Chapter 4: A Gang Fight and a Magic Duel

“You’re not gonna win this.”

“Not listening.”

“You’re not gonna win this.”

“Come on, Starry! You can do this!”

“You’re not gonna—”

“HADOUKEN!”

“GYAAGH!”

“K.O.!”

I grinned and glanced at Granite. “And you said I wasn’t gonna win.”

“Hooray! You did it, Starry!”

“I want a rematch!”

“But I want to play something with Starry now!”

“Don’t worry! We have plenty of time today to play. Let’s do all of the games here.”

The three of us were at the arcade after we finished our movie and lunch. The movie was good, and we ended up having pizza for lunch afterwards. We then went to the popular arcade on West Side Canterlot to goof off a little before having some down time at the park later. The arcade was an awesome spot, and we were going to spend hours there to get through all of the games at least once… At least, that was the plan.

“Misty, why don’t you choose what we should play next?” I asked.

“I want to try that dancing one over there.” Misty pointed to a large machine against the wall with arrow panels on the floor and 8-bit graphics of those arrows scrolling up the screen.

“Oh, I heard that’s a new one. I’ve been wanting to try that for a while.”

“Okay, and as soon as you’re done with that, it’s another round between you and me.”

“And you think we’re gonna let you do that?”

We turned to the sudden new pony in the group, who had a couple friends of his own behind him. They were all taller than us, and they looked like bad news with the—excuse my language—shit-eating grins on their faces.

“High schoolers…” Misty muttered.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked the earth pony colt who butted in.

“This arcade is our turf. We aren’t gonna have a bunch of cryfoals running around in a place for older ponies like us.” The other four colts behind him chuckled in agreement.

“Uh, the arcade is for everypony to enjoy, and we’re actually going to be high school freshponies after this summer,” I reasoned. “Don’t you think you’re being a little too territorial?”

“Territorial? You think you can show how big you are using big words like that?”

“Frankly, I’m more concerned with your level of education if you thought ‘territorial’ was a big word for you,” Misty quipped with a furrowed brow.

“Look, we’re tryin’ to have some fun today. I’m not in the mood for some trouble, but if you aren’t gonna fuck off in the next twenty seconds, we’re gonna have a problem here,” Granite warned as she started popping her knuckles.

“A smartass little bitch and a tough talker. Now I’m really getting pissed here.”

“Hey boss, does that chick with the jacket ring any bells to you? I feel like I heard about her from somewhere.”

“Big deal.” The leader looked down on me while invading my personal space. “Listen, kid. This is your last warning. If you and your marefriends don’t get out of here in the next five seconds, we’ll drive you out by force,”

“Whelp, that tears it then. Star, watch over Misty. It’s been a while since I last blew some steam, and I could use a refresher on my moves right now.” Granite stepped up while rolling her right arm and shoulder before popping her neck. With a furrowed brow, a threatening glare, and a frightening grin, she got into fighting position. I nodded and stepped back with an arm in front of Misty, making sure I keep her out of harm’s way.

When she gets like this, there’s no stopping her now, Celestia may give mercy for these fools, but I’m sure Granite won’t.

The grin on the boss’s face grew wider. “Ooh~, a filly’s going to beat me up. I’m so scared.” He and the rest of his friends guffawed, except for one, whose face suddenly went pale.

“B-Boss, I remember who she is now! She’s—!”

“BREAKING PUNCH!”

POOM!

Granite’s fist collided with the leader’s exposed muzzle, almost making it collapse in itself as the punch hit it really deep. The colt then flew backwards until one of the arcade machines broke his landing, barely cracking it on contact. The laughter died instantaneously as the crew saw the damage with jaws agape, the second pony shivering and seeing the sight in horror before he turned back to the monstrous Granite still grinning.

“Sh-she’s… She’s… THE BONE-BREAKING BRAWLER!”

The leader staggered to his hooves while holding his muzzle. Blood escaped out of his hand and dripped to the floor. His eyes turned furious as his pupils shrunk to pinpricks. “DUN JUSHT SHTUND THERE! GET ER!” he muffled loudly while pointing to Granite.

The other four colts turned and charged at her with a battle cry, making a desperate attempt to shake up Granite (especially the one who called out her street name), but her expression was unchanged.

Instead, she charged forward with her arms out and toppled the two colts in the center to the ground by the neck, like a scythe that would behead the hooligans by the slightest touch. The other two colts outside of the line were caught by surprise at Granite’s attack. They braked their charge, turned, and ran toward her, but she was already one step ahead of them as she made the next attack to the colt on her left.

