Author's Note

Setting up for the match, hopefully, it will start in the next chapter. That said, you’re all getting a quick look at Garble and his mindset in the second half of the chapter, you’re welcome.

Final Preparations for the Fight

A more dishonest creature would have rigged the competition grounds to give their favored combatants an edge, Spike did things differently. He actually made sure to rig the arena so that all competition was harder for all parties and any outside interference would prove next to fruitless. He made sure the equipment was so effectively integrated into the facility it came off as nothing more than design flourishes when you put your focus on any of them. And to top things off, he made the viewing galleries and VIP box have their own special flourishes and safeguards to further guard against tampering while also providing quick and efficient entry and exit of the facility from all viewing accommodations. He even made sure to have vending stalls built into the main entryway for those that wanted to have snacks while watching the show, how any rational individual could have snacks at a bloodsport event without feeling ill was beyond Twilight, the very thought of such an event made her and Pinkie actually lose their appetites.

Twilight, Pinkie, Spike, Chrysalis, Sunset, and a small team of tech ponies were looking over everything to sure it was all good to go. It was just a few days before the fight could be officiated, Garble and his entourage would be arriving shortly. From everything she learned about this universe’s Garble, Twilight didn’t like the idea of so much as doing indirect business with him. She just hoped everything would turn out for the best.

Twilight was in a sea blue robe with copper trim; Pinkie was in a baby blue apron with lilac trim, Sunset was in what could be best described as an indigo-colored slutty business suit, Spike was in a gray business suit with a white shirt and black tie. Chrysalis was dressed in a translucent orange harem girl outfit, complete with matching veil over her face just under the eyes.

Her worries were put to an even worse state when she saw and heard Garble. “Excellent place for a competition,” said Garble in a rumbling, fiery, imperious voice. “I especially like how the aesthetic shows some level of conquest over the surrounding area. I see you have a new acquisition.”

They all just gave Garble a disapproving look; Twilight almost gasped in fear and surprise as well. Garble was dressed in what looked like Fire orange ceremonial armor, complete with an ostentatiously gaudy helmet made to mimic his own appearance. With him were four completely naked ponies in nothing but collars that had an orange flame all across the center, there were no names to be found on any of them, but they all had steel bands, which were devoid of the flourish of a cutie mark imitation that Twilight and Pinkie had come to expect. It was clear; Garble saw ponies more disposable tools than genuine individuals. Their lack of attire just drew more attention to the pointlessly atrocious attire he was wearing, “Where is that white unicorn you seemed so fond of? I figured we could up the wager a bit,” Garble said in a snide voice dripping with narcissism and a superiority complex.

The four ponies he brought for the competition looked like Bulk Biceps, who had wings that seemed far too small for his body to fly effectively for extended periods of time like his counterpart; what looked like the counterpart to Chancellor Neighsay, he didn’t look like he was in too good of condition; a green earth pony mare that looked a bit undernourished; and the pony that had brought Twilight’s attention to full, what appeared to be the alternate version of Rainbow Dash, she definitely had the feisty attitude and aside from looking like she hadn’t had anything of substance to eat, was nearly identical in body structure and form to the Rainbow Dash she knew.

“Still mistreating your ponies, I see,” said Spike with contempt.

“And I can see you still insist on dressing up your possessions so they look prettier,” retorted Garble, “I really don’t care either way this goes, seeing as this is the last chance for all my combatants.” This caused Twilight and Pinkie to shiver in disgust and fear, they had heard what Garble likes to do with the ponies thinks failed him one too many times. It also seemed he missed that Chrysalis wasn’t quite a pony, small miracles do happen it seemed.

“Don’t worry, I won’t be telling my choice what you brought to the match, as per the agreement,” said Spike, “but I did think to have a written copy of our agreement transcribed for both of us, a third copy is with my sister so as to make sure you can’t wiggle out of pieces of the deal.” Wit that Spike handed Garble a reworked version of the transcript Twilight had initially written out. “Tell me if you spot anything that doesn’t sound right.”

Garble made a show of reading over the document a few times before bringing his face away from it, “I don’t see any problems, I was worried the wager didn’t have enough stakes. Tell you what, since we still have some time before the competition officially starts, let’s add in a little something extra.” Chrysalis lifted the clipboard and pen she was carrying and prepared to write down everything, “Upon my victory I also get that prized white unicorn of yours, the one that can find gemstones with little to no effort, if you seize victory this time I’ll turn over my breeding town closest to your territory to you with no fuss.” He caught sight of Chrysalis writing it all down.

