Chapter 3

Spirit opened her eyes as sun lanced through the window directly into them. She raised her head and groaned, she had slept on her desk after watching the battle. She had decided it would be best to write her will as it was likely that she would die. She got up and took in the unfamiliar room around her, the one provided by the arena. It was required to stay in them as the arena couldn't have anypony, or anyone for that matter, running away. She sighed as she got ready. Looking at the clock, she noticed it was 9:52. In a panic, she realised that battles started at 10 sharp, and everypo- everyone, had to be there or else they would be disqualified. She started to brush her mane and her coat before realising it was pointless, even if she survived she would most likely be coated in blood and sweat. She looked at the clock again, before bolting out the door, it was 9:57. She arrived with not a second to spare, as the clock ringing out 10 o’clock the second she arrived.

The loudspeaker popped on, announcing that the first day of the true tournament. It then announced that the matchups would be announced at 10:30, so that spectators could get seated and buy food. Most of the fighters burned time by preparing themselves; sharpening weapons, taking practice swings at dummies, or even just collecting information on the other opponents. Spirit didn't even notice the time fly by. She tried to stretch a bit, and even found a secluded corner to try and practice her abilities. As she was in the middle of her thoughts the loudspeaker popped on once again, yet she only caught the last bit.

“-Spirit Blossom VS. Silverwing!”

She started panicking before an arena worker found her and led her to the gate. It opened just as she got there, and she walked out into the cheering crowd. Across from her a griffon with silver wings and a black body stood across from her. They both stood right at the entrance to the arena’s underbelly, but the gates had already closed. The griffon shifted into a fighting stance, and spirit just stood there. The stands suddenly went quiet as they watched the two fighters. For the third, and maybe last time, the arena’s loudspeakers jumped to life.

“ 3! 2! 1!” the griffon's wings tensed and flared out, while spirit just stood still in shock. “ Fight!” before spirit even noticed him move, the griffon threw a feather from his wing across the arena and put a large gash in her right cheek. That's when she realised that his wings weren't actually covered in feathers, but knives made to look like them. She screamed in terror as the griffon launched himself at her, splaying his wings full of blades in a show of aggression. This time she ducked as a second feather knife embedded itself in the wall where her throat would have been. She ran the opposite way from the griffon who, unable to stop himself, had to wait to land. She spun around and slammed her hooves into the ground, before shifting the mana lines in her body. Pure white petals of energy formed around her as her horn shrank, but her muscles bulked up. The mana in her body started to flow differently, increasing her strength and connection to the earth. The petals bloomed around her as she stepped out, now an earth pony, and coated her hooves in a blue manafire.

“ What was that!” The announcer shouted out. “ We've seen changelings in the arena before, but nothing like that! And what is that blue fire around her hooves? How did she...” Spirit ignored the announcer’s questions, taking the offensive and using the griffon’s surprise to her advantage. She ran at him before leaping into the air and slamming her forehoof into his wing. He easily blocked the attack, hooves no match for metal, but spirit just continued her attack. She spun around and struck at his other wing with her back hoof. Again, he easily deflected the blow with his metal wings. Spirit then struck at his first wing again, but this time he was a bit sluggish, and his wing gave a bit more. Spirit continued her seemingly pointless assault. What the audience couldn't see was that with every blow he deflected his wings were slower, his face one of agony. Eventually his wings went limp and he was forced to use his claws. He caught her hooves in them, but the same happened to them. They became weaker, more agonising to operate. After just a few more minutes of this, he fell over. Neither his claws or his wings seemed to respond as spirit pushed her one hoof to his chest. He screamed in agony as his chest seemed to burn from the contact with spirit. His heart suddenly stopped beating as all of the mana in his body was burned away. He passed out seconds later, and in a few minutes he would be dead.

The petals sprung up around Spirit as she was reverted back to a unicorn. She fell back on her haunches from the exhaustion of spending so much time out of her normal unicorn form. She then suddenly became aware of the roaring cheer from the crowd. It was so loud that the only words heard from the loudspeaker were Spirit and winner. She was escorted to her room in a state of shock, where she promptly fell asleep on her bed.

Author's Note

I wrote this chapter during my study hall, so i hope it's good enough. As always, tell me about ant missed grammar mistakes!