Princess Celestia sat on her throne, gaze directed upon the four figures below her. One of them was somepony she would be able to recognise even if she was on the other side of the planet, her Faithful Student Twilight Sparkle.
The other three? Well, they weren't ponies, that was for certain. In fact, they were a type of creature she, in her vast knowledge of all of Equestria's species, had never seen before. They reminded her of Diamond Dogs, or Minotaur's, if only in the fact that they were bipedal and had hands. Hands that she had seen fit to clasp in chains, considering the damage they had caused when they arrived.
They were standing in a row, and Celestia had been able to discern their genders. The one to the far left was definitely male, if his bulky stature gave anything away, never mind his beard.
And what a magnificent beard it is, Celestia thought. It would make some of her generals jealous.
The other two were female, judging by their more, well, feminine features. They were all around the same size, though the man was maybe a head taller than the women. They were a third taller than her ponies.
However, by far the most striking feature of all of them was their hair. In comparison to their skin, which seemed relatively pale, their hair was a reddish orange that reminded Celestia of a wild, raging fire. The man's hair had random braids throughout, reminding Celestia of the barbarian ponies of the Wild Moors. The woman in the middle had her hair in a short tail, while the one on the right had cropped hair that reached to her neck.
It was also obvious that they were all warriors. It wasn't that look in their eyes, always wary and ready for combat. It wasn't how they held themselves, proud and powerful. Nor was it their armour, though that was particularly eye-catching. The man wore white plates that looked sturdier that any diamond Celestia had seen, with pauldrons with wicked looking spikes, his horned helmet lying on the ground in front of him. The woman on the right was wearing black combat armour, a red and white stripe running down the right arm, the chest piece bearing an 'N7' logo, whatever that was.
This was where the woman in the middle differed. She was simply wearing a no-sleeved duster, the number '21' emblazoned on the back in yellow. A hole-ridden, faded cloth shirt covered the armoured chest piece, with knee pads the only other sign of protection. She had a strange gauntlet of some kind on her left arm. Yet despite this, she still looked just as fearsome, if not moreso, than the other two.
But it was none of these things that made it obvious they were fighters. No, it was the massive pile of weapons that was currently being guarded. Celestia recognised hammers, swords, daggers, staves, axes and bows of many different variations, but there were other things in the pile she had no idea of what they were. She was almost tempted to undo their bindings just to find out.
Celestia sighed. There was work to be done.
She looked over the congregation of ponies. There were quite a few, almost all of them glaring at the three standing before her. Among them were the other Elements of Harmony, Mayor Mare, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, Big Macintosh and quite a few store and stall owners. Even Zecora was among them. And they were all demanding the same thing:
Compensation.
Celestia addressed the crowd. "My little ponies, I understand that there has been quite the commotion in Ponyville. Would anypony be kind enough to refresh my memory of what has happened?"
It was Twilight who answered. She looked distraught. "Princess, this is my fault." There were cries from the crowd, but Celestia shushed them. "Go on, Twilight. How is this your fault?"
Twilight glanced at the three figures before speaking. "I was attempting an advanced summoning spell, the one that lets you call an object from great distances. Problem was, I wasn't focusing properly and managed to summon beings from even greater distances than I thought was possible."
Celestia was shocked. She knew her student was very powerful and gifted, but to be able to do that? Just because she wasn't focusing?
Rainbow Dash interjected, her expression confused. "Wait, Twilight, are you saying brought these boneheads from, what, the other side of the world?"
Twilight looked at Celestia pleadingly. Only the both of them and the three before her knew what Twilight had really done.
"No, my little ponies, Twilight did not reach across the world." Some in the crowd exchanged puzzled looks. Then what had she done?, they thought.
"My student has reached through the very fabric of time, space and reality. She has brought these three from completely different universes."
The crowd went completely silent. The woman in the middle reached up to scratch her head. The crowd burst out in excitement, before Celestia silenced them with a wave of her wing.
"Please, we can address Twilights' ... rather remarkable achievement after we have dealt with the matter at hand. Now please Twilight, you were saying?"