“BREAKING UPPERCUT!” Her right fist shot straight up under the colt’s muzzle, and with the few fractures to his jaw, he flew and buried his head through the ceiling, leaving him hanging limply in the air. The other colt stood there and trembled at the sight.

The two colts Granite toppled down quickly got up and rubbed their necks before beginning their payback while her back was turned. She glanced back and bent her legs.

“ROUNDHOUSE!” With speed and momentum of a spin, her right hoof flew up and collided with the colt’s face to her right. Granite’s follow-through involved the other colt to her left as his own face crashed with his buddy’s, sending both on a collision course to another one of the poor machines unfortunate enough to break under her crossfire. The two colts fell to the ground after the crash and groaned in pain.

Granite turned to the last colt standing whose pants had a growing dark spot near his crotch, and with that faint scent I smelled from where I stood, it didn’t take a genius to know what got them wet. Her smile spread eerily across her face, and from that second of eye contact, the colt screamed as he sprinted out of the arcade.

In a matter of minutes, maybe seconds even, three colts were left in a painful state of defeat. Even with Granite huffing in victory, there was something still unsettling weighing on my shoulders.

As soon as I realized, I quickly turned around and saw the leader of the group preparing his attack on a distracted Misty with a brushless broom stick.

“LOOK OUT!” I shoved Misty aside as his weapon came down. I reacted quickly and stopped the attack in its track with my magic, his whole body and broomstick enveloped in my light-blue aura. I gritted my teeth as I concentrated much of my magic on his surprised being to lift him off the ground, which was heavier than I anticipated. With a battle cry of my own and flinging both my hands up in the air, the leader flew to the ceiling and met the same fate as one of his cohorts.

I released my hold and gasped for breath as I used up more magic than what was needed. I grabbed my knees for support while I tried to get some oxygen back in my system.

“Are you… okay, Misty?” I asked her between breaths.

“Y-Yes, I’m fine. Thank you.” Misty cleared her throat and straightened her dress.

“Come on, we ought to get outta here,” Granite suggested as she pulled one of my arms around her shoulders while she held my opposite side. Misty and I nodded in agreement before we escaped the collateral damage in the arcade as fast as we could.

When we got far away enough, the three of us leaned against the wall of a restaurant to catch a breath.

“I gotta tell ya, Star, I knew you were good with magic, but I didn’t know you had something like that in ya. I’m impressed.” Granite gave me a punch to the arm with a smirk.

“That’s nothing compared to what you did to those guys back there, though.” I rubbed the spot she punched while I grinned sheepishly.

“Honestly, Granite, did you really have to go that far with those hooligans?” Misty asked with her arms crossed. “And what’s this I hear about you being the ‘Bone-Breaking Brawler?’”

“Hey, I didn’t give myself the name. Those dickheads and the many ones before them were dumb enough to piss me off, that’s all. Their own fault they started the fight in the first place.”

“And it’s because of your behavior that we may not be able to go back to the arcade for a while.”

“… Oh yeah. Well, look on the bright side. My rep of being the strongest in Canterlot will go up with news of me beating up those high schoolers going around.”

“Frankly, I’m wondering if that will just attract more unwanted attention.” Misty sighed. “I didn’t even get a chance to play with Starry in the arcade before all of that ruckus happened. I doubt that opportunity will happen again for quite some time.”

My ears folded from her statement. It was true that we were all having fun today up until that point, I didn’t want to leave a sour memory like that standing out. I looked to the side and noticed a familiar claw machine game at the entrance. I remembered this place as my family’s favorite restaurant to go if Mom was too tired to cook after a long day at work. Oftentimes each of us would try our hand at the machine to see if we could get any of the prizes, and we learned some cool tricks to winning with each try we made. I looked inside the glass case and noticed a plush rabbit and tiger together with their tags conveniently close together.

“Hold on a second,” I said as I pulled out a bit from my pouch. The two fillies raised their brows as I inserted the coin in the slot after evaluating where the claw was and how to move it.

I timed the claw’s movements with the provided buttons just right. I lowered the device when I got to position, and with excellent precision, the joints hooked the tags before pulling the two plush toys I was aiming for up in the air.

The girls gasped as the toys were precariously hung by the claw, and once it moved to the drop chute and released the prizes, the machine made noises indicating my victory. My friends stood there agape as I reached down and picked up the prizes.

“It’s not much to make up for not playing with you today, Misty, but I hope this will suffice at least a little,” I said as I handed the plush bunny to the wide-eyed pegasus. “And Granite, I’m not sure if you’re into these toys, but consider this as thanks for backing us up from those high schoolers. I would like it if you try not to get yourself into too much trouble in the future, though.” I held up the plush tiger towards Granite, whose expression was also frozen with shock before she shook herself out of it.

