Fighters Don't Have Friends

Chapters

0 - Part 1 : The Struggle for Harmony
0 - Part 2 : Twilight Phoenix Sparkle
1 : Shattered Pride
2 : Kung-fu 101
3 : Motivation
4 : Train Fight
5 : Lessons & Promises
6 : Laughing at your Losses
7 : A Taste of True Strength
8 : The Hurtful Truth
9 : True Colors
10 : The Red Letter
11 : The Elements of Harmony
12 : A Declaration of War
13 : The Tournament and The Rage
14 : Phoenix vs. The Stinger
15 : The Swan vs. The Night
16 : Phoenix vs. Hurricane
17 : Alicorn Blood
18 : The Laughing Match
19 : Fiona vs. The Military
20 : The Night vs. The Champion
21 : Phoenix vs. Fiona
22 : The Eternal Night
23 : Stand Up
24 : The Rising Phoenix
25 / Final : "Dear Princess Celestia..."
Epilogue : The Trail of Blood

0 - Part 1 : The Struggle for Harmony

"Equestria, the land of peace and harmony. As it is so titled, has been a melting pot for the last millennia. And from ages long ago to now, this once barbaric kingdom, now a teetering government, has been ruled by the Alicorns and their single-minded view that the 'Elements of Harmony' are what stops this land from going to war with itself. I, however, dare to believe differently!" The spokes-pony said, speaking through a microphone that echoed out to the rest of the shopping district. It was busy as it always is in Canterlot. Ponies trotting from one place to another. The only ones that stopped were those who visited clubs and stores, or the curious ones, who stood near stands of different public speakers like this one. Listening to the garbage of popular opinion.

"Where were these peacekeeping attributes when the riots broke out in Manehatten? Where was the harmony when ponies lied to you and your friends betrayed you? And where were they when you were having a bad, gloomy day, with nothing but the rain showering down on you? This world isn't filled with order, it is more like disorder!" The mare talking, a blue coated unicorn, was grabbing more attention as the topic of sadness became her main idea that she used to describe our society. She made valid points, and was correct in saying as much, but still...

"That is why we should band together! In 'Our Town', there is no one to hurt you or to insult you. It is a happy place for all and all are welcome! You there! Are you looking for a home where you can be equal with everyone around you?" The spokes-pony called out, pointing to me. I was in the middle of a passing crowd, and I just so happened to stop and listen to the nonsense. I waited for a moment, pretending that the silver cloaked mare was speaking to some other pony. But when she got off the stand and walked toward me, I felt my stomach begin to turn.

I'm not in the mood for this, I thought.

"Yes, you! Purple pony," the mare identified me with a wide grin. Her even cut bangs on either side of her horn were styled to perfection. She was the prime example of an Equalist pony. And I really wouldn't expect anything less from the leader of that nut-job organization. "You look like a pony who's been hurt by our Princess's rule. Please, tell us your tale of woe, sister," she continued. I stayed silent, hoping she'd just give up and move on to the next religion crazed equine. But she didn't. "I understand that it must be a hard subject for you," the mare grabbed my hoof, "but remember that you are among friends here, there's no need for fear."

"I'm not afraid," I said, "I just don't want to."

"That sounds like a type of fear to me," the cult leader whispered.

"You're not going to let go, are you?" I asked as I tried to pull my hoof from her grasp.

"Humor a fellow friend," she encouraged, still holding onto me tightly.

Friend... Ha! I thought. Yanking my hoof out of her's, walking to the front of the crowd. Another silver hooded follower hoofed down the microphone as I stood in front of the stand. The device whistled as it turned on, and I started my speech in a dismal tone.

"My name is Twilight, a pony who was hurt," the crowd around me was intent on listening to a common pony, but none were as eager as the Equalists. They all leaned in, smiling, wanting to hear more about me. "But who hasn't been hurt before?" I asked the crowd. All of whom, started to converse and share opinions as the cult around me started to frown. "Life isn't about living perfectly. If it was supposed to be that way, we wouldn't need education or emotions. And striving to be exactly like everypony else is a stupid idea." The cult members on the stand began to glare at me, yet, only their leader continued to smile. But I could tell, that past those turned up corners of her lips, her eyes didn't smile. She honestly expected nothing less from me.

"And in my own opinion," I continued, looking at the mare, "conflict is necessary to understand peace, cause if you don't have both, you're just as out of order as the Dragonequus himself." The mare took back the microphone when I was done. She still smiled, but now glared purposefully as quite a few ponies began to leave the crowd. I guess even Equalists took offense to being compared with the devil.

"Thank you for your thoughts," Starlight Glimmer, the Equalist leader said in kind. "We understand that our message is not for everypony yet, we only hope you will one day see the possibilities of living an 'Equal' lifestyle, farewell sister." And with that, I walked off. The remaining crowd parted as I left, most of them didn't think I should've been so blunt, or so rude when I spoke. But there was no pleasing these Canterlot ponies. They only wanted things one way, and that was their way.

Which wasn't much of a problem for me, I use to be one of them. Ignoring poor opinions was a talent of mine. And when they scowled and sneered at me in passing, I smiled back.

Never thought I'd miss those disgusted faces.

The nightlife of Canterlot was always filled with stingy rich folks. Unicorns and Pegasi who always thought highly of themselves. Spending money on whims instead of by thought. A real insulting lifestyle compared to other places, where hard work and earnings are treated with respect, rather than as a convenience. But that's the kind of world I live in, a world where the powerful get what they want and where the weak scrounge for what's given out.

And for as long as I've lived, 'Magic' had been my belief. Not 'Harmony', nor 'Equalism'. I always believed that answers were given when one understood the potential and limitations of magic. But sometimes I find myself asking if that's really true.

Can magic solve the problem of conflict? Can it stop ponies from being hurt? I asked myself.

I took a quick glance at my bandaged horn. The white wraps hid the hideous cracks underneath. It was still healing.

Of course not, I answered.

A philosophy based on the idea that a perfect world can be achieved isn't possible. Like I said, conflict is necessary. Without it, you wouldn't know peace. And if you knew peace, you most certainly knew what conflict looked like.

"Come on girls, spend the night with us, don't be shy," said a loud stallion. I looked across the street and saw two mares surrounded by a group of tall stallions in night clothes. As I continued to look, I saw that this section of the district was left particularly unpopulated. Only the mares, myself, and the stallions trotting here.

"W- We don't want any trouble," said a hushed voice, I could barely hear what this yellow pegasus was saying as she tried to stand up to them for her friend. But then, the Pegasus's friend bolted from behind her and sprinted down the street, just out of the stallion's reach.

"I'll be back with the royal guard, Fluttershy!" the red maned mare shouted back as she galloped away. But when the stallion's heard that, laughter escaped their lungs in a hysterical eruption.

"But we are the royal guard!" a blue-maned stallion boasted as he turned in the direction of the running mare. And in the street lamp light, I recognized his face.

Flash Sentry. It actually amazed me that some ponies never changed. Flash had three golden stars pinned to his scarf. Captain, huh? Screw my life. Here I've been, holding onto whatever job I can get hired for, and yet jerks like Flash get to ride the escalator of success. He must've somehow gotten on my brother's good side and promoted himself since I'd last been in Canterlot. I think I actually had a crush on him once, didn't I? I don't really remember. All I knew now was that he was a prick that I wanted to keep my distance from. And for that Pegasi's sake, I hope she does the same.

"Someone, please..." I heard that hushed little voice again. It was the pegasus, Fluttershy, was it? She wasn't standing tall anymore, she was cowering. Backing up into an alleyway like a scared defenseless animal.

For the Alicorn's sake, fly away! I began to grit my teeth as I watched. She was taking no action. The stallions were closing in on their prey, laughing under their breath and remarking how cute the mare was for acting so scared.

"Don't get involved, Twi, don't get involved," I told myself. Picking up my walking pace again. But then I heard that call for help again. Quietly, though it was, I glanced back at that Pegasus.

"Help me," she whimpered.

Pony feathers.

"Hold still," Flash Sentry said, "All I want is-"

"Fluttershy!" I exclaimed. Flash and the other guards looked back at me, annoyance dominating their expressions. "I've been looking everywhere for you," I started to lower my voice as I neared the crowd, pretending to be this mare's friend whilst avoiding any other conversations if possible. "Come on, we're going to be late to the book club," and that should've ended that. But if I was able to recognize Flash so easily, he'd be able to spot me too. And he did, unfortunately.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Twilight Sparkle, the dropout," he said, standing tall in front of me, "I heard you got an internship at the library in 'Stickville'."

"It's pronounced Ponyville," I corrected him.

"How sad," he began again, "I could've sworn that going to that backwater town would've lowered that IQ of your's a little, just so you could at least act normal. And here I thought miracles were possible."

"But what really is 'normal', Flash? Acting like a model citizen? Which you've never succeeded at, or being a grade-A creep? I thought you would've straightened up by joining the force, but I suppose even we can agree that miracles are a stretch these days." Flash hardened his glare on me after that, not at all pleased with my wit.

"Are you insulting an officer?" He sternly asked.

"Officer?" I looked around at all that were present. "I don't see any officers around here. Now, if you'll excuse us," I said as I tugged Fluttershy from behind him, "we have a book club to attend, right?"

"R- Right," Fluttershy stuttered as we started to leave. And so far everything went pretty smoothly. But I wanted to keep it that way. The faster we got away from here, the less trouble that would follow us. So I didn't look back, but I could hear some of the guards saying things like, 'not worth the trouble', or 'forget her', and some sudden trotting hooves egged me on to peek. And when I did, Flash Sentry's hoof hit me square in the face. I stumbled forward from the surprise attack, Fluttershy gasped in horror as I fell, disoriented.

"Buck you, Twilight!" Flash growled. He had no other reason for hurting me besides regaining dominance. Proving that you don't get away with treating the strong like every other spineless pony. This was yet again, proof, that my world was filled with struggle. If you weren't in a war of words with one another, you were in a real fight for your life. "And what's that about this girl being your 'friend', huh?" Flash kicked me, pulling the whimpering Pegasus to his side. "You've never had friends, and you never will!" This time, he kicked me so hard that I rolled over into the nearest street lamp. He then walked to me and raised me up by my mane. The sharp feeling at the top of my head made me grab his hoof to stop the pain a little as I looked up at him with a glare. "Don't mess with me again, or I'll personally put you in jail for public disturbance!"

Flash threw me to the ground, and I clasped my head with my hooves as I felt my horn throb from the impact. The pain felt like a knife being twisted into my skull. Nearly unbearable.

"N- No!" The yellow Pegasus said as she struggled against Flash, watching me seethe.

What the hell were you thinking, Twilight? Didn't you learn your lesson in Ponyville? The only one that matters is 'number one', yourself! Why would even think about helping another pony, or defend them? It's only brought you pain and hurt, you idiot. Then I started to hear other ponies in my head calling me that. One voice specifically stood out over the rest. Rainbow Dash. I ground my teeth as my mind kept repeating that word in that raspy voice of her's.

Idiot, idiot, idiot!

"I know that," I grumbled as I sat up. Blood trickled from my horn and down to my face as I looked up at the sky. My mind went numb to the pain, I saw no stars thanks to the city lights that polluted the view. There really was nothing here for me in Cantertlot, just a reminder of how weak I am.

Wait; I'm weak? That thought alone left me perplexed and sickened. My sight turned to Flash Sentry, he had dragged the girl along far enough to reach his little gang again, and after a good long look, I decided to break my own promise, 'not to fight again'.

I stood up, walking toward Flash Sentry. It only took a second for his friends to spot me and tell him. Flash turned and glared. "Do you have a death wish, Sparkle?" He asked.

"No, just a bone to pick," I answered, quickening my pace as I approached him.

"Boys, get the hoof-cuffs," he began, "we're taking this delinquent in for disturbing the-" but finishing that sentence was going to be hard as my hoof ended it early. One punch knocking his head back. He wasn't expecting such a hard hit, leaving me time to smash one more hoof into his face before I kicked him back into his buddies. Two of the other guards were there to catch him while three others stepped up to the plate. The Pegasus girl had moved back to a safe distance but continued to watch. Which was good, I needed the room to fight. I got up on my hind legs, putting one hoof in front of the other, ready to break some bones. Because it wasn't about saving a defenseless girl anymore. It was about me. Fighting with no cause to justify myself. And no other reason made sense to me for doing so.

"Get her!" Flash Sentry ordered, the guards responded with a charge. All I had to do was wait. The first guard threw a punch that I sidestepped with a spin to his right. Allowing me to grip his hoof with my left and elbow him in the head with my right. The punk was stunned, I elbowed his rib cage next, a few snapping sounds echoed from that attack, it was safe to say he wouldn't be getting up again. The next guard in front of me was reeling back a hard punch, but he wasn't quick enough to stop me from kicking him in the gut. I had let the other guard go to focus on the stallion holding his stomach like a child. I punched his lights out with one hard hit and now he wasn't worried about anything. But I was.

I failed to pay close attention to the other dozen guards still present, I was grappled from behind by two of them. Flash Sentry walked up to me as I attempted to shake free, and Flash began to beat my head back and forth, no holding back. I could only feel bruises forming and hear the panicked cries of that girl as she watched. Eventually, Flash got dirty and struck at my horn. The scream I let out was gut wrenching, but it also made me mad. I lifted my back hooves up to my chest and bucked Flash right in the face. The force from the kick against Flash made the jerks behind me trip back and over the other pony with the broken ribs. After they hit the floor, I rolled free. But I wasn't just going to stop.

I stood up above one of them and stomped my hooves onto his nose, breaking it. The second one was getting up and I felt inclined to help him to his hooves as I punched him just under the navel. Pulling him to my right, I continued my assault. He was right to focus on blocking my attacks instead of thinking about his wounds, but I refused to leave him without making him hurt. I alternated between punches and kicks so much that the poor bastard didn't know what to block as I only sped up my attacks, forcing him up against a wall on the other side of the street. Now he could barely stand, no hooves lifted to defend himself and no attacks to counter me. He just took it. And right when I was about to smash his head up against the wall, he fell, my hoof breaking the brittle brick above him, sending a ripple of cracks out from the impact.

He was unconscious, and I could barely see past the blood dripping over my eyes. My breathing had steadied, but I heard more ponies coming for me from across the street.

So, did you learn a valuable lesson today? I heard another familiar voice in my head. Vinyl's voice. They were words that I had heard a long time ago, but they were words that I would never forget.

"Yeah, I've learned that I'm not done fighting!" Roaring as I turned, I met my opponents head on. The first to face me was actually a mare, but a member of the royal guard none the less. I leaped, drop kicking her backward. I managed to land on all fours before I got surrounded by three more. Dashing back into them, I elbowed the one right behind me, the one on my left got a punch off me, but I returned the kindness, socking him once, leading right into a kick to his privates. The one behind me tried to headlock me, one headbutt back made him drop me. The guard to my right turned and bucked me in the side with both back hooves. I took the pain with grinding teeth and grabbed his back hooves with my two front. It took some exertion, but I managed to swing him around and into another charging guard. The momentum I built from the swing led me into another striking kick against the one behind me.

"Come on!" I shouted. The last four that could still stand all came at me at once. I tackled one in the stomach to escape being surrounded and brought his head down to the street. The next I bucked back and turned as I raised both of my hooves above my head and planted his face into the ground. The next one that stood his ground with me locked hooves with me as we both tried to overpower the other. But I knew better than to wrestle pointlessly. I reared one back hoof behind me, and kicked in under him, pulling his weight over me as I held his head over my shoulder. I fell on my back but used his head to cushion the fall.

The last one was shaken. I couldn't tell at this point if he wanted to fight or not. My vision was so cloudy, and all I saw was a fleeing figure. I looked over to where Flash Sentry was. He wasn't feeling too confident either, but that didn't matter, as long as he was here, I could still push on and fight. I ran at him as he backed into the alley. And when I went for a punch he caught it and threw me against the corner of a building, hoping I'd fall from the sharp brick hitting the back of my head. But I refused to lose. I stood as if unphased. Truth was, I was hurting, hurting so much. And yet, I felt like I could see clearer now. This bloodlust of mine helped me somehow; I've never felt so alive.

Flash stumbled back onto his flank, frightened of me. "I- I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please don't kill me!" He pleaded.

"Are you?" I asked, still standing on my hind legs. My hooves were shaking in anger as I watched him beg. "Apologize to her," I said, gesturing my head to the Pegasus that now stood with a hoof over her mouth, tears falling from her face.

"P- Please, I'm sorry," Flash turned to the girl, my hoof was ready to strike, "Please! Show mercy!" Flash lifted his hooves to protect himself as I brought my attack down onto him. I stopped as his words reached my ears.

Mercy?

I held my hoof just over him as I watched him cower. He didn't want to fight anymore? I had unknowingly surprised myself with this one ounce of compassion I had shown. I felt, wrong. But I shook past that feeling and picked Flash up by his jacket. Forcing him to make eye contact with me.

"Listen, Greggory," I called him by his middle name, "If you ever treat your position as a guard captain like some title to threaten people with again, I'll know where to find you, and you know what'll happen." Flash merely nodded to that as he sobbed. I dropped him, now finished with my fight. Leaving him and his gang in the streets bloody and beaten. I walked past the Pegasus girl. She wasn't crying anymore, just puzzled that I didn't finish him like I did the others. And I wanted to know why I didn't too. But not even 'Magic' could answer that.

All I knew was that I needed to get back to Ponyville. Where this all started. If I didn't leave Canterlot soon after what I just did, every guard in the city would be alerted to take me in. And that was not something I wanted to deal with.

"Ponyville it is," I told myself as I walked in the direction of the train station. The streets were as bare as they were before, I was leaving the shopping district alone tonight. But I heard one more set of hoof-steps behind me. It was the Pegasus, keeping her distance. "What?" I asked.

"O- Oh, I- I wanted to ask you something," she was speaking in that hushed tone again. Annoying. "H- How did you learn how to fight?"

"Why? You want lessons?"

"No! I- I just want to understand,"

"Understand what?" I asked.

"How you became like this," she answered.

How indeed, I thought, ignoring her. Why would anyone give a shit? I picked up my pace to a steady trot, I wanted to settle things. Become who I was apparently destined to be. If not an easy, quiet life, then I'd pursue struggle. Since that's all I'm good at now. Struggling.

Becasuse that's what being at harmony means to me. To struggle.

0 - Part 2 : Twilight Phoenix Sparkle

"Full name?" the station manager asked me. He had a form on a clipboard in front of him, filling it out for a train pass that I had previously misplaced.

"Twilight Phoenix Sparkle," I told him, giving him my full name. I had asked if he could fill it out instead, as I could barely write with my injured hooves and not to mention my 'teeth-writing' still needed work for it to be legible.

"Why are you heading to Ponyville at this time of night, Miss Sparkle?" he asked.

"I have my reasons," I answered. He nodded and wrote down the hour the form was being filled out. 1:45 A.M.

"Address and phone number?"

"6482 Royal Lane. And I don't have a phone," I said, offering my brother's address and number instead for contact purposes.

"I think I've seen you before," the manager mentioned, he stopped his work to look at me. My sapphire colored hair and red streaks were probably recognizable to him. Not many other ponies looked as similar to each other as my family had. But I don't think he did. Well, the new me that is. "Did you use to go to the Unicorn Academy by chance?" When he asked that, I thought long and hard about what that used to mean to me, glaring at the magic he used to levitate and write with.

"Yeah," I said, "But that was a while ago,"

"Are you employed?"

"Golden oak library, I'm a bookkeeper, part-time,"

"Wage?" the questions he continued to ask me were just textbook procedures. Nothing too prying, which was nice. I never liked other ponies getting interested or questioning me. I preferred to keep my distance. Of course, such ideology made things more difficult when related skills were needed, but the more I could remain indifferent the better. Being attached never helped me anyway.

"I know it's none of my business, but were you in a fight before this?" the manager asked. I looked up at him with a blank stare.

Great, those questions.

He smiled awkwardly at me to answer, and that's when I took a good look at my reflection in the station stop's out looking window. My black hoodie was ripped on the shoulder from when I slid on the brick street and I had a swollen black eye from an off-duty guard, a jerk named Flash Sentry. I recalled it like a bad dream, and the more I looked at myself, the more I started to remember the pain I was actually in. I cringed at those moments when I was punched and kicked back and forth by a gang of delinquent guards. I grabbed my right hoof. One of them that gripped me from behind had twisted it a little too much. And then the last thing I reminded myself of was that hit to my horn. I bit my lip and turned back to the manager.

"I'd rather not talk about it..."

The manager nodded again, filling out the rest of the form with little help from me. When he was done he asked me to stand still for the photo on my new ID. I laughed when I saw my beat up mug, a clear depiction of what I felt like.

"I look like I just got out of prison, don't I?" I joked with the manager. But he just froze in place, as he probably just came to that conclusion. Most likely shuttering at the thought that I actually was a dangerous criminal.

"H- Have a good night, ma'am!" he said as he closed the station down for the night, quickly.

"Wait, I didn't mean it!" I called out to him, but before I knew it he had galloped for the hills. "That's not going to bite me in the flank later," I mumbled to myself. Taking my time to trot over to the ticket gate. I swiped my train pass over the scanner and the screen next to me lit up green.

Good thing I gave him my brother's credit card number, I might not have gotten in otherwise, I thought. Shining Armor, my brother, was not going to be happy about this. Using his funds for myself secretly was not something I had intended to do. But my wallet was back at the shopping district most likely, and I was not about to go back there.

As I walked into the waiting area, I spotted a yellow Pegasus with a pink mane sitting by herself at the far bench. She waved for me to come over, but I stopped halfway down the aisle as I assessed her from afar. "You followed me," I stated. Not exactly surprised, I still didn't expect her to wait here for me. "Are you crazy or something?"

She stopped smiling and looked down, a little cheerless as I sat at the opposite end of her bench.

Her name was Fluttershy if I remember correctly. She was there too when I had gotten into that scuffle earlier tonight. Almost a victim of Flash Sentry's harassment. I kept catching her glancing over at me. She was eager to ask me something, yet, didn't feel brave enough to raise her voice.

Fine by me, I need some alone time.

I stopped paying attention to the shy girl and looked out into the snow covered valley in front of me. A nice change of scenery from the busy city life of Canterlot. Why hadn't I left this place sooner? Out there in the more rural towns of Equestria, it was far more beautiful, more breathtaking, more...

"Excuse me," said a quiet voice in my ear.

"Fudge and Sprinkles!" I cried out as I jumped from my seat. I tried to steady myself into a fighting stance but ended up tripping over my own back hooves instead, my head making contact with the ground first. I spitefully murmured about my luck a little more before I looked back to Fluttershy who had snuck up on me, a stream of apologies flooding out of her mouth.

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, I am so sorry, so sorry! I- I just want to talk to you," she confessed. Right now I was thinking of that wound on the back of the head. Flash Sentry, at the end of it all, threw me up against a corner of a building. I almost felt like crying just thinking about. So I forced myself to focus on anything else but that to avoid the mental pain. And I saw Fluttershy's hoof, extended out to me. I had considered pushing her hoof away to help myself. But one look into her big innocent eyes made me think twice.

I grabbed her hoof, and she helped me up.

"Are you hurt?" she asked.

"Hurt is an understatement," I said, moving her aside to take my seat again. "I feel more like I've been bombarded by a moving truck full of furniture." The grimace on Fluttershy's face made me chuckle. Looking her over again, she was wearing a white summer dress with a blue coat buttoned over a scarf. Proper coverage compared to my lone hoodie.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Yes, why do you ask?" she answered with a smile.

Because you were cowering back there, I thought. Earlier, Fluttershy was just waiting around near a small shop, while I think a friend of her's was closing up a store. And that was when Flash Sentry and his gang showed up. It started out harmless enough, just a group of stallions hitting on some mares. But they were a little too insistent that they join them for the night. Fluttershy's friend escaped to go get help from the royal guard, but then they laughed saying that they were the guard. Fluttershy was left all alone.

"I need to thank you properly," Fluttershy said, "for saving me back there."

"You don't need to, I wasn't trying to be a hero," I told her, thinking back to earlier. My urge to fight was a combination of my patience fading and my hunger for combat. A feeling I hadn't felt for a few days now. While I thought I started the fight with the best of intentions, it quickly became my own personal problem to convince myself that I didn't waste my time in Ponyville, with my 'friends'.

I touched my horn, covered thickly with medical wraps. I could still feel the crack from the top of my horn to my skull.

I'm not a hero, just another selfish pony.

I could've hurt Flash even more if I wanted to, but it wasn't worth it in the end. I proved to myself that I was still skilled enough to be considered a fighter. That's all I wanted from that fight.

"But you are a hero," Fluttershy suddenly spoke up. To my surprise, she wasn't trying to be soft spoken anymore, she was trying to be inspiring, even if it really didn't fit with that high pitched voice of her's. "I followed you because I wanted to know how you got to be this way, you don't seem like the kind of pony who would fight like you did." I quickly looked down at my ID. The black eye and the dried up blood on my face made me think of nothing else but a pony with a troubled past.

"I don't?" I said, and then I groaned as I realized. Fantastic, she wasn't scared of me, to begin with, no wonder she followed me. I was just another mare going through life to her. How more unjudging and kind hearted could you get?

"So, you really want to know?" I asked as I looked back up at the night sky. She nodded, yes. "Then take a seat, it'll be a while before the next train comes anyway." Fluttershy sat next to me quickly, and I began where I think it all started. How I came to be more well known as simply 'Phoenix' instead of as 'Twilight Sparkle'. How I got muddled into the more conflict centered part of Equestria's branched culture.

"I was still living here in Canterlot," I began, "where I thought I'd always be. Studying magic, content that my life was perfect..."

1 : Shattered Pride

I used to live at Celestia's Academy for the Magically Gifted. Top of my class and my year. There wasn't really anything I couldn't do besides the restricted spells that only Alicorns could cast. I believe I corrected the teachers so much that I had to be taught by her Highness, personally. And those classes were always the most engaging. She gave me spells to practice that some Unicorns couldn't even dream of performing. I mean, I blew up things, like big things. And all for fun.

My life had gone exactly the way I wanted it to. I never had to worry about money. The Academy paid me to learn by the hour. Which brought about its own perks as the campus was piratically my own personal classroom for any pony to simply walk up to me and ask how a conjuring was done, or why certain spells had to be pronounced in Latin instead of English. I loved it all.

But like any tragic story, that was all taken away from me.

One night in the comfort of my apartment, I was staying up late again, studying for that month's exam. It was on pyromancy. I had books stacked up high next to my bed with old forms of fire-breathing to new age blue fire starting. I was planning to use a white flame for my main demonstration. I often studied like this to prepare for anything. A misfire, a correction that might've needed to be re-written and just about anything that could go wrong. But nothing I had ever studied before, could have prepared me for that night.

And it happened while I was glazing over my book in bed when I heard a faint whoosh of air pass by my window. I sat up to glance outside and saw nothing. So I quickly turned back to my book. Then it happened again, a gust of quick wind identical to the last one. But this time when I looked out the window, I saw something blurry and blue pass. My curiosity got the better of me and I stood up to check what it was. I scanned the corners of my vision without opening the window and then I heard the noise again, but no blur. Determined to see what it was, I swung open the window with my magic and leaned outside and saw a blue Pegasus to my right, trying to open a window to enter the apartment next to mine.

Is that a friend of Moon Dancer's? I thought, as that apartment next to mine belonged to her, a fellow scholar like me. But that wasn't the case. This Pegasus wasn't even a citizen of Canterlot. I would later learn that this Pegasus' name was Rainbow Hurricane Dash. But as of right now, she was just a stranger doing strange things. And that's when she spotted me. Flying faster in than I could follow. I turned to see her directly in front of me. Rainbow Dash was looking me over intently. She wore a white jacket with fur flaring out at the collar, and her rainbow-colored mane covered half of her face with a black baseball cap forcing her hair down into that style.

"Umm, Hi?" I said, waving a hoof at her. She didn't wave back. Instead, she grabbed my hoof, pulled me close to her face and said...

"You'll do."

"What?" I managed to say before being yanked out of the window. Dash was now flying West with a firm grip on my hoof while I panicked at the thought of falling dozens of miles to the ground. I screamed for help and tried to pull my hoof out of her grasp. But the struggle only resulted in my first dislocated hoof. Which to me back then, felt like it was broken. I would soon learn the difference between the two in time.

"See what you made me do?" Dash shouted over the rushing wind in our ears. I couldn't bring myself to move anymore, I just cried over my hoof, muttering that it was broken, despite the number of times Dash had said it wasn't. But at least it got me focused on something else other than the ground. I was subconsciously blaming Dash for my misfortune. But honestly, I was only making our descent into Ponyville a lot more difficult for us than it should have been.

I was being immature and prideful back then. Only thinking of myself, refusing to improve my character from others. How funny, that I now view Dash kidnapping me as one of the best things that could've happened to my life.

I'm getting off track. Sorry.

Flying into town at the time of night we did was something interesting. Never in my life had I seen such a lively population at one o'clock in the morning. Tons of ponies watched us as we made land and I started to crawl away from my kidnapper.

"Where are you going?" Dash asked, watching me pull against her as she tugged on my hoodie.

"M- My hoof, it- it's broken," I said, then Dash turned me around.

"Here," She said, grabbing my hoof forcibly and pushing the bones back into place. I felt a sharp pain in my wrist, and then a relief, it was bending normally again.

"It's fixed?" I said, amazed. Dash just rolled her eyes and grabbed me by the hoodie again, and dragged me along until we reached what seemed to me like a normal cake shop from afar. But under the cover of night, lit up with neon signs and flashing spotlights. It looked more like a casino, signaling anyone and everyone to come and see what was inside.

"Welcome to Ponyville, Dorky. And welcome to Knuckle Brick Corner." Dash said, praising this place with rustic ponies and shady strangers exiting and entering like a river of bad ideas just waiting to happen. I stepped back hesitantly before Dash started pulling me again, entering the building as I collided with every pony I stumbled past. Electric music and thumping beats blared over my thoughts and I barely managed to excuse myself half a dozen times amidst the masses. Then a misstep of my hooves led me to accidentally hit a stallion's drink onto himself, Dash and I stopped as he called out to me.

"Hey!" he said, standing before me with anger in his eyes.

"I- I am so sorry sir, let me buy you another drink-" but before I could say anything else, he lifted me up by my hoodie, and threw me halfway across the room filled with ponies that simply stepped aside as I flew by them. Almost like a routine, as if that happened often. I almost hit the ground hard, but I caught myself just in time before I did. Levitating myself in place for a moment before setting my hooves down.

"Man, starting a fight before the title bout? You're not half bad, Dorky." Dash said, offering a hoof to lift me up.

"I wasn't starting a fight, and stop calling me Dorky!" I said, declining her offer by smacking her hoof away.

"But that is what you are right? A dork, a dweeb, an egghead?" Dash continued, her laughable tone making me even angrier. "But I got to say, nice trick of the horn! Where did you learn that?"

"None of your business!" I shouted. Being called those things made me think of the bad parts of magic kindergarten. All of the other colts and fillies called me that because I skipped a few grades. Now, I wouldn't mind being called that, but a reminder of bad times was never welcome back then. So I took ahold of her hat with my magic and tossed it into the crowd. Dash's eyes went wide. Almost in denial that I just did that.

"Look, pal, I get it that your some kind of big shot from the city, but if you keep messing around like that, you'll have a lot more to worry about than a few harmless pet-names," Dash warned me, but I didn't listen. I refused to hear that kind of talk from someone who just dragged me to this town against my will. So I levitated a few chairs and pushed them at her, hitting ponies behind her as she jumped over them, which was my big mistake.

"Strike three, mother bucker!" Dash quipped as she charged me. I couldn't react in time before she grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back. I tried to pull loose, but that only made things worse when she pinned me up against the bar. I felt my stomach get plunged against the counter and all of the air in me came spewing out at once.

"Rainbow Hurricane Dash, good to see ya!" the bartender addressed my kidnapper casually. "New recruit?"

"Yeah," Dash answered, "just breaking her in a little, you know how that goes."

"Rainbow Dash, is that really your name?" I asked, tilting my head back toward her.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"That's a pretty girly name for such a hard flank," I said. Dash reared my head back, slamming me against the counter. The shock from my head bouncing from the hardwood stunned me for a little but I wasn't about to give up on escaping this place. I tried to get up by pushing my other hoof underneath me. I even went so far as to lift myself up with my own magic. But with Dash on top of me like that, twisting my hoof, I could barely lift my head to see the bartender. Let alone concentrate on breaking free. The bartender was fairly handsome for a being a Pegasus himself. Darker colored mane styled back like a flame and a light blue coat under his bartender outfit.

Dash wasn't letting up on me, so I did what any unicorn would do, and zapped her in the face with a magic beam. Her hooves went to her face and I made a break for it. Only to be tackled from behind by her a second later. That time I hit the ground hard. And after twisting my hoof behind me again, Dash pick me up and slammed me onto the counter one final time.

"You're just a glutton for punishment aren't ya?" He said.

"And a little more trouble than she's worth," Dash commented as I continued to struggle. "Hey, Dorky," Dash continued to say. "I'm not into pinning you any more than you enjoy being pinned."

"Then stopping hurting me!" I retorted.

"Please," Dash said with another twist of my hoof, causing me to tense up in pain. "That's hurting you. I was just holding you down, but you're the one who's making this difficult." I stopped resisting, and Dash let me go. Allowing me to comfort my stomach.

"Don't comfort your wounds, they'll hold onto you as long as you hold onto them," said another mare's voice. I turned to see a pale coated mare with a crazy blue and gray highlighted mane. Wearing a red jacket and sporting a pair of blue tinted sunglasses. "Name's Vinyl, newbie." The mare extended a hoof out to me. I think that was the first nice thing that happened to me that night, meeting Vinyl Tiberius Scratch. The very pinnacle of mastery if I ever met one. She was the arena DJ for Knuckle Brick Corner and the leader of Rainbow Dash's little group of fighters.

"Twilight Sparkle," I introduced myself.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Twilight. And welcome to the team!" Vinyl announced. I gave her a quizzical look.

"Team?" I asked.

"Well you see," Vinyl began, "My student Dash here went out to find another member to join our ranks since the last one kinda got hospitalized."

"Hospitalized!? Why?"

"Fighting, of course," Vinyl said, casually. "Dash did tell you that's why we needed someone right?"

"No, actually. She failed to mention any of that!" I said loud and clear, arms crossed. Vinyl's eyes shifted to Dash with her head still facing me, looking quite disappointed.

"Hey, you said to get someone quick, so I did, Scratch. If you don't like my recruits, you can find someone yourself next time," Dash explained.

Vinyl pinched the bridge between her eyes. "Whatever," she said, looking back to me, "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but how about you stick this out for us this one night and when we win, we'll get you on a train back to Canterlot, sound fair?"

"Ha ha, Funny," I told Vinyl, giving her a friendly hit on the shoulder. "But I'm just going to leave without any more pain, thank you!" I then saw the cringe on Dash's face out of the corner of my eye, just before I found myself yet again in another arm lock, this time a lot tighter.

"First of all, don't touch me!" Vinyl hissed in my ear. "And second of all, that wasn't a suggestion. We went through the trouble of bringing you here and you're going to fight with us!"

"Come on, I thought you were nice-" Vinyl slammed me into the counter. Giving me another reason to yell, 'ow'.

"Soarin," Vinyl addressed the bartender, he nodded. Pulling down a microphone from above the bar, he began to speak into it with skill and vigor.

