"COME SIGN UP FOR THE NEW ATTRACTION RECOMMENDED BY MY FRIEND BLAYKE HIMSELF, AN ARM FIGHT THAT WILL START SOON, DON'T BE DISAPPOINTED IF YOU MISS IT!"
The new loudspeakers carried the voice of Ponyville's most well-known event planner throughout the city by linking them from the various roofs of the houses and the poles installed on this occasion. This was now possible thanks to the pink mare's new party prep assistant, although it was certainly not exclusive to her, the stallion could have already wiped out the town in a fit of rage if that was the case, he remember at any time of the day that he was helping her with the profits. Night began to fall on the village, to which the ponies responded with the magic lights also installed on all the pieces of wood that littered the dwellings as if full of tiny sun were still illuminated. Pinkie wore a short skirt to match her hair while her green bow on her head acted as extra fire to spot her, if her anarchic volume still wasn't enough.
Beside her was Blayke, the new resident of the village, who had made a big (and bad) impression on the ponies, even if following his forgiveness, his known relationship with Ditzy and the help that his build had brought since his arrival, he was finally accepted like everyone else, just a new inhabitant with his peculiarities and quirks. He wore his usual simple brown shorts that left his torso exposed, except when he kept his arms crossed position on them like now, still without any smile or sign of interest on his face.
As Pinkie was doing her job well so far, a crowd of ponies approached to see the main event, which consisted of a wooden table set in the middle of the grassy driveway and two chairs, with Blayke sitting on the one of her. Pinkie's close friends were there, even Fluttershy and Rarity who didn't seem to warm to seeing this kind of brutal confrontation. Thunderlane was with his little brother Rumble and Rainbow Dash, his girlfriend of some time, Applejack with Big Mac and the CMCs.
In another corner was Ditzy and his daughter Dinky, who was watching her surrogate father in the center of the crowd.
When everyone seemed within range, the pink mare continued.
"As Blayke helped a lot with the organization of this party, and even helped Poneyville a lot since he was no longer evil, he chose to set up this game in addition to the music workshop he held just now." Pinkie began, spanking the stallion next to her at the notion of "nasty".
Blayke didn't change from bad to nice, he just calmed down after all, and being accepted here didn't mean anyone could talk to him when they didn't want to.
"It's a game of arm wrestling, the participants compete with one arm to reverse that of the other on the table." She explained unnecessarily while straining her biceps, the results not being visible to most onlookers. "We have 8 participants registered, which is enough to make it 4 races until the final, nobody wants to participate while you can?" She paused for a moment to hear no one answer, which made her smile more intensely. "Okay, don't regret it right after. Then we'll start the draw for the matches." She approached a straw hat where 8 names were written on sheets inside.
"I bet you're going to participate Dash, aren't you?" Thunderlane said with a slight smile, hoping Blayke wouldn't break his arm.
"Obviously for once we have something interesting to do here. Plus I'm about 20% stronger than anyone here." She prides herself as she crosses her arms and strikes an upright, confident pose, swinging her tail in one fluid motion.
"Of course." He replied by rolling his eyes.
"The first game is..." Pinkie said into her speakerphone, shuffling through the papers. "Applejack versus Thunderlane."
"WHAT??! But I..." He wanted to retort upon hearing his name, pulling a head that made the crowd laugh and in particular Cloudchaser and Flitter, listing them for the ones who would have pranked him, but still behind. Rainbow herself who was almost rolling on the ground without choking. Only Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy hadn't laughed at the stallion.
"Don't worry big guy, I promise to be gentle." Retorted the farmer's wife, stepping forward and putting a hand on her shoulder, her eyes indeed gentle when the stallion knew well what awaited him.
It was with a great sigh that he nevertheless advanced with his adversary, Blayke rising so that the two took their place on one side and the other.
"Go big bro, you're the best." The trapped pegasus suddenly heard behind him, Rumble being the biggest fan anyone would want to have as usual.