“Well… I really am not into kiddie toys like this, but I suppose I could take it as your way of saying thanks,” Granite said as she took the tiger and stuffed it in her jacket before zipping it up. There was a hint of red spread across her cheeks as she scanned the area for any passerby that could be watching. “Not making any promises for that trouble part, though.”

A flushed Misty hugged the bunny tightly to herself as she looked at me with sparkling eyes. “I think this makes up for it very well. Thank you, Starry.”

Shit, Granite and Misty look so cute like this right now. I wish I had a camera. I tried not to dwell into their expressions as I cleared my throat. “Should we end the day with some time at the park?”

The girls nodded and we made our way to the park. Misty still held her stuffed animal close to her chest along the way while Granite just walked with hands in her jacket pockets, trying to hide the bulge her own toy was making with little succession.

When we got to the park a couple minutes later, we all sat against the lone tree in the vicinity and just enjoyed the serenity of the silence and environment as well as each other’s company. The girls sat at both of my sides, Granite had her eyes closed with a smile plastered on her face while Misty just stared up at the sky with her bunny sitting on her lap. My eyes were heavy as I yawned, thinking I should follow Granite’s example and just take a nap right there.

“Are you tired, Starry?” Misty asked.

“After what happened earlier? I wouldn’t be surprised,” Granite answered with her eyes still closed before she yawned as well. “I’m so beat I could use a nap, myself.”

“I don’t think my exhaustion would compare to yours though, Granite,” I admitted. “I didn’t really do much but overspent my magic.”

“Pft. You kidding, dude?” Granite peeked over me with one eye. “You managed to get Misty out of harm’s way and showed that dick what you could do. I could already see who had the bigger balls out of the two of you just from that, alone.”

“Must you use such vulgar language to get your point across? It’s not exactly lady-like for a filly to use such words.”

“I don’t hear Star complainin’ about it, so I don’t know what the big deal is. He’s even cursed a few times himself. Right, Star?”

“Pretty much, and I honestly sort of like her speech patterns. It really loosens up the atmosphere and not make my surroundings seem so uptight.”

“Ya heard it here, Misty. Maybe you should start loosening up a bit more like yours truly.” Granite rubbed her nose with a big grin on her face.

“I can ‘loosen up’ on my own, thank you very much. I don’t even need to use such words to show how ‘chill’ I can be, either.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“Then you should have no problem saying ‘dick’ in front of Star, here.”

“Excuse me?!”

“It’s not that hard, really. You just gotta get what you want to say out in the open. Here, try saying this: ‘Emerald Brace is the biggest dick in our class.’ Now you try.”

Uh, should I stop this? Then again, I’ve never heard Misty use words like that before. I’m almost curious to hear it now, myself.

“V-Very well! If it will get my point across, then I’ll do it!”

“All right, then let’s hear it.”

A moment of silence was passed between us, except probably the winds whistling by. Misty’s face was bright red as she bit her lip. She coughed into her arm to clear her throat. I was about to stop and tell her she doesn’t have to do it, but then she took a breath.

“Emerald Brace… biggest… in our class.”

“What was that? Speak up, would ya?”

“Emerald Brace, is the biggest… in our class.”

“I still can’t hear ya. One more time, with feeling.”

Misty’s ears flicked while a pout formed on her face. She breathed in once more, and… “Emerald Brace is the biggest dick in our class!” Her face had gotten redder when she realized what she just did.

“See? Now that wasn’t so bad, was it? And the best part is that your parents don’t even need to know you did it, so long as they aren’t around.”

Misty’s ears perked and her eyes widened. “You… may actually be right about that, Granite. I never even thought of that.”

“Heh, what can I say? Fuckin’ around’s one of my better traits.”

“I do admit it was kind of adorable how difficult it was for you to swear earlier, Misty,” I pointed out. “How do you feel, though?”

Misty seemed to be in a daze before quickly shaking her head. “I feel… a little exhilarated, actually. Strange, but in a good way. I feel, ‘fucking’ fantastic.”

Granite faked her sniffles. “Our little filly’s all grown up. She said ‘fuck’ for the first time in her life. I couldn’t be any prouder than I am right now.”

And I didn’t think ‘fuck’ would sound kind of hot coming from Misty’s mouth like that.

“Well well well, look who it is. It’s the loser blank trio.”

Oh fuck me.

