Chapters Ice Slice trotted nervously around Ponyville. She wasn't afraid of anypony, no- she was afraid she would be late. Not only the three million bit prize for Death Brawl was what tempted her- she loved the fighting. And if she was late, it was over- no murder until next year. She had never been to Ponyville, and didn't know exactly where they were picking her up.\
"They better not start the damn thing without me," she said to herself as she looked around the dirt road for Flame and Frost.
Frost Fighter and Flame Bandit were waiting at the pick-up stop for Slice.
"Just go out and look for her!" a voice from inside the very large chariot hissed.
"I'll go- You and Ms. Fate can watch the ride," Bandit suggested. Frost nodded and Melody Fate sighed.
"I can watch the chariot myself!" the female dragoneqques hissed.
"Y-yes, Milady! Of course you can!" Frost stammered, and bolted to catch up to Bandit, who had already left.
"There she is!" Bandit whispered loudly, "Sleeping like a baby."
"Should we wake her?" Frost wondered aloud.
"Of course not, idiot! She'll pull our eyes out with her bare hooves!" Bandit snapped. They froze as 'Slice' stirred, then was still. "I'll pick her up with my magic."
"Is that all you ever talk about? How wonderful and superior unicorns are?"
Bandit didn't reply as his black aura engulfed 'Slice' and slowly carried her out the window. Then, the two brought her to the chariot and pleaded Fate to be silent. The dragon-pony reluctantly agreed as Bandit sat down inside and Frost pulled the chariot at a fast pace with his Earth pony strength and speed.
Sticky Sweet, like Ice Slice, was a pegusas. And a blank flank. They were both pale blue with black manes. The only different things between them were their mane styles, Sweet's being shorter, and their eyes. Slice's were blood red, and Sweet's were a green that seemed to change shade every time she blinked.
"Aww, she forgot! Do you remember who I am?" Bandit waved his orange hoof in front of her face.
"That's okay- maybe it's because I accidently bonked you're head on the windowsill last night!" Fighter had un-attached himself from the harness and opened the curtains to the outside.
"Idiots. Well, it's no fun if my arch enemy is clueless- watch the beginners show from outside." Fate said with a distinct lack of emotion. Sweet stared at the dragoneqques with a strange look for a while.
"Uh... oh! Right! I'll take you to a nearby window!" Frost said quickly and galloped away. Sweet (reluctantly) followed him.
Death Brawl is a fighting championship. The contestants will fight to the death. There will be no forfeit, and resistance will not be tolerated. The grand prize is three thousand bits. Good luck, and good fighting.
Sweet looked around nervously. She had already been frightened by the images on the audiovisual, but now, she could barely resist screaming. Someone had tried cleaning the large stadium, but had failed. The whole floor was stained blood red, and the stadium itself was surrounded by an iron fence. There were symbols on the three sides of the triangular building- a unicorn's horn, a tree, and, above her, a Pegasus wing- all displayed on signs. The Mare was so horrified, and so obsessed with trying to hide it, she barely noticed the pony who sat next to her.
"Hey, Slice." the mare said grimly.
"For the last time- that isn't my name!" Sweet growled quietly.
"What? I think I'd know the name of the mare who killed everyone last year," the Pegasus protested.
"If they all died last year, how are they sitting all around?" Sweet challenged.
"Celestia."
"What?"
"I thought you were the champion! Celestia watches the battles every year and brings everyone who died back to life."
"I'm not the champion! I've never been here before!"
"Oh, so you're one of those," the mare said, leaning back into her seat.
"One of what?" Sweet said angrily.
"Every once in a while, a pony comes in who looks like one of the fighters- they usually die. Trust me, Celestia knows you aren't Slice. By the way- what's you're name?"
"Sweet- Sticky Sweet."
"Well, I'm new here too, to tell you the truth. I just did a lot of research on it."
"It's great to know someone else here is new... what's you're name?"
"Lightning Dust."
"Wait- if we're going to fight to the death, why are we getting to know each other?"
"No two ponies of the same race fight. It's in the rules."
"Oh- OK." Sweet replied. Lighting opened her mouth to say something else, but the lights dimmed and Celestia started speaking.
"Hello, fighters of Equestria, and welcome to Death Brawl," she said in a firm voice. "Today, we've had another... unfortunate happening. Our champion Pegasus, Ice Slice, was left in Ponyville. Mr. Bandit and Mr. Fighter brought another mare to the ring- Sticky Sweet. But, due to my late realization, she will have to compete with Fate in the final round."
The crowed booed.
"I told you she knew," Dust said. But it didn't make Sweet feel any better.
Celestia said a few more things, but finished with, "Our first round will commence- Water Rusher Versus Pinkamena Diane Pie."
