The Crucible

Having been flying for twenty minutes straight, Swift Research frowned to himself once he saw ‘Crucible City’, which looked more like a village of ruins compared to Canterlot. Such a sight was unbearable, such a ‘city’ existing like this, all for the sake of a blood-fest? It was unheard of, that’s for sure. But this kind of thing is why he came here, to fix everything. Slowly descending to the ground, the white pegasus stallion began to walk down the path in the ‘city’, practically feeling the blood and death that saturated the soil beneath his hooves.

What had been going on in this city for the past eight years, since The Crucible was first founded...Just imagining the answer to that sent a horrible shudder down the stallion’s spine as he sighed, closing his eyes for a few moments as he stopped walking, as if giving a moment of silence for the long-deceased, those who had been killed in The Crucible. This silence was broken when he heard somepony shriek in terror.

Opening his eyes, Swift looked around for the source of the noise, flying up to get a better view, finally locating an aquamarine earth mare cornered by a duo of scarlet stallions, both of whom found the situation to be rather amusing.

“Come on, does a pretty mare like you really think she can get-” the older looking stallion went to ask, but the armor-clad pegasi walked over to them.

“Oh please, tell me you weren’t about to use that one-liner?” he mocked them, causing the younger one to snort in annoyance.

“Oh, lookie here brother, we got ourselves a pretty colt.” the younger stallion laughed as the older one turned to face Swift Research.

“And would ya look at that? He thinks he’s going to make an impact just because he is part of The Royal Guard. Hah!” the older stallion mocked Swift, who simply sighed.

“You really shouldn’t judge ponies based on their appearance, or your own preconceptions...I really don’t want any trouble, so if you two get out of here, I will forget this happened..” he replied calmly, but as he predicted, the two scarlet stallions didnt’ listen.

“You don’t want any trouble? That’s a real laugh! You’re the one who’s gotten himself involved, and it’s two on one!” the younger stallion laughed as the aquamarine mare watched.

“Knowing the guard nowadays, he probably can’t even fight!” The older stallion added in, prompting Swift to rush in. The aquamarine mare looked on, trembling at the sight of the beating that the white pegasus gave to both scarlet stallions, the younger of whom was down first. She swallowed once she saw that Swift had pinned down the older of the two stallions, his hooves pressing firmly down on the older one’s throat.

“Like I said before: appearances and preconceptions will tell you nothing. For instance- you’ve held the erroneous belief that I am a patient colt...Now...I will tell you once more: Beat it!” he demanded bitterly, releasing the older brother, allowing the two scarlet stallions to flee. A satisfied smile on his face, the white pegasus looked at the confused mare.

“It’s not a good idea to stick around...I recommend you get out of here as fast as possible.” he stated before walking off. It took a few minutes of walking for the pegasi to notice that the mare was following him instead, prompting him to stop and look at the mare, who reared back slightly before offering a small smile.

“I wanted to thank you for helping me back there...Mind telling me where you are going?” she asked, and Swift hesitated for a few moments. He wasn’t sure if he should just tell her what he was up to, as he did not know how people in this city felt about The Crucible. After a few moments, he sighed.

“Where else? I’m going to sign up for The Crucible.” he answered her, and the mare giggled playfully, much to his disbelief.

“You? A killer? You don’t look the type.” she joked, only to take her place next to him as they continued walking. “I know: Don’t judge somepony based on looks.” she added before Swift could repeat himself, offering him a smile. “Well, if that is true, why exactly are you going there?” she questioned Swift, who smiled softly.

“Well, that’s a little tough to explain...I suppose I am doing it because I must.”  he replied, and the mare nudged him gently.

“Because you must? Come on, there’s gotta be more then just that. You don’t see stallions of the Royal Guard come to fight in a blood fest just because they have to. I mean, the one before you came here for glory.” She replied, surprising Swift.

“Wait, did you say there was another of the royal guard competing?” he asked, and the mare nodded before the two stopped in-front of the doors of a large arena-like complex where two rough-looking stallions stood guard.

“I found a Number Eight.” she told the two, who opened the doors, admitting the two in. “My name is Aqua Pearl, and as you probably guessed by now, I test potential contestants. What you did to those two stallions proved you were much better than those barbarians who wanted to muscle their way in.” she introduced and explained herself.

“So I’m in?” he questioned, receiving a nod before he remembered her earlier question. “But my reason is what it is: Duty.”  he added, and the mare giggled.

“Sure, whatever you say ‘soldier’.” She joked, trotting over to get some documents and a quill. “I just need you to sign these forms, then you are free to meet your fellow contestants....ok, Swift Research? I could have sworn I heard somepony mention that name a few years ago.” she mused after Swift signed the paperwork and hooved it to her.

“Alright, where are the others?” the white pegasus asked, and the mare gestured to the door to his left. Taking her advice, Swift entered the sub-lobby, where he saw seven more contestants. The first one that caught his eye was a grey earth stallion with green eyes, wearing golden armor, Swift recognized him immediately and scowled a little at the sight of him.

“Huh? Well if it isn’t lil’Swiffer! Looks like you finally got promoted if you have your own style armor!” The grey stallion greeted Swift Research, patting him on the back.

“I take it you’ve been enjoying yourself since I last saw you? How was your latest ‘hunt’? ” He asked with a hint of distaste in his voice, and Cosmic Zephyr smiled before looking at the other contestants: A ruby-colored earth mare, a sapphire-colored mare, the former with a bauble as a cutie mark, the latter with a heart. The other four consisted of a yellow pegasus who couldn’t help but zip around the room, a green earth stallion with a money bag on his flank, a dark blue unicorn with a dagger for a cutie mark, a jet black pegasus who was clad in dark, intimidating armor. “I swear, this is the most diverse cast of players in a game.” Cosmic Zephyr added.