"Ladies and gentleman! Welcome, to knuckle brick corner!" His voice amplified throughout the entire building, and tons of ponies cheered at his voice. "Tonight is the semi-annual Team Fighters Tournament! The rules are simple, get about six friends together, and sign up to win exclusive rights to the bar and proclaim yourselves as the number one fighters of the Everfree!" Soarin was being very enthusiastic and excited, drawing everyone's attention to him. "The first fight will be between the Knightmares and the Elements of HARMony! Play nice everyone, and remember, drinks are on the house for all participating fighters!" Soarin finished with a smile, spotlights shining on every pony in the match. We were all quickly grabbed and brought to the center of the room, where four sets of bars boxed us in, with another set separating us from the other team.

I looked up and down my side of the cage. Besides Dash and Vinyl, I saw the other three members I would become well acquainted with. Pinkamina Diana Pie, the drunken fist of our party. Abigail Apple Jack, the kickboxer. Alexandra Rarity, nicknamed the Swan for more reasons than one. Dash was the quick hitter, attacking her opponents with incredible speed. And Vinyl, the leader, known best for being one of the top fighters in Ponyville.

I was the only one that had zero combat experience. I never even had a single fight with my own brother before this. And now, I was expected to head into an all out brawl.

On the other side of the bars inside the cage were the Knightmares. They were a bunch that wore spiked dark purple armor, covered head to horseshoe. They stood in line like a six pony army. One mare at the end stood a little taller than the rest, their leader, 'Nightmare Moon'. A Unicorn accurately characterized after the fabled name itself, tall, evil looking, and proud of what her name meant. They were the first opposing team in the tournament. And sadly, they were also going to be our last.

"Fighters! Are you ready to rumble?" Soarin announced over the speakers, both Vinyl and Nightmare nodded. The crowd building in anticipation, the bars separating us began to raise, and Soarin shouted the one word that I now love to hear.

"Fight!"

And so it began.

Both sides charged with aggression. I, however, just stayed back against the cage. I first saw Pinkie and Abigail grapple two of the Knightmares to the ground, driving their heads against the concrete. The one Abby took down didn't get up. The other, however, caught hold of Pinkie's neck as she stood and spun around. Throwing the pink pony towards their leader who was watching the fight but positioned a punch to close-line Pinkie in mid-air. Already, two fighters were down in the fight.

Next, I saw Dash make quick jabs at her opponent. Each hit she landed made the other pony enraged, priming her to make a mistake, which Dash took as an opportunity. Spinning in the air with her wings. Dash kicked away an attack and redirected the other pony's head so hard that it got stuck between the bars, leaving the Knightmare too immobilized to fight. Dash and Abby made a look at each other and charged the Knightmare's leader. But they forgot about the other Knightmare. The one that had thrown Pinkie, rammed into Abby's backside, leading Nightmare Moon into a tackle and a throw. Abby's hard head met Dash's, and Dash stepped back a little dazed, providing Nightmare with the time to punch her lights out.

Knightmares, 3.

Elements of HARMony, 2.

Rare and Vinyl had their own battles to win. Rarity was dodging her opponent's attacks gracefully, attacking at only the most opportune of moments. But her pretty fighting style was her downfall as she made one miss-step. Resulting in a buck to the stomach that left her limp on the floor. She was always so fragile, that's why she needed to be perfect whenever she fought.

And then there was Vinyl Scratch. She held her own against two just fine, blocking and attacking as if she was dancing to the rhythm of the thumping music. Knocking out the two Knightmares within seconds. But when she looked at the rest of her team, beaten and defeated, Vinyl made a disappointed sigh and charged for Nightmare. It was a risky move to take but if she was going to have any hope of winning, Vinyl would have to take down the leader in order to secure a victory.

But even she couldn't challenge such a force.

I have no doubt in my mind that she could take Nightmare Moon down one on one. But the other two Knightmares made it difficult.

Vinyl and Nightmare Moon became locked in combat, their hooves bounced off one another, they both knew the ins and outs of battle. But given that it was a team battle, the others attacked without mercy, hitting Vinyl back and forth punch after punch, in a triangle formation. Eventually, Vinyl could hardly hold up, she was bleeding from her forehead down, but still stood. So in a last ditch effort to leave an impression, Vinyl reared back and struck at Nightmare in the face, knocking her head back, exerting all of her strength, causing her to fall onto the floor. Defeated.

And now all that was left was me.

Nightmare's eyes lit up with rage that she'd been hurt and raised a hoof to attack Vinyl. Who laid defenseless on the ground. I could just tell that it would do more than just hurt her, and I couldn't bring myself to just sit back and watch anymore.

I charged at Nightmare Moon. Grabbing her armored hoof with all my strength, halting her attack. Nightmare felt annoyed and threw me off of her arm and against the bars. I hit the metal hard enough that I couldn't raise my voice to vocally describe how badly it hurt. I couldn't move. But one look up at Nightmare Moon and I felt that if I didn't fight back, this would be the end of me. I swung at her and she blocked it in her approach, twisting my right hoof until it snapped. Now that, was a broken bone. Before I could scream in pain, Nightmare gut punched me and grabbed me by the collar of my hoodie. Lifting me up in the air with both hooves, forcing me to make eye contact with her.

"What mockery is this?" Nightmare Moon growled, "I arrived to fight the best this puny settlement had to offer and I am gifted with amateurs and a child!" I was scared for my life, tears fell my face as I looked into her dark eyes. "I don't know who you are, little pony. But this is not only an insult to me, but to all warriors!" For some reason that made me feel worse than it should've. It made me angry a little too, so I headbutted her after gripping her helmet with my only good hoof in an attempt to make her drop me. The sting from hitting her armor against my forehead felt worse than I thought it would and Nightmare Moon chuckled that I even tried.

"Humor, little pony. This is a headbutt!" Nightmare Moon corrected me, leaning her head back slightly, and like a bullet, she collided her armored horn with mine. I couldn't comprehend just how hard she had hit me as I fell unconscious, the snap and crack of my horn being the last thing I heard.

"So, that's what happened to your...?"

"My horn, yes," I answered Fluttershy, looking up at that bandaged piece of my skull. I honestly still felt a little useless without it working properly. But one look at my hooves, and I feel the strength that's been built in them since then. It's almost ironic that I value my body still functioning over the possibility of my horn working again. I now trusted my fists over my advanced skill in magic.

I shouldn't have been so surprised at how brutal that night was. Considering I had always known that our country wasn't the most peaceful. Once a war-torn kingdom, now a flourishing, 'colorful' society. Equestria still housed its concept of dominance and power. Most ponies are converting however to a less violent path with Princess Celestia the 4th on the throne. But I'd say just as many appreciate the laws still in place that allow our medieval ideals to shine, just like in Ponyville.

"Funny," I said quietly, glancing up at the rising sun. I really did miss that tiny excuse of a town.

"So, what happened when you woke up?" Fluttershy asked, raising a hoof to block the blinding sun.

"Oh, right, I woke up to my right hoof, healing, and my horn was broken, a crack split right down the middle," I said as I unwrapped the cloth around my horn, revealing it's gaping tear and a fracture breaking out to the right. Courtesy of my last fight.

Fluttershy gasped at the sight of it. "Does it hurt?"

"A little," I answered, "I can't use magic anymore because of its condition."

"That's terrible!" She cried.

"Ha! That's not even the worst of it."

"Oh dear..."

On what I assumed was the following morning, I woke up to the smell of burnt daisies. I sat up holding my head with one hoof, my other in a sling. A stinging pain on top of my skull wouldn't stop.

"W- What happened?" I asked, dazed.

"You've taken quite a hit that's what!" A deep voice answered. I looked around and saw a stallion colored dark for his palate, a unicorn sitting next to me in a doctor's coat, wearing glasses.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Dr. Sombra Slovic, but my patients call me Doc. It's a pleasure to finally speak with you Miss Sparkle," Dr. Slovic introduced himself while I sat up in a hospital bed. "All things considered, I'd count you lucky that I got you here when I did. With a concussion like that, most unicorns would have had more damage done to them mentally. But just from a quick glance," Dr. Slovic pulled down one of my eyelids and leaned in closely, "you'll be just fine!" he declared with a smile.

"Is she awake?!" asked a raspy voice come from outside the room. It was Dash's voice.

"Yes, Miss Dash, she is, do you need a check up at all?"

"No Doc, I heal just fine, thanks,"

"Rainbow Dash?" I said to the blurry blue figure.

"No! Don't do that, calling me Hurricane or just Dash is fine, only my dad calls me Rainbow." She placed a plate of sunny-side up daisies on my lap and gestured at me to eat. I eat slowly, a few burnt flower peddles got stuck in my teeth, which I then dug out with my tongue. It wasn't the best meal, but it was better than nothing.

"How long have I been asleep?" I asked, my head still thumping with pain.

"Yes, well," Dr. Slovic began again, but Dash cut in before he could finish.

"You've been out for three, maybe four days?" she said.

"Five days, Miss Dash," Dr. Slovic stated.

"Five days!?" I screamed, choking. Instantly, I started to think of all the days of school I had missed, the thought of being that far behind in my studies made me panic.

"I- I need to get back to Canterlot!" I said standing up, but Dash and Dr. Slovic pulled me back onto the bed.

"Hold it there, Miss," Dr. Slovic said, "I cannot recommend that you travel in your condition, you need time to heal before I'm sure you're in good health,"

"And about that, we also cleared your schedule for you, so you really don't need to go back to Canterlot," Dash said.

"What do you mean you 'cleared' my schedule?" I said as my tone dropped.

"Well, after you got your horn smashed in by Nightmare Moon-"

"My horn!?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm getting to that," Dash said, taking back the conversation as I tried spell after spell, not a single aura of magic lighting my horn. "At first we took you outside of the bar because we lost our apartment in a bet, and this clinic was a little too far. So we called Doc to come and meet in the park nearby."

"Yes, I would've worked on you here instead, but because of your condition, I needed to work fast while I could," Dr. Slovic interjected.

"And that's when we heard your phone ringing," Dash added and I looked for my phone, finding it on the desk next to me. The battery was almost dead but I had just enough time still to see that my name had been taken off of the school listings, meaning I was no longer enrolled.

"What did you do?" I turned to Dash, who leaned away from me as I glared bitterly at her.

"Promise you won't be angry?" she told me, I only waited for her to answer, my face become more distasteful by the second. "We didn't know when you were going to wake up, so we picked up the phone after the third day of you being out and we, not just me, we, accidentally got you expelled?"

My hoof reacted to that with an instant search for Princess Celestia's phone number. I let it ring a few moments before I started to bite my lip out of a nervous habit, mumbling for her to pick up. And after an eternity of waiting, there was an answer.

"Twilight," Princess Celestia addressed me over the phone.

"Princess! I swear this is a huge misunderstanding-"

"No, I think I understand perfectly well what is going on," she cut me off, my throat went dry, and I couldn't bring myself to speak up. "You were excited that graduation was coming up next year and you thought it would be fine to go party for once. Of course, it is very unlike you to do such a thing, especially before an exam. But you, 'friends', made it quite clear that after three or four wild nights of fun that you wouldn't want to take your education any further than you already have..." My mind couldn't comprehend what was happening, I was being scolded by my teacher for nothing. None of what had happened was my idea or my fault. I was knocked unconscious in Ponyville and there was nothing I could do to stop my expulsion. "And all this drama still hasn't stopped your parents from supporting you, I hope you know that." Princess Celestia continued, "so be very mindful of your choices from now on. I wish you the best of what's left of your future and I hope that your friends were worth it, good day!"

Those last words hurt me more than my horn did for a moment, as I heard the loud bang from her hanging up on me, while the dead tone of the phone line left me shocked. I was praying that this wasn't happening.

"There is another matter, Miss Sparkle," Dr. Sombra Slovic said. "Because of the injury to your skull, in particular, your horn. There may be a possibility that your horn will never use magic again. It is terrible, but there is hope in waiting for it to heal." And that too was another blow to my psyche. My ability to use magic was lost. And everything I had worked for since I was little had been taken apart in one night. All thanks to a certain Pegasus.

"You alright, Twi?" Dash asked out of concern, and that's when I assaulted her. Tears falling from my face like rain, my voice reached new heights that had never been attempted. I strangled Rainbow Hurricane Dash, shaking her uncontrollably in my heartbroken rage. And if Sombra wasn't there to pull me off of her, I very well might've killed her.

And what was worse, is that I had been wrongfully labeled as friends with those jerks. My pride had been shattered by that very idea. Never again would I return to my old life of studies, no matter how hard I tried. I could only go downhill as far as I was concerned back then. But little did I know, that I would soon gain new knowledge. Not by reading a book but by fighting for every second I spent there in Ponyville.

I would learn how to become, a fighter.

2 : Kung-fu 101

The train whistled as it approached the station. Still, no one else showed to join us on our trip to Ponyville, and that was completely acceptable in my book. And Fluttershy's apparently. She also seemed just fine staying up until the train arrived too. I must've been a better story teller than I thought. When we finally boarded the train, we found an empty car at the very back. I sat on one side of the train, and Fluttershy on the other. It was great to have so much space to lay on, I felt like taking a nap. However, Fluttershy continued to make conversation.

"So, you didn't go back to Canterlot? Not even to visit family?" Fluttershy asked. She was being too curious about my story for my liking. I thought I was just answering her question of how I got involved in fighting. But her interest also made me ask the same things. Why didn't I go back? Regardless that I felt utter shame for losing my status as the Princess's faithful student.

"I couldn't, reasonably..." I trailed off, reminding her of the Doctor's orders to stay in Ponyvile and heal. "Also, I didn't have any money. That was probably the biggest problem that kept me from going home."

"But it sounded like your family took care of you anyway," Fluttershy pointed out.

So she actually was paying attention, good for her.

"To an extent," I told her, "Shortly after that phone call with Princess Celestia, I got my wallet stolen. And simultaneously my 'pals' didn't have a bit to help me call home and cancel my bank card. After I eventually explained the situation to my family; they told me I was on my own a little while." I talked in a very passive way, which made Fluttershy turn her eyes away. I don't think she could feel any more sorry for me than she already did. It was funny to see someone genuinely give a crap. Fluttershy is by far the strangest pony I've ever met.

"So, what did you do?" she asked.

What did I do? I scratched my head, thinking. I don't think I met Sunset yet, and this was way before the tournament, so what happened next was...

"Oh,"

"Oh?" Fluttershy tilted her head.

"Trixie Lulamoon," I answered, sitting upright to stay awake for a little longer. The image of a blue mare in a magician's costume made me cringe. "So," I began, "before I learned how to fight, I was against it completely. But Vinyl Scratch somehow convinced me to consider it."

"Did you?" Fluttershy leaned in from across the car.

"I did, after she lent me a few kung-fu books, of course."

I remember memorizing those books by heart was how I coped with my current situation. Vinyl told me that knowing how to defend myself would help if I was going to stick around for a while. And I was driven to do so even more after Dash had pushed my buttons one too many times about it. Calling me an egg-head and what not. And because of how mad I was with everything, I wanted to prove to them all that fighting was a poor use of time. I still held onto my peaceable beliefs but considered this as a lesson to be taught. I was so wrong.

The next week or so, I read the books over a few dozen times just to make sure I was getting all of the information correct in my mind. The philosophy of defending yourself, the reality of conflict; if nothing else I learned something new. It had illustrations of stances, attacks, blocks, and counters. But despite being able to read those books and spit the information back out word for word, I had missed what they were trying to tell me.

That there was way more to learn elsewhere.

"Finished!" I said as I slammed one of the books shut, stacking it on top of the pile next to me. I got off the bench I was sitting on and started to stretch my limbs like I knew what I was doing.

"Look AJ, the egg-head wants to spar, how cute!" Dash patronized me. But that insult didn't bother me anymore. I felt confident that day. I was ready to fight even though I had no real idea of what I was getting myself into.

"Laugh while you can, Rainbow. I'm going to put your face in the dirt today, you overgrown hummingbird." I really hated Dash back then. And I knew she didn't like being called by her first name. Dash cracked her hooves with a blank expression. She didn't mind fighting me now. But Abigail stepped in between us.

"Out of my way AJ, I'm going to wipe that smug grin off her face!" Dash said, her tone dropping to an all-time low, sick of my taunts.

"Dash, calm down, we should let Vinyl decide who Twi should spar with," AJ or Abigail stated. "And Twi, stop picking fights," I shrugged, ignoring Abigail's warning.

We were all at the Ponyville park, training while I read my books. Vinyl was at 'Sugar Cube Corner', the daytime cover store for knuckle brick corner. Asking around about any upcoming contenders for the team to fight. But she showed up soon enough, catching the sight of me, punching at the air.

"Someone's fired up!" Vinyl chimed as she approached from behind me. She was levitating a rolled up piece of paper with her magic. A skill I had lost some nights ago to a headbutt.

When I saw her doing that, I quickly stopped acting tough. The truth was that I wanted my magic back more than anything. But I had no money to get me home, let alone enough to have a doctor fix it. Just imagining how long it would be until it healed made me feel useless. I hated that feeling.

Vinyl lowered the piece of paper to her hoof. She could tell that it bothered me. "So, you read'em all?" Vinyl asked, referring to the kung-fu books.

"Yes!" I answered, trying to focus on anything else but my lack of magic. "And I'm ready to fight!" Vinyl could tell I was in over my head. She smiled and she tossed the paper over to Dash, approaching me in a readied battle stance.

"Alright, let's go champ!" Vinyl declared. She stood up on her hind legs, hooves raised ahead of her, one hoof in front of the other. I got nervous, quickly turning back to one of the books for reference. I could feel everyone's eyes on me. I was imagining that they were all being impatient as I looked up a stance to start in. But only Dash was tapping her hoof on the ground in a restless manner.

Finally, I chose a stance. It was pretty much a copy of Vinyl's. In fact, it was exactly like Vinyl's. I got into position and waited for Vinyl to attack. I had read that martial arts were primarily created for self-defense. So I waited for just the right moment to strike. Vinyl had figured out my plan from the get-go and waited too. Our fight quickly turned into a waiting game to see who would throw the first punch. This made me a little lax with my stance and that's when Vinyl took advantage of the fight. I flinched and before I knew it, I had been jabbed in the stomach rather sharply and with one strong tug of my arm over her shoulder, I was on my back.

Trying desperately not to cry, I turned on my side and held my stomach along with my still healing arm. The doctor, Sombra, had done me a favor out of pity and healed the bone fracture in my arm free of charge. But still, a faint pain lingered from the center of the wound, forcing me to bite my lip, feeling indisposed.

"Way to go, Twilight!" Dash blurted, who was now using Apple Jack to balance as she laughed at me.

"Okay champ, again!" Vinyl ordered. Getting back into her stance over me.

"Can I take a break?" I asked as I stood. Vinyl only punched at me in response. I took the first punch to the face, managing to block the next few before she changed targets and attacked at my legs with kicks. I figured out how to dodge those, only to get punched square in the face again. My head jolted back in surprise and blood trickled from my nose. I instantly stopped focusing on the fight which gave Vinyl the time to grab my arm and flip me onto my back for the second time.

"Again, champ!"

"W- Wait!" I said, "I'm not ready!"

"Were you ready for your exam at your school?" Vinyl asked. The sudden change of subject caught me off guard. "Were you ready when Dash dragged you out of your room?" I had no idea what she was getting at. But this little talk was going to teach me something very important. "Were you ready, when Nightmare Moon smashed your horn in?"

"I wasn't prepared," I excused myself.

"Well, guess what? Life doesn't give you a chance to prepare. You either come into life willing to fight for what you want, or you sit on the sidelines and wait for your opponents to kick dirt in your face!" Vinyl raised her voice louder and louder, and for some reason, I thought back to when I was five years old, at the Academy entrance exam. The test was supposed to be simple, lift a cup or something. But I was instead told to hatch a Dragon egg. The odds of cracking just its shell was stacked against me. An unbeatable test. But I figured if I tried hard enough I could do it. And I did. But back then I wasn't prepared to hatch a Dragon egg either, kinda like at that moment, when I wasn't ready to stand up against Vinyl and fight. I was beginning to understand at the very least that fighting wasn't a predictable lottery of how many punches it would take to win. It was your experience that made you better than anyone else, which I had none of.

"Now, are you going to let me do that to you?" Vinyl said as she kicked up some soil up into my eyes and punched at me. "Or are you going to fight?" I was in the middle of asking if I could ready my stance, but instead of listening to me, she kicked me square in the chest, pushing me onto my back. I fell and rolled onto my hooves. She wasn't going to listen to me anymore, that much I was certain.

"Stand up, champ!" She shouted. And from there, we sparred for hours. The others trained too. But I couldn't pay that much attention to anything else but my training with Vinyl that afternoon. And by the time that the sun began to set, I wasn't asking to stop anymore. I had almost forgotten about the bruises on my back and the two black eyes Vinyl had given me. I could still see through my swollen eyelids barely as I readied my stance for the hundredth time. And just when I was about to go for another attack, Vinyl lowered her hooves.

"All right, that's enough for today," she said. And I fell face first onto the ground. Exhausted. All we did was punch, kick, and block. Basics that really didn't need much explaining.

But regardless, that training session was the most strength exerting practice I had ever undertaken. Pinkie Pie tossed me an ice pack, to which I covered both my eyes with. The cold plastic in between me and the ice was wonderful. And after a good hour of rest, I felt someone kick me lightly. I stood up, the ice had already healed my eyes pretty well and I saw Vinyl holding a piece of paper in front of me.

"What's this?" I asked. Squinting at what seemed like a poster, depicting a mare magician surrounded by fireworks.

"Her name is Trixie Lulamoon, and she's someone we want to take down," Vinyl said.

"But she doesn't look like a fighter," I said.

"That's cause she ain't," Abigail stated. "She's a liar and a cheat!" The others nodded to that. Abby, in particular, was vexed about this Trixie. A show mare that, to me, was nothing like them. Book cover judging was a specialty of mine.

"I think you're being a little too judgemental on this, she's just a magician. So, of course, she uses illusions for her show. What, do you girls have a personal grudge with clowns too?"

"Nowhere near as much," Pinkie commented.

"She doesn't just put on a show," Vinyl said, "she rigs fights and pays her opponents to let her win." That's when I started to see how this was a bad thing. It had been a little over a week since I arrived in Ponyville, so I've gone to knuckle brick corner a number of times already. Watching the others fight while I read my books. And I learned very quickly that the rules Soarin had set in place for fighting were concrete. Obligating any real fighter to enforce them. Which made knuckle brick corner a very popular fighting arena in Equestria. And that's what begged the question.

"Then why is she even allowed to fight here?" Everypony smiled at me when I asked that.

"To put it simply, champ," Vinyl began, "no one has been able to prove that she cheats. And what's worse is that according to the roster, she's undefeated."

"And she stole the title from me without a fight," Abigail added. Now I was interested. Abby hardly ever talked about her past, let alone any winning streaks she had. Never a bragger, that one. But from what she has ever said to me, she'd been honest about it, through and through. And to hear that she used to be the Champion made me even more curious.

"So you can imagine how peeved we all are about the little wizard," Vinyl continued, "and that's exactly why we're glad you're here, champ!"

It was a surprise, but I knew exactly what they were asking me to do. They wanted me to fight. And not some drunk to win a little bit of easy money. A supposed champion of knuckle brick corner that wasn't going to leave until she was defeated, fair and square.

"Scary," Fluttershy said.

"Tell me about it,"

"What happened next?"

"We spent some time at the bar until Trixie showed," I said, remembering that I was very anxious that night. "There wasn't a specific time on the poster telling us when she was coming to town, the only thing we knew was that she was. But Soarin did tip us off, thankfully."

3 : Motivation

Turns out that Soarin wanted Trixie off the roster just as badly as we did. She only showed up once a year to keep the title. Which not only made him mad but his customers as well. Denied the opportunity to challenge the top dog except for one match a year. It was very smart of her. But Vinyl and Dash had thought of something far more clever. They wanted me to take her down in the rookie round. An event that the title holder could start on a whim. It allowed any amateur fighter to challenge the champion. And since my title was the 'Schoolgirl', they were betting I'd be picked because of my lack of fighting experience.

Vinyl and Dash were snickering and smiling like it was some kind of live stage play with a very predictable, yet humorous ending. And all they were doing was waiting for the punchline.

However, laughing was the last thing I wanted to do. Stressed out about the whole thing, I found myself alone at the far end of the bar counter, reading the menu to distract myself. But I just couldn't shake this feeling of despair as I waited to be thrown back into the ring again. Even though all I had to do was raise my hoof, let her pick me, and punch her lights out. At least that's what Dash told me to do.

We'd been waiting for quite a while and the guest of honor still hadn't shown up. My anxiety worsened by the hour. Vinyl and Dash were still cracking jokes as to how awesome this was going to be, Pinkie was arm wrestling some stallions in the corner, Alexandra was flirting as usual, and Abby was drinking. Alone. Out of everyone, Abigail had seemed solemn for some reason. I remembered my teacher, Princess Celestia, telling me once, that it's when somepony is at their lowest, that they need a friend the most. I personally never bought into that philosophy. And thankfully no one else there did either. But for once in my life, I decided to be social.

My reasoning for talking to Abby was more so that I could learn how Trixie beat her, but our conversation would turn a different way once I learned more.

"AJ?" I said as I approached.

"Yes, sugar-cube?" Abigail was always nice to me. She was one of the few ponies that I actually liked in Ponyville. Always professional, not really one to drink excessively or any alcohol for that matter. Her eyes were glancing over at the booze bottles behind Soarin.

"You seem a little down,"

"I'm more down than an apple seed in winter," she answered me, swigging her last glass of cider before she asked Soarin for a shot of beer.

"Is it because Trixie took your title?" Abby stopped from knocking her drink back, setting it down to rub her eyes.

"I use to be the title holder for a good while before Trixie showed up," Abby admitted. Running her hoof over the rim of the beer glass.

"Really?"

"You don't sound too surprised," Abigail chuckled. I felt bad about the lull in my tone, I apologized quickly for it. "You're fine, just teasing," she said, returning to her story as I listened. "It's always been kinda a tradition of the Apple family's to be the toughest ponies around. On top of that, we run a business that keeps the money rolling in this town." That last bit I already knew for sure. When I heard the Apple family name before, I always instantly thought of my favorite cider drink. But now when I hear the Apple name, I think of Abigail Apple Jack. The toughest pony I ever knew.

"So, if you run that farm, why do you fight? You obviously don't need the reward money," Abby only smiled to that.

"You're right," she said, "But I'm just like the rest of my family as far as fighting goes. We all just love it. My dad died a boxer, my older brother did too. Plenty of my cousins still keep up their strength wherever they are, and I'm here, taking care of old granny and Bloom, my baby sister. Although, she isn't much of a baby anymore." Abby could've gone on and on about her expansive family that covered Equestria. But she always thought she bored me with those stories. I was actually fascinated. "And I'm sorry you have to do this. Fight my fights for me, that is."

"Fight your fights?" I asked.

"With Trixie," Abby said, looking down at her glass with little desire to drink it now. "She took the title from me because she paid off a few low life thugs to ambush me. They were the reason that kept me from showing up. And because I was a no-show, Trixie took the title." Abby too had something taken from her. "I was young and naive back then, I picked fights with anyone I could because I considered myself the best," Abby turned to me with a deliberate look in her eyes. "So learn from me Twilight, don't bite off more than you can chew." In other words, don't fight more than one pony at a time. If only I remembered that today.

"Is that why you joined the team?" I asked, referring to those so-called friends around the bar.

"Eeeyup!" Abby chimed with a smile. "When I met Vinyl and the others, I was beaten down in an ally, she reached out her hoof and made a better pony out of me. Teaching me how to further my skill, and drive me to be the best I could be," and she was right. Every pony I've ever talked to in Ponyville always held Abigail as an honest and trustworthy mare. Some of them even told me that she used to not be like that when she was younger, and I am thankful to have met her when I did.

"But because of my rep, Trixie would never pick a fight with me again. Boasting that she 'doesn't need to beat the same opponent twice. And that's where you come in!" she said, messing up my mane in front of Soarin. It was embarrassing, but I really felt like Abby had opened up to me. Giving me a little motivation to actually fight.

"I'll try my best AJ!" I told her.

"Do or don't Twilight, there isn't any of this trying business," Abby slid me her drink and I took it happily.

Suddenly, we heard the doors crash open, which was accompanied by a proud voice.

"The great and powerful Trixie has arrived!" said a blue mare with silver hair. She wore the attire of a magician but instead of the blue and white patterns that were on her posters, her real outfit was black, quilted with golden stars and galaxy shapes. She trotted in with her bouncers behind her. Tall, burly stallions named Snips and Snails. One was bulky and the other was a little too tall for his own good. They were meant to look intimidating. And with the sunglasses and black suits on, they certainly fit the bill.

"Our champion has arrived," Soarin's voice over the speakers lacked enthusiasm or any emotion. "Y'know Trixie, there are lots of ponies here who'd love a shot at the title. Won't you humor them?" A lot of the ponies looked to the back wall that had become the Knightmare's territory. Nightmare Moon, in particular, made a determined glare at Trixie. And I could've sworn I saw Trixie shudder in place.

"Uh... We shall see," Trixie said, "T- The tour of the great and powerful Trixie isn't quite on schedule, so we might have time for one match, maybe." The more I heard her talk, the more convinced I became about what Vinyl said about her. She made quick work of reaching the center of the room. Three sides of the ring's iron bars fell around her and then a mic dropped, dangling from a wire for her to talk into.

"Behold!" the loud mouth began, addressing herself as some kind of queen to be admired. "The great and powerful Trixie would like to welcome you all to a glorious performance! Tonight we will start off the show with the rookie round!" The crowd cheered at the sound of that. "Now, who would like to be my first opponent?" There were tons of ponies who raised their hooves to challenge her. I almost forgot to but I raised mine with my glass of beer in hoof. Trixie scanned the crowd for someone particularly weak. And that someone, was me.

"You!" she said. I actually frowned at that.

Do I really look that weak? I remember thinking. But with a quick glance at Vinyl and Dash, I got back into character and smiled as I smashed my booze onto the ground, cheering that I was picked.

"You have to pay for that!" Soarin noted over the mic. But I just ignored him for now and went to the center ring.

"Such vigor! Give a round of applause for our volunteer!" Trixie said, and everyone clapped their hooves together while shouting profanity. "Let's shake hooves and have a fair fight!" Trixie proposed, stepping forward from the mic, grabbing ahold of my hoof as she pulled me closer. "Listen, kid," she hushed her voice, "I'll give you three hundred bits if you make this a lengthy win for me," and as soon as she said that, I was shocked at how intimidating her tone had become.

"W- What?" I stuttered to say.

"Just swing me the fight and we'll both walk away with a profit, deal?" My mind was trying to remain calm but my instinct made me look back at Abigail. She was watching at me with a raised eyebrow. Like she could hear the conversation from afar. I knew that if Abby was acting like this, the others were certainly doing the same. I felt like I was in a corner with guns pointed at me from every direction. "Do we have a deal?" Trixie repeated herself. I turned back to her without an answer, and then the bell rang.

"Well, if that's how you want to play," Trixie raised her voice, "trying to twist a magician's wrist was a bad move!" She quickly whipped out a knife from her sleeve, making it look like it came from mine. "I never would've expected a punk like you to have gotten past Mr. Soarin's eye, bringing a knife to a hoof fight is such a dirty tactic. I'm disappointed that she wasn't searched," I looked over at Soarin, he was staying quiet next to his mic. From his view, it probably did look like I actually had hidden a knife. And now he was debating whether Trixie was lying or that I actually was a wimp wanting to win with a weapon.

"But let's not get ahead ourselves, it most likely wasn't his fault. After all, a little pony off the streets like this," Trixie chuckled and grinned as she looked me over, "was most likely provoked into doing this!" I could feel my face burning red as I thought about my dirty clothes. I think it only made Trixie happier that I was now holding back tears. But as I stopped focusing on myself, I saw that most of the crowd had turned to Abigail, contributing accusing looks at her since she publicly held a grudge against Trixie. Getting blamed as the accomplice who gave me the knife. "And look at that guilty face!" Trixie spoke up again, pointing to me. "Only a low life would attempt to put another up to this if she wanted another to take the fall for, permanently, beating the champion."

I started to panic, I knew after she said that I had been framed for attempted murder. And Trixie wasn't stopping. She kept running her mouth, and more and more ponies started to get riled up by the commotion she was causing. I was thinking way too much. Everything was going wrong in my mind. This fight was supposed to be simple.

And that's when inspiration struck.

Wait, the bell rang, that means anything goes, right? I reminded myself as I thought of the fighting rules of the club.

I looked around us, Trixie and I had been locked in here alone, and she was at my mercy.

Trixie kept talking, exciting the crowd with her lies. And that's when I grabbed her by the collar of her coat and pulled her close, punching her in the gut. Trixie dropped the knife she was waving around and the crowd went silent as I let her wobble in pain.

"W- Wait, I'm not ready," she said, clenching her stomach in pain, hoping that I'd listen. But I knew better than that to give her time to recover.

"Sorry, 'life doesn't let you get ready'," I told her as I punched her in the face. First with a left hook and then a right. I didn't know what I was doing, so I just continued to knocking her head back and forth until I decided to knock her to the ground with one last punch between the eyes. Leaving her to fall backward in a spray of blood that blew out her nose.

I realized it then. That motivation wasn't something you just made up or were given. It was something you found. And I found it in me to kick Trixie's ass after being accused of cheating.

Beacuse I never cheat.

I looked around, noticing that everypony had been quiet for a while now. I guess they didn't think I had it in me to fight. And I honestly didn't either. Even Vinyl and the rest were dumbstruck. I felt really proud of myself, but then I remembered, everyone still thought that I was some cheating punk. So I grabbed Trixie's back legs and shook out all of the cards and tricks she had in her pockets and sleeves, including two more knives and a gun.

"She brought the knife, not me," I said to the crowd. And then the cheers came.

It started with Soarin as he leaped over the bar counter, lifting the gate to the ring, raising my hoof up shouting, "We have a new champion, umm... The Phoenix!" The crowd went wild as he announced my new fighting name, my middle name being shouted in praise by the crowd.

"Phoenix! Phoenix! Phoenix!"

It felt really good.

"Get this garbage out of my bar!" Soarin said, taking the large golden belt off of Trixie and tossing her to her guards, who didn't want anything to do with me.

"Wait!" I said, stopping Snips and Snails, spotting the hint of a red color from under Trixie's cloak and hat. I liked it. "I'll take these," I said, pulling the hat off her head and punching it inside out revealing the hard red color on the opposite side of the black and gold. I did the same with Trixie's cloak, flipping it over and hooking it over my hoodie.

Now the crowd was overjoyed with my new leaf. I posed with the champion belt around me. I never thought I would ever be holding that thing. By now Trixie had been thrown out of the bar and Abby came up to congratulate me. She smiled at me with closed eyes. I could tell something was up.

"Sorry you didn't get to beat her up for yourself," I said, as I thought that was the case.

"That's alright, Twilight," she said, "with that get up you've got on, it'll feel almost like the real thing,"

"Huh?" I gulped, my eyes went wide as I realized what I had just become by beating Trixie. I was the number one fighter in knuckle brick corner. And now, Abigail was ready to take back that title. So obviously, I tried to turn and run. But Abby grabbed me before I could. She spun me around, and with the momentum of the spin toward her, combined with her own strength, Abigail knocked me out cold with one clean punch.

"So there you have it," I managed to say. My eyes were starting to droop way too much.

"I see," Fluttershy said, intrigued as always. "So after that-"

"Flutters," I addressed her, I really couldn't bother myself to say her whole stupid name. "I'm a little tired," very, actually. "So until the train starts moving, I'm taking a nap."