"You better show what lazy wonderbolts are capable of!" Said just after a much higher voice, which made the crowd laugh again.
"Sorry for the bad joke, you know how Rainbow is." Applejack retorted with a still reassuring smile as they got into position, catching each other's hand.
"We are together so yes, I know her well." He says just before following low lane. "Couldn't you let me win for the little guy?" He was begging as Rumble waved a wonderbolt scarf with his brother's head on it, he planned to use it every time Thunderlane tried an activity to win him a toy at the various booths, but it fit in here too .
"Hehe, sorry again, but I'm not going to give you a present, I have a reputation to uphold." She laughs giving him a wink.
"I would have tried." Answered the black pegasus, knowing very well that it would not succeed, but he felt more relaxed and who knows, his training as a top athlete could give him a chance.
"Ready...GO!"
Applejack took a big lead on the first swing, nearly sending Thunderlane straight into the table wood. A long moan from him set the tone for the exchange against him, but he didn't let that get him down, struggling with gravity to bring his right arm back. His skin burned but with the coolness of the night, was more invigorating than anything, which gave him another chance.
He went up bit by bit, his opponent spanking everything to gain the few centimeters that separated her from an easy victory, these becoming more and more distant. The crowd launched the name of their favorite seeing that the victory did not seem certain for either of them.
The gazes between Thunderlane and Applejack continued as they saw the equality they seemed to have, the calculated training of an accomplished sportsman against the natural strength that a toil of the land could grant.
The stallion even began to boost his confidence tenfold when he saw his arm almost return to starting level thanks to the weight his body gave him to come up faster than the mare could get him down.
Then everything stopped.
The back of his hand touched the floor of the table a second later in a crash fortunately camouflaged by the encouragement. He lost all of his hard-earned lead due to overconfidence, or maybe due to his disastrous departure, impossible to say. He almost wanted to scream in pain at the now angled position of his arm to his body, but he held back as the crowd quieted down and a winner was decided.
"And the first to win a round is Applejack, kudos to her and Thunderlane for fighting the strongest mare in town." Pinkie reacts quickly by resuming her role as host in her material.
"Well, you gave me a hard time Thunderlane, well done." Applejack replied to cheers as she lightly massaged her now itchy wrist, she doesn't think she'll hold a second arm wrestle like this.
"I'm surprised first, but I'll save the rest for Rainbow later." The Mohawk stallion responded by spanking the same and standing up.
"Haha you're right, exhaust it for both of us tonight." She gave him another wink before leaving the table, Thunderlane blushing in spite of himself in addition to the warmth that was still in his arm after that. He had to comfort Rumble now before thinking about his own revenge.
"We're going to move on to the second match, which will be...Big Mac vs. Pinkie Pie," she announced as if not speaking for herself, which surprised the audience for a moment.
Big Mac came forward in turn, and many had no doubt that he would probably win all the rounds, few would just dare to face him. But Pinkie being Pinkie might be hiding something unexpected from her. The two fell into place and Blayke then took the floor to announce the countdown in place of Pinkie, without the need for the new loudspeaker facilities in the village.
"3...GO." He said abruptly canceling the countdown, which seemed to catch Big Mac off guard.
Pinkie took a momentary lead but was quickly overtaken by the much bulkier stallion, who was relieved to see that Pinkie wasn't hiding insane strength behind his startled facet. She was defeated within seconds despite this.
"Pinkie Pie just tried to cheat?" Rarity remarked, speaking for the first time since the event began.
"That's not what was going to make her beat my brother, well done brother." Applause Applejack.
"She still surprised me, well, more like Blayke." He confessed as he walked back into the crowd, wondering if the two had gotten close enough to mount a stunt like that, it didn't seem like Blayke was always showing as much distance from her as possible, as much as he could. could by working with her almost every day though.
"Congratulations to Big Mac for his victory, we move on to the next one, Rainbow Dash against Braeburn." The presenter then called.