“Hold on- there are eight of us! Only seven are needed, get outta here” The jet-black pegasus blurted out,annoyed by Swift’s presence.

“Calm down, Dark Wing.” The dark blue unicorn stated, causing Dark Wing to look at him with anger. “This just means you, The Harbinger, can show of your great strength some more rather than wait for the final round.” the unicorn added, which brought a smirk to the black pegasi’s face.

“Hmph...Whatever, I’ll slaughter any who share the ring with me.” Dark Wing declared, unnerving the sapphire mare. The ruby mare simply looked the other way, as if ashamed of the sapphire one’s obvious fear.

“Ok everypony! Please face me so I can get a good look at you!” a ninth pony called out, the eight contestants turning to face her. The mare was a tad taller than the group, having emerald green fur and a even darker green mane. “I want to welcome the seven new faces, along with the defending harbinger! I am hopeful the eight of you will make this year’s Crucible interesting, after all- we’ve got plenty of ponies just itching for some carnage.” she smiled, and Dark Wing spat to the side.

“I hope these whelps will provide me with a challenge for once..” he replied off handedly and both Swift Research and the dark blue unicorn looked at him.

“You’ll get your hope alright.” the both said simultaneously before looking at one another.

“That’s the spirit! Now, follow me so the crowd can get a look at you and we can determine your placement in the brackets for the preliminary rounds.” she stated, leading the eight through a large set of doors, bringing them out to a large dirt arena as the ponies in the crowd surrounding them all began to cheer as two ponies in a commentator box smiled.

"Welcome everypony, one and all, to the ninth annual Crucible Tournament! I am your host, Emerald Emissary, here to introduce our fighters for this years Crucible tournament. We have our defending Harbinger, the champion of the previous eight Crucibles, Dark Wing!" she started as Dark Wing stepped forward with a sinister smirk on his face. The crowd roared with excitement, confirming that Dark Wing was in fact a favorite to the crowd.

"Now we have our seven new contestants. Every one of them comes from different backgrounds, all here to fight in this arena. Our dark blue bruiser, Cobalt Avenger!, The Gem Twins, Sapphire Ornament and Ruby Bauble, the speedy spirit Slipstream Strafe, the carousing guardsmen Cosmic Zephyr, the wealthy war-stallion Golden Mint, and the armor-clad crusader, Swift Research!" she introduced the seven, who all received cheers from various ponies in the crowd.

"Everypony in this arena has their own motivation. Be it for Glory, for money. Out of duty, or envy. Revenge, love, even a whim! We hope our new contestants will make this year's Crucible the best one yet!" Emerald Emissary cheered, and the crowed roared as the contestants looked at one another, Cobalt Avenger fixing his gaze on Dark Wing in particular.

"Alright contestants, please take a number out of this box here, so we can decide who will be fighting who. The rules for each fight are simple: the surviving pony of each round win, and you may not have ponies outside of the fight intervene. Other then that, it's fair game." the emerald mare told the group as they each took a number. As if on cue, two red pegasi flew by with a white board with the traditional tournament brackets.

"Alright, starting from left to right, tell us your name the number you picked."  the red pegasus on the right-hoof side of the board told them. One by one, each contestant complied and spoke up.

"Swift Research, Number 1."

"Cobalt Avenger, Number 7"

"Golden Mint, Number 6"

"Slipstream Strafe, Number 5"

"Cosmic Zephyr, Number 2"

"Ruby Bauble, Number 2"

"Dark Wing, Number 8

"Sapphire Ornament, Number 3"

"Alright. Now, this is who you will be paired with." The second pegasus replied, showing them the now covered board. Swift Research was to fight Cosmic Zephyr, Sapphire Ornament against Ruby Bauble, Slipstream Strafe against Golden Mint, and Cobalt Avenger against Dark Wing.

"Alright, we have our selections and we will start the tournament soon. But first, we will give the contestants a fourth an hour to prepare themselves for the fights, so everypony feel free to do what you want for the next fifteen minutes. Until then, see you around!" and with that, the emerald mare left, allowing the contestants to return to the lobby, Dark Wing and Cosmic Zephyr getting quite a few fans around them already. The white pegasus sighed, looking at the crowds.

How can anypony be such an enthusiast for these 'games', let alone contestants who are more than likely going to die? he wondered, feeling somepony nudge him.

"Is something wrong, Swift?" a familiar voice questioned, and Swift Research looked and saw it was Princess Luna who had nudged him.

"Y-You're highness? W-What brings you here?" he asked, genuinely surprised by Luna's presence.

"I told you already, call me Luna." She started before offering an encouraging smile, walking with Swift, leading him away from the crowds- who were too busy with Dark Wing and Cosmic Zephyr to notice her. "I came to root for you. After all, you're the best hope Equestria has." she finished, and the pegasus gave her a shy smile in return.

"I...Thanks for coming.." he replied before Luna gently brushed his cheek with her hoof.

"I heard you are going to be in the first fight...Good luck." she replied before leaving him to rejoin the crowd, and Swift soon turned his attention to Cosmic Zephyr, thinking about how he would be able to face a fellow member of the royal guard.Cosmic Zephyr...In these times, he has spent more of his time carousing and kicking back then actually fighting...It should not be too difficult. he thought, a smirk spreading on his face before looking at the clock. There were about ten minutes left, so he had time to plan this fight out. Just one solid plan would work, he just had to think about it.