Twilight flushed slightly as all focus was on her." Yes, well. I brought these three to Equestria. It was obvious when they appeared that they were confused. I believe that the first they came into contact with were each other. They looked around them then started to talk. I couldn't actually hear what they were saying so I moved in closer, but I stopped when they started walking away from each other. The one in white there passed by me and I tried to talk to him, but he ignored me." Twilight joined the crowd in glaring at the three." Then, when they were a distance away, they charged towards each other and started fighting."
Celestia levitated a scroll given by one of her servants. "And this brawl resulted in damage to... lets see... Sugar Cube Corner, the Carousel Boutique, various market stalls, a few more shops and- wait a minute Sweet Apple Acres? How did THAT happen?"
Twilight motioned to the woman in the middle. "Well, she punched him," indicating the man," with a strange glove and sent him flying through the air, all the way to the farm. I have no idea how he is still standing."
"Well then. You will all be glad to know that I can and will compensate you for the damage. Now, onto the matter of what to do with these three." Celestia said, glaring at the three.
Then the one in the middle spoke. "Well, I think that the first thing you should do is pay more attention to your prisoners. We really have to thank you for the distraction."
Every pony in the room looked at the three, and then the three pairs of cuffs dropping to the floor, then the man picking up his helmet and the woman in the middle her hat and sunglasses.
The woman on the left spoke this time, all of them cracking their knuckles. "Because if we weren't all nice people, we could've taken that as an opportunity to hurt you all very badly." Her entire body glowed with a blue, flame-looking energy, as if to emphasize the point.
"Now then!" says the man, "I think proper introductions are in order. We have made ourselves known to each other, but not to all you fine folks. I am Darvish Stone-Shield, Son of Skyrim."
"Zia Ironfist, leader of Free New Vegas," says the woman in the hat and sunglasses.
"Beatrix Shepard, Commander of the SR2 Normandy" says the final woman, still glowing blue. "And I think we would all like to know where the hell we are."
The whole of the throne room was silent. Everypony was looking at the three people standing in front of Celestia, who was silent for what seemed an eternity. She looked upon the three with an even stare.
Finally, she spoke. "Very well then. You are kind enough to give us your names, it is only polite we do the same. I am Princess Celestia. I govern the day and rule alongside my sister, Princess Luna. But I must warn you," she closed her eyes. There was a flash of bright light, and when they could see again they saw that Celestia had teleported down from her throne to face the three. When she opened her eyes, the even stare was replaced with a fiery glare, "If you dare make any kind of threat towards my ponies once more, I will make sure you never see day or night ever again."
The room fell silent once again, before being broken by a short laugh from the one that called herself Shepard. "Good, we needed to see how you'd react." She stopped glowing.
Celestia was bemused. "Excuse me?!"
The one named Zia spoke this time. "I believe that the three of us share the same opinion: If a ruler doesn't care for their subjects, they aren't fit to rule. I control a city, but I make sure to treat everyone with respect and dignity. Even those who see to take it away from me. You care about your people, er, ponies. And I am sure your sister does too. In that case, we have no quarrel with you or any of your people."
Celestia fixed her a look that demanded explanations. "Then why exactly did you engage in a fight with those two that resulted in damage to these ponies village?"
The man, Darvish, spoke. "I believe the purple unicorn put it best. We didn't exactly have all our bearings, so it went a bit like this: We wake up in an unfamiliar land."
"Not exactly uncommon for me, but whenever I wake up I'm usually in the same world," commented Zia.
"Indeed. As I was saying, unfamiliar world. So, we see two other humans-"
"Ah, so that's what your species is called" interjected Twilight.
"Yes," answered Shepard, "but where I come from there are many different species which are sapient."
"Same as my homeland, Tamriel. I believe there are at least eight other intelligent species. Well, eleven, but I'll talk about that later" remarked Darvish
"And so it seems that only my Earth is normal. Oh wait, it isn't, but that's for another time." Zia had a dark look on her face as she said this.
"Anyway," continued the man, "We see two other humans and start to talk. Then we finally look around to see where we were. And realise that we are surrounded by horses."
"Ponies" Twilight corrects him.