As the three of us turned to the familiar source, I think we all wished we didn’t used him as an example for Misty to try swearing for the first time, as if he came just from mentioning his name. Emerald Brace, the biggest bully in our class, was a green unicorn with a styled red and white mane. He was wearing a darker green button-up shirt and black slacks, all to go with the shit-eating grin plastered on his face. Standing beside him was a grayish brown unicorn colt with an indigo mane that stretched to his shoulder named Copper Cut, wearing a black button-up shirt with vertical light purple stripes and matching slacks. He was looking to the side with an uncomfortable expression on his face.

“The fuck are you guys doing here?” Granite snarled as the three of us stood up.

“I was just enjoying a little stroll until I saw an opportunity to crash a party. Right, Copper?”

“H-Huh? Oh, right…”

I stood there staring at Copper with a furrowed brow while he didn’t want to make any eye contact before shifting my gaze to Brace.

“You better have a damn good reason to barge in on us if you know what’s in store,” Granite threatened as she cracked her knuckles while Misty glared at them with her wings flared open.

“I just wanted to confirm if Night’s really going to SGU’s summer program to prepare for that enrollment test, because I honestly think he’s wasting his time.”

“And what is that supposed to mean, Emerald?” Misty asked.

“Oh please, I think you and the bumpkin already know full well what Night’s extent of magic is even though you’ve never studied it yourself. Besides levitation, he’s only known and practiced a number of spells I could count on one of my hands, and he could barely even pull them off. The test to get in the SGU requires you to perform a spell high or unique enough that represents our race to gain the judges’ attention. I highly doubt Night here is even able to perform one high level spell with proper precision. ”

The more Brace was condescending me, the more my body was shaking as I tightened my fists and gritted my teeth.

“Why does a spell need to represent the unicorn race for him to get in?” Misty asked. “I don’t see how that would reflect the school’s course of study.”

“Oh, but it does, featherbrain. Besides an alicorn like Princess Celestia, the unicorns are the master race out of the main three that exist today. Never mind not having a cutie mark, but if Night could barely even perform a mid-level spell, then I wonder if he’s even a unicorn at all? If he can’t even learn any higher spells than that, then he doesn’t deserve to stay in Canterlot like all the earth ponies and pegasi that reside here. Our streets would look much cleaner without trashes like you three lingering around.”

“YOU TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW, BRACE!” I screamed. I could barely see what was around myself anymore besides the bastard in front of me.

“Then why don’t you prove it?” he asked with a smug grin. “Magic Duel. Right here, right now, and we’ll see if you’re worthy of being called a unicorn.”

“Starry, you don’t have to do this!” Misty exclaimed as she grabbed my arm. “Let’s just walk away and go someplace else.”

“Forget walking away, let me just pound the dick’s face down to the ground!”

“No. It may be one thing about my abilities, but I’m not letting him get away with insulting you two like that,” I argued as I pulled my arm away from Misty’s grasp. “I’m not going to let this die down without me at least trying to fend for you guys as well as myself. I wouldn’t be a good friend, otherwise.”

“But what about what happened earlier?! You used up a bunch of magic on that already!”

I ignored Misty’s statement as I approached Brace. I could almost feel the girls’ worries from behind me. “I accept your challenge, Brace, and when I’m through with you, you better take back what you said about my friends and their respective races.”

“We’ll see about that, Night. Copper. You be the referee.”

“Y-Yes…” Copper complied and walked to a space between us. “T-Take your places.”

Brace and I moved until we stood at a safe distance between us, our stares not leaving each other’s sight.

“This was so not the best way I was hoping for this to turn out,” Misty commented.

“I really wish I could just kick the crap out of those guys instead, but I can’t change Star’s mind, now. We’ll just have to hope for the best.”

“This Magic Duel will be between Emerald Brace and Starry Night,” Copper began. “The rules are simple. Each contestant will have a turn to cast a spell that the other must match. The unicorn first casting the spell will be switched with each round. There will be no physical contact, no spells causing physical damage, and no interruptions from outside the arena, or the contestant associated with them is automatically disqualified. Last unicorn standing wins the match. I will now do a coin toss to decide who goes first.” Copper pulled a bit out from his pocket and flipped it in the air.

“Heads,” I called before the coin hit the ground.

“Tails. Emerald will go first,” Copper concluded before picking up the bit and glanced between us. “Contestants, are you ready?”

“As always.”

“Let’s just get this over with.”

Copper raised a hand up in the air. “Let the Magic Duel… BEGIN!” he exclaimed as he cut the line between us.

“I’ll start things off with a bit of a warm up. Be grateful I’m giving you this handicap, Night.” Brace closed his eyes and raised one of his hands while it and his horn glowed an emerald colored aura. In a flash, a patch of grass before him turned from its natural green color to a shade of red. His hand and horn stopped glowing as he relaxed himself. “Your turn, failure.”