The rules of Death Brawl are simple. No hurting anyone who isn't in you're fight- the cage helps re-enforce that. You can use any weapon, and multiple amounts of them. To switch you're weapon, if you aren't a unicorn (or one who doesn't know the spell that can teleport the weapon to you), then just think of that weapon, and make a clear image of it. Princess Luna will be scanning your thoughts and will be ready to make it appear in your hooves.water sword. They began a sword fight. Whenever one of the mares stabbed the other, the whole crowed would cheer. Although the water swords had no effect on the fire sword itself, smoke was rising from them. Finally, Pinkamena parried a few times, tilting her sword in just the right way, then stabbed with all her might at the left side of Rusher's chest.
"The WINNER," Celestia announced with glee, "Is Pinkamena Diane Pie!"
The crowd cheered, but Dust and Sweet were open-mouthed. "I...I didn't know it'd be that ... violent," Dust whispered hoarsely. Sticky nodded. Even the audiovisuals had been less bloody then that.
Author's Note
Hi!
-Luna
Dust's Battles
After a few minutes of chatter, bathroom breaks, and fetching snacks, the next fight begun. Celestia had already announced it "Lightning Dust Versus... Gilda the Griffon!"
"Hey, Gilda? I have a proposal." Dust announced before they were put in the cage.
The Griffon snorted, "What? You wanna retreat?"
Dust replied, "No. I was just thinking- instead of using weaponry, why not have an old-fashioned hoof-fight?"
"I have claws."
"You know what I mean! ...So, what about?"
"Well, it's take longer for you to die... so, I'm in!" Gilda announced.
Yay, Dust thought as she walked into her door. At least Gilda wouldn't have a weapon.
"Ready... FIGHT!" Celestia smiled.
Dust didn't budge as Gilda ran towards her. She was trying to be sly, pretending to be frozen with fear. 'She's so afraid- this is gonna be easy,' could be read in the griffons' eyes. But as she was about to slash the pegusas to bits, Dust rose into the air and bolted to the other side, a yellow-orange trail behind her. Gilda was shocked, and she didn't have time to stop herself before hitting the wire cage. Then she was shocked- for real.
Electricity was trailed through Gilda's whole body- from her beak to the end of her tail. When she finally had the time to remove her talon, she was smoked. Her teeth were gritted as she screeched, "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!"
The Griffon flew towards Dust, and the pegusas moved again. But before she could run into the wall, Gilda turned up and then went around in a loop, knocking Dust over and landing on top of the pegusas.
"And last words?" the griffon asked.
"Sure- but they won't be my last. Dust growled. Suddenly, there was a cerulean blue flash and her wings held one blade each. They looked like what the ro-manes used in ancient times.
"The winner is Lightning Dust!" Celestia shouted. Gilda was dead.
Dust's only injury from her battle with Gilda was a scratch the size of a paper-cut. She cleaned that and put on a Band-Aid, then took a quick shower to wash off Gilda's scarlet liquids. As she went out into the ring to prepare for a battle with Pinkamena, she could feel Sweet frowning at her from the audience.
"Hey," some one said to Sweet, "That you're friend down there?"
Sweet looked to her side. There was a pegusas stallion sitting to her right. He had a light bending black coat and emerald green eyes. His mane was light green and he looked like he had never fought anyone in his life. The mare felt like her mouth was stuffed with cotton when she looked into his deep orbs. She simply nodded, eyes wide.
"What wrong?" the stallion blinked.
Sweet immediately snapped out of it, "Uh... n-nothing."
"Okay," the stallion shrugged. "By the way, my name's Emerald Black."
"...Fitting name," Sweet nodded, "But you probably know mine."
"Yeah." Emerald nodded. They stared at each other for a moment, then looked back to the arena.
Pinkamena was charging at Dust with a katana, probably a copy from Rusher's from the earlier battle. Dust was holding a small knife, and she looked ready to throw it whe Pinkamena was close enough- and that's what she did. Pinkamena growled, pulling the knife out of her leg, and ran over to the pegusas. She ditched her katana, which promptly disappeared, and got ready to ram into Dust with her forehead, so the yellow mare would run into the electric cage.
But Dust was too smart for that.
Instead, the pegasi pulled back her hoof and put all of her energy into a huge punch that sent Pinkamena hurdling across the cage. Then, she flew over with blinding speed, pinned the Earth Pony to the ground, and summoned a sword. Sweet closed her eyes, but she couldn't close her ears. She heard a blood-curdling scream, and everything was quiet. Then the crowed started to sheer. Slowly, Sweet peeked, opening one of her orbs. Pinkamena was gone, and Dust was sitting in the middle of the cage, with a frown on her face and blood on her hooves.
