The lights shone down on Kas as the doors part, nearly blinding him. He ignores it, stepping into the pit for his first fight. The paperwork was honestly the toughest part. Half the shit he couldn’t even fill in, and he thought it might get him rejected. No next of kin, no residence, no past experience. Seems they were used to it, though, because the secretary or whoever didn’t give a damn.

Then, a nasally voice blares overhead.

“Hey, hey! Wusss’ happenin’ Southstone Brawl Pit?! It’s ya’ main man, Wizzow, and... you guys... you aren’t here to see a BRAWL, are ya’?!”

There are some muffled cries of agreement from the crowd, before tutting is heard from the speakers.

“Sorry folks! Didn’t quite catch that one...”

This time, there are much more resounding yells of ‘YEAH!’ and stomping of feet, hooves and appendages alike from the audience.

“Well goddamn! Let’s get started, then?!” Wizzow pauses for dramatic effect. “We got an up an’ comer over here, folks! Rookie stuff, that’s for sure. Toootal nobody. Scrappy looking… but apparently he gave ol’ Bronze a run for his money, so who knows what could happen… give it up for Kasikov!”

Kas gazes up at the bleachers, seeing a few impressed expressions, and even some of interest. Apparently his brawl with Bronze had been monitored. It made sense, at least to him it did. Security detail, and all that.

“And for his opponent, another newcomer… the burly, the bulky, and a veteran guard of Canterlot for 10 years before being…” The announcer coughs, “’dishonorably discharged’... iiiiiit’s Brass Tacks!”

A large, greying pegasus stood before him, his mane short and sort of scraggly, being a faded blue. He had a scar over his left eye and everything. Quite rugged and menacing. Brass Tacks clicks his tongue. “You should take off while ya’ can, bucko. I play fer’ keeps.”

Kas takes the veterans warning with a grain of salt, shooting him a wide grin. “I think you’ll find that I’m full of surprises.”

The announcer pipes up, the doors shutting behind the two fighters. “We go on three…”

“One…”

“Two!”

Kas flinches as he sees Brass break into a full gallop towards him. Notably, the announcer had stopped counting. “Son of a bitch…” He begins to dodge to the right, but is caught by a buck against his side from Brass, who had spun around much faster than he had anticipated. He felt himself get launched into a nearby wall with a loud crack, collapsing onto the ground.

“The ol’ ‘go on two’ trick claims another victim, it seems! Could this be a one hit knockout…?” The announcer cries out, much to his dismay. Grumbling, the earth pony rubs his head.

“Dammit, I’m gonna have a headache later.” He rises to his feet, barely dodging in time to avoid a right hook from Brass. Kas grits his teeth, lunching forward and sending his hoof flying into the meaty throat of the pegasi, causing him to choke and sputter at the surprising force behind the blow. Kas springs upward, grabbing Brass by the head next to deliver a rough knee into the side of his jaw… before he notices himself being lifted off the ground.

A sharp intake of breath is heard from the surprised Kas, Brass yanking him into the air, wings beating loudly as he goes up several feet… and then goes crashing down, slamming Kas into the pits floor. Kas gasps in pain, hearing a crunch or two from some presumably broken ribs. Add another one to that list when Brass stomps on his chest. He rolls backward, despite the overwhelming pain, and bucks both of his legs into Brass' torso, sending him sailing back.

Panting by now, Kas rises back to his hooves, the crowd in the bleachers cheering at his tenacity. Brass coughs up a bit of blood, glaring. “Kid, stay fuckin’ down, why don’t ya? Are you TRYIN’ to make me kill you?”

Kas chuckles darkly, ignoring that searing feeling in his chest as he approaches Brass. “Nah, nah…” He spots the wings of his opponent twitch, and he immediately springs into the air. He catches the pegasi, delivering a sharp headbutt against him before repeated blows to the stomach as the two go down once more. This time, Brass breaks his fall, which was a fun change of pace.

Being stuck under Kas, Brass retaliates with a headbutt of his own, desperate to break free from the pin. Kas, like with most other blows, takes the attack in stride, cringing from the growing pain in his head. He holds the stallion down with one hoof, laying into him with the other… before he is bucked hard in the chest once more, sent crashing against a wall again. “Getting… real tired of that.”

He’s coughing blood up too, now. Worse, if some ribs weren’t broken before, they definitely were now. Brass stumbles to his hooves, with Kas’ feeling his vision start to blur at this point. But it abruptly clears, and she shakes his head. He strides over towards Brass, who tries to take a defensive position. He even ducks this time, expecting Kas to jump like he usually does. Unfortunately, Kas expected, and was banking on such a choice.