Okay, a color changing spell. That’s not too hard. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to focus myself. Once ready, I opened my eyes and targeted the colored patch of grass. I aimed my concentration at it, raised my right hand towards it and glowed a light blue aura around it before I changed the patch of red grass back to its original green color. Success. Misty and Granite applauded my achievement in response.

“First round of this Magic Duel is over. Starry will now begin round two,” Copper announced as he gestured a hand toward me.

“Give it all you got, Star!”

“You can do this!”

I spent a hefty amount of magic earlier. If I want this to end, I’ll have to use the best spell I have in my arsenal with little effort as possible. I got into a more balanced, defensive stance, pointed a finger to the air, and concentrated the same spell I performed with Dad yesterday with just enough magic to make it work. My fingertip glowed the same light blue aura from earlier before I shot it up to the sky. It exploded and spread itself into a light blue umbrella that stretched to the ground around me, creating my force field. With the spell complete, I held it up for a couple seconds before dissipating it and sighed while wiping a few beads of sweat off my brow. Misty and Granite cheered loudly at my achievement. I’d rather try to see how long I could last it, but now’s not a good time to test my abilities.

“Hmm… Not bad, but not so hard to match.” Brace commented with a lack of interest in his expression. He copied my gestures from before, focused his magic, and shot a ball of emerald aura up in the air. What was different from this one compared to mine was that not only did it get higher, but once it exploded, it enveloped a wider area that not only defended the three of us in the arena, but even the girls off to the side as well. “Heh. Larger than yours, and I didn’t even break a sweat. Seems I have more insurance shielding ourselves from an oncoming attack than you are.”

“Second round of this Magic Duel is over. Emerald will now start round three,” Copper announced as Brace diminished the force field spell.

“I think it’s time we finished this once and for all. This next spell will be your demise.” Brace’s horn started to glow brightly as he seemed to put more concentration in this next spell than the previous ones. In a flash of light, he suddenly disappeared. I jumped back from the sudden intensity and was frantic to what happened to him as I quickly scanned the area. “I’m over here~.” I turned to the source of the voice and saw him leaning against the lone tree in the park my friends and I relaxed under earlier while checking his nails. My heart started to race as to what spell he had just performed.

“Oh no…” Misty muttered.

“Wait, what happened?! What the fuck was that?!”

“A teleportation spell… One of the higher level spells to cast,” I answered Granite.

“Correct, Night,” Brace added. “I should probably tell you all now, but I went to the SGU spring program this year. Said I was one of the best among the group.” He brushed his nails he checked earlier on his shirt before he yawned and looked at me with lack of interest. “I’m getting bored with this, Night, so let’s cut to the chase. If you can perform the teleportation spell in this round, we’ll end it right then, I’ll submit defeat, and take back everything I said about yourself and your pathetic friends’ races. You don’t even have to teleport as far as I have to do it. Just disappear and reappear at least an arm’s length in any direction, and that will be the end of the duel.”

This is it… This is where it all ends. I’m lucky that the teleportation spell was something I studied on the side to challenge myself, so I got a good handle of the concepts, but I’ve never even tried to perform it firsthand. I turned to my friends where they looked back with that same, worried expression from the beginning. I can’t mess this up, I just can’t.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I recalled a few things from Dad about how a unicorn had something called a magical surge—a great burst of energy that surpasses the pony’s limits for an instant while in the middle of casting a difficult spell—during her exam at SGU while she was still a filly. Apparently it was so great, not only did she passed, but she ended up becoming Princess Celestia’s pupil instead of enrolling the school. There was still some speculation on how something like that occurred, but that wasn’t the only case that happened to a unicorn like her.

My body trembled, my heart raced, and I tried controlling my breath. I may not know the chances of having a magical surge happening, but right now, it was the only thing I can rely on with my current level of magic. I couldn’t back down now, my friends’ prides and images as well as my own were riding on this, and I couldn’t fuck this up.

Please… Please, let this moment be that time. I’m not only doing this for myself, but for Misty and Granite as well, the most important ponies in the world to me right now. Come on magic, let me tap into that hidden potential so I can win this!

I steadied my stance, gritted my teeth, closed my hands and eyes tightly, and concentrated. I could feel my horn burning and glowing brightly. Even with how much magic I spent today, I tried to put every ounce I had left inside me into this last spell. I started to feel pain from my horn, Mom and Dad have told me to stop what I was doing should something like this happened, but I ignored that warning as I kept pushing myself more and more.

My face was sweating beads, my whole body was shaking, somewhere there was a strange sound of rattling metal with a few pops from here and there, but I pushed it aside as I kept going.