Rainbow Dash wasted no time in flying to her chair when Braeburn calmly joined her, greeting her with his hat.
"A pleasure to face you here." He said benevolently as he sat down in his spot.
"A pleasure to beat a member of the Apple family." Dash replied slyly, taking her hand as she had no patience.
"Don't underestimate the Apple family." Replied the stallion, getting into the mood of the evening and preparing for the exchange.
AppleJack and AppleBloom were obviously supporting their cousin at the expense of the rainbow rival, the rest of the audience seemed to be waiting without taking part in the fight.
"Right, ready... GO!!!" Applauded Pinkie, who launched the hostilities, the competitors giving everything they had.
Few were cheering either on, Rainbow receiving the admiration of the younger members of the audience while Braeburn could count on his family and the few loving mares in the crowd.
Despite the blood flowing through him, the Apple stallion wasn't as impressive as his Ponyville family, having to bow after a few seconds, mentally apologizing to them.
"HERE WE GO!!! ONLY TWO LEFT!!!" Dash leapt after his victory, feeling that nothing could stand in his way.
Some applauded out of politeness, like Rainbow's friends, while others simply waited for the rest of the competition to finish.
"So the last match will be Bulk Biceps against Blayke." Confirmed Pinkie as the last match of this first run.
"YYAAAYYYYHHHH!!!" A howl was heard in the crowd, which startled several ponies to let the author of his howls pass that even certain wild beasts would be frightened to hear. As expected, it was the ridiculously developed pegasus in the main body but possessing tiny wings that strode forward, proudly showing off its assets to all, being practically born for a day like this.
"I wonder if the match will be close, Bulk looks very confident." Note Fluttershy.
"Honestly I wonder too, it looks like a final before the hour." Continued Twilight who didn't know the two opponents very well here, but their muscle both in plain sight spoke for them, only Big Mac being able to compare to it.
The two stallions fell into place, Blayke having said nothing when the loud appearance of his adversary appeared, which should have caused him to shout even louder if it was the same Blayke as during his visit to Ponyville. They take each other's hands when Pinkie goes to announce the departure, a simple look being their only interaction outside of the arm wrestling itself.
"Ready...GO!"
Their arm swelled instantly, their muscles growing to the size of a pony's head without a care, but there was no tie in the exchange. Blayke brought Bulk's arm to the wood in seconds, ending with a shock that nearly made him turn over in his chair, and once again startle ponies.
Bulk bit his lip by instinct as he could do before in training to keep from moaning, the pain leading to excellence in this area, but there was always stronger than himself. As he stood up defeated and as calmly as he could, Blayke spoke.
"That's for arriving like a savage, I'm the only one who can do it in this village." He affirmed, his eyes as sharp as needles completed his scene.
I said nothing, Blayke definitely hasn't changed, all of the spectators in their interior nodded almost in unison while Bulk left as if he had never appeared, the gaze much more shifty.
"Well done dad." Could hear some coming out of Dinky's mouth, Ditzy holding her in his arms to warm her up a bit.
"Blayke is really solid, Bulk didn't have a chance unfortunately." Thunderlane said, watching his friend walk off to the other side of the crowd.
"Do we end this first round with a victory for Blayke." Pinkie announced before moving on. "Now the second round will begin to determine the final." She put the four right names back in the hat and randomly retired the next two fights.
The last four participants gathered in the center, the two mares smiling and wanting to face each other on the field, the two stallions with monotonous expressions and not even sizing each other up.
"Rainbow Dash vs. Big Mac and Blayke vs. Applejack." Pinkie announced, which made Applejack groan.
"Damn, that means I can't beat Rainbow in front of everyone." The farmer's wife nodded, almost knocking her hat off her head.
"What are you talking about? It's even better, I'm going to make you lose in the final, it's perfect." The wonderbolt mare jumped for joy at this conclusion.