Kas bashes his shoulder into the side of his opponent, body checking him into the nearest wall and using his lowered stance against him to make up for the weight difference. There is a loud thud, and Brass tries to recover from his daze, but finds his head being held in place. Kas tightens the grip his hooves have on the pegasi’s head, and bashes it right back against the wall with a gritty thunk.

Brass Tacks spends his last moments of consciousness thinking that, ‘hey, this wall thing ain’t so bad after all…’ before his eyes roll backward, and he collapses into a heap.

With his opponent felled, Kas stumbles backward, spitting some blood off to the side. He looks up to the waiting crowd, and shoots them a toothy grin. They roar in approval, whistles heard. It was a small crowd, as is custom for newcomer fights, but he reveled in the attention nonetheless.

“Well, I’ll be! The underdog Kas comes out on top! S’pose I just lost a bet…” The announcer chuckles, a bell sounding as Kas’ door opens back up, as does a door on the other side of it with a stairway leading up. “The winner is... Kasikov!”

Reclining at a table, Kas took a swish of some hard cider. Quite tangy, and likely potent... but he seemed pretty immune to the effects of alcohol. A lot of drugs, at that. Which sucked, because it meant the painkillers he was offered after the match were totally useless. Every strength has got its weaknesses.

"Only know what I heard... but damn, if what I heard don't make for a good fuckin' story." Bronze chimes in, taking a swig of his own drink. Just some ice water, says it keeps him fresh. "And lookat' ya, hardly a scratch!"

Kas looks down, noticing the bruises all along his frame which had dulled in color. The bite marks from earlier weren't even visible anymore. "Heh, I find laughter is usually the best medicine for pain. Of course... I was a bit off my game, since I figured I might get hauled out for that for it maybe seeming like I got a concussion?"

The diamond dog across from him shakes his head, snickering. "Fella', unless you are full on tapping out, ain't no one gonna get in there and try and yank you out." He reaches down, taking a bite of a sandwich. "Mmfh, fink' dey don't efen care if ya bring weaponsh in." Kas snickers at the garbled words due to the gobbled sandwich his friend was snacking on.

Kas proudly pounds a hoof against his chest. "Not necessary! I AM a weapon!" And he and Bronze have a good laugh about that, while another pony approaches their table.

"Hey, hey! Room for one more, slugger?" Kas looks up, seeing a blue unicorn with a frazzled yellow mane riddled with electric blue highlights. He was rocking a pair of dark, spiffy aviators, with his cutie mark being a megaphone enveloped in a flame.

It takes Kas a second to pin the energetic voice. "Wizzo! The more the merrier, c'mon in!" A chair nearby is enveloped in a yellow glow, spinning across the floor towards Wizzo. Of course, someone else was about to use this chair, who immediately fall to the ground. Wizzo plops against the chair, grinning over at Kas.

"Don't mind if I do!" A griffon waitress passes by, Wizzo leaning back in the chair to address her. "Ey', doll, mind getting me a martini? Ya' boy is gettin' dehydrated watching a tall glass of water like yourself walking around." The waitress looks like making an attempt at hiding a blush. Bronze just facepaws at the embarrassing display, while Kas laughs.

"Fuckin' hell, and to think I was almost enjoying your company for a second." Bronze grunts, taking a small sip from his glass. Wizzo raises an eyebrow, slipping the waitress a generous tip.

"Jelly? Ey, don't worry pal, sure someone will throw you a bone someday." Kas sees one of Bronze's eyes twitch at the 'bone' comment. Before Bronze can retort, Wizzo flicks his gaze back over to Kas. "So! Newblood, heard you are fresh outta' Ponyville? Never would've expected we'd get any more folk outta there! Most of em' are softies." He snickers, holding a hoof to his mouth to stifle his laugh, "thinkin this economy and shit runs on smiles and rainbows. Nah, us folks down here are what keep the above afloat, ya feel me?"

And a paw from Bronze reaches out, shoving Wizzo's head down, the dog growling. "And THIS is why yer' special talent is mouthing off, and not fuckin' economics." He looks over toward Kas, clearly irritated. "Kid, try ta' ignore a solid seventy-five percent of the horseshit this yahoo spews." Kas nods, smiling politely as the two have their back and forth. Wizzo shoves his hoof back, clicking his tongue.

"Aha! The guard dog is gonna tell me what's what, eh?"

"Repeat that again, will ya? Stomach growled a little too loud. Bein' around prey does that."

"Oh, again with the carnivorous routine! The only thing relating to 'carn's about you, is the fact that you belong inna carnival itself, ya bloody clown!"