My horn kept getting hotter and hotter.

There was a bright light like I was walking out of a dark tunnel…

KACHIIIIIIIING!

KRA-KOOM!

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!”

I dropped to the ground and screamed in agonizing pain from the magic explosion. I scrambled on the grass, grabbed my horn tightly, trying to ease the searing burn that was running through it, my entire body felt like it was enveloped in flames.

“STARRY/STAR!” The girls were running towards me, at least that what it sounded like, but stopped from a distance.

My voice cracked, my throat was dry and sore from all the screaming, and tears were trailing down my cheeks. The burning across my body felt like it took hours before it finally started calming down along with the pain. I was silent and in a fetal position as I choked on my sobs against the grass. When things went quiet for a moment, a new, but horrendous sound filled the air.

“AAAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, this is just PERFECT!” Brace exclaimed. “Not only have I beaten you, but I even got to see you wallow in defeat! Copper! End this duel! NOW!”

There was a pause of silence before Copper spoke with a few cracks in his voice. “The winner… of this Magic D-Duel goes to… Emerald Brace.”

“YES! Let today’s duel also be known that not only are unicorns the superior race, but Starry Night… is a FAILURE OF A UNICORN!” Brace finished his victory speech with a haughtier laugh from before as he walked out of the park’s premises, the quiet hoofsteps from Copper followed suit. The laugh slowly died down until everything around me was dead silent.

I was still on the ground in a fetal position while tightly grasping my horn. My body tightened as tears continued to stream down my face. I heard the tentative hoofsteps from my friends as they got closer and crouched above me.

“Starry? Are you all right?” Misty asked.

At that moment, I jolted up to my hooves and sprinted out of the park in a different direction where Brace left. I didn’t know where I was going, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to get as far away from anypony as possible. I kept running through the streets of West Side Canterlot while a trail of tears was left behind.

“STARRY! WAIT!” Misty screamed before she tried going after our friend, but I grabbed her arm to stop her. My gaze was facing the ground. “Granite! What are you doing?! We have to go after him!”

“Misty… We need to give him some time alone.”

“ALONE?! WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!”

“Misty, with a loss like that, I’d want to have some time to think if I was in his position. Star had just lost his honor for trying to stand up for us. He has a lot going on in his head right now if he can’t speak to us without feeling shameful of himself. He needs to calm down and think things through himself before he can come talk to us.”

“Excuse my language, but THAT IS FUCKING BULLCRAP!” Misty screamed. “HONOR DOESN’T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS! I WANT TO SEE IF OUR CLOSEST FUCKING FRIEND IS ALL RIGHT FROM THAT EXPLOSION EARLIER! HOW CAN HONOR BE MORE IMPORTANT THAN HIS HEALTH?!”

“AND WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HONOR?!” I yelled back, making Misty jump back from my outburst.

I hate crying. It reminds me of how weak I was back when I first moved to Canterlot from Manehattan as a filly, and I promised myself I’d never cry again as I trained myself to be stronger for my friends. I pretty much broke that promise as of right now.

I wanted to go check on Star as much as Misty did, I mean it, but what was I going to say when I see him? Even when I knew what he was going through, I couldn’t rack my brain on what to say because I’ve dealt with more losses than he had, and from what happened today, Star’s loss was so much heavier than all the ones I went through combined. What’s worse was that he must have thought he lost all of our dignities from that Magic Duel, unable to protect us from a bully like Blaze at the very end. I didn’t really care about my dignity. I’m already a fucking delinquent to really worry about my image like Star and Misty would, but that still didn’t soften the blow Star went through.

Misty’s tightness in the arm I was grasping loosened as she looked down with ears folded. “I’m sorry, you’re right… I don’t know any better, and I didn’t think about his feelings. Some friend I turned out to be,” she croaked as tears welled up in her eyes.

I pulled Misty in for a hug, her head rested on the crook of my shoulder. Her eyes were widened at the sudden gesture, which was normal since I wasn’t the kind of pony that would get all mushy like this, but this time pretty much called for it as I sort of needed it myself.

“You’re not a bad friend, Misty,” I said with a crack in my voice while tears left my face. “I want to see him too, but we need to give him space to calm down and think things through.” I pulled back from the hug and wiped the tears off with my sleeve. “We can check on him tomorrow morning and see how he is then. All right?”

Misty nodded sheepishly as she sniffled and wiped her own tears. “That sounds good… I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then. Good-bye, Granite.”

“Later,” I bid with a wave as Misty unfurled her wings and flew back home at a surprisingly fast speed, but that wasn’t what was on my mind at the moment.