"You forget we're against my brother and Blayke before." Applejack proclaimed, unsure if she had a chance against her opponent, especially after her display on Bulk and her own tense standoff against Thunderlane.
"Your brother is nothing to my awesomeness and I'm going to prove it." Affirmed the pegasus by jumping directly on his chair, good point for her Big Mac had already taken position without ceremony.
Twilight took advantage of this moment to approach the cyan contestant's boyfriend.
"Are you sure she'll be okay?" She asked him looking worried.
"Honestly I'd rather have her fall against Big Mac than Blayke, it'll probably be less painful for her." He sincerely confessed.
"Big brother, why don't you cheer on Rainbow Dash? You love each other don't you?" Rumble asked shocked that his brother wanted to see Rainbow lose.
"Because Rumble, in life there are things..." He explained as the duel in the center was on. Despite some resistance on her part, Rainbow felt herself waver quite quickly, using her whole body as a counterweight to Big Mac's strength which was bringing her irretrievably to defeat. "...that we can only learn by failing."
"NOOOOOO !!" Rainbow nearly rooted her feet in the ground forcing her way, but once her hand politely touched the wood, she had to back off and vehemently admit that no matter how awesome you might be, an arm wrestle is in play. on the strength of his arm.
"And it's a Big Mac victory that comes in the final, their opponent will be between our last two entrants, Applejack and Blayke." Pinkie announced, the seats in the middle opening up.
Applejack was willing to try, her strength could rival anyone, even her brother had to give a lot to beat her in a showdown in the fields. Although unconfident Blayke would be an interesting opponent, she placed her arm first to show her determination not to give up.
"GO APPLEJACK! YOU CAN BEAT THIS GUY!" Rainbow exclaimed despite her defeat as she now placed herself with her friends and Thunderlane.
She was one of the few that Blayke liked despite not knowing himself very well, a hard worker who had to manage a farm in addition to her family, and having to live with Pinkie as part of it was enough to have his respect. He changed his gaze to make her understand his point of view wordlessly, that he would not underestimate her, that he
would give him all his strength. She agreed with a smirk to test the big guy with the coat as dark as Thunderlane.
"Come on daddy!" Only Dinky seemed playful cheering on the stallion.
Not a word exchanged between the two sounded like a nagging silence in the twilight air, some ponies beginning to move a little closer to the center and shrink the circle they were forming.
"Ready...GO!" Pinkie launched once more.
The tendons in their arm simultaneously reacted to the call, pushing as hard as they could on the opposite side.
"GO APPLEJACK!" Repeated Rainbow in unison with a large number of ponies, even Rarity synchronized with them.
That's when his hand touched the wood. True to his word, Blayke put the same amount of force into it as he did against Bulk earlier, with the result being similar after a few seconds, only to shut up once his second victory was secured.
"Oh..." Rarity found herself moaning first at the quick fight.
"Hehe well done, maybe you could beat my brother." Applejack exclaimed realizing that even in great shape she wouldn't last much longer, and seeing her brother give it her all against someone other than herself was quickly starting to turn her on.
"Nice fight, and for your brother we will see it right away." Blayke replied as he got up and saw Big Mac approaching, the only one here who could give him any real resistance.
"Well my friends, we have our finale, to my left the big Apple family farmer, Big Macintosh. And to my right, the music expert and party assistant, Blayke, place your bets." Chained the pink mare, getting caught up in the game.
"$10 on Big Mac!" Called a voice.
"No, Blayke is the strongest, I bet $15 on him." another exclaimed, starting to create a ruckus in the crowd as some tickets came out of pockets and bags.
"We're not really going to bet money on arm wrestling... are we?" Thunderlane asked in vain, seeing many ponies starting to move into two separate camps. He still noticed Rumble and even Twilight by his side, but no trace of his girlfriend. "Dash?" he called.