Fluttershy blushed and looked away, apologizing for keeping me up with a nervous laugh. At least that's what I assume I heard.

I plopped onto my side, my body sinking into the soft cushions of the bench. The last time I felt this comfortable and ready to sleep was...

"Flutters," I said again, she was getting ready to sleep too, laying her head gently onto her jacket that she'd rolled up into a pillow. "I think I got my job at the Ponyville library after that. I was so mad at everyone after that night that I literally got up and looked for work, we'll pick up there." I could tell Fluttershy wanted to ask one more question, but I passed out.

Taken in by the bliss of sleeping consciously for the first time in days.

4 : Train Fight

A whistle blared throughout the cars. By instinct, my eyes darted open in surprise, confused as to where I was, only to relax the moment I recall that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. Aboard the train to Ponyville. I sat up and yawned, looking across from me to see Fluttershy still sound asleep.

Heavy sleeper, huh?

The train whistle echoed again. Fluttershy must've been more tired than she led on to be.

I decided to get some fresh cold air to breath. An old habit I used to wake up during my early days at the academy. Coffee and energy drinks never did the trick for me. I either woke up from the chilling mountain wind or I simply remained drowsy throughout the day. The Princess always use to remind me to get a good night's sleep before the beginning of the next day. It never benefited from her to tell me that, but she always made time to do so. It was a kind gesture. I only wish that such advice could be of help to me now.

Stepping out onto the end balcony of our train car, I felt the wind's breeze slip through my hoodie's sleeves and out my collar.

"Yup! That'll do it!" I said, shivering, my teeth starting to chatter. The morning cold never felt good as a rule after just waking up. But this icy feeling always made me smile uncontrollably. I liked it.

"G- g- good morning!" I heard Fluttershy's voice shutter as she stepped out with me.

"Likewise," I said, my voice clear. Just beginning to settle into the cold. "You ready to hear more?" I asked. Fluttershy nodded in place with her hooves warming her chest. "Um... Where did we leave off?"

"Y- you said, you got a job?" Fluttershy was closing one of her eyes as the wind kept pounding.

"How about you stay inside, I can talk over the train moving," I said, wrapping my hooves over the railing before the train inched forward, the engine car up front whistled again and the train picked up the pace as it steadily rolled down the tracks. But while we were moving, I saw a pony in uniform come down the road.

"Is that the station manager?" I asked Fluttershy.

"Early to work?" she assumed, but a squad of alert royal guards behind him made me think otherwise. They galloped onto the tracks behind us, catching up to us just before the train could move forward at its top speed. Leaving the manager at the station.

"Get to the other car, Flutters," I told her, "We got company."

"Halt in the name of the Princess!" the captain of the squad shouted. I could tell she was because of the red plume off the top of her helmet, her armor was golden with a royal blue cape waving off her shoulders. Again, like Flash, three golden stars pinned to her cape's collar end. The other four had blue plumes, no capes, same pricey armor, no stars. Hoof soldiers. I stepped back into the car as these pegasi all jumped aboard before the train picked up to its full speed. I bit my lip to the inconvenience. But maybe there was a way to avoid this. Plan A, play innocent.

"The royal guard, what can I do for you?" I asked, forcing a smile.

"Are you Twilight Sparkle?" the captain demanded. Approaching me with an attitude to intimidate.

"Depends on who you talk to," I answered. They didn't use my full name, funny. Slowly but surely, 'Twilight Sparkle' wasn't someone ponies remembered. Interesting that the guard of the city would still know me by that name.

"In the name of the law, you are under arrest for the assault of multiple officers and the disruption of public peace," my jaw dropped when I heard that.

So much for plan A.

"There has to be a mistake here, officers, I was defending my 'friend' here from one of your soldiers. Did you at least interrogate that guy? I believe sexual harassment is the greater crime here," I said, laughing as if she had told me a bad joke.

"A crime is still a crime, Miss Sparkle, we don't make exceptions when it comes to that."

"So, you're going to take me in?"

"Precisely, and we'll do it by force if we must," she said. I could tell there was more to this. They shouldn't be here just for me. Even if I was just as dangerous as they think I am. Unless...

"You all think I'm a part of some gang, don't you?" I narrowed my eyes at them, they were dead wrong if they thought they could get away with labeling me as some thug attacking guards for kicks.

"That much is obvious," the captain stated with a glare. "How else could you have taken on an entire squad of trained guards?"

"Figures," I muttered, stretching my limbs. They thought I had accomplices with me when I fought last night. I glanced back at Fluttershy, she looked sad as the guards readied to fight me. They were right to predict that I was in a gang, but that wasn't true, and I was going to show them why. No way in Tartarus I'd go quietly now.

Fluttershy tapped the glass on the door behind me, mouthing words to talk to me.

I can help, she communicated. I raised an eyebrow and cracked a smile.

"Good one!" I shouted back at her. Fluttershy looked appalled when I said that. It was kinda funny to see her angry for once. But then I heard her lock the door to the car, pouting, my smile faded, now that I was stuck in here. Quickly, I turned to the sound of metal clanking against itself, the captain was right in front of me, leading the assault.

Hooves spread out, the captain was going to try and grapple me to the ground. She wanted to end this quickly. Dodging back, her hooves swiped at me just out of reach of my lower body, I needed to act before the rest of her squad attacked. Placing one back hoof behind me and pressing against the ground for extra momentum, I cut under her front hooves and knocked her helmet off. With no protection there, I punched her away with a left hook, causing her to tumble back onto another guard.

Perfect.

The next guard that came after me just charged, I jumped and rolled over him like down a hill. The next had a baton in his hoof, swinging it wildly. Weapons were scary, sure, but one wrong move and that baton wouldn't be yours anymore. He almost got a good swing at my head with it, I grabbed his hoof in response and twisted it quickly to make him drop it. As it fell I caught it and knocked his head back and forth once, pulling his hoof to the ground, I led him to move on his own to avoid any further pain. That was a little mind trick I had learned.

Most ponies cared that they got hurt and obeyed the one hurting them to maybe make it stop. Some, like me, learned to ignore it. But that was stupid depending on how you looked at it. Almost as stupid as hitting this armored A-hole with a baton.

A helmet does one thing right, it protects your head. Take that away, and you're the perfect target for a rod of iron to crack your skull. So I did just that. Aiming over the guard's shoulder at the captain, who sat up without her helmet, I threw the baton and watched it bounce off her head. A cry of pain followed and I refocused on the guard in front of me. I wanted the captain to stay out of this. She was probably the only other experienced fighter in this car other than me, considering I knew who trained her. My brother.

Turning the guard around, I locked a chock hold around his neck and ordered the others to back off.

"G- get her," the guard I was holding managed to say. Signaling the others to attack anyway. I quickly threw him on top of the pile the captain was in and dodged a baton by falling limply to the seats on my left. Sometimes gravity knew how to dodge better than you did. I kicked at the guard's hoof holding the baton as it hit the ground, he let go and I rolled in between him and the other before they collided and hit one another as I snagged the baton. The one that still held onto his baton swung, I blocked it with mine. We continued this little dance of hit and block until I found an opening, and ran the iron rod across his standing back legs, he fell over like a tree. And with one last hard smack with the rod, he rolled away with his head throbbing under the helmet. The last guard finally resorted to hoof to hoof combat, punching and kicking like he had been trained. But that's all he knew. None of these idiots knew how to change their offensive or defensive plans on the fly. They only knew one way, enforce or surrender.

His punches hurt only because of his armor, he could hardly do anything to me.

Gripping his right with both of my hooves, I forced him into a one hoof arm lock. My left reaching around his back to hold his left down as I punched his neck to make him gag. He worried that I had collapsed it, but I wasn't that kind of fighter. He let his guard down too much, allowing me to drop kick him onto his friend from behind. The jolt forward alone pushed them both against the others, as I landed on all fours. Turning to stand over them, the last guard who didn't get to fight finally surfaced from under the captain. Shocked at the damage I had done.

"Do your friends a favor, and get off this train," I ordered. The train whistle blew just on time before our next pit stop. Where our dependable law enforcement would depart in peace.

5 : Lessons & Promises

There was a small pit stop just a half-hour away from the Canterlot train station. It was a tourist trap to give you a good view of the mountain waterfalls leading into the serpent river. A place I've never been to, oddly enough. It was here that we helped the guard get his friends off the train, and he went to get ice for them while Flutters and I waited for the conductor to load off some supplies for the gift shop. It was a planned stop, yet the attack on the train still left me peeved. At least nothing bad happened, and that's what mattered.

As we waited, Fluttershy and I had taken the time to feed ourselves here. My brother's credit card number finally cut out on me, leaving Fluttershy to foot the bill for me. We were outside leaning on the train, kicking back and watching a few of the guards help the conductor. Not much had happened since the fight on the train, but leave it to Fluttershy to bring us back to the topic at hoof.

The amazing tale of my trial and error as a pony being.

"Um... Was that something you learned from Vinyl Scratch?" Fluttershy asked, tapping my shoulder hesitantly. I twitched when she did. Luckily I knew she was there, otherwise, she might have a bloody nose right now.

"Taking down a whole gang? Nah, Vinyl always advised against that. I really only focused on one douche bag at a time. I don't really think I can truthfully say I know how to fight multiple ponies at once," I said. I was trying to be humble, but even I was impressed at my skill. And I just couldn't hold back a prideful grin.

"I mean, fighting armored opponents," Fluttershy corrected me.

"Oh, that," I stopped smiling. "Yeah, I never knew how the others did it at first, exchanging fists with the Knightmares that is," I recalled that the Knightmares were one of the only groups that wore armor. Considering it's hard to do so in training and fighting. "They wore spiky full plate to intimidate others mostly. And despite what you might think, armor wasn't against the rules at knuckle brick corner," Fluttershy tilted her head when I said that. "I thought the exact same thing, Flutters."

"Did you ever wear armor? It would've been a good idea for you I think," she said. I blinked, insulted. Pointing both my hooves at the mumbling pile of guards at the train stop bench.

"Did you not see what I just did?" I raised my voice, questioning her.

"Sorry, I meant before," she corrected me again.

"Oh, right," I had actually almost forgotten about that training. "Vinyl owned an old suit of armor for us to practice with, and-"

"Wait!" Fluttershy interrupted. "We forgot to talk about the job you got,"

"Well, there isn't much to be said about that. I got mad at Abby for kicking my flank suddenly and taking back the title, so I got a job at the local library to at least have my own personal space to get away from them. Of course, they all crashed my apartment anyway, sleeping on the floor instead of outside. It was like no matter what I did, I was stuck with them."

"Why did you stick with them then?"

"I didn't have a choice, I guess?" I even questioned myself on that statement.

"But I can't see you as the type of pony to forgive that easily. Why would you continue to fight?" Fluttershy asked openly. I glanced at the group of guards across from us. They were still mad at me, I mean, who wouldn't be? But they weren't trying to offend or ignore me. They were actually listening too. Maybe this was them trying to believe me, and taking the chance to hear some pointers on how to fight.

I exhausted a long sigh and refocused on talking to Fluttershy. Trying to forget that the guards were listening as well. "Once again, Vinyl convinced me to continue fighting," I said.

"How?" Fluttershy asked, perplexed.

"She kept saying I should know how to defend myself so my horn wouldn't get damaged again. And from that standpoint, it did sound pretty logical to me at the time. And I continued all this time, not because Vinyl advised me to or by talking me into it. I made up own mind one day after running into a certain pony. But before we get into that, I'll explain how I learned how to fight armor, without armor. Do you remember that I mentioned Pinkie Pie before? The drunken fist?"

"Was she Asian? Ha!" one of the guards called out like a joke. And then the captain elbowed him, hinting that he should just listen.

"Well, she wasn't Asian," I said to the guard. "But she knew several styles of martial arts from masters all over the world. Making her one of the most diverse members of our little group..."

It had been a couple weeks since we exposed Trixie for the hack of a fighter that she was. I was saving up money for a doctor's visit, and in the meantime, Pinkie was in charge of teaching me how to fight armored opponents. Going so far as to roleplay as the Knightmares themselves to make it more 'realistic'.

"Fight me thou worm from the pits of sissies!" Pinkie Pie shouted at me with a deep gruff voice. Posing with her front hooves in the air, standing tall. Her shadow was cast over me as the helmet she wore barely blocked out the sun for me. To be honest, I might've actually been a little scared if she wasn't trying to imitate Nightmare Moon's voice in the silliest way possible. But because it was Pinkie, fear was never a feeling I had around her. Annoyance would be a more proper term.

"The pits of sissies?" I asked, standing up and blocking the sun with my hoof. The sky was cloudless and hot. A terrible day for training. I really wish we could've spared on days with nicer weather, but Vinyl always told me whenever I asked, 'Is Nightmare Moon waiting for a nice day to fight?' And I always replied saying, 'No, she stays up all night and fights, because she's pretending to be the folk tale demon of a queen that Princess Celestia's ancestors slew.' Needless to say, she called me a nerd, and Dash always chimed in whenever that occasion would arise. Those two never missed a chance to make fun of me when it came to pre-school answers. And then Vinyl would simply tell me as it is, the way I preferred her to tell me. That we train no matter what. Instead of hinting the answer at me like some kind of guru.

"That's what she said, silly!" Pinkie Pie's high pitched voice returned to explain to me. "She said it before she ripped your horn a new one!"

"I know, Pinkie, I know," I mumbled, brushing off the dirt on my hoodie.

"I mean, she really knocked a huuuuuuge chunk off your head! I would've glued it back together myself if it didn't get lost in the crowd. Probably stomped on by a couple of dancers."

"Okay, yeah, I hurt my head. Now, can we please get back to sparring?"

"Not to mention there was a lot of blood, a whole lot of blood!"

"Uhh... Okay, I get it!" I repeated myself, venting in a stern gulping voice. I was feeling a little sick just thinking of blood pouring out my horn.

"And if Dr. Slovic didn't patch you up that morning, there might've been no hope of your horn slowly recovering at a snail's pace! How is it by the way? Do you feel magical yet? Feel like you can cast any of those fancy magic academy spells?"

"PINKIE!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. After that, Pinkie went quiet, staring at me through her helmet like nothing had happened.

"What's wrong Twilight? We're supposed to be sparring, quit your slacking!" Pinkie said, getting back into a stance, watching my entire being turn red in anger. I let out a scream and marched over to Vinyl, who was taking a break from training with Abigail. Trying to hide her giggling.

"Can we please switch sparring partners?" I asked as if in pain.

"What's wrong with you and Pinkie?" Vinyl asked. I could tell she was pretending that she didn't know what I meant.

"She's an idiot!" I said, not really caring if Pinkie could hear me.

"But I know how to do a hoof stand!" Pinkie Pie called my attention. And I turned around, watching Pinkie flip onto her front hooves and walk around. Grunting a little with the armor on. "Idiots don't know how to do this!"

"Please!" I said again, but Vinyl only shook her head at me.

"The other's are off gathering info for future opponents, and you need to train. To, you know, protect yourself and all that junk?" Vinyl had been holding that over my head for the past few days. Like a constant reminder that a five-hundred-page essay was due by the end of the week. "Unless you want to spar with AJ?" she suggested. But even that, to me, was out of the question. I was pretending that Abby wasn't there, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see her guilt filled expression. She was honestly sorry for what she did, but I was too stubborn to accept any of her apologies.

Abigail was ready to apologize again, but Vinyl raised a hoof to her, stopping Abby from wrongfully reading the situation. Because I wasn't just a poor wounded animal like most thought I was. No, I was being an irritable child. And not just to Abby, but to Dash, Pinkie, Rare, and even Vinyl. I was still impatient to have my horn fixed, I only had a short view on how far I wanted to take my combat expertise, and I had been downright ungrateful for everything that Vinyl and the others had done for me thus far.

This had already been my third month of my formal citizenship in Ponyville, and I'd only grown more firm in my defense as a victim of a kidnapping. Vinyl was starting to dislike me because of my behavior. And I don't blame her.

Since I took up my job at the library, I started to distance myself from the others as much as possible. I ran into them most days, and almost every night I was around at least one of the four, never Vinyl. I started to piece it together that the reason I was running into them so much was because Vinyl had asked the others to protect me. Ponyville wasn't a well-guarded citadel like Canterlot. And because knuckle brick corner was such an attraction for fighters, thugs lurked about almost constantly in the streets at night. At first, it was just a matter of tricking them that I had hardly any money to give up. And I had it down to a system. Pretend to plead, hide my money somewhere else, and take a beating or two if I couldn't match their expectations.

And it worked, to begin with. For some reason, I didn't count on them to demand more money with every collecting. And when they weren't satisfied with what I paid, they did more than just punch me. They broke my bad hoof, for the second time, and pulled on my hair to make me fess up where the rest of my bits were. But before it got any worse, Dash and the others found me. Scarring off the thugs, practically volunteering to by my bodyguards from then on. At the time, I didn't know what hurt more, my broken bones, or my pride, that I was stuck with these ponies no matter what.

One time, some traveling fighters were passing by, wanting to make some easy cash off us. They attacked and played dirty to win. My horn got hurt in that encounter, which was when Vinyl proposed that it wasn't enough to be protected, I needed to learn how to protect myself. Bringing us to now, armored opponent fight training.

"Keep sparring with Pinkie, she'll take it seriously as long as you do," Vinyl said, leaning her head back on the bench. My teeth scrapped at the thought of spending one more joke filled minute with Pinkie Pie and her ridiculous theories on sensing an enemy's incoming attack with her twitching tail. But I went back to her, head down and sulking.

"Ready to fight, sister!" Pinkie cheered as she readied her stance. The armor that she wore, belonging to Vinyl, was old, very old. I could tell it was of an Asian decent, although Vinyl corrected me that it wasn't Samurai plate-mail. It was rusted all around and when you moved around in it, it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. I was always tilting my head in disgust every time Pinkie moved in it, but I needed to ignore the urge to if I was going to train properly.

"Sure," I told her, getting ready. "So you explained to me that it's not a good idea to fight anyone armored because those who do wear armor are...?"

"Downright cooky dukes!" Pinkie finished my sentence.

"Right, 'cooky dukes'. But isn't there some way to make it easier to fight them?"

"Well," Pinkie was getting excited about the questions I was asking. "Out of all the pieces of a set of armor, what part is exclusively separate from the whole?"

"The helmet," I answered.

"Ding, ding! We have a winner! And even if some pony wasn't wearing armor, the head is where you would want to strike if you wanted to end the fight quickly," Pinkie said, taking a few steps forward in a predictable attack. I dodged to the right of her punch and positioned my own punch to let loose, but I held it because this was where I kept getting knocked on my butt. And instead, I waited and asked a question.

"So how come I keep failing to attack your head?"

"Because silly! If my head was my only weak spot wearing this armor..." her eyes met mine under the shadow of the helmet and glowed rather sinister as the light reflected off her wide blue eyes. "Why would I let you near it?" When I realized that she had been playing me with something so obvious, I swung my hoof quickly to hit her head, but again it was blocked, and I was grappled to the ground with my hoof behind my back. The armor proved to be heavier than I had anticipated, and I could barely move, or breath.

"So you see, young grasshopper," Pinkie patronized me, "unless you can reach my helmet and hit the weak point, I'm unstoppable!" She then laughed loudly and stepped over me, raising her head, proudly. My temper was at its limits as I watched her brag about invincibility. I literally felt like my mane was going to set on fire. So with one last attempt to get back at her, I reached out and pulled at her legs, causing her to fall face first onto the ground. But when it happened, I felt more surprised that it worked than satisfied. Pinkie Pie rolled over and forced the helmet to come off, her curly mane was getting tangled in between loose metal and screws. And when it was finally off, she pretended to be mad by glaring at me with a forced frown. But when I suddenly cracked a smile at her red face, Pinkie burst out laughing. 'Gravity' was the winner in both cases, and even I ended up laughing at how dumb it was to wear armor in a fight.

The guards looked embarrassed as I continued to explain to Fluttershy in greater detail how to remove different armor pieces for the sake of knowing. Fluttershy was pondering it thoughtfully, as though she should remember this information for later. And the guards were looking over their own armor and found several weak points that I had exposed them to in our fight earlier. Their armor wasn't the problem, though. Sure, it made it hard to move, but training in it as much as they do only put them ahead of the game considering I started with no formal training at all. The armor was a handicap for me. But I wasn't about to admit that to them.

"For somepony who was trained by so many masters of martial arts, she doesn't sound like the best fighter," Fluttershy said.

"Training with a master means nothing if you don't take what they teach you to heart," I stated. "I was being trained by the Vinyl Scratch and I'm still a cocky fighter. I haven't really taken anything she taught me seriously,"

"That's for sure..." I heard a faint murmur following a sigh. I glanced around and saw a few of the guards look away from me as I glared.

Pricks.

I changed my line of sight to the orange sky. The sun was setting, and with it, the moon would rise soon enough. The conductor had already made his way to the front car, and the train whistle hissed in the air, signaling passengers to board. I stood up to leave but was stopped by the captain from joining Fluttershy on the train. I gestured for her to go ahead inside, and I met the captain's stern look. She was a younger mare, late teens. Her coat was orange, and her mane was pink. That look she had reminded me of somepony, but I just couldn't put my hoof on it.

"Answer me one thing and I'll let you go," the captain said.

"Uhh... Weren't you trying to arrest me?" I asked, trying to understand her line of thinking. I really just wanted to push her aside and go, but this was an odd change of character from a moment ago. Curiosity got the better of me, I guess.

"Don't get me wrong, punk," she had no respect when she spoke, just like Dash, maybe that's who she reminded me of. "I'm coming back for you, but right now..." she trailed off as she stood there with nothing to say. I could tell she wanted to claim something along the lines of a promise to kick my flank. However, she knew all too well how that would end. My eyes looked up to the smoke that rose from the train engine as the whistle blew one last time. "Did you actually defeat all those guards by yourself?" the captain finally asked.

"Can hardly believe I did it myself, but yeah, I did," my tone of voice confirmed her suspicions. She knew I wasn't lying. But knowing and believing are two completely different things, and she did not. A frown dominated her expression as she lowered her hoof, allowing me to pass. "Anything else, officer?" She only shook her head and moved back to her squad.

I got aboard the train just before it jolted from its place and started down the mountain tracks again.

Why did she remind me of Dash so much? The impression she left with me felt like a mimic of Dash's headstrong attitude. Always attempting to be right, always refusing to be wrong even if she knew that she was. Suddenly, I remembered something Dash told me.

"If you run into a mini-me whenever you get back to Canterlot, tell her I said hi. She's got a girly pink mane and a cool orange colored coat, her name is...

"Scootaloo!" I shouted, realizing it all too late. The train was gaining speed and I only had a short time to reach the back. I picked up a sprint to maintain and beat the trains forward motion. I was fighting it like a treadmill, running along the ground that moved backward, passing Fluttershy in a hurry, hitting the railing of the last car at the end. "Scootaloo!" I called out, and just like I thought, the captain reacted to that name and shot me a look of surprise. "Rainbow Dash says 'Hi!'," Scootaloo smiled and laughed at that, shouting to me to tell Dash the same thing. That felt great.

"Did you know her?" Fluttershy asked. Looking rather confused by my sudden urge to talk to the guards.

"Kind of," I said, not bothering to give any further explanation, returning to my seat. I sat there for a few moments, recalling that Dash had that favor asked of me sometime before I left. I'm glad I got to fulfill that promise. I looked back to Fluttershy, pretending to be interested in the ceiling. She didn't want to force me to continue the storytelling. But she was being way too obvious about it. "Wanna know what happened next?" I asked her. She nodded quickly, avoiding to make eye contact.

"We were on the armor training, right?" I asked her.

"I think we just finished that part," she said.

"Right, then I guess next, comes that one pony."

"The pony that made you who you are today?" Fluttershy asked, and I nodded.

"After we spent the afternoon training with the armor, we decided to hit up knuckle brick corner. Pinkie wanted to treat me to a cup of cider, and Rare wanted to join us."

6 : Laughing at your Losses

Pinkie, Rare and I got a table to ourselves that night. We each ordered our own food, and to finish, Pinkie bought our drinks. It was a nice thing to do. But I still felt a little isolated. Like I was set apart from them. They chatted it up and had a lot to talk about. I on the other hoof, sat there in silence, sipping my drink through a straw. Whenever I was left to my own thoughts I found it exciting to think of what I'd do when I finally got my horn fixed. Of all the spells I would cast, the convenience of opening a door without hooves made me the most envious of unicorns who could. I watched Rarity as she levitated her glass, bringing it to her lips, smiling as she tipped it back, reveling in the flavor of her drink.

Lucky, I thought. Turning to my apple cider, forced to raise it both my hooves. It didn't feel right that I couldn't lift it the same way I was born to. Stupid; this is so stupid, I thought. My expression saddened with a glare as I grit my teeth. I was making my own situation worse by choosing to have a bad attitude about it. Needless to say, the others noticed, calling for my attention with my new name.

"Phoenix," Pinkie said, "You all right? If it's the drink I can get you something else." Both of them looked at me like they were concerned. But I had already figured that they were only acting like this because of Vinyl. Put up to it to protect me.

"No, the drink's fine, I'm just thinking," I said. Because that was the truth, and I was sticking to it.

"Then what is bothering you, darling?" Rare asked, "You can talk to us, we are your friends, are we not?."

"Maybe," I said, I made a blank stare at the table. I often thought like this if I didn't know the answer to something. Or if I didn't want to answer.

"Well, I think we're friends!" Pinkie chimed in. I looked up at her and saw Rare smiling at what Pinkie was beginning to say. "I'm sorry that this hasn't been the best time you've had in your life,"

"Pretty much," I said, tilting my head up to lift my drink, only to close my eyes in frustration. Remembering that I couldn't do that anymore. Pinkie could see this was hurting me, so she reached over and lifted my drink to my lips. I was surprised and pulled my head back as she smiled awkwardly at me.

"Look, I read your mind and lifted your drink!" she was trying to get me to smile like it was her life mission to do so. Pinkamina Diana Pie, a free soul that had traveled the world. She came from a rock farm that crushed dreams and demanded hard work in return. So when she saw her first rainbow come over her farm home, she rushed to throw a party in an attempt to recreate that same feeling for her family. At first, nopony changed. But soon her sisters started to think of fun ways to mine rocks, her mom picked up knitting and liked to create colorful patterns for her children. Pinkie always wanted pink. And then her father, the grumpiest pony of them all, became happy that the rest of his family began to enjoy themselves. And that's what started her mission to make everyone smile.

She had told me that the reason she took up fighting was so that she could learn how to find something to laugh about when you got beat up and left to hurt.

That idea seemed pointless to me.

How could you find joy out of getting hurt? Idiotic. I thought, still I don't really understand her to this day. But did I need to? Rarity and the others didn't think so.

"What she's trying to say," Rare began, "is that we appreciate that you're here, training with us. You did us a great favor by putting that magician in her place," she mentioned Trixie, which reminded me of the beating I got from Abby.

"Even if it was a means to an end?" I asked, glancing over at Abby from across the room.

"I can not say Abigail didn't have her reasons for taking back the title, but I agree with you, it wasn't very nice." Rare met my eyes, smiling. For some reason talking about it like this made it sound a lot less bad, and what Abby did to me felt natural. I started to relax a little as the two seemed content that I was calming down about it.

"And she's really sorry about it!" Pinkie defended her, "so what you got to do is get better and kick her butt back!"

"Exactly!" Rare agreed. They were so casual about plotting to beat up Abigail. Of course, they had their own plans to take the title too, and it left me in awe that some ponies thought like this. It was funny to me.

"Y'all are crazy," I said, the country speaking you hear all the time in Ponyville was starting to affect my speech, and now, I see it as a welcome change. Even if I got made fun of for it by the others.

"She reminds me a lot of her," Rare said to Pinkie.

"Oh my gosh, you're so right!" Pinkie sounded excited about it when this mare was mentioned. And naturally, I ended up asking.

"Who?"

"Sunset Shimmer!" Pinkie cheered over Rare's voice, answering. I shrugged at the name.

"She's just one of the other ponies that used to be in your place," Rare explained. "She actually came from Canterlot to here to fight with us. Wasn't she from a magic academy as well?" she asked Pinkie, who didn't know, shaking her head.

"What a mad mare," I said aloud.

"She was a strange one for sure," Rare continued, "Sunset trained with us for a while and suddenly up and left. Then we got that humanist mare Lyra, and then that rather derpy pony, but she got hospitalized. And now we have you!"

"Do you think she'd return and join your team again?" I asked as the gears in my head began to turn. I felt a little bit bad that my thoughts were leaking out into my words too much. But I needed to know something just in case.

"Maybe, but we already have you! No need to find a seventh member for our team," Pinkie said, insisting that she preferred that I was here instead of this Sunset Shimmer. But I could tell that this Sunset was the better fighter, and I was convinced that if I could find this mare and ask her to take my place on the team, I'd finally be free to leave this life of fighting and return to a life where I could heal and be the Princess's student again. But of course, the chances of me running into her were a thousand to one. Or so I thought.

Rare tapped Pinkie's shoulder and tilted her head to the front doors. When I looked back, I saw her. Sunset Shimmer. She was a mare about my height, her amber coat popped out with the black leather jacket she wore, and her mane was colored like a flame. Golden streaks mixed with vivid crimson hair. She looked bored as she walked in. Going straight to the bar for a drink like she was a regular. Soarin must've known her too because as she asked for her beverage, Soarin attempted to make small talk, only to be ignored. Soarin glared and left her to a glass and the bottle as she requested. Ignoring her in kind, tending to another customer.

Is this my chance? I almost said out loud as I stood up and watched her. I felt like luck had finally turned my way. I was going to get her to take my place on the team. But a hoof on my shoulder stopped me from leaving the table.

"Twilight, don't go over there, it's not worth it," Rare advised me.

"What are you talking about?" I said, acting like I didn't know what she meant.

"I know you might not think you're good enough to be called a member of our team, but we want you, not her."

"No, y- you got it all wrong, this will be better, trust me!" I tried to sound upbeat, but I could feel the lies coming out of my mouth like a slug I had to first swallow in order to speak. We both saw Pinkie's mane straighten and drop long, holding back tears. Rare looked back to me, glaring. I pulled away from her grasp and made quick work of reaching Sunset, leaving Rare to comfort Pinkie, telling jokes to make her smile again. But there was nothing as sad as the idea that you had failed to win someone over while being as sincere as she had been. Pinkie meant it that she wanted me to be her friend. And I meant it when I walked away from her, fetching someone else to be her friend.

"Hey!" I started enthusiastically, "Are you the Sunset Shimmer by chance?" Sunset eyed me and went back to drinking her cider.

"Who wants to know?" she said.

"Well, I've heard a lot about you," I said, this time she turned to me, continuing to look me over. "Your an amazing fighter, and there's a group that I think you should join. They call themselves the 'Elements of HARMony'. Weird name I know but they have the infamous Vinyl Scratch on their team, not to mention several other knuckleheads like the champ of knuckle brink corner, Abigail Apple Jack!"

"Aren't you the newbie who got lucky and took the title for a mere ten seconds before AJ cleaned your clock?" Sunset asked specifically. I fell silent to that, I wasn't expecting her to know about me.

"How did you-"

"Know?" Sunset continued, "word travels fast amongst the 'Ring', there really isn't too many ponies who don't know what went down here. So why don't you get to the point and tell me why you're actually talking to me." I bit my lip nervously and made a quick glance around the room and saw that the others were at Pinkie and Rarity's table, shooting me looks as to what I was doing. But I turned back to Sunset, discounting them all together.

"Listen, I shouldn't be here," I began, "I had my horn broken and now I can't use magic," Sunset made a hurt expression to me as I said that. "You're a unicorn too, you have to know how I feel, I heard you used to go to a magic academy back in Canterlot,"

"Yeah, what's your point?"

"My name is Twilight Sparkle, I used to go to Princess Celestia's school for the magically gifted," I told her, and at first she turned to me in surprise.

"No bucking way, me too!" she said, excited. I sighed in relief, finally somepony who understood me.

"Yes! I- I was even taken on as Celestia's apprentice!"

"Wow! Buck off..." Sunset's expression suddenly went dark as she said that. I felt attacked by those words. I had thought we were finding common ground, becoming 'friends'. Only now I was beginning to understand that we were doing the exact opposite. "I don't want to hear about your degrees in magic or your fancy lessons with Celestia. As far as I'm concerned, you can both go die in a hole."

"You talk as if you know her," I said.

"Yeah, I was her 'faithful student' before you were, Twilight. Oh! Did you think you were the only one? Please, if you honestly believe you're that special just because of that, getting your horn working again is pointless. She's probably already got some other sorry kindergartener under her wing now." Everything that she was telling me collided with that pride again. That hope that I'd return and everything would go back to normal. And the more I mulled it over, the more I started to believe her. "And one more thing," she said, sitting up and facing me, cracking her hooves. "If you had any thoughts of making it as a decent fighter, forget it." And like a flash of light, she hit my head back and forth, kicked me in the stomach, tugged me back toward her by grabbing the collar of my hoodie, punched my head upward, and with one last kick to the chest to knock me back. I slid across the floor, motionless.

In my mind for some reason, I could only think of what Pinkie had told me about finding a reason to laugh and find joy in getting hurt. I wondered if any of this had ever mattered. Studying hard to be the best at magic Training to defend myself.

Has everything been pointless? I laid there, thinking. I hadn't only lost sight of my goal to return to Canterlot, horn healed and my education restored. I had also traded my place with Vinyl and the others for a filthy spot on the ground, self-centered and defeated. I felt, useless. I hated that.

Still, while I remained there, I saw out of the corner of my eye, the bar rules for fighting. I could only see half of them as I eyed up over the ponies backing away from me. But one rule stuck out above the others.

Rule # 3 - If you can still stand, you can still fight.

How could I forget? I thought, smiling as I stood up again. Forcing myself onto a stool to balance.

"Just accept your losses, Sparkle, you can't beat me," Sunset stated.

"No, I laugh at my losses and stand up again to lose some more. A personal hobby of mine. And the name's Phoenix, egg-head..."

Author's Note

I just want to say that despite what you guys may think about Dash and Vinyl as to, "What they did to Twilight", I personally, as I wrote this, didn't like Twilight all that much.
She's a bit more of a jerk. I think.

7 : A Taste of True Strength

I had no reason to wait for her to attack first, I tackled her and attempted to do as much damage to as I could, but she knew what she was doing, I didn't. One shift of her weight threw me off of her and onto my face. She had used the momentum of my grapple to slip out of my grasp and stand like I was a bug flicked off her shoulder. She didn't care enough to fight me.

"Like I said, forget about it," Sunset told me as I stood again. She meant me being a fighter. I didn't listen.

Charging again, I decided to just punch her face, quick and to the point. She saw it coming from a mile away and grabbed the bottle of cider next to her and broke it against my face. I fell, bracing myself for impact so my horn didn't touch the ground. That side of my head had been pierced with glass, and I was now bleeding slightly from it.

"That chunk of your horn must've left with half your brain cells too if you really thought you could-" I kicked her hooves out from under her as she gloated. She hit the ground hard and searched for me with a glare. Finding me rolling to my hooves in front of her.

"Two can play dirty, ginger!" I taunted. Sunset took the bait with fire in her eyes. Now she wanted to fight.

The crowd of ponies around us moved away quickly as I stepped around tables, leading Sunset to where I wanted her. I pushed chairs into her path to which she kicked back at me. I angled the tables to stop them from hitting back and grabbed a glass close to me and chucked it at her. She side-stepped and the glass nearly hit Soarin.

"The loser pays for damages!" Soarin shouted at me. Then commotion with the crowd ignited as they began to place bets as we neared the center of the room.