"That was SUCH a stretch! An' not even a good one! Why not use yer' fancy magic to reach a bit further next time?"

"Shut it, you mangy mutt!"

"Yer' the one that should shut it, ya fuckin' over glorified grazer!" He looks over toward Kas. "No offense."

But Kas just laughs, shaking his head. "I like you two." Bronze feels his gaze harden, before snickering a bit himself. All the anger deflates from Wizzo, who just laughs as well.

"Lookat' us, tryin' to make a good first impression, and we are goin' at it like an old married couple." Bronze chuckles, shaking his head dismissively. Kas stares at them in silence.

"Wait, you two aren't married?" Bronze chokes on the bite he just took of his sandwich, while Wizzo is sputtering like a dying engine.

"Wha- I- of course not!"

"Ridiculous! Unlike Fido over here, I got taste!"

"Fuckin' impossible, you hit on anythin' with a pulse."

"Yeah, well...! You WISH we were married!"

"Tch, yeah! Maybe if I was the one down in the pit suffering daily concussions, ya' might start lookin' pretty!"

"Oh really? I think a bit of a beatdown could do WONDERS for your complexion, actually! Y'know... not like it can get any worse, right?"

But the squabbling is interrupted by an especially large diamond dog tapping Wizzo on the shoulder. The three all look over towards him. He is flanked by two other diamond dogs, all nearly as big. "Buddy... yer' in my chair. Magic it back over, or I get to rip yer' horn off and do it myself."

He was quite deadpan. He probably thought it made him scarier. Kas is all too eager to help, though, popping in front of the dog before Wizzo or Bronze can get a word in. "Hi! Want my chair?"

The dog clicks his teeth, narrowing his eyes down at Kas. "No, I want my chair. Now move along, pony. Kas just frowns.

"Shoot, diplomacy didn't work. Let's see..." He pulls a book out of seemingly nowhere, which reads "How Luigi Saved the World With Friendship". A small 'ohh' is heard from him. He tosses the book behind his head, and turns away from the diamond dog. Thinking himself free to keep intimidating Wizzo, he focuses back on the unicorn, only for his vision to instantly go black as he feels the crunch of a chair over his head.

Kas looks down, unceremoniously at the fallen diamond dog and his obliterated chair. He then looks up toward the other two diamond dogs, along with Bronze and Wizzo. Wizzo grins, and overturns their table to make cover. Bronze throws his arms up in the air, clearly distraught about his sandwich he had been eating. He takes it out on one of the now advancing diamond dogs, power slamming them with a powerful paw to the face.

Wizzo sends the table skidding across the floor towards the other diamond dog, who quickly makes an effort to vault over it.

Unfortunately, he is caught midair by a cartwheeling Kas, who tangles himself around the canine and latches onto him like a sloth. The sudden weight and rigid nature of Kas' position brings them both crashing to the ground, Kas twisting them around so the diamond dog took the brunt of the impact. Dazed, the dog shakes his head to try and recuperate, only to shake headfirst into Kas. A firm headbutt sends him down for the count, the grey earth pony rising up triumphantly.

The last diamond dog scampers to his feet, backpedaling away from Bronze, but feels himself pressed against a solid surface. He turns, eyes wide as he sees the table held aloft in the air in a golden glow, courtesy of Wizzo ferrying him towards a very agitated Bronze. There is the loud crunching of wood as the strike from Bronze sends the aggressor soaring through the now wrecked table, splinters of wood crumbling onto the ground, along with his unconscious form.

Wizzo, Kas, and Bronze all stare down at the downed diamond dogs in silence, before Wizzo nods affirmatively.

"Good show, folks! Nice on getting that one with a chair before stuff got outta hand." Wizzo grins, while Bronze just sighs.

"Speak fer' yaself, I'm the one that has to drag these fools out!" He scratches his chin, smirking. "Had a feeling I'd have to thrash em' anyway, though. They were harassing staff earlier, so... the help is appreciated. It'll be chill to get to sleep on less bruises."

Kas wipes from sweat from his brow, looking towards his dining mates with a smile. "No problem! Buuut, on that note! I should go house hunting!" Wizzo cocks his head at that.

"One fight and ya got enough for housing? Shee-eesh, how cheap has Ponyville gotten?"

"Oh, no! I did the one that says 'Lifetime Contract' since that one said it gave the most money."

Bronze and Wizzo stare at him in complete, and utter, silence. Kas frowns.

"Why, is that bad?"

Author's Note

Fun bit of lore. The original title for this episode was "Gritty Bits", but then I quickly realized it sounded gross and awful so it got reworked.