"Can we switch spots?" Sweet whispered into Emerald's ear. He wasn't sure why she wanted to, but he did, getting up and trotting over to her space. She sat down here he had been and let out a sigh of relief.
"Um... why are you over there?" Dust asked as she flew to her chair and sat down, wings still open- and covered with blood.
"Just a change a scenery!" Sweet replied, putting on a fake smile.
"...You moved one seat away from where you were," Emerald deadpanned.
Why won't you stay out of this, you.... handsome little stallion... Sticky thought, staring at Emerald, who was waving his hoof in front of her face.
"JUST BECAUSE!" Sticky shouted with a sudden burst of anger and flew over to the bathroom. Neither of her "friends" followed. ...Friends, she thought, I guess I could call them that... but their killers!
"So are you." someone said, entering the room behind her. Sticky Sweet looked over to see Princess Luna trotting in.
"G-go away! What are you doing, you monster!" Sweet whimpered.
"I know what you think- that I run this thing and that I enjoy it like 'Tia. But, really, this is my punishment." Luna explained.
"Wha? But you were banished to the Moon for a thousand years!"
"'For the crime I committed, it wasn't enough... at least, Celestia thinks. She was already doing this before I even became Nightmare Moon- and it was the perfect second punishment. Watch my ponies die, over and over again."
"How does Celestia stand it?"
"I don't think she does, kind mare- she seems to have gone mad."
"Is that why you still watch?"
"Yes. One, to take care of 'Tia, and two, there are Sun Guards just waiting for me to leave. They have orders to rip anyone who leaves before it's over to shreds- especially me."
"I'm... sorry. I didn't know."
"It is okay, Sticky Sweet- I understand."
Sweet came back to Emeralds ex-spot in the middle of the fight (Dust had washed off a bit, making herself more approachable, and said it was Flare Blitz versus Night Fury). Both fighters were stallions. One was a black unicorn with a black mane, too, and dark green eyes. The other one was a tan Earth Pony with red eyes and an orange-and-yellow mane, which was spiked back like a porcupine's.
They were wrestling one another to the ground and punching each other's faces, but Fury was better at that game. While Flare was recovering from a blow, the black stallion threw another one at hiss jaw- the hardest punch Sweet had ever seen. Blitz's lower jaw flew out of his mouth and landed with a thump on the ground.
The pegusas stared at his missing jaw for about a minute and fell over. He probably had a Heart Attack. Sweet plugged her ears with her hooves so she wouldn't hear the joy of her insane Sun Princess.
Night and Flare had known each other as foals.
Fury, however, had only realized it as he looked at Flare's dying face. It's so hard to lose someone you love- harder to know you killed them. And Night thought there was only one cure to end the pain.
Kill another pony.
Dust had injuries from the last battle, which Luna was working on, so Fury was to Fight Colonel Humperdinky, a former member of the military. The new pony was holding some kind of gun- Sticky couldn't tell from the audience -and Fury was weaponless.
This'll be easy, Humperdinky thought. As Celestia said the word, he stared to fire. But Fury dodged all of his attacks as he charged forward.
Humperdinky moved out of the way, letting Fury hit the wires, and shot the black stallion. Fury was being shot at and electrocuted at the same time.
"SCREAM!" Humperdinky smiled. He was enjoying this. Fury looked up. His green eyes were filled with pain and sorrow, but before Colonel even took notice, the emotions faded and Night Fury died.
Dust was better, and ready to face Colonel. He was smiling like Pinkie Pie did when she wasn't fighting (or dead), but Thunder Dust had a sorrowful frown.
In the audience, watching them fight and listening to the sounds of a gun, Sticky's eye twitched she felt something pull on the back of her mind- a strong, forceful voice.
"Why are you staying silent?" it asked. She thought about that. She wasn't really holding it back anymore- she just didn't need to.
Am I okay with murder? she thought, looking back to the stadium.
There was a wound in Dust's leg. It was bleeding, but she didn't seem to mind as she picked up Colonel by the tail, causing him to drop his weapon, and flinging him into the wires.
He flinched before being electrocuted, and the Pegasus summoned a rubber glove (from Luna). She used that glove to shove Humperdinky into the wires. The stallion made a strange, twisted sound, then went limp.
"Dust is such a great fighter!" Emerald smiled, looking over at Sweet. The mare didn't respond. She was horrified- not because of the blood, murder, and fighting, but because that didn't horrify her. And, although it's confusing, she was afraid of not being afraid.
"Are you alright?" the black Pegusas blinked.
Sticky wanted to open her mouth, but she could not. She was frozen with fear- fear of