"WHO WILL WIN, IT'S UP TO YOU TO BET ON THE GOOD COL, PUT ALL YOUR MONEY IN THIS HAT AND THE WINNER WILL HAVE A DOUBLE BET!" A tomboy's voice was heard, wearing the straw hat to all the ponies who twirled their tickets in the air.
Everyone recognized the voice, Pinkie even pulled out a notepad and jotted down each bet to have a written record of the transaction, both mares with wild grins on their faces. Appalled, Thunderlane slapped his face in indignation.
"Why am I with her, why..." He wondered as a hand came to his shoulder and patted it to help calm him down.
"I understand, they are unrecoverable." Observed the princess of friendship with disdain, not even having the desire to end it all, a majority of the inhabitants having involved themselves, noting that even Applejack participated.
"Ditzy, Dinky, don't bet anything, that's not what we're here for." Blayke ordered his little family so that in the middle of the din he never went unnoticed. He kicked his chair which sent it flying a few feet behind to make room for himself, positioning himself with his two heels apart and his legs bent at a right angle, resting his right elbow on the table almost hard enough to planting him inside, opening his large hand and gripping the side of the table with the other to stabilize everything.
The position seemed unearthly, but the stud's gaze was an indication that he was quite serious about it, inviting Big Mac to join him. He decided that this final, the real challenge, would not happen sitting down, to which the stallion Apple replied. Unlike the Dark Pegasus, he moved the chair to the side with one hand, then assumed the same position in the same order of placement, ending the sequence by taking her hand in his.
The eyes of the spectators widened even further.
"$40 ON BLAYKE!"
"50$ ON BIG MAC!"
This time it was Twilight who got punched in the face and Thunderlane who sighed, joined soon after by Rarity as Fluttershy and Rumble smiled innocently at all that was going on and ended up laughing softly.
"Come on daddy!" Launched Dinky again, hopping on the spot.
"You can do it Blayke!" Ditzy joined his daughter in encouraging their stallion, also hopping.
"Mares and stallions, the final can begin, we stop betting, don't be disappointed if your champion doesn't win!" Finally announced Pinkie through her voice raising tool, the crowd having come closer to witness the spectacle which this time would not be settled in a few seconds. Rainbow Dash was also in the center with the hat full of money, turning to Thunderlane to stick her tongue out and show her the sum.
"Do you have a last word for your opponent?" She moved without warning the loudspeaker in front of Blayke's face, who still took the time not to shout inside.
"SHUT UP PINKIE, WE'RE STARTING!" Tossed his assistant in his face before resuming his position.
"Eyup." Seen everything Big Mac said as usual, also wanting to see Blayke's strength for himself more than anything.
"Very well then count with me, 3..." She called on the audience to follow her, which they gladly did.
"2..."
"1..."
"GO!!"
An even pressure began to build in the center of the table, with both arms carving and spanking cracks in the wood as the match began in a visible tie, both fighters clenching their teeth between them as well as their grip on the weak table and their opponent.
The audience felt the heat from their grip, the space around them increased in intensity as the duel continued, each arm shaking as it wanted to resist the force in front, the soft night breeze left them during this exchange, Pinkie and Rainbow feeling their skin almost burn from being so close, but not daring to back away.
"BIG MAC BIG MAC BIG MAC BIG MAC!!!"
"BLAYKE BLAYKE BLAYKE BLAYKE!!!"
The supporters of each camp put as much energy into cheering for their favorite as the two stallions in their right arms. Still no vacillation on their part was to be noted, even Pinkie who was only a few centimeters away did not see anything with her pupils that would evoke the submission of one over the other.
"WHAT AN INCREDIBLE MATCH, NEITHER OF THE TWO PONIES WANTS TO GIVE THE VICTORY TO THEIR OPPONENT, THAT MEANS YOU ARE NOT ENCOURAGING THEM ENOUGH, YOU OTHERS, GO FOR IT!"