"Wait, so these are ponies? How do you two know so much about them?" Asked Zia.
Shepard was confused. "But... you said you're from Earth. Aren't there ponies or horses in your world?"
Zia was nonchalant as she spoke. "There could be, but I've never seen any. It's most likely that they've all died out."
You could have heard a speck of dust hit the floor in the silence that came. Everyone, from the two other humans, to Celestia, to the crowd, even the guards-ponies were all staring at the Courier in shock, mouths wide open.
It was Celestia who broke the silence. "Would... would you care to explain what happened to your world that could result in that?" Everyone was horrified, and a few ponies even had tears in their eyes.
The Courier sighed, taking off her glasses and rubbing the bridge of her nose. She turned to Shepard. "I think it's obvious you are from a more advanced time-line than mine. What year is it there?"
Shepard was startled slightly at the abrupt question. "Erm, I come from the twenty-second century, the year... 2185 I believe."
Zia spoke again. "I'm not completely sure what year it is, but I do know that it's the twenty-third century, and that two hundred years ago, there was a nuclear war that devastated the earth." Shepard was the only one looking horrified now. The others just looked confused.
"Excuse my ignorance if you will, but, what exactly is 'nuclear'?" asked the Princess.
"A nuclear missile, to be more precise," answered the Courier, "Is... well... think of it this way: The result is a rapidly expanding fireball that vaporises everything within at least a few kilometres of the blast zone." There were cries of horror from the crowd, coupled with looks of disbelief. "But that's not the worst part!" She shouted above the yells. The congregation of ponies fell silent again.
"No," said Shepard, "The worst part is the aftermath. The radiation." Her voice was low.
"Yeah, radiation," sighed Zia, "The explosion is bad, yes, but all you would have to do for a normal one is just wait for the smoke and fire to clear to rebuild and re-settle. Not with nuclear missiles, not with radiation. If you're lucky, you were either caught in the blast and instantly killed, or absorbed so many rads so quickly that your death was quick and painless. Radiation would taint an area for centuries, slowly killing or mutating anyone living near it. It was effectively a 'salting the earth' type of weapon. If anything grew, it grew wrong."
Silence once again fell on the entire room. This time, it was Rarity who shattered the oppressive silence, tears staining her alabaster coat, voice trembling as she spoke. "I-If you d-don't mind me as-asking, how l-long have you lived in s-such a ter-terrible place?"
Zia gave a small smile. "Thirty three years. Damnedest thing is, as bad as it sounds, it's actually a lot better."
Now, the room was filled with puzzled expressions. Twilight spoke next. "But, everything you just said sounds horrible. How could it be better?"
The Courier gave a tiny laugh. "Heh, you know the old saying 'a pessimist see's half a glass of water as half empty, and an optimist see's it half full'? Well, that's how I see the place. A world half-full, because civilisation is getting back on its feet. New Vegas is just one beacon of hope in the world. Besides, I'm not gonna be leaving it behind until I see good progress."
It was then that Celestia remembered what this whole thing had originally been about. "You have obviously had a harsh life, and I wish you no more hardships. However, we managed to go off on a massive tangent. Please tell me I'm not the only one who remembers the reason we started discussing these three."
The crowd looked slightly embarrassed, though still felt sympathy for the Courier.
"Yeah," said Zia, "Our punishment. You said you were going to compensate these ponies. May I ask how much that would cost?"
"Okay then." Celestia looked back to the damage report. "The combined total would be... 10,000 Bits."
The three looked at each other, then Darvish spoke. "We did a lot more damage than I had thought."
Shepard glanced at him. "Were any of us actually paying attention to the damage we did?"
The other two looked sheepish, but then Zia spoke up. "Well, if you would give me a moment, I might have something to help with that."
She started rummaging around the various pockets and carry bags on her person. What she pulled out made everyone gasp in amazement.
There were murmurs in the crowd of 'No way' and 'Unbelievable'.
"Is that really what I think it is?" asked Twilight.
Zia couldn't help but grin. "Yep," she said, "Thirty-five pounds of pure gold."
Darvish could only stare in awe. "By the Nine."
Shepard just whistled in admiration.
