Pony Kombat

In the distant realm of Tartarus, a bloody war was fought between the forces of Equestria and the forces of Tartarus and Everfree Forest. Corpses were strewn on the ground, some whole, others cut in half both ways, and others had missing heads. All of these bloody corpses were a failed attempt to save Equestria from Tartarus. Parasprites fed on the intestines of the fallen ponies from both realms. In the distance, a pyramid stood with a purple pillar of souls spewing from the top. Inside of this pillar were the only two ponies standing: Celestia and Nightmare Moon. Nightmare Moon’s intent was to merge Tartarus with Equestria, and she had successfully done so. Celestia was trying to make one last stand against Nightmare Moon, but she was failing miserably.

~~~

Celestia was thrown to the ground by Nightmare Moon. Nightmare Moon walked up to the fallen warrior.

“Where are the Elder Gods Celestia?” she asked. Then she chuckled and picked up the fallen guardian. “Their pathetic Pony Kombat shackles me no longer.” Nightmare Moon started to batter Celestia with numerous hits to the face. Then she threw her across the top of the pyramid. As Celestia flew, her amulet on her chest fell off and landed on the ground. It shattered as Celestia hit the stone.

Celestia rolled onto her back as Nightmare Moon summoned her Wrath Hammer.

“They masquerade as alicorns,” Nightmare Moon sneered. “But are mere toothless fillies.” Nightmare Moon stomped on Celestia’s chest to make a point. “My darkness spreads,” she said. “It is the end of all things. Armageddon.”

“Stop!” Celestia pleaded.

“It is done,” Nightmare Moon said in defiance as she picked up Celestia. “Your time has passed.” Nightmare Moon threw Celestia once more in the opposite direction. As Celestia landed, she tried to pick herself back up, and as she did so, Nightmare Moon spoke.

“Ages wasted in foolish resistance,” she muttered. Celestia saw the shattered fragments of her amulet.

“Now is the dawn of my rule,” Nightmare Moon snarled. Celestia picked up the shattered pieces of her amulet, and as she did so, they began to crackle with energy. Celestia spoke ancient words to the Elder Gods. Nightmare Moon chuckled as Celestia did this.

“Yes,” Nightmare Moon said. “Pray to your soul, as your world ends.” Nightmare Moon swung her hammer at Celestia. But before she made contact, Celestia spoke 3 words that would change Equestria's fate.

“She must win!” And in that moment, Celestia was killed. But the whole thing was a vision, shown to the past Celestia. Following future Celestia’s death were multiple flashbacks of the Pony Kombat timeline in reverse order. After these flashbacks, the past Celestia groaned and closed her eyes to try and ease the pain of the visions. Twilight Sparkle of the Unicorn noticed.

“Princess Celestia, what is wrong?” she questioned.

“Strange visions,” Celestia answered. She then heard a faint shimmer coming from her amulet. She then took it off to see what had happened. The blue crystal in the middle had been cracked.

“Your amulet!” Twilight Sparkle exclaimed, worried.

“It is nothing Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia assured as she put her amulet back on. Then she became serious. “The tournament begins.” 5 rows of ponies walked down the set of seats in the courtyard of Sunset Shimmer’s Castle. There were other Kombatants standing with Celestia and Twilight Sparkle. Sunset Shimmer was standing in front of her throne. She motioned for the audience to sit down. The Pony Kombat tournament had begun.

“Kombatants,” Sunset Shimmer began. “I am Sunset Shimmer. In the coming days, each of you will fight. Some are here of their own foliation. Others were brought here by chance.” As the pony sorceress went on, Shining Armor, a successful movie star in Canterlot, looked over at a young pony with a pink and orange mane.

“Hey beautiful,” he said trying to sound cool. “Shining Armor.” The young pony wasn’t impressed.

“Good for you,” she replied.

“What?” Shining Armor asked. “Pony Strike? Citizen Armor? Pony Mime? None of those ring a bell?” But the young pony, Cadence, a Special Forces mare, was just getting more and more annoyed with the stuck up movie star. Cadence looked over at the entrance to the courtyard and saw her sworn enemy.

“Vinyl,” she muttered under her breath.

“Vinyl?” Shining Armor asked, mistaking the criminal for the name of a movie. “Wasn’t in that one.” Sunset Shimmer, unaware that Shining Armor and Cadence weren’t listening, continued.

“You participate in the most important Pony Kombat in history,” she said. “This tournament, the tenth after nine Tartarus victories, will determine Equestria’s fate. If you defeat all of your opponents, you will face one final challenge. Me.” Shining Armor scoffed at what Sunset Shimmer had just said.

“That young pony’s the final challenge?” he mocked. “They might as well give me the belt right now.” Cadence turned away in disgust.

“Uh, they do have belts, right?” Shining Armor questioned. Suddenly, as if from nowhere, Sunset Shimmer appeared behind Shining Armor, startling him.

“What?!” Shining Armor exclaimed. “How did you…” Sunset Shimmer cut him off.

“Appearances can be deceiving,” she informed.