The cheering thus continued, with both groups creating a din surpassing even the most vocal howls that Blayke alone could and had already performed. A few grunts were let out by him or Big Mac, wondering if they could stay that way all night, a winner had to be declared, now.
"They've been equal for almost a minute now." Twilight remarked, honestly surprised that an arm wrestle could go on for so long. Hardly anyone was expecting it above the screaming fans.
"We're going to have it all night at this rate." Said Rarity who was starting to get impatient, even if seeing two powerful stallions showing off their strength was something intoxicating.
Another fiery thrust shortened the duration of the fight, but neither arm reduced its position yet, in the midst of the efforts, it was the wooden table that could not hold the clash any longer, and gave way under them, breaking in two. equal parts on the sides, Blayke and Big Mac finding themselves on the ground having put too much of their weight forward and with a slight cry of surprise.
"WAAHHH!" Pinkie also screamed and almost tripped backwards, her leap saved her from the fall unlike the two stallions. Rainbow backed up too but wasn't close enough to risk the fall anyway, her eyes widening in shock at the encounter.
All of a sudden, as if a gunshot had gone off or Blayke had screamed so loudly that no one would dare cut him off in that moment. Eyeballs flickering at the sight of the broken table and the two masses of muscle on the ground, the intensity and the heat of the moment leaving the village, giving way to the coolness of the night again.
"So who won ?" Someone in the crowd asked worriedly, but no one moved for a few moments.
It was finally the two mares close to the stallions who looked at the still firm grip between Blayke and Big Mac, the back of the earth pony's hand touching the ground.
"It's...Big Mac...has lost!" Rainbow exclaimed not believing her own words.
Both opponents got to their feet seeing the result for themselves, with Big Mac pulling his hand away as the duel was over. Blayke spoke in a way that only startled the ponies with the drastically increasing decibels.
"WWWWAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" He howled at the moon, now clearly visible in the sky, raising his clenched fists, showing no signs of fatigue following his total victory and scaring several ponies who thought they heard a creature from Tartarus.
"Nice arm wrestling." Big Mac reacts again in front of Blayke and returning to his detached expression.
Blayke calmed down having heard his sentence despite his calm, and put his hand on his shoulder.
"We do it again when you want my friend." He said as the crowd stirred at the revelation of the winner, the groans of defeat and the cheers of victory blending perfectly.
"NO, I thought Big Mac couldn't be beaten in force..."
"Great job Blayke, I knew you were a monster capable of beating Big Mac!"
While Rainbow and Pinkie were calculating the redistribution of money, Dinkie and Ditzy ran up to Blayke smiling.
"YES! I knew you would dad."
"Well done Blayke!"
Blayke turned to his favorite filly and mare and took them each on his shoulders with one arm and gave them a smile. Apple Jack had she approached her brother to smile at him while patting his back, noting that he was not really unhappy with his defeat, it was a day of celebration after all.
"Obviously I won, I'm the strongest." Pursued Blayke disdainfully. "What do you want to do next?" He was still smiling as he turned to Dinky.
"BLAYKE SMILE!" Cried a mare when she noticed it, an event too rare to miss. Too bad he took off his playful face for the classic grumpy face, Ditzy and Dinky are the only ones he smiles at.
"I saw a cotton candy stand there." Dinky responded by pointing in a direction and opening his bright eyes wide to soften his father.
"Not very good for form, but hey...you're lucky I'm in a good mood tonight." He nodded then started walking, still with his two there on his shoulders.
"YES !!" They both said with sheer joy, Ditzy would have asked her the same thing.
The crowd still bickering over whether or not they would win the bet seemed to unknowingly part ways as Ponyville's now officially strongest stallion passed. Thunderlane and Twilight who watched him leave proudly smiled at the now mundane scene.
"It can be a problem that Blayke sometimes, but that so." The stallion exclaimed, shrugging his shoulders.
"It's just Ponyville." Twilight added.
Author's Note
Any resemblance with an arm-wrestling scene in another piece of our world would be purely coincidental.