Celestia just stared, mouth wide open, for a few moments before shaking her head to regain some composure. "You... are you really willing to just give that to us? Most people would guard that much money with their lives!"
The Courier gave a small smile. "A friend once told me that, sometimes, you just have to let go. Even then it doesn't really matter when I have about thirty of them lying around. Though that was the only one on me."
"This will certainly pay for that compensation, and there'll still be enough left over for repairs. Even still, I can't just let you go. If I did that, then any criminal would get it into their heads that all they have to do is pay off their crimes. I have to find some way to reprimand you."
Darvish spoke up. "Well, during our fight, I couldn't help but notice that some ponies looked very amused. How about we give you a show?"
He could feel the entire room staring at him, though the other two were in thought. It HAD been a while since they last met anyone their match. It would be a challenge, which all of them would welcome, and it could be fun.
The man gave his neck an awkward rub. "I mean, one without breaking any more buildings. This castle is big, surely there has to be an arena of some kind?"
The Princess thought about it for a moment. "Very well. I would like to see exactly just how you three managed to cause so much damage. The guards sparring arena is big enough."
She then addressed the crowd. "Those who would like to see the fight, follow me. If you would like to claim your compensation, please talk to one of the ponies in the main hall, they will be able to help you." She started walking through the crowd, which parted for her, the three following close behind.
As they walked through the opulent halls, the three humans couldn't help but admire them, or the art they walked past. There were many paintings and statues, some showing Celestia in her radiant glory, some showing another pony, slightly smaller than Celestia, with a dark blue coat and a shimmering mane of stars. They assumed that this was Celestias sister and the other Princess, Luna, the assumption only helped by the fact that she was the only other pony around with both wings and a horn.
Most of the ponies in the congregation were still there, even Fluttershy, who said that she wanted to help if anyone got hurt badly, but a few had collected their recompense and had taken the train back to Ponyville. Darvish was still looking around when Twilight trotted up to him, Rarity next to her.
"Ah! You are the one that brought us here, correct?" He questioned.
"Yes. I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is Rarity," she motioned to the white unicorn, "I think that we got off to a bad start, so we'd like to formally make your acquaintance."
"Of course," he laughed. "Darvish Stone-Shield, pleased to meet you."
"So, you're not, you know, mad that I, well, forcibly dragged you out of your own world?"
"Believe it or not, no," he was sincere. "My life had become something of a routine. There really wasn't much that I could do around Skyrim, not after I saved it."
Rarity was intrigued. "Save it? From what?"
"Tell me," he spoke, "Does this world have dragons?"
"Yes, Equestria does. In fact, I have a baby dragon as an assistant. Though he's more like a little brother."
Darvish blanched. This is going to be awkward, he thought. "Well, I saved the land of Skyrim - and in doing so, all of Tamriel- from a dragon called Alduin, the World Eater."
"Sounds like a pleasant fellow," remarked Twilight.
"Please, it was no laughing matter. The appearance of dragons in Tamriel only meant one thing: The destruction of the entire world."
The two mares looked at him in shock and awe, before Rarity said "And you beat him? How?"
"As it turned out, I am what is known as the Dovahkiin." At the confused looks he got, he continued. "Sorry, that's dragon tongue for 'Dragonborn', which meant I was born with the soul of a dragon."
They were stunned. Born with the soul of a dragon? How? So they asked him.
"I'm honestly not sure. I don't think anyone is. But it did mean that I was the only one who could slay Alduin."
"Why?" enquired Twilight.
"Well, while dragons could be killed, they weren't truly dead. You see, there were other dragons, and they all followed Alduin. Well, almost all. Anyway, if a dragon was killed by a normal mortal, they would just have to wait for Alduin to come and resurrect them."
"Resurrect them?! But, I'm pretty sure only somepony as powerful as Princess Celestia could do that!" Twilight exclaimed.
"I will put it in context. Alduin was basically a god in physical form, but the main reason the dragons could be revived was because they still had their souls. That was where I came in. You see, being the Dragonborn I could... well..." he groaned. There was no easy way for him to say this. He really didn't want to tell the truth. Soul stealing, even if it was for good, wouldn't exactly translate well to anyone without proper context.