Sunset was determined to break my nose as she swung wildly at me. I had no more chattel to move in between us, but the fighting ring bars overhead were going to do the trick. I hopped up and pulled the wall of bars down as Sunset was an inch from connecting a punch with my face, catching her hoof and knocking it onto the ground. Sunset winced from the shock of her wrist joint colliding with metal and stone. Next, I punched her through the bars and pulled her back by her jacket into them. She grabbed my hoof through the bars, but I made sure she didn't pull the same trick on me, bringing my elbow down onto her grip. She let go in a cry and threw the bars back into the ceiling, catching me in a barrage of attacks.

I tried to block the best I could. Dodging was no longer an option as she punched and kicked me into a wall. She wasn't thinking right, which left me with some room to jab at her as I defended myself, poorly. She was too strong and quick for me to properly combat her, leaving me at her mercy as she overpowered me into a dazed state of hurt. Finally, she stopped and threw me over her shoulder and onto the closest table. My body rolled across it with the dishes and I landed on the ground, unable to move.

Sunset was rasping with fatigue. Not because I had pushed her limits, but because she was angry. Angry that I had tried to take her on. I imagine it was as infuriating as it had been for me to hear her tell me to give up on everything.

Sunset started to walk away past me but stopped. Only to look down at me as I tried to move again. My whole body was aching, I knew I couldn't stand, but maybe I could've reached the edge of a table and brought myself up and continue the fight for just a little bit longer. But I didn't need to, Sunset brought me up to her eye level by my clothes, sneering with narrowed eyes. I wanted to punch her one more time so badly, but my body wasn't listening to me.

"I want you to know that you did this to yourself," Sunset said, "it wasn't anyone else's fault but your own, you chose to be here. You kindled the fire and you got burnt! Next time I won't let you off so easily, next time you'll be in a hospital, so go back to your peaceful pacifistic lifestyle, and stay there!" Sunset dropped me back onto the glass covered ground after saying that. I started to fall out of consciousness as I watched her leave knuckle brick corner. I had my flank kicked properly, and I knew it wasn't a fight I could win. But I laughed as the others stood over me.

"Did I win?" I asked, giving them a reason to grin as I closed my eyes. I now had a taste of true strength. And if I knew anything for sure after that, it was that I should pick my fights better. Otherwise, I might actually end up dead.

8 : The Hurtful Truth

"Ever since then, I've been a fighter. Day in and day out. I've had my trash handed to me so many times that I can't even count. But even so, I just simply refused to be nothing." I decided to end my story here. Because I didn't feel the need to explain the rest of the training that transpired in those next few months to Fluttershy. I had gotten to the moment when I finally pushed myself to become a fighter, and that's all she needed to know. "But you have to admit, I was pretty ballsy to go horseshoe to horseshoe with that mare, right?" I chuckled, recalling how horribly I lost in those days. Remembering them fondly enough. Fluttershy, however, didn't. She was acting kind of strange from her usual girly self. Her expression reflecting disappointment as she stared off to the side.

She wasn't even a little bit excited.

"You okay?" I asked, and Fluttershy returned to earth so to speak.

"Oh! Sorry, I was just thinking," she said.

"In thinking about what?" I asked. Fluttershy was acting hesitant to answer as if she didn't want to offend me. I understood if that were the case, but this was weird, even for her. So I asked again. "What is it?"

"You wanted to become a fighter; because you lost?" she confirmed with me.

"Yeah, I wanted to become better so that I wouldn't lose again, like any real fighter."

"But you lost all the time. Doesn't that bother you?"

"Not really," I said. "When you've been through as much as I have, you just start to laugh it off."

"But you were forced into fighting from the start," she was starting to get a little quiet with her voice.

"It's nothing to cry about, Flutters," I said, falling back into my seat carefree. Fluttershy was looking off to the side again, thinking. "Don't forget, you're the one to wanted to hear the story."

"I know," Fluttershy said, regret in her voice. "So, in the end, you just accepted all that hardship and fought?"

"Yup!" I said.

"And you were just treated like some common brawler by everyone? Even by your friends?"

"I use the word 'friend' very loosely. They're more like good acquaintances if anything. Fighters don't have friends, really," Fluttershy just glared at me. "What?"

"You don't act at all like back then, according to your story. You always blamed others for your choices, you were arrogant with a capital A, and yet you're here, a complete conflict embodied in a mare. About the only thing I can clearly say that connects your old self to you now is your reckless behavior," Fluttershy criticized. Pointing out faults in my character like a scolding parent.

"Way to hit the nail on the head 'princess peaceable'," I quipped, she continued to act angry. "Why do you care so much anyway?" I asked. "You wanted to know how I became a fighter, so I told you. This isn't the kind of thing you can correct, what do you want from me? Do you want me to say that I won more? I don't lie, sure, it's bitter, but I only told you the truth." I could easily tell that she was still trying to dig more out of my story. But I had already told her enough.

"You were a weakling, and now you're not? I can't believe you got to this level in only a few months time," she was starting to talk like a pony who'd been in a fight before. Like someone, you'd find at knuckle brick corner. A well-versed combatant.

"Level?" I asked. That word must've slipped her tongue, judging by how her stern eyes avoided mine. "I'm a fighter now," I stated, "I'm not some; spineless coward that eats dirt anymore!"

"Is that what Tiberius told you?" her sudden mention of Vinyl's middle name struck me as odd. I stopped relaxing and sat up, being very watchful of her now. She was just sitting in front of me, hooves crossed and strict in her demeanor. Who is Fluttershy, really? All this time she'd been asking the questions, and I just knew her by what I saw. A defenseless Pegasus.

"Who are you?" I asked. My muscles tensing up as she frowned. Fluttershy leaned over and looked up at me.

"My full name is Fiona Fluttershy, and I'm a fighter, just like Vinyl," the way she talked sounded like she towered over me, vastly. Trixie had described herself as something similar, a pony that was both great and powerful. But to use Vinyl as a marker for who she was tugged at my heart.

"What do you mean, 'like Vinyl'?"

"No, I answered your question, now you answer mine," Fiona said, stopping my investigation on herself. "Why did you really become a fighter?" That question needed no further explanation than I had already given her. I stayed silent. "You're not telling me everything, Phoenix," I continued to give her the silent treatment. I wanted to know more before I talked. Fluttershy was a kind pony that I thought I could trust, now I didn't know what to believe. "I need to know where Tiberius is, Phoenix," Fiona stood over me like her words as the passing lights of the Transit mountain station reflected off her red eyes like an animal in the dark. "And I'll know by the time we reach Ponyville, so help me, Celestia, even if it means beating it out of you."

I took in a deep breath, the train whistle blew, and as our convoy stretched to halt, I jumped just before the momentum that still held Fiona took me. Allowing me the element of surprise, gripping her jacket collar to drag her head to the ground. The crafty Pegasus braced her front hooves close to her head and stopped my attack before her chin touched the floor.

And without being in our proper seating, the jolt that came next tossed us forward into the next train car as we crashed through the doors. We had locked hooves around each other, rolling our weight with the other's until I lost the bet that I'd end up on top. Granting Fiona the time to bring both her clasped hooves down on top of me. My block hardly defended me as my own limbs slammed against my face, holding back the full force of her attack while still leaving me hurt. I could tell she was going to repeat her attack, so with one hoof anchoring her hooves, I reached under them with my free hoof to hit her head. She dodged as I knew she would, rearing her head back, only to connect with my kick behind her, causing her to roll over me. Freeing herself from my grip and freeing myself of her advantage.

Our next movements were almost in sync. We lunged at each other, fists knocking against each other, hard hits deflected with each attack acting as a defense from the other. I wasn't so much on the offensive, I was barely keeping track of her movements. It was as if she was rushing to knock me down and keep me there. Like doing me a kindness by ending this fight as soon as possible. But my strategy was prolonging this more than to her liking, altering her attacks to combat my stances with harder hits and strange patterns, making this fight harder to predict.

Again she raised her hooves above her head and slammed them down onto me. I blocked and held them for a time until I realized her force was still pushing me to the ground. Any longer and I'd just continue to waste my strength. I pulled her close, my right back hoof positioned in between me and her, I kicked her away, and when she landed back, she stood low to the ground, one hoof in front imitating that she held a knife. The tip of her other hoof was barely in sight from where I readied.

That back hoof must be the real 'knife'.

I stood in my usual stance, one hoof in front of the other, just as Vinyl had taught me. We paused like this for a moment, our breath catching up to us. This fight felt more like a training session than it did an actual fight. I still had no way of knowing who Fiona actually was but after this next bout, I'm getting answers.

"This ends now," Fiona said for certain, bolting forward fast with the aid of her wings, her positioning remained the same as we exchanged blows, her one hoof behind her back, only blocking my attacks with the other. I couldn't believe just how skilled she was with just one hoof, holding me off as I gave her all I had. I eased up a bit to give her time to jab at me a bit, and with a few openings left to trap her, that other hoof came out, shooting through the air like a bullet. But if I could see it, there was nothing I couldn't redirect. I leaned back, high kicking her punch upwards quickly, leading my leg to rejoin the floor as I swung my right hoof around. Fiona was right, this was going to end, but with me as the victor.

I stared into those fearless eyes of her's, my strength poured into this attack, there was no time for her to react. But in that moment, I saw her glance to the side, deep in thought like before. Disappointed as she looked back at me. She side stepped my attack at the last possible second. I tripped forward, my punch passing through the air like a shot in the dark.

What on Equestria was I trying to hit?

Then, time caught up with me all at once as Fiona got low again and struck me right in the gut. I coughed as my air came spewing out all at once. The pain combined with the disgust of spit falling from my mouth forced an instinct reaction for me to hold my stomach and I puked. My eyes shut, my head hit the ground hard.

"What happened...?" I rasped, my mind blacking out as I heard Fiona Fluttershy speak to me in words that became mute to me.

I stirred awake. The whistle of the train hit my eardrums relentlessly. I slowly lifted my head from the car seat I laid on, my head thumped from hitting the ground and following that was the gut punch I took. It felt like my skin was twisting on itself around my belly. Nausea swept through my body like an ocean wave I couldn't force back.

Don't barf, please, don't barf! I strained to hold back the urge, my mind finally resting after the rush of hurt passed. I started to breathe easily as I sat up. I was back in the car Fluttershy and I was first in. My attention searched for the mare, finding her at the back railing of the train.

Fluttershy turned and walked back into the train. Spotting me, surprised that I was awake. It already looked to be noonish, the sun beginning to approach the later hours of the day. The whistle sounded again, giving me one sharp headache before the train moved forward again. Next stop, Ponyville.

"How are you feeling?" Fiona Fluttershy asked. Her confident voice speaking with concern. I almost didn't feel like answering that, but one look over at her and I couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm okay," I answered, chuckling through my teeth quietly.

"Goodness, you really do laugh off everything," Fiona said, sounding disturbed. But my laughing mood cut short as I thought of a time that I couldn't laugh my through. My face turned to the ground as I frowned. Fiona's shadow draped over me as she stood before me.

"I know what you're going to ask," I said, "But can I ask you how you know first? How do you know Vinyl?" Fiona saw hurt in my eyes. She was looking down at a broken mess of a mare. Wanting just one answer for another. She nodded.

"I'm a close friend of her's," Fiona confessed, "Tiberius and I were once considered to be the strongest fighters in all of the world, along with one other."

"Who was the other?"

"Don't make me repeat myself," Fiona reminded me.

Right, a question for a question, I thought. Remembering back to the last time I had seen Vinyl. My voice began to trip as I started.

"You asked where Vinyl is? She's dead..." I answered, and the train was now moving under the cover of dark clouds, ironically. Fiona stared at me in silence. She didn't believe it. But maybe the tears streaming down my face would convince her otherwise.

"Is that why you are who you are?" she asked. I smiled weakly to that. "I would like to hear the rest of your story. Um... Only if you want to, that is..." Despite the hurtful truth, Fluttershy wasn't as innocent as I first thought, but I still found her to be kind somehow.

"I do," I told her as she sat down next to me with open ears. "There is something else I didn't tell you. Do you remember that I told you that fighters don't have friends?" she nodded in recall, "Well, I lied, fighters do have friends. And mine are called, Dash, Abby, Rare, Pinkie, and Vinyl."

9 : True Colors

After I had lost to Sunset, I woke up outside in an alley by knuckle brick corner. Nose dry from bleeding, body aching. When I sat upright, Vinyl against the wall next to me.

"Hey, champ," she said to me. I smiled at that name. Not once had I ever truly been the winner of a fight, yet she still called me that. I probably should've taken that to be more of an insult than a compliment. But for whatever reason, she called me that continually. I shrugged and rested my head on the wall. Hearing commotion at the front of the bar, I saw the other four with Soarin, talking and pointing in my general direction. Dash specifically was collecting bits as some of the regulars left for the night. Guess who she bet on winning?

"So, did you learn a valuable lesson today?" Vinyl asked me. I looked up at her, surprised.

"Never punch a ginger?" my brain failed me when I thought back to my fight.

"Your other lesson," Vinyl grinned. I tried to think, but still, nothing came to mind. "Come on, I thought you were the smart one!" she said.

"Sorry, I don't know what I was supposed to learn," I confessed.

"I'll give you a hint. It has to do with something you did tonight," she said. But I continued to draw blanks. Vinyl rolled her eyes. "Those things that Sunset said to you, were they true?"

Getting your horn working again is pointless... If you had any thoughts of making it as a decent fighter... Forget it. Those words alone felt worse than any punch. Especially since Sunset was right.

"Pretty much," I slumped, remembering that that wasn't all I was wrong about. Looking back to the others, I knew I hadn't really given a good effort to be friendly. And now that they knew I had tried to sell my spot on the team to leave, I doubted they would've wanted me back.

Vinyl glanced at me hitting my head against the wall, feeling rather dumb about myself. If I were her, I would've just left me there to sulk, but Vinyl was not that kind of pony. Or so I thought.

"Do you remember when we first met?" she asked me.

"When I was pulled down here by Dash? How could I forget?"

"Well, after we lost that match with Nightmare Moon; I was ready to leave there you on the floor. And forget that you had ever shown up. As far as I was concerned, you were a waste of my time, and a disgrace to all fighters, just like Nightmare said." Vinyl saying that shocked me.

There is no way she would do that to me, right? I thought. I really wanted to deny it, but the longer I looked into those cold, blood red eyes, the more I became convinced that she'd been lying to me all along. Just like you.

Fiona was silent. Looking away from me, solemn.

"That sounds like 'us'," she said. She seemed sadder now, convinced even, that we were speaking of the same pony with tinted sunglasses. Fiona took a deep breath and looked back at me. Ready to hear more. "Did you part ways when you learned that?" she asked. I only smiled at her as I continued my story.

"But those jerks didn't think it was right," Vinyl said, pouting, as if annoyed. But she grinned, looking down at me like an older sister would, proud of me.

"Them!?" I belted, puzzled as I pointed to the others. Vinyl nodded.

"Don't tell Dash I told you this, but she said that if I was going to ditch you then and there, she'd knock me out, take you, and leave me in your place. Saying I was more of flank-hole than she was. And for the first time in a long time, I got really, really, mad. But there really wasn't much I could do, as soon as Dash and the others started looking out for you, they began to skip out on training to make sure you didn't get mugged every day. That made me even angrier.

"My students were giving up on becoming stronger to help you. And whenever you decided to show up, I felt sick to my stomach. I tried to get you to run by training you myself; that didn't work. We had already come up with a plan to have Alex bring Trixie's lies to light, but AJ suggested that you had a better chance out of any of us to get in the ring and teach her not to cheat us. But I was the one who told her to take the title back from you once you did.

"And then there was your attitude, your bucking attitude," Vinyl shook her head abhorrently. "You hadn't caught on that they were the nice ones and that I was the jerk. You tried so hard to push them away from you that I decided to call in a favor."

"Sunset," I guessed. And I was right, as usual.

"I got ahold of her, saying that this know-it-all mare from Canterlot was in town and that you were the most pathetic fighter in existence; no offense."

"None, taken?" I said.

"She came without a second thought. I wanted her to break you mentally and physically. That way even if the others tried to convince you to stay, you'd just leave to who knows where. You'd just be out of my hair. But guess what you did? You fought back." I couldn't even put into words how I felt. I had the entire group backward. Vinyl wanted me gone more than anyone. And those last words, you fought back, left me feeling whole. That was what I learned. That was what Vinyl had taught me. How to have a fighting spirit.

"But you weren't the only one who learned something tonight," Vinyl continued. "You reminded me of somepony else who, like you, wanted nothing to do with fighting. Except, she ended up as one of the best.”

“What was her name?” I asked.

“Octavia Melody. Her fighter name is Regal, but I always called her Tavi. She was a great cello player. Well, still is, but I got involved with the wrong crowd when I first took up the DJ gig. Ended up learning how to fight, and Tavi, being the goody-two-shoes that she was, tried desperately to convince me to give up on those things and go back to playing the violin.”

“You played the violin?” I asked her with a laugh.

“Yeah, and I’m still damn good, you egghead!” she spat at me, I held back my laughter the best I could.

“So, you went back to Violin?”

“Nope, Tavi got into fighting," Vinyl started to laugh too. "She broke her own cello over the champion's head back home and proceeded to kick butt until the arena I worked at threw us both out."

"She sounds pretty amazing," I said.

"Oh yeah, and she was the hottest mare at our school! Maybe that was part of the reason I disliked her. No stallion wanted to date a dorky unicorn with glasses. So I got sunglasses and became edgy. Fighting wasn't even a pursuit back in those days." I was so amazed at how much mortality Vinyl was showing me. Up until then, I had always pegged her as a pony who could do no wrong, but even your heroes make mistakes, and that too inspired me. "But, back on topic," Vinyl continued, stepping away from the wall, "I'm sorry for treating you like dirt, and if you want to go back to Canterlot, I can hoof the bill. But if you'd rather stay here, I promise, I'll turn you into a fighter that everypony will recognize as one of the best."

Her proposal was tempting. On one hoof, I could finally return to Canterlot and heal my horn. But if I did that, I would completely lose the progress that I'd made in Ponyville. No matter what I did, I was going to have to pay a price for my choice. If I didn't leave, I'd be giving up on getting my old life back. But I'd already paid the price for that, so even if I would know what tomorrow would be like if I left, I felt like I was killing myself all over again if I did. A life as a fighter was going to be unpredictable. But who cared?

I took Vinyl's hoof. "Train me," I said, "and I promise I'll be the best." Vinyl smiled, lifting me up to my hooves as the others gathered around.

"Check this out, Twi!" Dash raised a heavy bag in the air, "Your fight with the Demon was worth four-hundred bits in gold, talk about entertaining!"

"Do I at least get a cut of that?" I asked, jokingly.

"Only if you bet that you'd lose."

"I did, actually," Dash's face went sour at that.

"Fine, I'll give you ten percent, but the rest of the proceeds go to charity."

"Really? How nice of you!" Rare commented.

"Yeah, it's called your cider bill from last nightmare night," Abby interjected and Dash hoofed over the large bag with a frown. Pinkie came up last as Soarin went to close up the bar. Even though I had decided to stay, it still wasn't easy for me to apologize for the way I had acted to them all. But Pinkie made it easy for me.

She stepped forward, head down, a tear or two fell from her face as she tried to smile, but a little bit of anger mixed with everything as she spoke, "Are you leaving?"

"No, I'm staying," I said. She looked up in surprise, resuming to cry, but this time, happily, as she hugged me. Trying to form words to say that I owed her a drink, snot, and tears streaming out her eyes and nose. I hugged her back, and I saw Soarin's head pop out from the bar's front door.

"Should I open it up again?" as if he needed to ask. He sighed and we followed him in. Vinyl put her hoof around me. It was there that she had considered me a friend, and it was the first time that I, had actually made a few.

Author's Note

Hiatus time!
Sorry folks, I got to do a few things.
But most likely, this story will be complete by the time we come back to it.

10 : The Red Letter

The following months proved to be a testing period for me. I trained actively with Vinyl and the others in order to catch up to their level. There were times when I over-exhausted myself just from doing basic fitness training. I worked so hard that I thought all my hair was going to fall out.

I became more committed to fighting in matches at knuckle brick corner. Abby held title bouts far more often now that she was the champion. I tried a few times to beat her to no avail. I was behind, way behind them. Vinyl told me that my time for winning would come eventually. And it did, just, much later.

I trained with Rare and Dash the most. With Rare, the technique of fighting was her specialty. Precise movements and good timing, which went along very well with Dash's forte, speed. We'd often train together because of that. Abby taught me how to build strength and Pinkie always sparred with me. It was an even system for practice. And with every day that passed, I'd only get better and better.

That was until that day, the day the red letter came.

It was early in the morning, Dash and I were doing our attack drill. I'd jab, she'd block, return with a jab, then I'd block and jab again. With every parry we'd pick up the speed until one of us couldn't keep up, then we started over. It was to build muscle memory. Plus, I liked the idea of getting the first attack in before my opponent did, and thus far, it's come in handy more than once.

While Dash and I practiced, Rare was off to the side, directing our posture and punches. We all had been training hard for the upcoming team fighter's tournament which was in two days time. But even still, it didn't mean we couldn't chat.

"So, why are we called the 'Elements of HARMony' again? Is it a joke or that does it imply what I think it does?" I had been curious about our team's name since I first heard it. A pun off of the ancient relics that supposedly saved our country from a thousand years of darkness. It meant that if anyone fought us, they would most certainly come to harm for doing so. Funny, if not a little bit poetic.

"I don't know," Dash said to me, her tone implied that she had never thought about it. "Maybe Vinyl thought it sounded cool or something."

"I highly doubt that that's the only reason," Rare added.

"Oh yeah? Then what else could it be, 'Sherlock'?" Dash teased her, hardly paying attention to our routine but still keep up with the rhythm of the drill.

"Perhaps she's a 'Harmonist'."

"Really?" I chuckled at that.

A Harmonist, meaning a pony who believed in the concept of 'Harmony'. The most prominent belief on this side of the world. It's the idea that if the attributes of the Elements of Harmony, that being Honesty, Generosity, Laughter, Loyalty, Kindness, and Magic, were all found amongst a nation, peace would be achieved. There are stories that say the Elements are magical items or more simply, just qualities that every pony ought to have to live by. To be, Celestia-like is the term. As a believer in 'Magic', I always found it hard to believe that a completely different religious sect would be included. But the only answer that came to mind was that Princess Celestia the First added 'Magic' into the mix as a sign of remembrance for Star Swirl the Bearded, who was often called the father of magic. He was a personal hero of mine for a number of reasons. One of them being that he believed it was impossible for attributes alone to change the world. It was the logical way of thinking. And to hear that Vinyl of all ponies believed in 'Harmony', was laughable.

"I guess I wouldn't put it past her," Dash said, "I mean, she's always going off about there being a reason for everything, like, how there's balance in all things, that kind of stuff."

"Where is she anyway?" I was beginning to get really tired, Dash and I both were sweating pretty hard, but we waited for Rare's signal before we took our next break.

"I think she's at the bar, scouting," Abby mentioned in passing. She and Pinkie were taking their break early, grabbing water bottles by the bench before they sat and rested.

"Alright, you two, that's enough," Rare stomped her hooves, signaling us to stop. I bowed to Dash at the end, showing respect and thanks for training together. Dash rolled her eyes and just extended a hoof to me. A hoof-bump, not exactly as formal as a bow like I read in my martial arts books, but it meant pretty much the same thing. I accepted it with a smile.

Dash glanced over at the plain bottled water on the bench and groaned. "Hey, wanna hit up the bar, I'm in the mood for something with a bit more kick,"

"Drink the water!" Rare hissed. "You need to get hydrated again after training like that, not drown in another calorie filled apple cider!"

"There's water in it when you make your cider, right, AJ?" Dash asked.

"Sure do," Abby confirmed.

"That settles it," Dash said, putting an arm around me, "ready to get some cider?" I nodded, joyfully.

"I can't believe you all!" Rare screamed in frustration.

"Alex, it's pronounced, 'Y'all'," Abby corrected Rare's statement.

"Yeah, Alex, can't you speak proper English?" Pinkie added as she and Abby hoof-bumped.

It was always fun to mess with Rarity, but I was grateful for parenting attitude. She tried her best to help in every way that she could, and only because that's all she did. If she wasn't with us, she was at home tending to her fashion business or taking care of her younger sister, Sweetie Belle. She's the kind of pony who'd give you her scarf if it was too cold. But when it came to a fight, she was more focused than anyone. She initially took it up to lose weight, but ever since she met Vinyl, she realized that it was more than just a hobby, fighting became another talent to her. And from there, she dedicated her spare time to perfect it as an art form.

Dash on the other hoof was a different story. She fought because that's what she did. Ever since she was a filly she'd been knocking skulls, breaking bones, and spitting blood all for the sake of doing what she wanted. She in part, inherited it from her parents, who were a little too encouraging about it. But all in all, she came out a decent pony. Sure, she's a jerk, but she knows what's right and wrong. And as the Ponyville weather team manager, she always made sure to put in a good day's work in before throwing caution to the wind with a cider bottle in hoof.

We were all a team of random ponies, but that's what made it so enjoyable to be with them.

By the time we reached the bar, it was barely noon. The bar had been flipped around to its daytime cover, 'sugar cube corner', and there was not a soul in sight. Save it for one, Vinyl. Soarin owned the store, but you almost never saw him except on rare occasions during the day. He mostly left the shop to his employees, the Cake family and their twin teenagers, Pound and Pumpkin Cake. The store was supposed to be closed until noon, but because Vinyl was the DJ, she had a key to come in whenever she wanted.

"Yo, Scratch!" Dash called out as we sat at the counter with her.

"Hey," Vinyl turned to us with a weak smile and baggy eyelids. She was up late again. That was only a downside to being a DJ. Long nights, sleepy afternoons. And for whatever reason, she was up this early in the morning, staring at a cupcake that hadn't even been licked of its frosting yet.

"You gonna eat that?" Dash asked as she grabbed a cider bottle from behind the counter.

"It's all your's, Dash," Vinyl slid the pastry over, returning to thinking.

She was acting strangely that day. Even if she were tired, she'd usually be doing something. She even ignored Dash and I as we asked about the team's name. She only gave us a shrug.

Dash didn't mind too much that she was acting this way, but I was never one to mind my own business. I studied Vinyl closely, and the only thing I found that was different was that her sunglasses were off, and a red envelope sitting right next to her. Rare, Abby and Pinkie stepped in at the exact moment I spoke up about it.

"What's in the letter, Vinyl?"

Dash stopped eating and drinking and the others stood in silence. Vinyl jumped in her seat and looked down at the letter. "Oh, this?" she said with no other thought. "You can read it if you want," Vinyl levitated the letter to me, and the others gathered around as I read it aloud.

Tiberious

I challenge you to duel befitting to decide who truly is the best

We will begin at midnight, in the town square

Come alone or do not come at all

The King

"I don't get it," I confessed, and Dash slapped me on the back of the head.

"You idiot, some mule just threw the gauntlet down to Scratch!" Dash emphasized.

"It's only a note of challenge, Dash, you don't have to try to make it sound so noble when I'm just going to kick him in the balls," Vinyl said, taking back the letter.

"So who's the King?"

"Just another fighter, Twi, that's all he is," Vinyl explained, stretching as she did. "I get letters like this all the time since I refused to fight in any one on one's at knuckle brick, ponies bombard my mailbox with this trash."

She said that, but this letter sounded a little too serious for my liking.

"Don't you worry none, Twi," Abby patted my back, reassuringly, "Vinyl's an even better fighter than all of us combined."

"Yup," Vinyl agreed, "and besides, you'll know who won by tomorrow anyway, you'll find me here at the bar drinking cider whether I win or lose," she smiled, confidently.

She's right, I thought. It wasn't like it was strange for Vinyl to fight. She fought just as much as we did, if not more. And back then, if Vinyl said that she'd be fine, then she would be.

"Now get back to practice!" Vinyl barked, "you have one more day until the tournament, and I want all of you at your prime!" We all nodded as we left the money for our cider and went back to the park, making sure Vinyl had a drink too before we resumed our training.

Before we knew it, the day had ended as quickly as it began. While the sun began to set, we all decided to home that night instead of visiting knuckle brick corner. Vinyl told us to get some rest, and that's exactly what we planned to do. The others lived on the opposite end of town from the library, so we said our goodbyes at the park and went our separate ways. The route home went past the town square, Vinyl was there, sitting on the bench by the fountain.

"Aren't you a little early?" I said, looking up at the sun. You could barely say that it was eight.

"Got nothing better to do," Vinyl said. I could hear some faint classical music coming from her headphones that hung around her neck. I never took her to like that kind of stuff. But then again, it was a strange day. Vinyl was just looking at the water rising and falling from the fountain. "Will you promise me something?" Vinyl finally said.

"What?"

"Promise me that you'll keep fighting?" Her saying that was rather sudden, but I didn't really have a reason to refuse.

"Sure," I said, "mind if I ask why?"

"Cause I stopped fighting for a while and I always regretted it. Sorry, just a bit of old mare wisdom," Vinyl smiled and waved to me off.

"See you tomorrow," I said,

"Sayonara," she said back.

That night, I thought long and hard about what she said, about not fighting. And I couldn't find a reason not to. And that's when I couldn't sleep. So, like usual, I stayed up and read. I decided to pass up on the martial arts books that night and read Daring Do, an adventure novel, just to change things up. I found myself glancing out my window in the direction of the town square.

Their fighting right now, aren't they? I remember thinking to myself. I had read well past midnight, and I still held back the urge to go out there and see the fight. Just keep reading, I told myself. And just when I turned back to the book, my eyelids fell, and sleep overtook me.

By the time I woke up, it was already an hour past noon.

I hurried to grab my hoodie with my wallet and bolted out the door. I had thought that the others must be practicing without me, so the park was the first place I galloped for, passing a busy crowd in the middle of town. When I arrived at the park, there was nopony in sight. Not even the ponies who walked their dogs or the families who had regular picnics. My next bet was the bar. Where Vinyl would be. But on my way there, I took notice of the crowd in town was parted as guards and a medical carriage had pushed them back. Giving me a clear view of the fountain, blood was covering on the stone base. I quickly glanced at the stretcher lifting up a limp pony under a blanket.

I ran forward, instinctively. Pushing ponies aside until a guard held me back.

"What happened here?" I demanded to know. And from the look in the guard's eyes, this wasn't the first time today that a pony had asked him so urgently.

"Somepony died, a mare named Vinyl Scratch..."

I watched as they took her away. The guards and some left over medical officers stayed behind started to clean up the scene while I and the rest of the crowd were ordered to step back.

"No," I muttered, "No, this can't be right, this can't be right!" I galloped for knuckle brick corner. If anyone could give me the answers I needed, I knew my friends would. I was hoping that they would be able to tell me, tell me something that would make this any better than it was. But no, I found nothing of the sort when I barged in.

All four of them had their back's turned to the door as they sat on the counter, drinking in silence. Soarin was there too. His eyes were swollen as he looked up at me from cleaning a glass. They knew what had happened, but they were acting, pretending that it hadn't. As if waiting for Vinyl to show up. There were others in the bar too, a few groups of fighters that were laughing, enjoying themselves in the midst of the commotion in town.

"Hey, barkeep!" a mare called out to Soarin, "Get us another round of beer!" Soarin stayed still, there were only a few ponies he was serving that day, and that group wasn't on the list. "Nevermind, I'll get the bottle myself," she said, standing up to retrieve the drink on the counter in front of me. She spotted me in passing and grinned, "Guess your team's done for, huh?"

"What are you saying?" I questioned.

"Tiberius! That flank-hole finally kicked the bucket!" The mare cheered. "She'd been a real pain to fight you know that? And with her gone, you guys don't have a sixth member to fight with!" she was clearly drunk, but I didn't know what I could've said. I didn't know what I wanted to say to that. All I knew was that I was hurting inside, and I didn't know how to describe it.

"How?" I said with a shaking head, "how did this happen?!" asking the others. But they offered me no answer.

"What? You really think they care? Sky! Show her how much they really care," after the mare said that, one of the stallions at the table picked up a glass and tossed it right at the back of Abigail's head. She flinched but didn't react one bit.

"Hey!" I started, grabbing the mare by her coat.

"What? You gonna fight us?" the mare asked, "you know the rules 'School Girl'. If one team fights another before the tournament, the team with the beef gets axed from the roster."

Is that why? I thought, grinding my teeth as I looked to Dash and the others. They're putting up with this shit because we'll be disqualified? Soarin was looking at his own rules on the wall. I could see it in his eyes, he wanted to put them in their place as much as I did, but he wanted us to stay in the fight, for Vinyl. They were all holding back for pride's sake. And back then, I couldn't care less about that.

"So go find another member before tomorrow. Cause finding a replacement worked out so well last time," the mare snickered as I let go, and punched her back into her team's table.

"Buck that!" I shouted, charging at all the teams in the bar. It was the first time I had went up against an entire group of fighters, so unlike the other times I had won, this one was a loss from the get-go. I managed to fight back with enough rage in me to injure three of them before they all ganged up to attack me. Meanwhile, Dash, Rare, Pinkie and Abby all just sat there and ignored me. Not once thinking to help. And before I knew it, I had been kicked and punched against a wall before I finally got the idea. I was getting nowhere in that fight.

"Twilight!" Soarin called me out, "If that's how you're going to act, take your friends and get out!" I was more mad than surprised to see Soarin talk that way. I should've lashed back, but I ended up laughing in spite as I looked to the others, gripping the counter with all their strength, refusing to join me.

"Friends? If they were my friends, they wouldn't stand for this shit!" I started to walk out with a limp, beaten in almost every way. Both my body and soul were aching. I heard faint crying from Pinkie as I opened the door. They didn't even try to stop me. "Fighter's don't have friends!" I shouted back at them, only Dash looked to me, glaring.

"You're right..." She said, and I left, galloping for the next train to Canterlot.

I was sad and confused back then. I had grown so much since I came to Ponyville. It was like a second home to me. And yet, I wanted nothing more than to leave. And in hindsight, I feel no better than the others. I broke my promise with Vinyl, I had given up on becoming a great fighter, let alone the best. And from then on, I made a new promise to myself. That I would never fight again and that I would leave Vinyl and all of the hurt behind me.

11 : The Elements of Harmony

The train stopped, its whistle sounding off at the same time the conductor had announced our arrival. And in a mere day's travel, I had reminded myself just how important this place was to me, no matter how painful it might've been. Fiona had already made it off of the train. I was the one delaying.

I stood up strong, breathing in that cold morning air as I planted my hooves onto the station's stone floor, the train leaving for its next stop. Fiona was looking at me, waiting to be directed to the cemetery. Which was literally the last place I wanted to be at this moment.

"This will be good for the both of us," she told me. Correct, as far as I was concerned.

Before we had arrived, Fiona made it pretty clear to me that we needed to make amends with Vinyl, whether or not she would hear us from beyond the grave. Saying that this was more for our benefit than for Vinyl's. I personally don't think that talking to a grave was going to make me feel any better about her death, but at least I'd be able to get some things off my chest.

It was a little late in the day, but not many ponies were out and about to watch us trot to the graveyard. But when we got there, the gate was locked from the inside. Which wasn't a problem for a Pegasus, but for me, a magic-less Unicorn? I wasn't getting in anytime soon.

"Wait here," Fiona said, flying over the fence. She searched and found a fairly sharp rock. And with it, Fiona broke the lock on the gate in on itself, all that she had left to do was rip it apart with very little strength.

"How do you know Vinyl again?" I asked her, stepping through the gate.

"I was part of a team with her once," Fiona began, "we, Vinyl, Octavia and I, all became fighters around the same time. We also knew each other back when we were kids. But when high school started, I got separated from them because of our difference in talent."

