyway, I have work to do so if you want to bother someone bother Lightning." He actually spoke in a deep tone.

"Whoa. Alright then. Bye." Smash said a bit surprised to hear Jerry's voice. Smash started moving towards the stairs and to the halls that lead to where Lightning is announcing at.

He reached the lower level where the arena is and made his way to the table next to the arena where Lightning was sitting. Lightning noticed the earth pony and levitated a seat out beside him. Smash sat in the seat but before he could talk, Lightning announced the winner of the current bout. He gave both fighters credit regardless of the fight while announcing and congratulated them. Then after that, he announced the next bout. He gave kind words to both of them and for them to have faith about a chance to win before they stepped up.

"I'm surprised." Smash said to Lightning as he levitated the microphone into the holder.

"About what?" Lightning asked.

"No one ever gives fighters some faith and good feelings before a match. Its usually nothing but words about pressure."

"Well, I see that a little faith can go far for anybody. Regardless of who it is."

"Wow if you would have said that in Tall Tale, you would have been beat up in a dark alley."

"Heh well thankfully this isn't Tall Tale. I can't really talk much more but Mr. Smitty wants to talk to you inside the empty training room. Okay, bye."

"Alright. Bye" Smash said getting up and heading back to the empty hall. Smash opened the closed doors of the training room and spotted Mr. Smith talking to his two body guards.

"Sir, you needed me?" Smash asked.

"There's the rookie of the day! And yes I do. Do you remember Iron Hull from four months ago?" Mr. Smith said.

"The pony I had to beat to get into the EFL? Of course I do. How could I forget."

Four months earlier, Smash was just a EFL candidate. He had beaten out over half of the other candidates. For him to join the EFL, he needed to beat one more. A unicorn named Iron Hull. His coat was a dark silver and his mane was just a bit darker. His cutie mark was a stack of iron ingots. He also had bright blue eyes. However, under his seemingly nice eyes he was a terrible pony. Most of his fights had been cheated in his favor. Whether it be by judge score, or by a concealed weapon suck as an iron club. Iron Hull was extremely favored going into the bout. Smash had been scouting out his fights and noting all of the fixes Iron Hull had. Smash saw that Iron Hull's iron club was actually blending in with his coat and positioned on his gut so he looked a bit bigger. He usually hit with it when the ref wasn't looking at the spot. Smash studied all of his fighting and deduced a way to win.

Equipping a set of four steel braces (two gold and two black) worn by his ancestors, he had a finalized plan. When the fight came, he kept his braces on. For most of the fighting, Smash was putting a beating on Iron Hull. Eventually though, Iron Hull started secretly hitting Smash with his club. Smash took the severe pain that came and when it seemed like Iron Hull was gonna end it with the club, Smash used his braces to block the club's hit. He grabbed the club quickly from Iron Hull and kicked it to the ref. Everypony was shocked and started booing Iron Hull. Before the ref could disqualify Iron Hull however, Smash put a huge combo on Iron Hull that knocked him out.

"Well he's here now. I saw him beat up a great fighter from Baltimare but it was strange. That fighter hit Iron Hull and didn't seem to hurt him at all. Not even a flinch. However, the Baltimare fighter cringe from the contact." Smitty said in an almost worryingly tone.

"That's odd. I'd like to think that made himself strong like that but I'm afraid he didn't." Smash replied.

"We can't do anything without proof so we'll just have to hope somebody catches him in the act. But I also need to talk to you about something else."

"What is it?"

"I have high hopes for you. When I see you, I see a great fighter like your uncle and your dad. There are a lot of fighters in Tall Tale for the EFL and I think that it would be better if you followed your father's and your uncle's legacy in Ponyville where they represented themselves."

"You can't be serious. I want to be as good as my dad and my uncle but I don't want to be here in Ponyville."

"I'm serious Smash. You already have friends here-"

"Friends? You mean those five ponies who I got forced into talking with by Ace?"

"Yeah. They all seem to like you. A bit rude a couple said but they still like you."

"I'm fine with no friends. Heck, I'm better off by myself and with Ace. Let me break it down. Let's start with Speedy. He's an idiot who's competitive. He got himself disqualified because he forgot about the flying rule!"

"Smash, he's not too bright but he envies you a bit and wants to live up to-"

"Yeah but at least grow some brains! Now with Lightning. A stallion who's a little too nice and makes me think he likes it with other stallions. He also seems religious and preaches about some god who probably doesn't exist!"

"Smash he's trying to-"

"Now with Crilos. He might be a renown doctor but it seems he doesn't know how to shut his trap!"

"Smash-"

"Oh and Jerry. He needs to open his trap! He writes on paper because he doesn't like talking with a deep voice! That's just so stupid."