“Sounds like a deal,” said Spike, he was still feeling very assured things wouldn’t go too bad for Shining Armor. “My assistant will get to work writing up the new transcripts at the earliest convenience, you should have a copy of the new agreement in your claws by the time the additional betting starts for the fight.”

Rainbow didn’t seem to notice Twilight or Pinkie, it looked like she had a directed seething hatred aimed directly at Garble to the point she had tunnel vision. Rainbow and the others looked like they had suffered quite a bit of abuse, most of it was clearly not consistent with the kinds of punishment one would receive in the arena.

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Garble gave an annoyed look; it was clear he hadn’t been expecting any written changes to be dealt with so quickly. Of course, he hadn’t expected to be backed into a corner with a written copy of his agreement with Spike either. Chances were Spike would have numerous backups of the written agreement and probably shared a few copies with various other dragons he had good relations with. The last thing he needed was the former Dragonlord breathing down his neck for violation of dragon agreements, which he would get if Spike really had shared any copies with former-Dragonlord Torch’s daughter, Ember. Spike and Ember had a closer relationship than Garble liked, numerous rumors that were neither confirmed nor denied about the two of them entertaining the idea of being mates.

Spike liked to make love to his pets, Garble found such an act distasteful. Garble only fed his ponies the bare minimum for the lifestyles he chose for them, something Spike severely disapproved of. The two of them had always been at odds, even before the competition to see who would succeed Torch as Dragonlord. Garble had practically rigged the ordeal against Spike, yet Spike had somehow managed to beat him to the scepter, he was still sore about that.

Spike was no fool, and definitely, far from being an idiot, his only real weakness was that he cared too much about his toys. The lesser species; ponies, diamond dogs, minotaurs, and griffins were all far beneath dragons. Changelings were nothing more than tales told by the lesser races to keep their unruly ones in check; the yacks were under the dominion of an ice dragon recluse that didn’t bother making an appearance when the prior Dragonlord called forth everyone for the challenge to be the next Dragonlord; and there was little available for these “kirin” creatures it was likely they were as real as changelings.

Granted, a dragon that claimed dominion over changelings or kirin would have great bragging rights but chances of that happening were probably less than zero. Garble may not be the brightest of dragons, a fact even he was willing to admit at times, but he was by no means an idiot, his firm grasp over his territory was proof enough of that. Claiming the pony cloud city was a stroke of genius, the less any other dragons knew about how absurdly lucky that bid was the better. He had the ponies broken up into three groupings, entertainment, breeding, and leisure. He had hoped that battle-ax of a cyan pegasus would have given into his rule like the rest he had broken after just her first three bouts in the arenas, he had tossed her in there when she was a scrappy young filly that had barely learned to fly, but she just kept at it. She badmouthed him in and out of the arena, made crude gestures in his direction whenever she so much as saw his silhouette or visage, and the only way to genuinely keep her in line was to threaten harm on those she felt closest to; Garble despised her but she was too much of a success for the fights for him to do his usual “retirement” of a pony. This match was his best chance to either be rid of her or show up Spike; either way should have been a win for him.

But now Spike had a written version of their agreement, it said almost exactly what they had agreed upon. Betting pieces of his territory on a match that was supposed to be skewed in his favor was definitively in the realm of his style, doubly so when it came to his grudge against Spike. This match would mean he would lose the pony cloud city, its name didn’t matter but the fact of who controlled it did, the one who controlled that city controlled the weather of almost any other dragon’s territory, barring a few special cases. Of course, he didn’t like the fact the best combatant for his territories was a pony that regularly seemed to defy the very orders she was given.

What Garble didn’t think of was the fact his orders were just vague enough to allow an angry pony to deck him a few times before he ordered them to stop. Thus far, the cyan pegasus was the only subversive in his slave ranks. He dared not execute her, he was well aware of the possibility of creating a martyr, better to just play off her loss as something that happened as a result of a miscalculated wager.

Now he just had to find a place to stay without being reliant Spike. Garble wanted a place that would give him the comforts he had grown attached to but he didn’t want any of what he was looking for to come to him via Spike’s misguided sense of courtesy. He also wanted to not be in Spike’s capital, chances were everything he was looking for were in the capital city but he wanted to be as far from Spike’s center of power as possible. Garble had always been told his pride would undo him in the end, he just waved it off every time because of that same pride, chances were it would bring him to ruin sooner or later.