"Instruments?"

"More or less," Fiona answered. "I always wanted to be a musician like them, but I never had a nack for that field." The way she talked reminded me of Vinyl so much. The way she held herself, the way she walked even reminded me of her. I'm sure that if I ever met the other one, Octavia, I'd find something similar in them all. "But while I tried so hard to become like them, Vinyl didn't want that. She always told me to be different than them, to follow my talent, even if I didn't want it."

"You didn't want your talent?"

"I know it sounds wrong, but, when your only friends are in the sky and you're left alone on the ground, you start to long for something to connect you again," I had nothing to say to that. I never knew a pony who didn't want their own talent. I chose to not have friends, and that's what always made me appreciate my talent more than anything. But now, I couldn't even use my talent. So what does that say about me?

"But you did finally find that connection, didn't you?"

"Yes, we did," Fiona said as we stopped in front of a small tombstone. "But, it was also the thing that tore us apart again."

"Fighting," I said, looking down at the grave. It had her full name, Vinyl Tiberius Scratch, her time of birth to her death. She was twenty-eight when her life ended. And it even had a quote just below that. "Victory tastes best with a little bit of music..." I read out loud. Tears started to fall from my eyes as I laughed a little bit. She was always saying things to lighten the mood, and even after death, she still tried.

"I'm sorry, Vinyl," I started, trying to hold back the emotion in my voice, "I wish I stopped you from accepting that fight. I wish I had done more to help you, and kept my promise, but in the end; I had to let you go." Fiona was being patient with me, allowing me some time to stand and be here, glad to be sad that a friend of mine had passed on. I bumped Vinyl's grave with the bare end of my hoof. Just one last show of respect for the pony who once doubted me, but ended up believing in me. "I'm going to go find the other's," I told Fiona, "and make amends with them too."

"Sounds like the right thing to do," she agreed.

"Do you want to come with?"

"Not yet, I have a few things I need to tell Tiberius first, I'll catch up," she said. I tapped her with a light punch and smiled before trotting off to knuckle brick corner. I glanced back to Fiona, who now sat in front of the grave with a drooping head. Tears fell from her face as she stuttered quietly in the empty graveyard.

They, were real friends.

There was a bit of me that felt hollow with Vinyl gone, like a hole that could never be filled again. Maybe one day I'd find a way to fill that void. But for now, I wanted to repair whatever was left of my other friends.

Ha, that's if I still have the right to call them that anymore.

I knew Ponyville so well, it surprised me how quickly I made it to the bar. And as I approached, the open sign was shut off, but the lights on the inside were still lit. Soarin was in there most likely. But I guess if I was going to start somewhere, it would be with him. I cracked the door open and saw him cleaning up what looked like a junkyard. As if the building had been flipped over by an earthquake. Tables and chairs broken into pieces, glass shattered everywhere. About the only thing untouched was the cider behind the counter. No pony liked their drink ruined, not even angry drunks. But even this mess looked like a lot more than just a little bar fight. I stepped in, slowly, and the door's bell rang overhead.

"We're closed," Soarin shouted without looking at me, "can't you read?"

"Well," I started, a smile growing across my face as I went further in, "I kinda lost that ability after a chunk of my horn got knocked off."

"How ironic, sounds like somepony that I used to know," he said, continuing on with his sweeping.

"Say," I snickered, "do you have any job openings?"

"Maybe, why?" he asked as he finally looked at me.

"Because I'm short on money and I need to pay for a few glasses that I broke," Soarin went wide eyed as he saw me, not even taking a moment to stop before he sprinted and caught hold of me with a hug. I was taken off guard, that had never crossed my mind that Soarin was this heavy. Yet, I hugged back as he tightened his hooves around me.

Wow, he's strong, I felt my face burn red as he pulled away.

"It's so good to see you again!" Soarin said, hugging me one more time before picking up the pace on his cleaning. "How have you been?"

"Fine," I said as I started to notice his injured wing in a cast and a black right eye. "What happened to you?" Soarin raised an eyebrow before looking at himself in the mirror, snorting as he remembered.

"Oh yeah, you should've been here, I kicked everybody out."

"You what?" I questioned.

"Yeah, after; you know what, I started to see you and the others less and less before it was just me here. And because you guys couldn't enter the tournament, the Knightmares won and everypony in here was celebrating that they now had a fighting chance with Vinyl gone. And I kept bottling up my emotions until, boom! I did this to the place."

That explains the mess. Finding a little bit of blood here and there, teeth scattered in the corners of the room.

"Luckily, Nightmare Moon wasn't around, so I only had to put two of her Knight mare's in the hospital last night. And because I kicked everyone's flanks and sent them out crying, I'm starting over fresh. New rules, new policies." I looked at the plaque of rules that use to be on the wall, it was broken in two and replaced with a brand new one that hadn't been written on yet. "I also wiped the board clean with the roster, as far as I'm concerned, no one's the champion anymore."

"Not even AJ?"

"Do you really think she'll have much trouble getting it back?" he asked me.

"No, probably not," I laughed. It was as if Vinyl had changed everything with her death. It actually helped me view it as more of a good thing instead of as a bad one. Life was still moving forward even with Vinyl gone. And I was glad for that. The door's bell rang again. It must be Fiona. But instead, it was four ponies stopping one right after another as they locked eyes with me.

"Twilight?" Abigail spoke slowly, Rare's jaw had dropped, and Pinkie was tearing up with me as Dash alone forced a frown. Dash stayed back as the other three galloped to me with questions to ask and hugs to give me. Eventually, Dash came up to me with a raised hoof, turning her head away from me.

"Good to have you back, I guess," Dash mumbled, bumping her hoof with mine.

"Stop acting cool, Dash, while the rest of us were bad mouthing Twi, you were the only one that was saying she'd be back!" Soarin called Dash out, and she turned away completely to hide her embarrassment. We all laughed at the different moods that were being created from sad to happy to hysterical to awkward. It was great to be back. And after we were all done with the reuniting, we helped Soarin clean up the rest of the bar, before sitting down to a few cool ciders. Everyone had questions for me just as much as I did for them.

Turns out that after I left the bar the day Vinyl died, they started another fight to which they were all formally kicked out of the Team Fighters Tournament. But by the time that they had reached the train station to stop me, I was already on my way to Canterlot. They told me that the funeral for Vinyl was short with hardly anypony there beside them, Soarin and Dr. Sombra to attend. They also told me that the killer was never found. And with only a letter and a knife at the crime scene, the guards ruled it out as just a hit and run and closed the case. The others, of course, investigated with what little they could do, turning up nothing as well.

"It's not like we could've done anything else for her, girls," I told them, taking the last swig of my drink. "We all thought it was going to be just another fight, not a 'winner takes all' match'," they all nodded solemnly to that.

"Still, I can't believe that she's gone," Rare voiced. I couldn't agree more.

"And it just doesn't feel like we're the Elements anymore," Pinkie said with her head resting on the table. She had stopped keeping her hair zany and goofy since I left. It had now straightened out and hung long almost down to her elbows. It was a sad look for her, and one that didn't fit her. But what she just said didn't fit either. We all went silent for while. None of us really knew what to say next. All we could do was make pointless conversation.

"Did you ever get that horn of your's fixed?" Abby asked, sitting backward on her chair.

"No, not really..." I began, explaining to them that I crashed with my brother and his family for about a month before I got into another fight again. Taking on about a dozen royal guards at once, getting my horn more messed up as a result. They all looked at me as if I was crazy. And they were probably right.

"I just wanted to fight," I said, "and that's really all I want to do now. I don't think Vinyl would want us to stop either."

"No kidding, Sherlock," Dash quipped.

"What I mean is that she would want us to remain as the Elements of Harmony,"

"Don't tell me you got indoctrinated into that peaceable bullshit," Dash squinted at me.

"Hardly," I corrected her, "I mean, this was probably the reason why she started this group in the first place,"

"Meaning?" Dash inquired.

"Meaning, each of us represents the Elements in some way. AJ, have you ever told a lie?"

"Only once, when I was little," Abby admitted.

"And Pinkie, haven't you always gone to the extreme to make somepony laugh or at least grin?"

"I would've never known if they could unless I tried," Pinkie answered with a smile.

"Alex, you've always put others happiness before your own, even if it meant giving up something that you yourself, loved. You're generous."

"I can name once or twice that I've thrown a fight or stopped sewing to see one of my sister's plays, but I'd hardly call it that, darling," Rare flipped her joyfully, trying to be modest about the compliment.

"And Dash, you've always been there for other ponies, even if you should've given up on them,"

"That's because I'm a decent friend, unlike you," Dash exaggerated her laugh, "I'm just kidding, Twi."

"But you're right, I guess that's why I'm lumped together with Magic and why Vinyl was Kindness. We all served a purpose in this team, ironic, huh? But regardless if that's how she intended it to be, I don't want to sit back and watch what Vinyl built crumble and die. I want to see how far we can take this, and become what Vinyl envisioned us to one day be, the best!" I had everypony excited or after that little speech. We were united under Vinyl still, even beyond her death.

But like always, just when I think I can rest easy, we all heard the door to the bar open with a bang. The bell above it came loose and rolled right to our table halfway into the bar. Nightmare Moon was here, marching an army of angry ponies right toward us. I think they were after Soarin. But after spotting me, Nightmare changed her course, stomping toward me and stood, demanding respect. She was towering over me for a slightly taller Unicorn, and glared, enmity surrounded her being like a never ending darkness of distaste and pride.

So, I stared into that abyss and glared back.

"What are you doing here, little pony?"

12 : A Declaration of War

"The very sight of you inclines me to puke. Leave before my knights do the service for you," Nightmare Moon ordered. I wasn't going to budge. As a fighter, Nightmare fought as though she were a monster escaped from Tartarus, and as a Pony, she drew attention and executed authority like the ruler of a nation. She was every bit like the legend she took her name after. And that alone was reason enough for me to rebel to her demands.

"You want me out, make me," I told her, standing up from my chair with the others, "cause I'm not leaving, 'you highness',"

"Your mockery of my heritage angers me, little one, but if it is blood that you wish to spill, so be it," Nightmare declared. Her guards stepped through the crowd and met gazes with the rest of us. Chaos was a funny thing. You never knew when or where it was going to break out. Or extinguish, as Soarin captured everyone's attention with the echo of his amplified voice through the speakers.

"Now, now, fighters. Let's not get all bloody and beaten yet, I just cleaned the place. Also, your forgetting that I'm the one you have a beef with, not Twilight and her gang,"

My gang? Since when am I the leader?

"Yeah, that's right!" a stallion from the crowd shouted, "You dismantled the roster and put us all on the same rank as the 'School Girl'!", "Do you honestly think the 'Ring' will stand for this?" another said. All while the crowd started picking up in their protests, I glanced at Nightmare, who wasn't moving her eyes off me. She really didn't care that she lost her rank on the roster. All she wanted was blood.

"Yes, well, the 'Ring' can shove it up its butt," Soarin spoke over the crowd, "You all-"

"Y'all." Abby corrected him.

"Whatever, Y'all were breaking the first rule of the bar, which is, 'don't be an ass!' And if you want to take your frustration out on me go right ahead, but that's not going to get your rank back at all. Which is why I've decided to fix all of our problems with a simple fighting tournament." Nightmare turned to Soarin at the mention of that. And everyone in the bar went silent as Soarin announced it. "The Summer Sun Celebration Tournament," he declared.

"That's tomorrow," Rare added.

"Interesting," Nightmare said, "You plan to hold a tournament on the day of my defeat; will they be on the list as well?" she asked, referring to my team and I. Soarin glanced at us for an answer, and with one quick look at the others, I had my decision, nodding to him with confidence. "How fitting," Nightmare walked up the counter, writing herself and her three Kightmares onto the sign-up sheet. Soarin filled in our names after her. "The Night versus the Elements, a fight written in the heavens themselves. I look forward to crushing those attributes you hold so dearly," Nightmare turned her, leaving a cowardly crowd behind in her wake. "And when you lose, leave Ponyville, it's mine."

"Anybody else?" Soarin asked. Tons of the regulars were muttering to each other. They didn't mind going up against us, but now that the Knightmares was involved, not many felt brave enough to join in on the fight.

"Sounds like a hoot, Soarin!" sounded off what I thought to be a drill sergeant. Captain Samantha Spitfire of the Wonderbolts trotted in with her co-captains, Tom Thunderlane and Sonia Fleetfoot. Dash stood up straight immediately, saluting the Pegasus military leader respectfully, as Soarin groaned with aversion.

"Now, where do I sign?" the captain asked.

"Don't you have an army to run?" Soarin implored, pulling the list away from her.

"Not really, the Princess has a good thing going with the Griffins and the rest of the world, so, no wars need to be fought anytime soon,"

"Then why are you here?" Soarin continued to ask.

"Do I really need a reason to see an old war buddy?" she said, alluding to a previous occupation of Soarin's.

"You were a Wonderbolt!?" I screamed.

"Maybe," Soarin mumbled.

"Don't be so humble, you're one of our best!" Spitfire jabbed him lightly from across the table. "Who's this?" she asked, glancing at me, "a girlfriend?"

"She's a girl, that's for sure!" Dash commented.

"And she just so happens to be his friend! Funny, huh?" Pinkie added. "But wait, I guess by that definition, all five us are his girlfriends, right?"

"Pinkie," Dash began, pulling her hat over her face, "the whole point of making fun of someone is so that you don't get made fun of in the first place,"

"Ooooooooh, right," Pinkie's sarcasm leaked. It felt better that all of us were humiliated instead of me alone. Spitfire whistled and elbowed Soarin as he glared at us.

"But in all seriousness, Soar, I want you back in the force,"

"Didn't I tell you that I'm retired?" Soarin reminded her.

"True, but as your commanding officer, I can order you back whenever I want,"

"Then why don't you?" Soarin rolled his eyes, pretending that he cared.

"Well, there are some legal matters I have to bypass first. One of them being that you have to be unemployed, and since so many ponies dislike you here, I can only imagine that you won't be here much longer if Nightmare what's her face wins your little tournament, so how about you let us enter, and if we win, you'll come quietly. And your bar will remain as it is, a bar," Soarin glanced behind him, spotting the Cakes peaking out the back kitchen door.

"And if they win," Soarin said, pointing to us, "you stop bothering me with this, and I'll stay here as I am, a bartender,"

"Deal!" Spitfire agreed, signing up with her comrades on it too. Now the crowd was getting excited, two more stallions signed up before Spitfire, her team, and the crowd departed with a few bottles of cider.

"Well," Pinkie Pie started, "That escalated quickly." All of us checked the list so far. It had almost been completely filled with the Knightmares and us taking up about half of the sixteen spots. This was going to be the biggest tournament I would be a part of, and with the military involved, it was sure to be a clash with the best fighters in Ponyville. And it wasn't long before the door creaked open again. It was Fiona. Her eyes were red from crying, she must've had a lot to say to Vinyl.

"How you holding up?" I asked as I walked up to her.

"Fine," she said, "just took a little longer than I thought,"

"It always does," I told her. "Come here, I want to introduce you to some ponies," I put a hoof around her, "This is the 'Elements of HARMony' that I was telling you about, Alexandra Rarity, Pinkamina Diana Pie, Abigail Apple Jack, and-"

"Rainbow Dash?" Fiona interrupted.

"Well, she prefers Dash or Hurricane but-"

"F- Fluttershy?" Dash stuttered, stepping back a hoof.

"Do you two know each other?" I asked.

"Oh, we know each other very well, don't we, Dashie?" The way Fiona was speaking reminded me of how my mom would scold me if I did something wrong. In other words, she was angry. Why?

"H- Hey, Flutters," Dash tried to smile whilst sweating profusely. She was in a nervous wreck as Fiona stepped forward, who was raising a hoof to punch. Dash flinched as Fiona stopped herself, making a loud sigh then stepped back.

"You're lucky I promised Tiberius I wouldn't hurt ponies for petty reasons," Fiona told Dash, walking back to me in a frustrated huff, looking a little sad for a moment.

"Care to explain?" I asked Dash, who was a little reluctant to say, if not afraid.

"Well, you see," Dash began, "Back when we were fillies, I bullied her, a lot," judging by the way Fiona was glaring, 'a lot' was an understatement. "A- And if you're wondering why I- I'm shaking scared," Dash was turning his head to avoid Fiona's eye contact, laughing nervously, "a while ago I visited the Griffen Empire to see a friend, you know, where some of the bigger fights happen," she waved her hoof at Abby who likely knew what she was talking about. "And there she was, making the heavyweight champion Griffin tap out from a strangle hold..."

My eyes shot open wide, taking another long look at Fiona.

"Don't take everything she says so seriously," Fiona told me.

"She's a fucking bear!" Dash blurted in a panicked cry.

"Uh-huh," Fiona acknowledged that, walking up to the bar to take a seat. "Something else I haven't told you, Twilight, is that Vinyl and I were some of the best fighters in Equestria, they use to call us the EUP Guard for a reason."

The EUP Guard, Equestria's last conquering militia during the first Princess's reign before Celestia the 2nd replaced them with the Wonderbolts. What a title.

"What's this?" Fiona spoke kindly now to Soarin, looking down at the tournament sign up sheet.

"That's the Summer Sun Celebration Tournament, you want in?" Soarin asked. Fiona saw that Dash's name was already on the list. She grinned wildly and asked for a quill. Fiona Fluttershy was now officially in this little war of ours.

Starting tomorrow was going to be the toughest day of my life. I welcomed the challenge. Because no matter who my opponent was, whether they be friend or foe, my promise still holds that I'd never stop fighting.

"Oh, one last thing, Twilight," Soarin drew my attention as he pulled something out from behind the bar counter. "You left these here on that day. I thought that if I ever made it Canterlot I'd be sure to bring this with me. But seeing as you're here now, seems like a good time as any to dawn them again." What Soarin placed in front of me was a crimson red magician's hat and cloak. The same trophies I claimed from Trixie.

"Perfect," I proudly said, "the Phoenix will make her debut here, at the Summer Sun Celebration!"

13 : The Tournament and The Rage

"So, is the Princess coming to our celebration or something? Cause to me, this seems more like a Wonderbolts show than a tournament," Dash said as we looked on at the large congregation of Ponies that surrounded knuckle brick corner. The entire town must be here.

"Doubtful," Rare stated, "the guard would be lining us up like a bunch of school ponies if that were the case. Besides, I believe her highness is visiting Cloudsdale, this year."

"Oh well," I said, taking the lead as we walked into the crowd. At first, we struggled to get through them all, but as more began to notice who we were, the masses parted, allowing us to reach the bar counter easily. Abby and Pinkie pushed a few Ponies aside for us to sit on the stools. Soarin and the Cakes were all up and rushing in and out of the kitchen to satisfy the surplus of customers.

"I can't express how happy I am to see you guys," Soarin spoke to us as he placed a heavy stack of dishes onto the countertop. "Now that we have every contestant here, we can finally start." Soarin was likely saying that for his and the Cake's sake. As this place had hardly ever this much business, even on their busiest nights.

Since yesterday, Fiona had gone off on her own in search of a place to stay, so we arrived without her. But from the sound of it, she was around here somewhere. No doubt keeping to herself, hidden in the crowd. It was almost noon. Just before the official celebration began. And yet, this was the main attraction. A fighter's tournament, right in the middle of Ponyville.

"Any idea why there are so many Ponies here?" I asked.

"Because it's violence, and most are particularly addicted to it," answered a familiar deep voice, interrupting Soarin before he could speak.

"Doc!" we all sounded off as we faced the lab coated Unicorn sitting at the bar.

"Welcome back, Twilight," Dr. Sombra said warmly. He was drinking, and from the looks of the already empty bottle, it had already been a lot.

"Good to be back, why are you here?"

"To keep you misfits alive, Celestia knows you need somepony to put you back together," he downed one last glass, hitting it to the table surface with a bang. He looked done.

"Is that all?"

"Why else, I have no other patients, all of the work is here," he laughed, looking at me with a weak expression. "This is also where I enjoyed listening to all of the young people music. But now it's just stale."

Dr. Sombra was right. The thumping beats didn't sound the same without her. This place, this world, was never going to be the way it used to be. I scanned the room, a few of the other combatants were studying their foes. I shared glances with a few, only locking eyes with one; Nightmare Moon.

"But some things never change," I said out loud, " the brawls will sound just like they always do,"

"Aye," the good doctor agreed. "Just be sure to not do anything stupid, I'd hate to put you through surgery again."

"Don't worry, Doc, this time I'm ready," I reassured him, just as the screech of a microphone overhead pierced our ear-drums.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Soarin began, "Today we celebrate one-thousand years of light since the last great war!" Everyone was cheering and stomping hooves to the patriotism. "But our ruler's victory is not the only thing we are here to attend to. We are also here to settle, once and for all, who is the 'Everfree Region Champion'!" That, however, received a greater applause as all the lights in the bar dimmed except for three spotlights, illuminating a large chalk board against the back wall, sectioned into eight pairings of fights. Each with the contestant's names scribbled onto it. "So let's not delay the carnage anymore," Soarin suggested as if reading the crowd's mind. "Match one contestants, front, and center!"

All of us glanced to the far left of the chalk board, where the first pairing was written. We already knew who they were, but it didn't hurt to hear the introductions.

"She's a night owl through and through, and an actual descendant of our highness's own royal guard, the deadly, the 'Pale Shade Bat' herself, Percival Nightingale!" It was one of the Knightmare's. Armored as usual, but the reason Percival was best known as the 'Pale Shade Bat' was for the simple reason that she was an albino Bat Pony. Pure white coat mixed with a gray mane and sky blue eyes made her a real rare sight to behold. She had her helmet off for the appearances, but once she was introduced, the helmet went back on, business as usual.

"And her opponent, the general of the Wonderbolts, and the very reason I quit the army in the first place, it's the infamous, the diligent, the 'Queen of the Skies', Samantha Jane Spitfire!" It seemed a little strange to have the military involved in all this. But I guess even the more combat ready of us liked to fight professionally. Dash for one was ecstatic to see her idol in the ring. Cheering her on early as half the crowd took Percival's side and the other supported Spitfire.

Soarin asked the two fighters to bow to each other, the bars fell around them, and the crowd joined Soarin in saying that one word.

"Fight!"

Percival guarded early as Spitfire launched like a bullet at her. Ramming Percival against the bars. The bat pony was shocked at how much that hurt and the crowd winced in pain for her as they jumped away from the bars. Spitfire wasn't showing a bit of mercy as she flew on top of Percival's shoulders and yanked the helmet off with one hard beat of her wings. Spitfire landed and tossed the helmet aside as Percival punched quickly at Spitfire's head. She just barely missed her by a hair as Spitfire gripped Percival's hoof, lifting her back legs up to scissor grab Percival's neck and flip her to the ground with her weight alone. Pinning Percival in a choke until she tapped out.

"Shit," I said under my breath, "that's the army for you." The crowd went wild as Soarin pronounced Spitfire the winner. Dash cried tears of joy, speaking rapidly in a repetition of how awesome Spitfire was. Even I have to admit, watching someone as fearsome as Spitfire fight was breathtaking. I had almost convinced myself that Dash was the fastest fighter alive. But there was far more talent out there to challenge.

The next fight would be between another one of the wonderbolts, Thunderlane. And a pony I never thought I'd see here.

"Mare Do Well? The Mare Do Well?" I asked.

"Sounds like an imposter if you ask me," Abby commented. We both sat up on the counter to look over the crowd, spotting this legend of a crime fighter heading for the ring, as Thunderlane waited for him. Mare Do Well was an Earth Pony. Average sized for an adult, Mare Do Well stood up straight, intimidating. Wearing a long dark purple cape over his blue costume, while the only other defining characteristic was his gray circles for pupils that slipped through the mask. Whether Abby was right or not, he looked the part, all we needed to do was see how he fought.

He was interesting, but then again, so was Thunderlane.

A well built Pegasus for his age, Tom Thunderlane excelled at aerial combat, same as the rest of the Wonderbolts. Dash clued me in on facts I didn't know about them. Since she always wanted to be one but never had the money to attend their flight Academy. It was a bitter-sweet feeling for her to be fighting against her heroes today.

"Introducing," Soarin began again, "the calm before the storm, the third in command of the wonderbolts, and a decent dancer, Thomas Thunderlane!" The way Soarin spoke about the Wonderbolts always made me laugh. He apparently knew them well enough to commentate them with such degrading humor, yet none of them reacted the way he wanted them to. They simply ignored him and remained keen and alert, like any army officer.

"And his opponent, the 'Dark Knight' of Manehatten, the crime fighting hero of justice, give it up for, Mare Do Well!" After the bars fell, Soarin shouted for the fight to begin, and the ringing bell ignited the brawl.

Tom made the first offensive strike as Mare Do Well dodged it with ease. Ducking and side stepping as if dancing to the music.

"What's wrong?" Mare Do Well spoke up, "I thought you were in the army," Tom was baring his teeth, attacking faster as Mare Do Well led his punches into the bars. The clang of his hoof hitting the metal made us all mutter in pain as he cursed, but kept attacking.

What an idiot. He was taking the bait Mare Do Well was setting out for him, making him angry so that he'd screw up. I glanced at Spitfire and Fleetfoot, who were shaking their heads as they watched him flail his hooves like an ape. Mare Do Well stepped behind him and caught him in a head lock. Tom started to fly and knock Mare Do Well against the bars back and forth.

They're both idiots. Mare Do Well was clearly taking a beating now that he was on Tom's back. And with each collision on the bars, Tom picked up the speed. That was until Mare Do Well shifted his weight and smashed Tom's head against the bars. Tom fell limp. And Mare Do Well was the only one standing, minus the back pain.

"Mare Do Well wins!" Soarin announced. Tom's comrades picked him up from off the floor, and we quickly moved on to the next match. Fiona's first match.

She and a big stallion entered the ring. Her opponent was Bulk Biceps. I couldn't really tell if that was his actual name or not. As it seemed that he had plenty to go around. Fiona was so tiny compared to him. But if I knew her like I think I do, she'd have no problem fighting this clown.

"It's round three, and it looks like another quick one!" Soarin said over the mic. I looked to Dash. She knew Fiona better than I did, and it felt like for the first time, Dash and I were thinking the exact same thing.

If only Soarin knew, we both thought.

"In the left corner, we've got the wrestling champion himself, he bench presses houses for fun, it's Bulk Biceps! And in the right corner, she's a cutie from Cloudsdale, and a bashful one at that, please give an encouraging welcome to, Fiona Fluttershy!" Fiona was red faced with her eyes staring directly at the floor. For such a tough fighter, she really didn't like the attention. But when the bell rang, she focused on Bulk, and the crowd lowered their volume as she tried to talk to Bulk civilly.

"Umm... Would you mind, forfeiting?" she politely asked.

"Yeah! In another lifetime!" Bulk obviously felt insulted by that, and the crowd laughed as Fiona tried again.

"Please forfeit, you seem like a really nice guy. I don't want to hurt you,"

Flutters, would it kill you to be mean for once?

"NO! I want to fight!" Bulk belted. Fiona sighed, her eyes looking to the side, thinking. She felt reluctant to fight.

"Okay, you asked for it," Fiona said, taking a running stance as Bulk charged. And with a few strong flaps from her wings, Fiona had grabbed Bulk by his head with one hoof and drove him into the ground. The crowd went silent as Bulk laid motionless on the floor.

"Sorry, but the kindest thing to do in a fight is to end it quickly. The longer you fight, the more hurt you get," then, Fiona left, lifting the bars, walking over to us.

"W- We have a winner..." Soarin didn't really know what to say after that. And everypony around us stepped away as she took a seat next to me.

"Good morning," she said.

"Sup," I returned the greeting. It hadn't even been an hour, and we were already completed three of the fifteen scheduled fights for today. And with Abby up next against Fleetfoot, it looked to be another quick one.

"So, where'd you go after yesterday?" I asked Fiona as Soarin started the next match.

"I found a place to rent at the edge of the forest," she answered. "It's a nice little hut with utilities and all. Did you get your library apartment back?"

"Yeah, actually. The owner hadn't found a replacement for me since I left, so I could get the job back, that is, if I stay." To be honest, the looming fact that I might be kicked out of Ponyville by Nightmare Moon had me worried. Cause even if one of the Knightmares was champion by the end of the day, we'd ultimately be out of a home. And we'd have to leave Vinyl's dream to die here as well. Our conversation died as we both looked to the ring. Abby and Fleetfoot were already underway when we did.

"She's really good," Fiona said about Abigail. "If she keeps this up, she could surpass Tiberius,"

"You think so?"

"Oh yes," Fiona stated. "But if she didn't retire from fighting when she did, I don't think anyone could stand against her,"

"Wait, retired?" I questioned. As far as I knew, Vinyl had always fought. Fighting was her thing. And I really couldn't imagine her as someone who wouldn't fight.

But Fiona just kept watching the match, as if she hadn't heard me. Abby was blocking a fast attack pattern from Fleetfoot in the very center of the ring. At different times she'd strike, only to miss Fleetfoot by an inch or collide with one of her punches. Abby wasn't going to be ending this fight anytime soon, but Fleetfoot couldn't get the upper hoof either. It seemed like an even match, but I could somehow tell that to Fiona, it wasn't even close.

"Tiberius quit fighting some years ago," she finally spoke up. "And that's why Regal and I went our separate ways. I left the country in search of peace, and Regal, to my knowledge, hasn't left the Crystal Empire since we disbanded the EUP Guard."

"What made you look for peace?" I asked. And that seemed to have struck a nerve. Fiona looked at me judgingly, trying to decide whether to answer that question or not. After a few moments, her expression relaxed and she answered me with tired eyes.

"To escape the 'Rage',"

I tilted my head to that, "Rage?" I asked again.

"You've felt it before, you just didn't know it at the time." Fiona started to explain by gesturing over to Abby. "Have you ever wondered why a greater population of Equestrian ponies have a redder eye color?"

"It's a common hereditary gene from the first Alicorn's right?" I said, "I have it, you have it, and even AJ does. Technically we're all related because of them,"

"But look closely at Abigail," she pointed. I squinted at the subtle glow coming off of her now dark orange iris. There was a visible anger escaping her eyes like a faint flickering candle flame. I never noticed it before.

"That, is the 'Rage'," Fiona continued. "There are very few who don't have it. Your friend Alexandra Rarity is one of them," I looked over at Rare down the counter and noted the distinct azure color in her eyes. Not a hint of red at all.

"So, what does that mean?"

"It means, that she's destined to lose as a fighter." My gut twisted with guilt as I looked over at the chalk board, and at the last match for the preliminary rounds. Rare was up against Nightmare.

"I'm sorry," Fiona called my attention to her, "but it's the truth,"

"You said it 'means' that?" I quoted her.

"Yes, I did," Fiona began. "That's because I've only known one other Pony who's succeeded in fighting, and has bested even me without the Rage,"

"And who's that?"

"Regal." Fiona finished. Both of us looked ahead and saw Abby laying in the final winning punches to Fleetfoot. They had both gotten so tired from their hit and run fight, that Fleetfoot could no longer stay air born. Which led to a ground fight, Abby's home turf. Fleetfoot was struggling, and with every punch that Abby landed, Fleet stumbled back until finally, she fell.

The crowd roared as Abby raised a hoof up, Soarin officially declaring her the winner.

"If you don't believe me, wait till you fight, and tell me you don't feel a boiling in your blood," Fiona said, sounding all too convincing for my liking.

"Blah, blah, blah," Dash interrupted as she flipped her tongue in her mouth, sitting on the opposite side of me from Fiona. "What a bunch of egg-head talk."

"Be careful who you said to, Rainbow Dash," Fiona used Dash's first name freely, a feat I wish I could get away with.

"Bite me, Cinderella," Dash retorted.

"Is that your middle name?" I turned to Fiona.

"Don't say it," she threatened me.

Fiona Cinderella Fluttershy, huh? I snorted to that as Dash dodged Fiona's glare with me in between them.

"Ha, I knew she was cute!" Soarin said in passing, Fiona froze, instantly. Pulling her jacket over her head to hide her embarrassment.

"Whelp, I'm up next," Dash said, hopping off the counter. "So don't get too butt hurt, Flutters, and don't think I'm scared of you anymore, I'll see you in the semi-finals!" Fiona just watched Dash leave in silence. She had a grudge that wasn't going to leave, and Fiona no doubt channeled that into her fighting.

And when Dash made it to the ring, Fiona jabbed me hard and quick in the side.

"What was that for!?" I almost cursed, forcing myself to deal with the pain instead of worrying about it.

"Sometimes the Rage is hard to control," Fiona muttered as an excuse.

"Yeah, well," I scooted away from Fiona a bit, picking up a cold cider bottle to ease the pain in my side. "Should I be worried about this 'Rage'?" My question made her smile for some reason, pulling her jacket back down around her shoulders.

"It's not like rabies, so it won't turn you into a blood thirsty beast. As long as you don't let it."

"So, I should be worried," I assumed.

"We've all gone too far before, Phoenix. I've come to terms with it a long time ago, and you should too. But that doesn't mean I want to keep fighting," Fiona voiced, honestly. "I'm still looking for that peace, and maybe..." Fiona got quiet all of a sudden as she continued to talk, but my ears couldn't hear her with all the noise around us.

"What'd you say?"

"Nothing," Fiona said, both of us turned to Dash's fight with another one of the Knightmares.

I missed the introductions, but I didn't care so much about that. Every fighter that was still in the running was studying Dash and the Knightmare. It was a flight battle between a Pegasus and a Bat Pony. Exciting, fast paced, and strange. Dash, unlike most Pegasi fighters, performed different stunts to dodge attacks that led into surprisingly well-timed counters. All of that training with Rare must've paid off for her. And although the other's were cheering her on, I just couldn't. Fiona's explanation of this 'Rage' that everypony supposedly had scared me. Did Vinyl have it too? Dash certainly did. Her naturally pink eyes took on a darker, far deeper hue as she fought. They looked somewhat like glaring neon lights. If Fiona hadn't pointed this out, I think I would've noticed no difference. I looked back to Fiona, and I noticed that she'd up and left.

"Mother bucker," That mare was a weird one.

Before I knew it, Dash had crushed the Knightmare, and we were moving onto Pinkie's match, against another Knightmare no less.

This Rage stuff had me thinking more than I ever have since I first came to Ponyville. Were there limits to it? Was there a dangerous amount that would drive a pony to kill? Maybe that's how Vinyl's last fight ended. Was it the Rage's fault? Answers escaped me as Pinkie's fight came to close. Soarin declared her the winner and called for the next pairing of fighters to the ring. A pony called the 'Stinger', and me, Phoenix.

Author's Note

( "It means, that she's destined to lose as a fighter." My gut twisted with guilt as I looked over at the chalk board, and at the last match of the day. Rare was up against Nightmare. )

At that part, I almost read...

( "It means, its hot! And I'm dehydrated, Twi!" )

Just thought I'd say that...
- BackroundVoice

14 : Phoenix vs. The Stinger

Spotlights overhead shined like the sun. The bars around me and my opponent bounced off the ground, then settled. And Soarin began his introductions.

"Fight seven, everypony!" he spoke enthusiastically. "In the right corner, we have a regular, a seasoned fighter, his friends call him Sky, but we all know him by a different name! It's the 'Stinger'!"

Sky Stinger, my opponent, was about my height for a stallion, cerulean coat with sea green hair. He wore his trademark yellow and black jacket, his wings cutting through holes in the back. Sunglasses hid his eyes, so I couldn't tell if he was red eyed or not. But I guess all I have to do is punch them off. Shouldn't be too hard to do.