"Uh. Smash-"

"And for Metal Mouth. He must be a pretty stupid selling antiques that are worthless at a TPC. And he's the biggest smart*** I've ever seen. And to top it all off, Ponyville was only great with my father and uncle but since then, its a town of simple ponies who probably don't know right from left!" Smash yelled angrily.

"Smash. Behind you." Smitty said pointing to the door.

"We just put away everything for intermission time and thought we'd come and see you." Said a voice. Smash turned around and saw Ace, Speedy, Metal Mouth, Jerry, Crilos, and Lightning standing beside the door just looking at him with shock. Smash shook his head and shoved through the group to leave through the door. He went out to the middle where the arena had been but was put under the cement by workers who lifted a panel out to put it under. The tables had been moved against one of the walls and most of the crowd were roaming the halls while few were in the bleachers.

The group of ponies along with Smitty and his guards followed Smash out. Then seemingly out of nowhere ponies in full iron suits started apprehending ponies and putting them back into the bleachers. Both halls for the lower levels were blocked off by ponies in the same getup. Their armor exposed little flesh or fur of the ponies wearing them and all the mysterious ponies had staves with a tipped end that shot bolts of electricity as seen by a few. The group realized they were trapped in.

"Ahem. Attention all ponies, we insist you not try to fight back against our Iron Clad force. In case you do, we will not refrain from hurting you. A special rematch shall be happening now between Smash, an earth pony who seems to have a knack for ruining ponies, and I, Iron Hull who shall have his revenge" Said Iron Hull who was speaking into the mic at one of the tables.

"Ugh. Let the ponies go...Now." Smash said looking at Iron Hull.

"No can do. They must watch me humiliate you. Don't think about refusing my bout. If you do that, well ponies must get hurt in place of you." Iron Hull said maliciously.

"Punk. Fine. We'll fight. No arena, just the cement floor." Smash said in an annoyed tone.

"Ooo. Wanting to get done quick I see. Very well." Iron Hull said heading to the center of the floor. "Eh. I won't have to worry about you all butting in will I?"

"Not at all." Speedy said to the unicorn. "But its not like you'll win."

"We will see." Iron Hull said as Smash got into the center along with him. The entire crowd was watching now. Smitty stepped up and stood apart from them.

"Alright. Three. Two. One...Fight!" Smitty yelled as he backed away.

Smash quickly headbutted Iron Hull before he could react but something wasn't right. Iron Hull didn't even flinch or slightly move from the hit. Smash however took a couple steps back holding his head with one hoof. He had actually took all the pain from the hit. It was excruciatingly painful but Smash went to work mentally to push it somewhere he couldn't feel it. Suddenly, Iron Hull threw his right hoof at Smash's face. Smash threw himself to the left to dodge but as soon as he did, Iron Hull took his left and hit him hard in the stomach. Smash cringed on it and took a hit to the face sending him rolling to the wall. Smash struggled but he was able to get up. He managed to push the gut punch into a spot where he couldn't feel it but it took a toll on his breathing. The adrenaline had kicked in within him and his pain started fading but he could tell that his nose was definitely bleeding too much for one simple punch. Iron Hull just stood and laughed at Smash as he got into posture.

"What's the gimmick?" Smash asked panting a bit.

"My hits? Well after you beat me, let's just say I had a change of luck. With a mutation of sorts, I was turned into a literal iron pony. My skin is all thick iron now. I wish I could say the same for my men but they're strong enough alone. My mace is still in the same spot too and I haven't pulled it out yet." Iron Haul said. Smash looked at him and processed it. Without another word, Smash charged at the unicorn. Smash held himself high knowing Iron Haul wasn't too bright of a fighter. Iron Haul charged at him as well. He brought a hoof up to meet Smash's face but Smash had outwitted him. He sprawled onto the ground while Iron Haul still had his fist up. Smash quickly brought himself up and wrapped his forelegs around Iron Haul's backlegs and tackled him to the ground. Smash climbed up and put his weight and strength against Iron Haul. He put his hoof on top of Iron Haul's head and applied pressure. This kept him on the ground and unable to get up.

"You can be made of iron but I still have more strength and wits than you." Smash said applying more pressure. For once, Iron Haul was feeling pain during this match and it showed as he cringed trying to get up. "Just tap out right now and it'll all be over. We'll act as if this never happened." Smash applied even more pressure than before.

"Aggh! Zap him!" Iron Haul said. One of the guards in the halls rushed out and took out his staff. He turned the electricity on and applied it to Smash. Smash felt a numb feeling course through him as he screamed out the pain it caused. Iron Haul slipped out from under Smash and pulled out his iron club in his right hoof. Smash started working his way upwards when Iron Haul did an underhand swing and cracked Smash in the stomach. He rolled over holding his stomach.