I looked down on the grass and stood still as I clenched my fists and teeth. “… Why? Why didn’t you stop this before it freakin’ began?!” I exclaimed to myself. “I should’ve stopped them… I should’ve pounded Blaze myself, took the heat, and avoid all of this from happening… WHY CAN’T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT YOU STUPID BITCH?!” I stomped over to the pavement outside the park grounds, dropped to my knees, and pounded my fists to the hard, stone covered ground. I didn’t care for the pain welling in my knuckles as my anger distracted me enough to notice.

“STUPID! WORTHLESS! PATHETIC!” As I continued insulting myself, I thought I felt the ground shook a little with each punch I made, but that didn’t cross my mind. The ground was starting to become red as blood was dripping from my fists.

I raised my right fist in the air, concentrating all the strength I had to prepare for my last punch. “WHY CAN’T YOU DO ANYTHING FUCKING USEFUL FOR ONCE YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT?!” I brought my fist down to the ground, and upon contact…

KSHKOOOOM!

The sound was made as my fist somehow punched through the ground like water, covering my arm up to my elbow. I sat there with widened eyes at what just happened before I realized my arm was stuck in the pavement.

“Huh? W-What the?” I tried pulling my arm out of it, but no dice. “H-Hey! I can’t get out! “Hello?! Anypony around here?! I need help!”

Silence was the response.

“DAMMIT! How did I get into this and how do I get out?!” I struggled to pull my arm out of the ground, putting most of my strength into my legs. “GRRRRRGH! Come ON you stupid ground! LET. ME. GO!” I demanded before I punched my other arm to the ground, this time the impact opened a hole around my immobile arm. The momentum of the pull made me fall backwards as I yelped in surprise.

I groaned from the pain on my back before I got up on my hooves and checked part of the ground I was stuck in. “The fuck was that? How was that even possible?” I checked the arm I pulled out, which looked okay despite the dried blood on my knuckles, but there was no dust, dirt, or pebbles whatsoever on me.

I looked back to the hole, which was strangely clean-cut into a perfect circle. “… Did I do that?” I tried to think of what to do next to get some kind of similar result. With not much options, I just stomped a hoof to the ground while looking at the hole before a pillar of stone suddenly rose out of it, making me jump back in surprise. “HOLY FUCKING SHIT!” I screamed. “Crap crap crap… What do I do? How do I get it down? Uhh…” I circled around the pillar as I tried to think of how to hide the strange scene.

I then recalled some of my teachings from a previous martial arts instructor, one of which was a weird gesture with a breathing technique in case I was freaking out, stressed, or just really angry (which was what happened to me most of the time I was there). I definitely needed to calm down to think about what I should do, so I went with that option.

I walked back to where I stood before, then moved my arms in an inside-outside, circular motion as I breathed in through my nose. I then pushed my hands down to a resting position in front of my torso while breathing out of my mouth, which somehow lowered the stone pillar back down to where it was before I got my arm stuck in there. “O-Okay, this is getting way too freaky for me. I’m getting the fuck out of here.” I dashed out of the park and back to my house, trying to forget about the freaky thing that happened back there.

I didn’t bother paging Sigmund at the front gates as I approached the front door. I was too frustrated to think about formalities. Plus it was my own home, I’m pretty sure something like that isn’t even required if I could just fly over it. I unlocked the door with my house key, slammed open the door, and stomped inside before shutting the door behind me.

“SIGMUND!” I yelled at the empty entry hall. Hoofsteps were quickly and loudly approaching before my trusted head butler arrived in his formal, calm self before it changed to concern from looking at me.

“Lady Misty, are you all right? Did something happen?”

“Sigmund,” I said in a demanding tone, “I need some ‘stress relief’ posthaste. I’ll explain the situation then.”

Sigmund’s expression went from concern to understanding as he nodded. “Yes, Lady Misty. Any place in particular you would like to take this?”

“Near the fountain at the back. Meet me there with the ‘tools,’ and I expect it to happen in five minutes.”

“Yes, milady.” He then calmly and quickly took off while I made my way to the backyard where the fountain was.

I made it a minute later while ignoring the greetings the other service staff gave, and sat at the stony rim of the fountain’s architecture. I crossed my arms and one leg over the other as I waited for Sigmund to return with a furrowed brow. Soon, Sigmund came through the door with two long, black cases in each hand. He briskly walked toward me and set them down before he bowed.

I checked the pocket watch I pulled out from my purse. “Four and a half minutes. Very good, Sigmund,” I complimented before I hopped off the fountain. “Is it in good condition?”

“Yes, milady. I had just cleaned these this morning.” He picked up the case on his left and presented it to me.