"And in the left corner," Soarin began again. "She's a school girl from the Unicorn Academy in Canterlot, she's seen her fair share of fights and has lost more times than we care to count, yet she keeps coming back for a beating! She's mad, she's smart, she's Phoenix!" The crowd cried my name as I stood there in my crimson attire, bowing as I tipped my hat.

"Don't think just cause you were trained by Vinyl that you're hot shit," Sky Stinger told me before Soarin gave the signal to fight. "You're not even good enough to fight me!"

"You're right, I'm better," I replied. The crowd reacted with a loud 'oh'. Stinger got angry. Glaring as he said one last thing before the bell rang.

"Still, Vinyl must've been carp herself, if she actually considered you as a fighter,"

"You're going to eat those words, Sky," I said, hearing my friends yelling to kick his flank. I tossed off my cloak and hat, readying my stance as Sky hovered in the air. And the bell rang with Soarin's shout to fight.

Sky acted first, ascending just to fly down on top of me with a kick. I waited for the most precise moment to jump above his attack, drop kicking Sky in the face with all four hooves. Sky fell to the ground, trying to use his wings to steady himself again. When he stood, his sunglasses had been broken in half, revealing green eyes. No glow.

He doesn't have the Rage, but I do. I thought, recalling the day I left Ponyville. He was there in the bar that day, he threw a glass at the back of Abigail's head and bad mouthed Vinyl. I remembered this specifically to anger myself, purposefully. Just to see if I could consciously experience this blood trait Fiona said I had. And she was right, my heart started to pound and my muscles felt like they were on fire. So this is the Rage? Nice.

I galloped forward into a punch, Sky blocked and attacked back. Even despite the fact I had this inherited feeling to attack without feeling, Sky matched me punch for punch. Sky was no push over like the guards back in Canterlot. He was well known for his punches leaving a stinging like feeling after he hit. It was just another way of saying that he used the tips of his hooves to make you hurt more. But I refused to let him get that chance.

He tried so hard to land a hit. It annoyed me. Not to mention the ponies surrounding the ring shouting actions for fighting. If this were my bar, I'd implement a code of silence for spectators. Sky had pushed me up against the bars, I dodged an attack to the head as his hoof slipped through the bars and hit a pony that was standing a little too close. I reacted by kicking his head into the bars. I laughed as he cried out in pain. But one kick in return shut me up as I stepped back, irritated, but realizing I deserved that one.

Sky was getting ready to continue his assault as I kept moving backward. That maddening feeling inside me was eating away at me to smash his face in. But I had a question that overpowered that urge.

Could I just stop? I asked myself, waiting for a moment to grab Sky's hoof and I swung him over my shoulder. The impact from hitting the ground made him gag. Giving me a little time to breathe as he whined about his back.

"Give up?" I suggested. And I restrained myself from punching back as he returned to his hooves, swinging in anger. It wasn't the same feeling I just had. A 'boiling' in my blood like Fiona said. It subsided because I refused to fight back, dodging punch after punch. Sky Stinger was beginning to tire. Every movement he made slowed down a click as sweat fell from his face. I almost considered waiting for him to knock himself out. But I wanted to try one last thing.

He threw that glass at AJ as hard as he could, I didn't like that. I started to get that feeling again in my body. Heat, building up out of nowhere. It was just like that time I fought Flash Sentry. But as I thought of that, I remembered that Flash hit my horn. That made me mad too. My broken horn made think of Dash, and Dash made me think of Nightmare.

I blocked Sky Stinger's next punch and held it as I stopped his next one with a jab to his nose. He tried to pull away, but I wouldn't give. I saw the reflection of my eyes in his. They glowed crimson, an unstoppable flame was inside me. I took his hoof and pushed him back a few steps. He was surprised I didn't take the chance to attack, and I turned to Fiona, and I saw something take form in my mind.

It was Vinyl, watching me. As if she were there right next to Fiona. She was smiling, her sunglasses weren't over her eyes, and she looked content and joyful despite the glow in her deep red eyes. She conquered it, didn't she?

I saw Vinyl's image disappear, but I felt calm all of a sudden. Only a sick feeling lingered. I didn't like this Rage either. Meeting with Fiona's gaze, who looked at me with wide eyes. She couldn't believe it, watching the Rage leave me. I could stop it at will. And because of that, I didn't have to fight. But I made a promise, and I was going to keep it, no matter what.

"I'll always keep fighting," I whispered to myself, staring Sky down. He readied himself for me and I think for the first time, I fought without Rage.

We clashed again, but this time, it was no contest. Sky tried time after time to push me back into a corner to focus solely on giving me a beating. But with every attempt he made to do so, I returned with a harder attack. Elbowing the joints of his hooves before he could 'sting' me, so to speak. Sky even tried to fly and use the air to his advantage. And every time I punished him by grabbing his back hooves to slam him against the walls of bars before he could escape.

At this point, Sky could hardly stand to the beating I had given him. So with a long sigh, he sat down and raised his hoof to resign.

"Phoenix wins!" Soarin declared, the crowd cheering my name like they had when I fought Trixie. I reached down to pick Sky up but he declined as he sat there.

"Thanks, but no thanks," he said, "sorry I said you and Vinyl were crap." I actually accepted that apology. Sky could've kept fighting as he had. But he knew that I wasn't about to back down even if he did hurt me a little more. He had lost and was willing to accept that.

"I already knew you were wrong," I told him, "I just talked back with my hooves,"

"Yeah, you did," Sky laughed as his pals took him back to their table, where Bulk Biceps was icing the back of his head. I picked my cloak and hat off the ground and left the ring. Hoof-fiving Rare as she took her spot for the last match before the next set. Facing off the against 'Night' by herself.

"Break her nose for me, will you?" I asked her in passing.

"But of course, darling," she said, and I looked into those azure eyes again.

Did I really win without the Rage? And could she do the same? I asked myself. But there was only one way to find out. Nightmare Moon stepped into the ring, the bars dropping around them. Just before Soarin began the introductions.

Author's Note

Listen to: Swamp Thing by Monstercat for this fight.

15 : The Swan vs. The Night

"In the right corner, we have the elegant beauty of Ponyville! But don't let her good looks fool you, cause if you get on her bad side, she'll throw you back in the trash where she found you! You all know her name, she's stunning, she's fabulous, she's the Swan, Alexandra Rarity!" Rare took a red ribbon out of her dark gray coat pocket, tying her drilled purple mane back into a ponytail. And despite looking more than appealing to all the boys in the bar, she portrayed herself as anything but weak. Rare knew who she was up against, and there could be no room for error.

"And in the left corner, we have the legend herself! The scourge of daylight, the nightmare we all fear, the 'Night' herself, Nightmare Moon!" That introduction couldn't be truer. Nightmare was a mad mare. She honestly believed that she was the Alicorn from the legend. Sure, she was tall enough, but the lack of wings told a different story. She didn't bow with Rarity. She just stood and accepted the bow as a praise to herself.

Rare huffed to that and took her stance. Her back hooves one in front of the other, with one hoof balancing her in front, her free hoof scraping the floor. As if to say 'toro!' to the armored beast before her.

Nightmare merely chuckled to that and remained still. Not taking a fighting stance, just waiting for the match to start.

"Go, Swan!" Pinkie started the encouragement. Abby and Dash joined in after, and I followed suit as the crowd almost exclusively cheered Rare on. Nightmare's knights, her only moral support in the bar, stayed quiet. As if silence gave her better focus than words of encouragement. And when the bell finally rang, we all shouted with Soarin.

"FIGHT!"

Rare took a trotting head start as Nightmare pounced into action, a hard right hoof ready to strike, only to miss as Rare dropped, sliding under Nightmare Moon and jabbing at her underbelly. Rare returned to her hooves and Nightmare glanced back. Her eyes were glowing red. The Rage.

"Clever, little pony," Nightmare commented. "But let us test how long you can avoid me," she finished saying, charging with stomping hooves. Warning Rare to not try that sliding trick again.

Rare reared back into the bars as Nightmare swiped again. Following that with a high kick that bent the bars behind Rare as she jumped over the attack and countered with her own kick. Nightmare expected that, grabbing Rare's hoof to swing her to the ground. Rare managed to break loose of Nightmare's grip before she was smacked against the floor, rolling into a dodge again as Nightmare refused to let up. Chasing Rare all over the arena.

"This isn't going to end well for her," Fiona's voice said under the roar of the crowd. She was standing right next to me at the counter. Watching the fight through all the Ponies.

"Shut up," I told her, continuing my cheering as Rare remained one hoof ahead of Nightmare's attacks. Only countering to redirect punches and kicks.

"You know that I'm right, the Rage in Nightmare is too great to be overcome, Alexandra will lose,"

"I won without the Rage, so why can't she?" I grumbled. Fiona's teeth scraped to that statement.

"Because she's not fighting!" Fiona raised her voice to me. "She's running in between her kicks, dancing around her punches, she's surviving as long as she can because even she knows that what you believe is a lie! The very moment she attack's back will be her downfall!" I saw Dash and the others turn to us as they heard Fiona's irate voice ring loud and clear through the crowd.

"You disappoint me, Phoenix," Fiona growled. "I thought you had actually learned of a way to conquer it, but even now," she paused, looking into my eyes, "the Rage is still there." I looked to a glass of cider near me, that faint red glow was there in its reflection, and I'm not even fighting?

"Enjoy your friend's loss, it will be painful," Fiona said before we watched her disappear into the mass of ponies. I turned back in the direction of the ring as the crowd winced in pain. Rare had been pinned to the ground finally. Her right hoof was locked behind her back as Nightmare stood over her, heavy armor adding to the unlikelihood of her breaking loose.

"Submit," Nightmare ordered. Rare only turned her head back, tears running down her cheeks as she spat into Nightmare's eyes. The crowd gasped at how dirty that tactic was, especially for Alex. Nightmare lifted Rare to her hooves, bucking her in the stomach, launching her into the bars. Rare almost fell to that attack, but she continued to stand, still willing to fight.

"I'll submit when I lose!" she told Nightmare, foregoing ideas to dodge any more attacks and instead blocked and hit back, fighting with Nightmare head on. But the armor she punched didn't dent, her blocks only gave Nightmare free hits as the metal bruised her body. It wasn't a fight anymore. It was a slaughter. And the beating continued until Rare couldn't lift her hooves anymore. Helpless to stop Nightmare from grabbing her by her jacket collar.

Blood dripped from Rare's mouth as she was lifted up in the air, Nightmare began to rear her head back. I saw this once before. When my horn was taken from me.

"No!" I shouted as she began her head butt, only to stop inches away from Rarity's horn, noticing that she had already lost consciousness. Everyone was quiet. I could've sworn that I saw movement in Rare's twitching hooves. But she wasn't thinking for herself anymore. Her body was limp as Nightmare dropped Rare onto her back hooves, still sitting upright with shut eyes. We all rushed to the ring as Soarin declared Nightmare the winner quickly as he joined us.

"She's still breathing," I told Sombra as he laid her down gently.

"That's one Element crushed," Nightmare said to us. "I only hope that the rest of you will prove to at least be a challenge," she walked away with that. We all felt it then. The Rage burning in our souls. Watching as Nightmare disrespected Rare's fight without a single gesture of approval.

Fiona was right, this was painful. That sick feeling returned as the Rage finally subsided as I looked to Rarity, defeated, in the most horrible way. And she wasn't going to be the last. This was going to continue until someone beat her.

And that someone will be me!

16 : Phoenix vs. Hurricane

After the preliminary rounds were over, Soarin called for a short intermission as he changed up the whiteboard, writing on it the next pairings of fights. Which not only gave ponies time to refill their drinks, but it gave us fighters a rest before fighting each other again. The matches would go in order from right to left this time. Putting me up first, with the speed demon herself, Rainbow Hurricane Dash.

Dash and I looked at each other as we saw Soarin finish writing our match on the board. We smirked and gave each other a determined glare. Not exactly a look to suggest that we hated each other, but more so to acknowledge a personal rivalry between us. And I think I was more excited about this fight than Dash was.

She also wanted to have a personal fight with me after all of the back and forth we did insulting each other, but the fact still remained that I was here because of her. I started down this path because she chose me to fight alongside her in the team fighters tournament all that time ago. I honestly wish I could say that I forgive Dash, but I guess I still harbor some ill will toward her. I blame her in some way for what happened to me. And if that's the case, I suppose Vinyl was also to blame, in some way. We were at the table alone, the others were with Rarity and Sombra, while Fiona was minding her own business, somewhere else in the bar.

"Does it still hurt?" Dash suddenly asked. I looked at her for a brief moment before realizing that she was asking about my horn. I reached up and felt the large crack in it. An inch of bone separating me from using magic. I nodded silently to answer her.

"I know this means nothing, but; I'm sorry, Twi, for your horn getting messed up," Dash told me. I was speechless. I honestly didn't think she could do it, apologize that is. And I about accepted that, before Dash spoke up again, trying to act cool in some way. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't kick my flank for it either!" Once again, I was surprised. Not only had she earned my respect, but she also asked me to get payback all the same. "Cause I'm fighting you just to make you uglier than you already are," I laughed at that.

"Okay, sure. I'll break your wings since you're technically the reason my horn has a hole in it," I threatened, if not a little bit sarcastically. And Dash wouldn't have it any other way. But one thing made me concerned about this fight. Because I lied. It wasn't Dash or Vinyl's fault that I lost my ability to use magic, it was Nightmare's. She did this to me, and it didn't feel right to redirect that Rage at Dash or anyone else.

"Dash," I started, and she took this moment to listen to me seriously for once. "I'm going to win because I want to fight Nightmare, not because I blame you for what happened to me," now, Dash was surprised. She must've actually thought I hated her. But to be honest, I couldn't care less about returning to the Academy anymore. Even when my horn heals, I still plan to fight. It's not a matter of getting back what was mine now. It's about who I want to become.

"Then let's fight for that," Dash said. "I want to smash Nightmare's head in as much as you, but one of us is going to have to get past Flutters or Spitfire to do that." Dash was right. Our match leading into the semi-finals was going to put us up against one of those two, but we were willing to do it.

"Then let's go all out," I proposed with a raised hoof.

"And let the best fighter win," Dash agreed, bumping my hoof with a punch.

"Fighters, to the ring!" Soarin announced. And we started our walk to the ring. The ponies all around were talking to us and saying that they've been waiting for this match. We didn't get a chance to run into the others before the bars fell. But we heard their voices clear enough as the introductions commenced.

"It's now time for the quarterfinals, everypony!" Soarin continued. "And to start things off, we have two of our favorite fighters here to duke it out for the semifinals! In the right corner, she's the hot headed mare from Canterlot, the pony who just won't stand down to a fight, it's Twilight Sparkle, the Phoenix! And in the left corner, she's known as the speed demon in these parts, she puts the weather together every day, and can fly circles around a tornado faster than it can pick her up, it's the Hurricane!" Soarin must've been asked by Dash to avoid saying her full name. But most knew her by her fighter name anyway.

We both bowed to each other as we were asked to, and with everyone's participation, the bell rang, which followed the declaration to fight.

Dash and I both moved into a rhythm of blocks and punches. The crowd was astounded at how fast we were both moving. I could barely keep up. Dash was looking for an opening to strike as much as I was. Hitting hard and fast as I fortified my defense with a combination of counters and side-stepping. I had to resort to tactics that I had never thought of attempting just to dodge her. Ducking low to the ground and hopping up into the air while Dash kicked and struck her hooves into mine. I made her miss me only a few times as the rest of them had been blocks. It wasn't that I was fast at all, Dash had hit her mark almost every time. I was only delaying the inevitable with my own strikes, forcing Dash to dodge while I thought of a way to land a hit. We had expertly held up our own so far, that a sudden clash of hoof to face was going to happen eventually. I just didn't expect us to hit each other at the same time.

My right hoof knocked Dash's head back at the exact same moment her hoof hit mine. The crowd roared at the first clean hit of the fight. We stepped back a foot or two, only to re-engage with more offense than defense.

I kicked at Dash as she went for another head hit. She was just an inch short from connecting as my back hoof hit her in the chest. She caught hold of it and pulled me toward her into that punch anyway. Making me stumble as she continued to lay into me.

I managed to block every other punch but ended up against the bars as Dash started to pick up the speed. In a last ditch attempt to get away from her I got low and tried to tackle her into a roll. Only to miss by an apple as she ascended with her wings. Now I knew I was at a disadvantage. Dash, ironically, dashed back and forth as she flew, throwing me off as to where she would come at me next. But regardless of where she'd attack, all I had to do was invite her in for a free hit.

I purposefully turned to my right so she'd attack my open left side, hitting my right across the face, only to be grabbed with both my hooves. Dash was already off the ground, leaving half of the hard part out as all I had to do now was smack her back onto the ground. Which ended up being easier said than done. Cause as I pulled her over my shoulder, Dash flapped her wings so fast that she hovered just over the floor, giving her the time to smile and flip me over her into the far wall of bars.

"Pony feathers!" I cursed quietly. Standing up quickly to face Dash again. She looked happy that we were fighting like this, even as the Rage clearly lit her now dark pink eyes.

Is that why I've been losing? I asked myself. Am I focusing so much on not going into the Rage that I've lost my will to win? I knew just from fighting this short while that we were practically even, yet I was eating the dirt this late into the fight. Should I let go? I asked again. The idea was tempting enough. Lose control and win without a second thought. But I was worried if that would really count as my win, and not the Rage's. There are so many questions and not enough answers!

"Hey," Dash said, still flying in her fighting stance. "You giving up?" Her confident grin had turned into a disappointed frown.

"Of course not!" I answered her, getting back into fighting position.

"Then why do you look like you have?"

Did I really look like that? I started to feel weak all of a sudden. I could clearly feel that the Rage was trying to get me again. But I instantly thought of Vinyl, forcing that burning feeling away. I didn't want to rely on it. Cause if I did, I'd be no better than Nightmare Moon. I needed to do it this way.

Dash charged me and we got locked into that same hit and block dance like before. "Was it something Flutters said to you?" Dash asked me. And somehow we managed to hold a conversation while in combat.

"It's the Rage," I told her, "it gets into your head and makes you feel like you have no choice but to fight. This wasn't how Vinyl wanted us to-" I got stopped from talking as Dash got a hit off my head.

"Bull!" Dash responded, "Vinyl never talked to us about the 'Rage' or whatever you call it. We just fought because we do!" Dash continued to scold me with words and punches until I had been knocked onto the ground. "And have you forgotten? Vinyl said that you either come into this life willing to fight or not!" Dash kicked at me and I blocked, rolling back to my hooves as she flew forward with a readied punch. "Must still be an egg-head if you care that much about giving up!"

I felt a fire ignite within me. My body started to act on its own, and I blocked Dash's punch with one hoof, skidding backward from the just the momentum alone as I held her attack.

"Don't call me that, Rainbow," I glared at her. I could see my red eyes reflect the faint glow off of Dash's.

"There it is," Dash said, leading into another punch that I hit away with my own. "Fighting is just like magic, idiot! It doesn't make sense, you just do it anyway because it's in our blood to fight, so choose to be okay with it or step aside! I'm taking Nightmare Moon down tonight!"

"Fine!" I roared, jumping and hitting Dash back onto the ground. I continued to attack without any recollection that Dash doing the same to me. Not even blocking anymore, we fought like animals. Clawing at one another, hit for hit. And the only thing ending this fight was our choice if it should. And I decided that it was.

With both hooves raised, I let them fall onto Dash's head, causing her to back away as I began to punch her in the face repeatedly. Dash, in her next attack, pulled one of my hooves down to get one last hit in on my head, hitting the base of my horn just barely and I reared back in hurt. Screaming through my teeth, I came back with one more punch, forcing Dash's head to the floor, knocking her out in the process; finally.

"Phoenix wins!" Soarin declared as the crowd cheered my name.

I felt like falling over, we were both covered in bruises and blood. But I needed to stay up and wait for the bars to raise just so this wouldn't become a tie. Cause I'm not doing that again. Soarin came over with Dr. Sombra, raising my hoof in victory, and I sat down next to Dash as Sombra made sure she got proper care right away.

Suddenly, I heard a slow stomping hooves right in front of me. Nightmare Moon was smiling, looking down at Dash, amused.

"Two Elements, crushed," she said. "How does it feel that you are contributing to your own demise?" I said nothing to that as she walked away, laughing. I knew better than to give her more to taunt me with. Dash and I both knew that this fight was not about the tournament. It was between us, as friends. Nothing more. I continued to watch Nightmare leave as she disappeared behind her guards.

I saw Percival and the other knights, look back to me. Hurt expressions on them all as they took off their helmets,
and bowed to me in place of their leader.

"Is it wrong to fight?" I asked Sombra, who looked up at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, of course, it is," he answered. "But it's just as wrong not to fight."

"How do you figure?"

"Lass," Sombra gave me a tired expression. "If you're still asking that question after all that has happened, you really did lose your brain cells with that chunk of your horn..."

Sunset said that... I thought, recalling. Was Sombra there on that night too? I started to look closer at Sombra's eye color. They were just as red as Vinyl's had been. Sombra was a fighter too. How could he not? But that shade, that little glow, he was in the Rage right now. Just as Vinyl had been, constantly.

I stood up and left him to Dash as Abby and Pinkie congratulated me. I kept an eye on the doctor. There was something he wasn't telling anyone. And I didn't like it. But that would have to wait. The next fight was about to start.

One battle at a time, Twilight. One battle at a time...

17 : Alicorn Blood

Soarin went through the introductions for Abigail and Mare Do Well quickly. Speeding the quarterfinals along with the crowd's anticipation building now that their champion was up next. Abby didn't mind, she was just ready to lay into her next opponent. Fights were getting tougher, and with more challenge, came more fun.

Soarin declared the fight to begin, and with the bell ringing loud and clear, Abby sprung into action, but all Mare Do Well did in his defense was raise a hoof, and forfeit. "I give up," he said. Throwing us all through a loop while Abby halted, inches away from hitting him.

"Whelp, my boner's gone," Pinkie commented. Ponies were jeering all around the bar. Abby most of all felt cheated out of a good fight. She bowed with him and Soarin lifted the ring for them to leave. Abby walked to us head down.

"Beer, please?" she asked Soarin, who slid her a tall cold one without a word.

"Sorry about that," I said out of pity.

"Never you mind Twi," Abby slurred. The glass was already almost empty. "It's not like I was looking forward to it or anything,"

Surely. I thought, looking over to Pinkie who was now heading off to the kitchen.

"Pinkie's up next, right?" I asked Soarin, who was in a tug of war match with Abby for an entire bottle of alcohol.

"As is Nightmare Moon," a particular feminine voice spoke from behind me. Rarity, covered in about two layers of bandages under her clothes. Nothing covering her face or hair. She tilted her head to where Nightmare stood, waiting for her opponent to join her in the ring.

"Pinkie's got this in the bag!" Dash said, laughing a little before holding her side, where I had kicked her multiple times. Ponies were conversing with one another, placing bets on the next fight. And I spotted Fiona against the far back wall, alone. Not talking to anyone, not doing anything. Just her eyes staring off the side again. Thinking. Part of me wondered why she thought I had figured out a way to stop the Rage. And in a way I have. But permanently? Not a chance. As far as I knew, you're either born lucky without it or you're stuck with it. A double edged sword if I ever saw one. On one hoof, the Rage enables you to pass your limits to a death defying level. Pushing through immense pain and suffering to come out on top of whatever you're in a fight for.

Is it possible that I used it when I studied? Back when I actually did? I glanced at Dr. Sombra. He was double checking a backpack filled to the brim with medical supplies just at the end of the bar counter. He was intent on fixing that. His eyes were still glowing faintly. No one else noticed but me. Eventually, Sombra spotted me, and waved, smiling at me though he was still in his Rage. I waved back, looking back to Fiona, who'd moved, lost in the crowd again. I felt somewhat bad that I wasn't what she thought I was. Not that it mattered now. She was just another pony to fight. And a tough one at that. I looked out at the whole crowd. All of them had a hue of red in their eyes. Not all of them were glowing, only those who were either angry about a bet or excited for the next fight did.

Maybe it's not Rage? I started to theorize. And suddenly, the urge to write overcame me. "Soarin, do have paper and a pen?" Soarin hoofed me a pencil and a stack of napkins instead. Not quite what I wanted, but I really needed to work this out. My mind started to recall everything that I knew about the Rage. Writing down the feeling of boiling blood, the irritation, and the drive to achieve your goal. I then noted the cases in which it most often occurs and the strange cases in which the Rage is present with no signs of real anger. By the time that I had gotten this far in my research, the others were looking over my shoulder, watching me scribble carefully on the napkins and stacking them one after the other in two piles of facts and of theories. Dash picked up a few, reading them, and then leaned in to look at my eyes.

"They're glowing, aren't they?" I asked Dash.

"Yeah," she hesitated, but answered truthfully. I was nearing something. The idea of the Rage overtaking a pony just didn't add up. The Rage should act like an override. A thoughtless state that pushes you to do hurtful things blindly. But that's not true at all, Dash and I were completely aware of our actions. The only time I felt out of control was when I wrecked Flash Sentry and his gang. But even then I knew what I wanted to do.

"It's a berserk of excitement and anger," I started to mumble to myself. "That's it!"

"What is, Twilight?" Rarity asked as I stood from my seat.

"It's not Rage, it's Mania, no, Purity! ... Oh sweet Celestia," I held my head as the answer finally crept into my head.

"What are you freaking out about?" Dash grabbed me by my shoulder with her hoof, and I ended up twisting it behind her and pinning her up against the table. "What the buck, Twilight!?" Dash yelled at me. I let go, stepping back.

"It's the Alicorns," I started, going back to my notes to explain. "Fiona told me that the 'Rage' is something inherited from the Alicorns if you believe that we all came from Celestia the first," Abby nodded to that, as I thought she would. "And if that's true, it means a majority of equines have Alicorn blood!"

"Majority?" Rarity inquired.

"You don't have it, Alex, and that's why Fiona said you'd lose to Nightmare," Rarity looked insulted for a moment, only to calm herself as they all continued to listen. "But that doesn't mean that it's Rage; it means that we all have potential." I could tell that everyone was just getting confused the more I talked. But the more I dug into the notes, the easier it became. "Vinyl had red eyes all the time, and that's why she always wore those tinted sunglasses. They hid the Rage and reflected the glow back at her. Canceling it out somehow. But that only proved just how strong Vinyl really was. She handicapped herself!"

"In English, please!" Dash said, impatiently.

"Don't you see!?" I retorted, clearly the Rage was getting to me even now. "It's a way of bringing out a multitude of talent that originated from the real Princesses of the Sun and Moon! Making all of us, seeds of a bigger tree!" I had grabbed Dash closely by her coat, shouting over the now raving crowd. "It's an instinct in us that taps us into what you and I consider the 'Elements of Harmony'!"

Now, they were starting to understand. And I just crushed every religious belief in Equestria with my findings. That the Elements are what we practically breathe in every day. It's the 'Magic' that holds this world together, and that there are two sides to it. The side of harmony, meaning the six attributes that our ruler preaches to us, allowing us to control it and fight off the other side, the chaos. The real Rage. Chaos is what occurs when somepony messes with the harmony set in place. Whoever killed Vinyl broke the harmony between sanity and madness when he did. Misusing the Alicorn blood to the killer's advantage. And in our day and age, where conflict surrounds us on a daily basis, it would be easy to lose your mind to the Rage.

"Vinyl trained with the Rage on a daily basis, maybe knowing full well the consequences of it. Which was why her eyes were always glowing. Nightmare's are the same way, Fiona, too!"

"Then if you practice with the potential of an Alicorn, that much...?" Rarity proposed.

"Then you're one with the elements, and you become the strongest fighter in the world... 'The King'," I finished. All of us were lost in thought. Nothing would look the same again. But that certainly didn't stop the world from moving.

"Ladies and Gentlemen..." Soarin sounded horse through the microphone. He must've been listening too. Now contemplating if this tournament should even continue. I didn't know the answer to that as I met his worried eyes. He continued, trying to think nothing of it. "In the right corner, the Night, the terror, Nightmare Moon!" Slowly he was getting back into the rhythm of things, like normal.

"Uhh... Y'all better look ahead," Abby pointed to the ring. It was Pinkie, but she wasn't the pink party pony I saw a few minutes ago.

"And in the left corner," Soarin continued, "she's best known as the 'Crowned Clown of Fighting', but tonight she's going by a different name, she's the 'Full Armored Pony', Pinkie Pie!" Soarin finished. And I watched as Pinkie bowed in that heavy armor she used to train with me in. Vinyl's armor.

Mare Do Well was probably right to leave the tournament. Because from here on out, it wasn't just a fight anymore. It was survival. And I think Pinkie knew that better then anyone.

18 : The Laughing Match

The bell rang, Nightmare and Pinkie clashed their armor together like thunder. Metal scraped against each punch they threw. It was like hearing knives sharpening. And from anyone else's perspective, that's probably all they thought Pinkie Pie was doing. Egging Nightmare to try harder to hit her back. But in a fight where both opponents were armored head to horseshoe, progress was going to be as slow as snow falling.

Nightmare grabbed both of Pinkie's hooves and threw them up, aiming to yank Pinkie's helmet off quickly, but Pinkie only took that time to kick Nightmare in the stomach. The first clean hit in the fight, but that hardly meant anything as Nightmare re-engaged.

"Having fun?" I heard Pinkie shout to Nightmare as they fought. Nightmare didn't reply. Pinkie then tried to trip her, only to trick her into a punch to the helmet, which Nightmare blocked, returning in kind by swinging a high kick over Pinkie as she leaned back, still standing after dodging it.

"Yes, actually," Nightmare answered, both missing attacks and over judging hit distances. Pinkie was holding up a lot better than we had expected her to. But I started to see what I was afraid of. Pinkie's movements were slowing down. Unlike Nightmare, she wasn't an expert in fighting with armor. The weight was slowing her down the longer they fought. Eventually, she'd lose her pace with Nightmare, resulting in one beating I didn't want to watch. And like I said, Nightmare started to race ahead of Pinkie. Forcing her to focus solely on blocking and dodging.

This isn't good, I thought. Watching helplessly as Nightmare began to knock Pinkie back and forth like a pinata. And just when I thought I couldn't watch anymore, Pinkie pulled a quick one on Nightmare, letting herself be hit to her right forcibly, Pinkie hooked onto Nightmare's right hoof and brought her down into a pin, locking her back legs around Nightmare's hoof and over her chest. Soarin was a little late to the countdown as Pinkie neared the count of four before Nightmare shook her loose. Flipping her back legs over her head in order to stand, whipping Pinke off of her hoof and into the bars. The crowd thought that to be pretty painful, but not as much as Nightmare's expression with her now missing gauntlet. Pinkie threw it to the side, standing tall again to fight.

"Still having fun?" Pinkie mocked. And Nightmare charged blindly at her. Pinkie dodged that punch, laughing as Nightmare bent the iron bars to the ring behind her. A close call, yet, Pinkie continued to giggle uncontrollably. Driving Nightmare to attack Pinkie at every chance she could get to shut her up. Whenever I trained with her, she did something similar. Annoying me with puns and bad jokes until I lost my focus and then she'd flip me onto the ground.

"Hey, Nighty," Pinkie started, "what's black, blue, and broken?"

"Your repulsive face!" Nightmare shouted, finally punching with her naked right hoof.

"No, your hoof!" Pinkie finished the punchline by gripping Nightmare's hoof, bringing her elbow down to break it. A loud snap echoed through the bar, and Pinkie used this time while Nightmare tried not to scream to kick her flank. Concentrated on her head, Pinkie had successfully forced Nightmare against the bars of the ring, smashing her head into them at the end of her assault. Nightmare lay there, eyes fixed on her hoof.

"Did Pinkie win?" I said aloud, and out of the corners of my eyes, I saw smiles forming from my friends until Nightmare spoke up.

"What's black and pink with red all over?" she asked, shooting her left hoof up like a bullet into Pinkie's right eye as she stood. I heard metal bend and snap, blood spurted onto the floor as Pinkie fell onto the floor, screaming. Nightmare stood tall over her, not caring that hoof was broken anymore, waiting for Pinkie to stand and fight again. "You..."

I rushed to the bars to see for myself. And as Pinkie lifted her head, I saw a mixture of blood and tears falling from her face as she looked at me with one eye. I wanted to tell her to stop. That she had tried hard enough. But what kind of friend would I be if I did that? Would I hurt her more if I did? I had no words for her.

"Fight!" I heard Abigail's voice shout. I saw her forcing the words out. Dash followed, then Soarin, Sombra, Rare, and then me. All of them save for Soarin came to the bars to encourage. Pinkie nodded and stood, meeting Nightmare's smiling eyes. They became locked in combat again, Pinkie punched back everything Nightmare threw at her. Sombra winced as he continued to watch, Soarin was twitching to lift the ring up before this fight got any worse, and the crowd joined us in a deflating cheer until Nightmare went for the finishing move. Uppercutting Pinkie just to grip her by the helmet, throwing her into the far wall of the ring in front of me. Pinkie grabbed the bars to help herself sit up. Nightmare readied her fighting stance again, waiting for Pinkie to stand too. But Pinkie raised her hoof, admitting to her loss.

Soarin pulled the lever that lifted the bars, bringing Pinkie to her horseshoes as they rose. And for the first time, I saw Nightmare Moon bow. Pinkie laughed in her usual high pitched giggling and snorting, bowing too, only to collapse into our hooves as she leaned forward. Sombra called the Cakes and Soarin to help bring her to the kitchen. Soarin announced for a brief intermission before the next fight, and Nightmare walked up to me.

"Three elements, crushed." She said. The Cakes lifting Pinkie away.

"You're wrong, none us have been crushed. We've only lost a fight. You'll have to break our will in order to do that." Nightmare was passive to that comment, believing that she was right in what she said. But one look at Rarity, who stood just as confident to her, and Nightmare huffed away. Annoyed at our defiance.

"She's mine, now," Abigail said, shattering a glass bottle in her hoof. I patted her shoulder and moved to the kitchen. Where my friend was.

19 : Fiona vs. The Military

I watched Dr. Sombra take immediate care for Pinkie's right eye. Thankfully, the process wasn't as painful as when she lost it. She had removed the armor and was now sitting on the center counter top. A bandaged eye blocking half her eye sight.

"Does it hurt?" I asked her.

"Not a bit!" she lied. I could tell what a forced smile looked like. And Pinkie couldn't trick me any more than I could trick her.

"I'm sorry this had to happen, maybe you should've stopped before-"

"And miss out on you cheering me on? Not a chance!" Pinkie interrupted me. I honestly couldn't tell if she was pretending to smile anymore. Water was hazing over my vision. And I wished it had been me in that ring.

Not Pinkie, why Pinkie? She's done nothing wrong. I became bitter the more I thought about it.

"Hey, Twi," Pinkie had gotten off the table where Sombra had told her to rest. "I'm supposed to be crying that I lost, not you,"

"But Pinkie-"

"No buts!" she hugged me. "Sure, I lost my eye in this, but that's just how fighting goes. You don't always come out free of any scares. Vinyl had her fair share, but what happened to you was way worse."

"How?" I quivered.

"You lost your magic, and with it, you lost your smarts!" Pinkie was speaking in a panicked voice now. "And you made friends with a bunch of flank holes, whats the matter with you!?" I tried not to laugh, but Pinkie was too good at that for me not to.

"And think of this," Pinkie started, "I got Nightmare Moon to bow with me, how funny was that?"

"Pretty funny," I laughed, agreeing.