He didn't really have much of a choice.
He sighed. "Whenever I slay a dragon, it is permanently dead. Being the Dovahkiin makes it so I absorb the souls of any dragons I kill."
The mares had a disturbed look on their faces. He was glad all the others were engrossed in their own conversations.
"Please, let me elaborate. The dragons of Skyrim, while not completely evil, were ruled by their basest desires, the strongest of which being the desire to rule and to subjugate 'lesser' species. With Alduin dead, the only one in charge was his second-in-command, Paarthurnax."
He realised that a full explanation would take a while.
"I understand that you probably have a lot more questions, but we do not have enough time for me to properly explain. And I am sure that the other two have a lot more to talk about as well. Perhaps after the fight, we could talk more?"
The mares agreed. "Of course," said Twilight. "And I would love to learn more about your species."
After an uneventful journey, they finally arrived at the sparring arena for the guards. It was a large stone ring, with a combined sun and full moon emblazoned in the middle and there were numerous alcoves for storing gear. There were stairs leading up to viewing stands, and Celestia was surprised to see Luna observing the guards training.
"Luna! I thought you would be resting?"
Luna looked over to them. "Nay, sister. We were interested in seeing how your guards have been faring." She finally noticed the three humans. "What - Who are they?"
"I'll explain in a moment, but first..." Celestia turned to the ponies currently in the ring, who had stopped sparring when they saw her. "My little ponies, I am going to have to ask you to leave the arena for as long as this battle takes place."
One of the pegasus guards flew up to her. "Your Highness, what do you mean? What battle?"
She motioned to the three. "Those three are paying the final part of their recompense for damaging Ponyville, and have decided to do so by treating us to a 'show', as it were. Considering the damage to Ponyville, it would be interesting to see what exactly they can do. And please, tell anypony else that asks that I will explain later."
The guardspony saluted with an affirmative, flying back down to tell the other guards to clear out.
Celestia excused herself before quickly teleporting away, coming back just as quickly, but now with a large bundle of weapons in her grasp. She levitated them over to the alcoves as the three took positions in the ring.
There was quite the audience growing in the stands. Word must have spread of three strange beings duking it out.
The Princess looked down at the figures standing in the ring. "I will let you choose the rules, since you are the ones offering this. Do not worry, there will be medical aid if needed."
Darvish glanced at both women before him. "Unconsciousness, your out?"
The two agreed, with Shepard adding "And all abilities allowed," once again following with agreement.
They walked over to the alcoves, pondering what weapons to choose.
Darvish chose a particularly vicious looking hammer, the centre of its head slowly pulsing red. Volendrung had never let him down, but it was definitely going to slow him down, so he also took a simple looking sword, the only oddity being the bright orb shining in the hilt. Dawnbreaker was going to hurt.
Zia rummaged through the pile for a bit, though she finally decided that she only needed her fists.
The only thing that Shepard could think to herself was 'Where is my goddamn Claymore'. She was rooting through the pile of weapons, and she saw so many guns. Shotguns, handguns, machine guns, a damned minigun. But no sign of HER shotgun or handgun. "Dammit all", she muttered to herself. Her Carnifex had sentimental value.
She turned to see Zia looking over her shoulder. "Need any help?" she asked.
"Please" Shepard responded. "Why do you need so many guns. I make do with just three. And how do you even carry all this stuff?!"
"Believe me, we need all the weapons we can hold in the Mojave."
"Fine. Just help me find my shotgun and pistol. You'll know they're not yours."
A few moments later, Shepard let out a relieved sigh. "Finally found them. Let's try not to get them mixed in the same pile again, okay?"
The Courier just laughed.
They took their positions again, this time Zia taking off her duster and hat, placing them next to the pile of weapons.
Darvish gave his sword and hammer a few experimental swings. "I guess I also forgot to mention some things."
He held out his left hand, sword in the right. There was a pause before he cupped his hand, flames appearing round it.
Shepard and Zia gawked for a couple of seconds, as well as everypony in the stands. The flames in Darvishs' hand turned to lightning, then ice, then back to flame. "I kind of have magic, and that's not even the best part. Being the Dragonborn lets me learn the dragon language. In Skyrim, dragons don't breathe fire. They shout fire. Let me demonstrate." He looked up into the sky.
"YOL-"
Everybody was thinking the exact same thing: "Wait, what?"
"-TOOR SHUL." And from the Dragonborn's mouth erupted a fireball of massive proportions.
The whole arena was quiet. Everybody there could only stare at Darvish, mouths completely agape.
From somewhere in the crowd, somepony went "Fifty bits on that guy."
There was a clamour of voices as people started to place bets, before they died down as they remembered the Princesses.
The diarchs looked at each other, before Luna said "We believe the other two deserve a chance to 'show us what they've got', before any final concessions are made."
The crowd burst out into cheers, all eyes focused on the other two.
"Fine," said Shepard, "I was trying to surprise them during the actual fight, but since he decided to show off, I guess I have no choice." Like in the throne room, her entire body started glowing with a blue, flame looking energy. She crouched down, before jumping high into the air and landing with her fist impacting the ground. What resulted was a five metre shock wave of blue energy. "And that's only a taste of what I can do," she finished.
The crowd cheered in wonder once again, before finally all eyes were resting on Zia.
She looked around the arena. "What, you expect me to have some kind of crazy power like that?"
She took the silence as a 'yes'.
"Well sorry to dissapoint, but I don't. I'm just a perfectly normal human being." The gathering of ponies moaned in dissapointment, and there were a few murmurs of pity for the Courier.
"Did I say I couldn't hold my own? I've beaten seven foot tall mutant lizards with razor sharp claws. I single-handedly took control over a city right from under the noses of three competitors. Do you see any weapons on me?"
There was a resounding "No" from the crowd.
"Well, that's 'cause I don't need any. The names not 'Zia Ironfist' for no reason. Now then, are we going to do this or what?"
"Very well," said Celestia. "On the count of three."
"One."
Shepard grinned. Those two have no idea what a Vanguard can do, she thought.
"Two."
Darvish readied Volendrung.
"THREE!"
"FUS RO DAH!" yelled Darvish, hoping to knock Zia off her feet with the blast.
Then he felt his legs being swept out from under him. Thankfully, his helmet protected him from a concussion, or he might have been out early.
As he picked himself up, he could only wonder what happened. He turned around.
Only to have Zia uppercut him while he was still confused.
He stumbled backwards, but managed to catch himself before he fell. "How in Oblivion did you do that?!" he demanded.
As she was about to respond, Shepard came charging through the air, surrounded by a field of blue energy. She slammed right into Zia.
She was about to admire Zia flying through the air. Then she realised that Zia had only moved a couple of inches.
"What the- how! Nobody can stay standing after a hit like that!"
Zia only laughed. "Another advantage of being an Ironfist. We're taught the 'Stonewall' technique. Nothing can knock me down, and I've been hit with plenty of heavy things."
She splayed her palm out flat, then hit Shepard square in the chest. The Commander could only fall as she felt her entire body become as stiff as rock.
"What did you do to me?!"
"Don't worry," the Courier replied, "You'll be back up in no time. Just a small full body paralysis so I can focus on... oh crap."
She had somehow completely forgotten about Darvish, and regretted her mistake as she felt the blade of his sword bite into her arm.
She cried out in pain. It felt like the wound was being burnt.
"What the hell is with your sword!" She said through gritted teeth, turning to face him.
"Enchanted," he replied. "Burns anything it cuts, but doesn't cauterize the wound."
The Courier grimaced. The wound would heal quickly, she knew, but it still hurt. She couldn't let him have another shot in.
Unleashing a flurry of punches upon the Dragonborns stomach, she couldn't help but smile at the fact that a normal person would have broken all the bones in their hands if they tried.
Darvish couldn't believe what was happening. He knew that his armour should completely negate her punches, but he still felt them. What was she.
The irony of that statement wasn't lost on him.
He caught one of her fist in his hand, but she simply turned it against him by flipping him over her back and onto the unforgiving ground.