I clicked open the buckles keeping it closed and opened the lid, revealing a rapier sword in its black scabbard that sat on the red carpet-like pelt inside. The guard was silver colored, with a black leather tightly gripped around the handle. I lifted the weapon and sounds of sliding steel were made as I unsheathed the blade out of its scabbard. I inspected the luster of the steel blade that shined from the sun’s light reflecting on it. I grasped the handle while in a stance, testing the weight, grip, and swiftness of the blade with a few swings and thrusts. “Excellent,” I concluded.

This was something I’ve kept from Starry and Granite for quite some time, especially my parents, but I have a secret hobby of practicing fencing. I picked up its charm by playing sword fights with a few of the pegasi back at flight camp. We used blunted sticks, yes, but there was something about wielding them in such a fashion that just felt right with me. It was the only thing that kept my time at flight camp enjoyable, but the other pegasi stopped playing with me after a while as I kept winning the game every time.

I trusted Sigmund enough to tell him my experience when I came back, and he was happy to see how I found something to enjoy myself with. Apparently, he was also quite the fencer when he was younger and still practice the art today when he had spare time, so when he offered to teach me swordplay, I accepted it at the drop of a hat. We agreed to keep it a secret from my parents as they may think fencing was something a lady such as myself shouldn’t be doing; because of that statement, I couldn’t bring it up to either of my friends as I wasn’t sure how they’d react to me practicing swordplay, especially Starry of all ponies. Sigmund had taught me fencing up to this day in secret while my parents weren’t around, and I practiced with eagerness to improve, or vent out frustrations like what I was about to do.

I set the scabbard back in the case that was set aside before I turned to Sigmund, who had his own rapier in his hand while in a stance, ready to take me on. “All right, Lady Misty, tell me what has gotten you so riled up right now,” he requested while sounds of flowing water coming out of the fountain’s structure were in the air.

“Gladly!” I charged in with a battle cry and began lashing at him with many fast slices and thrusts of my blade. Sigmund parried and dodged each strike with ease. “Starry, Granite, and I were having a wonderful time! Right up until those savages, Emerald and Copper, budged in and mocked us!” I exclaimed as I kept striking.

“Ah yes. You have told me before how avaricious those two can be, and I’ve heard their parents aren’t any better,” Sigmund replied calmly as he continued parrying and blocking. “What happened then?”

“Starry had to step in to defend the three of us for spatting on Granite’s and mine’s pony races, and for Emerald calling him a failure of a unicorn since he knew only a couple of spells!”

“How dreadful. I’d have stepped in if I was there.”

“So Starry and Emerald held a Magic Duel with our dignities on the line, which I didn’t care for as I was more worried for my friend than my title! Starry ended up losing after a magical explosion from failing to cast a teleportation spell, making him scream in pain!” I gritted my teeth as I upped my pace of strikes. I was too frustrated to notice how the fountain’s water flow was suddenly getting louder and more forceful out of the spouts.

“I wanted to see if he was okay once the savages left, but he sprinted off! Granite stopped and convinced me to leave him alone to think things through, but I’m just so frustrated—no, I’m infuriated that I couldn’t do anything! What kind of friend am I for not giving Starry my full support?! URRGH! I just want to find that damned Emerald and SLICE HIS FUCKING HEAD OFF WITH MY BLADE!” I brought down one last slash of my sword, meeting Sigmund’s to cause a loud clash of steel blades before—

FWOOOOOOOSH!

The sound of rushing waters caught my attention as our blades were still in contact before I dropped my rapier. Sigmund pulled me to the ground and shielded me from the falling stone debris from the sky while the sound of erupting waters continued. My anger turned to fear and confusion at what was going on before the sound of rushing waters eased down.

Sigmund and I stood back up soaking wet and saw the damage of the eruption. The fountain’s centerpiece was destroyed from the middle-up, leaving a broken pipe system that just squirted the water out in an unorganized fashion.

KRUUUUSH!

“GAAH!” I screamed as I jumped to the side. The top half of the fountain’s centerpiece apparently fell from the sky and crashed onto the structure’s rim, breaking them into pieces and leaving a big hole off the side. I fell back on my bottom from the sight of the aftermath, leaving me stunned and sore from all my sword flails earlier.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, I finally asked, “What… What just happened?”

Author's Note

Oof, tough luck for Starry. What's going to happen to him, what's with the strange events his two best friends have experienced after the duel? Will Starry be able to cast magic again after that incident?

Before we get to that, our next chapter will focus back to Lumina where she makes her attempt to confess her attraction to Shining Armor. What will be the outcome? You'll have to stick around to find out. Until next time,

This is Dudeler, signing off.