"So if I can laugh this off, I'm sure you'll do just fine. So go check and see who you'll be fighting, I got to keep resting," she finished, pushing me out of the door, leading to behind the bar counter. I was nearly pushed into Soarin from behind when I came through. Soarin smiled at me as I wiped away my tears. He was silently drying and cleaning glasses of spit and cider. He probably overheard me and Pinkie talking. But I didn't mind. With good friends like him and Pinkie Pie, there was almost no way for me to be mad at them.

"And Soarin, Twilight likes you," Pinkie popped out her head from the kitchen, making my face turn beat red from that statement. "Aren't I a great friend?" she said to me. I bucked the door into her, kicking Pinkie back into the kitchen, where Sombra clamored angerly that Pinkie was now bleeding again.

Flank holes. I thought to myself as I turned back to Soarin. Who pretended like he hadn't heard anything. Smiling. I guess that's what I liked so much about him. That he was professional, yet, down to earth enough to like. I ended up looking across the bar, where Spitfire was sitting with her two wonderbolts, drinking cider, waiting for the next match.

"Why does Spitfire want you apart of the army again?" I asked. Soarin stopped cleaning at the sudden mention of that. "I- If you don't want to talk about it that's fine," I panicked, "It's probably very personal." Soarin tilted his and made a little noise. Vocalizing that it wasn't too personal, but his body language said that it was.

"You're half right," he said, "I'm just not allowed to talk about in detail. On account of it being classified,"

"Neat," I said, and we both laughed at the awkward atmosphere.

"Do you still want to know?" Soarin offered, and I could only nod in response. "Well, let's just say that I was part of a response team for the Manehatten riots."

Manehatten. The now number one crime ridden city in the world. And all because of an outburst of villainous ponies who wanted to start a new country, independent of the Princess's rule. The riots were against the corrupt. As the citizens of Manehatten stood against the bad guys under the direction of a young stallion who was rumored to have died in the chaos. A white earth pony named Double Diamond. I think it wasn't long after that before Mare Do Well showed up there, fighting the crime left over from the riots. I knew about it, but I never considered it as something to concern myself with. I was too busy with my studies to give a crap. But I didn't know that the wonderbolts were there too. Let alone Soarin.

"We were there to control the attacks, and we were there longer than we should've been because I wanted to see it all through. By the end of the whole thing, a friend of mine, Night Glider, got hurt pretty bad. And I guess you could say that I had my fill of violence for one lifetime."

"Then why are you running a fight club?" I raised an eyebrow to him. He only laughed at that.

"Vinyl," Soarin said with a smile. Of course, it was her. "When I first opened up shop here in Ponyville, I met the Cakes and we joined my bar with their bakery. I became well acquainted with the Apple family with their cider business, and it was all supposed to be my retirement from fights or conflict. That is until Dash and Vinyl came into here fighting each other. They had been traveling with Pinkie Pie in order to find a suitable place to train. And to make a long story short, they taught me how to move past the bad times at Manehatten and not blame what happened to Night on 'fighting'. Cause conflict is going to always be a problem as long as we live, so might as well focus on enjoying the life we have with the fighting."

His logic was sound, but that still didn't answer my question. I tilted my head to him and suddenly he remembered.

"Oh, right, about Sam..." Soarin trailed off, possibly trying to think of the real reason Spitfire wanted him back. He looked over at her from across the way and then back at me. "Probably," he started, hoping that what he thought wasn't the case, "to have me on call if something like the riots did happen again."

"Do you really think that it would? I mean, would someone try to repeat that?"

"There are bad ponies everywhere, Twilight. If you take down one, another will just surface to take its place. That's why we have ponies like Mare Do Well, who battle the scumbags that the formal protectors can't. Either way, I see no point in going back now. But I am a man of my word. If she wins, I'll go back to the army."

My heart sank a beat to that. I really didn't want to see any of us get kicked out of Ponyville. But most of all, Soarin. Unlike the rest of us, Soarin had a life built here. If he had to leave, knuckle brick corner would be taken up by new management. And I don't think the Cakes would like that either.

"Your friend, Fluttershy?" Soarin continued, "do you think she can win?" I wasn't really sure how to answer that question. I spotted Fiona at the far end of the bar counter. Alone, plenty of space given to her by the crowd, like a bubble to keep her safe. Or maybe it was the other way around. Fiona didn't seem mad. I think cranky would be a better term for it. She found me staring at her, I didn't turn away. Fiona huffed and went back to looking the other way, just before Soarin turned on the microphone, alerting her and Spitfire. Making them jump as he began to speak.

"Quarter-finals, last match before the semi-finals!" Soarin started the introductions by making fun of Spitfire again. But Spitfire only smiled at the friendly insults. They both may have wanted different things, but they were still friends. And Fiona's intro was quick and simple. Ponies around the bar had taken to calling her the 'Beast'. A force to be reckoned with if ever there was one. Soarin called for the fight to begin, the bell ringing. And like before, Fiona just stood there, waiting for Spitfire to make her decision. Fight or flight.

"Please, forfeit..." Fiona pleaded. You could see it in her expression that she didn't want to fight. Spitfire thought about it, honestly. Was she going to? She looked over at Soarin and me. No, that smile growing across her face suggested otherwise.

"Sorry, but I've got reasons to fight," Spitfire told Fiona, "and no one is going to stop me."

Fiona frowned, nodding to that, giving Spitfire the stare. It was something that I was now calling Fiona's war face. Her glowing red eyes made Spitfire step back a hoof.

"Oh well," Spitfire smiled nervously. She was beginning to regret deciding to fight. But it was already too late. Spitfire made the first move, Fiona, blocking her hoof before it made contact with her head. Fiona was watching Spitfire's limbs and wings as she moved about. Studying her movements closely, continuing to block. And that's when Spitfire took control of the fight. Fiona wasn't fast enough to block Spitfire next attack as she flapped her wings to spin in a circle, but instead of performing a roundhouse kick like Fiona was predicting, she brought the kick down over Fiona's head. Causing a little backlash as Fiona remained standing, dazed as Spitfire swung a hoof square into Fiona's face. The force of the punch knocked Fiona back, but she still didn't fall. She only refocused on Spitfire after she wiped the blood away that dripped from her nose.

They collided again, Fiona struck back, but her attacks were weak, barely phasing Spitfire as she used her expert skill to counter Fiona into gut punches and sharp side kicks. Fiona wasn't giving her the chance to pin her, but she wasn't making any progress in the fight either. What was she doing? Spitfire landed another punch, throwing Fiona's head back as her nose dripped with blood. Stopping again, but instead of wiping it away, she remained still.

"I thought I was being nice," Fiona said aloud, watching her blood drip onto the floor. Spitfire didn't attack, but she didn't let her guard down either. "I knew there wasn't a way to beat the Rage, the only way to fight is to end it as soon as possible." Fiona's tone got lower, "Give up, captain. Otherwise, I'm going to beat you down, and I won't hold back."

"I'm fine, you can give up if you want?" Spitfire suggested, Fiona almost laughed at that.

"And then what? Someone else is just going to raise their hooves to me later. I swore to someone that I wouldn't allow myself to be beaten to a pulp again, and that I wouldn't hurt her feelings by giving up, or by fighting for ridiculous reasons. And in return, she promised me that she'd find a way for me to never have this feeling again. This... awful feeling of this disgust!" The Rage. I saw Fiona look to me, eyes alight with a faint red glow. "But that pony's gone, and so is that promise!"

Fiona darted for Spitfire, punching through Spitfire's block, knocking her against the bars. Spitfire reacted with a swift kick back that Fiona blocked along with the following punch that she just punched away. Spitfire and Fiona started to fly as they fought, the momentum of their attacks hit the other a few feet away before attacking back. It was constant action to watch, but Spitfire was sorely lacking as Fiona finally forced her to the ground.

Beaten, Spitfire sat up as Fiona waited for her to stand again. "Give up," Fiona told her. Spitfire responded with a punch. Fiona caught it, moved her right hoof to Spitfire's face, and kicked her back legs out from under her. When Spitfire hit the ground, she slowly stood up again, still wanting to keep fighting.

I looked to Soarin, his bottom lip bit, I just somehow knew that this was hard for him to see. Shouldn't he be cheering for her? Probably not. If her aim was to get him to leave, he wouldn't be rooting for that. But in the end, he still didn't want her to lose. Spitfire had done well, she had managed to at least fight back and hurt Fiona for all the beating she was taking. And Fiona? Was destroying your opponent as soon as possible really a kindness? The less you fight, the less you would feel the Rage? Alicorn blood boiling inside you, forcing the potential out of you. I suppose it was a form of kindness. Just like how the Elements of Harmony were another form of Magic.

"Another form?" I said to myself, my attention on the fight was almost taken away. I saw as Fiona raise her hooves high over her head, and slammed them down onto Spitfire, forcing her back. Spitfire lifted her head and saw Fiona standing over her, a hoof, ready to strike again. And true to her word, Fiona wasn't holding back anymore.

Spitfire reared her hooves back, bucking Fiona away as she rolled to her hooves again, raising a hoof to her side. "I resign," Spitfire said, breathing heavily, body weak from fatigue and fighting. She lost, yet, Spitfire lost on her own terms, still standing. Fiona dropped her fighting stance, the bars raising as Soarin turned the mic back on.

"The Beast wins!" he announced, the crowd cheered, and Spitfire stepped carefully up to Fiona.

"Good fight," she admitted, bringing up a hoof to shake. Fiona did too, though she kept up her glare, saying nothing as she bowed and returned to her seat at the end of the bar counter. Next, Spitfire walked over, taking a seat in front of Soarin and I.

"Guess I lost the bet," Spitfire laughed, accepting a root beer that Soarin had ready for her.

"You tried, but my friends were too strong for ya," Soarin commented, Spitfire laughed again.

"Friends, huh?" she said, looking down the counter to Fiona. I glanced too, and Fiona was staring right back. At me no less. Her stern glare gave me the chills. A predator with an eye on its prey. "You're her next opponent, aren't you? And you call her a friend?" Spitfire asked me, a concerned look on her face. I nodded to her.

"What kind of friend glares like she's going to kill you?" she asked next. I only shook my head to that.

"She's in the Rage, that's all. Nothing personal."

"Rage?" Spitfire inquired with a swig of her drink. Soarin summarized what I would've taken an hour to say. That it's supposedly Alicorn blood in us that puts us into a determined state of pursuit. Spitfire didn't seem all too surprised. She already knew about it. Must've never heard it being called 'Rage' before.

"She thought I had the answer to overcoming the Rage, but I couldn't do it," I said. But what I really felt like saying was that I wasn't done. Another form of Magic. There was something on the tip of my tongue. I just didn't know what it was. An answer to what would subside the Rage.

Abigail approached, "Soarin, you can start whenever, I'm winning this," she said, fearlessly. And Soarin didn't have a reason to wait any longer. Abby stepped into the ring. The others came out of the kitchen with Pinkie Pie and Dr. Sombra. If we had any hope of beating Nightmare Moon here and now, it was all on Abigail.

"Semi-finals, everypony!" Soarin started, "Fight one!"

20 : The Night vs. The Champion

"In the left corner, she's got a winning streak that's almost as infamous as her name, she's the queen of the night itself, the Night, Nightmare Moon!" Soarin howled for dramatic effect, prompting other ponies to do the same as he flashed dark purple spotlights over the armored unicorn. Her equally as intimidating armor shown like a full moon at midnight. Her hard red eyes looking forward to her opponent.

"And in the right corner," Soarin continued, "words can't describe how great a fighter she is because watching her fight is as honest of a statement as saying she'll win! She's the champion of knuckle brick corner and the iron pony of the Everfree, Abigail Apple Jack!" The crowd picked up and roared Abigail's name. Abby smiled while glaring back at Nightmare. Orange and red lights strobing above her. Out of all of the fights in the tournament, this was the one everypony wanted to see. Ever since Abby got back the title, ponies were always talking about the title bout that would eventually occur between these two. And now it was finally happening.

"The final three will fall, two at my hooves, and one by the claws of the beast." Nightmare promised, dashing that smile away on Abby's face. It's true, everyone was betting that I'd lose to Fiona in the end. But they had a different opinion of Abigail. She wasn't like the rest of us, misfit fighters. Who crawled from the bottom to get here. Abby was reduced to our level, only to return to glory faster because of it. Abigail would win, I knew she would.

Abby remained silent, watching Nightmare closely. The air grew still as Soarin got the bell ready. A long string looped through a series of tiny hooped rings, leading to the bell above the fighters. The bars fell, Soarin, the crowd, me and the girls included, shouted for the fight to start, and the bell rang loud, igniting the fight between the two strongest fighters in Ponyville.

They galloped to the middle, hoof hit hoof, wind rushing around Abby and Nightmare as they hit away attack after attack from each other. The armor wasn't bothering Abby at all. She was just concerned with where Nightmare was trying to strike at. Exclusively aiming for Abby's head, Nightmare wanted to do as much damage to her as possible. And, she was favoring that right hoof Pinkie had messed up in her last match. Stepping on it lightly, hardly attacking with it, but never using it to block Abby's persistent punches. The two looked like lions smacking one another with every jolt of strength forward.

It was a good back and forth until Nightmare tried to get dirty. She got low suddenly, whipping a back hoof under Abby to jump over, only to get bucked with both of Nightmare's back hooves. Abby fell back against the bars. The first clean hit of the match had been landed, prompting Nightmare to continue, bringing a hoof up to hit hard and quick. Abby saw it coming, no time to dodge. So she brute-forced it, leading a punch of her own to hit it back. They both ended up hurting themselves, but not as much as Nightmare had. She had used her right hoof without thinking. Backing up, she shook off the pain and began dodging as Abby began her counter attack.

It was now that Abby noticed the injured hoof. And they were still fighting an even fight. If Abby wanted the upper hoof, she'd have to force that right hoof out again. She smiled, a plan forming in her head. Making the next few moments crucial. Nightmare had started to pick up her pace again, jabbing elbows at Abby's head in an attempt to daze her, only to be kicked away as Abby hit back all of her incoming attacks, ready to bring both hooves down on her. Nightmare raised her hooves, the left in front of the right, still protecting that hoof above anything else. But it didn't matter, the force alone from Abby's attack pushed those hooves back into her face. And that's when Abby planted her hooves down under her, rearing back and bucking Nightmare into the wall of bars behind her.

The tide had turned for Abby, but Nightmare was raring to go. Eyes ablaze with rage, Abby had no choice but to try and match it. No doubt recalling everyone Nightmare had hurt up until now to anger herself into a rage as well. And once they locked hooves again, I could've sworn I saw two completely different ponies in the ring. Abby was no longer hitting hard like usual, she was faking punches in order to lead into an unpredictable attack. And Nightmare was moving like a snake, striking with quick jabs aimed for Abby's neck and joints.

This is unreal. Was it them, or the Alicorn blood directing them to change their fighting styles? Abby parried a hard left into an ax-kick, lifting a back hoof high, only to bring it down onto Nightmare's head, smacking it to the ground. Yet another change of style as Abby didn't even wait for Nightmare to stand before pursuing her win. Nightmare barely had enough time to look up before Abby reared back her famous buck, which, if landed, would definitely end the match.

Abby extended her joints, firing her hooves into Nightmare, only to be halted by Nightmare grasping them at the last possible second. The crowd gasped, no one had ever been able to stop Abigail's signature attack before. But what do you expect from an armored monster?

Nightmare lifted Abby off her hooves and slammed her into the ground. The action alone of being bashed onto the ground you stood on was humiliating enough, but to be treated to your own attack after failing to pull it off yourself must've hurt Abby in more ways than one, as she rolled across the ring, bucked by two armored hooves.

Abby sat up, blood started to fall from her forehead as she managed to stand again. Nightmare rose to her back hooves, stance ready. Her heavy breathing echoed from inside her helmet. She was just as winded as Abby. And it was at this point, that no one knew how this would end. Only those fighting had an idea, but one look at either of them, and I'd say that even they didn't know.

Abby glared at Nightmare with tired eyes. That dark orange glow, leaking like a distant flame. She focused on Nightmare's right hoof, it twitched in pain. The only weak point we've been able to expose in this entire tournament. And still looking forward, Abby glanced to me with her eyes. I pointed to Nightmare, warning her to stay focused on the fight, but Abby only shook her head and yelled at me as she charged for Nightmare.

"Win you egghead!" she said, punching at Nightmare with no warning. It was blocked, granting Nightmare the chance to hit Abby right in the face. Abby took it and wrapped her hoof around Nightmare's attacking limb, holding her in place as she bent Nightmare's left back hoof out of place, resulting in a gut wrenching scream, silenced early with Abby hitting Nightmare in the head with a hard right hook. I heard metal bend, Nightmare's helmet had been indented, and with that last attack, I thought for sure Abby had won.

But this nightmare was far from over.

Nightmare, repositioning her hooves, remained standing despite it all and charged back with more fury than a dragon. Abby tried to dodge to no avail, forced to block attacks like a hammer hitting its nail dead center every time. And with every hit, Abby weakened, submitting to Nightmare's overpowering will until all she could do was stand and take it all. But the Abby I knew wouldn't lose like this. With one last jolt of energy, Abby readied one final punch. She had to block one first, but I could tell it was worth it to her in the end. She moved forward, forcing her hoof past Nightmare's right, hitting it so hard to Nightmare's head that her helm flew off on impact. Nightmare returned that punch in kind, only to miss Abby, as she fell, not to Nightmare, but to Abby's own lack of strength. Her final punch, a send off to Nightmare Moon. A rejection to lose or forfeit. Abby lost to herself. And no one could tell me different of that.

"The Night wins!" Soarin declared once he was sure Abby wasn't getting up. Again, silence fell to Nightmare Moon's victory. With her helmet finally off, we could finally tell how distasteful she really was to the lot of us. Her black coat and night blue mane brought her blood red eyes out as sharp white teeth were bared. None of us were about to celebrate to Abby's loss. But that didn't stop Nightmare from bowing to her motionless opponent. Abby was still breathing, still conscious in fact. Dr. Sombra lifted her up to reveal her glaring eyes and pain stricken body. She wanted to fight, but her body wouldn't let her have that choice.

Nightmare cracked her neck, then looked to me. "Four elements, crushed," she said to me, "the beast will devour you, and then we will be one moment closer to my eternal night." She talked as if she were prophesying. Declaring fate as if she were an Alicorn herself. If I didn't feel so lost for words after Abby's defeat, I might've retorted. But I had a sinking suspicion that she was right. The next bout was between Fiona and I. My rematch or maybe just another easy win for Fiona.

Fiona's burning gaze was on me. She didn't care at all that Abby had lost. All she was thinking about was how she'd break me down. I trotted behind the counter to her. She turned away from me as I began to speak.

"Why are you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad," she quickly said, "I'm disappointed in you."

"In what? That I'm not the fighter you envisioned? Or that I'm not Vinyl?" That struck a nerve as Fiona grabbed my hoodie, pulling me close, enraged.

"You're nothing like Vinyl, none of you are!" she hissed, frustrated at the idea of comparing myself to the only pony she respected. I didn't care; that was the truth, wasn't it? She expected me to be something great, someone, who could solve all her problems. But that's not who I am. I'm not a princess, nor will I ever be.

"Why did you follow me here?" I grabbed her hoof, squeezing it tightly. Letting her know that she wasn't leaving until she answered me. What was the real reason she came with me to Ponyville? Fiona remained unphased. No sign of pain in her expression. She tried to pull away, but I didn't give. Her anger shifting to annoyance when she finally spoke to me.

"I came because Vinyl said you had a way of beating the Rage,"

What?

"I obviously expected too much," she let go of me and pulled away. "After our match, and after I defeat the Night, I'm leaving. No sense in wasting my time in a town of broken fighters... I'm sorry." Fiona walked away, disappearing into the crowd again, going to spend her last few minutes before the fight alone.

Vinyl said that about me? That I knew how to beat the Rage? I felt an overwelling pressure on me. Like I was back at the Magic Academy entrance exam. A dragon egg, placed before me. And I only had five minutes until the next fight to crack it. But whatever the answer was, it would not only solve our Rage problem, but it would get me to the finals. An audience with the princess of the night herself.

21 : Phoenix vs. Fiona

I wasted no time in trying to understand the true nature of the Alicorn blood. Not even to review my previous notes about it. The others were with Abigail and Dr. Sombra, save for Dash. Who wanted to see the next fight more than anything. She was watching me, it was really distracting.

"Dash, could you not stare at me? I'm trying to think."

"Yeah, yeah," Dash said leaning back against the counter. "But really Twi, screw Fluttershy and her problems, they're her's to deal with, not your's."

"She said Vinyl told her that I had figured out how to beat the Rage."

"For reals?"

"For reals," I answered. Letting my head rest on the counter, I knew I wasn't getting anywhere like this. The only thing I had a grasp on was that last thought I had during Fiona and Spitfire's fight. What could be another form of Magic? The other elements were straight forward enough, each element represents an attribute except Magic. The answer to my question felt just out of reach. Maybe if I still had my horn in working order, I might've already known the answer by now. The old me was so smart. And now what am I? An earth pony? Hardly. Cause even without my magic, I was built differently. Raised differently. I will always be known as a broken unicorn. And now as one who couldn't even help a friend.

"Well, whatever it is that beats the Rage, just make sure you beat it out of Fluttershy too," Dash told me. "Cause even if she's as good as Scratch, she ain't one of us, and it's the Elements of Harmony that need to dethrone Nightmare Moon, not the beast."

"So I don't have the choice to lose?" I asked Dash jokingly.

"Of course, not to mention that I also want to see Fiona eat the dirt for once."

"Always the antagonist, aren't you, Dash?"

"Not always, just when I need to be." Dash smiled at me. I didn't want to see these moments fade away. This time that I still have with my friends. Despite their faults, despite my own, I just don't want to see all of this turn to gray. Soarin came out of the kitchen, reaching up for the mic, nodding to me.

I guess I couldn't crack it in time. I thought as I stood up from the counter, making my way to the center ring. Fiona made her way through the crowd quickly enough and the introductions were already underway.

"It's the final round of the semi-finals!" Soarin announced, "and for this last match, we have the two new favorites of knuckle brick corner! On the right, her ferocious tact has gotten her this far quickly despite this being the first time here, and none of us can wait to see how she'll tear into her next opponent! She's a predator lying in wait for her prey, she's the Beast, she's Fiona Fluttershy!" Yellow and pink lights strobed above her, illuminating her colors, whilst bringing out the red hue from her eyes. Ready to fight, as always.

"And on the left, we all thought she would've kicked the bucket by now, but she's here and ready to burn her way to the finals, she's Twilight Sparkle, the Phoenix!" Purple and red lights strobed over me suddenly. A little disorienting, but my eyes settled on Fiona as Soarin held back the fight for her to offer her classic warning.

"Forfeit, Phoenix," Fiona wasn't being as polite as she had been before.

"Or what?" I asked. She just glared back. "I want you to know, that finishing this fight quickly won't be the nicest thing you can do for me, actually giving me a fight is."

"And how would you know?" Fiona interjected, "you're just a wannabe fighter."

"Ha, how appropriate," I said, laughing a little at that statement, "I try to give you a reason to fight me despite the Rage, and all you do is anger me." The time to put my actual plan into effect was now. I figured that if I couldn't come up with a cure for Fiona, I'd beat her down and force her to learn from fighting like the rest of us. Problem is, could I do it? Soarin and the crowd shouted for us to fight, we were both just waiting for the bell. My muscles were tense again like they had on the train. That stare of her's was freezing me in place, but I ignored it once the bell rang. With that resounding chime bouncing in our ears, there was little else I could think of besides this idea I had. This stupid idea that could cost me the match. I was going to let go and fight like an Alicorn. Whatever that meant. Fiona bolted, her wings boosting her forward. I got into my stance, and at the first sign of her attack forming, I began to spin around, whipping my back left leg at her just in time to kick away her first punch. Fiona was dumbstruck that I had expertly blocked one of her attacks. I considered it a feat to have shocked Fiona like that, but this was no time to celebrate. I led into a right hook, her left raised just in time to stop me. Fiona was still intent on snuffing me out, but I had a promise to fulfill. And it starts when I beat her.

I continued with my offensive, hoping to find an opening in Fiona's defense, but just like on the train, she was letting me attack, silently preparing to take me down with one hit. I started to try different moves in the hope of throwing her off, like walking backward at her, my elbows reaching back to strike her over and over. But even I knew I couldn't keep it up forever. Fiona kicked at my back, jolting me forward as she took control of the offensive.

She knew that I wasn't going to just give her the chance to knock me out cold. Her movements were targeted to my head and stomach. I dodged well enough, reminding myself to keep my distance otherwise I'd be forced to block. Her idea of kindness meant not injuring me anywhere else but the point that would most likely make me fall. And because she couldn't reach me easily, her anger was just getting kindled.

"I don't care if you're one of the best fighters in the world," I mumbled so that only we could hear, "everyone loses eventually, and if it's one thing that I know about you, it's that you hate losing more than fighting!" I struck back as she landed a hit in my gut. My stomach twisted in pain, but seeing that blood drip out of Fiona's nose was almost motivating enough to ignore the pain. She stepped back, the crowd in awe. I stepped forward, planting my front hooves to buck her next, she redirected it with a strong swipe of her right hoof, leaving me open for attack.

I knew it was going to be a big attack, and I knew that if I missed I'd pay the price for it. Fiona reached for the collar of my hoodie, bringing me close to punch me square in the head. I let her, just so that I could punch her back. I fell and she stumbled back again. Cause that was one advantage I had, Fiona thought I'd be over protective in this fight after already fighting her once. But I could hardly think straight with the Rage blinding my common sense. I wasn't winning because of it, but I was certainly keeping things even between us.

Fiona came back at me, wings carrying her fast as I ducked her first attack, another punch aimed for my face, only I was knocked to the ground as she dropped her elbow over my head. And she wasn't stopping. Grabbing my hood, Fiona swung me around to the other side of the ring. I rolled to my hooves just in time to knock back one of her punches with a kick. She was becoming predictable. Was it because of the Alicorn blood in me, helping me keep up? But one look into Fiona's eyes, and I saw tears forming. Still held back she continued to fight me blindly.

"She lied to me," she said, "she lied to me that you knew how to beat the Rage!" The force of her punch was hitting me so hard, I became scared that she'd end up breaking something. I jumped back to get at a safe distance. But the bars were there to trap me. Fiona closed in, her tears were gone now, but I could still see that she was hurting. I kicked at her to counter, she blocked and I went for a tackle. Wrapping both hooves around her waist, I succeeded in getting away from being pinned against the bars. Yet, that still didn't stop Fiona from keeping up with her attacks pursuing me.

I knew that if I was going to win, I'd need to let the Rage do it. But something inside me was stopping it. "She lied to me." Was she talking about Vinyl? I thought as we maintained our struggle to land a hit that neither of us was going to give the other. Was I really going to keep theorizing, now, of all times? Fiona was wearing me down bit by bit. And she was showing no signs of fatigue. What could I possibly do? Fiona gave me a high kick, moving into a low one, and then twisted and threw both front hooves into me. A combo forcing me back into the bars. I hit them hard, and I slumped to the ground. I heard the crowd shouting for me to get up, while Fiona stood over me in the glare of the overhead lights.

"Forfeit," she ordered me. I refused, standing up only to be blocked and knocked back down. I stood again, but it was only more of the same. Every time I tried to oppose her, it was just a reminder of the difference in our skill. It felt like my fight with Sunset. I was powerless compared to her. And all I could do was annoy her.

"Forfeit!" she said. I stood again. She slammed her hooves down onto me, pressing me to fall again. I held her hooves and kicked her away. She blocked and flew back, giving me the time charge her and take the offensive back.

"Why won't you give up!" Fiona questioned me, punching me as I met her attacks with my own. It hurt so much, but if this was the only way to fight her, I would.

"I told you my story, but I don't think you listened!" I said to her. She raised an eyebrow to me as she shot my chest with her hoof. I gritted and returned with a kick that was ultimately blocked. "I told you that Vinyl taught me how to never give up, but what I didn't tell you was that Vinyl-" Fiona interrupted me with a gut punch. Which gave me this urge to curl up and fall down.

"I don't want to hear anything about Vinyl from you! You didn't know her at all!" I threw my head up, hitting it against her chin, knocking her back.

"But I did know her!" I retorted, "I knew her as a friend, and that's what she'll always be to me!" I punched in succession, causing Fiona to block constantly as I kept up a barrage of attacks. "And if I have to beat you in order to be your's then that's what I'll do!"

"What kind of logic is that?" she shouted to me, parrying me into a low kick I dodged. "You laugh when you're hurt, you don't mind losing a fight, and you think you can solve everyone's problems because of what? You think you're still the student of the princess? You think just because Vinyl saw potential in you that you're capable of fighting the best? Potential can only go so far!" Fiona punched through my attacks, and we both started missing our intended focus, hitting each other instead of worrying about our defenses. "You don't know what I've been through because of the Rage!"

"Of course I don't!" I punched her, forcing her a few hoof steps back. "Vinyl didn't either! But instead of drowning in those feelings of regret to help you, Vinyl swam to the top and found a way to stay above all that Rage, and that was us, her friends!" Fiona stopped, listening to my answer. I didn't know how to stop the Rage, I only knew how to live with it. Because regardless of how horrible my life became because of it, I knew how to use it. And I'm pissed that I didn't figure it out sooner.

I punched Fiona again, swinging my body around to kick her, and with one last spin of momentum, I slammed both hooves into her face, knocking her out cold on the floor. The ponies around me were silent, I hadn't even been brought to my limits like I was when I fought Dash, yet I beat her. I beat Fiona Fluttershy. Her eyes were closed, unconscious. I looked back to the bar, Soarin and the others couldn't believe I had done it. So without their consent, I raised a hoof in the air cheered at my own victory.

"I won!"

This ignited the crowd to roar with me as I repeated myself. And then I turned Nightmare Moon. She refused to show any sign of surprise, only a beckoning glare.

Five elements crushed, right? She didn't even need to say for me to know. She only saw this as a means to an end. So what if I won, it wouldn't change the fact for her that I would fall at her hooves. I sat down beside Fiona, Dr. Sombra taking immediate care of her as I did, stopping the bleeding in her nose and bandaging the few bruises she had. He used his lab coat as a pillow for her head and then moved to me.

"Congrats," he told me, "you got far."

"Thanks," I said, the tone in his voice sounded a little concerned. Sure, he was a doctor who didn't want to see any permanent damage done to his patients, but this was unusual for him. He stopped bandaging my right hoof and looked off to the side, longingly. "You okay, Doc?"

"I'm never okay, Twilight," he answered me. "And I don't think I ever will if you continue with this tournament."

"It's a little too late for that," I said, "if I quit now, this was all be for nothing." Sombra glanced up at my horn.

"You'll lose it for good if you fight her again," he told me. The chances that Nightmare would exploit my horn as a weakness was inevitable. But that's a risk I was going to take.

"Well," I began, standing up to head to the bar. "If it wasn't for my broken horn, it'd probably be something else."

"If you didn't have a broken horn, you wouldn't be in this bloody mess," Sombra mumbled.

"Like I said, too late!" I raised my voice at him. And I must've been pretty loud about it. Fiona sat up, squeezing her eyes shut to the sudden pain in her head. Sombra quickly advised her to lay down. She didn't listen.

"Up already?" I asked her.

"Yes," she simply said, taking deep breaths after she did. A smile grew across her face. "You were right, I do hate losing more than fighting." That alone put me in a good mood again, but Sombra's stare left me feeling otherwise.

"Fine, I won't criticize you for your decisions," Sombra said to me, packing up his medical kit after double checking Fiona's condition.

"Good," I said.

"But, I will not watch you be broken again," Sombra finished. Walking away without another word.

"Is he another friend of your's?" Fiona asked me. I didn't know how to respond to that. I couldn't just tell her my suspicions of him. Of the connection, I think he might have with Vinyl's death. Because I wasn't sure. He wouldn't be here if he had actually killed her. And I had no proof that he was the King. But those red eyes matched what I've only seen in Vinyl or Fiona. A blood lust that was not easily subsided. I turned to Fiona, her eyes still glowed faintly too.

"Do you still feel like you're in the Rage?" I asked her.

"Somewhat, I just feel calmer," she answered. I suppose my theory worked in the end for her. I couldn't get rid of it completely, but I managed to help her in my own way. I picked her up, along with Sombra's lab coat and we walked to the bar. Dash was there to congratulate me along with Soarin.

"You made it to the finals you egghead!" Dash slapped me on the back in the exact same spot that Fiona had kicked me. I winced before laughing anyway.

"The final match isn't going to start for another hour," Soarin explained to me. "So I prepared you one last meal before you die."

"Thanks," I said, sarcastically disapproving of that notion but brightening up when I saw the over-easy daisies and fresh apple cider placed in front of me. Dash frowned that she didn't get some cider, so I slid it over to her and asked for water instead. Fiona couldn't believe that I just did that. But I couldn't believe I had just beaten her. Although, it may have just been a fluke. I had psyched her out with the one bit of truth I had on the Rage, and took that one opportunity to knock her out. Either way, I had secured my spot in the finals, and it would be me fighting Nightmare, fluke or not.

"Well, I guess you took my advice, winning that is," Abigail said, walking out of the kitchen door. She was bandaged up, still hurting but managing just fine on her own. Pinkie had found a proper eye patch for herself somewhere and Rare was now right as rain. I was surrounded by all my friends, yet, I couldn't help but feel a tense feeling coming from them.

"You want to talk about Nightmare, right?" I asked Abby. She nodded. The fact alone that there were three ponies here with knowledge on Nightmare Moon's fighting style and strategy was going to be helpful. And I wouldn't want anypony else to help me.

"Nightmare Moon is merciless," Rare started us off, "if you can match her in speed and strength, you will do just fine, however..." Rare trailed off as Abby continued.

"It's the armor that's the problem. She isn't like anyone you've fought before, but it is possible to hurt her, and I think Pinkie and I may have given you a chance." I raised an eyebrow to that, still eating as I listened.

"When I found out that I'd be up against her, I knew I was going to lose," Pinkie confessed. "So instead of trying to win, I made it my goal to at least injure Nightmare in someway before I lost."

Her right hoof! I remembered, turning to Abby.

"I managed to hurt her a ton more, but that armor still needs to go," Abby reminded me.

"So, should I wear the armor again too?" I proposed. The others shook their heads to that. Saying that the armor was in bad condition, to begin with. And to use it now might result in a similar problem Pinkie ran into. Slower movement, plus it didn't matter to Nightmare, she could make you hurt even with armor on.

"Do you have any advice for me?" I turned to Fiona, who only shrugged at all this talk of Nightmare Moon.

"Learn how to fight her as you go? That's how you beat me, isn't it?" Fiona said. I could only frown.

I beat you with a luck Fluttershy, luck! But I couldn't bring myself to tell her that. This was either going to end badly for me, or I'd figure out a way to win again. The odds were stacked against me, as they always are. I looked back at Nightmare from across the room, she was staring right back at me. If her armor was the biggest obstacle than maybe there was a way to get her to take it off herself. Make it an even fight. I half expect her to refuse that proposal, but it was worth a shot. I'd convince her into fighting barely hoofed. Or die trying.

22 : The Eternal Night

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Soarin began, the hour had passed by faster than I would've liked and I was beginning my approach to the ring, draped in my crimson hat and cloak. "It's the moment you've all been waiting for," Soarin continued, building this up as much as he could. Not like he needed to try. If it wasn't for the music beating all around me, I would've been left with a raving crowd that only got louder and louder. "The final fight!"

Nightmare Moon was already in the ring, waiting for me. I gulped, nervously. It was one thing to make eye contact with her, it was something else completely to know that I was going to fight her one on one.