"Hey that's cheating!" Ace yelled at Iron Haul. She started to rush out to Smash when one of the guards took their staff and hit her with the blunt end in the side. She fell over and let out a small cry of pain.

"Ace! Darling!" Mr. Smith yelled getting down beside his niece to check her wound and protect her. At this point, everypony in the stadium was upset and out-roaring. Some started fighting the guards and wouldn't back down. Smash, hearing Ace's cry, sprung up and brought his right hoof from the left to come around and hit Iron Haul in the face with his steel brace. Iron Haul shifted to the right and felt the pain of that hit as Smash did the same with his left hoof. Iron Haul quickly came back with a quick jab to the stomach and a swiping kick with his right hindleg putting Smash on his back. Then Iron Haul did an overhead swing with his club to hit Smash. But before he made contact, he was tackled by Speedy, who had built enough momentum to move him. Speedy quickly got up and gave Smash a helping hoof up. The other four came around Smash.

"Listen...I didn't mean what I said...You are all great ponies...I guess I'm just too stubborn to try and make friends." Smash said catching his breath. "I'm sorry."

"We forgive you." Jerry spoke.

"Listen, I can understand you Smash. I thought having friends would be a waste of time years back. I was a pony who only cared about their own goals and to succeed in them." Crilos said.

"Friends will always be there for you when you need them." Speedy said.

"A little friendship can go far for anyone." Lightning said.

"We may not be the nicest bunch of friends but we'll always be friends." Metal Mouth said.

"Thanks. All of you. I want to get to know you all but first we should deal with this." Smash said.

"We'll help you fight this guy." Speedy said.

"No. I can handle him on my own. You all need to go help the civilians." Smash said. They all nodded and went on their way.

"Are you done blabbering yet?" Asked Iron Haul rolling his eyes. Smash didn't respond. Instead he was thinking and analyzing Iron Haul. "Are you so scared and hopeless that you won't even talk?"

"Huh me? Nope. I was just thinking about your supposed superiority to me. Like, why have a henchman help you win if you were so much better than me. Was it possible that I could have just beaten you regardless of you being iron and much better than me?" Smash said being oblivious to Iron Haul's insult.

"Oh so now you're going to be a smart mouth huh?" Iron Haul wondered.

"No. I'm just stating the facts. I'll give you credit though. You've definitely improved. But yet so have I."

"Are you going to quit blabbering and fight me yet?"

"..."

"Answer me."

"..."

"I said answer me!"

"..." Smash stood silent with a grin on his face. Iron Haul had enough. He charged at Smash at fool speed. Smash ran out into the hall until the end nearby the stairwell where he started going up. Iron Haul hit the cement wall and caused it to severely crack. He then continued the chase. Smash ran up to a water fountain and took cover behind it. Iron Haul chased after him full speed. Before Smash was hit though, he jumped out of the way. Iron Haul hit the water fountain and broke it off the wall. Now a pipe was pumping out huge amounts of water from the break. Smash quickly reached for a electric staff on the ground and turned it on. Iron Haul started chasing after him again. As soon as Iron Haul made contact with the first drop of water, Smash thrust the electric part at Iron Haul.

It made contact and made Iron Haul stop in his tracks. Not only was he conducting the electricity through him because of his iron skin, the water all over him was heating up and accelerating. He had enough electricity going through him to kill a hundred ponies. However it all ceased after twenty seconds. Iron Haul was still standing amazingly.

"Now. You're done for-what's happening?" Iron Haul yelled. The water was still spraying on him but through it you could see him turning an orange-red color. The water eventually stopped but it was too late. He had completely rusted still.

Eventually they were all caught. The Iron Clad and Iron Haul were being taken to Canterlot prison. The other fighters had succeeded in beating them all. The tournament eventually continued but without the seven ponies. Instead, they were all in Crilos's house.

"So I'll be fine?" Smash asked.

"Yes. You took a lot of blunt trauma but thankfully I'm here to fix it." Crilos said.

"I still can't believe Iron Haul went completely psycho." Ace said.

"Well at least it's all over." Lightning said.

"Well. While we were still at the stadium, I made my choice. I'm going to be here in Ponyville." Smash said. The rest got excited about.

"That's great news. We'll get to have so much fun together." Speedy said happily.

"We'll definitely have to tell Pinkie Pie that there's two new ponies in town." Metal Mouth said. They all agreed simultaneously except for Ace and Smash.

"Who's Pinkie Pie?" Smash asked.

Author's Note

That was the final part. Tell me what you think. Bye bye.