At this time, Shepard had fully regained control of her body. She saw Zia pulling back to give Darvish a brutal blow.
She didn't really think it was fair if he was kicked out so early. So she stopped the Courier.
For her part, Zia didn't fully register what was happening until she was floating three feet above the ground. The spinning world was making her feel dizzy.
"Oh god what's happening!"
As she helped Darvish off the ground, Shepard couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Oh, a biotic can do SO many wonderful things!"
Zia herself was also laughing at her own predicament. "But seriously: When does this wear off?!"
Shepard gave her a cheeky smile. "Oh, right about now I'd say."
The Courier fell to the ground with a painful crash. "Ow."
As she staggered back to her feet, she saw Shepard glowing blue, preparing to charge at her once again.
There was a sound of impact as Shepard went tumbling towards Zia. Behind her was Darvish, hefting the massive hammer.
Another "FUS RO DAH!" sent Shepard flying back even farther, almost managing to make Zia topple.
Sprinting towards the Dragonborn, Zia leapt into the air, bringing her fist down on his helmet. Regardless of any of the damage that was negated, she still had enough momentum to send him crashing to the ground. Leaping on top of him, she tore of his helmet and grabbed the sides of his head.
There was a loud THUD as foreheads connected.
Darvish, already dazed by the previous beatings, flopped backwards, unconscious.
Zia rubbed her forehead for a moment. That hadn't exactly been the smartest idea.
She turned, only to see the Commander once again charging towards her. They collided, and Zia stumbled backwards, the dizziness not helping her balance. Shepard followed up by repeating the move she had shown before the fight, jumping into the air and slamming her fist into the ground, the resulting shockwave enough to knock the already unbalanced Courier off her feet.
Zia quickly climbed back up onto her feet. She saw Shepard pulling back her fist, the tell-tale sign of a strong punch, though hers was wreathed in blue energy.
Zia wasn't about to be beaten at her own game, so she pulled back as well.
The women's fists crossed, each colliding into the others face.
Both fell backwards onto the hard ground, the resulting collision of heads on stone knocking them out.
The crowd was silent for a long time. It was finally broken by Princess Celestia.
"That was... unexpected."
The crowd burst out into cheers. For once, they had witnessed a fight that didn't endanger their kingdom!
There were a couple of annoyed ponies in the audience, sour that their bet resulted in nothing.
Celestia signalled for the medical ponies, who had been waiting in the wings, to retrieve the out cold trio. Luna turned to her. "That was most entertaining, Sister. They are very... unique individuals. Do you think they would object to us enquiring about their services?"
"I am not sure," Celestia mused. "Though I think it is best if we let them rest first. There is also the matter of..." She turned to Twilight, who had been watching the fight with amazed eyes, the same going for the rest of her friends.
"Twilight?" Celestia found her reaction adorable as Twilight came out of her stupor.
"Oh Princess, did you see that!? They have such amazing powers! I mean, one of them breathed fire! And the other-"
Celestia cut her off before she started rambling. "Yes Twilight, I did see that." She deadpanned.
"Oh, right." Twilight flushed slightly. "Of course you did. We all did, yeah." She turned towards Celestia. "Um, was there something you wanted, Princess?"
"Yes, Twilight." Celestia was glad Twilight wasn't as giddy as before. "I need you to find a way to send those three back to their own worlds."
Twilight looked crestfallen. "Oh, yes, of course. That should be the number one priority. Even still, I would like to learn more about them. And from what he told me, it seems that Darvish doesn't really mind that he's here."
Celestia could understand where her student was coming from. A completely new species, three incredibly unique specimens. Who wouldn't like to do research on them?
"I know what you mean Twilight, I really do. But I do not believe it would be fair if they were trapped here for the rest of their lives. And who know, it might take you a while to find a way to send them back."
Twilights face lit up once again. "You're right, Princess! This'll be so exciting!"
The Sun Princess smiled at her students eagerness. "Of course it will, Twilight. Now, get a move on. I'm going to make sure those three don't cause any more trouble when they wake up."
Luna followed behind her sister. Equestria has a side quite opposite to its idyllic surface, and those three could be of much use, she thought.