"Our final combatants, the queen of an eternally dark Equestria that never came to be, the armored demon that we've all learned to fear, the very Night herself, Nightmare Moon!" Once again, howling to the theme of Nightmare's character. Several others joined in, save for the Knightmares. They knew better to just watch in silence than to condone the behavior of other ponies who didn't know their leader. "And, the pony who just won't quit, the school girl we all know and love has risen from the ashes of the loser's bracket, now a Phoenix in the ring, give it up for, Twilight Sparkle!" My friends
cheered for me, and from the sound of it, a good seventy percent of the crowd did as well. The respect that I've earned in this one night totally makes up for the poor welcome I got when I first came here.

When I finally got to the ring, I bowed, tossing my hat and cloak back to Dash and the others behind me. Nightmare bowed too but flinched when I yelled over the crowd at her.

"Take off the armor, and fight me for real!" I said, silencing the crowd as I did.

"Pardon?" Nightmare said as if mishearing me.

"You heard me, fight me with your bare hooves!"

"Really?" she asked again, head cocked. All I did was offer a nod.

"No!" I heard. Turning to my right, it was Percival. Her face was struck with fear. "She doesn't mean it, Nightmare Moon!" she said. Nightmare only grinned, turning to me for a response.

"Is this truly what you want?" Nightmare asked me one last time.

"Fight me your way!" I answered.

"You idiot!" Percival said to me as Nightmare began to unlatch her armor. With the full plate gone, Nightmare still stood just as tall as she had before, dressed in a gray and white robe. Her dark blue mane hung long, uncut. And her blood red eyes shined over her black coat... And wings.

"Oh, daughter of-"

"Don't you dare dirty my mother's name!" Nightmare bellowed. An echoing voice rang in all of our ears. She was an Alicorn! I stepped back as I took in the full view of her and that massive wingspan. They stretched, cracking joints after long days hidden under armor. Nightmare Moon... No, Luna, the goddess of the moon, the real deal was here!

"Y- You're supposed to be a fairy tale, a- a myth," I stuttered.

"Humorous as you always are, my little pony." Nightmare Moon chuckled under her breath, folding and unfolding her wings, sighing in relief to the pleasure of letting them free.

"Idiot," Percival said again. The Knightmares knew that we've been fighting an Alicorn this entire time?

"But, even if you are; you were sealed away! On the moon! For a thousand-"

"Winters and summers, yes. I've heard what stories my sister has told in my absence, of the battle, of the trick she used to trap me, leaving me lost among the stars. And proclaiming herself, the "forth" in her bloodline, ha! And you all treat me as though I would've led you in darkness forever!" Nightmare continued to say. Shit, she was the real thing all along. And I was the student of the real Celestia? Shit!

"So, you asked me to fight you my own way, so here I am," Nightmare told me, "I grant you this privilege only for your skill in conquering thus far, and for dispatching two of the elements." I almost started to turn and gallop. The idea of facing Nightmare Moon for real drowning my every thought. But something stopped me from trying to. A reminder, I think. Asking me if it really mattered in the end.

Does it matter? I thought, I was going to fight her anyway. What difference does this actually make?

Rare, Pinkie and Abby all stood hoof to hoof with her, managing to hurt her in some way each time. I looked to her injured hooves, they seemed to tremble less without the armor weighing her down. So, in the end, I may have just made things harder for myself. But it was too late to take it back. I'd be fighting a real Alicorn, where all the Rage originates.

"May I ask something?" I said to Nightmare. She raised an eyebrow, and I waited for her to grant me permission.

"Granted," she finally said.

"Why are you here, in Ponyville, of all places?"

"I have no reason not to be," she began, "I simply go where my wings take me, and I plan to take every settlement of Equestria back the same way I did in my golden age. By force, hoof to hoof. As it is the only true way to do combat."

"So, you didn't kill Vinyl Scratch?" I asked. I knew that the others would be wondering why I'd ask something like that, but I had to be sure. Nightmare looked me over, scowling.

"There is only one that I wish to see dead," Nightmare answered. "I had no quarrel with that musician, my sister is more deserving of that fate than anyone." She was telling the truth. Damn, if she had been the one, it would've made this a far easier fight to go through. "Is that all?" Nightmare asked. I nodded.

"Twilight, are you sure you want to fight her?" Soarin asked me over the microphone.

"Yes," I affirmed. That made Nightmare happy.

"Good, good, little pony. I will enjoy every second of this battle!" Nightmare laughed, levitating the armor over to the Knightmares. The bars to the ring falling around us after, locking me in with an ancient Alicorn fighter. The sister to my old teacher. There was no more chatter coming from the crowd, just the usual dubstep playing. I stood in my stance, and Nightmare crouched into her's. Like a lion, ready to pounce. Now the crowd couldn't help themselves but get hyped as it got closer for Soarin to begin the match. I almost thought that it'd never come. Until Dash got a little too impatient.

"FIGHT!" she shouted, hitting the bars hard and loud, prompting Nightmare and I to begin.

My right hit her left, the force knocking us both back, rekindling the clamor of the crowd's excitment. Nightmare moved in quicker with her wings now free. She slammed her right hoof into my side. The impact alone was enough to make me shed tears, forcing me into that direction, stumbling to the ground. The crowd winced in pain. I had no idea she could hit this hard. I guess I'd just have to hit hard back. I stood, charging back at her in a gallop and a jump, swinging my hoof at her head, she dodged, her wings giving her balance as she attacked up at me with her left. I elbowed at her hoof just barely in time. Making our exchange fruitless for the both of us.

I landed and turned to face her, only to be met with Nightmare's back leg kicking me in the face. I managed to stay up right, blocking another kick and a punch. I returned with a chop, striking Nightmare's bad hoof. She cried in pain, pulling it back to strike again. I ducked and punched diagonal to her back left leg. I heard my friends cheer to that as I rammed my shoulder into her and pushed her into the wall of bars behind her.

I had finally made good progress in targeting her weak points. But one strong tug on my mane back let her punch me away, a free hit at my horn of all places. I stepped back, cursing. I tried to ignore the pain, but my teeth continued to grind. I looked back to Nightmare, she had bolted off the bars tackling me to the ground. The back of my head running along the hard floor. I attempted to get her off of me, but instead, she lifted my head off the ground by an inch, just enough for her to punch me back against the floor.

I spat out blood as I tried to decide what hurt more, the back or front of my head. Nightmare left me alone as I crawled away, finding the bars to help me stand again.

My eyes felt weak, I was dizzy, and all I saw of Nightmare was a dark blue and gray blur as she punched me again. And again, and again. My sense of direction was all messed up. I felt something cold behind me. The bars to the ring? That must mean I'm pinned here while Nightmare is continuing to beat me. My body was moved from the bars suddenly, and before I knew it, my stomach was now the victim to Nightmare relentless attacks. My whole body burned with hurt. She let go of me, and somehow I was still standing. Next, I felt my shoulder get hit downward, only to be punched upward under the chin. I was standing on my back legs now, and I could hardly hear Nightmare ordering me to kneel.

"I won't kneel?" I asked. I got answered with one more hit to my horn. I heard a crack. It wasn't too loud, so I assumed it was fine. I honestly couldn't feel it anymore. I made contact with the ground. Now I wasn't standing or kneeling, I was just laying on the floor, my body, still making an effort to move on its own.

"I thought as much," I heard Nightmare's dignified voice speak over me. I glanced up with my eyes, as my head couldn't be bothered to turn up. At first, she was just a black figure with red glowing eyes, but soon enough I started to focus the image in front of me, she just seemed like that because of the overhead lights. "You tried and failed," she told me. "You were nothing but a disappointment from the start."

No...

"If you have any value for your life, you will lie here until you gain the strength to leave this place. Ponyville is mine now. The sixth element has been crushed, on the sunset of my eternal night." I couldn't form words, only tears as she turned to the ponies around us, who were talking back to Nightmare Moon, threatening to fight her themselves.

I lost... I-

"Stand up." said a voice. But... That's impossible. "I said, stand up!" I heard it again. Vinyl's voice? I managed to get one hoof under my head, forcing myself to look up at a shining white figure in front of me. She was dressed in her black jacket. Standing without her sunglasses. Kinda like how she used to during training.

"Stand up, Twilight," she repeated herself, "you're not done yet."

23 : Stand Up

"Vinyl?" I just couldn't believe it. She was here, right in front of me. But how? Everything around me looked like a blur. Gray, red eyed figures all around me, shouting and ranting at one blackened pony in the middle. They all moved so slowly. And I could hardly look up at Vinyl. But seeing her again, how could I not?

"Save your excuses for later, the fight isn't even half way over," Vinyl told me. Still scolding me to get up and keep fighting.

"The fight?" I started, struggling to simply tilt my head her way. "Didn't you see what just happened? I was destroyed, by an Alicorn!" I could tell my voice was barely reaching her. Or maybe that was her attitude. She was always not paying attention to what I had to say whenever we trained. Even now, she was just shaking her head like I was wrong. This was just a memory. I'm going insane. My last few breaths and I'm spending it talking to a fabrication of my own mind.

"You never listen to me!" I shouted.

"I always listen, you idiot!" Vinyl shouted back. I never heard her say that before. "I just choose what I want to hear," she explained, walking up to me. I reached up, trying to touch her, she merely avoided me, shaking her head again. "Sorry, Twi. It doesn't work that way. As far as we're both concerned, I'm dead. So let's just leave it at that and get back in the fight."

"V- Vinyl..." I stuttered through tears.

"Oh, geez." Vinyl looked annoyed as I started to sob suddenly. But I just couldn't help it. I didn't get to say goodbye to her. And I didn't even have a chance to help her. This felt like a blessing. Those things that religious ponies talk about all the time. A miracle. If I knew I could see Vinyl again like this, I would've let Nightmare lay into me sooner. I'm so happy. But one look into Vinyl's now, blueish eyes, and I remembered.

"W- Who did it?" I asked her.

"Who did what?"

"Who killed you?" I asked again, desperately. Vinyl only frowned.

"You're still on about that? Who cares? What really matters is that you stand up right now."

"But-"

"No buts!" Vinyl protested. I didn't understand. I didn't understand why I was seeing her now. I didn't know why she wasn't telling me. I didn't know anything. Vinyl sat down in front of me. "Your bucking attitude," Vinyl laughed. " You don't get to know, because it's not my life that needs saving anymore Twi, it's your's."

"My life?"

"Yes. I don't know how I'm able to talk to you. I don't even know how long this will last. But I do know that if you don't get up, you will die." I continued to listen, tears still falling from my face as I did. "Look around you, Twilight. There's a whole lot of hatred out there, and at the moment it's all directed to Nightmare Moon. And when you beat her, it will all go away."

"How do you know that for sure?" I asked.

"Because I've seen it happen before. Ponies are selfish. They won't leave things alone until they see an end to it. Cause, even if all these ponies manage to take Nightmare down, there will still be wounds. And they'll fester and spread if you don't take the brunt of it."

"Why me?"

"Ask yourself," Vinyl told me, "what did you learn today?" That question again.

"What have I learned? That you can't win every battle."

"Not that,"

"That you're an idiot for thinking you can change everything on your own,"

"You already knew that,"

"Then what!?" I cried. Vinyl only smiled.

"Okay, just this once, I'll tell you... It's that friendship is another form of magic." I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"The fate of the world," I breathed through my words, "doesn't rest on me making friends!"

"But without them, where would you be?" Vinyl asked me. "Would you still be in Canterlot, studying? Would you still be here, fighting?" The answers to all of those questions were, of course, no. I looked away from her. I knew very well enough that I was wrong.

"And where will you be if you lose here? Your friends will leave if you die, and it'll all be your fault because you didn't stand."

"As if it's that easy," I muttered.

"Of course it isn't," Vinyl agreed. "Do you think it was easy for Rarity to get beat up as much as you and still live to tell the tale? Do you think it was easy for Pinkie to lose her eye? Or Fiona and Dash to lose to you? The point is Twilight, all of us get the choice to stand up and fight again. I chose not to, and look where that got me! And I'm not just about to let you make that same mistake. So stand up, you egg head!"

"I know, just shut up..."

"Stand up!"

"I know, I know..."

"STAND UP!"

"I KNOW!" I blurted. Vinyl stepped back, scoffing at how agitated my expression was. Mother of Celestia, she's still just as irritating in death as she was in life.

"So, do you know what you've learned?" Vinyl asked again.

"Yeah," I said, "I know that I'm not done fighting."

"Good, now stand up."

24 : The Rising Phoenix

"Raise the bucking bars, Soarin!" Dash yelled. Trying to lift the wall up by force. Several other ponies were doing the same. Dash, Rare, Fiona and Abby were all raring to go. Ever since the beginning of the tournament, Nightmare had been losing her respect bit by bit. And now that she had torn me apart while I was down, no one cared about the rules anymore. They'd fight Nightmare right here, right now. Even Percival and the Knightmares were mad.

Soarin on the other hoof was holding back on lifting the gate. He knew all too well that this was going to turn into a blood bath the second he did. Spitfire and her wonderbolts were ready to fight too. Along with every other participant in the tournament and all who watched. Nightmare Moon growled at this disapproval during her victory. She was getting more irritable by the second, forcing her to raise her voice over them all.

Her death rattling scratch hurt everyone's ears. And they comforted them as she spoke.

"Insolent peasants!" Nightmare bellowed. This is what ponies in the golden age called the royal Canterlot voice. A skill of pitch and voice as a result of magic to amplify one's voice for large crowds. But decades had passed since the princess had last used it. This was evidence of how old she really was. A long thought to be dead, tyrant.

"You degenerates know nothing! I play by your lowly rules, I've conquered your best, and I've done it all while holding back my true power!" The ponies around her just continued to glare and bad mouth her. She was an enemy to them. An enemy to all of Equestria. Nightmare huffed as she turned to her knights. "You as well? My own guard, traitors!"

"You broke your promise to us when you broke that unicorn's horn! She wasn't even a fighter back then! She was just an innocent school girl!" Percival accused Nightmare.

"And look where it got her!" Nightmare stepped away from me, showing everypony the fate that would await them if they challenged her. "I am the princess of the night, I am the true and rightful ruler to the Equestrian throne, and all of you will kneel before me!" That demand was an explosive delivery of power and hate. Every equine present looked towards the ring in awe. Although I doubt it was Nightmare's speech reaching their ears.

"Sorry, I'm incapable of kneeling," I said, getting to my hind legs, body agitated with pain, I stood up in my fighting stance again. Breathing heavily.

"Have you no fear of death?" Nightmare asked me. I said nothing. Beckoning her to come at me with the motion of my front right hoof. "Then die!" Nightmare roared, flying straight for me. I took in a deep breath and jumped in place. Raising my back hooves up in between us, I bucked Nightmare Moon in mid air. The force combined with both of our attacks sent Nightmare sailing into one side of the ring and me sliding to the other. I landed on my side, hearing a crack when I did.

"Ribs," I wheezed, "not good." I got up again, remarkably. But it was getting easier every time I did it. So that was a good sign. However, Nightmare standing up was not.

"Did you really think," Nightmare stumbled forward, "that one attack would finish me?"

"Kinda?" I answered. Stepping forward into a gallop. I must've hit Nightmare pretty hard for her to be walking all drunk like that. I brought up my hoof and punched her right between the eyes. It moved her back a tad, but she returned the favor just the same. Then the crowd started to cheer again. The fight was still on, and I hadn't lost yet. Everyone was shouting my name to finish it. Cause there was no more room for honor in this fight.

If Nightmare was going to fight dirty, I'd do the same. She swiped at my horn, a bait I let her go for as I ran around her, tugging at her wings. Nightmare cussed me out in old pony speak. Damning me to Tartarus and back as I lost hold of one wing and reached the middle of her left and snapped it with my own strength.

Nightmare bucked me off. I landed on my flank as I watched her look on in horror as one-half of that wing hung limp. Words couldn't describe her hatred toward me. But I wasn't going to let her get the upper hoof in this. I charged, tackling her into the bars again as she cried out in pain.

"I'll rip your head from your shoulders!" Nightmare threatened, pushing me off of her, re-engaged in our hoof fight. Punching, kicking, blocking, dodging, missing. It was just a test of endurance at this point. I kept aiming for her major injuries as she learned to hit my broken ribs and continued to punch at my horn.

"It's useless," Nightmare told me, "you will die here like your friend, and so will the others!" She kicked me back, making me cough hard. That wasn't helping my chest at all as I trotted back to her and missed my kick, resulting in me stepping through it anyway, punching her in the gut.

"You can't stop all of us, and you know it!" I said. Both of us blocking the other's shoulder. I moved into a kick, but Nightmare just punched me away by my horn. It hurt so much. It was so numb at this point that I could feel it twice as much. But one thing kept me going me more than the bleeding pain in my head. Voices. My friend's voices. I could hear them cheering me on over the crowd. They knew I could win. And I will win!

Nightamare and I both grappled each other, trying to force the other to submit. We were both out of breath, out of energy. It was no longer the one sided battle like before, I was holding my own.

"Oh, I know I will!" Nightmare huffed, "I destroyed the Elements of Harmony a thousand years ago. Crushed to dust! Celestia only managed to trap me on the moon because of a cheap spell that I also broke! This fight with you has only been a reenactment of that night! I will stomp your horn in until your skull cracks! Then no one will dare challenge me again!"

"My friends spent their fights hurting you, breaking you down bit by bit so that I could finish you off! It was a combined effort, all of us playing a part in your defeat! We're the Elements of Harmony now!" I said, now struggling to even stand.

"Foolish, there wasn't even a spark of magic!"

"You're right. Because the spark wasn't magic, it was friendship!" I reared my head back, smashing my horn against her's. "You want my horn so badly? Take it!" I then continued to ram my head into Nightmare's. With every hit, my horn fell apart, until finally, it shattered. Pieces of bone scattering everywhere as blood poured from my head. I felt a relief of pain as Nightmare stumble back. Her head was looking everywhere. She didn't know which way was up anymore. Allowing me the time to ready one last punch. It made contact with the front of her nose, the strength alone made her head tilt back as the momentum carried her to the floor.

Time passed as we waited to see if Nightmare was truly down for the count. And after a good while, I raised my hoof.

"Phoenix wins!" I heard next. I couldn't even turn my head to look at my friends who caught me before I fell.

"I did it, Vinyl. I stood up... Happy now? I stood up again..."

Everything was dark. So dark. But then I realized that I just had my eyes closed. Opening them, I saw a really bright light a white figure.

"Vinyl?" I called out for, faintly. Reaching out and grabbing a long coat.

"Sorry, Twilight. You're still among the living," said a very distinct voice. Dr. Slovic. I blinked and squinted at the dark colored horse until my vision came back. I let go of his lab coat, allowing him to step around to the other side of my bed.

"Doc, where am I?" I asked.

"My clinic," Sombra answered. "You're healing from a few broken ribs and a destroyed horn." I sat up, suddenly, looking to the window at my reflection. There was no longer a bandaged horn. There wasn't a horn at all. Just my messy bangs covering a now smooth forehead. "I cleaned up what I could, saving your brain. Well, whatever's left of it." Sombra seemed mad at me.

"You did a good job," I said. Feeling around that spot, void of my horn.

"Not in the least!" Sombra nagged. "I should've smashed in your skull myself! Maybe then there would've been something left to save!" Sombra looked out of breath. He must've been working on me for hours. I then started to feel a sharp pain in my side. My aching ribs. Sombra helped me lie back down. I smiled at him. A weak, but understanding smile.

"I won't be able to use magic ever again, will I?"

"No," Sombra answered me grimly. "No, you will not." I stared up at the ceiling, lost in thought of all the things I'll never get to do again for sacrificing my horn to win one fight. But what a fight it was.

"Is Nightmare Moon also here?"

"Also, no." Sombra began to explain. "She doesn't heal the same way you and I do. Within a couple of minutes, she was conscious again. And by the second hour after the fight, she was strong enough to walk. After that, she went off into the Everfree forest."

"And the Knightmares?"

"Disbanded, as far as I know."

"So, I won?" I asked, finally.

"Yes, Twilight. You won." I started to smile uncontrollably. I beat up an Alicorn. An actual monster, and won. And no one else can say that they did but me. Now it all felt worth it. Now, all that bad luck and trouble seemed to have part of my destiny. I was supposed to be here. I'm glad that Dash dragged me to Ponyvile to fight with the others. And kicking Flash Sentry to the curb along with the Canterlot guard felt like a bonus. I even started to laugh.

"Miss Fluttershy was right, you are weird," Sombra commented. I stopped being cheerful at that. Shooting Sombra a guilt finding look. We were alone. Just me and him in this room.

Do I ask him? I thought. Vinyl said not to worry about it. That it was all done. But even now, I couldn't just bring myself to let it go. What if he was the one. "The King".

"Is something wrong, Twilight?" Sombra asked me. I looked deep into his eyes. They were red. But they weren't glowing at the moment. I checked deeper, staring into his very soul, and asked myself if he did it.

No... It wasn't him.

"Twilight?"

"It's nothing Sombra, just messing with you. I think you're pretty weird too."

"I suppose, but you take it to a completely different level." I pretended to chuckle in my throat at that. I guess I was getting worked up over nothing. Whoever did it kill Vinyl would get what's coming to him one day. I shouldn't worry about it.

"Is she up?" I heard the faint whisper coming from outside the door. Sombra went to open it. And sure enough, Dash and the others were there. Happy to see me as much as I was to see them.

"Feeling better?" Fiona asked, I nodded. She had brought flowers for me. Rare gifted me with a scarf, hoof stitched by herself. Dash had food for me, as usual. Soarin had a big bottle of cider for me. And Pinkie had dozens of balloons in tow with her. All of them explained to me what Sombra had already covered and then some. With my victory, Soarin got to keep his job at the bar with the Cakes, and Spitfire returned to the army, true to her word. The tournament had actually attracted so much attention that knuckle brick corner, that now it had more business than ever. And with Nightmare Moon's defeat, none of us had to leave town.

"So all in all. I guess it turned out just fine," I cheerfully said before Abby dropped something big and heavy on me.

"Plus, you're the champ now," Abby added as I marveled at the champion belt. Long and plated with shining gold. And engraved in the center was a ruby pony surrounded by tiny sapphire and diamond jewels. It still seemed too good to be true. I ended up turning to Fluttershy, whose life had changed quite a bit since we first met.

"What are you going to do now?" I asked her. She looked surprised, also not pleased at all that the attention in the room had been directed to her. She reluctantly rolled her eyes and answered me.

"I'm thinking about staying for a while," she said rather shyly. "It seems like a nice enough place." I was glad to hear her say that. Like it was the final piece to the puzzle. But it wasn't.

"Hey, Doc," I began, "do you think you could give me leave for one day to visit Canterlot?"

"What?" he started, "absolutely-" he began to deny me. But one look around the room at all the hardened fighting professionals and softened his tone suddenly. "O- Of course you can. Let me go prescribe you some pain killers."

"Thanks, Doc," I said, sitting up again, carefully, to get out of bed.

"Why are you going back to Canterlot?" Pinkie Pie asked me, one eye tearing up at the thought of me leaving.

"Don't worry, I'll be back. I just need to see somepony," I said, calmly.

"Who?" they all questioned.

"My old teacher, the princess. Celestia, the goddess of the sun."

25 / Final : "Dear Princess Celestia..."

"Name?" the guard in front of the royal library requested of me. He was posted with another, shorter pegasus guard with a pink mane. Scootaloo. She was watching me closely. I occasionally glanced at her in between talking with the other guard. He didn't know about my last visit to Canterlot. Which was helpful. The only thing against me was my bandaged hooves and head. Scootaloo must've thought I got into another brawl with twenty more ponies, judging by the look on her face. She wouldn't be far off, but she was still wrong about whatever she thought happened.

"Twilight Phoenix Sparkle," I said.

"Oh, well, go on in Twilight!" the guard gestured me on in. I smirked at Scootaloo as I passed. My name still held power in this stupid city. I wonder why?

After getting past the guards to the royal library, I made quick work of trotting ahead to the lounge farther inside. Before coming to Ponyville, I would've most likely gotten lost in the new books that had been shelved in here since I last came here. I was always in here. So I only read two new books a month. Almost an entire year had gone by since then, and there were almost a hundred new prints of magic philosophy and stories.

I hardly read as books now compared to how many I did back then. Memories of passing out in here glued to a book or three, staying up countless nights to get a certain spell down. I spent my whole life in here, and now it was all history to me.

"You're rather ragged," said a beautiful voice. It was none other than Princess Celestia the Forth. Or, as I know her now, Princess Celestia the First. She hadn't even looked my way and she already knew it was me. Celestia was reading a small book, an old favorite of her's. A blue colored novel that I've never read. Reading glasses were hanging just off her nose as she sat, relaxed. Back hooves on a leg rest, clothed in her usual dress shirt and long blue skirt. I took a quick glance around the area. There wasn't anypony else in here but us.

"I'll have you know that I haven't succeeded in finding a new pupil," Celestia continued. "So, if you are done spending some youth in Ponyville, I think it's about time that you-" her words failed her as she took a good long look at me. I was wearing my red cloak and hat to hide my blood stained hoodie underneath. Although, I'm sure she could see it anyway, along with the bandages and the missing horn. "What happened to you?" she asked, earnestly. Setting the book down and asking me to sit. I took the chair across from her. It felt nice to rest after the long train ride here. But I didn't come here to chat. This was actually a lot harder than I initially thought. To talk to my teacher again, and face what I now know to be the "good" half to the twin princesses of old.

"Princess..." I started but trailed off. Coming to the conclusion that it'd be better if I just showed her what I've learned, and explain myself from there. I took my Alicorn blood findings out of my saddle bag and placed them in front of her. I told her about a tall unicorn calling herself Nightmare Moon in Ponyville. I also told her the story Fluttershy asked me to tell her. Adding in the parts of the summer sun tournament, and the true identity of Nightmare Moon, which wasn't much of a lie, but a cleverly played truth, as well of what I did to Nightmare. Explaining to her that I lost my horn's ability to use magic at first, only to lose it completely in the end. Head butting her sister until it finally broke. I also told her about my friends, and about all the hard trials I had to endure during my time in Ponyville. This overload of information ultimately left her shocked, and a little sad, as she kept looking to my missing horn. Shaking her head the more I told her. And out of all of it, she wasn't the least bit surprised that I knew who she really was, or of knowledge on the Alicorn blood. She listened to everything without a single interruption. Yet, she still couldn't hold back her tears during my story.

"And..." I began to wrap up, "that's why I'm here today. To tell you about the Alicorn blood and I how I know to combat it with focus and social interaction."

"Social interaction?" Celestia snorted. "You mean friendship, don't you?"

"Well, forgive me for trying to be professional about this," I folded my hooves over my chest. I almost forgot about my still healing ribs. The meds Dr. Sombra gave me were working, but it nearly made me forget that they'd still get worse if I messed with them. I knew Celestia was teasing me, but I still felt a little bit peeved that she wasn't taking this seriously.

"Forgive me, Twilight. It's just so good to see you," I relaxed after she said that. Feeling pretty good that I was missed. "And I know how much this means to you, but we can't risk ponies knowing too much about their true heritage." Meaning, that my research would never be known by the general public.

"Why not?" I questioned.

"Do you know how much panic it would cause if everypony knew that they are all inherently angry all the time? It would make everyone suspicious of one another, not to mention that there would be a lot of oppression surrounding those who don't have Alicorn blood. I had figured someone bright enough would come along and discover the truth for the world to know. But such a time is not now." Celestia explained to me. Reasonably enough that I felt good that I didn't go to the news ponies before discussing this with her. In the end, she made the better call. Celestia took my notes and set them in the fireplace near us. The only ones that knew about it now were me, my friends, and a hoof full of others around the world. Left to forever be a secret that would never come to light in my life time.

"And as for my sister," Celestia interjected, "leave her be. She'll either find her path or she won't. It has been like this for thousands of years."

"Good to know," I said. Like I would go looking for that nut-case ever.

And I have to say, it was really awkward to say that I beat up her sister. Celestia actually laughed when I said that. She even told me about all the times she had a hoof fight with her sister Luna until Star Swirl the bearded straightened them out. This meeting got even sadder when Celestia confessed that she was hoping I'd return to being her faithful student. But now that my horn was gone, she couldn't reasonably take me back into the Acadamy without my horn.

"Perhaps I could hire you on as my personal secretary?" Celestia proposed.

"Nah, I like my life in Ponyville as it is. I'll get by," I told her.

"Yes... Of course." Celestia obviously missed me. I missed her too. But I was a different pony now. I couldn't just go back.

"Is there anything else you would like to ask me? Not as a princess of a nation, but as an all knowing Alicorn?" Celestia offered, maybe as one last favor as her final student.

Anything, really? The list of unknowns was way too big for me to choose from. On one hoof, she had insight into the future that no pony would be able to guess in a million years. On the other, she could explain to me the true origin of the Alicorn blood and why only a few don't have it. But would I really want to know?

"Of course, I realize it's a big question, so you may take your time in asking it. Come back and ask whatever it is your heart truly desires to know." Celestia offered me an out, instead of overthinking it. Which was probably for the best.

"Sure," I took that offer, standing up slowly to leave.

"Going already?" Celestia asked.

"Yeah, I've got a job as a librarian in Ponyville. And I really shouldn't spend too long away from home." Celestia was pleased to hear that I now called Ponyville my home. Cause it was. I earned my place there after all.

"Then before you go," Celestia stood from her chair and whipped her horn in the air. A golden light enveloped me, and the sharp pain in my chest stopped, and my hooves felt good as new. "If you ever need a good healing spell to fix you up, skip the hospital and come to me." Celestia wrapped her wing around me. A comforting feeling that I hadn't had in quite a long time. "And will you send me letters about you and your friends? I miss getting those weekly reports about what you've learned."

"Of course, Princess." I hugged her and made my leave. saluting Scootaloo and the guard on my way out. I had a feeling I'd be coming back here again someday. But I hope that day won't come for a while. It was about noon day while I trotted back to the train station. I dropped off a postcard at the Armor's, making sure that they knew I was doing well. Not a single guard on duty that day looked me in the eye. Odd how every single one of them looked so familiar. There was no trouble in the streets and no religious groups to pester me. And I'd be lying if I didn't say I was beaming with joy when I got back to the train station, as all of my friends were waiting for me.

Rainbow Hurricane Dash, Fiona Cinderella Fluttershy, Alexandra Rarity, Pinkamina Diana Pie, Sven Soarin, and Dr. Sombra Slovic. Ponies I never would've met if I stayed in my books and studied here in Canterlot. We boarded our train back to Ponyville. A place that had no shortage of strange characters and or flank-holes. It was actually more like a battleground than a small town. And it is there that we all have one thing in common.

And I think I'll write about it.

"Dear Princess Celestia, today I've learned that fighters don't have friends. We, instead, have those who are honest, those who are loyal, those who are generous, some who laugh, and one that is just too kind for her own good. There are also those who choose not to fight. And there are those who choose when to fight. I'm still learning how to become the fighter I'm meant to be. But there will never be a fighter or friend quite like my last teacher. Who taught me how to stand, and fight until I would decide to lose. And her name is... Vinyl Scratch.

Your Faithful student... Twilight Phoenix Sparkle.

Author's Note

For now... This is the end of my "Fighting is Magic" canonized version of the MLP:FIM story.
I left things open ended for a possible sequel, but that may or may not happen. For those of you who liked the story as it is, it's done. Over.
But for those of you who want more, read the epilogue and you can see where I've planned to take this story next.
I'll probably only write another story for this universe if this gets to 100 upvotes like my Twilight Voidwalker story. But until then, I'm taking a breather. :ajsleepy:
That being said, thanks for reading my crap and have a flipping good day!

Epilogue : The Trail of Blood

Several days have passed by since we came back from Canterlot. And today was the first I heard Dr. Slovic was moving to Manehatten. It was so abrupt that I didn't really know what else to say but goodbye. Soarin, Abby, and Rare couldn't make it to the station because of work. Fiona didn't know him too well to really see him off. And Dash and Pinkie had places to be after wishing him well. Leaving me alone with him and his last few minutes in Ponyville.

It was a cold day. Snow was starting to fall late this year, thanks to Dash's negligence as weather manager. It was nice to finally see some white. But it somehow made this moment that much sadder. Watching a friend leave.

"You can go if you have somewhere else you need to be, I understand," Sombra told me. Reassuring me that it wouldn't hurt his feelings if I left.

"No, I want to see you leave. What else are friends for?" I said, trying to brighten the mood at least a little bit.

"Watching friends leave is what friends are for?" Sombra quoted me. "I think you've done that plenty enough in the past few months." He was referring to Vinyl again, like a constant reminder of fault left without proper blame. And there wasn't really much I could do about it either. It's like everywhere I walk nowadays I think of her. She appeared to me that one time when I almost lost to Nightmare Moon. Honestly, it unsettled me that I still didn't know who did it. It's always nipped at my mind. Who killed Vinyl? And why? Up until a few days ago, I thought Sombra had been the mastermind behind it all. But that couldn't be right. It just couldn't.

I looked down the tracks and saw the train approaching just a little bit away. Sombra picked up his luggage and stood next to me on the platform.

"Still, thank you," he said.

"For what?"

"For teaching me how to move forward with no regrets, no sadness in tow. And for seeing me off. I'll miss being here with y'all," Sombra let himself slip into a little country droll for a moment. As per the occasion, moving from a hick town to the city. The train screeched to a halt, the doors opening with the whistle blowing loud and clear.

If you don't ask him now, you might never know. I told myself. Sombra was going to board a train and go away for a very long time. And I knew I'd regret both saying and not saying this.

"Sombra," I began, getting his attention before he boarded. "Did you kill Vinyl?"

Sombra was silent for a moment. At first, I thought I had finally figured it out. That it was him all along. The doctor that could fight. But what he said next shattered that idea.

"You aren't the first one to ask me that, Twilight," Sombra began. "The others have asked me the same thing." And here I thought I was the only one to have accused him. No wonder he always acted so depressed.

"But you are a fighter, aren't you?" I asked just to make sure.

"Yes. Despite how hard I try to hide it, the eyes give it away. Everyone else figured that out too. Even Vinyl," Sombra gave me a weak smile, pulling his bags with him as he stepped onto the train. I felt terrible. This was the last time I would get to see him, and I send him off knowing that I thought he was a murderer.

Some friend I am...

"However," Sombra grabbed my attention, his green magic holding the train car doors open as he spoke to me. "What I didn't tell the others was that I know where the King will be next." My eyes widened with horror once he said that.

"How do you know?"

"Let's just say he was a patient of mine a long time ago, and that if you want to find him, go to the 'Ring' in the Crystal Empire."

"What's the 'Ring'?"

"The underground pro fighting league of Equestria. The Griffen Empire has something similar, but more public. Knuckle Brick Corner is an extension of the 'Ring', Soarin may be able to tell you more about it." The train whistle blew, signaling that it was time to leave. It inched forward, going East to Manehatten.

"How will I know if it's him!?" I yelled as I galloped with the train.

"He wears a mask, so the only way you'll be able to tell is by his horn! It's bent backward and it's blood red! But Twilight, please do not go after him! There are ponies who want him dead as much as you do, let them take the sin of ending a pony's life!" That was the last thing I heard from Sombra before the platform ended and the train doors shut.

And now I knew. That Vinyl's killer was still out there. And I'm certain of it. That I will not stop fighting until he pays for what he did.

To Be Continued...
In...
The Symphony of Combat

Author's Note

100 upvotes will be my marker for "The Symphony of Combat" to be written.
Once again, thanks for reading, and have fun with that cliffhanger!
:derpyderp1: :flutterrage: :twilightangry2: :twilightsheepish: :raritystarry: :fluttercry: